There have been multiple accounts created with the sole purpose of posting advertisement posts or replies containing unsolicited advertising.

Accounts which solely post advertisements, or persistently post them may be terminated.

In Arizona’s Most Populous County, There’s a New Sheriff in Town

In November of 2023, Paul Penzone announced that he was stepping down as Maricopa County sheriff, which became effective in January of this year. (He took a job at Blue Cross Blue Shield.)

Since Penzone was a Democrat, state law required that the Maricopa Board of Supervisors replace him with another Democrat, in a procedure that hasn’t been used since 1946 when a sheriff died while in office. (The Board is currently majority Republican.) No Democrats applied for the job out of the eight men who applied.

The next day, Penzone’s chief deputy, Russell Skinner, changed his party affiliation from Republican to Democrat and won the spot. He will serve as temporary sheriff until November’s election. The lone Democrat on the five-person board was the only member to vote against Skinner as a replacement.

Now, Skinner will run as a Democrat, presenting himself as Penzone’s apolitical successor. While there are other Democrats running for the spot in the upcoming election, Skinner, as the incumbent, has the clear advantage.

Archived at web.archive.org/…/in-arizonas-most-populous-count…

Stern ,
@Stern@lemmy.world avatar

If no Dems applied for the spot (Despite several running in the upcoming election? Not understanding that rationale unless they got term limits that are super strict.), what are they supposed to do? Let the chief deputy be the temp sheriff until the election? Doesn’t seem like that changes much for his sheriff campaign.

DragonTypeWyvern ,

I think we can rest assured that someone that goes from being a cop to working in medical insurance is probably a bastard regardless of the color of his stripes.

Xtallll ,
@Xtallll@lemmy.blahaj.zone avatar

Cop to Health Insurance makes perfect sense, he already has experience casually making decisions that ruin people’s lives, and then doubling down when he is wrong.

Jaysyn ,
@Jaysyn@kbin.social avatar

Listen, I don't know a fucking thing about this guy, but the real question you should be asking is he doing a good job or not?

Reverendender ,

It’s almost like law enforcement shouldn’t ever be an elected position

invertedspear ,

At some point as you go up the chain of government you have to get to an elected role else there’s no accountability to the people. A sheriff is the highest position in the county law enforcement chain. I don’t know there would be a better way to keep them and the office accountable.

Jaysyn , (edited )
@Jaysyn@kbin.social avatar

Yes, it should be a random lottery 🤦‍♂️

Oh wait, I know, we'll just have other politicians pick sheriffs. That's never caused any problems.

You can't make a suggestion like that without a solution, you just look like a jackass.

HobbitFoot ,

Arizona is strange as a lot of executive positions are directly elected, which leads to weird pissing matches in government where several officials can claim a direct electoral mandate.

FlyingSquid ,
@FlyingSquid@lemmy.world avatar

It sucks that this is legal, but I don’t know how you would be able to put a stop to people switching parties for convenience rather than ideology.

gAlienLifeform OP ,
@gAlienLifeform@lemmy.world avatar

Yeah, I think the best remedy here is just making sure that Maricopa County voters are very aware of what happened here

some_guy ,

You put a hold on their ability to run for office. Can’t run for some amount of time after changing to prevent exactly this. Context for those who didn’t RTFA:

The next day, Penzone’s chief deputy, Russell Skinner, changed his party affiliation from Republican to Democrat and won the spot.

FlyingSquid ,
@FlyingSquid@lemmy.world avatar

That is not a bad idea. It would at least lessen this problem.

voracitude ,

I wonder if this guy believes other people should be allowed to transition with as little resistance as he got.

  • All
  • Subscribed
  • Moderated
  • Favorites
  • •
  • [email protected]
  • random
  • lifeLocal
  • goranko
  • All magazines
    •