AZ State House District 12 Primary

Based on the response to my email below and my research, I plan on voting for Steve Montenegro and Jerry Weirs on Tues Sep 2.

They are running for the Republican primary for Arizona State House District 12. Here are the three choices on my ballot.

Steve Montenegro

Jerry P. Weiers

Robert Blendu

If any one know a reason to vote for a AZ Corporation Commision candidate, let me know.

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Rich Alger
Date: Thu, Aug 21, 2008 at 8:28 AM
Subject: Re: Lack of Internet Zoning Laws
To: Jerry Weiers , "John B. Nelson" , Robert Blendu , Steve Montenegro

I never got a response that I remember from any of my elected representatives to my email [Nov 19, 2007] on the CP80 Internet Zoning Initiative. I would like to hear your position on this and other topics.

What is your position on Ballot Proposition 102 which will put in the state constitution, "Only a union of one man and one woman shall be valid or recognized as a marriage in this state"?

What do you think of implementing something like this to increase transparency on the state house?http://wisegoodhonest.blogspot.com/2008/05/increase-government-transparency.html

Why are you better than the alternatives in the primary to help support and develop the state economy?

Why are you better than the alternatives in the primary to help support and develop alternatives for energy. How will you help or stay out of the way for private sector solutions for better energy security?

Why are you better than the alternatives in the primary to prevent necessary spending, to keep taxes low and ensure the state budget is solvent for years to come?

How will you keep us safe from security threats within our state?

Why should I contribute my time and money to help you get elected over the other primary election options?

-
Rich Alger
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Here is the response of Steve Montenegro.

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Steve Montenegro
Date: Sun, Aug 24, 2008 at 12:23 AM
Subject: Re: Lack of Internet Zoning Laws
To: Rich Alger

Dear Sir:

I'm sorry for the delay in responding. With the campaign in full mode I am spending most of my time knocking on doors and phoning voters to talk with them about the issues. Its very nice to have someone care enough to contact me instead!

In quick order here:

Yes, I do support protecting marriage. I know that opponents of the ballot proposition claim that we already have laws that do that, but they do not make that argument honestly. They know that mere laws are what were overturned in CA and Mass. and they would like the same to occur here. Only a constitutional amendment will offer real protection.

I support transparency efforts and believe it should all be available online. I would also like to see transparency extended to local governments as well.

I am a big admirer of Rep. Weiers and he and I are campaigning together for the two house seats. Rep. Weiers was just named "Champion of the Taxpayer"by the Arizona Federation of Taxpayers and he does an excellent job of protecting our vital interests while still looking out for the taxpayers.He is also excellent on issues of illegal immigration, transportation, and is widely considered the legislature's expert on issues relating to sportsmen and the outdoors.

Mr. Blendu's record is very much the opposite of Mr. Weiers'. He was just named "Friend of Big Government" by the same taxpayer group, he voted for last year's budget that put us into our current deficit, and he didn't even show up to vote on this year's budget. He is campaigning largely on the basis that he deserves the credit for I-10 getting one more lane of highway when credit goes to a much larger group of people, and he ignores the fact that he voted for $2.3 Billion for the light rail system for Phoenix and Tempe when Mr. Weiers was advocating for that money to be spent on additional freeways and busses that would actually help to relieve congestion. There are more areas of disagreement, but I don't want to turn this email into a barrage of complaints. Suffice it to say that Mr. Weiers and Mr. Blendu regularly end up on the opposite sides of these votes and they cancel each other out. That makes no sense to me and I don't believe it benefits the district or the state.

Alternative energy is not yet a topic that I am overly familiar with,although I know that I will be spending a fair amount of time on it between the election and the start of the session (should I be fortunate enough to win). In general, I support alternate energy sources, clean energy sources,and especially domestic energy sources. Where I get concerned is when government uses mandates and often brute force to dictate winners and losers, often disregarding market forces. This results in inefficiency that manifests itself in higher rates for ratepayers, usually without producing the results that we were promised. I favor limited government and freemarkets.

Regarding taxes and the budget, I would refer you to my earlier answer regarding my opinions of the rest of the field. On these issues Mr. Weiers is rock-solid and Mr. Blendu is not. I see eye to eye with Mr. Weiers on these issues.

As far as security threats go, much of what I've learned comes from my work for Congressman Trent Franks. Our focus tends to be more on national security threats than Arizona-specific threats, but I think that my knowledge would be a compliment to the knowledge already present at the Capitol. Secure borders remains a focus for both Mr. Weiers and myself,while Mr. Blendu's proposal for a brand new guest worker plan that allows unlimited "guests" into our state makes little sense until the border is secured and we can track and account for those in our country.

Regarding contributions, I am maxed out on contributions, but Mr. Weiers may still take additional contributions. We would both be very grateful for anytime you could contribute, especially on Election Day where we will have volunteers manning the polling locations. As to why you might help? I hope that my responses indicate that Weiers and Montenegro are solid conservative Republicans who will do what is best for the district and the state.
Thanks again for taking the time to write!

~Steve Montenegro
www.MontenegroAZ.com
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