Yesterday's press release from the Federation for American Immigration Reform (FAIR) announced an event which would mark turning over petitions, which they paid to have gathered to help place Protect Arizona NOW's initiative (The Arizona Taxpayer and Citizen Protection Act) on the November 2004 ballot, to PAN.
    The well-scripted drama that FAIR would like to perform on June 29 at the State Capitol appears designed to hide that their associate, former PAN treasurer George 'Rusty' Childress, has failed to comply with Judge Ruth Hilliard's order to turn over all PAN accounts, funds, and documents by June 18, and by yesterday (June 23), all petitions gathered on behalf of PAN.
    The June 29 theatrics planned by FAIR also deflect attention from the fact that the signatures which they claim to have in their hands fall well short of the required number, 122,612 valid signatures needed to put the Arizona Taxpayer & Citizen Protection Act initiative on the November ballot.
      The out-of-state petition company [Arno] retained by FAIR guarantees only 20% validity, according to the contract between FAIR and that company shown to PAN chairman Kathy McKee 3 months ago.  Close to 200,000 signatures are needed to overcome their anticipated invalidity rate.  The "nearly 100,000" trumpeted by FAIR is far short of sufficient.

        If petitions had been turned over to PAN 10 weeks ago when FAIR's paid petitioners purportedly started gathering signatures, PAN volunteers could have at least partially validated signatures to reduce the invalidity rate known to accompany paid signatures. If the initiative is to have a chance, all petitions should have been turned over to PAN no later than Wednesday, June 23, as ordered by Judge Ruth Hilliard on June 17.
    FAIR's agent, Rusty Childress, indicated at the June 17 hearing that he needed longer than 24 hours to get together all the petitions that had been circulated on PAN's behalf, since many had left the state and were in California. The judge gave him until June 23 to "marshal all petitions" and turn them over to McKee.
    Since FAIR retained the out-of-state petition company to organize collection of signatures, and this is the alleged "in-kind" contributions to PAN Childress reported to the Secretary of State, these are PAN's petitions. Where are they? Childress turned over 37 unnotarized signatures Friday, June 18, as the sum total of all the petitions he had in his possession. States McKee, "PAN's counting team has not gotten any petitions to count/check from Childress since the morning of May 25. It's mind-boggling what could have happened to the thousands of signatures from Western Petitions and Sign Here Petitions paid for with PAN's funds, not to mention the 3,000-5,000 signatures per week PAN volunteers had been turning in up until that time.."
    Why does FAIR want to wait until June 29 to turn over PAN's signatures or make a "full public disclosure of how the funds were spent to gather these signatures" ? Does FAIR imply that the $400,000+ of in-kind donations that Childress has reported to the Secretary of State, which were received from FAIR and its associated groups, is exempt from the court order to turn over all PAN documents by June 18?  Does this mean that the $400,000+ is NOT ACTUALLY part of PAN's accounts?  Was this or was it not a donation to PAN, either in cash or in-kind?
    "Those are fair and serious questions," states McKee, "because PAN has not received one dime in cash or one signature from FAIR or any of its affiliated groups reported by Rusty."

    For months, FAIR has led an effort to divide and control PAN, hardly the kind of "American participatory democracy" that FAIR claims to support. For months, FAIR and other groups they mention have written checks to an out-of-state petition company which has delivered not one single petition to PAN. If FAIR is shares the same pure ethics and selfless agenda as PAN, why has FAIR withheld what is not theirs to hold?  And now, why not give PAN all signed petitions that are in their hands or control, immediately?
    Months ago, states McKee, "FAIR brought a Trojan horse to Arizona. Within its belly, in impenetrable darkness, may have passed donations, accounts, and expenditures using PAN's name. In there now are petitions collected in PAN's name, as learned yesterday from FAIR's press release. Yes, the Trojan horse contains an inadequate "nearly 100,000" signatures of unknown validity. FAIR pretends this is a triumph whereas it is a dismal failure that they seek to lay on us--specifically me--in the 11th hour.!"
    If FAIR had worked constructively and above-board, Protect Arizona NOW's initiative would be on the ballot in November.  If FAIR will turn over PAN's signed petitions today, Arizonans might still do it.  Every passing hour is a further sign of FAIR's preference for show-boating and political games -- instead of just honestly getting the work done.
WE WANT OUR PETITIONS TODAY!