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It's Time to Kick Andrew Thomas Off the Stapley Investigation

A A A Comments (8) By Sarah Fenske Thursday, Feb 19 2009

...continued from page 2

To the city council, DiCiccio explained that he himself is the child of Italian immigrants. Well, then, surely he's aware that people used to say the exact same thing about Italians. Or maybe not: The dude is a longtime supporter of Sheriff Joe Arpaio, which hardly speaks to much intellectual curiosity.

Mayor Phil Gordon cast the deciding vote for DiCiccio, which really breaks my heart. He knows what a corrupt person Arpaio is. He knows that Mexicans aren't all criminals. Yet he still caved.

Don Stapley

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On the phone Wednesday, Gordon reminded me that DiCiccio wasn't his first choice for the job. He first supported his former chief of staff, Deb Gullett, until she dropped out. Then he supported lawyer Sal Rivera, who came one vote short.

Gordon said he wasn't aware of the op-ed piece until he was actually at the meeting. And, he told me, DiCiccio "is strongly supportive of [Police Chief] Jack Harris. That to me is very important, to protect everyone's civil rights."

The mayor has a point; the police union would love to dump Harris, in part over his disdain for Arpaio-like immigrant roundups. If DiCiccio has pledged his support to Harris, that's one point in his favor.

But it's only one point. And to me, it's not enough to make up for one really ugly opinion.

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JP 02/24/2009 2:09:00 PM

"In what officials caution is now a dangerous and even deadly crime wave, Phoenix, Arizona has become the kidnapping capital of America, with more incidents than any other city in the world outside of Mexico City and over 370 cases last year alone." ABC News, February 11, 2009 Clearly, Sal Diciccio should be praised for his prescient comments of two years, not condemned.

Taxpayer ripped off 02/22/2009 10:33:00 PM

correction: it's long overdue to get thomas out of power. thomas has abused the law and taxpayers long enough, with his personal and political agenda and the destruction of anyone who might step is his way. the county attorney should not be a political position and this is an example for the need to get a professional career county attorney who does their work behind the scenes. the taxpayers want his advertising and pr money back. get rid of thomas websites building his name while destroying others. if he wants the az bar reformed (which means reform of the legal system -- we all agree we don't need corrupt lawyers) he also needs to have a logo of the sheriff's office to appear also. the sheriff's office is long overdue for reform. while at it add the ADOC logo -- it needs major reform -- get rid of the lobbyists and profiteers in all these scams of the taxpayers and vulnerable people. Comment by Taxpayer ripped off by thomas / arpaio / pearce

Taxpayer ripped off by thomas 02/22/2009 10:28:00 PM

it's long overdue to thomas out of power. he has abused the law and taxpayers long enough, with his personal political agenda and the destruction of anyone who might step is his way. the county attorney should not be a political position and this is an example for the need to get a professional career county attorney who does their work behind the scenes. the taxpayer want his advertising and pr money back. get rid of thomas websites building his name while destroying others. if he wants the az bar reformed, he also needs to have a logo of the sheriff's office there also. the sheriff's office is long overdue for reform. while at it add the ADOC logo and it needs reform -- get rid of the lobbyists and profiteers in all these scams of the taxpayers and vulnerable people.

harold 02/20/2009 1:20:00 PM

not only kick him off the stapley case but out of office. Him and his side kick joker need the boot.

J DUB 02/19/2009 8:18:00 PM

I'm liking that DiCiccio guy more and more. I didn't see anything innacurate in his comments. MUCH of Maricopa county's crime is do to our southern brethren. Let's quit pretending that all illegals are just swell, kind hearted people looking for a better life. Bull. As Americans we'd be much, much safer with secure borders. It's refreshing to see/hear someone state publicly the tough truths we are facing.

TommyC1 02/19/2009 2:53:00 PM

Sarah, you are quickly becoming a journalistic hero! "the importation of a corrupt culture. South of the border, you have a governmental system that allows and sometimes encourages bribery of local officials." It's interesting that the newest member of Phoenix city council would have written this, even just two or so years ago. I would expect that if Mr. DiCiccio has been paying attention in Arizona over at least the past five years he has seen a culture of corruption right here in Maricopa County, such as the way the 'Shurf' behaves, along with his twin sister, Andrew Thomas, County Attorney. The Stapley investigation and charges seem to clearly stem from a vendetta by arpaio and thomas. History shows that anyone known to have crossed arpaio will pay in some way eventually. I don't care for Mr. Stapley, in fact I fully supported his opposition, Joel Sinclaire, in the last election. However, I also can't condone this action by arpaio and thomas. Yes, I agree, thomas needs to be removed from the prosecution process and any further proceedings in the case need to be moved out of Maricopa County. A bit off topic, but am I the only one noticing a strange silence over the past couple days from the 'Shurf' after the escape of a violent, convicted child rapist from Maricopa Court facilities? Not a picture, a sound bite, or a phrase has been uttered by arpaio this entire time. Is he out of country, perhaps Honduras, on a training mission and doesn't know about this? Or is his 'illegal sweeps' team planning their next raid on corn vendors and he simply doesn't have the time to talk about catching escaped baby rapers? In the mean time, MCSO lackeys are facing the press, just as they did last year when A HORRIBLE murder occurred in MCSO jail facilities and was ignored by a Detention Officer who was charged with watching video monitors of inmate activity. arpaio had his face in the camera on the 14th (Valentine's Day) when MCSO did the deadbeat parent roundup and said something about the "decent thing to do". How would arpaio know about doing anything decent? Has anyone seen arpaio? Does anyone care?

TommyC1 02/19/2009 2:50:00 PM

truthseeker 02/19/2009 2:44:00 AM

Sarah, good job! You are courageous and doing a much needed public service exposing the abuse of power which never ends in the Maricopa County Attorney's office with Thomas leading the way, and his enablers who keep him propped up. Thomas has a conflict of interest when he goes after his own client, the MCBOS. MCBOS should retain their own legal counsel.