Cecilia Velasquez
Audio By Carbonatix
Politicians: They’re just like us!
Actually, no, they’re definitely worse.
You probably don’t commit food-stamp fraud. Or illegally trespass on a military base to go hunting. And we’re going to go out on a limb here and say you definitely aren’t spending your spare time trying to have sex with farm animals.
When news happens, Phoenix New Times is there —
Your support strengthens our coverage.
We’re aiming to raise $30,000 by December 31, so we can continue covering what matters most to you. If New Times matters to you, please take action and contribute today, so when news happens, our reporters can be there.
But your local elected representatives do! Here are five memorable times they embarrassed themselves (and, by default, the entire state.)
1. Frank Antenori was charged with illegal hunting at Fort Huachuca.
The former Republican whip for the Arizona State Senate claimed that he was the victim of retaliation from the army base. “They literally closed it … because of me, to stop me from hunting there in archery deer season,” he told the Green Valley News.
Arizona-Mexico Commission president David Farca, a Doug Ducey appointee, was at the center of a lawsuit involving a vacation condo in Cabo San Lucas in Baja California Sur.
Arizona-Mexico Commission
2. The time David Farca was sued for fraud
Doug Ducey’s appointee to head the Arizona-Mexico Commission was chosen on the basis of his entrepreneurial expertise. That got awkward when he was sued for taking more than $200,000 from a man who’d paid him to remodel his vacation home … and allegedly never doing the work.
Cecilia Velasquez
3. Cecilia Velasquez stole $1,726 in food stamps.
A tip to the Department of Economic Security’s Office of the Inspector General revealed that Velasquez, a Democrat, had falsely claimed to be living with two dependents so that she could receive SNAP benefits. Though Velasquez called it a “political witch hunt,” she also declined to run for a second term.
4. Kelly Townsend declared dead celebrities to be a bunch of druggies.
As Facebook users mourned the many celebrities that died in 2016, Townsend, an East Valley Republican, responded with a post saying that 2016 had been a great year, and “the real reason that many of these people are dropping like flies is because they were druggies.” She later apologized.
5. Leroy Johnson allegedly tried to have sex with a sheep.
It might be a stretch to call the Mesa Deputy Fire Chief a politician, but Leroy Johnson (who, as you might have guessed, is no longer employed by the fire department) deserves an honorable mention on this list anyway — if only for the number of bad jokes he inspired.
