Hired mercenaries are blocking Tempe petitioners. Who’s paying them?

Just days after the Tempe City Council unanimously passed a controversial new special events ordinance, a coalition of local organizers began gathering signatures to put a repeal measure on the ballot in the city’s March 2026 election.

But now, that effort faces a new, mysterious challenge. Sometime last week, an opposition campaign to the petition effort cropped up, and it’s not clear who’s footing the bill for it.

Paid workers who identified themselves as working for the political outreach firm Groundswell Contact have on numerous occasions shown up at the Tempe Public Library and Brick Road Cafe, where petition organizers have been gathering signatures. Those Groundswell workers — some of whom live outside of Arizona — have attempted to dissuade people from signing the repeal petition. They have also distributed incendiary flyers that give no indication of who paid for them.

On Saturday, Tempe resident Mandy Everett spent the day collecting signatures outside the library. Nearby for much of the time was a Groundswell worker who identified himself to Phoenix New Times only as Laroyce. Wearing a U.S. Army hat and a shirt with a marijuana leaf and “Highway 420” embroidered over the heart, said he was sent from East Texas to Arizona for the job. He didn’t know exactly how long his assignment in Tempe would run.

“As long as they payin’, I’m out here,” he said. “They stop paying, I go home.”

Hiring a firm, which then hires workers, to gather signatures or to counter-petition is hardly scandalous. Many candidates and groups hire firms like Groundswell to do this kind of work. Laroyce — who said he has canvassed in Phoenix before but wouldn’t specify for whom — said he makes more than $100,000 a year traveling across the country to canvas. “It’s great business,” he said.

Another Groundswell worker at the library was Tempe resident Charles Clark. “We don’t hate you, we don’t have anything against you,” he told New Times, addressing signature gatherers. “Our job is to block you.” He added that professionalism is a must and conflict with signature gatherers is to be avoided at all costs.

Flyers and text messages

Clark and others also handed out anti-petition flyers riddled with typos but devoid of information about the effort’s financial backers.

“The Parks Petition is being run by the Democratic Socialist of Phoenix (DSA),” the flyer reads. The group is actually the Phoenix-metro chapter of the Democratic Socialists of America. “Why are those in Phoenix trying to tell Tempe residents what to vote on?”

Raj Arora, an Arizona State University law student who is working with DSA on the petition effort, said more than 120 of the chapter’s members are Tempe residents. “It’s interesting how they’re trying to portray us as out-of-towners when they have paid people coming from out of town,” Arora said. “Everyone here is a volunteer. None of us are getting paid to do this — we’re giving our free time to knock on doors and table and talk to people.”

The flyer also mischaracterizes the petition effort, which seeks to repeal a new city ordinance that will force groups of a certain size to jump through more bureaucratic hoops to gather in city parks. Opponents think the new ordinance will limit free speech and freedom of assembly and feel it was passed to crack down on advocacy groups that distribute food to unhoused people in the parks.

“The DSA is preventing the City of Tempe from holding anyone accountable for trashing parks,” the counter-petition flyer says. “If this ordinance doesn't pass it will be a free for all at your neighborhood park.”

That’s not accurate. For one, the ordinance has already passed, hence the effort to repeal it. Secondly, the new ordinance goes into effect Aug. 1, so the repeal effort seeks only to preserve the status quo. There will be no “free for all” in Tempe parks if the repeal passes, unless one admits there is also a “free for all” currently.

Beyond flyers and paid canvassers, someone identified only as “Pat” began sending Tempe residents text messages on Friday, campaigning against the repeal effort.

“Hey, it's Pat,” it read. “As a Tempe resident, I'm asking neighbors: please don't sign the referendum pushed by the Democratic Socialists of Phoenix. Our updated park ordinance ensures cleaner, safer parks and fair access to reservations for everyone. Keep our decisions local and protect our green spaces, don't sign the referendum!”

It’s unclear who is behind the texts, but whoever it is appears to be using outdated voter registration data. Tempe resident Mario Martinez said his wife, Naomi Jackson, received such a text. However, Jackson died on June 19 and was removed from the county’s voter rolls on July 10, according to a document signed by Maricopa County Recorder Justin Heap.

Who’s paying for it?

Who’s paying Groundswell for this campaign? After all, the texts, flyers and paid canvassers cost money.

When reached by phone, Groundswell director of field operations Christina McCullough said she was traveling and could not speak with New Times. The company has not responded to an inquiry sent through its website.

New Times obtained a recording of a conversation between one of the blockers and Dillon Wild, co-chair of the DSA’s Phoenix chapter. In it, a Groundswell worker — who said he is from Oklahoma but did not identify himself — declined to say who had hired Groundswell but said, “We’re with the city council. We’re the outreach of someone that supports the city council.”

Tempe spokesperson Kris Baxter-Ging told New Times the city has not paid Groundswell to canvas against the repeal effort. “We are not aware of any council member involvement, nor are we aware of who is paying for this,” she said. However, Baxter-Ging said she could not say for sure if any individual city council members have been involved.

Several obvious suspects denied having anything to do with it.

Tempe Mayor Corey Woods used Groundswell for his mayoral campaign in February 2024, paying the firm $5,000. Reached by phone, he said the firm was recommended to him and that he was “very satisfied with the work they did.” However, he denied that he or his associates are involved in the anti-repeal effort.

Woods is the only current council member whose campaign used Groundswell, though a political action committee that supported the campaigns of many council members has history with Groundswell. Tempe Together PAC, which campaigned on behalf of Woods and councilmembers Doreen Garlid and Randy Keating, paid Groundswell $8,500 last election cycle. But PAC records show no financial activity since November and the PAC’s chairperson told New Times it was not behind the campaign.

Repeal activists have whispered the name of political consultant Eric Chalmers, who has done a total of $71,000 of work for the campaigns of at least five councilmembers since December 2021. Chalmers left a glowing review of Groundswell on its website, but he told New Times on Monday that he is not connected to the anti-petition work Groundswell is doing in Tempe.

The flyers and texts contain no information about who paid for them perhaps because, at least at this stage, they don’t have to. A spokesperson from the Arizona Secretary of State’s Office told New Times that the materials being distributed are more along the lines of “grassroots advocacy” and not electioneering, since the matter is not yet related to an election.

However, should the repeal referendum make the March 2026 ballot, all materials related to it will be subject to the Arizona law that requires the disclosure of financial backers.

Petition progress

Shadowy opposition or not, signature gatherers are optimistic they’ll cross the finish line in time.

The petition organizers — which include the local DSA chapter, the Arizona Young Democrats, Tempe 1st, New Deal Meal, AZ Hugs and Tempe Neighborhoods Together — must gather 2,440 Tempe resident signatures in favor of repealing the ordinance by Aug. 1. In reality, they’ll need to gather more than that to account for signatures that are struck as duplicates or otherwise ineligible.

Wild, the co-chair of the DSA’s Phoenix chapter, told New Times on Monday night the effort is closing in on that goal.

“Despite the opposition from paid political mercenaries, we're at nearly 2,100 confirmed signatures,” Wild said. “We're immensely proud and grateful for the time that over 80 DSA and coalition volunteers have put into this effort. We urge folks to volunteer and come sign the petition to push us over the threshold we need to win.”

Woods confirmed to New Times earlier this month that if petitioners gather the required number of valid signatures, the Tempe City Council will have a ceremonial vote to put it on the ballot.

Everett, the pro-repeal canvasser outside the library, told New Times that the Groundswell workers have indeed deterred some people from signing her petition. “It's hard to estimate the impact of the signature blockers, but I'd say they scared at least five or so people from even hearing me out,” she said. Other residents had the opposite reaction.

“Some people were so put off by them,” she said, “they were even more receptive to my message when I explained they are out-of-state paid canvassers and I'm a volunteer who's actually from Tempe.”

Even Clark, one of the Groundswell workers attempting to neutralize Everett, seemed to find something a bit off about the parks ordinance saga. One of the main critiques from organizers is that the city rushed the new ordinance through, holding zero stakeholder meetings outside of the public comment portion of two city council meetings. At the second, held early this month, nearly 80 residents spoke against it for six hours, only for the council to unanimously pass the ordinance after midnight.

As he waited for Tempe residents to pass by, Clark offered his appraisal.

“Seven to nothing after (77) people speak till one o’clock in the morning,” he said, “indicates to me that was gonna be the vote before you all spoke.”