Left to right are candidates Michelle Harris, Kiana Maria Sears, Tom Tzitzura and Dr. Hiral Tipireni who participated in the October 3 meeting.
Alisa Moore
More than 150 people gathered at Tuscany Falls Ballroom to learn more about local and state candidates and various propositions on the ballot for the November 6 midterm election at the October 3 shared meeting hosted by the PebbleCreek Democratic Club, Dems of Verrado and Legislative District 13.
Candidates participating included Michelle Harris, candidate for Arizona Senate, Kiana Sears, candidate for Arizona Corporation Commission, Tom Tzitzura, running for Arizona House and Dr. Hiral Tipirneni, candidate for U.S. Congress. We also had representatives from the Heather Macre campaign for Arizona Water Conservation District Board and speakers addressing the propositions on the ballot. Participants came early and stayed late to answer voters questions.
The propositions engendered lots of questions, which moderator John Moore funneled to the appropriate representative or candidate. Those discussions focused on:
*Prop 125, which would permit the State to adjust certain benefits in the Corrections Officers’ and Elected Officials’ Retirement Systems to alleviate pension underfunding
*Prop 126, which would prohibit the taxation of any service that was not taxed as of December 31, 2017
*Prop. 127, which would require electricity providers to generate at least 50% of their annual sales of electricity from renewable energy sources
*Prop. 305 which would expand eligibility for education empowerment scholarship accounts to increase the number of eligible students enrolled in Kindergarten through 12th grade with greater funding provided for low-income students
*Prop 306 which would prohibit candidates who finance their political campaigns with public funding from the Citizens Clean Elections Commission from transferring any campaign funds to a political party or private tax-exempt organization that attempts to influence elections and subjects the commission’s rulemaking procedures to regulatory oversight.
In addition to meeting and speaking with candidates and proposition representatives, attendees picked up campaign signs, signed up to volunteer for voter canvas and phone banking activities and learned more about the three host organizations.
The next PebbleCreek Democratic Club meeting is November 7 at Tuscany Falls; the social hour starts at 6:00 p.m. and the meeting at 7:00 p.m., and will focus on Veterans in honor of the November 11 holiday. Speakers, a panel discussion and slide show are planned. All are welcome! For more information about upcoming events and meetings, please visit our website, https://demclub.org.