Alisa Moore
The PC Democratic Club’s January kick-off for the 2020 election year brought 140 club members together to hear from Adrian Fontes, Maricopa County Recorder and current candidate for re-election.
Mr. Fontes, a dynamic, knowledgeable, and entertaining speaker, was born in Nogales, AZ, where his family roots go back more than 350 years. He served as a U.S. Marine from 1992-1996, and after leaving active duty, completed his bachelor’s degree at ASU summa cum laude, and his law degree at the Sturm College of Law at the University of Denver. He served as a prosecutor first in the Denver District Attorney’s office, then the Maricopa County Attorney’s and Arizona Attorney General’s offices before going into private practice. He and his wife Nona have three daughters.
As County Recorder, he has worked to bring a renewed energy and vision to the office, with the goal of rebuilding public trust in the election system in Maricopa County. His focus is on the voters’ experience, accountability, and security and he will continue to work to ensure that every Maricopa County citizen who is eligible to vote is able to vote, whether by mail or in person on Election Day — and that all of their ballots are counted. He has fixed long-standing problems in the election processes, including the huge numbers of provisional ballots and rejected voter registrations not addressed prior to his 2016 election.
He explained it is now easy for voters to check on the status of their registrations and any votes they have cast in a current election, and to get myriad other election questions answered through Maricopa.vote. In order to handle the election processes efficiently, accurately, and fairly, the Recorder must have a strong knowledge of information technology, personnel, security, and logistics issues never before required. Maricopa County has the third largest concentration of voters, after the Houston and Los Angeles areas, with more than 2.2 million registered voters, 748 voting precincts, and five congressional districts within the county. For more information visit ElectFontes.com and Fontes2020.com.
In other business, Agua Fria Food and Clothing Bank is the 2020 Community Benefits Project. They need non-perishable food, hygiene items, laundry soap, and gently used clothing of all sizes. Bring items to club meetings or the Veltri home.
Club membership surpassed 300 (306) at the end of 2019, and ten new members were added at the January meeting. Shari Baer thanked those serving on the Membership Committee: Ann Burkey, Becky Rodes, Esther Eisler, Donna Jansen, Will Schaffer, and Phyllis Minsuk. Jan Race noted that the KAX Theater event has sold 52 tickets, that Frankie Veltri will accept reservations for the Mardi Gras Party until Feb. 7 and that a new Game Night focusing on games other than Mexican Train starts the third Wednesday of each month. Mexican Train game nights, monthly Men’s Breakfasts and Women’s Luncheons, and the Saturday breakfasts will continue. Three book clubs are up and running with a few spaces still available. Visit PCDemClub.org for more info.