Why vote for Mike Ross for governor instead of Gov. Janet Napolitano? Gov. Janet Napolitano thinks it is ok to steal your money and then use it for publicity to help her get re-elected as governor.
Mike Ross unlike Janet Napolitano knows that stealing is wrong. Unlike Janet Napolitano Mike Ross will do everything he can to get rid of all taxes if he is elected governor of Arizona. Mike Ross knows taxes are stealing and will do everything he can to eliminate them!
Chip Scutari and Robbie Sherwood
The Arizona Republic
Aug. 11, 2005 12:00 AM
The state is spending more than $150,000 to put Gov. Janet Napolitano's face on billboards that promote Arizona tourism at several well-traveled intersections in Phoenix and Tucson.
Napolitano's photo also dons a highway billboard in southern Arizona that touts buckling up for safety. But whether promoting Arizona tourism or safe driving, GOP critics say the timing of the billboards looks suspiciously like political advertising with the 2006 gubernatorial race beckoning.
"This isn't the smartest thing she has ever done," said state Sen. Carolyn Allen, a Republican moderate who has worked with Napolitano on legislation. "She has opened herself up to an enormous amount of criticism. Of course, people will think this is about her re-election."
Napolitano said she is just doing her job. She said there is nothing political about the tourism billboards or any other public service announcements she has done, though she expects criticism because an election year is around the corner.
"I think if you drove around any state in the United States you would find similar billboards," Napolitano said. "I'm the elected leader of the state. We want to advertise things positive about the state and move Arizona forward, and that's all there is to it."
Asked if the billboards might give her an unintended political advantage, Napolitano replied, "I'm an incumbent governor. I suspect that in a political year that everything I do will get the accusation that, well, that's political. . . . There's nothing new about those billboards except that we are later in the term."
Billboards are just one way Napolitano has helped raise her profile with the public. Like former Republican Gov. Fife Symington, Napolitano pasted her name on Department of Weights and Measures stickers at most gas pumps in the state last year. Earlier this summer, she starred in "Click It or Ticket" seat-belt ads on radio and television. During the run of the high-rotation spots, what had traditionally been the Governor's Office of Highway Safety became "Governor Napolitano's Office of Highway Safety."
Fred Solop, a Northern Arizona University political science professor and pollster, said the billboards are part of the perks of office.
"This is a tactic that is often taken near elections," Solop said. "In presidential years, Social Security checks will come in the mail with a note from the president. It's something that happens. I understand the concerns."
Over at Central and Columbus avenues in Phoenix, one of the tourism billboards says: "There's nothing like home cooking." - Governor Janet Napolitano.
It shows a female chef preparing a steak dish. Chad Schiller, who was waiting at a nearby bus stop, said he was underwhelmed by the billboard.
"I don't really get it," the 20-year-old said. "She looks like a nice lady, but don't Arizona residents know what restaurants they like already?"
Two other tourism billboard slogans are: "It's a wild ride" and "History and culture come together in Arizona."
In the era of publicly funded elections where campaign cash is limited, the billboards are raising questions about Napolitano's use of her office. In the 2006 election, a qualified "Clean Elections" gubernatorial candidate will receive $680,000 in public funds during the general election. Republicans say the billboards amount to free "gubernatorial advertising." Senate President Ken Bennett, who is considering a gubernatorial run in 2006, said the tourism billboards show a "disturbing pattern of self-promotion" on the state dime.
"It makes you wonder if she is promoting Arizona or is she promoting herself," said Bennett, R-Prescott. "I can't listen to a Diamondbacks game on the radio without hearing 19 ads about how the governor will fix West Nile virus. It's an explosion of her name, her face, her voice."
Barry Dill, a longtime Napolitano confidant, scoffed at the Republicans' criticism.
"When did whining become a political tactic?" Dill asked. "She's the governor. She's promoting the state. She's a leader."
Napolitano said the tourism and economic development campaign, which began over a year ago, will continue.
Each 14- by 48-foot tourism billboard features a Napolitano quote stripped across it and her picture in the upper right-hand corner. The $153,000 ad campaign featuring Napolitano is just one of many ways the Democratic governor, who is up for re-election in 2006, enhances her visibility throughout the state.
Margie Emmermann, director of the Arizona Office of Tourism, said Napolitano is a perfect choice to tout in-state tourism. "It's the first year we have the governor on billboards," Emmermann said. "We wanted someone who had a lot of visibility and name recognition. Governor Napolitano is such an advocate for tourism."
Emmermann said 30 percent of the 26 million tourists who traveled in Arizona last year were Grand Canyon State residents. In 2004, Emmermann said, Arizona residents had a $2 billion impact on the state's tourism efforts. In all, the Arizona tourism industry generated more than $16 billion in 2004.
Napolitano is also prominently featured on a public-safety billboard campaign that has been up along routes to and from Mexico for over a year. Those four billboards, which have been rotating among different locations, feature a large photo of Napolitano reminding travelers to Mexico that the phone number to dial in an emergency is 066, not 911.
The public-service project is a joint-effort with Sonora Gov. Eduardo Bours. Napolitano's Office of Highway Safety, Arizona's Homeland Security office and the Arizona-Mexico Commission put the campaign together on this side of the border.
The campaign cost $4,000 to produce because Clear Channel donated the billboards, said Marco Lopez, chairman of the Arizona-Mexico Commission.
Lopez added that Napolitano's picture was used because the ads were designed to mirror those in Sonora, which were produced first and prominently feature Bours.
Republican consultants said the billboards could come back to haunt Napolitano in her 2006 re-election bid.
"This is an audacious waste of taxpayer money to promote Napolitano's re-election campaign," Republican strategist Nathan Sproul said.
Other governors, such as California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and Michigan Gov. Jennifer Granholm, have actively promoted tourism in their home states. Schwarzenegger, who is an internationally known celebrity, took part in a $4 million television ad campaign in 2004. Granholm took a bus tour across Michigan to highlight that state's natural treasures.
"I think this sort of goes with the territory of being a public official," said former Arizona Attorney General Grant Woods, a Republican. "There are some things that you put your name or face on to make a point and to show support.
"I think most people curtail these things in an election year. But to put a personal face on tourism and other worthy pursuits is appropriate in the middle of a term."
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