Expand / Collapse search
☰
Flood Warning
from SUN 4:57 AM MST until SUN 5:00 PM MST, Pima County
9
Flood Warning
from SAT 2:41 PM MST until MON 8:00 AM MST, Maricopa County
Flood Warning
from SAT 3:52 PM MST until MON 7:45 AM MST, Maricopa County
Flood Warning
from SAT 10:26 PM MST until MON 8:00 AM MST, Gila County
Flood Watch
until MON 5:00 AM MST, Eastern Cochise County below 5000 ft including Douglas/Wilcox, Upper Gila River and Aravaipa Valleys including Clifton/Safford, Southeast Pinal County including Kearny/Mammoth/Oracle, Western Pima County including Ajo/Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument, Dragoon/Mule/Huachuca and Santa Rita Mountains including Bisbee/Canelo Hills/Madera Canyon, Tucson Metro Area including Tucson/Green Valley/Marana/Vail, Tohono O'odham Nation including Sells, Baboquivari Mountains including Kitt Peak, Upper San Pedro River Valley including Sierra Vista/Benson, Chiricahua Mountains including Chiricahua National Monument, Galiuro and Pinaleno Mountains including Mount Graham, Santa Catalina and Rincon Mountains including Mount Lemmon/Summerhaven, White Mountains of Graham and Greenlee Counties including Hannagan Meadow, South Central Pinal County including Eloy/Picacho Peak State Park, Upper Santa Cruz River and Altar Valleys including Nogales, North Phoenix/Glendale, Aguila Valley, Mazatzal Mountains, Tonopah Desert, Gila Bend, San Carlos, East Valley, Northwest Pinal County, Northwest Valley, Southeast Valley/Queen Creek, Globe/Miami, Deer Valley, Fountain Hills/East Mesa, Apache Junction/Gold Canyon, Buckeye/Avondale, Tonto Basin, Rio Verde/Salt River, South Mountain/Ahwatukee, Dripping Springs, Southeast Gila County, Pinal/Superstition Mountains, Scottsdale/Paradise Valley, New River Mesa, Sonoran Desert Natl Monument, West Pinal County, Superior, Cave Creek/New River, Central Phoenix, Northwest Plateau, Lake Havasu and Fort Mohave, Yavapai County Mountains, Little Colorado River Valley in Navajo County, Western Mogollon Rim, Coconino Plateau, Chinle Valley, Yavapai County Valleys and Basins, Oak Creek and Sycamore Canyons, Grand Canyon Country, Chuska Mountains and Defiance Plateau, Northeast Plateaus and Mesas South of Hwy 264, Little Colorado River Valley in Coconino County, Black Mesa Area, Marble and Glen Canyons, Northeast Plateaus and Mesas Hwy 264 Northward, Northern Gila County, White Mountains, Kaibab Plateau, Eastern Mogollon Rim, Little Colorado River Valley in Apache County
Wind Advisory
from SUN 8:00 AM MST until SUN 11:00 PM MST, Eastern Mogollon Rim, White Mountains, Little Colorado River Valley in Apache County, Little Colorado River Valley in Navajo County, Little Colorado River Valley in Coconino County
Flood Advisory
from SAT 10:51 PM MST until SUN 10:45 AM MST, Yavapai County
Flood Advisory
from SUN 2:56 AM MST until SUN 7:00 AM MST, Pinal County, Gila County
Flood Advisory
from SUN 1:33 AM MST until SUN 8:30 AM MST, Navajo County, Apache County, Gila County

Arizona House ethics panel tables complaint against Dem lawmaker

By Bob Christie
Associated Press
Arizona Politics
Published May 6, 2022 5:12 AM MST
Published May 6, 2022 5:12 AM MST
Robert Meza and Lisa Otondo article

Arizona Democratic Rep. Robert Meza and Democratic Sen. Lisa Otondo

PHOENIX - The Arizona House Ethics Committee on May 5 voted to take no action on a complaint against Democratic Rep. Robert Meza, with the committee chairman saying the allegations fell outside the panel’s ability to investigate.

Republican Rep. Travis Grantham said the complaint against Meza filed last month by Scottsdale resident Phillip Potter should be tabled indefinitely, and the committee agreed on a 4-1 vote.

Meza’s lawyer, Tim Nelson, said Monday that Potter’s complaint, which alleged a long-running fraud scheme operated by the Phoenix lawmaker, was false and part of an ongoing effort by Potter to get back at anyone who has had anything to do with his ex-wife.

Potter has filed numerous lawsuits in recent years, and court records show most were thrown out as unsupported. A judge threatened to seek to have him named a "vexatious litigant" for filing meritless lawsuits.

One of those lawsuits filed last year named his former wife, Meza and more than a dozen other people and accused them of conspiring to support an order of protection she obtained against him. It also recounted the same corruption allegations against Meza contained in the ethics complaint. The case against the ex-wife and Meza was dismissed.

Potter previously gave the material in the ethics complaint to the FBI, but Nelson said they took no action.

Grantham said the House panel was the wrong forum for Potter’s complaints.

"We’re not a prosecutorial arm of government, and I don’t anticipate us becoming one," Grantham said. "If Mr. Potter believes that he has evidence that Mr. Meza has engaged in criminal wrongdoing, it is to a law enforcement agency that Mr. Potter should take that evidence," Grantham said.

Republican Rep. Jacqueline Parker of Mesa was the lone dissenter.

"Some of the complaints do seem serious and in violation of our House rules," Parker said. "I think they could merit some investigation."

But Grantham said the House rule violations contained in Potter’s lengthy complaint were not made toward Meza but to people outside the Legislature who are not even state employees.

"A House ethics committee exists solely for that purpose, to deal with violations of rules against one another, internal to this body," Grantham said.

Potter also filed a complaint accusing Democratic state Sen. Lisa Otondo of helping Meza cover up the alleged schemes. The Senate’s ethics panel voted Monday to wait until its House counterpart decided how to handle Meza’s case before proceeding.

Senate Ethics Committee chair Sen. Sine Kerr said Thursday the complaint against Otondo will remain inactive unless the House panel decides to revive the one against Meza.

Arizona PoliticsPhoenixScottsdaleNews