Press Release | Regarding Chair Bronson’s comments directed at County Recorder Cázares-Kelly.

TUCSON – PCDP Chair, Bonnie Heidler released the following statement on April 12th, 2022.

Dear Pima County Supervisors,

I and other Party leaders have learned that our County Recorder and her staff experienced treatment by Supervisors’ Chair Bronson that was demeaning and hurtful. The fact that Ms. Bronson was a White woman demeaning an Indigenous woman raised the specter of racism, increasing the pain. We have reviewed videos of the meetings in which the behavior in question occurred. As Democrats, we are committed to our bedrock value that all people, no matter who we are, our color or race or where we come from, have the human right to be treated with respect. In violating that principle, Chairwoman Bronson’s behavior, whether racially, politically, or personally motivated, is unacceptable.

Chairwoman Bronson’s treatment of Recorder Cázares-Kelly was extensively discussed at two successive Executive Committee meetings of the Pima County Democratic Party. The Committee authorized me on April 4, 2022, to write to the Board of Supervisors to express our anger, dismay, and disappointment with this behavior, and to ask the Chairwoman to comply with the standards of appropriate conduct found in the Pima County Ethics Guide which prohibits demeaning employees.

We call upon the Board of Supervisors to support the Recorder and hold Ms. Bronson accountable for her behavior. We urge you to take appropriate and corrective actions to repair the injury caused to public confidence in Recorder Cázares-Kelly, her department, the Pima County government, and especially those in our diverse community who aspire to public service.

My own view in this painful instance is that mutual respect and accountability for all parties requires speaking directly and honestly with one another and listening. To pull together as the multiracial, and multicultural community that we are, we owe this to ourselves. To demean people who are working hard to meet their responsibilities is unacceptable, especially when the sting of White Supremacy will be felt whether intended or not.

Our Recorder and her staff are doing excellent work moving us toward better voting access for all Pima County voters. I strongly suggest that we recognize this accomplishment, and give the support needed to successfully complete it. I urge that we all undertake the difficult and direct conversations needed to come together in our efforts.


Respectfully,

Bonnie Heidler
Chair of the Pima County Democratic Party

copy of this letter as PDF

Pima County Board of Supervisors Meeting – Feb 15, 2022
with Vote Center Presentation
Pima County Board of Supervisors Meeting – March 1, 2022
2:25:10 Chair Bronson requests our elected Recorder should consult with the former Recorder for advice.

Another attack on voting rights | July 1, 2021

Another attack on voting rights
In a 6-3 decision today, all conservative Supreme Court Justices voted in favor of keeping Arizona HB 2023 in place, thereby continuing to disenfranchise Arizona voters of color, particularly those living in rural areas and on reservations.

It will still be illegal to deliver a neighbor’s early mail-in ballot, even if it prevents that voter from casting their vote. Those who cast a ballot in the wrong precinct will also continue to be punished by not having their vote counted.

In their majority opinion, these judges claim that these voting regulations will have a small impact on racial minorities as opposed to white voters, and that any differences in how communities are the result of differences in “employment, wealth, and education” (Opinion, p. 18). The same logic was used to justify literacy tests, wherein illiterate groups were barred from voting under the premise that very few illiterate people actually cast a ballot. This twisted perspective ignores the long term consequences of systemic racism and favors a white, upper class majority.

We call on Senators Sinema and Kelly to speak out against what has happened today, and to work with Congress to protect the voting rights of all Arizona residents.

Our state suffered a huge loss today, but we must not give up the fight to see a more equitable future for all.

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