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Special Meeting Minutes Wednesday, July 19, 2023 9:00 AM BOARD OF SUPERVISORS Maricopa County, Arizona (and the Boards of Directors of the Flood Control District, Library District, Stadium District, Improvement Districts and/or Board of Deposit) "The mission of Maricopa County is to provide regional leadership and fiscally responsible, necessary public services to its residents so they can enjoy living in healthy and safe communities” Board Members Clint Hickman, Chairman, District 4 Jack Sellers, Vice Chairman District 1 Thomas Galvin, District 2 Bill Gates, District 3 Steve Gallardo, District 5 County Manager Jen Pokorski Clerk of the Board Juanita Garza Meeting Location Supervisors' Conference Room 301 W Jefferson, 10th Floor Phoenix, AZ 85003 Chairman Hickman opened the meeting and asked the Clerk to call the roll. BOARD OF SUPERVISORS The Board of Supervisors of Maricopa County, Phoenix, Arizona, convened in Special Session at 9:00 AM on Wednesday, July 19, 2023, in the Supervisors' Conference Room 301 W. Jefferson, 10th Floor Phoenix, AZ 85003, with the following members present: Clint Hickman, Chairman, District 4; Jack Sellers, Vice Chairman, District 1 (remote); Thomas Galvin, Supervisor, District 2 (remote); Bill Gates, Supervisor, District 3; Steve Gallardo, Supervisor, District 5. Also present: Juanita Garza, Clerk; Kelly Gardiner, Minutes Coordinator; Jen Pokorski, County Manager; Andrea Cummings, Legal Counsel. ACTION 1. APPOINTMENT FOR STATE SENATOR LEGISLATIVE DISTRICT 2 Pursuant to A.R.S. § 41-1202, receive the names of the three qualified electors as candidates to fill the vacancy for the Legislative District 2 State Senator seat as submitted by the Legislative District 2 Precinct Committeemen and appoint one of the candidates from the list to fill the vacancy created by the resignation of State Senator Steve Kaiser. The three candidate names submitted by the District are: • Shawnna Bolick • Josh Barnett • Paul Carver (C-06-24-032-X-00) Chairman Hickman read the agenda item and the names of the three applicants. He then called for a motion. Supervisor Gates started by explaining how important this appointment process is. He thanked former Senator Steve Kaiser for his service in the Legislature and added that he respected his decision to move on from public service. He thanked the Precinct Committeemen for their work on this process as well. Supervisor Gates stated that the Board followed the law in this selection process but does not believe the process has produced candidates that represent the breadth of the Republican party. He met with the candidates to ask them about their position on elections and all agreed it was time to move on from the 2020 and 2022 elections issue. He said all three also agreed there Special Meeting Minutes Wednesday, July 19, 2023 Page 2 of 2 needs to be legislative reform to improve the elections process by utilizing elections experts as the County has done. Supervisor Gates said candidate Shawnna Bolick has the perspective of a small government conservative and he believes she will work with Maricopa County with respect to the elections coming up in 2024. Motion to approve the appointment of Shawnna Bolick to the Legislative District 2 State Senate seat by Supervisor Bill Gates, seconded by Supervisor Thomas Galvin Supervisor Galvin echoed the comments made by Supervisor Gates. He thanked former Senator Kaiser, the Precinct Committeemen and the three applicants. Supervisor Galvin talked about the qualities that made Shawnna Bolick the best candidate for the Senate seat including being a small government conservative. She has been tenacious on many important issues including education, consumer protection, and criminal justice reform during her 10 years in the House of Representatives. Supervisor Gallardo spoke and thanked former Senator Steve Kaiser for his service and acknowledged how tough the job is. He said former Senator Kaiser worked diligently on housing issues, came up with a proposal, but personalities and partisan issues got in the way and ultimately the bill did not pass. Supervisor Gallardo echoed Supervisor Gates’ comments on the method of filling legislative vacancies. This process puts forward candidates that often are not known to the appointing Board, if they are qualified, or if they reflect the values of the legislative district they are asked to represent. Supervisor Gallardo said Ms. Bolick is probably the best fit to continue the work for the State of Arizona. Supervisor Sellers said Ms. Bolick reached out to him to let him know what her priorities were, and he said he appreciated that gesture. Chairman Hickman said the Board has participated in this appointment process several times. He recently took the time to sit down with House Speaker, Ben Toma, and Senate President, Warren Petersen, and recommended that this process be changed. He said when the three applicant names are put forward by the Precinct Committeemen, the choices come from their membership not the community at large. Chairman Hickman remarked that five years ago, he felt concern about this process because there was very little vetting that occurred prior to the appointment and little was known about the character of the applicants. Chairman Hickman said if the Board is being asked to make an appointment to the Legislature, he believes the Board needs to have more input into the process. He said Shawnna Bolick reached out to him also and he appreciated her effort. He thanked Assessor Eddie Cook for attending this meeting. Ayes: Clint Hickman, Jack Sellers, Thomas Galvin, Bill Gates, Steve Gallardo MEETING ADJOURNED There being no further business to come before the Board, the meeting was adjourned. ______________________________ Clint Hickman, Chairman of the Board ATTEST: ___________________________ Juanita Garza, Clerk of the Board