Last week, a Republican spokesperson in the Senate tweeted a story about an unnamed Democratic lawmaker that seemed too ridiculous to be real.
We were curious, so we filed a public records request, not expecting much. But after receiving a stack of emails involving lawmakers, Senate staff, lobbyists and a chicken restaurant, we can confirm that the story is, in fact, true.
We have no choice but to call it “Chickengate.”
Last week, lobbying firm Cornerstone Public Affairs hired the downtown location of Gus's World Famous Fried Chicken to cater an event at the Capitol to celebrate the 100th anniversary of one of America’s most legendary stretches of road: Route 66.
And they got a whole lot of fried chicken to feed lawmakers and staff.
We're talking 240 pieces of chicken, 85 mac and cheese sides, 85 coleslaws and a combined 14 gallons of sweet tea and lemonade.
The final bill reached a grand total of $1,531.
Email records show that both lobbyists and the staff at the Legislature reported the event ran smoothly and the chicken was pretty tasty.
After the event, Cornerstone wrote a thank you note to Mike Cockrell, the general manager of the Van Buren Gus’s, saying the event was a success.
But Cockrell responded to say at least one person did not care for the eats: Democratic Sen. Kiana Sears.
“Thank you for choosing Gus's to cater your lunch and we are happy to hear it was a success,” Cockrell wrote. “We did have a concern from Kiana Sears. She called the store and talked to my assistant manager, she stated the chicken was over cooked, dry and not enjoyed by most. She would like the order remade on June 27th at 530pm. I sincerely apologize for the chicken being overdone and we would love a chance to make it right.”
The request to remake the chicken — on a date when the Legislature won’t even be in session — is baffling to say the least, especially because Sears didn't play any role in organizing the event.
Paula Bouthillier, an assistant to Republican Sen. David Gowan, responded to Cockrell’s email saying that Gowan managed the event in conjunction with Cornerstone — not the full Senate, and not Sears.
“The Chicken was outstanding, not overcooked and was gone by 3 PM except for some wings which the Pages devoured within minutes,” Bouthillier wrote. “Please don’t proceed with redoing the order.”
A few hours later, Brian Murray, a lobbyist and partner at Cornerstone, emailed two lawyers at the Legislature to clarify the firm’s position.
“By all accounts members and staff enjoyed the meal,” Murray wrote. “We were then informed Senator Sears took issue with the food and called the vendor to complain. The Senator made requests that were not initiated nor approved by our firm. We made the restaurant aware that we did not authorize this request and suggested they ignore it.”
Neither Murray nor Gus’s Chicken wanted to talk about Chickengate when we reached out.
But Gus does seem to fry a good chicken.
The recipe came from Napoleon “Na” Vanderbilt and his wife, Ms. Maggie, who started selling chicken between two slices of white bread out of the back of a tavern in Mason, Tennessee, more than 60 years ago — and they built and opened their first restaurant in 1973.
Gus’s original location in Mason, Tennessee.
Their son, Vernon “Gus” Bonner, took over after their deaths and the chicken empire eventually expanded to 13 states, including four locations in Arizona.
“Gus's is the current reigning champion of the National Fried Chicken Festival, Travel Channel ranked Gus's as the 12th Tastiest Restaurant in America to Chow Down, and GQ Magazine believes Gus's is one of the top 10 restaurants in the world worth flying to for a meal,” their website boasts.
We called Sears to ask her about the poultry situation, coming to the conversation with an open mind and willing to hear her out about why she wanted Gus’s to remake the chicken — and why she thought she had the authority to make that request.
But all we got were typical evasive politician answers.
Here are our questions and Sears’ full responses:
So, how bad was the chicken?
“Alright, this is what I will say about that situation: I am aware of the situation and, which, my name is mentioned in that. And where I am with this is, at this time when we have all this important work with the budget, we’re looking at — you know — the issues, I think this is just sort of a distraction. For me, I’m focusing on the results of my district, the things that, facing my community, when we have immigrant populations dealing with what they’re — so I just look toward doing what the voters elected me to do. At this point, I don’t even think it’s important for me to give my attention to commenting further on this.”
Okay. But I do also have to ask: If you weren’t running this event, is it true that you asked to have the chicken redone for a later event? That’s confusing if you weren’t in charge of the event.
“As I said, I will not be commenting further on this. I really believe that this is absolutely a distraction and what we should be focusing on is the work of the people, what we need to do as people are in tough times, they’re hurting, there’s a lot of things going on where people can’t afford their rent, they can’t afford housing, they can’t afford food. So that’s what I plan to be focusing on and putting my energy on — so, I won’t be commenting further on this matter.”
Well, maybe Sears was just trying to go Robin Hood mode and give all that chicken to the hungry people of her district.
Unless she decides to own up to Chickengate and explain, we’ll probably never know what was going through her head to bring us such a strange, hilarious debacle.
Speaking of fun stories tracked down via public records: You readers have sent intern George more than a dozen records request ideas this month — including everything from politicians’ conflicts of interest and environmental concerns, to status updates on government programs and their effects.
We’re on the case, bosses! Some of these are already turning up good stuff, and the rest have at least been shipped off to government agencies — we’re still eagerly awaiting their replies.
We love the reader involvement and the diversity of submissions. And we want this to continue to be a long-term collaboration.
So please keep them coming. George is standing by, ready to hunt down the government documents and secrets that you request.
If you have been itching to learn more about how the government uses taxpayer money or the inner workings of statewide politics, fill out this form below!
Here come the water works: Officials from the states that failed to hammer out an agreement for the Colorado River are a little miffed that people are calling them failures, Alex Hager reports for KJZZ. Without that long-term, seven-state deal, officials from Arizona, Nevada and California signed a three-state agreement last week to use desalinated water from a plant in San Diego to balance their water budgets, per the Nevada Current.
Sleepy Mark Lamb: The recent revelations about Mark Lamb sexting and intimidating women are a godsend for his rival in the GOP primary in Congressional District 5. Daniel Keenan leaned on the sexting scandal during a debate last week, calling them “disqualifying” and saying Lamb was an “embarrassment to the Republican Party,” the Republic’s Laura Gersony reports. In response, Lamb didn’t say anything. He didn’t even go to the debate, or explain why he declined the invitation, which gave Keenan an opening to say Lamb “continues to hide in the basement like Sleepy Joe Biden,” per the Daily Independent’s Jason W. Brooks.
Looks like state lawmakers are finally ready to pass a budget!
Stump and dump: After Marlene Galán-Woods called Elon Musk an “unelected billionaire tearing down our government,” AZFamily’s Dennis Welch brought up the fact that her financial disclosure forms show the Democratic candidate in Congressional District 1 made $260,000 by selling her stock in Tesla. Galán-Woods said she didn’t know about the stock or the money she made from it.1 After the interview, her staff sent the news station documents showing she “no longer owns any Tesla.”
Immediate pushback: As Phoenix’s new ordinance cracking down on giving food to unsheltered people in parks takes effect, it already spurred a lawsuit from an Orthodox Christian group that says the ordinance violates its First Amendment rights to evangelize and support the poor, per the New Times’ Clarissa Sosin.
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The Glendale City Council opened a can of worms last month when they ousted a council member after he was elected to the Salt River Project board.
It might cost the council members their $1,350 monthly stipends and car allowances.
The council members maintain they kicked out former council member Lupe Conchas because the city charter doesn’t allow council members to draw a salary from another elected office while on the council. But Conchas’ backers say he was removed because he criticized the stipend, Richard Smith reports for the Daily Independent.
Now, the Arizona Attorney General’s Office is looking at whether the stipends and car allowances, which the council approved in 2022 after voters put the kibosh on a salary increase three years earlier, violate the city’s rules for compensating officials.
1 Imagine being so rich and out of touch you don’t realize you made an extra quarter-million dollars…