The Daily Agenda: Time for some accountability
The Daily Agenda: Time for some accountability
The University of Arizona failed ... Tweeting is hazardous to your job ... And you'll do what if someone threatens what?
Months after the murder of a professor on campus, the University of Arizona’s faculty senate approved a vote of no confidence for UA President Robert Robbins and other top leaders at the school.
In the immediate aftermath of Thomas Meixner’s murder by a former student while at work last October, colleagues of the hydrology and atmospheric sciences professor shared how the former student had repeatedly threatened professors, who had relayed their concerns of impending danger to university higher-ups to no avail.
The alleged killer had been banned from campus and expelled. The university tried to get charges against him related to the threats, but Pima County Attorney Laura Conover’s office said there wasn’t enough evidence, Tucson’s 13News reported in October. Threats against faculty persisted, and professors in the department feared for their safety.
The faculty formed a committee to look into the death and found the university needed better tools to manage risk on campus and needed to build community trust in order to improve safety. That committee, after facing attacks from UA administration over their findings, disbanded over fear of “negative consequences” for its members. Meixner’s family said they were “disgusted” by how the university responded to the faculty report.
Separately, the university commissioned its own report by outside investigators, whose findings were not altogether dissimilar from the faculty report. The PAX Group said the shooting "was not unforeseeable" and found that the university didn’t properly coordinate or communicate around the problems as threats against faculty by the former student mounted. The group suggested 33 recommendations to improve safety for the school.
Robbins announced the hiring of an interim safety officer after the report was released and has promised more changes to campus security based on the group’s recommendations.
“I am angry at myself that I did not do more to prevent this tragedy,” Robbins said at a press conference Monday, the Daily Wildcat reported. “I’m determined to honor Tom Meixner’s legacy by making any and all necessary changes to keep our campus safer.”
Meanwhile, Meixner’s family has filed a notice of claim against the Arizona Board of Regents, which oversees the universities, seeking $9 million for the university’s failure to protect its faculty.
“The University of Arizona sacrificed Professor Tom Meixner’s life, repeatedly ignoring the clear and present danger of a hostile and dangerous student who openly advertised his intent to murder,” the notice of claim says, according to Arizona Public Media.
Shootings are so frequent in the U.S. that they often quickly fade from headlines, and that lack of attention can sometimes mean a lack of accountability.
But Meixner’s colleagues and his family’s attempts to hold the university and Robbins to account for inaction leading up to the shooting have kept the story alive and pressed the university to acknowledge its failures and make changes to improve campus safety.
Both the family and the university lost one of their own in a shooting that all sides now recognize could have been prevented. From that place of mutual loss, the university and Robbins should embrace the faculty’s quest for accountability and work together with its professors and Meixner’s family to ensure a safer place to work and go to school rather than fight against them.
Meixner’s legacy demands it.
Never tweet: Gov. Katie Hobbs’ press secretary, Josselyn Berry, resigned after tweeting a GIF of a woman holding guns with the words “Us when we see transphobes.” The tweet, which wasn’t Berry’s first viral statement to reflect poorly on her bosses, came shortly after a Nashville school shooting where the shooter was trans, though the tweet didn’t appear to be related to or commenting on the shooting. Hobbs still didn’t want to talk about it yesterday when pressed by reporters.
"The Governor does not condone violence in any form,” Hobbs’ office said in a statement. “This administration holds mutual respect at the forefront of how we engage with one another. The post by the Press Secretary is not reflective of the values of the administration. The Governor has received and accepted the resignation of the Press Secretary."
Record breaking: Hobbs has already vetoed more bills than former Gov. Janet Napolitano, the last governor to serve during a divided government, did during her first session on the Ninth Floor, the Arizona Mirror’s Jim Small reports. Hobbs has so far vetoed 18 bills to Napolitano’s 17 in her first session. Small predicts that Hobbs will overtake Napolitano’s record of 202 vetoes during her time in office, with the high point of 58 in a single session.
Caught in the middle: People living in the Zone and the groups that provide services for them await their fate as the City of Phoenix figures out how to respond to a court ruling requiring it to get rid of the homeless encampment. Service groups say a structured campground could work, but takes much more space, money and time to pull off successfully, while people on the streets say they don’t know where else they’ll go, the Republic’s Juliette Rihl and Miguel Torres report. The city spent nearly $100,000 so far fighting the lawsuit from area business owners that resulted in this week’s court ruling, 12News’ Erica Stapleton reports.
A tale of two cities: Phoenix sued Tempe over the proposed entertainment district surrounding the future home of the Arizona Coyotes, an escalation of the conflict between the two Valley cities over the big development, the Republic’s Sam Kmack reports. Phoenix has claimed the development violates an agreement about how close housing can be to the airport and wants the plans for residential use in that area to be scrapped. Tempe voters were set to weigh in on the proposed development in a May election.
Tragedy upon tragedy: A woman who was wrongly charged in the death of a Phoenix police officer filed a notice of claim, a precursor to a lawsuit, against the city over “malicious prosecution,” ABC15’s Dave Biscobing reports. Officer Paul Rutherford died after being hit by Nubia Rodriguez, but Rodriguez was found to not be responsible for the death as Rutherford had run into traffic. Among other hardships caused by the charges and court cases, Rodriguez lost custody of a foster child she was working to adopt because of the charges.
Election lawsuit updates: Mark Finchem, the failed GOP candidate for the state’s top elections job, wants the court to deny sanctions requested by his opponent, Secretary of State Adrian Fontes, because Fontes didn’t file the request in time (he did), Arizona’s Law reports. The blog also has an update on several lawmakers’ attempts to keep their texts and emails out of the public record in an ongoing lawsuit over the ending of the permanent early voting list.
Money well spent: Over the past two and a half years, the City of Phoenix has spent about $2.6 million to entice landlords to rent to low-income residents who qualify for housing subsidy programs, KJZZ’s Christina Estes reports. The city is also now increasing the rent payments for those using Section 8 vouchers to account for the rapid rises in local rent.
Close call: After the federal Horseracing Integrity and Safety Authority warned Turf Paradise that it needed to upgrade a safety railing to protect jockeys at the track, the racetrack said it has made the needed repairs, Axios Phoenix’s Jeremy Duda reports. The track was at significant financial risk if it didn’t resolve the issue because it could have lost the ability to simulcast races and accept advance deposit wagering. Horseracing authorities will need to approve the improvements.
Qs and As: If you’re interested in the future of Arizona prisons and corrections issues, KTAR’s Taylor Tasler sat down with the governor for a 10-minute interview on the topic that’s posted in video and in text on the radio station’s website. And if you want to know about the history of the state climatologist and what the role does, check out this Q&A by the Republic’s Joan Meiners with state climatologist Erinanne Saffell.
Running elections these days: Lisa Marra, the former elections director in Cochise County who resigned after repeated rounds of election denial by the county’s board of supervisors, faced threats for doing her job there, Arizona Public Media’s Summer Hom reports. Some of the harassing messages include threats to find her at her home, claims she will be prosecuted and name-calling.
A long time ago: Authorities have identified one set of human remains found at Lake Mead last year, when several bodies surfaced in the lake as water levels fell, the New York Times reports. The man, 39-year-old Donald P. Smith of North Las Vegas, had drowned there in 1974.
Keep reading with a 7-day free trial
Subscribe to Arizona Agenda to keep reading this post and get 7 days of free access to the full post archives.