Tribune Editorial July 31, 2008 Sen. Jay Tibshraeny, R-Chandler, stepped outside of partisan politics this week to delve further into a Republican colleague’s recent antics that were shameful— if not downright immoral.
Tibshraeny voted with two Democrat senators, and against two Republicans, to formally investigate an ethics complaint against Sen. Jack Harper, R-Surprise, and filed by Sen. Ken Cheuvront, D-Phoenix. On the final day of this year’s legislative session, Harper used a temporary position of power to improperly take away Cheuvront’s right to debate one bill so the Senate could act instead on another bill that Harper wanted to pass.
At the time, Harper said he made an inadvertent mistake. Now, he claims he acted intentionally because Cheuvront wasn’t following debate protocol. Clearly, Harper either lied then or he’s lying now. Either way, the Senate Ethics Committee correctly voted 3-2 Monday to investigate further.
At worse, Harper would only receive a written reprimand, so the committee or full Senate might eventually decide to let the issue go. But Tibshraeny, the ethics committee chairman, showed real leadership by making sure that Cheuvront’s complaint gets a fair hearing.
