State Glance
Maricopa County Supervisor Bill Gates says he’s not running for re-election
PHOENIX — Maricopa County Supervisor Bill Gates, who worked to bat down election misinformation and a hostile political landscape in 2020 and 2022, announced Thursday that he’s not running for re-election.
In a statement, Gates said he intends to “pursue other interests and opportunities” but will fulfill the remainder of his term.
Gates, a Republican, has a wife and three daughters.
He said it’s been an honor to serve 13 years on the Phoenix City Council and the county Board of Supervisors.
“At the city of Phoenix, I cut through the bureaucracy and helped shape a more efficient and responsive government operation,” Gates said in a statement. “At Maricopa County, I kept government lean, taxes low, supported our most vulnerable residents, and told the truth about our elections in the face of false information.”
In 2020, Maricopa County landed in the national spotlight while certifying results amid false claims that the election was stolen from then-president
Donald Trump. The following year, it underwent an “audit” pushed by Republicans in the state Senate, which ended with a report validating President Joe Biden’s win.
Last November, Gates and other Maricopa County election officials aggressively batted down rumors and slanted or false claims as vote counting came under intense scrutiny in the battleground state.
ASU to create a medical school in response to doctors, nurses shortage
TEMPE — Arizona State University will establish its own medical school amid an ongoing shortage of health care workers across the state.
University President Michael Crow and the Arizona Board of Regents announced the plans for school, to be called ASU Health, at a meeting Thursday morning in Tempe.
“One of our problems relative to outcomes is bringing the public along with us,” Crow said. “ASU Health is a learning health ecosystem designed to accelerate and grow our health related efforts in response to Arizona’s current and future health care needs.”
The school will be in Maricopa County.
The planned school is part of a wider initiative, AZ Healthy Tomorrow, that involves the state’s other major public universities, the University of Arizona and Northern Arizona University.
The board has earmarked $30 million toward the initiative.
The initiative’s goals include getting Arizona to reach the national average of doctors and nurses per capita and improving health care access for all residents.
ASU officials say the medical school will be funded with private investors, philanthropy, public investment and ASU’S own revenue.
Family of man who drowned last year in Tempe Town Lake files wrongful death lawsuit
TEMPE — The family of a man who drowned in Tempe Town Lake a year ago filed a wrongful death lawsuit against the city Wednesday, noting that its police department doesn’t have a policy requiring officers to go into the water to save someone.
The civil suit said 34-year-old Sean Bickings pleaded for help while in the water after he jumped into the lake during an encounter with law enforcement on May 28., 2022.
Body camera footage released later showed three Tempe police officers watching from the shore less than 50 yards away from Bickings.
According to a transcript of the footage, one of the officers told Bickings: “I’m not jumping in after you.”
It took about six hours for public safety officials to recover Bickings’ body.
The suit accuses Tempe of negligently not training employees to better respond to water rescues at the man-made lake and of not having proper security and safety measures to prevent or respond to drownings.
“The City of Tempe and Tempe law enforcement promised new safety measurements following Sean’s tragic death and a year later we have yet to see these actions implemented,” said Benjamin Taylor, a lawyer for Bickings’ family. “We hope this lawsuit will encourage the City of Tempe to take the necessary steps to ensure no one else carelessly loses their life by drowning in Tempe Town Lake.”
The lawsuit doesn’t list a specific amount of money the family is asking for, but states that Bickings’ mother be “fully and fairly compensated.”
Tempe spokeswoman Nikki Ripley said “the city does not discuss active litigation.”
However, Tempe is expected to vote soon on $1.8 million funding for a Park Ranger program. If approved, the rangers would be responsible for proactive patrols in city parks including the town lake which opened to the public in November 1999.