Pinal County supervisors sign off on new elections agreement after weeks of revising

After weeks of back-and-forth, Pinal County supervisors signed off on a new elections agreement with Recorder Dana Lewis.

The document will serve as a blueprint of election responsibilities that will carry the county into the 2024 election cycle and has been revised several times since it first was introduced to the Board of Supervisors in August. Like previous versions presented to supervisors, the agreement passed Wednesday tasks Lewis with handling many of the board's election operation duties.

But supervisors made several additional tweaks to a repeatedly altered portion of the agreement that lays out the hiring process for a new county elections director.

The elections director role has been open since June, when former Elections Director Geraldine Roll resigned with a scathing email to County Manager Leo Lew, citing a toxic work environment. County leaders now need to find an experienced elections director who can help the county navigate through a presidential election.

One early version of the draft agreement stated that Lewis would share hiring power over the county's open elections director position with Lew. Their pick for the position would need to be approved by the board, according to the document. Supervisors sent that version back to the drawing board after some members of the public proposed further board and political party involvement in the interview process.

On Wednesday, supervisors reviewed new drafts of the agreement and ultimately determined in a 4-1 vote that political parties will not have direct say in who is chosen for the position. However, two supervisors will be embedded throughout the hiring process alongside Lewis, and the full board will need to vote to approve a final hire.

Finding somebody to make it through that recruitment process is expected to be challenging. Lewis previously told The Republic that she has struggled to find qualified candidates.

Political parties in the hiring would be 'unique,' officials say

The county's parties appeared somewhat divided Wednesday on whether they should be involved with choosing a new elections director.

Lisa Sanor, chair of the Pinal County Democratic Party, spoke in opposition to the idea, voicing concerns about "a politicized election process" and possible legal liability for the county.

"County human resources departments should be squirming in their seats right now," Sanor said.

Meanwhile, Pinal County Republican Party Chair Belinda Rodriguez said she had training in proper hiring practices and felt confident all party heads could appropriately engage with job candidates.

Involving the heads of county political parties in the hiring would have been "a little bit unique," according to Chris Keller, Pinal County's chief civil deputy attorney.

Supervisor Stephen Miller said he believed the elections director position was "a pretty sensitive one" that should be protected from political interference.

"I'd like to keep it as neutral as possible," he said.

Other supervisors also questioned whether board members should have a say in the hiring, given that all of Pinal County's supervisors are currently Republicans. Supervisor Jeffrey McClure expressed concern that having board members sit in on the interview process and ultimately ratify a candidate could create an "imbalance" or appearance of impropriety, and Supervisor Mike Goodman said he wanted to be "objective" about the decision.

Keller said there's little way to get around the issue, but having a public ratification process should help ease some concerns. It will ensure that citizens can act as watchdogs, he said, calling out any decision that they see as politically motivated.

Ultimately, that led Miller, McClure and Goodman to vote in favor of the final amended agreement, cutting out political parties but maintaining the board's involvement in hiring for the position. They were joined in their vote to approve the amended document by Chairman Jeff Serdy.

Cavanaugh votes against amended agreement

The sole vote against the amended agreement came from Supervisor Kevin Cavanaugh.

Before the vote, he asked county staff a variety of questions about the agreement, including one on whether political party involvement could result in liability for the county. He also questioned whether the language of the agreement was clear enough in defining all of the officers in charge of elections and whether the board was making itself subordinate to Lewis in the agreement.

Keller said the agreement was specifically drafted to be "flexible" and that he was confident in its language. The document simply transfers some board functions to Lewis for the duration of the agreement, he said.

Cavanaugh said little else at the meeting to explain exactly why he was opposed to the amended document. In a later conversation with The Republic, he said that in addition to his concerns about the delineations of authority outlined in the agreement, he believes keeping the county's Elections Department and Recorder's Office separate will lead to better "checks and balances."

"We've had such problems with the elections," he said. "I think they want fast solution rather than the best solution."

Cavanaugh's hesitancy on the agreement comes after a tense exchange between Cavanaugh, Lewis and other county supervisors at a previous meeting. During that discussion, Cavanaugh questioned Lewis's qualifications and background.

At Wednesday's meeting, two public speakers called for Cavanaugh to step down, accusing him of attacking Lewis in a manner unbecoming of an elected official.

Cavanaugh responded that he was simply doing his duty as a supervisor.

"There's no personal attack on the recorder," he said.

Sasha Hupka covers county government and election administration for The Arizona Republic. Do you have a tip to share on elections or voting? Reach her at sasha.hupka@arizonarepublic.com. Follow her on X, formerly Twitter: @SashaHupka. Follow her on Instagram or Threads: @sashahupkasnaps.

This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Pinal County supervisors sign off on new elections agreement