Wagner tells Democratic director Matt Heinz: ‘I stand with you.

“Oh, please stop!” shouted one man near me. And as Wagner gasped and began reading statements about supporting transgender people, citing her own experiences with transgender children, members of the crowd continued to murmur their displeasure. Her Adelita Grijalva interrupted and asked Wagner to resume.

At the next intermission, attendee Anastasia Tsasakis confronted Wagner, accusing her of classifying Tsasakis and her allies as homophobic. When approached, the confrontation ended.

You may have heard that the audience call-out sessions at the Pima County Board of Supervisors Conference and several local school board meetings were noisy recently. It is in an effort to make itself known in areas dominated by Democrats.

The meetings of the supervisors were particularly controversial, with one woman suspended from attending the meeting for suggesting that Heinz might be a pedophile. Citing his January incident, in which a young man appeared in the background of her Speedo wearing her Speedo. Another brought a blow-up doll as a way of teasing Heinz.

Another person told Grijalva in January, “You are literally nothing, Adelita. Shut your mouth.”

The Pima County Attorney’s Office is drawn into determining when a speaker crosses the line and defending the consequences. And supervisor Steve Christie, the only Republican on the board, got another legal opinion of his own defending the loud speaker.

The session raises several important issues. Should people be able to say whatever they want in a call-to-audience session? If not, what is out-of-bounds? What is the purpose of a local government call-to-audience session? mosquito?

There are more practical issues for participants to consider. What good does it do for a political party to have its members present, to verbally attack the Democratic Party’s supervisors, and to ridicule opponents who dare to speak out? Will it help you win elections?

It is nothing new for the general public to participate in local government meetings and make strong statements. Speaking at the April 18 meeting, Keith Van Heiningen has been on the county board for many years and often attacks Democrats with harsh words.

There was a time when liberals emerged in large numbers and harshly criticized Republicans. In an interview, Christy cited his 2018 season of her Red for Ed movement as an example.

But most of the time it’s conservatives who speak up at supervisory board meetings. In recent months, this effort has expanded and become more consistent.

The new Pima County GOP Chair, Dave Smith, encouraged attendance and made some arrangements. One regular attendee suggested that Republicans wear Hawaiian shirts and leis before the April 18 conference, to make fun of Heinz, who wore a similar shirt to the recent conference. of people have done so.

According to Smith, Heinz was targeted by these attendees because of how he has treated conservatives. During the pandemic, Heinz, a doctor, interrupted the speaker by calling people who hadn’t received the COVID-19 vaccine “killers” and talking about what he believed to be pandemic disinformation.

“When I got back here, I was surprised at how passive we were as a party,” Smith said. “I am a strong believer in participatory democracy. I want people to participate.”

In an April 7 Republican newsletter, he celebrated the change.

At the April 18 meeting, some called for more local Pima County representation, which makes perfect sense. Some called for Pima County to resume its participation in Operation Stone Garden. This is a federal program that funds border-related law enforcement. Legitimate policy mismatch.

And, with the exception of Christie, for example, there were those who leaned into conspiracies and accusations, arguing that the Audit Board had committed treason and should suffer the consequences.

One man in a Hawaiian shirt and lei said, “We should have Child Protective Services arrest you for allowing our kids to get shit in our library.

“If society collapses, that means admiralty courts will disappear,” he continued. “It means the Common Law Court will be back. It means I will hunt you down and try you on the Common Law Court. And by your actions, you will is guilty.”

I asked Smith if this group could police itself better.

“I’m just the chairman of Pima County,” he said. “I don’t scold. I don’t swat. We’re Republicans. It’s like having a cat.”

Christy said she supports almost any speech attendees want to give. “I think once you start drawing boundaries and boundaries and parameters, you enter dangerous territory,” she says.

When I asked him what he should do if someone started slurping racial slurs, he said he should turn off the mic and tell the person to sit down. However, he did not feel the same way about the term “pedophile” uttered in connection with Heinz.

I don’t see much of a difference. To me, the p-word casually used about gay men in today’s political climate amounts to another slur for an individual’s group identity.

When I interviewed her, Grijalva said she wanted to be more polite in meetings, but that’s not easy. One of her problems is that when her call-to-audience comments she lasts two hours, there is often less discussion of the meeting agenda. It’s also a waste of time for members of the public who have to show up and wait for three minutes of repetitive or off-topic speeches before the Board can address their concerns.

“I don’t know how that will be resolved,” said Grijalva. “The only tool a chairman has is to follow board policy. I want to create a space where all members of the community feel welcome.”

On April 18, Heinz took advantage of the opportunity for supervisors to respond to comments at the end of the call to audience. He said he submitted evidence to the Pima County Attorney’s Office that the friend who appeared in his video in his feed was his 24-year-old adult male. He also told those who wore Aloha shirts that the clothing had been adopted as a symbol by white supremacist “boogaloo boas”, which became another reason to despise him.

With all this tension in the air, one thing Grijalva hasn’t planned is calling on fellow Democrats to attend. Not only would it increase conflict, but it would probably not help politically either.

And that’s the strange thing about this Republican effort to fill meetings and anger supervisors during a call to audience. It allows them to dominate local politics. is.

“I think it’s politically disastrous for them to do this,” Pima County Democratic Commissioner Eric Robbins told me. “The public is sick of this nonsense.”

That said, Smith says he’s happy it helped raise “the public awareness that we’re not the party on your back.”

“Whether or not we take back seats, we’re not gone. We’re back.”

But controlling the room is not the same as controlling the election. In several recent elections in the Arizona and Tucson areas, pretentious Republican candidates have lost or fallen short of district party registration numbers.

Tsasakis, who confronted Wagner, was one of them. Known for her fierce criticism of her COVID-19 mask her policies in the Vail School District, she ran for board in 2022 and lost in her third place behind two winners.

When I later asked Tsasakis about this conflict, she said she considered Wagner’s words to be homophobic accusations against her and her allies.

She then went on to a lengthy dispute.

“Do you think this will help anyone’s case in society,” she asked, referring to the work of transgender activists. “Do you think this will help your case?”

But she preferred to keep talking about school districts, the transgender agenda, and how she and her friends aren’t homophobic.