Arizona House Votes Mecham Impeachment

PHOENIX —  Gov. Evan Mecham, whose administration has been beset with controversy and criminal charges, was impeached Friday by the Arizona House of Representatives for “high crimes and misdemeanors, or malfeasance in office.”

Just hours after a defiant Mecham had concluded four days of testimony by calling the impeachment process a “mockery,” House members voted 46 to 14 to remove the Republican governor from office pending a trial in the Senate.

In a Senate trial, the 30-member body will sit as a jury. If two-thirds of the members vote to convict, the governor’s removal from office will become permanent. The Senate has 10 days to set a trial date, and some legislators said Friday that the Senate trial would probably take about three weeks. There are 19 Republicans and 11 Democrats in the Senate.

Accusations Detailed

Mecham, 63, stands accused of trying to hide a $350,000 campaign loan, of borrowing $80,000 in public funds for his automobile dealership and of obstructing justice by trying to thwart an attorney general’s investigation of an alleged death threat by a state official.

Pending the outcome of the trial, Secretary of State Rose Mofford, a Democrat, will serve as acting governor, and she will continue as governor if Mecham is convicted.

Mecham, who completed 13 months in office Monday, also faces a recall election May 17 and a March 9 criminal trial on charges of concealing the $350,000 loan.

The governor, who was elected on his fifth attempt, came under fire almost immediately after he took office for abolishing the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. holiday in Arizona. He also quickly alienated voter groups with a series of remarks that women, homosexuals and ethnic groups considered insulting.

“It’s a sad, sad day for the state, especially when Republicans have to impeach a Republican governor,” said House Majority Whip Jane Hull. She said she was surprised at the strength of the vote.

“I think most of us just feel that it’s time for us to get back to running the state,” she said. “They want to get it over with. They were tired of the meanness, the vindictiveness of this administration.”

House Speaker Joe Lane described the hearings and the impeachment as a “tragedy.”

Lane said he found the governor’s alleged use of public funds at his car dealership and to pay $20,000 on a building he co-owned in Tacoma, Wash., the most damaging of the three charges.

“When the public trust is shaken, as it was in this situation, it is our responsibility to restore it,” Lane said.

Mark W. Killian, a Mesa Republican, voted against impeachment, but in a passionate, tear-filled speech called Mecham an “ethical pygmy.”

‘Clear Evidence’ Seen Lacking

“I resent Evan Mecham and everything he stands for,” Killian said. “I am not so sure that Gov. Mecham is worthy of support from any Republican in the state. He has continually skated through life following the lowest common denominator of social behavior. . . . Yet I do understand that even the common criminal is allowed a fair hearing or due process and I set for myself a standard of clear and convincing evidence. In my mind, clear and convincing evidence is not there. So, I have to oppose the vote.”

Hours before the vote, Mecham, in a defiant and often belligerent mood, ended four days of testimony before the House select committee considering the charges against him.

He lashed out at the hearing as a “mockery,” accused the committee chairman of impropriety and predicted that he would be acquitted by the Senate.

In a parting shot at the close of his testimony, Mecham incorrectly accused Committee Chairman Jim Skelly, a fellow Republican, of previously calling for his resignation and impropriety in connection with an attorney general’s investigation.

“Governor, you’re a superb character assassin, but you don’t have your facts right,” Skelly shot back. “I have never asked that you resign. I knew you would try something like this.”

‘Like a Little Kid’

Skelly said after the hearing that the governor’s remarks were “like the immature little kid that is being disciplined and has to lash out at everyone around him.”

Other committee members, already troubled by the governor’s testimony and his statements about the hearing, said Mecham may have sealed his fate with his attack on Skelly.

“It was not only a cheap shot but character assassination,” Republican legislator George Weisz said. “I think that left it on a sinister, nasty basis. I think a lot of people are going to take offense at that.”

In a 10-minute speech at the beginning of Friday’s hearing, Mecham again said that the charges against him were part of a conspiracy by the local newspapers and the attorney general’s office, which indicted him on Jan. 8 in connection with the campaign loan. Mecham warned House members that they could be voted out of office if they impeached him.

“A lot of political careers have come to an end when people elected to represent their people in their district have decided that they won’t be intimidated by the desires of the people,” he said.

“I would suggest that some of you are intimidated by the Phoenix newspapers as they have told you how to impeach me. They have praised those who have done their bidding and have warned those who were looking for facts.

“I would remind you that (Phoenix newspaper publisher) Pat Murphy has only one vote and that he hasn’t done so well in electing his slate in recent elections. You do well to rely more on the good will of your constituents. They are the ones who vote in elections.”

‘I’ll Be All Right’

The governor said even if he is impeached, “I’ll be all right.”

“For my part, I’m not personally going to be hurt, because I’m going to go on and acquit myself,” he said.

Rep. Debbie McCune, a Phoenix Democrat who voted for impeachment, said she was offended by the governor’s claim that the hearing was unfair and disturbed by his testimony.

“The problem I have with the governor’s testimony is that in order to buy the governor’s theory, you pretty much have to believe that everyone else is not telling the truth and that his version of the story is the only version that is accurate,” she said. “That disturbs me, and it isn’t consistent with some of the hard evidence.

“I think we provided the governor an adequate opportunity to come over and respond to the charges that have been made.”

Others said they thought that Mecham had been evasive.

“There were many canned answers,” complained Paul Eckstein, special counsel for the committee. “You could see his attorney (Murray Miller) writing out the answers for him. There were times when it would have been more appropriate to put Murray Miller under oath.”

After Mecham’s testimony before the committee, the full House went into session to debate the charges and conduct the impeachment vote.

Warned Governor of Vote

Majority Leader James B. Ratliff said he had told the governor Thursday night that his impeachment was likely Friday and that the governor told him he did not intend to wage a court battle to avoid being removed from office pending the outcome of a trial in the Senate.

Mecham was accused, after the House investigation, of trying to conceal the $350,000 campaign loan he received from Tempe developer Barry Wolfson on his personal and campaign financial disclosure statements.

House members also considered charges that the governor transferred $80,000 in public funds from a so-called “protocol fund” to his automobile dealership, $20,000 of which was used to pay on a building co-owned in Tacoma. The money was eventually repaid to the account with interest.

Mecham told the committee that although it may have been “politically stupid” to transfer the money to his dealership, run by his son, Dennis, he did it simply to get a better interest rate on the money.

The final charge against the governor is that he attempted to thwart an attorney general’s investigation into charges that one of his staff members made a death threat against a woman testifying before a grand jury investigating the governor.

Official Testifies

Ralph Milstead, director of the state Department of Public Services told the committee that the governor told him not to talk to the attorney general about the charges.

The governor testified that he “could have” said that to Milstead, but that he was not trying to stop the attorney general’s investigation.

In U.S. history, 16 governors have been impeached, but only six have been removed from office. Arizona has twice removed state officials through impeachment. In 1933 and 1964, the House impeached corporation commissioners who were later found guilty by the Senate and removed from office.