Tim Hill, President, Professional Fire Fighters of Arizona and Bryan Jeffries, Vice President, Professional Fire Fighters of Arizona expressed their support for Proposition 121 to Arizona voters in a statement distributed to all registered voters in the Secretary of State's information pamphlet for the upcoming November 6th election. They said:
The Professional Fire Fighters of Arizona, a statewide organization representing first responders, believes that Open Elections Open Government is an important proposition affecting our voting rights.Arizonans need and deserve open and effective government to meet the challenges facing our state. Creating jobs, supporting public safety, maintaining a quality education system, providing healthcare for children living in poverty along with many other issues, need our elected officials working together and with business and community leaders to provide the quality of life we all value and expect.The premise of Open Election Open Government is quite simple. Every Arizona voter gets to vote in every election. No longer will candidates just campaign to a narrow segment of the voting population in taxpayer funded partisan primaries. With Open Elections Open Government all candidates, regardless of party registration, will run on one ballot and all voters will be allowed to vote. Then there will be a runoff election of the top 2 vote getters for each office.We know that Fire Fighters come in all political stripes. Some are Republican, some are Democrats and many are registered Independents. We want all Arizonans, including Fire Fighters, to become involved in our democratic process from the local to the federal level. And they are more likely to do that if the system is less exclusionary and more open to all voters, regardless of their party affiliation.Our mission is to protect families across the state. We take that mission very seriously and are dedicated to the safety of the people we serve. And as public servants we value the most open and effective local, state and federal government possible. That is why we so strongly endorse Open Elections Open Government.
