SPEAKER_00 0:08

And you're listening to iTalk 1067 FM, the voice of the mountain of your host, Janine Ford. So glad to have a good friend in here, Dave Marshall, but he's also our Navajo County recorder. Dave, how are ya?

SPEAKER_01 0:20

I'm doing great, Janine. Thank you for having me. And how are you?

SPEAKER_00 0:26

It's been a while. It's been a minute. And Dave is we so appreciate him being on ITalk. And Dave, what we want to first talk about is this great court ruling that because uh tell people what happened with the county uh what happened when you took the position with county recorder and you were you were voted in uh I mean by the Board of Supervisors, right? Yes. And all of that happened, and then what happened after that with uh lovely Chris Mays.

SPEAKER_01 0:52

Well, basically what happened right after that, we had uh an attorney, the name is Tim Lesota, who um took up a uh lawsuit with a plaintiff from Sholo, and sh she was a young lady who was running for the same position I was running for, the recorder's office. Well, they sued the uh Chris Mays, so Chris Mays could sue me to get me out of office because they said I was illegally appointed.

SPEAKER_00 1:17

Oh my gosh. And based on what were they saying this?

SPEAKER_01 1:21

Well, they were saying that based on some um 1977 opinion piece from a attorney general saying that if you're a legislator and uh you resign from your position and your term is not finished, you cannot be appointed or uh at a state, town, or county or uh offices. You have to wait till your term is finished, although you have resigned and you're no longer a member of the legislature.

SPEAKER_00 1:47

And and that was found to be not true, and it was just a dumb opinion from 77. It wasn't even law, right?

SPEAKER_01 1:53

Correct.

SPEAKER_00 1:54

Yes. And so tell us what happened with your ruling.

SPEAKER_01 1:57

Well, just uh it was Monday. I get a phone call very early in the morning from my attorney saying that we were victorious and that the judge ruled in favor of our our case and said basically the same thing we I just said a minute ago was that um once a legislator uh resigns from his position, he is no longer a member. He is no longer a member, and so he is uh he has that uh constitutional right and legal a right to take a position in any other county, state, or city uh jobs that um it has opened up for that person.

SPEAKER_00 2:35

Yeah, and and see that's the thing is that you resigned and as we know um Sylvia Allen then stepped in to fill that position. I mean she's taken that and um you took this county recorder position and now uh the the cool cool beautiful thing too is that there were a lot of things that had happened that a lot of people didn't realize. I mean, your wife being with a group of girls stuck over in Israel during Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 3:02

Day one of the war.

SPEAKER_00 3:03

Day one of the war. It was very stressful. And I remember talking to Dave and you getting pretty emotional and just saying, you know what? I I'm so far from home, and now this brings you back home.

SPEAKER_01 3:16

It does. It does. And that's and that's one of the big reasons. Uh and and because uh my wife, you know, she she and 49 women were stuck in bunkers day one when the war broke out for uh five days. And uh Mike thing was uh being a pastor, and I and I said, I wanted more tomorrow's with my wife.

SPEAKER_00 3:34

Aww.

SPEAKER_01 3:34

And so when she came home, I said it's time for me to uh go home.

SPEAKER_00 3:38

Oh, because you'd been just living in the valley and you know what, selfishly, a lot of us wanted you everywhere.

SPEAKER_01 3:44

Yes.

SPEAKER_00 3:45

But but when it came right down to it, it you'd said, you know, you prayed about it and all that and then all of us know you made the right you made the right choice.

SPEAKER_01 3:53

Well, not all of us. I I've got I got attacked from people because and get this, I got attacked because no, we need you here. We need you here.

SPEAKER_00 4:02

Yeah. Well, selfishly, a lot of people wanted you everywhere. And you know, it it that's the whole thing is that a lot of us had to check ourselves and just say, well, we can't have Dave doing everything. I can picture you like what is it, the Incredibles, the stretchy wife, the stretching, yeah, yeah, exactly. And and so we had to think, you know what, he's made the beautiful and the right choice. And for your family and for, you know, and and the blessing is is in our county now, it's county recorder. Now, this decision is also gonna affect a lot of people from here on out, right? It cleared everything up.

SPEAKER_01 4:36

That's right. It's it has set a precedent so that if any legislator is offered, say for instance, you're offered a position in um in um President Trump's uh uh staff.

SPEAKER_00 4:47

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 4:48

You can now, because of this law, this ruling, you can now take that position if you resign and you're not holding both positions at the same time. Right. That was another thing that came up. I was accused of being a recorder and being a legislator at the same time. No, I resigned on April 17th and I took the position on April 21st. Yes. So it was not at the same time. Right. So there's a lot of there's a lot of uh uh lies that were being uh uh spoken out there about me and all that. But you know, I don't worry about what people say. I can care less because I I I serve Jesus Christ and I'll serve man.

SPEAKER_00 5:23

This is awesome. And the judge also was just like this is I mean, the judge was kind of like this is ridiculous, right? Yeah. And had and had the opposing side too take care of your court costs and everything else. So that tells you the judge really, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 5:38

Yes. That was a blessing.

SPEAKER_00 5:40

Yeah, big blessing, exactly.

SPEAKER_01 5:42

It's funny because I tell people, man, my attorneys, you know, they were they this uh law firm was ranked is ranked number one in the nation.

SPEAKER_00 5:48

Ooh.

SPEAKER_01 5:48

And at uh six bills an hour.

SPEAKER_00 5:51

Ouch, ouch, yeah. But when you say and this sets a precedence because now from now on, people will not be this won't happen. And Chris Mays, you know, little egg on her face, and the the you know, the person that did that up here in the White Mountains too, you know, it's just like go away.

SPEAKER_01 6:10

Stop. It was just lawfare. Yeah. You know, going after a political opponent. Yeah. That's that was the goal. Go after a political opponent. And and one of the reasons too, and a lot of people don't know this, that we had I had articles of impeachment for her. And but I could not serve her because we could not get the majority of the Republican Party to join in.

SPEAKER_00 6:28

Oh see, that just that's crazy. You know, and and what I love too, when you're down there in the legislature, and of course, there were all these great bills that we couldn't get, you know, all the way through. And c and cra and Katie Hobbes, we know she's the veto queen. She vetoes everything. And that you guys were beating your head up against the wall. But you had um big bills and big ones too to help protect us against the Green New Deal and Green New Lie and all those things. And we so appreciate all the good work you did down there.

SPEAKER_01 6:58

Well, and you know what happened to my bills. That's this was another frustrating thing with my wife being in Israel and all this going on, the war. And then and then I did I have bills, seven bills, you know, to do to uh put guardrails on uh solar fields, on the windmills, all these things, you know, protect rural Arizona. And it goes, it passed through the House, but it gets to the Senate, and the Senate um President Pro Tem, um TJ Schope, would not uh give it a committee hearing, not one of our bills, a committee hearing, because he was in opposition of them.

SPEAKER_00 7:31

So you kind of wonder if they're in the pocket and and he's a Republican, and if they're in the pocket of big energy, you know? Oh, yeah. And it's it's so sad how many people. That's what you have to look at. You have to kind of and do your homework on, you know, uh who if if the Republicans are really hardcore conservatives, if they've got your same values, and and just you know, just make sure you do your homework on all the all the people. That's the big thing.

SPEAKER_01 7:55

You know what and Janine, and what I've I've said this all along since I've been down there. I said, you know, a lot of these guys sell their souls, you know, for that dollar to you know, to get to get re-elected. You know, and for a twenty-four thousand dollar a year job, why why are you trying so hard? It's more about name, prestige, and power. That's what it's all about.

SPEAKER_00 8:15

And that's a sickness.

SPEAKER_01 8:16

It is a sickness. And they want to be there. They want to have they want to be called sir, they want to be called honorable. No. I you know, I struggle with that with my staff. I said, my name is David. No, if we don't call you sir or or uh um uh chairman, we can be terminated.

SPEAKER_00 8:31

Oh, really? No, yeah, and so that had to be hard from you know from where you come from to be in the middle of that a lot of that swamp stuff, you know?

SPEAKER_01 8:43

Yeah, it was hard. And and what hit me the hardest was was them killing my energy bills. That hit me hard. And I was and I was frustrated. I go, why you know you question yourself, why am I here when your own party is killing your your conservative bills?

SPEAKER_00 8:59

Yeah, that's that's this that's the really sad part. I mean, let them get to Katie Hobbs and she's gonna veto them, but still, you know, because and the sad thing I feel like there's a lot of Republicans that have been riding with Katie Hobbs with her Green New Lie and all this kind of stuff, and and basically giving hundred-year leases on our state trust lands to you know, it's just and I think so much of it is just criminal. It's just awful. And so hopefully, you know, hopefully we'll get some new blood at the state level and turn some of this around.

SPEAKER_01 9:31

Well, and one of the things too, you just said it, you know, the all these leases, but they're also taking away the leases from our ranchers.

SPEAKER_00 9:38

Exactly, exactly. Yes. I mean, like Casey Murph and all these people that are facing this, it's it's really scary. And that's our food security. Yes. You know? And our poor ranchers. I mean, it's it's something that we really and now we've had this great announcement that APS is gonna do natural gas, and we're hoping no one's able to look tell us the numbers yet. I talked to the Corporation Commission yesterday, Nick Myers, and and I uh you know, I was talking to Board of Supervisors and and nobody's real sh really sure about how much that'll load will be on there and how much room. But it sounds like the renewables that are already in place and already have been approved of would be on those, but then the newer ones we're we're not sure of how much room is left.

SPEAKER_01 10:18

Yeah. Well and and again, too, like TEP, they don't have room on their lines right now.

SPEAKER_00 10:23

Right.

SPEAKER_01 10:24

And so I what I'm hearing is that even um Lava Run will not be able to hook to their lines.

SPEAKER_00 10:29

Yeah, that's what we're hearing too, and I'm super happy about that. Because Lava Run has been and they were really arrogant too. We're like, we're building them anyway. Like, really, okay. So um so you know, hopefully a lot of these are being shut down and we're, you know, they're they're listening because that 50-year-old technology, and I and I remind people, and I know some people attacked me over this one too, but you know, the future of the newer technology, and it's everywhere, folks. You know, the nuclear is just you get so much out of it. It's it's on our warships, it's in our submarines, it's it's been around, it it's really, really rock solid, and we can get, and it doesn't have the gigantic footprint all across your lands, ruining all your lands. It has it's one big, you know, unit or whatever. And then maybe an AI, you know, next to it or something. You're talking about a couple of giant facilities that are some of them I've I I've been told too the big thing I know Andy Biggs has talked about that he has asked them, he goes, Hey, you guys have to recycle and come up with your own water and recycle everything, and you guys would have to have your own mini nuke. And I guess they don't bat an eye. They go, absolutely.

SPEAKER_01 11:38

No subsidies. Yeah, no subsidies, nothing. No tax breaks, because you know the we get hit with that all the time.

SPEAKER_00 11:44

Yep.

SPEAKER_01 11:45

And and one of the one of the other things too is that even um Choya and um Coronado, they're also still although they're going gas, they're still considering the nuclear.

SPEAKER_00 11:54

Yes, yes, yes, exactly. And and that's that's the future. You know, you've got the gas, the nuclear, and um and AI, and I know a lot of people are terrified about AI. Um, they are it's like a the the one that's in Mesa is like nothing. It's like it's just a big my girlfriend was really worried about. She lives literally right next to it. She said, no big deal, nothing. It's like a big building.

SPEAKER_01 12:18

You know, the only problem with these buildings, data centers you're talking about, what the problem is they don't employ anybody.

SPEAKER_00 12:23

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 12:23

There's very little employment.

SPEAKER_00 12:26

Now nuclear and gas. Yeah. Nuclear, I heard a full-size nuclear. I mean, it's like 800 and some people, right?

SPEAKER_01 12:33

Well, no. It goes high as 2,200 people.

SPEAKER_00 12:36

Ooh. See, that's incredible. Yes. Yeah. Choy is a great location. Yes, it is.

SPEAKER_01 12:41

And just right on a freeway.

SPEAKER_00 12:42

Exactly. Not how convenient. Yeah, yeah. Joe City and uh Holebrook would just boom. Yeah, just explain.

SPEAKER_01 12:50

And the jobs and the jobs it will bring. And the power and the energy it will bring. Clean, you know, energy, reliable energy.

SPEAKER_00 12:57

Yes. Yes. And and it's and again, you say it's and it's good jobs. Good jobs, yes. Okay. Well, Dave Marshall, remind us the about the voting and how important this is.

SPEAKER_01 13:08

Well, guys, I'm gonna tell you right now, uh, voting day is uh July 21st, the last day to vote. And we've got to get out there and vote. We need a new governor, we needed a new attorney general, we needed a new Secretary of State. Right now, that is that is a Democratic held, all held positions, the upper chamber. And we need to remove, we need Andy Biggs as our next governor. And I'm gonna name name the people. You know, we need Alex Culloden as our next attorney general. Yeah, and people don't don't realize uh uh Alex Culliden is ranked the number two constitutional attorney in Arizona.

SPEAKER_00 13:47

Whoa, really?

SPEAKER_01 13:48

And he has he has beaten Fontez three or four times in the Arizona Supreme Court in regards to election uh cases.

SPEAKER_00 13:56

Yeah. I I enjoyed talk uh saw him yesterday listening to him about the Save America Act and the stuff that he's you know he was talking about it at length. I mean he's just his brain just works the speed of light. Yes.

SPEAKER_01 14:10

He's super intelligent, but he doesn't have like uh people skills.

SPEAKER_00 14:15

The beautiful people skills are maybe the some of them might not have the looks or look slick, but you know what? I'm tired of slick. I'm tired of slick, that's for sure. Yeah. But yeah, there's some great candidates out there, folks. You need to check them all out, do your due diligence, study up. And Dave, thank you so much. Are you gonna come in and let me know how the election's going between now and November and all that? And huge congratulations on your decision. And now you can relax with your family and do your hard work at the recorder's office.

SPEAKER_01 14:45

Thank you very much. And it's also good to be back in here with you.

SPEAKER_00 14:48

Yes, I love seeing you. It's awesome. And give Lisa a hug for me. Okay, alrighty everybody, keep it right here. ITalk 106 7 FM, the voice of the mountain.