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----<big>'''Proposal'''</big> - Read the Proposal. | ----<big>'''Proposal'''</big> - Read the Proposal. | ||
----<big>'''Good Governance'''</big> - Read Federal Standards for Government. | ----<big>'''Good Governance'''</big> - Read Federal Standards for Government. | ||
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'''<big>Governance Gaps</big>''' - that we identified in our assessment. | '''<big>Governance Gaps</big>''' - that we identified in our assessment. | ||
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Latest revision as of 12:09, 3 September 2026
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Vision
Vision/Goal: An Arizona citizen can easily submit a governance concern to their county officials and receive timely feedback and a description of corrective actions taken or to be taken, if applicable.
Purpose
The purpose of this website is to ask for your support in resolving governance gaps at the county level by urging your Arizona Senators and Representatives to pass legislation which will require counties to listen to their citizens' concerns, using a formal complaint and resolution process.
Resolution of Governance Gaps
An Arizona citizen may have a concern about their county's compliance with the laws, statutes or an apparent deviation from good business practices, which might waste or abuse the resources taken from the public in exchange for public services. A citizen's concern should be addressed by Arizona county employees following a defined process to assess the validity and significance of the citizen's concern so they determine if the issue must be addressed and determine how the issue will be addressed, if necessary.
Arizona Citizen Voice is working toward legislation establishing a formal citizen complaint, compliance review, and Corrective Action Plan (CAP) for Arizona counties.
Objective
Present a proposed bill by December 2026 to the Arizona Legislature which will create a new statute or revise an old statute to hold Arizona counties accountable to give citizens a stronger voice. The bill allows citizens to file complaints with the counties, which will be addressed or resolved by a Compliance Review and Corrective Action Framework. This bill promotes transparency, accountability, consistency, and continuous improvement while strengthening public confidence in local, county and state governments.
Arizona Citizen Voice
Arizona Citizen Voice (ACV) is an independent organization working to get Arizona Senators and Representatives to take action on behalf of all of Arizona's citizens, passing legislation in 2027 to hold Arizona counties accountable to valid citizen complaints.
This is an all-volunteer organization. We do not receive funds from any outside entity. Please check out the About Us webpage if you would like to learn more.
We seek to implement a process that each Arizona county must implement to receive and respond to complaints from its citizens about inefficiencies or abuses of county governance, which will be tracked and addressed from a compliance perspective. Significant concerns may require investigation, whereas some complaints may be closed without action if county actions are not considered appropriate. The most significant aspect of this initiative is to hold a specific county employee responsible for addressing the citizen's complaint, assessing compliance and managing a response. An Arizona State department or agency will provide independent oversight to ensure the process is consistently applied across all counties with the intended results.
GOAL
Click here to learn more about the GOAL.
Legislative
Click here to learn more about what we are asking of our Legislators.
Public
Click here to lean how you can help.
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Proposal - Read the Proposal.
Good Governance - Read Federal Standards for Government.
Governance Gaps - that we identified in our assessment.
Examples - See how we identified the Governance Gaps
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Governance Gap Video
A short seven-minute video was developed to help you understand our motivation for seeking a change to the Arizona Revised Statute to hold Arizona counties accountable to you, an Arizona citizen.
Proposed Solution
There is already a citizen complaint process established with Title 11, which defines statutory requirements for counties. Citizen complaints are currently addressed by A.R.S. 11-1608. Complaints; procedures. By the way, if you have a complaint, you may be better off finding a lawyer than filing a complaint with the county based upon this paragraph from the statute, "Any facts relevant to, and the legal basis for, the complaint." [Emphasis added] Citizens can observe deviations from good business practices and good governance without having knowledge of the legal basis.
There is a precedence for having statutory requirements to allow a citizen to complain to their county. The goal is to change Arizona statutes to create a process for addressing citizen complaints and ensure counties are following the process by having process oversight by an independent state government entity.
The process would consist of the following key steps:
- A citizen, organization or county employee may submit a complaint (or concern) by accessing a page on the county's website.
- The county assigns a tracking number and then reviews the concern to assess risk and significance from compliance and/or poor governance perspectives.
- The cause of a deviation from laws, procedures or good governance
is concerned, if necessary. Question 101 (concerned?? considered? researched?) - Corrective Action Plan to address the causes of deviations. Question 102 (meaning? Need sentence) 🔴🔴
- The original issue may be closed out after the appropriate corrective actions have been implemented and documented as necessary, and the citizen has been informed of county's response. This response may include a description of completed actions to address their concern, or no action, if the concern cannot be validated.
Start Your Journey of Discovery
This website draws attention to poor governance practices so that you can make an informed decision. Should I support proposed legislation to hold Arizona Counties accountable to its citizens?
Key webpages for exploring the Case-for-Action justification are presented in a hyperlink box in the left margin at the top of the page. Key pages are listed under the Navigation and Topic headers.
Join the Cause
Your voice is important. Abraham Lincoln made these remarks in this Gettysburg Address:
"...that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom—and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth."
You may be able to help me with a case for action. I need justification to gain legislative support for a new Arizona law that will establish a process to review citizen complaints for governance gaps and implement corrective actions when appropriate. The problem becomes more significant with more examples. How can you help?
Send me details about a frustrating encounter with your county government. With your consent, I would use your unpleasant experience as data in support of a case for action. Your help will be needed to ensure your governance gap is a deviation from a standard. If you dive into this website, you will gain knowledge of the standards for good governance. 
You can help keep this idea in front of your Arizona Senator and Representatives. How can you help?
Following the November 2026 election, send your Senator and Representatives a message. Tell them you want to hold County government accountable to its Citizens. Ask them to support the proposed Bill.
The effort to get the bill approved by the Legislature and signed by the governor is being delayed until after the November 2026 election to allow you to vote for the candidates that you feel will support this effort. The delay will give us some time to draft the bill. The sense of urgency begins after the elections because the Legislature begins their annual review of Legislative initiatives in January 2027.
Our Prayer
Some citizens feel that we are in a battle with our own government. It's a battle of words, not a physical battle. It's not a yelling match; we seek words that spark curiosity and thoughtful consideration. ACV adopted this prayer in an effort receive God's guidance. We, you and all of us need to find the right words, said at the right time, to allow others to see how the proposed bill serves both citizens and government. It is a desire to promote positive outcomes from a freedom to exchange ideas.
Dear heavenly Father, you have blessed the United States of America with founding fathers that served you. You gave them the wisdom to for the first time in recorded history to create a nation for the sole purpose of serving its people. While not perfect, a government by the people and for the people has prevailed for over 250 years. With your love and grace, our nations laws have evolved as people’s needs have changed.
We seek your wisdom and ask for you guidance in a preserving the public’s trust in Arizona County government. A citizen’s voice is meaningless unless acknowledged and addressed with respect. We envision new laws to ensure all citizen concerns are heard. Your desire for peace and love will be served by a thoughtful government response. Your desire for justice will be served when citizen input has been addressed, promoting transparency and making governance decisions that are efficient, effective, safe and benefits the majority of people.
Please guide us towards finding the right words to justify new laws. With your grace, new laws will restore public confidence in government by ensuring citizen voices are heard. A government by the people can’t serve its people unless each voice has an opportunity to be heard. It’s a daunting change, but necessary to address our fast-paced society, where those in control may not always slow down to hear from the meek.
Heavenly Father, it is through our understanding of your desire for love and peace that we seek these new laws. Please grant us the will to carry these ideas forward to our Arizona Legislature and Governor. With devotion to you, we will be patience, place our trust in you, and accept any outcome. We pray that our vision serves you. Amen.
