I was born in a small town.
Maybe that’s why, when VP Harris tapped Governor Walz to be her VP pick, I immediately liked the guy. As I stated in our last Substack, he reminds of countless older white dudes from my Midwestern small town who used to be charming, funny, loving helpful folks, but whose brains have been pulverized with hate and fear by cable “news” media and Cult 45.
I don’t know how many of you know this, but right outside of Maricopa County, there’s a little place called “Arizona.” And there are a bunch of little towns that make up that little place. In the past few years, we have seen a pretty big uptick in our legal department, with many complaints coming from rural spaces in Arizona.
[Because of this, Secular AZ has been showing up in these spaces because far too frequently, these folks feel like they’re all alone. If you feel like you’re the lone freethinker/agnostic/atheist etc in a rural space, check out our liaised groups! Maybe you’ll find your people!]
Frequently, these complaints are about local governing bodies violating the First Amendment or churches that use their pulpit to push politics.
One such complaint we recently received had a bit of both all wrapped into one, so put on your Wranglers and hop into my F-150, Secular Fam, as we travel just across the county line into Yavapai County and cruise on into Black Canyon City!
For those of you unfamiliar with this little town, it’s just north of New River and Anthem, and many of you have probably stopped by for a slice of pie at Rock Springs Cafe. And if you’re a true breakfast connoisseur, you’ve probably had the biggest pancakes on Planet Earth at the 4 Bees Cafe. The school district in Black Canyon City is Cañón Elementary School District (CESD) and has exactly one school in the district, with five governing board members (none of whom are even listed on the website - so much for accountability and transparency, amirite?).
This is not some wealthy enclave hidden in the mountains. This is an impoverished community with a median income of around $48,000, and 92% of children in this district qualify for free/reduced lunch. I’ve been told that there are seven churches in this town of about 2600 people, but I could only find five online.
You know, I really don’t have a problem with religious people. In fact, I have many friends and colleagues who are VERY devout in their faith, but guess what? They don’t shove it down my throat. I even bowed my head a couple of weeks ago when I met with a religious supporter who wanted to pray over our lunches. She was worried she would offend me, but I’m not a goddamn snowflake, so she prayed and we went on to have a lovely conversation. And I didn’t even spontaneously combust!
[In fact, Secular AZ really wants to get to know the demographics of our supporters, including their spiritual beliefs. We’ve put together a survey, and would love to hear from you!]
If you follow the Friendly Atheist, Hemant Mehta, you may have read about this story happening in Black Canyon City. The Cliffs Notes version is that this district is renting space to a church in Black Canyon City. Whether I agree that churches should be able to rent these spaces or not doesn’t really matter, because school districts have every right to rent out their spaces to whomever they want (within reason, obviously). The issue here is that this school district is renting out space for this church at a wildly discounted rate. The going rate in this district should be $12.50/hour for this church, but for no apparent reason, this district is renting the space to this church for $5.00/day.
In a year, this church pays less than $500, but if they were being charged the fair market rate, the district would have been paid over $5200.
But that’s not the end of it.
The President of the governing board is married to the pastor of this church.
It seems to me that this is kind of a big conflict of interest, but I can’t quite tell if this special price was even voted on or if the superintendent just set the price without board input.
One more thing about this church: their brand of “Christianity” is the kind that seems to believe in a gun-toting, straight, white, American Jesus. Lots of strange interpretations of Christ’s teachings, and of course, they’re very anti-LGBTQ.
I’ve also seen some clips where they promote political candidates, and more recently, they assert that they’re being pErSeCuTeD (of course). Basically, anyone who disagrees with them is a satanic jezebel.
Since I tend to focus more on urban school districts, I decided I wanted to take the 40 minute drive up to Black Canyon City with a friend who has never attended a school board meeting in his life.
We got there just as the meeting was starting, and it was standing room only. There were a bunch of folks wearing church t-shirts, and apparently, no one in Black Canyon City knows how to silence their phones (seriously, we were there for less than an hour and at least three cell phones went off LOUDLY and FOR SEVERAL MANY RINGS during the meeting).
For this meeting there were eleven speakers, and three shared their concerns about mismanagement of taxpayer dollars. And look, no one wants to stop the church from renting the space (though, again, I don’t think churches that espouse bigoted views should EVER be allowed to rent government buildings). These folks just want them to be charged fairly.
They don’t want to involuntarily tithe to this church anymore, and I don’t blame them.
There were speakers there to support the church, and many of them said that “all the good work” the church does should be reason enough for the sweet deal they’re getting. Many said that the church “gives kids something to do,” but what about the queer kids and their families in Black Canyon City? Do they feel safe having “something to do” with people who believe their very existence is “shameful” and “deserving of death?”
Also, if “giving kids something to do” means they’ll be indoctrinated by a bunch of evangelical extremists, I’ll take a hard pass.
The superintendent of the school seems to be on the side of the church. Even though on the district website, she complains about the terrible funding of our public schools, she’s seemingly cool with turning down thousands of dollars from the church because they “give kids something to do.”
There was no vote on the district’s facilities use policy or pricing, and it was unclear if this will be brought up for a public vote in the coming month. I got the vibe that the board is *mostly* cool with the church discount, so at this point, I’ll be keeping an eye on their next move.
I also got word that at the end of the meeting, the one board member who has been the most critical of this policy resigned after the meeting. CESD is a district struggling with enrollment, and citizens there have told me that many families have chosen Great Hearts Academy in Anthem, the Deer Valley (DVUSD) school district, or homeschool vouchers over the school in their own community. When their students finish 8th grade, many will feed into DVUSD, so when I remembered that they also had their board meeting on the same night, you better believe I decided this Substack needed to be a twofer!
[So slam that subscribe button, Secular Fam, because I suffered through two board meetings in the same night so you don’t have to.]
Y’all, I’m so lucky. Almost three years ago I joined this wonderful and unique organization. They had faith (no pun intended) in me. They trusted me to do my best to level up and help people understand the genuine threat that white Christian nationalism poses to our state and nation.
Heck. We’ve seen it up close and personal, right?
Do you remember when Jake Hoffman berated our Secular AZ members in committee this last legislative session?
Do you remember when Arizona’s own J6 Insurrectionist, second-to-last vote-getter in the CD8 congressional primary, Fake Elector, Arizona’s Biggest Manbaby AND Mama Fratelli Look Alike, (almost former) Senator Anthony Kern (R-LD27)
licked the carpet of the Arizona Senate floor?
Do you remember when a former Peoria (PUSD) board member called for the extermination of all non-Christians?
Well, we do.
It’s taxing as you can imagine, but our commitment to public education drives us. Public school district governing board candidates are at the bottom of the ballot, but the decisions they make directly affect the communities we live and work in.
And that brings me back to DVUSD…
The meeting was a sight to behold. President Ann Ordway should teach a master class on governing board leadership, and managed to keep the nonstop stream of consciousness coming out of Board Member Kim Fisher’s mouth at a minimum.
They had a hefty agenda with staff travel inquiries, arguments against (and possible violation of Open Meeting Law??) private discussions, and a superintendent contract approval, and if you really want to, you can watch it here.
Board Member Fisher was livestreaming the entire meeting with a camera on her face the whole time, so that was a choice. She was holding her own live streamed meeting, complete with adding comments under her breath, never-ending eye-rolling, and looking smug while everything was discussed.
But that’s what people with narcissistic tendencies do.
Having been married to a narcissist for way too many years, I understand their need to make everything about them. Nearly every negative behavior they attribute to others is a description of their own behavior because they almost never take accountability for their own actions and believe that they are without flaws. IYKYK.
So she streamed the whole meeting and then shuffled out to her car to ramble about all kinds of stuff. She rambled about Superintendent Finch; by the way, he’s Dr. Finch, but she insists on calling him “Mr. Finch” since these folks refuse to acknowledge the accomplishments of anyone who disagrees with them. Evangelical extremist weirdos love to do this by purposely mispronouncing Kamala Harris’s name on the regular.
What transpired afterwards can only be described as an unhinged rant uttered by someone who I assume has never felt joy in their whole entire life.
She attacked
(wait for it)
Charity.
Yes, my godless heathen friends (and others), charity. According to Merriam-Webster, charity means “generosity and helpfulness especially toward the needy or suffering.”
Who TF is against being generous and helpful towards those who are needy or suffering?
Apparently, Kim Fisher is.
At this point, it is important for you to have a mini history lesson.
President Ordway has been involved with DVUSD for a very long time. Long before she became a board member, her children attended DVUSD schools, and when she was involved with her local PTA, she saw a need in her community. Over 20 years ago, she decided to solicit food and clothing donations for families in need because she saw kids with cardboard and duct tape holding their too-small shoes together (I know, what a MONSTER). This endeavor has been successful enough over the years that it’s expanded to multiple campuses.
And she’s continued this work even with a pretty scary cancer diagnosis.
Earlier this year, DVUSD made the decision to formalize this type of charity and partnered with several organizations to expand and sustain this program. They decided to honor President (Ann Elizabeth) Ordway by naming it “Ann E’s Closet.”
It’s so lovely, Secular Fam. DVUSD families can stop by and have a “boutique” experience without shame or judgment. Kids can get shoes that fit, a dress for prom, a new handbag, or a weekend’s worth of groceries. How cool is that?
It’s so cool - so wholesome - that only a narcissist would be opposed to it. I can only conclude that Board Member Fisher’s opposition to helping students in her district has more to do with the name, “Ann E’s Closet,” than the work being done at these sites.
People with narcissist tendencies HATE when they’re not the center of attention. They hate when their perceived enemies get recognition for a job well done.
In her online rant, she asserted that teachers “have been doing this forever,” and she’s not wrong. When I was a teacher, my students knew that I would always have snacks and period products for them (on my own dime, BTW). When I was a teacher, I always had a “lunch bunch” in my classroom for kids who maybe didn’t fit in with their peers. When I was a teacher, I was grateful to outside parties who helped our kids in need to obtain all that they needed to be ready to learn in my classroom.
The thing is, I never heard Board Member Fisher say anything negative about Ann E’s Closet until the renaming.
In her livestream, Board Member Fisher accused everyone in her universe of nefarious behavior. She disparaged Dr. Finch. She disparaged her board colleagues. She disparaged the district she’s supposed to be serving.
And then…
She disparaged President Ordway.
Do y’all remember when she accused President Ordway of faking her cancer? She took it a bit further this time. Board Member Fisher insinuated that President Ordway is only helping and promoting Ann E’s Closet because she likes attention (👀).
She accused her of “almost running people over” everywhere she drives. She said President Ordway “doesn’t care about kids” and that her life is “sad” because she “has nothing else in her life” and even brought up her late husband who passed away FROM CANCER about a decade ago. She also called her professional colleague “batshit crazy.”
See how these extremists project their own batshit onto others?
A source close to Ordway, who asked to stay anonymous to frankly speak said:
“Ann Ordway can walk into a room and immediately find fellowship with others in the room. Kim Fisher walks into the same room and finds fault with everyone in there. Who does that, and which one of them is actually the problem?”
R’Amen, young grasshopper.
I don’t know about y’all, but I prefer my elected leaders to be benevolent. I want my elected leaders to identify a need in the community and find solutions to remedy it. I want my elected leaders to focus on actual issues instead of picking fights because their ego is more important than the Common Good.
If those are the qualities that you look for in elected leaders, then help us to combat this type of deeply unserious behavior.
I know I already said this, but I went to two board meetings in the same night so you don’t have to.
I would much rather be hanging out with my Housewife friends in Orange County or Beverly Hills on any given weekday evening, but these issues right in our own backyards are too important to ignore. We’re facing a crossroads, Arizona.
Which path will you choose?