Online petition calls for Huppenthal to resign
An NAACP chapter added its voice Thursday to the chorus of political and community leaders calling for state schools chief John Huppenthal to quit, and a new online petition drew hundreds of signatures within hours. But Arizona's largest and most influential business groups have thus far declined to take a position on the controversy.
The Arizona Chamber of Commerce and Industry, the Greater Phoenix Economic Council and the Greater Phoenix Chamber of Commerce all said Thursday when contacted by The Arizona Republic that they would have no comment.
The leaders of the Arizona Business and Education Coalition and the East Valley Partnership said their groups were unlikely to take a position.
Last week, Huppenthal was to have received an award from the Arizona Chamber of Commerce and Industry, but chamber officials canceled that plan after news about his controversial blog posts appeared in The Republic.
The influence of the business community was cited as one reason that Gov. Jan Brewer in February vetoed Senate Bill 1062 — the right-to-refuse-service bill that was widely denounced as anti-gay. Many groups, including the Western Maricopa Coalition and the Arizona Chamber of Commerce and Industry, as well as Apple Inc. and Intel Inc., put pressure on her to reject the measure as bad for business.
But those groups have been more reticent regarding Huppenthal's anonymous blog posts, which, like the debate over SB 1070, have been met with charges of intolerance and worry over Arizona's image.
Huppenthal, Arizona's superintendent of public instruction, admitted last week that he was the author of controversial comments made under the pseudonyms Falcon9 and Thucydides.
In his harshest remarks, made in 2011, he called people who receive public assistance "lazy pigs" and compared the work of Planned Parenthood founder Margaret Sanger to the actions of the Nazis. Another anonymous post from 2010 surfaced this week in which Falcon9 said Spanish-language media should be shut down.
At a tearful news conference on Wednesday, Huppenthal apologized for the comments, saying he "renounced and repudiated" them. But he said he would not resign or quit his campaign for re-election. He is facing challenger Diane Douglas in the Republican primary on Aug. 26.
On Thursday, the East Valley NAACP issued a statement joining the call for Huppenthal to resign as superintendent of public instruction. Calls made to group leaders for comment were not returned.
That group joined community and local business leaders who held a news conference on Wednesday urging other businesses to take a stand.
On Thursday, an online petition launched at Change.org that called for Huppenthal to step down quickly added supporters throughout the day. The petition was posted by Linda Thomas, who writes the blog restorereason.com and is president of the Oracle Elementary School District board. In an e-mail to The Republic on Thursday, Thomas said she was not speaking on behalf of the board but was dismayed by Huppenthal's posts.
Her petition offers the chance to sign a pre-written letter that says:
"To: John Huppenthal
Resign
Sincerely,
(Your name)"
As of late Thursday, more than 560 people supported it, up from 85 early in the day. The petition carries no legal authority.
Jesus Magana, 25, of Tucson, signed the petition. A graduate of Desert View High School, he's now a graduate student at the University of Southern California.
"I am a part of the public schools," he said Thursday. "All my nephews go to public school and it's scary to see that a man like that is in charge of our schools and public education."
Efforts to reach Huppenthal on Thursday were unsuccessful.
Arizona Hispanic Chamber of Commerce President Gonzalo de la Melena was among those calling for Huppenthal to quit. De la Melena said Huppenthal's negative comments about Spanish-language media could damage Arizona's trade relationship with Mexico.
The Arizona Business and Education Coalition, Westmarc and the East Valley Partnership declined to weigh in.
One local chamber executive left open the possibility of taking up the issue. Rick Kidder, president of the Scottsdale Chamber of Commerce, said his group's board is on hiatus until fall, but he intends to bring up Huppenthal's actions for discussion.
"We might issue a statement regarding his blog posts," Kidder said. "I can tell you as a citizen I'm grotesquely offended by the comments he made on those blogs and don't think they represent the heart and soul of Arizona."
Republic reporter Cathryn Creno contributed to this article.
