Gov. Mecham’s Impeachment Termed Almost Certain

PHOENIX —  As Gov. Evan Mecham testified for a third day before a House select committee, ranking House members said Thursday that impeachment is almost a certainty.

Members estimated that about 41 representatives will vote for impeachment. Only 31 votes are needed from the 60-member body to force the governor to appear before the state Senate for an impeachment trial.

“I don’t have the exact count on the vote, but my sense of walking down the halls is that he’s gone,” said House Speaker Joe Lane of Wilcox, who is a Republican, as is Mecham.

Lane said there are about 15 “no” votes that wouldn’t change if someone brought “a dead body in here” but that there is a clear majority opposing the governor.

Would Retain Office

If Mecham is impeached, he will retain his office but will be precluded from functioning as the state’s chief administrator.

The charges against him would go to the Senate for trial where the 30 senators would serve as the jury. A two-thirds vote is required to remove Mecham from office.

House Majority Whip Jane Hull of Phoenix and Majority Leader Jim Ratliff of Sun City, also Republicans, and Minority Leader Art Hamilton (D-Phoenix) agreed that impeachment is pretty much assured.

“The votes are definitely there,” Hull said.

Hamilton said about 10 Democrats have already come to him to declare themselves in favor of impeachment.

Committee member Gary Giordano, a Phoenix Republican and a strong Mecham supporter, estimated that 24 of the 36 Republicans will vote for impeachment.

The 10-member committee is expected to conclude two weeks of hearings on charges of malfeasance by the governor today, and House members then expect to caucus to discuss the charges. A vote on impeachment is expected today.

The committee has been investigating charges that the Republican governor tried to hide a $350,000 campaign loan, used $80,000 in public funds to bail out his automobile dealership and tried to thwart an attorney general’s investigation into a death threat made by one of his staff members.

“Yes, yes, there are enough votes for impeachment,” said Mecham supporter Leslie Johnson (R-Mesa), fighting back tears. “It’s ugly, very ugly.”

“If Gov. Mecham does not make any great revelation tomorrow, I would say there are enough votes for impeachment,” committee Chairman Jim Skelly, a Scottsdale Republican, said Thursday.

“If the governor is going to resign,” added Republican committee member Mark Killian of Mesa, “he’d better be thinking about it now, because I think he is going to be in trouble.”

Lane Tells of Shift

Lane said he noticed the shift toward impeachment in the last two weeks.

“I think it was just a matter of exposure over time,” he said. “I think the tide turned when people began to see the enormous amount of evidence against him.”

Republican Jim Hartdegan of Casa Grande said that as the governor has testified, more and more members have moved toward impeachment.

“I think part of the feeling is, ‘I don’t want to be the only one on the Titanic who drowns when it goes down,’ ” he said.

Thursday’s testimony revolved around a $350,000 campaign loan that the governor received from a Tempe developer, Barry Wolfson, but failed to report on his personal and campaign disclosure statements.

Mecham, 63, who is also facing criminal charges and a May 17 recall election, did not appear to have much success in disputing the charges.

The governor conceded that a receipt for $350,000 as a contribution to the campaign was false, and in fact was made to balance the books on the loan from Wolfson.

“It appears to be a concerted effort to hide the loan,” Killian said.

Mecham will resume testimony today when he will face questions about $80,000 from a “protocol fund” he transferred to his automobile dealership.

The governor maintains the money was private funds set aside for him from a fund-raiser and that he got a favorable rate of interest by handling it that way. County officials, however, maintain that the money was public and was not handled properly.