Around the Districts Podcast

In part one of our conversation with Kyrene Elementary School District Governing Board candidate Catherine Peters, we expose the human cost of school consolidation, bus transport gridlock, and the financial strain universal ESA vouchers impose on public districts in Arizona.

We explore how local parents step into boardrooms to demand direct public access, open committees, and transparent decision-making before school closures occur...

Independent voters represent Arizona's fastest growing political group, yet state election law forces nonpartisan candidates to gather six times as many signatures just to access the ballot. Closed primaries shut thousands of us out of decisive races, creating state and local governance that fails to reflect the electorate.

In part two of our interview with Voter Choice Arizona field director Kazz Fernandes, we examine how ranked c...

Chandler Vice Mayor Angel Encinas returns for part two of our conversation. Direct public access keeps municipal government accountable to residents. Angel maintains an open door policy and answers calls from constituents day and night.

When hot topic issues come before council, local leaders must put residents first. The Chandler City Council voted to reject a massive data center project and reinforced municipal codes to set stric...

Systems engineer turned election reformer Kazz Fernandes joins Around the Districts to explain how open primaries and ranked ballots restore power to Arizona voters. Closed primaries lock independent voters out of decisive elections and hand control of public policy to extreme partisan bases.

Kazz details how Voter Choice Arizona uses direct neighborhood education, local cookoff elections, and municipal ballot measures like the Tem...

In this second installment with Chandler City Councilmember Jane Poston, we examine how Chandler adapts as available land reaches 94 percent capacity. Councilmember Poston outlines a smart infill strategy to convert older commercial centers and closed school sites into entry-level workforce housing for young families, teachers, and firefighters.

We explore how Chandler launches its own emergency medical response service through the...

Here’s part 1 with Chandler Vice Mayor Angel Encinas. Raised in the heart of downtown Chandler, he brings a lifelong connection to the families and streets of his hometown. 

We discuss his direct outreach in Chandler traditional neighborhoods, where he connects residents directly with police, firefighters, and municipal teams to secure street lights, speed bumps, and alley cleanups. He details how neighborhood roundtable...

Municipal decisions shape the immediate realities of our neighborhoods. In this episode, we sit down with Chandler City Councilmember Jane Poston to discuss her transition from municipal public affairs to write city policy. Poston leverages her  experience as a former twelve-year city employee and local small business owner to demand structural accountability.

We discuss how Chandler enforces some of the strictest land-use zon...

Chandler transformed from a quiet farm town into a global economic hub. As the July 21st mayoral election approaches rapidly, the city requires leadership that understands this massive demographic shift.

In part two of our talk with Chandler mayoral candidate Matt Orlando, we examine the three pillars necessary for the future of the city. He prioritizes community safety, economic development, and quality of life. Orlando shares sto...

Local districts must collaborate to defeat well-funded political machines. In this episode, Legislative District 12 Chair Melissa Galarza details how grassroots campaigns swap resources and bypass the consultant class. We discuss the direct path from local school boards to federal office. When we elect strong leaders at the municipal level today, we block bad national policy tomorrow.

Watch to learn how to secure power in your neig...

Chandler Council Member Matt Orlando campaigns to become the next Mayor of Chandler. He brings 25 years of public service to city hall. In this episode, we sit down with Matt to discuss the true cost of high-tech industry sprawl, data centers, and community safety. He explains his recent vote to reject a massive artificial intelligence data center where developers failed to guarantee local jobs. We also examine his collaborative mo...

Welcome back to Around the Districts! In this episode, we sit down for Part 2 of our conversation with Chandler City Council candidate Cicely Rocha-Miller to pull back the curtain on what it actually takes to run a grassroots local campaign.

Cicely shares her perspective on why the arts are a fundamental connector—not a luxury—for the Chandler community, detailing the unique partnership between the Chandler Center for t...

In the second part of our conversation, Maritza Saenz returns to expose the deep conflict over ballot access in Arizona. The state legislature maintains a steady assault on early ballots and mail-in access. We dissect the Free, Fair, and Secure Elections Act (I-08-2026), a citizen measure that establishes voter rights in the Arizona Constitution. This measure places established ballot access out of reach for partisan politicians.

C...

The 2026 election cycle is here. Wealth alone does not buy movements. In this episode, we continue our conversation with Claudia Kline. She seeks a seat in the Arizona House of Representatives for Legislative District 8. We look at the harsh landscape for rural Arizona.

We show how state policy fails our neighbors. We dissect how corporations use right-to-work laws to exploit workers and suppress wages. We discuss the medical deser...

Municipal campaigns are hard work. In 2024, Cicely Rocha-Miller missed the Chandler runoff election by only 242 votes. This razor-thin margin proves a fundamental truth: your vote matters. While national campaigns dominate our screens with partisan battles, municipal decisions determine our daily lives.

In Part 1 of our conversation with Chandler City Council candidate Cicely Rocha-Miller, we discuss the reality of local public ser...

National campaigns waste millions on late-stage television ads. They ignore the physical labor of the precinct. In part one of our series with Legislative District 12 Chair Melissa Galarza, we examine how local organization wins elections.

Melissa built a powerful team of precinct committeepersons in the East Valley. Volunteers distributed over one hundred thousand physical voter guides. They knocked on doors. They did the hard wor...

The state legislature counts on your exhaustion. They believe that if they make the act of the vote difficult, you will stay home. In this episode, we sit down with Maritza Saenz of Protect the Vote. Arizona has a thirty-year history of secure mail-in ballots. Now, that history is under siege. This is not just an attack on a few—it is a systemic attempt to control every single voter, regardless of party, background, or geogra...

The 2026 election cycle demands leaders who live the reality of their districts. Legislative District 8 faces a choice between community service as a hobby and representation as a necessity. Claudia Kline joins the show to expose the systemic neglect that poisons our air and drains our public funds.

We discuss the environmental toll on the Yavapai-Apache and Pascua Yaqui communities. We examine the failure of the state budget to re...

The math of dissent is precise. AJ Kurdoglu knows this math. In part two of our conversation, we expose the tactical storm of this administration. We reveal the human cost of state-sanctioned kidnapping. Gilbert was once a fortress for silence. Now, it is a site of resistance. We discuss the 3.5% rule. This is the threshold where a disciplined minority breaks a failing system.

We also confront the reality of ICE deportations. The p...

The powerful use hopelessness as a tool for control. They want silence. We refuse. In this episode, we prove the tide can turn. We look at promising data. From the Salt River Project election to national flips in red districts across the nation, the working class is waking up.

Voters in Arizona stood in line for four hours to protect their power. The costs of survival continue to rise while the market shrivels in the face of global...