Cancellation at Paris hotel lands Brewer in hot water

(PNI) Quel faux pas?Best Western doesn't have the best hotel digs, it seems, at least if you're Gov. Jan Brewer and company.

While the state's executive-in-chief was showing off Arizona to CEOs and government leaders abroad, she managed to raise eyebrows back home. Her staff last week released records showing Brewer and two staffers generated a $4,100 bill that included cancellation fees for a Paris Best Western.

It was a major diss to Best Western, which is headquartered in Phoenix -- and creates jobs and tourism in Arizona.

Brewer spokesman Matthew Benson said the Parisian hotel -- a top-tier hotel in the chain -- "wasn't the most suitable location for a business trip." He later added that construction in front of the hotel wasn't conducive to high-level business meetings.

Next time the governor trots across the globe in hopes of expanding business investments, maybe she should remember the businesses in her own backyard.

Skewered Brewer? Brewer's unintentional endorsement of President Barack Obama during an interview at the Republican National Convention spurred some e-mails from supporters and opponents. During the interview, Brewer said, "And I know that if President Obama is elected in November, which I hope that he is, that he will be able to come together with all of us and come up with a solution and I believe he will secure our borders and therefore we can resolve all those other issues; it's a simple matter."

Here are some of the comments she received:

"Governor, I think you forgot your medication this morning -- or, if you do endorse Obama, I will never vote for you." -- John Gross, Pima County.

"You're an idiot. Don't ever run for a national office after rolling over on your party." --Terry Curtis, Arizona.

"That was not a slip. That is how you feel and you have now lost all my financial support." --Todd Iverson, Arizona.

Mecum's next big splash…Brett Mecum has worked behind the scenes in politics, supporting candidate campaigns as the executive director of the state Republican Party. Until he got canned from the job a year ago.

Now he's angling to be the candidate. Mecum is one of 13 people running for the Central Arizona Water Conservation District board, which oversees the Central Arizona Project canal and handles reimbursement to the feds for the construction of the massive aqueduct.

It would be quite the change of pace for Mecum, given he made headlines for criminal speeding (109 mph, according to speed cameras) and helped fan the flames on partisan races. The district is nonpartisan.

Don't forget to pay… Need a reminder to pay your property taxes? Republican Maricopa County Treasurer Charles "Hos" Hoskins, the county's tax collector, has you covered. His large, bright-yellow billboards that get erected across the Valley in September and October are back. You can't miss them, or the large Maricopa County seal that takes up about a third of the billboard -- making some other Republican county officials cringe.

The message is simple: "If you own property, you owe taxes. Pay online at www.treasurer.maricopa.gov."

The billboards cost about $52,000 to $60,000 a year from the Taxpayer Information Fund, which comes from fees charged to investors who purchase delinquent tax liens, Hoskins said.

Compiled by Republic reporters Mary Jo Pitzl, Yvonne Wingett Sanchez and Michelle Ye Hee Lee. politics.azcentral.com.

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