Governor Katie Hobbs is coming under criticism for paying two political cronies high salaries in positions that some allege duplicate existing jobs. At the same time, the agency she placed them at, the Department of Economic Security, laid off 5 percent of its full-time employees due to cuts in federal government funding.
State Senator Jake Hoffman (R-Queen Creek), chair and founder of the Arizona Freedom Caucus, denounced Hobbs on X. “Katie Hobbs’ jaw-dropping nearly $600,000 handout of taxpayer money to a former Democrat politician and her assistant for newly invented jobs reeks of corruption,” he said. “It’s sickening that Hobbs continues to treat Arizona’s government like her personal friends-and-family slush fund, doling out lavish six-figure salaries to political cronies.”
Laurie Roberts, a left-leaning opinion writer for The Arizona Republic, also blasted the move. “Why are you keeping six-figure jobs that were invented for people — jobs that presumably already are being done elsewhere — while laying off DES employees from jobs that otherwise won’t get done?”
Hobbs previously hired Dana Allmond, a retired Army lieutenant colonel, and her assistant Marcus Trombetta for positions in state government after Allmond ran for the State House in 2022 and lost. But after facing opposition getting Senate Republicans to confirm Allmond to head the Department of Veterans’ Services (DVS) in 2023, Hobbs switched them to lower level jobs at the same salaries she hired them at, $170,000 annually for Allmond and $114,000 annually for Trombetta. Over two years, that totals almost $600,000.
Read the rest of the article at The Arizona Sun Times
Subscribe to email updates from The Arizona Sun Times