Sen. Robert Meza’s Attendance Record Is Not In Dispute. The Secretary of the Senate Confirms His Dismal Record
According to the official attendance record maintained by the Office of the Secretary of the Senate for the 50th Legislature, first regular session, 2011, District 30 Senator Robert Meza was absent 25% of the time. If his attendance record is adjusted with the category “excused and seated” which is applied when a Senator is so late that he misses roll call but asks to be excused by the President of the Senate, Sen. Meza was either absent or late 46% of the time. During the 50th legislature the President that granted the “excused and seated” designation to Meza was Russell Pearce.
Raquel Teran, candidate for the State Senate District 30 and Robert Meza’s opponent for the State Senate in the Democratic Primary, accused Meza of “incompetence and dereliction of duty.” She went on to observe, “if you were absent from your job over one fourth of the time you would be fired and if you were either late or absent half the time you should be ashamed of yourself.”
Meza has been defending himself by displaying an article from a weekly newspaper that says he was in attendance 99% of the time. Teran responded by saying “Wow! A big fat lie to stay in office and continue enjoying lobbyist’s gifts, luxury junkets with Russell Pearce to the Rose Bowl and to Boston courtesy of the Fiesta Bowl and ignore the problems of west Phoenix. The official record is clear, he doesn’t care and he should be fired like his friend and fellow abuser of the public trust Russell Pearce.”