KJZZ is a service of Rio Salado College,
and Maricopa Community Colleges

Copyright © 2025 KJZZ/Rio Salado College/MCCCD
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations

Republicans on AZ Corporation Commission start investigation into Democratic colleague

Arizona Corporation Commission building in downtown Phoenix.
Tim Agne/KJZZ
Arizona Corporation Commission building in downtown Phoenix.

Four Republicans on the Arizona Corporation Commission directed the agency’s top attorney to investigate whether its lone Democrat violated its code of ethics and state laws.

On a 4-0 vote on Nov. 22, the commissioners directed general counsel Tom Van Flein to investigate whether Commissioner Anna Tovar harassed staff or broke any rules when she discussed details about Executive Director Doug Clark’s compensation in an open meeting and public letter.

Hear Wayne Schutsky on The Show with host Mark Brodie
The Show logo card

Specifically, the four Republican commissioners authorized Van Flein “to undertake an official inquiry to determine whether Commissioner Tovar and her office staff have violated our Code of ethics … the Arizona State statutes, and the Arizona Administrative Code regarding interference in and disclosure of confidential personnel-related information and whether she or her staff have harassed public servants of the state of Arizona employed here at the Commission.”

O’Connor directed Van Flein to return a report to the commission within 10 days.

Tovar’s controversial comments came as she opposed a $20,000 one-time bonus the commission awarded Clark on Nov. 6.

“It’s just, in my personal opinion, that it’s unprecedented that the commission is doing a performance evaluation where there is no apparent metrics or benchmarks or criteria for evaluation,” Tovar said before casting the lone dissenting vote. “In my opinion, Mr. Clark is already being compensated more than any prior executive director, to the best of my knowledge.”

Clark, who was hired in April 2023, has a $215,000 annual salary.

Tovar followed that statement up with a public letter posted to the Corporation Commission website and sent to the press that reiterated her position that she did not believe Clark should be awarded a bonus, citing turnover and staffing issues and a discrimination lawsuit filed against the commission by its past general counsel in August.

“While I don’t necessarily solely fault Mr. Clark for these issues, this is why I do not think he is deserving of a bonus,” Tovar wrote.

According to a commission press release, Van Flein will investigate whether Tovar violated the Corporation Commission’s Code of Ethics and several state laws or regulations. Specifically, commission documents cite state laws and regulations that prohibit members of a public body from publicly sharing certain personnel records or information they learned in a private executive session.

“When credible allegations are raised, they must be addressed, and we as a Commission have a responsibility to ensure that accountability is amongst ourselves,” Thompson said before voting in favor of the investigation alongside O’Connor and Commissioners Nick Myers and Lea Márquez Peterson.

Tovar said her comments about Clark contained only public information not protected by state law. 

“All this information is public and I didn't violate any rules or any laws,” she said. “I just wanted to make sure that the people knew that I was standing up for the consumer and knowing that, hey, your tax dollars could have been used a little bit more wisely in this case.”

She acknowledged that specific discussions about Clark’s performance evaluations or salary negotiations should be kept private but argued the general comments she made about Clark’s salary do not need to be kept confidential.

In fact, it is my understanding that the compensation of all elected officials, state employees, and political appointees, which the Executive Director is, are not confidential, and that would include any compensation or bonuses he receives,” Tovar wrote.

She also denied any allegation she harassed staff members.

“I'm as shocked as you are in regards to that, but no, I deny any of those allegations as well,” Tovar said.

The commission offered few details on the allegations that Tovar harassed staff members, and Tovar did not address those claims in her letter.

O’Connor, the commission chairman, only said he wanted the harassment investigation to “go back to include the examination all the way back to last year, with respect to JP Martin.”

Martin, who now works for the Arizona Secretary of State, was the commission’s legislative liaison and public information office from January to December 2023.

“I think the investigation is going to show what it does,” Martin said.

He added, “I’m totally removed from any of that.”

In her response letter, Tovar suggested a fellow commissioner could have instigated the investigation, because her office did not receive a copy of a formal complaint from Van Flein as outlined by the commission’s official Code of Ethics.

“While it is not altogether clear whether the Chief Counsel is acting on his own, at the behest of the Chairman's office or acting on behalf of all the other offices. Each of these scenarios is equally troubling,” Tovar wrote.

Tovar told KJZZ News the commission has not followed the process outlined in its Code of Ethics, which calls for the a complaint to be submitted in writing and under oath to the ethics officer — Van Flein — who then reports the complaint to the commission.

Tovar said she never received a copy of the complaint that prompted the investigation. In fact, she says she did not even know she was the subject of a complaint until staff revised the agenda for the Nov. 22 meeting to include her name the day before the meeting.

“So for me, I see it as just see it as a political witch hunt at this point because it makes zero sense to me,” Tovar said.

The commission declined to name who filed the complaint.

“Per our General Counsel, the information you’re asking for is confidential until the investigation is completed, at which point the report will then be made public,” commission spokeswoman Nicole Garcia said.

The new investigation into Tovar comes a year after she filed her own complaint with the Arizona Attorney General’s Office, which prompted an investigation by the attorney general that concluded the four Republican commissioners violated the state’s Open Meetings Law.

EDITOR'S NOTE: The story has been updated to clarify that Anna Tovar acknowledged that specific discussions about Doug Clark’s performance evaluations or salary negotiations should be kept private.

Wayne Schutsky is a broadcast field correspondent covering Arizona politics on KJZZ. He has over a decade of experience as a journalist reporting on local communities in Arizona and the state Capitol.