At the end of Fenske’s typically unputdownable last column for the paper*, she tells readers she’s leaving town.

Her next gig will be as managing editor of the Riverfront Times, the New Times paper in St. Louis**.

Her envoi:

SO LONG, FAREWELL

In case you haven’t heard, I’m leaving Arizona to work as the managing editor at New Times' sister paper in St. Louis, the Riverfront Times. And it’s fitting, I suppose, that my final column in Phoenix is about the Housing Authority of Maricopa County.

To me, this story exemplifies everything I hate about Phoenix — as well as everything I’ve grown to love. I don’t think there’s anywhere else in the country where con men prosper so quickly, where rules are broken so casually, where the rule of law is something that’s enforced only on the poor and the alien.

In almost any other big city, a guy like Doug Lingner would still be setting tile, not given the keys to a major nonprofit organization. In other places, people would be up in arms demanding Joe Arpaio’s resignation. (Say what you will about immigration, but this clown has squandered $45 million in lawyer fees and insurance payments! $45 million!) In other states, too, a guy facing a credible threat of disbarment — ahem, Andrew Thomas! — would not be considered a viable candidate for state attorney general.

Let’s face it: Shysters thrive here. Too many people are transplants who don’t care. Too many people hew too closely to ideology and have no interest in getting at the truth.

And yet, I’ve met more brave people in this state than anywhere else I’ve lived. It’s been easy to be a reporter here. For every con man, there’s someone willing to turn him in. For every Doug Lingner, there’s a Janet Belfield.

I may not miss the dry white heat of Phoenix summers. But I will miss having this weekly soapbox. And I’ll miss the brave people of Arizona, too.


* It’s about how the woman in the Maricopa County Housing Authority who has been fired after helping bring down former director Doug Lingner, who was driven out of the agency after numerous investigations and press exposes. Fenske:

Belfield, a longtime agency employee, is the one who blew the whistle on Lingner. And last week, she was fired by the housing authority. No severance. No chance to resign.

There’s not a doubt in my mind that her treatment is directly related to her attempts to expose Lingner.

** The New Times parent company is technically called Village Voice Media. It’s run out of Phoenix and Phoenix New Times remains its flagship.