Montgomery: Arizona offers challenges
 AG candidate offers viewpoints in Kingman
 
By Jennifer Bartlett
Kingman Daily Miner
 
KINGMAN - Bill Montgomery, Republican candidate for Arizona attorney general, made several stops in Kingman last week, educating voters on his viewpoints and goals for office.

Montgomery spent Friday morning with the Route 66 Rotary, making clear his views on leadership in the statewide office.

A West Point graduate (1989) and Desert Storm veteran, Montgomery has had his share of serving his country. After the service, he graduated from the Arizona State University College of Law. After a short period in California, Montgomery moved with his wife to Maricopa County, where he prosecuted for the county for several years.

"I think, in this coming year, the state has some significant leadership challenges to address," he said. "And there is a unique role for the Attorney General's Office to play."

He has specific goals in mind as he draws into the final month of campaigning before he takes on incumbent Terry Goddard to decide who will continue as Arizona's attorney general.

Arizona, he said, has the worst crime rate in the nation. The state can also "boast" having the second worst property crime rate. Arizona also has the worst crime rate in the nation for identity theft, he said.

"Strong leadership and decisive action can help in this area because the two most important factors are illegal immigration and drug smuggling. In addition, I would say a leadership challenge in particular that needs to be addressed in Mohave County is Colorado City," Montgomery said.

The Attorney General's Office can play a very unique role, he said, in addressing this leadership challenge by prosecuting the coyotes who smuggle people and drugs into the country. Human smuggling is a $23 billion industry in Arizona, he said, and is becoming a greater issue across the country. The attorney general can address these issues in this state.

In order for the state to be strong, he said, it needs strong communities.
 
KingmanDailyMiner.com
Originally published October 10, 2006
 
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