Marcelino Quiñonez abruptly resigned his legislative seat, presumably to pursue a more lucrative Phoenix City Council appointment.
The problem with that? He appears to be constitutionally ineligible for the appointment — at least to anyone who can read the state constitution.
“No member of the legislature, during the term for which he shall have been elected or appointed shall be eligible to hold any other office or be otherwise employed by the state of Arizona or, any county or incorporated city or town thereof. This prohibition shall not extend to the office of school trustee, nor to employment as a teacher or instructor in the public school system.”
But let’s first unravel how we got here and why is important to discuss this now — and........