ICE Chief Suzanne Barr on ice

A little Arizona history

The name Suzanne Barr has been in the news recently, but how many know her Arizona background?

Her father was longtime Arizona House Speaker and legislative member Burton Barr who represented north central Phoenix — then known as District 18 — for twenty-two years from 1964 to 1986. In a political world far removed from todays, Barr was the Republican majority leader for twenty of those years. In today’s lingo, he would be known as a RINO.  In those days, he was called a “compromiser.” The main Phoenix library on Central Avenue bears his name.

Burt Barr passed away in 1997. Few remember that the confident politico lost his last election to conservative Evan Mecham, who in 1986 succeeded in trouncing the stunned Barr to win the governorship.

Barr’s daughter Suzanne has recently been in the news herself. But not in a context that would have pleased her witty but straitlaced father.  Suzanne has been named as a central figure in the sex scandal lawsuit rocking the Department of Homeland Security. And not unlike her aisle crossing father, Suzanne Barr, worked as liberal Janet Napolitano’s chief of staff at Immigration and Customs Enforcement, where — according to court documents — she appeared to delight in engaging in “numerous” acts of “sexually offensive behavior” intended to “humiliate and intimidate male employees.”  The 21-page complaint, complete with lurid details filed May 21, 2012 can be read here. (Courtesy of Debbie Schlussel).

Before becoming chief of staff in January 2009, the Arizona native served in then-Governor Janet Napolitano’s office, working as deputy director and director of legislative affairs. As director of legislative affairs, Barr was responsible for the governor’s legislative agenda and oversaw the legislative proposals of all state agencies. She also served as the governor’s policy advisor on law enforcement issues, overseeing all state law enforcement agencies. Like Napolitano, she holds a law degree.

According to this report on FOX News, Suzanne Barr has “voluntarily placed herself on leave” amid new allegations of lewd conduct which have surfaced. Republicans would have preferred to see former Arizona Governor Napolitano and her incompetent, raunchy gal pals out the door for partisan incompetence.

But this will do.