Barbara LaWall was Pima County attorney from 1996 to 2020.

County Attorney Laura Conover can’t seem to tell the truth. At campaign fundraisers, at candidate forums, debates and house parties, Conover continually lies to the voters and to reporters as well. It is truly alarming to realize how factually unhinged Conover is.

Conover claims that she was never let in the building before being sworn in. Not true. Shortly after the primary election, she was given a personal tour of the building by Rick Unklesbay, the prosecutor against whom she later filed a State Bar complaint. And in another lie, she even denied having done that.

Conover falsely states that no one ever talked to her about the office or the transfer of power, the number of employees, about how the budget worked or other fundamental operations. “We had to come in blind and start over.” Absolutely. Positively. Not true.

We went out of our way and took special measures to facilitate a smooth transition for her. Her claim that “We had to come in blind and start over,” is the same kind of false polemic practiced by Trump, alleging without any basis that there was some kind of conspiracy to undermine her transition.

The 2020 primary election occurred during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic and the lockdown. The courts were closed and the Pima County Attorney’s Office was operating with a small skeleton staff because almost everyone was working remotely.

During this time, David Smutzer, the PCAO budget administrator, personally met with Laura Conover and Martha Durkin to thoroughly discuss budget issues and to answer any questions. He also offered himself as a continuing resource. They never took him up on it.

Chief Criminal Deputy David Berkman met with Conover over Zoom and offered his assistance, guidance and support. She declined to take him up on his offer.

Conover received several phone calls from Chief Deputy Amelia Cramer offering to meet with her multiple times, but she only agreed to one meeting, claiming she was “too busy” to meet more often. Andy Flagg, chief civil deputy, met with Conover, as well as with her chief deputy and her designated budget administrator more than once.

At my direction, John Phelps, an organizational consultant, the former CEO and director of the Arizona State Bar, was hired to assist us with managing transition planning on our part. All leaders and supervisors met with him several times to discuss how to effectively facilitate briefing and ensure a smooth onboarding of Laura Conover and her chief deputy.

In addition to the existing PCAO training manuals and policy manuals provided to Conover, each bureau chief, supervisor and program director also wrote individual desk manuals and information briefings for Conover and her staff. After being sworn in, Conover failed to take advantage of John Phelp’s expertise and cancelled his contract. She did not want his help.

Although Laura Conover and I never met in person, I personally called and spoke with her multiple times between August and December to discuss the myriad number of outside agencies, complex issues, concerns, and problems she would encounter and be required to deal with as county attorney.

During, and at the end of each call, I would ask if she had any questions or concerns. She always said she had none.

I strongly urged her to schedule meetings with as many individuals and PCAO leaders as possible and to take advantage of the months before being sworn in to become thoroughly acquainted with the office. I offered assistance to make that happen. Conover resisted all of this. She clearly did not want any help. She never indicated any issues or problems, nor did she seek any additional assistance with the transition.

Democracy and justice are best served when the public has unquestionable faith and trust in the integrity of its elected leaders. Conover’s breach of ethics causing the State Bar to place her in a diversion program for her misconduct, her interference after being conflicted off the Taylor case, her continued false claims that her opponent is a Republican, plus much more, convince me that Conover is significantly integrity-challenged.

We need a top prosecutor who is not only more experienced and more competent than Laura Conover, but we need someone we can also trust to tell us the truth. That person is Mike Jette, and I will be voting for him.