Hi, everyone. It’s Jen Fifield. A local ribbon cutting isn’t the place I expected to feel deeply moved this week, but on Tuesday I found myself tearing up in Florence as I interviewed Pinal County Board of Supervisors Chairman Mike Goodman.
Goodman was one of the speakers during the county’s ribbon-cutting ceremony for its new elections building. Just before he spoke, Gila River Indian Community former Lt. Governor Robert Stone delivered a blessing and a woman sang the national anthem. When Goodman got in front of the microphone, he was all choked up. He said it was hard to follow those acts. “Traditions are so vital in this day and time,” he said.
Pinal County leaders have been through a lot. My story this week examined the changes they have made since the county’s 2022 election mistakes. The ribbon cutting was part of those changes. I’ve never been to such an emotional government building opening (and after 14 years mostly as a local reporter, I’ve been to more than a few). The people who worked on the building really seemed to have put their heart into it.
After the ceremony, I only had one question for Goodman: What made him so emotional?
He started to cry again as soon as I asked him. “Why did you do that?” he said. “Why did you ask that question?”
“I’m a native Arizonan,” he said, “four generations on my dad’s side, five on my mom’s. I can go back to my great-grandparents and I remember them, when they were alive, talking about the importance and the value of voting. It’s our God-given right, and it’s our responsibility to vote. As I listened to our two individuals and one of our members from our local tribes, that brought emotion to me, and then that young lady who sang our national anthem, that always inspires me to be the best that I can be. I wish everyone can experience that and have that deep conviction of doing your best in life. That’s the best we can do.”
Tears were running down his face as he spoke, and at this point I was tearing up too. “When we leave this life we aren’t going to be able to take money, or anything else of that nature,” he continued. “We are going to leave behind what our legacy is and whatever that is going to be. For me, the legacy of my grandparents, the legacy of my great-grandparents and my great-great-grandparents has been instilled in me throughout my life, and it’s the same way with our tribes and I believe it’s the same way with most of our citizens in this United States of America.”
Goodman asked me if that explained his emotions, and I told him it did. He also predicted that this part of his answers from the interview probably wouldn’t make the TV news, as one station was recording him as he spoke. It also won’t make one of my stories. But I wanted to share it with you.
What has moved you recently? Email me at [email protected].
