Angel Encinas is a Chandler based immigration activist who is financially supported by Chandler Teachers Union boss Katie Nash herself.
Disclosure: Angel Encinas did not respond to our request for information submitted via his website.
A wolf in sheep's clothing
A wolf in sheep's clothing is someone who pretends to be harmless, but is in fact dangerous. So called Justice Democrats, e.g. AOC, Rashida Thlaib, Ilhan Omar, have at times painted themselves as moderates, only to turn far left once elected to office. It appears Chandler City Council candidate Angel Encinas fits this bill. The goal of political wolf in sheep's clothing is to fool people into voting for someone they would not support if they knew his or her real politics. Someone like this may pretend to be pro business and low tax, and then once elected turns into a racial and gender culture warrior, who votes to raise taxes every chance they get.
Angel Encinas reports that he runs an immigration consultancy and a real estate business. While many legal immigrants such as H1-B and Green Card holders use immigration consultancies to become US citizens, immigration consultancies and law offices also frequently help illegal immigrants to evade deportation. They often do this by simply dragging out the process long enough until a law from Congress or a latest executive order from the White House grants amnesty or non-enforcement. DACA, Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, is a prime example.
In Arizona around 50,000 illegal immigrants have used DACA to avoid deportation. Although DACA was instated via executive order by then President Barack Obama, a federal court prevented President Donald Trump from rescinding it via executive order. Arizona is a border state and has many problems with masses of illegal immigrants overwhelming the state's schools, hospitals and government services while jumping the line ahead of legal immigrants who often wait for years.
Questionable endorsements and support
Not for nothing is Encinas financially supported, via an official campaign donation shown in a campaign finance report, by Chandler Education Association (CEA) boss Katie Nash herself (see picture). Nash seems to be a savvy political operator who is Laser focused on advancing her far left agenda. Nash appears to tirelessly work to extract money and privileges for unionized teachers from Chandler and Gilbert parents and students. She appears regularly at Chandler Unified School District (CUSD80) board meeting, usually masked, seemingly advocating for more pay, lower hours, lower standards, critical race theory, child sexualization, mask and vaccine mandates and even school closings, until it's safe... Nash of course is a teacher, at Chandler High in downtown Chandler.
Encinas also has the backing of a number of current and former Democratic office holders, many from outside of Chandler, for example former Tempe mayor and LGBTQ activist Neil Guiliano. Such an endorsement is troubling at this time since activism for gay marriage has mutated over time into the grooming of school age children in the LGBTQ+ agenda. This includes drag queen story hour and child sexual/genital mutilation and abuse via sex change, euphemistically called: gender affirming care. The issue is also related to self-identified transgender students, who are biologically male with two x chromosomes, but self-identify as female, using girl's bathrooms and competing in girl's sports.
Encinas is also endorsed by Chandler City Council Member OD Harris, who many people believe to be a Black Lives Matter, BLM, operative.
One could regard Encinas' talk about fiscal conservatism and a business friendly environment as a smoke screen, just as many other so called Justice Democrats, think of AOC, or Rashida Thlaib, at times have pretended to be moderate only to turn out woke radicals once elected.
Despite Encinas pretending that both can be done at the same time, you cannot actually congruently shower government with more taxpayer money, while at the same time being friendly to taxpaying businesses and families. Low tax rates grow the economy and increase the tax base, but also necessitate a small and responsible government that lives within its means. Burdening tax payers with taxes and regulations almost always leads to a slow decay as high performers leave to escape the burden, leaving behind a poorer community that in turn tends to vote more and more for corrupt welfare handout politicians who make things even worse.
Despite continued and persistent apparently false claims of underfunding by teachers unions, the Chandler Unified School District for example has a total annual budget of around $600 Million. That means that its budget for each of its 40,000 students is around $15,000, far more than most private schools, which often deliver much better results, charge. More money is the last thing the American public school system needs. A complete overhaul is required.
US Chamber of Commerce is now largely hostile to Republicans and Republican voters
The Chandler Chamber has endorsed Encinas. It should have withheld its endorsement and endorsed better candidates such as Farhana Shifa, who is endorsed by Chandler mayor Kevin Hartke, or Darla Gonzales, who appears to be a free enterprise advocate.
The Chamber of Commerce in the US and the Republican Party appear to be in a slow divorce as the Chamber is embracing more and more woke and anti-business politics. The Chamber of Commerce these days does not appear to be involved in much commerce but is mainly pushing:
Black Lives Matter and Critical Race Theory (CRT)
Socialism and the abolition of the free market
Unfettered illegal immigration, especially for likely future Democrat voters
Grooming of children for pedophilia and LGBTQi+ agendas, including genital mutilation
Equity (equal outcomes) and diversity (race based hiring and promotion)
We will report on the wokeness of the Chandler Chamber in a future article.