TFW YOU TREAT A JOB APPLICATION LIKE A HIGH SCHOOL ESSAY
An applicant for the Maricopa County Assessor’s
Office plagiarized large swaths of his application
to replace Paul Petersen, who resigned earlier this
month. A quick Google search of showed Michael
Farrar, a former member of the Carefree Town
Council who ran unsuccessfully for the House in
2010, completely lifted full passages from Forbes,
the California State Assn of Counties, and other
websites into his application and attempted to play
them off as his own. Each applicant for the job was
asked 14 questions, and Farrar plagiarized his
written responses to at least five of them. He did
not copy passages on questions about to his
personal information. The first question on the application asked him to explain what the assessor does. He stole 198 words out of a 211-word definition on the California State Assn of Counties site (LINK). “The Assessor is responsible for the creation and maintenance of all mapping/drafting activities for the Assessor’s Office and creation of new assessor parcels from final subdivisions, parcel maps, lot line adjustments, record of survey, deeds and miscellaneous documents,” both the site and his answer say. Only two out of five paragraphs in his response to that question did not appear to be directly plagiarized. Farrar told our reporter he “sent the wrong [application] over without the citations.” He said he withdrew his application from consideration this morning, before our reporter reached out to confront him about the plagiarism. But that was a lie. County spokesman Fields Moseley told our reporter that they received a letter of withdrawal at 2:10 this afternoon, just minutes after our reporter confronted Farrar about the plagiarism. Moseley said the Board of Supervisors was unaware of the plagiarism. Farrar told our reporter that he withdrew the application not because he was worried his plagiarism would be found out, but because he’s too busy to do the job. “I just can’t do it, there’s too many other things I am involved in,” Farrar said. In his bid to be the new assessor, Farrar got some high praise from high places. Phoenix City Councilman Sal DiCiccio, Scottsdale Mayor Jim Lane and former Phoenix Mayor Paul Johnson all wrote him glowing letters of recommendation.

IT’S 1 PERCENT INSPIRATION AND 99 PERCENT PERSPIRATION
The application also asked Farrar what it means to be a public servant, and much of his answer was lifted straight from the Thomas Edison State University website. “Great work and great leadership often go hand- in-hand. So when it comes to success, good leaders tend to share these five key qualities across the board that make them both competent managers and effective public servants,” he wrote in a passage lifted entirely from the website (LINK). He then broke his answers down into a numbered list, which he lifted from the same university website.
1. Good leaders motivate and encourage others.
2. Good leaders communicate clearly and listen attentively. 3. Good leaders are trustworthy.
4. Good leaders think critically.
5. Good leaders are resilient.
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January 30, 2020
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“In the world of public policy and governance, the only constant is change. Budgets get cut. Resources shrink. People come and go. But leaders must be able to respond accordingly and continue to produce results amidst an ever-evolving landscape. Good leaders assume these challenges and develop alternative solutions. They remain positive during difficult times. And most importantly, they encourage confidence in their employees so, they too, will remain effective at the most crucial times,” he plagiarized in another passage.

SIRI, HOW DO I INITIATE A CULTURE CHANGE?
In response to a question about what approach he would take
to initiate a culture change in the Assessor’s Office, Farrar got
creative and plagiarized from two different websites. His
answer steals from a Forbes story titled, “How To Create A
Culture Of Change” that talks about Tony Hsieh, the “the
phenomenally successful CEO of Zappos” and references
Xerox, Canon and Ricoh (LINK). He then delves into
passages from the Six Sigma Quality website about the
culture of change (LINK). The final question Farrar copied
pertains to customer service. For that, Farrar used a definition
of customer service from salesforce.com. “Customer service
is the brand promise you offer your customers – both before and after they buy and use your products or services – that helps them have a comfortable and enjoyable experience with you,” he wrote, only changing “support” from the original text to “brand promise” (LINK).

OH, THAT’S TOO RICH
Farrar did not appear to plagiarize anything when answering how he would work to reestablish the public’s trust as the new assessor. Instead, he wrote that he would “act with integrity and keep commitments and devote all my attention and time to this office without outside employment, nor conflicting business activity.” He added that as assessor he would build trust from the beginning of his relationship with every new employee. “Trust is fragile, but it can grow strong over time, if you continually pay attention to it.”