No "clean" election in Quartzsite! Attorney General investigates...

At the previous Town Council meeting, it was approved to ask the State for a recount of the vote. Then, facts were exposed relating to evidence of potential felony electioneering and voter fraud at "Call to the Public". At Tuesday evening's regular meeting of the Common Council, Mayor Foster revealed that the State Attorney General's Office of Public Corruption is currently investigating. Now, many are left wondering who really won the election for Quartzsite's open seats on the Town Council on May 18th. After all, less than ten votes separated the bottom four contenders..

The hefty file of correspondences at County Prosecutor Sam Vederman's Office clearly shows that after the primary election, Town Manager Alex Taft conspired with Police Chief Jeff Gilbert to investigate voters they personally selected with hopes of turning them over to the County for prosecution. What was the selection criteria? Well, I'm going to speculate that none of the voters Wes Huntley bragged about personally driving to the Registrar's Office were on that list.

This fascinating document shows that  Quartzsite's "news" paper publisher was an eager participant in this improper investigation:

Desert Messenger Publisher
Shannana "Rain" Goldenbear
Notice the date on the above email. It was sent to Alex Taft and Jeff Gilbert on Monday, March 29th -  four days after Alex Taft had sent a letter to the County, requesting the names of everyone who had registered to vote in the last six months and a full 20 days after the primary election! Surely if Ms Goldenbear was truly concerned about Russell and Susan's identification, then she would have immediately contacted the County Elections Board instead of waiting almost three weeks and corresponding with Taft and Gilbert. After all, that would have been the proper thing to do.

That's right folks, while she was editorializing about being fair and impartial, Rain was simultaneously conspiring to alter the outcome of the election. I hope her advertisers are paying attention. Are the "Proud Neighbors of Quartzsite" proud of this? Rain is. She proudly marched up to the podium and said as much after the email was read aloud at the previous meeting.

Keep in mind that even after weeks of QPD investigation, The Sias' were finally cleared of any crimes by Vederman's Office. So in keeping with the mission statement of Rain's beloved Thirteen Indigenous Grandmothers, how would putting innocent people in jail affect the next 7 generations? Tell us please Rain, inquiring minds want to know.

Ok, let me break this down for you. This is not speculation. The information in this post is verifiable fact that is now in the hands of the FBI and others. Town mismanager Alex Taft and Police Chief Jeff Gilbert combed through names on the list of Quartzsite's registered voters, primarily voters that had registered in the six months preceding Taft's written request for the list. They then chose specific voters for investigation. Chief Gilbert used his official capacity to investigate these individuals, who were targeted for no other "probable cause" than the decision to become a registered voter. At Tuesday night's meeting, Gilbert insisted that he did nothing wrong and was directed to investigate at Vederman's request, but the documents themselves expose this claim as a bold face lie. Vederman had Haws investigate at the request of Gilbert and Taft.

All of this is more than ironic once you appreciate that Police Chief Jeff Gilbert and his wife Sondra voted under circumstances that were probably far more questionable than those of Russell and Susan Sias.

The Gilbert's did purchase lots 6 and 7 in the Palo Fiero subdivision on Feb. 11th, 2010 from then Council  candidate Erik Larson (after reportedly harassing Larson with assistance from Building Official Al Johnson until the price dropped by 20k). And they used to have a home in "Rainbow Acres", (lot #APN 302-32-422) purchased on July 27th, 2006, but they sold it on Feb. 26th, 2009. So where did they live from Feb. of 2009 to Feb. of 2010? My guess is 3210 Newport Dr., Lake Havasu City, a home they've had for about four years.

Take a look at the tiny trailer at 450 N.  Pilgrim Pl. that Police Chief Gilbert was registered to vote at.

It's more like an office really. But the garbage cans were a nice touch, even though I think the same garbage bag has been in it for a while now...and I never saw Jeff's "QPD1" black SUV parked there this spring, but maybe he was just out breaking the law when I drove by. The utilities have never been in Gilbert's  name, they are in the property owner's names, Lowell and Elizabeth Williams. (Beth Williams is the Justice of the Peace in the Quartzsite Division of the La Paz County Court.) Most revealing is the fact that Councilwoman Barbara Cowell of Arizona Westcoast Realty had it listed in her Desert Messenger ad as " never been lived in"! Oh, and Gilbert's wife Sondra had to vote with a provisional ballot because she showed up with a Havasu driver's license.

Who really won this dirty election? Certainly not the voters. If you take the six and seven votes that prevented Chaunce Hamilton and Russel Sias from prevailing, deduct the Gilbert's two votes, add back in Ms. Austin's legal vote for the full "reform slate" then there's only three or four votes separating the winning Council candidates from the losing two. Let's factor in that Taft and Gilbert had no motivation to investigate incumbent supporters and double check to see if that dead woman whose name was still on the rolls voted for anyone, and I believe we would have had an entirely different outcome.