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Monday, August 16, 2010

The ad hoc inquisition - a personal vendetta on public time

 Barbara Cowell, Jose Lizzarraga and Bob Kelley
recently formed an "ad hoc" committee to charge Mayor Ed Foster with ethics violations.

ad hoc committee
 A committee formed with the purpose of addressing a specific issue or issues, which theoretically is disbanded once its reason for being is finished

Now, this is pretty hilarious when you consider the current state of ethics at Town Hall. Funnier still is that their accusations begin before Foster was even elected as Mayor. (It seems Jose holds a really big grudge about that Superior Court mandamus asking the Council and former wanna be mayor Wes Huntley to actually obey the law!) And now the inquisitors have demanded that Mayor Foster appear before them on August 24th, to answer for his actions. But...that's not going to happen.

If you're not one of the three stooges who received this in their box at Town Hall today, this was our Mayor's reply:


To:
 Barbra Cowell vice Mayor, Chair person Ad Hoc Committee
Subject:
Appearance before said committee
August 16, 2010

Ms. Cowell
I will not be appearing before your committee on August 24 or at any other time.  I have been advised that the possibility of a fair hearing on the absurd charges presented in the documents you have provided is not possible. This is another in a long list of attacks that began as soon as I was elected and I will not lend any legitimacy to the allegations your committee has leveled against me with my appearance before your committee.
Two members of this committee have publicly condemned me with at least one indicating he would never forgive me for bringing charges against him in Superior Court.  This leaves no doubt as to the outcome of my appearance before this committee and suggests some less than honorable motives.  I will still let any council member express their opinion of me publicly during council meetings, because I do believe in the freedom of speech.
I was elected by the people and I have fulfilled my oath of office to preserve and protect the Constitution and the laws of The State of Arizona since I have been sworn in as Mayor. I don’t believe your committee is the appropriate authority to question the wisdom of the people, but if any person believes that I have violated any law in the discharge of my duties as Mayor they are welcome to file charges against me with the appropriate authority.

                                Ed foster
                                Mayor Quartzsite, AZ
Cc:
Councilman Jose  Lizzarraga
Councilman Bob Kelly


Copies of this letter have been posted around Quartzsite, for the public to read.

Now I ask you....is it appropriate for members of the Town Council to use their public office for a personal vendetta?  Is this in the best interest of the community? Did you elect them to do your business, or their own?

8 comments:

  1. Ethics, ethics, we don’t have to show you NO STINK’N ETHICS! Come on Miss Cowell, and explain why you walked into the Quartzsite Post Office and had the small group of citizens working on your “Recall” forced to move next door. Not satisfied with that you sent a friend to the owner and tried to force the “Recall” people from that location. Didn’t work, did it!

    Just how many times has Lizzarraga publicly attacked Mayor Foster? He has even attacked him during public Town Meetings and as well voted along with Barbara Cowell to remove the powers of the new Mayor before he was even sworn in. Didn’t you learn anything after being dressed down by your own Fire District for your comments? Your comments were proven wrong and maybe you should take additional training classes offered to better understand your limitations of powers!

    As for your “Spanish Inquisition”* of Mayor Ed Foster, you have made yourself a laughing stock of the residents here in Quartzsite with you charges that date before his taking office. Take the time and look up in the Town Attorney’s “Blacks Law Dictionary” the term, “Without Standing”!

    Now if anyone was ripe for an “Ethics Hearing,” just take the time and look in your bathroom mirror. that is unless your conscience keeps you from doing so…

    * 1) a former Roman Catholic tribunal for the discovery and punishment of heresy 2) an investigation conducted with little regard for individual rights 3) a severe questioning.

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  2. I say well done Mayor Foster.

    Zani

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  3. HA HA! Ed Foster says FU to the criminal scum of Quartzsite! Give them Hell Ed! At least 300 of us back you!!!

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  4. I was wondering how the 3 would do sitting before a grand jury? Looks to me like the city attorney forgot to explain civil rights violations. Sorry that would fall under the federal rules on the playground here.

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  5. Hasn't the town already paid Pam Walsma well over a hundred grand for all her bad advice? When will it end? Judging by the number of visits a lot of snowbirds are keeping up with what's going on in Quartzsite. What will they return to? Will they return all unless things change? What is most disturbing is that Alex, Jeffy, Jose, Babs and company seem more concerned with appearances than reality. If they had addressed my formal written complaint 2 1/2 years ago then maybe we wouldn't be having all these scandals today! Hiding the wrongdoing only empowers the bad guys. Failing to investigate, make reports and create a paper trail does not make problems go away. Neither does threatening people with disorderly conduct if they complain. There are witnesses. There are dispatch logs. There are cell phone records. There are private recordings. The biggest question still unanswered is - what are they really covering up? How deep does it really go? I have said for months that Quartzsite is only one tank of gas from the border. Are certain Town officials responsible for allowing the running of contraband through this town? While Jeffy chases pacifist hippies and tickets tourists, what's REALLY going on??? Listen, REALLY LISTEN, not just to the words they so carefully choose but listen to what they avoid mentioning. Something really big is behind all this. Mark my words. I can't testify to hearsay. But If even a fraction of the rumors are true, then town employees had better start thinking hard about looking for evidence they can use to plea bargain with. Keep your digital pocket recorders on...

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  6. Looks like Vice-Mayor Cowell will have more to worry about than trying to smear the reputation of Mayor Ed Foster. Can we say, “Police of Chief Jeff Gilbert under criminal investigation”? I knew we could.

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  7. What a farce this thing was! I warned Ed before he took office that Councilman Kelly couldn't be trusted. It looks like he was the "shill" the rest of 'em put in place to gain Ed's trust. I'm so glad he didn't fall for it. Did you see these clowns? Probably not - the audience was filled by Lukkasson, Huntley, et. all with Rain looking on in adoration from the back of the room...DISGUSTING!!!It was refreshing to see Jeffy out of uniform though...

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  8. wouldn't it be nice to see jeffy in a prision uniform?

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