video

Thursday, May 24, 2012

Herr Gilbert pulls papers to run for County Sheriff???

You just can't keep a bad man down!

While rumors swirl like desert dust devils about the town's insurance needing El Jefe out of the way in order to start settling litigation by his wrongfully terminated officers...it seems as if somebody's figured out a way for Police Chief Jeff Gilbert to save face (and certification). He has pulled papers with the county elections board to run for La Paz County Sheriff! Not that anyone besides the Quartzsite cabal would actually vote for him, but if any part of his pay is grant funded then he falls under the "Hatch Act" and must resign in order to run for elected office. If Gilbert loses, then at least he wasn't fired...that looks so much better on your resume, when you eventually try and apply for your old job back as a baggage handler, Jeff!

Monday, May 21, 2012

The fat lady has sung - just don't tell the town


Shhh...it's a secret. The losers in the General Election actually think they're going to fight the will of the people and challenge the election, now that they couldn't buy the victory with Jerry's money or scare the voters into submission with lies about disincorporating the town. But, throwing even more money into an election challenge over alleged residency or money owed to the town had to be done BEFORE the election. 

Unlike calling a primary election "special" when it was not, and then swearing in a usurper in the back room, in this case, there's no legal leg to stand on. Sorry barf bagger - you blog posts are just wishful hallucinations!

The town has refused to put the minor administrative detail of accepting the county's canvass of the vote, or swear in the winners on Tuesday morning's Council agenda as if it's going to delay the inevitable. 

Hey, all you cabal supporters, do you hear what I hear? The fat lady is singing...


Quartzsite Town Code
Section    2-1-10    Qualification of Council Candidates (Ord 09-15)
D.    Failure to comply with this ordinance shall result in ineligibility of the candidate or elected official seeking re-election to be qualified to run or be appointed to Town office.

“Challenges concerning alleged procedural violations of the election  process must be brought prior to the actual election. Sherman v. City of Tempe, 202Ariz. 339, 342, ¶ 9, 45 P.3d 336, 339 (2002); citing Tilson v. Mofford, 153 Ariz. 468, 470, 737 P.2d 1367, 1369 (1987) (holding that “[p]rocedures leading up to an election cannot be questioned after the people have voted, but … must be challenged before the election is held”)(citing Kerby v. Griffin, 48Ariz. 434, 444-46, 62 P.2d 1131, 1135-36 (1936)).”

Quirky Quartzsite poison pen dresses down county supervisors

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iu-TDNTn-AA&feature=uploademail


Violet Kiss, elitest snob and Quartzsite backroom power player is apparently displeased that the money she used to buy her way into the town a couple of years ago cannot influence La Paz County Prosecutor Sam Vederman. A cheerleader for the removal of "Call to the Public" at the Quartzsite Town Hall meetings, Kiss has no problem abusing the right when espousing her rhetoric to the County Supervisors.

You can catch her "hate speech" in every issue of the "Desert Mess".

John Drum walks out on her and that ditz, Supervisor Holly Irwin doesn't even under the law that says you can restrict speech as to time and place, but not as to content. Vote her out in the August Primary Election! Do not vote for John Drum in his quest to be County Sheriff! None of them, including County Manager Dan Fields (an attorney) seem to grasp that Kiss could have been given a warning to wrap it up in 60 seconds, or something to that effect. Instead, they let "Kiss-Ass" make fools of them for over fourteen minutes! Didn't see Buckalew intervene either... Clearly, the county needs to take a lesson from Quartzsite voters and remove the incumbent politicians and entrenched bureaucrats.

Tuesday, May 15, 2012

Hope is in the air as voters oust cabal

Who won the Quartzsite election? The people did!

UNOFFICIAL RESULTS



Mayor
Percent Votes

FOSTER, ED (NP)

56.97% 376

LUKKASSON, JERRY (NP)

42.27% 279

Write-in (NP)

0.76% 5

660



Council Member
Percent Votes

COWELL, BARBARA A. (NP)

21.93% 279

ORGERON, MARK (NP)

29.25% 372

WINSLOW, JOE (NP)

19.18% 244

WORKMAN, PATRICIA (NP)

28.62% 364

Write-in (NP)

1.02% 13

1,272
 
It has been reported that there are only thirty four ballots to be verified, plus mail ins postmarked by today. Clearly, the margin between winners and LOSERS is to great to overcome. Congratulations to Foster, Orgeron, and Workman! When the sun rises tomorrow morning, it will herald the dawn of a new era for the small desert town of Quartzsite. The people have asserted themselves and are taking back their town from the greedy and corrupt cabal.
 
Just to be good sports, can we throw you a going away party? Help you pack?

Monday, May 14, 2012

Vote tomorrow! Tuesday May 15th

Vote like your future depends on it - it does!

Tuesday, May 8, 2012

http://www.kgun9.com/features/investigations/150471725.html
Investigations

9OYS Investigates

Quartzsite, Arizona: Little town, big uproar

CREATED May. 7, 2012 - UPDATED: May. 7, 2012
Reporter: Stephani Ruiz
TUCSON (KGUN9-TV) - Quartzsite, Arizona has a population of less than 4,000. But, you don't have to travel far into the rock capital of the world to find that this small town has big problems.
"Personally, we have taken extreme cautions for our safety because I have received death threats, hate mail," Shanana Golden-Bear said.
Small town politics hit the big time in June of 2011 when video of a council meeting hit YouTube and went viral.
It shows citizen Jennifer Jones politely criticizing city leaders during an official comment period. Councilman Joe Winslow quickly objected and demanded her removal. Police officers escorted her out and then, once they got her outside, they arrested her and cited her with disorderly conduct.
"This is kind of a scary town to be in when the police don't protect you," Jones told 9 On Your Side.
After the arrest, Mayor Ed Foster defended Jones. Council members responded to the uproar by conducting a secret meeting -- something Arizona open meeting law does not permit. Afterwards Foster told the Associated Press that the councilmembers voted to oust him, to put the police chief in charge and to declare what amounted to martial law. Councilmembers and the chief then denied any such thing had happened. But the town didn't post minutes for the meeting, leaving the question of what really happened behind locked doors that day hard to answer.
"I'm a marine and this is not the kind of democracy that I raised my right hand to defend. I'll tell you this is unbelievable what goes on in Quartzsite, Arizona," Foster said.
But if Foster was defending democracy, democracy did not defend Foster. Voters recalled him from office in September. Now he's running again.

"I won't bow down and I won't kneel down so if they take me down it will be from the standing position," Foster said, with a chuckle. "They picked on the wrong guy."
The Attorney General's Office later found three violations of open meeting laws. Among them: the forced removal of Jones and the secret town meeting. Among other things, the AG's letter required council members to undergo training in open meeting law compliance and to submit to a year of monitoring in order to resolve the matter.
After making several calls, 9 On Your Side reporter Stephani Ruiz made the drive to Quartzsite's town hall. Ruiz asked for an explanation of the violations, and how the town is preventing similar situations from happening now.
Quartzsite's town attorney did not agree to an interview, but did send a response by email. "The town always tried to comply with the law and create a positive atmosphere for the conduct of town business. The attention caused us to take measures to protect the public, the council and staff from the disruptive actions of a vocal minority of the town."
Jones told Ruiz those protective measures continue.

"I've been arrested five times, gone to jail four times, I jokingly told them at the sheriffs office, I said 'intake room 2 is like the Lincoln bedroom in the White House people will be able to say they've spent the night in the Jennifer Jones suite'," Jones said.
The police department itself has been under the microscope as well. Former Police Sergeant William Ponce is among those who signed a complaint last year expressing "no confidence" in the chief of police, Jeff Gilbert, and asking for an investigation.

"He was asking us to go after these people that were opposing the council. Well for us that wasn't right. We took an oath as law enforcement officers to uphold the law and the Constitution," Ponce said. Ponce told KGUN9 News that Chief Gilbert ordered officers to conduct improper searches of homes and cars.
Documents show that the officers filed their initial complaint with AZPOST, the Arizona office that sets police standards, on May 10, 2011. Two weeks later the officers sent a letter to the Quartzsite town manager and council accusing the chief of misconduct.
Amid the turmoil, ten officers received suspensions. Ultimately six, plus an administrative clerk, lost their jobs. The firings immediately resulted in a lawsuit.
Numerous attempts by KGUN9 to contact Chief Gilbert while researching this story were unsuccessful. However, minutes before the television version of this report was to air, Gilbert called KGUN9 News. He stated that no Quartzsite police officer was fired or suspended because of any complaints about illegal searches or seizures, and he insisted that no such illegal searches or seizures ever took place. However, Chief Gilbert declined to say why the officers were fired, citing pending litigation.
Ruiz asked Ponce what his life has been like since losing his job.

"It's been a roller coaster. I've been trying to rebuild and try to figure out how to move forward," Ponce said. "I've been working for a lawyer as an investigator. We're all trying to find work. Some of the guys haven't been able to gain employment, its a tough market out there right now unfortunately with the economy."

In his search for another job in law enforcement, Ponce says the Quartzsite controversy has left him blacklisted.

"It's definitely a problem. As soon as I walk in the door and I say I'm a certified officer their eyes light up. And then I sit down and I tell them my story and then they kind of step back. And you can tell that they're very hesitant to even deal with this and I would be too," Ponce said. "I have a little bit of, I guess you could say baggage, that I have to carry with me so it has tarnished my record."
And as Ponce struggles to move forward, so does Quartzsite- divided and trying to recover.

"The negative publicity has really hurt us a lot. Because it's out there in the world of how horrible everything is but in actuality you look around and the people are, the majority of the people are very happy," Golden-Bear said.

"I still think there's hope for this community to come back together once things finally come to light," Ponce said.

Jennifer Jones' citation for disorderly conduct eventually was dismissed.
The state Department of Public Safety investigated the town's conduct in the matter. DPS said it turned its report over to state Attorney General's Office in February. The Attorney General's Office declined to discuss the case with KGUN9 News, saying that the office cannot comment on the status of the investigation at this time.

Sunday, May 6, 2012

"Nine on Your Side" investigates Quartzsite

http://www.kgun9.com/news/local/150148735.html

What is going on in Quartzsite, Arizona?




Reporter: Stephani Ruiz



It's a mess you might expect to find overseas. But right here in Arizona- a story with more drama than a soap opera.



A citizen arrested for speaking her mind.



A police chief accused of unlawful searches- and firing 80 percent of the force for voicing concerns about it to the council.



Government leaders meet in secret to oust the mayor- who says he was protecting democracy and won't go without a fight.



"I'm a marine and this is not the kind of democracy that i raised my right hand to defend, i'll tell you this is unbelievable what goes on in Quartzsite, Arizona," Ousted Mayor Ed Foster told KGUN 9.



How will Quartzsite move past all these antics? And who is being held accountable to keep people safe?



Nine On Your Side Investigates Monday night at 10:00.