The Desert Freedom Press - thedesertfreedompress.blogspot.com

Apparently, Google merged the blog account of Jennifer Jones, Publisher of The Desert Freedom Press newspaper, with the Gmail account of someone whose computer she used. When that person deleted her email address from his account settings, Google then deleted her account, as Google does not have a blog or account listed for her email anymore. Until such time as this can be straightened out, The Desert Freedom Press will be hosted here.

Prutch prevails - in a nutshell

Click here to read the 14 page ruling

 
 

If you don't understand "legalese", then here's what the 14 page ruling actually means.

First Judge Burke the jerk ruled incorrectly, in favor of the Quartzsite cabal again. Remember, he didn't want to hear the case because he was leaving for vacation in the morning and didn't want to stay up writing the ruling

The case was dismissed on "laches" and the appeals court rightfully determined that laches did not apply. "Because the trial court did not find that Prutch had acted unreasonably, and we cannot infer such a finding from this record, we vacate the dismissal based on laches and remand for further proceedings.", says the ruling

"Remand" means the case must be heard on it's merits back in the La Paz County Superior Court. Prutch has stated that he's not interested in trying the case, and has apparently instructed his attorney to negotiate a settlement with the town that has Jewitt resign and the Town pay Prutch's legal fees. Prutch is entitled to receive his attorney's fees for the appeal, but barring a settlement, he must win the actual case to get his money back on the election challenge.

If the case is settled out of court, the crimes of Town Clerk Terry Frausto could go untried and unpunished. 

 

Playing the game under the new rules

Well, it appears that crafty Mayor Ed has set a trap, which Jabba the Ogre-on was more than happy to run right into! Foster sent a letter to various government agencies on town letterhead, and hand signed each copy differently. It was only a matter of days before crybaby Ogre-on was wailing that he had a copy of  the letter, from an "anonymous" source of course. Little did he know that by providing a copy of the letter, Orgre-on himself would reveal which agency was leaking information back to the town. 

Now, El Jeffy has bragged that he has friends in high places, so we hope the FBI will follow up on Foster's latest letter, also on town letterhead, of course. In the mean time, council members, some of whom are being recalled are revealing that political vendettas take priority over guarding the people's money. If Foster's answer (expected to be on town letterhead) to their demand is not to the council's liking, and they decide to charge him criminally for violating their ridiculous ordinance, then the town will have to pay for a conflict attorney, possibly a new judge, and public defender.

Stuck with Police Chief Jeff Gilbert another year?

Well, I hate to disappoint all those Ogre-on believers but campaign promises of getting rid of the police chief, followed by a post swearing in "just trust me" is going to go down tomorrow like this:

Someone makes a motion to not renew El Jeffy's contract, someone seconds, virtually no discussion ensues because they already decided in last week's executive session, and they all vote to turn their back on Jesus, I mean Jeff, I mean, well both, or one and the same depending on whether or not you've lost all faith or you're one of the donut disciples from "Coffee with the Nazi".

But how much you want to bet they all downplay the part about how the last incarnation of the clown council gave Chief Dilbert a rolling clause in his contract that guarantees him another year. We're stuck with the source of our lawsuits into 2014, or until AZPOST de-certifies him, or he's indicted for abusing the NCIC, or a bolt of lightning strikes him down...

That's right children, there's no happy ending to this bed time story. So the Ogre-on's promise that the neo cabal could trade donkey for the evil Queen Taftalex last summer, then choose not to renew donkey's contract and Far Far Away could live happily ever after was just a fairy tale. 
http://www.ci.quartzsite.az.us/Support%20Docs/Council_NTS_AGD/2013/020413%20Agenda%20Special%20Council%20Meet.pdf 

Insuring the uninsurable

Well, in the style of our "fiscal cliff" federal representative governing, the interim town mismanager  pulled a rabbit our of her hat and produced private insurance coverage for Quartzsite. However, of the 19 companies she asked for a quote from, 17 of them said "no way in hell"! Of the 2 who would, coverage was apparently split between them. The big difference (aside from the 310,000 price tag) is that the new insurance won't cover the cost of defending future claim - that's on the town now!

See video.

Weasel with a badge and a gun?

We are sad to report that apparently, someone forgot to fill in the bubble in front of Bill Moore's name and the big ugly tattoed weasel in a skirt (for special occassions)has been declared the winner of the race for JP4 constable.

Former candidate rebutts Jeff's "vindication"

Rebuttal of the following:

(The initial statement is in italics, my rebuttal is not.)

 

For Immediate Release: Statement from Quartzsite
Chief of Police Jeff Gilbert on DPS Report #2011-027462

Quartzsite, Arizona - On August 13, 2012, I received a completed copy of the criminal investigation conducted by the AZ Department of Public Safety (DPS) against myself and Sgt. Xavier Frausto. This report included the "Turndown" notice declining the case by the AZ Attorney General's Office, dated July 12/13, 2012. The allegations and complaint was initiated by then Quartzsite Mayor Ed Foster.

 

Mr. Gilbert,  we too, have received the DPS Report to which you speak.  We have reviewed several of the summaries and the actual interviews themselves, and are concerned, both with your vindication letter you had published last August, and with the results of the investigation itself.  We are so concerned in fact, that we are posting both the summary and the interview of those interviewed during the investigation so that anyone can compare the summary to the actual interview.  Anyone interested can find this material at http://www.aview.info/OhYaOhYa-Quartzsite-00.html or if that’s to long a link, just type in www.aview.info, and select What’s Happening in Quartzsite for both the summaries and the interviews themselves.

 

We are concerned because the summaries signed by Detective Peter M. White, badge number 4932, are so misleading as to fall into a clear pattern of deception, failure to investigate, and in fact, when the truth is finally actually told, perhaps even obstruction of justice charges being levied against Detective White for his clear failure to adequately investigate the charges against you.  It leaves one wondering if you have something on Detective White.   Do you?

 

We challenge one and all to go to the above web site, read a summary, any of them, and then listen to the actual interview.  Pick anyone who was fired – for being truthful.  Detective White clearly needs to justify his deceptive summaries, as well as his failure to investigate the charges against you!  Maybe one day, he will get the chance to do so – in a court of law.

The case was declined for the following reasons stated by the turndown report as: "Victim/Witness Credibility Problems"; "Inadequate Evidence of Intent"; "Inadequate Evidence of Corroboration"; and "No Reasonable Likelihood of Conviction".

 

Actually, we disagree with all of the reasons given for the failure to charge you with several felonies.  Having actually listened to the actual interviews themselves, we believe the reason you were not charged should result in at least a dereliction of duty and termination against Detective White.  Again, we ask, what do you have on Detective White to cause him to risk his career in such a flagrant manner?  His summaries blatantly mislead anyone who relies on his summaries instead of taking the time to actually listen to the interviews.

 

We also feel that when nine (that’s how many interviews we have gotten posted so far) all say essentially the same things, when several of them have since taken polygraphs to hold a new job in law enforcement AND PASSED their polygraphs in order to hold that new job; we find it very difficult to believe your statement about witness credibility issues.  In regard to inadequate evidence, there is not a shred of doubt about your extensive political involvement, and utilization of your position of power as police chief to harass and intimidate some and not others – which should not even exist!  Do you remember telling your officers to ignore the warrants outstanding in regard to Deena Blythe, while at the same time, you were harassing Mike Roth about a silly out-of-state license plate on the front of his car – which was legally licensed (and properly displayed) in AZ?  Have you forgotten your trespassing invasions into Crawford’s RV Park to harass some who had signed recall petitions against some of your buddies in Town Hall?  Sir, misuse of your office in these manners is clearly illegal.

 

Do you understand that running NCIC checks without a reason is a felony?  Several of the interviews refer to your requests to do so.  This information is in the interviews that Detective White blew off with his incomplete and misleading summaries.  Again, I ask, what do you have on Detective White?

This is the third criminal investigation I have been subjected to along with members of my department from false allegations and complaints made by then Mayor Ed Foster. I have been exonerated, along with the other members of the department each time. Sergeant Xavier Frausto has served this community for nearly twenty years with his complete dedication to the community.

 

We sincerely hope that it will not be your last!  Some of us understand that the criminal investigations to which you refer were conducted “in house” for which you have claimed exoneration before – and under very suspicious circumstances for those investigations as well.

I have documented evidence that Ed Foster participated with another party and submitted a fabricated and forged letter to DPS in 2010 in an attempt to lend credibility to the first of his false allegations and complaints. While I brought this matter to the attention of DPS, to my knowledge they declined any further investigation of the incident.

 

Sir, had you not illegally involved yourself in the political events of the past few years to support your “friends” in Town Hall, Mr. Foster likely would never have filed anything against you, for you would not have been misusing your office in violation of the law.

Ed Foster, along with others, continues to this day in his attempt to discredit, and have me criminally charged, as the Chief of Police for the Quartzsite Police Department. His latest false allegations and complaints created an investigation and finding period that lasted nearly fourteen months resulting in an unknown loss and waste of the tax payer's dollar, not to mention the undue hardship that was created to the community, the Town, the Department, Sgt. Frausto, myself and our families.

 

You intentionally mislead.  You state that Mr. Foster’s allegations and complaints are false.  EVEN IF the result of the DPS investigation was done properly (it clearly was not!) a more careful reading does not exonerate you.  It only says inadequate evidence, and no reasonable expectation of conviction.  I submit that had Detective White not perjured himself with the summaries he wrote, and had adequately investigated, the investigation would have taken a very bad turn for you.

On behalf of the Quartzsite Police Department, myself and all those affected, I wish to thank the Town and community members of Quartzsite that have provided their continued support and stood behind us over the course of these false allegations and complaints.

 

Please.  Stop with the “false allegation” claim.  Perhaps one day, we will accomplish getting those that made these poor decisions and followed Detective White’s deceptive summaries, to actually sit down and listen to the nine interviews themselves.  Should that happen, we feel that you may have a lot fewer “false allegations” to deal with.

I will continue with my dedication to the Town of Quartzsite as Chief of Police, to serve and protect and to provide the best possible police services to the community. Again, I wish to thank everyone for their support.

 

Please!  The only people you are serving and protecting is the thugs who manage to delay the proper election of those who oppose them.

 

I would again plead with all to go to www.aview.info and select What’s Happening in Quartzsite, and listen to some of the interviews posted there.  Don’t listen to me; don’t take my word for any of this.  Listen to Chief Gilbert’s own clerks and officers who finally got fed up with being told to break the law so that Chief Gilbert could be actively involved in political matters in our town.  They signed a letter of complaint against Chief Gilbert, for which they got fired.  After you listen to a couple of the interviews, ask yourself the same question I have:  What does Chief Gilbert have on Detective White to cause him to whitewash this investigation in the manner that he has done.

 

Russell Sias

Imitation is the most sincere form of flattery!

Well children, with all that goes on here in this dusty little corner of the Sonoran Desert, it was only a matter of time that others would follow our lead. Just remember, Quartzsite, AZ was the blog that boldly dared to go where no bloggers had gone before. The blog that shifted the paradigm of young and old alike. 

Then along came a spider, that sat down aside'r and http://quartzsitebagger.wordpress.com/ railed against Ms. Muffet and all the other characters in Far Far Away Land. That is until Marty had to deal with the cranky public defenders of QVilles "self styled activists".

Now, the dynamic duo of fatman and robbin' have surfaced as Got'em Cities latest blogosphere incarnations, http://saylavieqsite.blogspot.com/  and http://qbaguette.wordpress.com/.

Ok, you have to admit that these are far wittier and less vitriolic than the Bagger's attempt at parody used to make liable and defamation legal, and these posts are actually funny AND fact-filled! Way to step it up "B Team". Kudos to the imitators. As the old cabal falls apart, and the neo cabal rears it's uglier faux blonde head, it's nice that they've' found a positive use for their grey matter.

Taft gets the shaft, and other council hijinks.

Well, today's regular meeting of the Quartzsite clown council promised to be contentious and we were not disappointed or amused. Mayor Foster had placed items on the agenda to return the meetings to 7pm, as the town code stipulates, bring back a call to the public which would be placed at the beginning of the meeting, remove the authority of the town manager to hire outside contractors, and such.

Remember. the illegal "emergency" meeting on July 10, 2011 "draft minutes"stated that the suspension of the Town Proceedures and Policies Manual, including meetings held at 9am and no public comment were only to remain in effect "until the second Tuesday in September, or until two thirds of the council determines that an emergent circumstances no longer exist which create an imment risk to public safety, and the safety of elective and appointive officials, whichever occurs first". They just kept it that way because they like ignoring the rules.

Now Councilman Ogre-on has never meant a campaign promise he didn't dislike, so he ammended the agenda and removed Foster's items, with the other sock puppets nodding in approval like bobble heads on the dash of a four wheeler.

Then, they all went into executive session, came out and without any discussion they fired the evil Queen Taftalex! Despite this being the only campaign promise Ogre-on is willing to make good on, we must remember that it was his flawed orchestrations that got us into this mess, with Taft being placed on "administrative leave" instead of fired outright the first time. Now she can sue the town for changing the terms of her contract. But since it appears that she was terminated "without cause", I suppose they'll have to pay her "golden parachute" or be forced to admitt that the meeting her new contract was approved in was actually illegal. Of course, that would require admitting that Norma Crooks usurped the office of Councilperson, having been appointed in the aforementioned illegal meeting. How much you want to bet that Marty the barf bagger is providing free legal advice to the other ousted cabal members?

The overpaid engineers that are designing a do over of the wastewater treatement plant gave a fancy power point presentation about how it's only going to cost 5.9 million to expand, and without it there can be no growth. Here's a thought, if our leaders can't manage what little they've got, why are they even talking about growth and expansion? Put your house in order now morons!

Ogre-on's item to direct that the town mismanager spare no expense in pursuit of town debtors passed with Workman dissenting. It appears that she understands the lawsuits this sort of action will incurr. It also appears that Foster will dare them to go after the Big Tent, Lukkasson, Oldham et all. Naturally, Ogre-on had supplied no supporting documents for his agenda item, no definition of how debt was to be determined, provision for due process, or if this gives carte blanche authority to Bruno to enter into contracts for support services in excess of $5,000 without council approval, etc. Do you miss the old cabal yet?

Fraulein Bruno said she found us a possible high risk private insurer, but it's going to cost about $70,000 a year in additional premiums. No worries, she's cutting town staff  to compensate for the expense that she helped cause by being unwilling to work with the Risk Pool. Oh, and she still managed to try and blame the insurance cancellation on Councilwoman Workman, according to an alleged "phone conversation" that took place on October 25th, after the Risk Pool already held the meeting to discuss notifying the town that they were cancelling. Nice try honey! Go back to Sacramento and peddle your snake oil because we aren't buying it here in Qville. Rumor has it that Workman filed a 23 page complaint against Bruno a week or so ago. I can say "revenge", can you?

We don't know what Councilwoman Anderson has against that nice man that's managing Desert Gardens RV Park, but she sure tried (and failed) to keep him off the planning and zoning board. The Council also approved that nasty town employee Susan Fonda to be on the Heath and Development Board. You will remember that Fonda quit as Manager for Quartzsite's branch of the Horizon Community Bank and moved out of town. Apparently her employment options have dwindled, because she came back here to be a seasonal vendor permit lackey. Another loser on the payroll. Why did they fire the qualified employees last year? Oh yeah, they knew too much.

Town Attorney Brannan turns "whistleblower"!

It appears that Marty the barf bagger had a meltdown and is now trying to cover his ever expanding ass.

ADVICE TO QUARTZSITE COUNCIL:

ADVICE TO QUARTZSITE COUNCIL: GO BACK AND DO IT RIGHT!: TOWN MANAGER TAFT may need to be reinstated (to her duties) even if for a couple months to solve the CONTINUING problem the COUNCIL has with the Risk Pool and to thereby, save the Town its AMRRP risk-coverage...

.

BELIEVE ME, I hate to admit this, but (now "ex") Town Attorney Martin Brannan has been right a few times:

1. Judge Burke agreed with Brannan when Burke issued the TRO on August 27, 2012 against Orgeron's agenda items regarding Taft, Gilbert, Johnson and Garcia.

2. Council member Orgeron was forced to hear Judge Burke’s music.

3. Orgeron decided to become the de facto "Town Attorney" and argued with Brannan, that he (Orgeron) knew the law better than Brannan. IN THIS CASE, , the ADMIN LEAVE STATUS OF TAFT, Brannan had TRIED TO WARN THE COUNCIL, and HE DID IT IN PUBLIC at the AUG 28 meeting, just before the "executive session" which Taft was excluded from.

4. Orgeron apparently convinced the rest of the Council Taft could remain an employee, and “without cause” have her EMPLOYMENT CONTRACT unilaterally amended by the Council.

5. THE COUNCIL THEN DID SO, they amended her EMPLOYMENT CONDITIONS, WITHOUT HER WRITTEN AGREEMENT, and without providing her any opportunity to address WHY they were doing so.

6. The COUNCIL VOTED TO AMEND HER EMPLOYMENT CONDITIONS without discussion.

7. THE COUNCIL set new employment conditions ON HER: that she has to stay in her home from 8:00 am to whatever, blah blah blah..., yada yada yada...

8. Soon after the COUNCIL DID THIS: It is quite likely that when the Risk Pool became aware Taft had been put on “administrative leave” as of SEPTEMBER 28, through Taft or another Town official.

9. The RISK POOL BECAME AWARE THAT: instead of Taft’s employment CONTRACT being terminated for cause or without cause IT WAS UNILATERALLY AMENDED BY THE COUNCIL.

10. THE RISK POOL SAW YET ANOTHER EMPLOYMENT-RELATED DAMAGES CLAIM SOON BUDDING >>> FROM TAFT. The Risk Pool apparently sided on the side of caution (CONSIDER BRANNAN’S LEGAL THEORY HE WARNED THE COUNCIL)

11. THE RISK POOL APPEARS TO HAVE FREAKED OUT by SEPTEMBER 7 and then the RISK POOL TRIED TO GET IN TOUCH WITH THE COUNCIL, and asked that TWO COUNCIL MEMBERS BE IDENTIFIED TO GET IN TOUCH WITH THEM “IMMEDIATELY” <<<<< This NEVER has HAPPENED >>>> THE COUNCIL IGNORED THE RISK POOL REQUEST..

12. By SEPTEMBER 7, FOUR OTHER EMPLOYEES WERE COMPLAINING ABOUT AN ADVERSE-WORK ENVIRONMENT at TOWN HALL > THE Risk Pool was quickly made aware of this, it appears by Brannan (maybe).

13. Taft’s terms of employment are set forth in her contract and of course there will be some controlling law in such regards, however the Council UNILATERALLY CHANGED TAFT’S EMPLOYMENT TERMS, and MADE UP NEW employment- terms NOT IN HER CONTRACT AND THESE Terms are BEING FORCED UPON HER, WHICH HAS PRECIPITATED OTHER ISSUES that can give rise to A CLAIM against the Town, too,

SUCH AS:

a) These SPECIAL & NEW EMPLOYMENT terms WERE made public by the COUNCIL and local people have even (innocently enough, I suppose) been photographing TAFT in public when TAFT is seen out and about, because the community THINKS what the Council did to Taft is "legal" and citizens are thereby led to believe they might catch her doing something or somewhere she’s not supposed to be, & then they think their ‘evidence’ might HELP the TOWN bring about her dismissal,

b) FURTHER POSSIBILITY IS THAT THE UNLICENSED PRIVATE INVESTIGATOR Tony Ford (CIA agent for Bruno) has been following Taft,
THINK VIOLATION OF PRIVACY…..

14. FURTHER, THE RISK POOL advised the Council in the SEPTEMBER 7 WARNING LETTER, that personnel matters are the "most expensive" for the Pool to litigate, so the RISK POOL has a VESTED INTEREST in containing and mitigating ANY ADVERSE-EMPLOYMENT CLAIM WHICH COULD BE MADE BY TAFT.

15. FURTHER: ON September 7, 2012 Brannan tried again to remind the Council in a TWO PAGE MEMO that they were in a position to loose their INDIVIDUAL qualified immunity, if after he gave them advise, the went against it.

16. A. NOT ALL COUNCIL MEMBERS may be willing to be sued individually, based on ORGERON’S LEGAL THEORIES, >> 16. B. Brannan's position appears to be: iTAFT MAY BE IN A POSITION TO SUE COUNCIL MEMBERS INDIVIDUALLY, and they may have lost their qualified immunity BY WHAT THEY DID TO HER, against the Town Attorney’s legal advice.

17. RESTATING: IT IS MORE PROBABLE than NOT: Taft may have an adverse employment claim against the Town (WHICH ALSO MEANS THE RISK POOL !!!) and against the Council members individually, as they ignored Brannan's advice.

18. EVERY DAY TAFT IS SUBJECTED TO THE CONDITIONS OF EMPLOYMENT (the admin leave status and the SPECIFIC RESTRICTIONS ON HER) which ORGERON WANTED and convinced the Council to institute by a vote, TAFT’S POTENTIAL CLAIM FOR ADVERSE-EMPLOYMENT DAMAGES INCREASES, and each day the RISK POOLS Risk because of this INCREASES.

19. TAFT NEEDS TO BE REINSTATED, and appropriately discharged, per her contract and the law, and THE RISK POOL has had enough of Orgeron and the Council who has thumbed their middle-finger at the POOL as regards all the hirings and firings and ADMIN LEAVE issues which have been going on since AUGUST 23, 2012.

20. THE COUNCIL NEEDS TO SHOW SOME real balls and leadership, and that WILL NOT HAPPEN through hiding behind Bruno’ skirt so they can avoid dealing with the Risk Pool, as the Pool asked for TWO MONTHS AGO.

21. It is a CONFLICT OF INTEREST for Bruno to have any involvement in the TAFT MATTER.

POSSIBLE CONCLUSION:

A. Reinstate Taft and then seek a VETTED replacement, THEN DISMISS HER 'with or without cause" in the LAWFUL DUE PROCESS set forth by LAW & HER CONTRACT; so as to SALVAGE the Town's relationship with the POOL:
B. Bruno obviously isn’t fitting the bill in the Risk Pool’s opinion, as BRUNO was NOT vetted by the Pool or the LEAGUE,
C. ONLY 23 days after BRUNO was appointed by ORGERON and his peons on the Council, WORKMAN VOTED “NAY” the OCT 5 RISK POOL ”Intent to Terminate” letter was issued to the TOWN, restating, virtually, ALL the EARLIER concerns the Pool had basically made on SEPTEMBER 7, before Bruno was hired.
D. BRUNO cannot act as a de facto TOWN COUNCIL.
E. TAFT IS in a position to not only SUE THE TOWN BUT the RISK POOL de facto, as the POOL is the loss coverage provider if TAFT has filed or does file an adverse employment claim.

 

(from Quartzsite Project, on Facebook)

La Paz County election results - unofficial

Well, John Wright pretty much said it all, so here you go:

http://www.parkerliveonline.com/2012/11/07/la-paz-county-election-analysis/

La Paz County election: analysis

Some La Paz County races were too close to call Wednesday morning, with an unusually high number of provisional ballots still to be counted and a tight write-in race for County Attorney still being counted today.
La Paz County has confirmed that there are 810 ballots still to be counted countywide, which could shake up some of the races in the General Election. (A further breakdown of these uncounted votes is below.) Write-in votes are still being verified and further results may be available by around 4:30 p.m. today.
This leaves some races up in the air. Still, we can call wins in four of the races.
(1) District 2 Supervisor

King Clapperton will take District 2 Supervisor. With a comfortable 61% of the vote, 790 votes separate him and his nearest opponent, and there are only 330 votes left to be counted in District 2.
—
(2) District 3 Supervisor

Incumbent Holly Irwin will take the District 3 Supervisor race. 287 votes separate her from her opponent, and only 211 votes remain to be counted in District 3.
—
(3) County Assessor

Sharon Schuler, the incumbent for County Assessor, will take the race. Although there are 810 votes still out, there are exactly that many votes between Schuler and Kossnar. This means Kossnar would need to take all of the uncounted votes even to tie.
—
(4) County Sheriff

John Drum will take the race for Sheriff. He has a healthy margin of 1377 votes between him and his nearest opponent, and only 810 votes remain to be counted in the race.
—
District 1 Supervisor: Let’s take a look at the math.

It’s clear that D.L. Wilson is in the lead. 186 votes separate him from Gilbert, and 204 votes separate him from Page. There are 269 votes still out for District 1. This means that for Gilbert or Page to win, they would need to take an unproportionately high percentage of the uncounted votes. Considering that the percentage of the vote they each took so far was 28% and 26% respectively, these may be fairly high hurdles.
—
AWC Governing Board District 2:

Melissa Wright leads with 1105 votes to 775. With 419 votes still remaining to be counted in the AWC District 2 race, this means Jim Brouillette would need to take almost 80% of the uncounted votes, while his current trend in votes counted so far is 41%. Again, this would be a very high hurdle.
—
County Attorney: The results so far are as follows.

• Dan Field – 371
• Tony Rogers – 341
• Steve Lundell – 270
• Glenn Buckelew – 267
• Martin Brannan – 10

There are 810 uncounted votes. So far, approximately one quarter (25%) of the ballots have contained valid, counted write-in votes for County Attorney. If this percentage holds true for the remaining votes, we could speculate that there are around 202 votes up for grabs in this race. This means a race that’s still too close to call, especially for Dan Field and Tony Rogers, who are separated by only 30 votes.
—
Provisional and late early ballots are being counted and may not be available in revised totals until next week. Write-in votes still being counted may be updated later today.

The honeymoon is over

According to newly acknowledged Mayor Ed Foster, town staff Terry Frausto and Laura Bruno have prohibited him from entering town offices.

Now this new policy hasn't gone before the council for a vote or anything, it's just another example of the "we say so" form of government at work in QVille. (And you all thought we had a council manager form government.)

Foster called his attorney in front of Frausto after being refused entry beyond the public business counter. According to Judge Burke, the town must cooperate with Foster's performance of his duties as mayor, or they are not just in contempt of his court order, it's actually a crime under ARS 12-2029. Can't wait to see Terry in that LPCJ orange two peice ensemble. I hear it's the fashion "must have" for Quartzsite government staff this fall!

Clown council finally seats ring master!

That's right folks, only five months after the people elected him, Ed Foster is once again the Mayor of dysfunction town! Of course, they only voted to do it under threat of arrest. No wonder the town's insurance cancelled. Will they play nicer this second time around? Doubtful. But with Ed at the helm, and first mate Workman to second his motions, maybe some public discussion of issues will happen for a change!

Let's make a deal? Of course not

The citizens of Quartzsite got  "zonked" again. At Qville's regular clown council circus, the show was on as a "report" prepared by an illegal alleged "private investigator", who lives in our new town mismanager's driveway was read by Mikey J before apparently being destroyed in violation of state law. (see around 18 minutes into the video)

The hopeless voted unanimously voted to censure Councilwoman Patricia Workman based on no evidence of wrongdoing. This is an official way of saying we don't like you, and has no effect on Workman, other than to possible force her to lawyer up and consider suing them for defamation and slander.

Then for a second act, they voted against accepting the deal brokered between the attorney representing the town and the one representing Mayor Foster. What was the deal on the table you ask? Foster wouldn't owe the town anything and would not be able to sue, and the town would owe Foster no back pay or damages. Workman voted in favor of seating Foster, as did Orgeron (who knows the ordinance is illegal and probably just doesn't want to get sued). Everyone else turned down the deal in favor of going to court. What do they care. It's not going to cost them membership in the Risk Pool, that was cancelled two days after El Jefe was brought back as chief Nazi.



.

Ad Hoc rescheduled? Is Bruno covering her ass?

The Ad hoc convened by Councilpersons Jewitt, Crooks and Anderson against lone wolf Councilwoman Pat Workman has reportedly been rescheduled for Tuesday, Oct. 2, at the same time. It seems the new town mismanager may have screwed up big time when she passed out an update letter from Jackson Lewis LLP, the bottom feeding lawyers hired by the town to discredit the Quartzsite 10 police officers. Apparently, the lawyers did not mark the letter confidential, and neither did Interim Town Manager Laura Bruno before she handed it out to councilpersons in her office. Now, we hear Bruno has hired a private investigator to go after Workman and clear her own name. More than a little unethical on Bruno's part 'cause it's a clear conflict of interest to us uneducated folks.

Hey Mrs. not so genius after all, communications by the attorney need to be labeled that they're confidential or privileged. If the lawyer doesn't say so explicitly, how would the recipient know for sure. Nobody trusts your judgement since you screwed the school district in CA Mrs. Bruno. When Jackson Lewis (same law firm, same case) published their hit piece on the officers last summer, I mean report that the liars club says cleared the chief, it was the town manager who waived attorney/client privelege to disseminate it. So even if the clown council wants to argue that privelege exists with an attorney being paid with public money (which it doesn't) the precedent exists that the town manager is the responsible party. So sorry Laura.  Marty's opinion has proven wrong at nearly every turn, and Murry is a hack at best (whose compromised by his own ethical dilemma of being a partner at law with Bill Simms of the Risk Pool),so I'm just trying to help you here. You idiots are setting the town up for a defamation suit by Workman and I'll bet she's already shopping attorneys. Or perhaps, they are shopping her!

Lastly show us the penalty for violating attorney/client privilege, 'cause it aint a crime. Lawyers can get sanctioned, but the client can waive the privilege, even in the most unintended manner. It happens every day.

Oh, and before we forget, they've called a special meeting so that they can discuss their official position on Mayor Foster. Will they make the Risk Pool happy and minimalize loss? Or will they continue down the road of municipal destruction?
http://www.ci.quartzsite.az.us/Support%20Docs/Council_NTS_AGD/2012/100112SpecialMeeting.html

Ad Hoc again! This time it's Councilwoman Pat Workman.

http://www.ci.quartzsite.az.us/Support%20Docs/Council_NTS_AGD/2012/1022012adhoc.pdf

Seems that the clown council is cranky that Workman is actually exercising her 1st Amendment rights to waive attorney client priveledge and speak to the constituents who put her into office. More money spent  on a political vendetta against the lone dissenting vote. The idiots who convened this farce have no ethics and two are usurpers of their office, seated illegally. There's nothing new under the desert sun in Q Ville.
AdHoc. Pat.Workman

Quartzsite politics make Wall Street Journal!

http://online.wsj.com/article/

By TAMARA AUDI

QUARTZSITE, Ariz.—This tiny desert outpost is known for 70-degree winters, an annual gem show that draws thousands of visitors, and a nudist bookstore owner who conducts business in little more than flip-flops and a straw hat.
But these days, the town's most extraordinary feature is its politics.

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An American flag sits atop Quartzsite Mountain in Quartzsite, Ariz. This tiny desert outpost is known for 70-degree winters, an annual gem show that draws millions of visitors, and a bookstore owner who conducts business in little more than flip-flops and a straw hat.

For months, officials in Quartzsite—which lies about halfway between Phoenix and Palm Springs, Calif., on Interstate 10—have so far refused to allow the mayor-elect to take office because he owes the town $2,200 in attorney's fees.
In late August, the town manager put the police chief on paid administrative leave pending an investigation over allegations involving a time sheet. A few days later, the town council suspended the town manager for undisclosed reasons—after the town's attorney filed a restraining order against the town council to stop it meeting.
The town manager said she couldn't comment on her suspension because "no one gave me a reason."
In September, the assistant town manager fired the police chief without consulting the town council, according to other town officials. Days later, the interim town manager reversed the chief's firing, and suspended the assistant town manager pending an investigation into an undisclosed matter. The assistant manager couldn't be reached for comment. On Tuesday, the town council voted to put the police chief back on the job.
"We're calling this the Twilight Zone in Quartzsite," said Ed Foster, the elected, but so far unseated, mayor who has filed a complaint in superior court to force the town to install him. Mr. Foster, 70 years old, began humming the music from the television show, and said, "Every day we get up and ask, 'What's going to happen today?'"
On Tuesday night, Mr. Foster's lawyer said an attorney hired by the town called to discuss a potential settlement deal that would include seating Mr. Foster as mayor. The deal hasn't been finalized yet, said his lawyer, Julie LaBenz. If a deal isn't reached, she said Mr. Foster will move ahead with a court hearing due next week.
The interim town manager, Laura Bruno, said Wednesday a lawyer for the town briefed the town council in closed session about Mr. Foster's case. Ms. Bruno said the council made no decision on a settlement deal, and would still have to vote to seat Mr. Foster. She said the intent of the attorney was "to open a line of communication with Mr. Foster's attorney."
The turmoil caught the attention of state and federal officials. The Arizona Department of Public Safety has investigated corruption complaints against town officials four times in the past two years and recently began a fifth probe of the police chief over the alleged false filing of a time sheet, a Department of Public Safety spokesman said. The chief, Jeff Gilbert, has denied any wrongdoing.
The attorney for La Paz County, which includes Quartzsite, said he asked the Federal Bureau of Investigation to investigate town officials for possible corruption. An FBI spokesman said he couldn't confirm or deny any probe.
The unrest boils down to a struggle between two groups: on one side, some current and former town leaders who say they are being targeted by activists who oppose development; on the other side, activists and the mayor-elect who claim city officials are hiding corruption and targeting them for criticizing town leaders. In interviews, the officials have denied the accusations.
The standoff has divided the town and set its residents on edge. "You just feel it's a powder keg in Quartzsite, and something is going to set it off," said Shelly Baker, recorder for La Paz County.
Isolated on the western edge of Arizona, Quartzsite was once a mining area and way station for travelers, later becoming popular with retirees for its mild winters. Its population jumps to 100,000 in the winter from 3,500 the rest of the year.
Political intrigue in the town dates back to at least 1995, when the then-mayor was convicted of hiring a hit man to try to kill his political rival. His conviction was overturned, and he was back in office six months later.
In 2005, Mr. Foster, a retired engineer for gum-maker Wrigley, moved to Quartzsite from Chicago and successfully ran for mayor in 2010 on a platform of financial transparency.
After he was elected, Mr. Foster asked state police to investigate the city's police chief, saying he improperly used vacation time. Mr. Gilbert countered by asking state officials to investigate Mr. Foster and his allies for allegedly manufacturing evidence against him. Town residents and former police employees have accused Mr. Gilbert of harassing, firing or arresting them due to their political views. Mr. Gilbert denies that and calls the accusations "a conspiracy against me" by some town officials and disgruntled employees who want to take control of the police department.
The state's attorney general has declined to prosecute anyone in Quartzsite as a result of state investigations because of insufficient evidence, a spokeswoman for the office said.
Last year, an ally of Mr. Foster's, Jennifer Jones, was arrested by Mr. Gilbert while speaking during a raucous town council meeting. Ms. Jones, who owns Furry Friends Pet Spa, has been arrested five times since she began running for town council in 2010. All of the charges were eventually dropped.
Ms. Jones, who runs a newspaper and website critical of the town and the police chief, said she is "livid" that the chief has been reinstated. "We feel betrayed," said Ms. Jones, who is suing the police chief and other town officials in federal court over her arrests. Ms. Jones says the chief harassed her and her husband because they were critical of him and his political allies. The chief denies the allegations and says his arrests of Ms. Jones and her husband had nothing to do with politics.
Opponents unseated Mr. Foster in a 2011 recall election. He fought the recall in court, lost and was ordered to pay the town $2,200 in attorney fees. He refused to pay.
This year, Mr. Foster ran a new campaign and was elected mayor in June. Town officials said he couldn't take office due to a local ordinance that bars anyone owing the town money from office. He says he shouldn't have to pay, as the town attorney shouldn't have appeared in court against him, and the ordinance exceeds state requirements. The attorney, who officials say is on sick leave, couldn't be reached for comment.
Some in Quartzsite say they see an end to the unrest. "Our town council is coming together and is really trying to work as a team to move things forward," said Ms. Bruno, the interim town manager.
Mr. Foster said even if he is seated, he will sue the town for its appointment of a chair and vice chair for council meetings, which he says weakens his power. "This fight's not over," he said Tuesday. The interim manager said the town has the right to appoint them.
Business owners just want the fighting to end before the busy winter season. "It's an embarrassment to our town," said Paul Winer, the nudist owner of Reader's Oasis bookstore.
—James Oberman contributed to this article. Write to Tamara Audi at tammy.audi@wsj.com

A version of this article appeared September 27, 2012, on page A8 in the U.S. edition of The Wall Street Journal, with the headline: Small-Town Politics, All-Out War.

Say it isn't so, Mr. O

This is the face of a traitor.


Apparently, Pat Workman is the only member of the council that can't be bought. Quartzsite's rogue councilman Mark Orgeron seems to have pulled off his back room deal with scary Jerry and the neo cabal to swap Ms Graft for Chief Dilbert. After a three hour executive session with a new attorney, all but Workman voted to reinstate El Jeffe as supreme jack booted thug. Marty the Bagger, Graft and lil' Al were not in attendance at today's regularly scheduled meeting of the common council. Reportedly, Orgeron admonished the chief to stay out of politics.  Yeah, like that's going to work!

Gilbert is currently the subject of a DPS investigation for pulling a gun on the husband of local activist and publisher Jennifer Jones.

All of this comes on the heels of an unapproved $70,000 voter fraud investigation

and another scathing DPS report, not to mention the town's insurance provider having a meltdown and sending a notice to the town that they don't intend to extend current coverage  past the end of the year. At this rate, they'll be lucky they don't get cancelled sooner.

Orgeron had deceived Foster and Workman into putting him on their campaign signs and in their mailer, but threw the opposition party under the bus as soon as he was seated. He has now defaulted on his campaign promise to fire Gilbert. The angry villagers are already crying "RECALL"!

Will Orgeron's reckless politics jeopardize his day job?

It's been rumored that Quartzsite's newest councilman bought into the Education Options charter school franchise, and the higher the enrollment, the more money he stands to make. But parents I've spoken to are quickly losing both faith and patience with the excessive amount of time he is spending on politics instead of focusing on educating their children.

If parents start pulling their children out of Ed Options, and the charter school goes under, there's likely no going back to the public school system for Mr. O. A rift was created with the school board before he resigned to become "head of school" for Ed Options.

As the neo cabal mechanations become more bizarre with each council meeting, one has to wonder if Orgeron actually has a future in Q Ville or should move back in with his wife in Yuma. Maybe Jerry Lukkasson will take him in!

Qville's newest grifter sends lil Johnson home

With "new business" added to today's 2pm council agenda, the council returned from executive session to contract with California Board of Education scam artist Laura Bruno. This brilliant choice was engineered by rogue Councilman Mark Orgeron. Councilwoman Pat Workman was the only "nay" vote.

Her first act in office was to call the council to meet with her in and tell them she was putting Assistant clown manager Al Johnson on administrative leave. Johnson was spotted discussing something (hopefully not town business) with suspended clown manager Alex Taft at her new old residence behind Castor's Antiques around 5:30 tonight. The cabal canabal carnage continues.

Gilbert gets canned!

Today, the Quartzsite fired Police Chief Jeff Gilbert. See official Town press release below.
 http://www.ci.quartzsite.az.us/Support%20Docs/Press%20Release%20Chief.html

Listen to what the attorney who incorporated Quartzsite has to say about the recent turn of events.

http://www.blogtalkradio.com/demandjusticinquartzsiteaz/2012/09/12/demand-justice-in-quartzsite-az

In other news, the council adjourned the remaining meeting agenda items until 2 pm tomorrow because the drawn out executive session to appoint an interim town manager did not go smoothly - judging by the looks on their faces when they came out of the back room anyway. The TRO and Show Cause hearings were dismissed this afternoon. Guess the Bagger couldn't 'splain his conficts of interest without risking the Burke would be etically required to file a BAR complaint against him.

Orgeron goes rogue agent

Despite campaining as a slate with Mayor Ed Foster and Pat Workman, recently seated Councilman Mark Orgeron has been seen spending an awful lot of time with Jerry Lukkasson at the Eatery. Reports indicate that Orgeron is not communicating with elected Mayor Ed Foster. Pat has been receiving communication from Mark, but so have Councilpersons Carol Kelley, Norma Crooks, and Pat Anderson apparently. At least Marty the Bagger seems to think so. He inferred they were holding secret meetings. Mike Jewitt seems to be Alex Taft's lapdog, 'cause he's voting against the "neo cabal".

A shocking Facebook comment surfaced last weekend from Councilman Orgeron to a former moderator of the Supporters of Mayor Edward Foster page. It was thought at first that Orgeron had allowed someone access to his facebook page, the same way that El Jeffy's wife had posted on Half Wit's FB page as "Dark Horse". However, when local activist Doug Gilford confronted Orgeron last week at the "Cruise In" down at the local Shell station, Orgeron took full credit for the following defamitory and liabelous statements:

"Welcome to my world! Living here in Quartzsite, I can tell you that you really don't know any of the players...Jennifer has been like this. She accepted money from a supporter here in town to help buy campaign material for Ed, Pat, and me (1,000.00)...she paid her personal bills with it. Richard will say what a good guy I am and then will call me names and insult me off the air...what a guy. I can say
about his wife, but I will not go there (maybe later).
Teri is a spiteful person that is two-faced and will stab her own mother in the back if the occasion occurred.
As for Ed, he REALLY does not want to take his position as mayor. If he does get there, he will not be able to pound his chest and say look at me. It works better if he does not get in. In fact, he was offered a place as a litigant on my suit for a couple thousand. A person present offered 1K and I said he had to make payments
to me until we got our money back (maybe 2 small payments). He declined saying he should not have to sue. The quo warranto is dead and has been dropped, but they are not putting that out there. I secured him an attorney that worked on my case to work on a contingency basis to take Ed to federal court....he denied the
help. He does not want the help or his position, he would rather have a pity party!
I can go on for days about their childish behavior. As for Charles, the money is in the bank and the account is being closed out and paid out. Will misled the masses on his statement. Steve would confirm that, but the other side does not want to hear that. Steve had a conversation with Jennifer on the money. She knows the money is in the bank and not absconded or stolen...but, that story does not meet her needs.
I don't know what else to say except to stand by for heavy seas! I understand what you were saying about the different branches of service giving each other shit...I continue to do it today. Don't feel bad...you are in good company. We will stand tall and take their beatings, because I will not bow to them or say and do as they
want. I will do what is right and be happy with it. "

Now, the reformers don't trust him, and many wonder how long he can hold his new coalition together after several failed attempts at getting agenda items written that will accomplish their intent, coupled with a restraining order from the town to stop him from doing just that, and a letter from the Town's insurance that the coverage may be ending at the end of December because the town no longer has a favorable risk profile due to "factional disputes by the town council and resulting employment decisions."
see:article

We wish him luck. He'll need it. Tomorrow will be a reavealing sequence of events - another contentious council meeting filled with controversial items at 9 am, a hearing on the temporary restraining order filed by the town to stop the council at 3:30, followed by a show cause hearing an hour later for the contempt of court charge levied at Councilwom Workman for exercising her free speech about little Al.

Stay tuned for another exciting episode of "Only in Quartzsite"!