Arizona Police Chief Takes Over Town - Mayor Ousted - Woman Kidnapped by Police from Council Meeting

[Dan T.]

Whoo boy. Things are hopping in Quartzsite, Arizona. A woman blogger and frequent critic is physically ousted by local police while calmly speaking during an open forum session of a town council meeting at the direction of council members as the mayor tries to intervene. The whole thing was caught on video.

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The woman tore an elbow ligament during the altercation, and said that because she was held against her will but was never put under arrest, she will file kidnapping charges. The video has gone viral, and people from around the U.S. and the world have written to the council expressing outrage.

The mayor, who tried to intervene and who was elected on a platform of rooting out rampant corruption among the town council and local police, is ousted from office by the police chief who declares a state of emergency. The mayor says that town money is missing, that there are phantom employees on the payroll, and that council members are pocketing funds. He says he has been thwarted every step of the way as he tries to look into the shady dealings. The police chief has arrested the mayor a couple of times previously in what the mayor describes as bogus charges.

Now the mayor has been ousted, the police chief has taken over, and the council will hold their meetings in private. The mayor has contacted the FBI.

Something stinks down there in Quartzsite, and it isn't the sulphur in the water.

http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5hhUNRAsfa4FKlNnMnoCDpemPjYZA?docId=037c14c2c0fd4aab8d84a27c45b2d803

[Drew_Fl]

man this has the makings of a great movie script in the future...i hope they get things sorted out though. worldwide attention and pressure should speed the process considerably i hope.

[Henry]

That's some scary stuff.

[Destino]

This is a governing body that clearly doesn't understand parliamentary procedure and the mayor is booted over a trumped up emergency? If it wasn't Arizona I'd be surprised. It's disappointing to me that the FBI doesn't make investigating government corruption at every level a top priority. Corruption isn't just illegal exchanges of money.

[S.T.real,lights,out]

Wow, thought this kind of stuff only happened in movies.

[Madison Redskin]

Meh....it's Arizona....business as usual.

[Beans]

Holy ****balls. Corruption charges need to carry punishment that rivals capital murder. Nothing makes me angrier than foxes in the henhouse...Hang 'em high!

[ACW]

Wow, is this new Maricopa Co. by any chance?

[dockeryfan]

I like how Joe Winslow was pretending to use Robert's Rules of Order. I don't see how that council member gets elected again.

[PCS]

Whoa. AP : Arizona town in disarray; mayor alleges corruption

http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5hhUNRAsfa4FKlNnMnoCDpemPjYZA?docId=037c14c2c0fd4aab8d84a27c45b2d803

By AMANDA LEE MYERS, Associated Press – 1 day ago

PHOENIX (AP) — The far western Arizona town of Quartzsite was in disarray Monday after the town council ousted the mayor from power and declared a state of emergency, all over an online video that shows a woman being arrested.

Mayor Ed Foster told The Associated Press on Monday that the town council held a last-minute meeting that was closed to the public Sunday night, declaring a state of emergency in the 3,600-person town just east of the California city of Blythe.

The council's declaration put police Chief Jeff Gilbert in charge, making Foster the "deputy chief executive of nothing right now," he said. It also allows the five-member council to meet without public notice and suspend all public comment at the meetings until they declare the state of emergency over.

*Click Link For More*

Ummmm. Holy.... I'm just waiting for "The Rock" to come in with a 2x4.

[AsburySkinsFan]

Wow they REALLY want to shut her up. That one guy was entirely out of order, she rightly had the floor. That's crazy power happy a corrupt right there. Nutso!

[Henry]

That literally looked like something out of a third world country. Really shocking.

[Madison Redskin]

Wow, is this new Maricopa Co. by any chance?

No, but it's adjacent to Maricopa County.

[Slateman]

Ummm ... wasn't it Arizona police that shot the vet a little while ago?

[PokerPacker]

"the counsel moves that this person's right to free speech be abridged because what she is saying is detrimental to us."

[Larry]

Decades ago, when I was a government contractor, the conference room where I worked had a cartoon on the wall. The cartoon showed several cave men, squatting around an animal's skeleton.

Caption: "This meeting has been called in order to discuss the meat. It has been pointed out that there is no more meat. Motion has been made that we fight over the bones."

(This could probably be posted in the "debt ceiling" thread, too.)

[Burgold]

Geez, what are we going to do about Arizona? It feels like they are getting crazier by the day.

[Destino]

I like how Joe Winslow was pretending to use Robert's Rules of Order. I don't see how that council member gets elected again.

Come on... you know as well as I do that they will get elected again. In fact I wouldn't be at all surprised if the mayor is the one that loses his job. This is America! We hate having to admit any aspect of the government is corrupt and that we have any responsibility in cleaning it up. There are examples everywhere of this.

If you vote for a tax increase/spending cut that is arguably needed you are more likely to lose your job then if you falsely have your critics arrested.

---------- Post added July-12th-2011 at 04:58 PM ----------

Geez, what are we going to do about Arizona? It feels like they are getting crazier by the day.

Give them to Mexico and build a giant 50 foot fence around the entire state.

[SkinInsite]

I'm waiting for one of the council member to say illegals are costing the town millions of dollars and that's why emergency was declared.

I'm wondering how the council manage to steal millions (if true) in a small town like Quartzsite. I guess there's a lot of money from swap meets.

[Unforgiven]

We'll have to see how it plays out, but if they're truly corrupt I hope the state steps in and takes over.

That video at the least is evidence of abuse of power by the police chief and council members.

[Prosperity]

AZ is fighting hard to take the looney land title away from Florida

[Hooper]

This is not restricted to Arizona. Here in crazy California we have had some insane scandals in smaller cities -- see the City of Bell and Vernon.

Also, my brother in law runs a small sports bar in a small suburb of Denver that has its own police force. The stuff he has to deal with is nuts.

[Dan T.]

I'm waiting for one of the council member to say illegals are costing the town millions of dollars and that's why emergency was declared.

I'm wondering how the council manage to steal millions (if true) in a small town like Quartzsite. I guess there's a lot of money from swap meets.

From the AP article:

[Mayor Foster] said since being in office, he has discovered that every pay period, eight to 10 paychecks go to unnamed people and that he has been denied access to financial records to find out where the money goes at every turn.

He said that's been happening since 1991 and amounts to $250,000 every year. "That's literally millions of dollars," he said.

[Prosperity]

From the AP article:

[Mayor Foster] said since being in office, he has discovered that every pay period, eight to 10 paychecks go to unnamed people and that he has been denied access to financial records to find out where the money goes at every turn.

He said that's been happening since 1991 and amounts to $250,000 every year. "That's literally millions of dollars," he said.

holy ****

[Bang]

We need to start hanging corrupt politicians.

And I'm absolutely dead serious.

~Bang