Out of Control in Quartzsite, AZ...

martial law declared?

Last week I posted the video of the woman in Quartzsite being arrested for speaking at a city council meeting.  According to the AP, the mayor, Ed Foster,  has been ousted and the city council, while meeting in private, declared the chief of police to be in charge of Quartzsite.

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.

 According to the city council and the chief of police this is all a result of that pesky video of Jennifer Jones being denied her First Amendment rights to speak during an open comment period of a city council meeting.  I'm not so sure about that.

Again from the AP article:

Foster was elected in May 2010 on a campaign promise to investigate corruption allegations in the town.

He 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.

 Read the entire article:  Arizona town in disarray; mayor alleges corruption

I often traveled through Quartzsite when we lived in Sedona, AZ and wonder why anyone would fight over such a place.   No offense to the fine people of Quartzsite, but it's not the most lovely of places unless you love sand and cactus.  I'm more of a green grass and tree person.

The population swells during the winter with the caravans of seniors who RV in to enjoy the sun.  For me it always brought up images of the Grapes of Wrath.  Quartzsite is most famous for it's huge swap meets and gem shows where literally thousands of vendors gather under big tents and open air markets.

Big tent sale in Quartzsite