Tyrannical Arizona City Council Declares State of Emergency

On July 8, 2011, I did a post, “A Town in Arizona Run by Wolves,” about the tyrannical city government of Quartzsite (pop. 3,397). At a recent town-hall meeting, council members and the police chief forcibly removed and thereby silenced a non-violent citizen, Jennifer Jones, during the open-to-the-public portion of the meeting. They did so against pleadings from the mayor, Ed Foster.

Foster, a former Marine and retired engineer, says the town council and police department are filled with corruption, citizens are intimidated by the town manager and tax collector, and that the city council has prevented him from examining the payroll to uncover possible financial wrongdoing.

After the townhall meeting made the national news, instead of reforming their ways, Quartzsite’s corrupt city council is redoubling their tyrannical ways by declaring a State of Emergency!

Amanda Lee Myers of the Associated Press reports, July 11, 2011, that the council’s declaration puts Police Chief Jeff Gilbert in charge, which renders Mayor Ed Foster the “deputy chief executive of nothing.” The peremptory declaration 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.

Quartzsite police chief Jeff Gilbert

The Arizona Department of Public Safety, the state police, is currently investigating Jeff Gilbert. Ten officers in Gilbert’s dept (that’s 80% of the force), “the Quartzite 10” as they are called in town, have come forward with numerous charges of criminal activity by the police chief, including Gilbert illegally using the federal NCIC criminal database to harass hundreds of local citizens. [Source]

Ironically, the “Vision Statement” of Quartzsite’s city government says “We, the Mayor and Common Council, strive to make our community the best possible place to live. Furthermore, we encourage our citizens to develop strong ethical, social, cultural, and business relationships to enhance living in our community.”

The website of the Quartzsite city government boasts that the town has “over two million visitors a year!” Let’s tell the city we will boycott Quartzsite because of its tyrannical government. Here’s contact information to express your outrage:

• Chief of Police Jeff Gilbert: qsite1@ci.quartzsite.az.us
• Town Manager, Alex Taft: PO Box 2812 Quartzsite, AZ 85346, Phone 928-927-4333
• The web-page for Quartzsite’s City Council does not have any contact info for Council Members.

And here’s contact info to voice your support:

• Jennifer “Jade” Jones, Publisher, The DESERT FREEDOM PRESS: Phone (928) 575-6594; Email: thedesertfreedompress@yahoo.com
• Mayor Ed Foster: (928) 750-8113
• Michael Roth, La Paz County Republican Precinct Chairman: (602) 791-5401 or (928)927-8888

H/t beloved fellow Anon.

~Eowyn

A Town in Arizona Run by Wolves

Again and again, our Founding Fathers sounded the warning about the inherent tendency of democracies to devolve into tyranny. Thomas Jefferson, in his letter to Edward Carrington in 1787, wrote:

“If once they [the people] become inattentive to the public affairs, you and I, and Congress, and Assemblies, Judges, and Governors, shall all become wolves.”

The government of the town of Quartzsite in Arizona (pop. 3,397) has become overrun by wolves.

On June 28, 2011, at a town-hall meeting in Quartzsite, council members and the police chief forcibly removed and thus prevented a non-violent citizen from speaking during the open-to-the-public portion of the meeting. They did so against pleadings from the mayor, Ed Foster.

Quartzsite mayor Ed Foster

From Joe Kovacs, “‘Nazi’ police ‘kidnap’ woman at town hall,” WorldNetDaily, July 6, 2011:

Jennifer “Jade” Jones, 45, of Quartzsite, Ariz., was taken into custody by local police at the behest of Quartzsite councilmembers, over the objections of the mayor, who pleaded with officers not to remove the woman.

The incident took place June 28 during the “call to the public” section of the meeting, as Jones, a pet groomer who also publishes the Desert Freedom Press, was addressing matters of taxation and meeting protocol.

Quartzsite City Council member Joe Winslow

Some councilmembers interrupted Jones as she was addressing the council and audience, ordering her to relinquish the microphone. “You may leave, or you may be escorted out,” Councilman Joe Winslow warned Jones.

Jones immediately told Winslow, “You can leave or be escorted out as well. You are out of order.”

Then, as police Sgt. Fabiola Garcia attempted to take the microphone away from Jones, Mayor Ed Foster came to the Jones’ defense and interjected, “Officer, that woman has the floor. You’re violating my rules of order here. Sergeant, I have control of the meeting.”

Jones was able to speak for a few moments more, but councilmembers insisted police move in and subdue her. “Do not resist the officer!” Police Chief Jeff Gilbert instructed Jones, who responded, “I am not resisting!”

When Jones refused to give up the microphone, officers forcibly removed her from the premises, and cited her for disorderly conduct. Jones suffered a torn ligament in her elbow during the scuffle, and was transported to La Paz Regional Hospital.

In an interview with WND, Jones said she was never informed she was “under arrest,” and so she’ll seek charges of kidnapping and aggravated assault against the officers. “That’s what I’ll ask for. It’ll be up to the state attorney general,” she said. “I’ve never seen in my entire life such a group of people with such contempt for the law.”

[...] Mayor Foster, a retired Marine and former engineer for Wrigley Chewing Gum, is standing by Jones’ account, and says the town council and police department are filled with corruption. “He’s just an insane person, that chief of police,” the mayor said of Gilbert. “He’s a Nazi … he’s completely out of control. He thinks he’s running the town.”

[...] Mayor Foster said it’s not just the police chief, but also the town manager and tax collector who are creating a terrifying atmosphere. “People in town are scared to death of them,” he said. “It’s just a clear pattern of harassment and intimidation by this government. These people have run this town like they owned it. It’s got to be fixed and I’m not going to quit until I see them in jail.”

The mayor says the council has even precluded him from examining the payroll. He believes he’s uncovered some possible financial wrongdoing involving checks being paid to unknown personnel, and he speculates the recipients could be councilmembers themselves. “They’re playing a sleight-of-hand with federal money,” Foster said. “I’ve tried to get the FBI, the governor and attorney general involved, and no one has paid attention….”

To read the rest of this WND article, click here.

There was a YouTube video of the incident but it’s “no longer available due to a copyright claim by Douglas Gilford.”

H/t beloved fellow Tina & my friend Mark S. McGrew.

~Eowyn