'Emergency' declared in AZ town over allegations
APBy AMANDA LEE MYERS - Associated Press
[PHOENIX (AP) The far western Arizona town of Quartzsite was in a state of upheaval 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.
Foster described the government and Gilbert as corrupt and abusive of their power, and said all their recent actions are frantic efforts to cover up millions of dollars of money from lining some of their pockets.
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.]
http://news.yahoo.com/emergency-dec...BzdGNhdANidXNpbmVzcwRwdANzdG9yeXBhZ2U-;_ylv=3
Online:
Town of Quartzsite: http://www.ci.quartzsite.az.us/
Mayor Ed Foster's Facebook page: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Arizo...-Foster-of-Quartzsite-Arizona/118461931576665
Video of Jennifer Jones' arrest: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YPY3BIsVQq8
Follow Amanda Lee Myers on Twitter at https://twitter.com/#!/AmandaLeeAP
APBy AMANDA LEE MYERS - Associated Press
[PHOENIX (AP) The far western Arizona town of Quartzsite was in a state of upheaval 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.
Foster described the government and Gilbert as corrupt and abusive of their power, and said all their recent actions are frantic efforts to cover up millions of dollars of money from lining some of their pockets.
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.]
http://news.yahoo.com/emergency-dec...BzdGNhdANidXNpbmVzcwRwdANzdG9yeXBhZ2U-;_ylv=3
Online:
Town of Quartzsite: http://www.ci.quartzsite.az.us/
Mayor Ed Foster's Facebook page: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Arizo...-Foster-of-Quartzsite-Arizona/118461931576665
Video of Jennifer Jones' arrest: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YPY3BIsVQq8
Follow Amanda Lee Myers on Twitter at https://twitter.com/#!/AmandaLeeAP
