Desert Messenger

Page 4 Lizarraga thanks community I would like to thank the community for the privilege to help lead this town. There are so many people that took personal time, effort and funds to make this possible. You all did it without ask- ing and with pride. I feel that this is the true strength of this town. People help- ing people for the greater benefit of the community and individuals that live here. Thank you. We have a lot of hard work ahead of us. There will be many rough spots but I know that if we stay professional and continue to care for our neighbors we will all get though. I will be asking the council to make some difficult and com- plicated decisions. No matter what the outcome we must all remember that we work for the greater good of this com- munity. I challenge this community to come together. I challenge this community to stay positive. I challenge you not to hold a grudge. I wish that things would change overnight but I know different. I hope that with effort and positive at- titude we can become a model town that others could only hope to imitate. It will not be because of me… It will be because of you. It WILL NOT be easy, but we CAN do it. Thank you. Jose Lizarraga Citizen, Town of Quartzsite "THE PEOPLE'S VOICE" Letters to Editor Policy Desert Messenger encourages letters from its readers. Letters should be no longer than 300 words, and may be edited for grammar, content and length. OPINIONS EXPRESSED HERE DO NOT NECESSAR- ILY REPRESENT THOSE OF THE DESERT MESSENGER. We invite you to not only see a problem, but www.DesertMessenger.com THE PEOPLE'S VOICE Peaceful future For the past year Quartzsite has been like the script of a bad B movie. The bad dude with his paid thugs ride in, try to take over the town, buy up the assets and play king of the hill. The march to liberate the citizens of Quartzsite has now passed into history. They marched through town lustily singing, God Bless America and damn- ing Quartzsite in the same breath. One good thing came out of the rally. The food bank had sixteen items of food donated. No uplifting benefits accrued to to town. Now that the voters of Quartzsite have had their say it's time to let the political dust settle and get on to a peaceful fu- ture. Are Jennifer Jones, Ed Foster and their followers capable of realizing the time has come to practice their incom- petence elsewhere, or are their devious minds already at work fomenting their next tactic? Elmer F. London Quartzsite Thank you EMT's! I would like to thank the EMT's at the Quartzsite Fire Department who helped me July 31st when I was struck by a rattlesnake. They make me feel I was in good hands and got me on my way to Phoenix. To all who had concerns for me and for all the prayers thank you so much. To my co-workers who stepped up while I was gone – you're the best. I am back to work at the library and doing much better. A tip - Some snakes don't rattle, so be extra careful. Betty Braswell search for the solution to share with the com- munity, keeping the benefit of all in mind. Letters considered libelous, in poor taste, on a personal issue, mean spirited or dominated by Scripture quotes will not be published. Third party letters will not be accepted. To avoid confusion over people with com- mon or similar names, writers must provide a full name and indicate the name they are known by. Writers must provide a full street address and phone number. Rvers can provide the location of park/BLM land, etc. Street addresses will not be published. Phone numbers are for verification only and will not be printed. Mail letters to: The People's Voice, Desert Messenger, P.O. Box 3185, Quartzsite, AZ 85359 or E-mail to: desertmessenger7@yahoo.com 541-218-2560 Senior Center : "us vs. them" The Quartzsite Senior Citizens Center (QSC/Senior Center) was organized for educational, recreational and en- tertainment purposes, for enrichment of the lives of the senior citizens of the Deadline for Sept. 21st issue of the Desert Messenger is WED. Sept. 14 Email: desertmessenger7@yahoo.com Phone: 541-218-2560 www.DesertMessenger.com community. QSC strives to maintain a congenial and stress-free atmosphere by disallowing offensive behavior and confrontational discussions. During the short time I've been involved with the Senior Center that all seemed to be working pretty well. Until this past spring. A result of the unrest in Quartzsite is that some QSC members stated in March and April 2011 that they would not come to the Senior Center anymore as long as The Desert Freedom Press remained avail- able there. This concern was discussed at some length at the April 2011 QSC Board Meeting where it was decided that individuals have the choice of reading or not reading any publication available at the Senior Center. (The Desert Messenger has been available for quite awhile, as well as the Quartzsite Crier News.) The "us vs them" situation in Quartz- site is serious enough without using who-reads-what criteria to add to it. I miss the members no longer coming to the Senior Center and invite them to return to socialize and have fun with all of us again. I don't care what publica- tions they read or ignore. I only care about our members and the pleasure of their presence. Wayne Wilson Quartzsite Senior Center President Dear Friends, I have just finished reading the volu- minous report titled, "Report of the in- ternal investigation of Police Chief Jeff Gilbert" by Attorney Sonya K. Boun, which is available in our library. This exhaustive and thorough report should put to rest all of the baseless rumors, innuendos, and fact-free allegations made by those nine unhappy police officers. The overwhelming evidence shows that they fabricated most of these complaints and exaggerated others. It is my opinion that this is, and always was, an internal police department matter. However, by going outside the normal chain of command and involving former mayor Foster, who in turn politicized it. It became an issue which he chose to advance his and his "political advisor's" agenda of un-incor- porating the town. Once this occurred, it became necessary to conduct an in- dependent, thorough and completely open investigation. It is beyond the scope of this letter to detail the staged outrages and other September 7, 2011 histrionics used by former mayor Foster and his friends in an attempt to own this issue. They failed. Speaking only for myself, I want you to know that I am appalled and saddened by this entire chain of unfortunate events. I am feeling a lot of anger right now; both at these nine officers, and Foster for attempting to, once again, damage or destroy our Police Chief's reputation over something that prob- ably could have been resolved within the department. It's too late; they crossed the line. Soon, if not by the time this goes to print, our town manager and police chief will have made the difficult deci- sions necessary to return our police department to the highly professional, caring, and just plain friendly cops we all used to. I will support whatever decisions they make. I trust them to ac- complish this unpleasant, but necessary task as quickly as is feasible. Please join all of us on your town council and your town staff in putting this tragedy behind us. And once again help us show the world what a great community we live in. Joe Winslow Quartzsite Open Letter Recently, former mayor Wes Huntley sent you a letter proposing that the right to vote be stripped from anyone in your community who does not own property. My husband is in the Army, defending that very right on a daily basis, but we own no property anywhere save for our vehicles and belongings. Does this mean we should be stripped of our rights as citizens? Would a family such as ourselves be included in that decision were it allowed? Not owning property makes no citizen less important than another at the polling booth. And those "junky trailer" owners that he's wag- ging his finger at make up most of the snowbird residents, correct? The people who go to your small town EVERY year and fill it full of money from their pur- chases, taxes and plot rentals. He goes on to claim dissidents are attempting to take over the town. I saw the video. It wasn't dissidents that took a leisurely stroll over Jennifer Jones civil rights. It was the police chief and two of his officers and EVERY council member save for the Mayor. The Declaration of Independence states it: "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, SEE LETTERS ON PAGE 5

• Cover