|
The Case Against Quartzsite
By:
L.E. Stone
Quartzsite, people say, has it all.
The little town sits -- divided -- on both sides of I-10 between L.A. and Phoenix, the last place to buy fuel before heading off into the desert where there’s almost 150 miles of isolated desert roadway.
And for those travelers headed to Phoenix, it’s also the first place they find for fuel and refreshments after driving that same stretch of road as they’re leaving California.
With temperatures soaring into the high teens in the summer and a rock and gem show that sizzled during the winter season, it was, locals said, ‘a natural.’
That once meant it was ‘a natural’ in terms of destination.
Today, they’re more likely to be talking about various forms of corruption.
Richard Oldham, the ‘founding Mayor’ of Quartzsite, spent some 65 of his 72 years in this tiny town. He grew up in Quartzsite in the early 1940’s when his parents often left him to watch their property there.
The outback in the State of Arizona became his life.
A child, Oldham watched as the women seeking to become the country’s first licensed military pilots came to the little town to learn to fly, hoping to become the earliest versions of military fliers and earn for themselves a place in aviation history. It was, he figured, the best way to deal with the isolation of the tiny town ‘in the middle of nowhere.‘
Licensed to fly by the age of 19, he found a job working in Prescott at an auto dealership. He became the private pilot for his boss, Theo Lamb, the dealership owner there.
Lamb also owned dealerships in Texas and California.
When Oldham was 24, he purchased the Chevrolet dealership in Parker, just 35 miles north of Quartzsite. Although Lamb could not understand his fascination with the area, he supported Oldham’s decision. When the opportunity arose to move to California, he still continued keeping an active interest in the La Paz County area, using that location to store vehicles and flying back and forth to California to manage his personal business.
He was more than moderately successful.
As the 1980's began a boom time for Quartzsite, Oldham developed a piece of property he had initially purchased with a partner.
Unable to move that unimproved property on the real estate market, he purchased more property to go with the original parcel of 130 acres, adding another 65 in the hopes that it would sweeten the deal and he could find a buyer. He first built an RV park and then one for mobile homes.
He established a mobile home sales lot and today still runs that business.
“I could not convince anyone to buy that property,” Oldham stated. “Quartzsite is a hot and dusty location between what has always been the more popular ones like Palm Springs and Phoenix. It was -- more or less -- the ’white elephant of it’s day.’
The problems with Quartzsite, even then, were more than apparent.
It was unincorporated. It needed a water and sewer system. The town drew opportunists and even misfits that were not welcomed with open arms in other places.
The people that came in search of rocks and relics ranged the gamut. A few found gold. Others were content with trading gemstones and other minerals scattered throughout the area with those who brought these same treasures from other parts of the world.
It was a strange combination. Truck stops housed secret gambling facilities and rampant groundwater contamination seemed to happen repeatedly without proper oversight. A resident Constable in the earlier days provided what law enforcement was deemed necessary and later, also in the early 1980’s, La Paz County was born.
Oldham was progressively minded. Deciding that the water and sewer issues facing the town were so onerous that they would prevent municipal growth, Oldham flew his private plane around the area during this same period, drawing up the boundaries to establish the perimeters of what would be the Quartzsite township.
At the urging of Oldham and much to the consternation of locals who appreciated the general lawlessness and lack of governmental oversight that Quartzsite seemed to offer, the Quartzsite Chamber of Commerce board eventually set about the business of becoming the town’s first councilmen.
Oldham was unanimously appointed to be the town's first Mayor, a position he would win twice more in the town‘s first elections.
Quartzsite was underway and most were happy with the outcome
In 1987, Oldham's wife, Timmie, who was the model for first his dealership ads and later a company spokesman for other of Oldham's endeavors, was diagnosed with early onset Alzheimer's Disease.
As Oldham slowed his political activities to assist his wife, a new player announced his intentions to join in on Quartzsite's political scene.
Rex Byrd, proud of his history as a Teamster, ran for and won a position on the council. The two had been friends, Oldham providing him access to various pieces of his own earth moving equipment for Byrd‘s projects -- and he even supported Byrd in his interest in the council.
But the friendship quickly faded when Byrd drilled two wells for Oldham that were not functional. When Oldham complained about the non standard wells, Byrd attempted to sue Oldham in court. The case crumbled as the judge reviewed the facts surrounding the disagreement between the two men and determined Byrd was in error for the failure to produce two functioning wells. He fined Byrd and demanded the wells be completed in working order.
In lieu of damages, he also demanded that Byrd pay Oldham's court and defense costs.
Byrd reportedly indicated that this finding cost him $72,000.00.
Immediately thereafter, Byrd announced his intention to become the fourth Mayor of Quartzsite.
Hosting BBQs and criticizing Oldham using printed materials and a word of mouth campaign, Byrd ran for and won the Mayoral position.
Following Byrd's election, Oldham continued to follow the town's progress and complained that the town's resources were being squandered. Byrd was again vocal in his criticism of Oldham and openly aired his frustration as the situation escalated.
Ultimately, Byrd was named by the Department of Public Safety as a conspirator in a plot to murder Oldham.
Acting in an undercover capacity, an agent stationed in Quartzsite to investigate illegal gun sales, the agent indicated he had been solicited to carry out a contract 'hit' on Oldham.
Interested in making certain that officials would be able to gather indictments against all of the participants in what they described as a conspiracy, the Department of Public Safety orchestrated the staging of a scene intended to convince Oldham's enemies that he had, indeed, been murdered.
Undercover agents took Oldham out into the desert and staged a scene that included placing his 'corpse' under an ironwood tree, hat askew, body posed to appear as though he had, indeed, been murdered. The various agents took an abundance of photographs to ensure the perpetrators would be convinced of his demise.
Oldham, meanwhile, was directed to leave the area and go to California until the 'sting operation' against 'the conspirators' had been carried out.
The coming months were filled with details of the trial that concluded in the conviction of Rex Byrd. The individual that actually paid the money and participated in other elements of the incident pleaded guilty.
After less than a year in prison, this second individual was utilized to bring questions concerning Byrd and Byrd was released. He resumed his position as Mayor of Quartzsite and lost to Patty Bergen in the following election.
Byrd died in December of 2001.
To assume that there is 'a feud' that has extended ten years beyond the death of one of these men is unrealistic to even the most naive.
Instead, a detailed review of the situation and the records available readily verify that Oldham's businesses and properties have, indeed, been under a steady barrage of fire from the existing town council -- which has necessitated he remain apprised of their actions. Oldham has consistently indicated he has no interest in running for office [the last time he ran was 8 years ago] and that his interests no longer include participating in local politics.
But he, like others in the community, has watched local property values plummet while property ownership expenses are soaring.
“It’s amazing to see the level of interest the town's officials dedicate to trying to convince onlookers that 'a feud' that culminated in a conviction in 1994 [now nearly 20 years ago] is somehow an excuse to continue to intimidate and attack area businesspeople -- even blaming it for the 'political unrest' happening throughout the community,” Oldham stated.
"I am not the only person in town that they are attacking -- that needs to be said. There are others -- anyone that opposes their political agendas soon comes under fire from the town's officials. But specifically, in my case, they have attacked my businesses with selective audits and even double taxation. When I defend myself legally with attorneys and providedocumented proof of my side of the story, even hiring attorneys to represent my interests -- they have resorted to ridiculous levels of abuse -- even engaging in actual property destruction!”
“When the town indicated my 20+ year old runway at the Main Event property on the edge of town should no longer be in existence -- and I hired a land rights law firm from Phoenix to defend my properly rights -- they sent two graders to tear 'a road' through the runway, using the town's equipment to destroy personal property while the police chief attended to oversee the destruction.”
“When I asked for the records to include in my case to show who ordered those graders to come to the Main Event and destroy the runway, I was told there was no record. When I, and others, have used the Freedom of Information Act in an attempt to obtain proper documentation, those requests have -- more often than not --been completely ignored. The town's officials are even now under fire from the State of Arizona Ombudsman's office for ignoring viable FOIA requests from many of our citizens.”
“When I have attempted to speak to the Town Manager concerning any issue with my properties, she has used town personnel to return my call with the message, "Have your lawyers call our lawyers."
Then, of course, there is the activities that many deem to be a form of harassment.
“I frequently field calls from my employees telling me that Al Johnson is again on one of my properties taking pictures,” Oldham stated. “ADEQ and the County Health Department were called and there was an incredible ‘back and forth’ when I began asking who reported an infraction. There always seems to be an effort to conceal the facts.”
“ADEQ is happy with the state of the properties, as were the county health department inspectors,” he said. “They seem to be very aware of what is happening in Quartzsite.”
Johnson, a California resident, is reported to have started his 'position' here telling people he's related to Town Manager Alex Taft. This is a far more serious allegation than many people realize.
“He came to me when he first started working in Quartzsite asking me to assist him in learning how to tell if a mobile home is properly set up,” Oldham said. “I assisted him at that time hoping that things would improve. However, soon after he became the building inspector, problems mounted.”
Johnson was seen, during a period when the Town Clerk, Karen Norris, was out of town, loading boxes of documents from the Town Hall building into his trunk.
When this was questioned, a written report from Town Manager Alexandra Taft was received stating that 'Johnson was removing documents for recycling.'
Since there is a very large recycling bin within a block of the Town Hall property, this excuse for the removal of town hall documents while Ms. Norris was out of town seems less than plausible.
“Shortly after all of these activities were brought out, I was contacted by Mr. Johnson who began asking questions about a steel building I had moved from one of my properties [Desert Gardens Sales Lot #1] that I had moved to the Main Event West property that I had purchased.”
“Johnson indicated that the documents involving the Building Inspection for this move -- handled by the previous Building Inspector, Marc Skogland, were not in my file,” Oldham said.
An interview with Marc Skoglund quickly revealed that Skogland would willingly stand by his original inspection, the records of which he indicated were 'absolutely in the Oldham files' at the Building Inspector's office at Town Hall. Skoglund also indicated that he would provide this information under oath, if necessary, and guaranteed that he would abide by stipulations of a subpoena and provide his testimony pertinent to the records he had created during his tenure at Quartzsite as the Building Inspector.
Meanwhile, Oldham [and his airport] were singled out to be the subject of more than one Quartzsite Town Council meeting, listed as an agenda item. In the published agenda, they stipulated that they were going to consider a lien against Oldham. This, without any proof whatsoever that the town’s allegations against Oldham were even correct.
A similar incident concerning what they said was a right of way through the airport
This, when there had been no proof whatsoever that Oldham could be held liable -- for anything, under any circumstances.
While the council went into executive session to discuss -- with an attorney in a telephonic conference -- the issue, they returned to their seats with no report of their decision.
Finally, Lizarraga stated that they would be issuing citations to Oldham.
And citations there were.
Johnson, promptly issued 9 criminal citations to Oldham over the erection of the steel building he said had been built without proper permitting. Two weeks later, he issued another 9 criminal citations.
It was reportedly these criminal citations -- the first batch of which was tossed by the Quartzsite prosecutor, Matt Newman -- that resulted in the firing of Newman.
Newman, a highly regarded attorney with a perfect performance record, was quoted in the Arizona Republic Sunday, July 17, 2011: "I was saying the criminal law is too important to use for political purposes. There were several cases where I said, "No, I'm not going to file criminal complaints."
The second batch of criminal citations is still pending against Oldham. In the period since the town became overtly aggressive towards Oldham, he was audited -- first going backwards from 2007 for five years and then forwards from 2007 for five years in an apparent effort to obtain the highest tax burden possible.
“It doesn’t seem to matter to them that the law they’re relying on is unconstitutional, has been the subject of recent Congressional testimony and is very likely to be overturned,” Oldham stated. “Further, the auditor the town hired -- was a ‘third party auditor’ in fact -- and that is another issue for which the town is under fire.
“Not only does it appear that they are being selective in their choices for who receives an audit, they’re allowing an auditor to present themselves as a ‘town employee’ when that’s not the case. The ‘bounty hunter’ aspect of it is repulsive to many people and should be discontinued because it provides an incentive and then rewards people for attacking law abiding, tax paying citizens,” Oldham concluded.
Those, though, aren’t the only laws being broken.
In recent years, Quartzsite has been constantly criticized for what appears to citizens to be overt efforts to quash public comment and/or criticism.
“They would actually tell you to sit down and shut up at council meetings,” one woman stated. “It was horrible. You could not make any type of public comment without risking having one of the council publicly humiliate you for saying something they didn’t like.
“How are you to manage your business, your property under such an improper and unprofessional atmosphere?” she said.
“I began to understand that there was no way to reasonably deal with people so overtly unreasonable.”
Others have echoed similar concerns.
“When Foster took office, things looked like they would change for the better because he was at least willing to talk to people about their concerns,” stated Red Gjerdahl, a candidate for council. “But they quickly moved to discredit Foster by whatever means they thought necessary to stop his questions. He could readily see that there was money flowing everywhere and that [Ex-Mayor Steve] Bennett’s accusations concerning the monies were more than accurate. There are vast amounts of money the town has ‘spent’ for which there are no apparent purchases.”
“How does this happen?”
The critics of the council’s activities are many and seem to come from every economic group.
Travelers have complained that the police were targeting winter visitors. The I-10 corridor within Quartzsite’s boundaries also generated a great deal of revenue for a time as Quartzsite’s officers were focused on patrolling that area, reportedly under the direction of the [now criminally accused] police chief, Jeff Gilbert.
Those that tried to organize to defend themselves against what they described as a corrupt local government were further targeted, some folding under the financial burden of having to constantly defend themselves and their properties against the attacks of the council.
The council itself does not seem to be comprised of business people but, instead, a blend of ’cronyism’ that is not readily apparent.
All of the council are people that were originally appointed to hold their seats -- but by whom and for what purpose?
It has been said that all of them were elected in the last election to the seats that they were originally appointed to fill. But at least one person -- Larry Pickett -- has indicated that he has solid evidence of problems in that last election.
The councilmen seem to have problems of their own.
The ‘now infamous’ video of Joe Winslow demanding the removal of publisher Jennifer ‘Jade’ Jones has brought more questions than answers about Winslow, heard making a comment on the town’s audio system just prior to the commencement of a Town Council Meeting about ‘machine gunning’ his critics in the front row.
Councilman Jerry Lukkasson is heard on the tape, concurring with Winslow’s comments.
Lukkasson, who was very involved in an incident in which people were prevented from running for office on the basis of being accused of owing money to the town even responded to a letter from Goldwater Institute pointing out the illegality of such an action by defending the town and their position on the matter -- only to find himself attempting to redeem his tax bill in La Paz County on the morning of the day his own tax liens were to be sold at the county’s auction of liens.
Town Councilman Bob Kelly is accused of having used his position to make special deals for his friends on the water and sewer system requirements at a properly called Q Mountain Estates. Under these ‘special’ accommodations, those people won’t be seeing the massive increases in rates that threaten to financially destroy the businesses who have been forced to comply.
Other councilmen are accused of pandering to their friends, violating open meeting laws, harassing those they deem to be their political foes.
The disastrous consequences of these actions and activities might have been avoided had it not been for the Quartzsite 10.
A few weeks before Jones’ video was even created, she was attempting to check into what was apparently an arrest, some of the details of which were aired on area scanners.
When she arrived at the scene, she was quickly targeted, she said, for arrest.
Jones has consistently indicated that she is fearful of the Quartzsite police chief and she called the Mayor of Quartzsite, Ed Foster, to be present during whatever was about to transpire.
Jones has since stated that Police Chief Jeff Gilbert initially told her she was not under arrest but then did proceed to have her arrested by his officers.
During the ensuing melee, she says she tossed her keys to Foster, against the direction of the police.
Foster put his foot on the keys on the ground only to find himself charged and arrested many days later as he was about to convene a Town Council session.
“That was the end of the road for the officers in Quartzsite,” Foster stated. “ They had finally had enough.
Quartzsite’s officers submitted a letter indicating a vote of ‘No Confidence’ in Quartzsite’s Chief of Police Jeff Gilbert.
They outlined a variety of both civil and criminal infractions and accused Gilbert of forcing them to use their powers as policemen to target what they say he perceives to be ‘his’ political enemies.
They also charge that Gilbert was misusing his own powers in an apparent attempt to make certain he and others in Quartzsite remained in control of the town.
So fixated, they said, was Gilbert on the political activities in Quartzsite, that he was virtually not present and even completely incapable of accomplishing those tasks for which he was hired.
Yet, the town council recently extended his contract and increased his pay.
“I have solid evidence that there are checks going to unidentified persons for unspecified reasons,” Foster stated. “This has been happening for years and totals millions of dollars in monies that essentially belonged to the taxpayers of the Town of Quartzsite.”
“The council is bent on doing whatever they have to do to prevent these documents from being exposed -- and they’ve been using the police chief to prevent this from happening,” he continued.
“It’s the money -- it’s always the money. When people begin demanding accountability from people who have not -- for at least a decade in this case -- had to provide it, they have a lot to hide,” he continued.
“I was elected to uncover what is happening in Quartzsite and they have withdrawn my powers as Mayor, refused to allow me to even be at the Town Hall, targeted and attacked my friends and constituents with every type of harassment and caused Quartzsite to become the poster child for corruption.”
“The attorney general’s office has just released a preliminary finding that they have violated open meetings laws in the state of Arizona -- and we all know this is but the tip of the iceberg.
We have a most difficult task ahead of us as we delve into just how deep this corruption runs.”
“Our policemen did the most difficult job policemen can do -- they policed themselves, they exposed the level of corruption happening in their own department and they have openly declared that they will not only not be a part of it -- they will do all they can to expose it and then root it out.”
”When the dust finally settles in Quartzsite, I believe these policemen deserve to be returned to their positions -- with commendations.”
|
Opinion • More about 
