In this article the Maricopa County Sheriff Office prevented people who dislike Sheriff Joe from attending the Maricopa County Supervisors meeting, which canceled the contract between the City of Guadalupe, and Sheriff Joe for police services.
In my case I was kicked out of the law library not because I was doing something wrong but because I was a homeless person. And the Maricopa County library employees don’t like homeless scum using their library.
I was also kicked out of the library because I was working on a lawsuit suing Maricopa County police officers for civil rights violations in Federal Court and Maricopa County library employees and Maricopa County Sheriff employees just hate it when you sue one of their fellow workers.
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September 17, 2008 - 5:22PM
Updated: September 17, 2008 - 9:19PM
Deputies block public meeting to discuss Arpaio
Paul Giblin, Tribune
Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office deputies and county Protective Services personnel barred dozens of people from entering a county Board of Supervisors meeting Wednesday during which the board terminated MCSO’s police services for Guadalupe.
Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio met with Tribune reporters and editorial writers on April 18, 2008 to talk about the human smuggling unit. One of the issues he addressed was town of Guadalupe.
Deputies stood shoulder to shoulder in front of the county auditorium's main doors, mostly ignoring repeated questions and taunts by members of a citizens group, the Maricopa Citizens for Safety and Accountability, who had sought to be placed on the meeting's agenda.
Deputies refused admittance to people they believed to be affiliated with the citizens group, and most others.
However, they allowed in a few people they thought were not associated with the citizens group as well as some members of the media. The citizens group has attended the past three monthly supervisors meetings to plead for more oversight of the sheriff's office.
The supervisors continued official business for about 90 minutes, voting to end the county's contract with Guadalupe, while the protesters gathered noisily outside, shouting slogans and arguing with deputies.
Supervisors eventually were made aware that people were being kept out and took a 45-minute break, asking county legal counsel whether they were in violation of the state's Open Meetings Law, which requires access to public meetings. It was only after that did deputies open the doors and the supervisors resumed their agenda, but by then, the Guadalupe matter had been decided and most people affiliated with the citizens group had dispersed.
The meeting was sidetracked soon after it began when about 15 members of the citizens group, who were inside the auditorium, began shouting at the supervisors, seeking to be put on the agenda - after protesters and officials said the Pledge of Allegiance together. The group has petitioned for months to be able to discuss their concerns about Sheriff Joe Arpaio.
Deputies ordered one of the group's leaders, Randy Parraz, to leave and escorted him out of the auditorium to an outdoor plaza. Other members of the group and some reporters followed. Once they were outside, deputies and Protective Services personnel blocked access to the meeting. Some people were allowed to remain in the building and a select few were let in through a side door.
About 30 uniformed and plainclothes lawmen watched the crowd from all angles.
Supervisor Don Stapley, R-Dist. 2, said he was unaware that access to the meeting had been barred for so long. He said he was told that members of the citizens group tried to "rush the door" to regain access after they left. "When they became violent with the sheriff's deputies and the security people, they locked the door, only after they became violent," Stapley said.
But no one had rushed the door, and there was no violence.
An aide to Supervisor Mary Rose Wilcox, D-Dist. 5, said Wilcox also did not know that the doors were barred.
It was not immediately clear who made the decision to close the meeting.
MCSO spokesman Paul Chagolla said deputies were working under the direction of Protective Services officials, who normally man the airport-style metal detectors in the lobby. Protective Services personnel on site declined to say more than that the building had closed, and later the agency's officials could not be reached for comment.
Guadalupe resident Francisco Lopez was turned away at the door.
"Several of us came over to find out what's happening and they won't let us in. This is not a democracy," said the retired federal mediator. "I'm a Vietnam vet. I fought for this country and I can't even go in to find out what's happening to my own community. That's ridiculous."
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September 18, 2008 - 4:34PM
Barred doors may lead to repeat board meeting
Paul Giblin, Tribune
Maricopa County officials are reviewing whether most of Wednesday's Board of Supervisors meeting will have to be ratified at a second meeting because of potential violations of the state Open Meetings Law.
If county officials determine the board broke the law, supervisors will have to take the unusual step of holding another meeting to confirm votes that were made while most members of the public were barred from the public meeting.
State Attorney General Terry Goddard, whose office investigates violations of the Open Meetings Law, is looking into what happened, a spokeswoman for his office said Thursday.
The legality of Wednesday's meeting came into question shortly after it began. About 15 members of a citizens organization began speaking out of order and authorities ordered one of the group's leaders to leave.
As Maricopa County Sheriff's Office deputies escorted Randy Parraz out of the auditorium, other members of the group, plus some media representatives, followed them to an outdoor plaza.
Once outside, deputies and county Protective Services personnel prevented most people from entering the meeting through either the front door or a side door. The virtual lockdown lasted for about 90 minutes.
During that time, authorities turned away dozens of people associated with the citizens group, as well as most others, including people who said they were not affiliated with the group, and several members of the media.
Meanwhile, the supervisors continued with their official business inside the auditorium and voted to sever the county's contract to provide law enforcement service in Guadalupe, a town that is patrolled by the sheriff's office.
"It's obvious they have to have another meeting; it's a matter of when," Parraz said. "Because the way they did it is illegal."
The citizens group has advocated closer oversight of Sheriff Joe Arpaio and his operations. Its members have spoken during the public comment periods of previous supervisors meetings, but supervisors have not allowed them to make a formal presentation about their concerns.
Supervisors were unaware that public access had been barred during Wednesday's meeting, said Supervisor Mary Rose Wilcox, a Democrat who has been sympathetic to the citizens group. "The minute we became aware that it was locked, we suspended the meeting," she said Thursday.
After a 45-minute break to inquire about the matter, officials ordered the doors open and resumed the meeting.
The decision to bar entrance to the public meeting was made by law enforcement personnel at the front door and without the knowledge of the supervisors, said Fran McCarroll, clerk of the Board of Supervisors.
Officials inside the meeting became aware that access had been blocked only when a member of the county's legal team, who was inside the meeting, stepped out to the auditorium lobby to determine why people were chanting outside.
Parraz and Raquel Teran had been leading dozens of people in chants of "Let us in!" as deputies kept them out.
County officials were still trying to determine Thursday exactly what happened outside the building and who specifically made the decision to deny access to the meeting, McCarroll said.
If county officials determine a ratification meeting is needed, officials will have to detail in writing the circumstances that led to a violation of the Open Meetings Law.
Furthermore, officials will have to announce the meeting 72 hours in advance, rather than the standard 24 hours in advance, and conduct a second vote for everything that was decided during the first meeting.
Ratification meetings are so extraordinary that McCarroll said she can recall only one other during the 16 years she has served as clerk.
Members of the citizens group said they are preparing a formal complaint that they planned to file with the attorney general's office today.
They also delivered a letter to Supervisor Don Stapley's office on Thursday asking him to apologize for statements he made to the Tribune during the 45-minute break in the meeting Wednesday.
Stapley told the newspaper that he had been informed that the auditorium doors had been locked when members of the citizens group "rushed the doors" and became violent.
In fact, there was no violence. At one point, members of the group lined up in single file and one by one asked to be admitted to the meeting. Deputies and Protective Services personnel told them that the building was locked down.
Wilcox said Thursday that she is seeking to have the citizens group address the board during an informational meeting, which typically are conducted on Mondays. She noted that an economist briefed the board at an informal meeting earlier this week.
Parraz said that his group would rather speak during a formal meeting.
Source
Supervisors may redo votes after possible violation
Open Meeting Law may have been broken
by Yvonne Wingett - Sept. 19, 2008 12:00 AM
The Arizona Republic
Maricopa County attorneys and officials are reviewing the events of Wednesday's Board of Supervisors meeting to determine whether it broke the state's Open Meeting Law when protesters, the media and other individuals were denied access.
Top officials privately said they believe the supervisors will have to ratify - essentially redo before the public - votes on several issues, including a decision to terminate the police services between the Sheriff's Office and the town of Guadalupe. A do-over would have to happen within 30 days and would be an admission that the state's Open Meeting Law was violated. The votes almost certainly would remain the same.
Protesters against Sheriff Joe Arpaio sent the meeting into a tailspin early on with shouting and singing, and were kicked out. They then stationed themselves outside of the meeting, where they chanted, held signs and taunted Protective Services personnel and sheriff's deputies who guarded the doors and wouldn't admit members of the public.
At the same time, it appears that the supervisors, unaware of the situation outside, continued to discuss and vote on items - a violation of the state's Open Meeting Law. The board immediately suspended the meeting as soon as they found out people were barred.
It is unclear which law-enforcement body made the decision to keep out the public. County officials hope to have answers today.
Several county officials, protesters and reporters said they witnessed sheriff's officials ordering Protective Services to keep them out. Sheriff's officials said they followed orders from Protective Services.
"Clearly there was a violation of the Open Meetings Law when law enforcement prohibited persons who wanted to attend and listen from doing so," said attorney David Bodney, who attended Wednesday's meeting and represents The Republic.