Randy “Open Borders” Parraz at the Maricopa County Board of Supervisors meeting 1/31/12.
The Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office provided members of the Board of Supervisors with a public update on a handful of the controversial topics afflicting the agency right now, but the airing of the sheriff’s laundry did little to change the minds of Sheriff Joe Arpaio’s ardent supporters and critics who packed a county auditorium Tuesday morning.
Sheriff’s Chief Deputy Jerry Sheridan told board members Arpaio’s agency has made mistakes but has worked with county officials in the last 18 months to address many of the office’s shortcomings, including misappropriated funds and inadequately investigated sex crimes.
But those explanations did little to placate dozens of Arpaio critics who had come to ask questions of Sheridan and Maricopa County Attorney Bill Montgomery and share their concerns with members of the Board.
When it became apparent that a question-and-answer session would have to wait until the end of the sheriff’s presentation, dozens of Arpaio critics left the hearing in protest.
Later, Chad Snow, a vocal critic of the Sheriff’s Office, told board members the group refused to listen to Arpaio apologists make excuses for the behavior that has led to accusations of mismanagement and discrimination within the Sheriff’s Office.
Group urging supervisors to remove him
Sheriff Joe Arpaio’s political foes vowed to disrupt Wednesday’s Maricopa County Board of Supervisors meeting to demand Arpaio’s resignation or removal, but the board is suggesting an alternative venue for the activists to air their concerns.
Local activists for the past two months have demanded supervisors schedule a forum on Wednesday’s board agenda to discuss recent events involving the Sheriff’s Office. The forum will not be held Wednesday, however.
Supervisors instead plan to accommodate protesters at an update meeting on the sheriff’s budget, where controls placed in that budget and audits of his operations will be discussed. Sheriff’s staff and the county attorney are expected to attend. Supervisors consider it a more appropriate venue to address public concerns.
Board Chairman Max Wilson also is planning a private meeting with Randy “Open Borders” Parraz, president of Citizens for a Better Arizona, in an attempt to quell that group’s public protests.
Parraz has agreed to meet, but protesters are unlikely to back down, vowing to pressure supervisors until November, when the sheriff, the supervisors and the county attorney are up for re-election. Parraz led a similar effort in 2008.
Agency offers to talk before going to court
In its developing battle with Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio over alleged violations of the civil rights of Hispanics, the Justice Department appears to have blinked, backing away from an earlier threat to take the Arizona lawman to federal court immediately.
Still, the Civil Rights Division under the direction of Assistant Attorney General Thomas E. Perez has made it clear that the DOJ has no intent of proving its charges, as Arpaio has demanded.
In an email sent to WND on Jan. 5, the DOJ stated, “If MCSO wants to debate the facts instead of fixing the problems stated in our findings, we will do so by way of litigation.”
Yet, in a six-page letter delivered to Arpaio’s office Wednesday, Perez appeared to have softened his position by offering to talk, rather than going to court immediately.
“We stand ready to meet, answer questions and discuss a resolution with you and your client immediately.” Perez wrote to the sheriff’s office’s outside counsel, Joseph J. Popolizio.
In the proposed meetings, nevertheless, Perez made it clear the DOJ has no intent of showing or debating any of its alleged evidence.
Maricopa County, Arizona contains Phoenix and eight other cities with populations over 100,000. The most populace county in the state with nearly four million people could have a significant impact on this year’s presidential election.
In Arizona, the county sheriff is responsible for verifying the eligibility of any candidate wanting to be placed on the ballot in their particular county. In Maricopa County, that responsibility falls to Sheriff Joe Arpaio.
Last year, Arpaio announced that he had instructed his Cold Squad unit to investigate Barack Obama’s eligibility to run for President. In that announcement, he pretty much ordered the Obama administration to allow his officer’s access to the original birth documents in Hawaii that the President claims verify his US birth and right to run for the Oval Office.
Since that announcement, the President has launched one attack after another at Sheriff Joe.
Hat Tip: Godfather Politics
The casket of Maricopa County sheriff's Deputy William Coleman at North Phoenix Baptist Church in Phoenix.
Coleman’s family and friends paid tribute to Coleman during an hour-long service, describing him as a fun-loving father and brother whose commitment to loved ones was unmatched.
But Pastor Dan Yeary told mourners at North Phoenix Baptist Church, 5757 N. Central Ave., that they should also remember Coleman as a hero.
Coleman, a 20-year veteran of the Sheriff’s Office who would have turned 51 next week, was killed in a shootout last weekend with a former Marine reservist whom he was trying to question in connection with a burglary alarm in Anthem.
When Coleman tapped on the window of a van in which Drew Ryan Maras, 30, was laying, Maras came out from under a blanket shooting. After fatally wounding Coleman, Maras himself was killed by other sheriff’s deputies.
Investigators later determined through ballistics testing that Maras was the likely killer of a New Hampshire couple near Sedona last week.
VISITATION
Thursday, January 12, 2012
6:00 P.M. – 8:00 P.M.
North Phoenix Baptist Church
5757 N. Central Avenue
Phoenix, AZ 85012
602-707-5701
(Located on the Southeast corner of Bethany Home Road and Central Avenue)
FUNERAL
Friday, January 13, 2012
10:00 A.M.
North Phoenix Baptist Church
5757 N. Central Avenue
Phoenix, AZ 85012
602-707-5701
(Located on the Southeast corner of Bethany Home Road and Central Avenue)
HONORS AND MASONIC GRAVESIDE SERVICE
Procession immediately following service
Phoenix Memorial Park and Mortuary
200 West Beardsley Road
Phoenix, AZ 85027
(623) 434-7000
Arpaio willing to go to federal court to vindicate his department
Maverick Arizona Sheriff Joe Arpaio is challenging the Obama administration’s Department of Justice to present evidence to back its charge that his office is discriminating against Hispanics.
“Prove it,” Arpaio said in remarks directed at Holder in an interview with WND.
“If Eric Holder has evidence that the Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office has engaged in systematic violations of the civil rights of Hispanics, then show me the evidence,” Arpaio said.
Arpaio contends that the 22-page complaint the Department of Justice released Dec. 15 against his office was nothing more than anecdotal and didn’t prove there are systematic sheriff’s department policies aimed at depriving Hispanics in Maricopa County of their civil rights.
Nor was Arpaio concerned that the DOJ might take him and his sheriff’s department to federal court.
Arpaio targeted as he prepares to release Obama eligibility report
Randy “Open Borders” Parraz, the activist-attorney who WND reported has publicly targeted Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Apraio in a politically motivated campaign to force him to resign, staged a poorly attended protest Wednesday morning at the sheriff’s downtown Phoenix office.
Parraz posted on his Facebook page details of what he called the “Sheriff Arpaio Special Action”, calling for protesters to assemble in downtown Phoenix in the lobby of the Wells Fargo building at the corner of Washington and 1st Avenue.
“Please dress professionally,” Parraz cautioned protest participants. “Citizens will define what it means for MCSO (Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office) to cooperate with Dept. of Justice. Please invite others to attend.”
Arpaio, under fire for a Justice Department report claiming his office discriminates against Hispanics, plans to release results next month of his Cold Case Posse’s investigation of Barack Obama’s eligibility for Arizona’s 2012 ballot.
I took an oath of office in which I agreed to enforce the laws of the state and federal constitutions. As the top law enforcement officer in Maricopa County, I do not have the luxury of deciding whether to take a “hard-line approach” in the enforcement of state and federal laws. I must enforce all of them. Arizona currently has two laws in the state constitution concerning illegal immigration, which I am enforcing.
As a result of my enforcement of these laws, my staff has investigated and arrested more than 50,000 illegal aliens on the streets and in the jails. We are proud of the work we have done to fight illegal immigration. My office has been responsible for finding and identifying 25% of the nation’s illegal alien criminal offenders through the state-federal immigration law enforcement partnership known as the 287(g) program.
