I debated for a while as to whether I wanted to jump into the media firestorm that Quartzsite has become. I am not affiliated with the town council or the mayor in any way, I don't claim to be a journalist. I am nothing more than a member of the community of Quartzsite. However, I no longer feel that I can stand by and watch in silence as the town that I love and have chosen as my home continues to be ripped to shreds  by the media.

First let me say, Quartzsite is not under martial law. Let me repeat that. Quartzsite is NOT under martial law. Chief Gilbert is not running the town of Quartzsite. Quartzsite is being run by the town manger who answers to the town council, as it has been for years. Jeff Gilbert is our Chief of police. He is under the direction of the town manger as he has always been.

 The town council of Quartzsite is made up of 6 people at this time. There are normal 7 but one of our council members has stepped down in order to run for Mayor in the August recall election of Mr. Foster. Those six council members have equal right and responsibilities under the structure of our government with the exception of the Mayor presiding over the meetings. Each persons opinion and vote carry equal weight.

I believe that actions speak louder than words . Let me share with you some of the actions of the members of our council that the media is trying to vilify. One member of our council donates many hours of their time to  our local search and rescue, is part of the substance abuse prevention coalition, and volunteers at other community events when asked. Another member of our council is a member of Operation Hero Comfort which sends care packages to our troop, and is Also on the board of Willpower Inc., a non-profit organization whose mission is to prevent cruelty to animals and children. Another council member donates money and time to a multitude of organization and events in the town.  Another one is very actively involved in the Quartzsite Rotary. All five if these council members routinely attend community events and functions to show support fir the town, Mr .Foster is another story. The only group Mr. Foster is involved in, to my knowledge, is an anti-Quartzsite group called The Citizens Coalition and he very rarely attends any community functions.

Many of the articles and reports published talk about the residents of Quartzsite being afraid, or even imply that we are just to intimidated to make a stand against Chief Gilbert and the council. Keep in mind that this is the council that faced a recall election in March in which every seated council member retained their seats, because they do have the support of the majority of the citizens of Quartzsite. The residents here are not hiding out in fear. It is business as usual. People are working and shopping and doing everything they were doing last month at this time. The only difference is that now people outside of our community have heard of Quartzsite. It has been said that we as individuals should have stood up for  Ms. Jones' rights at the council meeting when she was removed by the police on June 28th. I was in that meeting and witnessed the entire event. When Councilman Winslow asked for her to be removed the police started to move in. There was some discussion with the attorney as to whether a council member could make the motion without being recognized by the Mayor. She stated the statutorily he has the right. At that point it was voted on, and after the motion passed. Chief Gilbert followed directions and removed Jennifer Jones from the meeting. As for why more people didn't stand up to defend her, I can't speak for everyone there but I know that myself and the people near me were glad to see her go. We have been forced to listen to her rantings and her personal attacks for the last couple of years. In fact, if you would go back and watch the video of previous council meeting over the last year or so you can hear a groan every time Ms. Jones gets up to speak. And it's not coming from the council. There is a huge part of Quartzsite that are sick of Ms. Jones and her actions.
As far as whether her rights were violated or not, I guess that will probably be up to a judge to decide. I do know that she did not follow the rules that were set forth by the council for call to the public.That being said, there was a council meeting that took place in which Mr.  Foster decided to no longer allow announcements from community members whose names were not on the agenda under the reports and announcements section of the agenda, where they would normally happen. There were several community members there that had come to make announcements about upcoming events that were with no warning, not allowed to speak. In that same meeting, without any vote or discussion Mr. Foster also decided to skip call to the public even though it was on the agenda. In fact there have been a few meetings were Foster has done away with call to the public with no notice even though it was on the agenda.

Just for the record though, the council does not have to allow a call to the public or any public input at all. Council meetings are not public meetings, they are meetings open to the public. The public has the right to attend the meeting, not necessarily to participate. That is up to the discretion of the council. At least the council has been forthcoming in saying they are not allowing public comment at the next few meetings instead of waiting until the end of the meeting and surprising everyone.

I read a post last week from an entertainment journalist that claimed that he felt the media. himself included, was partly responsible for the L.A. riots. His reasoning for this was that the video tape of the beating of Rodney King was almost 2 minutes long, but the media only showed the most inflammatory 13 seconds over and over again. The didn't show the first 91 seconds in which Rodney King showed some aggressive behavior. Therefore, when the jury saw the whole tape they came to a different conclusion than the people that only saw the news clip. I am not saying one way or another what the right decision is in that because I was not in that jury room. But I feel those statements run a parallel to our situation. Everyone is reacting to a one minute video clip when the reality is that Ms. Jones has been threatening and attacking the council and the community for several years including but not limited to finally many complaints and charges that have been dropped after no cause was found. All of these actions cost Quartzsite time and money that could be better spent in other places improving our community.

Ms. Jones always make sure to point out that she has been charged but never convicted of any of the charges against her. What she fail to make know is that it is because they are all currently in the court system. Although she is telling the truth this is a misleading statement which has been happening a lot lately.

I guess the point I'm trying to make is that the information that is being disseminated by the media is not what is really happening here. The entire town is not opposed to the council. Officers are not walking the streets in riot gear. Quartzsite is a wonderful community that unfortunately has a few people with big mouths that don't want to pay taxes or fees. Fees and taxes I might add that allow us to have a police and fire dept, library, park and many other services.