Parker Live News from the Parker Strip since 2009.
Jim Willett, owner of Yakima Company, issued this letter to Parker Live:
After two years of meaningless reassurances by Dan Field and the Supervisors we now know what they meant when they said that the Yakima problem was going to turn out “just fine.” Fine for them, everyone else gets tossed under the bus.
Let`s check the facts. A month ago Dan was asked where the county was going to come up with the $3 million settlement offer they had made to me, we`ll have to lay off a bunch of employees was what he said. Last week the Supervisors revealed that they might raise the local sales tax by 10% this year and an additional 20% in 2013. The tax is necessary to raise money to pay off the $14 million judgment. What a choice, mass layoffs or a 30% tax hike? Or maybe both.
Here’s my solution. Pay my attorney fees and transfer the landill to Yakima. Problem solved. I`ll renegoitiate the contract with Allied Waste and guarentee the same service at the same price to all county residents. Dan Field and the Supervisors hate this idea. I’m interested to know what you think?
We gave Dan Field, La Paz County Administrator, a chance to respond. He replied:
I appreciate your offer to respond; however, having just gone through hours of depositions last Thursday where my public statements were the topic of Yakima’s attorney’s examination; I must decline at this time.
hahahaha, seriously dude I think the troops are coming home before this ridiculous insane lack of problem solving ever gets a solution!
same-o–same-o until the B O S gets rid of Dan, we’ll never see daylight.I seriously thought Sandy and Holly had what it takes to straighten this out-I knew John was Dans boy-Oh-well-let the chips fall where they may. We are in deep do-do
The last think the people of La Paz County need is more taxes. County employees, they need a job (maybe not Dan or Supervisers). At some point something must give. We, as a county can’t afford to keep paying all this interest on Money we haven’t even started to pay off. Cut our ties give Willett the land fill, let’s move on from this mess. Let’s get the right People in the right spots for the county, People who care, not ones that just say they do. Let’s bring back common sense and get rid of the B.S.
Your right Luke, we certainly have leaders without good common sense–give Jim the darn Landfill-get rid of Dan-clean up Genes mess and don’t let it happen anymore.
WHEN I WAS IN GRAMMAR SCHOOL, I REMEMBER A CLASSROOM BANNER WHICH READ AS FOLLOWS: 1. IS IT THE TRUTH? 2. IS IT FAIR TO ALL CONCERNED? 3. WILL IT BUILD GOODWILL AND BETTER FRIENDSHIPS? 4. WILL IT BE BENEFICIAL TO ALL CONCERNED?
YEARS LATER, I DISCOVERED THAT THOSE QUESTIONS ARE REFERRED TO AS “THE FOUR WAY TEST”, AND ARE DISPLAYED AND RECITED AT ROTARY INTERNATIONAL MEETINGS AROUND THE WORLD, EVEN HERE IN PARKER.
IN ACTUALITY, THE ONLY QUESTION THAT NEEDS TO BE ASKED IS QUESTION NUMBER ONE, NAMELY: “IS IT THE TRUTH? IF IT IS INDEED THE TRUTH, THE REMAINING THREE QUESTIONS SHOULD NOT HAVE TO BE ASKED.
HERE’S THE PROBLEM. THE TRUTH APPEARS TO BE ONLY A VAPOR IN LA PAZ COUNTY GOVERNMENT. EVEN THOUGH SEVERAL OF OUR SO-CALLED “LEADERS” RECITE THE “FOUR WAY TEST” EVERY WEEK, THE WORDS SEEM TO BE QUICKLY FORGOTTEN THE MOMENT THEY ARE SPOKEN, WHICH IS EVIDENCED BY THE SITUATION THAT WE ARE IN TODAY.
SUPERVISOR DRUM HAS MADE IT PUBLICLY CLEAR THAT HE CONSIDERS ME PART OF THE “LITTLE NUCLEUS OF CANCER”, ALL BECAUSE I, AND A FEW OTHERS, HAVE THE AUDACITY TO PUBLICLY ASSERT OUR FIRST AMENDMENT RIGHTS. THE QUOTE ABOVE CAME FROM THE LA PAZ COUNTY BOARD OF SUPERVISOR’S MEETING ON JUNE 20TH, 2011, AND IS ENTIRELY REPRESENTATIVE AS TO HOW HE FEELS ABOUT ANYONE WHO DISAGREES WITH HIM. HERE’S SOMETHING FOR YOU TO CONSIDER: WEREN’T THE JEWS A TYPE OF “CANCER” TO ADOLF HITLER? HMMM!
AS WE ALL KNOW, THE LA PAZ COUNTY BOARD OF SUPERVISORS RECENTLY LAID OFF AT LEAST 13 EMPLOYEES, YET RETAINED THE ABSOLUTELY USELESS “PARK RANGER” POSITIONS TO THE TUNE OF ALMOST $100,000 A YEAR TO LA PAZ COUNTY TAXPAYERS. EVEN THOUGH THERE HAVE BEEN MULTIPLE COMPLAINTS ABOUT THIS COMPLETE AND IRRESPONSIBLE WASTE OF TAX DOLLARS, THIS BOARD CONSISTANTLY TURNS A DEAF EAR TO ANY AND ALL WHO DARE TO PRESENT A REASONABLE OBJECTION.
THIS PAST WEEKEND, ON MY SCANNER, I HEARD DISPATCH SEND THE UPRIVER DEPUTY TO PATRIA FLATS IN REFERENCE TO A GRAFFITI COMPLAINT THERE. THE DEPUTY REQUESTED DISPATCH TO CONTACT THE “PARK RANGER”, BUT WAS TOLD THAT SHE WOULD HAVE TO FIRST CONTACT THE BOARD OF SUPERVISORS, BECAUSE THE “PARK RANGER” WAS NOT ON DUTY THAT DAY, NEITHER WAS THE BOARD. SO EXACTLY WHAT DOES THE “PARK RANGER” DO? NO ONE REALLY KNOWS, OTHER THAN HE ANSWERS DIRECTLY TO THE COUNTY MANAGER AND COLLECTS A HEFTY SALARY FOR BASICALLY NOTHING IN RETURN, OTHER THAN PAID TRANSPORTATION FROM CIBOLA TO PARKER AND BACK.
THE THREE LA PAZ COUNTY BOARD OF SUPERVISORS EACH DRAW A SALARY OF APPROXIMATELY $64,000 TAX DOLLARS A YEAR. THE COUNTY MANAGER DRAWS APPROX. $107,000 TAX DOLLARS A YEAR. THE “PARK RANGER” POSITION IS PAID SOMEWHERE AROUND $60,000 DOLLARS A YEAR. I’VE HEARD THAT PART OF THAT IS GRANT FUNDED, BUT SOMEONE’S BEING TAXED FOR IT, IT CERTAINLY IS NOT FREE. THE TOTAL FOR THE ABOVE SALARIES IS APPROX. $359,000 DOLLARS.
RATHER THAN SEND 13 MORE FAMILIES TO THE BREADLINE, HOW ABOUT CUTTING THE UNNECESSARY COUNTY ADMINISTRATOR’S POSITION AND THE CERTAINLY UNNECESSARY “PARK RANGER” POSITION AND SAVE APPROX. $167,000 DOLLARS A YEAR, OR PUT THOSE LAID OFF BACK TO WORK? OH, I’M SORRY, I FORGOT THAT COMMON SENSE, REASON AND LOGIC DO NOT APPLY TO THIS BOARD OF SUPERVISORS, ONLY SPECIAL INTERESTS.
TO THOSE OF YOU WHO HAVE THE OPPORTUNITY TO ATTEND AN OCCASSIONAL BOARD OF SUPERVISOR’S MEETING, HAVE YOU NOTICED THAT NO COUNTY EMPLOYEES, EVER, SPEAK AT “CALL TO THE PUBLIC” AS TO THEIR CONCERNS AS EMPLOYEES AND RESIDENTS OF THIS COUNTY? THIS IS WHY YOU SEE ANONYMOUS NAMES AND MONIKERS ON VARIOUS BLOGS AND POSTS, WITH VERY FEW ACTUAL NAMES.
THE REASONS FOR THIS SHOULD BE OBVIOUS. AS A FORMER COUNTY EMPLOYEE OF OVER 20 YEARS, I TOO WAS RELUCTANT TO SPEAK OPENLY, FOR FEAR OF REPRISAL. I NEEDED MY JOB, SO I DID NOT SPEAK OUT. WELL, NOW IT’S MY TURN! OVER THE YEARS, I HAVE WATCHED THOSE IN HIGH PLACES, EVEN AT THE LOCAL JUSTICE COURT, AS SPECIAL INTERESTS WERE GIVEN PRIORITY OVER OTHERS. ENOUGH IS ENOUGH!
ON PAGE 5 OF THIS WEEK’S PARKER PIONEER, THERE IS A “NOTICE OF TAX INCREASE”, TELLING TAXPAYERS THAT LA PAZ COUNTY IS INTENDING TO RAISE PROPERTY TAXES. THE ARTICLE USES THE WORD “PROPOSED” THREE TIMES. IT ALSO SAYS, IN PART:…“THE INCREASE IS…”, INDICATING THAT THIS IS GOING TO HAPPEN, EVEN THOUGH THERE IS GOING TO BE A PUBLIC HEARING, SCHEDULED FOR MONDAY, AUGUST 1, 2011, AT 1:30 PM AT THE BOARD ROOM.
ONE-THIRTY PM. PERFECT TIMING AS USUAL! RIGHT WHEN MOST PEOPLE ARE WORKING AND UNABLE TO ATTEND. HOW ABOUT SIX OR SEVEN IN THE EVENING? LADIES AND GENTLEMEN, I SUBMIT TO YOU THAT THE TIMING OF THIS MEETING IS STRICTLY BY DESIGN, AS ARE REGULAR MEETINGS. THE BOARD COUNTS ON A SMALL TURNOUT, SO THEY WILL NOT HAVE TO FACE RESISTANCE FROM THE PEOPLE.
MARK MY WORDS…THE TAX INCREASE WILL TAKE PLACE, MEETING OR NO MEETING! WATCH! PROOF ONCE AGAIN THAT TAXPAYERS IN LA PAZ COUNTY HAVE LITTLE OR NO EFFECT ON ANY PREDETERMINED OUTCOME. RENTERS, THIS AFFECTS YOU TOO. AS YOUR LANDLORD’S TAXES GO UP, SO WILL YOUR RENT.
EVERYONE THAT POSSIBLY CAN, SHOULD ATTEND THIS MEETING ON AUGUST 1ST. CARPOOL IF NECESSARY. PLAN NOW ON HOW YOU WILL BE ABLE TO GET THERE. THIS BOARD HAS ALLOWED THIS 14 MILLION DOLLAR LAWSUIT TO BECOME WHAT IT IS TODAY. THERE ARE OTHER WAYS TO FIND THE MONEY WITHOUT BREAKING OUR FINANCIAL BACKS TO PAY FOR THEIR IRRESPONSIBLE DECISIONS.
SEE, THE “FOUR WAY TEST” DOES NOT APPLY TO LA PAZ COUNTY!
NOTE: PLEASE FEEL FREE TO POST ACCURATE CORRECTIONS TO THIS LETTER.
KING CLAPPERTON
LA PAZ COUNTY TAXPAYER…PAYER…PAYER…PAYER