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Questionable Associates

 

The Questionable Acquaintances and Relationships of Joe Arpaio

At least at one point in your life you're told by a parent, teacher, or some other adult that you are known by the company you keep. "Choose your friends wisely" is another common phrase. Unfortunately, Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio has chosen a broad range of questionable acquaintances and groups to take as advisors and supporters. They include groups nationally recognized as hate groups, people recognized as racists and white supremacists.

 

Former KIA dealer Rusty Childress
has been identified by the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) as one of the country's top nativists. Childress has formed two nativist groups: United for a Sovereign America and American Freedom Riders and after he was kicked out of that group for allegedly hiring undocumented immigrants, went on to form another biker group called Riders USA.

 

According to the SPLC special 2008 report "The Year in Hate," "Past speakers at United for a Sovereign America meetings have included Glenn Spencer, founder of the hate group American Border Patrol; John Watson of White Knights of America; neo-Nazi J. T. Ready, who equates Mexican immigrants to 'fleas fleeing a dead dog which they sucked dry;' and state legislator Russell Pearce, who infamously forwarded an E-mail from the neo-Nazi group National Alliance to his supporters in 2006." Arpaio has personally addressed the group numerous times, actually soliciting their endorsement and campaign contributions.

Michelle Dallacroce
is another person identified by the SPLC as an extreme nativist. She has appeared at every protest against Arpaio's wasteful immigration sweeps. According to the SPLC Dallacroce is a "stay-at-home mom turned raging anti immigration activist, has toted her bullhorn to dozens of protests and rallies from Washington, D.C., to Los Angeles, railing against Mexican immigrants (who she calls 'dogs.')"

 

 

 

Jeremy Simms, Owner of Turf Paradise
Although other business owners have contributed money to Arpaio's campaign, more of Turf Paradise horse track owner Jeremy Simms' staff have contributed to Arpaio's campaign than any other business. What is interesting is that the Arizona Republic (and the Phoenix New Times) did a story on the large numbers of undocumented workers employed by Turf Paradise ("Worker-visa clampdown threatens racetrack") and to date, there have been no raids on Turf Paradise for immigration violations. The Republic also reported that Sheriff Arpaio has initiated an investigation into the Arizona State Department of Racing, who only two years ago stated Simms had been involved in "questionable business practices, illegal activities, and financial dealings with a person purportedly involved in organized crime." (15 Nov. 2006).

 

Arizona Republic: Arpaio's probe of panel stirs questions

 

Webster's Dictionary defines an enabler as "one that enables another to achieve an end; especially : one who enables another to persist in self-destructive behavior...by providing excuses or by making it possible to avoid the consequences of such behavior." For example, in politics, they are people who supervise others and who refuse to act to stop bad behavior because the person they should control has some power over them that keeps them from doing their job. When it comes to Maricopa County politicians, Joe Arpaio has many enablers.

 

County Attorney Andy Thomas

 

No one person has enabled the excesses of Joe Arpaio as much as Andy Thomas. As the legal counsel to the County, Thomas has the responsibility to make sure County agencies are following the law. However, unlike his predecessor Rick Romley, Thomas has taken an activist role and is making law from the Attorney's office by interpreting laws in ways the Bills' two Republican sponsors Sen. Tim Bee (D30) and Republican Rep. Jonathan Paton (D30) never intended.

 

What other ways is Andy Thomas contributing to Joe Arpaio's abuse of authority?

 

     • From a controversial opinion on the state's human smuggling law,

     • The expenditure of millions of taxpayer dollars on self-serving promotional materials

     • Failures to win convictions of indigent defendants (40% failure rate) that puts

        criminals back on the streets,

     • Spending $16M to hire outside lawyers like Dennis Wilenchik who went after the
        readers of the Phoenix New Times web browsing habits as result a vendetta by Joe

        Arpaio against that newspaper.

 

Andy Thomas is the wrong person to be giving any legal advice to the County Sheriff.

 

County Supervisors who don't supervise

 

The job of the Maricopa County Board of Supervisors is to, well, supervise the operations of the County offices. They control every cent of the County's $2.2B budget. Not that they provide meaningful oversight of any other county budget, they are absolutely absent without leave (AWOL) when it comes to overseeing Arpaio's budget. They blindly accept paying millions in lawsuit settlements for claims filed and won against the MCSO. To date, the result of their lack of oversight is a total taxpayer bill of $42M (million) dollars. These members of the Maricopa County Board of Supervisors refuse to hold Arpaio accountable for spending YOUR money!

 

On August 4, 2008, Supervisor Fulton Brock met with members of the group Maricopa Citizens for Safety and Accountability. The purpose of the meeting was to share with Supervisor Brock their concerns about overspending, lack of oversight and civil rights violations. Several times during this meeting, you can hear Brock say the Supervisors are not aware of any problems with the budget, the Sheriff's office or any claims of prisoner or civil rights abuses. He goes on to state that if the MCSA could provide examples of these types of abuses in writing, the Supervisors would investigate them.

 

Supervisor Brock Meeting with MCSA, 4 August 2008

 

These comments would seem to indicate that none of the Supervisors had seen or read any of the seven reports they had paid for that spelled out in detail these and other problems with the MCSO.

 

 

Fulton Brock: Supervisor District 1

As the immediate past chairman of the Board of Supervisors, Fulton Brock led the charge to approve tens of millions of dollars of taxpayer money to cover the costs of Arpaio lawsuits.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Don Stapley: Supervisor District 2

When Don Stapley was Chairman of the Board of Supervisors in 2006, the sheriff's office was beginning its shameful investigations into the readership of the Phoenix New Times, which when made public was recognized worldwide to be an excessive use of police power. Mr. Stapley's response to what should have been a swift investigation into the matter? Silence.

 

 

 

Andy Kunasek: Supervisor District 3

As the current Chairman of the Board of Supervisors, Andy Kunasek led the approval--without a single public comment or question--the entire budget of the MCSO. This, after learning the MCSO has spent more than $250,000 on trips to Honduras and after approving $10M more on lawsuit settlements. Kunasek has forgotten he gives Arpaio the budget and that his job as a supervisor is to supervise to make sure the money is spent wisely.

 

 

Max Wilson: Supervisor District 4

When Max Wilson was chairman of the Board of Supervisors in 2005, he sat idly by as Joe Arpaio continued to lose major civil rights lawsuit after civil rights lawsuit. Instead of asking Joe Arpaio what he was doing to put an end to the unconstitutional treatment and abuse of jail detainees, Max Wilson sat in silent approval.

 

 

 

 

Internet Supporters of Joe Arpaio

 

WhiteCivilRights.com - Arizona Sheriff Won’t Surrender on Illegals

Can you help?

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