What do you do, as a council member, if you don't like what a member of the public is saying? Have them arrested of course.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YPY3BIsVQq8&feature=player_embedded
Jennifer "Jade" Jones, 45, of Quartzsite, Ariz., was taken into custody by local police at the behest of Quartzsite councilmembers, over the objections of the mayor, who pleaded with officers not to remove the woman.
The incident took place June 28 during the "call to the public" section of the meeting, as Jones, a pet groomer who also publishes the Desert Freedom Press, was addressing matters of taxation and meeting protocol.
Some councilmembers interrupted Jones as she was addressing the council and audience, ordering her to relinquish the microphone.
Councilman Joe Winslow of Quartzsite, Ariz., led the charge to have Jennifer Jones removed from speaking.
"You may leave, or you may be escorted out," Councilman Joe Winslow warned Jones.
Jones immediately told Winslow, "You can leave or be escorted out as well. You are out of order."
Then, as police Sgt. Fabiola Garcia attempted to take the microphone away from Jones, Mayor Ed Foster came to the defense of Jones and interjected, "Officer, that woman has the floor. You're violating my rules of order here. Sergeant, I have control of the meeting."
Read more: 'Nazi' police 'kidnap' woman at town hall http://www.wnd.com/?pageId=319501#ixzz1RqO2mYOQ
Quartzsite Police Chief Jeff Gilbert has asked the town council to declare a “state of emergency” due to all of the publicity the town has received over the arrest of a reporter at an open meeting in June.
The town council voted 5-0 in favor of the action; Mayor Ed Foster did not attend the emergency meeting Sunday afternoon. Gilbert reportedly said the action was needed because Jennifer Jones was “inciting riots” after videos of her arrest at the meeting sprung up across the Internet.
It was not immediately clear what outside assistance, if any, Gilbert seeks to enforce the state of emergency.
http://www2.az-independent.com/2011/07/10/state-of-emergency-in-quartzsite/
“Foster said the council had imposed martial law, but Vice Mayor Barbara Cowell said that does not accurately characterize the action. She added that the city attorney had condoned the meeting and that a recording of the session will be made accessible to the public today,”
Foster said Jones just tells council members things they don't want to hear.
The mayor has called Police Chief Jeff Gilbert "a thug." Foster said that he has gone to the offices of Gov. Jan Brewer and Attorney General Tom Horne about what he calls the "dictatorship" in Quartzsite but that he has gotten nowhere with state officials.
Read more: http://www.azcentral.com/news/articles/2011/07/10/20110710arizona-city-quartzsite-mayor-marshal-law0711.html#ixzz1RqXxtHsH
