Residency of candidate for Nogales mayor raises questions

Nogales International ^ | March 16, 2010 | Manuel C. Coppola

[SvenMagnussen]

Ruth Anne Alvarez maintains a mailing address at a home in Rio Rico so her children can continue to attend school in the area district, but claims she resides at a business address on North Grand Avenue.

Who cares? Well, at least one opponent in the Nogales mayoral race does.

To be qualified to run in a city election, the candidate must be what the City Charter refers to as a “qualified elector” living within the city limits at least one year prior to the election.

Catherine Garino, who chairs her husband Arturo R. Garino’s bid for mayor, contends Alvarez fails to meet that qualification.

In an interview last week, Alvarez said she purchased a building at 2313 N. Grand Ave. 16 years ago. It used to be the home of the Nava family. She then ran her insurance and realty brokerage firm out of the house .

[SvenMagnussen]

City officials are hesitant to respond to specifics about Alvarez’s residency status. It’s a political hot potato and state courts have left residency challenges to qualified electors or voters including opposing candidates.

But in 1989, when no one else legally challenged the residency of the late Maria P. Macias, Deputy County Attorney Richard Martinez, who worked for then County Attorney Machado, filed a proceeding called “Quo Warranto” through the Santa Cruz County Superior Court. He successfully blocked Macias from taking office after she overwhelmingly won a mayoral election despite opponents’ claims she lived outside city limits.

The court ruled Macias was not a legal resident of Nogales prior to her election. Macias lived on North River Road outside city limits. She appealed the decision all the way to the Arizona Supreme Court to no avail.

[SvenMagnussen]

Quo Warranto Alert

[La Lydia]

She wouldn’t be the first “illegal” candidate or office holder in Nogales. I have never been able to figure out if this guy was an illegal, or an anchor baby for his illegal parents. Tend to believe he was born in Mexico. Vanguard of the re-conquest.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marco_Lopez