Posted on 03/29/2005 5:13:33 PM PST by SandRat
BISBEE - The Minutemen are coming, and Cochise County officials say they're ready for them.
County officials gathered around a table in the Board of Supervisors' conference room Monday afternoon to fine-tune strategies for the upcoming Minuteman Project and to set aside $100,000 to cover possible expenses connected with keeping a lid on the volunteer border-control effort.
As many as 1,000 volunteers from across the U.S. may show up in answer to a call to help prevent further illegal border crossings into Cochise County from Mexico.
Concerned about the implications of volunteers spending up to a month along the border and the possibility of trouble during two planned demonstrations, the Board of Supervisors called the meeting last Thursday to take the pulse of county planning.
Representatives of the Sheriffs, Planning and Zoning, Health, Highways and Floodplain, and Facilities departments answered questions and discussed preparations.
"We hope people will behave and it will go off smoothly," County Manager Jody Klein said.
Klein told the supervisors he had met with all affected departments to coordinate activities.
The Sheriff's Department will be the lead agency for the county and has been coordinating its planning with federal, state and local agencies. An information center will be set up at the Sheriff's Office, which will also be the point of coordination for all other agencies and the Governor's Office. Extra phones and computers are being set up at the center. Members of the public will be able to call in issues and concerns to the center by phoning 432-9500 or, in emergencies, 911. A separate number may also be available.
A single contact point will also be set up with the Board of Supervisors. Senior members of all affected departments will be available to immediately deal with whatever may come up, Klein said.
The phone number to call for those departments, such as Planning and Zoning, Environmental Health and Highways, is 432-9200. The evening number is 559-3601.
Permit requests have been received for two demonstrations at the U.S. Border Patrol station on Naco Highway on April 2 and 3 and one farther down the highway, at the railroad tracks. Those demonstrations will be held from 10:30 to 11:30 a.m. Demonstrations are also planned from 1 to 2 p.m. the same days at the Border Patrol's Douglas station.
The gatherings may be held again on April 16.
No permits have yet been issued for demonstrations in Douglas, however.
Extra trash receptacles will be in place at the demonstration sites, County Facilities Director L.H. Hamilton said. He estimated the cost at up to $3,000, because the county will have to contract with private operators for the service.
"We'll pass on the sanitation costs to the organizers," Hamilton said.
"Enhanced" zoning inspections are planned to ensure compliance with county regulations, particularly in the corridor between Bisbee and Coronado Monument.
No large-scale camping or gatherings will be allowed on private property or any activity that creates a "substantial nuisance," such as traffic, garbage, raw sewage or gunfire.
"We're going to enforce all laws, rules and regulations," Klein promised.
"If a violation of 'an event of public interest' or other zoning violation occurs on private property, such as a gathering, we will notify the owner or occupant of the property and ask them to cease such activity," Klein wrote in a briefing statement. "If they fail to do so, or if we are dealing with a property owner to whom we have already advised of proper zoning requirements, we will cite them into the hearing office."
Speedy action on zoning violations was promised by Planning Director Jim Vlahovich, who noted that the process would normally take more than 30 days.
"If any activity reaches the level of creating a health hazard, the environmental health director, in consultation with the sheriff and county administrator, shall seek an injunction to abate the hazard and cease the activity," Klein wrote.
Deputy County Attorney Britt Hanson told the supervisors that the injunctive process could also be expedited, even on weekends. He said he would ensure that adequate staff will be in place to handle such actions.
Sheriff's Department Commander Rod Rothrock said that if trespassers or property owners do not cooperate, "Call the Sheriff's Department and we will come ... We'll make sure the people will leave the property." Violators will be cited and released but extra jail facilities are lined up in case of resistance.
Because overtime pay may be incurred, Klein recommended that the board approve the expenditure of up to $100,000 from the general fund contingency, to be disbursed at Klein's discretion. "We anticipate that ... there is a strong likelihood of state or federal reimbursement," Klein said.
If additional funding is necessary, the board will convene an emergency meeting to authorize additional amounts.
The funding issue concerned District 2 Supervisor Paul Newman, who said he wasn't sure state and federal agencies would reimburse the county.
Newman sought a vehicle for recovering expenses from organizers of the Minuteman Project, but was told the only way to do that was through the levying of fines for illegal activities.
Newman suggested that an ordinance be drafted to cover similar events in the future.
"It appears this event slipped through the cracks because there's no ordinance in place," Newman said.
Newman was also concerned about racist fliers that recently appeared in the county. Prepared by the National Alliance, in Phoenix, the fliers warn of a "non-white invasion."
He was concerned about the possibility of hate crimes. Rothrock assured Newman that the Sheriff's Department was prepared to enforce all applicable laws.
"We're your keepers and we get to determine which illegal activity we'll overlook. Currently we're overlooking all illegal immigration activities of non US citizens in favor of busting US citizens who are guilty of criminal littering...."
I thought about calling all of our elected officials c***sucking cowards for failing to handle the problem of illegal immigration in this country, but I'll refrain. I don't want to insult other c***sucking cowards....
Yep, I'm gonna have to chide Pat Call on this and Sheriff Deaver is yours to chide. Nothing anyone says can get through Newman's head. He reminds me of Newman from Seinfeld!
Sorry, I was quoting the leaflets left at homes across Cochise County this morning. Did you miss that? I think it's in post #3.
They have no budget left after picking up the TONS OF TRASH FROM THE MEXICANS=
He's a flipping leftist from Bisbee the home of the AZ chapter of the Socialist Party.
but his volunteers are for helping the poor migrants have a safe crossing, and besides it's all about him.
BTW, how much do you think Camp Wannabe is going to cost the taxpayer?
DEMOCs
and those RINOs led by
to actually read the Constitution?
wow. they've even figured out how to stop stuff they don't like on private property. we really are all just renters. . . .
Amazing, they sure do not seem to be concerned about the large gatherings of illegal aliens on private property each night. The hypocricy of this issue is laughable. I can't wait till the media gets down there and talks to a few of the local ranchers who have been begging for help for years.
I fear you are right.
I take it you see nothing wrong with illegal aliens flooding your state of Arizona beyond its capability to cope?
Figures...
"No large-scale camping or gatherings will be allowed on private property......"
The more I see of this type of thinking by Goobermint...the less faith I have in Goobermint.
I wonder if the phone numbers listed will be saturated by citizens calls reporting illegal aliens and their whereabouts?
Who picks up the trash from the Illegals and who pays for it?
And they have a problem with that statement as it is overly broad and undefined. When the Boy Scouts hold a Camporee they may hold it, with permission of course, on public or private land and the numbers will vary from 900 for a District event to up to 2000 if it is a Council Camporee. So based on that precident the DORK-FISH that made the statement has a real problem.
My thoughts exactly, except I was going say California has enough for all 50 states.
You got to be kidding! Didn't you read the article? Those fine elected folks in AZ are staying awake nights worrying about how they can extract enough money from the Minutemen so as to protect the locals from both sides of the border against an invasion by Minutemen.
Semper Fi
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