QUARTZSITE, Arizona (PNN) - June 13, 2012 - What would happen if an election took place and the incumbent losers refused to leave office?
That’s exactly the situation in Quartzsite, Arizona, where two winning candidates for the positions of mayor and town councilman are not being allowed to be seated.
The 2012 municipal election took place May 15, but the old town council in Quartzsite has since refused to seat Ed Foster as mayor and Mark Orgeron as councilman.
Foster collected 56% of the vote to easily defeat opponent Jerry Lukkasson, but officials claim he cannot be seated because of an unpaid debt to the town, and so Jose Lizarraga remains at the helm for now.
Orgeron defeated Vice Mayor Barbara Cowell, but is not being seated, as outlaw thug officials dispute his residency in the town. Orgeron has filed federal legal action, looking for a judge to force the fascist pig incumbents from office.
Among the points mentioned in his complaint, Orgeron says both he and Ed Foster are legally qualified to be lawmakers in the town, and are, in fact, the legitimate officeholders now since they won the election, with their terms starting immediately.
“The mayor is no longer the mayor of the town, and cannot legitimately exercise the powers of office, and the vice-mayor is no longer the vice mayor of the town or a member of the town council and cannot legitimately exercise the powers of office,” the complaint states.
Vice Mayor Cowell says Foster was disqualified because he did not pay court-ordered attorney fees from a lawsuit he lost against the town.
In recent years, Quartzsite adopted a rule banning municipal debtors from holding office, but many dispute the legality of such a law, claiming it violates the rights of both voters and candidates.
Quartzsite gained national attention when a YouTube video surfaced showing local resident Jennifer Jones being forcibly removed from a council meeting while she had the floor during the public-speaking portion of the event.
