A number of people in Quartzsite have observed that you need not apply for a position of any sort within the Quartzsite Town government. They have also observed that family members and close friends are given a favored path to hiring, without having to compete with other applicants (a “family” shop). Today the Council will have a chance to demonstrate if this is true.
The Council will vote to place Carol Kelley on the council. Carol is likely still mourning her husband’s death of just 10 days ago. That has not deterred her from stepping up for the job. Her late husband “Bob” Kelley left a seat open on the council. She wants it. Now.
It is likely that by the time you read this, Carol Kelley will have been appointed to her late husband’s seat on the Quartzsite Town Council. These points are left to ponder:
- “… I am doing what my late husband ask me to do and in his memory I will do it …” (Carol Kelley, January 9 2012.)
- This appointment is placed on the agenda by the Town Manager, not a Town Council member. It is the job of the council to notice that a seat is vacant and act to fill it by appointment process, without allowing their own appointee (Town Manager Alex Taft) to usurp the council’s power.
- Why does it appear that the council will have come to a tacit agreement to appoint Carol Kelley, with the aid of the Town Manager, without consulting other council members, all out of the public eye?
- Consulting other council members, out of the public eye, would violate (again) the Arizona Open Meeting Laws. Consider that the population of Quartzsite is 3,700 - most citizens could qualify for this appointment.
- Carol Kelley is not even among the candidates now actively seeking a council seat in the March 13 election. These 11 other people already show interest in a council position.
- The appointment is being made without the usual procedures applied. Normally, a council vacancy is filled by soliciting applications from citizens first. Logically the best and most qualified applicant would be selected. The council has not yet even mentioned at an open meeting that there is an opening.
billysam33
January 10, 2012 at 9:41 am
Locally, we had a seat come open. The council is taking applications. The applications will be gone through and the top qualifiers will then be interviewed, with one being selected and voted upon by all members of the council. For this process to work properly, you have to have QUALIFIED people running the process. None on this city council are family members of one another, nor are they unqualified palm readers.