Audio By Carbonatix
The reason Joe changed his stance is that he has the new mayor in his
pocket, a mayor who as recently as this past November was asking the town manager
to request a saturation patrol from the MCSO. this, according to docs
obtained by New Times. (See the Bird item, “Frankie the Snitch.”)
Also, the MCSO’s condition for a meeting between Montiel and Arpaio, according
to these same council e-mails and communications, was that Guadalupe
drop its lawsuit against Arpaio in federal court. Last Monday, the city
did just that, setting the stage for this week’s presser.
Montiel stated as much when he said, “The reason for [the lawsuit] being dropped is we have the contract back.”
In
reality, Arpaio never wanted to lose the $1.2 million Guadalupe contract. He just
wanted to bring the town to heel, and he’s done so, with Montiel as his
cowed pet canine. Joe promised to call the mayor and give him a special
heads up if a sweep’s about to go down. He knows he’ll get no resistance from Montiel.
Montiel said he “personally felt
safer,” while his town was being terrorized by Arpaio’s goons last
April, even though the MCSO so menaced the population, that little
children were afraid to attend their Catholic confirmation ceremony at Our Lady of
Guadalupe on the second day of the sweep. Asked if he would support a
rerun of last April, Montiel meekly offered that if there were a “spike
in crime” then he’d have to acknowledge a sweep as “good police work.”
Montiel
never seriously explored alternatives to Arpaio, never even consulted
with former Mayor Jimenez over the efforts she’d made on the same
subject. From jump, Montiel was pro-Joe, and wanted Arpaio to remain,
even though a large majority of the town’s residents want the
MCSO to go. (Guadalupe went overwhelmingly for Saban in November’s
election.)
People I talk to in the town are pissed over
Montiel’s move, and there’s been an executive council session called
for this evening in Guadalupe to discuss the matter. Whenever Joe does
decide to do another sweep in Guadalupe, the town may boil over with
resentment. If Joe pulls one in the next couple of weeks, I’d say it’s
pretty much guaranteed.
