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At “high noon,” Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio will host his latest publicity stunt at his infamous Tent City Jail in honor of the jail’s 18th birthday.
To celebrate, Arpaio has a “big party planned: cake, Elvis, Arpaio, and ‘hundreds of Sheriff Joe Fans.'”
Joe’s “fans” are inmates, and “Elvis” will be played by a detention officer. A stage has been erected within Tent City for “Elvis” to perform for the inmates, and Arpaio might make a cameo appearance and sing his “signature song,” My Way by Frank Sinatra.
Arpaio’s opponent in the GOP primary for sheriff, Scottsdale Lieutenant Mike Stauffer, calls the charade “pathetic,” and says it’s just another example of sheriff “desperately” trying to promote himself.
We grabbed coffee with Stauffer last week. Read about our meeting here.
A few readers wanted to know more about how he feels about Tent City. Stauffer responded by posting a note on his Facebook page.
See Stauffer’s note — in its entirety — below.
Arpaio is at it again showboating a facility that has cost the
taxpayers millions of dollars in lawsuits. This out-of-control facility
has done nothing to impact or deter crime in any way. In fact, the
so-called tent city is riddled with drugs, gangs, felony assaults, etc.
It is unsecure and has several escapes a week due to Arpaio’s continued
neglect. With only one detention officer per yard in tent city, your
safety is in question as is the safety and well being of the detention
officers assigned to this facility.As Arpaio erects a monument to himself, we should all continue to
question the 400 un-investigated sex crimes cases, the over 6000
lawsuits, the deteriorating technology, the long response times, the
misappropriated taxpayer funds, looming federal investigations, etc…It’s time for a new sheriff, who will spend his time focusing on your
safety, your quality of life, and the safety of the employees of MCSO,
not desperately and pathetically trying to promote himself.
