Quent and I decided we should share the following article about what's going on in the town we are about to leave. The funny thing about the "drama" is that there is actually a lot more serious issues going on in town but right now this seems to be the current focus of the entire town.
A bit of background to the new marshal - he started enforcing the law immediately upon being hired. He has patrolled Highway 89 daily and has written hundreds of speeding tickets and has been cracking down on DUI's. Quent and I felt like he's done a pretty good job around town, but alas, we haven't been written up for anything as we are generally law abiding citizens. Ask yourself this question after reading the following article. Do you think the punishment fits the crime?
The following is copied from the Lake Powell Chronicle which is published weekly in Page, Arizona.
Big Water marshal is under fire
Posted: Wednesday, Sep 24th, 2008
BIG WATER — A contentious Big Water Town Council meeting on Sept. 15 featured heated discussions and crowd outbursts regarding actions taken by the town marshal when he stepped in to resolve a vandalism complaint involving the grandson of a town resident.
The recent spat between Glen Canyon Special Services District employee Teresa Tiberi-Phillips and Big Water Marshal Gary Patterson led to a complaint being filed with the Town Council, and the council going into executive session to discuss the complaint.
According to Town Clerk Genia Joseph, a special council meeting was scheduled for Tuesday to discuss what was decided in the executive session.
Tiberi-Phillips told the council she thought the marshal overstepped his bounds when he made the offending children wash the town’s fire department vehicles and police car as punishment for an act of vandalism committed on a town resident.
Earlier in the meeting, when Patterson rose to speak about a survey he had given out to town residents, someone in the audience yelled out, asking if he was going to talk about his letter. The letter in question was written by Patterson and given to the council sometime prior to the meeting, but the Chronicle could not verify its contents.
The letter was referred to numerous times by the council and audience members throughout the meeting. Council member Carl Powell said certain people had been damaged by the charges in the letter. Even though requested numerous times, the Chronicle was refused access to a copy of the letter by the council and members of the audience who had copies in their possession.
Patterson never rose to defend himself against the allegations being leveled during the matter, or to comment on the contents of his letter to the council. Instead numerous town residents, employees and council members spoke out against the incident and the contents of the marshal’s letter.
“Unfortunately our marshal may have meant well in his intentions in what he did, but in my point of view he overstepped his bounds when he tried to take control of fire department vehicles,” Tiberi-Phillips said.
Tiberi-Phillips told the council her daughter had agreed for the grandson involved in the incident to carry out restitution for the vandalism by having the children pull weeds for the assistant fire chief. Tiberi-Phillips said she was mainly upset because of the safety concerns of having children in a fire station with all types of equipment where they could get hurt, and the risk of insurance claims against the town.
“I do this to protect the district. You guys are the ones that do the insurance on those vehicles,” Tiberi-Phillips said.
Tiberi-Phillips said the marshal should have written a complaint on the charges and let Big Water Judge Peter Thompson decide the punishment. Town Attorney Charles Hummel quickly stepped in to explain to her that juvenile complaints immediately go to Kane County courts and would have been decided by a judge in Kanab, not Big Water.
When contacted for comment on Thursday, Patterson said he told the victim of the vandalism he didn’t think pulling weeds was really a justified punishment for the crimes committed. He wanted to write a report and send the matter to juvenile court, but the victim refused to press charges. Instead, Patterson said he thought helping the police and washing the town’s vehicles was a more suitable punishment.
Patterson also described Tiberi-Phillips as someone who complains to the council any time there is a legal issue with her family. He mentioned a previous problem she had with a former marshal after a family member was arrested.
During the council meeting Joseph commented on the letter, making reference to “ridiculous criminal charges he claims I have, though I have never been cited for.”
Joseph said the letter also claims she refused to pay a bill Patterson gave her for repairs done on the town’s police cruiser. She said she was given a bill that was for more than she is allowed to pay without proper authorization from the council and the treasurer.
Patterson would not divulge the contents of the letter he had written, instead referring comment to Hummel, who could not be reached by press time for comment.
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