September 17, 2008 - 5:22PM
Updated: September 17, 2008 - 6:31PM
Deputies block public meeting to discuss Arpaio
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Paul Giblin, Tribune
Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office deputies and county Protective Services personnel barred dozens of people from entering a county Board of Supervisors meeting Wednesday during which the board terminated MCSO’s police services for Guadalupe.


Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio met with Tribune reporters and editorial writers on April 18, 2008 to talk about the human smuggling unit. One of the issues he addressed was town of Guadalupe.
Deputies stood shoulder to shoulder in front of the county auditorium’s main doors, mostly ignoring repeated questions and taunts by members of a citizens group who had sought to be placed on the meeting’s agenda.

Deputies refused admittance to people they believed to be affiliated with the citizens group, and most others.

However, they allowed in a few people they thought were not associated with Maricopa Citizens for Safety and Accountability, as well as some members of the media. The citizens group has attended the past three monthly supervisors meetings to plead for more oversight of the Sheriff’s Office.

The supervisors continued their official business for about 90 minutes, voting to end the the county’s contract with Guadalupe, while the protestors gathered noisily outside, shouting slogans and arguing with the deputies.

Supervisors eventually were made aware that people were being kept out and took a 45 minute break, askingin county legal counsel whether they were in violation of the state’s Open Meetings Law, which requires access to public meetings.

It was only after that that deputies opened the doors and the supervisors resumed their agenda, but by then, the Guadalupe matter had been decided and most people affiliated with the citizens group had dispersed.

The meeting was sidetracked soon after it began when about 15 members of the citizens group, who were inside the auditorium began shouting at the supervisors seeking to be put on the agenda -- after protestors and officials said the Pledge of Allegiance together. The group has petitioned for months to be able to discuss their concerns about Sheriff Joe Arpaio.

Deputies ordered one of the group’s leaders, Randy Parraz, to leave and escorted him out of the auditorium to an outdoor plaza. Other members of the group and some reporters followed. Once they were outside, deputies and Protective Services personnel blocked access to the meeting. Some people were allowed to remain in the building and a select few were let in through a side door.

About 30 uniformed and plainclothes lawmen watched the crowd from all angles.

Supervisor Don Stapley said he was unaware that access to the meeting had been barred for so long.

He said he was told that members of the citizens group tried to “rush the doorâ€