September 2, 2008
Breaking News
Demonstrators want MCSO evicted; Arpaio says he'll stay put

By Bill Coates, bill.coates@azcapitoltimes.com


Orlando Arenas (left) joins some two-dozen demonstrators outside the Wells Fargo building in downtown Phoenix. The protestors were seeking to get Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio evicted as a tenant.
Pro-immigration demonstrators are demanding that Wells Fargo evict Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio as a tenant when his lease is up.

Wells Fargo leases two floors of office space in its downtown high rise to the Maricopa County Sheriff's Office.

"We don't agree with Arpaio using taxpayer's money to use luxurious office spaces," said Margarito Blancas, spokesman for Puente Arizona, demonstration organizers.

The group alleges Arpaio has used racial profiling in his sweeps of illegal immigrants.

Demonstrators will be on the sidewalk in front of Wells Fargo weekdays from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m., Blancas said.

Arpaio, in a phone interview, said the county handles the lease.

"The county saw fit to rent this for us, and we're not going anywhere," Arpaio said.

According to records and a county real estate manager, the county plans to renew the 10-year lease for the sheriff's office space when it expires Sept. 30. The rent on the existing lease is $43,000 a month for more than 31,000 square feet.

Rent for the five-year extension would be adjusted to market rates.

The official said the Board of Supervisors voted in February to approve the extension. The Maricopa County Attorney's Office also has office space in the Wells Fargo building on a separate lease.

Arpaio said it seemed more than a coincidence that the demonstration began just as the Republican National Convention got underway.

"You begin to wonder whether this is all politics," said Arpaio, a Republican.

One of the organizers, Salvador Reza, said similar demonstrations against Wells Fargo are being planned by supporters in other cities, including San Francisco, Los Angeles and Chicago.

http://www.azcapitoltimes.com/story.cfm?id=9385