Supervisors vote again to pull sheriff from Guadalupe
September 29th, 2008 @ 12:31pm
by Jim Cross/KTAR

For the second time in a month, the Maricopa County Board of Supervisors voted Monday to cancel the sheriff's contract to provide police services for Guadalupe.

That means Guadalupe will be looking for new police protection March 16.

The revote was needed because protesters were ejected from a meeting earlier this month, raising questions about the state's open meeting law. The supervisors decided to hold a special meeting Monday to erase questions.

At Monday's meeting, opponents of the sheriff, as earlier, were not allowed to speak to the board.

Outside, one of those, Raquel Teran, said, "We have a town of Guadalupe who's lacking a sheriff. What are they going to do? Just because they spoke up against the sheriff, just because they said that they are not going to tolerate it anymore."

Several people were escorted from the auditorium again Monday, including one of the group's key organizers, Randy Parraz. He was taken away in handcuffs.

Teran said, "The community is going to become unsafe." She and other protesters asked, "Who's next? Who is next? What community is next?"

The supervisors meet again Oct. 15 and protesters say they will be back, demanding to speak before the board.

The town of Guadalupe went to court last Friday in a last-minute attempt to stop Monday's vote by the supervisors. The town filed suit in federal court, trying to stop the sheriff from pulling out of Guadalupe and possibly leaving the town without any police protection.

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