Board may need to redo meeting after ejecting protestors

(Maricopa County police officers wait for a news conference.)

Photo by Roy Dabner (Associated Press, 2006)

By: Stephanie Ohol

According to firstammendmentcenter.org, Maricopa County Supervisors may have to redo a meeting that was held on September 17, 2008 after policeman held the doors shut to protestors. They were prevented from entering the meeting for about 90 minutes.

The purpose of the meeting was to allow a local Sheriff to "cancel a police-service contract with the town. He wanted to sever the contract after his illegal-immigration sweeps raised the ire of some town leaders." The protesters were protesting against the Sheriff's stance on immigration and were said to be speaking out of turn at the start of the meeting.

Randy Parraz, the leader of the group, was escorted out. "It's obvious they have to have another meeting; it's a matter of when," Parraz said. "Because the way they did it is illegal."

During the time of the hold out, members of the board had voted to server the contract. Supervisor Mary Rose Wilcox said "she and her colleagues didn't know that public access had been blocked. The minute we became aware that it was locked, we suspended the meeting."

If county officials decide that another meeting needs to be held, then the board will have to explain (write) in detail the events that "led to the violation of the open-meeting laws."