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I want to take a moment to respond to the vile lies made by Joseph Brewer in last week’s letter to the editor. First off I would like to thank all those who did turn out and cast votes in our general election this year. Almost every single registered voter in Mammoth cast a ballot. I can honestly say that I haven’t seen that since 2010!
Following that line of thought, I want to address the comment Joe Brewer made in his letter to the editor that read “Now, I am sure a lot of your people went to the polls and voted in the Primary and the General Election and saw that the Town of Mammoth did have elections in the Primary and General Elections. Tell me who made the false statements.” Let me clarify for people, and obviously educate Mr. Brewer since he clearly has no working knowledge of our legislative process. Yes, the town of Mammoth placed town council seats on both the November ballot and the Primary ballot in August. The reason is that not enough votes were cast in August to clearly define a winner for the last of the four open seats. We the people showed up in August, and we made our voices heard. We unequivocally elected Al Anaya, Joe Dietz, and Francis Amparano. The fourth seat was too close to call, and thus state law mandates a runoff election to be held in the general election in November. Now if Joe was truly someone who cared about the election rules and laws, and someone who understood Arizona Revised Statues (as any member of a public governing body should) then this would not come as a surprise to him.
Mr. Brewer states he has provided dedicated service to a union, and whether he has or not is irrelevant. We were discussing his council actions, not the actions of his past employment. I was asked to help get a recall going, and just as I had in the past I agreed, but when the committee refused to recall Francis, I did resign. You see I believe that not ONE person can be solely responsible for running our government but many, and once it became apparent that I could not affect the positive change I was hoping to I stepped down.
I find it deplorable that Mr. Brewer unable to find any real fault with my previous statements, decided to attack my physical health publicly. Stating “I know I had her name put on the prayer list at the church “because of her eyesight).” Yes, I was diagnosed in 2008 with Multiple Sclerosis, and yes I lost sight in my right eye. M.S. is a lifelong condition with no cure. It can be debilitating. Millions of men, women, and very young adults lose the ability to walk and suffer diminished nerve function because of M.S. Many times we see people who fall a lot, or we see someone who can’t speak clearly, and the first thing we assume is that they must be drunk. Or we see people who suffer from chronic fatigue, and we make the assumption they are just lazy when in fact, both of these issues are symptoms of M.S.. Multiple Sclerosis is an autoimmune disease that attacks your nerves from the inside out. Your nerves control every aspect of our body. Without our nerves sending signals from our brain to our organs, or muscles we wouldn’t do much. We don’t see a lot of information in Arizona because traditionally M.S. is a disease that usually runs rampant in the northern states. Scientists are struggling to find what determines if a person will get M.S. or not. They have been able to find genetic links, and environmental components but they still do not know what causes it or how to cure it. While there is no cure for M.S. science has made huge strides in the treatment options, and as a result, the time between my relapses continues to grow longer. Which is why I have been able to obtain not just one college degree but two and yes I am currently majoring in Law at the University of Arizona Social and Behavioral Science Public Policy College as well as the University of Arizona’s Honors College. When I graduate I will add two more degrees to my name, one in law and another in criminal justice. I go big and I finish what I start.
Mr. Brewer did not resign, for those who missed the last few town council meetings, Joe Brewer’s term was over in July of 2016, and he was not chosen by us the people to serve another term. And while I was at first upset that Joe thought dragging my name through the mud with his ramblings would fix anything, I am glad he provided me a chance to bring some awareness to a medical condition not talked about in Arizona.
Again, thank you so much to every citizen who took part in both our town election for councilmembers and our general presidential election. We need community involvement in our town now more than ever!
/s/ Annie Martinez
There are news or informational items frequently written by staff or submitted to the Copper Basin News, San Manuel Miner, Superior Sun, Pinal Nugget or Oracle Towne Crier for inclusion in our print or digital products. These items are not credited with an author.
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