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I am writing this letter in frustration that it is so hard for Mayor Valenzuela to do the right thing and resign from his post as Mayor of Superior. His ‘defense’ in Thursday night’s Town Council meeting was that the cash advances made on the town credit card eight times were ‘mistakes’. He refuses to step down even when everyone from the Town Council to the Townspeople expressed they have lost faith in him and cannot believe anything he does or says.
I have tried for three weeks to get the District Attorney’s office in Pinal County to find out who is responsible for handling an investigation. Just this week, they finally said it would be the Pinal County Sheriff’s Office. I had to make three phone calls to the Sheriff’s office, before I finally spoke to a lieutenant in the criminal investigation office who said they could conduct an investigation if the State doesn’t do one. Jayme is employed by the PCSO but in a special capacity. He serves at the discretion of Sheriff Babeu and was rehired by him in 2008 when the PCSO had let him go in 2002 for not preforming his duties. Evidently, Sheriff Babeu is the only one who can fire Mr. Valenzuela. The sheriff is running for Congress and employing a man who is facing felony charges. This cannot be a good thing for Mr. Babeu.
There are others in town who have tried to get the attention of the Attorney General’s office but were told only the Town could instigate an investigation. It might be co-incidence, but the Special Assistant Attorney General is Chris Derose and he happened to be Paul Babeu’s campaign manager in 2012 when the sheriff ran for Congress then. The current District Attorney is Mr. Voyles who ran with Paul Babeu on a joint ticket in 2012 for the DA/Sheriff. Is Mayor Valenzuela being protected by Sheriff Babeu? If you are employed by the County, does that absolve you from doing anything wrong?
The Attorney General’s office has turned a blind eye to the public’s Open Meeting Law complaints made against Mayor Valenzuela in the past three years, is that a coincidence too?
Who’s in charge here? It certainly isn’t the people of Superior!
/s/ Nancy Vogler
Superior
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