Part 1 was published on Monday. Please scroll down to read it if you haven’t already done so.Crime Scene Investigation
The photograph that was published was an overhead shot. A few days after it was published, three Oro Valley residents (including a former law enforcement officer using binoculars) walked the site of the “crime” and could not find a camera attached to either a pole or a building that could have taken the picture from the angle at which it was taken (from above and to the right of the sign).
A security camera on the old Sports Authority building was aimed at the parking lot, not at the area with the sign. This camera was tested nonetheless and found to be inactive. So what happened to the “surveillance” camera? Who put it there, when, and why? It appears to have been removed right after the picture was taken. This leads us to wonder if this “crime” was a staged event.
The Smoking Gun
Also of interest is who filed the complaint. The person who made and posted the sign should be the one who filed the complaint since they are claiming that the sign was their property. This means that the OVPD now knows the identity of the person who deliberately posted many of those same signs directly in front of Axe the Tax signs in an effort to block them from view. This is a Class 2 misdemeanor under ARS 16-1019. Why hasn’t the OVPD issued a citation against them?
Collusion?
Axe the Tax dealt with sign issues for weeks…stolen signs, signs found thrown in a wash, signs bent in half, signs covered by “Why Ax Kids Sports?” signs deliberately placed directly in front of them.
In these instances, the State Statute does apply since these signs were paid for and placed by a PAC. (Axe the Tax PAC).
It’s suspicious that the OVPD turned this “non-story” into front page news and that they pulled this stunt just one week before the election, just in time to make the last issue of the Explorer before election day. Was the OVPD (via marching orders from the mayor) colluding with the Yes on 454 folks to damage the character and credibility of Axe the Tax supporters in a last ditch effort to garner more votes for their $28 million dollar “desperately needed ball fields?”
After all, similar stunts have been pulled in past Oro Valley elections. Remember the “Lou Waters was assaulted by a ream of paper” story that they pulled out during the 2015 Recall Election in order to smear the character of the challengers? That case went to court. Waters lost. We have to wonder what ploys they will conjure up this year in order to tip the scales in their favor for the Town Council election in August.
It bears repeating
We will end Part 2 of this article the same way we ended Part 1. This whole thing smacks of political maneuvering and LOVE does not take kindly to our police being involved in politics.
