BISBEE WIRE #113//lotta city stuff but no public input skews output/Did I mention Amy for Mayor?/secretive supes /the lege is pitiful/puns are fun!
- Jun 22
- 18 min read
editor: fred miller June 22, 2026 #113/June 2026 |
Hello, City issues just keep coming. Hope you get through it all cause it is a bit dense. It has been a busy month and more to come as the mayor race comes into focus as we move closer to early voting on June 24th. I'm involved in a couple of organizations and this is what we have been up to. KBRP The KBRP Journalist's Mayoral Forum will be on Monday June 22, at Sweet Hall at St. Johns. Doors open at 5 pm, 5:30-7:30 for the forum. We will be live streaming it to our youtube channel plus the radio at 96.1 plus streaming audio at kbrpradio.com There will be seats for about 100+ The four candidates for mayor will be asked questions by both journalists and the audience. Light apps will be available courtesy of Cafe Roka, High Desert Market, and Safeway. June 28 4-7 is KBRP's quarterly music event Live in the Lot at 400 Arizona St right outside of the station. We're featuring a night of Neil Young songs with Tapestries and Adam Gaffney. There will be some bevs available, some merch, it's a relaxing way to spend a late afternoon edging into the sweet dusk. Free, donations always appreciated. We've also added several new DJ's including She Rocks with Marsha Cassels featuring female artists from the 60's to the 90's, and the Flip Side with changing themes show to show. We can always use volunteers. It's irregular, generally helping out on events, or helping with the myriad tasks that are necessary to keep our head above water. Our budget is about $70 grand and we gotta keep chugging to bring in the dough to keep equipment functioning. If you are interested in learning how to engineer a radio program-it's not as intimidating as you might think-gives us a shout, an excellent way to get started in making electronic sound available. Sent your info to BisbeeKBRP@gmail.com . We have also begun featuring local music instead of our automated stream. You can submit music only here: musicKBRP@gmail.com. And We welcome new members, you get a lot of music and news for the price of one cup of java a month! BISBEE FOUNDATION The Bisbee Foundation has wrapped up the scholarship and grant cycle. We were fortunate to give 23 grants out this year for such varied organizations and activities as the Coaster Races, Astronomy in the Gulch, Fiber Arts Guild, Mining Museum, Plein Air, Evergreen Cemetery, Goar Park lunches, Studio Mariposa, Cochise Chess, and KBRP and more. We also gave a $39,000 grant to the Restoration Museum for window replacements on the second floor. And we made our first solar grant to Project Wildlife. They'll use it on their large new gazebo in upper Vista Park that is shaping up to be a great space for an outdoor event. The Foundation also awarded 26 scholarships totaling $72,000. Our four year $12,000 per year Fred Corrin scholarship this year went to Darian Padilla.
The Bisbee Observer was so desperate for copy that they scraped the bottom of the barrel and did a feature on me in the June 18 issue. Thanks to Leah Berard for a good job of keeping my life events in order. I will have a voting issue out hopefully this coming weekend. Go Amy! Go Terry! fred ...............AROUND TOWN................ CITY BEAT An unusual amount of activity at council meetings and behind the scenes is taking place the last few months. I've detailed some of this in issue #112 here. However some of this continues. I do want to point out that my comments are based on observations at meetings, results of votes by the mayor and council. I really don't have an axe to grind about anybody personally. But i do disagree sometimes with how city business is conducted. I just think that democracy demands information, transparency, communication, and input. When that does not happen I think it is incumbent to speak and point out problems. The mayor continues to think it is ok to put bed tax money in special visitor center capital improvement fund then, when there is no improvements to the visitor center needed, rather than return that money to the bed tax fund for marketing, it's s alright to just assign that money to another project, in this case Bisbee Bikeways (BB). So at the June 2 council meeting they voted to move that money to Bisbee Bikeways "in case they needed it". By a 4-2 vote. However council person Karen Schumacher pointed out they they needed a 5/7th vote to assign that money elsewhere. The mayor ignored her, as he often does. After the meeting I wrote an email to the interim city manger Ashlee Coronado, copied the mayor and council and said according to the city charter, they should rescind the vote because it was illegal to pass it with only 4 votes. So then at the council meeting of June 16, the council rescinded the vote on moving money to BB. But the mayor decided they would vote on it again at the July meeting. (They had just picked, a 24 year person to fill a vacant Ward 1 position who, in her council interview, had no idea of what the budget was or how it operated and likely had never read it. She was selected rather than someone active in city life, Cooper Raphael, who had also applied for the position.) So maybe the mayor is counting on a 5th vote to pass taking money from the bed tax to give to BB. And if the motion is similar to the past one, there will be nothing to restrict the money to specifically the bike path. No guarantee that if BB doesn't need the money for their 1 mile project, they do not have to give it back. So instead of $100,000 going to marketing the city that would be bringing in overnight people who spend money, pay taxes, and getting a fairly immediate return, the council will consider giving money for a one mile $4 million bike path. This really does not make economic sense. Another item...The mayor helped negotiate a contact for the city manager, Ashlee Coronado. I said at call to the public that the contract was bad for taxpayers because she would be doing two jobs, she had job security for several years, insures keeping her salary at $130k even if she returns to her position as city clerk. I said it could cost the taxpayers as much as $750,000 (I was totally wrong! Hang my head in shame, I made a huge mistake at call to the public. It would be closer to $75,000. My apologies to the council, the mayor, and the public! Note to self, check figures before speaking publicly.) The mayor when addressing the contract issue, tossed out more dollar sums than a magician drawing cards out of a hat. Oh no, she would be doing full time CM and just have the title of city clerk. wtf? No the CM salary was not out of line compared to other cities of comparable size (I wonder if he was talking about entrance salaries or current salaries) no it wouldn't cost the city, it was not guaranteed employment for Ms. Coronado even though she could return to her city clerk job if there were problems, and on and on. All before any council person said a word. The fact remains that if Ms. Coronado is requested or forced to resign or is terminated without cause and doesn’t want to return to her position as city clerk, the Council agrees to pay Coronado a lump sum payment in full settlement of 6 months salary + any litigation costs to be paid in 30 days from said date. The council passed it unanimously. I think Ashlee Coronado has done a wonderful job the past many years as city clerk. She has helped secure historical files during the fire, moved the office three different times, and worked out of cramped make-shift quarters, she, along with Nina Williams, has continued to do the business of the City. And served as interim CM a couple of times. And Ashlee is now City Manager. I think she has the potential to be a very good CM for the city. But there was no opportunity for residents, not did anyone on the council take the opportunity, to ask her questions. Such as; how did she see her role as CM? Would she make budget changes? What did she think about a shrinking residential tax base while city budgets have increased by more than 50% in the last decade? Is her views on tourism similar to the former manager? How would she bring efficiency to city operations? And more. Again the mayor rammed it through without a shred of public input for this very important position.
Council member Schumacher brought up something at the 6/16 meeting about elections which may impact the Ward 1 and 2 seats. The mayor had the council go into executive session to have it explained. They came out of that session and....According to a state law passed by the lege in 2024, quite convoluted I was told, that if someone is appointed to a council position and is holding that position when a primary election for that position takes place, whoever wins the primary and the results are canvassed (made final), then the person that won the primary will be seated in the position replacing the appointed person. I read a bit of the history of this law and the reasoning behind it was that it is voters, whenever possible, that should be the ones determining a position, not a council that appoints the position. What that means is whoever wins the Ward 2 race between Terry Priestly and Cynthia Conroy, likely will be seated after the canvas replacing Pete Skinner who was appointed. In the case of Ward 1 it is a bit different in that whoever wins that race, (there is only one write in candidate Cooper Raphael and no others), will not necessarily be seated after the canvass because they won a seat that will begin in December. However, an option in the law stated that a council could pass an ordinance conforming this process with their own city code. Hopefully that is what they will do. Just as an aside....Cudos to Ms. Schumacher. She is consistently the most prepared council person. She does her research and frequently asks cogent questions. One could only wish that all of the other council people would have those kind of informed opinions. And there has been more than a few times she has been correct while the mayor and city attorney have been wrong or at least, less than diligent. I believe, and it seems clear not only to me, that she is not treated fairly by the mayor. And that leads to my observation that... ...with rare exceptions, the mayor nor city attorney nor interim city manager publicly admit mistakes.The mayor and interim city manager have never publicly said they made a mistake about the term of office for the Ward 1 appointment. And they have never said they have made a mistake about the DMO that was wrongly worded in a RFP and had to be reissued. And they didn't say they made a mistake about the rescinded vote to move bed tax money. And that leads to my further observation that... ...the reason they make mistakes is because they are keeping information to themselves and a few select others. The public has been excluded from every major decision the mayor has brought before the council including votes on marketing, the Bisbee Forward contract, the Fair building, RFP's, Bed tax monies, terms of office, and the city manager hire decision. A 3 minute time limit to talk about a subject is not public participation let alone dialog about a subject. There simply is no avenue for voicing one's opinion to the city about anything. That's why there tends to be irritation, division, and frequent criticism. We sit at meetings and watch as the mayor says his piece before anyone else speaks getting his points across, frequently trying to rebut call to the public points. Increasingly he dominates council sessions. These are not just my observations, several long time Bisbee people have mentioned similar things to me. So that leads me to.... ...support Amy Burkert for Mayor and Terry Priestly for Ward II. So, you might say, if you are still reading this, why is that Fred? Lemme count the ways. Amy listens, she synthesizes, she's smart, she has good ideas, she details how she will carry out her ideas, she has been a businessperson, and she is funny! Isn't that enough? I feel a bit sorry for Charles Flanagan, her main opponent. He just can't talk without sounding like a top down bureaucrat that he has been for the last many years. With some controversial issues in his background at the Douglas prison and more stuff at AZ Child Protective Services, combined with a lack of specificity how he will actually pull off some of his ideas, I don't think he is the right person for Bisbee. At a recent meeting he spoke of a 'faction' that wanted to take control of the council! He is mistaken about 'taking control', but right about a significant number of people unhappy with the council procedures. I proudly belong to that faction... it is made up of a huge number of people who want a say in what is going on, who want input, who want transparency, who want a mayor that is less top down, who want accountability and truthfulness. I do think Charles could be helpful, as could Carl Stetter, in Amy's administration though. One of the interesting things about Amy's meet and greets is that at two of them, Cynthia Conroy has been in attendance for the entire two hours. Totally weird. I thought at first it might be that Cynthia was learning how to talk with people and actually listen. But no, she was taking notes. Maybe it was for Charles who she is backing? And speaking of Ms. Conroy... ...Terry Priestly is running against the extremely talkative Ms. Conroy...who can't seem to say a sentence without 'I' in it. I'm not sure but I think her full name is 'Cynthia Conroy founder of the Bisbee 1000'. Those of us who have watched Ms. Conroy over the years know her to be somewhat obsessed with...herself. Ms. Conroy cannot help bringing any topic back to her, quickly. Plus she is a space invader, in the sense she gets too close to people when she talks to them. Look, Cynthia has done beneficial work for city residents over many years, but it really grates when someone has to trumpet their every accomplishment and make it about themselves. Ms. Conroy has been rejected by voters twice when running for mayor, and passed over once for a Ward 2 appointment. There is a reason. Vote for Terry Priestly, a veteran, a person who has something to say when he speaks, has extensive public service, and will be an asset to our city council. (Whew) ++++++++++ IT IS A BIT LATE BUT LYLE REDDY HAS DIED Kinda weird to get an obit now, but that is what popped up in my feed... former Mayor Lyle Reddy died in 2021. He served as the Mayor of Bisbee from 2000 until 2002. He also served on the Hospital Board for 10 years, the Board of the Muheim House and was a board member of the Bisbee Mining Museum. After his years in Bisbee he had moved back to Michigan to be with family. ++++++++++ HEADS UP! Pool is open, here is the sched and details. Street Closed...June 11-July 31...Clawson Av. between Tombstone and high road closed. Street Work...Moon Canyon and Tombstone, a stop sign. Parking not...July 3, 4...prep for coaster races, reduced parking on the 3rd, no Main parking on the 4th till 11 am. ++++++++++ CAREER & WORK DEVELOPMENT SERVICES AVAILABLE "Bisbee Center for Career Services aims to support the Bisbee community by connecting residents to direct, proven and no-cost career resources that foster economic empowerment and long-term opportunity. They offer free services such as career coaching, resume edits, interview preparation, salary negotiation, and more by a team with 15 years of experience in professional recruiting and career development. Take advantage of this excellent service, they are at the Copper Queen Library every Saturday from 10AM to 12PM or are available by appointment at bisbeecenterforcareerservices@gmail.com. ++++++++++ DOES PRIDE HAVE THEIR DOUGH? Dina Herrington of the Bisbee Cochise Tenants Union, has been asking Bisbee Pride Inc. for $3000 that her organization received from a grant made by the City of Bisbee to them in 2022. Pride apparently is the fiscal sponsor. Herrington claims that she has asked the President Ramon Garcia for the funds numerous times over the past four years. She has made the dispute public recently with a demand that Garcia deposit the money in the account of the organization with a full accounting or she will file a complaint with the City of Bisbee. Hopefully more info coming after Pride. Four years is a lot of time for this to be hanging. ++++++++++ VIDS OF RESPECT In respect of the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence, historian Heather Cox Richardson has compiled short videos detailing historic moments. You can see the one minute vids here. The videos were designed "to emphasize the agency of Americans—mostly everyday Americans—to change the country. Each falls into a category that defines what it means to be an American, including community, democracy, innovation, mobility, civil rights, education, conservation, and creativity." ++++++++++ FIBER ARTS GUILD LOOKING FOR HOOKERS Calling all hookers and pickers! Help create afghans that will be donated next Christmas to the Bisbee Women’s Transition Program. Knit a square! Crochet a square! 10” squares, please. Acrylic yarn, please. (If you knit, 1” knitted border to prevent curling). Pop them in the basket at the Copper Queen library. Go here for info. ++++++++++ BISBEE MEDIA MENTIONS Drone view https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zzaR66wXQBw Last Remaining counterculture town https://faroutmagazine.co.uk/bisbee-americas-last-remaining-counterculture-town/ ++++++++++ ..............EVENTS...............
June 22...KBRP hosts the journalist's mayoral forum, 5:30-7:30 Sweet Hall at St. Johns 19 Sowles av. Light appetizers provided by Cafe Roka, High Desert Market, Safeway. June 24...14th annual Bisbee Back to School, Safeway Plaza. Go here for info June 24-July 8 ... Auction of online tax deed sale. https://www.cochise.az.gov/811/2026-Tax-Deed-Land-Sale? June 27...The surrealism of Bill Mead. The local artist whose most prominent work greets visitors at the big parking lot, is having his own show at Artemizia, 818 Tombstone. Opening 1-4 pm July 4... 8 am... coaster races/tombstone canyon 11 am... Parade/Bisbee Rd & Arizona St. 12pm...mucking and drilling/brewery gulch 12-4 pm...free pool admish/higgins park Sunset...Fireworks/Warren vista park ...............BISBEE ECONOMY............ Will run it down next regular issue. Am a bit overloaded to include here. ..............COCHISE COUNTY................ SUPES SAY NO SNOOPS The county supes don't want a pesky lawyer or the county administer listening to their conversations! The three of them are exploring a policy that would allow them to go into executive session without a county attorney present nor the person responsible for the day to day operations of the county. For instance if they decided that mail-in ballots for elections were not a good idea, although 75% of voters use them, they could decide to jettison that policy and make everyone vote in person. Or maybe directing the county sheriff's dept to stop every car with a dark skinned person in it because they might be illegal. Or declare the data centers have rights just like individuals and should be able to open wherever they want. Who knows what cockamanie idea Crosby could come up with like maybe saying the county taxpayers should pay him that $300,000 for his legal fees to defend his illegal actions. This is a monumentally stupid idea. ++++++++++ LOOK INTO MY EYES...DEEPLY....OFFICER Every law enforcement agency in Cochise County will soon be using the same iris-scanning technology as U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. This week, the Cochise County Sheriff’s Office announced that, with the support of the Western States Sheriff’s Association, it and every municipal police department in the county would be adopting the biometric tech. The Cochise County Sheriff’s Office did not respond to questions about how the technology will be deployed and if ICE or other federal agencies will also have access to its data. Earlier this year, the company that makes the software Cochise County law enforcement will be using landed a lucrative sole-source contract with ICE for the exact same technology. A 287(g) agreement is one in which local sheriffs or police departments can partner with ICE to train officers to identify and flag people who may be eligible for deportation during routine traffic stops or jail bookings, even if charges against them haven’t been proven. Cochise County entered into a 287(g) contract in August 2025. Go here for the article. ...............THE LEGE................ THE REPUBLICAN WEASELS IN THE LEGE DO IT AGAIN Fear in a legislator is a frightful thing to see. And once again the republiican legislators have failed to do what they were elected to do. So they kick the can to the voters with no less than ten propositions on the November ballot. So us poor schlubs have to sort out the drek from the rest. The whiners were afraid of a big bad veto by gov. Hobbes, so they said we'll go around her to the voters. And it doesn't matter how much it costs counties, they can have a multi-page ballot-so what, let the voters sort out the gibberish we put there. Some of the topics: poison pill for vouchers, no teachers unions, limit voting, anti-gay, limit voting, taxation, and lots more. ++++++++++ THE STATE BUDGET SUCKS Money from you will pay for billionaire tax breaks. That's the story of this budget that conforms to trumps Butt Ugly Bill that continues to shift money from working people to rich people and corporations-sometimes the same people. ++++++++++ GET YOUR NAME ON THE BALLOT For $75 you can get your 300 word (max) opinion on any measure to be on the November ballot. But ya gotta hurry! Deadline is June 24th. Go here for the rules and to sign up. Just think, telling 3 million or more voters your thoughts about the republican led budget measure killing public unions, or what you think about the measure undermining controls on vouchers? Lots of fertile ground here. ...............EVERYTHING ELSE................ SOLAR TRUMPS COAL Data released on Wednesday by the global energy thinktank Ember, along with a report by the Solar Energy Industries Association (Seia) and analytics firm Wood Mackenzie, show the continued growth of solar and decline of coal in the United States despite federal policy. In May, for the first time, solar supplied more of the nation’s electricity than coal, or 12.8%, Ember said. Coal supplied 12.2%, its fourth-lowest monthly share ever. Go here for the article. ++++++++++ ELECTRIC INNOVATION Massachusetts is one of the first states to try to figure out how to use electric vehicles as power sources for electricty grids. Charge at night when demand is low, recharge back to the grid when power needs are high. A host of problems have to be solved, but it is the kind of thinking that is needed. Just think of what a $700 million subsidy could accomplish rather than supporting and aging polluting coal industry. Go here for the article. ++++++++++I IRAN PSYCHS OUT TRUMPIE In an effort to navigate President Donald Trump’s erratic behavior during the indirect negotiations aimed at ending the war, Iran’s negotiating team enlisted the help of psychiatric professionals to develop an assessment of the U.S. president’s mental condition and to assist Iranian negotiators in crafting messages passed to Trump by regional mediators. “We added two senior psychologists to the negotiations’ advisory circle so that we can shape messages intended for President Trump from the perspective of managing what we regard as psychopathic behavior pattern,” an Iranian official told Drop Site. He said the psychologists began assisting Iranian negotiators following the initial round of bilateral talks in Islamabad in April as the two sides began exchanging proposed terms for a potential Memorandum of Understanding. Go here for the full article on Drop Site. .............. WORD............... ARGUABLY 60 REALLY CLEVER GROANERS
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