July 12, 2001; 6:00 p.m.
BULLETIN:
County Accepts Petitions, Predicts Law Suit
A letter from William McLean, Pinal deputy county attorney, to Gilbert
Hoyos, Pinal County elections director, says Pinal County has accepted
the Willow Springs referendum petitions, but expects the matter to go to
court.
If Anam, Inc. is not satisfied with the Pinal's decision to accept the
petitions, they will sue the county. The Pinal County Attorney's
office will represent the county if a suit occurs.
Anam Inc. claimed two reasons to reject the petitions: timeliness of delivery
to the county and an incomplete attachment. However, McLean's letter
only addresses the issue of the timeliness of the petition delivery.
McLean also says that even though Pinal County set the due date for the
petitions at July 2, "it appears that a technical reading of the statutes
would require an earlier filing date."
McLean conferred with Pinal County Attorney Robert Carter Olsen prior to
writing the letter advising Hoyos to accept the petitions.
A transcription of the letter follows.
July 12, 2001
Mr. Gilbert Hoyos
Director
Pinal County Elections Department
Florence, AZ 85232
RE: Willow Springs Rezoning Referendum
Dear Director Hoyos
This office has reviewed the Petitions
for Referendum on the Willow Springs Rezoning Case filed with your office
on July 2, 2001. I have reviewed letters from the developer's attorneys
and the challengers' attorneys relating to the sufficiency and timeliness
of the petitions. Although it appears that a technical reading of
the statutes would require an earlier filing date, the Elections Department
provided Petitioner with the date of July 2, 2001. We believe that
this is the date our courts would hold us to. This is based upon
our experience in other, similar petition challenges. As a practical
matter, it appears that this case may ultimately be resolved in Court regardless
of what we do today. Therefore, after consulting with the County
Attorney, and assuming that you have otherwise completed your review of
the petitions, I see no reason why they should not be transferred to the
County Recorder so that she may begin her duties with respect to them.
Please call me if you have further
questions concerning this matter.
| Sincerely,
ROBERT CARTER OLSEN
PINAL COUNTY ATTORNEY
<signature of William McLean>
William H. McLean
Chief Civil Deputy |
| cc: |
Stanley D. Griffis, Ph.D. |
|
Brad Brown |
|
Marc Simon |
|
Anne C. Graham-Bergin |
|
|
