Wild West Stand-Off in Pinal

We last visited Pinal county's San Tan Valley in the summer of 2010. Residents there both supported and opposed a vote for incorporation. They never got the chance to vote because the Florence city council held the trump card, exercising their statutory right as a municipality within a six-mile boundary to vote against the citizens' petition to hold and election. More than six months later, the dust hasn't settled from the fracas that overtook Pinal county. They've witnessed some unusual happenings recently, including an aerial display at the community holiday party. Someone hired the plane to circle the event with the message that incorporation would cost each San Tan Valley resident an extra $5,000 per year. Pinal county supervisor Bryan Martyn doesn't know where, in his words, "those knuckleheads" get their numbers because no vehicle exists to raise that kind of tax. Stacy Duprey Purper has heard an earful from people all over San Tan Valley. She co-owns and publishes San Tan Valley Today newspaper and has documented the clash of wills. Lately things have turned ugly and arrows all point to George Johnson, a developer and owner of Johnson Utilities that supplies water to the region. Jana Bommersbach described Johnson as a "rogue developer" in her article in Phoenix Magazine. Duprey Purper has printed numerous readers' complaints about their water bills and water quality. State agencies have already fined Johnson $12 million. Although he continues to admit no wrongdoing, these fines rank as the largest ever levied in Arizona's history.

Click here to view this article from its source.