Another County employee files complaint against corrupt Supervisors for harassment

A m e r i c a n P o s t – G a z e t t e

Distributed by C O M M O N S E N S E , in Arizona

Friday, February 4, 2011

Supervisors’ attorneys sent letter to Sheriff’s employee to intimidate him as a witness to County feud
Employee calls out Supervisors on pattern of leaking information to friends in media before releasing it to public in order to spin news

Maricopa County Worker Files Claim Against County
Arizona Republic
February 3, 2011

Another county employee has filed a claim against Maricopa County related to the years-long legal battles between the Sheriff’s Office, the County Attorney’s Office and county administrators.

Bob Rampy, a commander in the sheriff’s technology bureau, filed a notice of claim Wednesday requesting $750,000 in damages for what he alleges was a concerted campaign to damage his reputation by representatives of the Board of Supervisors.

Rampy’s claim revolves around a letter between lawyers for the Sheriff’s Office and the Board of Supervisors, and whether a county representative intentionally shared the letter with the media in an effort to tarnish Rampy’s reputation.

The letter was written in September 2010, as the political and legal campaigns between county agencies were reaching their apex. The federal government had just sued the Sheriff’s Office in an attempt to access records in a civil-rights investigation and threatened to pull millions in federal funding from the county if Arpaio did not comply.

Supervisors and sheriff’s officials were publicly sparring over allegations of misspending in Arpaio’s office.

With the contentious relationship between county administrators and sheriff’s officials serving as the backdrop, Julie Pace and David Selden, attorneys for the county, wrote a letter to lawyers for the Sheriff’s Office asking if Rampy had used a county-owned SUV to conduct surveillance on county officials.

The sheriff’s lawyers responded with a resounding ‘no’ and claimed the initial letter had one purpose: “to harass, intimidate and defame a material witness (Rampy).”

Attorney’s for the Sheriff’s Office also asked Pace and Selden to maintain all communication about the offending letter, including any with The Arizona Republic.

The Republic wrote a story about the county’s letter, in which a sheriff’s attorney reiterated his stance that Pace and Selden were misguided. The New Times ran a story on the exchange a day later which quoted Cari Gerchick, a county spokeswoman.

Rampy’s notice of claim asserts that Maricopa County administrators and their representatives harmed his reputation, inflicted emotional distress, forced him to incur legal fees and contributed to his “adverse health effects.”

County Manager David Smith said he had not seen the claim notice Wednesday afternoon.
“I’m not going to be surmising on the value of anything right now,” Smith said. “We’ll treat it like all the others.”

The county’s potential liability costs stemming from the legal and political battles between the Board of Supervisors, Sheriff Joe Arpaio and former County Attorney Andrew Thomas now stands at more than $106 million.

Arpaio said the notion of making financial claims against the government is not in his nature, but if Rampy believes he has been mistreated, he is in his rights.

“I’m probably the only guy left that’s not filing (a lawsuit),” Arpaio said. “I’m not going to go overboard and say, ‘People are crazy, they’re all suing, they all want taxpayer money.’ They have a right to sue. It doesn’t mean I have to agree with it.”

Just last week, Thomas and Sheriff’s Chief Deputy David Hendershott — who is on paid administrative leave pending an internal investigation into his conduct — filed $37.5 million in claims tied to the battles. In that same claim, former Deputy County Attorney Lisa Aubuchon amended an earlier claim of $10 million to $22.5 million.

And more notices of claims against the county and state are expected.

Comments

carrie says:

February 4, 2011 at 10:59 am

The supervisors are taking out anyone they can in their quest to avoid accountability for the exorbitant court tower and the criminal activities of supervisors Stapley and wilcox. The republic reporters complicit should be ashamed of themselves.

Travis says:

February 4, 2011 at 11:03 am

I feel bad for Mr. Rampy. The list of county employees the BOS has attacked or hurt keeps growing. There is still another year and a half left until we can vote the BOS out of office. Until then, we can expect to see more innocent county employees on the chopping block and more taxpayers money wasted.

AZJack says:

February 4, 2011 at 11:48 am

We have to vote the goofballs (BOS)out.

TruthJustice says:

February 4, 2011 at 7:01 pm

The County (David Smith and his minions) are the ones that smeared Rampy maliciously in the press by having their lawyers generate a false letter with no other purpose than to smear and intimidate him as a key/expert witness. They knew that their case was shaky so they fired the Sheriff Attorneys and tried to defame the star witness. In what country can you fire the adversary’s attorneys? Does that help you get an idea how these people work? …And how they can skirt the criminal justice system.

Arizona Ranger says:

February 4, 2011 at 8:24 pm

Here is just one more example, in a VERY long list, of why we absolutely need to CLEAN HOUSE and vote out every single one of our “Board of Supervisors”. They could morally or ethically supervise a catfight!

I support Bob Rampy and his efforts. We all need to get on board with his lawsuit as well as the lawsuit by David Hendershott. Unfortunately if they win, the county will have a very, very big legal bill to pay. And we can thank our Board of Supervisors for this entire mess!

Friends, the Board of Supervisors is corrupt and definitely does not answer to the voters. I personally believe that every charge brought by Andy Thomas was valid, but that battle will have to wait for another day. These people believe they are “beyond the law” because of their position. Well, they are not and now they are facing some serious legal challenges. The more that we can bring this whole sordid affair out in the open, ala the court system, the better the whole community will be.

Oldcop says:

February 4, 2011 at 11:19 pm

I heard from my Phoenix PD contacts that Rampy helped solve some major cop-related shootings and he is the real deal in law enforcement circles. Probably these County Board types have no clue about his expertise or care.

Carlist says:

February 5, 2011 at 6:38 am

The current B.O.S. is little more than a “cats paw” for a rotten political establishment.

This crowd, descended from the old “Phoenix Forty” is only concerned with its self-enrichment and could give a damn less about the community at large.

And to keep its status and ward off challenges from “outsiders”, an underclass is imported to enhance their political/financial hegemony.

The Arpaios, Thomases and Haneys have “crossed the line” and damaged the smooth functioning of our regime and therefore, must be obliterated.

Don’t let it happen!