In this issue…

October is now Opt Out Month
Want the county to fix your road?
Local news
Local events

Howdy, from the editor

I hope everyone had a great Opt-Out October. If you didn’t catch the news on facebook, the County Supervisors passed the proclamation, and there was a great turnout from the opt out community. Thanks, everyone.

I’m looking forward to a big party next year to celebrate. Maybe it can be called “Optober Fest”. (Get it?)

One great thing about opt out permits is that they really bring people together across political and cultural lines. Not only did the three Republican supervisors vote for it, but one of the 2024 Democratic supervisor candidates, Joy Banks, showed up to speak in support of it. It’s good for the soul when we can put aside our differences and celebrate together.

After the vote, the supervisors were interviewed about the Opt Out proclamation. You can check it out on facebook.

The road to county maintenance

At that supervisor meeting last month, before the Opt Out proclamation, two locals spoke about how they want their roads to start getting maintained by the county.

Now, I’m usually not sympathetic to this kind of request, because there are lots of rural dirt roads in Cochise County, and there’s no way to service them all without significant costs, which means significant property tax increases. If you’re moving out here, be prepared to take care of your own roads.

But then, the local citizen said two words that caught my attention: “Calle Principal.”

Those who have driven down Calle Principal know that it’s an especially unpleasant drive. That’s partly because it’s one of the most popular roads for newcomers to the area. I feel like every fourth Opt Out builder I meet in the Douglas Basin lives off that road.

I don’t know all the factors that the county has to consider when deciding whether or not to maintain a road, but I was planning to write to the supervisors and make the case that Calle Principal might be one of the roads most deserving.

But the supervisors are a step ahead. This Thursday, they’ll be hosting a town hall meeting to talk about roads which might get added or removed from the county maintenance list. And Calle Principal is up for possibly getting maintained or paved.

If you want to show up and advocate for why your road should get some TLC from the county, all the meeting information is here: Link.

Or maybe you want to ask them to not take your road off the maintenance list! The full list of roads up for adding/removal is here: Link.

You’ll need to fill out a Speaker Request Form before 4pm on the day of the meeting.

Like the county, I have to ask myself each month: Should I maintain the Ground Party Papers? It’s time I don’t have and money out of my pocket — but if I don’t do it, who will?

If you can afford to pay me for my work, here’s the subscribe button. It’s appreciated.

Local News

Benson bites back: Locals in Benson have submitted petition signatures to hold a recall election on the city’s mayor and city council. The effort was led by Kathryn Townsend and others under the PAC “Committee for a Better Benson.” As long as they didn’t get too many erroneous or duplicate signatures, there will be an election next year to see if anyone gets booted from the city. Meanwhile, the city has asked the county court to throw out the lawsuit filed against them for approving a height variance for the controversial aluminum plant. And while some city officials wanted to hold a special election next year to extend the mayor’s term in office from two years to four years, the proposal failed with a 3-3 vote of the city council.

Budge vs Bisbee News: For years, Bisbee’s “watchdog” journalist Nolan Gouguet has been provoking city officials and posting recordings of the encounters on his youtube channel. He’s suing the city regarding a public records request that he made, and the city is suing him for disorderly conduct and harassment. Gouguet is also suing Mayor Ken Budge after the mayor emailed Gouguet a screenshot of facebook post that said Gouguet might get a punch to the face for “running his ‘free speech’ mouth”. Gouguet interpreted the screenshot as a threat from Budge.

Stanford Fire: As of yesterday, the Stanford Fire in the Chiricahua mountains area encompassed 306 acres and was 16% contained.

Good apples in Cochise County: Last month, Pearce Elementary teacher Patricia Messner was named the Arizona Rural Teacher of the Year. In 2023, that honor was given to Willcox high school teacher Ty White. A few days ago, Cochise College was ranked as the #1 community college in Arizona, and #38 in the nation. If you, or someone in your life, are interested in secondary education, Cochise College has two upcoming events to help prospective students apply for financial aid.

Something’s cooking in Douglas: The City of Douglas just voted to accept a $25,000 grant to build a community kitchen in the city. According to Mayor Jose Grijalva, the kitchen might be installed in the old call center, where it can “serve as a hub for food entrepreneurship and small business development.”

Oh SNAP: The government shutdown has led to a pause in SNAP benefits, and many will be looking to local food banks to help them get their core nutritional needs met. The Willcox Food Pantry is experiencing a lot of demand and could use some donations. The Salvation Army in Sierra Vista is also asking for non-perishable food donations.

Local Events

Nov. 2nd: Dia De Los Muertos Parade at Goar Park in Bisbee, 5pm-7pm

Nov. 2nd: Kierland Fine Art & Wine Fall Festival in Willcox

Nov. 7th - 9th: Sidepony Music Festival in Bisbee

Nov. 7th - 8th: The Binational Artwalk in Douglas and Agua Prieta

Nov. 14: The annual Pit Fire at Cochise College Douglas Campus, 2pm-9pm

Nov. 15th: Native American Festival @ Cochise County Fairgrounds

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