ARIZONA NEWSPAPERS AND NATIONAL LOCAL MEDIA ASSOCIATIONS’ NEWSPAPER OF THE YEAR
PAYSON ROUNDUP
75 CENTS
FRIDAY | SEPTEMBER 9, 2016 | PAYSON, ARIZONA
payson.com
Bottleneck blues Mayor Kenny Evans
Mayor-elect Craig Swartwood
Swartwood proposes early resignations for mayor, councilors Alexis Bechman
Superintendent and the Gila County Board of Supervisors Eager to get started, newly moving to appoint newly electelected Payson Mayor Craig ed Roy Sandoval to finish the Swartwood called on current remainder of the term. Evans did not take office Mayor Kenny Evans to resign early when he beat out Bob immediately. Edwards for mayor, taking Swartwood also asked that office in May 2008. Today, Vice Mayor Michael Hughes councilors take office the secand Councilor John Wilson ond town counresign so he and cil meeting in the newly elected December. councilors could Mayor Kenny Evans When his take their seats. said he wants to term as Payson Speaking at mayor ends in the Tea Party work with (Craig) December, Evans meeting at Swartwood and the will not return to Tiny’s Tuesday, office. He recentnew council memSwartwood said ly ran for the he was “respect- bers to ensure a District 3 Gila fully” asking smooth transition. County Board of the men to step Supervisors seat, down so he and but lost to Woody council winners Janell Sterner Cline in the primary. Cline will and Barbara Underwood could now face off against Democrat take office, as there is a lot to incumbent John Marcanti in the accomplish and he wants to get November general election. working immediately. Evans said it is sad that Evans, Hughes and Wilson Swartwood did not research all told the Roundup they will the issue before asking him and not resign. The men said they the others to resign from the would finish out their terms, town council. which end in December. He said he wants to work Evans said even if they did with Swartwood and the new step down, it is against town council members in the coming ordinance and state statute to months so there is a smooth seat newly elected officials early transition. — unless the office has been Evans printed out a list vacated due to health or res- of committees and projects ignation, such as was the case that he and the other council with Dr. Linda O’Dell leaving the office of Gila County School See Paying, page 5 by
Keith Morris/Roundup
Visitors to Rim Country found themselves in bumper-to-bumper traffic entering and exiting Payson over the Labor Day weekend.
Public safety personnel labor over weekend
roundup staff reporter
•
Fuller resigns as chief deputy attorney had left. Fuller and Beauchamp appeared to have a close workThe Gila County Attorney’s ing relationship in the years Office chief deputy attorney has after Beauchamp’s election, resigned. working closely on the office’s Shawn Fuller resigned from the GCAO on Tuesday, Aug. 30. handling of plea bargains and The Roundup requested taking a tough stance on drug Fuller’s resignation letter, but and domestic violence cases. Fuller handled the proswas told he gave his notice verecution of several bally. high-profile cases, The Roundup has including Michael requested Fuller’s Voden, who shot employee file and down his neighbor, any performance and Gasoa “Joshua” reviews, but had not Balas, who killed his received those as of daughter after rolling press time. his vehicle while runJacque Sanders, ning from police. assistant county Fuller’s time at Shawn Fuller manager, said she the GCAO was not did not know why without controversy. Fuller had resigned. Fuller went before a disThe Roundup contacted County Attorney Bradley ciplinary panel in 2014 after Beauchamp multiple times several judges accused him for comment, but he did not of acting unprofessionally in respond. The Roundup also the courtroom. After hearing contacted Fuller, but had not from the judges, the state bar dismissed the claims against heard back. Fuller joined the GCAO after Fuller. When Judge Peter Cahill Beauchamp took office in 2013. He had previously worked for retired early in 2015, Fuller the Maricopa County Attorney’s applied to take over his seat. Office. Fuller attended the Governor Doug Ducey, howevUniversity of Arizona and was er, appointed Bryan Chambers, admitted to practice law in also then with the GCAO, to the bench. Chambers recently ran 2003. His license is still active. Fuller’s sudden resignation unopposed to stay on as the comes as a surprise and many Division I judge. It is unknown if Fuller plans staffers at the Payson courthouse had not heard Fuller to continue practicing law. by
Alexis Bechman
roundup staff reporter
THE WEATHER
volume 26, no. 74
Weekend: Sunny with highs in the mid to upper 80s, lows in the upper 50s; chance for rain Saturday and Sunday. See page 7
See our ad and upcoming events on page 20
by
Alexis Bechman
roundup staff reporter
It was a busy Labor Day weekend in Rim Country and elsewhere around northern Arizona as Valley visitors flocked to the higher elevations and cooler temperatures to celebrate the day off. Anyone who took to the streets found themselves in near gridlock with vehicles and campers backed up in nearly all directions for much of the weekend. Traffic was especially heavy Friday night as some people had to wait for hours in bumper-to-bumper northbound
traffic to travel into Payson on the Beeline Highway, which was more like the Snail Highway. Things also backed up Monday as travelers then made their way from the Mogollon Rim back to the Valley. At Native Grill and Wings, with a patio that has front row seating to the traffic snarl, staff reported several waves of diners as people stopped to eat and avoid some of the rush, which never seemed to let up until late in the evening. Things weren’t only busy on the streets though. The Payson Fire Department put out a forest fire with the U.S. Forest Service’s help after a camper trailer caught fire and the flames spread to the brush off State Route 87, at milepost 229. No one was injured and the fire was contained to a tenth of an acre. The Pine-Strawberry Fire Depart
ment had several simultaneous medical calls Saturday afternoon and was without an ambulance for some time as both the P-S ambulance and Payson-based ambulances were out on calls. Several of the medical calls were for off-road vehicle accidents. In the P-S area, none of these were fatal. But in the Flagstaff area, there was one fatal OHV accident. The Coconino County Sheriff’s Office reports a 49-year-old Glendale woman was killed Saturday when the UTV she was on rolled near Stoneman Lake. The woman was riding with her boyfriend over the berms of a stock tank when the woman’s vehicle rolled while climbing a hill, ejecting her and her boyfriend. The woman was not wearing a safety belt and the machine rolled on
• See First responders, page 5
Voden conviction appeal denied Voden was charged with second-degree murder, but the jury found him guilty of manslaughter, a It was one of the most lesser offense. high-profile murder cases Following the trial, Voden’s lawin recent Payson history. yer, Michael Bernays, said they On Tuesday, the Arizona would appeal and asked that Voden Court of Appeals Division be released on bail while on appeal Two denied Michael Voden’s because staying in jail was endanrequest to overturn his congering Voden’s life due to his various Mike Voden viction. health issues. Voden was sentenced to Superior Court Judge Gary Scales 17 years in prison last year after a jury denied Voden’s request to stay at home and found him guilty of manslaughter. sentenced him to an aggravated term of 17 Voden gunned down his neighbor, years in prison, saying he did not believe Randy Burnett, in 2013 after Burnett Voden was remorseful or had accepted any entered Voden’s yard to retrieve his dog, responsibility. which had become loose and was running In his appeal, Voden argued that the around Voden’s yard barking. Voden’s law- court had made several mistakes that preyer argued at trial that Voden acted in vented him from receiving a fair trial. self-defense. First, Voden argued his lawyer by
Alexis Bechman
roundup staff reporter
should have been allowed to introduce the Payson Police Department’s use-offorce policy into evidence. Scales precluded Bernays from introducing this at trial. In his appeal, Voden argued that the PPD’s use-of-force policy showed what actions a law enforcement agency considers reasonable when someone defends himself against an unarmed individual and, “therefore, whether Voden’s actions here were reasonable.” The Arizona Court of Appeals found errors in this argument. “We cannot see how a police department’s policy for active-duty police officers confronted with someone posing a threat would help the jury understand whether Voden, who was not a police officer, acted as an objectively reasonable person would
• See Appeal, page 6
Police investigate stabbing; drug house Man arrested for attacking women; two men arrested for drugs by
Alexis Bechman
roundup staff reporter
A man that allegedly stabbed his mother and another woman early Friday has been arrested on attempted murder charges. Jeffrey Harvey Kenna, 53, reportedly stabbed his mother, Vera Eccles, and another woman, Dorothy Vaughn, at a home they shared in the 200 block of North Granite Drive. The stabbing was reported to the Payson
Police Department around 3:50 a.m. Sept. 2. Kenna lived at the home with Eccles and Vaughn. Both Eccles and Vaughn are expected to recover from their injuries, according to a police report from Chief Don Engler. No word on why Kenna stabbed the women. Kenna was arrested on charges of attempted murder in the second degree. Drug arrests In a separate investigation, the Payson Police Department says it made its largest seizure of methamphetamine Saturday night. With the assistance of the Gila County Sheriff’s Office, the PPD searched a home
in the 800 block of North Blue Spruce Circle Sept. 3 believing methamphetamine and heroin were being sold from the residence. “The methamphetamine seized from the residence was the largest seizure of methamphetamine from a residence in at least 10 years by the police department,” said Police Chief Don Engler in a press release. How much meth was seized was not disclosed. David Santo, 40, and Steven Brydie, 25, both of Payson, were arrested on charges of possession of dangerous drugs for sale, possession of narcotics and possession of drug paraphernalia. The PPD believe the “drug network is extensive, therefore, further investigation and arrests are anticipated.”
Final Star Valley council results; Davis ousts Binney by
Teresa McQuerrey
roundup staff reporter
Gila County Elections officials posted the latest election numbers late Thursday, Sept. 1. Hardly any of the local outcomes were altered, and with only the write-in ballots remaining, the elections staff did not expect any changes. The results will be unofficial until canvassed by the Gila County Board of Supervisors at its 10 a.m., Tuesday, Sept. 6 meeting. Two incumbents and a challenger won Star Valley’s three contested council seats. Incumbents Gary Coon and Barbara Hartwell retained their seats. Coon had 329 votes, or 22.6 percent, and Hartwell received 303 votes, 20.8 percent. Challenger Bobby Davis won the third seat with 318 votes, or 21.8 percent. “I am very honored and flattered the citizens of Star Valley elected me to be on the council,” Davis said. “I want to give back to the community
Bobby Davis
Gary Coon
and be the best councilor I can be and help grow Star Valley any way I can,” he added. Tim Grier, town manager/attorney for Star Valley, said the winners will be sworn into office at the council’s Tuesday, Oct. 4 meeting. The meeting is at 6 p.m. in the Star Valley Town Hall. Losing the Star Valley council contest were incumbent George Binney, with 269 votes, or 18.5 percent, and challenger Ray
Barbara Hartwell
Armington, with 230 votes, or 15.8 percent. Who will represent the Town of Star Valley on the Gila County Board of Supervisors will be decided in the Nov. 8 general election when Republican challenger Woody Cline of Young faces incumbent John Marcanti, a Globe Democrat. Cline beat Payson Mayor Kenny Evans in the Aug. 30 Republican primary, 983 (54.1 percent) to 830 (45.7 percent).