OT: Here I go, I will run for a seat on city council.

Recall backers gun for AJ council seats

Independent Newspapers

In midst of recall efforts targeting six members of the Apache Junction City Council, two residents have become the first to announce their intentions of seeking a seat on council should any of the recalls succeed.

Claiming they want to put an end to corruption and favoritism, Shannon Flynn and Jim Stephens have announced plans to run for potential council seats left vacant by a successful recall, including the seat of mayor.

Recall petitions have been pulled for Apache Junction Council members Richard Dietz, Joseph Severs, Jeff Serdy, Robin Barker, and Vice Mayor R.E. Eck and Mayor John Insalaco.

Mr. Stephens, a Retired Apache Junction Police Department property and evidence specialist, says he is ready for a change.

"We have put together a foundry of people to clean up the corruption," he said. "We need a strong city council and a strong city manager."

Mr. Stephens says council operates on a system of favors, which he claims are done for friends of council members.

"I don’t mean they are making money under the table, but they are a part of the good-ol-boy society. They are providing favors for friends and city employees," explains Mr. Stephens. "I have no personal agendas, I am doing this because it (the city) is too corrupt."

Mr. Stephens believes corruption — coupled with insubordination and a lackadaisical morale on part of city workers — are the reasons behind his campaign to seek office.

While working with the police department, Mr. Stephens claims to have witnessed city employees who didn’t want to work, taking three- to four- hour lunch breaks and officers not upholding "military chain-of-command."

He says police officers would not inform superiors of internal complaints, instead going around the "chain of command" and informing city officials of issues within the department.

"It is time to change — past time," says the retired city employee. "We are the laughing stock of the Valley."

Mr. Stephens feels the key to the city’s success is to look at development within city limits rather than acquiring state land.

"We have industry walking away from us because we have a city council not willing to listen," he said. "We have eyesores on Apache Trail; let’s develop those."

Shannon Flynn, the first resident to pull a recall petition, says corruption is nothing new to the City of Apache Junction.

"There is a lot of stuff that has been going on for years out here," she said. "They were suppose to clean it up and I have not seen that happen."

Ms. Flynn says her motivation for initiating a recall effort and seeking an Apache Junction political seat is to improve the quality of government for residents.

"(Present council members) are not the public servants they said they were going to be," the recall backer said. "If you can’t do a job and keep the rights of people in play, you shouldn’t be doing it. There are a lot of personal agendas on the council, especially by the mayor."

She feels the constant bickering amongst council members is destructive.

"There is a complete divide among council members," Ms. Flynn points out. "It is not about public right; it is about political power."

Apache Junction Mayor John Insalaco says he is acting within the best interests of the community.

"I am not going to respond to criticism, because I am not going to lower myself to respond," he said. "Anybody can run, that’s fine. That is their prerogative, that is their right."

Ms. Flynn’s recall petition can be turned in no later than April 1, but Mr. Stephens says their campaign will beat that date "considerably."