Council To Name New City Magistrate
2 officers to celebrate retirement
By Christina Fuoco-Karasinski
The News
The City Council will welcome a new member and a new magistrate and say farewell to two police officers during its regular meeting 7 p.m. Tuesday, December 2.
   The City Clerk will administer the ceremonial oath of office to new new City Councilman and former Mayor Doug Coleman.
   Meanwhile the council will appoint James Hazel the new city magistrate, replacing retiring Judge David Alexander. Hazel has requested the opportunity to publicly address Mayor John Insalaco and the City Council. This matter was postponed from the November 4 and November 18 meetings due to recruitment technicalities.
   At the top of the meeting, the council will present retirement plaques to Officer David Barnes, who retired from the Apache Junction Police Department on November 23 after serving the organization for 22 years, and Officer Joseph Shikany, who retired from the AJPD October 28 after 13 years of service.
   Also during the regular meeting, Pinal County Supervisor Sandie Smith will discuss the county’s accomplishments, and Library Director Pamela Loui will present a report about her organization.

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Benoist To Run For Mayor
By Christina Fuoco-Karasinski
The News
Noel Benoist, an activist in the current city recall election and founder and CEO of Glory to God United Ministries Inc., has become the first Apache Junction resident to throw his hat in the ring for the mayoral race set for March.
   He turned in his paperwork to the city clerk’s office on Wednesday, November 26. He said he is running for mayor after initially supporting current Mayor John Insalaco as well as Councilmembers Jeff Serdy, Robin Barker and Chip Wilson.
   “Unfortunately there was a little bit of a rough start of them listening to others,” Benoist said.
“Johnny (Insalaco, mayor) hasn’t done some of the things he promised he would do. I plan to clean up the town and set a better direction. Johnny’s a nice guy, but he doesn’t have the knowledge to set Apache Junction in a secure direction and I do.”
   Benoist said he would have run for office sooner, but Sen. John McCain was going to appoint him to a position if he was elected president.
   If elected, Benoist said he would vote to reduce the city’s sales tax and enhance Apache Junction’s historical recognition.
   “As far as I’m concerned, we have a lot of history that just has not been developed,” Benoist said. “Our history and historical sites are what gives us an advantage over every city in the nation. If we have historical sites on the National Register of Historic Places, that will promote the town and give us highway signage. In turn, it will get people in the town and increase revenue.”

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Babeu Makes Pre-Oath Moves In Sheriff’s Dept.
Doesn’t take office until January, but asks for 7 resignations; reclassifies 2 positions
By Christina Fuoco-Karasinski
The News
A month before his swearing- in ceremony, Republican sheriff-elect Paul Babeu has asked for the resignation of seven at-will employees at the Pinal County Sheriff’s Office. The positions of two others will be reclassified.
   Chief Deputy Jeff Kirkham, Deputy Chief Clint Lee, Patrol Bureau Capt. Ray Roerdink, as well as Pinal County Jail employees Chief Deputy of Jail Terry Altman, Jail Operations David Beauchamp, Support Services Michele McNeely and Accreditation Manager Deborah Powell have been asked for their voluntary resignations even though Babeu does not take office until January 1.
   “There’s seven at-will employees out of 700 to 800 employees for the sheriff’s office,” Babeu said. “It’s mainly comprised of the jail, the detention facility and operations, which is patrol, criminal investigations and other specialty units—everything from search and rescue to SWAT to the volunteer services and the posse to the civilian staff. That’s a pretty big operation.”
   Seven of those employees are “at-will,” he said, which means they are appointed by the sheriff.
 “What I’ve asked for in a formal letter to Sheriff Vasquez is a letter of resignation from each of these seven people. If they are interested, they may send me a letter of interest with their resume for consideration in my administration.”

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Lady Prospectors Go 3-2 In Turkey Shoot
By Chuck Baker
The News
The Lady Prospector varsity basketball team opened their season going 3-2 in the Queen Creek Turkey Shoot Tournament this past week, including a 50-19 victory over Casa Grande in the tournament’s 3rd-4th place.
   In “pool play” games on Monday of last week, Apache Junction opened with a 58-20 win over Higley, then lost a 42-41 heartbreaker against Tucson Sunnyside and closed out the day with a 45-16 win over Mesa Skyline.
   The Lady Prospectors came back on Tuesday morning for their final pool play game against what might be considered an arch rival for them in Mesa Desert Ridge and gave a solid effort despite a 52-44 loss to the Lady Jaguars.
   That loss to Desert Ridge gave Apache Junction a 2-2 record in their pool play games and by virtue of a tie-breaker of points allowed, put the Lady Prospectors second overall in their pool and matched up against Casa Grande, the second place team from a separate pool with a 3-1 record.

See B-1 and see HOOPS, page B-4