Quartzsite Politics Will Affect Returning RVers
Posted May 20th 2009 by Russ and Tiña De Maris
In Quartzsite, politics is a full-contact sport.
It could be that one of the next expenditures of town funds will be for the installation of a bell and the hiring of a ring-side referee. This month the local news sphere simply illustrates the matter: The town clerk has certified a recall election for two members of the town council: Carolyn Guthrie and Bill Moore. Other council members were also on the docket for recall, but their recalls weren’t certified due to technicalities. Included among them was the mayor, Walt Akin.
Mayor Akin has apparently had enough. Last week Walt announced his resignation as mayor due to “health reasons,” and told anyone willing to listen that he was removing himself not only from town politics, but the town itself. Akin will leave Arizona for an indeterminite time to get treatment for a heart condition. If stress is a contributor to heart problems, no doubt he’ll need plenty of time away.
The town finds itself caught in a desert duststorm of rumor and controversy. The local rumor mill has it that the town is nigh unto (if not fully enveloped) in bankruptcy. The town council recently voted to cut its members reimbursement by $100 a month (nearly a quarter) and to curtail payments to any council member who fails to show up for council meetings without a valid excuse.
To try and shore up the other side of the ledger sheet, the council has also implemented a change in the town’s tax code that will take a larger bite out of most RVers coming to visit. Some time back the town had instituted a 2.5% local sales tax on all restaurant and bar sales. Rather than letting the tax die, the council has kept it on, and increased it to 3.0%. Buy a “buckaburger” at McDonalds, and your out-the-door price will be $1.10. Many feel a 10 cent sales tax on anything is pretty steep, but on a bit of chow, well, we’ll let you decide. RVers should be glad that they have their own rooms on wheels: The town also bumped the “motel and hotel” tax from 2.5% to a whopping 5.5%.
The desert winds also blow in rumors that vendors are all but “done with” Quartzsite. We hear this one every year. We talked to long-time vendor-cum-dog-groomer, Jade, about this one. Jade says in her privy conversations with other QZ vendors that this year was in the minds of many, “Much better than expected, considering the economy.” Jade says retail vendors actually had pretty fair sales, while wholesalers for the most part said, “They didn’t lose money, so we’ll probably come back next year.”
When they do, who will be in office down at town hall? With Akin’s step-down, the town faces finding it’s fifth mayor in just a bit over a year. Death, tax scandal, unpopularity, and “health issues,” seem to take their toll on whoever sits in the town’s hot seat. What’s the problem? An oft-heard cry is that those who attain to office want to transform Quartzsite into something new and different, rather than being content to let it be what made it popular among snowbirds: A quirky place that thrived in winter, and dried up like a tomato vine when the sprinkler dies in summer.
Our prediction? Snowbirds will come back next year, enjoy the sunsets and the crowded vendor lanes, and go home in time to file their 1040 forms.
photo courtesy podknox on flickr.com
May 23rd, 2009 at 9:01 am
This year was our 6th in a row at Quartzsite. This year vendors (big tent) had the atmosphere of a home show & not one dealing with RV’s. That change was not for the better IMHO. Others in our group mentioned that Yuma was now a better place to spend time & $. I was not aware of the political problems, as mentioned above, but vendors were heard to talk about their fee increase for a space & tax collecting. The increase in the cost of doing business can be expected. The balancing act to keep vendors & RV owners from going to other locations may have tipped to going elsewhere in the near future. Our group would not be missed in the Quartzsite desert but have to wonder how many others have the same idea.
I don’t have the answer & it’s easy to say “just get your act together Quartzsite!”…..fee space increases & a higher tax rate only look good on paper…we, the people, can make it happen or not happen for you.
May 23rd, 2009 at 9:28 am
I was disappointed in my visit to Quartzsite. It was hard to find a place to eat or stay. Everything was closed. Granted it was off season but people do travel all year. And I find myself in the oddest places at the wrong times but it still makes it all interesting. Will I be there in the winter, maybe. I do like gem shows.
May 23rd, 2009 at 10:42 am
I got ticked at the nickle and dimeing in Q last winter… This winter I will only go there as a day trip from the Slabs.
May 23rd, 2009 at 7:17 pm
We come to Q every year and enjoy the time we spend out in the desert. We felt it started to change when all the large RV dealers moved in and started forcing out the small vendors that had been there. We were glad to see many of the large dealers gone this year. Now if we can just get some real RV stuff back in the tent.
May 24th, 2009 at 6:03 am
I for one would like to see Quartzsite return to what it was a few years ago. I am a Canadian Snowbird that was attracted to Arizona by the old Quartzsite.
I have seen Quartzsite change over the past few years and if more of the same occurs I unfortunately wont be back.
May 24th, 2009 at 8:38 am
While being a very unique snowbird destination, Quartzsite suffers from the same syndrome as all cities and towns. A few may wonder what that may be but the average conservative RV’er knows. Do-gooders trying to fix something that ain’t really broke. I have spent winters in the big Q off and on since 1994. There are those who were attracted to Q because it was what it was. Then they buy a full time lot or house and want to change what brought them there. Of course state and federal government can’t leave anything alone. They have both contributed their share of financial burdens.
Mess with RV’ers long enough and often enough and they go away. That’s why we live on rubber and not concrete. Ask the long time residents of Blythe about what was and what left.
The economy is a factor in downturn of winter visitors but I have noticed that some don’t stay as long as before. There are more who just pass thru now. If you gotta pay the same why not go where you get the most bang for the buck? Like maybe Yuma.
Water seeks it’s own level. Leave the vendors alone. Keep city license fees to a very low minimum, and lower that sales tax and don’t over regulate. The LTVA fee’s are creeping up every year. Back off. Once a park ranger said that if ( they can afford quarter million dollar RV’s they can afford to pay to stay). My comment is ( How did those folks get those high buck rigs ? ). They worked hard and saved money and now want live a new way of life and not pee their money away.
I’ll be in the big Q again this coming winter. I do, however, find myself stocking up on the things I need before I get there and eat more meals in my RV as to not pay that HIGH tax.
My last comment concerns Wi-Fi at the library. Who or what gives them the right too censor what can be viewed on my computer? Their web blocker settings are bordering on constituional rights infingement. I tried to google the going price for a rifle and kept getting blocked. Downloads were also hard to complete because of the web blocker settings.
The big Q is perhaps as close as you can get to the old west in the 21st century. A town with unique characters. Some may be on the run and others just trying to get by with what little they have. Others can buy and sell the whole town and many times you can’t tell them apart. You may be talking to a full time bum ( such as myself ) or a nuclear physicist. So maybe for all it’s political turmoil you still gotta love it.
Long live the big Q.