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Former and Present SFD Board Members Fail to Disclose Contractor Association

Sedona Fire Station #1

Sedona AZ (July 20, 2012) – In a Letter to the SedonaEye.com Editor, Sedona Arizona Village of Oak Creek resident, Wendy V. Tanzer, writes an opinion about potential conflicts of interest by present and recalled Sedona Fire District Governing Board members who failed to disclose professional and campaign funding relationships with a potential fire station contractor at the July 18, 2012 Sedona Fire District Board meeting:

Dear SedonaEye Editor, 

During the June SFD Governing Board meeting, two members of the Board told member Craig Dible he was overstepping Board authority by independently requesting cost estimates or bids for the mid-way station.

Sedona Fire Station

So I was quite surprised to see his discussion of the Midway Fire Station listed yet again on the July agenda. Mr. Dible’s persistence prompted some investigation and several questions. 

1. Does Mr. Dible realize ANY proposals provided under these circumstances are entirely invalid? There are legally mandated “Requests for Proposal” procedures that must be conducted by the Fire District – NOT rogue members of its Board – prior to consideration of any received proposals. Did he miss that step? Or do District requirements simply not apply to him? 

2. One of the two “cost estimates” Mr. Dible presented is from Seay Construction – whose letterhead indicates a business address exactly the same as that of recalled and subsequently defeated former SFD Board Chairman, David Blauert. Looking into the Contractor’s License number provided on that estimate, it revealed Dave Blauert as an “officer” of Seay Construction, Incorporated. 

AZ DPS Fire Rescue helicopter

3. The second “cost estimate” Mr. Dible presented is from Sun Ray Homes. The “qualifying party” on this Contractor’s License AND the signatory on the bid – is one and the same: Raymond Scott. Raymond Scott is not only on record as a substantial contributor to Mr. Blauert’s failed bid for re-election to the SFD Governing Board but Mr. Scott’s business address is exactly the same as that of DHS Partners — an endeavor in which Craig Dible and Raymond Scott are in business, together!

4. Is Mr. Dible aware of Arizona Statute prohibiting public officers from profiting “…during their service and for two years thereafter?” The penalty for such a violation can be as severe as a Class 5 Felony – as well as the offender being required to “…forfeit his public office if any,” or be “…forever disqualified from holding any office in the state.” 

This appears to be blatant, intentional, collusion.

Why would a seated SFD Governing Board member voluntarily involve himself in this kind of suspicious, potentially illegal, and certainly conspiratorial behavior?

Did he think no one would notice? No one would verify the information he was so selectively spoon-feeding us? No would subsequently discover his glaring misdeeds? 

Clearly, no member of the public should be complacent in believing any of the information disseminated by Mr. Dible to be fair, unbiased and/or without ulterior motive. Any credibility he might have previously enjoyed, has been destroyed – at his own hand. 

Wendy V. Tanzer
VOC, Sedona AZ

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21 Comments

  1. Dick Heguy says:

    Craig Dible has also taken an extreme interest in the development of the Cottonwood Dispatch center, constantly trying to move Sedona over to them and lose our outstanding Fire and Ems dispatching. His past behavior should raise a big red flag about this project and the Fire Board needs to be aware. I wouldn’t be surprised to find out that Mr. Dible has a financial connection somewhere. I was glad that the Fire chief stepped up and asserted his authority to be the point of contact for this evaluation. My experiences with Flagstaff Fire Dept. showed me what a huge mistake this could be.

  2. Tom Longo says:

    The video for the July 18th SFD Governing Board meeting is now available at http://www.sedonafire.org/news/meeting-videos/

  3. All I can say is WOW!!!!!!””. I mistakely thought Dible was an ego driven guy who thinks he is the Smartest Man In The World!!!!! After reading this article I realize his activities are potentially CRIMMINAL!!! All his nonsense at board meetings are beginning to make sense, not a humble servant, just a selfish man trying to protect his and his “buddies” financial interests!!!!! Dible you are Dumb Like A Fox and should resign immediately!!!!

  4. E.S. says:

    This has gone far enough! Let me repeat that this has gone far enough! Mr. Dible, resign and clearly state your intent to not seek public office again or you should face censure in the courts. Where do your fellow Board members stand on this? Now is the time to speak up and establish credibility. What does the new Chief Karzain have to say about this? The taxpayers should be told. Your news is better than any in town old or new. (Deleted) and (Deleted) and (Deleted) said that they want to put you out of business at a recent meeting, then say the harder they try the bigger you get! Here’s my donated $18. Give them hell and give the rest of us truth. Send them packing boys! Lots of us in Sedona and VOC don’t condone deliberate sabotage without taking action against Sedona mice that can’t do business without resorting to subterfuge. I hope others of you reading this will do what I just did. I just gave $18—- a lunch at the grill—-and for that we get Truth. Thank you fellows for letting people speak whether or not you fellows in the editing rooms agree. Fine work men! (I want the message to speak for itself—use E.S. and not (deleted). A name isn’t important—words are.) Did you know (Deleted) is affiliated with VVS?

    SedonaEye.com editor comment: In the interest of “initial” fairness, we deleted all names mentioned in this comment.

  5. Having been tipped off about the comment from “E.S.” this is to officially go on record that I am not the same person identified as “E.S.” who submitted the referenced opinion. I’ve no affiliation, connection, or knowledge of the true identity of that person.

    Eddie S. Maddock

    (SedonaEye.com editor: For the record and because Eddie S. Maddock is affiliated, connected to and acknowledged by SedonaEye.com as a columnist, we will verify that Eddie S. Maddock is indeed not the writer.)

  6. Craig Dible says:

    Until now, I haven’t bothered to respond to any of Wendy Tanzer’s repetitive and tiresome rants. But this time is different. I’ll explain why.

    Anyone who serves on a board, commission or other governing body becomes a “public figure.” That means you’re fair game for anyone who comes along to attack, insult or defame you – and there’s really not very much you can do about it.

    When I took my oath of office to be on the SFD Governing Board, I knew what I was getting into. I’ve held public office before and know how nasty it can get.

    But now Mrs. Tanzer has gone too far. She has defamed two private citizens and disparaged their good names and reputations.

    While assembling my Glenwood Springs Fire Station Proposal, I realized there was a critical piece of information missing: What would it cost?

    I asked two friends of mine, each of whom have been in the local contracting business for over 30 years, if they would mind doing professional construction cost estimates for me. They agreed and their estimates became part of the finished report I presented to my fellow SFD board members.

    True, one of the contractors rents office space in the Blauert Building and the other is a business partner of mine. But there was no “failure to disclose” this information because it’s completely irrelevant to what I had requested them to do. I just asked two friends, who knew the construction business, to help me out and they did.

    Additionally, in the warped and twisted conspiracy world of Wendy Tanzer, she states this might constitute a Class 5 Felony because I stand to make a profit while in public office.

    Remember that burger commercial where the elderly lady yelled, “Where’s the beef?”

    Well, Mrs. Tanzer, “Where’s the profit?”

    The whole accusation is just plain silly.

    What’s not silly is the damage to the good names and reputations of the two contractors involved.

    These people have lived here, raised their families and continue to do business in our community. Now she has smeared them and this may negatively impact their ability to attract future clients.

    In the old days, her ridiculous claims would have been confined to the local paper or heard at a public meeting. But now she has them posted on the Internet – twice.

    They will be embedded in the SFD Board Minutes and appear on The Sedona Eye. Any potential client, searching the Internet for information on either of these contractors, will see Mrs. Tanzer’s groundless indictments pop up when their names are entered.

    Nice job, Mrs. Tanzer. You must be proud.

    I have four more months to serve on the SFD Governing Board. I expect I’ll be hearing more from Mrs. Tanzer during that time. That’s fine. She has a right to her opinions and we all know how much she loves sharing them.

    But please, Mrs. Tanzer, at least have the class and common decency to stop attacking private citizens and defaming their good names and reputations.

  7. Mr. Dible,

    With regard to Mr. Blauert: He is NOT merely sharing office space with Seay Construction as you would have us believe. He is a listed “OFFICER” of the corporation! Big difference. HUGE. Nice try, though.

    Mr. Scott’s reputation has been neither defamed nor impugned, Mr. Dible. YOURS has!

    These people may very well have been merely “doing you a favor.” I didn’t place them in the spotlight, Mr. Dible, YOU did. And for what? “Your” Glenwood Springs Fire Station Proposal which would ultimately have been proven invalid?

    With regard to the potential Class 5 Felony: I’m sure if any conflict of interest or failure to disclose is determined – you’ll be notified by those in positions of authority. I merely pointed out sections of AZ Statute which MAY apply.

    Is it really “warped and twisted conspiracy theory” when the FACTS are self-evident? I have the documentation, Mr. Dible, rendering your assertion invalid. Again I say, “nice try, though.”

  8. Dick Heguy says:

    Nice try, Craig. The basic problem you have is that you have used your position on the Fire Board to further your agenda, and cover for your friends ( the recalled members who appointed you). You have been deceptive, manipulative, and have never been willing to admit that you have no experience, training or education about how to deliver public safety services.

    Your business and private relationships are very relevant, considering that you have tried to convince the public that you can deliver what they truly need for a cheap price. You are the one that needs to show some “class and common decency” to resign from the Fire Board. Everyone who has challenged you about your lack of knowledge, and your unethical behavior should be very proud of the service that they are doing for the residents of the Fire district.

    The so called private citizens that feel that their good names and reputations are being defamed should have thought of the consequences of getting in bed with you and your actions.

    You seem to have forgotten why you were appointed in the first place to the Fire Board. not for your experience or your knowledge, but your close relationship with the 3 recalled fire board members. Some may have forgotten, but many of us haven’t. Mrs Tanzer should be proud of her efforts, You, Mr.Dibble, should be ashamed. You have been caught in your web of deception. 4 months can’t come soon enough.

  9. VOC Resident says:

    Mr. Dible:

    I was very pleased to see you defend yourself about your questionable actions. But, I’m a little confused, you seem to think that just because you’re a public figure, you become fair game to attacks, insults and that there’s not much you can do about it, is that what you’re saying?

    Well sir, I think that you can do a lot to see that these things don’t happen to you. Forgive me if I’m wrong but, when does becoming a public figure give you the right to check your ethics and integrity at the door?

    So if you’re tired of the insults, why don’t you pull up your big boy pants and act like a respected public figure that you claim to be.

    You’re right about taking that oath of office but, someplace between taking that oath and sitting down at the Board table that first meeting, you and your three disgraced former Board members forgot that oath.

    Wow, you say you asked two friends of yours, you mean Dave Blauert and your friend Mr. Scott who is noted on page 2 of 9 on Dave’s Campaign Finance Report as donating $250 AND he’s a business partner of yours but, that’s just a coincidence right, Mr. Dible? Of course you don’t see anything wrong with that. But, you see, because you ARE a public figure, you darn well SHOULD have seen something wrong with that.

    The problem that you seem to have Mr. Dible is just as Mrs. Tanzer said; you must think that the rules don’t apply to you. Remember that oath that you took, I’m sure that someplace along the way, presenting bids from your “friends” would be questionable especially when one is a FORMER Board member.

    VOC Resident 22 years

  10. Neva says:

    Mr. Dible,

    Maybe you should have quit while you were ahead. It would appear these are more than mere accusations. Since the statements have been made in public, in the media and signed with real names, I would think that carries a lot of weight with the public. It is impressive to some of us that your accusers are doing it right to your face, and have been able to dismantle your every argument. Perhaps you ought to just lay low for the next few months, until you can slink off back to that rock you crawled out from under. Your devious dealings are much less noticeable when you work behind the scenes on your buddies’ losing campaigns.

  11. Tom Longo says:

    Neva,

    I agree with almost all you had to say, except for “Perhaps you ought to just lay low for the next few months, until you can slink off back to that rock you crawled out from under.” For the good of the organization and for his personal reputation, since he is now a huge target, he should resign NOW before he is forced to resign under indictment and possible prosecution. If that were to happen, there won’t be a rock big enough for him to hide under.

    Tom Longo
    Sedona, AZ

  12. Craig Dible says:

    Many of us still remember that old TV series, The A Team, where Hannibal Smith would say, “I love it when a plan comes together.”

    Well, Mrs. Tanzer, your plan isn’t coming together – it’s falling apart.

    Your well-orchestrated campaign of unsupported accusations and personal attacks is not going to succeed. The mud is not going to stick. And your credibility is melting like ice cream on a hot summer day.

    For example, you state that the information provided by the two contractors were “cost estimates” for the Glenwood Springs Fire Station design. Nothing more than that.

    But then you go on, portraying these voluntary acts as “blatant, intentional, collusion.” Further, you call it “suspicious, potentially illegal, and certainly conspiratorial behavior.” And finally, one of my “glaring misdeeds.”

    Let’s forget the hyperbole and look at the facts.

    For the sake of argument, we’ll say the Glenwood Springs Fire Station design had been accepted by the SFD Board and advanced to the actual bidding stage. Now obviously, at that point, any relationship I had with these two contractors would need to be disclosed and I’d have to recuse myself from participation in the contractor selection process.

    But the project never even got close to that point. The Glenwood Springs Fire Station design was rejected at the July 18th SFD Board Meeting when the majority of the members voted to approve the bigger, more expensive LEA Chapel Station design.

    As to the accusation that one of the contractors has a business relationship with Dave Blauert, I asked the owner of Seay Construction about that. She told me Mr. Blauert helped her start the business by signing on as an officer. However, she also informed me that he hasn’t actively participated or involved himself in any of Seay Construction’s projects for more than four years.

    So, I guess this wasn’t as HUGE as you claimed, either.

    But, again, none of this matters because the Glenwood Springs Fire Station never got past the proposal stage because it was rejected. And the only thing these contractors provided were “cost estimates.” Period.

    What does matter is the potential damage done by you to the two contractors who must continue to do business here.

    Knowing of your fondness for citing the law, I know you will appreciate reviewing one of the classic standards for determining defamation: Attacks on a person’s professional character or standing.

  13. VOC Resident says:

    Mr. Dible:

    Since you like to go back to old saying’s, how about this one:

    If it quacks like a duck and swims like a duck, IT’S A DUCK!

    If Dave Blauert, a recalled and voted out member of the Board signed on as “an officer” then he’s AN OFFICER of the corporation. Just because he just sits on his butt and doesn’t do anything doesn’t make him less of an officer.

    When you say that none of this matters, YOU’RE WRONG Mr. Dible because YOU as a public figure, went too far by presenting the “cost estimates” without disclosing. That matters a whole lot to this community.

  14. Mr. Dible, you keep saying that you “look at the facts” but you keep trying to twist those FACTS to defend misstatements. Chief Kris has already said very clearly that your “less expensive” Glenwood Springs fire station is NOT really less expensive because it is LACKING many expensive vital components needed for a “real” fire station. So, once again, you are not speaking facts.

    So who shall we listen to; a retired teacher who has no knowledge about the firefighting field or a highly educated professional fire fighter that, in his short time in Sedona, has quickly gained the community’s trust and respect?

  15. Unfortunately for you, the FACTS, even though you are trying your best to twist them around to benefit your unethical behavior, speak for themselves.

    As a public figure, appointed to represent all of the residents within the Sedona Fire District, you are expected to function with the highest of standards and act in a manner that’s beyond reproach. You need to make sure that your actions are never even” perceived” as potential conflicts of interest. Unfortunately, you have gone well beyond that stage and you are now within the area that points to your having committed acts of impropriety with the aid of a former SFD board member who has been recalled, Dave Blauert.

    Do yourself and your constituents a favor… stop while you are ahead and resign on your own volition from the SFD board while you still can, instead of being forced to resign under mounting pressure from various sources.

  16. Rich Collister says:

    My God Diable!!!! You sound like a baby who got caught with his hand in the cookie jar!!! “Well my hand was’nt really in there” or “well it was in there but I was’nt trying to take nothing”!!!

    You are a coward!!!! Your outright lies, your constant misstating the facts, seem to only prove that you KNOW that you and your buddy Blauert were acting inappropiately if not criminal!!!. Be a Man and resign your position on the board…

  17. Mr. Dible…

    Do you realize what your most recent post reveals? When all your cliched vitriol tired simile and long-ago sitcom references are eliminated, you quite clearly indicate how keenly aware you have been ALL ALONG of a potential “disclosure” issue.

    Yet you believe that foreknowledge to be irrelevant? And you decided it would only be necessary to disclose that information, when?

    Obviously not during the presentation of “cost estimates.” Nor during any consideration thereof. Only AFTER acceptance of your “proposal” would you have made the necessary disclosures. Up to and including the possibility of recusing yourself from any subsequent votes. See paragraph seven of your post.

    Isn’t that interpretation of your obligations(s) to the public trust conveniently self-serving? Many of us certainly believe so.

    Again, as to Mr. Blauert: Regardless of his involvement or lack thereof in construction projects, he IS undeniably an Officer of the Corporation. Still HUGE.

    Also, again – in case it wasn’t made abundantly clear in my last post: It is not innocent contractors whose reputations have been damaged, Mr. Dible. It is YOURS. Try as you might to divert responsibility for what you describe as their plight, facts are facts. YOU pulled their good names into the frey.

    Matters of public record are exactly that. My listing them in any public forum is NOT defamation. What law books are your reading?

  18. Mr. Dible,
    By now we are all aware that you are not being straight with your constituents. You remind me of a dog that’s trying to get out of a hole and making the hole deeper every time you try. You are far more impressed with yourself than the rest of your constituents are. You may have been an excellent teacher in Beverly Hills, but you are a real dud when it comes to being a SFD board member. You were appointed by your cronies as a way of a “thank you” for helping them in their campaign. If you were a Police or Fire Chief you would get a “no confidence vote.” You are an example of what a SFD Governing Board member should NEVER do. The only reason you were not recalled with the other three compatriots, is that you were appointed. Time to go back to sitting in the back of the room at the SFD Board meetings!

  19. kenny says:

    OMG…..Let me start by saying, I’ve watched this whole “Chapel Fire Station” debate go on now for several years. From thousands of dollars being wasted by throwing out approved plans to sign stealing, to the highly successful recall, and now finally an approval to start plans on the new station……but wait….I knew it was too good to be true!!!

    We’ve got one last board member that just cannot bring himself to call upon his God given integrity to tell the truth. Mr. Dible, can you re-recite your oath for this position please….online I mean. Maybe typing and seeing the words in front of you will remind you of the trust that was given to you. This Fire Station will be something to be proud of. The time and effort of the people in that community that gave of themselves for this cause have shown many of us what a real “A” Team is about. Craig Dible, you’ve let the A Team down…….”I love it when a REAL plan comes together!”

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