MOHAVE COUNTY – Chairman Hildy Angius declared a Yucca man her enemy during the Jan. 16 Mohave County Board of Supervisors meeting in Kingman. She railed against Greg Befort after he spoke in opposition to her proposal to adopt a resolution professing Mohave County support for the people and nation of Israel and their right to defend against terrorist attacks in the Middle East.
Befort told Angius she had been misinformed or misguided.
“You’re being lied to about this conflict just like everything else,” Befort said. “Israel is a Zionist, apartheid state.”
Befort further asserted that Israeli influence permeates the administration of President Joe Biden and grips America.
“Go ahead and pull out anti-semitic stuff,” Befort challenged. “Go ahead. You know what to do with it. This has nothing to do with being anti-semitic.”
“Thank you Mr. Befort. As a Jew, I now know that you’re my mortal enemy, she said, referencing demonstrators at the Arizona State Capitol when the legislature convened its 2024 session on Jan. 2. “Like the Palestinian protesters that were there on opening day, I consider you an enemy.”
James Jones, Kingman, chastised Angius for “bringing your religion” into the Board meeting and county politics by introducing the resolution.
“I’m America first,” Jones said. “This is not America first. It’s globalism and it’s divisive.”
Jennifer Esposito, Kingman, said previous Mohave County Second Amendment and Sanctuary County declarations, as well as the newly-proposed pro-Israeli declaration, have no force or effect, and are essentially “meaningless.”
Golden Valley resident Steve Robinson sided with Angius. He said her resolution has nothing to do with Zionism and serves as a symbolic statement against violence, murder and other atrocities inflicted by Hamas.
The Board voted 4-1 to adopt the resolution. Supervisor Jean Bishop dissented, contending international political declarations are beyond the scope of Mohave County government.
Angius also drew push back for suggesting consideration of moving the Call to the Public toward the end rather than the start of Mohave County board meetings. She essentially withdrew the item after few spoke in favor of the meeting reform.
“I wanted to talk about it. I wanted to hear everybody’s insight,” she said. “I’m going to ask the Board to take no action.”
Angius said discussion of the matter could lead to other board meeting format changes that might better balance the need to allow citizen comment while also handling business during supervisorial sessions.
Kris Rodarte, Kingman, told supervisors she spends considerable time conducting research and composing her Call to the Public presentations to make maximum use of her three minutes to educate the Board.
“In many cases I am compelled to alert the others to the unconstitutional decisions being enacted in this county,” Rodarte said.
Topock resident Karen De Shazer summoned an infamous Tom Hanks line from the Forrest Gump film to express her view.
“The Call to the Public, in my opinion, is like a box of chocolates. You never know what you’re going to get,” De Shazer said. “It’s the best part of the Board of Supervisor meetings.”
