GV business closing is a tragedy

EDITOR’S NOTE: Mohave County Newspapers and The Standard firmly supports and encourages the use of mask and social distancing during the pandemic.

Dear Editor,

Tragically, here in our serene corner of Arizona, we are slapped in the face with actions reminiscent of the the old Soviet Union’s KGB or of Hitler’s Gestapo or of East Germany’s Stasi secret police.

A single anonymous tip by some spineless cretin has shut down a stellar example of private enterprise in Golden Valley and Mohave County. The Great American Pizza Company has been, from day one, a shining example of entrepreneurial excellence in a community that desperately needs successful businesses. This business has been immensely popular, with an ever increasing customer base. People gladly drive from as far away as Lake Havasu to the south, Seligman to the east and from Meadview to the north. The crowds are always convivial and they always spend money here in low-income Golden Valley. Money spent here is immediately translated into tax revenue for Mohave County and the State of Arizona. How much tax money has the action of one spineless snitch cost the residents of Mohave County and our great State? Then we must consider the actual cost to the taxpayers of our county, as the various county employees have to be paid for their time and transportation expense in pursuing this effort. Then, stop and consider just how much ripple effect cash this anonymous rat’s action has cost surrounding businesses who also benefited from the crowds of people who patronized the Great American Pizza Company. These folks not only enjoyed good food and companionship while dining and visiting, they also purchase goods and services from other worthy area busineses on their travels to and from Golden Valley.

Could it be that this anonymous caller is a person who felt put-upon because he or she had to wait more than ten minutes as they might’ve at some of the less savory quickie pizza shops? Or could it be that a pizza joint elsewhere in the community felt that the Great American Pizza Company was taking away business from their shop? Or could it be that some self-appointed and self-righteous small-minded guardian of the public welfare took it upon himself or herself to destroy a very popular, thriving business just to satisfy their oversized ego?

In today’s electronic, digital world, no telephone call or caller can remain truly anonymous. The initiator of the call leaves, like it or not, a digital trail leading right back to the caller. A strenuous effort should be initiated to trace back to the origin of that call that has killed a thriving business and dis-employed a number of good hardworking people. The livelihood of those employees of that business who are now displaced, has been cruelly taken from them. Instead of contributing to the community by their purchase of groceries and gasoline and their payment of a mortgage on a home, they will now be a drain on the taxpaying public as they have to seek unemployment benefits in order to survive this untimely action.

Now, in today’s especially contentious political climate, serious consideration must be given also to the possibility of political subterfuge. Could it be that some unscrupulous person might’ve engineered a hit against County Supervisor Jean Bishop via this round-about route to a recall? Bishop had no hand in this debacle until after the fact. Who might stand to gain the most from such a complicated and costly back-stabbing? It seems to be a long way to go just to begin a doomed recall on very short notice. Does the timing, this close to election, smell to you like overaged fish? How and why did Supervisor Bishop get targeted, and by whom? Who stands to benefit most? Dare we ask, is there a possibility that it might be a political rival? Look at who took any action in this series of events. The Governor’s office issued a mandate statewide. The county health department is said to be guilty only of enforcing a covid-19 mandate from the governor’s office. The initiator of the anonymous call that began this mess took advantage of the mandate. The Mohave County Department of Health was obliged by law to investigate an anonymous complaint. The business owner, quite rightly feels aggrieved and wants to lash out at someone. I believe he has chosen very much the wrong target in Jean Bishop.

It is tragic that a popular, thriving business is hurt and its owner is rightfully enraged. It is tragic that working people are displaced. It is tragic that mud has been slung and that good peoples’ names have been besmirched. It is tragic that the sick, weak mind of some unidentified grub has the power to create chaos and hurt within our community. If the recall of Supervisor Bishop is successful, it will cost the taxpayers of Mohave county somewhere around one hundred thousand dollars of taxpayers’ money. The lump who made the anonymous call will not pay the tab. We, the taxpaying public will bear the burden. Do you, as a taxpayer, want to shoulder this burden? The original phone call is the act of an unprincipled coward. The initiation of a recall, which is quite likely to fail, raises the question, “Do we, are we, as responsible citizens and taxpayers, willing to tolerate short sighted recalls of elected officials?”

The real tragedy in this is that there are so many directions to look and so many targets for an angry response to the anguish suffered by so many. The political turmoil so prevalent in our country right now, is hideous. The toxic political atmosphere lends its venom to far too many issues, and in this case the issues are far too close to home and far too painful to far too many good people.

I say look to the original point of ignition and find the person whose cowardly mutterings in a phone call have caused all this, then vent your anger there. Our beautiful County and its beautiful people do not deserve this sort of garbage being thrust upon them.

Jack Homell

Golden Valley