In response to my request for comments regarding my post Who filled the potholes on Rose? LMC and Unit 7 road update I had several emails with District 4 Supervisor Jean Bishop.  This open letter is my most recent response and summarizes the issues.

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Ms. Bishop,

What do you mean I “claim” ownership?

As District 4 supervisor, are you NOT aware that EVERYBODY in LMC and Unit 7 owns their roads?

This bizarre and life threatening road situation affects many property owners outside Kingman city limits in YOUR District 4. Probably all those 1+ acre lots in the Dolan Springs and Meadview subdivisions are set up with the roads included in the private property.

Since it appears that you do not understand the issues, I’ll summarize the situation for you:

  • Many homeowners in your District 4 OWN the roads.
  • The COUNTY approved these subdivisions.
  • The COUNTY refuses to maintain the roads.
  • The COUNTY refuses to CLEAR the “county maintained” roads such as Charles immediately after destructive flash floods, endangering the residents’ lives as emergency vehicles can’t get to their houses and even trucks can’t get OUT to Pierce Ferry.

You stated that “the owner of the road, in this case – you would be legally liable” if someone gets hurt on “my” road.

I asked “since I can get SUED, can I put up a gate and close the road?”

You responded stating “since you claim ownership of the road in question, I would strongly suggest you contact an attorney for legal advice.”

Ms. Bishop, I’m not going to pay for legal advice unless I sue the County and/or you.

I have purchased several properties in District 4 and it was never disclosed to me that I could get SUED if someone got hurt on “my” road, which we are NOT legally allowed to block off as the public has an easement to use our roads.

Nor did anyone disclose that we are risking our lives living here because emergency vehicles may not be able to assist with life threatening emergencies for several days after storms.

This is a material omission and all real estate agents need to DISCLOSE the road dangers and liabilities to potential buyers.

Will you help raise awareness?

  • Will you assist me with getting the word out, such as with a COUNTY press release advising all real estate agents that they MUST disclose to potential buyers that they will risk their lives and livelihood when they purchase property here?
  • Can you provide guidance to property owners, such as what kind of maintenance they should perform and how often to avoid getting a giant judgment against them because someone got hurt or killed on their road?
  • Don’t you agree that ALL absentee owners should be notified by the County to ensure that the owners hire people to make the roads safe?  These absentee owners can not possibly know about their obligations and the risks involved with owning land here.

There are so many roads that are NOT passable (even with 4WD), not to mention all the roads that are barely passable.

It is so important that you finally get a grip on the issues the residents in your district are struggling with.

Mr. Bishop, it’s been a year since the catastrophic storms last summer and you have done nothing for us. I’m going to send out press releases, letters to editors, lawyers, etc. to inform the public and especially people considering moving to one of the planet’s most beautiful deserts — MOHAVE COUNTY. Unfortunately, it’s also one of the most corrupt and mismanaged counties and ill served by overpaid “DO NOTHING” elected officials like you.

Please FINALLY start doing your job and work for the District 4 residents.

Prepare a plan to fix this life threatening road situation and keep me informed so that my publications accurately reflect your positions and activities.

I just searched the web for any kind of online information about your opinions, priorities, goals and possibly even accomplishments, but I found NOTHING but a link to Facebook — where you had the audacity to block me.

It might be in your interest to unblock me on Facebook if you’re not the “DO NOTHING” supervisor you’re known as around here.   Did you discuss with your attorney the legality of blocking residents in your district on Facebook?

I recommend that you search the web for “legality elected official blocking on social media” and found numerous very relevant and interesting articles.  Here’s one:

https://www.arktimes.com/ArkansasBlog/archives/2017/03/17/public-officials-who-block-social-media-accounts-may-be-running-afoul-of-the-law:

Interesting report from Miami on an effort to stop a Florida politician from blocking critics from his Facebook page. It includes this:

Courts have repeatedly ruled that elected officials who discuss public matters on social media accounts are not allowed to block people or delete posts they don’t like, because those pages are used to disseminate public information. Courts have also ruled that politicians’ social accounts become public records once they use those pages to discuss official business.

Thank you,

Christine Baker


Sad fact:

While they won’t even give us a few loads of DIRT, the County actually paved roads in Meadview last year — excellent dirt roads used by maybe 5 cars/day.  The ultimate insult!