Who is Richard Oldham?

Richard Oldham is a local businessman, who has spent some 65 of his 72 years in Quartzsite, Arizona.

His parents ran a small bee business and his father [Charles] was an outdoorsman -- as was his grandfather, a ranger. Oldham grew up in Quartzsite where his parents often left him to watch their property while they moved bees throughout the region between Quartzsite and Flagstaff.

The area became his life.

He was licensed to fly at the age of 19. Working in Prescott at an auto  dealership, he became the private pilot for his boss, the dealership owner there.

When he was 24, he purchased the Chevrolet dealership in Parker, just 35 miles north of Quartzsite. When the opportunity arose to move to California and Chevrolet offered him the opportunity to purchase a dealership there, he still continued keeping an active interest in the La Paz County area.

He was more than moderately successful.

As the 1980's began a boom time for Quartzsite, Oldham developed a piece of property he had assisted his mother in purchasing -- a property she sold when she and her husband, Harland Shepherd, needed money to invest in the Roadrunner Market, another Quartzsite business.

He purchased more property to go with the parcel already purchased [130 acres] adding another 65 acres. Oldham first built an RV park and then a mobile home park.

He went on to develop a mobile home sales lot and still runs that, along with being a purveyor of classic cars and other popular autos.

Oldham was always a progressive minded, charismatic individual who found ready acceptance in the field of politics in the area.

Deciding that the water and sewer issues facing the town were so onerous that they would prevent municipal growth, Oldham flew his private plane around the area and drew up the boundaries to establish the perimeters of what would be the Quartzsite township.

Under his direction, the Quartzsite Chamber of Commerce board eventually set about the business of becoming the first councilmen.

Oldham was unanimously appointed to be the town's first Mayor, a position he would later win twice more.

The town was underway and these were good times for everyone.

In 1987, Oldham's wife, Timmie, who became the model for first his dealership ads and later a company spokesman for other of Oldham's endeavors, was diagnosed with early onset Alzheimer's Disease.

As Oldham slowed his political activities to assist his wife, a new player announced his intentions to join in on Quartzsite's political scene.

Rex Byrd, proud of his history as a Teamster, ran for and won a position on the council. The two had been friends, Oldham providing him access to various pieces of his own earth moving equipment -- and supporting Byrd in his interest in the council.

But the friendship quickly faded when Byrd drilled two wells for Oldham that were not functional. When Oldham complained about the non standard wells, Byrd attempted to sue Oldham in court. The case crumbled as the judge reviewed the facts surrounding the disagreement between the two men and he fined Byrd and demanded the wells be completed in working order.

In lieu of damages, he also demanded that Byrd pay Oldham's court and defense costs.

Byrd reportedly indicated that this finding cost him $72,000.00.

He soon announced his intention to become the fourth Mayor of Quartzsite.

Hosting BBQs and criticizing Oldham using printed materials and a word of mouth campaign, Byrd ran for and won the Mayoral position.

Following Byrd's election, Oldham continued to follow the town's progress and complained that the town's resources were being squandered. Byrd was again vocal in his criticism of Oldham and openly aired his frustration as the situation escalated.

Byrd was ultimately named by the Department of Public Safety in a plot to murder Oldham.

Acting in an undercover capacity, an agent stationed in Quartzsite to investigate illegal gun sales, the agent indicated he had been solicited to carry out a contract 'hit' on Oldham.

Interested in making certain that officials would be able to gather indictments against all of the participants in what they described as a conspiracy, the Department of Public Safety orchestrated the staging of a scene intended to convince Oldham's enemies that he had, indeed, been murdered.

Undercover agents took Oldham out into the desert and staged a scene that included placing his 'corpse' under an ironwood tree, hat askew, body posed to appear as though he had, indeed, been murdered. The various agents took an abundance of photographs to ensure the perpetrators would be convinced of his demise.

Oldham, meanwhile, was directed to leave the area and go to California until the 'sting operation' against 'the conspirators' had been carried out.

The coming months were filled with details of the trial that concluded in the conviction of Rex Byrd. The individual that actually paid the money and participated in other elements of the incident pleaded guilty.

After less than a year in prison, this second individual was utilized to bring questions concerning Byrd and Byrd was released. He resumed his position as Mayor of Quartzsite and lost to Patty Bergen in the following election.

Byrd died in December of 2001.

To think that there is 'a feud' that has extended ten years beyond the death of one of these men is unrealistic to even the most naive.

Instead, a detailed review of the situation and the records available readily verify that Oldham's businesses and properties have, indeed, been under a steady barrage of fire from the existing town council -- which has necessitated he remain apprised of their actions. Oldham has strongly indicated he has no interest in running for office [the last time he ran was 8 years ago] and that his interests no longer include participating in local politics.

He, like others in the community, has watched local property values plummet while property ownership expenses are soaring. As a successful businessman, it is disconcerting to see the level of interest the town's officials dedicate to trying to convince onlookers that 'a feud' that culminated in a conviction in 1994 [now nearly 20 years ago] could somehow be used as an excuse to continue to intimidate and attack area businesspeople -- even blaming it for the 'political unrest' happening throughout the community.

"I am not the only person in town that they are attacking -- that needs to be said. There are others -- anyone that opposes their agendas soon comes under fire from the town's officials. But specifically, in my case, they have attacked my businesses with selective audits and even double taxation. When I defend myself legally with attorneys and and documented proof -- they have resorted to actual property destruction.

When the town indicated my 20+ year old runway at the Main Event property on the edge of town should no longer be in existence -- and I hired a land rights law firm from Phoenix to defend my interests -- they sent two graders to tear 'a road' through the runway, using the town's equipment to destroy personal property while the police chief attended to oversee the destruction.

When I asked for the records to include in my case to show who ordered those graders to come to the Main Event and destroy the runway, I was told there was no record. When I, and others, have used the Freedom of Information Act in an attempt to obtain proper documentation, those requests have --more often than not --been completely ignored. The town's officials are even now under fire from the State of Arizona Ombudsman's office for ignoring viable FOIA requests from many of our citizens.

When I have attempted to speak to the Town Manager concerning any issue with my properties, she has used town personnel to return my call with the message, "Have your lawyers call our lawyers."

I frequently field calls from my employees telling me that Al Johnson is again on one of my properties taking pictures.

Johnson, a California resident, started his 'position' here telling everyone that he's related to Town Manager Alex Taft. He came to me when he first started working in Quartzsite asking me to assist him in learning how to tell if a mobile home is properly set up. I assisted him at that time. However, soon after he became the building inspector, strange things began happening.

Johnson was seen, during a period when the Town Clerk, Karen Norris, was out of town, loading boxes of documents from the Town Hall building into his trunk.

When this was questioned, a written report from Town Manager Alexandra Taft was received stating that 'Johnson was removing documents for recycling.'

Since there is a very large recycling bin within a block of the Town Hall property, this excuse for the removal of town hall documents while Ms. Norris was out of town seems less than plausible.

Shortly thereafter, I was contacted by Mr. Johnson who began asking questions about a steel building I had moved from one of my properties [Desert Gardens Sales Lot #1] that I had moved to the Main Event West property that I had purchased.

Johnson indicated that the documents involving the Building Inspection for this move -- handled by the previous Building Inspector, Marc Skogland, were not in my file.

An interview with Marc Skoglund quickly showed that Skogland would stand by his original inspection, the records of which he indicated were 'absolutely in the Oldham files' at the Building Inspector's office at Town Hall. Skoglund also indicated that he would provide this information under oath, if necessary, and guaranteed that he would abide by stipulations of a subpoena and provide his testimony pertinent to the records he had created during his tenure at Quartzsite as the Building Inspector.

Johnson, though, promptly issued 9 criminal citations to Oldham over the erection of the steel building. Two weeks later, he issued another 9 criminal citations.

It was reportedly these criminal citations -- the first batch of which was tossed by the Quartzsite prosecutor, Matt Newman -- that resulted in the firing of Newman.

Newman, a highly regarded attorney with a perfect performance record, was quoted in the Arizona Republic Sunday July 17, 2011: "I  was saying the criminal law is too important to use for political purposes. There were several cases where I said, "No, I'm not going to file criminal complaints."

The second batch of criminal citations is still pending.

The Record

●  The Main Event West
●  The Main Street Swap Meet
●  Desert Gardens Mobile Home Sales
●  McDonnell-Douglas [a private storage facility]

After the Video

• Stewart Rhodes is a Yale educated, award winning attorney. It was Stewart Rhodes that stepped up to become the attorney for myself and Jennifer Jones.
  
  
  
• It's imperative that videos such as this find their way into the public forum  to show what is happening in places such as this. There is a lot of propaganda being circulated which, of course, is to be expected. It is up to each of us to dig for the truth.
  
  
• You will notice that this site is dedicated to giving you unvarnished information, with the documents available to back it up.

THE TIMELINE

Quartzsite has a lengthy history of corruption.

Is there a feud? No. This is simply the 'approved method' of muddying the water in the hope that you won't dig any deeper.

Don't fall for it. Instead, FOLLOW THE MONEY.