Former city employee encourages attendance at Merit Board hearing

Today, I am writing to inform the citizens of Maricopa of the possibility of an injustice if you don't stand up and let your voices be heard.

We all have points in our lives where we will wish and hope someone will stand up to take names on our behalf and prevent injustices and bigotry. We all look to others to stop bigotry but we so easily pass this responsibility ourselves.

I am here to vouch for Lt. Willy Payne and to ask you, the citizens of Maricopa, to do something you can be proud of and lend him your ear. Willy has a Merit Board meeting tomorrow for a variety of reasons. He is scared to death that bigotry will win and no one will fill that room when all he wants to do is tell the truth and bring much of the goings on, from his perspective, to light.

I can say with certainty why Willy Payne is being terminated.

Four years ago I went against a group of criminals as they tried to destroy William Kelleher’s reputation and drive him out of this town — a tactic used so many times with this group. I cried with Kelleher, and prayed that someday his sacrifices would be counted.

I turned to my then acquaintance, Willy Payne, and told him, “Willy, something is happening here, I don’t understand but I’m scared for others and I need your faith.”

Willy made the choice to sacrifice his own dignity and reputation to go to bat for my friends and me. He got close to other employees’ demons and was a fly on the wall for years on our behalf. He watched injustice after injustice and purposefully lived his life with the intent to ensure the safety of this city’s citizens.

I could go on for hours about this man, but in the end I just want you, the citizens of Maricopa, to fill the room at the Merit Board hearing tomorrow at 8:30 a.m.

Whether you have to call in from work, take a vacation day, find a babysitter, arrange neighborhood daycare or work unplugged from the school district for the day, I ask that you show up with patience and understanding in your heart. Listen and accept the events that this high-caliber individual had to endure to ensure your safety.

It’s the least I could do to be there, and I will be there.