⚖️ Democracy for Sale: How Arizona Mayor's Brother May Turn 52 Acres into Municipal Gold Mine
Inside the shocking municipal corruption scheme where Mayor Jon Post's family stands to profit millions while bulldozing desert neighborhoods
😽 Keepin’ It Simple Summary for Younger Readers
👧🏾✊🏾👦🏾
A mayor's brother owns some desert land 🏜️ and wants to build lots of apartments and houses 🏢🏠 on it to make millions of dollars 💸. But there's a problem - the current rules ⚖️ won't let him do it. So the mayor (who's supposed to stay out of it because it's his brother) is helping change the rules so his brother can build whatever he wants 🏗️.
The people who live nearby are really upset 😡 because it will ruin their neighborhood, hurt desert animals 🐢🐍, and create terrible traffic 🚗🚙. When they complained at a town meeting, the mayor and other officials got angry 😠 and basically told them to be quiet 🤫 and nicer, or they'd vote against them anyway.
It's like if your teacher let their sibling change the classroom rules 🎓📏 to benefit only them, and when other students complained, the teacher threatened to give them bad grades 📉.
🗝️ Takeaways
🏚️ Mayor Jon Post recused himself from voting while his brother Dan Post seeks to profit millions from annexation
📊 Community presented devastating statistical analysis: 52 acres = 0.067% of Marana's total area
🚑 The resident's father nearly died due to jurisdictional confusion created by previous annexations
📉 Housing market data shows the worst conditions since 1995, undermining the development justification
🚗 Proposed development would add 1,267+ vehicles to already strained roads
👑 Council members threatened that residents who criticized too harshly would be "pushed the other way"
🌵 The project would destroy the protected Sonoran Desert ecosystem for private profit
Marana's Family Business: When Your Brother Owns the Land and You Control the Votes
Sometimes the mask slips so completely that even the most polished municipal theater can't hide the ugly truth underneath.
The June 3, 2025, Marana Town Council meeting should be required viewing for anyone who still believes local government operates in the public interest.
What unfolded that evening was a masterclass in how family connections, developer profits, and environmental destruction converge under the banner of "responsible growth."
And by responsible, they mean responsible for maximizing the Post family's real estate portfolio.
When Democracy Meets Nepotism: The Speaker Lineup
The Resistance: Armed with Facts and Fury
Linda Roberts stepped to the podium first, delivering what amounted to a municipal finance lesson wrapped in righteous indignation. Roberts cut through the bureaucratic doublespeak with surgical precision:
"Income revenue to a town or city from housing is minimal. But the cost of policing, fire prevention, and maintenance is costly. So why would the town of Marana annex property just incur these costs? Someone in power must be making lots of money on this deal for it to even be considered."
Imagine that—someone actually did the math instead of just accepting the "growth is good" mantra that municipal governments peddle like snake oil salesmen.
Roberts spoke for herself and her neighbors, opposing the Linda Vista 39 and Linda Vista 13 annexation, calling the proposed development a "monstrosity" that would transform their rural sanctuary into a suburban nightmare. Her conclusion hit a nerve that municipal power structures prefer to keep buried:
"Someone in power must be making lots of money on this deal for it to even be considered."
Jenny DeBray followed with testimony that should haunt every council member's dreams. DeBray wove together environmental justice, infrastructure collapse, and the deadly reality of jurisdictional chaos. Her most devastating moment came when she shared her personal experience with Marana's fragmented emergency services:
"I know this firsthand because last summer my 80-year-old father fell in my home. I had to call 911. The responding fire department was not the correct one, meaning we had to wait for another ambulance because the one in my driveway was from the wrong department. In an emergency, these complications will cost people their lives. It certainly jeopardized the life of my late father."
Let that sink in: while the Post brothers scheme to maximize their real estate profits, actual residents are literally dying because of the deadly bureaucratic confusion created by municipal boundary games.
DeBray's environmental analysis revealed the ecological violence inherent in this annexation:
"The Sonoran Desert is a fragile, irreplaceable ecosystem. This project endangers wildlife corridors, protected species habitats, and local water flows, washes, and riparian areas."
Her plea to the council carried the weight of irreversible loss:
"Once we lose this land and this lifestyle and this legacy, it's gone forever, and we cannot get it back."
Rhonda Karrer arrived armed with mathematics that exposed the absurdity of this land grab. Karrer delivered a cost-benefit analysis that would make any honest municipal planner blush with shame:
“The town of Marana is approximately 121.4 square miles, which translates to 77,696 acres. Is 52 acres that important to annex, rezone, and develop with the amount of pushback from the surrounding communities?"
52 acres out of 77,696. That's 0.067% of Marana's total area. But hey, when your brother owns the land, even a postage stamp becomes worthy of municipal disruption.
Karrer's most damning moment came when she exposed property owner Dan Post's bad faith:
"When asked why he doesn't sell his property like any other homeowner would, he stated that his property is not for sale. What an insult. I hardly believe that he is pouring money into a plan for development if there isn't a developer or developers waiting to buy."
Then came the nuclear option—Karrer directly addressed the elephant wearing a mayoral chain:
"Mr. Mayor, I understand that you have recused yourself from this matter due to your relationship with Mr. Dan Post. But I hardly believe your influence isn't discerned by your fellow council members."
Bill Cohen brought receipts in the form of national housing market data that demolished any economic justification for this development. Citing Associated Press, New York Times, and Newsweek reporting, Cohen painted a picture of a housing market in free fall:
"According to an article released by the Associated Press just last Friday, the U.S. housing market has 34% more sellers than buyers... In 2024, there were fewer home sales than in any year since 1995. This year is looking worse."
Nothing says "responsible development" like building hundreds of housing units during the worst housing market since the Clinton administration.
Cohen's traffic analysis provided the infrastructure reality check that municipal planners apparently skipped:
"The property located on the south side of Linda Vista Boulevard at Camino Benicardo has already been annexed and rezoned as part of Linda Vista Village at Cascadia. A total of 441 rental properties are planned... along with the proposed 448 single and multifamily residents from Linda Vista 52, will only exacerbate the problem."
Mark Brazier delivered the evening's most comprehensive statistical demolition. Living adjacent to the 39-acre parcel and across from the 13-acre parcel, Brazier provided a methodical enumeration that read like an indictment of municipal planning run amok:
"Four Linda Vista Village Development projects on the south side of Linda Vista Boulevard next to the mall will add approximately 276 lots. Existing and future Linda Vista Village houses on the north side of Linda Vista Boulevard, across from the wall, will add approximately 171 houses. Another proposed development on the west corner of Twin Peaks and Linda Vista Boulevard, called Cascade Village 1 or another one called Cascade II, specific plan shows approximately 372 lots. That's a total of 819 potential future and existing new homes driving along Linda Vista Boulevard."
Adding the Linda Vista 52 proposal brings the total to "1,267 homes or units, which could be the minimum number of additional vehicles traveling on Linda Vista Boulevard very soon if all of these proposals are approved."
1,267 new vehicles on roads that are already strained. But hey, Mayor Post's brother needs to maximize his property value, so traffic jams for everyone else, it is.
Brazier's personal observations revealed the human cost of uncontrolled development:
"In these past few years, there's also been an extensive amount of trash on my property... If developed, a 13-acre parcel, Linda Vista 13, will totally ruin my view of the Tortolita Mountains when looking out the front of my house."
The Confrontation: Democracy Meets Authoritarianism
Randy Karrer, the former fire chief, faced direct confrontation from Mayor Post in what became the evening's most revealing moment of municipal power defending itself. When Mayor Post challenged Karrer to provide specific examples of his accusations, the exchange exposed the authoritarian impulse lurking beneath democratic procedure.
Karrer held his ground: "Mayor Post, members of council, when you have a annexation that is like this, where it brings your brother's property into it, and the adjacent property, which is multifamily homes that are bounced right up to suburban ranch residents, you don't think there would be public outcry?"
His declaration crystallized the class conflict underlying this annexation battle: "I'm trying to protect my property rights. I'm trying to protect my family, just as you are yours."
When Mayor Post demanded proof of defamation and slander, Karrer refused to back down: "I did not defame you. I did not slander you... You show me where I defamed you or I slandered you."
The Post Brothers: Victim-Playing While Profit-Taking
Dan Post presented himself as the aggrieved party, deploying classic DARVO tactics while simultaneously pursuing policies that would transform the landscape for private profit. His presentation emphasized victimhood:
"I must address the vicious attacks leveled against my family and me by the opponents to this project. They have spread falsehoods accusing us of unethical shenanigans and corruption for personal gain."
Unethical shenanigans? Sir, your brother is the mayor of the town that is voting on your property development! If that doesn't qualify as unethical shenanigans, what does?
Post's most revealing moment came when he claimed: "Most disturbingly, they've stooped to bigotry, targeting our faith, calling us sinners destined for hell, and labeling us as varmints."
Mayor Jon Post demonstrated the authoritarian response that emerges when power feels threatened. His confrontation with Randy Karrer revealed a municipal leader who views criticism as a personal attack rather than democratic participation:
"I absolutely am not going to continue to stand for people to come up here and tell me that I am doing something dishonest and underhanded... For me to do what you are accusing me of doing, it would take every single person in this room to be part of that."
Ah yes, the classic defense: "Everyone would have to be corrupt for me to be corrupt." Because municipal corruption has never happened without involving every single staff member. Just ask any number of indicted mayors across the country. That includes the former Marana Mayor, who was indicted, and the town council still voted to defend him. Two years later, he pleaded guilty.
Mayor Post's most unhinged moment:
"I would suggest two things. I would suggest that you get an education really quick on the laws of slander and defamation. Number one, number two, I would discontinue coming up here and telling everybody that you are a retired fire chief or whatever, because that does no service to those good people. And then coming up here and following that up with lies."
Actually, proving slander against a mayor is really hard to do…
The Municipal Machine Circles the Wagons
Council Member Patti Comerford delivered a paternalistic lecture that revealed how municipal power deflects criticism through behavioral management rather than substantive response. After celebrating her 40th wedding anniversary (because nothing says "let me address corruption allegations" like talking about your personal life), Comerford launched into a "kindness" lecture:
"If I were in your shoes, I'd be kind... If you want to get something sweet, treat it sweet. Accusations, lies, slander, character assassination does not belong in my word kind."
Translation: "Shut up and smile while we bulldoze your neighborhood for the mayor's brother's profit."
Comerford's most revealing statement exposed the cognitive dissonance at the heart of municipal governance: "We know what our rules are. We know we go to jail if that happens." This demonstrates either willful ignorance of how municipal corruption actually operates or intentional misdirection.
Background from the last meeting:
Vice Mayor Roxanne Ziegler delivered a sophisticated defense of municipal authority, employing procedural language to obscure substantive issues. Her prepared statement represented damage control at its finest:
"Since that meeting, no formal action or decision has been taken by the Council regarding this project... Contrary to the claims made in a recent letter by Mr. Randy Karrer to the Arizona Daily Star, this is not a project that was quietly put in motion years ago."
But what exactly had the Karrer's written that so rattled Ziegler? In their letter to the editor published before the meeting, Randy and Rhonda Karrer exposed the scheme in devastating detail: "This scheme was quietly put into motion years ago, only becoming public at an April 15, 2025, Marana hearing—poorly attended because neighbors weren't notified and The Planning Center was unprepared for public scrutiny."
The Karrers' analysis cut straight to the financial heart of the matter: "Dan Post could have sold his property like anyone else. Instead, his brother, the mayor, is leveraging his office to maximize family profits at the community's expense... the potential to increase the profit from selling his property to developers by five to tenfold, turning modest holdings into millions."
Most damaging of all, they connected this annexation to a broader pattern of municipal corruption:
"Mayor Jon Post is once again at the center of controversy—this time for promoting the annexation and rezoning of his brother's suburban ranch property... As noted in a June 2024 Letter to the Editor in the Explorer Newspaper, he has previously been accused of nepotism and appointing friends and family to prominent positions within the town of Marana."
So when Ziegler claimed this wasn't "quietly put in motion years ago," she was directly contradicting documented evidence. Note the careful parsing: no "formal" action. Because informal coordination between the mayor and his brother obviously doesn't count.
Ziegler's most authoritarian moment:
"However, this same courtesy has not been extended to the Council. At best, your remarks are pure conjecture. Many of the statements have been speculative, misleading, highly emotional, and in some cases just lies."
Calling the Karrers' meticulously documented research "lies" while refusing to address their specific allegations? Classic municipal gaslighting.
Then came the threat:
"For those of you who are on the fence about this annexation, the behavior displayed by this neighbor, the neighbors may be doing more harm than good to their cause and are pushing them the other way."
Translation: "Criticize us too harshly and we'll vote against you out of spite." Because nothing says "public service" like threatening retribution against constituents who dare to expose corruption in writing.
The Numbers Don't Lie: Municipal Mathematics vs. Developer Dreams
The development activity report revealed telling statistics that provide crucial context for this annexation push:
Residential permits down 45% year-over-year (from 167 to 92)
Building inspections: 1,600 performed despite extreme heat
The MARC Recreation Complex: 2,100+ memberships, 7,397 members
When legitimate development slows, municipal growth machines turn to annexation schemes to maintain the flow of development fees. It's municipal economics 101: when the market won't support your growth projections, change the rules.
Environmental Justice in the Desert: When Conservation Meets Capital
The proposed Linda Vista 52 annexation represents environmental violence disguised as municipal procedure.
Jenny DeBray captured this perfectly: "The Sonoran Desert is a fragile, irreplaceable ecosystem. This project endangers wildlife corridors, protected species habitats, and local water flows, washes, and riparian areas."
Meanwhile, the council celebrated the Ironwood Forest National Monument's 25th anniversary, proclaiming it a "national treasure in our own neighborhood" while simultaneously entertaining the prospect of annexation that would destroy similar desert landscapes for private profit.
The cognitive dissonance is stunning: celebrate desert conservation on Monday, approve desert destruction on Tuesday. It's like having an Earth Day parade sponsored by ExxonMobil.
The Path Forward: Building Power Against Municipal Corruption
This fight isn't over—it's just beginning. The community has built a foundation for sustained resistance through:
Overwhelming council meetings with prepared speakers
Comprehensive research demolishes economic justifications
Coalition building across neighborhood boundaries
Direct confrontation with corrupt officials
The Linda Vista 52 battle represents broader struggles against municipal corruption occurring across the Southwest. When communities come prepared with facts, persistence, and moral clarity, they can crack the facade of inevitability that surrounds these schemes.
Because at the end of the day, 52 acres of desert and the integrity of municipal government shouldn't be sacrificed on the altar of the Post family's real estate ambitions.
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What Do You Think?
The fight for environmental justice and municipal accountability needs your voice, whether you live in Marana or face similar struggles in your community, your experience matters.
Share your thoughts: Have you witnessed municipal corruption in your community? How can residents effectively challenge annexation schemes that prioritize developer profits over the stability of their neighborhoods? What accountability mechanisms should exist when elected officials' family members stand to profit from policy decisions?
Join the conversation below and help build the resistance our communities deserve.
Quotes:
Jenny DeBray: "In an emergency, these complications will cost people their lives. It certainly jeopardized the life of my late father." (On jurisdictional chaos killing residents)
Rhonda Karrer: "I hardly believe your influence isn't discerned by your fellow council members." (Directly challenging mayor's conflict of interest)
Mayor Jon Post: "I will not stand for people to come up here and tell me that I am doing something dishonest and underhanded." (Authoritarian response to criticism)
Vice Mayor Ziegler: "The behavior displayed by this neighbor, the neighbors may be doing more harm than good to their cause and are pushing them the other way." (Threatening retaliation against critics)
Patti Comerford: "If you want to get something sweet, treat it sweet." (Demanding deference from constituents)
Randy Karrer: "I'm trying to protect my property rights. I'm trying to protect my family, just as you are yours." (Calling out double standard)
All People Mentioned:
Mayor Jon Post - Marana mayor with brother seeking annexation; Quote: "I will not stand for it"
Dan Post - Mayor's brother, property owner seeking millions in profit; Quote: "These lies and hateful remarks have no place in civil discourse"
Vice Mayor Roxanne Ziegler - Delivered sophisticated defense of corruption; Quote: "pushing them the other way"
Linda Roberts - Community leader; Quote: "Someone in power must be making lots of money"
Jenny DeBray - Environmental justice advocate; Quote: "Once we lose this land...it's gone forever"
Rhonda Karrer - Statistical analyst; Quote: "Is 52 acres that important?"
Bill Cohen - Housing market expert; Quote: "fewer home sales than any year since 1995"
Mark Brazier - Traffic analyst; Quote: "1,267 homes or units"
Randy Karrer - Community member who confronted mayor; Quote: "show me where I defamed you"
Patti Comerford - Council member demanding "kindness"; Quote: "treat it sweet"
Patrick Cavanaugh - Council member supporting Comerford
Teri Murphy - Council member, mentioned community involvement
John Officer - Council member, interested in environmental restoration
Terry Rozema - Town Manager; Quote: credited for excellent council reports
Jason Angell - Development Director reporting declining permits
Mike Goodman (WGML Investments) - Developer partner in scheme
Jill McCleary - Town Clerk managing speakers
Jane Fairall - Town Attorney limiting public participation
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