SAN LUIS — This November, San Luis residents will be voting to recall or keep two Gadsden Elementary School District board members Luis Márquez and Liliana Arroyo. If voters recall these members, they’ll be voting in two replacements: Mark Concha and Manuel Rojas.
Concha initiated the recall campaign, claiming that Arroyo does not speak English proficiently and that Márquez had been on the board too long, abused his power, made self-serving decisions, and mistreated staff.
Márquez spoke with KAWC and said that people shouldn’t believe the lies they see on social media.
"There's too many lies out there, there's just too many big lies," he said. "They're not telling the truth. So if you really want to know the truth, go ahead and talk to us. We have an open-door policy or, you know, just, you know, my phone number. Everybody knows it. But you can call the district if you want to talk to me, if you want to talk to Liliana. What we're doing here, we're just defending our position. We'd already been elected. We already have been elected since 2022."
Márquez explained he and Arroyo were elected to their roles in 2022 and with just one year left in their terms, the election is costing the district what he considers to be a needless $50 to 60,000.
"There's too much drama going in San Luis, and this is because a rich community of rich people are behind all this," he said. "You know, my community is Gadsden and San Luis, and you guys know me. I've been there for forever and ever."
Márquez addressed some of Concha’s concerns, namely that he’s been on the board for too long.
"I'm retired for the last seven years, and I was able to put in more time," he said. "But I've done, I've done a lot of time. I put a lot of my time since we don't get paid—remember that it's a volunteer position and it's an elected position. I've only been there for 35 years, so I don't know that it might be enough. It might be a lot."
Márquez pointed out that his experience carries a lot of weight: in his time representing Gadsden, he's developed relationships with elected officials at the local, state and federal levels. And while he welcomes new blood to the board and youth involvement, he noted that it can be more difficult for younger folks to join since board positions are unpaid.
Although Márquez feels that big money interests are behind this year’s recall election and failed attempts of previous years, he hopes that his deep roots in the community will allow him to continue serving. Márquez has lived in San Luis for decades, serving as a police officer, a store manager and board member for the Gadsden district.
"I used to manage stores here locally, so I've been here since 1971 so the community knows me," he said. "About the school, this is something very sacred to me. I feel that this is something that shouldn't be so politicized like it's been lately. It's too much, we're already looking like a telenovela here in San Luis, Arizona."
No matter how you intend to vote, Márquez wants the community to get out and vote. Since only a fraction of eligible voters typically participate in local elections, every ballot carries a lot of weight. And he considers it a civic duty to use your voice and fill out that ballot.
"Community of Gadsden in San Luis, you need to go, you need to send your ballots," he said. "There's about over 12,000 votes ballots there that were sent to the to the addresses of this area. You need to fill them up. It's only four things you need: two for board members and two propositions. Please. You need to fill them up and put it back in the mail or at the library where there's a drop box."
November’s election takes place Tuesday, Nov. 4, but if you want to mail in your ballot, make sure you send it by Tuesday, Oct. 28 to ensure your vote gets counted. Alternatively, you can fill out your ballots and drop them off at the drop boxes in the library or the San Luis Medical Mall. You can also vote at these locations on election day from 6 a.m. to 7 pm. For more information, visit here.
Next week, we hope to include more information and voices regarding this special election so stay tuned on our website!
This reporting is supported by a grant from the Arizona Local News Foundation.
