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Still no sign of missing Chandler commissioner
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Mark Irby
SUBMITTED PHOTO
The city of Chandler has no immediate plans to fill a Planning and Zoning Commission seat left vacant by Mark Irby, who went missing nearly a month ago in northern Arizona.
Searchers have found no sign of the 51-year-old Irby, who was last seen Jan. 2, when he left his cabin in Forest Lakes for a ride on his red Bombardier ATV (license plate number DV-4X). Coconino County Sheriff's Office spokesman Gerry Blair said search efforts recently have been scaled back. "We just don't know. It's just baffling. You'd think we could find the ATV, but we just haven't," he said.
Sheriff's deputies and U.S. Forest Service officials in the area will continue to chase down all leads, but overflights have been curtailed and large-scale efforts have concluded, Blair said.
"We certainly don't have the 50 or 60 people in the field that we did before," he said. "We felt like we've hit it really hard."
Irby was appointed to the Planning and Zoning Commission in May 2002.
"His term would be up at the end of April," said Jane Poston, a Chandler spokeswoman.
City officials could wait until then to appoint a replacement if Irby is not found, she said. City guidelines provide that a commissioner can be removed after he or she has accrued three unexcused absences from commission meetings. Irby has missed two meetings, Poston said.
She said that so far, his absence has not impacted the board's ability to make decisions.
"At this point, we haven't seen they've had any locked votes," Poston said.
City officials have not had any discussions on what to do with Irby's seat, she said.
Irby is described as being 5 feet 10 inches tall and 175 pounds, with brown hair, brown eyes, and wearing prescription eyeglasses. He was wearing a denim shirt, Levi jeans, and Croc shoes when he went missing, and he was not prepared for an overnight excursion, Coconino Sheriff's Office officials have said. Irby did not have his blood pressure medication with him, either.
Forest Lakes is in a mountainous, pine forest area at about 7,000 feet elevation east of Payson. In recent weeks the area has seen about 3 to 4 feet of snowpack, with temperatures dipping below 20 degrees overnight.
A $5,000 reward has been established for information leading to the recovery of both Irby and his ATV. Additionally, donations to the search effort can be made to the Jim Irby Search Fund at Wells Fargo, which has been created by Mark's brother, Jim Irby.
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