Guidelines for being heard
Citizens can speak on any item by completing a citizen comment card and submitting it to city staff prior to the meeting. A sample of the speaker card is shown below:
sample of speaker card
Citizens may only speak when recognized by the mayor or the presiding officer of the meeting if the mayor is absent. However, it is the policy and practice of the mayor and council to allow citizens to appear before the city council on any published agenda item to express their views. A citizen speaker card must be completed for each item the speaker may wish to address.
In compliance with the Open Meeting Law, speakers should confine their statements to the issue on the posted agenda which is before the council. Speakers are also requested to limit their comments to approximately two minutes or as designated by the mayor.
Opposing viewpoints may be expressed by the citizens present. As a courtesy, citizens are reminded to address their comments to the mayor and council and not to the audience present. Please show respect for all speakers and avoid personal comments. Remember, council must hear both sides of an issue to make an informed decision.
Had to go all the way to Phoenix to find that? well, "As a courtesy", does not mean the same as 'mandatory', even in Phoenix.
Now, the most that likely would have happened, in Phoenix, would have been for the Mayor to request the young lady to please address him directly, or for a councilman to quietly ask, not her, but the Mayor, to direct her so. And, as a mayoral candidate, as you say, the young lady should have been given the same respect that others expected, and she certainly would have been given that respect - in Phoenix.
The Mayor of Quartzsite made no such request for face-to-face conversation, and in fact, the officers-gone-wild pretty much kept her facing away from the Mayor and towards the audience after that.
Like it or not, it's the Mayor's show, therefore, irregardless of whether she was in Quartzsite or Phoenix, irregardless of how you personally want to interpret 'courtesy' or 'mandatory', the young lady was not out of order until the Mayor, and ONLY the Mayor, said she was out of order, and he didn't.
Ya'll are out of control down there, and if you DID support your Mayor, you'd stand by his repeated admonishments to the Mad Squad that the young lady had the right to speak for 4 minutes without being manhandled.