A planned aluminum recycling facility in Benson has drawn strong community opposition for months. To combat that opposition, one Benson official adopted an unusual — and possibly unethical — strategy.
Deputy City Manager Jay Howe made a Facebook account under a pseudonym that he used to argue with opponents of the aluminum plant. He coordinated at least one post with a manager at the company seeking to build in Benson.
That company, Aluminum Dynamics, received a city zoning permit for the plant in 2024. The project’s air quality permit is currently under review at the Arizona Department of Environmental Quality.
According to email records obtained through a public records request, Howe’s communications with Aluminum Dynamics operations manager Bill Glaser in early-to-mid 2025 often went beyond the general friendliness of the interactions between city officials and the company. In his emails to Glaser, Howe harshly criticized locals opposed to the facility, provided personal information about opponents and gave strong statements of support for Aluminum Dynamics.
“I created the Frank Mills Facebook site and I have been posting as Frank,” Howe wrote to Glaser on June 22 under the subject line “Frank Mills posts on Benson Chit Chat.”
“Benson OG Chit Chat” is a Facebook group with about 18,000 accounts dedicated to discussing local issues in Benson. Screenshots obtained by AZPM News show “Frank Mills” — the only account with this name in the group — criticizing opponents of the plant for not living within Benson’s city limits, calling their speech “propaganda” and denying that he was “giving the city advice of any kind.”
On one occasion, Howe coordinated a post in the Facebook group with Glaser, according to the email records.
“Bill the latest issue brought up by the Facebook opposition is the truck traffic listed in your permit app,” Howe wrote to Glaser on June 28.
Howe asked Glaser to clarify whether trucking activity forecasts associated with the aluminum plant referred to on-site activity or general road traffic.
“I would like Frank to respond to this if you confirm that this traffic is on site and not on hwy 80,” Howe wrote.
“Yea sir, that is correct. That is moving around on site. You might want to add that 30 tons of cargo is 60,000 pounds and that weight cannot travel on roads without overweight permits(very costly) that is why all finished goods is shipped by rail,” Glaser answered on the morning of June 29.
After thanking Glaser by email, Howe echoed his answer in a “Benson OG Chit Chat” Facebook post the same day.
“Further proof is the weight of the trucks listed at 30 tons.. that is 60,000 lbs and heavier than what is allowed on roads without an expensive overweight permit for each truck. Most everything will arrive by rail and leave by rail,” he wrote as “Frank Mills,” ending the post with “REAL FACTS MATTER.”
Email records show a friendly, professional relationship between Benson city officials and Aluminum Dynamics representatives. The company offered to sponsor charitable events in Benson. City officials invited a company VP to speak with a local reporter. Both sides engaged in seemingly good-faith attempts to provide locals with accurate information about Aluminum Dynamics’ plans.
But Howe often went beyond that general friendliness. He harshly criticized opponents of the plant, telling Glaser he appreciated “how you are handling these agenda driven morons.”
“Always in your corner,” Howe signed off on that email.
Howe consistently sent Glaser information about other residents and officials. In one instance, he forwarded an email from a resident supporting the plant to Glaser, describing the person as “another converted citizen.” In another, he forwarded emissions-related notes from Benson Vice Mayor Levi Johnson to Glaser, writing “Just keeping you up to date on Vice Mayors comment and thought process.”
On one occasion, Howe seemingly researched two vocal opponents of the plant who live in smaller communities near Benson and sent the information to Glaser.
"Just like you told us in the beginning it will be outside people that will be stirring things up,” he wrote.
Howe, who is currently on an approved leave of absence from the City of Benson, did not respond to an AZPM News request for comment.
In a statement to AZPM News, Benson Mayor Joe Konrad wrote that he does not “condone unethical behavior at any level.”
“My expectation has always been for City of Benson employees to represent our city with honesty and integrity. As mayor I am not allowed to interfere in employment issues but I have been assured, by City Manager Greg Volker, that this matter will be vigorously investigated. That said, I will reiterate that for me, unethical behavior is not expected and needs to be dealt with accordingly,” Konrad wrote.
Benson City Manager Greg Volker told AZPM News he agreed with the mayor’s statement, and said he and Konrad were not aware of Howe’s email identifying himself as the author of the “Frank Mills” account.
Volker said he requires “ethical behavior” of his employees and speaks about it with department heads, including Howe. Benson’s city code does not include a specific ethics code for city employees.
Kathryn Townsend, the chair of grassroots organization Committee for a Better Benson, called Howe’s conduct “fundamentally dishonest” and said it undermines Benson’s credibility.
“When a high-ranking city official secretly poses as a member of the public so that he can shape discussion around a major industrial project, that undermines trust and it raises serious questions about whether the community is being treated fairly and openly,” she said.
As part of the community opposition to the aluminum plant, Townsend’s organization gathered enough signatures to force recall elections for four of Benson’s six city council members, which are scheduled for May 19, 2026.
Benson’s permitting process for Aluminum Dynamics faces a lawsuit by a local grassroots group. After a town hall in Benson, Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes said her office is reviewing whether the aluminum plant constitutes a public nuisance under state law.
Last year, an Aluminum Dynamics representative told Benson’s Planning and Zoning Commission that the planned facility would employ about 90 people and would melt down scrap aluminum into slabs sent to the company’s mill in Mississippi.
Note: this story was updated to clarify the context of the recall campaign against members of the Benson City Council.
