To The Editor;
During the July 10th Cave Creek Mayor/Council Candidates’ Forum at the Desert Foothills Library, there was discussion of the proposed 2018 General Plan submitted to the voters for ratification at the August 28th election. One issue centered on the length of the document and in that regard I would offer the following.
The 2018 General Plan is the expression of the peoples’ vision for the maintenance and development of Cave Creek projected over the next ten years. Many people had a lot to say. The fact that some want a shorter document would have the effect of censoring a lot of people by denying them their opportunity to fully participate in its development and have their views, assuming their appropriateness, represented in the final document. And, isn’t public participation an ultimate goal of our form of government? I would ask those seeking a shorter document, “What parts do you want to throw out? Because what you want to remove is something that someone else wants addressed.” It reflects an attitude of superiority to suggest that the relevant, appropriate ideas of others should be subordinate or summarily disregarded in a case like this where people’s ideas for their Town are requested.
I would also ask, “Where were you when the document was being prepared?” We spent over a year developing the 2018 General Plan. The Plan is the product of input from two standing Committees – Water Advisory and Open Space. There was much citizen participation during public input sessions and Planning Commission Workshops. Written suggestions were solicited and received, and, most of those suggestions are included, close to or verbatim, in the 2018 General Plan. And, of course, there was input from the Planning Commission and Town Council.
It appeared to me that the manner in which the criticism was leveled (and, frankly, the criticism in general directed at the General Plan by a vocal few) was designed for the sake of negativity or to give a candidate a contrived campaign issue. I would simply ask, “Where were you when the Planning Commission was working earnestly on behalf of the citizens of Cave Creek with the many who helped to develop the 2018 General Plan?”
Respectfully,
Bob Voris, Chairman
Cave Creek Planning Commission
