BY LINDA BENTLEY | DECEMBER 11, 2013
Cave Creek Caring Citizens PAC formed for recall
CAVE CREEK – On Thursday, Dec. 5, Hani Saba and Susan Clancy (right, l-r) filed paperwork to form Cave Creek Caring Citizens, a political action committee (PAC) for the purpose of circulating recall petitions and influencing the outcome of a recall election.
Although they have not yet submitted recall statements for collection petition signatures, they have indicated there will be a recall of Vice Mayor Adam Trenk and councilmen Mike Durkin, Reg Monachino and Charles Spitzer.
Saba and Clancy say these councilmen, who campaigned as a slate, were dishonest and misled voters by misrepresenting the financial status of the town, as well as the honesty, integrity and dedication of town council members, former Town Manager Usama Abujbarah and staff in order to get elected.
They also said they were appalled at the manner in which Trenk chose to terminate Abujbarah, which was likely illegal and has subsequently exposed the town to millions of dollars in legal liabilities.
According to Saba and Clancy, these candidates have divided the town and are governing by a vendetta-driven vice mayor.
Once the recall process is initiated, they will have 120 days to collect 210 signatures for each councilman being recalled.
According to Town Clerk Carrie Dyrek, depending on when the signature petitions are turned in and verified, a recall election could be called as early as May, otherwise, under the consolidated election law, the next available election date would be in August.
Once the signatures are verified by county elections and determined to be sufficient, the candidates are notified and given five business days to resign. If they don’t resign, they may submit a statement of up to 200 words as to why they should not be recalled to appear in the ballot pamphlet.
The town clerk will then call for a recall election no sooner than 90 days in advance.
Each candidate who wishes to run for council against a specific recalled candidate will then need to form a PAC and circulate nomination petitions.
