Guest Editorial
BY STEVE LAMAR | JUNE 4, 2014
Trenk, Spitzer and Monachino sue our town and county to stop recall
The events of the last week have many of you shaking your heads in disgust at the continued back room power play tactics of Trenk, Monachino, and Spitzer as they lawyer up in an attempt to derail the recall election you all have demanded.
Even the loyal slate minion Mike Durkin, who will illegally fire long time employees, attempt to do away with wild life corridors, campaign against important commercial development for Carefree Citizens against Cave Creek, champion abandonment of the Morning Star trail for a Trenk slate political operative, spend $80,000 on a pot hole detector and sweep $800,000 from our open space fund, has sufficient survival instincts to refrain from the use of Trenk’s utility infielder mouthpiece to sue the town and the Maricopa County election board that certified your signatures, requiring they stand before you in a recall election in November.
This latest Trenk litigation is certainly breaking new ground here in Cave Creek and it isn’t sacred ground. In its essence; you decide enough is enough and sign recall petitions to bring back service and integrity to Cave Creek Town Hall. Trenk slate response; sue your town and your county to keep you from voting to get rid of them. If that isn’t bad enough, we, all of us, are now not only paying the lawyers who are defending Trenk, Durkin, Monachino, and Spitzer in litigation they caused; we are now paying the same lawyers to defend the town against them.
They play, you pay. Great deal if you can get it … and keep it. To keep it you have to be willing to do whatever it takes … at least in places like New Jersey, New Orleans, Chicago, Damascus, and now the Trenk slate and its operatives are doing whatever it takes here in our Cave Creek.
The Trenk version; he intimidates a kid gathering your signatures for recall. While he is there he violates ARS: 19-101A by knowingly forging a fake signature on one of your recall petitions. He then brags about it on his Facebook page and whoops, admits he knowingly and intentionally violated the law. His reasoning distilled is that your signatures are the scratchings of the misguided and ill informed who fail to appreciate his magnificence. The recall, and therefore you, are all a joke.
Does this sound a lot like Cave Creek’s version of Prince Joffrey of Game of Thrones fame? Keep in mind Trenk’s favorite actor, now deceased James Gandolfini (Tony Soprano), is the name he forged on the recall petition.
You could have chalked this up to arrogance, lack of maturity, stupidity, a magnificent case of presumed entitlement or all of the above. But Trenk wasn’t done. For his next bit of self help around this silly election he writes the Cave Creek town clerk demanding an entire petition sheet be struck because it contains the signature he forged.
Stop for a moment and absorb the thought process and intent that are necessarily behind that kind of underhanded sabotage of our democratic process.
Sadly, this not the end of the latest Trenk slate drama. In the first claim of Trenk, Monachino, and Spitzers’ lawsuit against the town they allege the petition form provided by Maricopa County, used by the Cave Creek Caring Citizens, then approved by the town and certified proper by the Maricopa County Elections board should be thrown out in it’s entirety. Guess why ... it didn’t contain a warning that forging a signature on a petition is a violation of ARS:19-101A; the very crime committed by Trenk. No surprise that Monachino and Spitzer are on board. They haven’t had an independent thought yet.
Having clearly violated election laws, admitting it in his Facebook page, having provided his motive by claiming his forgery invalidates a whole sheet of your signatures against him; it appears now Trenk is performing a dress rehearsal of his defense in the event he ends up facing criminal prosecution for his violation of ARS:19-101A. Rendered as to it’s essence it is, “Hey Judge ... they shoulda warned me. How’s a guy from Jersey spose to know forging a signature on an election petition is wrong. This election is a joke … forget about it.”
With courage and commitment, you have demanded a recall election. If there is any justice, Trenk, Durkin, Monachino, and Spitzer will be required to stand before you at that election in November all be it kicking and screaming. This is your town. You have taken the first steps to protect it. Together, for the love of Cave Creek, we can return service and integrity to town hall.
