Carefree Unity, former mayor Peterson’s totally biased website, published 3 allied residents’ letters (Bill Oleman, Jim Northcutt, & Anton Wilke) telling Carefree voters to reject candidates Lon Johnson and Diane Roth. The ex-mayor’s attempts to control the Town’s direction on the General Plan’s (GP) resort development at the NW Corner SPA has hidden agendas. He and his longtime friend, the landowner, hatched his “resort row” initiative in 2017 with the recent ill-sited Hampton Inn an initial part. Attempting to manipulate voters’ election of 3 new Councillors, who favor the SPA removal, the 3 Peterson allies attack “disgruntled residents who regularly challenge the Town Government.” They forget questioning elected officials is the basis of US democracy’s rule of law.
Residents, against this SPA, far from “co-opting” Mayor Crane, were in total alignment with him. Unfortunately, he couldn’t persuade a Council super majority to support his motion for SPA’s removal. Mayor Crane understood and agreed with residents’ desired removal of SPA, originally passed by P&Z during the height of COVID. Crane is a mayor who ‘hears’ residents plea to be part of the SPA decision-making, unlike our ex-mayor. We had been repeatedly told by Council that the GP should be “resident- driven.” Defeating the GP at the ballot box is now necessary to accomplish residents’ preferences and revert to the prior GP.
The ex-mayor’s writers then support candidates Vince D’Alesio and Colleen Scurti. Given D’alesio’s angry outbursts at residents in Town meetings, and Californian Scurti, still a CA realtor, lead to doubts about their ability to represent us. Neither candidate has a good defense to explain their support of the NW SPA’s GP inclusion, except the worn out revenue scare. The same excuse was used for the highway exit Hilton’s Hampton, McCarefree Golden Arches, $30+ million bonded water reservoir, Village View condos – all symbolic of pointless expenditures and absurd designs by the ex-mayor and his sycophants. Meanwhile, Carefree has multimillion reserves, although these 2 candidates lament our insufficient revenue. Where is their concern regarding the (empty Los Portales, Warren Building, Bashes spaces, Bank Building) more-than-ten-year undeveloped NE Money Corner SPA, along with the vacant overgrown CVS building? Where is our well paid Economic Development Director, who to date has done nothing about these potential sales tax earning locations during his 4 year tenure?
New candidates Lon Johnson, Diane Roth, and Nakisa Azizi, all with business backgrounds, will rectify runaway expenditures and development-gone-wild candidates D’alesio and Scurti. Johnson, Roth & Azizi will analyze the issues and implement interests of Carefree rather than obeying a land baron and ex-mayor.
Art Veves
Carefree
