As one of many events in celebration of Carefree’s 40th anniversary, Mayor Crane recently highlighted a Dark Skies event happening at Our Lady of Joy Catholic Church on October 5. Dark skies were one of the things that attracted us to Carefree. That characteristic ended with the Hampton Inn.
The overtly bright lights of the Hampton Inn have been a burr under the saddle of many northeast homes with a direct line of sight into the unsightly hotel. The mayor’s “boutique” hotel is a dark sky killer for both visitors and residents!
The mayor talks about “dark skies” while ignoring resident requests to mitigate the excessively bright lights of his “boutique” hotel. One resident accurately noted the hotel stood out like the Titanic in the middle of the ocean at night.
Two incumbent Carefree councilmen who supported the Hampton Inn both lost their reelection bids in the most recent election. A third supporting council member wisely chose not to run again. Community displeasure with the Hampton Inn most assuredly played a pivotal role in their political demise. Residents don’t appreciate being lied to and ignored.
Mayor Crane is up for re-election in two years. His resume thus far includes the unattractive dark-sky killing Hampton Inn, a $30M unnecessary budget-busting water project, a failed property tax referendum, a still undeveloped NEC property, and most recently, he ignored the overwhelming sentiment of the General Plan survey and caved to special interest by flip-flopping his vote on the Special Planning Area designation for the NWC property.
Mayor Crane is a hypocrite to tout anything having to do with dark skies.
Mike Davitt
Carefree
