My View
By Don Sorchych | April 7, 2010
Tea Party rocks
Cave Creek/Carefree courts
I had high hopes for the Tea Party to be held at the Carefree Resort and Villas on March 27 that John McCain, Sarah Palin and J.D. Hayworth would be there. Imagine the fireworks!
Sadly, none of them were there to speak although Hayworth showed up for the barbeque that followed the presentations.
Disappointments ran deeper as it became apparent that it became a GOB affair with Huber Stevens as co-sponsor, vanquished ex-Vice Mayor Lloyd Meyers at the organ, scatterings of the GOB faithful throughout the audience and even a speaker with GOB credentials.
Stevens showed his lack of class with a commercial spiel about where his “office” is, as if anyone cared.
As for the council quitter, Meyers, view this letter sent to J.D. Hayworth:
J.D. Hayworth
Candidate for U.S. Senate
Dear Mr. Hayworth,
Don Sorchych, who publishes a failing tabloid in Cave Creek, stated in his last non print edition that you publicly expressed your appreciation for him during a March 4 event sponsored by an organization using the name "Republican Professionals," put together by Ryan Ducharme who is described as its National President & Co-Founder. Messrs. Sorchych and Ducharme are well known in our area, having most recently participated in a failed attempt to recall Carefree Mayor David Schwan after only 26 days in office. Mayor Schwan, a retired business executive of 40 years with the Ford Motor Company, has an exemplary record of volunteer service to our community, and the recall was soundly rejected by our citizens. This was a clear abuse of the recall process, as confirmed by the Editorial Board of the Arizona Republic and League of Arizona Cities and Towns, and cost our town thousands of dollars.
Mr. Ducharme's previous foray into our town, again supported by Mr. Sorchych, was to head an extensive campaign in an effort to elect the infamous David Burnell Smith to our Town Council. Mr. Smith, as you may recall, distinguished himself as the first legislator in the nation to be removed from office for breaking state public campaign finance laws as upheld by the Arizona Supreme Court. Mr. Ducharme, of course, failed in that effort as well. It will be interesting to the voters in our community why you have aligned yourself with Chandler resident Ducharme and Cave Creek resident Sorchych, in their assaults on our community, and why you would headline an event that honors their conduct with what was described as a "Patriot Award."
The Republicans were fond of raising the old cliché "you are known by the company you keep," when trying to draw similarities between President Obama and his spiritual advisor, Jeremiah Wright and others. Well, Mr. Hayworth, it works both ways. Our citizens have rejected the kind of civic irresponsibility and lack of ethics represented by your associates, and will reject you and your "Republican Professionals" as well.
Please remove my name from your solicitation efforts.
Lloyd Meyer
Carefree
And there you have it. I am proud of the award presented by Ryan Ducharme and the reported commentary from Hayworth and of the demonstration by a GOB of his petty ways. It is Meyers who has demonstrated his hatred for Carefree voters who rejected him in a primary vote, not this newspaper.
But the Tea Party, except for GOBs already noted, was a patriotic event. The signs were awesome, the audience spontaneously vocal for the good old USA!
A necessary dilution was the active politicians seeking their petitions to be signed while their agents passed out flyers on their behalf.
Big thanks to Arch McGill for organizing the event and kudos to the Carefree Resort for their good citizenship and generosity.
Court cost reduction?
The idea of combining Cave Creek and Carefree courts has been around for awhile.
Carefree Councilmen Bob Coady and Peter Koteas had a head of steam until Mayor David Schwan torpedoed their efforts by keeping records from them even though any person has a right under open records statutes.
It is clear now that GOBs’ claim of fiscal stability in Carefree was a huge lie, but necessary in their minds to keep Schwan in office.
Schwan said as much in a meeting with Cave Creek officials. His plea for financial help was so loud and clear that Town Manager Usama Abujbarah broke ranks with Mayor Vincent Francia by agreeing to continued discussions. Francia made it clear from the outset he was against the idea.
Not only that, but Abujbarah even agreed to a change of venue to have a joint council meeting in Carefree even though it had already been set in Cave Creek. Carefree wanted to show the Cave Creek council the splendor of their court facilities, which is one of their financial problems by the way.
The Carefree offer is totally self serving and will never be approved by Cave Creek. Carefree wants the court in their present location and apparently with their employees.
I believe citizens of each town will object to a location not in their town.
The cost problem relates to the court system itself. The court insists each court be open 40 hours each week. Has anyone asked the court for approval of limited hours?
Cave Creek has two full time employees, while Carefree has four.
Who is kept and who goes? Remember that there could be lingering animosity. Carefree Court Administrator Adrianne Larson was terminated by Cave Creek, filed a suit and collected $45,000 from the town.
Remember former Carefree Mayor Bob Anderson getting a magistrate appointment from the Carefree council over the objections of their own attorney and the court? The outcome was a disaster and he was removed. The same mentality of appointing friends and good old boys remains.
If the courts were combined it makes more sense to retain Cave Creek’s competent judge, staff and prosecutor. It is already near break even while Carefree’s court is one of their major financial issues along with their funding of an expensive fire department.
I don’t think Cave Creek citizens would object but I am sure Carefree citizens would even though 95 percent of those served by the Carefree court live in other municipalities.
