Guest Editorial
BY ROB PAPINEAU | JANUARY 16, 2013
Houses and cards
We don’t need political opportunists in Cave Creek much less on town council and especially if they are not full time residents. Knowing that it is a long shot because courts usually err on the side of maintaining status quo on election matters, I asked the help of a local attorney well known for his personal integrity and his advocacy for public rights; he agreed and reduced his fees to make it financially possible for me to file an injunction. My objective was to force Mr. Trenk to admit that presently he is not a resident of Cave Creek and ultimately be removed from ballot consideration. The court gave Mr. Trenk the benefit of “Temporary Absence” from being a resident of the town thus keeping him on the ballot.
Recall that “former council member and Marijuana Lobbyist” Adam Trenk was never really elected to the Town Council of Cave Creek in 2009. This New Jersey cowboy spent probably 4 or 5 times more money than all of the other candidates combined to eke out a tie with the low vote getter. A lucky cut of the cards in June 2009 put him on the council. Mr. Trenk did not run for reelection reportedly because his new employer, the Rose Law Firm, did not want to deal with the inevitable conflicts of interest that would arise with him on the Town Council of Cave Creek. So he got married, completed his term on council, moved to Scottsdale, put Cave Creek squarely in his rear view mirror and continued to lobby.
It must be election season again because this opportunist is back, ostensibly living in Cave Creek again and working for Rose. Why isn’t Rose concerned this time?
Arizona law requires, among other things, that a candidate must be a resident for at least a year prior to the election and records show the following facts:
• Trenk established residency in Cave Creek sometime in 2008 and lived in his house at 6913 E. Highland Rd. A cut of the cards put him on town council in 2009.
• He closed escrow on his new house in Scottsdale on February 25, 2011 and indicated it was to be “occupied by owner.”
• On March 21, 2011 Trenk offered his Highland Road property for rent and had it leased by June 26, 2011 whereupon he moved to his new Scottsdale house and lived there for about a year.
• With another Cave Creek election on the horizon for March 12, 2013 he purchased another house at 5829 E. Gunsight Road in Cave Creek and closed escrow on June 15 2012. This house appears unoccupied.
Therefore Trenk moved to Scottsdale by July 1, 2011 and did not move back to Cave Creek until June 15, 2012 at best, which puts him in Cave Creek for only 9 months prior to the election, even if has really moved back at all. Mr. Trenk does not meet the one year residency requirement and should not be on the ballot. He has thrown legal dust in the air and saying whatever he needs to say to get on the ballot.
Separate from his nonresident status, Mr. Trenk does not belong in Cave Creek. He has never contributed anything of substance to the town. He has consistently demonstrated that Cave Creek is merely his springboard to a higher elected office or whatever he aspires to and little less. He badly wants to run for Mayor and likely has that all arranged for the following election. The sole purpose of the election slate he has organized is to take over the town by replacing the existing town council with his cronies and removing key town staff who disagree with him. Then setting Cave Creek development back 20 years under the guise of revising the general plan.
The present town council did a good job by securing more than 50 percent of our community as permanent open space and moving away from a financial model dependent on growth and development to a stable financial situation based on the local businesses.
It’s my experience that those who spend the kind of time, energy and resources that Mr. Trenk has in order to scam the system, aren’t in it for the good of anything but themselves. Send this opportunistic cowboy back to Scottsdale.
