Guest Editorial
BY HANI SABA | CAVE CREEK CARING CITIZENS | FEBRUARY 19, 2014
Remove the toxic waste
I had time, so I attended the town council meeting on February 3. I knew most of the meeting would be dedicated to one item, Mr. Freeman against ALL of Cave Creek. With the recall election looming, the town council did the only thing they could have done, which is reject the proposed settlement. But that is why I am now writing.
I want to say a little about our fair weather Mayor Francia first. About 90 minutes into the meeting, Mr. Francia, wishing to hurry things along, said "We are 90 minutes on item 1 on the agenda with two furlongs to go," very funny! Then 150 minutes into the meeting he repeated the very same sentence? Was he asleep during the last 60 minutes that had elapsed? The racing reference was interesting but the loss of 60 minutes was even more so.
Now allow me to talk about our Vice Mayor, Mr. Trenk, who actually invited me to the meeting. Well the invitation came by way of a campaign mailer I received in the mail, like most of the Cave Creek Citizens. Mr. Trenk found it necessary to start his campaign very early for the recall election. If memory serves me right, he was first elected to council by a card draw (only in Cave Creek), and the second time, by spending over $25,000 to win the election. Based on this first mailer, it seems he is willing to spend that much again to keep his seat on the council. If I were him, I would not fight against a recall election but would support it. Why, you may ask? Well, if he is so proud of the job he did in the last seven months, he should be happy to defend his record, and win the election fair and square, not fight against the recall that will expose his immaturity and incompetence, or the bad decisions that have cost our beautiful and unique town thousands of wasted dollars.
He writes that the concerned citizens of Cave Creek are pushing for a "toxic recall." I say let us remove the TOXIC WASTE, sooner than later. Mr. Trenk should be running on his record, not running away from it. I am hopeful the good and honest Cave Creek citizens will see through Mr. Trenk and his yes men this time around. Please do not give them your votes again. What we need is a town council of honest individuals, certainly who live in Cave Creek, who care about our town. People who want to keep it as the jewel in the desert it is, with open space, a trail system, and cultural uniqueness no other town can match. We need people who do not have their own hidden agendas. We do not need or want politicians to hold council seats.
Just a side note, it has been more difficult to find out where Mr. Trenk resides than where Mr. Obama was born. So, Mr. Trenk, you may have a fast track to the Presidency of the United States, but please go find another town to use as your stepping stone.
Now, I must say a couple of words about Mr. Glassman, the Interim Town Manager who was thrown to the wolves when he became a huge and blatant liability to the slate. It seems the amount of taxpayer money he spent in just seven months is probably more than the former town manager spent in his last 10 years in office, maybe even more! For where have you ever heard of any employer paying any employee for gas money to show up to work. In Mr. Glassman's case, we paid him not to show up for work. We paid him to wine and dine his buddies all over the State of Arizona. Just how many breakfasts, lunches and dinners can one town manager have in 7 months? Let us not forget every cup of coffee he had. You guessed it, we paid for it. The taxpayers of Cave Creek paid him an undeserved salary, paid for a raise, paid for every one of his meals and snacks, all of this when he hardly showed up at Cave Creek Town Hall. And when he did show up, he did all of his work behind closed doors. This was indeed Toxic Waste. This is not politically correct, and I apologize in advance, but how many pounds did you gain, Mr. Glassman, in the last seven months? To top it all off, our amazingly incompetent town council approved a resolution commending the amazingly incompetent departing town manager.
I hope Cave Creek citizens have had enough of this. Support the recall election; sign the petition for recall of the slate of Trenk, Durkin, Spitzer and Monachino when presented to you. This time around, let them campaign on their record, and may the best man win.
So for the good of Cave Creek, and for the love of Cave Creek, let us send the slate packing.
And finally, for the individual who wrote the cowardly letter to my employer, refusing to sign his name, let me assure you, your letter was filed under the letter "T." For no employer can dictate any employee's opinions. And just so you know, a political opinion is not "bad behavior" as you describe in your letter. Bad behavior could be drinking on the job, stealing from an employer, etc. etc. But having an opinion is just that. Or haven't you heard of free speech? The next time you want to get me in trouble, I will be happy to give you the Board of Pharmacy address so you can send your cowardly trash to them too.
