Guest Editorial
BY STEVE LAMAR | NOVEMBER 19, 2014
Trenkster Recalled Council proud as Cave Creek suffers
This year’s Taste of Cave Creek by most reports was a sad shadow of its former self. Some observers noted that it should have been renamed the The “Drink” of Cave Creek , as it was light on food, devoid of art, afloat with booze, and filled with advertisements posing as booths. The crowds were down. All of the businesses who in years past made the “ Taste” special, and a real positive reflection of the community got short sheeted by Trenkster and his merry band of lawyered up co-conspirators, Durkin, Monachino, and Spitzer ( Trenkster Recall Council) on the revenue split. Many stayed away or cut back, and in the end we all suffer from their collective ignorance and arrogance.
This was the first year the Taste of Cave Creek was under the sole responsibility of the Trenkster Recall Council and it was, at best, a mediocre step down from years past.
This was the first year Wild West Days was the total responsibility of the Trenkster Recall Council. It was by all accounts an unmitigated bust. Poorly attended, poorly planned, poorly marketed and a sad shadow of its former self. The parade was so short that you barely had a chance to get parked before it was over. The parade entries had been around 90 in the past and this year there were a paltry, even embarrassing 30 or so.
Now remember brothers and sisters, this is the root’n, toot’n, shining boot’n, new Stetson, faux six gun tote’n bunch of rhinestone cowboys who were all about taking credit for last year’s Wild West Days that they proclaimed to be the best ever. But then we learned that last year’s event was a financial bust that lost money. This year our fearless leaders must have been strutting their “West Most Western” cowboy getups around the house, as they were nowhere to be found at the parade. But then the parade was no where to be found.
Oh and lest I forget, will someone please tell me what the sad second rate carney show had to do with Wild West Days, or promoting the rural character of our town? Yes, that is a totally rhetorical question. We all know the answer. Absolutely nothing. It is visual confirmation that our once great town is in a downward spiral lead by the Trenkster Recall Council. They perhaps were told by the Town Manager that real east coast cowboys always stopped by the carnival for cotton candy after a hard day on the range.
We citizens have suffered for nearly two years now with road closures, noise, and parking problems that are out of control, for the sake of event after event. We have seen our town turn into a literal sea of tents. Every scrap of dirt gets sold to any vendor with a buck.
The lack of vision of the Trenkster Recall Council can be seen by all of us now. Spur Cross road was damaged weeks turning to months ago, and still we risk our lives getting home with a dangerous lane closure set in a dip between two curves.
The Trenkster Recall Council was left with a six million dollar surplus, yet they can’t supply us with minimum public safety.
They tell us in their recall statements that they are proud of the way things have gone. They don’t intend to change one thing. They remind me of a classic Richard Pryor scene where he is caught red handed by his wife in bed with his girl friend. Richard turns to his wife and without batting an eye asks, “Are you going to believe me or your lying eyes?” We laugh at Richard’s ignorance and arrogance.
They can’t fix the roads, or plan for flood damage, or work toward the purchase of our annexed open space, but they can drag a lawyer into a record number of secret meetings to do public business behind closed doors. The ole abuse of the executive session trick. Then announce that they are proud of their transparency when recalled.
They can wrongfully spend thousands of tax dollars promoting themselves in the Cave Creek Coyote. Then spend tens of thousands of tax dollars a month defending themselves in lawsuits caused by their own unlawful, unconstitutional conduct. They can lawyer up to disenfranchise citizens from the right to call them to task in an election; then they tell us they are proud of all they have accomplished. They must be pitching to the handful of operatives who profit from their tourist trap, flea market vision for Cave Creek.
They are living proof that ignorance and arrogance are a lethal combination. Look around, believe your lying eyes and clean house at Town Hall in the March recall election.
