My View
BY DON SORCHYCH | FEBRUARY 25, 2015
Francia rolls in garbage
Mayor Vincent Francia tries to be like Commissioner Frank Reagan of New York Police Department in the television program “Blue Bloods.” Reagan always refers to New York as “my town.” Francia also always refers to Cave Creek as “my town.” Well, let me tell you why he doesn’t deserve ownership. This will be a summary because there is a lot more to come in future issues.
A few months ago he put a burr under our saddles at Kiwanis by saying his slate council is the best he ever worked with. That deserves a lot of comment later.
More recently Francia submitted a letter but we were told since a Water Advisory Committee member wrote 98 percent of it and since the message was false, I would write a rebuttal if I printed it. So the phony letter was sent to everybody in town to misdirect the decision made by Town Engineer David Prinzhorn to stop supplying water to Rancho Mañana Golf Course. It was mailed as part of the town newsletter at tax payers’ expense although it was a political missive. They are claiming “operational problems at the water treatment plant,” which is an affront to anyone who knows how water treatment plants work.
What they are really talking about is salvaging waste water which would be a multi-million dollar project to build and operate; far more expensive than letting backwash water flow into the washes, which by the way replenishes and nourishes local plant life, benefiting the environment. Furthermore we have enough CAP water to last through eventual build out.
Know-it-all Vice Mayor Adam Trenk incorrectly stated during the Rancho Mañana forum that we are blending and using the Vermeersch arsenic laden water as part of our town’s drinking water supply. We don’t.
Now Francia has put out his stupidity for all to see in one of the slate’s flyers. It reads, in part, “None of the councilmen under recall deserve to be recalled.” Then he cites accomplishments that are de minimis to be sure. He ends by writing, “This recall is causing harm to Cave Creek.”
Unbelievable!
The harm to Cave Creek will come if they are reelected, mayor. First of all, recall is embedded in law and the law was followed to a T. Petitions, which is all that is required by law, were gathered twice thanks to Trenk’s lawyer. Furthermore, they have been in office long enough – nearly a two year period, which is what the normal council term is. This three-and-a-half-year term is the result of the town needing to come into compliance with Arizona’s new consolidated election law.
Mayor Francia, are you telling us that lawsuits rightfully filed by Abujbarah that have cost the town upwards of $200,000 so far with a potential liability of $3 million is former Town Manager Usama Abujbarah’s fault and not Trenk’s and his associates? I wonder what your payoff was for your slate support. We will find out. And by the way, the flyer you chose to be in is illegal under the law since it does not have the requisite disclosure statement as to who paid for the flyers.
It is interesting how closely Trenk and the rest of his slate parallel King Obama’s election tactics. The recent $10 million notice of claim against Cave Creek is similar to the federal lawsuit against Sheriff Joe Arpiao.
The notice of claim, which was brought by the Rose Law Group, Trenk’s employer, is a loser but an attempt to slander Abujbarah in the middle of the recall election before Abujbarah and the town have a chance to prove their innocence. Furthermore, it is a conflict of interest on Trenk’s part. How can he serve as a councilman when such matters as this claim are discussed in executive session and he is T.C. Thorstenson’s buddy and former statutory agent?
The claim is ridiculous and although it will likely be defended by the town’s insurance, the town is still on the hook for 20 percent of the cost. You have to wonder whether that notice of claim, which appears to be timed to disrupt the election, is a conflict of interest on Trenk’s part.
Trenk was the statutory agent for Thorstenson’s Hogs & Horses Saloon and is his good friend as well. While he was the statutory agent he continued to vote on matters concerning Thorstenson until Sonoran News outed him; then he resigned as the agent for Thorstenson.
Both Trenk and Thorstenson claimed their animals were poisoned. Thorstenson claimed his two buffalos, which died within four days of one another, were poisoned. He sent them to Tucson for a necropsy, after which Thorstenson still claimed they were poisoned while refusing to release the results of the necropsy. We were told they both died from some sort of virus.
Trenk claimed his horse was poisoned and someone cut his brake line. In those cases we heard the horse had a disease and that the brake line was a factory defect covered by warranty.
Recently Trenk claimed his dog was poisoned. He went to Animal Health Services and found the dog had a corn cob stuck it its intestine. He wrote on Facebook that he wouldn’t have to kill someone now. I suppose that is supposed be a joke like he claims the recall is a joke so it was okay to sign a bogus signature on a recall petition.
And what fool would feed a dog a corn cob? Apparently, Trenk!
The town's and Trenk’s attorney is Dickinson Wright (DW), formerly Mariscal Weeks. Trenk was schooled in law by DW partner Gary Birnbaum.
Trenk and Francia think Birnbaum is just dandy.
Well he isn’t. He showed up at a council meeting and told council the motion by Trenk to fire Abujbarah and hire his friend Rodney Glassman was the preferred means of doing so. It wasn’t. However they have spent over $200,000 of the town’s tax money defending the lawsuit brought by Abujbarah which goes to Birnbaum’s firm. And if they lose, they could spend $3 million of our tax dollars in addition to the legal fees.
Then DW came up with the bright idea and filed a motion for sanctions against Abujbarah, claiming he had destroyed his e-mail records.
The claim was untimely and wrong. The court has already informed the parties the motion was denied and Abujbarah didn’t need to respond. Reading into it? It is a frivolous claim. And what councilman is Rose Law Group’s hatchet man and so-called lawyer? Why, it’s the head of the snake, Trenk.
The records are available though; the slate should know since Abujbarah’s lawyer was able to obtain their e-mails and they are juicy.
Two web blogs that are propagandists for the slate have jumped all over it, as has Trenk, even though it is not true.
Nonetheless Trenk wrote a windy email to Francia asking for a forensic audit to investigate the so called missing e-mails. If they are truly missing, how can they be audited? He claims they didn’t do it earlier because they didn’t want to spend town money. Right! They have no compunction about wasting town money.
Let’s not forget the slate tried to take credit for everything Abujbarah and the town council did. Francia was made to look good by all Abujbarah did, despite being a mere figurehead.
But is Trenk forgetting that someone, possibly a Trenk family member, hired William Laughrige, a private investigator, who made 15 requests for public records? If he found anything damaging we would have heard about it. And the requests were political in nature. He requested copies of building permits issued to El Encanto, Cartwright’s and the Buffalo Chip. He asked for credit card statements for all credit cards issued by the town marshal for the years 2011, 2012 and 2013.
Laughrige requested:
"All credit cards issued by the town manager for the years 2011, 2012 and 2013."
"Fax logs from all Cave Creek fax machines for May 23 & 24, 2013."
"Review Public Records Requests."
There was also a request asking how his requests were found out about when they were made by a P.I. I can answer that. It is called the First Amendment. There is nothing special about a P.I.
Then it was my turn. There were three requests about me and Sonoran News. Payments made by the town to me or Sonoran News for any reason for the years 2012 and 2013. Then, all sales taxes paid by Sonoran News publication for 2010, 2011, 2012 and 2013.
Laughrige also asked for all business or other town fees for those same years. And, last, he asked about me personally, for “questions about a building permit (electrical permit) and all inspection reports for May 21 & 22, 2013, all vehicle logs of the inspector and any notes during those inspections.”
He asked for: “Notes made during a meeting between the town manager and Steve LaMar on May 22, 2013.” He wanted a summary if there were no notes, but the town doesn’t have to do that.
Then he asked why a town vehicle was at Gerald Freeman’s gate and asked for any reports.
He next wanted to know about town employees’ visits to Pauline Smith at Continental Estates.
Last he wanted to know about the town policy regarding public information.
Clearly he was trying to find dirt and didn’t find any or the slate would be trumpeting it. Trenk’s request for a forensic audit is a political ploy as the election would be over before any results were in. It is hoped to cast a shadow over Abujbarah’s employment.
