My View
BY DON SORCHYCH | JUNE 24, 2015
An omelet for the dark side
Kiwanis vs. Hidden Rock
The last council meeting was a bust for the dark side. They brought in a competitor who populated all the chairs with their monthly shopper and even put up a sign. I asked Town Manager Peter Jankowski if he had given them permission to advertise their shopper during the meeting. He said he hadn’t, nor had any other town employee.
However, according to Jankowski’s office, he is modifying the rules to assure such displays will require his approval and paperwork handed directly to council, typically during Call to the Public, will also require his screening.
We also found out the sales scamp for City Sun Times (CST), Bob Hesselgesser, has done the same trashing at town hall events, such as Taste of Cave Creek and the failed Furniture Expo.
Hesselgesser had a spotted reputation when he worked for the failed Desert Advocate. He sold ads for Foothills Focus until they discovered he was working simultaneously for CST and fired him because of the conflict of interest.
Hesselgesser also had a feud with Foothills Focus Publisher/Editor John Alexander, who accused Hesselgesser of stealing Foothill Focus’ racks and placing CST papers over his.
I had similar experiences in local restaurants. I once complained to a restaurant owner about our papers being covered by CST papers. The owner said that Hesselgesser had just been there that morning and shrugged his shoulders saying he would keep an eye on them.
So, it appears, in addition to all that, CST has become a tool of the dark side.
CST got its traction in Cave Creek after meetings were arranged with local businesses by former Councilwoman Kim Brennan after we outed her for her stripper career, her two open meeting violations while on council, and a conflict of interest when she suggested a price to her client for the town’s purchase of land on which it had inadvertently encroached upon with a water tank. How she managed to keep her realtor’s license after that little trick, while on council, we don’t know.
CST, which is a monthly shopper, claims it prints 20,000 papers monthly but has a readership of 80,000, despite its distribution being primarily to racks. Really? We print twice each month and deliver 36,000 in direct mail to six zip codes as well as 1,500 racks and weekly online publication.
So CST decided to invade town hall because the dark side asked it to? Apparently, although it seems to have a penchant for invading any meeting it chooses. However, no longer may it invade Cave Creek Town Hall, a loss for which it can thank the dark side.
The small dark side group of malcontents seems to think it won the election when in fact the slate was smashed as any slate would be in a thinking community, which is definitely the case in Cave Creek.
They certainly got egg on their faces for claiming we are anti-Semitic and racist. Although we have massive defenses we don’t really need them because the claim is stupid and non-defensible. The fact that Linda Bentley is a 14-year Sonoran News employee and is Jewish neatly wrapped up that issue. George Ross made the claim we are anti-Semitic and should wash the egg off his face, or, better yet, leave it on so he isn’t taken seriously. Being anti-George Ross is not the same thing as being anti-Semitic.
Thanks to the Creekers who showed up. It is important they continue to support the new council and offset the discontented few.
Council has a lot on its plate and doesn’t need to continuously listen to nonsense.
Kiwanis vs. Hidden Rock
A serious problem has developed between Kiwanis and the Hidden Rock development. Kiwanis claims the development has caused serious flooding of Kiwanis Marketplace. It has abundant pictures to prove its point. Kiwanis’ well-known attorney is Frederick Davidson. Davidson wrote a detailed letter outlining the problems. After considerable delay, the developer’s attorney wrote this reply:
“Hello Mr. Davidson,
“We appreciate your email regarding our development of Hidden Rock at Cave Creek a premier residential community.
“We have met a number of times with your client and their consultant explaining our grading and drainage phasing. We have made every attempt to be a good neighbor.
“Currently we are approved and have received permits to develop our project. We are proceeding with the current plan.
“We feel there is no need for further conversations with your client.
“Sincerely,
“Stephen B. Allgood, Managing Partner”
Sounds like a kiss off, doesn’t it?
Kiwanis, being a charitable organization, wants an amicable solution. I doubt they want a lawsuit, but they may need a notice of claim to get the town’s attention, although it has been stated the town essentially said “bring it on” because of the risk pool where the town’s liability is 20 percent of legal costs.
How to get the developer’s attention is another thing, as their letter indicates.
