Guest Editorial
By Steve LaMar | MAY 18, 2016
Support the Open Space Initiative
At the last Cave Creek Council meeting there was a presentation by Steve Betts on the status of our negotiations to preserve our 4000 acres of open space. His report was gratifying. He announced that after a series of meetings a Intergovernmental Agreement (IGA) is being drafted to reflect the details of the agreement between Cave Creek and the State Land Commissioner to work together to create a Conservation Area and Bank that will preserve forever the annexed land as open space as it was intended. The beauty of this plan confirmed by the IGA is that it will accomplished the preservation of this open space without the need for property taxation, or the substantial cost of obtaining the 4000 acres through purchase of the annexed State land at auction.
Citizens of Cave Creek have worked toward the culmination of this initiative for many years. More than one hundred thousand dollars of citizen donations are presently held in trust with the Desert Foothills Land Trust to be used in this effort. Clearly, the Citizens of Cave Creek recognize the importance of this preservation effort that will help keep the advance of Phoenix urban sprawl from engulfing the Town, and further the mandates of our general plan to protect and preserve the beautiful Sonoran Foothills that are the heart and soul of the rural character of Cave Creek.
It is the majesty of our natural setting that sets us apart and has inspired this long minded positive civic action. It is this civic pride and sense of responsibility that brings us together, makes us proud, and gives an opportunity to accomplish something good that will endure after all of us walking the face of this earth today are gone.
On the practical side, successfully accomplishing our open space initiative will help insure that Cave Creek is unique, wild, and beautiful. Why is that important? The more developed our adjoining communities become the more attractive and valuable our residential and commercial property will become.
It is simple supply and demand economics.
There is a small but vocal group of individuals who have no appreciation for the love the citizens of Cave Creek have for our open space who spread false information and make reckless untrue statements to thwart our open space initiative. The motivation is simple- they need issues to get elected. Their methodology is simple as well; misrepresent until found out, then misrepresent about something new. Not too long ago the political fliers pretending to be newspapers were making noise that our open space initiative would cost $86 million and would require property taxes. Now they must back away from those statements and simply shriek to the heavens about Cave Creek being on the verge of bankruptcy. The bankruptcy shriek is the same one they were using four years ago, but then no one has ever accused them of being particularly bright.
In reality they simply have no vision for the Cave Creek, have no knowledge of what we have aspired toward for decades, no sense of the value of protecting our beautiful natural setting, and most importantly,lack the drive and intellectual integrity it takes to accomplish positive things in a small community. They simply can’t stand that we would succeed at long last to accomplish our open space initiative. Why? Because they have done nothing to support it or anything else positive in our community for that matter. They simply need to get elected since all their friends were recalled and can’t serve their narrow, negative, do nothing brand of dirty politics.
For the Love of Cave Creek, if we work together and keep our eye on the goal of building a quality future for our community, we can do something good that will make a difference in the future of the great Sonoran foothills surrounding Cave Creek for all time. Support the open space initiative.
