Carefree Truth
Issue #668, July 16, 2018
An Open Letter to Carefree Residents from Mayor Les Peterson
People have asked why I and the four Carefree Town Council members running with me are not actively campaigning at the Carefree Post Office as has been done by all of Carefree’s political candidates for at least the last two decades. People have also asked if this lack of campaigning is an indication that we don’t believe we need to introduce ourselves to residents and discuss their concerns.
Nothing could be further from the truth. Please let me explain why.
I want to be absolutely clear on this matter. All five Council members, I as well as Vice Mayor Crane and Council members Kroyer, Krahe and Hatcher, along with Mr. Vince D’Aliesio, would be at the Post Office very frequently campaigning along side of my political opponent, Mike Farrar, except for what I believe is a politically motivated maneuver by Mr. Farrar and his supporters.
Mr. Farrar signed a lease for his “campaign headquarters” in the Post Office building, which is a privately owned building whose owner leases space to the Post Office and other tenants. We are told that a clause was placed in Mr. Farrar’s lease which specifically forbids candidates other than Mr. Farrar from campaigning anywhere on the premises. We have also been told that a clause in this lease grants Mr. Farrar exclusive rights to put up political signage on the lobby entrance windows or anywhere on the property.
My understanding is that Mr. Farrar’s lease gives him exclusive rights to the Post Office building. He has chosen to exercise that right by banning myself, with whom he is competing for the position of Carefree Mayor, and any Council candidates with whom he disagrees, from campaigning on the premises or posting political signage on the lobby entrance windows or anywhere on the property.
Since the only method to receive mail in Carefree is via a Post Office Box at the Carefree Post Office, residents and businesses need to periodically go there to get their mail. There is no other comparable central meeting point in Carefree, so that makes the open spaces of the Post Office entrances and lobby the prime locations where residents and candidates can meet and discuss topics of interest.
The character of Carefree, in my opinion, is much more laid back. Historically during election season, the candidates, all the candidates, meet residents at the Post Office building and discuss the issues and take time to introduce themselves. I guess I think of it more as the Norman Rockwell approach. We take time out to visit with you and try to answer your questions, and learn and discuss the topics that are important to you. I regret that Mr. Farrar has eliminated that option for me and most of the Town Council.
But there is another issue with potentially grave consequences for Carefree residents that this whole ugly situation at the Post Office building created by Mr. Farrar and his supporters could well bring to the forefront.
The Carefree Post Office is a substation, a component, of the Cave Creek Post Office. Two and a half years ago the Post Office Officials came to me and Gary Neiss, the Town Administrator, stating that the Post Office was planning to consolidate the operations of the Carefree Post Office substation into the Cave Creek Post Office as part of their effort to reduce expenses. If this occurred, service for Carefree residents and businesses would remain Post Office boxes only, but the Carefree boxes would all be located in the Cave Creek postal facility and Carefree residents and businesses would thereafter have a Cave Creek postal address.
We objected vigorously, telling them that the Carefree Post Office, even though a substation to Cave Creek, was the cultural and economic center of the Carefree community. We had a series of long and candid discussions with the Postal Officials, and presented a whole series of reasons to keep a Post Office facility in Carefree. Finally they relented, even though as they pointed out, a postal facility servicing as few households as found in Carefree went against their guidelines and it was a rare exception that they were granting our request.
But in granting our request, they told us they had one request and one requirement:
- Their request was that the Carefree Town Government put forth a concerted effort to help and support them by communicating with residents during the transition of the Carefree postal substation from being staffed by a private contractor to it being operated by Post Office employees, which we did.
- Their requirement was that if there was ever any controversy or ill will involving the operation of a Postal substation in Carefree that cast the Carefree substation in a bad light, they would cancel their lease and consolidate its operation into Cave Creek.
My fears are that the current political ploys of the Farrar group at the Post Office may trigger a controversy, something that the Post Office specifically wants to avoid. People have communicated to me that they have been intimidated by members of the Farrar group taking aggressive actions towards them as they come to get their mail, and the Farrar political rally at the Carefree Post Office facility this past Saturday was offensive to a number of residents.
Political actions such as these have the potential to generate a considerable amount of controversy and media attention since they are election related. If you have a complaint regarding this type of activity, please submit it to the Carefree Town Offices rather than the Carefree Post Office, as this will alert the Post Office to this controversy.
Les Peterson
Nothing could be further from the truth. Please let me explain why.
I want to be absolutely clear on this matter. All five Council members, I as well as Vice Mayor Crane and Council members Kroyer, Krahe and Hatcher, along with Mr. Vince D’Aliesio, would be at the Post Office very frequently campaigning along side of my political opponent, Mike Farrar, except for what I believe is a politically motivated maneuver by Mr. Farrar and his supporters.
Mr. Farrar signed a lease for his “campaign headquarters” in the Post Office building, which is a privately owned building whose owner leases space to the Post Office and other tenants. We are told that a clause was placed in Mr. Farrar’s lease which specifically forbids candidates other than Mr. Farrar from campaigning anywhere on the premises. We have also been told that a clause in this lease grants Mr. Farrar exclusive rights to put up political signage on the lobby entrance windows or anywhere on the property.
My understanding is that Mr. Farrar’s lease gives him exclusive rights to the Post Office building. He has chosen to exercise that right by banning myself, with whom he is competing for the position of Carefree Mayor, and any Council candidates with whom he disagrees, from campaigning on the premises or posting political signage on the lobby entrance windows or anywhere on the property.
Since the only method to receive mail in Carefree is via a Post Office Box at the Carefree Post Office, residents and businesses need to periodically go there to get their mail. There is no other comparable central meeting point in Carefree, so that makes the open spaces of the Post Office entrances and lobby the prime locations where residents and candidates can meet and discuss topics of interest.
The character of Carefree, in my opinion, is much more laid back. Historically during election season, the candidates, all the candidates, meet residents at the Post Office building and discuss the issues and take time to introduce themselves. I guess I think of it more as the Norman Rockwell approach. We take time out to visit with you and try to answer your questions, and learn and discuss the topics that are important to you. I regret that Mr. Farrar has eliminated that option for me and most of the Town Council.
But there is another issue with potentially grave consequences for Carefree residents that this whole ugly situation at the Post Office building created by Mr. Farrar and his supporters could well bring to the forefront.
The Carefree Post Office is a substation, a component, of the Cave Creek Post Office. Two and a half years ago the Post Office Officials came to me and Gary Neiss, the Town Administrator, stating that the Post Office was planning to consolidate the operations of the Carefree Post Office substation into the Cave Creek Post Office as part of their effort to reduce expenses. If this occurred, service for Carefree residents and businesses would remain Post Office boxes only, but the Carefree boxes would all be located in the Cave Creek postal facility and Carefree residents and businesses would thereafter have a Cave Creek postal address.
We objected vigorously, telling them that the Carefree Post Office, even though a substation to Cave Creek, was the cultural and economic center of the Carefree community. We had a series of long and candid discussions with the Postal Officials, and presented a whole series of reasons to keep a Post Office facility in Carefree. Finally they relented, even though as they pointed out, a postal facility servicing as few households as found in Carefree went against their guidelines and it was a rare exception that they were granting our request.
But in granting our request, they told us they had one request and one requirement:
- Their request was that the Carefree Town Government put forth a concerted effort to help and support them by communicating with residents during the transition of the Carefree postal substation from being staffed by a private contractor to it being operated by Post Office employees, which we did.
- Their requirement was that if there was ever any controversy or ill will involving the operation of a Postal substation in Carefree that cast the Carefree substation in a bad light, they would cancel their lease and consolidate its operation into Cave Creek.
My fears are that the current political ploys of the Farrar group at the Post Office may trigger a controversy, something that the Post Office specifically wants to avoid. People have communicated to me that they have been intimidated by members of the Farrar group taking aggressive actions towards them as they come to get their mail, and the Farrar political rally at the Carefree Post Office facility this past Saturday was offensive to a number of residents.
Political actions such as these have the potential to generate a considerable amount of controversy and media attention since they are election related. If you have a complaint regarding this type of activity, please submit it to the Carefree Town Offices rather than the Carefree Post Office, as this will alert the Post Office to this controversy.
Les Peterson