"Thomas Jefferson said a democracy is dependent on an informed citizenry. I don't care whether it sounds corny or not.  It's the truth." -Jim Lehrer

Carefree Truth
Issue #1038, July 15, 2022

I fully intended to make no further comments regarding Peter Sample because I felt I had said what needed to be said.  Then, yesterday, we received mailers paid for by Peter Sample for Mayor of Carefree, sent to every Carefree voter, that was riddled with so many malicious lies that it needed to be addressed.  While most people will laugh it off as the ridiculous garbage that it is, I was also contacted by many who were outraged by this horrific attack on John Crane.  People in this community know him to be a decent, smart, and kind man who has served this community diligently for many years.

 
In fact, John Crane requested that I not write this because it might embarrass Peter Sample's family.  (We'll get to that part, so keep reading...)  That's the type of person John Crane is.  But Carefree Truth is the press, registered with the Arizona Corporation Commission, and we feel that voters have the right to know the true character of candidates for whom they are potentially voting.

 
Now on to the mailer.
 
LIE #1:
"Crane sued the Town of Carefree"
FACT:
John Crane sued Carefree to overturn term limits because at that time it was not legal for small towns to have term limits, and he was the first one with the standing needed to do it. He was forced by State law to sue Carefree to overturn an unenforceable Carefree Ordinance because that is the required process.  This is a matter of Public Record. 

 
LIE #2:
"RESIDENTS' VOTES MUST COME FIRST!"
FACT:
No, residents' votes on something that was put on a ballot by a candidate who was running in that election, and passed using emotional sound bytes propelled by peoples' general disgust with the politicians in Washington, D.C., do NOT supersede State laws. 

 
LIE #3:
"Crane DOES NOT listen to the residents."
FACT:
John Crane is very well known for always listening to our residents.  Not only that, but he is consistently polite to even the most antagonistic people.  He is a true gentleman in every sense of the word.
 
LIE #4:
"The Town of Carefree ended up paying HIS legal fees." And, "This has cost our town thousands of dollars.  Is this how our tax dollars should be spent?"
FACT:
John Crane won the case and the court awarded him the right to collect his legal fees from Carefree.  He declined to do so.  He spent over $10,000 out of his own pocket to overturn an unenforceable Ordinance, allowing qualified candidates to run and giving voters the right to elect them for however long they wished to keep them in office if they felt they were doing a good job.  Contrary to what Peter Sample wrote, this did NOT "cost our town thousands of dollars".  This is also a matter of Public Record.
 
LIE OR INEXCUSABLE IGNORANCE #5:
Peter Sample said, "But then CRANE and the rest of the Town Council voted to extend the Rural/Metro Fire services for Carefree for at least 18 months."  He noted that "the automatic-aid system will increase the firefighters/paramedics on each fire engine from 3 to 4"  "Why aren't we spending the funds necessary to keep our community safe?"
FACT:
Or maybe Peter Sample is just thoroughly ignorant, due to his lack of participation in the extensive meetings in which fire protection/public safety were discussed.  Joining the automatic-aid program will be very costly.  Alternatives for joining automatic-aid are being investigated, including contracting for personnel services with Scottsdale or Daisy Mountain, or starting our own municipal fire department since Carefree owns the fire station and the equipment currently in use.  All of these options would facilitate our becoming part of the automatic-aid partnership.  Also being investigated are ways to pay the costs to belong to automatic-aid.
 
Carefree, contracting with Rural/Metro (R/M) for personnel to man the station, had for many years been part of the mutual- aid partnership.  This meant that if there were a major fire that required extra help, surrounding companies would send reinforcements if they were available.  Fire Chief Shannon of the Scottsdale Fire Department, who is my dear friend's brother, so I know this is true, has said Scottsdale would still send reinforcements if needed and his assets were available.  This was the agreement when mutual-aid was in place.  The only part that has changed is that it is no longer a contractual agreement.

 
The assets we currently have, without needing back-up, are sufficient to put out a house fire, the most common type of fire.  R/M does have the ability to put out a fire, should one occur, at the 4 story Hampton Inn, contrary to what some of the new candidates are saying.  Most of the calls the Carefree Station gets are actually medical calls, which R/M is more than capable of handling, and has been handling unassisted for years.  Until a sustainable plan of action is determined, the sensible solution was to renew the contract with R/M, rather than just blindly charging in and agreeing to pay millions of dollars for additional equipment and training that will probably never be needed within our borders. 

 
Frankly, a major brush fire would bring fire companies from all around, since wildfires are not generally known for respecting municipal borders.  They affect multiple towns and cities.  The planes that spray the fire suppressants and the helicopters that drop water on brush fires are supplied by the State and are not part of the automatic-aid fire agreements.

 
LIE #6:
The "45-acre parcel" to which Peter Sample refers is still State land.  It doesn't go up for auction until July 27th, and  Carefree has decided not to bid on that parcel due to the expense.  There are other bidders who are interested, and whoever buys it at a starting price of almost $7 million will develop it; they won't keep it as "open space".  Peter Sample again writes about "our beautiful open spaces", while having shown no interest in preserving anything in the past, as opposed to John Crane's years of service on the Board of the Desert Foothills Land Trust, on which he continues to serve.

 
Peter Sample included a photo of John Crane with lines over his face, invoking visions of a jail cell, on one side of the mailer.  On the other side of the mailer was a photo of a bag with money sticking out of the top and money loose in front of it, with a judge's gavel coming down, invoking visions of guilt for taking bribes.
 
All of this rubbish prompted me to call a good friend of mine who is a private investigator.  Here are her findings on Peter Sample.  I have attachments of all 59 pages of the bankruptcy form he filed in California in November of 2008, before moving from Burbank, California to Mesa, Arizona, also in November of 2008, leaving the state where his filing was made.  These attachments are available upon request.
 
(Note to John Crane: We are not embarrassing Peter Sample's family.  Peter Sample is the one who is embarrassing his family.) 

 
My question to the voters is, do you want someone who has had 21 addresses since 1996 and who left a state the same month he filed filed for bankruptcy, as your mayor?
 
Here is the info my friend, the P.I., was able to find with very little effort:
 
Let’s review the original purpose of Bankruptcy, one of which was to keep people who experienced a genuine health disaster - or other financial catastrophe - out of debtor’s prison. It was not, dare I say, to wiggle out of government help that one was privileged enough to receive, or so that one could keep a fancy car for free. There’s something very freeing about walking onto a lot and paying cash for a vehicle you like. He should try it sometime!
 
Also attached are documents related to the Sample home purchase. Note they’re listed as married and Sonia's name is first; the tax bill is addressed to her only. (Hope she got a pre-nup!) The down payment was just a bit more than Peter's bankruptcy discharge - and I’ll bet Sonia paid it…. He’s not quite 50 - if he plays his cards right, he can slide into home on the taxpayer’s dime.
 
Attached are your documents - nearly $80,000 of debt, banks, student loan (US Dept. of Ed.), USAA (he screwed the taxpayers AND the military…), a real estate company, a tax education/seminar company and, last but not least, BMW Financial.
 
If you zoom out to the big picture, he has the M.O. of the person who wants and needs to be a career politician. Which is a fundamental, overarching problem that has crippled the country at all levels.
 

Peter Sample's "attack" mailer

Lyn Hitchon
 
 Prepared by Carefree Truth
Copyrighted
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