"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 #1101, July 29, 2024
On July 23, 2024 Rod de Szendeffy wrote a Letter to the Editor, published in the Sonoran News, in which he wrote, “Normally I find it difficult to lower myself to the level required to respond to a misnamed "Carefree Truth" in attack mode. Maybe its author is running out of people to attack".
At no time in many years, or during this election cycle, did Carefree Truth attack Rod de Szendeffy. Anything published in Carefree Truth that "attacked" Rod de Szendeffy during this election period was submitted by others and clearly labeled as Guest Editorials. Yet he attacked us in the latest edition of the Sonoran News.
He then goes onto blame the Town, "NOT property owners, beginning with the incredibly poor decision of a previous long ago administration to ban all tour buses from frequenting our downtown." This is ludicrous. We remember the tour busses from when we first moved here. They are ancient history. When we bought our ground in 1988 there was nothing else between Carefree and Bell Road to draw visitors north of Bell Road except Rawhide, located at Scottsdale and Pinnacle Peak Roads. Carefree was once a "destination" out in the desert, but for years now Carefree has abutted Scottsdale and Phoenix, which have expanded up to our borders.
But since Rod de Szendeffy is living in the past, let's revisit it.
He falsely claimed to be a "founding father" of Carefree's incorporation. His "contribution" to that effort was allowing those doing the actual work to use one of the unoccupied commercial spaces in his building for a 2 week period as a place to collect signatures on the incorporation petitions. He contributed no funds or work towards that effort.
Carefree Truth was born out of necessity, due to a bogus recall attempt on Carefree Mayor David Schwan in 2009. You might ask why anyone would attempt to recall someone who had been in office for a mere 26 days.
Answers:
1. Rod de Szendeffy was trying to build a garage on his property that was higher than the zoning allowed, and the building inspector shut down Rod de Szendeffy's job. The Carefree Town Council at that time also acted as the Board of Adjustment (that role has since been switched over to the Planning & Zoning Commission), which reviewed variance requests. His was turned down. It is illegal, per State Statute, to grant variances for anything that is self imposed.
Rod de Szendeffy's history with the Town of Carefree involves multiple zoning violations, which he refused to correct. Not only did he fail to comply with Carefree's zoning Ordinances, he sued the Town more than once, losing each time. He had appealed his latest loss for the increased garage height in court and had lost again.
2. Don Sorchych, the owner, editor, and publisher of the Sonoran News, wanted to control Carefree as he had controlled Cave Creek for many years. During the 2009 election, he had managed to convince the voters to elect 3 of his 4 endorsed candidates/stooges to the Carefree Council, but he needed that 4th Council member in order to get his majority.
Don Sorchych approached Rod de Szendeffy to pull recall papers on Mayor David Schwan. Rod de Szendeffy was more than happy to oblige, since getting that majority would also assure him of getting the variance for his desired garage. As of December 9th, 2009, the reporting period closing date for the campaign financial disclosures, Rod de Szendeffy had expended a total of $20,410 on this effort. All but a donated total of $80 was his out-of-pocket expense.
Don Sorchych chose our "old friend" John Traynor, who had already failed in his attempted Council runs twice, to run against Mayor Schwan. They even went so far as to hire a political consultant, Ryan Ducharme from Chandler, who Rod de Szendeffy paid handsomely. Ryan Ducharme went door-to-door spouting the outrageous lies from people like Don Sorchych, Rod de Szendeffy, and John Traynor, using these lies to get signatures on recall petitions to enable a recall election.
Carefree Truth began in order to counteract those lies with public record facts that anyone could access. There was an organized group of women Carefree citizens who were handing out fliers at the Carefree Post Office supporting the Mayor. Even many off-duty Rural/Metro fire fighters from the Carefree Fire Station stood at the Post Office in their informal R/M tee shirts to support Mayor Schwan.
I began attending P&Z and Council meetings in 1997, when our development formed a HOA. So yes, we have been here and in the thick of Carefree's issues for many years, and are well versed in the facts. To familiarize myself with the time before we were here, I spent 2 weeks, all day every work day when Town Hall was open, going through the archives to familiarize myself with what went before, so the recallers' lies could be accurately addressed.
Needless to say, the recall effort failed, although they were so sure of victory that they were holding a celebratory party (photographed and published in the Sonoran News) while the ballots were being counted. This was John Traynor's 3rd losing attempt to be elected to the Carefree Town Council. (His 4th losing attempt was when he applied for a vacated seat on the Council. Not one Council member voted for him, not even his supposedly dear friend Mike Farrar.)
In his recent Sonoran News letter, Rod de Szendeffy goes on to complain that the Town owned "centralized parking lot" was repurposed. It consisted of a 4 acre dirt lot in which our red 1995 (real) Hummer was the only vehicle ever parked in the "parking lot". No one wanted to park their nice cars on a dusty bumpy dirt lot.
Under Mayor Ed Morgan, this dirt lot became the beautiful Carefree Desert Gardens where people come to see the exotic plants, public art, water features, stroll along the paths, and sit on comfortable chairs by the 2 fire places in the winter. Children play at the playground (we proudly donated $500 towards that playground) and in the splash pad (donated by the Kiwanis Club of Carefree), while their parents and grandparents watch and often take the time to do some shopping and dining while downtown. The Foothills Desert Library added the Little Free Library, where people can take books to read for free and to leave books for others to read. A Veterans Memorial Monument, designed by local veterans, was added last year, with surrounding seating for those wishing to honor our veterans in quiet dignity.
The Carefree Desert Gardens includes a central amphitheater with a large stage, lighting and sound equipment, and overhead sails for shade (the lighting, sound, and sails donated by Sanderson Lincoln), which provides a perfect and oft used venue for events. Lighting was added by the Town around the downtown for evening events and dining, creating a viable evening destination.
As hoped, these improvements on Town property inspired a number of building owners to spruce up their fading facades. Frank Andre, owner of the Carefree Galleria and Carefree Corners, went on public record saying that he would not have invested in Carefree had the Town not made the improvements. Spanish Village, which was mostly empty, is now fully occupied with wonderful shops and restaurants. Many of our friends and neighbors have commented that downtown Carefree, once an embarrassment, has again become a place they are proud to take their visiting friends and family members. All of this helps to support our sales tax base.
Rod de Szendeffy has been described as a slum landlord. The merchants in Los Portales along Easy Street do not have long term tenant leases, but month to month ones. The paint is peeling in numerous spots. There are exposed wires, lights that don't work, and spotty heat and AC. The underground commercial part of that building is completely unoccupied and smells musty. The roof leaks and there is water on the floor when it rains. It is out of compliance with the ADA, lacking public toilets and an elevator for access.
Rod de Szendeffy, who did not build it but later bought it, describes Los Portales as "historic", among Carefree’s first, "built many years before incorporation". Los Portales, in his defense, would be hard to renovate to accommodate businesses that needed differing spaces than those which are there, due to the asbestos in the walls, which was the standard at the time it was built. But he could still perform the normal maintenance which is sorely lacking.
Don Sorchych has since passed away, but it appears Rod de Szendeffy and John Traynor continue to hold a grudge.
Some people do not like the truth because it does not fit their narrative. Carefree Truth has 1368 of Herbert's video listings from Council meetings and Town events, many of which have multiple videos under one listing, along with my text reporting on those Council meeting videos, taken directly from the videos for accuracy. The video camera and texts shine a light that makes cockroaches scatter.
"If you want to kick the tiger in his ass, you'd better have a plan for dealing with his teeth" -Tom Clancy
Lyn & Herbert Hitchon
Prepared by Carefree Truth
Copyrighted
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