"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 #839, July 4, 2020

Glenn Miller

Ex-Councilman Glenn Miller's campaign posters show a photo of him being presented with the Mayor's Award by Mayor David Schwan, with praise for Mr. Miller's "many contributions to the town", and a fake check with many zeros for his "priceless service to the town".  All those on the Town Council and on the Planning and Zoning Commission serve on a volunteer basis.  The standing joke is that we want to see an extra zero added to the end of our next paycheck.  The check presented to Mr. Miller referred to that joke.



At the time the Mayor's Award and the joke check were presented to Mr. Miller in January of 2015, Mr. Miller was indeed an asset to the Council and the town.  But times change and so did Mr. Miller.  



In direct opposition to the definitively expressed wishes of the vast majority of Carefree residents, Mr. Miller was adamant that the Town provide developer Ed Lewis with $4,000,000 (yes, that's million) of Town funds for the construction of a stand-alone building to house a museum and a new Council chambers on the site of Mr. Lewis' proposed condominium project in the downtown core. 



Arizona State University (ASU), whose museum was being solicited, would only discuss a maximum 5 year agreement, and required the Town to pay an administrative salary of $500,000 a year to ASU.  No one else on the Council felt that this would provide a sensible cost vs. benefit, and the funds were not forthcoming.  In a letter dated 2/10/15, Mr. Lewis withdrew his request.


When I questioned Mr. Miller about his support for providing Mr. Lewis with $4,000,000, he responded that the Town would then own a Council Chamber, rather than paying rent for space in the 100 Easy Street building.  The Council approved the purchase of the current Council Chamber building at 33 Easy Street during the August 4th, 2015 meeting for the price of $407,400.  The cost of remodeling the building to make it suit the purpose was approximately $360,000.  The Town collects rent from a tenant on the second floor of the building.  This cost to benefit ratio made sound fiscal sense.


Mr. Miller also pushed hard for 4, rather than 2, of the large entry archways constructed on Cave Creek Road and on Tom Darlington Drive.  The Town's proposed plan was to place the arches at the streets with existing roundabouts.  Mr. Miller's proposed archway locations were at the streets on either side of the existing roundabouts. The Baker Study, commissioned to help revitalize the downtown, recommended that entry monuments include arterial road roundabouts.  The plan endorsed by Mr. Miller also included the construction of an additional 4 roundabouts where his proposed 4 gateway arches would go, resulting in 3 roundabouts on both Cave Creek Road and on Tom Darlington Drive, for a total of 6 roundabouts within a short distance.  This plan increased both the visibility and the price of the project substantially.  When the meeting was held to vote on it, the Council Chamber was standing room only, with everyone in the audience opposed to 4 arches and an additional 4 roundabouts.  



By this time, Mr. Miller had become angry and combative.  A Code of Conduct was generated by the Town to establish guidelines for the behavior of elected and appointed officials, with varying degrees of sanctions for conduct violations.  This Code was approved by a majority of the Council on April 5th, 2016.  Mr. Miller at first refused to sign it.  When he finally did sign it, he submitted a formal written protest to the Town.  The link containing the Code of Conduct and Mr. Miller's formal protest is http://carefreetruth2.com/written-code-of-conduct.html

Mr. Miller's decision not to run again for the Council in 2016 ended with his angry statement, "I'm done with this town!"



Following his exit, Mr. Miller has attended almost no Council meetings.  The only town related activity in which he participated was to act as the "muscle" in Mike Farrar's failed 2018 campaign, during which time, he stood by the door into the Carefree Post Office, arms folded across his chest, "directing" those attempting to enter the Post Office into Mr. Farrar's campaign headquarters.  I heard comments from many, particularly women, who hated to pick up their mail due to feeling uncomfortable and intimidated by Mr. Miller.



We were sorry to witness the change Mr. Miller underwent after receiving the Mayor's Award.  But this attitude has persisted unchecked for a number of years now, and we find ourselves unwilling to endorse a candidate whose catchphrase is, "I love war!".



Lyn & Herbert Hitchon


Prepared by Carefree Truth
Copyrighted
Visit our website at www.carefreetruth2.com  If you know anyone who would like to be added to the Carefree Truth email list, please have them contact me.  Feel free to share Carefree Truth with others on your list.
Visit www.carefreeazbusinesses.com to see more info about businesses in Carefree.  Please support our merchants.