(Lyn's note: Please feel free to send us any pictures you'd like included.  Here's the link to this week's Pictures of the Week.)
http://carefreeazbusinesses.com/pictures-of-the-week-52919.html

Gracie
Photo by Laurie Palace                    

 

And here are your bonus rounds from Herbert:
http://aneyeonyouproduction.com/42319-sunset.html

http://aneyeonyouproduction.com/52219-6pm.html

Photos by Herbert Hitchon

These photos were taken by Beth Renfro at the 2019 Carefree Desert Gardens Photo Contest Awards Ceremony:
http://carefreetruth2.com/2019-carefree-desert-gardens-photo-contest-awards-ceremony.html

Photo by Beth Renfro


Town of Carefree Marketing newsletter
https://www.carefree.org/345/Town-Newsletters



Hello all, I received this email from a colleague at Maricopa County Public Health. I will present this at next week's council meeting, but was hoping Lyn H. would share this with you, with hopes that you would take a moment to participate in this survey.  The benefit to participating in this survey is that it will assist  in making policy and programming decisions for Carefree with concern to public health programs. I just took the survey myself, and completed it in less than 2 1/2 minutes. It is confidential and does not request your name or contact information.
You can find the survey here:  https://maricopasneb.co1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_esPgjkUFv1i7DFz

Thank you!
Vince D'Aliesio
Proud Councilmember
Carefree, AZ 85377
480.488.3686
VinceDaliesio@Carefree.org
www.Carefree.org



https://civanacarefree.com/upcoming-event/civana-friday-nights/
Lyn, if you could post this on your site. I will be playing the next two Friday nights at Civana in Terras their restaurant and lounge from 6pm to 8pm. Would like to see some friendly faces eating and drinking. The music is on me !  Thanks.  Henry Molder
(Lyn's note: This came too late to include last Wednesday.  Henry is the one who plays the Native American Flutes so beautifully in the Carefree Gardens.  The first Friday night he played at Civana has passed, but he will be there again this Friday night.)


Huge THANKS Lyn for the theater camp shout-out!  We appreciate your support!!! I met with John Skarda from Kiwanis yesterday afternoon and he spoke very highly of you and recommended I get in touch.  As the new “face” of FCF, I am proactively working on getting our name out there as a community support organization and collaborating with as many people and organizations as I can.  Another goal is to increase the use of the Holland Center and getting new people in here who probably don’t know we are even here. “Where is the Holland Center?” is probably one of the questions I hear the most, “What is FCF” is a close second.   We are upgrading/increasing our programming this fall and we will start actively recruiting new volunteers to help us later this summer.
Jennifer Rosvall
Executive Director
Foothills Community Foundation
34250 N 60th Street
Scottsdale, AZ 85266



Love the shops! I need to come up and shop a bit.
Laurie Palace



Lyn's note: Responses about term limits)

The possibility of reinstating term limits in Carefree has been raised, and much has been written about it.  I am opposed to term limits for a town of our size.  Carefree is a small town with a limited number of people who are able to make the time commitment to serve on the Council, and who are willing to take the abuse that sometimes comes with the unpaid volunteer position.

I believe that citizens have the right to run and succeed, or conversely, to run and fail, as many times as they wish.  For instance, one candidate has run unsuccessfully 3 times and has applied for a vacant Council position once, making him a 4 time loser.  The Carefree voters were informed and chose wisely.  Not even one Council member voted to appoint him.  However, that individual has, and should have, the right to keep trying, even if the voters and the existing Council members at the time rejected him.  This right should extend to those who run successfully as well as to those who are serial losers.

I encourage the Carefree citizens to participate by attending the Council meetings, or by watching the unedited videos of the Council meetings that I put out each month in Carefree Truth.  Body language and facial expression often say more than words.  Please stay informed, thank you.

Herbert Hitchon



Great responses from your readers, and its nice to see another council member voice their opinion, too.

Vince D'Aliesio
(Lyn's note: This refers to the response from Councilwoman Cheryl Kroyer about term limits.)


You sure dodged the bullet here. This “interview request” has MF’s sticky fingers all over it. Who else would have contacted an organization run by a pack of Dems whose stated aim is to go after “career Congress and Senators”. That they would seek an interview with you is very interesting since there is no comparison between Carefree and DC.
As you so artfully described, small towns like Carefree do not have a large pool from which to draw candidates. Additionally, shorter terms are less effective at getting anything done; the longer the term the better it is as the time may be used to provide time to get projects completed before the next round of campaigning.
I totally agree with your position regarding term  limits, as they don’t make any sense for small communities like Carefree. The system that you have is working very well, there is no need to change things up.
It is interesting that this group “found Carefree”. My guess is that MF reached out to them.
Laurie Palace
(Lyn's note: This refers to the back and forth emails between Mr. Blumel in Florida, Arthur Gimson, and me, regarding term limits.)




(Lyn's note: Responses to Les Peterson's editorial on term limits)
Well stated, Mister Mayor.
John really knocked it out of the park this morning with the organization of the Memorial Day service. Really proud and humbled to be a part of it. We've got a really good thing going in this town.
Vince D'Aliesio

Excellent. Would have been true where I was police chief and in almost all small jurisdictions!  
Larry Holland


Well said!
Eileen Crowley


Mayor Peterson’s arguments against term limits are self-serving and make assumptions which at best are unproven. For example, time spent on the Council does not necessarily equate to improved knowledge about how government functions or whether the interests of the community are better served. Extended transaction before organizations such as APS also do not necessarily benefit from extended longevity of those who brought the action initially or those that now have responsibility for navigating these transactions to their logical conclusions. . In fact one could posit that a fresh approach can and will better advance a particular initiative or enterprise which has become mired in entrenched attitudes on both sides.
I agree with the Mayors’ position that the town of Carefree needs the most experienced individuals  to advocate on behalf of the community. To suggest that the current slate of elected officials all meet that criteria and therefore should remain indefinitely speaks of arrogance and disregard for the wishes of the Carefree Voters. It is the Voters of carefree that voted to impose term limits. To suggest that the current Town Council is wiser than the will of the voter is the very reason why term limits should be imposed.
John Nimsky



Dear Neighbors:

I, for one, am getting a little tired of the shenanigans surrounding the situation with the Town of Carefree’s efforts to acquire water accounts of approximately 526 Carefree residents and businesses currently being served by Cave Creek.  I am equally sure that you are tired of reading about it.  Unfortunately, water is the life-blood of living in the desert, and an adequate supply of water allows us to enjoy what we have.  Without water, our homes will have zero value.

The Town of Cave Creek issued a news release with the title of “Carefree Residents Concerned with Water Take Over”.  The news release cited various situations based on a "survey" that was conducted April 18-22, 2019.  The news release did NOT include some basic information, easily uncovered by reading the actual results of the survey, which can be found on the Town of Cave Creek’s website.  The opening paragraph of the release stated that “Carefree residents are concerned about the costs associated to take over a portion of the Cave Creek water system…”.  Of the 10 questions asked on the survey, only one related to costs.  That question stated “would cost Carefree residents more than $10 million dollars.”

Basic Fact # 1.  The "survey" asked questions of 147 respondents, of which 108 (73.5%) receive their water from the Town of Carefree.  Only 27 (18.4%) were Carefree residents served by Cave Creek Water.  Question:  Why did the survey not involve more Carefree residents on Cave Creek Water?  Potential answer is that the survey then permits the survey taker to present questions that may provide misleading information, or to ask a question that evokes the answer that the survey-taker is seeking.  Or was the survey specifically designed to contact Carefree residents to sow seeds of concern and infuse scare tactics?

Question #6 asked the 147 respondents which Town provided water services.  73.5% (108) were Carefree water users.  Only 27 out of 147 were Carefree residents on Cave Creek Water.

Basic Fact #2, not summarized in the news release.  The question asked was "…generally speaking, would you say that things in Carefree are going in the right direction, or have they gotten off on the wrong track?"  98, or two-thirds of the respondents, said that Carefree is going in the right direction, less than 20%, only 29, said the wrong direction with the remaining 20 (13.6%) respondents not answering.

Basic Fact #3, again, not summarized in the news release.  A question asked for respondents to indicate issues that they thought should be the top priority for the Town Council.  Please note; not issues for the Town’s residents, but issues for the Town Council.  The highest percentage of respondents (26.5%) or 39 out of 147 stated that "improving the local economy and bring jobs to the area" was the most important.  Missing information:  The acquisition of over 526 water accounts into the Carefree Water Company will generate additional sales tax revenues to the water company, a wholly owned entity of the Town of Carefree.  While neither the Town, nor its water company employs huge numbers of people, the potential is there for an additional billing clerk, administrative personnel, or maintenance technicians.  The recently re-zoned parcel of land on the NE corner of Carefree Highway and N. Cave Creek Road is in the Cave Creek water service area, but Cave Creek is unable (or unwilling) to issue a “Will Serve” letter to the developer.  Even though this parcel of land falls within the Cave Creek service area, Carefree has stepped forward to assist in the water supply that would allow development to move forward, providing construction jobs, tax revenues during construction and ongoing revenues from retail merchants.  All that would improve the local economy and add jobs.  In neighboring Cave Creek, just west of the Chevron gas station, lot grading for a Sprouts store is underway.  This parcel of land is in the Cave Creek water service area, but it is my understanding that water will be provided by the City of Phoenix.

"Have you stopped beating your wife?" comes to mind when one carefully reads Survey question 10:  "If Carefree takes over the water system from Cave Creek, the water service will very likely remain the same, but rates will increase.  Based on this statement, are you more likely or less likely to support the takeover of the water system?"  It is not a surprise that two thirds were less likely.  Please bear in mind that the Town of Carefree is NOT attempting to acquire the Cave Creek Water system, only those 526 accounts of Carefree customers currently served by Cave Creek Water.

Over the years, it is alleged by some that Cave Creek paid too much when it acquired its water company from private ownership.  Cave Creek later added a water treatment facility and a wastewater treatment plant, both of which were done using borrowed money.  At one of last year’s Carefree water presentations, it was stated that the Cave Creek wastewater treatment plant is running at less than 40% of capacity, incurring high operating costs.

Final comment:  In the final paragraph of the Cave Creek news release, in part, states, "Carefree has sued Cave Creek to take over the water service for more than 500 customers."  While I am not fully informed of all the legal activities, to the best of my knowledge the Town of Carefree in an effort to start negotiations based on the wording of the inter-governmental agreement, asked Cave Creek to meet to begin arbitration.  Cave Creek chose not to enter into negotiations but insisted that Carefree proceed with condemnation action before starting any negotiations.  In order to move forward, Carefree had no choice.  It is anticipated that the language of the contract will prevail without costly (and lengthy) litigation.

Arthur Gimson

(Lyn's note: As a board member of his HOA, Arthur sent this to the residents in Canyon Ridge.  Reprinted with permission from Arthur.)