Feb. 17, 1999

CAVE CREEK — Incumbent Carefree town councilmen hope it’s no longer a key issue. A group of upstart council candidates are hoping to make it the issue.

With less than a month before the March 9 primary, the December vote to include Carefree in the redevelopment of a south Scottsdale mall sits shotgun over a bitter Town Council campaign.

Despite a January council vote to rescind the plan and a unanimous vote this month to repeal the agreement, the Los Arcos Stadium District remains securely jammed in the craw of local activists turned candidates.

The current council, hopefuls say, circumvented the will of the people — joining up with the big-city shenanigans of Scottsdale politicos bent on constructing a hockey arena for the Phoenix Coyotes.

A few incumbent councilmen complained their opponents are concerned with only one issue and don’t fully understand all that has been accomplished over the past two years.

Others on the council conceded the stadium district was a mistake that might cost them their jobs.

Like it or not, the Los Arcos brouhaha has defined this election for the six incumbent councilmen and seven newcomers who hope to unseat them or at least join them.

Aside from the controversy, candidates told The Republic about their plans if elected or re-elected to the Town Council for the next two years.

• Julian Barrolaza: “I’m running for re-election because I feel there’s some unfinished business I’m still working on.” Securing more Central Arizona Project water rights, Incumbent Vice Mayor Barrolaza said, is a job still needing attention. To meet future demand, Carefree needs 1,600-acre feet of water more than the current allocation of 400-acre feet, he said, adding that the plan has been in the works for more than a year. Reclaiming sewer water will also ensure the town’s future needs will be met, he said. To help in that process, Barrolaza proposed buying out the privately-owned Boulders Carefree Sewer Corp. “My theory is that we should not allow one drop of water to leave our area here no matter what form,” he said. “Purchasing the sewer company would push us in the right direction.”

• Robert Coady: “My main concern was attending town council meetings and being denied the opportunity to speak out.” The current council, Coady said, would much rather conduct meetings and make decision behind closed doors — without the burden of listening to residents concerns. “Sometimes they listen, but most times they turn a deaf ear to their citizens,” he said. Also, he said, Carefree officials are too friendly with Scottsdale and developers aren’t pressured enough to stay with the boundaries of town ordinances. “Carefree is a small town and most people like it that way,” he said. “The zoning is very restrictive here but it seems that every month we have some developer knocking on the door wanting to take one-acre zoning and change it to commercial or, God knows, some other kind of zoning.”

• Larry Lytle Cremeens: “The thing that really pulled me in to at least throw my hat in the ring was the Los Arcos project.” For Cremeens, the actual vote to join Scottsdale in the Stadium District was not the biggest problem with the proposal. He was enraged when town residents were denied the opportunity to speak out on the plan at a special December meeting. “One of the biggest things was that they refused to hear from the citizens on very major things,” he said. “To me it’s very simple: Listen to the citizens, worry about zoning and be very fair when projects come up.” Bolstered by the council’s approval of upping the spending limit, Carefree’s budget is also wildly out of control, Cremeens said. “In my mind, needing all this extra money to spend didn’t hold water,” he said.

• John C. Curtiss: “I probably have more experience than anybody that’s on there now.” Curtiss, who served four terms on the council, one as mayor, said miscommunication, inexperience and planning and zoning problems are transforming Carefree into Scottsdale. “In the 18 years I have been here the whole atmosphere has changed,” he said. “The difference really is that we’ve got this guy with ambition at the top who thinks we should get ourselves more involved with towns like Scottsdale and Phoenix.” Carefree should only “mingle” with Scottsdale and other cities because the town has an interest in being a good neighbor. But that relationship should not come at the expense of the town. “We shouldn’t try and be a power in there because we’re small,” he said.

• Wayne R. Fischer: “I’ve got some unfinished business myself.” Fischer, a two-term incumbent, said he’s helped to down zone high-density areas to ensure the preservation of desert areas and natural beauty of Carefree. Improving town staff and expanding traffic enforcement to make streets safer also have taken place while he’s been in office. “We’ve transitioned what was a relatively sleepy little town to a town that’s being recognized as a nice place to live,” Fischer said He added that the next council needs to work on rebuilding the town center. “We’re trying to define through special planning for our downtown what it is we want to look like,” Fischer said. “We need to pay special attention any rezoning that might change that unique characteristic downtown has.”

• Greg Gardner: “I think there are always zoning issues that I will continue to follow and be involved with.” Gardner, who if elected would serve his second term on the council, said the council needs to step back and prioritize its future spending to prevent inflating the town budget. Communication and participation also need improvement, he said. Without the involvement of residents, future council members and town leaders cannot be cultivated. “We need to have more committees for people to become involved,” Gardner said. “We will need individuals to take the place of people who have spent four, five or ten years with the town.”

• Andrea Dickey Genette: “I decided to run for the Town Council because I think it’s a real crucial time for Carefree.” Genette, one of two women vying for a council seat, said she wanted to represent her community and fight to preserve the town that most people moved there for. That includes revitalizing the town center and, for the most part, continuing the path already set forth by the current council, she said, adding that she has a knack for getting people to come to an agreement on divisive issues. “I think that the incumbents have a really good record,” Genette said. “I’ve looked at the council for the last two years and I do see that people bring their own hearts, their own minds and their own intelligence to running the town.”

• Evelyn DeMaris Hitchon: “I should be elected to the council because I will be responsive to the people, which I don’t think our council is now.” Hitchon, who’s on the board of directors for the Sentinel Rock Home Owners Association, said the incumbents are to liberal with developers and don’t enforce ordinances. “These guys are used to doing absolutely anything they want to do without anyone questioning them,” she said. “Our development has a bad reputation because we have been aggressively fighting some of the things they wanted to do.” Town residents, Hitchon said, should have as much if not more of an opportunity than developers to express their concerns to the council on proposed projects. “I would be there to be more responsive and get people more involved,” she said. “The only way anyone knows what’s happening is if they show up at some of these meetings.”

• Edward C. Morgan: “I think we’ve started to make some real headway in certain areas.” Morgan, who is running for his second two-year term, said the current council has made strides in redeveloping the town center area while trying to maintain its character. He added that preserving the town’s character is essential to the residents and the council should work to prevent other cities and developers from forcing changes through. “I think that we’re going to be faced with some hard decisions with respect to zoning,” Morgan said. “Our neighbors are chipping away at our borders so it is extremely important that we make the right decisions for Carefree.”

• James E. Peirce: “I think I can bring a substantially different perspective to the focus of what Carefree should become in the next few years.” Peirce, the only candidate besides the current mayor to express interest in the mayor’s post, was drawn into the race after he said he and other residents were not allowed to give their input during the special Los Arcos meeting. “I think the town has a serious obligation to let people speak and listen and hear wishes of the people in these neighborhoods,” he said. Peirce also wants to alter the method of handing out use permits. He said under the current application process, developers are able to change zoning from residential to commercial. “There’s tremendous discretion on how these special use permits can be applied and what can happen to a certain area,” he said. “I really want to get things changed.”

• Donald D. Snyder: “I feel like I’m qualified and have something to offer.” Snyder, an incumbent elected two years ago, said the current council has taken definitive steps toward maintaining low-density, residential zoning ordinances. “We’ve been able to preserve the uniqueness of the community,” he said. “Wherever its the case where neighbors don’t want what’s proposed, I think we’ve been successful in fending that off.” Snyder said the council needs to continue planning the revitalization efforts of the town center, extend the search for new water sources and work on better communication with residents. “We need to work on community relations so we can avoid creating these factions,” he said.

• Hugh S. Stevens: “There are a lot of things we’ve got on the drawing board that need continuity of thought and process.” Closing the deal on the water company, buying land around the town center for revitalization and controlling several big developments have been accomplished under his leadership, Mayor Stevens said. He added that sewer problems and obtaining more CAP water and working with other communities to improve Carefree are also on the slate. “I just want to see the town go forward,” said Stevens, who has been on the council for eight years. Stevens, who has taken most of the heat for the Los Arcos vote, is confident the controversy will not hurt his campaign to again be returned to the council. “Frankly, I’ve said you’ve got a lot going with us,” he said.

• Gordon Zucker: “I really want to see Carefree live up to its promise, that’s why I’m in it” Preserving the town’s water supply and seeking out new sources of water would be one of Zucker’s top priorities if elected to the Town Council, he said. Keeping a watchful eye on development and working out an agreement on the sewer system are also high on his list. “I am one of those people who is very much opposed to any kind of up zoning,” he said. “I think the council needs to go further in that direction.” Zucker said his abilities to convince others to come to consensus would be a valuable asset to the council. “They’ll all listen to me and I’ll listen to them too,” he said. “I can make a difference.”