My View

By Don Sorchych | July 2, 2008 Don Sorchych
• Dust up and down
• That bad church – again
• Elections


Unless there is an urgent rush to try and rescue Referendum 02008-01 regarding dust control, it is dead. Linda Bentley’s front page article last week made it clear I wouldn’t fund a lawsuit without substantial participation from others.

I received one response. Anna Marsolo offered $250 even though she is for the dust control ordinance because she believes strongly in voter rights of referendum.

So R.I.P. REF02008-01, although the future will be anything but peaceful with county inspectors rampaging through our fair borough.

The issue of the county’s protection of complainants remains. The case law, which the county relies on, is weak.

They claim the confidentiality is necessary to avoid possible retribution against the complainant, yet they don’t cite a single example of that ever happening.

dust cartoonCounty Public Information Officer, Erin Dunsey let the cat out of the bag, however.
She repeated her mantra over and over again about fearing retribution of the person complaining, but then gave the real reason.

She said people would stop calling in complaints if they thought their identity would be disclosed.

Hello?

Is this Maricopa County Arizona, or Castro’s Cuba where good citizenship is defined as protecting the “state” by keeping an eye on your neighbors?

She went on to say it isn’t possible for the inspectors to cover the territory so they rely on complaints.

Let me tell you about a law, which you may not know.

A friend called Maricopa County Flood Control because a contractor was illegally grading a road through a wash on her property.

Guess who got fined? She did, because she owned the property on which the illegal act occurred. Her only recourse was to sue the contractor in superior court for damages.
So if you own property which has easements, and an easement holder illegally grades, or creates dust, you will be liable, not the perpetrator.

Think twice before you pick up the phone.

When Bill Farrell was town attorney (God rest his soul) he opined that easement holders must get permission from the underlying property owner before they graded.
Farrell did that because at the end of day, he knew the easement holder was putting the property owner in legal jeopardy.

A local man was extensively grading on easements and the town placed a stop work order on the blader. He sued the town.

The town folded and took council action to state they had no jurisdiction over private roads.

Bill Farrell spent his professional life as a town attorney, specializing in small towns.
Had he not passed away, I suspect REF02008-01 would be scheduled for vote. Further, even at the first reading of the dust control ordinance, it would have met the very minimum requirement, not one patterned after Paradise Valley.

Sonoran News will not give up on forcing the county to follow the law and disclose the names of complainants.

For all you complainers out there, who desire to be a tool of the county bureaucracy, the Watch Dog will be working to publish your name.

The Good Shepherd parking lot
As I suspected, once we exposed the chicanery of Fr. Jenks and his vestry, in once again, opening their parking lot as a day labor center, the traffic of law breaking employers would resume.

On Saturday, June 28, I photographed three pickups. I’m sure there were more, since after breakfast, the parking lot had been turned over to a contractor and two employees were illegally using gasoline operated leaf blowers.

I mentioned last week I would be filing a complaint about ACLU/MALDEF poster boi Hector Lopez and The Good Shepherd of the Hills Episcopal Church for violating the dust control ordinance.

I did. I also used the EPA form, which asks if I wanted anonymity, and of course, I checked NO. I enclosed 18 photos.

I have enclosed 12 photos of the new violation and sent them on. If the church thinks the leaf blower prohibition is unfair perhaps they would like to contribute to a lawsuit to overturn the ordinance.

The front page picture of a denizen of the church parking lot shaking his cojones at me is a bit risqué for a family newspaper but illegal employers have a right to know what kind of people are taken to peoples homes.

You say that is not representative?

The next day, after I took that picture, the fat guy sitting on a rock (see home page), pulled up his T-shirt, waggled his man boobs at me, and then did the crotch routine. Unfortunately, after I got my camera trained on him, he wouldn’t repeat his performance.

Yes, I know they are only poor people who just want to feed their families. Cry me a river on that defense.

Not only is the church once again aiding and abetting but I counted six strolling the town core. There will be more, thanks to ACLU and MALDEF.

Although Mesa, Phoenix and Guadalupe have whined about Sheriff Joe’s sweeps, isn’t it time for Mayor Vincent Francia to issue an invitation to Joe?

Don’t count on Town Manager Usama Abujbarah to do it. Remember, he publicly stated that the church was a major community asset and illegals were good for the town.

Elections not far away
Packets will be available for council wannabes in September. So far four people are rumored to be running. Details later, but Linda Anderson, Jim Bruce, John Ford, and Ralph Mozilo may be candidates.

Then there is the dark side. They are talking slate again, which is a sure loser in this town. But next to bottom vote getter Bob Moore in the last election is probable. He doesn’t want to, but his ego demands it.

Ex-councilmen David Phelps and Jay Williams may be slate candidates and Councilwoman Grace Meeth may be as well.

For Carefree, I wasn’t able to contact King Maker Hughie Stevens, nor his side kicks Ralph Pipp and Matt Dingman. Stay tuned.

Sonoran News will be providing forums so watch for the schedules.