My View
By Don Sorchych | July 29, 2009
The recall and “truth”
I wrote of the mob of 13 that aggrandized David Schwan, the current Carefree Mayor and bottom of the heap in votes a couple of weeks ago at a Carefree Council meeting.
Things have only gotten worse in that the town staff has shown their prejudice and willingness to go as far as breaking the law to please their masters, be they GOBs in office or part of the mob of 13 and a few stragglers.
The treatment of RecallDavidSchwan Treasurer Ryan Ducharme by town hall may well cost them dearly. It is disgusting to see and hear the series of thuggish activities by Carefree officials and PAC bullies.
The odyssey began when Ducharme gathered signatures to recall David Schwan in front of a building, which houses a postal contractor, Carefree Town Hall and others.
Schwan came out of his office, gave Ducharme mayoral “opinions” and repaired to his lair, while screaming over his shoulder he would make Ducharme “famous.”
A few minutes later, Ducharme was visited by two MCSO Deputies, who said they had received a complaint and he would have to leave.
I have covered Carefree for over 15 years and the town freely tolerated, even encouraged, petition gathering near town hall. This is the first time in my memory the property manager, building owner or town employees objected to fund raising or petitions at that location.
The complaints trace to GOBs and town employees using the property manager, Doug Bitner, as their blunt sword.
When Bitner claimed he didn’t get the court cases sent by Ducharme, the building owner’s attorney was contacted by Ducharme’s attorney and legal discussions of public rights to gather signatures are being considered. In this situation constitutional rights are believed to be violated by the building owner, David Schwan, Town Administrator Gary Neiss, Town Clerk Betsey Wise, Town Marshal Patrick Farmer, a host of PAC members, their contributors and associates.
Our guest editorial this week is a letter from Litigator Clint Bolick at the Goldwater Institute to Carefree Town Attorney Tom Chenal. Bolick clearly points out that Carefree actions and their ordinances are unconstitutional. It is on your plate, Tom!
Thank you Mr. Bolick.
The e-mail below was authored by Lyn Hitchon, a follower of Schwan and company and an obvious bearer of lies and confusion.
Carefree Truth
Issue #1, July 23, 2009
Hi. My name is Lyn Hitchon. My husband and I have lived in Carefree since 1991. I have been involved in local politics and public issues for many years. During the attempted recall of David Schwan I will address one issue at a time, via an email newsletter called Carefree Truth. I intend to keep it positive and factual.
However, I would like to express an initial caveat about our local newspaper, the Sonoran News, which is well known for its biased reporting style. An erroneous and very critical article about Carefree was published in the Sonoran News a number of years ago. When it was conclusively proven false, editor and publisher Don Sorchych refused to print a retraction, at which time Carefree Mayor Ed Morgan withdrew all Town of Carefree advertising from the paper. Since then, the Sonoran News has become progressively more antagonistic towards Carefree. Sadly, the news most people are getting is quite negative and one sided.
Mr. Sorchych's attitude towards Carefree was clearly demonstrated in a cartoon which he recently published in conjunction with his My View column. It is attached if you would care to see it. It is a drawing of the back of a hand giving "the finger" to Carefree and is signed from Mayor Vincent Francia. The name of Bil Canfield, the regular cartoonist, is scratched out and above it is written "Unknown". When I emailed Mayor Francia he responded that, while he firmly supports the first amendment rights of free speech and freedom of the press, he shuddered when he saw that cartoon and stated that he does not feel that way about Mayor Schwan, the Carefree Council or the good citizens of Carefree.
The candidate/s most likely to run against David Schwan, should a recall election take place, have consistently been endorsed by the Sonoran News. If one of them were to replace Mayor Schwan, the revised council would quite likely appoint Mr. Coady, who has also been heavily promoted by Mr. Sorchych, as mayor. Chances are overwhelming that Mr. Coady would award the Carefree advertising to the Sonoran news (sic), providing the paper with a large infusion of cash. So, please keep in mind that the reporting in the Sonoran News is often not written with the best interest of our town at heart.
Lyn Hitchon
This message was prepared by Carefree Truth
Truth she says, while writing nonsense, probably edited by Huber Stevens and Gary Hayward.
At one time Hitchon was a vocal critic of anything that went on at Carefree Town Hall. She ran for council and lost three times and received deminimus votes. For some reason she lusted to be on P&Z and was constantly turned down until she elected to be an echo chamber for Ed Morgan, then mayor, and voila, she was voted on.
Lyn Hitchon, although in left field on matters Carefree, is a volunteer in animal rescue and she has eight lovely rescued hybrid wolves. This newspaper also works with her on the Black Mountain Conservancy Photo Contest, a great cause. That is her good side.
Hitchon has a voice akin to a bull horn and a vocabulary that would make a sailor blush. Women in local restaurants have asked to be moved out of earshot of Hitchon’s table, a tough assignment. She has been known to embarrass a local barber and his clients, where she gets her hair cut, by elaborating on male genitalia - in slang.
Hitchon is naive enough to be sucked in by the mob of 13 to tell history as she sees it, wrong, exaggerated and out of context.
Let me begin about her fable of then Mayor Ed Morgan asking me to retract an article written about Carefree. When we find out what she is talking about we will discuss it, but Ed Morgan never, I repeat never, asked for a retraction.
Threaded through the e-mail are assertions of a “biased reporting style.” News is as accurate as we can make it and we have had few if any complaints from Carefree.
However, editorial pages are opinions, mine, two columnists and a page of letters and anonymous comments. Opinions, not news and we and others have a First Amendment right to opine, isn’t that sad?
We will pick up next week on Hitchon and the recall.