Change of venue for joint council meeting on court consolidation
By Linda Bentley | March 31, 2010
CAVE CREEK – After Cave Creek agreed to a joint council meeting with Carefree at 3 p.m. on April 7 at Cave Creek Town Hall to discuss Carefree’s proposal to consolidate the towns’ courts, Carefree Town Administrator Gary Neiss sent an e-mail requesting the meeting be held in Carefree, so Cave Creek could see Carefree’s recently remodeled court facilities.
Cave Creek agreed and the meeting will now be held in Carefree.
When Vice Mayor Ernie Bunch was asked what he thought about Carefree’s court consolidation proposal, he said he found it perplexing.
Bunch explained Carefree came to Cave Creek for help because its court was costing the town too much money. He said he was trying to make sense out of Carefree’s proposal to completely absorb Cave Creek’s court operations, which has only two full-time employees, into Carefree, which has four or five full-time employees.
According to Cave Creek Municipal Judge George Preston and Town Prosecutor Mark Iacovino, Cave Creek’s court operations are close to, if not, breaking even.
“Carefree loses money on every citation it issues,” said Bunch, adding, “I guess they make up for it in volume.”