(Lyn's note: Please feel free to send us any pictures you'd like included.  If your photos are for sale, let us know and we will put them under that category.  We have a special section for that purpose, and have just added some art as well.  Check out Tom Baker's photos for sale.  He's the photographer who took that gorgeous photo in the Carefree Gardens Photo Contest that was both the judges' first pick and the public favorite.  It's now featured on the Town of Carefree website, and will be the cover of the 2014 Gardens calendar that will be for sale later this summer at Carefree Town Hall.  If anyone would like to buy a print of any of Herbert's photos, all profits will be donated to one of the local non-profit organizations.)  Here's the link to this week's Pictures of the Week.

http://carefreetruth.com/Carefree_Truth/Photos_6-9-14.html

 

 

 

Lyn,

What a great adventure for you, the children and their parents.  We

all know that Ron would be smiling in his quiet way.

Thanks to you two also, this became possible for the children and guests in our community. Celebrating with smiles today!

Nancy A. Clarke

 

(A playground in Carefree was one of Ron Clarke's dreams.  I had the honor of serving with Ron on P&Z before his death.  He is sorely missed by many.  A few of us donated as individuals to the playground fund, as did the Carefree Kiwanis and the Carefree Business Association.  The Town of Carefree, knowing that Ron would not be here the following year, put it in the budget and paid the balance so he could see that dream realized.  The playground equipment is quite often in use.  Ron would be smiling.)

 

Herb never ceases to amaze.  The shots of the kids enjoying the playground are fantastic. 

Best regards,

John Crane

 

Very cute!

Binka Schwan

 

 

 

That was adorable, Lyn and Herbie.

Patty Schiano

 

 

Wonderful pictures & how thoughtful of Herbert to give them a video.  

Lea Eberhardt

 

 

Cute...can it be linked to the Town's website or visitcarefree?

Arthur Gimson

(They only gave permission for us to use it.  They did not grant permission for Town use.  They want their kids to remain anonymous, and I don't blame them.)

 

 

Ambassador Herbert,

You get better and better and better. The innocence of youth. Thanks for Sharing.

Joe DeVito

 

 

THANKS. ADORABLE.

Loraine E. Simons

 

 

That would make me want to go there.  So cute!

Sandy Neri 

 

 

Hi Lyn:

Just wanted to remark on how much I enjoyed Herbie's Vimeo!  He beautifully captured the darling children playing.  And what a great marketing piece for Carefree's "carefree" lifestyle!

Barbara Groszkruger

 

Tell Herbert he does good work. I could feel the joy in the pictures. Gary Hayward

 

Very cute.  The family must have been delighted.

Kathy Riemer

 

Really cute!

Sara Vannucci 

(Lyn's note: Herbert was just having fun with it, and the little girl picked up on that.  He has taken a lot of really cute ones of kids at their company picnic too.) 

That’s because Herbie is a big ol' huggable teddie bear.  Everyone loves him.

Sara

 

Herbie should become a professional photographer and/ or film maker.  This photo vignette was really very, very good!

Fred Groszkruger

 

 

This family video will go into their family album and be shown to everyone in their hometown. Wouldn’t it be nice for them to come every year to Carefree and take a video of their children at the same location? How many families have a stranger make a family video of their children? Great job Herb.

Susan Martin

 

 

 

Our TCS light came on with the check engine light initially. That stands for traction control sensor. It sensed that one drive wheel was spinning at a different rate than the other (because of the tar that was stuck on the tire).

I disconnected the + terminal of the battery and reconnected (which always sets off the car alarm) and the problem was solved.  Pass it on.......

Don Cassanova

(Lyn's note: Jeanne and Don were visiting us from California while Sentinel Rock was getting the crack seal treatments.  Like many here, they got tar on their tires.  It was their minivan that I described last week as driving on the 101 dropping tar bombs, which got a lot of the tar off.)

 

 

The need for 4-year terms for Council.

In 2011, I ran for Town Council.  I did so in an effort to bring about a more positive-minded Council than the one that was then currently in place.  Sadly, that Council had three ‘naysayers’ and much time was lost with constant bickering.  During that term of office, recall petitions had been circulated against Mayor David Schwan, with heavy involvement of the three afore-mentioned naysayers.  The Carefree voters, in their wisdom, rejected the recall by a very wide margin.

In 2011, five new Members of Council were elected.  That is five out of seven elected officials, or over 70%.  As you will recall, it was Mike Farrar, Melissa Price, Marty Saltzman, Jim van Allen, and myself.   The only two with any prior experience on the Council were David Schwan and Glenn Miller.  Four of the five were elected at the primary with Jim Van Allen being elected at a later date.  All five of us subsequently attended the two-day training classes for newly elected officials put on by the Arizona League of Cities & Towns.

Then more work ensued taking up the valuable time of the Town staff.  In particular Gary Neiss, Betsy Wise and Jim Keen took time to assist the ‘newbies’ with getting up to speed with what was going on.  Additional time was needed by the wonderful people at the Court, Judge Skull, Adrianne Larson and Tom Parascandola to outline their responsibilities.  Prior to running for Council, I had no idea that Arizona law requires all municipalities to maintain a court.  I see from a recent letter to the publisher of the Sonoran News that some residents of Cave Creek believe that Carefree has stolen the court and its revenues away from Cave Creek.  One has only to look at the budgets for both towns to understand that the court is a burdensome overhead and not a money-maker.

But the above, is just small stuff in comparison to the day-to-day activities of running a small town.  We were sitting down and talking about budgets and projects for months before we were sworn in as elected officials.  The years of past efforts by Patrick Neal and DJ Stapley for the historical data of the condition of the roads was a huge undertaking.  Learning about the contract with the Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office for law enforcement and the contract with Rural Metro for fire protection services were two areas that didn’t just happen…they were negotiated over time and tweaked as needed.  Add to the list of things we had to learn would not be complete without the second hat that all Council Members wear, namely Directors of the Town-owned water company.  Stan Francom should be a saint for the time he took in educating the five of us.

In order to make for more-efficient operations, the Town needs continuity of elected officials and I was pleased to learn that efforts are underway to ask the voters, at the November election, to vote on a change in the way that Council Members are elected.  The proposed change will do away with the current two-year terms and replace those terms with staggered four-year terms.  This way, we will still have an election every two years, as we do now, but we will only elect three, each for two years.  We will still have the protection of the recall process if the electorate feels that someone stepped out of line.  Personally, I believe that no recall should be permitted within the first 12-months, but Arizona law mandates a 6-month period.  It is sad that Cave Creek is going through turmoil of a recall, which is not only an expense to the Town, but a diversion from day-to-day business.  Cave Creek has had a tough 12-months with the change in Town Manager, and now faces the negativity that a recall produces.

I fully support staggered four-year terms for Carefree Town Council.  I will willingly sign the petitions that I understand are currently being circulated.  Assuming that sufficient signatures are obtained, I will vote for the change in November.

Arthur Gimson 

 

I loved your slip of the pen about the "brick and mortal" projects.  Tickled my funny bone for some reason.  Now, you can't say we don't read every word you "right"..............lol

Marie Christensen

(Lyn's note:  Oops.  Make that "brick and mortar"!  But I'm delighted you read every word I "right", Marie.)

 

Instead of "brick and mortal projects and investments . . .", why not "brick and immortality"?  Or, why not "shovel ready"?  Maybe even, "brick and mortar"?

Fred Groszkruger

(Fred is my favorite "editor".)