A Sonoran Guest Editorial by Adam Trenk, Esq., Vice Mayor of the Town of Cave Creek, February 22, 2014.
Hatred: Hatred is a toxic poison that corrodes a person’s soul. When one is filled with hate they fail to think rationally, ignore facts, and twist truth as justification for pre-determined conclusions to reinforce their emotions. Such is the modus operandi of Cave Creek’s tabloid publisher Don Sorchych.
Since 2009 I have been one of the many focal points of Sorchych’s hatred because I dared to offer the people of Cave Creek an alternative to the totalitarian administrations he supported since the late 1990’s. I was naïve enough to think I could make an impact, and my upbringing gave me the thick skin to take him head on. I aggressively raised funds to pay for mailers to combat his weekly barrages of half-truths, mischaracterizations, innuendo and ad hominem attacks about my age, inexperience, and the backgrounds of my supporters.
Once I began serving, I realized that as one of seven I was ineffective, so I didn’t run for re-election in 2011, but quickly began to assemble allies to return Cave Creek to its citizens in 2013. Last spring we gave the citizens of Cave Creek an alternative and they embraced us. . . we were successful.
Our victory would mark the transition from a Sorchych’s Slate to a People’s Council for the first time in over fifteen years. This only fueled Sorchych’s hatred and he began to promote a re-do election before we took the oath of office. His false diatribes continue now as he has warps and recasts the accomplishments of the People’s Council to support his pre-determined hate fueled conclusions. Thus, begot the Toxic Sonoran News Recall.
Hypocrisy: Sorchych’s tabloid and the individuals that support the Toxic Sonoran News Recall are all hypocrites. One after the other they proffer the same stale brand of criticisms, contradicting their own record. Here are a couple of examples.
Following my request for information, in an email dated February 6, 2014, the Town Clerk stated that the Town of Cave Creek had continuously paid to advertise notices in the tabloid without rate shopping from the early 2000’s until the new council took office. At the direction of the new administration, the Town Clerk found that using the Arizona Republic “is significantly less money” and “gives the Town more flexibility with the legal notice publishing dates.” Funny the Sonoran News never had a problem with spending tax payer money when it was the recipient. Yet now they take issue with the Town getting the word out about the work it is doing and seem to question every expenditure.
February 18, 2014 John Hoeppner wrote that the Town’s newsletter was “propaganda produced at tax payer expense.” Propaganda is defined as “the spreading of ideas, information, or rumor for the purpose of helping or injuring an institution, a cause, or a person.” If you read the tabloid it fits this definition to a “T” and was subsidized using tax payer money for ten years under previous regimes. Hani Saba and Susan Clancy, proxies behind the Toxic Recall, published “wasting tax payer money on self congratulating newsletters” as a “reason why Cave Creek needs a new council”. Funny, but isn’t the tabloid just a glorified self-affirming newsletter itself? See the hypocrisy here?
On to the next example. I raised about $20,000.00 to fund each of my campaigns. Every penny raised and spent was reported and made public according to State Law. This money was used on single sheet mailers delivered to approximately 2,500 households, signs, and a website. The purpose of the mailers was to get my message out and to counter the personal attacks published in the tabloid. To put it into perspective, the tabloids is a multi page paper with a circulation of 36,000+ by mail in addition to its online presence and free copies offered at newsstands. The tabloid never gave any positive press to the efforts of challenging candidates, and exclusively supported its slate of incumbents, clearly not representative of the Community’s opinions given the election results. How much does it cost to produce the tabloid? Who is funding it? It can’t be all advertising considering they actively solicit contributions? Why are those donors not reported? Yet for some reason my spending is contemptible?
In March of 2013 Terry Smith’s letter to the tabloid editor stated “the current slate of challengers are spending a huge amount of money to take control of our town. Have you ever seen anything like this???” Yes Terry, we have, every week in the very tabloid you published your letter in. In June of 2009, Sorchych himself wrote “Did Trenk buy his seat in this election? You bet he did” and then goes on to quote my campaign finance report. See the hypocrisy here?
Hysteria: Every statement, every proposal, every action of the People’s Council ignites lunatic rants from the tabloid. The most recent example of this is the fiasco drummed up by Sorchych and LaMar over the proposed settlement between the Town and Gerald Freeman. They beat their chests and pounded their fists against settling. The Council carefully considered it, and weighed its options. After concluded that settling could potentially create additional legal woes, the Council voted NO. Yet, in the February 19th edition of the tabloid LaMar carries on hysterically. True, the Council used logic and reason to draw the conclusion LaMar wanted, which was a cognitive exercise LaMar didn’t bother with, however, the outcome was the same. Why all the hysteria?
If the recall proceeds, I will be proud to run my record of accomplishment against the three tenets of the tabloid and its Toxic Recall. Hate, Hypocrisy, and Hysteria are not doctrines that should guide the governance of a town, but that’s what we’ll get if we allow plans for a “re-do,” born before the People’s Council was even sworn in, to be carried out.