Did You Know? Residents who are registered Independent or “Party Not Designated” will not automatically receive ballots for the July 30 election even if they are on the early voting list. Even though it is the municipal election for Carefree, it is designated a primary and not a general election by the state.
However, there is still time to receive a ballot by mail for the July 30 election, but time is running out! Residents can request a ballot until Friday (July 18) from the Maricopa County recorder’s office. Voters registered as “Party Not Designated” (including Independents) can request Republican, Democratic, or non-partisan ballots. Click on the link to go to the Recorder’s Early Voting Ballot Request webpage, or call at (602) 506-1511!
Letters From Residents
Today we are publishing two submitted letters that take contrasting paths to come to similar conclusions. We are publishing them because we believe they bring differing perspectives to the public debate.
Carefree Unity
Attending or watching Carefree Town Council and Planning & Zoning meetings makes it impossible not to notice that we have several residents repeatedly telling our public officials that their job is to listen to what they tell them people want, and to deliver on those things.
But I think we all know that is not really how public service should work. Of course our Council members have a duty to listen to the public, but people speaking in town meetings really can’t speak for all the community’s residents. Even if they could, the Council may conclude that giving everyone what they think they want is not really the best way to serve them. Our elected Carefree Town Council members have a duty to check the public mood; but they also have a higher duty to act according to the real needs of the community. If they conclude the residents will be best served by a vote that does not seem popular, they have a duty both to take the less popular path and to explain their actions.
Among the candidates, our two incumbents have already passed that test. Stephen Hatcher and Vince D’Aliesio have cast some difficult votes on water consolidation and on both special planning areas in the past, explaining their actions before during and after voting.
Most of our other candidates have platforms that promise things that sound good but have either not explained how they would achieve those things or have not made the case that they are necessary. Only one has demonstrated that she will analyze issues carefully and act accordingly. Only one has demonstrated a willingness to change her position when the facts dictate that she should. That candidate is Colleen Rose-Scurti.
You can want what you want of course, but I believe the three candidates you can count on to do what you need them to do are Stephen Hatcher, Vince D’Aliesio and Colleen Rose-Scurti.
Anton Wilke Carefree Resident
Carefree, like many municipalities, has for decades had a relatively small group of disgruntled residents who regularly challenge the Town Government on many matters, often those of particular importance to them. The group has frequently attempted to change the Town dynamics, but have generally been unsuccessful, for example in electing members of their loose coalition to Town government positions.
Though the group composition changes slightly from year to year, in the current election we are seeing another such attempt. They now tend to communicate their positions and plans through OurCarefree, a website email generator and Political Action Committee. Their dishonest “Trust Must be Earned” attack ad in the June 19th Sonoran News openly calls for the removal of many Town staff members and makes clear their plan this election cycle is to take control of the Town government by co-opting the Mayor and electing three sympathetic candidates, much as the Boulders dissidents did with their HOA Board in 2021. Their ‘sympathetic candidates’ seem to have been Diane Roth, Lon Johnson, and Colleen Rose-Scurti.
Diane Roth is a veteran of the Boulders ‘water tank’ wars. She was appointed to the north Boulders Board in 2021 and was an enthusiastic supporter of the numerous and ultimately futile legal actions brought against the Town by the HOA. The following year she positioned herself in support of Boulders residents and as opposed to Carefree government, but HOA members apparently had enough of the scorched-earth tactics and voted her out of office. Having failed to convince her closest neighbors, she is now auditioning on a bigger stage with a platform that still includes hostility toward the Town government including the Council, but especially through frequent and unsupportable attacks on Town staff.
Lon Johnson has supported most or all the dissident group priorities since the start of his candidacy. He was a minority vote on the Planning & Zoning Commission to eliminate the Special Planning Area near the corner of Carefree Highway and Tom Darlington, which would effectively cancel an agreement negotiated with neighboring residents by the Council and Town staff only a few years ago. After advocating for greater Council control of Town staff in the recent Candidate Forum, a Carefree resident asked him if it was fair to conclude from his remarks that he “wanted to clean house among Carefree Town staff.” He responded that was indeed his desire.
In contrast, Colleen Rose-Scurti has turned out to be an open-minded candidate who has worked hard with Town staff and other Council members to understand how the Town is governed. Despite her original alignment with the dissident community, she now seems to me to be an excellent candidate, more interested in good government than in unceasing opposition. She has evolved on some issues, and I personally believe she could develop into an excellent Councilmember.
I encourage residents to reject the message of the dissidents and vote against the two ‘captured’ candidates. Colleen Rose-Scurti, Steve Hatcher, and Vince D’Aliesio are all more likely to think independently and act for the best interests of the Town, especially when that means standing up to pressure.
Nate Hyde Boulders Resident
Carefree Unity 