By Linda Bentley
Sonoran News
Carefree resident Jim Peirce formed a political action committee (PAC) to refer Cave Creek Ordinance No. 02012-08, changing the underlying zoning of two Cave Creek parcels located northwest of the intersection of Cave Creek Road and Carefree Highway from Desert Rural (DR-89) to General Commercial, to voters in May.
He named the PAC: Preserve Cave Creek’s Spirit of the Desert in Support of REF2012-01.
On Dec. 31, needing 109 valid signatures to qualify the referendum for the May ballot, Peirce turned in 167 petition signatures to Cave Creek Town Clerk Carrie Dyrek, including signatures collected by former councilwoman Grace Meeth and current council candidate Mike Durkin.
Since Peirce spoke in opposition to the ordinance during the public hearing, it was unclear why his PAC name indicates support, until reading his “Proposed Ballot Measure Text” submitted to Dyrek along with his signature petitions.
His proposed language states, “A ‘yes’ vote shall have the effect of returning the zoning designation on two parcels … to Desert Rural Residential (DR-89). A ‘no’ vote shall have the effect of retaining the new General Commercial (GC) zoning designation.”
The problem is that’s not how a referendum works, as Dyrek (l) pointed out.
