Cave Creek e‑mail flap raises questions
P&Z member Bob Moore asked to resign
by Brian DiTullio

CAVE CREEK – An inquiry of town council members by Mayor Vincent Francia could be construed as a violation of the state’s Open Meeting Law, according to two media attorneys.

The questionable action of the mayor stems from an e‑mail sent by Planning and Zoning commissioner Bob Moore to Sonoran News reporter Curtis Riggs on March 22. That e‑mail detailed a Cave Creek staff meeting concerning streetscape improvements in the town core.

In the e‑mail, Moore says the staff was “falling over themselves to ‘fess up’”  to problems with the project. “They want to get the message out to the public and merchants that they ‘screwed up’ (not  my words) and are seeking forgiveness,” states Moore.

Town Manager Usama Abujbarah then sent an e‑mail to Moore on March 26 stating, “Although our staff meetings are not secret, we still need to conduct these meetings in a trustful and honest environment. Because of this inappropriate and misleading e‑mail you are not invited to the budget meetings. You lack both trust and honesty so please don’t attend our meetings any more.”

Abujbarah told The Desert Advocate on April 16 he did not remember who forwarded Moore’s e‑mail to him and that he had already deleted it.

A copy of Moore’s e‑mail shows Riggs as the only recipient, and Moore confirmed Riggs was the only person he e‑mailed.

According to Francia, he requested P&Z chair Bob Williams speak to Moore, as the town council had “lost confidence” in Moore. However, Moore says he was contacted by Williams on April 5 and at that time asked to quietly resign.

Upon being asked about Moore’s e‑mail, Francia said Moore took some quotes from the meeting out of context. “I don’t understand why he did that. It did not seem appropriate to me,” said the mayor, adding his agreement that the meetings are not private but that detailing a staff meeting to the press did not demonstrate “good common sense.”

The mayor then said he contacted council members about the matter but “not to lobby, just to get a feeling” and stressed “no one asked for (Moore’s) resignation.”

“If Bob Williams asked for his resignation, he did so on his own,” Francia stated. “I just asked him to speak with Moore on the issue.”        

Williams refused to discuss with The Desert Advocate his conversations with Moore and Francia, claiming those discussions were private.

Regardless of Francia’s intentions, Arizona Newspapers Association attorney Dan Barr, of the firm Perkins, Coie, Brown and Bain, said Francia’s contacting council members was “absolutely” a violation of Arizona’s open meeting law. “It’s taking action concerning a town officer. The whole purpose of the phone calls was to solicit an opinion.”

Media attorney John Moody, with Miller, Lasota & Peters, agreed with Barr. “That sure sounds like a violation to me.”

Upon inquiry, three of six council members–Kimberly Brennan, Ernie Bunch and Grace Meeth– confirmed they were in fact contacted by the mayor.

Brennan, who was present at the March 22 town staff meeting, said, “The way (the meeting) came across in Bob’s e‑mail wasn’t nice,” adding her belief that Moore put a negative spin on what she felt was “an open, honest conversation.”

Councilman Gilbert Lopez declined to comment, but Bunch said: “Either you want to be an activist or you want to be part of the planning commission.”

Not all council members were upset with the e‑mail exchange.

“He’s a public figure passing along information to a reporter, and now we want him to resign?” Meeth said. “Politics is perception, and it looks like we’re punishing him for daring to run against us.”

According to Councilman Dick Esser, “I was not involved in the decision,” indicating he only found out about the resignation request after the fact. However, Francia stated he did contact Esser, due to Esser’s friendship with Moore.       

Councilman Thomas McGuire also stated he was not contacted about the situation and had been out of town on vacation at the time.          

Moore, who said he preferred not to comment further at present, was a candidate for town council in last month’s election but was unsuccessful. The entire sitting council was returned by voters for another two years.

“It looks very vindictive on our part,” said Meeth, adding there have been more egregious violations by town officials in the past that have not resulted in resignation requests.