December 18, 2013 • Vol. 12, No.5
• Anthem
• Black Canyon City
Postal Patron Cave Creek
• Carefree
• Cave Creek
ECRWSS Carrier Route PreSorted Standard U.S. POSTAGE PAID Permit No. 371 Cave Creek, AZ
• Desert Hills
• New River
• North Phoenix
• Tramonto
Tubaist playing Jankowski gets nod for town manager in Cave Creek at Orange Bowl
Onarheim
Dylan Onarheim, a student at Boulder Creek High School, has been chosen to play tuba for the 2013 All Star Invitational Marching Band, including two performances at the Discover Orange Bowl. The All Star Invitational Marching Band unites musicians from around the country by offering some of North America’s finest high school performers the opportunity to showcase their skills in front of tens of thousands of fans at a national marching event and interact with a team of nationally recognized marching directors. Dylan auditioned for the All Star Band and was accepted after a review by its Selection Review Board. Over the course of 6 days, Dylan will join other band mem-
Tuba
continued on page 2
Inside: Bluhm........................4 Events.......................5 Scams..........................6 Nurses.......................... 7 Editorial.............. 16 Services................. 17 Crossword......... 20 Classifieds.......... 21
Tara Alatorre photo
Unanimous nominations — Town councilmen,including Charlie Spitzer (right), and Mayor Francia, in Cave Creek showed no disagreement amongst each other Dec. 16 as they all placed their support behind the same candidates for town manager and alternate. Tara Alatorre
The Cave Creek Town Council unanimously nominated a new per ma nent tow n ma nager candidate on Monday night. Once contract negotiations have been completed, the final hiring approval is expected to take place Jan. 6 at the next regular town council meeting. Peter Jankowski, who is cur rently ser ving as town administrator for Dudley, Mass., was unanimously selected as the finalist for Cave Creek’s per manent town manager, and will replace interim town manager Rodney Glassman in February 2014. Glassman has been directed to negotiate a contract with Jankowski, which will ultimately require town council approval. The council also unanimously selected Jim Palenick of Dallas, N.C., as the alternate candidate if Jankowski declines the job offer or contract negotiations can’t be reached. At Monday’s meeting, there was no discussion among the
councilmen about the supporting reasons behind their nominations or votes for a new town manager in Cave Creek, and none of the candidates were present during the meeting or nomination process. There was also no public comment regarding the three town manager candidates. Jankowski, who is a licensed attorney, has worked more than 20 years in municipal government including serving as town manager, treasurer and as a state representative for New Hampshire. According to his application, he sought out the position because he wanted to relocate to the southwest, and found the communit y “appealing.” Jankowski deals with day to day operations as town administrator for the town of Dudley, which has about 11,000 residents and covers 23 square miles. Admittedly, he is not used to dealing with issues pertaining to open spaces in Mass., where there is almost no undeveloped land, he said during the last town council meeting.
However, he stated in his cover letter to Cave Creek that, “I am more than willing to spend the extra time required to educate myself with the intrinsic needs of Cave Creek.” Palenick, who is the alternate candidate, has almost 25 years of experience serving as a local government manager in North Carolina, Michigan and New Mexico. Currently as interim manager of Dallas, N.C., which has a population of nearly 4,500 residents, he manages 53 employees with a budget of
$13.9 million. Palenick stated in his resume that he has “prepared and submitted 24 balanced municipal budgets” during his career. Himanshu Patel, who was the youngest of the final three candidates but was not selected as a finalist, is currently serving as interim director of public works for Pinal County. Patel, who has lived in Arizona for 15 years, became a citizen in 1986 after migrating from India. He served as Florence’s town manager for 10 years.
McGuire
Durkin