Oh, yes, say the Sonoran News enemies who have rallied behind Liz Weideman and against Don Sorchych. Roberta Toombs (the spitter) and her life/business partner Lester Rechlin, have taken up Weideman's cause. They have a longtime grudge against Sorchych because they say he pushed to limit their business -- arts and crafts festivals in Cave Creek. Rechlin actually came to blows with the Cave Creek town manager over the Weideman matter at a recent meeting. (There's been no resolution as to who started the fisticuffs.)
And Noel Hebets, the development attorney with the peyote nickname, is behind Weideman, as well. Hebets says the moniker is born from his friendship with Leo Mercado, a well-known peyoteist in southern Arizona. Hebets insists he's never used peyote illegally, and says he actually met Mercado on an aloe vera purchase. ("Recreational use," Hebets says. "Better than anything in a jar or tube.")
Paolo Vescia
A bumper sticker seen around Cave Creek.
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Hebets represents Continental Mountain, a large proposed development that Sorchych really hates. He's been a frequent target lately.
Not everybody feels as though they have allies in the fight against Sorchych. David Phelps, a handyman with a penchant for local politics and a reputation as an environmentalist, was elected to the council when Buffenstein was recalled. Like Augherton, Phelps had a good relationship with Sorchych before he took office. But as soon as Phelps attended a meeting with developers -- just to listen, he insists, he didn't even take a sweet roll -- Sorchych pounced. Soon Sorchych was comparing him to slippery Bill Clinton, accusing him of colluding with Augherton, voting with Augherton in exchange for a job in government. Phelps declined to run for another term.
"Don didn't run me out [of office]," Phelps recalls. "What ran me out was the people who knew he was lying about me who didn't have the courage . . . [to] stand up for me."
Friends would come up to him in the grocery store to lament the attacks, but only one actually had the guts, Phelps says, to stand up to Sorchych. It was Phelps' dear friend, Geoffrey Platts, the noted poet and environmentalist who died late last year.
Cut Phelps Some Slack
By Geoffrey Platts
No, Don
You're wrong!
Dave Phelps
ain't "slippery;"
to say so . . .
is plain frippery.
As a man
and a friend,
why, he's there
to the end.
You've got it
all wrong!
Him I do defend.
He's honest,
honest as the
day is long.
Phelps helps
his fellow man . . .
does everything he can.
So be a good chap --
cut him some slack.
And get back on the track.
Dean Brewer is the last of a dying breed: a town official not in step with Don Sorchych and unwilling to step down.
When Brewer was elected to the council years ago, he was considered the most liberal member, the strongest environmentalist. Now he's been pushed to the right and finds himself fighting council actions he says rob property owners of their rights. This has not gone unnoticed in the Sonoran News, but Brewer is running for reelection in March anyway. There are just eight people running for seven seats, and Mayor Francia is unopposed. Laura Cox, a councilmember who has sometimes been at odds with Sorchych, isn't running again. She insists it has nothing to do with the Sonoran News, but Brewer says she's told him otherwise.
Word has it that Brewer considered running for mayor, but he wasn't that brave. As it is, Augherton is concerned Brewer will lose his seat, but Brewer doesn't seem too upset by the prospect. He's got a good job as an engineer at Honeywell and a Harley he'll have more time to ride. He just refuses to give in, as others have.
"I don't really care, as long as it doesn't affect my family and as long as he can't hurt me professionally. I'm going to oppose him until the day I die -- or he does, whichever comes first."
