TO: Lake Havasu City Taxpayers

FROM: Rick Thompson, Refuge Homeowner

SUBJECT: Insider / Outsider
DATE: May 9, 2011

Lake Havasu is a relatively small town with a nucleus of old friends all belonging
to pretty much the same business, political, media and even religious
organizations and outlets.

If you are among the “insider group” commonly referred to as “The Havasu 100”
(or what may be more appropriate these days “The Havasu 20”…) you may not
even be aware that there is a danger with this kind of incestuous environment
that permeates the very fabric of this city’s business community.

That danger manifests itself when far-reaching business decisions that impact
many people (like completely redefining a master-planned community) become
based on relationships and friendships. With that, details like business plans,
feasibility studies and environmental impact reports are simply not necessary
because, after all, the developer is really a “NICE GUY” and of course must
“want what is best for the city”.

From the perspective of the “insiders”, perhaps it truly makes sense not to
question one another, not to ask deeper questions, not to challenge longer-term
ramifications and impact to others when considering grand-scale changes to our
community. The relationships are solid, the trust is there, what more is needed?

As we move into the final week of casting ballots either for or against the partial
annexation of a 49-acre piece of the master-planned community known as The
Refuge, this “insider” (and resulting “outsider”) atmosphere has not just come to
light, it has become prominent, at least from the “insider” group. This insider
group includes names like the Aldridges, the Clarks, the Selbergs and the
Nexsens, just to mention a select few.

Sadly, beyond their argument for just trusting their good buddy who is a “really
nice guy”, the insider-side has been left with little more to resort to than personal
attacks on their opponents, the outsider-side. This shows up in many ways, not
the least of which are the recent attack ads that in one way or another state:
“BEWARE: Those OUTSIDERS are just a bunch of LIARS!”

Name-calling aside, what is really going on here? Here’s the situation:

First the Aldridges purchase an Arnold Palmer Signature golf course (a regional
asset) and clubhouse/restaurant outside city limits that in a very real sense
represent a community asset for the “master-planned community” that was built
around it.
They made this purchase having done little or no research into existing
restrictions running with this land with an express intent to completely alter the
land use in an attempt to go after what may be perceived by some as “easy
money”.

Then, when challenged by the County and the property owners after unveiling
their grandiose plans to convert a portion of the golf course to an RV Park, the
Aldridges run to their friends at the city for cover, requesting annexation of a
portion of this land into city limits.

So what happens next? The city council, part of this “inside group” that relies on
friendships and common alliances, chooses to take their buddy’s word on what is
projected based a very crude business model, conducts no objective study or
independent appraisal to determine feasibility and rubber-stamps approval
unanimously. You see, what the city is being offered is “just too good to be true”,
never-mind the hundreds of letters of opposition they received in the process –
those were just from those “pesky OUTSIDERS” who obviously don’t have the
city’s best interest at heart…..

But what about those nasty lawsuits? They don’t seem to be going away anytime
soon. Actually, they are literally growing in numbers. So, true to the already
established insider-outsider form, the insiders brush off these appeals to a higher
(outside) authority with one word that is only slightly longer than “LIAR.” And that
word is frivolous.

But “frivolous” cuts both ways. At least one of the lawsuits actually came about
because of the City Council’s frivolous approach to business-as-usual, such
“business” including the trashing of both a master-plan for a community and a
General-Plan for a region. And while such promises as “it’s just too good to pass
up” may sound like enough justification to throw plans aside, the truth is: to date
the “easy money” you keep hearing about has already cost taxpayers hundreds
of thousands of dollars, with potential losses running into the millions. At the end
of day, the courts do not take lightly frivolous charges, no matter which side
makes them.

Yet, according to many of the “insiders” and apparently some Council members,
the courts have already made their findings. Beyond being dangerously
misleading however, to our knowledge, this just is not factually true. We could be
wrong on this; especially if these “insiders” have some inside information. Or
perhaps they are speaking about some finding made late one night at the bar in
the Refuge Clubhouse. If that is the case, someone from a higher court should
notify them that politics-as-usual isn’t healthy for anybody but a select few
(usually the “insiders”) and it is not supposed to work in the courts…EVER. That
is not to say it doesn’t happen.
Events over the past months have exposed alliances and close ties with the
Aldridges that include no less than the entire City Council, the two local
newspapers, the Rotary Club, the Chamber of Commerce, CRBIA, the publicly-
funded CVB and certain realtor firms. And let’s not forget that two judges have
already recused themselves, one stating that “political tampering” was involved.

Few should find comfort in such unanimity. There is a very real danger here in
the blindness that accompanies this kind of incestuous decision making. And this
danger shows up in a pervasive environment that promotes schlocky work, a
cavalier attitude toward research and poor planning that in its turn fosters
uncertainty in investment capital-outlets and overall bad business practices.

With this in mind we can now say positively that the fact that the local
government, the local newspapers, and some if not many of the various local
business, political, even church organizations all being in lock-step with the
Aldridges should alarm the hell out of people.

This “alarm” should spell a no vote, for caution sake, in this partial-annexation
election.