Hannah Toth, an announced candidate for Town Council in the upcoming election this year, has filed an ethics complaint with the Town against Vice Mayor Alan Magazine.

Toth, fellow council candidate Mark Biermann, and the owner of Pearl Nutrition all spoke during the Call to the Public portion of the Feb. 1 council meeting describing an incident alleged to have taken place on Wednesday, Jan. 26. Toth provided The Times with a written description of the incident, which involved a pair of candidate petitions being left on a counter at Pearl Nutrition for signatures.

“On Wednesday, Jan. 26, Vice Mayor Alan Magazine entered Pearl Nutrition. He did not purchase anything, but rather chose to demand that my and Mark Biermann’s petitions to be on the ballot (be) taken off the counter, claiming that this was ‘illegal’ and reaffirming that statement with ‘this is against the law.’

“The business owner then informed the vice mayor that another council member had just been in the day before and was confused why she had not mentioned anything about the petition signatures being illegal if that was in fact the case. The vice mayor asks the business owner who this council member was, and when he receives the answer ‘Peggy McMahon,’ he says, ‘well, that's who sent me to get pictures of them!’

“The owner at Pearl Nutrition immediately notified Mark Biermann and I of this incident, mentioning that he felt threatened by Alan Magazine’s behavior. I was later informed that the vice mayor has in fact signed at least one petition while the candidate was not present in this election cycle. This, along with the vice mayor’s own political experience, would lead me to believe he is aware that a circulator gathering signatures in place of the candidate is in accordance with Arizona law.

“Mark, the Pearl Nutrition owner, and I spoke on this issue at the Feb. 1 Town Council meeting. Personally, I am appalled by the lack of accountability shown in both Ms. McMahon and Mr. Magazine’s reactions to our statements. I feel very strongly that the intimidation and bullying of a local business owner is not something to take lightly, and I do not pursue this complaint with anything but disappointment. This incident is not representative of our community.”

In a phone conversation with The Times Biermann said he was puzzled why McMahon went to Magazine with what she saw in the store.

“When (the business owner) called me after Magazine visited him, he was frazzled,” Biermann said. “We are trying to encourage business owners and young families to come live in Fountain Hills. Being treated this way does not encourage that.

“Magazine overstepped his authority as a council member. As a council member you are one of the community leaders and should be held to a different standard.

“We want to be known as a positive community, not a negative one.”

Magazine and McMahon both told The Times they would confine their comments to what they stated during the meeting. Normally council members may not respond to comments made during Call to the Public due to open meeting law restrictions. However, in this case Town Attorney Aaron Arnson clarified that in instances where there are direct attacks on council members, they may respond from the dais.

“This is all a misunderstanding,” Magazine said. “It is stunning to say I was bullying anyone. I said I want you to know that I believe these petitions to be illegal.

“I don’t know where the (ethics complaint) comes from. Please do, file your complaint. We will get to the bottom of this.”

“(This is an) incredible number of lies and false assertions,” Magazine wrote in an email to The Times. “These are two individuals running for Town Council who think they have a winning issue and want to get their names in the paper.”

Magazine also said he did not photograph the petitions. He said he did not have his camera with him, and his phone was in his pocket.

McMahon called the allegations “underhanded and without merit.”

“I went into the establishment in good faith, I saw the petitions and merely asked if they allowed other petitions. I made no other comment.

“For you to take this opportunity to disparage me shows your lack of character and integrity. Shame on you.”

McMahon said she wanted a public apology when the issue is settled.

The Town does have the services of an ethics judge on retainer and this case will be turned over to him for investigation, according to Community Relations Manager/PIO Bo Larsen.

Town Clerk Liz Klein is the Town’s election official and explained the process for handling the petitions once they are submitted later this spring.

“Once the petitions and other paperwork are filed, all I do is count the number of signatures and determine that the petition is completely filled out,” Klein said. “On candidate petitions, I do not verify voter registration, as I do not have the authority to do so. It is only on initiative petitions that I send a random sampling to the County for verification. If someone wanted to challenge a signature, they would have to bring it to Superior Court for the court to determine.

“The same would hold true with a complaint on a ‘sloppy manner’ of signature gathering. I do not have the authority. It would have to go to the court. There have been times in the past where a petition is set on a counter in a restaurant. As long as the circulator (who completes the affidavit on the back) affirms they saw each person sign the petition, it would (be) permitted.

“There have been challenges in the past in this situation where it was shown that the person was not always witnessing the signatures, but that would have to be contested in court.”