Incumbent Mayor Ginny Dickey and challenger Joe Arpaio will have no formal face-to-face debate or forum prior to the Aug. 2 election. As host to the debate scheduled for Tuesday, June 28, the Fountain Hills Chamber of Commerce announced on Friday, June 10, that the event was cancelled.

Both candidates are pointing fingers at the other for the event falling through.

“During my tenure as councilwoman and mayor, there were personal and professional activities I missed in order to fulfill my responsibilities as a candidate and/or elected official,” Dickey said in a statement released June 9. “This debate is another such obligation I willingly and seriously committed to many months ago, but Mr. Arpaio now does not agree to participate. It’s a disservice to the residents of Fountain Hills for Mr. Arpaio to refuse to be a part of an in-person face-to-face debate.”

In a statement to The Times,Arpaio said he never refused to debate.

“[I] just learned that Ginny Dickey publicly accused me of canceling a debate appearance,” Arpaio said. “I did have concern about attending the June 28 mayoral debate due to previous out-of-town commitments and not being informed of ground rules.

“I did agree to join the four town council candidates’ debate, yet Dickey refused to participate. In summary, I didn’t officially refuse to debate. Now I have decided not to fall for her stunt about using the debate issue for publicity. She can pay for her own publicity. My background and service are an open book. Let the voters decide.”

According to Chamber Vice President Tammy Bell, the Chamber did seek alternatives to the June 28 date and offered both candidates the opportunity to appear with the council candidates on June 30.

“The June 28 date was set in January 2022. Without an urgent reason, not attending the debate is a choice, and appears to be an effort of avoidance. I am not willing to change dates or methodology at this time,” Dickey said in her statement. “The council candidates, none of whom are incumbents, deserve the opportunity to respond to questions amongst themselves in the time originally allotted to them.

“I’m disappointed that Mr. Arpaio has elected to not participate in this event, as it deprives those who would have attended or read about it to gain knowledge and understand how either candidate would govern as mayor.”

In a phone conversation with The Times the morning of June 10, Arpaio said he had made no decision at that time regarding whether to participate in a debate. He did say he had a commitment out of town on June 28, but was willing to consider alternatives.

Arpaio indicated he had not received a lot of information regarding the debate from the Chamber.

“It was brought up a few months ago, but I haven’t heard anything since,” Arpaio said. “I’ve received no information on format.”

Bell provided The Times with a detailed timeline of discussions regarding the debate.

She confirmed that the candidates were initially contacted on Jan. 27, asking them to “save the date” for the debate on June 28 (June 30 for council). Arpaio did not confirm receiving this communication, according to Bell.

More than three months later, on May 10, during a Chamber social event, Arpaio told Chamber staff he did not know anything about the mayoral debate. Bell said she reminded him of the June 28 date, and he said he was not sure he could attend.

The next day, on May 11, Arpaio was speaking to Chamber Board members and at that time told staff he had not been invited to a debate. He was reminded of previous communications by Chamber CEO Betsy LaVoie.

On May 13, Arpaio asked LaVoie whether the date of the debate could be changed. When she was contacted by the Chamber about that request, Dickey declined to change the schedule, as she had committed to the original date back in January.

There were some additional communications with candidates in early June requesting information and photos for a forum program. Additional discussions related to an alternative date or opportunity for each candidate to do a podcast with the Chamber were declined by Dickey.