Something needs to be said about the 13 letters which appeared in last week’s edition, praising Gerry Friedel for his unwarranted and disrespectful personal attack on fellow Council members.
Former mayor Linda Kavanagh first appeared on Facebook urging local businesses to discriminate against those council members because of their votes on the sign ordinance. Then Mr. Friedel followed suit in this newspaper by attacking these very same officials, alongside whom he sits on the council. Our late former mayor Wally Nichols, who established a standard of congeniality among council members, must be turning in his grave.
Ms. Kavanagh, again on a local Facebook page with thousands of readers, next called for a write-in campaign which resulted in those many published letters praising Mr. Friedel’s unbecoming behavior. Their submission to the newspaper was per her orchestration, not by coincidence.
The fact is that the attacked council members actually voted to allow A-frames and other temporary signs in town. They are simply not allowed in public rights-of-way.
Former mayor Kavanagh’s Facebook comments and exhortations, and Mr. Friedel’s public attack on his fellow council members made under the guise of an “opinion,” were inappropriate. They are also suggestive of an ulterior motive behind what at first glance might appear to have just been a disagreement about signs. That motive is a coordinated and thinly veiled attempt to insert partisan politics into our town government, undoubtedly with an eye to setting the stage for the next town election.
Fountain Hills residents need to see through this concerted plan for what it is, and look upon it with a whole lot more than just the proverbial grain of salt.
