With the deadline passed, the dust has settled with six candidates vying for three seats on the Town Council and two for mayor.

The mayoral candidates who filed include Councilman Cecil Yates and former Councilwoman Ginny Dickey. Both had previously announced they were running. Yates resigned from his council seat to run for mayor.

Mayor Linda Kavanagh is not seeking re-election.

Incumbent Alan Magazine leads the candidates seeking the council seats that are up for election.

He is joined by the following qualified candidates: Marcus Bulow von Dennewitz, Gerry Friedel, Sharron Grzybowski, Mike Scharnow and David Spelich.

Councilmembers Nick DePorter and Henry Leger are not seeking re-election.

The primary election for the mayor and council will be held on Tuesday, Aug. 28, with any undecided seats going to a runoff with the General Election in November.

The new council will take office in December.

Mayoral race

Ginny Dickey moved to Fountain Hills in 1983. Born and raised in New York, she followed parents Dr. Vincent and Vera Russo who came here in the seventies after falling in love with this desert community. Her four siblings also relocated to Arizona, with sisters Rina Creta, Val Stasik and Vanessa Davisson all working and raising their families in Fountain Hills. Brother, Dr. Vincent Russo, settled nearby in Paradise Valley.

Dickey is married to former teacher, Valley Metro and ADOT Executive Jim Dickey. Her family includes three sons (FHUSD K-12 graduates) Jim’s daughter and son, all their spouses and eight grandchildren.

Dickey, 62, holds a BS in Mathematics from Tufts University. She’s been a banker, a bookkeeper and a part-time teacher here and in New Hampshire. She was an Arizona State Senate staffer and an assistant director at the Deptartment of Environmental Quality.

Dickey was inducted into the 2010 Hall of Fame, she served on various school district advisory committees and was elected to the School Board where she served from 1994 to 2002, twice as president.

Most recently, Dickey served as Fountain Hills councilwoman for more than eight years, co-chairing the Centennial Committee and sitting on the MAG Regional Domestic Violence Council until 2014.

Dickey cites as her goals as mayor to provide transparent leadership dedicated to the people who chose to make Fountain Hills home or their place of business, invite participation through citizen oversight, and restore trust and faith.

She aims to honor and listen to citizens who value a thriving, welcoming hometown, a scenic and safe community with great schools that’s unique to the Valley, as articulated through the Strategic Plan and Vision Fountain Hills.

Dickey said she’ll focus resources on infrastructure, public safety and adequate staffing to insure serving citizens, maintaining their property values and quality of life. She said the tax vote did not change needs but will influence priorities.

“I am confident we can move forward with shared purpose, inclusion and transparency,” Dickey said.

Contact Dickey at ginnydickey4mayor.com.

Over the past 20 years, Cecil Yates has worked in both the public and private sectors of the real estate and economic development industries. His work with all product types has made him an award-winning developer.

Presently, Yates is the director of property management for Commercial Properties, Inc. (CPI), where he manages the fifth largest commercial real estate portfolio in the State of Arizona. He also runs the construction, development and accounting departments.

Yates is in his second term as councilman (Vice Mayor 2014) for the Town of Fountain Hills where he has experience in economic development, writing ordinances and working to bridge the gap of public and private sector development. As a councilmember he has served on the Board of Directors for the Greater Phoenix Economic Council (GPEC), the Valley Metro RPTA Board of Directors, as well as the Maricopa Association of Governments’ Domestic Violence Committee.

Yates’ MBA in strategic management is from Patten University, and his Bachelor of Business Administration in marketing and management is from the University of Cincinnati. He received his Six Sigma certification from the Management and Strategy Institute.

Yates has been happily married for 22 years to his wife, Nancy. They have two children; Sophia Yates (19), who attends Grand Canyon University working on her leadership and entrepreneurial degree, and Mason Yates (16), a sophomore at Scottsdale Christian Academy in Phoenix.

“The reason I am running for mayor is simple; like just about everyone in our community, I love the town,” Yates said. “I want to give back to a community that is so supportive to all of its residents and make a difference in the quality of life for everyone.

“My unique background and experience is exactly what is needed to move Fountain Hills in the right direction.”

Council race

Marcus Bulow von Dennewitz states his qualifications to represent the people of Fountain Hills include a Master’s Degree in higher education administration and a Post Baccalaureate in accounting and audit.

“My professional qualifications to represent you include six years of experience as an auditor,” Bulow von Dennewitz said. “I served 3.5 years with the Arizona Auditor General’s Office (OAG). For those unfamiliar with the OAG, it is an independent agency auditing the government financial statements of organizations (such as the state treasurer), counties, as well as colleges and universities.

“Currently, I serve CVS Health as a Senior Audit Consultant (2.5 years) preforming internal financial, operational, and compliance audits. Prior to a career in audit, I served as a student affairs professional directing university residence halls and supervising paraprofessionals.

“My community involvement includes volunteerism with Fountain Hills’ own Fearless Kitty Rescue and serving three years as an assistant coach for Chaparral High School’s hockey program located in Scottsdale. “Concerning my candidacy, I seek to instill a sense of transparency and accountability to our local government. I intend to do this by working with the council and mayor to build an Independent Audit Committee. An audit committee is needed to build trust with the public by being an independent entity from city management and to provide a true and accurate picture of our town’s financial position. Presently, the town of Fountain Hills does not have an audit committee. Conversely, our neighbors such as Scottsdale, Mesa, and Tempe do.

“I am not a politician. Rather, I am a concerned citizen who decided to get involved and offer the public a chance to vote for someone who comprehends government finance, accounting and auditing. Over the next few months I hope to earn your respect and should I prevail in my quest to represent the town, I will toil to listen to the citizens and bring about a sense of fiscal clarity. Thank you for your consideration.”

Gerry Friedel, 61, is originally from Glen Ellyn, Ill. and has been a property owner in Fountain Hills for 28 years and a full-time resident going on four years.

Friedel earned his BA in bank management/finance from North Central College and has a Certificate in Financial Planning from Loyola Business School. He has had a 39-year career in banking including 22 as a loan officer and 17 as a financial advisor.

“My interest in serving on the council is to utilize my extensive experience in the banking industry to provide additional fiscal accountability, transparency and an ear for listening to the residents of Fountain Hills,” Friedel said.

Friedel is married to Barb.

A four-year resident of Fountain Hills, Sharron Grzybowski said she is running for Town Council to break up the logjam of partisan politics. She firmly believes the best interests of Fountain Hills do not fall along party lines.

“Each and every citizen deserves representation regardless of party affiliation, gender, race, religion, or work status,” she said.

If elected, Grzybowski vows to lead by listening and transparency; to set politics aside and, first and foremost, do what’s best for the Town of Fountain Hills and its “diverse and wonderful people.”

To her role on the Town Council, Grzybowski said she brings a vast and varied experience from the insurance and financial industries, as a family business owner, and in her dedication to community service.

Grzybowski holds a BA in business management and several associate degrees in the insurance field. She has lived in four states and worked in insurance underwriting and compliance as well as a neighborhood bank. Seeking greater challenges and a return to her roots, Sharron left the corporate world to own and run her own businesses as her family had done since the day she was born, businesses including motels, hotels, and restaurants. Sharron’s biggest business venture was a fitness center she co-owned for many years with Scott, her husband, a Retired Navy veteran.

Grzybowski is an independent Scentsy consultant based in Fountain Hills.

Grzybowski’s past community service included a board member on the Fox Meadow Community Homeowner Association when living in Fairfax, Va. Currently, she volunteers as range officer for Women of Steel, a firearm club; is a precinct committee person and serves on the Fountain Hills Community Services Advisory Commission.

It is as a member of the Community Services Advisory Commission that Grzybowski witnessed firsthand the value – “the necessity, really” – of community involvement. Her work on the Commission inspired her to find ways to make a greater commitment. That’s why she is running for Town Council.

Grzybowski says her idea of politics is a non-partisan, enthusiastic engagement that strives to create solutions that work for everyone.

As a Fountain Hills home and business owner, Grzybowski said she is committed to representing voters, her friends and neighbors, on the next Town Council.

A 12-year resident of Fountain Hills, Alan Magazine has a bachelor’s degree from Monmouth College in Illinois. He received his MPA at Kent State University in Ohio and his Ph.D. from the University of Maryland.

Magazine served eight years on the Fairfax County, Va. Board of Supervisors. His professional work experience has been focused in the Washington, D.C. area where he was president and CEO of the Health Industry Manufacturers Association, Founding president and CEO for the Council on Competitiveness, executive director of the Business-Higher Education Forum, director for Intergovernmental Relations with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, national policy coordinator for the International City Management Association, and a senior consultant for Real Estate Research Corp.

Prior to being elected to the council Magazine served as chairman of the town’s Strategic Planning Advisory Commission.

“I really had to think long and hard as to whether I wanted to serve another term. It is, after all, a major commitment that must be taken very seriously,” Magazine said. “I made the decision to run because I believe the future of the town is at stake. The citizens must decide what kind of town we want to live in in the future.

“Do we want every empty parcel of land to be built on? Do we want high density and tall buildings? Do we want increased population regardless of the traffic implications and the cost of supporting an increased population? Are the citizens ultimately willing to pay for such things as infrastructure improvements? Most importantly, do the citizens want to continue the small town charm that brought them here in the first place?

“From the way I’ve posed these questions citizens should be able to deduce that I favor limited and sensible growth. If anyone were to review my voting record in my first term, my answers to the previous question become self-evident. I intend to run on my record.”

Magazine is married to Cynthia Penrose-Magazine.

Mike Scharnow, 56, started working in Fountain Hills in 1983 and has lived here since 1990.

A graduate of the University of Wisconsin-Madison with B.A. degrees in English, psychology and philosophy, Scharnow started as a reporter for The Fountain Hills Times in 1983 and was promoted to editor in 1994.

He left the newspaper at the end of 2015 to pursue a second career as a financial advisor with Thrivent Financial.

He and his business partner operate a Thrivent office in town.

Scharnow was founding chairman of the original Parks and Recreation Commission and is a member of the Lower Verde Valley Hall of Fame, having volunteered for a plethora of organizations and causes in town.

He lives here with his wife, Brenda, and has two adult children in the Valley.

“I’ve literally given my blood, sweat and tears to this community through my heavy involvement over the decades,” Scharnow said. “Serving on the council would be a natural extension of that spirit of volunteerism and giving back.

“Plus, accountability and trust have been major issues circling the council in the past few years, and I think I have much to add in those areas.

“I was writing about government transparency and accountability long before those terms were in vogue.

“I’ve held elected officials accountable through my previous efforts at the newspaper and I certainly intend to apply those same standards to my term in office if voters elect me.”

David Spelich was born and raised in Joliet, Ill. and attended Chicago’s Worsham College of Mortuary Science, starting a career as a funeral director.

With a love for law enforcement, he transitioned to Medicolegal Investigator for the Cook County Medical Examiner’s Office and worked as a part-time Blue Island Police Officer. He retired after serving 20 years for the Chicago Police Department as a highly decorated Violent Crimes Detective.

Spelich currently serves as an investigator for the State of Arizona Department of Education.

“I discovered Fountain Hills had no homicides, no armed robberies and no gang members,” Spelich said. “Coming from Chicago, Fountain Hills is heaven! It is my desire to keep Fountain Hills safe.

“It behooved me to move my family here in 2009. I live with my wife of 24 years, Marsha. I am an avid golfer, experienced scuba diver, and enthusiastic collector of classic cars.”

Spelich is a member of the Sons of the American Legion, Fountain Hills Republican Club and Republican Precinct Committeeman in LD23. He was appointed to the Governor’s Advisory Council on Aging.

“Throughout my career I have served justice and I fought for it in some of the worst neighborhoods of Chicago,” Spelich said. “My work has required me to listen carefully to people to discern need, protect vulnerable populations and create clarity and order in dynamic and, at times, chaotic environments.

“My political views are sensible. I’m not afraid to speak for what I believe is right, even if it’s not the easy route. I agreed with 66 percent of our voting citizens and stood against the recent tax increase. It is still important to hear the concerns of the 33 percent who wanted the tax increase as it was written.

“I believe that people deserve transparency in the government – at all levels. Voters deserve to have their voices heard and listened to. I support responsible, accountable leadership for Fountain Hills and its residents.

“I am proud to be endorsed by no one. I seek the endorsement of our citizens.

“I would greatly appreciate your vote. Thank you.”