I don’t support Mayor Ginny Dickey’s reelection nor will I vote for her pal, Cindy Couture, for council. Why?

Dickey recently joined the council in disregarding Planning and Zoning Commission recommendations regarding sober living homes and to instead adopt a much looser policy that could lead to a proliferation of these facilities in our residential neighborhoods, with less oversight than P&Z proposed. We’re left to wonder whether Fountain Hills will follow Prescott’s path with over 200 sober living homes, an accompanying spike in crime and drop in quality of life and property values.

Dickey also joined the council in rejecting a permit extension for completion of Park Place, even though P&Z and the council itself had previously approved the project. For how many more years will we stare at an unfinished parking garage? We could have had a beautiful development providing needed housing, bringing economic vitality to the downtown and nearly $3 million of improvements funded by the developer. This poor decision will cost our town dearly.

According to the Street Committee report released in May, we have an $80 million unfunded street repair backlog. Mammoth deferred liability for infrastructure maintenance is the gravest issue facing Fountain Hills, yet when presented with the committee report, Dickey acknowledged that she has no idea how to solve the problem. Why elect her to another term?

Couture may have “experience working around town to...make it a better place,” as one letter writer phrased it, but her performance at the candidates’ forum indicates she would be out of her depth on the council. She repeatedly replied with “I don’t know” when other candidates offered solutions.

The council election is not a popularity contest. We face serious financial problems and we need capable council members to solve them. Please vote accordingly.