Council actions an attempt to sidestep accountability
Posted
By Don Scott | Fountain Hills
On April 9, Fountain Hills Times Independent published the article, “Fountain Hills Town Council defers fire department budget plan.”
As stated, “Fountain Hills Fire Chief Dave Ott has outlined a plan to upgrade his staff to support an application to have the department participate in the regional automatic aid program. However, in a budget workshop on April 8, the town council deferred the required budget increases until January 2026 to offset some of the impact on the budget year that begins July 1, 2025.”
Automatic aid is a shared response system across Maricopa County communities in which the closest unit responds, reducing critical response times.
The article notes, “The program is a cost-effective way to address the goals of the department, improve service and add a layer of safety, according to Ott.”
The Times wrote, “Five of the council members opted to move the implementation out six months to January, while two were willing to move forward in July.”
On April 9, Councilmember Watts emailed Town Manager Goodwin, “I am fed up with the Times partisan reporting and think it is time to remove the corner ‘reporters’ table.” Watts referenced the Times’ “online melodramatic headline.”
On April 11, Councilmember Larrabee emailed Goodwin and Mayor Friedel: “I'd like to suggest we remove the media table from the Council Chambers.”
What we’re seeing is media scapegoating, manipulation and passive censorship. It’s petty, covert and an attempt to sidestep accountability.
Watts and Larrabee voted on April 15 to eliminate unapologetic Councilmember Skillicorn’s sanctions, citing “time served.” They were also part of the council majority who voted on that date to eliminate the filing of Code of Ethics complaints.
On April 23, hit-and-run charges were filed against Skillicorn for a March 4 incident.
The Times only reports. It doesn’t commit the acts.
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