Fountain Hills is suffering because of partisan slates.

The Republican slate: Team Freidel includes Earle, Watts and Corrigan for council. They are openly promoted as a slate.

The Democrat slate: Team Dickey includes McMahon, Male and Corey. They want to be stealthier since registered Republicans outnumber Democrats substantially. They are being promoted together on Democrat sites.

Slates lead to chronic partisan headbutting, a constant battle to be in charge rather than serve the public. It’s reached a meltdown point with lawsuits, ethics complaints and bickering. And little positive.

There are three additional candidates running on their own merit; Joe Arpaio for mayor and former Councilmember Art Tolis, along with Robert Wallace. These three are committed to issues and working with whoever else is on the council. All citizen comments matter. They will be inclusive of different opinions.

Before jumping on one slate or another, consider evaluating each candidate on their merit. Reject divisive slates and reject Dickey and Freidel, who want you to re-elect them to fix the mess they helped create. You will get better government
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