It should not go unnoticed that Ginny Dickey received one third of the votes cast for mayor on Aug. 30.

As a write in candidate, that’s a remarkable vote count. As much as it says about Ginny, it says much more about this community’s dissatisfaction with current leadership when residents took the extra steps to write in Ginny’s name. It’s a clear message that the current mayor should respect everyone’s opinions and represent everyone as the Fountain Hills Mayor without her unswerving allegiance to only a few partisan voices.

It’s too bad that so many (40 percent) of voters in our town were forced to request an early ballot when just two years ago they received one automatically.

Because Fountain Hills no longer can conduct all mail-in elections where every registered voter would get a ballot, this change having municipal elections as part of a partisan primary election cycle left all registered independents (as many as 6,000) without a mail-in ballot. It’s just another example of narrow-minded partisan politics that the current Mayor supports as part of her husband’s legislative agenda.

The current mayor is lucky to continue to serve. We hope she’ll serve with dignity by representing our Town’s best interests, and not just those of her party. After all, that was what Ginny would do, and always has. That’s why nearly 2,000 residents voted for Ginny, regardless of their party affiliation.