Ginny Dickey, my dear friend, didn’t your mother ever tell you that sometimes it’s better just to sit down and shut up?

Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio has many friends in this community, myself included. And many of those friends are very outspoken in their support of our sheriff.

You, and others in this community, do not like Joe. Needless to say, you and many of the others are equally outspoken in voicing opposition to Joe.

But in a shouting match between the two sides, by the absolute weight of numbers, Joe’s supporters can outshout Joe’s detractors....with neither side having the slightest chance of changing the opinion of the opposition…

I question, quietly I hope, the wisdom of a member of a non-partisan elected body such as our Town Council jumping into this shouting match.

I certainly agree that you have the right to do so.

However, I hope you understand that what you have managed to do by using the editorial page of The Fountain Hills Times to defend your leadership of the anti-Joe movement is turn the focus of this maelstrom from Joe to yourself.

Ginny, that is not the smartest thing you have ever done. So, putting myself in the role of your mother...