By Gene Slechta | Fountain Hills
Why is the Town Council ignoring its constituents? Because their interests are not those of its citizens.
In 2022, huge changes in the makeup of the council brought promises that those new members could not keep. Toth and Skillicorn promised to solve our roads issue. Remember the $60 million problem? Toth said she would sit down with the budget and, line-by-line, find the needed dollars. What line is she on after three years? Skillicorn said he would cut the budget...somehow.
Today we have a $60-80 million roads problem. Town staff has done a masterful job of planning and allocating resources to hold the line, but roads are fast reaching the end of their lives. The prior council’s streets advisory committee identified the path forward.
What else did Toth/Skillicorn promise? They promised to bring new businesses and vitality to our town. How is that going? Well, I feel their actions have only discouraged young families, LGBTQ and education. They have rejected efforts to create more density in housing. They spoke out against, or stayed silent on, needed school bonds. They tried to vote down a revitalization project for the Target center! Smarter minds overcame them.
They have voted down grants that would have helped our community. But hey, they have brought back invocations before the council meetings, fired a state liaison consultant – saving $20,000 but giving up hundreds of thousands of dollars of benefits – and increased sign clutter for election years. I don’t remember them campaigning for that. Do you?
Skillicorn is applying for other gigs. Toth is at Turning Point USA promoting right-wing views that will only discourage new residents.
Their false promises are on video and in print. Check it out. Tell them to do their job.
Please send your comments to AzOpinions@iniusa.org. We are committed to publishing a wide variety of reader opinions, as long as they meet our Civility Guidelines.
