At the April 15 council meeting, Councilmember Watts forgave Allen Skillicorn’s ethics violations by using the term “time served.” He said Skillicorn served enough time. It was time to move on.
But “time served” means that the defendant has fulfilled or satisfied his sentence. Not that he served enough time, as in Watts’ opinion. Councilmember Skillicorn has never fulfilled or satisfied his sanctions. Councilmember Skillicorn never took responsibility for his actions from two years ago. He never apologized to our code enforcement officer. He never apologized to the residents for embarrassing Fountain Hills. Mayor Friedel said himself that he doesn’t condone Skillicorns behavior, yet it appears he does because he has never held Skillicorn accountable.
Councilmembers Watts, Earle, Larrabee and Mayor Friedel stripped the rights of residents away to file ethics violations. They erased their own violations, including Skillicorn’s.
Now Councilmember Allen Skillicorn is charged with allegedly leaving the scene of a accident that damaged property and failing to provide information at an accident scene in Tempe. This is a clear violation of the council’s ethics clause, but residents can not exercise our right to petition our government regarding grievances. And boy oh boy is this a grievance. Our hands have been tied by Mayor Friedel and Councilmembers Larrabee, Earle, Watts and Skillicorn.
I wonder, was Skillicorn open and honest with the other council members in April when they forgave his violations and wiped his slate clean? Did Allen tell them about this incident, or did he hide it from them, only to make them all look like fools now? And to top it off, the council will be voting on amending reimbursement for councilmembers’ mileage. Ain’t that a kick in our shorts? Once again, in the end it’s us, the taxpayers, who will suffer.
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