Complaint Filed Against Fountain Hills Mayor For Refusing To Fill Town Council Vacancy
By Matthew Holloway |
Fountain Hills Town Councilman and Republican Mayoral Candidate Gerry Friedel revealed on Tuesday that Democrat incumbent Mayor Ginny Dickey has refused to appoint primary election winner Republican Gayle Earle to the council. Earle was the only candidate to earn enough votes to win the July 30th race outright.
In so refusing, Dickey preserves a 3-3 partisan deadlock until after the November election but is accused of violating state law (A.R.S. 9-235).
According to a press release, State Representatives Alex Kolodin and Joseph Chaplik, who represent Fountain Hills, filed a 1487 complaint with the Arizona Attorney General’s Office on Monday calling upon the Solicitor General’s Office to investigate Dickey’s alleged non-compliance with the statute pertaining to “vacancies in council.”
Friedel’s campaign alleged that state funding for the town could be jeopardized by Dickey’s action writing, “The AG will investigate Mayor Dickey’s unwillingness to agendize filling the vacancy while the State Treasurer will be required to hold back the shared state funds for the town, effectively bankrupting Fountain Hills until the complaint is resolved.”
In a statement Friedel said:
“On September 30, 2024, State Representatives Alexander Kolodin and Joseph Chaplik have formally asked the Arizona Attorney General’s Office to investigate alleged wrongdoing by Fountain Hills Mayor Ginny Dickey during a Town Council Meeting on September 17, 2024. The Mayor and Council were asked to fill a council seat vacancy pursuant to A.R.S. 9-235 which states: ‘The council shall fill a vacancy that may occur.’ Accordingly, the Council has no discretion to wait until the voters fill the vacancy but, rather, is required to fill the vacancy itself pending the voters’ chosen candidate taking office which, in this case, was Councilwoman-Elect, Gayle Earle.
Ms. Earle was the only candidate to win outright during the July 30 primary election, securing 4226 votes. Councilmembers Gerry Friedel, Hannah Toth, and Allen Skillicorn voted to appoint Ms. Earle to fill this vacancy. Mayor Dickey, along with Councilmembers Peg McMahon and Brenda Kalivianakis voted against appointing Ms. Earle to this vacancy, thereby deadlocking with respect to filling the vacancy. It should be noted that not filling this vacancy could jeopardize town business and town finances for the remainder of the year. Mayor Dickey may now have to reconsider filling this vacancy to avoid being reprimanded by the Attorney General.”
In a post to X, Councilwoman Hannah Toth shared video of her making an impassioned argument for the appointment of Earle. She wrote, “Tonight the Democrats on the Fountain Hills Council chose Party over People. The people of Fountain Hills have chosen Gayle Earle, is the bipartisan choice to fill our vacant seat. Council members Dickey, McMahon, Kalivianakis would rather leave this seat vacant. They have assaulted democracy, robbing the people of their voice. But I stood up.”
In a subsequent reply to a comment, Toth explained how the vacancy has been addressed on the council, “Gayle was elected for a 2025-2029 term, however we have a vacancy due to a council member whose term was expiring moving to CA. Therefore, we need someone to fill the seat for the 3 meetings before Gayle is sworn in. Oddly, Kalivianakis was recruiting replacements, and later the Democrats decided they would rather the seat just remain vacant, rather than install someone who has already been elected, early.”
Correction: A previous version of this article incorrectly stated that Friedel preserved a 3-3 partisan deadlock. Dickey is the current mayor responsible for preserving the 3-3 partisan deadlock. The story has been updated.
Matthew Holloway is a reporter for AZ Free News. Follow him on X for his latest stories, or email tips to Matthew@azfreenews.com.