On October 2, 2024, Gerry Friedel issued a statement demonstrating, beyond question, that he will lie to win the mayoral election, even if the lie risks the financial reputation and future of Fountain Hills.
The lie, contained in a “press release” provided to a number of media outlets, including the Fountains Hills Times and the Arizona Free News, addressed the Town Council’s failure to appoint Gayle Earle to fill the seat vacated by Councilmember Grzybowski. The press release included many false statements of fact and law, but by far the most outrageous was the claim that due to Mayor Dickey’s alleged statutory violation and the resulting complaint filed with the Attorney General, 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.”
This statement was a complete fabrication intended to alarm the public and turn them against Mayor Dickey on the eve of the election.
As set out below, under the applicable statutes, the State Treasurer had no authority to withhold funds from Fountain Hills during an investigation into the claim that Mayor Dickey violated state law.
Nine days after Friedel made this statement the Attorney General’s office determined that it did not have the statutory authority to investigate; however, even if an investigation had been undertaken and the Attorney General determined that the law had been violated, no funds could be withheld by the State Treasurer unless the Town failed to correct the violation within 30 days after it was advised of the determination. In addition, even if the violation was not corrected within the 30-day “grace period,” under no circumstances could the State Treasurer withhold funds needed by the Town to service its debt or meet its ongoing financial obligations.
There was never any risk that that the Town of Fountain Hills would be “bankrupted” by the decision not to fill a vacancy 30 days before the scheduled election.
Never one to shrink away from rebroadcasting a lie, Allen Skillicorn, the Town’s self-appointed Chaos Agent, apparently working in concert with Friedel, used his best efforts to ensure that the lie was widely disseminated:
Three weeks after the lie was published, it has been conclusively determined that there will be no investigation, no finding of a statutory violation, and no funds withheld from the Town by the State Treasurer that could “bankrupt” Fountain Hills. Yet to date, neither Friedel nor Skillicorn have issued a statement advising the public that there will be no investigation and there is not (and never was) any risk that state funds would be withheld that could bankrupt Fountain Hills.
Why do they continue to perpetuate this lie?
The Facts
The Vote
Effective Sept. 5, 2024, Councilmember Sharron Grzybowski resigned her seat on the Town Council. Grzybowski’s seat, along with one other, would be filled on December 3, 2024, following the results of the November election. If the Town Council did not appoint a replacement in the interim, the seat would remain vacant for a total of four regularly scheduled meetings.
During its September 17 meeting the Town Council considered Councilmember Skillicorn’s request that it appoint Gayle Earle to fill the vacant seat. Prior to and during the meeting the Council received public comments on the issue of whether Earle should be appointed to the seat. Approximately 90 percent of the comments, submitted in writing and in person, favored leaving the seat vacant. The vote on Councilmember Toth’s motion to appoint Earle resulted in a 3-3 split. Earle was not appointed.
The “1487 Complaint”
In 2016, the Arizona Legislature enacted SB 148. The Act empowers any member of the state legislature to submit a complaint to the Attorney General if he or she believes that a local government entity or agency has taken an action that violates Arizona state law or the Arizona Constitution. The letters submitted by legislators advising the Attorney General of suspected violations are referred to as “1487 Complaints.” The governing provisions are found in A.R.S 41-194.01.
Under § 41-194.01, if the complaint falls with the purview of the statute, the Attorney General has 30 days to complete its investigation and issue a determination as to whether or not state law had been violated. If the Attorney General determines that there has been a violation, the local government entity or agency has 30 days to take corrective action. If, at the conclusion of that 30-day period, corrective action has not been taken, the Attorney General is directed to notify the State Treasurer to withhold “shared monies” from offending entity or agency until the corrective action is taken. Significantly, the State Treasurer cannot withhold funds needed by the local government “to make required deposits payments for debt service on bonds or other long-term obligations.” A.R.S. § 42-5029, subsection L. This prohibition serves as a safety net, effectively protecting the local government entity or agency from defaulting on its obligations and risking insolvency.
On Sept. 30, 2024, State Representatives Alexander Kolodin and Joseph Chaplik submitted a “1487 Complaint” to the Arizona Attorney General’s Office. The letter provided:
Dear Ms. Crawford:
When a vacancy occurred on the Fountain Hills Town Council (the “Council”) it deadlocked with respect to filling the vacancy via vote on 9/17/2024. The council has not agendized the filling of the vacancy for October. As a consequence, it does not appear that the Town Council will ever fill this vacancy, as it is compelled to do by law, but will simply wait until the winner of the election takes office.
A.R.S. § 9-235, however, 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.
Therefore, pursuant to A.R.S § 41-194.0I, I (sic) am requesting that your office investigate whether the Fountain Hills Town Council is in violation of A.R.S § 9-235.
The complaint, asked the AG to investigate whether or not Mayor Dickey violated § 9-235 when, following the split vote, she did not place the issue of Earle’s appointment on the agenda for either or the two meetings scheduled to occur before the November 5 election.
The complaint was fatally flawed for two reasons:
First, under §41-194.01, the Attorney General only has the authority to investigate complaints resulting from the alleged violation of state law or the Arizona Constitution by the enactment of an “ordinance, regulation, order or other official action” or the adoption of a “written policy, written rule or written regulation” that violates state law or the Constitution of Arizona. Here, the complaint was not based on any affirmative legislative action or any written policy.
On Oct. 11, 2024, Hayleigh Crawford advised Kolodin and Chaplik that there would be no investigation into their complaint because their allegations of “misconduct” did not involve any affirmative action that fell within the purview of §41-194.01.
In addition, the Town Council’s failure to fill the vacant seat did not violate state law. Section 9-235 authorizes and obligates a Town Council to fill a vacancy by appointment, but does not state when the appointment must be made. The statute does not require that the position be filled at the next regularly scheduled meeting or within a specific number of days. Where, as here, a statute does not specify a time frame for completing an action, it is presumed that the legislature intended to provide a “reasonable period.”
This presumption of a reasonable period to fill the vacancy is consistent with the following relevant provisions of the Fountain Hills Town Code:
2-1-4 Vacancies in Town Council
A. The Council shall fill any vacancy that may occur in the Council by any method provided by ARIZ.REV.STAT. 9-235.
C. All vacancies shall be filled in a reasonable time from the occurrence of the vacancy.
The only method for filling a vacancy provided under §9-235 is appointment by the Town Council. The Mayor does not have the authority to fill the vacancy through appointment. The Council has a “reasonable time” to fill the vacancy.
An effort was undertaken to fill the seat within two weeks after the vacancy occurred. That effort failed. It was not unreasonable for the Mayor to await the outcome of the election when it was clear that the majority of the Town Council would not vote to appoint Earle.
Friedel’s Lies
Two days after the 1487 Complaint was sent to the AG, Friedel issued a “press release” that received a brief mention in the Fountain Hills Times but served as the basis for a full blown, error-laded article published by the Arizona Free Press. The article included the following sentence: “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.” The article continues: “In so refusing Dickey preserves a 3-3 partisan deadlock until after the November election but is accused of violating state law.”
Friedel was clearly aware that Mayor Dickey had no power to appoint Earle. Yet, he deliberately represented that the Mayor had the authority to appoint Earle and refused to do so because Earle was a Republican.
The article concluded with the following quoted statement, attributed to the Friedel Campaign: “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.”
As set out above, this statement was a lie. The State Treasurer could not withhold state funds while the matter was under investigation. The State Treasurer could withhold funds only after the investigation resulted in a determination that there had been a violation covered by the statute and then only if the Town failed to correct the violation within 30 days. In no event could the State Treasurer withhold funds necessary for the Town to meet its debt obligations.
There was never any risk that that the Town of Fountain Hills would be “bankrupted” by the decision not to fill a vacancy 30 days before a scheduled election. So why did Friedel lie?
Even those who have grown accustomed to Friedel’s dirty campaign were surprised that he would sink to this level. This lie is remarkable both for its unbridled mendacity and for its potential for causing lasting injury to Fountain Hills.
Did Friedel even consider how current, or prospective creditors or contractors, would react to a sitting member of the Town Council’s statement that the Town would be effectively bankrupted by the Mayor’s alleged unlawful act? Did he consider how current or prospective residents or business owners would respond?
The questions we need to ask Friedel at this point are:
Now that the lie has been exposed, will you retract your statement?
Will you apologize to the residents for creating an unwarranted concern for the solvency of our Town?
We are waiting.