Fountain Hills Alternative

Separating truth from fiction by Joan Wibbers

Understanding Reality

Friedel - Councilman and Mayoral Candidate

Understanding Reality

What does the election in FH actually come down to? Fiction, nonpartisan, we just love our town (feelings) progressives (Democrats) vs. truth/facts, conservatives, (Republican or republican leaning) voters. It's fairly simple, and the same can be said at the national level. We'll leave that for another discussion focusing on two aspects leading up to actually casting a ballot. Reading each campaign finance report and listening to what participants as well as their followers say when they think you are not paying attention. So without further ado, let's get started with the lineups:

MAYOR

Dickey-Democrat progressive
Friedel-Republican conservative
Arpaio-Republican conservative

COUNCIL

McMahon-Democrat progressive
Corey-Democrat progressive
Male-Independent (self proclaimed) progressive
Earle-Republican conservative
Corrigan-Republican conservative
Watts-Republican conservative
Wallace-Republican conservative
Tolis-? self interest

If you have yet to vote, consider the PAC reports and the message that they send along with the makeup of what others are saying. THEN VOTE.

Dickey - Mayor

Friedel - Councilman and Mayoral Candidate

Understanding Reality

Ginny Dickey, a career local politician, with accurate and properly filled out campaign finance reports dating way back. So what do they tell you? She receives and has always received a substantial portion of her contributions from PACs of service organizations of the town, liberal groups from as far away as Tucson, and unions. Her individual contributors are the usual Democrat suspects from town while she preaches nonpartisanship. You see their frequent letters in the Times wailing and railing against anything conservative and of course, their love for the town is so much greater than all others, while professing that if the rest of the residents would just shut up and let them handle things, everything would be a progressive utopia for all. Same Democrat message as the country in general.

Dickey's largest single individual contributor, Beth Culp, Treasurer of the Progressive PAC in town, not that there's anything wrong with that. As an individual, she's allowed to donate to whomever she chooses.

However, this woman does nothing but rail against the other local conservative PAC, as endorsing candidates she doesn't like. The Alternative searched websites, writings to the other publication, mailers , or signs mentioning any candidate by name and could find no ROT endorsements in 2024 . More on her in a moment and throughout this article.

Dickey's largest mailer, a who's who of leftist, progressive Democrats with flowering comments such as, "She is focused on us and our town. It's as simple as that."-Pam Cap. Who is us? Dickey failed to remove this woman from council chambers as she was screaming at councilman Skillicorn and dropping F-bombs as she was escorted out only after the town attorney threw her out. Dickey, focused on THEM.

Lastly, and certainly the cap heading into an election, Dickey contacted the liberal Methodist pastor and asked him to rein in a conservative pastor's sermons in an attempt to censor free speech and religion. Certainly an ethics violation as a few have been filed against her for this one. Even the Times had to report on this as painful as it must have been for them to write anything negative about the beloved Mayor Dickey. As an aside, maybe Dickey was just trying to please her supporters as none of them stand in respect for the invocation at council meetings. These same people appear on the mailer with Cap extolling nothing but flowery comments. Leftist, Democrats all. But this is a non-partisan town election they would have one believe.

Read all campaign finance reports here:

Campaign Finance Reports | Fountain Hills, AZ - Official Website (fountainhillsaz.gov)

Friedel - Councilman and Mayoral Candidate

With an endorsement like this from the Treasurer of the HATE PAC, FLOURISH, this could be considered a major endorsement as a sanity vote for Friedel.

Gerry Friedel, a sitting councilman, with an accurate and properly filled out campaign finance report. One would expect nothing less from a retired financial industry career. The bulk of Friedel's contributors are individual residents of the town and plenty of them. One PAC contribution from realtors was probably because he has championed pro business sign regulations. Speaking of pro business, no one spends more money locally than Friedel. Business owners report that he and his wife eat and buy goods daily from FH businesses.

Friedel votes with residents nearly 100% of the time, spends countless hours accumulating data as research on issues and of course is conservative. That's why Beth Culp and the Flourish PAC rail against him and the Reclaim Our Town PAC. But, look very hard and you will not find any contribution from any officer of the Reclaim Our Town PAC, contrary to the misinformation that has been put about about an endorsement.

Read all campaign finance reports here:

Campaign Finance Reports | Fountain Hills, AZ - Official Website (fountainhillsaz.gov)

Arpaio - Mayoral Candidate

McMahon - Councilwoman and current Council Candidate

Friedel - Councilman and Mayoral Candidate

Once "America's Toughest Sheriff" and now a candidate for Mayor of FH. Certainly the most well funded of all candidates. A properly filled out campaign finance report that while hard to read individual names, does tell you that most of the money raised came from out of town and out of state contributors. That in itself is not bad as Joe has campaigned on bringing notoriety to FH because of his national persona. It's unclear whether he is fully up to speed on town issues as he rarely makes mention of it in his campaign as of this writing. Perhaps that is why local contributions are minimal. And, no contributions from any officer of Reclaim Our Town PAC.

Read all campaign finance reports here:

Campaign Finance Reports | Fountain Hills, AZ - Official Website (fountainhillsaz.gov)

Tolis - Council Candidate

McMahon - Councilwoman and current Council Candidate

This gentleman is incapable of filling out a campaign finance report, even as simple as his is. He couldn't manage to put his PAC number on a single page of any report and as of this article has not filed the pre-election report that was due 7/20/2024. He also failed to provide any information on who his expenditures have been distributed to. Is he being fined the daily penalty by the town as required? This doesn't indicate anything nefarious, but it does seem like someone this financially sloppy shouldn't be helping to run the town. Tolis has one individual donor from FH and that's a resident named Jon Davies. Tolis was a strong supporter of the failed $25MM school bond ask as was Davies. Tolis votes against residents nearly 100% of the time as he has been on the wrong side of the vote on property tax, school bond taxes, Daybreak apartments, the Trevino Nursing home where the medical center currently exists, and who could forget the Crystal Lagoon.

Read all campaign finance reports here:

Campaign Finance Reports | Fountain Hills, AZ - Official Website (fountainhillsaz.gov)

McMahon - Councilwoman and current Council Candidate

Following in the footsteps of Dickey, most of her money comes from special interest PACs, unions, with a smattering of out of town individuals. No doubt all rounded up by her single largest expenditure, Primary Consultants, our old friend Paul Ulan. Remember him? He raised all the money from contractors who stood to benefit from the contract work awarded by the school district in the failed 2022 school bond tax vote for the YES PAC.

https://fountainhillsalternative.com/school-news-1

And then there is that name again. Beth Culp, Treasurer of the leftist PAC in FH.

Read all campaign finance reports here:

Campaign Finance Reports | Fountain Hills, AZ - Official Website (fountainhillsaz.gov)

Male - Council Candidate

Corey - Council Candidate

No one ever heard from Mr. Male until, for the first time ever, he appeared at a council meeting in the runup to this election. He felt compelled to tell us "I'm an independent and am here to bring civility to our government." Since that moment he never misses an opportunity to tell us he's an independent. The old adage applies, "the more you have to tell something, the more one questions whether it's true." In a post on the left's hate page, "Outspoken Fountain Hills" the question was posed, "Any progressive candidates running for FH council?" Answer: "Peggy McMahon, Clayton Corey, and Henry Male"-Cindy Couture, the self proclaimed Democratic Socialist council candidate from 2022. (Alternative candidate profile 2022)

https://fountainhillsalternative.com/archives-1 Look up Democratic Socialist Party, You'll be surprised at what you find. Donna Male, Henry's wife, joined the "Outspoken" hate group early on, 12/5/2015 and proclaimed, "Yes I am a proud bleeding heart liberal." That's Henry's wife, not Henry. But he lives with this person. Given all the other comments from the group, if it smells like a fish, it usually is.

Here is another candidate having no attention to detail on the PAC report leaving one wondering if this is yet another person that shouldn't be running the town. Mr. Male fails to put his PAC number on a single page of his Q2 2024 report or his recently filed pre-election report.

And then there is that name again on the donor list. Beth Culp, Treasurer of the leftist PAC in FH, endorsing yet another leftist, progressive candidate.

Read all campaign finance reports here:

Campaign Finance Reports | Fountain Hills, AZ - Official Website (fountainhillsaz.gov)

Corey - Council Candidate

Mr. Corey does have correctly filled out campaign finance reports. They indicate not a lot of individual contributions from town. One notable leftist can be found

along with that name again. Beth Culp, Treasurer of the leftist PAC in FH, endorsing yet another leftist, progressive candidate.

Read all campaign finance reports here:

Campaign Finance Reports | Fountain Hills, AZ - Official Website (fountainhillsaz.gov)

Earle - Council Candidate

Corey - Council Candidate

Earle - Council Candidate

Ms. Earle has precisely filled out campaign finance reports indicating support from mostly small individual town contributors with a few larger donations from town residents. Another candidate supposedly having the Reclaim Our Town endorsement but no contributions from any member of the PAC are existing. Earle is a long time Fountain Hills small business owner which would seem advantageous to have on the town council since nearly all businesses in FH are small businesses.

Read all campaign finance reports here:

Campaign Finance Reports | Fountain Hills, AZ - Official Website (fountainhillsaz.gov)

Watts - Council Candidate

Opposing PACs - Flourish vs Reclaim

Earle - Council Candidate

Mr. Watts has precisely filled out campaign finance reports that indicate modest support from residents of the town. One PAC contribution from the Scottsdale Realtors who probably took note of his thoughtful well researched work on the sign ordinance while on the Planning and Zoning Commission. If you are paying attention to work done by P&Z, Watts has delivered many well researched, carefully thought out recommendations on topics such as transitional housing (residential detox), commercial detox, 5G small cell broadband towers, high density housing, and more.

Read all campaign finance reports here:

Campaign Finance Reports | Fountain Hills, AZ - Official Website (fountainhillsaz.gov)

Corrigan - Council Candidate

Opposing PACs - Flourish vs Reclaim

Mr. Corrigan, a retired Fortune 500 executive has been seen at P&Z meetings for a few years now, presumably, to understand the issues and innerworkings of the town. Another candidate to receive a resounding endorsement of sanity from an original HATE PAC FLOURISH officer. Pam Cap. He did however omit his committee ID number on his finance reports. Financial details seemed to be accurately reported and show a modestly funded campaign from a small group of in town residents. The Alternative found no donations from Reclaim or their officers and thus not endorsed as reported by Beth Culp, Hate PAC Treasurer. The Alternative does not endorse candidates, but enthusiastically endorses sanity.

Read all campaign finance reports here:

Campaign Finance Reports | Fountain Hills, AZ - Official Website (fountainhillsaz.gov)

Opposing PACs - Flourish vs Reclaim

Flourish PAC established in 2/1/2024 with Pam Cap as Chair, and Beth Culp as Treasurer. 2/12/2024 it was amended to remove Cap and place Culp as Chair and Treasurer. It can be reasonably presumed that the bad publicity following the rage filled episode at a council meeting in which Cap was removed by the town attorney amid a downpour of F- Bombs forced this move. It is notable that Mayor Dickey did not stop this nor remove Cap, then gave her a quote on the back of a "Re-Elect Dickey" mailer, mentioned earlier in this article. Culp replaced Cap with herself on 2/12/24 until she realized a PAC needs two officers and the recruited Mike Geronimo to be the Chair on 2/29/24. A few donors above $100 most of which are members of the "Outspoken" hate group frequently mentioned in this reporting. Check the webpage and you will find absolute endorsements of all the progressives, Dickey, Corey, McMahon, and Male as is confirmed by Culp's personal donations to each and every one of them.

In the interest of full disclosure, this reporter refers to this PAC as the HATE PAC often in the article only because pouring through their publications, the bulk of material is hate of opposition rather than support of initiatives.

Reclaim Our Town, working for residents since 2022 has campaign finance reports that appear to have all the required data entered. Nearly 100% of the donors are local residents and cumulative contributions are substantial indicating broad support for positions which are clearly stated on the website home page and current campaign mailer. Generally statements appear to be fact rather than feelings.

Reclaim Our Town has no mention of any 2024 candidate's name in its mailers, signs, websites or postings. The Chair and Treasurer as individuals have not made any contributions to candidates in the 2024 election cycle, contrary to statements made and repeated often by Culp, Hate PAC Treasurer. Instead, "RECLAIM OUR TOWN ENDORSES CONSERVATIVE TOWN GOVERNMENT."

Reclaim states what the PAC has highlighted over the years and the Alternative found nothing vague about the issues supported.

What's next? Dems rally the Chamber and the Times

By Ely Skumin 7/6/2024

As the ballots begin arriving it has become painfully obvious that FH is just a microcosm of the country in general. The left controls the main stream media and it parrots the talking points of the ideology. It tolerates the attack and demonization of the values residing on the right while completely censoring everything coming from the right. One can see it every week in the FH Times as editor, Ryan Winslett, allows baseless attacks against any individual on the right as well as any group from the same ideology such as PAC, Reclaim Our Town, and then refuses to print any letters with the opposite point of view declaring they have no basis in fact. The reporting goes that way as well.

Likewise, the FH Chamber of Commerce with it's CEO Betsy LaVoie made it painfully obvious that they too support the leftist agenda of Mayor Dickey and all those whom she would like on the council to institute a full blown takeover/ makeover of Fountain Hills with the same ideals of the Obama/Biden group. This CEO generally hides behind the board and it may require some healthy skepticism that the entire board supports the ineptitude of this organization. Commerce being the key word, nary a single major business having been brought to FH but allowing the only domestic time piece manufacturer in North America to leave for Mesa are the hallmarks of this group while they scream for more apartments (high density housing) as if that is commerce. We could go on, and it's all fact but this report isn't about the Chamber and its fearless leader, it's about what they are selling with their grade report on candidates which much like the rest of the "green baloney" (crediting Sheriff Joe with that), that they serve up. With the exception of one gentleman, Henry Male, we already know what these candidates stand for because they all have voting records in one form or another, so let's begin with the true retread.

Art Tolis - former councilman 2016-2020 - Chamber grade, A+ - Tolis voting record/support - hangs out at the Republican Club,

supported 2 property tax ballot initiatives both voted down in resounding fashion by FH voters.
voted for the Daybreak rezone to blow the top off a mountain and build apartments that resembled a nursing home adjacent to multi-million dollar homes. Daybreak went to a referendum and was voted down by FH voters in the largest landslide in FH history.
voted to rezone to C-2 the 5+ acre parcel where the medical center resides currently to place a 3 story nursing home at the entrance to FH (Saguaro & Trevino) over the wishes of neighbors adjacent to the property living in million dollar homes. What a greeting to FH that would have been.
supported both recent school bond initiatives with the school financials in disarray (AZ Auditor General), performance and enrollment declining. Voters declining to give $20MM and $25MM consecutively by a margin of 57-43. Art's a financial guy, you'd think he would know better.
supported waivers of hillside and wash ordinances for the strip mining of the Adero Canyon development.
And who could forget the wasted $40K study to turn the Fountain Park Lake into the "Crystal Lagoon". That project had it been built would have lost the town over a million dollars a year.

On and on for Art, the Avenue as Rodeo Drive is another beauty and of course he was a former Chamber board member which explains his A+ score. Plus of course, Tolis supports High Density Housing anywhere, everywhere, and never saw a development project he didn't like.

Clayton Corey - current P&Z commissioner - Chamber Grade A - Corey voting record on P&Z - Democrat

circumvented P&Z efforts to gain more information regarding the Target Plaza rezone by motioning to approve as submitted which forced a majority vote of not to approve as submitted. On to the council where the developer knew in advance it would have approval without answering questions
supported all the high density housing projects submitted.
did not support efforts to obtain the Campanelli small cell tower ordinance draft. Thought small cell antennas were for cell phone coverage.
basically votes against the majority of P&Z 90% of the time
At the council forum in the midst of discussions on how to pay for a $17MM lake liner replacement and $50MM+ road repair backlog, spoke about how he liked more lit crosswalks ($750K each pricetag) and more sidewalks and bike lanes (millions)

A nice enough man but clearly a Dickey plant on P&Z and a lapdog for the Mayor.

Peggy McMahon - current councilwoman - Chamber Grade A- - McMahon voting record/support - Democrat, Liberal Ladies

Supports a primary property tax
voted for stricter sign regulations hurting businesses
voted for unrestricted "sober homes" (detox houses) in neighborhoods
voted against restriction on commercial detox facilities
voted for wasteful spending on roundabouts, additional traffic lights.
promotes small wave towers in residential neighborhoods
gets up and walks out on residents speaking at council meetings when she doesn't approve of the point of view among many other disrespectful acts.
As reported last week, held a secret meeting with Republic Services after taking campaign finance money to explore the residents paying for electric garbage trucks through higher trash collection fees. This is the Democrat Green New Scam brought to FH.
Supports all and any high density housing regardless of affect on neighbors
Stands with the Mayor on allowing FH to be overcharged by MCSO for police services.
The list is too long to print, but rest assured it contains a cacophony of leftist philosophy and wasteful spending ideas.

Henry Male - Unknown - Chamber Grade B+ - Self proclaimed independent

Seems like a nice enough man. No one had heard of Henry until he stepped to the microphone one council meeting and proclaimed himself an independent and a person to bring civility to the process. Civility is a Democrat trigger word for "listen to us and keep your opposing views to yourself, we'll handle this."
At the forum, Henry told us he was an Independent at least 15 times. Usually if someone has to tell you that often, it's not true.
Lastly, the Alternative will let you hear what his friends have to say. Our old friend from the 2022 election, Cindy Couture, who outed herself as a communist on social media and then got mad for being called one, was asked this question by someone on "Views from the left of Fountain Hills". Any progressive candidates running for FH council?" Cindy's answer, "Peggy McMahon, Clayton Corey, and Henry Male".
A "paid for by" Democrat club mailer says "Lets make sure we re-elect Mayor Ginny Dickey and Re-elect Peggy McMahon, Elect Clayton Corey and Henry Male.
There you have it. Henry's friends telling you who Henry is, while he proclaims independence.

Ginny Dickey - Democrat - Chamber Grade A - Leader of all things Democrat in FH and beyond

Fiscal irresponsibility spending Covid dollars on roundabouts instead of businesses, promoting left wing wants instead of needs, electric garbage trucks, collaborating with democrat friend, former Sheriff, Paul Penzone, to financially fleece FH for police services and cover it up, campaign contributions from town service providers up for contract renewals, on and on.
The list is too long, readers would still be reading into 2025. While proclaiming nonpartisanship, Dickey's latest mailer says it all. It's a list of supporters, a who's who of the Democrat Left ranging from the president of the Democrat club to the confessed sign thief stealing conservative political signs in 2022. All the usual haters you can read every week that the Times prints while censoring the right.

As for the rest of the candidates, the Chamber grade is meaningless now that we know they are shilling for the left. But just to prove the point, here they are, we're guessing from their websites that these must be fiscally responsible, pro business, pro law enforcement, pro residents conservatives.

Friedel C
Arpaio C
Watts B-
Wallace C+
Corrigan C+
Earle C-

The Fountain Hills Chamber of Commerce hard at work promoting politics instead of businesses. Scratch your head and wonder why things are stagnant.

Spelich clarifies misinformation spread by Mayor and others

The Alternative Adds YouTube Channel

Former Councilman David Spelich first spoke to the Alternative in October of 2023 in the article below. Nine months later, and in another election season, one candidate for Mayor, Friedel continues to fight for the resident's money while the incumbent Mayor and councilwoman continue to spread misinformation and cover up the issue. Spelich goes on camera and on the record about the ongoing fight to recover millions of dollars in overcharges by the Penzone/Skinner run MCSO. See his comments here at the Alternative's YouTube channel. Stay informed. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q7OES4KGgVs&ab_channel=fhalternative007

The Alternative's New You Tube Channel

Spelich speaks out on mcso contract and time on council

Reported by larry meyers - 10/2/2023

I first met David Spelich on the way to the 2018 Council race. He was running with now , Councilman Gerry Friedel and Marcus Von Denowitz. In that race, Spelich was elected, Friedel and Von Denowitz lost. I hosted a meet and greet at my house and Spelich's main focus was the recovery of uncollected funds by the town. Spelich won, the others lost. Ginny Dickey was elected Mayor and that's where this story begins, but the trail of financial irresponsibility by the town under Town Manager Grady Miller goes back years. In his first days in office Spelich uncovered $126K in environmental fees and $655K in uncollected court fees. He unmasked Miller's attempted plan to put the Fountain Hills employees into the Arizona State Retirement System (ASRS) costing the town large pension payments, benefitting a couple people, but mostly himself. Miller also oversaw the construction of Fire Station #2 on Fountain Hills Blvd to the tune of $400K overbudget.

However, that's about as far as it went with the council having a liberal mayor and majority even though Councilman Spelich openly said at a public meeting that generating revenue for the town and collecting what is due is not a partisan issue. Eventually Friedel, now a Mayoral candidate for 2024, joined the council to fill a vacated seat and thus began the left's majority marginalization of these two thoughtful men.

Another issue which should not have been partisan, but gives all the appearances of being so is the law enforcement contract with MCSO. Spelich with 24 years in law enforcement went to Town Manager, Grady Miller, and merely asked to sit in on the MCSO contract negotiations and was turned away. Councilman Spelich for his years on the Chicago PD force could see the town was being shorted manpower with its associated overcharge, and then charged overtime, double time by the existing deputies resulting in 2 egregious overcharges to the town. He also noticed Fountain Hills was paying for the police services of Rio and Tonto Verde. The median home price, MEDIAN, home price in those communities is over $800K. That's more than Fountain Hills. Let that sink in while you contemplate the fact that FH was reimbursed ZERO and that policy continues to this day under Dickey.

Now to put the capper on the MCSO contract under the term of Mayor Dickey, Fountain Hills has endured a 100% price increase in service charges while at the same time those very services were reduced. Putting some numbers to that, the MCSO contract in 2018 when Dickey took office was about $3.2 million/year. The number currently on the table being negotiated is $6.2 million or about 50% of the entire town budget. Putting this into greater context, the CPI (consumer price index, and index of inflation) numbers over the last 5.75 years:

2018-2.4%
2019-1.8%
2020-1.2%
2021-4.7%
2022-8%
2023 to date-4.5%

That's an average of 4.5% over that time which should equate to about a 25% increase from 2018 to date, not 100%. If that was not bad enough, now add the reduced services and overtime charges resulting from the reduced services of somewhere between $2.4-$3 million and you have a fleecing of the town under Mayor Dickey and Sheriff Penzone. 100% contract increases and another 100% in charges for reduced services in just 5 years. These same practices by the Penzone regime is why Queen Creek dropped their MCSO contract and formed their own police department. Startup costs are high but in the end, Queen Creek decided they would have better law enforcement for less money in the long run.

You may or may not like Sheriff Joe Arpaio, but this never occurred during his tenure or at least anything like this that he would have had time to correct. This article began with the statement that this should not be a partisan issue but the facts belie that. Mayor Dickey (D), Sheriff Paul Penzone (D). Why would anyone look out for one man while ignoring the 24,000 citizens that an oath was sworn to protect? That is the question one should be asking if this is not a partisan issue.

Stay tuned for the complete audio interview with former councilman Spelich. It is an informative look into the Fountain Hills town government over the 4 years he spent serving the town as a councilman.

followup to mcso. it's Garbagegate, What's next for the Dems

Democrats Only Know One Way - Arthur Silot, Investigative Reporter

Our Town, Fountain Hills, Arizona used to be a perfect little town, quietly nestled on the far eastern edge of the Valley away from the craziness of Phoenix and Scottsdale's frenetic pace. Early arrivals who were fortunate enough to get a piece of Fountain Hills built homes in the platted community, raised their children amongst the Town's natural beauty, mountains and desert environment. As the decades passed more homes were built, the demographics of new arrivals changed and with that little by little, Fountain Hills began to take on the look of the rest of the valley. Back then in Fountain Hills, you couldn't find a Democrat. Now, it's different. They are here, and their characteristics are no different than any of those seen at the national level; wasteful spending, social programs, diversity, equity, climate concerns, just name your cause.

The story really begins a decade ago when Ginny Dickey was on the council. Her pet project was to convert the town to a single hauler for trash collection, thus eliminating competition and lower prices for residents. ECON 101. The sales pitch was that there would be less trucks roaming the streets of FH if we only had one company and thus less wear and tear on Fountain Hills' deteriorating streets. As anyone can now see a decade later, Republic Services trucks are on the streets every day with the exception of the weekend and the streets are worse now than ever with tens of millions in backlog repairs.

And as a bonus to FH residents, twice a week pickup for $30 became once a week pickup for $50+ today.

So there is the history and now the present. Begin with March 3, 2024 and a campaign contribution to Peggy McMahon's council run from Republic Services (FH single hauler) of $1500. Then on March 26, 2024 Ginny Dickey gets a campaign contribution from Republic of $5000. Understand that the current contract is expiring January of 2026, right in the middle of the next Mayoral term.

Meeting time- morning of 3/25/24 . McMahon meets with Michael Celaya of Republic Services as confirmed in an email 11:02am presumably to lay the groundwork for electric garbage trucks in Fountain Hills. "I met with Michael Celaya from Republic Services this morning." Before we lay out the electric garbage truck premise, follow along with how this secret plotting works with Dickey, McMahon, and friends.
At 9:57am Angela Espiritu emailed Peggy McMahon, Goodwin, Weldy and Dickey saying "The Mayor asked that I reach out to him for his availability to meet next week. I will keep everyone posted with his response." Then comes this querie, "Do you think he has contacted other council too?" The answer is no. Why would they contact other councilmembers (Friedel)? They gave no campaign contribution to him. Kalivianakis is already on record as wanting Biophilic removed from the general plan and said, "I love my gas powered car."
April 3rd meeting-Espiritu, Goodwin, Weldy, McMahon, (Dickey? )

The reason for the question mark after Dickey is conflicting reports. Anonymous sources told the Alternative she was in attendance, some staff couldn't remember, and an email generated seems to indicate she wasn't there but the email from Republic Services thanking everyone is addressed to all including Dickey. All these emails were obtained in a FOIA along with a request for the minutes of the meeting, but according to the town, there were no notes taken at the meeting, something which Espiritu usually does since it is her job.

We know the subject is electric trash trucks in FH because it is a subject line of the emails.
We know McMahon and Dickey instigate the idea and want the electric trucks.
We know that no one else in the council is invited and does not find out until FOIA reveals the meeting.

What we don't know is what anonymous sources tell us was said in the secret meeting. The summary is as follows:

Electric trucks are expensive and inefficient.
They require 50 amp charging station(s), expensive
Republic Services is not willing to pay for any of this but of course will do it if the residents are willing to pay.

And of course as to the residents paying, "That will be fine"-McMahon. So McMahon and undoubtedly Dickey who is complicit are fine with the residents trash rates going up so they can institute their "Green New Scam" in FH at residents' expense. McMahon then compounds the issue with a lie in an April 8th email, "The fully integrated electric and recycle pickup trucks sound great because they will be less damaging to our streets and more environmentally friendly." The Alternative confirmed with Waste Management that these trucks weigh 5000 pounds more than a conventional hauler, are massively inefficient, and unreliable. In all of California, Waste Management has 3 units, that the state forced them to buy.

These two are running for Mayor and council again along with their progressive (democrat) friends Corey and Male. Be careful when you vote. Your wallet will undoubtedly get picked by this group as it is in their DNA.

Target plaza high density rezone brings out the all-stars

Reported by Marshall Tucker 12/31/2023

The December 19th Council meeting had no agenda item regarding the Target Plaza rezone that was recommended for denial as proposed by Planning and Zoning a week earlier by a vote of 4-2. That didn't stop what appeared to be an organized effort to front run the January meeting where this may be heard. Chamber president and CEO Betsy LaVoie was huddled up with her minions before the meeting presumably going over their strategy and talking points.

After going through the Stellar Students Economic Development Director, Amanda Jacobs, presented her patented book report which was, as usual, devoid of any efforts to recruit any major employer anchor to Fountain Hills. It featured the usual small business service or retail but did pause to let everyone know that it would be impossible to have an amazon distribution center in the failing Target retail plaza but rest assured she has over 20 years of experience in the Bio Sciences area but that's a problem too as it would require rezoning to accommodate any company willing to relocate. The theme for the evening was established, rezoning for an anchor employer is difficult but rezoning to throw up apartments, no problem. Lots of statistics (more on that in the call to the public) showing there is no place to live in FH, no one can move here because we don't have enough apartments, all our apartments are full, we need more apartments was the mantra with the loudest voice from the dais being Mayor Dickey directing any anchor employer thoughts away and toward, you guessed it, apartments. That seemed extremely strange as she and her compatriots spent over a year blocking construction by Bart Shea and the additional phases of Park Place which is approximately 300 apartments downtown. This deserves its own in depth analysis that is sure to come in 2024.

Then after a section of her report on tourism in which a slide graphic of the Adero Resort with FH being depicted as being in the top 5 in AZ, Councilwoman Kalivianakis asked the director whether she had been in touch with the Adero people in reference to the receivership after payment defaults of the facility. Answer, she has not been in touch, knows nothing, and has nothing to report. And with that, it ended. Tourism, extremely important to FH, Adero, FH largest resort in receivership, and the town Economic Development Director has not been in touch, knows nothing, and has nothing to report. Maybe she has just been focusing too hard on building apartments at the Target Plaza to have heard.

Then the onslaught began with call to the public. First up:

Pam Cap (support Target apartments) - affordable housing, not restrictive and just for rich white folks, town revenues from apartments pulled out of thin air and will rain from the sky, and as usual, all council people who are not from the left are evil, especially one. All her information is correct and everyone else's is not, don't listen to them, listen to her, and lastly everything in the universe seen through the lens of transgender and gay people.
Phil Sveum (support Target apartments) - agrees with everything Pam Cap says and relates to development in Dallas. Hardly a comparison to what FH was intended to be, and currently is unless the residents allow folks like this to turn FH into Dallas.
Beth Culp - taking a breather from the apartments at Target to make the obligatory attack on Councilman Skillicorn as a transgender hater. Then moving into theater of the absurd with a turkey story complete with cartoon annotation assisted by Pam Cap. The Alternative is not sure what the moral to the turkey story was, but it must have had something to do with Skillicorn and transgenders. Unfortunately, or mercifully, depending on how you look at it, Beth Culp ran out of time and we don't know what happened to the turkey. Maybe Councilman Skillicorn is the turkey and he's cooked in her story? We just don't know. This is must watch. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yex_QX_e2_E&ab_channel=TownofFountainHills Time code 55:20-58:28. Maybe readers can send in interpretive theories.
Art Tolis (support Target apartments) - It's great, it's perfect, he's been told (don't quote him on any of this), just believe him. IN ART WE TRUST and oh by the way he had to sit through 4 painful hours of P&Z trying to uncover what the real master plan of this complex is (they never did). A review of Art's positions of recent history: Art as a mortgage broker knows full well you can't borrow money with your finances in disarray yet supported a bond for a school with its finances so bad it was under scrutiny by AZ Auditor General. Art supported Daybreak development that was going to blow the top off a mountain and put a bunch of apartments next to million dollar homes. That went down in a referendum by 73%. Art thought you could turn the Avenue of the Fountains into Rodeo Drive (as in Beverly Hills) and supported putting a nursing home larger than the floor of the Cardinals stadium at the entrance to town, right where the medical center is now. All those are dumb but we saved the best for last. Who could forget the Lagoon project at the Fountain Park. Art even got the town to waste money on studying this hair brained idea to turn part of the lake into a glorified swimming hole for out of town families to bring their coolers, sped no money in FH while leaving the town with the bill for water treatment of the swimming hole. In short, Art's never seen a bad development project he didn't like.
Clayton Corey (support Target apartments) - Clayton sits on P&Z and proffered the motion to approve as written after reading the same democrat nonsense as he repeated, verbatim, in call to the public. Clayton gets in all the left's buzzwords, diverse housing, walkability (no cars), walkable neighborhoods, progressive urban planning, attracting families even though half the complex is 1 bedroom apartments, environmental and sustainable growth, economically diverse, positive transformation, on and on. Of course all of this is contrary to what was intended for Fountain Hills as written in its history, "....looking to relocate citizens out of the city and to the "no congestion, quiet, community just over the hill from Scottsdale."
Crystal Cavanaugh (against as proposed) - Finally someone asking some of the same questions of this project that 4 members of the P&Z were asking but got no answers from the developer's attorney on 12/11/23. But more importantly, a fact based analysis of the project. No hopes, wishes, transformations of Fountain Hills into something it was never intended to be, no economic revenue numbers pulled out of thin air. Instead, alternatives that may actually lead to the desires professed by proponents of apartment development for a more vibrant Fountain Hills, more children and younger demographic with an advancing economy. This woman must be hated, she's much to logical and factual.
Betsy LaVoie (support Target apartments) - Ms. LaVoie is the chamber President and CEO. 1.5 minutes of her 3 minutes were devoted to letting the council know that she is an expert of impeccable stature. She left out this part of her resume which comes from an interview just this past August: "I actually was a realtor by profession after my mom had passed away. My mom was a realtor here in Fountain Hills for 25 years. My dad was a builder. I come from a development type family. Both of my brothers are also builders, developers." and that explains the usual "all and any development is good" mantra. She also took her patented position, which is anything not said by her is misinformation and questioning anything of concern is stupidity or fear mongering also showing no respect for the town's P&Z commissioners who wanted more answers on the Target rezone than they got.
Pam Curtis (against as proposed) - A 29 year resident and living directly across from Target, posed an interesting point of view. Sandor, the developer, bought the property with all the empty businesses and then did not even attempt to fill the storefronts by lowering the rent to keep or attract new businesses but would rather tear half of it down for apartments to "revitalize" the center all the while asking the town to ignore all the zoning ordinances and requirements that have been established. Pointed out all the concerns brought out by P&Z along with the misdirection that this apartment building was for families when less than 10% are 3 bedroom and 50% are 1 bedroom.
Barbara Sutter (support Target apartments) - Congratulations went out to Amanda Jacobs for bringing options to FH. The Alternative is not sure what options have been brought other than apartments but Barbara seems to think so. After that, the usual, housing shortage in FH mantra, seems to think we don't have mixed use in FH. We're all guessing she has not been down to the Avenue to see Park Place and doesn't know another 300+ apartments will be built as part of additional phases of the Park Place complex. She rambled on with the usual platitudes but the most striking takeaway from her 3 minutes was her desire to drive down the prices of housing. There's a concept for all the property owners in FH, loosing the value on your investment in favor of someone else.
Barry Wolborsky (statistics) - Mr. Wolborsky appears to have a statistics background and lays to bare the misinformation of the economic development director's report, gives several examples but in general, states little faith in any of it, which may point to the deeper issues around this subject matter here in town.
Mel Carr (support Target apartments) - Owns a business, works from home, lives in Scottsdale and paid more to live in Scottsdale because she couldn't afford a newer home in FH? We're confused but our confusion was dispelled as she is a member of the FH Chamber of Commerce and supports apartments in FH and a painfully obvious recruit to speak of Betsy LaVoie.
Stephen Gay, aka, the trench coat - Just letting us all know he's leaving to go back to Sonoma County, bids us adieu, and now we know why all his diatribes have been lefty progressive in nature. Back to California. The Alternative is certain Councilman Skillicorn won't be missing Stephen.
Cindy Couture (support Target apartments) In a rambling semi-incoherent 3 minutes, Cindy Couture related single garbage hauler debates of old with overly dense apartment developers and laid claim to the majority in town who would say, "BUILD THESE APARTMENTS". Her memory must be failing as 73% said no apartments at Daybreak in a referendum rebuffing the council vote at the time which included the aforementioned Art Tolis.
Scott Schlosberg (support Target apartments) Chamber board member, clearly a Betsy LaVoie mouthpiece. Also a P&Z Commissioner who failed to attend the meeting and then called it craziness, thus disrespecting his fellow commissioners. But he had enough time to spend 3 minutes encouraging the council to ignore the P&Z recommendation, at the same time belittling some of the minor things they discussed but never mentioning any of the big concerns that were never answered by the developer, which actually were the reasons behind the P&Z recommendation to not approve. But finally we get to some real nonsense along with probably the meat of his love of the project, self interest. First the nonsense, comparing this project to the Raintree and 101 complex where the population base is multiples larger, and after all, is Scottsdale. and his employees can live across the street instead of driving from Mesa. Maybe, as an insurance agent he can sell car insurance to the 500 or so new car owners residing in the apartments across the street, just a thought.
Gene Schletcta (support Target apartments) Another Democrat trotted out who was once a P&Z commissioner. While respecting the P&Z commission, Gene thinks that this time they got it wrong. So like the rest of the parade of Democrats and incompetent town leaders, staff, and useful mouthpieces marching to the podium, he gives us the pat reasons to transform FH into something it was never intended to be, but as Mr. Wolborsky pointed out with our esteemed economic development director, spewed a statistic that just cannot be true and thus discredits everything else said because it is so wrong. Gene said the complex would provide about 500 residents (we're assuming they are all new to FH) who would supply about $500,000 of sales tax revenue. So Gene thinks the commission got it wrong. It would appear all the pro Target apartment crew are indeed math geniuses, including the genius who organized this waste of time onslaught.
Ed Stizza (against as proposed) Last but not least Ed Stizza asks the questions that need to be asked including the elephant in the room. What ever happened to the 300+ apartments of the next phases of Park Place? Everyone who was paying attention the last few years knows there are 2 councilwomen and a Mayor that blocked that developer for over a year, and that was a deal that was already done. How many millions did Bart Shea lose as the interest rates went up 5% during that time period? How many apartments do we really need here in FH? Who actually moves to FH to live in an apartment?

And with that it ended. An hour of the same old tripe, the developer sales pitch repeated, with some facts (always characterized by the Chamber CEO as misinformation) and a touch of insanity by the resident Skillicorn haters.

Just as we sign off the air for 2023, the breaking news we find the AZ Auditor General has reported that FHUSD still has 15 uncorrected deficiencies, 10 partially corrected deficiencies, and 1 new deficiency. "The areas containing the most significant deficiencies are Cash and Revenues and Information Technology, leaving the district and student monies susceptible to loss, theft, and misuse and risking accuracy, reliability, and security of District data." The Auditor General report and district finance management was something that Bond opponents pointed out as a reason to reject the bond in November. Of course, then as now, that was a position opposite to Chamber CEO Betsy LaVoie who lapped up that sales pitch by the school superintendent and characterized all the real information as misinformation.

Welcome in 2024 with another sales pitch, this time the Target Plaza apartments, swallowed without question by the Chamber. Not to worry, any questions asked are just misinformation. The Chamber knows all, sees all, and to prove it to everyone, you can pay for the breakfast on January 4th and hear the sales pitch from the developer yourself. Don't expect any tough questions answered though, they ducked all the pertinent ones at P&Z. Happy New Year from the Alternative.

Playground equipment instead of roof and hvac repairs

Reported by Marshall Tucker - 11/11/2023

Fountain Hills residents overwhelmingly voted to say no to the FHUSD $25,000,000 bond request and just as overwhelmingly told the school to divest the former Four Peaks Elementary building.

BOND - 5,748 NO 57.28% DIVEST FOUR PEAKS - 6,707 YES 68.05%

4,287 YES 42.72% 3,149 NO 31.95%

Voter turnout was the highest of all municipal elections by far in this off year ballot with 53.21% of eligible voters casting ballots.

The bond issue really was divided quite simply between the yes and the no's, with YES proponents relying on emotion and fear tactics and NO proponents simply wanting a fiscally responsible plan, sound money management and academic improvement. That was the same request in November of 2022 when the same 57% voted no and said come back with a plan. As the year passed by, again, there was no plan, financial mismanagement was rampant, academic performance did not improve and enrollment continued to decline.

As always, the "NO" proponents were labeled by the "YES" proponents as hating children and teachers while just wanting Fountain Hills to become "Sun City East". In actuality, the election was not about children at all, it was about the mismanagement of the school district by adults. Undeterred, sane residents gave their answer at the ballot box, and just to prove how correct they were, before the final votes had even been counted from Tuesday, Wednesday night's school board meeting included a 3-2 vote to spend $200,000 on a playground equipment request from the Superintendent. One of the board members asked how much money was left in the schools account but no definitive answer was forthcoming, and thus she became a "NO" vote on the expenditure. Of course this $200,000 added to the nearly million dollars spent on a library renovation that had nothing to do with books before the election, could have been used to repair roofs and HVAC as the "YES" signs proclaimed. As if it couldn't get any more bizarre, Vice President, Dana Saar, one of the 3 votes in favor of the playground expenditure, along with President Jill Reed and board member Lilian Acker, submitted his resignation the next day.

At the same time the school was misappropriating another $200,000, across town at the Leadership Academy graduation, a defiant, pro bond Mayor, Ginny Dickey, gave a speech in which she declared, "we'll be back" next year in reference to the bond thus trashing 57% of her residents in the process. 2022, 2023, 2024? "Insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results.” - Albert Einstein. The good news, there are still a majority of Fountain Hills residents sane, the bad news, leadership appears to be insane.

Merciful end in sight-reported by marshall tucker 10/20/23

Chamber of Commerce Polls FH Businesses. Believe it?

The ballots have arrived and hopefully Fountain Hills residents won't have to put up with much more disinformation from nearly every service organization, town associated entity, and the orchestrated illegal pro bond effort by the Mayor and her cohorts within town government itself. After months of making the rounds pitching the snake oil to anyone who would listen, it's finally coming to an end. But not before one last big claim by the FH Chamber of Commerce, key word COMMERCE. The Chamber was a big supporter of the "Unity Rally" on 9/30 at the Fountain Park. It turned out to be a "Pro Bond" rally with lots of "Pro Bond" speakers pitching the same snake oil to approximately 150 people.

Typical of a chamber that has failed to secure a real corporate anchor business for FH in its history, and lack of effort continuing to this day, the ridiculous poll was publicized with absolutely no supporting documentation. No data concerning the number of businesses polled (sample size). No supporting documentation as to the identity of the respondents (local or not) and not one single respondent was undecided, very strange. So are we to believe this? Probably not, just more propaganda to push the tax onto FH residents. First of all, as a business owner, would you even publicize a position on this issue for fear of alienating customers? Probably not. Would you take a position against your own chamber president for fear of retribution? So from a commerce perspective, a few axioms should be examined as well as facts ongoing in the town to put this all in perspective.

All taxes of any kind reduce disposable income and siphon money out of the private sector (businesses) and into the public sector (taxpayer funded).
"The bond will only cost you 1 cup of coffee per month. If that were true, which it isn't, what if just 5000 residents cut back expending $8.77/month? That would be $43,850 worth of coffee purchases removed from the private businesses selling coffee in FH EVERY MONTH. One would wonder how a company, such as Sipps, feels about that, Madame CEO of Chamber? What if it were only $4500/month? Is that acceptable to private businesses?
Using #2 as being correct, the numbers are bad enough. Since they are not correct, the ramifications from a commerce standpoint could actually be worse. $8.77/month as a cost is calculated based on 2 fallacies. First, the median home value in FH is $680K so there are very few homes valued at $409K which is what the $8.77 is based on as well as a 3.5% bond rate. Not likely as the 30 year bond just crossed 5% and most homes will be taxed more than a $409K valuation.
There are 4 private enterprise preschools operating in FH with no taxpayer assistance. There is one taxpayer funded preschool competing against the private enterprises. That would be Little Falcons preschool, a recipient of the last taxpayer funded bond for FHUSD.
Sound fair to private businesses? WHY IS THE FOUNTAIN HILLS CHAMBER OF COMMERCE supporting tax dollars to compete against PRIVATE ENTERPRISE?
We all must financially support the school. It is the town's largest employer! Well yes it is, and that is the fundamental flaw in the Chamber thinking among the many flaws. As long as the school is the largest employer, it will never be self sustaining in FH.
One last point to be made which may explain some of this. It has come to this publication's attention that FH Chamber membership consists of approximately 600 "local" members and an additional 400 festival booth holders (not local), who have been strong-armed to pay a membership fee as part of their festival participation. Were these part of the 86% for since this tax means nothing to them?

It is painfully obvious that this chamber CEO and board are out of touch at best, incompetent at worst, and working on the wrong issues facing the town from a macro perspective. And thusly, should have remained neutral on this issue and focused on COMMERCE, like they should be doing and apparently are not.

Alternative polls residents. Believe it?

Chamber of Commerce Polls FH Businesses. Believe it?

The Alternative decided to conduct their own poll on this issue. We presented the 4 questions based on fact and asked whether one would support the proposed $25,000,000 school bond in the upcoming election.

Given 2 current school board members presided over the financial mismanagement of the school uncovered by the AZ Auditor General ($2.8MM in missing or unaccounted for funds) as well recently past school board members serving in this time period who are vocally pro bond, do you think anything has changed?
Given that bond payments from the last $8MM worth of bonds have been requested over 2 weeks ago and and have still not been received, do you think the financial mismanagement has been corrected by Dr. J?
Just one of the spending items for this $25MM is for $3.5 MM for a new athletic fieldhouse and training facility. This for a school facility with a current population of about 400 and declining at about 10%/year, that has never in it's history placed any athlete into professional sports, MLB, NBA, NFL, WNBA, et.al. Is this a proper use of taxpayer money?
Enrollment is down under Dr. J's term so far, do you think he is turning things around in that regard?

The Alternative is not providing any supporting data to its poll, no sample size, and no names attached to the voting. We at the Alternative are just saying it's true. Is our poll any more or less true or false than that of the Fountain Hills Chamber of Commerce? The answer is, of course laughable.

One last piece of information on the "Medicine Man" from the Wednesday, 10/18/2023 school board meeting. He was to present the board with his measurable goals to aid in determining his own pay increase. First, that concept is ridiculous on its face as what responsible board ever let's its own employee set their own goals for a pay increase? But then, the man who will save the school district came back with absolutely NO MEASURABLE GOALS. They were all subjective, nothing objective and measurable. Just another dose of elixir so just drink it in and hope for the cure. Nothing fixed, nothing changed. Thankfully, the board did reject the unmeasurable goals. Soon we'll know whether the residents of FH bought the elixir.

Life imitates art-Oscar wilde, 1889 & History repeats

Reported by Marshall Tucker 8/12/2023

For those of you reading this old enough to remember the Music Man, you are probably old enough to have been taught real history in school, devoid of todays social justice crap. No 1619 Projects, the founding fathers were not bad guys, Christopher Columbus was an explorer, and the segregationists, racists, were Democrats (George Wallace, Strom Thurman, Orval Faubus), not Republicans. Abraham Lincoln was a Republican and freed the slaves. And then there is the history of Arizona, we'll get into that shortly.

This reporter's intention was to leave the school performance and finances alone since Russell Kroger and E. Fang have done such a great job of educating readers as to the reality in which FH residents and the school reside, but the irony of it all was so sweet, it just cannot be left unsaid.

Life Imitates Art

First, The Music Man, a 1957 Broadway Musical, garnering multiple Tony's, Grammy's, along with its 1962 film adaptation winning multiple Oscar's. The plot concerns con man Harold Hill, who poses as a boys' band organizer and leader and sells band instruments and uniforms to naïve Midwestern townsfolk, promising to train the members of the new band. Harold is no musician, however, and plans to skip town without giving any music lessons. In the story Harold Hill goes around to all the important (influential) people in the town pitching his scam so they can get all the town folks on board with letting go of their money. Sound familiar? Indeed it does. Dr. Cain Jagodzinski is currently making the rounds pitching the $25MM Bond (up $5MM from last year) to all the service organizations (Kiwanis, Rotary, Chamber of Commerce, et. al.) so they can get the naïve FH town folks to let go of their money and approve a bond that will ultimately cost them $40-50 million over 15 years with the interest. Only this time it's not shiny trombones, its expensive planetariums and shiny new playgrounds, new electronic marquee signs, and new turf sports fields, to name a few.

History Repeats Itself

Who among us knows why Arizona was the last territory in the Continental United States to become a state, 1912? Every outlaw and flim-flam man was being run out of all the other states and they were coming to Arizona, that's why. Texas, New Mexico, Kansas, Colorado and more. While technically not the last shootout, the "Gunfight at the OK Corral", Tombstone, AZ, certainly shaped the perception of the wild west. Leaving the outlaws aside and focusing on the flim-flam artists that roamed Arizona as well during this time, as that is an apt description of Harold Hill in the Music Man. As the west was being settled, Traveling Medicine Shows offered a "Cure For What Ails You". https://curioushistorian.com/traveling-medicine-shows-of-the-old-west

Medicine shows usually promoted "miracle elixirs", sometimes referred to as "snake oil liniment", which made various claims such as being able to cure disease, smooth wrinkles, remove stains, prolong life or cure any number of common ailments. Of course, all of this was intended to get you to part with your hard earned money for a dream.

Fast forward to 2023 and the peaceful little town of Fountain Hills, Arizona. An outpost at the farthest northeastern part of the "Valley of the Sun" where "life imitates art" meets "history repeats itself". The medicine man is roaming the town trying to separate the hard working folks from their money, $25 million which is actually $40+ million after interest via a school bond. Bonds are taxes and citizens are the taxpayers. What he is selling is the elixir to cure all the ills of the town. More families, more children, more commerce, smarter kids, shiny new buildings, why this elixir may cure the common cold so why not fork over the money one works hard for. He promises.....just like the wild west medicine man. And then there is Professor Harold Hill, he was planning on disappearing leaving the town folks holding the bag for all those shiny trombones that not one kid would know how to play. Sound familiar? Does anyone think Dr. J will be here 15 years from now as taxpayers are still paying for the bond on their property tax bill? How about 2 years when his contract is up? Will there be enough children to need an additional expense on top of the yearly property tax that already goes to the school?

Russell Kroger's report of 7/20 (scroll down if you forgot) outlines all you need to know about what happened the last time residents were conned into giving $8MM in a bond. This reporter is not going to rehash that, reread it if you must. But with all of that being bad, can it get any worse? Of course it can. The Arizona Auditor General in a report dated May 24, 2023, " Fountain Hills Unified School District —Not in Compliance with the Uniform System of Financial Records for Arizona School Districts (USFR) " That's the lead picture in this article, click on it and it will take you to the home page where you can easily access reports back to 2004. You'll also see that it isn't the first time FHUSD is "not in compliance". Once you are there, click on the not in compliance link and from there you'll be whisked away to 8 pages of deficiencies. Lastly, would you invest $25MM plus substantial interest in an organization that has no financial controls in place. That is what this reporter has discovered. In house, absolutely no one, anywhere, with even entry level accounting skills, a junior or staff accountant, let alone a CPA. FHUSD contracts out to this group https://www.trueprofessionalsllc.com but nowhere on the website does it state any personnel with even entry level accounting education. Perhaps a budget analyst or financial analyst might be in order. Maybe these are the reasons the school cannot seem to live within its budget.

While "THE MUSIC MAN" had a happy ending as most theater and movies of that era did, the Alternative reporters armed with all this information fail to see any way for a happy ending here in Fountain Hills, more like the elixir that promises cures to everything and does nothing.

If you want the happy ending click here, watch and sing along. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ODu888i14-I&ab_channel=BravoDivine

And to all those willing to be conned, and all the con artists out there, this ones for you, Hold on Tight-Electric Light Orchestra https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UKQsv1Q3ZNY&ab_channel=Kobis11

FHUSD NOT IN COMPLIANCE with Uniform System of Financial Records - May 24, 2023

declining enrollment, perhaps why-reported by e. fang

Best High Schools US News National 2022

This past week, was an excellent example of how taxpayers' hard earned money is spent by FHUSD. A glossy flier was mailed to nearly every resident of Fountain Hills encouraging school registration and touting excellence, even naming the "EXCELLENT" programs used within the school system. This is diametrically opposed to the 40% reading and 32% math proficiencies revealed by Russell Kroger in his report. In light of the global wokeness discovered when looking further into "ASU Next Generation Workforce Model", this flier encouraged a deeper look at the details within the flashy pages. Let' get the party started.

Best High Schools US News National 2022

This award is a bit misleading. Let’s take a look at "Best High Schools US News National Report" rankings of other schools Fountain Hills families could possibly chose:

Basis Scottsdale - #4 in Arizona #29 in National Rankings
Desert Mountain High School, Scottsdale - #26 in Arizona #1,608 in National Rankings
Great Hearts Academies – Scottsdale Prep - #36 in Arizona, #2,045 in National Rankings
Chaparral High School, Scottsdale - #37 in Arizona, #2,091 in National Rankings
Red Mountain High School, Mesa - #44 in Arizona, #2,677 in National Rankings
Saguaro High School, Scottsdale - #47 in Arizona, #2,878 in National Rankings

and then there is Fountain Hills - #52 in Arizona, #3,115 in National Rankings. For a full list of all Arizona rankings, follow this link: https://www.usnews.com/education/best-high-schools/arizona/rankings

It’s also interesting to see how Best High Schools US News National scores schools across the United States. Following the link will show how US News Best Schools scores contain relationships to ethnicity and not a large weight on academic achievement. Once again showing how to get a top 100 ranking while having a 40% reading and 32% math proficiency for the students. https://www.usnews.com/education/best-high-schools/articles/how-us-news-calculated-the-rankings.

To view the full details of Fountain Hills rankings. https://www.usnews.com/education/best-high-schools/arizona/districts/fountain-hills-unified-district/fountain-hills-high-school-961

A+ School of Excellence

Best High Schools US News National 2022

This award is provided to schools by the Arizona Educational Foundation. Arizona Education Foundation has a nice website (https://www.azedfoundation.org/a-schools) with a large list of board members, all with interesting bios to be sure.

The founder was of course a democrat, synonymous with public education, Carolyn Warner. The AEA (Arizona Education Association) and the AEA Foundation for Teaching and Learning both are $20,000 sponsors of the A+ School of Excellence Foundation. Last year, The Alternative did an article on the bond schemes. When looking at the donor list, we see some of those same names appearing yet again as donors to the AZ Ed Foundation. FOLLOW THE MONEY.

How does a school actually achieve an A+ School of Excellence Award? According to the website, “Schools that ultimately earn the A+ School of Excellence designation consistently share the following traits:

model quality and equity…..actively address students’ social, emotional, physical, and intellectual needs
demonstrate superior ability to go above and beyond the norm in providing services to children, families, and the local community.”

Seems yet again, the awards aren’t given based on ACADEMIC EXCELLENCE as one would think; but, on equity, social emotional needs, and going above the norm in providing “services.” WHAT KIND OF SERVICES? Alternative readers are sure to know where that is leading.

https://www.azedfoundation.org/_files/ugd/d21168_8af380fc01fa4f35b77819de868a76ee.pdf

For the 2023-2024 school year, an A+ School of Excellence does not need to achieve an A or B letter grade from the Arizona Department of Education. As a side note be sure to not confuse the Department of Education letter grades with the A+ School of Excellence ratings. It seems the A+ School of Excellence isn’t really about academics; but, about EQUITY and PROVIDING “SERVICES.” In other words, the AZ ED Foundation is giving school districts an ESG score. In investing, an ESG rating is a comprehensive score made to measure a company's commitment to environmental, social, and governance. Clearly with no regard for return for the shareholders, in this case shareholders being the students.

AP Capstone

Best High Schools US News National 2022

AP Capstone

https://secure-media.collegeboard.org/apc/broadening-access-to-ap.pdf

On the surface, College Board aka AP Capstone, has done a good job of camouflaging their stance on diversity and equity. Until one digs a bit deeper and sifts through the publications on their website, where it becomes a glaring part of their program. One such document, “Broadening Access to Advanced Placement,” proudly displays their Equity and Access Policy Statement, follow this link to read all about their equity policy: https://secure-media.collegeboard.org/apc/broadening-access-to-ap.pdf.

Take a moment or two and scroll through for data worksheets which include non-binary as a gender choice. This is a blatant giveaway.

The AP Annual Conference was just held in Seattle, Washington, this month. One can learn a lot about a company by the speakers they chose to hire, once again a clear indication of their agenda. Review the 2023 presenters and their biographies here: https://eventreg.collegeboard.org/event/966308f0-6ce4-4cf5-a807-bbf142a9c4c5/websitePage:1b39966f-b14e-4c6f-8751-690fa150f5ceIt

It seems the conference was more about social justice and providing equity than it was about academic achievement. Who really is College Board, the company behind AP Capstone? Their leadership all takes turns pledging their allegiance to diversity, equity, and inclusion in their biographies. Take a look for yourself in this link: https://about.collegeboard.org/leadership

AP Capstone is certainly incorporating CRT early in preparation for the ongoing indoctrination in college.

avid

state champions & and the final word

AP Capstone

https://explore.avid.org/initiative/digital-citizenship/The Alternative took a deep dive into AVID in a prior issue in relation to the bond request just one year ago.

https://fountainhillsalternative.com/school-news-1

"WATCH WHAT THEY DO, NOT WHAT THEY SAY WHEN CONSIDERING BOND"

Spend two minutes on the AVID website and it’s plagued with equity and equitable classrooms along with digital citizenship (part of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals).

evit

state champions & and the final word

And finally we arrive at something useful for students who may wish to go straight into the workforce as opposed to college. Practical application as it were.

EVIT is a technical trade school for juniors and seniors. It’s a great opportunity for students. EVIT programs are tuition-free to high school students who live in 11 East Valley Districts: Scottsdale, Fountain Hills, Apache Junction, Tempe, Chandler, Gilbert, Higley, Queen Creek, J.O. Combs, and Mesa.

But then after further research, Scottsdale also had available the EXACT same Signature Programs that were highlighted in the glossy flier. Leaving me to ask the question, what signature programs does FHUSD offer that Scottsdale does not? What's the attraction for Fountain Hills?

state champions & and the final word

AIA State Championships

With almost half of the page dedicated to AIA State Championships with flashy rings, a quick search found FHUSD actually had 25 state championships. That is quite an accomplishment for a district the size of FHUSD; but, isn’t the main purpose of school to provide a quality education. With only 2% of high school students nationwide receiving athletic scholarships, it seems a higher focus should be on academics.

Final Word

The rest of the flier was flashy pictures of items not yet installed, new honors and gifted programs with little explanation of what they contain, and mentions of free “daycare” for students, I wonder how the district is planning to pay for that?

With each new piece of information received, the amount of indoctrination being thrown at the students in Fountain Hills Unified becomes more and more front and center. It is clear, FHUSD needs to focus on a quality education and actual academic excellence versus chasing the transformational education train to keep kids here in the Hills.

rejected $20MM BOND becomes $25MM request 1 year later

Nov Special Election Features A Bond Whopper - Russell Kroger 7/20/2023

The Bond Is Back! Not James Bond, but the Failed School Bond from the 2022 election. This Bond is massive ($5MM more than the previous request) and amortized over a 15 year lifetime with interest, the total the taxpayers of Fountain Hills will be asked to pay is approximately $48 MILLION @ 10% interest up to the maximum 12% costing $54 MILLION. This price tag has been exacerbated by the higher interest rate financial environment of today's times. But to be certain, these numbers are fact.

After being turned down by voters last year in the general election by a 14% margin for $20 million, the School District is spending more than $30,000 to hold a special election this NOVEMBER, a bit over four months from now, requesting even more money, $25 MILLION. But now they have cleverly crafted a STAND ALONE BOND ELECTION, which will be MAIL IN BALLOTS ONLY, where it is more likely that only the most loyal of bond lovers will likely show up, thus the proponents can sneak the election past those who are not paying attention. This was the strategy used in 2014 when voters gave the school $8 million in a bond that taxpayers are still paying for.

As to the cost per property owner in FH per year in taxes, no one can tell yet. Taxes are based on assessed value and those come out in August of each year. So they may rise or fall depending on the assessed value of ones property on a year to year basis. Readers can look to their current tax bills for direction, however. Use these parameters:

Last bond currently being paid on tax bill until 2028 was $8MM. This next bond will be greater than 3 times in size.
2014 was a low interest rate environment. 2023 in a high rate environment.
A $750K valuation yields a tax bill of approx. $175 on 2022 tax bill.

All things being equal, but realizing interest rates on the $25MM bond will be higher than the $8MM bond, the tax bill will be at least $175 x 3 = $525 and probably higher for the same property every year for 15 years. These numbers are rounded and approximate, but close, except for the current interest rate component which could be dramatic.

What if for some reason the school would close or consolidate during the 15 years? Consolidation is actually currently underway and additional consolidation may be necessary given population demographics. As for closing, that too may be dictated by population demographics over the next 15 years. That does not relieve FH property owners, the taxpayers, of the tax responsibility. If the Bond passes, taxpayers will continue to pay every year for the life of that Bond regardless of the size or existence of the school.

So the bottom line is registered FH voters are able to vote on this Bond.

A bond is a tax.
A tax is basically an investment by the taxpayer as to the value of the use of the money.
As with any investment, education is the key to understanding whether there is a return on investment.

Proponents have a history of making an emotional plea and typically resort to name calling of those who see it otherwise. "It's for the kids". "You hate children". As is with any investment, emotion does not generally yield positive results be it stocks, bonds, real estate, etc.

The Bond's November election will be a mail-in ballot only. So, if you are not in FH to receive your mail-in ballot in mid October when they are mailed out, the Ballots will NOT be forwarded to you at another address. UNLESS you have contacted the County and asked that your mail-in ballot for this November's Bond election be mailed to you at another address. Many property owners are out of town in early fall, and so unless you take steps to insure your ballot gets to you, you will not be able to vote. Proponents of the Bond count on the electorate not paying attention thus the off-year special election.

HERE IS HOW TO MAKE CERTAIN YOUR BALLOT REACHES YOU: CALL MARICOPA COUNTY ELECTIONS AT 602-506-1511 AND REQUEST YOUR BALLOT BE SENT TO YOU AT AN ADDRESS WHERE YOU WILL BE IN MID OCTOBER. BOTH YOU AND OTHERS IN YOUR HOUSEHOLD MUST EACH REQUEST THEIR BALLOTS BE MAILED TO AN ALTERNATIVE ADDRESS. AGAIN, IF YOU HAVE A MAIL FORWARDING ON FILE FOR YOUR MAIL, THIS IS NOT SUFFICIENT FOR YOU TO RECEIVE YOUR BALLOTS.

The Alternative will continue its efforts to educate readers in the weeks to come as applicable information becomes available. Continue reading on in this article as well as fellow journalist E. Fang's article for additional pertinent information.

Educated people make educated financial decisions.

The Fountain Hills Population Reality

Nov Special Election Features A Bond Whopper - Russell Kroger 7/20/2023

The reality of FH population numbers is something the school district has no control over but has to be a consideration for taxpayers when making an investment decision of the magnitude of $50 MILLION over 15 years.

The decade of the 90's, when the school district was built and grew, saw a doubling of the FH population. Since the year 2000, the population has only minimally grown, leveled off and actually declined. But it's the makeup of those numbers which present an unhealthy future for the schools.

Based on 2022 census data:

23,785 total population
37.3% of the population 65 and older
31% of the population age 45-65
19% of the population 18-44
12.4% under 18 years
2.9% under 5 years

Translation:

8,872 people 65 and over (not producing children)
7373 people 45-64 (very unlikely producing children)
2949 potential students K-12
690 children under 5 (future students)

68% of the Fountain Hills population beyond child producing years. Only 10% student age and 3% of the age to become a student.

This is further exacerbated by:

median value of owner occupied housing units $450,000 (not particularly affordable especially at today's mortgage rates) as reported in the 2022 census. Current values according real estate industry suggest it may be as high as $615,000.
10,971 total households with at least 40% of the FH population are part time (snowbirds) and thus not student producing families.

There is always a continual outcry from the left for more affordable housing (translation-apartments) in FH but the sad reality is that the more apartments that are constructed, the more the aging population downsizes into them or more part time residents take them up. Apartments as affordable housing in FH to attract families is a fallacy that is proven with each new high density project.

And there you have it, the reality of Fountain Hills and the Fountain Hills Unified School District No. 98.

One last curious fact. There are potentially 2949 students for the district and yet the enrollment ended the 2022-2023 school year at 1254, or 42% of the total possible. Why? Read on for what may be the reason.

Long Term Downtrend Firmly Established

Nov Special Election Features A Bond Whopper - Russell Kroger 7/20/2023

The Last $8MM From Taxpayers Yielded Disappointing Results

Since the year 2010 Fountain Hills Unified School District has been trending down in testing rank among the 610 state school districts. Granted there have been some years where the ranking has gone up, but overall the trend is lower which is troubling and may explain why only 42% of the potential students are sent by parents to FHUSD for their children's education.

The overall level of testing scores in the public school education system has also been going down over the years, so one could say FHUSD is just part of the overall lower trend statewide. But does it have to be that way? The school will tell you it is for lack of money, but the state is continually increasing the amount of the budget each year allocated to education. The teacher unions will tell you it's teacher's pay and certainly FHUSD is not one of the school districts with the highest pay in the state. Perhaps it is the overall allocation of those funds to administrators, counselors and staff, as opposed to pay for teachers. Others will point to the school curriculum. Perhaps that may be a window into why the entire United States has been dumbing down. All of these things are worthy of research and discussion, but this article is focused on this bond as an investment by taxpayers in FHUSD and whether it is a good investment or a bad one. Read on as 2015 seems to be a watershed year with regard to money and FHUSD performance.

The Last $8MM From Taxpayers Yielded Disappointing Results

Math Proficiency Even Worse Following The 2014 $8MM Injection

The Last $8MM From Taxpayers Yielded Disappointing Results

FHUSD Reading & Language Arts Proficiency

Money is one thing, debt and tax burden another, but the real horror of the Fountain Hills Unified School District bond story is this startling fact: the last Bond that was OK'd in 2014 for $8 Million did not have a positive affect. As the chart above shows there was a fall off the cliff, drop in the outcomes of students in

READING & LANGUAGE ARTS PROFICIENCY following the passage of the BOND!

In 2014 FHUSD scores were just below 80% well above the state's 60%. In 2015 FHUSD fell to just above 40%. Reading proficiency of 40% after an $8MM bond! In all fairness the statewide average fell off the cliff as well to just below 40%. Neither has recovered and now both have established a new lower norm. There is no doubt that if one cannot read, one most likely will not succeed. There are other coincidental events of 2015 for consideration that may have also contributed. Click on the chart above for a link to the website supplying this data and many more interesting facts surrounding FHUSD.

Read on to find out if Math proficiency fared any better.

Math Proficiency Even Worse Following The 2014 $8MM Injection

Math is even worse and FHUSD has now joined the state at 32% proficiency.

Click on the chart above for a link to the website supplying this data and many more interesting facts surrounding FHUSD.

Graduation Rates Remain Steady Through It All

Math Proficiency Even Worse Following The 2014 $8MM Injection

For our readers out there that managed to get an education when reading/language arts and math were actually taught, critical thinking skills would suggest a couple of overriding (no pun intended) questions.

With reading proficiencies just above 40% in FHUSD, how does the graduation rate remain so constant at 85-90%?
With math proficiency at 32%, the same question must be asked.

How many FHUSD graduates are heading to college? How do they get in with such poor reading and math skills? What becomes of the students that don't go to college? Are they successful in the work environment or trades? One still needs reading and math no mater what one pursues.

There are many theories surrounding this, but that is an entire article unto itself on the decay of today's education system in general. Keep in mind, everything mentioned in this article goes for the state of Arizona as well.

As for FHUSD and enrollment, all of this data may suggest a reason why even with all the other population characteristics of the Town of Fountain Hills, THE SCHOOL ONLY MANAGES TO ENROLL 42% OF THE POSSIBLE CHILDREN.

Journalist E. Fang has some research which may shed some light on the plight of FHUSD and their future in the next article.

Click on the chart above for a link to the website supplying this data and many more interesting facts surrounding FHUSD.

enrollment questions answered. reported by E.fang 7/20/2023

Global Wokeness Headed To FHUSD Via ASU Next Education Workforce Model

In one of the Alternative's rare moments, we give thanks to the “Fountain Hills Times” for George Zeliff’s article "More class time and opportunities built into new schedule", on July 12, 2023, where George introduces the town to the "ASU Next Education Workforce Model." Granted, George did not spend much, if any, time telling the readers what this new model actually entails. In light of a large donor recently taking his donations and leaving ASU due to the censorship of free speech, my interest was piqued and I decided to explore what is this "Next Education Workforce Model" all about. The Alternative strives to achieve some depth as opposed to brushing the surface and moving on. The FHUSD YouTube recording of the board meeting referenced spoke very little about the model. I also reviewed the school newsletter that was posted by Board President Jill Reed on numerous Facebook pages. Under the newsletter section, "ASU Next Generation Workforce Team Teaching Model", the last sentence stated, “Below is a brief description of what each one of these experiences will look like for our students.” I tried to find the brief descriptions below; but, they were nowhere to be found. It would have been informative to know what the district has to say for themselves about this "ASU Next Generation Workforce Team Teaching Model". No worries though, that information is hiding in plain sight for those who wish to look.

Background

This model is part of the Mary Lou Fulton Teachers College whose dean is Carole Basile. Dean Basile was on the steering committee of the “Education Commission.” The Education Commission is also known as the International Commission on Financing Global Education Opportunity. One of this commission’s main initiatives is dedicated to attaining the United Nations Sustainable Development Goal #4. Also, on this “Education Commission” is Lucy Lake – Camfed (an organization that promotes social justice) and Gordon Brown – UN Special Envoy for Global Education. Ms. Lake is quoted, “We invest in their activism…” Mr. Brown is on record stating, “We don’t just have a climate emergency, we have an education emergency.”

ASU https://workforce.education.asu.edu/

The homepage of the Next Education Workforce banner states, “Redesigning education for learners and educators…to deliver meaningful and equitable learning outcomes, we need to redesign the profession, the workplace, and how we prepare people for both.” The stated challenges focus on teachers switching careers and quality learning outcomes, both challenges, I think everyone can rally behind; but, NOT with the guidelines from ASU’s Next Education Workforce model.

School Spotlights https://azreportcards.azed.gov/

Let’s take a look at the schools the program spotlights. Kyrene de las Manitas Innovation Academy, Stevenson Elementary, Westwood High School, Spark Institute, Sousa Elementary, Creighton Academy, Whittier Elementary, and Smith Junior High School. Most of these schools are found in Arizona’s largest school district Mesa Public Schools and they are ALL in Maricopa County. Heading on over to Arizona School Report Cards (azreportcards.azed.gov) and pulling each school’s report card since the 2019-2020 school year as most of the schools implemented the Workforce Model in the fall of 2020 yielded interesting results:

6/7 of the above-mentioned participant schools had their school letter grade drop
5/8 of the above-mentioned participant schools had a drop in their experienced teacher retention
6/7 of the above-mentioned participant schools had a decrease in enrollment

*The Creighton School was closed in the 2019-2020 school year so there was no letter grade and enrollment comparison to be made.

Impact on FHUSD Middle School

Fountain Hills Middle School was able to retain the same letter grade in 2021-2022 of a B that it had in 2019-2020. It doesn't seem as if ASU Next Education Workforce is meeting the mark in increasing a school’s letter grade. Fountain Hills Middle School is also having difficulties retaining experienced teachers, as the Middle school dropped 8% in teacher experience in just three years. It’s not looking like the ASU Next Education Workforce is going to help in that category either based on the results above. Finally, let’s look at enrollment here in Fountain Hills. In 2019-2020 FHUSD Middle School had 508 students, in the 2021-2022 school year, the middle school reported 422 students. It seems again, based on the school spotlight information, ASU Next Education Workforce won’t be helping in the enrollment category either. So, what exactly WILL ASU Next Education Workforce be doing?

Elements of Next Education Workforce

Taken directly from their website, the program is, “grounded in values of justice, equity, diversity, and inclusion…. provide services that address the needs of the whole child…. tailor learning to each student’s social identity….” Scrolling thru page after page of “resources,” I am seeing very little to do with academics, but a lot to do with activism.

For educators, they are creating new ways to enter the profession, “leading to a more diverse and equitable education workforce.” In addition, the Next Education Workforce is creating new ways for educators to specialize, “provide more equity in who accesses and benefits from professional learning.” One of the Next Education Workforce resources speaks on, “reflecting on and sharing the personal connections you make between race, class and education,” in order to build empathy and trust.

Takeaway

It seems Fountain Hills Unified School District needs to get serious about test scores, academic achievement, and student retention. FHUSD shouldn’t be requesting any assistance from Dean Basile and her Next Education Workforce, as it appears they actually HARM districts who follow their principles. Perhaps this helps to explain why Russell Kroger found that only 42% of the possible FH student population is actually enrolled in FHUSD. As is the Alternative policy, the links are always provided and encouraged for additional education and fact checking of information.

tOWN OF fOUNTAIN hILLS dUES PAYING MEMBER OF mAG

Reported by Marshall Tucker 6/30/2023

Stepping a little out of the direct news of the town but still staying in the realm of investigative journalism the Alternative is accustomed to delivering, we looked into where some of the towns money is going. Large sums or small sums, all sums add up and of course it is your money. This was an interesting small sum of money, MAG dues and contributions which total between $10K-20K per year. One of the "benefits" of being a member of MAG is that FH citizens are treated to regular updates on homelessness in the county from MAG experts. One of the benefits the FH citizens don't get is anyone coming to FH to pick up our homeless folks and taking them somewhere for rehabilitation and shelter. FH has received money from MAG to add a lane to Shea Blvd. from Technology to FH Blvd. Not sure there has ever been a traffic jam reported there but FH did receive money for that and the town has been promised MAG money for the repaving of Palisades over the next 20 years. Remember though, while it sounds free, in reality, it is some taxpayer's dollars, even some of yours. So it's not free, as nothing really is.

Now that the benefits portion of FH involvement in MAG has been established, on to the meat of our story. " The Maricopa Association of Governments (MAG) hosted a race-based training discussing the evils of whiteness, and how only white-skinned people can be racist." EVILS OF WHITENESS, ONLY WHITE-SKINNED PEOPLE CAN BE RACIST. The training was done by a company named "Racial Equity Partners" with its presenters being Donald Whitehead, Jr. (co-founder) and Mayté Antelo-Ovando . In case readers haven't guessed it, they are people of color and of course victims of the evil white man even though from their biographies they seem to be quite successful.

This group, and these presenters would provide the Alternative an opportunity to go on for thousands of words, tens of thousands as the nonsense goes on and on. So we're going to pull out just a few gems and provide the links for further reading.

Whitehead cited a claim from “Between the World and Me” by Ta-Nehisi Coates that the idea of race comes from racism. Whitehead then claimed that race was created as “an excuse” to colonize, pillage, and enslave, namely by Christians.
Antelo-Ovando then discussed whiteness, which she introduced as part of her point that racism defines current society. Antelo-Ovando then defined “white supremacy” and “white privilege” as reigning factors of present society. “We are living and breathing in a racist society,” said Antelo-Ovando.
Whitehead insinuated that racial-based grievances were more pressing than other problems people experience.
Whitehead and Antelo-Ovando further claimed that success arising from hard work was “gaslighting.”

The real reason for this report, is do FH residents really want to send our towns money to pay for such drivel? Remember when Grady Miller, probably at the direction of Mayor Dickey, approved a $10K contract with Social Prosperity Partners to "facilitate" the FH Council retreat just this past February? The current council majority found out about it and it was cancelled but of course the contract had a no cancel clause in it and the $10K was gone, wasted. The social justice, equity, and basically the "RACE/VICTIM" industry is thriving in America. Big business, but it's really not new. The Reverends Sharpton and Jackson have been at it for decades but now others are catching on and who might the main customers be? Of course, government and other taxpayer funded organizations, woke corporate boardrooms and the like. It's a hustle, shakedown as it were. It would appear that to sum up the message in a few words, success does not arise from hard work, and those that did work hard to achieve success, owe it to those who don't.

This messaging is a plague in America as has been said, but bringing this all back to local, according to the 2022 census, 92.6% of the population of Fountain Hills is white. This reporter is certain that they and the other 7.4% are hard working (or retired formally hard working), successful residents.....and not racist. That being said, the residents and taxpayers of FH continue to send money to MAG, an organization who hires people to lecture and train them on how we, in Fountain Hills, are all racist. That would appear to be completely insane but we here at the Alternative are standing by to now be called racist by the true "gaslighters" out there for pointing this out.

If you want to read more on this subject follow the links but beware, the more you read, the angrier you may get.

Maricopa Association Of Governments Race Training: Only Whites Can Be Racist - AZ FREE NEWS
Racial Equity Partners - who they are and what they do
Donald Whitehead, Jr. — Racial Equity Partners - bio of presenters
https://racialequitypartners.com/mayte - bio of presenters

FBI And arizona investigate Ahccs fraud & human trafficking

FH Residents Saw This Coming-Long Ago. Mayor Clueless Reported by Marshall Tucker 6/4/2023

Unless you were paying attention to the local, state, and yes the national news, FH residents would never know of this crazy detox development as the story was completely ignored by the FH local paper. Crickets. Probably because this story sheds a true light on the inept mayor and her Democrat compatriots. Even the left wing rag, AZ Republic, had to report it.

The town narrowly escaped total disgrace as the FBI and the State of AZ, in an ongoing investigation have uncovered hundreds of millions of dollars in ACCHS fraud and human trafficking of Native Americans in this industry. Multiple parties of the hundreds caught up in the investigation were all set to open up shop here in FH, smack dab between two Native American communities.

The Back Story:

Dragging their feet for years trying to prevent ordinances protecting the residents of FH from the detox industry, was a short list of the malcontents opposing the citizenry.

Mayor Dickey
Councilman Scharnow
Councilwoman McMahon
Councilman Magazine
Councilwoman Grzybowski

Just as FH finally passed it's commercial detox ordinance on 2/21/2023, directed by patriots Friedel, newly elected Kalivianakis, Toth and Skillicorn, restricting the industry to locations least likely to impact residents, something strange occurred. This came against the wishes of the Mayor and her followers along with the town attorney. Resident watchdogs, became aware through a tip that Angel Heart Health Services, LLC https://npino.com/behavioral-health/1326653312-angel-heart-health-services-llc/ had purchased 16927 E. Saguaro (behind Denny's) for $2MM fully intending to open an outpatient treatment center disguised as behavioral health counselling as the remodeling had already begun. The sale of the property zoned C-O, commercial office, the lightest commercial zoning in FH was not eligible for behavioral health uses. The transaction had actually closed on 11/1/22.

A group of residents dedicated to preserving the character of FH began to investigate immediately. Over time they have become perhaps the preeminent investigators of the detox industry in the state, certainly a thorn in the side of Dickey, McMahon and company that want this industry in FH, and turned up a massive amount of information in a short period of time, including, among other things, Angel Heart's open 7 state citations along with all the proof the town needed to deny the issuance of a business license to operate this business at that location. The Alternative received a copy and was told this information was turned over to the Town Services Director, John Wesley, and within a week, miraculously, Angel Heart corrected all 7 citations. Curious that this would happen, and an indication that FH intended to issue a license in violation of their own ordinances?

All this was occurring during March of 2023 in the closing days of Town Manager Grady Miller, who also had presided over the years of foot dragging on this issue. Did he direct John Wesley to issue the license at the request of the Mayor? We'll probably never know as he "retired" officially 3/31/23 giving way to the new town manager, Rachael Goodwin. After a pathetic display at Call to the Public during the April 4th council meeting by the realtor who sold the property to Angel Heart, in which he drug 5 "adopted" children in front of everyone to make an impassioned plea for the business license. It was eventually denied, as it should have been instantaneously and without fanfare or an uprising by residents.

So what is so strange about this? One is an isolated instance. Two is a trend. On 3/9/23 Parcel No. 1, Lot1, of Redrock Business Center and Parcel No. 2, Lot 5, of Redrock Business Center Three, 17100 E. Shea Blvd. was purchased by Imani Wellness LLC. Imani Mental Health Services – We care (imanimhservices.com) from Arizona Holdings VIII, LLC. Maricopa County Assessors office lists the sale date of the properties as 1/1/2023 for $2.2MM but the Maricopa County Recorder has paperwork signed by Barjinda Whala, a principal of the seller with a 3/9/2023 date. This information came to the same citizen watchdog group as a tip. This center is zoned C-1 and not available to behavioral health uses so the group reported the land purchase to the town staff and that's really where the story gets interesting. Continued......

The Bust and fountain hills. reported by Marshall tucker 6/4/2023

FH Residents Saw This Coming-Long Ago. Mayor Clueless Reported by Marshall Tucker 6/4/2023

The story broke on 5/16/2023 but it is unknown how long ago the investigation began and how long the ongoing investigation will continue. Two of the businesses currently with the state payments suspended fully intended to operate here in FH. In all fairness, some of the hundreds on the list are TERMINATED, while these two are SUSPENDED. The Alternative will continue to monitor this situation.

Our readers can google Arizona AHCCS fraud and it will come up everywhere. Here is a link to local Fox 10 which is an excellent, in depth report. https://www.fox10phoenix.com/news/arizona-cracks-down-on-medicaid-sober-living-home-fraud-targeting-native-americans-this-is-tragic

Two of the players are part of the list:

Angel Heart as mentioned and Imani Wellness both purchased multiple buildings in the front part of FH . Angel Heart, owned by Johnny and Latasha Hangston, for their part was only only targeted as a business, Imani Wellness, LLC and Imani Mental Health Services owned by Joanne and Zac Rop were targeted as businesses and individuals.

The short version of the story is companies and individuals from the detox industry were scamming the Arizona taxpayers out of hundreds of millions of dollars, and upwards, collecting payments from ACCHS claiming to help addicted Native Americans when actually supporting their habits and in some cases KILLING them. Further, they were actually collecting Native Americans from their communities which makes this a scheme of human trafficking and healthcare fraud.

"I believe the state of Arizona owes our tribal nations an apology," says AG Kris Mayes. "I don’t think it is too much to say that this is one of the biggest scandals in the history of the state of Arizona when it comes to our government. Our office estimates that is in the hundreds of millions of dollars, it could go higher."

Now the Alternative has not uncovered any definitive information as of this report, but this reporter didn't fall off the proverbial turnip wagon yesterday. 17100 E. Shea Blvd and 16927 E. Saguaro Blvd with easy access to SR87, smack dab between two different tribal nations sounds a bit like LOCATION, LOCATION, LOCATION.

Wrapping up the "bringing disgrace to Fountain Hills" aspect, does anyone remember the AZ Republic story back in August of 2022 about the PAC, Reclaim Our Town (ROT) bringing disgrace to the FH elections while overturning the Democrat majority on the town council? How about the woman, Dianne Price, who read parts of the absurd article in a call to public? And who got the Republic to even notice FH enough to write the article? Let's talk about the disgrace this story could have been without a new majority protecting residents from the detox industry. Perhaps those supporting Reclaim Our Town are not the disgraceful ones but are saving the town from being disgraced by those criticizing them. Let the readers think about that as a Democrat governor and attorney general admit to this dark day in Arizona history and the fact that Fountain Hills could have had these facilities operating right here, smack dab in the middle of 2 Native Nations.

This story is ongoing and the Alternative will be following it closely especially since the other publication won't.

Read on for a brief history of the DETOX ASSAULT on FH, who supports residents, and who doesn't in town government.

FH Residents Saw This Coming-Reported by Marshall Tucker 6/4/2023

FH Residents Saw This Coming-Long Ago. Mayor Clueless Reported by Marshall Tucker 6/4/2023

P&Z Recommends Strong Residential Ordinance, Previous Council Guts Important Provisions

In November of 2020 something strange began to happen in the beautiful and peaceful Town of Fountain Hills. Investors began buying up large houses and renting them to addiction recovery businesses. Read about it under the "More" tab, archives drop down .

This was a story that this publication followed at its inception. Nothing neighborly about it, no regard for the neighborhood, pure greed under the guise of helping those of misfortune. The realtors began sucking in out of state buyers (LLC's) at inflated prices while lining their pockets with bloated commissions. The detox businesses convening investor gatherings promising inflated rents because they could afford anything when charging upwards of $20K/month/patient and putting 10-20 people in a house. Of course these were called "sober homes" so they could hide behind the "Obama Care" ADA classification of addicted people as a protected class, "disabled". In reality they were OTC's, outpatient treatment centers as the residents were all being giving drugs to wean them off of whatever they were addicted to. It was all great except if you had one in your neighborhood and your property value, safety, and peace of mind all went down as is the case.

P&Z Recommends Strong Residential Ordinance, Previous Council Guts Important Provisions

The Commercial Ordinance, 2 Years Later - Friedel, and the revenge of intellect. Feb 21, 2023

P&Z Recommends Strong Residential Ordinance, Previous Council Guts Important Provisions

After 15 months of trying to leave FH residents completely unprotected from, and at the mercy of this vial industry, the council succumbed to overwhelming pressure from not only residents near these places, but almost everyone, knowing they could too be victimized. And remember also, this is just the residential portion of the industry. Work still needed to be done to minimize the effects of the worst part, inpatient and outpatient commercial facilities, the feeder system for the houses. Let's look back at what your representatives had to say and what they ultimately did.

Councilman Spelich, the protector. Having spent his whole life in law enforcement, "to serve and protect", of course was in favor of the ordinance as written by P&Z but had to vote "Y ES " for the stripped down version just to get something. He was marginalized by the circus his entire term.

Councilman Friedel, the thoughtful. Always analytical, certainly logical stood with Spelich but in the end, as a fellow marginalized member, voted "YES " for the stripped down version just to get something. Remember that when voting for Mayor next year as he has announced his candidacy.

The Mayor, ever the politician. She drug her feet in trying to do nothing until, you guessed it, an election cycle rolled around and she knew she had to give the residents something in order to be reelected. So she voted "YES " for the ordinance, but for removing all the enforcement provisions.

Councilwoman McMahon, the virtue signaler. Voted "YES " reluctantly after a long diatribe of the town needs these services that help our residents and these are just poor unfortunate people who need our help. One problem, no one in these facilities is from FH and why would they seek treatment in the same location as caused their problem?

Councilwoman Grzybowski, the dumb. A businesswoman herself, proclaiming that this business didn't need any business insurance and that the town could not force them to have it and no one could inspect the facilities to ensure compliance. Brilliant. And thus the ordinance was gutted but got her "YES " vote.

Councilman Magazine, the deaf. A three-time ethics violator voted "YES " to go along with the trio, but was caught on an open mic saying, "I can't sit by and listen to these people anymore." Let's just leave it at that.

Councilman Scharnow, the grifter. What better way to wrap up this important vote than with a "NO" vote from this man. He took a perfectly honorable endeavor of running the youth drug coalition, a prevention activity, and conflated it with neighborhood facilities for rehabilitation of addicts. Absurd. He fought any measure at all and advocated that having 10 addicts in a single residence would receive the same care as 5. Even though he is no longer on the council, you can still read his out of touch opinions in print from time to time.

At the center of this misguided process was the advice from the town attorney, who, through the entire process, proclaimed that the town could do nothing and would be sued. He even brought in an "expert" from his law firm to tell us everything we could not do. Of course, neither bothered to research all the circuit court rulings as some diligent residents had done, as well as P&Z. As a side note, he remains as town attorney to this day.

The Commercial Ordinance, 2 Years Later - Friedel, and the revenge of intellect. Feb 21, 2023

Once again, collectively, the most intelligent organization in the Town of Fountain Hills, Planning & Zoning, writes a comprehensive commercial zoning ordinance confining the detox industry to the least offensive, most protective of residents, area of town. Some say it took them that long because of its comprehensive nature, some say they bided their time in anticipation of some measure of intelligence to return to the Town Council via the seating of a new majority.

Of course those on the left choose to blame the evil ROT group, sowing divisiveness within the community, by helping to change the makeup of the council. Facts show that voters made this decision while the left wails on as usual with discord. Friedel rising from the ashes of the marginalized, adding new friends with a sense of intelligence, a lot of ears listening to the residents, and definitely not a left wing agenda for FH, went to work.

The three newly marginalized tried to strip the ordinance of all the important provisions. It was obvious they had been coached by the town attorney. All the usual fear of repercussions injected into the discussion. We even heard from the attorney for the detox company operating in town with some obligatory threats.

But in the end, the vote, 5 for the P&Z version, 2 against. Guess who? Councilwoman "we need these services in town", McMahon, and Mayor, " I' d also like to point out that while I know that it seems like it' s been going on a long time, this is the first time this council or any council has seen this item", Dickey. Where have you been for the last 2 years? We surmise perhaps cutting ribbons, but definitely not listening to residents.

But wait, where did that 5th vote for come from? Who took over Grzybowski' s brain? She was the front person for the gutting but voted with the majority. The residents would like to thank whoever was responsible for the successful brain transplant and hope the organ is not rejected by the patient in the future.

Not a moment too soon to save the town from total disgrace at the hands of the left.

Republican of the year visits democrat club meeting

Reported by Larry Meyers 4/22/2023

First, thank you to the Alternative for allowing me to report. There is no way this can be expressed in 300 words and contrary to the other publication’s assertion that material found here is misleading, I assure you, this report is not. That is why I took a witness with me to the meeting to confirm accuracy. We do lend our own certain perspective, everyone does.

As the “Republican of the Year”, a title I neither sought nor tout, I had the opportunity to visit the Fountain Hills Democratic Club meeting and the Republican Club last week within two days of each other. So, I thought, this is the perfect time to comment on my observations, especially since the Dems chose to proclaim my attendance as some sort of monumental achievement in a post that is here for your reading pleasure. I’m not on social media so I rely on screenshots sent to me by those who are, and perhaps it’s not the entire message, but enough to get the drift. I’ll admit in this post they presumed correctly that we “were there to learn about the complex issue of homelessness.” And that’s where it ends.

The ladies at the door were friendly enough and greeted my friend and me with smiles and the usual recruitment effort but once inside the Democrat Club meeting room, it seemed mostly filled with people full of rage and anger, unhappy people. I’ll get back to that in just a bit. We thought the presenter on the homeless was going to be an employee from the organization and I did have a few questions that I was prepared to ask, but I was quick to learn that they were just an intern, not that there is anything wrong with that. I did not think they would have answers at my level. The more the presentation progressed it became apparent that it was basically a sales pitch for donations to support the New Leaf and some warm and fuzzy success stories which the bobbleheads in the room really enjoyed. That’s OK too.

The presenter herself left much to be desired, a vapid skull full of mush filled by our very own FH education system. In the introduction we learned, as a graduate of Fountain Hills High School, she was responsible for inviting the Phoenix BLM (Black Lives Matter) to the town for a march in January of 2021. BLM, a known criminal organization responsible for death and destruction within communities during the riots, and embezzlement of millions of dollars of donations to purchase real estate for their leaders. This organization is actually responsible for racial division in our society, not unity. “Myself and Alicia in particular are trained organizers. We are trained Marxists.”-Patrisse Cullors, 2015, speaking of herself and fellow BLM leader, Alicia Garza. The organization more or less extorts huge sums of money from corporations seeking “woke approval” including but not limited to the now mismanaged and defunct Silicon Valley Bank ($74MM), which we taxpayers bailed out. Further, she went on to achieve a degree in social something or other from our esteemed state university, ASU. In my opinion a worthless and non-productive degree ultimately ending in a career on the taxpayer dole, government work, or maybe in a corporation’s diversity department, producing nothing nor providing any service actually advancing society or in demand by consumers. Topping it all off, I found out later she is one of the chairs of our Leadership Academy here in FH. This is who we chose as a leader? And then I remembered who was leading the country and that solved that puzzle.

So, with that as the backdrop, I kept my question in my pocket, which was, what is New Leaf’s primary function? Of course, never ask a question you don’t already know the answer to is a legal credo and I am sure no one in the room did any background research. Here is your answer. Licensing Facilities and Providers (azdhs.gov) State licensing of New Leaf, Inc. shows that 5 of the 9 facilities are outpatient treatment centers, with 3 more child behavioral health facilities. I don’t find any of this troubling but wouldn’t that be an important part of any presentation about this organization and lead to a more in-depth discussions of why society is so addicted. Could it be from all the drugs pouring across our open southern border? And who might be responsible for that? And how big a problem is this in FH?

I had another question, or narrative as it may be, that I thought would possibly stir a debate. If you are a FH resident and something bad happens to you or your family, medical bills, job loss, something financially catastrophic, would you go from resident of FH straight to homeless in FH? I doubt it, smart people downsize their lives until they get things turned around. Maybe they move to a more affordable town, Mesa, Gilbert, somewhere less expensive until they get things going again. That’s what is known as a hand up. This prompts a couple more questions, where are these homeless people coming from that are in FH? How did they get here and why? Are they looking for a job to get back on their feet? We don’t really have a lot of job opportunities here compared to other places in the valley with larger populations. All this begs the question are they looking for a hand out rather than a hand up?

I’m not sure as the meeting never got there. Absolutely no rational discussion ensued. Instead, anger and rage. The second speaker of the night was to be Captain Kratzer of MCSO to give a report on the homeless situation in FH dovetailing with the New Leaf presentation (homeless shelters). As in we need a homeless shelter in FH? But alas a council person requested that Kratzer refrain from presenting reports to any political organizations where the information could be twisted to fit a narrative, left or right. And so, the rage began. Stirred up by defeated council candidate Couture, speaker after speaker grabbed the mic and railed on the council bullies, of course ROT (Reclaim Our Town), and in general, anyone who disagrees with their narrative. “I saw a few from the ROT PAC in the back table near entrance…I think between 3-5.” – Rory Wilson. That would be me sitting with some Dems. Math is not a strong requirement in the pursuit of a social something or other degree from ASU. At one point one woman demanded names and pictures of the council people responsible so they could confront and attack them in the supermarkets. Can you say Maxine Waters when she urged Democrats to target Trump supporters in “stores and gas stations?” To his credit, the MC and I believe the president of the club curtailed the lunacy after this as the night was getting long in the tooth and really nothing had been accomplished save the virtue signaling and name calling. We’re all good people and they are not (Republicans)! Then I wondered why, when looking around the room at all these good and virtuous people and thought, there’s probably enough people in this room to each take in one homeless person in FH in their back bedroom and all of them would be off the street and there would be homes to spare.

I left with my friend, both of us realizing the narrative was probably to build a homeless shelter in FH. “If you build it, he (they) will come” – Field of Dreams, 1989. Just as the detox issue before, if you don’t have a problem, import it and ruin the great town that we have. Import addicts, homeless, crime and we’ll be…..well, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Portland, Seattle, Chicago, NYC, Philadelphia, Baltimore. Need I go on? All once great cities turned blue and ruined.

On to the Republican Club meeting. People were laughing, joking, generally happy. Not happy with the state of our once great country, but looking for solutions to turn things around. This, generally is how every Republican Club meeting goes. This one Sheriff Mark Lamb of Pinal County, running for Senate in 2024 spoke about the moral decay which is leading to the societal issues that we face. Much of the same ones that were not spoken about at the Democrat meeting. border, drugs, education, nuclear family, crime, inflation. But why would they? All this has increased under Democrat control. And through all this, no audience member grabbed the mic and demanded names and pictures to attack anyone in the supermarket here in town. All in all, much less entertaining than watching the divisive rage at the other meeting.

Now, if it goes as it usually does, after reading this, I'll be viciously attacked for reporting what I saw and heard. I don't know most of the Democrat club members, but I'll enjoy learning when someone sends me a screenshot of their social media post .

the Fountain Hills Democratic Club wails on....and on

Reported by Louise Sawyer

The Alternative welcomes a new contributor, Louise Sawyer. A lot of fact with a witty splash of commentary. Louise will remain front page news before moving to the commentary tab under additional content.

The most recent meeting of the Fountain Hills Democratic Club focused on education. It was a doozy. In attendance were lunatics from the Save Our Schools “nonpartisan” group as well as Fountain Hills’ newest school board member, Lillian Acker.

Here’s a recap of the highlights:

As you can imagine, the Liberals are still bemoaning the fact that the Fountain Hills voters had the audacity to question the actions and spending habits of the last school board and school administrators and decided to reject the newest bond and override boondoggle. They’re still apoplectic about it and never stop with their shame game. “We’re failing our kids!!” they wail. Of course, now every school budget discussion starts and ends with this familiar phrase: “We can’t afford (insert item here) because the mean and selfish Fountain Hills residents voted against the bond and override.” Never mind that Fountain Hills Unified School District has a budget of $15M for 1200 students. During their bash-fest meeting, In addition to disparaging voters, they also bashed any parent who had the audacity to support school choice. Because how could anyone not adore public school education? Especially when we saw how parents were demonized during COVID for daring to question masks, question curriculum, and question classroom materials while their children were stuck during lockdowns? If COVID had one positive benefit it was that parents woke up to how their children were being indoctrinated by public schools. Democratic Club members have awfully short memories.

Then Democratic Lunatic and school board member, Lillian Acker, bashed anyone who opposed public education and even joined in the bashing of the new Scottsdale School Board where several fed-up parents campaigned and won school board seats during the last election. Of course, everyone in the room, including Ms. Acker, is a huge fan of Scottsdale School Board Superintendent, Scott Menzel, who made some outrageous and divisive comments about white students. Totally fine, right? Obnoxiously woke Menzel is the poster child for who the Liberals want running your schools and indoctrinating your children. And they wonder why the bond and override failed? And they wonder why parents don’t trust public schools and seek out other educational options for their children? Look in the mirror, Liberals. There’s your answer.

Bonus info: Fountain Hills Superintendent Dr. J. has apparently found the remaining monies needed for the football field replacement. While the fundraisers (ahem, thanks to the generosity of those mean and hateful Fountain Hills voters) raised about half the money needed, Dr. J. was able to find approximately $200K. We think. But we at The Alternative would love to know from where he found this money stash in the (supposedly) already stretched budget. Wouldn’t you? Hopefully with his new push for transparency and “high expectations,” we’ll find that out one day soon. At least before they push for another bond/override.

New council majority marches forward, minority upset

Ord. 23-01 Commercial Detox Facilities Reported by Marshall Tu

After over two years of discussion on the issue, Council passed the ordinance outlining the parameters in which a commercial detox facility could be located in FH to serve members of the this community. Councilwoman Grzybowski joined Friedel and the 3 new members, Kalivianakis, Toth, and Skillicorn voting yes to adopt P&Z's ordinance as written with the exception of the insurance provision. Passed 5-2 with McMahon dissenting after a long and rambling diatribe on the virtues of having no regulation of the town's land use and the Mayor claiming no knowledge on the subject after years of debate. All three Democrats wanted more time to talk it to death while the Republican majority had heard enough after years of talking and trusted the town's Planning and Zoning commissioners and town staff to have done their homework and produced a well thought out ordinance.

Council heard from the numerous citizens who have been researching and following this issue since February of 2021 as well as the attorney for Fountain Hills Recovery, a business already operating as a Partial Hospitalization Program (PHP) within commercial zoning in town along with housing addicts receiving treatment in residential houses. The attorney stated the usual accusations of ADA discrimination violations (which do not govern commercial businesses) along with discriminatory language exhibited by town residents against addicts, "a protected class". This tired argument was heard during the debate over the governance of community residential where FH Recovery houses the addicts. This is all to set up legal action against the town. The Alternative is unsure as to the reasoning behind this as FH Recovery already operates here in town as stated.

Termination of Roundabout Project, Saguaro & Avenue Reported by Marshall Tucker

Ord. 23-01 Commercial Detox Facilities Reported by Marshall Tu

The roundabout and concreting over of the grass hill in the park directly across Saguaro at the Avenue was finally, and mercifully laid to rest. A favorite and ultimately wasteful use of limited town funds was a pet project of Mayor Dickey. She fought tooth and nail to keep the termination from reaching the agenda fearing it would be killed, and on 2/21/23 it was put out of its misery by the new council majority.

The debate from Dickey, Grzybowski and McMahon on this one was complete alternate universe, theater of the absurd material. Arguments for this waste:

Disabled people needed it to get to the pathway around the fountain more easily and that access to the park for handicapped folks is limited. Of course there is plenty of access on 3 sides of the park. Everyone knows that putting a roundabout on a truck route, Saguaro, makes it much easier for the disabled to cross Saguaro than actually have the traffic stop as it does now. NOT!
We need concrete seats on the hill to sit and watch events even though for more than 50 years residents have been putting down blankets and folding chairs to watch the fireworks and music. Also, when was the last time anyone witnessed someone sitting in the amphitheater for anything. That's another must have blob of concrete placed into the park.

Something both left and right agree on is streets repair so why would the town waste money on a design and millions ultimately to build these absurdities while we are short on funds for town streets? By- by roundabout 4-3 with Dickey, Grzybowski, and McMahon supporting the boondoggle and Friedel along with the new trio giving it the boot.

Resolution 2023-05 Reported by Marshall Tucker

Ord. 23-01 Commercial Detox Facilities Reported by Marshall Tu

Adoption of the Fountain Hills Environmental Plan 2022 Reported by Marshall Tucker

This resolution Amending the Council Rules of Procedure, Section 4.2, Agenda Preparation Article B 2. was necessary because the current mayor has been stonewalling the wishes of the current council members in getting the things they wanted onto agendas in a timely fashion. A loophole existed in the current system. If three council persons request the mayor and town manager to place something on the agenda they are required to do just that, place it on the agenda. It just does not say when the mayor has to do it. Now it does as the modification states the "next available" agenda.

Why did it need to be changed in writing? This mayor, Dickey, would not place items wanted by at least 3 of the 4 in majority on the agenda using the excuse of just being too busy. In reality it turned out to be only items she and her left minority oppose.

This change came about with the efforts of councilwoman Toth for seeing the loophole. Councilwoman McMahon took nearly 4 minutes to tell us how busy the council and staff is and how little time is available to deal with town matters. The clear example of mayoral abuse of the loophole was agenda item #1 of the evening, commercial detox. That cleared P&Z on January 9th. It then languished as several council members along with residents kept requesting it to be on the agenda. The mayor claimed that it needed to be discussed at the council retreat 2/28 even though it has been in the public eye for years. That would have delayed the issue to the end of March.

The vote once again was 4-3 with the mayor and her 2 cohorts, McMahon and Grzybowski voting no in an attempt to keep staff and the mayor's delaying power in tact. It's a simple change that keeps abuse of power out of town government. Why oppose it? Residents know the answer.

Adoption of the Fountain Hills Environmental Plan 2022 Reported by Marshall Tucker

For the most part, and on the surface, the plan seemed reasonable enough. But as with everything the left promotes, the devil is in the details. Remember when Nancy Pelosi famously said "we have to pass it to know what's in it", when speaking of Obamacare? The American healthcare system has never been more expensive with declining quality since that went into effect. So with that in mind the Alternative encourages the readers to see the environmental plan for themselves.

ENVIRONMENTAL PLAN 2022 (destinyhosted.com)

Buried in the document is essentially the left's "Green New Deal".

Phasing out the internal combustion engine in FH. Cars, lawn equipment, etc. Batteries, batteries, everywhere.
Eliminating cars eventually and moving FH residents to bikes, busses, and walking.

And so much more. As this reporter reads it, FH town government will dictate how to travel, how much to travel, how to cool and heat your home, how to care for your yard, all with no regard as to how much it will cost the average resident. That may be a simplistic summation but residents should be very wary of all forms of government control. The entire meeting can be seen at (59) February 21, 2023 Town Council Meeting - YouTube with the environmental debate from 3:10:50 to 3:42:05.

Councilwoman Kalivianakis recognized how much of the leftist agenda was in the FH Environmental Plan and managed a few good amendments to take some of the dictates out of it and leave it more as a vision rather than a mandate but one can tell what the intent was when the mayor is quoted as saying it really doesn't mean much, and it's really part of the general plan except for the biophilic stuff and was voted on by the public (who actually read it in depth when they voted?). This is how the agenda creeps in when one isn't watching. Other evidence of what was really intended is shown by the voracity with which Dickey, McMahon, and Grzybowski fought to keep Kaliviankis' amendments out.

One final point. This is Mayor Dickey's second pass at banning gas powered leaf blowers in town to save the environment . She gave this a whirl back as a councilwoman 2006-2014. The Alternative is not sure how the over 500 acres of parks and medians in town would be cleaned up by the contracted landscaping crews without them. It would take a whole lot of batteries.

After a debate intended to nullify the amendments, the Environmental Plan passed with the amendments taking a little sting out of the FH Green New Deal, 4-3. Guess who the dissenting votes were? Right again, Dickey, McMahon, and Grzybowski.

A word from Pauly Walnuts

Adoption of the Fountain Hills Environmental Plan 2022 Reported by Marshall Tucker

A word from Pauly Walnuts

Once again the other town publication fell off the cliff, as usual. Two things of note. One, Alan Magazine talks in a letter to the editor about how could this council get rid of Grady Miller? Hold on a second, front page, above the fold headline, "Town Manager Grady Miller Plans to retire". Does Magazine know something the rest of us don't know? Retirement is.....well, retirement. Termination would take place in an executive session. Did someone leak something from the executive session designed to harm the new majority? Perhaps the mayor? Or did the other publication just print some unsubstantiated BS from Magazine. This calls for a very small amount of examination. First off who handles all ethics violations for the town? Grady Miller! Who has 3, yes 3 ethics violations, and has had no consequences for any of them? None other than Alan Magazine. Cynicism abounds, but why wouldn't this guy love Grady Miller? This smacks of another conflict between the town manager and a council member.

The second letter written by Mike Scharnow, who goes on a name calling tirade against the new majority as if he was the most enlightened homo sapien to ever grace the town of Fountain Hills and claims to be shocked by the retirement of Grady Miller. Let's give Mr. Scharnow the same examination as was done for Magazine. First, is it really any of your business? Not in the least. This is the same Scharnow that took thousands of dollars from local realtors for his council campaign and then voted against them with the sign ordinance. This is the same guy that works with the drug coalition in town to fight teenage addiction and then votes for the importation of more addicts into Fountain Hills with higher occupancy in residential detox facilities. Hypocrisy at its finest right on display by these two pontificators.

And to Dave Long, the head of the Democratic Party in town, so much for your quip about Councilman Skillicorn photobombing the stellar students picture. The other publication did you the favor by cropping out both Skillicorn and Toth in this edition of stellar students, probably on purpose. A casualty of war in the left leaning nonsense, Mayor Dickey. She got wacked from the picture as well.

Talk about a corrupt publication, and former councilman who are questionable at best, all working with the democrats in town to continue to obstruct and undermine the process for our Town after leaving office.

Hate GROUP revealed in fh. finance reports Reveal truth & insight

Alternative has new web administrator & soon new ownership with a new look & more information

Separating truth from fiction by Joan Wibbers

Understanding Reality

Friedel - Councilman and Mayoral Candidate

Understanding Reality

Dickey - Mayor

Friedel - Councilman and Mayoral Candidate

Understanding Reality

Friedel - Councilman and Mayoral Candidate

Friedel - Councilman and Mayoral Candidate

Friedel - Councilman and Mayoral Candidate

Arpaio - Mayoral Candidate

McMahon - Councilwoman and current Council Candidate

Friedel - Councilman and Mayoral Candidate

Tolis - Council Candidate

McMahon - Councilwoman and current Council Candidate

McMahon - Councilwoman and current Council Candidate

McMahon - Councilwoman and current Council Candidate

McMahon - Councilwoman and current Council Candidate

McMahon - Councilwoman and current Council Candidate

Male - Council Candidate

Corey - Council Candidate

Corey - Council Candidate

Corey - Council Candidate

Corey - Council Candidate

Corey - Council Candidate

Earle - Council Candidate

Corey - Council Candidate

Earle - Council Candidate

Watts - Council Candidate

Opposing PACs - Flourish vs Reclaim

Earle - Council Candidate

Corrigan - Council Candidate

Opposing PACs - Flourish vs Reclaim

Opposing PACs - Flourish vs Reclaim

Opposing PACs - Flourish vs Reclaim

Opposing PACs - Flourish vs Reclaim

Opposing PACs - Flourish vs Reclaim

What's next? Dems rally the Chamber and the Times

By Ely Skumin 7/6/2024

Spelich clarifies misinformation spread by Mayor and others

The Alternative Adds YouTube Channel

Spelich speaks out on mcso contract and time on council

Reported by larry meyers - 10/2/2023

followup to mcso. it's Garbagegate, What's next for the Dems

Democrats Only Know One Way - Arthur Silot, Investigative Reporter

Target plaza high density rezone brings out the all-stars

Reported by Marshall Tucker 12/31/2023

Playground equipment instead of roof and hvac repairs

Reported by Marshall Tucker - 11/11/2023

Merciful end in sight-reported by marshall tucker 10/20/23

Chamber of Commerce Polls FH Businesses. Believe it?

Chamber of Commerce Polls FH Businesses. Believe it?

Chamber of Commerce Polls FH Businesses. Believe it?

Alternative polls residents. Believe it?

Chamber of Commerce Polls FH Businesses. Believe it?

Chamber of Commerce Polls FH Businesses. Believe it?

Life imitates art-Oscar wilde, 1889 & History repeats

Reported by Marshall Tucker 8/12/2023

declining enrollment, perhaps why-reported by e. fang

Best High Schools US News National 2022

Best High Schools US News National 2022

Best High Schools US News National 2022

A+ School of Excellence

Best High Schools US News National 2022

Best High Schools US News National 2022

AP Capstone

Best High Schools US News National 2022

AP Capstone

avid

state champions & and the final word

AP Capstone

"WATCH WHAT THEY DO, NOT WHAT THEY SAY WHEN CONSIDERING BOND"

evit

state champions & and the final word

state champions & and the final word

state champions & and the final word

state champions & and the final word

state champions & and the final word