One year ago, Mayor Friedel opened his first State of The Town meeting with the following observation: “(i)t is important that we don’t deal in drama – we send the drama down to the theatre…the theatre deals in drama, we have town business to conduct.”   

The irony of Friedel’s remarks will be painfully apparent to residents who have observed and been embarrassed by the very public, headline-generating dysfunctional drama of the past year. The drama was not “sent down” to the Fountain Hills theatre but has been center stage on the dais with Friedel, acting as the leading man in a parody of good governance and leadership.  

Friedel has repeatedly demonstrated that he has no understanding of the role a Presiding Officer should play as he stumbles through the agenda, often relying on others to feed him his lines. He has failed miserably in his efforts to maintain decorum as he bullies, insults, and argues with other council members, relying on grimaces, scowls, growls, and his ever-present gavel in his portrayal of a small-town mayor on the verge of a nervous breakdown. 

During the past year, the drama has overshadowed the conduct of the Town’s business and Friedel has only himself and his supporters to blame.

It was Gayle Earle who welcomed Jacob Chansley, the Q’Anon shaman, to celebrate the election of the new majority.

It was the new majority that responded to a valid ethics complaint filed against Friedel by dismissing the pending complaint and stripping residents of their right to file any future ethics complaints against their elected officials.   

It was the new majority, through Gayle Earle, that orchestrated the resignation of our experienced and well-respected Town attorney by falsely accusing him of engaging in fraudulent billing practices to make way for ROT’s favored law firm, Timothy La Sota, PLC, a firm that pursued two meritless lawsuits against the Town.

It was the new majority that removed the sanctions imposed on Allen Skillicorn for assaulting a Code Enforcement officer.

It was Friedel and two members of the new majority who violated the Establishment Clause, resulting in a Notice of Claim against the Town.

It was Friedel and two members of the new majority who were responsible for the removal of the media table from the council chambers to symbolically punish the Fountain Hills Times Independent for what they viewed as biased reporting.

It was Friedel who demanded that a person of color identify herself as a current resident before she would be allowed to speak.  

It was Friedel, who in a fit of pique, illegally ordered MCSO deputies to evict the public from council chambers and then barred them from reentering, resulting in an Open Meeting Law complaint filed with the Attorney General.

It was a member of the new majority who brazenly boasted that in voting to end the Call to the Public, she was punishing residents who had spoken truthfully about her mentor, Charlie Kirk, by “taking away your toy.”

During the past year, much of the business conducted has had nothing to do with the “good of the town” and everything to do with partisan signaling – declarations of hollow victories in the pointless “culture wars,” like:

  • Banning Tik Tok;
  • Banning diversity, equity and inclusion;
  • Making English the Town’s “official language”;
  • Resolving not to interfere with or obstruct ICE;
  • Resolving that Fountain Hills would never be designated a sanctuary city;Removing the sanctions imposed on Allen Skillicorn for assaulting a Town Code Enforcement Officer; and
  • Rejecting a $250,000 federal grant because it used “woke” terms.

During the past year the new majority has made no meaningful progress on fulfilling the pledges Friedel made in his first State of the Town address:

  • Construction on Park Place Phases II and III did not begin last April, but has been abandoned by the developer as evidenced by the Notice of Claim he filed seeking $9 million for the Town’s breach of contract and Jennifer Wright’s alleged malfeasance.
  • The MCSO contract has not been renegotiated.
  • The Town has not “put away” 75-90 percent of the projected cost of replacing the lake liner.  
  • There is no plan to address the revenue shortfall that increases the backlog of streets in desperate need of repair every year. 

Friedel continues to show up for photo ops at ribbon-cutting ceremonies and public events. He also continues to produce his self-congratulatory “Friedel Friday” videos where he preens in front of popular projects initiated and approved when Ginny Dickey was mayor. Projects that during his campaign he denigrated as wasteful “nice to haves.”

Friedel has busied himself by inventing a “Mayor’s Special Service Award” whose recipient, a contributor to his campaign, was recognized for visits she made to North Carolina to assist in hurricane relief. Friedel also took it upon himself, based on criteria known only to him, to identify local businesses deserving of being put under his “Mayor’s Business Spotlight” and choosing the “Veteran of the Month” from the more than 2,800 men and women eligible for recognition.   

Friedel took it upon himself to overrule staff by demanding that the Republican Club be allowed to violate a policy designed and intended to prevent divisive partisan politics from marring the Community Center’s holiday display. He also took it upon himself, following residents’ complaints, to decide the order in which streets will be repaired.

Meanwhile, the Community Center is in dire need of repair and restoration; ordinances controlling cell tower regulation are in limbo; the blight of vacant commercial buildings remains unaddressed; revenue for restaurants and entertainment, projected to increase, remain flat; and the conundrum of what to with Plat 208 continues.

The ineptitude and blatant missteps of the first year of the Friedel administration have not gone unnoticed. They have gone viral on social media, generated reputation-destroying headline, and resulted in Attorney General investigations and threatened litigation.  

A year ago, during the State of the Town meeting, Friedel invited residents to measure his success as a “great leader” by his ability to build a cohesive team working together for the good of the residents.  Based on that standard, Friedel has proven himself to be anything but a “great leader.”