Fountain Hills council adopts revised rules, eliminates local ethics complaint procedure and lifts sanctions on councilmember

Fountain Hills — The Fountain Hills Town Council on April 14 adopted an amended set of council rules that removes the town’s local ethics complaint procedure and later voted to lift sanctions previously imposed on Councilmember Alan Skillekorn.

The council approved a redlined updates package to the rules of procedure that, among other edits, eliminates Section 10 — the town’s enforcement and complaint process for alleged violations of the code of ethics. The amendment prompted extensive public comment, with dozens of residents urging the council to retain an enforcement mechanism and saying removal would take away citizens’ primary means to seek redress.

During public comment dozens of residents spoke for and against the change. Opponents argued the revision would shield council members from accountability and identified specific past incidents they said required review. Supporters said the existing ethics process had been weaponized, produced expensive outside legal fees and sometimes returned unfounded findings.

Why it matters: The town’s adoption of the revised rules removes the local administrative procedure by which residents could…