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Fountain Hills councilors direct halt to local ethics complaint process during rules-of-procedure work session
Summary
During a work session on draft rules of procedure, Fountain Hills councilors debated revisions to the town's ethics complaint process and signaled support for removing Chapter 10; council members directed the town attorney to stop active investigations and discussed wiping existing sanctions.
At a Fountain Hills Town Council work session, councilors spent an extended portion of the meeting debating proposed changes to the draft rules of procedure, focusing on sections that govern ethics complaints and sanctions.
Council members said the town's current ethics process has generated repeated complaints, consumed staff time and legal fees, and lacked clear, proportionate sanctions. Vice Mayor Toth told colleagues that "Fiscal year '24, we spent $10,554 on the process processes of these complaints, and that's money that could have gone to streets." Town Attorney Aaron and staff walked the council through legal options and practical consequences of each approach.
The discussion covered four broad options: (1) eliminate the local ethics complaint process and rely on other accountability mechanisms such as elections or existing state remedies; (2) refer complaints to the state attorney general (staff said that office typically will not…
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