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Fountain Hills council votes to remove public-comment slot and council reports after legal notice
Summary
After hours of public testimony and council debate, Fountain Hills adopted a rule change to suspend general "call to the public" and the regular mayor/council reports, citing legal risk from a notice of claim alleging improper religious speech; supporters say it reduces abuse, opponents call it censorship.
The Fountain Hills Town Council voted 5-2 on Nov. 18, 2025, to amend its rules of procedure to remove the regular "call to the public" portion of meetings and council members' reports, a measure the town attorney presented as a temporary response to a notice of claim alleging establishment-clause violations.
Town Attorney (unnamed in the record) told the council the claim, filed Nov. 4, asked the town to adopt safeguards after residents and some council members used religious language during meetings; she recommended removing those two agenda items or suspending them for six months to avoid potential liability and further abusive complaints. "The Culp complaint seeks to demand the town engage in constitutionally prohibited viewpoint…
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