Fountain Hills Town Councilwoman Brenda Kalivianakis has been cleared of any violation of Town Ethics Code following an investigation by an independent attorney.

In a memo to Town Attorney Aaron Arnson dated July 6, investigator Tina L. Vannucci with Fitzgibbons Law Offices in Casa Grande stated Kalivianakis had not committed any ethics violations.

“I do not find that Councilwoman Kalivianakis engaged in any conduct that violated the Town’s Code of Ethics by sending emails expressing her opinion that an individual who requested to be placed on the Town Council agenda should be removed,” Vannucci said.

The ethics complaint was filed by Eugene Mikolajczyk. He alleged that based on emails sent Jan. 11 and Jan. 16, Kalivianakis had engaged in defamation, discrimination, retaliation and violated his fundamental rights and possible civil rights.

“Based on my investigation…I do not believe legal sufficiency exists regarding a violation of the Rules of Procedures by Councilwoman Kalivianakis,” Vannucci stated in her report.

Mikolajczyk had requested of Town staff that he be given the opportunity to speak before the Town Council. He was scheduled to speak Jan. 17, related to the council decision on Jan. 3 that repealed updated sign regulations approved by the council last year. A new council was seated in December which chose to vote for the repeal at its first regular meeting after swearing in.

An attorney and former member of the Town’s Planning and Zoning Commission, Mikolajczyk wanted to outline his concerns related to the repeal of the sign regulations.

In response to scheduling Mikolajczyk on the agenda, Kalivianakis emailed then Town Manager Grady Miller and other council members to express her belief Mikolajczyk should not be permitted to speak. This was based in part on an email from a former council member who suggested Mikolajczyk had resigned from the Planning Commission following questions related to his own ethical conduct.

Kalivianakis stated she believed that Mikolajczyk’s “past conduct of ethics issues, surveillance of political opponents and stalking, clearly will not result in his comments being either in good faith or reasonable.”

Vannucci also noted that by denying the request Mikolajczyk had made to be placed on the agenda to speak he was not being denied the opportunity to speak to the council in other forums, including call to the public regularly on the council agendas.

“There is no indication that [Kalivianakis] was trying to limit the ability of Mikolajczyk to use the public forum available to him,” Vannucci said.