The Fountain Hills Democratic club (FHDC) will resume regular monthly meetings at the Community Center on Sept. 8. To allow participants to attend the Ballet Under the Stars event later in the evening, the club will convene from 5:30-6:30 p.m., with doors opening at 5:15 p.m.

FHDC will recognize member Alice Brovan, the first recipient of the Outstanding Democrat award. She will be honored after a brief history of her background and involvement in the community.

Club speakers include Thomas Dugger, candidate for Arizona Senate; Lilian Acker, candidate for School Board; and Julie Gunnigle, candidate for Maricopa County Attorney.

Thomas Dugger, who is running as a Democrat to become the state senator for LD3, is an information technology and finance expert. If elected as state senator, Dugger said he will fight to increase state funding for Arizona schools, which are rated near the bottom for the entire U.S.

Dugger supports the ballot initiative to provide public schools with more funding. The water crisis in this state is also a top priority for him, along with ensuring accountability for how state funds are implemented.

Lillian Acker, who is running for FHUSD School Board, was born in Argentina and moved to Chicago with her parents. She has been active in education, including teaching at the elementary, middle and high school levels.

Most of Acker’s career was centered on teaching English as a second language. While residing in Ohio, Acker served as president of Ohio Teachers of English to Speakers of Other Languages (TESOL) and chaired the state conference for several years. She and her husband have lived in Fountain Hills for nine years.

Julie Gunnigle, who is running for Maricopa County Attorney as a Democrat, is a native Arizonian who is a former professor of law, a solo practitioner and a former prosecutor.

Gunnigle said she has been working tirelessly to bring justice to the most vulnerable members of the community, including child victims of sexual abuse, elderly people mistreated in senior homes and women escaping domestic violence. She said she is running to protect the rights of everyone in the community and put a stop to decades-long corruption and ineffectiveness in the office.