An attorney investigating an ethics complaint against Fountain Hills Town Councilman Alan Magazine has found Magazine in violation of three sections of the Town of Fountain Hills Code of Ethics.

The ethics inquiry also included complaints against Mayor Ginny Dickey and Councilwoman Peggy McMahon. The investigator found that Dickey and McMahon had not violated the code based on the complaint.

The Town issued a press release on Thursday, April 14, stating that the Town Council had elected to take no further action on the complaint or the investigator’s findings. The council had discussed the report in a closed executive session on Tuesday, April 12.

The complaint filed by Town Council candidate Hannah Toth and then candidate Mark Biermann stems from an incident in January. Magazine went into the Pearl Nutrition store and challenged owner Tim Spielbusch for having nominating petitions for Toth and Biermann on a counter in the business. He suggested to the owner that the petition signatures could be invalid because they are not properly monitored by a signature gatherer. He also stated that the petitions had to be circulated by candidates. That is incorrect, but petition circulators do sign the paperwork to verify they witnessed the signatures. Spielbusch told Magazine that he was monitoring and verifying those signing the petitions.

Spielbusch told Toth and Biermann about the incident and they all met with a mutual friend, Christine McGinn, to prepare the complaint.

Tucson Attorney Frank Cassidy conducted the investigation for the Town and filed a report dated April 8.

“In this investigator’s opinion, two elements of Councilmember Magazine’s conduct pertaining to the petitions violated his obligations to meet ‘the highest ideals of honor, ethics and integrity’ and maintain ‘public confidence in Town government’ (Section 8.4),” Cassidy said. “And maintain ‘public confidence in Town government’ (Section 8.4) ‘ensure that government is conducted…honorably…and in a manner that permits the citizens to become fully informed…’ (Section 8.6), and act in a manner that was ‘not only fair in fact, but also fair in appearance’ (Section 8.8).

“Magazine invited misunderstanding and claims of misuse of public office by showing up at Pearl Nutrition and asserting his belief that the petitions were illegal,” Cassidy added.

Dickey and McMahon were called out in the complaint related to their actions at the Feb. 1 council meeting when Toth and Biermann, as well as Spielbusch, addressed their concerns in the “call to the public” portion of the agenda. McMahon was involved in the incident because she had been in Pearl Nutrition and contacted Magazine to talk about the petitions on the counter in the store. She was suggesting that Magazine contact the store about possibly setting out petitions for candidate Cindy Couture, whose campaign Magazine is managing. Magazine made the follow-up visit to the store when he talked with the owner.

McMahon also got up from her seat and left the dais as the complaints were addressed to the council at the Feb. 1 meeting. Toth and Biermann also felt that Dickey should have prevented McMahon from leaving the dais.

“…This investigator concludes that Mayor Dickey and Councilmember McMahon did not violate the Code of Ethics,” Cassidy said in his report.