Take a look at the most recent campaign finance report from the Yates campaign. There are some old connections, and some new ones.

Yates voted for construction of the four-story Park Place “affordable” apartment complex. It looks like Bart Shea, the developer of Park Place, thinks highly of Yates with a $500 campaign contribution. No wonder. After all, that green, grey and red sprawling complex on the Avenue of the Fountains was built partially because of Yates’ vote to approve it. Park Place is not “affordable housing” that might attract young families. It is listed on the internet as “luxury apartments.” The connection is financial as well since CPI, Yates’ employer, is the commercial leasing agent for Park Place. Wow!

Lately there have been outrageous ads on the opinion pages of The Fountain Hills Times that were really dirty politics and totally false. These ads were funded by “Good Government Committee,” a PAC run by John Kavanagh. The major contributor to Kavanagh’s PAC was Cheryl Shea, Bart’s wife, with a contribution of $2,000.

But let’s add some additional old-school connections. SRP (PIC) and Pinnacle West (Super PAC) have contributed a total of $1,000 to Yates’ campaign. SRP (our electricity provider) has a cozy relationship perpetuated from past administrations in this town. Pinnacle West (APS) has funded regulators’ campaigns who then voted to raise electric bills. You can see all the contributions at fh.az.gov/207/Campaign-Finance-Reports.

A vote for Yates may just yield more of the same poor ethics. Don’t you want a positive change from the secretive council of the past few years? Join me in voting for Ginny Dickey. She has no vested interests in the organizations trying to influence Fountain Hills’ voters.