Friedel: My promise to the people of Fountain Hills

Gerry Friedel

(Submitted/Photo by David Huff Photography)

I am fully engaged with the residents and businesses in Fountain Hills. Over the last four years, they have reached out with their concerns and they are the reason I am running for mayor.

I will bring value to the office of mayor with my experience in budgeting and finance. I am currently in my fourth year on the Town Council and I also spent a year on the Strategic Planning Commission. I have 40 years of experience in banking and finance as well as a degree in finance. I am the only person on the council with a finance background. I have not missed a council meeting since 2018 and have attended 95% of the Planning and Zoning meetings. I fully understand the critical issues facing the town.

My promise to you is transparency, efficiency, effectiveness and voting based on facts and research while always respecting the viewpoints from residents.

How do we move forward as a town council, town and business community? We do this by rebuilding trust and by always following our procedural rules and by bringing back integrity and transparency to our council meetings.

For starters, I will do this by 1) Not accepting campaign contributions from companies that are contracted service providers for the town to avoid any appearance of improper influence and 2) I will not allow continued rubber stamping of contracts. Contracts are renewed for a reason and should be properly renegotiated to best serve the town and residents.

I believe our town is ready for a change in leadership and I bring the three E’s: Experience, Education and Engagement. There is much work ahead to get our town back on track and I am ready and excited for the future. Thank you for your support.

Gerry Friedel  is running for mayor of Fountain Hills. The Times Independent offers candidates the opportunity to submit one letter during the election. Reader reactions, pro or con, are welcomed at AzOpinions@iniusa.org.