In last week’s Times (“SB1350”), Eric Kurland, my opponent in the state House of Representatives’ election, grossly misrepresented my involvement in the passage of SB1350, the short-term rental bill that permits single-family homes to operate like hotels and has created disruption in many communities. Kurland self-servingly wrote that he is running for the legislature because “the people of our district have been ignored for far too long.” That is so far from the truth.

Had Kurland done a little research on SB1350, he would have discovered that when it passed out of the Senate in 2016, I was the only senator to vote against it. Having served six years on the Fountain Hills Town Council, I knew that short-term rentals would be a recipe for disaster.

Partisan Democrat Kurland also deceitfully attempted to portray SB1350 as Republican Governor Ducey’s baby, ignoring the fact that every Republican and Democrat in the Senate, except for me, voted for it. It was a bipartisan disaster.

Finally, Kurland mischaracterized as mere “tinkering” my subsequent bill that banned party houses and required that owner contact information be posted. Kurland completely failed to mention my omnibus bill that would have placed many more restrictions and controls on short-term rentals.

This is not the first time that Kurland has written misleading, self-serving attacks in this Times forum. On June 3 and July 15, Kurland misrepresented my COVID-19 liability bill and the generous assistance the state gave to all schools and the Town of Fountain Hills to deal with COVID-19.

Are Kurland’s repeated, self-serving misrepresentations due to his ignorance of the issues and inability to effectively research them or is Kurland purposely misinforming the voters to get elected? Either way, that’s not the type of person you should want to represent you at the state capitol.