It is perplexing that the two things most often mentioned about Cecil Yates, mayoral candidate, is that he loves his family and is a good businessman. Can we all just take for granted that all candidates love their families, a basic human quality?

As for being a good businessman, how is that defined? Yates was involved with a restaurant in Fountain Hills a few years ago (Moxie) that went under within a few months; not a sign of a good businessman.

He should’ve learned that we are overbuilt with many empty retail spots, but he pushed to have the “monstrosity” (that is the word many people use) of apartments and retail spaces built along Avenue of the Fountains. It is totally out of character with the other side of the street and destroys the views that we used to enjoy there.

Then there was the fiasco of the unpaid fees for Park Place. The lawyer for Shea (contractor) went on record saying that if they were to testify, Kavanagh, Yates and Brown would say that they never understood that development fees were owed. Maybe that was good for Yates’ employer (now the leasing firm for the Park Place complex), but it certainly wasn’t good for the town.

Yates was also part of the group that sprung the disastrous lagoon idea on the rest of the council and wasted $40,000 on a study that wasn’t even used. He was also part of the group that engaged in the public flogging and firing of our town attorney, costing the town another $160,000 in extra legal costs, plus $100,000 added to the annual budget, all because our attorney took a call from the lender concerning the unpaid fees.

Yates has a dismal record of helping the town.