There is a reason why people move to Fountain Hills. It is an idyllic small town away from the hustle and bustle of Phoenix and Scottsdale. We have wonderful views of mountains, open desert and blue skies. We have nice amenities and delightful restaurants. And we have that magnificent fountain and the park which surrounds it. I love taking walks in the park and watching the fountain spout majestically into the sky. It makes me happy and that’s why I moved here.

Now there is a movement afoot to destroy the ambiance of this wonderful town. It is called Crystal Lagoon, and it is being touted as an effort to make our town “a destination.” As if we want traffic, parking problems, crime and crowds. Not me!

We are being sold a pig in a poke with this proposal. It will destroy the character of our town. You can have a fountain or you can have a lagoon. You can’t have both. I moved here for the fountain.

I have been following this misguided effort and have been connecting the dots along the way. Crystal Lagoon is being pushed by Councilman Art Tolis, who appears to be trying to get his two friends elected to the sanitary district. In that way, he can hide some of the actual costs of this boondoggle. Their goal is to get the district’s ratepayers to pay for some of the lagoon’s costs. That’s why we need to make sure that we elect the two incumbents. They are honest candidates with no hidden agenda, unlike their unqualified challengers.

I have an idea. Let’s make the sanitary district election a referendum on Crystal Lagoon. If you oppose that ill-conceived scheme, vote for Tom Reski and Gregg Dudash. Their only agenda is honest government.