After the Fountain Hills Town Council unanimously approved a new contract for law enforcement services with the Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office (MCSO), there were still some concerns whether this is the best direction for the town to take.
Fountain Hills resident Larry Meyers, treasurer for the Reclaim Our Town (ROT) political committee, contacted Mayor Ginny Dickey and said that in an interview with him, former Town Councilman David Spelich, a former Chicago Police detective, claimed that Sheriff Paul Penzone “has been cheating the town as to service and charges while at the same time increasing the contract price by 100% plus since 2018 when Mayor Ginny Dickey took office.”
“The first council-approved budget I voted on as mayor was in 2019,” Dickey said in an email statement to Meyers and copied to The Times Independent. “The unanimously approved contract amount (at that time) was $4,091,000, and this year (2024) it is $6,128,600. That is not 100% plus.”
