Ronca: Friedel would not be the kind of mayor I want

This is in response to Dr. Rutkowski’s letter characterizing a good mayor as someone who is a good follower. A good mayor is a good listener and a good leader. But if you do follow, who you follow is very important.

When you follow Councilman Skillicorn, you aren’t a good follower. When Friedel can’t seem to make up his mind, he follows Skillicorn. This occurred with his repealing the sign ordinance and agreeing to the 5G moratorium.

It was mayoral candidate Friedel joining others pushing town staff to violate state law by supporting a “resolution to not defend the town in a lawsuit.” The court just found for the town in that referendum lawsuit filed by ROT PAC partners Crystal Cavanaugh and Larry Meyers. The fact that Friedel joined Toth and Skillicorn and voted for that failed resolution is an insult to our town clerk. The Town Clerk did her job. She successfully defended her efforts in court testimony.

Less clear: The testimony of several plaintiffs, who seemingly couldn’t get their dates, times and efforts aligned. Email and video supported town actions. ROT leaders messed up – they didn’t follow the law. ROT’s haste and zeal is a message to us all.

As a result, the judge also asked the town to identify costs (non-attorney) incurred for potential repayment. So, time spent by the clerk, IT director, manager and other staff in document preparation, depositions and court appearances all have costs, potentially borne by the plaintiffs, Cavanaugh and Meyers (or their supporters).

The irony is the state statutes that ROT failed to follow were written by fellow Republicans to discourage ROT-like referenda. Yet Friedel, Toth and Skillicorn wanted the town to ignore those statutes by not defending the suit. That’s not what I want in a wannabe mayor like Friedel.

Reader reactions, pro or con, are welcomed at AzOpinions@iniusa.org.