As we’re sure everyone has seen by now, all three propositions on the May ballot met with defeat last week. That, of course, includes the two propositions dealing with the controversial Daybreak development.

What we hope everyone takes away from all of this is the fact that, whether you agree with the outcome or not, the system worked exactly as it is supposed to in this particular matter.

We’ve seen a lot of animosity and blame being thrown back and forth concerning the Daybreak project, pretty much from the very beginning. But if you strip the matter down to its bare bones, you might view the past year’s worth of activity a little differently.

A developer proposed a project, including all of the background work that has to go along with such an undertaking. Members of the Planning and Zoning Commission did their job, considered a heck of a lot of data and feedback, and decided not to recommend approval of the project. Council members did their job, considered a heck of a lot of data and feedback, and decided to approve it. (Remember that just because either group did not agree with your stance does not mean they did not first listen to you before deciding theirs. They simply did not agree.)

And speaking of disagreeing, what’s a group of residents who disagree with a council decision to do? The answer is “exactly what they did here in Fountain Hills.” Enough folks signed a petition to get the items on a ballot. It’s their tax dollars and they thought this was a matter important enough to spend them on, so they got the ball rolling and pulled it off.

The final step is the election, where everyone who wishes to cast their vote gets their say. The results are now in black and white and, at long last, the matter has been settled.

The point here is that these systems – from the proposal of the Daybreak project on up to the recent election – exist to allow government to function properly and for people to be able to take action if they disagree strongly enough with the outcome. Nobody “broke the rules” or cheated the system here. In what you might argue is a rare turn of events in this day and age, everything worked exactly as it was supposed to.

You might not agree with the individual players (developers, P&Z, residents, Town Council), but everyone played their proper part, worked through the proper procedures and we now have a resolution.

So here’s hoping we, as a community, can put this behind us and get ready to tackle whatever comes next for Fountain Hills.