It appears I need to set the record straight. I am an individual voter and resident of Fountain Hills. I am also the chair of the PAC, Reclaim Our Town (ROT), representing views of about 57% of local voters.

When I have stated there was no “ROT Ticket” for the 2024 Council election, that is correct. The PAC supplied no funding to promote candidates, distributed no paid political signage or rack cards leading up to the primary and the PAC never named a “ROT Ticket” from the field of seven Republicans and several Democrats vying for four seats. To be clear, we are a Conservative PAC, yet ROT did not select four preferred candidates to promote a “ROT ticket.”

In the 2022 primary cycle, the PAC endorsed a slate of candidates who appeared Conservative. ROT political signage listed their names and promoted them, including Kalivianakis. But our PAC did not endorse anyone during the 2024 primary election cycle.

It was only after Gayle Earle won her seat outright in the July primary that ROT endorsed and identified the three remaining Conservative candidates in the fall on our website for the General Election. The three other remaining candidates were Liberal Democrats. We could have promoted an actual “ROT ticket” all along, but we chose not to. The Left’s ongoing assertions of a “ROT Ticket” was nonetheless useful in bringing attention to those specific Conservative candidates.

Two council members and the Left continue to use the term “ROT Ticket” as an attempted smear towards those they oppose. I do not think it is a smear. When they use it as an insult, however, they actually alienate many constituents who support our Conservative philosophy with belief in fiscal responsibility, transparency, limited government and selective development that preserves the very essence of Fountain Hills.

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