Fountain Hills deserves better than its new lawyer
OPINION — After Gayle Earle’s favorite Jennifer Wright barely lasted one year under the new attorney contract, Tim La Sota is now our town attorney. Remember, La Sota has unsuccessfully twice sued the town. First, representing Councilman Allen Skillicorn against Councilmembers Grzybowski, Kalivianakis, McMahon and Mayor Dickey, for their official actions censuring him; second, on behalf of ROT’s suit against the town for ROT’s failed referendum.
That’s not all. Skillicorn was found to have harassed and potentially misled local code enforcement by saying the code enforcement officer, a former MCSO deputy, was improperly removing signs. La Sota is defending a tavern for allegedly serving underage customers, which has twice resulted in fatalities. La Sota criticized police saying, “Tempe Tavern has been forced to close after 15 years because of dramatically reduced business due to harassment by the Arizona Department of Liquor and the Tempe Police Department.”
La Sota represents reportedly fraudulent Green Party candidates, wasting time and money and unsurprisingly ending up on the wrong side of the ruling. An attorney called La Sota’s allegations of First Amendment violations “absurd.” The implication? “Great, that’s a win to the candidate who’s committed the fraud. If they pull the wool over the eyes of the secretary of state, (then) the public dollars could be expended, even though they were not lawfully obtained.”
Recently, a Maricopa County Superior Court judge dismissed a La Sota lawsuit. In so doing, Clean Elections Commission Chairman Mark Kimble had choice words for La Sota, calling La Sota’s comments about the commission “totally irresponsible.” “This is the opportunity for La Sota to back up those claims with some evidence,” Kimble said. “He’s chosen not to appear...”
La Sota may lack experience representing cities and towns, but he has experience suing them. It’s insulting and embarrassing that he’s now sitting on the dais representing Fountain Hills. The town deserves better.
Please submit comments at yourvalley.net/letters or email them to AzOpinions@iniusa.org. We are committed to publishing a wide variety of reader opinions, as long as they meet our Civility Guidelines.
