Responding to Rick Watts’ letter on partisanship
OPINION — Councilman Rick Watts, apparently still smarting from his failed attempt to crash a Democratic Club meeting claiming he’s a “disillusioned Republican,” now finds himself taking an ultra-partisan side by attacking all of the Democrats in Fountain Hills. His stance speaks volumes about his leadership style, where party must always come first. In his case, it’s the Republican party.
So, nice try. It’s an interesting allegation he makes about Democrats that cracks me up. He has “serious concerns about exclusion, partisanship and the narrowing of civic discourse in Fountain Hills.” For a person who was overtly supported by Reclaim Our Town (ROT) in his election two years ago, trying to levy accusations about partisanship, exclusion and narrowed discourse is laughable. This describes ROT perfectly. Just read the orange signs, they’re everywhere.
But he goes a step further when he writes that Democratic candidates are about “political advancement, not community service.” All you need to do is change the name to ROT and the Republican Club when he says, “Residents should be wary of any group presenting itself as community focused while openly prioritizing one party’s candidates over qualified leadership regardless of affiliation.” The Republican Club has held their annual picnic on the same day as the annual Make A Difference Day and often right next to the High School where the Dem Club members are hard at work being community focused!
But thanks for restating the local Democratic mission: To promote the Democratic community in Fountain Hills; to support Democratic values, goals, and activities; to encourage support of Democratic candidates. You can’t find a mission statement about the Republican club.
Mr. Watts, take your own advice: “If the goal is truly to serve the community, then the mission should be about what is best for the town and not a specific party affiliation.”
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