Gohl: Council makes short-sighted vote on EV facility analysis

The Town Council on a split vote, against the recommendation of town staff, rejected a $100,000 grant that would have funded a professional siting plan analysis for a future Town of Fountain Hills high-speed electric vehicle charging facility.

Fountain Hills will be an excellent place for a high-speed EV charging facility. The visionary leaders present on the dais, Mayor Dickey, and councilwomen Grizbowski and Kalavianakis, recognizing this, voted in favor of accepting the grant. Sadly, their votes were not enough to overcome the regressive, short-sighted Councilmembers Toth, Skillicorn and Fridel.

Toth and Friedel's justifications for rejecting this grant were nonsense. Friedel argued that the town staff had too many other more pressing priorities that dealing with this grant would distract them from. We're talking the same staff that already invested the time to successfully apply for and win the grant. Toth, in her arguments against accepting this valuable grant, said she had questions about grid capacity and electric vehicle mandates that had no bearing on performing a study.

Skillicorn made very strong arguments for voting in the affirmative but then voted “no” simply because he said it was taxpayer money being spent for a study. All money the council appropriates is taxpayer money, and this $100,000 that he rejected is going to be spent to benefit some municipality other than Fountain Hills. Nice job.

Perhaps the Fort McDowell community will jump on it, and when a charging facility is built two miles from Fountain Hills the travelers to and from Rim Country who need a charge before and after driving the Beeline will spend their money at the casino – no revenue for town businesses.

Vote Dickey, McMahon and Corey for Fountain Hills Nov. 5.

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