Scott: Who’s ready for election season to wrap?

Don Scott | Fountain Hills

As we are closing in on Nov. 5, many of us have probably already voted. I received confirmation from the Maricopa County Recorder’s Office that my ballot was received, my signature was verified and my selections were counted. The process was as simple as it was voting for local Fountain Hills officials.

Selecting representatives to protect our town while preserving its charm has never been easier. My competency-based, values-driven strategy is simple: vote for those who are selfless, not selfish; honest, not deceitful; respectful, not derogatory; inclusive, not discriminative; empathetic, not vindictive; kind, not bullying; accepting, not prejudiced; dedicated, not perfidious; constructive, not destructive; organized, not chaotic.

Using this approach made my decisions a breeze! Just for fun, I compared my selected list of candidates against the Fountain Hills Chamber of Commerce Board of Directors political candidate evaluations. The board of directors is a volunteer group of advocates for Fountain Hills consisting of business owners, entrepreneurs, nonprofit leaders and community volunteers. These individuals compiled letter grades based on three graded components: blind survey scores (written responses to seven questions posed to candidates, assessed without knowledge of the candidate and with answers scored anonymously), 65%; board interview scores, 17.5%; and candidate element scores, 17.5%. A “linear transformation curve” was then used to determine final grades for each candidate based on their weighted scores.

Mayor Ginny Dickey excelled, earning an overall “A” grade and commendations for: Most Favorable Board Interview; Most Favorable in Written Survey; and Most Favorable Candidate Elements. Town Council candidates Clayton Corey and Peggy McMahon earned grades of “A” and “A-,” respectively. These three candidates significantly outperformed the others (Friedel, Corrigan, Earle, Watts) in their evaluations.

My strategy and the Chamber agree: Dickey, Corey and McMahon are the best for Fountain Hills.