Dissention in the Ranks

It's no secret that Buckeye's City Council has had some...differences of opinion in the past with its members. It would seem that that is coming around again to face councilman, David Hardesty. Sundance resident, Mark Landvit filed a recall-packet accusing Hardesty of using his seat for personal gain.

The accusations focus on the construction of the new Town Hall building in downtown, Buckeye. Core Construction won the Council vote for the building contract. The issue comes from Hardesty's business, AAA Insulation LLC, now also being involved in the build, having won the bid from Core Construction after the vote.

According to a claim within the recall packet itself, "His [Hardesty] voting record confirms he has routinely voted on projects that involved developers and companies he has personally done business with. He is using his council seat, and therefore the residents of District 4, for personal gain."

I think we can all agree that you don't run for City Council with the hopes of creating a solid financial future for yourself. If there is in fact a proven history of voting with ulterior motives, then certainly, these questions need to be addressed and Councilman Hardesty should answer them. We trust our elected officials to act in the best interest of of their citizens, not merely of themselves. Love of one's neighborhood and consideration of the best direction of the town, should always be the main focus.

The recall election, if it comes to that, would happen within 6 months of the regular election cycle for the District 4 seat. So why would one even bother? Why not just let it ride itself out? The answer is simple, no matter how long or how short the time, we need to send a message to our trusted, elected officials that we are watching to make sure that we made the right choice by putting someone in office. And if we didn't, we are still willing to act to correct our mistakes, even if it seems futile.

However, the question remains: Does Buckeye need a recall election for Hardesty to answer for these allegations? He should be given the opportunity to offer a thoughtful response describing his reasoning on why he should be able to vote on issues which may lead to personal gain. In other cities, councilmembers routinely sit out (or declare a conflict) on an issue that may impact their personal business.

Buckeye's mayor, Jackie Meck has been urging the City Council to back off of the recall attempts citing that this is a crucial development time for the City, however, so far, these attempts have gone unheard.