Why the Payson Council Runoff is so very Critical ….

    There is one remaining Payson town council seat that has yet to be decided. The contest is between two candidates, Deborah Rose and Jolynn Schinstock, who offer two similar platforms but differ widely in how they will govern and who they will represent. The candidate who wins this runoff will be the swing vote that determines whether Mayor Tom Morrissey continues on his path of playing politics that benefit his friends and donors or a town government that will answer to the people.

    Currently the Payson council is headed by Morrissey and three council members who have voted in the majority with him on a vast number of issues.  Unfortunately, their votes and rhetoric have led to a deeply divided citizenry, has cost our depleted treasury thousands of dollars in unnecessary legal expenses and has spent your tax dollars on a wasteful Splash Pad project that has gone wildly over-budget at the expense of other needed priorities. Morrissey has formented a deceptive culture by appointing committees that operate suspiciously out of the sunshine with no meaningful oversight.  All this while proclaiming he is transparent and doing the work of the people. And nothing could be further from the truth.

    Deborah Rose has proclaimed her absolute support for Morrissey by saying on September 16th, “my job is to protect the good intentions of our good mayor.” The mayor said, at that same gathering, "that without a majority, the next two years will be meaningless." If he really feels that way, the mayor owes the Town of Payson and its citizens an apology. A good mayor is expected to work with all council members to achieve those things for which they are elected. Apparently, in Tom's world it's his way or the highway and shame on him! 

    So, while Rose is looking out for the mayor, Jolynn Schinstock has campaigned on the pledge that she will advocate for you: to use her Army budgeting experience to control costs, to find a way to bring affordable housing to Payson, to seek ways to help Payson deal with out-of-control wild fires using sensible fire wising policies (her husband is a Hotshot supervisor), addressing the lack of high-speed internet (an issue Morrissey ignored) and putting forth other out-of-the-box ideas to solve problems that are not being addressed by the Morrissey-led council.

    Electing Jolynn Schinstock would give the council four members who are independent and free of the unprincipled Morrissey machine, to vote for what is best for the citizens of Payson. While Rose literally advocates for a theocracy by stating that “God appoints those with authority over the people,” Jolynn Schinstock believes that the democracy we live in is best served by elected officials whose only job is to work for the citizens who put them in office to make sound, reasonable and well-informed decisions.  As Rose preaches chapters from Romans, she wildly states that, “While our eyes are up here, those at the bottom are stealing the resources of our good town.” She forgets that it’s Morrissey who is in charge of the town’s resources. 

    The Morrissey led cabal wants you to believe that the Town of Payson is being sued by the MHA for $87,000,000. For Rose and Morrissey, this is just one of their efforts to vilify Gila County's largest charity and turn attention away from Morrissey/Rose having to answer for a do-nothing divisive administration and towards a perceived villain.  After all, every drama has to have a bad guy.  At the town council meeting on August 27th, the town's contract attorney, Justin Pierce, said this about the alleged $87,000,000 lawsuit when asked by council member Chris Higgins, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TgcVte0GLMY .      

    Deborah Rose also claims the town was cheated out of millions of dollars when MHA sold the hospital to Banner Health. The Town of Payson never owned the hospital…ever!  Since its inception it was always and remains privately owned. Deborah Rose stop the lying, you are just embarrassing yourself.

    The choice is clear, the independent, fact-driven thinking Jolynn Schinstock or a candidate who is at best confused and at worst obsessed with delusions of our current mayor's grandeur and prone to perpetuate unfounded conspiracy theories. 

    For more conversation about the election: www.facebook.com/abetterpayson