Peoria mayor, resident have brusque exchange at council meeting

By Philip Haldiman
Mail | X: @PhilipHaldiman

Peoria Mayor Jason Beck and a resident had a heated exchange during the public comment section of the March 19 council meeting when the mayor was caught on a hot mic essentially saying the resident should be quiet.

During the public comment section of the meeting, Peoria resident Jon Forsythe spoke about a meeting in January when a man commented about the city’s lack of transparency and praised Councilmember Denette Dunn for standing up for herself after the mayor and other councilors signed a letter asking her to resign because she helped a family friend who is a sex offender convicted of crimes 40 years ago.

At the March 19 meeting, Forsythe said, “Mayor, last time I spoke here, you cut a gentleman off because he was talking about Ms. Dunn. Ms. Dunn was dealing in governmental business. These aren’t personal attacks. You can’t stop ...”

At that point, Beck cut Forsythe off.

“Time out, stop. So, you are going to address the council. I cut the gentleman off, but I allowed him the rest of his time, just like I am going to allow you. So with respect to that, speak the truth, keep moving forward,” Beck said.

Forsythe continued, speaking about the Bill of Rights.

“Freedom of speech is a pillar, mayor, that goes down to the bedrock of democracy. You cannot stop it, you cannot alter it, you cannot stop speech that you don’t happen to like. Sorry, democracies sometimes are ugly. Sometimes we don’t agree with speech. Can’t stop it. We’ve forgotten this in America. That we are a melting pot of individuals that have come together ...”

Forsythe cut himself off.

“You’re smirking. That doesn’t make me happy,” Forsythe said as he tapped his fingers on the podium. “You know what, my time is up. I’ll respect the open meeting law ...”

Beck jumped back in, “It’s actually not. You’ve got another 30 seconds if you’d like to continue on.”

Forsythe stood motionless. An elongated period of silence filled the council chamber.

“Sometimes silence is golden,” Forsythe said. “I’ll be back.”

As he walked away, Beck remarked under his breath, “We should probably have more of that from you.”

“Excuse me, what?”

At that point, Beck continued the conclusion of the meeting asking for the city manager’s report from City Manager Henry Darwin as Forsythe walked away. Darwin was visibly stirred and moved into his report.

Some residents have voiced concerns regarding transparency at the city and have been critical of Beck who has not allowed some council members to comment on certain consent agenda items, and most recently did not allow council or public comment on the renewal of Darwin’s contract during a February meeting.

Forsythe has spoken out on what he views as a lack of transparency at the city and has been a regular council meeting attendee who has spoken in opposition to some of Beck’s initiatives.

Councilmember Brad Shafer recently announced he would not run for election because of a “toxic” environment at city hall. Shafer and Beck have butted heads over issues that have come across the council dais during the past year, including the defunding of Paloma Park in north Peoria.

Philip Haldiman can be reached at phaldiman@iniusa.org, or on Twitter @philiphaldiman. We’d like to invite our readers to submit their civil comments, pro or con, on this issue. Email AZOpinions@iniusa.org.

Philip Haldiman
Senior News Editor | Peoria

phaldiman@iniusa.org

Meet Philip
Haldiman is an award-winning journalist who most recently took first place for investigative reporting in 2023 from Arizona Newspapers Association. He joined Independent Newsmedia, Inc., USA, in 2015, covering Sun City West his first year. Since 2016, he has covered the city of Peoria. Prior to coming to INI, he was a reporter with The Arizona Republic for seven years, covering numerous cities throughout the Valley. Before that, he was a freelance writer.

Community: Haldiman spearheads the Peoria Independent Hometown Heroes Awards program, honoring local individuals and businesses that give back to the community. He has hosted local candidate forums over the years and is a member of the Society of Professional Journalists. Haldiman also served as a member of the Journalism Program Community Advisory Board at Glendale Community College. Outside journalism, Haldiman served as a member of the city of Peoria Complete Count Committee for the Census, 2019-2020. Lastly, he has served as a member of his HOA governing board since 2021.

Education: Arizona State University with a BA in Journalism and Mass Communications and a BA in Theater. 

Random Fact: Haldiman is a fourth-generation Arizonan as well as wrote and produced an autobiographical comic book about his time spent in Hollywood and his life as a cult film star.

Hobbies: He enjoys hiking Arizona’s mountainous landscapes and is currently working on a play for the stage.