OPINION — Public office runs on trust. Barry Graham has spent that trust down to almost nothing.
Graham is at the center of an Attorney General investigation into whether Scottsdale’s council violated open meeting law. According to the Arizona Republic, five of the six citizen complaints involve him. They allege that he used personal email accounts to coordinate talking points with colleagues before the vote to repeal the city’s sustainability plan, and that he privately directed staff to begin canceling a roundabout project before the public could weigh in.
A third alleges he created an unlawful quorum by having the city clerk poll colleagues by email. Graham’s attorney disputes the allegations, and the investigation is not finished. But the question remains: why is one councilmember the common thread?
