By Mike Scerbo

Stilo is suing Tusayan Town Hall. Its legal team has its shorts in a twist at the prospect of you being able to vote May 15th on the development agreements it rammed through the Town Council and whether the Tusayan Town Council should have an ethics policy. The lawsuit on the development agreements has been fileed and a lawsuit on the ethics question appears likely. Check out this recent agenda item from the Town Council executive session agenda.

A.   Request from Roopali H. Desai, Attorney at Law, to the Tusayan Town Council to cancel the election on the Ethics Initiative and immediately cease all activity relating to the preparation of ballots and publicity pamphlets relating to the Ethics Initiative.

Stilo’s decision to sue not only attempts to silence the voice of the voter it is going to cost Tusayan taxpayers money to defend itself from Stilo’s legal eagles.

We previously reported that a lawsuit was coming when word of it appeared on the Town Council’s Executive Session Agenda. Stilo’s decision to try and prevent an election is not unexpected. For months they have been telling Tusayan who and what to vote for. Now when referendums make it to the ballot that they disagree with, they try and prevent you from voting.

Given all their claims of support for their land use plan, it’s interesting they don’t want you to vote on it. Maybe that’s because it doesn’t have public support. Maybe it’s because the land use plan is opposed by the Superintendent of the Grand Canyon National Park, The Sierra Club, and the Havasupai Tribe. Maybe it’s because Stilo is worried that voters have had enough of their heavy handed tactics.

It’s the same thing when it comes to the appointment of Bill Fitzgerald. He was not one of their guys and when the Council showed some backbone and appointed Fitz, Stilo wielded a legal hatchet to try and scare off Fitzgerald.
Look for the legal fur to fly as Stilo’s legal teams tries to serve injunctions and orders in the coming days. It will be interesting to see how the Town reacts.

It’s also worth noting one of the defendants is Judge Bill Sutton, our Town Clerk. The Judge has done his best to be fair with folks on both sides of the issues. While some have disagreed with his decisions, his honesty and integrity have never been questioned. It’s shameful that Stilo would include him as a defendant. Then again, given his honesty, it’s not surprising Stilo is going after someone they can’t control.