On Tuesday January 3, 2023, Fountain Hills Town Councilman Allen Skillicorn successfully led an effort to bring back an invocation prayer to the Council’s public meetings.
Skillicorn motioned to restore the invocation prayer to Fountain Hills Town Meetings, and the debate that followed was spirited for and against restoring prayer. Mayor Ginny Dickey admitted to Skillicorn during debate that she unilaterally banned prayer without a vote or public notice in 2021 and replaced it with a so-called moment of silence. The Fountain Hills Council ultimately voted to restore the invocation prayer four votes to three, with council members Skillicorn, Hannah Toth, Brenda Kalivianakis, and Gerry Friedel voting for the motion.
Council members Peggy McMahon, Sharron Grzybowski, and Mayor Ginny Dickey voted to ban prayer.
After the meeting, Councilman Skillicorn said, “What kind of Mayor bans prayer? Our Mayor banned prayer without a vote or public notice. She just snuck this in the back door and now defiantly tries to keep prayer out. The people of Fountain Hills have spoken. They spoke at the ballot box and now they have spoken out at town hall.”