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Norton: Time for Guy Phillips to resign

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Editor's Note: Guy Phillips issued the following statement at 4:30 p.m., June 24: "To the Family of George Floyd - I am sorry about a comment I made today that was the same comment Mr. Floyd had made. He didn't deserve what happened to him and I by no means was trying to make light of it by saying I cant breathe in a mask. Please accept my sincerest apology and that goes out to anyone who became offended."

First, thank you, Mayor Lane, for your quick and sharp statement condemning Guy Phillips’ outrageous actions this morning.

With a Confederate flag in the foreground and hoots and hollers of approval from an equally bigoted crowd, Phillips had the audacity to mock the dying words of George Floyd while standing on the Civic Center grounds.

National Television audiences will watch tonight. Once again Scottsdale will be shamed on the global stage.

It is time for Guy Phillips to step down from our City Council. Withdraw his candidacy and resign from office.

It is also time for Phillips’ running mate, Bob Littlefield, to step forward.

Throughout their careers, Phillips and Littlefield have been tied tightly to each other. They run on joint tickets. They opposed bonds. They voted in sync. They share homophobic jokes with each other. They’re a team.

Littlefield wants us to choose him to be the city leader. His next steps concerning Phillips will tell us what kind of leader Littlefield will be.

Phillips’ litany of misdeeds is undeniable.

  • Homophobic jokes about stoning gay men (shared with Littlefield).
  • Outlandish claims that global warming is a concocted hoax.
  • Racist statements about Asians (for which he quickly apologized).
  • Xenophobic claims about Jewish globalists stealing from U.S. business.
  • Anti-science demands that COVID-19 is a farce.
  • Spreading disease throughout the city at a time of record deaths.
  • Making a mockery of our ethics code through hidden slush funds.
  • Using city assets to promote his campaign rally (city email system).
  • This morning it was determined that donations to his campaign fund are run through the PayPal account of “Budget Mechanical, LLC”, his business. Yet another absurd violation. And we thought that would be the worst of today, but no.

Phillips topped all that off at 10:45 a.m. by mocking George Floyd. “I can’t breathe,” he said to the laughs and applause of his bigoted nation, “I can’t breathe” he shouted while the Confederate flag holder waved it wildly.

If Littlefield does not join in the call for Phillips to step down, Littlefield is equally complicit.

The same challenge must be made of every elected official and candidate. No one holding office or running for office can stand quietly by.

Silence is complicity. Silence condones racism.

Phillips must go. And those who support Phillips through silence must also go with him.

Editor’s Note: Mike Norton has been a Scottsdale resident for more than 25 years.