NE Valley Times

Fountain Hills Town Councilman Allen Skillicorn (R) criticized the town council’s approval to pay $48,000 for a parking management study to a firm with ties to so-called “Road Diets.”

“So I do a little research on this company that's proposing to do the study and sure enough on their website I find that they promote road diets,” said Skillicorn of the firm, Kimley-Horn and Associates, Inc., during the August 22 town council meeting. “Literally, they have a road diet plan on their website.”

“This is the company that we want to give us a road map for what we want to do in our town I I just don't see that,” Skillcorn said. “Frankly, you know, these guys are more interested in their DEI score than serving the needs of Fountain Hills residents and for that reason I'm gonna be a no.”

“DEI” is the acronym for “Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion.” Skillicorn pointed to a link on Kimley-Horn’s website detailing the firm’s “Diversity and Inclusion” statement. 

Kimley-Horn’s website also contains a description of a “road diet” plan on which the firm recently worked in Broward County, Fla. 

Road Diets “are lengthy construction projects to reduce the number of personal car transportation lanes to manipulate the transportation decisions of the residents and create unnecessary traffic congestion,” according to a "Stop Road Diets" website hosted by Arizona grassroots organization EZAZ.org. 

“Small businesses suffer as road construction often takes two or more years, and business traffic rarely recovers as lane reductions cause a permanent inconvenience for customers,” said the group.

In March 2023, the Scottsdale, Ariz. city council passed a “road diet” plan to cut in half the number of lanes on 68th Street, between Indian School Road and Thomas Road.

“Scottsdale is rapidly going down the path of failed leftist cities, like Portland, which voted for the same ‘road diet’,” State Rep. Joseph Chaplik (R-Scottsdale) posted on X, formerly known as Twitter. 

The Fountain Hills Town Council vote to provide $48,000 to Kimley-Horn for the parking management study passed on a vote of 6-1, with Skillicorn as the lone “no” vote.

Skillicorn was elected to the Fountain Hills Town Council in the August 2022 election, receiving 4,824 votes to gain one of three available seats on the council. He formerly served as a member of the Illinois House of Representatives and serves as a precinct committeeman for the Arizona Republican Party Legislative District 3.