Well, I wish it were better news to share ... but let me update everyone with the latest news regarding the illegal actions of Councilwoman Alyson "Aly" Cline.

The Maricopa County Attorney's Office has been investigating this since the Surprise Police Department turned over the investigation to them on April 25th. It has been pending a decision for that entire length of time.

There was a request I was informed of on May 15th by the prosecutor assigned to the case that the county had referred this back to Surprise PD, as they wanted statements from Cline.

This went on for another few weeks and on June 7th, I was informed the case had been turned back over to the county attorney's office. 

A week ago last Friday, on June the 7th, is also when I was informed by the victims' services unit at MCAO that there was still a decision pending on the charging of Cline, but there were two felony counts she was potentially going to be charged with.

Those charges were as follows: 

• Count 1: Theft, intent to deprive (ARS 13-1802, A.1)
• Count 2: Criminal damage, recklessly tampering with property of another person (ARS 13-1602 A.2)

Fast forward to today, June 17th, right before the county offices closed, I reach out to victims' services again to get an update. I was told that a decision had been made on Friday, June 14th and I was mailed out a letter about it. I asked why it was not emailed, as each time I had called (roughly every 1-2 weeks since the report was filed and sent to county) I was asked and opted into email notifications. I was also told that I have 14 days to reach out to the prosecutor or the decision would be final. Note - I've already lost 3 days since they didn't email me in the first place and there's no telling when I would have actually received the mailed letter either.

This letter states that the county prosecutor has elected to not move forward with charging Cline do to the following:

"After all of the information available was carefully considered, the reviewing attorney determined that the filing of a criminal charge was not appropriate. We must be able to prove all elements of a crime beyond a reasonable doubt. If we are unable to do so, there is no reasonable likelihood of conviction at trial. For this reason, this submittal does not meet the charging standard for the Maricopa County Attorney's Office and we are declining prosecution at this time."

Remember, Cline admitted to me on camera she tore the signs down and also admitted the same guilt to multiple news outlets as well. Not sure how admission of guilt on camera and via news articles doesn't prove beyond a reasonable doubt, but I am reviewing what options I have at this point as the victim of the crime at hand.

Outside of all of this mess that at best is a cover-up, and more than likely is outright corruption, there is an even more pressing matter on the docket for tomorrow.

At the City Council Meeting tomorrow, 6/18, held in the council chambers at 6PM, there are a total of four agenda items regarding the city's investigation that was completed by outside counsel. The complete agenda can be found HERE.

The agenda items regarding Cline are Agenda Items #36, #37, #38, & #39, and are as follows:

36) Discussion and action to waive attorney-client privilege and make public the results of the outside legal counsel investigation into Councilmember Aly Cline.

37) Presentation and discussion on the investigation of Councilmember Aly Cline by outside counsel.

38) Discussion and action to discipline Councilmember Aly Cline for violating Arizona State Law, Surprise City Code, and the Surprise City Council Policies and Procedures.

The final agenda item would only come up if any of the others are not passed or do not get presented, due to what I suspect the most important item is for tomorrow - namely Item #36, which would bring all the investigation out into the open.

39) Consideration and action to recess into executive session for the purpose of discussion and evaluation of certain allegations and potential action against a public officer pursuant to A.R.S. 38-431.03(A)(1) and/or to receive from, and discuss legal advice with, the City's attorney pertaining to related election matters pursuant to A.R.S. 38-431.03(A)(3).

Here's my call-to-action for you ...

If you can, please be present tomorrow for the City Council Meeting. Even better would be signing up to speak on the aforementioned agenda items. The best one to focus on would be Item #36. If you wish to speak, you may sign up HERE.

Some of you may notice that these items are not within the "Public Hearing" section, however, based on the requirements of open meeting laws under ARS 38-431.01, we are still legally allowed to request to speak. In my conversations with some of city council, they are willing to speak out in favor of the public addressing these items as if they were in the public meeting portion. 

Thank you all for your continued support. And please reach out if you have any questions.