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Opinion

Opinion: Vice Mayor Thomasson is the real deal for Paradise Valley

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As residents, we are very fortunate to have a knowledgeable, talented, and hardworking individual on the Town Council such as Anna Thomasson.

Anna’s almost four decades of business experience at the highest levels of corporate America are on full display as she works for the town as a quiet, yet very effective leader.

Here’s where Anna is the real deal: She has consistently supported our efforts to address short term rental issues, without seeking the spotlight for her work.

• Early in 2020 she came to the capitol to sit alongside our citizen group as we and Mayor Bien-Willner tried to educate our representatives about the dangers of unregulated short term rentals. Since paid lobbyists had organized a crowd in opposition to our points, it was helpful to have Councilmember Thomasson there with us, offering support.

• Later in 2020, she reached out to another member of our citizen group, Bill Hunter to compliment us on our “NeighborsNotNightmares.com” website and offer her professional expertise as a corporate communications professional.

• Again this year, Vice Mayor Thomasson went to the Arizona Capitol during the recent hearings and supported our citizen group trying to testify on behalf of town. It was a hostile environment, to be sure. Anna sat beside us for four long hours, waiting for our two minutes of testimony to be heard. It was a miserable experience. Legislators didn’t want to hear from us. Some got up and left while we were speaking. All the while, Anna stood strong with the rest of us. Her presence really defined her true mettle and character.

• And finally, last month, she rallied her contacts and used her business skills to arrange a meeting for our citizen group with a hard-to-reach gubernatorial candidate.

She even gave up a Saturday night for a police ride-along to see nuisance short term rentals firsthand in the town.

Please join us in supporting Anna Thomasson for reelection to the Paradise Valley Council. She is the real deal.