By Mary Jo Pitzl | The Republic
Maria Syms has resigned her seat on the Paradise Valley Town Council so she can serve in the state Legislature.
Syms submitted her resignation letter Saturday to Mayor Michael Collins. In it, she said she had relied on legal advice received during her legislative campaign that she could continue to serve on the council even if she won office as a state representative. She believed, she wrote, that because council members are unpaid, they are exempt from a constitutional provision that a lawmaker cannot hold another elective office.
The only exemption in the state Constitution is for school board members. And she later got additional advice that council members are not exempt.