*Scottsdale Councilman-Elect Tom Durham will become an influential new voice for Scottsdale arts
*The likely 2022 race to be Paradise Valley’s new mayor will become livelier than it already is
*The number of people interested in running for Scottsdale Mayor in 2024 will grow to more than the current three
*Scottsdale Mayor-Elect Dave Ortega will re-institute the city’s mask requirement after being sworn in January 12th
*The most popular newcomer in the Northeast Valley will be the new Ritz-Carlton Resort
*At least two of the following potential candidates for Scottsdale City Council in 2022 will get very serious: Barry Graham, Christian Serena, Guy Phillips or Becca Linnig
*With very little rain this summer or winter water will become a big policy issue affecting every Valley city
*As the recreational sale of marijuana goes online in the spring, Harvest Scottsdale in the Airpark will become a state model
*A major political controversy happens in the Town of Paradise Valley
*Spring training doesn’t happen until mid-April in yet another blow to local tourism
*The Valley housing market cools if Arizona’s tax-hiking Proposition 208 is not overturned by the courts
*The top contenders for Arizona Governor in 2022 become clearer with Mark Brnovich, Kimbely Yee, Matt Salmon and/or Steve Chucri on the GOP side and Greg Stanton and Katie Hobbs angling for Team Blue
*Former Arizona Attorney General Grant Woods will be named to a surprising position with the Biden Administration
*Congressman Andy Biggs decides that potentially favorable winds in ’22 for the GOP are reason enough to try and dethrone new U.S. Senator Mark Kelly
*The state’s once a decade political Super Bowl entertains and reshapes the landscape as new and existing political districts get drawn and redrawn, and aspiring pols become as plentiful as swingers in Arcadia
*Arguably the best run sports team in the Valley, Phoenix Rising, continues to make more big news
*Scottsdale City Councilwoman Solange Whitehead’s influence on the City Council continues to grow
*Tom Horne and Maricopa County Supervisor Bill Gates start jockeying for the 2022 GOP nomination for Attorney General and the right to take on Democrat Felicia Rotellini who will be hoping the third time is the charm