The Scottsdale Firefighters Association has announced it will host a city council candidate forum this April, and it is worth paying attention to. The firefighters’ association has long been one of the most credible civic voices in Scottsdale, with a track record of endorsements that carry real weight with voters across the political spectrum. When they put candidates in a room together and ask hard questions, people show up, and more importantly, candidates tend to answer.
The obvious expectation is that the forum will focus on public safety: staffing levels, overtime costs, the department’s well-documented succession challenge as veteran firefighters retire in large numbers, and the rollout of Scottsdale’s new ambulance service. All of that matters. But a forum this close to a consequential election, with three council seats on the line, is an opportunity to push candidates on the issues that are defining Scottsdale’s future well beyond the fire station. Here is what we would love to see on the question list.
On water: the Advanced Purified Recycled Water program has effectively been stalled by City Manager Greg Caton, who removed it from the Capital Improvement Plan budget and questioned whether council ever formally approved it. Candidates should be asked directly: do you support moving forward with the “toilets to taps” program, and if so, what specific action will you take in your first year on council to get it back on track?
Photo Credit: Utah State University
On development: North Scottsdale continues to grow at a pace that strains infrastructure and frays the nerves of long-time residents. Candidates should be pressed on where they draw the line on density and height variances, and whether they believe the current General Plan is being honored or quietly eroded.
On the Axon negotiations: the long-running saga over the proposed mega-apartment complex site and what, if anything, gets built there touches on traffic, water use, and the character of the city’s northern corridor. Voters deserve to know where each candidate stands before they cast a ballot, not after.
Axon’s Apartment Plans
On the city manager: without naming names, candidates should be asked whether they believe the city manager serves the council’s policy direction or operates independently of it. The answer will tell you a great deal.
The firefighters’ association has earned its reputation by asking serious questions and holding candidates accountable. This April, the city’s voters are counting on them to do exactly that.