Borowsky’s Speeding Ticket and Scottsdale’s Long Memory for Mayoral Mishaps

By Ronald Sampson

Mayor Lisa Borowsky has a speeding ticket story now, and Scottsdale has been here before. ABC15 first reported that the citation was dismissed after process servers couldn’t track her down.

What Actually Happened

A speed camera caught Borowsky doing 58 in a 40 near Scottsdale and Thomas roads back in October, a $344 citation. She says she never knew about it until reporters started asking. Process servers tried to reach her three separate times over three weeks and never could, so the citation got tossed in February on a technicality rather than on the merits. When asked if she’d just pay the fine anyway, she declined to say.

Photo Credit: Arizona PBS

Scottsdale Has Seen This Movie Before

Longtime Scottsdale watchers will remember Sam Campana, mayor in the late 1990s, who in the eyes of her opponents became known as the “911 mayor” after she reportedly called emergency dispatch for driving directions. It became the kind of story that stuck, made the rounds in local coverage, and fed a broader narrative that worked against her. Campana didn’t seek re-election, as it was tough for her to shake this one action.

Sam Campana

Not Quite the Same Circumstance

Here’s the honest comparison: Campana’s moment was a single misstep that in the eyes of her detractors crystallized how they saw her. Borowsky’s ticket is a routine traffic camera citation that got dismissed on a service technicality, not proof of anything beyond a lead foot on Thomas Road. Plenty of Scottsdale residents have had the exact same experience with those cameras. It’s not the same weight class. But as happened with Campana, Borowsky is dangerously close to reaching a tipping point with the latest saga as it gives voters yet another reason to question her leadership during a first 2 years that has had a significant number of stumbles, and, yes, successes. 

Worth Watching, Not Worth Panicking

Where Borowsky should be careful is the response, not the ticket. “I had no idea” and declining to say whether she’ll pay reads worse than just cutting the check and moving on would have. Campana’s downfall wasn’t really the 911 call itself, it was what that call came to represent. 

A $344 ticket isn’t going to sink a mayor. How she handles the next thirty days of questions about it says a lot more about whether this stays a footnote or grows into something bigger. Is this going to be a fumble that gels a significant amount of displeasure in her administration so far and becomes a defining tipping point like Campana’s was? Only time will tell.