Letter to the Editor: Zubia Showed Up

There is something refreshingly old-fashioned about a candidate simply sitting down, taking questions and answering them.

That is what Raoul Zubia did on Sunday Square Off.

No hiding behind a press release. No anonymous blog post. No surrogate going to bat for him. Zubia sat across from Brahm Resnik and discussed the issues Scottsdale’s next City Council will actually confront.

Viewers got to hear his answers, assess his command of the issues, and decide for themselves whether they agreed.

That should not be remarkable. Unfortunately, it increasingly is.

Zubia is one of three candidates competing for two council seats, along with Barry Graham and Michelle Ugenti-Rita. Scottsdale confirms all three will appear on the November ballot. Resnik said during the interview that Graham and Ugenti-Rita declined invitations to appear.

And yes, the conversation got wonky at times.

Good.

Water policy is complicated. Scottsdale has been recycling water for decades and currently recharges nearly two billion gallons of highly purified recycled water into the aquifer each year. Serious questions about that system deserve more than slogans.

The same is true of development, economic growth, and technologies such as Flock, which Scottsdale is currently reviewing amid broader privacy concerns.

Meanwhile, Scottsdale’s political bubble will obsess over endorsements, disclosed contributions, and personalities. Michelle Ugenti-Rita has, for example, publicly celebrated an endorsement from Turning Point Action. Those political relationships are fair subjects for scrutiny.

But they are not substitutes for candidates answering questions directly.

Scottsdale voters deserve substantive interviews with everyone asking to govern the city.

On Square Off, one candidate accepted that opportunity. Zubia showed up.