Op-Ed: Michelle Ugenti-Rita and Barry Graham Are Right for Scottsdale’s Future

By Steve Colombo

We long-time Scottsdale residents chose to make the city our home. Simply being born here fails to make a candidate qualified. 

Years of drought and Colorado River cuts have made water a pivotal election issue. Only Mr. Graham and Ms. Ugenti-Rita have proven results on this topic. Raoul Zubia can only be judged by his campaign promises and with whom he surrounds himself (high density developers and their shady out-of-state PACs, and realtor groups with vested interests— spending record amounts). 

Supply and demand are fundamentals of economics. Both require attention and Barry and Michelle are focused on them: increasing our supply of water while managing and limiting its growing demand by, for example, limiting the overburden of more high-density housing. Again Mr. Zubia has failed to address these issues or simply does not understand. Either makes him unqualified to steward our limited resources. 

As Mayor Herb Drinkwater supported managed growth and the integrity of our city, Michelle and Barry have earned my vote. Mayor Drinkwater’s statue outside City Hall made my decision to vote for both very simple. Under Mayor Drinkwater’s leadership Scottsdale was named “America’s Most Livable City.” It still is. I vote to keep it this way. 

By Steve Colombo: 35 year Scottsdale resident and Managing Principal of SolarPowerFx, LLC