A Veritable Who’s Who in Scottsdale

It was just last week when we went through the candidates who qualified for the ballot for the Scottsdale City Council race later this year, and Tim Stratton was one of those. We noted that he had strong Republican Party credentials and would likely be a player. Well we recently learned how strong those party creds are as we obtained a copy of his campaign kick-off event flyer.

While we have seen larger host committees, sometimes it is not the size of the boat but the motion of the ocean as the saying goes. A few things stick out immediately: having current Scottsdale City Councilmember Linda Milhaven as a host is a coup, and having former Councilmember and Mayoral candidate Suzanne Klapp on there is not far behind. They would certainly be good City Hall guides for him.

Look who we also have there: Mr. Jim Lamon. You have very likely seen his commercials in the past few months; Mr. Lamon has vaulted to or near the top of the GOP primary race for the US Senate this year, depending on which poll you read. He has poured an incredible amount of his own money into winning this race and has used those funds to produce and advertise very interesting, sometimes controversial but always engaging commercials. Strong Republican Party credentials indeed.

Another head-turning addition to this host committee is the presence of zoning attorney Nick Wood. He is representing the Hovey/Optima project at the 101 and Scottsdale Road, a project that would bring an incredible 1,500 new apartment units into the city. With those kind of numbers, it’s safe to say that he would prefer a much more growth-friendly City Council. Perhaps it’s even safe to say that considering the sometimes anti-growth tendencies of the current Council, the near-term future of the project depends on it.

We were confident that Tim Stratton would be a player in this race, and this host committee has confirmed that; he’s got some friends in high places. We anxiously await to see what political bonafides the other candidates can slam down onto the table that can beat that.