Thank you for taking some time out to chat with us, Councilwoman Caputi. It’s been a great four years in Scottsdale, and your leadership played a big role in that. When you look back on the last four years, what are you most proud of?
The city is better today than it was 4 years ago by every metric, and I’m proud of keeping Scottsdale on top. We are an aspirational gold-standard city and everyone wants to live here for a reason. In the last 4 years, we successfully navigated the city through a global pandemic and brought Tourism back even stronger. We increased high paying jobs by over 10%, increased cash reserves, fully funded public safety with competitive salaries, and paid down pension liabilities. We passed a voter-approved 10-year General Plan, protected neighborhoods from bad short term rental operators, and helped reduce crime rates to some of lowest in the Valley.
We improved downtown parking and traffic safety and bulked up our streets with many new lane miles. We decreased the size of the budget, decreased property tax rates, and maintained a triple A bond rating. Despite world record inflation, we were able to deliver to our residents the bond projects they wanted without compromising quality or issuing more debt, as many other cities were forced to do. We provided world class amenities at the lowest tax rates in the Valley- this is our Scottsdale winning formula!
In my time on council, our development project pipeline has decreased over 50%. Only 1 small handful of the highest quality development projects have come before us, all with meaningful community benefits, and only 1 has broken ground. We founded an education subcommittee and wrote an education element into the General Plan. All our residents deserve the best possible Scottsdale, including the next generation.
And what do you wish you could have moved forward more?
I wanted to put together a task force to work on streamlining the process of bringing new projects to the city. There are too many complicated roadblocks for projects both big and small as people and businesses navigate their way through the approval process from start to finish. I spent a lot of time over the last several years helping frustrated small businesses get past hurdles. The steps need to be clear and concise, and there needs to be both a process and culture change away from “no” towards finding creative solutions and ways to say yes to good projects and ideas. The State legislature just passed new laws forcing cities to decrease project approval times, but we shouldn’t wait for punitive measures from the State- we should be proactive about finding a better process on our own terms.
You had been around the political space a bit before you were elected, including a run for the legislature in 2016. You likely had some ideas of what the role in council would be like before you were elected. What surprised you the most when you were in office? What did you not anticipate?
I was surprised at how much there was to learn, even after spending three years on our development review board and completing several fellowships and training programs. There isn’t much formal council training – you learn the job as you go, and it’s not easy. Every day brought a new challenge and a new topic to master. It’s a long, steep learning curve. My biggest regret about not having a second term is that after four years I feel fully trained and ready to go but will have to step aside- at least for now!
I did not anticipate how much toxicity there would be, both from neighbors and my own colleagues. Disagreeing on policy or issues is healthy and important. Being subjected to personal insults was exhausting. I run a successful small business, have a husband and three school aged children, and serve on multiple community boards- I took time from my life every day to serve on city council and use my experience and best judgement to make decisions that helped the majority of our residents and moved the city forward. Starting with a simple “thank you” would’ve made a world of difference in my day! I also did not anticipate having to deal with false information and negativity spread from our own council, which was a huge waste of time and prevented us from accomplishing more great things for our residents.
It’s never easy to stare into an unsuccessful effort and pick it apart for the sake of learning, so we will buffer that question with a positive one. When you look back at a successful campaign in 2020 and an unsuccessful one four years later, what do you think the key to your success was four years ago? And what do you think the voters were saying when they didn’t re-elect you this year?
The race in 2024 was hyper partisan; the undervotes were impossible to overcome. Two thirds of Scottsdale voters, 120,000 people, chose only 1 candidate- “D” or “R” as directed by their party’s voter guides- and threw out their second vote. As an Independent, I fell in the middle. This was unprecedented. I’m proud of the wide, deep community support that allowed me to earn the votes of almost 51,000 Scottsdale residents (1% short of victory) with both parties working against me. People say they want independent, non-partisan voices, but that’s not how they voted. Party prevailed over merit in this election. There was also a strong anti-incumbent sentiment that did not help, which was odd since the city is in such exceptional shape. The hostility towards ANY development worked against the incumbents. As I mentioned, we only approved a small handful of projects- we can’t shut down the city. The next council will struggle with this as well.
If you could wave a magic wand and change one thing about Scottsdale’s governance, management, or leadership, what would it be?
We need leaders with more relevant professional training and skill sets, more respect for the office, and more institutional and historical knowledge of the city. We need leaders with bravery and vision- people who will look ahead, concentrate on the big picture, and make the hard decisions, not just cave to the loudest voices. Decisions need to be made with facts, data, and courage, for the good of our city, not for social media posts, or soundbites, or the next election.
Once January hits, what’s next for you? Returning back to your business?
I never left my business, but yes, it’s definitely in need of more attention after four years of not being my focus. I have three kids and a husband who would like more of my time as well. I also remain the chair of the Scottsdale Coalition of Today and Tomorrow, an organization dedicated to promoting, enhancing and improving Scottsdale’s quality of life and economic vitality through community education and involvement in public policy issues. We will be engaging in the community in more meaningful ways going forward, now that I have a little more time.
Do you see yourself running for office again? If so, what sort of role would you consider?
YES- everything is on the table. You win some, you lose some- it’s all a learning experience. On to the next adventure!
You’ve earned a nice getaway for your four years of work. Do you have any trips planned? Any special sort of “me time”?
I’m too tired from the grueling election season on top of working two jobs to travel right now- we’ll do something fun as a family next summer. Right now, I need to rest, recharge, and detox!
Finally, we have a lot of Scottsdale readers, and you have the floor and their attention. What would you like to say to them?
We have a winning formula here in Scottsdale: high amenities and open space, strong property values, low property taxes, all made possible by our vibrant economy. We are an aspirational, gold standard city and everyone wants to live here- this is because of our excellent planning and careful decision making over the last several decades. The formula has worked for many years, but it can be broken. Successful cities do not stagnate; be careful what you wish for.