By Former Scottsdale City Councilmember Bob Littlefield
The mess Axon CEO Rick Smith finds himself in is entirely of his own making. Opining in a recently published editorial that his company could be “pushed out,” Mr. Smith blends denialism while playing the blame game.
Smith says building Axon has been his life’s work. That’s fine. As a former Scottsdale Councilmember, my life’s work has been protecting Scottsdale from out-of-control overdevelopment. My wife, a current Scottsdale Councilmember, has also made protecting Scottsdale her life’s work. We may not own a billion-dollar corporation, but we know Scottsdale’s quality of life is priceless.
The Scottsdale City Council previously approved plans for Axon’s new corporate headquarters. Most people applauded this decision. But then Mr. Smith attempted to change the terms. He wanted to add 2,600 apartments to the plan, later scaling that back to 1,900. Never mind the fact that he got the land at a bargain price from the state of Arizona because its zoning did not permit residential use. Arizona schools were supposed to benefit from this sale.
When Smith brought the apartment plan before the Scottsdale Planning Commission, an Axon executive made the unfortunate error of calling the boss of Commissioner Christian Serena. Already critical of Axon’s plans, Serena didn’t appreciate the implied pressure. Neither did the Scottsdale City Attorney.
The plans were withdrawn, but not for long. Smith reduced the apartment units to 1,900 and decided to pitch this plan, still the largest apartment entitlement in Arizona history in terms of units built, to the planning commission and then a lame duck Scottsdale City Council, most of whose members were rejected at the polls just weeks earlier because of their approvals of mega-apartment projects.
While most of those who voted yes had nothing to lose, Scottsdale residents had plenty to lose, which is why a successful petition drive generated an estimated 19,000 valid signatures to put the Axon apartment proposal on the November 2026 ballot. Axon squandered much of their goodwill with Scottsdale voters by foolishly spending hundreds of thousands of dollars on ‘petition blockers’ who tried to prevent residents from signing our referendum petition. That didn’t work out too well.
Mr. Smith is also blaming a labor union for his woes. He is just creating a convenient scapegoat. The support we received from Unite Here and its affiliated Worker Power Organization is appreciated but it was not a driving factor. More than 90% of our resources came from the widely respected Public Integrity Alliance.
And the only reason our organization, Taxpayers Against Awful Apartment Zoning Exemptions (TAAAZE), was able to collect so many signatures so fast is because residents are tired of apartment projects that are too tall, too dense, and make no sense, especially when you consider the thousands of apartments already ready being built or currently approved for Scottsdale.
Smith says he can’t wait until the November 2026 election, so he tried to get the legislature to pass a bill that would shield most municipal zoning decisions, retroactively, from a public vote. While this bill is being pushed by Axon it would actually destroy the right of referendum (enshrined in Arizona’s constitution since statehood in 1912) for every Arizonan in every city in our state! That bill appears dead after it drew outrage from lawmakers such as Representative Joseph Chaplik whose district includes Scottsdale. But as long as the legislature is still in session there is a chance it could come back to life. So, please contact your state legislators and ask them to protect everyone’s constitutional rights to challenge their government and not see those eviscerated by a greedy CEO who thinks his needs are more important than everyone else’s in Arizona. You can help prevent these awful bills from becoming law by contacting your legislators (go to Find My Legislator if you don’t already know who they are) and let them know how strongly you oppose this outrageous assault on your rights. You should also contact Scottsdale’s Mayor and City Councilmembers and insist they direct Scottsdale’s Government Relations Department to oppose these bills as aggressively as possible.
And if the wheels of democracy aren’t moving fast enough for Mr. Smith, why did he drag his feet when it came to getting his apartment plan before the Scottsdale City Council. He was kicking around the idea in late 2023. Instead, he waited until December 2024, hoping his odds would be better with a lame duck Scottsdale City Council.
Smith keeps tazing himself in the foot while blaming others, when all along it’s been his hand on the trigger.
Bob Littlefield is a former Scottsdale City Councilman and Chairman of Taxpayers Against Awful Apartment Zoning Exemptions (TAAAZE). He can be reached at bob@boblittlefield.com.