Bob Littlefield Did the Math, and Put Scottsdale First

by Ronald Sampson

Few people have fought for Scottsdale’s character longer than Bob Littlefield. The Army veteran and tech entrepreneur served three terms on the City Council, from 2002 into 2015, and chaired its subcommittee on water issues. He founded Taxpayers Against Awful Apartment Zoning Exemptions, better known as TAAAZE, to fight against what he and many others saw as the incredible overreaches of Axon and its mega-apartment complex plans. This year, he ran for a fourth term. Then, after earning his spot on the November ballot, he walked away from it.

Back in August, Littlefield exited the race after the July 21 primary and returned to lead TAAAZE. He had finished third with 22,091 votes, comfortably in the top four. This week, that decision paid off. Barry Graham and Michelle Ugenti-Rita are headed to the council, and Littlefield deserves a share of the credit.

Reading the Numbers

The primary left four candidates chasing two seats. Three of them, Littlefield, Graham and Ugenti-Rita, shared a slower-growth message and had effectively run together. Meanwhile, Raoul Zubia finished just 194 votes behind Littlefield and urged supporters to vote only for him, the single-shot strategy that has been successful for state House races across the state for years.

That’s where the math turned dangerous. Three like-minded candidates splitting one bloc of voters, against a single opponent collecting concentrated support, is how a minority view wins a majority of seats. Littlefield said the primary results changed the landscape. He also said he believed two candidates opposed to overdevelopment could win. In other words, he saw that his presence might be the very thing that tipped a seat the other way.

What Was at Stake

For Littlefield, this was never abstract. Zubia has said Scottsdale could welcome Axon’s jobs while asking for less density, a stance his opponents called too friendly to the company. Furthermore, Zubia dismissed using water resources as a deterrent to development. That runs directly against the case Littlefield has made for two decades.

Head Over Heart

By all accounts, stepping aside wasn’t what Littlefield wanted. He has spent much of his adult life in this fight, and the council dais is where he’s done some of his best work. However, his head and his issue-driven heart reached the same conclusion. The cause mattered more than the candidate.

That’s rarer than it should be. Politics is full of people who stay in races long after the numbers say leave, and voters pay the price. Littlefield did the opposite, and now the slow-growth bloc he helped protect has two more seats at the table.

Still in the Fight

Of course, he never left the arena and we’re not sure he’ll ever stop unless he’s physical unable. He went back to TAAAZE to keep pressing the legal and political challenge to the Axon apartment deal. With Graham and Ugenti-Rita joining Solange Whitehead on the new council in January, that fight has friends on the inside.

Bob Littlefield deserves the thanks of anyone who values fighting for issues over personal gain. He put Scottsdale first, even when it cost him, and Scottsdale is better for it.