By Councilwoman Betty Janik It has been my pleasure to serve the Scottsdale residents as a member of City Council in 2021. The first year of my term has gone by quickly. I ran to be a voice for the citizens and I will continue to listen to you, meet with you, and work for the best Scottsdale. I welcome … Read More
Scottsdale Police Executing a Gigantic Sting Against Sinaloa Cartel, Keeping Valley Streets Safe
Many people might think that being a part of the Scottsdale police department involves little more than breaking up drunken bar fights in Old Town and picking up a few impaired drivers. But in a major development with statewide repercussions, the SPD directly facilitated a huge opioid bust against a major drug cartel. Yes, you read that right, the Scottsdale … Read More
Scottsdale City Council Living Up to Promises and Doing What the State Won’t: Regulating Short-Term Rentals
We have recently written about the town of Paradise Valley’s attempts to curb short-term rentals (STRs) in the face of inaction by our state government. Now Scottsdale is getting in on those attempts in the fight for preservation of a high quality of life. The Scottsdale City Council recently unanimously voted to close loopholes in STR laws in the city, … Read More
A Crisis In Part Caused By Scottsdale (But Also One That Can Be Cured By It Too)
If there is one defining characteristic of Arizona, save the desert, it’s our natural disdain for the government telling us what to do. But every once in a while, they feel like their hand is forced and that they need to do something. Well we are quickly hurtling towards that point with rent prices in Arizona. Rent prices have risen … Read More
SUSD Board is Feeling Heat, Putting Superintendent Menzel Through a Wringer
It’s been a strange last few months for Scottsdale Unified; between protests and swarms of angry parents to the Greenburg fiasco, it’s safe to say that all of SUSD’s leadership is under intense pressure. That may be manifesting itself in a conversation about compensation, as SUSD members are talking about changing metrics for Superintendent Scott Menzel’s pay. All this is … Read More
Scottsdale a New Soccer Mecca? Phoenix Rising Looking to Use Vacant Scottsdale Space, Why That’s a Good Idea
Scottsdale as the center of the Arizona soccer universe? It sounds crazy, but it may be closer to becoming reality, as the Phoenix Rising soccer team is considering purchasing or leasing the vacant lot near Oak and 68th Street for their junior league to use. The Phoenix Rising Football Club is the highest-league soccer club in Arizona and is one … Read More
Thomas Galvin to be Steve Chucri’s replacement at BoS – A Reasonable Choice
The Maricopa County Board of Supervisors is easily one of the most important elected boards that manages to fly under the radar of the overall electorate. These are the five people that are in charge of the people who run the 4th largest county in America; their inherent importance shouldn’t be understated. They manage a multi-billion dollar budget allocated to … Read More
Scottsdale’s State of the City Address: What We Would Like to See
Scottsdale Mayor Dave Ortega has his first State of the City address coming up next month. Typically such addresses, like you’ve often seen at the Presidential level, are both a celebration of successes (both touted and actual) as well as a declaration of future initiatives. With it being Ortega’s first, after a not-uninteresting first year in office, we are deeply … Read More
Longtime Scottsdale Activist Paula Sturgeon Entering 2022 City Council Race, and We Could Do Much Worse
It is definitely not too early to start looking forward to the 2022 Scottsdale City Council elections to kick the tires a bit on potential candidates. We will have three seats up for election: those seats are currently held by Kathy Littlefield, Linda Milhaven, and Solange Whitehead. As a reminder, we do not currently have a district system, so all … Read More
Featured Editorial: Mayor Ortega is Setting Scottsdale Up for a Major Loss
By Larry Kush Yet another battle is taking shape between property rights advocates and our cities mayor over the mayor’s goal of gutting the Old Town Scottsdale Character Area Plan (OTSCAP) which was adopted in 2018. In case you have not heard of it, OTSCAP serves as the regulatory long-range plan that guides growth and development in downtown Scottsdale, and … Read More