By Neighborhood Nelly Arizona pioneers didn’t just set up our state for the powerful. They did so for the people too. That’s why the referenda and initiative process and rights are enshrined in our State Constitution. Referendum rights allow citizens to challenge the decisions of their elected officials. Initiatives allow the people to bypass legislatures and city councils to propose … Read More

Scottsdale resident Howard Myers was an important and critical voice that led to the Proposition 420 movement in Scottsdale.  Passed by a 71% margin on November 6th the vote stopped the ill-conceived Desert Discovery Center and enshrined more rights to city citizens when it comes to future changes in the McDowell Sonoran Preserve. For that, Mr. Myers and many others … Read More

So John Karolzak wants to be the next Mayor of Scottsdale?  According to recent Facebook posts he apparently does.  Notwithstanding Elon Musk’s ambitions people are more likely to be on Mars in 2020 than ever seeing this lobbyist and gadfly presiding in the Kiva. Karolzak is an infamous name synonymous with loose professional morals in the ambulance business, where he … Read More

Few people have more conscientiously served Scottsdale over the many years than Virginia Korte.  Southern Scottsdale businesswoman.  Scottsdale Chamber of Commerce President.  Non-profit leader.  Stalwart supporter of Scottsdale public schools.  Early voice to preserve the McDowell Mountains.  She’s a Scottsdale Hall of Famer in every sense of the word.  She wants to be Mayor of Scottsdale, badly.  She’s considered it at various times in the past and was … Read More

By Robert Rich The University of Arizona has gained national acclaim for its prestigious Division-1 basketball team. Only last summer, blue-chip prospect & Wildcat alumni Deandre Ayton was drafted first overall to the Phoenix Suns in the 2018 draft. However, the foundation in which the program was fostered appears to be crooked to its core. The University has reportedly spent … Read More

By Scottsdale Pinetop It seems these days Dr. Kelli Ward spends her days running to the next open political seat. And every time she’s left without a chair. Twice Ward has run for the U.S. Senate seat and both times she has never made it past the primary. Now she’s focusing her attention on becoming the next chair of the … Read More

by Robert Rich Anyone traveling through Downtown Tempe may have noticed the developing face-lift spanning from University Drive to Rural Road. While Tempe is no stranger to construction, the Novus Innovation Center promises to completely re-shape the landscape for both residences and businesses close to Arizona State University. The project is dropping its next phase and powering ahead. Amongst the … Read More

By Scottsdale Pinetop It’s been a whirlwind of an election season. After a chaotic Arizona’s U.S. Senate that dominated media headlines, the Phoenix mayoral runoff election is expected to be a quiet finale to the 2018 election season. But that doesn’t make it any less important. In fact, who will lead the nation’s fifth largest city might just be the … Read More

Ding dong the Desert Discovery Center (DDC) is dead.  According to this new article at azcentral.com, that is.   What good news. But is that where the resonance of this chapter of citizen rights and achievement ends? Well, let’s look at some fascinating voter data. Proposition 420, the citizen’s initiative brought by Desert Discovery Center opponents to effectively kill it, passed … Read More

The margin of Kathy Littlefield’s re-election to the Scottsdale City Council on November 6th was notable.  As her husband opines, it just may be the largest number of votes ever received by a City Council candidate. There’s no doubt the salience and organization of Proposition 420 had a lot to with Littlefield’s success.  But there’s another reason, and there’s simply no other way … Read More