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

By: Robert Rich On October 8, 2018, Governor Susana Martinez & Mayor Tim Keller announced that Netflix has chosen Albuquerque, New Mexico to be the home of its first production studio complex. The deal is projected to bring in $1 billion dollars of revenue, and 1,000 production jobs, per year to New Mexico. While this is a huge step forward … Read More

By: Scottsdale Pinetop They marched, they ran and they won. It has been a historic year for women candidates with a record-breaking number of women now holding federal and state offices. But this isn’t something new for Arizona politics. Even with the momentum of the #MeToo and Year of the Woman movement, Arizona has continued its tradition of leading the … Read More

*2018 definitely proved to be a “Year of the Woman” when it came to state and national politics. Somewhat lost among the results was Kate Gallego’s dismantling of the field in the Phoenix Mayor’s race. She topped former Councilman Danny Valenzuela, the overwhelming favorite of developers, by a whopping 19 point margin. They both now head to a March run-off … Read More

Once upon a time Scottsdale power brokers used to sit around a place called Mag’s Ham Bun and largely decide who was going to rule the city’s roost. How times have changed. Last night a grassroots movement spawned with laptops and shoe leather reinvented Scottsdale’s political landscape.  It was an earthquake. Proposition 420, a determined drumbeat of citizens to defeat … Read More

As Scottsdale voters contemplate Question 1 on the November 6th ballot, a measure that would generate new funds to repair, improve and expand local roadways, we have a question to ask of our readers.  Normally we opine. This time we seek input. We have written previously of the spiteful opposition engineered by local realtor Scott Jarson to a notable and … Read More

It might seem odd for us to opine about the leader of opposition to a Scottsdale measure we enthusiastically support.  But not all opponents are or should be considered untoward, especially if their heritage outflanks most everyone involved in the debate. We speak of Proposition 420, as we have many times.  It deserves support for all the reasons we, and  … Read More

The cast of characters associated with opposing the revitalization of the former Chinese Cultural Center in Phoenix not only has a sketchy relationship with reality, they have a sketchy relationship with the law.   You may remember the group’s spokesman Tom Simon. He had a long list of felonies to his name and did prison time before he was hired by … Read More

By Mayor Jim Lane, Vice Mayor Guy Philips and Councilwoman Suzanne Klapp Editorial in Arizona Republic  Please join us in supporting Question 1 on Scottsdale’s November ballot to keep our fair share of county transportation taxes. Question 1 approves a small and temporary transportation sales tax increase in Scottsdale. The increase amounts to one-tenth of 1 percent (0.10 percent), or … Read More