Despite shocking intimidation tactics from Axon, a record number of referendum petition signatures, more than 25,000 have been submitted to place on the ballot a massive, unwanted and unneeded apartment project near Hayden and the 101. The signatures were turned in Saturday December 21st at Scottsdale City Hall. Petition organizers were joined by elected and leaders including Scottsdale City Councilman … Read More
AP&G Exclusive: An Interview with Scottsdale City Councilwoman Tammy Caputi
Thank you for taking some time out to chat with us, Councilwoman Caputi. It’s been a great four years in Scottsdale, and your leadership played a big role in that. When you look back on the last four years, what are you most proud of? The city is better today than it was 4 years ago by every metric, and … Read More
A Tribute to a Job Well Done: Saluting Outgoing City Manager Jim Thompson
While it is the nature of many of us to nitpick and complain when things in life aren’t perfect, the fact of the matter is that there are precious few things to complain about in Scottsdale. This city has long been so exemplary that while other cities can gripe about serious crime and quality of life issues, our problems are … Read More
Innovating Towards Solutions: Does Technology Have the Key to Solving Our Party House Problem?
If you read this blog often, you know that short term rental (STR) “party houses” have been a central issue in a lot of municipal politics, and none more so than in Scottsdale, the tourism center of Arizona (you can read our full coverage on the issue here). The pace of regulation has been a pain point for many residents, … Read More
Is This the Kind of History Scottsdale Wants to Make?
Scottsdale is a city that prides itself on being refined, on being a leader in luxury. It has culturally led the way in the state by consistently holding high standards and not bending them. The result has been a city that is a national leader in tourism and a destination within the state. Recently however, Scottsdale has been redefining its … Read More
AP&G Exclusive: An Interview with Councilman-Elect Adam Kwasman
Thank you Mr. Kwasman for taking some time to chat with us, and congratulations on your victory. It was quite a year for change with a near complete upheaval at City Hall. Why do you think voters decided on this new direction? Scottsdale residents rightly realized that this city was on the wrong track. Voters overwhelmingly stated that their elected, … Read More
Scottsdale vs. Arizona Yet Again: The Battle Over Casitas
The loss of local control and the ascendance of centralized control is a frequent issue in local politics, as state level leaders like to flex their muscles and exercise a greater degree of power while municipalities push back in order to better reflect the needs and desires of their constituents. It’s a struggle as old as time, and one that … Read More
This is How You Do It: Kudos to Scottsdale’s Leadership
By Alexander Lomax When the Scottsdale City Council and Mayor met last Thursday, in most ways it was a normal, even boring meeting. There were a few nominees for boards that needed to be voted on, there were some budgeting and zoning items that were agreed to by consent. But in some ways it was very different. That meeting will … Read More
What is Solange Whitehead Doing??
By Ronald Sampson When following elected leaders, you have to be used to disappointment. They need to make myriad decisions on votes and even the best of them have to make difficult and sometimes bad decisions. It’s a part of life…you can never expect perfection. But what this lame-duck iteration of the Scottsdale City Council has done has been beyond … Read More
The Slipper Fits: Arizona State’s Cinderella Season Becomes Even More Magical
The Valley of the Sun has been a success desert for football recently, best typified by the performance of the Arizona State Sun Devils. Two straight seasons of 3-9 records and sanctions left extremely little reason for hope, and the preseason expectations demonstrated that. Preseason polling had Coach Kenny Dillingham’s Sun Devils at the very bottom of the Big 12 … Read More