Tearing Apart the Data of the Scottsdale Elections: Propositions 490 and 491

Scottsdale’s recent elections were interesting ones, with an incumbent mayor losing and two incumbent councilmembers losing their bids for re-election. And there was one (well, two) very clear winners in this election: Propositions 490 and 491. As a reminder, Proposition 490 served as an extension of the existing 0.2% sales tax which was expiring this year, reducing it to 0.15% … Read More

Guest Editorial: An Open Letter to Axon CEO Rick Smith from Former Scottsdale City Councilman and Chairman of Taxpayers Against Awful Apartment Zoning Exemptions (TAAAZE), Bob Littlefield

Dear Mr. Smith: As you are no doubt aware thousands of Scottsdale residents from conservatives to liberals have come together to put the recent Scottsdale City Council approval, awarding Axon the largest apartment complex in Scottsdale history, to a public vote.  What you may not be aware is that as of today, the halfway point of the 30 day period the … Read More

Tearing Apart the Data of the Scottsdale Elections: the Mayoral Race

It was a truly interesting election season in Scottsdale this year, as incumbent Mayor Dave Ortega was ousted by a significant margin, the city council will welcome three new members, and two propositions won by wide margins. Some of these items are related and some are indicative of wider trends within the city’s electorate. In this three-part series we get … Read More

Stop the Presses: Pro Athlete Stops Trouble Instead of Causing It in Scottsdale

Stop us if you’ve heard it before: a pro athlete encounters a problem in Scottsdale involving too much alcohol and law enforcement intercedes. If you’ve heard it before perhaps it’s because we’ve written about it a few times, and it’s generally the result of said athlete having a few too many drinks. That’s not always the dynamic, however; on a … Read More

A Lesson in How Not to Be Transparent: Glendale Silences Voices of Citizens

Good government covers a number of different disciplines and facets. We all want a government that is responsive to our needs, listens to the citizenry, uses our money efficiently, and is transparent in what it does. Rarely is any particular government perfect in all of these facets, but we expect at least an acceptable effort in all of them. This … Read More

Local Democrats Pivot Towards Awful Policy, Demonstrating Why They Lose

By Alexander Lomax It was a tough year for Democrats all around this year, and Arizona was yet another example of this. They lost ground in the state legislature and have made Governor Hobbs’s intention to get a majority in at least either the State House or Senate a pipe dream. Perhaps the biggest issue nationally was a question as … Read More

A Serious Glut in Paradise Valley Real Estate: What’s Going On?

The town of Paradise Valley has long been known for a few idiosyncrasies, including its unusual zoning code that attempts to preserve its unique quality of life. All lots must be at least one acre, rendering large condo and apartment complexes non-existent in the town. However, that doesn’t mean that development doesn’t exist in the city, and a recent story … Read More