We believe that an engaged and informed citizenry leads to significantly better outcomes for all of us.Regular readers know that we informed you about the public input conversations about our tourism plan. Well now you may have another chance, and this time it has to do with taxation. You may be aware of a 0.2% sales tax that was enacted … Read More
Guest Editorial: A Territorial Era Abortion Ban is Now in Play, and Democrats Get a Second Wind
By Alexander Lomax Nearly every Arizonan who is somewhat engaged to the news cycle and politics has likely heard the recent bombshell news: that a territorial-era 100% complete abortion law is now the law of the land in Arizona. No exceptions for rape, incest, the life of the mother…a law that seems nearly as backward as the myriad racist laws … Read More
Trump is Coming to Town, Cementing This Year’s Elections Dynamic: Team Trump versus the Democrats
Photo Credit: Ross D. Franklin, APIt was already obvious that Arizona’s statewide campaigns were turning into a pro-Trump vs Democrats referendum. That is now becoming even more blatant and clear as Trump will be holding a rally in Mesa on October 9th. Kari Lake and Blake Masters are singled out as the key benefactors of this benevolent visit by the … Read More
The Scottsdale Unified School District Board Election: What Should You Know?
As is the case every election, the bright and shiny objects of federal- or state-level races or other big ticket campaigns draw the mass media’s attention, but there are still always a number of very down ballot races that are critically important but often fly under the radar. In this case, the two open seats for the Scottsdale Unified School … Read More
An Important Inflection Point In Paradise Valley
Beneath Paradise Valley, one of the greatest small towns in America, lies political acrimony. It’s surprising. In a community where so many are happy with its direction those who serve and help make it so are often at each other’s throats. Much of this in recent times was caused by council cancer Paul Dembow. He had a terrible relationship with Councilman Mark Stanton, was … Read More
Conversations About Scottsdale’s Growth Have Been Happening; Did You Make Your Voice Heard?
We do our best here at the Arizona Progress Gazette to keep our readership informed and engaged at the local level. After all, the local level is where your voice can be heard the most effectively and where you can actually impact some change. Besides, others are having their voices hard, why not you? Well we let you know about … Read More
The Water Crisis Continues in Scottsdale, but Perhaps there are Silver Linings
We all know that we have water issues looming not just in Scottsdale but also in all of Arizona. It is a topic that has deservedly gotten a lot of attention from us here at the Arizona Progress Gazette. But what if I told you that it’s not all doom and gloom? That’s not to say that it’s not serious … Read More
To Debate or Not to Debate: The Contrast in Conversation in the Arizona Governor’s and Secretary of State Race
By Ronald Sampson To debate or not to debate; that is normally not a question for close races. If you’re up by a large margin, it is more reasonable to simply shrug off the demand for one, but one would be hard pressed to find examples of Arizona candidates refusing to debate in a tight race. Yet that is what … Read More
And Then There Were Two: How is the Scottsdale City Council Run-Off Looking?
Back in August, the majority of the contested Scottsdale City Council seats were sealed up then and there, as both Kathy Littlefield and Solange Whitehead secured enough votes to earn re-election and not need to head to November’s run-off. One seat remains however: Barry Graham and Pamela Carter will square off to replace Linda Milhaven. So how did we get … Read More
The Perils of an Unregulated STR Industry Rears its Ugly Head
We are not afraid to confront the short-term rental (STR) crisis here in Arizona. After the industry lobbied the state government heavily, the legislature essentially took away any local control and left municipalities toothless in their ability to fight back, After extensive public outcry, a partial reversal of those laws passed this past legislative session, which then prompted both Scottsdale … Read More