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
Working Hard…
Thank you for the email that was just sent to us showing this Axon hired gun, trying to block Scottsdale voters from having a say on the largest apartment complex in city history, taking a break to smoke some weed. Perhaps Axon should take a cue from this guy: smoke one, chill the heck out, and leave Scottsdale alone.
Tearing Apart the Data of the Scottsdale Elections: City Council
In our series where we break down the election results from Scottsdale, we have already looked at the mayoral race as well as the ballot propositions. For our third of three pieces, we will take a look at the Scottsdale City Council races, typified by major upheaval as both incumbents on the November ballot were ousted (after newcomer Jan Dubauskas … 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