Guest Editorial: Scottsdale Residents Deserve a City Council That Listens to you!

At our first Council meeting following the primary election, City Hall was filled to standing room only with residents from across Scottsdale and every political affiliation celebrating my outright re-election. The Mayor’s recognition of my victory and the residents’ applause were an incredibly uplifting way to begin the evening. Thank you to everyone who came to City Hall!

Unfortunately, the Council majority quickly turned the meeting negative.

Twice that night, with residents in the audience asking to speak, the Council’s bloc of four (Graham, Dubauskas, Kwasman and Littlefield) voted to deny Scottsdale residents a voice at the beginning of the meeting, where it had agendized for years. That should concern everyone, regardless of political affiliation. Public participation is not a partisan issue. It is a Scottsdale tradition and the foundation of representative government.

Then, my proposal to improve on Scottsdale’s political sign mess became another example of what has gone wrong at City Hall. Rather than working collaboratively to solve a legitimate problem, one Councilmember used the dais to attack perceived political opponents—namely, me and Raoul Zubia.

Par for the course, this Council majority would rather take down fellow Councilmembers than work together to win for Scottsdale. If this Council were a football team, the Super Bowl wouldn’t be in the cards—with four on the team tackling the other teammates.

Scottsdale deserves better.

That’s why I am enthusiastically endorsing and urging voters to elect Raoul Zubia to the City Council in November. Raoul is a well-respected civic leader and lifelong Scottsdale resident who will work collaboratively with his fellow Councilmembers to restore common sense and put community priorities first at City Hall.