With its heavy reliance on tourism Scottsdale has been a city hit particularly hard by the economic consequences of a pandemic.
We applaud municipal leaders for allowing its public safety officials to review potential event applications at city facilities. Don’t have a good plan or operate as you suggest? You don’t get approved or you get shut down.
But if you operate responsibly as happened last week by one of the city’s great corporate citizens, Barrett-Jackson, the local economy – and tourism – can get a critical boost. 
By all accounts Barrett-Jackson organized a smart, compliant and safe approach to its new “Fall Auction” at WestWorld. It was the first time the Scottsdale-based company held an auction preceding and in the same location as its spectacle January event.
Having had three auctions around the country canceled – and with Palm Beach anxious to get this one – Barrett-Jackson instead decided to be patriots for its community and hold an economically significant event in its hometown. The Fall Auction also served an important role as a training exercise for the potentially bigger event in January.
These are not easy times for anyone, especially companies like Barrett-Jackson that employ many at its Scottsdale Airpark location. But its experience and perseverance was welcome news for a city that hasn’t had too much to cheer about this year, a result that looked almost as good as some of the cool automobiles Barrett-Jackson sold.