Op-Ed: Before You Vote, Read What the Scottsdale Progress Just Reported.

Residents deserve to know who is trying to buy influence in our city elections.

In last weekend’s edition, the Scottsdale Progress reported that the Axon-linked Better Together PAC is under investigation. State officials found a reasonable likelihood that the PAC violated Arizona campaign finance laws and referred the case to the Attorney General. The alleged violations include failing to properly disclose its out-of-state funding and the size of required disclaimers on its signs.

Better Together was funded entirely by a Virginia super PAC. It spent more than $200,000 attacking Michelle Ugenti-Rita, Bob Littlefield, and me. It also spent $60,000 supporting Raoul Zubia and Solange Whitehead. That’s on top of the additional support Mr. Zubia has received from Axon’s apartment developers, including $5,000 from a top Axon executive two days after Mr. Zubia endorsed the company’s apartment development and blamed residents for the nullified 26,000-signature referendum.

Voters who saw Better Together’s ads and signs were denied basic information about who was funding the attacks and the support for Zubia and Whitehead. The PAC’s chairman is an Axon lobbyist. Its treasurer is a former Axon spokesman. This $335,000 effort to defeat the candidates who stood up for residents against high-density apartment developers isn’t happening for Scottsdale’s benefit.

Special interests don’t get to hide their money, attack the candidates who reject overdevelopment, and then pretend it was all for the good of residents.

With the election less than a week away, residents should have the full picture. You will decide this race — not out-of-state super PACs and high-density apartment developers.