Op-Ed: Scottsdale Deserves a Council Member Above Suspicion. That Isn’t Graham.

By Susan Salvaterra

Public office runs on trust. Barry Graham has spent that trust down to almost nothing.

Graham is at the center of an Attorney General investigation into whether Scottsdale’s council violated open meeting law. According to the Arizona Republic, five of the six citizen complaints involve him. They allege that he used personal email accounts to coordinate talking points with colleagues before the vote to repeal the city’s sustainability plan, and that he privately directed staff to begin canceling a roundabout project before the public could weigh in. A third alleges he created an unlawful quorum by having the city clerk poll colleagues by email. Graham’s attorney disputes the allegations, and the investigation is not finished. But the question remains: why is one councilmember the common thread?  https://www.azcentral.com/story/news/metro-phoenix/2026/10/01/arizona-ags-office-weeks-away-from-finishing-scottsdale-ethics-probe/92030389007/

That isn’t the whole record. Graham has already been found to have violated the city’s Ethics Code. He is also the subject of a pending campaign finance complaint. He has filed multiple police reports against residents, who say the reports were meant to harass them. And he filed a criminal complaint against the Mayor with the County Attorney that has been described as false.

Any one of these would warrant scrutiny. Together, they show a councilmember who treats the rules as obstacles, and who treats citizens who object as opponents to be silenced rather than people to be served.

Open government is not a technicality. When decisions are shaped in private, residents lose their chance to be heard. When critics are met with police reports, residents learn to stay quiet.

Scottsdale can do better. On November 3, voters should choose a representative who doesn’t need to explain an ethics finding, an AG investigation, and a campaign finance complaint before asking for another term.

Susan Salvaterra is a Scottsdale resident