By Ronald Sampson Katie Hobbs stood in front of reporters on August 20 and told them she’s worried about the citizen initiative process getting eroded, while in the same breath standing by her override of the Axon vote. Voters gathering signatures to put a question on the ballot, she said, that’s sacred stuff. She opposed messing with it back when … Read More
Guest Editorial: Graham And His Allies Are Misleading Voters
By Raoul Zubia In an August 7th op-ed on this very website, Barry Graham attacked me over a $5,000 contribution from Axon President Josh Isner. The claim was that I said I hadn’t received contributions from Axon in a June 29th forum, and then two days later I received a donation from Mr. Isner. Yesterday, a new piece from a … Read More
Scottsdale Voters Deserve Accountability, Not Special Interests
By Terry Babb Scottsdale voters want candidates who answer to them—not special interests. With three candidates remaining for two City Council seats, I am increasingly concerned that residents are not the top priority for one of them. At a June candidate forum, Raoul Zubia assured voters that his campaign finance reports would show “there’s nothing that says Axon on it.” … Read More
How Axon Made Barry Graham a Martyr
By Ronald Sampson Political money sometimes buys outcomes. Other times it manufactures the opposite. The campaign against Barry Graham may end up as a case study in the second category. Axon and its allied committees spent heavily to remove him from the Scottsdale City Council. What they produced instead was his clearest identity in years. Graham was not cruising before the … Read More
Are the North Scottsdale Democrats Getting Money from Axon to Attack Barry Graham? This is Suspect…
By Ronald Sampson Barry Graham has a target on his back this election cycle, and the paint job looks familiar. Orange and black yard signs are popping up across north Scottsdale attacking the councilman, paid for by a group calling itself NorScoDems PAC, doing business as North Scottsdale Democrats. Graham posted the signs to Facebook this week, along with the … Read More
Solange’s Scottsdale Salience
By SongBird No matter how the elections turn out Tuesday for Scottsdale City Council, or in November, Solange Whitehead is a Hall of Famer. Amongst the contemporary rancor over Axon, out of state funding, apartments, development, transparency, elections and parking garages, one can forget her many, many contributions to the city over the past decade. That shouldn’t be. She serves with … Read More
Guest Editorial: Final Thoughts from the Campaign Trail
By Councilman Barry Graham
Guest Editorial: Axon Front Group Endorses Council Candidates
By Councilman Barry Graham
Guest Editorial: Has This Election Now Become the Nastiest in Scottsdale History?
By Bob Littlefield Dear Friends, During the last 20+ years I have waged eight campaigns for City Council and Mayor for Kathy and me. Each of them had some level of lying and personal attacks directed against us. Even Councilwoman Kathy, whose record re-election victory in 2022 showed how popular she is with the voters, was subjected to lies and … Read More
Guest Editorial: The Truth About Axon
By Christian Serena Axon Enterprise, the Scottsdale maker of Tasers and body cameras, wanted one of the largest apartment developments in Arizona history — roughly 1,900 units beside its own campus near Loop 101 and Hayden Road. As a member of the city’s Planning Commission, I studied the proposal, listened to residents, and voted no. When I refused to knuckle … Read More