By Alexander Lomax The corporate playbook for buying local influence is not new. Scottsdale has seen it before. But the scale and audacity of what appears to be unfolding ahead of the July 21st primary deserves the full attention of every resident who cares about who actually governs this city. Several sources say Axon Enterprise is conducting active polling in … Read More
Guest Editorial: First Decision Handed Down in TAAAZE Lawsuits
By Bob Littlefield Dear Friends: As you may have heard a Superior Court Judge has ruled against TAAAZE in our lawsuit against the controversial “Axon Law.” While this result is disappointing, we are considering our options for appealing this bad decision. Plenty of issues over the years have been approved in Superior Court only to have them overturned later at the … Read More
Axon’s Money Finds Its Way to Whitehead…By Another Route
By Ronald Sampson The Check That Raised Questions A recent Scottsdale Progress campaign finance review of 2026 council candidates contained a detail worth examining closely. Council candidate Solange Whitehead’s first-quarter donor list is topped by a $5,000 contribution from Mike Wagers, identified as Chief Customer Officer of Axon Enterprise. Five thousand dollars. Nearly 20% of her total first-quarter haul. From a senior … Read More
Guest Editorial: Trust Solange to Do What’s Best for Scottsdale
By Betty Janik Sadly, elections have become filled with untruths. Such is the case regarding Axon and the Scottsdale City Council race. Recent attacks have spread further fabrications and questioned Councilwoman Solange Whitehead’s honesty. Here are the facts: · When Axon World Headquarters was approved by a previous Council, Solange voted yes – after the residential component was lowered from 2,300 … Read More
The Axon Vote: What Councilwoman Whitehead Said vs. What She Did
By Michelle Ugenti-Rita Scottsdale Councilwoman Solange Whitehead Cannot Be Trusted With the election just three months away, Scottsdale voters deserve to know which candidates can be trusted to, say what they do and do what they say. Councilwoman Solange Whitehead is running for re-election, and her record on one of the most consequential development decisions in our city raises serious concerns about whether … Read More
Axon’s Stock Is Down Nearly 60%. Maybe It’s Time to Look in the Mirror.
Axon Enterprise, the Scottsdale-based maker of Tasers and body cameras, has been one of the great local tech success stories of the past decade (before being one of its biggest local headaches). So it’s worth pausing to ask: what happened? As of this week, Axon shares are trading around $350, down roughly 60% from their 2025 peak above $880. In … Read More
The Axon Question That Still Needs an Answer
By Alexander Lomax An Unfinished Investigation By now, most Scottsdale watchers are familiar with the broad strokes of the Lamar Whitmer matter. Whitmer, who served as Mayor Lisa Borowsky’s Chief of Staff, was let go in March following a 65-day city investigation that examined seven categories of alleged misconduct. Five of the seven allegations were substantiated. Two were not. It … Read More
Guest Editorial: Why You Should Vote for Bob!
By Bob Littlefield Dear Friends: Everyone who runs for Scottsdale City Council claims to be resident-friendly. But let’s be honest, most vote for overdevelopment after they take office. That’s why, if you want to preserve Scottsdale’s special character and high quality of life you should support me in the upcoming city election. In the last ten years I have been … Read More
Guest Editorial: We’ve Only Just Begun
By Bob Littlefield Dear Friends: For over a year coverage of the attempt by Axon to build a massive apartment complex in Scottsdale has dominated local media. Yet despite all this attention there is a huge amount of misinformation in the publics’ mind about what is the status of that situation. This misinformation is coming from the proponents of the … Read More
The Elephant That Wasn’t in the Room: What Mayor Borowsky Didn’t Say
Mayor Lisa Borowsky delivered her State of the City address last Thursday with plenty to say about internal turmoil, staff departures, and the need for a Charter Review Committee. She spoke of accountability, transparency, and honoring the authority of voters. What she conspicuously didn’t mention? The single most contentious issue that has dominated Scottsdale politics for the past year: the … Read More