By Councilman Barry Graham City government works best when it’s anchored in its essential responsibilities: keeping residents safe, maintaining the city’s infrastructure and preserving public open space. That’s why I’m proud of the FY2026 budget that the city council is currently working on — a return to fundamentals that one of my colleagues calls “public safety, potholes and parks.” There’s … Read More
Our Leaders are Fighting for Our City, and We Should Be Thankful
By Alexander Lomax Checks and balances are important in life. We need checks and balances in our government, checks and balances in our interpersonal relationships, and checks and balances within the corporate world. Complete overregulation is bad, but a world where corporations have no checks on their power isn’t any better either as the industrial revolution taught us (if you … Read More
The New Sheriffs are in Town: Scottsdale Shows a New Direction with Sustainability Plan Repeal
By Ronald Sampson Scottsdale voted for change in this past election; it rejected a couple sitting councilmembers and the incumbent mayor. And it only took about one week, but Scottsdale is already getting a strong whiff of that change. Last week was a very busy one at the council dais, and the new iteration of council is setting its sights … Read More
Guest Editorial: Promises Made, Promises Kept!
By Councilwoman Jan Dubauskas Dear Friends, THANK YOU! It was an honor to be sworn in on Tuesday as your new Scottsdale City Councilwoman!! Scottsdale is an incredible city – the jewel of the American southwest. From our spark of Western spirit, our thriving business and tourism economy, and our beautiful preserve – we are blessed to live here and … Read More
Guest Editorial: Jaw Dropping Disrespect, Lies and Deaf Ears Mark the First Meeting of Scottsdale’s New City Council
By Linda Milhaven At Tuesday’s City Council meeting, Barry Graham and Adam Kwasman led one of the most disrespectful displays I have witnessed in 30 years of watching City Council meetings. Jan Dubauskas and Kathy Littlefield were complicit. They stifled discussion by preventing their colleagues from speaking and disputing Graham’s misstatements. They shouted over colleagues taking control of the meeting … Read More
Scottsdale Residents Fight Back! Record Number Of Signatures Submitted Opposing Massive Apartment Complex Despite Axon Bullying Tactics
Despite shocking intimidation tactics from Axon, a record number of referendum petition signatures, more than 25,000 have been submitted to place on the ballot a massive, unwanted and unneeded apartment project near Hayden and the 101. The signatures were turned in Saturday December 21st at Scottsdale City Hall. Petition organizers were joined by elected and leaders including Scottsdale City Councilman … Read More
Despite Attempt of Lobbyist Lawyers to Thwart the Will of the People, Popular Parks Initiative Will Be On Scottsdale Ballots in November
By Alexander Lomax It’s been a rollercoaster past week or so for Proposition 490, the Protect and Preserve initiative that is designed to replace the 0.2% sales tax used for the McDowell Sonoran Preserve with a lower 0.15% sales tax with expanded park maintenance and upkeep services. The very popular initiative brought the ire of the Goldwater Institute, the lobbyist … Read More
Government Matchmakers: What if Scottsdale Followed Japan’s Lead?
For all the single people out there, would you like your government to help you find a mate? We’re going to garner a guess that nearly 100% of the responses would range from “No!” to “Hell no!”. But that is precisely what parts of Japan are doing to help stem their population decline due to low birth rates. Scottsdale has … Read More
Critical Conversation in Scottsdale City Council: the Future of the City is At Stake
Many city council meetings are full of boring minutiae: zoning issues, liquor licenses, talking through budgets and small changes, things of that nature. But every once in a while, a conversation happens that is truly critical to the future of a city, and this Tuesday represented one of them. The Protect and Preserve Scottsdale Task Force was assigned the job … Read More

