Guest Editorial: Fighting Scottsdale’s New Enemies

Dear Friends: In last week’s newsletter I described how those of us who are fighting to protect Scottsdale’s special character and high quality have a new enemy, state government! Over the last few years our legislature and governor have passed legislation that, among other outrages, attempts to cancel the Axon apartment referendum, forces so-called “Accessory Dwelling Units” on Scottsdale, forces Scottsdale to … Read More

Guest Editorial: What Scottsdale should say to Axon

Dear Friends: Over the weekend the Scottsdale Progress printed my opinion piece about Axon. If you didn’t get to see it in the paper, I have reprinted it for you below: Scottsdale is a spectacular city. It was so long before Axon.  It will be long after Axon is gone. We can both applaud a local company’s success over the past many … Read More

Guest Editorial: Axon Apartment Update

By Bob Littlefield Dear Friends: The Axon apartment proposal has not been in the news much lately but a lot has happened behind the scenes in our efforts to prevent this from becoming a reality. To recap, here is a partial list of the outrages Axon has perpetrated so far in their effort to force the biggest apartment project (1875 units) ever … Read More

Is This the Kind of History Scottsdale Wants to Make?

Scottsdale is a city that prides itself on being refined, on being a leader in luxury. It has culturally led the way in the state by consistently holding high standards and not bending them. The result has been a city that is a national leader in tourism and a destination within the state. Recently however, Scottsdale has been redefining its … Read More

Guest Editorial: An Open Letter to Axon CEO Rick Smith from Former Scottsdale City Councilman and Chairman of Taxpayers Against Awful Apartment Zoning Exemptions (TAAAZE), Bob Littlefield

Dear Mr. Smith: As you are no doubt aware thousands of Scottsdale residents from conservatives to liberals have come together to put the recent Scottsdale City Council approval, awarding Axon the largest apartment complex in Scottsdale history, to a public vote.  What you may not be aware is that as of today, the halfway point of the 30 day period the … Read More

Local Democrats Pivot Towards Awful Policy, Demonstrating Why They Lose

By Alexander Lomax It was a tough year for Democrats all around this year, and Arizona was yet another example of this. They lost ground in the state legislature and have made Governor Hobbs’s intention to get a majority in at least either the State House or Senate a pipe dream. Perhaps the biggest issue nationally was a question as … Read More

Outgoing Mayor and City Councilmembers Add an Unfortunate End to Their Legacy with Axon

By Alexander Lomax A lame duck session in politics is the period after the election but before the inauguration of new members. It’s when leaders who either did not run for re-election or lost their re-election raves are unencumbered by future expectations and criticisms, where they can defy the expectations of their constituency with few repercussions. It’s also a time … Read More

A Positive Development Comes at a Risk

It has long been spoken about on this blog and in other places the degree to which the unfettered development growth days are over with in Scottsdale. Instead, today’s ethos is leadership that requests a significantly higher bar for developers to hurdle over in order to earn a blessing from the council dais, and an engaged and active citizenry that … Read More

Speakers’ Corner: Bob Littlefield

Editor’s note: This is a place where free speech and public debate are welcomed and encouraged. The Speakers’ Corner originated in the mid-19th century at London’s Hyde Park. The concept spread worldwide both physically and now virtually. Here at the Arizona Progress & Gazette, we are presenting this platform in the form of question-and-answer style interviews with people who have … Read More