By Alexander Lomax Laurie Roberts is perhaps the local media’s most prominent and prolific crap-talker. Her style is one of consistent bear-poking; you will almost never read her give kudos to politicians, but instead take them to task about some perceived injustice. And there’s a role for that; politicians are good enough at spinning their supposed successes and hiding their … Read More
Potential Civil War with Arizona Democrats Brewing? Governor Hobbs May Have a Serious Primary Challenger
By Alexander Lomax All’s fair in love, war, and politics, but there are typically a few axioms that keep people in line and keep order in what can otherwise be a cutthroat, back-stabbing industry. One of those is that when your party holds a significant seat, you do not give them a tough primary. Sure, you can prevent some fringe … Read More
What I Wish for the New Year
By Ronald Sampson Here we are yet again…another trip around the sun, another year of wins and losses, of mistakes and corrections, or joy and regrets. I prefer not to make resolutions, because I don’t want the accountability and expectations put on myself. I don’t need anyone reminding me of what I thought I should be doing months before. I’m … Read More
As Kyrsten Sinema Prepares to Leave the Senate, What Should We Think About her Legacy?
By Alexander Lomax In politics, “one and done” is almost universally a negative. Never in my lifetime has a President chosen not to run for re-election after their first term save the emergency scramble to pressure Biden not to, so a “one-term President” means electoral failure. A one-term Congressman barely has enough time to ditch a map of the building … Read More
AP&G Exclusive: An Interview with Scottsdale City Councilwoman Tammy Caputi
Thank you for taking some time out to chat with us, Councilwoman Caputi. It’s been a great four years in Scottsdale, and your leadership played a big role in that. When you look back on the last four years, what are you most proud of? The city is better today than it was 4 years ago by every metric, and … 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
AP&G Exclusive: An Interview with Councilman-Elect Adam Kwasman
Thank you Mr. Kwasman for taking some time to chat with us, and congratulations on your victory. It was quite a year for change with a near complete upheaval at City Hall. Why do you think voters decided on this new direction? Scottsdale residents rightly realized that this city was on the wrong track. Voters overwhelmingly stated that their elected, … Read More
What is Solange Whitehead Doing??
By Ronald Sampson When following elected leaders, you have to be used to disappointment. They need to make myriad decisions on votes and even the best of them have to make difficult and sometimes bad decisions. It’s a part of life…you can never expect perfection. But what this lame-duck iteration of the Scottsdale City Council has done has been beyond … Read More
Tearing Apart the Data of the Scottsdale Elections: Propositions 490 and 491
Scottsdale’s recent elections were interesting ones, with an incumbent mayor losing and two incumbent councilmembers losing their bids for re-election. And there was one (well, two) very clear winners in this election: Propositions 490 and 491. As a reminder, Proposition 490 served as an extension of the existing 0.2% sales tax which was expiring this year, reducing it to 0.15% … 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