By State Representative Joseph Chaplik Scottsdale is a special place. Independent minded. Rugged spirit. Beautiful open spaces. Unique architecture. Great quality of life. Yet, we’re all getting fed up with certain members of the City Council and special interest groups trying to change and mold Scottsdale into the image of Phoenix – or worse – Portland and San Francisco. We … Read More
The Photo Radar Camera Fight Comes to Scottsdale: Who’s Got It Right?
Many parts of Arizona were early adopters to photo radar cameras for traffic law enforcement. Many of you have likely received an unwelcome letter in the mail with a picture of yourself and a bill due. Speed cameras have gone up and come down, and the debate has raged much of the time. Now the debate has gotten some more … Read More
CHAOS with the LD3 Republicans: the Scottsdale/Fountain Hills GOP is Melting Down
As a rule of thumb, the higher up the politics go, the more professional they are, but when the stakes are the lowest (at the more local level), the more messy it can get. We have covered significant political messiness in both local parties here, but what is unfolding in the LD3 Republican Party (covering Scottsdale and Fountain Hills) might … Read More
Rep. Joseph Chaplik Getting Heat Over Liz Harris Expulsion: The Genie Isn’t Always Friendly Outside of the Bottle
By Alexander Lomax Specifically in the social media age, it is common in politics to whip your base into a frenzy. After all, they are more inclined to become your foot soldiers and to spread the good word if you get them all nice and fired up. That’s all well and great, but when that genie is out of the … Read More
Arizona Representative Liz Harris Expelled from Legislature: How Did We Get Here?
In what is easily one of the most regrettable developments in the modern times of Arizona politics, freshman Arizona Representative Liz Harris has been expelled from the legislature after a truly bipartisan 46-13 vote. This is the culmination of the sort of behavior that has been a source of national embarrassment for our state for years now. So what happened … Read More
The Battle Lines are Drawn: Scottsdale Legislative Reps and SUSD Superintendent Menzel Trade Blows
Note: this post has been edited to reflect that Tammy Caputi changed her voter registration to Independent in 2018, and that Jason Alexander is a social media advisor for her, not a political advisor. The fallout from Scottsdale Unified School District’s Superintendent Scott Menzel and his “woke” comments from a 2019 interview have recently stolen a lot of oxygen from … Read More
How the Scottsdale / Paradise Valley Legislative Races Played Out
At the time of writing this on Sunday night, not every race is completely certain at this point. One thing that is for certain however is that the best case scenario for Republicans did not work out, and we see that playing out in some of the Scottsdale area races rather prominently. As a reminder, the city of Scottsdale is … Read More
Guest Editorial: Why is Joseph Chaplik Insistent on Embarrassing Himself?
By Alexander Lomax I certainly understand the strategy; be as loud as you can, take risks with specious allegations, and attempt to become a darling of your political party. Joseph Chaplik has gone all in on this approach during his young political career as a two-term state Representative, and could prove to be even more successful if his ambition to … Read More
Scottsdale Representative Joseph Chaplik Earns Gov. Ducey’s First Veto of the Year: Is He Punching Out of His Weight Class?
Freshman state legislator Joseph Chaplik, who represents the old legislative district 23 (covering most of Scottsdale and Fountain Hills) is no stranger to attention. In fact, it often looks like he actively seeks it out. So when he authored an elections bill into a very friendly hopper, it appeared as though he might have a chance to loudly tout a … Read More
Scottsdale City Council Living Up to Promises and Doing What the State Won’t: Regulating Short-Term Rentals
We have recently written about the town of Paradise Valley’s attempts to curb short-term rentals (STRs) in the face of inaction by our state government. Now Scottsdale is getting in on those attempts in the fight for preservation of a high quality of life. The Scottsdale City Council recently unanimously voted to close loopholes in STR laws in the city, … Read More
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