By Hamilton With the surprising and some would say selfless decision by Bob Littlefield to withdraw from the Scottsdale City Council race, it leaves three candidates for two seats this fall: former state lawmaker Michelle Ugenti-Rita, incumbent Councilman Barry Graham and community advocate Raoul Zubia, who is making a more spirited run after an unsuccessful candidacy in 2022. But there … Read More
Guest Editorial: Moving Forward in The Fight to Keep Scottsdale Special!
Dear Friends, Today I made the difficult and personally painful decision to withdraw from the City Council race and return to my position as the Chairman of TAAAZE (Taxpayers Against Awful Apartment Zoning Exemptions). I made this decision based on the results of the recent primary election and the effect those results have had on the Scottsdale political landscape. My … Read More
George Khalaf Is the Rare Kind Worth Rooting For
By Ronald Sampson Let me tell you what usually happens in a Republican primary these days. A candidate finds the nearest camera, praises the man in the White House, and calls it a platform. Then they win, arrive at the Capitol, and contribute nothing. George Khalaf is not that guy. Khalaf just topped the field in the LD3 House primary, … Read More
A Recall in Search of a Reason
By Vanessa Rogers The effort to recall Councilwoman Jan Dubauskas is still limping along, though nobody seems to know how strong it actually is. According to the Scottsdale Independent, the group has until September 2 to gather 12,800 signatures. Yet organizers refuse to disclose how many they have collected. That silence speaks volumes. Remember, this is a councilwoman who cruised … Read More
3 versus 1 for 2: the Interesting Math for the Final Two Seats in the Scottsdale City Council
By Alexander Lomax Scottsdale’s November ballot is shaping up as an arithmetic problem. Four candidates. Two seats. Three of them share the same lane. One does not. The Scottsdale general election will give every voter two council votes to spend. How those votes get spent, or deliberately withheld, will decide this race. Barring surprises from the final canvass, the field … Read More
How Axon Made Barry Graham a Martyr
By Ronald Sampson Political money sometimes buys outcomes. Other times it manufactures the opposite. The campaign against Barry Graham may end up as a case study in the second category. Axon and its allied committees spent heavily to remove him from the Scottsdale City Council. What they produced instead was his clearest identity in years. Graham was not cruising before the … Read More
Solange’s Scottsdale Salience
By SongBird No matter how the elections turn out Tuesday for Scottsdale City Council, or in November, Solange Whitehead is a Hall of Famer. Amongst the contemporary rancor over Axon, out of state funding, apartments, development, transparency, elections and parking garages, one can forget her many, many contributions to the city over the past decade. That shouldn’t be. She serves with … Read More
Guest Editorial: Big Wins Achieved Together!
By Councilwoman Solange Whitehead Thank you to all that have voted! Strong words of encouragement to those that have not yet voted. Please make your voice heard. Polls are open Monday and Tuesday until 7 pm. See link HERE.In eight years, we’ve sure gotten a lot done together. Below are just a few photos of our accomplishments. It really matters who … Read More
Guest Editorial: Final Thoughts from the Campaign Trail
By Councilman Barry Graham
Guest Editorial: Has This Election Now Become the Nastiest in Scottsdale History?
By Bob Littlefield Dear Friends, During the last 20+ years I have waged eight campaigns for City Council and Mayor for Kathy and me. Each of them had some level of lying and personal attacks directed against us. Even Councilwoman Kathy, whose record re-election victory in 2022 showed how popular she is with the voters, was subjected to lies and … Read More