Guest Editorial: Scottsdale Residents Deserve a City Council That Listens to you!

At our first Council meeting following the primary election, City Hall was filled to standing room only with residents from across Scottsdale and every political affiliation celebrating my outright re-election. The Mayor’s recognition of my victory and the residents’ applause were an incredibly uplifting way to begin the evening. Thank you to everyone who came to City Hall! Unfortunately, the … Read More

Ishac Loses to Dubauskas a Second Time

By Vanessa Rogers Conservatives of Greater Scottsdale announced this week that it is “suspending” its recall campaign against Councilwoman Jan Dubauskas, citing a lack of signature-gathering manpower ahead of the September 2 deadline. Translation: they didn’t have the votes, they didn’t have the case, and as we said back in the spring, they never really had a reason. A Grudge … Read More

Ethan Knowlden Shows Scottsdale How to Lose With Class

Ethan Knowlden ran for Scottsdale City Council this year and came up just short. A few weeks later he posted a sweaty selfie from a morning run in DC Ranch, captioned “Running in the 6’s (hours) right now means running in the 80’s (degrees). Which is healthier than any other form of running I’ve done lately.” That’s it. No bitterness, … Read More

Two Proposals: Put Residents First, Fix the Political Sign Mess

By Solange Whitehead Monday, I will propose restoring public comment to the beginning of Council meetings. The Council’s decision to move citizen comments to the end of meetings effectively silenced everyday residents. Listening to the community is free, vital, and helps catch problems early—before they become costly. I will also propose a council meeting item to establish voluntary campaign sign … Read More

Guarantee: Michelle Ugenti-Rita Will Win One Of Two Remaining Scottsdale Council Seats Up For Grabs In November

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

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