The Scottsdale State of the City Address: What Can We Glean From Mayor Ortega?

Any political observer is well accustomed to State of the Union addresses from presidents, and many observers are also aware of State of the State addresses from governors. But we also recently had a State of the City address from Scottsdale Mayor David Ortega, and since it is the first such address since the most recent city council elections, this … Read More

Scottsdale City Council Swearing-In Remarks: What We Learned

The Scottsdale City Council held its inauguration and swearing-in event last week, with two members (Kathy Littlefield and Solange Whitehead) being re-elected to a second term and one (Barry Graham) being new to the council dais. Each of the members was given an opportunity to speak, and as such gave an opportunity to peer in and speculate as to how … Read More

Hades on an Ice Rink: Is the Council of No Learning to Say Yes?

I know that on occasion that I can be a broken record about the need for more development, that building more will alleviate our pressing housing crisis and benefit so many. We have also been somewhat dismayed at the Scottsdale City Council’s recent inclination to get in the way of good developments moving forward; we coined the term “the Council … Read More

Conflict in Scottsdale City Council: Are They Looking for a Lawsuit?

It hasn’t been a big secret that Mayor David Ortega has had a sometimes contentious relationship with a few other members of the city council. That has recently come out in the open even more however, with a recent tift with Councilwoman Tammy Caputi coming to light and with potential stakes including a significant lawsuit. The most recent conflict is … Read More

Scottsdale’s State of the City Address: What We Would Like to See

Scottsdale Mayor Dave Ortega has his first State of the City address coming up next month. Typically such addresses, like you’ve often seen at the Presidential level, are both a celebration of successes (both touted and actual) as well as a declaration of future initiatives. With it being Ortega’s first, after a not-uninteresting first year in office, we are deeply … Read More

Featured Editorial: Mayor Ortega is Setting Scottsdale Up for a Major Loss

By Larry Kush Yet another battle is taking shape between property rights advocates and our cities mayor over the mayor’s goal of gutting the Old Town Scottsdale Character Area Plan (OTSCAP) which was adopted in 2018. In case you have not heard of it, OTSCAP serves as the regulatory long-range plan that guides growth and development in downtown Scottsdale, and … Read More

Scottsdale on the Forefront of Tech – Self-Driving Cars Coming to Town

Scottsdale may often be associated with retirement more than technology, but Mayor David Ortega and others at the City Council are looking to change that. In conjunction with General Motors, autonomous, self-driving cars will be coming to our streets sometime in the relatively near future. Observant readers may have noticed that GM cars have been mapping Scottsdale streets for the … Read More

Stopsdale or Scottsdale?

The Valley’s business community has been paying close attention to the turn Scottsdale’s 2020 elections have meant for one of the state and country’s more outstanding cities.  Would major investments still be rewarded or reviled by the new, slower-growth governing majority? Last night, Scottsdale’s City Council, including Councilwoman Kathy Littlefield, showed a sagacious balance of the anti-everything inmates trying to run … Read More