By the Scottsdale Area Chamber of Commerce The Scottsdale Area Chamber of Commerce urges you to please vote YES on Proposition 490, the “To Protect and To Preserve Scottsdale” ballot measure. This measure will take the place of an expiring city sales tax at a lower rate to fund improvements and increased maintenance for parks citywide, beginning in the aging … Read More
The Facts on Prop 490
By the Coalition of Greater Scottsdale Information by : Former Scottsdale Mayor and Prop 490 PAC– Mary Manross and Carla– Campaign Coordinator & Preserve Pioneer Prop 490 is one of Scottsdale’s most publicly vetted, legally protected ballot measures. Time for some facts about 490, a ballot measure, created by residents to benefit our entire city. It will improve and better … Read More
Guest Editorial: Update on the Protect and Preserve Ballot Initiative
By Councilmember Tammy Caputi I’ve always been a strong proponent of our parks, Preserve, and open space, and the value they bring to our city. What makes us great is the unmatched outdoor amenities we provide our residents. I applaud past Councils for the foresight to purchase the pristine desert landscape which would become Scottsdale’s greatest asset. Council was very … Read More
Guest Editorial: Prop 490 No Longer in Limbo
By Councilwoman Betty Janik Prop 490, the sales tax measure to protect and preserve open space, will be on the November Ballot. It has been a tortuous path. The Goldwater Institute filed suit late in the game on behalf of Mayor Lane, Yvonne Cahill, and Susan Wood to block it from the November ballot alleging misleading information. The lower court … Read More
Guest Editorial: Listen to Our Firefighters, Not the Loud Activists
By Ronald Sampson Most cities of a certain size have some kind of a loud activist minority (minority referring to their size, not any immutable traits). You know the types; they don’t have too much to hang their hat on when it comes to their personal or professional lives, so they throw everything into some political causes, consistently raise the … Read More
Guest Editorial: Susan Wood’s Sore Losing
By Alexander Lomax The City of Scottsdale won a significant legal victory on July 19. The City seeks to place an initiative on the November ballot, which if approved, creates a sales tax to fund maintenance, personnel and capital improvements to the McDowell Sonoran Preserve, the city’s 44 parks and WestWorld. The Goldwater Institute sued the City on behalf of … Read More
Former Mayor Jim Lane, Misguided Opponents to Popular Scottsdale Initiative Get Smacked Down in Court
By Ronald Sampson Regular readers and most Scottsdalians are aware of Proposition 490, the Protect and Preserve Initiative that will expand maintenance and upgrades for our city’s many parks while simultaneously reducing our collective tax burden, a situation that’s as much of a win-win as you will ever find in government. But of course, you will never make 100% of … Read More
Former Mayor Manross Nails It Regarding Parks Initiative
By Ronald Sampson As a relatively fiscally conservative person and a natural Republican, I **want** to dislike most government spending that I see. It’s a happy place to distrust it. But the activists on both sides of any issue tend to ruin it for everybody, finding any reason to be angry, even if it means resorting to half-truths, ignorance, or … Read More
Adam Kwasman and His Weird Views
By Alexander Lomax I appreciate fiscal conservatism and pride myself on having a watchdog eye on how our taxpayer dollars are spent. It’s our money, we should demand that it is used well. I am also pragmatic by nature, and realize that a race down to zero taxes often leads to a diminished quality of life, which is far from … Read More
Critical Conversation in Scottsdale City Council: the Future of the City is At Stake
Many city council meetings are full of boring minutiae: zoning issues, liquor licenses, talking through budgets and small changes, things of that nature. But every once in a while, a conversation happens that is truly critical to the future of a city, and this Tuesday represented one of them. The Protect and Preserve Scottsdale Task Force was assigned the job … Read More