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
Axon Wants You to Subsidize It? Seriously?
Our readers know the deal about Axon by now; it is threatening to take their ball (in this case, their headquarters) and go to a new home if it doesn’t get what it wants, in this case nearly 2,000 apartments plopped right into North Scottsdale. Perhaps you read our piece related to its more recent threats during its quarterly financial … Read More
Guest Editorial: Trash Talk, It’s In the Bin
By Councilwoman Betty Janik In the summer of 2022, Scottsdale initiated the Old Town Scottsdale Recycling and Old Town Alley Refresh Campaign. Commissioner Andrew Scheck and I were founding members of the committee that included Scottsdale’s Solid Waste (SW) and Code Enforcement (CE) Departments. The goal was to provide recycle opportunities for businesses, beautify business alleys, and enhance sustainability in … Read More
Axon Rezoning Debacle Already Causing Major Uproar
Regular readers and folks in North Scottsdale very likely already know about the extremely controversial rezoning plan by taser manufacturer Axon. In short, they purchased a very large parcel of land right next to their headquarters that was originally zoned as being specifically for industrial or office use with residential use specifically prohibited. However, they later decided to attempt to … Read More
The 2024 Scottsdale State of the City Address: What You Should Expect
This Wednesday, Scottsdale Mayor Dave Ortega will be leading the 2024 iteration of the Scottsdale State of the City address. Like most State of the Union or State of the State addresses, they often follow the same general template: they are designed to tout the administration’s successes of the past year and tip the administration’s hand for the future, a … Read More
Scottsdale Draft Sustainability Plan Being Examined: What Should We Look Out For?
Last year, Scottsdale voters voted in favor of adopting the Scottsdale General Plan 2035 last year, a significant win for Mayor David Ortega (considering that a decade previous, it did not pass), although it came far from a mandate with only a 5 point win. But a win is a win, and soon thereafter the work began to start to … Read More
Looking Forward: The Scottsdale Mayoral Race
Next year will present many interesting electoral races; along with a Presidential race, Arizona will showcase what is likely to be one of the most interesting Senate races in the country, as well as all of the countywide races. But there will also be a host of local races, and for those of us in Scottsdale, the headline municipal race … Read More