By Ronald Sampson
Sometimes it feels as though this iteration of the Scottsdale City Council is completely new, considering the pace and rate of change they have pushed through since January. But that’s not entirely true; Solange Whitehead has been on council since 2019, and while many may disagree with her relatively left-leaning proclivities, she has generally been a positive influence on council.
That said, she does have a way of being maddeningly inconsistent, and that recently reared its ugly head recently.
Note this post from her on Facebook. She is touting the number of signatures that Scottsdalians have gathered to help avoid the defunding of a wildlife overpass in Rio Verde that is to be paid for by Preserve funding generated from our sales tax.
And I have no issue with the project itself. Wildlife land bridges are not only great from a wildlife preservation perspective, but they’re pretty cool. They’re the sort of projects that add something special to an area. So where does the problem lie?
Whitehead was one of the councilmembers who voted to allow Axon to build its apartment megacomplex. I disagree with the wisdom of that vote, but that’s fine. But the residents of the city then banded together to demonstrate their opposition and gathered nearly TEN TIMES the number of signatures as Whitehead is flouting now. As you probably know, Axon then did an end-around to deny the will of the voters, and the city decided to explore what legal options were available to it.
And what happened next? Whitehead was one of only two votes against exploring legal options.
So if 2,800 signatures is a mandate of the will of the people, what is over 25,000 signatures? Why would she tout the will of 2,800 residents yet completely ignore and circumvent the will of 25,000 residents. Make it make sense.
Sorry, but this is hypocrisy. You don’t get to wield the will of the people selectively, let alone when the numbers don’t back you up.
She is welcome to vote however she likes, but let’s not be disingenuous about it. Don’t promote 2,800 people, deny 25,000 people, and then act like you’re a councilmember for the people.