By Larry Heath

With two Scottsdale City Council debates behind us, I have a few questions:

Councilman Barry Graham:

Is it true that you’re consulting your phone during City Council votes? If so, are you “fighting for residents” as your tagline suggests, or relying upon someone texting you, and your personal prejudices?
Is it also true you’re suppressing time for public comments at the beginning of council meetings?
Why are you running for more of the same?

City Council Members and Candidates:

Who thinks developers are “evildoers”? I’ve heard that is common banter around City Hall.
When you were itching to catapult the Axon World Headquarters out of Scottsdale (a homegrown firm who makes cutting edge public safety equipment), did it not occur to you how anti-commerce, anti-conservative and anti-public-safety that was?
Before you nixed the fully planned roundabouts on Scottsdale Road, and walked away from $31M in federal funding, did you have a town hall with transportation officials to gauge the validity of neighborhood opposition and try to alleviate concerns with facts? If not, why not? And what are the costs of your change-orders in both time and money?
Who’s aware that Scottsdale’s median home prices are over twice the metro Phoenix average? And that our successful children cannot afford to live here?
Did you know that Scottsdale has one of the oldest populations in the nation? The average age is 48.7 years old. I guess that’s why schools are shutting.

My point is this. You can’t stop growth, all you can do is retard it. And retard it you have. The Arizona Republican Party ought to be embarrassed that the Scottsdale City Council candidates they championed – and are championing again – appear to be hostile to businesses who create jobs, improve infrastructure, and stimulate economic growth. Where are the Republican values in that?