Scottsdale Votes Tuesday

This Tuesday 13 March is the election at which Scottsdale voters are being asked by Mayor Jim Lane and the City Council to approve several important questions.

ScottsdaleTrails has been your most comprehensive source of information on these ballot questions and propositions, starting with a standalone page of dynamic details, insights, and links.

I’ve commented numerous times on AZCentral/AZ Republic articles and editorials about the election, trying to point out the vested interests of some of the editors and their links to the development community, and the developer-dominated Scottsdale Area Chamber of Commerce.

Perspectives from other resident-advocates in the community have been an important part of my content, for example the recent post with analysis from Howard Myers and an earlier one from Bob Cappel.

In addition to the illegal Chamber mailers and the cable TV ads you’ve already seen, you can expect a last-minute blitz of campaigning. Please be a critical consumer of information as you view these ads.

Only about 30% of those who received early ballots have returned them so far. I’m very hopeful that many of you who have not yet voted have been paying attention to the developments of the past couple of weeks and you’ll vote accordingly. Rejecting these ballot propositions would send a powerful message to City Hall and the Chamber of Commerce that this is OUR community.

Keep in mind that the Chamber and their developer base wouldn’t be spending so much money and time on this campaign if they didn’t think your approval of these ballot items would help them make a  lot of money…and they don’t care if they do it at the expense of long-term economic sustainability for Scottsdale and your quality of life.

Therefore, I feel it is important to summarize the issues once again. As I posted on Sunday’s AZCentral editorial:

• Southwest Gas Corporation franchise agreement re-authorization: VOTE NO. New taxes and bypassing normal utility regulation mechanisms were hidden in this agreement by our Mayor, City Council, and City Manager.
• Scottsdale General Plan changes: VOTE NO. Sustainability should be the goal, NOT growth. Growth will happen, but it should be on our (the citizens’) terms, not the developers’ terms. And it should only occur with careful consideration to strain on infrastructure, and the effect of erosion of community character on tourism. New construction should respect context, not change it.
• Scottsdale City Charter amendments. VOTE NO. Characterizing this package of changes to our city’s “constitution” as “clerical updates,” is completely disingenuous. Some may be OK, but it is far wiser to reject the few minor “improvements” in order to beat back the bad changes with which they are packaged.

See also Councilman Bob Littlefield’s video explanation of the problems with the Southwest Gas ballot question.