Campana on the Bonds

Former Scottsdale mayor Sam Kathryn Campana weighed in on the November bond election via this column in last week’s Scottsdale Republic on 9/04/13, you can see my rebuttal from yesterday’ SR (9/11/2001) also on ScottsdaleTrails:

Scottsdale should again vote for quality of life

Scottsdale has a long history of doing whatever is necessary to maintain the standards and values that continue to make our city so spe­cial. That is why I am supporting all four bond questions the City Council so wisely placed on the Tuesday, Nov. 5, ballot.
From the first Scottsdale School District election more than 100 years ago, we have had a tradition of saying “yes” to what it takes to keep Scotts­dale, Scottsdale.

That $5,000 bond to build the Scotts­dale Grammar School (now the Scotts­dale Historical Society in the Little Red School House) in 1909 was approved 13-0! The final construction costs actu­ally came in under the original $5,000 estimate.

In 1960, just nine years after Scotts­dale was incorporated, voters passed bonds for a jail, a sewer extension and improvements to the intersection of Scottsdale and Indian School roads. That same year a civic-minded group sold bonds to finance the construction of the city’s first hospital, now known as Scotts­dale Healthcare’s Os­born Campus. There have been other bond elections along the way in the evolution of our city. But this November’s election is one of the most important. Many of the 39 projects on the ballot are ones that are overdue because the City Council prudently delayed them during the economic downturn, when the city’s general fund was dwindling.

This “quality of life bond election” is about trying to catch up on essential projects that were postponed.

I followed the work of the citizens’ Bond Task Force for the past two years. This all-volunteer group of dedicated citizens, some of whom may be your friends or neighbors, worked diligently to prioritize projects that were essen­tial to maintaining our city’s critical infrastructure.

These people dedicated hundreds of hours to study what the city needs. I believe we owe them a debt of grat­itude for their dedication in carrying on a custom of civic involvement that would have made their predecessors proud.

As a former mayor of our city, I know firsthand about citizens’ expecta­tions. They want the best parks and libraries, public-safety services they can count on and streets and roads that are safe on which to drive. Scottsdale has a history of providing citizens with what they deserve. But that costs mon­ey.

I believe this bond election is an investment in our quality of life.

We are the stewards of our city. We are also responsible for creating the kind of place that attracts many visi­tors every year. People come from faraway places to enjoy what we appre­ciate 365 days a year. And it is our visi­tors who are the lifeblood of our econo­my. They stay in our hotels, eat at our restaurants, shop in our stores and play our golf courses. Visitors help keep our taxes some of the lowest in the Valley.

I will be voting “yes” on Question 1, Question 2, Question 3 and Question 4 on the Nov. 5 “quality of life bonds.”

Sam Campana is a former Scottsdale mayor.

“Community Voices” submissions can be e-mailed to Scottsdale Community Editor Chris Coppola at chris.coppola@arizonarepublic.com.