Mary Jo Pitzel’s column on AZCentral today encapsulates many of the issues with short-term (i.e., less than 30 days) residential rentals, aka “STRs” or “AirBnBs”. I’ve copied it below for my own reference, because these articles sometimes disappear or are otherwise difficult to find later. “Private property rights” is a frequent argument offered in support […]
Museum of Waste
Meredith G. White’s promotional puff piece about Scottsdale’s Museum of the West (aka “Western Spirit”) on AZCentral this morning conveniently ignores the taxpayer-funded subsidies that have kept it afloat for the last ten years. In fact, the $11.4 million construction cost she cites in her first paragraph was nearly double the initial estimate ($7.5 million), […]
2024 Ballot Recommendations
NOTE: 10/23/24, I inadvertently omitted my recommendation on Prop 136. I’ve added that info, below. This is my one-page crib sheet. For more detailed explanation, scroll down. In order of lowest jurisdiction to highest: Scottsdale Unified School District Governing Board: Lewis, Pittinsky, Sharkey Proposition 490, City of Scottsdale, new sales tax ostensibly for Preserve and […]
Liars Lying about Lies
As the founding chairman of the Coalition of Greater Scottsdale, aka COGS, its failure to live up to its mission (protecting Scottsdale’s quality of life through land use reform) has been one of my greatest disappointments. But I now find myself disgusted by the sellout of COGS via not only promotion of the tax scam […]
Vote NO on Scottsdale’s Prop 490
I don’t post here on the old blog very often, as social media (evil as it is) has broader circulation with less effort (See https://www.facebook.com/ScottsdaleCitizen/). I wish I had more time and resources to devote to Scottsdale issues, especially with the sad state of what remains of our local media. I’ve just got too many […]
Rose is the Reason
A recent screed from Jason Rose (reprinted in-full below) peddling the notion of leasing a currently-unused, taxpayer-owned school property, to his soccer (and development) clients at Phoenix Rising, pre-aims blame for failure at the residents of surrounding neighborhoods. Somehow, the Scottsdale City Council (as the elected body in charge of development, though having nothing to […]
Pima Path Hazard at McDonald Drive
This is another hazard to pedestrians and especially cyclists. I first brought this to the city’s attention several years ago. Northbound on Pima Path where it transitions from 87th Terrace to the concrete leading to McDonald Drive, the transition ramp is considerably more narrow than might be inferred by the fog line/edge marking. The available […]
Solange is a Liar
In addition to deluding herself into visions of being Scottsdale’s Henry Kissinger, running shuttle diplomacy between developers and the citizens for whom she’s supposed to be advocating, city council member Solange Whitehead is a liar. I don’t use that term lightly, but she either knows or damned well ought to know that the information she’s […]
Ignorant Donkeys
The deluded donkeys of the LD23 Democrats have published a screed in support of the new-and-diluted Scottsdale General Plan 2035. I’ve reproduced it below for reference. I’d guess that it was mostly written by Solange “Kissinger” Whitehead. It’s somewhat entertaining that this group, which is largely ignorant of local issues, is decrying “disinformation”; yet their […]
Solange Kissinger
An anonymous political blog here in Scottsdale recently criticized council member Solange Whitehead for her waffling support of zoning changes and other concessions (aka, “developer welfare”) for widely-opposed high-density housing projects. The term used to describe Solange’s efforts, “shuttle diplomacy,” caused me pause. As referenced in Wikipedia, the term was first applied to Henry Kissinger’s […]