Following weeks of sidestepping the truth, last weekend Axon CEO Rick Smith finally admitted that a member of the company’s leadership team did, in fact, call Planning Commissioner Christian Serena’s employer and discussed Serena’s remarks about Axon at the commission’s January 24th meeting.
Smith’s confession came in response to the company being pressed by City Attorney Sherry Scott about the incident.
Wrapping up her investigation into the matter last Friday, Scott concluded that “It is apparent to me that an employee did contact Commissioner Serena’s employer to discuss dissatisfaction with Commissioner Serena’s public hearing comments.”
After hearing Scott’s ruling, Commissioner Serena told the Scottsdale Progress: “I am delighted that my statement has been validated. I commend the city attorney for verifying the truth.”
The day after the Voice of Scottsdale’s column last Thursday, events unfolded rapidly about the incident Serena first reported to the city attorney on February 14th:
Near the close of business on Friday, the city attorney emailed councilmembers the findings from her investigation. She included a statement from Axon attorney Charles Huellmantel in which he wrote: “I have no knowledge of any Axon employee or representative contacting the Commissioner’s employer to impact his vote at commission meetings or his opposition to Axon’s proposal.”
Apparently Huellmantel was left out of the loop, because less than 24 hours later, Rick Smith fessed up. While he finally divulged that the call was actually made, he disputed its purpose.
In a long, rambling email to Scott, Smith implied that Commissioner Serena, an employee of Merrill Lynch, had a conflict of interest on the Axon case and insisted that the city attorney look into it.
If that was designed to divert attention away from the real issue, it’s not working. In fact, several councilmembers who could eventually be asked to approve Axon’s proposal someday, aren’t impressed, according to City Hall sources.
Had Axon President Josh Isner not made that phone call on January 25th, this whole issue could have been avoided. Unfortunately, Axon turned the incident into a political sideshow that is having far-reaching repercussions for the company and the city.
In the end, Christian Serena concluded: “It’s important that we protected the integrity of the process for both the city and residents.”