It's astonishing to watch all those who have worked so hard for so long to make the Desert Discovery Center a reality being so outmaneuvered by a grassroots group of citizens staking claim to our McDowell Sonoran Preserve.
The silence of the DDC supporters is deafening.
The proponents of the DDC have settled into "silent majority" status. In doing so, they're conceding momentum to their opposition in the battle to win the hearts and minds of the public - the same ones who may some day vote on where to locate the DDC. Or maybe even have a say in whether or not it's built at all.
Guy Phillips is having a heyday, thanks to no opposing opinion from the DDC supporters. But Councilman Phillips is just getting warmed up. He's making his opposition to the DDC the cornerstone of his re-election campaign.
Phillips may be a Pied Piper. But he's not a one-man band.
The Coalition of Greater Scottsdale (COGS) is helping build grassroots support to stymie the construction of the DDC at the Gateway Trailhead inside the boundaries of the Preserve. COGS, citing a petition signed by more than 600 citizens to prevent the DDC from being located in the Preserve, suggests erecting the project at the site of the former Loloma School at Goldwater Boulevard and 2nd Street or on land the city owns near WestWorld or in Old Town next to the Museum of the West.
Scottsdale's Tea Party affiliate has also piped up about the process. According to remarks directed at DDC supporters by the organization's spokesperson, Pat Shaler: "I respect the many years of effort many of you have placed in establishing the Preserve; however, neither that, nor the fact that some of you have been planning on a DDC at Gateway for a long time, justifies going forward against the wishes of the voters, now that we see what you want. We approved the Bonds for a Preserve - not for Disneyland on the Desert."
Make no mistake ... most people who criticize the DDC object to it based primarily on its proposed location inside the Preserve. However, many are also not amenable to tax dollars, including bed tax dollars, being used to underwrite the project's construction costs. That means the controversy over the DDC can be expected to drag on for months ... maybe even longer.
In the meantime, the DDC supporters have a story to tell. But, unfortunately, no one is telling it. And, as a result, those who are opposing the DDC are, in political terms, "owning" the argument. They have also for all intents and purposes declared themselves the sole stewards of the McDowell Sonoran Preserve. And no one is challenging them.
If anyone or any organization was willing to speak up, they would tell the public how important the DDC could be in helping to expand tourism and make the Preserve a destination, not just an interlude between shopping, dining and golfing. Just ask our Convention and Visitors Bureau: today travelers are looking for an "experience." Plenty of places other than Scottsdale have beautiful weather, scenic open spaces and majestic mountains for people to commune with nature.
If they took the time, supporters would explain the critical role the DDC would play in educating those of all ages from a lot of places about the Sonoran Desert's eco-system.
And if they got around to it, supporters would make the case that the DDC would be a one-of-a-kind facility like no other in the country. In other words ... Scottsdale's "Next Big Idea."
However, the most important thing proponents of the Desert Discovery Center could do is tell people that Guy Phillips, COGS and the Tea Party don't speak for everyone -- even though it seems that way since no one is saying otherwise.
Crawford Will Be a Wildcard in Contest
For those who like things "3-ways," like chili, for instance ... there's now a 3-way race for mayor that's going to be hot and spicy.
Perennial candidate and personal trainer Bill Crawford has officially created an exploratory committee that's the first step in pitting himself against incumbent Jim Lane and challenger Bob Littlefield. This is familiar ground for Mayor Lane. In 2012 he ran for re-election against two candidates who split the vote, allowing him to avoid a run-off election and win a second term.
This isn't Crawford's first rodeo. He ran unsuccessfully for the City Council two years ago. But he made his name and reputation going toe-to-toe with the bar and club owners in the Entertainment District. Crawford battled against the loud music, street fights and dangerous traffic conditions. He won some, lost some ... but never knuckled under to the considerable political pressure from those who fought him tooth and nail every step of the way.
Today, the downtown dust-up has simmered down and the bar owners and their neighbors have reached a detente.
More than a year ago Crawford telegraphed his political intentions. When hearing that Littlefield was considering running for mayor in December of 2014, Crawford said he would enter the race if or when Littlefield made it official.
There's no love lost between Crawford and Littlefield. In fact it sounds like Crawford isn't running for mayor as much as he is running against Littlefield.
"I believe Bob represents a party of 'no,'" Crawford told the Scottsdale Independent. "I have seen Bob stand up against everything, but I can't remember him anytime building consensus." That's why, according to Crawford, he's motivated to get into the race.
The question on most people's minds: Which of the two candidates will Crawford's candidacy impact the most - Jim Lane or Bob Littlefield?
The answer depends on whom you talk to. But the real answer may actually depend on how Crawford frames his campaign.
Crawford doesn't have deep support, otherwise by now he would be sitting on the City Council. He does, however, have somewhat wide support. Crawford's core voting block includes many neighborhoods as well as small businesses - especially in South Scottsdale and the downtown area. So he straddles parts of the voter bases of both Littlefield and Lane.
While he has been hostile toward Littlefield, Crawford isn't enamored with Lane, either. Taking a page out of Littlefield's playbook, he is critical about Lane's role in helping create the inundation of apartments and condos and developing the public-private partnership to move the Desert Discovery Center concept forward.
Nonetheless, Crawford isn't shy about skewering Littlefield: "The latest stunt (running for mayor) is the most egregious attempt yet by Bob to further his own personal agenda regardless of what's best for Scottsdale citizens."
So, if Crawford, a colorful campaigner, continues targeting Littlefield during the course of the campaign, does it mean he will "steal" votes that would otherwise go to Littlefield? Or will he attract "anti-Littlefield" votes that would have originally gone to Lane? Or maybe a little bit of both?
No matter how you cut it ... Bill Crawford will be the wildcard who creates political havoc for Jim Lane and Bob Littlefield.
Lane Hoping "Good News" Carries Him To Third Term
Jim Lane has a lot to brag about.
Lane couldn't have been elected mayor at a more challenging time than 2008. It was the leading edge of the Great Recession and the city would soon be facing the challenge of navigating through a sea of red ink -- a $30 million deficit to be exact. City employees' wages were frozen and more than 100 of them were offered early retirement in order to reduce overhead.
Mayor Lane and the City Council's challenge was how to keep delivering the same high-level services taxpayers expected with a lot less money to do it.
Other Valley cities suffered through identical challenges. But they dealt with the economic downturn with far less success than Scottsdale. Their leaders made desperate decisions from which many of those cities have yet to recover. Glendale comes to mind.
Our Mayor and Council never panicked. They created an austerity plan and stuck to it. Sacrifices were made -- especially by city employees. However, quality citizen services continued and taxes were kept under control.
Being at the helm of city government during that turbulent time, Jim Lane can now claim credit for Scottsdale weathering the storm. He also helped steer the city through a bumpy post-recession recovery.
Most of us, including elected leaders, are now resigned to the fact that we're living in the "New Normal."
Besides confronting unparalleled economic challenges, Mayor Lane has had to work with four different city managers during his two four-year terms. Of course he had more than a little something to do with firing the first three. Nevertheless, he has been able to help guide the city through some choppy circumstances after the financial fallout from the recession.
Rightfully, when he ran for re-election in 2012, the theme of Mayor Lane's campaign was "Reform, Results and Recovery." He has already pledged that his third term will be about taking Scottsdale "from better times to the best of times."
Next month Mayor Lane will deliver his annual State of the City address where he will tout the thriving Cure Corridor of medical services along Shea Boulevard, the renaissance of McDowell Road and the evolution of the McDowell Sonoran Preserve. Not to mention the new Museum of the West and the revitalization of downtown, including residential development.
Jim Lane will be the harbinger of good news. However, "good news" alone doesn't win elections - particularly in a festering political environment and a politically divided city.
When Bob Littlefield announced his campaign for mayor several months ago, Lane backers dismissed the three-term councilman's candidacy as a political sideshow. They joked that Littlefield couldn't muster the money or votes to be little more than a sparring partner for Mayor Lane. Now, as conservative Republicans around the country are flocking to Donald Trump's campaign, confidantes in Lane's camp are now concerned that Trump's anti-government message may trickle down and reach critical mass in Scottsdale.
One local Republican politico recently quipped: "Bob Littlefield may be the Donald Trump of Scottsdale, except with better hair."
Scottsdale 2015: The More Things Changed The More They Remained The Same
The year started and ended the same way ... with the Scottsdale Unified School District in the spotlight.
January began with what the Voice of Scottsdale called the "first conspiracy of 2015." Of course the "food bank scandal" at the former Tonalea Elementary School was little more than a "tempest in a teapot." When retired school board member Denny Brown made a deal with SUSD to turn the abandoned school into a temporary Resource Center for families who needed a helping hand, nearby neighbors went nuts.
Brown's deal with the district was dissolved after the rogue group Respect Our Scottsdale Students went on the warpath with a vicious disinformation campaign - which only ended up proving that no good deed goes unpunished.
The next couple of months were relatively calm.
New Councilman David Smith unsuccessfully floated the idea of rescinding the food tax. Councilwoman Kathy Littlefield, also in her first term, showed she had a mind of her own. And Guy Phillips demonstrated he was able exist on the Council without the political companionship of Councilman Bob Littlefield who had termed out.
By the end of March, things began heating up.
Councilmembers Virginia Korte and Linda Milhaven proposed creating an ordinance to protect the LGBT Community from discrimination. Their proposal got a chilly reception from their Council colleagues --- it did, however, provoke a nasty response from religious zealots that ended up backfiring because the majority of the Council ended up agreeing to pursue the measure. Though far from over, the Non-Discrimination Ordinance process is on track and expected to be back on the Council's agenda in early 2016.
In late spring the Cultural Council began to implode with firings and departures of principal personnel. Eventually, the organization's shaky reputation spilled over into its request for $1.5 million in out-of-budget funding from the city and was overwhelmingly rejected by the City Council.
After several years struggling to make its broken business model work and suffering from a record of poor response times that triggered hefty fines, Rural/Metro was bought by American Medical Response, the WalMart of health and emergency services. Given the fluid nature of the emergency services industry, the city is now applying for a Certificate of Need from the state Department of Health Services. After the CON is approved, the city will be allowed to provide uninterrupted ambulance service to citizens in case there's a substantial change in the ambulance business.
June got off to a terrible start. City Manager Fritz Behring suffered a stroke during the first Council meeting of the month. Fritz' rehab process is progressing. Over the last several weeks he has visited City Hall -- which hopefully means he will be back at work soon and Acting City Manager Brian Biesemeyer can return to what he does best ... run the city's water department.
During the long hot summer, Chamber of Commerce President Rick Kidder moved to Massachusetts and Mark Hiegel replaced him. The city's General Plan update slogged along. The Desert Discovery Center concept was successfully reintroduced. And the Scottsdale Republic officially shifted its mission to providing less news and more fluff.
Following the Council's summer recess, downtown gallery owners mobilized against Artisan Markets, the group of artists who occupied the Marshall Way Bridge to sell their arts and crafts on Thursdays and Sundays. After several weeks of presenting their "hair-on-fire" case to the Council accusing Artisan Markets of engaging in "unfair competition," the city caved in and threw the artisans off the bridge. Unfortunately, the gallery owners' gain was the city's loss - and there was concern that the Council's decision put the "free-market" philosophy in jeopardy.
Inarguably, the biggest story of the year was voters rejecting four of the six bond proposals in November. A post-election canvass of all 12 polling places showed that North Scottsdale voters were responsible for defeating the four questions. Street improvements and new fire stations were approved.
Thanks to some of Scottsdale's most affluent residences, the city is now behind the eight ball. Finding the funding for the priority projects that were turned down by voters is expected to be the City Council's biggest challenge in the year ahead.
During the first week of December former three-term Councilman Bob Littlefield announced his candidacy for mayor - which could be foreshadowing of the type of year we can expect in 2016.
Two weeks ago, out of the blue, SUSD Superintendent David Peterson called it quits with two years left on his contract. He had finally had enough of the haranguing from the Respect Our Scottsdale Students group and Pam Kirby and Barbara Perleberg, the Laverne and Shirley of the SUSD School Board.
Proving that it ain't over 'til it's over ... several issues that cropped up in 2015 will carry over in 2016.
The most significant influence on 2016 will be the City Council election, including the mayoral race between Jim Lane and Bob Littlefield. Councilmembers Suzanne Klapp, Virginia Korte and Guy Phillips will also be running for re-election.
Here's hoping for a Happy New Year!