People come and go ... but our city's institutions remain.
However, Scottsdale's institutional pillars are crumbling. Regrettably, many civic organizations are losing relevance because of their failure to recognize the community is changing and their resistance to adapt accordingly.
It's a trend that should give citizens cause for concern.
Obviously, the most glaring example of the institutional erosion is the Scottsdale Unified School District. SUSD leadership has allowed the school district to be turned into a second-rate reality TV show that features perp walks and humiliating revelations about cover ups of corruption. The embarrassing ineptitude is expected to continue until the current members of the School Board have been replaced, which will take years.
The more things change at Scottsdale Arts, the more they remain the same.
A new CEO/president of the organization has been in charge for almost two months. Three directors of various departments have been given the heave-ho and have been temporarily replaced. While the organization is in transition, the same people remain on the Executive Board and the Board of Trustees. For all intents and purposes they are the ones who, for years, have been making decisions about the direction of the organization.
The decision makers, the majority of whom are Baby Boomers, have been satisfied to maintain the status quo. The long in the tooth group is short on creativity and are thought to be out of touch with the arts community - which has made luring a new generation into the organization challenging.
Meanwhile, the Chamber of Commerce has some of the same issues as Scottsdale Arts.
For years, the Chamber had been wrestling with how to be relevant when Mark Hiegel was hired to head the organization about two years ago. He brought energy and enthusiasm that finally propelled the Chamber onto the right path. Then, last fall under undisclosed circumstances, the organization's Executive Board encouraged him to resign. Mark Stanton was hired to replace Hiegel two weeks ago. But the same problems persist that have plagued the Chamber's decision making for years.
The most recent example was last week when the City Council voted to place raising the sales tax rate on the November election ballot. Surprisingly, the Chamber sat on the sidelines. The organization that's supposed to be advocating for the best interests of business was AWOL because of the Executive Board's indecisiveness.
And that issue leads to the City Council, where political division and personal distemper are becoming a mirror image of what's happening in the community.
The latest showdown occurred last week when councilmembers clashed over the most practical way to start funding $800 million of improvements to the city's infrastructure. By a 4-3 vote, those who favored increasing the sales tax won out. But there were deeper political implications, the kind that leave hurt feelings and bruised egos.
Consensus building on the City Council seems like a thing of the past and, as a result, only adding to the contentious political conditions sweeping the city.
Sadly, as vital institutional pillars of the community are breaking down, Scottsdale is slowly becoming less special.
Scottsdale Arts Playing Musical Chairs
The new head of Scottsdale Arts, Gerd Wuestemann, started work four weeks ago.
Three managers at Scottsdale Arts, Sara Cochran, Kathy Joyce and Stephen Baker, were fired two weeks ago.
Today, many in the arts community remain baffled how, after only two weeks on the job, Wuestemann could have so quickly evaluated the performances of Cochran, Joyce and Baker - and then, without warning, dumped them.
Unless, of course, he was only doing someone else's dirty work.
The organization didn't make a peep in public about the firings. No news release. No burying the news in one of the cheerful updates about how well things were going at Scottsdale Arts from the Chair of the Board of Trustees, Kathy Wills. No nothing. Except for an email from Wuestemann assuring employees that things couldn't be better.
Dr. Wuestemann, a seasoned arts administrator who came here from LaFayette, Louisiana, wrote: "We are fortunate to have developed a clear path forward, enabling us to empower some of Scottsdale Arts' existing team members."
Hold your horses, Dr. W.
Sara Cochran was the Director and Curator of the Scottsdale Museum of Contemporary Art (SMoCA). Kathy Joyce was Director of Development. Stephen Baker was Director of Marketing. Their hasty and simultaneous departure has left the organization playing a game of musical chairs ... although no one will admit it.
Judge for yourself:
A former SMoCA curator returns to assume the role of acting director of the museum. The organization is now in the process of hiring a new curator for SMoCA. For the time being, a member of the senior staff is leading the Development Department. The need for a new team leader is being evaluated. The Marketing Department is currently being guided by the department's senior staff. A new managing director of Scottsdale Center for the Performing Arts is expected to be named in the near future.
It's unclear if Wuestemann had any clue about what he was walking into or the deed he would be told to carry out during his first two weeks on the job.
Depending on different people's perspectives, Scottsdale Arts is either in transition or turmoil. Whatever the case, the organization is suffering through another period of instability - which, at Scottsdale Arts, is called "business as usual."
The names may change, including the CEO and department heads, and employees shuffled from one position to another -- but many of the same problems still persist. That would tell most organizations they had serious internal issues embedded in their culture. However, Scottsdale Arts isn't like most organizations.
The most critical thing that hasn't changed at Scottsdale Arts is the series of poor decisions and the people responsible for making them.
SUSD May Never Be The Same
Denise Birdwell is leaving people with a terrible taste - particularly those who are now being forced to eat crow.
With each revelation and news report, it is becoming increasingly impossible for long-time Birdwell backers to continue denying her role in a scheme of deception and backchannel dealings. It's difficult to say exactly what took them so long to come around ... or what the tipping points have been for each of those steadfast supporters of the superintendent.
But better late than never.
There are those who want to treat the past year as an aberration - so they would just as soon move on and not dwell on the destruction created by the Birdwell administration. Unfortunately, it's impossible to ignore the collateral damage.
Under just about any other circumstances, school district decision makers would be advocating placing a budget override on the November election ballot. Thanks to all the shenanigans during 2017, that possibility is now remote. It would be a fool's errand. After all, who still trusts the SUSD School Board with taxpayer dollars?
Even if the School Board decides to go for broke and stage an override election, there's no one left to run the campaign. The "Yes To Children" organization, the grassroots group responsible for victories on behalf of SUSD at the polls the last two elections, has disbanded. Understandably, volunteers felt betrayed by how Birdwell and the School Board were mishandling the $228 million in bond funds voters approved in 2016.
There is, by the way, serious skepticism about how the bond funds are currently being appropriated by the new acting superintendent and the new acting chief operating officer - because both, who were hired by Birdwell, are thought to have questionable qualifications for executing the bond program.
The full extent of the damage probably won't be known for months. That's when the district will be able to accurately measure student enrollment totals for the new school year. The same holds true for the district's workforce, including teachers, who have just filed a notice of claim against SUSD alleging breach of contract.
There's no debating that the school district's brand is suffering and a rebranding campaign is required. But that can't happen until all members of the School Board are replaced. Barring resignations and incumbents choosing not to run for re-election, it could take two election cycles for the current board to be swapped out with people who haven't been politically corrupted.
Notwithstanding the electability of current School Board candidates Patty Beckman, Mike Peabody and Jann-Michael Greenburg, SUSD will likely struggle to regain its statewide status any time soon. For instance ... even if two of the challengers replace Pam Kirby and Kim Hartmann this November, three board members (Barbara Perleberg, Sandy Kravetz and Allyson Beckham) will still remain and can rule the roost until 2020.
Then there's the matter of hiring a permanent superintendent to replace acting Superintendent Amy Fuller -- not to mention replacing some of the shady characters Denise Birdwell found to fill SUSD positions to perpetuate her policies and prolong her inevitable demise.
It will take years to repair the damage and restore trust in SUSD.
Bad News Usually Travels Fast
Except in Scottsdale.
In fact, if it isn't good news, most of us would rather not hear it - especially if it means being able to avoid harsh realities.
Right?
This year's Chamber of Commerce's Scottsdale Forward was called "A Path for Progress and Economic Development." As usual, the annual event was reminiscent of a pep rally. Speakers, mostly plucked from the business community, agreed things couldn't be better.
If there's one thing we're good at in Scottsdale, it's bragging about our city - and how much better Scottsdale is than just about anywhere else.
Attendees got to hear that marquee events like Spring Training, the Waste Management Open and the Barrett-Jackson Auto Auction are all setting attendance records. Rachel Sacco of Experience Scottsdale said the city's hotel growth is out-pacing the entire country's hotel industry. WestWorld is going great guns, according to Carter Unger, the late Fred Unger's son. He said the facility is operating at 95% efficiency.
City Manager Jim Thompson got into the action, too. He updated the group on Jerry Colangelo's mixed-use development coming to the nearly 30-acre Cracker Jax site on North Scottsdale Road. More hotels are also on the way in Old Town, as is a large retail-residential project in the Loloma area.
But then, with a hint of reluctance and the risk of being a party pooper, Thompson told the audience that there was an 800lb gorilla. Actually a $800 million one. That's the amount necessary to address the city's infrastructure needs, which, Thompson explained, would require bonds that must be approved by voters.
If the results of the last three bond elections are an indicator, passing bonds will be difficult. Combining bond elections in 2010, 2013 and 2015, there were a total of 12 measures. Only two measures, road improvements and the construction of fire stations, passed. Both were approved in 2015. In 2010, the total bond package was $63 million. In 2013, it was $212 million. And in 2015 it was $96 million. If the City Council places a bond election on the November ballot, don't expect the bond package to be $800 million. The Council knows better.
It's important that taxpayers don't suffer sticker shock.
Next week councilmembers will engage in a work-study session on the infrastructure issue -- some of which will be about replacing old infrastructure and some of which will be about creating new infrastructure. The discussion is expected to be guided by the recommendations of the Capital Improvement Plan Subcommittee that's comprised of councilmembers Guy Phillips, Virginia Korte and David Smith.
The work-study session begins at 4PM Tuesday in the Kiva.