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!

"Dark Side" Drives Out Superintendent

David Peterson's resignation came as a surprise ... a surprise that he lasted as long as he had under the circumstances.  

For the four years Peterson served as SUSD Superintendent, he endured what seemed to be a constant assault by community bullies - including a couple of school board members.

Almost from the beginning of his four-year tenure as superintendent that officially began in December of 2011, a disgruntled faction was gunning for Peterson, who previously served seven months as interim superintendent after Gary Catalani abruptly resigned after only two years. 

Lately, the professional lifespan of a SUSD superintendent has been relatively short. While the prior two superintendents, Catalini and John Baracy, who served four years, both resigned for "health reasons." However, Peterson gave no explanation for his resignation. But he didn't have to. 

As one source with knowledge of the situation described: "The district's administration has turned into a hostile workplace. David just got tired of the constant attacks." 

The hostility was generated primarily by "Respect Our Scottsdale Students" (ROSS), the organization made up of malcontents and mischief makers who aimed their vitriol at the school district's administrators - particularly Peterson. In the end, Peterson was a victim of the political venom from what one elected official called the "Dark Side." 

Initially, ROSS offered constructive criticism of the Peterson administration. Over time that criticism turned into tantrums. Seldom did the members of ROSS offer solutions to the problems they were so fond of pointing out. Their most recent input devolved into relentless ranting - especially about declining student enrollments. They have blamed Peterson for almost anything and everything for which the organization didn't approve of in the district. No issue has been too small. No grievance too petty. 

Ironically, a recent survey of parents with students enrolled in the district gave SUSD schools an overall 85% approval rating. 

Unfortunately, the vigilantes from ROSS weren't alone in their quest to dump Dr. Peterson. They have been empowered by SUSD Governing Board members Pam Kirby, an alpha dog, and her political handmaiden Barbara Perleberg.    

Kirby and Perleberg often turn school board meetings into little more than bitch sessions. Working in tandem and using some of the same tactics as ROSS, the two women have frequently caused so much havoc that the five-member school board becomes periodically paralyzed. Board President Bonnie Sneed has been forced to play the role of ringmaster of the three-ring circus.   

Many school board watchers say Kirby, who has close ties with Governor Ducey's administration, has a political agenda that doesn't always align with putting SUSD first. Some sources speculate she's a closet supporter of the charter school system and merely trying to cripple Scottsdale public schools. While it's difficult to identify her real motivations and possible political aspirations, it's easy to recognize the role Pam Kirby has played in creating the environment that caused David Peterson to resign.

Dr. Peterson's resignation is effective January 4, 2016. President Sneed says a search to replace Peterson will begin after the holidays - which is sure to stir up more bad blood.

Meanwhile ... the terms of Governing Board members Bonnie Sneed, Barbara Perleberg and George Jackson expire in 2016. They have yet to announce their political intentions.

Whatever they decide, 2016 will be a scrum for SUSD.