If Gertrude Stein covered Scottsdale politics, she might muse: A bloc is a bloc is a bloc.
Scottsdale City Council is back in action this week. The Monday and Tuesday back-to-back meetings are the first council regular sessions – though there was a work study last week – in two months.
During the break, the Progress has been analyzing the year-to-date of Scottsdale’s elected officials in alphabetical order.
The Aug. 17 profile of veteran Councilwoman Kathy Littlefield included fellow longtime Councilwoman Solange Whitehead’s slam of the conservative-dominated 2025 City Council voting as “a bloc” – Whitehead’s term for the voting powerhouse of Littlefield and fellow reps Barry Graham, Jan Dubauskas and Adam Kwasman.
That was met with howls of protest from “the Bobs:” Bob Littlefield, a former councilman who is Kathy’s husband, and Bob Pejman, an Old Town gallery owner and conservative activist.
Bob Littlefield fired off an angry email to this newspaper, demanding to know “why do you persist in printing Solange’s complaint that Kathy, Barry, Jan and Adam vote as a bloc without pointing out the hypocrisy of that complaint, given that when Solange was in the majority, she was a bigger bloc voter than Kathy, Barry, Jan and Adam have ever been.”
He included a graphic showing Whitehead voting with the other three liberal-leaning council members – then-Mayor David Ortega and representatives Tammy Caputi and Tom Durham – on various apartment projects and road diets.
Ortega was toppled by Lisa Borowsky; Caputi and Durham also lost reelection bids last year.
Ortega scoffed at the notion that he led a bloc.
But, boasting of his leadership on the General Plan and other issues over four years, Ortega issued a Borowsky-era decree:
“The current 5-2 council majority is regressive and unproductive.”
Former Councilwoman Betty Janik, who did not run for reelection, was the wild card on the 2023-24 Council. Janik voted for smaller apartment developments and the massive Parque (the former CrakerJax) – but against Optima McDowell Mountain apartments and two road diets.
Pejman quickly followed Bob Littlefield’s complaint with a Facebook post: “Scottsdale Progress coined the term ‘the bloc,’ referring to Graham, Dubauskas, Kwasman, & Littlefield operating together.
“But this is not a novel concept. Every council has had a majority that operated mostly in unison.”
Jim Bushlow enthusiastically seconded Pejman’s take: “Thank God for the new block – there are still a few mountains viewable from the road that the old block didn’t get the chance to block out with their developer buddies!”
Jason Grandon agreed with that: “The new bloc with the mayor is great. Way better.”
Gerry Friedel also gave Pejman’s view the thumbs up:
“I like the new block and I think most residents do as well.”
Not for the first time, nor likely the last, Whitehead furiously refutes the view of the Bobs.
“I was not on a bloc … I didn’t yell at Betty across the dais and tell her how to vote based on who was voting on what,” Whitehead said, a snarky allusion to Graham attempting to correct Kathy Littlefield’s votes on two occasions.
Caputi also said the Bobs are full of … propaganda.
“The prior Council was not partisan and never aligned itself or harvested votes by political party,” Caputi insisted.
“The prior Council had very divergent views on most topics. We collaborated and found common ground, so that by the time votes occurred we had compromised and reached the best outcome for our diverse constituencies.”
Durham also said there was no “bloc” in the last two years: “There were several occasions when I voted differently from Councilmembers Caputi, Whitehead, Janik and the mayor,” the former councilman said.
Caputi called Graham “always disruptive and abusive.”
And, as usual, Durham could not resist firing a shot at his old nemesis:
“As we know from the open meeting law complaints filed against Councilmember Graham, the current majority often agrees on its votes in advance and in secret. I can’t think of any significant votes where they have differed.”
Indeed, a review of the votes in an often-chaotic Scottsdale City Council 2025 shows the bloc was solid on such hot-button issues as rejecting Borowsky’s plea for time to study a new location for an Old Town parking garage, repealing the city’s DEI (diversity, equity and inclusion) policies and a sustainability plan passed in 2024, as well as “canceling” a planned roundabout at Scottsdale and Dynamite roads – even though it meant forfeiting some $32 million in state and federal funding.
And, during the “Parkingate” saga, Kwasman, Dubauskas and Graham held firm in statements to county detectives.
The three said they were concerned Borowsky broke campaign and procurement laws in private parking garage meetings, in which she pitched an alternate rendering created by David Hovey Jr., who contributed to her campaign.
‘Super-majority’?
Kwasman did leave his fellow conservatives with a motion to bring back two of the mayor’s staff weeks (after he and the other three voted to take them away) and in his support for Axon’s reduced apartments plan.
In a locally-infamous text he sent to Borowsky’s chief of staff, Kwasman threatened to make the mayor’s life miserable if she didn’t join him in Axon negotiations:
“If she (Borowsky) doesn’t make a deal Solange is going to the Supermajority. She’s going to be a 6-1 vote for four years.”
Whitehead called Kwasman’s threat a “fantasy … I’m not a horse trader.”
Indeed, Whitehead has been at the other extreme from Kwasman and the conservatives on most votes.
Whitehead and Maryann McAllen have been at the losing end of many 5-2 votes; Borowsky has joined those two in several bloc-defying votes.
Rather than backtracking, Whitehead doubled down on her criticism of the new majority.
“Four members routinely vote as a block on tremendously consequential issues — often without debate, community meetings, or meaningful public notice, even in the face of overwhelming resident opposition,” she said.
“These actions create the appearance of coordination behind the scenes. Some have told me their votes were cast for colleagues rather than on the merits of the issue.”
Last week, perhaps to gear up her like-minded supporters for the battle for the last half of 2025, Whitehead sent out a newsletter with hints of a conspiracy.
The title of her email blast:
“Here We Go Again: We Must Protect Our Voter-Approved General Plan.”
Whitehead insisted “staff time and tax dollars are once again being diverted from essential city operations to reverse voter-approved priorities. The latest target? General Plan 2035.”
Without providing details, the councilwoman claimed, “These political games by a few on Council are wasting millions, silencing residents and further tarnishing Scottsdale’s once-enviable brand.”
She noted Scottsdale’s current General Plan “was developed over a two-year period with extensive community input and voters decisively approved it in 2021.”
Whitehead again called out “the bloc” – though indirectly: “Hundreds of strikeouts and changes are now proposed – four Councilmembers should not be able to override the voters.”
In what appeared to be a partial victory for Whitehead and other critics of the proposed changes, city staff scrambled and released a new version of the General Plan amendments – keeping in additions to match new state laws but getting rid of proposed city alterations (such as removing all references to “sustainability” and “diversity”).
Q&A
Whitehead spent much of the first half of 2025 lecturing, scolding, pleading with and yelling over the words and actions of the conservative juggernaut.
While she has complained about the way some Progress stories have described her (“red-faced in anger”; “Whitehead furiously howled”), she acknowledged she has not always kept her cool in the face of what she calls a well-choreographed opposition.
“These ‘coordinated’ gotchas on trivial to consequential issues are bad for Scottsdale – but also caught me off-guard,” she said.
“I spoke passionately against breaking council norms and often against the majority position.”
In a Q&A, she reflected on the first half of 2025, as well as challenges ahead and her personal plans.
Question: After nearly seven years, how do you feel about your job?
Answer: Serving as a Scottsdale Councilwoman is every bit as special today as it was when I was first elected in 2018. While the news often highlights divisive issues, most of my work is spent with residents solving neighborhood issues and also achieving incremental milestones on big issues like protecting the Preserve and safeguarding our city’s finances.
Q: What are your challenges with a new council majority?
A: Obviously, I’ve had some strong disagreements with the Council majority this year. There have been contentious (4-3) votes that have reversed past Council projects and eliminated 30+ year programs.
Currently, two voter-approved items are being targeted: the 2004 Preserve tax and the General Plan. These votes have already cost taxpayers millions but are also breaking the bond between City Hall and residents. In my opinion, this is dangerous.
Q: What is your biggest concern?
A: The dramatic shift in leadership has impacted staffing. This year alone, Scottsdale has lost well over 200 years of institutional knowledge. We have no water director, deputy water director, public works director, or transportation director — and we’ve lost staff members at every level that were key to our “simply better service” outcomes.
Q: With all the drama – will you run for reelection in 2026?
A: Strangers stop me in grocery stores to thank me for my work and encourage me to run for reelection. It’s humbling …
As former Public Works Director Dan Worth — forced into retirement — told me, “Scottsdale is worth fighting for!”
I couldn’t agree more, and I’ll strongly consider running again in 2026.