At the time, no one in the crowd even chuckled – but in retrospect it was quite a laugh line.
“This is a forum,” Sasha Weller said, in introducing the first event of Scottsdale’s election season.
Then, he delivered what proved to be the punchline: “It’s not a debate.”
But when you throw eight people of divergent viewpoints struggling for attention together …
Though it was never a formal debate, there were plenty of sparks and feisty exchanges – entertaining those who like a little dramatic tension – at the Scottsdale Firefighters Association’s “candidate forum.” The April 13 event at the Scottsdale Civic Center Library Auditorium was the unofficial kickoff of Scottsdale’s election season.
All eight of the candidates who will be on the July 21 primary ballot attended.
They will be fighting for three seats – and battle lines quickly became clear at the forum.
The day before the event, Councilman Barry Graham sent out a newsletter saying he was eager for “an attack-free forum.”
Yet a few score people were settling in their seats when Graham found himself in the crosshairs.
Councilwoman Solange Whitehead – the other current politician running for reelection – went after Graham, who impatiently waited to return fire.
While Graham-Whitehead might have been the main event, the forum provided an energetic undercard.
Newcomer Ethan Knowlden targeted former state representative Michelle Ugenti-Rita, who won the unofficial “snappy comeback of the night” award.
Former Councilman Bob Littlefield is the husband of current Councilwoman Kathy Littlefield, who is terming out to open the third Scottsdale seat. In his bid to return to council, the leader of the group Taxpayers Against Awful Apartment Zoning Exemptions identified a clear combatant, even if it wasn’t present: Axon.
Similarly, business owner-turned-candidate Crystal Carroll’s teed off on her foe – the planned Old Town parking garage two blocks from the library.
Raoul Zubia, who failed in a previous run, perhaps restrained himself from saying “I told you so” as he punched away at the reputation of the current City Council.
Eric Sloan, another newcomer to local politics, tag-teamed on Zubia’s battle. “A lot of people agree the fighting amongst the Council has gotten out of hand,” Sloan proclaimed.
“It’s an embarrassment.”
The event was moderated by Weller, Scottsdale Firefighter Association president.
According to the billing, “The discussion will focus on the candidates’ visions for the city’s future and their positions on critical public safety issues.”
With an endorsement on the line, Sloan and others trumpeted their backing of the city’s firefighters and police.
No cops were present and – though no laws appeared to be broken – the rules of the forum were quickly and frequently violated.
Tone setter
Whitehead set the aggressive tone for the two-hour event.
The first person to call out the Graham-led “bloc” on City Council went after her target early:
“What we’ve been dealing with this past 16 months or so is a council that is focused on politics and willing to put that politics ahead of financial security and public safety and ahead of our quality of life,” Whitehead passionately pronounced. She then teed up an attack on a planned North Scottsdale roundabout that was “canceled” by Graham and his cohorts, who successfully pushed for an extension of the current four-way intersection at Scottsdale and Dynamite.
“This past year,” Whitehead ranted, as Graham did a big double-take, “we forfeited $31 million in federal money – we’re never going to see that money again – to make Scottsdale streets less safe and divert $31 million plus an extra probably $10 million of transportation dollars we need to pave our roads to fix this roundabout into a less safe intersection with a traffic light.”
Graham patiently waited for six others to speak before the microphone was handed to him.
After talking briefly on the positive economic picture in the city, Graham noted: “I want to clarify and go back to what Councilmember Whitehead said.”
He said in 2024, when three representatives were up for reelection, “residents threw them out of office.” After insisting voters rejected a “political agenda” of road diets, “a city-run homeless shelter” and “thousands and thousands of apartments that were being approved,” Graham returned to Whitehead.
“I also want to call her out and say that there is not a $31 million forfeiture of funds – that is a legal technicality. The funding is secure – and that is false information,” Graham said.
“I also want to call out that Councilmember Whitehead voted to waive your water when she approved Axon.
“She gave away your water,” Graham stated, to a smattering of applause.
Jumping the line, Whitehead grabbed a microphone.
Despite Weller’s insistence that “I don’t want to turn this into a debate,” Whitehead fired back at Graham:
“I do need to correct the record. There was no action on Axon water. It was water credits negotiated by the mayor … And I also want to absolutely say that the forfeiture of $31 million is a matter of public record. The price of that project went up $10 million.”
After applause for Whitehead’s emotional defense died down, Weller again repeated: “This is not a debate … please stick to the format.”
Even so, the moderator set the candidates up for battle by inviting each participant to ask a question of another.
Knowlden took a sharp dig at Ugenti-Rita, framing a question on one of her votes by saying, “you’ve been unsuccessful in the last couple of campaigns.”
Ugenti-Rita’s razor retort to Knowlden:
“Sometimes you don’t win everything – as you’ll get to know soon.”
Perhaps under the “rules are made to be broken” philosophy, Littlefield went off script, instead of asking a fellow candidate a question, posing a rhetorical one.
“Who stood up to Axon?” Littlefield demanded.
“Vote for me – I was the one who stood up to Axon.”
Whitehead did not leave that slide without a comment.
After Carroll demanded of her why she did not support a move to put the TAAAZE referendum on the ballot last year, Whitehead defended her two votes approving Axon’s office-apartments-hotel plan.
“That company is of state importance,” Whitehead said. “Our chief of police said Axon leaving makes us less safe … but anonymous donors are funding Bob Littlefield’s TAAAZE.”
Whitehead defended the Axon plan as “low density – with a dog park … It’s going to be a fabulous development.”
Carroll, the owner of an Old Town cafe, would hardly use the term “fabulous” to describe the planned parking garage at First and Brown.
Responding to Weller’s question on the topic, Graham, Littlefield and Ugenti-Rita said they support expanding the two-level lot into a garage.
Graham: “The 2019 bond passed overwhelmingly … voters told us we need more parking – a garage – in Old Town.”
Ugenti-Rita: “I support it. Voters voted for it.”
Littlefield: “You have to build the garage… People said ‘build the f-ing garage.’ I predict: if you build it, they will park.”
An apparently incredulous Carroll turned to the audience.
“Guys,” she pleaded, “you did not approve that garage on that spot … That garage was not talked about in the bond, that location was not talked about.
“It’s absolute lies.”
Sloan, Zubia and Knowlden all said they opposed the garage plan.
Whitehead?
“I’m not for or against it.”
Introductions
Weller gave the eight candidates time to introduce themselves.
Ugenti-Rita:
“There are two types of candidates in this race, those who are ready to lead and those who are more interested in playing personality politics. Scottsdale deserves the first … As a veteran of the Legislature, I have a record of making the tough but necessary decisions, defending taxpayers, fighting for your right to vote and citizen referendums, not getting bullied by special interests that want to take your vote away from you. I will protect our quality of life, our character.”
Whitehead:
“Voters twice elected me to represent your values at City Hall … on my watch, we have funded infrastructure, we have protected neighborhoods, we have dedicated new parks and secured 30 years of funding to reinvest in our city’s oldest parks. We doubled the city’s financial reserves, we paid down pension liability, we lowered your taxes, and we stopped the export of Scottsdale water to Rio Verde foothills.”
Zubia:
“We have a council who is not listening to the people. We have a council who’s determined to do whatever they want to do when they want to do it. We don’t need that in our council, we need someone who is the leader – who is the adult in the room and who is going to make sure that you the voters, you the citizens, are being listened to. That is what I will do.”
Sloan:
“My wife and I have lived in Scottsdale for over 20 years. We’ve had a business in Scottsdale for over 18 years. The reason I decided to run this race was because I have a 14-year-old daughter, and so I want to see Scottsdale be the amazing city that it’s always been for her. But more importantly, I wanted to focus on something that’s very important to every citizen in Scottsdale, and it’s not a political issue, it’s public safety.”
Littlefield:
“I’ve lived in Scottsdale since 1984 … I’ve already served three terms on the Scottsdale City Council, and when I termed out, I didn’t stop caring about what happened in Scottsdale. In fact, just the opposite. I went to work fighting various initiatives in order to make Scottsdale a better place. … I am the one candidate race who is the proven quantity. I have a 20 year record of citizen activism.”
Carroll:
“I love Scottsdale so much. I invested hundreds of thousands of dollars in a business in Old Town. So I am invested in the community. … I’m not beholden to anybody. I’m not in politics. I’m not from politics. I want the cream of the crop to be running our city. I have managed hundreds of thousands of dollars. I’ve created hundreds of jobs. I’ve been an entrepreneur for the last 20 years, and I know how to get things done.”
Knowlden:
“… I was recruited into a biotech company in California, and that’s the industry where I spent the remainder of my legal career doing transactions. So I was a deal guy. I would bring sides together, try to find some common ground, negotiate agreement terms, get them to sign and move the teams forward. … I got to do it all around the world. I got to meet incredible people, and I got to learn a lot of great skills and experiences. Those are the skills and experiences that I think this council desperately needs.”
Graham:
“When you elected me four years ago, I made two promises that I would always put residents first, and then I would never ‘go along to get along.’ I have my kept word on both. I’m the only Council candidate running for re-election who listened to 27,000 residents who signed a petition opposing Axon apartments and defended their right to vote on the mega development. Also listened to 37,000 residents who voted in 2019 to add much needed parking in Old Town.”
Key dates
June 22 is the last day to register to vote in the primary election.
On June 24, early voting begins and early ballots will be mailed.
July 21 is the primary election day.
Any of the candidates can win outright by securing enough votes during the primary. If any of the three seats are not filled during the primary, finalists will battle it out at the Nov. 3 general election.