Mayor race tops city slate

Oct. 6—If you're a voter, this is a big week.

The Maricopa County Elections Department will mail out ballots to registered voters beginning Wednesday, Oct. 9.

While voting continues through Nov. 5, eager voters can mail completed ballots back this week — or drop them off at various ballot collection sites.

Scottsdale's drop box will be at Scottsdale City Hall, 3939 N. Drinkwater Boulevard in Old Town. For more information — including voter registration, ballot drop locations and tracking your ballot: scottsdale.vote or elections.maricopa.gov .

Scottsdale voters will weigh in on various federal, state and county positions and propositions.

And they will decide who gets to spend their local taxes — and how much will be collected as well as spent.

The Scottsdale ballot, in a nutshell, includes:

Mayor's chair

Deja vu department: David Ortega and Lisa Borowsky face off in the race to run City Hall, just like they did in 2020.

In the primary election that set the stage for a rematch by eliminating Linda Milhaven, who received 20.58% of the vote, Borowsky qualified for the runoff with 38.7% — trailing Ortega's 40.61%.

In 2020, an eye-popping 86% of Scottsdale's registered voters took part in the election.

Ortega cruised to victory in the mayor's race, with 46.25% support — well ahead of Borowsky's 42.49%. His margin of victory was 5,896 votes.

But, of the 156,676 Scottsdale ballots returned, only 139,384 voted for a mayoral candidate.

Ortega is an architect who served on the council from 2000-2004 before running for mayor.

In his re-election campaign, Ortega claims he has done a great job "moving Scottsdale in a positive direction based on getting things done."

He points to recruiting the likes of global tech power ASM to North Scottsdale, while keeping taxes low and city services high.

Not so, Borowsky has been arguing in her aggressive campaign to unseat Ortega.

Borowsky has been bashing Ortega for budget overruns on various city projects, as well as approving the Parque and McDowell Mountain Village — two developments that will bring thousands of apartments to Scottsdale.

She says the city needs a new leader.

Borowsky is a commercial attorney and "lifelong Scottsdale resident."

She was a councilwoman from 2008-12.

While Borowsky has ripped into Ortega for being "out of touch" and "arrogant," as well as "a pattern of lies" — Ortega counter-attacked that Borowsky "set the record for missing meetings and approving apartments" in her time on City Council.

Four for two openings

Three Scottsdale City Council seats were up for grabs this year.

Betty Janik, Tammy Caputi and Tom Durham all have four-year terms that end Dec. 31. Janik opted not to seek re-election.

In the primary, one of the three seats was filled.

With nine candidates battling for three City Council seats in the primary, Jan Dubauskas sailed to an outright victory.

That left the next four top vote getters — in order, Caputi, Adam Kwasman, Mary McAllen and Durham — to battle for two council seats.

Caputi is a Boston native who has lived in Scottsdale for 25 years. She points with pride to owning a small business — and raising three daughters.

"I'm seeking re-election to continue the great work being done," she told the Progress before the primary.

"I've increased job creation by 10%, kept our budget in the black, fully funded public safety, and brought Tourism back to pre-pandemic levels. I helped pass a new General Plan and protected our neighborhoods from Short-Term Rentals."

During City Council meetings, Caputi has repeatedly praised Scottsdale as "a world-class city."

Like Durham, Caputi repeatedly voted for pay raises for everyone from entry-level city workers up to city executives.

In the last four years, the city's "charter officers" — city manager, city attorney, city treasurer and city clerk — have received cumulative raises of nearly 40%.

Caputi also has shown muscle as a powerhouse fundraiser: After raising an eye-popping $288,851 in her 2020 campaign, Caputi raised more than $270,000 in this cycle — more than the other eight who ran for City Council seats combined.

Kwasman, a former state representative, raised $126,850 — the second-most money among council candidates.

He calls himself "a successful attorney and small business owner."

During his two-year term as a state representative, Kwasman was given a 100% rating by the American Conservative Union and rated "Hero of the Taxpayer" by Americans for Prosperity.

In 2014, Kwasman was a distant third in the Republican primary in the formerly rural Arizona Congressional District 1 race.

Six years later, he filed to run for the state senate in LD 3 — then dropped out and endorsed Alexander Kolodin, the ultimate winner.

His promise to Scottsdale voters:

"My platform is built on a foundation of fiscal accountability and transparency, with a focus on addressing key issues such as vastly increasing public safety, stopping reckless overdevelopment, fighting the rising homelessness crisis, and restoring fiscal sanity, all while reducing the tax burden on residents."

Kwasman has sharply criticized the current administration: "The current council has gone along with reckless overdevelopment in Scottsdale."

That, apparently, caught Durham's attention.

Since his somewhat lackluster, fifth-place showing in the primary, Durham has gone on the attack — with Kwasman his lone target.

Durham is a tax attorney from Chicago who retired to Scottsdale a decade ago.

He insists "the current city council has a successful track record."

Meanwhile, Durham has attacked Kwasman for being misinformed and "extremist."

In one of the most baffling moments of recent Scottsdale campaigns, Durham led off a Sept. 25 candidates forum by begging voters "to not vote for me in November" — but rather to vote for McAllen and Caputi, in order to "block" Kwasman. Durham said electing Kwasman would "threaten the future of Scottsdale."

"Extremism of the type that Adam argues for is," Durham told a crowd two weeks ago, "is not good for Scottsdale."

Kwasman's response to Durham's charges:

"He's been dishonest with voters since day 1," the former state representative said of Durham.

"Thank God the voters are not paying attention to his dishonesty," Kwasman continued. "That's why I have broad-based support."

McAllen, by contrast, has run a decidedly low-key, feel-good campaign.

The political newcomer — McAllen is the only first-time candidate in the field — describes herself as a lifelong Scottsdale resident with "over two decades of municipal experience. My last work with the city of Scottsdale was to build and run the Via Linda Senior Center. Prior to that, I was in recreation and Human Services."

McAllen says "my many years of leadership service on boards, commissions and special events give me a unique perspective and I have the desire to work to strengthen our city ...

"Growing up here in Scottsdale, I valued all of the wonderful things that I'm supporting."

City props

In addition to its elected officials, Scottsdale voters will decide on two local ballot measures.

One would bring in an estimated $1.5 billion over 30 years, to support "maintenance and protection" of the city's 44 parks and McDowell Sonoran Preserve.

The description of Prop. 490 — 2025 Scottsdale 0.15% Sales Tax Rate: "Enacts a 0.15% transaction privilege and use tax rate for 30 years solely to fund the improvement, maintenance, and protection of citywide parks and recreational facilities, and the maintenance and protection of the Preserve as determined by ordinance, effective immediately upon the expiration of the 0.20% tax rate in 2025."

After the Arizona Court of Appeals ruled Scottsdale's original "replace and reduce" ballot language was misleading, the city's managers and elected officials scrambled to come up with new wording in time to make the ballot.

What voters will now see:

"A 'YES' vote shall have the effect of authorizing the City to enact a transaction privilege and use tax rate of 0.15% for 30 years for the sole purpose of: 1) improvements and maintenance for Citywide Parks and Recreational Facilities; 2) maintenance and protection for the McDowell Sonoran Preserve; and 3) increased Police and Fire resources related to Citywide Parks and the Preserve, as determined by City ordinance, to take effect on July 1, 2025, immediately upon the expiration of the current 0.20% tax rate.

"A 'NO' vote shall have the effect of denying the City the authority to enact a new 0.15% transaction privilege and use tax rate, and the current 0.20% transaction privilege and use tax rate will automatically expire at the end of June 30, 2025."

Prop. 490 has had a somewhat tortured path to the ballot. Former Mayor Jim Lane and the Goldwater Institute sued the city, alleging the original "replace and reduce" language — referring to the expiring 0.20% sales tax — was misleading.

A Maricopa County Superior Court judge ruled the city's wording was fine — but the Goldwater Institute successfully appealed, forcing City Council to scramble and remove "replace and reduce" references.

While Prop. 490 directly relates to revenues, Prop. 491 concerns the state limit on how much Scottsdale can spend.

Titled "Permanent Base Adjustment," Prop. 491 is described as "the city of Scottsdale seeks voter approval to permanently adjust the expenditure base of the city of Scottsdale as determined by the Economic Estimates Commission."

If Prop. 491 passes, Scottsdale will be permitted "to adjust its base expenditure limit" by $22 million.

If the proposition fails, the city must follow the current spending limit guidelines of the state.

The "Yes-Yes" political action committee, as well as Ortega and a majority of City Council, urge voters to approve both propositions.

Council members Betty Janik and Solange Whitehead have been sending out booster email blasts and hosted "informal" gatherings in support of the city measures.

Council members Barry Graham and Kathy Littlefield are among those who oppose one of the city measures.

Both voted for putting the spending limit lift measure on the ballot at the April 2 City Council meeting.

At the same meeting, Graham and Littlefield voted against the sales tax measure, which passed by a 5-2 margin to make the ballot.

Graham complained Prop. 490 "raises taxes to maintain — not add or improve, but more maintenance... if we're going to increase tax you would expect more assets than what we're getting."

Littlefield stressed the sales tax measure is "very expensive — it's a lot of money."

"These costs should be paid for by bonds," Littlefield insisted. They are long term debt — it's not a sales tax."

But, an email blast from the Yes-Yes group insisted last week, "The future of the McDowell Sonoran Preserve is in the hands of Scottsdale voters this Election Day as they decide on Props 490 and 491."

The email quoted former Mayor Mary Manross, a Yes-Yes chair: "The Preserve is to Scottsdale what the Grand Canyon is to Arizona. It's our responsibility to protect and sustain it for future generations."

Like Durham and Caputi, McAllen supports two city propositions on the Scottsdale ballot.

Kwasman said he is in favor of Prop. 491 — but against Prop. 490.

"We need to fully fund our parks and Sonoran Preserve; alongside police, fire and upkeep for WestWorld," Kwasman said.

"All of this can be done, however, without a new tax that would hurt Scottsdale residents in a time of inflation and economic uncertainty. Scottsdale citizens are not being told the truth when they hear that this is a tax cut. The tax that Proposition 490 wants to replace is expiring, meaning that a 'yes' vote is actually a vote for an entirely new tax on Scottsdale residents."

And, even with the new language his lawsuit forced, Lane remains wholeheartedly opposed to Prop. 490.

"The new tax will be inserted into the operating budget process," Lane warned, "without the necessary oversight, discipline and accountability exercised by the council."

Key election dates

Oct. 7: Last day to register to vote.

Oct. 9: Ballots mailed and drop boxes available.

Oct. 25: Last day to request an early ballot.

Oct. 29: Last day to mail back your ballot.

Nov. 5: Election Day.

Information: scottsdale.vote or