Bob Littlefield: A Tale of Two Cities

To explain why I am running for Mayor I need to tell you a story. It’s called “A Tale of Two Cities.”

 The first city is Scottsdale. Scottsdale is a very special place - it is literally the best place in the Valley to live, work and visit. It is so special every one of us who lives here, in every part of the city, gladly paid a premium to do so. It is so special it is the number one tourist destination in the valley, attracting visitors who heavily support our local economy.

How did Scottsdale get to be so special? Partly because of location – we have a great climate, a stunning natural landscape and a unique Western character all our own.

But what really made Scottsdale special were the thousands of concerned and involved citizens who worked over many decades to create the city we call home. Scottsdale has had many bold, visionary projects in our history such as the McDowell-Sonoran Preserve, the Indian Bend Wash Greenbelt, The Civic Center Mall, and our award-winning Public Art Program. These ideas didn’t come from city government; they came from residents like you who wanted a safe and beautiful place to live, not just for themselves but also for their families and friends.

Concerned and involved citizens also spearheaded Scottsdale’s high standards for design, development and code enforcement. Standards like such as the Environmentally Sensitive Lands Ordinance, Natural Area Open Space, and all our various Character Area Plans, Scenic Corridors, Streetscapes and Design Guidelines keep our city special. Developers built within our citizen-inspired guidelines rather than try to bypass them, because they knew making our city special was good for everyone, including them.

Now let me tell you the story of another city, a city I call Upside Down Scottsdale. I call it that because in Upside Down Scottsdale the residents no longer set the agenda for the city’s growth - special interests do. Greed and short-term self-interest take the place of both civic pride and creating a sustainable high quality of life as the driving forces behind Scottsdale’s growth. And our city “leaders” are put in office by special-interest campaign contributions rather than by records of civic achievement.

Upside Down Scottsdale is the city the incumbent Mayor and his allies in the current City Council majority want. An Upside Down Scottsdale of tall buildings that block our views, urban-level density that clogs our streets with traffic and stresses our infrastructure, an oversupply of apartments, and an out-of-control bar district. They are encouraging the destruction and decay of Scottsdale’s once world-renowned arts scene. They happily approve commercial development in residential neighborhoods and even in the citizen-created crown jewel of Scottsdale, the Preserve. And, they are squandering your tax dollars on special-interest handouts instead of funding our city's critical infrastructure needs.

My mission as Mayor will be to restore control of Scottsdale’s future to the residents, and to implement the residents' vision for how their city grows. Together we can make Scottsdale right-side-up again!

If you agree with me that Scottsdale needs new leadership, click here for details about how you can help my campaign for Mayor.

Help Me Keep Scottsdale Special!

If you have any questions or would like more information about my campaign my web site is www.boblittlefield.com and my phone # is 602-228-9145.

Bob Littlefield

Maricopa County Republicans Has NOT received any compensation to post this information, it is a courtesy post

AZGOP Invitation to Legislative Salute with Hon. Jon Kyl on May 2 in Scottsdale

Kathy Littlefield Candidate For Scottsdale City Council

Dear Fellow Citizens of Scottsdale:

 

I am running for Scottsdale City Council for several reasons. 

The number 1 reason is the lack of fiscal responsibility on the part of the current City Council majority. As former City Treasurer Smith often noted, for the last several years this City Council has dealt with declining revenues, not by cutting expenses, but by cutting contributions to the capital budget. He said flatly that our current level of city spending is “unbalanced and unsustainable.”  The voters of Scottsdale made in clear in the recent bond election that they will not increase their city property taxes by 31% to bail the current City Council majority out of the financial hole they have dug for themselves. We need a strong conservative watchdog to set over our money.

The second reason is the current City Council majority’s cavalier attitude toward public safety. It’s not just about how much money we spend, it’s about what we spend it on. Keeping our citizens safe is job #1 for any city. The citizens of Scottsdale certainly know this as they have made it clear many times that fully funding public safety is their number one priority.

Up to now Scottsdale has been a very safe city. But the current City Council majority’s willingness to underfund critical public safety needs in order to redirect money to less important but more politically favored activities threatens to make Scottsdale less safe. We are losing police officers to other valley cities and our busiest fire station is understaffed, yet the current City Council majority refuses to make funding these critical needs a priority. I will fight to fund critical public safety needs first and, if that means other popular but less critical items lose their funding, then so be it.

The third reason is that Scottsdale residents need to have a strong representative voice on the Council which is focused on their quality of life.  Too often, their concerns are ignored by the very Council members who owe their position to citizen voters.  Time after time residents come to Council urging caution regarding issues that affect their neighborhoods.  Time after time I’ve watched their voices being ignored.   While I do not promise to always agree with them I do promise to listen to their concerns.

Finally, I will work to restore transparency and accountability to Scottsdale City government. One of the main reasons I worked so diligently against the 2013 city bonds was that voters could not tell how their tax dollars would actually be spent.  This concerned me because I believe citizens have a right to know where and how much of their tax money would have been spent on each bond item.  The absolutely astonishing negative reaction to the bonds tells me that voters do not trust the current City Council majority to spend their tax dollars wisely.  Also, the fact the Council refused to EVEN DISCUSS these issues after the bonds were so overwhelming defeated shows just how out of touch this Council is with the voters.        

In short, I would be a voice for the citizens of Scottsdale.  I would be honored to be your choice in the upcoming City election.

Phone: (480) 951-2549 · Web: www.KathyLittlefield.com · email: kathy@kathylittlefield.com