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Dear Friends:Everyone who runs for Scottsdale City Council claims to be resident-friendly. But let's be honest, most vot...
26/02/2026

Dear Friends:

Everyone who runs for Scottsdale City Council claims to be resident-friendly. But let's be honest, most vote for overdevelopment after they take office.

That's why, if you want to preserve Scottsdale's special character and high quality of life you should support me in the upcoming city election. In the last ten years I have been involved in every major resident-driven battle to preserve Scottsdale's special character and high quality of life:

I fought commercial development in the Preserve by opposing the Desert Discovery Center and working to pass Proposition 420.
I fought overdevelopment in the 5th Avenue shopping district in downtown Scottsdale. by opposing the bloated Southbridge II development and working to successfully refer it to the ballot.
I rallied citizen opposition to the overly dense Kimsey project downtown.
And I have been the leader of the fight to prevent AXON from building the largest apartment development in the history of Arizona in Scottsdale.

Bottom line, I am the proven commodity you can trust to stay true to my resident-friendly promises once I get in office!

If you agree with me that overdevelopment has gotten out-of-hand in Scottsdale, I need your support. The first thing I need is signatures on my nominating petition. You can conveniently sign my petition online at https://go.azsos.gov/6dmk. I also need contributions to my campaign to fight the special-interest money that will be spent to keep me off the City Council; you can contribute to my campaign here. And please spread the word about my candidacy to your friends, neighbors and family who live in Scottsdale!

Thank you for your support.

Former Councilman Bob Littlefield
https://boblittlefield.com

Bob Littlefield, City Councilman, Scottsdale, Arizona

16/04/2025

Dear Friends:

Ever since Axon unveiled their proposal to force the biggest apartment project (1900 units) ever in Arizona on the residents of Scottsdale they have spared no expense in their effort to bypass the opposition of Scottsdale residents to their project. After they failed to defeat our referendum petition drive, they moved to lobbying the State Legislature to get what they want. My sources at the legislature told me Axon hired 7 lobbyists, and their CEO and many of his executives were down at the legislature most every day pushing their cause, including at expensive surf and turf dinners. Representative Joseph Chaplik (who has been a true champion for Scottsdale residents fighting this bad Axon bill) actually said publicly, on the House floor, “When we let them come in here and talk to every one of these members which, I will admit, three or four of them have come to me and said they were essentially offered campaign funds if they vote yes, for their next election, by the company. … I’ve never seen something so scandalous in my five years here.”



Unfortunately, Axon got what they paid for and the bill neutering the rights of Scottsdale citizens to challenge bad decisions of their City Council passed both the House and the Senate. As columnist Laurie Roberts sarcastically but accurately noted, "After all, how dare Scottsdale’s residents think their constitutional right to have the final say on a massive rezoning project should trump the right of a well-connected developer to build the state’s largest apartment complex? This, in a city that already is being overrun with apartments?"



All that stands in the way of this bad bill being approved is the signature of the Governor. It would be helpful if you would communicate your opposition to this bad bill to her; you can do so at https://azgovernor.gov/office-arizona-governor/form/contact-governor-hobbs….



Even if the Governor does sign this bill the fight is not over. Our lawyers are convinced this bill contains many unconstitutional provisions and we intend to challenge it in the courts if it ultimately becomes law. Buckle up, the wild ride is not over!



One big lesson we learned was that Scottsdale City government needs to seriously bulk up its Government Relations (aka lobbying) efforts (subtle hint to newly minted City Manager Caton). While TAAAZE jumped on this bad bill as soon as it was introduced, the City only became officially engaged about a week ago. Several legislators claimed this told them that Scottsdale city government really didn't care much about this issue and those legislators used that supposed apathy as an excuse to vote for this bad bill.



We can't let this happen again! This will not be the last time the state legislature attempts to override the power of Scottsdale citizens to control our own destiny (remember Short Term Rentals), and we must be better prepared to defend our rights in the future!



I do want to thank those individual politicians who worked hard to protect the rights of Scottsdale citizens. Legislators Joseph Chaplik, Alex Kolodin and John Kavanagh worked hard to defeat this bad bill. All of your Councilmembers except Solange Whitehead (who, of course, voted for the Axon apartments in the first place) and Maryann McAllen personally went down to the Legislature to lobby against this bad bill, as did City Manager Greg Caton.

Things are moving fast, but I will try to keep everyone updated.


Former Councilman Bob Littlefield
Chairman, Taxpayers Against Awful Apartment Zoning Exemptions (T.A.A.Z.E.)

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27/12/2024

FYI - A $42.25 million Old Town Scottsdale building sale is ground zero for the next massive office redevelopment project from Phoenix-based developer George Oliver Cos.
The 165,220-square-foot building at 7272 E. Indian School Road was sold Dec. 17 to 7272 Indian School Owner LLC, an entity tied to Denver-based private equity firm Ascentris, according to Tempe-based real estate database Vizzda LLC. A joint venture between Ascentris and George Oliver has spent more than $76 million over the past few months to acquire six contiguous acres in Old Town Scottsdale.

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