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Smith: Young Scottsdale voters weigh in

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In an attempt to get younger voters more involved and informed in the City of Scottsdale, several groups (Scottsdale Rising Young Professionals, FUEL Scottsdale, Scottsdale Leadership and Scottsdale Community College) collaborated to put together forums for both the Scottsdale mayoral candidates as well as City Council candidates.

These groups spent several weeks coming up with topics and questions that would pertain to the younger voter demographic specifically.

While traditionally the 18-39 year old age bracket is underrepresented at the polls on election day, we are seeing a shift with more youthful involvement in social and political discussions.

The response from both mayoral and City Council candidates was significant with all five candidates for mayor participating and eight of the nine Council candidates.

The questions varied and included important topics such as: Scottsdale’s economy, education, diversity and inclusion, attainable housing, public safety, and the general concern of Scottsdale’s youth.

Many young voters tuned in live and are continuing to view the forums on the Scottsdale Area Chamber of Commerce’s YouTube page. Candidates opined specifically on the ideas of developer incentives for attainable housing for young workers and families, the future of economic growth in our city, and each individual candidate’s vision for the future of the city.

There was also spirited discussion on more timely topics including the city’s COVID-19 response, the reopening of Scottsdale public schools, and their reaction to the recent comments from current City Councilman Guy Phillips (the only candidate unable to participate in the forum) at his anti-mask rally a couple of weeks ago.

With early ballots being mailed out this week, the voters of Scottsdale will certainly have their work cut out for them to fill three council positions as well as the mayor.

The City of Scottsdale is seeing younger voters demonstrating their engagement over the last few years. Given the number of candidates in the field, this may be the opportunity for younger voters to have a significant impact on the outcome of this year’s election.

To watch the forums in their entirety, please visit:

  • Mayoral Forum: https://youtu.be/bVx7fV3Ywag
  • Council Forum: https://youtu.be/r_274GbF2Uw

Editor’s Note: Prescott Smith is a Scottsdale resident and member of the Planning Commission.