Councilors sound off on Scottsdale misinformation as special election deadline looms

The deadline for Scottsdale voters to turn in their special ballot determining the city’s general plan update is less than 12 hours away.

On Tuesday, Nov. 2, Scottsdale residents will have the opportunity to vote in an all-mail special election that will determine whether or not Proposition 463, also known as the Scottsdale General Plan 2035, will be ratified.

Amid the election this fall, which is being conducted by mail-in ballots and drop box locations, there is some opposition in the proposition — an organization called Market Freedom Alliance has been trying to undermine this proposal.

“MFA (Market Freedom Alliance) is an attack on Scottsdale,” said Scottsdale Mayor David Ortega, “they are cowards throwing misinformation.”

And, according to Councilman Tom Durham, representatives of the group have been seen to go door to door with their pamphlets in some parts of Scottsdale.

“Somebody really doesn’t want this to pass and you have to ask why,” said Durham.

The City Council is listed as authors of the general plan update, making Ortega and Durham each one of seven co-authors of the document. The two men are in support of Proposition 463, as well as the Scottsdale General Plan 2035.

“General Plan 2035 is the collective effort written by Scottsdale resident stakeholders,” said Ortega.

Every 10 years the plan is rewritten to help renew every aspect of living for the residents of Scottsdale. Once city council made their edits, the plan was adopted unanimously, said Ortega.

“We are really listening to the people that are affected by projects,” said Durham, “something that would probably continue whether or not the general plan passes or not.”

He said he thinks that this change has been particularly noticeable.

“There’s a lot of misinformation floating around about what the plan does,” said Durham, “these days when it comes to political issues, there seems to be a great divide in the lack of trust in government.”

Additionally, This plan includes tighter requirements for Scottsdale than previous plans, to which include sustainability, climate change and more open space, said Durham.

“In the previous general plans, it said it was important for local residents to have a say in the process,” said Durham, “it’s been changed to say, they must be involved in the process.”

“There’s a claim that it’ll raise taxes,” said Durham, “it won’t raise taxes at all.”

“In fact, one of the things I think is really important in the plan is that it gives a greater protection to tourism,” said Durham, “which is a source of a lot of our revenue.”

He said it increases the visibility of tourism within Scottsdale as an industry, and essentially Scottsdale pay the bills.

“They’re spending a lot of money to defeat this and it’d be nice to know who’s behind this,” said Durham.

Durham said that the current plan has had a lot of improvements, especially with the help of the city hosting open meetings and encouraging the community to be involved.

The Scottsdale General Plan 2035 was adopted June 8, 2021 and has been a community-wide effort focused on the Scottsdale experience, according to Scottsdale General Plan posted by the City of Scottsdale.

“I believe it should unify us,” said Ortega.

Fortunately, if you have yet to mail in your ballot, there is still time to drop your ballot off at Scottsdale City Hall, said Durham.

Editor’s Note: Samia Salahi is a student reporter at the Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communications.