Graham’s history with Scottsdale’s ethics code
By Jim Derouin | Scottsdale
OPINION — As a Scottsdale resident since 1985, I had the honor to serve on the Charter Review Task Force in 2009 and the Citizens Code of Ethics Task Force in 2005-06. In 2006, the city council unanimously adopted the code of ethics recommended by the task force chaired by Art DeCabooter, a renowned civic leader.
The Scottsdale Ethics Code is recognized as the best ethics code in the state, not some “aspirational” document created to be ignored at will. Since 2006, the only city council member who has been found to have violated the city’s ethics code is “resident friendly” Barry Graham. How could that be?
Well, one of the critical elements of the Scottsdale Ethics Code prohibits city council members from applying “undue influence on subordinates.” It is an anti-bullying provision assuring that the city manager and the city’s charter officers run the city’s affairs.
In 2025, “resident friendly” Graham, after the council had approved a budget, expressed his “preference” (his term) to several city employees to quietly remove a project for disabled residents from the budget. Miraculously, the budget item was removed — before it was, miraculously, restored — all without council action. This led to an ethics complaint against Graham for exercising undue influence over staff. Barry, thus, became the only council member to be found to have violated the city’s ethics code.
One way of making voters, however, forget about what you did is by attacking someone else. That task is left to someone who publishes an anonymous social media newsletter that peddles misinformation about anyone who challenges Barry. The latest target is Raoul Zubia, a person of integrity, an honest Scottsdale businessman and a long-time civic leader who is an ardent supporter of the preserve and every other imaginable civic effort. How ironic.
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