Scottsdale council candidates clash over water, growth, and 'clowns'
Scottsdale residents were treated to another round of feisty council candidate exchanges during The Arizona Republic's Oct. 12 debate at City Hall.
Incumbent Councilmember Barry Graham and former state lawmaker Michelle Ugenti-Rita, who are running as a ticket, clashed with retired banker and self-described political moderate Raoul Zubia over issues such as development, water, and housing.
Three candidates are running in the Nov. 3 general election for the last two open seats on the Scottsdale City Council.
Graham and Ugenti-Rita framed the race as a fight against high-density growth while protecting Scottsdale's existing character.
Zubia positioned himself as bringing more civility to the council while also focusing on doing more to secure the city's water future with advanced water purification.
Growth and Housing at heart of Scottsdale council election
Both Ugenti-Rita and Graham argued for limiting growth from dense apartments, arguing they suck up water resources and don't fit with Scottsdale's culture of low-profile single-family development.
"People don't move here to look like Tempe," Ugenti-Rita said.
Graham also emphasized the council should make sure there's buy-in from residents before the city approves any new development.
"Residents should support the development that comes to their city," he said.
Both tried to paint Zubia as an advocate for dense multi-family development, pointing to a $5,000 campaign contribution from Axon President Josh Isner.
Zubia denied the accusation, calling Isner's contribution a donation from one employee, rather than a company or industry. It's a touchy subject in Scottsdale, which was gripped by a running controversy over Axon's plans to build a new headquarters, including hundreds of apartments for employees.
While Zubia did say Scottsdale should allow some multi-family housing, he argued it should be no more than four stories and should fit with the character of the surrounding neighborhoods.
"Just because we can build doesn't mean we should," he said.
Candidates clash over securing Scottsdale's water supply
Graham started the night arguing Scottsdale doesn't have a water crisis, but rather has a crisis of new apartment development putting a strain on the resource.
This view conflicted with a Sept. 22 city council presentation showing apartments and condos use far less water than single-family homes.
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When pressed on that point by moderator and Republic First Amendment Reporter Taylor Seeley, Graham argued the city's figures used the wrong metric. He said they didn't accurately reflect the impact that using land for apartments versus single-family homes has on Scottsdale's water resources.
On water policy, Zubia argued the city needs to avail itself of all options, including advanced water purification, or what the other two candidates referred to as "toilet to tap."
"We are running out of cheap water, and we need to find a way to keep the water we have, and that is through recycling and other projects," he said.
Ugenti-Rita framed Scottsdale's advanced water purification program as injecting sewage into drinking water, and argued the city can look at other options to address its water needs.
The tone at City Hall
Zubia said he wanted to bring more civility back to City Hall, saying he would work with people he disagreed with to deliver results for residents.
He received pushback from Ugenti-Rita, who asked him if calling people "clowns, cowards and chaos extremists" was an example of that civility.
"Depends on the clown," Zubia responded.
Ugenti-Rita called herself a fighter and called on her experience in the state legislature to bolster that argument.
"I've been doing this for 15 years. I ain't changing," she said.
Graham said it's important to work together, but also said it's important to take principled stances.
"Sometimes you do have to stand firm because residents don't elect us to go along to get along," he said.
How Scottdale got here
While all three fell short of winning a seat in the July 21 primary election outright, they earned enough votes to compete in the upcoming runoff race. As the top vote-getter, Councilmember Solange Whitehead avoided the rematch and secured her reelection bid.
Eight candidates overall ran in the highly competitive race that pitted two distinct factions against one another, sharpening the partisan divide that already plagues the City Council.
In one camp were Graham, Ugenti-Rita and former Councilmember Bob Littlefield. They framed the election as a battle for Scottsdale’s character and ran against overdevelopment, which they believe is the root of Scottsdale’s traffic and water woes.
The other side included an unlikely mix of Whitehead, Zubia and Ethan Knowlden, along with self-described conservative Crystal Carroll. They told voters that the city needed to turn away from internal bickering and secret agendas and toward more common sense and consensus.
The eighth candidate, Eric Sloan, was effectively an outlier.
At The Republic’s June 29 forum in Scottsdale, things turned feisty as candidates lobbed accusations and personal attacks over key election issues like multi-family housing, water security and civility.
On the campaign trail, Graham and Ugenti Rita continued to contend with Zubia over the same topics, namely water.
Scottsdale is bracing for cuts to the Colorado River, which supplies 70% of the city’s drinking water.
Zubia has campaigned on limiting growth while advocating for the city’s advanced water purification project. He said the stalled plans to deliver purified wastewater directly to residents’ taps will ensure Scottsdale’s water is secure.
Stressing that the city’s water is already secure, Graham and Ugenti-Rita have accused Zubia and other political opponents of using the issue to fear-monger. However, that security, they’ve claimed, is being threatened by apartment developments.
Shawn Raymundo covers Scottsdale and Maricopa County. Reach him atsraymundo@gannett.com or follow him on X @ShawnzyTsunami.
Reporter Harrison Mantas, who covers Mesa, Gilbert, Queen Creek and San Tan Valley, can be reached at hmantas@azcentral.com. Follow him on X @HarrisonMantas or Instagram @harrisonmantas
