Run off elections are wonderful things.
With one last opportunity to impress voters before they cast their ballots, candidates move Heaven and Earth to impress them, hoping to convince residents to choose them over their opponent.
One example of this is the Scottsdale City Council race, where three candidates, Michelle Ugenti-Rita, Barry Graham, and Raoul Zubia, are vying for the remaining two open seats on the Council that will be decided in the November elections.
Each of these candidates failed to win a majority in the first round of elections in July.
Both Graham and Zubia are trying to appeal to voters on the issue of their support for the McDowell Sonoran Conservancy Preserve.
In an August 19 post, Graham highlighted his support for the Preserve.
The irony here is that Graham, along with former candidate Bob Littlefield, opposed the measure, Proposition 490, which funded the management of the Preserve.
Commenting to the Blog for Arizona, City Council Candidate Raoul Zubia, the Vice-Chair of the Protect and Preserve Task Force that backed Prop 490, said:
“I was proud to serve as Vice-Chair on the Protect the Preserve Task Force. My stance has never changed. My opponent vehemently voted against protecting the Preserve through his opposition to Prop 490. Now he wants to protect it? This is just more lying from Graham. Voters are tired of it.”
Translation to Scottsdale Voters: Choose the candidate who has been consistently for the Preserve.
Please click here to read an op-ed from The Scottsdale Independent that supports Mr. Zubia’s position.
The Blog for Arizona did reach out to Councilman Graham to comment on this issue
His reply came after the original draft of the article was published.
In his response, Graham said:
“I have consistently supported the Preserve — voting to keep it fully funded and protected in our budgets, and working to appoint people to the Preserve Commission who take their responsibility to steward it seriously.
As a Transportation Commissioner, I also voted against the proposal to put a road through the Preserve. It’s important to protect wildlife migration patterns and minimize disruption to this important open space.
Perhaps most importantly, I opposed the DDC — the effort to place commercial development inside the boundary of the Preserve.”
In response to a follow-up on his position on Prop 490 that showed his refusal to fund the management of the Preserve, Graham wrote:
“Prop 490 was primarily about parks funding. I opposed advancing that particular proposition because the ballot language was misleading — a finding later confirmed by the Arizona Court of Appeals. After the ruling, the Council had to rush a revised version back onto the ballot without adequate resident input. I have always supported funding for the Preserve and have consistently voted to keep it protected and properly funded in our budgets.”
Responding to Councilman Graham’s comments, Mr. Zubia replied to Blog for Arizona:
“Barry’s record tells a different story. When Scottsdale residents organized to stop the Desert Discovery Center, Barry didn’t sign the petition or help lead that fight, while the political consultant working for him ran the campaign supporting the DDC. Then, while I served as Vice Chair of the Protect and Preserve Scottsdale Task Force and helped develop the plan that became Proposition 490, Barry voted twice against sending it to Scottsdale voters and later publicly urged residents to vote against it. Protecting the Preserve isn’t something you get to rewrite at election time. It means showing up and fighting for it when it matters. Gaslighting isn’t going to get him out of this flip-flop.
Barry can’t rewrite his record. The court raised concerns about the original ballot language, the Council changed that language, and Barry voted against the measure again. He then personally urged voters to reject Prop 490, which provided dedicated long-term funding for maintenance and protection of the Preserve.
Prop 490 now funds the Preservation Department’s entire operating budget for next year, along with increased wildfire mitigation efforts, the Police Ranger Unit that protects the Preserve, and a second Fire Department Technical Rescue Team that responds when Preserve users are in trouble.
I spent more than a year as Vice Chair of the Protect and Preserve Scottsdale Task Force helping develop that plan. Barry voted against it twice. Does he want a time machine? Because claiming today that he has “always” supported keeping the Preserve properly funded simply isn’t consistent with his record.”
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