Why showing up early matters
Scottsdale’s council-manager government is built on staff work. By the time a rezoning, a contract or the budget reaches the council, it has usually been drafted by city staff, aired at a neighborhood open house, heard by a citizen commission and summarized in a packet the council has read. The earlier you weigh in, the more the proposal can still change.
Watching and speaking at council
The council usually meets twice a month on Tuesdays at 5 p.m. in the Kiva at City Hall, 3939 N. Drinkwater Blvd., on the Civic Center at the edge of Old Town. Meetings air live on Scottsdale Video Network (Cox channel 11) and stream online, with agendas posted in advance.
To speak, register online or at a City Hall kiosk at least 90 minutes before the meeting. Speakers must be Scottsdale residents, business owners or property owners and usually get three minutes. You can speak on a listed item or, during the open call to the public, on a city matter that isn’t on the agenda, though the council can’t act on it that night. Prefer writing? A written comment submitted online or on a yellow card by the same deadline goes to all seven members. Residents can also file a citizen petition with the City Clerk two business days before a meeting and present it for up to three minutes.
Contacting the council directly
Email citycouncil@ScottsdaleAZ.gov or call 480-312-2550 to reach all seven members; the mayor’s office is 480-312-2433. A concise note a few days before a vote is often the most effective tool a resident has.
Boards and commissions
Much of the city’s detailed decision-making happens on volunteer boards the council appoints. The major ones include:
- Planning Commission: recommends on rezonings, General Plan amendments and use permits
- Development Review Board: approves site plans and building design
- Board of Adjustment: hears variance requests
- Historic Preservation Commission
- McDowell Sonoran Preserve Commission
- Parks and Recreation Commission and Transportation Commission
- Budget Review Commission, Tourism Development Commission, Airport Advisory Commission, Neighborhood Advisory Commission, Library Board and others, about two dozen in all
Apply through the city’s online application; the council’s rules allow one board at a time. When a seat opens, applications on file go to the council, nominees answer a few questions at the Kiva podium, and the council votes.
Following zoning cases
Before filing a rezoning or General Plan amendment, an applicant must hold at least one neighborhood open house and mail notice to property owners and HOAs nearby (within 1,250 feet for a rezoning) and to the city’s interested-parties lists, which anyone can join. Signs go up on the site, and cases move through the Planning Commission or Development Review Board before the council. The General Plan and zoning guide explains the steps.
Voting in city elections
City elections share the state calendar and ballots, run by Maricopa County. Register with the Maricopa County Recorder at least 29 days before an election; you must live in Scottsdale for 29 days before a city election to vote in it. Most voters mail their ballots, and joining the county’s Active Early Voting List sends one automatically. Because a Scottsdale council candidate who wins a majority in the summer primary is elected outright, the July primary often matters as much as November, and turnout in it is usually lower. The ballot measures guide covers initiatives and referendums, the tools for going over the council’s head.
Who to call
- Emergencies: 911.
- Potholes, graffiti, streetlights, code concerns: ScottsdaleEZ, the city’s online and mobile reporting tool, open around the clock.
- Anything else at the city: the main line, 480-312-3111, weekdays 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.
- Police, fire and city court: see the public safety guide.
- Property tax bills, voter registration, animal control: those are Maricopa County, not the city; the county services guide has them.
The Kiva’s intent
Bennie Gonzales designed the council chamber in City Hall, opened in 1968, as a sunken, kiva-style room: the elected officials sit at the bottom, looking up at the public seated around them. The room makes the charter’s promise physical: the public’s business is done in public, and anyone with three minutes and a request-to-speak can take the podium. What the room can’t do is make a late comment count as much as an early one.