As a longtime community advocate, I can say with confidence that Representative Lawrence's ignorance of Scottsdale proves that Mark Twain's aphorism about Congress applies to state legislatures, too.
Scottsdale's city council is 100% Republican. In addition to pushing for the Desert Discovery Center, mayor Jim Lane and colleagues have run up the highest per capita debt of any Metro-area city.
They've approved years of budgets with structural deficits. They've given away millions of dollars to the NFL, the PGA, and Phil Mickleson. Even Mayor Lane's campaign PR manager received hundreds of thousands of dollars in taxpayer-funded subsidies to promote polo parties. The city was fined $750,000 by the IRS for issuing tax-free muni bonds to refinance Fashion Square parking!
All while accumulating hundreds of millions of dollars in deferred infrastructure maintenance.
Even though he is blissfully unaware of the facts about Scottsdale, I actually agree with Lawrence: Labels will prove they've cloaked themselves as conservatives in order to get elected and enrich their friends.
John Washington
Northwest side
Disclaimer: As submitted to the Arizona Daily Star.
