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Municipal elections in Scottsdale, Arizona (2016)
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| 2016 Scottsdale elections |
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| Election dates |
| Filing deadline: N/A |
| General election: November 8, 2016 |
| Election stats |
| Offices up: Mayor and city council |
| Total seats up: 4 |
| Other municipal elections |
| U.S. municipal elections, 2016 |
The mayor's office and three seats on the Scottsdale City Council were up for general election on November 8, 2016. No primary was held in 2016 because a primary is only necessary in Scottsdale when more than two candidates file for a particular seat.[1] Mayor Jim Lane ran for re-election against challenger Bob Littlefield. The city council race featured newcomer Dan Schweiker and incumbents Suzanne Klapp, Virginia Korte, and Guy Phillips. The candidates made public statements about the future of the city's food sales tax, how to pay for infrastructure projects, and the regional housing boom. Learn more about the 2016 candidates' stances on issues that faced Scottsdale here.
Elections
General election
Mayor
Note: Although elections in Scottsdale are nonpartisan, Ballotpedia identified the partisan affiliation of the candidates in this race for informational purposes.
- ☑ Jim Lane
(i) - ☐ Bob Littlefield
City council
- ☑ Suzanne Klapp (i)
- ☑ Virginia Korte (i)
- ☑ Guy Phillips (i)
- ☐ Dan Schweiker
Campaign finance
May 31 reporting period
Candidates were required to file reports detailing contributions and expenditures for the first five months of 2016 by June 30, 2016. Candidates reported $513,273.87 in contributions and $113,608.60 in expenditures for the 2016 election cycle. Mayor Jim Lane raised ($217,070.18) and spent ($72,444.54) the most of any municipal candidate through May 2016. Suzanne Klapp led the city council race in contributions ($115,813), while Virginia Korte held the lead in spending ($13,107.11).[2]
| Candidate | Contributions | Expenditures | Cash on hand |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mayor of Scottsdale | |||
| Jim Lane (incumbent) | $217,070.18 | $72,444.54 | $148,228.15 |
| Bob Littlefield | $29,580.00 | $5,537.71 | $24,042.29 |
| Candidate | Contributions | Expenditures | Cash on hand |
|---|---|---|---|
| Scottsdale City Council | |||
| Suzanne Klapp (incumbent) | $115,813.00 | $6,978.78 | $109,021.74 |
| Virginia Korte (incumbent) | $89,683.85 | $13,107.11 | $83,812.74 |
| Guy Phillips (incumbent) | $29,199.19 | $2,451.46 | $28,294.45 |
| Dan Schweiker | $31,927.65 | $13,089.00 | $18,838.65 |
Additional elections
- See also: Arizona elections, 2016
The November general election ballot included races for state assembly, state senate, U.S. House, U.S. Senate, and U.S. president.
Scottsdale voters decided on Proposition 490, which proposed changing the city code's language on elections to match state law dictating primary and general election dates. The text of Proposition 490 is included below:
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Past elections
2014
| Scottsdale City Council General Election, 2014 | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Candidate | Vote % | Votes | |
 Linda Milhaven Incumbent |
17.8% | 27,866 | |
| Kathy Littlefield |
16.8% | 26,352 | |
| David N. Smith |
16.9% | 26,359 | |
| Dennis Robbins Incumbent | 16.8% | 26,298 | |
| Cindy Hill | 15.1% | 23,564 | |
| Jennifer Petersen | 16.6% | 25,964 | |
| Total Votes | 130,439 | ||
| Source: City of Scottsdale Official 2014 Election Results | |||
| Scottsdale City Council Primary Election, 2014 | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Candidate | Vote % | Votes | |
| Linda Milhaven Incumbent |
16.1% | 17,224 | |
| Jennifer Petersen |
14% | 15,040 | |
| Dennis Robbins Incumbent |
14% | 14,976 | |
| David N. Smith |
13.8% | 14,830 | |
| Kathy Littlefield |
13.2% | 14,152 | |
| Cindy Hill |
10.3% | 11,007 | |
| Bill Crawford | 9.4% | 10,105 | |
| Michael Auerbach | 9.1% | 9,758 | |
| Total Votes | 76,222 | ||
| Source: City of Scottsdale Official 2014 Election Results | |||
2012
| Scottsdale City Council General Election, 2012 | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Candidate | Vote % | Votes | |
| Virginia Korte |
19.7% | 40,635 | |
| Suzanne Klapp Incumbent |
19.6% | 40,412 | |
| Guy Phillips |
17.6% | 36,290 | |
| Eric Luoma | 16.2% | 33,487 | |
| Chris Schaffner | 13.7% | 28,181 | |
| Joanne Phillips | 13% | 26,756 | |
| Write-in votes | 0.2% | 487 | |
| Total Votes | 179,005 | ||
| Source: City of Scottsdale Official 2012 Election Results | |||
| Scottsdale Mayoral Primary Election, 2012 | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Candidate | Vote % | Votes | |
| Jim Lane Incumbent |
55.4% | 21,837 | |
| John Washington | 25.8% | 10,161 | |
| Drew Bernhardt | 18.7% | 7,367 | |
| Write-in votes | 0.2% | 83 | |
| Total Votes | 39,448 | ||
| Source: City of Scottsdale Official 2012 Election Results | |||
Issues
Comparing the candidates
Candidates for mayor and city council responded to questions from the Scottsdale Independent regarding major issues facing Scottsdale. Click on Infrastructure funding, Food sales tax, or Housing to read a brief background on each topic. The tables below provide excerpts of candidate responses to the following questions:
- Infrastructure funding: If elected, what will you do to make sure infrastructure needs are met?[3]
- Food sales tax: If elected, will you work to have that tax abolished?[4]
- Housing: If you are elected, what approach will you take to multifamily housing in Scottsdale?[5]
| Position summaries for mayoral candidates | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Issue | Jim Lane | Bob Littlefield | |||
| Infrastructure funding | "A robust local economy and reduced size of government as I have championed will help us meet a number of key infrastructure needs but ultimately large projects such as parks, flood control and other items will have to go back to voters for their consideration."[3] | "Scottsdale could pay for our infrastructure needs from our general fund revenues, without asking residents to increase their property taxes, if my opponent the incumbent Mayor and his allies on the City Council would stop wasting tens of millions of taxpayer dollars every year."[3] | |||
| Food sales tax | "This council established a path to ween the city from the use of food tax funds over a period of three years. If re-elected, I will be a vote to follow through with this plan to amend our city sales tax code to exempt “food consumed at home” from sales tax. It will be much easier to achieve this objective if our city is otherwise generating robust revenues through a pro-business approach and a good local economy."[4] | "Like any other fiscal issue, eliminating the sales tax on groceries is about priorities. For my opponent, keeping our property taxes low and eliminating the food tax is not as important as wasteful spending and special interest handouts. I will reverse those priorities if I am elected mayor."[4] | |||
| Housing | "My opponent says he opposes apartments yet he’s taken special-interest political action committee money from the apartment lobby. And, his campaign contribution reports show he’s supportive of apartment projects that contribute to his campaign. Ultimately, I am pro-business — unlike my opponent who’s even been supported by the special interest that tried to shut down Basha’s — because it’s pro-resident. A good local economy means we can and will have the revenues to fund our police, fire, parks and other programs that make Scottsdale the best city in America."[5] | "Over the last three years my opponent and his allies on the city council have approved 10,000 new apartment units. At last count 2,000 of these units are already built and 4,000 are under construction. While we can’t reverse those approvals we can stop approving more until the demand catches up to the oversupply my opponent and his allies on the City Council have created. In addition, we can stop approving the ridiculous design concessions that are hurting our community’s brand and over-stressing our infrastructure."[5] | |||
| Position summaries for city council candidates | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Issue | Suzanne Klapp | Virginia Korte | Guy Phillips | Dan Schweiker | |
| Infrastructure funding | "A number of high dollar and long-term projects can only be achieved through bond questions placed on the ballot. Voters have indicated that they want to choose among infrastructure projects that should be funded by bonds that are paid through their property taxes. I support listing each capital project as an individual question on the ballot. Over the last six years, when projects are grouped into categories, voters have generally rejected everything in the group. They might have voted for some projects if given the opportunity to vote on each one separately."[3] | "I believe our citizens are willing to reinvest in our community if the proposed bond measures contain only necessary capital projects and those projects are well-defined and that process is transparent. As community leaders, we must do a better job communicating our city’s critical needs to our citizens and the return on their investment. Smaller bond packages with questions containing fewer projects provide better transparency. Additionally, it is important that all seven council members support any future capital bond measures."[3] | "I have repeatedly stated the city has the money to fix any infrastructure problems. It’s not a matter of if we have the money, but rather how we spend your hard-earned tax dollars. My opponents say we need to bond for infrastructure because we don’t have the funds, yet when they want to build a Desert Discovery Center with a $3-4 million debt service every year, suddenly we can afford it!"[3] | Schweiker did not provide a response to this question. | |
| Food sales tax | "When the city was experiencing high tax revenues before the recession in 2008, the food tax should have been eliminated then. It was not. Some other Valley cities, such as Phoenix, Mesa and Surprise, do not now charge such a tax on groceries. Others are considering abolishing a food tax. When this issue came before the council, I supported eliminating the tax on groceries. The majority on the council eventually agreed to removing food tax revenues from general operating funds and placing them in the capital budget instead. I supported this change as a temporary measure to wean the city off its dependence on this revenue stream in our operating budget."[4] | "My primary concern as a member of the city council is solving our need to invest in capital infrastructure. The city and citizen task forces have identified over $300 million needed for investment in capital infrastructure for which our citizenry did not support in prior capital bond elections. Abolishing the tax on food for home consumption exacerbates this problem. With this in mind, the city council approved the transfer of 1.1 percent of the food tax to our capital improvement budget to be reinvested in the city’s assets."[4] | "The city sales tax on food is such a small percentage of overall taxes I would rather reduce the property tax. During the recent mini-depression we all went through, over half the foreclosures in the state were due to delinquent property taxes. That is, people lost their homes because of mounting property taxes they couldn’t pay. No one lost their home because they couldn’t pay the penny on their food. Let’s stop raising our property taxes for special interest projects that put a heavy burden on the homeowner and instead reduce it by fiscal responsibility. That will put real money back in your pocket!"[4] | "I would work closely with David Smith to abolish it. While the outside world tends to view Scottsdale as all resort like living, Councilperson Smith is right that almost 9 percent of our residents are actually under the poverty line. Many more are not far above it or may be elderly. Since those lower on the income level spend a greater proportion of their income on necessities, having a sales tax on food has a greater impact not only on the poor but also the 20 percent of our residents who are over 65 and may live on a fixed income."[4] | |
| Housing | "My approach is to encourage Scottsdale’s eclectic, independent lifestyle and for the city to remain competitive with communities either surrounding us or nationwide. One style does not fit all, either here or elsewhere. Housing, whether single-family or multifamily, must adjust to demand. Demand here has been high and remains high for quality multifamily housing units with amenities attractive to residents of all ages. High demand is reflected in our city’s low multifamily vacancy rates and higher rental rates."[5] | "I’m aware that some people don’t like the number of apartments that have been built during the past several years. However, that’s the nature of the marketplace being driven by what many people want and can afford. That fact is borne out by the high occupancy rate of apartments. I feel diversity makes our community stronger. While some people don’t want to own a home, like those of the millennial generation and other people are downsizing, we must keep in mind that not everyone can afford a home. Apartments provide affordable housing for young people, those on fixed incomes and even some of our city employees."[5] | "Because Scottsdale is landlocked we are running out of available land to build on. Therefore it is critical we allow multifamily apartments only where it is zoned for such and by way of remodeling or rebuilding older units. Scottsdale has already approved over 10,000 units. That’s another 20,000 cars on the streets. Who will pay for the congestion, sewer, water, electricity, roads and public safety? The Scottsdale property owner."[5] | "If it is zoned multifamily I will not stand in the way of its development. Plus there are areas of town, where neighborhoods have deteriorated and the influx of high rent apartments can help spark a turnaround in the area. More people mean more restaurants, shops, schools and services. All of which bring sales tax dollars to Scottsdale which helps keep our property taxes low. These apartments are more like our resort living than many of our homes in older neighborhoods."[5] | |
About the city
- See also: Scottsdale, Arizona
Scottsdale is a city located in Maricopa County, Arizona.
City government
- See also: Council-manager government
The city of Scottsdale uses a council-manager system. In this form of municipal government, an elected city council, which includes the mayor and serves as the city's primary legislative body, appoints an executive called a city manager to oversee day-to-day municipal operations and implement the council's policy and legislative initiatives.[6][7]
Demographics
The following table displays demographic data provided by the United States Census Bureau.
| Demographic Data for Scottsdale, Arizona | ||
|---|---|---|
| Scottsdale | Arizona | |
| Population | 217,385 | 6,392,017 |
| Land area (sq mi) | 184 | 113,652 |
| Race and ethnicity** | ||
| White | 88.1% | 77.2% |
| Black/African American | 1.8% | 4.5% |
| Asian | 4.9% | 3.3% |
| Native American | 0.8% | 4.5% |
| Pacific Islander | 0.1% | 0.2% |
| Other (single race) | 1.9% | 6.5% |
| Multiple | 2.3% | 3.7% |
| Hispanic/Latino | 10.2% | 31.3% |
| Education | ||
| High school graduation rate | 96.7% | 87.1% |
| College graduation rate | 58.4% | 29.5% |
| Income | ||
| Median household income | $88,213 | $58,945 |
| Persons below poverty level | 7.6% | 15.1% |
| Source: population provided by U.S. Census Bureau, "Decennial Census" (2010). Other figures provided by U.S. Census Bureau, "American Community Survey" (5-year estimates 2014-2019). | ||
| **Note: Percentages for race and ethnicity may add up to more than 100 percent because respondents may report more than one race and the Hispanic/Latino ethnicity may be selected in conjunction with any race. Read more about race and ethnicity in the census here. | ||
Recent news
The link below is to the most recent stories in a Google news search for the terms Scottsdale Arizona election. These results are automatically generated from Google. Ballotpedia does not curate or endorse these articles.
See also
| Scottsdale, Arizona | Arizona | Municipal government | Other local coverage |
|---|---|---|---|
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External links
Footnotes
- ↑ Scottsdale Independent, "Crawford abandons Scottsdale mayoral bid pushing election to November," June 1, 2016
- ↑ City of Scottsdale, "Campaign Finance Reports," accessed September 14, 2016
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 3.5 Scottsdale Independent, "Scottsdale City Council candidates differ on how to pay for growing infrastructure costs," August 17, 2016
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 4.4 4.5 4.6 Scottsdale Independent, "Scottsdale City Council candidates differ on local food tax perspective," August 24, 2016
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 5.3 5.4 5.5 5.6 Scottsdale Independent, "Scottsdale City Council candidates debate impact of local apartment boom," August 31, 2016
- ↑ City of Scottsdale, "Mayor, Council, and Government," accessed August 26, 2014
- ↑ City of Scottsdale, "City Charter," accessed October 30, 2014
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