A new release from former Scottsdale City Councilman and Chairman of Taxpayers Against Awful Apartment Zoning Exemptions (TAAAZE) Bob Littlefield has levied a serious accusation toward Axon. Littlefield alleged that the non-lethal weapon and bodycam manufacturer spent “a massive amount of money on so-called ‘petition blockers’” to counter city voters who were opposed to the company’s plan, which was backed by the defeated former Mayor of Scottsdale and his city council, to build 1,900 apartment units near the site for its new headquarters.
TAAAZE contended in the release, “The company doesn’t want the public to know the details.” The group continued, “That’s why it spent a massive amount of money on so-called ‘petition blockers,’ but failed to file a campaign finance report detailing its expenditures for the fourth quarter of 2024.”
“These ‘blockers’ stalked lawful petition circulators and tried to prevent Scottsdale residents from signing petitions to place Axon’s apartment project on the November 2026 ballot. It turns out Scottsdale residents can’t be bullied. Nearly 27,000 signed the petition in defiance of Axon’s intimidation tactics.”
As previously reported by AZ Free News, TAAAZE laid out a case that the massive apartment development would “increase traffic, block views, increase the use of our scarce water resources and negatively impact public safety.” The group also objected on the grounds of the firm’s new headquarters harming the funding mechanism for Arizona Schools.
Littlefield said in a statement, “Axon’s failure to file a campaign finance report with the City of Scottsdale demonstrates a blatant disrespect for state law and the people who follow it every day.”
He added, “As a Vietnam combat veteran, I won’t be intimidated by hired ’petition blockers,’ billion-dollar companies, or threats from its CEO. I have always supported Axon’s plans to build its headquarters in Scottsdale. Now Axon is threatening to leave town if it doesn’t get its lucrative rezoning which amounts to a giant apartment subsidy. If that’s the case, I know lots of people who will help them pack.”
Axon canceled its plans to break ground on a new world headquarters in Scottsdale on January 9th citing on its website, “the recent emergence of local political opposition,” which has caused the company to consider alternate locations for its global headquarters.
Founder and CEO Rick Smith said in a statement posted on Axon’s website, “Scottsdale has been our home for over 30 years, and we’ve worked hard to build a strong future here. But the uncertainty caused by this referendum forces us to confront a tough reality: we can’t allow political games to put our mission or our team at risk. Our focus remains on saving lives, improving public safety and attracting the brightest minds to join us. If that means relocating to a community that fully supports those goals, we’re prepared to make that move. This type of political interference risks not only this project but also Arizona’s ability to attract and retain major employers in the future.”
Axon has claimed that the referendum championed by TAAAZE, “has been linked to Unite Here, a California-based labor union, and its local political arm, Worker Power Institute, which has previously targeted major Arizona projects, including the Arizona Coyotes’ arena development. That campaign ultimately led to Arizona losing a major sports franchise.”
According to AZCentral, leaders of both Unite Here, the union Axon referred to, and TAAAZE have denied the union had any connection to the effort. The outlet reported that Littlefield told reporters Unite Here agreed not to launch its own petition drive as to avoid “compromising” the efforts of TAAAZE. However, he could not confirm or deny that canvassers from Unite Here were circulating petitions for the group.
“I could imagine that somebody would do that,” he told the Arizona Republic. “But we don’t have any formal setup with them at all.”
Immediately following the inauguration of a new President of the United States, a powerful Arizona lawmaker introduced legislation to assist federal efforts to secure the border.
🚨FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Senate President @votewarren Introduces 'AZ ICE Act' to Ensure State Cooperation with Enforcement of Trump Administration's Immigration Policies
According to information from a press release, the bill would require “county sheriffs’ departments and the Arizona Department of Corrections to enter into 287(g) agreements with the federal government by January 1, 2026, to support enforcement of federal immigration laws. These agreements allow local law enforcement to help identify and process noncitizens who are in local custody for violating laws. Additionally, the legislation requires law enforcement to comply with immigration detainer requests, preventing criminal illegal aliens from being released back on the streets. The bill also directs funding to law enforcement to ensure that there is sufficient funding in place for implementation.”
In a statement that accompanied his release, Petersen said, “Ending the border crisis requires an all-hands-on-deck approach. This commonsense legislation will not only allow federal and local law enforcement to work together to protect our citizens, but it will also prevent government obstruction. Arizona voters spoke loud and clear last November. They overwhelmingly approved the ‘Secure the Border Act’ that Republicans referred to the ballot because they want the law enforced, and they want safe communities. I look forward to the AZ ICE Act passing the Legislature, and I’m hopeful the Governor will listen to our citizens by signing the bill when it hits her desk.”
Petersen’s release revealed that “Congress enacted section 287(g) in 1996 during the Clinton Administration. Under 287(g), local law enforcement agencies enter into agreements with the federal government to perform specified immigration functions. Local officers then receive formal training from the federal government on the scope of these functions.”
The Senate President’s latest legislative offering continues his leadership on the border lawlessness that permeated throughout the tenure of the Biden administration. Petersen supported many efforts to help Arizona law enforcement and communities protect citizens from the harms created from the porous border, including the Secure the Border Act, which was passed by Republican lawmakers last year and sent to the voters for the November General Election. Arizonans overwhelmingly voted for this ballot measure, which gave local law enforcement more resources and tools to fight back against the effects of illegal immigration around the state – one of those effects being the pervasive spread of fentanyl by cartels and drug smugglers due to the open border.
While Petersen and Republicans at the Arizona Legislature now have a partner in the White House in President Donald J. Trump for their collective efforts to secure the border and safeguard communities around their state, they will likely face continued resistance from Governor Katie Hobbs, a Democrat. Hobbs has opposed most Republican actions to take action on the border from the state’s perspective and purview. Now, though, that Hobbs’ window for re-election in this political cycle has commenced, she may take more steps to align on more areas over border security and enforcement than before in an attempt to convince a majority of voters that she can work across the aisle on matters of significance to the state.
AZ Free News is your #1 source for Arizona news and politics. You can send us news tips using this link.
America is now drowning in $36 trillion in federal debt.
While past efforts to reform our nation’s finances have failed, Washington, D.C. will have a new sheriff in town after Jan. 20, leading a posse with plans to take the bold steps necessary to clean up our fiscal mess. To achieve different results compared to past efforts will require Republican unity.
Thankfully, President-elect Donald Trump’s plan to restore America’s economic stability has close allies in Congress. In an interview with the Daily Caller News Foundation, Republican Kentucky Rep. James Comer, chairman of the House Oversight Committee, outlined his new Subcommittee on Delivering on Government Efficiency (DOGE), led by Republican Georgia Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene.
“I don’t think there’s going to be any shortage of waste, fraud and abuse for that subcommittee to investigate,” Comer said.
Comer said DOGE will find healthcare savings, through reducing Medicare fraud and reforming areas like pharmaceutical patents and pharmacy benefit managers.
“One of the things I would encourage those to do — in this administration and Pam Bondi — we need to encourage our U.S. attorneys to focus more on Medicare and Medicaid fraud,” Comer said. “It’s not a priority for a lot of jurisdictions, and that’s something that needs to be a priority.”
Comer said Congress will adopt DOGE cuts through a legislative process known as “reconciliation” that doesn’t require a 60-vote threshold in the Senate.
“You’ve got to do it on reconciliation, because you’ll never get 60 votes,” Comer said. “Democrats don’t want to cut anything, right? Nothing.”
Comer’s DOGE bears a similar name to Trump’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), which will be run by Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy.
Trump’s DOGE has set its own deadline at July 4, 2026 (America’s 150th birthday). Comer said he plans to keep his DOGE subcommittee throughout the entire 119th Congress, which ends in January 2027.
Ramaswamy told Fox News’ Maria Bartiromo that DOGE is “the greatest effort to downsize government in our lifetime” and that, “We expect certain agencies to be deleted outright.”
Comer said the Department of Education is a prime example of a duplicative federal bureaucracy that has outlived its usefulness.
He said it is duplicative because each state has its own Education Department. Comer said it’s better to cut out the middleman and send federal education funding directly to the states in the form of block grants. Federal student loans can be administered by the Treasury Department.
Comer said he would love to bring Democrats on board, but he is no Pollyanna.
“I have yet to meet a Democrat in Congress that’s concerned about $36 trillion debt, that’s concerned about Social Security running out of money,” Comer said. “There may be one, but I haven’t met them or they’re very secretive on their opinions.”
This can’t wait any longer.
Our debt-to-GDP ratio, e.g. the size of our debt compared to our productive economy, was less than 31 percent in 1980, growing to nearly 57 percent by 2000 and mushrooming to 120 percent today, according to the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis. This is unsustainable and will bankrupt America’s future.
Conservatives have a golden opportunity to create a generational shift in America’s fiscal future. The only way these massive spending reforms will take place is if Republicans remain unified.
During Trump’s “off-season,” he garnered a fairly successful track record in primarying squishier Republicans who would be far less likely to use the political muscle we need to stop our fiscal drift. Comer is confident that Trump’s cost-saving agenda will pass, thanks to GOP unity.
“Obviously, I can only speak for the House,” Comer said. “We can get, I think, just about everything they want, passed out of the House.”
We’ve become awash in feckless spending, unmoored by excessive COVID-19 stimulus packages (riddled with fraud), followed by more in Green New Deal scams and pet project giveaways.
Trump and congressional Republicans earned a powerful mandate to rein in government spending, which will also lower inflation. It’s what the American people desire and deserve.
Last week, the newly elected Scottsdale City Council voted to repeal the city’s sustainability plan, a controversial measure championed by former Mayor David Ortega.
A statement emailed by Councilman and Vice Mayor Barry Graham ahead of the council’s vote outlined the serious concerns he and his colleagues had with the sustainability plan. He wrote that the plan “passed in the 11th hour by the lame-duck Council calls for city government to:
Reduce your household trash-output by 90% in 15 years.
Ration your electric usage—regardless of power source.
Ration water usage for single-family homes while giving businesses and apartments a pass.
Outsource local control to the agendas and politics of county government.
Redirect your tax dollars to speculative environmental programs.
Subject your home and business to monitoring and auditing.”
He added, “Because the prior council majority refused to compromise, the new council must consider whether to repeal and replace the plan with one that focuses on sustaining our economy, finances and quality-of-life.”
The vote during the first meeting of the newly constituted council, however, ended in newly elected Mayor Lisa Borowsky voting against the repeal and creation of a Sustainability Task Force to draft a replacement strategy, drawing immediate criticism. The vote nonetheless carried without Borowsky’s vote by a 4-3 margin, and the plan has been repealed.
The activist account on X, Scottsdale Voter, characterized the Sustainability Plan as the “Scottsdale ‘Green New Deal’ forced through by four 1-term lame-duck losers,” and condemned Borowsky following the vote. They wrote, “We’re in shock We worked hard to elect Mayor Borowsky[.] We knew Solange Whitehead is desperate to influence new councilors, just like when she ‘got ahold of Tom Durham.’”
They continued, “The Scottsdale ‘sustainability plan’ was one of disgraced Mayor Ortega’s proudest legacy pieces. It was a ‘green new deal’ shoved down Scottsdale’s throat. And Borowsky voted to protect it.”
The Scottsdale 'sustainability plan' was one of disgraced Mayor Ortega's proudest legacy pieces. It was a 'green new deal' shoved down Scottsdale's throat. And Borowsky voted to protect it
On her campaign website, Borowsky pitched as a Key Issue that she would “Develop a 20-year strategic plan focused on sustainability, economic diversity, and livability, engaging stakeholders in crafting a vision for the city’s future.”
According to the Resolution, the interim City Manager will work to establish a Community Sustainability Task Force that will examine the fiscal, population, and conservation needs of the city before making recommendations for a new plan.
One of Arizona’s leading watchdog organizations is starting off the new year with a significant lawsuit.
Last week, the Goldwater Institute announced that it had challenged “Arizona’s unconstitutional tax subsidies for filmmakers.” The lawsuit, McEwen v. Arizona Commerce Authority, was filed in the Superior Court of the State of Arizona for Maricopa County.
In that lawsuit, attorneys for the Goldwater Institute wrote that “this case challenges the constitutionality of a state program that subsidizes the film industry and private film companies to the tune of millions of dollars in refundable tax credits each year.” The filing adds that “The Arizona Motion Picture Production Program violates the Arizona Constitution’s Gift Clause, both facially and as applied to two film production projects approved to receive taxpayer-funded subsidies.”
Parker Jackson, a Staff Attorney at the Goldwater Institute, wrote a blog post about the lawsuit after it was filed with the court. He said, “…In 2022, when the state legislature controlled a $5.3 billion surplus, film industry executives and lobbyists who for years had failed to revive a subsidy program seized their chance to get back in on the action. They cobbled together enough votes to enact the Arizona Motion Picture Production Program, which provides up to $125 million in refundable tax credits each year to qualified film production projects. ‘Refundable’ means that if a film company qualifies for more in credits than they owe in taxes, the state cuts them a check! That’s even worse than the old program, which only allowed for ‘transferable’ credits (meaning the recipient could transfer or sell the credit to someone else, but the state didn’t directly send them cash).”
Jackson shared that “After delays due to administrative rulemaking and recent strikes that rocked the film industry, the state is set to finally begin issuing the first round of credits this year. The Arizona Commerce Authority has begun the process of approving subsidies up to $1.2 million for a single project.”
The Goldwater attorney finished his piece, saying, “These types of abuses are exactly why the Arizona Constitution prohibits the state from subsidizing or otherwise giving out money for private purposes unless taxpayers receive direct benefits in return. That means that the state can contract with private companies to perform services or provide supplies at fair market rates, but donations, grants, subsidies, and other forms of corporate aid are not allowed.”
Daniel Stefanski is a reporter for AZ Free News. You can send him news tips using this link.
