The inventor and top distributor of the Taser, Axon Enterprise, scrapped plans for its new headquarters in Scottsdale.
Not only will the Scottsdale-based company not be breaking ground on its new headquarters as planned — they may move out of Arizona completely after over 30 years in the Valley. Axon says that the results of a forthcoming ballot referendum from another state’s labor union are to blame.
Rick Smith, Axon Enterprise CEO and founder, said in a press release that ongoing “political games” from a California-based labor union-led referendum put their entire operations at risk.
“[T]he 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,” said Smith.
Apart from its headquarters in Scottsdale, Axon also has offices in Boston, Massachusetts; Seattle, Washington; Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam; London, England; Amsterdam, Netherlands; Tampere, Finland; Sydney, Australia; Melbourne, Australia.
Axon’s decision to cancel the groundbreaking came just two months after the Scottsdale City Council approved the company’s plans for the development.
The labor union, Unite Here, and its Phoenix-based political arm, Worker Power Institute, led on the offending ballot referendum, which would effectively reverse the Scottsdale City Council’s zoning changes allowing residential development.
The planned complex site was formerly established as an industrial zone. The new headquarters would have housed about 1,900 apartments and condos, a hotel, and multiple restaurants.
Last month, reports emerged that Unite Here attempted to coerce Axon into “a shakedown” agreement awarding the union exclusive collective bargaining agency in exchange for a withdrawal of the referendum. A spokesperson with the labor union denied their organization having any contact with Axon; an organization attorney reportedly contacted Axon over the leaked communications.
Under the alleged proposed agreement with Unite Here, Axon would have been required to notify the union of plans to solicit bids or proposals from business operators and require operating businesses to work with the union to screen applicants.
Scottsdale has been home to Axon since its founding in 1993. The company grew from Taser production to other technologies and weapons for law enforcement, military, and civilians.
“Our focus remains on saving lives, improving public safety and attracting the brightest minds to join us,” said Smith. “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’s press release also noted that Unite Here and Worker Power Institute led a successful campaign to thwart arena development efforts for the Arizona Coyotes.
“That campaign ultimately led to Arizona losing a major sports franchise,” stated the press release. “Axon’s leadership has raised concerns that such political interference risks undermining Arizona’s ability to attract and retain major employers.”
One impact study cited by Axon projected their new headquarters would support up to 5,500 high-wage jobs, generate $11.5 million in annual city tax revenues, and contribute $3.6 billion to the state’s economy annually.
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Research uncovered by AZ Free News’ investigative team has followed a trail of money that leads from major Arizona labor unions to a Democrat-funding SuperPAC and then via several smaller PACs to a supposedly ‘Conservative’ PAC. The money finally arrives at a political consultant employed by State Rep. David Cook to be used against his 2024 opponent Arizona Sen. Wendy Rogers.
It started in February with a $400,000 donation, from Arizona Pipe Trades 469 to Residents for Accountability a SuperPAC, which has dumped over $1.36 billion into the Democrat funding machine ‘ActBlue’ in 2024, which donated $261,617.02 precisely to ‘Revitalize Arizona,’ a well-known Democratic Political Action Committee (PAC). And in the end, led to a $261,617.02 payment from Arizona First to McShane, LLC: high-end political consultants who represent Rep. David Cook, earmarked to be used in opposition to Wendy Rogers For AZ Senate per election filings.
The money metaphorically went into the laundry blue and came out red on the other side.
The story unfolding today bears more than a little similarity to another funding scheme uncovered by AZ Free News in 2022 involving the Democratic Revitalize Arizona and Rep. David Cook after he sided against his party on a key bill to prohibit cities and counties from requiring prevailing wages or union labor as a condition of receiving a bid or contract. Cook’s vote was decisive. The bill failed by a single vote in a victory for the unions and a defeat for local governments and small contractors.
“Revitalize Arizona, a Tempe-based PAC, is chaired by Israel Torres, a partner in the Torres Consulting and Law Group, which chairs the same address as the PAC. The PAC funneled $48,000 to the group in 2020, totaling over $122,100 over the past decade. It also paid Torres Multicultural Communications, previously known as Torres Marquez Communications, over $681,200 over the past decade, with the majority paid out to the firm in 2019: nearly $646,000.
All of their funds come from another PAC run by Torres: Residents for Accountability. That PAC receives its funds largely from unions. Among its funders from the past two years are the Arizona Pipe Trades 469 PAC, affiliated with a union, and Chicanos Por La Causa (CPLC) Action Fund PAC, affiliated with a social justice nonprofit. Over the past decade, a number of other union-affiliated PACs have funded Residents for Accountability.
The PAC has a history of investing in Democratic polling companies such as the D.C.-based Lake Research Partners, whose past clientele have included President Joe Biden, former President Bill Clinton, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, Janet Napolitano, Sheila Jackson Lee, AFL-CIO, and the United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW) Arizona.
They’ve also invested in Democratic polling company SKD Knickerbocker, from which Anita Dunn hailed — Biden’s senior advisor and former President Barack Obama’s communications director.”
A key difference in the 2024 scenario is the route the money took, and it’s final purpose and destination. From Revitalize Arizona, the exact same amount, $261,617.02, was moved to Arizona Voters, yet another PAC, this time managed by the American Campaign Finance Foundation. From Arizona Voters, the very same $261,617.02 went to Arizona First, which OpenSecrets.com identifies as a Conservative SuperPAC. And from there, the money in the precise amount of $261,617.02 finally arrives at McShane, LLC on June 25, 2024, five months after it left the union’s hands, in five easy steps.
When you’re hired to do a job, it stands to reason that you should actually do the job you’ve been hired to do. Think about it. If a company hired you to be a writer, and you never did any writing for the company, you probably wouldn’t keep your job too long. That is, of course, unless you work for the government.
For quite some time now, federal, state, and local governments across the country—including right here in Arizona—have been engaging in the practice of “release time.” If you’re unfamiliar with this term, it means that certain people are hired to do a specific job for the government, but instead of doing that job, they are “released” to work full-time for their union. This could be someone like a teacher, for example, who instead of teaching students, spends all his or her time doing work for the teachers’ union. But here’s the thing, even though these employees don’t actually work for the government, they still get a paycheck from the government—all funded by your tax dollars.
Is this practice unfair? Yes. Is it unconstitutional? Absolutely.
That’s why the Goldwater Institute has been challenging this practice in our state in a case that has made its way to the Arizona Supreme Court…
Right now, public unions are trying to fleece the taxpayers of Mesa. In addition to the dozens of candidates, judicial retention decisions, and statewide propositions, voters in Mesa will also decide on two amendments to their city Charter that will result in a shakedown of taxpayers and would insulate politicians from accountability.
The first, Prop 476, would give Mesa Unions special access to leverage for taxpayer-funded benefits behind closed doors. The other, Prop 477, removes accountability for wasteful spending, allowing unelected bureaucrats to spend money without council approval and letting elected politicians off the hook.
