by Matthew Holloway | Nov 28, 2025 | News
By Matthew Holloway |
In a special meeting on November 17th, the Scottsdale City Council approved a Memorandum of Understanding with Axon Enterprise, Inc. In a 4-3 vote, the council adopted controversial plans to expand the company’s headquarters in a compromise agreement that allows Axon to build 600 apartment units and 600 condos over two construction phases.
According to interim city communications and public affairs director Holly Peralta, the council also approved three related items on 4–3 votes: creating a new self-certification and third-party inspection program, repealing the 2024 Axon zoning ordinance, and authorizing conditional legal action tied to the ongoing TAAAZE lawsuit if Axon failed to sign the Memorandum of Understanding by Nov. 19th.
Following the vote, Axon released a public statement thanking Scottsdale Mayor Lisa Borowsky, Vice Mayor Adam Kwasman, and Councilmembers Solange Whitehead and Maryann McAllen, all of whom voted in favor of the measure.
“Thank you to Scottsdale Mayor Lisa Borowsky, Vice Mayor Adam Kwasman, and Councilors Solange Whitehead and Mary Ann McAllen for supporting a fair compromise for all parties regarding the new Axon global headquarters. And thank you to the thousands of Scottsdale residents who helped make our project better with their feedback.
We are very excited to move forward with our new headquarters. Our team will work harder than ever to deliver safe outcomes to public safety and communities alike.”
Former City Councilman and Chairman of TAAAZE, Bob Littlefield, released a statement on Tuesday condemning the decision. He wrote in part, “Mayor Borowsky and Councilmembers Kwasman, Whitehead, and McAllen – totally sold out to Axon at the expense of Scottsdale residents. They gave Axon everything they wanted, and more!”
Referring to the city’s vote pertaining to the ongoing TAAAZE lawsuit, Littlefield wrote, “There was an item on the last night’s agenda to have the city join the TAAAZE lawsuit to reverse the ‘Axon bill’ which nullified the right of referendum for Scottsdale residents. Every time this item was voted on in the past, it was defeated by the pro-Axon majority. Last night it passed, but with so many amendments, it will never take effect.”
He added, “…don’t’ let Borowsky, Kwasman, Whitehead and McAllen gaslight you into believing they voted to have the city join the TAAAZE lawsuit – they didn’t.”
In a statement released Thursday, Councilwoman Jan Dubauskas described the deal writing, “While the contract says 600 apartments and 600 condos, without a voluntary deed restriction from Axon, that split is not legally enforceable by the city. Axon can build 1,200 apartments.” She added that Axon “will be the first company in the history of the city of Scottsdale to self-certify that its building meets city code,” and will “provide no additional water to cover its use,” which appears to be affected by a repeal of Scottsdale City Zoning Ordinance No. 4658 in the MOU.
In a statement released that same day, Mayor Borowsky fired back at Littlefield, Dubauskas and TAAAZE, writing in part:
“The Taxpayers Against Awful Apartment Zoning Exemptions (“TAAAZE”) committee, led by former Councilman Bob Littlefield, ran the out-of-state, union-funded Axon referendum. Of the about 27,000 signatures gathered, a total of 25,000 Scottsdale voter signatures were paid for by a California labor union.”
She said that Councilmembers Dubauskas, Graham, and Littlefield voted against holding a referendum election in July and added, “Again, in October, I asked the City Council to hold an election at the next available date, which would have been March 2026. Again, those same Councilmembers refused to listen to reason and said, ‘no.’”
She continued, “…Accordingly, we were left with only two choices:
- File a lawsuit against the flawed Axon legislation, only to have Axon go back to the legislature to fix SB1543, neutering TAAAZE’s and the City’s legal claims and further nullifying the referendum election, leaving Axon free to build 2,000 apartments or more; or
- Strike a compromise to reduce the number of units and project density.”
The mayor effectively laid the blame for the present compromise on the three councilmembers, writing, “Delaying the election cost us our right to vote on the Axon project and resulted in the city being stuck with SB 1543.”
She concluded, “I promised the voters to oppose high-density apartments. In keeping with my promise, I negotiated a major reduction of density, down from 2,000 apartments to 600 apartments and 600 condominiums. Importantly, TAAAZE representatives agreed to resolve the entire dispute if Axon agreed to build 500 apartments and 1,000 condos. In the end, my negotiations with Axon resulted in a much lower overall density than TAAAZE’s last demand.”
Matthew Holloway is a senior reporter for AZ Free News. Follow him on X for his latest stories, or email tips to Matthew@azfreenews.com.
by Staff Reporter | Nov 25, 2025 | News
By Staff Reporter |
The Arizona Supreme Court held a hearing on Monday to decide whether the city of Phoenix can hide certain public records.
The city is being sued by the Goldwater Institute, a Phoenix-based public policy and litigation organization, over its hiding of records concerning union negotiations.
In Goldwater v. Phoenix, the Goldwater Institute argued the city of Phoenix has a duty to disclose those records in order to allow the public to have an informed decision, and because they serve as the entity negotiating on behalf of the public.
The organization filed their lawsuit in March of 2023 after the Phoenix Law Enforcement Association (PLEA) declined to provide a draft memoranda of understanding (MOU) for public input at the end of 2022. PLEA had provided its MOU drafts in preceding years.
Per the city’s “Meet and Confer” ordinance, unions must submit MOUs by Dec. 1 in the year before the expiration of an operative agreement so that the public may provide input prior to negotiations between the union and city.
Despite not having a draft MOU available for the public to review, the Phoenix City Council moved forward with a meeting to collect public comment on an unsubmitted draft.
The city then began negotiations in January 2023.
The city of Phoenix refused to give PLEA’s draft MOU to the Goldwater Institute upon request, claiming the records were exempt from public records disclosure because public scrutiny would burden negotiations.
The city claimed they were protected under the state’s public records law exemption allowing the withholding of records should they prove detrimental to a government’s best interest.
“Releasing those types of materials would create a chilling effect on the parties’ willingness to candidly engage with each other and it would hinder the negotiations process,” said the city in their denial message.
The city also expressed concerns that public access to MOUs would politicize union negotiations.
Parker Jackson, Goldwater Institute staff attorney, disagreed that these records were covered by the best interests exemption.
“With few exceptions, public records must be made available to the public,” said Jackson in a press release. “When there’s a need to protect things like personal privacy or public safety, the government must be able to show that specific and significant harm is likely to result from public disclosure. It cannot simply withhold information based on self-interested speculation that some minimal inconvenience ‘might’ occur.”
In January, the Arizona Court of Appeals remanded the case to the Arizona Superior Court so that court could privately review unredacted and redacted versions of the contested MOU documents, and determine whether the documents deserved exemption from public disclosure according to the best interests of the state.
The Arizona Supreme Court is considering two issues in this case:
- Did the Court of Appeals err by not requiring the City, after it invoked the “best interests of the state” exception, to establish a probability that specific, material harm will result from disclosure, as Mitchell v. Superior Court requires?
- Did the Court of Appeals err by not applying the Carlson v. Pima County balancing test de novo to independently determine whether the City’s purported interests in nondisclosure outweigh the presumption in favor of disclosure?
The public may watch the archived video of Goldwater v. Phoenix here.
AZ Free News is your #1 source for Arizona news and politics. You can send us news tips using this link.
by Ethan Faverino | Sep 4, 2025 | Education, News
By Ethan Faverino |
The Phoenix Union High School District (PXU) is set to vote on a proposed Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with Chicanos Por La Causa (CPLC), an Arizona-based nonprofit, at its upcoming school board meeting.
The agreement, effective from July 1, 2025, to June 30, 2027, aims to provide substance abuse prevention and mental health services to students at Carl Hayden High School, Bostrom High School, and Maryvale High School.
However, the proposal sparked debate among board members and community advocates, with concerns about the scope of services and their alignment with student needs.
The MOU outlines CPLC’s role as a subgrantee of the Arizona Health Care Cost Containment System (AHCCCS) under the federal Substance Abuse Prevention and Treatment Block Grant (SABG). The SABG targets groups such as pregnant women, drug users, and individuals with HIV/AIDS, alongside primary prevention services for substance abuse.
Under the proposed agreement, CPLC would deliver primary substance abuse prevention services and counseling to referred PXU students, with a specific mention of “Health Masculinity Services for Self-Identified Males.”
The proposed MOU has drawn criticism from some PXU board members, notably Jeremiah Cota, who announced via X his intent to vote against the contract.
Cota expressed concerns that the agreement prioritizes services for self-identified males and potentially includes abortion-related support under the guise of “wrap-around” services, labeling CPLC a “leftist activist group.”
His stance has been amplified by Arizona State Representative Teresa Martinez, who praised Cota’s advocacy while criticizing PXU for ignoring student safety, particularly in light of recent discussions about reinstating school resource officers (SROs).
The SROs were removed from PXU campuses in 2020 following concerns about police interactions with minority students.
Despite recommendations from the district’s student safety committee in March 2023 to reinstate SROs, the board postponed the decision, opting for further study sessions and maintaining an off-duty officer model.
No SRO vote is scheduled for the upcoming meeting, intensifying the frustration among advocates, who argue student safety is being pushed aside.
Ethan Faverino is a reporter for AZ Free News. You can send him news tips using this link.
by Corinne Murdock | Feb 21, 2024 | News
By Corinne Murdock |
The Chandler City Council will vote to renew a police union memorandum of understanding (MOU) on Thursday, a weighty decision given recent allegations of an ongoing FBI corruption investigation involving one of the council members and the former police union president.
Those purportedly under investigation are Councilwoman Jane Poston and former Chandler Law Enforcement Association (CLEA) President Michael Collins. As first reported by ABC15, Chandler’s recently retired police chief, Sean Duggan, claimed the existence of the FBI probe in an email to City Manager Joshua Wright last November. The FBI didn’t confirm the existence of any investigation in response to questioning from the outlet.
“In this matter, information was uncovered indicating Collins and Poston may have committed violations of federal law and as such, an active public corruption criminal investigation is underway,” said Duggan.
Poston denied the existence of any such investigation in a statement released earlier this month to ABC15, calling the claim an “unsubstantiated rumor.” The councilmember said she was unaware of Duggan’s email prior to the recent reporting on its contents.
“No one from any investigative agency has contacted me. Based on the complete lack of evidence, I decided to treat this as the unfounded rumor I believe it to be,” said Poston.
A spokesperson for the city also denied that the city manager was contacted by the FBI regarding such an investigation.
An additional, related concern ahead of Thursday’s vote relates to a potential conflict of interest for Poston over the proposed CLEA MOU. Poston’s company, J2 Media, has done public relations for CLEA in recent years, and serves as one of their business supporters.
One of J2 Media’s creations for CLEA in 2021 was a presentation advocating for terms of the existing MOU.
Thursday’s city council meeting will address the renewal of a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with CLEA to last through 2026. The updated MOU includes several substantive and expensive changes:
- Merit increases of up to five percent for the 2024-25 and 2025-26 fiscal years;
- Maintaining the compensation market position at third market as a measure for market increases;
- A $1,500 bonus to certain CLEA members;
- A five percent Special Assignment Pay Differential for officers assigned to Bike Team, School Resource Officer, Behavioral Health Unit, and Neighborhood Response Team;
- Vacation accrual increases of .3 hours per pay period for 0-5 years of service, .4 hours per pay period for 5-10 years of service, .1 hours per pay period for 10-15 years of service, and the annual maximum vacation accrual cap increase of 80 hours;
- A $10,000 contribution into the Post Employment Health Plan (PEHP) of any officer with 10 or more years of service;
- A $25 per pay period contribution increase into PEHP accounts by the city;
- $900 to $1,750 graded PEHP sick leave contribution amounts based on years of service;
- A one-time $10,000 PEHP contribution for officers with 10 years or more of service who didn’t receive a 2024 contribution;
- A one-time $5,000 PEHP contribution for officers with 15-19 years of service;
- A one-time $10,000 PEHP contribution for officers with 20 or more years of service;
- Contributions to retiring officers’ PEHP account align with graded PEHP sick leave contribution scale, except for officers with over 30 years of service (they receive 50 percent of sick leave balance);
- And, an increased 1.5 pay rate for officers working through a holiday shift.
Corinne Murdock is a reporter for AZ Free News. Follow her latest on Twitter, or email tips to corinne@azfreenews.com.
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