Later this month the Scottsdale City Council will be asked to pass another subsidy to private businesses, this time to give $500K/per year to the auto dealers on McDowell to be used for their advertising. Scottsdale citizens who follow the workings of City government will not be surprised to hear that I oppose this subsidy. Like most subsidies I consider this to be an unwarranted gift of taxpayer dollars to private business interests. Not only is it inherently wrong but it is also neither necessary nor even useful in achieving the supposed goal of keeping the auto dealers on McDowell from leaving Scottsdale.

Whenever I oppose a subsidy like this I often get the question, we know what you are against but what are you for, what positive role do you see for City government in encouraging economic development and prosperity? That is a fair question and the citizens of Scottsdale deserve an answer to it.

First I would say that no government at any level can create prosperity - except, of course for the recipients of any subsidies that they pass out! Private enterprise is the engine that provides prosperity. But government can provide an environment that makes prosperity possible, and we can do that in three ways.

The first is to provide the infrastructure and services that are our basic job - police, fire/EMS, courts, code enforcement, roads, sewer and water. That is why public safety and code enforcement have been my number one priorities since I took office. Scottsdale does a great job with infrastructure, but we needed to make some improvements in the area of public safety. We have made those improvements and I am proud to have been a part of making them happen.

We still have some work to do in the area of code enforcement. For years we did not devote enough resources to this effort and the consequences are showing in some of the older areas of our City. One unfortunate irony of this is that we then turn around and try to fix a problem that could have been prevented by better code enforcement by passing out subsidies! Top-notch code enforcement not only prevents blight from occurring but it also reduces the perceived need for more expensive and intrusive government remedies down the road.

The second thing that government can do is to create the amenities that make Scottsdale such a great place to live, such as our parks, libraries and Preserve. That is why I support and vote for these amenities.

The third thing that City government can do is to literally not get in the way by making it difficult to do business in Scottsdale. But making it easier to do business in Scottsdale does not mean passing out taxpayer dollars or compromising our higher design standards. It does mean making our rules clear and easy to understand, enforcing them fairly and consistently and minimizing the bureaucratic maze that businesses must navigate in order to get anything done here. That is why getting rid of the intrusive and bureaucratic “redevelopment” districts was one of the major themes of my campaign when I ran for Council in 2002.

Having run my own company I appreciate what it takes for businesses to succeed. I want Scottsdale to be a good place for developers and other businesses to be able to produce prosperity for themselves and for Scottsdale’s residents. But I want them to do it the old-fashioned way, which is to earn it, not by enriching themselves at taxpayer expense.