By all indications, Virginia Korte and Suzanne Klapp are both running for Scottsdale mayor next year.
But the two councilors are putting that likely rivalry aside and are both strong backers of three Scottsdale bond measures on this year’s November ballot.
Klapp and Korte are putting community before politics in backing the bonds which fund public safety, senior centers, parks and recreation and important infrastructure projects.
They both recognize how important the bond measures are for Scottsdale, its quality of life and economy.
The mayoral candidates join current Scottsdale Mayor Jim Lane, the rest of the Scottsdale City Council and a broad and diverse coalition of neighborhoods advocates and business leaders in backing the bonds.
In some ways, Korte and Klapp coming together on the bond campaign is a Scottsdale version of when Barack Obama and John McCain unified to help deal with the Wall Street and banking crisis during the 2008 presidential election.
McCain and Obama put country over partisanship and politics.
Korte and Klapp are doing this service for the city they love. How refreshing.
City voters have not approved a major bond package since 2000. Scottsdale has also deferred important projects since the Great Recession.
This year’s package allocates $319 million across 58 projects. Those include expanding senior centers, improving fire and police stations, building new parks and recreation spaces and pedestrian improvements in Old Town.
The process to pick the projects was led by citizen input, as Councilwoman Kathy Littlefield has said.
In today’s politics and social media, it is easy for candidates and advocates to line up on opposite sides of an issue just to score points.
Neither Korte or Klapp — who both have significant business experience and have long served the Scottsdale community — are doing that with the bonds.
They see how important they are for Scottsdale, our quality of life, economy and neighborhoods.
They are to be commended. Their example truly is #ScottsdaleAtItsBest.