The Scottsdale political action committee that will be pushing for the passage of a $319-million bond is beginning to take shape.
It officially has announced its steering committee and received its first major donation.
The For The Best Scottsdale: Vote Yes On Questions One, Two and Three PAC received a $10,000 donation from the Scottsdale Firefighters Association, according to a press release from the PAC.
The PAC is co-chaired by Scottsdale residents Paula Sturgeon and Mike Norton — a seemingly odd choice as the pair traded barbs last year during the Proposition 420 debate.
Firefighters Association President Sasha Weller, a captain with the Fire Department, is on the PAC’s steering committee.
“You can credit Jason Rose for having the odd idea to put these two oddballs together, but so far it’s been a blast,” said Sturgeon, referring to the Scottsdale PR pro responsible for organizing the committee.
The PAC does not just plan to promote the bond through traditional means, such as print campaigns. It also plans to engage in a speaker series, in which members can attend community events throughout the city to educate voters and answer questions.
“It is our intention to have members of the steering committee and other members of the community well enough prepared that they are able to be invited into all (types of places and organizations) to explain the bond on a personal level,” Sturgeon said.
Norton said the goal of the series is to maintain an open, civil and transparent dialog.
Norton said the key will be answering all questions honestly and openly.
“I really believe that part of the rancor of the last few years had to do with the poor decision to cut off civil dialog,” Norton said.
Norton also said no questions will be off limits.
“Our intention is to get the answers to questions,” Norton said. “If we can’t answer a question in detail when it’s asked of us, we’ll go get the detail and we’ll respond to each question, so the community knows where we believe this bond package is going and the impact that it has on our finances in our taxes.”
Norton said all position papers will be published on the PAC’s website.
Norton and Sturgeon said the PAC’s message will be based on actual data.
“It’s not just stuff that we made up; it’s stuff that comes out of the auditor’s annual financial reports of the city and our city’s budgets,” Norton said.
Norton said he has read every city financial audit for the past 10 years and that informed his decision to support the bond and the PAC.
“I came away with a completely different attitude about the way our city has managed the problems we’ve had,” Norton said.
He noted the city’s loss of revenue during the recession, coupled with failed bond initiatives, left no money for needed capital improvements over the last decade.
There are some bond detractors in the community, though no organized opposition groups yet. That opposition is rooted in a distrust of the City Council or local government.
Norton said he hopes those people will realize they can elect new representatives to the Council in 2020 if they are unhappy with the current members.
Sturgeon said she hoped individuals would make up their own minds about the bond itself.
“There was citizen input to create this bond, and at this point, use your own best judgment that this stuff is worth doing,” Sturgeon said.
The steering committee for the PAC includes a deep roster of well-known Scottsdale business leaders, vocal residents and local activists who have not always landed on the same side of prominent city issues.
But at least one well-known local voice has already declined to join the group.
The initial press release named Howard Myers, president of the Protect Our Preserve organization that sponsored Proposition 420 last year, among the ranks joining the steering committee.
However, Myers confirmed to the Progress that he has declined to come on board.