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Council ousts commissioner over recusals BY WAYNE SCHUTSKY Progress Managing Editor
NEIGHBORS..............22 5 Girl Scouts earn highest award.
BUSINESS................... 24 Breaking the marijuana industry's glass ceiling.
FOOD.............................. 28 New Scottsdale restaurant honors her dad.
OPINION.................................................. 21 NEIGHBORS...........................................22 BUSINESS............................................... 24 ARTS......................................................... 26 FOOD........................................................ 28 CLASSIFIEDS........................................30
Sunday, March 21, 2021
I
n a rare move, a narrow majority of Scottsdale City Council voted to remove Prescott Smith from the city’s planning commission weeks after Mayor David Ortega asked him to resign due to his high number of recusals. Ortega defended the action, saying he became concerned about retaining Smith, who
$60M in liens against $2B Ritz project here
was vice chair, after reading a recent audit of the Planning Commission produced by City Auditor Sharron Walker. The audit showed Smith had four absences and 36 recusals from individual cases at 65 meetings between 2017 and 2019 – more than any other planning commissioner during that time. The next highest recusal rate was from Commissioner Ali Fakih, who recused him-
self 26 times over the same span. “The facts speak for themselves,” Ortega said. The decision – only the second time a volunteer commissioner was removed before their term ended – was criticized by the Council minority for unfairly singling out Smith.
see RECUSALS page 8
BY WAYNE SCHUTSKY Progress Managing Editor
C
ontractors have filed more than $60 million in claims over unpaid bills for work on The Palmeraie, the $2-billion Ritz-Carlton-anchored development that is scheduled to debut its first phase later this year. The development, which straddles the Paradise Valley-Scottsdale border north of downtown Scottsdale, covers 122 acres and will include a Ritz-Carlton resort, residential villas, multi-million-dollar homes, retail, dining and office space.
Andrew Bloom REALTOR®, Senior Partner Andrew@BVOLuxury.com VOTED #1 SCOTTSDALE REAL ESTATE TEAM FOR 2018
Contractors have filed more than $60 million in claims for unpaid bills for work on The Palmeraie, a $2-billion Ritz-Carlton anchored development on the Paradise Valley-Scottsdale border near Lincoln Drive and Indian Bend. (Pablo Robles/Progress Staff Photographer)
Utah-based Layton Construction, the lead contractor on the project, filed three liens between December and March totaling $46.7 million for non-payment against an entity owned by Palmeraie developer Five Star
Development, according to documents filed with the Maricopa County Recorder’s Office. Twenty-three subcontractors – which per-
see RITZ page 10
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