Miller Road project OK'd / P. 10
Nap the pounds away / P. 26
An edition of the East Valley Tribune
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City Council, mayor clash over appointments BY J. GRABER Progress Staff Writer
NEIGHBORS............. 24 Scottsdale novelist pens new Victorian thriller.
Sunday, November 14, 2021
T
empers flared last week as Scottsdale City Council members discussed the fate of a city Development Review Board member as well as how board and commission members can be dismissed from their positions.
Mayor David Ortega put on the Nov. 9 meeting agenda an item to remove Scottsdale Development Review Board member Ali Fakih for missing four meetings in a sixmonth period. “That standard was not set up by myself,” Ortega said. “That standard has been in place for 10 years. It has a purpose and it’s observed by 120 board and commission members.”
However, that motion died for lack of a second. Vice Mayor Tammy Caputi then made a motion to keep Fakih on the board. “The community would not be better served by the loss of this valuable volunteer member who is neither unwilling or unable
see COMMISSIONER page 10
Experience Scottsdale fires up tourism surge BY J. GRABER Progress Staff Writer
SPORTS........................ 29 Chaparral, Desert Mountain swimmers shine.
ARTS..................... ..........30 Hidden in the Hills is bigger than ever.
NEIGHBORS.......................................... 24 BUSINESS............................................... 26 SPORTS........................................29 ARTS........................................... 30 FOOD............................................33 CLASSIFIEDS................................35
C
OVID-19 has made the last year a difficult one, but it’s a new day for Scottsdale tourism. That was Experience Scottsdale Board Chairwoman Kate Birchler’s message to a crowd of about 300 people during the organization’s annual meeting. In fact, “A New Day” was the theme of the meeting. “We have persevered,” Birchler said. “We have made it. We are here.” The event was the first time in over 20 months stake holders and members were able to come together because of the pandemic. “As the theme of our event states, this is a new day for Scottsdale’s tourism industry and for our community,” Brichler said. “It is another opportunity to show case
Andrew Bloom REALTOR®, Senior Partner Andrew@BVOLuxury.com VOTED #1 SCOTTSDALE REAL ESTATE TEAM FOR 2018
Even before tourists headed to Scottsdale for the holidays, Canal Convergence was a magnet as thousands visited the dazzling show, which ends today. (David Minton/Progress Staff Photographer)
to the world all that Scottsdale has to offer. It’s also a new day because people are traveling again. People are traveling here again. We saw a glimpse of our recovery
this last spring as vaccinations rose, COVID declined and our tourism driving
see TOURISM page 14
(480) 999-2948 www.BVOLuxury.com
