By Lisa Borowsky | Mayor of Scottsdale
Leading up to the Dec. 2 Scottsdale City Council meeting, my office received an overwhelming number of emails from our constituents demanding public comment at council meetings not be infringed upon.
In an email to a Scottsdale resident, Councilwoman Jan Dubauskas wrote: “Like you, I value public comment and won’t vote to reduce it.”
With the exception of Councilman Adam Kwasman, Councilmembers Barry Graham, Kathy Littlefield and Councilwoman Dubauskas all swore not to reduce public comment. Employing the guile of an old-time politician who promises one thing but delivers another — they are hoping you will swallow their “bait-and-switch” that they actually expanded public comment time.
However, if their deal of putting public comment at the end of council meetings were in place last night, those wishing to address the council would have had to wait until 10 p.m.
The game of adding two public comment speakers while depriving all speakers of a reasonable and predictable opportunity to speak isn’t convincing.
“Just to clarify: we expanded total speakers from 10 to 15,” is how Councilman Graham is selling the issue to local residents via email. “There is no attempt to ‘control’ anything — we fully respect the presiding officer’s authority and remain committed to robust public input.”
The above statement is the kind of political gamesmanship that needs to stop. In a recent survey of Scottsdale voters, 79% said the council does not listen to residents. We must do better for our residents.
In a recent survey of Scottsdale voters, 79% said the council does not listen to residents. We must do better for our residents. During my first year as your Mayor, I held two Town Halls to engage with residents and hear what matters to them.
In this vein, in 2026, I will be relying on the City Charter authority, vested upon me as Mayor, to hold special council meetings whereby our residents are invited to openly engage with their elected council members, akin to the British House of Commons PM question time.
Fortunately for the public, the City Council majority cannot disrupt this process as they did last night with the City’s longstanding public comment period.
Yours in Service,
Lisa Borowsky | Mayor of Scottsdale
