Winkler: The mayor of Paradise Valley needs to be fully focused on Paradise Valley

Do the residents of Paradise Valley want their mayor to also be the CEO of the Scottsdale Chamber of Commerce?

 Mark Stanton is the CEO and President of the Scottsdale Chamber of Commerce. We congratulate him on ascending to the role of CEO of the Scottsdale Chamber but, do we want our mayor to split his time between Paradise Valley and the Scottsdale Chamber?

Conflicts aside, if you plan on being an effective community leader, the job of mayor must be your first priority. The mayor must also be able to stand strong against developers who desire to create higher densities in our town. Chamber CEOs generally are big supporters of growth.

Point in case: In 2015, Mark Stanton changed forever the character of Paradise Valley when he supported the revised Ritz-Carlton project. Voting against the project were our current Mayor, Jerry Bien-Willner, Paul Dembow and David Sherf. David Sherf was appointed to council because he had spent his career in the resort industry and the council was looking for someone to guide them through the specialized world of resort development. Then Councilman Sherf advised the council to vote against the revised Ritz-Carlton Special Use Permit (SUP); Mark Stanton voted “yea” in a 4-3 decision. Mark Stanton did not take the recommendation of their industry expert and nine years later the Ritz has yet to see the light of day. 

Anna Thomasson has been on Town Council since 2019 after her service on the Board of Adjustment. She was unanimously elected vice mayor in 2022. She has taken tough stances on overdevelopment by meticulously researching proposed density and then working with project developers to bring density down as she did recently with the SmokeTree Resort. We urge you to keep the developers in check and vote for Anna.

Reader reactions, pro or con, are welcomed at AzOpinions@iniusa.org.