Scottsdale City Council candidates accuse Axon over election spending

State of play: Council Member Barry Graham and candidates Michelle Ugenti-Rita and Bob Littlefield released an open letter Tuesday to Axon's board of directors raising concerns about "what appears to be a direct effort" by senior executives to influence the election.

What's inside: They noted that political consultant Chris Baker, a registered lobbyist for Axon, and PR consultant David Leibowitz, who previously represented the company, recently created a PAC called Better Together, which is spending against Graham, Littlefield and Ugenti-Rita.

• Last year the duo created Arizonans for a Better Future, a PAC that contributed money to pro-Axon state lawmakers and which Graham accused of attacking him.
• Better Together and Arizonans for a Better Future have identical website designs, and the latter links to the former's Facebook page.

Between the lines: Campaign finance reports show that Axon, CEO Rick Smith and other executives collectively gave Arizonans for a Better Future about $1.1 million last year.

• Better Together hasn't filed any campaign finance reports yet — its first is due next month — so we don't know who's funding the operation, and the PAC declined to tell us.
• In a statement, Axon said it's not involved in Better Together's campaign activities, telling Axios it "has not participated in efforts to influence this City Council race."

Context: Graham, Littlefield and Ugenti-Rita are among eight candidates running for three council seats in the July 21 election.

• Early voting began Wednesday.

In the letter, the candidates noted that all three of them opposed the apartment component of Axon's headquarters and said "circumstantial evidence" suggests the company is trying to defeat candidates it considers unsupportive.

• They asked the board of directors to "determine whether corporate resources are being used in ways that create governance and reputational concerns."

What they're saying: "Our city's independence is at stake," Graham told Axios, saying this isn't about one development — it's about whether "future city councils have to get permission from Axon before making decisions."

The other side: "Better Together is participating in this election because Scottsdale voters deserved the facts and a serious conversation about the candidates, their records and the city's future," Leibowitz told Axios. He noted that he speaks only for Better Together, not Axon.

Of note: Taxpayers Against Awful Apartment Zoning Exemptions, which led the referendum campaign against Axon's rezoning, announced this week that Littlefield would step down as chair so the organization could engage in the City Council election as well.

• The conservative NicoPAC is also spending to oppose three Democrats who are on the ballot.

Catch up quick: The Scottsdale City Council approved zoning in late 2024 for Axon's proposed headquarters building, which would have included around 1,900 apartments and a hotel.

• Opponents of the apartment plans collected signatures to refer the zoning change to the ballot via a citizen referendum.
• Gov. Katie Hobbs last year signed legislation that canceled the referendum.
• Axon and the City Council later reached a compromise that reduced the number of housing units to 1,200.