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General/Special Election (canvassed 11/26/18) three Councilmembers elected (Kathy Littlefield and Linda Milhaven re-elected and Solange Whitehead elected; sworn into office on 01/08/19).
Ballot question to increase the transaction privilege and use taxes by 0.10 percent (0.10%) for a period of ten (10) years to provide funds for transportation improvement projects was approved; amendment to the Scottsdale City Charter proposed by initiative petition to amend the city charter to prohibit the alteration of the natural state of preserve lands and limit the use of preserve funds for any purpose other than those specifically outlined in the proposed amendment unless authorized by Scottsdale registered voters at a general or special election was approved.
General/Special Election (canvassed 11/28/16) three Councilmembers elected (Suzanne Klapp, Virginia Korte, and Guy Phillips re-elected; sworn into office 01/17/2017).
One Charter amendment to clarify that the city's primary and general elections are held concurrently with the state's primary and general elections and set the commencement date of the terms of the mayor and each member of the council to the first regular meeting of the Council in January of the year following their election was approved.
Charles Christakis - Chairman, Daniel Weisberger - Vice-Chairman, Robert D. Gruntz - Secretary, Donald H. Collar, John Cummings, Harry Hyder, John A. LaSota, John H. Matthews, Sam R. Russell, Thomas A. Sams, Jr., Gailaen G. Scott, Andy Segedy, Elmer L. Smith, Malcolm S. White
Councilmember Willmoth resigned; Councilmember Brown appointed.
Mayor White reported he had investigated the cost of installing automatic stop-and-go traffic lights. Estimate: approximately $800.00.
Mayor White reported after checking Scottsdale Road for parking, he felt that only parallel parking should be allowed in front of First National Bank, Lutes Scottsdale Pharmacy, Walker's Barber Shop Building and no parking in front of Brown Derby and Scottsdale Feed And Seed Store.
Appointed to fill the unexpired Council term of C.W. Clayton on Oct. 6, 1964.
Elected to two, four-year terms.
A Scottsdale resident for most of his life, Gregory Bielli was elected to his second term on the Scottsdale City Council in March of 1994. He has been actively involved in government and community service projects for a number of years.
A graduate of Navajo Elementary School, Saguaro High School and the University of Arizona, Councilman Bielli has lived in Scottsdale for more than 25 years. He is employed by MCO Properties, Inc., where he serves as the company’s vice president. In addition to overseeing private water company operations, Councilman Bielli also oversees marketing, sales, planning and operations.
Councilman Bielli is on the National League of Cities’ Transportation and Communication Policy Committee. In addition to serving on the Maricopa Association of Government’s Regional Airspace and Air Quality committees, he served as a member of the Scottsdale Neighborhood Beautification Awards Committee, Scottsdale Vista North Homeowners Association and the Maricopa County Transportation Advisory Board. Councilman Bielli also served on the Tournament Players Club of Scottsdale - WestWorld Stadium Subcommittee, the Economic Development Executive Council Committee and the City Compensation Committee. He is a Scottsdale Charros member.
Councilman Bielli holds a bachelor’s degree in liberal arts from the University of Arizona. He also attended Scottsdale Community College. He and his wife, Vicki, have three children –Matthew, Katelyn and Courtney.
July 1994
<.Elected to one, four-year term.
Elected to one, four-year term.
Elected to one, four-year term.
Councilwoman Lisa Borowsky began her first term on the Scottsdale City Council in January 2009.
Councilwoman Borowsky, an attorney, has limited her practice to civil litigation since being admitted to the State Bar of Arizona in 1994. The majority of her legal career has focused primarily on community association representation, specifically related to construction issues. She founded Borowsky Law in 1996, where she focuses on settlement-oriented representation. She has a broad background in real estate, real estate law, extensive complex civil litigation experience and serves regularly as a court appointed arbitrator.
Before founding her firm, Councilwoman Borowsky worked with mid-size, multi-state law firms primarily representing homeowners and associations dealing with defective construction issues. Prior to her career in law, she managed multi-family dwellings, working up the ranks in her family’s apartment business.
A native of the Valley, Councilwoman Borowsky completed her undergraduate degree at Arizona State University and her law degree at St. John’s University, School of Law. She is a member of the Arizona State Bar, Construction Law Section and Maricopa County Bar Association.
Councilwoman Borowsky is active in the Community Associations Institute and Arizona Association of Community Managers, which support and educate the community associations industry. Additionally, she is a precinct committeeperson in the District 8 Republicans organization and has been active at the State Legislature as a proponent on various issues, both professionally and personally. Aside from her legal career, Councilwoman Borowsky’s professional experience is quite varied including restaurant review writer for CITY/AZ magazine, on-air commentator for KPNX/Channel 12 News, aviation component sales, and spin instructor.
Councilwoman Borowsky’s personal time is dedicated to raising her beautiful daughter, Savannah, riding cutting horses, skiing, culinary arts and travel. She is involved in various charitable organizations, primarily focusing upon those assisting children.
January 2009
Elected to one, two-year term, but resigned before completing her term.
Appointed to replaced Joe Willmoth.
Appointed to replace Glenn Peterson; resigned March 5, 1954; replaced by Joe Willmoth March 5, 1954.
Elected to two, four-year terms.
Elected to one, four-year term.
Councilman James Burke was elected to his first term on the Scottsdale City Council in March of 1992, having held leadership positions in the medical field, community affairs and education activities.
Councilman Burke is currently the Senior Vice President of Medical Affairs at Scottsdale Memorial Health Systems, Inc. Prior to that appointment, he was in private practice as a family physician. His administrative services include: Delegate, American Academy of Family Physicians; President, Arizona Academy of Family Physicians, 1989; and President, Scottsdale Memorial Hospital Medical Staff, 1989.
His professional affiliations include membership in the American Medical Association, Arizona Medical Association, Maricopa County Medical Society, American Academy of Family Physicians, Arizona Academy of Family Physicians and American College of Physician Executives.
Councilman Burke served on the Scottsdale Parks and Recreation Committee from 1988 to 1992. Additionally, he is a 1991 Scottsdale Leadership graduate.
He attended the University of Nebraska at Lincoln and received his Doctor of Medicine from the University of Nebraska Medical Center; he served his residency at Scottsdale Memorial Hospital – Osborn.
Councilman Burke’s awards and honors include the hospital’s Teacher of the Year, Outstanding Resident, Outstanding Third Year Family Practice Resident and Fellow of the American Academy of Family Physicians.
A Scottsdale resident since 1979, Councilman Burke and his wife, Karen, have four children.
June 1994
Appointed to fill the unexpired term of Robert Jones; served one partial, appointed term; elected to two, four-year terms.
Elected to two, four-year Council terms and one, four-year term mayoral term.
Sam Kathryn Campana was elected Scottsdale’s first female Mayor in April 1996. No stranger to City Hall, she served for eight years on the Scottsdale City Council from 1986-1994.
Mayor Campana has been Executive Director of Arizonans for Cultural Development since 1983. This nonprofit, nonpartisan organization serves as the stat’s arts advocacy voice. As director, she works statewide with business leaders, educators, artists, elected officials and arts activists, discussing the economic and social impact of arts in Arizona.
A 25-year Scottsdale resident, Mayor Campana was a founding member of the Scottsdale Arts Center Association (SACA) in 1975, serving as the first volunteer chairman and first woman president of this 2,000-member organization. In 1988, she was named Arizona’s “Arts Advocate of the Year” and in 1991 she was the recipient of the Maricopa Community College Arts Advocacy Award. In addition, she was awarded a fellowship at the National Endowment of the Arts’ Policy, Planning and Budgeting Office in Washington D.C., in 1992.
In 1990, she completed the Senior Executive Program for State and Local Officials at the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University. Other accolades have included the: “Golden Key National Honor Society Membership” from Arizona State University; Maricopa County Community College Alumni of the Year; Scottdale Community College Outstanding Alumni; and being selected as a member of the Leadership America’s Class II in 1993.
Mayor Campana’s extensive list of public service activities includes service as Scottsdale’s representative on the Maricopa County Fiscal Oversight Committee and on the board of directors of the Greater Phoenix Economic Council. She has also been a founding member and held various leadership positions for the Scottsdale Foundation for the Handicapped, Arizona Women in Municipal Government, Scottsdale Leadership, and Las Rancheras Republican Women, the State Arts Advocacy League of America, Share the Health Foundation and the Scottsdale Western Arts Association. In addition, she has also served on the board of Valley Forward and the Scottsdale Economic Development Executive Committee. Mayor Campana is also an active member of Our Lady of Perpetual Help Catholic Church and, per an invitation by the Jewish Federation of Greater Phoenix, participated in Interfaith Mission 14 to Israel in 1990.
Mayor Campana attended Carroll College in Montana from 1966-1968 where she was an Education major. She graduated with honors from Scottsdale Community College in 1974 and attended Arizona State University.
She has three children, Cassidy (23), Katie (22) and Richie (14).
May 1996
Elected to one, four-year term.
Councilwoman Caputi began her first term on the Scottsdale City Council in January 2021.
Councilwoman Caputi has lived and worked in Scottsdale for over 20 years. She is the president and owner of Yale Electric West, Inc, a company she founded in Scottsdale in 2001.
Councilwoman Caputi holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Economics from Wellesley College in Wellesley, MA and a Master’s in Business Administration from Simmons University in Boston, MA.
Councilwoman Caputi is a Fellow with the Flinn-Brown Arizona Center for Civic Leadership and Leading for Change and current chair of the Scottsdale Coalition of Today and Tomorrow (SCOTT), an organization dedicated to promoting, enhancing, and improving Scottsdale’s quality of life and economic vitality through community education and involvement in public policy issues. Additionally, she recently served a three-year term on the city’s Development Review Board.
She has been interested in health and fitness all her life and participates regularly, along with her husband, Steve, in many outdoor activities and physical pursuits. They have three young daughters who attend local public schools.
January 2023
Appointed to fill Councilman Bill Miller's seat; elected to four, two-year Council terms beginning in 1952; resigned on July 7, 1959 before completing his fourth term.
Elected to two, two-year terms.
Elected to one, one-year term; elected to two, two-year terms as Councilmember, but did not complete his second full term. On Oct. 6, 1964, Bill Clayton was elected Mayor by the Council to replace John Woudenberg who had resigned as Mayor citing pressures of his business. Mayor Clayton died in office on Dec. 21, 1965.
Elected to two, four-year terms.
Elected to one, four-year term.
Elected to one, four-year term.
Elected to one, four-year term.
Councilwoman Betty Drake began her first term on the Scottsdale City Council in June 2004.
She has served in a wide variety of official positions at the local, state and federal levels, and has extensive experience in Valley land use, transportation planning, downtown planning, public art and public space design.
In Scottsdale, she served from 1996 to 2002 on the Scottsdale Planning Commission, from 1993 to 1996 on the Development Review Board, in 1993 on the Historic Preservation Task Force, and in 1992 on the Bicycle and Pedestrian Transportation Plan Task Force. She also served two terms on the Phoenix Planning Commission, as a member of the Phoenix Indian School Task Force and on several other Phoenix committees and task forces.
At the state level, she served six years on the Arizona State Parks Board, and seven years on the Arizona State Committee on Trails, including terms as chairman for both bodies. She was a member of the Governor’s Task Force on Recreation on Federal Lands, Chairman of the Arizona State Land Department Urban Lands Advisory Committee, and on several other advisory committees on transportation and outdoor recreation.
At the federal level, she was a member of the U.S. Forest Service Blue Ribbon Task Force on Forest Planning, National Park Service Grand Canyon Greenway Collaborative and the U.S. Department of Transportation Bicycle/Pedestrian Advisory Committee, as well as the National Academy of Sciences Transportation Research Board’s Committee on Bicycling Facilities.
Councilwoman Drake has lived in Scottsdale since 1987 and has been an Arizona resident since 1947. She has been active in community groups and is a member of the Arizona Trail Advisory Council for the Arizona Trail Association and a former member of the Casas Dia Festivo Homeowners Association Board of Directors.
She is President of Drake & Associates, which she founded in 1979 to provide consulting services in city planning, public art, bicycle and pedestrian planning and urban design.
She holds a Bachelor of Architecture degree from the University of California at Berkeley.
June 2004
Elected to two, four-year Council terms; elected to four, four-year terms as Mayor.
Watch video of Herb Drinkwater
Herbert R. Drinkwater was first elected to the office of the Mayor in February 1980 and reelected to his fourth four-year term in February 1992. He had previously been a city councilman, elected to his first term in 1970 and serving until 1978 when he chose to sit out for two years to spend more time with his family. Prior to joining the City Council, he served on Scottsdale’s Development Review Board.
Mayor Drinkwater has been involved in numerous community activities. As a life member of the Scottsdale Jaycees, he has been president and Executive Board member and is a member of the Jaycees’ International Senate. He also served as chairman of the Parada Del Sol Rodeo.
Over the years, Mayor Drinkwater has served as a board member of the Arizona Heart Institute, the Scottsdale Boys Club, the Foundation for the Handicapped and the Church of the Beatitudes. He was also appointed to the Bureau of Land Management’s Phoenix Advisory Council by former Secretary of the Interior Donald Paul Hodel.
Currently, Mayor Drinkwater is president of the League of Arizona Cities and Towns and the Arizona Municipal Water Users Association. He serves on the board of directors of the Scottsdale Symphony Orchestra, the Regional Public Transit Authority and Maricopa Association of Governments. He is a member of the U.S. Conference of Mayors. Additionally, he is on the University of Arizona College of Pharmacy’s National Board of Advisors and the McDowell Sonoran Land Trust Advisory Council. He is also past-president and past chairman of the Congregational Church of the Valley.
In addition to these appointments, Mayor Drinkwater is a member of the Arizona Academy, Arizona Senior Olympics’ Gold Medal Advisory Group, and the National Advisory Committee of the Women in Military Service for America’s Memorial Foundation. He is on the board of directors of the Northern Trust Company of Arizona and is a former member of the Lions Club, the Scottsdale Charros, the Camelback Mental Health Foundation and the Scottsdale Sister Cities. He is an honorary Rotarian and a life member of the Arizona Chapter of the Paralyzed Veterans Association, an honor given for his services to the handicapped.
Before starting his own business in 1964, Mayor Drinkwater was Assistant Business Manager for the Phoenix Union High School and Junior College System. In business, he was named Nationwide Retailer of the Year in 1968 Scottsdale’s and Arizona’s Outstanding Young Man in1972. In May of 1986, he received the Distinguished Achievement Award from Arizona State University’s College of Public Programs for his outstanding service in Arizona. He has also been cited by the city for his lifesaving efforts and has received the Boy Scouts’ Distinguished Citizen Award.
A Scottsdale resident since 1943, the Mayor and his wife, Jackie, have two grown children.
September 1994
Elected to two, four-year terms.
Councilman Wayne Ecton began his first term on the Scottsdale City Council in June 2002 and was reelected to a second term beginning in June 2006.
He previously served on the 2001/2002 Citizens Budget Committee and the Big Box Ideas Team, which helped the city develop an ordinance to regulate the placement and appearance of "big box" retail buildings.
A Scottsdale resident since 1996, Councilman Ecton is a member of the Coalition of Pinnacle Peak, the Greater Pinnacle Peak Homeowners Association, Friends of the McDowell Land Trust and the Foothills Community Foundation. He also is a member of the Scottsdale Center for the Arts, the Art Alliance for Contemporary Glass, the American Craft Council and the Glass Art Society.
Councilman Ecton retired from Alcoa after 33 years in high-level financial management positions in the U.S. corporate headquarters and International and U. S. operating locations. In his last 13 years with the company, he specialized in managing "turnaround" situations involving mergers and acquisitions at Alcoa subsidiaries.
His international experience includes assignments in Guinea, West Africa and Hungary. In West Africa, his was responsible for all administrative functions - including housing, transportation, utilities, security, food supply, hospital and schools - in a company town. In Hungary, he also served as an advisor to government agencies on health, safety and environmental issues and did volunteer work assisting entrepreneurial start-up businesses.
Councilman Ecton holds a bachelor's degree in business. He was also a member of the Financial Executives Institute until his retirement.
He and his wife Martha have been married for 35 years and have two grown children.
May 2002
Elected to one, four-year term.
Councilmember Durham grew up in a small town in Iowa and attended Cornell College in Mt. Vernon, Iowa, where he graduated Phi Beta Kappa and magna cum laude in 1977, with majors in philosophy and history. He has served on Cornell's Board of Trustees for several years and has been elected as Secretary of the College and as chair of various committees.
After graduating from Cornell, he attended New York University Law School in New York City, graduating in 1980. During his time in law school, he served as research editor of the Review of Law and Social Change, one of the law school’s journals.
After graduation from New York University, he joined the Mayer Brown law firm in Chicago, an international law firm with offices throughout the United States, Europe, South America, and Asia. Councilmember Durham specialized in tax controversy, representing the firm’s clients in audits, trials, and appeals of local, state, and federal tax cases. During his time at Mayer Brown, he was recognized by Chambers USA as one of the top 25 tax controversy lawyers in the U.S. Councilmember Durham retired from Mayer Brown in April 2015 and soon thereafter became a full-time resident of the city of Scottsdale.
Councilmember Durham served as treasurer of the Protect Our Preserve political action committee, which was responsible for placing Proposition 420 on the ballot in November 2018. Since moving to Scottsdale, he has served as mock trial coach at a local high school, teaching trial skills, teamwork, and the rules of evidence to high school students.
His wife Martha serves as an Episcopal Deacon at a local church; together they have two sons.
January 2023
Appointed to replace Trent Meacham; resigned due to too many conflicts of interest between his office and his occupation.
Elected to one, one-year term.
Appointed on March 6, 1952 by the Maricopa County Board of Supervisors to increase the total number of Council members to seven; sworn into office March 11, 1952. Served one partial term; elected to two, two-year terms, but was killed in his home on July 27, 1954, before completing his second term; last meeting was July 20, 1954.
Elected to four, four-year terms.
Elected to one, four-year term.
Councilmember Graham began his first term on the Scottsdale City Council in January 2023.
Councilmember Graham grew up in northern Scottsdale and was an all-state athlete at Chaparral High School. Today he lives in southern Scottsdale where he and his wife, Farrah, are raising their twin sons.
Barry is a Certified Public Accountant (CPA) for one of the most prestigious accounting firms in Arizona. He specializes in auditing the financial statements and analyzing the performance of private businesses, most of which are based in Arizona.
In 2014, Barry graduated from the Scottsdale Fire Department’s inaugural Citizens’ Fire Academy. The following year he served as Chairman of ‘Yes To Bonds’ campaign in which voters passed two critical public safety measures that funded relocating a fire station to the McCormick Ranch area and a new fire station in northern Scottsdale.
Barry, a graduate of Scottsdale Leadership’s Class 28, was a member of the city’s Planning Commission, and served as Chairman of both the Transportation Commission and Building Advisory Board of Appeals.
As a history enthusiast, Barry spent several years after high school in Massachusetts, earning undergraduate degrees from Boston University in Economics and International Relations. While working as an analyst in the Massachusetts State Legislature, Barry graduated from the University of Massachusetts with a Master of Science in Accounting where he delivered the commencement address.
Barry has served as a precinct committeeman since 2012 and was twice-elected treasurer of his political party’s local legislative district.
January 2023
Elected to one, two-year term, but resigned because his employer relocated; Jim Matthews was appointed to replace him at the same meeting.
Appointed to replace Doris McCauley, who resigned; served one partial, appointed term; elected to three, four-year terms.
Elected to one, two-year term.
Appointed to replace Austin Smith who resigned Sept. 20, 1960.
Elected to one, four-year term.
Councilwoman Janik began her first term on the Scottsdale City Council in January 2021.
Councilwoman Janik was born and raised in Chicago, Illinois. She earned a Bachelor of Science in Chemistry from the University of Illinois Chicago, where she was one of only three women in a class of 65 in the chemistry curriculum. After college, she was employed by GD Searle, one of the premiere pharmaceutical companies of the era. During her time at GD Searle, her primary research concentrated on dissolving blood clots – an endeavor which was awarded in international publication. Thereafter she took time off to start a family. When her husband established his practice in Denver, she returned to her love of the sciences as a teacher.
Councilwoman Janik taught math and science for nearly 10 years at both the middle school and high school level, including in the prestigious Cherry Creek School District outside of Denver. She also worked in programs benefiting under-resourced students through outreach programs in remote school districts, and as a tutor in the “No Child Left Behind” program.
As a tireless community volunteer, she served on the managing and funding boards of two successful U.S. Swimming competitive youth teams in Denver for many years. She volunteered with the American Heart Association earning an award for community service. Upon arrival in Arizona, she volunteered for over six years at the Arizona Science Center, developing classes in Life Sciences and received three awards for her service. Additionally, she has served on various HOA boards in Chicago, Denver, and Scottsdale.
She is the past Treasurer of Protect Our Preserve which ushered in the successful passage of Proposition 420, past President of the Board of the Coalition for Greater Scottsdale and served on the steering committee “For the Best Scottsdale”, advocating for the successful capital bond proposals supporting significant projects in Scottsdale.
Of all her achievements, she is most proud of her role as a wife and mother. She and her husband, Joe, a pediatric surgeon (now retired), have been married for 48 years. They have three grown children, all physicians, and eight delightful grandchildren.
January 2023
Elected to one, two-year term as Councilmember in 1966; elected to two, four-year terms as Councilmember in 1968 and 1972. On July 11, 1974, Mayor Bud Tims resigned as Mayor. Councilmember Jenkins was appointed Mayor Pro Tem on July 16, 1974, and Mayor on July 18, 1974. Elected to one, four-year term as Mayor in 1976.
Elected to three, two-year terms.
Elected to one, two-year term and one, four-year term; last meeting was June 9, 1970; resigned on July 15, 1970 to relocate to California.
Appointed to replace Mildred Bratzel, who resigned; elected to one, one-year term.
Appointed by the Maricopa County Board of Supervisors as one of the original five councilmembers. Elected to four, two-year Council terms beginning in 1952; elected Mayor by the Council on June 12, 1958; and, in 1960, was the first Mayor to be elected to office by Scottsdale voters. Elected to two, two-year terms as Mayor.
Elected to three, four-year terms.
Councilwoman Suzanne Klapp began her first term on the Scottsdale City Council in January 2009 and was re-elected to a third term that began in January 2017.
She has more than 40 years of broad management experience in manufacturing, distribution and retail operations. She began her career with Whirlpool Corp. where she worked for 14 years in a variety of staff and operations management positions in marketing, communications, human resources, production and material control. Later, she owned a custom plastics manufacturing plant in Indiana. She also was General Manager of Larson-Juhl’s logistics center in Los Angeles.
She moved to Scottsdale in 1998 and since then has owned custom framing retail stores in Scottsdale and Phoenix. Councilwoman Klapp is Chairman of the Valley Metro RPTA board and helped found and continues to advise the Scottsdale Gateway Alliance. She is a graduate of Valley Leadership and is on the Advisory Board of Scottsdale Leadership.
She serves on the WestWorld Subcommittee. She holds a BA degree in English and Journalism from the University of Evansville (IN) and an MBA degree from Southern Methodist University (TX).
Oct 2017
Elected to two, four-year terms
Councilmember Virginia Korte began her second term on the Scottsdale City Council in January 2017.
She has an extensive background in business and non-profit management as well as community service. In 1981 she joined her family business (Ray Korte Chevrolet) to work with and learn from her father where she served in various roles until becoming general manager and dealer in 1991.
After selling the dealership in 1998, Virginia was hired as a biology professor at Scottsdale Community College and became their first CNUW (Center for Native & Urban Wildlife) Executive Director, serving until 2002.
In 1996, Virginia was named to the Board of Directors of the Scottsdale Area Chamber of Commerce, and in 2002, she was hired as President and CEO. Virginia left the Chamber in 2008 to take on another challenge where she served as President and CEO of Scottsdale Training and Rehabilitation Services (STARS) until 2014. She currently serves as a member of the board for Arizona Town Hall and BUSS (Business United for Scottsdale Schools).
Throughout her time in Scottsdale, Virginia has also served on a wide variety of volunteer boards and committees focused on serving the community.
June 2018
Elected to one, two-year term.
On June 13, 2011, the City received an email from former Councilman Knudsen reflectng on his term in office and reporting on his latest adventures:
"I am a former Scottsdale City Councilman (6/14/60-4/8/62). I was very surprised and pleased to see the "Full History of the Scottsdale City Council members on the Scottsdale Web Site. This brought back a lot of good memories (and a few bad ones) about my time on the council. I would like to thank all of you for doing this.
In the early 60's we held our Council Meetings in the old schoolhouse, which is now the Historical Museum. Mort Kimsey was the Mayor and most of the Council Members were fairly young. I was 27 when elected. The Police Departments was in the basement. As I remember, we had 4 officers and two automobiles. There were about 12,000 people in the Town.
We had a lot of annexation problems with the City of Phoenix. They wanted to limit the size of Scottsdale and they were strongly backed by the Arizona Republlic. I remember Phoenix Mayor Sam Mardian telling me that Scottsdale should not annex north of Indian Bend Road.
My short history is as follows: I am a Mechanical and Electrical Engineer. I was moved from Chicago to Scottsdale by Motorola in July of 1957. In 1959, I decided to run for the Council and to my surprise, was elected. I did not run for reelection. I spent 40 years working for Motorola and retired in 1997. I have lived in Scottsdale ever since, however, I do spend some summers in Prescott. I now live in Santa Fe 1 in Mc Cormick Ranch.
After retirement, I was appointed to the Scottsdale Aviation Commission. I spent 6 years on the Commission with one year as Chairman. I am still involved a little in civic activities. I am on the Board of the Santa Fe 1 HOA and on the Board of the Highland Pines POA in Prescott.
Looking back, I believe Scottsdale has developed very nicely. We have done a lot of very good things over the years. I am proud of Scottsdale."
Mayor W. J. “Jim” Lane served for four years on the Scottsdale City Council beginning in June 2004 and began his first term as Mayor in January 2009. He was re-elected to the Mayor’s Office in 2012 and began his third term in January 2017.
Mayor Lane served on the 2002 Scottsdale Fire & EMS Advisory Committee, which was convened to evaluate and make recommendations to the city regarding the desired level of fire and emergency medical services relative to cost.
His community service also includes six years on the Scottsdale Paradise Valley YMCA Board of Management. He chaired the 1999 Kids Campaign annual fundraising effort and is currently an emeritus board member.
Mayor Lane currently represents the city as a member of the Flinn Foundation Arizona Bioscience Roadmap Steering Committee. He is the current President of the Arizona Municipal Water Users Association, a member of the Governor’s Arizona Workforce Committee, member of the Executive Committee of the League of Arizona Cities and Towns, and a Chairman of the Maricopa Association of Governments Economic Development Committee. He is a former Chairman of the MAG Regional Council and former President of the MAG Executive Board. Mayor Lane also serves on the Scottsdale Leadership Advisory Board, Arizona Game and Fish Appointment Recommendation Board, he is a member of the Phoenix Committee on Foreign Relations and an Honorary Member of the Taliesin West Board of Stewards. Mayor Lane is also a member of the Municipal Tax Code commission.
He came to Scottsdale from New Jersey in 1973 to take a position with KPMG (Peat Marwick), an international CPA firm. He worked as an Arizona CPA for 20 years with five of those years in public accounting as a financial statement auditor.
Mayor Lane has owned and operated businesses in construction, mining, computer technology, telecommunications, regional aviation and financial consulting. Mayor Lane is also a former Adjunct professor of Business and Accounting at Scottsdale Community College.
He holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Accounting from Saint Joseph's University in Philadelphia.
He and his wife Joanne have three adult children (Bill, Scott and Nancy) along with seven grandchildren (Megan, Aislinn, Madison, Carson, Caleb, Brooklynn and Cole).
December 2018
Elected to three, four year terms
Councilwoman Kathy Littlefield began her third term on the Scottsdale City Council in January 2023.
Councilwoman Littlefield has 25 years of extensive financial and management experience. She co-founded (with her husband Bob Littlefield, who served three terms on the Scottsdale City Council from 2002 to 2015) and continues to manage a successful Scottsdale-based computer company, NetXpert Systems, Inc.
Her previous professional experience includes several years working in the Budget Office of the City of Plano helping to design and track the departmental budgets for all city departments as well as working to format the Capital Improvement Program for that fast-growing city. In Scottsdale, Kathy worked as the office manager for Petley Greetings, Inc., a local business whose owner was a renowned artist and photographer in Arizona. Kathy also served as the Finance Director for Girls Ranch, a nonprofit company which had been based here in Scottsdale.
Councilwoman Littlefield has been active in a wide variety of community organizations and has held office in many of them. She was a “computer Mom” in her daughter’s school as well as treasurer for many after-school plays and pageants performed at Cochise Elementary. She was Treasurer of North Scottsdale Little League. Councilwoman Littlefield was President of her Civitan Club (an organization that helps developmentally disabled and underprivileged children) and was chosen “Civitan of the Year” for her efforts during her term of office. She also has been active in Special Olympics.
Councilwoman Littlefield has been Treasurer (twice) of her political legislative district and repeatedly was elected as a state committeewoman. Currently she is active in the Daughters of the American Revolution working to help our nation’s veterans and their families, and the Mayflower Society.
Councilwoman Littlefield is a Scottsdale native. She attended the Scottsdale Unified Schools Ingleside Elementary and Arcadia High and graduated with distinction from Arizona State University in 1970 with a bachelor’s degree in business education.
Councilwoman Littlefield and her husband, Bob, have been married over 46 years and have two adult children and one grandchild.
January 2023
Elected to three, four-year Council terms.
Councilman Robert W. Littlefield was elected to his first term on the City Council in May 2002.
He is the founder and president of NetXpert Systems, Inc., a Scottsdale-based computer company. He also is a commercial pilot and flight instructor.
He first lived in Scottsdale from 1971 to 1975. He returned to stay in 1984.
Councilman Littlefield has been involved in a variety of civic, youth and professional organizations. He served 11 years as a board member in the Arcadia Scottsdale United Soccer Club and 15 years as a youth soccer coach. He is a member and former director of the Arizona Software & Internet Association. Other memberships include the Arizona Pilot's Association, Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association, National Federation of Independent Business, American Legion, Kiwanis Club and Civitan. The Councilman also is an Eagle Scout.
A Vietnam combat veteran, Councilman Littlefield served in the U.S. Army from 1968 to 1970 and in the Arizona Army National Guard from 1971 to 1974.
Councilman Littlefield holds a bachelor’s degree in engineering from Arizona State University.
He and his wife Kathy have been married 31 years and have two grown children.
March 2006
Elected to two, four-year Council terms, but resigned to run for Mayor in 2004.
Councilwoman Cynthia Lukas was elected to her first term on the Scottsdale City Council in March 1998.
She teaches English at Paradise Valley Community College.
Her main interests have included the McDowell Sonoran Preserve, historic preservation and neighborhood issues. Currently, she represents Scottsdale on the Energy, Environment and Natural Resources Policy Committee of the National League of Cities and the Domestic Violence Coordinating Committee of the Maricopa Association of Governments. She also is a member of the City Council/School Board Joint Committee.
A graduate of the Scottsdale Leadership program and the Citizen's Police Academy, Councilwoman Lukas has served the community as chairwoman of the Historic Resources Preservation Task Force, a member of the Charter Review Advisory Commission, a member of the CityShape 2020 Steering Committee reviewing Scottsdale’s General Plan, and a member of the "Save Our McDowells" campaign steering committees to secure funding for acquisition of lands in the McDowell Sonoran Preserve. She has served as president of the Greater Pinnacle Peak Homeowners Association, a neighborhood preservation group, and as vice chairman and communications chairman for the McDowell Sonoran Land Trust.
Her numerous speaking engagements on community issues have included a presentation on urban sprawl at the Governor's Commission on the Arizona Environment.
Councilwoman Lukas has served on the executive boards of directors for Phi Beta Kappa of Greater Phoenix and the American Association of University Women, Scottsdale branch. She is a member of the American League of Pen Women, League of Women Voters of Metropolitan Phoenix, Scottsdale Historical Society and Scottsdale Rose Society. She is a member of the Community of the Blessed Sacrament Church.
Councilwoman Lukas grew up in North Little Rock, Arkansas, where she attended Mt. St. Mary Academy. She graduated with a B.A. Magna Cum Laude in English, Phi Beta Kappa, from the University of Arkansas, then an M.A. in Communications from Fairfield University in Connecticut. While living in Connecticut and Illinois, she worked for GTE World Headquarters, a Fortune 500 company. She has written a novel for young adults entitled Center Stage Summer, which was awarded several national distinctions. She was chosen as "Woman of the Year" in Lombard, Illinois, for her volunteer work. Councilwoman Lukas lost her beloved husband of 25 years, John, to cancer in 2000.
June 2000
Elected to two, four-year Council terms and two, four-year mayoral terms.
Mary Manross began her first term as Mayor in June 2000. She was reelected and for a second term as Mayor in June 2004. Previously, she served two terms as a City Councilwoman from 1992 to 2000.
Mayor Manross has held leadership positions in city government and community, educational and church organizations since she came to Scottsdale in 1972. Among her primary areas of interest have been neighborhood and redevelopment issues and preservation of the McDowell Mountains and Sonoran Desert.
She served six years on the Scottsdale Parks and Recreation Commission, including a term as chairwoman. She spent four years on the Planning Commission and served as vice chairwoman of the Scottsdale Bond Committee in the early 1980s.
Mayor Manross continues to represent her community at the regional, state and national levels. She is a member of the Executive Committee of the Arizona League of Cities and Towns and a board member of the Arizona Municipal Water Users Association. She also is a member of the Regional Public Transportation Authority, where she previously served as chair. She also is a member of the Maricopa Association of Governments Executive Committee and the MAG Transportation Policy Committee. She served on the Governor's Task Force on Urban Planning, the Arizona Town Hall and as a League of Women Voters board member. She also participated as chairwoman of the Maricopa Association of Governments Youth Policy Advisory Committee and as a board member of Arizona Women in Municipal Government. She was a member of the National League of Cities (NLC) Energy, Environment and National Resources Policy Committee. Currently, she is a member of the NLC Transportation, Infrastructure and Services Steering Committee, the primary group responsible for the NLC’s national policy on transportation.
Mayor Manross's past leadership roles in the Scottsdale School District included participation in the Art Masterpiece Program and as legislative liaison for the Parent Teacher Association.
She was director of the Marriage Preparation Seminars at the Franciscan Renewal Center for 22 years, in which more than 15,000 adults have participated. She also served as vice president of the Casa de Paz Y Bien Foundation and as a member of the leadership team for the Valley Interfaith Project.
Mayor Manross has a bachelor’s degree in political science and a teaching credential. She and her husband Larry have four children and two grandchildren.
June 2004
Appointed to replace George Cavalliere; served one partial term; elected to one, two-year term in 1960.
Appointed to replace Raymond Guy; resigned on December 15, 1959, and was replaced by Austin Smith on January 19, 1960.
Elected to two, two-year terms, but resigned before serving all of her second term. Replaced by Councilmember Heinz Hink.
Elected to two, four-year terms.
Councilman Ron McCullagh began his first term on the Scottsdale City Council in June 2004.
Councilman McCullagh has lived in the Valley for 28 years and in Scottsdale for the past 12 years.
His career experience includes six years as a university professor and 20 years as a businessman in the financial services industry. He is retired.
He is Past President of Valley Citizens League and serves on its board of directors. He also serves on the boards of Scottsdale Sister Cities, Scottsdale Rotary Club and the District 8 Republican Committee.
He also is a member of the Scottsdale Leadership Class XVIII, Arizona Town Hall, the Arizona Tax Research Association, and the Arizona League of Women Voters.
He holds bachelor’s and master’s degrees in business from the University of North Dakota, and a doctorate in business administration from the University of Florida.
He and his wife Mary Beth have been married for 38 years and have two children and four grandchildren. In addition to family and civic duties, he enjoys tennis, sailing, hiking and golf.
June 2004
Elected to one, two-year term, but resigned to transfer out of the City before completing his term.
Elected to one, two-year term.
Appointed to fill the remaining term of C. Ken Murray, who resigned; elected to one, four-year term.
Elected to three, four year terms
Councilmember Linda Milhaven began serving on the Scottsdale City Council in January 2011 and was reelected to a third term that began in January 2019.
Councilmember Milhaven has served in numerous volunteer capacities including Chair of the Board of Trustees of the Scottsdale Cultural Council, Chair of the Board of the Scottsdale Area Chamber of Commerce and Chair of the Board of the Better Business Bureau.
She was a member of Class VIII of Scottsdale Leadership and in 2009 earned their Frank B. Hodges Alumni Achievement Award.
She returned to the area to make Scottsdale her home in 1989. As part of her 30-year banking career, she was a community bank president in Scottsdale from 1993 to 2005.
She graduated from Paradise Valley High School. She holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Psychology from Wellesley College in Wellesley, MA, and a Master’s in Business Administration from Columbia University in New York.
January 2023
Appointed by the Maricopa County Board of Supervisors as one of the original five councilmembers. Resigned July 20, 1951 because he was moving out of town.
Appointed to fill C.W. Clayton’s term; served one appointed, partial term; elected to one, four-year term in 1968, but resigned on Oct. 19, 1971 before completing his full term, when the State Attorney General determined there was a conflict between his position on the Council and his job with the Department of Corrections.
Appointed to fill vacancy created by the death of her husband, Councilman Tony Nelssen.
Councilwoman Marg Nelssen was appointed to the Scottsdale City Council in June, 2010.
Nelssen is an accomplished artist, educator, and civic advocate and has enjoyed calling Scottsdale home for 23 years.
A native of Rochester, New York, her appreciation of the Sonoran desert took Nelssen to Arizona State University where she earned a bachelor of architecture degree and worked in the field of architecture for several years.
In 1996, Tony and Marg Nelssen founded The Great Sonoran, a diverse group advocating Innovative, site specific, and climate sensitive architecture suited to the Sonoran Desert. Scottsdale has derived much of its Sensitive Design Guidelines from those developed by ‘The Great Sonoran.’ If you know the phrase ’minimal visual impact’, then you can credit the ‘Great Sonoran’ group.
Nelssen has been involved with a wide range of city efforts including the Desert Foothills Working group and overlay, local area street circulation plans, metal screen design for local telecommunication boxes, rural road lighting and trail designs, and scenic drive guidelines. She was also involved in the first successful improvement district in Arizona set up specifically to bury 69-kilovolt power lines in the north Scottsdale area, and the first, with her husband Tony, to ride their mules on the new trails of Pinnacle Peak Park.
Marg Nelssen co-founded her children’s school district’s first Parent Teacher Organization where she also spent time as a classroom and district volunteer. She obtained her post-baccalaureate in education and taught art for the Cave Creek Unified School District at elementary and secondary levels.
She currently creates and teaches art at several Scottsdale art centers and galleries. She is a juried member and volunteer of the Sonoran Arts League and former Board member of the Greater Pinnacle Peak Association responsible for maintaining and advocating the 47-year old ‘Scenic Drive’ landmark drive.
Marg Nelssen lives in the Desert Foothills area of Scottsdale with her son Ian, daughter Hannah, four dogs, four mules and a horse called Ellie.
June 2010
Elected to one, four-year term, but, due to his death in 2010, did not complete his term.
Councilman Tony Nelssen began his first term on the Scottsdale City Council in June 2006.
Councilman Nelssen is a third generation native Arizonan, has been active in civic affairs for more than two decades and served on a variety of city commissions and advisory groups, as well as neighborhood and civic associations.
He was a member of the Planning Commission for two and one half years and the Parks and Recreation Commission for six years. He served on the Desert Foothills Character Area Working Group, was on the Desert Subcommittee for the McDowell Sonoran Preserve Commission, was a member of the General Plan Task Force and was a member of the Wireless Ideas Team. He has been involved in a wide range of city initiatives and efforts, including the Environmentally Sensitive Lands Ordinance, the Desert Foothills Overlay, the city Trails Master Plan, Local Area Master Plan, Sign Ordinance, Rural Road Design Standards and Scenic Corridor Guidelines.
He was involved in the first successful improvement district in Arizona set up specifically to bury 69-kilovolt power lines in the north Scottsdale area and has recently been involved in an Arizona Public Service task force on 69-kilovolt lines and substations in the area.
Councilman Nelssen has served as Vice-President of the Greater Pinnacle Peak Association, Vice- President and President of the Desert Property Owners Association and as a board member for Friends of the Scenic Drive.
In 1996 he founded The Great Sonoran, a group advocating innovative, site specific, climate sensitive architecture suited to the Sonoran Desert. Scottsdale derived much of its Sensitive Design Guidelines from those developed by the Great Sonoran.
He is a strong equestrian advocate and was named Horse Hero of the year in 2002 in the Town of Cave Creek.
On the state level, Councilman Nelssen currently serves on the Arizona State Heritage Fund Public Advisory Committee.
He is a computer arts and digital photography instructor at Paradise Valley Community College, and has taught courses at Arizona State University, Phoenix College and Scottsdale Community College.
A 19-year resident of Scottsdale, Councilman Nelssen, his wife Marg, son Ian, and daughter Hannah live in the Desert Foothills area of Scottsdale annexed into the city in 1983, with four mules, a horse, and three dogs.
June 2006
So, you're here in our trees,
Scents of soft earth, creosote on the breeze
Coming round through the desert you love.
You built quite a life for this family you left,
Quite the trail to follow at will.
You left us too soon, we still feel you here,
The four mules (one horse) all these dogs,
The kids and I, too.
Your mule has a hitch in her walk, a sad glint in her eye?
Though she's cared for, and petted - not 'rid'.
I know she must wonder, between grass and alfalfa,
Where have you been, not near enough, and just why?
Now there's always nine mouths to feed, every sunrise and set
And I'm missing your strong arms shifting hay.
I trust you're just fine in your 'am the light' way,
And that you know all the love that you've earned.
You served Scottsdale well, the town that loves you,
It's mountains, special deserts and folk.
You left such a mark, we hope to compare
On our next desert trail ride somewhere.
It was such a surprise, perhaps mostly for you,
And also your friends and your dears,
You couldn't just now change this hard part of life
To your own will, or wishes, or view.
Yet, you managed to do more than most while alive, what was ever right,
(So, how did you always just know?).
And you stood up for many, despite being shy,
Because the battles, sometimes rough or ill-tasting,
Were meant by their asking,
To be open, and honest, and fair.
Do you remember the June evening (we had just got the mules,
Soft light, turning golden-big sky!)
We rode out through the desert, started slow, got our legs,
Air was soft, smell of earth, life seemed beautiful; just fine?
Then your Peaches (from Missouri) and my Gator just trail grazing,
Never knowing cactus at all, miss-stepped into Cholla
Took to buckin' all over, reins broke!
And you landed quite hard.
So we chased down your mule, laughed at our greenness,
Counted blessings, and walked a bit slower towards home.
Now I guess we'll be strong today?
All your dears and your town,
And someway, today or tomorrow,
We'll learn best what to do with our days, and
Just how to serve with our lives,
And be just who we're really supposed to be.
So there's no sadder truth, (more final, or painful, or hard),
To know you had to quit us for now,
Got bigger things to do?
No matter your will, or our wants as they say.
But you did good, you are good; what we'll say now you're gone.
Please keep watch while apart and
We'll ride through our desert again.
And you can help us a little, now that you've got the better view
To choose the right paths to be on.
You built quite a life for this family you left,
Quite the trail to follow at will.
So I'll watch for snakes, and we'll honor your lead,
But, Tony, you pick the trail please, 'cause
You know the way, please, and also, we know,
That Peaches just goes better up front.
Elected to one, four-year term.
Councilman Ned O'Hearn was elected to his first term on the Scottsdale City Council in May 2000.
Councilman O'Hearn is Executive Vice President of ONCOR International - an international service organization based in Washington, D.C., that is comprised of and owned by 54 independent commercial real estate brokerage companies around the world. He is a facilitator, trainer and coordinator of business activities.
He and his wife, Carol, have been married for 25 years. They moved to Scottsdale in 1994 and have been actively involved in neighborhood preservation and enhancement issues. While in Atlanta, his community service included serving as president of the board of directors for the Sheltering Arms Child Care and Family Development Center, one of the oldest childcare centers in the United States addressing the needs of underprivileged children.
With a master's degree in City Planning from San Diego State University, Councilman O'Hearn holds a particular interest in the way cities prepare for and respond to demographic and economic change. Councilman O'Hearn was born in Massachusetts and received his bachelor’s degree in English from The College of The Holy Cross. He served as an officer in the Navy with Vietnam service.
June 2000
Mayor David Ortega served four years on the Scottsdale City Council from June of 2000 to June of 2004 and began his first term as Mayor in January 2021
Mayor David D. Ortega began his term of office in January 2021, as the 12th Mayor of Scottsdale.
Mayor Ortega focuses on promoting public safety and well-being, maintaining family-friendly neighborhoods, protecting the McDowell Sonoran Preserve and strengthening Scottsdale’s world-renowned reputation.
Under Mayor Ortega’s leadership, Scottsdale lowered the property tax rate by more than 10 percent to ease the burden on our city’s families. He supported 10 percent funding increases for police and fire departments, and significantly reduced the Public Safety Retirement System fund balance.
A life-long advocate for equality, Mayor Ortega led public outreach, formulation, and passage of the Anti-Discrimination Ordinance by the City Council to ensure Scottsdale remains a livable and economically vibrant city for all. Mayor Ortega championed the adoption of General Plan 2035 to revitalize our economy, support the arts, and preserve Scottsdale’s natural beauty. He is leading efforts to reign-in excessive building height and density in Old Town, while preserving our Western hospitality that draws tourists and visitors from across the globe.
To strengthen economic vitality and keep Scottsdale’s workforce competitive, Mayor Ortega and the City Council established a Joint Education Committee with Scottsdale Unified School District and Scottsdale Community College. Mayor Ortega chairs quarterly meetings to support scholarships, internships, and employment pathways.
Over the course of four decades as an Arizona architect, Mayor Ortega designed many landmark buildings in Old Town. He is a graduate of the University of Arizona and was an apprentice to Bennie Gonzales, the award-winning designer of Scottsdale City Hall, Library and the Center for Performing Arts. Mayor Ortega has spent most of his life helping to shape Scottsdale’s “unique sense of place.”
Mayor Ortega represents the City of Scottsdale at the Maricopa Association of Governments Executive Regional Council, the Arizona Municipal Water Users Association Executive Board, the League of Arizona Cities and Towns Executive Council, and the Greater Phoenix Mayors and Supervisors Economic Council. He is a member of the Bloomberg-Harvard Mayors Leadership Initiative.
Mayor Ortega is a proud member of the following organizations:
Mayor Ortega and his wife Rosemary Gannon live near Saguaro High School where they raised their children, Alexandra and Luke.
January 2023
Elected to short, two-year term, as provided for by the Charter, to fill the unexpired term of Cynthia Lukas.
Councilman Kevin Osterman began his first term on the Scottsdale City Council in June 2004.
Councilman Osterman was a member of the Scottsdale Planning Commission from 2000 to 2003. He also served on the 2000 Citizens Budget Committee and Bond Review Committee, and on the Mayor's Gang Task Force.
He first moved to Arizona in 1970 and has been a resident of Scottsdale since 1993.
He recently retired from his position as a Lieutenant Colonel in the Arizona National Guard, where he was Joint Headquarters Director of Human Resources. He served in the Air National Guard from 1977 to 2005.
Councilman Osterman is a United States Marine Corps Vietnam veteran.
He and his wife Karyn have served as Block Watch co-captains for over ten years.
He has been involved with a variety of civic, youth, and professional organizations, including coaching basketball and baseball for Marcos de Niza Public Housing, assisting in the establishment of the Arizona National Guard Project Challenge, serving as a mediator for the Arizona Attorney General's Office and the City of Scottsdale, and as a member of the Board of Directors for the Local Federal Campaign Committee of the Combined Federal Campaign. He is a member of the Association for Conflict Resolution, the Arizona Alternative Dispute Resolution Association, the Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association, and the Arizona Pilot's Association. He is also a certified mediation trainer with the Arizona Alternative Dispute Resolution Association.
Councilman Osterman holds a bachelor’s degree in management and a master’s degree in organizational management from the University of Phoenix. He is a graduate of Arizona State University’s Institute for Public Executives.
June 2005.
Elected to one, two-year term.
Elected to one, one-year term.
Appointed to replace Jack Sweeney, who resigned to move to Phoenix; Glenn Peterson resigned on October 8, 1953 because he was moving outside of the incorporated area of the town.
Elected to two, four-year terms.
Councilman Robert C. Pettycrew was elected to his first term on the Scottsdale City Council in February 1994 and reelected in March 1998. He has been actively involved in government and community service projects for several years.
A graduate of Coronado High School, Councilman Pettycrew began his community service work with the Scottsdale Unified School District. He served on the Parent- Teacher Association boards at Tonto and Yavapai Elementary Schools and chaired the "Save Tonto Elementary School" effort.
Preservation of Scottsdale's Sonoran Desert environment and of established neighborhoods have been priorities for Councilman Pettycrew, demonstrated by his work as a member of the McDowell Sonoran Land Trust Advisory Board and Scottsdale Community Council. He also served on the Scottsdale Human Services Commission from 1990 to 1992 and the Planning Commission from 1992 to 1994. In addition, Councilman Pettycrew worked as coordinator of the B.J. Kline Fund, educating the community on the need for bone marrow transplant donors.
Councilman Pettycrew currently works in the wireless communications industry. His past employment includes the Maricopa County Intensive Probation Services, Play and Learn School (PALS), GTE and Sprint PCS.
He represents the City of Scottsdale on the Information Technology and Communications Policy Committee of the National League of Cities, on the Human Services Coordinating Committee of the Maricopa Association of Governments and on the Papago Salado Association Board of Directors. He also is a member of the City Council/School District Joint Committee and the City Council subcommittees on the City Court and on the Scottsdale Tournament Players Club and WestWorld.
A third generation Arizonan, Councilman Pettycrew and his wife Janet have four children: daughters Kindra, Sharla, and Carly and son Skyler.
June 2000
Elected to two, four-year terms
Councilman Guy Phillips began his second term on the Scottsdale City Council in January 2017.
Councilman Phillips was raised in Phoenix where he graduated from Camelback High School in 1977. He moved to Scottsdale in 1994.
He attended Maricopa Community College and subsequently started the air conditioning contracting business that he still owns and operates today. He was a general contractor and homebuilder whose business was one of the first to implement Scottsdale’s Green Building Program. In addition to being a licensed contractor, Guy Phillips was formerly a licensed realtor.
He is a member of the Better Business Bureau, the Arizona Small Business Association, the North Scottsdale Chamber of Commerce, the Heritage Foundation, the National Rifle Association, and the Arizona Archaeological Society.
Scottsdale is where Guy Phillips met his wife Cora, and together they raised a family of five children who all attended Scottsdale public schools.
Councilman Phillips is an amateur artist and published writer who likes to rebuild muscle-cars in his spare time. He has created many start-up businesses with a patent pending. He is a firm believer that small business is the backbone of the country and has mentored others through the business process.
June 2018
Appointed to replace George Stroup, who resigned; served one partial, appointed term; elected to one, one-year term.
Appointed to replace Cynthia Lukas, who resigned to run for Mayor.
Councilwoman Roberta Pilcher was appointed to the Scottsdale City Council in November 2003 to fill a vacancy due to the resignation of another Council member. She will serve through June 2004.
A retired special education teacher, Councilwoman Pilcher has lived in Scottsdale 43 years and in Arizona for more than six decades. She has been involved in numerous city, civic and community causes.
Her service to Scottsdale city government includes stints on the original Scottsdale Town Enrichment Program – or STEP – Committee in the mid-1960s, as a participant in Brookings Institute planning seminars in the early 1970s, and as a participant in the Scottsdale 2020 long-range planning process in the mid-1990s. She also has been a member and chairman of the Library Board, a member of the Historic Preservation Commission and a member of the Council Districts Advisory Task Force. On the Library Board, she was responsible for launching the Southwest Room, which is dedicated to Scottsdale and regional history.
She has been active, as well, in several City Council campaigns and in citizen committees seeking the passage of bonds for city facilities.
She is a charter member and former officer of the Scottsdale Foundation for the Handicapped, served as a charter member of the Scottsdale Rose Society and is a lifetime member of the Scottsdale Historical Society. She is the chairman of an annual commemoration February 26 marking the birthday of the city’s founder, Chaplain Winfield Scott.
She holds a bachelor’s degree in education from Arizona State University.
Councilwoman Pilcher has two grown daughters. Her hobbies include cooking, baking and gardening.
November 2003
Elected to one, four-year term.
Donald J. Prior was elected to his first term on the Scottsdale City Council in March 1994. He has been actively involved in government and community affairs since moving to Scottsdale in 1971.
Councilman Prior is currently Vice President of Planning and Office Manager at Anderson-Nelson, Inc. - a civil engineering company.
His professional affiliations include membership in the American Planning Association. He received a bachelor’s degree in City and Regional Planning from California State Polytechnic University, San Luis Obispo, California, and a master’s degree in Geography from Arizona State University.
Councilman Prior served for six years on the Scottsdale Planning Commission and as chairman in 1991 and 1992. He served as vice president of Friends of the Scottsdale Library. He is past president of the Scottsdale Historical Society, and a member of American Legion Post 44, and a committee person with Boy Scout Troop 201.
His civic involvement has included participation in the Scottsdale Community Cable Corporation and Scottsdale Town Enrichment Program, and service on the Scottsdale Cultural Master Plan and Civic Center Task Forces.
Councilman Prior and his wife, Barbara, a Scottsdale elementary school teacher, have three children.
May 1994
Appointed to replace Tom Felke, who resigned.
Twice elected to one, four-year term.
Councilman Dennis Robbins began his second term on the Scottsdale City Council in January 2011. He first served on the council from 1996 to 2000.
He was born and raised in Scottsdale, where his family grew up across the street from former Mayor Herb Drinkwater. He graduated from Chaparral High School, California Lutheran University and attended Pacific Lutheran Theological Seminary before graduating from Pepperdine School of Law in 1990.
Today, Dennis Robbins is a businessman who owns auto repair franchises in Mesa, Phoenix and Scottsdale.
He has been active in various community organizations including serving as a former commissioner on the Board of Adjustment; past president and Charros life member.
He is a graduate of Scottsdale Leadership, Class 7; past president of the Scottsdale Education Foundation; served on the council and building committee of the La Casa de Cristo Lutheran Church; and a member of the National Federation of Business, the Scottsdale Chamber of Commerce and the State Bar of Arizona.
Dennis believes his longevity in Scottsdale, business experience, legal background and previous council experience are an asset to this community. His goal is to unite the community and work to make Scottsdale’s future as bright as its past.
Councilman Robbins is married to Cheralee and has three children – Madalyn, Carl and Veronica.
January 2011
Elected to two, two-year terms as a Councilmember; elected to one, two-year term as Mayor. First elected Mayor under the City's current Charter.
Elected to two, four-year terms.
Owner of Scotty's Blacksmith Shop. Appointed by the Maricopa County Board of Supervisors as one of the original five Councilmembers. Elected to four, two-year Council terms beginning in 1952.
Elected to three, two-year terms.
Appointed on March 6, 1952 by the Maricopa County Board of Supervisors to increase the total number of councilmembers to seven; sworn into office March 11, 1952; served one partial term; elected to three, two-year terms beginning in 1952.
Elected to one, four-year term.
Councilman Tom Silverman was elected to his first term on the Scottsdale City Council in March 2000.
A resident since 1953, Councilman Silverman grew up in Scottsdale, forged his career in the resort business and served the community in a wide variety of civic and government leadership positions.
His civic involvement includes terms as president of the Scottsdale Chamber of Commerce and the Scottsdale Foundation for the Handicapped. He has served on the board of directors of the Scottsdale Memorial Hospital Foundation and the Scottsdale Chamber of Commerce Foundation, in addition to the advisory boards of the Scottsdale Historical Society, Scottsdale Leadership and the McDowell Sonoran Land Trust. Councilman Silverman is a Scottsdale Charros life member.
He was chairman of the Governor's Tourism Advisory Council for the Arizona Office of Tourism and served on the Scottsdale Hospitality Commission. He was also a member of the Scottsdale Visioning Steering Committee.
Councilman Silverman is the co-owner and general manager of Scottsdale's Chaparral Suites Hotel. He has won numerous honors for his work in the hospitality industry, including his citation as Tourism Person of the Year at the Arizona Governor's Tourism Awards in 1994.
He is a graduate of Scottsdale High School, Arizona State University and the first Scottsdale Leadership class. In 1991, he received the Frank W. Hodges Alumni Achievement Award from Scottsdale Leadership and was named "Citizen of the Year" by the Scottsdale Association of Realtors.
Councilman Silverman is a member of the City Council Subcommittee on the Tournament Players Club and WestWorld and a member of the Visitor Industry Advisory Committee, the steering committee for the Scottsdale Convention and Visitors Bureau.
Councilman Silverman has three grown sons.
June 2000
Appointed to replace Jim Matthews; elected to a one-year term in 1960, but resigned during the Sept. 20, 1960 Council meeting after being the single vote against expanding the City sewer system.
Appointed to fill vacancy created when William Jenkins was appointed Mayor, following Mayor Tims' resignation. Served one partial, appointed term; elected to two, four-year terms.
Elected to one, four-year term.
David N. Smith began his first term on the Scottsdale City Council in January 2015.
Councilman Smith has more than 40 years of senior financial management experience, mostly in the public service and not-for-profit sectors.
He served as Scottsdale’s city treasurer and chief financial officer from October 2009 until he retired in July 2013. Prior to that, he served as vice chair of Scottsdale's citizen budget review commission.
Before his service with the city of Scottsdale, Councilman Smith was the chief financial officer (CFO) for Amtrak from 2004 to 2007 and served as the CFO for the Tennessee Valley Authority, the nation’s largest electric utility, from 1995 to 2003.
Previously, he was vice president of finance at LTV Corporation, a diversified company with interests in steel, aircraft component manufacturing and energy and defense products. Earlier corporate positions include assistant treasurer, director of corporate finance and vice president of corporate planning.
He and his wife Diana owned and published the Scottsdale Airpark News from 1986 to 1997.
Councilman Smith earned a bachelor's degree in business administration and accounting from Northwestern University and a master's degree in finance from Northwestern's Kellogg School of Management.
January 2015
Elected to two, four-year terms.
A Scottsdale resident for 31 years, Councilman Bill Soderquist was elected to this second term on the Scottsdale City Council in March of 1990. He has been actively involved in community service projects for several years and is a successful businessman.
Mr. Soderquist formed Caywood Soderquist Insurance agency in 1961. From 1961 to 1984 he was a member of the Scottsdale Association of Independent Insurance Agents and served as president in 1965 and 1974. In addition, he was a member and director of the Arizona Association of Independent Insurance Agents from 1968 to 1976, serving as secretary in 1974. In 1984, after the sale of his interest in the agency, he went to work as marketing director for Carter Associates, a Phoenix engineering firm. In 1985, he began working as an independent marketing consultant.
Councilman Soderquist began his community service involvement in the early 60’s. He was active in the Scottsdale Boys Club from 1961 to 1967, serving as president of the board of directors. He is also on the board of directors of the Scottsdale Girls Club. As a member of the Scottsdale Chamber of Commerce, Councilman Soderquist was on the board of directors and served as secretary in 1968. He is a member and past president of the Scottsdale Rotary Club and was an active member of the recent Yearlings Committee to raise funds for this major act acquisition.
Mr. Soderquist also served in the United States Army from 1943 to 1945, spending 11 months in France, Germany and Austria, as staff sergeant in the 220th Field Artillery Battalion, 44th Infantry Division. Councilman Soderquist and his wife, Tina, have eight children between them.
June 1990
Elected to one, two-year term, but resigned before serving his full term; replaced by John Pickrell.
Owner of Saguaro Inn. Appointed by the Maricopa County Board of Supervisors as one of the original five councilmembers. Appointed Clerk of the Council on July 3, 1951. Elected to one, two-year term in 1952, but resigned on July 14, 1953, before serving the full term, because he was moving to Phoenix. Replaced by Glenn Peterson on July 28, 1953.
Elected to two, four-year terms.
Councilman Richard Thomas was elected to his first term on the Scottsdale City Council in March of 1992. He has been an active participant in community and government projects since he moved to Scottsdale in 1964.
Councilman Thomas spent two years on the Parks and Recreation Commission, during which time he reviewed and approved Indian School Park design concepts. He was also instrumental in allowing urban fishing at Chaparral Park. Councilman Thomas served on the city’s Planning and Zoning Commission for six years, and played an active role in the development of the City’s Downtown Redevelopment Plan - - a plan that brought more than one billon dollars worth of renovation and new development to downtown Scottsdale. Councilman Thomas currently serves on the City Council/School Board, City Courts and Chamber Economic Development subcommittees. Additionally, he serves on the Maricopa Association of Government’s Regional Development Policy and Visitor Industry Advisory committees.
He is an active member of the Scottsdale Chamber of Commerce and Scottsdale Charros, and a former member of the Scottdale Jaycees.
Councilman Thomas is the founder and owner of Adam’s Rib Hairstylists.
He and his wife, Kathy, a Scottsdale teacher, have been married 29 years. They have one grown daughter Shellee, who lives in Scottsdale.
July 1994
Elected to one, two-year Council term. On Jan. 6, 1966, Dr. Tims was elected Mayor by the Council to replace Mayor C.W. Clayton, who died in office Dec. 21, 1965. At the Jan. 6, 1966 Council meeting, Dr. Tims stated that he was withdrawing his name from the ballot as a Council candidate, and, instead, would offer himself as a write-in candidate for Mayor for the February 15, 1966 Primary Election. Elected to one, two-year term, and two, four-year terms as Mayor, but resigned at the July 11, 1974 Council meeting before completing his second four-year term as Mayor. At the same meeting, the Council appointed C. Ken Murray as a Councilmember to fill Bud Tims’ unexpired term. Councilman William Jenkins was appointed Mayor on July 18, 1974.
Elected to two, four-year terms.
Appointed to replace V.D. Frederick; served one partial, appointed term; elected to one, two-year term in 1956.
Elected to one, four-year term.
Owner of Tee Bar Tee Theatre. Appointed by the Maricopa County Board of Supervisors as one of the original five councilmembers. Elected to three, two-year Council terms beginning in 1952. Elected Scottsdale’s first Mayor by the City Council on July 3, 1951, and again in 1954 and 1956.
* Direct election of the Mayor did not begin until 1960.
Elected to two four-year terms.
Councilwoman Whitehead began her second term on the Scottsdale City Council in January 2023.
Councilwoman Whitehead and her family came to Scottsdale in 1996 from San Diego for 'just six months', fell in love with everything Arizona and never went back. She is an electrical engineer, accomplished businesswoman, conservationist, and volunteer.
Councilwoman Whitehead serves to ensure that community priorities drive City policies. She spends her time meeting with constituents, performing government due diligence, and visiting Scottsdale’s many neighborhoods and business districts. She brings stakeholders with contrasting viewpoints together to find a unified path forward.
Councilwoman Whitehead is relentlessly focused on making Scottsdale an efficient and effective government to protect tax dollars and positively impact every resident. She enacts policies that deliver triple bottom-line benefits by protecting public health, improving quality of life, and lowering costs.
Councilwoman Whitehead serves on the Board of Waste Not and volunteers at the Granite Reef Senior Center. She is a former Preserve Commissioner, was named “Conservationist of the Year” by the Arizona Wildlife Federation, helped pass the Protect Our Preserve initiative, and provided funding for the 3-D Printer lab at Scottsdale Community College. She and her husband have three grown children and spend a lot of time outdoors.
January 2023
Appointed to replace Shirley Brown; served one partial, appointed term; elected to one, two-year term in 1956, but resigned on Feb. 27, 1958 before completing his term.
Elected to one, two-year Council term in 1962. Elected Mayor on April 7, 1964, but resigned shortly after on Sept. 29, 1964, citing pressures of his business.
Elected to one, four-year term.
Councilman George Zraket was elected to his first term on the Scottsdale City Council in May 1998. He has been an active participant in community projects since he moved to Scottsdale in 1979.
Councilman Zraket received a business administration degree from Northeastern University in Boston, where he majored in management. His business career includes a 30-year stint in the hospitality industry, during which time he worked for Marriott Corporation, Holiday Inns of America, Sheraton Corporation, and privately owned hotels.
Councilman Zraket is president of Atrium Corporation, an organization whose principal business is the production and management of trade shows specializing in gem, jewelry, mineral and lapidary products.
He has been an active member of the Scottsdale Sister Cities Organization, serving as a member and former director.
Councilman Zraket represents Scottsdale on the Regional Aviation System Plan Policy Committee of the Maricopa Association of Governments. He is a member of the City Council Subcommittee on the Tournament Players Club and WestWorld, and a member of the Council Subcommittee on the City Court.
He, his wife Carol and daughter Alexis reside in the historic Cattletrack Neighborhood of Scottsdale.
May 1998
