Sometimes you just have to chuckle.

Like last week, when the Scottsdale City Council spent time during another very long meeting full of important issues to talk about requiring everyone on the dais to stay off their cell phones while conducting the people’s business.

It’s like they were back in a school classroom, where teachers often have to scold students who can’t keep their fingers off their phones. It felt like “Back to the Future.”

Actually, it’s not a laughing matter.

Growth and development are emotionally charged words and the primary source of political division in Scottsdale.

Many City Council candidates build their campaigns on anti-growth platforms. Critics, some on council now, consistently claim the city is overdeveloped. And it’s having a ripple effect. The pipeline of new projects is drying up against the city’s reputation as a tough place for business investment.

But the hard truth is this: economic expansion – yes, growth and development – is not optional, it’s a necessity. It’s essential for the vitality of the city. Cities, like all organizations, have to evolve and grow or they become stagnant and irrelevant.

Those thoughts came to mind recently when Colliers Arizona released its latest report on the Greater Scottsdale Airpark area.

The Airpark region is one of the most successful business centers in all of Arizona. It has continued to grow and develop – and prosper – despite the political challenges that have become so prevalent in this city.

I have had the privilege for over two years of working as “board chairman” for a remarkable “CEO” who has reached a mandatory retirement age and now is moving on to the subsequent chapters of his life.

And during that time, this is a leader who I have come to admire.

Throughout my career, I've had the privilege of working alongside numerous influential leaders across various sectors in the Valley, fostering invaluable learning experiences.

As Yogi Berra said: “You can observe a lot by watching.” And I’ve been able to watch some good ones.

But I’d have to say, I saved the best for last.

It may be branded as the WM Phoenix Open but in Scottsdale we like to embrace it as our own.

The tournament has been called many things in its storied 90-year history – from the Western Open to the Ben Hogan Invitational, and the Arizona Open to the FBR Open. Just about everything but Scottsdale.

But since 1987, it has been played at the TPC Scottsdale and it’s a natural fit with Scottsdale’s brand as a golfing-tourism destination.

It is uniquely Scottsdale.

And for the first time since it arrived in Scottsdale and grown to become the largest tournament in professional golf, people are wondering whether it has become too big for its britches. Has it become too much of good thing?

As we dig into the new year there are lots of reasons to be optimistic about Scottsdale.

A recent headline caught my eye and reminded me of why that is. The headline wasn’t about Scottsdale specifically but it applies to this, or any other successful city for that matter.

It said: “A Great City Can’t Stop Evolving.”

How true that is. Scottsdale is a great city, and it is evolving – sometimes in spite of itself.

We’re about to turn the last corner of 2023 and barrel headfirst into a new year. Among other things, it serves as a reminder that we’re all getting older. That’s true for each of us individually; it’s also true for the city itself.

Like many of us, Scottsdale is not a youngster.

A new survey that tracks baby boomers on the move says the city added 6,903 members of that esteemed generation in 2022, and boomers now make up nearly 29 percent of its total population – the second highest percentage of any city in the U.S.

The trend raises all sorts of serious economic, social and educational issues. Putting them aside for the moment, the question I have for the city (and perhaps for each of us who are of an advancing age) is this: Can we age gracefully?

We’re about to turn the last corner of 2023 and barrel headfirst into a new year. Among other things, it serves as a reminder that we’re all getting older. That’s true for each of us individually; it’s also true for the city itself.

Like many of us, Scottsdale is not a youngster.

A new survey that tracks baby boomers on the move says the city added 6,903 members of that esteemed generation in 2022, and boomers now make up nearly 29 percent of its total population – the second highest percentage of any city in the U.S.

The trend raises all sorts of serious economic, social and educational issues. Putting them aside for the moment, the question I have for the city (and perhaps for each of us who are of an advancing age) is this: Can we age gracefully?

There was good news in the Scottsdale Unified School District this week.

Voters approved the district’s request for a maintenance and operations budget override, which will fund all-day kindergarten, maintain class sizes, keep teachers’ salaries competitive and support programs like arts, athletics, music and more.

And it looks like a good investment. Because a few days before that, we learned that the district is racking up some good scores from the state Board of Education.

The district earned a letter grade of A or B for 28 of its 30 schools and its overall district grade was an A from the state board’s examination of all public schools across Arizona.

It’s a sign that the district is doing the job voters expect them to do.

Scottsdale city officials are looking for feedback from residents on changes and updates to its noise ordinance.

I must say that I was encouraged to learn of this. I agree, we should get noise under control, as it can be disruptive, create stress and erode the quality of life that residents have enjoyed for so long.

In thinking about what kind of feedback to provide, I thought it might be good to define exactly what noise is.

We just recorded the 100th episode of our podcast, Today and Tomorrow in Scottsdale. The mission of the podcast from the start was to be a positive voice for the city. We haven’t strayed from that intention, and frankly, it has not been all that hard.

For two-and-a-half years, we’ve talked to people and organizations that make the city special. And really, you could say we’re just getting started.

Scottsdale takes pride in being a Golden Rule City. A city where people look out for each other and there is a willingness to support things for the common good. … Well … OK, no one’s perfect. But there are always opportunities to live in the spirit of that.

The Scottsdale City Council returns to action this month after its summer recess. And frankly, the time off has been refreshing for anyone who pays attention to how things have been playing out recently at City Hall whenever they meet.

Like many of you, we’re about ready to break for a few weeks for the summer. I have one hope for when we all reconnect with each other come August.

That hope is this. That the Scottsdale City Council is not still wrestling with who will be their next city manager.

Jim Thompson, by all counts external and internal, is doing a superb job of running the city and he would like to continue doing it.

I recently asked a new “friend,” where do you go for inspiration?

And here’s what Chat GPT had to say:

Back in the day, Scottsdale was settled by people who came here with an amazing frontier spirit full of qualities and values we would be wise to embrace today.

We remember our city’s initial residents for their integrity, strength of spirit and moral character.

“The Truth is really out there.”

That headline in the Scottsdale Independent this week stopped me in my tracks.

It’s getting hard to uncover the truth these days. Sometimes you have to dig deep to find it. We constantly are barraged with misinformation, often from people with agendas, sometimes hidden, oftentimes not.

I’ve been scratching my head about Scottsdale’s latest broiling controversy – road diets.

This, in a city where the vast majority of residents acknowledge that that our municipal leaders and workers – those who deliver basic services to the city – perform at a level that has been pleasing to most everyone.

I haven’t had a chance to visit The Science Of Ripley’s Believe It or Not museum, which is near Scottsdale. But I will. It sounds enticing:

As we wind our way through what will be remembered as an epic tourism season for Scottsdale, I was reminded recently of another major attraction that doesn’t involve splashy headlines.

At the risk of stating the obvious or arousing the few cantankerous folks who soon will be showing up in my email, Scottsdale continues to improve as an outstanding place to live, work and visit.