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.

What a pleasant few weeks it has been in our fair city as we proved once again: no one anywhere throws a better or bigger party than Scottsdale and Arizona.

It’s hard to watch the controversy happening at the Scottsdale Unified School District and not have it touch your emotions.

Howdy, partner. The Western spirit is very much alive in Scottsdale right now like it is every year around this time, and it’s with that spirit that I talk to you today.

As we look back at the year about to end and a new one soon to be unwrapped, it’s a fitting time to look for words of wisdom that help us learn from the past and prepare for the future.

Here’s a story designed to give you a break from the contentious times we live in today.