Caputi: Strong, continued economic success is crucial for Scottsdale

Someone recently posted on Nextdoor: “Vote for Tammy Caputi if you want more businesses like Nationwide in Scottsdale.”

I was exceptionally happy to see this. Yes, I understand the importance of having high paying jobs and quality employers like Nationwide, GoDaddy, and Axon that will help our economy recover, pay for infrastructure improvements, and generate the desperately needed sales tax revenue that keeps our quality of life high, our property values strong and our property taxes low.

We need to nurture our economic drivers along the 101 freeway where it makes sense, provide meaningful job prospects right here in Scottsdale for our children, and build future revenue sources for our city. Yes.

Scottsdale must be open for business, and we should be encouraging and building mutually beneficial partnerships with quality employers who are trying to add value to our community — not discouraging them.

We need leaders who will advocate for the City of Scottsdale. If our message to companies who want to collaborate with the city is to go elsewhere, they most certainly will.

Technology jobs are much more resilient during a downturn, as we are seeing now during the current crisis. According to our city’s Office of Economic Development, 30% of our city’s work force is high risk during recessions — these are our entertainment and hospitality employees.

Conversely, 23% of Scottsdale’s work force is lower-risk when the economy dips — this is where technology employees fit. We need more of these employers in Scottsdale to protect against future downturns.

Scottsdale has been ranked “Best Place in America to Find a Job” for two years in a row. A comprehensive study by WalletHub compared more than 180 U.S. cities across 31 key indicators of job market strength in areas such as job opportunities, monthly average salary, unemployment rate and housing affordability — and Scottsdale comes out on top!

We need to continue to build on this success now more than ever; we cannot become complacent or overconfident. With tourism in a deep hole, revenue from our local businesses will be essential to maintaining our city’s finances, unless we are willing to enact a steep increase in our property taxes.

For Scottsdale residents, having cutting-edge companies with plentiful job opportunities creates a greater quality of life, with good-paying jobs closer to our families: living locally, working locally, playing locally, energizing our economy, and patronizing local businesses right here in Scottsdale.

High tech and bio-tech companies place less burden on our infrastructure and are more adaptable and able to pivot in response to new challenges, like a global pandemic. Companies, residents and the city all benefit from a workforce that is rich in training and talent, and the community stability that good jobs create.

The Scottsdale City Council needs to represent and respect the voices of everyone in our community — residents, business owners, investors, and everyone in-between.

There should not be an “us” vs “them” mentality — we are all in this together, working to improve the quality of life for the residents of Scottsdale.

Our leaders should be creative and open-minded; they should not have their minds made up ahead of time, and “No” should not be a Councilmember’s default position. This is not the path to a prosperous future.

As a member of the Scottsdale City Council I will prioritize helping our residents and companies recover from this economic and health pandemic.

As a 20-year owner of a successful small business in Scottsdale, with complex projects that frequently fall within government regulatory oversight, I have the experience and skill set to make sure we encourage new business and negotiate the best possible deals for our city.

As both a long time resident of Scottsdale and a recent member of the Development Review Board, I have the knowledge, proficiency and relationships to bridge communication and collaboration between our residents and our development community, brokering the best possible deals and making sure everyone has a seat at the table, and that Scottsdale remains on top.

I am energized, focused, and ready to serve, and I’d be honored for your vote on Nov. 3.

Editor’s Note: Tammy Caputi is president of Yale Electric West and a candidate for Scottsdale City Council in the Nov. 3 general election.