I get to vote for the first time in over a decade. Which is nice. The event is the Scottsdale Special Election on March 13, 2012. The ballot is one question and a bunch of propositions.

The Scottsdale City Council conducts its affairs around the Scottsdale Charter which is essentially the council's constitution. The council is made up of a Mayor and six council members. The executive arms (Mayor) contains several chartered positions including City Attorney, City Auditor, etc. The charter is entrenched; meaning that any changes to it must go through public voting as propositions (referendums in the Australian system).

Question I: Proposed natural and artificial gas distribution franchise.

I am confused why this would be on a ballot? I am not certain but it appears that 'franchise' is a bad descriptive word. What it seems to mean in this context is more public-private agreement where the utility gets to use the public rights of way which is owned by the government. In return the utilities pay a franchise tax for access to the public rights of way. The franchise tax looks to go into the general fund which pays for normal city services such as police, fire, etc.

For this I will answer: Yes.

Proposition 430: Proposed ratification by the voters relating to the "Scottsdale General Plan 2011" Submitted to the People by the Scottsdale City Council.

The 'General Plan' is required by state legislation to be updated every ten years and be put to voters before it is ratified. The 'General Plan' must cover twenty different areas of community goals and development policies.

The amount of information in the General Plan is too large to make an informed decision. This is probably a case of too much democracy. Where it is better just to trust the executive management of the elected Mayor, Council Members and executive staff.

For this I will answer: Yes.

Proposition 431: Shall the council's proposed amendment to the Scottsdale Charter relating to Administrative Changes to Article 1, Section 3 Powers of the City Council be approved?

The blurb is that this will calrify the power of the city to collect assessments and liens on property for money owed in relation to the restoration to open space. It also requires developers to provide parking.

There are more edits than that in the proposition. The word 'prevent' is replaced with 'limit' in terms of flood control. Though this probably more a realization that Scottsdale has grown as much as it can and open space for run offs is not available much anymore.

One interesting edit is "To provide for the preservation and enhancement of the environment of the City of Scottsdale ". Scottsdale has now grown to its limits in terms of area during the pre-2007 boom. The preservation areas, like the McDowells, can't expand even if they want to.

For this I will answer: Yes.

Proposition 432: Shall the council's proposed amendment to the Scottsdale Charter relating to Administrative Changes to Article 2, The Council, be approved?

This modifies the duty of the Mayor. For the most part it is just modernising the language in the Charter and nothing to be concerned about. Section 6 does contains a large change. Council members can run meetings and act in Mayoral ceremonial duties. Prior to prop 432 this was uniquely the purview of the Mayor. This change is probably a reality of the Mayor and Council not being full time.

For this I will answer: Yes.

Proposition 433: Shall the council's proposed amendment to the Scottsdale Charter relating to Appointed Boards and Commisions Be Approved?

The main effect of this amendment is to remove the Civil Service board. This board of electors made and enforced rules for employees of the city. This is something that is probably done by good management than electors.

For this I will answer: Yes.

Proposition 434: Shall the council's proposed amendment to the Scottsdale Charter relating to Administrative Changes to Article 6, Finance and Taxation be approved?

This proposition is to do with budgets. There is nothing in the amendments that seem onerous or side stepping public accountability.

For this I will answer: Yes.

Proposition 435: Shall the council's proposed amendment to the Scottsdale Charter relating to the execution of contracts be approved?

This proposition strikes out an 'or' and an 'and'. The change in languages does not seem to change the meaning of the clause.

For this I will answer: Yes.

Proposition 436: Shall the council's proposed amendment to the Scottsdale Charter relating to franchises be approved?

The charter required that a utility's (franchise) documentation be published in a newspaper. This appears to be an update which recognizes that people don't read newspapers anymore. As someone who just started an LLC and has to publish a public announcement for it in a newspaper, this seems sensible.

For this I will answer: Yes.

Proposition 437: Shall the council's proposed amendment to the Scottsdale Charter relating to public records be approved?

This defines that public records are open to a representative of a citizens group or a member of the media "pursuant to all applicable laws'. This replaces an oddly worded and clumsy clause where it could be denied if it 'defeat[ed] the lawful purpose which they are intended to accomplish'.

For this I will answer: Meh (yes).

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