City Council | Work Study and Possible Executive Session - August 18, 2025

Good afternoon. I'd like to now call the
August 18th, 2025 city council special
meeting, work study session, and
possible executive session to order. Uh,
city clerk Ben Lane, will you please
conduct the roll call?
Thank you, Mayor. Mayor Lisa Bowski,
present. Vice Mayor Jan Dascus
here.
Council members Barry Graham
here.
Adam Quasman
here.
Kathy Littlefield
here.
Maryannne McAllen
present.
And Solange Whitehead
here.
City manager Greg Kaitton
here.
Interimm city attorney Louis Santea
here. City treasurer Sonia Andrews
here.
Acting city otter
here.
And the clerk is present. Thank you
mayor.
Thank you. And this afternoon we have
Scottsdale police officers Jesse Lanz
and Eric BS as well as firefighter Derek
Clucker. If anybody needs uh assistance,
please let a member of our staff know.
Uh this this afternoon I'd like to ask
Councilwoman
Littlefield if she'll lead us in the
pledge of allegiance
to the flag of the United States of
America and to the
stands
for
thank you very
As is always the case, we have an uh
potential for an executive session uh
following the work session meeting. Uh
if the council makes a motion to recess
into executive session, uh that would be
to obtain legal advice or on any
applicable item on this agenda. legal
advice on items on the agenda, excuse
me. If authorized by council, the exact
session will be held immediately and
will not be open to the public. However,
this is the time reserved for work study
session. And a work study session uh is
to provide a less formal setting for the
mayor and council uh to discuss specific
topics at length with each other and
with city staff and of course to hear
from members of the public. Work study
sessions provide an opportunity for
staff to receive direction from the
council and for the public to observe
these discussions in the open uh meeting
forum. Public comment announcement.
Public comment to provide an opportunity
for public input yet continue to
maximize the amount of time available
for the council to have focused
discussions. Spoken comments are limited
to uh 3 minutes each and work study
sessions provide for a maximum of five
speakers. However, I will be making a
motion uh to uh actually I'll just go
ahead and make that motion right now. I
uh move to suspend the rules uh in order
to allow uh the stakeholders in excess
of five speakers to address the council.
Do I have a second?
All those in favor of suspending the
rule, please indicate your vote by I.
I.
And it looks like we only have seven uh
speakers signed up as well. So, uh
there's not there's not an overwhelming
number of those tonight. Uh please note
there is a new podium and uh to the
right here which includes a document
camera in case you have any documents
you'd like to share for the public
comment. So item number one uh and the
only item on our oh actually yeah the
only item on our agenda is the work
study session which will include a
presentation discussion and possible
direction to staff regarding Westworld
operations including infrastructure
improvements projects events strategic
planning and parking and by way of
explanation uh first I'd like to thank
my colleagues for coming off their
summer recess early in order to have
this meeting tonight, this afternoon. Uh
and the purpose, the reason I've called
this special meeting is because there
was an out over the last couple of
weeks, there's been an outpouring of um
constituents or stakeholders who have
contacted me and other members, I'm
sure, of the council as well as staff
about serious concerns or significant
concerns uh as to what's happening out
at Westworld. In particular, it involves
um uh an an employee that was let go,
that was uh deemed to be um one of the
few, if not maybe only the only one that
had a a real depth of equestrian
experience out at Westworld. And along
throughout those discussions, um we've
had the stakeholders come and and meet
with myself and with city staff. And you
know, so we're making progress as
quickly as we can in those discussions.
But the purpose of tonight's forum is to
really hear from you, the stakeholders.
You are our partners at Westworld, and
that involves equestrian and non-
equestrian users as well. So I'm
delighted to see the turnout. Uh the
number one, in my opinion, the number
one business of the city of Scottsdale
and your elected officials is public
service or serving our uh our customers,
which are all of you. And I take that
very ve very seriously and I'm sure
every one of my colleagues does too. So,
uh, in addition to management and
administration concerns at Westworld,
uh, I've heard a lot about, uh, concerns
having to do with infrastructure that is
not being kept up, uh, especially with
respect to the, uh, PA system out there,
uh, drainage improvements that are set
to start and and, you know, hopefully
will be done expeditiously, stalls that
have fallen into ill repair. Um, there's
a very long list. So, you know, I I know
we'll hear about that tonight and uh
hear what we have staff who is going to
respond to those concerns as well. Uh
and as part of our tourism economy,
Westworld is a gem uh that was actually
acquired by the city to serve as an
equestrian uh facility. And I know we of
course have the iconic Barrett Jackson
that has been there for so many years
and many many other um events that
really define Scottsdale and certainly
contribute to our booming uh tourism
economy. So it's important for me on
your behalf to take a serious look at
how we're maintaining this facility.
It's an asset and we're the portfolio
managers, right? in terms of policy, we
need to keep shining the silver out
there, right? As all the equestrians in
the room can attest. So, without further
ado, I'm going to start uh I'm going to
start with the speakers. And since we've
opened it up to more than five, I'm just
going to go in order, starting with
Steve Sutton.
Okay. Thank you.
Uh, next on the list is Isabelle Helier.
Thank you for being here.
You're gonna go right over the to this
podium. This is new for all of us here.
So, there it is hiding hiding back
there.
Okay. So, my name is Isabelle Hollier
and I own Pup Festival. We hold large
largecale dog events, free dog community
events in Arizona and California. as you
said, Mayor uh Westworld is absolutely a
gem. And in the summer, we have two
events at Westworld that are absolutely
a haven for dogs because it's a free
event and it's open to the community and
the dogs come and when it's super hot in
the middle of the summer, they have a
huge event to go to that is free, open
to the community. It has agility course,
it everything's free. So, you come and
there's a lure course, has a fake rabbit
on track, 200 dogs racing for dog races,
prizes. You literally leave with free
stuff. It's a great event. In the middle
of the summer, Westworld is our only
place we can do it indoor.
Unfortunately, the parking fee is a big
deterrent. So, free admission, usually
we do free parking. And now there's that
parking fee that's $10. So, I suggest
that during the summer when it's slower
and those dog events are a huge event
for the community of dogs that have
nothing to do in the middle of the
summer that we wave that parking fee for
those big events. That's number one.
Number two, if you do keep the parking
fees, I suggest that there are multiple
types of payment that are allowed, not
just cash, because we have people coming
from Mesa, Tempee, even California all
the way to Westworld, and they get there
to pay the parking fee and they don't
have cash. So, Venmo just have different
types of payment, but ultimately it
should be free because it's a free
community event, and that's all I have.
Thank you, Isabelle. I really appreciate
you being here
[Applause]
and and uh Isabelle actually got this
conversation rolling uh in terms of
Westworld. Isabelle uh came to my office
and introduced her idea. You know what
she does there. Third year you were
going to do it this year and um because
of the parking and it's like she said a
free community event where all the
rescues can meet in one place and it
promotes adoption. what better cause,
you know, that's a a wonderful,
beautiful cause that I think we can all
get behind. And uh because she was gonna
be um the contract provided that she was
going to be getting charged $10 a car or
not she but visitors would be. Um
meanwhile, the contract provision had
not been enforced the first two years.
And just as a given this the type of an
event that it is, she thought um it's
not going to work for my people. 10 10
bucks a car. So she actually cancelled
Pubfest as a result. So this is an
example for me of form over substance.
We lost your business there because of
$10 parking fee. And I see why you did
that. So um one of the things that I
hope my colleagues uh and I will be
evaluating as a policy matter is should
we be charging at Westworld for parking
when that is an amenity that taxpayers
have paid for. So, uh, thank you for
being here tonight. Craig Jackson is
next.
Well, I just flew in, so I don't even
have my notes, but I think I know this
subject pretty well, having been at
Westworld. Our first auction there uh
was in 1989
that came after us leaving Scottsdale.
Herb Drinkwater being very tenacious to
talk us into coming back. And he had a
vision for what uh Scottsdale could be.
He told us in uh ' 86 that he wanted to
bring the Arabian Horse Show, Barrett
Jackson, the Phoenix Open to Scottsdale.
He laid out a vision telling us when we
drove out to the middle of nowhere uh
when they were still blading and
building the CAP that this would be the
center of Scottsdale, the princess. this
big vision and it's been uh a long
journey. The first few years was with
Howard Kim. They tried to run it as a
private enterprise. Uh because of the
bureau setting the rates for everything,
it lost millions of dollars. Uh it was
the Arabians and us that went together
to see Herb uh Bowers and or Dick Bowers
and uh talked him into buying it and uh
running it because it is an economic
engine for the city. It is it was built
originally to replace Choya Park and uh
have public writing, but it had a vision
to be a multiuse facility for special
events, equestrians, and I think we've
all gotten along very well. The
frustration's been we sit and we go
through master plans and nothing
happens. And it seems like it's always
chasing it and putting a band-aid on
things rather than fixing it. Pushing
the bond through and uh trying to get
some improvements out of the bond issue
and most of Westworld's got carved back
out at the last minute. the bond passed,
but in talking to the uh previous city
manager, he said, "Well, that frees up
other funds that we can use to fix
Westworld." Going through another master
plan with the city that didn't fit
anybody and it seems like we go back
into this every few years that let's
analyze it but not do anything. And then
you leave it up to staff to in a vacuum
build a master plan that doesn't work
for the equestrians or for the special
events, but it's going to cost hundreds
of millions of dollars, which is going
to kick it down the road even further.
I've seen this play. I sat with Michelle
Johnson, the quarter horses, uh Michelle
from the Arabians back in 8, no 98 to
set forth a master plan for Westworld
that never happened. We've had numerous
studies done, numerous meetings, and it
just seems like it is the ugly stepchild
of Scottsdale, even though it generates
millions of dollars of bed tax and sales
tax as we do from sales onsite and
offsite. And I just hope that the city
council will give a clear direction to
fix Westworld. We suffer from a lot of
drainage problems and that was because
things are done as a band-aid. Well,
we'll just blade the ground and make it
so you can park on it. We should slope
it so that the water doesn't run through
all the infrastructure you built. And
that seems to be the way they did it.
And it's always, well, we'll just do
this, but we'll come back and fix it.
And it's been decades. So, I love the
city. Westworld's a jewel. Herb
Drinkwater's original vision could still
come true. It just needs somebody to
stay focused on it and help us fix it.
We've given list after list of
improvements. Casey McDonald, who runs
our operations, works for us and the
Arabians. We've had a good working
relationship with everybody to figure
out what works best for everybody in a
costefficient manner. And I hope we can
come to some resolution to actually fix
the place before we have a catastrophic
event that cancels an event. And I've
been that close a few times. and the
drainage is a huge huge issue. Thank
you.
Thank you, Craig.
And and I think really the takeaway uh
there is we can do better. We're
Scottsdale. We have a reputation for
doing things top-notch. And I think uh
we need to make sure we're investing in
Westworld. And more, you know, most
importantly, we're at risk really of
other facilities taking our events. I
know we'll hear probably tonight.
There's one major event that has decided
to go out to Queen Creek as a result. Uh
so, thank you for speaking tonight,
Craig. Jeff Garak.
Mayor, may I may mayor, may I ask the
speaker a question?
Of course,
Mr. Jackson, I was going to ask you a
question.
Sure.
If you don't mind.
Sorry.
I approve
I don't think so.
I don't see that up here.
All right. We can we can hand them out
if you would like, but this is something
that's been worked at with staff uh for
quite a while when we went through the
bond issue trying to prioritize
everything working everybody working
together.
Yes, I could answer your question.
Yeah, Mr. J. Thank you, Mayor, Mr.
Jackson. Sorry to haul you back up to
the microphone. Um, thank you for all
that you do, your special events for
Barrett Jackson. Let me just start by
saying that.
Thank you.
Appreciate it. Um, can you say just a
little more about just the average? We
hear a lot about drainage on Westworld
and I just want to hear from your point
of view. What is the area of the
drainage of the campus that is most
vexing? Can you just sort of illuminate
that for people that aren't? It's two
areas uh for us the entire 52 acres the
city bought plus the 10 acres that lead
in that sheet flow. So the city has
looked at that. There's also a cross
drainage that goes across and that comes
from up north in DC Ranch. It comes
right by Tom's thumb. It goes under a
bridge and then it's a makeshift
channel. When that overflows, it runs as
Westworld was meant to be a towards the
retention basins. The goal was to
make it go towards the back of the
property with culverts and proper
angles. I have pictures which I have
shared with staff and it shows it sheet
flows across there and if our tents were
up, it would sheet flow probably this
heavy of a rain.
tree limbs, all sorts of stuff in the
back of the property in the equestrian
area in the areas that we want to
improve in the future. It's it was built
too low when the open uh equidome was
there. It worked fine in some of the
areas, but they didn't think when they
built TAC as a whole, the surrounding
areas and some of the bathrooms that
were put in, what is it by seven and
eight?
Which one? Five and six are actually
under where the water sits. So, a lot of
this is just bad planning. When they
were building TAC, Casey had to let him
know, you know, you're building it a
foot and a half below the parking lot.
He goes, "Well, this is my drawings, but
nobody looks outside and what's the
bigger picture? How all the water
flows." So, it's I go back to it's put a
band-aid on this and hopefully it's
good, but nobody really thinks how at
all. Now, Jim Thompson did have them do
a drainage study to fix it for us and
the equestrians.
Very helpful. Thank you for taking the
time to to explain that to us.
Thank you.
Excuse me, Craig. I think uh
Councilwoman Littlefield has a question.
Is that right?
I'll stay here for
Jackson show.
I know a lot of the history there, so
fire it away.
Just grab a chair.
I just had a question. You said that um
our previous city manager had had done a
study on this drainage on what would
work for both the equestrians and and
you guys. Was that ever looked at as far
as actually putting that into practice,
building it?
They were supposed to. It had a dollar
figure tied to it and it was uh supposed
to be in the budget and that's right
about the time Jim left. So, I don't
know uh what happened there, but it just
seemed to not move forward. Uh I hope
that this council and that Greg, the new
city manager, you guys can all work
together to get it moving forward. were
I know that we were planning on some of
the tax that's tied up right now with
the Goldwater Institute pulling that rug
right now. But there was money in the
bond. There's uh other money and there
is also tourism to make this happen.
Yeah. Thank you very much.
Any other questions?
I don't think so. Thank you so much.
Thank you.
All right,
Dave. Oh, Jeff grow. There you are.
I'm in the back.
Correct.
Good afternoon, everybody. Um, it's
great to see so many familiar faces. Um,
I'm honored to have uh worked alongside
so many great people. Mayor Bowski
Council, my name is Jeff Garaki. I'm a
resident Scottdale for the last 15 years
and an employee of Westworld for four
years. My grandmother moved to
Scottsdale in the late60s
where she sold Indian jewelry and was a
small businessman who had a yarn shop. I
grew up knowing downtown Scottsdale as a
western town
where galleries were filled with cowboy
art, bronze statues, and lots of
turquoise. Kind of look around the room.
This is it. Um,
today we're here to speak on behalf of
Westworld facility and the great folks
that work and play there. Hopefully I
can bring the 10,000 ft level of the
view space down to a few feet to better
understand this place and what makes it
work. We all know that Westworld is an
event facility that rentes event space
to producers that on um that put on a
show. What you may not know, especially
about the horse events, is that the
money that producers earn to pay the
invoice does not necessarily come from
the ticket sales. In fact, it's
exhibitors that pay the entrance fees
and stalls rentals to pay for the show.
Every year,
small business owners and investors pay
the showcase their paid to showcase
their animals lineage, their coaching
abilities, and the coaching of horses
and their students.
There are folks that come from all over
the world. There are, but there are
quite a few that have a 480 area code.
Matter of fact, Andrea Fapani, a
Scottsdale residence, practiced just
before he went uh to the NRCHA
to to do the run for the million and won
this weekend. So, um we have a lot of
people that are here that are
worldrenown.
Um he right now he's sitting at over $8
million in winnings and that doesn't
talk about any of this other stuff that
he's dealing with. So, but there's also
um a ton of people that we have that
come to use our facility that um have to
use two credit cards to pay for a $300
feed bill. So, it's a wide range of
people. We have the a lot a ton of small
businesses that are tied to this that I
don't think are reflected into any of
the the models that we look at for for
economic impact.
We have a um an awesome operations
group. They're hard workers, have big
hearts.
Um they ready a facility, build the
arena to specific disciplines, prepare
the arena for competition that maintains
a consistent competitive arena for the
whole show. Being consistent takes great
skill and knowledge of the soil, our
Westworld equipment, and how do the
weather conditions impact the footing
that is underneath that great looking
fluff. So, there's a footing that's
underneath. If that isn't right, you
have a chance of really getting people
hurt and horses.
Um,
too much water or not enough could could
uh make the footing dangerous with
catastrophic events.
Um, I'm just going to fast forward down
here. So, um, so
uh, one of the big things that I wanted
to talk about is is our employees.
Uh in the last four years that I've been
there, we've had a turnover to my
recollection and just me going through
counting people of 40 people. That's 40
people that have left Westworld. Um and
of those 40 people, 13 of those people
are of our highest managements. So um in
the last four years, we've had five
general managers.
And so that all comes down to we we
aren't getting the support that we need
and and we need your guys's input. We
have two general managers that have been
there that we've they're just left out
there. They they're trying to figure out
city policy and nobody's helping them.
Our staff has been sitting out there for
years being underfunded and under We
need some help helping us. We have a big
responsibility. We're working a lot of
hours and uh we would just really love
to feel that support that needs to come
up behind us. So, um
I I think a task force is required.
Let's look into what money are we
actually talking about. I mean, we've
talked about $165
million of uh economic impact. If you
talk to some of these producers out
here, they're saying no, it's closer to
400. So, what is the what is that real
number? Um
um
my wife has clients that have purchased
a house here just for Westworld events.
So you know that's one person that just
is hap is attached to that. So what is
the real economic value? We need to
start putting in what these small
businesses tie into that as well as what
other residents are here. Uh third, um
if we're moving these contracts to
emphasize on economic from economic
impact to profitability, who's going to
manage that going forward? If we're
going to every time that council changes
over and now we're going to change from
an economic impact to a profitability,
how does that work on your end? And then
what happens over on our end? Our
producers are going to say, you know
what, I've had enough. This was what I
was planning to do for the last 10 years
and now that model's changed every two
to four years. We can't do that either.
So um
um and lastly, what can we do for a
better place for the employees of
Westworld to increase retention, grow
our employees into leaders, and uh
without well seasoned employees, we will
quickly quickly
lose the trust of our exhibitors who
can't afford to risk injury and will
look for other venues. I thank you for
the t chance to speak on the behalf of
our community and our Arizona heritage.
Thank you.
Thank you. Hey, Jeff.
Jeff, stay there one minute, please,
because Councilman Graham has a
question, I think.
Thank you, Mayor. Jeff, I just want to
acknowledge you.
Thank you.
And thank you.
It's an almost 400 acre campus. You guys
have countless tenants.
That's it.
You guys have you work weekends, you
work holidays. It's a tough schedule.
Yeah.
And and and that that schedule is that
flips. So the for the first quarter, you
work the first half of the month, this
or the first half of the week, then you
flip to the second half of the week, and
then if event comes in, you were working
mornings and the next thing you know,
you're working a all night drag. So
what those guys do out there is
unbelievable. And then now that we're
short-handed, the only way that we get
that covered is everybody works
overtime. So we have guys that work 18
hours a day sometimes. So
it's um you know, it's thankless
sometimes probably. It's um it's a
complex operation. It requires
specialized skills.
Um so I wanted to take a moment to
acknowledge that. Thank you.
I also wanted to uh just acknowledge
four managers in five years. Is that
what you five managers five managers in
four years?
That's pretty destabilizing, isn't it?
Yeah.
Yeah.
That affects that affects I mean and th
those are our those are our top leaders.
That's not just the general managers,
but
um we've had Nick Molinari that has now
moved away and we have
not everybody's left, but there's been
changes,
promotions, changes,
but um but yeah,
five managers in four years. That
reminds you of the five emperors in one
year.
Yeah. Yeah.
From the Roman Empire days.
And so and then out of that you have out
of the four years that I can rec
members of the operation group that have
come and gone.
So it's
um and that's just the people doing
drags. So and that's where your
technical is and that's where we're
losing those people that are up and
coming and they learn how to do things
and then they move on. I wanted to
acknowledge you and and Michelle, your
wife, who's in the room with us, and
you're also you are Scottsdale
residents, so thank you.
Correct. Yeah. Thank you very much.
Thank you.
All right. Dave Alfred, followed by
Tracy Wager Wagger. Do I not know how to
say say your last name? Wager Wagger.
Just so long as you call me.
Thank you, Mayor. and uh the ability to
speak um tonight. Um we could talk for
hours and hours, days and days about uh
the infrastructure and drainage and and
uh the footing in arenas, but um I think
that's committee business, you know, and
I think that you're on it with the great
meetings we've already had. So, I'm
going to kind of make this um about the
history and what I know and where I come
from. And um it's going to sound like
I'm running for office here, but uh
trust me, not running for office. You
guys got this. So anyways, um longtime
resident, born and raised in Scottsdale.
All 72 years of my life have been
Scottsdale residents and I need these. I
went to uh L Elementary School,
Scottdale High School when I used to
still be here. And uh got in the rodeo
world as a as a young man. and I rode
bulls in in the Bronx at Paradel Soul in
the 1970s. Then I joined the paradol
rodeo committee in ' 81 and for the last
41 years I've been the um shoot boss
um and now the general manager to the
rodeo and for 20 years I ran also ran
the proto soul parade. I'm the curator
for the oldtown rodeo museum on uh
second and brown and really brought some
life to that corner right across the
street from the blacksmith shop. So, we
sure have a lot of fun. We sure have a
lot of fun. And if you haven't been
there, please come by. So, my dad um
joined the Pro Soul Committee in 1953.
And he was on the very first rodeo
committee. And uh it's mostly my dad's
collection that makes up the 50s and 60s
rodeo memorabilia on display to keep the
history of the West Most town alive.
Um I think it's not just a great slogan.
Um I think it's actually true. um using
the westmost western town as our as our
slogan and we're doing our best to keep
that history alive. Um, first rodeo was
uh at Greasewood Gulch and I don't know
if too many were around that know that
what was but it was on the corner of
Maine and Scottdale Road on the west
side and it's basically put up fake um
western town and if you didn't wear
western clothes you were arrested and
the JC's would uh uh extort a dollar out
of you to get you out of the jail. Miss
Kitty was the saloon girl and Dick Van
Djk was the hanging judge. So, uh, it
was pretty entertaining. Um, then the,
uh, in 1956, the Proto Soul became a
PRCA pro rodeo and moved to where
Fashion Square is. So, for two years,
uh, Scottsdale Road and Camelback was
where the rodeo grounds were. And then
in 1958, we moved to the brand new
facility that Herb Drinkwater and
Charlie Smith and all those guys uh,
spent all their nights and weekends
building right next to the baseball
stadium. And we stayed there at that for
many, many years. And when I was in
school, you got out on Friday at half a
day so you could go to the rodeo. And uh
so that's was just a h how well the city
supported and the school district
supported us. Um in 1985 we moved to um
uh Rahhee and we would have gone to what
was then Horseman's Park except for it
wasn't ready for a rodeo. So the
original Choya Park, I'm going to jump
around a little bit. Rid Toyo Park was
the police department's firing range,
gun range, and we um the Scottsdale
Saddle Club built an arena there and it
was going to end up being the Proadel
Soul Arena, but uh we moved to um
Westworld, Horseworld at the time,
because it was available and they had
great brand new shoots and we put the
rodeo on and had a covered arena and it
was fantastic.
So for
now Scottdale rode and we now have two
rodeos. We have one in March our big
prod rodeo which sells out all four days
and we have a second rodeo which is the
first full weekend in September. Both of
them are covered on the cowboy channel
which has over 44 million uh viewers
subscribers to it
and so it gets got a lot of uh
recognition and it's live in March it's
live on TV. So my point of all the the
history here is just recognizing the the
historic events at Westworld and protect
and thrive at Westworld um and all the
designated um equestrian events that are
the equestrian community is a huge
economic driver from the minis to the
Arabians to hunter jumpers all the
quarter horse disciplines and of course
the rodeo the our rodeo with over 500
contestants and 100 specialy personnel
and 5,000 fans a night food, beverage,
hotels, diesel fuel, restaurants, uh,
visits. The impact is staggering. So, in
conclusion, uh, Westworld needs to share
a portion of the food and beverage with
producers if that's possible. I know
that's committee business, but that I
think is a big driver to help events
stay there. Um, because we take a lot of
expense to put them on. So whether we
call it horse world, joy park, speed
world, car world, rave world, RV world,
it's still Westworld to me. And I'd love
to keep the West part alive in
Westworld. Thank you.
Thank you.
Thank you, Dave. Really appreciate it.
Tracy Wager, Wagger.
Thank you.
And then Al Denny.
This is new to me, so hold on. This is
my publication. It's the bridal and bit.
It was started by our family almost 50
years ago at 108th Street in Sheay, a
little ranch at that was called the Barn
Nun Ranch. That same family also had the
dude string at the Verie River called
the at the Box Bar. So, we have a lot of
histo history there. I'm here to
represent the horse community. You
should have a copy of the magazine. I
think with 168 pages, you can see that I
represent that area.
the
there really are no problems at
Westworld, but there are problems for
the horse community without the correct
management.
This what I'm speaking about is not
about firing anybody. It's a very very
simple solution.
the there was a misleading
economic study from ASU
that was presented
and it was misleading in several ways
and it concerning the economic impact of
the equestrian groups. Wasn't misleading
for Barrett Jackson or anything else.
And and by the way, Barrett J Craig
Jackson is just the greatest guy. He
really is.
On June 12th, Westworld terminated Larry
Gimple, who was the assistant general
manager.
At nobody really knows why, which I
guess doesn't matter. On June 23rd,
there was a stakeholder meeting at the
Westworld offices and everyone was told
at that meeting that that position was
now cancelled.
On
July 29th, I believe I was contacted by
Westworld to run an ad as an employment
ad. So, everyone was told on June 23rd
that that appointment had that that
whole division would be, you know, that
job would be cancelled. And that created
an uproar and a firestorm in the horse
community.
Then there was a meeting at Mayor
Barowsk's office and it was explained
that there were going to be people hired
and there was going to be training. The
rodeo with Dave Alvford and the quarter
horse show with Arizona quarter horse,
they really literally start in two weeks
and you're into the busy season and you
don't have anybody knowledgeable. And I
can tell you because I travel everywhere
to horse shows and I hear nationally
who's available. There is really I know
who is applying and there's not none of
them are qualified. The reason is is
because nobody wants to do this type of
job. It's more fun to ride horses. It's
more fun to do other things. It's more
fun to have a day job and go enjoy
horses. So I'm running out of time. But
the bottom line is nobody want is good
for this job. So I think there's a
simple fix. Nobody has to be fired. you
Larry was fired. They said that there
was no job anymore. There was no job
opening. Now there's a job opening. The
simple thing is you're ready for the
season. You have a man trained. You just
hire him back and fill that slot.
And that is the solution. And everyone
will be happy. I'm sitting on the story
of my life right now that I don't want
to run because I do business in
Scottsdale and Scottsdale has the
centerfold in my magazine. You're
important people. Westworld's important.
Herb Drinkwater personally told me at
the Mont building that Westworld was
built for tourism
and everyone has to get along and
everyone has to have a spot and everyone
has to show that face to the world that
this is the place to go. You beat
Austin, Texas. Now as more millionaires
moving here, they're not moving here for
apartments. They're not moving here
because of news about the city council
and people getting along. They're moving
here for tourism. They're moving here
because it is one of the most beautiful
places to live.
That's why my business started here.
That is why I live here.
Do you have any questions?
I don't see any. Thank you so much,
Tracy. Appreciate it.
I have one more thing. If any of you
want more details about anything, I'm
Everyone has my number. Thank you very
much.
Thank you.
Al Dunning.
Everybody has their number. I'm Al
Dunning. Um I'm a horse guy. I I've been
here in Arizona my pretty much my whole
life. I've been a president of the
Arizona Quarter Horse Association, the
Arizona Cut and Horse Association, and a
few other things here. So you guys that
don't know me, at least you know I kind
of didn't come out of the blue. So, you
know, um it's interesting. I I've been
around long enough to know pretty much
everything about Westworld. Okay. Like
Howie Kim, uh was one of the designers
of it and stuff and he had me come to
Westworld when it was just a little
building over there and and I helped
kind of talk about where the buildings
and the arenas could be. So, I had a
little something to do with that. I know
how important it was, but it was all
about horses, horses, horses, horses.
You know, Barrett Jackson's there now,
which is daggum awesome. I know I have
friends come from all over the country
just to see that. That's good. But my
interest is in the horses. You know, I I
I when I moved here,
Scottsdale Road was cobblestones. I
don't know if you remember that. There
was hitch rails, there was wood
boardwalks, those kind of things. And I
remember how cool it was and what I
thought. And then driving down here
today, I thought of that. I thought it's
not here anymore. But one thing we can
keep going, we can keep Westworld going
is a great equestrian facility. People I
know love that facility.
But you know, I think one of the coolest
things that was said tonight, Councilman
Graham said,
"It takes special skills."
The only guy I know that has special
skills there at Westworld in a long time
when it comes to us, us horse guys, was
Larry Gimple.
That's the truth.
So,
I have so many things to say. It's so
cool. I I don't know. That clock bugs
me. So, the buzz. I just came from
Taylor Sheridan's Run for a Million. I
did the commentary up there for that
event and everybody was going, "What's
going on at Westworld? What's happening?
What happened to Larry?" And you know,
I've been around here and I've known
Larry for 45 years and I couldn't figure
it out. I mean, things were great there.
And I I I just asked I asked everybody,
"So, do you ever have a problem with
Larry?" They said, "No, he was the only
one that knew how to keep our horses
sound, what kind of dirt we needed. You
know, he knew that the the dagum PA
system wasn't very effective. He knew
that the ground needed to be this way
for this event and this way for another
event. He knew that. He's the only guy
in a long time that knew that kind of
stuff.
So,
what else?
Um,
Larry got the axe. Okay. And it
surprised the heck out of the industry,
okay? Not just Arizona horse people, but
it surprised out of all the people that
are putting on the shows, you know. And
I think you left out an important event.
The Sun Circuit Quarter Horse Show is
the biggest quarter horse show in the
world. Okay? And it's right here in
Scottsdale. I mean, you know, I mean, we
can't forget about that. And and they
you can't hire some hokey Oklahoma roper
to come here and be a the manager of
that kind of stuff. We need somebody
with some experience. Larry's been he's
done um he he did uh Orange County for
years. He showed horses for years. He's
been to other facilities. He uh they
miss him up there at the South Point.
You know, I can just say that u that was
a mistake. Whoever did that um and it
can be reconciled.
It took three years to find Larry. We
don't have three years. We need somebody
now that knows. We already have people
that have had contracts and they're
worried. There's only one way to fix it.
Let's get Larry back.
Thank you.
Okay, last speaker, Fred Fiser.
Mayor, council members, my name is Fred
Fischer. I'm the current president of
the Arizona Quarter Horse Association.
Our CEO, Doug Hulls, is out of town,
unable to speak tonight. So, I've been
asked to read the following prepared
statement.
The city of Scottsdale, in my opinion,
is one of four cities that are leading
the equestrian cities in the world.
Westworld is central to this accolade.
We're here to educate and inform the
council of the importance continuing
this distinction for many years to come.
The recent termination of Westworld's
assistant manager, Larry Gimple, has
left the facility with no equestrian
representation in in management.
This is very concerning to the Arizona
Couror Association as well as to all of
the producers of equestrian events at
Westworld. Westworld has had three
general managers in the past three
years.
All three have had no knowledge or
experience in producing equestrian
events.
The first two hired after the retirement
of for former GM Brian Dyer had no event
management experience nor equestrian
experience.
The most recent hire for GM has event
experience but no equestrian experience.
Recently, the equestrian producers of
Westworld have met a few times with Will
Loft, Greg Katone, and Jod Doyle to
discuss the lack of experience in
equestrian events at Westworld in
management.
These individuals have been very
receptive and have agreed to hire a new
assistant manager with equestrian
experience.
We very much appreciate their meeting
with us and promise of continued
communication.
The Arizona Quarter Horse Association as
well as Equestrian Producers of
Westworld do want to stress the
significance of Westworld to the
equestrian community and encourage the
council to make certain that Westworld
continues to be one of the best
facilities the United States has to
offer.
West competes with the cities of Tulsa,
Oklahoma, Oklahoma City, Fort Worth,
Texas, and Ocala, Florida for the major
equestrian events. We encourage you to
allocate a budget to compete with these
cities to offer the premier equestrian
events and be active in ensuring the
quality equestrian individuals are on
staff to help producers produce events
that are exemplary of Scottsdale's
outstanding reputation.
Equestrian events attendees are by vast
are by a vast majority out ofstate
visitors who often stay for 7 to 12
days. I believe the economic impact of
these individuals is far underestimated,
especially when compared to an event in
North Hall that primarily attracts local
visitors.
Economic formulas provided by the
American Quarter Horse Association, the
Arabian Horse Association, and
Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association
show a total economic impact of $87
million each year. Westworld currently
hosts many of the largest, most premier
events in the equestrian world.
Some of the decisions of late have been
very concerning to the equestrian
producers of Westworld. Westworld was
established many years ago as an
equestrian event facility. Its entrance
greets you with a bronze of the horse.
Please, let's not lose the history or
the reason this facility exists. Please
offer a facility and service to the
producers that is fitting to the
reputation of Scottsdale.
Thank you.
Thank you so much, Fred.
Thank you everyone who spoke tonight. We
really appreciate and value your input.
And now I would like to turn it over. I
think there's a staff presentation and I
see Judy Doyle uh walking to the podium.
Good evening, mayor and members of
council. I'm Judy Doyle and I am the
senior director of enterprise
operations.
And today I'm going to walk you through
an inside look at Westworld, where it's
been, where it is now, and the steps
that we are taking to make sure it
continues to be one of Scottsdale's most
valuable community and economic assets.
Next slide, please.
Westworld is one of Scottsdale's many
success stories. What began as a local
equestrian park has grown into a
nationally recognized venue that drives
our economy that brings worldclass
events to our community year round. I'm
going to try and cover Westworld's uh
fascinating history in two minutes or
less. Uh but I will note that there is a
great chronology of Westworld in more
detail that's located in the materials
this evening that was created by our
community historian Joan Fidala.
In the early 1980s, and I think we've
heard a lot of this tonight, but I'll
just uh mention in the early 80s after
Choya Park, which was located near the
airport, closed because of the airport
runway expansion, the city partnered
with the US Bureau of Reclamation or the
BO to develop 132 acres north of the Cap
Canal, known as Horseman's Park. The
park opened in 1982 and it quickly
became the hub of equestrian and
community events. By 1985, the site had
grown to 386 acres, adding arenas,
parking, RV hookups, and stables. Then
in 1987, the covered Ecuadome was built,
which really allowed the venue to host
larger events. Over time, Horseman's
Park was renamed to Horseworld and then
renamed to Westworld in 1990.
During those years, the venue was
actually operated privately under
contract while hosting major signature
events like Barrett Jackson Auto Auction
and the Scottsdale Arabian Horse Show.
In 1997, the city took over operations
from the private operator and the
following year adopted a business plan
to guide its growth. Since then, we've
continued making major event uh excuse
me, investments, including the
multi-purpose tent in 2005 and the Tony
Nelson Equestrian Center in 2013.
Today, Westworld hosts everything from
equestrian competitions to automotive,
cultural, and entertainment events. And
it's even served the community in very
unique ways, like being the site of the
coid9 vaccination operation in 2021.
Ongoing investments, including the
adjacent sports fields and multi-use
spaces, have only strengthened
Westworld's role as a regional
destination and a major economic driver
for Scottsdale.
Next slide.
So, before we get too far uh into the
rest of the discussion, I did want to
touch on something that really shapes
how Westworld operates, and that's the
fact that it sits mostly on federally
owned land. The majority of the
footprint is on federally owned land
that is managed by the Bureau of
Reclamation. And the city then leases
the land under a federal agreement. And
that arrangement is what allows us to
operate such a unique highquality venue
while still being good stewards of the
land. Because of that partnership, there
is an extra layer in everything that we
do. any changes, whether it's a new
building, drainage work, an expansion of
an existing facility,
we do have to meet BO standards. That
means making sure everything uh those
projects don't interfere with flood
control systems. They comply with
environmental and water management
rules. And in the case of major
developments, getting BO approval before
we start
that can impact our timelines and it can
impact design guidelines. However, it's
not a roadblock. It just means that we
have to be deliberate and collaborative
in how we plan. Next slide.
So, now that we've talked about the land
and our partnership with the BO, let's
shift to what's actually on the land,
the facilities and the services that
make Westworld work every day. Westworld
isn't just a big open space. It's
actually a really impressive collection
of facilities. We've got a 120,000q foot
multi-purpose tent, the largest clear
span tent in North America and the
330,000 square foot Tony Nelson
Equestrian Center. That complex includes
the Ecuadome Marina with 3,400 permanent
seats, a north hall that's 117,000
square ft, and the south hall that's
37,000 square ft. On top of that, there
are seven outdoor arenas, two covered
arenas, a 12 acre turf field, the Monta
Banquet facility, and a mix of paved and
unpaved parking. And for those that want
to bring their homes with them, we've
got 398 permanent RV spaces.
Next slide.
The services we provide match the scale
of the facility. We host major national
and regional equestrian competitions,
big draw special events that bring
visitors and tourism to Scottsdale, and
we even run an RV park for both event
participants and those that are just
passing through. For our equestrian
users, we offer uh feed and bedding on
site. And for banquetss and private
events, Montra and other spaces are
available year round.
It's a place that not only keeps our
calendar full, but also supports
Scottsdale's economy, from hotels and
restaurants to retail shops and
transportation services.
So, now let's talk about how we actually
run the place and how our operational
model blends the best of in-house
expertise and specialized outside
partnerships. Westworld operates under a
hybrid model. That means we keep certain
functions like facility maintenance,
event coordination, and overall site
management in-house with our city team
while contracting out other specialized
services like food and beverage beverage
operations and event sales. It's a
partnership approach that lets us tap
into those outside expertise where it
makes sense while still keeping strong
city oversight to make sure that
everything runs smoothly and to our
standards. To give you a closer look at
how these partnerships work in practice,
I'll introduce two key partners who help
make Westworld a success. First, Brandon
Maxwell with Mc Culinary will share more
about their role in delivering food and
beverage services and then Austin with
the National Western Capital Corporation
will follow Brandon and talk about their
work in attracting and supporting
highprofile events at this venue. So,
Brandon,
thank you Judy. That was a very nice
introduction.
Brandon Maxwell, M Culinary, CEO,
32-year resident of Scottsdale. Mc
Culinary was founded in 1997 at the
corner of Pinnacle Peak and Pima Road.
So, we too are a Scottsdale based
founded business. Um, we currently do
business all over the valley as well as
the country, but Westworld is very
special to us as we are founded in this
fine city.
Um, we have 150 full-time employees, 500
plus seasonal employees. Um, it
fluctuates certainly when we get to that
time of the year when it's crazy around
here. Um, quick fact, in 2024 on January
1st, we became employee owned. So, we
are an ESOP
um, based in West based in Scottsdale
doing our work for your fine facility.
Over the over the past year, we did 375
plus events at Westworld between
concessions and catering. 375 is more
than 365 because we do multiple events
often at that property um in season.
Besides that, we do about 900 plus
events around Arizona, including we're
the primary hospitality catering company
for the WM Phoenix Open every January.
We also co-produced the Scottsdale
Fourth of July. Um, founded in 2013 was
the first year. We've done it every
year, including COVID year. I want to
thank Councilwoman Mcllen for being our
our host this year and doing our parade
of heroes mcing. So, thank you for that.
And hopefully others on the council will
do that in the future because the Fourth
of July ain't going away.
Major events in Scasa that we've
brought. You know, when the Super Bowl
was here in 2015, we did the Taste of
the NFL on Friday and we did the ESPN
Super Bowl party on Saturday back
toback. Both were about 5,000 people.
So, we've done other big events there
besides the one we've talked about
tonight because the TAC is such a a
valuable asset to the city and it it can
be sold in such a way. We also did the
GoDaddy holiday party that was five or
six thousand people in 2019 and we
launched Nicola uh the global launch
there in 2019 as well. COVID kind of put
a little damper on that business because
there weren't a lot of large gatherings
going on. But there is activity right
now and we do have a couple of
opportunities maybe in December of 2025
that we're currently talking to about
doing something for Christmas this year
in the North Hall.
In fiscal year 2024 and 2025, we brought
over $900,000 in commission sales to the
city as a result of food and beverage
sales. Um, to put that into perspective,
in 2017 that was closer to 375,000.
So, commission sales to the city of
Scottsdale is a big part of what we do
and hopefully we can keep growing that
business. Thank you. With that, I'll
bring in Austin who does sales and
manages the calendar. Thank you,
council.
Thank you.
Good evening, mayor and council members.
My name is Austin and I am with NWCC.
For the last 11 years, I've had the
privilege of working every day up at
Westworld with the amazing city staff
doing the sales and booking.
When we started that contract, we were
sitting around $3 million in revenue and
we are now close to pushing 9 million,
which is huge growth that everybody
should be excited about and proud of
that is involved with Westworld. This
has happened because Westworld is a
unique facility unlike many others due
to size and the amount of events that we
actually do and the variety of those
events. Our calendar is packed fully
multiple events happening most weekends.
We are at our best when the outside
arenas, the equidome, the barns are full
of equin competition while our north
hall, our tent, our grass has concerts,
trade shows, expose. It's that puzzle
where we really fully maximize this
property of doing a little bit of
everything. Equestrian is our core. It's
where our story began and it's going to
remain that. We have added to that core
where we are now about 80 to 90 annual
events each year. That's about a split
of 50/50 equestrian two special events.
Um if you go to the next slide, I'll
kind of break down what some of these
events that come on property and the
mixture that we do have. So you see
economic impact tourism drivers. These
are these amazing equestrian shows. We
talk about car shows, art auctions,
rodeos. When you drive our property, you
see license plates from Montana,
Wyoming, Texas, California. These are
people coming to Westworld to Scottdale
for these competitions. RV guests as
well. While that's going on though, we
also do community events. Parks and
Wreck utilizes our grass fields in the
summer for soccer. We have fairs, youth
sports. We actually have a kids camp in
July where hundreds of kids are running
indoors air conditioned while this stuff
is going on. So, it's that combination.
And then you'll see direct financial
benefit. Concerts, trade shows,
festivals, maybe not as many heads and
beds, maybe not as much tourism, but
direct impact to Westworld and
Scottsdale. It's a pleasure to have a
diverse property that can hold all of
these events at once. I'll pass it back
over to Judy.
Thank you, Austin.
Much taller.
Next slide. Yeah, thank you Brandon and
um Austin. Uh their passion definitely
shows and it's a true testament to how
that partnership makes Westworld
successful.
So now let's take a look at the types of
events that we're hosting and how often
the facility is in use. In fiscal year
2425, we hosted 80 events at Westworld,
almost an even split, as Austin
mentioned, between equestrian events and
those special events. Many of these
events were multi-day. And on 210 days,
we actually had multiple events
happening at the same time. And this is
really a great sign at how versatile and
in demand this venue has become. So
you'll see on this graph uh we track
something called event use days. That's
simply the total number of days that the
facility is occupied for event purposes
from setup to active event days to tear
down. It's a good way to measure that
overall facility utilization and see
just how much of the calendar is
dedicated to events. Because multiple
events can occur on the same day in
different areas of the property, the
total number of event use days can
exceed 365 in a single year. You might
also notice that back in fiscal year
2021, the number of special event use
days was unusually high. Uh that was
during the pandemic when we accommodated
events from other venues that had closed
and Westworld hosted a number of
alternative or modified events like the
vaccination drive-thru clinic I
mentioned and there were also drive-thru
concerts. So those unique circumstances
did temporarily bump up that number uh
for that year. I'll also note that we
did see a number of equestrian shows
that did have to cancel as a result of
the pandemic.
Next slide, please.
So, let's shift gears and talk about the
resources that it takes to run
Westworld, both in terms of dollars and
in terms of the people that make it
happen. For fiscal year 2526,
Westworld's operating budget is about
8.1 million, not including the debt
service or indirect costs. We've got a
team of 32 people, 30 full-time and two
part-time, who handle everything from
maintaining the facility and
coordinating events to managing
equestrian operations, RV
accommodations, and even feed and
bedding sales.
Managing a 386 acre property with
multiple venues, as you can imagine, is
no small task. So, we have to be very
deliberate about how we allocate
resources to keep events running
smoothly, safely, and in compliance with
both city and BO requirements. I will
note that under new leadership and
through ongoing conversations that we've
had with event producers, we've
identified a couple of critical
operational needs that really can't
wait. And Mayor, you had actually
touched on them. The facility sound
system we know isn't functioning
properly and it does need to be repaired
or replaced to meet event standards. On
top of that, many of the portable stalls
need to be repaired or replaced to
ensure that they are safe, that they are
functional, and in line with our
agreements with the event producers. So,
we will be coming back to council soon
to request contingency funding for these
items so that we can address them
quickly and maintain Westworld's
reputation as a dependable and high
quality venue.
Next slide.
So, now that we've taken a look at what
it takes to operate Westworld, um, let's
look at how those operations translate
into revenue and then that broader
economic impact to Scottsdale. For
fiscal year 2526, we're estimating about
8.5 million in revenue for Westworld and
that comes in a variety of sources from
facility rentals, concessions, RV
rentals, etc. really reflecting the wide
range of services that we provide. Worth
noting here, three of our largest
long-standing events, Barrett Jackson,
the Arabian Horse Show, and Sun Circuit
pay an additional user fee under an
agreement with the city. And that's that
equestrian use fee that you see here.
Those funds specifically helped to cover
the debt service for the Tony Nelson
Equestrian Center, which was built to
meet the needs of those events and other
major events.
This partnership is a model uh of how
it's a great example um of how event
producers and the city can work together
to invest in Westworld success. All of
these revenues are essential in
offsetting our operating costs and
maintaining and improving the facility.
Next slide.
Of course, revenue is only part of the
story. Uh the real question here is what
does all of that activity mean for
Scottsdale's economy? That's where the
economic impact comes in. Last
September, the Arizona State University
Seedman Research Institute completed an
economic study on Westworld and they
looked at fiscal year 2324 and they
measured the effect our events and
operations have on Scottsdale's economy.
The results were impressive. Uh
Westworld activity generated about 163.6
million in the state GDP, supported
roughly 1,800 jobs, and produced 85.6 6
million in labor income. The city also
collected around 4.8 million in combined
sales and bed taxes from that Westworld
related activity.
Next slide.
The study really confirmed what we see
in practice. Both the largecale special
events and our premier equestrian events
play a critical role in driving economic
impact. Together with Westworld's own
operations, they create a year-round mix
of activity that support jobs, generate
significant revenue, and reinforce
Scottsdale's position as a premier
destination.
Next slide.
And this was just a graphic of the
distribution of those economic impacts.
Next slide.
So, of course, with the size and scale
of events that we host, place uh parking
plays a huge role in the overall guest
experience, and it's also a key piece of
how we support Westworld's operations.
Westworld has more than 11,000 parking
spaces spread over the property. Paid
parking was first introduced back in
2002.
With paid parking, we're able to
designate different areas of the
property for uh public parking, VIP or
reserve parking, restricted access
parking for the competitors or staff,
etc., so traffic flows more smoothly.
Parking operations are handled by a
contracted service provider. For each
vehicle park, Westworld receives $3. And
that money then goes into a special
revenue fund which can then be used for
improvements to access and parking
areas.
Next slide.
Parking is $10 per vehicle and of that
$3 per vehicle stays with Westworld as
revenue, the $3 I just mentioned. And $7
covers the vendor operations. So there's
no direct cost to us or the event
producer. It's really a pass through
since neither we nor the event producers
are paying for parking operations out of
pocket. This setup means that we can
provide the service without adding costs
while still generating a steady stream
of revenue to help support Westworld.
And it does more than just bring in
revenue. It helps improve efficiency. It
enhances that customer experience and it
keeps events running safely. In addition
to the parking revenue that I just
mentioned, we also get parking revenue
for use of the Westworld property for
the Waste Management Phoenix Open.
Next slide.
So, now that we've talked about current
operations, let's look ahead because
keeping Westworld competitive and in top
condition means having a clear plan for
the future. Our infrastructure master
plan is essentially our roadmap for
making sure Westworld continues to meet
the needs of our event organizers, our
participants, and guests, not just for
today, but well into the future. Some of
the top priorities that were identified
in the plan include fixing key drainage
issues, improving access and parking
flow, and expanding shaded areas, all of
which are eligible uses for Proposition
490 funds via debt service. And I say
via debt service because a stipulation
of Proposition 490 was that debt will be
issued for any identified eligible
capital projects and then the Prop 490
funds will be used to pay the debt
service.
So making sure that we're targeting the
right things. We've been talking
directly to our largest event
stakeholders and these are the folks
whose events collectively help generate
hundreds of millions of dollars in
annual economic impact for Scottsdale.
They've given us some clear priorities.
things like doing the drainage
improvements that are in this year's
budget, completing a new entryway,
paving more parking areas outside of the
event footprints, and expanding or
upgrading the north hall into more
usable climate controlled space. They've
also identified other needs like
permanently covering Arena 7 and
replacing the aging asphalt flooring in
the north hall with a polished concrete.
Altogether, these projects will help us
retain our major events, attract new
ones, and make sure that Westworld
offers the same level of amenities and
capabilities as other premier venues
across the country. This planning
process is almost complete and once it
is wrapped up, we will be bringing that
full infrastructure master plan to
council.
Next slide.
So, while the master, excuse me,
infrastructure master plan gives us that
longer term vision for Westworld, the
five-year capital plan is where that
vision starts to take shape, outlining
the specific projects, the timelines,
and funding sources that will move us
forward in the near term. Our 5-year
capital plan includes about 47.8 8
million in projects from fiscal year
2526
through fiscal year 2930.
The list does continue on the next slide
um that I'll get to in just a minute.
But first, I wanted to say that you'll
see in the five-year plan those major
drainage projects that I mentioned that
were identified in the infrastructure
master plan, the Beajia Drive, the
Westworld drive, and the interior
drainage. So, Mr. projects and those are
the projects that we've been talking
about and they are in the budget. These
drainage projects will be funded by
issuing debt service that will be
serviced with the Prop 490 funds and
they'll make the facility safer with
less disruptions to those major events
and all events.
You'll see uh the public address system
cabling. This is the sound system that I
mentioned previously. The project is
technically scheduled for next year, but
as I mentioned, the system is in such
poor condition and needs to be addressed
now that we will be coming back and
asking for contingency.
Next slide.
The plan also looks at improving access
and circulation, for example, widening
94 street. And it includes projects like
renovating the polo field to address
irrigation and drainage needs so the
field uh can better withstand event
traffic and parking. Next slide.
When you look at the total costs for all
these projects, it's about 55.6 million.
Of that 47.8 million is what I mentioned
that we're planning between fiscal year
2526 and fiscal year 2930. That 7.8 8
million difference is what has already
been spent on a few of these projects in
prior years. One of the biggest projects
is the 14.1 million renovation of the
horse barns. And this really is a musto
um to keep those barns safe, functional,
and competitive for our signature
equestrian events. And that investment
is funded through a mix of geo bonds,
general fund, and tourism development
funds. Next slide.
When you look at the $55.6 million total
project cost, the general fund piece is
actually a relatively small portion, 6.6
million or about 12%. The majority is
coming from other dedicated funding
sources like the GEO bonds, the tourism
development funds, WIFFA debt, that's
water infrastructure finance authority
debt that we will be issuing that we can
service with those Prop 490 funds, the
parking fund, and even some
contributions from the BO. This approach
allows us to deliver these major
improvements without putting that full
burden on the general fund.
So that's a look at uh where Westworld
stands today, the operations to
investments and the impact that we're
making.
Now the next step is shaping where do we
go from here and that's where I will
turn it over to our city manager Greg
Kaitton.
And next slide please. Uh thank you Miss
Doyle. I think as council and the
audience can see we have a comprehensive
plan to move forward. I think it first
starts from my perspective with getting
the right uh management in place as you
can see from our general manager who's
not spoken this evening but a part of
the facility and then uh Miss Doyle as
the senior director over this operation
uh we've definitely have dedicated the
resources and continue to do so. That
just starts at the management level. I
will say uh some of the short-term needs
that you've heard about uh from the
users and you've heard about uh this
evening uh because we were taking uh a
listening approach in the spring time to
hear from our users and do the
assessment of the facility and the needs
that are out there. Uh we weren't able
to include some of those in the 2526
budget. So, that's the first thing that
you will see coming back to you within
the next 100 days is uh direction and
potentially authorization on some of
those short-term fixes. And then two
further items that I want to emphasize
as we move forward. Uh the next is the
strategic plan. And I can appreciate how
this may uh seem like we've done this
before uh over the years, but it's so
important to have a document like this
that really transcends the people,
transcends city managers, transcends uh
general managers at the facility and is
really a a council approved document
that will be coming back to you within
the next 100 to 120 days. And so why we
have taken so much time to develop that
strategic plan is because of the people
in this room. They've deserved our time
to listen to them and understand their
needs. Also, as you heard from Mr.
Unger, not all events are the same. And
so we want to not make that at the
operational level but make that at the
strategic level by city council to
understand are we having a nice
portfolio a nice mix of events that
support the community support economic
development further and so on so forth.
So you can see that's will be coming
back for your uh approval after our uh
conclusion of that with the
stakeholders. The last element that I'll
touch on and so important that's been
referenced this evening is the long-term
infrastructure master plan. This is a
large property, 386 acres with
significant capital needs, s significant
infrastructure has been put in place
over time and we have more to do. We did
not want to hold up budget development,
budget dollars uh to wait for this
process. So, as you saw from Miss
Doyle's presentation, we have
considerable investments ongoing and
planned in the near future. However, the
infrastructure master plan really pulls
all the users together and says, "What
are your needs long term?" So, we have
this 20-year outlook that it's not a
peacemill approach as uh commented maybe
that it has peered in the past and
really more of a thoughtful strategic
plan moving forward as it relates to the
infrastructure for the site. that all of
those do not work independently. They
work together. They work in
collaboration understanding the
strategic plan, the mission of the of
the facility, the user groups, and then
connecting the infrastructure and the
investments back to the events that we
want to host at that facility. That will
also be coming back to you in the next
120 days for approval, the
infrastructure plan. All of that ties
together prior to budget development for
20 26 2027. So all of that will be a
place hopefully approved by city council
as we lead into the next budget year and
we're actively working uh for 26 27 27
28 and beyond. But what that does is lay
out the roadmap uh for our partners.
I'll call the all the folks in the room
our partners uh as we invest in this
facility moving forward. So thank you
madame mayor, members of council. That
completes our presentation and would be
able to field any questions that you may
have. Thank you. Uh I have a question
with respect to you heard a lot of
people talk about uh staffing. What is
your plan with respect to staffing and
in particular getting uh someone with a
at least a member of staff that has a
lot of depth in equestrian events.
Madame Mayor, members of council, so the
first uh move on staffing was putting
Miss Doyle in place. Uh that was put in
the first quarter of this year. I
believe it starts with myself
understanding the facility, Miss Doyle
understanding the facility, starting at
that strategic leadership level and
supporting the general manager. I've
been on property touring the events. I'm
amazed at how it uh transforms into so
many uh various uses and and and we
continue to ask questions about uh the
users as it relates to their needs. but
to their staffing. Understanding the
staffing model, I appreciate uh that
there has been uh some turnover uh and
we are looking to fill that second in
command position, the assistant general
manager position uh and looking for
someone with equestrian experience. And
so to one of the earlier speakers about
uh maybe some uncertainty in filling the
position, uh anytime there is a vacancy
all across the city, I have a
conversation uh with the supervisor or
the supervisor's director understanding
the needs all across the city, every
single position. And so we do that not
uh to potentially not fill the position,
but understand why was there turnover?
Does it need to be two positions? Does
it need to be a part-time position in
addition to a full-time position?
Understanding the operations. So, that
may have been the lack of clarity uh
that was communicated when we were
analyzing the position. So, we weren't
analyzing the position to not fill the
position. We wanted to make sure and
appropriately fill the position. So, we
have uh done that. We've listened to the
users uh loud and clear that there
needed to be equestrian experience.
We've opened the position. We've closed
the position and we uh are going through
the the applications as we speak. Now uh
in a parallel process we are also
exploring I'll call it uh short-term uh
interim assistance and support and have
been in a parallel track again working
collaboratively with the users. they've
uh know this area as uh they've spoken
to and we respect that and we've
received some suggestions and we've
reached out to those individuals and
again on a parallel track uh looking to
uh resource as appropriately. We've also
tapped our existing staff and I'm
pleased to say uh as you've heard some
from some of the comments uh this
evening, we have very talented staff
members out there and anytime there's a
vacancy there's opportunities for some
stretch and opportunities uh for new
involvement and we're certainly tapping
into the existing staff and then again I
can't emphasize enough our partners um
two of which you've heard uh speak
tonight about the entire uh management
and how uh we look at that facility.
Thank you, Councilman Graham.
Thank you, Mayor. I want to thank all
the presenters today. I want to thank
staff and um city manager as well as the
stakeholders. Uh I have just kind of
some general thoughts and reflections. I
don't expect answers tonight unless you
have them. But um you know, I think
about this is uh you know, Westworld is
it's a treasured uh economic engine and
so we want to make sure that we respect
that. We want to make sure that it's um
you know it's a horse facility. It's an
equin facility. We don't want to abandon
that. Um but we also want there to be
space for a diversity of events. Um it's
requires a complex specialized set of
skills and um part of that is really
not we can't you know this is just kind
of basic operations but we can't no
organization you know must be rellyant
on one person. We've got to have bench
strength. You got to if we were if we're
relying on one person. I mean, it's
impossible to totally avoid that when an
organization has a CEO or a very special
rain maker type or or an ops director.
Um, but when you're too reliant on one
person and you don't have bench strength
and backups, you are vulnerable to their
departure to those kinds of things. Um,
couple questions I have. Um, we talked
about the parking fee. The parking fee
would be nice to wave for certain
events. I noticed that that's about 20
25% of our revenue. Um, and the whole,
you know, from the taxpayer standpoint,
the the whole facility runs at a loss. U
is, do we charge that, maybe this is a
question for Judy? Oh, there she is
right in front. Um, Miss Doyle, do we
charge that parking that parking fee is
kind of a universal? There's sort of
universality to that. That's not Is
there any seasonality to that or
anything? Mayor and members of council.
Um
you did mention that it was about 25% of
the revenue collected. I will say the
majority of that is using the property
for the waste management Phoenix Open.
Okay.
Um but yeah, sure. It's based on
seasonality. The more events that we
have at the facility than that we're
charging parking for.
Yeah. I just don't know as a public as a
public entity if we can legally pick and
choose when we charge that. Maybe we
can, maybe we can't. I don't know.
Mayor, members of council, we could
certainly explore um looking at some
kind of parking uh fee structure for
different types of events. you know, as
it related to um the the pub festival
that we had talked about um or there was
public comment on
um
I think there was just concern that with
the number of vehicles that were going
to be there just safety
um on the property.
Yeah, it's it's probably that's probably
between the administrators and the
tenants. So, we don't need to as the
council get too involved with that, but
it's um because that's an important
event. Um, on the other hand, the like
you showed us, the event is there's more
than one event a day. The event is
almost maxed out. So, but we also want
to make space for those other events
that have sentimental value as well.
Yeah.
Um,
I um
maintenance downtime there. I guess
there's some Miss Doyle, there's just
some key performance. Sorry to make you
come back. I'm not going to ask you
these for answers to these questions,
but when when you guys come back to us
and we talk more,
you know, I learned a lot about these
special event venues as I study them and
I study this one and it it's hard.
There's no there's no apple to apple
comparison and you just can't you can
kind of get close to a comparison but
Westworld is it's I mean we own some of
the land we rent some of the land like
most of our tenants are horses and equin
we have a car show like there's just
really I mean you think about things
like you know rent per foot um what are
we KPIs so I think maybe if we maybe in
the future come back and we talk more
KPIs, key performance indicators
that might be a little bit illustrative
of what's going on because you had some
slides there about um tenency,
occupation,
economic impact. Uh the economic impact
is a little harder to measure. It's a
little more subjective, but the you know
the tenency that's those are real
numbers. Um, it doesn't really tell me
the full story though because I would
like to know if we add up all the square
footage of the facility. Um, and you
multiply that by 365. Um, you know,
what's the utilization rate of that?
Because we have, um, you know, we've got
the we've got the dome, we've got, you
know, this section and we got the
fields, but we may have multiple events
on the same day, but we but the whole
facility may be rented only at 20%. And
so you've got 80% vacancy that day. So
it would be interesting that would be
kind of the it's those key performance
indicators I would be interested in that
one I'm talking about right now we're
making illusion to would be probably the
facility utilization rate on a square
foot basis that might be something that
would be interesting to measure and of
course I'm talking about all these I'm
talking about these over time so you can
see a trend line um
I would be interested to see event
bookings lead time like
like per foot. How how much lead time
are is our venue booked? Um and where is
that trending? Is it harder to get a is
it harder to book an event there or is
it easier? Is that because that's
something when you do special events
like this, you really watch that three,
four months, what six months? I mean,
would would you have any idea what that
what that amount would be or what that
benchmark would be about where we stand
today? Mayor and members of council,
this is where I would defer to Austin
Unger, who is the event guru.
So, when it comes to the actual
property, we are very, very, very booked
up. Um, in 11 years that I've been here,
if anybody wants to bring their event in
January or February, we are not
available. If anybody calls me right now
and asks for March, April, May, we are
not available. We have so many amazing
events that reoccur every year. These
aren't one-offs. So, I might get a call
about a women's volleyball championship
in 2027 and they want to be right there
in the beginning of March.
Unfortunately, I can't. We have
reoccurring events that have been here
with us a long time and they are large
events and they keep recurring every
year. So, those openings you're talking
about are getting very small and they're
getting closer to the July and August
months.
So,
we're fully committed almost. It feels
like sometimes
we are embracing the events we have. We
always want to do more, but the growth
we've had is watching our current event
producers grow, go from one week to two,
adding more arenas. So, we do want to
lean into the actual events we have.
We're not bumping anybody out at this
time. We always want to do more, but we
are limited with just the amount of
space. When we go back to it, when you
have five events on property at once,
it'll have a fair on the grass, mixed
martial arts in the arena, a vintage
market in the north hall, two horse
shows in the outside arenas, it gets
very difficult to just put anything more
in the property.
And and Mr. Hunger, just for the
audience sake, are you a city employee
or do you work as a vendor for the city?
Um, contracted with the city.
Okay, very good. What's the name of the
company again? I know it's
NWCC.
Very good. Thank you. I I you know, I
have luxury of we went to high school
together, but you know, not everybody
here is familiar with that. So, thank
you for those Thank you for those
answers.
Thank you.
Uh, miss just a couple more questions,
mayor. Thank you. Um, I guess where I'm
going with this is, um, you know, we we
expect a loss from this facility. Um, I
think that every municipality that runs
a special events facility like this, and
like I talked about earlier, it's a
unique facility. You can't compare it.
There's nothing like it.
um we expected to run at a loss and we
you know the the resident in Scottsdale
says I'm going to subsidize this with my
tax dollars from the general fund that
are going to be subsidizing it and also
through selling bonds and things like
that and I'm also going to suffer
through traffic from it. You know, we
know about the traffic from Bear Jackson
when you know there's lots of cars there
and but and then in return we get
economic activity. They fill our hotels.
They pay our bed taxes. they're going
out to shopping and dining and just and
so we we there's an exchange there. Um
the question I would have is you know
from back to those KPIs what is the
operating loss and I'm c and I'm also
interested in both direct and indirect
cost as a percentage of total operating
expenses and it'd be interesting to see
that over time because that would be
interesting to see as a ratio
if we're if we're improving or or if
we're regressing. Uh, and that would
tell the taxpayer um a lot of
information about um it doesn't tell
them the full story because even if that
ratio is getting worse, maybe the
economic benefit is outweighing it, but
it would be nice to have that
information. I would be curious about
revenue per event because when you turn
over the facility, you know, that's a
whole that's a whole process. Revenue
per event, I think as that number goes
up, that's better. That's healthier for
our facility. I'd be interested about in
cost per event. So take those total
operating expenses direct and indirect
and divide them by the number of events.
I like to see those numbers. Um tenant
retention rate is a big deal in special
events because that is you if tenants
don't if we don't retain tenants um
that's that's a red flag for our
facility. So if we want to see not not
only do we want to see the the tenant
retention rate compared to our
competitors if there are you know
whichever they are but we also want to
see it trending over time. Um we talked
about event booking lead which I I get
it those high times you know it's
probably years decades in advance you
know nobody's getting those particular
uh times of the year. Uh facility
utilization rate per square foot. We
talked about that earlier. Um, I'd be
interested in maintenance downtime
and um, I would be interested in what we
are charging rent per foot per year. So,
those are some costs. Those are some
thoughts I have. We can't do it all. I
mean, we care up here about are we
charging tenants enough rent? Are we
recovering enough? We also care about
operation. We care about employee
satisfaction, employee turnover. Uh, we
care about um, customer satisfaction,
tenant satisfaction, employee
satisfaction, employ operational
efficiency, all this stuff is so
important. Um, and there's a lot that
goes into it and you know, people are
concerned because there's some red
flags. So maybe some of these KPIs could
be illustrative and sort of help us home
in hope help our staff home in uh where
we can maybe work on and focus on. Thank
you, Mayor.
Thank you, Councilwoman McCallen.
Thank you, Mayor. Um, thank you all for
coming tonight. Uh
I appreciate um especially the
equestrian uh community coming out and
bringing you know to the forefront why
Westworld Horseman's Park uh exists and
that it's evolved over the years and
that our needs as a city for economic
impact has also evolved. Um, I'm looking
at the list that Craig Jackson gave us
about needs and you know, his show went
from very small to huge and one of the
largest events that happens in
Scottsdale, why people come here, but
there are a lot of other events that are
now signature events that happen at
Westworld. And I appreciate Austin
speaking and telling us a little bit,
you know, how full Westworld is, but
there still are some unique spaces. Uh,
a perfect example is the polo event.
It's going from two days to now an
entire weekend and expanding. So, those
are things opportunities similar to what
Councilman Graham just talked about,
looking at what are our opportunities to
expand. And for me, I think it's really
important to expand the equestrian
events so we maintain that um westmost
western town appeal because I do believe
that people still come here for that as
well as the glitz, the glamour, the
country club, the beautiful golfing, but
people do love the equestrian and we
want to keep true to our roots with
that. So, my uh question really, you
don't have to get up um Austin, but I'm
curious if you are taking the time to
work with our tourism and economic
development commission to make sure that
events that are seeking funding just
like the Polo event just did, like the
rain event did last year, that there's
sponsorship opportunities for those
events that do want to come here. and
maybe they want to come here in a month
that we're booked, but maybe they can
get a better opportunity if they come at
a time um that's not so convenient for
them, but might allow Westworld to
maintain that roots and that nature of
equestrian feel, which allows us to
invest in Westworld and have the
taxpayers understand that we're
investing in what you wanted initially,
but that it is bringing return. um
because we don't you know nobody wants
to run an a venue at a loss but if there
is a greater good where we can do part
of the year to sustain our events as
opposed to them all being like Barrett
Jackson that you know you can't all have
events like that but we can support
those other events like the pup event
things like that um so Judy I know
you've got a lot on your plate uh but
working with outside groups to maintain
a focus um to support. I love the idea
of a task force um
to bring those types of you know things
to the forefront kind of like what the
mayor did with just having the meeting
but maybe looking a little deeper into
that plan like what our city manager
talked about that five-year plan which
again that Mr. Jackson had said, "Oh,
I've seen this plan a million times."
Well, maybe this is the final plan.
Wouldn't that be great? And that it
doesn't fluctuate with councils and it
doesn't fluctuate with city managers.
Wouldn't it be great if it was in stone?
So, those are my suggestions. Again, I
appreciate all of you being here and
thank you for your time, Judy.
Thank you.
Thank you, Councilwoman Littlefield.
Thank you, Mayor. And thank you all for
coming tonight and for being a part of
this discussion. I think it's hugely
important for Scottsdale. Thank you,
Judy, for all that you're doing to help
Westworld and to work with the event
people to make it the best that it can
be. You know, most people don't know my
background. I was born and raised here
in Scottsdale. I was born in Mesa
because Scottsdale didn't have any
hospitals back then, but I lived here
all my life. And I lived on horse
property actually, but we never had
horses. I had a calf once and my dad
tried to help it. It was hurt in transit
and he took it over to one of the
ranches. I don't know if it was
McCormack Ranch or Gayy Ranch, but one
of the big ranches in town. And he said,
"Here, mend this calf and you can have
it."
And that happened to be the last calf I
ever owned, too.
Um, but I would like to just make some
um a comment and I'd like to read a
letter that I received in the mail that
had been written years ago by Sam
Campana, a previous mayor of Scottsdale.
And it's about Westworld
and it says a cornerstone of
Scottsdale's equestrian legacy and
tourism economy. And if you give me a
few moments please and indulge me, I'd
like to read what she said. Westworld of
Scottsdale is more than just a venue. It
is the beating heart of our city's
vibrant equestrian community and a
significant driver of our local economy.
As mayor, I see firsthand the profound
impact this facility has, not only on
the worldrenowned events it hosts, but
also on the unique character of
Scottsdale itself.
For decades, Westworld has been
synonymous with excellence in the
equestrian world. Events like the
Scottsdale Arabian Horse Show and the
Arizona Sun Circuit Quarter Horse Show
are not merely competitions. They are
deeprooted Scottsdale traditions and
draw thousands of visitors, exhibitors,
and enthusiasts from across the globe to
enjoy them and to become a part of
Scottsdale for a few days.
These events fill our hotels, our
restaurants and shops, and they create a
ripple effect that benefits countless
countless businesses and residents. The
economic impact is undeniable, but the
cultural richness they bring to our city
is unparalleled.
The Tony Nelson Equestrian Center at
Westworld of Scottsdale, which I
championed during my earlier services on
the Scottsdale City Council. Again, this
is Sam Campana. Boasts a rich history
serving as a premier venue for the
worldclass equestrian events for
decades.
Beyond the grandeur of the amazing horse
shows, Westworld provides a valuable
stage for a diverse array of western
themed rodeos and western themed events.
These disciplines, deeply rooted in our
state's heritage, connect us to the
rugged beauty and competitive spirit of
the American West.
They offer local riders a worldclass
setting and introduce new generations to
the beauty and thrill of horsemanship,
skills, and competition.
My administration is committed to
ensuring Westworld continues to thrive
through the provision of top tier
service, support, and setting for our
events hosts and competitors. This means
investing in the state-of-the-art
facilities, streamlining logistical
assistance, and proactive collaboration
with organizers.
We understand that the success of these
events hinge on the robust
infrastructure and welcoming
environment. By working together, we can
ensure Westworld remains the premier
destination for equestrian events,
cementing Scottsdale's legacy as a true
equestrian capital for years to come.
And I would like to second this letter.
It is exactly how I feel about
Westworld. Thank you.
That was really cool. Thanks for reading
that,
Councilwoman Whitehead.
Yeah, I like uh Thank you, Councilwoman
Littlefield. I like the cultural
richness, right? Because it isn't just
about the dollars, but I do want to
thank pretty much many of the
stakeholders in here for helping bring
the dollars we need because obviously a
city needs dollars in order to do some
of this work. And it's been fun for me
over six years to see those dollars come
in and some of the progress. Many of you
uh in the audience helped us pass the
bonds in 2019 and then Prop 490 um just
this past year. So huge thanks and it
the presentations were very very
interesting. So we have made a lot of
progress. It does take time as those
dollars roll in, but that's really what
defines Scottsdale is if we're not doing
something right, we hear about it. So,
and um so I think I want to in my
remarks, I really am in support of some
sort of task force, citizen task force,
because it's pretty amazing how much
goes on in this facility and uh the
turnover is on staff's back. is that is
unacceptable. So that's something we
want to look at. And um our last um city
manager was looking at how do we
coordinate events so that we're doing
less in the transition. So we we don't
want to uh you know go from maybe
equestrian to something totally
different right back to equestrian. So I
think that's where a task force could be
really helpful. And I also of course
want to agree about the parking fees. Um
that's an important part but obviously
we have we charge different different
months. I would love to see uh that
reviewed especially for small uh events.
Um and then also the idea also I I did
the bike race. I didn't have $10. Um the
ability to pay a different way would be
super helpful. And um again, I think all
of this stuff could happen with a task
force reviewing it, but very pleased
with the progress that Judy reported
today. Very pleased with the progress
we've with your help done with funding.
I'm pretty confident we'll get our 490
moving forward, too. So, thank you.
Thank you.
Thank you. And I don't see any uh more
requests to speak by council. So, thank
you, Judy, for the presentation. Uh it
was it was informative. Um to the point
of the task force which uh which has
been brought up a couple of times, I
think there's a real need to and I'm
going to ask the city clerk to put that
uh under mayor and council items for
future agenda. um which the task force
would be uh compiled with stakeholders
that are very much in tune with what's
needed out there to advise serve in an
advisory capacity uh to both the staff
and to the city council. So I think that
that's something that we should be doing
looking at doing right away. And in
fact, I reached out to the chair of the
uh tourism uh commission and tourism and
development
commission and her name is Anna Manire
uh and she has agreed to chair the task
force if we uh if we are successful in
moving forward with that. So excited
about that prospect and I don't see any
more uh business on our calendar. we
have the opportunity to adjourn into uh
to recess and to move into executive
session. I'm not sure I see the need to
do that at this point. Yeah. So, um at
this point, we're done with all the
business we had tonight. Thank you again
for all being here. Uh our phones, call
anytime you're having issues and uh we
will continue to see this ball rolling
in a positive direction, I hope. Thank
you so much. And uh with that
motion to adjurnn.
Yes, please. All right. All those in
favor?
I.
All right.
We are