Scottsdale mayor sues to find out who snitched on her about Parkingate

Embattled Scottsdale Mayor Lisa Borowsky really wants to know who ratted her out.

Despite being in office for only a few months, Borowsky has already become the center of a controversy over a planned parking garage in Scottsdale. Dubbed “Parkingate,” the brouhaha stems from Borowsky's alleged efforts to yank a garage project away from one developer and hand it to David Hovey Jr., a campaign donor.

The saga resulted in an anonymous complaint about Borowsky being sent to the Maricopa County Attorney’s Office, which ultimately found no wrongdoing. But despite the case being closed, she wants to know who snitched. And she wants to know now.

On Monday, Borowsky filed a public records lawsuit against the county attorney’s office, complaining that the agency had not fulfilled a records request to uncover the identity of her accuser. She is being represented by right-wing lawyer Dennis Wilenchik, who is also her former employer.

In her records request, Borowsky asked for any communication the county attorney’s office has had about the accusation against her, including interoffice communication about whether to pursue an investigation. She also requested all records that show the county attorney’s office sharing information about Borowsky with the media, specifically the Arizona Republic.

The public records complaint, filed by Wilenchik, is impatient and a bit sloppy. For one, it misidentifies county attorney Rachel Mitchell as “Rachel Miller.” More importantly, it was filed only 10 days after a representative from Mitchell’s office acknowledged receiving Borowsky’s public records request.

“The information requested is relatively discrete, and should not consist of more than just a few relevant documents which would determine the identity of who provided the ‘complaint’ against Borowsky and or David Hovey Jr. to the MCAO,” the filing reads. “Despite this, no documents have been produced in a timely manner.”

The phrase “timely manner” is doing a lot of work. As any journalist knows, many records requests take far longer than 10 days. When asked for a comment, Wilenchik offered via email: “Couldn't be more than a few documents to produce so what (would) take so long?” Borowsky did not respond to questions sent via email.

Jeanine L’Ecuyer said Borowsky’s request is in the works, as are many others that were filed with the county attorney’s office before hers.

“When we received the request from Borowsky through her attorney, we put it in the queue. We treat them all the same way — they’re dealt with in the order in which they’re received,” L’Ecuyer told Phoenix New Times in a phone call Thursday. “As I recall, there was some sense that they deserve to jump to the front of the line. And that’s unfair to everyone who’s made a records request.”

The Parkingate controversy

The Parkingate debacle began after Borowsky took office in January.

More than six months earlier, the previous council approved a plan for two parking garages in Old Town, and Chasse Building Team had submitted a plan to the council for the garages. Despite that, Borowsky held non-public meetings touting a different plan created by Hovey Jr., who donated $6,650 to Borowsky two weeks after she won her election in November.

On Feb. 11, Borowsky delivered a speech to the council in which she called the current plan for the garages “a monstrosity” and requested a 30-day delay to hatch a new plan. The rest of the council rejected the idea in a 6-1 vote, approving the contract with Chasse.

Days later, the county attorney’s office received an anonymous complaint detailing “concerns” about Borowsky’s attempt to change plans and give her donor a contract. Borowsky has denied doing anything wrong, a position that jives with the conclusion the county attorney’s office reached on March 14.

“We reviewed the material and have determined there is nothing to pursue,” L’Ecuyer said at the time. “The review is complete and the matter is concluded.”

If only it were concluded, though. A few days before the county attorney closed the case, Wilenchik sent a letter to councilmembers Jan Dubauskas and Kathy Littlefield claiming they were part of a “conspiracy” to defame Borowsky. At the time, fellow Councilmember Adam Kwasman said the letter “reads like Homer Simpson’s father yelling at squirrels to get off his lawn.”

Speaking to the Scottsdale Progress, former councilmember Bob Littlefield — who is married to Kathy Littlefield — wondered why Borowsky is so dead set on prolonging the controversy. “The smart thing would be to let it go,” he said. Reached by New Times about the public records suit, Kwasman insinuated that Borowsky is sucking up oxygen that could otherwise be devoted to real issues facing the city.

“Now that MCAO found no illegal action warranting formal investigation, I look forward to everyone moving on with the people’s business,” Kwasman said.

Borowsky’s records request is still pending, and it remains to be seen what the requested records will reveal. But if the mayor hopes they’ll unmask the person who tried to put her in the jackpot, she might be out of luck. As L’Ecuyer pointed out, the complaint against Borowsky was anonymous.

“They’re after information,” L’Ecuyer said, “that we probably don’t have.”