Up until recently, politics in Tempe — the East Valley suburb home to Arizona State University’s flagship campus and once-wild party scene — have been buttoned down, polite, moderately liberal and stable.
But things have been bumpy since the city’s voters shot down a ballot measure in May 2023 that would have struck a deal to build a stadium for the NHL’s former Arizona Coyotes and keep the team in the Phoenix metro area. And after a series of controversies, scandals and accusations embroiled the council, three of the incumbents face uncertain prospects in the upcoming citywide election, which will take place in two rounds in March and May.
The most ridiculous yet telling way to understand what’s going on in this election and in Tempe is to look to the city’s most prominent caveman: Jack Maverik, who just interviewed the four challenging candidates in a satirical, dry humor talk show he modeled on Between Two Ferns with Zach Galifianakis.
Jack Maverik lambasts Tempe City Council on Jan. 23, 2025.
Maverik gave us the videos to view exclusively before they were released. He explained that the idea came to him as an absurd theoretical concept that he posted about online — which quickly became a reality.
“I’m going to be straight, I didn’t want to do this,” he said. “I was not expecting all four challengers to be in my DMs within an hour.”
The long-time Tempe resident and local character has been known to locals as a bar owner, band manager and — in what appears to be a running joke — a millionaire landlord who holds a string of local apartment complexes (no evidence exists of that). But about a year ago, Maverik ripped the council during a public meeting while dressed in a Fred Flintstone outfit. The outrageous slagging earned him Phoenix New Times’ Best Yabba-Dabba-Dude award last fall, for which he didn’t face very stiff competition.
Accordingly, he’s named his series of interviews with the candidates the “Yabba-Dabba-Dude Talk Show.”
The reason for the costume — which Maverik told us he bought from a woman on OfferUp — can be traced back to a now-infamous secret joke the council had about its critics.
The council — which had voted 7-0 for the stadium land deal before overconfidently allowing voters to decide its fate in a referendum — was later caught breaking open meetings law at the same time its members surreptitiously used taxpayer funds to monitor social media opposition to the stadium plan, which local critics painted as a land giveaway to wealthy developers. A tape of the executive session was released and showed the councilmembers trashing their own constituents, calling one a “crazy uncle.”
They also laughed boisterously at calling those who opposed the stadium deal “cave people” — based on the acronym, “citizens against virtually everything.”
Tempe's councilmembers have also garnered criticism for an ongoing attempt to criminalize the act of giving food to homeless people in city parks. In July, the council voted 7-0 for a controversial new ordinance further restricting use of the parks, in the face of 77 people showing up to speak out against it. After citizens organized an initiative with enough signatures to send it to the ballot, its members backed down and repealed the law in another 7-0 vote.
These developments have created a perception among many residents that the councilmembers are out of touch, and that has changed the dynamic of what would normally be a bland, uncontroversial local election.
Maverik also invited the three incumbents to appear on his talk show, but none accepted the tantalizing proposition.
“The reality is all the incumbents voted in the same 7-0 bloc for the parks ordinance — they all gotta go,” Maverik said. “They do it to protect themselves. If everybody votes the same, everyone gets scrutiny and nobody gets singled out. And it’s too much of a risk for them to sit down with someone like me who isn’t going to ask them softball questions. Their policy is to ignore us.”
Those three incumbents are: long-time Tempe social worker Jennifer Adams, former K-12 school board member Berdetta Hodge and Arlene Chin, an ASU administrator.
The challenging candidates are listed below, along with their interviews on the talk show:
Brooke St. George, who worked at city hall and on the campaign trail as a top staffer for Adams. She’s stated that the impetus for her run was being witness to concerning behavior and decisions by the council and city leaders, especially Adams, for whom she “lost respect.”
Bobby Nichols, a public interest lawyer who is running with the backing of the local Democratic Socialists of America chapter. His main focus is on affordability, much in the style of New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani. (Maverik notes Nichols “stole” the Mamdani campaign’s font and introduces him as a communist). Nichols has also urged the council to push back on ICE and cancel its contract with Flock Safety.
John Elvis Taska, a lifelong Tempe resident who works for the Walter Hive and teaches arts, welding and fabrication for youth and at-risk communities. The political newcomer said he decided to run after the council lost locals’ trust over a string of questionable decisions.
Joe Forte, a local entrepreneur who came under fire last year after his anti-vaccine, election-denying and anti-LGBTQ posts on Trump’s Truth Social social media platform surfaced, losing him key Democratic support. While Maverik filmed the episodes of the show with three cameras, the video with Forte only contains one angle as “the pure evil of Forte’s MAGA ways corrupted two video files,” he said.
“I don’t align politically with anything that Joe Forte stands for, but I’d be more comfortable with him on the city council than any of the incumbents,” Maverik said. “A 7-0 bloc that doesn’t listen to the public — I don’t care what political leanings they go to — they gotta go.”
Some of our favorite moments from the videos are:
St. George mentions she saw Adams do things that she disagreed with, and Maverik asks, “Was it the alcoholism?” The candidate responds, “To mention one of the things — I mean how much time do we have?”
Maverik asks Nichols to grade each of the councilmembers’ performances. He responds with a dry “C” to all of them, except for Adams, whom he gives a “C-.”
Taska, wearing sunglasses through the entire interview, says the odds of him winning are about as “highly unlikely as the city council ever making affordable rent in Tempe.”
Maverik mentions Forte’s anti-LGBTQ posts when he brings up a petition Forte circulated to change ASU’s mascot from the Sun Devils to the Sun Angels, which Maverik calls “the gayest thing I’ve ever heard.”
Nichols and Taska decline hosting their campaign victory parties at the Rainforest Cafe.
The show’s host delivers messages from sponsors, including a packaged “gender-natural emotional support shoe” and plastic “jazz crabs” playing instruments.
But the show isn’t just farce and lowbrow comedy — Maverik also asks each candidate serious questions about the disconnect between the council and the public, as well as specific policy questions on hot-button issues in Tempe. All candidates (except Forte) vowed not to increase the police budget and wanted to allow mutual aid organizations to operate in city parks.
The mere fact that all the incumbents declined to participate demonstrates that they feel comfortable in their advantage as incumbents and don’t feel the need to engage with residents in an informal, unscripted way, something that’s also clear from their behavior on the council.
And the fact that all four challengers were willing to appear on the spoof show highlights something else very humanizing: They have a sense of humor.
In a city where locals have become increasingly tired of the same old, smiling and polite song and dance from their elected leaders — whose private conversations have been shown to be different from their public ones — that real, raw energy might just help push the incumbents out of their seats.
As for the interviews, who knows whether they will have any real impact on the election.
Maverik noted in his interview with St. George that he expects “dozens” of people to watch them.
Streets of Surprise: A thousand people gathered in Surprise on Saturday to protest a planned ICE facility that would add 1,500 beds to the agency’s immigration detention network, per the Republic’s Elena Santa Cruz. Protesters said the facility “would be a stain on our city,” while others played the new Bruce Springsteen protest song “Streets of Minneapolis.”
Not out of her depth: Former Arizona governor and Department of Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano sat for a Q&A with Politico about how badly the agency she oversaw has bungled its immigration enforcement operations in Minnesota and elsewhere. She had plenty of unsolicited advice for the Trump administration — from what immigration agents should actually be doing, to how to respond to its shootings of civilians — and for her own party, which she said should give Trump credit for his work on the border.
“Oh, yeah. Yeah. (DHS Secretary Kristi Noem is) clearly is out of her depth,” Napolitano told Politico.
I-vermectin, you-vermectin, we all-vermectin: Republican Rep. Nick Kupper wants Arizonans to be able to get ivermectin without a prescription, Jessica Boehm and Kim Bojorquez report for Axios. Kupper’s HB2007 would allow people to buy the anti-parasite drug that usually is used for livestock but was a fantasy cure during the COVID pandemic. His bill would apply to versions of ivermectin that are formulated for human use.
No, that’s too independent: The newly christened Independent Party is already running into problems with party politics, Capitol scribe Howie Fischer reports. Party leaders want to align behind Hugh Lytle in the governor’s race, but another candidate, Teri Hourihan, says she should get an equal shot at the party’s nomination.
Give our independent journalism outlet an equal shot at competing with Big News by subscribing today.
Hey, I just work here: Republican Sen. John Kavanagh introduced a bill that would crack down on chemtrails, but it’s not because he thinks they’re a problem. He says it’s just that so many of his constituents are concerned about chemtrails and he wants to “put their minds to rest,” Bob Christie reports for Capitol Media Services. Meanwhile, Republican Rep. David Farnsworth has a bill targeting chemicals in the atmosphere and another that would set up a state licensing system for weather modification activities.
In other, other news
Republican Rep. David Livingston wants to make it a state crime for people without legal status to drive a big rig, even though states don’t have authority over immigration laws (Gloria Rebecca Gomez / Arizona Mirror) … Gov. Katie Hobbs and the Department of Revenue are contradicting each other as state officials try to make Arizona’s tax forms match requirements from the Big Beautiful Bill (Howie Fischer / Capitol Media Services) … A fire captain in Mesa is about to get fired after he allegedly drove drunk and killed the father of five kids in New Mexico (Cecilia Chan / East Valley Tribune) … And the mystery surrounding the suspension of the Scottsdale mayor’s chief of staff grew after the city essentially put him on house arrest, without clarifying what he’s accused of doing (Tom Scanlon / Scottsdale Progress).
Republican Sen. Jake Hoffman — the same asshole who has singlehandedly blocked legislation to create a monument honoring murdered Arizona investigative journalist Don Bolles for three years straight — has finally seen the light.
Or, more accurately, he saw a way to own the libs and prove, once again, what a cheap politician he is.
Yesterday, he introduced his own bill to allow a monument to Bolles on the Capitol lawn — a project we started back in 2023.
But, of course, there’s a catch.
Hoffman’s bill would also allow the creation of a monument to honor Charlie Kirk at the Capitol lawn.
Which, OK. Sure. Why not?
But the fact that it renames the entire Capitol lawn from the Wesley Bolin Plaza to the “Wesley Bolin and Charlie Kirk Freedom Plaza” is a bit much.
The fact is, Hoffman didn’t write this bill to honor anyone.
He’s an angry little man with far too much power in his little domain, and now he’s using the names of the dead as ransom notes.
But yeah — what the hell? We’ll back it.
Now let’s see if, unlike everything else he sponsors, he can actually get this one signed into law.