A NIMBY article that I thought was interesting.
When Worker Power got organized, Valley projects paid a Price. PHOENIX BUSINESS JOURNAL by Greg Barr - June 18, 2026
https://www.bizjournals.com/phoenix/news...enddate=2026-06-19&utm_term=ep1&empos=p1
Arizona has spent years cultivating a reputation as one of the most business-friendly states in the nation — becoming a magnet for semiconductor factories, data centers, advanced manufacturing and aerospace facilities, not to mention a surging population to fill thousands of newly created jobs.
But a growing wave of community opposition is testing that identity – with a particular focus on data centers – and raising questions about whether the state’s appetite for growth is beginning to outpace the general public's tolerance for it. Residents and organized groups – notaby a group known as Worker Power – in recent years have mobilized against some of the Valley’s most high-profile development projects, delivering setbacks to companies and developers that once expected smoother paths to approval in the business-friendly state.
While that not-in-my-back-yard opposition seems to be coalescing around data centers these days, other projects have also faced heat in recent years and into 2026.
Just this week, a controversial aluminum recycling project from Indiana-based Aluminum Dynamics Inc. that had been moving full steam ahead in Benson, southeast of Tucson, was abruptly canceled by Aluminum Dynamics' parent company after an uproar from environmentalists that led to area residents recalling three City Council members who had approved the project.
Here's a quick look back at a few high-profile cases around the Valley in the past few years when Worker Power began to flex its collective muscles in order to sway public sentiment:
Arizona Coyotes hockey arena
The Arizona Coyotes, the beleaguered pro hockey team that struggled for decades amid myriad ownership changes and questionable business decisions, put together a plan in 2022 that would completely reverse its fortunes. After getting buy-in from the city of Tempe, the team pursued a voter referendum in May 2023 to allow it to oversee construction of a $2.3 billion arena and entertainment complex on a 46-acre site on a former city landfill.
National Hockey League Commissioner Gary Bettman visited Tempe more than once in the run-up to the vote to express his optimism and support the efforts of majority team owner Alex Meruelo. What the team didn't see coming, though, was a well-organized group known as Worker Power that mounted a strong grass-roots campaign based on opposition to tax breaks associated with the project that ended up defeating the measures on the ballot.
Team officials were visibly stunned after showing up at what was supposed to be a victory party on the night of the referendum vote. After one more half-hearted attempt to work out a deal to build an arena in north Phoenix, Meruelo ended up taking his consolation prize – $1 billion – when Bettman ordered him to sell the team to a Utah businessman in 2024.
VAI Resort
The billion-dollar VAI Resort in Glendale was unveiled in 2019, but it saw almost-immediate ownership changes amid myriad lawsuits and had its own run-ins with Worker Power. The opposition first appeared in 2023 when Worker Power filed suit against the city of Glendale over incentives being offered to the developer, VAI Resort LLC. Worker Power later withdrew the suit when the city removed the incentives from the development agreement.
Worker Power wasn't quite finished. The group was able to get enough signatures to get a $20 minimum wage initiative for hotel and event workers on Glendale’s November 2024 ballot. Although the initiative failed at the ballot box, Worker Power poured a lot of money into another election in 2025 where voters ended up being split on measures related to rezoning and adoption of a revised development agreement.
Meanwhile, nearly four years after the massive project's first completion target date of December 2022, VAI Resort is still not open.
Axon headquarters
Axon Enterprise’s bid to build a mixed-use headquarters campus in Scottsdale has had innumerable twists, turns and roadblocks. The company, one of Arizona’s most prominent publicly traded firms, proposed 1,900 apartments as part of its corporate campus, only to face fierce community resistance. Scottsdale City Council initially approved the project in November 2024, but an initiative petition effort kicked off a chaotic 2025 marked by lawsuits, Council infighting and a new state law designed to clear the path forward for Axon's $1.3 billion headquarters complex.
Axon publicly blamed Worker Power for driving opposition that was spearheaded by Scottsdale resident Bob Littlefield, the head of a group known as Taxpayers Against Awful Apartment Zoning Exceptions (TAAAZE).
Read more in this special report: Amid pushback from cities and citizens, where does the data center industry go from here?
A compromise was reached in November 2025 between Axon and Scottsdale officials that reduced the number of housing units to be built on the campus to 1,200. A pair of lawsuits were filed by TAAAZE in the wake of that compromise. The first, filed last September against the state of Arizona and the city of Scottsdale, challenges the constitutionality of the Axon bill. TAAAZE's motion for a preliminary and permanent injunction was denied in May, though Scottsdale has also been enjoined from issuing any permits to Axon for the time being. TAAAZE filed a notice of appeal in early June.
The second suit from TAAAZE was filed against Axon and the city of Scottsdale, related to the November compromise. A status update was held on June 10, though the case has been stayed pending a ruling in the lawsuit challenging the Axon bill.
For its part, Worker Power has denied that its involvement in the Axon campaign was improper. The group's stated concerns center on equity and corporate accountability, but critics, including developers and business advocates, argue its efforts are more about expanding union influence than addressing zoning or environmental concerns.
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