By Gary Shapiro | Point of View
Five decades ago, Mayor Sam Campana and I were classmates in Class 5 of Valley Leadership. We loved the program. At one point, Sam said to me, “Scottsdale needs a program like this, and we can do even better.”
So, we started work on creating Scottsdale Leadership. We brought on Chamber of Commerce leader and banking executive Don Ruff and the most famous Artichoke of all time, Dr. Arthur DeCabooter, president of Scottsdale Community College.
Don and Sam are still serving us, but Art died in 2019, and our community misses him very much.
We also brought on the Scottsdale Area Chamber of Commerce, Scottsdale Community College, the city of Scottsdale, and the Scottsdale Unified School District as our founding sponsors and stakeholders.
On Dec. 13th, Scottsdale Leadership will honor four members from our community for their leadership impact at their 24th annual awards luncheon.
Congratulations go to Drinkwater honoree Peter Rusin, Hodges honoree Brian Bednar, Jenkins honoree and high school senior Brick Shultz, and Erica Tatum Sheade, as our first Frances Young Trailblazer honoree through a partnership with The Women’s Collective.
As time marches on, the history and background of Scottsdale Leadership, along with the names associated with the awards, deserves to be refreshed.
We celebrate our history yet fewer and fewer people at upcoming luncheons or functions may have actually known Herb Drinkwater, Frank Hodges, Bill Jenkins, or Frances Young.
Herb Drinkwater is undoubtedly our most famous and revered Mayor. He served our community from 1970 to 1996 and as our Mayor for four terms.
Like Scottsdale Leadership’s mantra of promoting and championing civil discourse, Herb was the ultimate consensus builder. He worked hard to attain a 96% voter approval rating but was always chasing the remaining 4% encouraging them to get involved, join the team, and make a difference.
“Mr. Scottsdale,” as he was known, died in 1997 at the age of sixty-one.
Frank Hodges was a member of Class One of Scottsdale Leadership. He was the Fire Chief at Rural Metro, Scottsdale’s then fire department.
Members of Class One of Scottsdale Leadership were hand selected to participate. There was no application process for the fledgling organization at the time.
Frank was a natural choice, not only because of his role as chief, but due to his infectious smile and proven leadership skills.
Frank Hodges was and continues to be the poster child for servant leadership. He lit up the room when he walked in and made things happen without looking for recognition or credit.
Sadly, we lost Frank in a tragic automobile accident in 1990, but we continue to honor his legacy.
Bill Jenkins was a modest and unassuming gentleman. He was a popular history, government, and economics teacher for the Scottsdale Unified School District starting in the late 1950s. He was first elected to the City Council in 1966 and served as Scottsdale’s Mayor from 1974 to 1980.
What made him different, as former City Council Person Diane Cusack said, was that Bill was a perfect gentleman at all times. He was the calm hand on the rudder. He was honest and trustworthy.
Bill left us in 2008 but was fortunate to impact thousands of high school students along the way, and he left an indelible mark on our community.
Frances Young was a conscientious and relentless community servant best known for her leadership at Vista Del Camino and the Paiute Center, and her role in advocating and providing for the underserved members of our community. If not for her amazing and unique leadership, our community would be drastically different today.
What made her special was that she was the leader behind the scenes galvanizing everyone else. She didn’t look for the spotlight or any recognition. Yet, if something good was happening in Scottsdale as early as 1963, you could bet Frances was involved.
Frances died in 2009. Her legacy lives on through the new award in her memory designed to shine a light on emerging leaders in our community in contrast to the other three awards for long-time leaders.
What do Herb, Frank, Bill, and Frances have in common? What can Scottsdale Leadership and our community at large learn from these giants? Why should today and tomorrow’s honorees rejoice in being part of their legacy?
Our beloved community leader and wisdom keeper Paul Messinger once said there’s always a group of independently minded elected officials. However, in the good old days, after each vote, whether we found ourselves on the losing or winning side of an issue, we all knuckled down and did what was right for the future of our community.
Herb, Frank, Bill, and Frances were diplomats and statesmen. They were wisdom keepers. They all rose to the occasion and inspired us.
Lots of organizations have awards. We should all appreciate the “Dudley Do-Rights” of our world. In my mind, the awards named after Herb Drinkwater, Frank Hodes, Bill Jenkins, and Frances Young are the gold standard for Scottsdale.
The mission of Scottsdale Leadership is probably more important today than ever. We started with a belief that we could do things better and we continue to deliver. Kudos to our more than 1,400 graduates making a difference in Arizona every day.
