Exclusivity leads to image problem for 'Snottsdale'

Then came the reality television show about a local women's book club where members spend almost no time delving into fine literature but endless hours discussing Botox, marrying for money and the latest fashions.

Soon after began the headlines about America's most famous porn queen buying a Scottsdale strip club and the city's rapid response: an ordinance that would prohibit dancers from being closer than 4 feet from clients.

"It has been a pretty interesting few months around here," said Rick Kidder, the president of the Scottsdale Area Chamber of Commerce.

That's putting it mildly.

Let's back up. Scottsdale is a high-dollar, high-society oasis that has spent the better part of the last decade promoting itself as the most exclusive ZIP code east of the San Andreas Fault line, a strategy that proved successful when a national publication christened it the "Beverly Hills of the Desert."

People with homes here include sports greats Phil Mickelson, Charles Barkley and Wayne Gretzky; stars Vince Vaughn and Jessica Simpson; and music legends Rod Stewart and Stevie Nicks. Sen. John McCain and former Vice President Dan Quayle also live here. Median home values in this conservative city are $1.1 million, with many priced at more than $10 million.

Because image is not something taken lightly here, the cringe factor was high when MTV's "My Super Sweet 16" featured a Scottsdale teenager.

The episode, which aired in April, showed Marc and K.K. Dubowy spending more than $50,000 on daughter Marissa Leigh's birthday party.

Marissa's party had bouncers and a $3,200 cake. She got two cars for presents (one being a "weekend" car), had three outfit changes throughout the event (one was a $5,000 dress) and had her pet poodles dyed pink to match the party's theme color. Marissa and her friends were so universally detested by viewers that a new Scottsdale moniker stuck: "Snottsdale."

"Ugggggh," said Kidder, clearly pained. "Suddenly that's what we're famous for. I'd much rather be known for all the other things we have going for us: the Phoenix Open, the Arabian Horse Show, beautiful desert mountains."

Indeed, Scottsdale may have some of the best golfing in the world and breathtaking scenery, but that's not what is earning it publicity these days — much to the chagrin of people like Kidder who have been involved in burnishing the city's image as a place of impeccable taste and traditional values.

Unfortunately for such people, it turned out that MTV's show was only the first of the year to earn Scottsdale unwanted fame. Last month, CBS debuted "Tuesday Night Book Club," a glamour shot of a show. The women meet under the auspices of a book club but the discussions during the first episodes were largely limited to topics as trashy as which local couples participated in wife-swapping.

Feminist groups protested, saying CBS was depicting women as mindless. Offended Scottsdale women wrote letters to the editor.

CBS has already announced that it is pulling the show because of low ratings.

Though Scottsdale City Councilwoman Betty Drake said she wasn't able to bring herself to watch the show, she feels confident saying the depiction isn't representative of the book club to which she and Gov. Janet Napolitano belong. At a recent meeting of that club, Drake said, members read works by poet Seamus Heaney.

Drake, however, says she wasn't the least bit fazed by the show's depiction of Scottsdale's women as shopping-obsessed and plastic surgery-addicted.

"Oh, get over it," she said. "So what if people want to make fun of us? Every city has its own particular brand of strangeness. For some it may be gangs or drugs or troubled youth. We just happen to have some over-Botoxed blondes with oversexed tendencies."

The two reality shows may be fodder for a little debate and a significant amount of eye-rolling in Scottsdale, but the strip club is leading to an all-out brawl. The controversy kicked off when porn star Jenna Jameson, a Scottsdale resident, purchased a local strip club.

The City Council took action fast by drafting Proposition 401 — a measure also called the "S.O.B. ordinance," for sexually explicit businesses. Residents will vote on the ordinance in September.

In recent weeks, church groups and conservatives have come out in favor of Proposition 401. But others accused city officials of being overly moralistic.