Maritza DominguezArizona Republic
Gilbert’s Town Council will have three new council members on the dais in January who could shift the town’s priorities.
Chuck Bongiovanni, Bobbi Buchli and Jim Torgeson are Gilbert’s new council members. The newly elected council members signal a shift toward a call for transparency, and tighter looks at rezoning and developments and transit.
Although the three don't make up a majority, how they work with their counterparts on Gilbert Town Council to get more conservative policies across the finish line is something to watch.
Councilmembers Laurin Hendrix and Amiee Yentes chose not to seek reelection and Councilmember Scott September lost his bid for a seat on Town Council in August.
Gilbert Mayor Brigette Peterson in a statement to The Arizona Republic said, “I look forward to getting to know the three new council members and working together to best serve our residents and the community respectfully and productively. I am committed to supporting each individual council member and the entire council in being successful in their roles within our community.”
Gilbert is one of the nation’s largest towns with an estimated 271,527 population that could max out at around 300,000 when it reaches build-out by 2030. The historically rural town with dairy farms and corn fields has turned into a sprawling residential community with upscale amenities.
Questions over council members' ethics, infighting and resident pushback on developments have plagued the council during the past two years.
The trio wants to rebuild residents' trust in their Town Council.
Council members-elect ask for more transparency
All three also want to improve communication between the residents and town officials. That includes engaging the community early on development projects so residents can weigh in on them.
“I want to see a better notification system to the residents when projects are being presented by developers whether they're residential or commercial,” Buchli said. Too many times Buchli has seen residents disappointed by the lack of outreach from town staff and developers, he said.
The conversations need to happen before the Town Council meeting, she said.
Bongiovanni is on the same page. He said there needs to be a culture change within the town and council on how they approach residents.
“We fail to talk about the why. And when we talk about the how and the what, so much we failed to explain to people why we want to do something and the need for it,” he said.
For Torgeson, he wants to work to regain residents’ trust. Residents want to be heard, he said.
While the three council candidates ran with individual campaigns, it's likely the three could represent a voting bloc. They won’t make a majority but could shape town agendas if the three request to add an item to discuss at a meeting. According to the deputy town clerk, agenda items can be added at the request of the mayor, town manager or three council members.
“It'd be a little easier to get things on the agenda that citizens feel a need to discuss,” Bongiovanni said.
A hard look at town development
Gilbert is expected to reach buildout by 2030, the three new council members are looking ahead at how to shape the town's future.
Both Torgeson and Buchli are against multifamily for various reasons. The two are protective of the remaining land in town. They don’t want to see land zoned for commercial or single-family residential rezoned to high-density apartments.
The pair plan to give rezoning requests a harsher eye. The Town Council has too easily approved rezoning requests for Torgeson’s liking.
Buchli is worried not enough land will be left for job creation opportunities. “We need different types of businesses that are going to give the town … different types of revenues because we need those in order to sustain the town after we have built out,” she said.
Bongiovanni is worried that with more luxury and high-end apartments the town is not creating opportunities for homeownership for younger and older adults.
“We're not really paying attention to the two ends of the spectrum, the younger people and the older seniors in our development,” he said.
Transit a top concern
Gilbert residents narrowly approved a $515 million transportation bond by 164 votes in November 2021. How that money will be used is at the top of the minds for the trio.
Torgeson sued the town to void the election results after the town took down at least 57 of his signs opposing the bond. A judge later threw out the lawsuit. Now Torgeson will have a say on how that money is used.
The future of commuter rail in Gilbert rose to the top of residents' minds when the Town Council reviewed and adopted its transportation master plan in August. The plan outlines recommendations from past transit studies for commuter rail. The Maricopa Association of Governments did an updated study in 2018 that recommends two stations in Gilbert.
It could decades before a commuter rail ever passes through Gilbert.
Residents come out in droves this summer to express disapproval. In September, an ordinance was proposed to limit the town’s ability to use local funds to construct, maintain or operate a commuter rail and light rail.
The ordinance was tabled but is likely to come back to the Town Council with its three new members.
All three councilmembers-elect oppose commuter or light rail coming into the town. Torgeson said there are better models Gilbert could utilize like micro-transit or small buses for public transportation.
Bongiovanni said he doesn’t see people using the service. The disruption to build and maintain a project that size will be too large for the use it would receive, he said. “If someone could show me a huge amount of people using it, then I'll take a serious look at it. But for now, I just don't see the numbers," he said.
Buchli also opposes commuter rail. “I don't think it's good for Gilbert. I don't think it will ever be good for Gilbert and it's just not the place for it,” she said.
Reporter Maritza Dominguez covers Mesa/Gilbert andcan be reached atmaritza.dominguez@arizonarepublic.comor 480-271-0646. Follow her on Twitter@maritzacdom.
