Two Gilbert councilmembers called for an investigation into how four Gilbert councilmembers-elect released a joint letter on July 29 calling for hundreds of millions of dollars of cuts to town spending.
Councilmembers Chuck Bongiovanni and Jim Torgeson, both of whom lost their re-election bid to the four, questioned how the letter came about and if it was legal. Torgeson, in a Facebook post on July 30, accused the quartet of “coordinating behind closed doors as a future governing majority before assuming office.”
He wrote, "Sadly, the incoming councilmembers are beginning their era with an investigation of ethical and legal violations."
Bongiovanni wrote to the quartet in a text message later shared with The Republic that he was asking "the town
for an outside council investigation to protect the town from any wrongdoing that could have occurred."
Bongiovanni believed the four incoming members could have broken the law.
Three members who signed the letter did not immediately respond to a request for comment. One, Bill Spence, chose not to comment.
But the town attorney reviewed the claims and "determined that an investigation is not warranted," said Joanna Guzman, a spokesperson for Gilbert, in a statement.
Separately, representatives for two state agencies said open meeting laws don't apply until elected members are sworn in.
Arizona's open meeting law applies to "public bodies," not the individual members, according to Nick Bacon, an attorney with the Arizona Ombudsman-Citizens’ Aide.
"That means that a group of members-elect who have not taken office could meet without violating the OML because they are meeting as individuals, not as members of the public body," he wrote.
The Arizona Attorney General's Office, which is in charge of investigating open meeting law complaints, reached a similar conclusion.
"Each case is fact-dependent but, generally speaking, if newly elected candidates just met to discuss priorities and not specific votes, it’s unlikely a violation of open meeting law," said Richie Taylor, a spokesperson for the office.
The current council has also been at the center of its own controversies, including code-of-conduct complaints. Torgeson was the focus of one complaint that led to a domino effect of ethics complaints in the summer of 2023. Bongiovanni tried to discredit an Arizona Republic investigation by falsely saying a reporter had a personal "history" with the Gilbert Police Department in 2024.
The four Gilbert councilmembers-elect vowed in their July 29 letter to usher in a new era for the town by targeting at least $478 million in spending and restoring trust in Town Hall.
Voters in the Town Council elections dumped three incumbent councilmembers, including Torgeson and Bongiovanni. Another chose not to run for reelection. Residents sent the message for a change after four years of political turmoil over utility rates, police investigations and transparency.
The results of the July 21 primary mean the four winning challengers, Spence, Beth Golden, Joel Coen and Bus Obayomi, constitute a voting majority block when the new council takes office Jan. 5.
“Our objectives are ambitious and bold, but this is what you have asked us to do, and we enthusiastically accept the challenge,” they said in their joint letter.
Gilbert was scheduled to canvass the results on Aug. 4.
Targeting park projects
The four incoming councilmembers targeted a series of programs they said would result in "a savings of more than $478 million for taxpayers."
They demanded an “immediate moratorium on all non-critical spending.”
The joint release stated they requested the town to indefinitely pause spending on park projects, including Phase 2 of Gilbert Regional Park, the Freestone Pickleball Complex and Splash Pads, Desert Sky Park and the Riparian Education Center.
The town clarified Phase 2 of Gilbert Regional Park was already paused following the current council’s spring financial retreat in March, four months before the election.
Bongiovanni and Torgeson also denounced the incoming members for taking credit for pausing spending on the Gilbert Regional Park.
Torgeson wrote, "This isn't about who gets credit for pausing a project. It's about respecting the public process. Policy should be debated by the elected council in properly noticed public meetings, not decided behind closed doors and then announced as a political victory."
Utility rate reviews
Rising water, trash and sewer utility rates were a major theme of the election campaign.
The town’s water rate increases and a poor rollout of a new billing service drove residents to demand answers in October. Residential water bills increased by 100% over three years. The rate increase was part of an aggressive three-tiered water rate increase plan that the town said it needed to grapple with aging infrastructure and cost escalations.
The letter stated the four were “committed to exploring every possible option to alleviate the financial burden imposed on homeowners.”
That included demanding a detailed review of base utility rates, tiered rates and fees.
The four stated they wanted critical data to develop “fairer and more equitable utility rates.”
'Opportunities' for Gilbert police
Trust in Gilbert police has been fractured since 2023 over how it handled the Gilbert Goons investigation.
In their statement, the four freshman councilmembers said they “identified opportunities to provide our rank-and-file officers with the personnel, equipment, training, and world-class leadership they need to strengthen the department.”
Details remained vague about what opportunities were identified.
How is Gilbert Town Hall responding?
Guzman said town officials were looking forward to working with the new members once they were sworn in.
"They can begin making policy decisions on behalf of the community,” she said.
The town will rely on the guidance of the current Town Council through the remainder of the year, she wrote.
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Reporter Maritza Dominguez, who covers Mesa, Gilbert and Queen Creek, can be reached at maritza.dominguez@arizonarepublic.com or 480-271-0646. Follow her on X, formerly Twitter: @maritzacdom.
This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Ousted Gilbert councilmembers call for probe of their victors' actions
