The Gilbert Town Council accepted the canvass Aug. 18 for the council’s primary election, making the results official, but it was not unanimous.
The typically routine administrative procedure passed on a 5-1 vote with Council Member Laurin Hendrix voting in dissent. Vice Mayor Aimee Yentes was absent from the special meeting, which was held at the Gilbert Fire and Rescue Administration building auditorium.
Hendrix did not comment during the meeting about why he was voting in dissent, but afterward said there were too many questions about the election.
“We had accusations of people stealing signs,” he said. “We had candidates doing the same thing. No one wants to even look into it. Did it influence the election? Did it not? You know, at some point, you’ve got to follow the law.”
Council Member Scott September was accused of tampering with signs on election day at the Southeast Valley Regional Library voting center, but a police report had not been released as of the canvass. September finished seventh in the voting among the nine candidates on the ballot.
Three of the four open seats were filled at the primary with Council Member Yung Koprowski finishing first and earning a full term after serving two years as the appointed replacement to Jordan Ray, who resigned in April 2020 for a successful run at justice of the peace.
Newcomers Jim Torgeson and Chuck Bongiovanni also received enough votes at the Aug. 2 primary to win election.
Each of the elected candidates received certificates of election immediately after the canvass was accepted. They are scheduled to be seated on council in January.
The fourth seat will be decided in a runoff at the Nov. 8 general election between fourth-place finisher Bill Spence and fifth-place finisher Bobbi Buchli.
September and Koprowski, both appointed to fill seats that opened midterm, were the only incumbents on the ballot.
The other seats belong to Yentes and Hendrix. Yentes always intended only to serve one term while Hendrix chose to run for Legislature and won a place on Legislative District 14 ballot for state House of Representatives as a Republican nominee.
Tom Blodgett Senior News Editor | Gilbert @sp_blodgett
Meet Tom Tom Blodgett joined Independent Newsmedia, Inc., USA, in 2022, when the company acquired Community Impact Newspaper's Phoenix-area properties. Raised in Arizona, he has spent more than 35 years in journalism in the state.
Community: He has served as an instructional professional in the Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication since 2005, and is editorial adviser to The State Press, the university's independent student media outlet. He also is director of operations for an 18U girls fastpitch softball team from Gilbert.
Education: Arizona State University with a BS in Journalism.
Random Fact: He lived in Belgium during his freshman year of high school.
Hobbies: Tweeting enthusiastically about ASU softball (season-ticket holder) and grumpily about other local sports (pessimistic fan).
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