Chandler council member: Still likely running for mayor
Lawsuit, charter amendment vote could affect decision to run
Independent Newsmedia file/Jason W. Brooks
Chandler City Council member Matt Orlando speaks at an April event. The two-term council member said he’s still planning to run for mayor in 2026, though he and legal counsel are closely monitoring a charter amendment election and at least one court case as the months go by.
When the Chandler City Council voted 6-1 at a special June 2 meeting to put a batch of proposed new charter language about mayor and council term limits and eligibility on the Nov. 4 ballot for voter approval, it didn’t clarify much for Matt Orlando.
The council member’s second four-year consecutive term on council will end in January 2027. If the ballot measure passes, it appears Orlando would be able to run for mayor in 2026 without what Chandler City Attorney Kelly Schwab calls “ambiguous” language in the text.
“I don’t know,” Orlando said June 3, one day after the council vote, answering whether he’ll be eligible to run for mayor in 2026. “Right now, I’m proceeding as if I’m going to be able to run.”
The wording of the proposed language seems to make it more clear that there’s no prohibition on someone in the last of their eight consecutive years on council from running for mayor without having to resign or take any sort of break in between serving in the two offices.
That’s ambiguous now, with Schwab saying it’s unclear. She was the city’s attorney in 2018 when Kevin Hartke’s two full terms as council ended and he ran successfully for mayor, then easily won re-election in 2022.
First-year Council member Jennifer Hawkins was the lone vote against putting the clarifying language on the ballot in November, making points about how the process seemed rushed and didn’t have public input.
Schwab made a point, in the June 3 special meeting, of saying city legal staff advise staff on election procedures but don’t “advise candidates who are running for office.”
Hartke will reach the end of his 16th year of consecutive mayor and council service in January 2027. A 16-year cap on consecutive council and mayor service is a main component of the ballot measure, which was rewritten extensively, with council input, in between the May 22 and June 2 meetings.
Hartke told the Chandler Independent he has no plans to resign in the next two years nor to seek any city office in 2026.
Orlando is the council member who motioned May 22 to table the proposal to “hash out the language,”
The council also voted — unanimously — to create a city charter amendment resident advisory committee charged with reviewing and identifying potential amendments to the city’s charter. Council is to review volunteer submissions for the nine-person committee during its Thursday, June 12 meeting.
The issues stem from apparent inconsistency within the city’s charter that developed during conversations about Orlando and possibly other current officials running for different offices in 2026.
Orlando said he has already pulled his mayoral candidate paperwork, talking with at least one personal attorney regularly to ensure everything he’s doing is unchallengeable in court.
“I’m going ahead with fundraising and I collected signatures already, waiting to see what happens and being ready to adjust,” Orlando said.
In addition to waiting for Nov. 4 to see if the charter amendment passes, a legal challenge to Hartke’s eligibility to have run for mayor has been filed in Maricopa County Superior Court. The outcome of that case — especially if the charter amendment fails to pass also — will likely affect how or if Orlando proceeds in his bid for mayor.
Ruth Jones, who was easily defeated in the 2022 mayoral election that gave Hartke his second term, spoke at both the May 22 and June 2 meetings, saying the language is clear and Hartke never should have been allowed to run for mayor in 2018 while still serving on council.
A closed executive session to get legal counsel on pending litigation regarding a case the city refers to as Jones v. city of Chandler et al was held just before the June 2 special meeting. The case recently was filed by Jones, who is calling for Hartke to resign immediately.
Orlando pointed out that if a court rules Hartke could not have run in 2018 and been eligible per the current charter, and the charter amendment vote fails, it stands to reason Orlando wouldn’t be eligible to run for mayor in 2026.
“That’s why I’m going to be checking in with my attorney on this,” Orlando said.
Orlando is the only one of the six council members whose second term is up in 2026. Three seats aren’t up until 2028; council members Angel Encinas and Jane Poston would reach the ends of their first terms in 2026.
Jason W. Brooks News Editor | Chandler Independent
Jason W. Brooks joined Independent Newsmedia, Inc., USA, in July 2021 as an associate editor. After a year covering Buckeye, he has covered Chandler since the fall of 2022, in addition to assisting the Daily Independent throughout his time at INI.
Education: University of New Mexico, bachelor of arts in journalism and mass communication, print emphasis, English minor.
Random Fact: He and his siblings witnessed a Space Shuttle launch and landing in the same year in person, on opposite coasts.
Hobbies: Karaoke, bicycling and American Sign Language.
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