Gilbert Town Council will take a look at its public records system in a study session Tuesday.
The agenda calls for council to hear and discuss issues related to costs, process, limitations and allowable options by statute.
Gilbert, which uses a software system called JustFOIA to fulfill requests, has been nearly ovwhelmed the past couple years with public-records requests as JustFOIA officials have told the town it receives more requests than any other system, including the city of Chicago.
Some council members have indicated the system is being used to harass them while some residents complain the town is slow in fulfilling requests. Those requests have sometimes come from people involved in criminal investigation who struggle to get information related to their cases.
The study session is set for 5 p.m., an hour and a half before the council’s first regular meeting in a month. Student Citizen of the Month awards are scheduled to be handed out at 6 p.m.
At the council’s regular meeting, it will take up in public hearing a request for a minor general plan amendment and rezoning to accommodate the multifamily development of Modera Gabriella Pointe near Higley and Warner roads.
The request was tabled last month as staff recommended denial of the request. Town documents provided to council members in preparation for the meeting indicate the developer wants higher densities for the development, which staff and the Gilbert Planning Commission do not support.
Also on the agenda is a minor town code change that would allow the town to send public nuisance complaints via first-class mail as opposed to certified mail.
On the consent agenda are agreements with Gilbert Public Schools and Higley Unified School District to provide three school resource officers to each district, plus “mini-grants” for school safety programs at eight schools in town between the two districts.
We would like to invite our readers to submit their civil comments, pro or con, on this issue. Email AZOpinions@iniusa.org. Tom Blodgett can be reached by email at tblodgett@iniusa.org or follow him @sp_blodgett on X.
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).
Gilbert Town Council,
study session,
public-records requests,
Modera Gabriella Pointe,
school resource officers,
Higley Unified School District,
Gilbert Public Schools
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