Stay or go? Veteran hopes to keep spot on Gilbert board
Council to consider firing Dave Rosenfeld from Veterans Advisory Board
Independent Newsmedia/Tom Blodgett
Gilbert resident and Veterans Advisory Board member Dave Rosenfeld stands before council in April and accuses some members of retaliating against members of the public who disagree with them.
A simmering conflict between a town veteran and volunteer and at least part of the Gilbert Town Council is coming to a head this week.
The Gilbert Town Council on Tuesday will consider whether to remove local real estate agent and Army veteran Dave Rosenfeld from the town’s Veterans Advisory Board, following months of public conflict between him and several town officials.
Rosenfeld, an original member and former chairperson of the board, has been accused by Councilmember Monte Lyons of violating the town’s code of conduct through “veiled threats, inflammatory language, and public mischaracterizations” while identifying himself as a board member.
In a written statement with the Oct. 14 council agenda, Lyons said Rosenfeld’s behavior “has undermined public trust and the standards of conduct we expect from our appointed officials.”
Lyons, himself a veteran, is the council's liaison to the Veterans Advisory Board. Rosenfeld is now the board's treasurer.
The move follows comments Rosenfeld made during the April 8 “Communications from Citizens” portion of a council meeting, when he accused certain council members and staff of “unethical behavior,” “violations of the Open Meeting Law,” and “noncompliance with the public records law.”
He also said at that meeting that he had filed public records requests under a pseudonym. Rosenfeld sought emails showing Councilmember Jim Torgeson’s desire to remove Rosenfeld from the board.
Slow fulfillment of public records requests as well as the volume of requests from certain members of the public has been an issue over the past two years.
Rosenfeld said he believes the effort to remove him stems from his willingness to challenge town leadership rather than his service on the veterans board.
“All of this has absolutely nothing to do with the VAB,” he said. “I support our town’s veterans, and that’s what I took an oath to do.”
Rosenfeld also accused Torgeson of leading efforts to oust him. Rosenfeld in April had accused Torgeson of targeting him because of his support of previous Mayor Brigette Peterson and social media posts criticizing some stands of Torgeson.
“Jim is a bully,” Rosenfeld said. “And at some point, somebody has to be willing to stand up to a bully or they continue to bully.”
Lyons’ statement indicated he had offered to mediate a conversation between Rosenfeld and the council members he criticized, but Rosenfeld declined.
Rosenfeld confirmed that, saying he “wasn’t willing to sit down in a room with the two of them because then my words can be … my word against theirs.”
Rosenfeld said he plans to speak before the council Tuesday and hopes to complete his term, which ends next summer.
“If five of the seven (council members) think I need to go, then I guess I need to go,” he said.
Please submit comments at yourvalley.net/letters or email them to AzOpinions@iniusua.org. We are committed to publishing a wide variety of reader opinions, as long as they meet our Civility Guidelines. 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).
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