Gilbert council pushes back after barrage of accusations from residents 

By Tom Blodgett
Mail |
X: @sp_blodgett

The chief critics of Gilbert and town council came out firing accusations during public comment Nov. 18, as speaker after speaker leveled charges of corruption, retaliation, mismanagement and misconduct at council and senior staff. 

But in a break from the norm, council members fired back at the close of the “communications from citizens” period. 

For nearly 40 minutes, 10 residents approached the podium with sharply worded complaints about water rates, public-records practices, police staffing history, alleged retaliation against volunteers and the handling of juvenile crime cases. 

One of the first to speak, Dave Rosenfeld, criticized his removal from the Veterans Advisory Board during the Oct. 28 meeting.  

“If Councilman (Monte) Lyons had simply stated, ‘I don't like Dave, I don't want him on the board,’ that would've been a valid removal,” Rosenfeld said, referring to the fact town board members serve at the pleasure of council. “It would've been sad, but valid. But Councilman Lyons chose to slander my name by saying that I violated the code of conduct, and that is simply not true.”  

He went on to reference previous meetings. 

“Our neighbors during comments from citizens called out the town manager for leadership failures, the town clerk for illegally creating policies resulting in records deletions, the chiefs of police and fire for actions they've taken, this town council in its entirety for conspiracy, misconduct, harassment, stalking, corruption, retaliation, incompetence, spying on employees, release of private records and withholding public records.”  

Lyons, once given a chance to respond, focused heavily on the cost of producing public-records requests.  

 “The documents that Mr. Rosenfeld requested originally in his request was over 800,000 documents,” he said. “That's not pages, that's documents. 

“At $50 an hour with 10 hours each, that's $2.5 million. That is conservative cost this town for a fishing expedition.” 

Lyons also addressed his earlier conflict with Rosenfeld over the Veterans Advisory Board. 

“You were given the opportunity,” he said of his request that Rosenfeld resign quietly. “You chose not to do that.  

“The reason I'm responding to this, Dave, is because it grieved me deeply to be able to do this (call for his removal in public). However, you made a very good case tonight that I should not have been worried about it, that I made the right choice.” 

Resident Darrell Grossen, who said he had spent extensive time analyzing water-rate data, delivered a lengthy critique of the town’s rate structure and communication.  

“The rate rollout was a complete failure,” he said. “Staff understated its increases by claiming only minor changes. The reality is that the total expense to residents, both base rates and water-usage rates, have more than doubled in four years. 

“Town credibility is at an all-time low," Grossen continued. "Stop blaming past leadership, stop misrepresenting facts on social media and stop accruing excessive salary increases while the public struggles.” 

Former Councilmember Bill Spence focused on past police staffing practices and said the town had pushed what he believed was an “unlawful policy” that distorted response-time data.  

“The creation of a ‘Priority Zero’ reporting category lowered GPD’s report response time from six minutes, 31 seconds down to four minutes and artificially lowered the police man requirements simply by manipulating the numbers,” he said, adding such fudging of numbers resulted in the police force being undersized for the town’s population. 

He closed by demanding an outside law-enforcement investigation. 

“Failure to do so would make this entire council complicit in the conspiracy to cover up misconduct from what may be the biggest scandal in the history of our town,” he said. 

Councilmember Kenny Buckland was the first council member to push back immediately after the final speaker sat down, and Town Attorney Chris Payne confirmed members could respond. Buckland addressed Spence’s allegations.  

“We (Spence and Buckland) did have a conversation last year about public records,” he said. “He expressed some concerns to me, showed me what he thought was evidence that our policy was inaccurate. As any council member should do, (I) followed up with legal and confirmed that we are following the law. 

“Whether you agree or not, I'm convinced, and I'm satisfied," Buckland continued. "As a matter of fact, I encourage Mr. Spencer — there's a process called litigation that he has the right to if he believes that we are not following the law — I encouraged you to take legal action against us because I honor your rights to do that.” 

  Another resident, Maureen Hoppe, who in 2023 filed an ethics complaint against Councilmember Jim Torgeson and Vice Mayor Bobbi Buchli that was later dismissed, accused multiple officials of misconduct and the town attorney of withholding records.  

“I have obtained records that show that the town attorney withheld evidence from investigators,” she said, holding out a stack of paperwork. “This optic of ‘you scratch my back and I’ll scratch yours’ smells like a dead carp.” 

Several speakers also raised concerns about public-records retention. Charisia Arnold accused the town of destroying records linked to her daughter’s assault case. 

“I have obtained records that show at the direction of the town manager’s office the town of Gilbert is actively engaging in unlawful conduct by concealing and destroying public records,” she said. 

“One way or another, the town will be investigated, and the truth will be revealed, and you are currently on the wrong side of history," Arnold said.

Councilmember Jim Torgeson turned his response toward Jeni Jones, mother of a juvenile-crime victim, who had said council members misrepresented her previous comments and asked for more transparency. 

“You have a very concerning situation that I wouldn't diminish,” he told her.  

He said his previous public use of the word “silly” — which she criticized — had been misunderstood. 

“The comment ‘silly’ was not directed to you,” he said. “The comment ‘silly’ was directed at the thought that Chris Payne would risk his entire career to cover up a nephew.” 

Finally, Councilmember Chuck Bongiovanni addressed the recurring accusations of corruption.  

“God, we hear ‘corruption, corruption, corruption’ all the time,” he said. “If you tell a lie enough, people will believe you. If you say that this council’s corrupt enough, people will believe you.” 

He said if people have actual evidence, rather than a gut feeling, they should take it to the Attorney General’s Office for investigation. 

“There is nothing to hide … just because you claim it's corrupt doesn't make it so.” 

Please submit comments at yourvalley.net/letters or email them to AzOpinions@iniusa.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. 

Tom Blodgett
Senior News Editor | Gilbert

tblodgett@iniusa.org

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).