Buckland elected to Gilbert Town Council

Nov. 11—Retired Gilbert Police commander Kenny Buckland will fill the last remaining seat on Town Council after Aaron Accurso conceded today.

Buckland, who jumped to an early lead and kept that as ballots were counted, was not immediately available for comment.

"I would like to congratulate Kenny Buckland on a race well run. While the results were not what I was hoping for, I am grateful that the election was about the issues and policies of our town," Accurso posted on his campaign Facebook site."This campaign has been about putting families first and keeping government in its lane. As we move forward I hope that the new council will keep these things in mind as they lead."

He also thanked his supporters "for all of your help these last 14 months."

"We appreciate you and never anticipated the hundreds of volunteers that surfaced," he wrote.

"Most of all I am grateful for the unwavering support that I have had from my family."

Buckland ran for the council seat hoping to bring back servant leadership to its ranks and hoped to utilize his experience in the town's police force in decision making in Gilbert.

Accurso was running with a family-first focus in the community and wanted to bring a fresh, non-business owner, service-oriented perspective to the council.

Town officials also are breathing a sigh of relief after voters overwhelmingly approved two local propositions that spare them from drastic spending cuts.

Prop 497 asked voters to approve a permanent base adjustment to the state-imposed expenditure limit.

In Arizona, all municipalities are required to stay under the limit regardless of the money in their coffers.

The limit is based on each municipality's spending during the 1979-80 fiscal year and is adjusted every year since by taking into account population growth and inflation.

Voters overwhelmingly supported the proposition, 67.51%-32.49%, to lift the spending cap.

Also winning approval was Prop 498 by a slightly small margin of 55.79%-44.21%. That measure excludes land and building purchases and improvements from the spending limit.

School Races

Among the five candidates in the running for the three four-year terms on the Gilbert Public Schools governing board, Orthodontist and GPS parent Blake Robison was leading with 22.21% of the votes, according to unofficial results.

Following him at 17.53% was state employee and GPS alum Jesse Brainard while Mesa Public School teacher Shana Murray was a close third at 17.47%.

Gilbert Realtor Ann Stevens is in fourth in the race at 15.59% and another state employee and GPS parent, Rose Parker has secured 14.48% votes.

Incumbent board member Ronda Page, who withdrew from the race soon after filing, still got votes, as did the late GPS board president and long-term educator Sheila Rogers-Uggetti.

Page withdrew and Rogers-Uggetti died after ballots already had been printed.

In the Higley Unified board race, incumbent and small business owner Tiffany Shultz was holding her top spot at 18.6%, with public school teacher and former HUSD board member Scott Glover at 17.63%.

In this race, where six candidates are running, holistic health practitioner Sara Jarman, at 17.54%, inched ahead of HUSD parent Kathleen Richards, who stands at 17.42% votes.

Veteran and financial analyst Marc Garcia got 16.75% votes and aviation safety employee Taylor D. Francis was at 12.05%.

In the Chandler Unified board race, voters sent a mixed message.

Two of the three traditional school board candidates — Claudia Mendoza (19.39%) and Barb Mozdzen (16.78%) — appeared headed for new terms while one of the parental rights candidates, Ryan Heap, joined them by scoring the second-highest number of votes, with 18.92%.

The third traditional candidate, Zeyna Pruzhanovsky, slid to fifth place with 15.36% as parental candidate Leanna DeKinggarner 15.57% and parental candidate Eloise Gillespie garnered 13.98%

The parental rights movement emerged a few years ago and is led by conservatives who started running for school boards. Some of them urge the banning of books, and oppose transgender and gay rights proposals and express concerns about racial issues being taught in schools.

County races

The big race for the next District 1 seat on the Maricopa County Board of Supervisors, which covers Gilbert and most of the East Valley, remained a nailbiter.

While former Tempe Councilman Joel Navarro, a Democrat, jumped ahead of termed-out Chandler Councilman Mark Stewart initially, he quickly slipped behind.

Stewart, who defeated incumbent Supervisor Jack Sellers in the Republican primary, was ahead of Navarro 51.74% to 48.26% — a margin of roughly 11,500 votes.

The big winners at the county level were motorists and community college students as a result of overwhelming voter approval of two county propositions.

Prop 479 extends for 20 years the half-cent sales tax to fund road projects and bus service after it passed by a 60%-40% margin.

The tax will generate an estimated $12 billion for transportation projects, including many in Gilbert, and none of the money can be used for light rail.

Also passing by the same margin was the lifting of a spending cap on the Maricopa Community College District, allowing it to spend some $40 million it already has but couldn't use.

Voters also appeared to ensure that Gilbert will have a fully Republican delegation to the state Legislature as the GOP slates handily won in both legislative districts covering the town.

In LD 14, Senate President Warren Petersen maintained a commanding 59.6% of the vote to Democratic challenger Elizabeth Brown's 37.77% while his counterpart in LD 13, Sen. J.D. Mesnard beat back Sharon Winters, 53% to 47%.

In the House races, LD 14 incumbent Rep. Laurin Hendrix, with 43%, and newcomer Khyl Powell, with 40%, smothered Democrat Scott Menor, who garnered only half their percentage of votes.

LD 13 Republicans Rep. Julie Willoughly and returning legislator Jeff Weninger both garnered about 44% of the vote the district covering west Gilbert and south Chandler.

They appeared to defeat Brandy Reese, whom Democrats hoped would succeed Rep. Jennifer Pawlik, who opted against another term. However, Reese's 23.97% margin of votes still kept her within striking district and the race remained too close to call.

Weninger had been a legislator until he quit in 2022 to run for state treasurer in the Republican primary.