GILBERT COUNCIL
Town stuck with narrow representation
The unfortunate fact about last week's election is that the Gilbert Town Council is now, essentially, a democratically elected monarchy. The majority won, and so we should celebrate the democratic process. At the same time, it's hard not to focus on the fact that the majority ultimately voted for a government that operates without debate.
Not only is there no Democratic perspective on the council, but voters made it clear that they weren't even interested in the perspective of more moderate Republicans. In Gilbert, it's clearly tea party or bust.
This kind of narrow representation likely would not have occurred if the city was broken into smaller, more local districts, as is the case in most other Valley municipalities. Ironic, isn't it, that the "party" devoted to local politics is celebrating a win they would not have achieved in Glendale, Phoenix or Mesa - simply because those cities have a mechanism (city districts) that allows for true local representation.
I imagine the new Town Council, considering its ideological allegiance to local government, will make sure to address this issue before the next election.
Michael Stevens, Mesa
Accuracy posted at 9:57 am on Wed, May 25, 2011.
“In Gilbert, it's clearly tea party or bust.”
Better yet, “A look at the new personnel suggests that Gilbert is poised to move right” in Dan Zeiger's “Gilbert Town Council gets a conservative maker” article today in the Tribune.
Leon Ceniceros posted at 6:32 am on Wed, May 25, 2011.
I may be wrong, but weren't the ..."original" Tea Party-ers complaining about a despotic "Messiah Monarchy" in the East (we don't have to cross the "Pond"...just fly to Washington, D.C. [which is by the way....the...MURDER CAPITAL...of the USA]...lol). The Gilbert voters just got sick and tired of a............Liberal - Progressive - Democrat - tax - and - spend....City Council.
They voted for some...."budget sanity" .........let's hope ...TEA PARTY-ITIS...is catching and Mesa next elections.........CLEANS OUT THE MAYOR AND HIS ..."NODDING HEADS"...CITY COUNCIL.........before any more ...BONDS or HOUSE TAX RATES ARE RAISED............[sad]