(GILBERT, AZ.) – To mark the start of the new year, the Town of Gilbert has elected councilman Chuck Bongiovanni as Vice Mayor.
The first named nominee for Vice Mayor, Bongiovanni was welcomed by the council immediately thereafter, and led the public comment section in former Vice Mayor Bobbi Buchli’s place.
In an emailed statement following a request for comment from OpGov.ai, Bongiovanni says, "My goal this year is to balance residents' First Amendment rights with community civility. Residents have found that the more they actually work with us vs against us is the place where we see solutions together. I'm going to be fair but strong when I need to be."
The town council meeting on Jan. 6 seemingly brought forth change and resolution, as resident speakers came forward to share new ideas and restate their intentions.
Bongiovanni’s first proclamation as Vice Mayor was in the name of human trafficking awareness, declaring January 2026 as Anti-Human Trafficking Month in collaboration with the Not in Our City movement. The Maricopa County Attorney’s Office attended in support of the proclamation.
Photo Credit: Teri Tracy
Other speakers, including Arizona resident Daniel Perkinson, spoke in support of the anti-human trafficking movement and offered his thoughts on the matter of child trafficking.
“I just want to be a voice of connection in our town ...there is so much disconnection in our households, “ he states, “If anybody has gone to the Go Gilbert community page, there is a lot of disconnect.”
Perkinson builds on his statement that deceit and lies are the source of disconnect in homes.
Lisa Marie, an Idaho resident doing business in Gilbert, came to share her message with the council and residents of the town about the state of the world and the country, which she calls a “dire situation.”
“We have over a thousand children missing a day”, she cites from FBI statistics, “I have spent my life fighting for children … I do not live here, but I would like to give my heart, because I am so proud of Gilbert, Arizona.”
Highland High School Sophomore Andrew Binch spoke on the same matter, sharing his disbelief at the number of children who go missing every day.
Photo Credit: Teri Tracy
“Some of my friends will never be the same, and that’s a really big problem for me,” he shares, “I just want to know that there are better ways we can handle this type of situation.”
Others, particularly return resident speakers, remain focused on the water crisis. Residents Darrell Grossen and Bill Spence continue their campaigns to end the water rate increases, while Spence offers a set of ideas backed by data to the council for their consideration.
Spence’s comment includes a rate proposal for home farms, allowing them to pay the same rates as residential businesses.
“I will provide my research and together, we can do something really good for the town,” Spence proclaims.
Photo Credit: YouTube
Councilman Torgeson took a moment after the public comment section to thank Spence for his helpful dialogue, reassuring him that his idea has also been considered by the council, and is currently under development for the sake of helping small farms cope with rising water costs.
Other resident speakers raised further questions about corruption on the council, though a written statement from new vice mayor Bongiovanni was decidedly unfit for presentation at the moment after a brief intermission between Bongiovanni and the town’s attorney.
Follow along for more information about tonight’s meeting, and if you have anything to add to or correct in this report, please contact me at tracy.t@lead4earth.org.
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