EL MIRAGE, Ariz. — The El Mirage City Council is now stacked with newly-elected council members who have one thing in common: they all oppose new city buildings that their opponents approved.
Voters struck down a bond measure in 2023 that would have expanded city hall and the police department, as well as built a new fire station and city court building.
Residents were incensed when, months later, the city council voted to approve buying a plot of land the city said was for the city's "future growth needs," and placed two of those projects in the city's capital improvement budget.
That led to a contentious council meeting with council member Anita Nortan-McDaniel speaking out against the projects and the newly-purchased land. Norton-McDaniel said the land had been previously earmarked for the bond projects.
The capital improvement budget was fully funded already, but residents said that wasn't the point; they didn't want the new buildings and they didn't care how they were paid for.
"We defeated the bond and they're still trying to do that construction," newly-elected council member Ryan Eldridge said.
That, he said, was one of the main reasons he decided to run for office. Eldridge, along with Jacqueline Parsons and Scottie Gentry, all opposed the new city buildings, regardless of funding source.
"The projects that we said no to, they're literally doing them," Parsons said.
Parsons, Eldridge and Gentry all ran as a united ticket, under the name "Residents First." The main plank in their platform was ending what they saw as "wasteful spending," namely the city building projects.
On July 30, all three won election to the city council.
Council members Roy Delgado, Robert Jones and David Shapera were all voted out. None agreed to an interview with 12News Monday.
The three new council members are due to be sworn in Dec. 3.