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An edition of the East Valley Tribune
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This Week
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NEWS ........................... 20
Chandler home market cooling slower than other cities.
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August 7, 2022
Hartke, Orlando, Poston, Encinas win BY KEN SAIN
Arizonan Managing Editor
I
t’s unknown how much the push for a non-discrimination ordinance to protect Chandler’s LGBTQ+ community played in last week’s election, but the outcome likely assures that Chandler will adopt that ordinance in the near future. The candidates who won the election the �ive-way race for three City Council seats according to unof�icial results – incumbent Matt Orlando and newcomers Jane Poston and Angel Encinas – have all shown strong support for such measure. And while Mayor Kevin Hartke won a second term by a huge margin over challenger Ruth Jones, his opposition to a non-discrimination law will put him in a minority on the
seven-member council as of January, when the winners take their seats. “I had a couple of people come up and tell me that’s why they voted for me, so I know that it’s a contributing factor,” Poston said. “We did hear about the NDO, and most people were very understanding and positive about it.” The last time Council considered an NDO, it failed on a 5-to-2 vote, with Orlando and Councilman OD Harris backing it. Poston suggested the current council would adopt a non-discrimination ordinance since the �ive opponents can see where things are heading. “I would think that would be the best result possible,” she said. “There is value in having the Council move forward together in the right direction. It’s a positive move
for us as a community, and what’s more, it is something our businesses want.” Orlando in January will begin his sixth term on Council after capturing 27% of the vote, followed by Poston with 21% and Encinas with 20%. Candidates Darla Gonzalez got 18% and Shifa Farhana 14%. Hartke won by a 77-to-23% margin. “I feel honored that our Chandler voters have trusted me with another term,” Hartke said. “Chandler is the best run city in Arizona, I got great name recognition, and a great track record.” Poston was buoyed by her victory. “It’s been nine months of enormous amounts of work,” she said. “I felt like I did everything I could, so no matter what hap-
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Local food banks see rising need, falling help BY KEN SAIN
Arizonan Managing Editor
GETOUT ................. 33XX
Young Chandler thespians in big musical reprise.
COMMUNITY ............................. 24
BUSINESS ..................................... 29
GET OUT ....................................... 33 CLASSIFIEDS ................................ 36
O
rganizers say that even in the best of times, feeding those in need is a challenge. And these are not the best of times. Chandler’s leading food banks say demand is up, and donations are down. “Yeah, things have de�initely increased,” said Mike Dippre, who is the operations director at Matthew’s Crossing Food Bank. “We just went to, we were once a month service before COVID. “We went to once a week service during COVID, and we just switched back to twice a month on July 1 just to try and control our quantities of food that we’re handing out.” Dippre said even with that restriction, they are averaging handing out groceries to
Volunteer Carol Anderson organizes and creates boxes of food to send out at Matthews Crossing Food Bank in Chandler. (David Minton/Arizonan Staff Photographer) about 110 families a day. And the number is going up. “And believe it or not, doing it every two
weeks, we’ve given out more food this
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