Legislative debate
Ex Higley teacher busted
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An edition of the East Valley Tribune
INSIDE
This Week
COMMUNITY......... 16 Gilbert teen’s AI project wins big.
FREE ($1 OUTSIDE OF GILBERT) | GilbertSunNews.com
Sunday, June 19, 2022
Council approves 69% annual budget increase BY CECILIA CHAN GSN Managing Editor
G
ilbert residents will see more shade structures at Cosmo Dog Park, road repairs, 12 new traffic signals and more police and firefighters when the Town’s $1.7 billion spending plan takes effect July 1. Council on June 14 approved the Fiscal Year 2023 budget and set the secondary property tax levy at $29.6 million last week on a 5-2 vote. No one from the public spoke. The bulk – or $1.05 billion – of the new budget, which is 69% higher than the previous fiscal year budget, is going to capital im-
provement projects such as building a bridge to connect Ocotillo Road and the reconstruction of the North Water Treatment Plant, the largest capital project in Gilbert’s history. The remaining $620 million will go to areas like the General Fund, Enterprise Fund and debt service. With 15,000 residents moving into Gilbert over the past two years, the budget includes hiring 79 employees, mostly in public safety – 24 cops and 19 firefighters. The funding for all the new positions totaled $10.4 million. “I want the public to understand as we approve a budget, it’s the maximum – we can’t spend more than that,” Councilwoman Kathy
Tilque said. “But that doesn’t mean we will spend it all. What happens throughout the year is these items come back to council and we prioritize those and we give approval for spending money.” Budget Director Kelly Pfost added that the budget has contingencies that need council approval but that it also provides flexibility to take advantage of opportunities that may come up during the year. “On the capital improvement side, we want to make sure we have the money to back up any of the contracts that we’ve signed and
see BUDGET page 6
It’s dad’s day today, but quads a shared job
REAL ESTATE Sellers still rule, but not as much.
SPORTS..................... 30 EV athlete-mentors help others to next level.
COMMUNITY....................................... 16 BUSINESS.............................................26
SPORTS................................................. 30 GETOUT.................................................33
CLASSIFIEDS....................................... 37
BY ASHLYN ROBINETTE GSN Contributor
T
he moment Nick Strom and his wife, Alison, found out they were having quadruplets, the Gilbert couple knew that their life would change forever. Though they had always wanted four children, they never anticipated having them all at once or foresaw the challenges and joys that would come with raising them. When Nick saw all four of his children — Jack, May, Declan and Charlotte — together in the Nursery Intensive Care Unit at St. Joseph’s Hospital and Medical Center,
it finally hit him: he suddenly was a father of two boys and two girls. “I remember being like, ‘Oh my God, I have four kids… I’m responsible for these four little people,’” he recalled, adding that he felt a combination of relief, excitement and nerves at the time. That December 2016, the Strom babies popped out one after the other, the oldest only four minutes older than the youngest. While the delivery was fast, Alison’s pregnancy wasn’t so simple. When the Stroms discovered they were going to be parents of multiples, they
see QUADS page 8
Nick Strom of Gilbert shares a Father’s Day moment with his four quadruplets, now 5, from left, Declan, Charlotte, May and Jack. (Courtesy of Alison Strom)