October 2015
Relentlessly local coverage of Gilbert and our neighboring communities
The Bills hit the field
Team joins a new league in a new season. See page 14.
Voters will decide bonds, override for schools
Town studying downtown parking plans
BY KEN ABRAMCZYK
BY KENNETH LAFAVE
Voters registered in the Gilbert Public Schools district will decide in an allmail election Tuesday, Nov. 3, whether to approve a 10 percent maintenance and operations budget override and $98 million in bonds. An override approved in 2007 expired at the end of the 2014-15 school year, so GPS officials are asking voters to approve the bonds for capital expenditures in two separate ballot questions. The owner of a home valued at $170,000—the average assessed value in the district—would pay between $364 to $399 in property taxes in fiscal year 2017, if voters approved the override and the bonds. Because the previous override has see OVERRIDE page 7
Downtown Gilbert has grown—and grown up. Restaurants and entertainment venues crowd the space that 10 years ago was a deserted stretch of rust and empty buildings. Not only is the Town of Gilbert’s Heritage District a busy place for locals, it’s a hip destination for people from all over the East Valley. The area around Gilbert Road north of Elliot Road is home to 52 commercial properties and a new university campus. Thousands of people in cars enter and exit the district every day in search of food, shopping, education, work and diversion, and that means one thing: A potential parking nightmare. see PARKING page 10
4 Community 16 Neighbors 23 Business 26 Neighborhood Map
More on-street parking could be created in downtown Gilbert by converting the outside lanes of Gilbert Road to parallel parking. Submitted photo
31 Youth 41 Spirituality 44 Arts 49 Opinion
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