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Glendale council votes 4–3 to call Nov. 3 special election on general obligation bonds
Summary
The Glendale City Council on May 26 adopted Resolution R26-59 to order a Nov. 3, 2026 special election asking voters to authorize general obligation bonds payable from secondary ad valorem property taxes after a 4–3 roll-call vote. Council debate focused on timing and voter education.
The Glendale City Council voted 4–3 on May 26 to adopt Resolution R26-59, ordering a Nov. 3, 2026 special election to ask voters whether to authorize general obligation bonds payable from secondary ad valorem property taxes.
The resolution, read by city staff, directs the city to submit bond questions to qualified electors and was explained at the meeting by Levi Gibson, the city’s director of budget and finance, who said general obligation bonds require voter authorization and are typically paid using secondary property-tax revenue.
Council supporters argued voters and citizen advisory committees had reviewed the proposals and that placing the measure on the ballot gives residents a chance to decide. Council member (voice 4) said three citizen committees had recommended aspects of the proposal and urged the council to “take a shot” at asking voters. “You miss a 100% of the shots you don’t take,” the council member said.
Opponents said the timing was poor and there was insufficient time to educate voters before the November election. Council member (voice 5) said surveys and outreach indicated the bond questions were not yet likely to pass and therefore recommended delaying to allow a longer public-education campaign. Another council member (voice 11) said even if bonds were authorized they might not be usable for certain projects for at least two years under the current capital-improvement plan, reinforcing the argument for more preparation.
The presiding officer conducted a roll-call vote by name. As read into the record, the ayes were Leandro Baldenegro, Lupe Conchas, Diana Guzman and Bart Turner; the nays were Lauren Tomachoff, the vice mayor (as read on the record) and the mayor/chair. The motion was announced as carrying on the council floor by a 4–3 margin.
Next steps: the resolution calls for placing bond questions on the Nov. 3 ballot; if voters authorize the bonds the city would then move forward with issuing general obligation bonds payable from secondary property taxes according to the timeline and project schedule established by the city’s capital-improvement plan.
(Reporting note: vote tallies and several council and staff names were taken from the meeting record. Transcript audio contained a few inconsistent renderings of names; names and vote allocations above follow the council roster and the roll-call names as read aloud during the meeting.)
