Gilbert resident Jim Torgeson put up dozens of anti-bond signs throughout Gilbert. The town took dozens of them down.
By Joshua Bowling | Arizona Republic
A judge has tossed a Gilbert man’s attempt to undo the town’s $515 million bond election, which voters narrowly approved in November. And the Arizona Court of Appeals has said it won’t hear the case.
Gilbert resident Jim Torgeson in September said town officials took down dozens of the anti-bond roadside signs he installed across town. Torgeson, the owner of Mesa Sign Shop, sued the town after voters approved the bond by a razor-thin margin, arguing in court documents that Gilbert officials “organized a wide-ranging effort to deprive Torgeson of his free speech rights by removing these signs.”
Torgeson asked the court to void the election results because of the sign dispute. But Maricopa County Superior Court Judge Jay Adleman in December tossed the lawsuit, saying Torgeson
“Arizona law has repeatedly noted that any challenges associated with procedural violations of the electoral process must be brought prior to the actual election,” Adleman wrote in a Dec. 20 ruling. “Torgeson has filed this procedural challenge after a completed election and, in doing so, seeks to overturn the will of the people as expressed in that election.”
should have sued before the election.
