Gilbert Town Council's newest member raring to go

Nov. 17—Kenny Buckland, the latest addition to Gilbert's 2025 Town Council, said it was very important for him to run a civil and respectful campaign.

Now that he has done that successfully, the work begins.

The retired Gilbert Police commander went head-to-head with construction manager Aaron Accurso for the council's last remaining seat in this year's General Election.

The latest unofficial results showed him defeating Accurso with 52.6% of the vote to 47.38% — a margin of less than 5,200 votes.

He said that his decision to run for council took form about a year ago.

"When I do these three things, the right outcome always happens. I did it when I chose to retire, I did it with many big decisions in my life. That is: I process it, I seek wise counsel, and then I pray and I wait for my answer," Buckland said.

Though he had a campaign strategist who reached out and offered him advice, Buckland said that he already had many people to seek wise counsel from through his years in law enforcement.

"The cool thing is, nobody ever once gave me any negative advice," he said.

He said that over this year, his campaign took tremendous time and effort, but he was thankful for the backing he had received.

"I'm grateful for the endorsements of several politicians, including Eddie Cook (County Assessor), Councilmember Kathy Tilque and others. I appreciated the endorsement from WeServe and the pro-business designation that the Chamber of Commerce gave me," Buckland said.

He focused on expanding his engagement with voters, but that he made sure he was the one answering their questions.

"I felt like if citizens took the time to reach out to me and engage, then I personally took the time to reply to every single one of them. I personally wrote every email, every text, made every phone call, so yeah, that took a lot of time," he said.

One of things Buckland was warned about while seeking out "wise counsel" was that campaigning could get nasty, with people spreading rumors and lies about candidates they might not like.

"Early on, you know, there were some people in others' camps, not the candidates themselves, but there were some people in the camps that started out a little ugly," he said.

"We were sued, we received a blackmail letter. But I just took the high road. I didn't counterpunch."

Buckland said that when people spend their time mudslinging, they are stating that they don't feel confident enough that they have what it takes to do it themselves.

In his endeavor to run a clean campaign, Buckland reached out to candidate Accurso after the primary election.

"He and I shook hands. I committed to continuing a clean, ethical, respectful campaign. And Aaron shook my hand and said, I commit the same. We agreed we're gonna focus on policy and principles and issues and not each other," he said.

"And he held true to that, and I appreciate that, and I respect him for that."

Accurso grave a gracious statement of concession earlier last week after it became clear that the lead Buckland showed with the first batch of results on Election Night wasn't going to evaporate.

"I would like to congratulate Kenny Buckland on a race well run. While the results were not what I was hoping for, I am grateful that the election was about the issues and policies of our town," Accurso posted on his campaign Facebook site.

"This campaign has been about putting families first and keeping government in its lane," he continued. "As we move forward I hope that the new council will keep these things in mind as they lead."

He also thanked his supporters "for all of your help these last 14 months."

"We appreciate you and never anticipated the hundreds of volunteers that surfaced," Accurso wrote. "Most of all I am grateful for the unwavering support that I have had from my family."

Buckland said he was happy that both he and his opponent were able to show the citizens that politics doesn't have to be hateful or divisive.

Buckland also addressed how it was paramount to his ideals to come out against the attacks Accurso and his family have endured during the campaign as well.

"Early on, some people in his camp did some nasty things and then later on, you know, clearly, I don't know who, but clearly somebody that supported me, or maybe they didn't support me, but they clearly didn't support him ... did some nasty things and went after his wife, and that is absolutely unacceptable," he said.

"You don't go after people's families and there is no value in smearing people and destroying people. We should be better than that."

That is the personal brand he wants to maintain as a council member. too, Buckland said.

"I think the biggest and most urgent thing is helping regain public trust. I think this last year of investigations, and a lot of public outcry, I think there was damage to the relationship and the trust between the town and the police department and the community, and I want to help to restore that," he said.

"I think, without the public trust, communities are lost."

In terms of preparing for the job itself, Buckland believes he has a head start, having served in the town's Police Department.

Another component of the town's inner workings he understands well is the budget, having observed his wife as Gilbert's former budget director, who delivered its zero-based budgeting system.

"I've met with most of the department heads to gain better understanding already, and now I have a lot more learning to do about the town, of departments, what has changed," he said.

"I intend to put in all the work and effort to do that so that I hit the ground running on day one."

Buckland said he was humbled by the faith and trust all the citizens put in him to get him elected, and he signified as much in his acceptance statement last week on the campaign's Facebook page.

"I want to thank the thousands in our community who exercised their precious right to vote. Whether you voted for me or for my opponent, I respect and appreciate your diligence in making an informed choice," he wrote.

"I am committed to serving this entire community to the best of my ability, working with the Council to make the right decisions for the right reasons."