Dear Editor,
An illusion is a distorted perception of reality that creates a false impression. I have learned from closely following the Kingman City Council that illusions are deceptive, temporary, changing, and often dangerous falsehoods that end up exploiting the Kingman public, their patience, their pocketbook, and their quality of life.
I am Elliot Chalew, and I am the only (non-incumbent) candidate for Kingman City Council who has established eligibility to be on your 2026 ballot. I have worked very hard, at great personal expense, in the last few years to advance the voice of the Kingman people loud and clear, romancing the idea, not the illusion, that elected politicians serve their constituents by representing their wishes and best interests.
I make no pretense to be a singer/songwriter when I say “It Ain’t What It Used to Be,” but Kingman is not changing for the better. The list of issues, serious concerns, and known problems in the city and for the people is a reality, not the illusion that the city council is projecting.
I campaigned against the passage of the last General Plan, and every horror I predicted has become reality. The City Council illusion has become an Economic Development nightmare that completely ignores vital human development, like critical medical health care needs. Instead, Kingman taxpayers are funding golf carts.
I’d like to pose a question: What does “taxation with no representation” mean to you? The people have been screaming for years about the bad roads, traffic congestion, and Kingman’s broken and limited infrastructure. The screams go unheard while your taxes rise consistently, utility rates are rising, AND NOW your right to VOTE on things like taxes, really on almost everything you could label city, has been taken away.
I am a straightforward, respectful man of high integrity, and I cannot understand how the city council can look the people in the eye with a straight face and pretend they care enough about your wishes to do anything but pretend transparency, having “Coffee with the Mayor”, or hosting a bogus town hall meeting. It deeply concerns me that I have never heard any member of the City Council admit a mistake. It has become most obvious what the city council DOES NOT TELL YOU is of far more concern than what they DO TELL YOU. One of the first things I would do as your councilman would be to initiate an audit on all Public Relations expenditures, surveys, propaganda, and indoctrination formats, in an effort to illuminate the illusions and bring straight forward reality back to the table under the people’s direction.
Without making allegations, I am concerned about all the possible conflicts of interest the current city council members may be facing. It is hard to get a straightforward answer when you ask a council member a tough question. The usual reaction is a blank face and silence. At best, the council delivers diversions or questions anyone asking.
Kingman deserves much better than the leadership we currently have. Electing the same people and expecting a different result has been defined many times as insanity. Too many of my fellow Kingman residents are suffering from bearing the financial cost created by Kingman’s current SPENDING PROBLEM and misguided myopic focus on Economic Development. Growth must be responsibly balanced and controlled, and Kingman’s infrastructure must be rebuilt.
Please vote ELLIOT CHALEW for Kingman City Council. My pledge to you is truthful reality, no conflict of interest, no illusions, no strings to the Status Quo. I will take the people’s concerns and directions with a servant’s heart.
Elliot Chalew
chalew@gmail.com
