Candidates - Vote July 21, 2026
Lawrence Neigel for Mayor
Jason Thornton for Town Council
Charles Ables for Town Council
Why We Support Lawrence Neigel for Mayor
Experience: 35 years with San Bernardino Police Department, with 17 years in Administration; 21 years with San Bernardino City Unified School District School Board and founding member of Arizona Rangers – Granite Mountain Company serving Chino Valley, Paulden, Prescott Valley, Skull Valley, Peeples
Why We Support Lawrence Neigel for Mayor
Experience: 35 years with San Bernardino Police Department, with 17 years in Administration; 21 years with San Bernardino City Unified School District School Board and founding member of Arizona Rangers – Granite Mountain Company serving Chino Valley, Paulden, Prescott Valley, Skull Valley, Peeples Valley, Wilhoit and Yarnell since 2020.
Community Involvement: Superior Court-appointed conservator for seniors; Board Member - March of Dimes, Center for Individuals with Disabilities (CID) and A Center for Enrichment (ACE); Chairman of Route 66 Rendezvous and served as Board Member for both a POA and a HOA.
New Leadership Style: Equality, fairness and reasonableness in conducting town business; focus on stopping frivolous spending by Town Council; fighting favoritism and cronyism in dealings with developers
Transparency: Two-way communication and openness towards citizens’ interest in town business; courtesy to all citizens, will hold open town hall meetings to air community needs and insights. Disrespect towards citizens will not be tolerated by any elected member, staff or employee - period.
Future Improvements: Better recreation facilities for our youth; supporting economic development – commercial, retail and small business improvements; and public education and the rights of parents to have input in their child’s education
Natural Resources: Holding water department accountable for water quality issues and conservation and preservation of water resources, wildlife and open space.
Charles Ables for Town Council
Jason Thornton for Town Council
Charles Ables for Town Council
Why We Support Charles Ables for Four-Year Term Council Member
Experience: Born and raised in Arizona from the Blue Hills to Phoenix, graduated from Prescott High School. Served in US Marine Corps – active duty 14 years followed by nine years in active reserve. Returned to Prescott Valley to work at Strum, Ruger & Co., Inc. for 35 years.
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Why We Support Charles Ables for Four-Year Term Council Member
Experience: Born and raised in Arizona from the Blue Hills to Phoenix, graduated from Prescott High School. Served in US Marine Corps – active duty 14 years followed by nine years in active reserve. Returned to Prescott Valley to work at Strum, Ruger & Co., Inc. for 35 years.
Extensive PV Community Involvement Experience: Served two (2) terms as a Prescott Valley Town Council Member from 1996 to 2004. Also served on General Planning, Parks and Recreation Commission and Board of Adjustment. Currently volunteers at the Highland Center for Natural History, serving on the finance committee, participating with community science, and photographer.
New Council Goals: Working together with the community; everyone deserves respect and everyone deserves to be heard.
Jason Thornton for Town Council
Jason Thornton for Town Council
Jason Thornton for Town Council
Why We Support Jason Thornton for Two-Year Term Council Member
Experience: Graduated from the Arizona Automotive Institute; attended Cerritos and Cypress College for continuing education credits; worked as an automotive mechanic, started his own business, worked in retail and in construction (remodeling).
Community Involvement: Enjoyed se
Why We Support Jason Thornton for Two-Year Term Council Member
Experience: Graduated from the Arizona Automotive Institute; attended Cerritos and Cypress College for continuing education credits; worked as an automotive mechanic, started his own business, worked in retail and in construction (remodeling).
Community Involvement: Enjoyed setting up car shows and bringing communities together; working with Habitat for Humanity and active in the National Neighborhood Watch Program; has stood shoulder to shoulder with our communities to fight developments that threatened neighborhoods and homes, including the “Mines” within PV and Paulden, and the mega-development called Lakeshore650. Opposed to rezoning for mining operations near established neighborhoods, and the negative impact on quality of life and property values.
New Council Goals: Transparent and ethical; acting solely on the best interests of our residents; communication is critical; making education and awareness of citizens a priority before Town Council acts; enhancing “Call to the Public” and supporting Town Halls.
Accountability: Requiring accurate, unmanipulated, reliable data from the Water Department prior to decision making and holding them accountable for truthful answers regarding water quality and conservation; monitoring the costs of projects and making tax dollars work harder for you.
Future Improvements: Creating an environment where businesses and families wish to remain; strategic planning with a focus on infrastructure, workforce development, and community identity; a strong emphasis on quality of life; active involvement from residents and business owners; opposing the push to urbanize our small-town with high-density developments; does not support extreme amendments to PV General Plan 2035
Natural Resources: preservation and conservation of water and open spaces; supports conservation and preservation of Glassford Hill as a unique passive recreational landmark for residents and visitors, but not an amusement park, tourist attraction or promote sports tourism.
13,129 Already Approved Units. Is Growth Out of Control?
Mayor & Council kept approving THOUSANDS MORE housing units, despite 5,919 already approved, but not yet built.
- The Mayor & Council knew prior to 2020, 5,919 housing units had been approved, but not yet built.
- Between 2020 - 2025 they approved an additional 7,210 for a TOTAL of 13,129. Scroll to table below.
THAT'S ENOUGH TO HOUSE 31,116 MORE PEOPLE!
And none of it is "affordable" housing.
In 2022, PV voters passed General Plan 2035 to reduce the Town's ultimate population target of +120,000 by more than 40,000, bringing it down to ~ 72,000 residents, "to better manage water availability, infrastructure, and growth."*
Is this why Mayor Palguta rushed to approve General Plan 2035 TWO YEARS AHEAD OF THE STATE DEADLINE?
This reduced the public review timeframe, so perhaps voters wouldn't see that the "Land Use Section" still contained the "for-growth policies". There also was no reduction in the Town's footprint, nor reduction in planned development to align with the Voter-approved reduced population target.
Some say PV is not growing fast enough. But can our water supply and infrastructure accommodate 31,116 MORE PEOPLE?
PV continues to grow, boosting its population by another 2.2%, compared to less than 0.7% for Prescott" and faster than Phoenix's 0.7% and AZ State average of 1.3%.**
With 13,129 already approved housing units yet to be built and the expected influx of 31,116 migrants*** to fill those housing units (because locals can't afford to rent or buy them) PV's population of 53,500 (2026) will be increased to a Total of 84,616 people - far beyond the Town's projections of 72,100 people in 2055. Source:General Plan 2035 Pg 23
REFERENCES:
* In her argument in support of the General Plan 2035, which accompanied the November 2022 ballot, PV Vice Mayor Lori Hunt emphasized that the most important change written into General Plan 2035 is the population reduction by over 40,000 people vs the projected population of 120,000 people as stated in General Plan 2025.
**The General Plan acts as a ten-year roadmap directing the community's future physical, social and economic development." While the previous General Plan 2025 projected a build-out population exceeding 120,000, the updated Voter-approved General Plan 2035 reduced this long-range target down to approximately 70,000–80,000 residents to better manage water availability, infrastructure, and growth.
Prescott Valley, AZ.gov, Prescott Valley Town Council Meeting on Population Growth Facebook – Our Town Prescott Valley
Town Council Approved 7,210 More Units from 2020 - 2024
“People migrate to AZ largely because it offers a significantly lower cost of living compared to coastal states like California and Washington. Lower housing costs continue to attract domestic transplants." While home prices have risen in recent years, AZ housing remains significantly cheaper than in states like California. The typical home in AZ costs roughly half of coastal California, allowing many newcomers to transition from renting to home ownership. Source: The Mortgage Point
Limited Water Supply. Has the Town of PV Acted Responsibly?
The Town of PV has the RESPONSIBILITY to protect our water supply.
The Town failed to achieve a state of “safe-yield” by 2025 where “withdrawals of groundwater do not exceed recharge of the aquifer system.” PRAMA
PV's water comes entirely from groundwater pumped via deep production wells. While the Town claims that water levels are only dropping an average of 1 foot per year, what they are actually refer
The Town failed to achieve a state of “safe-yield” by 2025 where “withdrawals of groundwater do not exceed recharge of the aquifer system.” PRAMA
PV's water comes entirely from groundwater pumped via deep production wells. While the Town claims that water levels are only dropping an average of 1 foot per year, what they are actually referring to are "regional aquifer levels" which "have declined by less than 1 foot per year." Source: Arizona Department of Water Resources
The amount of groundwater pumped out in PV has increased from 4,011.79 acre feet in 2000 to 6,296 acre feet in 2025. That's an increase of 744,311,952.8 US liquid gallons.
Annual Report Arizona Department of Water Resources
1 acre-foot = 325,850.93 US liquid gallons
FACT: Water levels in PV wells have dropped over 22 feet on average in just ONE year.
The Town has been attempting to replenish the water by recharging treated wastewater and stormwater back into the aquifers** but at the same time – every gallon of water that is recharged is considered a “water credit” which is bought and sold on the open market to developers who use those credits to meet the state mandated 100-year assu
The Town has been attempting to replenish the water by recharging treated wastewater and stormwater back into the aquifers** but at the same time – every gallon of water that is recharged is considered a “water credit” which is bought and sold on the open market to developers who use those credits to meet the state mandated 100-year assured water supply needed to build new homes. Source: Terrapass.com and CWAG
**Aquifer recharge rates vary drastically, ranging from weeks to thousands of years.
*** Another contributor to the shortage of water is “Paper Water” Rights highlight a disconnect where the total legal water rights claimed by property owners (and others) vastly exceed the physical supply available.” Source:
In short, any water recharged has already been SOLD to be used in a new subdivision.
In short, any water recharged has already been SOLD to be used in a new subdivision.
- Prescott Valley has grown by roughly 17% since 2018. when when Kell Palguta took office.
- The population climbed from 45,833 in 2018 to ~53,600 today.
- Averaging a steady annual growth rate between 2% and 2.13%, Prescott Valley is one of the fastest-growing towns in AZ. Source: World Population Review
Why change? Mayor Palguta & Town Council failed us.
Citizens wanted managed, balanced, responsible growth - but the Mayor & Town Council passed unchecked, irresponsible development without adequate roads, water, sewer, police, fire or medical services to sustain it.
- Between 2020 - 2024 thousands of housing units were approved unanimously by Town Council 99% of the time. (See Housing Unit Table.)
- They told us the housing they were approving was “affordable”, but they didn’t tell us that the developers didn’t have to comply because it is against Arizona State Law to require or incentivize developers to build affordable housing units for low to moderate income residents!
- They told us that increasing the number of available units would lower prices, but it hasn’t! “Rent prices in Arizona “increased by 72% from 2010 to 2022 and “the median sale price of homes increased by 57%” from 2019 to 2023.”
- They told us building “tiny rental towns” with smaller housing units on smaller lots without any place for children to play would make them "affordable" but it hasn’t!
- They just told us "vacancy rates" in PV are around 13 %, yet rental prices still have not dropped.
YET THEY TELL US THE ANSWER IS TO KEEP BUILDING!
We don't agree.
Regarding Mayor Palguta: “His terms in office are rife with residents’ concerns about traffic, water sustainability, pace of development and preserving community character – the result of rapid expansion over the past several years.” ~ Prescott Times
It's Time For Change in PV. Your help is needed.
Who We Are. Our Vision.
We are the rapidly growing Grassroots Volunteer Movement to STOP Over-development of our beloved Valley, preserving it for current and future generations.
We stand with our communities AGAINST over-development and incompatible land uses that burden our infrastructure, drain our very limited water resources, destroy rural neighborhoods and lessen quality of life.
We’ve completed TWO successful Petition Referendum drives to allow PV Voters to decide key issues in November 2026:
- Prop. 492: Vote NO to Stop Lakeshore650, the mega-development of 3500 new houses threatening to swallow up grasslands, the Pronghorn herd and the Agua Fria River on the edge of Town.
- Prop. 404: Vote NO to Stop the new Government Tank Mine. We stand against any gravel pit / haul road mining operations being forced on existing neighborhoods within PV Town limits. (More info. NoMinesNearHomes.com)
- We oppose the “tiny rental towns” proposed for our backyards and at their front gates such as Clipper Courts, Baja “Apartments”, The Bungalows, The Villas, Kachina, Navajo, The Observatory, etc.
What is Our Vision for Prescott Valley?
- Managed, balanced and economically responsible development with “a small town feel surrounded by rural areas” with sufficient, guaranteed water supply, social and physical infrastructure.
- Natural open space where wildlife is preserved and protected.
- Water must be managed responsibly – and NOT owned or controlled by outside investors or developers. Draught, dry wells and over-development threatens our current and future water supply. Dependable water supply for current residents should be secured and protected in perpetuity (100-years) and “Safe Yield” achieved.
- Protect citizens from Tax burdens favoring developers: Citizens should be protected from likely substantial Tax expense burdens due to special tax treatment given to developers by the Town of PV.
- Respect for citizens: The valid concerns of our existing residents should be heard, respected and acted upon – not mocked and disregarded in favor of developer profits.
- Citizen empowerment: Our citizens are intelligent and should have an active, empowered role in determining the Town’s future.
- The PV Town Council is supposed to serve, support and protect the best interests of its constituency -- not simply rubber-stamp all building and development projects.
The time is now to make a positive change. We’ve fought, cried, lost but also won -- and learned we are strong, but together, we are stronger. The worthwhile fight for our current and future generations continues, not with hate, but with love for this place we call home. We’re looking forward to a brighter future together. We hope you'll join us to VOLUNTEER or make a Donation.
Stop Over-development! Two Successful Petition Drives
Stop Lakeshore650 - Vote NO Prop. 492
Stop GT Mine & Haul Road - Vote NO Prop. 404
Stop GT Mine & Haul Road - Vote NO Prop. 404
Ballot Proposition 492 - VOTE NO
Save this beautiful natural open space and one of our oldest neighborhoods. Stop the Lakeshore650 high-density development of 3500 homes, commercial retail and the 4 to 5 lane highway needed for the 35,000 car trips per day on 653 acres of County land near semi-rural residential neighborhoods.
- NO ONE thinks putting the Agua Fria River in a pipe is a good idea.
- NO ONE thinks we have enough water for 3500 more houses.
- NO ONE thinks homes should be built on top of three (3) FEMA Flood Plains.
- NO ONE wants to destroy the natural open space that is habitat for the Pronghorn. (No one except developers who will profit.)
Stop GT Mine & Haul Road - Vote NO Prop. 404
Stop GT Mine & Haul Road - Vote NO Prop. 404
Stop GT Mine & Haul Road - Vote NO Prop. 404
Ballot Proposition 404 = VOTE NO
Save this beautiful, peaceful area. STOP the NEW "Forever" gravel pit mine, 4.5 mile haul road, with heavy equipment working near long-established residential neighborhoods.
- A HUGE, NEW Mining operation being FORCED on our residents is simply WRONG.
- NO ONE wants a NEW ugly, dirty, noisy gravel pit near their formerly peaceful home running non-stop Mon - Sat from 7AM to 7PM.
- Learn more - https://nominesnearhomes.com/
Town Council disregards valid Quality-of-life Concerns
The Council hasn’t shown much concern for the quality-of-life for our residents when it comes to supporting more development.
GOVERNMENT TANK (THE MINE): For the Record – the Town Council voted 5 – 2. (Freund and Kiehl voted against). GOVERNMENT TANK will appear on the ballot in Nov. 2026 as Proposition 404. Citizens volunteers formed a PAC, 'Concerns of the Community' and collected more than 2,000 signatures on Referendum Petition No. R-03-2026 Government Tank.
A dispute began when Town Manager Gilbert Davidson denied the “by-right” to mine county land on either side of StoneRidge Drive as it passes over Lynx Creek. AP&S has been mining the adjacent county parcel for decades and the expansion of mining might have gone unnoticed except for Mayor Palguta rallying residents of StoneRidge to object. The Town Manager requested that the Fain Signature Group find another location, but he failed to add “outside of town boundaries.”
Instead of allowing the mining of 40 acres near Fain Park for only 10 years, the Council has doomed the residents of Prescott Valley to a Forever Mine (50+ years) potentially expanding into adjacent 1700 acres and stretching from near residential backyards of StoneRidge to Raven Ridge, to Prescott Country Club as well as exposing portions of PV and Dewey-Humboldt to noise, vibration and dust. Reference the Mine Reclamation and Closures Plan signed by McCormick owner of AP&S and submitted to the State Mine Inspections Office.
The new GT Mine location includes a new crushing plant, "100,000-ton blasting events," and a new 4.5-mile-long dirt haul road with 30 and 60-ton trucks crossing Old Black Canyon Highway on their way to the current AP&S plant mission is to make a positive impact and create a better future for all.
It comes with a Development Agreement stipulating that the Town will refund any sales and property tax increases on ANY real property of the Fain entities after 2025. The town could potentially lose tens of millions of dollars in tax revenues with the approval of the GT site. This exemption will have a significant impact on ordinary citizens.
Development Agreement para 3.6(b) https://nominesnearhomes.com/fain-pv-dev-agree-1
Council shows little concern for wildlife or open space
Our Pronghorn herd is a cherished part of PV
The Council hasn’t shown much concern for responsible management of water nor natural open space and wildlife when it comes to supporting more development.
Lakeshore650: For the Record – the Town Council voted 4 – 2 (Greer and Palguta). Lakeshore650 will appear on the ballot in November 2026 as Proposition 492. Citizens volunteers form a PAC, STOPLAKESHORE650, and collected more than 4,700 signatures on Referendum Petition No. R-01-2024Lakeshore650 and won a lawsuit against the Town of Prescott Valley for trying to violate their State Constitutional right to referendum.
Lakeshore650 is a high-density master planned community consisting of 653 acres of County land located west of the intersection of Lakeshore Drive and Fain Road. Currently zoned for 325 homes (1 home per 2 acres), approx. 3500 homes and undefined commercial retail is proposed. Lakeshore Drive would become a four to five lane highway. This land includes the Agua Fria River, its tributaries and watershed as well as three (3) FEMA "managed" flood plains. Currently used to graze cattle, it is also possibly the best Pronghorn habitat in the area.
The Agua Fria River is a significant source of drinking water for the residents of PV. The development redirects the Agua Fria River into a pipe, isolating it from its watershed and reducing the amount of water available to the public.
The loss of natural open space and wildlife habitat equals a loss of quality of life for our residents - the American Pronghorn is being exterminated in Prescott Valley mainly due to loss of habitat, many are harmed or killed when forcibly removed. The offer of playing fields for rent will not compensate residents for their loss.
The Developer proposes having Pronghorn, the river, utilities, and a trail all sharing a narrow corridor approximately 100 feet wide.
Nuisance noise and vibration from increased traffic - approx. 35,000 trips per day - this semi-rural community has approx. 900 homes and can currently use Lakeshore Drive to walk on.
A significant increase to infrastructure is required to support this mega development including its own water campus and treatment for 24,000 gallons of liquid waste per day and roadways and storm water solutions for massive flooding - once completed, the responsibility of running and maintaining infrastructure falls to the Town.
The three (3) new wells proposed may be more than 1000 feet deep and will create a “dimple” in the aquifer, robbing existing wells of water.
The impact of 3500 more homes on schools, health and safety services that are already overwhelmed will not be compensated.
Most of the promised jobs and economic benefit are temporary and will go to out-of-area construction related companies, not to Prescott Valley.