Regular Meeting - 4/2/2024 6:30:00 PM

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okay everyone good evening welcome to
the Gilbert Town council meeting for
April 2nd
2024 I will call this meeting to order
and invite Sher candland from the State
Relief Society president for the Gilbert
stake in the Church of Jesus Christ of
Latter-day Saints to offer an invocation
this evening so nice to see friends
Sherry thanks for joining us you'll just
need to push I think it's a button on
the left on the bottom there maybe the
other one it'll turn red there you go
thank
you our Father in heaven we are grateful
to be gathered here this evening we're
grateful for the wonderful community in
which we live we express our
appreciation for these elected official
officials that make decisions on behalf
of our town and community
we humbly ask thy Spirit of inspiration
to be with them that they will be guided
to make decisions for our town of
Gilbert that we love we pray that they
will look at the longterm and the future
of our community and the residents who
live here and the effects that it will
have on them we are
grateful for all that thou has given to
us we we are grateful for this free
country that we live in and and we thank
thee for those who have fought and who
have
sacrificed to give us the freedoms that
we
enjoy we again ask for guidance and
Direction
and thy Spirit to be with these council
members and our
mayor and we say these things in the
name of thy son Jesus Christ
amen thank you Sher so nice to see you
and I just want to say hello to your
husband James candle who served here as
a council member with me and Gilbert
here in 2016 nice to see you thanks for
joining us this evening I'll move on to
the pledge of allegian council member
Koski if you could please lead
us I pledge allegiance to the flag of
the United States of America and to the
Republic for which it stands one nation
under God indivisible with liberty and
justice for
all
now I'll ask our town clerk Herrera to
please call the role mayor Bridget
Peterson here vice mayor Scott Anderson
here council member Chuck Bon Giovani
here council member Bobby Buckley here
council member young Kowski here council
member Kathy tilky here and council
member Jim torguson a quorum is present
thank you so much Chelli moving on to
our presentations and proclamations
portion of our agenda our first
Proclamation will be presented by
council member Bon Giovani it is is to
declare April 2024 as Autism Awareness
Month and members of the clerk's office
Parks and Rec Department police
department and fire department please
come down and join council member
bonani the reason that these four
departments have been asked to come and
join our council memb is because all
four of these departments are autism
certified here in the town of
Gilbert
y' so so far away from
me oh
okay a shower okay whereas uh autism
spectrum disorder ASD is a developmental
disability that causes social
communication and behavioral challenges
the learning thinking and problemsolving
abilities of people with ASD can range
from gifted to severely challenged and
whereas autism is the fastest growing
developmental disorder in the United
States
and whereas research shows that early
intervention and early identification
and intervention services can improve a
child's development services can include
therapies to help a child talk walk
interact and interact with others
communicate and control behaviors
including physical aggression and self
injury self self-injury behavior and
whereas during the month of April
Gilbert supports all efforts to promote
autism awareness and ensure that each
person with ASD is provided an
opportunity to achieve the highest
possible quality of life and whereas the
town of Gilbert Arizona is committed uh
to meeting the needs of the community
and and thus providing ASD training for
our firefighters police officers Parks
and Recreation and clerk's office
professionals to support successful
Community interaction and now therefore
I Chuck Bon gavan on behalf of Bridget
Peterson mayor of the town of Gilbert
Arizona do hereby Proclaim the month of
April 2024 as Autism Awareness Month in
Gilbert Arizona and I encourage our
organization and Community to continue
working together to ensure the community
Remains the community to live work and
[Applause]
play
the next Proclamation is declaring April
2024 as National volunteer month I will
be headed down to the floor to present
to members of boards and commissions if
Melanie dyster could please join me and
any members of boards and commissions
that are here this evening please come
on down and join
me oh thank
you why
well your name's on it so I know she
does the staff for the town of Gilbert
always hates to be recognized and that's
why we purposely call them down to the
front so that they have to be thanks for
being here everybody it's so nice to see
all of you so April is National
volunteer month whereas volunteers are
one of our community's greatest assets
continuing to give back by volunteering
with the Gilbert police fire and rescue
and Parks and Recreation departments as
well as by serving on numerous boards
commissions committees foundations and
nonprofit organizations and whereas
Gilbert volunteers perform duties vital
to Gilbert's success which includes
supporting special events and activities
helping to maintain parks and Facilities
assisting with Public Safety efforts
helping to support nonprofit military
veteran and Senior programs and
activities as well as advising the Town
Council through Gilbert's boards and
commissions and whereas the Gilbert Town
Council ccil is proud of and thankful
for the volunteers that serve our
community and whereas volunteering is
vital to our future as a caring and
productive nation state and town and
whereas in 2023 the town's volunteers
donated more than 9500 hours to serving
this organization and community and now
therefore I Bridget Peterson mayor of
the town of Gilbert Arizona do hereby
proclaim the month of April 2024 as
National volunteer month in Gilbert
Arizona and I encourage members of our
community to give back by volunteering
and thank all of our volunteers for your
commitment and dedication to Gilbert I'd
like to let all of you introduce
yourselves individually and tell us
which board commission task force that
you're a part of and Melanie what you do
for the town of Gilbert I'm Alie dier
I'm the volunteer and Community
Resources manager and I have the
privilege of working with many of our
task force but also trying to encourage
volunteerism in Gilbert so if you are
interested in being involved uh reach
out and we'd love to get you
connected I'm Suzanne Lunt and I serve
on the community engagement task
force I'm lisis deina and I Ser up on
the Planning
Commission I'm Eric mesy and I serve on
the Public Works Advisory
Board my name is Charles D and I serve
on the veterans Advisory board come on
down visit one of our board meetings
we'd love to see you
there I'm familyy Smith and I'm also a
part of the Gilbert veteran Advisory
board and the pillar lead for the USS
Arizona
Les prismic also a member of the
veterans Advisory
board thank you mayor and council member
I'm Kevin D roza and I serve on the
Industrial Development
Authority thank you all for everything
that you do and um for those in the
audience all of these council members
and myself serve as Liaisons to the
boards commissions and committees that
we have here in the town so I happen to
serve with the veterans Advisory Board
council member tilki serves with
Community engagement task force Chuck
council member Bon giovan's with Parks
council member Kowski is with Public
Works um Council vice mayor Anderson is
with the Planning
Commission council member torguson is
with the Redevelopment commission boy
that was good council member Buckley is
with
tourism right T you always talk about
tourism at the end of the meetings so we
really appreciate the work that our
volunteers do here in our community and
thank you for everything we wouldn't be
able to do it without you I we now next
year and I won't be here but next year
we should equate these hours to FTE like
how the how many full-time employees it
would take for this much volunteer work
that you get from these great volunteers
let's take a
photo
Melanie has items for you out in the
lobby thank you all thanks for being
here
next up we have Proclamation declaring
April 2024 is fair housing month and
I'll invite council member Buckley to
present to Linda SS who's a town of
gilber
employee for thank
you want to that
yeah
okay maybe right
here uh so this is fair housing month
2024 whereas the Civil Rights Act of
1968 the Fair Housing Act and the fair
housing amendments Act of 1988 ensure
full and fair access opportunities to
housing and whereas shelter is a basic
human need and when shelter is denied
the quality of human life is greatly
diminished and whereas people must must
not be denied equal access to and
enjoyment of housing because of race
color national origin religion sex
disability or familiar status and
whereas the town of Gilbert recognizes
and values the efforts of those who seek
to re reduce barriers to full and H full
and fair housing opportunities and
whereas April is des designated as fair
housing month now therefore I Bobby
Buckley council member on behalf of
Bridget Peterson mayor of the town of
Gilbert do hereby proclaim the month of
April
2024 as fair housing month in Gilbert
Arizona and I encourage Gilbert to
ensure Equal Housing opportunities exist
and remain protected in our own
Community oh here I'll I'll I'll take
this let's put this over
here did she want to say anything we oh
we take a picture
yeah
next we have a proclamation declaring
April 2024 is water wise month vice
mayor Anderson will present Jeremiah
Church Hill handing out presentation
awardees will be inv Ed to the front if
you are here for waterwise month please
come on down and join the vice mayor and
Jeremiah at the
front it's
on okay we we just had a discussion a
few minutes ago about the importance of
air quality in the region but we can't
forget the importance of water in the
region also and uh a large part of our
portfolio here in Gilbert is
conservation and and thanks to groups
like these um we're able to to do quite
a conservation effort that goes towards
uh as a matter of fact in the valley
itself conservation has been done such a
good job I think it's our population is
increased by I don't know how many
million since 2000 and we're using less
water or the same amount of water as we
did in 2000 so uh congratulations to all
let me read the
proclamation Gilbert's Water Wise month
2024 whereas is the most precious
natural resource most especially within
the desert and whereas the stewardship
of Gilbert's water resources and its
balanced and responsible use lies with
the Town Council Town staff residents
businesses and
stakeholders and whereas Gilbert's
office of water resources and
conservation implemented many water
efficiency programs that Aid Gilbert's
residents businesses and other
organizations with conservation of water
whereas every water conservation effort
makes a difference in the sustainability
of this precious natural resource and a
great number of participants have
completed the necessary steps of
becoming more water efficient now
therefore Bridget Peterson mayor of the
town of Gilbert does proclaim April 2024
as Gilbert waterwise month and we honor
133 recipients of which there's a
representation here tonight that have
participated in that congratulations
thank you very
much I think Jeremiah you have a
presentation you real quick do a
photoing
for in need is this
one yep when the light goes right it's
hotot
fac I guess they wanted me to talk on
the microphone how about you you want to
go Jeremiah I just wanted to say just
how important what this program is um
and what it does so if you're out in
your community and you see that sign
right there it's important to know the
commitment that all of these HOAs
businesses churches Parks um the
commitment they made to use water
efficiently um throughout Arizona um we
see that uh arizonians water two to five
times more than what is needed and all
of these members here have took this
Challenge headon and have made the
commitment to water efficiently and as
you see here we have
133 out of 319 members that are here and
and received this award today um so I
just wanted to say thank you and what
you do is important and when you leave
here today you should know that so thank
you Jeff if you wanted to I think you
got it all right so we're just going to
run through this so these are our year
nine
members and our year eight
members let me give you a second to look
it
over
seven and six years that's quite the
commitment our fiveyear
members are four
years hopefully you all see one of your
HOAs in there or Parks or
schools
three
years got one
ah our two
years
wo and we have a bunch who are new this
year who we hope to see again next
year so again your commitment helps save
318 million gallons of
water thank you
thank you all great work on that water
is such an important resource for all of
us we appreciate your
work next on our agenda we will be
moving to Communications from citizens
vice mayor
Anderson thank you
mayor
the gilbertt Town Council values
citizens comments and input anyone
wishing to speak before the council must
fill out a request of speak card for
each item they wish to speak on and
submit it to the town clerk or place it
in the bin provided prior to the start
of the
meeting the communications from citizens
portion on the agenda provide citizens
an opportunity to identify for Town
Council matters of Interest or concern
related to town government under the
provisions of the Arizona meeting law
the Town Council is prohibited from
responding to issues that have not been
properly noticed therefore the Town
Council may only listen to citizens who
wish to address them and at the
conclusion of open call to the public
response is limited to individual
members of the council responding to
criticism made by those who have
addressed the public body asking staff
to review a matter or asking that a
matter be put on a future
agenda while we understand and
appreciate the passion our community
members bring to these sessions we must
remind everyone that clapping during the
meeting is not
acceptable this practice can disrupt the
flow of discussion potentially
intimidate others and detract from the
respectful atmosphere we strive to
maintain the town asks that when your
name is called you come forward to the
podium state your name and place of
residence and then begin speaking you
will have three minutes to
speak first up tonight is is Casey
Kendall Casey will be followed by
Bridget
Vega good
evening mayor Town Council staff uh
Casey Kendall Gilbert resident uh chair
of the Redevelopment commission for the
Heritage
district for downtown Gilbert thank you
uh for having me uh the Clare house also
known as
berges located at 309 North Gilbert Road
is the second oldest building in Gilbert
and was recently sold to a private
Corporation with plans to develop it
into a nightclub or
bar the new building plans were
presented to my commission and approved
unanimously per the Heritage District
development plan this means that the
current structure will be demolished and
a new building be erected in its place
built in 1918 by Forest Clare it served
as his sheet metal shop and his home on
the east side of Main Street now known
as Gilbert Road the business operated
there for nearly 60 years before the
shop was torn down what remains is the
Clare residence which we call the Clare
house
unfortunately the property was never
registered under the state uh under the
Arizona State regist of historic places
or the national register of historic
places and is set to be demolished on
May 15th
2024 as residents we have a unique
opportunity to protect the Clare housee
and our Town's history by moving the
actual building to HD South the home of
the Gilbert Museum but we must act fast
our plan to move the Clare housee is
aggressive and expensive on behalf of HD
South director Denise Lopez and myself
we are asking the assistance of the
council staff local businesses and
Gilbert residents to help us save our
history and save the Clare house we need
to raise roughly
$135,000 to cover the expense of safely
moving the structure the half a mile to
the lo location at the at HD South this
would this would create a permanent
foundation for the house bring it up to
code for safe viewing and leave enough
money for continued
maintenance when the announcement of
bergies of the burgy sale happened it
sent outrage throughout our
community and there was a call of action
from concerned residents about the
nature of the planned business there's
nothing that can be done about that
business however we can turn this into a
positive and protect our history and
preserve the second oldest building and
place it next to the old building in
Gilbert HD South donations can be made
to HD South website at
www.hd south.org you can select donate
and give
today indicating that it is reserved for
the Clare house we're also excuse me we
we will also be sharing this message on
social media please help us hash save
thecla 2024 thank you very much for your
time thank you Casey Bridget Vega
Bridget will be followed by Susie
Jackson evening mayor I push push the
button Bridget I didn't have to do that
before I it good evening mayor and
Council it's been 5 months since Preston
was brutally assaulted and murdered yet
still no action by the leaders to create
a safe space for the community
especially the children we must confront
the uncomfortable truths within our
communities we cannot turn a blind eye
to teen violence nor the struggles our
teens face every day tonight I want to
shine the light on a couple
uncomfortable truths that have the
community concerned since the teen
violence committee has come to an end
after months of gathering Solutions it's
time for our leaders to rise up and take
immediate action let's start by
implementing Connor Jan's brass knuckle
bill by creating a city
ordinance due to public information as a
community we are concerned that Rick
keener's Case was shelv due to
preferential treatment that Miss soberg
teaches at Perry we are demanding an
immediate internal investigation by a
third party to look at each and every
single case to see if preferential
treatment was given to the
administration at Perry that failed
Tristan Keen
and that allowed all of this to happen
we have no future if we don't protect
the children we have a duty to protect
the innocent if not that blood is on our
hands please continue to keep the Lord
family in your prayers if we can take a
moment of silence for Preston Lord and
for the teens who've been assaulted
mentally physically and sexually as well
as all of the youth that was wrongfully
murdered due to senseless acts of
violence
for
thank you we demand Justice for the
Youth
thank you Susie Jackson Susie will be
followed by Stacy
lville good evening mayor Peterson vice
mayor Anderson and members of the
council my name is Susie Jackson I have
been a Gilbert resident
for about 21 years um first I just would
like to just speak on behalf of saying
how much I appreciate how much the
community has come together to support
Preston Lord's family and um recognize
the violence that has really hit this
community um and be able to lend some
support to that family during this
extremely difficult time what's brought
me here tonight um is speaking on behalf
of my friend Kim Hansen um her daughter
was murdered almost two years ago here
in Gilbert um she was shot near the
SanTan mall area in her apartment while
she slept
um
and this has obviously been a very
horrific experience for the family this
has been something that they've had
to navigate Alone um they've haven't had
quite the
same support as what I would hope from
from Our Town Council from our our
community from our Police Department um
to really find Justice for them um I
think we live in a community where
Gilbert is safe and we want people to
believe it's safe we want people to come
here and understand that it's safe but
when we have things that are happening
like this that aren't being shared and
aren't being acknowledged
and answers for the family then it is
concerning it's concerning to me I have
a lot of children we have 11 of them
right now and um we're Foster an
adoptive family and it's concerning when
you hear stories of gilbertt goons and
things and then you know my dear friend
that they've been um you know having to
navigate this alone so I would I would
like to encourage the entire Council to
really look into this case as well um
reach out to this family hold our Police
Department you know accountable on a
level of finding out where we are um
with the investigation to bring Rachel
some justice um and to make sure that
our community is truly safe and it's not
just quietly safe or um a a pretend safe
um that we are working together to to
make sure that this family feels it that
Preston's family feels it and every
other family that is a victim um to
violence in the community thank you for
your service and I I hope you are able
to hear me tonight and um and we see
some action taken on behalf of these
families thank you thank you
Stacy lavel Stacy will be followed by
Steve
lavel hi good evening my name is Stacy
lval I live here in Gilbert my husband
Steve and I recently had a conversation
with a friend about the issues plaguing
the town and our efforts to bring to
light the unethical practices and
targeting of employees by upper
management and the spying on employees
by the digal media team during our
discussion we were told that maybe my
husband should be a little less
passionate that maybe the council would
be open to what he has to say if he was
just a little less excited when he
speaks let me share with you and
Enlighten you as to why he speaks with
excitement in his voice and passion in
his heart when he stands up here
providing you with facts not
misinformation that you speak of my
husband was a 20-year firefighter here
in Gilbert well-liked and highly
respected he loved his career loved and
supported his fellow fire Fighters and
during his career consistently put his
own interest to the side for the benefit
of the whole always trying to see the
big picture putting his crew first and
never asking them to do something he
wasn't willing to do himself here's my
point when my husband was written up for
saying black coffee during a retirement
all call he was called to the fire admin
office while he was on shift working on
a fire truck to meet with Bob badget
during this meeting to discuss how they
were going to handle this black coffee
comment and Poss POS discipline Bob
didn't like the way the meeting was
going got frustrated pounded his fist on
the table and put my husband on paid
administrative leave with no direction
or
instructions the only instruction he was
given was that he was not allowed in any
fire station unless it was a medical
emergency he also told Steve he would
need to wait for his supervisor before
going into the station to collect his
personal belongings that day once he
collected his personal belongings from
the station supervised they sent him
home pulled him off the truck when they
tried to contact Steve days later to no
avail Rob Dugen sent three police
officers to our home not once but twice
to do a supposed welfare check yet as
his wife an emergency contact I was
never contacted the next day my husband
received a text message from a cooworker
informing him that he had been fired
this coworker had received an internal
fire department email informing them
that Steve was no longer an employee
when did my husband find out from the
fire department he'd been terminated 6
days later in a letter sent via USPS
mail so when he stands up here and
speaks with passion and maybe you hear
anger in his voice it's because he was
robbed of the remaining years he was
planning to work until he retired he was
robbed of ever working on a fire truck
again he was robbed of a proper
traditional fire retirement that a
20-year employee who started as a
firefighter promoted to engineer then
later promoted to Captain deserves he
was pulled off the truck to attend a
meeting put on paid administrative leave
that same day then later terminated he
never got to spend his last night in the
firehouse he was never given the
opportunity to say goodbye to his crew
so when he speaks about the issues that
you are CH choosing to turn a blind eye
to think about how you would fill in his
position thank
you do we need to remind my first
comments about clapping thank you Steve
Steve will be followed by Christine a
cerso I'm
sorry I didn't know he was just calling
up call the next speaker sorry my
apologies uh tonight I'd like to talk
about the top two leaders in our fire
department Rob Dugen and Bob badget your
Nationwide Church found the most
qualified candidate to be robbed knowing
the members of the fire department
didn't approve and wanted to go outside
the department we know that Leah
reinheim or excuse me Leah hubard
reinheimer an unsworn civilian is the
assistant Town manager over the public
safety that our Public Safety sector is
obviously a mess right now in an email
Bob badget references a meeting with
Kylie Crawford Tenbrook of Pierce
Coleman LLC regarding the comments made
by Josh Reynolds to Rob Dugen when Rob
dressed up like Bud the elf uh and the
odg posted on the town website rob you
had to expect some ribbing you worked in
the fire department by the way
congratulations on your weight
loss uh Rob uh anyway Kylie stated that
the uh post attacking the waight of
another employee was not protected so
Bob badget decided to start disciplinary
process against Josh but of course Rob
didn't do anything about that I'm
guessing it's because it wasn't good for
his
career back when Rob was a captain he
was at station one at shift change uh
there was at least 30 people in there
and one of the probationary firefighters
was coming uh he was coming off
probation and that's a big deal in the
fire department when you come off
probation because it's kind of like a a
um passage a write of Passage well Rob
decided to throw a weight scale down on
the ground in front of that firefighter
and ask him to step on the scale said we
want to see how much weight you're going
to gain in the next year I guess he can
joke about it but my engineer can't I
guess he can't take it so during covid
onto another issue the fire department
was ill-prepared and didn't have another
enough n95 masks for their personnel to
wear Rob and Bob decided would best put
those masks inside the drug vending
machines where we pull our medications
from that way they could track the
inventory they told everybody all the
additional personal itive equipment was
placed in a cage and managed by by Rob
who who tracked and forced employees to
sign for that equipment I guess they
trust us inside the civilians the
citizens houses but they don't trust us
in our own resource
department with that said
uh let me find out where I was at
there I know a crew that ran a call a
facility called CBI we go there
frequently they made a decision to draw
n95s for their personal protection and
they wore them on that call uh I guess
they weren't W just using that for
inventory control because Bob badget
came screaming down from Scottdale into
that station because they wore n95s on a
call that he didn't think warranted n95
masks this was a man sitting at home
during the middle of a so-called
pandemic while all these men and women
on the fir trucks were still responding
on calls not just covid related but also
related to heart attacks tuberculosis
chest pains mvas and whatever else we
want to talk about but he came down
there and he kicked that Captain out of
the station that day sent him home
told him to leave making a decision for
him he didn't go through no Personnel
process he didn't he didn't write him up
he didn't follow the town's policies he
sent them
home well I'll be done in one quick
second here okay so that Captain
followed the toal policies and submitted
his policy violation Complaint Form to
Human Resources run by Nathan Williams
of course the town refused to address
his grievance no due process was given
no investigation was conducted and no
apology was ever given to that Captain
and his crew and I have a bunch of stuff
I'd like to talk about but it was asked
of me about what it will take for this
to end and I don't know exactly what
that is but I am going to chase the
Marxist ideology ideology that he's
allowed into this city in this town I'm
going to chase it out of here I'm not
going to stop until it's gone thank you
thank you Steve
please Christina cerso Christine will be
followed by Chris
Brennan
good evening mayor and Council Christina
cerso 177e resident of Gilbert and I
watched the offices of digital G
government study session this evening I
had plan to come tonight but I have a
few things to say about it after
listening to the um presentation that
was made by Stafford by Patrick um I
just want to highlight that it's really
important not just to list all the
accolades but also what what training
not not just the Bloomberg program but
the training this office goes through
because government is supposed to be
benign to politics right it's okay to
have Gilbert kindness and be virtuous
and good people and highlight good
things but to be able to focus on things
that are political is is is not healthy
um we can and I don't mean Republican
Democrat I just mean things that are
even political not party related I bring
that up because we still have the water
tower program which you've heard me talk
about for years at this very Podium that
has never been voted on by any of you
it's a program that is to light the
water tower nonprofits you know all
these different nonprofits on both sides
of political spectrums are people are
upset about you know we're supposed to
be benign to this so I'm asking you
tonight as a council if the mayor
doesn't you know three of you to bring
that to the dis and for you as a council
to vote on that program because I was
told it's just a town program that was
never voted on I also um want to
mention
how disappointed I was at the disrespect
Madame mayor that you showed a council
member on this dis tonight a few hours
ago to say he should pull himself up by
his big girl panties and move on is
embarrassing I mean we have to be
respectful here I would ask that you be
respectful every one of you is elected
whether or not individual people voted
for you or not and I really think that
there was so much kind of just shoved
under the rug tonight because the staff
brought a a a presentation on the office
of dival government that does have
problems we all know
that and yet we move on because oh it
all sounds good you know the staff
brings forward things um to highlight
things statement I haven't been able to
find in 5 years looking at the town
website now I've seen it thank you for
bringing that up um tonight I appreciate
it but this office of digital government
needs to be benign like all of
government when it comes to politics
whether or not it's rainbow Towers or
walking in parades and highlighting all
these things let's get back to honoring
police officers lighting the tower when
it comes to them um passing away or the
young man in our community
passing away Valentine's Day things that
are benign so I ask that you take the
time to really consider that and also in
a respectful way thank
you thank you Chris
Brennan Chris will be followed by Angela
Rogers good
evening I stand before you to whoa sorry
I stand before you today to address add
two critical issues that demand our
attention and our action firstly I urge
the council to consider the safety and
well-being of our youth by by enacting a
measure to ban The Possession and sale
of brass knuckles to individuals under
the age of 18 this is Connor jaran's
Bill he is asking for you to approve
brass knuckles are inherently dangerous
weapons that can cause serious harm in
the wrong hands children and teenagers
should not be carrying weapons like this
they are not tools of self-defense they
they have no use but beyond escalating
conflict and causing excessive harm to
other people you can't you can't hunt
with brass knuckles and you don't
practice shoot with them they have no
other use than to intimidate and harm
other people so please vote to get rid
of blast brass knuckles in our community
by implementing this ban we are taking a
proactive step to prevent such weapons
from falling into the hands of those who
would use them to intimidate and harm
our kids and youth secondly regarding
recent proposals to limit public comment
sess sessions I want to express our
disagreement with such measures public
in input is the Cornerstone of democracy
and it is crucial that all voices have
the opportunity to be heard regard of
the current issues we face while we
understand the need for efficiency we
must not stifle the Democratic process
by restricting public participation
instead we should seek ways to enhance
the effectiveness of our meetings while
still allowing ample time for our
community members to express their
concerns and ideas in conclusion I Ur
the council to take the decisive action
of protect our youth by Banning brass
knuckles for those under 18 and to
assure that public comment sessions
remain open and accessible to all let us
prioritize safety democracy and the
well-being of our residents in Gilbert
and mayor I wasn't going to say anything
to you tonight but hearing the the
panties's comment is
embarrassing I cannot believe you said
that to anybody and publicly please
knock it off and get serious about our
youth and do things for the Youth and
stop insulting people thank
you Angela
Rogers hello can you hear
me
okay again I'd like to really thank the
Town Council Members that worked with us
the last few months on the teen uh
violence subcommittee you guys really
did work with us us and hurt us and I
really did appreciate that uh in recent
times we've seen our community strained
voices stifled and tensions rise it's a
challenging moment that threatens the
very unity and strength in Gilbert when
the concerns and grievances of our
residents are overlooked or silen it
doesn't stop the discontent it only
amplifies it it's also a pivotal moment
and opportunity for Change and healing
yes there is anger but it's not
insurmountable anger can be a catalyst
for growth for dialogue and for progress
It's a signal that something needs to be
mended not
ignored we urge the Town Council to
engage more openly with its residents to
listen to the voices of the people it's
not about acknowledging the anger but
understanding its roots and working
collaboratively to towards solutions
that reflect our community's needs and
and goals by doing so we do not just
address the immed immediate friction we
strengthen our
community together we can overcome the
challenges and emerge stronger with a
sense of belonging in togetherness that
defines the true Spirit of
Gilbert um we submitted our proposals
and I really do hope that you guys take
a look at them any questions we be more
than happy to answer them and I
absolutely hope that you guys do vote
for the brass knuckles this is for our
team
and together I think that we're going to
be able to make a difference thank
you thank you that concludes the
communications
mayor thank you vice mayor I'll ask um
Chief soberg to come up and make a
statement
please there we go good evening mayor
council members of the community
uh Mike sber chief of police for the
Govern Police Department I want to thank
everyone for being here and as mentioned
uh the walk last last week we had the
opportunity to assist with that walk and
provide support for those that were
participating in the the fifth uh month
since Preston was
killed uh Preston's death was incredibly
tragic and I want to acknowledge there's
a lot of emotion and surrounding uh
surrounding his death and the topic of
teen violence as we've heard there is a
much greater awareness in our community
of the problem of teen violence and what
might be some of the root causes and we
continue to work together to create
meaningful and long lasting Solutions
over the past three months our community
many who are in this room here tonight
have provided ideas and recommendations
to the council and to the teen
subcommittee uh the teen violence
subcommittee this information has been
important for us and has given us an
opportunity not only to hear from you
all but to learn from you as well if
there is one thing our community needs
to know is that there that we are
committed to continuing to build us
build and
strengthening our partnership between
law enforcement our schools our parents
our businesses to support our youth we
must work together to develop solutions
that can help our youth uh feel assured
that they can come forward uh to report
acts of violence and our department is
committ committed to partnering in this
effort I mentioned a few updates last
week which I will repeat tonight um our
investigation into the Gilbert goons uh
is still an active investigation and we
hope to have that completed soon two
weeks ago we made two additional arrests
related to group teen violence cases and
we now have made 29 arrests so far this
year we look forward to hearing from the
Teen subcommittee uh uh recommendations
to council at the next council meeting
in two weeks and together we'll we're
looking forward to working with Council
and our community on bringing solutions
to these problems thank you thank you
Chief moving on to consent agenda vice
mayor thank you
mayor um yes we'd like to remove items
number
nine and
number
26 with that I'll make a motion that we
approve items 5 6 7 8 10 11 11 12 13 14
15
16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 and
27 I have a motion can I have a second
I'll second that motion by vice mayor
seconded by council member bovani please
vote
motion passes 70 vice mayor item nine
council member
Kowski thank you I just wanted to um
talk about this item separately um
because this is a topic that is um of
great importance to me which is
evaluation of the town's Trail Crossings
um these are the trail Crossings with
arterial on collector roads we've had
previous studies and this one is a
continuation and update of the previous
study to identify um improvements needed
for other locations it will also look at
additional funding sources for these
improvements um this year we've
seen people walking and biking and on
motorcycles get affected by um traffic
violence or motor motor vehicle crashes
and just want to bring some attention to
that because it's something that um can
be preventable and that everyone plays a
part in and with the mild weather in
this April I think it's really important
to recognize that um to just look out
for people that are walking and biking
and on motorcycles in our community so
that we can all stay safe and get home
safely so thank
you thank you well said can we get a
motion for that
item I'll make a motion to approve item
nine I have a second a second have a
motion by council member Kowski seconded
by council member Buckley please
vote
motion passes
70 item 26 council member
torguson I would just like to have a
presentation on what any changes are
from our the previous year uh discussion
a little bit about the
MRI uh
inclusion Nathan if you can just
introduce yourself for the public please
Nathan Williams Chief people officer
with Gilbert uh mayor Peterson vice
mayor Anderson members of council thank
you for the opportunity to um address
you this evening we're going to be um
taking you through the presentation for
um our uh recommendations for um
premiums and plan design changes for the
coming fiscal year uh related to our
employee um health care and benefits I'm
going to be introducing Shan iula in
just a moment she's our total rewards
manager I just wanted to take a moment
to acknowledge um the hard work between
um our total rewards team our budget
team um in concert with our Health Trust
board as well as our uh broker Alliant
who we have Corey done here tonight um
representing Alliant just want to take a
moment to acknowledge the um the time
and effort the analysis um and and the
review that goes into uh these
recommendations year after year it is it
is certainly a difficult process um and
it is always our aim and our goal um as
a people team in this organization to do
um the best things we can for our
Workforce and for our employees
recognizing that we also have to be
mindful of um budgets and and financial
implications um so just wanted to to
kind of kick off with those points
points I'll turn the time over to Shan
she'll take you through um the kind of
nuts and bolts and then we'll all be
available for any questions that may
arise good evening mayor members of the
council um the presentation that you're
going to see tonight is is very similar
to the presentation that was given a
couple weeks ago at the council Retreat
so I will try to make it as brief as
possible in the interest of time and
hitting on the specific topic ICS that
council member Tuson brought forward so
first I wanted to just run through what
it means to be self-insured the town of
Gilbert is self-insured for our um
health insurance which means that we are
the insurance provider all of the
premiums that are collected from the
employee and the town contributions go
into this Health Trust Fund and this is
what we utilize to pay all of the claims
and the administrative fees that are
associated with operating our own health
insurance we
do contract with different vendors to
help us with administering the plans and
that does um accumulate some
administrative fees as well this allows
the town of Gilbert to have more control
over the plans and to be able to tailor
them to the needs of our
organization the reason that we are here
tonight and making some recommendations
to the plan as well as premium increases
is because for the past several years
our revenues um have not been keeping up
with our expenses a lot of L of this is
is due to um several factors including
post-pandemic inflationary um pressures
as well as increase in Pharmacy um and
drugs new drugs that are coming to the
market and available to our
members um just as a quick overview um
the town's Financial policy is that the
Health Trust Fund operates at a 30% fund
balance which means that we have to
carry 30% of the funds in this account
in order to pay the claims and have a
sustainable plan for the future as you
can see as we ended um FIS the current
fiscal year quarter 2 we are
approximately uh $2.5 million below what
we would consider our um comfortable
fund balance of
30% again why is that um we have had
some conservative rate increases over
the past several years and unfortunately
those increases have just not kept up
with the rising costs in medical and
prescription claims that we're
experiencing on plan as well as those
post pandemic inflationary pressures and
higher drug
costs to try and help gauge what the
town employees uh would like as part of
our benefits program we did introduce a
total reward survey that we sent out to
the organization we had 620 respondents
and of those 80% believe that the town
cares about the employees well-being 72%
of those respondents indicated that they
were satisfied or very satisfied with
the overall benefits package that the
town offers to employees and in that
survey we did ask questions about what
employees might want to see as part of
our benefits package and 50% of those
respondents did indicate that they would
be interested in off in the town
offering a high deductible health
plan to dive a little bit deeper into
the survey response we we did ask the
employees if health care costs have to
increase as we all know um just in
society General inflation has taken over
every aspect of our lives and gas is
more expensive our gallon of milk and
our eggs are more expensive and Health
Care is no different to that um so
employees although did indicate that
they would like to see those increases
occur in their co-payment services such
as their Primary Care visit co-payments
their emergency rooms their Urgent Care
visits you can see from that table off
to the right hand side that those
increases to our
co-payments would be severely disruptive
to members as they were going to utilize
the services but would not net a very a
very much a very high increase in our
claims dollars and therefore staff felt
like the disruption that would go along
with making these types of changes was
was was not something that we wanted to
bring forward to council to consider
tonight some of the things that we that
we did look at in conjunction with our
uh benefits broker Alliant as well as
staff um looking at our plan design um
and the responses from the survey that
we put out is transitioning to a three-
tier rate structure So currently our
plan only has two two tiers we have
employee only and we have employee plus
family so what that means is if an
employee is only covering a spouse on
their plan or if they're only covering
one child or children under the plan
they are lumped into that employee plus
family rate tier the recommendation for
this this upcoming plan year is to
transition that to a three- tier rate
structure which would then introduce a
second tier for an employee plus one so
if the employees is only covering one
child or if they're covering a spouse
they would then be able to Avail
themselves to that tier of
coverage in going along with the
recommendation from the benefit survey
um and looking into our plan design we
are making a recommendation to implement
a high deductible health plan with
Health Savings Account the plan designed
for the high deductible Health Plan you
can see on the screen there um it is
exactly what the name of the plan is it
is a higher deductible in exchange for a
lower Premium cost
um a member would be responsible for
hitting their entire deductible before
the plan starts paying anything towards
their claims that would include Pharmacy
um claims as well so if an individual
were to get WR a prescription they would
have have to go to the pharmacy they
would pay 100% of that charge until they
reach their deductible and then it would
switch to that second box which there is
that co- Insurance the plan does also
carry a slightly higher maximum out of
pocket than our than our current two
plans offer um as well um and we'll get
there's a slide that'll show you the
comparison between all of our
plant so this one here is just again
just doing a very high Lev medical plan
comparison the broad Network which we
refer to as our preferred plan and our
narrow Network are both the plans that
we currently offer today as well as that
high deductible Health Plan there are no
Benefit Plan design changes that go
along with these recommendations and
there are no changes to what is either
covered or not covered in our plans the
only thing that is being recommended is
the addition of that additional option
of the plan of a high deductible Health
Plan does that help answer your question
council member Tuson
sorry uh I wanted to see what was being
included in this as opposed to last year
as far as things that are covered or
things that are offered uh whether it be
preventative MRIs or specific surgeries
or whatever that's included that hasn't
been included in past uh packages so the
only thing that is being recommended
that has not been included in the prior
plan design is this preventative m
program which is similar to the program
that the fire department rolled out for
their members where an individual could
go and Avail themselves to a
preventative MRI which is a total body
scan which helps early detection of
things like cancer growth tumors things
like that and we all know that if H if
any of those things are caught early in
the stages of development they are a lot
less costly to treat and the
survivability of that individual is much
greater this uh preventive MRI would be
offered to benefit eligible employees 45
and up with a cost sharing of 802 So the
plan would pick up 80% of that cost the
member would be responsible for 20% and
we have been successful in negotiating a
contract with Banner to offer these
total body MRIs at a cost of $700 per
scan which when we went out to the
market and we're looking at other
Standalone providers that offered these
types of preventative screenings they're
charging anywhere from about $ 225 to
$3,500 um and there would be no
additional coverage for those outside of
this particular program because of um
because of the the way that that
contract would be
written excellent so if they scanned me
and discovered I was developing a heart
or something they would uh all right
thank you
yes so another recommendation that that
we are making is on our Banner select
plan um which is our plan that does have
that narrower network of providers
historically when the plans were set up
the the town took 80% of the higher
Premium plan which was the preferred
plan and then they transferred that
dollar figure over into the banner
select plan which ultimately resulted in
the town subsidizing that plan at 90%
And the member paying approximately 10%
of that premium the recommendation is to
incrementally shift that plan back over
to an 8020 cost sharing Feathering that
in over two fiscal years so we're
recommending for fiscal year 25 that
contribution split be 85% for the town
15 for the member and again next year
when we come back for for
recommendations we will be requesting
that that drop down to 80% Town paid 20%
member
paid as far as prescription drugs a
couple of times you've heard me indicate
that the the pharmaceutical um
businesses are flourishing at this time
and and um our plan is is really seeing
the impact of the the new drugs that
have come to Market as well as the
increased cost in Pharmacy spend um over
the last year our prescription drug
costs have increased um about
10% um which is not anything that any
other plan is not experiencing this is a
this is a issue for all plans Across the
Nation we are not unique in that we are
seeing a higher um increase in our
Pharmacy spend some of the things that
we are going to be recommending we are
going to continue reviewing our formula
which is the prescription drugs that our
plan actually covers um as well as
implementing some utilization guard
rails and exploring options for generics
um to try and push some of those costs
um down in into the more cost-effective
drugs that are on the available on the
market some of these things are going to
take some time to review with our
Pharmacy benefit manager and Implement
um so we will notify and and give plenty
of notice to the members especially
those that are taking any of the drugs
that might be affected by any of these
changes plenty of time to be able to get
to their doctor and um have a
conversation about what they can switch
to to to con continue to receive
treatment for whatever um current
conditions that they
have so as a as a high level overview
for the rate recommendation the red box
that you're seeing there are the current
rates that we have today in our two-tier
structure the grade out box is there
because that in our current plan we
don't have those levels of coverage or
the high deductible Health Plan
moving into the current to the
recommendation for the next upcoming
year fiscal year 25 this is
accomplishing a couple of different um
things that we're we're trying to um
mitigate here so obviously we're this is
including a transition to a three- tier
rate structure we are also trying to
balance funding in our preferred plan
which is our which is our broader
Network plan and over the past couple of
years the revenues that we have been
collecting for that plan have not been
meeting the expenses for the plan year
of 23 we had approximately $16 Million
worth of claims in that plan and only
brought in about $9.9 million in
revenues so our other plan is
significantly subsidizing the preferred
plan to continue to operate so we are
trying to level that off and will be
over the next several years um in order
to make that plan self-
sustaining and then this also is
Feathering in that contribution split on
the banner select plan as
well
the last thing here is just the the
difference in the employee rate for for
bi-weekly we do take the deductions out
of the employees paychecks on a
bi-weekly basis so these are the
increases that the employees would see
out of their paychecks if they were to
remain on the the same plan that they
are currently on with offering the high
deductible Health Plan um that
particular plan is going to share the
same network as the preferred or the
broader Network plan and include outof
network coverage so when we see issues
that that arise such as our current um
negotiation from Etna and Dignity Health
um the high deductible Health Plan would
be a plan that would be able to
accomplish um goals of offering coverage
to members even for Network um providers
that that might not continue to be part
of our provider Network in the future
which we don't have any control of that
is particularly with the insurance
carrier and the provider directly
providers come and go out of the network
quite frequently um we don't hear a
whole lot about it unless if it's a big
provider like dignity or or PCH and then
we start hearing about it but we are
hopeful that that negotiation is
continuing and that Etna and Dignity
Health will be able to come to an
agreement um they did extend our current
contract until this Friday so we are
very hopeful that they will come to an
agreement and continue to be in our
Network after that um
date so just as another way to look at
the rate structure here in a more
cleaner um version this would be the
employes monthly cost for each of those
different plans transitioning to the
three- tier rate
structure one thing that you will note
is that traditionally a high deductible
Health Plan is the lowest Plan cost
lowest premium available to the
employees which will be the intent of
the plans moving forward however
as I had stated earlier with that with
the split contribution on the banner
select plan staff didn't feel like it
was financially feasible for employees
to be able to switch that plan to a full
8020 split in one year so we are
Feathering that in over a couple of
years it is anticipated that next year
the high deductible Health Plan will be
the cheapest plan available to
employees did want to highlight our
neighboring agencies and where Gilbert
falls on that um scale when it comes to
our employee costs for our health
insurance so we typically compare our
Banner select plan to the plan that is
the most like that in other
agencies the cities that are listed
across the bottom there you will note
that some of them do have asterisks on
them the aster cities are ones that have
a 71 renewal and at the time that we
were putting the presentation together
um those entities were able to share
what their um recommendations will be
for their councils so these are the the
rates that are current the other cities
that are listed there without the
asteris they renew on a January 1 basis
so we do have the most current and up
toate information for those so with this
graph you can see that Gilbert Remains
the fourth um cheapest plan throughout
our neighboring agencies when it comes
to the banner select plan employee only
premium and then looking at the family
plan the banner select plan with the
town of Gilbert is the third cheapest
plan available you will note that Mesa
does have a plan that is completely
covered by the city of Mesa and that is
the plan that utilizes their on-site
Clinic as a as a primary care physician
um office rather than having a a
traditional um open
network did you want to talk to these or
you want me to keep
going okay and I will turn it over to
Nathan all
right yeah just in summary um a couple
of the the considerations that we're
looking at we we've mentioned at The
Retreat um the implementation of a
lifestyle spending account that would be
something that we could um make a
contribution to for our Workforce that
would be to offset or mitigate some of
the cost factors outside of kind of your
standard medical cost um this would be
something that would not be uh funded by
the health fund itself so would not have
an impact on overall um health care
costs and then a few other things that
are that are um coming that we have to
continue to review um really I guess the
way I would summarize this is
everything's on the table we recognize
that it is a very difficult healthc Care
Marketplace right now um you know prices
continue to rise I know we had a
discussion at The Retreat that in the
private sector some some organizations
and entities are seeing 30 to 50 %
annual increases to their premiums um so
while while we recognize that um these
are significant increases um for our
Workforce uh we we remain competitive
and we are committed to doing so um but
we will be looking at plan design we
will be looking at our prescription
program and we will be um putting out an
RFP um to continue to look at um
administrative services so you know
whether it be um the the network or or
our administrators whatever it may be we
are we are open to exploring every
Avenue and
option and then just as as you know one
of the discussions that we've had in I
guess ad nauseum has been um we have to
ensure that our Workforce as is as
informed as possible when it comes to
making decisions um for their Healthcare
needs and so we have a pretty extensive
strategy built out um with weekly
Communications with sort of focus groups
um and town hall for to have
opportunities to engage with our
Workforce um our Alliant our our broker
has offered to assist in this process um
we're we're going to be working on a
pretty exhaustive and extensive campaign
um we want to make sure that if people
are making plan changes for their own
Healthcare needs that they are well
informed uh before they make those
changes um and they understand the pros
cons the benefits and various factors
for for all of the different um plans
and plan
designs and that is the conclusion so
maybe I'll stay put if there's any
preliminary questions and then Sean will
be my subject matter expert if I need to
pull her back thanks Nathan any comments
questions for Nathan or Sean I think we
had a long discussion at The Retreat
about this topic it's not an easy
decision and I know everyone's Health
Care goes up every year I know mine did
through my husband's company and they're
self-insured also I mentioned at The
Retreat too so I don't see any I don't
see anybody turning their mics on Nathan
so thank you for that thanks Sean for
all that information bringing it back to
the Das for a discussion or a
motion don't everybody
jump um mayor yes I want to thank the
the staff and the trust board and
um Alliant as well I wanted to make sure
I got that name right since they're new
um this has really
been hard conversations and trying to do
the best we can to create a
holistic um benefit package for our
employees and it's very important us you
know as a council as well that we um
provide benefits that are meaningful and
I think that the survey helped that um
so with that acknowledgement I'll make a
motion to approve item number 26 thank
you council member I'll second it I have
a motion by council member tilki
seconded by council member Bon Giovani
please vote
motion passes 70 now I've had a request
to take a break so we will recess the
meeting for about 5
minutes
e
e
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e
e
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okay if I can just get 30 seconds to
everybody back to your seats
please thanks everybody for indulging us
with a short recess we'll get back to
our here our meeting now we have a
public hearing items next I I the only
thing that I ever been had requested to
speak about separately is item number 36
which is the code I think everything
else so I'm going to open the public
hearing and on items 28 liquor license
29 liquor license 30 zoning 31 property
acquisition 32 property acquisition 33
property acquisition A&B 30 for property
acquisition 35 property acquisition and
close the public hearing and I will move
to approve all of those items if someone
would like to second I'll second that so
I have a motion by mayor Peterson
seconded by council member Bon Giovani
please
vote that motion passes 70 now we'll
move to item 36 which is the code of
Gilbert to conduct hearing and consider
adoption of ordinance number 2898
amending the code of Gilbert Arizona by
amending chapter 1 General provision
Provisions Article 2 mayor and Council
division 3 Rules of Order and procedure
excuse me related to council Rules of
Order and procedure open the public
hearing on item 36 and do we need a
presentation from
Chris Chris do you have anything that
you would like to add on item 36 I know
you passed out an updated copy this
evening yes mayor and Council happy to
do the presentation that we did before
um last time we talked about this was in
the study session about a month ago
early March um there is a revised copy
just a couple little uh fixing a typo
you'll see the red line there and the
only other change um there was some
numbering changes just for consistency
purposes was in section 188 um let me
get back to where that
is I take that back section 192 uh
subsection
D1 and then
192
F1 I really what that's saying is where
the where the both sections say the same
thing and what it's saying is where
there's going to be one spokesperson for
a group of people that the mayor the
vice mayor will read the names of all
the people that they're speaking on
their behalf of into the record so we
know if one person's going to speak for
10 minutes on behal five people we we
have a record of all them you they their
comments being entered in those are the
only changes that that are made in this
revised draft thank you Chris anybody
have um questions council member bovani
you have your mic on do you have
questions no question just comment just
comments um great then I guess I'll
close the Publican hearing on item 36
and bring it back to the Das for
discussion okay thank you mayor um I
know we went over this quite a bit in
the study session but sitting on it for
a while I had two
concerns um
number
one is in section well want do section
section at a time right question at a
time okay so section one n one- 92 order
a business number
two
um I I just myself I can't agree with
going less than three minutes um if a
lot of people want to speak
then either there we have a significant
issue going on in the town or citizens
are concerned about um how we're doing
our job and are we addressing those
issues um either way I can't see how
limiting their first amendment rights
makes
sense and I know it would take a lot of
time you know we may go into the we
hours
but you know if a citizen wants to spend
two hours telling me I'm doing a lousy
job I mean I signed up for that that's
what I'm here I'm here to
listen um if we go late in the hours and
we get tired we can easily uh take a
recess
recharge uh and then finish the meeting
or reschedule for another evening I just
I just can't see how you know
sacrificing First Amendment rights for
for individuals to balance our time it
just doesn't sit well with me and I
mentioned that during during the study
session also so I'm just having a
difficult time with not giving three
minutes to any citizen that wants to
speak to
us con M Buckley you turned your mic on
next um I just want to say I agree 100%
with what Chuck just said I I can't see
limiting the time for lesson three
minutes not in agreement with
that council member
Koski um thank you for your comments and
thoughts on that I just wanted to bring
up that for every instance in the past
where we've had a lot of um people come
to speak on certain issues we have
actually followed up with listening
sessions more productive meetings where
we can have two-way
conversations um my challenge with this
is
that we can't respond during this time
and so when there are major issues it is
detracting from time that we need to
address other items on the agenda so
that we can then schedule those
listening sessions or working groups
with the public on whatever issue that
is um so I think that for me it's more
of the fact that it's part of our
council meeting and that I'd rather have
a separate meeting where it's more
productive where it can be on an agenda
where we can actually speak more openly
about a topic and try to resolve the
issue um so that's why this was
developed to try
to maximize the time that we can have
people speak but also maximize the time
that we can address issues on our agenda
when we look at other communities in the
valley they have much more stringent
times and I think that this gives a good
balance of being generous but also
making sure that we um have the right
forum for the input and discussion
because I think it's so important for us
to make sure that we are able to tackle
the issues that are brought to us and I
agree people can come and they can can
speak their their piece but the time
commitment during this meeting is really
important and they can do that in a lot
of other avenues or in other meetings as
well council member torguson um I agree
with council members Buckley and Bon
Giovani I'm here to take the
beating it's okay with me to continue
going forward with that vice mayor
Anderson I think a good example of what
council member capras is talking about
is the subcommittee meetings that we
had we when um everybody that's had a
chance to um speak tonight had specific
things they wanted to say but we found
out that we received a lot more
information and and rightfully so at the
subcommittee meeting and I tried to not
limit put any time limit on it because
that's when a lot of information was
revealed to us handed in to us and I
think that's where the the work is being
done and um so I I tend to agree that we
if we've got those special meetings
that's where we get that information
that can't be revealed in two minutes or
three minutes either
one Council bani thank you mayor and
Scott vice mayor I agree with you that
we got a lot done in those meetings and
we were able to go back and forth and we
had people talking for 10 15 minutes and
I was totally cool with that but we had
had to recognize there was a problem
first in order for us to have those
meetings set up that task force and
citizens came forward a number of them
came forward and told us what their what
their issues were and we and and in that
time period they needed to talk so I
don't want to shut them down to two
minutes or one minute because we have a
lot of people if enough people come here
on the same issue that might trigger us
hey we need to do something to set up a
task force or set up a a subcommittee
but we've we have to be willing to hear
that from them
first you're making my point exactly is
it can be made in that time frame of
three minutes but we follow it up with a
much longer time
frame Council Mar
Buckley um my my issue with and and the
subcommittees are great and and you guys
did a fantastic job with with what you
had to deal
with my issue with that is not all
council members can be involved in that
we we didn't get to hear what everyone
had to say that only the three of you
got to hear what they had to say so the
rest of us weren't able to hear that so
I I still can't go along with changing
this time frame for them I think they
deserve to
speak
council member tilky thanks mayor um I
think we had a long conversation at our
last meeting and so um we all had an
opportunity to look at this and um I
believe we've been keeping track of the
number of slips we've been getting and
we've had a lot of speakers lately and I
don't believe we've ever we've gone over
the 20 yet since we've had the
conversation so this is a a situation
that
is very far and few between and um
so I would say for the moris and Ranch
issue that that we had a lot of people a
lot more than 20 and what happens
sometimes is it's just repetition and we
want to hear from everybody but to hear
three minutes of the same thing I'm not
sure is as productive um you know I can
go either way on this really I mean the
fact that we very s have this many
people it it it's not going to be put
into effect but what this does and one
of the things we're trying to do and um
we've been trying to do over a long
period of time is actually put the way
we're handling meetings in writing so
it's clear so the public knows what to
expect everybody up here knows what to
expect we're not trying to make
decisions under pressure and I think
that that was the key um
so it's it's to allow us when we have a
huge crowd crowd of people to understand
how we can best utilize their time and
make sure that we're hearing what
they're having to say as well um also
the fact that we allow them to um share
time that has been so inconsistent over
the councils and I've been coming to
Council meetings for over 30 years and
so we want that to be consistent many
times people are uncomfortable having to
come up to the podium and then they they
have to when they would rather have
somebody speak on their behalf so I
think that we're trying to address all
of that speaking of First Amendment
rights we have looked at this backwards
and forwards and we're not um
eliminating somebody's First Amendment
rights by limiting time that is
something that we can do and so that
that's not what we're trying to do we
want to hear from everybody we're just
trying to figure out how do we um
accommodate that many people coming in
at one time to be productive for
everybody and so that they understand
what they need to do so um it sounds to
me that you have um Mary you have three
people who are interested in removing
that so when we get to that portion of
uh making a motion I guess that will
come up unless people want to continue
to talk about that issue um I think
there's others that we can talk about as
well council member torguson I wanted to
to take a look at
1862 the requirement to First confer
with the town manager provided in
section one 1- 91b uh further down uh
subject to the requirement this is in
187 subject to requirement to First
confer with the managers provided in
191b those kind of things I'm not really
comfortable with that I this is never
been part of it until this point and you
know there certainly there can be like
hey we can't get anything together in
time to have a substantive study session
and that would be up to the people
asking uh but I don't think that it
needs to be set up to basically we go
and ask permission and I'm it's just
it's the way it reads to me it's the way
it feels to me I'd like to strike that
and I probably will ask to strike
that 187 uh down there subject to
requirements
1862 so requirement to conf First confer
with the town manager provided in
Section 1
191b uh I don't believe it shows up
anywhere else uh but if it does anywhere
else that shows up in the document I'd
like to remove
it
are you finished sir sorry I am finished
ma'am thank you um council member
cpri um I just wanted to bring up a
comment regarding um going back to the
time for the communications from
citizens um the way that it's currently
worded kind of designs it so that
Communications from citizens is limited
to about 75 80 minutes um I think if we
remove those formulas um and allow that
to be any time limit we should consider
moving up the public hearing to an
earlier agenda item um just so that the
individuals that are there for those
items that they're doing business with
the town um they have a more consistent
time period to be heard that'd be my
only request from that point of view so
you're asking for communications from
citizens to be moved after public
hearing ing but removing the
requirements that have been outlined in
this policy no I'm just saying that if
it moves forward in that direction
that's what you would request public he
I would request the public hearing be
moved prior to communication from from
citizens um council member Tuson could
you shut your mic off please sorry sorry
sorry I'm trying to keep track thank you
um I'm trying to keep track council
member Bon Giovani thank you mayor
um I understand I believe what council
member Tuson is saying but I also
understand that if we're asking for a
study session with staff they need time
to prepare so maybe we put in there that
um you know after after three of us or
the mayor or anyone asked for a study
session um that Patrick has uh up to two
meetings to to present present that so
staff I don't want to put more pressure
on staff to you know come up with
something in two days right so I I'm I'm
good with um showing it you know showing
it to Patrick uh and his team so they
can prepare for
it council member tilki thank you mayor
um
the um the intent of that section
Council me member torguson is
that by the requirement that if you put
your three signatures or the mayor has
an item that you meet with the town
manager to understand what needs to be
done from the staff perspective so that
you can set the date instead of just
saying sign this we're going to put it
on the next meeting we're not going to
talk to anybody about it they don't have
any information about it we don't have
any information it's more productive to
make sure that they have that they know
what their homework is what you're
bringing forward what the scope of work
is that's all that is it's not
eliminating your ability to put anything
on the agenda it's just so that we
understand what your scope is that you
want to accommodate and then what they
need to bring forward and how long that
will take I believe Chuck addressed that
very well by saying within two
meetings and um yes Patrick I was just
call mayor council member tus and
members of the council um you know
we always strive to bring information
forward in a timely manner um even
setting up U any type of arbitrary um
time frame like two meetings if this is
something that requires uh research or
surveys or bringing in Consultants it
could take far longer to than that um
I'm open to any type of framework of
standing so that we know time is of the
essence um but it just all depends on
what the subject matter is as to how
responsive uh we can be with
it thank
you any other okay I'm I'm going to
comment on the time limit the time limit
that we see in the policy right here is
exactly what we've been doing other than
setting a number of speakers so we were
trying to make it during our study
session when we discussed this we were
trying to find a way to make it more
clear so that everyone on the dis and
the public knew what the process would
be if you attended a council meeting and
it really came from a council meeting
that we
had about two years ago where we had
over 40
speakers over 40 speakers and we ended
up not getting to the one of the biggest
items that we needed to talk about until
1:00 in the morning and we had residents
sitting here that needed to have a final
decision on that item at 1:00 in the
morning and that is not fair to them
it's not fair to all of us at about
10:00 we kind of all start to check out
you've had a long day already before
you've come in for a meeting starting at
4:30 this afternoon for example and so
we were trying to make this more clear
for a process that we've already been
doing for over 20 years here on the dis
and
so if the if the council decides as a
whole I'm just trying to explain that
this is we've been doing we're we're
just trying to make it clearer for
everybody but I agree with um council
member Kowski we have um we have
projects that come in for public hearing
that need to be heard in a timely
fashion and I I hear what you're saying
about well we'll just recess and come
back we can't just come back the next
day we have to have 24 hours to notice
and we have business to get done the the
technically this meeting is a business
meeting for this Council because we
can't can't speak and do any other
business until we're all sitting here
together so I just want you to keep that
in
mind I like um council member uh Capra's
suggestion on that because I remember
that meeting I was debating to order a
pizza at 12 o'clock um because it was a
long night and I was even on the council
back then um but yeah I I I understand
that people need to be heard that are
expecting to have business heard I'm
okay with moving those forward if we see
we have a a lot of requests but I'm I'm
still I'm still dead set on three
minutes council member tilki thanks
mayor um I just want to confirm again
that the the goal is to try to put into
writing the way that we handle our
meetings and so I appreciate all the
work that's been going into it
um you know as I know as you as some of
you have been thinking about the time
limits I've also been thinking about the
order of business as well and
um I do believe that we need to have
those public hearings first and foremost
that that is the job of us of us sitting
up here is to get that business done and
those consent agendas and so those
usually go very quickly um and as you
said I I don't want to see a situation
where somebody H this was a very serious
issue that um dealt with uh property
acquisition and those people having to
wait till 1:00 a.m. that wasn't fair to
them at all so um I like uh council
member kow's recommendation that we
remove the time limits keep it at 3 but
um also changing up the format so that
it's consistent I don't want to have to
do this on the Fly I'd rather it be
consistent so everybody knows what's
going to happen before they get here and
that would be bringing those that public
hearing and then the consent agenda and
then Communications from citizens I
think we can get that done very quickly
and then that gives us the time to be
able to hear from everybody for 3
minutes each and if it's 40 or 50 that's
what we'll sit through and and listen to
that um but that does allow us to
conduct the the business of the town as
we are required to do so
um I'm ready to make a motion but before
that I'd um like to make a comment but
um I'd like to hear everybody before
that please yeah thank you before you
make a motion I I don't know if anybody
had yeah other sections that they wanted
to comment on so council member torguson
was next uh I was going to say is there
a way to monitor it if there were more
than 20 members of the public wishing to
speak that we would at that point delay
till after the uh agenda items I don't
know
why you're GNA do it on the Fly clear
let's make sure we use microphones so we
can have it on the record please thank
you um my concern with that is if we
post that public hearing is going to
happen and the consent items are going
to happen those people are going to be
here expecting that to happen they're
paying their lawyers they're paying
their people to sit here to get that
business done and then we're going to
change it on them again think you
misunderstood what I said well you're
wanting to change it if there's more
than 20 and then we they can be put
after the public hearings if there's
more than 20 people that wish to speak
instead of making people wait for hours
we bring the public hearings forward and
move the consent agenda to after public
hearings no I understood you I I
disagree with it though because uh again
what I want to make sure is that people
understand what the order of business is
when they come every time they come and
I don't want to have to change it up
because we have a controversial
issue so that's what I would prefer to
do I agree with council member tilky I
think consistency is key and we are
trying to we're trying at this point to
get this on paper so that everybody
knows what to expect when they attend a
meeting and if we start to we start to
decide right now that it's going to be
either or at that point moving the the
items on the agenda I know I've had in
the past where we've had um and I'm
going to use public hearing items for
for the best example people that are
involved in public hearing items in
other communities and having to rush
over here to get to ours if they don't
know when they're going to be on the
agenda that makes them a lot a lot more
difficult for them and I'm using them
because we have small businesses that
come in here that are paying for
attorneys to be sit here for hours at a
time during public hearing and we're
trying to alleviate that and get the
business of the Council done so I like
the consistency um that council member T
is talking about next up is council
member Bon Giovani did vice mayor were
you going to bring up something
different or did you have a comment um I
just need to know what we're talking
about are we talking about revising the
agenda so that every agenda has the
public hearings first and and
okay what what's being said is if we're
going to leave the speaking time for
communications at 3 minutes for every
person that's going to come and speak no
matter how many that to put
Communications after public hearings and
consent permanently we're not going to
juggle it at the meeting that and that's
what we that's what council member tilki
and I are saying is that consistency is
important yeah um council member vanani
you're next uh section one 89 Quorum
section
a um well I still have a question on is
that keep okay I'm going back to where
we were I I I I want to be clear I'm not
talking about this Council but sometimes
we make decisions for people 10 years
from now
so my concern is this you know I was
elected to this seat I earn to be
sitting here and I don't want four
people to tell me that I can leave
because if you think about it there may
be a
vote at the end of the night that's
important and if I get kicked out in the
first vote I don't get to put my input
or my vote on something else that may be
important and uh I I don't think that
four of us have a right to kick someone
off a meeting um the the the citizens
want to kick us out they don't vote for
us again but I don't like the idea of
you could I mean someone could make this
pretty
strategic big vote last let's do the
count who I think is going to vote for
that let's get this person out before
that vote so I'm I'm Dead Set against
having someone take my take my seat for
a
meeting he's talking expulsion it's
actually
190 um a the new a 190 the new
a I'm correct correct yes
sorry sorry it's new section A because a
was cut out and so it's the new section
A
sorry
um
correct the the part it's new is in um
all capital letters council member B
Giovani yes this is actually something
that has been included in this policy
all along right and the only amendment
is but not a second time for the same
cause right whether it's new or not new
it's I think it's still wrong you want
it removed and mayor council member Bon
Giovanni just to clarify that that
addition not a second time for the same
Clause comes from the statute so there's
a statute that says Council has
authority to do so if they so choose to
put it in their code like it has
been but you can't use this as a tool to
remove someone for every council meeting
in perpetuity so that's why the statute
has that limitation Council if you
choose to have this right you can't
abuse it you can use it one time for one
cause and that's it and so Chris you
just said that in State statue it says
that cities and towns are allowed to add
this to their policy
but they don't it's not required like
Communications from citizens that's
correct it's something the council has
adopted and I think goes back to 1984
but there's nothing that requires the
council to keep that provision in just
wanted to clarify thank you and
you you said for the same you said
Clause but it says cause in our it's
cause okay thank you I just wanted to
clarify thank you um counil M
Buckley okay so I want want to go back
to the time limits and I believe that's
section 192 one B2
correct where you know it's giving I I
want to what I want to make sure is that
if we and and I'm okay with um with this
going after uh Communications you mean I
mean you mean after public hearing
hearings yeah uh but I want to make sure
that all of these things are totally
stricken out of here because it still
reads how are we going to vote on that
because it's still reads 20 or fewer
total speakers three minutes and it goes
down 1 two 3 four five six seven eight
different items are we uh can we make
sure that when we vote on this those are
stricken out that's what the discussion
is right now council member so we're
deciding if to if we're going to but the
what I'm hearing is if we're going to
strike those items that we would move
Communications from citizens to after
public hearing and consent so it would
mean approving a new format for our
agenda too but those would be stricken
and they still get the three minutes and
they still get the three minutes no
restrictions other than three minutes
okay
yes any other different sections that we
haven't covered
yet I just want to double check before
we move on
because I'm going to try and Tackle this
one at a time okay I think or do you
want to try counc Okay council member
tki um thank you mayor um again I want
to thank everybody for the hard work on
this and um I'd also like to acknowledge
the following citizens for their uh
assistance over the past year as we
evaluated our meeting procedures to
ensure they not only meet First
Amendment rights but also provide the
public with clear guidelines to address
Our Town Council and those citizens are
Dr Brandon riff Mr Ryan Handelman and
Miss Joanne Terry um and with that I'd
like to try to attempt a motion based on
our conversation that we make so I would
like to excuse me council member tilki
if it would be beneficial it sounds like
the thought at least on this section the
communications from citizens is to make
a pretty significant change to what's in
the packet I put together I think what
the council may want and we could
substitute that section in I'll I'll put
it on the screen so you can take a look
and that way the motion can include that
section if you we can modify the
language as needed I think it' be easier
for the clerk's sorry office to know
what what the actual language is and and
the other thought is if you're going to
change the order of the meeting one
consideration would be if you're looking
at public hearing items consent
recommendation would be to include
administrative items as well yes because
that's all the three items that Council
votes on which includes policy because
they'll be combined and then the rest of
the agenda so that's just a
recommendation on
that okay I'll wait for you to put it up
there see if I can do
this should we vote on these separately
so we're on the record no no it's my
opinion is as long as council member
tilki captures it in the motion I think
fine because it's still the same
document we're still dating voting on
the one same
thing oh boy okay so this section is the
original section that's been in the code
obviously the strikethroughs are what
would be removed and then the all caps
is the new language that would be added
this is my attempt based on your
conversation you just had to keep the
same system but still making some of the
tweaks I think to make it go in line
with the council's current practice
including removing the very end that
15minute cap that's always been there
that's never been
enforced uh it's my understanding though
that we were going to list it as three
minutes each minut
I don't we we it is it is in there oh I
see it found it yeah that's the original
language so we didn't have to change
that okay
um all right now I got to figure out how
to say that all right um so I'd like to
make a motion to I don't know why I'm so
I want to make sure I'm
clear oh we are okay yeah I'm hoping to
yeah um i' like to make a a motion can I
say item 36 instead of reading the whole
cold okay um
to to approve item 36 with the following
changes remove
section
1-
991
a that's this section that um deals with
um removing a council member
I have that as
1-90 90 okay sorry sorry I have that as
1-90 a oh yeah so B would become a yes
and it actually would be the entire
section 1-90 oh because it's cuz b b
subsection B refers to that so the whole
section would be the whole section thank
you Chris thank you um to I'll start
again to remove section 190 in its
entirety
to make an a uh amend section 192 order
of business as outlined on the screen
can I do it that
way
okay
um and to change the order on
190 I'm looking up sorry my note showed
the other one so the order of business
is
4 d
okay okay to um to change to I'll just
read it call to order roll call
presentations
proclamations public hearings consent
agenda administrative
items consent I mean uh Communications
from citizens future meetings
Communications from town manager Council
mayor and
adjournment I think those were the
changes
did in one in section
1-92 did
you state to remove item 2 B so all of
this gets removed and reped and replaced
it okay that's what I just want to
confirm that and what's on the back of
the page as well correct yep
okay all right thank you I I wanted to
I'd like a a moment to read through this
if we could maybe all take a moment to
read that so I'm just going to make one
clarification before we don't have a
second yet so we have a motion on the
dis by council member tilki with those
changes there was also a request for the
adding um items to the agenda and that
they would be added in the within the
next two meetings and I didn't hear that
amended that wasn't my wasn't part of
your motion it's not part of your motion
okay it's not part of my motion
okay
for
okay can I ask a question absolutely
okay so in in reading
this
um you know it talks about you know uh
if they want to donate their time they
they can combine their comment card and
so such remarks shall be limited to 3
minutes unless different time is granted
by the
council what does that do
and does that say the council is that
saying that the council can still change
the three minutes uh no I think um what
we'd want to add there is if you're
combining your time the total would be
six minutes we did agree to that I
believe at the last meeting so um can
you add that in there
um that
okay that's not what what what my
concern was is that this can this three
minutes can can be
changed by the
council
still so it simply spells out our legal
rights but that doesn't mean that we
would take those rights unless there was
some ex extreme
circumstances yeah just think of it as
we're not going to if they're combining
their cards we're not going to reduce
the time from three minutes we're going
to increase the time no that's not
that's not what I was refer referring
from but as long as we know maybe add
only when necessary
or the council still has the option if
necessary to change the time I think for
safety sake for this Council I I know
you all feel very strongly about keeping
it for three minutes but I really
believe that there should be some
statement that says if a situation
arises that you can still amend the time
how about with a super majority yes I
was just going to say exactly that yeah
but we'd have to have a super majority
vote in order to change
that okay um I think Chris you'll need
to make some changes there if um so the
one is if combined time the maximum
would be 6 minutes and the um statement
that uh deals with the um different
time um would need to be voted on by a
super
majority does that make
sense
it does does what I just put in there
deal with the six minutes for a group is
that sufficient is it where your person
yeah it's right before in such
event I just basically copied I can
actually change this I got to move this
to all
caps I don't like doing this I yeah I
thought we were in agreement so
otherwise we would have spent more time
in a
um I thought we were in agreement coming
in this evening too I'm apologizing to
staff and the audience for more
wordsmithing from the dis is never a
great way to do business in the
community and so what we're doing right
now we
could just postpone this item to the
next meeting and have more time to look
at it and be able to let Chris actually
work with the recommendations and
suggestions that we've come with tonight
and bring it back to the next meeting
we're just talking two weeks but uh
mayor I'd rather get it over with we've
I I've been working on this for well
over year two years and I'm ready um so
the only changes that we've made and I
know I've already made the motion is
that we removed the um
limitations um based on number of uh
requests to speak and we kept the three
minutes we've um added that um if if you
combine your your comments you get six
minutes um if we
should decide as a council we need to
change that we would have to have a
super majority vote so that's the that's
really the changes that have been made
um the change in the order of the um the
uh agenda to accommodate these changes I
think was agreed upon and that basically
is just move the communications from
citizens after the T the business of the
town so that we would have the time to
hear from everybody without feeling
pressure to get the business of the Town
done and those were the only changes
that were
made for everything or just oh and
remove I'm so sorry and remove the um
the statement that had to do with um
expulsion expulsion the section yes
section the section section 190 yeah
that's um Council M til's motion what
about
um what did we decide on the on um the
time period for study
sessions no
change this is if you find it's a
problem we can bring it back with okay
yeah I yeah I'm I'm happy to do that if
it's a
problem so I have a motion by council
member tilki would anyone like to second
that motion I'll second it okay we have
have a second by vice mayor do we have a
more questions or comments on the motion
as made no okay we have a motion by
council member toi seconded by vice
mayor please
vote and the motion passes
70 that concludes I have to change out
my stuff here concludes our public
hearing portion of our agenda moving to
our administrative item
item 37 Council Administration
discussion possible action related to
the status of the Council subcommittee
on teen violence vice
mayor I'll be very quick we we did wind
up our last subcommittee meeting uh last
week I've got a file full of uh action
items which I'm thankful to you all out
there that submitted those at that
meeting we are planning to meet next uh
Tuesday I think it is we're going to we
blocked out three hours was it three
hours three hours to actually write a
report that we intend to present to the
Council on the
16th yes thank you um part of being a
subcommittee of three is you have to be
able to meet again to come to a
conclusion to bring it back to the
council um council member banani yeah I
just wanted to thank all the community
members who participated over the number
of months uh with us um it was a really
good process going from anger to
listening to ideas and more
recommendations were being made every
week and and I was very proud to serve
on
that I I heard that um the mayak
students attended the last meeting and a
couple of them spoke and were quite
impressive I was at another event um
that evening and I'm very proud of them
they are very impressive group of um
high schoolers from 14 high
schools 14 high schools we have um with
the myx students and I'm just always so
impressed with them so really proud that
they were there and able to share their
thoughts too yeah they submitted some
written comments oh did they yes they
did oh good that's good they're you know
they're the ones that that are being
talked
about and so it's it's very important
that they where they're heard from too
council member Tuson I just want I
believe the Young ladyes name was Julia
and she was extremely well spoken and uh
it
was that was just great to hear the
whole process has been very enlightening
into other areas that I wouldn't have
anticipated but that young lady was very
impressive to me thank you she um
participated in student government Day
last year and was mayor or vice mayor or
mayor I see Kirsten's head over there
she was vice mayor last year and then
she decided to participate in my act
this year and she came back of course to
do Student Government day and she worked
with um the digital team because I
believe her major and minor are going to
be um Communications and um polyi polyi
so I'm really impressed by her she's a
wonderful young lady um thank you for
the update we look forward to more
information at our next meeting now
moving on to item 38 consider adoption
of the amended council meeting schedule
for calendar year 2024 amending the July
30th date to August 6th and the August
13th date to August 20th um due to the
change in the primary election this year
that was supposed to be held on August
6th that was moved to July 30th it um
affected our August um meeting calendar
and so I put I asked cheli at our last
meeting to make sure that we had this on
our agenda to adjust and when we looked
at adding August 6th then we realized
August 13th would just be the next week
and we needed to actually push it out
two weeks so um I would move to approve
this
change I second and seconded by council
member Buckley please
vote mine didn't go there we go Motion
passes 70 moving to our policy items
does anybody have anything that they'd
like to bring up future
meetings
seeing none moving to Communications
report from the town
manager thank you mayor members of the
council I've got a few things I'll run
through for you tonight and give them
just a second to pull up some
slides right getting
professional
me no if they can if they just want to
[Music]
advance yeah can just
Advance okay um just real quick I want
to start with a huge thank you to
everybody who uh made the LPGA event in
Gilbert last weekend and last week a
success it involved members from fire
and rescue police Parks and Recreation
Economic Development digital govern
government um just a huge portion of our
our organization that came together to
make that such a success um what I'm
showing you tonight if you did not see
it we had a commercial that ran during
the event and that went out to a
national and international audience so
that
please
[Music]
yeah that was great work by Dan
Henderson his his entire team in tourism
as well as Oscar uh who's one of our
video
journalists okay next if we want to
advance to the next slide we would like
to congratulate Elliot who is Earth Day
award recipient presented by Sunland
village and go on to the next slide and
then great work to the development
services team they Gilbert received a
community rating system upgrade from a
Class 7 Community to a class six this
upgrade results in an additional 5%
discount to the existing 15% discount
for a total of 20% for those that need
flood insurance in our
town next
slide and that's it
okay thank you mayor no next slide no
next slide um report from the council
who's first I'll go first council member
B bani all right so here are a few parks
and WS happenings for tonight's council
meeting Gilbert Outdoor Expo put on your
camouflage and boots and head over to
the Gilbert Outdoor Expo on February
February 26 was say that that was last
one wait a minute wait a minute wait a
minute okay someone else go till I find
the right one okay who else council
member Buckley
all right I first of all I'm so cold I
think my teeth are chattering so um I
have uh some nice fun little tourism
things to to read to you guys tonight so
first one is the Small Wonders map
Community scavenger hunt and hopefully a
lot of you have already heard about that
as a part of the Discover Gilbert and
local first Arizona Small Wonders map
partnership a community scavenger hunt
launched in the Heritage District this
past March the goal of this program was
to drive visitors and residents to
featured merchants and to community
points of interest through a fun
interactive and ongoing series I believe
you can probably find that information
out online as well uh the next item is
discover Gilbert Arizona office of
Tourism the Discover Gilbert team will
be attending Arizona office of Tourism
trade and media Roundtable this week
which will focus on joint initiatives
for fiscal year
2025 including in discussions will be a
session focused on Arizona visitor
Trends and
forecast and
lastly and there will be no more after
this is American tours International
visit so discover Gilbert recently ly
welcomed the vice president of product
from American tour International one of
North America's leading service
providers within the escorted tour
Market I had to read that several times
before before I decided I was it was
okay to read so the purpose of this
visit was to Showcase Gilbert as a
potential Phoenix area stop on one of
their western region tours make
introductions with Gilbert Hotel
partners and to have gilbertt
highlighted as a destination for their
Leisure Travel Travelers um keep in mind
you know this is all through the
economic development department and all
of all of these things I read about and
know some of them are fund but they all
bring in money for the town and for the
economic development department and and
the tourism so thank you very much for
listening I'm glad we have a bigger
audience tonight
thank you council member Council M
bonani all right take two okay here are
a few parks of recreation happenings for
this week's council meeting Gilbert
Global Village the Gilbert globber
Global Village uh will take place on
Saturday April 6th uh on the on the
Gilbert Civic Civic Center lawn from
9:00 a.m. to 2: p.m the festival is free
Multicultural celebration for all agents
focusing on the cre on creating a safe
and respectful environment where
authentic connections Thrive opinions
are equally valued allyship is
encouraged and differences are shared
and celebrated hey come on down to April
pools day swim party kickoff swim season
by attending April pools pools day on
April on April 6th from 11:00 a.m. to 2
p.m. at the mosquet aquatic center
Gilbert Parks and Recreation is
partnering with Gilbert Fire and Rescue
to bring a free fun event where kids can
learn about water safety while having a
blast doing it this there will be Games
music and vendors and food trucks to
enjoy that event thank
you thank you council member Tuson but
wait there's more the the Northwest area
of Gilbert is one of the most mature
areas in the community and for the past
10 years Gilbert has been actively
evaluating opportunities to revitalize
the area to ensure the area remains a
vibrant place to live work and play last
WN a public meeting was hosted for the
Northwest Gilbert R revitalization
effort and over 200 residents attended
the meeting to learn more about the
establishment of a Redevelopment area
and to provide feedback on where efforts
for revitalization should occur we
encourage residents to visit www.
gilbertaz.gov
NW Gilbert to learn more about the
Northwest Gilbert revitalization and or
to provide feedback and I was there I
believe a majority of the council was
there and there was well over 200 people
there and it was really nice to see true
public engagement I was very impressed
by how many people were were there to
learn participate and and be part of it
thanks thank you council member tilki
thanks mayor um just another shout out
to our team and for the LPGA coming to
gobert and this is Ford's first uh
signature event and they chose Gilbert
Arizona to bring it here and hopefully
we'll have many more but I just want to
do a quick shout out to two little girls
that I met and I talked with their
parents uh Leila mansky and pton Wilson
they were sitting there for the entire
tournament and collecting signatures on
uh posters and boards and they were
telling me how they were interested in
golfing in the future and I just thought
it was such a wonderful event to um
encourage
girls to um golf in the future so thanks
for the opportunity to be there I want
to mention one more thing about about
the golf tournament I was at a friend's
house whose backyard is the is the golf
course and was really strange watching
it on TV and then turning over to the
right and seeing the exact same thing
happening in real life it was It was
kind of
cool any other
updates seeing none I'll move on to um
updates for myself uh I wanted to help
do we have a slide for slip into
spring Ashley thank
you so I'm I'm not going to lie I sent
Dan Henderson our economic development
director an emailed today and said I
thought this was an April Fool's
joke when we got this email that said
slip into slide and that these big
bananas were in downtown Gilbert and he
said he you know he could see why I
might think that um so these Larger than
Life bananas are in downtown Gilbert
starting April 1st through May 2nd
visitors to Gilbert's Heritage District
can plan for Bunches of fun do I owe the
money to the jar now somebody wrote this
for me they owe the money when they
check out downtown's new public art
installation slip into spring this
installation features a banana themed
rest stop with a mushroom crank powered
music box featuring the sounds of
Gilbert's own Gilbert Symphony Orchestra
this popup experience is set up on Hearn
Way east of Gilbert Road under the hoop
lights the community is encouraged to
share their social media posts and
photos with friends and family to
encourage visitation to the district and
H and tagis discover Gilbert so what a
fun way to slip into spring in downtown
Gilbert and monkey around at the same
time oh now you owe money um last week I
was honored to serve as the judge for
the 2024 National Civics B hosted by the
Gilbert Chamber of Commerce the students
were from sixth 7th and eighth grades in
the East Valley and the top four will
now part participate in the Statewide
Civics B and the winners from the state
B will head to Washington DC for the
national be so good luck to the four
students that will be representing the
Gilbert Chamber of Commerce in the East
Valley and I already mentioned tonight
were a couple of events that are going
on but there is a post on gilbertaz.gov
called free things to do in gilbertt
this April so please please visit our
website gilbertaz.gov and visit the link
that talks about the events such as the
global village festival and April pools
day this coming Saturday and then a
couple of weekends ago I participated in
the second annual in their boots event
where we wore wore combat boots um and
walked a mile in their shoes from the
American Legion up Gilbert Road and then
back to the American Legion but before
we started the walk I had this gentleman
come up to me and take me by the hands
and gave me a big hug and he said I just
want to thank you for the Gilbert Police
Department he has
PTSD and he lost his wife and whomever
the officer was that was with him
realized that he was struggling in the
moment and the officer stayed with him
for 5 hours to make sure that that man
was okay and those are the stories that
everybody doesn't get get to hear those
are the great stories that I get to hear
and um you know we both teared up and I
wished him well and he's just a he was
just a wonderful little man and thank
you to our Gilbert Police Department for
supporting our veterans in that way and
and our residents in that way so that's
all I have um I will oh nope I have one
more thing that I almost forgot council
member Kowski had a birthday and so we
have a card for you and there are
cookies back there and counil M Buckley
tried to bust into the cookies earlier
um she did when we sat down so happy
birthday Council M Koski and now I will
we we haven't started this process yet
but I will take a motion to adjourn
mayor council member Buckley also had a
birthday she didn't want us to mention
it okay but we're very close I was told
not to say anything so I was trying not
to thank you yes thank you thank you
happy birthday to both of you um I'll
take a motion to adjourn I have a motion
by council member tilki second by
council member Boni Buckley all those in
favor I good night
everyone