Phoenix City Council Formal Meeting - June 18, 2025

Good afternoon and welcome. Before
today's formal city council meeting, we
will convene the assisted housing
governing board. I'll ask the clerk to
call the role. Board member Warvado
here. Board member Hernandez here. Board
member Hunch Washington here. Board
member Maghard.
Board member Maghard here. Thank you.
Board member Pastor here. Board member
Robinson here. Board member Stark here.
Board member Wearing. Vice Chair O'Brien
here. Chairwoman Ggo here.
Thank you and welcome board member
Maghard who makes sure our residents are
well represented on the board.
Resolution 220 227
recommends the city council authorize
the city manager to allocate 40 US HUD
section 8 project B priced vouchers to
the Helen Drake village affordable
housing development and further
recommended to the city council that we
authorize the city manager to enter into
any related contracts or agreements.
Board member Mer, do you have a motion
to approve resolution 227? I motion to
approve resolution 227. Second. We have
a motion, a second. Any comments? Roll
call. Wava, yes. Hernandez, yes. Haj
Washington, yes. Maghard, yes. Pastor,
yes. Robinson, yes. Stark, yes. Wearing,
yes. O'Brien, yes. GGO, yes. Passes 10.
Item four, resolution 228 is the public
housing authorities proposed asset
management budget. Board member Magher,
do you have a motion to approve
resolution 228? I motion to approve
resolution 228. Second.
Roll call.
Mado, yes. Hernandez, yes. H Washington,
yes. Maghard,
yes. Pastor, yes. Robinson, yes. Stark,
yes. Wearing
O'Brien, yes. GGO, yes. Passes 100.
Resolution 229 amends resolution 223
which is related to vouchers for the
Wild Rose Flats project and the
associated contracts and agreements.
Board member Mer, do you have a motion
on resolution 229? I have a motion to
approve resolution 229. I second.
Roll call. Morado, yes. Hernandez, yes.
Hodge Washington, yes. Maghard, yes.
Pastor, yes. Robinson, yes. Stark
wearing O'Brien. Yes. GGO. Yes. Passes
10.
Resolution 230 is the fiscal year and
calendar year 25 and fiscal year 26 US
HUD rental assistance demonstration
program property operating budgets. It
also certifies the RAD replacement
reserve deposits, withdrawals, and
balances as required by HUD and the RAD
program. Board member, do you have a
motion? A motion to approve resolution
230. Second
roll call.
Yes. Hernandez, yes. Haj Washington,
yes. Maghard, yes. Pastor, yes.
Robinson, yes. Stark, yes. Wearing, yes.
O'Brien, yes. GGO, yes. Passes 10.
Thank you. We can now adjourn the
assisted housing governing board. Thank
you so much for your service to our
community, Donna.
We'll now move forward with the
invocation for our formal council
meeting and I will welcome police
chaplain John Taylor. Thank you,
chaplain.
Please stand with me
and bow your heads. Heavenly Father, we
pause at the beginning of this meeting
to acknowledge you and to give thanks.
We thank you for the gift of life, for
the opportunity to serve, and for the
freedoms we enjoy in this land. Thank
you for the city of Phoenix and all
those who call it home. We're reminded
in your word that all authority is
established by you. So, we lift up our
leaders to you today. We pray for our
mayor, our council members, and all who
serve in city government. Grant them
your guidance and grace as they carry
out their responsibilities. Please bless
them with wisdom to navigate complex
decisions with clarity and courage.
Compassion to see and respond to the
real needs of our community, integrity
to do what is right even when it is
difficult, humility to listen well and
lead with unity and peace in their
hearts as they carry the weight of
leadership. We ask for your presence
over today's agenda. May each discussion
and decision reflect what is just, good,
and in the best interest of those who
live and work in the city we love. We
offer this prayer to you in your holy
name. Amen.
Thank you, Chaplain. Councilwoman
Gordado, would you lead us in the
pledge? I pledge algiance 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.
We'll now call to order the formal
meeting of the Phoenix City Council.
Will the clerk call the role?
Councilwoman Wado here. Councilwoman
Hernandez here. Councilwoman Hodgej
Washington here. Councilwoman Pastor
here. Councilman Robinson here.
Councilwoman Stark here. Counciloman
Wearing here. Vice Mayor O'Brien here.
Mayor Ggo here.
Mario Barahas is with us to provide
Spanish interpretation. Mario, would you
introduce your team? Yes, mayor. Thank
you. Good afternoon. My name is Mario
Wahas. I'm going to be serving as the
Spanish interpreter upstairs here in
chambers along with my colleagues that
are going to be uh downstairs uh serving
as a simultaneous interpreters. We have
Elcid Duarte and Oscar Monroy. I'll now
take the moment to introduce ourselves
to our Spanish speaking residents.
Mario.
[Music]
[Music]
Thank you, mayor. Thank you so much.
Will the city clerk read the 24-hour
paragraph?
The titles of the following ordinance
and resolution numbers on the agenda
were available to the public at least 24
hours prior to this council meeting and
therefore may be read by title or agenda
item only. Ordinances number G7395 and
7397,
S51964,
52022, 52035,
52043 through 52134
and resolutions 22312 through 22315.
Thank you. Will the city attorney please
explain the role of public comment? Yes.
Thank you, mayor. Members of the public
may speak for up to two minutes to
comment on agenda items. Comments must
be related to the agenda item in the
action being considered by the council.
General comments that go beyond the
scope of the agenda item must be made in
the citizen comment session at the end
of the agenda. The city council and
staff cannot discuss or comment on
matters related to pending
investigations, claims, or litigation.
Additionally, any member of the public
who appears before council in their
capacity as a lobbyist must is required
by Phoenix City Code disclose this fact
before addressing council. The city code
requires speakers to present their
comments in a respectful and courteous
manner. Profane language threats or
personal attacks on members of the
public, council members or staff are not
allowed. A person who violates these
rules will lose the opportunity to
continue to speak. Thank you.
Thank you so much. Item one is the
meeting minutes. Councilwoman Hud
Washington, do you have a motion? Yes, I
do. Mayor, I move that we approve the
March 5th, 2025 meeting minutes. Second.
We have a motion and a second. All those
in favor, please say I. I. Any oppose?
Nay. Passes unanimously. Item two is
boards and commissions nominations. Vice
Mayor.
Mayor, I move to approve items 3 through
30 accept item 17.
Can we quickly do boards and
commissions? Oh, I am I am so sorry,
mayor. I move to approve mayor and city
council boards and commission
nominations. Second. We have a motion
and a second. Any comments? All those in
favor, please say I. I. Any opposed?
Nay. Congratulations to our new
commissioners. We will now swear you in.
If you could please come forward.
Please raise your right hand. I state
your name.
Do solemnly swear domly swear that I
will support the Constitution of the
United States. I will support the
Constitution of the United States and
the Constitution and laws of the state
of Arizona. Constitution and laws of the
state of Arizona. that I will bear true
faith I will bear true faith and
allegiance to the same allegiance to the
same and defend them against all enemies
defend allies foreign and domestic
foreign and domestic and that I will
faithfully and impartially I will
faithfully and impartially discharge the
duties of the office of discharge the
duties of state your office
according to the best of my ability
according to the best of my ability so
help me God so help me God
congratulations commissioners on your
unanimous appointments. If you could
please go behind. The council members
would like to thank you.
Congratulations
again to our commissioners and thank you
for your service. The city council
provides an advisory role to the state
of Arizona on liquor license
applications.
We'll begin with that portion of our
agenda now. Vice Mayor, do we have a
motion? Yeah, I'll try this one more
time. I move to approve items 3 through
30, except item 17. Second.
We have a motion and a second. Any
comments? All those in favor, please say
I. I. Any oppose? Nay.
Passes unanimously. Item 17 is next.
Item 17 is in council district five. We
do have uh speakers. Councilwoman, would
you like to make a motion or hear
speakers? Um, we can hear speakers
first. All right. We will begin with
speakers. We'll begin with Shirley,
followed by Michael.
Hi, my name is Shirley Deman. I am um
the leader of the Alhambor Neighborhood
Association and I'm here on behalf of um
an organization I I Candy is a asking
for a liquor license and I just wanted
to make sure that you knew what a
wonderful group they were and that um we
had 27 a I don't know if you know if
27th Avenue is is a mess. They came out
four Saturdays in a row and helped us
clean it up. this organization, even
though it's not what I would want to see
girls do, is a step in the right
direction because once they get there,
they're protected in a protected
environment. They're hooked up with
another group called Body and Soul for
counseling and and direction in their
life. So, I just wanted you guys to be
aware. They also signed a neighborhood
agreement. So, if I need any help, I can
round them up. and they did also come to
my movie in the park and had a fabulous
time and shared and so I just wanted you
to know that it's not just what it looks
like, it's a real positive thing for the
neighborhood. Thank you. Well, thank you
for taking the time to come down and and
share that with us. The next two people
registered to speak, Michael and Jovon,
are available to speak if necessary.
Would you like to speak?
Great. Please, please come forward.
Good afternoon, mayor and council. I am
Michael Re. I'm the attorney for the
applicant. U we did not intend to speak
uh only if you needed to, but because we
have this opportunity, I did want to say
that uh the the process that I candy has
gone through to connect with his
neighborhood to become a part of the
association to listen to the concerns of
its neighbors and act on them uh should
be a model for all applicants. my
history as a former assistant attorney
general representing the department of
liquor. Uh I've seen the good, the bad,
and the ugly. And I just wanted to take
this moment that I was offered to
commend them on their outreach to the
community. I know that's going to
continue. And uh we appreciate the
board's uh the commission, the council's
time on this matter and and request your
recommendation for approval. Thank you.
Thank you. And uh Jovon available to
speak if necessary. Does anyone have
questions for All right. Thank you so
much. Thank you for the testimony. We'll
turn to Councilwoman Gordado. Thank you,
Mayor. I would like to make a motion to
add no recommendation to item 17.
Second. We have a motion and a second.
Any comments? Roll call.
Yes. Hernandez, yes. Hodge Washington,
yes. Pastor, yes. Robinson, yes. Stark,
yes. wearing
O'Brien. Yes. GGO. Yes. Passes 8 Z.
Thank you. That concludes liquor
licenses. City clerk, are we ready for
ordinances, resolutions, new business
planning and zoning? Yes, mayor. Vice
Mayor,
I move to approve items 31-
153 except for the following. Items 46-
53,
67, 68,
76,
78,
82, 83, 94,
102,
107,
148,
149, and 150. Noting that items 110,
118,
129,
151, and 152 are continued to July 2nd,
2025.
Items 116 and 121 are withdrawn. Item
149 has additional information. And
excluding the following additional item
for virtual public comment, item 153.
And can the clerk confirm if there are
any other items that should be excluded
for in-person public comment, mayor,
vice mayor, no other items. Thank you.
Thank you. Roll call. Oh, thank you.
Second. Second from Councilwoman Stark.
Roll call. Mad. Yes. Hernandez. Yes.
Hodge Washington. Yes. Pastor, yes.
Robinson, yes. Stark, yes. Wearing, yes.
O'Brien, yes. GGO.
Yes. Passes 90.
We'll now go to special proceedings
related to our budget. Item 46 is a
public hearing on the adoption of the
proposed property tax levy, truth and
taxation and adoption of the final
202526
annual budget.
I now declare the hearing open. Are
there any comments?
Believe we do not have any comments on
this item. Wait, we do. I'm sorry. We
do. Or
how do you Oh, here we go. Good
afternoon. This tax increase is being
presented as the solution to our fire
response time crisis that's been ongoing
for over 10 years. What the public needs
to know is that this tax increase will
not even put a dent in the deficit the
fire department is in. This could have
been avoided had the city leaders
prioritized funding its public safety
departments. The narrative is that this
tax increase will improve critical EMS
and ambulance response times for a
combined total of 10 minutes and 3
seconds. This is facious.
The city was hit yet with another
response time lawsuit for a cardiac
arrest call. It appears that the city
has an abundance of money to keep paying
lawsuits, allegedly spending millions to
NOS's, yet no money or emergency funding
to keep their citizens safe. I don't
know how many lawsuits or deaths it will
take for the city of Phoenix leaders to
prioritize public safety before all
other spending. Apparently, the loss of
lives is not enough. I will continue to
be an advocate for our first responders
and fellow citizens, tracking every
district's response times and keeping
city leaders under a microscope. Thank
you.
Thank you. We will now close the public
hearing. Item 47 is the adoption of of
is the convening of a special meeting of
the city council to consider adoption of
the 2526 budget. Vice Mayor. Mayor, in
accordance with the state statute, I
move that the regular meeting of the
city council be recessed and the city
council convene a special meeting to
consider adoption of the budget. Second.
We have a motion and a second. Is there
any discussion? All those in favor say
I. I. Item 48 is the adoption of the
final 202526 operating funds budget.
Vice Mayor. Mayor, I move that item 48
being ordinance S-52048,
the final 2025 2026 operating funds
budget be adopted. Second. We have a
motion and a second. Comments.
Roll call. Moralo. Yes. Hernandez.
Mayor, may I explain my vote? Please do.
Thank you so much, Mayor.
I remain a no on this budget. Under the
Trump administration and the renewed
promise of nationwide ICE raids, the
uprising in cities across the nation,
and mass deportations, the stakes for
local governments could not be clearer.
Our budget is a very real way we can
ensure our residents, our staff, but
especially our migrant communities are
prepared to weather the very dangerous
attacks from this administration. We
should be leading with more investments
into solutions that will address the
root cause of the crisis our residents
are facing. This budget does not
prioritize many of the things that
communic community members have
continuously advocated for or the lives
and dignity of our most vulnerable
neighbors. Ironically, there is also a
budget vote happening down the street
where we are as a city are going to be
losing money to build affordable housing
in the city. Um, so I cannot support uh
policies, including our budget, that
continue to criminalize unhoused people,
underinvest in police alternatives, or
give blank checks to a police department
that has yet to address the tragic
findings of the DOJ investigation, and
has a long undocumented history of
racial profiling and partnering directly
or indirectly with immigration
enforcement. As a representative of my
district and as someone who committed to
invest into solutions and resources that
address the root cause of the issues our
residents are facing daily, I vote no on
the proposed 2025 2026 city of Phoenix
budget. Thank you.
Haj Washington, yes. Pastor, yes.
Robinson, yes. Stark, yes. Wearing, yes.
O'Brien, yes. GGO, yes. passes 81.
Thank you. Very important vote. Thank
you to our city team and community
members who participated in the budget.
It is worth noting the state is working
on their own budget and I would ask
everyone to look at how much the city
spends on issues such as fighting
homelessness compared to the entire
state of Arizona.
Uh credit to our city budget. All right.
Item 49 is the adoption of the final
2025 capital funds budget. This is like
the infrastructure budget. Vice Mayor,
Mayor, I move that item 49 being
ordinance S52074,
the final 2025 through 2026 capital
funds budget be adopted. Second. We have
a motion and a second. Mr. Paris.
Right here.
Um, I meant to speak on the 48.
Apologize, but I'll say what I need to
say on this one. Um,
what I'm asking the city is is I've been
to two city council meetings since
meeting with the city being told you
guys don't have any funds for youth
programs and I've watched this city or
this leadership of this city hand out
$66 million to the Phoenix Police
Department after claiming there is no
funds. Um, I also had to sit in these
meetings before and
one of the problems I see in this
meeting is that you got city council
members who sit on this panel and sit
here and say that or want to say if your
family member wasn't committing a
felony, they wouldn't have been
murdered.
We all know who that city council member
is.
Um,
but I would ask the city council to say,
think about the votes that you guys make
when you guys make these budgets. Um,
and to put the same support behind these
youth then and funding behind these
youth that you put behind the same
people that beat, brutalize, and murder
these youth in the city.
Cuz I look at you guys and I see that
most of you city council members are the
problem and not the solution. I ask that
you make a change and start being part
of the solution instead of being the
problem.
You guys do nothing for this youth in
this city at all. When they're beaten,
brutalized, and murdered, you guys still
stand beside your lying police
department. You guys still stand beside
their wrongdoings. They're lying.
They're covering up. I mean, I filed a
complaint with the PSB
about the police department destroying
WhatsApp communications, and the police
department said that that's part of that
they didn't violate any operational
procedures by the Phoenix Police
Department. But yet, then the city of
Phoenix still employs these type of
officers. So, I ask that you guys start
stepping up, doing what we voted you in
to be doing, and that's protect this
community.
[Applause]
Roll call.
Yes. Hernandez, no. Hodge Washington.
Yes. Pastor, yes. Robinson, yes. Stark,
yes. Wearing, yes. O'Brien, yes. GGO,
yes. Passes 81. Item 50 is the adoption
of the final 202526 reappropriated funds
budget. Vice Mayor Mayor, I move that
item 50 being ordinance S-52049,
the final 2025 through 2026
reappropriated funds budget be adopted.
Second. We have a motion and a second.
Roll call.
Yes. Hernandez,
no. Hodge Washington. Yes. Pastor, yes.
Robinson, yes. Stark, yes. Wearing, yes.
O'Brien,
yes. GGO, yes. Passes 81.
Mayor, I move the city council adjourn
the special meeting. Second. I have a
motion and a second. Any discussion? All
those in favor say I. I. The special
meeting is adjourned. I hereby declare
that the special meeting is concluded
and I hereby reconvene the regular city
council meeting.
Items 51, 52, and 53 are legally
required amendments to the current 2425
operating capital and reappropriated
funds budget, allowing the city to close
out the current fiscal year's budgetary
accounts and proceed with the annual
independent audit.
Item 51 amends the 2425 annual operating
funds budget to authorize reallocating
appropriations. Vice Mayor. Mayor, I
move that item 51 being ordinance
S-52046,
the required reallocation of the 2024
2025 operating funds budget
appropriations be adopted.
We have a motion and a second.
The clerk will call the role.
Yes. Ernandez, yes. Hudge Washington,
yes. Pastor, yes. Robinson, yes. Stark,
yes. Wearing, yes. O'Brien, yes. Gigo,
yes. Passes 90. Item 52 amends the 2425
annual capital funds budget to authorize
reallocating appropriations.
Mayor, I move that item 52 being
ordinance S-52087,
the required reallocation of the 2024
through 2025 capital funds budget
appropriations be adopted. Second. The
clerk will call the role.
Guardo, yes. Hernandez, yes. Hudge
Washington, yes. Pastor,
yes. Robinson, yes. Stark, yes. Wearing
O'Brien, yes. Gay, yes. Passes 90.
Item 53 amends the 2425 annual
reappropriation funds budget to
authorize reallocating appropriations.
Mayor, I move that item 53 being
ordinance S-52047,
the required reallocation of the 2024
through 2025 reappropriation funds
budget appropriations be adopted.
Second. The clerk will call the role.
Or, yes. Hernandez, yes. Hodge
Washington, yes. Pastor,
yes. Robinson, yes. Stark, yes. Wearing,
yes. O'Brien, yes. VGO. Yes. Passes 90.
Thank you for those special proceedings
of the budget. We will now go to item
67. Authorization to adopt a proposed
pension funding policy for the city of
Phoenix employee retirement system, also
known as copers.
Mayor, I make a motion to approve
staff's recommendations to ad adopt the
annual copers pension funding policy and
acknowledge the assets and liabilities
of the copers plan. Second. We have a
motion and a second noting Councilwoman
Stark will not be participating in this
uh annually. I we discussed pension
obligation bonds are considered but we
don't vote on as part of this. Mayor,
that is correct. Wonderful. Thank you.
Any comments? Roll call.
Yes. Hernandez, yes. Hodge Washington.
Yes. Pastor, yes. Robinson, yes. Wearing
yes. O'Brien, yes. GGO, yes. Passes 80.
Item 68 is the authorization to adopt
the proposed pension funding policy for
the public safety personnel retirement
system, also known as PSPRS. Mayor, I
make a motion to approve staff's
recommendations to adopt the annual PSPs
pension funding policy and acknowledge
the assets and liabilities of the PSPRS
plan. Second. We have a motion and a
second noting that Councilman Robinson
will not be participating in this motion
in this uh vote. I'll turn to
Councilwoman Hernandez for comments.
Thank you, Mayor. I actually just have a
couple questions for Jeff on this one.
Um Jeff on the P the PSPs, which is the
acronym for the very long title the
mayor just just said. Um it differs in
copers and is specifically for fire and
police. Correct. That's correct. Okay.
and police um in that police have a
large unfunded liability which is
roughly 45% fully funded. That is
correct, Councilwoman. Um and the report
indicates that the city will fully fund
PSPs
by 24 2041
42. Is that accurate? That's accurate as
as long as all assumptions hold true.
Okay. Thank you. um if the staff and
city contributions plus the interest
don't meet the required that required
payment to keep us on track to pay the
gap down um what happens there? So,
mayor, members of the council,
Councilwoman Ernendez, um great
question. So, there are many things that
go into funding our pension system
annually, what's called the annual the
ADC. Um so we payroll is one of those um
ingredients also is um the growth in the
pension fund itself earnings that it
receives through the stock market and
investments as well as mortality rate.
So people live longer, people live
shorter lives that has an impact on the
on the actual um unfunded liability. So
what happens if if we miss any one of
those marks? It adds to the unfunded
liability, meaning that ultimately over
time your unfunded liability grows and
your rate goes up to compensate for
that. Okay. Thank you. Um and then my
last question is the extra 46 million
that was in the police budget for this
upcoming fiscal year um is a payment is
that a payment to PSPs to keep us on
track? To keep us on track? Yes, it is,
Councilwoman. Okay. Um, wait, one
followup to that. So, should we as
council anticipate that if a a huge
extra payment from the general fund like
this is needed in the future? Um, and
that would be needed if PPD is not able
to fill that hiring gap. Councilwoman
Hernandez, mayor, members of the
council, as I tried to explain and
probably didn't do a good job just a
second ago, there are a number of
different factors that exacerbate that
have a pushpull relationship on the
unfunded liability. That can be
everything from payroll growth, that can
be the earnings, that can be the the
lifespan of officers and firefighters.
And so again, if if any one of those
things is missed, including not filling
the the fil the u the vacant positions
that we have, they would all have
potentially a a negative impact on the
unfunded liability. Okay. Thank you so
much, Chef. Yep.
See, roll call.
Yes. Hernandez, yes. Hodge Washington,
yes. Pastor, yes. Robinson,
I apologize. Stark, yes. We wearing
O'Brien, yes.
GGO. Yes. Passes 8 Z.
Item 76 is authorization to amend
contract with human services campus
incorporated doing business as keys to
change.
I'll turn to the vice mayor. Um, thank
you, mayor. I would move to um continue
this item until our July 2nd, 2025
meeting. Um, and then I have some
questions for Anger. Second. We have a
motion in a second. Thank you, Mayor.
Um, Anger, we just voted uh for a tax
increase on our residents in part to
help cover our nearly 27 million dollars
of ongoing cost to provide services and
shelters to our homeless population.
Keys for Change is almost a third of
that continuing annual cost. We have a
responsibility to be good stewards of
these taxpayer dollars and ensure
oversight and accountability with our
vendors. Um, last year I fought for a
board seat on Cass's board for this very
reason, and that is what I'm seeking
here. Staff has approached me with
concerns about Keys for Change and their
financial issues, citing a lack of
continuous transparency and worries
regarding um, operating deficits. Can
you tell me if Keys for Change has ever
expressed concerns to us related to a
financial deficit they were fading
facing?
Mayor, Vice Mayor, um members of the
council. Um I I recall hearing uh last
year there was a situation. Um I have a
a debt Annette Medina here if she wants
to come up and give more examples on
that, but I I did hear that last year
from the staff concerns about uh
dollars. Okay. But she can speak
directly to it. Thank you.
Mayor, members of the council. Um, thank
you, Vice Mayor O'Brien. Um, can you
repeat that question? Have there been
concerns related to um financial
concerns related to keys of uh keys for
change deficits, a financial deficit
that they were facing? Did they share
information with us regarding some of
their financial concerns?
Yes. Um, some of the concerns that were
expressed were an overall deficit of $5
million. Okay. Thank you. Additionally,
I understand that there were some
concerns related to vendors at our safe
outdoor space um not receiving payment
and um some of the staff walking off.
Can you explain what happened? Anger,
mayor, vice mayor, members of the
council. Uh, apparently there was a
period of time where um the security
guards were not being paid and so they
walked off the job and there had to get
they had we had to get another um
company there. In the meantime, the
police was able to provide that security
for those couple of hours that it took
to get a new security company. Okay.
Thank you for that information. Um to
date we've now had three meetings with
the leadership of Keys for Change who
state that it is a bad practice for a
funer to have a seat at the table.
Anger, how many other boards does the
city have seats on? Mayor, vice mayor,
members of the council, um several um
some examples include Cass, um Arizona
Science Center, Phoenix Zoo, Trellis, um
United Way, uh Arizona or the Phoenix,
uh Art Museum. So, the variety of
different kinds of boards that we sit on
um and that we fund or they're on our
properties.
Okay. Thank you for um elaborating on
that. I I think that our um efforts with
uh other boards have proved that we have
good working uh relationships and
partnerships. Um I I'm disappointed that
our uh continued meetings have not been
more fruitful with them. I am concerned
given the items that we just talked
about and um I hope that this next
couple of weeks will give us time to
work towards a a better solution for
both the city and keys.
Thank you, Councilwoman Hernandez. Thank
you, Mayor. Um Inger, I just have a
quick question and maybe this is not
just for Inger, but any staff can take
it. As new, I'm a new member to council,
right? I don't know the particular
in-n-outs of how we are proper stewards
of our taxpaying dollars into service
providers. I hope what I'm hearing is
not that we don't have a structure for
oversight into service providers that we
are um sustaining because I share you
know similar concerns um and I think
that we need to make sure we address
those concerns without interrupting
services because there's still people
that need services. So, how can we do
that to make sure that we as city as a
city and are investing our taxpaying
dollars into helping people that help is
actually happening? U mayor, vice mayor,
members of the council, um we do have
other structures where we look at the
contract and we monitor contracts,
things of that nature. Um, I think what
what we're trying to get here is a
little bit more transparency where we
can be in the um be involved in the
decision-m and and also even even if
it's not a voting uh seat, we can at
least know what's going on and provide
that kind of feedback that would help us
make a a better uh resource for the
community. So, I think we want to just
have a seat at the table. Okay. Thank
you so much, Anger. I I mean, I think
that it is in our best interest to make
sure that we are seeing whatever quickly
addressing any issues. is I agree with
uh vice mayor like the that concerns
have been shared um as the campus is in
district 7. I would expect my office to
be fully participating into whatever
structure we we create to make sure that
our concerns are being addressed and
that services are being provided and we
are getting the most impact with the
funding that we're putting into the
service providers.
Councilwoman Haj Washington, sorry.
Thank you, mayor. Um, I I wanted to just
piggyback on the sentiments. It is very
important as mentioned, we are the
largest government funer to that
project, and it's not only just our
funding, but it also for me is very
important as we saw we see that Keys for
Change is is closing beds and I I think
we need to have some insight into that
and have some kind of say into it
because as mentioned, it is right here
in the city of Phoenix. it we have some
obligations that also coincide with our
our our settlement of the pend of the
litigation with the prop u business
owners around that area and the
homeowners and I just want to make sure
that we actually have some insight into
this. Um I understand that they have to
operate in a manner that they believe to
be fiscally responsible but we all
should should have some some u insight
into that. I think they closed 110 beds
in June and I they anticipate closing
another 170 in the fall and I think it
is important for us to have this
information as we work on a plan. Um
this is one of the most important issues
in our community addressing our homeless
um population and we just need to be
more involved. So I just wanted to echo
my sentiments and support for our
continued advocacy for some level of
representation on the board whe if it
whether or not it is a voting member or
a non- voting member but for us to have
some insight into this um as we provide
a significant portion of the budget for
the operation of this facility. So thank
you mayor.
Thank you Councilwoman Pastor.
Thank you mayor. Um
we went through this process with Cass
am I correct?
Okay. And we were able um in this
process as you had stated there have
been there are several boards that we
sit on
and it doesn't necessarily mean we're
always a voting member but we sit on the
board to be able to hear the challenges
to hear what is what is what they're
facing but also to hear what is working
well or to see where there's improvement
or more than likely to further partner
up with other uh departments.
So I need some clarity in understanding
why um the resistance or we are is am I
hearing correctly that we will be
sitting on the on the board uh mayor
vice mayor members of the council um
we've been in discussion with the
organization but so far we've not had
success on getting either a voting or a
non- voting seat okay so I think it's
highly important
that we really push this discussion.
Uh we we want to be good stewards of our
funding, but we also want to have a
voice or at least awareness of what is
happening. Um
there are some challenges
the keys for change. It's just the same
way as I look at CBI
um and the discussion that we had about
CBI. And so uh I don't think services
should be um stopped
but where there will be a certain point
where services may not be renewed
because of the dialogue that we want to
have. Um and so I highly encourage
that we continue the conversation.
Um, it's important to us
and uh it's important to the community
also. So, thank you.
Yeah, Councilman Hernandez. Thank you,
Mayor. Sorry, I just had a followup. Um,
that's some that's something that uh
Council Member Hud Hajj Washington
stated or brought up. Um, do we know if
anybody from the campus is here by
chance? I don't think we do, right?
Could we could we ask because I'm a
little concerned with hearing that beds
are closing. So would be we be able to
get information on if there are beds
that are closing are those just because
of funding are those ARPA dollar that
are ending like what is the financial
resources that are impacting those beds
to close? I just would be curious about
more information on that. Thank you.
Hi Mayor, members of the council,
Councilwoman Hernandez. Um the beds that
councilwoman Hajj Washington is
referring to um are the beds from St.
Vincent Depal waiting um related to
weather relief. So um some of those beds
already closed in June. Um the other
beds that are going to close are going
to close at the end of September. Um the
only way that those would remain open is
if we or um another provider were to
continue to fund them.
Okay. Thank you for that.
Councilwoman Hud Washington. Thank you.
My clarifying question is has Keys to
Change asked for additional resources to
um extend those beds because it's my
understanding that earlier this year
they indicated they did not need
additional funding from the city because
they were not going to be able to handle
case loan. Is it possible to provide
some clarification on that for me?
Yes, Councilwoman Hajj Washington. Um,
you are correct about the $625,000
for the campus. Um, the reason that that
was returned was because they were not
able they indicated they were not able
to spend that by the end of the fiscal
year.
And I just wanted you to clarify that so
there's no misconception about whether
or not the city of Phoenix has continued
to be a willing partner with the Keys
for Change. What we're what we're
talking about here is being more
involved and having more insight and
having a say into these operational
decisions given the fact that they are
the operation exists in the city and it
affects primarily city residents. So we
just wanted to be um better partners. I
just wanted that clarification um as
well. So I don't think it's a small
notion that we are going to be losing
that significant number of beds and I
think we if we should be able to
incorporate that into our plans as we
move forward. So that was a point of me
articulating my concern. So thank you u
thank you for clarifying. Um thank you
mayor again
vice mayor. Thank you mayor. Um and and
I thank my colleagues for their
questions. Um, as I stated, we have had
three meetings and and I had hoped
leadership for Keys for Change would
come down today to speak to my concerns
as well as the conversations that we
have been having um and take the
opportunity to address the council to
support the continuation of their
contract. Um, it it is unfortunate that
they are not here and it leaves me with
a very much a concern regarding their
willingness and ability to provide the
services that they've committed to us.
and the members of the unhoused
population. So I feel very strongly that
we have a nonvoting board seat as we
have on Cass and many other boards uh as
we just heard from Inger. So the the
continuence is an effort to make sure
that that we have time to have that
conversation and come to an agreement.
Thank you. Thank you. The motion on the
floor is a continuence to our next
council meeting. All those in favor,
please say I. I. Any oppose? Nay. passes
unanimously. Item 78 is Mville Parkway
Terrace. I'll turn to Councilwoman
Gordado for a motion. Thank you, mayor.
I would like to make a motion to approve
item 78. Second. A motion and a second.
And I'll recognize the counciloman for
comments. Thank you. The upcoming
construction project at the Mville
Parkway community is set to bring
several meaningful improvements that
will directly enhance the quality of
life for senior residents in District 5.
The addition of a shaded romada will
provide a comfortable outdoor space
where seniors can relax, socialize, or
enjoy fresh air. The asphalt refinish
will create safer, smoother walkways and
driveways, reducing tripping hazards and
making it easier for those using
walkers, canes, or wheelchairs to get
around. Additionally, the in
introduction of a dog run offers a safe
enclosed space for pet owners to
exercise and interact with their dogs.
Encouraging light physical activity and
fostering a sense of community. These
enhancements are only a few of the items
we can expect from this project and they
reflect a thoughtful investment in
accessibility, safety, and social
connection for our senior residents and
and I am delighted to see this work be
invested in our senior community. I
would like to take a moment to thank
Deputy City Manager Gina Montes, Office
of Heat Response and Mitigation for
their leadership on this project. H and
the housing department as well. It's
going to be a great project. Um we've
been looking forward to this for a
little while now. So I'm excited to see
this happening now. Thank you, Mayor.
Thank you, Councilwoman. Roll call.
Yes. Hernandez, yes. Hodge Washington,
yes. Pastor,
yes. Robinson, yes. Stark, yes. Wearing,
yes. O'Brien, yes. GGO, yes. passes 90.
Big meeting for housing. Item 82 is the
co-development partner for the Morland
affordable housing development project.
Do we have a motion? I move to approve
item number 82. Second. Motion a second.
I'll turn to Councilwoman Hutchka
Washington for comments. Thank you,
mayor. I also wanted to take a moment to
sincerely thank and recognize our
housing department for their continued
commitment to addressing the urgent need
and ongoing need for affordable housing
in our city, particularly in our
downtown core. The Morland development
represents not just bricks and mortar,
but a chance to build community, one
that welcomes back former residents,
supports working families, and ensures
that people from all incomes have a
dignified place to live. The inclusion
of projectbased vouchers for returning
residents and those from the Edison East
Lake Choice neighborhoods are
intentional and well-th thoughtout plans
for our community that foster
connectivity and opportunity. This is a
type of thoughtful, equitable
development that Phoenix needs more of.
Projects that center residents, embrace
mixed income and and build with
permanence and purpose. Again, thank you
to the housing team for their
partnership and I look forward to seeing
this transformative project move
forward.
Thank you so much. Did we get a second?
We did. A motion and a second. Roll
call.
Yes. Ernnandez,
yes. Haj Washington, yes. Pastor, yes.
Robinson, yes. Stark, yes. Wearing, yes.
O'Brien, yes. GGO, yes. Passes 90. All
right. More housing. Item 83 is the
Helen Drake Senior Center Affordable
Housing Redevelopment Project.
Councilwoman Gordado. Thank you, Mayor.
I would like to make a motion on item
83. Second. We have a motion and second
and I'll recognize the councilwoman for
comments. Thank you. Another wonderful
housing opportunity for seniors in
district 5. This project supports the
city's goal to build and preserve more
affordable housing by 2030 and
redeveloping city-owned land with
affordable or mixed income housing. This
redevelopment project is an example of
the kind of housing opportunities we can
create through meaningful partnerships.
The Helen Drake Village project will
create 80 affordable rental homes for
seniors on unused land next to the Helen
Drake Senior Center. These homes will be
available to seniors with lower incomes,
helping provide safe and affordable
places to live near important community
services. I am happy to see this
redevelopment project making progress
and securing home funds to assist with
the construction of this project. Also
want to huge thank you to the North
Glenn Square um neighborhood association
that went doortodoor talking to their
neighbors about the vision that they had
about hopefully being able to welcome a
lot of the neighbors that will be
hopefully exiting from the Haven and
into this project. Um, this is a
community that has definitely done a lot
of work along 27th Avenue around
Innovation 27 and I am very excited to
see them continuing and saying yes in my
backyard. Yes, let's bring in all of our
neighbors and let's build um different
type of housing in our neighborhood. So,
big kudos to them. And as well want to
thank Deputy City Manager Gina Montes,
housing department as well, TRG Arizona,
and everyone else that was part of
making this project happen. Thank you,
mayor.
Thank you so much. Roll call.
Oh, I'm sorry. We have a speaker.
Uh Diane Barker, please come forward.
Good afternoon, Mayor Kate City Council.
I'm Diane Barker and I reside in
District 7 with Anna Hernandez.
And um I'm just a simple statement. I
support affordable housing. I know that
the city has had initiatives since, you
know, before and even 2020 that now with
the goals and I have been uh pulled up
different listings of real estate the
city had and I think the city is looking
more to use our land. But the bottom
line on this particular property, I'm
not have not been there, the Drake, but
I I do um hear that the company that's
doing this, I believe I had heard that
over at the affordable housing, I think
they probably are following the
different um policies. I'm here to say
that we need city oversight. The city
has sustainability goals and I believe
we can do more and need to do more into
putting that into policies when we have
these third parties that are handling
the leasing of these properties.
Uh I think that these uh people that are
the residents
uh have you know probably ideas for
sustainability. None of this and I've
lived in affordable housing for 12 years
in district 7. It's never brought up and
we're the highest certification for
environment. That is sad. We need to as
a community move forward with
sustainability and goals and people not
to just look at the value that they're
moving into affordable housing that it's
cheap housing. We should be very
grateful for having housing
and I want to remind you that.
Thank you so much. That includes
concludes the public comment. Roll call.
Yes. Hernandez, yes. Hodge Washington,
yes. Pastor, yes. Robinson, yes. Stark,
yes. Wearing, yes. O'Brien, yes. GGO,
yes. Passes 90. Uh next we go to item 94
which is the
consolidated plan and uh for 25 to 29
and the 2526 annual action plan. Our
submission to HUD so more housing. Uh do
we have a motion? I move to approve item
94. Second. We have a motion and a
second noting that Councilwoman Pastor
will not be participating in this vote.
Roll call.
Yes. Hernandez. Yes. Hodgej Washington
yes Robinson yes Stark yes wearing yes
O'Brien yes
yes pass is 80
do not worry we are not done with
housing but we're taking a brief break
for the fiscal year 2530 public art plan
do we have a motion
I move to approve item 102 second we
have a motion and a second I'll turn to
Councilwoman Pastor for comments thank
you mayor Um, this item is actually an
uplifting item and a fun item. Um, as
public art reflects and uplifts our
communities, it tells a story of our
neighborhoods, honors our cultures, and
invites people to take pride in Phoenix.
This is a 24 million investment in
creativity and community. The public art
plan includes funding for five 45
projects across Phoenix. That's 45
opportunities to transform public
spaces, support local artists, and
engage residents in shaping their
neighborhoods. It also includes uh youth
in this whole process. West Phoenix
deserves this. Sweno Park on the west
side of my district is receiving 160,000
to commission a new artwork. This was
asked by the community. They uh were at
Espeno Park uh ribbon cutting and uh
they asked for some of these items. The
park, like many spaces in West Phoenix,
have been overlooked for too long. This
investment is a meaningful step in
giving the community the love and
attention it deserves. It also has the
Mcdow Road Revitalization Project. I'm
proud that 300,000 is included in this
plan to support public art as part of
the broader effort of Mcdow Road. Thank
you, mayor.
Thank you so much. Uh this one is an
exciting
item at an exciting time for public art.
We're moving forward with some very
important bond investments. We are also
celebrating the Sombra project which is
bringing public art and shade to our
parks and has gotten uh some really
positive
attention at a not just a local level
but even as far away as international.
So good news there. This investment is
throughout the city of Phoenix from uh
Paradise Valley Park to Rio area along
the riverfront. So look forward to
moving this forward. Roll call.
Yes. Ernandez, yes. Hodge Washington,
yes. Pastor, yes. Robinson, yes. Stark,
yes. Wearing, yes. O'Brien, yes. GGO,
yes. Passes 90. All right. More housing.
Item 107 is the issuance of multif
family housing revenue construction
permanent note for the Wild Rose Flats
project series 2025.
But do uh do we have a motion? I I would
like to move item 107. Second. We have a
motion and a second. I'll turn to
Councilwoman Pastor. Yes. This is
another exciting project. Uh this
development directly addresses the
housing crisis by providing safe,
highquality homes for families earning
at or below 60% of our area medium
income. and will serve a wide range of
household sizes, making sure working
families, single parents, and
multi-generational households all have
access to stable housing. Local economic
impact is important. This project will
create local jobs during construction
and bring long-term stability to this
area with a 50-year ground lease. I'm
proud to support Wild Rose Flats project
along with continuation of partnering
with Isaac school district which will
bring 72 new affordable housing units in
district 4. This house this housing is
desperately needed in district 4 and in
Phoenix. Thank you.
Thank you so much.
Do we get a second? I second. Thank you,
Councilwoman Stark. The meeting moves
thanks to you. Roll call.
Yes. Hernandez, yes. Hudge Washington,
yes. Pastor, yes. Robinson, yes. Stark,
yes. Wearing, yes. O'Brien, yes. GGO,
yes. Passes 90. All right. Item 148 is
the bianial certified audit of land use
assumptions, infrastructure improvement
plan, and development fees.
I move to approve. Is that approval? I
think this one's just a public hearing.
Does anyone require a staff report?
All right, open the public hearing. We
do not have anyone here to comment.
We'll close the public hearing. All
right, next we go on to 149. And we'll
begin by asking the city clerk to read
the title. Item 149 is for ordinance
G7397, an ordinance amending chapter 9-1
of the city code by repealing the
existing Phoenix construction code on
file with the city clerk and replacing
said code by adopting 15 model codes
with amendments by the city as the new
Phoenix construction code and
establishing effective date and
providing for application of exceptions.
Uh thank you so much on that. This again
is the adoption of the 2024 Phoenix
building and construction
code.
Uh want to recognize a huge number of
people who have been involved in this
including a group of citizens who uh
have worked very hard and um
Councilwoman Stark has done an amazing
effort. I will turn to her for a motion.
Thank you. Uh, mayor, I move to adopt uh
the 2024 Phoenix Building Construction
Code with amendments. Second. We have a
motion and a second. We will open the
public hearing and and some of the folks
who've been very involved with this are
with us here today. We are grateful for
your service to our city. Uh we will
begin with uh
Will Green followed by Dana Kennedy.
And if folks could please close the door
as soon as possible.
Thank you, uh, mayor and councel. My
name is Will Green. I'm with the
Southwest Energy Efficiency Project or
SWE. Um, SWE's mission is to advance
energy efficiency within utility
programs, building codes, and in
regulatory proceedings and lawmaking.
And this includes supporting uh
transportation electrification due to
its superior outcomes for consumers on
consumer costs, conservation of
resources, public health and climate
benefits and more. Uh sweep supports
adoption of the 2024 building
construction code with amendments and
specifically uh we support the inclusion
of the appendix NE to the international
residential code which will uh result in
new single family and town homes having
electric vehicle uh capability and
readiness.
Um, as the EV market grows, more people
will consider having EV charging in
their home to be a basic necessity akin
to other appliances uh that we enjoy
today. And appendix NE ensures uh the
choice of an electric vehicle will be
reasonable uh reasonably possible um and
so it enhances consumer choice. The
public benefits of atome EV charging are
clear. It enables nighttime charging
when the grid is off peak and less
stressed and will reduce the need for
public investments in community charging
systems. Um, this measure is a necessity
if the city wishes to fulfill its EV
goals. And thank you so much. Thank uh
thank you so much for your work on this
issue. Dana Kennedy is next, followed by
Josh Munoz.
Good afternoon, mayor and city council
members. I feel like I could have signed
in and supported so many of the issues
you voted on today. My name is Dana
Kennedy. I'm the state director for AAP
Arizona and I represent 100,000 members
here in the city of Phoenix. And I'm
here today to urge you to require
universal design in all new housing
developments. In Phoenix, over 20% of
residents live with a disability, and
many more are aging or raising young
families. Yet too much of our housing is
built with barriers like steps, narrow
doorways, and inaccessible bathrooms.
Universal design means homes that work
for everyone with features like stepfree
entries, wider doorways. These are lux
these aren't luxury upgrades. They're
smart, cost-effective choices that allow
people to live safely and independently,
no matter their age or ability. Let's
lead the way in building a Phoenix where
no one is forced out of their home
because of a poor design. Please
prioritize housing that's livable for
all. Thank you.
Thank you so much. Josh uh Munoz is
next, followed by Daryl.
Good afternoon, mayor and city council
members. Thank you for the opportunity
to speak. Uh my name is Josh Munoz. I'm
the associate director of public policy
for First Place Arizona. We are a
nonprofit organization that supports in
community and housing options for
individuals with autism and intellectual
and developmental disabilities. I want
to express our strong support for the
proposed amendment. And while the
inclusive home design features outlined
in the proposal benefit many
populations, especially those that are
of older ages, they are especially
critical for individuals with
developmental disabilities who often
experience co-occurring physical,
sensory, and mobility related
challenges. Features like accessible
entrances, reinforced bathrooms, and
reachable controls are not simply
conveniences. They are fundamental to
ensuring safety, independence, and
long-term stability at the helm. These
modest design considerations when
incorporated upfront help prevent
expensive retrofits retrofits and reduce
displacement later on in life. So, we
applaud the city of Phoenix for leading
on this issue and respectfully support
the adoption as a meaningful step
towards greater accessibility. Thank
you.
Thank you.
Daryl is next, followed by Francis.
Thank you, mayor, and members of the
council. Um, as a member uh as a person
with uh multiple disabilities, a
community advocate, and a Phoenix
resident, I'm extremely excited uh for
today's passage of the updated building
codes by the council. These will add
important and muchneeded accessible
features to all new housing throughout
the city. I'm very thankful to Mayor
Ggo, Councilwoman Stark, and the city
staff who demonstrated political will
and the passionate, strong leadership to
get this across the finish line. To me,
this is my ADA moment as it's so
meaningful to me and I've know it'll be
have a huge positive impact lasting for
uh folks in Phoenix now and for the
future. I and the disability community
have been advocating for this for 25
years since 2000 for these changes. The
housing industry is finally seeing that
these added features are not just for a
small niche population, but it's
profitable for developers, investors,
realtors, and it's in the best interest
of the entire community. The new housing
units that we're building today in 2025
will last at least 70 years. Americans
are now moving every seven years, unlike
my mother who still lives in the same
house where I grew up with. Therefore,
at least 10 families will move in and
out of these units. And I guarantee you
that at least one of these families will
benefit from these added accessible
features. This will save taxpayer money,
reduce falls and hospitalizations, and
costly nurse institutional placements
allowing people to age in place in the
community that of their choice
independently. This is a proven
cost-effective good public policy and
I'm thrilled to see Phoenix's leadership
once again. My hope and belief is is
that uh other cities throughout the
valley and state will follow along in
the very few very few very few very near
future. Thanks so much. Um appreciate
everybody's work. Thank you Darl. And
Daryl was the one who brought these
changes to my attention. So thank you
for your hard work to help us be a
better city. We appreciate your service.
Uh we will next go to Francis followed
by Nicole Anderson.
Thank you very much. Appreciate the
opportunity to be here today. My name is
Francis Haynes. I'm an attorney and a
registered lobbyist. I'm here on behalf
of Schindler Elevator and I would like
to make a point of clarification. Um the
motion to approve agenda item I'll
clarify the motion in a moment. Thank
you. Okay. Okay. Great. Thank you so
much. Um I wanted to uh take a little
bit of time to uh to just uh state how
much we appreciate uh the uh tip the tip
committee members suggesting that we
speak uh with the city staff, which
we've done. and we uh support the
withdrawal of the uh the 2.7.5.1
uh ASME code proposed amendment.
Thank you so much.
Thank you so much. We will next go to
the chair of our MCDI,
the mayor's commission on disability
issues, Nicole Anderson, who will be
followed by Kevin Brinkman.
Wonderful. Thank you so much. Good
afternoon, Mayor Ggo and members of the
council. Uh my name is Nicole Anderson
and as Mayor Ggo mentioned, I am the
chair of the mayor's commission on
disability issues and I've had the
pleasure of serving on that uh
commission for the past several years.
I'm here today to voice my support for
the approval of the 2024 building
construction code and most important to
me the revised inclusive home design
amendment that was also developed by our
strategic work group on accessibility of
which I'm also a member and that is such
a privilege to serve on a personal story
here. In 2016 when my husband and I were
building a new home in North Phoenix we
received news that changed our lives.
Our 15-month-old daughter was diagnosed
with a rare condition. It's known as Pit
Hopkins syndrome, and doctors at PCH
told us that she would likely never walk
or talk. In the midst of our grief, we
acted. I immediately reached out to our
homebuilder superintendent to request
accessible modifications, wider
doorways, a zero threshold entrance so
that her wheelchair could get through
her own front door. Unfortunately, it
was a complicated and frustrating
process, but it was absolutely
necessary, and I know I'm not alone.
Basic accessibility features like that
entrance and wider doors should not be
considered luxury upgrades. They should
be standard features. They're
affordable, practical, and they serve a
growing need. And if we're lucky, every
one of us will grow older, and we should
age in place. As my colleague Daryl
mentioned, universal home designs are
not only practical, they're also
cost-effective when incorporated during
the initial design phase and not when
they're forced to be retrofitted later.
I conclude with um this ensures that
more homes are built to accommodate at
people at every stage of life, including
veterans, children with disabilities,
and individuals recovering from injury
or illness. Let's work together to make
Phoenix a truly barrierfree and
accessible city. One of a vision in
which I know Mayor Ggo and so many of us
commissioners believe that can be a very
true reality very soon. Thank you so
much for your consideration.
[Laughter]
Thank you Nicole for your leadership.
Kevin is next followed by Deborah Kevin
Brinkman.
Thank you, mayor and vice mayor and city
council members for the opportunity to
speak. Uh my name is Kevin Brinkman. I
represent the National Elevator Industry
Incorporated. Uh we work with the all
the major elevator manufacturers in the
US and we've been working with the city
uh members uh on the revisions to the
building code specifically related to
A17.1 the elevator code. Uh we support
the the proposed uh building code with
the deletion of 2.7.5.1
which was my understanding was going to
be part of the amendment. Uh and we will
continue to work with the city and help
them with any concerns they may still
have with the ASM elevator code. So I
appreciate your time. Thank you for your
consideration.
Thank you. Next is Deborah followed by
Jacqueline. I'm sorry. Next is Deborah.
Jacqueline as a later agenda item.
I seed my time. Thank you.
I'm sorry. I lost Jacqueline.
I'm sorry.
Thank you.
Deborah, could you start over? What? She
conceded her time. Thank you. All right.
So, that is all of our speakers then.
All right. Uh well, thank you for that
testimony. Uh really important process.
Councilwoman Stark and her committee
have put us in a really important
position in terms of accessibility. We
have great partners including First
Place that have helped us become
international leaders and we're taking a
a key step. Some of this is just basic
dignity. Can you go to a friend's house
and have a bathroom that you can use? uh
others is the ability to age in place or
move forward with an injury. So uh
councilwoman, we are grateful for your
leadership and and your committee's
leadership. This is also very important
vote related to sustainability. Uh
timely that it happens while we are
having a a hot summer and and this will
help us do our part to reduce energy
bills and and to make sure that we
invest in sustainable technology. So
with that, I will turn to our leader on
this item, Councilwoman Stark. Thank
you. Thank you so much. And let me just
uh restate the motion is to approve per
the June 13, 2025 memo from the planning
and development director and adopt the
related ordinance. I think the speaker
said it so well. This is really about
being inclusive, making sure that our
homes are welcoming to all. I am
committed that in the future we will
also work with various organizations to
make sure we can retrofit homes as well.
and we'll continue to proceed to find
grant money to do that. I I mentioned uh
I think several years ago to the mayor
that I was in the process of senior
proofing my house. Now I know everyone
baby proofs their house, but when you
get to my age, you start thinking about
senior proofing and making sure you can
accommodate for grab bars and that you
can still age in your house and enjoy
your house. And so I really especially
appreciate the comments from Dana. AARP
has done a lot uh in this arena and I
really want to thank Darl. This is I
know is a dream come true for you. 25
years you've been working on it and I
really got to say thank you so much and
thank you to the rest of our committee.
I see Matt in the back and he's smiling.
I really want to thank uh planning and
development. I know I put you through a
lot. We kept making additional
amendments because we did work with the
homebuilders. We wanted to make sure
that we were addressing affordable
housing while putting in these various
amendments. And I will tell you the
homebuilders did step up. They I know
they weren't entirely happy because they
don't necessarily always like
regulation. It's a philosophical issue,
but they did step up and I do appreciate
it. And I think we have a fine balance
between affordable housing and
accessible housing. And so, mayor, I am
just quite honored to be a part of this
process. Um, I know I'm going to enjoy
aging in place in my house. Thank you.
Thank you. I'm going to second the
amended motion that she made and then if
I might, Mayor, Vice Mayor, um, I would
like to say congratulations to
Councilwoman Stark on this um, all of
this work along with the commission
members. um your leadership especially
in planning and development and housing
is always the best and so we appreciate
all your work. Thank you,
Councilwoman Hodgej Washington. Thank
you, Mayor. I too wanted to echo my
gratitude to Councilwoman Starks as well
as the strategic work group on
accessibility and the planning and
development um for their efforts in
making our homes more accessible for
especially for those individuals as they
age in place. These are common sense
smalls changes that allow individuals to
spend more be able to age in their home.
It makes the home more usable for
individuals whether it's a stroller or
wheelchair. These are the kinds of
thoughtful improvement that help people
stay in their homes longer. It helps
saves homeowners tens of thousands of
dollars in the future. And accessibility
shouldn't be treated as a luxury or an
afterthought. I really want to thank all
of the organizations that came together
and as the as Councilwoman um Stark
mentioned, the homebuilders at one point
were not in favor, but I also want to
thank them for for understanding and
coming around um to that we're not
necessarily trying to just regulate you.
We're trying to ensure that our
residents are able to um not have to
seek another uh home or make expensive
renovations to be safe in their home.
So, thank you um C uh Councilwoman for
your efforts on this. Thank you to the
planning and development staff as well
as thank you to the strategic work group
on accessibility for all of the work
that went into this. Thank you, mayor.
Thank you. Roll call.
Yes. Hernandez, yes. Haj Washington,
yes. Pastor,
congratulations.
Stark, yes. Robinson, yes. Stark,
yes. Wearing. O'Brien, yes. GGO, yes.
passes 90.
Thank you to everyone who was involved
in this very important update.
And now we have more housing.
Item 150 is related to multi-andley
housing conversion of different types of
property into housing. Uh does anyone
like a staff report? All right. Uh, we
will open the public hearing. We do not
have anyone to testify, so we will close
the public hearing. Do we have a motion?
I move to approve per the planning
commission recommendation and adopt the
related ordinance. Second. We have a
motion and a second. Councilwoman Hunt
Washington. Thank you, Mayor. Um, I just
think it might be helpful to take a
moment to clarify to our residents that
this item is not necessarily something
that the city of Phoenix initiated
independently. That the tax a sorry, the
text amendment is a direct response to
new mandates passed by the Arizona State
Legislature through House Bill 2297 and
2110. We are adjusting our zoning
ordinance not by choice choice but in
order to stay in compliant with state
law. While we understand the intention
behind the legislation to address the
housing shortage, this amendment
represents a shift in local control and
I want our residents to understand where
these changes are coming from.
Thank you, Councilwoman. And this item
did not go through our normal process.
It did not go through the village
planning commissions for consultation.
So, uh, came quite quickly uh, per
state. Roll call.
Yes. Hernandez, yes. Haj Washington,
yes. Pastor, yes. Robinson, yes. Stark,
yes. Wearing O'Brien, yes. GGO, yes.
Passes 90.
Thank you.
We now go to item 153. This is a citizen
petition and we'll begin with the
petitioner, Estella Verilla. And I'll
ask uh our interpreter to say that
statement in Spanish.
Yes, mayor.
I
Prosper.
Record
criminal.
for
resolution.
etc.
resolution.
Phoenix
[Music]
[Applause]
Good afternoon, members of the council.
My name is Estella Varela and I live in
district 5. We're here to listen to the
council, the council's vote.
Mayor Ggo,
she promised that
that the police would not be cooperating
with the deportations with the new
administration, which is Trump's
administration. But that's exactly
what's happening. As an organization,
Ber and in Nakion, we speak to the
community every day and we're hearing
the about the fear. They talk about
their loved ones. Their loved ones have
been arrested at work, at the
supermarkets, gas stations,
and only because they're racial
profiling.
But they're still being taken to Fourth
Avenue and we know what's there. ICE,
they've always been there and they're
just uh there to deport people right
away. And it's it's sad
whether you go out to work to go to uh
buy food for your kids with the fear
that you you're not going to go back um
because you got detained or deported. We
don't want to separate families anymore.
We're only the type of people that want
to come here and contribute to the
country. This resolution is for
prosperous communities
to protect members of the community from
the racial pro uh profiling from the
police. So, this resolution has many
important points where it specifies that
if you commit uh a traffic violation,
whether it be having no license, a
broken headlight, a windshield,
uh you get uh not get a we not to get
arrested, just get a ticket.
By approving this resolution, we're
going to be able to progress to a
Phoenix where everybody can be
prosperous, where we can all be safe and
sane. We're all We all want to be uh
safe and be the type of person we can go
back home after a day's work. Thank you.
Gracias, Nadia Morales, e Italia
quasima.
Buardes meal.
Gracias.
Good afternoon. My name is Nidia Morales
and I'm here for my grandchildren in
support of them
and for United States so that it can
become free again. Supporting also those
people that are working so that our
nation
can be prosperous and so that our
constitutional rights be respected.
No matter what immigration status you
may own,
please don't separate families. What's
happening?
Immigration. Who are they stopping? Are
they stopping those people with those
orange vests?
The ones that see us as Hispanics.
So that's profiling. That's being
racist.
Please help us. Let's become united
again like we once were many years ago.
Thank you,
Italia.
Transport
Phoenix.
Autonomos.
[Laughter]
Phoenix.
Good afternoon. My name is Italia
Miranda Quuez.
I'm a migrant.
Today I come with the people. It's a an
autonomous community. uh in Phoenix
dedicated to fighting for racial and
gender justice and focusing on
grassroots organizing.
We're collective group
with over 500 members,
500 LGBT members, plus documented and
undocument undocumented
and even people of color. We work to
transform the city
for a brotherhood, for an autonomy, for
determination and liberation.
We're here to raise the voice of our
membership
which is in the middle of all of this
injustice.
As a community,
we're
we are experiencing a wave of hatred and
unjust laws and this political climate
is normalizing the kidnapping kidnapping
of our brothers and sisters and the
politicians are doing nothing. We know
that politicians will tell us that the
police and immigration don't cooperate,
but we know of the experiences that it's
a complete opposite. And for this
reason, we're supporting the resolution
for prosperous communities. This
resolution is an invitation to the city
Phoenix city council to do what is
promised to do, which is to take care of
its citizens. The proposal reduces
interactions with immigrations and
ensures that our communities are not
separated. Thank you very much,
Senora Pacheco and Natasha Chavez.
isch.
[Music]
Rosealup
[Music]
pastor
Much gracias.
[Applause]
Good afternoon. My name is Irma Pacheco.
I'm a daughter of a Brasto Brasto father
who abandoned his family in the 1950s
abandoned his own nation to come and
build a great country here in the United
States.
At that time they needed labor
and it was very convenient to bring
people from Mexico here. I'm a migrant.
On January 7th, I became a citizen. And
I feel very proud, very proud to be in
this country to follow the laws and
respect the laws of the United States.
But I feel also very sad to see how my
people who have worked hard are
discriminated against. They don't give
them the opportunity to get a warning
ticket and are instead arrested as if
they were animals.
And we're not. And if this doesn't move
you to pass this resolution, have you
noticed that the uh the supermarkets,
they're empty. The streets are empty.
The economy, it's not moving. So, please
approve this resolution.
I want to tell you about these young
people here that there was a time in
Phoenix and we had great leaders. We're
talking about our beloved Rose Meford,
Guadalupe, Wuerta, and our beloved El
Pastor. It's time for the leaders here
to take the lead that the P uh that that
we're taking who have never uh held back
or we've never been ashamed to speak
Spanish or to defend the Hispanic uh
community the same as uh Mr. Pastor
took. Thank you very much.
Natasha is next followed by SA
Bano.
Um hello uh members of the city council.
My name is Natasha Chavez. I'm a
resident of district 7. Um and I'm here
to speak in favor of the resolution. Um,
especially during this time, we have
seen many of our neighbors, friends, and
folks in our city have been affected by
what has been happening with
deportation. And just the fact of living
in fear, even if it's not for
themselves, it is for someone they know.
I'm sure every single one of you on the
city council have heard stories from
your own um folks in your own districts.
Um, and I'm sure those stories have
touched you in many ways. And this is
why we're here to make a plea to the
city council
um to show the city of Phoenix and show
your residents that they do not have to
live in fear and that we do not stand
with racial profiling and deportations
and um police violence.
And
so that's one reason I would like you
guys to vote yes on this resolution and
to please support the thriving
communities to help prevent racial
profiling um from police violence,
deportations, and to make sure every
single member of our city feels safe,
loved, and respected in this city. Thank
you.
Thank you. SA is next followed by Liz.
Hello everyone. My name is Sa. I live in
city council district 7. Here to just
ask for y'all to hear the community.
Community is clear. We want you to pass
this resolution. Thank you. And I se the
rest of my time. Thank you.
[Applause]
Liz is next, followed by Yolanda.
Good afternoon. My name is Liz and I
live in district 7 and I'm here um in
support of the community, in support of
my family. Um and I asked you all to
support the thriving communities bill.
Um especially right now at this time
there's so much happening. There's a
cooperation with Phoenix PE and ICE
cooperating with each other to disappear
our families to hurt our communities.
And so I ask you today to really think
about that and uh stand with the
community. Thank you.
[Applause]
Yolanda is next followed by Monica.
Hello, my name is Yolanda. I'm from
District 4. Um, in my community, ICE
agents came and took 200 people who were
hardworking innocent people. The ICE
agents
um were not they're not officially
federal agents. They cover their faces.
They use brutality, force. They're
stalking, assaulting, and battery,
terrorizing community. They're violating
the US Constitution. They're violating
existing laws by kidnapping, forced
entry into homes, businesses, and cars.
Physical sexual assault. They nine
people died in in um the um what do you
concentration camps? I can't remember
what they're called. Um they're they're
getting paid $1,000
per person. So that's extortion.
Um they're they're impersonating
um federal officials with which they're
not. And um they're racial profiling and
they're using violence against innocent
people, even children and women. The
most vulnerable people they can find.
They target. They stalk. They follow
them. They go directly to them and they
take them by force.
And it's it's criminal. It's all
criminal. They're they're committing
crimes. They are the criminals. We are
innocent people who pay our taxes.
According to the Congressional Budget
Office, we pay more taxes
in the community. We pay more taxes in
the nation than the 1% or billion dollar
corporations.
And the IRS proves it. The Institute of
Taxation and Economic Policy proves it.
And And we're being treated like we're
nothing.
Thank you.
Monica is next, followed by Isabelle.
Hello, city council members. Mayor, my
name is Monica. I lived in district 2
and three most of my life, and I'm here
to speak in favor of the resolution for
thriving communities. This is an
opportunity for you, council members and
mayor, to show your constituents that
you are listening and will do what is
needed to protect Phoenix residents. And
quite frankly, we're asking for the bare
minimum. If you vote against the
resolution today, you will be sending a
clear message to all residents of
Phoenix that you do not care about our
needs or well-being. You're also sending
the message that we should start looking
for new council members and a new mayor
that will listen. Lastly,
lastly, before you give us the usual
response that Phoenix PD isn't working
with ICE and that city resources aren't
being used for raids, we know that isn't
true. We have witnesses ourselves. So, I
urge you to spare us the excuses and the
lies. Thank you.
[Applause]
Isabelle is next. followed by Jenny.
Hello, my name is Isabelle and I live in
district 7. I have lived in South
Phoenix all of my life and I love this
city. I want Phoenix to be a thriving,
safe, and sustainable place for my
family to live for generations to come.
Violence from police and immigration
enforcement and policing in general
cannot be part of that beautiful Phoenix
of the future. Yet we continue to hear
heartbreaking stories from Phoenix
residents of the violence they are
experiencing from the cal collaboration
of Phoenix police and ICE. FE families
are being separated, people are being
abducted, and communities are being
destabilized due to this policing. Mayor
Ggo, you promised that the Phoenix
Police Department wouldn't help with
Trump's mass deportation effort. And
yet, that is exactly what's happening.
More than 50 people since the start of
the year have been deported after being
arrested by Phoenix police. Under Trump,
the deportations, violence, racial
profiling, and mass incarceration by
Phoenix police will only get worse. This
resolution is a step that y'all can take
today to intervene in this violence.
that it's a way that y'all can protect
the most vulnerable who are at the
highest risk of arrest, who are at the
highest risk of mass incarceration and
of deportations. This is a step, a bold
step that you can take to protect people
from this from what's happening. I urge
you to do the right thing and pass this
resolution today.
[Applause]
Jenny is next, followed by Olivia.
Good evening, public servants. My name
is Jenny. I reside in District 7 with
two beautiful girls and another one on
the way. I lived here all my life. Some
of my worst memories are actually here.
In 2010, when our pio's raids were at
their worst, my family fell victim. I
was only 12 years old and knew nothing
about the politics behind it, but saw my
family fall apart and saw my father fall
for into depression for the first time.
14 years later, now as an adult with
almost three kids and a daughter who was
my age when I saw my family fall apart,
we are here again.
And now this generation who shouldn't
have to seeing are seeing their
grandparents be deported and are
suffering the same way we did. The same
way that I did. It will be my turn now
to comfort my daughter while she sees
her mama and her papa be sent to another
country she's never been to. Why are you
letting history repeat?
You sit there with the same skin color,
with the same struggles, with the same
last names, and yet you let the same
police department who took hundreds of
families away do it again.
This resolution will help hundreds of
families from being from racial
profiling and directed deportations.
If you don't support the to pass this
resolution, we will remember this when
you ask for our vote. If you don't
support this resolution, we will know
that while you're on your vacation with
your happy families relaxing, our
families will continue to be ripped
apart and traumatized by your city.
[Applause]
Olivia is next, followed by Beina.
[Music]
My name is Liv and I am here to speak in
support of the resolution for thriving
communities. I've lived here for 5 years
and I've watched this council raise the
police's budget again and again to an
irresponsible irresponsible billion
dollars while the behavior of the
Phoenix Police Department stays
discriminatory and abusive to my
neighbors.
And if you won't listen to our lived
experiences of mistreatment, you could
listen, although I would rather that you
believe and act on the stories and
concerns of your constituents. You could
listen to the Department of Justice
investigation that prove the patterns of
discrimination. Like for example, 7 to
12 people of color are are 7 to 12 times
more likely than white folks to be
arrested for nonviolent and minor
things. You have the opportunity to take
steps for us and we're asking you to be
on the side of the majority of people
who do not want to see their communities
separated, people deported, or people
violently targeted by the Phoenix Police
Department. I'm asking you to do the
right thing and pass the resolution for
thriving communities so that we can have
a future where nobody has to live in
fear and where everyone can live long,
healthy, prosperous, thriving lives.
Thank you.
Beina is next, followed by Elsa.
Good evening or good afternoon, council
members. Uh, my name is Beina and I'm
here to speak in support of the
resolution for thriving communities.
Um, the last time I was here before you,
I was able to witness um several civil
servants and members of the council
swear and take their oath for office.
and I was reminded of my own as um a
foreign member member of the armed
services to defend and support the
constitution of the United States. I am
asking you as council members to
remember your oath and to listen to your
con constituents um to hear their pleas
and their concerns
um and up and uphold that oath by
passing this resolution. Thank you.
[Applause]
Elsa is next, followed by Maxillian.
Hello. Hello. I'm short, so I'm going to
do this. Hello. I'm here as behalf of
Black Lives Matter Phoenix Metro in
support of this resolution. And I just
want y'all to know that this resolution
and the city right here is one of the
ways at the bare minimum that y'all
could address the multiple years that
Phoenix police have been the deadliest
police force in the United States. There
has been no accountability in this
council and we have consistently lost
lives. And before y'all go on and that
another excuse that y'all don't work
with ICE or what have you, we know the
ICE is in the jails, right? Let's break
this down. ICE is in the jails, right?
So if y'all arrest people, what happens
to them? They go to the jails. What
happens when they're in the jails? They
get connected to ICE.
So with this resolution, we can minimize
how many of our community members could
avoid that whole process.
So, right now is the bare minimum y'all
could do to address the concerns that
community is coming to tell y'all right
now. All right,
[Applause]
Max Million is next, followed by Ben.
Hello. Um, my name is uh Max Millian. I
live in
I live in city council district number
two. I'd like to use my time here to put
a few numbers into perspective for the
council. $1.2 billion. This is the
proposed budget for the Phoenix Police
Department. Phoenix is a city that is
home to a little under 10,000 homeless
people, about 5.3,000 of which uh are in
shelters, according to figures from last
year in 2024. Approximately 37% of
arrests made by Phoenix PD from 2016 to
2022 were against people experiencing
homelessness in our communities.
So to put this in perspective, the
United I'm sorry, the Phoenix the city
of Phoenix spends about $20 million
annually to shelter homeless people in
this city. So we are giving $1.2 billion
or proposing to do that for a the police
who about 37% of their so-called service
towards our communities is arresting
people who are homeless. Now, if this is
proportional to the actual amount of
work that they are doing doing this,
like that is about $440
million
being spent to allow the police to
effectively harass homeless people for
crimes that they would not be committing
if they were taken care of. And and then
we are spending 20 million to actually
get these people sheltered. How does
this make sense? Does this sound like
reasonable priorities to anyone in this
room? No. So, pass the resolution. We're
sick of the police being the go-to
response for problems that require
deeper, more complex solutions.
Homelessness should not be criminalized
being we shouldn't be giving this kind
of money to get the police new toys to
oppress people when we are experiencing
these problems. Thank you.
[Applause]
Thank you. Ben is next, followed by
Jose.
Hi, my name is Ben. Uh, I'm a resident
of District 5. I'm here today asking for
your support of the citizens petition.
Since November, our team has been
talking with thousands of community
members about what they need to protect
themselves against the Trump
administration and feel safer in their
neighborhoods for the next four years.
The resolution for thriving communities
is one step towards protecting folks.
Your offices received over 3,000
postcards in the last month from folks
who support this resolution. We called
those 3,000 people in the last two weeks
asking them to join us here today. And
you know what they told us is that they
were too afraid to come here, right?
They are too afraid of ICE showing up,
too afraid of being arrested by Phoenix
police, too afraid to express their
First Amendment right. Is that the kind
of city that you want to create? One
where a massive section of the
population is too afraid to come talk to
you? After Trump was elected, one of
y'all said, "As long as I'm mayor,
Phoenix will not use its police
department or any city resource
whatsoever to assist in the mass
deportation efforts by the Trump
administration." These lies are the
reason the resolution needs to pass.
Just today, you passed a $1.2 billion
dollar budget for police. Hundreds of
millions of that goes to the patrols
that arrest people and funnel them into
Fourth Avenue. At least 10 million of
that is going to pay MCSO to use their
jails. So, y'all can't keep saying that
you're spending resources or that you're
not spending resources aiding Trump's
deportation machine because you are.
Millions and millions of taxpayer
dollars. Thank you.
[Applause]
Jose is next, followed by Patricia. All
right. Good afternoon, city council. Uh,
my name's Jose. I do want to acknowledge
the community that did show up. I know
Ben mentioned the ones that were scared,
but there's a lot of people that brave
this heat to come talk to you guys today
and make demands. And again, I must say
u I I actually lost a brother to state
violence. My brother Alejandro Hernandez
was murdered by Phoenix PD. And you
know, I'm I'm an American citizen. And
my parents were immigrants that gained
their citizenship. They showed me what
it's like to live in this country and
and how we work. And the way we work is
when this city and this council and this
and this mayor didn't take
accountability for keeping our people
safe, we did. We left lucrative careers
to come here to keep our community safe.
We take accountability. It's time for
you guys to do it. But I'm tired of
coming up here and giving you my words.
So, I'm going to do something different.
I'm going to give you the words of the
three top uh police chief candidates
from the forum as it re as it relates to
this resolution. The DOJ I'm
paraphrasing the DOJ report ended. How
do we move forward? Director Gordano, I
know there's been a lot of talk. I read
a lot of articles where, okay, DOJ is
gone. We're just go back to the old
ways. That's never going to happen. It
shouldn't never happen. That's Director
Grodano. Those are his words.
racial profiling. Chief Aziz,
the quick short answer, we don't
tolerate racial profiling. Simple as
that. He's interviewing for the top job
here. Director Gordano, there's no place
in policing for racial bias or policing
with racial bias, but we all need to
recognize everyone has some bias.
Everyone has implicit biases. Some have
explicit biases. And then he went on to
highlight that example of bias by using
a 30-day registration ticket. One where
a ticket was written and one where it
wasn't. And when they questioned the
officer, he couldn't explain why. I have
a few ideas. They're probably in the DOJ
report. Chief Ramos, you need to make
sure policies are set and the
department's aware. It will not be
tolerated by any means. I could go on. I
have a lot of quotes and if you guys
want to watch, I'd encourage you to read
it. Now, we're sitting here with
council. We have some hopefuls for mayor
and and governor. I remind you, we're
demanding you to own up to your
commitments and and and
your vote. We'll be out there. All
right.
Thank you.
[Applause]
Patricia is next, followed by Maria
Neri.
Um, hi everyone. Um, I'm Reverend PJ.
Um, and I've been in the Metro Phoenix
area for over 40 years and I'm also work
in uh, District 4. My youngest son has
had his civil rights violated twice
since uh, February 2025.
Um, my son is a testimony to the lack of
protections that this resolution aims to
fix. It's impacted my son. Uh, he was
brutalized by the police. Uh, he is
traumatized
him and we now have legal fees and the
charges he's um facing will leave him
homeless.
Support for this resolution will both
save taxpayers billions but also protect
their civil rights. Thank you.
[Applause]
Maria is next, followed by Mark.
Hello council members and members of the
community. I'm here because I don't want
my taxes to be used for discrimination.
I don't want my taxes to separate
families. I know exactly as a mother how
it feels. My son was um
sentenced to 18 years. My son has mental
health disability. His intellectual
disability is like four and sixth grade
level. In addition, he suffers from
autism, es schizophrenia, and bipolar.
He takes medications. He suffers from
anxiety and depression.
Um, there's enough proof from
specialists. There is a forensic
evaluation
and the court across the street has that
evaluation that says that my son
qualifies for rule 11 that he's not
competent. And the judge son Meyer said
that he can make a decision. So I'm here
because I need your support
and I don't want my taxes to separate
families.
My son is being detained for almost
a little bit more than a year. He's
having a hard time. He's not going to
survive. He's not going to survive. 18
years now with a mental health
disability and all the medications he
takes. At night, I can't sleep. I'm
always thinking about my son.
And I'm here because I need your
support.
All my life and some of you know me.
I always work with the community. I
dedicated my life to uh work.
[Music]
Thank you so much.
Thank you for sharing that testimony.
Mark is next, followed by Frank.
Hello.
Uh I'm here today in support of the
resolution. And uh encompasses everyone,
regular citizens, every race, even
homeless people. Uh, I've been here in
Phoenix for eight and a half years and
I've either heard about or seen
countless times the police mistreating
people. Uh, last year I was sitting on
on public sidewalk on on Van Beern empty
parking lot behind me reading a book and
20 minutes later here comes cop pulling
up. Uh, you have to move and I didn't
say anything. I looked this way, looked
this way. Yeah. and he's like, I know
nobody, you know, you're not in the way
of anybody, but if you're not gone, when
I come back in 15 minutes, you better be
gone. So, I moved on, but uh
and uh I just want to, you know, like I
said, support this resolution. Thank
you.
[Applause]
Thank you. Frank is next, followed by
Elizabeth.
Hello, Sod Council. My name is Frank
Urban. I'm with Fund for Empowerment, as
you all know. Um I'm here in support of
this resolution.
It infects everyone of your
constituents,
homeless,
uh Spanish, black,
you know, whoever.
Um
Phoenix PD is working with ICE. I've
heard numerous reports on it.
Um,
and that cannot be allowed
because the almost everyone that the
Phoenix police arrest,
if they are Spanish or even look
Spanish, they get deported even if they
are American citizens.
Um, and this cannot be allowed.
Thank you. And I concede the rest of my
time.
Thank you. Elizabeth is next, followed
by Laura.
Hello, city council. Um, my name is
Elizabeth Benal and I'm with the Fund
for Empowerment. Um we had the um only
surviving
homeless litigation in the country that
survived a Supreme Court challenge so
striking down Martin v. Boise. However,
um we have a fourth amendment argument
about property being thrown away. Okay.
So, um
uh and I'm regularly here and and many
of our people. Um, so what I want to say
is, you know, I'm going to use a little
bit different words because I sort of
talk a different way, right, when I'm
talking to you, you know. So, um, there
are many issues I think are problematic.
Um, I'm worried about the end of local
autonomy. I think there's always been a
problem with the city of Phoenix being
interfered with by the Arizona State
Legislature, but I think that we are
specifically going to be used as a force
multiplier, right? Every police force,
all these police force are contracting
on. You guys work with MCSO. MCSO has
had a 287G since 2007, right? I know
that cuz I was involved with them. But
anyways, so um you know, it's been it's
been I'm very afraid. I used to at
Central High. I got to study Russian
language, right? And it was wonderful.
And then I went to ASU and I took like
similar Russian language and I learned a
lot about um various types of
governments um up close, right? In in a
way that I wouldn't have gotten access
to it. Thankfully, you know, Central
High School had that desegregation
money, right? So, and that might be
gone, too. Um they are um I believe that
our fundamental American rights are are
being functionally
destroyed because they're uninforcable
by the court by the courts. I also
understand that the Supreme Court is
being threatened with being executed um
uh as um
Katanji Brown Jackson stated and I think
it's important to recognize that you can
be compelled
by violence or any other force to use
these police forces as multi as force
multipliers, right? And you will lose
your autonomy. I don't know if you can
vote for this. I heavily encourage you
voted for it. If you do not look at
every single issue in it, reconsider it.
I would encourage people to bring every
single separately back. Every issue
separately back. Right. Thank you,
Elizabeth.
[Applause]
Uh Laura is next followed by Annne
Ender.
Hello, my name is Laura Medina and my
people predate America. I'm calling upon
Arizona leadership to show us what
humanity is during these trying times
and vote yes on the resolution for
thriving communities. Let me tell you
why. Arizona is home to 22 tribal
nations and other indigenous folks who
have traveled across Turtle Island, aka
North America continent since time in
memorial and way before any European
settler. We need this resolution because
why are brown and black people targeted
for simply existing? I only have one
logical explanation and that is white
supremacy and the continuation of the
colonial legacy inherent with the
American system.
If leadership wants to stop appearing as
fake and inauthentic individuals who are
just playing a game of politics, then we
the people demand you step up to
genocidal regimes designed to
brown and black relatives. Let me share
you some recent history. My family was
torn apart during the 60s scoop where my
mom and auntie were ripped from the
traditional Ojiway home that at the time
was deemed not up to par to white racial
standards. They then were placed up for
adoption causing a lot of trauma that is
evident in my life today.
That is why we have protective policies
like the Indian Child Welfare Act and
the abolishment of the Indian boarding
schools as both were Americanbacked
assimilative tactics to rip indigenous
families apart and the sick opportunity
for colonizers and European settlers to
prey on our people, rape our children
and murder brown bodies causing mass
graves filled with our ancestors who
were just babies. Yes, I repeat,
children graves located at Indian
boarding schools filled with thousands
of beautiful brown indigenous babies
across America and Canada, including
Phoenix. And this was all backed by the
institutions you were voted into. Will
there be children graves at these
detention centers as leaders? I hope
this motivates you to protect rather
than allow racially motivated attacks on
brown and black relatives. From what we
all have seen from ICE activity and
other law enforcement, we are witnessing
a repeat.
Anner is next.
Anner is next, followed by Anna
Building. Um, good afternoon, Mayor Ggo,
Vice Mayor O'Brien, and Council. Um,
I'm going to say something with all due
respect to all of you. This is
completely misguided for us to have to
sit here and listen to all of this
because it has nothing to do with the
city's purview.
We're I I've been coming here for how
many years now? I don't get paid and I
come here because I want to understand
and participate in
the city's business and this doesn't
have anything to do with it. And I was
wondering to know if why can't the staff
read the report because it's clear in
the report first of all that the
petition was submitted improperly. It
shouldn't even be I'm sorry. It just
shouldn't even be listened to. Also, why
can't Chief Orander stand up and re, you
know, once again review what the Phoenix
Police Department's role is in
immigration, which is only if they
arrest someone that has criminal
background, then they go and they then
they bring in ICE. I just don't
understand why we have to keep doing
this. I went Monday I went to this man's
funeral. Officer Gabriel Fosio came from
Mexico legalized. All he ever wanted to
be was a cop. And guess what? He gave
his life for it. This petition, I'm
sorry I'm getting angry. This petition
perpetuates the violence we're seeing
against police. And I don't appreciate
it that we're continuing to talk about
federal and state laws when this has
nothing to do with what the city can
actually do. Thank you.
Thank you. Anna Belding is next. Flo
followed by Chloe.
Is Anna Belding here?
All right. Uh, Chloe is next, followed
by Ellie.
Is Chloe here?
If you're Chloe, could you like raise?
All right. Is Ellie here? Samul
and Okay. Um, is Harrison
Redmond here?
Harrison would be followed by Megan.
Good afternoon, Mayor Ggo, Vice Mayor
O'Brien, and members of the Phoenix City
Council. My name is Harrison Redmond,
and I'm a community organizer and
registered lobbyist here today on behalf
of the ACLU of Arizona to express our
strong support for the resolution for
thriving communities. This resolution is
not just timely, it's urgent. Urgent for
our community members and for public
safety. The Trump administration has
attempted to sweep the pervasive issue
of police brutality and misconduct in
Phoenix under the rug. But the
Department of Justice's findings
confirmed what many Phoenix residents,
many of whom are in this building today,
regularly experience. A police
department engaged in excessive force,
racial profiling, and the
criminalization of poverty and mental
health disability. These proven patterns
are unconstitutional, harmful, and they
demand meaningful structural reform. The
resolution before you today will
continue the invaluable work of Arizona
advocates and community members on their
long road to justice and true community
safety. This resolution calls for sight
and release policies, seeks to end
pretextual stops and discriminatory
enforcement, and seeks to ensure that
unhoused residents and others facing
quality of life challenges are met with
compassion and resources that center
their well-being, not incarceration. The
resolution improves transparency by
requiring robust data collection on
police stops and creating a system for
community feedback. These measures are
essential to hold the Phoenix police
accountable to both the people that they
claim to serve and all of our
communities across the city. As federal
oversight retreats and community
members, immigrants, and unhoused
people's civil rights and liberties face
renewed threats, all of you as city
council members have the power to make
real change for your constituents and
for this city. By passing the resolution
for thriving communities, Phoenix would
send a clear message, one that says that
true justice, fairness, and dignity for
every Pho are non-negotiable. The ACLU
of Arizona urges you to vote yes. All
power to the people. Thank you.
[Applause]
Megan is next, followed by Ellie.
Good afternoon. My name is Megan and I
live in district 8. I am an occupational
therapy student at NAU. I am also a
proud autistic Arizonan who if I didn't
get the support that I needed, I
wouldn't be standing here today. And as
an occupational therapist, I plan to
specialize in adult mental health and
help the people that society so often
throws away into jails and prisons. Um,
I am angry about the way that ICE is
traumatizing our communities. Immigrants
are valued members of our community.
They're our classmates, my loved ones.
They're people who have changed my life,
people who have saved my life.
And I am the daughter of a firefighter.
I was raised to trust law enforcement
and our communities
are all safer if there can be a trusting
collaborative relationship with police
rather than every time we see a law
enforcement officer. We wonder am I
about to get w am I about to witness
somebody get snatched get kidnapped and
disappeared to god knows where.
I am asking you to pass the resolution
for thriving communities to keep
everyone in our communities safer. Thank
you.
[Applause]
Ellie is next, followed by Joseph.
Hello, my name is Ellie Samil and I am a
lifelong resident of the Phoenix
metropolitan area. I've come to testify
in support of the resolution for
thriving communities, but have also to
once again ask the council a question
that you have been repeatedly asked for
over a decade. When are you finally
going to do something about Phoenix PD?
We have done the research. We have held
the committees and we have read the
reports. We know that they are the one
that they are one of the most violent
police departments in the nation. But we
also know what reforms we need to take.
And yet still nothing changes. In fact,
despite the vigorous opposition from
community members, UF just proposed an
unconscionable $1.2 billion budget for
the police force. While meanwhile,
Phoenix PD continues to actively
cooperate with ICE as they abduct abduct
our loved ones in broad daylight,
helping to bring hundreds of innocents
to 4th Avenue to then be snatched away.
This is a cooperation that Mayor Ggo
herself said would not happen and that
she would work to prevent and yet our
loved ones continue to be disappeared.
The resolution for thriving communities
contains common sense reforms that will
help you keep your own promises. The
fact that the people of Phoenix had to
take it upon themselves to introduce
this measure should alarm you. The
people want change. We need change. And
if you refuse that change, then we'll
find someone who won't.
So far, Councilwoman Hernandez has been
the only member of this me of this
council to make good on her promises.
The only one to provide solutions
instead of giving the problem more
money. We don't need your promises
anymore. We need you to take action.
This resolution is your chance to join
Councilwoman Hernandez and stand with
the people you call your own. Please
vote to pass the resolution and
demonstrate to us that you are leaders
of your word. Thank you.
[Applause]
Joseph is next, followed by Tina.
Good afternoon. My name is Joseph. I
live in District 4 and I work in
District 8. I am a public servant, um an
educator, and a proud product of Phoenix
public schools.
I am here today um in support of this
resolution, but I also want to address
that troubling uh common deflective
tactic rooted in right fragility
pointing to a single exception within
the Latino community in order to make an
example of why we don't want to be
policed. Right fragility is real and it
existed in these comments today. I urge
everyone here to read Migrating to
Prison. Um because what we're fighting
against today is just not this
administration. This has been prior
administrations including Obama,
including Clinton, including George W.
Bush. This has been an ongoing thing, an
ongoing thing. Our communities live in
fear, not because of crime, but because
of government sanctioned violence,
surveillance, and dehuman dehumanization
of our people.
We are asking for you to pass this as
one step in saying that we are not going
to work with ICE. ICE who are showing up
in normal clothing to public places to
safe places and gathering people and
taking them away. I was a victim of SB
1070 and racial profiling because of a
decal I had on my car by Phoenix police.
And this is SB 1070 at a national level.
And it's harmful to our communities.
It's harmful to all people who are here.
I don't care how someone got here. I
care about their compassion. I care
about how they care about people, how
they treat each other, and how they
treat our communities. That's what
matters to me. So, we need to protect
our undocumented communities because
let's make it very clear, the ones being
targeted are brown. That's who's being
targeted right now. So, please pass this
resolution like the community is asking
you to do.
[Applause]
Tina is next and then we will go
downstairs for Rebecca.
Good afternoon, mayor, vice mayor, and
members of the city council. My name is
Tina Jabilian. I've lived in Phoenix
since 1993 and I am very happy to be a
resident of District 3. The human rights
violations against people of color being
carried out by the federal government
right now are horrifying. If you don't
think so, you don't have a heart.
Please take to heart the testimonies
today that you've heard of people
affected by this violence.
And please don't use my city's police
force to aid in abet these awful federal
practices that are going on right now.
I'm asking you to do the right thing and
pass the resolution for thriving
communities to help prevent racial
profiling, police violence, and
deportations and keep our communities
safe. Thank you.
[Applause]
Uh, Rebecca is next, followed by Carmen.
My name is Rebecca Deni. I've grown up
in Phoenix and currently live in
District 4. I'm here today in support of
the resolution for thriving communities,
and I urge this council to vote yes to
pass this res resolution and help
prevent racial profiling, police
violence, and deportations. On May 8 May
13th, AZ Central published an article
with the headline, "Most criminal
immigration cases in Metro Phoenix start
with local police, not ICE." And I
quote, "Arrest and traffic stops by
local police and other law enforcement
officers in Maricopa County sparked 152
criminal immigration cases at Phoenix's
federal courthouse during the first
three months of the Trump
administration. That is far more than
the number of cases filed in Phoenix
that originated from ICE operations. Out
of those 152 arrests, 58 of those
arrests that led to deportations were
made by Phoenix PD. In Maricopa County,
there are 24 incorporated cities in just
one department. Phoenix PD made 38% of
those arrests that led to deportations.
That is why we are here. That is why
this resolution matters. Members of this
dise, you'll gaslight us. Data does not
lie. We are in a moment of reckoning as
a nation. And as a leader, you need to
ask yourself, are you going to do
everything in your power to fight
fascism, to fight racism here in this
country and in our city? I want to
remind people that crime is a concept.
Societies and governments decide what is
and isn't a crime, what is and isn't
legal. And right now, you have the power
to make policy decisions that will
protect people. And you can make a
choice to decriminalize our communities
today. You can say that Phoenix PD isn't
collaborating with ICE because you're
not in a direct contract with ICE. But
the history of this department tells us
that it is in support of racial pri
profiling and being a part of
deportation machine. That's why in 2010
when SP 1070 was signed, who was
standing behind John Brewer, president
of plea Mark Spencer and the future
president Ken Gray. That is why when
municipal IDs were passed in 2016 to
help protect our undocumented community,
they never came to fruition because
Phoenix PD had enough power in their
contract to say that they would not
acknowledge them as valid IDs. They
chose to profile.
[Applause]
Carmen is next, followed by Yennia.
Okay. Good afternoon, members of council
as well as mayor. Um, my name is Carmen
Terrell and I do reside in district 4. I
finally found out. So, um, I just here
to say that, you know, it's amazing how
people can go around saying they're
about something, but yet in their heart
of hearts they're not. tired of people
saying black lives matter and other
statements to pacify the masses. But
when things get real, no one wants to
say, hear, and or do something about it
or if addressed, be mediocre about what
happens and then pass the book and blame
it on somewhere else or someone else.
Therefore, if black lives truly matter
to ICE and the police to leave people
alone as well as pass the ordinance 153
and stop putting other bills to
counteract that support right to council
without the tax hike and take it from
the police funding and then take it to
Warren Peterson and his cohorts at the
state legislature
at the state legislature. Say it, do it,
and truly stand behind it. Don't be
selective in doing these things because
what if this happened to somebody
employed by you or someone else, someone
you love and or related to, if not
yourselves when traveling in Arizona or
anywhere else in this nation as well as
the world. Got to be and stay
consistently accountable and transparent
about it. Unless one likes to be lied to
and mistreated and I'm sure no one in
here wants that. So, mayor, council
member, and city manager, what's it
going to be? Half the people, I mean,
have the economy in a deeper crisis, as
well as more separation and many
families and friends in Phoenix and the
state of Arizona and possibly yours and
truly do it again. I challenge everyone
in the sound of my voice to go to the
Capitol and do it for real because it
makes money for nonprofits as well as
mass to say. So,
thank you so much, Yennia.
Yenia is next, followed by Nicole
Rodriguez.
Good afternoon, everyone. Um,
my name is I'm here of district 4. I'm a
mother of three children and a
grandmother of four. My son is a nurse.
My daughter is a teacher and my youngest
works for the US State Department. My
parents are community leaders. My mother
started the Spanish-sp speakaking
Catholic uh catechism when I was very
young. My daughter, my father has worked
multiple trade uh jobs since we were
little. Our
family has been targeted by Phoenix
police and has been racially profiled.
[Music]
I'm here to support this resolution and
support the Hispanic community and to
please ask that you keep our
neighborhood safe for our children and
future generations. Thank you.
[Applause]
Nicole is next, followed by Jacqueline
with virtual comment.
Thank you, council. Um, I just heard
some white privilege in a red skirt that
was off their rocker. Well, I'm going to
throw some white privilege back. I have
experience in the law enforcement. I
have family in law enforcement and no
one has ever once said in this community
that they are not pro police. Yeah. They
are working their butts just to protect
people who are innocent but are being
criminalized just for the way they look,
the way they walk. You would have to be
living in a very privileged, insulated
life to not see what's going on. I
support this citizen petition. It was
done properly. The problem is is that
we're here today because so often we
have empty shirts working in staff and
on council who don't have a backbone
doing the status quo and we're having
these issues throughout the US. We have
these career politicians who want to run
for governor or mayor just another
stepping stone by forgetting about us
without ever ever really listening or
like I said before how many of you have
been on this side? I know O'Brien has
and I know her Hernandez has. And I
don't mean that as an insult, but there
is a bias. You guys are forgetting what
it's like to come down here. Even for my
white privilege behind me, what it's
like to come down here and speak about
these things. So many vulnerable stories
here. That's insulting to us that we
even had to come here in the first
place, right? And so today, we're asking
for the most simple thing. No one's
telling anybody how to do things
perfectly. We're just asking for some
very simple things in this resolution.
So, with all due respect, please listen
to every single story because I know
sometimes we get shut off. But these are
stories of truth. These are stories that
have been happening systemically for
decades here. Um, and with that, you
know, I just thank everyone that was
able to make it here today because we're
giving up pay by being here today. Thank
you.
[Applause]
We need everyone to address the agenda
item and not to attack any members of
the audience.
[Applause]
All right, Jacqueline is no longer with
us, so we'll go to Stacy Champion,
followed by April McHugh.
Hello. Can you hear me? Okay, we can.
Thank you. As an actively and engaged
community member who vividly remembers
SB1070 and our PAIO's reign of terror on
our communities, um I stand with
everyone who's in that room today. Um
and and also those who were too scared
to come in their desire to feel safe at
home, work or play, to have equality
within their neighborhoods with regard
to infrastructure, resources, and
sustainability measures, and to not be
targeted because of the color of their
skin. Um, I am personally proud to have
supplied the DOJ with nollas of many
years of documentation
with regard to the treatment and
criminalization of our unsheltered
community. Um, and I will personally
continue to document injustices of all
kinds when I see them. And uh, just as a
reminder, we will never criminalize our
way out of homelessness. Uh, I believe
our country is just at a really critical
tipping point with an ongoing war on the
poor. um blatant and unchecked racism
and fear-mongering that is meant to tear
communities apart. And today, city
leaders have an opportunity to stop
sweeping all these issues under the rug
and instead uplift and support the
communities um whose voices are far too
often ignored. Thank you.
April is next, followed by Karen.
Hi, can you hear me? We can. Hi, I'm
April McHugh and I am here in favor and
in support of the resolution for
thriving communities. You have the power
and quite honestly the public duty to
create shields that defend the community
from fascism and racism and you must act
today. How could you live with yourself
if you didn't take this basic action to
move this resolution forward? I work in
safety net healthcare across the state
and patients are afraid of seeking
preventative care right now. Fear of
their status being outed or just
discrimination by assumptions of their
status. We were reminded of the
implications of people avoiding
proactive preventative health care
during COVID. So making people live in
fear is inhumane. And if we cannot rely
on your humanity, it's simply not smart
from a public health standpoint to
continue supporting these ICE
deportations. Kate, you tried to claim
that Phoenix PD doesn't collaborate with
immigration enforcement, but council,
you will be actively protecting ICE
operations and the disappearance of our
loved ones every moment that you do not
support this resolution.
We know that this council and city has a
corrupt relationship with the Phoenix
PD, continuing to support them despite
the Department of Justice investigation
findings, which recognized and
documented that Phoenix PD racially
discriminates every single day against
black and indigenous and Latin community
members over and over again. Follow your
community and pass this resolution for
thriving communities. It promotes
accountability practices until we can
abolish this white supremacist
institution of policing. We have never
and will not accept state violence
against our community members. Thank you
to our grassroots organizers and we look
forward to your support of this
resolution. Council members, thank you
so much.
Karen is our next speaker.
Can you hear me? Yes, we can.
Hi, my name is Karen Olsen. Um, I live
and work in District 4 here in Phoenix.
Uh, I urge council to vote yes on item
153, a resolution for thriving
communities. In most of uh Phoenix City
Council meetings that I've personally
witnessed, um the people meant to be
represented by this council here sitting
here have to hear how some council
members disparage their own personal
lived experiences of harm that happens
by the Phoenix Police Department.
Um it is unacceptable to think that
someone must experience injustice to
believe it happens. listen to this
community because that is where care um
can happen uh through change of
behavior. Um, I also just want to uplift
and thank uh communities that exist like
Podair, like Mass Liberation Arizona,
like uh BLM Phoenix Metro um who are
willing to sit with the uncomfortable
truth of what is currently
um uh unjust um who are willing to keep
standing over decades um and keep coming
into spaces that don't listen to them
because our voices matter. Um, and even
when we get to witness things like the
DOJ report, um, that was 126 pages of
pain of how we treat our community
members. Um, and then watch it be
disparaged like even when we have police
being accountable to saying police that
will go and uh, you know, uh, apologies,
my words in this last part. Um, but but
we're willing to have police themselves.
we're not willing to listen to what they
come back with because it's really
painful and violent. Um, and until we're
able to sit with that, we're not going
to change it. So, council, we're urging
you to change, to be different, to be
able to hold the uncomfortable truth
that not only has Phoenix Police
Department been violent, we want change.
We want resolutions for thriving
communities, not more policing that
turns to violent action. Thank you.
Thank you for the testimony. Karen is
our final speaker. I'll turn to the vice
mayor for a motion.
Thank you, mayor. Mayor, I move to deny
the citizens petition.
Second. We have a motion and a second.
Councilwoman Gordado.
Thank you, Mayor. I just had um some
questions for the chief. Is Is he here?
Chief, just a couple a couple of
questions. Um, since
everything that's been happening, uh, we
know we're living under unprecedented
times, how how many times has the
Phoenix Police Department collaborated
with ICE?
Mayor, members of council, uh,
Councilwoman Gordado, uh, we do not
cooperate with ICE. Um, we do not take
part in any, uh, deportation efforts or
or roundups or whatever you want to call
them. They do. We do not participate in
those.
And given um the testimony today um that
we've heard from different community
members, has anyone reached out to you
or anyone in our department um to give
any proof or any names or any situations
where maybe a police officer has been
found engaging with ICE?
Mayor, members of council, uh,
Councilwoman Gordado, I'm not aware of
any op of any times where somebody's
notified us that a police officer from
Phoenix has been involved in any
operation with ICE. That's never come to
my attention.
And have we ever found ourselves in a
position where because we keep hearing
that there's there's a number 50 that's
being thrown around about 50 people that
have been deported because of the of the
Phoenix Police Department. Is that is
that true? Mayor, members of council,
Councilwoman Gordado, I know we are
doing a deep dive right now as I speak
to find out uh to verify some of those
numbers. Uh I don't know if those
numbers come from arrests that are made
and then once that subject is booked
into to jail. We are trying to find out
what those exact numbers are, but
there's we have not contacted ICE and
turned anybody over to ICE.
And um just another question, if someone
gets pulled over for a broken tail
light, for for not making a proper stop,
um what what happens then? Mayor,
members of council, Councilwoman
Gordado, I think it's important to to
differentiate the difference between a
civil traffic stop and a criminal uh
violation. So, a broken tail light or
window tenting would be something that
is a civil traffic ticket. We would not
arrest somebody for a civil traffic
ticket. We don't have the authority uh
to arrest somebody for civil traffic
offenses.
Okay. Thank you um so much for um
answering um those questions for me. I
think for me, you know, as a daughter of
immigrants, as you know, as someone that
understands exactly what's happening,
not just here in Phoenix, um, but what's
happening throughout throughout the
country, it's important that we continue
to collaborate with you, collaborate
with the department, assuring, um, that
we continue to do um, what we set to do,
which is keeping our communities safe.
Um, this is a very important issue we
are discussing today and it deserves our
attention. However, I must emphasize
that this issue along with the
challenges it brings is not new to our
discussions.
Immigration has been a priority for this
council since 2016,
even before my tenure began. I would
like to express my gratitude for the
decisive actions taken by leaders such
as Mayor Ggo and Councilwoman Pastor
during those challenging times. Their
navigation of both state and federal law
allowed us to establish strong
protection for our community, making it
clear that Phoenix police has no role or
hasn't had a role in immigration
enforcement. Following Donald Trump's
election laws in 2020, this council
chose not to repeal those protective
procedures, but rather to enhance them
further in 2017 and 2018.
And in 20 in 2019, we also passed our
first civilian review board and built
our first old office. The measures we
implemented continue to safeguard our
community today and many requests
outlined in this petition. Those we can
feasibly support are already enacted. We
take all of this to heart. Everything
that has been said today, at least with
me, has not fallen in deaf ears. And I
and I believe um that we will continue
to work with our police department. We
will continue to I will continue to work
with my colleagues to figure out other
situations that might arise that might
need to take our attention.
And I know that this council, at least a
majority of us, are committed to
continue to protect our community. And
we've s shown it in the past with
actions and we will continue to do so.
For these reasons and more, regardless
of whether this resolution was
improperly filed, I will be supporting
staff's recommendation to deny this
resolution. Thank you, Mayor. Thank you,
Councilwoman Pastor.
Yes. Thank you, Mayor. Um, Chief,
do we participate in 287G?
Mayor, members of council, uh,
Councilwoman Pastor, we do not. Could
you explain what 287G is? Uh I am not
the expert on that. Uh I just know that
we have never that I can recall in my
three decades participated in any
immigration or 287G but I don't know the
process for that. That's something that
I I believe happens at the county jail
but not within Phoenix PD. Okay. So, the
Phoenix PD does not have an agreement in
287G, which is it which is an agreement
with the federal government, uh,
Department, I want to say, Homeland
Security, ICE, the all the umbrellas of
all of that to be able to arrest
um, we have haven't and I haven't seen
in the tenure of my sitting here uh, an
agreement and it's an agreement with the
federal government.
Um,
my second question is,
is the police force actively working
with ICE?
Mayor, members of council, Councilwoman
Pastor, we do not participate in any ICE
roundups, uh, any deportations.
Uh the only thing that does happen
occasionally is they will notify us just
for our awareness in the event something
bad were to happen in our city so that
we have some awareness um if we have to
respond. You know, God forbid they get
into a an officer involved shooting, but
we do not take part in any of their
operations.
When there is an arrest, what is that
process? And it's a and I'm assuming so
you can clarify my assumption that it's
a criminal arrest versus a civil
violation. Council Counciloman Pastor
when I just want to clarify when we make
an arrest. Yeah. So if we make an
arrest, it can't be it cannot be for a
civil traffic violation. It has to be
for a criminal offense per the Arizona
revised statutes. Um, and we have the
opt option if it's a misdemeanor, some
misdemeanor to sight and release uh the
person, um, it's a felony, then they get
booked into the county jail.
And then once they get booked in the
county jail, that there's nothing else
for Phoenix PD to do. And then once
they're booked in the county jail, my
understanding is that uh
once they're booked in the county jail,
then uh there is a it happens to
everybody that ICE is in the county jail
and they run their information.
Uh mayor members of the council,
Councilwoman Pastor, my understanding is
just that as well. I don't know that
they run everybody. I don't know what
the process is for them, but but ICE is
in the county jail.
I don't know that ICE is actually in the
county jail. I think they they place a
hold office. I don't know. Right. I
believe they place a hold or a file stop
they call it for ICE. I don't know if
they're physically present at all times
in the county jail. Okay. But there is a
process where ICE is notified. Yes,
ma'am. In the county jail? Yes, ma'am.
And it's not Phoenix PD. That's correct.
It is due to an arrest by Phoenix PD,
but it's not Phoenix PD calling ICE.
Yes, ma'am. That's correct. Thank you. I
have another question. I actually have
several questions. Um,
what practices do you use for
nonviolence offenses?
mayor, members of council, council
pastor, if it's a low-level like a
misdemeanor, uh we can uh we encourage
our employees to uh CLLD, which is a
citation, criminal citation in lie of
detention. Um but there are some
exceptions where some people are not
eligible for a citation in lie of
detention such as a domestic violence,
assault, misdemeanor, or any domestic
violence type uh offense. they would not
be eligible for a citation l detention.
Or if someone has um prior failures to
appear, we would not issue a citation of
detention. But we encourage, highly
encourage our employees, and I can just
tell you from experience that our
employees would much rather issue a
citation than book somebody into jail
for a misdemeanor offense.
My other question is about quotas. Do we
have any formal or informal quotas? I
don't know. Could you please explain
what quotas are? Yes. Uh mayor, members
of council, we do not uh have a quota
system. Uh in my nearly three decades of
service here with the city of Phoenix
Police Department, we've never had
quotas. Um those are problematic. Uh
those are basically where a department
may stress uh numerical uh numbers over
quality police service. So, we don't
dictate that an officer has to make a
certain amount of arrests, has to write
a certain amount of tickets. Uh, we do
not participate in quotas, nor have we
in my 30 years, and I believe I've
talked to some people who have been here
for 40 plus, and it's never been uh
implemented in Phoenix. Okay.
And
this was also I looked at in in the
resolution,
do we arrest for quality of life issues?
And when I say quality of life, because
I know that we have set up many
different systems
uh to be able to help with people um
that are struggling or unsheltered
um
there is a process in the sense of uh
leading with services and then um after
that if there is a violation then there
is a whole another different process.
Could you please explain
if we arrest for quality of life issues?
Mayor, members of council, Councilwoman
Pastor, uh I think you said it best. We
try to lead with services first. Our
first option is not to arrest somebody
when it comes to a quality of life issue
such as um trespassing or um you know
littering. We we want to lead with
services first, an educational approach.
Um but if it comes a repeat problem then
we may have to to shift gears but our
goal is to lead with services first
especially when we are dealing with
those uh in the unhoused population.
Um
thank you
Councilwoman Hud Washington and then
Councilwoman Hernandez.
Thank you Mayor. Um, I want to say this
petition touches on issues that are
definitely important to our community
and I want to start off by thanking Miss
Varela and Podier for taking the time to
put forth these ideas because this is
what the process is supposed to be for.
Uh, I but I also want to be clear. I
think we are not talking enough about
the work that the council as a whole
have done in these areas already for
some of our public safety systems. We've
invested in alternatives to policing
like the community assistance program.
We have revised our use of force policy.
We have developed some systems of public
engagement for future policy. Um we have
our office of accountability and
transparency is up and running. And
we've made investments in a data system
that imp that provides public um
reporting and turn accountability.
However, I will acknowledge that the
work is not done. We still have some
more to do to build that trust,
particularly in communities that have
been historically experienced a
disproportionate impact of policing. I
am not summarily dismissing these
concerns, but I want to get some
clarification on some of the
recommendations because it's my
understanding and I think we have to be
clear that many of these recommendations
are already being implemented. Some of
them conflict with state law and we have
questions about whether or not the
format meets the standard process for
policy changes.
I want to be clear that this does not
mean that I am ignoring these concerns.
It just means that we will continue to
do the work to deliberately,
transparently and legal matter. So I I
do have some questions to help us
clarify how we are addressing some of
the concerns outlined in the petition.
Um the petition requests an end to pre
I'm going try not to duplicate questions
already been asked. One of the concerns
the petition asks is for the end to
pretextual stops particularly for
equipment violation. Are there policies
in place that already guide an officer's
discretion in this area?
Mayor, members of council, Councilwoman
Hodgej Washington, anytime an officer
conducts a traffic stop, it's their
discretion as to whether or not uh they
choose to write a citation.
Okay. And how are we ensuring that what
data is collected on traffic on traffic
stops to ensure accountability?
Mayor, members of council, Councilman
Hajj Washington, uh we collect that data
several different ways and as you know,
we're working on a new records
management system to act more accurately
capture that data. Uh so our CAT system
can track um traffic stops and
pedestrian stops. Um we have realized
there's some gaps that we need to work
on which is why we are moving to the new
records management system which will
help us better capture that data for
reporting. And how will this data be um
can you provide more details on how this
new record management system will help
improve the public's access to um
disagregated data on the stops arrest
and tication.
Mayor, members of council, Councilman
Haj Washington, if I could ask my
assistant director who is very in tune
with the records management system uh to
come up. Thank you. Hi
I'll let you get settled in and then you
can
Mayor, members of council, Councilman
Hajj Washington, to answer your
question, we capture uh a multitude of
data fields and metrics associated with
the activities that we execute as a part
of the police department. The intent is
to improve our data collection um
procedures so that they are consistent
both in what we collect, how they
collect and that they are always
collected. Once the data is collected,
then often the raw data associated with
all of our activities
um from an enforcement perspective are
placed on the open data source. That's
the raw data. And then we have the
police transparency page that also
provides information related to specific
metrics that are of interest.
Thank you for that clarification. And I
also think it's helpful to explain some
of the proposed audited uh function of
to ensure that it's no disproportionate
impact on certain communities. And I
don't know if Chief you want to speak a
little bit on that.
Mayor, members of council, Councilman
Hodgej Washington. Uh I I believe that's
something we've probably missed in the
past since I've been around here. But we
will be doing uh audits, compliance
checks, uh just to make sure that we are
saying what we are doing, training on
what we are doing, and then verifying
that we are doing exactly that, that
that we are are checking to make sure
that we are doing what we say we're
going to be doing. So, audits, uh,
inspections at the precinct level, uh,
inspections by our organizational
integrity bureau, as well as audits from
our organizational integrity bureau.
Thank you. And there was a question my
colleague asks about the quality of life
calls. Can you clarify how from your
department perspective, how we respond
to non-violent quality of life calls?
And I think we're going to have to ask
OS as well as community assistance
program to chime in as on as to their
response as well.
Uh, mayor, members of council,
Councilwoman Hajj Washington, um, as I'd
mentioned, we try to lead with services
on that. We engage with OHS. Uh, when we
receive a radio call for service, we
also utilize our behavioral health
units. Uh, our goal, like I said, is to
is to really lead with services. I think
we all recognize as police department
that we're not going to arrest our way
out of low-level crime or crime in
general. Um, I can tell you it was very
frustrating for me as a young officer
when I would contact somebody who was
maybe arrested 30 or 40 times. That
doesn't solve the problem. So, our goal
is to really lead with services through
OHS or BHU or with CAP.
Would you like to come down, please?
Thank you.
I didn't have DC.
Do we have OS?
Mayor, members of council, Councilwoman
Pastor, um, I I can maybe speak to some
of that uh, as well. Um, but there is no
one represented from OS. They had to go
to another meeting. Okay. Thank you DC
for joining us at the table.
If you can you just give us can you give
us just an overall overview as how when
you get a quality of life call, how that
is handled from the community assistance
program standpoint? Thank you, mayor and
councilwoman. Um, when the community
assistance program is contacted to
respond to a call, we send out typically
a behavioral health unit, which is
staffed by a case uh, crisis
intervention specialist as well as a
peer support specialist from one of our
community partners. Our job is to go out
and assess the needs of that individual,
determine what needs that they actually
are looking for, and to help them get
reconnected if they got disconnected
with services or help them get into
services that they may not have had
access to previously. And one of the
priorities that this council um focused
on last year or one of the goals that we
set for this program last year was to
increase the staffing to provide to a
certain component where we have access
247 um in some areas. And can you talk a
little bit about where we currently
stand on that? Thank you, mayor and
councilwoman. Yes. um last or this year
in March, we were able to meet the
requirement of having 247 coverage of a
crisis intervention um supervisor in the
alarm room to accept transferred calls
from PD communications.
Currently, we have six crisis or
behavioral health units um up and
running. Um, and actually I should
modify that as of Monday, we actually
have an additional um, three units
staffed partially. So we currently do
have nine units all partially staffed
um, in responding almost 24/7. I still
believe that we have a gap um, on Friday
and Saturday where we have 22.5 hours.
Okay. Thank you for that. And can you
talk a little bit about the successes
that you've seen with the community
assistance program specifically? Go
ahead, mayor. Council member, thank you.
Um, we we have been able to connect
people back into uh getting services
from their clinics or maybe they became
disconnected because they weren't able
to get in to see uh the case manager.
they didn't know who their case manager
was or sometimes it's a matter of they
didn't have transportation to get back
to that clinic. So, we've been able to
connect them that way. In addition, we
have connected individuals who um who
weren't involved in those services who
um were affected by mental health or
substance use
able to make decisions about being able
to access those quality services. and
we've been able to work with our
community partners to get them back into
or to get them into services um and get
them the support that they needed. Thank
you so much. Um and I'm going to pivot
real quickly. I don't think anyone from
OS is here, so I'm uh unless you want to
add something, Anger. Okay, go ahead. Uh
Mayor, members of council, Councilwoman
Haj Washington, um the Office of
Homeless Solutions always leads with
services and I think they they have a
good track record of working with um the
various departments. um to make sure
that when they do um encounter
individuals who are experienced a
variety of issues related to uh
homelessness that they do uh find the
resources to try to help get them to the
place that they maybe need to go. Thank
you. Um I will pivot real quickly. Um
there was reference uh regarding the
data of collection of um kind of our
interactions with well I should say
interaction our interactions with the
public that may then lead to interaction
with with the ice and there was an
article that was cited in the Arizona
rep uh Arizona Central Arizona Republic
and I specifically asked us to look into
the validity of those comments and I
don't know if anybody wants to share
what the results of that inquiry was.
Mayor, members of the council,
Councilman Haj Washington, I can speak
to that um just a bit. The chief alert
alluded to it earlier when he was
talking about the deep dive that we are
doing into some data that we got from
MCSO. We are still looking at that data
as we received it very recently. Um but
what we can tell you is it looks like
about 4%
um of the bookings have led to what MCSO
refers to as uh stops or or um
immigration holds on the individual's
file. What we are not able to tell you
at this point is what that means for the
individual. So once the person is in
MCSO custody and has that hold placed on
them, um we have no information about
what occurs after that point. And so in
order to receive that, uh we would have
to have cooperation from ICE themselves
to provide us that information. Uh and
we can make that request. However, we
don't know whether or not that would be
provided to us. And do we have any
information? And you you probably would
have said it if you had it, but I feel
the need to ask anyhow. But do we have
any idea of what the underlying offenses
were that led to those 4% bookings?
Mayor, members of the council,
Councilwoman Haj Washington, we do have
some information. Um, and again, we are
still diving into that data, so I don't
have a complete breakdown for you. Um,
but there are a combination of domestic
violence bookings. As the chief
mentioned, our officers are required to
book um on domestic violence offenses.
And we also have uh and that was I'm
sorry that was about
let's see
actually I apologize I don't have the
percentage on that. Um but there are
domestic violence bookings, traffic
stops, as well as um additional outside
of of those um other bookings that we
again need to do a deeper dive into
identifying what those other offenses
are. Okay, thank you for that. And then
my I just my last I guess more of
clarifying question, I think our city
manager can handle this. Um, we have
explained that our police department is
not cooperating with or not
collaborating with ICE. Are any of our
general fund dollars being used to
support any type of immigration
enforcement or immigration? Um, mayor,
members of council, Councilwoman Hajj
Washington, no, we are not directly
using any general fund dollars to
support any ICE activities. You
preference it. But directly, are we
indirectly? No. What I mean by that is,
as the chief was saying, if we arrest
someone and book them into Maricopa
County Jail, we do pay a booking fee. We
do pay a housing fee at Maricopa County.
So, if those individuals are placed on
hold by Maricopa County, you could
argue, one could maybe ar make that
argument, but we are not doing that
directly ourselves. Thank you so much.
Thank you, Mayor. That concludes my
questions. Thank you, Councilwoman
Hernandez. Thank you, Mayor. Um, y'all
can stay in your seats. I have a few
questions. Um, I'll try not to I'll try
to take out the ones that we've heard a
few things on. Um, but before my
questions, I just want to really quickly
thank the community for showing up to
conduct the city's business. Um, I think
it's very important for y'all to
participate in this process.
So, thank you so much. Um, I have a uh
my first question for Chief Orderer. Um
and it relates to the qual quality of
life topic that I think a few of my
colleagues have brought up. Um well
first and maybe you don't answer this.
Months ago the city passed a ex to
expand further the area around certain
public spaces where unsheltered
individuals can exist. Correct.
I I think it was 500 ft within 500t of
parks shelters. Mayor, members of
council, Councilwoman Hernandez, I
believe that's part of the camping
ordinance. I think that's section B of
the camping ordinance. Okay. Thank you.
Um, and you know, earlier we heard that
we are having some shelter beds close.
Um, not by any, you know, results of our
direct action. There's other mitigating
factors that are closing those beds. So,
with that knowledge, right, and there's
not many places for unsheltered folks to
exist. We are losing we don't have
enough shelter space. What is the I mean
when we can't lead with services, what
is the result of quality of life stops?
Mayor, members of council, council
Hernandez, um if we were to stop someone
and and try to lead with services with
them, which was what we would do if
there if they accepted services, I can't
think of a time when we could not
connect them with services, but we would
not arrest somebody or or issue a
citation if there was no place available
to take them. um we would go to to every
means possible to get them the help or
get them into services that they need
whether it be housing or or mental
health services but we would not uh
issue any type of enforcement for
someone who's going to accept services
because we could not find the service
for them. Okay. Thank you chief. Um and
on the enforcement topic, um as it
relates still to the quality of life and
park situation, do any or do you know
what authority and or official protocol
park rangers have um for enforcing some
of our laws as it relates to parks?
Mayor, members of council, Councilwoman
Hernandez, I don't know uh what the
parks folks if they can enforce camping
or not. That I I can find out, but I can
bring that back to you. I don't know for
sure. Okay, perfect. Thank you. Um, also
if they can issue sight and release and
do you know if they have to call your
department
maybe,
mayor, members of council, Councilwoman
Hernandez, if they have to call us, if
they see someone that's maybe camping or
uh I don't know what their protocol is.
They have called us in the past. If they
have concerns or they have problems,
they have called the police. I don't
know that it's required that they call
the police. Okay. Thank you. Um, I know
we were talking a little bit about the
data part of the petition. Um, in
regards to the RMS system, I know we
just approved um, item 113, which is a
contract through June of 2030 for that
new system, which is the records
management system. I know a few of us
have brought that up, but I just want to
be very, very clear with the public
that's watching and hear um, and really
state again the goal of that new
management system.
Mayor, members of council, Councilwoman
Hernandez, uh wholeheartedly agree with
you. Uh we have a team of uh approaching
400 individuals who are working on that
project either through the city or
through partnerships to be able to bring
that system to a go live status and we
are expecting to be able to do that
later this year. Okay. Um
do we have a date range of when the new
system will be on board?
U mayor, members of council,
Councilwoman Hernandez, uh the council
approved today an extension of the
current system through the end of
October. The new system will be in place
before then. Okay. And the cost for that
system to the city is how much? The
total contract with Motorola for the
entire system plus the support through
the date range that you listed is
approximately $11 million. Okay. Thank
you. Um my next question still on the
the topic of data. Uh section six in the
petition is specifically around data
requests. Um it specifically asks for
police data to be made available to the
public. Um and community is asking for a
report of comprehensive data data on I
always don't know how to say it. Data
data you know um on all traffic stops,
pedestrian stops, arrest and citations.
um disagre I don't know how to pronounce
that disagregated by rate I went to
public schools thank you very much uh by
race ethnicity age gender reason of the
stop and outcome of the stop are those
data points going to be collected in the
new in the new RMS system mayor members
of council councilwoman Hernandez yes
they will be collected okay perfect um
and will we also be collecting time
Well, I guess the department will be
collecting time and lengths of all the
stops.
Mayor, members of council, Councilwoman
Hernandez, the intent is to be able to
collect time. However, there was one
component of section six which asked
about whether or not the time is going
to be extended. The current system has
not been designed to be able to collect
that data point. although that is
something that we could entertain if
council requests after a go live status.
Okay, thank you so much. Um, and what
process will be in place to make sure
that the public has access to this data?
Um, so it's very transparent to them.
Thank you, mayor, members of council,
Councilwoman Hernandez. We currently, as
I mentioned to uh Councilwoman Hajj
Washington, that we do have the uh open
data portal that has our raw data. We
also have the police transparency page.
Many of those metrics already in place
and it will continue to be. So what we
expect to see is an improvement in the
quality of the data collected again
because it'll be collected in a
consistent manner uh with expectations
as chief or mentioned um with regard to
how that data is collected with each
interaction that we have when it comes
to stops searches and arrests. Okay. I
know sometimes the existing websites are
not all user friendly. So I think some
of the data that's being collected can
always be pulled out and read in a
manner that makes sense to the public.
So I think maybe a suggestion would be
let's look at how even how the current
data is being collected and filtered out
to the public so that it is user
friendly. I know like the city did a
revamp on our city website and it's so
much more user friendly. So I think
there's room for improvement to make
sure that that data data is being pulled
by the public in a very concise manner
that's easy for them to pull, easy for
them to understand so that we are
maintaining transparency with the
community. So just would be a suggestion
there. Um and then what um
will the department be able to cross
reference that data with race and gender
demographics
in the new system? Mayor, members of
council, Councilwoman Hernandez, the
answer to that is yes. Okay. Thank you
so much. Um Lori, I my next question is
around the engagement with ICE. Uh I
think you can probably answer this and
we might have already talked a little
bit about it. Um when it stop happens,
uh Phoenix PD has discretion to call ICE
if they suspect that the person they've
stopped may be here um undocumented.
Would that be accurate?
Mayor, members of the council,
Councilman Hernandez, um that would be
something that is under the officer's
discretion in our current policy.
However, we have recently um been
provided with information that we are
discussing changing that discretion in
the policy based on the fact um that
that would not be considered a custodial
arrest. Okay. Thank you. Um, and I know
we've asked this question and I think
Jeff just answered it, but are we
currently spending or is the department
currently sending people to ICE
directly?
No, absolutely not. Do we if that
happens and officers contact ICE
directly, are we keeping track of those
numbers or those calls? Mayor, members
of the council, Councilwoman Hernandez,
we do have um a mechanism in our policy
for tracking uh if an officer makes a
contact to ICE, they are um required to
contact our violent crimes bureau and
log that that um contact and so we we do
have data on that is an extremely small
number of times that that occurs. Okay,
thank you. Um, another result of a stop
could be release without citation or
sight and release um or arrest and then
folks are transferred to MCSO. Um, would
that be accurate to say that those are
the options that exist currently?
Mayor, members of the council,
Councilman Hernandez, that's my
understanding of the options. Um, and
what criteria currently governs whether
a stop results in sight and release or a
transfer to MCSO?
Mayor, members of the council,
Councilwoman Hernandez, I'm gonna ask
Chief Warren to speak to that one.
Mayor, members of council, Councilwoman
Hernandez, uh, it's discretion of the
officer, but I can tell you that we
highly encourage, our policy
specifically states that we highly
encourage a citation over a booking. Uh,
felonies are not eligible for citations.
Only misdemeanor are eligible. And
there's some criteria for misdemeanor
that are ineligible, like I mentioned,
domestic violence cases or if there's a
violence potential or someone who has a
history of failing to appear. But um and
I can tell you from my own personal
experience, like I'd mentioned earlier,
that our officers would much rather
write a citation than book somebody into
jail because that can take hours uh upon
hours at times and they really want to
get back out and provide service to the
community. Thank you, Chief.
Um,
my next question would be for you, Jeff.
Um, can you speak specifically to the
city's relationship with MCSO?
Mayor, members of the council, I may
have to defer to to the chief on some of
this, but as it pertains to the city as
a whole, our relationship with MCSO as
it pertains to the budgetary impact, the
big budgetary impact is the jail
building. Okay. Um so that's the
contract that we have them as you
mentioned to how for housing and for
booking and housing needs. Yes. Okay.
And about how much do we pay for that?
It ranges between 10 to $13 million
annually. Um I mean to your earlier
point, one could make a really strong
case that while we are not directly
participating or using general fund
money, the existence of that contract
would be using general fund money. if
those monies to pay the contract um are
coming from the general fund. Would you
agree with that? I would agree with that
to a point, but as as um Lori has
mentioned, based on the data that we're
currently looking at, less than 4% of
the arrests that were made in a
particular time period had any
relationship to an ICE hold that was
placed on by Maropa County. So, in the
grand scheme of things, honestly, that
would be an immaterial relationship
between any funding that we would use on
the from the general fund perspective.
Okay. Thank you. And you know I I think
there's understandable fear for our
communities out there given what is
happening across you know many cities
and I know that we have continuously
well the community has continuously
heard that we are not participating in
enforcement but by the very nature of
ICE being having a presence in the
Maropa County jails and that is where
folks that are booked are processed
through you know unactively we are
participating and you know I know that
other folks might have a different
interpretation or analysis on that but
that is the experience that our our
residents are facing. So it it is a very
important and serious topic that we are
discussing and um I think it's important
that we continue the conversations of
this to make sure the community does
feel safe. Um just one last point on the
data part. You know we we can tell
residents that we are doing all the
things and this is someone that's
someone smarter than me told me we can
say we're doing all the things but if we
can't prove that we're doing the things
the community can't trust or believe
that we are doing those things right. So
the data
the data is is super important. We have
to be able to prove that we are doing
our very best effort to keep our
community safe. Um, so I would like to
ask for um
for certain datas uh
certain data that was also requested in
this petition. Um it's a little lengthy.
I do want to read it for the record, but
I can give it to staff so that you have
it. Um you know, this is a big piece
that I do support. I think this is one
of the areas where we have consensus
that we have to do a better job. the
department has to do a better job of
collecting that data and making sure
that the public has access to it. So, I
would like us to make sure that that's
worked into and its monthly reports
beginning in September that detail the
following um the number of citywide
stops, reasons for the stops, results of
the stops, those trans those uh of those
stops, which ones are transferred to
ICE, which ones are transferred to MCSO,
no charge um and release, and then sight
and release. uh specific to Phoenix
police um transfers to ICE. How many
were calls for ICE to come pick up the
person versus the department taking the
person directly to ICE? Um specific to
the department transfers to MCSO and
sight and release. What was the charge?
Did the charge differ from the original
reason for the stop? Um specific to
parks, how many times did park rangers
call uh the department to enforce a
nuisance law? Um, what was the result of
the interaction? Was it transferred to
ICE? Transferred to MCSO, no charge and
release, sight and release or services
provided. Um, the next item, monthly
report beginning in September on people
who were charged with misdemeanors. How
many misdemeanors did the department
issue? How many people got sight and
release? Um, the top 10 reasons for
sight and release mis misdemeanor. Um,
how many people got transferred to MCSO?
and the top 10 transfer misdemeanors for
uh for those uh monthly report beginning
in September on MCSO data which is um
how many people were detained by MCSO
from the department and how many of
those people had ICE holds put on them
um and how many of those people were
turned over to ICE and then the monthly
itemized MCSO bill. Um so I'll get y'all
a copy so you can have that data piece.
Um that is all my questions.
Thank you. Any Councilwoman Hut
Washington? I think it's important to
hear from uh whether or not that
information is accessible because I too
have requested some of the information.
We've actually talked to some of the
vendors as well too and I don't believe
that information is currently being
captured and I don't believe I see Lori
about to chime in. Mayor, members of the
council, Councilwoman Haj Washington,
and Councilwoman Hernandez, we can take
a close look at that list that you just
read through because I wasn't able to
capture it all in my notes. Um, however,
I did note a few things that you
mentioned that I know that we cannot
collect at this time. Some of the things
we will be able to collect once we get
to the new RMS system, and some of it
relies on us requesting that data from
MCSO. And so we will look at at what we
can pull together uh and what we may
need to wait until we have our new
system in place to collect and and then
we'll also have to determine um an
agreement with MCSO for them to share
that data with us as well.
One thing I can note, if you would like
to indulge me for one second, I did find
the data I was trying to find earlier to
share with you, Councilwoman Haj
Washington, related to um the reasons
for the bookings that led to an ICE
detainer uh hold. There were um several
categories. One is DV bookings. That
would be 31% of the bookings, traffic
stop bookings. um the vast majority of
which were felony traffic stops, 15%.
Other felony bookings not related to
traffic stops or DV was 35% and
misdemeanor bookings not related to DB
or or traffic stops was 19%. So, I just
wanted to provide that information for
you. Thank you for that information,
Vice Mayor. I would just ask if we could
um all council members could have a copy
of your your list, Councilwoman Ernettz,
whenever is
Fret not I have copies for everyone.
Okay. Um and I appreciate that. And then
I would ask as we're evaluating that the
data that you also speak to other
council members because I do know that I
have for years requested additional data
um to be collected so that we can look
at things holistically and in context.
So as we we move forward, I would hope
that this would be um an a collaborative
effort among all of councils. Thank you
very much, Mayor. and mayor, vice mayor,
we will commit to speaking with each of
you to find out if there's any
particular data interest that you have.
Um, not promising that we will be able
to fulfill all of those.
Thank you. We'll go to Councilwoman Haj
Washington, Councilwoman Pastor, and
then I'll make a comment. Okay. Thank
you.
Thank you. I just wanted to reiterate
like the collection of data was a key
part of some of the the threeperson
memos that the three person three-person
memo we recommended and I my
understanding is that data collection is
slated to be incorporated shortly not
shortly but shortly in the grand scheme
of things we um I don't know if Jody
wants to talk a little bit about the
timeline just to for perspective
purposes
mayor members of council councilwoman
Hajj Washington um from From a data
perspective, uh the let me provide a
little bit of context. The department uh
has engaged in data analysis and data
collection. Traditionally focused on
crime and crime analysis. As our needs
for data to be able to answer other
relevant questions has increased, the
department has increased its attempt to
be able to collect those data um
metrics. Uh that would include items
that of our interest are included in
section six. Um at times we are limited
by the construct of the system, the
business processes that are used to be
able to collect that data and then the
ability to analyze that data collect to
be able to pull that data from those
systems and analyze that data to ensure
the quality of the data is intact. Um
that includes policy and procedures as
well as technology advancement and
adoption. Um as we have learned those
things we are approaching the
implementation of our new record
management system. Um we have been
working on that. It's a significant uh
project. I've shared with with you all.
Um most departments when they implement
a new record management system implement
it with two to three interfaces. and by
interface that allows us to exchange
data between the police department's
records management system and other
stakeholders like the municipal court
system or our crime laboratory and
entities like that. Our record
management system is going to come
online with 29 interfaces. That's our
goal is to be able to implement with 29
interfaces. Also, most departments when
they implement a record management
system migrate one terabyte of
historical data. We are planning to
migrate nine terabytes of historical
data which means that it is an
incredibly complex program. We are
engaging with 12 different vendors and
multiple criminal justice system
partners to support the entire criminal
justice system process.
that process. Um, we are at 90%
complete. We're in the final stages of
that project. Um, and we are expecting
to be able to go live with that system
later this year. Um, as I mentioned
previously, we are waiting for the
completion of some interfaces in
particular with the city prosecutor's
office and with our computer aided
dispatch system. So being able to
complete all of those, ensure that all
the users are trained, which is over
3,000 individuals, and then be able to
um ensure that that transition is
seamless. That is all that's what we're
all working towards to be able to to
implement shortly.
Thank you for providing that background.
Thank you. Thank you, Councilwoman
Pastor.
Yes. Um thank you. Uh what I want to
want to say is I want to thank the
community in particular Podair. Um ever
since I've entered office I worked with
Podair on many many pieces
and I deeply respect the concerns raised
in this resolution and the communities
advocating for the change. I was part
which was reminded by somebody out in
the audience. Uh I was part from the
very beginning with uh with uh along
with uh at the time Councilwoman uh Ggo
with the municipal IDs and we took that
up and we we we took heat for that but
we we believed in it. Then I was part of
uh with Viti uh on pieces on the trauma
response team and she was placed on a
trauma response team committee was uh
built around there and Bey sat on that
committee and we did some great work
that then started and led it led to the
crisis response team. Um, and then I was
part of OAT along with uh other people
on this DAS and Councilwoman Wardado and
Councilwoman uh Garcia uh really pushing
OAT and and making it happen along with
others. Um, so I believe I have
demonstrated where really where my
values and heart is and I agree that
everybody in Phoenix, regardless of
immigration status, deserves to feel
safe, seen, and supported. I have long
supported the communities advocating for
change and many reforms that moved us to
more than just community centered
approaches to public safety.
And this one, I don't see the woman that
uh brought this up, but
I carry the lessons of my father and I
carry his responsibility
and he taught me that change takes
courage and strategy.
That's why I have the responsibility to
pursue policies that build trust and can
withstand legal and political
challenges.
Many of the ideas in the petition either
duplicate reforms we've already enacted
or creates potential conflict with state
law.
The city council is already working on
this and this resolution
diverges the work that already has been
done. Thank you.
Thank you, Councilwoman. My colleagues
and I all share the priority of keeping
our friends, family, and neighbors safe.
We recognize these are deeply personal
and emotional issues and we appreciate
that so many of you have taken your time
to turn your passion into civic
engagement. We worked hard to make sure
that everyone who wanted to speak had
that opportunity to do so.
In Phoenix, we're having a positive
dialogue that is a healthy way to
navigate
very difficult times. We are a diverse
community with people from all over the
world and we are proud of that
diversity.
The actions of the current
administration are causing a lot of fear
and confusion in the valley and in
communities across the country.
The Phoenix Police Department focuses on
crime in our neighborhood. They are not
doing workplace raids with federal
immigration enforcement. The day-to-day
priority of the Phoenix Police is the
safety of our residents. I want to thank
our officers for the hard work they do
every day. In our community, violent
crime is down. Homicides are at their
lowest level in more than five years,
and we are seeing a steady decrease in
crime in general throughout the city.
My colleagues and I have been working
hard on these issues. Councilman Hud
Washington mentioned the September
meeting. We were very focused on data.
Then uh since January, my colleagues
have been in hyperdrive. I think that
Councilwoman Hud Washington may get a
PhD in data science for all the work
she's been doing. Councilwoman Guardado
and Pastor may get law degrees for all
the work uh they have been doing in this
area. A lot of time and I should I'd
called out too but every single person
at this dis has put a lot of time and
thought into how to navigate a very
difficult time period. Uh my colleagues
have done a good job sharing some of the
misinformation about the police
departments and policies.
Phoenix PD does not use arrest quotas.
We work hard to use citations in lie of
detention when they're possible. We're
not using general fund dollars. We have
not allocated those for immigration
enforcement. The city council has
adopted several new community feedback
mechanisms including the civilian review
board and the office of accountability
and transparency.
People in Phoenix were asking for these
mechanism for decades and the people on
this dis voted to move forward. The
Office of Accountability and
Transparency, also known as OAT, has
multiple full-time staff members
dedicated to community engagement. I was
with them this weekend in 113 degrees,
and they were working hard to hear from
our community.
Our community action officers are
accessible in every precinct in our
city.
We hear from our residents that they
really appreciate the community action
officers, that they're compassionate.
Uh, I was on the council during a time
period where we were asking community
action officers to do more to reduce our
response times. And man, did we hear
from our community leaders about how
much they valued our community action
officers.
My colleagues on the city council and I
have directed that we collect more
comprehensive police data so we're able
to craft thoughtful policies. You've
heard a lot about the records management
system. This is a huge effort because we
want so much data. that we are trying to
invest in a very large and comprehensive
system.
These type of upgrades are very
difficult in both the public sector and
private sector and there are a lot of
stories about challenges that
communities have encountered in this
area. We're trying to learn and get it
right, but any change this big is going
to have bumps and we will keep working
and keep working.
We're already improving policies for
police interactions with youth and
individuals experiencing homelessness as
well as policies related to police
facilitation of first amendment rights.
So many people in this room are already
working with us on these and and you
have the opportunity to be involved.
I will be voting against this petition
because of the redundancies and
misconceptions and misinformation and
frankly I'm concerned that approving
this petition would result in an
increase in crime. For example, having a
policy of not enforcing public urination
laws is unacceptable to me and it really
does not have anything to do with
immigration enforcement. To those who
support this petition, I want to be
clear. The protection and safety of
Phoenix residents is a goal that we
share. I know that you want to do your
part to help protect your neighbors, as
does every member of this council. The
immigration policies and messaging
coming out of Washington are not
reflective of our values here in
Phoenix. And I want to assure you that
we are going to continue our policy to
try to protect our community. Thank you.
And I'll turn to Councilman Robinson.
Mayor, thank you very much. Excuse me.
I may have a question in there, but I
think I want to make a statement more
than anything else.
A lot has been said and a lot that I
wanted to say has already been um stated
by my colleagues, so I don't want to get
into that. But what I do want to say is
I want to thank the community for coming
out. You know, we are listening to you.
Um, you may not necessarily hear what
you want to hear, but the reality of it
all is I don't know that there's a
single person up here or working for the
city that doesn't care about the
community. You may think otherwise.
That's your right. But the reality of
the whole thing is just prior to coming
to this council meeting, I was at an
academy graduation. Phoenix Police
Department graduated 22 new recruits
today. One of the most diverse classes
I've seen in a long time. It these young
young police officers now are going to
go out into our community. And I am
speaking with a great deal of experience
in this area, having spent a lot of time
in law enforcement and knowing a whole
lot of police officers. I don't know of
any police officers who say, "I want to
go out and hurt somebody." And I know
some folks may think otherwise.
But I don't know of any police officers
who come into that profession and want
to do those types of things. They want
to do what was said earlier, and that is
to help people.
And that's what I see happening with
members of the Phoenix Police
Department. We don't have, and I say we,
I'm talking as a collective, the entire
city, city government, police
department, everyone else. We don't have
any policies or any intentions of
working with um the federal government
when it comes to rounding up people and,
you know, not following any type of due
process. That's not going on. It just
isn't.
And I'll ask our city manager um Jeff
Barton this question because one of the
sticking points seems to be or concern
that people have seems to be when we
book people into jail somewhere along
the lines their status is checked. But
I'll ask our city manager this because
this is something and it goes back some
time. It was I didn't have as much gray
hair as I have now. But the city manager
and I, he wasn't the city manager at the
time, worked on whether or not it is
feasible for the city of Phoenix to have
its own jail.
And in order, if we had our own jail,
there's a lot of those types of things
we would not have to do. But I'll ask
the city manager, and this was back
then, approximately how much would that
city jail c back then? What would have
cost her? Or do you have any idea of
what it would cost today? Wow. Uh,
Councilman Robinson, u, Mayor, members
of the council, that's a question that I
I I never like hearing that question um
for a variety of reasons. We've done
that study several times uh throughout
my career at the city. Um, I think one
time I worked on it directly with you as
as you mentioned, one, aside from the
cost of actually constructing the jail,
um, then you've got the cost. I think
the biggest burden is the liability.
You've got your medical liability and
then you've got the lawsuits that come
with it. I think the last time that we
looked at it on the low end, and this
was back in probably the early 2000s, it
was probably somewhere in the range of
30 to $40 million, I think, is what we
were looking at way back then to to
build it, construct it, and operate it.
Yeah. And thank you for that. And I
think that's important. We have to work
with we we have to, and I mean that, we
have to work with other law enforcement
agencies in the state of Arizona. C the
the sheriff's offices, the county
sheriff's offices run the jails unless
you want to take on the liability of
having your own jail. Some cities opt to
do that. They just book misdemeanor in
some cases. But we have the option as
chief orender was explaining and it is
something an officers would rather do.
We have the option of citing people in
lie of detention.
And one of the things I don't know if it
was on this list, but I it might be
interesting also to have a list of how
many citations of detention are issued
every month because I think that tells a
story as well. Chief Warren mentioned
that there are certain misdemeanors that
you cannot site for. Domestic violence
is one of them. We have learned over the
years that you know that is not an area
that you trust people to not commit a
crime and give them a ticket and to move
on. So we have to understand the
totality of what goes into some of these
decisions and the the rules that we have
put in place and the reasons why we vote
the way we do. I have confidence in this
council. I think the diversity of
thought is critically important. It
makes all of us think. Gives all of us
an opportunity to hopefully put
ourselves in someone else's shoes and
try to figure things out. And like I
said, I don't like anything that's going
on that we see on the news. None of it.
And as a police officer, I'm appalled.
As a former police officer, appalled by
the actions of some federal agencies.
It's not the Phoenix Police Department.
And I have faith in Chief Warren and his
staff that these things are not going
on. They've said they're not going on.
And the last thing I will add is members
of the mayor, staff and I are starting
to spend some time at the training
academy just looking at how we are
training folks so that folks understand
more completely there is an interest on
folks on this side of um city
government, folks who sit on the council
who represent each and every one of you.
But I am confident when we hear from the
chief and we hear from the assistant
city managers and from the city manager
and from the mayor and practically
everyone up here that the Phoenix Police
Department is not engaging, is not
helping ICE. It's not happening. They
have enough other things to do and I
believe that they'll keep moving in that
direction, doing things right and
providing a valuable service to the
citizens of Phoenix. So, mayor, I thank
you for the time and like I said, there
wasn't really a question in there except
for the one for the city manager. I just
think it's important for the citizens,
the audience to understand. We
appreciate you being here. You letting
us know how you feel. And I would
venture to guess a lot of us feel the
exact same way you do in a lot of areas.
Maybe not all of them, but in a lot of
areas. We understand. I understand the
frustration and the fear. You know, if I
could make it go away, I would. But I am
confident that our department is doing
what it's supposed to be doing, treating
people fairly. And I don't know that we
can ask for too much more. And with
that, mayor, I thank you for the time.
Thank you.
Any additional comments? Roll call.
Yes. Hernandez. Mayor, may I claim my
vote? Please do. Thank you.
First, I would like to make clear to our
community before I vote on the
resolution that the motion is to deny
the citizens petition and not implement
it. If I vote yes, then I vote against
this petition. If I vote no, I am voting
in support of the petition. I would
again like to thank the community who
showed up today um and shared their
personal stories. I would also like to
applaud you for all your leadership in
being here and exercising your rights as
residents to protect your community in
the best way that you can. Your voices
are heard by me and my team and we
respect your time, your honesty, your
vulnerability and presence here with us
today. I would to I would like to
acknowledge the political moment we are
also in and the courage that it took for
everyone to show up today to face the
fear of potential deportation and demand
a bold vision for your safety. We are
under attack now by this current
administration's budget cuts, blatant
racism, and rising authoritarianism. And
that demands that we as a city stand up.
We cannot be silent because our silence
will not protect you all. This
resolution is so important because it
highlights the lived experience of
Phoenix residents. There seems to be a
real disconnect between those
experiences and us as city leadership
and the police department. We are
engaging with the ICE with their
presence in MCSO and that means that
every person we take to jail will face
the possibility of deportation. The
resolution guarantees that not a single
dollar of our taxpayer money goes to
deport our undocumented community, which
is something I wholeheartedly support.
The city is making improvements to the
Phoenix Police Department as a result of
the DOJ report. I do want to take a
moment to acknowledge that, but those
improvements do not go far enough um in
supporting the needs of our residents.
This resolution addresses how we can do
better. We have to keep our foot on the
gas if we are to maximize changes to
this department. Our black, indigenous,
Latino, immigrant, LGBTQ, and sheltered
communities deserve better from us. This
resolution also speaks to how the city
can improve on collecting adequate data
to make the impacts we deem necessary
for a police department that is actually
rooted in justice and care and safety
for our communities. Finally, we have an
opportunity to stand in solidarity with
our constituents and send a message to
this federal administration that we will
prioritize our community safety and not
participating in and not participate in
tearing families apart to the community.
I can assure you that even if the
petition fails this time around, our
office will keep fighting with you to
pass every section of the resolution.
I'm also encouraged by the willingness
of members of the of other members of
the council, my colleagues to continue
to work on this on these issues. I I
want to be clear. I do not want Phoenix
to be the next city that has a video
circulating of showing a three-year-old
child
being ripped apart out of the hands of
her family.
With that, I vote no on the on the
motion to deny this petition.
Haj Washington,
yes. Pastor, yes. Robinson, yes. Stark,
yes. Wearing, yes. O'Brien, yes. GGO,
yes. Passes 81.
Thank you. We'll do we'll pause for a
moment if people want to depart and then
I'll turn to the city attorney to
introduce the citizen comment.
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I'm
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[Applause]
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people.
No for two of you up there.
Thank you. I'll now turn to our city
attorney to introduce citizen comment.
Thank you, mayor. During citizen
comment, members of the public may
address the city council for up to three
minutes on issues of interest or concern
to them. The citizen comment session is
limited to 30 minutes. The Arizona open
meeting law permits the city council to
listen to the comments, but prohibits
council members from discussing or
acting on the matters presented.
Thank you. We'll begin with Mark
Schaefer, followed by Frank Urban.
Sorry. Okay. Um,
back to when I was talking about
earlier. Um, non some nonprofit
organizations are better are more
effective than others. and ours uh have
been here like I said 8 and a half years
and some things have been shut down as
far as homeless issues but then others
have either been improved or you know
acted upon and uh so we're still you
know pushing for funding and and helping
out. Thank you. Thank you. Frank is next
followed by Elizabeth.
Hello. Um, I was going to reiterate on
what I said earlier, but I don't see any
point in it considering that I'm very
disappointed in each and every one of
you for disapproving this. I realize you
guys are probably well, most of you are
probably really caring people and really
decent people, but and you want change
as much as we do.
But
that being said, I I'm also with Fund
for Empowerment
as you guys met as you guys know.
Um and we do work on homeless issues.
Now,
you know, like I like my colleague Mark
said, you know, some in some respects
what we're doing is great and others
have been shut down have been shot down
by the federal government.
Um,
but I think all in all that we're doing
a good job and
I think all of all of you are doing an
good job as well.
you know you
Oh, with that I'll concede.
Thank you. Elizabeth is next, followed
by Diane Barker.
Um, I'm going to talk about a different
issue. It's totally different than I
normally talk about. Um, so my father,
um, he was a law professor at Arizona
State University.
Oh, sorry. Yes. My father, he was a law
professor at Arizona State University.
His specialty was environmental law. Um
my undergrad was in environmental uh
science from ASU. Um it shapes the way I
think about the world data. It's very um
interdisciplinary.
Um I am very concerned uh even on the
city of Phoenix of you know what might
seem like an obscure issue although I
think it won't be in a in a bit which is
that um the national
forests
BLM
and national parks are um they're going
to mine them. Okay. And they're mining
them for uranium. Okay. And so, um, near
the Grand Canyon, they're going to
expand uranium mining. Okay. And, um, as
we know that the Colorado River goes
through the Grand Canyon. And as you
know, the city of Phoenix relies on the
Colorado River for its drinking water.
Okay. Um, there are ways to address
radioactive waste and arsenic.
uranium in in water. However, I do not
believe you have that infrastructure
right now and I don't think you could
filter it out. Right. Okay. So, um I
also don't think that there will be any
done to remediate any of this. Right?
Because I don't think that that's the
intent. I really don't think that that I
don't think this is about American
values. And I don't want to talk
conspiratorally, but I do not think we
are looking at a time where we are
interested in the success of America at
a federal level, at least in the
executive. You know, you never can tell
about Congress, right? Um,
and I think that there are a lot of
things that are going to happen uh that
I personally am afraid of though
actually as a person. I don't want to
see my friends get shot by federal law
enforcement to be honest. um or people
that are organized on the internet and
are getting those machine gun converter
devices sent to this redistributed to
them about 30,000 of them. But anyways,
um I'm very concerned.
Um it it's personally painful to me.
They're going to be selling the national
forest land. They're going to be selling
the BLM land and they're mining on the
national parks. And I think it's very
important that you look at how the seaf
could be critically harmed and many
areas, right? If the Colorado River is
contaminated
with uranium and arsenic, even with this
I'll finish real quick. Even with the
small mines that are out there in the
vicinity, right, that have a supine
tribe, they're finding that their water
is polluted with uranium. And our snake
is their only water source. And we got
to remember City Phoenix, that's
basically our only water source, right?
It's very important. Thank Thank you. No
problem. Uh Diane is next, followed by
Roland.
Thank you, Mayor Ggo and city council.
Again, I'm in district 7. As I was
coming over here for the meeting, I
wanted to look at the public
information. you have that for the
meeting. It's always been for years on
the west side. We're growing so much. I
understand we're getting 250 people into
Phoenix area almost daily. That's huge
number. And your agendas are double the
amount from the time I started coming to
city council. So I'm proposing because
this is what happened to me. I am down.
Fortunately, I still can bend down, but
it looked odd to a woman who was twice
my height and she kind of wondered why I
was looking at the the agenda goes clear
to the ground. So, for me to see it, I
had to get down there and I she looked
at me and I looked up and I said, "I'm
having trouble seeing this." and she
looked at me and said, "Well, I have no
problem seeing it." However, I wish I
would have asked her, "What did it say?"
Okay, so you can look I'm I think the
open meeting law if it doesn't
explicitly say that it has to be
accessible to the public in a posted
place. So, I'd like to have you look
into that. If it not not explicitly say
that, it infers that the public you have
a gate. I think they're closing the
third street for an event the avenue and
uh so they had a fence around there and
there was only an aperture for the city
employees to be able to get into the
door. So when I left to come to city
council, it was still gated and I just
moved the gate a little bit and an
officer came by and I said, "I'm getting
out of your prison." And he just smiled
and said, "Have a good day." But I do
believe that there may be a problem the
way it is right now that it is not
designed so it's legally accessible to
the public. So I'd have you look into
that. Um I'm glad that I stayed to
listen to all this is through the years
we've had complaints with the public law
enforcement you know and also during co
um I would live downtown and I saw this
and I'm really hoping that the things
the recommendations
through these last few years it sounds
like we're very much improving and so I
want to believe you I do believe by even
me speaking here
and I'm telling you about being short in
what I've gone through. I have had that
experience not in this jurisdiction but
in Scottdale an officer telling me that
I and I that's another story but it had
to do it's not a protected status. We
must protect our females and short
females.
Uh Roland is next, followed by Ann.
Um there's a reason why I didn't speak
on that uh agenda for 153. I knew you
guys were not going to pass that. Um, so
I wanted to reserve my time for now. Uh,
I'm very very disappointed in the city
council as far as the protection of this
community. Um, all you guys did was sat
up here and defended yourselves on why
you can't protect the community against
ICE.
And you've said all the great work that
you've done and to try to protect that
community, but you've done nothing to
protect this community from the Phoenix
Police Department from them beating,
brutalizing, and murdering the members
of the city. So, do not pat yourselves
on the back.
to the council member who said that the
new police officers that are going to be
coming out have no intention on coming
out to beat, brutalize, or kill someone.
You're actually probably correct on
that. But what you do not understand is
once they become part of that blue line
and that blue law and that blue wall,
they will do nothing to turn another
officer in when they see them beat,
brutalize, or murder a member of this
community.
So you have the mayor saying that how
violent crime has dropped, how homicides
dropped, but yet then she makes no
mention to how police shootings and
police killings have rised.
So, at this point,
I'm going to probably resign as co-chair
of my nonprofit foundation, and I'm
going to run for city council. And I'm a
member of District 5, where I sat there
and watched my daughter go to school at
Synergy Elementary on 27th Avenue in
Bethany and watch women sell their cells
while these children are walking to
school. watch people sit at these bus
stops and smoke fentanyl while Phoenix
PD just rides by. But yet then they
didn't just ride by when they shot a
19-year-old in his back, sick the dog on
him, shot him in his face with grenades,
and did nothing.
You guys do nothing to protect the youth
of this community. You do nothing to
protect us from the police.
So if you aspire to go to any higher
office than you are in right now, I will
not support you and I will come out and
speak out against you because you do
nothing while you are sitting in the
seat you're in now. And I am coming for
a city council seat and district 7
showed you this community's tired and I
guarantee you I will beat whoever you
put up against me. Have a good day.
Ayan is next, followed by Nicole.
Hi, good evening. My name is Ayan Serid.
I'm a registered nurse um and a resident
of Phoenix City in District 8. Um I'm
here to speak on something that's not on
the agenda. Uh but I do want to say I am
very disappointed with the council
members here regarding the resolution.
But today I'm here to share my
perspective as a healthcare worker about
what's happening in in Gaza. Yesterday I
learned about a child named Hamza, a
13-year-old Palestinian boy. A few days
ago, Hamza went on to uh get food from
an aid distribution site in Rafa Gaza
with his uncle, but he never made it
back. He was shot in the head by Israeli
forces and he died a few days later from
the injuries he sustained in Naser
hospital. A child who was just trying to
feed a starving family was murdered.
Hamza and hundreds of other
Palestinians, men, women, and children
have been killed and injured at these
lethal sites disguised as aid
distribution centers since they were
opened last month. Centers run by GHF,
the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, a
USIsraeli organization. As a nurse, I'm
trained to analyze data, objective and
subjective data. I listen to patients
and their loved ones. Yes, they tell me
about their symptoms, but they also tell
me about their granddaughter's
graduation, their pets, their struggles
to buy affordable medications, or how
they've how they've lost their homes.
And from that those data points, a p a
picture starts to emerge. What I've seen
in the last 620 days about what's
happening in Gaza is this is a really
important topic and very worthy of civic
debate. Our rules say that it we discuss
city topics here and there. This is a
city topic. This is that connection.
It's our tax dollars that are that are
being used tax dollars though. Sorry.
Could our city attorney help me? Am I
gutting the details right now? I'm
almost done. I'm almost done. Can I just
finish?
Can just am I? You know, healthcare
workers in Gaza are routinely targeted.
They're speak on city related topics
that the council has jurisdiction over.
Should I finish? Okay. Healthcare
workers in Gaza are routinely targeted,
kidnapped, tortured, killed. The WH has
reported only a third of hospitals
remain. They're barely functioning safe
havens designated by international law.
They have been systematically destroyed
by Israeli forces. The Lancet and
International Medical Journal recently
reported that life expectancy for people
in Gaza has dropped from 75 years old to
40 years old in less than a year. the
steepest recorded drop in our time. And
now food is being weaponized. It's not
just data. It's Palestinian lives.
People like you and me and the people of
the city of Phoenix. Let's be clear. You
don't have to be a healthcare worker or
somebody that's trained to believe the
following. Luring starving civilians to
aid distribution sites under the guise
of humanitarian relief is not an
acceptable form of warfare. What's
happening in Gaza is a total collapse of
everything. As a nurse, I'm bound by
professional and ethical standards. I
advocate for people,
especially when they're being harmed.
And as a mother, as a human, I can't
stay silent. And what's happening in
Gaza is very much a part of our Phoenix
community because we're actively funding
the annihilation of Palestinians with
our tax dollars. Please, mayor, council
members, connect with me and other
healthcare workers that are here and
listen to their testimonies.
of the medical missions they've
completed in Gaza recently allow us to
provide clarity to educate to share our
expert perspective as healthcare workers
and as concerned citizens of Phoenix
regarding Gaza in order to enact change
before it's too late. Thank you and I
will be back because this is city
related. Thank you
Nicole Rodriguez by followed by Marty
Winkler.
Thank you mayor. Um this may come as a
surprise but I actually have uh thanks
um to share at today's transportation
infrastructure um parks or planning at
tip whatever subcommittee with um city
council. I um was very uh proud of the
comments and questions that came from
councilwoman's um Haj Washington and
Pastor as we discussed high vis
visibility crosswalks and stop bars and
as you may remember that was a citizen
petition I brought um and I wanted to
thank them for their insightful
questions and comments. Um, I I really
do believe we're moving in the right
direction because in Phoenix we are a a
leading city for pedestrian deaths and
traffic incidents, uh, serious traffic
incidents and traffic violence. Um, with
that being said, I also, um, have been
wanting to extend kudos on for quite
some time to Councilwoman Anne O'Brien
as it relates to, um, back when council
voted, and this is prior to uh,
Councilwoman Honor Hernandez, to reduce
the age of operating e-mobility devices.
Um the vision zero committee which was
ignored then just like it was on high
visibility crosswalks recommended the
age of 12 for operating um mo e-mobility
devices scoot e scooters ebikes because
we live in a climate that is
increasingly getting hotter and hotter
and a lot of these um youth need an an
easy way to commute six months out of
the year that are extreme heat or near
extreme heat um when they don't have a
guardian or reliable source of
transportation. ation. Um, and we had
wanted on the vision zero committee and
from the community to reduce that age
and O'Brien did recommend age 14. Um,
and that would have been reasonable as
well. The thing is to the reason why we
got to that that place is because it was
slipped in by the streets department to
increase increase age from 16 to 18.
That was not even known to council um
back in May 2020 uh3 if I got that
correct. back when Keeny Kudson was
here. Um I had actually um with my my
daughter identified that and um realized
it was changed from 16 to 18 without a
vote. Um so I'm going to at some point
ask if we could revisit that. I'm not
doing a citizen petition on it. Um the
reason being also is that we have um
kids having their ebikes taken away um
in certain areas and uh we just want to
make sure that in these extreme heat
conditions that there's accessible ways
for for youth to get around because when
we turn 16 we don't suddenly
metamorphice into being a great driver.
But then at at 16, we can if mom and dad
have a lot of money, we could drive a
two-tonon pickup truck and somehow
that's okay. Um, ebikes are completely
different, not lethal, not dangerous.
Um, and there's a few incidences that
ruin it for the rest of us. Um, but I
just wanted to say thank you, Councilman
O'Brien, for your support on that and I
look forward to in the future reducing
that age. So, thanks.
Marty Winkler is next, followed by Julia
Tagert.
I didn't get up. I didn't get to speak
because I was detained over my umbrella.
It needs to be addressed during open
comments. People need to be shown
speaking. I don't know when this has
changed, but it needs to change.
My name is Marty with an I Winkler. W I
N K L E R. Kevin Robinson. I am insulted
and have heard your statement before.
There is a Phoenix police officer who
did go out to hurt people. Me and Rodney
Sandlin. Jason Gillespie horrifically
attacked almost killed me over nothing.
And seven months later, he saw they did
everything in their power to cover for
him. And he did it again to Rodney
Sandlin. And the city of Phoenix has
done everything to cover boat for both
of these horrific attacks. The nurses
told Rodney Sandlin, "Jason Gillespie
was pacing the hall saying,"I hope I
didn't fracture his skull, too.
I'm an I know you people can't see this.
I'm an extreme crime victim of Phoenix
police officer Jason Gillespie. Search
Martha Winkler versus City of Phoenix.
I'm speaking in support of the
resolution and in support to stop
arresting people for low-level criminal
misdemeanors
which can and does destroy countless
lives leads to ICE arrests, police
escalation, police violence, and ICE, as
I well know, people horrifically
brutalized by Phoenix police or killed.
Ever since I was falsely arrested for
lowest level trespassing,
horrifically attacked and almost killed
by violent serial criminal predator
officer Jason Gillespie with his bare
hands because he was enraged that he
thought I called the police too many
times. I tell people don't call the cops
for nothing unless you think you're
being killed.
I've been fighting for almost 11 years
against extreme corruption, criminal
conspiracy by the city of Phoenix and
Phoenix police.
In one of the biggest cases most people
have never heard about, violent crime is
around 3% or less and shockingly doesn't
even include the violent crime Phoenix
police inflicts upon civilians like
criminal predator officer Jason
Gillespie. than the city of Phoenix. And
Phoenix police does everything to cover
for their criminal police. And he's
apparently been training police how to
kill unarmed senior women making now
$240,000 a year. Phoenix police tries to
justify their ginormous salaries and
over1 billion dollar budget by telling
the public there's so much violent
crime, which is only a few percent. When
Phoenix police arrest someone, or is
even called, it can destroy their lives.
A Phoenix police officer told me one
time he could find something to arrest
almost anybody. That should shock anyone
with a conscience. By happen stance on
the front cover of the Arizona Republic
today is an article renters housing aid
in jeopardy. The story of three women
that none of them committed any crime
and their lives were destroyed because
police were called. They were all
evicted and lost their apartments. Julia
Tagert is next, followed by Stacy
Champion.
Hi, thank you for letting me speak. I
didn't know if I was going to be able to
speak because I know this has been a
very long meeting. Um, my name is Julie
Tiger. I'm with the Sunny Soap
Historical Society. Uh, unfortunately, I
couldn't go to the last city council
meeting because my father was in the
hospital and I was with him. Uh, but at
the last city council meeting, Hansen
Mortuary got approved for historic
status and I wanted to say thank you for
approving historic status for Hansen
Mortuary. I know I had sent Councilwoman
Deborah Stark's office and Councilman
Kevin Robinson's and um Mayor Kayo's
office uh information on Hansen
Mortuary, but it was a big deal for the
Hansen family as well as for the Sunny
Soap community. Hansen Mortuary is one
of very few family-owned mortuaries.
They've been in business for 75 years.
This is their 75th anniversary this
year. Um most mortuaries and funeral
homes have been bought by Dignity and
Memorial. They own 1900 across the
country. Um, and I know it meant a lot
to the Hansen family to get historic
status and to celebrate the legacy of
their family and what they've done,
which is doing the right thing. Um, and
they've done many fallen officers
funerals and services. So, thank you so
much for doing the historic status for
that. I would have liked for the family
to be able to make a public comment. I
know that they've submitted a request to
make a comment and I submitted a request
to make a comment in support, but we
were not called on. Um, I listen to
everybody's public comments and
comments. It would be really great for,
you know, these items that maybe they
don't have someone against, but they
have people who support it to be able to
share their memories. I know there was
many other people who had put in
comments to support Hansen that were not
able to speak and felt very unheard by
that. Um, nonetheless, I'm very thankful
for you approving this. I know we have
more properties that are going to come
to the council like the Sunny Silk
Presbyterian Church, Eye Opener, the
KPO, uh, now first studio gallery
building, which was the first TV station
in Arizona. So, we have a lot more
things coming for historic preservation.
It takes a lot of work to do these forms
and to work with these property owners
to preserve our history here in Phoenix.
So, just letting people be able to make
those comments of their memories and
what it means to them to get historic
stats would really help in the future.
So, if that's something the council can
look into, I would greatly appreciate
it. And thank you for letting me speak.
Thank you. Stacy Champion is next.
Hi, can you hear me? Okay, mayor and
council. Yes.
Um, so I currently have still a a large
number really of public records requests
that the city of Phoenix has not
fulfilled. Some of them are now going on
two years
uh old uh which I don't believe would
fit uh what our state law and records
request says with regard to prompt. Um,
but in a in a recent partial
uh records request that I got, I was
pretty disturbed uh to see an email from
um your internal communications manager
uh flagging myself and let's see, one,
two, three, four, five other individuals
um flagging our names uh and and calling
us highprofile file PRRS.
Um it's myself, two uh local reporters,
and then two gentlemen, I believe, who
have sued the city um over public
records issues in the past. So, um I
don't think that that is um proper to
treat me
differently or my public records request
differently than you are treating other
community members or any any member of
the public or anyone really who is
entitled to get a public records
um or file a public records request. And
so,
uh, I wanted to bring that to the
council's attention. I saw another thing
that that said, um, that typically the
city gets people their public records
request within 5 days. And I can say
that that has never been my personal
experience, um, on even the most simple
public records that I have uh, asked
for. So, I'm just putting it into the
public record yet again that um I I
believe your whoever's actions are
feeling very retaliatory
um at this point to me and I would like
my public records request. Thank you.
Thank you. We're adjourned.
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