Phoenix City Council Formal Meeting - May 7, 2025

Good afternoon. Welcome to our May 7th
meeting. Before the formal city council
meeting convenes, we will have two
meetings of special financing districts.
We'll begin with the Park Central
Community Facilities District. I will
call that board meeting to order. Will
the clerk call the role?
Board member Conland
here. Board member Jerves
here. Board member Wardado here. Board
member Hernandez here. Board member Hajj
Washington here. Board member Pastor.
Board member Robinson here. Board member
Stark
here. Board member Wearing. Vice Chair
O'Brien. Chairwoman Ggo here.
We'll begin with resolution PC21, which
approves the proposed district budget
for fiscal year 2025-26 and a proposed
5-year financial forecast and calls for
a public hearing on such a budget and
forecast. Uh board members Conlin or
Jer, do either of you have a motion? I
would like to. Yes,
person. I move to adopt resolution PC21
approving the proposed budget for fiscal
year 2025 to 2026.
Second. We have a motion and a second.
Any comments or questions? Roll call.
Conlin.
Hi. Jerves.
Hi.
Yes. Hernandez. Yes. Hodge Washington.
Yes. Pastor.
Robinson. Yes. Stark. Yes. Wearing. Yes.
GGO. Yes. Passes 90. Thank you. Thank
you and thank you to our board members
for joining us. We'll now adjourn the
Park Central Community Facilities
District Board and we will call to order
the Verdin Community Facilities District
Board. Will the clerk call the role?
Board member Wado here. Board member
Ednandez here. Board member Hajj
Washington here. Board member Pastor.
Board member Robinson here. Board member
Stark here. Board member Wearing. Vice
Chair O'Brien. Chairman Ggo here.
We'll begin with resolution number V6,
which approves the proposed district
budget for fiscal year 2526 and calls
for a public hearing on such a budget.
Vice Mayor, acting vice mayor Stark, do
you have a motion? I move to approve
resolution number B-06.
Second. We have a motion to second. Any
comments? Roll call.
Yes. Hernandez, yes. Hodge Washington.
Yes.
Pastor Robinson, yes. Stark, yes.
Wearing GGO, yes. Passes 70.
We will now adjourn the Verdin Community
Facilities District board meeting and we
will move towards the formal council
meeting. Before we begin that, we'll
invite police chaplain John Taylor up
for an invocation.
Please pray with
me. Dear father, thank you on behalf of
all who are gathered here today for the
many blessings for life itself and for
the ability to be involved in useful
work and for the freedoms that we enjoy
in this great nation. You have said that
we as citizens should obey the governing
authorities since you have established
those very authorities to promote peace
and order and justice. So I pray for our
mayor, for the various levels of city
officials, and in particular for this
assembled council. I'm asking that you
would graciously grant them wisdom to
govern, a sense of the true needs and
welfare of our people, a confidence in
what is good, just, and right, the
ability to work together in harmony, as
well as personal peace in their lives,
enjoying their work. I pray for the
agenda set before them today. Please
give them the assurance of what would
please you and what would benefit those
who live and work in and around our city
of Phoenix. It's in your name I pray.
Amen.
Thank you so much, Chaplain Taylor.
Councilwoman Stark, will you lead us in
the pledge of
allegiance to the flag of the United
States of America and to the republic
for it stands
nationy 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 Guardo here. Councilwoman
Hernandez here. Councilwoman Hodgej
Washington here. Councilwoman Pastor
here. Councilman Robinson here.
Councilwoman Stark here. Councilman
Wearing. Vice Mayor O'Brien. 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
Guahas. I'll be serving along with my
team member Elsarte as interpreters uh
for today's meeting for our Spanish
speakers. Now, I'll take a moment to
introduce ourselves to our Spanish
speaking audience.
commentary. CL
Thank you, mayor. Thank you so much.
Will the city clerk please 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 I
apologize
G7382 through
78387,
S51864 through 51894 and resolutions
22299 through 22301.
[Music]
Thanks so much. And now I will invite
the city attorney to explain the role of
public comment. 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 and 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, as 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 so much. We'll begin with the
meeting minutes. Councilwoman Pastor, do
you have a motion on item one? I move
item number one. Second. Any comments?
All those in favor say I. I. I. Council
Gordado, do you have a motion on item
two? Yes. Yes, I will make a motion to
approve the meeting minutes from
February 5th, 2025.
Second. A motion and a second. Any
comments? All those in favor say I. I.
I.
Next, we go to boards and commissions.
Vice Mayor, do we have a motion? Yes. I
move to approve mayor and city council
boards and commission nominations as
revised.
Second. We have a motion and a second.
All those in favor, please say I. I. Any
oppose? Nay.
passes unanimously. We have a very
distinguished group to be sworn in today
and we'll ask you to come forward.
Please raise your right
hand. State your name. I will
do solemnly swear do solemnly swear that
I will support the Constitution of the
United States that I will support the
Constitution of the United States and
the Constitution laws of the state of
Arizona and the Constitution laws of the
State of Arizona that I will bear true
faith that I will bear true faith and
allegiance to the same and allegiance to
the same and defend them against all
enemies and defend them against all
enemies, foreign and domestic. foreign
and domestic. And that I will faithfully
and impartially And I will faithfully
and impartially discharge the duties of
the office of discharge the duties of
the office of state your board of
commission service commission according
to the best of my ability according to
the best of my ability. So help me God.
So help me God. Congratulations and
thank you for serving the city of
Phoenix. And then if you'll go behind
the council members would love to
congratulate you.
Thank you again and congratulations to
our newly sworn in board and commission
members. We are very excited to have you
serving. We'll next go to the liquor
license portion of our agenda. The city
council provides an advisory role to the
state of Arizona on liquor licenses.
Vice Mayor, do we have a motion? I move
to approve items 4 through 12.
Second. We have a motion and a second.
Any comments? All those in favor say I.
I. Any opposed? Nay. Passes unanimously.
City clerk, are we ready for ordinances,
resolutions, new business planning and
zoning? Yes, mayor. Vice Mayor, do we
have a motion? Yes. I move to approve
items 13 through 62 except the following
items 28, 38, 60 through
62. Noting
[Music]
that item 59 is withdrawn, items 60, 61,
and 62 have additional information. And
can the clerk confirm if there's any
other items that should be excluded for
in-person public comment? Yes, mayor.
Vice Mayor. Also excluding item 54.
That's item 54.
54.
Second. We have a motion and a second.
Any com corrections? Roll call.
Yes. Hernandez. Yes. Hodge Washington.
Yes. Pastor, yes. Robinson, yes. Stark,
yes. Wearing, yes. GGO, yes. Passes 8 Z.
We'll next go to item 28, which is the
authorization to apply for, accept, and
enter into an agreement for VOCA grant
funds. Vice Mayor, do we have a motion?
I move to approve item 28. Second. We
have a motion, a second. I'll turn to
Councilwoman Hernandez for questions.
Thank you, Mayor.
Thank you, Mayor. Um, just wanted to get
a little background on this program. I'm
a little familiar with it at the state
level, the city level. Just uh had a few
questions.
Um I know that if we get this this
grant, it will go to the Phoenix
Prosecutor's Office to fund staff for
the victim service unit. Um can I
believe Julie, can you share uh more
about the unit and the services that
that unit provides to victims?
Yes, mayor, members of council. Um,
thank you council member uh Hernandez
for the question. So, as you stated,
this is going exclusively to our
prosecutor's office to fund five
positions that uh support victims of
crime. And um I do have staff here. If
you have further questions and would
like to understand a little bit more
about the program, I'd welcome them to
come up. And that is our city
prosecutor.
Awesome. Thank you so much, Julie. Um
the and maybe a followup if I can get a
list of what those services with those
uh employee those staff would do for the
victims. Um and my only other question
is does the unit provide those services
directly or do we contract any of those
services out?
So mayor members of council um we
provide those services um directly um
from our prosecutor's office. Perfect.
Thank you so much. Thank you mayor.
Roll call.
Yes. Hernandez, yes. Haj Washington,
yes. Pastor, yes. Robinson, yes. Stark,
yes. Wearing, yes. GGO, yes. Passes 80.
Item 38 is the police crime lab air
conditioning and building automation
systems control contract. Vice mayor.
Mayor, before I uh make the motion, when
I see crime lab, I think of chemists.
And my dad today is in the hospital with
pneumonia. And so
um I know chemists do a lot of important
work and one of them is solving crimes.
So I am happy to make a motion to
approve. Second.
We have a motion and a second. Do we
have Councilwoman Hernandez?
Thank you, Mayor. Um just had a few
questions on this for um probably I
don't know Lori if you want to start
with these and if other staff wants to
come up. Um just questions around this
program. Um my first question is around
the cost given that I know we are
updating or we're in the process of
updating a new um bu building to move uh
the police department. Um can you
elaborate a little bit on that? like why
investing into this if we are moving
buildings? Yes. U mayor, members of the
council, Councilwoman Hernandez, the
crime lab is actually located in a
building across the street from the
current police headquarters that is um
separate from the headquarters and will
remain separate from the headquarters
even when PD moves into 100 West
Washington Street. And so that lab
facility is something that we intend to
continue to utilize. it is a newer
facility and a facility that the lab
will will remain in and so we need to
invest in you know maintenance and
support of that facility. Um we have
staff here who can assist with answering
those questions um to include public
works as well as um John Nell our our
police administrator over the crime lab.
Awesome. Thank you. Um my next question
is I saw that the funding will come out
of the public works capital improvement
plan. Is there reasoning why the funding
would come out of that bucket? Yes,
mayor, members of the council,
Councilwoman Hernandez, that's a great
question. Um, that is the way that our
um facilities funding is structured and
I can ask uh public works director
Felipe Moreno to speak a little bit to
that, but essentially public works takes
care of the majority of city facilities
and so the funding runs through their
budget. Felipe, is there anything you
want to add to that? Sure. Thank you,
Lori. Um, mayor, members of the council,
Councilman Hernandez, yes, this is part
of our major maintenance budget. And so,
with certain projects that are
prioritized across the city, um,
departments, we have a major maintenance
pot of money that is used to prioritize
and take care of infrastructure that's
aging, needs to be replaced, or that's
at end of life. And so, this is one of
those projects that is part of that
major maintenance capital improvement
budget that's supported citywide. Thank
you, Felipe. So that would be the reason
why it comes out of the public works
capital improvement and not the police
budget side of it. Correct. Yes, that's
correct. Yes. Okay.
Um one another question, my next
question would be
um when we're making projects like this
or capital improvements, does the city
authorize um that we authorize as a
city, what impact assessments are
required when these are first done?
Chair, mayor, members of the council,
Councilman Hernandez, when we do the
major maintenance um assessments, we
basically look at all assets across the
city, we score in terms of importance um
critical failure failures, things that
could um pose a health or safety risk.
And in doing that, those are
prioritized. And there is a matrix in an
actual committee that looks at this
holistically um cross- departmental
committee. Um they then score this, put
them into priorities and then we decide
from there it's presented to get
approval for funding in that priority
list. Um projects could be reassigned or
rep prioritized depending on if
something changes or happens within an
asset that moves it up on the priority
list for uh risk of health and safety.
Okay, thank you. And part of as part of
that process, is there a racial um
equity impact piece to it? Do you know
by chance?
Um I have assistant director Chris Fuel
here that can speak more on the actual
scoring criteria with that. Thank you.
Um and then just one more question on
that. Um when and obviously I'm asking
questions because I'm new here so want
to get up to speed on the background on
how these projects came about. Um, was
there any, from your recollection, was
there any community engagement or public
input process on that project? Um, on
that improvement plan,
mayor, members of the council, Council
Hernandez, uh, no, for this part of
capital improvement, we do not have a
public or community engagement
component. Okay. Thank you so much.
Um, all right. That is all my questions.
Thank you for the extra information.
Thank you, Mayor.
Thank you, Councilwoman Hud Washington.
Thank you, Mayor, for the opportunity. I
just wanted to chime in um and give um
staff an opportunity to explain a little
bit about what it is the lab actually
contains. I know we heard a little bit
of the the life and safety concerns, but
it's also for me as a a lawyer having
represented victims. I want to make sure
we understand what the role is for this
um this facility in our ability to bring
justice to our victims.
Uh, mayor, council members, council
member Washington, John Canel. I'm the
administrator of the crime laboratory.
So, I'll attempt to provide some
background. Uh, the laboratory is a
dedicated building. It's about 100,000
square feet. We have 174 authorized
positions. Um, so we analyze evidence
that's collected as part of a uh as a
crime for within the city of Phoenix. um
about 25,000 requests per year come
through from all levels of offenses from
um person crimes to property crimes. Um
this is a laboratory space. It's not an
office. So as a laboratory we have
unique requirements to operate. Um our
laboratory spaces have unique uh
ventilation requirements and um this uh
project will ensure that um
contamination the quality continues and
the contract if I read it correctly
focuses on um the HV and air
conditioning because we do um you can
tell us about the quality controls
necessary to ensure that um evidence uh
maintains its um credibility.
Uh yes, correct. The trying to get a
little bit technical but keep it at a
higher level. Um laboratory spaces are
kept at a negative pressure compared to
the other spaces. The idea is that with
a negative pressure, any thing that's in
the air inside left space stays inside
the lab space and doesn't escape. We
also have a lot of vents um and
additional um inputs of air and outputs
of air. uh controlling those pressure
differentials takes a quite a complex
system and that's this that's what this
is related to. And if the evidence is
not kept to the right um temperature or
it fails um the quality controls we run
the risk of the evidence being
discharged and unable to provide um
justice to victims. Is that is that a
fair summation? That is a fair
summation. Thank you. Thank you, Mayor.
Thank you, Councilman Robinson.
Thank you, Mayor. Um, I want to expound
just a little bit on what Councilwoman
Hodgej Washington was saying. John, I
think you will remember this because I
know you were in a crime lab at that
time, but I think it started back in
June of '05. Um, through August of '06,
the Valley was terrorized by a guy by
the name of Mark Gudau. He was
responsible for, if I remember
correctly, about nine 10 homicides and
probably three times as many sexual
assaults and a host of other crimes. And
those sexual assaults were juveniles as
well as adults. There were a host of
things. And as much as I would like to
say that the police officers, the
detectives were the ones who truly
solved that crime, that wasn't the case.
It was the personnel in the crime lab.
And having a crime lab that is
adequately prepared, supplied, and
everything else that goes into it allows
us to ensure if we're going to talk
about the safety of our communities,
that's what it allows us to do. So, I
just wanted to make sure we all
understood the gravity, the importance,
and the real work that comes out of that
crime lab on something of a daily basis.
So, with that, I I thank all the folks,
the professional folks who work in the
crime lab. John, you and all your folks
deserve congratulations on everything
that you do day in and day out. And that
was just one example that I can give a
specific recollection on because I ran
that investigation and without the crime
lab and its people, there is no way we
would have solved um that crime. Thank
you, mayor, for the time.
Thank you. And thank you, Councilman,
for leading that really important
investigation. Councilman Wearing. Uh
thank you, mayor. Uh Kevin makes an
excellent point. Probably a lot of
crimes we wouldn't solve without the
crime lab. Uh, but I would also point
out there are probably a lot of people
who are cleared by evidence that comes
out of the crime lab. I would suspect a
lot of the stuff you do there would say,
"Nope, it got the wrong person." That's
also a product of the crime lab and
shouldn't be discounted. Yes, it helps
convict people, but I'm sure it also
makes sure, oh, we got the wrong person.
Better go keep looking, get the right
person next time. So, something else
that probably shouldn't get lost in the
shuffle. Thank you.
Thank you. And and John, please give the
crime lab our our thanks and a special
thanks for the chemists.
Roll call.
Yes. Ernnandez,
no.
Washington, yes. Pastor, yes. Robinson,
yes. Stark, yes. Wearing, yes. GGO, yes.
Passes 71. We next go to item 54, which
is the approval of the historic
preservation demonstration project grant
at 412 West Roosevelt Street. Do we have
a motion? I move to approve item 54.
Second.
We have a motion and a second. We do
have one public comment. Hill Morales.
Do we have a Hill Morales
here?
Oh, you do not need to speak.
Okay, thank you. Um, so for folks who
are watching, the speaker does not
actually need to speak. Any comments?
Councilwoman Pastor. Yes. I'm just happy
that we are um providing a grant to
preserve uh a historic building and
um uh preserving it and restoring it.
Thank you.
Wonderful. Thank you. And this this
property is considered an outstanding
example of the prairie school
architecture style and is one of the few
part apartment buildings that were
constructed immediately following World
War I. Still active today. Roll call.
Yes. Hernandez, yes. Hudge Washington,
yes. Pastor, yes. Robinson, yes. Stark,
yes. Wearing, yes. Vo, yes. Passes 80.
We next go to item 60 which is related
to the southwest corner of Cave Creek
Road and Poria Avenue. We'll open the
public hearing. We do have some
individuals registered to speak. We'll
begin with Allan on behalf of Oh no, I'm
sorry. We'll begin with uh Jimmy Morose
who is a virtual public comment.
First, I would like to thank uh District
Three Council member Deborah Stark for
all her help and uh Amber and Haley. I'm
resident of the Point Tapato. My
backyard backs up to Peoria. I have
three statements. The first statement I
would like to read, the Point Tapato
Community Association Board urges the
city of Phoenix to require the builder
of the development at East Poria and
Cave Creek Road to limit traffic
traveling west on Poria from the complex
and also limit entering the parking
structure from Poria traveling from the
west. Uh I have a statement from the
point at Tapato Cliff's condominium that
butt up to this property. The point at
Tapato Cliff's condominium association
board urges the city of Phoenix to
require the builder of development at
East Poria and Cave Creek to limit uh
traffic traveling west on Poria from the
complex and also limit entering the
parking structure from Poria traveling
from the west. I have a statement from
Tapato Cove HOA. On behalf of Tapato
Coord Directors, I'm writing to express
concerns regarding traffic controller
related to the new apartment
development. Uh what they would like is
to prevent westbound traffic from
entering the apartment complex onto Pori
Avenue, thereby reducing the likelihood
of vehicles cutting through their
community, restrict eastbound traffic
from entering the apartment complex from
Poria Avenue, encouraging apartment
residents and visitors to use the Cage
Creek Road access. Deborah Stark has
worked with the developer and on item
nine bolded they have agreed to put a
traffic control device. From what what
our understanding is it's going to make
everyone leaving the parking structure
travel east towards Cave Creek, but
there is nothing there that states uh
traffic coming in from the west of Poria
entering the garage uh will be able or
will the pork chop prevent that as well
or the traffic control device. Once
again, I would like to thank Council
Member Deborah Stark uh for all their
hard work.
Wonderful. Thank you. Thank you,
Counciloman Stark, for your hard work.
Alan, do you want to speak? You're
available to register to speak if
necessary
or I feel like Jimmy kind of teed up the
good news, but
Good afternoon, mayor. Uh members of
city council, Alan Bodwin, Norris
Design, 901 East Madison Street. um
representing Alante Properties and yes,
we have heard this from the community
and we completely agree and are willing
to accommodate them with a traffic
control device at the main entry off of
Pyia Avenue as was the presenter just
presented. We're we're fine with that
condition. Thank you.
Wonderful. Thank you. I believe that is
all the speakers we have on this item. I
will close the public hearing and turn
to Councilwoman Stark. Thank you, Mayor.
I move to approve the item per the April
18th, 2025 memo from the planning and
development director and approve the
related ordinance. Second. We have a
motion and a second. Any comments? Roll
call.
Yes. Ernnandez, yes. Hodge Washington,
yes. Pastor, yes. Robinson, yes. Stark,
yes. Wearing, yes. Vo, yes. passes 8 Z.
Thank you. Next is item 61 related to
the northeast corner of I17 and
Thunderbird Road. We will open the
public hearing. We will um begin with
Dwight Watland.
Your honor, I Your honor, I'm used to
appearing in court. Um, I'm a neighbor
and I speak for on behalf of about the
handful of neighbors that were dealing
with Home Depot on this matter. I had
anticipated they would be here and so
that they would be speaking first. Uh,
nevertheless, thank you very much for
the efforts of uh, Councilwoman Stark
and also the members of the uh, of your
staff that worked hard coming up with a
resolution or a recommendation that was
acceptable to both the neighbors and
Home Depot. And even though they're not
here, I'd like to say I appreciate Home
Depot being as cooperative as they were
dealing with the neighborhood. So, we
support the resolution that was proposed
by your staff.
Wonderful. Well, thank you for all the
time you put in for a successful
outcome. Uh we do we do have available
to speak if if necessary uh Justin on
behalf of the applicant.
Good afternoon, Mayor, council members.
Uh my name is Justin Concincaid. I'm a
representative. I'm the applicant uh
from Kimley Horn representing Home
Depot. We have been working with Mr.
Watlin to address their concerns and I
think we've came to a resolution. So
it's our understanding that uh there is
no opposition to this. Wonderful. Thank
you. Well, thank you all for working
together to have a successful outcome
and thank you again to Councilwoman
Stark for her work on this case. Close
the public hearing and I'll turn to the
council woman.
Thank you so much, Mayor. Before I make
a motion, I just want everyone to know
this is the zoning case that made Peggy
Bilstein run for council and she was a
very successful council person for 12
years. So, thank you Home Depot for
giving us Peggy Bilstein. I move to
approve the item per the April 22nd,
2025 memo from the planning and
development director and approve the
related ordinance. Second. Motion and a
second. Roll call.
Yes. Ernnandez, yes. Haj Washington,
yes. Pastor,
yes. Robinson, yes. Stark, yes. Wearing,
yes. Passes 8 Z.
Thank you. We next go to item 62, which
is the northwest corner of 20th Avenue
and South Mountain
Avenue. We'll open the public hearing.
We'll begin with Juel Clark, followed by
John Fox.
Uh hello mayor and city council. Thank
you for your time today. Um when this
project was originally uh proposed,
there were about by my count 52
surrounding homes actively opposed who
stayed opposed. And um my colleague uh
neighbor uh Jai Gudau and I worked with
um the village planning committee and
Councilwoman Hajj Washington to get to
the point we are today. And um I'm
personally very encouraged by the
revised stipulations and the site plan
to create a much more compatible
development for our area. And I want to
thank uh our village planning committee
and our councilwoman and her staff for
all of their work uh for this outcome.
So just wanted to say thank you.
Wonderful. Thank you for your work and
and councilwoman. Thank you. Uh Mr. Fox,
would you wish to testify?
Yeah, I'm John Fox, the applicant on
this site and um I have been working
closely with the village as well as the
neighbors and I appreciate their support
at this point. Thank you.
Thank you. Close the public hearing and
I'll turn to Councilwoman Hudge
Washington. Thank you, mayor. Um I I too
would like to give a few comments before
I accept the motion. I want to start off
by thanking the residents and the
planning and development staff who
remain engaged throughout this process
and the applicant for returning to the
community to listen. Um for me
development in district 8 is rooted it
has to be rooted in collaboration not
just checking boxes but actually
building trust and relationships. Um
from the beginning I said that a strong
compromise takes both sides leaning in
and I think we've done that um
successfully in this process. So, I
really appreciate that the applicant
recognized there was more work to be
done and he took real steps to engage
with our neighbors and for the neighbors
for coming forth with proposal solutions
and working and leaning in as well. I've
heard from residents like that were
originally concerned who now believe
that their input made a difference and
that matters. I I do believe that the
updated plan reflects a more thoughtful
process and approach that balances the
city's housing goals and the character
and concerns of the neighborhoods. So
with that, I am encouraged that I move
to approve item sorry I move to approve
the item per the May 1st, 2025 memo from
the planning and development director
and approve the related ordinance.
Second. We have a motion and a
second. Any comments? Roll call.
Yes. Hernandez, yes. Haj Washington,
yes. Pastor,
uh, yes. But I want to say a few
comments. I would just wanted to thank
Councilwoman Hajj Washington for her
great work.
Robinson, yes. Stark, yes. Wearing GGO.
Yes. Passes 80.
Thank you. We'll now go to the public
comment portion of our meeting and I
will turn to the city attorney to
explain this portion. 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 so
much. We will um begin with Ernest
Martinez followed by John Foresight.
Good afternoon, Mayor Kaygo, member,
other members of the city
council. I'm Ernest Martinez at
1932 East Lamar Road in the foothills of
Pyesta Peak for 25 year 35 years and and
I I still hiked the mountain regularly.
I am also the former chairman and
currently the treasurer of the Pyesta
Fallen Heroes Memorial. I am here to
express a concern about a construction
project which suddenly sprung up at the
Pyesta Peak Oko Tio Roma this early this
month in the Phoenix Mountains
Preserve. Our memorial committee, the
hikers, and other users of the Phoenix
Mountains Preserve were blindsided when
when we found the road to the Okotillio
Ramada at Pasawa Peak blocked. Even more
shocking, a huge fence had been erected
which stopped the public from using the
Ramada and from accessing the many
trails to the north of the Ramada.
Likewise, the Romanada was blocked from
the other
direction. In addition, there were no
explanatory signs or notices posted
anywhere. Signs that were that the only
signs that we saw that are still there
are signs saying do do not enter and the
park is closed. There were no
directional signs either, showing hikers
and the public a little used option for
accessing the trails to the
north of the Okotia Roma. And at 8:00
this morning, there were still no
signs. Blocking access to the Roma and
to the trails north and without
forewarning is a very serious disservice
to the community. It is a far cry from
the public participation. the lengthy
public awareness efforts and pride that
was generated by the initial capital
improvements at the park a few years
ago. More importantly, the new
improvements may be illegal in that the
public was not given an opportunity to
learn and provide input to the project.
and we have seen no evidence that the
planned improvements were discussed by
the public and the funding voted on by
city council.
We also have other concerns about the
project, including how a 140 foot bridge
and visible
landing and amenities across the wash,
as revealed in the plans, does anything
to preserve the view and the natural
state of the mountain preserve. and on
the other end of the road from moving an
established park entrance gate. Uh we
feel that is not the best use. In
conclusion, we are asking that all
construction on the project be stopped
immediately to allow time for these
concerns to be addressed and allow for
the vital public input and buy in that
this project requires. Thank you. Thank
you. I'll ask if our team can follow up
with
Ernest. Uh John is next, followed by
Hill. Governments derive their just
power from the consent of the governed.
That was Thomas Jefferson. My name is
John Foresight. I'm here again today to
talk about civil rights and
democracy. The responsibilities of
government are really pretty easy,
twofold. One is to provide the services
that the citizens demand. But two, much
more important, is the protection of its
citizens. And that is where I think the
city of Phoenix is
failing. Therapists will tell you
there's three ways to solve a problem.
First, you have to admit that you have a
problem. Second, you have to be honest.
Third, you have to talk about it.
Now, we live in a democracy, a republic
if you wish, but the last time I
checked, that is a
democracy. Democracies require that the
public is informed from their government
to what is going on in the government.
And to be honest, there's a lot of
issues that are going on that this
government is completely silent
upon. Democracy just doesn't work that
way.
I've mentioned in the past some
management and leadership problems that
I perceive that is going on. We had an
interim chief we could not make into a
chief for more than two and a half
years. We had a lieutenant that
testified in court that he had never
read the Department of Justice report.
Lieutenant Moore for three years plus
this city's been under federal
investigation for civil rights
violations. Nothing changed.
I was at the meeting which we did
Wallace and Ladmo way. It was moved up
in the schedule. It was 20 minutes long.
I wish we gave 20 minutes to the
problems that we have here in this city
especially concerning civil
rights. We have I think this is more
than a decades long problem. 600
vacancies in the city of Phoenix police.
Other police departments across the
valley don't have this same problem. I
think this comes down to simply a
leadership and management issue that
police officers don't want to come here
and
work. Democracies should exactly mirror
the morals and values of the people that
it
serves. I believe the city of Phoenix is
deviating from that path. This is what I
see. I was born and raised
here. Historians will tell you I'm not a
historian. I am a study of history.
History always seems to repeat itself
constantly. Historians will tell you
that you can find out the morals and the
values of the citizens in which are
served by government by studying the
government
itself. I don't think a lot of
Phoenicians or people that were born and
raised here want historians to look back
in this time of Phoenix's history and
study us. I know we can do a lot better.
We have in my lifetime done a lot
better. Thank you very much.
Thank you. We'll go next to Hill,
followed by Nicole Rodriguez.
Good afternoon, mayor, council members,
and especially council member
Hernandez. Thank you for listening to my
concerns. I'd like to start by reading
something that council member Hernandez
wrote in her bio. She said, "In Phoenix
district 7, where I live, we are
expected to live 10 years less than
neighborhoods in North Phoenix in
Scottsdale, our communities are some of
the most criminalized. Our water and air
quality are some of the worst in the
state. It doesn't have to be this way."
I was thrilled when I read that and I
welcome you. I'm hoping to work with
you.
Um, our properties are at the southeast
corner of 15th Avenue and Taylor, right
in the middle in the thick of the
nonsense that's going on there, really
close to
Cass. We have many problems, but
throughout the years, I've noticed
there's small changes make a big impact
in that area.
Some of the things that should not
happen is that Waste Management,
Republic, and city workers should not be
picking up trash at 3:00 in the morning,
at 4 in the morning, at 5 in the
morning, at 6:30 in the morning. This
morning, city workers were right next to
my
home, letting off their brakes on those
big trucks. I have a um traumatic head
injury. So I have very severe um pain in
my right ear. So all those noises, the
train noise, the ambulances, some things
we we can expect. We live there, we
choose to stay there, but city workers,
waste management and the others should
not be there at those times. We would
really appreciate some assistance in
that.
We also have some other issues um with
the alley where we were part of the
initial project of closing the alleys
and then um for some reason some of the
alleys were partially closed and we are
told by the owners that the city is not
allowing them to close that part because
they want to do first build on it. We
need assistance in getting those closed
and that is at
the north west corner of Poke and 15th
Avenue. Another issue I have is two
other issues is one is of major
importance. Southwest Gas came to my
property unannounced,
uninvited and they damaged my property.
This happened about 10 years ago. I've
been talking to them. They've
apologized. They've claimed they're
going to come and fix it. It is about a
40 foot long trench, two foot deep. They
won't even come over and inspect the
work that I believe was not even done.
Now, they're telling me that the statute
of limitations expired.
My last issue and I hope you allow me to
speak.
Um, Council Member Hernandez, we have
been trying to get a hold of the
boundaries of the neighborhood
association for that area. Jessica Bueno
is the president and we would love it if
you would.
Thank you.
Nicole is next, followed by
Tim. Thank you, Mayor and Council. Um,
pursuant to the city of Phoenix Charter
Chapter 4, Section 22, I, Nicole
Rodriguez, am a resident of Phoenix,
Arizona, the citizen petition requests
the full city council to take action on
this matter within 15 days at a formal
city council meeting. And this petition
is not duplicative of prior requests in
the past year, duly acted on by city
council. I hereby petition the mayor and
council to enact within 15 days
resolutions, ordinances or measures that
will number one direct the streets
transportation part department to update
city policy and design guidelines to
require the use of high visibility
crosswalk markings, for example, zebra
and/or uh perpendicular bar striping at
the signal signalized and unsalized
pedestrian crossings in accordance with
Federal Highway Administration guidance.
and the city's adopted complete street
guidelines. Two, require stop bars at
all pedestrian crossings, including
intersections with signals, stop signs,
and hawk crossings. Two, improve
visibility and safety for pedestrians
and reduce driver encroachment into um
crosswalk zones. Background and
justification for this. On September
7th, two 2022, Phoenix City Council
adopted the Vision Zero and Road Safety
Action Plan, committing to eliminate
traffic deaths and serious injuries by
2050. In support of this, the city
council allocated 10 million annually
for safety improvements and established
the vision zero committee community
advisory committee. On October 23rd,
2024, the Vision Zero Community Advisory
Committee recommended for the um
recommended for city to discontinue the
use of low visibility transverse
crosswalk markings and instead adopt
high visibility C markings along with
stop bars at all pedestrian crossings.
These recommendations are aligned with
both national best practices and the
committee's mandate to advise the city
on safety related ordinances and design
changes. 2022 2023 annual road safety
action report the cities published by
the city of Phoenix reveals alarming
statistics. Um over 30,000 annually um
are are seriously injured in crashes
every day. 190 deaths annually with over
100 100 pedestrians killed by vehicles.
44% of fatal crashes involve pedestrians
and 40% of killed or seriously injured
crashes occur at signalized
intersections. Um despite these trends,
Phoenix continues to rely heavily on
non-standard transverse lines for
crosswalks which do not meet Federal
Highway um administration guidelines for
high visibility crosswalks. Most
intersections also lack soft bars,
resulting in vehicles blocking
pedestrian pathways. The city's own
complete streets policy adopted in 2014
calls for contextsensitive design and
the implementation of I'll just get loud
if you turn it off. For the
implementation of infrastructure that
supports safe, accessible, and
convenient travel for users of all ages
and abilities. Um, thank you for your is
that okay for a citizen petition? I have
another paragraph left. We we can accept
the entire We don't have to read every
We can accept the whole
petition. Tim is next followed by
Jerry. Guess it doesn't like me today.
Tim
Circowski, good afternoon and thank you.
Yesterday, I know you received in your
email from
Jerry our mystery project taking place
at
Pyesttoa. Everyone's trying to figure
out when you guys voted upon allowing
this to take
place. More importantly, we're trying to
figure out when this was brought up to
the public, when this went to
subcommittee, when this had also gone to
the parks department.
No one seems to have an
answer. It might pretty much go back to
the explanation of management in the
city, but I'm not really sure if it's a
management problem or not any longer. I
just don't feel that there's good
communication or communication taking
place between city council and the parks
department.
If you go to Pyestto and you look at the
fence, there's nothing posted on the
fence because in normal construction
zone, you would see a building permit
there. Nothing's there. Asking the
question, why not? None of the park
rangers know anything about the
construction. These people just showed
up one day and said, "Oh, this is what
we're
doing." My question then becomes, was
there a 404 environmental study? How
about damaging water washes that were in
that specific area? Did anyone do an
environmental study to ask this
pertinent question? Did they did they do
any of this? We have requested this
information through the Center for Law
and we still have not received a
response. At the present time, we would
like to know exactly who's in charge of
this project, who authorized this
project, where's the money coming from?
No one seems to have an answer for any
of this. My question is is going back to
management. Is the management and the
parks department going rogue? Are they
just a rogue department any longer where
we can't get any answers? I thought you
guys were talking about transparency.
Well, we'd like some transparency
because it doesn't seem that we're
getting any transparency at the present
time. The preserve is a special type of
property.
You cannot go into this property without
having your
approval. Does the parks department know
this? Because if they don't know what
really is going on with their own parks,
maybe we need to get better management
in the parks or a different park person
to run the parks because it seems to be
in shambles at the present time. So,
what we're asking for is more
transparency. We want to know who's in
control, who's signing the checks for
this, where's the money coming from, and
where was the public input into doing
140 foot bridge in Pastoa. Thank you.
Thank you. Jerry Van Gas is
next, followed
by Vizimano. Hi, Jerry Van Gas. Thank
you, Mayor and Council. Uh, this is
getting to be routine.
Uh once again, uh it seems that the
parks department has blindsided our
council. This happened down at South
Mountain. It's happening again. And you
know, I'll reference you to your own
city charter, which you know, you're
easy to trot out, you know, to justify
having the parks board weigh in on
everything related to the parks.
It says right there under mountain
preserves number one maintain in as
pristine state as possible. All
preserves any alterations have to go in
front of the council. None of this
happened out there. Mr. Martinez failed
to you know uh you know comment that
he's the uncle to Lori Pyestto. And
you'll notice on the flyer that was sent
to everyone and to a lot of other people
that they ripped up the Lori Pesta
nature trail with their heavy machinery
in a
preserve. Uh I mean this one is really
really baffling to us. But we're going
to get we're going to find out because
we've been getting information from
other sources and we will find out who
the real culprits are and we want it
stopped
immediately. Uh because we've got people
out there every day and uh we're going
to find out and we know it's 3PI money
once again that this you know the the
account is being sabotaged and
squandered with these episodes. Thank
you.
Thank
you. Aaliyah is next followed by
Elizabeth Venibal.
Aaliyah is next.
E L I Y A.
enough.
And what language will the testimony be
in?
Okay.
And uh for our communications team, does
our software do Swahili? Yeah, he he's
speaking Swahili but he say
so just but just before you begin will
you remind me of the protocol with
Swahili? Should it be should we let we
just updated our protocol and this is
our first time we've had a use case that
was in Spanish. So
okay so the the city policy we recently
adopted would be that
we would use the screen. Is that the
policy? We Okay. So, we don't want an
outside translation. Is that the or we
have the the screen translation
available? Okay. Um, mayor, it would be
at your discretion. I think if you
wanted to allow spoken translation and
it could be compared to the screen
translation, but our policy would be to
utilize a screen translation as we would
normally not have a translator in the
language.
Okay. All right. Well, this we're going
to do a live test of Swahili translation
and so we'll compare the screen to the
translator. Okay. So, we will
then do six minutes on the clock. Is
that six? Okay.
Great. All right.
[Music]
All right, we are ready to begin. Thank
you for your patience. Yes. So he said
uh
Okay, you can sir. Sir,
John Paul. Yes, John Paul. Yes, please.
He can speak in Swahili. Yes. And then
what's going to happen? It's going to
get translated up here. Okay. And then
you can fill in if we're mistaken.
Is that correct? The screen is still
saying Spanish. Is there a software that
we need to do something with the
software to tell it? Swahili.
Okay.
It's It's not at work.
But I think I can help
cuz he
say he tried to listen what you're
talking about and um he asking me why
when the people from the different
countries when they come here you don't
try to take care for them because of u
language some people come not speaking
way English so he asking why you can't
help them then you blame them when they
sleep outside and they travel around.
Make it
and if you could speak in ask him to
speak into the microphone that would be
helpful. So now he's speaking
So he asking if you can help people
from coming from different countries to
help them. How can
get easy to have a papers and
everything? Don't be homeless like like
this.
Yeah, he makes sitting around and so
anything
hands.
[Music]
Okay. Yes.
Yeah. He say he get in trouble once to
then he go in jail. So when he come out
he was lost everything and family left
him and um he lost the paper too special
green card and everything and so by when
he tried to found the paper he can't get
it. They make him a lot of places. So he
need a help for you guys.
Councilman Hud Washington. Thank you.
I believe um human services last time
had tried to assist. Was that is that
can we make sure that you guys talk
after?
Great. Okay. Okay. So we'll try to you
let them know we a department will try
to assist
at the Thank you.
Thank you.
All right. Elizabeth is
next. Um that's a very interesting
system. Uh uh I think you should allow
both, you know, a person to accompany
sometimes and the translation if it
works. I think it's a good idea. Um you
might want to see if it speaks Kenya
Wanda. That's the language that he
speaks is Kenya Wanda is similar to
Karundi. They're East African languages.
There's actually a lot of speakers in
the world. Um, all I want to say is, um,
that, you know, obviously I think that,
uh, one of the things that you guys have
to do as a municipality is, you know,
use your
resources to affect
um, in ways that provide tangible
benefit to the community and are
fiscally responsible in that they
generate revenue or um, save
costs and um I think one of the things
that's important to consider is that in
the long term quality
services are more effective. Um and then
when you uh have more quality control on
the services uh they have better
outcomes and then you defay other costs
by preventing for example people staying
in in cycles for a long time. Um, so
there's a couple of things that I I just
talk about with the effectiveness is,
you know, for one, I I think it's
important. Um, you know, it's wonderful
to continue the services and obviously
we're we're very excited about that. Um,
but um, we want to make sure that, you
know, they're effective and and to a
certain extent um, you know, there's
problems, you know, with all
municipalities with external
accountability, right? and and it's a
struggle, you know, because you want to
have accountable effective programs, but
you know, sometimes, you know, there's
the stake approach versus a penalty for
non-compliance, and sometimes you need a
balance. But, um, often when you have
the same contractors year after year um
and there's very little formal um
oversight over programs, the outcomes of
the programs are
reduced. Um and so you can look at that
in um some of the exit data from the
various facilities.
um there's an idea to
um that I don't agree with to uh
federally consider uh outdoor lots as uh
shelters and uh and and only one person
is really sue here but um I think it's a
very poor idea because I think it's a
fiscally irresponsible idea. You do
organ damage to people the outcomes are
tremendously poor. um you know that
money from federal sources should not be
used I believe on those types of
facilities and I think you know to get
good outcomes you have to provide
quality services just like the other
services in the city of Phoenix. Thank
you.
Thank you. Stacy Champion is next.
Hello, mayor, council. This is a citizen
petition to the mayor and council of the
city of Phoenix. I will not read all the
wherees. Whereas, the city of Phoenix
implemented rush hour reverse lanes on
7th Avenue in 1979 and 7th Street in
1981 to move traffic quickly in and out
of downtown Phoenix prior to Arizona
State Route 51 being built. These are
the only two streets in Phoenix that
function in this manner, and they are
widely known as the seven suicide lanes.
They are confusing to locals and out of
town visitors and encourage speeding and
aggressive behavior. Many more people
now live in downtown Phoenix, and
numerous multifamily apartments have
been built along 7th Street and 7th
Avenue in the past 40 plus years.
Multiple businesses are located along
7th Street and 7th Avenue and their
customers have a difficult time safely
accessing and egressing their businesses
depending on the time of day and this
harms their earning potential. Uh the
seventh street and 7th Avenue rush hour
reverse lanes do not conform with
complete streets design guidelines that
were adopted by the city of Phoenix in
2018 and are not safe for drivers,
pedestrians or cyclists. There are
numerous mid-block bus stops along both
7th Street and 7th Avenue with no
pedestrian refuge and complete lack of
recovery zone for drivers. The 7th
Street and 7th Avenue rush hour reverse
lanes, cause people to cut through
neighborhoods, use parking lots to cut
through, make dangerous U-turns, and
create a dangerous situation for
everyone in their vicinity. Recent data
and studies show there's a higher rate
of crashes and the seventh street and
7th Avenue reverse lanes are
significantly underutilized. The city of
Phoenix completed a study in 2021
utilizing data that fails to account for
current traffic usage. Other cities
around the country, even those that had
added digit digitized signage, including
Tucson, Arizona, have removed their rush
hour or reverse lanes because they're
dangerous and we don't need more
studies.
Uh more than 4,000 people and nearly 50
businesses have signed onto a change.org
petition that requests the rush hour
reverse lanes be removed by the city of
Phoenix immediately for all the reasons
highlighted above. Um, therefore, I as
citizen, all of the things that Nicole
said previously,
uh, ask that the measures will one,
remove the outdated and dangerous 7th
Avenue and Seventh Street Rush or
reverse lanes, and two, direct city
manager to have Phoenix Streets
department staff develop a timely plan
to remove or cover the reverse lane
signage and create a re-education PSA
plan andor campaign for drivers in the
public who uses 7th Street and 7th venue
rush hour reverse lanes with 7 seconds
to go. The end. Very efficient. Uh
Jeremy Thcker will be our next speaker.
Good afternoon, Mayor and Council.
Uh ironically, I didn't coordinate any
of this, but I fully support uh both the
citizen petitions fully. I live between
the sevens and they're a nightmare. I'm
also submitting a citizen petition that
I emailed to everyone um regarding the
city of Phoenix owned municipal golf
courses. Uh I submitted this in 2022 as
well and was told that it did not
qualify under the purview of the city
council which is ironic considering
today that city council voted on golf
rates which I think it pretty clearly
states that it does fall under the
purview. The city's golf courses are
ridiculous. Uh the fact that we're in
that business is like the city of Vegas
owning casinos. There's plenty of them
uh
already. Our seven golf courses use 1
billion gallons of water
annually. All portable, no
affluent. That's enough for
25,000
individuals that we put to our golf
courses. Less than 1% I'm sorry, one
between one and 2% of our population
plays golf.
Golf occupies
20% of city of Phoenix developed parks
lands. 1% of the population, 20% of
parks
lands.
The city also states that it's become
profitable, that it's not losing money
because they don't pay rent on half a
billion dollars in
land. They don't pay. They pay
$70,000 for that water for a billion
gallons. The inequity is incredible. Uh
with this, we need to have a to study
this. We need to look at it, have a ad
hoc committee that's not filled with
golfers, but actually be proportionate
uh and representative like the city
council.
uh we we need to look at this because
otherwise we're just robbing the wrong
people and the people living in historic
neighborhoods where a lot of these golf
courses are who are paying half the tax
and getting all the amenities is just
wild. So I'm asking for a review and I
emailed the citizen commission or the
citizen petition to everyone.
Thanks and get rid of the sevens.
Thank you so much. Uh we have completed
our public comment time. There were some
people who registered who did not yet
get to speak. So we will take them first
at our May 21st meeting. With that we
are adjourned.
[Applause]
And then as a mom myself, uh can I uh
want