Phoenix City Council Formal Meeting - April 23, 2025

Good afternoon. It is April 23rd. We
appreciate you joining us. We'll begin
today with an invocation. Please welcome
Police Chaplain Harry Ston.
Madame
Mayor, ladies and gentlemen of the
council and of the audience. Let us
pray. Father God, we want to please you.
We want to honor you and bring glory to
your name. Sometimes we may not know
exactly how to do that. So we pray for
wisdom from heaven. We know that genuine
respect for you is the beginning of
wisdom. So teach us humility as we pray.
Help us to remember that you are God and
we are not. Help us to observe lessons
from all that you have created, the
truth principles that you have built
into the
universe. Let us learn from the wisdom
of sewing and reaping the importance of
a strong root system in life or learning
from the industriousness of the ant.
Father, give us knowledge of your
holiness and help us to consider what
you are doing in the world and through
our lives. We know that you are
absolutely sovereign and we cannot claim
to be wise if we try to dodge your
plans. Help us to view life from your
perspective, always keeping an eye
towards
eternity. as you show us your majesty
and your power. Father God, please grant
these your servants on this council
wisdom so that we may better magnify
your name. And all this we pray. Amen.
Amen. Uh thank you. Very powerful.
Councilwoman Hud Washington will lead us
into the pledge of allegiance. I pledge
allegiance to the flag of the United
States of America and to the republic
for which it
One nation under God, indivisible,
liberty and justice for
all. Thank you so much. Thank you,
Councilwoman.
We now will have a moment of silence to
honor Jennifer Grondle. Jennifer served
the city in many ways for many years and
was instrumental in starting the city's
first apprenticeship program. She also
worked with us to raise the minimum wage
for city employees and served on our our
bond committee and and in so many other
ways.
Unfortunately, she has has been battling
cancer and uh today we remember her with
a a moment of
silence. Thank you. I know Jennifer
touched so many of us in this
room. We'll now mo move to a a a
different milestone of sort, a
beginning. We are excited to welcome
councilwoman Anna Hernandez for her
first meeting on the dis and we'll
recognize her to say a few words.
Thank you, mayor. Um, thank you,
council. I'm super excited to join
everybody on this uh path forward in the
next four years. Uh my name is Anon
Hernandez for those of you watching at
home and now I'm proud uh repres city
council member for Phoenix District 7.
Um you know I'm so excited about the
work ahead. Um I'm you know looking
forward to working with our mayor with
the council to deliver really good
things for the residents of Phoenix. Um
also today happens to be my dad's
birthday. Um so wishing him a very happy
heavenly birthday. He's one of the
biggest reasons why I actually sit on
this on this dis now. So I'm looking I'm
committed to doing really really good
work um in his honor and in his
remembrance moving forward. So thank you
so
much. will now call to order the formal
meeting of the Phoenix City Council.
Will the clerk call the role?
Councilwoman Wardado here. Councilwoman
Hernandez here. Councilwoman Haj
Washington here. Councilwoman Pastor.
Councilman Robinson here. Councilwoman
Stark here. Councilman Wearing here.
Vice Mayor O'Brien here. Mayor Ggo here.
Mario Barahus is with us to provide
Spanish interpretation. Mario, would you
introduce your team? Yes, mayor. Thank
you. Good afternoon. My name is Mario
Vahas. I will I will be serving along
with Eliz as interpreters for today's
meeting. I'll take a moment now to
introduce ourselves to our Spanish
speaking audience.
Thank you,
mayor. Thank you. 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
G7381,
S51824 through 51863 and resolutions
22294 through
22298. I'll turn to the city attorney
now to explain 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 may lose the opportunity to
continue to speak.
Thank
you. Boards and commissions is next.
Vice Mayor, do we have a motion? Yes,
Mayor. I move to approve mayor and city
council boards and commissions
nominations. Second. We have a motion
and a second. All those in favor, please
say I. I. By a 70 vote, unanimously
confirmed. We'll now conduct a swearing
in ceremony.
Please raise your right hand. I state
your name.
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 and laws of the state
of Arizona and the Constitution and
that I will bear true faith and
allegiance to the same that I will bear
true faith 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 discharge the
duties discharge the duties of the
office of of the office of state your
board
Phoenix board design
according to the best of my ability
according to the best of my ability so
help me God congratulations
Congratulations to our commissioners.
All four are folks who have served the
city in many ways and we are excited to
have you continuing to serve and
bringing your great expertise to these
important
boards. We next go to the liquor license
portion of our agenda. We serve an
advisory role to the state of
Arizona. Vice Mayor, do we have a
motion?
I move to approve items two through 14
except for item 14. Second. We have a
motion and a second. Any comments? All
those in favor say I. I. Any opposed?
Passes unanimously. Item 14 is in
council district 3. I'll turn to
Councilwoman Stark. Thank you. and I
don't need a report, but I did hear from
several of my neighborhood leaders. So,
I would like to recommend disapproval of
this request based on neighborhood
protest. Also noting that the applicant
must resolve any pending city and of
Phoenix building and zoning requirements
and be in compliance with the city of
Phoenix code and ordinances. Second.
We have a motion and a second. Any
comments? Roll call.
Yes. Hernandez, yes. Hajj Washington,
yes. Pastor Robinson, yes. Stark, yes.
Wearing, yes. O'Brien, yes. GGO, yes.
Passes 8 Z.
Item 43 is next. Some good news for
Lavine. It's an intergovernment is Nope.
Oh, I'm sorry. Uh, city clerk, are we
ready for ordinances, resolutions, new
business planning, and zoning? Yes,
mayor. Vice Mayor.
I move to approve items 15 through 70
except the following items 44 and 48
noting that item 68 is withdrawn item 70
is continued to May 7th 2025 and
excluding the following additional item
for f virtual public comment item 43 and
can the clerk confirm if there are any
other items that should be excluded for
in-person public comment mayor and vice
mayor no other items to exclude Thank
you.
Second. Any comments? Roll call.
Yes. Ernnandez, yes. Hodgej Washington,
yes. Pastor, sorry. Robinson, yes.
Stark, yes. Wearing, yes. O'Brien, yes.
GGO, yes. Passes 8 Z. Item 43 is an
intergovernmental agreement with Lavine
School District for the joint use and
maintenance of a school park site. Do we
have a motion?
I move to approve item 43.
There's a motion and a second. We do
have a member of the public here to
speak. Michael Norton, the floor is
yours.
Mike Mr. Norton, floor is
yours. Um, we are unable to hear you.
You are unmuted. Michael
Norton. Okay. Um, uh, he is marked in
support of this
item. I will turn to Councilwoman Hodge
Washington who represents the area.
Thank you, mayor. I just wanted to say
I'm very excited to see this partnership
move forward with Lavine Elementary
School District. It helps bring a
muchneeded school and park space to a
growing part of our community. These
types of collaboration make sure that
families in district 8 continue to get
access to a new K through8 school while
also ensuring we keep space open for a
new future park. I think it's a great
example of how working together we can
meet both today's needs and what our
neighborhoods will need down the line.
So, it's my pleasure to support this
item.
Thank you. Roll call.
Yes. Ernnandez, yes. Haj Washington,
yes. Robinson, yes. Stark, yes. Wearing,
yes. O'Brien, yes.
Yes. Passes 80.
Item 44 is the issuance of multif
multifamily housing revenue bonds for
Emery Heights.
Uh, do we have a motion? I move to
approve item 44. Second. We have a
motion and a second. Uh, Councilwoman
Pastor did ask to that I share that she
is in support of this item. We will note
that Councilwoman Hutch Washington will
not be participating in this vote. Does
anyone have a comment before we vote?
All right. More investment in housing.
Roll call. Ward. Yes. Hernandez, yes.
Robinson, yes. Stark, yes. Wearing, yes.
O'Brien, yes. GGO, yes. Passes 70.
Item 48 is Nighthawk software licenses
contract. Do we have a motion? I move to
approve item 48. We have motion.
And a second from Councilwoman Stark.
Any
comments? Roll call. Was that a yes?
Okay. And we'll recognize any council
members who wish to explain their vote.
Yes. Hernandez. Mayor, may I explain my
vote? Please do. Thank you, Mayor. Um
uh I saw the request uh for Nighthawk
Software. I want to thank Chief Orandder
um and his team for meeting with the D7
office this morning uh to talk through
some of our concerns. Um I understand in
theory what this software does and how
it helps uh Phoenix police solve cases.
I also have a lot of questions around
the data collection and the protection
of constitutional rights in this moment.
Um access to our personal information
and it's an area that I take very
seriously. Um and given the current
administration, the current federal
administration
um and how data is being used to
undermine our constitutional rights in
real time is extremely concerning to me.
um still have some concerns and some
questions around the software, what it's
capable of, and how we are protecting
our people and their rights. Um so, as a
result of those concerns, I will be
airing on the side of caution for the
people in my community and their rights
and voting no. Um but I do look forward
to continuing the conversations with the
chief and his team to understand how
software like this can help us um
protect um our residents of Phoenix.
Thank you. I vote no. Haj Washington,
yes. Pastor, sorry. Robinson, yes.
Stark, yes. Wearing, yes. O'Brien, yes.
GGO, yes. Passes 71.
We next go to the public comment portion
of our meeting, and I'll turn to the
city attorney to explain that 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. Excuse me. The citizen comment
session is limited to 30 minutes. The
Arizona open meeting law permits the
city council to listen to the comments
that prohibits council members from
discussing or acting on the matters
presented. Thank you. We'll begin with
John Foresight followed by Steve
Brittle.
Good afternoon. I'm John Foresight. Want
to apologize. I said I'd be at the
council meeting last time and I missed
it for Well, life happens sometimes.
Last time I was here, I was talking
about civil rights. Human rights.
Inalienable rights. Inalienable means
rights that cannot be taken away. Civil
rights aren't black rights. They're not
American rights. They're human
rights. We have a human right, civil
right problem going on here in the city
of Phoenix, and no one wants to seem to
talk about it.
A month ago when I was at the meeting,
Wallace and Ladmo got more play than
civil rights. I came here today to talk
about Michael Kenyon. But I quickly want
to address a recent article about
Officer Timothy Clark. Now, like many
Americans, Officer Clark made a mistake
after a Dbacks game. He got a little too
excited and went on a drunken rampage.
He made a mistake, but he's in front of
the Arizona Review Board right now,
possibly to lose his certificate. I
don't believe a mistake deserves to be
losing your certificate to be law
enforcement. Now, Michael
Kenyon, he was an innocent man. Four
officers for four minutes held him on
the ground and an August afternoon
parking lot, burned the entire front of
his body, scarred him for life.
Passerby thought an injured animal was
screaming for help.
The passerby had more humanity than four
Phoenix police officers. That's just
unacceptable. Our service members are
held to a Geneva convention. These
Geneva conventions are stronger than
what it seems like we expect out of our
officers here in the city of
Phoenix. We don't want to talk about
this. And I understand
why. We live in a democracy, a republic
if you want me to be specific. We have
to talk about our issues. We can't hide
behind a
lawsuit. So, I'm going to talk about I'm
going to bring it to light. I want to
finish
with ex-chief Michael
Sullivan. Now, when he resigned, I
initially was excited. I said, "Okay, a
new direction for Phoenix." But what
endured after his resignation was chaos.
And chaos forms due to the lack of
leadership.
Michael Sullivan was interim police
chief for two and a half years during a
federal investigation for civil rights
violations. This council, city manager,
and the mayor, you couldn't make a
decision in two and a half years. I
mean, that's just unfair to Michael
Sullivan. Michael Sullivan's taking the
golden bullet for the city of Phoenix.
That's unjust. That's unfair. and in a
democracy. I'm coming forward and saying
the wrong people are being held
accountable in the city of Phoenix.
Thank
you. Steve Riddle is next, followed by
Jerry, Mayor and Council.
um appreciate the time here. I have not
been here for a long time. In my many
years here, I've seen some very strange
things happen at the city of Phoenix.
And one in particular that has me really
concerned is what has happened to our
public parks system. the only city in
the whole metro area where the city
council somehow gave up its abilities to
control the parks and a independent body
that is not answerable to the public has
been somehow created with a slush fund
with money that can't be accounted for.
and do you have a fudiciary duty over
our park system and I just don't
understand what possess the council to
allow this strange development when I I
do a lot of enforcement. I've done 95
federal enforcement cases. I won them
all in the environmental arena. But I
know a scam when it's being put together
and a slush fund and I've seen some
things. One of our previous uh lawsuits
was against the parks department. They
were busy trying to build a golf course
for Scottsdale Resort using our taxpayer
dollars. We stopped that from happening.
That was about 15 years ago. But these
disturbing incidences keep coming up and
I just wonder how did it happen that we
would get this strange animal that no
other city has and you have a parks
board that's not accountable to anybody
and they've been appointed and there's a
lot of things going wrong there. I think
it's time for a federal investigation to
see where the money's been going. Thank
you.
Jerry is next, followed by
Missy. Jerry Vanas, uh, since our parks
department and our parks board don't
seem willing to provide updates on the
South Mountain renovation project, which
started back in 2016 with the
appropriation of $23 million.
Uh here we are nine years later. Uh it's
upwards of $50 million has been spent at
South Mountain by the the parks
department own admission. Unfortunately,
they can't produce contracts for several
of these
projects. Uh there's
expenses, you know, over $7 million for
a mystery house that nobody can explain.
Uh it looks like a giant bait and switch
to the public. We're getting no answers.
Uh there's more. There's more to come.
We're looking into a new project that
doesn't seem to have been authorized.
They haven't produced a contract. They
haven't produced the environmental
permits that are
needed. Uh and we're getting people
coming on board left and right. We're
going to put together our own budget
accounting of where the money has gone.
And uh we've got a forensic CPA. We've
got three attorneys working on this. Uh
we're not going to let up because we're
getting no answers from the parks
department. Thank
you. Missy is next, followed by Lisa.
Hi, Mayor Hill Council. It was nice to
see everybody at the inaugural um
celebrations and I got to speak to
almost all of you there about what I'm
going to talk about tonight or today. Um
last week I or the week before I wasn't
at this meeting
and was the I had missed a meeting in
eight
months. Um I got probably about 10
messages through just um social media
and text message of why weren't you
there? What's going on? are you still
supporting the cats? What's happening?
And um it reminded me how important it
is for me to continue to be here and how
inspiring it is for other people. It
keeps them going. Um but I had a family
emergency and I wasn't able to be here.
So when those people were asking me why
weren't you here? I'm like I'm I'm
coming. I'm coming every two weeks. I'm
talking. But what is actually getting
done? Not much. I'm just talking and
getting annoyed and you guys are getting
annoyed.
So, I have requested I've already sent
the message into the mayor. I've
requested a proclamation for a feline
appreciation day. This might sound super
silly, but I believe that words can be
more important than money sometimes. And
for you to back a feline appreciation
day for the entire city where schools
can celebrate, schools can have be have
education, we can have um different
organizations be involved. That's huge.
And what what I want is there to be
awareness and education. And this can be
something that can actually do
something. It will bring other
businesses. It'll bring other
communities all together for the love of
the cats. Thank
you. Lisa is next, followed by
Elizabeth.
Hello, my name is Lisa Spragens and this
is my first time addressing the City
Council of
Phoenix, but it won't be my
last. I'm 64 years old and I moved to
Arizona in 2019 thinking I was easing my
way into retirement, but that didn't
quite happen. I still run my multif
family housing companies in New Jersey,
Michigan, and Kansas. But nearly two
years ago, something unexpected happened
that changed the direction of my
life. Around the time of the horrific
Chandler 55 animal abuse case, I
stumbled across an Instagram account
called Handover Rover. I started
following them and I was moved by a
story about Jerry, a dog who had been
shot in the spine and couldn't walk.
They were raising money to buy a water
treadmill to help him recover. So, I
made a sizable
donation. Not long after, I saw a post
of them feeding feral cats in their
neighborhood, and I decided to send some
cat food from their Amazon wish list.
But accidentally, it got shipped to my
house. And I had no connection to
Handover Rover except Instagram. But I
remember getting a nice thank you email
after my donation and it had a phone
number. I called and Coco answered and I
said, "Hi, it's Lisa Spragens." And I
heard her call out to someone, "It's
Lisa Spraggins." That kind of cracked me
up. And uh and I told her about the
mixup and she gave me an address in
Phoenix and uh to where I could drop off
the
food. When I got there, I was surprised
to see such a small house. And this was
where they were running their whole
nonprofit rescue operation.
And I couldn't get that image out of my
head after I left. And I kept asking
myself, how can I help these two women
and all the animals in their
care? I continued listening to their
lives on Instagram and uh I could tell
they were overwhelmed and yet they were
still so fiercely
committed. They spoke about a dream of
building a rescue ranch. In March of
2024, I texted after one of their live
videos asking to hear more about that
ranch, but I didn't get a response. So,
I started searching online for
properties, thinking that if maybe they
moved their operation north, maybe I
could volunteer and I could be of some
help. I sent the listings some listings
to them and said, "Is this the kind of
ranch that you're uh looking for? And
I'll call my real estate agent." In less
than a month, I'd purchased a property
that was the future home of the Handover
Ranch. I thought I was going to retire,
but instead, I became a benefactor for
animal rescues. And somehow, I think
I've been rescued, too. My life has new
purpose, and one that's been rewarding
as anything I've ever done. And the
greatest bonus, I think, is gaining a
family and a community of the most
dedicated human beings I've ever known.
If one person can make this kind of a
difference,
[Music]
feel free to finish your thought. If one
person can make this kind of a
difference with one small rescue with 40
animals, imagine what a city council
could do for the thousands of animals
still suffering in the Phoenix streets.
And maybe you could start by bless you
throwing support behind uh Arizona.
Thank you. Elizabeth Venibal is next
followed by Coco Garcia.
Hello. Uh can't miss a meeting. Um we
have uh some speakers today on sort of
more general issues.
Um uh I wanted to encourage you all
though to um consider ways that you can
um uh maybe expand pre-existing programs
that meet community needs while also
meeting the needs of people that
experience homelessness. There are a lot
of um resources that already exist
um that can meet some of the heat needs,
you know. Um, I like the idea that you
have of expanding the library hours. I
think that's actually a really really
um, positive idea because those
facilities already exist. You know,
there's less cost in um, you know,
expending those hours. Um, I think it's
also really important to consider the
role of um, for example, parks and other
services. you know, sometimes the
bathrooms aren't open. Um, and sometimes
there can be minimal costs to
accommodate um the needs of people on
the streets and then you don't have as
much, for example, sanitation concern,
you know. Um, I think that these often
times are services that benefit the
entire community, especially if they're
framed that way, if they're operated
that way, and so they can provide sort
of ancillary services
um, sort of without being as obvious,
right? And being more inclusive. So, I
know that's sort of like a random short
comment. I'm not even going to use my
time that much. Um, I've talked to you
guys a lot in the past like month or
two. So, um, but we have some some new
speakers from fun for empowerment and
and they'll have different
perspectives. So, thank you. Coco is
next, followed by Candace.
Hello. My name is Koko Garcia. I'm the
founder of Handover Rover, a small
rescue here in Phoenix, Arizona. uh to
piggyback what Lisa was speaking of uh
with with Bill
1658. Excuse me, I've got a a cold. Um
several months ago, we were here and we
came to you guys with a horrific
situation regarding a local rescue that
had been and continues currently to
abuse and neglect puppies, babies, in
some of the worst ways. And I'm not here
to go on about this rescue, even though
somebody should. um what they were doing
was unimaginable and a lot of those
animals were dying of illnesses that
could have been treated in their
care. Sorry, I lost my train of
thought. They they take in so many
animals that they they don't have enough
time or room to do anything but just
house these these puppies and they flip
them for a profit. And uh it's the
opposite of what a nonprofit stands for.
And that the kennels are stacked kennel
upon kennel with urine and feces
dripping from the top going down to the
bottom. I don't even want to talk about
it because it's that horrific. Um the
only reason I know this is this was
brought to our attention. We were asked
if we could step in and help. And at the
time I had one of my girls that had some
free time and this rescue was hiring.
And I said, "Do you want to go down and
see if they'll hire you? You don't have
to say who you are. Just get some
footage and let's see if these
accusations, you know, if this is real.
It was real and it was worse than what
we could have imagined. So, we
immediately went to Arizona Humane. They
got down there. They brought down the
police department. And unfortunately,
even though Arizona Humane said this,
this, and this is a citable offense, the
police department did not site anything.
And they went down a second time and
they still did not site anything. And
when I asked what was going on, Arizona
Humane said, you know, this they don't
see a lot of this. The the laws are
fairly gray and there's just not enough
education for the police department. Um,
and it's kind of a touchy subject. Where
SB1658 comes in is it clearly defines
some of those areas that are currently
very gray and it makes it very, very
effortless for our police department to
do their job. And then we're not running
around in this vicious circle of
pointing the finger who does what. Uh
1658 asks for drinkable water, not urine
and their water dish. It asks that their
housing be adequate that they can stand
up and move around without being
cramped. And it asks that they have food
fit for that species. So we're just here
today to ask you when that bill arises
if you guys would back that. And I'll
follow up with emails. It's bill 1658.
Thank you.
Thank you. Candace is next, followed by
Melvin.
Hi, my name is Candace Johnson. I'm
recently living on the streets for like
5 years. I take care of my husband in a
wheelchair. We constantly getting all
our stuff thrown away from the police
department and um anywhere we go and use
the restroom. I think I think we should
be able to have like some kind of
porties or something so we can be able
to use the restroom cuz it's kind of
hard taking care of him in a wheelchair,
you know. So,
um, and then if you guys can just hear
me out about housing, if you guys can
give us some kind of resources to where
we can go for some kind of housing so we
can get off the streets. Thank you.
Thank you. Is there someone who might be
able to follow up on on that one? Thank
you.
Melvin is next, followed by Sunday.
Could we take the microphone to him,
please?
My name is Melvin
Sterns and uh I want to talk about uh
parks. We me and my wife be so tired we
going to the park sit on the grass in
the shade be so hot they don't want
nobody sitting they don't want the
homeless sitting in the in the shade on
the grass or in or in the park can't
even use the
restrooms yeah pretty much
all right
thank you for The important testimony
Sunday will be next, followed by Teresa,
our final speaker.
Sunday, can you hear us? We cannot hear
you. Yes. All right. Now we can hear
you. Can you? Yep. The floor is yours
and now we can hear. Hi.
Hi. Thank you. My name is Sunday Jones.
I'm calling from Los Angeles,
California.
Um, on February the 7th, I drove here
from Los Angeles to the Maricopa County
Medical Examiner's Office to pick up my
deceased son and I drove him back across
state lines here in a pickup truck by
myself here to Los Angeles, California
for burial. That was February the 7th.
Um my son is um parked right down the
street from the funeral home where my
son is still there in the
refrigerator. On February the 1st um the
Maricopa County Sheriff, I believe
Sheriff's Department was called out to a
motel there in Phoenix where my son's
body had been discovered deceased. My
son had been discovered deceased. in a
motel room. And the problem that I have
is that
um when I did get the medical examiner's
report back here recently, it it you
know it was determined that my son
passed away from a fentanyl overdose.
I am um really struggling with the fact
that number one um when the police
responded or the sheriff's department
responded there was no investigation
surrounding my son's death.
Also, well, because of that,
um, there's been no one that's been held
accountable or that could possibly
through an
investigation be held accountable for my
son's death, meaning the perpetrator who
sold my son the fentanyl product that
cost his life. and more so uh my family
is bracing for any type of justice for
my son and for ourselves. We don't know
where that's going to come from because
there was no
investigation. Um there was no evidence
collected. There was evidence available
where he was found deceased. There was
his phone. There was lift records um
that we
have. Also, I don't have unfortunately I
don't have insurance for my son. I
didn't have burial insurance for him
because my son's death wasn't
investigated. He's not considered a a
victim of a crime and therefore we're
not entitled to victim of crimes
compensation w which would provide for
his funeral and burial. I I would like
to know why. Uh, very sorry for your
loss, Mrs. Jones. We will see if we can
get you an an update on this um and
where it is with the police
department or the joint sheriff.
Okay, that we will try to see if it is
with county or or city, but see if we
can't get you more information. Teresa
will be our final speaker.
Good afternoon, Mayor and Council. I
would like to make a comment on the
budget it. I have seen several items on
the budget that are postponing IT things
like software, application, training,
and equipment. As a past government
employee of IT, I have seen servers and
systems that get put off and put on the
back burner for financial because budget
needs to be cut somewhere in the agency.
It's sometimes about systems running
smooth to protect our data. And I ask
for you as you read through this that
you see it in a different light. The
world we live in now as we've seen
Maricopa County system get hacked for us
to just take a step back and
re-evaluate. Are we doing everything we
can to make sure we have all that we
need? Data is so important. Our
information is important out there. I
also would like to congratulate our
newly elected. As I watched your
inauguration
speeches and being sworn in, it was nice
to see the viewpoint overall that each
of you had for the city. And to those
who mothers could not be there, I had
such a heart because I'm fortunately I'm
part of that club as well. But I just
wanted you to know
that we are seeing who you are and are
very excited of what this next few years
is going to look like for us. I want to
end with thanking all of those in
emergency services from the
911 and the crisis centers to the police
and fire department, everything in
between. Sometimes they don't hear thank
you. But I want you to know each of
those people out there that you're
appreciated and thank you for choosing
to work in the city of Phoenix. I pray
for your strength and your protection. I
thank you for your time, council, and I
look forward to the new year, shall we
say, of getting through the summer um
protecting and hopefully preventing more
homeless deaths as there are more
resources out there. I just pray that
they can reach out and take advantage of
what is there. Thank you.
Thank you. We are
adjourned. Throwing out the first pitch
today is none other than Kell
Kendrick. Kel Kendrick. Let's give him a
round of applause.