Phoenix City Council Formal Meeting - January 15, 2025

e
happy New Year Welcome to our January
15th meeting we'll begin with an
invocation please welcome police
chaplain
feser you welcome to join me in prayer
almighty God Giver of Life renew our
hope in this new year through your great
mercies given new with each new morning
renew and restore our need to focus on
the priorities of this life that live
into eternity renew our strength and our
courage to live for something greater
than ourselves protect us in the
preservation of your purpose and may we
all be held accountable in our words and
our actions as we are covered in your
Amazing Grace may we strive for
excellence in the imperfection of Our
Lives bless those who bless you and
protect our protectors for we pray this
in your holy name
amen thank thank you chaplain vice mayor
will you lead us in the
pledge right there you
T thank you vice mayor thank you all and
welcome I'll Now call the me to order
will the clerk call the role giv
youcom here councilwoman Hajj Washington
here councilwoman O'Brien here
councilwoman
Pastor councilman Robinson here
councilman wearing vice mayor Stark here
mayor giko
here we'll now go to Spanish
interpretation and we welcome back an
old friend Mario baras would you
introduce yourself thank you
mayor good afternoon my name is Mario
vas glad to be
back we're going to be serving as
Spanish interpreters both uh Carmen Kota
and ELC zarte along with uh um myself
will be serving as the interpreters I'm
going to take a moment to introduce
ourselves to our Spanish speaking
audience now we want to start this
car
thank you mayor thank you Mario glad to
have 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 of
this council meeting and therefore may
be read by title or agenda item only
ordinances number G 7343 through 7349
s51 538 51541 51 564 through 51 597 and
resolutions 22271 through
22274 thank you so much 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 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 the person who violates
these rules will lose the opportunity to
continue to
speak thank you so much we'll now go to
agenda item one the meeting minutes
councilman Robinson do you have a motion
mayor thank you very much I move to
improve the formal approve the formal me
meeting formal meeting minutes from May
29th 2024 second have a motion and
second all those in favor please say I I
I any oppose nay passes you
unanimously vice mayor boards and
commissions yes mayor and I'm very
excited to make this motion because I
see my friend Jessica ftin is out there
it's a thrill to see you mayor I move to
approve mayor and city council boards
and commission nominations second motion
and a second all those in favor please
say I I any oppose
nay congratulations to our new
Commissioners we will now conduct a
swearing in ceremony
please raise your right hand I state
your name
Shar do solemnly swear you Solly swear
that I will support the Constitution of
the United States I will support the
contition of the United States and the
Constitution and laws of the State of
Arizona and the Constitution and laws of
the State of Arizona that I will bear
true faith 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 it will faithfully and
impartially and that it will faithfully
and impartially discharge the duties of
the office
of Phoenix commission
Phoenix according to the best of my
ability according to the best of my
ability so help me God so help me God
congratulations Commissioners thank you
for your service to the City of
Phoenix e
congratulations to our new Commissioners
we are wishing you a great opportunity
and these very important
roles the city council provides an
advisory role to the State of Arizona on
liquor license and will not go to that
portion of the agenda vice mayor do we
have a motion yes mayor I move to
approve items 3 through 17 except item
five and noting that item three was
originally submitted for disapproval but
the finance department is now Rec
recommending approval
second we have a motion and a second any
comments all those in favor please say I
I I any oppose nay passes unanimously
item five is in Council District 2 it is
Candy Store councilman wearing do you
have a motion uh I move a motion of no
recommendation second second we have a
motion in a second we not have any
speakers for this item roll
callind yes
yes Hodge Washington yes O'Brien yes
Robinson yes wearing yes Stark yes goo
yes passes 8 Z
wonderful city clerk are we ready for
ordinances resolutions new business
planning and zoning yes mayor wonderful
great meeting today including
306 units of housing entitled or
enabled vice
mayor yes thank you I move to approve
items 18 through 78 accept the following
items 30 46
63
77 and 78 noting that item 53 is being
withdrawn item 54 is being continued to
March 26 and can the clerk confirm if
there are any other items that should be
excluded for inperson public comment
mayor vice mayor no other items to
exclude
second motion and a second roll call
gind yes wado yes hod Washington yes
O'Brien yes Robinson yes wearing Stark
yes GGO yes pass is 8
Z next we go to item number 30 which is
an annual item for us the selection of
the vice mayor and I will turn to our
outgoing vice mayor for a motion thank
you mayor May and I probably should have
worn pink today um but I would like to
nominate councilwoman Ann
O'Brien thank you we have a motion I
will second that motion uh vice mayor
Stark you have done an incredible job
some people Bond through book clubs or
wine clubs or trying new restaurants but
I became friends with the vice mayor
through a more unusual interest flood
plane management yes
it's it's been a quite quite a year for
vice mayor Stark over the year she has
accomplished many of her top priorities
including making sure our seat streets
are
safer uh which has just been a real
passion of hers and we are lucky that
that has been one of the things she's
used this year for she has chaired our
tip subcommittee and has been focused on
ensuring the safety of both drivers and
pedestrians being at the Forefront of
trans Transportation policy when a group
of parents and neighbors approached the
vice mayor about road safety issues near
a local high school they expressed their
concerns and provided her with a hand
sketched site plan to add a safety
meeting in a hawk crosswalk that
handdrawn sight plan was installed near
Shadow Mountain High School soon after
thanks to the vice mayor's facilitating
of a funding partnership that included
Paradise Valley Unified School District
I am also grateful to the vice mayor for
sh uh chairing our strategic work group
on accessibility which is promoting
accessibility in every aspect of the
city's operations over the past six
months vice mayor Stark has been working
with Advocates and staff to create a
strategic framework promoting Community
awareness and participation regarding
accessibility issues as well as
providing recommendations to City
departments that Advance social physical
and digital embeddedness of
accessibility throughout the city uh
quite simply Deborah Stark is a problem
solver who is as comfortable sitting
around a constit a table constituents as
she is with Governors and Senators uh
it's that personal onetoone effort that
she puts in with her office also helped
her get overwhelmingly
reelected and uh really the willingness
to take on small or big
issues um but one story that I think
does sort of encapsulate her year as
vice mayor as vice mayor she had an
opportunity to do a Tarmac greeting with
the president of the United States but
she sent heret regrets because she was
meeting with the eats Sunny Slope
neighborhood monthly
meeting uh This Is Not Unusual for
Deborah Stark once she chaired a
city-wide campaign and she wasn't going
to go to the victory party because there
was a block watch meeting so that is
that is our deorah Stark uh here so
anyway she really demonstrated the level
of commitment that vice mayor uh that
demonstrates her level of commitment I
just want to congratulate you on what
you have
achieved thank you mayor I really do
appreciate it it's an honor I I will
tell you I am very very excited to step
down though because unfortunately I'm
having some family issues and so I think
the timing is appropriate I I have to
kind of redirect and make sure my mom
and dad are doing okay and so I'm very
excited and I know an will do a
wonderful job it is uh it really is a
thrill to be on the council especially
with all these great colleagues of mine
we really do important work um I think
what I value the most in being a council
person is what helping my constituents
and I hope that is my legacy that I'm
known for being on the ground helping
people in my district get their problems
solved so I appreciate you calling me a
problem solver thank you and thank you
to all my
colleagues thank you councilwoman
O'Brien um well my story is not as great
as the mayor's was I I do want to thank
um vice mayor she was a great mentor um
when I was running originally in 2020 as
well as once I got on Council and and I
am thrilled and hoped to know that I
consider her a friend now um but I
remember when mayor and I were talking
about a case in her district and the
mayor said to me that she is the hardest
working council member that she has ever
known and that was I couldn't agree more
so thank you for all you have done in
your district and for our
city councilwoman hun Washington thank
you mayor I also want to tell the vice
mayor thank you for all that she has
done she has been also like uh
councilwoman obrian said a mentor for me
I go down if I have a plan and and
Development question no offense to Jos
Josh but I normally run it by vice mayor
first before I um for suggestions before
I come to you to figure out if it's
actually feasible but I just want to say
thank you for all of the all that you've
done you show up you show us how to show
up sometimes as well um so thank you and
I know it's been a difficult couple of
months dealing with your family and
you've never allowed that to um pull you
away from your community service and I
see it and I know your community sees it
as well so thank
you councilman Robinson thank you mayor
and I I'll just say a couple quick
things about the vice mayor because it's
always been a pleasure working with her
and I'm glad she's still here for
another four years but she has led by
example and I've truly appreciated that
truly appreciate the opportunity to
learn from her and in my office they're
always teaching me different things to
say that are more contemporary these
days so I'll end with
[Music]
period I know what that
means councilman galinda AA I too want
to celebrate um the vice mayor I um I
very much um and grateful for her
straight talk her
even-handedness um and she is generously
compassionate with her constituents as
well as with uh fellow council members
uh I really appreciate your non-nonsense
approach and the thing that I think
distinguish you the most as the vice
mayor and as a council member is you're
an honest broker so thank you very much
councilman weing thank you uh you know
Deb and I have served together for a
long time and we share a border so we've
worked together a lot but I'm actually
old enough to have worked with her when
she actually worked for the City of
Phoenix uh as a planning director so
I've uh seen her in two facets of her
career and uh the mayor's comment about
hardest working public servant that is
definitely I think something that is uh
welld deserved uh by vice mayor Stark
and I always enjoy working with her and
and she's a lot of fun to be around
frankly and that just makes the days go
faster so I always appreciate her and uh
we've been together over eight years as
colleagues and I've enjoyed every minute
of it okay that's strong but most of the
minutes been
fantastic hey
you I mean you know you a good council
person to work for let me tell you as a
c planning
director she doesn't really mean it but
I appreciate that I appreciate you lying
like that in front of all these nice
people Dev thank
you thank you so much roll call
gind
yes mayor can I explain my vote yes
thank you so much um I just wanted to
share my thoughts regarding the
selection of vice mayor particularly as
it relates to the responsibilities of
stepping into your role in your absence
I firmly believe that the individual who
takes on this position should possess a
deep understanding of their limited
experiences and demonstrate a commitment
to carefully and responsibly considering
the rights and needs of everyone in our
city the vice mayor is not merely a
supporting role it is a city-wide
leadership position that requires
dedication to serving all communities
within our diverse population based on
my observations here on this Das and in
other settings I am concerned that my
colleague may not be adequately prepared
or fully committed to serving every part
of this city it is crucial for us to
Foster Unity as we move forward and I
fear that selecting someone who does not
embody most of those values could hinder
our progress and I will be voting no HJ
Washington yes
O'Brien yes Robinson yes wearing yes
Stark yes
goo yes passes 71 congratulations vice
mayor electo
ran vice mayor Stark will fulfill the do
role of vice mayor throughout this
meeting and then next week we will begin
uh the leadership period of vice mayor
O'Brien I'm apologize in advance because
it always takes me a few weeks to get
the names right but really appreciate
appreciate uh the great work that
Deborah Stark has been doing and excited
to welcome Ann O'Brien who has been a
great leader on many things from
Economic Development to Public Safety
and we're excited to see the year to
come all right uh next we will go to
item 46 and that is an item in District
Five I'll turn to councilwoman gado
thank you mayor I would like to make a
motion to approve item
46
second and with that I have some
comments please go ahead thank you this
park Improvement is an example of the
2023 28 Capital Improvement projects
that are going on across Phoenix in all
our respective districts I am delighted
to see that these projects are
continuously being worked on in our
communities and that LA paradera park is
undergoing the necessary improvements to
to make the park a fun accessible and
safe space for the community the
community has longed for these
improvements and I am excited to see the
activation in the park as a result of
these much needed changes I appreciate
the continued partnership and support
from our involved departments and
partners I would like to thank Deputy
city manager John Chun and Inger Ericson
the Parks and Recreation Department the
streets transportation department the
city engineer
SRP and of course our Blog watch West
Plaza thank you guys all so much for all
of your hard work and looking forward to
all of these
improvements thank you so much any
additional comments roll
call yes wado yes HUD Washington yes
O'Brien yes Robinson yes wearing yes
Stark yes goo yes passes 8 Z we next go
to to item 63 Phoenix sidewalk shade
structures arpa design bid
and build
services do we have a motion I move to
approve item 63 second we have a motion
in a second I'll turn to council gado
for comments thank you mayor is Al hula
here coming down thank you
thank you so much for coming down so I
just had a a couple of questions um
given um that you never made your way to
the 11th floor to do at least not a
briefing with me um can you just tell me
how these locations were picked
thank you councilman gado mayor and
council members yes absolutely be happy
to share with that as a reminder for the
council this initiative is funded by the
American Rescue plan act so when we're
thinking about eligible locations for
shade structures we're starting with
only a portion of the city that meets
the eligibility requirements for that
program that narrows us down to
approximately 25% of the footprint of
the whole city from there we looked at a
range of data sources based on public
input that the heat off office has
received over many years and the city
has received for many years even prior
to the creation of the heat office about
where shade is needed we looked for data
sources to help us prioritize Street
segments that meet those public
recommended variables and we looked at
four in particular for this project we
looked at where there are pedestrians
and bicyclists on our public streets we
looked for neighborhoods where there's
lower use of private Vehicles we looked
for Street segments that have low tree
canopy cover uh and we looked for places
that have a higher incidence of heat
related public health issues in the
community that allowed us to give a
score of sorts to each Street segment in
the eligible areas from there the
question was where does the city have
land where we can feasibly build a shade
structure we uh conducted that
assessment not only with our colleagues
in Street Transportation but with a
professional engineering and design firm
that led to the list that you see today
and is there a reason why we didn't see
this list before this meeting
uh councilwoman and mayor thank you for
the question uh there was a list of
candidate sites that was circulated uh
with with your staff and others last
summer there was also a public meeting
where candidate locations were discussed
uh it was in uh through the public
meeting process that we wound up
changing some of the plan uh for this
this program so it's been uh certainly
been informed by public input um however
I I hear you and appreciate that our
communication with your office did not
meet your expectation and I apologize
for that uh we have looked at our
process for this project and as we move
toward future projects like this one we
are prepared to engage with you and the
rest of the council and the public
earlier and more often right because
from what I understood from my staff is
that the meeting that was had over a
year ago was about the project happening
um there was no meeting held once you
decided where where the what the
locations were that were selected right
and it's just crazy to me how is it
possible that District
Five you know being one of the hottest
districts only gets one out of 19 or 17
that you selected District 5 only got
one and I doubted that that location
that you
selected you know was one that the
neighbors were going to say yes we would
like to see it on this corner where you
have very little bicyclists in that area
where you have very little people um
walking in that area because we don't
have enough trees and we don't I mean
it's something that we're working on I
appreciate the work that we've done with
your office in terms of the tree
planting that we have been doing but the
area that we selected is not in my
opinion the correct area I find that
disrespectful that you wouldn't have you
know picked up the phone and called me
and said Hey listen you know I know that
your district is one of the hottest
districts but you're only getting one
like I think that would have been highly
appreciated if you would have done that
and I think you know I've been one of
the biggest cheerleaders for this
department since day one when we first
were allocating the ARA money um to
creating these departments and making
sure that you had the money um to be
able to do this um so I would appreciate
and I know that I'm not the only one
that didn't get a briefing in terms of
where these um locations were going
right so and it's not the first time
that you and I have this type of
interaction where you make decisions
throughout the city without letting the
rest of the council know and I just hope
that that you learn this and that moving
forward you know you take us into
consideration because yes you might know
the numbers but we know the districts
and I would appreciate that if moving
forward um you would talk to us or at
least talk to me I don't know how the
rest of my colleagues feel
but at least for me it would be
incredibly important that you come and
you talk to me cuz I know that my
district really needs it and the fact
that we're only getting one I I I I
think it's a bit disrespectful I know
we're sharing another one with somebody
else but you know the fact that the west
side is only getting three
locations uh you know given that it's
the hottest part of the city um just
seems to me that it was lack of
communication at least with me and other
counil numbers do you have renderings
because I haven't even seen the
renderings uh councilman thank you for
the comments and questions and again uh
we we do appreciate your passion for
this topic and we do want to work with
you and and tap into your your wisdom
and that's why I was motivated to review
our process and look for more
opportunities yes there are renderings
they were shared at the public meeting
uh last July and we'd be happy to
schedule time to go over uh review the
whole process for this project with you
and think about an improved process for
the next one great thank you thank thank
you mayor thank you roll call I'm sorry
councilwoman ha Washington thank you
mayor um I wanted to piggyback on a few
comments because I also believe that
it's important that the community that
had when there were when the selection
sites were made we should have made an
additional effort to go back out to that
community and let them know this is a
site that we have you are proposing and
get some more feedback on that um I
don't want to pile on but I do believe
it's an important um component in
ensuring that that the I would speak for
myself that my office also be properly
briefed on this I don't want it to and I
don't want it to seem like only select
council members need to get this
information I think it's a broader um
conversation or communication is that we
would like to be a little bit more
informed when it comes to these projects
um so that we are not having these
uncomfortable conversations for you at
from the day um we are just trying to
represent our community the best way I
too have been asked what do the designs
look like and I had to candidly say I'm
not sure what the finalized design
looked like so help us be better
represent rep representatives and have
more information um so that's my
commentary as I too would like to make
sure that this information is shared
with um with my
office thank you roll
call yes wal yes hudge Washington yes
O'Brien yes Robinson yes wearing Stark
yes Gayo yes passes 80 item 77 and 78
are related items so we will have one
public hearing but two votes they are
the southwest corner of 69th Avenue and
Thomas Road we'll open the public
hearing we do have on behalf of the
applicant Ben Tate here does anyone have
questions for Mr
Tate we'll close the public hearing and
turn to councilman Glen
over item 77 first thank you mayor I
move to approve per the Planning
Commission recommendation and adopt the
related resolution
second any
comments roll
call yes wado yes Hodge Washington yes
O'Brien yes Robinson yes wearen yes
Stark yeso yes passes 8
Z Item 78
councilman
ginda thank you mayor I move to approve
for the Planning Commission
recommendation and adopt the related
ordinance
second comments roll call
[Laughter]
yes thank you councilman G I'm very
eager for the people of District someone
loves housing
yeah what about yes hod Wasington
yes O'Brien yes Robinson yes wearing yes
Stark yes GGO yes passes 8
Zer the councilman just makes everything
a little bit more
fun uh we'll turn to the final portion
of our meeting which is public comments
will the City attorney introduce this
item at the moment we have two
commenters yes thank you mayor during
citizen comment members of the public
may speak to 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 we'll begin with Missy puit
followed by Ann
Ender hi mayor hi councel U my name is
Missy puit if I've already introduced
myself last year at many meetings I am
with she's all cat is my nonprofit I am
the founder of Arizona's first Cat Cafe
and I'm a cat
Advocate um this year actually 2024 I
was lucky enough to be
um given the uh title of great 48 in
Phoenix Magazine with that comes a
really responsibility to continue my
fight for cat
advocacy I think that that is my choice
to do that but it's your
job
yesterday um in my neighborhood I live
in Garfield neighborhood somebody posted
on um one of the platforms that um they
had seen someone strangling a cat and
then they found it dead in the um
Alleyway so we went over there
immediately called the police and in
fact the cat was strangled to death with
a um computer cord hit on the head or
hit on the jaw broke its jaw with a pipe
from the bathroom the police came pretty
quickly actually
and one of the police officers didn't
know he said to me I have this on video
he did not know if this was a
crime I literally shudder when I hear
that it's a
felony the police officers don't know
they don't know what to do in these
cases of animal welfare and they need to
be taught I will come to every single
Precinct and teach them um 77% of
Arizona families have
pets a large percentage of these
families don't have the means or don't
have the education to know what to do to
take care of their cats pets
properly Phoenix is considered a pet a
pet the best pet City for families
because we have restaurants that are pet
friendly and dog friendly but we have
over 500,000 cats living on the streets
homeless
last year I came to over six Council
meetings and talked about cat advocacy
and I scheduled a meeting on November
well I requested a meeting on November
6th with the mayor it is now
January 14 15th and I haven't gotten a
response yet I think this is an
emergency and something that people need
to take seriously I'm not just a crazy
cat lady this is our streets and another
breathing animal that's just like you
and me and I will continue to come to
every single meeting and I will continue
to make noise until something's done and
it's just me and there's not any other
people today here in the cat world but I
guarantee you next week if I put a post
up and if I rallied my troops this place
would be full it would be full out the
door and I will make that happen if I
have to thank
you thank you Ann
Ender mayor vice mayor O'Brien and
council members um happy New Year and
and I'm still president of operation
Blue Ribbon but I'm here as a citizen
I'm sure many of you here um are
heartbroken about what's happening in
Los Angeles I am
um I'm really concerned so anyway what I
was thinking and I did have a quick
conversation with councilman Robinson I
was just wondering if there's any way
you could direct us or possibly present
what our Disaster Recovery plan looks
like I know that our topography we
probably we don't maybe have some of the
uh similarities to Los Angeles but we
sure are dry so um if that's something
that we could take a look at in the
future um that would be great so thank
you very
much thank you so much that is our final
public comment we are adjourned
many years trying to get this to to be
able to be opened back up so it's a huge
win