City of Chandler Council Meeting 4.24.25

Three.
Foreign speech. Foreign speech.
All
right.
Good evening and welcome to the April
24th regular meeting of the Chandler
City Council. It's good to see this room
full of students and we will be uh
mentioning you and honoring you and
inviting you up for photos with council
at the at the end of our meeting. So,
let's get this started. I'd like to call
this meeting to order. Clerk, please
take the role. Mayor Hartkey, present.
Vice Mayor Ellis here. Council member
Encus here. Council member Poston here.
Council member Orlando present. Council
member Harris here. Council member
Hawkins here. We have a quorum. Great.
Thank you. Our invocation tonight will
be brought forth by Reverend Jimmy
Thomas from the International Assembly
of God Church in Chandler and our pledge
of allegiance by Council Member
Poston. Greetings. According to 2024
annual report, uh Chandler is one of the
largest city in Arizona, experiencing a
remarkable growth nearly 70% over the
last 25 years. A true testament to
growth, innovation, and resilience of
the people of Chandler. Chandler has now
become an economic, political, and a
population center for the greater
Phoenix area. At this point, I thank and
praise God for the vision that he gives
us. To the leaders, I thank and praise
God for our honorable mayor, Kevin
Hutkkey, and the council members as they
seek divine wisdom, understanding, and
guidance that is needed to care, serve,
and govern this great community, knowing
very well that the Lord alone gives
divine wisdom as we learn from the word
of God. Amy Carmichael once prayed to
God like this, saying, "Strength of my
heart I need not fail, not mind to fear,
but to obey. With such a leader, who
should I quail? Thou art, oh Lord, as
thou art yesterday. Strength of my heart
I rest in thee. Fulfill thy purpose
through me." We pray Lord as every
decisions are made are taken. Oh, it has
be anointed by the Holy Spirit. God, we
pray that you continue to direct our
esteemed leaders to make this city a
beacon of hope and light in the coming
months, years, and decades. Men and
women of old have looked to you, Lord,
and you have given them victory.
Similarly, Lord, I pray that you lead us
in your steadfast love, mercy, and
grace. Today, we pray. Oh Lord, guide us
as we pray today to lead this men and
women who have gathered in your presence
with your righteous right hand. Oh good
shepherd, we pray that you grant your
children the grace that they shepherd
our great city. Protect every citizen
from every evil. May we all experience
the prosperity, wealth, joy, and peace
in this city of Chandler. In Jesus, my
savior's name I pray. Amen. Amen.
Thank you, pastor. Please join me in the
pledge of allegiance. I pledge algiance
to the flag of the United States of
America and to the republic for which it
stands. One nation under God,
indivisible, with liberty and justice
for all. Thank you.
Thank you, pastor. Thank you, council
member. Council, before we uh uh bring
forth the consent agenda, as we have now
that tradition of doing, I invite any
border commission members in the
audience to stand and be recognized that
those who we're voting on tonight. Do we
have any border commission commissioners
uh applicants
here? All right, stand up. Barbara,
stand up. All right.
[Applause]
Okay. All right. You got to tell us who
you are. So, I know who you are, but let
council know.
Okay.
Museum.
Great. Well, thank you both.
[Applause]
And council, is there uh unless there is
an item that you want for reading or to
bring to uh uh action, uh our consent
agenda is in front of us. Uh what would
be your preference, Mayor? Council
member Harris, propose a motion to
approve the consent agenda of April 24,
2025, regular meeting items 1 through
25. Second. We have a motion by Council
Member Harris, second by Council Member
Poston. Any recusals? Seeing none,
council, please vote.
Motion carries unanimously. Okay. Thank
you.
Um sir, you're in the right place. Trust
us now. And thank you for your patience
and coming
back. Uh clerk, do we have any uh
unscheduled public appearances tonight?
U Mayor Hart, no, I've not received any
cards. Okay. Next on our agenda is
current events of which most of you are
here for that. I'll start. Um last
Wednesday we had the opportunity to
recognize our
worldclass board and commission members
of which two are here for their time,
their dedication and service to our
city. I do want to commend our staff
both fifth floor and the clerk's office.
This was a great morning for connection
and conversation. Uh what we emphasized
last week really bears witness and
repeating. Our board and commission
members provide invaluable time talent
to our city and we are so grateful for
your contributions. It it means a lot to
have quality people with their expertise
who love our city and want to make it
better. So, we're grateful to our boards
and comm board and commission folks.
Secondly, um just would like to re uh
let everybody know this Saturday our
community is having an opportunity to
come together and honor the memory of
Pastor Victor Hardy. Pastor Hardy served
at the congregational church at at Fry
and Cooper for many years. before then
he he uh and still he volunteered at
Willis where I see the principal here at
Chandler High. He was a fixture at our
council meeting sitting in the back over
there was kind of the quiet guy in the
back of the room praying and just
wanting to be present. So this Saturday
at 4 pm we're having uh a get together
for him. Uh, Compass Christian Church is
graciously opening their doors for a
community celebration of the life and
legacy of Pastor Victor. His faith, his
love, his service on the Chandler
community will continue to be
remembered. And I want to invite each
and every one of you here and those
watching. And thirdly, and lastly for
me, we have our our
YAS recognition. This stands for young
artist and authors showcase. It's an
annual art contest that encourages youth
worldwide to express the mission of
sister cities international through
original artwork, literature, poetry,
photography, and music. The 2025 YAS YAS
theme highlights the power of
friendships to foster understanding,
collaboration, and peace across borders.
The showcase provides a unique platform
to explore how global friendships can
drive positive change and bridge
cultural divides. And by participating
in this inspiring competition, young
creators had the opportunity to share
their vision of a peaceful world and
contributions to and contribute to
international dialogue about the
importance of building friendships
across the nations. So tonight, 15
Chandler students are recognized for
their excellence in responding to the
2025 theme. We also have invited the 24,
2024, and
2023 YAS winners in attendance as well.
And we want to recognize you all some
again but those from this year for your
first time for your excellence in
responding to the 2024 theme climate
scape resilient cities for tomorrow's
climate and 2023 theme peace
pac by peace piece ce food security in
the community. So, if any of our
students are here, would you please
[Applause]
stand and after we adjourn this council
session, we want to invite you to come
forward to have photos with council. And
we are want to thank you for coming
tonight out of your busy lives. And
thank you for your participation. and
allowing us to celebrate your
contributions and you council member.
No announcements for me, mayor. Council
member Poston, just one tonight. Mayor,
a little um earlier last week, I had a
group of residents. I met with a group
of residents who had some concerns about
some city issues. And I just wanted to
thank John Kudson publicly for one
attending the meeting with me. But what
happened at that meeting was hearing
from these residents. There are several
organizations involved and it you could
feel their frustration as they had been
some sent in circles from place to place
to place to place and John came with
answers and ideas and ways to actually
solve the problem. And we don't know
what the final solution will be but they
were so incredibly grateful and I know
that's what we expect of our staff but
when we see it we should call it out and
appreciate it. And I'm sure you hear the
negative often enough, but I did want to
thank him for his participation and the
willingness to actually come up with
some ideas, take some responsibility,
you know, maybe on behalf of the city,
if it is on behalf of the city, and help
these residents finally get some answers
that they have been working on for
probably years now. So, just wanted to
say thank you to him tonight.
Thank you, Vice Mayor. Nothing for me
tonight, mayor. All
right, Council Member Orlando. Thank
you, mayor. Have a couple of veterans uh
uh activities happening over the next
week and week, week and a half. Um this
Saturday, uh the freedom hope future
happening at the city hall courtyard is
right out here. The event will honor the
Vietnam veterans as well as celebrate
the vibrant Vietn Vietnamese culture
that has flourished here in Chandler.
The rationalization for this is the 50th
anniversary of the fall of Saigon. And
this is the opportunity for us to
recognize those men and women that
served during that conflict as well as
the Vietnamese community that escaped a
authoritarian communist regime to make a
new life here in America. Um, we'll be
honoring the veterans as well as the
Vietnamese performances. There'll be
casine, uh, food, craft, and activities
for all ages. And it's a really a come
together for the the folks in this area.
It was uh started by the Vietnamese
community and the city of Chandler. I
want to thank uh Corey and the team for
helping put this together. So, we'll see
you Saturday at that event. And then
this is the third year I believe mayor
the military bounce ceremony. Uh we took
on the we uh it'll be honoring over 100
men and women young men and women that
have decided to serve in the US military
after high school and it's a graduation
we call military bound ceremony. Uh I
participated in two of them and I plan
on being there again mayor along with
you. Uh we give them a challenge coin
and we have some uh good um u dos and
don'ts as they join their enlistment. So
uh it'll be it's always an expiring at
least for me an expiring uh affairs. Our
military veterans affairs commission
going back to what the mayor said
earlier we are engaged our boards and
commission uh they did a great job in
putting this together. Hope to see you
there on Oh, what is the date of that?
Missed it here. That's next Tuesday.
Wednesday. Wednesday. Next Wednesday.
That's right. Yep. Thank you. No, it's
right there. Wednesday, April 20th.
Thank you,
staff, council member Harris. All right.
Thank you. So, Senate Park movie series
is back. um come to I don't know if you
guys been to the movies in the park, but
we're having this amazing amazing um
kickoff event at the Tawe Park on May
2nd. So, we want you to bring your
blankets, chairs, and some snacks. I
like popcorn, butter with extra butter
in it. Um that's for you and your
family, not for me to enjoy. I'm just
saying. Uh but bring your blankets, your
chairs, and your snacks. It's it's free
for everyone to kind of come. Um there's
going to be a free movie theme
activities um prior to each show. So
it's going to be starting at 6:30 p.m.
and uh the movie begins at 8:00 PM. So
the 6:30 is like the pre-ceelebration
and then 8:00 is the movie. So come on
out. And this series is going to run May
2nd, May 9th, and May 16th. And I just
love that we're going to be able to
bring our families together for this um
great summer fun activity for residents
of all ages. Next is the Golden
Neighbors
birthday. So much exciting news. Next
month they turn four years old. To
celebrate the programs the fourth year
of serving our Golden residents, we will
be holding a birthday celebration in the
city hall courtyard on Thursday, May 8th
from 9:30 to 11:00 a.m. Our Golden
community is encouraged to come and join
the celebration to meet staff with
multiple city departments to learn more
about services provided, resources
available. So, anyone can come. So,
please come out. And my last
announcement that I have, um I don't
know uh if many of the community
members, this may come to a shock to
some of the community members that may
be here uh today, but um I was um faced
with some adversity and um my wife was
brutally attacked um not long ago. Um,
but I'm very thankful um that the police
responded and they apprehended the
person that did this. And not only that,
the community neighbors was involved to
help fight off the
attacker. Um,
but but I'm very thankful to our police
department for their outstanding
response. It was very quick and it
demonstrated true spirit of solidarity
and support.
um for for
for me and my family and their bravery
not only helped to protect my family in
that moment but has also restored my
faith and goodness of the people of
Chandler
um especially after the challenges we
faced um in this last election season.
But today, um, I can tell you that the
suspect was, um, found guilty today. Um,
and we're going to continue to take
significant steps forward in this
journey together of healing. And, um,
this conviction serves as a reminder
that justice can prevail, reaffirming
our core values of love that binds
Chandler together.
And uh while we may not know all the
details about the attacker, my wife and
I have chose um
forgiveness, understanding that healing
begins within the hearts. And so um
let's continue to uplift one another and
fostering a community where compassion
um and courage can thrive together
because really we are just simply uh
stronger together. And I just want to
thank um everyone that was a part of
that process. I have been going through
this for quite a while and I don't share
everything in my community. My
colleagues may be shocked to hear this
news and many of those that's out there.
But I want to thank I had great
conversation with the chief and and
others that was involved in my private
matter, but I wanted to make sure that
it went through okay and that justice
was blind and that we were able to see
it from the beginning all the way to the
end. And I was very pleased with the
work that was done regarding um this
matter. And so my wife, she has to heal
and and I'm going to be doing some
healing, too. So, don't be surprised if
you don't see me everywhere because it's
been very difficult weeks dealing with
this privately. Um, but we're here now
and uh we're still standing. We're still
doing the work that needs to be done for
the community, but I do need time for
myself and for my family to recover and
get through that process. Um, and again,
I just ask the community members, this
is not about the attacker. This is about
this is so much more about forgiveness
and moving forward as a community. And
I'm very grateful to the residents that
that seen the attack happening that they
got involved and stopped the person from
attacking as much. And so I'm very
thankful to God for that. And so to the
residents and to our police department
that was involved that came out there to
do what they need to do and arrested the
the response time was absolutely amazing
and they arrested the person. Um and um
I'm glad today that it came to a resolve
with a guilty uh with a guilty verdict
and I'm very thankful um today. So again
um keep me and my family in your
prayers. You never know what we're
dealing with behind this desk. We only
people only see us here but we also have
personal lives that we're dealing with
every single day. And that was something
I was personally going through and
struggling with and I and you know we're
where we are now and now I can really
move forward and heal. So, thank you so
much. Thank
you, Council Member Hawkins.
Thank you, Mayor. I have no
announcements tonight. Okay, city
manager. Nothing tonight, Mayor. Thank
you. All right, with that, that will
conclude our meeting. And again, I
invite all of our art students to come
on forward for
photos. Thank you.