City of Chandler Council Meeting 11/9/23

[Music]
[Music]
yeah
I
hey I'm okay my DA's my daughter's
got
ISU I don't anate anything
[Music]
crazy
[Music]
Heaven out on
the
[Music]
[Music]
roll I
[Music]
knew good evening and welcome to the
regular Chandler city council meeting of
November 9th
2023 thank you all for joining us I'd
like to call our or open our meeting
call it to order clerk please take the
role mayor Harkey pres vice mayor
Orlando here council member enenas pres
council member Ellis pres council member
Stewart here council member haris here
council member Poston here we have a
quorum thank you city clerk our
invitation will be brought forth tonight
by Reverend uh Roy cherin is Reverend
cherin here oh there you are sir welcome
and our Pledge of Allegiance by council
member
Stewart in the Book of Proverbs says by
the blessing of the upright the city is
exalted I bless our honorable mayor
Kevin hkey the vice mayor and all the C
council
members I pray for the chief of police
the fire chief and all the men and women
in
uniform who protected this great city of
chel we bless our schools community
colleges and universities and
students I pray that the citizens of the
city of CH will live in unity Harmony in
respecting and valuing each other may I
pray that
new job markets will be open for the
city so that our citizens will flourish
also I humbly pray for
peace to be restored in the Middle East
soon I pray for this council meeting
tonight and all the decisions that they
make will glorify the Living God lastly
I pray that as we celebrate Thanksgiving
in the next couple of weeks
let
us help us uh to Have a Heart of
Thanksgiving and gratitude to the
provider protector and The Peacemaker we
are grateful oh my Lord I pray all this
in the matous name of My Savior Jesus
Christ amen amen amen thank you for that
peaceful message Pastor please join me
in reciting the Pledge of Allegiance IED
alance to the flag of the UN unit States
of America and to the for it stands one
nation indivisible libery and justice
for
all thank you Pastor thank you council
member Council next on our agenda is our
consent agenda on Monday we had robust
conversations about a few of these items
I don't see any speaker cards related to
our consent
agenda uh unless someone would like to
pull any of these to action uh a motion
would be in order mayor council member
Harris yes I would like to move to
approve the consent agenda on November
the 9th regular meeting items 1 through
37 I second we have a motion by council
member Harris second by council member
Ellis any recusals seeing none Council
please vote
vice mayor Orlando yes motion carries
unanimously thank
you uh we have one action item which is
uh I asked it to be on the action from
consent on Monday which is the
introduction tentative adoption of
ordinance number
4992 to amend chapter 14 of city code of
animals so could we first have a a
presentation that would be you City
attorney
yes mayor it would be thankk
you just a second
here so mayor we are here to talk about
um some proposed updates to chapter 14
particularly as they relate to animal
cruelty neglect and the process for
seizing animals that have been subjected
to abuse and neglect and I just want to
remind the council we're here to talk
about amendments to our city code not
about particular cases that is not on
the agenda for discussion so it would be
a violation of the open meeting law and
plus this is not the appropriate forum
for that so we're here just to talk
about the amendments to the city
code and to give the council a history
of the timeline these changes began a
few years several years ago we started
talking with the police department and
law about how to improve improve um our
code to provide more clarity as to what
constitutes uh animal abuse uh what
constitutes um illegal hoarding of
animals what constitute what process we
should use if animals are going to be
taken from their owners and and those
discussions began a number of years ago
um in May of 2022 there was a hearing
and during that time we realized that
rather than use the state process for a
seizure hearing we probably should have
our own processes here for the uh city
of Chandler and the court so the court
was also very involved in many of these
changes you're uh considering tonight um
so in February 2023 we added more
revisions as we learned more um and
defined which offenses um would
constitute enough for police officers to
seize and impound animals that were
subjected to cruel or neglectful um
care so we continued to circulate those
um revisions and fine-tune and in August
of this year we provided that draft
ordinance to City manager's office for
an in an initial
review so as far as Outreach obviously
there are a number of interested
organizations and staff did send out the
proposed changes to a number of
organizations um some of which provided
comments some of those comments were
Incorporated where appropriate also the
ordinance was posted on the city website
for public comment and we the city did
receive a number of comments those were
reviewed and again where appropriate
comments were uh they'd already been
incorporated into the draft or were
incorporated into the
draft we did have a subcommittee meeting
as well and that was in September
was it September October I apologize
September and and we did U present this
to a subcommittee and got direction from
the subcommittee those directions were
also incorporated into the draft so the
reason we wanted to consider changes is
really um chapter 14 does have outdated
language it was originally adopted back
in the
1970s um has not been updated a lot um
except for very specific small changes
and it didn't provide a broad enough
definition of animal cruelty um it did
not adequately address the issue of
animal Seas for safekeeping purposes in
non- cruelty cases um where we may find
a dog abandoned or running the streets
um it does not provide adequate
regulations relating to the hoarding of
animals in unsafe or unsanitary
conditions so this Draft before you
today provides Direction on what is
unlawful in those circumstances and
again the post-seizure hearings were
based on state law which really did not
conform to our current uh Municipal
Court practices so we put a process in
place that the court is more comfortable
following in the CA in the um event we
sees animals and we have a hearing um
with the property or the animal owner to
determine if those animals need to be
taken permanently or return turn to the
owner and we think this adequately
addresses that process now
so what is the city's role when an
animal is seized well first of all
police officer um will provide notice to
the owner of the the seizure uh we work
closely with a contracted partner the
Humane Society who provides
Transportation housing and care for the
animals as well as um provides help for
us to determine is this a healthy animal
is it being provided appropriate care
and those sort of things the officer
then files proof of service with the
court and then the owner of the animal
has the right to contest the seizure
through a hearing process in the
Chandler Minal court if they they so
choose to do so but what is important to
note about these cases is the police
department is obligated to comply with
the Constitution and with the laws of
the State of Arizona so what that means
is we the police department has to
establish probable cause um that goes
through an investigation there is no
right to go on to people's property
unless we have a warrant or exent
circumstances justifying that type of
response um this the draft before you
tonight does not change any of that
those processes still have to be uh
followed by the police department again
there's an investigation probable cause
a warrant issued by a court and then at
that time that gives the officer maybe
the right to on the property and
evaluate the situation and determine if
removal of the animals is appropriate
and necessary for their
safety um and obviously an owner can
always consent to search um a lot of
times we will talk to an or police will
talk to an owner to say hey we've heard
some complaints can we come in the owner
has the right to say no and the owner
has the right to say Yes And depending
on the circumstances that may um help us
find more probable cause or may show us
that there really is not a case that to
be concerned
about
so okay under this um we have potential
charges for different forms of abuse
common cases of animal cruelty um are
designated class one misdemeanors which
is a crime that is prosecuted in our
city court it is a crime that's
punishable by up to six months in jail a
$2500 fine and three years probation
um more serious cases of animal
neglecting cruelty can rise to the level
of class six or class 5 felonies those
are defined by the Arizona state laws uh
we on the local level do not get to
Define felonies that is a purview of our
state legislature and those cases are
prosecuted by the Maricopa County
Attorney's Office through the the
superior
court so as part of our due diligence in
working on these revisions we did review
other cities codes um there we found two
codes that have dedicated Animal
Hoarding gr ordinances and both of them
set a minimum thres threshold excuse me
of 10 or more animals and that's Mirana
and Phoenix other cities have similar uh
regulations regulating how animals
should be kept in safe and sanitary
conditions but they don't go to number
of animals and that's Goodyear poran
Flagstaff and then um we looked at other
codes regarding seizure of animals in um
cases associated with hoarding and
looked at those provisions and that
would be Gilbert glendell surprise tempy
and Tucson so the code revisions before
you tonight do Define what hoarding is
considered if somebody violates law by
hoarding animals it is not based on a
number of animals it's based on
circumstances do is there adequate room
for the animal to move around to to be
able to um have adequate food adequate
shelter water all of those things those
are many factors that will be taken into
account if we investigate a case of
Animal Hoarding but it won't be based on
a
number so again the changes more clearly
Define animal cruelty to include
specific situations like selling to
provide medical attention necessary to
prevent unreasonable suffering um and
and that medical attention extends to
medical treatment medical devices that
are necessary for the animals uh that
was a concern raised at the subcommittee
and we broaden that ex that definition
um intentionally leaving an animal un
unattended in a motor vehicle allowing
any an animal to interfere kill or cause
physical injury to a service dog and
then we added the section on animal
supporting and again that looks to what
are the circumstances those animals are
being kept in um are they abandoned is
it unsafe overcrowded other inhumane
conditions are they getting adequate
care and treatment um are they getting
adequate water and necessary
food we added language on a section on
unlawful Restraint of dog to make sure
that they have room to walk around that
the collar is properly fitted that
they're not in unsafe or unsanitary
conditions um they're not in a situation
that will cause injury to the dog and
they have adequate access to Food Water
shade and shelter we also put in
Provisions regarding um excessive heat
leaving an animal out in the sun in the
summertime in Arizona can result in
animal cruelty charges because we have
excessive heat in the summer and an
animal outside without proper shelter in
100 degree weather can be very harmful
and
damaging um and then we updated the
language on the authority to seize and
impound animals that are subject to
cruel
situations and again we look at whether
the officer has reasonable grounds to
believe that prompt action is necessary
um are required to protect the health
and safety of an animal where they've
established prob CA that there are Cru
situ cruel or neglectful
situations so as I said um we went
through the community safety
subcommittee um took feedback in that
situation posted the ordinance took
feedback from the community um tonight
is the
introduction um and if the council is in
agreement we'll bring this back in
December for final adoption and then um
ordinances go into effect 30 days after
adoption so this ordinance would be
effective in
January and I'm happy to answer any
questions Council may have
Council we do have one speaker card that
after we're done uh talking we'll invite
the speaker up related to this one item
questions or comments related to this
council member
Harris thank you mayor I appreciate
appreciate that um I served on the
subcommittee to really strengthen the
code I'm very proud of the work that we
had did with with that um you know
animal cruelty is a is a is a painful
thing to to know I have two beautiful
Yorkies and um you know to know that
people wouldn't take care of their
precious animal I I have no clue why but
I'm kind of glad that we're addressing
it and thank you Kelly for bringing the
recommended changes based on the
research that's been done comparing it
to other cities and what they're doing
um I think this is a great um step
forward to making sure that we're
strengthening our laws as we are moving
moving forward um some of the things
that I wanted just
to number one is that addressing this
the animal
cruelty uh I am you know I'm definitely
in alignment with the ordinance but also
just making sure that we do our basic
amenities for our dogs you know because
that's something that we're doing now um
we're addressing what our dog parts look
like also making sure that our our
animals have um you know that we're
addressing making sure that we have
access to safe and clean water areas and
parks for our animals who's who is
playing around in the park make sure you
lease your dog when is supposed to be
leased uh and so we're we're working on
that and then also we're investing in
the dog parts as an essential part of
caring for the welfare of our animals
and our community and just these last
few things our recent upcoming dog park
improvements um will help with new water
fountains um order which will happen
with which will be reced and turfed in
the summer 2024 that's ATO Vista Park um
also at cagar we're replacing the
entrance gate where new water fountains
will be ordered and will reced and then
also just making sure that our animal
not just are we addressing this part but
I'm glad that we're addressing the park
to makeing sure that when my babies go
to the park they have a nice water um
fountain in a nice clean area for them
to have a good time so so I'm glad as a
council we're addressing this and also
we're addressing it by making sure we're
improving the amenities around the city
with our animal park so I'm glad that
we're doing that together and I just
wanted to let you know that I I support
this ordinance and um I support it
moving forward thanks mayor thank you
additional comments or question council
member Ellis question thank you mayor
thank you for the
presentation the question that a couple
of um our community members have is the
fact that we don't own a shelter where
we can put our dogs in when we capture
this dogs who we partner with to be able
to house them and make sure that their
welfare is important to us second
question go ahead and answer that one
first and then I'll ask the next one
thank you mayor um council member Ellis
if I may um we contract with the Arizona
Humane Society um to help us when we
have those animals where they will come
transport and provide care hold them
through the the court proceedings if if
necessary and we pay for those services
with the Humane Society um sometimes
these animals end up at marope County
Animal Shelter depending on how they're
picked up but specifically our police
department works closely with human
society second question is that we don't
also have um dog catchers and so when
someone called the police or something
like that happened how does that get get
managed uh through the police and then
also through the Community Partners that
we have to come and pick up those dogs
and and do everything let's say someone
um make a phone call in the middle of
the night because they found dogs on
their doorstep or in their backyard what
is the procedure and how do they address
that if I may mayor um council member
Ellis again we can call out our partner
Humane Society marope County Animal
Control has jurisdiction over the
throughout the county and they are
available um if if they are have time if
they're available I should say they
usually are they can come out um we also
have some very um passionate officers in
in our police force who will often take
the dogs and hold them temporarily until
they can get with the Humane Society
last question um is oh do we have some
nonprofits here or people that have
boots on the ground that are doing this
kind of work that we partner with or is
it always the Human Society or other big
organization like such that you
mentioned um if I may
um we have a contract directly with the
Humane Society um I as the Law
Department that's who we're familiar
with I don't know if there's other
partners that we work with but we work
directly with the Humane
Society thank you mayor I heard vice
mayor uh you questions or comments Viber
yes uh council member uh Ellis answered
I got my first answer but um what I do
uh and I appreciate staff and council's
work on this and I know we update the
cruelty and hoarding uh but there there
is some sections in 14-8 and 12 and a
couple other ones that have ambiguous
language and as a City attorney said
earlier the some of these things go back
to 1990 I would like to uh ask staff to
take a look at those and clean that
language up as well not not I don't want
to hold this one up uh that's for sure
we'll we'll I'm for this tonight but
there are some areas that uh we want to
take a look at so I'd ask St take a look
at those rest of that section 14 and
clean up some of the language in there
thank you yeah and I agree with uh vice
mayor I'd like to certainly move ahead
with this but I'm certainly willing to
clean up anything else that if there's
other things that we would want to add
in the in the near future the beauty of
our council is that we're able to to
meet and meet frequently to be able to
address any future Charter amendments
necessary so can go ahead if I could add
one clarifying I do have a team out here
um helping me um after hours we do have
an emergency animal clinic that's also
available to provide help with um
treatment and care of these animals okay
and and again I I guess
there's this this in your mind and our
police mind gives us the ability to to
address cruelty hoarding and and mediate
situations in a in a prompt
response uh again there's always more
always less that can be done but this is
a a place that will give us some more
tools in the toolbox to be able to
address hoarding and cruelty from the
city's perspective and uh to the best
that we can at this point from your
perspective City attorney uh mayor um
yes and we have worked as you know
uh the prosecution uh is on in the law
department and we've worked closely with
police prosecution and courts who are
the three departments that'll be mostly
involved in these type of situations and
all three of us are very comfortable
that this provides us um a great set of
tools to use in these type of cases um
we also have um a legal adviser that
works in the Law Department Ian is in
the audience as well as our city
prosecutor Elizabeth um who are
available 247 to the police department
to provide legal guidance when they
encounter these sort of situations and
mayor if I can take a personal point of
privilege especially in light of the
holiday coming up I would like to um Ian
white our legal adviser works in the Law
Department he is also in the Army
Reserve and has recently been promoted
to
Colonel
congratulations
that's
great um boy I had a question and I lost
it celebrating in the moment it'll come
back to me uh council member
Stewart oh angel I'm sorry council
member atus thank you mayor um Kelly
obviously we want to get these changes
in order and correct and in line with
everything and a lot of it you've done a
lot of Outreach and I just kind of want
to Rego through that Outreach that we
did because we obviously want input from
our animal communities and our residents
um first and foremost from the
organizations that we reach out to
whether it's the agencies that we work
out work with or um collaborate with how
many of them gave like a thumbs up that
these changes are okay or checked off on
that um I don't have an exact number
many of them gave us that I think pretty
much everybody in the community agreed
that these are very good um changes some
would like additional changes um some
wanted to go further that quite frankly
from an enforcement perspective we
weren't quite comfortable doing that but
I think talking to most Community um
this is a good step in the right
direction um unfortunately these type of
things you're not going to always go as
far as everybody wants to go to and then
as far as our public Outreach that
period how long was that open and how
did we get that information out um the
ordinance was posted on the website
right after the sub sub committee on
October 23rd and it's been open and you
have comments that came in I think is
even today and um again those comments
were reviewed by our office by the
police department and where we felt they
should they were good comments that
could be incorporated they were got you
to get that input from from everyone um
one thing as you brought up the
subcommittee um which I was part of we
did um bring in some or suggested some
language regarding special needs animals
whether it's equip
tools or something as far as that being
in the realm of Cruelty are we
addressing that in this proposed changes
we we did if I may may we did um we
didn't Define it specifically as special
needs equipment what we said is they
need the appropriate level of medical
care and treatment to avoid unnecessary
suffering so if an anal animal needs a
special uh piece of equipment so that
they're not hurting themselves more that
would fall under that and could be
prosecuted under that if somebody had a
piece of equipment but wasn't using it
for their animal got you so I'll be
under that umbrella okay all right thank
you so much that's all my questions May
great I remembered my
question so and then I think con do it
next um so in talking with Neighborhood
Services I I know we've also and with
looking at comments we've received
comments related to chickens and trying
and Desiring to fold them in we had a a
possible Runaway sloth in our streets we
had backyard turkeys we've had so other
forms of animals are are related to to
Cruelty they're either covered elsewhere
uh under their own separate uh areas
or like like a sloth is an exotic animal
and therefore not it's not allowed
anyway much less allowed to be
mistreated but or does this give us are
there any other gaps that you were aware
of that uh that we need to look look at
related to other species um mayor um
under this ordinance I believe that if
any animal was being subjected to cruel
cruel treatment or abuse we could
prosecute under this okay thank you
council member Stuart thank you mayor I
um I appreciate the presentation and you
know I was leaving the house tonight and
I looked at my little scy dog that's not
supposed to be on the couch she was on
the couch um and I remind myself of like
what innocent beings these are and it's
it's unfathomable to me that somebody
could be cruel to an animal and so I'm
so grateful that you put this together
so quickly in a subcommittee working
hand inand with the um animal rights
groups you know the Humane Society as
well as our Police Department pulling
everything together to make this happen
quickly so that our Police Department
have the tools and the training to be
able to help those that can help
themselves so I'm just grateful for that
and I think moreover as important as
this is that during this entire process
we were mindful of the Fourth Amendment
the 14th Amendment making sure that
we're doing constitutionally protected
or constitutional uh things when we're
protecting these animals in this
ordinance and so I'm grateful for that
Kelly so thanks very much one of the
things I would like to see though is
more communication on the education
piece right allowing people to know what
we're doing with this particular
ordinance and why we did it necessarily
and then I want to thank the the public
uh it would be um we can't ignore the
outpouring of um comments I'll just call
them comments uh about this issue but
I'm grateful for it because it it helped
us snap to action and brought something
to light that we may not have been aware
of so we appreciate that but Kelly
thanks for all your hard work on this
that's all have mayor thanks councilman
reals thank you mayor I I I guess I
should didle what you just said because
I was going to kind of thank everyone
that worked on this project so quickly
not only that because we were talking
about it earlier but because of what's
in view what was happening in our
community we just really push that
forward and pretty much make it a
priority to arrive where we are tonight
and so I'm very grateful for that some
uh dog owners and pet owners are going
to sleep better because they know that
we have this right now to protect their
animals to from cruelty so we appreciate
that thank you
mayor L there's additional comments uh
we do have one speaker card uh who
desires to speak on this um Terry
Hoffman
so Terry you have if you state your name
and address for the record you have up
to three minutes to share your thoughts
the the green light will be on once you
have 30 seconds left try to wrap up when
the red comes on if you could uh uh wrap
up finish wrapping up your your comments
I'm getting comfortable because I I want
more than three minutes but I'm just
kidding I know thank you very much I
appreciate the time I appreciate all the
hard work that you guys did Kelly um and
I appreciate the time that you spent
with me on the phone um animal rights
activists have been very concerned with
the laws and and been speaking to the
need for better laws however we were not
really uh prepared and aware of the
changes that were being
made uh myself had a large uh event um P
911 who has their biggest fundraiser of
the year is um happening this weekend
and just having a turnaround time where
where we go through these kinds of
ordinances they're very
detailed and it's important that all the
definitions be there um I would love to
address a lot of the questions that were
presented by the council members uh
because some of the information you guys
might be shocked to hear um for example
uh medical equipment needs to be
specified because law enforcement will
not know that dragging themselves in
urine and feces will cause urine scal
scalded sorry which is similar to a
second deegree burn it's very painful
and the sanitary um habitable
definitions that are lacking in this uh
Amendment um are very essential uh we
cannot Overlook we cannot take for
granted that police officers understand
and yes I do greatly appreciate our
Constitution and and the Fourth
Amendment writes that it affords us
however how many people have ever seen
the show Cops and the police turn pull
somebody over and they
say they sir have you been drinking I
think I smell alcohol or prior to you
know uh marijuana being legalized it was
that now there's some other drugs that
they can smell so uh the the sense of
smell has long been used used by law
enforcement as probable cause for search
full search of every crevice and cranny
of an automobile it does not need to be
in plain sight so if an officer is
hearing 50 dogs just just picking a
number uh let's say 10 dogs uh barking
there's been neighbor complaints and
there's an odor that's detectable from
the
street um the law does require
reasonable and I did like I do have the
word a reasonable person and I really
appreciate that because um we really
need to have that in our training of law
enforcement reasonable person
would detect that there's um there's
need um we do need to really look at all
of the other laws that you said and you
know it's just there's just three
minutes is not going to give me enough
time but currently right now in city of
Chandler stray dogs that are impounded
can be sold to a medical research
facility uh this is an animal welfare
nightmare we need to hold up we need to
get um rescues there are over 600
rescues in our community they weren't
they weren't given opportunity to
speak thank you Terry okay thank you and
Terry I I think you'll agree that if U
and City attorney that we're we're more
than willing to to come back and I don't
know what a proper time but I'd love
more of your input at that I I do
believe on Council there's an urgency to
at least go this far and then continue
and I know you're in agreement with that
am I correct absolutely U yeah just let
let us know when we can plan on coming
back is we we definitely uh do want to
provide those protections for the
animals
um May I just correct one one thing it's
been kind of a a bone of contention for
me uh throughout our state um I'm the
founder of animal rights champions of
Arizona I'm currently working with
legislators to increase the bar for the
the laws that protect our animals
throughout the state um currently there
is a trend for improving those
protections and to answer your question
council member um yes you never see a
dog wear a
watch but after six o'clock Monday
through Friday there are no resources
for
Animals there just aren't thank you
Terry council member Harris yes um Kelly
um what this ordinance doesn't address
does the state law address what this
ordinance does not
address if I may mayor uh council member
Harris there are different laws for the
state some and there's some overlap um
so I can't say the state law addresses
things this ordinance doesn't address
but we can't Define felonies um we can't
um you know there's certain things the
state can Define that we don't have the
ability I'd also like to point out the
animal shelter the city does not run an
animal shelter um and Maricopa County
does um so I Ure the the council that
animals are not being given away or sold
for medical research um either through
Maricopa or the city um there is some
archaic L language in some of our old
older provisions of the code and that
was um direction from vice mayor to look
at that and update it um but I think
that this provide this the changes to
this ordinance and again we've worked
closely with courts with prosecution
with police to make sure that it
provides tools that we can uh use to
address situations where animals are not
being treated appropriately mayor one
last is a um Kelly is it appropriate
that um perhaps I know that on the
chandleraz.gov animals we have the link
to um to the state Charter um to the
state constitution about animal cruelty
and how that's defined uh when we place
this into movement you know that we work
with the the group but is there a way
that we can also place the State statue
somewhere in a link somewhere near where
this is going to be placed on our
website for future references for those
that may need to know uh mayor uh
council member Harris yes we can most
definitely look at doing that and then
this is my last question this probably
goes to Josh Josh if there's a way that
we can also continue to work with our
Police Department to make sure they're
getting appropriate training as we
introduce this ordinance to make sure
they understand all these different um
complexities of what this actually means
and the implications of it yeah Mr mayor
council M Harris anytime a new ordinance
is passed by the city council that would
affect the police department's
operations we go through a training
process with them to make sure everyone
is well versed in the law as well as
working with our partners such as the
Humane Society so they understand how
the new system will work so we'll do
that in this case as well okay and it's
continuous right it's continuous that's
correct okay thank you council member
poon um thank you mayor my comment was
related to what council member Harris
just said and I know our Police
Department prioritizes training um but I
I would like to just reiterate that
there was a good point about maybe the
medical devices or specific health
issues related to animals and I'd just
like to make sure that that gets
addressed as well as we move
forward well Council I'm gonna make a
motion I'd like to move that we uh we
pass item number 38 the introduction
intended of adoption of ordinance number
4992 and Men chapter 14 of the city code
animals i' like second that second by
council member Stewart our third fourth
fifth
yeah all right Council please
vote vice mayor
Orlando
yes motion carries unanimously very good
thank you Council thank you community
members smattering of
Applause next on our agenda tonight is
we have uh two cards for unscheduled
public insurances uh first is uh Victor
Hardy Pastor Victor
Hardy I address 2220 East Spruce
Drive Channel Arizona
85286 as president of Channel Min of
action there are things that I have to
do that are most
joyous on February
22nd 2024 the challan of action is
hosting the
annual African-American banquet
and this year I would like to announce
that our first responder award is to
retired Chief Shan
dougen better known as douy fresh from
now
on it's in here it's in the Bible we
likeed we' like to thank uh chief dougen
for the work he's done the entire time
time that he has been with the city of
Chandler we thank him for the things
that he's done and the many times that
he has answered questions protested with
those whom needed to be protested
against and observing the laws and doing
the things that must be done for the
city of Chandler so we thank him in this
way so come out and congratulate Chief
dou uh douge fresh Pastor hard you said
that oh right we can't interact with you
I'm sorry thank you
sir our next unscheduled public
appearance is from an kit sod Mr sod
please come up state your name and
address and as I neglected to say uh we
hear your comments although we cannot
interact with you as this is unscheduled
public appearance you have up to three
minutes
sir yeah 850 West O way uh so I'll go
ahead and first uh on the eve of
Veterans Day firstly I would like to
thank everyone for their service for
making this great nation what it is
today and extend that gratitude to the
council Elders as well as the stewards
of this community institution thank you
for your service so uh in addition that
what the work that you all do drives
civic pride and a sense of civic duty in
us so that's great so that's what it is
and when I came across what our state is
currently doing with Advanced water
purification road map it inspires me
because they are looking ahead they are
looking ahead to the state water
scarcity as a critical issue that is
going to be faced by Future Generations
so I'm very appreciative of what the
work is going over there and especially
I I like the principle of protecting
public health and the environment that
they emphasize on and some of the
mentions about chemical pollutions that
they want to monitor in investigate and
track is amazing and very beautiful and
I'm very appreciative of the work that
is going on over there so my intent over
here to come is to basically learn what
Chandler City's vision and road map is
for water security and how do we as
Citizens engage and contribute to that
body of work and having said that I will
share my own personal motivation and my
initial contribution or to that body of
work having some background in public
health and being part of being part
having being part of healthare Industry
oh I like Sher two chemicals being
monitored investigated please do that
please do that because it's needed
though I do understand there can be cost
associated with it there will be
definitely cost Associated to govern
such a such a system and that is where I
want to give you hope there is emerging
Technologies a are making huge progress
and huge strides that gives us an
opportunity to innovate it gives us an
opportunity to encourage public
participation for public work using
these technology to even bring down cost
and make Chandler and outstanding
example for all of us to follow and just
to add to that Chandler City takes pride
in its accredition from American Public
Works Association I'm really happy about
that so why can't we be first in
innovating our competition Phoenix City
right now with A1 billion plan that they
are building for 2030 and put some funds
towards those kind of a those towards
those kind of innovation through public
participation and public engagement
thank you thank you
sir city manager can you make sure that
we connect and uh maybe uh cross have a
conversation about what we are doing
what do we hope to do etc etc with Mr
Sora absolutely great thank you thank
you Council next on and last owner
agenda is current events of which I'll
start got a few things I'd like to share
um on this Sunday the Chandler Symphony
Orchestra is presenting cheers to youth
at the Chandler Center of the Arts on
the 12th at 3M for more information you
can visit Chandler center.org for
details
this event includes musical performances
A Whimsy of Midsummer Night stream
Overture and Peter and the Wolf with a
special narrator me so that'll be
happening Sunday and it's a it's a
Timeless story of Bravery Innovation
friendship and and um treating a wolf
humanely come to think of it in our
context
tonight all right next next uh we have
our Chandler Chuck Wagon Cookoff with
returning to the Tumbleweed Ranch at
Tumbleweed Park on November 11th this
starts at noon I think many council
members and other Civic leaders will be
cook off judges a little bit
earlier so you will have the opportunity
to experience Western history as
authentic Chuck Wagon teams use historic
cooking methods to create the best five
course meals from the original food
trucks
and if you're interested in uh
purchasing a a plate of food you can do
that at visit chandleraz.gov
events for
tickets next our second annual veterans
celebration at veterans Oasis Park will
be presented by veterans and Military
Affairs Commissioners uh Commission on
November 11th the celebration starts at
4:30 p.m. with a concert in the park to
follow joined by myself and Council as
we recognize Chandler Veterans for their
present and past military
service and uh our similarly there's a
concert that will be there but uh
following up at our Center for the Arts
the US Army Jazz ambassadors will host a
free concert on Veterans Day at 7:30 pm
at the Center for the Arts and this
video integrated patriotic concert will
celebrate the military service through
music and storytelling
I've timed it we can attend both events
Council if you care to join me on the
second one as well speaking of timing
and events let's talk about the parade
of lights and Tumbleweed tree lighting
it's going to be happening December 2nd
beginning at 4:30 p.m our Chandler
holiday tradition will feature
performances a parade through downtown
and much anticipated lighting of the
Tumbleweed tree and we are all believing
hoping and praying for no rain
cancellations this year again you can
find more information on this in
chandleraz.gov Tumbleweed tree for
details and lastly for me I want to
thank uh each and every one of you
Council in our community for giving me
so many reasons to be thankful as we
celebrate Thanksgiving and this is our
last meeting before that holiday I wish
our residents businesses and Council a
very Happy Thanksgiving and from uh Leah
let me know what happens with that
backyard
turkey
okay council member and
cenus okay this is the most
announcements I've had guys so buckle
up no I'm just I'm just joking okay so
um Community engagement is extremely
important to me so I really needed to
highlight this fantastic event that we
had here between the Chandler police
department and um the Stan Marcus
Elementary School here um big shout out
to Chandler PD and Detective Eva zermeno
who really put forward the effort in
getting this entire Community together I
was speaking with the principal I was
there fellow council members were there
as well the turnout was amazing it was
packed the cafeteria was packed they had
all kinds of dancers treats they brought
in car shows it was a fantastic event so
I want to thank them for making that
connection with our students and our
neighbors and look forward to the next
one next year my next announcement is
going to be about Chandler Pride um this
Monday mayor um you gave the
proclamation for declaring uh pride
month here in Chandler um so I just
wanted to like invite everyone out to
the actual Pride events that's going to
be taking place at Desert Breeze Park on
November 18th from 3:00 to 8:00 pm come
join some fun there'll be some food
trucks music games and I believe a
fashion show as well too so see you guys
out there on the 18th and lastly I just
want to um highlight an event yesterday
with the assistants league and with the
Chandler Compadres um they were dropping
off some donations at San Marcus
Elementary School um obviously school
supplies goes quick with the kids so it
it's great for them to put together
another Supply drive and deliver some um
supplies to the kids um this fall is it
fall yes this fall yes so thank you to
them and that's all my comments thank
you thank you mayor well between the two
of you I have not to say CU you took all
the announcement when they called me I
said there's nothing left so thank you
so much for making all the
announcements Kingston yeah Kingston is
happening on Friday the 17th we are
doing our lunching again and I think we
just sent our invitation to Mayor and
conso I would love to see you there
we're going to have music and some good
food it's Thanksgiving at Kingston for
our seniors please join us tell our
community what it is well it is a
a great thing that we started with Miss
Leah Powell over there she got me into
that 8 years ago we started making uh a
great elaborate very nice uh
Thanksgiving lunching and also Christmas
for our seniors over at Kingston which
is the only senior apartment that we
have here in uh in the city of Chandler
that we manage so they love that and
every year we've been doing that for
eight years now so it's going to be
great it's in honor of my mom who at one
point had lived in those apartment when
she first moved here to Arizona so I'm
very proud to be here and helping the
the other residents that are living
there now so can't wait for us to have a
bigger venue where we can invite the
whole Community to come every year to
have time with us good food it's going
to be lots of food and lots of fun so
thank you thank you council member
steart council member LS said is one of
the the nicest days that you've ever
invited me to be a part of that uh that
event with those with those people so
thank you very much hey uh November 18th
is Wolf stock so the uh irony of this
meeting and that coming and coinciding
so our pet lovers who should come out
from 9:00 to one on the 18th on Saturday
and spend some time hanging out with all
the dogs in the neighborhood and uh
there'll be a can9 uh our our Police
Department will'll do some canine
demonstrations there'll be a um dog
training Elite demonstrations and then
dog friendly Bubbles at the mini dog
park if you've not seen that before it's
it's a rot so anyway be out to wolfstock
on November 18th from 9: to1 thank you
Council M Harris thank you today I am
going to take a point of personal
privilege to talk about one of our
outstanding residents that's doing
something very amazing in the city of
Chandler uh and I'm super proud of him
and you will be as well as I share this
announcement and who this wonderful
person is the Supreme Court Justice
third Good Marshall is an is a shining
example in it gives a commitment to
those that are in leadership has an
Excellence uh and they have a great
compassion and today we are honoring one
of Chandler's own chanler resident Roy
Tatum if you could stand up Mr Roy
Tatum on this past weekend he received
the third Good Marshall Award of Merit
during the 19 um 19th anniversary
Phoenix um educational fund and third
Good Marshall College Fund brunch in
Phoenix Roy is a community leader a
community advocate and entrepreneur a
political strategist and he who also
represents the principles of Justice uh
equality and excellence and his work
that he continues to do and got we found
him keep it on him um but the work that
he does he attended the mental health
walk not long ago he continues to be a
valuable ad to our Comm Community I'm
going Far and Beyond and one thing about
the this particular award is not giving
to everyone so it's just a very small
they only do about a couple in the whole
entire uh State of Arizona and within
the nation is very very small so this is
like really one of the highest Honors
that one can achieve when you talk about
Community engagement when you talk about
being a leader when you talk about
someone that is doing the work um day in
Day Out I really want to take time to
recognize our very own channel resident
Roy Tatum we can all give him a big
round of
applause thank you and I would invite
Miss Roy Tatum after this these
announcements is over to come up and
take a picture with the council with
those that would like to take a picture
with them to recognize them and I hope
our staff um will be able to post that
on our Council um uh news feed please
uh so my last announcement is is um this
past weekend we also had the ready Sayo
Foundation mental health and awareness
walk it was a great success we had 502
people registered to
participate and so we want to thank you
to our presenting sponsor
Amazon and all who came out to raise
awareness about mental health and learn
more about resources oh there go Roy in
that picture too there he is I'm telling
you he's everywhere you everywhere um
but really was a good good walk ready
Sego Foundation is a great organization
that supports mental health as well as
supporting entrepreneurs what a great
time to really just enjoy many of the
much of the feedback I got they like hey
we went to the mental Huff walk we felt
better after the mental health walk
that's what it's all about and Chandler
has made the largest investment in
mental health that we've ever have made
in our history and that's getting the
job done so I want to say thank you to
the mayor and the council because
without their support that would not
happen so thank you guys so much and
lastly happy Veterans Day uh Ryan back
there in the back is a veteran um Matt
Orlando our vice mayor he's a veteran
I'm a US Army veteran is there any other
veterans in the room wave your hand okay
oh yes oh Pastor Hardy oh man thank you
thank you for your service as I tell my
wife I'm going to eat everywhere they're
going to allow me to eat for
free it's not a day I'm paying for your
meal it's a day I'm getting a meal paid
for for me for my service uh and so
there's a lot of events going on so make
sure you guys attend and lastly Happy
Thanksgiving to all my friends family
and my Channeler constituents thank
you that was a good preacher three last
least
I get poetic in the heat I get poetic in
the
heat I'm never even sure if I should go
at the council
member I do have a couple I do have a
couple of things though I I um mine are
kind of fun um and you know I get to
marry two of my favorite things but I I
was able to participate in the mayor's
golf Challenge and I didn't see you out
there mayor so you know we're going to
get you on on a team next
but it was for the mayor's committee for
people with disabilities and it was
absolutely fantastic and thank you John
for allowing me to play um I I played
put a little team together with my
company but this tournament raised
nearly
$15,000 which is fantastic and a credit
to the mayor's committee for people with
disabilities it was an all volunteer
event they put that together they did a
great job those dollars are going to
help um a scholarship fund and that's
going to help people with disabilities
get educational and vocational training
so that's absolutely fantastic and then
my other announcement is also golf
related so there is still a chance for
Saturday December 2nd I'm putting
together a ladies team myself um for the
Chandler firefighter Charities and if
you don't know about this organization
you should it is headed by our Chandler
firefighters it's really voluntary
payroll deductions they do some
fundraising but it raises money to go
directly back to the community for
people and I you know our firefighters
see the people at their very worst and
this started off with I think just kind
of passing the boot and turned into
something a little more formal but um
correct me if I'm wrong but I do believe
our our firefighters are really the
people that donate the most actually to
the firefighter charities in terms of
the donations that they actually raise
but this golf tournament should help
increase the community's ability to have
a little fun with it and have a chance
to go play golf with some firefighters
and raise money for something that
really does just directly benefit the
community absolutely no administrative
costs they just put the money right back
into the community so I think it's
absolutely fantastic and encourage you
to sign up so the final thing I did want
to say as a point of privilege just like
OD here I am going to be at wolfstock
and I am just going to ask that if you
see me with there with a little cream
colored um menace please forgive me
she's six months old I'm working on it
and I'm bringing her to the right place
so I look forward to seeing everybody
there with their dogs I know we have a
lot of dog lovers here so thank you
mayor I have a 12y old grumpy old dog
who doesn't like to go to those events
so I don't bring her I'm trying
unsuccessfully but I got my Yorkies they
ready for
action city manager thank you Mr Mayor
members of the council just want to take
a moment a few weeks ago at the end of
October we had for our city day uh which
occurred since we had our last council
meeting and just wanted to take a moment
to thank the two members of our staff
who led a much bigger Committee in
planning this great event uh so uh
Priscilla canana and tana Mau who I
don't think are here tonight uh but they
did an outstanding job putting together
that event and I want to thank them
publicly for that as well as also
recognize that we had about 1,200
volunteers as some of you have heard
earlier this week about 180 four of
those were actually members of our team
Chandler staff we've been encouraging
them to participate in this event more
and more over the years so I want to
thank everybody that was a part of that
very special day thank you mayor thank
you Council again Happy Thanksgiving
Micah you look good on camera when you
don't want to be and uh concludes our
meeting