City of Chandler Study Session 5-22-23

no
what's that
all right well
um
foreign
all right let's go
foreign
good evening and Welcome to our study
session of May 22nd we've got a a lot of
great folks here so let's jump right
into this I'd like to call this meeting
to order clerk please take the role
mayor Hartke present vice mayor
here
's a member posted here we have a quorum
very good for our scheduled public
appearances uh
councilmember Stewart you're up to join
me up folks
excuse me
leave your wallet over here
[Music]
[Music]
thank you
[Music]
all right
well that was quite an entrance we want
to thank you for that patriotic medley
this group of talented musicians is
called the Basha bear regiment there are
about 80 students
total who put in thousands of hours
playing shows across Chandler and the
valley and this year they competed
Statewide turning to bring home the
state championship for the Arizona band
and Orchestra Directors Association and
in December they will travel to Honolulu
to perform in the historic Pearl Harbor
Memorial parade congratulations fascia
and we have a certificate of resume of
recognition
great we don't even like to say anything
from Bastion
just wanted to thank the the city of
Chandler and in the community for all
your support
um you know the students work so hard
but we couldn't do this without the
parents and without those of you that
are there
um you know painting and and
volunteering and doing all that you do
so so thank you so much you know from us
to you we really appreciate everything
you do for us
we're going to take a picture but
congratulations bashes on your sports
your your music your many other
accomplishments that Basha is is
becoming and is renowned to know so all
right Jennifer show us how to take this
picture
all right make room for me right here
there we go
music
foreign
let me know
thank you thank you Basha
that was a trumpet
all right uh councilmember Stewart was a
big bassoon no he was a big bear too
yeah
next up we have the Chandler fire
department life-saving Awards with cheap
twiggins and and uh Carlos Vargas if you
would please join us
all right good evening mayor and members
of the council
uh I would like to call up principal
Marianne Luciano
officer Megan Fritz
police chief Sean Duggan and
superintendent Frank Narducci
thank you
all right
tonight we are honored to award two
life-saving Awards to principal Marianne
rosenico of San Tan Junior High and
officer Megan Fritz of the Chandler Fire
Department
Police Department
we water
on March 28th Mr Jeff Evans was running
on the treadmill when he collapsed and
went unconscious
principal rosinico noticed that Mr Evans
was lying on the ground unconscious and
checked for a pulse
unable unable to find a pulse she
immediately called 9-1-1 and started CPR
moments later
officer Megan Fritz arrived on scene
with an AED
she hooked up the 80 to Mr Evans chest
and delivered a shock
she then took over CPR and continued to
until paramedics arrived on scene
because of the actions of principal
Marianne rosinico and officer Megan
Fritz Mr Evans is alive and well today
Mr Evans could you come up and assist us
in presenting these Awards
on behalf of the city of Chandler and
the Chandler fire department we are
honored to present both of you with the
life-saving award
[Applause]
foreign
[Applause]
thank you
thank you
thank you
I need one minute sure
foreign
I put the engraving on there that says
Jay Evans thanks you
and the date that you saved my life
I know the other gentleman is not here
if you could pass that on to him I would
appreciate it
thank you thank you
[Applause]
we have one more
I like to call up Staff Sergeant O'Brien
Benelli and members of the United States
Marine Corps
ES
thank you
all right tonight we are honored to
recognize Staff Sergeant O'Brien Manali
of the United States Marine Corps for
his actions in Saving life
on March 25th Sergeant Benelli noticed
smoke coming from the bottom of his
neighbor's apartment door
Sergeant Benelli opened the door to find
thick black smoke coming from the
ceiling down to the floor
disregarding his own safety Sergeant
Benelli made the decision to enter the
apartment and search for any potential
fire victims
during the search Sergeant Benelli found
one victim lying on the floor who was
clearly unconscious and unable to escape
due to the heavy smoke
Sergeant Benelli grabbed the victim
pulled her out of the apartment and put
her in a safe spot until fire department
units could arrive
because of his courageous actions life
was saved that night
please assist us in presenting this
award
[Applause]
on behalf of the city of Chandler and
the Chandler fire department we are
honored to present Staff Sergeant
O'Brien Benelli with the life-saving
award
[Applause]
thank you
[Applause]
thank you
all right we're having a proclamation
the Centennial year for the Lions Club
the international if I could have
district governor-elect for Hana lion
for hanashifa and the presidents and
officers of Sun Lakes Sun Lakes
breakfast Chandler Sunbird and Chandler
lions
[Applause]
yeah
whereas the year 2023 marks the 100th
anniversary year of the chartering of
lions clubs in Arizona and whereas the
members of Arizona Lions Clubs have been
active volunteers dedicated to serving
those in need in our community in
numerous humanitarian and philanthropic
projects projects in April 1923 and
whereas the Lions Club International
membership is open to people regardless
of ethnic identity religion physical
ability gender or political preference
with a mission statement to empower
volunteers to serve their communities
meet humanitarian needs encourage peace
and promote International understanding
through Lions Clubs whereas the Arizona
Lions Club members share with all other
Lions Club members the same
International motto of we serve which
inspires members to provide humanitarian
service locally and globally to maintain
High ethical standards and whereas
through its many initiatives the Lions
Club International and Chandler Sun Sun
Lakes clubs members for active Lions
Clubs in Chandler Sun Lakes area and
many other Lions residing in Chandler
along with their fellow three thousand
plus lions in Arizona and 1.4 million
lions and 210 countries and 49 000 clubs
worldwide make a difference every day
when we value what they're doing now
therefore I mayor Kevin Hartke of the
city of Chandler Arizona to hereby
Proclaim and recognize 2023 as
Centennial year for Arizona Lions Club
International
100
thank you honorable mayor and also vice
mayor and the rest of the council
because you have been a big supporter of
the alliance Initiative for years I will
tell you a quick story
five o'clock in the morning at the
church of Mayor Kevin Harkey he would
come over there help the lion to set up
the table take the food and delivery
everything set up he will make the
coffee for the volunteer and it's still
dark and he will serve with us so that
kind of lions we have in Arizona in
Chandler they have been giving towards
the community and worldwide we're the
first one to go to any humanitarian
needs and last one to leave so I invite
you to know about us and join us more
giving hands and hearts will make the
life more merrier for all thank you
Council and the mayor for this honor
and could all the lions in our audience
please stand
all right let's do a photo
oh come on up everybody
and also as an appreciation of token our
Lions wants to give the council members
the Hundred Year paints
you know
okay
all right
yeah
we're just closer together
what is that
all right
that concludes our upfront presentations
I've got two of them
yeah I don't need three of them
thank you
happy birthday
we also have one scheduled appearance of
a speaker who has concerns regarding our
police response with Mr coppner come up
Mr
Joshua Costner
not here okay
thank you that moves on to our consent
agenda
um we've got four items that have been
called to end and with item number four
we have
two people that asked if they could
speak they're unable to be here on
Thursday so let's first turn this over
to you vice mayor but I will invite them
to come up
thank you mayor I appreciate it just a
couple questions from staff here so
Jason pempton
thanks mayor
uh Jason just a couple of things I know
um there was a lot on the uh
neighborhood meeting there's a lot of
comments but some of the prevailing
comments were there was the type of uh
surface area
I know some of the the bikers like the
hard surface there's joggers like the
gravel we have plans of somehow figuring
this out to make it half and half or so
that there's ability to do both yeah
through the mayor vice mayor Orlando
uh the path that is the concept that was
developed for the 15 plans the path with
would be 10 feet of concrete and then
next to that there would be another
roughly 10 feet or so of of dirt that
could remain free for Walkers and and
Runner joggers excellent good I think
this makes a lot of sense I appreciate
that and I know the other thing was the
crossing uh have we decided that we're
going to thick enhance that Crossing
correct uh yes sir the mayor Vice
Orlando so the crossing at Ray Road
you're referring to right yeah the the
concept plans called for a traffic
signal Crossing there although again
those are very initial 15 plans that
will be further analyzed during the
design as well there will be additional
public
Outreach to see what the best solution
will be and it could could be that or we
could come up with an alternative
crossing the key is we need to have a
safe Crossing of Ray Road and that could
take a number of forms I think it's a
Kyrene and Knox or is it railroad yes
there's another Crossing at Kyrene and
Knox right and that will actually be in
the City of Tempe just just north of our
borders but okay work with the city of
Tampa to develop a safe Crossing there
as well perfect appreciate it that's the
final one and I think
it came up again as far as in our
discussion with City match this week is
somehow ensuring that
um Vehicles won't be able to access that
now obviously potentially we may have a
fire vehicle that needs to get in there
so we'll have to figure out how to make
some kind of barrier or something yeah
through the mayor vicer Orlando that's
definitely been a concern that's been
brought up by the neighbors and we can
work with SRP to install Gates that
would restrict vehicular access SRP
maintenance Vehicles would continue to
need access the city would be provided
access to that as well but it would keep
out unauthorized Vehicles out of that
area okay thank you very much thanks
mayor so Jason and SRP has agreed to do
that in order to keep pickup trucks or
others but SRP in the city can still
access it but they have agreed to do
that uh through the mayor uh mayor so
they they have they have not um formally
agreed but we've had discussions with
them and initially they are agreeable to
the concept we just need to come up with
full plans and incorporate those Gates
and and then we can develop an agreement
okay
uh councilman grills
thank you Jason can you I know that we
are in the planning phase right now and
input is very important for us for our
neighborhoods and those who are involved
right now are we really considering
making sure that they're at the table I
know you guys are going Beyond
um the duties to make sure that
everybody is notified and everything but
specifically those who have raised some
questions about that okay is that the
case right yeah through the mayor
council member Ellis I appreciate the
question in the comments yes uh this
will definitely be a key consideration
during design we completed the
preliminary design which is an extra
step that this project undertook which
we were able to get an early jump start
on public Outreach but public Outreach
will definitely be a key component of
the design moving forward
councilmember Stewart thank you it was
interesting um
council member our vice mayor Orlando
brought up a really good point about you
know making sure that Vehicles can't get
on there I know that's a problem so
hopefully uh that will happen with SRP
but do we have any
paths I I lived by the canal for a
little while and loved walking on the on
the path and paved path as a walker I've
never heard that about the joggers
wanting it to be the dusty Rock but I
guess it makes sense have we done that
anywhere before is it practical to do
that
uh yeah it was through the mayor council
members they're they're definitely with
most of our paths there's there's a
little area between the canal and and
the path or on the other side of the the
page path for uh joggers to use so it's
certainly an option and yeah joggers do
tend to to like that surface better and
it there is a concern that that there's
um that conflict between a fast-moving
bike and a walker sometimes they like to
be separated from that and and just
follow-up is there enough clearance 10
feet for bikes to pass one another
because that that was the only thing I
thought of was like they're they're
humming through there pretty good
especially at night with their little
lights on and yeah yeah it's safe and
that that's the kind of design minimum
it's typically 10 to 12 feet is the
width that that uh we like for these
paths but 10 feet provides that passing
distance thank you
all right
um thank you Jason
um I'm gonna invite our two speakers if
they would like to come up first is
Linda calith
Linda you have up to three minutes uh
please state your name and address for
the record that when the light turns
yellow you'll have 30 seconds left so
please try to rap
okay good evening Mr mayor council
members and staff my name is Linda calaf
and I live at 1133 North Roosevelt
Avenue my husband and I live along the
Kyrene Canal path in Tuscany right near
the bridge on Roosevelt we have lived
there for five years and have seen an
increase in unauthorized vehicular
activity along the canal we realize that
the signs are posted stating motor
vehicle use by SRP permit only however
many people do not obey the signs and we
have sent multiple videos to Jason
Crampton and Sasha pachito with the city
of Chandler and Brianna McHenry with SRP
regarding multiple vehicle violations so
my questions to you is have you had a
chance to review those videos
any of the council members of mail okay
if not I would suggest if you do have
the opportunity to review them because
we've sent about 50 different videos and
that's just in the last few months that
include motorcycles motorized bicycles
pickup trucks landscapers and their
trailers regular cars golf carts you
name it we've seen it and most recently
we submitted a video last night an email
with several videos I should say and
there was this one in particular black
SUV that was actually speeding down the
canal I mean it was unbelievable how
fast it was going easily 25 to 30 miles
an hour down the canal
and um dust was raising up behind the
vehicle all that so you could see that
that would be considerable consideration
to have some type of vehicular Gates
there so that we don't have any harm of
anyone that might be walking along the
canal there
and I'm not sure if you've all had a
chance to physically walk along the
Kyrene Canal path or if you've had a
chance to look at the canals lack of
Sanitation but those are things that
we'd want you to consider who would be
responsible for keeping the path in the
canal clean if you've walked along the
canal you've probably noticed the pet
droppings so that's also a problem and I
know that's been mentioned in previous
City Council meetings that many many of
the Chandler intersections especially at
Ray and Kyrene are not safe we've seen
multiple accidents on a regular basis at
that particular intersection so we don't
need Vehicles taking short guts Cuts
along the canal path causing Havoc to
our community so coordinating with SRP
to install Gates or other physical
barriers to restrict vehicular access is
of critical importance Mr mayor council
members if you're deeply concerned about
the safety of our community and the
canal path users as a citizen and
Resident along the Cairn Canal path
we're hoping that you support the
installation of vehicular gates at both
entrances on Ray and at Kyrene and other
descriptive signage to prohibit
violators and trespassers from
encroaching on our private property
thank you Linda yes thank you so much
for your time and for your service and I
and I think as was previous stated we do
support that and uh and we look forward
to making sure that that works and I
apologize for a mispronounce your last
name
next we have uh Marin and I'm going to
really butcher this I'm sorry Marin
Martin Theory I I apologize in advance
no worries you are not the first one
yeah and again sir state your name and
address you have up to three minutes to
share
I am Thierry Maureen Martino I live in
the 1132 North Roosevelt Avenue
um I am I a Space Engineer Expert in the
electrical system and I have spent my
life
taking care about safety
and I hope you will appreciate that in
every plane you have part of my design
so you will appreciate that so my main
point first we embrace the project
encouraging people to work to have a
healthy life that's a great idea but you
have to take into account the safety and
I think you have understood that you
can't encourage your project where you
May authorized or allow pedestrian kids
old people
on the same path same way then you will
have motorized vehicles whether they are
electrical or thermal engine so my main
concern is
the safety you can't
you have to develop a system which
protects the life of our community
so that's it I really make it show up
after we have I think Linda did a great
job there is other consideration
if you can take all of them that's great
but the main one is the security
thank you sir
uh
Council any other comments on this here
we'll move dietary I did council member
got him again you got me Josh on that
pathway it's going to be well lit as
well because he mentioned security can
you just talk about some of the things
that we use to divert to to make it more
secure and uh
um for the pathway yeah so would that be
you or whatever it doesn't matter yeah
you want to answer lighting go ahead
come on Jason yeah we wanted you back up
here all right yeah
uh yeah great point we do intend to do
some lighting analysis add lighting to
the path uh to to increase safety uh of
course working with the residents the
neighbors to make sure we Shield all the
lighting so we don't create any unwanted
light pollution as well okay thank you
all right thank you next item uh called
end uh item number ten council member
Harris had some question for uh Chief
Tongan
all right
thanks um thanks chief for uh uh thanks
for being here can you just tell us what
we're doing here for this particular
item that's on the agenda please sure
this is a uh request to agree to a
memorandum of understanding mou with the
channel Unified School District for the
police department's 9-1-1 emergency
Communication Center to access real time
any of the nearly 2 000 cameras that the
school district has among their 35
campuses throughout the city that
wouldn't that would enable our
dispatchers to provide critical
information for responding officers to
those true emergencies
um with the description description of
the suspect or suspects but most
importantly the location and in these
emergencies time is everything so the
quicker our officers can engage that
threat and stop it or mitigate it that's
the best possible outcome so these
cameras will pay play pivotal role
providing that real-time information to
our responding officers well thank you
Chief I I thought that this was good
because as again this is another way
that we're being proactive if there is
an emergency no matter what the
emergency is we know in real time as you
just described what it is but I just
wanted to say thank you for bringing
this forward and thank you for keeping
us safe and doing what you're doing and
I hope to see more interactions and igas
with other schools and other facilities
that have massive camera usage so we can
also be ready to respond to emergency if
needed so thank you to you thank you and
chief I I know the answer but I just
want and you know the answer but I just
want you to say it so in case anyone's
watching has any questions again this is
not we don't have access to the cameras
except when the school would want us to
if there is an active situation that
would allow us to uh triage and and move
appropriately correct that's correct
these cameras are owned and operated by
the school district and they give us
permission every time we would access
them great
all right
thank you sir thank you Chief next item
up council member Orlando question about
water main replacement item number 11. I
think uh John Knutson
foreign
question John you were a marching band
dad for many years did you ever get to
go to Hawaii
no no
all right all right they're looking for
chaperone that's right
you're older and wiser now I swear thank
you
um so John you and I a little
conversation this morning this is unique
area channel in the older parts of
Chandler where and that was the
disconnect I have as I was reading the
memos is this is these are water mains
most of them are water mains in the back
of the or in the Alleyways correct yes
yes through the mayor uh vice mayor
Orlando
um as we move through our prioritized
water main Replacements throughout the
city uh the next ones on the list are in
the area of China Boulevard Alma School
in that area and in those neighborhoods
in the day they would build uh water
sewer and essentially all utilities were
run down the alleys and so as the water
mains age and we need to replace those
it's virtually impossible for us to re
uh to reinstall the water mains in the
alleys because of all the other utility
obstructions so it's been our practice
to move those pipelines from the alleys
out to the city streets on the other
side of the home so to the front side of
the home
and it is a typically difficult because
oftentimes it requires us well every
time it requires us to run the service
line then from the front of the house
where the new main is around the house
and then back and plug it back into
where the uh where the water service was
originally and so they're time consuming
they involve a lot of community outreach
a lot of coordination with property
owners and so it's uh it's difficult
project but in the end what we we have
is a water main a new water main that'll
be in place for hopefully 75 to 100
years the streets get redone and
everything goes back to normal and and
uh
and obviously that's why you need the
property of the permission of the
property owners as well as potentially
potentially buying and easement if
necessary
in these types of projects in the design
process oftentimes with many projects
that we have we might uncover a piece of
land that is uh fee ownership in the
right-of-way that is kind of a
straggling piece that wasn't purchased
years ago so we at times have to pick up
that piece in the right-of-way and and
purchase that we also have right of
entries that have to be done and signed
with every single property owner as we
go through so there's an awful lot of
real estate work that needs to be done
along with these projects as I said
right of entries often easements some
property purchases where the pipeline is
is needed it might be as I said it's
just a small sliver of property along
the way that comes along during the
design process and so this memo in front
of you this evening is just to give us
the authority to act on those as they
come as they come up during the project
okay one of residents asked me earlier
today is how can we can't just attach
which was a good question by the way and
I didn't think about it but I figured
you have a good answer for it how come
we just can't attach
to the uh the new pipeline to the front
of the house
and then tap off the original cut well
that would be a great thing to do except
it would require re-plumbing of the
entire house because all your plumbing
um emanates from a single single spot in
the home so there's a manifold coming
into your home that's where the pipe
plugs in
and if you want to do it differently
that would actually require work inside
the home to physically re-plumb
and you know that would be a whole
different project at least with this
project we're just re-running a pipeline
around the outside of the home and
plugging it into its original place but
to do it differently would require
re-plumbing of the home inside fashion
that's good good answer I knew you'd
have one I'll get back with our red and
say John saved you five thousand dollars
right
all right thank you mayor
any additional questions on the center
all right thank you and our last item
called in also by vice mayor Orlando
item number 19 having to do with
contracts and agreements
administratively approved yeah mayor I
got my answer today it was even though
it was the same contractor it was two
separate statement of works that's why
it was divided up the way it was divided
up because it looked like it was just
one large thing to buy you know but yeah
I got my answer on that so okay thank
you
um Council on Thursday we have one
action item which is adopting the fiscal
year budget tentative budget a public
hearing an action item but also tonight
we have a briefing and discussion
brought forth by council member Poston
having to do with group homes and recent
actions by the the state arizonian
response to fraudulent Arizona Health
Care Cost Containment systems
ahcccs claims leopal
thank you
one second here to get up
PowerPoint going
to see that okay
good evening thank you mayor council for
having me here thank you councilmember
Poston for asking for information
I am sure that all of you have seen in
the news over the last really over a
little bit over a week now A continuing
story that develops every single day and
and literally the information changes on
a daily basis
and so I wanted to just provide you a
little bit of information on how what
the city is doing with this particular
situation
foreign
so officially on May 17th Governor Hobbs
did release information held a press
conference regarding the situation with
Sober Living homes in particular what
has been really it's a better
investigation that's been going on since
2019 and has to do with fraudulent
billing primarily for Sober Living homes
and really as early as January of 2020
the FBI became involved in this and
started investigating some of the
catalysts for that was missing
individuals from Native American
populations from different reservations
the stories are that there were bands
that picked up people in Farmington and
Gallup up near Window Rock Tuba City
brought them into Phoenix put them into
what were deemed as Sober Living homes
and started billing for treatments some
of the people have been missing
literally from their families and
everyone that's involved in this
situation seems to have been enrolled in
the American Indian Health Plan which is
billed to access and it is a fee-based
planned which rather than a managed plan
which was part of what allowed the
fraudulent activity to occur
so um this is like as I said this has
been an investigation that's going on
going on since 2019 and continues to go
on today
in Chandler we do have group homes as
you are aware a group home is listed as
a residence that has the five and
unrelated individuals we have different
categories we have our group homes and
our Residential Care Homes for people
with disabilities we do have a
registration process here in Chandler
there is a maximum occupancy limit and
for homes that wish to go over that
maximum occupancy or if there is a
there's also a distance restriction of
1200 feet there is an administrative
process for a waiver there is a
committee that looks at that process and
includes the police department the fire
department code enforcement of course
Planning and Development many different
divisions that are taking a look at
those that process and at those waivers
these homes may or may not be licensed
by the state or another entity and I
think that's an important point in
Chandler we have 276 group homes and we
have 20 that we're aware of that are
deemed as Sober Living homes and these
are homes that are registered as Sober
Living homes in Chandler
so where are we today well we we
received began receiving information on
this directly from the governor's office
and Solari who has been contracted to be
the first responder and or the first
intervention in this situation we
received information about a little bit
over a week ago immediately we started
researching what we were able to find
looking in our own database and then the
list of 102 agencies that have had their
license either Terminator suspended was
released once we got that list we
continued to research those specific
names we believe there are about a half
a dozen Associated homes in Chandler so
the navigation team had their homeless
navigation team has been brought up to
speed they are out monitoring on a daily
basis this is a homeless crisis
situation these are people who were
experiencing homelessness for the most
part and could be experiencing
homelessness again because of homes
closing down
we know that again Solari has been
contracted as that first line of
intervention they have about 250 hotel
rooms they've been able to secure across
the valley to be able to put people into
homes and it looks like so far they've
put about 85 people or into the hotels
about 85 people into the hotels
Community Bridges is also contracted to
go ahead and have services that are
provided with the people that are
putting being put into the hotel rooms
so our navigation team is doing what
they do on a daily basis they're out on
the streets looking for people who are
experiencing homelessness We are
continuing to monitor the homes that we
are suspecting might be part of this and
to see if we have any individuals that
become experiencing homelessness because
of it to date we've only had interaction
with one individual and that actually
was this morning
and we will just continue to monitor as
information comes out of course we will
work as we do really on a daily basis
with our police department and our
police department calls us when they
find people experiencing homelessness we
certainly will be working with Planning
and Development as far as the group
homes themselves are concerned and just
continue to really be there to provide
humanitarian Aid should anyone in
Chandler be impacted we are having
contact with Solari on a regular basis
and Solari will call us if there are
Chandler residents that are impacted as
well
and with that I will entertain any
questions
first council member of Poston questions
or comments
um Leo one I just want to say thank you
for taking this on I know this is a
large project that got dumped in your
lap a little bit you didn't have a whole
lot of control and the city only has so
much purview over the group homes and
and
um could you speak a little bit to you
know and thank you for all the
conversations we've had we've talked
about the idea that there are a lot of
layers to this um there are a lot of
organizations involved and there's only
so much communication that you're
getting about you know where these homes
are and whether these people are have
been released so
um one thank you and could you talk a
little bit about the fact that you know
this didn't just happen last week and
it's done by this week this will
probably be going on for a while
um as well as the idea that
um you know how many people do we think
that we have here versus other parts of
the valley or how many of these homes
here versus other parts of the valley
because I I don't want to scare people I
know that we don't have a lot of them
here they you know compared to maybe the
west side of the valley but it's still
an issue and these are people that are
part of our community and then finally
the transportation issue I know that you
know we may need to be providing
Transportation or someone may need to
provide transportation because many of
these people are very very far from
their homes and their families yes sorry
that's a lot of questions you need to
excuse me through the mayor
councilmember Poston yes um as you said
this is a developing story and we're
getting new information all of the time
we based on the research that we have
done we we found that there are layers
upon layers of LLCs that are involved in
the ownership of the homes and that's
part of the reason why it's been
difficult to identify for sure some of
the homes and
um there may be more than a half a dozen
we're just not sure but we continue as
we find names of companies or names of
owners to try to research that we will
absolutely if we come across someone do
the first thing we will try to do is
connect them to appropriate services and
reconnect reunify if that's appropriate
with family members the Navajo Nation in
particular has a crisis team set up and
they will do Transportation back to any
member of the Navajo Nation Community we
certainly would work with other
reservations and and we do serve
clientele that come from other
reservations into Chandler from time to
time we have relationships with some of
the surrounding areas because we do
serve people who end up moving to
Chandler from reservations but their
services may still be tied to the
reservation so we have familiarity with
that and we'll continue to try to
reunite people with again whether it's
services or family or whatever is most
appropriate if we are in the need of
assisting with Transportation that's
where we use our change up funds those
are funds that we are able to do a bus
ticket or whatever it might be to get
somebody back to wherever they came from
we always though we will always make
sure that there is we know where the
person's going it is confirmed that they
have a place to live we never want to
transport someone to somewhere else and
find them homeless in their new
situation so we always make sure that we
have confirmed location for them to live
a living situation for them to go to if
that happens what we have heard is you
know there's over a hundred agencies
that are on the list we know that it's
over a hundred homes easily we've heard
the estimates it could be people in the
thousands of people that are impacted by
this
um it will continue to go on for a long
time the investigations are continuing
there's a full audit that will be taking
place of all the buildings since 2019 so
I imagine that will take some time and
it'll just be something that we will
continue to monitor as it plays out for
probably months
thank you and then you would we Chandler
does have a registration process
um are we finding that these homes are
registered or not and if not then what
happens
through the mayor councilmember Poston
the ones that we've identified we have
not found that they are registered with
the city as we would do with any
home-based business that is not
registered through the city we have a
process where we would send an inspector
out and we will go through our normal
process in that situation
okay well thank you and I don't want to
give the impression that um you know we
we have plenty of group homes out there
doing good work helping the residents in
our community there are just a couple of
Bad actors and I just want to commend
you and your Navigator team for doing
what you do if you didn't have that team
in place I'm sure we wouldn't have been
able to react so quickly so I really
appreciate that thank you thank you
mayor thank you and I have to thank the
mayor and Council for the support you've
given us on having the navigation team
because you are absolutely right it's
because we had such a robust team in
place that we could respond so quickly
so thank you for that
councilman Bareilles
thank you mayor I would like to make
sure that people understand as they're
listening to this that there are
different categories of home you may you
superficially mention them but the
assisted living homes
um are totally different than the Soviet
living homes those assisted living homes
which I had owned 19 of them those are
licensed by the state of Arizona and the
department of health services and they
are monitored by that department on a
yearly basis to keep their license and
they are obligated to register in the
city that they are and because they need
to have fire code they need to have all
other things the question that I have at
this time for you I know that uh this is
throughout Arizona it has been happening
specifically I just sat down with a
council member of Avondale they're
seeing a lot of issues in their own City
I did not realize that uh Chandler had
12 of them at this point because I do
know some Southern Living here in
Chandler that are registered also with
the city and they are doing an amazing
job and note a lot of people that have
gone through there how many do we have
that are registered compared to the ones
that are not registered
through the mayor councilmember LSU are
exactly right there are different types
of homes and in particular this
investigation seems to be centered on
the Sober Living homes there are 20 that
are currently registered with the city
of Chandler we have identified at least
six and possibly a seventh home that are
associated with the fraudulent cases and
none of those are registered with the
city of Chandler okay I appreciate that
it's important for us to know again
because of my background with Behavioral
Health I understand the fact that once
those people are picked up from the um
the reservation and they are brought
into those homes what's been happening
there are no care planned for them and
and I think from the beginning on 2019
when this was happening I was in the
front of it I I didn't know that you
needed to be involved or anything like
that but I have been in front of it
because I had sat down to work with some
of the people that are doing the
investigation in how to approach it to
make sure that that they get the
information informations that they
needed to pursue those who were
illegally running those homes thank you
again for being proactive and to really
putting salaries out there number one to
make sure that those are people are
finding their way home and sometimes
it's it's even harder for them to go
back home and if they decided they don't
want to go and that we will have a
safety net here where we can actually
help them transfer to a more a licensed
well-run other facilities appreciate you
thank you
got to remember Harris
yeah um thank you so much for the
presentation thank you council member
Poston for bringing this forward and
staying on task with this this is
important issue my question is that
councilwoman Ellis had already just
mentioned that there were six homes that
was in Chandler that was expected that
was a part of the fraud
um have we since then what have our
actions been in terms of those
particular homes and then how do we
identify that it was six from Chandler
through the mayor councilmember Harris
we took the list that was released
released by the state of the clinics and
and again most of what we're learning is
that most of the billing is taking place
in a clinic setting but the clinics have
unregistered homes where they are
placing people so what we did is we ran
the list that has been suspended or
terminated through our database of
ownership in Chandler and that's how we
were able to identify that there these
were homes that were owned by the same
entity and then went back to our list of
registered homes and found that none of
them were on that list what we do is
we've been sending the navigation team
out again we want to make sure that
we're not impacting neighborhoods by
people basically being displaced and
wandering neighborhoods and so the
navigation team is monitoring from that
standpoint we have found at least a
couple that appear to be vacant Homes at
this point and then we have some that
appear to be active and so we will just
continue to Monitor and as I said we
have had contact with one individual to
date were these homes rental homes or
does the owners know do you know the
relationship between the tenant and the
owner
through the mayor council member Harris
us what I did find is the ones that we
have identified were all listed as
rentals okay and then my last question
would be to you um is that my
understanding that in terms of this
fraud was happening at a higher level a
lot of the mid-level individuals or the
you know the spin-offs of many did not
know that the fraud because that that's
one thing I wanted to make sure I put
out there is that a lot of the fraud was
at a higher higher level it wasn't
always the spin off of multiple of
multiple homes so they could have their
LLC could have been mentioned in it but
it could have just been a spin off of a
spin-off but they're able to track it a
little bit easier because this is
Medicaid raw in terms of billing and
things like on that nature but it was
unfortunate to to hear about the reports
of possible
people being taken out of their homes or
being picked up off the streets and put
in places and and things like that and
so thank you for your work let us know
how we can support uh and um and and
um we will work together as a community
to get through this thank you
vice mayor
um thank you councilmember post for
bringing us up I certainly appreciate it
so and Leah thank you so I I guess I'm
struggling here
I hear a dozen or so homes that's
impacted by this investigation
what's happening to the residents in
there
who's caring for them
and what is really going I hear you say
monitoring but what's going on with the
resident that's more important to me
right now than the legal aspect all the
other activities happening
and I apologize if I missed it but help
me understand that through the mayor um
vice mayor there actually are what we've
identified as six potentially seven
homes specifically in Chandler and at
this point it appears that a couple of
them are vacant okay you know all we can
do we we're we're treating this as a
humanitarian issue dealing with
homelessness and that's where my team is
coming involved with it so we're
monitoring for people who are being
displaced and put in back into
homelessness as a result of the
suspension of payments to these homes
and so that's what we're doing right now
is we're strictly monitoring we don't
have jurisdiction to do any enforcement
of whether or not
invited I guess my question is who's
doing that who's actually going to the
home and saying there's five people in
this home
and they have to leave or what's helped
me understand what's what's the
mechanism for those individuals
through the mayor vice mayor my
understanding is the reason that people
are being displaced is because the
payments to those homes are being cut
off okay and those homeowners or
companies are immediately displacing
people to the street there also is the
2-1-1 system that has been set up for
people who encounter someone or is
looking for a family member we know that
they're getting about 250 calls A Day
based that are related to this issue so
I think it's a combination of things we
also have understood that the way that
some of these homes have been identified
was when there was other illegal
activity happening or there have been
deaths that have occurred and so the
course the police department is
responding if there's a crime or someone
dies and in through that they're
determining that some of the homes and
and then the police department is
turning it over investigation to the FBI
or whoever the appropriate Authority
would be so it's a combination of things
it's a combination of the state
suspending and terminating license It's
a combination of law enforcement and the
FBI being called out for various reasons
and then again from our standpoint it's
if people get displaced or experiencing
homelessness that's when we're coming
into it all right yeah it seems it still
seems squishy here I try to figure out
who in the state is actually
showing these homes down and going in
there and saying let's move these people
what's the what's the mechan well can
you get back with us if you find more
information I know this just happened
recently but I'm really concerned about
it who's taking care of these people and
monitoring is one thing
um I'm just curious who's got the point
on this I guess
through the mayor vice mayor um
Orlando's Solari is the point when there
is a home that's determined and so we
are in communication with Solari if they
come across only Chandler residence
state will be contacted Solari is the
one that's engaged from the standpoint
the state empowering to do some of this
stuff I'm now I now I got to connect the
dots thank you I appreciate that you're
welcome a little slow today but we got
it now council member posted
thank you mayor just to clarify and to
build off what the vice mayor was saying
you had mentioned earlier there are some
homes that have been identified but it
looks as if there are still residents
being cared for in those homes
is it would is it accurate to say that
those residents would just be displaced
at any particular notice that there's no
one actually coming in informing you
when those homes have been shut down or
when those residents have been released
on the street it's just sort of
happening at some point when they
potentially aren't the group home isn't
getting their payment anymore that it
could happen at any time through the
mayor council member Hosten that's
exactly right that's exactly what is
happening as the investigations continue
people get suspended or terminated they
are shutting homes down and displacing
people we've also understood that there
are some homes that are trying to
re-license under other types of
Licensing so it's it's a very convoluted
situation and it's one that will just
continue to develop and we're just there
to respond if we start seeing people get
displaced
so at this point your team is just kind
of keeping an eye on those homes just to
make sure and see if if they just happen
to have people that have been displaced
from those Homes at any given time
through the mayor council member post
them that's exactly right what we don't
want to see is that all of a sudden five
or eight or ten people are displaced on
the street and literally are sitting out
in a neighborhood with no place to go
right which is why this would be part of
an ongoing issue and isn't going to wrap
up anytime soon
that is correct okay thank you mayor
thank you Leah councilman Bareilles
thank you mayor uh
the question that was asked concerning
who is at that highest level to even
shut those homes down and doing things
like that it would have to be accessed
because they are the one who have given
the contract to the clinic and then the
clinic then find those homes or the
owners of the homes and place the people
in them and then supposedly the clinic
is the one who has to manage the care of
that client so at this point the third
party payer which is the home is going
to go back to the clinic and say come
and pick up your clients because if you
are not paying me because you are not
getting paid from access so therefore I
can't continue taking care of your
patients so that's where the loop is
it's going to have to eventually go back
to access for access to deal with those
clinics that access have contract with
eligible contract but it's those clinics
now that have to really answers why do
they go into bed with these homes
knowing that they are not going to
continue to provide care for those
clients at those homes I also heard that
those homes in order to keep those
clients there that are picked up from
the reservation they provide them with
drugs they provide them with other
things so they don't run away so that
they can stay there is that are there
any of the one in Chandler truly you
know because they also believe in they
want to drink they want to continue and
go out and get drugs the monitoring that
we are doing at that level where we are
we all cannot be any further than that
so when our Navigators are encountering
anybody that they encounter are we
seeing those people are still abusing
alcohol or they still abusing drugs
through the mayor council member Ellis
as we've only encountered the one person
um I will say that the one person was
appeared to be intoxicated so in that
situation yes now that person wanted to
go into treatment so hopefully that will
be the situation and the person will
begin detox again but that's the again
that's the only one we've seen we have
heard the same stories we never heard
exactly what you're saying that when
some of the homes there there isn't
there is no Services being provided
they're drugs and alcohol and again just
like what all of us are reading in the
media those are the stories that we have
heard as well and so our goal here as a
city is not to make the situation worse
but it's not really to fix it either
because that's out of our hands and the
only way that we can actually interfere
in this kind of like system or what's
going on right now is to just make sure
as you said we are there as a safety net
to help those who were already homeless
not becoming homeless again and then try
to access care for them if they're
willing because it's it's really fee for
service and it's also they have to want
to be served in order for us to provide
the care for them through the mayor
council member Ellis that is correct and
then reunification if it is someone who
came from another place came from
another state so Liam going to ask that
you just keep us posted we're we're just
repeating the same information but and
you've shared what you know so if you
please just keep us posted with us and
uh we look forward to seeing how we can
support uh you and the team to support
our community so thank you thank you
that's all of our agenda tonight and
Thursday we'll be back for our consent
agenda again the budget and uh what
other item so have a good evening look
forward to seeing you all on Thursday
that concludes our meeting