Thank you for joining us. It is September 17th, 2025. We'll begin with an invocation from Rab Rabbi Letov. Almighty God, we turn to you at a time of increased anger and division in our country. This coming Monday evening, sorry, this coming Monday evening, Jews around the world will be ushering in the holiday of Rashashana, the Jewish New Year. Our sages teach that the Jewish New Year is not celebrated on the anniversary of the creation of the world, but rather on the anniversary of the creation of mankind, of Adam and Eve, on the sixth day of creation, not the first day. Almighty God on Rashashana you remind us that the world was created for human beings. We matter. It is each of us that you call upon to help make the world into a garden. It is each of us who can reveal your divine essence in every moment and every interaction. Russia Shana reminds us that the world has meaning that each of us is an integral part. And when even one is lacking the entire world is incomplete. Lord people face difficult lives and often look to the legislature to solve them and to bring them happiness. But no legislature, no politician can do that. Even if every individual were to receive the laws they desired, it would not bring true happiness. For happiness comes only from you. You have ordained governments among people, but their function is to secure the inalienable rights with which you have endowed us. Life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. Happiness itself they cannot provide. They can only remove obstacles to its pursuit, and more importantly, take care not to erect new and greater ones. The best they can do is to leave people free to live their lives and pursue their goals as best they can without unnecessary interference. What each person does with that freedom rests in their own hands. Lord, please guide our mayor and council members through this difficult time. Keep them mindful of their duty to you, to the people they serve, and to one another. Grant them the courage to take measures that protect those in need, and the wisdom to resist the temptation to punish out of vengeance or hate. Remind us, oh God, that we can debate ideas without demeaning one another, that we can disagree, without despising. Help us to focus on what we share in common, even as we wrestle with what divides us. Let us remember that unity does not mean uniformity, but rather a deep respect and love for one another as your children. May each of us reach out to one person we might not otherwise have spoken to, whether across the aisle, across a desk, or across the street. And through these small steps, may we together merit a year that is not only sweet, but also filled with peace, understanding, true unity, and renewed love for one another, and achieve the goal so powerfully stated in our pledge of allegiance, so that America is truly one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. And let us say amen. Thank you, Rabbi. Our vice mayor will lead us in the pledge of allegiance. I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for it stands one nation under God indivisible with liberty and justice for all. [Music] I'll now recognize Councilman Jim Wearing. Uh thank you, Mayor. Uh, Mayor, I'd like to request a moment of silence for Charlie Kirk, who died last week in an act of senseless and horrifying violence. Thank you. Thank you. We condemn political violence in all its forms. We call the council meeting to order. Roll call. Councilwoman Wardado. Councilwoman Ernnandez here. Councilwoman Hodge Washington. Councilwoman Pastor. Councilman Robinson here. Councilwoman Stark here. Councilman Wearing here. Vice Mayor O'Brien here. Mayor Ggo here. Mario Barahas and his team are here to provide Spanish interpretation. Mario, would you introduce yourself? Yes, mayor. Thank you. Good afternoon. My name is Mario Barahas and I'll be serving as one of three interpreters that we'll be having today. Two downstairs, that would be Elsie Dwarte and Oscar Monroy. And I'll take a moment to introduce ourselves to our Spanish speaking residents. Oscar Monroy. Thank you, mayor. Thank you so much. I'll now turn to our city clerk to read the 24-hour paragraph. The titles of the following ordinance and resolution numbers on the agenda were available to the public at least 24 hours prior to this council meeting and therefore may be read by title or agenda item only. Ordinances number G7416 through 7419, S52256 through 52296 and resolution 22329. And will the city attorney explain the role of public comment? Yes. Thank you, mayor. Members of the public may speak for up to two minutes to comment on agenda items. Comments must be related to the agenda item and the action being considered by the council. General comments that go beyond the scope of the agenda item should be made during the citizen comment session at the end of the agenda. The city council and staff cannot discuss or comment on matters related to pending investigations, claims, or litigation. Additionally, any member of the public who appears before the council in their capacity as a lobbyist must, as required by Phoenix City Code, disclose this fact before addressing the council. The city code states that speakers must express their comments respectfully and courteously. Use of profane language, threats, or personal attacks on members of the public, council members, or staff are not allowed. Such comments are disruptive and unrelated to the council's business. Any person who violates these rules may lose their opportunity to speak further and could be asked to leave. Thank you. We'll begin with the meeting minutes. Council Gordado, do you have a motion on item one? Motion to approve item one. Second. We have motion and a second. All those in favor say I. I. Any opposed? Counciloman Pastor, do you have a motion on item two? I move item two, uh, the formal minutes on, uh, June 4th, 2025. Second. All those in favor say I. I. Any opposed? Motion passes. Vice Mayor, do you have a motion on boards and commissions? Yes, mayor. I move to approve mayor and city council boards and commissions nominations. Second. We have a motion and a second. All those in favor, please say I. I. I. Any opposed? We will now conduct a swearing in ceremony. Congratulations to our new commissioners. Please raise your right hand. I and then state your name. Susan Morris do solemnly swear do solemnly swear that I will support the Constitution of the United States that I will support the Constitution of the United States and the Constitution and laws of the state of Arizona and and the Constitution and laws of the State of Arizona that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same and defend them against all enemies and defend them against all enemies, foreign and domestic. foreign and domestic. and that I will faithfully and impartially And I will faithfully and impartially discharge the duties of the office of discharge the duties of office of state your board human trafficking task force according to the best of my ability according to the best of my ability. So help me God. So help me God. Congratulations commissioners. Thank you. [Applause] Thank you to our new commissioners. They will advise the city on our fight against human trafficking. The city council provides an advisory role to the state of Arizona on liquor licenses, offtrack betting, and bingo. That's the portion of our agenda item to which we will turn next. Vice Mayor, do we have a motion? Mayor, I move to approve items 4 through 28 except items 13 and 14 and noting that item 13 is as revised and item 19 is as corrected with the correct address of 251 East Indian School Road. Second. What? We have a motion and a second. Any corrections? All those in favor, please say I. I. Any opposed? Nay, we'll next go to item 13, which is a liquor license in district 4. I will turn to Councilman for Pastor for a motion. Yes. I wanted to know if the applicant is here. So, could you please explain what you'll be uh could do you want her to come forward to the microphone? Yes. Okay. Would you please come forward to the applicant? Please come forward. So if you would go in the back then around All right. To be clear, this is for Champagne Cafe and Lounge, correct? Okay. Thank you. I'm sorry. What was your question? My question is, uh, you were applying for a liquor license and at one point it was called, um, Champagne Hookah Lounge or the So, what happened to the hookah? Yes. So, I was a resident of Parkley Apartments, which is directly across from the strip mall where the hookah lounge was. And I was a I guess you can say um a customer. Sorry, I'm nervous. Um so, when they went out of business, I did take over a lease and my idea was always to have a Caribbean restaurant. Um me and the landlord thought maybe we did like the first part of the name being Champagne. We are a restaurant, but it is a big mimosa type of environment these days. So, we wanted to kind of call it mimosa um cafe and lounge, but we wanted to kind of keep the champagne part. So, I have nothing to do with the hookah lounge. So, will there be a hookah lounge in there? There is absolutely no hookah lounge in that. It's a restaurant. Okay. Thank you. Mhm. Thank you. And then we have Anner here as well. I'm good. Thank you. Um, my name is Annne Ender and I um am a homeowner in the Westtown Amen which is in the area of this of the applicant's restaurant and I think that the applicant has all good intentions and we really appreciate that. But what we've gone through is we're still organizing and and so we we on us we came into understanding this late and our concern there's three concerns. One the proximity of this um lounge what it is today to two schools Osborne Middle School and then the schools. The crime in that area um as we know is not and no one from PD is here to discuss it but it's not good. um we see a lot of open drug sales as well as drug um use. So we as um a neighborhood association and as residents and homeowners would like to be able to work with applicants like this. My concern with her building is there's no window on it. Um so it's not necessarily inviting for a neighborhood or uh residents to come to. So, um I'd ask that you either um deny it or maybe continue it if possible so we can all work together on something like this. Um we'd really appreciate it and I appreciate you thinking about it. Thank you. I'm going to ask staff um I had asked these questions because we did receive a email um from Jessica Flores with some of her concerns and uh one of the concerns was uh where the application was was located or the restaurant was located and near a school and could you please answer the question about having a liquor license near a school? Yes. Thank you, Councilwoman Pastor, mayor and members of the council. This particular application, as stated earlier, is for a series 12 restaurant license. According to ARS4-207, it indicates that the restaurant is not considered when uh looking at the distance from a school. So, what I'm understanding is that this liquor license is a restaurant liquor license and it's not a full I don't know what the the actual license would be called, but it's not a full complete bar. Correct. Yes. And then when you receive this type of liquor license, you have to have uh so many restaurant sales in order to have this type of liquor license. That is correct. Yes. Okay. Um the understanding that I have is that uh you looked into the applicant the the liquor license and that you the department had or the liquor group uh said that it was uh meant for approval. That is correct. Uh, Councilwoman Pastor, mayor, members of council, this particular application did go through the full review process of all of our departments, including the police department, uh, who recommended approval of the application. Okay. So, um, if I can ask the applicant, I just want to ask about I drove by there because I drive by there often. Um, what I noticed, cuz I know it as a caravan lounge, uh, what I noticed is that someone had put a window through the brick, and that's that's the establishment you're speaking of. Yes. So, when she said there wasn't a window, that is correct. We have been I did send out emails to as many people as I could, and I believe she may have had access to contact me. I wish she would have. I'm a very, very kind and open, laid-back person. I'm very honest. Um, we did get recommendations from some of the people I spoke to in the community and they said a window would be nice and I put a window in two days later. So, the it's a full restaurant of course like I said with the mimosa being the champagne part. Okay. Thank you. Um, my motion is uh a no recommendation. uh this will go to the state and then there they uh people can um those that oppose can go to the state and write why they're opposed but we're just a authority recommending body a recommending body so I'm I'm making the motion of no recommendation did you say why I you can I no recommendation because of the uh concerns that the community has and the email that I have. It will now go to the state and the state will determine if you get a liquor license. We're just recommending. Second. We have a motion and a second. Roll call. Ernnandez. Sorry, what's the vote? The motion is for no recommendation. Yes. H Washington? Yes. Pastor, yes. Robinson, yes. Stark, yes. Wearing, yes. O'Brien, yes. GGO, yes. Passes 90. Thank you. Thank you. Item 14 is also a liquor license in District 4. We don't have any speakers for this item. Councilwoman Pastor. Yes. My my This one is also um I did receive some items, so I will be making a motion for no recommendation. Second. We have a motion in a second. And just to confirm, the applicant is not present. Roll call. Yes. Hernandez, yes. Punch Washington, yes. Pastor, yes. Robinson, yes. Stark, yes. Wearing O'Brien, yes. GGO, yes. Passes 90. City clerk, are we ready for ordinances resolution new business planning and zoning? Yes mayor. Vice, I think. I'm sorry. Are we doing this? Let's do the omnibus and then Okay. Wait. So, let's do we'll do the omnibus motion now. Okay. Let's do the omnibus. Um motion to approve items 29 through 84 except for the following items 40 41 45 46 47 51 53 64 76 and 79 through 82 noting that item 48 is as corrected. Item 58 is continued to October 15, 2025. Items 83 and 84 are atom add-on items and also need to exclude item 83. And can the clerk confirm if there are any other items that should be excluded for in-person public comment? Yes, mayor, vice mayor. Also excluding items 55, 59, 62, and 84. That's items 55, 59, 62, and 84. Second. We have a motion and a second. Roll call. Yes. Hernandez, yes. Washington, yes. Pastor, yes. Robinson, yes. Stark, yes. Wearing, yes. O'Brien, yes. GGO, yes. Passes 90. And next, I'll turn to the vice mayor for a motion on the order of the meeting. Mayor, I move to suspend the rules to take item 83 out of order to be heard at this time. Second. We have a motion and a second. All those in favor, please say I. Any opposed? Nay. Nay. Thank you. by a vote to 8 to1. We will take the employment agreement with the city manager item 83 next which is a very important opportunity for the city of Phoenix and we are so appreciative many people are here today on this item which is a potential agreement with Ed Zurker to return as city manager. We will begin with public comment with Mike Huckkins alaijac event avent. Good afternoon mayor and council members. I'm Mike Huckkins on behalf of the greater Phoenix Chamber. I am registered to lobby on behalf of the chamber uh for the city uh here today in support of this agenda item. Uh we all know that ED is a known entity and during these um politically and otherwise uncertain times, we believe that the um council and the city needs a steady hand to guide us through these uh uh these coming uh years. Uh we've always found Ed to be fair and reasonable. Um he hasn't always agreed with us, but he has always listened. So everybody has their faults, I know, but he has always listened. Um and that's something we find incredibly important um in a role like the city manager. Um, you you all know Ed through or all of us, I guess, know Ed mostly through his time here at the city of Phoenix, but I can attest during his time at the Maricopa Association of Government, he's proven himself to be able to work with different cities, different other government entities. um during his time there, especially during the negotiations at the legislature on Prop 479 when I think we all wanted to pull pull our hair out. Um Ed was steady and steadfast through that, kept his calm and ultimately got the outcome that we needed on that specific. So, uh we urge you uh mayor and council members to approve this item and get Ed back to work for the city. Thank you. Mr. Avent is next followed by Leonard Clark. Good afternoon, Mayor Galgo and city council. My name is John Cavant. I'm a retired deputy city manager of Phoenix, and I'm here today to support the approval of Ed Zurker uh appointment. Uh I've known Ed since he first came to the city as a management intern. One of the first jobs he took after his internship was as a management assistant in my office. So, he and I worked very closely together and I got to know him very well. He early demonstrated the kinds of skills that the successful managers in Phoenix have demonstrated over the years. He's smart, but he recognizes that other people are also smart. He's a great communicator. He cares for people and he treats them with respect and fairness. He's inventive. He knows how to uh fi find ideas and utilize them to be more effective. He seeks ways to say yes as often as possible, but he's also able to say no effectively. I've watched Ed grow and progress from a management assistant to the city manager. He has uh a proven record as a city manager over for over 30 years and he has refined and developed those skills and utilized them extremely well. Today we're in a volatile and uncertain kind of period and it's a time for stability at the top of the city leadership. I think the appointment of Ed is very important to the city under those circumstances and I urge the council to approve. Thank you. Leonard is next followed by Chip. Hello, my name is Linda Clark. Hey, I want Ed back. I've come here for a lot of years and giving you folks a hard time. Sometimes I give you positive comments when Mayor Stanton was here. Now our congressman and I remember Ed. Yes, he did, you know, did some things that maybe I didn't agree with, but he seemed to be fair, uh, calm, and that's what we need now, you know, to act civily. So, uh, bring Ed back. Uh, deja vu all over again. Maybe we can bring back some of the the better times. Thank you. Thank you. Chip Mulans is next, followed by Maria Tine. Good afternoon, Mayor and members of the council. My name is Chip Malins. I serve as a board member on the Support Sky Harbor Coalition. We're a nonprofit dedicated to support of the support of Sky Harbor and its neighbors. We do this through education, advocacy, and outreach. As a longtime member of the coalition, I'm pleased to be here in support of this item. Before I continue, I'd also like to recognize city manager Jeff Barton. Uh his partnership and leadership has been invaluable during this tenure, and we thank him for his service. I also want to share my support for Ed. Through my work with the coalition, I've known and worked with him for many years. during his previous service to Phoenix that has guided the city through some challenging and most successful times. I'm confident he'll once again serve our city with excellence and we look forward to working with him as we continue advancing this mission of our organization. Thank you. Thank you. Maria is next, followed by Dom. I'm not quite as tall. Good afternoon, mayor and mayor, members of the council. My name is Maria Tine, and I am a proud to be on the board of the Friends of Transit, longtime board member of Friends of Transit. Um, our organization is committed to helping the community understand the value of transportation and the sustained investment in such. Um, transit is an essential part of a balanced regional transportation plan that connects people, strengthens neighborhoods, and creates vibrant, sustainable communities. Um, as Chip also did, I want to thank um, Jeff for all of his work and years of commitment um, to the city of Phoenix. Having worked with Jeff um, during my time at the city of Phoenix, I know that he has been an incredible leader um, and want to thank him for his service. I'm also here in support of Ed Zurker. Um, as a former city of Phoenix employee for many years, um, I also had the opportunity to work with transit w with Ed. So, as we work talk about transit, God, I get nervous after all of these years of not being in front of council. Um, having worked with Ed for so many years, um, we saw his commitment towards transit, um, with transit 2000 and then with transportation 2050 and again through his commitment through MAC for Proposition 479, Ed has really led led transit and has shown his passion throughout the years um, for moving people through our community and providing such an impact. So, I am highly in support of Ed and I know he will continue to bring that commitment and passion back to the city of Phoenix. Thank you very much. Thank you. Mr. Papa is next, followed by Mr. Crowley. Good afternoon, mayor, members of the council. My name is Dominic Papa. I'm the senior director for the Phoenix Community Alliance representing more than 300 business and community leaders connected to the future of our city and specifically downtown Phoenix. It's a pleasure to be here today with so many familiar faces. We stand here today representing PCA in our strong support in the decision to reappoint Ed Zurker as city manager. At a time when there has been significant transition and change, what the city of Phoenix needs most is stability and trusted leadership. Ed is exactly that. He's a leader who knows this organization, who knows this community, and who has already demonstrated the dedication and steady hand required to keep Phoenix moving forward. For the business community, Ed is not an unknown quantity. He is a proven partner. Our members have worked with him extensively over the years and know him to be responsive thoughtful and collaborative. Those trusted relationships matter. They provide confidence to our business leaders that their city is in capable hands and they reassure our residents and investors that Phoenix is not missing a beat during this transition. Ed's reputation for integrity and his ability to navigate challenges with calm, steady leadership will provide this ability that our city and by extension our business community needs right now. On behalf of the Phoenix Community Alliance and the business community we represent, we thank you for the time to be here today and we strongly support Ed Zurker's reappointment as city manager. Thank you. Thank you. Mr. Crowley is next, followed by Diane Barker. All right, we'll take Diane Barker and then Mr. Crowley, who's registered as William Charles Crowley, but I I it's so formal. Thank you, Blue. I hope this makes you look better. Right. Uh, mayor and council, my name's Diane Barker, and I've been a transit writer in our valley for half of my life. And Ed Zurker has um, you know, been over at MAG for a couple years. And I think the people like him over there. I know when he came in, I was promoting. Ed Ed is good at bringing government people together. Now Ed might not want to hear what I have to say is because, you know, I've known Ed since 1993 and at that time he was a what? Deputy, you know, in learning everything. And Bob Mcnite was an activist. He actually ran in a race against Stanton and he liked Ed and he thought Ed should become city manager someday. But as speaking with Ed, I think he's a go along get along and all of you love him. Everybody that have said everything further before me has said yes for Ed. But I want you to consider this and I'd like I think Ed would consider it too when it comes to really hard issues. I confronted him in Deon some years ago about being hidden in an intersection and it was a light rail issue. Ed has led a long history of being advocate for light rail and I believe he protected the streets and that against the truth and the police that made a false statement and said that I went out in the intersection and ran into this two-tonon SUV that hit me. Now, my attorneys, I lost my attorney because of that false statement. And that false statement was from somebody in the police department from Homeland Security. Mr. Crowley is next, known to most of us as Blue Crowley, but registered as William Charles Crowley, followed by Nancy Lamb. They should have had the third on there, but we'll just leave it. Um, I'm not going to be saying praises because I don't see them. Uh, I have a document here from the paper. Report says Arizona city is among the worst for pedestrian safety. We're listed number four with 29.5 fatalities per 100,000. That's on his doorstep. When it comes to transit, if you're talking about light rail, boy is he there for it. Because when it comes to the Prop 400 monies, how much did they take for rail and take away from the bus? Since I was the bus person, I know that onethird of the bus didn't get done. Now, with the city of Phoenix, how about this one? When it comes to infrastructure, and we're also going to be talking about MAG, there are 900 bus stops without a shelter. That's infrastructure. And your plan is to do it over the next 10 years. What about the county? Oh, there's,00. Well, with all the monies that came in, where did it go for the bus? Oh, it went for the rail. when right now I believe that if you do the audit of all the monies that came in, how much went for the bus, how much went for rail, it was supposed to be divided that uh the bus was not going to be abused in that. And when I look at it and go, wait a minute, where where's the Lichfield bus? Where's the twothirds of the system that get didn't get done? Where's the 2,000 bus stops? Well, that wasn't his priority. His priority was the light rail when they took 91,000 or 91 million while you were on the board away from the bus. And where' they put it? In the rail. Thank you. Nancy is next, followed by Luke Black. Good afternoon, mayor, council members, and fellow community members. My name is Nancy Lamb. I work with Board in Action, who works with many of our community members on the west side. The community feels blindsided with the decision to rehire Ed Zurker as city manager. Our voice was not consulted or included at all. Why was this item added to the agenda the day before council meeting with no processes or forums for opportunities for the community to ask questions of Ed to see if he'd be the right fit? Other city's city manager hiring processes often involve multiple rounds of community forums from all different parts of the city. Under his tenure, there were at least 187 shootings by police and at least 113 people killed by police shootings. According to the Department of Justice investigation to Phoenix PD, the Justice Department found that Phoenix PD and the city engaged in a pattern or practice of conduct that violates the US Constitution and federal law. These include the use of excessive force leading to death, unlawfully citing and detaining and arresting people experiencing homelessness, discriminating against black, Hispanic, and Native American people when enforcing the law, violating the rights of people engaged in protected speech and expression during during the 2020 protest against the murder of George Floyd, and falsely claiming that 15 protesters were members of a criminal street gang, as well as discrimination against people with behavioral health disabilities when dispatching calls for assistance. We urged the mayor and city council to reject Ed Zurker as city manager and do a full search and hiring process for the city manager, including multiple rounds of community forums to gather input from all parts of Phoenix, especially centering the experiences of our black, brown, indigenous, Asian, and other communities of color and letting us give substantive input and voice in the selection process. Thank you. Thank you. Luke is next, followed by Jackie. Uh my name is Luke Black. I'm a resident of the city of Phoenix in District 7 and I took the afternoon off to be here. Uh for the last two weeks, I've watched this shameful city manager hiring process unfold. Everything has been done in secret. Community input and staff input has been avoided and we are now here watching council force Ed Zurker on us. This is unacceptable and shameful. Additionally, this clear abuse of power comes at a critical moment when we are watching this country deal with white supremist violence. We are watching fasc fascists run all over our constitution and we are watching people who stand up against white supremacy be targeted by the right. In the last few days, two black individuals have been lynched and PPD has killed four people since the new chief took office. And we just witnessed a moment of silence for a known fascist who promoted violence and white supremacy. This is the moment in which this council has moved to bring Ed Zurker back. Ed oversaw the most violent years in PPD history. Those years span the George Floyd uprisings, uprisings against police violence that reinforces white supremacy. The action of returning him to this council sends a clear message to this city that we are returning to prioritizing white supremacy. I do not accept that this whole process reeks of white supremist intentions and I reject the idea that Ed's return is a return to civility. His entire history illustrates the exact opposite. I ask council to reject this move to bring ed back. Vote no and let's get this process correct. The city deserves better. The staff deserves better than this move towards white supremacy. Thank you. Thank you. Jackie is next. Jackie Alcarz followed by Cynthia Gonzalez. Hello, we can hear you. Okay. Um, let me not only disagree but despise the decision to reinstate Ed. If we condemn all political violence, Kate, then why reinstate Ed? And Jeff, the city manager and Julie the city attorney are in on this, too. All those fancy board members and former co-workers with cushy jobs have ulterior motives to support their own interest and investments. Ain't stuff sweet. I am a member of the AAB 18 who was charged as a gang member compared to the Hell's Angels, the Wamper Centers, and a Mexican gang. As a George as the George Floyd protest that summer erupted, this Phoenix PD response was clearly clearly just racist. And in my unique experience in back of the cop car, I saw them copy and paste charges on my arrest record. You can still see the insert here on my arrest record. Through the all overwhelming cooperation and ulterior political motives are at work. Y'all should be ashamed of yourselves. What a time in this city. Never learning better. never doing better. And this is a part of growing trend to give activists criminal records. Just wrongful arrests and civil li liberties being violated time and time again. And in my personal experience, I was doxed. My information and picture of my face was r readily available to right-wing extremists who meant me harm. racist biker games and the Proud Boys became a daily part of my routine. And not only this, but the audacity after the council's dealing with the DOJ report, that three-year long investigation, that scathing report opened in 2024. I'm just I'm not surprised. Cynthia is next, followed by Roland. Hello city council me me me me me me me me me me me me me me me me me me me me me me me me me me me me me me me me me me me me me me me me members and mayor Ggoer protected the deadliest police force in the nation. He defended cops who colluded with macro prosecutors who falsely charged the protesters as you just previously previously heard from someone who was directly targeted and you want to reward him with another chance to ruin the city. What message does that send to the black, brown, and indigenous people who have been targeted and caged in this moment in time, especially after you all just praise and the Hispanic Heritage Month, this goes widely against it. If you're going to be performative, then this is the wrong move to make. If you're actually going to be for your constituents, then you should oppose this as as Ed has proven to support one of the deadliest police in the nation that has targeted black and brown people just for exercising their first amendment rights. Please oppose this. Thank you. Mr. Harris is next, followed by Jolarios. Hello. Hello. Can you hear me? Yes, we can. Okay. Um, I just want to speak real quick. Um, I know that the city council already has a decision made. You guys are going to vote yes. There's going to probably be one no on voting Ed back in the office. But, uh, I just like to say this. It's time that the city of Phoenix stop rewarding uh failure and quitters. Uh Ed failed this city already once. He proved it. And when the heat got hot in the kitchen, he uh quit on the city and the and his position. And I just think that you guys should put a person in position there at that office and that city manager's position that's not afraid to sit down with family members who lost loved ones to the city of Phoenix and the police violence here in the city of Phoenix. Someone who's not afraid to sit down with these coalitions and have hard conversations. And I personally think that you guys are overlooking a person that should be in that position and that's Lorie Ba. I do not think that Ed is uh the person who needs to be there. He's already showed you guys that he fails it when he fails this community. He quits when the community is there and he doesn't have want to have any hard conversations. Um and I think Lori should be the person who dares she not afraid to sit down with victims of uh police violence to try to come up with new policies and procedures to prevent those type of violences happening again. And I think that's what the city needs. We need to start being proactive to this police violence instead of being active afterwards and trying to make amends afterwards. Let's make a change and let's make it to where it's not going to happen. And uh Ed already showed that he could care less about black or brown people in this city. And the city council by putting him back in position is showing that they could care less about black and brown people in this city. And that's all I I really have to say. Thank you. Thank you. Mr. Polarios is next, followed by Jose. All right, Jose is next, followed by Vanica. Vanica, hi. Is this uh Can you hear me? Yes, we can. All right. Wonderful. My name is Jose Ananka. I am a resident of uh Phoenix. I've lived here my entire life. I've also been a firsthand uh witness and victim to the unfortunate um incidents that led to the Department of Justice having to actually uh investigate the uh Phoenix Police Force. And I believe that it is a disgrace for us to have the conversation of having him rejoin as city manager. I think that we should be moving forward as a city. I think that we should be looking towards new talent, people who can actually draw the trust and the encouragement and admiration of the people that are most impacted. And um I believe that there should have been an opportunity for a fresh analysis and fresh take on who could actually step into this role versus handing it to someone who had to step away during a portion of time in which we were being lambasted at a national level for how terrible our police handle things. Thank you. Thank you. Vonyie is next, followed by Karen. Oh Hi, this is this is Bonnie. I I am opposition I am in opposition against Ed Zurker being rehired for Phoenix Council. Just to confirm, uh, you can hear me, correct? We can. Okay. I am in opposition of Ed Zucker being retired for Phoenix Council. He retired back in 2021 and as the past speakers have said before me, he he's aiding Phoenix PD and MCOA in violence against black LGBT and brown communities. Sorry, I'm in my car right now. I also want to add that the speakers before me spoke eloquently about the violence that Ed Zurker has been perpetrating on our communities. That is all I have to say. Thank you. Karen is next. Can you hear me? We can. Hi, my name is Karen Olsen. I'm a citizen who works and lives in Phoenix District 4 specifically. and I am here in opposition of Ed Zurker's rehiring as city manager um to uplift a lot of the folks who have talked before me um and to comment on people coming for Ed's character. I think these are one and the same. If we are only wanting to create a space for certain people, you are doing it very well, Phoenix City Council. And you're doing it over and over again. It is extremely painful for you not to trust that we could grow, that we could change, that we can make this actually a place where we try to take care of everybody and when we don't, we can be accountable to it. There's a lot of words that were mentioned over this time I've been listening in over the last 5 years plus um of which we've talked about Ed's character being stable and trustworthy. But I ask you all stable and trustworthy for who? I find it very interesting that I choose to come on WebEx and that the video cut out when I saw that one of the council members uh council member Waring stood up and left. Is he even listening? I think it is your responsibility to honor that you are not the seat you sit in. Your seat represents more than who each of you are. And all you are showing is that those seats are only for some. White supremacy is horrible and you are upholding it when you do not listen to your constituents when you make it hard for them to have access. That they have to have privilege in order to be able to even be in this space to be heard, to be listened to. do better. Do not Thank you. Uh Mr. Larios has rejoined the meeting. So Joe Larios will be our final speaker. Okay, we do not have Mr. Larios. Okay, that concludes our public comment. I'll turn to the vice mayor. Mayor, I move to enter into an employment agreement with Ed Zurker for the position of city manager. Second. We have a motion and a second. And now we'll move to council member comments. I am pleased to support Ed Zurker to be our next city manager. I've had the privilege to know Ed for many years. He loves Phoenix. He loves its history, its people, its diversity, and its promise. He was the right person to lead us in the past when he helped us get through the great recession, some of the most difficult times for our city. But what matters much more is he is the right person to lead us into the future. Phoenix is one of the fastest growing cities in America and not by accident. We are a city built on innovation and technology and are home to some of the most important companies in America. We're home to some of the smartest and hardest working people out there and our city government has made significant progress on a host of issues. But we also have significant challenges ahead. There is uncertainty in our economy. Chaos at the federal level and a meaningful number of departures from our executive teams. Ed is up to the task. What we get with Ed is not only a world-class municipal leader and innovator, but a person of high character who epitomizes what it means to be a servant leader. He has also inspired a sense of public service, collaboration, and care for community among all city employees. Ed started his career as a teacher and has continued in public service because he finds value and meaning in improving the lives of others. We are fortunate to add this special talent to our already excellent executive team. Councilwoman Hernandez. Thank you, Mayor. Um, actually before I start, I just want to be mindful of all the concerns that we've heard from some community members and outreach that the district 7 office has received. um over the concerns of how this process and how we landed on voting on this item on the agenda. Um I also have my own concerns. So I would actually offer up a substitute motion that we table the vote on this contract until our next formal city council meeting on October 15th. Second huh? Second. Right. We have a second and we have a motion and a second. Uh would folks on the council like questions to make comments or would we first take would we like to first take a vote on the motion on the table vote? Okay. So the motion is maybe not to table but to continue it to October 15th. Sorry Mary. Yes. My motion my substitute motion would be to continue this item 83 on voting on a contract uh to reinstate Ed Zurker as city manager to our next formal council meeting October 15, 2025. Okay, thank you. And I will be opposing this motion. We already have a date of departure for our current city manager who is doing a great job and I think for continuity and planning, I would love to move forward today. Anyone else like to comment on the motion on the table? All right, roll call. Yes. Hernandez, yes. Washington, yes. Pastor, yes. Robinson, no. Stark, no. Wearing no O'Brien no GO no fails four to five so we return to the original motion to enter into an employment agreement would anyone like are we should we go straight into a motion and I'll recognize No I'm up for questions all right um okay I have a few questions for uh legal and Ed if he's on standby Hi. Um, okay. First, Julie, have a few questions for you. Um, was a city manager position description ever given to council? Um, mayor, members of council, council member Hernandez, you're asking if a legal description or a description of the scope, a a position description that would provide publicly the scope of the duties of the city manager. Was that ever given to council? Not that I am aware of. Okay. Thank you. Um, how was it Ed identified as a person interested in this role? um mayor and members of council. Um I I can't speak to all of the history of that. I wasn't involved in that. Um but we did have an ex a couple executive sessions. Okay. Thank you, Julie. Um my next question is what steps were taken to include resident or staff input to identify the quality sought in the new city manager? Uh, mayor, members of council, I'm not aware of any uh, community input prior to to this meeting. Okay. Thank you. Um, what opportunities were provided for any internal candidates that were interested in this position to compete for this position? Uh, mayor, members of council, so uh, we were not directed to, uh, do any kind of process to have, uh, interviews. Okay. Thank you. Um, what questions? Sorry, what qualifications did a council identify as critical for this role? Uh, mayor, members of council, I'm not aware of, uh, receiving any kind of list. Okay. Thank you, Julie. Um, what questions were asked of Ed in his interview process? So, mayor, members of council, there was not a formal interview process. Okay. Thank you, Julie. Um, how did or I guess was any rubric or scoring system used in the in uh identifying ed as the right candidate? So, mayor, members of council, council member Hernandez, I'm not aware of seeing any kind of rubric. Okay. Thank you. And my final question, well, um, the next question is who proposed the terms of his contract? Uh, mayor, members of council. So, my understanding is that the direction was to um have the contract be similar to what Jeff's current contract is. Okay. Thank you. Um I have a question around the retirement system because I know that has been a big topic. Uh city policy, specifically AR 2.92 clear clearly prohibits retirees from being rehired into the same role with the same duties and authority. Um, ignoring this rule erodess the legitimacy of this of council decisions and shows the public that those in power can bend the rules for insiders while holding everyday people uh not to the same standards. Uh, legally, how are we rehiring ED? So, mayor, members of council, we consulted with an outside attorney in reviewing the charter and code provisions as to those questions. So, while I cannot get into the details of the legal advice that we received and that's been discussed with council, um I can say that city council has the authority under the city charter to appoint the city manager. Thank you. Um, you know, in the retirement piece, one of the biggest concerns is he's retired, coming back into the same role, obviously. So, there is a concern with double dipping publicly. Like, can you answer how he how can can he come back into the retirement program? Um, and is there any double dipping that's happening? Oh, Mayor, members of council, council member Hernandez, the contract contemplates um and again we we checked with outside council on this provision that um Mr. Zurker would come back, he would suspend his current pension and he would enter back into the city system. Okay. Thank you. Um and my last question for you, Julie, is is the city at risk of any legal action u moving forward with this decision today? So, mayor, members of council, the city is always at risk of of legal action. Um, I'm not aware of any any specific legal action. Okay. Thank you. Um, and I have a few questions for Ed if he's available. Thank you so much. Um, want to provide a little context to my first question. Uh during your first tenure as city manager, Phoenix experienced its worst years of police violence. Um we heard earlier that there was at least 187 shootings by the police department and at least 113 people killed by police shootings. Um this does not include other in custody deaths. Uh Phoenix ranked highest in police violence twice under your tenure. Um and there were multiple scandals involving law enforcement, which we all know of, right? we've heard of um including um violations of f first amendment rights at the Trump rally in 2016, civil rights violations during the 2020 uh uprisings, the fake gang charges against residents that were exercising their first amendment rights. Um my brother Alex was killed by a city of Phoenix police officer under your tenure and under your watch. Um all of this violence and scandals ultimately led to the department of justice investigation investigating the police department and the city for patterns of practice in um various areas. Um and this al this all happened right under your leadership as city manager. Um and you know my concern is that you left your role at a time when all of this was happening. Um, and it sounds like we might be seeing the same return of some of those scandals unfolding. Um, what has changed in your approach to policing and how will you use your leadership to prevent another pandemic of police violence? Thank you, Mayor, Council Member Hernandez. Uh lot a lot there to unpack but I would say you know the the Phoenix Police Department was recognized in 2016 by the Department of Justice as being one of the best u trained police departments in the United States and then as you noted for the last half of the 2010s uh we experienced in the country uh waves of violence uh and incidents in the Phoenix in Phoenix and other places. We spent a lot of time uh in those in those years working on reforms in training in tactics in policies with many of those things were changed along the way. Um by 2020 and 2021 as you noted we were in the pandemic and others and then you mentioned the um the gang charges and others. I was the one who initiated the investigation of those things. I hired the outside law firm to come in and give us an investigation and independent view. I took their recommendations and reports. I used those to administer discipline where I thought it was warranted and we used it to begin many of the reforms that um we are seeing today and I would commend you on the reforms that you just heard last week um and that Jeff and his team have been overseeing. So, it was something we worked on every day. It was very concerning to me. I felt like we were addressing it uh along the way. These are these are changes that have to be made over time and slowly. I take them very seriously and I would want to continue the direction that the council and Jeff and his team have set uh for the continued reform and accountability of our public safety. Okay. Thank you. Um since the new chief has tooken office, there have been four officer involved shootings um since that time. That's obviously very concerning to myself as a a family member, someone impacted by police violence um and community members that reach out and have their own concerns. Um what steps will you immediately take to curve uh to curb this new wave of police violence we are seeing? Again, thank you. That the um the issue you rais is one where I think you you what I learned is first I have would have to get all the information and facts about it. I don't have that. Uh so you have to understand what's going on in each particular instance and then you need to just work each one of those issues and find what are the opportunities or or failures if there were any and how do you address those and how do you institutionalize those changes. I would just observe that from what I have seen from what Jeff and Lori and the team have put together and what you all have supported that that that list of reforms in place I think is going to be very effective. It's a continuity of reforms from the past and it's going to continue that into the future. It just takes long slow sustained pressure to to move a big organization like the city or like the police department. But what I've observed is the policy direction that you have and the the reporting that Jeff and the team have put in place I think are going to get you where you would like to be. Okay. Thank you. Um nationally we are seeing ICE invade communities um and tear families apart including here in Phoenix. Um our current city manager and our previous and current police chiefs um have both both vowed to not collaborate with ICE directly. Um, but we also know that ICE is in the MCA MCSO jails. Um, and every PD arrest is subject that subjects the resident to an could subject that resident to an ICE um, and put them in deportation proceedings. Um, furthermore, Trump is trying to invade US cities and putting federal troops on our streets. Um, our current city manager and police chief have both vowed to not allow that takeover to happen under the current administration. Um, will you commit to continuing to not collaborate with ICE? What I what I commit to is to continuing to follow the policy direction of the council and if that's what the current city manager is doing and that then my continuity in that is important. The city manager is the what is the position that's changing not the council. So the direction the council has set is the direction that I would continue. I hear you. But if how can I trust that as an individual and the city manager that you really believe in that policy? Can you commit to you as yourself, not at direction of the council, but you as a city manager not collaborate with ICE? Yes, to the extent that I'm following the law. Yes. Okay. Um, can you commit to pressuring MCSO to remove ICE from their intake process? I, you know, I think that is a policy issue for the city council that I would follow the policy direction of the city council on that. Thank you. Um, will you commit to resisting Trump's takeover of Phoenix and his use of local police if we see that happen? Again, I'd have to understand what the legal issues are around that. I will follow the law and I'll follow the direction of the council. Okay. Thank you. Um, you know, housing is a big issue for not just Phoenix, but so many cities across the state of Arizona. I think you understand it from the MAG perspective of all the data around evictions that happens um in Maricopa County that really affect our Phoenix residents. It's a nationwide problem. Uh, can you commit to work or will you commit to working with council to increase housing opportunities across the city? Certainly. I think that's a a huge issue as you mentioned at MAG. We've done a lot of work on that regionally and a lot of that work actually has been informed by the work done by the city of Phoenix. When I was city manager, the first housing plan was done. I know the city is continuing that work and so the region's plan has been informed by the city and the city can continue to be informed by the region and I think we're going to make great progress on that. Okay. Thank you. Um have just a few more questions. Will you commit to a transparent labor negotiation process? And I asked this because um I have, you know, I ve I I value our most of our labor unions in a very high regard and really want to make sure that they are being able to help us run the city on a day-to-day basis and those are a lot of our employees, right? Um can you commit to or will you commit to working on on a transparent labor negotiation process? Yeah, thank you for the question. I I value all of our labor unions. They are the legally authorized representatives of all the m vast majority of our employees. They have an important voice in that. And so it's critical that I and the city continue to work transparently with them. Uh you know within the bounds of the the city charter about how contracts are negotiated. Absolutely. And I've heard I've heard from the council that that is a high priority to uh establish or to continue uh and and further establish good positive high communication with our employee labor unions and I would commit to that. Yes. Okay. Thank you. Um and you know economic times are a little uncertain right now. Uh I think the forecasts pro highly probable that we will go into a recession um at some point in the near future due to the current administration's actions. Um if we if that happens and we go into a recession and the city has to make cuts to balance the budget, um do you commit to looking at cutting police budget over cuts to service delivery um or staff in order to balance the budget? No, I wouldn't commit to that because I can't make that commitment. That that is a direction that the city council would have to to um issue. It's not my personal belief of what should or shouldn't be cut. It's what the council direction is in that. And so, but I will tell you I I've I worked through I I I mentioned I think I've at least five of the eight years that I was city manager, we were in recession or recovery from recession. So, I had experience with that. And I also take a second to say uh great thanks in that to Jeff Barton. Um I'm only here today because Jeff is is taking his retirement, but Jeff has done an incredible job and you should feel very pleased with the financial position that he and his staff have left the city in and and have the city positioned for. So, I'm really confident that, and I'll dig into this more with Jeff if the vote uh affirms me to I'm confident that Jeff has set up positively for the future finan financial u pathway, but I I can't commit to say I'm going to do any one thing or another because that sort of direction is strictly the city councils. Thank you. Um you know, I take my role very seriously. in our previous interactions, you I think you would say that your belief is that I take this role very seriously and the commitment that I make to my residents is to always fight for them. Um, and there are things that they're going to expect that they they sent me here with the mandate to fight for. Um, and so those are non-negotiables for for not just for me as an individ as a council member, but really as for my entire district and my entire community. Um, and those are things that I would not accept for any city manager to um, impede or block from happening. Um, and if that happens, you know, I will fight for my community. That means doing what I need to do to get the votes to remove the city the city manager from their position, right? Um, and those are things that, you know, you've already heard. The police reforms are are critical importance to me for a lot of reasons. Um we there's so much work that is underway. We've come a long way and we have a long way to go and we're not, you know, we can't go back on that. Um and I know it's not they haven't went as far as a lot of community members want us to go, but there is movement and so that's an area that we absolutely cannot backtrack on. Um I agree with you on that. Okay, good to know. Um, also, you know, a lot of different programs and and departments have developed over the last few years that are critical to bringing community safety to our residents. Um, the CAP program, OAT program or the OAT office, um, the OHS office, uh, and the OHRM office. Those are all of utmost most urgent to make sure that we do not, um, that we make sure that those are in place moving forward. Um those are essential from my view to really creating safety across not just in district 7 but across the city of Phoenix. Um community other community developments in district 7, right? Housing is is one of my biggest priorities um next to policing accountab police accountability. Um, so I would love to see that you're going to work with me and with other council members, but I speak for myself right now to make sure that district 7 has the go bond projects that are in the pipeline, future GOB bond projects that we can accomplish to deliver for for my community um and other projects in my district. So, just want to make sure um that that that I mention that. Um, and I think those are all my questions for now. Thank you so much, Councilman Robinson. Thank you, Mayor. Excuse me. You know, I'm going to start um by saying something about our current city manager, Jeff Barton. You know, a lot's been said. I wish Jeff wasn't leaving. Jeff knows that when he ruined my vacation and called me and told me he was leaving. Um, you know, I I feel very strongly about that. I've known Jeff for a very long time. He was a a young auditor on the um with the city and when we first met and Jacqu Cavan is over there. He was our deputy city manager at the time and Jeff has done a tremendous job. He has built on each of the previous city managers. So I had the privilege of working under Marvin Andrews, Frank Fairbanks, um what's his name? And then um than with Jeff and with Ed. And um you know I don't know that anyone has done a better job and I mean that sincerely. I do not want to see Jeff leave. He's made the decision to leave. It's his right. But I believe he has left us in a terrific position. And I say that because what's in front of us is going to be harder than anything we've ever seen in the city of Phoenix. And I've told the mayor that I'm not I don't want to be a part of a city council that has to lay people off. I don't want to have anything to do with anything like that. Which means we up here have to truly do a good job with whoever the next city manager is going to be. Now I um I try to make decisions based on all of the information. I did that through the time as a police officer and I've tried to do it in my time here on the city council. get all the information and make a decision from there. And the mayor knows this, so I'm not saying anything out of school. I was not was not a big fan of how we've gotten to this point. However, I give people an opportunity to explain why and where we're at and why they push a certain position. And upon doing that, I've shooken I've sh you know, shaken my head a few times to say, "Okay, I get this." may not be, you know, completely and totally comfortable with it, but I get it. And with that, I think it's really important that we as a council understand exactly what it is we are looking at. You know, what we need like Jeff Barton is a steady hand leading us in into the future. And I'm not saying that, and we're all sitting right here, that Lori Ba could not do that job. But what I am saying is Ed Zurker has been down that path and may may understand or be more prepared to lead us toward the future. It's a tough decision. However we go about doing it, I am comfortable with Ed. I have not always agreed with everything Ed has done. And I say that from my time with the police department. And I will digress for a real quick minute. I know people like to and it's their right to talk about police violence. In the history of the city of Phoenix, we've lost 45 Phoenix police officers. I knew 26 of them. So when you talk about police violence, please understand that a lot of times that violence is aimed at police officers. 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year, officers are out there doing a tremendous job. We may not recognize it, but it is acknowledged. And I think we need to do more of that because I don't want to see that number 45. I don't want to see it go up to 46. I don't want to see it go any higher. And I know that's a tough thing for me to wish for because there is a lot going on out there. And I'm happy that we have police officers who are willing who are willing to answer that call and to knock on that door and to chase someone or do whatever whatever it is they have to do. I think that's critally critically important. So, I wanted to kind of throw that in there and digress a little bit from what we um what we were talking about, but I thought it was important to say that I've had an opportunity to talk to Ed and what I have received from him is what I think is a commitment, you know, better yet, I think a promise about dealing with our employee groups in a more effective manner than he has in the past because I I have heard from I couldn't tell you how many people and I've been out of the country for the last two weeks and so my data storage on my phone went off the off the charts. But I've heard from probably no less than 30 people, text messages, phone calls, and emails about ver excuse me, various concerns that they may have um with Zurker coming back as city manager. I listened to all of them. I read a lot of them. I called a lot of people back, had opportunities to talk to them. And what I have asked Ed for was a promise and a commitment to reach out to those folks, to those employee groups. And like Mr. Zurker, I appreciate all of our employee groups. Um, I think it's important that he reach out and he has those conversations with them. If they're tough conversations, they're tough conversations, but my expectation is that he does that. My expectation also is that concern of employees who have reached out to me is that he'll be bringing people with him and things like that. I've gotten a promise, an acknowledgment that there's no such plans like that. and what he is here to do to help us prepare for for the future. Which means really preparing our current staff for those future jobs so that the next time you know there's any opportunities for our employees, you know, they are properly prepared for that. And again, that's not taken away from anybody, but Ed's been down this path before, and I think it's important that um he has the knowledge and the experience and the acumen to continue down that path in a positive way that Jeff Barton has kind of set up for us. So that that commitment from Ed is important to me to our employee groups, an acknowledgement that the best employees in the world are City of Phoenix employees, that we're going to do everything we possibly can. And I don't want to I don't want us to be in a position if we don't do the right things because we have a great deal of talent in this room right now, across the street, in the building right next to us. We have a great deal of talent in all of our employees. I really and the commitment I've gotten for from Ed is that we're going to acknowledge that. We're going to work with that and I think any concerns that folks may have need to be understood that they're probably, you know, rumors and whatnot. I just don't see that happening. But um I will be having further I'm sure as all of us will if this if if Ed is confirmed I'll be having further conversations with him and making sure that he understands where I'm coming from. And I look out not just for the residents of District 6, but for all the residents in Phoenix and all the city employees because I think it's important that they have a voice. I think they do through their employee groups. I think it's equally as important to have people speaking for him on this on this council and Ed has acknowledged that that's important to him too. So with that, mayor, thank you for the time. I do appreciate it and again I want to thank Jeff Barton for his um unwavering commitment to the city of Phoenix. All that he has done. He has made some really tough decisions, but he's kept us in a place that, you know, we're in a good place right now, but as had been mentioned by the mayor and others, a lot is happening these days and a lot is probably going to happen. I think it's critically important that we have someone who can do the job as Jeff did the job and move us forward as an organization. So, Mayor, thank you for the time. I do appreciate it. Thank you, Councilman, Vice Mayor, and then Councilwoman Stark. Thank you, Mayor. First, I want to acknowledge the outstanding service of city manager Jeff Barton, whose retirement this November marks the end of an exe exemplary career dedicated to our city. City Manager Barton has been a pillar of leadership, consistently navigating complex decisions that protect the city's financial stability while increasing essential services for residents and being forward thinking in streamlining city policies and regulations. Thank you, sir. Phoenix faces a critical moment. We are losing not just an exceptional forward-thinking city manager and Jeff Barton, but we are saying goodbye to other key leaders with decades of experience and institutional knowledge. At a time like this, we need a leader who can can and will hit the ground running. That's why I believe Ed Zurker is the right person for Phoenix now. Ed has deep roots in our city. In 1993, he began as a management intern and over nearly 30 years, he took on roles of increasing responsibility, public transit, budgeting, deputy leadership, and ultimately serving eight years as city manager. Under Ed's leadership, Phoenix weathered the aftermath of the Great Recession, repaired budget shortfalls, and put the city on stronger financial footing. Ed Zurker knows Phoenix. He knows our employees. He knows our residents and he knows our challenges. His familiarity with organizational structure, financial systems, community partnerships, and ongoing initiatives means that city business will continue without interruption. I'm confident that Ed Zurker's return will provide the leadership our city needs as we continue building on the strong foundation established under Jeff Barton's tenure. It is my commitment that we as a city will continue to be forward thinking. That means having the difficult conversations when necessary to benefit our public safety family, our most vulnerable populations, and streamline government efficiencies just as we have done for the last four years. Together with Ed, we will keep Phoenix moving forward. Thank you, Mayor. Councilwoman Stark. Thank you, Mayor. Um, first and foremost, I I do want to say, Jeff, thank you for everything you've done for the city. You've been such a great leader. I tried to keep you, but I don't blame you. I'm not sure I'd want to work for the nine of work with the nine of us. Good. You've done a wonderful job. Congratulations on that. But we're at a a crossroads. And I will say that um I was a city employee during the great recession and I had a department that was over 500 that all of a sudden turned into 280. But the good news was no one really lost their job because city employees were willing to make the sacrifice. They took days off without pay. They saw cuts in benefits. They did everything to support each other. And I couldn't be any prouder than when I was the city employee at that time. And Ed was part of the leadership. And when I came back, we were still trying to get all the benefits back reinstated for our city employees and Ed did lead the charge during that process and I appreciate that. So, I know that you do care about city employees and I do care about our city employees as well because they do deliver services that we all depend on and they do it so well. Couldn't be prouder to say that I was once a city employee, but the city employees we have today are even better. They are great for our community. They are here to serve all of you and ED provides that stability. And I also think we have great leadership with Lori and Ginger and Amber and Allan and Inger. We really do have a great management team and I think Ed can help mentor them. You certainly mentored me. He used to be my boss and I thought he did a terrific job. So at this point I think he might be the right person for this time. But I know we have other great people in our city manager's office and I hope that you will help mentor them and hopefully we'll be able to say in the future that we had the first woman or first whatever we may get in the future, but I know you'll help mentor those uh folks and so I appreciate that. Jeff, again, I'm really going to miss you. Lori, I think you do a terrific job. our whole um city manager's office is terrific, but right now I think Ed's probably the right person for the job. Thank you, Mayor. Thank you, Councilman Wearing, and then Councilwoman Hud Washington. Uh thank you. Uh I appreciate Ed that you're here. Uh I will just say this first. uh for the idea that this was some sort of secret process. My whole involvement was it with it was one council person called me and said, "Hey, Ed Zurker might be interested in coming back." And I said, "That's great." And I called Ed Zurker and he said, "Yep, I might be interested in coming back." And I said, "That's great. Now here we are." So, I don't know what else went on with everybody else, but I didn't feel like I had to go out and put it on Twitter, some damn fool thing. I felt like that was your business and the process would take its course. Uh in 2021 when we hired the current city manager, I only remember having one conversation about it and that was an excellent conversation with Laura Pastor. I can remember where I was and it was a lengthy conversation and we had robust discussion and I'm sure there were others but I don't remember that and it was about the same time frame. So for those who think this is some sort of outofpocket totally crazy thing, I think it's exactly the same as what we did four years ago. I don't remember all the fault. The reason I mention that is because to be a city manager to borrow from that movie Taken, you really need a very special set of skills. If we hire Jeff, correct me if I'm wrong, a new airport manager, don't get upset, Chad, just hypothetical. There aren't that many people who can run an airport and then there aren't that many people who want to relocate to Phoenix or whatever to run the Phoenix airport and it's also hard to find somebody who can run an airport and then can oversee a police department and a fire department. And when we go hire water that took a while this time because you got to have a special set of skills. The city manager has to have all of those skills. So when someone tells me that someone who's done it for eight years and I worked with him during that entire time, I haven't known him the longest, that would be Kevin and Deb, but I've worked with him the longest in this capacity. There is zero doubt in my mind he can do this job. There was also zeros doubt in my mind that there are staffers on our staff currently who could also do the job. But I am cognizant as others have mentioned that a lot of people are leaving. One person who has not been mentioned, frankly to my surprise, and there is an excellent article if you want to find out more about her, uh Sean from the Republic wrote, and I think there was also one last year. Her name is Chris Mackey, our economic development director, and she's leaving. Phoenix is better for having her as a staffer here. She brought in a lot of projects that have really benefited Phoenicians. And she's going to be gone. And the person who worked with her the most, I worked with her a lot, the person who worked with her the most is Ed Zurker. The person who brought her in, I believe, is Ed Zurker. That was a great hire. Thank you for that. People, this is the kind of insider baseball that people are like, "What's this fool going on and on about?" But for those of us who work in this business, we know how important hires like that are. So, thank you for that, Ed. That was a gift to the city of Phoenix. And Chris, if you're out there listening to this, don't get a big head. Um, I'll just say this. We got to fill that void. And I believe Ed Zurker can do that. Um, I personally think this is the right hire at this right time at the right time. As I told the Republic, I appreciated the article where I guess I was the only one who talked about it, but they got the quotes right and kind of laid out why I thought this made sense. I still think this made sense. Um, I really appreciate the gentleman. I don't uh remember your name. I apologize, sir. He's in the second row. I guess Ed worked for him when he was a young pup here at the city. But I think his comment, I hope I get it right because I thought it was very elegant way to describe it. He said he'll find six ways to get to yes. And uh I forget exactly what he said, the fellow said, but he he said something about how uh he would explain why it's a no. So I would say Ed was incredibly responsive to me, but that did not mean he did everything that I asked him to do. There were many times where he's like, "You stupid nitwit. You only got one vote. It's yours." Like, "I'm not going to go do that." So, some of the questions up here earlier kind of indicated we wanted him to maybe go do stuff that might be borderline illegal or talk to other governments about stop doing stuff they're legally obligated to do. I appreciated that you didn't say, "Sure, I'll do that." That would be wildly inappropriate and wrong. So, we have to follow the law. Appreciate you mentioning that. Um, so I heard no many a time, but he also told me why in a very clear and concise way. And I appreciated that very much. I appreciated that kind of back and forth. Sometimes I was on the winning side and it took a long time to get there. Changing the dates of election, getting two rid of two lines of light rail. Nothing amused me more about this whole process than reading the article in the Republic that talked about how you were ahead of light rail and here I am championing you and your comeback because light rail isn't really my thing. The irony was lost in everybody else but amused me to no end. But when it came time to have a vote, a bipartisan vote to change how we were spending our transportation money, you didn't try to impede it, even though that had been your thing. So to my conservative friends out there, don't get excited that I'm getting the pro light rail kook into office again. That's not what the goal was. I appreciate the fact that your personal opinions, because that came up here, too, are not really important. They're important to you, I'm sure. I'm sure your family cares. I don't personally care. I just feel like if you follow directions and of this council and the law, I'm going to be well satisfied if you answer my calls and you can explain why you can't do something I'm asking you to do. I appreciate that. So, all I'm really asking you to do is be the same Ed that worked here for years before. I I thought you did a great job for the city of Phoenix. When I got that call saying Ed Zurker might be willing to come back, and the key word was willing, um I was really happy. my gut level reaction because it caught me cold. I wasn't expecting that. Sort of like a roar check test. What do you see when you look at the picture? I thought a better future for Phoenix and setting it up for a better future still going forward probably in a couple years. I'll be gone, but you know, somebody else will take over and um I I think ultimately uh I will have left if you're still here with the city in steady hands. Um, people have talked about, uh, you talked about, I think, five year, eight years. We're looking at tough budget times. And to Deb's point, I don't remember mass layoffs. I don't remember people talking about how terrible it was before. Uh, one member, I think it was Kevin said, you know, this could be the toughest times Phoenix ever faced. Well, I hope it's not worse than 2008. But if it is, you were here and helped guide the city through it. None of this is going to be new. I I thought about asking you like, "Hey, Ed, why don't you come up with the craziest scenario for the city of Phoenix that you can think of that you haven't already dealt with?" I'm not going to ask you. It's a hypothetical, but I know there's nothing that they're going to throw at you that you can't handle. So, I appreciate your willingness to come back and I'm sorry to take up so much time. Thank you, Mayor. Thank you, Councilwoman Hud Washington. Thank you, Mayor. Um I am probably one of two council members who have h had the opportunity to work directly with you. Um my concerns uh I have plenty of qualms my colleagues have heard of regarding the process but I respect democracy even in the even in our room. So if we have made the decision that this is a format we're going to take I want to ensure that there are certain things that I have an understanding from from you. Um to me one of the things uh is key in is key in understanding what will you do differently this time you have been in this role you've served in this role for eight years you're coming back to a different council composition you're coming back to a city with I think different needs and I'm curious to hear your perspective of what would be done differently this time thank you mayor councilman Hajj Washington I think you know uh what I will do differently is going to be determined by the circumstances because that governs it So you have my commitment that I'm going to be flexible not working from the past but working from the present from what's real now and what our options are. I think bigger picture. Uh, one of the things I've really come to appreciate in my time of being in the private sector and working at MAG and having some time off is again, and I I think I knew it intellectually, but it's just been more reinforced, which is the absolute uh key to any success we have is our employees. And investing in employees is everything that we we can do to be successful. I appreciate Councilman Robinson mentioning uh the past uh one of the things that happens with a city manager is you make a lot of decisions and for every one of those decisions there are people who don't care for them. There are people who do and you have to live with the consequences of that. In my time uh in the in the 20 uh 2013 through 2018 I had to be uh negotiating contracts that took pay away from employees and benefits. I also had the joy of negotiating all those back and then adding more. But that was all done because we needed to preserve services which I've heard is a high priority and preserve employment. Um so but but to come back to the question, it's really what I what I would would uh say is most different for me is again the appreciation the deeper appreciation of how critical our employees are to our success and to do everything to invest in them. I'm I appreciate that comment with respect to the it's probably no secret you're probably entering in if you were to receive the vote of the council you would be entering into a into a environment where there is some low employee morale given this entire process there are probably some employees who have felt overlooked and unseen in this process and how do you plan to build those to build strengthen those comm those employee relations that's a great question kind of follows in into what our conversation was earlier here when I when I started the job in 2013 2014 I think there was something like 40 to 50% of the department head and city manager's office positions were either acting interim or vacant and so I spent the first 18 months looking recruiting hiring people into those positions and among those was Jeff Barton and you see how fantastic that has turned out and I really appreciate the thanks being offered to Jeff because he deserves all of that for what he's done. So to me again identifying the team the team that's there and building from that where there are going to be vacancies as was noted we've we're going to have had five uh senior leadership positions leaving the city in a short period of time. Those all need to be filled. Um but that is that is how you build the morale is you give people opportunities. You give them uh you you listen to what they want to do with their careers. you find ways for them to be challenged. You give them the chance to step up uh and you support them when it doesn't perhaps go as well as everybody would have liked, but you also support them in picking themselves up and learning from the experience. And that's what you have my commitment for and that's what the 12th floor team and the department head team and all the city uh employees uh will have from me. I I do believe a core part of your responsibilities is would be ensuring proper succession planning for us um within the city. I also um want to give you an opportunity to respond to some of the opposition and the criticism that you've heard regarding individuals that question your um capacity or your your capacity for this role. Yeah. Again, I think as I said before um the that comes with the role of city manager is you are the final decision maker uh appointed by the council and every decision made has people who like it and people who don't like it. I respect that not everyone is going to like everything I do or say and nor should they because we all have independent thoughts and independ independent thinking but my commitment is I will try to make the best decision I have with the information I have in the best interest of the city and in service to the council and to the employees. Uh and so yes the the Phoenix Police Department went through a very difficult period uh and continues to work on that. But what I have seen is the work that we started and has has never stopped. And Mr. Avant will tell you back when he oversaw the police department in the 1990s, there was reform. There was change happening there. And that has that should never stop. It's it's like exercise. You don't do one push up and say, "I'm fit. I'm done." In in reform and in improvement, it's ongoing. You go at it every single day. And that's what I'm that's that's what I'm reading uh and hearing and seeing from the work that Jeff and Lori have done with you is we're after it every single day. And that's my commitment is to continue that every single day. We're going to try to get better. I appreciate that. I think you're coming into as a as an interesting timing and we've seen an increase in officer involved shooting and I think that is a a key area that we have to be reactive responsive to not just reactive to and I'm curious to hear your thoughts on how do we move forward that I know we already have as a council we've approved um certain reforms and we are imp implementing those but I think it is more than ensuring that the policy is documented on paper how does the policy become implemented and how do you view your role as city manager to ensure that occurs Yeah. So, several things moving moving a large organization like a police department with 2,700 officers doing things 247 365 in all sorts of situations. It it doesn't happen overnight. You have to continually uh push. You have to continually change. You have to continually encourage and move that. And again, what I've seen from the work that was reported last week is that is what is happening. And so you you have to examine each one of these incidents. You have to learn from them what you can learn and then you have to be committed to implementing that. And it has to be done cooperatively with the police and the community and it has to be accountability. And that's what I'm seeing. In fact, you know, the the work of the office of uh the oat uh group, that's what's happening. They're examining. They're reviewing what are we learning? And you have a whole series of those recommendations that have come out of that examination. That is, I think, the the way to continue to to move forward and that's what I'm seeing has happening and I'm very encouraged by that. Well, thank you for answering the questions that I have. I just want to close by saying to me uh my role is to advocate for the for the city of for my residents of district 8. There are certain priorities that we have outlined and have been working on since I've been in office, including Jeff knows what I'm going to say, fire station number 69. Um I'm consistent if nothing else. Um, and I want to ensure that I believe that we've seen a lack of investment in parts of my district and I hope that I would have your partnership to ensure and that we do continue the continue the needed investments in our area. Um, and I also want to say to Lori in front um I I the lawyer in me feels a need to defend her slightly. I think it is um it is a bit much for us to say we need a steady hand when we have had a steady hand in the absence when Jeff goes on vacation another role. So, I want to publicly say thank you, Lori, for all that you have done for us here at the city. And I thank you for that. And I would say one of the other great hires I made at the city was Lori Ba. Uh, and it's, you know, very proud of that. And she's proved that to be uh a great hire. So, I'm looking forward to returning to working with her and the whole team. Councilwoman Pastor, sorry. Um I guess what I like all my colleagues I'm not in line with the process and um there could have been a better way of handling this. Uh what I want to say is that uh I want to say the current city manager uh was was present in darkness. And what I mean by darkness is that when the DOJ hit along with Lori Bay and along with the council and many others in the behind the scenes were in the forefront of guiding us through the DOJ process. And to say that we don't have stability is not correct. We have stability. And I want to thank everybody that was in the background and behind the scenes helping us as we were guiding and as we were uh between us nine going back and forth and saying what is the best in this process? What is the best for our community? What is the best for police? what is it that we need in our public safety to have some guidelines, changes, and and items like that? And that happened. And I'm going back to the CPTI. And I go back to the CPTI because I was the lone wolf that sat and said, "Finish the three areas and points that we need." And one of them was Oat. And Oat was a pushpull me, but not only the council, but also with the city manager. And it was a pushpull me where we finally got to where we needed to get to recognizing we did need an office of accountability and transparency, not only for police, but also for the community. And so I struggle with this decision. And I struggle with this decision because of everything I happen to be present and have been able to uh craft and be with. Um and the decision really isn't I don't think in some of the decisions and the votes that are going to play out. I think you're going to hear it's about the process and it's not about the person. The other piece is that I feel I want to go forward in the sense that there are enough qualified women that could have led us forward and just in a reflection of women sitting up here. We have majority of women and I feel there was some succession planning under the guidance of the current city manager. It just may not be or they may not have the experience that you have had, Ed, because they were not in that place in time um to lead in that that way, but they were present at the city and saw and felt and knew in leadership roles what they needed to do. And so I really I this this vote is a really big struggle for me. Um because I also want to honor our labor. For whatever reason, labor is sitting present where they also want to move forward. I think in the time that the city manager and staff were here, they felt heard and they also felt like they could move forward in the items that they were advocating for. And so I am hopeful that they will continue to be heard and I am hopeful that we will continue and all labor units to make sure there's just pay compensation whatever it is that we're able to do it in some way or some fashion. Um, and I appreciate your work because you and I worked very closely on a lot of stuff. Um, I think you will be present uh as as we go for a vote and my intention is to work closely with you to continue to make this city as great and as bright and as vibrant as it can be and continue the growth and to support the labor that's present. So, thank you. Thank you. Are we ready for a roll call vote? Roll call. Everyone recognized to explain your vote. No. Hernandez. Mayor. Thank you. Um before running for public office, I spent over 12 years of my career in management and leadership positions. Um, part of my responsibilities included hiring individuals that would strengthen my team to deliver for our clients in the be in the very best way possible and who would strengthen our team and strengthen our morale. I take pride in knowing that I made it a priority in my role to keep my finger on the pulse of how my team was feeling because I would engage with them and constantly ask for feedback so I knew exactly what they wanted to see in their fellow team members. While I'm sure I could have easily made those hiring decisions completely on my own based on my own personal motivations, I never made that choice. While it would have been completely allowable or legally allowable, it wasn't the right thing or the ethical thing to do for my staff, for my clients, or for the business. As elected officials, we are looked to as leaders. But as as I ventured into political work, one of the biggest lessons I've learned is that not every elected official is a leader or makes decision the way I made decisions in my previous career. Today, we have to vote on a contract for a new city manager. This is one of the most important votes we take as a council. Our city manager is tasked to run the entire city on a day-to-day basis to ensure that they create the very best environment for our staff's morale. They also have to ensure they are working with all nine members of this council to ensure we can deliver deliver tangible solutions to our communities that will improve their conditions. The fact that we are voting on this contract in such a rushed manner should raise should be raising alarms for all of us. This process was rushed. There was a lack of transparency and a disregard for our city staff, for our unions, for our communities, and even for some of the members on this council. Instead, this decision has felt absolutely forced in a way that disrespects both our residents and our roles as council members. I cannot in good conscience vote for this contract to hire Ed Zurker. Over the last two weeks, a process has unfolded that lacks the proper vetting, the path for input from staff and community leaders. And now here we are being forced to vote on this contract for a new city manager. During Zurker's first tenure as city manager, Phoenix experienced its worst years of police violence. At least 187 shootings by police and at least 113 people killed by police shootings. This does not include other in custody deaths. Phoenix ranked highest in police violence twice during his tenure. There were multiple scandals involving Phoenix PD, including violations of First Amendment rights at the Trump rally in 2016, civil rights violations during the 2020 uh 2020 and 2021 uprisings, and Trump gang charges against residents exercising the First Amendment rights. All of this violence um and scandals ultimately led to the DOJ investigating investigations of Phoenix PD and this city, and he left his post under police scandal. This city is still being sued for what happened under his leadership. Under his tenure as city manager, my little brother and my best friend Alex was killed by a Phoenix PD officer. And while other members flippantly brush that traumatic loss off, it is something that I do not want any other family in Phoenix to experience. My Brother's Murder guides my work to ensure we as a city are doing everything possible to invest into people and the root cause of the issues our residents face that will build true community safety. Our city is once again seeing a rise in police violence. Since the new chief took over, we have had four officer involved shootings. Rocky Joe Ellis, Ephrain Dalgo, Ot Brooks, Nalwood, and a fourth unidentified person have all been shot and killed. This coupled with the very real threats of white nationalism and authoritarianism makes for a nasty recipe here in the city. We cannot let this violence continue and I have strong doubts that Ed Zurker is the person to lead this city away from more violence. I cannot stress enough how grave my concerns are for how this process unfolded. Community input and City of Phoenix staff input were completely omitted from this process. Instead, what was done happened in secret away from the public eye. That is shameful. This whole process has been a shameful example of poor leadership. I have serious concerns for the impact of forcing this choice on the people of the city and onto city staff. This action is disrespectful to those employees of the city and disrespectful to city leadership who also may have wanted to compete for this role. I am confident that we could have found our next city manager among some of the amazing individuals working under Jeff Barton's leadership. We are shooting ourselves in the foot and I am ashamed of this entire process. To all city staff, to the unions, and to the community that has demanded a voice in this process, I hear you and I stand with you. While some individuals on this council have ignored you and kept you out, I have heard you and I will continue to fight for you regardless of who the city manager is. I will not stop having your back. Colleagues, our city deserve deserves better. This is about more than one appointment. This is about whether as a council we will rubber stamp a process that where there has been a clear power grab and feels a little Trump-like in doing whatever it takes to for absolute control or whether we will stand with our communities and uphold public trust. I vote no. [Applause] Hajj Washington, if I may, mayor. Um, it's I have, as I started my initial comments, I have had qualms with this process all along. Um, I am actually still undecided as we sit here today. I'm actually still processing it. But I do believe that I don't I don't have enough I don't have information to say that Ed is not qualified to do this job. I also do not have information to believe that I don't have qualified individuals here in the city that could do this role. I will vote no simply because of the process. You uh one of the things that I heard was the vote of the city manager is the most important vote we will ever we take as a city council and I feel like I did not get the opportunity to do that in a way that addressed all of the issues and concerns that I have. So for that reason I will vote no. Pastor, no. Robinson. Mayor, if I could. Thank you. Um, I know the process has been of great concern to a lot of folks, but I think as Councilman Wearing pointed out, we've had other processes for the top position in this city where there the process was done rather um quickly without a whole lot of um involvement by a lot of other groups. And sometimes um as others have said, that's the way it goes. We're the elected officials. through the elected um body to make these types of decisions. There's a lot going on as I mentioned earlier and I've taken all of that into consideration and as I stated earlier wasn't real excited about the process but I get it and I think that's what it takes sometimes especially in these positions these leadership positions sometimes you have to um make a decision sometimes you pivot a little bit sometimes you do what you think is the right thing to do and in this situation I believe the right thing to do is to vote Yes, Stark. Yes, O'Brien. Yes, GGO. Yes. Passes 54. We're excited to welcome an incredible public servant back to the city of Phoenix. Thank you. We next go to item 40, amendments to the city's combined classification and pay ordinance. I'll turn to Why don't we pause for a minute to let folks depart? All right, I will turn to the vice mayor for a motion and comments. Thank you, mayor. I move to approve item 40. Second. Thank you, mayor. The This item establishes a new job title as retired Arizona police officer, school resource officer. It's an action I'm proud to support. When I first learned we had far more requests for school resource officers than we could accommodate, I refuse to let it go. We cannot ask teachers and students to settle for less than safety. And we should not ignore our retired officers who still want to serve our community. I work to find a solution, partnering with state leaders to craft a proposal that's innovative and fiscally responsible. With this new job classification, we're inviting experienced retired officers to return as school resource officers without losing their pension or creating an unfunded liability for the city. Our children deserve safe learning environments and our educators deserve support. By refusing to accept the status quo quo, we created a solution that strengthens both our educational system and public safety infrastructure. I will always look for solutions that enhance safety and provide for our men and women in blue. Thank you to everyone who helped make this possible. Assistant city manager Lorie Ba, our city staff, state senator David Gowen, who sponsored the bill, and Governor KBD Hobbs, who signed the bill into law. Thank you, Mayor. Thank you, Vice Mayor. These retired officers will have so much to contribute to safer schools and we are thankful they are willing to return to service. This item includes compensation changes in a couple areas and in honor of the fact that this is forensic science week, I wanted to celebrate that we will be upgrading compensation for forensic scientists and also creating a new classification that allows us to continue to promote people with great technical excellence who make such a difference for our community. We have a a pretty small number of people for the fact that we process 25,000 pieces of evidence each year. Uh there's one case in particular I want to congratulate the lab on just this July. Data from the crime lab and in particular DNA data led to an arrest tied to four kidnappings and sexual assaults in Phoenix that occurred from 1998 to 2013. So important to these victims families. Thank you to our crime lab for for delivering in this area and so it'll be really valuable to vote to make sure we have appropriate compensation for those individuals. This is also an item that will help us invest in our legal team, our office of accountability and transparency and many other important functions for the city of Phoenix. Roll call. And I'm sorry I should note Councilman Wearing will not be participating in this item. Hernandez. Mayor, please. Thanks. Uh, I just have an issue with the SRO compensation, so no. Washington, yes. Pastor, yes. Robinson, yes. Stark, yes. O'Brien, yes. VGO, yes. Pass is 71. Item 41 is auction Indian community gaming grant. Vice mayor. Mayor, I move to approve item 41. Second. Motion. Second, noting that Councilwoman Pastor will not be participating. This will support not uh South Mountain Community College doing some really great investments in STEM. We have so many wonderful STEM jobs in our community and we want our students to be prepared. Roll call. Yes. Hernandez. Yes. Hodge Washington. Yes. Robinson. Yes. Stark. Yes. Wearing. Yes. O'Brien. Yes. GGO. Yes. Passes 70. We'll turn next to item 45. And we'll begin with the city clerk reading the title. Item 45 is for ordinance G7419, an ordinance amending chapter 39 adding article 10 sections 56 through 70 of the Phoenix City Code. Vice Mayor. Mayor, I move to approve item 45. Second. We have a motion and a second. And I'll turn to council to Vice Mayor O'Brien first and then Councilman Gordado for comments. Thank you, Mayor. This ordinance strikes the right balance between reducing neighborhood blight and recognizing the challenges that retailers face. Over the past years, we've retrieved about 8,000 abandoned carts from from more than 450 stores citywide. Often these carts clutter our streets, block sidewalks, and diminish our community's quality of life. Thanks to extensive conversations between city staff and retailers, and analyzing the data, we discovered that most stores have sufficient systems in place, requiring only a small number of carts to be collected through our retrieval program. The majority of carts collected come from 12 large retailer companies that have many stores across Phoenix. This ordinance requires they maintain locking wheel mechanisms or submit a plan outlining prevention efforts and how they will promptly retrieve carts that are removed from their businesses. The ordinance includes clear requirements for all retailers and penalties for non-compliance without adding unnecessary red tape for businesses who are doing their part. This isn't about punishing retailers for someone stealing their grocery carts. Instead, this is a multi-pronged approach to ensure carts remain on site where they belong. I've listened closely to retailers and residents and believe this action will lead to cleaner, safer neighborhoods. Thank you, mayor. Thank you. We'll go to Councilman Guardo next. Thank you, Mayor. As a representative of this community, I stand with our residents and neighborhood leaders who have voiced growing frustration over the persistent issue of abandoned shopping carts across our city. Especially in residential areas where families live, children play, and neighbors take pride in their surroundings. These carts, often left behind without retailers having any meaningful retrieval plan, are not just a nuances. They obstruct sidewalks, clutter public spaces, and contribute to the deterioration of our community's appearance and quality of life. Residents should not have to bear the burden financially or physically of cleaning up after businesses that fail to take responsibility for their property. I believe that the city must take a more proactive and accountable role in addressing this issue that includes enforcing existing ordinances or strengthening them like we are doing today to hold retailers responsible for preventing cart from leaving their premises. Recurring cart containment systems or retrieval services from stores, imposing fines for ongoing violations that impact our neighborhoods, supporting community reporting tools to expedite removal and tracking. This is about more than shopping carts. It's about respecting our residents, protecting the integrity of our neighborhoods, and ensuring that all businesses operating in our city contribute positively to the city we share. To our neighbors, we have heard you and I am committed to working with city staff, code enforcement, and the business community to develop lasting solutions that reflect the pride you have in our community and the high standards we should all expect. Thank you mayor. Thank you. We have one member to comment, Lisa Bedar. Good afternoon, mayor and council members. My name is Lisa Bedner. I'm the president of the Arizona Food Marketing Alliance and I am a registered lobby lobbyist speaking on behalf of AFMA. We are a retail trade organization that represents our grocery retailers in the state of Arizona. Um, I did want to begin by expressing our sincere appreciation to neighborhood services, uh, the neighborhood services division for their willingness to engage in thoughtful dialogue, uh, regarding the proposed retailer cart registry. We're also grateful to the council for taking time to meet with us and consider our perspective on this important issue. And we do believe this registry will be a very important tool to help curb uh, carts leaving the lots where they belong. Um, while our industry has a few concerns about the cost recovery ordinance that was passed last year, we remain committed to ongoing collaboration. We welcome the opportunity to work constructively with all stakeholders to address concerns, develop effective solutions, and achieve positive outcomes for our community. And I'm happy to answer any questions if you have any. [Music] Looks like we don't have any questions. Thank you so much. Thank you very much. Roll call. Yes. Ernnandez, yes. Washington, yes. Pastor, yes. Robinson, yes. Stark, yes. Wearing, yes. O'Brien, yes. GGO, yes. Pass is 90. We next go to item 46, which is an agreement with you, Mom. Do we have a motion? I move that we approve item 46. Second. A motion, a second. Councilwoman Haj Washington. Thank you, Mayor. I just wanted to take a minute to express my full support for this item and to highlight its critical importance in our community. The Haley Women's Center provides emergency shelter to single women, many of whom are survivors of domestic violence. And with next month being um domestic violence awareness month, I just wanted to take a moment to to highlight that and say it's essential that we ensure that these facilities remain safe, functional, and comfortable for those they serve. The current chiller system is aging and is at risk of failure which could significantly disrupt the shelter operations and put vulnerable residents at further risk. This investment made possible through CBG CV funding will replace the outdated system with modern individual air conditioning units ensuring climate control in each room and office. I'm proud that we're using federal dollars responsibly to support infrastructure improvements for an organization that provides such a vital public service. And I want to thank you, Mom, for their ongoing work and commitment to the women who rely on their services. This is more than an infrastructure project. It is a step towards stability and dignity for women facing some of the most difficult moments in their lives. I'm proud to support it and I urge your approval. Thank you, Mayor. Thank you. Roll call. Yes. Hernandez, yes. H Washington, yes. Pastor, yes. Robinson, yes. Stark, yes. Wearing, yes. O'Brien, yes. GO. Yes. This is 90. We next go to aviation land reuse strategy disposal update. Do we have a motion on item 47? Mayor, I move to approve item 47. Second. Turn to Councilwoman Hud Washington for comments. Thank you again, Mayor. I wanted to take a moment to recognize a significant community engagement that has taken place to shape our approach to this land reuse strategy. In partnership with community economic development, my office has hosted multiple meeting with the residents in this area to ensure their needs remain a priority. We have heard from those residents who are vocal, thoughtful, and consistent in expressing what matters most to them. And I want to acknowledge that their feedback has directly influenced the direction that we're taking. The community has been very clear. They want development that reflects their need, enhance their neighborhoods, and prioritize access to open space, food security, and transparency. That's why we're moving forward with the design of the pocket park and scheduling additional community meetings to keep that process collaborative. We are also exploring the relocation and expansion of the community garden around Lewis Park to ensure that those vital resources are preserved and strengthened. Regarding the proposed developments, I want to emphasize the importance of keeping the community informed through the resoning process. This is more than about this is more than land sales. This is about ensuring that the growth is equitable and that the people who live there now benefit from the changes taking place around them. These parcels may have been acquired for aviation purposes, but their future use should reflect the voices of the residents who have invested their time and energy into this process. I appreciate the commitments from Value Tech and Del Rio partners and recognize the potential for job creation and commercial revitalization, but we must continue to remain vigilant and ensure that these projects are delivered responsibly with the community kept in the center of every step moving forward. I want to say thank you again to the community and economic development as well as aviation and neighborhood services who attended the last meeting and helped provide us some solutions to meet the needs of our community. I am grateful to everyone who continues to stay involved and I remain committed to ensuring that this community first development moves forward. Thank you, mayor. Thank you. Roll call. Yes. Ernnandez, yes. Hudge Washington, yes. Pastor, yes. Robinson, yes. Stark, yes. Wearing, yes. O'Brien, yes. GGO, yes. S is 90. Item 51 is a partnership of the community college foundation around venture cafe. Vice Mayor, I move to approve item 51. Second. We have a motion and second noting that Councilwoman Pastor will not participate in this vote. This is a really exciting partnership. Every week the city invites our community to free events where people can connect with entrepreneurs, educators researchers mentors and other innovators. It's a place where ideas turn into opportunity. Tomorrow celebrates its 160th Thursday gathering. On the agenda is clean tech and sustainability with a presentation on cooling technologies. Venture Cafe has partnered with the city's innovation office to hold successful hackathons, including one that led to our cool water fountains. It's certainly a gem in the city of Phoenix. I look forward to supporting the item. Roll call. Yes. Ernnandez, yes. Hutch Washington, yes. Robinson, yes. Stark, yes. Wearing, yes. O'Brien, yes. GGO, yes. Passes 80. We next go to item 53, authorization to apply for Homeland Security Grant Program. Vice Mayor, I move to approve item 53. Second. We have a motion and a second. We have several members of the community to address us on this item. We'll begin with Leonard Clark. Hello, Mayor and Council members. Um I uh I'm for the measure not because I support who's you know currently running FEMA but because we cannot be against a system our system of government which has provided a way to help Phoenix residents uh contribute to you know times of disaster while at the same time I decry the use of the funding for FEMA to build basically concentration camps. At the same time, I don't think we should cut off our noses despite our faces by saying, "Well, we just can't trust FEMA." Well, it's not FEMA. Remember again, the system is good. Our system of government is good. You cannot blame the funding we get basically on the people, the individuals who are in charge. So, we need these these funds. We need our citizens to be safe as possible in the city of Phoenix. So, while I can understand those who might vote no, saying, "Well, FEMA, look what they're doing." Again, don't blame the system. Blame the totalitarian authoritarian people. This is good. Phoenix needs it. Thank you. Thank you. Nancy Lamb is next. Good afternoon, mayor, council members. Um, I urge the city council to vote no on item 53 to not allow police and fire to apply for a DJ's grant that would increase funding for the terrorism leaison officer program and threat mitigation unit. Terrorism leazison officers have historically tracked and targeted investigations at black and brown community advocacy groups more than right-wing organizations and individuals. In 2019, according to Phoenix police, its terrorism leaison officers were in possession of 10,92 records relating to Black Lives Matter and only 2,26 records relating to neo-Nazi terror groups. This is especially concerning because the Department of Justice has shown that right-wing extremist violence is more frequent and deadly and contributes to the vast majority of fatalities from domestic terrorism. Black and brown communities and other communities of color do not feel safe advocating on behalf of the needs of our communities when we feel we have a target on our backs. In the aftermath of Charlie Kirk's murder, multiple Trump administration officials have declared the intent to to weaponize federal resources in order to defund and dismantle organizations that fight for progressive causes. all under the guise of fighting domestic terrorism. Our current city manager and police chief both have vowed not to collaborate with ICE and not to allow the Trump administration to take over Phoenix with federal troops because we know the destruction this would cause to our communities. Why then would we enter into a partnership with the federal government that would strengthen their ability to achieve these goals? It is irresponsible for the city of Phoenix to take funding for a program and give cover to a Trump administration whose goal is to repress free speech and to target their own political enemies. and we urge the mayor and city and council to vote no on this item. Thank you. Thank you, Councilwoman Hernandez. Thank you, mayor. I have a couple questions um for police probably. Um, can you tell me more about the terrorism liaison officer program, each of the units, the threat mitigation unit, community emergency respond team, respond teams, and the rapid response task task force team. Um, what do each of these do and how do they work together? Thank you. Good afternoon, Mayor, members of council, Councilwoman Hernandez. Yes, that's actually a really good question. So, what we have within the urban area security initiative is a series of different functions that are broken into several different uh uh committee groups. The function of the Arizona threat liaison officer program really is uh designed to primarily focus on the collection and analysis and dissemination of homeland security and crime related information in criminal intelligence. our community emergency response team, also known as our C program, that is actually advocated under the and administered under the uh the fire department and the office of emergency management that Chief Christ can certainly add to. Uh but it's designed to educate and prepare citizens to take care of themselves, their families, and the community during an allhazards event. It provides additional support for all incidents and events within a region. uh most commonly used when we have incidents like uh preparation for uh inclement weather, monsoons, flooding, uh those types of events that might require uh direct engagement with community. Uh and the C program is kind of our Swiss Army knife of sorts in the sense that they have uh a lot of the relationships already built and they have the the tools and the capacity to be able to reach out in an ongoing way. Okay. Thank you. Um so do fire and and police use this grant money? to I identify terrorist groups in Phoenix. So the use of the urban area security uh initiative grant funds uh the way the Phoenix urban area group is set up um we are a subgrantee under the Arizona Department of Homeland Security. Uh the state receives the grant. They are the they are the uh applying applicant uh to FEMA and DOJ. Uh the city of Phoenix is the core agency responsible for managing the other 17 participating uh jurisdictional agency partners to include office of emergency management, fire department, police departments uh to include local, state, county, and tribal. Uh so we have all of those different groups that are represented. Each of those agencies has the ability to to submit projects uh where they request funding in order to support ongoing programs they have in place uh which we call sustainment or they also have the ability which is under the grant guidelines to be able to enhance existing cap capabilities by building new uh and more effective efficiencies within the current system. Okay. Thank you. Um and I mean we just heard public comment that has me a little concerned. So, I just want to reiterate and maybe get more clarification. Um, just heard a public comment that the terrorism liaison officers have targeted blackled social change groups and labeled them terrorist organizations. Um, and I missed the number of that the the comment stated. Um, but seems like some of the white nationalist groups are being ignored in that. So what steps are being taken to asssure that the black le organizations um are not targeted by the city? So great question and just a couple of points of clarification on that. So although the uh the ordinance that was submitted for for this uh agenda uh still has the the word terrorism liaison officer that name was actually changed to threat liaison officer a couple of years ago. So that was an oversight on the submission and the reason that that name was changed is to make it more reflective of the current environment that those officers work within. They re receive specialized training to be able to uh access uh information that they need for distribution to other other state agencies both here within the state of Arizona but also to work uh across across the country. Uh the whole premise behind the Arizona counterterrorism information center as a statewide fusion center is based off the intelligence and information sharing model and that's how law enforcement agencies communicate uh across the country. So in terms of the information that they collect what they are looking at uh whenever we have information that comes through where somebody is making a threat regardless of the the uh the agency or the group that they they are part of um we look to see if that's something that is actually a credible threat. Is that something that we need to uh conduct further research into? Is that some somebody that we already have information that we know that this is just somebody who's on on the keyboard sending out innocuous messages? But we have to take every single threat regardless of who it's from serious until we can can vet through it and determine that it's not a safety risk to the general public. Okay. And so those I mean obviously my concern comes from just the shifting political landscape that we're seeing, right? and as an elected official and very vocal on a lot of issues. Obviously, I have concerns for myself for community members, right, that um advocate for some of the the issues that we advocate for. Um so, on those threats, um have we is there any examples you can share of those threats that been have been identified here in the city? So typically an uh most recent example would be anytime we get a threat to a school. If somebody calls in or we we re uh receive information online that somebody's threatening a school shooting, that would be the type of a call that a a threat liaison officer would engage on. We're going to work directly with the schools, the SRO's at the schools, uh collect the intelligence and information on that particular individual. A lot of times that can be averted by just simply making a house call and going out knocking on the door and talking to the parents and the child determine if this was actually credible or not. Uh but those are the types of proactive uh activities that the the threat liaison officers engage in. Uh we have other incidents where if somebody makes a threat to a public official uh a lot of those are are received through our office. uh we actually would again deploy the same type of a mechanism where we would uh research the information determine its point of origin uh and then take the appropriate steps to either vet the information or contact that person uh again to be proactive. Okay. And part of the monitoring are threats from righting groups monitor would be in the bucket of those threats that you monitor. Correct. Well, it depends on what the information is. if it's if it's a threat or somebody is uh uh trying to cause harm to somebody else, that would be something that would be of concern to public safety. Uh again, regardless of the agency, uh whether it's it's something that's going to affect uh the safety of the city or if it's whether it's PD related or fire related, all of that information because fire department also has uh personnel that are trained as a threat liaison officer as well. And a lot of times uh those personnel typically find themselves working in the arena of protection of critical infrastructure. Uh so when we have people that are uh you know threatening to damage our communications towers or we have people that are trying to do damage to public transit or things that would impact our transportation sector. Uh those are the types of things that we're concerned about when we have 16 different uh critical infrastructure categories that are determined by the national infrastructure protection plan. Those are the things that we are most concerned with. Uh but again that's why it's more uh the change in the name now makes it more reflective of the current threat environment that we work within and it helps us to uh uh increase our response posture. Okay. Thank you for that. Um you know I it's like I shared just with the the rise in national uh temperament um just really trying to understand all of these these moving pieces here. Um but at the national level, we are currently seeing the uh Department of Homeland Security being used to carry out um the current administration's uh agenda. Um that has been very harmful to a lot of communities of color here in Phoenix. Um and continued and continues to be um I mean even to the city itself, right, by funding cutting funding that provides these essential services to our residents. um what infrastructure is in place here in Phoenix to prevent the use of those funds to carry out any of of Trump's white nationalist agenda? So to give you an example of the items that we typically submit for um and again maybe it would be helpful just to list the uh the actual category the subcommittees that we do have uh which are on one of the 47 different pieces of paper I have here. Um okay. Uh so first we have our citizen corps um is one group. Uh we have a new and our newest uh subcommittee that we've added to the UAS is a cyber security subcommittee. We have the emergency management group. Our interoperable communication group. Uh we also have our incident support team and our rapid response task force which is a combination of both police and fire department and emergency management resources. Uh we have our mass care uh mass uh mass medical response team. And then we also have our prevention team which is uh law enforcement and fire centric. Thank you. Um and my last question is uh the state legislature referred a initiative to the ballot in November of 2026 um for all the voters to vote on that would designate drug cartels as terrorist groups and require um DHS to target those those cartels. Uh, should we get these grant funds from DHS? Will the city of Phoenix be um required to cooperate with targeting the drug cartels? I can say uh based on my years of experience overseeing this program, I can't recall a time when we've ever had that type of interaction on that type of a scenario. Uh typically our grant programs that are submitted for uh because they are submitted from 17 different participating agencies. They will vary uh depending on what it is uh what the what the request is and what types of equipment, training, and certifications they're asking for. Uh but I do not I do not see that ever being an issue that we would actually have to respond to. Those are funded and taken care of at the federal level under under different different resources and it's not something that I've run across. Okay. Thank you for the clarity. Sure. Thank you, Chief. When something happens elsewhere, we in Phoenix try to think about how we might learn from it and prevent it, keep our residents safe. There was a horrific attack in New Orleans around New Year's. 14 people killed, 136 victims, 57 of them physically injured. A really scary attack. It made us think about how to keep large events safe. Uh vehicle barriers is one solution. Could you speak to vehicle barriers and how they might allow large gatherings, including when people are exercising their free speech rights, mayor, members of council? Uh, absolutely. And that's a that's a a great point. Uh, that's one of the items that is very near and dear to our uh our heart this year for this particular notice of funding opportunity. Um, one of the things that we are tasked with whenever public safety, especially within the Homeland Defense Bureau, uh, because it is a unified command, uh, centric effort, um, we are always concerned about open airspace events, large gatherings, uh, things where you're outside. Um, examples of that would be like our we're coming into parade season. Uh, we're going to have the Veterans Day parade, multiple other parades. Uh, so those are things that are open air and in a very difficult venue for us to secure. And as you've mentioned, mayor, uh there's been multiple cases, not just here nationally, but internationally, where we've seen vehicles, uh vehicle-born intrusions as being one of the primary concerns, uh because they actually will drive through a a route and actually injure many and kill many people. Uh that is one of the things that's not lost on us here. Um, one of the steps that that um, I've actually given direction to my team that we're actually going to be submitting one of those various projects for this year um, is to purchase some of those anti- ramming vehicle devices. Um, and what those actually equate to is an opportunity for us to deploy uh metal stansions that actually can be placed by one individual to help secure a footprint or a venue. Uh, where we can geographically define what that space is going to be and we can place these items there so that if a vehicle were to try to drive through it, um, the vehicle drives up over it, that, uh, steel device gets wrapped up underneath in the undercarriage of the vehicle preventing it from moving forward. Um we are looking at it from two different perspectives because not only do we have our fixed uh events like our first Friday events that we host every month. Um that is what we would refer to as a static event. Um so we are looking at one set of devices to be able to protect a smaller static display. And then we're also looking at additional devices that could be used in conjunction with the first ones to be able to be deployed during a long extended parade route uh where you actually have several miles as opposed to just a block or two. Wonderful. I just think that's a really important point to make. Your office, your team is able to provide recommendations to people who are having events about things they could do to be safe. Some of those interventions in the past have been expensive. If we have newer technology to prevent vehicles from entering that might allow people to exercise their free speech rights, it also would allow us to have events like First Friday that matter so deeply to our community. So, I just we have some folks in the room who are great leaders on free speech and I just wanted to make sure that this does have some potential to allow people to have events particularly around topics where there's a lot of emotion with a little bit more safety. Yes. All right, I think we got all our speakers. So, roll call. Yes. Hernandez. Mayor, feel free. Thank you. Um, thank you so much for providing that extra information. Uh, I'm going to still take the mantle of the newest member on this council until I can. Uh, but you know, I I want to take more time to really understand this program. So, I'm going to continue to talk to both fire and police to really grasp my to get my understanding correct so I know how to talk about this with my community. Um, but I do have a concern with the just the political moment we're in. Um, the rise of violence. We've seen it right across the country. Um, and I totally understand why the city would apply for this grant. Um and um why it would apply for this grant, what it would be uh part of what it would be used for. Um, but I really need to weigh in how the city is really taking action against that political this political moment where we're kind of seeing shift. Um, we are witnessing an active rise of right-wing threats in this country. Um, right-wing extreme extremist violence is more frequent and more deadly and accounts for the vast majority of fatalities from domestic threats. Um, yet the federal government is weaponizing everything within um its disposal to target black brown black and brown residents instead of the white supremist terrorist groups. Um I mean the DOJ just removed the report from their website that that showed that research and that data that those were that most of the violence comes from right right lean leaning groups. Um we are also seeing the federal government use homeland security to tear families apart and target left-leaning groups that speak out against his his fascist agenda. Um our current city manager, the police chief, um the council as a whole, we have vowed to not collaborate with ICE. um and now allow the Trump administration to take over Phoenix with federal troops because we know the destruction that that would cause uh to our communities. So, I still want to understand I need to do more digging and understand if this grant would open a path for the federal government to inject themselves more into our um the tools we have to protect against that. Um, so for now I'm going to be a no, but I'm going to continue to work with both of you to understand more and make sure that we are treating these threats with the serious seriousness they deserve. Um, but I got to weigh what the community concerns are with that as well. So I vote no for today. Washington, yes. Pastor, yes. Robinson, yes. Stark, yes. Wearing O'Brien, yes. Yes. passes 81. Item 55 is a agreement with FEMA that supports task force one vice mayor. I move to approve item 55. Second. We have a motion and a second. This is a support again for Arizona task force one which has deployed for flooding, fires, hurricanes, and supported communities across the country in disasters. And that expertise has also helped us at home in Phoenix. Uh, we do have Leonard Clark. Um, I, you know, I'm conflicted because, you know, I've heard some excellent testimony from the, you know, some of the council members and the council member from district 7, but again, I don't think we should basically punish our city because of we know who, you know, that's in Washington DC. And I say that knowing that I'll be probably one of the first people, not flattering myself, to go to one of those FEMA camps that our friends talked about on the right. So even though we this is a good thing, sending our firefighters to floods and all of these other things, you know, I think that we need that. We can't we can't punish ourselves because of, you know, who again. And also I want to thank the Mexican National Rescuers who came from Mexico to help in the recent flooding. But I I hope you vote for this even though I'll be probably one of the first ones in the FEMA camps. Thank you. Roll call. Yes. Ernandez, yes. Hudge Washington, yes. Pastor, yes. Robinson, yes. Stark, yes. Wearing. O'Brien, yes. GGO, yes. Pass is 90. Thank you. Item 59 is related to Sky Harbor Terminal 3 North concourse construction manager at risk services amendment. Vice Mayor mayor, I move to approve item 59. Second. We have a motion and a second. We do have several individuals here to testify. We'll uh begin with Mark Cardinus followed by Leonard Clark. Mayor Ggo, honorable council members, Mark Carter is here representing the Western States Carpenters. I just wanted to come here today to voice my strong support for agenda item number 59 and the Terminal 3 expansion. Sky Harbor is our city's front door to the world and this expansion will make sure we're ready for the growth and opportunity coming our way. Most importantly, I wanted to thank the council for selecting a contractor that uses locally sourced labor. That decision keeps paychecks here in Phoenix, supports apprenticeship programs, and strengthens our middle class. This project just isn't about better infrastructure. It's about investing in our people and our future. Thank you for your leadership and and for helping ensure that Phoenix continues to grow the right way with good jobs, local workers, and a stronger economy for everyone. Thank you. Thank you. Leonard is next, followed by Stuart. Thank you, mayor and council members. I hope you'll vote for this. I've seen Sky Harbor grow since I was a small kid many decades ago into a wonderful modern airport for the fifth largest city in the United States of America. And I also want to thank you because I strongly support our carpenters union. My father was a carpenter. Actually had two fathers that were carpenters, but my father on earth was a carpenter. And uh carpenters are good people. They can build things other than what I do on social media. They actually build things. Thank you. And thank you to our unions for making a better work uh benefits and all these things for our workers. Thank you. Thank you. Stuart is next followed by Bill. Good evening uh mayor council. My name is uh James Stewart and I'm a proud uh member of Local 1912 and uh I want to thank you for recognizing the importance of using union labor on Terminal 3 expansion. Um that choice guarantees this project will be built by skilled crafts people and will and uh who live right here in our community. Uh for us, this project um means steady work, family supporting wages, a chance for apprentices to gain real experience um on one of the city's most important investments. For the community, it means a safer, more modern airport that helps bring businesses and opportunity to our city. On behalf of myself and my brothers and sisters of the Carpenters, I want to express our strong support for moving this expansion forward. We are proud to be a part of building the future of this city. Thank you. have a good evening. Thank you. And apologies, the columns were switched, so I didn't mean to do that to you. Uh, Bill is our final speaker on this item. Good evening, Mayor and Council. My name is Bill Ruiz. I'm a business representative with Local 1912. Uh on behalf of our membership, I want to offer my thanks and sincere appreciation for you you uh your commitment to utilizing Union Carpenters on citywide projects and particular the Terminal 3 expansion. That decision reflects a clear investment not only in the city's infrastructure, but also in the working men and women who call this community home. I want to uh this project is going to deliver quality construction on time completion and a highly trained workforce. It also provides a meaningful opportunity for many of our members uh that are single parents. So I want to again thank you the council for your commitment to our members to our community and to our working families. Thank you. Thank you. Any comments? Councilman Gordado. Thank you, Mayor. I just want to um say one, congratulations to Local 1912 um for getting this contract. I know how incredibly important it is to have skilled labor um do the work for the city of Phoenix. I I think it's important to be able to be held accountable and making sure that whatever is being built that the city of Phoenix is being built right and by the right people. So, I'm very happy to see that we will have union labor um doing the work on on this project. So, once again, congratulations and I will be supporting this item. Thank you. Thank you so much. Roll call. Yes. Hernandez. Mayor, feel free to explain your vote. Thank you. Um no, I'm I was going to Sorry. Uh, I was going to share that I'm super excited to vote for this. I think all of our labor is skilled labor. So, it's great to see um us as a city really back up our values in that by make uh and congratulating local 1912 um on this contract. You know, I think um when our our labor members and our union brothers and sisters do well, like all of our city does well, right? These are our residents that through contracts and making sure that that the that local labor is hired. it really reinvests into all the communities that we live in. So, super excited to see this happen for you all. Um, and happy to support. So, vote yes. Haj Washington. Yes. Pastor. Uh, I vote yes. I just want to thank um I want to thank the city and those that were part of uh in the process of crafting and making sure that um there is skilled labor. As an educator, skilled labor is very important to me. I want to make sure this building stands up or is stood up uh for a long time and many years versus having to go back and fix uh what has been built uh with unskilled labor. So, I'm very proud of this. Thank you. Robinson Stark, yes. Wearing O'Brien, yes. GGO, yes. S is 90. We next go to item 60, tick 62, which is the TGO Dugan Aviation lease in terminal 3. Vice Mayor, mayor, I move to approve item 62. Second. We have a motion and a second. Mark Cardinus is next, followed by Christopher Hall. Mark said he didn't need to talk. Mike Mark did not need to talk. Did Christopher or George need to speak? We're good. Good evening, mayor and council members. My name is George Williams. I'm here to share a story of a fellow of union member. His name is Theo Theopi Bangalow. He's got a long last name, but anyway, he says, "I'm 63 years old from the Congo. I came to the United States 10 years ago after living in a refugee camp in Uganda for 20 years after conflict broke out in my country. I came to this country with hopes to be with hopes of building a better life for my family. But it hasn't been easy. I work two full-time jobs at Sky Harbor Airport. I clean at both Southwest and American Airlines offices. I work both jobs and live paycheck to paycheck. I can't afford health care is too expensive. Some days I can only get two hours of sleep away from my family so much. All the sacrifices I make are for them. I want to I want them to be happy and live a good life. A living wage a living wage of at least $25 an hour for contract workers would allow me to spend more time with my family and live a live a better life. Can we count on your support to support Can we count on your support to stand with us and raise the standards for all airport service workers and support a $25 an hour minimum wage to provide safe and secure airports? Thank you. And thank you. Just before you sit down, could you connect this to our agenda item, which is a lease? It is important how how your testimony is related to the lease. I just we we have rules where you got to talk about the agenda item. So could you are you for or against the item? I support the lease. That's what Here you come. Okay. Um just uh the lease involves skycap services and you want us to pay them well. Yes. Pro. Okay. Yes. Okay. We just we got to you got to talk about what's agendaized. So this is my first time doing this. Yeah. Uh we and then we have open comment at the end and that has a um a more broad Okay. Okay. Madam may ask why if if necessary. Um our folks are contract workers who will be working under this lease. Perfect. Thank you. I just I was pretty sure I knew why this was relevant, but I just needed you to make sure everyone it was on the record. That was on the record so that I got to be consistent with these rules. So you did it. You did it. We got it. We're good. And then Mr. Paul echoes and agrees with the testimony that George just delivered. Yes, I do. We do need a pack of 25. Perfect. Okay. So, for those who couldn't hear the microphone, he agreed and and wants the same wage for the folks in this lease. All right. Uh, roll call. Yes. Hernandez, yes. Cut Washington, yes. Pastor, yes. Robinson, yes. Stark, yes. Wearing O'Brien, yes. GGO. Yes. Passes 90. Thank you. Continuing with leases. This one with Cutter Aviation. Vice Mayor. Mayor, I move to approve item 64. Second. Motion. Second. I'll recognize the vice mayor. Thank you. I am so excited for this item and for everything coming to the Deer Valley Airport. This item will mark the second recent recent investment Cutter Aviation has made into the ever growing Deer Valley Airport. This investment is a recognition from the private sector that Deer Valley Airport is finally growing up. On top of these future corporate hanger spaces being built by Cutter, we recently celebrated the ribbon cutting for 100,000 square foot hangar campus featuring eight new private hangers with a commitment from the developer to double the size of the campus in the next couple of years. Currently, lease negotiations are underway for 200 new corporate and private hangers at the northeast corner of the airport with additional plans to go out for a future RFP for a second fixed-based operator to manage the southeast corner. And we are about to begin the exciting process of renovating the existing terminal building to bring it into the modern century to include an event space and elevated patio to watch the planes. And I have to say thank you to our aviation director Chad Macakovsky as well as to Deer Valley um airport manager Ed Faren and all of the aviation staff who have helped to support all of this work. Um, Deer Valley Airport is no longer the sleepy hobbyest airport with two runways, a manned FAA tower, and a delicious Mexican brewery. Which, by the way, if if you haven't gone to Bario Brewing and gotten the official cocktail of the city, the Phoenix, I highly suggest going there to watch the airplanes take off and land. Deer Valley stands well above the regional competition with still even more room to grow. Watch out, Scottsdale. We're coming for you. Thank you, mayor. Thank you so much. A really exciting time for Deer Valley Airport or Porch. Roll call. Yes. Hernandez, yes. Hudge Washington, yes. Pastor, yes. Robinson, yes. Stark, yes. Wearing, yes. O'Brien, yes. GGO, yes. S is 90. Item six is authorization to apply for and accept transportation funding for traffic signal optimization from MAG. Vice Mayor mayor, I move to approve item 76. Second. Have a motion and a second. This is an exciting one. Traffic signal optimization helps us make sure that we can move vehicles, bicycles, pedestrians in a safer manner. It can help us minimize stops and delays, fuel consumption, and air pollution. and it can be one of the most cost-effective ways to improve traffic movement and make our streets safe and efficient. Sometimes a project benefit ratio of 40 to1. Want to thank the streets transportation department for pursuing a grant in this area which will cover be in district 7 and 8 sort of near the Broadway curve project uh Broadway 7th 48th Street. This is an area where people personally call me often when they're unhappy with our signal timing. And so I am super excited that we'll be able to do it more automated and not have to to uh uh get feedback and then do a study and then make changes. Uh which is long overdue. So exciting news from my perspective. Mr. Crowley, uh your the floor is yours. This time it says blue. All right. Well, Aussie used to sing about me, but he's dead. This has got me amazed. Um, when you said making the intersections all nice and right and that did I hear you say bus pull out. Gee, that's all a part of those intersections. And if we are being multimodal and doing the whole system, wouldn't that be a part of it? You know, when I look at what has been done with the funds from Prop 400, which I was the bus person on, that had certain specifics that you, the mayors, said, "No, we need to take all that money and put it to light rail." As I said, you're doing these intersections. Do you have the bus pull out in that? No. Because of the myopics of is the bus a part of the whole system? Because if it is, you need to bifurcate from the light rail. Take those monies and fix what you haven't gotten done over the last 26 years. And that is infrastructure for the bus. 900 of your are not done. 1,100 for the region are not done. What were you spending the money? Oh, yeah. You were spending it on the rail. I need you at tomorrow's meeting as in when they ask for future agenda items to bifrocate the two agencies get the money specifically going to the bus and let rail with the city as its founding father play with whatever monies you got already from the tax you get and stop leeching off the bus. We need to have curb pull outs at every single intersection because what would that mean? You're being multimodal and we're not just doing a rail down camel back. Have a pleasant. Thank you. And for folks who are interested in traffic signals and bus, we're going to have some very good advanced signals for bus rapid transit that will help those buses move safely and efficiently. Roll call. Card. Yes. Fernandez, yes. Hudge Washington, yes. Pastor, yes. Robinson, yes. Stark, yes. We wearing O'Brien, yes. Yes. Pass is 90. We next go to item 79. Ordinance adoption reszoning application to modify stipulations from a previously approved zoning case at the north and west corner of 20th Avenue and South Mountain Avenue. I'll turn I think. Do we want to councilwoman, will you just take us through what we're doing on this one? It is in district 8. I will um there's no need for presentation on this one. All right. So, we'll go straight to comments. I do believe that the applicant is in I'm sorry. Is the applicant in the room or is he on the phone again? Oh, there you are. So, we'll begin with Juel Clark. Oh, sorry. No, we will not. Great. Um, this is John Fox. I'm the applicant on this on this project. And at the last city council, one of the last city council meetings, we were directed to move forward with the with the plannings uh hearing officer to uh resolve or comment on two items. One item was with regards to my my most recent submitt of the site plan and landscape plan um which is in concurrent with with the original intent of the development. And the second item was is to have an additional city have an additional uh meeting with the uh South Mountain uh planning commission to take in comments on the elevations. And I approve I agree with with the wording on both of these stipulations. Can I get uh someone from plan and development? Sorry, I didn't see you, Josh. Thank you for joining us at the desk. Um, I think we have do we have community members registered as well on this one? We have two speakers for this item. Juel Clark in uh support and uh Jay in opposition. And let me just quickly check and then virtual. Do we have John Fox online? Okay. So that's [Music] Is there another speaker? Sorry. So I think that's all I have. But um this is a meeting where I have gotten multiple drafts of lists. So I could be wrong. So we have just the three speakers that I mentioned. Okay. Thank you. I don't know if Juel wants to go ahead and give their statement. All right. So we'll call J forward for two-minute presentation. Yes. Is that okay? [Music] Yep. Thank you, Mayor and Council. My name is Juel Clark and um I just uh wanted to say that I was in support of the stipulation changes that the planning hearing officer has made to our case and um that's all I wanted to say. Thank you. I have a a question for plan and uh zoning. Um, this was the original the original reasoning was approved just a few months ago in May. Correct. Um, since then, um, maybe Mr. Fox can answer this question. Have there been a confirmed builder or development partner? Uh, yes, we we do have a a builder um developer coming online to take over this project and it's American Homes for Rent. They own a property just to the southwest of this site and almost contiguous to it. They saw the opportunity to to expand their their um their community and they approached me and and we accepted their uh accepted their offer and they're they're moving forward now with the elevations uh to present to the village which we should have those in the next day or so. So, thank you. Mhm. Um, so we haven't actually seen proposed plans that have been solidified. Correct. We you they've seen uh two-dimensional uh copies uh at a previous meeting, but these are going to be more uh these were going to address this the um the concerns and so forth and and the stipulations. Uh they understand what what they are. They they've developed a an additional site and so u they're prepared to to present One second. Thank you for that. Um, my initial concern was that this was a Go ahead. I will go ahead and move to uh approve the uh move to approve at this juncture. Second. Thank you. Second. Um, I just want to make sure I state my concern on the record. I was originally concerned that this was a recent re uh recent approval that we had done less than a few months ago, but because you've gotten the you've done the community outreach and have the community support, I'm going to move forward with the revisions as requested. Thank you. And just uh Jay was available was registered to speak if necessary and he was in opposition. Okay, that's what I was asked. Okay. But is if necessary is your I will defer to you. No worries. I can I hear from the other speaker as well cuz I thought there was some concern. You don't Okay. He said no. Thank you. Okay. So, we have I'm sorry. You have a motion on the table and a second and roll call. Yes. Yes. H Washington? Yes. Pastor, yes. Robinson, yes. Stark, yes. Wearing O'Brien. GGO, yes. Passes 80. Item 80 is an abandonment appeal of a hearing officer decision for 8:17 West Madison. Uh, we will open the public hearing. I do not believe we need a staff report. All right, we have opened the public hearing on item 80. Uh, we have Jordan Greenman. Good afternoon, honorable mayor, vice mayor, city council members. My name is Jordan Greenman, Greenman Law Firm, 1621 West Wleta Street, Phoenix, Arizona 850007. I'm here on behalf of the applicant, Ian Francis. Our goal with this abandonment appeal was to collaborate with planning and development, the office of customer advocacy, streets, long-range planning, and Councilwoman Hernandez office to create an engaging public private streetscape at the southeast corner of 9th Avenue and West Madison. Um, thanks to Council Member Hern Hernandez leadership and city staff's assistance, we have ensured proper pedestrian connectivity, increased shading on the street, and a future outdoor use patio assembly at this location, which will benefit and help revitalize the Capitol Mall area. We're thrilled and we're thankful to see this proposed establishment uh benefit Capitol Mall as well as the downtown community. All thanks to the collaborative efforts of city staff and Councilwoman Hernandez. That is it. Thank you. Thank you, mayor. Um or thank you, Jordan. Just have a couple questions for you. Um thank you so much also for just being willing to engage in the process and um meeting with multiple times with city staff, with myself, try to figure out how we can find the balance to make this project happen. Um but do it where right it it's it's a sound project and it's it's um responsible. Um in the there's a stipulation proposed as a condition of approval for the modified abandonment abandonment of 14 ft in width that requires the project to provide 75% shade coverage on the adjacent sidewalk. Um, can you comment if you are in support of that stipulation and are prepared to work with the streets transportation um department and planning and the planning department uh the planning and development department to comply? Thank you for the question, Councilman Hernandez. We are amendable to that stipulation. Uh, I want to thank you personally for coming to the two meetings that we had with Mr. Berk and several city staff members to ensure that this is something that will benefit the neighborhood. It will properly shade the area while ensuring connectivity for the pedestrians and bringing a new development to the Capitol Mall area which we believe will really help revitalize that area. Absolutely. Awesome. Thank you. Um and then my next question is abandoning city right ofway is something um I always want to be very thoughtful about. Um can you explain what you plan to do with the abandonment area and how this will benefit the subject property and the surrounding community? I'd love to. Councilwoman, what we're proposing here is a twostory outdoor assembly use. The interior space will be used as an assembly as well. And the goal is to create something similar to Crescent Ballroom. We have we will have an outdoor use that spills into the street, engages the community. Um, our goal is to help create jobs in this area, revitalize this area while still respecting public space. We are creating a 6-ft sidewalk. We will have integrated streetscape um on the inside of the site. We will have an integrated landscape which will help create shading for those in need, especially in this area where walkability is such a key asset. Awesome. Thank you, Jordan. And obviously I'm trusting that we are going to continue to work in good faith and be good partners um and really build examples of how our city, you know, our city electeds, our city staff and community can really work together to develop amazing ideas and bring those visions to life. So, um, with that, I make a motion to overturn the abandonment hearing officer's decision and approve a modified abandonment area per the September 17th, 2025 memo from the planning and development director. Second. Closing the hearing. We have a motion and a second. Roll call. Yes. Hernandez, yes. Hudge Washington, yes. Pastor, yes. Robinson, yes. Stark, yes. Wearing O'Brien, yes. Gayo, passes 8 Z. Thank you. Our next item is 81 and it is also in um it is in district 8. It is a continuation of general plan amendment. So, we'll go to um open the hearing and go to Councilwoman Hodgej Washington. Thank you so much. Um I think we have a brief staff presentation once again. Then I will hear from the applicant and then there is um there are two speakers. Yes ma'am. Vice Mayor, may I ask that 81 and 82 be heard together? Yes. Open a hearing for 81 and 82. Yes. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you, Vice Mayor, members of the council. Very good time. Items 81 and 82 are public hearings for companion items that are located approximately, 1130 ft east of the north east of the northeast corner of 23rd Avenue and Baseline Road and can be heard together, but will require separate actions. Item 81 is GPA-SM-1-25-8, a request to change the general plan land use designation from residential 1 to two, residential 2 to 3 and 1/2, and residential 3 and 1/2 to 5 to residential 10 to 15. Item 82 is Z-31-25-8. is it is a request to reszone 14.37 acres from S1 to R3 to allow for multif family residential. To the north and west are single family subdivisions zoned R110 and R18 and to the east are single family homes zoned S1 and commercial shopping center uh zone C2. The proposal was for 188 units with a mix of one and twobedroom units with one point of ingress and egress from Baseline Road. The conceptual building elevations depict varied forplex, duplex, and single unit structures. The South Mountain Village Planning Committee heard these items on June 10th, 2025 and recommended approval of GPA- FM-1-25-8 per the staff recommendation by a vote of 7 to 4 and recommended denial as filed and approved R2 with a deletion of stipulation one regarding the general conformance to the site plan and modification of stipulation two to require the site plan and elevations to come back to the village planning committee review for by a vote of 6 to Oops. Sorry. The planning commission heard these items on August 7th, 2025 and recommended approval of the general plan amendment per the South Mountain Village Planning Committee recommendation by a vote of 8 to Z and approval of Z-31-25-8 per the staff recommendation by a vote of 7 to1. The planning commission recommendation was appealed uh by a community member on August 13, 2025. The September 17, 2025 memo from the PDD director modifies and adds several stipulations to address community concerns which include an updated site plan, reduction in the maximum number of units from 188 to 175, height restrictions along Baseline Road and the north and west perimeters, enhanced landscape standards, and limitations on the site ingress and egress to write in and right out only on Baseline Road. With that, staff recommends approval of GPA-SM-1-25-8 per the planning commission recommendation and adopt the related resolution. And staff recommends approval of Z-31-25-8 per the September 17th, 2025 memo from the PDD director and adopt the related words. Happy to answer any questions. So, we'll go to our um you want the speaker or the the applicant now. the community member to respond. Okay. Could we have the applicant, please? Or appellent. The applicant, sorry. And then the appellant. And the reason I'm doing that is I think the applicant has addressed some of the concerns that you are going to raise. I want to make sure you have an opportunity to hear them first. Absolutely. Thank you, Vice Mayor, and um thank you, Council Member Hodgej Washington. Um Brian Great House for your record. Our firm represents Taylor Morrison on this case, and we've been working with him, I believe, for about a year now. Um as as per your request, two weeks ago, we met with the neighbors. Uh, we had a meeting on a Tuesday morning via Zoom and then we had a another meeting on a Thursday afternoon at 6 PM to make sure as many people could attend and get the information on this case as possible. We had 11 people attend the first meeting. We had seven people attend the um um the second meeting. In total, there were six new people who hadn't seen this presentation before. the others who attended it had seen it at e either neighborhood meeting or village or planning commission. Um and I want to thank you for coordinating that and through those through those meetings we heard concerns and we tried to find solutions. Uh we've been communicating with uh district 8's office and we are we accept all of the stip stipulation revisions that are in the memo that um Trisha just presented to you. specifically reducing the number of units down to 175 from what we had been requesting at 188. Um adding in some additional landscape buffers and a hedge around the perimeter to address some privacy concerns. We've also uh agreed to a stipulation to reduce the uh perimeter building heights to singlestory to eliminate any potential seconds story windows looking down into someone's rear yard. Uh we've agreed to plant a minimum of one tree in every backyard that is around the perimeter of the site. Um and we've also agreed to limit site access on Broadway baseline, excuse me, to write in right out to address some of the traffic concerns that have been raised to us. Uh with that, we would appreciate your approval here today. Happy to answer any questions you have. I have a formal presentation. you saw most of it uh two weeks ago and I want to be as uh I want I'm here in the interest of brevity. I appreciate that. Thank you. I will go ahead and have the appellant come forward and um prevent her side her statement. [Music] Good evening, mayor, vice mayor, and esteemed members of the council. My name is Britney Conklin, and once again, I will be presenting a summary of opposition uh to Yardley baseline. We met two weeks ago to discuss the resoning matter and received a continuence. Today's presentation will focus on a recap, continuing community concerns, and opportunities for compromise. The continuence for this resoning was approved unanimously on September 3rd, and city council requested that the community meet with Taylor Morrison reps to learn more about the Yardley community, address our concerns, and discuss potential compromise. In the week that followed, Taylor Morrison held two virtual meetings. However, these meetings were less of an opportunity to engage with the community and more of a sales presentation. Attendees um the chat was disabled. We were not able to see who else was on the call and not all questions that were asked by the community were answered or addressed. Following these two presentations, the community had the following feedback. Again, they felt the presentation was to sell them on the community and the project and that they were uninterested really in our input or compromise. We requested R2 zoning and the developer expressed that it wouldn't be financially beneficial to them, which isn't the community's burden. We also uh noticed that it felt that the commercial center had not been approached for a secondary point of egress. The map of the area included in their presentation doesn't take into other approved housing into consideration for traffic and the daily traffic is much higher than presented. TCDS reported 49,898 cars just last year. In response to the perception that Taylor Morrison was not engaging with the community, outreach continued online and doortodoor. An additional 30 plus letters were signed in opposition and copies were sent digitally this morning. But I also have hard copies right here for um each member of the council. Um more communities signed this time in opposition, including two homeowners who originally signed letters of support. uh one who had claimed that the representative uh had told her the community would be luxury homes for sale. Overall, traffic and safety remain the key issue across all community members. Baseline road is a major hazard and growth is compounding the issue. During the September 9th meeting, the Taylor Morrison representative said, and I quote, "If roads are over capacity, they become unsafe." On this point, we agree. However, Taylor Morrison was either unable to address traffic concerns because the responsibility falls to the city or in the situations where they could mitigate risks and advocate for the community, they declined. To underscore the unsafe conditions on Baseline Road, this rollover accident occurred merely two days after we last met, and it was directly on 27th Avenue and Baseline Road, close to where the pro uh proposed development is going to be, and directly in front of a school. On this slide are other community concerns. Many residents north of Baseline Road relive summer blackouts because of the strain on the electrical grid, especially when concerning heat deaths in the city. This is a major safety concern. Another point that I would like to bring up is a home inspector is building quality. A home inspector I spoke with who wishes to remain anonymous claims that many new home builders, including Taylor Morrison, do not build to Arizona minimum standards. We think this is an important point to make especially when concerning the one point of egress uh because during an emergency that point of egress becomes a safety hazard not only to the residents but to first responders. While the developer will profit profit and move on it's the residents both current and future who will bear the long-term impacts. The community should decide what goes into our neighborhoods not developers. Opposition to Yardley is strong and even village planning recommended less density. However, we believe there's opportunity for compromise and the community is asking the council to approve the following to mitigate concerns and risks. Uh we are looking for R2 zoning limiting building height to one story throughout the community. A bu median on baseline road to control the flow of traffic between the communities um which is actually pretty common on baseline east of seventh street. Large landscaped easement an additional point of egress directly into the low shopping center. solar panels and heat mitigation. If the developer is not willing to compromise with the community, we respectfully request the council to decline this resoning. Thank you. Thank you so much. I will have the applicant come back up. wanted to give the opportunity to respond to their concerns before I ask my questions. Thank you. Um, we believe this is a very strong compromise here. R3 zoning allows up to 15.3 dwelling units per acre under the PRD option which we have chosen through our pre-application process so far. Um, so 15.23 23d use per acre would be, hang on one moment, 219 units. Um, you just heard the opposition ask for 150 units. The halfway point between 150 and 219 is 184 units. We had previously been requesting 188 units. We've knocked that down. We're at 175 units right now. So before we were above the halfway point, now we're below the halfway point and many negotiations are can we meet halfway and that's what we've done. Um we've also agreed to privacy screening buffering. Um Taylor Morrison is going to look into solar on this on this site, but they have not done so yet, but they have interest in looking into it. Um, and I'm not sure if street transportation would even um support a median at this location. It's a two-way left-hand turn lane, and we've restricted our access to right in, right out, which should alleviate any left turn issues. Thank you. Thank you. Uh, I do have a question for um is our street transportation is someone here from street transportation still? She's downstairs. I believe she's downstairs. She's She's Sorry. Take your time. Thank you so much. Um, as part of this uh resoning matter, I did reach out to our streets transportation department to inquire regarding the uh need for a um a traffic signal as on this potential site at this location and whether or not a raised median might be something. Also, can you please share with us your response? Yeah, Vice Mayor, members of council, um, uh, councilwoman Hajj Washington, uh, street transportation did evaluate the proposed raised median at this location. Uh, because the site is very narrow, that would, it would be limited to a very small median and really wouldn't provide um, benefit. It would also restrict access to the existing subdivision to the south. And so, for those reasons, we would not recommend a median at this location. And thank you. would you um would like to explain is there any more you want to add about how a right in and a right out option helps with the traffic concerns. So the driveway uh with restricting movements will only allow a right in right out and so that will uh limit uh drivers who are exiting from the property. They're all going to have to be required to go right. Um, typically, uh, that will make the, um, movements out of that, uh, driveway much safer by limiting the left turn access out of that driveway, making a a safer, um, uh, access point. And thank you. Um, there's been some questions or concerns raised about the capacity of Baseline Road and and by adding new development, is there still capacity for additional traffic? And I would like to hear your response to that. Uh, Vice Mayor, members of council, Councilwoman Haj Washington, uh, the street transportation believes that the that uh, baseline road is not at full capacity. Um, and as we alluded to in a uh, previous item, there are opportunities through traffic signal timing optimization that we can um, maximize capacity on existing roadways through modifications. And your opinion or your statement is based on or kicks into consideration the proposed development that the city's already aware of even if it has not been constructed. Correct. Uh Councilwoman Haj Washington. Yes, we have reviewed the traffic statement that was prepared as part of this proposed development. Okay. Thank you so much. Um thank you. I think that don't go anywhere just in case I follow but I think my next question then moves on to plan and end development. Generally with a stipulation I'm sorry with a reszone we um we have limitations on off-site restrictions such as requiring the applicant to seek an egress through an adjacent property owner. Correct. Uh mayor members of the council councilwoman Washington that is correct. they would have to get permission of that adjacent property owner to access through that property. So in other words, we couldn't as a city require them to do that. That's correct. Thank you. Um the other concern was regarding the um potential builder not building to city standards. What is the process for confirming the um the compliance with our city codes? Mayor, Councilwoman Hodgej, Washington, uh I'll go back to your previous question. Uh just to touch on the process, the before you can file a resoning application, you have to file what's called a pre-application meeting with our development services section that provides a preliminary review from our traffic engineers, our fire department. they would have commented on whether another driveway would have been needed at that time. Uh if the if the request is approved today, it'll go through a subsequent review through site plan, civil traffic, fire to ensure that all codes and ordinances are met as part of the site planning process that'll then proceed to building plan review. And then that's carried forward and uh and inspected by our inspections division uh to ensure that before certificate of occupancy is issued that all codes codes and ordinances have been met. Thank you so much. Um the last concern um regarding utility blackouts and water shortages, I guess it's a general city manager question. Do we have any indication that um as a city this additional development would not be able to be served by our general utilities um at mayor members of the council at current I do not know of anything that would create that situation. I'm not I've been not been not made aware of anything such as that. Okay. Thank you so much. And then I just want to plan in uh plan in to explain a little bit shortly regarding the R3 recommendation in terms of it's not uncommon between a commercial um type project like the one in this situation and the residential certainly mayors member of the council councilwoman Hajj Washington. Uh in this instance you have as I said earlier single family to the west and the north um and the multif family zoning will offer a transition uh to your commercial zone. So it does provide a buffering from your single family zoning from the commercial and kind of um increases the density from the single family um to the multif family to the commercial. Thank you. Is there any anything else I miss regarding the um recom the basis for the recommendation? I know the memo states it all, but any other thing that you would want to add for the recommendation? Sure. Me, mayor, members of the council, council retired. Um, no. And and this site being um kind of isolated, it does not uh encroach into other residential. So, it is um limited impact for traffic in that area. um I think would be another um part of our recommendation. Thank you. Uh I think that covers all of my questions and I think that covered all of our speakers. Correct, Vice Mayor or Mayor? Sorry, we have more speakers. Oh perfect. Uh why don't we begin with online speaker Sasha and then we will go back. Uh Jay, do you wish to speak on this one? Yes. Okay. Okay. So, you'll be next if you want to start coming down, but we'll go to Sasha online first. Good evening. Can you all hear me? Okay, we can. Hello, mayor and council members. My name is Sasha Sibs. I live uh just west of the proposed um development, and I am in strong opposition to this development as it currently stands. I urge you all to to encourage the developers to take a more responsible approach to making the following updates. keeping the R2 zoning. We are deeply concerned about the density levels of this project on baseline roll. The current proposal is far too dense from our perspective for the infrastructure as it exists today. Now, regarding R3 zoning, Mr. Great House has indicated that they are meeting the community members in the middle, but it's the middle of R3. It's not the middle of R2, which are which was our initial ask, right? This is our request. We are asking for the middle of R2 capped at 150 units. So once again it feels like our ask is not being heard or considered. Secondly, we are requesting the second interest through the commercial property. I know you all just talked about that but from recent meetings we learned that the commercial owners were never asked about this option which is a critical oversight. Um we understand that commercial property it can't be forced on them but the responsible thing to do would be to explore this option and it will create a greater safer traffic flow for the community and could even benefit the businesses by giving the residents direct access through their property. Our neighborhood deserves development that is safe consistent with the character of our community and consider it for both the residents and surrounding businesses. So I urge you all to consider this and consider our perspective. Thank you. Thank you. After Jay, we will have Joe. Good evening, uh, mayor, council members. The Rio Montana area plan began in 1998 by this council. It was built with uh monthly meetings and the participation of over 600 property owners businesses churches and neighborhood groups. Its vision was clear to preserve the rural character, open space, and low density. I bought my home in 2003, and my builder strictly followed the real Montana guidelines. That's what attracted me to this area. But today, residents feel betrayed. When I've asked neighbors to get involved, many respond, "Why bother? they'll do whatever they want. That shows the loss of faith this community has in its government. The real Montana plan is limited. It only applies to uh the area central avenue to 27th Avenue. Yet, even within that small stretch, council continues to approve developments that ignore the plan's clear direction. Higher density should be near the river while the density should decrease closer to South Mountain. The plan also includes design guidelines meant to preserve our rural character, requiring developers to use common uh compatible architecture, landscaping, setbacks, and open space so that projects blend into the community. If this development is approved, at the very least, council should hold um the builder accountable to those standards instead of letting profit dictate design. We are not asking for special treatment, only that you uphold the promises made in the real Montana plan. If the city continues to violate its own commitments, the residents who invested in this community, believing in those protections, should be compensated. Please honor the agreement you made with the community. Thank you. Thank you. Joe is next, followed by Tawi. Good afternoon. My name is Joe Melton and I live at 7265 South 22nd Avenue. My home will share a property line with at least three of the proposed rental units and I strongly encourage you all to vote against the proposed zoning changes. I've attended almost all meetings from day one, either in person or virtually to let my opposition be known and to suggest accommodations that would be mutually beneficial for the developer and the community. Unfortunately, as I stated in my original letter to Sam Rogers back in May and again in the email I sent to all of you council members last evening, it appears ta Taylor Morrison is interested in corporate profits and short-term gain over the community's long-term safety, growth, and well-being. As someone who works in the mortgage industry, I'm 100% behind housing, and I know that Phoenix has a need for more affordable and a good variety of housing. However, I also review a hundred, if not more, appraisals per week from around the country, and I'm very much aware of what positive and negative impacts are on communities and home values. To keep this short and sweet, myself, like many of my neighbors, feel this development is too dense for the area and does not fit well into our community or the Phoenix general plan. I feel Taylor Morrison has not appropriately listened to our concerns or taken them under serious consideration. We who live in the area know how dangerous and busy Baseline Road already is and have major concerns with the development having only one entrance exit. In my opinion, it appears there's not been transparent transparency and possible misrepresentation in regards to traffic studies completed and presented. Many of the neighbors I've spoken with, and myself included, are all for responsible and forward-thinking improvements, but do not feel this project represents the best interest of existing neighbors. I'd recommend 100% of the dwelling units be one story. Taylor Morrison to include solar panels on 75% of the dwelling units. A second ingress eress be looked at and zoning BR2. I thank you all for your time and consideration for the community. Thank you. Tommy will be our next our last speaker. Good evening. Um mayors and u member council uh my name is toi pedarak I lived uh 1500 ft from the proposed site and I've been in the community for 3 years uh I understand that the uh developer did some uh study for the traffic uh in the uh area but I think the the suggestion is not deemed to be necessary to uh having you improve traffic in that zone or that area. So that possibly meet the standard of care that you know every government or city or builder has to meet. But when when you hear that uh the concern of uh the citizen around the neighborhood that because we live here every days and we we see the traffic you know making a left turn on a baseline load that's uh um you know increasing the the the the traffic trip you know for to 1200 a day that's quite a bit that's only one community in that that's one segment it does not uh taking into consideration of the other new community that's going to be built in that road. So I just you know want to bring my concern to the uh the council that uh uh the then more study needs to be looked at you know just to make sure that the safety is is priority just not to I think we just you just need to exceed the standard of care not meeting right now that the safety is concerned. Thank you. Thank you, Councilwoman. I will close the public hearing. Public hearing is closed. I will turn to the council woman for motions. I want to begin by thanking the many residents who took the time to engage in this case. Whether through attending community meetings, submitting comments, or raising concerns directly with my office, your voices have been loud and clear, and you've played a key role in shaping the direction of this proposal. From the onset, there were legitimate concerns about the original plan, particularly from the proposed around the proposed density, the traffic impacts on a on our street corridor, the need to preserve privacy and compatibility with existing single family neighborhoods. As a result of that feedback, several important stipulations were added. The maximum number of units have been capped of 175, significantly reducing the project scale and addressing concerns about overcrowding. A rightin, right out access point has been added to help manage traffic flow and increase safety for both drivers and pedestrians in the area. And perhaps most importantly for those that are adjacent, the stipulation requiring one-story homes around the perimeter not only aligns with our Rio Montana plan, but it also provides a thoughtful buffer that respects the privacy and character of neighboring homes. These are meaningful changes that would not have happened without the community showing up and speaking out. While this general plan amendment opens the door for higher density residential uh higher density residential development, it does so with important guardrails in place. I believe the revised proposal strikes a more appropriate balance between the between the need for new housing and the importance of protecting the integrity of existing neighborhoods. I remain committed to committed to ensuring that all development in district 8 reflects not only our long-term planning goals but also the lived experiences and priorities of the people who call this area home. With this information, sorry. Um, I move to approve for the planning commission's recommendation and adopt a related resolution. Second. We have a motion and a second. Roll call. Yes. Hernandez. Vice Mayor. Yes. Thank you. Um, you know, as the council member that shares um of the area with councilwoman Hajj Washington, um, one of the biggest issues that we constantly hear is the concern around homelessness um, in Lavine. And we cannot solve homelessness if we do not have more housing. So, I hear the concerns of the residents. I take those to heart. Um, but ultimately, we need to take every opportunity to be welcoming to new neighbors. we have to embrace the idea that growth is good for the city of Phoenix, growth is good for Lavine. Um, and do it in a in a well-balanced way. And I think that the revised proposal does that. It gets us there. Um, and ultimately it it is going to contribute to how we can truly solve homelessness, truly solve um housing attainability for residents um in the city of Phoenix. So with that, I vote yes. H Washington, yes. Pastor, yes. Robinson, yes. Stark, yes. Wearing, yes. O'Brien, yes. GGO, yes. Passes 90. And I realize that was only 812. Motion 82 as well. Um, so I move to approve per the memo from the plan and development director dated September 17, 2025, and adopt a related ordinance. Second. Roll call. Or, yes. Hernandez, yes. Hodge Washington, yes. Pastor, yes. Robinson, yes. Stark, yes. Wearing, yes. O'Brien, yes. GO, yes. Passes 90. Next is item 84, which was pulled from the agenda for public comment, but I want to confirm the individuals who pulled it are no longer here. Dom and Ria. All right. Uh, a motion on 84. Mayor, I move to approve item 84. Second. Second. Motion and a second. Roll call. Yes. Ernandez, yes. Hudge Washington, yes. Pastor, yes. Robinson, yes. Stark, yes. Wearing. O'Brien, yes. GGO, yes. Passes 90. We next go to the final portion of our agenda, which is citizen public comment. And I will turn to the city attorney to introduce this portion. Thank you, mayor. During citizen comment, members of the public may speak to the city council for up to three minutes on issues of interest or concern. However, the matters addressed must be within the jurisdiction of the Phoenix City Council and on which the council has the authority to act. The citizen comment session is limited to 30 minutes. The Arizona open meeting law allows the city council to listen to comments that prohibits council members from discussing or acting on the issues presented. However, council members may respond to criticism. Thank you. And we do have a couple colleagues who have represented the city in another time zone. So, I would certainly welcome them if they would like to just listen remotely. They have had particularly uh long days. We do have nine public comments. So, we will have time for all. And um I think the first one we'll begin with I think Leonard Clark. And then the second one we will have translation. So, just let our team know to get ready that we will take a shock. Hello. Sorry about that, mayor. My my bad. Sorry. I was just going to say the name just so he was ready. Harun Fidel Abdala. Thank you, Leonard. Sorry for the Thank you, mayor and councils. I believe that this is very apppropo. Myself being born here in Phoenix, I believe this is very apppropo to the the health, the well-being, and the physical safety of the citizens of Phoenix. And I would urge everybody um whether you agreed or disagreed with Charlie Kirk in this time of great stress and anger that's going on. He's going to have his funeral I believe in Glendel this Sunday. I would urge everybody don't be so much into your social media and listen to so-called leaders and pundits as much as look at the person you see individually, the person you see at the restaurant in Phoenix. If they are a Trump supporter, you know what? Look at them first as a human being. Go up to them and don't have anger automatically. Same thing for the people. Even though I don't support Trump, you know, the anecdote to a lot of what's going on to autocratic and authoritarian leaders here in the city of Phoenix for our citizens is love. Now, I know you might say that's not apppropo to the citizens of Phoenix. I think it's very apppropo. We're very nervous. I'm very nervous because what I've just heard and I'm urging you to maybe send out reassurances to the citizens of Phoenix that Antifa has just been designated as a terrorist organization by President Trump just minutes ago. We have many Phoenicians, I know them, that live in the city of Phoenix that are nonviolent that are members of Antifa and now they've just been their organization. The president has just said, "President Trump, you are a terrorist organization. How is that going to make our people feel like myself? We're nonviolent. I love my fellow Americans and my fellow human beings. If you like Trump, I may disagree with you, but I can love you. Um, I urge everybody and all of you, if you haven't been down to the state capital, 5 minutes down the road, one of the first exhibits you're going to see when you walk in, and thank you to Doug Ducey. I didn't support him politically, but thank you to him. He put in an exhibit to Dr. Martin Luther King. And if you go in there, King preaches to love your enemies. And I know I'm not totally there yet, okay? But I know one thing. The city of Phoenix is going to prove them wrong. We're not going to tear ourselves apart. And the rest of this country is not going to tear itself apart because we look to you and I see today civil behavior going on. We disagreed with each other, but you weren't calling each other names and putting each other down. So I think please I I would urge you to urge the citizens of Phoenix as we go into this tragic time. you know, somebody who had his organization in Phoenix, look past look past the anger in your hearts and look to your fellow person, a human being with love. It it's not that hard to do. And I know some people make it very hard. And I want to thank you as I speak today. Our First Amendment is in peril. Jimmy Kimmel has also been taken off the air. So, please don't hate love because that's what they don't want you to do. They don't want you to love each other. They want you to listen to them. Thank you. Thank you, Leonard. And again, if uh you do not speak Arabic, there will be television. The television will show translation. So, uh we will have a shock next followed by not the gentleman had to depart. Okay. Uh we will have blue next followed by Noah James. as a participant in this process for as long as we have been Kate. Um I look at it and say where is the hero for the bus? because over the last 26 years, it's gotten the back of the hand. Um, with what the legislature did, it says that uh all of those new funds only go to the bus except for maintenance. Well, that started this last month. I don't see where that's actually happening because you have $30 million that you went and sent for light rail to do planning. There's also 600,000 for the bus. It's not being multimodal. But where is that money coming from? Because if you haven't bifurcated them, they're saying, "Hey, we're part of Phoenix Transit and this money comes in and we're just going to send it out." You're not allowed to do that. You need to bifurcate the agencies and let the city of Phoenix and the other cities run that rail with the monies that you have coming in. But I want all of those monies that are supposed to be going to the bus. Therefore, all the routes that didn't get done, for all the routes that didn't get multiplied, you have two buses on Camelback during rush hour. How is that doing the job? Now you have eight light rails going by there, but that only lasts from 19th Avenue to Central. How is that doing things in the gestalt in the totality? It isn't. So, could you guys get some backbone, bifurcate the agencies? Even though I know that your new city manager, that's his baby. Look at what all we've gotten done for the last 26 years. We have onethird of the system not even done. We have how many buses that were not bought and done? Those need to be addressed and done. And the way you do that is you bifurcate the agencies. You have a meeting Thursday, get it started. And when you go to MAG, get it started. You need to bifrocate the agencies and get a decent system. Thank you. Thank you. Noah James is next, followed by Jarrett Mopin. Aloha. uh city council and to uh I meant aloha mayor and to the rest of the city council. My name is Noah James Marcom and I reside in Tempee. I would like to say something about your police officers in Phoenix. I had a few encounters with police here in Phoenix. Here's the names. Woods 07035, Sergeant Venezuela 7076. And I think they were afraid of how I was talking about mayor and I think they're scared of the woman power and having a disability my whole life. I should feel protected, not feared for my life around police officers. I also ask that you guys hire more women police officers in this city. And if they don't get paid off for maternity leave, they should have 8 to 12 weeks paid time off. Just to let you know, just because some parents have kids with disabilities doesn't mean they would still know about disabilities. I ask kindly that we get more education for police officers so they know about people with disabilities. I also ask that you bring Japan Airlines because there's a historical history here in Arizona that people should know about with the Japanese and my family heritage as some people that have been affected after Pearl Harbor. I'm surprised that some women on this council can't uplift women. We need to do a better job. As a man, I'm not a fan of Ed and police officer. If you decided to do the job, you should know what to expect. Don't talk about police violence and be surprised. That's why Charlie Kirk died because you guys failed the system. Mahalo and thank you for taking the time to listen. Jared is next, followed by Victor. Mayor and Council, uh, several weeks ago, I made a, um, pilgrimage over to the, uh, Builtmore to meet with some different folks, most of our Republican congressional delegation and couple guys that maybe our governor and AG and among them was uh, Charlie Kirk. It was the eenth time going to a meeting like that. didn't think it would be the last time. Uh several days ago, I made a search over to the Turning Point headquarters in South Phoenix um and listened to friends and neighbors and people that were there about obviously the assassination of Charlie Kirk and how it made them feel. and several hours ago came into this building to um share with you u some desires of a great number of people that were there uh and as has been reported to the police department already today had four uh death threats to my house and to my office to give you an idea of the the temperature in the room. It's really sad. Um, honorable mayor and esteemed uh, Phoenix City Council, I come before you today um, with a citizen petition uh, urging you to rename a segment of Beverly Road between 48th Street and Point Parkway to Charlie Kirk Way, honoring Charles J. Kirk, the public intellectual, nonviolent advocate, statesman, lay minister, uh, and person who embodied something that, uh, we're losing more and more in our society today, and that is a command and commitment to, uh, civil discourse. Um, we have a lot of streets in our city named after a lot of people. Uh, and I mean, you got everything from Robert E. Lee to Martin Luther King, from Caesar Chavez and Mary Rose Wilcox to, you know, just any number of people. And I think it would it would behoove our city uh to consider naming that very modest stretch of road in honor of Mr. Kirk um and his work. Whether you agreed with him politically or not, uh I think it's important uh that uh we recognize his sacrifice as a young conservative leader in this country. We can have conservative heroes and liberal heroes. Uh and he put forth, I think, a vision uh that a lot of people um were inspired by. Uh, and uh, I'm just saddened that we will not uh, be able to see um, him live to his full potential. You know, I think we all grieve for his wife and his two children, but I hope you consider it. Um, I have it here to give to the clerk uh, that you would take that small action. Um, I think it is the the right thing to do, especially in this time of conflict to help bring people together. Thank you. Victor is next followed by Diane. Is uh Victor Molina with us? Could you signal if you are present? All right, it appears Victor had to depart. Diane Post is next and then is Jerry Van Gas with us? I do not see Jerry. So Diane will be our final speaker. Hi, my name is Diane Post. I'm an attorney and I live in Phoenix and have since 1980. What I want to I was here last time last time I was here I told you about a issue that I believe is going to put the city of Phoenix in jeopardy legal jeopardy and cost money to the taxpayers i.e. the um free speech zone policy that I believe is unconstitutional. And FYI, I haven't heard anything from anybody about that since. But I'm here today about a different issue with the Uncag and Reunite Families uh coalition. And that is another area where the city of Phoenix is is sleepwalking into another liability that the taxpayers will be liable for, and that is the Phoenix Mesa Gateway Airport and their illegal activity there. I'm sure that you've all seen the August 29th story about the uh ice containers out there and how they're treating the immigrants. Um we started in May 2nd to try to contact the city of Phoenix representative on the board of the Phoenix Mesa Gateway and I understand he might be here right now in this minute, but um we made calls and sent emails and I actually wrote a letter and put it in the mail because I wasn't able to reach him and never have been able to reach him. So here we are tonight. I have since talked to the CEO and I have talked and in conversation with Snellan Wilmer who is the attorney now for the board of uh Phoenix Gateway Airport. The problems out there are many and the the biggest one is third party risk on insurance claim that's there's going to be a disaster happen out there. The flight attendants have already written to the airport and told them that the way that these people are being transported does not meet with any safety requirements and some disaster is going to happen and that may put Phoenix into a situation of liability. Secondly, it is illegal to send an asylum seeker or a refugee to a place where they will be put in harm. It violates international convention. It also violates domestic law and still we continue to do it. uh judges have halted flights to various countries because of this and the case in Texas has stopped the flights because of this illegality of refilement it's called to send someone to another country where they could be put in harm um holding people in the condition that was described in that um the newspaper article is it and also transporting people in the conditions that they transport them in which are also unsafe is a violation also of UN convention against torture but it is also a violation of the American uh domestic law. So the Interamerican Commission on Human Rights has a case right now against uh El Salvador regarding the SECAT where we sent Americans Americans and other people to seek to be uh held there in a very brutal prison. There is a case against that going on right now at the Interamerican Commission on Human Rights. The United Nations human rights experts have also warned that sending people to countries not their home country may put them in danger. And this violates all these laws that I told you about. And so the authority, the the Phoenix Mesa Gateway Authority Board, by doing nothing is putting the city at risk of liability for criminal, civil, and other kinds of things. I ask you to take action to prevent the city of Phoenix taxpayers from being stuck with this bill. Thank you. Thank you so much. Checking with staff. I believe we've gotten all of our speakers. We are adjourned. Until tip off. Today was the official kickoff of the countdown clock at Sky Harbor Airport, marking 226 days until tip up for