thank you and welcome again to the Mesa city council meeting for February the 5th of 2024 uh our uh vice mayor Mr Ria and council member summers are attending this meeting via Zoom the remainder of our council is present here in the council chambers uh we will begin this meeting with an invocation offered by Pastor Brian crane with eternal life Lutheran Church followed by the Pledge of Allegiance so please stand for the prayer and remain standing for the Pledge of Allegiance thank you Pastor let us pray Lord God as I pray for all who are in Authority I thank you especially for the form of government given us in our Beloved Country give us the grace with our fellow citizens to Value the officers and the magistrates of our government as those sent by you we pray especially tonight for our mayor the members of our city council and all those in our city government to Serve and Protect US in this community instill in us that respect and honor that is Du them Lord endow them with wisdom for their several duties with a spirit of sacrifice for the common welfare with mercy and Justice with uprightness and kindliness correct the evils of selfishness greed a vain desire for Honor or abuse of power among us as well as in the other governments of the world grant that the true purposes of government may prevail safeguarding peace and prosperity so that we may live soberly and uprightly in your sight and have opportunity to tell of you and your kingdom these petitions I direct to you because in Jesus I know you as my father and Lord I pray I pray all this in his name amen amen please join me in the pledge I pledge aliance to the flag of the United States of America and to the Republic for which it stands one nation under God indivisible with liy and justice for all thank you um we will begin well the next item on our agenda is our Awards and um announcements we have two proclamations uh under this agenda item this evening the first is a tribal land acknowledgement for the city of masesa uh we recognize that we gather on the homeland of the native people and their ancestors and this statement recognizes and offers respect to the people who are indigenous to this land this language was developed with and through our partners in the four Southern tribes that's the Salt River Pima Maricopa Indian Community the hila River Indian Community the oin Indian Community and the Tona Odum nation which are among the the 22 federally recognized Arizona indigenous tribes the intention of this acknowledgement is to demonstrate our commitment to continue working in partnership with ancestral indigenous communities to Foster understanding appreciation and respect for this Heritage Mr Brady could you please share with us a little bit how uh we are going to support this issue in our city thank you mayor the city of Mesa has a long history and a relationship with our tribal Partners especially through the Arizona Museum of Natural History even out at the Gateway Airport uh and we work to do uh respect their culture and the steward and be stewards of the sites that we know are meaningful to them uh we appreciate and enjoy most of our common interest that unit us uh specifically the land the water economy health and even Public Safety both the city and the tribes Place great value on our history and want to preserve our community for generations to come in the city of Mesa we have an initiative called together Mesa where we value and celebrate our Rich diversity we want we want Mesa to be a welcoming and inclusive place for all the city is proud to support this land acknowledgement and committed to working uh internally with all our departments and finding ways that we can make this a meaningful declaration at this time I'd like to invite Andre alote from uh the city manager's office to speak more to this Andre thank you mayor council Mr Brady City Manager for taking these actions tonight to formally recognize the enduring and Inseparable relationship um that we know indigenous peoples have here with our Mesa lands we are proud of the collaborations and the relationships we've had with our tribal Partners in particular as it was noted and stated the four Southern tribes that had um had given their input and recognition to our Mesa land acknowledgement we want to thank them um for ensuring that what we have stated here tonight is accurate and rightfully reflects their history of the Odum and pipos people we will make available for the city of Mesa and for our Mesa Public um various oral and written statements that will be accessible on our city of Mesa web page later this month um so that way then folks can start incorporating that into various meetings ceremonies and other oral statements as fitting um the text will also include frequently asked questions and different information so that way we can use this as an opportunity to once again further art together m initiative with educating the public on the value and meaning of this important statement for us we hope this land acknowledgement will be a learning tool for our community it is not going to be um just words on a paper this is going to be a testament that our city continues to live by and honor the legacy of native people here within Mesa that have come before us and to demonstrate our continued work to promote their culture and Heritage and education with authenticity and respect thank you thank you Andrea thank you for the work you put into this project Council let's take a photo I'd like to invite uh the staff who will support the implementation of the statement in addition to Andrea I'd like to invite our communications director honor Pereira and director of the Arizona Museum of Natural History Simon tan Adam to join us uh we'll do that right out in front of the podium everybody ready thank you [Applause] our second Proclamation recognizes February as black history month this month encourages people to become more knowledgeable about black Heritage and to honor the many black leaders who have contributed to the progress of our nation tonight we have with us members of the national forum for black public administrators and the Mesa East Valley MLK committees uh thank you all for being here tonight before we present you with the proclamation and take a group photo I'd invite Kea mckin to say a few words on behalf of these organizations Kesha thank you for chairing the East Valley MLK committee congratulations on a great event uh week or so ago seems like it doesn't it was a couple of weeks ago but we had a great time this year so it really was mayor thank you so much to council um city manager everyone that's here tonight I really appreciate maka's commitment to honoring and recognizing the commitments of Black America to not only Mesa but to our country and our nation we um certainly recognize the contributions of those past and even those present as we've talked on numerous occasions mayor that it is Black History is American history but we really want to recognize and invest in the seeds of the future contributions that Black America will continue to make not only in Mesa again but in our nation um in our in our nation so we thank you so much for this Proclamation it really goes a long way thank you thank you very much Council let's go and present this Proclamation maybe we'll do the uh stand sideways thing okay crowd up front here you and I are back here wait am I in the wrong SP Forest should not be on the front [Applause] right I'm sure Mr Freeman was tempted to go out and get his tools to to fix that um next on our agenda is the consent agenda um we invite Mr Kevin Christopher for to read the consent agenda good evening mayor and council members these are the items on the consent agenda all items listed with an asterisk will be considered as a group by the city council and will be enacted with one motion there will be no separate discussion unless a council member or citizen request in which event the item will be removed from the consent agenda and considered as a separate item item two approval minutes of previous meetings as written item 3A act on Lial license application for venture out Social Club One Day event February 29th 50001 East Main Street item 3B act on liquor license application for American Patriots Riders club one day event February 16th 9:22 South Country Club Drive item 3C act on liquor license application for Bower battle one day event March 2nd 9760 East Cadence Parkway item 3D act on liquor license application for charge and go 6262 East Main Street item 3E act on liquor license application for the vi lounge and restaurant 1457 West Southern Avenue item 4A approving one-year term contract with one-year renewal options for emergency vehicles preemption equipment for the transportation department item 4B approving Cooperative contract use for the term contracts for maintenance repair and operating supplies for the Water Resources Department item 4 C approving dollar limit increase to the term contract for industrial and non-industrial equipment parts and supplies for the Department of innovation and Technology this increase is funded by cdbg Grant funds item 5A approving resolution for the city to participate in the SRP so Choice select program item 5B approving resolution for zoning case 23455 for property located south of Southern Avenue and east of Ellsworth Road major site plan modification and Council use permit to allow expansion of a mini storage facility item 5 C approving resolution extinguishing a temporary drainage easement located at 7729 East posos Road to allow for development of an office and or classroom building for American Leadership Academy item 6A approving ordinance amending section 11-31 34A of the Mesa zoning ordinance which includes modifying the spacing requirements between medical marijuana dispensaries and dual license facilities at item 7A approving Subdivision plat Cadence at Gateway phase 3 parcel C1 and track C2 for property located on the northeast corner of williamsfield and krisman Roads mayor and council members these are the items on the consent agenda thank you Mr Christopher uh Miss Mosley do we have any request request from the public to speak on an item that's on the consent agenda no mayor okay I know the council any comments on any item on the consent agenda Miss go forth yes thank you I would like uh just to make a quick comment on item 5B um I have worked with both the applicant and um the planning department staff on this item on this Self Storage expansion this is a parcel that has an existing twostory Mini Storage on the front par of the parcel that's Frontage to Southern Avenue um this was approved by our planning and board Planning and Zoning Board back in 2007 the applicant is requesting that we um allow them to uh build a on story on the back of the parcel back of the property and to um also put RV parking spaces towards the back on the Southwest this parcel surrounded by development on the East and in the west and it's uh on the south undeveloped uh property that is zoned agricultural for the because of these narrow circumstances for this um situation I I approve this expansion that is that is why I'm approving and voting to approve this expansion thank you all right thank you council member go forth uh I see we have a motion made by m council member Freeman seconded by council member spillsbury for approval of the consent agenda please vote VI mayor Mr sum do you vot we're not getting the audio Mr Summers how do you vote I vote I I vote I I all right I can hear it I think yeah the audio is is playing back in the um in the booth can you hear me now keep the open okay the vote okay council member suers and vice mayor her I'm going to ask you to again uh verbally vote and we'll listen to you from the back of the room how do you vote I thank you I thank you loud and clear all right uh the the consent agenda passes unanimously next item on our agenda are items from citizens present uh Miss Mosley I do have two cards that have have been turned in previously any additional cards no additional cards mayam all right thank you we we'll now uh hear from from two individuals for 3 minutes each I I need to just uh set your expectations before we invite you up to speak that because the items that you're here to speak to us about are not on our agenda legally we cannot engage in in a conversation with you about it or ask questions or Express uh support uh so please understand that it's um our lack of response is not uh please don't misunderstand is anything other than just complying with the law uh so we'd invite forward first Olga Lopez welcome Miss Lopez you have three minutes thank you thank you for having me my name is oal Lopez I am a um I am a resident of Chandler but usth violence has no zip code and that's why I'm here today I want to formally introduce myself and share my ties my forever ties with the city of Mesa my son Jeremiah Ailes was a Red Mountain High School student for the last two years my son passed away nine months ago this Wednesday in your city in the city of Mesa he was murdered and I wanted to introduce him to you all as a city council and bring to your remembrance mayor gues my email to you on June 6th of 2023 I appreciate the responsiveness and the condolences but I wanted to bring to your awareness that the very concerns that I outlined in that email as a grieving bered mourning mother not even a month after my son passed have not been met with any priority and so here I am 9 months later saying extending another olive branch and saying that I extend myself to decision makers to take a look at lack of policy outdated policy and take a look at what what is happening in your city with youth and teen violence and so I appreciate the opportunity to introduce you and reintroduce to Jeremiah Aus is he was a stellar Stellar academic scholar character of gold and he came to your city and never returned home so I'm asking that you do better Mesa thank you all right thank you Miss Lopez uh we uh we certainly uh it is appropriate for us to make arrangements to meet with you and to to for staff to look into this so uh we um immediately after this we'll connect with you and and decide who who uh certainly I'm happy to meet with you but who perhaps from the city police department or otherwise might be the appropriate people to to hear the the full vetting of your concerns uh next is Bridget Bea good evening mayor and Town Council I'm Bridget a mother a mental health and human trafficking prevention Advocate and an assault Survivor I'm not a resident however I was assaulted in and you guys handled my case where I jump backstage at a concert as bystandard recorded in the Green Room laid black out while others scream world star going viral on social media I stand here to be a voice for the voiceless and speak for the children as change begins with awareness when does it stop when each and every single one of us have the courage to stop looking away and turning a blind eye you don't get to look the other way on this issue as many beautiful ful and innocent Souls have been taken too soon children brutally murdered Preston Lord jir Jenkins Haley Stevens Steven Benito jacobo Jeremiah veis could have been any one of our children what if it was your child please remember the children are watching and your silence is deafening I would like to partner and help connect you as well as leaders and police departments and the school districts to nonprofits such as red light Rebellion that is boots on the ground with the youth currently in trauma informed training prevention programs addressing physical emotional spiritual health and the importance of digital safety and resilience as the children go to school feeling unsafe unseen unheard they cannot even be children while they Wonder as life goes on where's the Justice who's protecting us as they live in survival mode and use coping mechanisms because the children are in communities every day and cross path with the teens who continually get away with assaults and murder it's more than a hashtag it's a child's life together we must rise for the children it starts with one person it starts with you when you say am I a part of the problem you face the mirror and start holding people accountable the youth is hurting and suffering in silence we must wrap our arms around the mental health and the youth and take a stand to eradicate teen violence and stop allowing abusers to continue to perpetuate intentional infliction of emotional distress on the youth and Community due to senseless acts of violence to the youth and those that have reported prior but were silenced you are courageous I'm sorry for everything you've endured but I pray for healing strength and protection as God continues to bring these stories to light please know we're here for you you are enough your voice matters we see you we hear you and we stand by you be an upstander continue to keep the Lord the Jenkins of sens and the aulus and jacobo families and all of the youth in your prayers we have no future if we don't don't protect the children we have a duty to protect the innocent if not that blood is on our hands if we can take a moment of silence for all of the youth and all the children lost thank you thank you Miss Vega thank you that concludes everything that's on our agenda for this meeting is there a motion to adjourn thank you Mr Freeman seconded by miss gfor all in favor please say I I Mr ready and Mr Summers how do you vote I I'm GNA count that as two eyes uh thank you we are [Music] adjourned