foreign good afternoon Welcome to our August 28th meeting we'll begin with a call to call to order and roll call councilwoman guardado here councilwoman Hodge Washington councilwoman O'Brien councilwoman pastor councilman Robinson here councilwoman Stark here councilman Waring vice mayor Ansari here mayor Gallego here please rise and join us and welcome police chaplain James Williams good weave our hearts in prayer please most heavily and gracious father we thank you today for another beautiful day in Phoenix Arizona I thank you for the opportunity to pray for the mayor and the Council of our great City father we lift up our mayor and counsel leaders to to you today and ask you to draw the Mayor and Council close to you and to your wisdom and ways Lord we ask that you lead them in making wise decision that align with your will and your plan we ask that you fill our city leadership with wisdom understanding discernment and knowledge Lord grant them favor and draw them to you cause them to know and fulfill your purposes Lord I ask that you put a hedge of protection around all your city leaders their families keeping them healthy and safe additionally I ask for a hedge of protection around all of our city employees our fire and police and others and their families keeping them healthy and safe and Lord we thank you in advance for your leadership and support and give you all the praise and all the glory amen thank you so much chaplain Williams please remain standing councilwoman Ann O'Brien will lead us in the Pledge of Allegiance suicide of the United States of America and to the Republic for which it stands one nation under God and indivisible with liberty and justice for all Mario Barajas and Carmen Kota are with us to provide interpretation Mario would you please introduce yourself yes mayor thank you hello good afternoon my name is Mario Barajas and together as mentioned with Carmen quota we'll be serving as today's Spanish interpreters I'll now take a moment to introduce ourselves to our Spanish-speaking audience my name is thank you mayor thank you so much Mario will the city clerk please 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 g7098 and 7142-7147-s-50071-50084 and 50086-50117 and resolutions 22143-22147 will the City attorney please explain the role of public comments at Council meetings 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 must be made in the citizen comment session at the end of the agenda the city council and staff cannot discuss or comment on matters related to pending investigation claims or litigation the city code requires speakers to present their comments in a respectful and courteous manner profane language threats or personal attacks on members of the public council members or staff are not allowed person who violates these rules will lose the opportunity to continue to speak thank you welcome everyone to today's meeting including Maricopa County Board of Supervisors Tom Galvin thank you for partnering on with us on many projects including a very important housing item for today's agenda vice mayor do we have a motion on boards and commissions motion to approve mayor and city council boards and commissions nominations second we have a motion in a second any comments all those in favor please say aye aye any opposed nay passes unanimously we will now swear in these very important city leaders please raise your right hand I state your name do solemnly swear that I will support the Constitution of the United States and the Constitution and laws of the State of Arizona that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same and defend them against all enemies foreign and domestic and that I will faithfully and impartially discharge the duties of the office of according to the best of my ability so help me God thank you for your service to the city if you we're so pleased to welcome you and if you could I know a long time exactly thank you so much to our commissioners we so appreciate your advice to the City of Phoenix and will be stronger for your service the City of Phoenix provides an advisory role to the State of Arizona on liquor license applications vice mayor do we have a motion on liquor licenses motion to approve items 2 through 33 except items nine and ten we have a motion in a second all those in favor please say aye aye any opposed nay passes unanimously item nine is the Aria Nail Bar on Central it is in District Four so I will turn to councilwoman pastor yes uh I have some questions about the Aria Nail Bar Center because I received two complaints from uh from The Windsor neighborhood so if I could have somebody answer my questions councilwoman pastor we have Deputy city clerk Leah Swanton is coming down to provide that staff report so my questions are the complaints that I received two from neighborhood leaders was that the fact that Arya Nail Bar was serving alcohol um they weren't selling it but they were serving it and so my question is is a nail bar allowed to serve alcohol without a liquor license here and parent council member Pastor no they're not okay so they're not allowed to serve without a lurk or license even if it's like a would you like a yeah even if it's free that is correct not without a liquor license okay then my next question is if that's the case why is it being recommended for approval um mayor and council member Pastor it's being recommended for approval to bring this establishment into compliance so if establishment is not in compliance what we're dying to do is put them in compliance when they should have been in compliance from the very beginning that is correct that we're giving them an opportunity that is correct and so what would you tell Neighbors in that um mayor and council member Pastor um we would tell the neighbors that by issuing this liquor license it provides both the police department and also the Arizona Department liquor license and control to actually conduct inspections and enforcement and to ensure that they're in proper compliance okay so they're in the process of getting the liquor license currently if someone goes in and says I would like a or is offered a glass of wine or a margarita apparently there's a margarita machine there um then what happens with inspection then both the City of Phoenix Police Department and the department of liquor license and control could move forward with compliance and enforcement okay so if a neighbor calls today and says they are out of compliance then enforcement will come in or an inspector will come in within how many hours 24 hours 48 hours a week mayor and councilwoman Pastor I would have to confirm with the Department of liquor license and control as far as what their time frame is on enforcement okay my understanding and if you can correct me or or if I'm wrong is that technically we're not a approving body a mayor and Council woman Pastor that is correct it just goes through they just apply for a liquor license so that we're aware of who's getting applying for a liquor license and we're a pass through yes the City of Phoenix is strictly a recommending body okay correct so item nine I am my uh motion is no recommendation second we have a motion and a second any comments roll call yes Todd Washington yes O'Brien yes Pastor yes Robinson yes Stark yes Waring I'm sorry yes Gallego yes passes 9-0 item 10 is chica's Cabaret this item is also in District Four councilwoman pastor yes I believe um councilman Waring pulled it but I my motion is a no recommendation second we have a motion in a second Christian Cruz is here available to speak if necessary do we have any questions for a Christian no I don't have any any comments roll call yes Dodge Washington yes O'Brien yes Pastor yes Robinson yes Stark yes Waring I'm sorry yes yeses eight one city clerk are we councilman yeah can I add some uh Clarity Denise or Leah can you add some clarity of what no recommendation means for those that are here uh yes mayor and councilwoman pastor um a LED an excuse me a motion of no recommendation means that the city remains silent and that the department liquor license and control can move forward with their own recommendation and move forward thank you wonderful and important uh clarification city clerk are we ready for ordinances resolutions new business planning and zoning yes mayor vice mayor do we have a motion motion to approve items 34 through 110 except the following items 58 63 71 72 and 78 noting that item 110 is being continued to September 20th 2023 and excluding these items for virtual public comment none and can the clerk confirm if there are any other items that should be excluded for in-person public comment mayor vice mayor no other items to exclude thank you we have a motion do we have a second I can't wonderful we have a motion and a second roll call yes Hodge Washington yes O'Brien yes pastor Robinson yes Stark yes Waring I'm sorry yes there you go yes passes 9-0 item 58 is Gila River Indian Community gaming grants Vice Merida we have a motion motion to approve items 34-41 second did we already do 58 so I'm sorry could we I think we did we oh sorry motion to approve item 58. second we have a motion in a second on Gila River Indian Community events grants the community has been a wonderful partner for Phoenix in some cases we pass through funding to nonprofits and others we are the direct recipient there's close to 9 million in this particular vote which covers everything from homelessness to supporting people who are neurodiverse to our sister cities and Rio reimagined processes at the city will help us with student council sustainability officers it'll help mothers who have children with cancer so really a lot of great stuff Happening Here uh comments from the council roll call yes Dodge Washington yes O'Brien yes pastor yes Robinson yes Stark yes Waring I'm sorry I go yes passes eight one item 63 is an IGA with Maricopa County for arpa affordable housing funding I'll turn to councilwoman guardato for a motion in comments thank you mayor I wanted to take a moment to thank Rachel Scott and the entire team at the office of Homeless Solutions as well as Titus Matthew Samantha Keating and everyone in our housing department these two teams worked extremely hard to ensure we received this 10 million award from our partners at the county I'm very excited to say that half of this award 5 million will be going to assist in converting the former Super 8 Hotel in District 5 into an important housing project this will protect this will create safe affordable housing units at a critical time for our community this 5 million investment in housing in District 5 will complement the incredible work we have been busy doing along 27th Avenue corridor from the senior transitional housing at project Haven to the incredible opportunities coming with the Innovation 27 Workforce training and education collaborative to new housing at our Helen Drake Senior Center and improvements at Homestead Park the layering on off public investment is going to create huge Monument for the entire area again thanks to the leadership at our housing department and the office of Homeless Solutions for bringing this opportunity forward I will be supporting this item today and there's another great victory for District Five in our whole city with that I would like to make a motion to approve item 63 to accept 10 million in America rescue plan act affordable housing funds and enter into governmental agreement with Maricopa County second we have a motion in a second we do have Diane Barker here to provide testimony foreign good afternoon mayor in Council I'm in District 7. and these are the kind of projects that I've been looking forward to for you to be spending your money and what the county I'd seen this and on the county agenda several months ago that this money was coming in for the homeless I've looked at the background of what you're doing and it looks like on the one project you'll be getting rid of property that needs to be rehabilitated and doubling the space there's going to be a training center out there for jobs and I submit to you is gardening is very important Urban gardening and actually even in the summer in the right conditions with some shade we're 12 months we can garden and produce food here so I'd like to see I haven't seen the curriculum but I'd like to see that added there and I would like to see more projects where we're going to help the homeless and affordable housing thank you thank you any other Council comments councilwoman Hodge Washington thank you mayor I echo my colleague sentiments on Tuesday our gratitude to our housing department as well as our office of Homeless Solutions I'm excited to see another mixed income project come towards District 8 and it will be providing 109 new units of affordable and mixed income housing here in District 8 at the Edison and Eastlake community so I just want to say thank you and I too will be supporting this initiative thank you to exciting projects moving forward particularly speaking about the the project in District 8. it's wonderful to see there's an art public art component a community outdoor space we have units of up to five bedrooms when we had the meetings about the Edison East Lake Redevelopment people really were excited about the potential for larger affordable housing units because we have families that that need that size and I agree with councilman Washington the mixed income component is very valuable as well different building diverse communities and congratulations to councilman guardado on the D5 project roll call cordado yes Roger Washington yes O'Brien yes pastor yes Robinson yes Stark yes Waring I'm sorry yes okay yes passes 9-0 items 71 and 72 are uh both related to our fire department so we will hear them together do we have a motion I like to move 71 and 72 second we have a motion in a second we'll turn to councilwoman Pastor for comments yes uh I would say 71 and 72 have been a passion of mine I would say from the day that I heard from Brian Beck's family and uh it is for me right now today it's coming full circle and providing the services that our First Responders police and fire uh will have and need especially in the cancer and occupational space it is nice to see that we have other entities uh authorities joining us and and our health services so fire and police can all be in one space so I just want to thank the hard work that has come about uh since then and the fact that uh many of the firefighters who weren't able to receive these services or aren't able to receive these Services have made the ultimate sacrifice of getting cancer and passing but their legacy continues as they are continuing in this worker as I'm continuing in this work to make sure those that meet this space and hit this space are able to catch it early and be able to survive so I want to thank my colleagues in supporting this thank you thank you any other roll call yes Hodge Washington yes O'Brien yes Pastor yes Robinson yes Stark yes Waring I'm sorry yes Gallego yes passes 9-0 item 78 is the proposed October 2023 bus service improvements do we have a motion so move a second second we have a motion and a second councilman vice mayor I'm sorry thank you I'm thrilled that we're starting our first session back from Summer with expanded bus services for our public transit users as we reach the end of our Heat season I think about the benefits of what a 15-minute wait time as opposed to a 30 minute wait time will mean for so many of our residents access to Reliable frequent Transit is essential to our growing city and the economic and social well-being of our constituents especially as we work towards building a more walkable public transit friendly City I'm also very excited that we're finally expanding the dash circulator in downtown Phoenix which is a request that I've been hearing from many constituents since starting in this position it will give residents and visitors more streamlined route to our amazing downtown businesses and events and writers will now have better access to places like Hans Park the footprint Center and Roosevelt Row I also want to note that we were able to increase frequency because we now have many more bus drivers who have joined our city I had the privilege of going about a month ago to say hello to some of the new bus drivers who are on day one of their training this is with huge thanks to our public transit Department the Strategic recruitment that they've been doing and the pay raises that our Council approved nearly a year ago it shows that when we invest in our workers we are able to provide top-notch services to our constituents so very excited to support this and thanks so much to everyone who was involved thank you a lot of good and bus improvements here one that is a little bit more complex for me is the dash when we were doing the prop 104 process we talked a lot about a downtown circulator but at the time we at least I feel I committed that it would not be the dash the dash is a free shuttle that goes from the part of I guess the west side of our downtown to the capital and the Human Services campus and at the moment we do we're making some changes around Transit security and a lot of changes in the downtown routing and so to me this is not the right fit for the downtown circulator or timing so I will be a no on this one any other comments roll call yes watch Washington yes O'Brien um I'm I'd like to explain my vote please do I well I support the city bus routes Citywide I also don't support the dash circulator so for that reason I will be a no pastor um let me explain my vote actually I counted how many routes have been proposed has proposed changes and seven of those routes out of nine hit District Four and I understand the dash piece I guess what I I guess what my my comment would be could we move remove the dash piece and get the eight other routes through and to our hard-working City attorney can we do substitutes while we were voting or we have to I meant to say that earlier yes mayor and Council sorry um yeah yeah I think that you would need to either make a substitute motion or you know vote it down and then but can you do a substitute while we're voting I don't know no no you need to finish vote we need to vote it down okay should this be unsuccessful I will turn the substitute for a substitute no Robinson no dark no wearing a vote Yes I feel like it's wrong sometimes I'm sorry a councilman was that a no I'm sorry yes no fails three to six councilman past the store okay or councilman HUD Washington I'd like to make a motion where we accept um item number 78 with the exception of our on the dash route for it to be evaluated when the Central Station is installed second motion a second any comments the motion to our city staff looks good I just have a question vice mayor I'm not sure to who it is but I know majority of the public comments were very supportive of the dash circulator could we take it back to a subcommittee where those comments are reviewed discussed just I don't want to throw away an entire process that our department went through that was not my intent so let me clarify thank you so my intent of my motion and I can clarify this is that the route would be re-evaluated once the Central Station is is operational which is anticipated for fall of 2024. okay so sorry no I guess and I'm just trying to understand why the Central Station is the deciding factor when it's reevaluated for me it's proximity okay so is it that we would look at new routes with Central Station or I just I don't want to Central Station will be done in eight months but I think this could potentially move sooner if if we could come to a compromise that is my suggestion on it I decided to put a time frame on it or a point of reference and when it would turn to council if you think there's a different one I'm open to conversations about that but we can if it makes it easier we can say on April 2023 or something of that effect and to that I think one suggestion and it depends on everyone but could we take back the existing proposal to a subcommittee to have further conversations about it perfect I will amend my substitute motion to be that we approve item number 78 with the exception of the dash and we will re have the route go back to subcommittee for more discussion and clarification I second that as well roll call here here you're willing to take that right the chairwoman of tip is willing to everyone starts that we are you're comfortable with this the dash going to tip yes I'm fine especially given what happened with prop 400 we need to have a another dialogue thank you thank you councilman Stark for those who didn't follow prop 400 the legislature feels very strongly about free service and making sure the system pays for itself as effectively well a subset of the legislature feels very strongly about not offering free service and making sure the transit system covers as many costs as possible roll call yes how to Washington yes O'Brien yes Pastor yes Robinson yes Stark yes Waring I'm sorry yes yes that says 9-0 thank you that includes the agenda portion of our council meeting I'll turn to our City attorney to introduce the final portion citizen comment during citizen comment members of the public May address the city council for up to three minutes on issues of Interest or concern to them the Arizona open meeting law permits the city council to listen to the comments that prohibits council members from discussing or acting on the matters presented the citizen comment session is limited to 30 minutes thank you we'll begin with Tara Bartlett followed by Diane Barker thank you good afternoon mayor Gallego vice mayor Ansari and council members I'm here as a resident of District a and I'm here today to First give a compliment and then present and ask uh first I would like to commend council member Hodge Washington for her efforts with the coordination for the energize a Initiative for the past three weeks councilmember Washington has held Community meetings throughout District 8 in which she and her office organized various departments within the City of Phoenix to be present for small group discussions in which residents could raise issues and collectively ideate Solutions not only did councilmember Hodge Washington provide District 8 residents with access to folks from City departments ranging from Parks to police to transit to Neighborhood Services and more but the format of these meetings evoked true Community participation additionally these meetings took place in various accessible spaces throughout District 8 and had the value add of including a collective of representatives from the various City departments this allowed for a sheer approach in solving some of the more multifaceted challenging problems present in our district I look forward to Future like opportunities for dialogue and I'm hopeful that those in attendance of those energize eight meetings provided some viable solutions that will be implemented in the same vein I would like to ask for a similar approach to solving a specific Community issue in District 8. the issue is ongoing criminal activity on Mineral Road East of 7th Street that borders the South Mountain Preserve to the South and the Avance Community to the north down mineral Road there are no residents only a City of Phoenix Water Tower and the entrance to the historical Mystery Castle Landmark but as a resident within the Avance community near mineral Road my neighbors and I consistently hear shooting and fireworks being set off on Mineral Road and in The Preserve overnight there are cars that Park along this road overnight and folks often leave behind trash and graffiti folks from the city water department have shared with myself and neighbors their experiences of vandalism abandoned vehicles and homeless encampments we also remember when the mystery castle was broken into and thousands of dollars of vandalism occurred on the 4th of July we even experienced a large fire across mineral road from us in The Preserve due to fireworks being set off the city had to dispatch two large fire trucks and a commander unit to put out the blaze my ask is that we can address this specific issue with the various departments involved in the city residents affected and my ask would be then for the parks department streets department and also the fire department and police department to have a similar meeting with us in the Avance Community to discuss this issue thank you thank you Diane Barker is next followed by Mark Rodriguez thank you mayor and Council again Diane Barker District Seven and you know I enjoyed living in Phoenix I woke up this morning and realized it's October 28th well what day is that we're celebrating in least in Washington the March on Washington which was the Martin Luther King march and the speech I had a dream I was there okay so now you know my age I was a teenager and my sister worked for the internal revenue and so my girlfriend and I had taken a train that summer and she wasn't going to have us come in town because they thought maybe there'd be trouble but she called and said you can get on the bus and come over she said there it's a peaceful March and so I want to remind you to celebrate that and the words from Martin Luther King keep moving if you can't fly run if you can't run walk if you can't walk call but by all means keep moving [Applause] thank you Mark Rodriguez is next and then Jose hello Mayor Kate Gallego and members of the Phoenix City Council in Yasmin Ansari it's good to hear from you again it's because I was talking about the 59th Avenue Baseline because we're getting a lot of more stores over there and uh in the Levine area because I was living in Levine for like 13 years and it's good to have you back when you're a Gallego and members of the city councilman I'm sorry vice mayor and it's all so well that because it's because all the buildings and all that stuff because I like going stores I like going to restaurants I like going everywhere I like going everything that I good and also American Eagle welcome back to you is also I'm back because it is what it is but you know it's kind of cool that talking to you guys and mayor Gallego I want to see you again and also yasmina sorry thank you for that backpack for that backpack driver assistance Community Center and Betty wangado thank you for the backpack at your backpack driver 51st Avenue Indian School where that baseball field Stadium's at and then also mayor Gallego I wanted to see you again and also members of the city council I wanted to say hi to you only all of you I'm sorry I'm just autistic because even though I'm acting like that and also mayor Gallego you rock in America eagle and also members of the city councils and vice mayor Ansari I also rock with you guys it's because I know Kevin Robinson and Keisha House Washington is watching me and hey it is what it is because you guys are cool and then I see Laura password drinking water it's because I'm just trying to be professional and also mayor Gallego members of the city councils and then I'm just saying have a wonderful day thank you so much bye thank you so much Mark Rodriguez our final speaker today will be Jose are you still with us all right then we are adjourned thank you so much whatever [Music]