good afternoon if you could please find your seats we will begin in about 20 seconds thank you good afternoon thank you for joining us on December 18th our final formal meeting of the calendar year 2024 before we begin the formal agenda I'll invite police chaplain Harry Sexton to provide an invocation Madame mayor honorable council members ladies and gentlemen today's invocation is based upon Isaiah 56 verse1 which says this is what the Lord says preserve Justice and do what is right for my salvation is coming soon and my righteousness will be revealed let us pray oh Father we bring before you the mighty king of all creation this Council we ask for Supernatural wisdom as they strive to preserve Justice and do what is right for the people in Phoenix that you have usted into their care at this time of the year we remember even more that your salvation is coming soon and your righteousness has been revealed in Emmanuel father let us keep our focus on you to be attentive to your direction as we seeing to as we seek to bring peace where there is Discord and Harmony where there is divisiveness so that all may live in your light amen thank you chaplain councilwoman O'Brien would you lead us in the Pledge of Allegiance Al to the the United States of America and to the republ for stands one nation I'll Now call to order the formal meeting of the Phoenix City Council will the clerk call the role councilman galinda here councilwoman wado here councilwoman hjge Washington here councilwoman OB Brian here councilwoman Pastor here councilman Robinson here councilman wearing vice mayor Stark mayor gyo here Oscar and Elsie are with us to provide interpretation Oscar would you introduce your team thank you mayor hello my name is Oscar Monroy and together with my colleague ELC DTE we will be serving as Spanish interpreters for today's city council formal meeting I will now take a moment to introduce ourselves to our Spanish speaking audience and review some guidelines [Music] thank you mayor thank you Oscar would 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 ordinance is number G7 333 through 7343 S 51501 through 51 563 3 and resolutions 22268 through [Music] 22270 will the City attorney please explain the role of public comments 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 in 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 investigations claims or litigation additionally any member of the public who appears before Council in their capacity as a lobbyist must as required by Phoenix city code disclose this fact before addressing Council 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 the person who violates these rules will lose the opportunity to continue to speak thank you so much we'll begin with the meeting minutes councilwoman gado do you have an motion on item one yes mayor I move to approve the meeting minutes of June 12 2024 second we have a motion and a second all those in favor please say I I any oppose nay passes unanimously vice mayor do we have a motion on item two yes I move to approve mayor and city council boards and commissions nomination as revised second second we have a motion and second all those in favor please say I I any opposed passes unanimously would our new Commissioners please come forward to be sworn in please raise your right hand I state your name do solemnly swear that I will support the Constitution of the United States support 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 def them against all enemies foreign and and that I will faithfully and impartially discharge the duties of the office ofar of office State your office Workforce according to the best of my ability so help me God congratulations you are officially sworn in you could go behind e congratulations to our new Commissioners who will help us on everything from Village planning to advising on the future of Workforce Investments and the Phoenix economy we so appreciate your service we provide an advisory role to the State of Arizona on liquor license and we'll go to that portion of our agenda next vice mayor do we have a motion yes I move to approve items 3 through 27 accept item 27 and noting that item 26 is approved as revised second we have a motion a second any comments all those in favor please say I I any oppos nay item 27 is in Council District 8 I will turn to councilwoman Hajj Washington thank you mayor it's my understanding there's a the applicant is here on item number 27 and would like to be heard wonderful we will begin with the applicant uh an Angelina thank you I think hello hello we just wanted to request more time to um give the the paperwork to the finance department with that thank you so much with that I will move that we Grant the continuance as requested by the applicant January 15th does that give us time or do we need a little bit more time we think January 15th wonderful so the councilwoman has made a motion to continue to January 15th that is correct we have a second all those in favor please say I I I all right we'll see you in January city clerk are we ready for ordinances resolutions new business planning and zoning yes mayor vice mayor thank you I move to approve items 28 through 114 accept the following items 44 52 62 63 66 and 9 noting that item 58 is being continued to January 15 2025 item 82 is being continued to January 15 2025 item 89 is being continued to January 15 2025 as corrected item 113 is an add-on item 114 is an add-on and excluding the following items for virtual public comment which are items 49 and 73 and can the clerk confirm if there are any other items that should be excluded for inperson public comment yes mayor and vice mayor also excluding items 60 64 and 82 that's items 60 64 and 82 second thank you we have a a motion and a second and noting 82 has a speaker but that is continued so we won't hear that speaker until January uh any comments roll call G yes War yes hjj Washington yes O'Brien yes yes Pastor yes Robinson yes wearing yes Stark yes goo yes passes 90 councilwoman gado do you have a motion on item 44 yes I would move approval for item 44 second motion and second and I'll recognize the councilwoman for comments thank you mayor the true local solar container Farm project by Homer Farms was established through a year-long collaborative partnership between between the City of Phoenix Office of Environmental programs and the Salt River Project SRP and the Arizona State University the Office of Environmental programs Food Systems staff led the effort and continues to lead the coordination of the project the project will grow produce primarily leafy greens using Endor vertical farming techniques that are water efficient and the energy for the project will will be from several solar panels placed across the site with excess energy sold by sold back to SRP home Farms has agreed to donate 20% of the produce to the community we are extremely excited to see this opportunity in District 5 and bridge the gap between healthy eating and affordability for some of our District 5 neighborhoods home Farms will also provide indoor vertical farming training to Residents and entrepreneurs each year to increase economic opportun unities and access to healthy food and surrounding Community the office of En environmental pro programs SRP and ASU desire to replicate similar projects in other food desert areas in the city and we are excited to see this s see this succeed and set an example for future opportunities throughout the city a ran cutting for the project will occur on January 24th 2025 and I would like to thank assisting city manager Lori Bas the fire department the finance department for all of their hard work and we're very excited about this project and can't wait to get to that ribbon cutting thank you mayor thank you councilwoman any additional comments roll call Galindo yes wado yes HJ Washington yes O'Brien yes Pastor yes Robinson yes wearing yes Stark yes okay yes passes 90 item 49 is amendments to the city's combined classification and pay ordinance in accordance with the human resources committee recommendations do we have a motion I move to approve item 49 Second we have a motion and a second we do have one comment Scott Kirk thank you for the opportunity to speak today um I'm um as a employee of the City of Phoenix as a uh residential inspection supervisor um these classification changes will U make it so that people who are not capable of doing our jobs are being paid more than us which is a concern both for equity and C uh cultural competency which is a priority for the city across the board I'm not trying to fight against my fellow colleagues getting raises I think we should all be paid a fair wage but when people who are not capable of doing another person's position are paid more than other people it does create um animosity in the Departments and um th this is definitely a concern I mean we appreciate all the hard work city council and and HR staff have done to help um get us additional pay um it just seems like we keep missing the bar here and um creating additional problems inequities and um Strife within the department which makes it hard to less our efforts um the neighborhood preservation Specialists are not required to have ifications like the building department is yet they will be paid more than our general inspectors who are uh tasked with providing Building Safety both for our internal customers and all external customers um most of the electricians that are on par to get raises here um will also um outpace our building inspectors um and pay even though they are not required to carry the same qualifications and they are not capable of doing our job without our oversight or assistance um I just ask that uh city council be open to the Future to to fixing these issues because again I'm not trying to fight against my colleagues getting additional raises I appreciate your time and attention on this matter have a good day thank you and uh good news in January uary the HRC the committee that oversees this will be looking at the electrical inspectors and and recom we think the recommendation is for a raise but would folks like to hear more okay councilwoman Pastor I just want to make a comment um um if anything I would say at least I'll speak for myself is that uh Equity pay is is always one thing that I strive for uh cultural competencies is what I believe everyone needs to understand and go through um and so I I hear you and I heard you of what you're what you said I also will make the commitment uh to as the mayor as to look at some of the uh recommendations and uh get to the level where we need to get to uh I heard the electricians and U that space and I do understand that because I did ask about it and got briefed and we are looking at that that um and so I just want to put you at ease in that sense uh it may not always be uh as my father used to say it may not you may not always get what you want but you can try and at least I can say uh you are trying and we're hearing you and we can uh look at this so thank you mayor go ahead thank you um is Dave is Dave here we will ask our human resources director Dave Matthews to come on down thank you um so I know that when we went through the class income study and we decided that we were going to raise everyone wages I know that we were all committed to making sure that there was Equity across the board and that everyone was treated fairly and that everyone was going to be paid according to their job classification and description can you just explain to us a little bit what happened here and why we need to do what we're doing and what our commitment is um for everyone else that's being affected by this change yes mayor member of council uh when we initiated the initial Citywide class and comp study we based it on local Municipal markets and becoming a market leader in every classification what we did after that is we asked employees labor groups department heads for classifications that they think need an additional look as well as well as started looking at internal alignment so in this case with electricians we noticed a very high vacancy rate of 35% about 56 vacancies in the electrician classification so we dove into a second study on that group and that's what's before you in this item is increasing the pay grade for the electrician now we understand every time we do that there's a a downward of effect and it affects inspectors it infect it affects multiple classifications so that's what the team's looking at now is the classifications that this item affects and those will be coming back to council most likely in February okay thank you thank you for that explanation just because I think it's important to be able to explain what is it that we're doing a morale of of our workers is very important to me as as a council person um knowing you know that everyone's being paid accordingly and that everyone one is happy with the job that they're doing and they get paid what they should be getting paid so I appreciate the explanation and hoping to see this item again sometime in February you said I'm seeing that item again in February so we can also take care of everyone else that's being affected by this item thank you yes mayor members of council I'll add that we have HRC that meets monthly on items like this so anytime we do a second review it goes to HRC and then the month following HRC would come the city council so it's a constant evolving look at classifications right I I would just recommend then that we meet with that group of workers that are being affected by this so that we can explain it to them and make and being able to put them at ease and for them to understand that we are looking at them and that we are thinking of them and that we will make sure to take care of them thank you thank you roll call gindo yes wado yes ha Washington yes yes O'Brien yes Pastor yes Robinson yes wearing Stark yes goo yes passes 90 item 52 is an exciting partnership in District Five with Habitat for Humanity Council woman councilwoman guado thank you mayor I would like to make a motion to approve item 52 second and I'll recognize you the councilwoman for comments thank you this item is a part of the housing department in my office's commitment to Redevelopment city-owned property and District 5 with affordable housing consistent with the third initiative in the housing Phoenix plan the recommend recommended proposer habitat for humanities central Arizona will facilitate the construction and sale of the attached owner occupied town homes on two vacant properties adjacent to John F and Mary P long Homestead Park the proposed project design will be compatible with the director of the existing residential neighborhood surrounding the park through Community feedback received from nearby residents this project will offer sustainable energy efficiency and Water Conservation amenities for the future homeowners and Habitat for Humanity Central Arizona will also facilitate pre- impulse homeowner counseling to ensure a successful home buying process for each new homeowner most importantly this project will provide the community with new affordable home ownership opportunities for eight families at or below 80% of the area median income this is an exciting opportunity for my district and we look forward to the additional activation of the park and neighborhood as a result of this project I would like to thank Deputy city manager Gina Montes and the housing department Habitat for Humanity and all of the neighbors and our neighborhood associations North Glenn Square um Jeff Spelman everyone that has been committed to activating um Homestead Park and making the changes that we need to do at that Park and we know that these eight new homeowners will be part of that community and will help us continue to bring activation into our Parks thank you mayor thank you and congratulations habitat have been a great partner of ours on doing infill projects in neighborhoods and it's so incredible to see the people who are going to live in the house be there working with it got to meet a mom and her young daughter and and the daughter spackled her own bedroom which was pretty cool to see uh so very excited to support this one roll call G yes wado yes HJ Washington yes O'Brien yes Pastor yes Robinson yes wearing Stark yes GGO yes passes 90 next is item 60 which is authorization to enter into an agreement with the county to accept funding for a contract with steel and Spark for shelter and affordable housing uh this includes central Arizona shelter services do we have a motion I move to approve item 60 motion and a second Bill Morin Bill followed by Britney good afternoon mayor and members of the council I am here today just to say thank you for your support of this your continued support of Cass and also in and for your um hard work that your staff did in order to set up this IGA with Maricopa County so it's a very creative way and unique way of helping us continue to keep 600 people a night off the street which is just amazing and with this funding we'll be able to continue to do that also the money for spark and steel um I want to thank you for that because they are using that as they're doing some really creative and Innovative things with um affordable housing so I think that this shows that both the county and the city are looking at both the immediate needs and then also the longer term needs and I just wanted to thank you for all the support you've given to Cass over the years and um you know just let you know how much we appreciate everything that the city does and how much work the office of Homeless Solutions is doing to help with this problem so thank you Britney is next hello um I'm going to kind of just mirror what Bill said um we just want to thank you for your continued partnership and allowing us to continue to do the work that we do so thank you thank you council member comments councilwoman H Washington I just wanted to thank you mayor for the opportunity to say something about this project um this will provide a housing specifically for more senior population in The District in addition to all of the other services that Cass mentioned this is all I I Echo the sentiments raised by Bill and Britney for the creative IGA in this this situation and I it matches the creativity that spark and steel brings to our community so I'm excited to support this project and thank you for all that were involved in this project and making it and allowing it to go forward so thank you thank you and our partners at still in spark were recognized at South by Southwest for a major design Award with the work they're doing to help us on affordable housing want to recognize Maricopa County uh for being a funding partner on this and then County Supervisor Bill Gates elsewhere in the meeting did some pretty significant uh contributions from his own office budget to help us address housing as well roll call G yes wado yes hjj Washington yes O'Brien yes Pastor yes Robinson yes wearing yes star yes Gayo yes passes 90 item 62 is next I'll ask the city clerk to read the title item 62 is for ordinance G 7342 and ordinance amending chapter 39 Article 1 Section 39-3 definitions and Article 2 Section 39-6 B building and structure exteriors of the Phoenix city code Vice mer do we have a motion I move to approve item 62 second any comments roll call gind yes wado yes HJ Washington yes O'Brien yes Pastor yes Robinson yes wearing yes Stark yes Gayo yes passes 90 item 63 is 55th Avenue public art project in District 5 I will recognize councilwoman for a motion and a comment thank you mayor I would like to make a motion for item 63 second well today well today is a great day for District 5 great way um to end the year between vertical Gardens with healthy food and affordable um homes for people to be able to buy I mean right now we're going to talk about the artwork for this project consists of three vertical shade elements or gateways made of steel and acrylic with design developed in partnership with the community the vertical Shades depict the moon watching over the night Monarch butterflies migration through the Sonoran Desert and ancient cities mirrored against modern day Phoenix living in two eras through this art shade structure we honor the journey history and current lives of all of our marville community members I am delighted to vote Yes on this item and bring this AR shade structure to the 55th Avenue prominade I would like to thank the deputy City man our Deputy City man manager Inger Erikson for the help throughout the entire project the arts and culture department and the stakeholder panel for their commitment to partaking in the development of this project creative machines and the marville community for partaking in this project um also want to thank um Mitch for all of your hard work I know we've had many conversations about our projects in District 5 so very excited um to see this happening um to all of our kids at John long that participated in this and the principal thank you guys all so much um for participating and making all these changes um through our our community thank you mayor thank you councilman thank you mayor I just want to take a moment to congratulate my neighbor here on the hard work um that she and her team have done a lot of great wins today for District 5 felices all right happy District 5 day roll call gind yes W yes hjj Washington yes O'Brien yes Pastor woohoo yes Robinson yes wearing I'm sorry wearing sorry thank you wearing Stark yeso yes passes 90 we next go to item 64 which is related to janitorial services do we have a motion I move to approve item 64 second motion in a second we have one public comment from Jerry thank you council members Jerry Van gas public Watchdog uh I shouldn't even be here but you know I wanted to thank uh he's not here he's on vacation Deputy city manager John Chan for uh taking this issue under his wing it should never have happened uh we had a uh a park supervisor wrongfully terminate a janitorial contract that wasn't even signed by her it was signed by the park director Cynthia agilar and consequently for two weeks our Park Rangers were cleaning restrooms that they had no business even being involved in and John uh John managed to take it upon himself to bring back the wrongfully terminated contractors for these restrooms otherwise we'd still have Rangers trying to clean restrooms as the open the gate and all the hikers show up Phoenix Mountain Parks if it were a national park the amount of usage would be second only in the to in the country to the shenoa mountains the Smoky Mountains and yet here we are screwing around with you know a petty grievance from a park supervisor this should never have happened our attorneys have put in for all kinds of record requests for how this even happened we've received nothing and we're going to keep pursuing it until we get some answers thank you thank you any Council comments roll call gind yes wado yes hjge Washington yes O'Brien yes Pastor yes Robinson yes wearing Stark yes goo yes passes 90 item 66 is a public hearing and resolution to approve the 2025 downtown enhanced Municipal Services District assessments we'll open the public hearing we do not have anyone to testify we'll close the public hearing do we have any comments vice mayor I move to approve item 66 second we have a motion and a second roll call G yes wado yes hjj Washington yes O'Brien yes Pastor yes Robinson yes wearing yes Stark yes GGO yes passes 90 item 73 is acts on products parts and accessories contract do we have a motion I move to approve item 73 second we have a motion in a second uh we have uh several public comments does anyone wish to comment before all right uh we will begin with uh Guadalupe annaya Guadalupe followed by Maria Maria Proxima good afternoon hi my name isup Anaya I'm here because I I oppose article 73 um no she said no to 22 million um for police um she says that there's a lot of needs in the community and that that's where the money should go graas Maria aalos Maria and and Helena Gil good afternoon my name is [Music] Maria I apologize I can't interpret if okay I I'm sorry I can't if she keeps I can't memorize all that man Jeff is there anyone else I can translate well she just needs to pause well well she keeps pausing and we still can't translate so we let's try with two sentences at a time okay Mar aalos good afternoon my name is Maria aalos I don't agree with article 73 she says no more tasers for the police our neighborhoods need more money for the improvements of the streets she says that they need more lighting and also for payments for rent and also Park repairs thank you an helina and then Percy Christian hi good afternoon my name is you know here we're here because we're not in agreement with proposal 73 because we know also the weapons of tasers also kill they torture our community we're not in agreement with them torturing in this country we have a lot of needs not just weapons today we have one person that that died because at the hands of police in this case we're saying we're just in this case we're what weapons we're going to use to fire they're also they're the same as lethal they're very lethal the difference if they're going to uh die being tortured or they're going to die immediately and I think that's not what we need I think we need help for housing we need resources for mental health but what we're doing here with 73 is there going to be more deaths or with uh fired by with tasers or uh guns I would like you to have a different proposal because we know that violence brings more violence and No One's Gonna wait for them to be tase with that type of uh type of taser and we know we all have family and I would like for you to imagine one of your family members being tase with that that type of taser or change the different bullets you know right we don't want either one I don't think anyone wants that and if you don't want it for yourself we don't want it for our community we all have sons uh um nephews and grandchildren Brothers and we don't want to see one of them in that type of episode and what we don't want for ourselves we shouldn't want for our community that's why we that's how I see the situation that's why I oppose it put ourselves in the shoes of those families I know we all want to protect our lives and our families and like you want to protect your families we want to protect ours why more torture I ask myself the question I wish someone would can answer that thank you thank you Percy is next followed by Neos [Music] it's terrifying and infuriating that we have to be here again my name is Percy Christian and I currently live in district 7 and as I look around this chamber I'm reminded of the deep betrayal that this Council perpetuates every time you choose to fund police violence over Community needs as someone who was harassed by the police department in uh 2020 during the protest I know firsthand how this system operates your officer pain in me as a threat for daring to speak out against their violence but I'm still here and I won't stop coming back until the system of Oppression and the violence is dismantled the timing of this $22 million taser proposal is a slap in the face for every Phoenix resident just months after the doj exposed the Phoenix Police Department's pattern of excessive force just weeks after your officers beat and repeatedly tased Tyrone mccalpin a deaf black man with Cy and in the same year you were forced to pay out millions of settlements for police violence you have the audacity to continue to ask for more weapons and let's talk about this timing you're rushing to approve this massive weapons purchase right as as the city faces a budget deficit mayor G mayor gyo you sit here claiming we need to tighten our belts and cut Community Services while council member O'Brien continues to parot pleas talking points about how the doj's finding are just accusations the hypocrisy is stunning you sit here today surrounded by the very forces that terrorize communities considering whether to hand over millions of dollars for new tasers weapons that our own Department of Justice investigation exposed as being used to brutalize our people the same Department that profiles black and brown res residents that destroys the belongings of unhoused neighbors that shoots people who pose no threat and you want to reward the violence with 22 million more dollars just two months ago we watched your officers Tas mcalpin multiple times while he was already restrained on the ground he couldn't hear their commands because he's deaf but that didn't stop them from brutalizing him and now you want to give them more tasers and now you want to give them more weapons to abuse us more tools to terrorize disabled people black people brown people and unhoused people let's be crystal clear about what you're doing every time you vote to increase police funding system miros is next followed by an Ender thank you yeah no way put sorry uh hi there good afternoon um first off um I heard a lot of equity being thrown around um and you have a panel of individuals that are Spanish speaking um and their Phoenix residents they should be able to have the accessible assistance to be able to understand these meetings um if you see me up there I've been uh translating the whole meeting for them um I'm not being paid by the City of Phoenix this is your job to be able to offer these services for people um so they're able to understand what is happening in their city and that's maybe something you should think about because we should have this space filled up with community members and just to Echo what my colleagues are stating not sure why the PO Le Department deserves another $22 million uh to continue brutalizing black and brown lives especially individuals in marille especially we have to look at the statistics of people that are being harmed um I am an aunt I am here because every time I look at the face of my niece and nephew the last thing I want to think about is when they grow up how horrible they're going to have experience the police violence and if police violence is going to enter my home so you have a panel of people here that are speaking for the people that cannot be here at this time at this hour facing you and even also not having the proper assistance to be able to communicate with you and their needs thank you and Ender is next followed by aam good afternoon uh mayor guyo vice mayor Stark and council members thank you for this opportunity I'm Ann Ender I am the founder and president of operation Blue Ribbon and I don't I just can't believe where this year is gone nonetheless um I think this is a great way to end the Year by approving this um our officers need technology and resources in order to effectively police and and provide provide our Public Safety so um you know in light too of the fact that we I think the last number I saw we have 922 officers on patrol for 1.7 million people we have to give our Police Department the resources they need and for the last year I think we've heard people say we need less lethal options and that's what this is so those who don't want that in their communities will take it um we want Public Safety and let's also remember that these options the also protect our officers you know when they're able to deploy something like this when someone's about to shoot them it might save their lives and I think that's really important to think about so um please approve this and I just want to thank you all for a good year and for being able to work with all of you and I wish you all the best for the holidays thank you aam is next followed by David um good afternoon everybody um mayor k um city council I just want to say that um I just want to give thanks to the police department because they do a great job we're not saying that they don't but to be honest we are against um 73 and we strongly believe that that money can go more towards communities because having more guns having more tasers we already have guns right cuz I know that that's what the police carries and tasers as well but having more is not going to um decrease the violence it's actually going to increase and more by giving them more um more guns and stuff like that um in November of 2024 um there was two shootings within less than 24 hours how do we explain that to people you know of everything that the police is doing um not like long ago two months ago there is another shooting by the police and I believe it was yesterday the day before there was another shooting so we strongly believe that we can take that money and that we can use it for instead of guns we can um try to use it for resources we can actually you know um by um create some literature to hand out to people you know we can um build these resource places um we can um use it to go out to schools and speak to the kids speak to the teenagers um that way we can teach them about violence you know and and tell them how violence is not good we can use it towards that instead of you know um giving the police more money more guns and stuff like that we could also use it for housing which is a big issue um because housing is expensive and I think that if we made it more accessible and if we found a way for um to make the rules easier when you apply for housing we wouldn't have this big issue and we could also use some of that money to educate people um because like you know gland do areia which I know we're not in that issue right now but we also got Phoenix um the drug issue is a big thing that we seriously need to work on those are I find more important that that's a more important issue than you know um the guns and all that stuff we need to work on the issue thank you thank you David I Blanca Proxima hi good afternoon my name is uh David maroin I'm here only because uh I'm against 73 not against the police or the officers I don't think we need more weapons to detain a person maybe there's another way to prepare them U like defense karate Taw I don't know it's like if we're at war with the city of Phoenix like we're in combat that money like uh my colleagues have mentioned they can be used for other things like housing par Parks Alum uh and the people that are on the streets to help them in some wayas that's everything thank you Blanca IM Maria Proxima you all have a good uh good afternoon phix my name is Blanca and I'm from South Phoenix I'm here to talk about something we can't ignore it the ignorance and how to identify the needs of a community with their needs already existing and their own Community where it's promoted a sustainability for everybody we can't Advance together because we've lost confidence and the confidence we have in the ones that represent I'm sorry she means trust the public security it's you can obtain it uh advancing together it's incredible to listen that you're that they're going to buy uh they're going to pay 22 million to buy more weapons for the police you know what I need those Millions for in South Phenix we don't have community centers they're not accessible I have a group of children under 58 uh we practice in the streets we have a community center that's on Seventh Street in southern it it's belongs to District 8 and it's not accessible to the Latin Community what's happening I exort you can stand up from your seats and join the community that the you see the needs that are needed in the Latin Community a big example of this that we have a deficit of speakers that don't understand what we're saying how can we say come to our uh the meetings to to our Representatives we need more green spaces so the garden is more uh beneficial for our we have a group of young ones that we're trying to encourage so they can be productive part of the community and for those those 2 million so they can be wasted tax money our neighborhoods don't need more weapons we don't need more money for the police I don't want more budget cuts from the for the from the community every dollar wasted spent on weapons it's a dollar stolen from the community do you know what's happening with South thank you for listening and God bless excuse me may counc Washington thank you um I want to make sure someone from my office speaks with her to confirm want to clarify the inaccessibility of the community center that she mentioned if we can get some more detail can you Razer can you connect with her please thank you thank you Maria good afternoon my name is Maria MOA and I'm here because I also oppose 73 no more money for the weapons for the police we don't need that for a safe state or city and I'll tell you why I live in Glendale and one time outside of my home there was a couple passing by the the gentleman never resisted that to be detained and the [Music] police I can't think of a word to describe it they were very abusive with the person I have Rock in front of my home and they scraped his face it 20 police officers they had a child a girl was two three years old and it's supposed that we're supposed to protect the the minors they abused that couple in front of their child I recorded it and I I I turned over that recording to the police imagine 20 police offic for a couple how could that they resist I don't think so we don't need weapons you don't need we need know how to speak how to communicate those 22 Millions we can be used in our community we want to see see clean streets there's a lot of homeless in the streets they're not addicts they're just simply they they could not simply pay their rent and they're out in the streets and they're they're being forced to do this and unfortunately there are homeless that are on drugs and they also need help and sometimes we have called the police and you know what they say move from that area because it's dangerous I've never seen them arrive no more weapons more communication thank you Bera Gloria Proxima good afternoon to the council I'm here also because I oppose proposal 73 we don't need more weapons to have a safe Community we need you to invest more in our community 22 million is a lot for the police last year 2 million was uh for housing let's do a change 20 million for the community and 2 million for the police we need more accessible housing more resources for mental health better Parks we need a lot of things like uh art centers for our children or centers for our children so they can learn things and we need another we also need another help for learning like Blan said she has a group but she doesn't have enough resource to continue with more kids that's what our community needs and what our families need not to continue to be tortured the police is not going to resolve the problems that are uh troubling us find another solution to solve our problems the police is very violent and you know it very well they abuse the colored people take a different action find a different way to solve the problems these weapons are not going to solve it they're going to kill our people our fathers our brothers I don't know why they're bringing these type of weapons they don't know what type of uh health problem the person may have I just ask God that you have more wisdom to solve the problems that are affecting the community gracias it was too too much for me to interpret L she just thanking you for the park I apologize Gloria Estella gracias okay perd my name is Gloria I'm also here because I don't want the more weapons I just adopted three children and I will I would not want them to be affected in the future because of these weapons [Music] Community Center for the children for the young ones to be better use of that money violence weapons brings more violence and I just want to thank the person that's responsible help us with that park that's making a change Estella followed by Roland good afternoon to the whole the council and everyone that's here I have to pause I don't have a voice right now I'm just want to say that I'm against Point 73 on the agenda we don't need more weapons we don't want the 20 2 million to go to the police to buy more weapons there's a lot of need in the community I hear the councils talking about all the improvements they made and I would like to believe that it's all happening like my colleague said La has been working with the community and it's beautiful and and the people in the community say what's happening with with this park when we you know we went to this park and it wasn't a park for the community gind and also supporting the community and then there's a point that we can understand each other as a council and a community and the only thing we're asking is no more money to the police for weapons that does not make us safer it does not give us Security in our community but it makes us safer they plant the tree and they they fix our parks and other things also we need affordable housing there's a lot of people living on the streets and we know it was Co 19's fault [Music] and they promis one thing and another and it's almost been five years we need you don't want prot interrup work together with our community no more no more money for the police no taser weapons invest in the resources that the community really needs thank you Roland is next e husa Justina after Roland hello um I'm against 73 um I like to say this I found a problem with the city with not doing anything for the Youth and instead of just identifying that problem I can't put a solution I started the Jacob Michael Harris nonprofit Foundation I funded that myself so when I sat here and I walked to the City of Phoenix and that's city of Fenix put their money where their mouth was and invest in this Foundation to help protect these youth I was told there is no money by the city but yet then here we are today talking about giving this fxpd $22 million so you want to weaponize and over weaponize occupying force in these communities by giving them $22 million but you don't want to give a dollar to protect these children you say you want safer communities well the make the way you make those safer communities is you get these youth somewhere positive to come give them the opportunity to be around positive adults who can mentor these children to prevent them from going out committing crimes and making a bad decision like my son did that cost him his life so if you want to think that giving these police officers more tasers is going to minimize the police contact or the violence from these police is not in Jacob's case the less lethal force was used after Jacob was already shot after deadly force was already used so giving them the less lethal option they don't even use it anyway so what I'm here to just say is if you want to care about this community you say you care about this community put your money where your mouth is instead of funding this police force give the money to the kids and another thing what I like to say is this here I'm not against the police never have been but to sit here and continue to give the police money every time they mess up is a pure definition of insanity you keep giving them money thinking things are going to change and nothing's changed we continue to get the same results we continue to have these Community beaten brutalized and murdered thank you thank you husa or Justina hi good afternoon to the council my name isusa I'm here in this place because I'm against 73 because I've been affected from the Justice uh a officer named youngster April 19th of 19 my killed my killed my son never I will never be an agreement to give them money because the State of Arizona it's the number one in in death and violence and violence brings violence we need safety our community needs safety uh um Parks freak Parks lighting and I'm not in agreement with the violence and I'm never going to be in agreement that the police receive millions and more Millions to keep buying weapons I'm never going to be in agreement thank you very much and God bless God bless and Merry Christmas thank you so much that concludes public testimony I will turn to council members for comments councilman Robinson thank you mayor know I I think it's incredibly important that we listen to the public and and a lot has said here today and I don't want anyone to think that we are not listening I I firmly believe we are and I I see Chief Sullivan is here at the police department and several members of the police department are here as well with him it's important that we listen but I think it's also important that we acknowledge at least two reasons why we are asking for this expenditure for um for tasers number one the current tasers are outdated an outdated tool will in my opinion and that's based on well over 36 years and law enforcement that outdated tool will put police officers in a position where they would not be able to well they would be forced to use other Force measures because they no longer have that so I think it's important that we understand that the current tasers that the officers have it's outdated it's out lived its usefulness um axon taser the um the maker of this particular tool this instrument the taser itself they have come up with a better model it's the model 10 and what it will allow is for a police officer it allows more time and space and what that time and space hopefully will do I know it doesn't happen all the time but hopefully it will allow deescalation to take place that will not result in the use of deadly force the best example I can give you on um the new taser it now has a 45 foot limit so basically from where I stand all the way almost to the very back row for its effectiveness of that particular tool again that gives the officers the opportunity to do other things and most hopefully deescalate the situation again we've heard what people have to say but I think it's equally as important to understand what we are doing is and this is something I am voting for we [Music] are giving our police officers a tool that will help them hopefully be more effective in their role and I started off by saying it was incredibly important that we hear you and the members of the police department were here and they heard you we understand understand what the concerns are whether you agree with them or disagree whatever it may happen to be I just think this is an important tool I think it's one we have to have I think it will allow our police officers like I said to be in a position to make more effective hopefully better decisions um in situations that requires the use of some level of force mayor thank you for the time thank you we'll go to councilwoman O'Brien and then councilwoman gado thank you mayor um councilman Robinson answered a couple of these but I just would like to have you guys on the record how long have we been using um less lethal resources and the Phoenix Police Department Meo me members of council councilman O'Brien we have used less than lethal tools and I'm I'm looking back and have the number in my head I believe since 2000 when I was a patrol officer we had the initial taser which was the x26 model okay and do we have additional less lethal resources available to our officers today besides this tool yes ma'am we have the 40 mm which is a rubber projectile we have pepper ball and we have the taser and what are the safety features of this um resource I'll also add that we have our pepper spray which is now called repulse as another less lethal that we carry so we do have a few options there thank you I apologize mayor members of council councilman or councilwoman O'Brien can you repeat the second part of your question what are the safety features of the item that um is on the agenda today for purchase the the axon taser 10 mayor guo members of council councilwoman O'Brien um some of the features that we have are as councilmen Robinson brought up is that double range so the taser 7 has a range of 25 ft the taser 10 has a range of 45 ft which allows for that distance that the officers can stand away from the subject uh which allows for us more communication time and things like that nature to deescalate a situation um but that distance is helpful it also has an audible deterrent with it which we noticed in our pilot program that we did in the marvil estraya precinct that the sound of just turning on the taser uh resulted in actually less deployments of it because the sound was was um enough to make the person comply so that meant that the person wasn't affected by the taser it was just the sound and we were able to safely take them into custody and handle that situation U and the taser also has significantly lower voltage than the taser 7 the taser 10 does so we feel that those are very strong safety components of the new tool and can you explain the significance of why um the distance of 25 to 45 ft what is a significance of that being a safety feature mayor Gago members of council Council woman O'Brien the distance is really important for us because it allows us the ability to stand behind cover um and it allows us more time to communicate with the subject and see what's going on uh with them and use our IAP principles a lot of our communication techniques that we learn as well for deescalation um but when rushed on time it it allows us more time to assess the situation assess the person that we're dealing with um and it and it we believe that it leads to a lot less uses of force and when a subject you might be interacting with complies is there a need for our officers to use these resources mayor Gago members of council councilwoman O'Brien if a subject is complying absolutely not we can take them into custody in a in a very safe controlled manner that doesn't involve the use of the taser and is that always the first choice of the Phoenix Police Department mayor guo members of council councilwoman O'Brien no it's not always the first choice our first choice is to use our uh communication and um you know non communication I I didn't question well communication is your first choice to get compliance correct yes ma'am thank you thank you mayor thank you councilwoman guado and I think councilman Robinson had a clarifier thank you mayor I well first just want to thank the community for coming out today and I agree I think we um I'm seeing the person that's translating for folks in our community so I think we definitely need to work on those issues that we have I can see how frustrating it could be for someone that's translating as well but when people get up and are speaking and and they're talking about very personal matters to them I think we just need to figure out how is it that we are able to communicate with the community a much much better um I think that's something that's very important because I think it keeps coming up every time um folks that don't speak English come out and speak so um Jeff I think we really need to work on that and figure out a better system for translation just because a lot of the stories that we hear are very personal and when folks come out and speak it takes a lot for them to come out and being able to voice um what they're feeling so I think we need to have a little bit more respect for that with that being said I would like some clarification regarding the new use of force policy said to be implemented in January specifically I would like to know if these policies will cover the use of tasers and if so how they will be addressed within the framework of the new guidelines mayor members of council councilwoman wardo the new use of force policy which comes out or will be in effect at the end of January does cover this use of force it it categorizes each use of force and defines use of force the three main things we're looking for in the new use of force is necessary proportional and reasonable is in the new use of force policy the use of a Tas will be categorized as a level two use of force and that level two use of force would get more scrutiny than it currently does in the current use of force policy thank you thank you for that thank you mayor councilman Robinson thank you mayor there's one thing I wanted to um expound on a little bit councilwoman O'Brien asked the question as to when did we first talking about um these types of tools uh specifically about tasers and I think it's important for us to understand from a historical perspective the Phoenix Police Department was the first major Police Department in the United States to outfit its entire Patrol Division with tasers I believe was back in the year 2003 the early part of 2003 because in 2002 we had a record number of Officer involved sh shs at the time the police chief guy by name of Harold hurt the city manager and actually city council were truly concerned about that level of force having never seen that level of force or that amount of force being used in the city wanted something done about it and at that point we instituted um tasers throughout the entire um Patrol Division the following year we sh we cut shootings by over 70% if I remember correctly so it's important that that we understand this is a tool and as councilwoman O'Brien mentioned it allows for that separation that time that opportunity for the police officers as I said as well for the opport uh for the op officers to deescalate situations so I just thought it was important that that be added as well thank you mayor councilman galinda a thank you mayor um I have two questions the first one is to um Chief benza um I'd like to know the status of training on the new use of force policy where are we at and when do we anticipate to get to 100% mayor members of council councilman uh glendaa I will have to defer that to commer Garza who runs our training Bureau she had her staff have prepared a um a training plan for this and I'll let her talk about that mayor members of council councilman um our training you your question was for the training of the use of force policy correct updated one the updated use of force policy should be uh we've completed just about everybody we're almost at 100% completion rate uh which was our goal was the end of the year and uh we will do an update with the with the updated use of force policy that will be out uh by the end of January we'll do a video for refresher on that policy is my is my understanding thank you commander and Lori my question to you is um I want clarification on the expenditure for the purchase of the um taser devices this is an expenditure from the police department's budget it does not Co-op other monies from other departments is that correct mayor members of the council Council councilman Glend Oliva um yes and no so yes this is an expenditure from the police department's budget there are some additional monies that are being added to the police department's budget in order to U move this contract forward should it be approved today so um funds for the first year of the contract are currently available in the police department's budget but for years um 2 3 four and five it will require an increase for example in year two it'll require a cost increase of 3.7 million but my question was more directed toward we are not going to be taking money from Services Community Services specifically to pay for this this is directly from the police budget is that correct Council Council M el mayor members of the council the increase that is reflected in year one is being absorbed within the police department budget um the subsequent years they are an increase however we have not yet built the 2526 budget so I'm I'm not saying that I I'm taking it from or we are taking it from any uh known service but we have not yet built the 2526 budget so at this time we don't know what our status is for 2526 we won't know that until February 25th thank you Jeff councilwoman pestor okay I'm going to follow up on that um so if I read this correctly it says this year the first year which I'm assuming is this year when we vote um that it's coming from the police department's budget the rest of the years it's going to have to be built in the budget for the Department my question is how is it that we have the money this year and we can't figure out in the their budget how to incorporate two through five in their own budget why do we have to add additional mayor members of the council councilwoman Pastor um that's a good question the the money for this year is coming from Savings in the existing budget so um the contract itself was not built into the budget for this fiscal year and it if it begins in January then half of the fiscal year will need to be covered via other Savings in the police department's budget okay and uh the projection is that the police department will be able to do that this year going forward the expenditures the estimates for the expenditures in the police department you know including everything from salaries to overtime to other contractual expenditures the estimate is that there will be a need to add funds in order to accommodate this contract and so that's why we want to be transparent with the council and the community that the intent is to add additional funds going into the budget planning for 2526 and and councilwoman Pastor to add a finer point to that there have been a number of things since the beginning of this fiscal year that the police department has been asked to absorb in terms of additions additional positions to help with some of the things that we've been addressing as far as like reform and those costs then are already on autopilot essentially into next year's basee budget so they are absorbing already capacity out of next year's base okay so basically what you're saying years two through five we are adding additional dollars what if we don't have those additional dollars mayor members of the council councilwoman Pastor um this contract would be in place and so um we would be obligated to expend These funds unless for some reason we determined to cancel the contract um under the terms within the funds to balance that or offset that would have to be identified elsewhere well I'm hoping the police budget certainly that would be the first place we would go to offset that cuz we are facing [Music] um a deficit we will be going to our community regarding the deficit so I'm hoping with those that are are understand budgets that then they will say we are observing this amount and it's going to have to come out of your budget um I think that's fair uh because if we Face a deficit other's department will end up paying for this budget and so what we're hearing from community and I think this is an important part for Community is that we don't want to sacrifice that piece of this side of the community of our mental health pieces of our housing of our homeless solution we are asking we need additional resources for these areas is in order to balance this other side and if we can find and this is just where I'm at on this we can find 22 million for new tasers then we can figure out to find additional resources for the areas of the social emotional human side that is needed for our community because and the reason why I'm saying this is because it also protects the police in the end and when people have services and housing and places to be it helps police and it helps the safety of our community and I'm not saying let's let's cancel this I'm saying we have to balance it and what does that look like and we have to have a hard conversation with our community on what that's going to look like in the future so I'm going to switch off on that and go to um effective January then what I'm hearing is the use of four everybody will have been trained effective January 1 2025 mayor members of council councilman Pastor everyone will have been trained and updated with a video which will come out the 13th of January the policy will be in effect at the end of January okay when you say updated with a video I have caution to that but please explain that mayor members of the council councilman pastor what we're doing is it's been a long time since we've done our use of force training and it's very important to us that we get this right so what we're going to do is we're going to create a video that discusses the tenants of the new use of force policy and send that out to our employees so that it's a reminder and a reinforcer of the new policy okay thank you for that Clarity so basically we're going to send out to those say someone I got trained a year ago on the use of force policy I go on my way and maybe don't understand a piece of the use of force policy so I'm going to get a a refresher of the re uh use of force policy and then I'm assuming because this is what happens to me at the community college I take these courses and then I have to sign off on me taking these courses that I have done these courses or they follow me and they they sign off on the system but I'm assuming that's what happens mayor members like Council councilman pestor that's correct they are held accountable to that policy thank you now my question on the taser the actual taser because I I'm hearing that it's Antiquated and it's outdated but what I'm really Hearing in this whole process is that this modern modernization of a taser gives enough um space I don't know I can't I can't think right now a distance enough distance so that communication can be happening and a distance wide to say whatever you say or um whatever the commands are and it gives you guys enough distance uh to be able to have more communication and and really Effectiveness before you have to use the taser is that what I'm hearing mayor members of council councilman Pastor that's correct it allows us to have more distance it also allows the person with whom we're dealing to feel more comfortable because we're not as close Okay and then one last question I think it's one last question um do we have any data or evidence on the effectiveness of this taser mayor members of council councilwoman pastor we did our pilot program in the mar ve Australia Precinct and what we saw was that it proved more effective than the taser s so then we do have data I mean I can look at the data and see the effectiveness of it mayor members of council Council woman pest store it's a small subset um honestly one of the biggest things and we didn't track it at the beginning was that audible deterant which worked really well for us and we didn't anticipate that so we only had nine deployments eight of which were effective and the ninth was just too far okay I would like to see data so as we we roll out I would like to see data of every time a taser is used the distance the I want to see all of it to see how effective this is I mean I understand it's it we'll be phasing out to these ones but I think is very important in trans for transparency purposes uh for the community so I don't know if it's a directive here or what is it that you guys need from in order to collect this data mayor members of council councilwomen pestor this contract includes software from axon that is called Trend and it tracks a lot of that data that and will be available and so you'll be able to give it us to us maybe monthly every 3 months how is this going to work mayor members of council councilman pastor we will be able to do that we do some on our transparency page now we will be able to provide you statistics of our use of it when we use it um there is a lag with our current records management system but we'll give you the up-to-dated numbers as soon as we can currently we're looking at September first numbers now so as we improve that with our new records management system this will that Gap will shorten but we'll be able to provide statistics to you we can do it monthly if that is what you prefer okay and then this is I promise this is my last question um non-english speakers how do you communicate to non-english speakers and what I mean is because I'm seeing this non-english speakers if you're giving me a command and I'm not understanding what command you're giving me where is a deescalation in all this and how do you deescalate before you go to a taser and I don't know if this is a appropriate place but I'm thinking of non-english speakers because I can be like I don't know I'm scared what someone's yelling at me and I don't know and I'm not going to stop so I'm just thinking in this situation because of of what what because of the translations uh I'm trying to say okay we probably need to look at some of this space so that's all it's just a comment you don't have to respond thank you um thank you thank you vice mayor thank you I I I want to go back and ask a couple questions about the the budget justff so um one of the exercises that you'll be asking all the Departments to do is to look at Cuts so is you're going to be asking the police department to do that as well right uh vice mayor mayor mayor members of the council we have actually already started that process we've asked departments to identify a list of potential reductions um those reductions are due back to me in the next couple of weeks then we go through the arduous task of reviewing them making sure that they're accurately calculated and then we would bring forward a list of potential reductions if we are needing those for the the balancing of the budget with the trial budget so in in the case of the police department if they find some reductions perhaps that could help in assisting the cost of the tasers is there a way to balance that vice mayor mayor members of the council yes that is that is also an option and that those are the things that we also look at during our tech review process which we've we've kind of wrapped up in October we look at Department's utilization of existing budgetary basis and then we try to forecast out moving forward to make sure that they're not you know increasing just for the sake of increasing and and we we do a very detailed dive as we go through compiling the list of potential reductions we will look for those low hanging fruits so anything that could be cut that doesn't impact Direct Services to the community and doesn't have an impairment on our operations or efficiencies those are things that we would likely recommend to council to eliminate some things don't necessarily require a council action to take if we're not changing service if we're not cutting positions if it's really just an efficiency and there's some budgetary savings we'll take those without without needing to ask Council for permission or approval to do that so there may be those opportunities to look at the next coming Year's budgets you'll probably do that exercise for the next few years right and in fact when we come back to you on February 25th with that multi-year forecast we will be talking to you about you know the the existing trend for the budget for every single Department as well as those unfunded needs that we have elsewhere so we'll we'll talk about all of that on February 25th in detail and then March 19th is when we present the trial budget great that gives me some assurance is that other uh services in the city will be protected thank you mayor councilwoman H Washington thank you mayor for the opportunity I have a couple of questions many of my questions have been answered by my colleagues there's a couple things I would like to follow up on and get some clarification um one is there some way someone can explain to me the jump from year one to year two it goes from 1.9 to $5.5 million I just want to understand what is anticipated between year 1 and year two that would account for that difference mayor members of the council councilman Hodge Washington um year one is a partial year contract so the contract wouldn't begin until January so it's a January to June so it's basically half essentially of of what um slightly less than half of what would go into the following years which are approximately $5 million each okay that that addresses my second question is um well partially my second question what percentage of our actual force would we anticipate if worst casee scenario we are only able to provide funding for year One what percentage of our department would have access to taser 7 I'm sorry taser 10 versus taser 7 mayor members of council councilman Hodge Washington if we were only able to outfit a certain amount of of officers we would focus on our forward- facing officers which would be our Patrol officers I believe that's about 911 and our tactical support officers and I'm ballparking that in the 80 range okay we currently have 255 sworn officers not including who it's in our Academy so it' be less right around half right around half of our front facing or our of our forward facing officers in Patrol and tactical support Bureau okay thank you um could I add just one thing to that councilwoman just um Food For Thought So mayor members of the council if we were to make adjustments to the contract and only fund a portion of it going forward there's a likelihood that the economies of scale that we get and the pricing that we get for the volume that we're um agreeing to purchase would change and that that cost could go up per um product if that makes sense I appreciate that thank you um my second thought Pro my second thought cir U focuses more so on insuring what assurances can you tell us or tell me as a council member that deescalation is still going to be our officer's first con first response when it comes to the use of these tasers despite the fact that they may have additional distance um councilwoman Pastor brought up one of the comments that I had here is about how do we ensure that we're able to still um properly train on the use of force with these with these new tasers and the new use of force process that allows indiv allows our community and the officers to feel like this is a safe environment mayor members of council councilwoman Hutch Washington IAT is our current deescalation uh thing IAT is integrating communication and tactics so all just over 700 of our Patrol officers have been trained in icat so far we're about to restart our program get retrained in it and um rejuvenate that program I guess in the last year we've trained over 700 officers in that it starts with communication so we are pushing as a department uh and everything that we are doing where communication is first so that will be reiterated throughout everything um and when we deploy our tasers if allowed today if it's passed uh we will start our training program and in our training program we've developed a 10-hour training for taser 10 in that 10-hour training module which we can we believe we can can complete excuse me uh by the end of June we can start at the end of January and have all of Patrol through by the end of June um it it will include a classroom portion with Department policy so it'll be more of the new use of force policy more Refreshers on that the more they hear it uh we feel the better understanding they will have of it it will also have a decision-making module uh virtual reality scenarios practical exercises and scenario-based training and all of these will start with communication and integrate the IAT principles in that um so we we do have a very strong push in tactics and training for communication first and when do we anticipate being complete completing the I can training of the portion uh the policy changes in training mayor members of council councilwoman of hjge Washington that's a great question I don't have an estimate on that uh we did get as many through as possible and we identified um that we needed to update it and and the perf is what puts it on the Police Executive re Research Forum um they've they've updated their training too so we will be be in line with uh P's training we're sending officers to their school in January uh and then we'll restart that training so we offer it once a week to patrol and we try to get them through as quick as possible okay a couple more questions um we I heard we heard a little bit about the pilot program that has been in place we heard about one of the benefits so far has led to reduced deployment um is the audio function is there any other takeaways that we have heard from the we've seen from this pilot program have we seen Less deployments in general or is there anything else we can expand on that mayor members of council councilwoman hjw Washington uh we did receive full community re uh support for those that we uh that were took place in the um uh pilot program in the community response um so they gave their full support which was nice as far as takeaways um it was interesting that audible deterrent was kind of the biggest thing for us that it was nice uh to know that we had it resulted in less deployments which is why the data is so low of 8 to n actual deployments of it but when the officers pulled it out and turn turned it on people said what is that I don't know what it is but I don't want anything to do with it and we gained really quick compliance and when you say we had full community support can you elaborate a little bit on that for me please absolutely mayor members of council councilwoman hjge Washington um we had a few meetings at the beginning to introduce the the taser 10 show the community what it was what the features were um the pilot program was three months and then we had a a final meeting to go over all of the the stats that we had and talk about some of um some of the deployments that we had such as the audible deterrent and uh the cost of it things like that and unanimously everyone that participated was in full support of the taser 10 thank you for sharing that um and one question I would have based on what you just explained about the community support you kind of did a prec community a Mee with a community before this was launched would that be part of the roll out if we were to continue with the taser 10 going forward is that in the pipeline as well mayor members of council councilwomen hods Washington you're asking if we can do another Community event if we continue to move forward with the taser 10 um one of the areas that I think was very beneficial is the community had some saying buying as to how this was rolled out and yet was more informed um you said we got full community support and I was asking is that the plan going forward as we as if we were to continue with this would that be the plan going forward mayor members of council councilwomen Hodge Washington yes absolutely we involve the community in everything we heard what the community had to say today in their comments um and we'll continue to um include this in all of our transparency website with data as Chief pza said uh but we can certainly explore ways to involve the community more in these discussions and continue them have them ongoing with uh with data as Council pestor spoke about things like that thank you those are conclud those are my questions mayor thank you thank you councilwoman O'Brien thank you mayor I just wanted to do a couple follow-ups you said that the um noise or this this the audible uh caused several folks to to not or to comply to comply um but those are not included in the numbers you gave us today is that correct mayor members of council councilman O'Brien that's correct it was something that we didn't anticipate going into the pilot so we didn't capture the numbers of that we wish we did because there the feedback that we got from the officers the 28 officers in the pilot program uh was uh was positive and will the software that comes with this um track if the audible is set off yet not actually deplo the Chasers aren't actually deployed mayor members of council councilwoman O'Brien I I don't know the answer to that uh but I can get it for you and report back that would be great and oh yes yes yes it does okay you got help from a friend I did get that that is good news um and I know there have been some qu questions about budgeting and um this contract and and what happens if we we go we start it but we don't follow through or we find that there's not funding my question is then um the life expectancy of this resource that we have currently the taser 7 is about five years if we cannot replace those with Taser 10 do we quit using taser sevens because they're outdated and not working or not not supported by axon mayor members of council Council O'Brien that would be a policy question that we would have to discuss with you um and in your peers to determine what we would like to do in Loop of that less lethal product okay um that's it mayor thank you so much thank you any additional comments roll call gind yes wado yes HUD Washington yes O'Brien yes Pastor yes Robinson yes wearing Stark yes goo yes passes 90 our final agendized item is item 90 will the clerk read the title item 90 is for ordinance g733 4 an ordinance authorizing the city manager to amend Phoenix city code chapter 36 electric scooters and electric bicycles to update the minimum age to ride electric scooters and electric bicycles vice mayor I I move to approve item 90 second motion a second councilwoman O'Brien thank you mayor um I I do appreciate staff bringing this item to us I would ask that the the change is to 16 years of age and in discussing this with um some of my community members and and after my involvement of um eight years on a school board I would ask my um council members well to consider potentially a different age but do we have staff here that could answer a couple questions yes um streets Transportation director Brandy Kelo is on our way thank you je thank you Brandy so how did um the city how did City staff arrive at the age of 16 as a recommendation mayor council let me move that a little bit uh we actually looked at a lot of our peer cities uh both locally and nationally and when we looked at that majority of them had the age of 16 in addition our ordinance originally was 16 and it got changed to 18 uh so when we looked at that and looked at what other cities were doing that's the recommendation to council at this time okay and I do 16 is is the driving age in in Arizona and I do understand that but I also UND I also know that our high schoolers start school high school at 14 and in Deer valy Unified School District um while we Bus kids if you live closer than one and three4 miles to the school you do not get bused you must find your own transportation um additionally we the State of Arizona um has school choice which means that if um you don't choose to go to your public school closest to your neighbor your home um there might be other options and those could also o be um farther away and I feel like micromobility or electric scooters electric bicycles could be options um I know that some of our school districts uh have options for programs that are offered within the district but not necessarily at our local school um you might attend your local school but then go to another high school and and especially in a district that is as far north um as my district is is we don't have bus service to my entire to the entire part of my district so a a teenager taking a bus is not um an option for everybody and then additionally in Arizona you can start working when you're a 15 um so I I would suggest that we lower the age to um at least 14 most high schoolers are 14 their freshman year that would give them the ability to uh ride an electric scooter or electric bike I also think that there are some um safety uh pos positive positive attributes for safety especially in neighborhoods I can think of a community where um you know kids walk a long way and and they walk by some areas of in community that are not as safe as I might wish they would be and and being on an electric bike or electric scooter might provide them with additional safety so I would just ask I I commend you all in the work you're doing to bring this to us at age 16 and um I just asked my my council members to consider uh that it be 14 instead of 16 thank you councilwoman HUD Washington thank you may and councilman Galindo alir thank you mayor um unless I'm missing something I thought I read that the micromobility vendors they require them to be require riters to be 18 so and that's due to insurance and other requirements so if we were to amend our um our city code to provide for a lower um age how would that play with our vendors would our vendors still be able to um participate if they have a different regulatory scheme that they comply with mayor and Council that's a great question uh the age would be be appropriate for private E Scooters and ebikes the vendors due to their own requirements can set the age at 18 um for insurance issues and liability issues the vendors would stay at 18 okay and then you said we also we modeled and sampled or we looked at other cities and looked at their age um for those that had reduced age did we did they tend to have the same level of um vehicle dependency that we see here in the here in Phoenix mayor and Council yeah we looked at several local um tempy Scottdale Chandler Mesa um and then we also looked at several large util um cities around the country Austin New York Seattle Los Angeles Houston so a lot of similar type of communities okay thank you for the clarification I just wanted to make sure um while I do understand the desire to provide another option for um the youth to be able to our roadways I am a little hesitant about having a 14 or a 16-year-old share the road with our motorist when we see statistics that we are still trying to um be on the right side of with our vision zero we are still in my from my perspective seeing quite a bit of um collisions and I am just hesitant on putting a child in um in that in that roadway in that safety area especially when they have not in some cases even taken a a class to learn the row of the road and I would rather maybe I'm being a Bo too protectionist but I am concerned about that so those are my comments thank you for listening councilman thank you mayor um I believe the councilwoman um stole what I was going to say and I'm okay with that Council councilwoman guado thank you mayor I think um um Bry brendy you and I had these conversations as well I I think for me it's also hard right I mean I think we had a lot of concerns when we brought in the scooters I knew I know I was on the conso um when those conversations were happening I just think it would be for me I wouldn't be comfortable um having a 14 a 14-year-old being out on the scooter I mean just echoing what um councilwoman hush Washington is saying I just don't think that would be responsible on our part so far I think the incidents have been low um as far um but I just don't think that's a good idea yes Council Pastor yes um I agree to 16 and I agree to 16 only because uh at 16 you take uh if you're going to drive uh you usually get a permit at 15 and a half since I have one in my house um and the challenge that I have is her following the rules of even driving and explaining and me sitting there explaining to say slow down stop to do all the things but I'm in the car teaching um I also agree because it's an indust industry's uh policy and there is some liability pieces that could happen and there will be some liability pieces that could happen even with the city um so I am staying with where the motion is roll call Galindo yes yes HUD Washington I just want to make sure I have Clarity on the motion 16 yes O'Brien no Pastor yes Robinson mayor if I may explain my vote thank you you know I I understand the argument with regard to kids you know 14 and 15 years old riding um electric bikes and scooters to school and I it's something I've considered but I've had significant outcry from my community because we've had several accidents involving 14 and 15 year olds on these scooters so for that reason I'm going to vote Yes staying at um 16 because I think it's important but I acknowledge that there are those who do who use um the electric bikes to get to school and stuff and I feel for them but I'm going to fall on the side of safety and I think 16 is the right age for it thank you wary Stark yes GGO yes pass is 81 that concludes our agendized vision our agendized business I will turn to the City attorney to introduce the final portion thank you mayor 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 citizen comment session is limited to 30 minutes the Arizona open meeting law permits the city council to listen to the comments but prohibits council members from discussing or acting on the matters presented thank you we'll begin with blue Crowley followed by Missy puit okay uh blue has departed we'll begin with Missy followed by Diane Barker hi mayor hi councel um oh gosh I think I just deleted all my stuff and I if you I was having a hard time hearing you can you hear me now um so my name is Missy prit I um just want to give a recap of the year of the past couple months um I am the founder of Arizona's first Cat Cafe and then I just uh resigned it's been about a year and now I'm doing cat education and advocacy and resources for the community um so I'm just going to read what I have to say just a little bit of recap from the year thank you for allowing me the opportunity to speak today as we approach the end of the year I want to take a moment to reflect on the significant challenges we Face regarding the cat crisis in Arizona if you don't know there's over 15,000 cats living on the street in just Phoenix or Maricopa County actually they're saying over a million in our entire State um it is urgent to PRI prioritize the animal welfare in our city this year we have witnessed a troubling increase in the number of stray and abandoned animals particularly cats estimates suggest that there are a million feral cats across the state each one representing not just a life in need but also a broader implications for our environment public health and Community well-being the suffering of these animals is heartbreaking many are left to fend for themselves facing starvation disease and harsh weather conditions shelters overwhelmed struggling to accommodate the influx of animals while dictated while dedicated rescue organizations operate at full capacity often without the necessary resources to make a substantial impact as we reflect on the last year it is crucial to recognize the efforts of the local Advocates and organizations who have worked highly to address this issue their dedication to spaying neutering and providing Medical Care has made the difference in that one cat but it's not made a difference because we are going back three steps and moving forward One Step even more than that what can we do as a city first we must prioritize education and awareness campaigns to inform the public about responsible pet ownership and the importance of spaying and neutering by fostering a culture of compassion and responsibility we can help reduce the number of unwinded litters and ultimately end the feral C population over population and suffering tempy who leads with the best animal they have led with um the cat population um help timy Chandler and Mesa and now Gilbert all have a program for feral cats I want to propose that we establish an animal welfare office within our city government this office would educate Advocate and provide support and resources to our community it would serve as a hub for collaboration between the city local organizations and citizens dedicated to improving the lives of all animals in Phoenix as we stand at this pivotal moment in time let us remember that every animal's life is a story waiting to be told a story of Hope love and a chance for a better tomorrow it is our duty to give them a voice and ensure that they are treated with a dignity and respect they deserve together we can create a lasting Legacy for compassion in our city thank you thank you Diane is next followed by Percy good afternoon Mayor Kate and city council and happy holidays and it was really nice to see you all here I just wonder why Jim's name is still up there did he get on the phone or whatever but um hey I want to thank my councilman uh for Grant getting back to me and Cody and Robinson's uh City Council Office helped him I was interested Ed in an agenda item that has been pulled and it's about Transit security and RFP I know I had mentioned I got to speak with Jesus and uh apparently they will be making that award but they have a contract too and I wanted to look at all of that and I thought that actually you before voting on it you know would be interested in that too uh in regards to bus stops I had brought that up in Grants going to be looking uh in district 7 for that bus stop you know um councilman Carlos galinda Riveras um I did go over to the bus stop at Roosevelt in 7th Avenue and I just announced some of the litters there I said I'm adopting this bus stop because they saw me cleaning it up I put a bunch of bags in another bag and tied it on there because there is no seat or any Trash they've had problems there was a man there that was sitting you know in the dirt and he got up and took some litter and put it in my bag and the actually one of the men said to me well why would you pick a stop that had so many problems I was just thinking you know the city council's very organized city is with the different neighborhood organizations at one time what we had what over I could be wrong about this 400 or so neighborhood groups but if in fact you will go ahead and reopt that program adopt the bus stop this could be presented to the communities and there could be people within those uh different organizations that would want to go out and adopt a bu stop every now and then if they were using it or if it's in their neighborhood they could see that it's orderly and kept clean or they could call for the services that you've been promoting councilman thank you thank you persy is next followed by Julia tager Percy Christian here district 7 is where I reside um she had more information about feral cats than the police officers did about the use of tasers and their test runs and marville and you all just unanimous go to yes on it so it really is um pretty disgusting uh display of political cowardice in this chamber because I just want to make sure I understand what just happened you unanimously voted for $22 million on new tasers after conducting your test runs in marville deliberately choosing to experiment with these weapons in Phoenix largest Brown Community the audacity continues to take my breath away councilman Robinson I heard your pathetic justification about tools for officers these aren't tools they're weapons that your own department has no data to prove are effective your police chief just admitted himself that you're asking that you're asking us to trust you with $22 million that you can't even really prove work Are any are really effective I think that the she said that there were less than 10 accounts of the use in the test run I really don't understand how that's effective data to prove anything or to prove that they work while the doj report sitting on your desk documents how your officers already use the tasers against our communities now councilman Pastor I appreciate your concern but I have to say that it does feel very performative because you asked about the budget deficit and you asked about non-english speak speak but it feels like it rings Hollow when you still voted yes you admit it right here that if we can find $22 million for tasers then we can find 22 million for Community Resources but you still chose to vote Yes you all still chose to vote Yes not a single one of you have the courage to even mention the doj report the findings from the doj report about how Phoenix police's pattern of excessive force is used with tasers not only not one of you to address how the officers routinely tased people who pose no threat without warning even when they're already handcuffed instead you sat here talking about tools and Effectiveness while ignoring the federal investigation that exposed your Department's violence you conducted your weapon test in mville because you know exactly who the tasers will be used against black and brown communities disabled people like Tyrone mcin unhoused people protesters and anyone else who dares challenge the authority of police your unan your unanimous vote today makes it clear that you don't just enable police violence but you actively invest in it and to everyone watching especially our own people of the marville community please remember this moment remember how every single council member chose to experiment with weapons in your neighborhood remember how they found millions of tasers while claiming there's no money for housing for mental health or for Community programs such as a feral cat housing program 2025 is coming and this vote will not be forgotten every time your officers use new tasers every time they terrorize our community with these weapons we will remember Julia is next followed by Tim hi uh thank you for uh well thank you Council for allowing me to speak today uh so you all know me my name is Julia tiger I'm the president of the sunny soap Historical Society I'm currently the youngest Museum president in the state um I was just there at the last meeting for the sunny so Brock Garden which got historic status um this past Monday at the HP commission meeting one of the Commissioners said uh that the HP commission has no power and that city council would not stand up for them or support them in any decision of an overlay in the future and that really broke my heart um I know it was regarding white Gates and many people wanted a landmark status um and one of the Commissioners said we have no power on this Commission we have the power to really not do anything uh we only have the power to negotiate uh and everybody agreed with that they all said that city council wouldn't support them which I know you guys do care about historic preservation but after that meeting I mean there was 20 30 people walking out crying thinking did they just say city council won't support historic preservation what is going to be the future of historic preservation if we don't have the support of city council it was it was so disheartening to hear I mean I had other presid obervation is calling me after the meeting saying are any of the properties that you're trying to get preserved safe Julia because they just said they won't do an overlay for anything because city council won't back them up they use mum textiles as an example and it was really heartbreaking because I thought I was giving hope to my community that our history mattered that what we were doing mattered gain all these properties historic status the rock garden our old church the sun Presbyterian Church eye opener you know Hansen Mory just to hear that if in the future it's up for demolition there won't be an overlay or a fight by our commission because they don't believe that they'll have support from you guys and I know that's not true but it's really hard for preservationists to hear that this year you know and hear that and just think is that going to be the future if it is why are we doing all this why are we putting things on the city registry if our commission can't fight for them to be saved in the end I just I don't know where the future is going to be for preservation I'm sure there will be other people doing a public comment after me about this and I know that you guys do care about preservation Kevin Robinson you worked to come up with a salvage plan for white Gates which is in your District which I'm very thankful that you did since we cannot have that building be saved I know Debra Stark you supported the sunny soap Rock Garden I just don't know why the commission would feel this way right now and say that so publicly it's just it's really heartbreaking because I I have to think you know should I keep doing this in the future if that's what's going to happen if any of those properties that I just got in the registry are up for demolition in the future are they going to be saved or am I just going to have to watch them go away so I would please like you to consider what is the future of historic preservation I know the HP office does their best and they do an amazing job so please just consider the future of historic preservation in the city of [Music] Phoenix Tim is next followed by Christie good afternoon Council merry Christmas happy New Year earlier today in the subcommittee we have now placed an agenda item that being we want a full description of the power of the parks department and the Parks Board and how they're legislating and really controlling millions of people without an elected official being on any of these boards I understand in the Phoenix Charter that they have certain amount of power that they can do at this point but consequently I think the city has expanded it's not the same Charter as it was a hundred years ago and I think we really need to start looking at the power structure of allowing individuals who are not elected officials to start mandating changes for five and 10 million people especially who want to hike the mountains since these individuals want to control the times of people hiking the mountains we feel it's up to the people who are an elected official to make these changes and not the individuals who are non-elected officials so we need to revisit this next month and ask ourself this pertinent question why are we allowing people who are non-elected officials to control any of this I secondly want to talk about the firemen and how they really have a problem going in and and saving people on Camel Back Mountain if you really look at the statistics the amount of people being saved on the mountains is a 0.008% of their total calls per year I I I'm just trying to figure out a 0.008 and they think that you know that this is a lot of individuals it's not if these individuals can go and to a fire and have 50 pounds of gear on on their back and go to a fire that's 170 or 180 degrees but they don't want to go to Camelback Mountain and help people get off the mountain then we really have a problem with the firefighters in in our city their job is here to protect and save this group of individuals volunteer to help take people off the mountain but now it seems that the unions have stepped in and said no we don't want these individuals to be doing this because it's too scary for them or too hot for them but they can go to a fire and consequently fight a fire that's 170 degrees be out there for hours but they can't take someone off from Camelback Mountain I think this is one of the problems we need to address at the next meeting in the subcommittee so we can start clarifying exactly what is required of all these individuals thank you thank you Christy is next followed by Jess good afternoon Madame mayor and council members my name is christe margaro I'm speaking on behalf of a group of concerned Phoenix citizens that have been working to improve Animal Welfare within our city this is the fifth time I'm appearing before you in the fourth quarter of this year I have a full-time job so just to be here I have to use my vacation time I'm well prepared for these public comments opportunities and this preparation takes time as well I say all of this to demonst rate how serious I am about being here to work with you to improve Animal Welfare within Phoenix in the Animal Welfare industry we are organizing and working together to make change we want better laws better enforcement of the laws and readily available no cost span neuter programs for low-income residents in their neighborhoods we know this is a long game and we want you to know we will be here for it this year we have spoken to you about our concerns regarding the perceived lack of enforcement of the new ordinance language passed in 2023 we have shared that we've spent time researching gathering information and communicating with several City departments on related topics we met with Maricopa County Animal Care and Control enforcement officers and have communicated with Arizona Humane Society enforcement we collected their feedback and suggestions and presented the details to those of you that have met with us we analyzed the city's Animal Welfare contracts and have made some recommendations to take action sooner rather than later since all three contracts expire June 30th of 2027 we have just begun to share important facts about the spay and neuter programs in underserved communities we understand this is not something that could be accomplished overnight or by one entity cross functional Partnerships are crucial to executing a preventative Initiative for public health and safety like a spay and neuter program we believe if the right organizations work together we can develop and execute an effective strategy to reduce stray population in turn saving future taxpayer dollars on Animal Welfare more to come on this topic in the future we want to thank you for your attention even though we know you are a captive audience here several of your offices have reached out to meet with us and we can't say enough how much we appreciate your interest in our objectives happy holidays to all of you and we will see you in January thank you for your time thank you Jess is next followed by Roland good afternoon mayor and city council my name is Jess dos the October 24th decision by the Phoenix Park and Recreation board to expand the trail heat closures which now include all of South Mountain Park and further adjusted the closure times to 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. without public input raises significant concerns their approach to the issue was not only premature and overly broad it also violated the open meeting law the public was not responsibly informed that a decision affecting the quality of life of millions of citizens and Trail users would be occurring at that meeting it was listed as an update the parks board members and representatives from Phoenix Fire have made every indication that that decision was made prior to the October 24th meeting and without any public input it has appeared this way since the beginning of these closures in 2021 pushing this agenda without citizen commentary or considering alternative Solutions parks and public spaces are Community assets decisions that impact access to these spaces should be made with robust Community engagement ensuring that local residents have a say and how their public lands are managed the keep Phoenix trails open Coalition request requested the raw data being utilized to justify these trails and when they looked at the data they saw that of the millions of people that hike annually Mountain rescues actually account for less than 0.08% of all fire response incidences and are a micro fraction of all tra Trail users the likelihood that a unique visitor to our Phoenix Mountain parks in 2023 would need a rescue was actually 0.7% similar to your chances of being hit by lightning the fire department data actually shows that these trail closures have a disproportionate impact on responsible hikers while providing minimal relief to the overall emergency response operations you can find find this data on keep Phoenix Trails open.org I am here representing the trail using Community to request that the Phoenix fire sorry that Phoenix Park heat safety policies be reviewed by the city council the elected people with presentations made by all stakeholders not just the Phoenix fire department and these stakeholders now include with South Mountain Park hikers cyclists Runners bird watchers photographers and people just wanting to go outside on a summer day we ask that alternative Solutions including greater greater public heat safety education be reviewed thank you thank you Roland is next followed by Coco do we have Roland uh Coco is next followed by Joanne Scott Woods she left Joanne is next Joanne you'll be our final speaker of the calendar year okay can you hear me we can oh good um uh this month uh the marks the 10year remembrance of the death of unarmed and surrendering Romain Brisbane his shooting by Officer Mark Ryan placed our city at the Forefront of the country's second civil rights movement in 2015 Time Magazine covered story immortalized him and 177 others with their article entitled black lives matter this time the charges murder this officer involved shooting sparked Community outrage and humbled our city council and mayor who did not follow up with the 2010 34 recommendations of the community engagement and Outreach task force in 2015 they consequently formed the community and police trust initiative our Arizona racial Justice and racial healing profit nonprofit people demanding Justice Community Coalition simultaneously met separately and collaborated with a Phoenix PD in our 10 solutions to build trust in our city this year the final solution the civilian review board was established the immeasurable first life Legacy of Raine br Brisbane was of course his love for his friends family his girlfriend and four daughters his second love Legacy thereafter was that of Truth valiantly revealed in his family civil suit his third Legacy was that of justice that his community demanded and received and beginning in 2020 the last was his legacy of healing that is proclaimed annually through proclamations for a day of unity through racial and communal healing we will continue to honor you R remain as per the proclamation by working together to quote maintain communities in which every citizen has the opportunity to thrive unquote and as conciliated Citizens by earnestly striving to quote ensure the best quality of life forever every child unquote rest in peace thank you Joanne we are adjourned happy holidays waiting for others to join [Music] [Music] the Sonoran Desert of central Arizona is home to a modern-day Metropolis Phoenix but today's Phoenix would not be possible without the advanced canals built by prehistoric people known as the hug gum the canal systems were the greatest technological success story of our people at its height or its peak there was over a th000 miles of canals if you can believe it or not and this map shows some of that they channeled this water and and created an agricultural Empire that wasn't rivaled anywhere else in the southwest the precursors to SRP they actually went out and advocated for our people to get a water delivery system because the water was drying up in the Salt River and so what they did is they just reigned all the existing canals that our ancestors had created all those years ago and so some of those are still in action today and they're over a thousand years [Music] old by the midcentury air travel had increased so much that Sky Harbor opened Terminal 1 in 1952 to accommodate All The Travelers it was built for $835,000 and it was considered state-of-the-art for an airport terminal in its Day by the end of the 1950s Terminal 1 could no longer accommodate all of the passengers traveling through Sky Harbor and so in 1962 Terminal 2 opened the same year the airport's annual traffic topped 1 million passengers for the first time Terminal 2 was iconic in that it was known for its rooftop viewing