hi good afternoon welcome to the August 25th 2021 meeting of the Phoenix City Council I'll call the meeting to order will the clerk please call the roll councilwoman Ansari here councilman decisio here comes a woman councilwoman O'Brien here councilwoman pastor here councilwoman Stark councilman Waring here vice mayor Garcia here mayor Gallego Mario Barajas is here to provide Spanish interpretation service Maria will you introduce yourself yes mayor thank you hello my name is Mario Barajas I will be serving as a Spanish interpreter for today's city council formal meeting I'll now take a moment to introduce myself to our Spanish-speaking audience foreign thank you Mario will the city clerk please read the 24-hour paragraph the titles of the following ordinance and resolution numbers on the agenda were available to the public at least 24 hours prior to this council meeting and therefore may be read by title or agenda item only ordinances number g6871 and 6875-6883 s-47834-47904 and resolutions 21947-21952 thank you councilwoman Stark have you had the opportunity to review the meeting minutes of April 15 2020. mayor I have and there is one small correction and after the corrections noted I'll move to approve in reviewing the minutes when you get on the end of page 50 where the vice mayor makes the Omnibus motion the minutes do not reflect that she said and excluding these items for public comment item 38 if you watch the video it's about 5 minutes and 30 seconds in with that correction I move approval second thank you thank you for your diligence councilwoman Stark all those in favor of approving the minutes as corrected please say aye aye aye opposed nay motion passes unanimously vice mayor do we have a motion on boards and commissions motion to approve mayor and city council boards and commission nominations as revised motion a second from councilwoman Stark all those in favor please say aye aye aye aye any opposed nay passes unanimously uh we next move to the liquor license portion of our agenda the city council provides an advisory role on liquor license to the state vice mayor do we have a motion motion to approve items three through thirty two second councilwoman Stark all those in favor favor aye hi any opposed nay passes unanimously city clerk are we ready for ordinances resolutions new business I'm planning and zoning yes mayor vice mayor yes motion to approve items 33 through 147 except the following items 42 65 73 76 89 90 91 and 115 item 96 has revised and excluding these items for public comment 45 63 77 86 and 147. second and mayor may I might ask on 147 I'm going to recommend continuance should we keep it in the order do we wish to is there any need for Testimony we can keep it in if otherwise someone may want to speak to the continuance so maybe we should keep it in mayor so I will second the vice mayor's motion wonderful then we have a motion and a second and devotion at the moment will include item 147 but anyone staying here for that item should know it is likely to be continued and mayor this is the city clerk I would like to confirm it seems though item number 63 may not need to be pulled we do not have anyone to comment wonderful so vice mayor would you be comfortable amending your motion to leave item 63 in the Omnibus we'll leave item 63 now thank you all right and I will second thank you roll call I'm sorry yes decision yes O'Brien yes pastor yes Stark yes wearing yes Garcia yes there you go passes nine zero we next move to item 42 annual pet membership for amla do we have a motion motion to approve item 42. second we have a motion and a second looking forward to supporting this item especially during the important events happening on the Colorado River roll call I'm sorry yes decision no guardado yes O'Brien yes pastor yes Stark yes wearing yes Garcia yes there you go passes eight one we next move to item 45 which is a proposed 51st Avenue and Baseline Road annexation we do have one member of the public to speak in support of this item I will turn to councilwoman Ansari for a motion as it is in District Seven I moved to approve item 45. second a motion in a second Mark Rodriguez is here to testify Mark the floor is yours mayor this is the city clerk it appears that Mark is not on the line wonderful please note for the record Mark was in favor of the annexation roll call I'm sorry yes decision I'm sorry yes guardado yes O'Brien yes pastor Stark yes wearing yes Garcia yes there you go passes nine zero we now move to item 65 Appraisal Services for Citywide public transit projects vice mayor motion to approve item 65. 10 seconds we have a motion in a second and I I read it poorly Appraisal Services for Citywide and for public transit projects any comments roll call I'm sorry yes decision no guardado yes O'Brien yes pastor yes Stark s wearing no Garcia yes there you go passes seven two we move to item 73 to extend the contract for heat relief equipment rental vice mayor motion to approve item 73. second we have a motion in a second any comments councilwoman I'm sorry thank you mayor um I just wanted to voice my support for using arpa funds to extend Cooling and shade efforts at St Vincent de Paul at St Vincent de Paul um seeing as we have an excessive heat warning today through the end of the week I really think it's important that we keep a pulse on how our heat relief efforts are working in real time especially for our unsheltered community I've been spending some time at the Human Services campus this summer um thrilled that we were able to bring a cooling bus in July that has had over 5 000 visits to this day and two weeks ago in partnership with the county and Human Services campus we were able to bring another low barrier shelter heat release station which is located at 9th and Jackson the need is great and Urgent and I'm eager to be involved in planning Steps early on next year but just really thrilled to see more efforts being done in district 7 and District 8 which is where this is located and just want to give a huge shout out to Gina Montez and Tamara spenley they've put a significant an amount of work into this and our office has been able to work with them very closely this summer they've been very responsive to both the community and to our Council offices and there's no doubt in my mind that all of our latest efforts that we've collectively put in as a council and a city have saved lives thank you vice mayor thank you mayor just wanted to Echo the same sentiments really excited that we're going to continue to do this wish we could do more excited to work next year with our new folks in the heat Relief office and obviously councilwoman Ansari in our office will continue to work together to make sure that we're supporting as many folks as possible so I'm really thankful for the staff and the folks that are working out there and again committed for hopefully next summer having a better plan with more resources so we can help even more people thank you thank you roll call I'm sorry yes decision yes guardado yes O'Brien yes pastor Stark yes wearing yes Garcia yes there you go yes passes nine zero we next moved to item 76 the annual FCC emergency connectivity fund application for the library I'll turn to councilwoman O'Brien thank you mayor I just want to take a moment to make a quick statement of support in the saw for the side and as we all saw during the height of the pandemic with schools having to continue their learning in a virtual setting many families were left scrambling for resources to keep their kids education on track the virtual learning brought to the Forefront to the devastating effects the digital divide can have among our children on their future I'm in full support of this item and of the Phoenix Public Library getting the additional resources it seeks in order to supply 700 additional Wi-Fi hotspots increasing the access kids have to the ability to connect online is Paramount to their educational and developmental success the City of Phoenix has many amazing resources available such as the Phoenix Public Libraries College Depot which works with families and students to Aid them through the post-secondary education application and funding process and with these additional hot spots more of our residents will be able to connect to our existing Resources with that I move to approve item number 76. second good we have a motion and a second I've got the chance to meet people who've gotten into college applying through with the help of our library and our hot spots and it's just very inspiring what this program has done um any other comments roll call I'm sorry yes decision yes yes O'Brien yes pastor yes dark yes wearing yes Garcia yes there you go passes nine zero we next move to sale and Redevelopment of city-owned property at 723 West Polk Street do we have a motion emotions approve item 77 second we have a motion in a second any comments before I go to the public Council Wayne I'm sorry thank you mayor I know we have many um people signed up to speak on this but I'm excited this is a very important building in Downtown Phoenix especially for our veterans here and across the valley it's actually the first American Legion Post filled with a hundred years of community events and an absolute Haven for our service members I was able to tour the Legion in early June and hear from many community members like the Grand Avenue arts and preservation and the Grand Avenue Festival groups specifically want to give a shout out to Bob Graham and Beatrice Moore who have been active in this and I think that City staff in the community have worked hard to produce a win-win solution what's very exciting about this is that there will be 132 multi-family units offered at a mix of Market affordable and Workforce rates with a veteran preference and a 99-year deed restriction guaranteeing the income restrictions we will also be preserving all pre-1949 portions of the structure and a commitment to preserving the notable flagpole and memorabilia and finally there will be 3 000 square feet dedicated to veteran Support Services these are just a few points of a very uh thoughtful proposal recently in our district we had another historic preservation case the St James Hotel which is owned by the Phoenix Suns where we negotiated a Civic memory component that I'm glad to see incorporated into this adaptive reuse project as well so I'm looking forward to hearing from the public but also very excited about what we were able to work out in this and and the benefits that we'll see in the community thank you so much foreign so I'm really happy to see this get to the place that we're has gotten to uh Bob Graham and uh Beatrice Moore and others that wanted to preserve this building and in our last meeting I want to say uh we had a robust dialogue regarding this and I'm glad it's gotten to the place where where it where it's at and being able to preserve some of those buildings or some of those areas it's exciting I'm glad uh it's been on here for a while and it's been going through the process and I'm glad to see that it's it's now moving so highly supportive thank you this one is particularly exciting as it comes before we host the American Legion National Conference we are welcoming them back and it'll be nice to talk about how we're working hand in hand with the legion to make sure veterans have housing legionnaires have a place to be and that we really are meeting the needs of our community at a very cool location so close to the heart of our city we do have four members of the public to address the council we'll um move to public comment we'll begin with Larry busser followed by Dana Krieger Mary Gallego members of the city council greetings my name is Larry wasn't around here today in support of item 77 representing the members of Luke Greenway American Legion Osborne located at 364 North Summit Avenue not only the oldest American Legion Post in Arizona but one of three in the United States that signed their Charter in May of 1919. during our first century our post has served the community Through various activities we host Gatherings for the local schools on July 4th Halloween and Christmas parties for the young boys and girls of the area we have worked with the Veterans Administration on a yearly basis for providing gifts for veterans to shop for their children and spouses at no charge to them prior to covet our sons of the American Legion Detachment has held a yearly drill competition at the Army guard airport site high school teams throughout the state would participate and show off their skills in a comprehensive program honoring Our World War II veterans First Responders and remembering those who have gone before through ceremonies are just a small picture of what we do for the members of the community we have proudly served the Phoenix Community for the past 100 years and look forward to the next Century as well to continue our work the members of the post at Port Cardinal management respectfully request your support for this agenda item we have been working with Cardinal to create a vision that includes rebuilding our post home including housing for veterans while several individuals and organizations have attempted to Aid in our future prospects we feel Cardinal has our best interest at heart and our future best resides with cargo the current building is too large with materials and systems that are too outdated you know possible for us to maintain we have spoken with Cardinal about the historical aspects of the building that we want to retain and they have agreed to focus on the portion of the buildings that have historical significance to us we're meeting Hall kitchen canteen area memorabilia will be preserved however specific uses may be presented in a different manner due to the arrangement of the building and new development thank you Dana will be next followed by Beatrice Moore thank you Dana Krieger I want to address the City of Phoenix council members the American Legion organization has been supporting veterans and their families for over 100 years post one in downtown Phoenix as the first American Legion Post in Arizona and one of the first three posts in the country has been active in their support at this location for that entire time please help them to continue their mission as a Vietnam era veteran and current member of post one who has lived in the downtown Phoenix area for the last 15 years I now find myself personally struggling with rent increases 27 percent and now another 24 percent just since the start of the pandemic for all veterans affordable housing availability needs to be a priority and this project should not be delayed any longer I support this RFP to be awarded to Cardinal Capital to allow the continued activities of Luke Greenway American Legion Post one and to provide the affordable housing that is so desperately needed please vote and support and thank you thank you Beatrice is next followed by Julie Reese arts and preservation and thank you for allowing me to speak today um I I want to particularly thank our council person uh Ms Ansari for her assistance on this and also the subcommittee members at the previous meeting uh councilwoman Stark pastor and the others that were on that subcommittee that created an important discussion around this this project we're supporting this item today because of the addition of the historic preservation of the building that's currently on site the majority of that building uh we welcome and really excited about this affordable housing project for veterans in our neighborhood however bringing this kind of hype into a fragile commercial District like historic Grand Avenue with so many small-scale buildings close by has its risks by including preservation of the historic building it will set an example though for other residential projects and they also want height in this section of the neighborhood developers must be required to give something substantial in order to receive something substantial moving forward through this we need to remember that rezonings are a privilege agreed upon by city council and the community not a right please stay involved to make sure any rezoning is earned by this developer for the best project possible with the best outcomes for the neighborhood and the the least risk for the adjoining neighborhood here thank you so much for your involvement we look forward to having this actually get started in the brown the ground broken thank you Julie will be next followed by Eric thank you Mary Gallego and members of the council this is Julie Reese can you hear me yes we can okay thank you mayor mayor members of the council I have had the privilege of working with Cardinal Capital Management for 14 years so I can personally attest to the quality of their affordable and Workforce housing I've visited their veterans housing that has been recognized by Hud as a best practice and given the need that we have here in Phoenix for both affordable and Veterans housing I'm really excited to see this coming forward particularly because the Cardinal development incorporates and celebrates American Legion Post number one as a proud Phoenix resident who lives within a mile and a half of post number one I am grateful to Cardinal and to the City of Phoenix for recognizing the American Legion as an incredible Community Asset I've personally had the opportunity to meet many of the wonderful men and women who contribute their time and energy to the meaningful work that post number one does and that's why this development is so important it provides post number one with a new home where they can continue their great work and expand their mission to include housing for veterans as councilwoman Ansari and councilwoman Pastor noted there has been an extensive Community engagement process over several years to ensure Post Number one's Vitality so I'd like to recognize and thank just a few of the folks that were involved with that and I apologize because I'm sure I'm missing some some folks but in particular I wanted to say thank you to Patrick Mays Marshall Shore Jim McPherson Larry Buster Renda West Bob Graham Megan McCabe Dana Krieger Beatrice Moore and Eric schwenker along with your tremendous team at the City of Phoenix from CED Chris at zandon and Heather along with Alan Stevenson and Michelle Dodds it's been a tremendous effort to get to this point and I just I'm so grateful for all of the work that brought us here to you and respectfully ask for your support of item 77. thank you mayor thank you and our final speaker on this item will be Eric participate mayor Gallego and and the council members that as a developer I just wanted to say a few things this has been a very extraordinary very careful process and I appreciate the concerns professionalism and what I think ultimately ended up with a very good outcome a couple things I'd like to focus on is 132 units of housing is a very important outcome for this I work with in a dozen states I'm always working on issues of trying to bring affordable housing to an area every Community struggles with it nobody's finding this easy to do and when we have our opportunities to do something I think it's it's really important we do the best we can for vets in particular uh as much as people do concern themselves very much with the good future for them it remains very difficult to accomplish in almost every community so I everybody should be applauded for time to get to that level and the income mix is is sexually important too because what we find out in support of housing we're doing this more and more on all kinds of topics the more we can get some income mix in there the more likely we're going to have a whole bunch of extra individuals who are willing going out of their way to care for the people that maybe need the extra care we find very good outcomes with that and I'd like to also thank you for the way the incentives are set up and the flexibility in working with the historic preservation is very much welcome do you care very much about it we have been nationally recognized for some of our historic preservation projects before and look hope to have that happen again but what is necessary particularly going through covid is everybody is struggling with exactly the way we ought to handle issues like ventilation and and traffic flows and everything like that and so we're just learning new things every day we're doing a Market Hall right now in another community of 18 000 square feet and as we think it through uh there's just the information is is coming at a very fast pace as we all try to do the best we can to make the best and most efficient and effective use of the property with again the concern to maintain the historic traditions [Music] thank you so much any final comments before the vote roll call I'm sorry this is you yes O'Brien yes pastor yes Stark yes wearing yes Garcia yes there you go passes nine zero item 86 is the Smart policing initiative Grant it was originally um pulled for a public comment we do not have any members of the public do we have a motion motion to approve item 86 second we have a motion in a second any Council comments roll call I'm sorry decisio yes O'Brien yes pastor yes Stark yes wearing yes Garcia yes there you go foreign item 89 is additional expenditures for custodial services at Sky Harbor councilman guardato has comments councilwoman thank you mayor um yes I just wanted to take a moment to thank Chad and his team at the aviation department for for bringing this item forward the janitors at Sky Harbor have continued to work through the ongoing covet crisis to ensure that we have the safest and cleanest airport in the country it is my hope that this contract increase is used to support these these airport workers I would ask that the company sit down with the employees and then their labor representatives to discuss where these additional resources are most urgently needed whether for wages health insurance or other improvements this should be a decision make join me with workers their neighbor representation in the company lastly in order to address the many challenges our airport janitors have experienced over the past two years I would like to see our Aviation Department set up a meeting with all those involved this is a model that has helped us quickly resolve issues for our food service employees at the airport thanks to the leadership of Charlene Reynolds a much progress was made she will be greatly missed upon her retirement at the end of this month however I am confident that Chad and his team will continue to listen openly and not quickly to address concerns brought by our airport employees I look forward to hearing of the improvements that this item has brought for our Frontline airport janitors and with that mayor I would like to make a motion to approve item 89. okay we have a motion and a second from councilman Ansari any other comments that's one and sorry I just wanted to Echo um pretty much everything that councilman guardato said I recently had the opportunity to finally tour the airport I was very excited for I got to do that last week and learned a lot more about some of the immense Workforce challenges that obviously our airport has been facing and as we continue as they continue to be the biggest economic generator in the state it's really important that we make sure to treat our workers fairly so I'm very happy to see these increased expenditures and hope that we will continue to increase wages for airport workers um through covet and Beyond thank you thank you roll call I'm sorry yes deceasio O'Brien yes pastor Stark yes wearing yes Garcia yes there you go passes 9-0 item 90 is access easement agreement with Millennium Park Central for light rail traction power substation vice mayor do we have a motion motion to approve item 90. we have a motion in a second any comments roll call I'm sorry yes deceasio no guardado yes O'Brien yes a store yes Stark yes wearing no Garcia yes there you go passes seven two hiding md1 is arpa funds to purchase Transit passes councilwoman I'm sorry thank you mayor um I'm so excited to get this program rolling um as it will greatly serve residents in district 7 and across Phoenix especially Working Families students and older adults in the long term and I recognize that it's a very big undertaking but I would like to see the City of Phoenix pledge a vision toward free transit for every Phoenix resident by 2050 but it's pilot efforts like this one that will give us better data regarding who and our community benefits and from where bus rail and multimodal efforts are growing exponentially but if we really want to be known as a Transit first city we need to make it affordable accessible and sustainable some recent data from the U.S Census Bureau shows that the average American spent about 25.9 minutes traveling to work and about 16 of their budget on Transit costs so what that tells us is that free Transit could reap many benefits whether it's cleaner air or helping our residents reach opportunities like school or work that they may have otherwise not had when it comes to this program specifically I know that some students and some seniors are already receiving reduced fare but I would just like to see significantly more Outreach done in our community colleges libraries heat relief centers with our Refugee communities Circle K's qts public housing and non-profits that serve our most vulnerable but otherwise very excited about this and looking forward to working with City staff as we continue to develop help the program thank you thank you Council councilman gargato followed by vice mayor thank you mayor um I would also want to say that I support the proposed efforts to get transit passes out to our community Through places like our city housing developments our libraries and other community locations I am also very supportive of ensure that these Transit passes are available to our local community colleges to distribute to their students earlier this week I had the honor of joining that discussion with U.S Secretary of Labor Marty Walsh at Gateway Community Gateway Community College the conversation was largely around Workforce Development as we continue to focus on expanding Nexus to programs in nursing and skilled labor and other needs for our Workforce two of the main hurdles students explained facing or access to child care to transportation and wages I am excited to see this program real loud as we feel the transportation gap for students for the future of our local Workforce I want to also especially thank mayor Gallego for leading that important discussion with secretary Walsh and looking forward um two more discussions that that we will have um around these very critical issues thank you mayor thank you councilwoman vice mayor thank you mayor I just want to Echo what my colleagues have said I think in the form of a directive to staff we would like for these to be distributed in community colleges public housing community centers libraries heat relief centers um I'd like to also have staff uh Market the free Transit cards in the places that folks mostly purchase these cards which are the Circle Ks and the qts um also would want us to have as little red tape as possible and make it a simple application um for this to be available for non-profits who are in need and who are able to distribute this I think um we all know how hard this last year and a half has been and we're really excited to get these cards directly to the folks who most need them and hope we can help as many people as possible so uh thankful for this and I'll be voting yes thank you roll call mayor if I may we need a motion councilman I'm sorry do you have a motion yes yes I motion to approve item 91. second again we have a motion in a second I think I heard councilman gorgato first roll call I'm sorry yes deceasio yeah yes O'Brien yes pastor Stark yes wearing yes Garcia yes there you go yes passes 9-0 item 115 is an amendment to planning zoning plan review permitting and application RFP councilwoman O'Brien thank you mayor I would like to make a comment it's amazing that the fifth largest city in the United States is still using technology that's over 25 years old imagine if the entire world were still running on 1996 Technologies and just for perspective my cell phone in 1996 was the size of a brick and my daughter was an infant I'm so excited to be supporting this item as it's time we bring government into the 21st century a few months ago I championed the update to the software system for our human services department to create a system that allows our residents to submit applications and schedule appointments through the website and I'm proud to Champion this endeavor as we enter into a contract to create a new Digital customer service system for the Planning and Development Department this department has seen a record increase in applications submitted permits requested and inspections performed the current 1996 system struggles to do all of that and make available the public records for search I'm not sure if any of the our residents have had the fortune of using this system but you can certainly tell that it's 1996 technology definitely Antiquated as mentioned previously my support for the Phoenix Public Library Technologies are advancing digital divides are growing and it's time we connect our services to our residents and we upgrade how our government does business with that I move to approve item number 115. I'll happily second it okay a second from councilwoman Stark who knows a lot about these issues do we have additional council member comments well thank you this is coupled with an extensive hiring uh effort that we are making in Planning and Zoning it is not easy to do Planning and Zoning in America's fastest growing city and we've got to keep investing in technology councilman O'Brien was an earlier adopter I did not have a cell phone in 1996 but it certainly does remind us this is a very important and overdue update roll call I'm sorry yes to see you alone yeah yes O'Brien yes pastor yes Stark yes wearing yes Garcia yes there you go passes 9-0 we next move to item 147 which is an item in Council District 3 councilwoman Stark thank you mayor I'm going to request a continuance to November the 3rd 2022. I chopped to uh the applicant they'd like to retain some neighborhood Specialists to help work with the neighborhood I think there's some misunderstanding people I I understand they think that this could be any kind of use it could possibly be multi-family instead of assisted living but there's a fear that it might be sober living or it might be some kind of Behavioral Health Center but in the current zoning you can have those types of uses but I think it is worthwhile for the neighborhood to sit down and talk to whoever they hire so I am recommending the continuance again to November 3rd 20 22. sorry second mayor this is the clerk may I confirm that it's November 3rd of 2021 please I'm sorry I'm ready for this year to be over I guess so again I'll be right 20 21. thank you our city clerk has had to help us many times today thank you um have a motion to continue um when the council has motions on continuance uh we take testimony only on whether or not we um you are supportive of the continuance not on the substance of the case um I will let's see turn to the phones to members of the public uh to provide testimony and again it is only on whether or not you support a continuance um we'll do Jesus followed by imod mayor Jesus is not on the line and neither thank you do we have Ahmad wonderful then um we may do a Voice vote because it is a continuance all those in favor of continuing item 147 please say aye um opposed please say nay item 147 is continued that is our last agendized item for today and now we move to the citizen comment portion of our agenda I will turn to our City attorney to introduce citizen comments 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 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 will have our staff call the members of um the public to speak today beginning with Ari followed by ajaya uh good afternoon members of the Phoenix City Council my name is ivron Huber and I have worked for HMS host for about five months now as a host at Barrio Cafe in terminal 4. um travels returning to the Phoenix Sky Harbor airport I see firsthand uh more passengers at our airport and data from the city of Phoenix supports that in June 2021 95 of June 2019's and payments returned to our airport as my Starbucks colleague mentioned in a letter provided you host is in the position of neither paying full rent nor paying a full Workforce while Employments are back and forth It's not continued awarding this Corporation while they are allowing us to go under staff whether it has been about workers talking about discrimination understanding safety or Health Care issues with ATMs host we have waited for the city council to act and unfortunately issues have not been resolved we asked the council not to continue rewarding HMS hosts at our airport now I ask you what more will it take for this Council to support us who do you believe thank you for your time our next speaker is Gia Gaba followed by April Hernandez Gia are you on the line number nine oh please proceed hello hi my name is Barista at Starbucks I have one I like a Starbucks for four months um so a few weeks ago I had to be continuous possible symptoms and it's probably unfortunately that served me from working for several weeks I was told I can go back to work with a negative cover test and a doctor's note I thought quite of them that but I still wouldn't allowed to go back to work I have been on an unpaid leave for about 12 days now now now I'm having trouble paying my rent on time our job foreign pressure every day to perform our work to the company's high standard but without our Workforce we need to do so because of understanding including a medical scheduling of course workers and training manager we find ourselves washing through fulfilled orders in an extremely difficult environment who will you believe what more will it take for this city council to start with HMS host for first our next speaker is April Hernandez followed by faith Kearns April are you on the line yes uh you may proceed good afternoon members of City of Phoenix City Council my name is April Hernandez and I've worked for HMS host for four years and I am a barista at Starbucks in terminal 3. for 15 months we've watched as the city council provided concessionaries like HMS folks be aware of their minimal of their minimum annual guarantee which result in hmso's paying limited rent to airports to the airport I am here because things need to change at HMS posts many times throughout this last year I have ended my ship my shift in years I've cried because of how bad my workplace is my shifts were stressful and I felt I I felt I did the work of multiple people now we have the facts to speak to this hmshost sales at Sky Harbor are very high level in April 2021 two of the four open Starbucks locations not only achieved their pre-pandemic sales levels from April 2019 but exceeded them the terminal 4 baggage claim location had 47 percent more sales while the terminal 3 Lobby location had 73 percent more sales in April 2001 I mean I'm sorry in April 2021 a third Starbucks location made 91 of under April 2019 sales I am here to say that enough is enough each host HMS host is not paying for rent to our city they are under Staffing and the same time growing their sales we spoke to an aviation Commission meeting at a Aviation commission meeting and raise the concerns about understaffing and the working conditions my work co-workers and I are working under the high stress we work under on a on a day-to-day basis we shared with Charlene and Chad the fact that HMS Health had surpassed three pandemic fields in Starbucks today you will hear again from my co-workers their stories and their stress and their stresses of understaffing the risks of to our health and the safety during a global pandemic and the hardship they suffered during layoffs and as you listen to our experiences I ask you to think on this what more will it take for a city council to stand with HMS host workers our next speaker is Faith Kearns followed by Vivian Leyva Faith are you on the line yes I'm here you may proceed um I want to talk about the I'm with funds for empowerment my name is Faith Kerns I have lived on both sides of the tracks meaning that I've been homeless and luckily I'm not having the housing now I what I'd like to see happen is some kind of substantial housing situation maybe jumping through a few as I would say hoops because a lot of these people don't have birth certificate they don't have IDs and sometimes there's only one or two people that will to send stuff out for them so they can receive it but it's really hard right now because of the covet thing and everything is shut down but if we can get some kind of stabilized housing and jump through the Hoops a little bit maybe we can get more of these people housed I'll close with that our next speaker is Vivian lavley followed by Carmen Quintana Vivian are you on the line Vivian is not on the line Carmen Quintana Carmen are you on the line Carmen are you on the line yeah oh uh yes uh we can hear you um good afternoon my name my name is like to say hi to all members of the Phoenix council members looking for HMS hosts for 33 years and I've been laid off since March 2020 ever since the pandemic started foreign waiting for over a year for a return phone call is after weeks and weeks of me calling them I finally got a phone call from HR yesterday person that has the most seniority in the commissionary but I was one of the last person that was called to return back to work and because of that I've been having problems paying my mortgage on time medicines and my insurance was cut off in May of 2020 and I haven't been able to fill my meds and that had been gone been going on for two months until I finally got approved for access what else can be done so that City Council Members can Unite with a HMS host employees thank you our next speaker is Maria Rios followed by Lucia Salinas Maria are you on the line my number is Maria Placencia de Rios good afternoon my name is my name is Maria Rios and I've been working for HMS hosts for 15 years in a commissionary medicine [Music] I was laid off in March 2020 because of the pandemic and so I waited for over a year to get a call phone call so that I can go back to work and I struggled for this past year while I was waiting for a treatment for cancer foreign and so I had to face a very hard decision and of having to pay 700 a month and that was for insurance for both my husband and I and that was only just to get a treatment for my cancer foreign and it was incredibly demoralizing not having enough money to be able to pay for a mortgage and for the bills of course and with all respect to this city council I ask that you not give any more relief to Big entities like HMS host foreign unless there's a an actual plan and process that would benefit their employees because it's the employees that need this relief not these Big Rich companies host what else do the city council members need so that they can Unite with the employees of HMS hosts thank you very much our next speaker is Lucia Salinas followed by Victoria Stahl Lucia are you on the line Lucia is not on the line our next speaker is Victoria Stahl followed by Frank Urban Victoria are you on the line Victoria is not on the line our next speaker is Frank Urban followed by Matthew Vargas Frank are you on the line Frank are you on the line oh Frank uh you are on but we cannot hear you oh Frank is not on the line our next speaker is Matthew Vargas followed by Elizabeth Venable or Matthew are you on the line yes I'm here uh you may proceed good afternoon members of the Phoenix City Council my name is Matthew Vargas and I've worked for HMS hosts for one month as a barista for Starbucks in terminal three for 15 months the City of Phoenix has provided confession areas like HMS host a waiver of the minimum annual guarantee which has resulted in close paying limited rent to the airport I respectfully ask about this Council not provide any further relief to HMS host until there is a plan in place that benefits the workers through our hard work we feel HMS has a success serving Starbucks drinks and snacks to a constant flow of Sky Harbor gas however our jobs are not sustainable we are under enormous pressure every day to perform our work to the company's high standards without the workforce we need to do so because of understaffing it including inadequate scheduling to both workers and training managers we find ourselves rushing to fulfill the orders in an extremely difficult environment first day in the live store I was placed on hot bar by myself with minimal training just due to the fact that there were not enough employees and I cannot stress how stressful this is on an employee our city has carried this Corporation through the pandemic and enough is enough we have been coming to the council month after month after you use to support us what is it going to take for the council to stand with HMS house workers our next speaker is Elizabeth Venable followed by Elijah Watson Elizabeth are you on the line hello can you hear me uh yes we can and you may proceed okay well I did want to say that I have Frank Urban with me I didn't know if there was a way to um have him speak uh no there is not okay because the microphone didn't work for some reason on the WebEx so well what do you mind if I say what you were going to say okay so Frank has been basically um had his stuff thrown away multiple times by Phoenix Police Department and um he was even arrested for standing one time without property in the middle of the sidewalk good afternoon good afternoon Elizabeth excuse me hello you can let Frank speak because his audio was not working when we tried to have him speak so feel free to oh thank you so much he's much better from him thank you hello can you hear me I guess we can uh yes we can okay um I would just like to say I've been I've been homeless I've had uh I've had everything I've owned at that point taken from me by the Phoenix Police Department during the raids I'm talking IDs social security cards birth certificates blankets clothing you know whatever I've also been arrested by the Phoenix police force just standing on the sidewalk while I was homeless and I would like to see um more compassion from the Phoenix police if they need more training um just how they uh how they treat the homeless just treat them or treat them with respect and that would go a long way and we are also um I'm with fund for empowerment also our group is also helping the justice department with their investigation into the Phoenix Police Department uh Elizabeth hello you may go oh they're not allowed to respond to you oh do you want to is that the end yeah um yeah that's the end okay Elizabeth uh you may proceed with your comments if you have any um my only comments for that uh we've been telling you for a long time that um you don't just need to deal with Martin V Boise in terms of on the Civil Rights there's a wide slew of rulings from the ninth circuit that the Phoenix Police Department is not compliant with and not all of them have gone to the Supreme Court yet but it is uh worth worth mentioning to say that they did um essentially uphold Martin um for the for the ninth circuit so you you all need to be following that but and so it shows that they might uphold other rulings but um I think that it's really important for you all to follow um the fourth eighth and 14th amendments in terms of not seizing and destroying people's property in terms of not using quill and unusual punishment and in terms of not targeting people who are unhoused as a um as a class of people for um for treatment by the police um and I think you'll find that if the more that you invest in housing the less you'll have to spend in law enforcement and the less that you'll have to spend an emergency so it it I think it behooves you I think it's a it's a while off but it perhaps you to spend out of the general fund on these issues and also to look at your law enforcement practices especially the practice of trashing people's belongings overtly um in uh in a really um disturbing circumstance for people's personal belongings go into a trash truck and people are told that they'll be arrested if they touch their belongings so that's all I would say is you need to pay attention to these other rulings like well Vaughn used to be of Los Angeles which is sort of the thrust of where the doj is pursuing um the the president that the doj is sort of pursuing under so that's what I would say and that's all I have to say our next speaker is Elijah Watson followed by Mari yepez Elijah are you on the line Elijah is not on the line Mariette are you on the line yes can you hear me uh yes we can good afternoon members of the Phoenix City Council my name is Mariette and I'm a lead organizer with Unite Here Local 11. currently I represent HMS host workers at Phoenix Sky Harbor airport for over the past year I have listened to story after story from Madoff workers suffering tremendous hardships as a travel industry began to recover we thought we were reaching a turning point but then the stories became stories of desperation and frustration workers are still struggling to pay the rent workers are still waiting to be recalled back to work you heard from godmen the most senior worker at HMS host commissary who was only called back yesterday after weeks of calling Human Resources she heard about her co-workers going back to work while she was still without a job you heard from April Gia and Matthew who see every day firsthand how busy the airport is and the sales in Starbucks brings up the who are we the who are reaching a breaking point because they are so understaffed you've been hearing their testimony for over a year do you believe them yet HMS host is in the position of neither paying full rent nor paying for work Workforce Employment are back in June 2021 95 of June 19 employment returned to the airport we cannot continue rewarding these corporations while they're allowing these conditions to continue so will you believe the workers what more will it take for the city council to believe HMS health workers I respectfully ask that the council urge uh host to invest more money into into workers by setting settling a liberal contract that includes wages wage increases health care benefits and appropriate Staffing thank you mayor that was our final speaker mayor that was our final speaker if there's nothing else we will yes thank you okay thank you all right thank you so much we are adjourned on August 15th the