Stand and join me with a pledge of allegiance and a moment of silence.

I pledge allegiance through the flag of the United States of America for which it stands my nation under Godisible with liberty and justice for all.

Thank you.

Item number one is roll call.

Marcella, will you please do the roll call?

Councilmember Conde.

Here.

Councilmember Garcia.

Here.

Councilmember Solario.

Councilmember Weiss.

Here.

Councilmember White.

Here.

Vice Mayor Nielsen.

Here.

Mayor Piniva.

Here.

Thank you.

Ron, next item, please.

Thank you, Mr.

Mayor.

I uh get the honor to announce that we're going to start with our installation of our new city council.

And we're actually going to start with you, Mr.

Mayor, Mayor Pineta, who will be sworn in by the Honorable Pep Guzman.

Thank you so much.

And actually, before we get to that, if you don't mind, we have a couple of dignitaries here in the auditorium and would like to recognize them.

If you wouldn't mind standing when I announce your name, and if I miss your name, please let me know.

Honorable Judge Pep Guzman.

Former LD22 legislator and Avondale and former Avondale Councilmember Lorenzo Sierra.

Chandler Mayor Kevin Harkey.

Former Avondale Mayor Ken Weiss.

Former Avondale Councilmember Veronica Malone.

Former Vice Mayor and Councilmember from the City of Glendale, Jamie O'Dama.

And if there's any other former or current elected officials, if you wouldn't mind standing, I apologize that I didn't have your name down.

Okay.

All right, we'll go ahead and just head down.

And I don't know how I forgot this, but former council member from the city of Avondale and my buddy, Jason Earl.

Here?

Where do you want to say stand?

Oh, perfect, right here.

Yep, right here.

Right here.

And then if you would like to go on next to your place.

Perfect.

Okay.

Ready.

Mikey.

Mikey, come and get in the picture.

Sorry.

Thank you.

It's been a while.

Okay, Mr.

Mike Pineta, please raise your right hand.

And repeat after me.

I Mike Pineda.

I Mike Pinella.

Do solemnly swear.

Do solemnly swear that I will support the Constitution of the United States.

That I will support the Constitution of the United States.

And the Constitution and Laws of the State of Arizona.

And the Constitution and Laws of the State of Arizona.

And the Charter of the City of Avondale.

And the Charter of the City of Avondale.

That I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same.

And I will bear faith and allegiance to the truth, faith.

Say that again, I'm sorry.

And that I will bear truth, faith, and allegiance to the same.

And defend them against all enemies.

And defend them against all enemies.

Foreign and domestic.

Foreign and domestic.

And that I will and that I will faithfully and impartially and impartially discharge the duties.

Discharge the duties of the office of mayor.

Of the office of mayor.

Representing the city of Avondale.

Representing the city of Avondale.

Maricopa County, the state of Arizona.

Maricopa County, the state of Arizona.

According to the best of my ability.

According to the best of my ability.

So help me God.

So help me God.

Congratulations.

And if you don't mind, I just would like to publicly thank my wife Olivia, my son Jonathan, my son Mikey, my daughter Angelique, my daughter Bianca, and my parents Daniel and Esther for being here.

And not many get to see my kids because they're uh oh, my sister Lisa.

Um not many get to see all of my kids together because they're spread apart, so I just I wanted to make sure everybody was able to uh or at least acknowledge them.

So thank you so much.

All right, Ron.

Thank you, Mr.

Next item, please.

Yep, thank you, Mr.

Mayor.

Next we have uh uh the swearing of Councilmember Garcia, who will be sworn in by her son Ryan.

Okay, so I'll have it stand over here.

So come close to the mic, though.

Can you hold the Bible for me?

Raise your right hand and repeat after me.

I Gitna Garcia.

I Jeanette Garcia.

Do you swarmly swear?

To solemnly swear.

That I will support the Constitution of the United States.

That'll support the Constitution of the United States.

And the Charter of the City of Avondale.

And the Charter of the City of Avondale.

I'll be bear true faith and allegiance to the same.

I'll bear true faith and allegiance to the same.

And defend them against all enemies.

And defend them against all enemies.

Foreign and domestic.

Foreign and domestic.

And that I will faithfully and impartially discharge the duties.

And I will faithfully and impartially discharge the duties.

Of the office of council member.

Of the office of council member.

Representing the city of Avondale, Arizona.

Representing the city of Avondale, Arizona.

According to the best of my ability.

According to the best of my ability.

So help me God.

So help me God.

Congratulations.

Thank you.

So special.

Thank you, Ryan.

And um thank you guys so much for the support.

This whole section is my family.

But I am honored and humbled and to be serving the city of Avondale, the city I grew up in, and to have the support of the council and the people who elected me.

Um I'm I'm ready to start.

Let's go.

Mr.

Man Council up next, we're going to swear in Councilmember Solario, who will be sworn in by Mr.

Aldama.

Sure.

Raise your right hand and repeat after me.

Hi, Gloria Salorio.

Hi, Gloria Salorio.

Do so long solemnly swear that I will support the Constitution of the United States.

Do you solemnly swear that I will support the Constitution of the United States?

The Constitution and Laws of the State of Arizona.

The Constitution and Laws of the State of Arizona.

And the Charter of the City of Avondale.

And the Charter of the City of Avondale.

That I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same.

That I will bear true faith in allegiance to the same.

And defend them against all enemies.

And defend them against all enemies.

Foreign and domestic.

Foreign and domestic.

And that I will faithfully and impartially.

And that I will faithfully and impartially discharge the duties of the office of council member.

Discharge the duties of the office of council member.

Representing the city of Avondale, Arizona.

Representing the city of Avondale, Arizona.

According to the best of my ability.

According to the best of my ability.

So help me God.

So help me God.

Thank you, everyone.

I just want to thank everyone, because you know, to be here on a Monday night, I just appreciate you giving up your time and being here.

Thank you to my family.

And I don't have any children, but they're like my kids.

So this is why I'm up here to make Avondale better for our future.

Mr.

Mayor and Council members.

Up next is a swearing in of Council Member Weiss.

She will be sworn in by her husband and our former Avondale Mayor, Ken Weiss.

Okay.

You're all fired now.

I think she means me.

Are you ready?

Go slowly.

Okay.

I Sherry Weiss.

I Sherry Weiss.

Do solemnly swear.

Do you solemnly swear?

That I will support the Constitution of the United States.

That I will support the Constitution of the United States.

And the laws of the state of Arizona.

And the laws of the state of Arizona.

And the Charter of the City of Avondale.

And the Charter of the City of Avondale.

That I will bear true faith and allegiance.

That I will bear true faith and allegiance.

To the same.

To the same.

And defend them against all enemies.

And defend them against all enemies.

Foreign and domestic.

Foreign and domestic.

And that I will faithfully and impartially.

And that I will faithfully and impartially.

Discharge the duties.

Discharge the duties.

Of the Office of Council Member.

Of the Office of Council Member.

Representing the city of Avondale, Arizona.

Representing the City of Avondale, Arizona.

According to the best of my ability.

According to the best of my ability.

So help me God.

So help me God.

Congratulations, Councilmember.

Hello, everyone.

I actually wrote a couple notes because I knew I would forget what I was going to want to say.

So I just wanted to let you guys know that I'm honored for the trust that the residents of Avondale put into me.

They bestowed on me for this position.

And I will do everything in my power to earn your trust to be a good council member.

To my fellow council members.

I'm a consensus builder.

I will always listen to different points of view, and I look forward to working with you.

Each of us brings different experiences to this council for the last forty years.

And I look at things from a healthcare perspective.

So I'm hopeful that my life experiences and my work experiences will be beneficial in our decisions moving forward.

Thank you for always believing in me, allowing me to serve the residents of our beautiful city, and for your help and support you have given me throughout the years.

Oh for someone I know.

Okay.

All right.

Let me go here.

One, two, three, two.

One thing.

Hey there.

Thank you, guys.

Okay, but looking right here first.

Oh, three, two, one, following.

I need something else.

And one more.

All right.

I do see what I think I think.

Oh, yeah, I know.

Yeah, yeah.

I'm not a telling Lincoln Friday.

She said I have three five dollars to get parts for you.

And um I think they still have all the time part, but it's like a screen.

So she said that's so we just need to make it up.

I mean no one's cool.

She said there's much push um early.

Oh yeah.

Once we get it, whatever's not necessary, we'll take it to the foster people that just came to have it.

Okay, Ron uh item two B, please.

Thank you, Mr.

Mayor and Council.

We'll uh next have our employee announcements.

We'll start with uh introductions of new employees.

First up, we have uh introduction by Kim Moon, our director of engineering.

And city engineer Hi, good evening.

I am uh Kim Moon, the engineer, uh city engineer and director of the engineering department.

I'm proud to announce uh introduce our new project manager Torsten Schmudd.

He uh is in our CIP division and he's uh working along with other project managers and will focus on vertical projects.

This is his fourth week, and unfortunately, I've had several people out today.

He's one of those people, he's not able to join us this evening.

So I'm just gonna give you a few highlights and welcome Torsten.

He's working on Fire Station 171, police communications bureau remodel canine training facility and the fire training tower.

So he's already up and running on those projects.

He was born in New Jersey, grew up on a small farm in the country.

He speaks both English and German.

Uh he's a registered architect in the state of Arizona.

He was inspired by Frank Lloyd Wright to pursue architecture.

And he went to college in North Carolina.

He enjoys golf, hockey, live music, stained glass, home improvements, and is a year in a year and a half old pet boxer.

Um so if you see Torsten around, please uh shake his hand and welcome him to Avondale.

Thank you.

Thank you, Kim.

And please let him let him know that we're all appreciative of him being here.

And uh so it's a you know, unfortunately he wasn't here tonight, but that's okay.

As you mentioned, when we see him around, we'll make sure to say hello.

And we're welcome on the board.

Thank you.

Thank you.

And Mr.

Mayor and Councilmember's reminder, uh, we post all pictures of all new employees in the biweekly report that comes from the city manager's office.

So at the back pages, you'll be able to see what he looks at like.

So when you run into him at 171 or the Keenan facility when it's time, you'll recognize him.

Thank you, Ron.

Mr.

Mayor and Council, up next we have introduction by uh Dave Wagner, our assistant fire chief, one of the fire department's new employees.

Good evening, Mayor, Vice Mayor, and Council.

Uh tonight I'm pleased to introduce our newest fire inspector, Stephanie Hernandez.

Uh Stephanie grew up in Glendale, Arizona, and she previously worked as a fire inspector with the City of Phoenix Fire Department and uh is international code compliance certified.

Uh she has a background in health care and has obtained her bachelor's degree from Grand Canyon University in uh nursing, and her goal is to uh get to know more about the city of Avondale and serve the community to the best of her ability.

And then one fun fact about uh Stephanie is that she loves her dog Coco.

If you don't mind sharing what is Coco's breed.

She she's actually a pocket bully.

Oh, okay.

Yeah.

All right.

So how long I I've missed it.

How long have you been with us so far?

Uh my first day here was in the second week of November.

Oh wow, so short amount of time.

In that short amount of time, though, share something that you've witnessed here with the city that uh makes us the place that you want to call home.

Immediately I realized that the closeness of the community, um, it everyone is just like family here.

Um I was referred to City of Avondale from a family friend, um, and he kept saying it was just family family-like, and coming from Phoenix to here is Stephanie family-like.

So I really like that closeness within the community.

Well, thank you for being with us, Stephanie.

We appreciate it.

Thank you so much for having me.

Ron or Adam C, please.

Thank you, Mr.

Mayor.

Up next, we have Gabby, our community outreach coordinator, to present and talk about Camp Hero.

Oh man.

Uh good evening, Mayor, Vice Mayor, and Council.

Um, I'm here today with Captain Lopez, Firefighter Cano, and a few of our participants from our 2024 Camp Hero.

Um Captain Lopez and Firefighter Cano were really big um advocates for this program.

Um nationally, only 5% of firefighters are women.

And so they felt that having a camp like this would help increase those numbers here in Avondale and also give um some of the girls here in our community an opportunity to have a career that they maybe hadn't considered prior to attending this camp.

Um, this campus for girls ages 14 to 18 for high schoolers, um, and it gives them a lot of hands-on opportunities to get to know our firefighters.

We have 13 participants this year for our first ever year.

And um they had a variety of experiences, a variety of goals.

Um, some of them came in thinking maybe they wanted to be firefighters, um, but a majority of them weren't really sure what to expect.

Um by the end of the camp, a lot of them kind of changed their mind and were like, I'm actually seriously considering this as a career, which is great.

That was our goal.

Um, they were able to have a lot of hands-on um skills work.

Um, you can see there on the left, they were able to flow water.

Um, they're in the center, they're doing a search and rescue drill.

Um you can't see it, but uh their eyes are actually covered.

Um they the goal was to follow the hose, which you can kind of see here in this picture.

Um while they're blindfolded, loud music's playing.

Um they gotta go in, get the mannequin, get it out and get it to safety.

So that's kind of simulating some of the stuff that our firefighters go through.

Um, and then we have a forcible entry drill.

Um, and that's they're using the same tools that our firefighters use every day.

Um so it was really great to see these girls kind of learn something new, pick it up and and really have fun with it and really enjoy it.

So um they want they asked that the camp be longer, we're gonna try and extend it for the next year.

Um this is probably their favorite day.

They got to go up on our ladder, they actually climb the ladder um for our citizen academy.

We usually have someone get in the bucket um and then we lift them up, but for this, they do what our firefighters do in the academy, which is um climb the ladder to not quite a hundred feet, but that is as far as it extends.

Um, and if they wanted to, they were strapped in, so they had the option to kind of lean back and just kind of show themselves how brave and how strong they really could be.

So it was a really empowering experience for these girls.

Um they really enjoyed getting to know our firefighters.

Um they had a ton of fun you can see here in these pictures.

Um, and the number one thing that they asked for in their feedback was that um we extend the camp on Sunday.

They were like, can we stay?

Can we spend the night?

And uh they had school, so that's important.

So we didn't let them, but um we uh really appreciate all your support on this program.

Um I think I'll I've heard from almost all of you how excited you were when we announced it.

Um we really appreciate the city managers support, our administration support, um, our marketing department support.

I don't think we would have had 13 participants if it wasn't for them.

So um thank you guys.

Would you mind introducing uh the the participants and would any of them like to to share any about their experience?

Just hold on and tell me what your favorite thing was.

If you don't feel comfortable, that's fine, but we'd love to hear from you.

Um my name's Reese Bernier.

Um my favorite thing is just probably like meeting people and getting to actually do like hands-on work.

Um it was really fun, and I've made a lot of friends through it.

Good job.

Good job.

Um, my name's Renata Campos.

Okay, um, sorry.

Um, my favorite part about it probably was like the connections.

I still I hanged out with her like a couple weeks ago because I met her there, and it was really fun.

Um I got a few of the girls' numbers, and it was such a great experience, and it was really fun.

Well, thank you for sharing.

I appreciate that.

Even though you were put on the spot, you guys did a good job.

One more.

My name is Elon, and uh my favorite part of this camp is that it made me reconsider my like career options that I never thought I wanted to be a firefighter, but now I'm reconsidering what I want to do when I'm older.

Thank you so much.

And I guess that you know you said it best.

Now you're considering it, you know about it before.

So thank you so much for sharing and thank you for participating.

Any members of council want to share?

Okay.

Councilmember Garcia.

I love this program.

When they showed it to me, I was like, oh my gosh.

I was prior law enforcement and I was in the army, and I want you girls to know that you guys could do it and f don't judge me, Memo, okay, what I'm about to say.

Being a firefighter is physically hard.

It is one of it's hard it's a little harder than being a police officer only because you guys have to carry all of that gear.

I have friends who do the 9-11 challenge every year, females who have to carry that do it with all of that gear, and you know, we get told a lot that we can't, but we can.

If you're if you're willing to put the work, you're able to do it and succeed.

And the thing that you will get out of it the most is the bond, even just the bond you guys built in that week, the bond you build with the people you serve with, whether in the military, law enforcement, or as firefighters, will be a bond you could never break.

And you guys might be friends for the rest of your life and go to the fire academy together and serve for 20 years together and end up being like these wonderful women and having other teaching other girls how to be firefighters.

So I think it is wonderful that you girls took the initiative to do this, because that says a lot about you and that you took a it took it was a week, right?

Or like four days.

You guys took four days out of your life to do something that you would never think to do, and now you might have a new career path, and that's amazing to hear.

I'm glad that the program went really well.

And thank you for the woman and all of the support from the fire department for setting this up.

Thank you.

Councilmember Solorio.

Congratulations to you guys.

You guys are the first class that are going through this.

Thank you to all the fire department, of course, but especially to the women.

When you guys were doing this conference, I think I told Captain Lopez, I was in Florida at a uh women in municipal government conference, and um I got to hear our new president that was coming in from San Antonio talk about how they were getting ready to do this same program next year while we are out there in conference in May.

And I had to go up to her and explain and show her the pictures while it was happening, saying we're already doing that, and it's happening in Avondale, and they were like, oh, we thought we were the first ones to do that.

I'm like, no, sorry, you guys aren't we're first.

Okay.

Thank you so much.

Awesome job, fire department.

Thank you so much for all of your commitment, ladies, to um serving Avondale.

Gabby, my daughter was heartbroken.

We actually argued she turned 14 at the end of the month, so she couldn't be a part of it.

Um I'm sure Chloe's gonna hear this, but um very proud.

Uh I think it's important for us to highlight that women can do tough things, we can do hard things.

So it's just great to see the camaraderie that you were able to build.

And it's great to see not only um the women in our fire department support you, but the entire fire department.

So we have a lot of men standing behind you as well, and we like to see the men lifting us up as well.

So thank you for your support, fire.

Thank you for your leadership team, and we're really proud to see you girls here.

Thank you for trusting Avondale and trying out serving in fire.

Thank you, Councilmember White.

And thanks again for being here.

Thanks for everything that you guys have provided to these young women.

Thank you so much.

Ron, next item, please.

Yeah, Mr.

Mayor, want to clarify um we would like some pictures with the the young ladies and council, but right after the next presentation, and then we'll have pictures again if we can.

Sure.

All right, thank you, Mr.

Mayor.

Up next, we have a presentation from Jeff Sheets, our chief information offer of uh about another award, another award.

Thank you, Ron.

Good evening, Mayor, Vice Mayor, and Council.

Um, I'm here tonight to share uh two technology awards that we've recently received within the last couple of months.

Um and so these re these awards reflect not just the innovation and the dedication of the IT team, but the incredible collaboration with all the city departments, council, and city leadership.

So our first award is the annual Digital Cities Survey.

Uh the Digital City Survey is a nationally recognized award to honor cities that excel in using technology to enhance services, improve transparency, and achieve operational efficiency.

So each year we're ranked in population of between 75,000 and 125,000.

So we're ranked with cities nationwide in that category.

You'll see the last five years we've um placed in the top six and the last five years in the last five.

The last um we typically replace in the top ten every year.

Um so you'll see that that goes back to seven, eight more years.

We've uh replaced, they've been in the top ten every year.

So uh this year's reward uh that was awarded was received at the National League of Cities Conference, a city summit event uh by council members Malone, White, and Solario.

They were there to receive that award for us in person.

So just a few of the categories that went into this uh year's um awards.

Uh city citywide cybersecurity program that we implemented.

We'll talk a little bit about that.

Um streamlining IT processes for onboarding new employees.

Uh working with the audit team uh to ensure compliance for our key systems, emergency management planning processes and tabletop exercises, and then business process reviews that we conducted for key software applications.

Um so we need digital cities.

Again, it's not just possible.

Um it's made possible through all the organizations' commitments uh to adopt a new technology.

And then also in November, uh the city was recognized by the public technology institute uh for our 2024 cybersecurity awareness training program.

So for this, um we took home this award for the work our teams did to enhance cybersecurity training.

So marketing marketing and IT work together to create a new solution to provide uh an innovative and interactive training program instead of just a mundane video training that most of us have come accustomed to.

So um we came together here in the council chambers, we created a movie like atmosphere.

We watched four episodes of a TV series, a little mini TV series.

Of course, we brought in popcorn and candy and made it just look like uh a movie theater event.

And we had a great majority of the city turn out for that.

Uh we've done it for two different series, and we're gonna keep keep moving forward with that.

Um but I want to highlight the collaborative effort really between IT and marketing.

Um in marketing, I want to call out Nolene and Ingrid and McKinsey.

I think they're here tonight.

They'll stand up for putting it there we go.

So they really helped um help us polish this idea together.

They created movie tickets, movie posters, we hung them around the city, really helped us with this event.

And then in my team, I want to bring up our highlight Christine, Alex, and Jake from my team.

They were really the ring leaders on my side.

Um they really organized this whole campaign and really brought everybody together.

They really organized this whole campaign and really brought everybody together.

But all of IT came in here.

We all had T-shirts on that talked about cybersecurity crew, so we were the staff in the movie theater and really just tried to bring the city together.

We asked tribute questions, gave out door prizes, really tried to get some involvement with that.

So again, I like to highlight my amazing team that's here tonight.

Some of them are here, so if you guys will raise your hand or stand up, it would be great.

And with that, I'll take any questions.

So thank you for putting us in such a great light.

Thank you, Jeff.

Appreciate it.

Thank you to your team.

Thank you guys.

Mr.

Mayor, uh, next up we have time for uh pictures.

Um I know the uh the hero program would like to get some pictures.

Um and then uh a couple of the others as well, but let's uh start with the heroes so they can get ready for school.

Sounds good.

Can I have you guys like two seconds?

Uh right over here.

Okay, perfect.

Just like that.

Beautiful.

Right over here.

All right, looking right over at the last six miles, three, two, one.

Three, two, one.

Three smiles.

All the lines, three, two, one.

One more.

Oh, we're good.

Just picture.

Okay, well, my answer to you guys are doing it.

I already know.

Please let's get the public here.

Thank you, Mayor.

We have not received any requests to speak.

Okay.

Next item, consent agenda.

Are there any council members who wish to have an item removed for separate consideration?

Seeing none, can we get a motion?

Got a motion from Vice Mayor Nielsen, a second from Councilmember White.

Please vote.

Item passes.

Okay, item number five.

Selection of the Vice Mayor.

At this time, is there any member of council that would like to make the motion or nominate a member of City Council as Vice Mayor?

Mayor.

Kid?

Councilmember Condy?

Thank you, Mayor.

Um just a little backstory, just kind of um.

When in 2017, some of you may know, um, I was actually appointed to fill um a seat for at that time council member Sandy Nielsen, who was Councilmember Curtis Dilson's wife.

And at the time that I filled out my application and did the interviews, it was myself and I think there were seven other men that had applied for the position, and I kept thinking, what am I doing?

Am I gonna be able to do this?

And I remember doing the interview here in in council in front of all the council members and just really answering the questions, sharing from my heart, and um thinking it's not gonna be me, but that's okay because you know I'm serving boards and commissions in other capacities.

And I remember after being appointed, first of all, I said, what's happening right now?

Um after being appointed, I remember people coming congratulating me, but the one person that I really remember congratulating me was Councilmember Nielsen.

And I remember he came up to me and he shook my hand and he looked and he said, I'm glad it was you.

And I said, He's glad it was me.

Did he not hear all the other people what they had to say?

And I just thought something so simple and such kind words because he was glad it was me.

And I said it meant so much coming from him, and I don't even think I ever had met him before.

I only knew about his service and the service of um of Sandy Nielsen.

Um but Curtis, since being on council, I've seen you time and time again represent our city with honor and integrity in Washington DC and on various boards and committees in our city.

Besides your council duties, you have been a blessing to serve so many in so many other capacities in your church and in the community.

Um, I would just like to thank you for your dedication and your unwavering commitment.

And it would be an honor to nominate Vice Mayor Curtis Nielsen to continue to serve as Vice Mayor for the remainder of his two-year term.

And Curtis, I hope that it's you.

With with that motion, is there anybody?

Got a second from Councilmember Solario.

Please, if we could have a vote.

Thank you.

So I have a motion by Councilmember Condi and second by was Councilmember Slorio.

Thank you.

And Curtis, I'd like to formally say congratulations for being the next the vice mayor for the next two years.

If I said anything, I'd start to cry.

So I just say thank you.

Appreciate your trust and your confidence in me.

And for all the things we've done together and will do for the next two years together.

Yes.

Thanks so much, all of you.

Thanks, Curtis.

Okay.

Item passes.

Can I move on to council appointments to regional and local boards?

Thank you, Mr.

Mayor.

Liz uh Barker Alvarez, our intergovernment affairs administrator will provide this presentation.

Good evening, Mayor, Vice Mayor, and Council members.

Again, I'm Liz Barker Alvarez, intergovernmental affairs administrator.

Regional and local representation on behalf of the City Council is really beneficial to the city in maintaining a strong presence really throughout the region.

Serving on these committees, whether that be within the Maricopa Association of Governments, Westmark, the Arizona Municipal Water Users Association and other regional organizations, is really paramount to the city.

Staying abreast of regional initiatives and our ability to maintain not just a presence but our voice in those discussions.

So this agenda item will be taken in two parts.

In the first part, I'm going to provide some information regarding Avondale's representation on some regional boards and commissions.

And then in the second part, we're going to be talking about various council committees and subcommittees and asking for council action to address a couple of vacancies on those.

So there are six regional boards and commissions that mayors are asked to serve on just by virtue of their positions.

So these groups cover a wide range of topics ranging from transportation to economic development to human services, et cetera, water.

And although the meeting times allocated to those regional boards and commissions may only be once or twice a month, the time that it takes to learn the issues to prepare for the meetings, it really is a huge undertaking.

Again, Mayor Paneda is offered the opportunity to serve on all six by virtue of being mayor.

If he chooses not to serve, then he appoints provides a designee to each of those organizations.

This is typically made up of the mayors of all of the cities in Maricopa County, Board of Supervisors from both Penal and Maricopa County, as well as three Indian tribes and nations.

And jointly, these individuals make decisions about transportation funding and policy here in Maricopa County.

Mayor has also elected to serve on the Luke West Valley Council, which are the mayors of the cities of the West Valley who have joined forces to support the mission of Luke Air Force Base.

Luke Air Force Base is a huge on its own.

It's the fifth largest Air Force in the United States.

It is a huge economic driver for the entire state.

And of course, many of the airmen who serve at Luke Air Force Base and their families call the West Valley and Avondale home.

And Mayor Paneda has also elected to serve on the Westmark Board of Directors.

Westmark is an organization that really works to promote the economic development and vitality of the West of the West Valley.

Considered like our water expert.

The 10 cities that make up AMWA provide water for about 70% of the state's population.

Then he has also designated Vice Mayor Nielsen to serve on the Greater Phoenix Economic Council Board of Directors.

GPEG does work that is similar to Westmarks, but representing the entire American the Greater Phoenix area, where Westmark focuses mainly on the West Valley.

Lastly, Mayor Paneda has designated Councilmember White to serve on the Valley Metro Regional Public Transportation Authority Board of Directors, RPTA.

We just shortened that to Valley Metro.

Councilmember White is already serving on the Valley Metro Board.

She was recently selected as the chair of the Audit and Finance Subcommittee of Valley Metro and is also, I believe, treasurer of the board this year.

So she's very much involved in in Valley Metro's efforts to provide transit services, including rail services for individuals with disabilities, seniors, et cetera.

So those are the designations.

Those openings come up and individuals just put in their applications for those.

Councilmember White is currently serving on the MAG Transportation Policy Committee, and her current term expires on June 30th of 2026.

And then there's the MAG Human Services and Community Initiatives Committee, where Councilmember Conde is currently serving.

Her term has no expiration.

I'm going to move on to council committees and subcommittees.

Again, these are ones where at the end when we we can have a discussion on this, but at the end, we are going to need council action to fill a couple of vacancies.

Appointments to the following committees are made by council.

So the subcommittee on boards and commissions, the subcommittee on contributions assistance program, and the audit committee.

The council subcommittee for boards, commissions, and committees interviews applicants and makes appointment recommendations regarding candidates for the various boards, commissions, and committees.

All the recommendations go to city council for final approval.

The current members of the committee are Mayor Paneda, Councilmember Solorio, and Councilmember White.

Mayor Paneda, since he is serving on all, in addition to being mayor serving on all those regional boards, has elected not to continue serving on that subcommittee, and so there is a vacancy that needs to be filled.

The contributions assistance program provides a supplemental funding source to organizations providing services to the residents of the city of Avondale.

The subcommittee makes funding recommendations to the city council for final approval.

Current members of that committee are Vice Mayor Nielsen, Councilmember Conde, and there is a vacancy that occurred when Councilmember Malone's term ended.

We also have the audit committee.

There are no current vacancies.

The current members are Vice Mayor Nielsen and Councilmember White, both of whom their terms end in 2026, and Councilmember Solorio, whose term ends in 2025.

The city does have an interfaith council.

And Councilmember Conde and Councilmember Nielsen currently represent council in the interfaith council's activities.

So mayor, again, um this open for council discussion, but at the end of the discussion, we are going to need a motion in particular to address at least the two vacancies that I mentioned.

And I'm happy to answer any questions you may have.

Thank you.

Thank you, Liz, for the presentation and the information.

And first, let me just say to my two fellow council members, Vice Mayor, sorry, Vice Mayor Nielsen, Councilmember White, who have served and continue to serve on the RPTA and AMWA and now GPEC, but you guys have definitely done a great job, and I would love to have you continue your service there.

For the other members of council, it looks like we have three areas the subcommittee for boards, commissions, and the contributions assistance program.

So are there any members of council now who would like to take uh the position with the subcommittee for boards and commissions?

Mayor?

Okay.

Vice Mayor and fellow council members.

I would like to volunteer.

Okay.

So is there anybody else that would like to volunteer or would like to second?

Do we need to do a second, Marcella?

Thank you, Mayor.

We can take one motion at the end after the discussion.

Okay.

So we have uh council member Weiss for the boards and commission and for the contributions assistance program.

I would like to volunteer.

Okay.

All right.

So we have Councilmember Garcia.

Any other comments from Council before we make the motion?

Okay.

Looks like we got a motion from Councilmember White.

Mr.

Mayor, you had one council member who.

No, I just wanted just to just kind of piggyback on what you said.

I just want to just thank everybody for serving.

You know, because I know that it does take time even to be on council because we do study our packets.

But in addition to preparing for these council meetings, you guys are preparing for other board meetings and really studying, meeting with staff, doing things behind the scenes that you guys no one really knows about.

So thank you guys so much for your time, your dedication, and your commitment.

And and also also to to use well uh Councilmember Condy as well as Councilmember Solaro, who's serving on a national level with NLC and the legal cities, right?

Locally, as well as Councilmember White, um, and you with the uh MAG and um human services committee.

Thank you, too, for your service.

We appreciate it.

Okay, so we got a motion from Councilmember White, second from Councilmember Condi.

Please vote, or do I have to read this word specifically?

Um no mayor, but the motion is to continue um the appointments that Liz presented, um, as well as the two new appointments that we have.

Okay, thank you.

So please vote.

Item passes.

Thank you.

Congratulations.

Okay.

Item C, please.

Mr.

Mayor, again, you have Liz uh Baker Albers, our government affairs administrator who will go over our recommended public priority policies.

Thank you, Mayor, Vice Mayor, and members of council.

Uh the intergovernmental affairs team within the city manager's office is tasked with monitoring state and federal legislation, uh, monitoring, uh, advocating on behalf of public policies that support Avondale's goals and objectives, and opposing public policies that would negatively affect the city, its mission, and our residents.

We do this by reviewing and analyzing proposed policies and legislation.

We meet with stakeholders to describe the impact of those proposals on Avondale.

We meet with policymakers and their staff to ensure that they understand those policies and hopefully that they align with the city's position.

And if necessary, testifying or helping others to prepare to testify on those bills.

All of this really starts with identifying the city's position on proposed measures and our public policy priorities offer a framework that allows us to do that work while keeping up with the pace of the legislative session, which is very fast, and allowing us to be nimble in an ever-changing political environment.

This presentation is going to provide a little bit of information on our current political environment.

We're going to describe a little bit about how both the policy priorities and our legislative positions are developed, and then I'm going to share the recommended 2025 public policy priorities.

So what happens when we have a lot of new folks is that it's a steep learning curve.

Um, there are a lot of very complex issues.

Um, and there can be a propensity to um to just not have enough time to learn all of the issues and so to very much take direction from your fellow legislators, not blaming anyone, that's just what can happen when you have a lot of new people.

Um, and I'm gonna go to the next slide and then come back because I just wanted to share that in terms of Avondale, our representation, which is legislative district 22, has not changed.

Minority leader Lupe Contreras is still our senior member in the House.

He will not be leader when this session starts, but he is the leader until um the session starts next week.

Uh and then also in the house, we have representative Elda Luna Náchera.

Um, if you recall, she was appointed to replace Representative Lisa Sun, very near to the end of the last legislative session, and she won election to that seat in the November election.

And then in the Senate, we have uh Senator Eva Diaz.

Um she was uh newly elected two years ago and won re-election in the November election.

So I just wanted to make sure to share that.

Uh continuing with the current political environment, current legislative estimates, put the fiscal year 25 balance at 469 million.

That is significant because we were looking at a significant deficit, but revenues are much better than expected.

I say that with the caveat that that kind of fund balance can easily disappear in the face of some looming issues at the Capitol, not the least, which is the upcoming expiration of some education funding.

In terms of cities, we're likely to, given that the environment remains largely unchanged, we're likely to see repeats of some of the challenging bills or new controversial bills, particularly in the areas of housing and water.

As I mentioned before, the legislative session starts on Monday, January 13th, so just a week from today, and even though the session hasn't started, the bills have already started to drop.

55 bills dropped as of about three o'clock this afternoon.

When we look at developing a position on a specific bill for the city of Avondale, first we have to review the filed bills.

And that's been running anywhere between 1500 and 1800 bills a session for the last few years.

When we take a look at those, we compare them against the public policy priorities to say, is this a bill that we think that we should be working on?

They're reviewed by our program staff and our attorneys.

We use that information to have conversations with our city leadership on how we think the city may be affected, and then we determine which position we would like to take and whether or not we will take action on those bills.

That action, it can have it can be a really wide set of actions.

It can be everything from just signing in and saying we're for a bill or opposed to the bill.

It can be meeting with other stakeholders who might share our position to build a coalition around a specific measure.

It can include meeting with the lawmakers themselves or their staff to explain the impact to our city and all the way to possibly testifying on legislation and committees.

Last time we did that was when Mayor Weiss testified on Prop 479 as it was moving through the legislative process.

As I mentioned, the public policy priorities really, those are our guardrails.

These are the things that tell us what was important to council and what the bills that we need to kind of start focusing on.

When we start developing those public policy priorities, we do a few things.

Number one, we review past legislative sessions.

You know, 17, 1800 bills are filed and 325 will become law about that.

So it's pretty rare that bills get through on the first try.

So if a bill doesn't get a hearing or ultimately fails in a particular legislative session, you can almost guarantee it's probably going to come back.

So we definitely look at past legislative sessions and what have been the bills that have impacted cities in the past.

We also work with some of our regional partners and determine what are their priorities.

And these organizations have priorities related to transportation, related to water, related to economic development, etc.

So they know what's coming down the pike as well, and they develop their own priorities.

So we take a look at those.

We want to make sure that our legislative priorities cover those.

And then, of course, we have ongoing conversations and collaborations with other city intergovs.

So I mentioned that we have three legislators that represent the city of Avondale, and of course, those are the ones that we have the closest relationship with.

But legislators who represent another part of the valley who represent another part of the state, we may not have a relationship with because we don't represent their constituents.

But our other intergovs do.

And they may share information about what those lawmakers are telling them are their priorities or bills coming down the pike that we need to make sure that we're aware of.

So we kind of put that all together, and that then becomes our recommendation to you for our our 2025 public policy priorities.

So you can see how we might use that.

In terms of preserving local funding, you know, obviously the city of Avondale receives shared revenue and has other public sources of revenue.

And from time to time, there are efforts at the legislature either to pull back some of those revenues or to preempt the city from being able to raise revenue.

You're all dealing very much in the budget process with the impact of one of those decisions, which is the elimination of the residential rental tax.

So if there were to be a new effort to reduce our shared revenue or take away another tax that we currently have, or on the positive note, I can be positive.

If there were an effort to backfill residential rental, then our public policy priorities would tell us which ones we oppose and which ones we support.

Also opposing preemption of local authority.

Support expanded housing opportunities.

It doesn't mean we support every single housing bill out there.

Obviously, we take a look at them.

Some of them are preemption bills, so we wouldn't want to necessarily support all of that.

But there are other housing bills, like you know, more funding for the housing trust fund or rental assistance or you know, homeowner protections or first-time homeowner programs, you know, different things that do help um with housing and don't preempt local authority that we would want to um support.

Enhanced public safety.

Um, you know, there can be we supported a bill last year to ensure that we're able to use the same metal detectors that they use in county jails so that our public safety personnel can be as safe as you know those that work in other jails.

So we want to make sure that you know our police and our firefighters that we're we're supporting policies that help them do their jobs, but that we're also opposing policies that may get in the way of their doing their jobs.

City managed growth and development.

We talked a little bit, there were a lot of housing bills last year.

Um, probably the most egregious of which was the what was called the Starter Home Act, was a buy-right zoning bill that would have allowed developers to build um whatever they wanted, wherever they wanted, at whatever density they wanted, regardless of whether there was the public infrastructure to support it, et cetera.

We did oppose that bill.

That bill was um vetoed by the governor.

Um and then we worked in collaboration with developers on a few other bills because you know, housing is a big issue right now, and and some things needed to get done.

But this particular public policy priority allows us the wiggle room to do that, to oppose the policies that are just flat out not acceptable, and to you know, to have a voice in those negotiations for policy that that we can live with.

Promote economic development and prosperity.

We know that there are bills coming back this year to give the cities more options in terms of promoting the economic growth in their communities.

Uh, every now and again we do see some bills that are preemption bills that get in the way of our being able to bring jobs and businesses um to Avondale, and so naturally we would oppose those.

Collaborating to build a robust transportation network involves the implementation of proposition 479, but it can also involve um, you know, kind of developing technologies like you know, Avondale's at the forefront with We Ride um in the region, or you know, even conversations around what's going to happen with rail, and are we gonna have rail coming from Tucson all the way through here to Los Angeles, et cetera.

Protecting and enhancing water supply, I think as a as a member of AMWA, I think you're all very well aware of the considerable investment that Avondale has made in its water portfolio and in being able to guarantee to our residents that when they turn on the tap today, tomorrow, that good clean water is going to come out, that it's going to be reliable.

There were 91 water bills last year.

And there's always an effort, particularly with the ongoing you know, drought with the ongoing situation with the Colorado River, there's always gonna be efforts to take from those that have had the foresight and have made the sacrifices to invest in their water policy.

So we want to make sure that we're protecting Avondale's water portfolio.

And then I talked a little bit when we were talking about boards and commissions of protecting the mission of Luke Air Force Base.

Um, as I mentioned, uh, it is a uh very large part of our national defense, but it's also a very large part of our region's economic uh development.

So um, mayor, those are the proposed um 2025 public policy priorities.

I am um happy to answer any questions you might have.

Thank you, Liz.

Uh, a lot of great information there, and as you mentioned, all of us here were voted on by our residents to serve Avondale, and so anything that would be detrimental to that, I think that we should have a strong voice and make it uh make it aware, make it known.

And um, while we have a couple of new members here at council, I don't think they're new uh to the West Valley and don't know who our local representatives are, but I would really uh advise that when you have the opportunities to engage that you do so and I know that something may be coming up soon in regards to making that happen.

And um while we have a couple of new members here at council, I don't think they're new uh to the West Valley and don't know who our local representatives are, but I would really uh advise that when you have the opportunities to engage that you do so and I know that something may be coming up soon in regards to making that happen, so more information to come on that.

But is there anybody that would like to elaborate or share anything?

Vice Mayor Nielsen.

Liz, I just want to thank you for all the efforts that you put into this.

I know I represent Amwa, and there's so much going on down there, and I look at you, and you've got knowledge of each one of these areas, and I look at them between loop, between transportation, each one of us have one of those assignments or responsibilities, and we can handle a little bit.

I look at you and say you've got this whole thing that you're working with and doing.

I know that again from Ammo that you've been working with with Warren and others down there since October, trying to figure out what we can do to work with the legislatures and everything else.

So this isn't just something that's coming up now.

You've put a lot of effort and other staff who put it in there.

And I just want to recognize you and and the in the city for what we're looking at right here and for the opportunities that we have to participate in these and move forward.

And again, just all the work you have done and what you will be doing the next four to five months handling these legislators down there.

It's it's it's a hassle with those 91 uh water bills we had last year, it was tough.

Uh and I know there's gonna be all kinds of other ones.

So again, just thank you and appreciate all your efforts.

Thank you, Vice Mayor.

But to be fair, these directors uh they are a godsend because uh with the with the wide variety of legislation, really uh boiling it down for me to something that's easily understood where a lawmaker who represents this area can immediately see the impact to the people that voted them in as well, is uh is is a talent and a skill, and and really it's it's the directors who help me.

So thank you very much.

Councilmember White, thank you so much, Mayor, but as Vice Mayor said, I really appreciate your support, Liz, and all the directors as well.

I got to spend a lot of time today in public works um and with the city manager's office and just thinking about um transit and Avondale and kind of how we move.

Um there's there's a bit of preemption that we want to make sure that we do our best to avoid.

I I really believe that when we look at the growth of our city and our strategic outcomes as we get into strategic planning.

Um I I believe all of us have the best interest of our residents in mind.

I know that we act that way and we behave that way every day.

We put everything aside to work for Avondale.

So as long as you can ring the alarm when we need to step up, and as long as all of the directors know when to alert you to something that we need to become aware of, um, just just tell us our marching orders because we're there to advocate for Avondale and Avondale is well respected throughout Maricopa County and the state, and I think that's because of the unity we have here on the Dais, but also in all of the departments and through the city manager's office.

So we really appreciate what you do for us and continue to let us know how to best serve our people.

Thank you.

Thank you, Councilmember White.

What other words?

Oh, Councilmember Voice.

Vice Mayor, fellow council members, Liz.

I just want to thank you for your hard work.

I saw that there are 1800 bills last year, and I can see that you need a whole team.

And this is a wonderful team behind you.

Um I like the fact that we have some priorities that you've that you've narrowed down the priorities, um, things that you're really going to be focusing on.

I know that other things will come up, but you've got your eyes on all of those, and those are all things that I think um the residents will agree are our top priorities for the city.

Okay.

With that, can we get a motion?

Got a motion from Councilmember Condi, a second from Councilmember Solorio.

Uh please vote.

Okay, item passes.

Thank you so much, Liz.

Thank you.

Okay, looks like we have a summary of current events.

Is there any members of council that have anything to share?

I do, Mayor.

Okay, Councilmember Condi.

Thank you, Mayor.

Um this past couple weeks, uh, my daughter has been on winter break from school, and a lot of you know she's like our she's 10, and so we always have to find something to keep her busy.

Um I do want to just say thank you to Parks and Rec.

Um, we were able to take her a couple days to the winter camp at Mountain View Community Center, and she had an absolute blast.

And um, you guys do a fantastic job.

She comes home, she's worn out.

She comes home, she's worn out, so thank you.

But she always talks about how great of a time she had.

She had an opportunity to go on a field trip to someplace that we it wouldn't have been fun if my husband and I took her because we're adults, right?

We can't jump in and do all the fun stuff with her.

But because there was an opportunity for her to go on this field trip um with the other kids in the camp, she had an absolute blast.

And so I can't say thank you enough to to our parks and rec staff for um uh having those camps for our kiddos.

And uh that's it's definitely affordable.

And I love the fact that it's a drop-in, or you can do for a whole week, especially because we're not sure.

Are we gonna be in town?

Are we gonna be on vacation?

So being able to have that option was great.

And I've heard positive feedback from other um people that have taken their kiddos there too.

So I just want to just give a shout out to staff and thank you so much.

Corey, make sure you share that with the team.

Any other members of council?

Anything else to add?

Okay, with that, can I get a motion for adjournment?

Okay, we got a motion from Councilmember White, second from Councilmember Garcia.

Please vote.

Everybody's class for my vote.

I was trying to transmit me.

And we are adjourned.

Everybody drive safe, and thank you for being here tonight.