The mayor, Vice Mayor, and City Council welcome you to the Avondale City Council meeting.

As a courtesy to others, please silence all phones.

Anyone wishing to address the council regarding items listed on the agenda or under unscheduled public appearance should complete the request to speak form online at WWW dot avondale az dot gov.

When your name is called, please approach the podium and give your name for the public record.

Please limit your comments to three minutes.

And it is liberty and thank you.

Marcella, can we have a roll call, please?

Councilmember Conde here.

Councilmember Garcia.

Here.

Councilmember Solario.

Councilmember Weiss here.

Councilmember White.

Present.

Vice Mayor Nielsen.

Here.

Mayor Pineda.

Here.

So much.

Ron, next item, please.

Thank you, Mr.

Mayor.

And Council.

Up first, we have a proclamation for Juneteenth Day of Observance.

I believe police lieutenant Olivia Contreras will be presenting and introducing our guest.

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

My name is Olivia Cutteris.

I'm the lieutenant over the Professional Standards Bureau.

Thank you so much for having us here tonight for the proclamation for Juneteenth.

I would like to introduce our guest.

She is retired Phoenix Police Department Lieutenant, Cheryl Gibson Thurman, and she's currently an instructor at the Surrey Mountain Community College, and she's here to accept the proclamation.

Okay, I got readers.

Okay.

First of all, thank you very much for inviting me here today and for this extent proclamation that I'm about to receive.

So I just say want to say good afternoon, everybody again.

My name is Cheryl Gibson Thurman.

I am a 25-year-plus veteran of the Phoenix Police Department, retiring there as a lieutenant patrol commander in 2011.

While with the Phoenix Police Department, I worked in a variety of patrol training and investigative assignments and held supervisory command positions in each of those areas.

I am currently now a professor at Australia Mountain Community College, and I started working there as an adjunct professor in 2011, shortly after retirement.

And I taught in the Administration of Justice Studies program, and ultimately I was hired full-time as a full-time faculty member, and I still teach in the administration of justice studies program.

And I was hired there permanent in 2013 and currently still working there.

Today I was invited here to speak to you about Juneteenth, and also known as the Juneteenth National Independence Day in historically known as Jubilee Day, Black Independence Day, and Emancipation Day.

So there was a number of names attached to Juneteenth, but Juneteenth is the official name.

Juneteenth is the day we celebrate the emancipation of African Americans who had had been enslaved in Texas.

President Abraham Lincoln issued the Immaculation Proclamation, which outlawed slavery in the Confederate States in 1863.

However, it would be a full two years before the news was reached in Texas.

That's when Texas actually got the official information that all free all slaves were free.

And it took the Union troops arriving in Galveston, Texas, to announce the end of the Civil War and free the last enslaved black Americans.

Now I grew up in California and partly here in the summers.

I know I did the reverse.

California summers here.

And my father was a retired uh veteran of the United States Air Force, and he retired out of Luke Air Force Base.

So that's why I split my summers here.

So anyway, some of the historical dates that are attached this Juneteenth are on January 1st, 1863 was when President Abraham Lincoln issued the emancipation proclamation, legally freeing enslaved people in the Confederate states.

So in June 19th, where we get the June 19th from was the day that Union Major General Gordon Granger arrived in Galveston, Texas and issued the general orders number three, officially informing the people of Texas that all enslaved people were free.

And the first Juneteenth celebration took place the immediate year right after it, and it has since been celebrated till this day.

Okay.

And that was celebrated in Galveston, Texas in 1866.

And it's celebrated annually across the United States by several other states who still recognize and understand the importance of Juneteenth and the significance of it and what happened as a result of it.

And in 1968, it kind of did kind of fade over the years once it was initially celebrated, but it was revived back in 1968 when organizers, organizers of the poor people's march incorporated Juneteenth in their demonstration in Washington, D.C.

So it started gaining traction again in the significance of the date.

And in 1980, Texas became the first state to officially recognize Juneteenth as a state holiday.

And I would be remiss in saying that my father was born in Texas.

And I felt like I probably should have known about Juneteenth a lot sooner than I did because my father was born in the state of Texas.

But I really didn't know about it until I officially moved here in 1981 to attend Arizona State University.

It became known to me, and I understood the significance of what Juneteenth was and why it was celebrated each year.

And Arizona, we recognized it as a state holiday in 2016.

For those of you that did not know that, we recognized it in 2016, which I very much appreciated.

And we recognize it as official holiday in 2022.

Although in 2021, President Joe Biden signed the Juneteenth National Independence Day Act into law, officially establishing Juneteenth as a federal holiday.

So all states recognize it as a federal holiday now since 2021.

And present day, while Juneteenth doesn't eliminate structural racism in America, recognizing it as a federal holiday is a crucial step towards bringing the risky the rich history of Black Americans into the center of both our history and identity.

For me personally, Juneteenth is a celebration of Black residence freedom and the ongoing journey towards civil rights.

And I want to talk to you briefly about the association that my school has with Avondale Police Department and why it is so important to me and the students who are students at Australia Mountain Community College.

And I consider Australia Avondale Police Department a partner with Australia Mountain Community College.

I since I did work for Phoenix, one of the larger police agencies throughout the valley, I had the luxury of knowing a lot of chiefs and personnel throughout the state, and thus bringing them to our campus to help our students understand what policing is about.

But I will say Avondale is probably my number one go-to that I reach out to when I'm looking for assistance to help our students understand the importance of policing and what it stands for and basically what it stands for for me.

And the Avondale Police Department, under the leadership of Chief Memo Espinosa, has opened its doors to not only me but to the faculty, staff, and students out of Strady Mountain Community College.

The Avondale Police Department has allowed several students from EMCC to do internships with their department.

And as a result, some of those students who have completed the internship program have accepted employment as law enforcement officers throughout several of the valley policing agencies throughout the create, which makes me very proud that someone that as myself who worked in police are also able to still bring people into the police force, and we need people desperately because every police department across the state and other states are suffering right now because of the low enticement to get people to come and work for law enforcement agencies.

So I feel it's very important for me to expose the truth about policing.

And with every job I tell my students, there's probably about two to three percent of people that should not be in those positions, and that's not only includes policing, but includes banking, every every job that you can probably imagine.

So I'm there um to further uh try to instill how important policing is and how we need people such as our students at EMCC to enter into those careers.

The Avondale Police Department has allowed several of its officers from to come to EMCC to participate and guest lectures for my students and several of the administration justice classes that our students take over at EMCC.

So it's very important to hear firsthand from the officers of Avondale PD what policing is, what it's all about, and believe me, it's not what you see on television.

And a lot of people have that perception, policing is what they see on television when it's far from that.

So Avondale Police Department has opened its doors to me and for our students, and every semester uh I bring two of my classes over to the Avondale Police Department.

And one of the things that they offer, and in trying to get somebody, one of my special guests that I invited here tonight to come and participate in this is Milo.

It's something that uh teaches officers, and every officer throughout the state of Arizona has to get this training every year.

And it's called it probably it would probably can relate to it better when you look at it, shoot, don't shoot scenarios.

But for us, it's called Milo back in the day before I retired, it's called FAT.

And it was something I really hated to do every year because basically, if you did not pass it, you cannot be an officer out on the street.

And basically, um, Avondale has opened their doors every semester for me to bring our students over.

And it really is impactful.

It does in some cases make a decision for people to understand.

Maybe I don't want to do this because again, um, policing is a while it's a very rewarding career, it also could be a very dangerous career because you can go to work that evening and not come home at the end of the night.

So a lot of people have to understand that.

So it's my job to let people know that are thinking about careers in law enforcement, what it means to actually be an officer.

So um I want to say from the bottom of my heart, I want to thank you for allowing Chief Memo to have that uh open door policy to bring other people into the mix when it comes to communicating with uh the community members, law enforcement, and your city council.

So um thank you, thank you, thank you for that.

So I did would be remiss if I didn't mention the importance of the Avondale Police Department and Astralia Mountain Community College and our partnership that has been allowed and fostering for years, and I hope it continues even after I retire from there.

Um, so I would like to finish by saying that I am honored uh today to receive this June T Proclamation Award.

And I want to thank everyone who was involved with me being nominee to be considered to receive this award.

It is very important to me, and it is near and dear to my heart.

And I'm so glad that we get to celebrate this occasion every year.

And I also would like to thank my family and friends and VP Paula Linison for taking time out of their day to come out and support me.

So thank you to all my family members from my husband, my mother, my mother-in-law, my daughter, my very good friends, uh, some members that belong to me with another organization, National Coalition of 100 Black Women.

I want to thank each and every one of them for taking the time out to come and see me receive this award.

It's very important and it's near and dear to me.

And thank you.

And last, I want to now turn it over to Mayor Mike Panetta for reading of the proclamation.

And I would also be remiss in saying that uh your mayor is also one of my uh peers over at a straight mount community college.

We actually work in the same unit as well, occupational education.

So thank you for allowing me to come here and say these few words about Juneteenth and the partnership that Avondale PD has fostered with Australian Mountain Community College.

Thank you so much, Cheryl.

And yes, uh, we definitely are colleagues, and and um, you know, I really appreciate hearing from you, learning from you and participating in the ABLE conference that was recently held uh on the campus of Australia Mountain.

And um, I know myself and Councilmember White were participated, and thank you so much for for the invitation.

I think we'll do it again next year.

Yes, actually this year.

This year.

Oh, that's September.

You're right.

Uh I also belong to an organization called Arizona Black Law Enforcement Association.

And uh we uh for the second year coming up this September, we're going to be offering an annual training conference for police officers and students on our campus.

And I would love to see you guys come and um support our students and the police officers from across the state and valley that will be attended there to receive additional training.

Whereas on January 1st, 1863, President Abraham Lincoln signed the Emancipation Proclamation, granting freedom to all those who were enslaved and whereas the news of freedom did not become an immediate reality for the more than 250,000 enslaved black people of Texas.

And whereas on June 19th, 1865, over two years after President Lincoln signed the Emancipation Proclamation, enslaved Americans in Galveston, Texas finally received word that they were free from bondage.

And whereas those who were formerly enslaved were recognized for the first time as citizens and black Americans came to commemorate June 19th as Juneteenth with celebrations across the country, building new lives and a new tradition that we honor today.

And whereas on Juneteenth, we recommit ourselves to the work of equity, equality, and justice as we celebrate the centuries of struggle, courage, and hope that have brought us to this time of progress and possibility.

And whereas on March 17th, 2016, Governor Doug Ducy signed House Bill 2226, sponsored by Representative Reginald Bowling, recognizing June 19th as Juneteenth Day in Arizona and making Arizona the 45th state to recognize Juneteenth as a state holiday.

And whereas Avondale officially recognized June 19th as the June 19th holiday as of February 22nd, 2022, which represents one significant step amongst many in our 80-year history, which commits the city to eradicate racism against the descendants of former enslaved black Americans of African descent.

Now, therefore, on behalf of the Avondale City Council, the City of Avondale, Arizona hereby proclaims June 19th, 2026 as Juneteenth, and encourage all Avondor residents to reflect upon the value of freedom and join in Juneteenth celebrations across the valley.

Thank you.

Anyone on council who would like to share any words.

Okay.

But go ahead, Councilmember White.

Thank you so much, Mayor.

Thank you so much, Lieutenant.

It was amazing to hear those kind words from Australia Mountain Community College.

And also have our upcoming celebration.

Just want to thank Parks and Rec as well for shifting our Mercados and Melodies event to be honoring Juneteenth.

So for those of us on the dais, we all have this beautiful flyer.

Yes, and a beautiful t-shirt.

This is our Juneteenth t-shirt this year.

So special shout out to Parks and Rec Libraries, Corey, Stacey, you guys work all the time, constantly, the entire team.

I know some of you guys are in the room, but remember to come out to our Mercados and Melodies on Thursday, June 18th from 6:30 p.m.

to 9 30 p.m.

I believe this activity goes on rain or shine and the person who is going to be, we have two um uh guests coming out.

We have an amazing band, and then one of my favorite DJs on earth, EJ Trauma, will also be here as well.

So just wanted to um share that.

Thank you again, Lieutenant.

I look forward to seeing you this September at the ABLE conference.

I know that um having met you many years before, I didn't realize you were the person in law enforcement who's also an 100 black woman.

So just to hear your story and know your commitment to not only being a face, but also really representing the core values and principles and educating the next generation of law enforcement.

Um it matters.

You matter, and I'm really grateful for you and thankful for the leadership that you have had in the city of Phoenix, rising to the level of lieutenant.

I'm not sure if we have anybody who looks like you at that level here in Avondale, but you matter, and one day we will.

Thank you so much.

Thank you, Mayor.

Thank you.

And just as a reminder, that is Thursday, June 18th, 6:30 to 9:30 here at City Hall.

So please join lots of crafts, live music and other things as mentioned.

Uh, and then if you wouldn't mind sticking around and in your family, we're gonna do a photo uh here shortly, if you don't mind.

Ron, next item.

Thank you, Mr.

Mayor and Council.

Up next, we have a presentation for the property all-star curb appeal award program by Josh Perez, your code compliance manager.

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

Uh, this evening I'll be presenting the property all-star curve appeal award recipients.

The property all-star curb appeal award was created to recognize residential property owners and business owners for demonstrating community pride by maintaining their properties at a higher standard.

Properties are evaluated based on landscape care, design, and property maintenance.

We received nominations for consideration and selected the following properties.

Sedona Peaks apartment homes, located just west of the Agua Fria River on Buckeye Road, was selected for our commercial category.

I would like to introduce community manager Kaylee Hardenberg and her foreman Oscar Zamora and the rest of their staff who oversee the community.

Miss Hardenberg shared some background information that I'd like to share with you.

Sedona Peaks was built in 1999 and purchased by Aspen Square Management in 2013.

Since then their team has remained dedicated to creating an extraordinary living experience through top notch customer service, detailed maintenance and continuous community enhancements.

At Sedona Peaks, their mission is simple improving communities and improving lives.

She doesn't want the spotlight after retiring from the city of Phoenix, Mr.

Magdaleno chose to relocate to the beautiful Coldwater Springs community and has been an Avondale resident for the past 11 years.

So Mr and Mrs.

Magnoleno I'd like to also say thank you to you for your commitment and your community and keeping Avondale looking very beautiful.

Thank you.

So really quickly uh Mr Magalino just because we just saw your property last I also have to commend you as looking at the photo that every car is parked straight but most importantly reversed in which I always appreciate to see others reversing in their drive but more importantly you know I say this uh to other property winners that you know it's the pride right that you want to display that you take uh that pride with you and demonstrate it to the community um and sometimes I would say even uh maybe even in this time you don't do it to win awards you do it because that's who you are and it's just a representation of who you are internally it's just displayed externally to your neighbors and um I appreciate the fact that your neighbors uh you know are are commenting and making those comments to you uh that they appreciate it as well because it does I mean when I think all of us we know those certain homes that we drive by you know each day or each week and just like you know that's a really nice yard and so just congratulations to you and I also live in Coldwater Springs so I'll be coming by to take a uh take a peek of of the photo and uh you know just display it with pride and uh and Kaylee you know driving down MC85 it's the same thing it sits a little lower from the street but the way uh the turf looks with the palm trees I love palm trees there's too many polyverdies in this state uh but when you see the palm trees with the turf uh and the brick and all those other things each time I drive by there I think they the same thing and and this is a commercial piece of property but again uh it's the it's all about the pride and so hopefully uh with that being said that you will take pride uh all of you the staff uh and just continue to do so and display that that with pride just as much so is there any member of council that would like to share any words okay yeah congratulations and if you wouldn't mind sticking around we'll take some photos with you as well okay as a matter of fact we'll do that now all right congratulations

Next item is uh unscheduled public appearances.

I do see we have one blue card, and this is the only one, correct, Marcella.

Okay, uh, Barney Hernandez.

Crosswalks.

And reduced speed limits.

Go to voicemail, we turned emails go unanswered.

While our community continues to grieve and worry that other tra that another tragedy can happen.

Tonight I have one simple question.

When will the promised crosswalks be installed?

When will the speed limit be lowered?

When will the lighting be improved?

And when will our community finally see action instead of promises?

We also need safe passageways for our families.

There's future walk there is a future walking trail connecting Del Rio and Contado Ranch to Alamar Park, along with the green belt that families and our children will use every day.

We need safe crossings between our communities.

With the new Fry's grocery store and additional businesses, including that data center, coming to our area.

Traffic will only increase.

Growth should never come before the safety of the people who already live here.

Please do not wait until another child is hurt or another family has to bury a loved one.

Be proactive, not reactive.

Show us that you truly care about the residents of these communities, listen to our concerns, answer our questions, and take action because our community is not going away, and neither is our fight for safer streets.

Deserve to walk safely to school, to parks, to businesses, and back home to their families.

We will continue.

We will continue to stand together and advocate until these safety concerns are addressed.

Thank you for your time.

Thank you, Barney.

And then I believe if you wouldn't mind stepping out, I believe Kim is going to speak with you out there in the lobby.

Okay, the next item on the agenda is consent agenda.

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

Seeing none, can I get a motion?

Council, please vote.

Item passes unanimously 70.

Thank you so much.

Moving on to the regular agenda.

Item 5A.

Ron.

On setting the fiscal year 2027 primary and secondary property tax levy.

Good evening, Mayor, Vice Mayor, and Council.

Um, the purpose of tonight's item is to adopt the property tax levy for fiscal year 2027.

So per Arizona revised statute 42-17104.

Um, the city is required to hold a public hearing, and that was done on June 1st to solicit public input.

As we've mentioned throughout the budget process, we are not increasing the primary property tax rate.

So there was no truth in taxation um hearing this year.

And so basically the levy, which is the total amount that's collected for the primary property tax, is increasing only by the growth or or the new construction.

So looking at our fiscal 26 and fiscal 27 rate, you can see that the primary property tax rate for fiscal 27 is going to be 0.5813, the primary property tax funds general operations of the city.

The secondary property tax for fiscal 27 will be 0.8779, and that is solely to repay bond principal and interest for a total of 1.4592 again, flat to last fiscal year.

And in looking at the property tax levy, the total amount collected for fiscal 27 is just under 11.4 million, 4.5 coming from the primary, 6.8 from the secondary.

If we go back and look at the the city's um historical property tax rate, you can see that the combined rate, one, it's well below our maximum set per five per financial policy of $2 and has been very stable over several years.

If you were to take one um Avondale resident and look at their property tax bill to see where um all of that makeup comes from, you'll see that the city of Avondale represents about 11% of one property tax owners.

The majority of it's coming from the school districts with the remaining coming from the county and other special taxing districts.

So with that, staff's recommendation is to adopt resolution 1049-0626, setting the primary and secondary property tax levy for the fiscal year ending June 30th, 2027.

That does conclude my presentation.

I will take any questions.

Thank you so much, Renee.

Are there any questions from every member of council?

I'm sorry, council.

And as a reminder, we're taking the vote in a bit.

Okay.

Then can I get a motion on staff's recommendation for item 5A?

Okay, we got a motion from Vice Mayor Nielsen, a second from Councilmember Weiss.

If you wouldn't mind, uh Vice Mayor, would you please read the uh resolution?

Sorry, the yeah, through the adoption of resolution.

Steph.

Staff recommends council adopt resolution one zero four nine-0626, setting the primary and secondary property tax levy for the fiscal year ending June 30th, 2027, and authorized the mayor or city council, city attorney, excuse me, mayor or city manager, city attorney, and city clerk to execute the necessary documents.

Thank you so much.

And at this time, do we have any further debate or discussion on this item?

I will just share that thank you so much uh for sharing that the picture of the dollar where it goes.

Um I know I'll be sharing that, and I I would assume maybe other members of council may do the same, but it kind of puts in a perspective as to uh you know the residence and where the tax come from each specific dollar.

All right, at this time, can I please get a vote?

Okay, uh item passes 6-1.

Thank you so much.

All right, item six is summary of current events.

Is there any members of council who wish to share?

Councilmember Solorio.

Uh I just I wanted to share first and foremost.

I went out to the dive in movie on Friday.

Corey, I haven't had a chance to speak to you, but it was great.

It was really, really good.

And um, you could tell the families were enjoying their time there.

Councilwoman Condi was there as well.

And we just we were talking for a little bit and couldn't believe just to see so many families out there first and foremost, but everybody having just generally a good time and wanted to swim more so than watch the movie.

Right.

And then secondly, I just finished a I received a scholarship for a college course on housing as an economic tool developer.

And I just finished that course, and I have to say I empathize with people like Jody and EMIC development and learning all those things because that is too many things to learn.

Thank God we have people that are dedicated to that, but I have a better understanding of the terminology.

And Ron was very nice and got me a meeting with them so I fully understand it and how it um ties into Avondale.

So thank you very much for that.

Thank you.

Thank you, Mayor.

So I just wanted to say also too um what a wonderful time our family had um at the dive-in movie.

And it was so like council member Saloria said, just to see how many residents were out there just enjoying the pool.

And it was such a beautiful evening.

And it was this beautiful rainbow that was right over, and I think you got a good picture of that.

And um, I'm just thankful that we had tutus shaved ice, so we got some nice shaved ice while we were there too.

Um, so Tuesdays and Wednesdays are late swim.

So if anybody wants to go swim in the evening when the sun is down, um, Tuesdays and Wednesdays, and I believe it's till 9:30.

Don't quote me, but just check out the Avondale website on the Aquatic Center.

Thank you.

Um, I was a keynote speaker at the West Valley Women's Veterans Day recognition day is such a it's a it's a mouthful.

Um, but there is just so many uh women veterans in the valley that don't get recognized very often and they feel overseen.

So I just want to acknowledge them and especially the Avondale uh women and veterans.

Thank you also for what you do.

I know we have um women veterans and our police department, our fire department, and on staff.

So thank you guys all for everything you do.

Councilmember White.

Thank you so much, Mayor.

I had the opportunity to join um you at the Arizona Department of Transportation listening session that was held um last week Tuesday at um the West Mech location out in Glendale.

It was really neat to hear about um, it was really a listening session.

So the opportunity to hear some of the concerns coming from the West Valley and to know that they were being noted, considered, um, just make sure that people buckle up and get ready.

There will be a lot of construction um in the West Valley on the highways.

So um I think in the next weekend, be careful coming off the 101 heading um eastbound, those exits are going to be closed here in Avondale.

Really important to recognize.

Speaking of police departments, I had the opportunity to go to the Tulison Police Department and go into their community room for a few community meetings.

And just want to send a special shout out to them.

I don't know of any places that the community can come into Avondale and have public meetings in any of our public safety areas, but I thought that was super neat that Tulison does.

And then I think I wrapped out the week back at that same room we were in for the final meeting of the Arizona West Valley Alumni Chapter Sorority Year of Delta Sigma Theta.

And I just finished up my second term as second vice president for that organization.

So really grateful that I had the opportunity to lead and serve.

Got a motion from Councilman Garcia, second from Councilmember White.

Please vote.

For those of you who are here, we'll be going into executive session.

Thank you for joining us here.

Please drive safe going home, and we'll see you at the next meeting.

And for anyone watching online, city council are going into executive session and will not be returning.

Thank you.