That is home, it will always be home, and this is my new home as well.

I am making my way into the community.

Thank you.

Oh, great.

Good evening, and welcome to the City Council regular meeting of Thursday, June 25th, 2026.

Thank you all for coming here tonight.

Clerk, will you please take the role?

Mayor Harkey.

Here.

Vice Mayor and Cenas.

Here.

Councilmember Poston.

Here.

Councilmember Ellis.

Here.

Councilmember Orlando.

Here.

Councilmember Harris?

And Councilmember Hawkins.

Here.

We have a quorum.

Thank you so much.

Our indication tonight will be brought forth by Pastor Corbin Helber from Desert Springs Church and followed by Councilmember Orlando with our Pledge of Allegiance.

Pastor Lord, we thank you uh for today, Lord.

Uh I just thank you for Mayor Harkey and this team.

And Laura just thank you for the positioning that they all have to lead.

And Lord, I just I just thank you for their sacrifice of their time, their energy, uh Lord, their efforts, and you know, I think even just for the selflessness of of this team too.

Um in the decisions they make, Lord, uh, for the city and for the people that they represent, Lord, as well.

And I just pray for um favor in the decision making tonight and everything that happens and and uh Lord, even in your word it it it talks about in Proverbs for lack of guidance in Nation Falls, but victory is won through many advisors.

So I I God I just really do thank you for this team and uh for this this many advisors that represent and and for the unity of this team.

So um gotta pray uh again for um every decision that's that is made, the conversations that are had um may uh everyone be just in unison, Lord, uh just even as your word talks about as well.

So Lord, we love you, thank you, and bless this time, amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Please join me, Pledge Allegiance.

I pledge allegiance to the United States America or Richard States one of God with liberty and justice for thank you, Pastor.

Thank you, Councilmember Orlando.

Next, um, scheduled public appearances as we have a recognition of cities empowered against sexual exploitation.

Arizona Anti-Trafficking Network, if we could call up Stape C.

Sutherland for the presentation.

This is Stacy.

I'm not Stacey.

Thanks for the clarification.

Yeah.

Good evening.

Evening.

It's my pleasure to be here today to recognize the city of Chandler's accomplishment in combating sexual exploitation.

My name is Fidencio Rivera, and I am privileged to serve as the chair of the Board of Directors for the Arizona Anti-Trafficking Network, AATN.

Our sincere appreciation appreciation to Mayor Parkey, City Manager Pombier, and the Chandler City Council for providing us this opportunity.

I also want to recognize some of our of the ATN team and attendance today.

Our co-founder is Nancy Baldwin, who's up there, Nancy.

We have our cease program director here, uh Rachel De La Torre, as well as uh Trust Program Director, Stacey Sutherland, who you know and mention.

Uh they are the heart and soul of ATN.

Today we are proud to announce that the city of Chandler has met the requirements to earn cease designation for the third consecutive year.

CIS stands for Cities Empowered Against Sexual Exploitation.

It's a program of the Arizona Anti-Trafficking Network dedicated to working with local governments to ensure they have the tools or know where to find the resources to combat sex trafficking.

Those trained can identify report and ultimately prevent these crimes through a see something, say something approach.

Our goal is to build a network of communities across Arizona where no one is spot sold or exploited.

Tragically, sexual exploitation occurs in every community to include Chandler.

The city of Chandler's commitment to fighting sexual exploitation is especially important to me as I call Chandler home, as most of you here do today.

I had an opportunity this past year to monitor a multi-law enforcement agency operation targeting subjects seeking underage children in Chandler.

Unfortunately, during this operation, I witnessed numerous incidents where law enforcement made arrests of individuals attending to sexually exploit minors.

I guess fortunately they were arrested, right?

Unfortunately, that does happen.

Fortunately, the city of Chandler is well served.

To earn cease designation, a city must re must train at least 75% of its staff, commit to annual retraining, and incorporate this training into new employee onboarding.

Chandler has remained steadfast.

Thank you to city leadership for making us a priority.

Mayor Harkey, City Council, City Manager Pombier, and Police Chief Chapman.

It is truly my privilege on behalf of the Arizona Anti-Trafficking Network Network to present this plaque to the City of Chandler in recognition of your cease designation.

We apply your commitment to a future for Arizona where no one is bought, sold, or exploited.

Thank you.

Thank you.

We have a plaque here.

So you want them to be one of the words.

Appreciate it.

So before you guys go, I just wanted to make a comment related.

I heard about this program, I think four years ago.

We were at a night to end sex trafficking that was sponsored by faith communities.

And this particular one was in Tempe at the uh at the whatever the performing arts center, and I'd heard that Tempe have just received this.

They were talking about this designation, and I knew nothing about it.

So we looked into it, and uh City Manager at that time uh brought us to this.

So we're grateful for the knowledge, and uh I hope that every city uh also pursues this.

This is a stain and a blight across not just Arizona and not just Chandler, but everywhere, and I thank you for uh having the gumption uh to help train us, help prepare us, and uh and cities across this nation.

This is truly noble and worthwhile, and we are grateful.

So thank you.

To our audience, most of the everything else on the agenda tonight is on the consent agenda.

So there's gonna be a single motion.

Somebody had asked me, are we going to discuss each and every one?

And my answer is no, we're not gonna do that.

We had opportunity to uh talk over these a week plus ago on Monday, we had opportunity to bring these up at our council to have specific conversation to have our questions answered.

So at this point, I would entertain a motion for uh to accept the consent agenda, Mayor.

Councilmember Lando, I moved to approve the consent agenda of June 25th, 2026 regular meeting items one through 33.

There's a motion.

Do we have a second?

Second.

Where did I hear that?

Oh council member post in second, Mayor.

Council member here.

I think this is the um I'm gonna be um doing a I gotta get the the right number, but I am going to be conflicting out.

I'm trying to find the number, the number that is on here.

I recruit myself, so uh this is the number seven.

I'm gonna be recruiting myself on that boat for number seven, but I will be voting yes on all the other items.

Okay, so uh city clerk, note that uh councilmember Harris is recusing himself on item number seven.

We have a motion and a second.

Uh seeing no further conversation recusals, council please vote.

Councilmember Ellis.

Yes.

Motion carries unanimously.

With the point with number seven, Councilmember Harris refused.

Very good.

Thank you so much.

Um next we have unscheduled public appearance.

We do have a comment card uh that will be entered into the written record, and we have related to water rates, and we have one speaker card uh related to data centers, and this is uh I'm sorry, is that you know who you are.

Please come up and uh state your name and city that you are from.

As this is unscheduled, uh we cannot uh engage you, but you do have up to three minutes.

Uh when the light turns yellow, please wrap up when it's red.

Your time is over.

Uh thank you, Mayor and Council.

I'm Igor Zenkov, I'm a Chandler resident.

I don't know what happened with the uh speaker card.

This is not about data centers.

Um I was hoping to actually come to talk about something fun like the e-bike rules that have been recently implemented.

Uh but instead the speech is about um flocks surveillance, ALPRs, and that kind of mass surveillance in a national context.

At some point in the back and forth with council, I was asked to review not just Flock, but also their competitors.

I looked through the marketing materials of also Motorola, Genitech, Axon, and Leonardo, and I found a shared vision where every privacy violation is for sale.

Just as an example, you can get Motorola ALPR data, even if you don't have any of their cameras yourself.

Or Genitech.

They sell pattern of life data as a premium tier.

Like essentially their bottom line is predicated on you getting uh allowing your privacy standard to slide.

Now, the reason I mentioned this is there were some very moving anecdotes given up by police in talking about how ALPRs are helpful in preventing crime.

And I recognize that everyone wants to make their job easier.

But the point that I want to make is that police work should not necessarily be easy.

And I will give two examples to prove this.

First, let's look to RealPage.com, and also an AI tool, which is used to price fix across the nation.

So if you are a renter, your rent is going up because a bunch of data is being pooled together and perfect price information is being used for price gouging purposes.

Also look to the really, really horrible morale among tech workers right now as they find themselves going up from a position of worker power and increased quality to AI tools being used to increase throughput.

Imagine if Genitex or Flox click click case closed mantra actually gets implemented in our police departments, where AI tools use all of our data to scrub through crimes and try to solve them for the cops.

I understand there will be humans in the loop for a time, but I just want you to consider the future, the dystopian future that literally comes from the marketing material.

I want to also say more broadly.

I believe it is a failure of imagination to say that the only way to bring policing into the future is to have flock microphones, listen to first signs of distress, and then all of our conversations.

I believe it is a failure of imagination to say that we can only be safe with age verification online, which I understand this council is not responsible for.

Um image recognition was done on device.

All of the license plates would be stored as a hash, almost like your computer password.

Then when a warrant comes in from a judge for a certain license plate, all of the um cameras could be queried against the hash.

That way the video actually stays on the cameras, and we can have a privacy preserving nature of ALPR.

The fact that none of the vendors offer this tells you where the money really comes from, and it's not privacy.

Thank you very much.

Thank you, and I apologize for misrepresenting what you wanted to talk on.

That was my fault.

Consul, that's the only um particular uh card.

And and to our public also, uh, we will be currently looking at a conversation related to ALPRs coming up in um August.

So we've already voted on that.

Okay.

Okay, Mr.

Steers.

Yes.

You are welcome.

Do you have uh we've already voted yes on this, but you have up to three minutes to share your thoughts.

Uh you don't have to talk to three.

Please state your name and city of residence.

Okay, so my name is Paul Steers.

I live at 3715 North Nevada Street in Chandler, Arizona.

And uh I was I came to comment on the hearing about the rezoning in our neighborhood, and I apologize for my tardiness.

I didn't realize this would go so quickly, so I assume it went on consent for the approval.

Uh, I do support the project.

I think it gives the neighborhood some closure.

I think it ends some of the discussion of commercial in our neighborhood.

Keeps people from thinking that we could be 400 apartment units or 142 townhomes.

It ends up being the six residential houses that it should have been back in the 1960s.

So I support the zoning change.

And I would also ask that uh council direct the uh city manager and development services director to maybe work with the do the neighborhood because we would like to see if we could work on extending this pad development to the rest of the neighborhood.

Currently, we are all uh legal non-conforming, and when we do a lot of any kind of redevelopment, we seem to bump into a lot of little things.

And I think if we did uh rezone that was similar to that pad, a lot of that would go away.

And a lot of us could be doing uh what we foresee we'd like to do with our properties.

And I know that there are other neighbors in our neighborhood that would like to see that happen.

I don't know, I certainly not 100%, but there's 72 homes in there, and I would estimate because we've had a number of uh meet neighborhood meetings that it's at least in the upper 20s of that.

So thank you.

That's all I have to say, other than I really like your tie.

You're welcome.

Thank you.

Best comment I've gotten all day.

And uh, and sir, as I mentioned, we we did vote yes in this and uh zoning.

Would someone maybe further hear out his suggestions for the rest and get back to him if there is a process to be had.

Kevin, I see you're shaking your hand.

Thank you so much.

Okay, thank you, sir.

Next on our agenda is current events.

Council has an opportunity to share things that are happening.

I will start coming up on July 4th.

We have our all-American Bash.

I invite you to join us in celebrating our independence day at Chandler's downtown at our All-American Bash on July 4th at Dr.

AJ Chandler Park from 7 until 9:30.

I've ordered some cooler weather just for that night.

We'll see if my dog doesn't even listen to me.

We'll see if anyone else does.

This family-friendly event features live music, yard games, food vendors, and a patriotic atmosphere in the heart of downtown Chandler.

Maybe I'll wear my tie again.

We will have live music by featured performers, the pickup lines and a spectacular pyrotechnic show at 8 15 p.m.

You can find events and parking information at ChandlerAZ.gov slash events.

And secondly, coming up on July 11th as families prepare for the new school year.

Operation Back to School is here to help.

This community-driven effort, sponsored by ForR City Chandler, provides backpacks, school supplies, and resources to Chandler area students in need.

The event takes place, as I mentioned, on July 11th at Compass Christian Church from 8 a.m.

till 11 a.m.

This event is made possible through many, many partnerships, including for our city Chandler, Compass Church, and local volunteers and lots of other organizations that are pitching in together.

Learned how to register, donate, or volunteer at ForR City Chandler.org.

Thank you.

With that, let's go to Councilmember Poston.

Thanks, Mayor.

So earlier this year, cities were notified that there was an anticipated 35% shortfall in funding for 911 statewide.

And so that was definitely an emergency on our part.

The gap was driven by lower revenues than projected, higher statewide implementation costs, and basically increased overall services with competing operating next generation 911.

So I am very pleased to announce that the state budget does include coverage for that gap.

And I want to thank all of the members of Team Chandler that actually worked together and this council as well to lobby the legislature and make sure that that gap was covered.

I appreciate that we now are going to be able to keep up with the critical emergency services to Arizona's 911 operations.

I also want to extend my appreciation to all of Chandler's first responders who use 911 every day.

Thanks, Mayor.

Yeah, and I specifically want to thank Marge Zilla and Brittany, and certainly the AZ League of Cities and Towns that uh that really took uh uh a yeoman's share to bring this out and to make it happen.

I should have had you write my notes.

What's that?

I should have had you write my notes.

I looked at them actually.

Thank you.

Yeah.

Nice Mayor Awesome.

Thank you, Mayor.

Um, I just want to share a couple events that we had.

Uh just recently, last um week, council um hosted this year's Pride Flag Raising event ceremony on June 18th at our downtown Chandler Library.

Um, I'd like to take a moment to thank everyone who was able to attend the event and especially thank our library staff that were such great hosts with our AHA Chandler park renovations going on.

We had to move the event to um our staging area right in front of the library, which turned out to be a great spot for this.

Um, this was a special event uh to remind the Chandler community that Chandler Pride and that it's Pride Month and is it about visibility, dignity, and the freedom to live openly.

And we also recognize the contributions of Ms.

Mafam Moini Alakon as a local business owner and community leader.

Uh, she's a great example of how we can build a kind community with inclusion in what we do in every single day, whether it be in our families, neighborhoods, or our businesses.

So it's a great event.

Thank you to the council members that were able to attend and join us that evening.

Next, I would like to um highlight the event with the Chandler Compadres Boys and Girls Club branch.

Uh, just yesterday, uh, the Chandler Compadres branch of the Boys and Girls Club of the Valley hosted a ribbon cunning ceremony celebrating the completion of their recent renovation project.

It was an honor to be there, part of this milestone, which was a joint investment from the city of Chandler and the Chandler Compadres to help upgrade um the space and make it a safe, safer and ADA compliant.

Up to 250 kids spend their summer days at the boys and girls club.

Keeping them safe and involved is one of the ways that we continue to enhance Chandler's quality of life and maintain a strong sense of community.

So I want to give another thank you to our Channel Boys and Girls Club and to the Compadres for their continued support and partnership in our youth here in Channel.

So thank you.

That's it, Mayor Besper.

You were you spent some time there, weren't you?

I did way back in the day when I was in San Marcos.

So it's it's great to see the transformation from the mid 90s to what it is today.

It's definitely uh big improvement.

So great to see you great to be part of the leadership with it.

Great.

Council Merlando.

Thank you, Mayor.

I understand Kelly's your last meeting.

Council meeting congratulations on your retirement.

We certainly appreciate that.

All you've done providing guidance to the to the city and the services uh throughout your 20, 30 year career.

30.

30 plus years.

All right, let's just keep it 30 plus years.

Um, but you know what?

Uh really is impressive.

Uh, I mean, a lot of things are impressive, but the one thing that struck me, Kelly, is that no matter what event we have, you're there.

And I really appreciate that because it does send a strong message to your commitment to the city, commitment to your your community as a resident.

And although we'll miss you, I know we'll be seeing you at the next events, right?

And now you have more time to be at those events.

You have to just pop fire, but we certainly appreciate you uh being being outside the the normal eight to five role.

So that was commendable, you and your family.

And uh I say this all the time every day will be a Saturday.

Thank you, Kelly.

Thank you, Councilmember Orlando.

That one escaped me.

Sorry.

Councilmember Harris Thank you, Mayor.

Um, I was thinking about the boys and girls club.

I had this little jingle that said, um, I don't want to grow up.

I'm a boy, I'm a boys and girls club kid because if I did, I wouldn't be if I ever grew up, I would never be, I wouldn't be able to be a boys and girls club kid.

And so that was my little jingle that we used to say.

So we we were younger, I was a part of the boys and girls club.

And so that was some of the things that we did as kids, being a boys and girls club.

We had all these jingles like we're never gonna grow up, we're gonna be a kid forever.

So it was pretty cool.

But to see what we're doing in Chandler and what we're doing is is pretty amazing.

But I want I have a few announcements here that I would like to talk about.

Um the Jack and Jill Foundation had the opportunity to serve as a judge for the Ruth B.

Howard Teen Oracle competition during Jack and Jill of America's Far West Region Team Leadership Conference.

Jack and Jill is a national organization dedicated to helping children grow through leadership development, cultural enrichment, community service, and advocacy.

This year's thing was young, gifted, and black.

And those young people took to the stage, truly embody those words.

Um, their original speeches reflected tremendous confidence, thoughtfulness, and purpose.

It was inspiring to hear them use their voice, their voices with such clarity and conviction.

And so I want to say a special thank you to Jack and Jill of America and its far west region for creating opportunities that help young young people strengthen their leadership skills, share their perspectives, and recognize the power of their own voices.

And just on a personal note, these kids blew it out the water.

It was nine of nine amazing kids giving great speeches, and I had to judge.

So since my name was on it, I kind of gave them the best scores I can give them.

Um, but it was really a tough competition.

They're very talented and they come from different parts.

My next announcement is culture music in the park, along with the Miss Jean Miss Juneteenth competition.

Uh Chandler marked Juneteenth with several meaningful opportunities to come together to reflect on the significance of the holiday and celebrate the culture, history, and contributions of the black community.

I was proud to attend the Mrs.

Juneteenth competition along with mayor and council members, where young women showcase their confidence, talent, and leadership while celebrating their heritage.

It was inspiring to see them step forward, represent the promise of the next generation.

We continue the fifth year celebrating culture music and a part as Freedom Week.

So five years ago, I had that privilege of helping launch this event, and it has been very historical and it has had a lot of incredible meetings throughout throughout the valley.

And what you see on the screen right now is that these are just a few places that I was able to go.

I literally went to probably about 14 Juneteenth events to celebrate Juneteenth across the valley.

I think this is the first time that we've had so many that I wasn't even able to make it to all of them, but I made it to a lot.

What I'm wearing today is a dashiki.

And lastly, I just wanted to remind everybody what Juneteenth is all about.

It is about the time that Galveston, Texas, uh back in the day, there was a bunch of people that were not free.

African Americans was still not free in Galveston, Texas.

And so through this time, they um after the emancipation proclamation happened, Abraham Lincoln and our army went to Alvin, Texas, along with several of our troops to free those that were enslaved during that time.

And I think it's important um an important acknowledgement of our history because whether you agree with human slavery or not, it was a very devastating time in our community.

But one of the most devastating things that stood out to me most was it was also child slavery was going on during that time as well.

So it wasn't just human slavery, it was child slavery.

And to this day, there's still child trafficking that's happening to this day across the world.

We have to be committed and vigilant.

We can say that didn't happen to me.

That didn't happen to my community.

But we must be reminded that when these type of atrocities do happen, regardless if it's your generation or someone else's, we have to respect that, but we also have to keep a vigilant eye on these atrocious crimes that do happen in the world and not just America, but in the world.

So I'm I'm committed to ending child child um trafficking, human trafficking, any type of trafficking.

I'm I'm down for that, and I'm down for that cause and sex exploitation as well.

It's is another thing that comes up when you talk about these different things.

But we celebrate where we come from.

We don't dwell there.

We understand that we've been there and we look to the future to make sure that we don't make those same mistakes.

So with that being said, thank you, Mayor.

Appreciate it.

Good time.

Councilmember Hawkins.

Thank you.

Uh, I just wanted to take a point of privilege and tell you, Kelly, thank you for all your years of service uh and the huge impact you've made here.

I think uh I know I've enjoyed my time working with you.

Um, and I know I've shared with you in the past when uh I received those compliments and those kudos on your work out in our community.

And um, to be honest, I love to take the compliments for you.

Like I take a little uh uh of that, and and just um, you know, I again I'm proud of you, I'm proud of the work you've done.

Um, we're gonna miss you.

Thank you again for everything.

Wishing you all the best, congratulations on your retirement, and I hope you enjoy it.

Thank you.

City manager, mayor council.

I have two announcements.

The first, I would like our newest assistant to the city manager Amelia.

Can you please stand up for a second?

I want council to recognize that while I was named by the cease people, one of her first assignments was to make sure we got that recognition and earned that status with cease this year.

She is the individual that made that happen.

So I wanted her to be recognized for all the hard work she did.

And well, so thank you.

Secondly, I wanted to note that this ends the fiscal year for 25-26.

The next time we meet, it will be 26-27.

And um, I would ask as a point of privilege that council stay back for uh a photo with staff.

You may or may have not have noticed.

I know a couple of the council members did that staff is all wearing white tonight.

That is to show our unity for the support that this council gives us for the work that the department directors and our staff do to bring together a budget and a plan to make sure the vision of this council is met.

I will I will acknowledge some of my staff said they thought I was a double setup because you're all in black and we're all in white.

But I'm just going to say uh if you could stay back for a picture, we wanted to say thank you for all that you do and let you know that we stand united in making sure the vision of this council is met.

So thank you very much.

Thank you.

And to the staff for all the work.

All right.

Uh council, please linger so we can do a photo with that.

That concludes our meeting.