Chandler City Council Meeting – August 14, 2026
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Chandler City Council Meeting – August 14, 2026
The Chandler City Council held its regular meeting on August 14, 2026, addressing a range of topics including water rate increases, microtrenching infrastructure issues, the status of the city's Flock ALPR camera system, and public comments overwhelmingly calling for a permanent ban on automatic license plate readers. The meeting also included unanimous approval of the consent agenda and announcements about upcoming events.
Consent Calendar
- The council unanimously approved the consent agenda (items 1–52) for the August 13, 2026 regular meeting.
Public Comments & Testimony
- Joseph Rock (Chandler resident) criticized the proposed water and wastewater rate increase, noting a 7% increase already effective in January and poor public notice for hearings. He questioned the need for another increase so soon.
- Jenny Vitali (Chandler resident) raised concerns about microtrenching work by ATT/Gigapower, alleging improper construction practices, failure to follow plans and OSHA standards, and risk to road subgrade. She urged the city to stop projects until proper standards are developed.
- William Holden (October Lakes HOA) described four water main breaks on the same pipe section and issues with the city's claims process, including a lack of communication and denial of geotechnical assessment. He asked for remediation and better handling.
- Nearly a dozen speakers addressed ALPRs, all opposing their use and demanding a total ban. Speakers included:
- Reed Nimmer (Chandler) – quoted Axon's ethics board against unregulated ALPRs; called for limits to police vehicles only and 3-minute data retention.
- Harrison Redman (Chandler) – argued ending the Flock contract is insufficient; called for a full ban ordinance, citing misuse by officers and risks of data sharing.
- Rohith Chandra Shaker (Chandler) – demanded transparency on the Flock investigation, reform of records department for FOIA requests, and a ban on all ALPRs.
- Nathan Taylor (Chandler) – urged immediate covering of cameras, passage of a ban ordinance, and argued guardrails are insufficient; stated a draft ordinance is ready.
- Michael Guy (Chandler teacher) – called ALPRs inherently flawed due to profit motives; urged using $150,000 from Flock for utility assistance.
- Eric Fowler (Maricopa County Libertarian Party chair) – argued ALPRs violate Fourth Amendment and Arizona Constitution; asked to pass the no-ALPR ordinance.
- Patrick Gilliland (Chandler lifelong resident) – praised ending Flock contract; urged leading with privacy and public trust.
- Yegor Zenkov (Chandler) – called for full FOIA compliance and a ban ordinance to protect officers and public.
- Angie Bailey (Chandler) – urged refusal of any future ALPR contracts and passage of a ban.
- Amelia Gwyn (Gilbert) – said no safe mass surveillance exists; urged using funds for community benefits.
- Rock Wilson (Chandler) – stated cameras constitute unconstitutional mass surveillance.
- Caitlin Contreras (Tempe, ACLU of Arizona) – stressed Fourth Amendment and Arizona privacy rights; called for a ban on all ALPR technology.
- Jason Chavez (Avondale) – encouraged physical removal of cameras and passing a ban to set an example.
- Juniper Kerr (Scottsdale) – congratulated ending contract but demanded a ban on all ALPRs and no contracts with any other company.
Discussion Items
- ALPR (Flock) System Status: The mayor initiated discussion on the cancellation of the Flock contract. City Manager explained that due to lack of initial policies and misuse concerns, the city turned off all cameras and removed employee access; the contract is not formally canceled but no longer in use. Councilmember Harris asked about bagging the cameras and obtaining a draft ordinance from a speaker. The City Manager will provide a plan for bagging by the following week. The city attorney clarified that no action can prevent a future council from revisiting ALPRs. The mayor noted that the city will explore policy guidelines before any future use.
- Microtrenching: Council discussed Jenny Vitali's concerns and directed staff to address construction issues and consider developing proper standards.
- Water Main Breaks: Council directed public works to investigate repeated failures in the October Lakes area and work with the HOA to resolve remaining issues.
Key Outcomes
- The consent agenda was approved unanimously.
- Council directed public works to investigate and remediate water main break issues in the October Lakes area and to address microtrenching complaints.
- No formal action was taken on ALPRs, but council acknowledged public input and directed staff to research bagging all existing cameras and to review a proposed ban ordinance. The city manager will present a plan to council next week.
- Upcoming events announced: League of Cities conference (Mayor's last as president), retirement of CCA General Manager Michelle McLennan, new GM Juliana Crespo, Hispanic Heritage Month celebration on September 12, art exhibits at Vision Gallery and Chandler Museum.
Meeting Transcript
Welcome to the Chandler City Council meeting. To help us conduct tonight's meeting efficiently and respectfully, we ask all attendees to follow these rules and procedures. Please submit a speaker card or comment card to the city clerk before the meeting is called to order. This helps us manage the meeting and ensure everyone has a fair opportunity to be heard. Speakers must be recognized by the mayor before addressing the city council. Once at the podium, please direct all comments to the city council as a whole rather than to individual members or to the audience. Courteous and orderly conduct is expected from everyone present in the chambers. Any person whose conduct disrupts or interferes with the meeting may be warned by the mayor, and if the disruption continues, may be asked to leave the council chambers. And we ask these things in the name of your son, Yeshua Jesus. Amen. Amen. Please join me in the pledge. Aye. One nation under God. And liberty and justice all. Thank you, Rabbi. Thank you, Councilmember. Council, before we uh next on our agenda is the consent agenda. Before we I take a motion in a second, I do have one speaker card related to that. And um, here we go. So I'd like to invite uh Joseph Reck Rock, I'm sorry, who's speaking on item number two? We're gonna give everybody two minutes tonight to share their thoughts, so please come on up. You uh state your name and city of reference, and uh when the light turns yellow, try to wrap up when it's red, you're done. The floor is yours, sir. My name is Joseph Rock, I'm a longtime resident of Chandler. Uh the bill that or the city council here wants to put up is a increase or have a public output on increase of wastewater and water. Well, last November we had, as you all well know, we had a meeting for public input, which I was the only one that showed up on the increase that we had in January. The reason why was the meeting was held at two o'clock in the afternoon on a Tuesday. I was the only person that showed up. I went to the information officer and said, When is this meeting? And they didn't know. I had to go to the city clerk's office, and they found it in the internet and said, Oh, the meeting in a couple hours. So I was here for that meeting. I was the only public, the rest of them were city employees. Okay, that was approved, a seven percent increase across the board on our water rates, which was effective in January. Needless to say, now the water department wants another increase. I'm I'm sorry, but if the city council could help me find the trees that grow money, uh I might be able to do something, but the increase is is just starting to get a little bit ridiculous. I think before you people here do anything, you should look into it and say, why is it that we just had an increase and now you want another one? I'm sorry, it doesn't make common sense to me. So that's all I have to say. Thank you, Mr. Ryan. Thank you. And you know, just so you know, Mr. Rock, um we believe me, with these are hard decisions for us. You can stay there, you don't need to come back. Uh, we can address you since this is not unscheduled at this point. But I I know Gilbert has raised their water rates 250, 300 percent, and we have striven to do small modest inflation is six percent on construction materials this year and everything else. We want to make sure that our water lines or soar lines are in good shape so that we are not having breaks, which are even more expensive. So I realize that it might not seem like it, uh, but we are we we really try to keep our rates.
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