I don't know.

That's probably what we're talking about.

She's doing the several narrative.

Well, can you try and decide what we're doing?

Mayor, we're ready when you are.

We're ready when you are mayor.

That's even the listing.

All right, good evening, everyone.

Nice to see a full house here.

Welcome to tonight's Eloy City Council meeting.

It is Monday, June twenty second, twenty twenty-six.

The time is six PM.

Madam Clerk, may I have a roll call, please?

Councilmember Badraska.

Here.

Councilmember Galindo.

Here.

Councilmember Curtis.

Here.

Councilmember Garcia.

Present.

Councilmember Snyder.

Here.

Vice Mayor Tarango.

Here.

Mayor Sutton.

Here.

I kindly ask everybody to please rise for a moment of silence.

And the pledge that will be led by Councilmember Galindo.

Thank you all.

All right, now that brings us to item number five, public appearances.

And tonight we actually have a scheduled public appearance.

And we're very happy to have Pennell County Attorney Brad Miller in the house.

Brad, welcome to Eloy Show.

The floor is yours.

Thank you very much, Mr.

Mayor, Vice Mayor, members of this council.

Thank you so much for having me.

I really do appreciate it.

Um before I get into my prepared remarks.

I just got off duty in the Marine Corps a few days ago.

I had a I had an opportunity to go on active duty for a couple of weeks to conduct some training.

And I just want to say to each member here and to everybody in the audience, we live in a fantastic country.

No, I ran for a Penell County attorney, I was a career prosecutor.

I ran because we wanted to keep our community safe.

And uh what I was seeing was we weren't really doing that.

And so when I came into office in uh 2025, we changed up some policies on how we conduct business.

And the reason why is because there are certain people that need to be punished in our communities, those that commit violent crimes, repeat offenders, people who abuse and sexually abuse children.

And so we decided to change all of the policies to make those sentences harsher because being a career prosecutor and a sex crimes prosecutors, and uh really working in the area of uh child sex crimes, which I did both in the Marine Corps and on the civilian side.

I found out that some of these folks really cannot be rehabilitated.

And I know that may sound shocking coming from a prosecutor, but I can tell you from anecdotal experience and 18 years of practicing law that that is the case, and we decided to change that.

That kind of relates back into what's happening here in Eloy.

What I wanted to do is uh about six months ago, my office and I came up with an idea.

We wanted to go town to town, really introduce myself, say hello to each one of you, ask for questions from each of you, and talk about what is happening in your town with criminal statistics.

And what I found most helpful is if we can get down to that granular level of where the crime is occurring, if there's any patterns, and what we're actually seeing in the community, and what cases we're actually prosecuting.

And so that's really what we're doing tonight.

Now, before I get started, this is for the members of the council and anybody sitting here in the audience.

Um, we have a newsletter going out that the full presentation we will send you, we'll email this over to you.

We have a newsletter.

So if you want to sign up and give us your email, we'll send this to you, and then we'll give you updates about what we're doing all along all across the county.

Because I think what you'll see, especially from your numbers that I'm going to be giving tonight, you're trending in a very positive direction.

And uh sometimes I can't say that with some of these towns because the statistics are difficult to read, but I can say for the this town itself, things are going very, very well.

So I want to start off with kind of the baseline of where we started.

Uh we want to start really three years back in 2023, look at 2023, 24, and 25, and see if there's any trends.

If we see anything going on, what issues uh what issues are we actually prosecuting?

Now, I'm sure you've heard, and you have a fantastic police chief here in the town.

I'm sure you've heard from your police chief of criminal statistics.

I'm kind of presenting it from the other end.

These are cases we've actually prosecuted.

We've actually charged and brought to trial or given a plea agreement.

So you these numbers may, I wouldn't say conflict, they but they may be different.

So all that work that your police departments are doing in the various towns and in this town, they submit cases to my office, and we then have to take that and seek justice in court.

And so this is where I'm getting these numbers.

I want to start off with uh 2023.

Start off with 2023.

2023.

So what you're gonna see here, and I think the members of the council can see this, is all those dots are crimes we actually prosecuted, so indicted, and either either gave a plea agreement, prosecuted, or some sort of a diversion agreement.

I want to talk about these numbers here.

In 2023, there were 279 total cases in Eloy.

But the main really offenses were violent offenses, 44 comprehensive assaults, and of course, street level community offenses, outpaced many others.

And this really separated itself from low-end uh misdemeanor cases.

2024, and this is where the numbers start getting interesting.

2024, I know that many of the numbers look the same, but there were 259 total cases.

And where you saw the biggest uptick was in seven homicide filings, and of course, 54 assault cases.

But there was a violent crime reduction between 2023 and 2024 of about 7.2%.

And really the story of 2024 was that 7.2% drop, but those homicide filings were very, very high.

And then I'm gonna take you to 2025 here in one moment.

But I want to talk a little bit more uh about these numbers and what we're seeing.

This town, much like Florence is kind of a tale of two cities.

We have our uh jail and prison related assaults and violent crime, and then of course we have community crimes.

So people sign up on the newsletter or give it to any of the members of the councils, you're gonna see two different numbers that we separate.

We call them prison related crime and community-based crime.

Prison related crime in 2023 was 78, and 2024 66.

And what you're gonna see in 2025 is 11, which skews the test these statistics quite a bit.

On the community side, so stuff actually happening in your community is probably affecting many of the folks here.

Community related crime, 2023, there were in a total of 93, 2024, 142, and 2025, total of 165.

And what we're seeing the most, at least in 2025, and I'm gonna go there now, is assault cases.

So we're a total of 57 out of that 165.

Traffic related, 19, and then drug offenses and crimes in public order.

Violent, meaning assaults are actually increasing from 2024 to 2025.

And that includes aggravated assault and simple assault.

But drug activity, if we look between 2023, 11 cases, 2024-32, and 2025, a total of uh 18.

And I think that reflects a little bit different view of drug-related crime.

We have probably one of the best, if not arguably the best, diversion program in the entire state.

We really look and we have a whole unit dedicated to combing through all of our cases to see if there are anybody, especially on the drug-related side that we can potentially rehabilitate.

We give them courses, we give them classes, but a most important thing that we don't do is go easy on them.

We hold them accountable.

And if they mess up or they can don't complete their courses, or they pop hot on one of their drug, we pull them out of our diversion program, and then we send them back to the prosecution side.

And that accountability piece, I think, really separates our program from many of the other programs, which is why we have in the high 90% success rate for rehabilitation.

And so those drug cases that we see that we can actually help these folks, we pull them out of the queue and we send them to our diversion program, we don't prosecute them.

And if they successfully complete it, then we wipe away the charges because they are rehabilitated and they're members of the community.

And what we found is when you give some of these folks, and you have to pick the right cases, but when you give some of these folks the right opportunities, the right resources, the right mentors, and accountability, that accountability piece is probably number one.

You have to hold their feet to the fire.

They not only come out of the rehabilitation, they don't recidivate, they don't re-offend.

And that's really what we want.

Because what these numbers really show is, and you're gonna see in your town and all that really the towns in Penau County, is the top types of cases are repeat offenders and violent crime.

And if we can get rid of some of these, I think we can reduce the crime level.

And so that's what we're looking at.

So you'll see a significant drop, almost a 50% drop in drug activity between 2024 and 2025.

Let's talk about um, and I'm going through the bad news first, so just stay with me for a couple more minutes.

So uh property crime, property crimes have increased from 2024 to 2025, from four to fourteen theft cases from seven to eight, and criminal damage cases have in fact dropped from nine to five.

One of the other concerns is uh traffic related cases.

We have prosecuted 19 traffic related cases in 2025 compared to 12 in 2024.

All right.

I'm gonna pull up a couple more of my stats here.

All right, so here's where the numbers looking positive.

Is we are seeing a total decrease in the number of case filings.

So in 2023, there are 279, and 2025 a total of 257.

So we're seeing cases drop.

I already told you that there seems to be an increase in the number of correctional facility crimes.

Those have gone up almost 40 percent.

But as far as your community base, what we're seeing is a net 25% drop over the last three years here in the town of Eloy.

Now, of course, the number one question we get is why?

Well, I can't always answer the why question, but what we can do is look at trends.

I think it has to do with stepping up of policing.

I think it has to do with uh our changing in policies and what cases we can and can or will not take.

But I think a lot of it has to do with how active your police department is in the community and our partnerships.

One of the things that we changed when I came into office is uh, and we're still trying to improve this, but we actually put a prosecutor in your police department.

Did you all know this?

One of our prosecutors actually with Chief Bonales's blessing, actually works here.

Now I wish he could come here more, but they actually take questions from your police department from the local officers, and they ask our prosecutors questions.

Your police department also has the bureau chief over the community protection bureau, which serves this community.

They have his phone numbers they can call him at any time if they have questions, concerns, issues with reports.

Because what we want to do is get those reports right and serve victims correctly.

So I think with that partnership, we're going to see decreases in crime, which is I think evidenced by these criminal statistics.

All right, let me talk about one other one other uh positive before I stop here and take questions.

Violent crime.

What we're seeing is, and I told you about 2023 and 2024, assaults have in fact dropped from the 2023 high, and they've dropped about 20 percent in 2025.

Those homicides that I told you were very concerning.

We dropped to zero last year.

And I of course I told you about the drug enforcement.

I think if we continue these partnerships and continue to work with your police department, we'll continue to see that drop in crime.

You know, 259 cases while low, we would still like to see that drop.

I'd like to, I'd like personally, I'd like to be zero.

I don't think that's possible, but that's something that we certainly will work on, and we'll work with your police department.

We'll be able to give them these trends.

We'll be able to give our prosecutor these trends so that we can try to attack these cases where they are.

Like I said, we're seeing significant decreases in community level crime.

Like I said, that 25% number should be, and I would hope all of the council members are happy with that.

But I think we have a lot of work to do, and we will continue to work with you and with your local police department here to see if we can continue to drop down those numbers.

And that's in fact why I'm here today to answer questions directly from you.

So with that, I'll open up the floor.

If there are any questions, Mr.

Mayor.

First of all, again, thank you for coming and stopping down here to see us today.

And I'm just gonna look at one of these traffic that traffic statistic you brought up.

12 prosecutions in 2024 and 19 in 2025.

We've had the same pool of people here between those two years.

I'm gonna attribute that high in number to Chief and his staff for the diligent work that they're doing out there.

And that number will come down naturally now because those people have gotten trouble.

They might have been missed before.

So just because the numbers higher, I'm not looking at that as a bad thing.

I'm looking at that as something that that could be considered actually positive.

Yeah, I 100% agree, Mayor.

You know, we've been to I've been to a couple other towns, and I think people felt some offense that the numbers are going up.

But that I knew that in the change in policies, especially taking a much tougher stance on cases, the numbers would go up.

And so I think these numbers are going up, and that can be attributed to police department enforcement and of course our change in policies.

So I think some of these things are good or good numbers trending in the right direction.

And I think we'll have even more information next year.

Where I hope I get invited back where we can talk about these numbers again, and I think we'll be able to dial in some of those trends even more.

Yeah, that I imagine they would just go down naturally because they don't want to get in trouble again.

Yes, it's we're making it very expensive on that, mayor.

I can tell you, you should see the DUI numbers we have out in Maricopa and some of the other places.

They're very, very high.

Council am I right?

Anybody have anything?

Michael, go ahead, sir.

Mr.

Miller, uh, do you have any uh statistics on uh your conviction rate?

I do.

I did not bring this as part of a presentation regarding um your particular town.

But each of these dots, um they either were convict, they were convicted in a in a particular way.

So they either were convicted via trial, a plea deal, or some other uh some other deal.

So all of these are convictions, cases we actually prosecuted.

None of these cases are ones that we we dismissed.

Thank you.

Yep.

And but uh council member, I I can provide you.

I get if you tell me what you're looking for, I can provide that to you.

So if you're looking for a total conviction rate or a conviction rate per assaults, I can provide all that information to you if you just email my office or that goes to any member of the public also.

I can give that to you.

Yep.

Hi.

It is.

Okay.

Yeah.

Just checking.

So we get a lot of uh prison-based crime.

You know, my office is in Florence, and so there's quite a bit.

We've actually had quite a few murders in Florence area, some nasty cases out here.

So yeah, we handle all of those because they're within our jurisdiction.

Yep.

Yep.

Actually, we uh announced, I mean, we even announced a death penalty on a prison related murder where a person decided to murder three people.

And so we have just because they're in prison doesn't mean that they should receive light sentences.

Thank you for coming.

I really appreciate it.

Um I think these little red dots are why I fought to get our community crime map back, because I mean, obviously I live where the larger cluster of red dots is, and it's important for me to know as a council member as a community member that not only is the police department doing their job, but our county attorney is doing his part to ensure that.

I mean, like you said, we could only hope for zero crime.

But we know um, unfortunately, a lot of us are going to have jobs for a long time.

So again, thank you.

Um I appreciate all the hard work your office does.

Yeah, thank you so much.

And I think this will get even better.

Uh we just implemented a new program called Peregreen, where if a member of the community were to email me, I could tell you how many crimes happen on your street.

So we're getting down to that level, and I think we'll be able to present that next year, um, not this year, but we're trying to get down to that fine level because I think we're trying to look for trends, things that we can do to improve.

And I think the more information that we have, if I were to feed, hey, Chief Benalis, like here's what we're seeing on the prosecution side, and I'm sure he's tracking information too.

But I think that teamwork is gonna help uh reduce that overall crime level.

So I 100% agree.

Thank you for coming.

Um, and we really appreciate it.

I had a couple of questions.

One of them is the prison-based crimes.

Are they put into our uh general population of crimes and yes?

Because they happen within your jurisdiction, yes, council member Galindo, yes.

So the the three dots on the 87, are those the prisons, or is it the little cluster further down?

Because I know there's also a residential community down there.

I can give you uh council member Galindo, I can give you that information.

Um I'll pull that, I'll have one of my staff members pull that and we'll get that over to you, and we'll give it to the entire council.

But yeah, we can provide exactly what I can tell you what that crime was in that area.

Again, I didn't want to overwhelm you with so much data, so we didn't present that tonight, but I can tell you what that crime was and the where it actually happened.

Yeah.

Thank you.

Absolutely.

Um also we we I'm sure I'm speaking for all the council members as well.

Um we agree with you that uh we have a great police chief, and he's running a really great department.

He had he had a great staff to start with, but he's led them in a really good positive way.

Um I had a question about you know, Eloy is uh right on the the I-10, and it's it's on right on the intersection between the I-10 and the I-8.

So we get a lot of transit crime.

Is have you like looked into that?

Is there any statistics on that?

I know we get prostitution uh crimes, we get transit crimes, we get violent crimes out there uh mostly on on at the truck stops, and I know there's a lot of property crime as well.

Yeah, uh council member Galindo, yeah.

We did have a lot of property crime.

Um I don't remember now.

I'm going by memory, but I don't remember any prostitution crimes in these statistics.

So that's a big positive.

And I don't remember a high level of sex crimes in any of these statistics.

It's not something that we mentioned even within the top five or six.

So again, also very, very positive.

Um, but yes, we can tell you we can tell you if they're happening at truck stops.

We can give you that information.

Again, I didn't provide that as part of this presentation to go to the down to that level.

But uh, how about this?

I'll invite you to come into my office and we'll go through it.

You want to come?

You want to come by?

I'm just around the end of the circle, so I will gladly.

Yeah, come on by.

I'll I'll show you what it is.

You can present it to the members of your council.

Of course, that goes for anybody too.

But uh no, we can provide that level of detail if you would like it, and we can tell you where those are.

But in terms of uh trends, uh one of the trends that we are seeing is um I know Apache Junction Police Department and Queen Creek Police Department just ran a couple of sex crime stings this past weekend.

And then my office ran a sex crime sting at the end of last year in December.

Here's what we found from those stings, and we've run other stings throughout the county.

We could run a sting every weekend in this county and catch 10 to 12 upwards of 15 people trying to find sex with children under the age of 15.

So that is in fact true.

The problem is is resources of actually doing it.

And we're hoping through running these things and letting people know that we're going to do it, that it will lessen those, and some of these people will seek something else or just not do it, knowing that they're gonna get caught, knowing that they're talking to somebody who's uh probably a police officer.

You know, I've had uh few folks come to me and say, Well, why are you telling the the bad guys that you're running a sting and that they could be talking to a cop?

He said, Don't you want to catch them?

Well, it's like, of course I want to catch them.

But I want them to know that we're looking for them.

And I think, and I'm hoping we can prevent 10 crimes versus catching the one.

I think that's kind of the theory.

But um, yes, those numbers are up.

And uh if Eloy and the police department wanted to run something like that, we'd be more than willing to assist.

And I know other agencies would be willing to assist, but we have not run one here.

I know Casa Grand has run one, and it was uh fairly successful, but these are issues that we do need to need to attack.

And those are the types of things that require a lot of offensive policing, which we certainly do encourage and we certainly will help with in these various communities, and we have helped with uh some of the other departments around Pennell County.

So, yeah, those are things that I agree with, and we should probably do more.

Sorry to give you the bad news, but that's the news.

I and I understand.

I I'm I'm very appreciative with the news that you gave us because as you know, we we do have we are a truck stop community, and I was expecting more uh higher drug charges and transit charges and stuff.

Um just my my one last comment that I wanted to thank you for uh working with our community members that you know have gotten a lot of times have gotten caught in community situations, uh family situations and stuff that it led them to crimes.

I've been working in prevention for over 40 years.

Um, and what I've come to learn is the United States doesn't have a drug problem.

We have an addiction problem, and there's just not enough resources going in to solve the addiction problem as there is to like let's lock them up and put them away and throw away the key because they're a menace to society.

Some of them aren't.

They've just been put in a bad situation.

And and the the fact that they have the opportunity through your court to be able to change their behavior and to be able to have that chance that a lot of of young people don't get a chance to.

So I wanted to thank you on behalf of the prevention community for doing that.

Yeah, we we really take that piece seriously because it really is a fine balance.

You know, there's really no right answer.

Because I've had, you know, I've been I've been a prosecutor for like I said, going on 18 years, and um I've had many a defendant tell me if you didn't lock me up, I would still be doing drugs.

So we have to do, we have to balance that piece with the prevention piece with who can be really rehabilitated.

But it's not just who can be really rehabilitated.

The key is this who wants to be rehabilitated now.

And those are the people we're trying to find, and we can separate those and work with those folks.

The other folks, unfortunately, we have to go through the uh normal process.

But I think we're doing a really good job of of finding the right ones.

But thank you so much for that.

Yeah, and I agree with you.

Some people just can't be rehabilitated, you know.

And you know, that's why we have our our jail and prison system.

But there are those that that all they needed was someone to give them a chance.

That's right.

So thank you.

Absolutely.

Thank you, Mr.

Miller.

I'll echo everyone's sentiments and thank you for coming to visit us.

I do like the map.

Okay.

It tells me where everything's going on.

It just doesn't tell me what's going on where.

I mean, I seriously, I'd like to know where the burglaries are versus the drug accounts.

A red dot on my house over every one of these pictures.

I know there's not that many drugs, that much activity going on at my house.

That's the mental bias, Councilmember Garcia.

I figure they're all over.

My real question though is, and I don't know if there's a way to quantify it or if this is a place to ask it.

But if we look at the count the uh the rate, whether it's going up or down for crimes, how do we differentiate between what the actual crime rate is versus the reported crime rate?

If you can answer that, you could be a wealthy guy.

No.

Now that's very uh to be honest, like it's a very difficult thing.

And here's what I also want to be careful with with is language.

So you and is you use crime rate.

I want to be careful.

This is not crime rate, these are prosecutions.

And so I know it, I know I'm being a little ticky-tacky, but I'm doing that on purpose.

Is I'm not claiming that this is the crime rate, that your crime rate is high.

I'm just telling you what prosecutions have actually occurred in your community.

So we're really looking past, like in backwards, and try with the assumption that we can use some of this data to look forward to see what if we see any trends.

And that's where that community piece comes in.

Because your police chief has access to all the health and welfare calls, some of the mental health stuff, which we do handle.

Um, and so they have a lot more information, and they don't submit every case to me.

So I don't see every case or every crime or every instance.

I don't see every stop.

I don't know what his stops are and what his deputies and officer stops are.

These are just prosecutions, so I just want to emphasize that piece.

But uh whether things are going up or down, I think it depends on the facts, like a lot of things.

And um, but what we're trying to find are trends, if there are any, and what we're seeing based upon our experience, and people have work and live in this community.

And we you have a fantastic council member that works for me in my office and and certainly does help um uh in this area because we have a lot of local folks who work and live in local communities, so we can try to attack this problem.

But ultimately, it's through that team effort that we're trying to drive the crime rate down to keep our communities safe because I want my kids to be able to go to the park without me fearing.

I want my kids to play sports without fearing somebody's gonna get shot or drugs are gonna be on the on a field.

That's what that's what community we're trying to create is the one that I grew up with.

And uh I think many of you all probably want the same thing.

So that's where we're trying to go.

Thank you, sir.

Yeah, thank you, Mr.

Miller.

Uh I like cluster diagrams like this.

I found it very interesting, going from 23 to 24 to 25 on how maybe the clusters change.

Yeah.

And I've just once you have is data.

Have you done things like uh domestic violence and say put together just a the same kind of cluster chart for domestic violence?

And also one of the things we've talked about here on council in the community is uh age, uh younger people and things to do.

And so I look how it it's concentrated a little bit around downtown Eloy, and one of our concerns about is youth and uh have you done similar cluster diagrams of that to see how all this data breaks out in those two relationships.

Thank you for uh presenting all my flaws, Councilman Snyder.

No, it it's one of those things where I have to I have to pick and choose and discriminate of what I want to present to the council, what I don't.

Um I got peppered with questions, very similar, up and superior.

They wanted the same thing.

And um, it's always one of those things where I wish I had my computer, I could go live and just give you the information that you want.

But in fact, I do have that data.

So all of I can we'll invite you.

You can come by the office, or you can of course email my uh legal assistant, my secretary, and we'll get you that data.

But yes, we have that DV data, we know what's going on, we know the ages, we know the demographics.

We have all of that data ready to ready to hand to people if they ask.

But we do um on the DV front, that's another thing we've really attacked.

Is uh when I came into office, I I came from uh sex crimes bureau in Maricopa County, it's where I work for a number of years, and then I work sex crimes in the Marine Corps as a JAG.

And um, I started a sex crimes unit here in Penau County, and so they are their special victims unit that deal with uh sex crimes, so rape, child molest, and then of course domestic violence, and we have a whole unit dedicated to prosecuting those because those cases require a lot more time and attention, as you know, than uh than the other cases.

So, yes, we have all that information.

I could provide all of that to you.

Um, but I will say for this town, I don't I didn't recognize any necessary trends or anything that I needed to present um to this town.

I what I tried to present was some generalized information with a few trends, but I wanted the town really to know there is a tail of two cities here with all the prison-related crime and the community-based.

But the biggest piece I really wanted to highlight was a community basis dropping significantly, and I use that word specifically.

It's dropping very quickly because I can tell you there are other parts of the county that it's going up significantly.

So you all are down 25%.

But if I go across the county, I have I have towns that uh crime is up 60 to 70 percent.

And so the fact that you're dropping when we've changed policies and are much harsher on certain types of offenses, repeat offenses, violent crimes, sex crimes, I think is this is significant.

And so we'll continue to work with you to keep driving that number down, but that's not a trend that I that I necessarily saw, but I can get you all that data.

Anybody else from council?

Anybody from the public like to come up and uh take a few shots here at the uh I have a little question.

Go ahead, just step up to the mic so we can hear you.

Uh do you find uh that wildlife crimes and animal crimes are or cut go hand in hand when people hurt animals, they tend to hurt other people.

Step up.

Um yes, a little bit.

We don't have, we've most of our animal cruelty cases.

I'm just now I'm going off the cuff here because I don't have the stats in front of me, but most of our animal cruelty cases have been related to cockfighting and cockfighting rings.

And so we found a lot more money laundering, drug abuse, and those types of things.

But to actually find and then our arson cases, like we had a um uh a synagogue was burned in Casa Gran last year or a year and a half ago.

I think we had another church or synagogue also burn.

Um which one?

That's right.

That one, yep.

And so we try to look at what those trends are, but we couldn't find any connection between animals or anything like that.

But um what we find is more of a connection.

Like we had a pretty brutal murder case where an uh individual murdered his mother, and he had been found to have abused cats and animals.

So sometimes those things do track, but unfortunately, a lot of times we don't have the information.

It's hard getting it.

And when we go after or try a murder case or at least uh indict a murder case, most of the time that family members don't talk to us anymore.

And so it's hard to get that information.

So I bet there'd be more of a correlation if the family would be more talkative.

But I understand why they don't want to do that.

Yeah, it seems crazy.

I am proud to be in this position.

This is I think this is what God put me on the planet for.

So I'm happy to be here.

Yep.

All right, anything else?

I'm gonna take one more at all.

All right, there we go.

You don't seem like a man who shies away too easily.

I'll I'll take any controversial question.

All right, lately on the socials, we've been seeing a lot between you and the board of supervisors.

Yep.

Can you tell us?

Do you see harmony coming at one point between you and the board of supervisors?

Yeah, I actually do.

Uh we're actually meeting tomorrow.

Yeah, just true.

Hopefully, we can settle settle all these issues and get it behind us and really work forward and move forward to uh benefit the county.

So yeah, I think uh I think with a little bit of prayer and patience and humility, I think we can get there and and uh really benefit and help the community.

Yep.

Well, thank you.

Yeah, thank you for going out doing that because you know it's kind of disheartening to the citizens to see that to see just two separate people with with different opposing viewpoints.

And I hope you guys come together because I think you're an unstoppable team if you do.

You really do.

I agree, Mayor.

And uh I'm I'm just gonna close out.

I'm gonna sign up for the newsletter, remind everybody else here.

Please sign up for the newsletter.

And thank you for continuing to serve our great country in the capacity that you do.

Leaving home to do that.

That's very commendable, sir.

Thank you very much for your time here.

Thank you so much.

Thank you.

Okay, now we'll go into unscheduled public appearances.

Those wishing to address the city council may do so.

Oh yes, may do so by signing a form provided by the city clerk identifying topics or agenda items.

Action taken as a result of public commenting regarding non-agenda items, will be limited to directing staff to study the matter, rescheduling the matter for further consideration.

Speakers shall be limited to three minutes, and I have one person here who signed up today.

Ms.

Valerie.

Will you kindly come up, just state your name in the city where you live, and give us your best three minutes.

Thank you.

My name is Valerie Motica.

I live in the Toltec section of Eloy.

I've been a resident here for about 19 years.

I've been doing wildlife rescue here for 15 years.

I run a wildlife organization and I rescue a tremendous amount of animals from the community as a volunteer on a daily basis.

I call in raptor electrocutions, I call in poison cases, and I've started an entire business providing solutions for the repetitive situations that happen.

Weddle, the police chief's uh uh the fire chief or whoever's son actually helped me learn how to build the barrels.

And I have noticed there's been a lot of vegetation removals that are forced in this Toltec area, and I'm voicing my concern because I feel like it's being done in poor taste.

I feel like it's hurting a tremendous amount of wildlife.

It's contributing to the crime rate because as we lose vegetation and things heat up, people get more aggravated.

There's studies on it, less trees equal higher crime rate.

And uh these vegetation removals are being forced by fines and penalties from code enforcement to remove native vegetation that is beneficial to our ecology here, and it's being forced when temperatures are over a hundred degrees.

I don't feel that there's consideration with the community members or the wildlife or even the landscape.

If we like how Arizona is beautiful, then we would keep Arizona the way it is.

You have about three plants that are extremely problematic and fire prone to this area, and that's where the focus needs to go.

If you keep blanket clearing the way your blanket clearing, you're only gonna create an area with dust and pests, and it literally is starting to look like a Walmart parking lot.

There is no butterflies anymore.

There were two more properties scraped.

I made a plant list so people can see, and I also took a before and after picture.

So this is just one property for me.

This looks like the botanical gardens.

You can add a native seed mix in here and make this look absolutely gorgeous.

But we're giving it to the cheapest bidder, and this is what it looks like.

And when I go walk down the road, it's no more enjoyable.

There's dust blowing in my face.

I have a lot of trees on my property.

I do wildlife conservation, so I do we we have to remove animals, we push animals.

There are so many animals pushed into my yard right now that have nowhere to hide in 110 degree temps.

If we can please go over how these vegetation removals are being done, it it's cause it's going to create a lot more damage with weeds in the future.

Some of these plants take 10, 15 years to establish, and you're knocking them out in 10 minutes and threatening people leans against their property if they don't clear it up in 110 degree heat.

So that's what I have to say.

If anybody has any questions, um, I can hand out these forms so you can have the information, but it really needs to be addressed.

Well, we're not we can we can't ask you questions, but I can say thank you for addressing this council and bringing it to our attention because getting rid of the invasive species is what we want to do, but I love the the regular vegetation or desercape.

Well, I people are people are saying that code enforcement is making them remove trees that aren't even in the right of way.

Creosote bushes that have been around for 30 years, they are being swiped like wiped clean to nothing.

There's no wildlife that can live there.

And it's not a place that I want to live, especially I do rescue, I take in the animals, little kids come to me, I have put up owls at the school here in Eloy when they fall out of the nest, and then I come home after doing these restoration projects for other people or as a volunteer or as a business.

I run a business doing it too, and I come home to my own hometown, and it's being destroyed, and community members are sad, and people actually that I talk to feel threatened by the way quote enforcement is talking to them and what they feel is expected of them.

So I thank you for listening.

And I don't know, but what do we do to create a change?

Do I just, you know, I've sent emails, and a lot of times it does not get responded to.

I've I've actually sent one to you, both code enforcement people, and I've signed complaints through your your own uh system, and I don't even get an automatic reply from your complaint system.

Like there's no communication.

I to get to this point to I I I like to hang out with animals in the woods.

City council meetings are not really my thing to get me to this book.

But thank you for addressing this council that you don't want to hang out at no really so much.

Well, how do we go about it?

Do I just say my thing and now I go home and then keep watching the clearings be happening?

We're gonna take this under advisement and see what we can do.

Okay, thank you.

Thank you.

I just had a question.

Uh Valerie, did you want to leave that documentation for us, or did you just want to shoot me an email?

Because I know you've sent me some of that documentation.

Because if you if you do proceed to do something, uh I have it all.

I'm trying to be well.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you very much.

All righty, that brings us to item number six.

Mayor's announcements.

Thank you guys.

Have a safe trip out.

Absolutely.

Thank you, sir.

And we all know your mayor has been.

Flash drive.

Flash drive.

Thank you again, Mr.

Miller.

Okay, on Wednesday the 10th, we hosted our candidate forum here at City Hall.

It was a great opportunity for residents to hear directly from the candidates.

And I thought there was a lot of good information, many thoughtful ideas shared by everyone participating, and I'd like to thank the candidates for stepping forward and being part of the process.

Running for office is not easy.

What cheap?

And I wish each of them the very best of luck.

And a quick shout out to the Eloy Chamber for setting everything up and making it look as nice as they did.

Then on Thursday the 10th, along with Vice Mayor Tarango and Councilmember Garcia, I attended the Panell Partners Emerging Leaders Meet the Candidate event in Casa Grand.

The format was a little like speed dating.

It really was.

This was amazing.

The candidates sat at tables while the attendees rotated every three to four minutes when a bell rang.

It was fast-paced, it was fun and a great way to meet a lot of people and answer a lot of questions in a short amount of time.

The other attendees may wish to elaborate further on their experiences as well.

On Friday the 10th, along with City Manager Lecture, City Staff, Miss Irene Higgs, who was our executive director of the Sun Carter MPO.

We hosted Doug Coleman, the new ADOT board member for our district here at City Hall for a meet and greet and a tour of Eloy.

We had the opportunity to show Doug many of our projects, opportunities, and transportation needs throughout our community.

We look forward to building a strong working relationship with him.

City Manager Lecture may wish to expand further on this topic.

Then on Wednesday, the 17th, I had the opportunity to stop by and take some photos of the first delivery of tiny homes at the Panal Hispanic Council site on 4th Street.

And it was pretty cool.

They were taking these homes right off the trail with a big crane and plopping them in place.

It was just such a great I got some good video.

I will be posting on that.

And then finally, on Thursday the 18th, I attended the Tri City Expo, hosted by the Chamber of Commerce from Eloy, Coolidge, and Florence.

It was a very nice event that showcased many of our local businesses and entrepreneurs.

These types of events are important because they strengthen relationships across communities and support economic growth throughout the region.

And yes, they were serving free tacos.

So I made sure to get some training in while I was there.

And that's all from the mayor.

Mike.

Not a whole lot.

You covered one item that I um attended.

I I attended on uh June 10th, the uh Meet the Candidates Forum Forum and question and answer.

Um that was hosted by the Eloy um Chamber of Commerce.

I thought it was very well attended, informative, and I greatly appreciate it uh that the candidates uh all showed up and uh were there to answer our questions.

So thank you.

That's all I was just trying to go through my list.

Ditto.

No.

June 10th, obviously.

I was at the Eloy Chamber Meet the Candidate Forum because I'm one of the candidates.

And as usual, it's really awkward to try to sell yourself to strangers.

No, there was a bunch.

Thank you so much to many of you that were there.

Um, Mr.

Dunfee.

It was great to be with you that day, Jose.

Obviously.

Um, it's unfortunate that one of our other candidates doesn't ever seem to attend meetings, but um it was a great event.

June 11th, the emerging leaders event.

Um that was awesome.

The tri-city chamber event.

Um, it was great to see Eloy and Florence and Coolidge working together to benefit all benefit all of our communities.

Um let's see.

I so many other things, but that's good.

We're good.

I'm sure someone else will mention another one.

Thank you.

I um also intended the two candidate forms, and I thought our candidates um did very well.

Everybody impressed me.

So Eloy's very fortunate to have such great representatives and future representatives that care so much about our community.

Um, also um on Thursday, I sat in on the Panel Panell Worksite uh development board.

Is that what it's called?

Workforce development board.

Um, and it was really interesting.

They had a presentation by the Arizona Department of Economic Security on insurance, um unemployment insurance and the whole process through of unemployment insurance and who qualifies and who doesn't qualify.

And and as soon as I it was very interesting, but as soon as I get that slide show presentation, I'll send it to the city manager and he can share it with the council if you're interested.

And that was about it.

I babysat this weekend, so I am one happy Nana.

Was it well?

I know you're probably here are tired of hearing the same thing over and over, but I attended the Meet the Candidates Forum on the uh 10th.

And if you weren't there, I had a lot of fun.

I'm a teacher, so I had a walk around.

I can't stay put in one spot, and I made use of that floor.

Uh and I really did hear a lot of good comments back from our residents, which was very helpful in planning for the future.

On the 11th 11th, I did the emerging candidates with Panel Partnership in Casa Grant.

I was having a blast there too.

I had met a several new new people through Pennell Partnership.

Did I have one that started questioning me on things that we were going on right now?

And it's like I honestly had no idea how to answer it because I didn't know how far I could go in my answers.

But it's a learning experience.

After that, I was so tired I went on vacation.

So I got home at four o'clock this afternoon and straight to council because council does not stop.

Thank you.

All right, thank you.

Yeah, thank you, everybody.

And yeah, that uh that emerging leaders, that was a lot of fun.

And the way they did it, you had three minutes, and then bing the bell goes and you move to the next table.

That was I really like the way they did it.

Yeah, I like the way they did it.

Okay, now that brings us to city manager announcements.

Thank you, Mr.

Mayor.

Can I just be like the other council members and just say ditto and then you know move on?

No, I'm kidding.

So uh for me, I just got a handful of items on my list today.

So, first starting off on Thursday, June 25th.

So we're gonna be having our special session to pretty much wrap up the budget.

So I know that most of us on council, the executive leadership team, and our staff, we've been up to our eyeballs and budget the last several months.

So this is the last phase that we have.

Um council will be holding a public hearings uh for the final adoption.

Um, the tentative budget, if you guys recall, was approved back on June 8th.

And so since then we've met basically all the required hearing notices.

So we'll be doing the final budget as well as the truth in taxation hearing, which then will make sure that the tax levy will go into effect starting July 13th at 6 p.m.

So I know from the staff side, we're really looking forward to getting that through through that process.

And then really just want to thank not only our mayor and council for being involved throughout this process, but as well as uh Brian Wright, our finance director, as well as our executive leadership team, because without having everybody cohesively working to together to get a budget to this standpoint, um, it wouldn't be possible.

So I just really want to thank and applaud everybody for working together.

This has probably been one of the smoothest budget processes that I think I've been involved in.

I know I haven't been doing local government for a ton of time, but it's my two years here, it was very efficient, and then also my experience in Casa Grand.

So I just really want to thank everybody for helping us get to this point.

The next item I have is July 3rd.

So City of Eloy City offices will be closed in observance of Independence Day.

So obviously that falls on Saturday, but we are going to be recognizing that on the third.

So our offices will be closed.

Just want to make sure that the public's aware of that.

And then the most exciting news I have is similar to like what I kind of presented to the public last time, is that we're going to be having our 4th of July in America 250 celebration next Saturday.

So join us next Saturday, July 4th from 5 to 9 p.m.

at Main Street Park.

And so this is gonna be pretty much an amped up event of our typical July 4 events.

So there's gonna be internet uh entertainment activities.

There's gonna be live performances by rock country band highway outlaws.

We're going to be having a local Eloy musician, Jay Rodriguez.

He's 21 years old, he's a local musician.

He's been doing music since he was 10 years old.

So it's awesome that he's gonna be there being able to do some music for us.

We're also gonna have DJ MP2, who's gonna be doing DJing throughout the the entirety of the event, and then during the fireworks, he's gonna have a special DJ session as well.

And then we're gonna have water slides, we're gonna have inflatables, food trucks, contests, giveaways, and a lot of family fun activities.

So I know it's gonna be hot as heck out there.

I think it's right now it's forecasted to be like 108 to 11.

So make sure to have we'll have water out there, we'll have a variety.

I know that isn't that bad for Arizona, right?

It's actually pretty moderate, but uh we're gonna have designated cooling stations that are available.

So if it gets too hot, the public's gonna be able to access that.

Um we're also going to have limited time Eloy in America 250 swag.

So if you guys haven't seen had a chance to look at the Air America 250 logos or any of the Arizona focused 250 logos, we're gonna be doing special shirts and giveaways and things that have that incorporated with its tie with Eloy.

So I don't know how many we have.

So if you show if you don't show up, you might not get any.

Um just make sure to show up.

And then lastly, it's the taco eating contest.

So as the mayor alluded to, he's gonna be one of the participants.

I also know that we have Mr.

Perez from the Eloy Junior High School.

He's a math teacher.

He's also gonna be participating in the taco eating contest, and that's gonna be a pretty cool tradition that we're gonna be kicking off moving forward the July 4th event.

So this is gonna be the first kind of championship belt.

Whoever gets it gets like a WWE wrestling belt that they'll be able to hold on to for the whole year.

And then next year you'll be going up to competition to put that belt on the line.

So I think we're all looking forward to getting that going.

Um and then lastly, yeah, just the fireworks will be at 9 p.m.

So even if you don't want to stay for the whole time, at least come out and show support for the event.

I know Chad and Paul and his whole team over in community services, they put a lot of effort to make sure that the this event is gonna be awesome for the community.

Um historically, we haven't had the best turnouts because it is hot outside, and we know that a lot of the residents like to enjoy the fireworks from their backyards, just chilling with family.

But please come out and support the event.

At least swing by, maybe get some food truck food and pick up some swag from our shirts and giveaways.

And then if you want to head back home for the fireworks, then you can go ahead.

But we'd really appreciate to have you out.

And that's all I have, Mayor.

Thank you.

Well, thank you, sir.

Hey, I'm glad you reminded me.

The Highway Outlaws is a fantastic band.

They really are.

This is gonna be it's gonna be a really good time down there.

Okay, moving on now to consent agenda.

All items listed with an asterisk are considered to be routine Madison will be enacted by one motion and one roll call vote of the council.

There will be no separate discussion of these items unless the council members are requested, which event the item will be removed from the consent agenda and considered in its normal sequence on the agenda.

At this time, are there any council members wish to remove any item from the consent agenda?

Yes, sir.

Mayor, um, I just need a clarification on item number uh E on the consent agenda.

Um as published on our uh website.

Uh there's some conflicting information, but uh I think Mr.

Simer can clear this up and has provided a letter uh from the engineer uh that is representing uh the Robson Ranch uh uh location that uh it is to be approved for a one-year uh term, not a two-year term as stated in some of the paragraphs within the document.

If Dan, if you can just clarify that, that would be great.

Certainly.

Mayor members of council, Dan Simmer, community development.

Uh the applicant has historically asked for two-year extensions and based on my email conversation with them is based on staff's recommendation, previous staff's recommendation.

Um may have been mine.

I don't even remember, but still.

The uh having reviewed it when I wrote the report, I did realize that it was a one-year request.

And as I put it in the agenda as a uh line I was one year, but recommended a two-year to continue that trend that we have been doing.

Um discussing it through email with the applicant.

We they did clarify that they're okay with a one-year and is coming back each year as they needed per City Code to update that.

Um they do have a development agreement that allows them some a lot of flexibility, but although this is one of those provisions that wasn't specifically called out for.

So thank you, Dan.

And mayor, when we get to um making a general vote on the consent to jump, I will make a uh um a motion to approve it based on uh what was discussed and that it's a one-year, not a two-year time frame extension.

Thank you, can't thank you, council member.

Anyone else have anything to add?

Okay, so at this time I'm looking for a motion to approve the consent agenda.

So moved with amendment.

Mr.

Mayor, I'll second it, but I also wanted to say how excited I am to see item C on the consent agenda.

With it with that, I second it.

Mike, you want to you want to give the motion for yours?

Uh mayor, I make a motion that we do accept the um consent agenda um with the exception that item E is for a one-year term extension and not the two-year.

Okay, note if it's a one-year term on item E.

Do I got a second that?

Mayor, council members.

Uh Council, the council member was not the maker of the motion.

He's at technically what he's asking for is an amendment to the motion.

So what would happen is the maker of the motion, they would ask if they would be agreeable to the amendment.

And if so, then we would go to the seconder.

And if the second or is agreeable to the amendment, then the motion would be to approve as amended.

You agree?

Yes.

Say it in a mic.

Oh, forgot to turn it on.

Yes.

All right, second there.

Do you agree to the amendment?

I am an agreeable to the amendment.

All right.

So I have a motion and a second with an amendment, and everybody agrees.

Madam Clerk, can I have a roll call, please?

Yes.

Councilmember.

Yes.

Councilmember Golindo.

Yes.

Councilmember Curtis.

Yes.

Councilmember Garcia.

Yes.

Councilmember Snyder.

Yes.

Vice Mayor Tarango.

Yes.

Mayor Sutton.

Yes.

Okay, that brings us to item number eight, business possible discussion and direction on the following.

Item A, authorization to utilize source well contract number 040825-CAM with core in Maine for the purchase and installation of FlexNet M42OB base station for this city's advanced metering infrastructure system.

Cookie.

Yes, good evening, Mayor, Vice Mayor.

The City of Velo utilizes a census advanced metering infrastructure AMI system to remotely collect water meter readings for approximately 3,400 water service connections throughout the community.

The system's flexnet base station located at 226 North Main Street.

And it serves as a primary communication hub for the city's AMI network, transmitting meter data from field endpoints to the utility building system.

The existing flex net station is approximately 15 years old and has reached the end of its useful life service life.

In recent months, the unit has experienced increasing reliability issues due to deterioration of its cooling system and aging electronic components.

These issues have resulted in periodic communication interruptions, causing a growing number of water meters to fall out of communication during each billing cycle.

As a result, staff have been required to manually read a significant number of water meters each month to ensure accurate customer billing.

To address these concerns, staff recommends replacing the existing unit with the new FlexNet Flex Net M420B base station through core main utilizing source well contract.

The upgraded equipment will provide reliable two-way communication between the water meters and the utility billing platform.

Improving system performance and reducing communication failures.

The new base station includes battery backup capabilities, advanced monitoring, and alarm functions, and enhanced system resiliency.

Unlike the existing unit, the flex net does not require air conditioning for operation, reducing maintenance requirements, and lowering long-term operating costs.

Thank you, Cookie.

I just have a couple of quick ones.

I'm sure you I'm sure you can get these 15 years.

We got our money's worth out of that thing.

I'm sure we did, without a doubt.

Now will we have to do anything to the meters themselves?

Will they have to be upgraded to in order to interface with the new system?

No, at this point, no.

Oh, good, good.

Good.

I like that.

And how much is this uh M420B base station going to run us?

So Cormain has provided a proposal for the amount of 64,845, and that's including the installation and first year protection plan.

And a 15-year warranty, like the old one.

That would be nice.

Okay.

Anybody on my right?

Any questions, comments, concerns?

Or my left questions, comments, concerns.

Go ahead, Joe.

Okay.

Um first off, you said that I read in the report that this is not in the budget.

You it's not something you budgeted for, but it you will be able to uh use this cost and it will stay within the public works budget.

Is that correct?

Yes.

Although this project was not specifically identified during the fiscal year 2526 budget, uh, sufficient budget capacity exists within the water fund due to pay off uh prior loans, bond obligations.

Okay, thank you.

Also, um I know the mayor was probably alluding to this.

How long is is this system supposedly going to last?

Is it going to be another 15 years?

Or is this because we're upgrading this better system?

Do we have the opportunity to get more shelf life off of it?

Well, we're hoping to get an additional 15 to 20 years on this system.

And then um my last question is you know, as you know, we we uh expanded the Charleston Road uh water line.

We're we're uh putting the new water lines on Vitagular Road and then you know, is this with this 15 plus years going to be able to accommodate uh all the growth that we're planning within the city of Veloy?

Because I know apparently now it the system we have now just isn't substantial enough for the the growth that we've already saw.

So is have you looked into like there's a potential in this 15 years that we could add another hundred to five hundred homes and um more water that is uh meters that are gonna go up?

Yes.

So the whole system, you know, goes with this.

I'm gonna read a little bit more to it.

In addition to improving the reliability of the city's existing AMI network, this flex flexnet uh base station is compatible with future generation smarter, smart water meters that include service connection and disconnection capabilities.

So it it will uh if we were to upgrade it, add new houses, new new commercial.

Yes, this all system will go with that.

Thank you.

Okay, this time we're looking for a motion to approve item A as presented.

So moved.

Do I have a second?

Second.

Madam Clerk.

Council Member Vodrasca.

Yes.

Councilmember Golindo.

Yes.

Council Member Curtis?

Yes.

Council Member Garcia?

Yes.

Councilmember Snyder.

Yes.

Vice Mayor Tarango.

Yes.

Mayor said.

Yes.

Okay, next up is item B, acceptance of a proposal from Insight Public Sector Inc.

for the purchase of e-sleuth automated automated dated management software to enhance police investigations through the use of AI supported analytics using funds from the one Arizona Opioid Settlement Agreement, earmarked for use by the City of Eloy with pricing as per Aristona State Contract CTR069959 at a cost not to exceed 180,000 and to authorize the mayor and/or his designee to sign all documents necessary to execute this agreement.

Chief.

Any questions?

Unlike uh director of public works, Cookie Towers is up here.

I'm not here, not here to ask for the flex capacitor.

Um I haven't heard that term since the movie Back to the Future.

Um so thank you, Cookie.

You taught me something new tonight.

Uh, before I get started, thank you, uh, mayor, vice mayor, city council, um, city manager, city attorney, and our deputy city clerk, as well as all the public and my fellow directors here tonight.

I want to thank first of all, say thank you to the county attorney Brad Miller for coming here and uh really gonna some good information and stats, and he mentioned the law enforcement liaison program, which I know the vice mayor is well aware of, that we have a direct contact to the county attorney's office if we have any questions about cases, filings, anything that might go on as far as us doing our job better.

And also uh direct I have a direct contact to their bureau chief as well.

Any questions, even to include going up to the county attorney myself.

So uh I know Mr.

Miller's gone, but uh wanted to say thank you for him coming as well.

Um, I'm here to talk about something again um as far as uh the record the proposal you talked about from InSight for the purchase of E-Sleuth, which is a automated data software platform at a cost not to exceed 180,000 using funds allocated to the city of Eloy through the on through the one Arizona Opioid Settlement Agreement.

On May 7th, the Eloy Police Department submitted a request to the county to the Panaw County Public Health Department opioid settlement coordinator for the amount of 180,000 to implement and purchase e-Sleuth.

This request was approved.

Request aligns with the approved purposes of the One Arizona Agreement, including opioid prevention, overdose reduction, monitoring, surveillance, data analysis, law enforcement support related to the opioid epidemic, and identifying individuals who may need treatment, treatment or intervention services.

The fiscal impact of the city's general fund is zero.

The amount will cover a five-year contract and service agreement for the East Sleuth software platform.

The state of Arizona is scheduled to receive approximately 1.2 billion over 18 years, with a approximately $680 million allocated to the local governments for approved opioid abatement strategies.

Funding for the E-Sleuth is sustainable for years beyond the five-year contract.

The need for this platform is bore is both operational and community focused.

During calendar year 2025, the Eloy Police Department and Eloy Fire Department responded to approximately 54 opioid overdoses.

Additionally, approximately 48% of our criminal investigation had a significant drug nexus.

These numbers demonstrate the opioid crisis is not an abstract issue for Eloy.

It directly impacts our residents, our neighborhoods, our officers, our firefighters, and our overall quality of life.

E-Sleuth enables investigators to geographic hotspots, reveals the relationship between opioids and crimes, identifies individuals at high risk for overdose, identifies sources of supply, identifies patterns, case linkages, and possible suspects.

This software also enable us to measure trends over time, assess the effectiveness of interventions, identify if the opioid epidemic is disappropriate disappro disproportionately affecting different demographics in our community.

Beyond its investigative value, EastLuth also provides a public health benefit.

The platform can identify individuals who repeatedly come into contact with law enforcement and may be at risk for opioid use disorder.

This information can assist in coordinating referrals to treatment, diversion, or supportive services rather than relying solely on incarceration.

This benefit alliance with guidance from public health experts, including the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, which recognizes the importance of data collection, surveillance analysis, and connecting justice-involved individuals to care as part of an effective opioid abatement strategy.

So rule approved strategies under the one Arizona Agreement directly support this request, including preventing or reducing overdose deaths and opioid related harms, supporting law enforcement expenditures related to the opioid epidemic, supporting regional planning and dashboards to identify populations with the greatest need for treatment and intervention services, monitor monitoring, surveillance, and evaluation of opioid related strategies.

In short, e-Sleuth gives the City of Eloy an opportunity to use opioid settlement funds in a way that is lawful, appropriate, and impactful.

It supports public safety, enhances investigations, improves our ability to identify opioid related trends and strengthens our ability to work with community partners to reduce harm and connect individuals to services.

For example, I recently spoke with uh Ralph Varela, director of grants and resources for the Panau Hispanic Council.

Mr.

Varela and I discussed the creation of a behavioral health services coordinator that could use the data made available by E-Sleuth to identify geographical areas and individuals that could benefit from the Panao Hispanic Council services directly related to drug abuse and dependency.

We will also seek opioid settlement funds to fund such a position.

This platform will help move the police department from a primarily reactive case-by-case approach to a more proactive intelligence-led model.

It will improve our ability to identify drug-related crime patterns, disrupt opioid distribution networks, support successful prosecutions, and better protect the community.

For these reasons, I ask that the City Council approve this proposal, which will prove its worth and benefit to the community.

Thank you.

I am happy to answer any questions you have.

And I also have Scott Thomason, Chief Product Officer, and Bernard Zepper, the subject matter expert here from ESLU to address any questions you might have.

Oh well, thank you, and welcome, gentlemen.

Welcome.

Just curious, who is this like the new industry standard?

This the new institute standard?

Industry standard.

We hope so.

It will be with the use of AI.

You're seeing a lot more technology in the county attorney referred to peregrine, which a lot of Penau County agencies have subscribed to.

That's going to be it kind of goes back to that source of your output of data is only as good as the input of data.

So with all these different sources of information being fed into systems like Peregrine and eventually e-Sleuth, we'll be able to get all that data and mine all that out to better serve our community by having all this data that's specific to our needs that we can actually ask for specific numbers.

Thank you, Chief.

I do have quite a few questions.

I don't know if you can answer some or your uh product experts can as well.

But uh first of all, um this is great.

I I've read through it.

I I like the product.

Um just technology just moving us that far much farther along, freeing up time and investigative skills that you your team has and spends many hours doing this.

I know will benefit the whole um community as well.

Um I think you can answer.

You mentioned that uh in 2025, there was 54 cases or persons uh that uh were at risk with opioids or had some type of uh incident.

Do you know what that number to date in 2026 might be?

I don't know, but I believe from what I know of our response calls to uh overdose related calls, uh but I think our trend is very similar.

Similar, okay.

Thank you.

Um who within the department would be trained on this?

It I and maybe I need for ask this question first for clarity.

Is it four subscriptions or is it five on the quotation?

It it calls out four subscriptions for the sleuth PFMAI subscription, and then there's five that are for the data management services.

I don't know if you're identified.

I believe there was five total for our investigations unit.

And then getting back to the other question, on your staff, um, who would be the users identified?

Is it the three detectives and the users would be our investigation staff, which would be uh our sergeant and the detectives assigned to that unit.

Okay.

And uh the question about training on that.

And uh the the question about training on that, I didn't see anything in the quotation as far as on-site or direct training.

Um it seemed to be like online, you know, self-development.

Is that the case, or is there uh a training um cost that might be excluded from this?

Um to my knowledge, there's no training costs associated with it.

Once the software comes, it will um incorporate and ingest all this information and AI functions.

We will basically go through AI and request the information we want, and it will provide that information we need.

But if they'd like to speak more to it, they can come up.

Hi, thank you.

Uh my name is Scott Thomason.

Um, there's no training cost associated, but we would be doing on-site training.

You are we would actually come in and work with the detectives to show them what they're looking at and help them develop um uh the skills to to be able to extract the information as it's presented in an effective and uh uh uh manner.

So there's no training cost, but we actually will be doing on-site training and then working with the chief and his staff to show him the insights that are that are being garnered from this powerful tool.

Okay.

And then maintenance updates.

Umtime for that.

No, that no, that's a that's a great question.

Um we operate under what's called continuous development, continuous deployment.

So in a lot of a lot of software products, what you get is a version one, version two, version three, or you get an a la carte where you get the moon roof for the roll-up windows or whatnot, and you get to pick.

We don't believe in that.

We give the entire product out, and then as we create and develop new capabilities, we push those out to all of our customers, and then so they just they just get to realize that the whole product right there.

Uh we have a DevOps team which monitors 24-7, you know, the uh uh the performance of the platform, and then and then we just jump in and and and handle that as well.

Okay.

And what about since it it seems like it's gonna be pretty integrated with other systems within the county?

Are there any issues when uh those updates and maintenance uh requirements are needed?

Would there be uh any effect to any of those systems?

No, that's that's another great question.

Um so what what it is is we hook up what's called an API or just think of it as a connector uh to the system, and then we constantly monitor that.

So for instance, if the RMS changes some of its code or there's a there's a change in whatever the changes, then we actually step in and make that adjustment to the API.

There's no additional costs associated with it.

Okay, great.

Um I think this question might be for the chief.

Are there are you aware of any other agencies currently in Pennell County that have the system?

No, actually I'll be proud to say we'll be the first ones to use E-Sleuth.

Um there are big agencies such as uh Phoenix PD that are that are looking at it right now and that are does desired to have the the product.

Um they're just not as far along as we are.

Okay.

So yeah, so it's it will be the first agencies in Arizona to have e-sleuth.

Okay.

So currently there wouldn't be a source expert within the county that if for whatever reason you weren't able to reach out to uh get your source expert here to assist.

But oh, we have several people that we can reach out to at East Luth and in which we have maintained regular contact on a daily basis.

And they've they've assured me that callment one or two o'clock in the morning if needed.

Okay, so 24-7.

Okay.

Those are the only questions I had.

Thank you, Michael.

Uh just a quick one here for the product expert.

This is going to run on all our existing hardware, right?

Is this a web-based program?

Yes, sir.

It's a web-based, it's a web-based platform.

And what you have to think of is kind of sits like an umbrella over your records management system, your CAS system, all your other systems, and then it pulls that information up and then and then starts analyzing it and comparing it to each other.

And all the information it pulls and analyzes that sits off-site in your depository, right?

Yes, sir.

It sits up in the AWS GovCloud, and um it's it's under all the CGIS uh criminal justice information system restrictions, so it all sits up in that GovCloud.

It's sitting up there all nice and secure, nobody has to worry about it.

That's right.

In fact, I don't, you know, they keep it so secure they don't even tell you where it is.

I don't even know where it is.

It's somewhere, it's somewhere in Continental United States, that's about it.

Sir It's kind of what um Council Member Vadroska was talking about.

So I noticed that it's through the local distributor insight public sector, and it's under an Arizona state contract, which I'm kind of confused because I wouldn't I maybe I'm assuming wrong that Arizona state contracts mean that you know other agencies here in this state have this program.

Are there other agencies in this state that have this?

You said Phoenix PD is looking at it.

Are there other agencies that are currently using this program?

That's a great question.

Um no, at this time nobody is.

Um we discussed the government contract and and um the vendor we're going through as well.

And we did go to the director of finance, uh Brian Wright, and discuss that process with them, and he said everything looked good with that as far as the way we're doing it.

So continue well, first off, what a segue.

I we still have Brad Miller's uh dot picture up here and stuff, and perfect.

And this is a perfect segue to like this is what kind of of like mapping that that would be very beneficial to um our safety in your department.

Um so I have a couple of questions.

One about is about the data.

So I understand that this is a program that that you have chosen.

Um, but is it compatible with all of the other programs that other agencies are putting data in?

So, like if Phoenix PD has another program that they're using, and they have a suspicious character, and then that suspicious character runs into one of our characters here, that character here in Eloy.

Would all of that information be available?

Would it be shared during uh the use of this uh program?

Yeah, that's a great question.

Um and County Attorney Brad Miller kind of alluded to it with his mention of peregrine.

Um a lot of Penel Cadian can uh county agencies are on Peregrine, and um now you're starting to extend to the East Valley, West Valley, uh Phoenix as well.

Um so yes, with that, and you talked about the API that plugs into the system, which will read and take data from all those data sets that come into the system.

Uh the Cat RMS systems, peregrine, etc.

We're all feeding to that and we'll have access to all that information.

Good.

I'm glad to hear that.

Um the other questions I had were one of them was uh it will it consistently be upgraded?

Because as we know, technology changes by the hour and stuff.

So part of this would it be still be able to be updated and would be we'd be getting with with this contract, would we be getting like the constant newer versions as they come out?

Yes, ma'am, that's correct.

In fact, that's what I was speaking when when I said continuous development, continuous deployment.

We're constantly looking to improve the system, find new capabilities, push those out to the various departments.

If I could step back a second, um we are a hundred percent agnostic with with any uh law enforcement data sets that are currently being used around the country.

Um, and we are deep in discussions not only with Phoenix PD but with uh Maricopa County uh district attorney's office and then several other uh police departments in Treasure Valley.

So you'll be that information sharing will uh actually be able to occur at a very granular level, so much so that you'll actually be able to say this car, this license plate, this individual um uh is uh committing these crimes in these jurisdictions.

So but yes, um on on the last question, absolutely, uh we constantly are updating it and improving it and new capabilities we're we're pushing out on a weekly basis almost right now.

Thank you.

Um and then my last comment, Chief.

I am so happy about you again taking that proactive approach and working with Panel Hispanic Council and understanding that you know there is that other uh services uh necessity in dealing with this drug problem.

You know, like I told Mr.

Miller, I mean, the as long as there's a need, as long as there's a want, as long as there's a sale, there will be drugs in our community, you know, and being able to take that next step and say, well, we're gonna help you to not want that need anymore, uh, or to live with that need, but not use it.

I I think that's so beneficial.

And and as I've shared with you, you know, because I work with Panao County Public Health and I were and I talk regularly with Elena Rojas, and one of the frustrations she's getting is that she feels like there's this network of communication where all the police departments are saying, hey, we're asking for this money from the opioid funding, and we're asking for this money, and everybody is pulling these uh this kind of not creative ways of using the money and stuff.

So I see that she she's gonna be really excited to see this portion of uh what you're gonna be using that opioid one money for because we got very lucky in uh in uh the process of that uh settlement to get a lot of money, and it seems to me that we're we're using it worthwhile.

Um Pana's Banning Council will also be available to apply for grant funding and working uh through you through the two of you.

I believe that's like that the settlement money is gonna go on for like 25 years, I think.

Yes, I believe 18 plus years, something like that.

Something like that.

So I just wanted to tell you the creative thinking, the the way that it helps the community and the way that it focuses on the opioid issue and uh the addiction and providing services, I think is so creative, and I'm so happy to see that you're working with the whole problem and not just looking at the one area.

Thank you.

Thank you, Councilmember Gilwad.

And I just want to throw it out to you as well.

You know, city managers, you know, is challenging me also to be creative, think outside the box how to use those funds to benefit our community.

So that's what we've been talking to.

My staff and my captains, and how do how do we best utilize that money?

Um because we have great support from city council.

Um so how do we use those things and all this information that we're gonna be flooded with here shortly um that we're continuing to get right now?

Um let's put that information to work.

And when I got hired for this job, so one thing I said to the current city manager at that time, David Malowitz was you know, um, about the data, and how do we best use the data to get the resources and stuff to better serve our community?

Yes, chief.

Uh we looking at uh the rest of the state, and you said the nobody else in the state yet is using this.

I was looking, I was trying to find the information in the coax, but did I see that we are getting 38 percent of the funds that was allocated to Pinell County?

Is it least?

That's unusual for either way, that's why I'm saying that.

Yeah, because I believe there was an error in the decimal point placement.

Um so instead of 3.5, I believe it was like 35 percent of the allocation going to the It scared me for a minute with 38 percent.

They go, okay, are we the trial balloon here?

That's what's going on.

That's okay, thank you.

I wasn't gonna say anything about it, but uh no, so you know, but that's a huge benefit to us, you know, despite the error, uh huge benefit to our community that we can put that money to work for the community.

Yeah, council member Schneider and uh Mayor Sutton.

So if you look at that total amount, right in the coac, it's like the total you know, settlement funds is like one million dollars uh for Panaw County.

If you look at that cut down for us annually over the next 18 years, you're looking at approximately about 400,000 per year for the city of Eloy.

So even though you look at this E-Sleuth program and it's about 180,000 for five years, that's a sliver of our funding that we're gonna receive.

So anybody else from council have any further questions?

Okay, seeing none, I'm looking for a motion to approve item B.

That is the purchase of the Eastleuth Automated Data Management Source.

Well, yeah, utilizing funds from the one Arizona Opioid Settlement Agreement.

So moved.

Do I have a second?

Second, Madam Clerk Council Member Vodrasca.

Yes, Councilmember Galindo.

Yes, Councilmember Curtis, yes, council member Garcia, yes, Councilmember Snyder.

Yes, Vice Mayor Tarango, yes, Mayor Sutton.

Yes.

Thank you guys.

Thank you so much.

And we don't have executive sessions, so I will say thank you to everybody who came out tonight.

Have yourself a safe trip home.

And thank you for being a part.

Motion to adjourn.

So move.

So move to have a second.

Second.

All favor say aye.

Thank you.

I know.