Welcome as I call the order the February 3rd, 2026, City of Murphy, regular city council meeting.

The time is 6 p.m.

Rise with me as I offer the invocation to leave the pledge of allegiance.

Our heavenly father bless us as we consider the agenda in front of us tonight.

Bless and watch over our public safety officers and the community they serve.

In your name we pray.

Amen.

I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America.

And to the Republic for which it stands.

One nation under God in the principle with liberty and justice.

At this time, I'll turn the time over to City Secretary for Roll Call and Certification of the Quorum.

Mayor Scott Bradley.

Here.

Mayor Pro Tim Elizabeth Abraham.

Here.

Deputy Mayor Pro Tem Janay Butler.

Here.

Council Member Place 2, Scott Smith.

Here.

Council Member Place 3, Andrew Chase.

Councilmember Place 4, Ken Otman.

Here.

Councilmember Place 5, Laura Deal.

Here.

Mayor certified the presence of a quorum.

Thank you.

All right.

I welcome everybody to the City Council meeting tonight.

I know that there are a lot of voices that want to be heard tonight, and we're going to make uh our time available to you for what you have to share with us.

Here's how I am going to work this meeting tonight.

We have a very small agenda.

A couple of uh presentations that we're going to receive and then a consent agenda that we'll we'll uh we'll take action on.

Following that, the remainder of the meeting will be for public comments.

So uh it shouldn't take very long for the public comments.

Um get some guidance from the attorneys uh over uh in our last meeting.

Uh we're gonna change this up just a little bit.

We will call you up um by name uh based on the comment form that I did receive.

Um that way you don't have to give your name and address.

If you have not filled out a public comment form, please do.

Uh and I'll talk a little bit more about how we're gonna how I'd like to structure the public comments once we get to that section.

So with that, I'm gonna move on to item uh uh six presentation, six A.

Proclamation from Black History Month.

Janet Okay.

Well, good evening.

Umas Black History Month affords a special opportunity to become more knowledgeable about black heritage, and whereas to honor the many black leaders who have contributed to the progress of our nation, and whereas such knowledge can strengthen the insight of all of our citizens, regardless of the issues of human rights, the great strides that have been made in the crusade to eliminate the barriers of equality for minority groups, and the continuing struggle against racial discrimination and poverty.

Now, therefore, be it proclaimed that the city of Murphy, Texas, designates the month of February 2026 as National Black History Month and urges our citizens to join together in making this period of rededication to the principle of justice and equality for all people.

I do this on behalf of our mayor Scott Bradley on this February 3rd of 2026.

Thank you.

Item 6B presentation update regarding police department statistics.

Chief.

Oh.

No chief.

Just here.

Good evening, Mr.

Mayor.

Council.

These are the statistics from the Murphy Police Department from October through December.

The numbers uh in white are the raw numbers for each category, and then the numbers to the side in color are the year over year from 2024 from the same period.

So you'll notice that there was a slight increase in total calls for service.

I can't get into the weeds too much for why, but it's all a call for service is anything from a vacation watch, uh knocking on the door to check the video camera, walking through an elementary school.

Everything that we do counts as a call for service, including crashes or major medical events.

So you can see that we've taken fewer reports, fewer offense reports were taken, but officers are able to initiate more of their own calls, whether it be traffic stops or community or community-oriented policing events.

Traffic stops are up about 500 for the year of a year during that quarter.

And uh citations are also up as well as arrests.

So speaking of arrests, there were 59 arrests in that three-month period as opposed to 65.

So nine of those are what's called the mental health detention.

So it's a non-criminal act, but it is someone taken into custody for mental evaluation.

Um the significant increase in alarms.

I've been working with the local businesses on making sure that the alarms, the alarm companies have good contact information, but we have 171 alarms.

Um all of those were false alarms.

So panic alarms, uh hold-up alarms, uh stuff like that at businesses for the most part, as well as accidental 911 calls.

Those are also up.

So we'll be working with the community to address the what to do when you dial 901 by mistake, so we don't have to go knock on people's doors at two in the morning.

156 crashes uh as opposed to 135 year over year.

You'll see the bigger category increase there is the major crashes.

So that's any accident with an airbag deployment or an injury that requires fire department deployment as well as at least two police units.

So it increase year over year for the major accidents and part of it parking lot accidents as well.

Uh for the rest of the categories, there are no major changes.

Uh we're looking good for this quarter as well.

We'll have the stats for this next quarter up in April.

Anything any questions, sir.

For the alarms that are um, are you guys having to go out to if it's like a business?

Are you having to go out multiple times to certain businesses where the alarms keep going off?

Um if an alarm goes off more than three times in a 12-month period, then they are subject to fine.

So I run a report every month.

I look at the businesses that have repeated alarms, and I go to those businesses myself.

Usually it's something where a business has been sold and they have an updated manager or owner information, and the alarm company isn't able to call the business and tell them that they're having a lot of false alarms.

So we do have a couple of habitual offenders, but I've been working with those and we've really nailed those down to there's very few left now.

Okay, perfect.

And then I see the traffic stops.

You said those are up compared to last year.

So is there more of a concerted effort to uh target speeding?

Um one of the changes in the last year is that there are um we're doing specific traffic studies.

We've been looking at specific places and offenses taking place.

For example, everyone knows the lunch rush uh on Betsy Lane during the Plain and we senior high lunch.

That's a big one.

So by targeting the enforcement, we're able to maximize the deployment of our officers out there and kind of get more get more of a results and more education for the public.

All right, yeah.

I've seen y'all out there.

Thanks.

Thank you.

Gonna move on to item six C presentation of capital improvement projects update.

Mr.

Reese.

All right, good evening, Mayor, members of council.

Uh give you a quick update on the CIP.

The first part is uh trails and connectivity update.

Um really no changes on this right here.

Um, but we wanted to get it in front of you so that you can at least put your eyes on it.

If you have any questions, uh Matt is in the audience, he can be happy to answer them.

But the first part of these are all complete.

Um there's a couple of ongoing projects that are part of uh uh the McMillan project and also the uh pedestrian bridge project, which we'll talk talk about more in a little bit.

And then there's uh some future projects at the end that are just kind of uh hanging out there, and we're gonna try to get those done uh as soon as we can.

Um if you have any questions on those, I'll be happy to try to answer them, and Matt's here as well.

What's the specific Betsy Lane connection?

What are we connecting there?

Is that the uh that's where's the mouse at this one right here?

Yeah.

That's the connection that's missing currently along Betsy Lane on the south side at the Bailey property.

Oh, gotcha.

So that's that missing piece where the trees are there.

Okay, thank you.

And do we have an updated map of all the trails and connections that have been completed on our website?

Okay, thanks.

Should be in the last.

Okay.

So now we can move on to more of the construction side, the the larger projects.

Um feel free to stop me whenever if you have any questions.

But uh first part of this is we have two projects that are currently in construction.

Actually, Kenny Drive uh was finished recently, and the final uh pay app is being processed.

So that one is uh is done.

And the 2025 street panel replacement project is is ongoing, or about 75% complete.

Uh we think we'll be done with that in May.

Um, and then at the end of it, we plan to roll in some areas in the gables and get that finished as well.

Since the McCreary Yes, right now a lot of that work that's being all of it being done.

Since the McCreary Yes right now a lot of that work that's being concurred all of it being done okay all of the all of the work that was kind of in the neighborhoods has been completed and so our focus now is on McCreary and that's moving pretty well.

It is moving pretty well and do we know when that will be done?

I know I see May 26th for the project but I'm I'm hoping it'll be May end of May and we'll give be off McCurry and moving into the gables.

Okay thanks.

That that's the that's the schedule right now.

Okay.

It did look like it was moving really fast and I drive there a lot so I was just curious.

Yeah it was going to be sooner.

I understand.

Okay so projects that are currently in design the uh FM544 pedestrian bridge those plans have been approved by Text dot right now they're uh being reviewed it's a six to eight review uh week review at the federal level and we anticipate going out for bid in March of uh 26.

What's the construction timing for that?

Uh the construction I'm sorry I don't have that with me.

I think it once it's once it's let I would anticipate it being roughly uh eight months to a year to to construct FM 544 Mercury right turn lane uh that's in design right now we anticipate uh bidding uh going out for bid in May of 26 May of this year East Render Road and tall tree intersection improvements uh staff is actually completed reviewing the 36 the 30 percent plans and have gotten those back to uh the engineer and we uh hope we anticipate going out for bid in uh February March of this year.

McMillan Road pavement drainage improvements uh which also has some sidewalk components to it uh that's in design I know it was a little bit late because we had some issues getting uh getting permission to do survey uh and so that's been a little bit behind but I think we're still going to be on track to get go out for bid in October of 26 copper service line replacements uh specifications and contract documents being reviewed by staff now uh anticipate going out for bid in February March of this year cast iron water main replacement uh in design anticipate advertising in June of 26 rodeo elevated storage tank rehab uh we received the engineering and and ROV inspection reports uh they're being reviewed and we anticipate uh bringing back an engineering design contract uh in March for y'all's consideration if everything moves uh forward according to schedule we would uh advertise in late uh FY26 award uh early next fiscal year and hope to do the construction during the winter of so it would be December 26th January February 27 get that done when the water is being less water is being used Hawthorne pump station improvements uh in the middle or actually at the end of an engineering feasibility study anticipate receiving uh final draft this month uh we'll then review it and bring back a recommendation and a uh engineering design contract to council for consideration skyline 10 sanitary sewer rehab uh council just approved that contract in January so not a whole lot of movement on it but it it is being is being uh in design and we anticipate advertising in August of 26 sidewalk repairs uh staff is reviewing those uh design or the specifications and contract documents uh and anticipate going out for bid in February March of 26 any questions about anything that's in design I have a question yes sir um I drove by the Haw Farm Pump station yesterday yes sir there's a big hole in the ground right there without pipe is what is that that is a project that North Texas uh municipal water district is doing okay they actually have part of that site is actually theirs they've got some uh it's where that big 72 inch and 60 inch line run through and so yeah there's there's two huge pipes there and they're actually put some addition some some automatic valves they kind of move their valves around and got some automatic valves on there which is gonna help them uh it's gonna help them help us so it's it's a good yeah they're almost almost finished with that project for the 2026 sidewalk repairs do you have the list on there?

Uh I do so this is not the entire list but this is kind of the the first round okay uh this is the areas that we thought were the worst and uh if you'd like I can always email you the full list.

This is on our website too right um I don't know if it is but I if it's not I can get it I can get it on there.

Thank you.

You're welcome with the advertising for cast iron for the cast iron and for the sky line sanitary sanitary sewer rehabilitation like what does that entail?

Is that just on our website?

Um, we'll uh we'll of course we'll have to put it in the newspaper.

And then we'll also put it on a uh on a plans warehouse, something like Sithcast, to where it'll go out to all sorts of contractors.

And so it'll give us a lot better uh a lot better coverage on who sees that.

Okay.

So on the street lights on Betsy Lane.

Yes, ma'am.

So the last time we talked about that, we had found that some of the current lights that were there weren't working.

It looks like they've been repaired.

So does I haven't driven through there at night lately.

Does it did that make a difference in visibility?

Yeah, so I was gonna talk about that next and we can't.

Let's skip to it.

Um you're exactly right.

Last time we talked about it, there were a few lights that were out.

Since that time they've been fixed.

I drove that um after the last council meeting, and uh it's better.

And you know, some of that is gonna be subjective to me.

I drove it and it's darker than your normal street, but I thought it was I thought it was fine.

Okay.

So that was one of the things I was gonna ask a little bit of direction from council.

Is this something that you want us to pursue a little bit further?

Or would you like to drive it and come back and let me know?

We can drive it and come back, but my personal opinion is let's keep things dark except for darker, except for critical intersections that need to be left.

Yes, sir.

Yeah, my concern, and I haven't again haven't driven it since you've made the repairs, I haven't been out that way, but um you it was hard to see the turn at um heritage when you were turning left from Fatsi onto Heritage.

Okay.

It was really hard to see the street you were turning onto.

Okay.

Um versus the median that was there.

So I will go see if I what I feel.

Let me know, send me an email, and and I'll be happy to.

I mean, whatever y'all.

Yeah, we can talk about it more, but I will point out that both of them wear glasses up here.

So be but they just filly kiss can't see.

Um actually the opposite position.

Right.

Um with the street lights, and as far as like the they had some lights that needed to be repaired, is there some type of plan of where we're like going out just to check to see if things need to be repaired?

We do drive those areas occasionally just to see what's going on, but um I would want to point out that the majority of those lights are gonna be HOA lights.

All the decorative lamp posts are gonna be HOA.

There is a section on the I guess that's the west side of Murphy on the north side of the road that appears to be, you know, it's not the standard, it's not the decorative light poles, it's just regular power poles, and I'm not a hundred percent sure who's in charge of those, uh, but we didn't have any, we weren't having issues at that time.

So with those sometimes you can look if you're in certain neighborhoods, look at the street light.

And sometimes there'll be like a little placard on there.

So like farmers electric may be in charge of some of these.

They have a contract and they're you know, and they're gonna be able to do that.

So then do we need to reach out to them when we notice that there's something wrong with their light so that they know that they need to come and repair it?

Typically you can reach out to us and we'll figure out who who needs to be contacted and we'll we'll reach out to them and take care of it.

So I know Rolling Rich actually did replace all their lights in the neighborhood, and farmers I think was the one that did it.

No, okay.

So all the lighting that was repaired was HOA lights that y'all just worked with them to let them know about.

Yeah, we we pointed out the ones that were seemed to be damaged or bulb was burnt out or whatever, and they didn't even tell us they got them done.

They just they just we went back out there and they were fixed.

Well, thank you for telling us.

Absolutely.

Perfect.

Thank you.

So the last item I have is the water and sewer main replacements.

Last last time I came before y'all and talked about CIP update.

I said there was a couple of a few projects that I was wanted to do a little more digging into.

Uh it was a water and sewer main replacements of 200 block of oak bluff, 100 block of Postgres, 400 block of walnut, and Bunny Run, South Mexico Creek, West westwards to Timbers Nature Preserve.

The reason I wanted to look at those is because I didn't know what the I didn't know what the pipe material was.

I didn't know what kind of shape the lines were.

Since that time we've we've done that investigation, we've potholed the areas, we've dug down to the water mains and their PVC, they appear to be in good shape.

The sewer mains, uh we TV those, they're in good shape, their PVC, uh there's no bellies, there's no swells, I didn't see any offsets, everything looked good.

Um we're coming back to you with a recommendation of deallocating the funds that were associated with those projects because we just don't feel like they need to be done.

And then reallocating that to another project that would rehab the sanitary sewer and the streets in the timbers area.

So it's basically deallocating about 511,000 and then reallocating about 411,000, 412,000 to uh for design project for that area.

If council is in approval uh agrees on that and they're they want to move forward with it, there is a resolution on the consent agenda to to do that, and then I would come back before you with a uh design contract uh either next council meeting or the one after that.

So we're still continuing with the water line replacements in general, so we it would just be the money for these specific blocks.

Yes, these these blocks.

Yeah, that that's that's one, but all the other ones are these are the only ones we will recommend changing.

Okay.

And we're still going to be focused on the project to get the water loss under control.

But yes, the copper service line is priority, is ma'am.

Okay, thank you.

Yes, yes, sir.

We've uh received we received one quote on that, and we thought it was going to be a by board quote, and it wasn't, so we've had to go out for two more quotes.

I anticipate getting those this week, and as soon as we get that done, uh we'll move forward with it.

Uh I anticipate that being well under uh the amount to have to come to council to get that done.

So we should be able to get that done pretty quick once we get three quotes.

Thank you.

Donald, I got a question on the uh Skyline uh sewer rehab.

I know we talked about this previous.

Is this the entire street of SkyVine and is this all behind the curve?

It's all behind a curve over there, yes, sir.

Okay, yes, sir.

Yeah, and it is the entire length.

I'm sorry, I don't remember the the distance but the total footage, but it's it's a whole street word.

Okay, but there will not be any disruption of the actual there'll be very little if there is any, it's all behind the curve.

Okay.

I think it's all on the I think it's all on the south side.

Okay.

Yeah.

And we'll try to do as much of that with the um trenches technology as much as possible, of course.

Okay.

Anything else?

Well, can I ask just a general question?

Sure.

So with the cold weather that we had recently, we know that that can make pipes first.

Did we notice the uptick of that in the city or have we found any water breaks or water line breaks?

So to my best of my knowledge, there has been no breaks on the city side.

However, on the private side, there were a few.

And we've I think we even had one or two call in today that said, hey, we had we've got meter in our or water in our meter box, so um, you know, we'll go investigate those, and it might be on our side right at the meter, might be on theirs.

We just but nothing major, no no mains for sure.

Okay, perfect.

Thank you.

Any other questions?

Thank you.

Thank you very much.

All right, item 6D presentation financial report for the quarter ending December 31st.

Good evening, Mayor, good evening, council.

Happy to be here to bring you the first quarter 2026 financial with um quarter ending December 31st, 2025.

The economic and financial indicators show that the city is healthy and there is no need for implementation of the fiscal management financial plan.

This next slide is where we bring you any variances in capital expenditures.

There's only one this past quarter, which we had brought to council on November 3rd, budget amendments.

All the other funds are within range.

This next slide shows the sales tax collection for the general fund, the MDD, MC, DC, and street sales tax.

We are ahead of budget, as you can see, October, November, December.

The revenue is collected as greater at 31 point 30 30.1% in October, 3.3 in November, and 11.7 in December.

And as of this quarter ending, we've collected 27% of the budget at one 1,564,896.

And here is where we bring you the general fund where it's it compares the general fund revenue.

This fiscal year 2026.

Oops, sorry, 2026 versus 2025.

And here's where we have the expenditures by department comparing fiscal 2026 versus 2025.

And here's the all summary funds.

These are all the funds.

These are actual money coming in expenditures going out.

We've got a lot of funds.

So at September 30th, 2025, we started with a fund balance of 62.1 million.

And our projected fund balance at 1231 2025 is at 63.6 million.

And here we bring the capital projects and funding like of the various fund various capital projects that we have at the moment.

Project to date activity is at 1.1 million.

And the budget balance for these projects is at 26.1 million dollars.

And here is where the we have the adopted budget funding for these projects.

We have 14.1 million dollars.

And uh we have spent the 32,347 as of this quarter.

Any questions?

Do we know why the sales tax is considerably higher than we were estimating?

Have we gotten some new businesses that opened or is there any prime or reason to it?

It is it's kind of like you can see that in twenty fiscal year 2023.

It was uh we projected 6.1 million, and we got less than that, and then so we projected less, and so it was it's just kind of like what it was it's projected.

So we don't there's really no concrete like it it's just this is what is the budget, and we we've gotten more money and but there's really nothing that we can I think I heard that statewide sales taxes up like five or ten percent, something like that.

This is a general across the state.

Okay, well that's interesting to know.

I just wondered if there were specific businesses driving that in some way.

Well, I'm just well, H E B, but it's not here.

Yeah, it's not here, so we can't claim that.

Looking forward to seeing the numbers change when that comes.

I know we all are.

Yes.

All right.

Any other questions?

All right, thank you.

Thank you.

And I'm gonna move on to item seven, city management staff reports.

Mayor and council and community, uh, we do have a few events that are coming up.

The Trout Derby and the Daddy Daughter Dance are both coming up in the month of February.

Please check out our website at Murphy uh tx.org to find out what is going on and the times and dates for all of those.

City Hall will be closed on February 16th in observance of President's Day, so please beware of that.

And then when we return, the next council meeting will be February 17th at 6 p.m.

in this building.

Um I do want to highlight a meeting that is coming up on February 19th.

It will be a joint meeting between P and Z and the City Council to talk about a very important topic, and it's community master planning.

This is the first master plan that the council is considering in over a decade.

Um it will absolutely have a lasting impact on the future of how this community develops.

So I think it would be an important meeting for the community to tune into or to attend if they can.

That will be held at City Hall on February 19th at 6 p.m.

Thank you.

Thank you.

All right.

We'll do consent agenda.

All consent agenda items are considered to be routine by the city council be enacted by one motion.

There'll be no separate discussion of these items unless a council member so requests, in which event the item will be removed from the consent agenda and voted on separately.

Would anyone like to remove an item from the consent agenda at this time?

Seeing none, I'll take a motion.

May I move that we approve the consent agenda as presented?

Second.

I have a so uh I have a motion and a second.

All is in favor.

Aye.

Any opposed.

Motion passes unanimously.

We are going to move on back to public comments.

This is the time we set aside on the agenda to allow residents to address council on items not on the agenda this evening.

I have a number of uh of comment forms.

Uh if you have not filled out a comment form uh yet, uh I encourage you to do so uh if you would like to speak.

I'm gonna do this a little bit differently today.

Um I'm gonna call three names uh uh from the list.

Those three people will come up, they'll they'll they'll they'll they'll speak to council and then I'll call the next three and we'll rotate through that uh through this list.

We've got a lot of individuals who are on this.

What I also wanted to say is this is your opportunity to address council, uh not each other.

And uh we had a few issues with some uh some personal attacks uh and there is plenty uh to uh to discuss with council about things that are in our purview, especially around zoning and planning and yeah and you know what we're considering on yeah on uh on uh on development within the community.

Uh I'd like to encourage uh the residents to keep their comments germane to the council.

And um if I it we want to be respectful to each other as a community, we all live here uh and but I do want to encourage you to be able to come up and speak to council about what is frustrating you.

And I know a lot of you are frustrated uh at the moment uh for various reasons.

Uh and we have people who are gonna be on both sides of this issue.

So you're I want you to to address council, express your feelings, what what you need from us, what you want us to hear, try to keep it under five minutes.

I will be timing.

We've got a lot of people who want to be heard tonight, and we'll stay here as long as it takes for us to get through this list.

All right.

So I'm gonna start off the list.

The first three people are gonna be Maynard Little, uh Saad Mirza, and Zafar uh Ebol.

IOBAL Maynard, you can come on.

Go ahead.

You guys can do it in any order you want.

So I can go first.

So it's fine.

Sodmer's uh 1006 sparrow drive.

I'm here to clarify two confusions that uh large.

Come on up so we can hear you on the Can you guys hear me now?

Yeah, I can hear you.

All right.

So Sadmar's uh 1006 Sparrow Drive.

I'm here to clarify two confusions that the larger community has.

So prior to that, I would like to just provide a little bit of background.

I've been living in this uh city for the last 16 years.

And starting from 2010, I've been going out of the city to offer my prayers, right?

So when I heard about this project of uh Islamic association of Murphy, I am.

I got really excited and got involved in volunteering.

But in the last few weeks, I've been hearing things about on the social media, especially some confusions.

The one confusion is about people are associating two different organizations together.

For example, a CIK and Islamic Association of Murphy.

So I just wanted to clarify to everybody that these are two separate organizations, and there is absolutely no association with them.

Secondly, um, and another confusion that the people have that the EN states or OASIS Manor, those are like two segregated communities.

So right now, as of now, there are like four lots is still open.

So anybody who wants to buy it, they're gonna still go and and purchase those lots.

It's easy to send a message on the WhatsApp or any other social media.

I would really appreciate them, and if anybody has any more confusion, please reach out to me or anyone.

That's all.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Go ahead.

Okay.

Mayor.

Yes, Maynard Little.

1004 St.

Mark Drive.

Good evening.

I was going to uh talk a little bit about the last meeting, but I guess we have two back to back.

Uh where they're very different from the ones I've attended in the past, numerous ones, or watched on a video.

Numerous citizens, this is referring to last week, and then again this week will attend and lined up to voice their concerns and comments.

Most made their uh opinions abundantly clear.

And a $20,000 taxpayer funded feel-good survey was not needed to obtain this input.

One of the concerns mentioned was the city leaders could do a better job of informing residents of their actions by ensuring openness and transparency.

Tonight I will provide yet a uh in the past I have given numerous examples of the lack of transparency practiced by council and staff.

Tonight I will provide yet another example.

At the end of December 25, I requested a meeting with the city manager and or the finance director to explain in detail why the stormwater fee was increased.

Since then I have reminded both several times of this request.

I still have not had a meeting.

I am seeking substantiation of projected expenses where the stormwater fund balance was incorporated into the analysis and why future revenue increases from new construction was uh not included.

Additionally, I would like an explanation of how the council can approve a fee schedule ordinance without an open meeting or a public meeting.

Overriding a fee schedule that was approved and confirmed in council meetings in which the fee was not increased.

Now I see you're addressing that on agenda uh item 8G.

And I can either speak on that now or later if you want me to wait, I'll wait.

8G we've always already approved.

I'm sorry.

We already approved it G, it was in consent agenda, so no, no, 8G is not on is an item that hasn't been discussed yet.

Yeah, it was it was consent agenda, so we approved it.

Okay, well then I'll comment on it.

Um if approved, which obviously it has been, residential customers will pay for uh will pay uh more for their water than commercial customers above 18k usage.

For example, at 20K, the residential bill, this is a usage bill, will be 147 dollars and forty-three cents, and the commercial one will be hundred and forty-five dollars.

Please explain why.

You have placed an ad this additional burden on residential customers.

I look forward not only to my meeting about the stormwater, but also to look forward to receiving an explanation.

And uh in regards to the stormwater, it's obviously obviously the uh neither party that I requested a meeting with uh can meet with me.

So therefore I'm requesting to meet with each and every one of you.

Uh each council member voted for the increase, and thus each of you should be just as with this commercial versus residential increase.

Each of you should be familiar with the details, every detail.

Thank you.

Thank you.

So good evening, Mayor and all the members and the chair.

Uh I'm Zafarikbal, 248, Memosar Drive Murphy.

Uh I was living in central Texas in a small town Belton on 35 for almost 14, 15 years, and then I moved in 2024 in Murphy.

And the reason to move here was we came to visit one of our family friends in Plano, and my kids are growing up and they need college and high schools.

So we decided and we visited all this beautiful town before we moved here, and then we decided to move in Murphy because it's a beautiful, secure, protected, and peaceful town, and education is better here.

So this was uh the reason to move here in 2024 September.

Uh I would like to speak uh of my heart, and I'll not go beyond five minutes as you told Mr.

Mayor.

But speaking about your own self is always very difficult and very hard.

But I think right now is the condition because I moved by choice in Murphy.

There was not compulsion that I born here.

And the moving here, the reasons for that was peace and security for my new generation where they can grow up and they can learn more ethical and peaceful things, and they can become a very good citizen.

Originally I'm from Pakistan.

I did my graduation in law in 1999 and started practice as an attorney in 2000.

I was a human right activist, and I provided free legal aid pro bono in hundreds of cases, and I was known for a protection of minority rights attorney.

So whoever were attacked by the majority or any other, I was their pro bono attorney, and that my human right work became what I should say, an identity, but a threat to the person who has some fundamental issues in their mind.

Among those hundreds of cases, many of those were Christians, Ahmadis, or Hindus who were facing some kind of minority religious issues, and I was protecting them.

Because of my human rights work, I was working with all international NGOs, and I visited many places and countries in the world regarding my human rights conference, workshops and all other things.

So they blamed me that I am working against Islam and I am protecting religious minorities and I'm taking fighting their cases in the courts and providing relief, legal relief to them.

So they blamed me, I'm the protector of them and I'm against their faith.

So to cut it short, I faced two, three lethal attacks.

Once they hit my car and throw me out of road, then they attacked my office, my chamber, I survived, and then they finally attacked me, fired, open fired at me, I had on my head and my arm, and but I survived.

Then there was a time to think where I can live peacefully, and I can live in a just society.

I had many options, but I chose United States, because this is the nation, one nation under God, a beautiful bouquet of diversity, because I had already experienced visiting here in workshops and conferences, and I knew the better picture of protection of human rights all over the world.

So this was my choice, my decision to come here in a peaceful and secure society where First Amendment provide you the rights to have and practice any religion anywhere, and because when we say one nation under God, that doesn't mean Christian God, that doesn't mean Muslim God, that doesn't mean Jewish God.

That's only one God for everyone.

So there is no space of discrimination in the constitution of United States of America.

But no, from few weeks or months in the past, I'm disturbed, I'm mentally disturbed.

I have already moved here, purchased house here, and I'm dreaming to grow my new generation here in a peaceful and a liberal and uh in a protected atmosphere.

But no I'm a little scared about that, because uh for the last few weeks or months there is some kind of Islamophobic agendas or advertisement or so as I have better understanding of different religions and what's happening or what happened in the different parts of the world with the people with the human being to the humanity, so I can say that is misconception.

No religion never teach you violence or anyone, all the religions are religions of peace.

No matter which religions you are practicing, I can say with full conviction that none of the preaching is preaching of violence.

Everyone.

Only the thing is, like this my consulture, the different beautiful faces, different colors, white, brown, little white.

This is a beautiful bouquet.

If we consider this as a world, so all you are sitting in one place.

So that's why the world is one place for all the human beings, for the humanity, for the protection for the peace.

And this is the exact example of USA.

USA is the only country about that.

Our president said that if you go to France, you can be you can live there but cannot be French.

If you go to Japan, you can live there but cannot be Japanese.

But if you come to USA America, you can live here and can become American.

So we need to work on that, especially the city, because I am the resident of this city, so I expect from my public representatives to work on that and need to need to explain more about diversity and religions.

And if some of our fellow citizens, friends, brothers, sisters, if they are afraid of any other color or caste or creed or religion, they don't need to.

This is the best platform for that to tell them that no one, no religion, no person, no color is violent or aggressive.

Only the thing is their way is a little different.

So thank you so much.

Thank you.

Next three.

Yes.

My name is Akhil Siddiqui, resident of uh Tuesday 6 High Point Drive, Murphy.

Um I am a resident of uh Murphy living in the rolling rich community for the last 12 years.

Um first of all, thank you for giving me the opportunity to speak here.

Um respected uh mayor and the council members, uh, thank you for your service.

I'm a Muslim and a US citizen.

Um after what transpired uh two weeks ago, I wasn't when I was group uh with the with rapists and murderers, I wasn't sure I will be treated here, but uh thank you for for the openness.

Um I have a master's in electrical engineering from ANM and a PhD in electrical engineering from UTD.

Uh professionally I work for a multinational company.

Um I have a staff of hundred plus uh working in North America, uh providing um helping provide cell phone service that we all use.

Uh on my public life, um I am uh a Boy Scout leader uh serving for 30 years, uh, where I taught uh those of you who are aware of scouting, uh Boy Scouting is all about raising young men and women uh with citizenship.

Um I help uh scores of young men teach them uh uh pledge of allegiance, uh teach them the humanity, teach them how to live uh by the laws of the country, how to become a responsible citizen.

Uh and proud to have uh two uh eager scouts.

Um having said that it was very troubling to hear a couple of weeks ago what transpired here that my uh fellow countrymen um are afraid of me, afraid of my religion, afraid of uh people of my faith.

Um so I'd like to just point uh take a few few things to clarify here for the council.

Um of them um there was a lot of mention about uh sharia law.

Um sharia is something that teaches us Muslims how to fast, how to uh how to pray, um, what to eat, what not to eat.

Um law is something that is uh imposed on the society.

So I like to quote um in Quran, uh chapter 2, verse 256, it says that there is no compulsion in religion.

This is what we are taught as Muslims, there is no compulsion religion, meaning uh even a Muslim cannot impose religion on another Muslim.

So let alone imposing on any other person or any other anybody else in the society.

So this is a very uh misconception uh among the society that uh somehow sharia law is about imposing uh Muslim beliefs or or religion on anybody else.

I'd like to clarify that it just doesn't exist.

Uh if somebody tells you Christian law, it will sound absurd.

And same way Islam uh the Sharia law is as absurd for Muslims.

We kind of scratch our head when people talk about Sharia Allah, what really are they talking about?

Uh can anybody give an example?

Um second thing we heard is the that Islam is not compatible with Christianity.

Um that is again uh another thing which is kind of extremely contradicting to reality.

Um if there is any religion that believes in Jesus and believes that Jesus uh came with the word of God, that is Islam.

Um in in Quran, there is a full chapter dedicated to Jesus, there is a full chapter dedicated to Mary.

So any religion that comes can come any closer to Christianity, that is Islam, and no other religion is closer than that.

Uh and in Quran uh chapter 2, verse 62, Quran says that indeed the believers, Jews, Christians, and Sabians who were truly believes in God, and the last day does good and have their reward with their Lord, there will be no fear for them, nor will they grieve.

So this is what the Quran is talking about, uh Christians.

So the fact that Islam is the closest religion to Christianity than any other religion, that may be a surprise to many.

Third point was um it was said that Muslims are not compatible, so another kind of uh mind boggling thing uh how where is that coming from?

Uh if it's about Muslims not eating pork, well then everybody who's vegetarian uh is incompatible, right?

Uh if it's about Muslims not drinking alcohol, then our president Trump is incompatible.

I'm sure people will disagree.

Um it's reported that in 2025, more than 10,000 people died of uh because of the DWI uh in this country.

Um Muslims are not perfect, but yes, you will find very few are Muslims responsible for that because we don't drink.

Similarly, uh it is reported that 20 to 30 percent of uh of men uh cheat on their wives in this country, right?

And that's happening here.

Uh again, Muslims are not perfect, but Islam which prohibits Muslims from doing just that.

So you will find fewer Muslims doing that.

Um look at Epstein files.

How many Muslims do you see there?

Uh it will be hard to find.

So, bottom line, Muslims are here to live in peace and harmony, raise families, educate children to make them self-sufficient and support society instead of becoming a burden, not any different from any other citizen.

Our Prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him, said he will not enter paradise whose neighbor is not secure from the Islam.

So that's what we are taught as Muslims that your neighbor should be protected, and that's what we live here for.

Thank you.

Alright, thank you very much.

I appreciate it.

God bless America.

Good evening, everybody, and uh thank you very much, Mayor, and uh all the fully loaded council members.

Excellent.

Thank you very much for allowing us to openly to express our feelings.

I was one of the few American Muslims on 20th January present here in the back hall.

So I I attended the entire uh uh process and then I watched everything live, and uh I thought then after that I felt like uh it was not comfortable for me.

So I thought I should come and then share my thoughts.

It's gonna be very short.

See that the main concern was raised by many of my fellow Americans, the segregation.

We don't segregate as an American Muslim, and let me tell you one more thing.

Um I'm a Muslim, not by choice.

I'm a Muslim, by not by chance, by choice, because I accepted Islam after high school after doing the research.

Islam appealed my intellect, then I accepted Islam, and I love the Bible the same way that I love the my holy book, Quran.

What my point is we don't believe in segregation.

I am a structural engineer, and I serve the community with the true fabric of the community.

Doesn't matter.

You are Hindu, you are Christian, you are Jew, you are Muslim.

We did one temple design as a structural engineer back in New Jersey three years before.

We did one Catholic church design in West Plano last year, and then guess what?

We did not even charge even a single penny to them.

And they were so surprised you are Muslim and not charging.

And I responded to them, no, because this is the house of God, and we don't charge the house of God.

God already blessed us Allah in abundance.

The same way we are the instructional consultant and the engineer on record for the IM Mosque also.

So they are like we don't segregate the community.

We serve the community regardless of the faith, regardless of the color, regardless of your thoughts and your religion.

And let me give you the one best example.

The best in structural engineer on this planet who is alive, he's an American.

His name is Ashraf Abibullah, based in California, and he is an he's Muslim.

So and then the entire world knows him as an American Muslim.

So Muslims are contributing.

Muslims are the part of this society, the most integral part of this society.

We are also law-abiding people.

And I have last message before I conclude.

See, because on that day it was like more and less like kind of like I I thought I put in my own words as ignorance.

See, if you read the gospel of Matthew, because I'm the lover of Bible, and I read the Bible every day, just like I read the Quran every day.

Jesus peace be upon him is saying love to God, he's all good.

Love to your neighbor.

So what is a lesson?

Love to God, love to humanity.

Same thing in the Holy Quran.

I find it.

What I find in chapter uh Surah Bakr and then Surah Maida.

Love to God and Surah Maida.

If you protect just one human being, if you protect just one human being, it means you have protected and you have saved the entire humanity in the eyes of God, the Lord of the entire universe.

So I my message to all council members, all the people who are sitting here, and all the people who are gonna listen and watch on the YouTube or whatever it is.

So please, my request to you, please clear up yourself.

Don't go for the false propaganda on the media.

Please, I I invite all of you as as a student of knowledge, as a student of the Bible, as the student of Quran, just one time in 70 years of span of your life, just one time read the Quran with the translation, just like I am reading the Bible with the translation.

That's it, then you will see the message is clear.

Love and sub serving the humanity.

God bless you all.

Thank you very much for giving us the opportunity to speak up and express our opinions.

May God bless America.

Thank you very much.

Thanks, God.

Good evening, mayor and members of city council.

Thank you for the opportunity to speak tonight, and thank you for your continued service to our city.

My name is Sayat Sana, and I've been president of Murphy for over seven years now.

I'm here today because I watched the last council meeting, including the public comments.

While I fully respect the right of every resident to express concern on city matters, I was really troubled by how some of those comments were framed.

When public discussion moves away from specific issues and into broad statements about an entire faith or group of people, it creates fear and misunderstanding.

Does not move us forward, and it does not reflect the values of a strong and united community.

I would like to speak briefly from my personal experience.

I've been volunteering in different city city programs, and I have been associated with the Boy Scout of America for like almost a decade now, and helped lead the troops scouts through our Murphy City programs like Arbor Day events where our scouts planted a lot of trees in different uh plac in the city of Murphy, and uh the city annual uh cleanup days.

Both of my son completed their Eagle Service Scout project in the city of Murphy, one at the city of uh one at the Murphy Animal Shelter, and another uh did his uh project at the community garden facelift uh program.

So with that was with the help of his friends who, irrespective of their identity, religion or uh belief, they were from Pesh, from other local youth, and the these projects were all about service, stewardship, care, and shared community spaces.

These are the values we work to instill in our children, respect, responsibility, and service to others.

These values are not tied to any single background, culture, or belief, these are Murphy values.

Residents of all faith and culture in this city contribute positively and want the same things, they want the same things, safe neighborhoods, strong schools, and a community built on mutual respect.

To the best of my knowledge, there are no closed or segregated subdivisions within the city of Murphy.

Homeowners' associations, they don't have any authority to restrict a lawful ownership or resale of property based on identity or belief.

I was looking at uh the some of the communities where it is uh claimed that they are uh close uh societies, and I see there are multiple lords, are even this uh Oasis manner uh where subdivisions uh the lords are available publicly listed for sale on widely used platforms such as Zillow.

So anybody who wants to move or buy the property, they can just contact those uh resident or whoever is selling those uh property, and that reflects the open nature of our local housing market.

So I respectfully ask that as a city we continue to model civil and respectful dialogue, and I appreciate uh your comment in the beginning of the meeting that there was something uh that happened last week, last in the last meeting, and you did some corrective measure, you took the corrective measure based on the attorney and uh based on uh your own uh judgment.

So I thank you for that.

Especially during the public meetings, and ensure that our civic spaces remain welcoming for everyone.

I thank you for your time and listening to me.

Thank you.

Next three are uh Sabir Sharif, Ways Khan and uh Pais of uh Farud.

Welcome, Mayor.

This one's working.

Good evening, respected mayor and city council members.

My name is Sabiha Sharif, and I have been a resident of Murphy since 2006.

A few of me, a few of the council members know me personally, and um I'm here this evening not for any request regarding any institute or a real estate development project.

I'm here to let you know how appalled we all are at the hatred that was spewed at the city council meeting on January 20th.

What was even more appalling was that this August council, some of whom we residents have voted into power, not only heard speaker after speaker, maligning our faith, but even facilitated them with additional time and no interruption.

And that was very very sad and very disappointing for the Muslim in me the people who reside here in Murphy.

Members of my faith community have resided in this city for several years as law-abiding citizens, participating annually in local events, buying booths at Spring Fever and May's Day events, volunteering at Tango Charities monthly Feed the City programs, running a scout programs, hateful rhetoric should not echo in this chamber.

This there is no place for hateful rhetoric in this chamber.

We request the city council to proclaim that going forward, they will treat any speech that maligns any religion as hate speech and will take appropriate action.

Your nonchalance about the dampened spread of Islamophobia is disturbing.

As a Muslim woman who easily is identified by the way she dresses, I fear for my own safety and that of my sisters.

If this city council continues to turn a blind eye to the kind of hate speech that was made at the last meeting, there is a good chance of hate crimes proliferating in this beautiful city which we call home.

Thank you for your time.

In 1785, and I'm going to give you all the history lesson.

James Madison warned that the greatest threat to liberty is not an unpopular minority, but a majority that believes its preference justifies government endorsement.

In his memorial and remonstrance, Madison made it clear, rights do not depend on numbers, votes, or comfort.

In 1786, Thomas Jefferson went further.

He deliberately named religions.

His words, the Christian, the Muslim, the Jew, the Gentile, the Hindu, and the infidel all have equal rights.

Jefferson did not include Muslims by accident counsel.

He understood that rights that apply only to a favored group apply to none.

In 1790, George Washington stated, the government of the United States gives to bigotry no sanction, to persecution, no assistance.

The same bigotry you all sanctioned January 20th.

In 1797, under John Adams, the United States Senate unanimously declared, United States government is not in any sense founded on the Christian religion.

The same claims that were being made on January 20th that this constitution was based on the Christian faith.

So let's be honest.

What's happening with religious hostility is allowed to stay in a government meeting.

When speakers target a specific faith community and government officials allow it to proceed unchecked, that's not neutrality.

That is government tolerance of persecution.

And what exactly would that is exactly what the founders rejected?

I asked you all a question.

If on January 20, 2026, had the word Muslim been replaced by a Jew, would you all be quiet?

Your Facebooks and Instagrams and Twitters would have lit up after the meeting, condemning every speech, condemning every act.

And what did we get?

Cricket.

The founders understood that government legitimacy depends on the straint, especially with prejudice is popular.

I want to call out your attention to National Black History Month, and then I want to call out your attention to a few statements that were spoken on January 20th.

They come to our neighborhoods to change our culture.

We wanted to live in our culture, not theirs.

Do you want me to remind you these words, what they were used for?

The same words were used to target our black brothers and sisters when they bought homes in white suburbs.

The same words were used on January 20, 2026, and you claim to be supporter of Nash Black National Black History Month.

You not only stood silent, you, Mr.

Bradley, bent backwards to support them, their words, not mine.

You thank them because it was important for you to hear all these things, and you're so thankful your words, not mine.

Leaders like our founding fathers made this country great.

And leaders like you are the reason our country is in a mess right now.

God is my witness, you all lost the right to be in these seats on January 20th.

Most of the speakers were paid actors.

They were not even from Murphy, supported by social media influencers that are on foreign governments' payroll.

We all know that.

They did their jobs, they were paid by the hour.

You on the other hand abdicated yours.

You sent a message to our kids in Murphy Middle and Hunt Elementary that they could be mowed down by somebody and you won't bat an eyelid.

Do you have know how it feels when your kids don't feel safe anymore?

So I'm asking you, actually, I'm demanding an answer from this council.

Are you willing to make a written statement to stand up for the constitutionally protected rights of the Muslims in Murphy?

Are you actually going to be no different than the people that spoke on January 20th?

Thank you.

Thank you.

Yeah.

Respected council members.

Let's try to dial down the rhetoric here.

So I speak before you today with a heavy heart, a heart filled with sadness.

On January 20th, uh, under the guise of a zoning project, my faith was attacked.

It was a vicious, ill-informed, well-coordinated malicious attack, to be honest.

It was an overwhelming majority, ridiculing an underwhelming minority.

And we have seen this time and time again in this country, where those who migrated to these lands first ostracized those who came to these lands after them.

In American history, it began with the systemic persecution of African Americans.

It continued with hatred towards the Irish and the Italians who came to seek better opportunities.

And yet again we saw it with the Chinese exclusion act and the interment of Japanese Americans.

And again, we see the phobic attacks when Jewish children fleeing Nazi Germany were not allowed into America.

You see, and this is important.

Racism and the treatment of minorities is the original sin of America that to this day this nation has not had closure on.

Muslims and America have been synonymous from day one.

During the revolutionary war, Bampit Mohammed and Yusuf Ben Ali served under General George Washington.

When America was a fledgling nation in 1777, less than a year after its independence, the first country to recognize America was none other than the Muslim country of Morocco.

Muslim personnel have served in all branches of the US armed forces in the war of 1812, in World War One and World War II, and even modern conflicts.

Some veterans, Muslim Westerns, actually reside here in Murphy today.

In this city, Muslims contribute in various ways, such as volunteers for community events, civic engagement, and even running for office.

In fact, a Muslim recently ran for this very council with the promises of inquiring about ever increasing water bills and the exorbitant amount our senior citizens, including my father, pay for their property taxes.

Which is ridiculous, actually, to be honest.

And let me bring you back to the public comments on January 20th.

The rhetoric on January 20th was not about zoning.

It was a demonstration of the power of social media.

It was the date demonstration of the dangers of social media.

The power to judge and hate those who you do not know based on inaccuracies, fear mongering, and half-truths.

It was a demonstration of how Facebook or Instagram algorithms shape your worldview and put you into an echo chamber of like-minded individuals.

It was a demonstration of how an algorithm prevents you from having an eye-opening discussion with someone who holds a different view than you.

It was a demonstration of how fear-mongerers can prey upon our elderly community by inviting inviting them to the Murphy Communist Community Center this past Friday.

And sp spew lie after lie after lie about Islam.

Just this past Friday in the Murphy Community Center.

And these divisions in social media lead to a society that lives in silos and it's fragmented.

And these silos can no longer converse with each other because they think the other side is crazy.

So my suggestion to the city council put down your devices, look up and see the people around you, actually look at them, talk to them, learn from them, teach them.

So my brothers and sisters of different faiths, I humbly ask you to judge us based on our individual actions.

We are not a monolith.

We come from different backgrounds and practice our religion in varying degrees, just like you do.

So don't please don't talk about us.

Talk to us.

We want to be good neighbours.

We want to be good citizens, and we want this country to prosper as we are a cognizant wheel.

And now let us put the words into actions.

We are forming an in-person interfaith alliance group where we, people from all different faiths and backgrounds, can discuss our shared values, learn to be good neighbours, and collaborate on projects that will benefit this city.

Let us be keyboard.

Warriors no more.

Let's come outside our comfort zone where we will meet face to face and break down the walls of hatred.

We can and will learn to listen and speak to each other.

I highly encourage everyone to participate.

Additionally, to help reduce any tensions that you have about our community, we are also planning to host a meet your Muslim neighbour event at all local Murphy parks.

This is to reduce any fears that you have about us, and we will have more to come where you can provide further your feedback directly to us.

You the overall community matter to us.

You matter to us.

We will try our utmost to shed the unfounded statements that we are an exclusive bunch.

We are absolutely not.

Our communities are transparent, accountable to the greater community, and our institutions welcome all.

Thank you.

Next I have Hassan Zuater.

I think Donna Winston and Abu Hassan.

Hassan?

Did I get it close?

A B you are sans where 348 Abachi Trail.

Can I get your clothes your name close?

Hassan's waiter.

Oh, sorry.

Uh thank you so much for your uh effort just serving this uh committee and city here.

And uh first of all, I want to thank the police department, you know, for to make us uh uh safe in this community.

They did a great job in the uh report that they have.

So uh I live in the DFW for 30 years.

Ten of them in Murphy, we moved you know from Ski to Murphy, you know, uh, and we live here, and it's a very nice and uh safety community here.

Uh you know, when we move to the US also, we learn about the freedom of speech.

Freedom of speech is a right guaranteed by constitution to every American, and we have also responsibility to use it in the right way to unite and serve our community.

What happened in January 20th meeting was extremely wrong.

And across a serious line, discussion was no longer about a topic or project.

It just turned into hate speech targeting religion and people.

That is unacceptable and must never be tolerated in Murphy.

This was not accidental.

It was done on purpose by some people from outside Murphy, even with some from our own city.

Bringing this kind of hate into our council chamber is dangerous.

It creates fear divides, neighbor, and makes our children and family feel unsafe in their own community.

If anyone has any questions about Islam, a public meeting should not be used as a place of spread false information.

There are many trusted and reliable source of to learn Islam, including speaking with your Muslim neighbor, attending urban community event at local mosque.

Islam is literally religion root of peace, tolerance and respect.

Ignorance and misinformation should never be used as tools to attack any community.

Murphy is home to many Muslim families who deserve dignity and respect.

Respected council members, city meeting must remain a place for respectful discussion, not the platform for discrimination.

This type of behavior have been addressed and stopped immediately.

Murphy must do better.

We must stand strong for unity, fairness, and respect.

Our focus should be on growing our city, fixing real issues, protecting the values to make Murphy unsafe and welcoming place for everyone.

Also, two things I ask you to do, please.

If you can look at the water bell increasing, and lights and bits your oath.

Thank you so much.

Appreciate it.

I'm a resident of Murphy, 708 Berkeley Drive.

And I'm also a neighbor, a husband, a father, a physician, a Muslim American.

And that's what I that's what I well, that's what that's what my identification is.

And I'm here tonight because I'm deeply invested in the city and the people who call it home.

Recently, actually during the snowstorm, I was at the hospital, and I'll need more than five minutes.

That's my job.

That's nothing extraordinary.

But I also volunteer at free clinics that are run by Muslim faith-based organizations to serve people from all backgrounds without discrimination.

And not I'm not saying this because I want to brag about myself.

I'm just telling you that you have residents in Murphy that are willing to contribute.

I'm also, I took the CERT training.

I'm hopeful that I can take the exam and become a CERC volunteer.

In the snowstorm, I was available to my neighbors if anybody needed me.

And I will continue to be available to my neighbors, including you all, if you guys ever need anything from me.

And this is because this is a meaning way, meaningful way to give back to the community.

Being a part of community means showing up, especially when things are hard.

I want to share a brief story that reflects the same spirit.

During the recent snowstorm, a man who shares my last name actually, he works at the Evans Food Mart in Fort Worth.

You can Google this.

He saw a woman named Bobby, she was homeless outside the store.

He went out, he carried her inside.

She literally thawed inside the store.

And she said she her life was saved.

The ambulance came and she survived because someone shows compassion over fear.

Compassion is what you prayed when you started this meeting, right?

So we need to act with compassion.

This is the kind of community I believe Murphy should be, and the kind of community that many of us are trying to build.

I also want to be clear about something else.

I respect the role of this council.

I support zoning laws and regulations.

If any law is broken, even by my own family member, I expect accountability must apply equally.

What deeply concerns me is what happened in this city council meeting, as everybody said on the 20th January.

I understand and respect the freedom of expression.

It is a foundational value of this country.

But what was allowed went beyond disagreement, disagreement, went beyond disagreement.

Blatant hate speech was voiced without interruption or objection.

Speech in some cases directly contradicted to the Constitution itself.

And rather than being challenged, it was allowed, not only allowed, but encouraged.

When people come to this podium and suggest that Muslim prayer should not be allowed, or that religious head covering should be banned, this is not a civic debate anymore.

This is the attack on constitutional freedom of religion.

I'm deeply concerned.

Concerned for the safety of my family because of the way they look and dress and cover their heads.

About the precedent that was set on the 20th of January, and I'm concerned about what it could encourage or signal those who are emboldened by this rhetoric and act violently.

At that time, all of us will be sharing our thoughts and saying condolences.

When hateful speech is normalized in official civic spaces, it does not stay theoretical.

It creates real world risk for real families.

And I I can't believe I have to ask this, but I asked the city council to please let us know that we are welcome here.

Issue a public statement which affirms that all people are welcome here.

All religions, all races, all backgrounds, all faiths, including the Muslim community.

I thank you for your time, and I thank you for your service to this community.

Thank you.

Hi, I'm Don Worcester.

I'm a resident of Murphy and a member of common defense.

I'd like to open with a quote from my Angelou.

Hate has caused a lot of problems, but it has not solved one yet.

You must eat, sleep, and drink.

Pure love.

I'm here today to speak about what happened the last time and to ask you not to be swayed by the information you heard about Sharia and the false claims that the US is a Christian nation.

Not long ago, I stood against a protest at the East Plano Islamic Center.

And received death threats for speaking up to protect the constitutional right to freedom of religion.

At the time, I still felt safe in this city in Murphy.

That was until last meeting.

And I heard the hateful speech that was here.

And I couldn't believe it was coming from my neighbors.

But it was.

So that's all I have.

All right.

Next three are uh Rani Anafel.

Hafsa Farou.

And Hassan Mussood.

Thank you.

Greetings everyone.

My name is Rany Okalana, and I am a Murphy resident.

Allow me first to remind everyone of the time and place we are now.

It's 2026.

And now we are in the land of freedom.

In 2026, we use information based on facts, science, and statistics statistics, not rumors.

I have been a member of a Colling County public record social media group that posts all about all kinds of local crimes and arrests with names and mugshots.

How many times did I read Muslim names over the five years period?

Only twice.

Thanks so much to my very well-behaved Muslim community, a community of highly educated professionals who serve everyone and pay a great amount of tax money.

In this land of freedom, it's a bizarre that someone wants to take the freedom of covering my hair away because it's not appealing to them.

Such lack of acceptance makes me wonder how a society like this will further develop.

A piece of fabric over my head does not make me less or more human than you, nor does it diminish my mental ability.

So please abstain from using my appearance to accuse me of making bad choices.

If you are curious about Muslim cultures and religion, I encourage you to read using reliable sources and feel free to ask us.

After all, we're all neighbors.

If you are upset because a nearby restaurant added a new plate on the manual called halal, please learn the true meaning of halal with both ethical and scientific aspects.

I'm sure you will change your mind.

Speaking as a mom, teaching my kids two languages, two whole cultures was never easy.

Being away from my family and friends is hard too, regardless.

It was my lawful choice to come here.

Those were obstacles I overcame.

And now I stand in front of you with an American status as equal as yours.

Worrying about Muslims take over is ironic.

Given that many countries have been taken over by powers and wars, many of you support without considering the consequences.

As it's clear after wars on Muslim majority countries, their numbers increase as immigrants.

Seeking good lives, never intending to take over anything.

Mostly local Muslims beg to stop these wars.

In my 20 plus years here, I have been touched by many kind hearts.

That assert one thing.

Hate is being fed to Texans by certain corrupt representatives.

But this does not accurately represent the opinions of the community I have met.

Lastly, my religion commands me to be kind to my neighbors, even when it comes to preparing a good smelling dish while my neighbor is needy and hungry.

I should either share my food or refrain from bothering them with the smell.

As neighbors in Murphy, we share many things in common.

Let's focus on making it better and safer for all of us.

Thank you.

Members of our community, I'm standing here today, not just as a resident, but as a parent, as a neighbor, and as someone who deeply cares about the future of our city.

When we talk about Islamophobia, we are not just talking about politics or headlines.

We are talking about real people.

We are talking about children who sit in classrooms together.

We are talking about families who shop at the same grocery stores, attend the same school events, and cheer for the same teams.

At its core, this is not about religion.

This is about humanity.

Our constitution promises freedom of religion and equal protection under the law.

It does not ask people to prove their word based on their faith.

It asks them to respect the law, contribute to society, and treat others with dignity.

That is what should matter to us as a city.

That truth is uncomfortable for those who want simple answers.

But it is the truth.

Blaming an entire community for the actions of you is not only unfair, it is dangerous.

It creates fear where there should be trust.

It creates walls where there should be bridges.

When my child comes home from school, he doesn't talk about labels, he doesn't talk about race or religion.

He says, My mom, my friend said that.

Or mom, my friend did that.

That is how children see the world through friendship, not fear.

But children learn from us.

If they hear us speak with suspicion, they will learn suspicion.

If they hear us speak the with hate, they will learn hate.

But if they see us stand for respect, courage and fairness, they will learn compassion.

Let us not be the generation that teaches our children to divide.

Let us be the generation that teaches them to stand up for one another.

Because when we love Islamophobia or any form of hatred to grow, we are not just hurting Muslim families, we are hurting the soul of our city.

We are telling some children that they belong and telling others that they do not.

No child should ever feel the feel like they have to prove they deserve to belong in the place they call home.

A strong city is built on trust.

It is built when neighbors look out for one another.

It is built when the people feel safe to participate, to speak, to help and to serve.

Fear breaks that trust.

Unity strengthens it.

I'm asking this council as leaders and as role models to choose unity over faith.

To choose courage over comfort, to choose the values that truly make America strong, just as freedom and equal dignity for all.

Let us protect our children's innocence.

Let us protect our neighbors' humanity.

Let us build a city where every family, no matter their faith, can say with confidence, this is my home.

I belong here.

Thank you.

Good evening, Mayor and respected council members.

Thank you for giving me time to speak.

My name is Hassan, and I am resident of Murray Murphy.

Rabbi Shari Sadhri, Weser Lee Amri, Walu Rukatin Masani, Yafko Koli.

My Lord, expand for me my chest and ease for me my task.

These were the words of Prophet Moses, a prayer for strength to speak with truth, with calm and clarity, and that's my prayer today, too.

I wish I can speak my heart out to you all within two minutes to show that what I as a Muslim believe in is what your scriptures affirm, which is love, peace, equality, justice, and praise for the creator of all the words.

As we all witnessed some visitors, mostly from outside our city or its actions that would violate the law, I want to respectfully bring this discussion back to where it belongs the law, equal treatment and the councils and mayor duty to protect every resident from discrimination, including Islamophobia.

Some comments moved beyond civic concern into fear based rhetoric, comparing an entire faith community to extremist isn't public safety, it's stigmatization.

Still, I appreciate those who refocus the discussion to legitimate issues like traffic and segregation.

So let me be clear.

Muslims do not support segregation.

In fact, our faith rejects it completely.

So if anyone, Muslim or non Muslim, promotes segregation or discrimination, the cities should act according to the law.

And we would fully support you that as our constitutional and religious duty.

We celebrate diversity because it strengthens our community.

What we reject is hate, exclusion, propaganda, and fear mongering against any group.

According to the Institute of Social Policy and Understanding, Islamophobia in US rose by 32% in the last three years, primarily driven by paid social media misinformation to divide the communities.

While there are few bad actors, many others are simply misinformed.

I don't blame my misinformed brothers and sisters here.

Social media platforms have become incredibly powerful at creating polarization, radicalization, and echo chambers.

People's opinion can be easily swayed when we spend more time on these apps than actually talking to one another.

We should talk with each other, not at each other.

I invite everyone here or listening to us online to reach out to your Muslim neighbors and have a real conversation.

You'll often find that much of what's on your particular Facebook or Instagram feed about Muslim is false, which is the result of targeted paid campaigns on these platforms by people who benefits by dividing us on basis of fear.

In modern times, these propaganda machines have become highly effective at spreading falsehoods.

Yet we also have some powerful tools like Chat GPT, Gemini, Perplexity that can help anyone explore and understand other faiths.

So before judging, please everyone do your own research or come speak with us directly.

To those who dislike us, we still love you and pray for your understanding.

Every great faith teaches respect, equality, and peace.

Jesus, may peace be upon him, said in Matthew's chapter 5, verse 9.

Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called the children of God.

Our Prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him, said something same along the same lines.

So we are not here to fight, we are here to unite.

Ideas promoting exclusion don't come from faith.

They come from fear, and fear should never guide public policy.

So I respectfully urge this council to uphold the law as written, reject discriminatory narratives, and show that no community is singled out because of their race or religion.

So to wrap up on a lighter note, if there are any Star Wars fans in the room, I'll share some Master Yoda's wisdom.

Fear leads to anger, anger leads to hate, and hate leads to suffering.

So let us choose understanding over fear, discussion over rumor, and community over division.

Thank you for your time.

Um, I'm Valita Logan, and thank you all for allowing us to speak tonight.

Hi, I'm Valita Logan, and thank you all for allowing us to speak tonight.

I wanted to start with just a few questions, and this is completely unrelated to the discussion that's been going on.

Um is there an expiration date for an approved zoning plan in the city of Murphy?

And then are there progress requirements for zoning approvals?

And then what constitutes active progress?

So these questions actually surround a proposed development that was approved in 2021, but no visible action has been taken by the developer.

Since then, this entire landscape of that proposed intersection, and in fact, Murphy has changed, and it's something that needs to, I guess, be reconsidered.

Is that the best use of that land?

So I strongly encourage all of you to consider the entirety of the city and what is best for all the residents.

And additionally, I want to ask you to consider a precedent when making any decisions about future proposals from a particular developer.

He often mentioned the word precedent when requesting zoning changes, variances, everything as a means to encourage approval of the plan.

His development and does sell to a select clientele.

It's very evident in the Collin County tax records.

There is no diversity in that entire development.

So what I'm asking you to do, don't consider an ism or a phobia.

This is not that.

It is right or wrong.

And there is a law we should all be treated equally and upheld to the same law.

Thank you.

My name is Owes Hassan, and I've been a resident of Murphy for 25 years, quarter of a century.

My wife and I didn't just build buy a house here, we built a life.

We raised our children in these parks, send them to Murphy schools, and watch this city grow from a small town into the vibrant community as it is today.

To us, Murphy isn't just a dot on a map.

Murphy is home.

But I stand before you tonight because that sense of home was fundamentally shaken on January 20th.

I sat in this chamber and witnessed what felt like a coordinated disappointment of my faith.

I watched as a group use this public platform to spread misinformation and weaponize my holy book out of context to marginalize their Muslim neighbors.

What was most painful was not just the words spoken, it was the atmosphere of this chamber.

Mr.

Mayor, when you told that group, I am dedicated in giving you as much time as you want, and make sure you express yourself in the way you feel necessary.

It sent a chilling message.

The right to vote is protected for every citizen in this room, regardless of their party or their creed.

They were attacking the neighbors who for a decade have visited Plano's senior living homes every single month.

Our children bring handmade gifts for Thanksgiving and Christmas because we believe no senior should feel forgotten forgotten.

They were attacking the people who during the 2021 winter storm when our city was freezing, spent their days cooking hot meals for those in need.

In Islam, we are taught that the best of people are those who are beneficial to others.

We do not serve for thank you.

However, my presence here is not just an appeal to your emotions.

It is an appeal to your legal duty.

This council is not a passive observer.

Under the Texas Religious Freedom Restoration Act, the government is prohibited from substantially burdening a person's free exercise of religion.

By allowing this chamber to be used to create an isolating environment, you risk infringing upon the spirit of that law.

Furthermore, while the Texas Open Meeting Act requires viewpoint neutrality, it is not mandate a heckler's veto.

A heckless veto occurs when a presiding body allows the conduct of a hostile group to effectively silence or push out others.

The presiding officer has a legal and ethical obligation to maintain order and decorum.

When you grant full immunity to vitriol, you fail to uphold Article 1, Section 6 of the Texas Constitution, which protects the rights of conscience from such interference.

Mr.

Mayor, you took an oath to protect all residents.

We are not outsiders.

We are your neighbors.

I expect this council to publicly affirm that Murphy is a city of inclusion.

And I expect the chair to maintain order so that no resident is ever again subjected to the isolation we felt on January 20th.

The laws of Texas demand it, and the character of a good neighbor requires it.

Also, let me share a fun fact for you all to think about.

Normally used by Islamophobes, but let's put some numbers.

How many churches and mosques are in the close-by area?

East Plano and the neighboring city.

Let's count them.

Murphy, churches, five.

Mosque, point five, not yet built.

I would count it.2 maybe.

Wiley, churches 22, mosque one.

Saxie, churches 12, Mosque 1.

East Plano churches 45.

Mosque three.

Total churches, 84.

Total mosque, 5.2 or 5.5.

Muslims are taking over.

Really?

Mr.

Mayor, on January 3rd, 2024, this is except from your Facebook page.

And I'm going to repeat it because it touches my heart.

Murphy is a place for every where everyone is welcome.

And diversity of thought is something to be celebrated.

Our diversity makes us strong when we focus on community and opportunities for everyone in Murphy.

However, when we move outside of our lane and divide our voice, it divides the community.

Love, peace, community starts and dies at home.

And I want Murphy to be home to everyone who chooses to be part of the Murphy family.

And we are your Murphy family.

Thank you, sir.

Thank you.

Good evening.

My name is Evan Hunt.

After the last meeting, many Murphy residents reached out to me and asked me to appear tonight.

And I am here today, humbly honored to stand before you as the Democratic nominee for our congressional district.

I'm a 20-year Air Force veteran.

I signed up after 9-11.

I spent years away from my children.

I flew combat missions in Afghanistan.

I risked my life and I killed for this great nation of ours.

I went to war against violent Islamic extremists.

But I do not fear Muslims in our community, who are overwhelmingly peace-loving, God-fearing, and law-abiding Americans.

What I do fear is extremism itself.

And there are extremists in every religion and every political faction that seek to divide us, focusing on what makes us different, not the many things we have in common.

I believe in the golden rule in treating others the way you want to be treated, and in being the change you want to see in the world.

What makes America great is not uniformity.

It's freedom.

The freedom to say what you want to say, worship how you want to worship, love how you want to love, and be who you want to be.

Our country is made stronger by people who bring their cultures, their labor, and their faith here to our communities.

And after a generation or two, those cultures don't replace America.

They make America stronger.

It's been this way since the birth of our nation.

Murphy isn't alone in facing these issues.

We've seen similar tensions in Plano around Epic City, but faith and honor call us to be truth seekers.

And what often gets ignored about Epic is what it's actually done.

And since 2007 since 2017, during freezing weather emergencies, Epic and its partners open their doors to people and families with nowhere else to go of all faiths with free food, including children, Christian children, no cameras, no conditions, no press releases, just service.

I only seek to remind this council that our constitution requires equal treatment.

Our history demands religious freedom and real American values, real American values are rooted in the faith and bravery that our collective American way of life will win over others, not with force or fear, but with acceptance.

Fear and prejudice have no place in public policy or city planning, and hate has no home here in Texas.

I greatly appreciate your time and the opportunity to speak.

Alina I.

I think I got that right.

And Tommy uh Lafflett Left Left.

Tammy Leftlet.

Good evening, everyone.

My name is Ishwak Ahmed, and I'm a resident of Saxey.

Although I'm not a resident of Murphy, I come to your city or pass through it for shopping, visiting friends, and to volunteer.

I was very disappointed by the negative comments aimed towards Muslims in your last meeting on January 20th and wanted to do my part to set the record straight.

There is a large number of Muslims in Murphy and in the greater DFW area who are motivated by their religion to serve their neighbors regardless of their faith.

You see, the Islam, our religion, teaches us that serving God comes through serving community.

That is what motivates most Muslims to take time out of their busy schedules to get give back to the community.

DFW Muslims, including those residing in Murphy, run food pantries, volunteer at free medical clinics and at warming centers hosted by area mosques.

Some of them even travel long distances to go to areas where natural disasters have struck to provide basic necessities to the victims.

Muslim families open their doors to care for foster children regardless of their faith or religious background.

For the past three years, I have served as a Casa volunteer.

And in case you don't know, Casa stands for court appointed special advocate.

Kasah are assigned to visit children in foster homes and work with their case managers, attorneys, and other parties to make sure children are safe, staying healthy, getting education, and receiving these services that the court has ordered for them.

Judges depend on Casa to to be the eyes and ears of the court and rec and the uh uh and and be and depends on their recommendation for a course of action that is in the best interest of the child.

I have been traveling to Frisco once a month for the past two years to visit my Casa child, have attended court hearings in person in Dallas, doing one tomorrow actually, and spend many hours every month writing emails and reports, and I do not ask the faith of children who are assigned to me.

I'm just happy to help a child in need, and most Muslims are like me when giving back to the community.

Dear council members, you have the power to ignore hateful comments by folks who want to make you believe that Murphy's Muslim community is a threat to your American living.

And those of you who had a chance to interact with Muslims already know this fact, and they know better than to fall for such hatred.

Muslims residing in Murphy are as much part of the city of city fabric and culture as other people.

You all have the powers to stop listening to the message of hate when it even when it comes when it when it is covering itself under the guise of freedom of speech.

It is much easier to label a group of people based on their faith or looks or background, but that has never led to true freedom.

But that has never led to true freedom.

So please say no to hatred and see as to inclusivity so we can all help each other achieve the American dream together as one community.

Thank you.

Hello, I'm Tammy Lefflet.

I mentioned last time at the meeting that several of us are probably new here, and I want to say new here, as in here in this place, and also new hearing.

So we we're hearing things for the first time, we're experiencing things for the first time, and I would appeal to the audience today for us to kind of all like give each other the benefit of the doubt.

So what I find is that misinformation is often lack of information, and that's one of the things that we're all trying to gather.

My appeal to the council today is again about communication.

So teach us when we're in a forum how to behave, teach us what what the understanding is.

I think someone earlier was confused when yes, the conversation last time it it was public opinion.

It was definitely public opinion.

And so from what my understanding is during public comments, you're not allowed to correct us.

And yes, we as individuals need to do a better job of being polite, respectful, um, understanding that this isn't the place for prejudices or racism or religious um disagreement, but to share our comments in that way.

But I will still say I think most of us are learning how to be on this end.

I've lived in the area for 25 years and I've only ever attended two meetings.

I would guess out of everybody here, maybe somebody's attended four, five, but not more than that.

So we're still learning that.

Um I do want to talk about capital projects a little bit.

Um as a Murphy resident, the sidewalks and the street repair has affected my street, my neighbors for definitely the past six months, but I first got on a list uh five years ago.

My concern with the Capital Projects is the lack of communication to the um to the homeowners.

Um and I have appealed to Donald and his group before him, before he was in place to say we really need to go back to communication.

So if someone's going to tear up my sidewalk, I'd really like to know that they're going to be there.

I also want to say that I've expressed concerns about the um one of the subcontractors that we use, and so as y'all are going through budgeting, which said February and March, it might be a good idea to survey some of the citizens that have had work done and find out what did we think about that interaction?

Um, because unfortunately, we don't realize as a subcontractor, we think it's the city of Murphy employees doing it.

So that's one thing that I'd like to talk about.

Um the other thing is the electrical boxes.

Uh several places in the neighborhood, those are destroyed.

I don't really understand how to get those, like it seems like a hazard when you walk down the street and the box lid is off and there's all those wires exposed.

So again, is there some place that the city, and maybe that's not the time to do that here.

Um, when the lady talked about the budget, one question I had was how does the how does the budget get figured?

Like what percent of increase?

So now that Murphy has more residents, more businesses coming, put um potentially more traffic from various places.

Are we looking at an increase of population to increase that budget as well?

Does that increase in the streets?

Does it also increase in in police force?

Um, you know, are we gonna experience more crime when HEB is here, just all of those normal things that go along with that?

Um I also wanted to say that up until last year I had no understanding of what Islam was and that wasn't me being um negle or I guess I wasn't trying to be negligent, it was just I really didn't understand it.

So as I said, communication I think is a big opportunity.

Um I think if there's a way like understanding the meet your neighbor event that someone talked about earlier, maybe on the Murphy page we can have a community section where we can hold meetings, like where aside from Murphy events, it is there a place that people can post when they want to have an event.

Um the February 19th meeting that was mentioned earlier.

I looked on the website and I didn't see that.

And Darian's opening notes, I didn't really catch what that was.

So just encouraging again to update the website.

And then for us to just kind of give our neighbors grace.

So we are all experiencing some things for the first time.

We're all sharing our opinions for the first time.

We don't necessarily all know how to do it in the right way, but um but but we're getting there.

So hopefully we can work together and share our opinions with with love and respect.

Thanks.

Thank you.

I do apologize.

All right.

All right, I have three remaining.

Uh Elizabeth uh not quite sure how to pronounce your last name.

Aliandra.

Alejandro, Michael Padilla, and uh Ria's uh Albin.

You you did.

Go ahead.

All right.

Do I need to announce myself?

No, I just did.

Okay, okay, perfect.

Um I'm all for inclusivity.

I don't believe in exclusitivity, but I think that it's kind of a shared type thing.

That you can't say, okay, because of our religion, we are only going to allow certain people to move into this neighborhood because we have one pair type thing, so you cannot move into this one neighborhood.

And that today, unfortunately, at Wiley High School, there was an incident where there were people that were holding uh handing out the Quran and handing out her jobs.

But is that the right place when you're supposed to keep church and state separate?

Uh is it a religion or is it an ideology?

It has to be explained because you can't have both.

You know, if you're not going to have all religions represented, then what is the point?

And then allowing one person to have one religion to have a prayer room and excluding the other people.

So you have to be really inclusive.

If you're going to do one thing, you've got to include everybody.

And that's why we all have to communicate and hopefully no one takes over everything.

Does that make any sense?

It's kind of like we need to have a better representation.

And it's kind of like if if all these people, I don't know if like the last time there were people that were here and they were saying that they were trying to buy into a specific neighborhood, and they were told after they went there that they were excluded because they weren't a particular religion.

You can't do that to people.

There's laws against that, but it is still done, and unfortunately, we're getting stuck with situations like that, and I don't think that that's the road we want to go down.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Mayors, council members, uh, thank you for being here tonight.

Uh, my name is Michael Padilla, uh tenure resident of Murphy.

I wasn't planning on speaking tonight, but uh there was uh some things that were said that I would like to encourage the council not to do.

Uh that is the public comments do not restrict or impose any rules on the public comment piece as was requested here tonight.

That being said, the public comment section is the perfect example of the freedom of speech where individuals can come and speak their words.

If we can criticize government in the United States of America, we can criticize religion.

I'm a member of the Holy Roman Catholic Church.

My religion faces a lot of criticism in the media and the press and the movies and books in real life.

I don't like it, but I understand that that is their freedom of speech.

So if government and the Catholics can be criticized, the Islamic way of life can be criticized.

Another thing, I don't fear the exotic the Islamic way of life.

I fear two people and I hate one thing.

I I fear my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, and I fear his Heavenly Father, and I hate taxes with a passion.

I am here to protect the American way of life, to advocate for the American way of life.

And all those who wish to assimilate and contribute to the American way of life, I welcome.

Thank you.

Good evening.

My name is Sri Azuddin.

I wanted to start by thanking the council members and the mayor for the services they have offered.

I've been on this platform speaking here on many occasions.

We have had our differences, but never have I held felt uh discarded or humiliated in any way.

But what happened a fortnight back was disappointing and disheartening to say the least.

And uh I wanted to start off by saying that I am a board member of the IM Azid, and we have no affiliation whatsoever, and I want to make it official with the CIK.

CIK filed and filed a petition to do whatever they needed to do, but unfortunately that was used as an excuse to spew hate.

And the saddest thing in all that is the council allowed that under the pretext of free speech.

Now the difference between free speech and hate speech is very clear.

It is very clear, and hate speech is not only ethically wrong, but it is also a punishable offense.

Speech which incites people to commit uh uh to uh towards acts which are not beneficial to the society or criminal acts, these are punishable crimes, and they happened, and these lines were crossed when people said don't offer the Muslims the first amendment, they should not be allowed the right to free speech, and this statement was said.

People uh were telling Muslims need to be told how to raise their children.

One of the great things about the state of Texas compared to California is that parents have more freedom on deciding what is best for their children.

That right of a Muslim was questioned here, and the council stood quiet.

Maybe because of the protocol of the meeting that they cannot speak while a person is speaking, but have you followed up?

And it was requested in the meeting today that the council needs to step up and say that okay, what happened happened, and we were we were meant to keep quiet, allow them to speak, but certain protocols should be respected during the speech.

Just because you have the mic doesn't mean you can hate.

I'm a Muslim, but I will not stand here criticizing Christianity or the principle of liberty because if I do that, I'll be doing that hate speech, and our religion teaches us do not uh uh uh do not spew hate against other religions, and people are allowed the freedom of religion.

It is a verse in the Quran which allows the people of the freedom of religion, but it continued over here.

But anyways, uh there were a few people who came with it came up with general questions about the traffic condition about the water, and that's all good.

That was all done in good faith, and those were legit concerns, those are the concerns we as a resident of Murphy, even I would have.

But you know what?

The suffering of Muslims unfortunately has become a global phenomenon.

All the way from the Muslims of uh Rohingya, the the Uyghur of China, the Gaza and Palestinian, everybody knows what happened there, thousands of people killed for one reason, saying that I'm a Muslim and my Lord is one.

But to see that happen in our backyard in the city of Murphy, that that was that was very disappointing.

And one thing I want to address here was it was asked, is Islam even a religion?

It is the second second biggest religion in the world.

It is the fastest growing religion in the world, and the question still getting asked, is Islam even a religion?

Is I mean, I don't know how to respond to that.

Please, I request all the individuals who are misinformed to inform themselves, talk to people of knowledge, and and get gather their information correct.

And one other acquisition which is being thrown our way is that of segregation.

I'm a board member of OSS Farms, and I'm I will not make any second uh uh guess of exactly what is being talked about here.

My community is being talked about here.

I'm a board member there.

The fact that the the lots over there are owned by Muslims is not by design, it happens.

People flock to an area for their own reasons, and today, and like many people have said, there are lots which are for sale.

And if if anybody can prove me an official statement which was said or written anywhere saying that do not sell these lots to non-Muslims, I will sell my lot for free.

I'll give it away to a non-Muslim, whoever, for free.

If they can prove to me that an official statement like this was made, you will not find it because it was never made.

But then people come and throw accusations.

Oh, it's an I segregated, isolated committee.

If you really wanted to segregate it, we would have we would have gates over there.

We don't have that.

The only I've said this before, the only segregation I see in this the world today is that of rich people and poor people.

I moved to Plaina because I was because I wanted to send my kids to those schools.

Now I might be will I be addressed as someone, oh, you are the good school community.

No.

It doesn't work like that.

People flock to various reasons to various places for various reasons, and that needs to be respected.

But I want to end with one thing.

You know why it happened?

It didn't happen because there were a few Germans who hated Jews.

No, that was not the reason.

The reason it happened was there were government officials and elected officials who allowed this hate to not just continue but encourage.

They allowed people of a certain faith and community to be demonized, then dehumanized, and then send them to concentration camps, and we all know what happened after that.

Two weeks back on this platform on a public platform, Muslims and Islam were dehumanized, they were demonized.

And officials, there has been no response from any of the officials, and that's the sad part.

It is the first step towards another Holocaust, and this time it is happening in our country and our city, unfortunately is becoming a part of it.

I truly hope that you and you take into account the gravity of the situation which happened over there.

It's not a trivial matter.

It sets precedence, it sets precedence, and people have communicated.

My children are afraid, my family is afraid to dress the way they for and we have seen this happen in this very city when a uh when few children were attacked by some individual for praying.

Teenagers were praying, minding their own business, and one gentleman, thankfully he didn't get physical, but he assaulted, and it is a known incident.

It was taken to the uh Murphy police department that something like this happened, and it is not coming out of nowhere.

It happens when when the government officials who are supposed to protect the rights of individuals allow something like this to just transpire.

Again, I thank for the opportunity to speak over here, and again, and uh I am a resident of Murphy, and I respect everybody living there.

You are the elected officials, we have high expectations from you that you will hold the law and that you'll apply equally to everyone.

And as for those who have the uh concerns about any segregation which is going on in in select communities, I welcome them to talk to me.

I am a board member of that community.

I'll be more than happy to address any and all of your concerns.

Thank you.

Thank you.

One more?

One more.

Okay.

So Donnie?

Donnie Phillips.

Renee Phillips.

Renee Phillips.

Yes.

So they're talking about religion here tonight, but it's really about the parking lot they wanted to build.

That ended up being a learning center.

And that's where we were at tonight.

About the expansion of that location, the taxes on the people, and they how do they afford it?

Are they on a I don't know, what's it called?

A 504, the tax is gonna go to the residents, and that's where all this began.

It's not the religion part, even though it's all about that now, but it's about that learning center.

Started out with a parking lot, and then it has evolved into this neighbor against neighbor.

That it shouldn't be.

And instead of fighting amongst each other, have each other over for coffee.

You know, we used to have Bonko back in the day.

There is no bonko.

We used to play pinnacle.

There is no pinnacle.

The kids don't integrate.

And they should.

They don't ride bikes together.

They should.

So we need to just get back to where this started three weeks ago.

The learning center.

It was supposed to be a parking lot.

And then during that meeting, it was called a learning center, and then it got tapled and evolved to this.

I say no to the learning center.

How are the taxes going to be paid?

How's that gonna go forward?

If it's a church, it's nonprofit.

So it's gonna go to the residents.

So that's where we're at.

And I think the religion part, they need to work it out amongst themselves and have neighbor, be neighbor, invite each other over and get back to the planning and zoning of where this actually started.

And as for a mosque, when a mosque is built, a mosque is built for the whole entire city for all the men in the community.

So it's not a little church when you have little churches on a corner that holds 200 people.

You're talking the 4,000 people.

So if there is a mosque here, you've got to think about the the statue the gravity of that and the parking lot and then what that all takes with expanding roads, the traffic, and this learning center.

There was a teacher there, and if I remember right, they were teaching 30 kids in there.

So is that legal?

Where's the fire department in that?

Did they have emergency access to get out in case a fire happened?

That's where all this started, and we need to get back to that.

That's what I think.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Okay.

One more.

She filled a form.

Come up and just give your name and address for the record.

Uh oh.

Sorry.

I submitted online uh the online form this morning, so you all might not have received it yet.

Just give it give your name and address.

Aaron Petrosick, 813 Shady Brook Drive, Murphy, Texas.

Go ahead.

Um we've been here since 2007.

First, my husband Ken and I, very active in our Murphy community, and we both would like to thank you all for your service.

It is a thankless job.

And it is a job that a very small group of people ever sign up to try and do.

And um, and you've all served us, and we thank you deeply for that.

My husband and I all I all we've also served here in Murphy and around Murphy.

Uh excuse me.

Um public speaking is not my favorite.

Um, and I want to talk about something completely different.

Um within the last couple of months, I don't know how much everyone's noticed, but we've lost a number of businesses in the city of Murphy.

Um Christina's closed last month, uh uh Hawaiian Bros closed, Denny's has closed, the um the uh Teppanyaki restaurant that's changed names a couple of times closed, and then this last weekend boomers has closed, and boomers has been um a staple in this community uh for many many years.

Christina's has been a staple in this community for many many years, and they're more than just a restaurant to many people in the community, they're a gathering place.

They are um establishments that have welcomed and served the community by allowing us to gather, hold events, meet and come together a community and even hold service events in their establishment.

These establishments will be dearly dearly missed.

Um my concern in talking with other business owners in the area is potentially the why we have lost these businesses, and in talking to other um small business owners locally, it's sounding like extreme rent increases is potentially some of the cause behind losing some of these businesses.

Now, some of the businesses I mentioned, boomers, Christinas, they're not an independent mom and pop, they have a bit of a chain uh in North Texas, so there's a bit of a corporation backing.

And if uh if a restaurant like Boomers or Boomer Jacks or Christina's is saying no to a rent increase of over 10,000 a month increase, what does that mean for our small mom and pop companies or locations, organizations, retail shops, um, and um in restaurants.

If a if a group like Boomer Jacks is saying no to that kind of a rent increase, can these smaller little companies handle that kind of rent increase?

And is that happening fairly across the board?

So it's just something I want the city to draw attention to.

I don't know if council can create a commission or something that can explore whether what the commercial leasing process is in Murphy and if it's fair to all businesses across the board.

And again, I truly want to thank each and every one of you for your service to our community.

It's not easy being in your chair.

It's not easy the job that you do.

We respect you and we appreciate you very deeply.

Thank you very much.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Oh, sorry.

Just say your name and address.

Sure.

Uh my name is Ali Khan.

And um, well, I I came here as a listener.

Uh, but there were a few things that really came across, and I really want to address those.

Um, um, I'm an American Muslim.

I'm a resident of the city of Murphy.

Um, I'm also the president of CIK, right?

We have been talking about CIK, we have been hearing about CIK.

So I I felt like you know what, it's good to come and kind of make some clarifications on what exactly like we have been talking about, it's a faith-based learning center again and again.

We have given that in written, but I think it's hard for people to understand that this is a faith-based learning center.

This is what we are building.

Yes, we have students of 30, but they don't come to the center, they are online.

We do our online classes, like every other institution has.

What we asked City was what city asked us basically.

City came to us and asked that hey, you know what?

You have this lot, you cannot park your car on the grass.

So we asked, like, okay, fine, give us uh the uh approval so that we can add the parking spots.

Now, City of Murphy allows you to have a religious facility, a church, a faith-based learning center, whatever you want to call out without any purpose.

You don't need to go for the rezoning, you have to apply for the permits, but you don't have to go for rezoning, and that's what we were doing.

We followed the instructions, we applied for the parking, and that's what this all came across.

Now, the equation that is a parking lot, a lot where we are asking to build the parking.

Now just take out the CIK from the equation.

Nobody has any issues.

There were no concerns, there was no hand raisers like this is gonna happen, that's gonna happen, cities getting taken taken over by Muslims.

But as soon as the CIK comes into play, the faith-based learning center come into play, everybody got activated, right?

They have their own concerns, which is fair, everybody have concerns.

They, you know, they raise their hands about the safety, the security, the traffic.

Guess what?

When we when we bought this land, almost three acre land, it was all tore down.

There were multiple complaints in the city and the police about the the domestic violence and the people that were living there.

There were a lot of issues with the land itself.

Both of those houses were torn down completely.

We renovated that so that we can have a better community, both from inside and outside.

We maintain the lot to make it more beautiful for the city.

The only request we ask for is if you if we want to park our cars, we mean we are not allowed to park on the grass, where else do we park?

Now, those houses are grandfathered in.

It's just one way in and one way out, not like others who have like two cars in and two cars out at the same time, and they don't have enough space to park.

So the request that we have submitted along with the site plan and the justification of each of the property that we have on the lot to the city is very well cleared, crystal clear in terms of the usage of each of those properties that we have in place, and we are following each and every city's law that we are supposed to.

Otherwise, then obviously then all these conversations that we have, it does make sense.

So I request the council member, I request the mayor to at least look at from what exactly we are doing.

Don't perceive things like we have been asked about what is your vision.

I have already stated in the vision in the PowerPoints, it's it's with the city, it's with the planner.

He has it in written from our side.

What else do we need to do?

Right?

If I ask the same question to the mayor, what is your vision from 20 years from now or two years from now?

The question is this is what we have right now, might change, but we are saying that we are not going to change.

This is what our vision is.

We want to stay small, like you know, the someone came here as a respected member, and she said that our church are better for 200 people.

Guess what?

We are also building that for 50 people.

What's wrong with that?

There's nothing wrong in it.

But if you cannot digest it, if you if you keep assuming, if you keep receiving that, no, it's gonna be a you know, you will be opening for everyone, it will be thousands of people.

Guess what?

You're wrong.

It doesn't work that way.

That's what not we are submitting for.

We are literally asking for the parking for the cars, and nothing more than that.

And we have we have following what we have been asked to do.

The reason the other thing is we are not supposed to park on the grass, we are not supposed to park on the gravel.

So those are the two things that are completely off the equation.

So we need to put the concrete in, and that's what we are asking.

So if anybody have any questions about what CIK is, what is our vision, what is our mission, what kind of classes we are going to serve?

What is the usage of the property?

I raise my hand as a volunteer.

You can reach out to me.

I'm more than happy to have an in-person communication.

City have all the set of all the documentations in written along with the presentations.

You can also reach out to City.

You can reach out to Reagan.

I I'm just that's throwing his name because he's the one we are being working very closely with, and he will be giving you all the answers if you need.

Thank you for uh very much for the time.

Thank you.

All right, I want to thank everybody for coming out tonight uh and uh visiting with us.

Uh we try to listen, uh careful, uh, understand your point of view.

Uh, and I thank you for your time.

With that, we're gonna move on to item nine.

Future agenda items.

Uh council members may request topic topics for future agenda meetings.

No member of council may discuss any of the requested subjects.

So such matter has been properly placed on the agenda.

Would anyone like to place an item on a future agenda at this time?

Seeing none, we're adjourned 26.