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OPENPUBLICA · PUBLIC MEETING RECORD

Record of Proceedings

Mesa City Study Session - March 10, 2026

Council Study Sessions — Tuesday, March 10, 2026

BodyMesa, Arizona

SessionCouncil Study Sessions

DateTuesday, March 10, 2026

StatusFILED

Video Record

0:00 / 15:19

Transcript — VerbatimClick a timed line to jump · ⧉ to share it

0:04

Welcome everyone to our Mesa City study session for March 9th, 2026.

0:09

Councilmember Adams is unable to attend and is excused all other council members are here.

0:15

Thank you.

0:16

Item one council has reviewed the agenda for tonight's council meeting.

0:20

I know that we've gone over this recently.

0:22

Are there any additional questions for staff?

0:35

I like it when it's quiet a little bit.

0:40

All right.

0:43

Mr.

0:43

Manager, Mr.

0:44

Attorney.

0:47

Ms.

0:48

Nothing from the clerk either.

0:50

Okay, well, all right.

0:51

There's your opportunity.

0:53

With that, we're gonna move on to next as current events and conferences attended council members.

0:58

Do you have anything you wish to share?

1:03

Ms.

1:03

Taylor.

1:04

Yeah, last week I had the opportunity to attend a Japanese business reception in Phoenix, and I had the great honor of meeting some of our local business, or I'm sorry, some of our business owners that are here in Mesa, localized Mesa that are um Japanese owned companies, and so that was an incredibly enjoyable experience.

1:22

We got to hear from the general consulate.

1:25

Um and I I was there with Councilmember Duff and Mayor Freeman, and I would like to just make a public appreciation, a shout out to all the businesses that have chosen to be here in Mesa.

1:36

And um, I also wanted to inform the public that we are very grateful because there's 50 other businesses that are looking at Arizona and maybe possibly Mesa as well for some manufacturing.

1:46

So it was a great honor to be able to be there and just listen and learn.

1:52

Great.

1:53

And that was in partnership with the Greater Phoenix Economic Council and Arizona Commerce Authority and the Japanese uh consulate was there from LA.

2:03

There was quite the group there.

2:06

Anyone else?

2:10

I'll talk about my weekend activities.

2:12

Um Saturday, I had attended the um the fire department's family day at the public training uh facility where they have demonstrations of all the type of uh crisis events that firefighters encounter, and um it's very interactive and it's fun for the entire family to see what the firefighters do.

2:37

Um I appreciate our fire department, they're amazing.

2:41

I also stopped in at the junior sons championship at Eagles Community Center.

2:48

Um kids of all ages were doing their semi-final finals, and there was a championship in the afternoon with their little sons' jerseys, playing incredible basketball.

2:58

Um, and then I went to downtown Mesa's uh baseball block party.

3:05

Uh Sparky was there from ASU, and there was a couple of alum diamondback players, um, Augie Ojeda and um Chris Owens.

3:17

And um had a lot of fun with family and um food and the things going on in downtown Mesa for our spring training.

3:25

Um that evening I went to the Save the Family Elegance and Hope is the 18th annual gala.

3:32

Um they raised significant funds to continue their work for families in need, and I appreciate all that they do here in Mesa.

3:40

That's it.

3:41

Thank you, Miss Duff.

3:42

Ms.

3:43

Radio.

3:44

Uh just a quick shout out to uh Dobson High School Friday.

3:47

They had a award uh awards assembly and being recognized as a A plus School of Excellence in Arizona.

3:55

Only uh a couple of schools in the state get that recognition, so it's just a big shout out to all the staff, the students there at Dobson High School.

4:05

So great.

4:07

Ms.

4:08

Goforth.

4:09

Yeah, I have a couple uh last Monday.

4:11

You and I, uh mayor were at out at a couple of um at Mountain Bridge community out in District Five with also the Madrid community.

4:20

Though both of those um communities have been um have received the Firewise designation, so they have put in the work to um do the fire prevention for their communities, which is really important in that area.

4:34

Um most people know it's out there in the desert uplands and very close to the wildlands of both the Tonto and Usery.

4:40

So those efforts are uh much appreciated by um their residents and and the city of Mesa.

4:47

So thank you to those communities for putting the work to do that and get that recognition.

4:52

It takes a lot of effort.

4:54

Um, I was also out at Segara Ranch the weekend before.

5:00

They had a neighborhood block party, America 250 block party.

5:02

So that was fun.

5:02

I appreciated the invite to that.

5:05

And then did we talk about the America 250 exhibit that the three of us went to your Red Mountain Library?

Discussion Breakdown — Share of Meeting

Public Engagement████████████████████████████████████████████44%

Procedural█████████████████17%

Economic Development████████████████16%

Public Safety█████████████13%

Technology and Innovation██████████10%

Summary of Proceedings

Mesa City Study Session - March 10, 2026

The Mesa City Council held a study session on March 10, 2026, to review items for the upcoming regular council meeting and to receive updates from council members on recent events and community activities. Councilmember Adams was excused and absent.

Agenda Review

Council reviewed the agenda for the evening's regular council meeting. No additional questions were raised by council members.

Council Member Reports & Community Updates

Councilmember Taylor reported attending a Japanese business reception in Phoenix, hosted by the Greater Phoenix Economic Council and Arizona Commerce Authority, where she met Mesa-based Japanese-owned businesses. She noted that 50 additional businesses are considering locating in Arizona, potentially in Mesa.
Councilmember Duff described attending the fire department's family day (demonstrations of crisis events), a junior sons basketball championship at Eagles Community Center, downtown Mesa's baseball block party (featuring Sparky from ASU and former Diamondbacks players), and the Save the Family Elegance and Hope gala (18th annual, raising significant funds for families in need).
Councilmember Radio highlighted Dobson High School receiving the A+ School of Excellence designation from Arizona, one of only a few schools in the state.
Councilmember Goforth reported that the Mountain Bridge and Madrid communities received the Firewise designation for fire prevention efforts, coordinating with Arizona State Forestry. She also attended an America 250 block party at Segara Ranch, the America 250 exhibit at Red Mountain Library (featuring a Liberty Bell replica, attendance over 100), and the final day of the We Run Mesa program at Keno Junior High.
The mayor discussed police department efforts: five e-bike safety sessions conducted by Superstition Division officers, with soft enforcement (education-focused) expected to begin within the next two weeks; criminal violations will still be enforced.
Budget meetings were announced: the first community budget hearing at the Northeast Public Safety facility had only 4 residents attend, with 35–40 staff present. Two additional meetings are scheduled: Tuesday, March 11, from 6–7:30 p.m. at the Post (west side) and Wednesday, March 12, from 6–7:30 p.m. at Gateway Library (district six). Councilmembers urged public participation.
Councilmember Taylor noted that advisory board and committee applications are open for the new fiscal year starting July 1, with many positions becoming available.
Councilmember Taylor mentioned attending a ribbon cutting for Brewster's Ice Cream (near Costco on South), the owner's first business.
The mayor announced that Representative Stanton presented a check for $430,000 for a shot detection system technology. The system will differentiate between gunshots, fireworks, and other loud noises, and will be integrated with the real-time crime center.
Councilmember Goforth reiterated the Firewise recognition for Mountain Bridge and Madrid, emphasizing the defensible space volunteer work involved.
The mayor reported that Lehigh Days rodeo (March 8) drew over 3,000 attendees, with support from solid waste, parks, and police departments. He also attended an America 250 concert by the U.S. Army Field Band and Chorus at the Mesa Arts Center.

Key Outcomes

No formal votes or decisions were taken during the study session.
The regular council meeting was scheduled for 5:45 p.m. immediately following the study session.
A study session and community and cultural development committee meeting will be held on Thursday, March 12 (7:30 a.m.). The study session originally scheduled for Thursday, March 19 was canceled.
The meeting was adjourned by a unanimous voice vote.

Meeting Transcript

Welcome everyone to our Mesa City study session for March 9th, 2026. Councilmember Adams is unable to attend and is excused all other council members are here. Thank you. Item one council has reviewed the agenda for tonight's council meeting. I know that we've gone over this recently. Are there any additional questions for staff? I like it when it's quiet a little bit. All right. Mr. Manager, Mr. Attorney. Ms. Nothing from the clerk either. Okay, well, all right. There's your opportunity. With that, we're gonna move on to next as current events and conferences attended council members. Do you have anything you wish to share? Ms. Taylor. Yeah, last week I had the opportunity to attend a Japanese business reception in Phoenix, and I had the great honor of meeting some of our local business, or I'm sorry, some of our business owners that are here in Mesa, localized Mesa that are um Japanese owned companies, and so that was an incredibly enjoyable experience. We got to hear from the general consulate. Um and I I was there with Councilmember Duff and Mayor Freeman, and I would like to just make a public appreciation, a shout out to all the businesses that have chosen to be here in Mesa. And um, I also wanted to inform the public that we are very grateful because there's 50 other businesses that are looking at Arizona and maybe possibly Mesa as well for some manufacturing. So it was a great honor to be able to be there and just listen and learn. Great. And that was in partnership with the Greater Phoenix Economic Council and Arizona Commerce Authority and the Japanese uh consulate was there from LA. There was quite the group there. Anyone else? I'll talk about my weekend activities. Um Saturday, I had attended the um the fire department's family day at the public training uh facility where they have demonstrations of all the type of uh crisis events that firefighters encounter, and um it's very interactive and it's fun for the entire family to see what the firefighters do. Um I appreciate our fire department, they're amazing. I also stopped in at the junior sons championship at Eagles Community Center. Um kids of all ages were doing their semi-final finals, and there was a championship in the afternoon with their little sons' jerseys, playing incredible basketball. Um, and then I went to downtown Mesa's uh baseball block party. Uh Sparky was there from ASU, and there was a couple of alum diamondback players, um, Augie Ojeda and um Chris Owens. And um had a lot of fun with family and um food and the things going on in downtown Mesa for our spring training. Um that evening I went to the Save the Family Elegance and Hope is the 18th annual gala. Um they raised significant funds to continue their work for families in need, and I appreciate all that they do here in Mesa. That's it. Thank you, Miss Duff. Ms. Radio. Uh just a quick shout out to uh Dobson High School Friday. They had a award uh awards assembly and being recognized as a A plus School of Excellence in Arizona. Only uh a couple of schools in the state get that recognition, so it's just a big shout out to all the staff, the students there at Dobson High School. So great. Ms. Goforth. Yeah, I have a couple uh last Monday. You and I, uh mayor were at out at a couple of um at Mountain Bridge community out in District Five with also the Madrid community.

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