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Record of Proceedings

Mesa City Council Study Session - October 27, 2026

Council Study Sessions — Tuesday, October 27, 2026
BodyMesa, Arizona
SessionCouncil Study Sessions
DateTuesday, October 27, 2026
StatusNEW · FILED
Video Record
0:00 / 13:23

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

Speaker numbers apply only to this recording.

Unassigned speaker

0:00

Welcome to the Mesa City Council study session for October 26, 2026.

Speaker 1

0:06

Council member Adams is unable to attend.

0:08

It is excused.

0:09

Otherwise, all other council members are present.

0:13

As usual, Council item was to review the agenda for tonight's council meeting.

0:17

I know we went over it, but if you have some additional thoughts or questions, we have staff here.

Speaker 2

0:24

Mayor, if um if you could item 5D um is an IGA between the flood control district and and the city of Mesa.

0:31

Um we would like to pull this item, but it's for a positive reason.

0:35

We've we've had some uh conversations with the flood control district, and they may have more money available for the project than what's on there now.

0:43

So we'll we'd like to pull that tonight and bring that back to reflect updated numbers.

0:49

So um, so we'll see

Speaker 1

0:50

5D

Speaker 2

0:51

is being removed.

0:51

Yeah, um to remove 5D, yes, sir.

0:54

Okay,

Unassigned speaker

0:56

yeah.

Speaker 1

1:02

Council.

1:16

Anything else, council members?

1:21

All right, Mary, you got off easy tonight.

1:26

Okay, item two is uh next is current events and uh conferences attended.

1:32

So council members, are there anything you wish to share?

1:35

This time I'll start to my right, Miss Taylor.

1:37

Do you have anything you wish to share?

1:40

Great.

Speaker 3

1:42

Sorry, two seconds.

1:46

Um

Speaker 4

1:53

sorry.

Speaker 3

1:56

Okay, um, let's see.

1:59

I had the opportunity this past week to um

Unassigned speaker

2:03

go

Speaker 3

2:04

on Thursday evening.

2:05

I went to the Polaris Academy's uh gala to celebrate.

2:09

They have three campuses now in Mesa and it's an autism school, and they are just incredible.

2:14

I've learned a lot about them through um actually my neighbor who works for the Polars Academy, and so um a council member GoForth was also there.

2:22

She has um she has a campus in

Unassigned speaker

2:24

Oh,

Speaker 3

2:24

yes, Amistad was there.

2:26

That's great.

2:26

That's right.

2:27

So it was just a great evening.

2:28

I'm very grateful for that event.

2:30

And then on um, let's see, on Friday, I had the opportunity.

2:36

I was invited to attend, this is not my district, but the Arizona Ballet.

2:40

And I just want to encourage anyone who's never attended, please take some time and go see one of their shows.

2:45

It's a huge help to the arts and culture community in Arizona.

2:48

It was a beautiful, beautiful representation of Romeo and Juliet.

2:52

And um, I did have the opportunity to take a local resident with me.

2:56

I treated someone from from Mesa to go.

2:59

So that's all I've been up to.

3:01

Other than that, just meeting neighbors.

Speaker 1

3:02

Okay, thank you.

Speaker 4

3:05

Sure.

3:06

Yeah, the um the Polaris Academy among the stars, Gala was uh a great event, and Nathan Palmer, Brad Boyles,

Unassigned speaker

3:13

and

Speaker 4

3:14

Aaron Kasmeric are doing um incredible work and opening and they continue to expand.

3:20

They're they are homegrown Mesa school with uh four or five locations, but they've been contacted by school districts um around the valley to bring their schools to other cities.

3:32

So we're um proud that they started here in Mesa and continue to make Mesa their home.

3:37

On um Saturday morning, I had a trunk or treat.

3:40

It was all kinds of Halloween is going on, week early trunk retreat um in my district at one of the Fat Cats, and then Los Cenders had a fall fair with a lot of trick-or-treaters.

3:51

So I was um had a good time at that event as well.

Discussion Breakdown — Share of Meeting
Arts And Culture██████████████████████████████████████████42%
Procedural████████████████████████████████████36%
Food Security████████████12%
Economic Development██████████10%
Summary of Proceedings

Mesa City Council Study Session - October 27, 2026

The Mesa City Council convened a study session on October 27, 2026. Councilmember Adams was excused; all other council members were present. The session included a review of the evening's regular council meeting agenda, reports from council members on community events and conferences attended, and a discussion of upcoming meetings. (Note: The raw transcript header identifies the meeting as taking place on October 26, 2026, conflicting with the assigned meeting date of October 27, 2026.)

Discussion Items

  • Agenda Review: The council reviewed the evening's regular meeting agenda. Staff requested the removal of Item 5D, an intergovernmental agreement (IGA) with the Flood Control District. The request was made because ongoing discussions indicated that additional funding may be available for the project. The item will be brought back with updated figures.
  • Current Events and Conference Reports: Council members shared updates on recent activities.
    • Councilmember Taylor attended the Polaris Academy gala (an autism school with three Mesa campuses) and the Arizona Ballet.
    • Vice Mayor attended the Polaris Academy gala, community Halloween events, and the Dia de las Muertes closing ceremony.
    • Councilmember from District 4 attended the Xenodrome ribbon cutting (a Mesa-based drone manufacturer), the Dia de los Muertos festival (noting its 20th anniversary and status as the second largest in the United States), and the Arizona Forward Thrive in 2035 sustainability summit.
    • Councilmember Duff noted Mesa staff leadership in the Women Leading in Government conference and reported a $3 million appropriation for the United Food Bank's expansion, citing food scarcity affecting approximately 1 million Arizonans.
  • Future Schedule: City staff outlined the upcoming schedule, including the regular council meeting following the study session, a study session on Thursday, and another study session and council meeting the following Monday. Upcoming events include Halloween activities at libraries and the Haunted Hangar at Falcon Field.

Key Outcomes

  • Agenda Item 5D Removed: The IGA with the Flood Control District was pulled from the evening's agenda to allow for further funding negotiations.
  • Meeting Adjourned: The study session was adjourned unanimously following a motion by Councilmember Duff.

Meeting Transcript

Welcome to the Mesa City Council study session for October 26, 2026. Council member Adams is unable to attend. It is excused. Otherwise, all other council members are present. As usual, Council item was to review the agenda for tonight's council meeting. I know we went over it, but if you have some additional thoughts or questions, we have staff here. Mayor, if um if you could item 5D um is an IGA between the flood control district and and the city of Mesa. Um we would like to pull this item, but it's for a positive reason. We've we've had some uh conversations with the flood control district, and they may have more money available for the project than what's on there now. So we'll we'd like to pull that tonight and bring that back to reflect updated numbers. So um, so we'll see 5D is being removed. Yeah, um to remove 5D, yes, sir. Okay, yeah. Council. Anything else, council members? All right, Mary, you got off easy tonight. Okay, item two is uh next is current events and uh conferences attended. So council members, are there anything you wish to share? This time I'll start to my right, Miss Taylor. Do you have anything you wish to share? Great. Sorry, two seconds. Um sorry. Okay, um, let's see. I had the opportunity this past week to um go on Thursday evening. I went to the Polaris Academy's uh gala to celebrate. They have three campuses now in Mesa and it's an autism school, and they are just incredible. I've learned a lot about them through um actually my neighbor who works for the Polars Academy, and so um a council member GoForth was also there. She has um she has a campus in Oh, yes, Amistad was there. That's great. That's right. So it was just a great evening. I'm very grateful for that event. And then on um, let's see, on Friday, I had the opportunity. I was invited to attend, this is not my district, but the Arizona Ballet. And I just want to encourage anyone who's never attended, please take some time and go see one of their shows. It's a huge help to the arts and culture community in Arizona. It was a beautiful, beautiful representation of Romeo and Juliet. And um, I did have the opportunity to take a local resident with me. I treated someone from from Mesa to go. So that's all I've been up to. Other than that, just meeting neighbors.

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