The Phoenix City Council convened for a meeting focused on community outreach reports and the adoption of a comprehensive policy framework for the newly established Phoenix Housing Trust Fund. Council members emphasized the critical need for affordable housing amidst rising costs and reduced state and federal funding, highlighting community partnerships for holiday relief efforts. The meeting culminated in the unanimous approval of the Housing Trust Fund policy to accelerate the creation and preservation of affordable housing for households earning 80% of the area median income or below.
Thank you so much. Good afternoon. It is November 18th, and I'll call the meeting to order. Thank you all for joining us. We'll begin with council information and follow-up requests. And I will jointly recognize Councilwoman Stark and Councilman Robinson to begin us. Thank you. So Kevin and I went to a coffee with the cop, and uh the commander of the Desert Horizon precinct threw down a uh a piece of competition, he thought that only Kevin and I could do all of you could do this, but we just happen to be at the coffee, and it was for the turkey drive they do annually at Desert Horizon. And so we have a competition going on between Desert uh District Three and District Six. Of course, district three will win, but um I will turn it over to Kevin if you have any other thoughts, knowing that district three will win. Thank you to my esteemed colleague. Um it's been interesting. Obviously, interesting as councilwoman Stark said, we were asked by the police department to help them, help them um with a you know a worthwhile cause, and that is obviously raise money and collect turkeys for folks who couldn't otherwise probably afford it this time of year. So the competition was fierce. Um I got sucked into it, you know. Everyone thinks that councilwoman Sark is this nice woman and all this other stuff. But um, you know, we went at it toe-to-toe, head to head and stuff like that. And I will say that um thus far, as of this morning, well over six thousand dollars raised, and in comparison to last year, a total of seventeen hundred dollars having been raised. So I think the head-to-head competition is it's really good. It's bruising my ego, but it's good for um the overall um our overall goal. And with that, I I thank Councilwoman Stark and her entire office, and I think my office, they've all gotten into it, and you're about to see, I think a very quick video. I want to throw a thank you out to our communications person for um the council floor, Adam Waltz, because he participated. He participated a lot more than I thought he would. So I'll just put it at that. So Mayor, thank you very much. Councilwoman Stark, thank you. I think we have a just a couple quick slides of presentation. And then of course is be true indicate district three. Go ahead. And quite frankly, we probably should do this year round. We should all think about giving to our food banks year-round, not just during the holidays. But thank you. It's been a lot of fun. And I can't wait to have that. What is that? Prize again is uh dinner that's cooked by Commander Warren Brewer out of Desert Horizon Precinct has a specialty of um barbecued Hawaiian or Hawaiian barbecue that he'll put together for the winning office. So if we don't win, we're gonna sneak over to District Three anyway and eat the food. But um, you know, the one last thing I'll make mention of. I've never seen so many department heads run in the opposite direction when they saw me because Deb had already gotten to them. So I I I understand your reluctance and your avoidance of me, and I appreciate the reasons why. So thank you, Mayor. Well, th thank you both for helping such a worthy cause. We know it's been a tough year for so many, and thanks to the two of you in the precinct, a lot of people are gonna have a better Thanksgiving. St. Mary's has been wonderful through the challenges we've had with federal. I don't know what you'd even call it. The federal government. Um, and I think it's really disrupted their supplies, so they are lucky to have you uh as partners in this area, and we're wishing you both good luck, but I feel like either way the community wins. So thank you. Uh Councilwoman Gordado.