Good afternoon.

Welcome to the Phoenix City Council meeting.

Before we begin, we will have a moment of silent reflection.

Thank you.

And now please rise for the pledge of allegiance.

I pledge allegiance.

Thank you so much for joining us.

Today is December 3rd, and we are pleased to call the meeting to the order.

Will the clerk call the roll?

Councilwoman Guardado here.

Councilwoman Hernandez here.

Councilwoman Hodge Washington.

Here.

Councilwoman Pastor.

Here.

Councilman Robinson.

Councilwoman Stark.

Here.

Councilman Waring.

Vice Mayor O'Brien.

Here.

Mayor Gallego.

Here.

Councilman Robinson is not with us today because he is leading the city's delegation on our first ever non-stop flight between Phoenix and Asia, which has just landed.

So today is a historic day.

And speaking of important news of today, we are so pleased to welcome Ginger Spencer, our newly appointed assistant city manager.

So welcome, Ginger.

Phoenix Native, Alhambra High School graduate and longtime public servant at the city of Phoenix, joining Laurie Bayes as our two assistant city managers.

So congratulations, Ginger.

We are thrilled with the news and welcome to your new chair.

Thank you, Mayor.

Thank you, Council.

Elsie Duarte is with us to provide Spanish interpretation.

Elsie, would you introduce your team?

Yes, Mayor, thank you.

My name is Elsie Duarte, and along with my colleague Oscar Monroy.

We will be providing Spanish interpretation during today's formal meeting.

Thank you.

Will the city clerk read the 24-hour paragraph?

The titles of the following ordinance and resolution numbers on the agenda were available to the public at least 24 hours prior to this council meeting, and therefore may be read by title or agenda item only.

Ordinances number G7450 through 7461 S52406, 52435, 52437 through 52481, and resolution 22348.

Thank you so much.

Will the city attorney explain the role of public comment?

Yes, thank you, Mayor.

Members of the public may speak for up to two minutes to comment on agenda items.

Comments must be related to the agenda item and the action being considered by the council.

General comments that go beyond the scope of the agenda item should be made during the citizen comment session at the end of the agenda.

The city council and staff cannot discuss or comment on matters related to pending investigations, claims, or litigation.

Additionally, any member of the public who appears before the council in their capacity as a lobbyist must, as required by Phoenix City Code disclose this fact before addressing the council.

The City Code states that speakers must express their comments respectfully and courteously.

Use of profane language, threats, or personal attacks on members of the public, council members, or staff are not allowed.

Such comments are disruptive and unrelated to the council's business.

Any person who violates these rules may lose their opportunity to speak further and could be asked to leave.

Thank you, Mayor.

Thank you so much.

And now we the good news continues.

We have a swearing in of our municipal judges.

Two individuals who are unanimously supported by the city council at our last meeting.

We will do two swearing-ins in alphabetical order, and each judge will have a chance to introduce the family members who are here with you.

So we'll begin with Brett Hutchinson.

If you could introduce your wife, thank you.

This is my wife, Carla.

Wonderful.

Please raise your right hand.

Please state your name.

Brett Hutchison.

Do solemnly swear.

Do solemnly swear.

That I will support the Constitution of the United States.

That I will support the Constitution of the United States.

And the Constitution and Laws of the State of Arizona.

And the Constitution and Laws of the State of Arizona.

Then I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same.

That it will bear true faith and allegiance to the same.

And defend them against all enemies.

And against and defend them against all enemies.

Foreign and domestic.

Foreign and domestic.

And then I will faithfully and impartially.

Discharge the duties of the office of.

Discharge the duties of the office of.

Municipal court judge.

Municipal court judge.

According to the best of my ability.

According to the best of my ability.

So help me God.

So help me God.

Congratulations.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you very much.

Thank you.

Christine.

Do you want to turn up and wait?

Yes.

Thank you so much.

Thank you.

And if you could introduce your husband.

This is my husband, Dan Mulano.

Wonderful.

Congratulations.

Thank you.

I Christine Mullino do solemnly swear.

Do solemnly swear.

That I will support the Constitution of the United States.

That I will support the Constitution of the United States.

And the Constitution and Laws of the State of Arizona.

And the Constitution and Laws of the State of Arizona.

That I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same.

That I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same.

And defend them against all enemies.

And defend them against all enemies.

Foreign and domestic.

Foreign and domestic.

And that I will faithfully and impartially.

And that I will faithfully and impartially discharge the duties of the office of.

Discharge the duties of the office of municipal court judge.

Municipal court judge.

According to the best of my ability.

According to the best of my ability.

So help me God.

So help me God.

Congratulations.

Thank you, Mayor.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you so much.

Congratulations to our judges.

Next, we go to the liquor license portion of our city council meeting.

We provide an advisory role to the state of Arizona on liquor licenses.

Do we have a motion on liquor licenses?

I move to approve items two through eleven, except item 11.

We have a motion and a second from councilwoman Stark.

All those in favor, please say aye.

Aye.

Any opposed signal nay.

Passes unanimously.

Item 11 is hatcher beer and smoke shop.

Uh we'll turn to councilwoman Stark for a motion.

Thank you.

I am going to recommend disapproval based on the neighborhood protests.

Also, staff notes that the applicant must resolve any pending city of Phoenix voting and zoning requirements and being compliance with applicable city of Phoenix codes and ordinances.

Second.

We have a motion and a second.

See, we do not have any speakers on this item.

Roll call.

Yes.

Hodge Washington?

Yes.

Pastor?

Yes.

Stark?

Yes.

Waring?

O'Brien.

Yes.

Gallego.

Yes.

Passes 80.

City Clerk, are we ready for ordinances resolution, new business planning and zoning?

Yes, Mayor.

Vice Mayor, do we have a motion?

I moved to approve items 12 through 77.

Accept the following.

Items 16, 23, 30, 32, 38, 39, 68, 71, 72, and 76.

Noting that item 23 has additional information.

Item 73 is withdrawn.

Items 74 and 75 are continued to December 17th, 2025.

Item 77 is continued to January 7th, 2026.

And can the clerk confirm if there are any other items that should be excluded for in-person public comments.

Mayor, Vice Mayor.

Also excluding items 33, 46, and 48.

That's items 33, 46, and 48.

Second.

Thank you.

We have a motion and a second.

Any comments on that?

Roll call.

Guardado.

Yes.

Hodge Washington.

Pastor.

Yes.

Stark?

Yes.

Warren?

O'Brien.

Yes.

Gaygo.

Yes.

Passes 8 0.

Vice Mayor, do we have a motion to suspend the rules and take item 68 out of order to be heard at this time.

So moved, Mayor.

We have a motion and a second.

All those in favor, please say aye.

Aye.

Any opposed, nay.

Aye.

All right.

Thank you.

We will take item 68 next.

We're related to historic preservation.

And we will begin with Julia Taggart, followed by Rita Davenport.

Thank you for taking it out of the schedule.

I know there was more family members that wanted to come, but unfortunately, yesterday we lost one of the cast members, Wick Kirsten.

He succumbed to the colon cancer.

So we were trying to get this done in time for him to celebrate with us, but unfortunately, that was not a possibility.

Our first anchorman for the state.

They are all in support of it.

Most of them are flying in today to celebrate with us tomorrow.

This building has spent so much to people.

And it really was the start of television and broadcasting here in Arizona.

And now we have multiple stations besides just Channel 5.

We have Fox 10, ABC 15, 12 News.

And we're very grateful to Vanny and Teresa Murray for pursuing historic status and for really preserving that building.

If you ever get a chance to go in on the second floor by the staircase, is a whole exhibit of the history of the building that you can see what has happened in that building and what is happening now with the office spaces for different artists.

And we did put the plaque out in front.

I know that was something people wanted, so there is a plaque now.

And hopefully some of you guys can join us maybe next year to celebrate the building we're going to try for the national register.

And if we get the national register, we will be the only other state with a television station building listed.

So I appreciate you guys doing the group photo.

I know that will go in the studio and all of your support in this.

And I'm glad that has happened 76 years later, and we can look back at television and keep looking forward of you know what we're gonna see happen next.

So thank you.

Thank you, Julia.

Rita.

Please welcome Rita Davenport.

Well, Julia said so much that makes such a difference.

I'm so excited about and I thank you all, Mayor and Council people for what you're doing to honor the Wallace and Ladmo show fame and Pat McMahon is Gerald and all the things that they have done to make people laugh.

You know, it's amazing how therapeutic laughter is and what they did for all of us that have lived here for so many years was make us laugh, no matter what.

They were just so talented, and we were so grateful to have that kind of example and broadcasting, something that people could really talk about to their family.

Uh, once I was driving to Tucson, and Pat was doing uh a regular radio show, and my son was in the car with me, and he was about six years old.

He says, Mama, that's Gerald.

Pull over.

Gerald is on radio right now.

We need to call somebody.

So uh the kids took it really serious that Jerry Gerald was somebody you don't mess with.

But uh, it was just such an honor to work with them.

My first show uh was the open house show, and then I did Phoenix at midday, and then I did cooking with Rita, and I knew that food was powerful and important, and uh thank God that it did become a food network, not my food network, my idea, but not my food network, which uh would have been tremendous.

But uh I knew that having famous people come and cook and people love food.

So, but the Wallace and Ladmo show and all the humor and excitement.

Once we went to um Mexico with Ladmo and his family, and I said, Ladmo, nobody knows it here.

You can you can just relax.

And he was running on the beach, and 12 kids were falling behind him yelling, Ladmo, Ladmo is in Mexico.

So he was known around the world, and they were wonderful, wonderful, talented people, and I'm so grateful for our time together, and thank you for doing this to honor them.

It is historic, they were historic, and they made a difference too.

They made a difference.

Fabulous, thank you, Rita.

I was pleased to be able to present Randy Murray with a proclamation for KPHO day in Phoenix tomorrow, and thank you for celebrating our great Phoenix history, which we just learned goes all the way to Mexico and internationally.

So thank you.

Uh, do we have a motion?

I will move to approve.

Second.

Thank you.

Comments with the Councilwoman Stark and then Councilwoman Hutch Washington.

Yeah, and I my motion includes the ordinance as well.

Um, you know, I Julia is a constituent of mine, and I will tell you she is very passionate about history, especially the history in Phoenix.

She has really done a lot in the sunny soap area, but it's not just sunny soap she loves.

She loves all of Phoenix and the history we have.

So thank you, Julia, to bring this to our attention.

Councilwoman Hodge Washington.

Thank you, Mayor.

I too just wanted to celebrate and thank um Julie for bringing it forward.

Um, she's also working in industry on another matter.

I love her passion for history, but I'm thrilled to support the overlay for the KPH H O studios.

Um, we know it's a cornerstone of our state's media history, and it is home some of our early shows, including um Arizona Tonight, Valley Spotlight, those things.

And I think this dedication just honors the legacy of local journalism, and it protects our landmarks that help shape our community's um stories, and it ensures the future generations can appreciate its space in Arizona Broadcast Heritage.

So I am proud to support this important um step in preserving our past while inspiring our future.

So thank you.

Councilwoman Pestor.

Yes, thank you, Mayor.

Um, I just wanted to say that um obviously know that I'm a strong advocate of his of uh preserving Phoenix history, um, and also of historic buildings.

Um I'm hoping one day Warren will come along with me.

Um but that's an inside joke between us, just how to make them laugh.

Um, but that the historic buildings also tell a story and tell a story of our city, and this one in particular does.

It being the first building uh to for the Arizona's first TV broadcast aired uh December 4th, 1949.

Isn't that an interesting date?

And for years afterwards, KPHO was still the only TV station in Phoenix, meaning that everything residents saw, including news, entertainment, elections, sports, and more came from this one building.

So think about that.

This is that one space in time, everything was moving out of there.

Um at the time that when Phoenix was the first beginning to define its identity on a larger scale, uh, this play building played a foundational role.

And if you kind of think about where it's situated and where it's at, right there in the middle, at that time and time and space, that was the main drag.

And that's where things happened.

If you go back and look and was part of that history.

Uh one thing about our cultural identity is where the Wallace and Lanmo show came about, continued, and aired a very long time.

But what I want to say is that generations of Phoenicians will be able to see that space and go back in time and history and see what happened, but also it'd be very much a modernized space too, and be able to demonstrate how you can take a historic building and modernize it and keep the identity within itself.

So I just want to thank you for doing this as a passion.

It does take a person with passion uh to really preserve some of these buildings and take on the fight to explain why and have a a backbone to stand up and say this is what's what's needed.

So I want to thank everybody that was part of this, the collective of doing it.

So thank you.

Thank you.

Roll call.

Yes.

And on this, yes.

Hodge Washington, yes.

Pastor?

Yes.

Stark?

Yes.

Waring?

Brian.

Yes.

Yes.

Passes 80.

Woo-hoo.

Thank you so much, and I hope wishing an incredible celebration tomorrow and ongoing.

More good news for us.

Will the city clerk read the title for item 16?

Item 16 is for ordinance G7460 and ordinance amending chapter 12, Article 7, Division 2 of the Phoenix City Code by adding section 12 1504 relating to campaign finance reporting requirements and political action committees and candidate committees.

Thank you.

Do we have a motion?

I'll move to approve.

I move to approve item 16.

Second.

How about a second?

Second.

Wonderful.

Thank you.

We have a motion and a second.

Thank you to the city clerk's office and the legal team for working with us on this.

Any discussion?

Roll call.

Yes.

Fernandez?

Yes.

Hodge Washington?

Yes.

Pastor?

Yes.

Stark?

Yes.

Waring?

O'Brien.

Yes.

Gallego.

Yes.

Passes 80.

Thank you.

Item 23 is union comments on the proposed changes to memorandum of understanding.

This is related to our contracts with our city labor organizations.

We have a process that is outlined, and the opportunity today comes for our labor partners to comment on proposed changes to their memorandums of understanding.

There will be an opportunity for the public to comment on the labor group's proposed MOU changes at the next formal meeting on December 17th, 2025.

Each labor organization has up to 10 minutes to comment.

We have Brian Willingham here today on behalf of Local 493.

Welcome, Brian.

Mayor, members of council, thank you for allowing me to speak.

And for those of you in the audience who don't know me, I'm the president of Local 493, the United Phoenix Firefighters Association.

2,000 of those work here in Phoenix.

Everywhere from Surprise, Peoria, Glendale, Tempe, and Chandler as well.

I work for the City of Phoenix.

I'm a captain paramedic on Engine 25, which is just south of Indian School on 63rd Avenue.

Again, thank you for allowing me to speak.

Mr.

Zerker, welcome back.

Laurie Bayes, members of staff, thank you for allowing me to speak as well.

Thank you for your time today.

We all share a priority that I think we have in common in it's taking care of the citizens of Phoenix.

I want to step back for a moment and acknowledge in recent years, especially this mayor and this council have done an extraordinary job of taking care of you.

And the reason I say that is because I've been a part of this and I've witnessed this.

They provided additional funding.

They've they did something very bold, very controversial for any politician, especially if you want to label them as politicians.

They're people too.

They have jobs, and I want to let you know that by increasing the transaction privilege tax, as well as modifying the excise tax, that has allowed us to increase our resources, our staffing, and you will see the largest transition and really um increase in resources in the history of City Phoenix because of this mayor and this council.

So credit where credit is due.

I think there's a third leg here, and that's what I'd like to talk about.

We have a formal process in the city of Phoenix.

It's our negotiations process.

All units go in together at the same time.

It's pattern bargaining.

I won't bore you with details, but it's very formal, as juxtaposed to many cities that are not very formal.

And we're very fortunate to have this in our ordinance and our contracts that we're allowed to do this, especially in a right-to-work state.

So I'm gonna read from this script, but I'm happy to take questions too, because I just don't want to miss anything.

But in recent years, as stated before, we've worked together on major investments and strengthened our city's emergency response system and improved service delivery for all you, the residents.

So when I tell you that we've increased staffing, we're increasing staffing, and we're adding stations close to nine now, and we're also adding additional apparatus in our system.

That means your response times are gonna go down.

Okay, that's safer for you and your family.

So as we begin this year's negotiations, the central issue is whether Phoenix can remain competitive enough to retain and recruit the firefighters required to sustain that level of service.

Last year, Phoenix firefighters responded to more than two thousand two hundred and thirty-five thousand calls.

Our city continues to grow, the workload continues to rise, and the risks our crews face are increasing.

We accept that.

And most firefighters, if you talk to them, they love their job.

But many valley fire departments have raised wages significantly.

And since the last class and comp study, which actually was recent within the last few years, Phoenix has not kept pace.

And we are now at risk of losing experienced firefighters to neighboring departments that offer more.

Competitive wages are not a benefit for the fire department or to the fire department.

They are essential to maintaining reliable, consistent service for the people of Phoenix and their families.

Retention directly improves emergency response.

It keeps trained, experienced firefighters on every engine, every ladder, and every rescue unit.

It reduces turnover and limits overtime reliance.

Our proposal that we've submitted formally on December 1st reflects that need.

So in five years, we've worked seven years.

In ten years, we've worked 14 years.

In 20 years, we've worked 28, and in 30 years, I've over 30 myself.

We've worked 42 years and hours of service to our community.

The mental anguish that our folks experience, PT PTSD has been absolutely plaguing the fire industry.

And I'll I'll just be blunt about if I can take a moment to talk about me specifically and my role as the president representing these firefighters.

I am terrified to lose another firefighter over suicide.

Okay.

The changes that these folks made are gonna help with that.

You all deserve every ounce of credit for that.

I also don't want to lose them to another fire department.

We're not losing a lot of them right now, but there has been talk, and we have lost a few, and I just don't want to see a trend begin.

So I'm trying to appeal to all of you.

I do know the city's fiscal situation.

It's not great, right?

Everybody's experiencing trouble, and it's difficult in our current environment and our economy.

The devaluation of the uh fiat currency, the American dollar now is get becoming more and more difficult.

It compounds on the increase in inflation for everyone.

And I would imagine everybody in this room is experiencing the same thing.

I want to advocate for our firefighters.

Those are the that's my family.

Those are the people that I love, the people that I care about, and I know that you do too.

So that's all I'm trying to do today is appeal to you and help you understand.

We I feel like our fire department, our firefighters are the best in the business.

The absolute best.

And I want to advocate that for them in a manner that re that respects what they do and how they do it and how well they do it.

The Phoenix Fire Department is known throughout the world as one of the best fire departments in the world, and I will always believe that.

Thank you for time today.

I will take any questions if you have any for me.

So thank you.

Thank you for that important testimony.

Joe and my colleagues have questions.

Wonderful.

Thank you for advocating for your members.

Thank you.

Think you're also the first uh time to talk about fiat currency and uh presentation on labor contracts.

All right, and again, we the public will have comments opportunity on the 17th, our next council meeting.

We next go to item 30, which is amending an ordinance to add federal home ARP funding for the Salvation Army.

Did I miss Oh, I'm sorry, Councilwoman Hernandez has comments.

I apologize, councilwoman.

Thank you, Mayor.

Um, I just wanted to offer up some brief comments.

Um, I've had a chance to review the proposals from each of the units, and I look forward to the negotiations as we move forward.

Um, and as we get into this labor negotiation season, um, I'd like to raise some concerns that the community has shared um and has already raised in the past about this process overall.

We have heard repeatedly about the lack of transparency and opportunities for public participation during the labor contract negotiation process.

Um, this is a significant community concern, specifically when discussing contracts related to the police associations.

Um, as a majority of the city's discretionary funding goes towards the compensation.

We negotiate we negotiate with the unions and associations and the protections offered to police officers within the MOU directly, um, how those directly impact police accountability and transparency.

It seems it would be in the best interest of Phoenix residents in the city for those negotiations to be as transparent as possible with significant um opportunity for communities, uh, feedback.

So, for those reasons, um, I am directing city staff to research negotiation practices for cities that include a public process and transparency practices, um, such as allowing community members to join negotiation meetings and posting videos and minutes from the meetings throughout the negotiation process.

I would request that these findings be reported back to the full city council by February of 2026.

Um, Ed, can we make that happen?

Uh Mayor, members of council, Councilman Hernandez.

Uh yes, the uh the the research of transparency practices is something I think we have have some done somewhat already.

We'll we'll round that out and can certainly be done to report back to the council by February.

Okay, thank you so much.

Thank you, Mayor.

Thank you, councilman, councilman Gordado.

Thank you, Mayor.

I guess now um I do have some questions for Brian, if it's okay for him to come back up.

Brian, so just a couple of questions, and this is me um putting my organizing hat back on, contract negotiations.

Can you explain to us how the process works with the members when it comes to transparency, negotiations?

How do we communicate with the members and how do we communicate with the public?

Councilman, thank you very much.

I appreciate this.

And uh Councilwoman Hernandez, too.

Thank you.

I understand your concern.

Um if I can step back for a moment and and just say something.

I I didn't expect this, but Ms.

Hernandez, please understand.

I am adamantly opposed to what you're recommending.

I believe our our our process is transparent.

It's incredibly transparent.

But I also believe if you go a step further in what you're suggesting, it will put this city and the negotiations process into a stalemate that I think will set us back years.

There are cities across the country that do this.

Chicago is one of them, and they can't get through negotiations.

They've had stalled out negotiations for years.

Here's why I believe it's it's transparent and very open and honest for all of our citizens of this and the taxpayers within the city of Phoenix.

We come up with proposals.

A lot of them are concepts.

Some of them are not realistic.

We don't know that until we get into the negotiations process.

So when we sit across the table with what I believe are some of the best budget folks in the country, uh, I don't know if Amber's here, she's amazing, but her staff under uh I mean, even Jeff Barton when he was there, City Manager Zerker, all those folks that have come up through that department within our city, they prepare costing because sometimes we don't know how to cost certain things, right?

So we go through this discussion process, and even some of the the items we've submitted this year, we don't know how much they cost.

It's not disingenuous, but if if we're in a situation where we're negotiating and I'm worried about what, to be frank, the Goldwater Institute is gonna read about my comments in private discussion to try to explore these concepts, or if I'm worried if somebody on the other side is worried about maybe what the mayor or all of you on council are thinking, we're not having organic natural conversations, it's posturing.

This is my opinion.

You're asking councilwoman Guardado, and I I feel very passionate about this.

I testified against the Goldwater's efforts to do this for a reason.

I I when we finally come to an agreement on a contract, and I've been doing this for 20 years in the city of Phoenix.

When we come to an agreement, you guys all get the proposals.

You know exactly what they cost, you know exactly what the language is that we've agreed upon.

So we're not posturing at that point, it's just factual, it's in front of you.

And you get a few weeks with that to determine whether you want to go thumbs up or thumbs down.

Our constituents, your constituents, I should say, our our family in our community has an opportunity to come up and rebut that and and speak against it or in favor of it, and they get to see that language too.

It's all public record, from my understanding.

If I'm misspeaking, please correct me.

But I I believe it's an incredibly transparent process.

Pattern bargaining uh allows for a very equitable process.

If the firefighters get three percent, so do the folks in the water department, so do the folks in waste management.

It's a it's an equitable process for everyone.

There are things that I don't like about our negotiations, right?

Like I could tell you plenty.

I'm not here to complain.

I'm trying to answer your question.

I believe they're very transparent.

Ms.

Hernandez, you and I have had some connections, right?

We have some very, very profound, deep things that we connect about.

We also have some differences, and you and I have talked about our brothers, right?

I understand where you come from.

I, in my position and in my union, in our local and our fire department, I want transparency with everything.

But I don't want to be in a situation where we can't be open and honest in a dialogue because I'm worried about what some person might think and don't understand.

Because many of the provisions in our contract, it takes weeks for my own e-board to understand.

I have to, we have educational components that I have to put on classes for my own e board to help them understand.

They have to attend several times to finally wrap their mind around some of these benefits.

And this is no many people in the community, a heck of a lot smarter than I am, can read our contract and and cipher some of that stuff, but a lot of it requires a lot of nuance in explanation.

It can take months to reach that point.

So if we have outside agencies diving into this before we actually come to an agreement, every single issue, one by one, I think will be cherry-picked and pulled out and twisted and I think misrepresented in a lot of cases.

So, with all due respect, I would adamantly advise against that.

This is not personal for me, okay?

It's a pro this is business.

And I I would just adamantly advise against that for the I hope I answered your question, Councilwoman Guardado.

Yeah, thank you for that.

I guess I guess, you know, like just my own perspective.

Thank you, Brian.

You know, my own perspective.

I would also strongly recommend against this.

Um, just being a negotiator myself and having done this for many, many years um in the private sector and with the unions.

I mean, contract negotiations is not something that a lot of companies are very open to.

We're very lucky here um that we are in the city of Phoenix, and I think um everyone that has negotiated contracts here in the past have been very open in terms of looking at the needs for all of our workers.

I think um in the last six years we worked really hard on turnover.

I remember one of my first meetings with Ed when I first got elected in 2019 was talking about turnover and talking about what we could we do to change that and hearing the frustrations from all the different um locals um from asked me to plead to um in 493 to everyone, lay on it, just the frustration on how you know we were spending so much money on onboarding people, and we spend more money on boarding them than it took them like five minutes to look for a new job, given given the benefits and given a lot of things that needed to change, and fortunately we've been able to make that turn.

Huge thank you to all of my colleagues um for everything that we've done um to really um change um the atmosphere when it comes to wages and benefits um for all of our workers um throughout the city, and I think we've made that turn.

I think people can now a lot of people now definitely say that they're proud to work in the city of Phoenix, and I would not like that to change.

Like, I don't know, Julie.

I mean, you can stop me if I'm wrong.

I mean, I just think having open negotiations just causes, you know, maybe stalling of negotiations.

We know that the Goldwater Institute loves to look at everything.

I know they would love to see a public process, and I think that just sabotages negotiations, and to me, that's um they would love it because they it's a way to union bust the unions and you know get members to not want to be members of the union.

And again, I guess I know that I'm going a step further just because I do put on my union hat on and the work that I've done here in Arizona um for a very long time.

So I would, you know, I I would try to figure out, you know, I know we have the MLUs have been submitted, correct, from all the different unions, and I think we're gonna discuss those next week with every whoever wants to come from the public and talk about it.

I mean, I would, you know, I I don't have an issue if we want to make those more public for people that want to see them, but having open negotiations, I just think causes a lot of friction, a lot of issues, and I don't think that workers will get all the compensation that they should get if we go ahead and do this.

So I would, I don't know how everyone feels up here, but I would strongly recommend against this because to me that's just not um an equitable way to be able to negotiate and to have open dialogue about things that about all the different things and for people to be honest.

I I just think that's not a good practice.

I don't think it's a practice that we have anywhere throughout the country.

Um, I think all the I and I think this sets a precedent that then everyone, public and private sector, would love to be able to do this, and I think this will definitely bust the unions and really fracture negotiations and really stop workers from getting all the benefits that they might be able to get.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you, Brian.

Thank you.

Thank you.

And just want to make sure we uh it is very worthwhile discussion to have about the process, but we gotta I guess stay within how it was posted online as as we have the discussion, which this is agendized for union comments and proposed changes to the MOUs.

Councilman Hodge Washington.

Thank you, Mayor.

I I wanted to um caution, I also wanted to caution this conversation in public without I feel uncomfortable having this conversation without the advice of council as to whether or not this is permissible and whether or not this is in line with ARS, the revised statutes, because we are talking about matters I believe could be viewed as in violation.

I understand my count my colleagues' desire for more information about how alternatives to the process, but I think this is probably not on the dance without that information.

I don't feel comfortable saying I agree or I disagree with the proposal because I don't have some key information that I need.

So I too would be cautious about going any further with this conversation.

Councilwoman Hertandis.

Thank you, Mayor.

And thank you, Brian.

Like this is the great piece about public engagement, right?

And the the public discourse steps.

I think my comments were very specific, asking for research.

The proposal is simply asking for research.

So I not anything additional.

I'm not offering up, I'm not asking for us to vote on changes.

My request is simply research.

I I also would like to say that I think I've made it a habit of not posturing during my time as an elected official.

Um and so I see no harm in gathering research to see how these processes are handled in other cities.

Um, and that is the extent of my request.

Mayor, um I'm sorry, can you just if she can you just reframe that then?

Because I didn't understand it that way.

Sure, it says I am directing staff to research negotiation practices for cities that include a public process and transparency practices, such as allowing community members to join negotiation meetings and posting videos and minutes from the meetings throughout the negotiation process.

Got it.

Councilman Pastor.

I just want to be clear on process.

So my understanding, and and you're gonna have to, I don't have it memorized.

I should, but there's a certain point in time where the elected uh are then uh placed on blackout.

Can you go through the process and explain what blackout is for us?

And I don't know if this falls in this purview because I'm just doing it for the public.

Uh mayor councilman Pastor, uh yes, you are correct.

There is a point in the process in which there is a blackout period.

We are not even close to that yet, so so you're all good with that.

But I think Lori might have generally, if not specifically, those dates.

Actually, what I would like to do, um city manager Zirker, if you don't mind, is actually have Jason Perkheiser, our human resources director, come down because he has the exact dates and can go over those for the mayor and council as well as the public.

And as you're coming up in their next meeting, I believe that then the public will have the opportunity to speak.

Right.

That is correct.

Yes, that is correct, councilwoman.

Um thank you uh for the question, Mayor's mayor and members of council.

So there is a blackout period.

That period um will begin in March.

Um that's the period in which the um both labor groups and management at various times are not permitted to communicate with council with regard to the negotiation process.

Um, but with regard to some other important dates.

So, as we've already discussed, excuse me, there is going to be an opportunity for public comment here uh at the next formal meeting where public is more than welcome to weigh in on the proposals that have been submitted.

There is additional opportunities for public comment as well before the contracts are finally voted upon by mayor and council.

Thank you.

Thank you.

All right, seeing no further comments, we will next move on to item 30, uh, which is St.

Catharines Manor Affordable Housing Project, and I'll turn to Councilwoman Hodge Washington for comments and a motion.

Thank you, Mayor.

I wanted to uh I wanted to go ahead and highlight these two items.

I think they are very prudent in great use of our home ARP funds.

Um, these I say two comments because I'm actually lump in item 29 and item 30 together.

Um they represent 29 um 29 new rooms or sorry, 12 new rooms and 60 units for 60 individual family members as well as 11 units for our senior population.

And I want to take a moment to um use this time to to address the importance of projects such as these continuing to be funded, especially to see our federal partners make changes that are going against our permanent supportive housing here in our community.

And I really just wanted to highlight the importance of today's request.

These are dollars that we are using to reduce homelessness and improve how improving housing stability, and there's we are not impacting our general fund.

This is a great project.

I just wanted to thank our housing department for projects such as these.

More rooms mean more families are sheltered and more children supported, more seniors supported.

I'm grateful to our housing department and the salvation army, as well as um sorry, um Catherine Manor's Saint Catherine Manors for make for their partnership, but I'm in support of this item.

I would move to approve item 30.

Second, we have a motion and a second roll call.

Yes.

Hodge Washington.

Yes.

Pastor.

Yes.

Stark?

Yes.

Wearing?

O'Brien.

Yes.

Baygo.

Yes.

Passes 80.

Item 32 is related to Mountain Preserve Maintenance Services.

Request for an award.

Do we have a motion?

I move to approve item 32.

Second.

We have a motion and a second.

Councilman Hernandez, and then we will go to public comments from Tim and Jerry.

Thank you, Mayor.

I just want to take a moment to comment here about the value of the parks and the value of our public spaces.

Across Phoenix, we have all types of parks, small pocket parks, baseball and soccer fields, nature preserves with trails, dog parks, and parks with big open spaces where we host concerts and celebrate our city.

Those parks are public space.

They exist for the good of our community.

They exist to provide rest and leisure space where our people can unwind and enjoy nature.

Reviewing this contract proposal in preparation for today's meeting, I was reminded that our city makes positive investments in our parks all the time.

With this contract, we are investing in trails and outdoor space where our residents will connect with the land.

That is a beautiful thing, and I wish all of our residents and for my D7 residents specifically.

But let's also be honest, it will largely be white affluent residents of the city that enjoy these clear trails.

In most of the parks in my neighborhood, we don't have accessible and open bathrooms.

And we criminalize people for sleeping and sharing meals.

We are told that we can't have picnic tables because we don't want homeless individuals to gather around them.

We are told that criminalization is a solution for our challenges.

Yes, as we have that information, we'll make it available to the council.

Okay.

Thank you so much.

Thank you, Mayor.

Thank you.

I think our parks are such a treasure.

There's been statewide polling that says our open space is the number one thing that unites Arizonans, which I think is fabulous that how much we love our open space.

The parks are a gem for our whole city and and even our visitors.

There's a couple chairs trails where I like to count how many different languages I heard being spoken along the trail as I go hiking, and my record is I heard seven different languages being spoken on Cowanis Trail on just one hike.

So what a what a gem for the incredible diversity of our community and our visitors.

We'll hear from Tim, followed by Jerry.

You know, it's great to talk about how everyone loves the parks, but how come they're not taken care of?

This maintenance program we talked about 10 years ago.

Nothing's been done.

I I'm amazed that Echo Canyon has been shut down now for almost two months, one of the most traversed trails in the United States, and nothing is done about it at the present time.

It's only two weeks ago that they had someone coming out and looking at the trail to see what could be done with the trail.

Is this management?

Is this really good management?

I doubt it.

The trail needs to be opened.

We need trail repair.

We need maintenance and parks continually.

How many times do we have to repeat the scenario and tell people that maintenance is very important in the parks?

Am I misunderstood?

We could use three PI money.

You've used it for everything else at this point.

So my God, let's let's start looking at maintenance and saying we need to do something.

You need to ask the question why the number one or number two trail, Echo Canyon, is closed at the present time.

What's being done?

What's being done with this?

Is the city manager communicating with the parks department to make sure something is being done at the present time?

That's a valid question at this point.

Echo needs to be open.

Trail maintenance needs to be taken care of.

If you don't know how to do it, hire someone who can.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Our final speaker will be Jerry on this item.

Good afternoon.

Uh Jerry Van Gas.

You know, this was a red flag as soon as I saw it on the agenda.

It wasn't under the parks department.

Uh we've, you know, but we become used to this, so we we go through everything.

And it's uh it's not coincidental that two months ago, torrential rains eroded and uh catastrophically eroded Echo Canyon.

But uh our attorneys at the Center for Law and the Public Interest in the last three weeks have filed record requests for both that and now all of a sudden we need trail maintenance.

And they haven't heard back a word.

Uh because frankly, um you know they don't know what to say because we had trail maintenance six years ago with Okanaga and trail construction, they built Echo Trail, and we decided not to renew that contract.

So we've been going naked, you know, the insurance term on these trails with absolutely no maintenance except what the volunteers can provide.

These are the most if this was a national park, it'd be number two in the country for visitation and use, and we have no maintenance program, and now all of a sudden you want one.

Uh so we're I asked that this this item be continued, it never went through the parks board.

This is the first we saw of it, and it's a knee-jerk policy, which is not sustainable in the city.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Yes, Councilwoman Hodge Washington.

Thank you so much, Mayor.

I was curious if we could have parks come to the table.

Just had a quick question for you.

Good afternoon, Mayor, members of the city council.

Councilwoman Hodge Washington.

Thank you so much.

Um, Director Aguilar.

Just had a quick question.

One of the comments was the public doesn't have a well, what I took away from one of the comments was that the public doesn't have a mechanism in which to identify of needed repairs in the park systems or the trail system.

Can you explain um how we can how uh members of the public can make uh service requests?

Absolutely, Councilwoman Hodge Washington, mayor members of the city council.

There's probably a few different ways that the public can report issues to us.

Uh we do use the 311 system as a way where issues can be reported.

We also have a main email address.

We have so have a phone number, uh, and we have a team of rangers and other staff who are out on sites and in the parks where information can also be reported.

And and thank you.

And if you can talk a little bit about the proposed oversight that you would have over the vendor, uh uh any vendor under this procurement process for preserve trail maintenance.

Can you talk a little bit about that?

Yes, Councilwoman Hodge Washington.

This will allow us an opportunity to go outside our own scope of work of what resources we have internally to conduct trail maintenance.

So we have always performed trail maintenance.

We have had other contracts in place historically.

We do, as mentioned, have employees and volunteers who help with trail maintenance, and then we also have individual um projects, if you will, where we identify project numbers and separate contractors that go in and do a whole scope of work that would include trail maintenance and other work within the preserves.

And if I heard you correctly, you said both employees and volunteers that participate in the trail maintenance.

Can you tell me about how many employees that you have that would work on the trail maintenance portion of it?

Because I presume it outweighs or they outnumber the volunteer base.

Yes, Councilwoman Hodge Washington.

We have um about a hundred rangers in total, about sixty percent of those are in the preserve.

Uh they go through different training in regards to trail uh maintenance, and some have different specialties, some may go and get special certificates or training specific to erosion control and other maintenance that's needed around there.

So we certainly have a core team of employees who help, and we have a large number of park steward volunteers who are instrumental to our trail maintenance.

So thank you.

Uh if I could recap, I think it's fair to say that not only are we reactive to the needs of our if there's a complaint that comes in from the public, but we also have uh we are proactive in trying to identify maintenance issues on our own, correct?

If I could recap, I think it's fair to say that not only are we reactive to the needs of our if there's a complaint that comes in from the public, but we also have uh we are proactive in trying to identify maintenance issues on our own, correct?

Yes, Councilwoman Hodge Washington.

Thank you so much for your time.

Thank you, Mayor.

That's all my questions.

Thank you.

Roll call.

Oh, Councilwoman Pastor.

I have one question.

Um I would just like to know how do we keep the public informed on maintenance and when it would be completed.

Councilwoman Pastor, Mayor, Mayor, members of the city council.

Uh, right now, when there are trail, there is trail work that impacts the public, signage is posted out at the site to inform the public.

If it's a larger project, uh, we try to put large project information on our website.

We now have a dedicated uh page where we are posting project update information.

Okay, so basically larger projects like Echo Canyon is on the website, and it will give updated information as to uh this is what will be happening, and this is when we will finish.

And if it doesn't happen within that time frame, then is it updated saying we have to extend whatever, whatever?

Yes, Councilman Pastor, that is our goal in the case of Echo Canyon.

We don't have a definitive end date at the time, but we have been posting updates about where we are.

We in fact expect to post another update this Friday.

Okay, and so we know that erosion has happened, so what are we doing about it?

Yes, Councilwoman Pastor.

In this situation, after the recent rainfall, uh, three large boulders were identified to be unsafe.

The rain essentially washed away the sediment that was under and holding those boulders in place.

Uh, we then had to bring in some geotechnical engineers, some civil engineers to assess that, and then we had to find the right types of contractors that were willing to come up and secure the boulders while they could actually drill.

So the work that's been happening is they are drilling inside the boulders, they're inserting expanding grout that breaks off chunks of these boulders to try to make them smaller.

And right now we've seen some great progress.

We think we might be within a week of reopening, but we are waiting for a further evaluation by the engineers tomorrow.

Okay, thank you.

Thank you.

Roll call.

Hernandez, yes, Hodge Washington, yes, pastor, yes, Stark?

Yes, wearing, yes, O'Brien.

Yes, Gallego, yes, passes eight zero.

Thanks so much.

Item 33 is stage hand services.

It was uh moved removed from the consent agenda in error.

Uh, do we have a motion on item 33?

Move items.

I move to approve item 33.

Second.

All those in favor say aye.

Aye.

Aye.

Any opposed, nay?

Uh oh, I'm sorry, uh, roll call.

Guardado.

Yes.

Hernandez, yes.

Hodge Washington, yes.

Pastor?

Yes.

Stark?

Yes.

Waring?

Yes.

O'Brien.

Yes.

Gallego.

Yes.

Passes 80.

Item 38 is leads online contract.

Do we have motion?

I move to approve item 38.

Motion and second.

Any comments?

Roll call.

Yes.

Hernandez?

No.

Hodge Washington?

Yes.

Pastor.

Yes.

Stark.

Yes.

Waring?

Yes.

O'Brien.

Yes.

Raygo.

Yes.

Passes 7-1.

Item 39 is retroactive authorization to apply for community-based violence intervention and prevention initiative grant program.

Do we have a motion?

So I move to approve item 39.

Second.

Councilman Hernandez.

Roll call.

Guardado.

Yes.

Hernandez.

Mayor.

Please.

Thank you, Mayor.

I have met extensively with Phoenix PD about real-time operations center work that Phoenix PD has done along the I-17 corridor.

These projects use video surveillance and license plate cameras and engage in other data collection collecting with the goal of reducing crime.

Overall, I'm against these tools.

I do not support the state surveilling our residents.

I've been clear about all my concerns regarding the license plate readers, and I do not support collecting the data under the guise of crime reduction.

It is a very slippery slope that puts the state in our neighborhoods and on our streets and in our homes.

And I especially reject the continued use of these tools in black and brown communities, such as my home area of Maryville.

We have gotten enough criminalization.

I do believe in real investments in housing and harm reduction and in root cause interventions.

I would love to see the city invest this $2 million in the actual well-being of Maryville residents.

Hodge Washington.

Yes.

Pastor?

Yes.

Stark?

Yes.

Warren?

Yes.

O'Brien.

Yes.

Yes.

Passes 7-1.

Item 46 is related to Phoenix Deer Valley Airport.

Do we have a motion?

I move to approve item 46.

We have motion and a second.

Cesar, please come forward for comment.

Following the mayor.

Oh, sorry about that.

Good afternoon, Mayor and Council members.

My name is Caesar or Cesar Corral, and I'm here on behalf of the men and women of our local union trades.

I want to start by expressing my deep appreciation for your support on item 46, the Deer Valley Airport Repaving Project.

Your decision to move forward with union labor truly means a lot to our members.

It reflects a recognition of their skill, their professionalism, and the pride they take in every job they touch.

This isn't just another project to us.

Actually, none of them are just projects to us.

It's an opportunity for local workers to provide for their families and to work safely and with dignity.

And to deliver the level of quality that the city and this airport deserve.

Your support makes that possible, and we are genuinely grateful.

Thank you for your leadership, your trust, and your continued commitment to partnering with the workforce that builds and maintains Phoenix every single day.

We're proud to be a part of the city's success, and we appreciate you giving union workers a chance to continue proving their value.

Thank you very much.

Thank you so much, Mark Cardenas.

Afternoon, uh Mayor and Honorable Council members.

Usually people are here when they're unhappy with the city, and we think it's important to be here when we um when we when we're happy with the city as well.

And so that's why the Western States Carpenters is here too.

For one, to commend the city of Phoenix for selecting Jay Banneke construction to repave the taxiways at both Deer Valley Airport and uh Goodyear Airports.

Um we believe it's exactly this kind of smart local investment that keeps Phoenix strong.

And also to our city manager, uh, thank you for recommending them to the council for approval.

Um Jay Bannickey is a homegrown union contractor.

Uh, their workforce lives here, raises families here, relies on these jobs to build a stable middle class life.

When the city awards projects to local union contractors, we're not just repaving taxiways, we're putting Phoenix residents to work.

Also, we're supporting apprenticeships and ensuring these major aviation assets are built with the highest standards of safety and skill.

Airports are critical to our region's economy and the quality of this work matters.

Jay Banneke has a long track record of delivering complex infrastructure projects on time, on budget, and with craftsmanship that reflects the best things about the city of Phoenix.

So this decision does more than just fix pavement, it keeps taxpayer dollars in Phoenix, supports fair wages, and ensures our airports are ready for the growth ahead.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Councilwoman Guardado.

Thank you, Mayor.

Um, as I'd be supporting this item, I'm very happy to see um that we're doing um union work, local union work.

Um, love to see our youth coming up here and talking about how excited they are to be able to do this work um here.

One of the things that we've been talking about as a city and things that we are doing here in the city of Phoenix is really supporting apprenticeship programs.

I think those are key, especially for our youth.

Um, there's a lot of young people that cannot afford right now to go into a university.

So apprenticeship programs are key to making sure that we continue to grow as the city and that and that our youth continues to stay here in Arizona.

I know that as majority mom council, um, it's important for us to say that we want our children to stay here and if we're able to create those types of jobs and we're able to create those types of opportunities.

I think we're definitely on our way.

So congratulations to the Carpenters 1912.

Thank you guys for your advocacy and everything they just continue to do and showing us that apprenticeship programs, good union jobs is the way to go, especially for our working class communities that cannot afford to send their children into a university.

I think this is key.

I think this is the way to do things.

So thank you guys all so much.

Thank you, Mayor.

Thank you.

Roll call.

And on this, yes.

Hodge Washington.

Yes.

Pastor.

Yes.

Woohoo.

Stark.

Yes.

Wearing.

O'Brien.

Yes.

Yes.

Passes 80.

Item 48 is next, a related item, Phoenix Goodyear Airport infilled paving.

Do we have a motion?

I move to approve item 48.

Motion and the second Bill Bill Ruiz.

Good afternoon, Mayor and Council.

My name is Bill Ruiz.

I'm with the Western States Regional Council of Carpenters.

Councilwoman Guardado.

Um just wanted to let you know we now have, as of today, 1,000 apprentices at uh 1912.

And um also uh local 1912 Arizona is the fastest growing local in the UBC, United States, and Canada as we speak.

And so uh we're working hard to secure more work for our members.

So I want to thank you very much for the uh um support for item number 48 on the Goodyear Airport, the field paving project.

Your decision to move forward with Union Labors means a great deal to our members.

It shows that this council continues to recognize the value of skilled trained and reliable local workers.

We take pride in delivering safe, durable, and high quality infrastructure for our region and for our carpenters.

This project isn't just about construction, but it's about keep members working here locally and ensuring that critical transportation assets like Phoenix Goodyear Airport are built to the highest standards.

Your leadership makes that possible, and we are genuinely grateful.

Thank you for your continued trust in the men and women who build and maintain our communities.

We we appreciate the partnership and the look and look forward to delivering exceptional work on this project and many more to come.

Thank you.

Thank you, Bill.

Congratulations on the thousand work, ready to put them to work.

Roll call.

Yes.

Hernandez?

Yes.

Hodge Washington?

Yes.

Pastor.

Congratulations, yes.

Stark.

Yes.

Wearing?

O'Brien?

Yes.

Yes.

Passes 80.

Next is item 71, administrative design review text amendment.

Would anyone like a staff report?

All right.

Open the public hearing.

We do not have anyone to comment.

I will close the public hearing.

Do we have a motion?

So move.

I move to approve the item.

Per the planning commission recommendation and adopt the related ordinance.

Second.

Good team effort.

We have a motion and a second roll call.

Guardado.

Yes.

Hernandez?

Yes.

Hodge Washington?

Yes.

Pastor?

Yes.

Stark?

Yes.

Waring?

O'Brien.

Yes.

Gallego.

Yes.

Passes 80.

Item 72 is the historic preservation plan.

Councilwoman Pastor, do you want to introduce the item in the staff report?

Sure.

This is regarding the historic preservation plan.

And what I want to do is thank our staff and the historic preservation commission and the village planning committees that were placed together or gathered together in order to begin this work.

And what we have here today is the preserve historic Phoenix 2025 update.

So I want to thank staff for all that work.

The plan reflects years of public engagement, review, and thoughtful collaboration.

Phoenix historic neighborhoods are essential part of our city's identity as we know this.

And understand all the needs of a historic home.

And so I understand the importance and feel of a family and community and really collaboration and a belonging in a neighborhood.

This plan celebrates all our accomplishments throughout our historic neighborhoods and what has been done and reinforces our commitment.

That it's it's one of the things about the historic plan is in the past, and I'm sure uh it's here was that the value of the economic development it brings within those areas in Central Core.

But it also there is elements of affordability within there, and so we talk about uh affordability, economic uh economic engine or economic drive, it's all within that space, but it's also uh very much small business oriented too.

Um, and so I think it's I'm very proud of some of the items that we have done.

Um, specifically what I want to see as us move forward with updates to the historic preservation ordinance related to regulations and penalties for demolition and non-permitted construction.

Um, I would really like to look at that.

It was brought up uh recently, and uh really want to study and understand and what what we're able to do.

Um I think historic preservation is important to the council too because it's our city.

So I just want to thank you for that.

Thank you, councilwoman, for that wonderful introduction, and now we'll turn it over to Josh Banark.

Thank you, Mayor, members of the council.

I certainly just want to reiterate our appreciation for your leadership in getting us here.

I want to recognize Helena Ruder and her team, the HP Commission, all the members of our HP community for their tremendous work over the last couple of years putting this plan together.

So I'll turn to Helena now to give a brief overview of the plan.

Thank you, Mayor, members of council.

Uh, as noticed, this is an update to the city's first uh comprehensive historic preservation plan that was adopted by council in 2015 and really uh was kicked off with uh hiring the consultant place economics uh to do some nationwide research for us.

Uh what it does is it really puts uh historic preservation in uh context of uh the Phoenix General Plan, talks about benefits and program functions, and then as councilwoman Pastor noted, highlights the accomplishments of the office over the last 10 years.

Uh, what we realized after uh looking at both the consultants' recommendations and starting um at public engagement and surveys and meetings was that the original five goals of the 2015 plan still remain relevant today.

Um, but some of the new possible um uh policies and uh um goals can kind of change underneath these um original five goals.

Uh so the five goals are to protect archaeological resources, protecting historic resources, um, exploring preservation incentives, developing community awareness, and promoting partnerships.

Um I'll just real quickly go through these.

Um archaeological resources are mentioned in chapter eight of the zoning ordinance, but arguably um that is a section of our ordinance that can be enhanced.

So that's one area that we're looking at with this new plan.

Uh, in terms of protecting historic resources, also looking at how we can refined our historic preservation ordinance, which hasn't been updated since 2006.

Uh, also looking at the possibility of creating an honorific heritage property classification to celebrate uh historic properties.

Uh, in terms of exploring preservation incentives, uh one of the things that we're looking at is creating a better partnership with our Office of Customer Advocacy that's within planning and development to figure out additional ways we can work with property owners of historic age buildings on adaptive reuse.

Uh we are currently in the process of uh creating an HP 101 series really to kind of uh better inform property owners about historic preservation and also the general public, which will then kind of lead into some broader educational tools for realtors selling properties in historic districts.

Uh, and then some of the things we're looking at doing are really internally as well, um making sure that we are better integrated within our own department, uh taking on some new uh review processes, and um one of the things we are also looking at is the possibility of uh creating a city-affiliated historic preservation nonprofit.

Uh, and then recognizing that we would like to uh enhance uh protections for archaeological resources under the historic preservation ordinance.

Um, we want to make sure that we are doing a better job in our office of uh partnering with uh tribal historic preservation offices.

Uh so this is kind of a uh summary of the previous recommendations, um, most recently approved for the planning commission recommendation at the TIPS subcommittee.

And then staff is recommending uh council adoption of the resolution for approval of the preserve historic Phoenix 2025 preservation plan update.

Thank you so much for that great presentation.

We'll open the public hearing.

We do not have anyone here to provide public comment, so I will close the public hearing.

Uh exciting moment for us.

The Preserve Historic Phoenix 2025 ensures that we will honor our past while embracing the future.

We will connect with our powerful historic and cultural resources because we know they play such a key role in our city.

A huge thank you to the dedicated and passionate community members who have led the way in preserving the positive aspects of our community character, and thank you to the professional staff who works alongside of them.

I'm excited we will give our historic preservation office new tools and policies to protect our archaeological and historic resources to explore incentives and develop community awareness and partnerships.

Particularly eager to see our historic preservation office pursue creative initiatives aimed at preserving and promoting our community character and celebrating some of the incredible ethnic history we have here, the HP 101 series for property owners in the general public.

I think will be very helpful.

And preserving some of the incredible history structures as well as we've had a great year for archaeology in Phoenix and celebrating our roots there.

And then I always want to thank the voters who approved historic preservation bonds many, many times, which has contributed so much to our city.

Anyone else like to comment?

Roll call.

No, we need a motion.

I motion to approve the item per the planning commission's recommendation and adopt the related resolution.

Second, we have a motion and a second roll call.

And then this mayor.

Please, thank you.

Um, I'm excited to see this item on the agenda as we continue to develop our historic preservation plan.

I also want to recognize that the historic preservation access and resources have not always been equitable in the past.

Um, in district seven, we have neighborhoods that should be considered historic, but have never had that opportunity.

Um, but as we move forward and build the Phoenix of our future, I want to make sure that in this preservation plan, we are ensuring that it is done in the most equitable way equitable way possible.

Um, that represents all of our history.

So we have to do our part so that our communities are not gentrified while other communities are historically preserved.

Um I vote yes.

Hodge Washington, yes.

Yes, Stark, yes, wearing O'Brien.

Yes, Gaygo.

Yes, passes 80.

Item 76 is the rezoning application for the Metro North Corporate Park PUD approximately at Thunderbird Road in the Black Canyon Highway.

I want to credit the vice mayor who worked over her Thanksgiving break to make sure that this could go forward today.

Um we'll begin with opening a public hearing.

Um Taylor Earl is here on behalf of the applicant.

Does anyone have comments or questions for Taylor?

Oh, close the public hearing and turn to the vice mayor.

Thank you, Mayor.

Um, first I just want to thank all of the staff who also worked over um Thanksgiving break and the property owner, uh, everybody who came together as well as you and and your staff mayor to make this happen today.

Um, and with that, I would move to approve the item per the memo from the planning and development director dated December 3rd, 2025, and adopted the related ordinance.

Second.

Thank you.

We have a motion and a second.

Uh, this project includes a data center, and the city has really been working hard on this area.

We are seeing a pretty stunning amount of requests for data centers, and it has been an all-hands-on-deck effort.

So uh thank you to the planning department.

I think we're really getting watched all over the country.

Our folks in IT are helping to protect the city on the cybersecurity side.

Important in this one, no on site power generation.

We are getting more and more requests for power plants immediately adjacent to residential development, which is not traditional for land use planning.

And in this one, there will not be power plants on site.

It does not require new transmission to come in, which is also important because we're getting increasing complaints from folks who say I've lost part of my property for a transmission line for a data center.

Please include me in these decisions.

But we think we we balanced economic development and the community on this one, and and thank you to all the folks who worked so hard on that.

Any additional comments?

More that one.

Yes.

And then this.

Yes.

Hodge Washington.

Yes.

Pastor?

Yes.

Stark?

Yes.

Waring?

O'Brien.

Yes.

There you go.

Yes.

Passes 80.

Thank you.

We go to the final portion of our meeting agenda, and I'll ask the city attorney to introduce citizen public comments.

Thank you, Mayor.

During citizen comment, members of the public may speak to the city council for up to three minutes on issues of interest or concern.

However, the matter is addressed must be within the jurisdiction of the Phoenix City Council and on which the council has the authority to act.

The citizen comment session is limited to 30 minutes.

The Arizona Open Meeting Law allows the city council to listen to comments, but prohibits council members from discussing or acting on the issues presented.

However, council members may respond to criticism.

Thank you.

Thank you.

We'll begin with Leonard Clark, followed by Rochelle Glenn.

Hello, Mayor and Council members.

My name is Leonard Clark, and thank you so much for letting me speak.

Um I was born right down the street at the uh Samaritan hospital there, although I live out in the West Valley.

Phoenix is always close to my heart.

Um, I wanted to start off by saying thank you to our union brothers and sisters.

Uh my father was uh union member in a carpenter's union here for almost 50 years, and thanks to a union.

My father was able to get fair pay for fair work, and we need our unions because guess what?

You know what?

They'd be working us 40 hours, working us day and night, and uh our workers would just be worked into the ground.

Secondly, I wanted to uh ask you.

I know it's controversial, but I think that it's time we pay tribute to a gentleman who was raised in Phoenix, who went to college at Phoenix College.

His name was Ron Reidenhauer.

He was the infantryman who was a uh door gunner on a Huey helicopter uh in Vietnam and who came back to Phoenix uh having learned from other soldiers about something that occurred at a place called Mylai.

Um he lived right down here on Thomas and 16th Street, and uh it's historical.

People talk about the letter he sent to the congressman at that time in 1968.

His really the only person that took interest at the time was our congressman, a good man named Mo Udall, Morris Udall.

So Ron Reidenhauer and a few other soldiers, but especially Ron Reidenhauer with his letter exposing this atrocity that occurred, uh, represents the best example of American soldiers, the soldiers I knew who who helped children and homeless people.

Uh we're often painted in the American Army and the Armed Forces as all killers, and we don't care about the people.

That's not true.

Ron Reidenhauer, I think deserves a plaque.

And uh, you know, maybe we could also we have Senator John McCain uh who also I believe had a residence or residences in Phoenix, the late Senator John McCain, who, when uh others wanted to talk about torturing people in the name of the United States, he was against that because he was a POW for many years in Vietnam, and also a good men like uh Senator Mark Kelly, who have said, please to the soldiers follow your constitutional oaths.

And then finally, I want to let everybody know, and I I'm sure uh I'm preaching to the choir on this that our beautiful citizens of Phoenix, whether you be from Somalia, Mexico, Ireland, it doesn't matter if you're white, black, brown, whatever the color, ethnicity.

We love you.

Uh we hope you'll love us back.

We will not give in to the hate, not here in Phoenix.

We love each other too much here.

We love the fact that our country is based upon diversity, you know, and inclusion.

And this is something that I think Phoenix stands for.

And uh, anyways, thank you.

Thank you.

Rochelle is next, followed by Ellen.

Yes, yes, thank you for the opportunity to speak.

Um, I do have to make a small disclaimer.

It's my first ever time speaking, and I do have a pending case before municipal port court about a chicken.

Um a rooster that accidentally received but never wanted.

Um, in between receiving these baby chicks are only four weeks old and adorable.

And with the passing of I believe it's HB 2325, I now have six little well, bigger chickens, but I'm called before municipal port court because of my rooster and my backyard being dirty.

Well, it happened to be monsoon season, and I'm a disabled, 100% disabled service connected um for knee problems.

I had two recent replacements.

These are the cards you get after receiving the replacements.

It was horrific.

You can wish that on your worst enemy with the knee replacements because truly the worst surgery and painful.

I could not get out of bed for the longest.

And then I was sent to cardiologist for complications.

Um I believe that um being a registered nurse with a master's degree and um honorable medicine matters, and that when I honestly speak to you saying that I could not get out of bed with knee surgery and heart problems and being a partial thoracic spinal cord injury at T7 and eight after a car accident, that I am a wreck that is standing before you only by the grace of God.

But I am trying to raise some chickens because Hickman just went out of business, and we all know about that.

So being a farmer's daughter, being a medic, being independent, as my dad taught me as I was uh the first daughter to I don't know, drive a tractor, no cows, do whatever he said.

It was yes, sir, way before I joined the military.

So um my the problem is also that my neighbor who I testified, and this makes me really nervous.

You're gonna tell my I am a subpoenaed witness to Superior Court of Arizona without my permission, 10,000 fine, and my possibility of losing my children and sent to jail, was testified.

I testified reluctantly, and my neighbor has been harassing me since he won't let me alone.

He's one report reported the rooster and my shed from Timu that I was experimenting with, which survived one monsoon, which it didn't.

People think that's funny.

But I'm a science major.

I get to scientifically do whatever I want in my backyard.

So that's the problem.

Uh thank you for that testimony.

Uh Spencer from our team may share some resources that we have uh available.

That you were gonna say okay.

Uh thank you for that testimony.

Ellen is next, followed by uh Noah James.

Hello and good afternoon.

Um my name is Ellen Israel, and I am a public affairs specialist with the U.S.

Small Business Administration.

Um we're here in Maricopa County because of the microburst storms that occurred in October of this year.

And we are offering disaster assistance in the form of low-interest fixed rate loans uh available to homeowners, renters, businesses, and nonprofits uh straight from the federal government.

For uh homeowners, the low interest rate is three percent.

Uh for businesses, it is four percent.

And for nonprofits, it is 3.625%.

Uh homeowners can qualify for up to $600,000 total to repair and replace uh their personal property or their uh damaged real estate.

Uh renters can qualify for up to 100,000 to repair and replace personal property, including cars, and uh businesses may qualify for up to $2 million.

And uh for businesses in particular, they may qualify for a loan to assist with uh physical damage, but they can also qualify for an economic injury disaster loan, um, meaning uh that the money can be used for uh assistance with the loss of revenue due to the storms.

So if a business is seeing a drop in traffic because of the storms, or maybe they lost some inventory because the storms knocked out power and uh they had perishable food in a fridge, uh, these economic injury loans can help with that.

Um the deadline to apply for a physical disaster loan is January 13th, and for an economic injury disaster loan, that deadline is August 14th.

Uh if you're interested in applying, you can do so online at SBA.gov slash disaster.

Again, that is SBA.gov slash disaster, or you can visit us in person.

Uh we have a disaster loan outreach center open at the Tempe Public Library.

Um, we are open from uh we're we're open Monday through Wednesday from 9 to 6 and Thursday from 9 to 5.

Um and these loans uh for the first year, you don't have any payments, no interest accrued, uh, and there are no prepayment penalties, and your loan terms could be as long as up to 30 years.

So uh the application process really doesn't take anything from you but your time.

Uh you're not obligated to take the loan or the amount that we offer you.

Uh so I encourage everybody, even if you're not sure if you apply, uh, to come out and uh just see what you can get.

So thank you very much for your time.

Thank you for making this important resource available to our community members, so many of whom were impacted.

Noah is next, followed by Tim.

Wow, it's so nice to be up here again.

Aloha Maria and to the rest of the city council and Anna, I love that you fight for the police uh the police force because I'm very thankful that you're fighting.

Um, but I'm here for another thing.

I'm here to talk about Mormons and Catholics.

There's about 503 congregations here in Phoenix and 443,000 to 450,000 members here in Arizona.

And did you know it's a false prophet?

And it's not in the Bible.

So stop building these churches here in Phoenix.

Now we are here on the subjects about Catholics in Phoenix.

There's about 94 parishes and 23 missions and 2.4 million Catholics in Arizona.

And did you know back in the day there was a small Catholic group that praised Hitler and what he was doing to the Jews?

So we need to stop building churches in here in Phoenix.

Excuse me.

I mean, sir, your comments need to relate to an actionable item by the council.

It doesn't appear that um that is the you're making any request of our city council.

Um you have churches here.

What is but can you explain what your request is for the city council?

My request is to stop building them.

The city council doesn't build churches.

How are they built then?

Well, I don't I don't want to go back and forth with you, but so is your request that the city council stop building churches?

Mormon and Catholic churches.

Okay.

Well, that that is not something that is actionable by the city.

It's not.

Okay.

Then I'll talk about something else.

But I hope you heard that.

Um I hope that we can have more lighting downtown Mouse, where all the gay clubs are.

Or some kind of lights.

It just seems so dark to walk at night.

And like maybe a rainbow lights or rainbow crosswalks just to suggest them.

Um there's another thing I have to talk about.

No Phoenix businesses should not offer someone free filtered water in this city or this state.

I just don't understand that.

There I've been to a Starbucks, and I just don't understand how you can refuse somebody to give somebody free water.

It just makes no sense to me.

So I hope Phoenix doesn't do that.

When you have events for Phoenix, there should always be a sign language interpreter at your events from concerts to city events, and I should never have to ask for this from the city.

It should be provided and paid.

And then about your firefighters.

They're complaining too much.

And I understand that we need to give them a higher wage, but go to a counselor if you need help.

Thank you.

Is uh Tim Sirikowski still here?

All right.

Then we will go to virtual public comment.

Amanda McGowan, followed by Tammy Weaver.

Good evening.

Thank you for the opportunity to speak.

Um I'm here today to make you aware that at the most recent ethics commission meeting, which was held on November 20th, there were 21 ethics inquiry requests that were tabled, not because of their substance, but because they were not notarized.

The issue is that the form and the city website actually provided no space for a notary signature, nor any instructions stating that notarization was required.

Only after these inquiries were tabled did a brand new form appear dated November 25th, which now includes a place for a notary.

In addition, the city clerk has indicated that this form has to be hand delivered to City Hall between the hours of 8 a.m.

and 5 p.m.

Monday through Friday, when most people are working.

This effectively limits who can participate in the ethics process and raises real concerns about accessibility and transparency.

The City of Phoenix allows lobbyists to submit their forms electronically without notarization or hand delivery.

And on top of all of this, the form contains threatening language warning citizens that they may be charged more than $500 if their inquiry is deemed frivolous.

Around a third of Americans cannot cover a $500 emergency expense.

So for many people, this warning alone is enough to deter them from reporting a legitimate ethics concerns.

If our ethics process discourages participation, creates fear of financial penalty, or places procedural hurdles that ordinary residents can't overcome, then it's not an equitable process.

It becomes a barrier and one that protects institutions instead of the public.

Hi, my name is Tammy.

Um I submitted a citizen's petition request to the mayor and city council for the promotion of equitable access and transparent municipal ethics complaint process.

That is part of the language that was submitted.

I don't know if you need me to go through all of that right now.

I can if if you need me to.

But I I you know have stated the word citizen petition request, so I believe that you can can hear that moving forward.

Thank you.

I believe um looking at our city attorney, but I believe that was efficient.

Yes, Mary, thank you.

All right, thank you.

All right, thank you.

Uh with that, we are adjourned.

But you definitely um put it all together and you helped us move this forward.