Good afternoon.

It is Wednesday, January 21st, 2026.

We'll begin today's meeting with an invitation from Police Chaplain Taylor.

Dear wise and loving father, thank you on behalf of all who are gathered here today.

We thank you for your many blessings, and we thank you for life itself.

Thank you for the freedoms that we enjoy in this great nation.

You have said that citizens should obey the governing authorities since you have established those very authorities to promote peace and order and justice.

And so I pray for our mayor for the various levels of city officials, and in particular for this assembled council.

I'm asking that you would grant them wisdom to govern, a sense of the true needs and welfare of our people, confidence in what is good, just and right, the ability to work together in harmony, personal peace in their lives, and joy in their work.

I pray for the agenda set before them today.

Please give them an assurance of what would please you and what would benefit those who live and work in and around our beloved city of Phoenix.

It's in your most blessed name I pray.

Amen.

Thank you, Chaplain.

Vice Mayor, would you lead us in the Pledge of Allegiance?

I'll now call to order the Phoenix Kitty Council meeting.

Will the clerk call the roll?

Councilwoman Guardado.

Here.

Councilwoman in Nandis.

Here.

Councilwoman O'Brien.

Here.

Councilman Pastor.

Here.

Councilman Robinson?

Here.

Councilwoman Stark.

Councilman Waring.

Vice Mayor Hodge Washington?

Here.

Mayor Gallego.

Here.

Mario Barajas and Elsie Duarte are with us to provide interpretation.

Mario, would you introduce your team?

Yes, Mayor.

Thank you.

Good afternoon.

My name is Mario Barajas.

I'll be working together with El C Duarte as Spanish interpreters for our residents.

I'll take a brief moment now to introduce ourselves to our Spanish speaking audience.

Thank you, Mayor.

Thank you, Mario.

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 G7451 7476 and S52435-52543 through 52570.

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.

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.

We'll go first to item number one, the July 2nd meeting minutes.

Vice Mayor.

Mayor, I move to approve the July 2nd, 2025 meeting minutes.

All those in favor say aye.

Aye.

Aye.

Any opposed nay?

Minutes pass.

Item number two is boards and commissions, Vice Mayor.

Motion to approve the mayor and city council, board and commissions nominations.

Second.

All those in favor say aye.

Aye.

Any opposed nay?

Aye.

Well, ask our commissioners to come forward for their swearing in and congratulations on your unanimous confirmation.

I state your name.

Do solemnly swear.

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.

That will bear true faith.

And allegiance to the same.

And defend them against all enemies.

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.

State your office.

According to the best of my ability.

So help me God.

Congratulations, Commissioners.

If you could go behind the council members would like to congratulate you as well.

Thanks for the congratulations to our new commissioners who will advise us on a range of topics from youth and education to land use planning and workforce development.

We appreciate your service.

We next move to the swearing in of a municipal court judge.

Vice Mayor, do you have a motion?

Motion to approve the swearing in of the honorable Alex Benizera as a municipal court judge.

Second.

We have a motion and a second.

Congratulations to the Benezra family.

We so appreciate your service to our city and your lifelong dedication to justice and to fighting for those who need an advocate.

Would anyone else like to comment?

And also we will have a swearing in ceremony, and we welcome Ali Benezra, who has joined her husband, Alex.

All those in favor, please say aye.

Aye.

Any opposed?

Congratulations on your unanimous approval.

We will now do the swearing in.

I, Alex Benesra.

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 witness 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.

Discharge the duties of Phoenix Municipal Court Judge.

Phoenix 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, welcome.

Woo!

After also mission.

Congratulations to the Honorable Alex Benezra.

Next we go to the liquor license portion of our agenda.

The city council provides an advisory role to the state of Arizona.

Vice Mayor, do we have a motion?

Motion to approve items four through 19.

Second.

We have a motion and a second.

All those in favor, please say aye.

Aye.

Any opponent?

Passes unanimously.

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

Yes, Mayor.

Motion to approve items 20 through 55.

Except the following items 26, 30, 54, and 55.

Noted that item number 26 is as revised.

Item 27 is continued to February 4, 2026.

Item 35 is requested to be withdrawn.

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

Mayor, Vice Mayor, no other items.

Second.

We have a motion and a second.

Roll call.

Guardado.

Yes.

Hernandez?

Yes.

O'Brien.

Yes.

Pastor?

Yes.

Robinson?

Yes.

Stark.

Waring?

Hodge Washington?

Yes.

Gallego.

Yes.

Passes 9-0.

Item 26 is authorization to disperse funds related to House Bill 2407.

Vice Mayor.

Motion to approve item 26 as revised.

Second.

We have a motion and a second.

Councilman Hernandez.

Okay.

I don't believe Phoenix Taxpayers should uh dollars should be subsidizing millionaires.

So I'll vote no.

Very succinct.

All right.

And so Councilman Waring.

Uh I guess a question for Ed.

Ed, can we not pay this money?

Um, Mayor Councilman Waring, this is uh a state law that was signed by the governor, and this is this action is complying with state law by remitting the payments as directed by that legislation.

So we are obligated to pay the money, and this is the council authorizing the disbursement of that money.

So we don't have a choice.

If you were not to do it, there would be consequences of not following state law.

So I think you always have a choice, but um not doing this would put us contrary to state law.

Thank you.

Thank you.

So this is the result of the diamondbacks legislation that went forward last year, and this city council was very engaged on that deal, which obviously has huge impacts in our downtown.

We want the diamondbacks to stay and be successful, but we have to protect our taxpayers.

Uh the original deal had very significant concerns, and we were able to negotiate to cap the city's portion at a much much lower level, 3.5 million.

We were also able to negotiate so that the diamond, if the diamondbacks were to depart, the land would go to city control.

Uh the public funds will not go towards luxury items, and so and there's much more taxpayer input and control now.

The the city has an ability to participate in the governance, so it is uh a much better situation than when it began for us.

With that, Councilman Pastor, do you want to comment?

I just want to thank those that were a part of this, and that uh really uh got it to where it was a um not perfect, but uh be able to protect our taxpayers but also be able to continue to grow and and um have the diamond backs here.

So thank you.

Thank you.

Roll call.

Okay, do you want to make a comment?

Vice Mayor, thank you, Mayor.

I just wanted to say also thank you to those that helped make this into a more palatable um solution.

And I also want to just encur I while I disagree with the mechanism in which the decision was made.

I want to continue to ask our legislative partners to collaborate more with us versus coerce coercion, let's use collaboration versus coercion.

Um, but the investment in the stadium, I think will continue to um I'm appreciative of the job that it will bring as well as the vibrancy will continue to add to our downtown area.

Thank you, Mayor.

And thank you to Frank McCune and government relations for putting a lot of time into protecting the city of Phoenix.

And thank you to our legislative partners who listened to our concerns and improved the bill.

Roll call.

Mordado.

Yes.

No.

O'Brien.

Yes.

Pastor.

Yes.

Robinson?

Yes.

Stark.

Waring?

Hodge Washington?

Yes.

Yes.

Passes 8 1.

Thank you.

Next we go to item 30, which is related to signs.

Vice Mayor, do we have a motion?

Motion to approve item number 30.

Second.

We have motion and second.

Councilman Hernandez.

Thank you, Mayor.

Just have a couple questions for parks on this item.

And should we get the his uh HP team as well?

No.

Okay.

It's just for parks, just for Marty.

Could our city manager introduce the gentleman coming forward?

Mayor, council members, it'd be my honor to introduce Martin Whitfield, Marty Whitfield, who is our parks and recreation director.

He uh stepped into that role after a process when Cynthia Aguilar moved to the deputy city manager role.

So Marty is a longtime city employee, a longtime assistant parks director, knows our parks and our city well, worked in a variety of departments, and we're very pleased that he is now the parks and recreation director for the for our city.

Thank you.

Thank you for that introduction, Ed, and thank you, Mayor.

Congratulations, Mr.

Winnie.

Congratulations, Marty.

And I want to mention that there is we had an issue in a gate that was locked in at University Park.

And the quickness that you took once I called you, hey, this situation is going on.

Um, I really appreciated it.

The community members really appreciate it.

So thank you for just as we came into office.

You know, we really uh you've been very responsive to outreach for myself and the rest of my team.

So thank you so much for that.

You're most welcome.

But now I have a couple quick questions for you.

Okay.

Um can you tell just tell me a little bit more about the signage?

Um will the funds for the from this contract uh be used to reflect the new uh prohibited activities in the park ordinance that was passed on December 17th?

Mayor, members of the council and councilwoman Hernandez.

Uh this contract that we've been using for five years is for installation and replacement of signage in our urban parks and our preserves.

So it's our regular code of conduct signage.

So nothing for the new proposed ordinance.

Okay.

So for neither of the ordinance that aligned the or the city codes with the parks, uh, sorry, with the ordinance with the code of conduct or the medical treatment one.

Just to confirm.

Let me make sure I'm understanding the correctly.

Uh, mayor, members of the council.

Um, the contract that we currently use is just for the current code of conduct signage.

Okay.

Okay, thank you.

Um, and will any of that, will any of that signage or do we have existing signage that provides guidance for folks that are in the park?

If someone's in the park and should they come across uh someone having a mental crisis in the park where they need immediate um treatment, uh is there any signage currently, or will there be that won't get them a misdemeanor or time in jail?

Mayor members of the council and councilwoman Hernandez.

Currently, we just have the regular code of conduct signage.

You might remember that we do have a 24-hour, 24-7 hotline number that the community can call to reach our rangers uh to hopefully um with medical issues or anything like that in our parks.

Okay, thank you so much.

That's it.

Thank you, Mayor.

Council or Vice Mayor, thank you so much.

I just want to take the opportunity to congratulate um Director Winfield as his new position.

Thank you, Vice Mayor.

Definitely.

Congratulations.

We are excited to have you in that new position.

Roll call.

Mordado.

Yes, and again, also congratulations.

Hernandez.

Uh Mayor May explained my vote.

Please.

Thank you.

Um, just want to begin by saying that plainly and honestly, obviously, I'm still disappointed in the outcomes of the December 17th vote in regards to parks, um, and then the position we find ourselves now, just really scrambling to repair the harm caused by policy that should never have been moved forward in that form, uh, especially right before the holidays.

The entire community has felt this.

I have fielded multiple questions since then.

Families have felt it, um, elders have felt it, unhoused neighbors have felt it, advocates definitely felt it, and black, brown, and indigenous communities who are already underprotected, felt it the most.

Um, I just want to say this with humility, but also with a lot of clarity to my colleagues who honored Dr.

Martin Luther King this week.

Um, I believe we must be honest with ourselves about what justice really requires.

Dr.

King did not advocate for criminalization as a solution to poverty or displacement or unment health needs.

He stood firmly against policies that maintain order at the expense of dignity.

The votes cast on December 17th moved us closer to the very systems he spent his life resisting.

But I do want to thank Parks, thanks to the Parks Department for setting up the stakeholder meetings uh that are happening.

I know we've have been working very uh hard with my office to make sure every partner that came to the table is included.

Um, and I really expect us as a city to follow through on the promise to um include uh remediation to that language and how we fix that ordinance.

Um, but with that I do vote no.

Thank you.

O'Brien.

Yes.

Pastor.

Yes.

Robinson?

Yes.

Stark?

Yes.

Wearing?

Hodge Washington?

Yes.

Passes 8-1.

Next up is item 54, authorization to grant the Shealy's a binding weighter of enforcement of the special permit provisions for data centers.

Uh, this item is in district five.

I'm sorry, Councilman Pastor, what did you say?

Okay.

Got it.

Uh this item is in district five, so I will turn to Councilwoman Guardado to introduce it.

Thank you, Mayor.

Um, well, first I have uh a couple of questions before I make a motion.

Um, so we could get um legal and Josh up here, and I don't know if Jason or Jordan are here as well.

The applicant.

They're downstairs.

Okay.

Well, if we can get them, okay.

Perfect.

Well, first off, I just want to thank staff.

I know we've been working on this for a very long time.

Josh, thank you so much for all of your hard hard work on all of this.

I want to thank my colleagues that have to have to sit many, many hours of meetings um to try to figure out this is not an easy and it hasn't been an easy process.

I know it's been incredibly difficult.

Um, but with that, I do have some questions.

Either Jordan or Jason, if you guys could come up, that would be great.

Thank you so much, Jason.

Madam Mayor, Council members, how can I help?

In the waiver, you agreed that you are going to participate in a cluster study with SRP, and that you will provide an agreement showing the capacity to serve, to commit and to connect.

When do you anticipate entering into that study?

Uh Mayor, council member, that study is ongoing as you're aware, and I think the city has been made aware of.

So we have participated in that so far at our cost.

Obviously, we are charged by SRP to be a part of that study.

The next phase will be a further study, and we've committed to being in that next cluster study as well.

So it is both ongoing and new studies will occur this year.

And my second question is what has your investment been in the cluster studies that you have been involved to date?

Uh, Madam Mayor, Councilmember, we have been involved in two cluster studies.

Each one of those participation fees was $90,000.

So 180,000 has been paid to date, and an additional 290,000 dollars uh will be due, and we will move forward if we know we have the land use.

Okay, uh, and I know I keep harping on this, but can you talk a little bit more about the cluster studies that you have been a part of and any studies you plan to be in a part of?

Like can you expand a little bit more on that?

Uh of course, Mayor and Councilmember, I think it's probably worth noting that the first thing a landowner does before entering into these cluster studies is to ensure that their underlying land use is correct.

So, as you're also aware, we have been working with the city over the last six months to get to this point today where we understand what impact your new data center ordinance will have on this property.

So we have made the investment and we will continue to make the investment in the cluster study with SRP, knowing that we can proceed with the desired land use.

But without knowing that the land use was in place, it didn't make sense to continue spending money with SRP and pursuing that.

So it is a little bit of a chicken and an egg.

But what you are getting both in the agreement that's in front of you and also with our previous commitment is that we will continue to work with SRP.

We will continue to be part of the cluster studies, and we will continue to pay our way to make sure that the infrastructure is sufficient in order for us to be able to move forward.

Thank you.

So with that, for me, I think it was incredibly important to put the ordinance that we put into place.

Um a few months ago, I think we need to continue to protect our communities, protect our neighbors.

And we need to make sure that we continue to protect folks, is the reason why I supported the ordinance that we that we just passed.

Um and at the same time, I appreciate um the work that we've been able to do with Shilly.

Um appreciate um the amenities that are going to be added to this parcel.

Um, Jason, can you talk a little bit about that about the amenities?

Uh again, I'm delighted to do that.

Mayor and council.

Uh this is something that we actually took to the village uh was the most recent body to hear the plans for this particular parcel.

And uh in approving it, I believe the vote was 11 to 1 now seven months ago.

They were incredibly enthusiastic about what is being offered.

This site historically has had during times that it wasn't being farmed, it has had soccer fields on it with direction and guidance from your office.

You pointed out that losing those soccer fields to development would be a detriment to the community.

So the developer was able to figure out a path where development can occur on this property, uh, both retail, industrial, residential development, a true mixed use, but also to allow those fields to come back permanently and be a part of the overall plan.

So as you were aware, and hopefully now the community is aware.

We have two full soccer fields as a part of this plan, uh, restrooms uh as well as stands, all of which would be privately maintained, not maintained by the city.

Uh, there's also a small park area uh that is adjacent to the residential and the fields themselves.

Thank you.

Thank you so much for that, Jason.

So with that, I would like to move to approve item 55 per the January 2020 memo from the planning and development director.

And I would also like to add that this waiver does not constitute approval or denial of on-site generation.

Applicant acknowledges that a review process would be required and adopt to the related ordinance.

Second and uh uh we had called 54.

Isn't that for the waiver?

Denise had said yes, this is uh 54 is for that.

And so I just wanted to make sure, in terms of your motion with it included a memo.

Is that correct?

I'm sorry, it included a memo.

Okay, it's more.

Mayor members of the council, I believe the the motion that the councilwoman just read was for item 55.

That was where the memo was placed.

And that's what I wanted to point out.

Yeah, sorry about that.

So motion to approve a binding waiver of enforcement of the data center special permit provisions for the subject site as revised.

Second.

And I would also like to add this waiver does not constitute approval or denial of on-site generation.

Applicant acknowledges that a review process would be required.

Second, thank you.

All right.

Roll call.

Guardado.

Yes.

Hernandez?

No.

O'Brien.

Yes.

Pastor.

Yes.

Robinson?

Yes.

Stark?

Yes.

Waring?

Hodge Washington?

Yes.

Gallego.

Yes.

Passes 8 1.

All right.

55 is the public hearing.

We will open the public hearing and we will hear a brief staff report.

Welcome our planning and development director.

Mayor and members of the council.

I item 55 is a uh revision to the approved site plan that sits within the PUD.

Uh I'll have Trisha Gomes, our deputy director, walk you through uh the proposal.

Thank you, Mayor, members of the council.

Item number 55 is PHO-1-25-Z-29-12-75.

A request to hold a public hearing on matters heard by the Planning Hearing Officer regarding 197 acre site located at the southeast corner of 99th Avenue and Thomas.

The request includes a modification to stipulation one regarding the updated imagery within the development narrative.

The original zoning approval was based upon the property owner's proposal to construct a major retail and employment multi-story mixed use development as illustrated on the original conceptual site plan dated September 27, 2020 twelve.

This stipulation modification seeks to modify the zoning to allow two large-scale data centers on site plan.

Sorry, two large data centers and small-scale street focused retail as illustrated on the revised conceptual site plan dated June 6, 2025.

The Maryvale Village Planning Committee heard this request on June 12, 2025 and recommended approval by a vote of 12 to 1.

On June 18th, 2025, the planning hearing officer planning hearing officer recommend approval with a modification and an additional stipulation.

The planning and development department and the law department have worked with the applicant to obtain the health and safety documentation required to construct data centers due to the recent text amendment.

The memo dated June 20th, 2026 from the planning and development director, includes three additional stipulations as follows.

Stipulation seven to require the development obtained a binding waiver of enforcement approved by the city council.

Stipulation eight that the developer shall comply with the conditions as outlined in the binding waiver of enforcement, and stipulation nine to address the open space area at the northeast corner of the site and the timing of construction.

With that, staff recommends approval of PHO-1-25-Z-29-12-75 per the memo dated January 20, 2026 by the planning and development director and adopt the related ordinance.

Thank you.

All right.

Mr.

Morris or Jordan, do you mind a couple questions?

What?

I'm fine.

I'm happy to answer any questions you may have, Mayor.

Will you uh describe the the data center portions of this?

Uh certainly if the staff would like to put up the exhibit.

The current site plan has two data center uh building proposals that are adjacent to the industrial portion.

Uh this area is as you're aware that the underlying zoning is not changing, Mayor.

It's just a matter of the site plan and buildings.

Originally, this site was developed as or proposed many years ago as a campus type site with uh an extraordinary amount of office at the time and a variety of smaller buildings and some larger office buildings, none of which are feasible today.

So what you're looking at is the newer site plan, which shows the data center buildings as well as the support for those data center buildings.

Thank you.

And so I would say this was originally a Kierlan style development and now going towards more larger buildings, so very different footprint.

You described it as a pro like a project in the air park area in Scottsdale.

Which area with two data centers were you thinking of in the air park in Scottsdale?

I'm sorry, Mayor, the air park and Scottsdale reference.

Did I make that?

Mr.

Morris equated it with a project at the air park area in Scottsdale.

Oh, is that are you referring to the village?

Um in terms of the what we call as the large industrial buildings.

There have been three similar size buildings approved within the air park overlay area in the last six years.

So I think that's what the reference was.

Okay.

In terms of which which data centers.

I I also wanted to address the the Kierland reference.

I I don't think this was ever a Kierlin type structure because there wasn't retail that was driven at that time to that extent.

Uh the councilwoman's request within the last two years or so and working with the applicant was actually to bring back retail and restaurants to this area that had been removed by the previous planning.

So that's one of the things that we're doing with this change, is also showing adjacent to the arterial roadway, patios and restaurants and other things.

So if not Air Park, which is what you mentioned, the village, is there another project we should envision that has restaurants and data centers?

In addition to the airpark.

Well, are there data centers in the air park?

Uh there's small data centers as part of existing uses within the data within the air park itself.

In terms of other portions around Maricopa County, there was uh a Maricopa County case that was approved, I think, and permitted.

We read about within the last 60 days, uh, that's a similar design.

Um I don't know if you want a specific location for something that's built, because as you know, this is an ongoing development.

Great.

I just want to make sure the village got an accurate understanding of what this would be.

The village was working from exactly the same exhibits that the council has in front of it.

And I believe that presentation was probably an hour and 15 minutes, maybe longer.

So we went into some detail on it.

Great.

And could you tell us about IDM and their community involvement, the company?

Certainly.

I'd be happy to.

Um they were originally in the Northwest.

Uh, they moved to the Phoenix area in order to reestablish their headquarters here, move their employees here, and operate out of the Phoenix area.

Uh now, some seven years ago, uh, could be eight.

And during that time, they developed a series of residential uh properties within the Phoenix area and the Valley metropolitan area in general, as well as industrial buildings.

Um in the Northwest, they have similarly successful developments, including a very large industrial park uh that we had shared with some of the council members uh that we wanted to take elements of that and also be able to do it here.

In fact, the Shiley development is probably very analogous to that in that it has both park areas, it has residential, it has a shopping center, uh a full retail uh that's being developed by a co-developer on the southern end, as well as retail, industrial and uh employment.

So in terms of what they do within the community, they have a separate uh charitable arm known as IDM CARES.

I'm not aware of everything that they're doing, but I can tell you some of the things that I am aware of, and that is they allow their employees um uh additional time that's not vacation or personal time to participate in not only their own charities, but also IDM care days uh where they will give their entire workforce, particularly their construction workforce to local charities.

The most recent example of that that I can think of is uh Luke Air Force Base.

They actually rebuilt an entire building.

Uh it was the I believe not the uh What was the building?

The the honor guard building was rebuilt uh by IDM CARES.

So that's one example that I can think of at the top of my mind.

Thank you.

And um you have shared with us that they will not be the data center developer, that would be another company.

Uh they will be the developer of the real estate, and it's very likely that the operator will be a third party.

Okay.

And the the meeting minutes mentions a government service aspect.

Could you speak to that?

I am not able to because there is a non-disclosure agreement, but that was something that we were able to disclose that one of the tenants that they were working with at the time, and this is now, I believe over six months ago, was a uh quasi-governmental entity or actually working on behalf of a government entity.

Excellent.

And for cybersecurity, it's always could you talk to that since you know what it is and what you've done to ensure the city's infrastructure nearby?

I wish I could speak about cybersecurity uh with any depth or length of knowledge, but I I'd be happy to answer questions that I may have knowledge of.

I know that within this agreement there's cybersecurity language and the city wants to ensure itself that anything that's developed from a data center perspective has adequate cybersecurity, and I think there's language in there that there was at one time talking about the city being able to have knowledge and an understanding of what level of security is there.

I can tell you that data centers in general and this site in specific spends an inordinate amount of the overall budget operations-wise on a daily basis on security, because the security, both the physical security and the cybersecurity, is part of what data center tenants are paying for.

Great.

Thank you.

Certainly.

And then could you talk about backup generation on site?

Certainly.

Right now, as you're aware from the SRP letter and the cluster study information that both your office has shared with us and we've shared with you, that there is a time lag for infrastructure and uh electric availability or utility availability.

So it is one of the options is to have on-site generation.

Uh again, not groundbreaking because there are other groups that are doing this for data centers.

So it is possible that this would also occur on site here.

Now, if that is the case, again, as you're aware, I think the agreement talks about, and I know we've had conversations about making sure that it every applicable city, state, county, and federal standard is met.

And the letter seems to indicate that you have dropped out of the cluster study.

We actually did not participate in last year's continuation of the cluster study because we were not able to get to this point.

We had been waiting six months in order to be before you in order to get the waiver and the approval of the PHO.

So as I alluded to in the other case, it didn't make sense to spend non-refundable money when we weren't sure we had the land use right.

And so as a result of that SRP shares, the earliest potential service date is 2032 and 2035.

Well, not as a result of us being in or out of the cluster study, because as I mentioned, we've already spent 180,000 of being in the cluster study previously, and we've committed to being in it next year or this year now, 2026.

Um yes, I believe there is a lag time, and they are giving themselves uh ample opportunity before they commit to power to the site.

It could be sooner than that, and it could be you know within those time frames, depending upon who participates and what the demand is.

And then it says these large-scale additions may require up to eight years beyond 2032.

That's what I understood from the letter, yes.

So 2040.

So this is a new type of situation for us because we've had many, many data centers in our city, but this one would be new in terms of usually they're built closer to transmission and substations.

It's quite quite this will be the most expensive transmission for a data center in likely in city history.

I wouldn't be aware of that.

It could be.

Uh, but I also am aware that there are eight other data centers that are all looking at sites either nearby or in proximity that would have similar burdens.

And depending upon where other data centers land, it may actually change the burden of this site.

But usually folks have picked sites that have more transmission.

Certainly not 2040.

I think that was an outside date, depending upon other things that had happened.

But I also uh having done this for 30 years, have never been questioned about where my client is going to be getting electricity and what their timing is and what their investment is on the land use side.

So it's possible that it could take that long, but I think IDM being the investor in this is comfortable that they're making a good investment based upon their relationship with SRP and their ability to move forward.

Well, we've never had the type of demands that we have had.

Right, we have in Arizona data centers that twice the amount of electricity they're asking for twice exceeds the use everyone else in APS and SRP is having.

It's certainly a different time for land use.

Do you not think that the amount of data center electricity is different than it has been over your 30 years?

Oh, it's definitely uh higher demand than we've seen.

Absolutely, Mayor.

And may we as the city council consider if our decisions were likely to lead to brown outs or blackouts in land use decisions, or maybe not.

I'm sorry, I'm not sure what the question is.

Can we consider as we rezon to make this closer to an industrial use?

Electricity.

Okay, but you care about you live in our region, and you certainly care about.

Absolutely.

So for us, I think as a city, power and water are are things we should think about.

I couldn't agree more, and I think that has been what's been holding up, and probably the genesis of the conversations we've been having with the city now over the last a year and a half for the site to ensure that those issues have been considered and addressed.

This one is unprecedented in many ways.

It's our first time I can think of where there's a known user, but we don't know what it is.

And it's our first time where we have a letter saying earliest electricity in twenty thirty-two.

Is there a question?

Is that is that I mean are these are these new?

This seems different.

I again I if I look at the cases I bring before this council, I think we're talking about things that typically this council doesn't look at at that level.

Um certainly I brought uh to use a Paul Gilbert word, a plethora of cases forward where you didn't know who the user was.

I was just bringing buildings forward.

Uh I don't think it's common that the city would know every user in every instance.

I think the city is protecting itself very well with your help and with the help of your colleagues to make sure these issues are addressed.

It's just it's a very different because there's it's so different in a land use from what we've seen before.

It's it it doesn't make sense to me, frankly.

Because this is just going to be such an expensive site to develop.

It it it seems like it will be the most expensive in terms of energy infrastructure site we have seen more so than when cases don't make sense to me.

I'm hoping you can help me understand how this how this works.

Mayor and council, I can address the land use aspect of this as a PHO case.

We had an existing site plan.

We're requesting.

We have nothing to confidence in the city of Phoenix that complicated things can be worked out.

Anyone else?

Councilwoman Guardado.

Thank you, Mayor.

Um, I guess this is for you, Josh.

Um, so now so moving forward.

Um, what other approvals need to go by your review?

Like, what is the next step now?

Mayor, um, members of the council councilwoman.

The the next step in the process would be our pre-application development process, and the primary thing that we're looking at there is site plan.

So the site plan that you've seen there seen before you today that's before you for approval for for some type of action, whatever they would come in would have to be in general conformance to that site man site plan, meaning it would have to be in in uh pretty much in alignment with what you've seen before you today.

We would go through that evaluation to make sure that the layout, the landscaping, the use, everything proposed on that site plan is consistent with the zoning ordinance.

And so our zoning and civil requirements are that first initial review, and as they as they move through that process, if they get approvals, then they would proceed to building permits, which would be more about your vertical review, and then they'd go into inspections as construction starting.

And then when it comes to um power generation, like what's what's the process of that?

Like what's the uh mayor, members of the council certainly as part of uh the review process uh as they look to secure certificate of occupancy in order to meet building codes, they'll have to demonstrate that the buildings uh whatever they may be will have will have the necessary power supply to ensure the safety and health of the occupants uh to the degree at which uh that power supply is evaluated that could occur at the site planning level if it's something that we haven't seen.

We certainly have to evaluate to determine if that's something that's compliant with all codes and ordinances, potentially the zoning ordinance if it's at a scale and intensity that we haven't seen before, and then with that with that being said, if you find something unusual, is that something would anything be triggered by that?

Is that something that you would bring back to us?

Uh mayor members of the council.

If there is something in their proposal, uh that it that wasn't clearly addressed by codes and ordinances, there would certainly be a thoughtful review and discussion amongst the team, potentially the law department at the city council about the decisions we would make uh about how we would determine something that maybe isn't explicitly addressed by code.

Great.

Okay, thank you.

Thank you for that.

Thank you, Mayor.

So just to clarify what she has said, there's a list of allowed uses.

A power plant is not in that list.

Mayor, mayor members of the council, that's correct.

Thank you.

So with that, I would like um to make a motion.

Oh, sorry.

Denise wanted me to close the hearing.

Sorry.

I'm sorry.

I will reopen the hearing and turn to councilman Pascal.

Sorry, sorry.

Yeah, that's okay.

I have a question about the SRP letter.

And so I received this as I was on the dais.

Um it states if she leaves Farns project enters the large customer integration process again.

SRP will initiate the required due diligence, including a load impact study and conceptual design work, and um the language that I was listening to was um was I we will continue to work with SRP or so far clarify uh working with SRP.

I would like for me uh to know that you would enter uh that project again, and so that a study can be done.

Mayor, councilwoman absolutely.

Thank you.

Thank you.

We'll close the public hearing.

And worth note mentioning with the the waiver, the the applicant had uh threatened to sue the city to the tune of 112 million under Arizona Prop 207.

So hopefully we have avoided that.

All right, Councilwoman Guardado.

Thank you, Mayor.

So I would like to make a motion to approve the item per the memo from the planning and development director dated January 20th, 2026, and adopt the related ordinance.

Roll call.

Yes, Hernandez, no O'Brien.

Yes, Pastor?

Pastor?

Yes.

Robinson?

Yes.

Stark.

Waring?

Hodge Washington?

Yes.

Gallego.

Yes.

Passes 8 1.

Thank you.

Hopefully we have avoided the $112 million lawsuit.

That is the end of our agendized item, and I'll turn to the city attorney to explain public comment.

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 matters 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.

However, council members may respond to criticism.

Thank you.

Followed by Tony Harris.

Thank you for having me.

I come here for uh homelessness.

Um this should not be considered a crime.

Uh no one benefits from this.

I've lost everything, including my job during the process of breaking up with my wife.

Ended up homeless after doing the church circuit.

I eventually found myself at CAS.

I got my ID at CAS through the homeless ID project.

They put the CAS address on my ID, which employers do not hire.

Nor can I donate plasma with this address.

I've gone uh excuse me.

I've gone without employment ever since and cannot even donate plasma for some pocket change.

I was exited from CAS for taking a friend of mine to the hospital.

I informed uh Keys to Change of what I was doing, where I was going, why, and explain them.

I may not be back before their curfew.

So when I returned to CAS that morning, I was exited and lost everything.

Short time later, I was arrested and convict convicted of being homeless.

And be on probation for three years.

Uh for employment, and it was down at the airport.

Uh I applied multiple times upon arriving at SOS.

Again, no one will hire me.

I'm currently homeless now for five years.

I must remain so until I am off probation.

Meanwhile, no one benefits from this.

No probation fees and fines also go unpaid.

This adds insult to injury.

All these bills accumulate.

Thus, not the city nor the state, nor the court.

Uh benefits from this.

And it's certainly unhelpful for my child support for my daughter.

How much pain and suffering must I go through and all these hardships before this gets done.

Thank you for that important testimony.

Tony Harris is next, followed by Dorian Brendan.

Uh thank you.

before this gets done thank you for that important testimony Tony Harris is next followed by Dorian Brendan uh thank you um is there any way that um the production of more affordable housing can be um can be done because um I know a lot of people on the street and uh a lot of them and a lot of new people are out there because uh they've been losing their housing because the rent keeps getting jacked up every year and um some of them are will try to go through CBI and they're waiting like almost a year and then the housing list like for section eight that's over like a 10 year wait and uh you got the um summer's gonna be coming up and it could be more heat related deaths than any other time because you know uh population boom so thank you thank you so much Dorian is next followed by Elizabeth hello hi I am Dorian Brendan from Fund for Empowerment I'm here to speak in support of sustained and increased housing budget we need to continue funding for housing in types of initiatives such as housing first to create a path towards housing for individuals that may need additional treatment as well as housing and to continue what we have accomplished with the shelters so that we can make the progress we desire in minimizing suffering of community members experiencing homelessness we all agree in health prevent uh in health care preventative care is easier to manage than emergency care we need to act like that here uh and more so as as an aside for the data centers um I did not hear an explanation that made any sense to me as a citizen um and was seeming more like excuses uh and much like the Hippocratic oath in that sense to do no harm just because you can doesn't mean you should Elizabeth is next followed by David um I just want to talk about two things um Elizabeth Venable fund for empowerment um um along I'm not courting my friend Salvais here but I wanted to make a point that it's very important to consider the scale of what ICE is doing in our communities um I was very much involved during SB 1070 and actually prior to that and um with the increase in the enforcement it looks like it's gonna go up and up and up and I think you know you really need to consider as a municipality how you're going to assist uh residents of the city of Phoenix that are facing these sort of terrifying propositions of you know family separation and um you know all the sort of collateral consequences that come with that you know stresses on the family and children and PTSD and things like that and loss of income um so I think that um you have some sort of um limitations on some of the ways that you coordinate with um DHS but um I just think again the scale of what's going on you know we have um mass ice agents that are you know shooting people in the in the face or blinding them you know it's not just the women that get shot you know it's it's a lot of other different problems that are going on and there's very little accountability at the federal level and um you know I always one of the reasons why I work on City of Phoenix is because and I've said this to you guys before is that um you're actually more malleable I feel than for example working on the executive's laughing am I allowed to say that it's it's true though.

You are definitely allowed to okay yeah I have a lot of the planet you're laughing but um no but it's true that you guys are much more more responsive in a lot of ways than um if I were to work on you know the state legislature or you know even the county or things like that and you know I really hope that Phoenix can you know you don't want to lose all relations with the federal government there's always a you know a lot of pushback they can have on that but you want to be able to be a leader um in uh protecting the um you know uh the families and you know the workers and non-workers too you know I'll just I'm not doing I guess I'm not doing any homelessness but I said comments it don't really matter um I just remember one of the things that really struck me um was growing up I went to heart elementary and and I had a lot of friends that um were um uh recent immigrants or you know um Spanish language heritage speakers and um you know I just remember seeing those children as my friends my

I'll just I'm not doing I guess I'm not doing any homelessness, but it's a citizen comments, it don't really matter.

Um I just remember one of the things that really struck me.

Um growing up, I went to Hurt Elementary, and and I had a lot of friends that um were um uh recent immigrants or you know, um Spanish language heritage speakers.

And um, you know, I just remember seeing those children as my friends, my family members, and uh later on my colleagues, and I'll just close that real quick.

And um, when I see you know, children cry like that, it's like it could be you know, my friend or my family, and I and I just hope that Phoenix can be a leader in these things because who else is going to be in Arizona, right?

Thank you.

David is next followed by Vita.

Homeless initiation is not and should not be considered a criminal act.

The issue I'm bringing before you today is about the needs for more assisted living housing for both short-term and long-term care for special needs population that is in and around our current shelters.

The special needs population is growing at an alarming rate.

The existed living assisted living housing that is usually available is no longer available.

They are already filled to capacity or have been closed altogether.

The shelter system is getting full of people with special needs with no places to send them.

Special needs encompasses a large group from the handicapped to the elderly to the SMI.

Facilities for short-term and long-term care should be a priority.

These are the people who are dependent upon us.

They need our help, our care, and our support, and they deserve no less.

Bathroom accommodations, wheelchair accessibility, shower accommodations fall way short of the demand for those with special needs in our shelter systems.

Shelters are supposed to be short-term for everyone, they become long-term for special needs people.

Again, there's nothing anywhere available for them to relocate to.

So let's put this special needs assisted living issue on the top of our priority list, please.

They need the budget now more than ever, and they are not criminals just because they're homeless.

Thank you for that.

Important testimony.

Vita is next, followed by Missy.

Hello, council members.

Thank you for your time today.

My name is Vita Galore, and I'm here as an advocate.

It was brought to my attention to come to the council and bring a very serious matter to hand, which I know you've heard probably a million times, and I know it falls on deaf ears for many in this forum.

But last week I witnessed a very severe situation of overpopulation of animals that have caused a safety and sanitary issue in our community.

I have since discovered that Phoenix, being one of the largest, fifth largest cities in our country, does not allocate any funding for animal education, cruelty, and support for animals, not only for them, but for the community safety again, and sanitary issues.

For example, this overflow of animals, mostly cats, all cats really, um, and kittens pose safety because they were pouring into the streets, being hit by cars, not only that, but sanitary from overrun areas and housing that have large abundance of feces, um, bacteria, and disease-causing elements that are a part of the community.

Please counsel.

I'm here as an advocate, and I'm really asking for collaboration and serious consideration of some funding.

Our neighboring cities all have some funding that goes to the appropriation for animal care and um animal safety and um education, just educating our community.

If it is possible, my request is that I get some support in terms of collaboration.

I am here to serve.

I am uh a voice to speak, and it is a personal um ask.

Um, I'm wanting you to broaden your perspective that not only for the local community, but for mental health, um having healthy animals around us that are not abused and afflicted helps the mental health of people who gain from animal therapy.

Um having healthy animals around us that are not abused and afflicted helps the mental health of people who gain from animal therapy.

Myself, um, I'm a recovered trafficking survivor, and I can attest to you that the animals that have been with me have helped me heal from a lot of issues from depression, suicide, and uh a lot of other challenges recovering as a survivor.

So if anyone can provide some assistance with collaboration in your council, including funding, I would like to request that.

And finally, if I can just read something from a very respected and brilliant leader from our past, Gandhi, the greatness of a nation can be judged by its animals and how they are treated.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Uh Missy is next followed by Roel.

Raul Cordero, Proxima.

Hi, Council.

Good to see you.

Hope you had a good year.

It's been about six months since I've been here.

I wanted to thank you guys for proclamating Phoenix Feline Education Awareness Day.

Um, it was a really big thing for the community, and we were very happy about that.

We were disappointed that no one from the council came to the um celebration, and it wasn't even mentioned.

If I look it up, it's not anywhere I can I can't find it anywhere.

So I joke around with people that you guys gave it to me to shut me up and not have me keep coming, but I'm back.

So um just was disappointed that we had um Ami Shaw.

We also had um representative Shahabullah came, but we had nobody from the city, so that's a little embarrassing.

Um, and last year, um, about August, I went to a hoarding case that was in Mesa.

This guy didn't have any money, and he didn't have any, he didn't have any access to get his two cats spayed and neutered.

Six months later, he had 67 cats in his apartment.

There were dead kittens in cabinets, there were cats in drawers, there was it was horrific.

He had no help, no one came to help him.

He called all of the places the apartment, he ended up getting evicted.

The apartment community called humane society, the county, whoever else, nobody came out.

Me, my small tiny rescue, and three of my um partners came and we took care of it, and we're still getting all these cats um forever homes because they were just awesome cats.

So I just feel like there needs to be more things and for people to have.

Um cat welfare was the biggest issue happening quietly in our community, and the reason it kids keeps getting worse is because it's it's ignored.

Shelters are overloaded, rescues are drowning.

And I want to be honest with you, it's not a money problem.

There was a um documentary last year called The Cats of Qatar.

Qatar is one of the richest nations, and they still don't.

They still have a huge overpopulation of cats.

It's not about the money, it's about do you care?

And I think that City Phoenix should care, and I hope you do.

All of the other cities, like Vita said, have some sort of program for cats, and we don't.

Why?

I've been coming for so long, you guys know me.

Why are we not taking this seriously?

It's it's sad, it's so horrible.

And it's not just a cat problem.

Our unhoused people have animals.

I just went and microchipped an unhoused person's cat because she loves this cat.

It's not just a problem about the cats, and we're crazy cat ladies.

This is a just a human human problem.

So that's all I have to say.

Um, I'm losing my words because I'm getting frustrated, and I hope you really listen to us this time.

Thanks.

Thank you so much.

Raul, and then Salvador Reza.

Much of demasiado desde hace más de 15 años, basicamente, for the persecution that's communities a particular 70, and the persecution anterior con el sheriff ya conocido muy tristemente del condado maricopa, Arpayo.

It's para nosotros muy indignante como community of migrantes que trabajamos, que contribuimos a la economía del país, pagando impuestos, contribuyendo in todo lo que se puede a esta communidad, a estas zonas del país.

No queremos que situation com as presentando in the rest of the pays, sobre todo, basicamente, fundamental in the state of Minnesota in the queen staying hasta la vida.

Gracias.

Sal is next, followed by William Toronto.

Any interpreter uh interpreting.

Good afternoon, everybody.

Uh thank you for allowing me to speak to the city of Phoenix as members of the indigenous uh community here in this area and this parts uh these parts of the continent, many of our people have been suffering too much for over uh 15 years, basically uh for the persecution that has been carried out up against our communities, starting with SB 1070, and also with the previous uh persecution from the sheriff, uh very sadly from Maricopa County Sheriff uh Arpayo.

So it's very outrageous for us as a migrant communities.

Uh we work, we contribute to the country's economy by paying taxes, contributing in every way that we can to these communities to these areas of these countries.

So we believe it's completely irreprehensible that our communities continue being persecuted.

As organized communities of peoples of indigenous peoples, we want answers uh regarding the possibility of the Phoenix uh police taking action in these upcoming operations that are already underway.

We don't want situations like those occurring in the rest of the country, especially basically and fundamentally in the state of Minnesota to be repeated here, where our community is even losing its life.

So with much respect, we asked the Phoenix City Council to define the position that they'll be taking regarding the actions of the Phoenix Police Department.

It's very important for us to establish that difference, that treatment of our community in that treatment being the best way possible, more humane and on the right side of history, because that's what's gonna remain for the future, and that's what people, humanity as a whole, will be watching, it will be very attentive to what happens to us.

We look forward to a prompt response to all of this, and thank you very much for listening.

And I guess thank you very much.

We can't have a back and forth because we're not agendized, but the city has a statement related to this, and we have an upcoming meeting where it is agenda is to discuss public safety.

Do you want to translate that much gracias?

Thank you.

Sal and Sal is followed by William.

Thank you, my name is Salvador Reza.

Uh listening to the previous uh presenters uh it seems to me that we're in a mixture of less miserables from Victor Hugo to the beginnings of Nazi Germany.

It's how how sad it is right now.

Just in the month of January, there's been two raids in the Home Depot on 36 Tamas.

They have created havoc.

They have scared the day laborers.

Home Depot, if you go right now in the mornings, the parking lot is almost empty.

Yet the economic losses that are happening right now are going to multiply.

Right now, a lot of kids are getting out of the high schools, making uh the the same thing that happened during uh SB 1070.

And as you know, SB 1070, the only reason that that stopped was because of the boycott against Arizona.

When finally the business community stepped up and stopped the craziness that was going on.

Now, Home Depot has refused to acknowledge what's going on.

Have refused it.

Yet I do not see any public officials demanding answers from Home Depot.

Not here, not in LA, not everywhere.

No well, in other places they have.

For example, in New York and also in Chicago.

But we need to step up and tell the business community that they cannot go along with this because they're gonna love they're gonna have huge losses, which they're already been having huge losses.

But it's gonna multiply.

Right now it's just the beginning of it, and it's gonna multiply.

Uh and I and and and and I'm um uh I'm gonna tell you, this is gonna be not only national, it's gonna be international.

Because a lot of the businesses that are gonna be losing here, they have things in Mexico.

For example, Home Depot has a lot of branches in Mexico.

Don't you think that the Mexican people are going to retaliate?

Of course they're going to retaliate.

And S has to stop.

And as public officials, you have the responsibility to call on Home Depot, Walmart, Walgreens, wherever, wherever ICE is going to and see what are they gonna do about it.

Because they have a lot of power, and they can the same way that the chairman of commerce stopped here, uh, what was going on with the with SB 1070, they can go at the national level with their corporations and actually stop that.

I urge you to start exploring that.

Thank you very much.

Thank you.

William is next, followed by Sari.

Hi, um, my name is William Toronto, and I came down here with my wife, uh Sari, who I guess probably won't use her time.

She asked me to speak.

Um I we want to you came here because you wanted to describe something that happened at um the Hance Park playground a few months ago.

Possibly this has been addressed with the new park ordinance.

Uh we just had a new baby, so I am not quite up to date.

But in any case, our four-year-old was climbing in a play structure, which is sort of very confined space, and you can't see inside it.

And at the top, there were like a man and a woman with no clothes on.

And so he came back out, and you know, like Sari called the police who referred her to 911, and the police came out, okay, and kind of knocked on the play structure, and like the people in there got dressed, I guess, and came out.

And um police kind of said that you know, Sarah had to take the kids home because there's nothing they could do about this like naked man in the play structure because he had his clothes on by the time they'd gotten there.

And so that's why I came to came to the city council because it seemed like at that point it would need to be sort of addressed at the ordinance level that you know, maybe strange men shouldn't be in play structures, and that that could just be but yeah, I saw that some of these changes about trespassing were put in place.

So maybe maybe it's already been handled.

Um, I didn't realize that when I came down to speak.

That's the main thing I wanted to say, and I just also I wouldn't have come here to say this next part, but as long as I'm here, I figure I figured I would just in general, you know, I feel like nearly every time we walk through those parks, there's probably people camping or doing drugs, and it's it's sort of almost 100% of the time.

My my parents were visiting from New York City over Christmas, and they felt uncomfortable walk through the park after 6 p.m.

You know, and their city, there's you know, their city people.

And just I feel like you know, maybe people should be able to have sort of pride in their city, especially in a park like that that just kind of feels reliable that it would be uh clean and safe.

And I think when people have hesitancy also about higher density, which I know you guys have had some meetings with a lot of uh concern about the new middle housing stuff, which I mean I'm in favor of more density because obviously affordable housing is really critical, but with higher density and uh transit things being important decisions that are coming up.

I do want to point out that like safety and cleanliness are gonna be two big things that I think when people have concerns about higher density and uh light rail, those are gonna be two things that are on their minds that maybe could be addressable.

Um that's what I wanted to say.

Thanks.

Thank you.

And could our team maybe update him on what the ordinance well, we have a couple policies that we might be relevant.

I don't know if our city leadership would that be all right.

Cynthia to the rescue.

Thank you, Cynthia.

Um we will next go to virtual public comment and the very patient Ann Ender, who will be our final speaker.

Is that right?

Thank you.

Good afternoon, Mayor Gallego, Vice Mayor Hodge Washington, and council members.

I'd like to share my comments um with you that I made at the recent January public safety and justice meeting regarding the staffing challenges of the Phoenix Police Department.

The staffing report at last clarified the tally of sworn positions and recruits and recognized enhancements in hiring practices.

Nonetheless, a significant staffing crisis, and I think we need to call it that, persistent at Phoenix Police Department, evidenced by ongoing retention difficulties, losing 40% of our recruits within the first year, and more than half of our seasoned personnel upon reaching retirement eligibility.

While there are steps forward, such as successful hires, the departure of members occurring each month remains concerning.

The community is acutely aware of these issues, frequently expressing concerns about delayed or incomplete 911 responses.

I feel certain that you've heard some of those complaints.

Residents highly value public safety and consistently support those in law enforcement.

However, despite the visible backing of the mayor and city council through events and outreach, further proactive efforts are essential to address this persistent crisis.

Just a few ideas.

Demonstrate that the benefits of what the benefits are of continued service and solicit their feedback on how staff on I'm sorry, solicit feedback from the staff on how the city can enhance retention.

Many council members are actively involved in their local precincts, attending events such as copy with a cop, as well as inviting officers to provide important updates and community meetings.

We have to continue these efforts.

Citizens deserve transparency.

Therefore, I requested this to be on the Phoenix PD staffing report going forward at each public safety and justice meeting.

First of all, we need to see current, and here's a key word, so listen closely available sworn personnel by precinct, by squad, by shift.

Additionally, and I've been asking for this for months.

Response times by precinct and council district must be included.

We need them.

We need to thank them for their service and their sacrifice for getting up each day to protect us and our families.

Thank you.

Thank you so much.

So we have hit our half an hour of public comment.

And so there are two folks who signed up after my list was printed, uh, but who haven't had a chance to speak, so we will take them first at the next formal meeting.

With that, we are adjourned.

And today's ceremony is a visible sign of that promise being fulfilled.

This new station will strengthen response times, expand coverage, and ensure that every resident, family, and business is in an area that feels