Good evening, welcome to the Tempe City Council regular council meeting.

Item number one is called order council meetings.

Can we watch it real time via Cox Cable Channel Eleven and at Tempe.gov slash Tempe Eleven.

Members of the public may also attend the meeting virtually through Microsoft Teams.

If you have signed up to speak on items later on in the agenda, please know that it's the presiding officer.

I have the discretion to introduce items out of their regular order as listed on the agenda.

I'd now like to invite everyone who is able and willing to stand and join us in a moment of silence followed by the Pledge of Allegiance.

We acknowledge that Tempe lies on the ancestral land of the Native peoples who have lived here since time immemorial.

The ancestral land of the author and the stretches far beyond the boundaries of our city.

The landscape is sacred to them.

Embodying cultural values that are integral to their identity and way of life.

The author MPosh continue to maintain a deep spiritual connection to this land.

Thank you.

Next up, item number four, meeting minutes tonight will be assisted by Vice Mayor Garland.

Vice Mayor.

Thank you so much for the question.

I move to approve the city council meeting minutes.

Items 4A1 and 4A2.

Okay, it's been moved by Vice Mayor Garland to have a second, seconded by Councilmember Keating, please vote.

And that item passes seven to zero.

Next up, item four B acceptance of board commission and committee meeting minutes, Vice Mayor Garland.

I move to accept the board commission and committee meeting minutes items four B1 through 4B6.

Okay, it's been moved by Vice Mayor Garland and seconded by Councilmember Hodge, please vote.

And that item also passes seven to zero.

Okay, next up I've got some reports and announcements.

Let's see if I can have our community health and human services team uh join us, Mr.

Birch and Stephanie de Leon for a with a brighter with for a brighter day.

Before I even start reading, I should hand these out here.

Hold on here.

I have four.

So we'll just take the other three.

Of course, I need one to read.

I'll take as one.

All right.

So this proclamation reads, whereas the city of Tempe is proud to recognize May as Mental Health Awareness Month, an opportunity to discuss and raise awareness about the importance of mental health, with this year's theme being more good days together.

And whereas the theme encourages all of us to reflect on what a good day looks like, both for ourselves and for our communities, using that insight to connect people to the right support at the right time.

And whereas Tempe's community health and human services department offers a wide range of resources to address needs.

Of Tempe encourages all residents to define their good day, care for their whole self, and join to the path towards building a healthier, stronger, and brighter future for all.

Now, therefore, I, Corey Woods, mayor of the city of Tempe, Arizona, to hereby declare May 2026 as Mental Health Awareness Month in Tempe, Arizona.

I'm not allowed to take it home.

One for me, please.

Thank you.

Thank you.

All right, next up, Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month proclamation.

Councilmember Shin, get down here.

Come here.

Come there.

So we have with us this evening, Tina Gwynn and members of the ASU's Asian Asian Pacific American Students Coalition to join us.

Councilmember Chin.

Can you do the honors?

I would love to do it.

The month of May is nationally recognized as Asian American Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander Heritage Month, a time to honor and celebrate generations of AA and HPI individuals who have enriched history, the United States, and who are instrumental in its continued success.

And whereas from early pioneers to today's entrepreneurs, artists, and advocates, AA and HPI communities have demonstrated resilience and perseverance, enriching our society through innovation, cultural expression, civic engagement, and community leadership.

And whereas this month offers an opportunity to confront the history of discrimination and inequity faced by AA and HPI communities, and to recommit ourselves to building a more inclusive and equitable future for all.

And whereas the City of Tempe proudly celebrates the vibrant cultures and diverse identities of its AA and HPI residents whose enduring contributions strengthen the social, cultural, and economic fabric of our community.

Now, therefore, he, Corey Woods, mayor of the City of Tempe, Arizona, do hereby declare May 2026, Asian American, Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander Heritage Month in Tempe, Arizona.

Thank you.

Thank you for you.

Thank you, Councilman.

Okay, before before I I I could I I need to I need to get a hug here.

Absolutely.

I was like, I think I know that baby.

Alright, next up, item 5A3, Jewish American Heritage Month proclamation.

Arnold, I saw you.

Come on up.

So Arnold is the president of uh Temple Emmanuel's board of directors and a good friend of mine, so another hug.

By the way, just as a note, um just last weekend, uh Temple Emanuel celebrated their 15th anniversary with their golden jubilee celebration.

It was a great presentation, so thank you for being here.

Thank you.

Alright, so this reads whereas Jewish American Heritage Month is observed each May is an opportunity to recognize and reflect upon the enduring contributions of Jewish Americans to the civic cultural and intellectual mosaic of the United States.

And whereas Jewish Americans have played a vital role in shaping the social, economic, and political landscape of our country, serving as leaders, innovators, educators, and advocates for justice and equality.

And whereas in the face of hardship and exclusion, Jewish Americans have persisted across generations, preserving their heritage and continuing to build, lead, and participate in civic life.

And whereas the city of Tempe is proud to recognize Jewish American Heritage Month as an opportunity to honor the cultural heritage, history, and traditions of Jewish Americans in our city and beyond.

Encouraging reflection, education, and dialogue, and reinforcing the values of pluralism, freedom of religion, and respect that are essential to a thriving community.

Now, therefore I, Cory Woods, mayor of the City of Tempe, Arizona, do hereby declare May 2026 as Jewish American Heritage Month in Tempe, Arizona.

All right.

Next up, item 5A4, National Water Safety Month Proclamation.

It's always lots of post-its and sticky notes and all right, come on up.

Okay, so I've got two of these.

So who's going to take the first one from me?

There we go.

I said, look, if you're wearing the Tempe Aquatics Polo, it pretty much has to go to you.

All right.

Oh.

I'll get that later.

All right.

So this one reads, whereas the state of Arizona has proclaimed May 2026 as Water Safety Month, recognizing the vital role that swimming and aquatic activities play in promoting physical and mental health and enhancing quality of life.

And whereas the state further emphasizes that education and awareness are essential to preventing drownings and recreational water-related injuries, and that water safety must be communicated to individuals and families of all ages.

And whereas the City of Tempe supports the statewide initiative and is committed to promoting water safety through public education, community outreach, and access to safe aquatic facilities.

And whereas the city of Tempe provides a variety of aquatic amenities, including public pools, the Kowana Sway pool, splash pads, and voting opportunities, while maintaining high safety standards through trained staff and partnerships such as Ellis and Associates.

And whereas Tempe's Aquatics, Boating, Park Rangers, Tempe Fire Medical Rescue, and Communications teams collaborate to deliver water safety messaging, including CPR awareness, safe voting practices, and drowning prevention education through newsletters, social media, and community programming.

And whereas the City of Tempe joins national and state partners in promoting the importance of layered water safety practices to ensure that all residents and visitors can safely enjoy aquatic recreation, encouraging all residents to learn and practice water safety, remain vigilant around water, and take advantage of educational resources and programs offered throughout the community.

Now, therefore, I, Corey Woods, mayor of the city of Tempe, Arizona, do hereby declare May 2026 as Water Safety Month in Tempe, Arizona.

All right, ready?

One, two, three.

Thank you.

Okay, and my last one of this evening is item 5A5, which is Ken Vincent Appreciation Day.

Come on forward.

Alright, so this proclamation reads, whereas on April 2nd, 2026, Kenneth Ken Vinson, a resident of Tempe and City of Tempe employee in the community services department, Parks Division, South Park section, provided life-saving action to a community member in need.

And whereas while driving, Ken noticed an elderly man laying at the end of his driveway after falling while maneuvering his recycling bin.

Demonstrating decisive judgment, Ken immediately stopped to assist, called 911, safely secured a firearm the man was carrying, and remained by his side until paramedics arrived.

And whereas as a result of the fall, the man faced serious injuries.

However, his daughter shared that her father is now recovering and credited Ken's quick actions with helping to save his life while he was helpless and unable to reach emergency services.

And whereas Ken's compassion and concern for the well-being of others did not end at the scene, as he later returned on his own initiative to check on the man's recovery and to offer continued support.

And whereas the City of Tempe is proud to recognize Ken Vinson for his courage, compassion, and selflessness, which exemplify the highest ideals of public service and community care and reflect the values and spirit that strengthen and unite the Tempe community.

Now, therefore I, Corey Woods, mayor of the City of Tempe, Arizona, do hereby declare May 14th, 2026 as Ken Vincent Appreciation Day in Tempe, Arizona.

Thank you, appreciate it.

And that ends my announcements.

Madam City Manager, any announcements on your end?

Not this evening.

Thank you, Mr.

Mayor.

All right.

Sorry, you see there's a number of I get tons of post-it notes and finder clips and things I have to collect.

My mom always said when I was a kid, Cory, when you're done with things, leave things as you found them.

All right.

She left that part out.

All right.

It's kidding.

All right, next up here, item number six.

But before we get to item number six, which is public appearances, want to take a moment to address campaign-related activity, especially as we are now in the 2026 election season.

City Council meetings are open to the public and are a vital foreign specific engagement.

We welcome all individuals, including candidates, to speak on matters of public concern during the public comment portion of the meeting.

However, because this is an official city council meeting that is both televised and live streamed using city resources.

We ask all candidates, including any current council members, to refrain from electioneering or campaign-related activity while participating in the meeting.

That means no discussing your candidacy, asking for votes or signatures, or displaying campaign materials such as signs, t-shirts, or literature while speaking.

Thank you for helping us maintain the integrity and neutrality of our public meetings.

Alright, so tonight's agenda has a number of items that the city council must consider in order to conduct city business.

Guidelines for conduct at city council meetings are on the table near the entrance for those in attendance at tonight's meeting.

We will now play a video with the proper protocol for ensuring the appropriate conduct at City Council meetings.

The public appearances portion of the Tempe City Council agenda welcomes people to address the Tempe City Council on city related issues.

Speakers will generally be taken in the order in which they have signed up to speak.

No visual aids or pre-recorded materials are allowed.

People may speak once during public appearances for up to three minutes.

If there is a large number of speakers, the mayor may limit the amount of time allotted for each person.

The City Council as a whole is prohibited by state law from discussing, responding to, or taking action on matters that are not on the current agenda.

However, an individual council member may respond to criticism made by those who have addressed the public body, may ask the staff to review a matter, or may ask that a matter be put on a future agenda.

The City Council rules of procedure provides everyone with an opportunity to speak.

However, rules of decorum are in effect and behavior that disrupts, disturbs, or otherwise impedes the orderly conduct of any city council meeting is not permitted.

This includes behavior at the podium inside or adjacent to the council chambers.

Speakers shall refrain from name calling, making personal or insulting comments or slanderous remarks while addressing the city council or while attending the meeting.

Should a speaker become disorderly, action will be taken.

First, the mayor may issue a verbal warning, and if the speaker continues disruptive behavior, the speaker will forfeit any remaining time for public comment and will be asked to leave the podium.

Further disruption beyond that may result in removal from the council chambers, and the mayor may ask security officers to remove the speaker.

If the speaker refuses to leave, security will warn the speaker that they are now trespassing, and the next step is an arrest for disorderly conduct, trespassing, or both.

If necessary to maintain order, the mayor may recess the meeting.

Your right to address the Tempe City Council is important to us.

These rules are intended to create an atmosphere that is conducive to thoughtful public speech.

Thank you.

Thank you very much.

Alright, once again, we're going to start then.

The order in which the cards were received this evening.

The first speaker I have this evening is uh virtual, it's Diane Melrose.

Madam Cork is Diane Melrose in the uh virtual room.

Yes, she is.

Hello?

Yes, hi.

Please state your name and city of residence.

You have three minutes.

I was hoping I wasn't going to be first.

Okay, my name is Diane.

Um I live in Tempe.

When I have a topic I want to discuss, I can easily meet up with Mayor Woods, Vice Mayor Garlet, and Council members Amberg, Chin, and Hodge.

Councilmember Keating rarely responds to my emails, and Councilmember Adams has never responded to my emails.

Last fall I tried to meet with Adams after she reached out via the phone number associated with her campaign asking to meet me for coffee.

Three separate times plans were made, and three separate times Adams canceled or changed those plans.

Her final proposal was that I come to City Hall so I could meet her aide.

I declined.

I've heard similar stories of unsuccessful meetups from half a dozen friends in the community.

If someone knows the secret to getting an actual meeting with council member Adams, please let me know.

I recently had a text conversation with Adams that startled and shocked me.

She had messaged asking me to share one of the posts to one of her posts to the candidates group.

I did so and offered up the perspective that some of the rhetoric referenced in the post was offensive.

She responded that yes, she was offended.

I wrote back that I wasn't so much worried about her being offended, but more so concerned with the offense that caused other residents.

She replied back, and I quote, you have never been concerned about me.

End quote.

Ah.

Narcissists and their gaslighting, am I right?

Two days later she blocked me on Facebook from her personal account, her council member account, and her candidate account.

Message received, Jennifer.

Perhaps we'll parlay another time.

I bring up these incidents because it seems to be an open secret that this council member's behaviors are at least unprofessional and at most toxic in nature.

I know the entire council and half the staff are aware of these types of incidents.

I don't need to rehash the Arizona Republic article from Tuesday, but wowzers.

That incident all by itself is grounds for disciplinary action under the Council Code of Conduct numbers 9, 11, and 12.

And yet, no one says or does anything.

See something, say something.

Isn't that what we tell kids at school when they notice someone being bullied?

You are certainly not leading by example.

Afraid to rock the boat, maybe?

This probably isn't news, but the boat is already rocking and not in a funky soul kind of way.

The upside down pyramid is definitely making corrosive waves in the desert.

This boat is rotting from the inside out.

There are a lot of eyes on Tempe City Council these days.

A lot more residents are paying attention, and a lot more voters are keeping tabs.

If re-election is the goal for any of you, you might consider reflecting on how you respond to the toxicity of our city.

Mayor Woods, I ask that you consider my experiences as well as those of countless others during Adams' tenure on council.

Please ask the city manager andor city attorney to investigate these numerous violations and get back to me.

I know you can't respond right now, but blink twice if you understand.

Well, folks, govern yourselves accordingly, and remember, no clapping.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Okay.

Next up we have Jim Phipps.

Please come forward, state treatment city of residence.

You have three minutes.

Not sure how popular this is going to be.

Wasn't sure the audience was going to be this large when I showed up with my little comments.

My name is Jim Phipps.

I'm a Tempe resident in the Optimist Park neighborhood, south of baseline and west of Price Road.

And I'm here to extend my appreciation to the mayor and council and the city staff for improvements that have occurred in our little slice of Tempe.

I don't work for Tempe.

I don't have any relatives on staff.

I don't know any of you.

Believe me.

Our neighborhood streets have recently been resurfaced, not just a coding, but the top inch or two of old pavement was replaced.

I sent some photos to your uh fine city clerk to uh forward to you.

It has made a difference in our neighborhood.

It's caught, streets are quieter, it covered up the crack seal, which is always noisy when you drive over.

My house is a 1973 little townhome, and the neighborhood needed these streets improved, and they happen.

I'm here to thank you for that.

Improvements were made to our pedestrian pathway that spans our neighborhood from Price Road over to McClintock Drive.

We got new seating, lighting, workout stations, landscaping, and then the section through Optimus Park, which is just by Fuller Elementary School by my neighborhood, had just a dirt path through it, and then the trail extended beyond each side.

You connected the trail.

And we got two exercise stations, new seating, lighting, and it's just a lot nicer.

Most recently you upgraded our park amenities, including two new shaded seat lamadas, totally new playground equipment.

So my eight-year-old granddaughter loves the new slides and the shaded structures there.

So thank you for that.

Improvements also occurred along Country Club Way, just uh down the street from where I live.

It's now safer for bicyclists.

Uh new pavement and striping was installed.

Plus these little landscaped bulb elts that come from the side of the sidewalks into the street a little bit to slow traffic down.

They see this, they slow down, and it makes a difference.

Lastly, in terms of uh the streets, after you improve them, you keep them clean.

I've seen a street sweeper on our street every probably five to six weeks.

That's amazing in a town with all these streets.

So I appreciate that.

Um, I don't think it's probably the best job in the world, so I appreciate the people that do it.

And you can tell me if I heard wrong or right.

I'll conclude with this.

I heard that when you hire people to drive your street sweepers, they don't need training, they just pick it up as they go.

Thank you.

All right.

Hi, Pete.

Next speaker I have this evening is Mario Martinez.

Please come forward, state your name and city of residence.

You have three minutes.

My name is Mario Martinez.

I live in Tempe.

I am here to address the council about uh the social media dashboard discussed in the illegal meeting meetings.

I can quickly get through this and ask a question if I am not interrupted.

As background, the Privacy Act of 1974 is a landmark U.S.

federal law that establishes how federal agencies may collect and use and disseminate personally identifiable information.

It grants individuals the right to access this information.

While TEMPE is not subject to the Privacy Act, it is indisputable that TEMPE's have a right to uh to uh access the social media dashboard that was illegally concealed with us.

About 16 months ago, after the age attorney general released the report, I talked to the attorney who said that uh she could not give me the social media dashboard, but that the uh uh that the Tempe should be able to give this.

I still have not received this.

Okay, uh some people uh uh consider this to be a social media spy program now.

Uh Corey, uh uh you can easily prove that this was a uh not a spy program if you could release it and we could see what was done.

Okay, so my question is will your administration continue to deny us the right to review this social media dashboard, which you were uh were asserting was not spying.

I assume that's a yes.

Okay, thank you.

I was gonna ask the city attorney actually if he could respond.

All right, yes, Mr.

Mayor.

We received a public records request from Mr.

Martinez, I believe in April of 2025, and we responded with to that request in May, May 13, 2025.

All the records we had regarding that issue were provided.

If we had any records related to a dashboard, we would have provided those.

Okay.

What happened to the dashboard?

We it was key evidence in the attorney general's report.

Where did it go?

What was it?

We paid 32,000 uh 32,000 for it.

What happened to this key evidence?

Again, Mr.

Mayor, we provided all the records that the city has, all the public records that the city had.

We have no other records to provide, Mr.

Martinez.

Okay, you're gonna continue to deny it.

Okay, thank you.

Okay, okay.

The next speaker I have this evening is virtual, David Sokolowski.

Mr.

Sokolowski, hear me.

Yep, can you hear me?

Yes, please state your name and city of residence.

You have three minutes.

My name is David Sokolowski, I live in Tempe.

Council members, for once I'm not here to talk about housing.

The city proposed a transit tax, but didn't tell its own transportation commission.

I really doubt you woke up on a Friday and decided to pass the transit tax, but I could be wrong.

Apparently, you woke up on a Thursday and decided to change the ballot question.

And without a public survey for any tax increase, I don't want to raise taxes for police while crime is going down.

The city needs to be more fiscally responsible.

Back to my point.

Our transportation commission scheduled an emergency meeting, but after more than an hour, we failed to reach consensus.

We scheduled a second emergency meeting to rubber stamp the transit tax for approval.

We got a lecture from Lista Camacho.

The city council was disappointed, and we needed to make amends and speak at city council meetings.

Many people on the commission are very unhappy.

We changed our meeting minutes because we wanted a clear public record of what was said.

Our transportation commission must be capable of operating independently and without pressure or influence from the city council or city staff.

Now it's the city council that needs to make amends and restore trust and confidence in our commission.

I sent a council communicator, and all I got was thank you for the email.

You shouldn't call it council communicator if you don't actually communicate with anyone.

But where is the input from the Transportation Commission?

You went to the neighborhood advisory commission, and even the DRC got to vote on it.

Why is the city excluding the Transportation Commission from providing recommendations on transportation policy?

I'm disappointed in the city.

The difference is that I'm a citizen and I have the right to say it.

It's disrespectful to the commission if the city doesn't respect the process, even if some people don't like it.

Based on today, I would rank our Transportation Commission at the lowest level for citizen participation.

Mr.

Mayor, you served on the Transportation Commission.

How would you feel right now?

I think everyone can understand.

The city is capable of including the commission before they schedule the city council meetings.

Thank you for listening.

Thank you.

Okay, the next speaker I have this evening is Tim Palmer.

Please come forward, state your name and city of residents.

You have three minutes.

Good evening, Baron Council.

My name's Tim Palmer.

I'm a Tempe resident for 65 years.

I think I know Tempe.

This municipal election we are in is a complete disaster.

Council members Jennifer Adams and Brigetta Hodge have offered residents of Tempe nothing with vision and leadership.

Councilmember Jennifer Adams, you're not mentally fit to serve this council.

Your alleged insults to Councilmember Arlene Chin are disgusting if true.

Councilmember Adams, you claim to be a workhorse, not a show horse.

In reality, you're a nothing horse.

You provide residents with no vision and no leadership.

Councilmember Arlene Chin of our three incumbents is the better substance for Tempe.

Palmer can even second.

I'm sorry, I'm apologize.

Um, Mr.

City Attorney, just point of order.

Is are these comments along the lines of what's allowed or Mr.

Mayor?

We're not supposed to have any personal uh remarks against staff or anybody else, actually.

So I would just um ask the speaker to remember the rules of declaration.

Okay, so okay.

Council member Arlene Chin of our three incumbents is the better substance for Tempe, and the voters agreed.

Arlene Chin is liked, seemingly respected.

Folks just would like to see more vision and leadership.

I personally respect her and can support her position on the council.

Mayor Woods, I gave you three very successful campaigns.

I hosted events for you at my house.

You're not what we'd hoped for, and seemingly have given us ineffective leadership and ineffective vision.

You just enjoy ribbon cuttings and dunk and donut openings.

Failures of the council, in my opinion.

All the council does is focus on apartments and more apartments, rentals everywhere.

Land seemingly is available for rental apartments, just not for real estate ownership.

You do not make any new homeownership in Tempe a reality or a priority.

You desire renters only and the developable darlings you crave.

I worry for the residents of Shalomar.

The Shalomar community likely will be screwed with crews crushing zoning changes that only serve the new Heisel family with millions of dollars.

You could put a stop to this, but you don't.

It's shameful.

Tempe streets are not safe.

The Vision Zero program is all smoke and mirrors.

Many residents require visible traffic enforcement.

Traffic street engineering was promised.

Safety education of drivers was promised.

Traffic safety of Tempe is still an existing problem.

This is on you, City Manager Rosa.

Clearly, the revitalization projects in Tempe are stuck in the gutter.

Mayor Woods, you promised us Hayden Flower Mill would rise up in adaptive reuse.

Nothing.

Mayor Woods, you promised us the Dinale Plaza was going to be the next crown jewel of Tempe, and again, nothing is happening.

Obviously, no one's guiding the economic development on these projects.

Epic failures, and that's on you, Mayor Woods.

Clearly, council is not attempting to solve homelessness and needed policy that is meaningful and effective.

This is the perception of thousands of Tempe residents.

The City of Tempe is clearly more interested in pressing authoritarianism policy onto Tempe residents.

Please focus on the magic of what Tempe is.

Continue to make Tempe shine.

That's time.

Please design and drive that narrative.

That's time.

I'm serious.

Y'all lack vision, Mr.

Palmer.

That's leadership.

Okay, the next speaker I have this evening is Noah James Barkham.

Please come forward and state your name and city of residence.

You have three minutes.

Aloha Mayor and to the rest of the board.

Let's get into this.

So let's get into this first one.

I don't know if people's minds don't get about how police need to cooperate and learn how to communicate with people with disabilities.

Let's let's say that again.

Disabilities.

It's frustrating and it's scary.

I know not every individual person will be nice either that has a disability.

Also, I would like to talk about the Republicans in Tempe.

Why are you here?

And if you don't like Democrats, then you can move somewhere else.

What's so funny to me that one of the presidents, Donald Trump's campaign helpers, was walking down the streets of Tempe.

Interesting, you know, you know, he liked um how the Democrats are doing in Tempe, apparently.

So uh please go somewhere else, Mister.

Also, I would like to talk about the Japanese Americans that had to fight World War II.

And it's so funny that we talk so much about the Navajo talkers, and you know, we do know that we know what we're really talking about, apparently.

But apparently, the Navajo talkers weren't really talking about the right things to get the war done, because the Japanese Americans had found out that they weren't saying the right codes.

And so, thanks to the Japanese Americans in the Native American concentration camps, that we ended your war.

Last thing is why do we have a smoke shop or a drugstore right down the city of downtown Tempe?

That was the most ignorant move.

You could have done here.

It just it just looks disastrous.

We need to get rid of it.

We need to put it somewhere else, not downtown Tempe.

I lived in Gilbert for most of my life, and you know, it just doesn't look good to have this here.

Also, please make sure your bathrooms outside this hall are not nasty, and it's clean and it smells good with some with uh Febreze Mahalo, and thank you for listening to me tonight.

Thank you.

Next speaker I have this evening is Steve Norris.

Please come forward, state your name and city of residence.

You have three minutes, and there's a button on the right hand side if you need to lower that a little bit.

I'm not that tall.

I most certainly am not either, so.

Hello, Mr.

Woods and City Councils.

It's good to see you again.

Seeing you like four times now.

I would like to thank you for your continued support of no rezoning as in regards to Shalomar.

I personally had have over 135,000 reasons.

Plus, why I'm here right now.

The 135,000 relates to the equity hit in dollars on my property.

Some Shalomar neighbors would also take larger equity hits, depending on the property location within the Shalomar neighborhood.

The other crews, concerns of myself, and other Shamar neighbors have been echoed many times.

So I won't bore you repeating them.

The Charlotte neighborhood looks forward to funding the resolution with acceptable and meets the needs of Shalomore neighborhood, all of Tempe, and current or future owners of Shalomar.

Thank you for your time and consideration.

Thank you.

Next speaker I have three minutes.

Good evening is Joseph Forte Jr.

Please come forward, Mayor Woods and city of residence.

You have three minutes.

My name is Joe Forte, and I'm a resident of the city of Tempe.

Thank you for the opportunity to speak tonight.

Tempe already has 28 outstanding boards and commissions that give citizens a real voice in parks, sustainability, transportation, arts, and development.

Yet when it comes to the one topic that affects every single resident, our city budget, there's no dedicated citizen voice.

Our operating and capital budgets total nearly 1.7 billion.

Every year, major decisions are made about infrastructure, services, reserves, revenue forecasts, and large initiatives.

Right now, those proposals go straight from staff to you for a vote.

Exactly the way development projects would reach you if we had no development review commission.

I currently serve on the development review commission.

We review staff-approved projects, ask tough questions in public, and send recommendations to you.

That process improves outcomes and gives residents confidence.

A citizen budget review commission would do the same for our finances.

Here's how it would work: a small volunteer group of seven to nine Tempe residents with finance, business, or public administration experience, would meet publicly during budget season.

They would review the proposed operating and capital budgets, analyze feasibility of major projects, examine reserves and long-term forecasts, and deliver clear written recommendations to you before you vote.

It would be strictly advisory, low cost, and supported by the existing municipal budget office.

For you, the mayor and council, this commission becomes a valuable new tool.

An independent second set of eyes that complements staff work and strengthen strengthens your decision making.

For Tempe residents, it means greater transparency, easier to understand summaries of where our tax dollars go, and real real community input on the priorities that shape our city's future.

To show this idea has broad support, I launched a change.org petition.

In just a short time, 238 people have signed, with at least 70% of them being Tempe residents.

That number is important.

It lines up exactly with the level of engagement the city sees in its own signature surveys when residents are asked about their top priorities.

This is not a criticism of current leadership.

It is a practical way to give you better information and give residents a meaningful seat at the table on issues that matter most.

I respectfully ask for you to establish a Tempe Citizen Budget Review Commission.

It will strengthen trust, improve decisions, and help keep Tempe fiscally strong for generations to come.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Next speaker I have this evening is Lane Caraway.

Please come forward, state your name and city of residence.

You have three minutes.

Good evening.

I am Lane Careway.

I am a citizen of North Tempe North of the Lake for 32 plus years.

First of all, I want to thank the mayor and council.

You guys, I think it's a two-way street when you're trying to make appointments and meetings with you guys.

Jennifer Adams, you respond.

I don't know what the rhetoric is all about, but hey, we can't all be loved by some people.

I'm here tonight about the nuisance ordinance.

Um we have nine Airbnbs in my neighborhood that are becoming more and more of an issue.

In fact, I have several issues I need to address with several people at the city.

I have gone through the neighborhood.

I expected more people from my neighborhood to come and speak.

Mother, 85-year-old mother broke her ankle yesterday, granddaughter, sick, own and own.

But I've spoken probably close to 75 plus citizens.

We support you guys on this new ordinance.

We know there's a lot of rhetoric about oh, you're gonna stop the homeless feedings in the churches.

Well, I feel sorry for those communities that have two to 250 people coming into their neighborhood and then they're towed in 30 minutes.

They're on the orbits and they're back over at Morrior Park.

But that's about it.

I just want to say we support you.

We support the manager, city manager, we don't have issues.

My neighborhood gets along with everybody.

It seems like it's a two-way street of how you correspond with individuals.

And I like to say thank you, you're doing a great job, and I get to go home.

Thank you, guys.

Thank you.

All right, the next speaker I have is Lynn PJ Owens.

Is Lynn PJ Owens here?

I'll pass.

Pass, okay, thank you.

Okay, the next speaker is Melinda Morrison Gullick.

Please come forward, state your name and city of residence.

You have three minutes.

Good evening, Mayor and members of the Tempe City Council.

My name is Melinda Morrison Gulick, and I'm the CEO of First Things First, Arizona's Early Childhood Agency.

I am not lucky enough to live in Tempe.

Sorry.

I live just across the border.

I'm here to thank you for considering to include child care funding in the proposed half cent sales tax, and I urge you to support it.

Child care is essential infrastructure for a strong community and local economy.

There is a direct correlation between accessible, affordable child care, labor force participation, particularly for women, but not only for women, and a strong local economy.

Study after study has shown that children who participate in high quality early learning environments do better in school, have higher rates of high school graduation, higher rates of post-secondary attainment, and lifetime income, along with less reliance on social services and other interventions.

Tempe, you have been a leader in supporting high quality early learning environments with your Tempe P Tempe Pre-program.

Your opportunity to expand your investment in early childhood makes a powerful statement about your deep commitment to families, children, your workforce, your economy, and your quality of life.

Please support moving this proposal forward and giving Tempe voters the opportunity to invest in the community, including child care.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Okay, the next speaker I have is Leandra Gutara.

Sorry.

Possibly, yes.

Yes.

No, Sam.

So please come forward, state your name and City of Residence.

You have three minutes.

Thank you for having me.

Thank you.

I grew up in the Shalomar neighborhood.

We currently reside on Broadway and Mill.

Wasn't prepared for this, but I don't have numbers and logistics and things like that, but I can just tell you what I see every day as a resident in my area.

There's a homeless epidemic in our area for sure.

And I'm not speaking as someone who looks at the homeless.

I've been homeless maybe for the last three years, and I've been currently housed on my own for about a year now.

Um I don't know how it works.

I can tell you is that those feeds that these churches are giving are helping a lot of people.

I can tell you that it's nice that we offer air conditioning at places like the library.

But what are we doing for these people after 5 p.m.

after the library closes?

Where are they going?

I seen I heard a lot about us putting money into public safety, but honestly, ask people how they're feeling when our streets are we can't sit at bus stops because there's so many people that are unhoused out.

I don't know about you know capping on the housing.

And I I'm a peer support specialist, so I hand out a lot of resources.

I can tell you when I have girls coming to me and they're looking for financial assistance.

Tempe has two spots, TCAA, or they can go to St.

Vincent at the church.

But we don't have a lot like that.

So if we can't go to other cities for resources, I don't understand why.

I hear people coming up here like, oh, the streets are really paved.

We're doing all this great stuff.

Well, why are we not helping these people?

I'd rather be a part of the problem or a part of the solution.

Um, so I I can't speak on what we could do, but I would love to know what even I can do as starting as a person to work with people like you guys to make a difference in this because it matters.

Thank you.

Thank you.

All right, next speaker I have.

I think we can't have any applause, but let's see.

Let me get to James Gregory.

So is James Gregory here?

Yeah, um.

Oh, sure, sounds good.

I'll get there.

No, you got it, no worries.

Please come forward, state your name and city of residence.

You have three minutes.

James Gregory.

Tempy resident.

I've been here for a minute.

My elementary school is called prize food and drugs now.

So I've seen some changes.

Oh, we used to have a golf course down on Ace Line and Hardy.

Right?

I don't know if you were around to play it.

But it's gone.

So I would like to thank all the citizens that have come forward and given us some of their community responsibilities.

That's more important.

Of course, the staff that's here.

Thanks a lot, guys.

You guys, I don't know how you guys do it.

I know that the we lost the hockey team.

That's all.

But you guys know that the Shalomar has been shut down.

As an environmental scientist, though, we got a 40-acre nature reserve out there now.

Boxes are coming back.

We've seen kids running around the neighborhood now.

Two or three days in a row.

I'm suspecting they're not orphans, so that's good.

Got no water out there, but not a lot we can do about that, right?

So I'm just gonna ask you guys to think outside the box, maybe, see what we can do.

I know that you guys have been more in cooperative.

I think we've been pretty cooperative too.

So, thanks a lot.

Keep in touch.

For the first speaker, I would tell her to try to molly.

Maybe she can get an audience then.

Thanks a lot, guys.

Thank you all.

Okay, that's all the speakers I have under scheduled public appearances, just as a note, too.

If there's other folks here, a lot of folks are there to speak on item 8C4, which is about the uh nuisance ordinance change.

There's some folks to speak about the the tax as well.

So, but if there's anyone else who wants to speak on just sort of general public appearances at this time, could you get my attention?

Yes, please.

Please come forward and state your name and city of residence.

You have three minutes.

All right, my name is Megan.

I am a resident of Tempe, Arizona, 10 years now.

In response to the newly proposed parks ordinance, I'm here today to talk about a cycle we keep funding with our laws.

One that doesn't reduce homelessness, it deepens it.

But first, I want to address something else.

Last summer, the people of Tempe spoke.

Over 4,500 of them signed a petition to undo an ordinance this council passed against the will of the community.

4,500 signatures.

That's not a fringe movement.

That is your constituents telling you clearly that we do not want this.

And yet here we are again.

This council does not know how to take no for an answer, and the people of Tempe are watching.

When someone receives a citation for urban camping for the act of just simply existing somewhere, that citation doesn't just disappear.

It becomes a record that follows them and it closes doors.

And let's be honest about what we're asking people to do when we hand them a citation.

We tell them go to a shelter, but shelters in our region are full and have extremely extremely long waiting lists.

People get turned away for minor role violations for not having the right ID, um, for having pets for being a couple who won't be separated.

We're criminalizing people for not going somewhere that wasn't realistically available to them in the first place.

It's a catch 22 written into all.

Every citation, every fine, every arrest for a homeless offense for being poor in public is a roadblock placed directly in the pathway out of homelessness.

We are not solving it, we are encoding it.

That works.

What works is connection to services to housing to dignity.

What that's what AZ Hugs and other organizations do every single day.

And I'm asking this council to stop passing laws that undo the hard work in progress that we make on a daily basis.

You have a choice, you can criminalize your most vulnerable residents or you can house them.

History and data show you that you cannot do both.

And the people of this city have already told you which one they choose.

Please don't make us tell you again.

In addition, I would like to sit point out that during the last city council meeting, I counted a total of six people who got up here and spoke in a derogatory manner about having to either see or be near a homeless person.

I would like to request that we all do a little bit better, as we all have our chance to speak tonight.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Alright, the next speaker, we cannot have any clapping, please.

Alright.

Anyone else?

Yes, please.

Julie, come on.

Come on forward, state your name and city of residence.

You have three minutes.

Thank you all for your tolerance.

Thank you.

My name is Julie Buffkin.

This is my daughter Alice.

She can't vote, but in her own way, she votes.

So thank you for that.

I was originally going to speak about the tax plan and how it relates to speed of enforcement.

My friend's son was hit by a car at a stop sign.

I don't know what the situation was, but it didn't involve any high speeds.

And so as a scientist who likes to collect data that's useful instead of data that kind of misleads, I'd love if maybe instead of focusing on well, I trust the scientist, but I'd love if maybe we could focus more on the tendency of people to not come to complete stops, to run red lights, especially when it's those turn arrows.

I know that there are really strong opinions about use of the flock cameras and regarding autonomous driving, but I will say, as a cyclist, um, oh, and I forgot to say, I'm a Tempe resident for golly, 15 years, and um we actually we lived in Tempe Optimist Park beforehand, but then we moved closer right to college in Alameda because we ride bikes so much and it's by the schools.

And it kind of feels like by moving so much, we're kind of like a lot more aware of collisions that happen around that area and the potential for a really great pedestrian community.

And then the last thing I'll kind of say is um, you know, babies are kind of like unruly and unpredictable, and it creates it creates a lot of problems.

So when we have people who seem to try to divide our community by coming up here and using incendiary language and pointing fingers without offering only solutions, you should really wonder what they're trying to achieve.

Are they trying to make us stronger?

Are they trying to build a better future?

Are they out for themselves and trying to be some kind of big internet hero?

Sorry to interrupt.

If we could have the speakers address the count, okay, sorry.

Thank you.

Thanks, guys.

Um, I'm here for us.

I hope we can do the right thing.

Thank you.

Appreciate it.

Is there anyone else wishing to address the council on their item number six?

If so, can you please get by?

Yes, please come forward, state your name and city of residence.

You have three minutes.

Good evening, mayor and council members.

Uh, my name is Brianna Vietta.

I'm a resident of Tempe.

Yes.

Sorry, it's my first time.

Um, I'm a resident of Tempe, a registered nurse with a full-time job, and most importantly, I'm a mother to my four-year-old daughter who I brought here tonight, but I think she had to step out.

Um, and a baby on the way.

I'm here to ask that you allow the public to vote separately on each topic of the half cent sales tax proposal, and that specifically you allow us to vote for the 0.1% increase in sales tax to go towards investing in our children via Tempe Pre.

It is my belief that it is the most vital part of the sales tax proposal as healthy and secure children and families are the cornerstone to a healthy city and society.

As our registered nurse in a managerial role, I have the privilege to earn more than most mothers I know and work with.

Despite that, child care is still the biggest part of my budget besides rent.

In the last two years that my daughter has been in part-time daycare, the costs have increased by 27%, while my income income has increased by less than 3% each year.

I come from a very privileged position.

I co-parent with my ex-husband and we split all of our daughter's costs in halves.

Um, I budget every penny I spend, and still the cost of child care along with general inflation has led me to not be able to hit the financial milestones that I would like, such as owning a house.

For reference, my half of my daughter's part-time daycare expenses was $16,000 in the last two and a half years.

In healthcare, I work with some moms who have to work 60 plus hour weeks to get by and afford taking care of their children.

This is not what's best for our children.

I can't help but think that parents would be able to spend more time with their kids and also support their local economy if a huge area of their budget, child care, decreased or went down to zero.

Children need high quality, safe, educational, affordable child care and preschool, and more families need access to this.

And our amazing child care workers need livable wages and benefits.

So with that, I ask that you please support moving this child care proposal forward to make the lives of Tempe families easier and less stressful in these crazy times.

Thank you.

Thank you.

I was just uh notified that we've got a speaker online.

Um, Chelsea Brugerman.

Do you see that?

Uh, Madam Clerk.

In the virtual audience.

Yes, we do.

Okay.

Okay, uh Chelsea, can you hear me?

Yes.

Hi there, can you hear me?

Yes, can you state your name and city of residence?

You have three minutes.

Yes, thank you, Mayor and Tempe City Council.

I'm so grateful to be here.

I wish I could be in person, but I was at a Kyrie School District event, um, celebrating my third graders end of the year music presentation with my kindergartner.

Um, I live in Tempe, uh, my children were born, uh, but I we lived in residence in Tempe with all both of my children being born.

And I just wanted to share similar echoes to what my fellow mama just spoke about, Brianna, and just honor um the amazing financial commitment we demand uh parents to put in at the very early beginnings of their child's life, as well as their beginning of their financial beginnings in their career.

Um, we found outstanding child care here in Tempe, Arizona, and called Next Horizons.

Um, I'm so grateful I found this community early on in my parenthood experience that allowed me to stay in the workforce and advocate for those that are also in the workforce and build economic security.

Um I can't imagine what I would have done, how I would have raised my children without this um child care.

But let me tell you, Next Horizons was a medium priced organization, and I paid $1,200 a month for my one infant.

And then three years later, when my second son was born, we are paying over three thousand dollars a month in child care.

We are beyond privileged and beyond lucky to be able to afford that, and I can't help but think what our other mothers doing.

Um, it is just so outrageous the amount of money that we are expected to pay early on in our careers and early on in our children's life with all this different change.

Um I will like to remind, which I'm sure I hope you've heard, that child care for one child is more expensive than in-state tuition for the universities here.

So, um, and we prepare to pay for our children's college in the span of 18 years, right?

We build out those plans early on.

Um, so I'm asking for you to please consider um letting the people vote on a tax increase.

I was hesitant to uh think to encourage a tax increase because I know, especially a regressive tax, but I also celebrate the idea of the financial windfall that would provide for families that are currently growing their family and growing a career and what that would do for their end of their bottom line.

Uh my career now revolves around supporting working moms, and the number one reason I hear women leaving the workforce is the financial burden and what a loss to our female leadership and female uh economic empowerment when we leave when we leave out women in the workforce.

So I thank you so much for listening and understanding, and I just want to implore this community um to support child care aspects and Tempe Preschool.

Thank you.

Appreciate it.

Okay, so anyone else I have under item number six.

Yes, please come forward, state your name in city of residence.

You have three minutes.

Hello, my name is Ben Paulett.

I'm a Tempe resident.

Microphone is not better?

Okay.

Marion City Council, thank you for the opportunity to discuss child care and its impact on our community.

I come to you today to share my perspective as a father and a husband.

And what child care means to me.

I have an incredible wife.

She does amazing work advocating for children and parents throughout the state.

And she puts more than just her time, but also her sweat and occasion, her tears, into advocating for the betterment of families across our state.

We are fortunate that between the two of us, we have two jobs that allow us the financial means to utilize child care.

But if we had to choose between child care and a salary, mine is the better paying job.

I wonder how many women would be like my wife advocating and fighting to make things better for others, but instead have to set aside those hopes and aspirations because they love their children and just couldn't make child care work financially.

Separately, we've been fortunate to have my parents help watch our son in his early years.

But when we realized he was a part of the 17% of children with the speech speech delay, uh none of us were equipped with the knowledge or tools to help get him where he needed to be.

As a father, I want the best for my son, and I know there are other fathers in our community who are struggling silently right now.

We worry because we wonder if they're gonna catch up, make friends, or fit in.

And since starting at preschool and working with qualified educators, I've seen my son make tremendous strides in speech and in his confidence.

However, for my son to attend preschool just twice a week, we spend over $1,000 a month.

I know that is not financially realistic for many families right now.

I can't help but wonder how many families in our community are struggling right now because they don't have the means to help their children.

How many are putting aside their career aspirations to help their family?

How many are buckling under the weight of financial stress?

I'm here to advocate on behalf of those families to strongly support the solutions to make child care more affordable and our community stronger.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Okay, sir.

Anyone else in the audience we should address the council or general public appearances?

If so, yes.

Please come forward, state your name and city of residence.

We have three minutes.

My name is Henry Guerrero.

Um I've been homeless probably for like 18 years in Tempe.

Um these past years, these past couple years.

Uh uh, go to this church right in the community, and I'm met a wonderful person to ask me what I needed, and I told her I need to get I need a bed.

I just I need a bed.

I had been going, just going, going, no sleep.

And she's uh she made a phone call and she told me to call this number and they gave me a bed.

That week, the next day she told me to call her, called her.

She goes, what do you plan on doing?

I go, I'm gonna start looking for a job.

And so uh I got a bed through the program that you guys offer, which is an excellent program.

You guys have all the programs, you guys have all the money, but I think the problem here with with things going on is sometimes, you know, we won't check in on what's going on, why people are not going to this shelter and why are they back homeless again?

I thought they were in the shelter and why they're back where they're at.

And I think that's kind of where we lose the ball.

I um I got the job, I saved, I started coming back to curfew, just went to work, just went to shelter, went to work, did the 90, went to mercy house, did a 90, moved into my own apartment, six thousand dollars in the bank on rule and seven.

Um, kept doing that, keep keep doing that, kept doing that, worked my recovery.

Um, the city of Tempe helped me get a voucher to HMO to get me into the apartment, and um took all my lease after the year.

They weaned me, they wound me, they win me into my lease basically, they would pay that pay percentage, and then by the year I I was fully, I was fully what's that fully um supporting myself.

Um, six months into my second year lease, which is my own lease, the city of Tempe pulls out a warrant for my arrest for an old drug charge in 2023 and they arrest me.

It's uh my third conviction drug felony, and it's mandatory prison time.

And so now I'm sitting in a cell thinking, now I'm gonna go to prison, but that wasn't that was not the goal that me and the community, she's my community advocate planned on when she started working with me and got me the apartment and got the apartment and everything, and she is from that community.

She happens to be in and and and mind you that gentleman spoke about daycare.

She's a stay-at-home mom, her husband's a very successful person, and she would have to get daycare to help me out when she helped me out with all my issues and all my legal things to coordinate.

And I'm so grateful and thankful for her, man.

And if it wasn't for her, I would have never got an apartment.

But I lost two.

I lost it when that warrant came out.

And um, the only thing that bothered me about it was I felt kind of I felt kind of funny.

I was like, how you how am I gonna get a voucher from the city or from the federal government to get off the streets and stop doing whatever?

And then after the voucher runs out, now I'm gonna go to prison, and that's also whatever revenues, whatever revenues to the prison.

So I just felt I just felt like I said, I felt kind of a little lost, but you guys have the services, and I appreciate everything I do.

Thank you.

Appreciate it.

Is there anyone else in the audience wishing to address the council under item number six general public appearances?

Yes, please come forward, state your name and city of residence.

You have three minutes.

Hi.

I have never spoken at something like this, so I'm a little nervous.

Um, but I just wanted to approach you all and bring up the um ordinance against um unhouse folks just existing.

Um I could sit here all day and talk about how people just deserve dignity and medical care and food and all of those things.

Um, but I feel like frankly, we should know that.

And I just want to get straight to the point and say that with the overall umbrella of fascism that we are dealing with, criminalizing people is more dangerous than it has ever been.

Um we don't need people being criminalized for being unhoused, and we don't need people being criminalized for supporting.

Um, so I just wanted to raise that and urge you all deeply from my heart um to not pass this ordinance.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Is there anyone else in the audience wishing to address the council on item number six?

I'm about to go in.

Okay, that will be 8c4.

Okay, so once again, if we're if you're looking for like 8c4, which is the news, that's coming up a little bit later, and actually I'm gonna be moving that up because we have a large number of people.

Uh, but anyone else under general public appearance is item number six.

All right, seeing that I'll go ahead and close that portion of the meeting, and I'll move on to item number seven, which is the consent agenda.

All items listed on the consent agenda will be considered as a group and will be enacted with one motion by the city council unless an item is removed for separate consideration.

Members of the public may remove public hearing items for separate consideration.

Public hearing items are designated as public hearing item at the beginning of the item title.

Council members may remove any item for separate consideration or to declare conflict of interest.

If a council member would like to declare a conflict at this time, the city clerk will provide the council member with the disclosure form.

If you wish to speak on a public hearing item, please fill out a speaker card and submit your completed card to the city clerk prior to the agenda item coming forward for council discussion.

I will call your name when it's your turn for public comment.

The consent agenda this evening is listed as items miscellaneous 781 through 782, bids and contracts 7b1 through 7b7, and resolutions item 7C1 through 7C3.

Any agenda item designated as public hearing item can be removed by a member of the public for separate consideration.

If anyone would like to have a public hearing item removed, please get my attention now.

Okay, seeing that I'll look to the council.

Are there any agenda items you'd like to have removed from the consent agenda for separate consideration?

Okay, it's been moved to approve the consent agenda by council member Hodge and seconded by council member Adams.

Uh please vote.

And that item passes six to zero with council member Keating absent.

All right.

That means we're gonna next go to item 8 C4.

Actually, excuse one second, I'm a little out of order here.

It's okay.

It's okay.

Alright, AC4 is public hearing item to hold the second and final hearing to adopt an ordinance for amending the Tempe City Code Chapter 21 relating nuisances by adding a new subsection 213B 22 related to enumerated violations.

The first public hearing was her held back on April 30th, 2026.

Is there any staff presentation on this item prior to getting into the public comment section?

Thank you.

All right.

Just a quick note here since there's no staff presentation.

Uh we're going to open up the public comment section.

Before I do, I'd like to mention that we have a significant number of people here to speak on this item.

Just out of note, too, because a couple of people asked about this.

As of 3 p.m.

today, we had received 128 signatures on a change.org petition.

Uh, and then we also had 49 emails that were asking the council to approve the ordinance, uh, and 40 emails asking the council to vote no on the ordinance.

So I just wanted to make sure to add that into the record this evening, just quickly verbally.

With that said, though, I'm gonna move forward here.

The first speaker I have this evening is virtual, and it's Jackie Cano.

Is Jackie Cano in the virtual audience?

Mr.

Mayor, we do not see that speaker's name.

Okay.

Okay, I'll move to next slip.

The next speaker I have is Katherine Cuvellas.

Is she virtual this evening?

Okay, yes, that's curious.

All right, Catherine, can you hear me?

I can hear you.

Can you hear me?

Yes, uh, please state your name and city of residence.

You have three minutes.

Thank you.

My name is Catherine Kubalas Edic, I'm incredibly sick, which is why I'm not there in person.

I am a resident of Gilbert.

Good evening, Mayor and Council members.

I'm speaking as a volunteer of the Airstream in strong opposition to this proposed ordinance.

As you know, the Ayers Foundation works to serve people with dignity, compassion, and practical support.

We believe Tempe is strongest when churches, nonprofits, neighbors, and volunteers are encouraged to care for people in need, not threatened with punishment for doing so consistently.

This ordinance sends the wrong message.

It targets the very groups that step up when others cannot.

Churches feeding families, nonprofits handing out water and extreme heat, and community members offering basic goods to people experiencing homelessness.

Penalizing that kind of service will not solve the problem.

It will only make suffering less visible while pushing vulnerable people further into crisis.

And it is shameful that anyone considers these people as nuisances.

This proposal is constitutionally vague and overbroad.

It fails to clearly define what level of aid frequency or activity would trigger enforcement, which leaves churches, charities, and volunteers guessing about what is allowed.

If the city has concerns about sanitation, coordination, or park access, then it should work collaboratively with service providers to address those concerns directly.

The answer is partnership, not punishment.

The answer is clearer outreach, better coordination, and investment of real housing and support services, not fines aimed at people and organizations trying to keep others alive.

While it is clear that this ordinance is framed to punish the outreach organizations in the community, I ask you this.

Based on the verbiage within the ordinance, Circle K should be a prime target of enforcement.

They regularly provide food, drinks, and goods to individuals who then loiter, urinate in the alleys, and jaywalk.

And what about Tempe bars?

Once again, these flagrant violators consistently serve food and drinks to random individuals who then violate the laws.

I'm sure they'll be thrilled when they start receiving their fines.

Will ASU's Greek leadership Village be next?

What about Tempe Community Action Agency's new shelter that is being built?

Will you be shutting that property down immediately or can they actually use the building beforehand?

These are real questions that need to be considered prior to casting your vote.

On behalf of all organizations working to address the issue of homelessness, I respectfully urge you to reject this ordinance.

Do not criminalize compassion.

And once again, we reach out to you as a counsel.

Work with us, not against us.

And we might actually be able to make a change.

Thank you for your time.

Thank you.

The next speaker I have is Joshua Pearson.

Please come forward.

State your name and city of residents.

We have three minutes.

Hi, my name's Joshua Pearson.

I'm a resident of South Scottsdale.

I was previously a resident of these streets in here in Tempe for close to a decade.

I've changed my life with the help of.

Well, my own willpower and a lot of uh help from outside uh contributions such as Ayers Foundation.

Um, you know, and I think it's a little bit ridiculous that you're trying to pass an ordinance to stop these organizations and nonprofits from being able to help people struggling in the most vulnerable vulnerable time of their lives when they're struggling the most.

Not being able to pass out food or water, especially water when it's the, I mean, we live in the hottest place in America, you know.

Um, there's people dying on these streets every day.

Um, not only from um drug overdoses, but from um dehydration.

Um I didn't really prepare a speech, so I'm just uh I'm speaking from the bottom of my heart to reconsider this ordinance that you're trying to pass uh against feeding, helping feed and uh help people struggling.

That's it.

Thanks.

Thank you.

Next speaker I have is Debbie Ron.

Please come forward, state your name and city of residence.

You have three minutes.

Hello, my name is Debbie Ron.

Uh Mayor Woods, Vice Mayor, and City Council members.

Um I've been a Tempe resident for over 40 years.

I want to let our Daily Park neighbors know that I hear them.

I would not want the problems in my neighborhood that they have had to deal with.

There must be a better solution for them without neglecting our friends without homes.

I appreciate everyone for being here tonight and listening.

Homelessness has hit very close to home for me.

My son, now age 53, was addicted to meth and alcohol and was homeless.

He sometimes spent the night in a bathroom stall in Walgreens.

He often ate food from a dumpster.

I'm happy to say that he got sober in 2010 and is now gainfully employed, married, and a homeowner.

He once told me that he should write a book from homeless to homeowner in five years.

I agree.

I also have a brother who is without a home somewhere in Texas.

I don't know exactly where he is.

He suffers from mental illness and addiction.

He told me he had a nice place to camp near a river with a tent and a sleeping bag and even an outdoor shower.

One day, all of these were stolen, and he was left asleep on the ground with nothing to sleep on.

Can you imagine?

I haven't heard from him in a couple of years.

I hope he is getting help from agencies and churches that make sure he is fed and clothed.

This is the plight of our friends without homes here in Tempe.

I like to refer to them as friends without homes rather than labeling them homeless or unhoused.

They are not just drug addicts or alcoholics or criminals.

Some have the disease of addiction, a disease not unlike diabetes or cancer.

Some commit crimes, many don't.

Some have a mental illness, some are just down on their luck.

Some are all of the above.

All are precious children of God.

I hope you can see them as people.

They could be your son or daughter, brother or sister, even your mom or dad.

If they were here tonight, could you look in their faces and see their humanity?

Society has chewed them up and spit them out.

Should we spit them out too?

So I ask, who owns this problem?

Is it not all of us?

Could the city of Tempe somehow help community Christian church to continue our mission to feed and clothe people without homes?

Thank you.

Thank you.

The next speaker I have is Trish Winters.

Please come forward, state your name and city of residence.

You have three minutes.

Greetings, I am Reverend Trish Winters.

I get to be the minister of Community Christian Church.

And unfortunately, I live in surprise.

But I oppose this proposed code ordinance for three reasons.

One, it does not get to the root of the problem.

Two, it criminalizes mutual aid and charity.

And three, it impedes the mission of Community Christian Church in the exercise of our faith, which is compelled by the tenants of our religion.

For over a decade, we have responded to the needs of those who are food insecure by sharing one portable meal a day.

We've also provided weekly IHELP and IHEP shelter and a shared cooling center.

We do this work with multiple partners, neighbors, and city entities, some of whom will speak this evening.

At our last city council meeting, several housed folks from our neighborhood expressed their fear and their anger, verging on slander when speaking of the impact that this work has had on our beloved park and embedded neighborhood.

And I get it.

Feeling safe in your home is absolutely a reasonable expectation.

I also get that compassion fatigue is real.

But I would be remiss if I did not say for the record that our church has since October of 2024, when our neighbors came to us to share their concerns, engaged in conversation, taken their concerns to heart, and even made significant changes to the ministry we provide in order to take steps toward accommodation.

At their suggestion, because we want to be good partners, we eliminated a day of operation, we tried changing operation hours, we drastically reduced the dissemination of clothing.

We met with Tempe PD to ensure that we are faithful to best practices.

We complied with every notice of code violation, and we are regularly in the park, picking up trash, keeping spaces, following our service clear, and calling folks that we love to accountability.

And while we are doing the work of making sure that this city is a hometown for all, the council and politicians are aiming to penalize those of us who make sure that basic human needs are met.

We understand that a packetuna and a banana is not going to end homelessness.

But our faith cannot allow our neighbors to go hungry or endure the unbearable heat while the city figures out what to do with Tempe residents who are on the margins.

Constable Lathen reported that they process on average 100 evictions a month just in the east side of Tempe.

That's a hundred households a month.

Tempians, you have been called to serve that are either made homeless or must navigate the beginning stages of homelessness.

The problems of affordable shelter, food scarcity, and the well-being of our neighbors is not going away.

You have people, neighbors in Daly Park that are ready to do the work with you in order to build a strong community.

That's time.

Thank you.

Okay, the next speaker I have is Stephen Trimble.

Please come forward, state your name and city of residence.

You have three minutes.

My name is Stephen Trimble.

I'm a lifelong native of Tempe.

I grew up on College Avenue, five houses north of Daley Park.

I'm a member of Tempe Community Christian Church.

I appreciate all the dedication and hard work this council does to serve the city.

I also know that all our neighbors are caring individuals who deserve a safe neighborhood.

But there are still some of our Tempe family that are hungry, unsheltered, and have no bathroom to use.

Luck has not been on their side.

Some are jobless, others are the working poor, while still others are fighting unwanted demons.

This is the real issue, not the ordinance.

But it is the council has done much for this issue, but it is just not enough.

The churches are trying to fill the gap on their campuses.

But we need even greater leadership and creative creativity from you, our city council.

This new ordinance is not the real issue.

The issue is a commitment from the city council to fully meet the needs of all Tempeans.

Members of the City Council.

This is your hour.

This is the time to dig deep and be the extraordinary leaders we need at this time.

We tempeans are ready to follow.

Thank you.

Thank you.

The next speaker I have is Melanie Bikeman.

Please come forward, state your name and city of residence.

You have three minutes.

Mayor Woods, Vice Mayorland Garland, I knew that.

And City Council members.

I want to thank you all for taking on hard decisions and for allowing public comment tonight, and all that you've done on housing in past years.

I've attended community Christian Church since 2003, and also again when I was a kid back in the 70s.

But the reason we came back to Community Christian in 2003 was because of the people who are trying to follow what Christ taught, and especially caring for people in need.

And actually, there's a lot of really nice people there too, so that made a difference.

Even then I noticed that there were a lot of homeless people in that neighborhood, even compared to mine in Tempe.

And that was before what we call the pantry, the lunch service for the last few years, before I help, and it was before anyone even any one of us even thought of unhoused people has gotten even worse in past years.

And I hear the impacts on the neighbors, and I know they are concerning.

I have also heard a lot of assumptions about why it's happening, and I wanted to share with you some other relevant facts.

And forgive me, I know that you know a lot of these facts already.

I'll just highlight them.

In 2025, there were 23% more unhoused people or people experiencing homelessness than before the pandemic.

Because of funding cuts to emergency housing programs, and I know that you're doing that you're fighting for that.

The number of evictions has not slowed down since the end of the or since the pandemic moratorium ended.

And last year, Maricopa County's rate of 14% eviction rate was twice the national average.

So my point here is that the churches are responding to this crisis, not creating it.

I ask you to vote no on the ordinance, and that's because I fear that well, I think it's likely that the city, if the ordinance passes, will use it to simply shut down the programs that are providing for the most vulnerable rather than working together on better ways to do it.

And I have one more assumption.

I assume that people who've had a meal are probably better Tempe citizens than people who are hungry.

Thank you.

Thank you.

The next speaker I have this evening is Erica Cowley.

Please come forward, state your name and city of residence.

You have three minutes.

Good evening, mayor, vice mayor, and council members.

My name is Erica Cowley and I live in Tempe.

I am a part of the Brentwood Cavalier neighborhood.

I'm born and raised Tempe resident, now raising my own children here.

I am here tonight in strong support of the nuisance ordinance.

Over the past nine months, three neighboring homes on my street, rented by college students have hosted at least six large disruptive parties.

These are not small gatherings.

Each one has required calls to the non-emergency line, and multiple Tempe police officers have had to respond to shut them down.

One of these parties drew over 300 people.

This is not just an inconvenience, it is a public safety issue.

My elderly neighbors have called me during these events, frightened and unsure of what to do.

Families should not feel unsafe in their own homes, and yet that is exactly what is happening.

I also want to address the ongoing situation on Tuesday evenings at the University Presbyterian Church.

While serving those experiencing homelessness is important, the scale and location of these gatherings are not appropriate for a residential neighborhood, especially one located near two public schools.

She no longer rides her bike on Tuesdays because she does not feel safe.

She has encountered profanity, physical altercations, and active drug use on her way home.

As a parent, that is unacceptable.

Let me be clear, this ordinance is not about opposing compassion or community support.

It is about accountability.

It is about ensuring that efforts to serve others do not come at the expense of the safety and well-being of the surrounding neighborhood.

Right now, residents are carrying that burden.

This ordinance provides the structure and enforcement needed to restore balance.

For the safety of my children, my neighborhoods, and our community, I urge you to pass the nuisance ordinance.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Next speaker I have this evening is Barbara Miller.

Please come forward, state your name and city of residence.

You have three minutes.

Thank you, Mayor and City Council.

My name is Barbara Miller.

I am a Tempean.

I grew up in Tempe.

My values were formed by my education at Broadmoor, McCamey, Tempe High School, ASU and ASU law, and at Community Christian Church.

My family joined Community Christian Church in 1958.

Community Christian Church is a mainstream Protestant church.

I think our membership pretty much reflects the profile of Tempe.

We have professors, students, teachers, doctors, lawyers, a lot of public servants, and we even had one mayor of the city of Tempe.

As time has gone on, we experienced homeless issues at our church.

I would say in 1990, excuse me, 1980s is when we found people sleeping on our property.

We have tried to address it in various ways, none of them too successfully until a coalition of churches got together and started iHealth.

We participate in iHealth, where every night of the year a church is open that provides food and a place to sleep.

The city eventually helped us with TCAA has helped us with the iHealth program.

I will tell you that it has gotten to the point that about one-third of those meals are what we call holdback plates.

That means that they people are not there to eat at five.

And the reason why is because they have a job.

A lot of times they drive to our church, park outside and come in and eat and have a safe place to sleep.

That is what our church is doing in part.

About six years ago, we then started the pantry because we had to, we felt like we needed to provide food, water, and some clothing to meet essential immediate needs of some of our fellow citizens.

The problem has gotten worse, but not because of us.

It's just as Melanie said, and as Trish said, there are issues throughout the entire country, especially here in Maricopa County that has increased homelessness.

Feeding the poor and tending the poor are basic tenets of our religion.

We cannot ignore them.

This ordinance threatens us and threatens our homeless clients.

Economically, I ask you this.

If you are going to cite urban campers, what are you going to do with them?

What are you going to do with the second citation?

The third citation.

Are you going to bring them to the city holding sale?

Are you going to send them down to county jail to house?

How much are I as a citizen going to have to pay to support the county jail cost of housing them?

Or are you just going to bring them before the magistrate the next morning and release them again and again and again?

What is the plan?

Thank you.

Thank you.

Okay, so it's good.

Well then you are next, though.

So the next speaker I have in it is Tim Appleton.

Please come forward at State Your Dame and City of Residence.

You have three minutes.

My name's Tim Appleton, Tip Tempe native and current resident.

In just the past 48 hours, 134 Tempe residents and concerned citizens have co-signed the following letter to Tempe Council supporting the proposed nuisance ordinance of 2026.20, agenda item 8C4.

To Mayor Woods, Vice Mayor, and members of the Tempe City Council.

We, the undersigned residents and supporters of safe neighborhoods and responsible humanitarian efforts, respectfully urge you to adopt ordinance number 02026.20.

We believe Tempe can and should help individuals experiencing homelessness, addiction, and economic hardship.

Compassion is one of the community's core values.

At the same time, compassion must be delivered in a way that protects the health, safety, and quality of life of all residents.

Providing food alone does not solve homelessness, addiction, or mental health challenges.

Lasting change requires coordinated services that address substance abuse treatment, employment, case management, and pathways to stable housing.

When independent groups provide services without coordination, oversight, or appropriate facilities, unintended consequences can occur.

In neighborhoods across Tempe, residents have experienced drug activity, discarded needles, and fentanyl foils, overdoses, public urination and defecation, litter, and other serious public health and safety concerns near homes, schools, parks, and playgrounds.

These impacts harm individuals in need who deserve comprehensive support rather than temporary relief alone.

Neighborhood residents who deserve safe and sanitary communities and children who deserve to play and attend school free from exposure to dangerous conditions.

We support organizations and individuals who want to help.

We encourage these groups to partner with established city-supported programs that provide coordinated evidence-based services and locations equipped to manage these activities responsibly.

We believe humanitarian efforts should be one coordinated with existing service providers, two, conducted in appropriate, well managed locations, three, supported by sanitation, security, and cleanup plans, and four implemented in ways that minimize impacts on surrounding neighborhoods.

The proposed ordinance is a reasonable and necessary step to provide the city with tools to address recurring activities that create substantial nuisances and harm neighboring properties and public spaces.

We respectfully ask the Tempe City Council to one, adopt the ordinance, two clearly communicate expectations for event organizers regarding safety, sanitation, supervision, and cleanup.

Three, encourage organizations to coordinate with established service providers and city supported programs, and four prioritize service locations that minimize impacts on residential neighborhoods, schools, daycares, parks, and playgrounds.

Tempe can be both compassionate and responsible.

We can help those in need while protecting the safety, dignity, and well-being of the entire community.

Thank you.

Next speaker I have is Thomas Jarrett.

Please come forward, state your name and city of residence who have three minutes.

Good evening.

My name is Thomas Jarrett.

I'm a city of uh I'm a resident of the city of Glendale.

Unfortunately, I was homeless in the city of TMP for almost 20 years.

Um, if it wasn't for the love and compassion and support of these organizations such as Aeros Foundation and AZ Ugs, I wouldn't be standing here today.

Um, these organizations were there to support me and love me and help me out in any way they could, any time they could.

I understand there's some issues the way the residents are feeling.

But at the same time, at these events, I have still to this day, because I'm now certified PRM recovery support specialist with uh choice author integrated IOP.

Um, they reach out to me on a regular basis and we coordinate together to get people into detox into our program.

We have people that are from the from these organizations in our program currently, right now.

This is one of those things that's near and dear to my heart because I spent so long out there.

I spent 30 years in active addiction.

I recently celebrated five years of recovery.

I found my sponsor at Aeros Foundation.

Um, I'm involved in the 12-step program, I'm involved in the recovery field, I'm also involved in homeless outreach.

It's something that we need in this world.

You know, we don't always have the ability as a city to put forth the things that are needed.

And I can honestly say that these people care.

They genuinely care.

They love and support people no matter where they're at in their lives and in this world.

And without that support, I can't stress to you enough.

I would not be here today.

I would either be dead or in prison.

Those are the only two options I had.

I went to prison for my fifth time, and the lady who spoke earlier, Catherine, supported me the whole week.

She let me know about my family members who are also here, my homeless family members who had silvered up and who had started leading a proper life.

And it was one of those things that encouraged me to keep pushing forward in my mission.

And since I've been out, I've been out almost two years.

I now have my own apartment, I have a car, I have a dog, I always brag about my dog.

You know, I have all the things in life I never thought I'd achieve.

For the first time at 51 years old, I'm doing things most 18, 19, 20, 20, 21 year old kids are doing.

I'm doing the bills, I'm doing all these things.

You know, I started using heavy drugs when I was 16.

And I cannot stress the point enough that without this organization and without these people, I would not be standing before you today.

We have volunteers here that are like family to me.

They still support and love me.

When I moved into my own place, I needed furniture for my home.

I reached out to them.

They provided furniture for my home.

I didn't know what I was gonna do, but to this day, I still don't feel alone in this world.

I still don't feel lost.

I still feel like I have a family out there, and I have people who love and support me through every day of my life.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Yep.

The next speaker I have this evening is Jesse Kissle.

Please come forward, state your name and city of residence.

You have three minutes.

All right.

Which mic is it?

Whichever one you like.

And you can also raise it.

Yep.

Last time only one was active, I think.

Oh, they are.

Nice.

Members of council, mayor woods.

I'm gonna try to be brief here tonight, but I just want to get up here and plead with you guys to pass the ordinance.

This is not about if we feed the homeless, but it's about where we do it.

Where we're doing it needs to be res be responsible and done with wisdom.

Um we have pleaded face to face with our neighboring churches and those uh actively feeding the homeless to you know change locations, and we've we proposed alternatives to feeding in the in the parks in the neighborhoods, but there's been little interest.

Um, if there are other places and ways, and I submit that there are, and we can make different ways to feed the homeless than we should.

Um we should go that route.

It is not fair or responsible to jeopardize the safety of the surrounding neighborhoods.

Um so I um if you guys don't act now, this this will continue.

I know it's a very difficult subject, but you know, there there is there's a safety issue, and I think that takes priority.

Um, I'd be much more concerned about the consequences of not prioritizing the safety of those in these neighborhoods.

Uh, myself included, I'm a resident in Tempe.

Um I'd be much more worried about the consequences of that than the backlash of of those who are really trying to defend a good cause.

I have I love hearing these success stories, and and um, you know, the feeding is great.

We're just asking, please not here, you know, in our in our home.

Um, you know, let's there's there's other ways.

Let's let's talk about it.

And um, I think this gives us the opportunity to um to uh to help the you know improve the safety of the community.

Um so that's all I have to say.

Thank you.

Next speaker I have is Stephen Kissle.

Please come forward, state your name and city of residence.

We have three minutes.

I'm glad I followed Jesse.

Uh my name is Steve Kissle.

I'm a uh 37-year resident of Daly Park, and um I've I've been coming up here for about three years now, or three generations of mayors now, Juliano, uh, Scott Mitchell, and and now you.

You know, I've heard the people come up here, and and you know, I too it also want to say that I'm a man of compassion.

I mean, I feel for those homeless as well.

And so my mom also told me that um if you're not part of the solution, you're part of the problem.

So what I have done is I've actually uh partnered with the city and the church, but let me start with the city where I went out with the police to the various um parks that were um full of homeless and um met a lot of homeless people there, and I did ask them, I said, Hey, tell me something.

Do you want to get off drugs?

We said, Yeah, sure.

Um, and I would say, what about hope?

When hope comes up to you and says, hey, we've got places for you to stay, we've got opportunities for you to get off drugs, do you want it?

And they said, well, no.

Well, why not?

Because we have everything we need right here in the park.

The we actually did partner with the church.

The church in our park daily that's feeding the homeless.

Um, you know, we we have no problems with them.

They've been great neighbors, excellent neighbors.

We just asked them, please feed somewhere else besides the park.

The reason being is because of the crime that follows the homeless to our park.

Not all the homeless are criminals, but a lot of them are drug addicts, and we have suffered a lot with needles and fentanyl wrappers.

And just recently, just last Sunday, as you know, you may have heard.

Uh a department right across the street from the church.

There was a lady uh that approached two homeless men when they were doing their drugs.

And exactly.

And so I wanted to say that she was stabbed in the head or face, I'm not sure which.

And it's just really scary.

My wife is afraid to walk around the park.

It's not the same park that you guys all known for years.

It's a problem now.

We have the compassion.

I myself and our family have also joined iHelp and have have allowed them to have showers and food, etc.

But the problem is a lot of these homeless that I speak to, they don't want the service.

They don't say they don't need the service, they like their drug addictions.

And one guy said, I said, there's housing for you.

He said, Yeah, but I can't bring my dog.

I have a curfew, and I have to be sober.

I have to be off drugs.

I said, What's wrong with that?

You know, he didn't have an answer.

There are those that want it, and it's wonderful when they get help and they get to run their life the way they want and to get off drugs.

It's awesome.

That's what we want.

Thank you.

Next speaker I have is Mary Ann Kissle.

Please come forward.

It's D.A.M.

City of Residence.

You have three minutes.

And that buttons on the side there on the right for me to pull it down a little.

Yeah.

I'm used to this.

My name is Miriam Kissle.

I'm a resident of Tempe since 1989.

I just wanted to start by saying that I recently read an environmental planner who likened a city to an ecosystem.

I thought that was interesting.

He said the goal isn't a perfectly efficient, frictionless city, it's a resilient human one.

And I thought, wow, how do you become resilient?

It seems to me that the parts of the ecosystem have to work together, right?

To make it function.

So that means good stewardship.

And that's what they park neighbors have been and are working towards.

But they don't want to work with us.

This issue is not about helping the homeless, it's about safety.

And in the 90s, I could go down there by myself.

Even in 2000, Jesse was born.

I could walk down there alone with them, take them to the park, take them to the trees where they could climb, run, not a problem.

I would never do that now.

I took a neighbor with three little ones down there not too long ago, a couple months ago, and I was I was nervous for her, very nervous because there were men walking around who, you know, I who knows what they were.

They were just randomly moving around, and then the other thing that I remember seeing are the fentanyl foil.

The um my mind just went by.

Um needles on in the park in the in the sand.

Um it's not just in the name in the playground.

The playground is right next to the church.

There are big trees in that area.

Um, and there is also um a softball field, and they have found fentanyl wrappers or foil there.

And so it's not an issue of um, you know, we don't like the homeless, we don't want them.

They've been in our park for a while, for a long time, actually, you know, coming in and going, but it's becoming much worse.

And it's um definitely an issue now because we believe it's the drugs, and when you draw homeless to like the church, you will get that element to come in.

We've seen drug deals, we've had a 12-year-old 12-year-old on our street who was approached to by drugs.

I mean, where where do you hear about that happening?

He ran home, he was terrified.

Um I just I think it's important not to miss that we're talking about vulnerable people.

Children start with children.

Someone mentioned schools.

Abs, absolutely.

What about playgrounds?

What about softball fields?

Please vote for this.

Thank you.

The next speaker I have this evening is Nathan Charlton.

Please come forward.

Oh boy, hi.

I didn't know when I was gonna be coming, and I knew I wasn't gonna be ready for it no matter when it was.

So now it's now and I'm still nervous.

Um I do have a little bit of practice up here though, because last year, uh during the name's Nathan, I've been living in uh in around Tempe for the past seven years.

Um again the nervousness on display.

Um, and I got the countdown, it's very nice.

Um, I'm here to speak uh in opposition to the ordinance, and frankly, I didn't I didn't even bother writing a uh very eloquent speech like a lot of the people who've written here because I don't think it matters.

I don't think that any of you really uh are gonna hear what I have to say and have some kind of sort of profound uh decision-making moment.

Um I did want to speak a little bit of uh to kind of the contrast that I see between this nuisance ordinance.

I think it's on display here from either community Christian Church, University Presbyterian, people that work with Eris or AZ Hugs or whatever.

It's very clear that we perceive this as an oppositional ordinance to the work that we do.

Um, but also just a couple of weeks ago.

Uh Councilmember Hodge came by Aeris Foundation to do a little a little bit of volunteering, which I actually really appreciated.

I thought it was wonderful, but it's very confusing to me that there seems to be a lot of praise for the compassion that we have and the work that we do, and then a lot of legal opposition to what we're trying to do, and I I don't understand where that comes from.

And I, again, this feels very uh I don't know, half the reason I came up here was just to make you sit a little bit while longer.

Cause I don't I don't know.

I I don't I don't really I don't I don't know it was made very evident and clear to me last year, it was made clear to me even before that with the coyote stadium work that that you guys are gonna vote unanimously on what you think is good, and we can come up here, but I guess I should have started a change.org petition or something before I came up here, and that would have made it more valid, or maybe I should go to Costco more often, or I don't know.

Um, but yeah, I don't know.

I listen, I I what I do want to do is thank everyone here that came here out of their work week that is not actually paid to be here, they're here for free, um, which I respect.

And yeah, I don't know.

Everyone from Community Christian, everyone from University Presbyterian, everyone from Eris, everyone from AZ Hugs that took the time out of their day to come to this horrifyingly boring event.

Um more power to you, and I'll see you on Tuesday.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Next speaker I had this evening is Sherry Toom.

Please come forward, state your name and city of residence.

You have three minutes.

Mayor, vice mayor, and council members.

My name is Sherry Toom, and I've lived in Tempe for 50 years, 30 of those in Brentwood Cavalier neighborhood.

I believe passing the proposed nuisance ordinance is a step in the right direction.

This ordinance encourages responsibility and structure, which leads to better outcomes for everyone involved.

We all use and value and share the same space, and it is reasonable that impacts caused by others are managed so everyone can safely enjoy them.

Children in our community should be able to play in park safely, walk home from school without being exposed to unsafe and unstable conditions.

We should not be okay with a mom getting stabbed in the face on Mother's Day in front of her son because she confronted someone doing drugs in her yard.

The concerns we are addressing tonight are not related to assistance given to financially struggling families or to those who are part of the structured IHELP program and other programs like it.

They are related to how the churches in proximity to a park, three schools have chosen to conduct their outreach.

They choose to rely on the orbit system to draw an unscreened at-risk population to their campuses, regardless of their backgrounds.

Yes, all are worthy of help, but they have also chosen not to work with city-suggested appropriate locations and services.

They have basically repurposed their church campuses as health and human service centers and have resulted in making a park in uninhabitable for the public and a magnet for more crime in our area.

It is these situations that we are asking for more accountability, structure, and good policy.

We can care about people and care about the safety and stability of our neighborhoods.

These are not in conflict.

I encourage you to vote yes on the nuisance ordinance, and I thank you.

Thank you.

The next speaker I have is Mike Toom.

Please come forward, state your name and city of residence.

You have three minutes.

Good evening, Mayor, Vice Mayor, Council members.

My name is Mike Toom, and my wife and I raised our family in the Brentwood Tavalier neighborhood where we currently reside.

I've been a resident of Tempe for nearly 40 years.

Over the years, we've seen many changes in our neighborhood.

Many rural improvements which are made possible through strong partnerships with the city and local neighborhoods.

I think of calming traffic decisions, marked bike lanes, art installations, and tree planning along College Avenue.

The efforts have made our neighborhood a better place to live, so thank you for your good governance.

The nuisance ordinance is another opportunity for that kind of partnership, and I urge you to vote yes on it.

Generally speaking, the ordinance is about shared responsibility and accountability.

Groups hosting large gatherings should not, should be responsible and accountable for their impacts.

That is not too much to ask.

Importantly, it is not about stopping outreach.

It's about making sure it happens in a way that is coordinated, effective, and appropriate for the location.

Programs like IHEP work because it is structured, coordinated, and connected to broader systems of support, including partnerships with the city.

In contrast, we are now seeing large recurring gatherings within a residential neighborhood in close proximity to schools occurring at times at overlap with student demissal dismissal and drawing at-risk people from outside the area into a into locations that are not equipped to support them.

The combination is not a good fit for residential neighborhood.

I believe these efforts come from a place of compassion, but they would be more effective and more sustainable if they were better coordinated and located in areas with appropriate infrastructure and support.

This ordinance helped us move forward into that direction by creating responsible expectations and giving neighborhoods a voice.

I respectfully ask that you vote yes on the nuisance ordinance.

Thank you.

Thank you.

The next speaker I have this evening is Patty Howard.

Please state your name and City of Residence.

You have three minutes.

In addition to being a resident of Tempe, I'm a member of the disciples of Christ Community Christian Church.

As you have heard, my church is located across from Daly Park.

My church conducts a mission to feed the homeless and provide other necessities.

I have listened to the comments supporting this amendment, and it seems most believe that approving this ordinance would force my church to end the mission at our church.

Some have shared the belief that if we don't feed them, they will move on.

Data has shown that when these services are withheld, crime rates in the community increase.

Federal and state law protect church missions.

Even if a church was deemed to be in violation of a city ordinance, existing law requires that the issue be handled in the least restrictive manner.

Community Christian Church has had no part in the creation of homeless population.

I do enjoy conversations with individuals at Daly Park.

And I recently spoke with an individual who is staying in the surrounding area.

He shared that he had been in the area for three days before he even found out about our mission.

And asking him what brought him to the community, he responded that he loved the environment and he felt safe here.

Most comments in support of this ordinance have already linked it to our church mission.

And their hope that approval will result in our mission being stopped by the city of Tempe.

I believe approving this amendment as worded will result in unsubstantiated complaints that would create an undue administrative burden on the city.

The result being increased costs and a potential impact on our taxes.

As a Tempe resident, I ask you not to approve this as worded.

Thank you for listening to me.

Thank you.

The next speaker I have is Susan Gutenberger.

Please come forward, state your name and city of residence.

You have three minutes.

My name is Susan Gutenberger.

I am a resident of Tempe and a retired kindergarten teacher.

I've been an active member of Community Christian Church for over 40 years.

I have spent a lot of time in this neighborhood visiting friends in their homes, having picnics and parties in the park, and doing the mission that I have been called to do at this church.

In the over 40 years, there have always been a homeless presence in the area.

The numbers grow and shrink depending on a variety of factors that we have no control over.

We have only been giving out lunches for 10 or so of those 40 years.

We did not create the presence of the unhoused in the neighborhood.

We responded to it.

Jesus said feed the hungry.

He did not say feed the hungry if they deserve it, feed the hungry if it's not too inconvenient, or feed the hungry that you know.

He just said feed the hungry, and that is what we do at our little pantry.

We feed the hungry.

We get to know many of them by name, and we worry if they don't show up.

We rejoice when someone gets housing or finds a job.

We care about them.

But we also care about the neighborhood that we work and live in.

We care that they are unhappy that we are continuing to run the pantry.

So we have made changes in our routine to respond to the conversations that we've had with the members of the neighborhood.

We care about the neighborhood.

We are willing to work with the neighborhood and the city to come to a solution that does not close us down but allows us to do the work that we are called to do.

I strongly urge you to vote no to the proposed ordinance.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Next speaker I have is William Gutenberger.

Please come forward, state your name and city of residence.

You have three minutes.

I've lived in Tempe for 13 years.

I'm a voter, just like those who are pushing for this ordinance, which I oppose.

I'm also a Christian.

As such, I believe in the teachings of Jesus Christ, which include the command to love my neighbor as myself.

Homeless people are our neighbors, too.

Who, in most cases, are in that situation through circumstances beyond their control.

The decisions of leadership at many levels and automation and just plain selfishness have contributed to more and more people not being able to keep a roof over their heads or feed themselves.

That is where assistance programs in many neighborhood churches in Tempe come in.

For community Christian church specifically, we have had homeless neighbors at Daily Park for the forty-three years that I have been attending there.

We did not call them.

We are responding to their needs.

Homelessness is a very difficult problem.

There are many reasons for it.

We work together to come, we need to work together to come up with solutions that don't criminalize it or criminalize trying to alleviate it.

Please work with your constituents to solve the problem, not criminalize it.

Many many more dollars are needed to solve this issue.

Religious institutions may well help at a lower cost than government can do.

Allowing churches to help is the Christian thing to do.

Whatever you do to these, the least of these you do to me.

It is the Muslim thing to do, for whom it is a religious obligation.

It is the Buddhist thing to do through British global relief.

It is the Sikh thing to do through Langar, where millions are fed through around the globe.

In the current climate of governments of all levels, reducing and deleting programs for our lower income citizens, religious institutions are becoming the de facto place to go for help.

Passing this ordinance would be just one more punch in the gut of homeless people.

It will not solve the homelessness problem.

It is likely to make people more desperate.

Desperate people do desperate things.

Why risk new issues or crimes because of it?

Just as the first item on the agenda this morning, this evening said, let us proclaim a good day for our fe food insecure neighbors and reject this proposed ordinance.

Thank you for listening.

Thank you.

The next speaker I have is virtual, uh, Cynthia Sharkey.

Okay, Miss Sharkey, can you hear me?

Um let me I I just went out to my car.

I'm at work and I just left the kitchen.

Let me walk back inside, so I'm not driving.

Definitely be safe over there.

So uh yes, we can hear you.

Uh can you state?

Can you uh state your name and city of residence?

You have three minutes.

Sure, my name is Cynthia Starfield, and I live in Daley Park at Tempe.

And I'm rushing back in, I'm in the kitchen.

Oh, let's see.

This is actually the same kitchen I was in on Sunday, and I worked a half day.

And on my drive home, happened to see a whole bunch of police cars like on Broadway and Broadway and Canta by the Welsh Fargo there, and then I pulled down, pulled down college, and in front of the vintage apartments were a whole bunch of other police cars.

Like, like a dozen police cars.

Like, oh great, what's going on now?

So I drive into my driveway of my house and a little boy, well, he probably just let me call them a little boy.

Young man comes running up to me, and I know him.

He lives in the vintage apartment, and I'm like, what's going on over there?

It's like pandemonium.

And he says to me, my friend's mom got stabbed in the face by some homeless guy.

I'm like, are you kidding me?

And at the same time, my son comes out of the house.

This is on Mother's Day and says, Mom, there were four gunshots.

So I'm looking at my notes.

Here's how I just get in the car.

And uh, boy, he's he's totally shaken.

And he says, um, yeah, they were saying stab her, stab her, stab her, and so they started, they shot at the guys, and they all ran away.

And that's why the police were there, that's why they were over by the Wells Fargo, because they had scattered.

Mom was taken to the hospital.

Uh, she looks like she is now back.

She's not accepting visitors.

Um, we went over to Vintage.

I know people over there.

It's it's crazy.

We three families there are moving out because of this incident.

Like, we don't feel safe here.

Two of the families are moving back to Chicago.

One of the families is moving to Chandler.

Like our kids' toys are getting stolen.

You know, you can't even go in the cartilage of your own home and ask people to stop using drugs on Mother's Day without getting stabbed in the face.

It is insane.

We pulled a police report on it.

I just wanted to make sure that my facts were accurate.

I was telling you exactly what this little boy told me.

He saw it, he was there with his friends, other kids saw it.

In 2024, we had two park surveys.

We said loud and clear, without being prompted, we wanted safety in our park.

We were people were talking about pickleball courts.

We were offered everything.

We said we want safety.

The overwhelming passage of Prop 312 once again spoke loudly.

It was almost a 60% approval break.

We're tired.

We're very tired.

This is not the place.

You know, this is not the place.

Heartprints daycare is right there.

There's a playground right there.

Because kids have a bus stop right there.

I'm sorry, Miss Sharky, that's time.

I'm sorry.

Okay, not a problem at all.

Thank you so much for listening to me.

Thank you.

Okay, the next speaker I have is Lisa Pain.

Please come forward.

State your name and City of Residence.

You have three minutes.

My name is Lisa Bain, and I am from Tempe, Arizona.

And thank you all very much for being here tonight.

I really appreciate you.

I am here to please ask you to adopt the nuisance ordinance tonight.

Please, and also please could you all stand?

Oops, can you stand?

If you're in the audience and you're in favor of adopting the nuisance ordinance tonight, would you all stand?

No.

Okay.

Um I've lived in Daily Park neighborhood for 31 years.

My parents and my son also live in our neighborhood.

We all have separate homes.

We support Tempe Community Action Agency financially and have been for years.

I believe in taking care of our less fortunate and treating all humans with dignity and with care.

Tonight I'm advocating for safe neighborhoods and for responsible humanitarianism.

We believe that true humanitarians understand that people who need and want help need much more than a meal for the day.

When organizations simply provide a meal without a systematic program to eliminate drug abuse, provide jobs and a pathway to housing, they are not diminishing suffering.

They are trapping people in an endless cycle of suffering by enabling the conditions that keep people dependent on drugs and chronically unhoused.

That cycle, promoted by well-intentioned but ill-equipped or ill-informed people, has a lasting negative effect on those in need and our neighborhoods and communities.

People and organizations that want help need to partner with a ready established city-supported programs such as TCAA that provide these comprehensive services in a setting that's appropriately equipped rather than providing a minimal meal service inside of family neighborhoods.

We are seeing the horrific impacts that of splintered services, of the splintered services approach every day.

Drug dealing and abuse, dirty needles, fentanyl foils, violent assaults, overdoses, and health emergencies.

Defecation and urination in streets, parks, and alleys, all just yards away from playgrounds and schools.

For the good of everyone, the establishment of this ordinance is one step that needs to take place to help channel humanitarian resources into programs that are proven to work.

The lack of coordination needs to end.

It's time to work together.

Our plea to independent groups is to embrace the city coordination of aid.

My plea to the city council is to please adopt this nuisance ordinance tonight.

In the future, please support onboarding the resources from these independent groups into organized and responsibly administered aid programs outside of family neighborhoods and away from daycares and playgrounds.

Thank you.

You're welcome.

Okay, the next speaker I have is Sabrina Shannon.

Please come forward.

State your name and City of Residents.

You have three minutes.

Good evening.

I'm from Mesa.

My name is Sabrina.

Can you hear me now?

You good?

All right, my name's Sabrina.

I'm from Mesa, Arizona originally.

Um Tempe was my home for a few years.

Um I'm here on behalf of the Aries Foundation, many organizations and individuals who provide and sacrifice for the homeless community here in Tempe.

My story of homelessness began in 2016 when my home in Mesa was condemned.

A judge told me I was no longer welcome in the city.

My fault.

I was born and raised there, and suddenly I had nowhere to go.

I lost everything and felt completely alone in the world.

I eventually ended up at Beach Park, where a small homeless community welcomed me in.

They taught me how to survive, where to find food, where to find hot showers, where to do laundry, and where to get clean clothes.

Organizations like the Salvation Army provided us water and lunch bags back then.

Tempe Community Action Network, offered food boxes if we had access to a place to cook.

And every Tuesday evening, people would gather at JC Park because that might be our only opportunity at a hot meal for the week.

If someone couldn't make it, food would be brought back to them.

We took care of each other.

The programs, some people now call a nuisance, are the same programs that help save many of us, as you've heard here tonight.

Why?

Because these organizations and volunteers did not look at us as less than.

They looked at us as human.

They saw us as the people who were lost, hurting, and struggling.

For me, homelessness came from years of abuse.

Excuse me.

Codependency.

And surviving domestic violence.

I'm sorry.

What helped pull me out of the darkness was love, consistency, and support from organizations like the Aries Foundation's Norm Prevention Works, Lazy Hugs, and many others who believed in me before.

I believed in myself.

They encouraged me to keep going.

Even now, seven years into my recovery, I can still call the people who love me where I was at.

Not just for who I could become.

Today I've healed, and now I help others heal.

I hold a fingerprint clearance card and work at a as a behavioral health technician at the same rehab where I once received treatment.

Many of my brothers and sisters from the streets now work in detox and recovery centers too.

We are living proof that recovery and change are possible.

Please do not stop us from trying to save the street family that we've left behind.

Removing these outreach programs will not solve homelessness.

It will only isolate and damage people further.

Tempe has long been known as a city that helps people in need.

Please do not let it become a place that shames, shuns, or condemns those who are struggling.

These outreach programs matter because they give people hope.

They allow those still sick and suffering to see people who once stood exactly where they are now.

Thank you.

Next and Megan, did you already speak about this or something else?

Was it organized?

Parks, that's right.

You did say that.

Okay, yes, please come forward.

Thank you for my you did say parks in your first one.

So yeah, please state your name and city of residence.

You have three minutes.

Um, before I start, can I make a comment about the change of the agenda?

Um, Mr.

Deputy City Attorney.

I just want to make sure.

Ms.

Mayor, we're on um the nuisance order, so we need to be talking about the nuisance order.

Well, she was saying about making a comment about the changing of the agenda the order of the items of the agenda.

Yeah, is she allowed to do that?

So, I just want to it will be brief, I promise.

Okay.

I just want to say we had dozens of folks who wanted to be here for this particular part of the agenda.

We told them all it was at the end of the meeting.

They were getting their one meal of the day when you guys rearranged it and they are rushing to get here so that they can be present.

I just wanted to acknowledge that.

Okay, so thank you.

Thank you.

Um, okay, my name is Megan McCarrick.

I'm a Tempe resident of 10 years.

I'm here tonight to ask this council to vote no on the nuisance ordinance update.

What we need is not a nuisance ordinance, we need housing.

Um, I want to start with something that might seem like a stretch, but I'd ask you to hear me out.

The Geneva Conventions, which the United States helped draft and ratify, established a foundational principle that civilians in crisis have the right to receive humanitarian aid, and that obstructing that aid is a moral violation, regardless of how that obstruction is packaged legally.

I'm aware that our federal government no longer seems to respect that principle, but I came here tonight, and I believe that our local leaders still might.

Tonight you are being asked to pass an ordinance that would allow the city to classify the regular distribution of food, water, and basic goods as a nuisance.

You claim that you are not targeting any single group, but we all know that that is not true.

We've heard that before, we heard it last summer about the parks ordinance, and this community showed up 4,500 signatures strong and said, we see what this is.

When we make it legally, financially, and procedurally harder to feed someone who is hungry, you are not solving homelessness, you are solving the visibility of homelessness.

And there is a profound moral difference between those two things.

Churches, mutual aid groups, and nonprofits operating on private property are the last line of care for people in the city that has no plans to house the residents.

They are filling the gap that our government has not filled.

And rather than partnering with them, this ordinance gives the city a new tool to shut them down as long as a neighbor complains and the city draws a sketchy line to a public safety concern.

The international community recognizes that obstructing humanitarian aid to people in crisis is wrong at a fundamental human level.

Our federal government has abandoned that standard.

Please do not follow their lead.

Vote no tonight.

If this ordinance passes, you will face legal challenges, continued public opposition, and the same reversal that happened with the parks ordinance, except this time the harm will have already landed on organizations and on people who had nowhere else to turn.

I still have a little bit of time.

I want to let Nathan know that I do have a change.org petition that we've been getting signatures on for the last month that is related to this, and we actually have 2,701 signatures of folks in Maricopa County requesting a state of an emergency for housing resources for the hundreds and hundreds of families we have living on the street right now.

AZ Hugs helps to house over 40 families every single night.

That is just here.

I can't, I don't even know what that means across all of Maricopa County.

The wait list for families for shelter in Maricopa County is now over three months long.

There are families with tiny babies, seven-week-old children on the street.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Okay, the next speaker I have is Bianca Osorio.

Please come forward, state your name and city of residence.

You have three minutes.

Hello, I'm Bianca Osorio.

I reside in Tempe.

I am a deacon and ruling elder at University Presbyterian Church.

Upon hearing about this ordination, or my goodness.

Well, hearing about this policy, my initial reaction was disbelief.

I can't believe the Tempe is coming after churches for feeding people in need.

Seriously, our Tempe at a time like this, when gas is almost five dollars a gallon, groceries are increasingly less affordable, and we have had 14 days over 100 degrees already.

11 of those in March.

It's just wild to me that Tempe would do this.

Our TEMPE, known for thoughtful, creative, and evidence-based solutions.

Our Tempe that drafted that lovely mental health month proclamation.

Where is that in this ordinance?

It was only three or four years ago when I attended a presentation from Tempe City staff about homelessness.

In this presentation, I learned about trauma-informed behaviors.

Behaviors that people learn when they go through the realities of homelessness.

We've heard an event described tonight that was very traumatic for everybody there.

What does this completely do for people suffering from those behaviors?

In this presentation, I also learned about the phrase precariously housed.

People who are living on the edge of housedness and almost homeless, people who are staying with family or friends who are not officially on a lease.

In the presentation, I saw photos of my very own church hosting our first year of the cooling center.

And the presenter shared that we all have learned so much since this first cooling center.

And I think here today in 2026, we can agree we've learned so much since that first year of cooling centers.

We really keep forgetting the name of the policy, of the policy.

One, our church does so much in the community.

We really care so much about homelessness, and I don't say this to brag, but scaring churches from serving.

I don't think that's what we want to do here.

Where what happens if we lose churches willing to step up and host iHelp like we did during COVID?

Where do we go where there is no adjacent public or private land as is described in the policy?

I hear so many arguments about this is not the right place, but the policy says nothing about place.

This is not the policy to solve our problems.

Let's work together and reconsider.

Thank you.

The next speaker I have this evening is Candice Dutton.

Please come forward.

State your day in city of residence.

We have three minutes.

Hello, good evening, everybody.

Good evening, Vice Mayor, Vice Mayor, and Tempe City Council.

My name's Candice, and I'm speaking tonight as a resident of Tempe for the past 17 years.

I live in the Broadmoor neighborhood.

On behalf of my family, my kids, and many neighbors who can't not who cannot attend today, I'm here to ask you to please consider passing the ordinance.

We have raised our families here in Tempe.

We've earned our undergraduate and graduate degrees from ASU go Sun Devils, and I'm grateful for the opportunity to be heard.

I want to be very clear that I'm asking for all this consideration for the ordinance to be passed.

It's not about lacking compassion.

It's really about the perception versus reality of what's going on in our neighborhoods.

This is about responsible, about providing responsible help and safe neighborhoods.

The perception that these feeding programs going on in the neighborhood are simply helping individuals who are down on their luck, who need a helping hand, and that there are no negative ramifications to our neighborhood.

We have seen a huge impact in our neighborhoods from child safety to increase in drug usage, dirty needles found, human feces in our alleys on our sidewalks.

We're having problems with individuals who are linking lingering in the neighborhoods, sleeping in the bushes.

We have trespassing, we have car break-ins, and all of this is happening just streets away from our schools where our kids attend and even our parks.

Somebody being injured, and that came true this Sunday on Mother's Day.

We were devastated to learn that a mother in our neighborhood was stabbed while confronting an individual on her lawn.

It's heartbreaking as a resident, someone who resides in the parks, somebody who utilizes the neighborhood, who walks, who exercises, to not feel safe and to have that is really heartbreaking for us.

I'm not here to say that this program lacks compassion or it's not effective.

I'm questioning if our neighborhood is the right location.

To impact the residents and not allow them to feel safe in their own neighborhood is absolutely horrifying.

I want to mention that the program, the ARIS program is currently bringing in over 250 people.

Our orbit can only carry 30 people at one time.

If we're talking about responsible programs, where can these individuals go to use the restroom post program?

They're left in our neighborhoods, they don't have things and items to meet their needs, and it's not dignifying to them, and it's surely very challenging in our neighborhoods.

We're asking to pass this nuisance order so the city can provide real oversight and coordination.

Independent uh efforts should partner with established and comprehensive city support.

Thank you so much for the time and the opportunity.

I appreciate it.

Thank you.

Okay, the next speaker.

Uh, it looks like it's virtual, but I don't think we see him in the virtual audience.

It's Jake Bowen.

And not in the virtual audience, Madam Clerk.

No, we do not see that name.

Okay, so is Jake Poland.

Uh, does he happen to be here in the physical audience?

I could go to work.

Oh, okay.

Thank you very much.

Okay, the next speaker I have then is Jessica Bannister.

Please come forward, state your name and city of residence.

You have three minutes.

Hi, my name is uh Jessica Bannister.

I live in Tempe.

I live in Dali Park.

Well, across from there, as you've heard.

Um, I'm an Arizona native.

I've lived in East Phoenix all my life, and I come here, and the fact that I have to come out when I'm walking my dog armed with my gun, and when I was attacked, I did not have my gun.

I just walked outside and I was attacked from behind.

I'll get to that part, but I was stabbed from behind.

I didn't even see this man coming.

Okay, and I was stabbed in my head.

I have eight staples.

He hit my skull but didn't go through my skull.

I have Parkinson's disease that I was diagnosed with last year.

And to have somebody mess with my head, put that in your guys' head.

Okay.

So I'm gonna go ahead and read this.

I'm here to speak about the violence in my neighborhood.

I live on college in Broadway.

I'm across the street from Dally Park and directly across the street from the church that serves this homeless population as a cooling station.

Last year, there was a shooting.

My neighbor's apartment, a bullet went through their front window and through their sofa.

My son and my pregnant daughter-in-law were very next door.

I mean, this is what this is what I moved into.

And I came in as somebody escaping domestic violence, and I was homeless too.

So I know the pressures, I know the stresses, so let's not think I'm not being considerate or understanding or compassionate because I've been those things and more, and I was still attacked.

Does that make me any better or worth any less than the people that they are serving?

No, I'm I don't think I'm any better, and I don't it this is just not fair.

On a daily basis, I have to see these drunken and drugged men up and down the block on the park in front of my door, which they treat as an unofficial bus stop, and that needs to be fixed.

There needs to be a bus stop because there's one across the street in front of the park, but not where I live.

I have this, they sit there and they eat their food, they leave their trash, their drugs, and they do drugs in front of my window.

I've had somebody peeping in my window, okay.

They shouldn't be serving them if they're visibly drunk or on drugs.

They're giving them food and nourishing them so they can get high in front of me and my four-month-old grandson.

This happened with my four-month-old grandson in the house.

And how do we know if they're sexual predators?

How do we know it?

They're not supposed to be near a park or near uh where children are.

There's a daycare right there.

They smoke their drugs and eat their free food and they leave their filth behind.

And they don't end when the church closes.

No, they linger and they're in the alleys, they're in the corners, they sleep right on the corner of the church where the park is at, where the street is at.

They they sleep right there.

They don't, they don't even try.

You can't even walk at night.

And yes, on Mother's Day, I was assaulted by a homeless man on drugs, and I was stabbed just a few feet from my door.

My time is up, but the whole thing is who is to blame for this?

They wait, who is financing this?

Because ultimately the responsibility, somebody's going to have to pay for what's happened to me because you guys are paying to fund this shit.

Thank you.

Okay, the next speaker I have is Austin Davis.

Please come forward, state your name and city of residence.

We have three minutes.

Hi there.

My name is Austin Davis, and I currently reside in Scottsdale.

I am the founder of AZ Hugs, a homeless outreach program here in Tempe.

Us along with community partners serve a daily meal on the streets.

And the point of our meal is one, to provide folks with basic human necessities, access to food.

I would argue that since the city of Tempe does not provide a meal per day for those experiencing homelessness.

People will still need to eat, you know.

It's not rational to think that people can go days without eating.

And it's not rational to think that criminalizing homelessness will uh end homelessness.

Um the criminalization of homelessness is what has perpetuated it, and further criminalizing it is going to end in uh just more people suffering, more people in jail.

Um the solution here is expanding social services.

There are not enough shelter beds to accommodate the level of people who need shelter.

That's a problem.

We don't have an infrastructure set up here that serves people a daily meal or provides people with these basic human essentials.

Um, what we have learned is that creating a safe space where people can get their basic needs met and build trust with the community is key to helping people move out of their complicated situations.

Again, the solution here is not to further criminalize this.

Uh over 450,000 people in Arizona have lost their SNAP benefits so far.

Those people still need food.

Um, right now we are serving 40 families a day who need shelter.

So grouping people together all in one category as violent.

Um, that is a common stigma of homelessness, but it's not representative of the actual demographic out on the streets.

Yes, there are people that need mental health services.

Yes, there are people that need addiction services, but let's provide those mental health services and addiction services instead of further criminalizing them and pushing them out.

Um, I've been jailed for feeding people three times.

I have 34 charges on my record for feeding folks.

Uh, every time that I've been in the Tempe jail, I have known the people uh around me, and they're homeless, and they're in there for trespassing, for urban camping, for very non-violent offenses.

Uh further criminalization of homelessness is going to lead to more people ending up in the jails and then back out on the streets.

That is not the solution here.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Okay, the next speaker I have is virtual, but I don't think we see them in the audience.

It's Nora Croutier.

Oh, you hear?

Okay.

Yes.

Please come forward, state your name and city of residence.

You have three minutes.

Hi, thank you, Mayor and Vice Mayor and Council members.

Um, my name's Nora Curtier.

I'm a uh member of resident of Phoenix, but I'll be speaking on behalf of the Phoenix Dignity Project founder, Sam Calvin.

She won't be able to join us tonight, so I'm gonna be reading some of her words.

Good evening, Mayor and Council members.

My name is Samantha, and I'm the founder of uh Phoenix Dignity Project.

Speaking tonight because I'm deeply concerned about how this ordinance will harm the very people that it claims not to target.

Every week we serve individuals and families in Tempe who are experiencing homelessness, instability, and or crisis.

They're not abstract nuisances, they're parents with young children, people who are working but living in their cars, and individuals trying to rebuild after trauma.

And I want to be very clear about something.

The people we serve are respectful, kind, and incredibly appreciative of the work we do.

They're not a source, the source of disruption that is being described.

They're human beings trying to survive.

In my work, I've seen what actually happens when you remove these access points.

You don't solve the problem, but you disperse it.

People don't disappear, they they lose a meal in a safe space.

They lose connection, they lose access to resources, and they lose relationships with people who know their names and treat them like human beings.

They lose pathways to jobs, housing, and stability.

And when that happens, outcomes get worse, not better.

I understand the concerns from the neighbors.

Truly, I do.

Safety and quality of life matter, but we cannot confuse correlation with causation.

Providing food, hygiene items, and human connection is not what creates crime.

In fact, it often prevents it because people are, because people are supported, feel seen and stabilized instead of pushed further into desperation.

The work we do is not just distribution.

It's relationship-based care.

We help people get IDs, we connect them to employment.

We support families who are in between, not yet off the waiting list for shelters, but not yet stable either.

Those outcomes don't happen in isolation.

They happen through consistent, trusted presence of the groups that support them through the hardest times in their lives.

My concern is that this ordinance, even with its three-part test, creates a chilling effect.

Organizations like mine will be threatened to scale back or stop services out of fear of being labeled a nuisance, not because they are causing harm, but because of how they might be interpreted.

When you remove a grassroots relational support system, the burden doesn't go away, it shifts.

Often to emergency services, law enforcement, and already extended, overextended systems.

These systems already fall short in supporting the growing population of those in need of these resources.

I would urge the council to consider this.

How do we support neighborhoods and preserve the work that is actively helping people move towards stability?

Because this is not a choice between compassion and safety.

The most effective solutions do both.

And right now, the people we serve and the work we do are part of that solution.

Thank you for your time.

Thank you.

Okay, the next speaker I have is Haley Brown.

Please come forward, state your name and city of residence.

You have three minutes.

Hi, my name is Haley, and I live in North Tempe, and I am here to urge you to vote no on this ordinance.

The ordinance defines nuisance in a way that courts selective enforcement.

It treats mutual aid as the problem rather than recognizing it as a valuable expression of community care.

People should be able to enjoy their private property, including by using it to help their, including by using it to help their neighbors.

Groups like Eras are showing the best of what Tempe can be.

People supporting their fellow human beings when formal systems fall short.

And let's be clear that in Tempe they have absolutely fallen short.

If people are turning to mutual aid operations instead of city services, the response should not be to punish the helpers.

The response should be to ask what actually works.

Meeting people where they are is not enabling.

Making sure that someone has food, water, clothing, hygiene supplies, or human connection doesn't cause addiction.

It keeps people alive long enough to get the support that they need.

Survival resources are not rewards for being deserving, they are essential human rights and they are essential to human dignity.

I've heard a lot tonight about safety, but Tempe already has tools to address noise disturbances, vandalism, and actual violence.

Existing laws already allow intervention under these circumstances, and we don't need the ordinance to continue doing that.

Someone without housing existing where you can see them does not actually make your neighborhood unsafe.

Our unhoused neighbors are statistically far more likely to be victims of violence than perpetrators of it.

And there's no evidence that criminalization of homelessness is going to improve public safety.

I'm asking you to please vote no, and if we're worried about people going outside, we should probably just add more public bathrooms.

Thank you.

Next speaker I have is Catherine May.

Please come forward, state your name and city of residence.

You have three minutes.

I have been a resident of Tempe for over six decades.

So I'm older person.

So, Mayor Woods, Vice Mayor Garland, and the council, and members of our community.

I want to share with you what it says on a sign that is at the gateway of our city.

It says, City of Tempe, welcome.

Our city is an inclusive community.

Tempe is the best place to live, work, and play together.

I'm proud of the tradition that we share here in Tempe and the togetherness that we share.

Tempe together is a really important concept to me and has been most of my life as a Tempian.

Even through the challenges, we still work together in every experience that I've had until now.

University Presbyterian Church is my home church, and I have been there for 35 years.

That church has been around since 1952, and within years we're starting to provide services to the community.

It is at that church where I worshiped, I grew, I learned how to serve, and I raised my kids to love God and to love neighbor.

Tonight, our ministry is being challenged.

It strikes me as odd, but for intense all intents and purposes, this proposed nuisance is a code that seems to divide community and doesn't encourage togetherness in the community.

That somehow or another, through this code, we are starting to really ratchet up, pitting neighbor against neighbor.

That is not the togetherness that I cherish about our city.

And central to that divide are the people who are in need of compassionate care, who are in need of food, basic food, shelter, and health care, of clothing, and perhaps a kind word.

It is my ask for tonight that you live up to our proposed togetherness, that you step away from a code that fails to address the needs and challenges of our unhoused population, the food insecurity and the poverty, and you step toward partnership back into togetherness that brings our communities together that truly addresses the neighborhood concerns.

Thank you.

Next speaker I have this evening is Dan Abbott.

Please come forward, state your name and City of Residence.

You have three minutes.

My name is Dan Abbott.

I have lived at 5080s in Canto and Tempe for over 25 years.

I am in the Daily Park neighborhood.

Mayor Woods, Vice Mayor Garland, Council members.

Thanks for this opportunity to speak to you.

So weeks ago, I was approached by a young man at my church who was raising funds for the feeding of the hungry.

And he showed me this wristband.

And if you can see it, it says, feed the hungry.

I gave him $10.

Should have probably given him 20, but now I wear this wristband every day.

You see, I believe that it is fundamental to who I am.

Not only as a member of my church, but as a human being, and as an active member of my neighborhood and my city.

Unfortunately, you are seriously considering an ordinance that would make it much more difficult to feed the hungry.

Subsection 22 of section 21-3 invites anyone to complain that feeding the hungry is a public nuisance.

Churches in my neighborhood have already been cited for essentially being a public nuisance.

Is this what the government of Tempe should be about?

I have spoken to some of you about the history of Tempe, and it's many progressive churches.

From friends, I hear the comment.

What this is happening in Tempe.

We can be different than our neighbor communities.

We can find ways to creatively feed hungry people.

You see, regularly our church community, University Presbyterian Church through our relationship with Ares feeds anywhere from 150 to 200 people on a Tuesday night.

If you shut us down as a public nuisance, where do you think they will be going to find food?

The downtown streets in Tempene.

In fact, I shared my concern with somebody at my local grocery store, and she said they'll be coming here to take food off of our shelves.

So if this ordinance is passed, the city will be creating a host of public nuisances, and I will probably have to add public nuisance to my wristband.

I can tell you that members of the faith community and our community at large are driven by their conviction and moral compass to do exactly what my wristband says.

Thank you.

Thank you.

The next speaker is David Crewham or Cruham.

I don't know, maybe.

Let's see.

Is there a David or do you know?

Crenshaw, okay.

Please uh state your name and city of residence.

You have three minutes.

David Crenshaw, Tempe, Daily Park.

I really support the ordinance.

Um, just sort of thinking outside of the box.

If you know you really want to support people, I've heard money being an issue.

You know, perhaps you could sell your church and you know, move to surprise and you know provide better services there because you'd have more, you know, financial means.

Just you know, thinking outside the box.

So again, support the ordinance.

Thank you.

Thank you.

All right.

Next speaker I have is Susie Sharkey Johnson.

Is Susie here?

Oh, yes.

Please come forward.

Patriam and City of Residence.

You have three minutes.

I'm running.

Because I don't know if the time starts.

No, it's what you get here.

Don't worry.

Okay, sorry.

I don't know the rules.

My name is Susie Sharkey Johnson.

I am a Daily Park native.

My parents, sister, nephew, and children all live in the Daily Park neighborhood.

It is our home.

Ummunity Christian Church is located at the entrance to our neighborhood, shares a parking lot with Heart Prince Montessori School.

It is located across the street from Daly Park.

A block to the north is ASU, a block to the south is Broadmore Elementary, and McCainy Junior High.

All those schools, well, my dad was high school up, myself I attended, my children have attended, and I'm hoping their children will attend.

But as of now, we will not be living here if this continues.

Addiction and mental illness have personally reshaped the course of my family.

We 100% know that people afflicted with addiction need a wide range of services.

They are fed, and then they are left in our neighborhood to take the money that they may have used for food to buy drugs from the vultures that circle them, the dealers that are at Daily Park, at Circle K, at Walgreens, at every bus stop on Broadway.

I know that four years ago a fentanyl pill at Daily Park was 11 dollars.

This is now three to four dollars, depending on who you know.

Look at me.

I should not know this.

There are almost 200 nonprofit groups providing services for homeless, 58 homeless prevention organizations, and 60 distinct housing programs in Maricopa County that offer full wraparound services that will truly meet these people's needs.

Tempi has spent 137 million dollars since 2022 on this problem.

They're spending 17 million dollars by 2026 to expand TCAA, which will include dogs in the housing, which is amazing because that is the lifeline for a lot of addicts.

That is the one thing in this world that they can trust.

So I appreciate that of you.

I wanted to reiterate one more thing real quick that my sister said two weeks ago.

Our park has 50,000.

Thank you.

Thank you.

The next speaker I have this evening is Jay Johnson.

Please come forward, state your name and city of residence.

You have three minutes.

Unfortunately, I'm much the same shape the last time I was here.

Bad planning on my part.

Wow.

That's crazy.

But that's reality.

I'm a Tempe resident.

I live a block from Daily Park, and I've operated two restaurants in Tempe for 20 years, and I urge you to support the nuisance code.

I believe all of us in this room and online are united in the thought that we don't want to see people hurting and in need.

But two things can be true at once.

There are people that live on the streets, they want help, and they're vulnerable.

Tempe has many services and organizations that do phenomenal work.

I applaud them all.

The stories we're heard tonight of redemption are encouraging and they're mind-blowing.

But another thing can be true.

You can be on the house on the streets and not want help.

You can be on the streets and you can be a criminal.

You can be a predator.

And to think that you would serve a whole group of people and not realize that those people are in that group is reckless.

It's irresponsible, and I believe one day it'll be found criminal.

The story of the young woman here that was stabbed.

That's ridiculous.

My daughter won't go to the park with her dog because the unhoused dogs attack her dog.

That's ridiculous.

My son won't leave the stuff in his car at night every night, has to bring everything out of his car because it gets broken into consistently.

That's ridiculous.

The daily feeling without responsibility, accountability, oversight has created a consistently unsafe and predictable environment.

You don't have to like it to be true, but it's true.

In 10 years of feeding, crime is increased in that area.

Two plus two equals four, even if you don't like it.

Hearing about the problem is not living it.

Cleaning up after the mess and going home far from Daily Park is not living it.

It's enabling and creating the problem.

Just because you can see the war zone doesn't mean you're in it.

Chempi has services to help the first, that first group that wants help.

We've heard a lot of a lot about them.

This news ordinance is a good first step, but I don't think it goes far enough.

We've got a huge problem with crime in that corridor, and it's not getting better.

It's getting worse.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Okay, the next speaker I have this evening is Tom Brown.

Please come forward and state your name and city of residence.

You have three minutes.

Good evening, Mayor Council and staff.

I know that you want us to address the uh 12 of you on this dias, but I'm looking at the cameras too.

I think we all uh have some responsibilities and things we need to do, and when I use the word our O UR, it's plural and possessive.

Um I was going to speak about the tax as a starting point that's uh understandable and not an issue for me.

Um the things that we need to do is get away from the divisive language that's been used here, especially the first half hour of this meeting.

And I was delighted to see the youngster uh running around here.

Would rather look at that than at us adults.

Uh, one of the things about about kids that age is they'll look you right in the eye and there's no filter.

I wish we could all learn to communicate that well.

Um so we can probably agree that the kids are innocent and beautiful.

Uh sort of something that we can agree on is um is fundamental.

And I want to talk tonight about kindness.

Um this proposed new discipline's ordinance is potentially a problem.

Um, Catherine from Eris spoke early in the meeting and spoke very well about the potential um ramifications of Circle K selling beer to people who then have a fight.

Uh the problem of behavior and of a problem that the people have experienced with homeless people is going to be here, and those there have been problems long before fentanyl was a uh abused drug.

Um alcohol has probably caused more problems than we can all um cite today.

Um to kindness.

Um people are not a nuisance.

A noisy party at nine at night does become a nuisance, and there's a proper time to for the cops to show up and uh say quiet down.

But feeding people in need, whether it's once or whether it's weekly, is a choice, uh, not a solid foundation of a nuisance.

This proposed ordinance, if passed, I fear will be weaponized by people who have hearts of stone.

So we need to break those hearts of stone and give them hearts for love of them.

Our purpose in life is to help others, not just make it easy to get real estate tax breaks and worship profitable businesses.

Helping people in need, no matter how they got there, no matter if they're a service resistant or if they offend someone's delicate sensibilities, is helping them is fundamental kindness, and that's what we should expect.

This is the hour, the plural hour.

We should expect that from our neighbors, from our social services, and from our council members.

4,000 people said that just uh in just a matter of weeks last summer.

I uh I ask you to listen to your constituents and thank you for serving Tempi.

Thank you.

Okay, the next speaker I have this evening is Darlene Justice.

Please come forward, state your name and city of residence.

You have three minutes.

Thank you, Mayor, Vice Mayor, Council members.

I don't live in Daly Park.

I live in North Tempe.

I live by Papago Park, the little grassy park that's been there for umteen years.

Um I've lived in Tempe since 1965.

I raised my three children in this neighborhood.

Uh they used to walk to school down to Soupai School.

Uh they walked alone or together with other kids back then.

I had my great-grandchildren that visited me and stayed with me for many times.

We would go to the parks and that, and we would have a great time.

I now have great grandchildren who are seven to one.

And I would not take them to the park the way I used to take my children.

Um things are better there in our in North Tempe at that park.

But what it happened, they talk about feeding the homeless, but what happened is when they set up and they took over the large Ramada.

They stayed there all the time.

It wasn't just people bringing them food once a day.

There were people from outside of Tempe, even coming in and bringing snacks and all different kinds of things.

It was a big party there because people stayed in that Ramada.

It got so big that more homeless came and started camping around the pond there, the lake in the grass.

It was huge in that.

And one of the problems we've had in our community is we have had so many pieces of wire pulled out of different things.

The lights are out in so many different places.

Tempe keeps replacing them along the canal behind the Eisendrath House, all different places.

I have stopped with my daughter at Circle K, which I don't like going into.

And there was a biker that came up from that area with a machete hanging below his jacket.

This is not it's not been a safe area.

It's better since the park rangers have been there.

It is better since they are not allowed to just camp there all the time.

I feel really bad for the Daily Park neighbors.

We lived a lot of it.

And we have found q-tips and hypodermic needles and everything.

So how I take my little grandchildren to a park in Scottsdale where there's children all the time, and there's and there's you don't have that homeless problem there.

So, this is really, I support this ordinance, because something has to happen.

We're talking about feeding people.

I believe in feeding people, but I also believe you don't always hand a man a fish.

You teach him to fish.

You teach him to get off of what he's doing and to get on with his life.

That's where you help people.

Thank you, God bless you.

Okay, the next speaker I have this evening is Nancy Baker.

Please come forward, state your name and city of residence.

You have three minutes.

Good evening, Mayor, Vice Mayor Garland, Council members, city manager, staff, community members.

My name is Nancy Baker, and I'm a resident of North Tempe, the Cavalier Hills neighborhood.

Papago and Moore Parks are our neighbors.

I urge adoption of the ordinance.

I'm a daughter of two Korean Navy war veterans, one of whom was attached to the Marines at the Chosen Reservoir, 1950.

Every U.S.

service person was a rifleman.

My father was a medic, rifle and morphine, starving, frozen, literally.

Our father at age 20 found his way with PTSD and as a functional addict.

I am ever grateful for his service to our country and our lives were forever changed.

The reason I share this is the seriousness of this ordinance.

Balancing justice and safety in our community is critical.

Mental health and addiction is not easy to navigate.

Many times it's intermittently solvable.

Many more times it is not.

With the support of our care 7 team and park rangers, and yet respect and protect our neighbors and neighborhoods, compassion, balance.

It is not a crime to be unhoused.

Dealing drugs, stuffing book boxes with Narcan, leaving trash, camping in our parks and alleys, trespassing.

This must stop.

The ordinance brings parameters for all residents addressing the current state and creating future safety across our community.

Thank you for your time.

Thank you.

The next speaker I have is Andrea White.

Please come forward.

State Your Damon City of Residence, you have three minutes.

Good evening.

I'm Andrea White.

I moved to Tempe, Arizona in 1961.

Don't do the math.

Just say it.

It's too late for math, though.

It's too late, yeah.

Um, I raised my daughter in Tempe, and I'm a member of University Presbyterian Church, where more than 20 members of our church are graduates of the Tempe Leadership Program, and many have been awarded with Don Carlos Award-winning prizes.

In fact, I was lucky enough to get the impact award last year.

So I speak from a background of service for myself and for the church.

That being said, I do have a great deal of compassion for the voices we've heard tonight of people that have been aggrieved or hurt physically or feel threatened.

My daughter now, 37, is a far better parent than I ever would be.

If she as a child did something that made me uncomfortable or unsafe, or broke a rule, I would punish her, send her to her room, or take away privileges, or even install a financial penalty, like taking away her allowance.

Thankfully, she's a better parent than I.

When my sweet granddaughter has a disappointing or unsafe behavior, my daughter pushes the pause button and they talk about it before rushing to punishment.

Can we not pause and work on solutions to the real problem rather than its symptoms?

Please vote no on this ordinance and let's work together on solving the real problem.

Thank you.

The next speaker is Rick Casanova.

Please come forward, state your name in city of residence.

You have three minutes.

Good evening.

My name is Rick Casanova.

I'm a Phoenix uh city.

Uh I live in the city of Phoenix.

Um I've been at University Presbyterian Church since 1982.

Tempe has been a very uh a place that is very fond in our family's heart.

We uh as being members of university, we spent a lot of time in the Tempe area.

Uh our kids were very active with friends in the area, and we all grew up together.

I understand the concern of our neighbors and the safety issues that are going on.

I feel for them, and I know they need help there.

But I also feel there's a lot of concern that what we're doing at UPC is so important, along with what community Christian is doing and what is happening around the Daily Park area.

We need to continue to help those that are in need.

That's what our faith is all about.

University Presbyterian is a church, is a uh Matthew 25 church, as we call it, where we support the tenants of feeding the hungry, visiting the sick, visiting those in jail, etc.

This ordinance will do, I think more harm than it will help.

It will be litigated if it is passed, and that'll be money wasted.

Instead, as our last speaker said, I urge you to vote against this and let's sit down, neighbors, neighbors, neighbors, to figure out how we can help each other and still help those that need our help and support.

Thank you.

Thank you.

The next speaker I have is Joshua Newsom.

Okay, thank you.

Hey, me too.

Thank you.

Okay, the next speaker I've got is Henry Guerrero.

He's up.

I think you already spoke.

But not on the subject, I was speaking on the other one.

This this subject right here, it's uh the nuisance on Daily Park.

Okay.

I go each and my name is Henry Girls.

Um, I'm here about the news of Daily Park.

I um I've been going there probably for 15 years.

I really never.

Maybe you guys see me.

Maybe you see me because I don't have a place to live.

But I can't see people inside because they live inside a house.

So but I'm pretty sure that what I do is I go get a sidewalk to get my sack, and then I I live on Mill Avenue, so I want to first thank uh Tempe Bike Hop and uh your your security here at the Capitol.

Um, they're the ones that always come.

They're the ones that that get called.

They're the ones that have to deal with the nuisance, and they have no answers because I don't know what they give them, but they call them because they're the ones that they deal with the nuisance.

And and you know, and I'm thankful for them because they're like, Henry, you drunk again?

Yeah, they're like, come on, let's go to sell.

They're like, hey man, you need some help.

Can we offer you some help?

And like for real, but you see, we don't give we don't give Tampe police that that that um that tool that they need.

I don't know why we'll give to them, so they just keep it wherever you guys keep those tools in your guys' offices in here, a lot of empty ones, by the way.

And um, you know, I know more about your community than you guys know about your own community.

There's a there's uh 18 charges for uh sexual misconduct, a very high ranking maybe teacher from the university that loves artwork, his artwork is all over the place.

18 charges for sexual misconduct against women, let alone women that are coming from to college to learn how to be a prosperous artist.

18 charges of of showing his stuff to them.

My homeless mahomel's sister says, I don't like that guy, I will steal him.

He he he gives us money because we're homeless, and he asks us for sexual favors.

But he lives in your community.

I don't I don't live in your community.

Look, I leave, I go there, I get assignment, I live on Middle Avenue, and the Middle Avenue cops have to deal with me.

But why do I live on Middle Avenue?

Because they're up there allowed to be up till two in the morning.

And so nobody's gonna talk me and say, what are you doing?

What are you doing out here right now?

It's two in the morning, and you guys ought to be ashamed of yourself.

Talk about socialist abuse when you got when you got this avenue right here that feeds by the gallons to our nation's students, addicting drug, and don't even offer them community bridges, and I think you should be ashamed of yourself.

But what do you guys call yourself?

Number one party school in the nation.

I have enough.

Thank you.

Okay, the next speaker I've got is Alexandra uh Taronis.

Yes.

Please come forward, state your name and city of residents here for three minutes.

Hi, my name is Alexandra Terrence.

I am a Phoenix resident.

I live in the Tempe Butte Commune condominium, which means I just drive an extra seven minutes to all the same places.

Um I am here representing Eris.

I go every week.

I primarily volunteer with the library.

Um the providing of a single meal for our friends who live on the street is a necessity, and I get to be a part of something less life essential, you know, something as simple as handing out books and art supplies, and that's a huge privilege.

And it is only possible because we are also providing food.

Um I'm there every Tuesday after work.

I'm in my scrubs, as you can tell.

Um, but I believe Nathan brought up prior that council member Hodge was at Aeris uh pretty recently.

Um definitely glad to see some support in some sense.

Um, but yeah, I don't know.

I think that this ordinance is very clearly targeting organizations like Eris and AZ Hugs, and I find it utterly revolting to become a hindrance to something so simple.

Um, yeah, a lot of people I believe are mainly in opposition to seeing homeless people.

Um whether or not you like it.

Drug addicts and alcoholics still need to eat that'll pass.

Thank you.

Next speaker I have is Catherine Wright.

Or Kay Wright, actually, that's what yep.

There we go.

I have a real thing.

Please come forward state your name in the city of Residents.

You have three minutes.

I'm Catherine Wright, and I'm a long-time resident of Tempe and have lived here well for over 50 years and have seen a lot of change and a lot of growth.

I'm also a volunteer at the Little Pantry at Community Christian Church, and I work um Thursday mornings and Saturday mornings from 8 30 to 10, feeding people, feeding homeless people.

And I can tell you of the things I do, one of my favorite things is my Thursday and Saturday mornings.

People, the people we see are very grateful.

They're hungry, they're tired, they're hot.

And it is a church, and that's what we're supposed to do.

And two years ago, I was included in a Tempe Interfaith meeting with the city, and we were told to think out of the box about how we could work together because homelessness is indeed a problem.

And one of the suggestions was that the city of Tempe provide a space, a place where the different organizations could work out of.

Those people are going to still be here.

They are Tempe residents.

So we together have a problem, and we together should work together to fix it.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Okay, the next speaker I have is Marla McDermott.

Is Marla McTermott here?

Okay, seeing none.

The next speaker I have is Christopher Bain.

Please come forward.

State your name and City of Residence.

You have three minutes.

Good evening, Honorable Mayor Woodson City Council.

Vice Mayor.

My name is Christopher Bain.

I, together with my wife, have lived in uh year-round in Tempe uh since in the Daily Park neighborhood since 2006.

I'm here to urge you to vote in a favor of the adopting the revised Tempe ordinance.

I think we are fortunate to have a council that is creative and forward-looking, and not certainly called upon with this issue.

I've been motivated to make this appeal because I live in a neighborhood where there is an unfortunate confluence, a coming together, a mixing of several things that have created a situation that we now find ourselves in.

There's a distribution point for fully freely provided services and materials with food, water, cooling.

That's just one.

There are five of these things I'm going to mention.

There's a public park with ample shade and Renadas.

There's a family neighborhood.

Fourth, there is free public transport that brings people can bring people right to the site with a bus stop.

Right there, not the church.

And fifth and finally, there are alleys in our neighborhood in which people seldom linger, that is the residents.

We use it to, I mean, the trash bins are in there, so we have to go out and put our trash into those containers.

But activities can occur largely unseen by the residents of the community.

And I spoke at this at the previous meeting dealing with this topic and told about some troublesome, troubling, but very discomforting incidents in the alley behind my house.

Well, providing services is something we are in favor of.

But the question, the predominant question in my mind is where is the best place to do this?

We urge the city to create a new venue, for example, the Tempe Community Action Agency's Escore and Ramsey Center on Apache, where the desired services and materials can be accessed by members of the unhoused population.

These services and materials could possibly be provided by members of the Christian church, the University Presbyterian Church, the churches in our in our neighborhood, if they would be willing to participate in actually relocating where they provide the food and the other unliquids.

So in view of the quality of life concerns that have been discussed here, we respectfully ask you to um this with a motion and enforce it humanely.

Thank you and with compassion.

Thank you.

Okay, the next speaker I have is Ted Gutierrez.

Please come forward, state your name and city of residence.

You have three minutes.

Good evening, my name is Ted Guterres.

I actually live in Scottsdale.

Before I move forward, the last time I spoke to this council, it was actually received as I did something disrespectful.

And I want to apologize, this was never my intent to disrespect this council in any way, shape, or form.

And please accept my apologies on that for those who were there that day.

My name is Ted Guterres, and I'm speaking on behalf of First Baptist Church of Tempe in opposition to the proposed nuisance ordinance currently under consideration.

First Baptist Church of Tempe has served this community for decades and not only is placed worship, but has placed a refuge, stability, and support of vulnerable residents every week.

Churches, nonprofits, outreach workers, and volunteers across Tempe work directly with unsheltered individuals, struggling families, seniors, veterans, and technology just failed me.

So I'm gonna go ahead and go off script real quick here.

As most of you know, uh First Baptist Church is a church that I have been attending to.

I serve as a deacon on the board, and it's also uh in our consideration to ask that you don't support this ordinance.

Um, as you all know, is I'm also the director of operations for the Eris Foundation, and I could have easily come here and counteracted many of the claims that are about for us here about what Eris is doing and what Eris is not doing, but I don't need to do that because there's plenty of uh directions on both on both sides of the of the aisle.

What I am going to say though is I want to thank everybody who has come out to support uh the Aeros Foundation and all the homeless outreaches that are being done.

Once again, thank you, and the fight will continue.

We have yet just begun.

The second thing I will say to those who are in opposition to what Eris and AZ hubs and other outreaches in the churches are doing.

I too have a lot of roots in the city of Tempe.

My great-grandfather ran the La Cryptoria General Store that is displayed in the Escalante Center.

My family is one of the first families that were that were relocated into the Escalante neighborhood.

My parents leave Blue and White.

My daughters went to McClintock.

Conflict there, but nonetheless.

Umpe has always been a place that I have always drawn near to my heart.

My first night of being homeless was done in JC Park myself.

This Saturday, God willing, I'll celebrate 14 years of sobriety, and it was because of other organizations and other people who showed that compassion and that kindness.

Majority of the people on this council do have my phone number.

Please reach out.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Okay, the next speaker I have is virtual this evening.

Uh Catherine Dorn.

Yeah, Mr.

Mayor, she is virtual.

Okay.

All right.

Um Ms.

Dorian, can you hear me?

Okay, Ms.

Dorne, can you hear me?

Yeah, are you able to unmute?

All right, let me move forward.

I can try to come back.

The next speaker I have is Sarah Covey.

Is Sarah Covey here?

Oh yes.

Please come forward.

State your name and city of residence.

You have three minutes.

Good evening, Mayor and Council members.

My name is Sarah Covey and I'm a Tempe resident.

I also volunteer every week with ARIS.

It may be unfamiliar to the council, but I've been helping lead DSA's mutual aid work for the past few years, especially with the Tempe Really Really Free Market.

I'm speaking tonight on behalf of my local DSA chapters, hundreds of Tempe members.

At a time when our city is facing ongoing housing and affordability crisis, this ordinance moves us in the wrong direction.

Instead of expanding support for people experiencing homelessness and poverty, it greatly abridges and would ultimately punish organizations like ARIS, the University, University Presbyterian Church, and other groups who are stepping up to help those who need it most.

For many churches, feeding the hungry is not a political activity.

It is a core moral and religious obligation.

Criminalizing and restricting that work undermines both compassion and religious freedom.

The people receiving these meals are our neighbors.

They are seniors, veterans, disabled people, working families, and individuals who have fallen through the cracks of an increasingly unequal economy.

I don't think I have to tell anybody here that things are expensive for everyone right now.

They deserve dignity, not displacement, and they deserve support.

If the city is concerned about public health, safety, liquidation of services, then the answer is collaboration and investment, not punishment.

The city should be partnering with faith communities and mutual aid groups, not threatening them.

DSA urges the council to reject this ordinance and instead pursue policies that expand affordable housing, shelter access, mutual aid services, mental health services, sorry, cooling centers, and food assistance.

A city is judged by how it treats its most vulnerable residents.

These people are also your constituents, too.

We ask you tonight to choose compassion.

Let's not try to turn away from or hide from the suffering in the world.

Let's do something to help.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Okay, let me try to go back to uh is Sarah Covey still there?

I mean Catherine Dorn, Katherine Dorn, I meant, sorry.

Okay.

Mr.

Mayor, her name is in the audience, and we're giving her the ability to unmute her mic.

Okay.

I'm gonna try again.

So um Ms.

Dorn, can you hear me?

Ms.

Doran, I have to try one more time.

Uh Ms.

Dorn, can you hear me?

Are you able to unmute?

Okay.

All right.

I'm gonna have to go forward, I'm sorry.

Okay, the next speaker is Senator Warren QB.

Please come forward, state your name and city of residence.

You have three minutes.

Good evening, Mayor, Vice Mayor, Council members, Lauren QB.

I live at Alameda in college, right near the first Presby.

Um, I'm compelled to be here tonight because this ordinance is unneighborly, constitutionally questionable, and financially risky.

Tempe is walking into the same legal problems raised in the San Luis Baptist Church case in Arizona under the federal religious land use institutionalized persons act, Ralupa.

There, a federal court allowed the church's claims to proceed after city council tried to restrict a food ministry.

Under federal law, churches have heightened protections for religious exercise.

Cities cannot impose substantial burdens unless doing so is the least restrictive means of advancing a compelling governmental interest.

That matters because this ordinance targets recurring charitable activity.

Food distribution and outreach on church property.

Is shutting down the church food distribution the least restrictive response to a homeless person later trespassing elsewhere?

The federal court has said no.

The ordinance lets city officials decide when ministry becomes a nuisance, when feeding the poor creates liability, and when churches become responsible for nearby contact conduct.

I want to make this real near my home.

First Presbyterian Church hosts the Aris Foundation every Tuesday.

They serve 200 homeless individuals responsibly.

The event starts from 5, goes to 6 30.

80 volunteers monitor and clean the property.

They prevent loitering by ensuring that people board buses in a timely matter.

That's not a nuisance.

That's a church serving its community with their good works.

Yet this ordinance requires people to speculate whether their activity will be predictably or regularly lead others to commit crimes from a non-exhaustive list.

And if the city is not also citing commercial businesses that predictably generate similar conduct, you have another problem, selective enforcement.

Because many petty offenders are not coming from churches feeding the homeless.

The private properties distributing beverages or bars on Mill Avenue, entertainment sports venues, often involving alcohol-related incidents and public urination after 2 a.m., in part because the downtown lacks public restrooms.

So if nearby nuisance activity creates liability, why scrutinize churches and nonprofits when the city promotes the Mill Avenue corridor, which generates many of the nuisances that are listed in the ordinance?

And the reference to Prop 312 is a red herring.

That law applies when a city declines to enforce nuisance laws or maintains a nuisance on city property.

Generally, property owners are responsible for nuisances on their own property, not for independent criminal acts committed after someone leaves.

So I have to ask why adopt a stricter law than 312 that does not reflect Tempe's values.

Tempe, Tempians were not in favor of 312, interestingly.

Why invite years of constitutional litigation, especially when existing laws already address trespassing, littering, public intoxication, and criminal conduct?

The ordinance is vague, overbroad, and invites arbitrary.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Okay, the next speaker I have is Tanya Beckett.

Yes, please come forward.

State your name and city of residence.

We have three minutes.

Hello, my name is Tanya Beckets.

I am a Tempe residence.

I am actually new to this, so I apologize.

Okay.

Well, I'm homeless actually, and um, for Austin, which is AZ Hugs for helping me out from me being kicked out of a shelter, which is you mall.

And for him helping me and my three kids, it got me very far.

If it wasn't for him, we would not be here today.

And for my mental he let me get my meds and all that.

So it's like for stopping the food, it's just kind of weird.

You rather steal it, or do you want us to be like helped by blessings?

So it's like, I don't understand it.

So please just do not stop that because it's gonna get worse from here.

And I'll pass.

Thank you.

Okay, the next speaker I have is Debbie Mitchell.

Please come forward.

State your day and city of residence.

You have three minutes.

Good evening, Mayor, Vice Mayor, and City Council.

Thank you for taking time to consider this.

And um, I most avidly wanting to oppose this uh kind of inhumane type thing.

And I also want to make it a point to say that we have been working with the neighborhood.

I I'm a longtime member of uh Christian community church.

Um, I've been a homeowner in Tempe for over 20 years, and um we have been working with the neighbors, and we don't serve um our sack lunches on Sundays, which was Mother's Day, which was when that lady got stabbed.

So I just wanted to make sure that everybody knew that that it happened on a day we weren't serving.

Because it seems like um today we've heard a lot of people say that uh what we're doing is causing crime, is inviting crime, is making uh the neighborhood unsafe.

And I I don't see that.

It was unsafe whether we're serving or not, the homeless population has been growing since the pandemic, and I really wish that the city council that you guys would work together with us to help make more services, have affordable housing, because it's a need that needs to be met, and I believe in it.

So please, oh no, thanks.

Thank you.

Okay, the next speaker I have is Noah James Markham.

Please come forward, state your name and city of residence.

You have three minutes.

Oh my goodness.

Okay.

Aloha, mayor, and to the rest of the city council.

My name is Noah James Markham.

And I live in a great beautiful city of Tempe.

Um, so um, what I need to talk about, you know, in Hawaii.

I have this story.

In Hawaii, there was this man that was named the Mango Man.

And we would call him the Mango Man, just I don't know why he never picked mangoes, but you know, it was a thing in Hawaii that we would just see him just, you know, living his life as a homeless person.

Um, you know, and I would always ask my mom, like, why is he there all the time?

And you know, and this is he's just homeless, you know, living his life, and we would say hi all the time to this homeless person.

Um, and he's like a big thing in Hawaii, if you ever knew the Mangleman.

Um, and so you and you know, we have a lot of homeless people in Hawaii, and we do not like, and now I can understand living from Hawaii and coming to Arizona.

I can understand how people are so picky about the the wrong things we should be picky about, and this is one of them.

I mean, homeless people, you know what?

I rather, you know what, I rather be by homeless people on the street.

Um, you know, I I'd rather feed them than some of these Trumpers out here.

I mean, the Trumpers, geez.

I mean, wow.

These ones out there, I I would be a little scared to, I don't know what would happen to me around them.

Homeless Trumpers.

They, you know, I don't know if I want to feed them, but um I would be feed the other people, but um, yeah, so I just don't understand.

And Mayor Gallego, I know you have something in Phoenix just like this, and I hope we do not follow the footsteps of this unbelievable lady there.

I hope we will not follow those footsteps of this gallego lady.

I like her, but this is something she should have never done, and she will be talked to when I see her next time.

Mahalo, thank you so much.

Thank you.

Okay, the next speaker I have is uh Plaza de Delgado.

Please come forward, state your name and city of residence.

You have three minutes.

My name is Plaza Delgado Pluger, and um I am a Tempe resident.

I'm also a Sierra Vista resident.

Um perhaps you hear our words, words of wisdom, and our message brightens lightens and wrightens your day.

They say this is a talent, you know, to see, hear, taste, and feel the words loose from a poet's heart, mind, and every other internal organ, and part of our glory is being the bodies.

Thank you for tipping me, training me, and valuing me.

For wisdom well written.

Poets win wars.

We melt ice on cold hearts, we keep lovers in love.

We encourage a love of learning, and we can inspire the love of life.

Since 2012.

I've performed this poem and several others, all across the country.

As somebody who's chosen to sleep outside under the stars, I've served with various programs like food not bombs.

Last night I served food to several people with Austin's program.

Arizona Hugs.

It troubles me that we would rather, as a community, as a city, put resources into preventing to put time and energy and effort of these officers who work so very hard, and it's heartbreaking to them, and it's morally difficult to them to put more on their plates and put more people in jail who are having problems.

Austin is also a poet.

Some of the other individuals who he serves with are also poets.

I've struggled in this community in this city, among very among others to find work here, stages to perform on as a paid poet.

The library does not pay poets.

Austin also is from Scottsdale.

And prior to being in the city or in the Thank you for your time.

I hope you consider this.

Thank you.

Okay, the next speaker is Mandy Eprett.

And I think Mandy's virtual.

Yes, she is.

Hello.

Hi, can you state your name and city of residence?

You have three minutes.

Hi, yeah.

My name's Mandy Everett.

I'm a Tempe resident.

I was born and raised right here in the East Valley, and I'm speaking today in opposition to this ordinance, which would ban food and beverage distribution on private property.

Um, and I feel it should be noted that's private property everywhere in the city, not just where it's inconvenient or um anything like that.

So I both live and work here in Tempe, and like many working class people, I'm one illness or misfortune away from losing my housing or having no money left for food after rent.

And I'm grateful to know I can turn to the kindness of my neighbors here in Tempe if I need it, and yet this ordinance seeks to outlaw their help.

I honestly um can't believe we're here again.

Last year, after this council unanimously passed a similarly unpopular anti-mutual aid ordinance, I spoke to hundreds of Tempe residents while gathering signatures to oppose that ordinance, and I can tell you what you're considering today is not reflective of the Tempe.

I I've come to know.

Also, this is not an evidence-based solution focused ordinance.

Banning people from serving their community will not solve homelessness.

All it will accomplish is criminalizing our best nature as human beings and push the issue out of sight.

Anyone who actually cares about helping people experiencing financial hardship and who isn't just paying service to caring before demanding that the city ban mutual aid on private property, uh, anyone who actually cares will be happy to hear there is an evidence-based solution that is also the humane solution, and that solution is a housing first approach.

The housing first approach ends homelessness for much less than spending money building insufficient shelters and criminalizing existing all homeless.

One study found an average cost savings on emergency services of $31,545 per person housed in a housing first program over the course of two years.

Another study showed that a housing first program could cost up to $23,000 less per consumer per year than a shelter program.

Um I hope that rather than uh something like this, which offers no solution, but instead seeks to criminalize our best nature.

We instead pursue um more evidence-based humane approaches like a housing first approach.

Thank you for your time.

Thank you.

Okay, the next speaker, I'm gonna try to go back here.

Uh, because sit there.

Hands up, uh Catherine Dorn.

In the virtual audience.

Yes, her mic is uh enabled.

Okay.

Hi, can you state your uh name and city of residence?

You have three minutes.

Catherine Dorne uh and Tempe, um, with so many apologies for missing the earlier calls.

Um, I had a minor household emergency, and uh I am so fortunate to have been able to deal with it under a roof.

Um, because I am speaking from a position of extreme privilege and having a roof, and I believe that unfortunately uh many previous speakers um who are in favor of this ordinance as I or this proposal um as I am not in favor, um, are also speaking from positions of privilege and conflating their sense of discomfort at seeing less privileged people with genuine threats to their own safety.

Um, I'm going to ask you please prioritize the safety of the genuinely most vulnerable Tempe residents, which is to say people who do not have access to shelter reliably, homeless people, um, please prioritize their actual physical life sustaining needs over the discomfort of some of their neighbors.

Please vote no on this proposal.

Um I do fully sympathize with people who are afraid for their safety.

I am very sorry to the woman who was stabbed.

Obviously, that is a horrible violent crime.

Um feeding people accepting food from a church is very much not the same as stabbing someone in the face.

I think um there is a serious conflation between the potential discomfort of people who um live in houses around Staley Park, for example.

Um, at seeing the gap between the services people need and the services which the city currently provides.

They are conflating their discomfort with um being in genuine danger.

They do not seem to be considering that their homeless neighbors are the people who are in danger day in, day out in this extremely hot, dry and increasingly hostile environment.

Um, so please, homeless people are also your constituents.

Please support their needs.

Please vote no.

Thank you so much for your time and your patience.

Thank you.

Okay, the next speaker I have is Francisco Garza.

Please come forward, state your name and city of residence.

You have three minutes.

And there's a button on the right-hand side if you need to lower it.

So my name is Francisco Garza.

I'm born and raised in Wallupe, Arizona.

I've been living here in Tempy for the past two and a half years.

Okay.

I have a dog.

My dog is an ADA dog.

I have been trying to head.

I have seizures.

Okay.

I've been having a lot of problems with a lot of different things because I have a dog.

I can't get into programming because I have a dog.

It's harder for a man who has an animal to be on these streets than to use other people who are on the streets.

Because I can't get into programming because I have a dog.

Okay.

I'm not giving on my dog because I've been with him for six years, and he's wanted to save my life twice already.

There you save my life twice.

All right.

Now, my dog is everything to me.

I give him everything I can, and then some.

If I get a meal, he automatically gets half of it, no matter what.

Okay.

I got 24 and a half years of my life in prison.

That's right, 24 and a half years of life in my prison in prison here in Arizona, seven times, in and out, in and out, in and out, in and out.

That ain't something to live about.

That ain't something happy about.

What's really messed up is they kicked me out of prison six times and I went back seven times.

And I got out the seventh time, and I have not been back for 10 years.

Okay, I got 24 and a half years of my life in prison.

I'm 53.

I haven't been in prison for 10 years.

Do the math.

I've been in prison.

I've been messing up all my life.

All my life.

For the past 10 years, I've been trying to fix it.

I get a number of roadblocks, roadblocks, roadblocks, roadblocks.

Because I'm homeless.

Roblox, I can't.

I can't, I've been trying to get some job for 26 and a half years since I learned about it.

And you guys got a bunch of them right here downtown.

The towel cranes, big tall ones that do the big tall buildings you guys got around.

We got two of them right behind you.

I talked to each one of them.

That operators that operate them.

And I still can't even get funding for it.

Why?

Because I've been in prison for so much of my life.

I can't even get a job because I've been locked up so much of my life.

I have no work history, so nobody wants to give me a job.

I'm homeless.

I'm 53 years old.

I'm half broken.

I've been shot in the head once already.

Well, and I've been had head injuries that are not good.

They've already pronounced me dead twice.

I'm still here.

I'm still fighting, still trying to live.

But this right here, this law you guys are trying to pass, that's just make my life ten times harder than already is.

And let me tell you something.