Sure.

My God, his giant.

Yes, yes.

Good evening, everyone.

Welcome to the Tempe City Council regular council meeting.

Item number one is called to order.

Council meetings can be watched in 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.

I'd now like to invite everyone who is able and willing to stand to join me in a moment of silence.

I'd now like to ask everyone to remain standing if you already are for the posting of the colors by the police and fire honor guard, followed by the Pledge of Allegiance.

Please feel free if you are in the audience tonight that I recognize you to stand and be recognized by the audience.

Salt River Project Board Vice President Casey Klaus.

Constable Karen Lathan.

City of Phoenix District 7 Councilwoman Ana Hernandez.

City of Glendale Cactus District Councilmember Lupe Conscious.

Arizona District 8 Representative Brian Garcia.

Arizona District 12 Representative Stacey Travers.

Arizona District 8, Senator Lauren QB.

Tempe Union High School Governing Board President Armando Montero.

Tempe Union High School Governing Board Member Nicole Gutierrez Miller.

The Honorable Sean Bowie.

The Honorable Debra Dardozi.

And the Honorable Sarah James.

Is there anyone that I missed this evening?

Oh, the Honorable Lady Sears.

Yes, how are you?

Yes.

Thank you so much, each and every one of you for being here this evening.

With that, we're going to get right to the heart of the program here with item number five, the oath of office, swearing in of new city council members and returning council member.

Which means I'm going to start with who's listed here is item five A, Councilmember Arlene Chin.

It's my pleasure to invite Councilmember Chin to join our city clerk, Cara de Arastia at the front of the dais for the administration of the oath of office.

Yes.

Well, first start off by talking about how everyone for taking their oath of office this evening.

This will be your first official act for your new term.

All elected public officers in the state of Arizona are required to take a solemn oath to the community as a whole and to uphold the constitution's laws and governing documents that define the duties and obligations entrusted to them by the voters.

Councilmember elect Arlene Chen, please raise your right hand and repeat after me.

I Arlene Chen.

Do you solemnly swear?

Do solemnly swear that I will support the Constitution.

Of the United States.

And the Constitution and Laws.

And the Constitution and Laws of the State of Arizona.

Of the state of Arizona.

And the Charter Codes and Ordinances.

And the Charter, Code, and Ordinances.

Of the City of Tempe.

Of the City of Tempe.

That I will bear true faith.

That I will bear.

True faith.

I will bear true faith.

And allegiance to the same.

And allegiance to the same.

And defend them.

And defend them.

Against all enemies.

Against all enemies.

Foreign and domestic.

Foreign and domestic.

And that I will faithfully.

And that I will faithfully.

And impartially.

And impartially.

Discharge the duties.

Distart discharge the duties.

Of the Office of Council Member.

Of the office of council member.

In and for the city of Tempe.

In and for the City of Tempe.

According to the best of my ability.

According to the best of my abilities.

So help me, God.

So help me, God.

Congratulations.

I have to here.

So just sign your name here.

And the next one.

Sign.

Okay.

Okay.

Your copy.

And then your certificate.

Council member Bobby Nichols.

Sorry.

Oh, no question.

Oh, sure.

Okay.

Okay, strike that.

So council member elect Brooke Saint Choice.

Please come forward.

You are next.

Just a little quick switcheroo there.

So last time I get to call you Council Member Alexei George.

So thank you for being here.

Please raise your right hand.

Place your left hand on the Bible and repeat after me.

I brooke Saint George.

I Brooke St.

George.

Do solemnly swear.

Do solemnly swear.

That I will support the Constitution.

That I will support the Constitution of the United States.

Of the United States.

And the Constitution and Laws.

And the Constitution and Laws of the State of Arizona.

Of the State of Arizona.

And the charter codes and ordinances.

And the charter codes and ordinances.

Of the city of Tempe.

Of the city of Tempe.

That I will bear true faith.

That I will bear true faith.

And allegiance to the same.

And allegiance to the same.

And defend them.

And defend them against all enemies.

Against all enemies.

Foreign and domestic.

Foreign and domestic.

And that I will faithfully.

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

Discharge the duties of the office of council member.

Of the office of council member.

And for the city of Tempe.

In and for the city of Tempe.

According to the best of my ability.

According to the best of my ability.

So I do affirm.

So I do affirm.

Congratulations.

Thank you.

I'm there.

Can I do not?

Yeah, exactly.

Yeah.

All right.

Okay, finally, we'll have council member elect Bobby Nichols.

Please raise your right hand.

Place your left hand on the Bible and repeat after me.

I, Bobby Nichols.

I, Bobby Nichols.

Do solemnly swear.

You solemnly swear.

That I will support the Constitution.

That I will support the Constitution.

The United States of the United States.

And the Constitution and Laws.

And the Constitution and Laws of the State of Arizona.

Of the state of Arizona.

And the charter codes and ordinances.

And the charter codes and ordinances of the city of Tempe.

Of the city of Tempe.

That I will bear true faith.

And allegiance to the same.

And allegiance to the same.

And defend them.

And defend them against all enemies.

Against all enemies.

Foreign and domestic.

Foreign and domestic.

And that I will faithfully.

And that I will faithfully.

And then partially and impartially discharge the duties.

Discharge the duties of the office of council members.

Of the office of council members.

And then for the city of Tempe.

In and for the city of Tempe.

According to the best of my ability.

According to the best of my ability.

So help me God.

So help me God.

Congratulations.

So congratulations to Council members Chin, Nichols, and Saint George on taking your oaths of office and beginning your new terms of office as well.

On behalf of the city council and the residents of the City of Tempe, thank you for your willingness to serve our community.

We appreciate your commitment to public service and wish you every success during your term of office.

And at this time, I'd like to now invite the entire council to join our newly sworn in council members down in the front here for a group photo.

Yeah.

And one more like that.

Thank you.

I got I was nervous.

You have to vote here?

Okay.

Thank you for the points.

I'm gonna have to check all the no.

Hi, thanks to me.

Check all of your photos.

Yeah, I can delay approval.

True though.

Okay, but we're not.

Yeah.

I have to get it back in.

Well that brings me to item number six of this evening's agenda, the election of the new vice mayor.

Uh I'm also gonna make sure council to take a roll call vote during this uh during this one to make sure that we're all on record here.

So I'm gonna look for a motion to elect the new vice mayor, uh, vice mayor garland.

Thank you so much.

I have had the incredible honor of uh serving as vice mayor the past two years and working with our council and staff and especially with our mayor, and it is now an incredible honor for me to be able to nominate the next person to be our vice mayor.

Um I would say that Arlene is not only an incredible colleague, but she is also somebody I consider to be a really good friend.

So I would like to make a motion to um nominate Arlene Chin to be our next Tempe Vice Mayor.

Thank you, Vice Mayor Garland.

While you were doing that, Councilmember Keating uh wanted to make another comment here.

Um well I'm gonna second that motion mayor, but I'd like to make a little bit of a few comments if I could about Councilmember Chin.

Uh it is my fault about the oath of office.

I'm so sorry about that, Councilmember.

But I just wanted to speak a little bit just about Councilmember Chin and the integrity and the type of person that she is.

You know, we've known each other forever, it seems, but we didn't really know each other, right?

Like we must have met in 2009, 2010, and I'm not sure we ever had like a deeper conversation that wasn't superficial until that lunch that you asked me to at ASU.

Remember that when I was working at ASU?

Um, and like there's a whole side lore to all that whole lunch that I'm happy to tell you over our often planned but never executed half a beer.

But um Councilmember Chin, uh, I was I was proud to support your appointment to the council way back when I was proud to um support both of your your elections.

I found you to be uh steady-handed, uh level set as you like to say, uh thoughtful, questioning sometimes if I'm being candid a little bit too many questions when it when it gets late at night, but uh council member um you are a uh diamond uh diamond and a force to be reckoned with on this body, and I'm incredibly proud to second your motion to be vice mayor, and I have no doubt that you'll be a tremendous vice mayor to the city of Tepe.

So congratulations to you, my old friend and new super friend, I hope.

Thank you.

Thank you, Councilmember Keating.

So the motion's been made by Vice Mayor Garland and seconded by Councilmember Keating.

I'm gonna go down the row here and do a roll call vote.

Councilmember Amber.

Aye.

Vice Mayor Garland.

Aye.

Councilmember Keating.

Yes, Councilmember Nichols.

Aye, Councilmember St.

George.

Aye.

I vote aye as well, but what about you, Councilmember Chin?

Ah.

Well, then that motion passes six to zero with now Vice Mayor Chin upstating.

Congratulations, Vice Mayor Alicia.

All right, and here comes our clerk to switch out nameplates yet again.

Deputy Clerk, Mr.

Sims.

What's going on?

See you later on here.

All right.

That is now your order for the next two years here, so get used to this.

This is what it's going to look like every Thursday night.

So I want to get to item number seven here, Mayor and Councilmember comments, and I'm going to call to the council members for their comments this evening.

And I'm going to start with the folks who were just seated.

First of all, with Vice Mayor Chin.

Vice Mayor.

Thank you, Mayor.

Um, I want to thank a few people.

I want to thank many, many people, but they told me I only had a few minutes tonight.

Uh there are too many individuals I'd like to thank.

Um we had countless volunteers and a campaign leadership team that got us to this point tonight.

Special call outs have to go to Janet, Stephanie, Eric, Alicia, Morgan, and Finnegan.

Finnegan's my dog.

Um, he always got a lot of great positive attention.

Additionally, I want to thank organizations like Arizona List, Jillian, our intern Stephanie and Skylar.

Much thanks and appreciation for the honor of endorsement from the many unions who also took the time to share their knowledge and work with me.

Thank you for your countless hours, unwavering commitment and belief in our shared vision.

Campaigns are built on hard work, right?

Yes, sacrifice, determination, and every phone call, door knock, sign place, event organized, and conversation held, helped make this moment possible.

I'm deeply grateful to each and every one of my campaign members.

Thank you.

To my council, yes, thank you.

To my council colleagues, thank you for your partnership, leadership, and dedication to our community.

While we may not always agree on every issue, I know that we share a commitment to serving our residents and strengthening our city.

I look forward to our work together with respect, collaboration, and a focus on results, to the Tempe City staff, to the nearly 2,000 employees who make me proud to be a member of their team.

Thank you for the professionalism, expertise, and dedication you bring to the work every day.

You're the people who keep our city running, provide critical services, and help turn policy into action.

Your contributions often happen behind the scenes, but they're deeply appreciated and absolutely essential to our community's success.

Thank you.

To our city management, the leadership team.

Thank you for your leadership, guidance, and commitment to good governance.

Your experience and steady stewardship help ensure that we make thoughtful decisions and continue moving our city forward.

Thank you for always approaching your roles with great intention and care.

As extra special thanks to someone he's hiding, oh, there he is in the back.

To Ty Lee, my thought partner and council assistant, who thank you for helping support me and making me do things on my own, also.

She always says you're on your own.

I want to thank my ASU Foundation scholarship team.

I've got a couple of people here.

I'm honored for them to be here, and to the senior leadership of the ASU foundation, for encouraging and enabling me to serve the community in which we live, serve, and work, to my friends and family, to those here with me tonight, and those that are watching online.

Cheers to those of you in Tempe, California, Oregon, Arkansas, and Massachusetts.

There are simply not enough words to express my gratitude.

Thank you for your love, encouragement, patience, and support throughout this journey.

You have celebrated the victories, helped me through the challenges, and reminded me why this work matters.

I would not be here without you.

Thank you for your many, many decades of unconditional love and support.

And finally, to all of the residents of our community.

Thank you for believing in this and supporting this daughter of Tempe.

Thank you for standing with me and standing for Tempe.

Thank you for your trust, your engagement, and your belief in what we can accomplish together.

Whether you supported me, challenged me, volunteered, voted, or simply shared your thoughts and concerns.

You have helped shape our city and strengthen our democracy.

It is an honor and a privilege to serve and represent you.

This achievement belongs not to one person, but to an entire community working together.

Thank you all for your support, your partnership, and your commitment to making our city the very best it can be.

Thank you, and I look forward to the work ahead.

Thank you, Vice Mayor Chin.

Next up, Councilmember St.

George.

Thank you, Mayor Woods, and I want to offer my congratulations to Vice Mayor Chen and to Councilmember Nichols.

I cannot wait to get started with you guys.

It is an honor for me to commit my oath to the City of Tempe tonight and to be sitting in this seat.

And if you will pardon me a slight rephrasing of President Barack Obama's words from 2015, now literally etched in stone on the side of the Obama Presidential Center in Chicago.

For everywhere in this city, there are first steps to be taken.

There is new ground to cover.

There are more bridges to be crossed.

Tempe is not the project of any one person.

The single most powerful word in our democracy is we.

We the people, we shall overcome.

Yes, we can.

That word is owned by no one.

It belongs to everyone.

Oh, what a glorious task we are given to continually try to improve this great city of ours.

From the great words of a great world leader to the all too correct words of a local one, Councilmember Dorian Garland, who always says it takes a village to raise a council member.

And Tempe is the village that raised me, both as a child and as an adult.

It is where I first learned about what community really meant and what service to that community, service to others, period really meant.

I learned it from the village around me.

That village started with my parents, Mike and Linda St.

George.

My mother is here with us tonight, and I know that my dad somehow is too.

They laid the foundation upon which my own personal community would be built, from my sister Brie, my dearest bestie, Jessica Joe, my aunts, uncles, cousins, friends, my parents' friends, everyone who's watching online tonight.

The village grew from there to our church friends, school friends, kids I met taking local classes here in Tempe, or volunteering or getting involved in regional performing arts or civic engagement.

It was the teachers, the mentors, everyone that surrounded me growing up here in Tempe.

And then it grew even more when I returned to my hometown as an adult to raise my own son, Dutch, who is about to turn 18 on the 4th of July.

And yes, yes, he is already pre-registered to vote.

Happy birthday, son.

When he entered the doors of the same elementary school that I attended, he made friends with a little girl named Olive.

And Olive has a mother who is very convincing.

Nicole Leonardi, better known to the group chat as Head Nicole.

Your tenacious insistence that I join the Wagner PTO or that I run a campaign with you, or that I run for city council.

Know that I am grateful for it and for your belief in me.

And I had no idea that when we met, my world was about to expand to an incredibly large network of women in this town who get it done.

And here's where my list gets a bit long, but I'll try to say it quickly.

To those women starting here on the dais with council members Garland and Amberg with Vice Mayor Arlene Chin, to Representative Stacey Travers, Senator Lauren QB, Tempe Union Governing Board Member Nicole Gutierrez Miller, Emily Halliday, Kate Climate, Julie, Sharon, Kara, here I go, and Helica, Marina, April, Bridget, Marnie, Karen, Marcia, Amanda, Carrie, Charlotte, Sarah, Francesca, Daphne, Claire, Dea, Elba, Mary, Shereen, Dai, Liz, Deborah, Diane, Linda, Alika, Patty, Des, Carly, and every other incredible woman in this community who knocked doors or lit dropped or sent an email or made a phone call or donated or opened their home for me.

This campaign was truly powered by the people of Tempe, and yes, that does include the men in the village.

Starting with the honorable Harry Mitchell, former state Senator Sean Bowie, Representative Brian Garcia, Tempe Union Governing Board Member Armando Montero, Steve Murphy, John Climate, Sam Garmin, and so many others that are in this room tonight.

Thank you for your support, your encouragement, your time, and your faith in me.

And then came along what I like to call my angels.

Cameron Bautista, Jacob Marson, Bradley Reese of Keep AZ Blue.

The world better watch out, is all I have to say about you guys.

You showed up like manna from heaven and like a breath of fresh air.

You fueled my campaign with keen political insight, laughter, and not so subtle nudges in the form of all caps text messages.

I am forever grateful to the three of you.

Matt August, if your reaction to me telling you that I was going to run for city council had been anything but the immediate enthusiastic support that you have shown me, I don't think I could have done this.

You are my solid ground.

Thank you.

It is our collective Tempe Village that I'm here to serve.

We create the Tempe of the future with the choices that we make today.

And over the next four years, I am humbled and honored that the voters of Tempe are giving me the opportunity to represent their voices on this council.

I am ready to listen, to hear you, and to make informed decisions on your behalf to the best of my ability.

I am happy to be working again with the incredible employees of the city of Tempe in this new capacity, and I am excited to get to work.

Thank you.

Thank you, Councilmember St.

George.

Next up, Councilmember Nichols.

Well, nobody told me anything about a time limit.

So friends, family, neighbors, dignitaries, and comrades, thank you for joining us tonight.

As our local election season draws to an official close, I am so grateful for the amazing community that made this evening possible.

To State Senator Lauren Kuby, who has uplifted and empowered me since our first meeting, sharing tough love and encouragement in equal measures.

Thank you for your consistent and unwavering support.

Though we certainly have our differences, I am so proud to call you a friend and a mentor.

To Phoenix Councilmember Ana Hernandez, Kyrene Governing Board Member Kevin Walsh, Glendale Councilmember Lupe Conchas, State Representative Brian Garcia, Judge Alicia Sears, Constable Karen Lathan, State Senator Annalise Ortiz, SRP board member Casey Claus, and Tucson Councilmember Miranda Schubert, and my fellow Democratic Socialist, and yes, United States Senator Bernie Sanders.

Thank you.

Thank you for welcoming me into the community of progressive policymakers.

Your guidance, insight, and support has shaped my campaign and will continue to shape my time in office.

To my amazing campaign team and DSA comrades, including but in no way limited, to Micah, Ramona, Ian, Taryn, Ryan, Sandy, John, Rory, Jesse, Mason, David, Drew, Gabe, Brendan, Brandon, Carlos, AJ, Natasha, Monique, Dylan Wilde, Sarah, Emily, Jeremy, Kaz, Abigail, Doug, Mia, Jess, Finn, Dylan Dugan, and Mandy, thank you for the early mornings, the late nights, the blood, sweat, and tears that you poured into this work.

Without your dedication and belief in our movement, this victory would never have been possible.

And to my dear friends Josh, Mike, Ari, Sam, Merrick, Shaley, Leah, and many more who I have already mentioned, thank you for keeping me connected to reality and giving me opportunities to be a regular person during this crazy season of life.

To the incredible folks from worker power who crushed the doors during our runoff.

That's right.

Thank you for believing in me enough to go canvassing in this insane heat.

I am so grateful for your support and eternally inspired by the power of organized people to effect change in the face of organized money.

To the powerful progressive and labor groups like Poole, Way to Win, the Jane Fonda Climate Pact, Progressive Victory, and the Organized Workers of Unite Here Local Eleven, United Auto Workers Region 6, UFCW 99, and UA Local 469, not to mention the dedicated volunteers like Nasser, Caesar, Mike, Judy, and everyone else from the Progressive Caucus of the Arizona Democratic Party.

I would not be here today without you.

And I am so excited to continue our fight for justice, democracy, and equality in America.

And to my family, Sam, Jane, Ed Pam, Dave V, Nico, Emily, Eva, Sierra Danny, Autumn, Mary, Jay Linda, Rachel Matt, and most of all my parents, Dr.

Jim Nichols and Amy Nichols.

Thank you for making me the man I am today.

Because of your love and support, I am proud to sit here today, called to serve the least of these and to treat my neighbor as myself.

And to my dear sister Madison, whose Bible I borrowed from my oath of office, and who I miss every single day.

Your memory drives me to live life in the fullest, to give generously, and to love deeply.

Your big brother loves you.

And I am so excited to tell you all of my campaign stories when we meet again in paradise.

And finally, to my brilliant, incredible partner, Kaelin.

Thank you for everything.

Thank you for the love and support you have given me over the last year.

For suffering through my late night strategy sessions or more accurately, panic attacks.

For training our field leads, for stepping into lead our design work, for making me laugh, for crying with me, for reminding me to do the damn dishes, and most of all, for standing by me through all of life's ups and downs.

Not just this last year, but in for the last six years and for the decades ahead.

I love you from the bottom of my heart.

I'm proud of you, amazed by you, and incurably obsessed with you.

I am the luckiest man alive, and it all is all thanks to you.

I sit before you today, as I sit before you today.

Let me reiterate the strength of my commitment to the city of Tempe and everyone who calls it home.

I'm committed to building a city that works for everyone, where everyone can afford housing, transportation, food, child care, and education.

I am committed to standing alongside workers, students, seniors, tenants, homeowners, families, and everyone experiencing financial hardship or housing instability as we build the social programs necessary to ensure dignity and opportunity for all.

And I am committed to governing for everyone in this city, regardless of who you voted for or whether you go whether you voted or not.

I am here to serve and I will be honored to serve you.

I will not, however, deny the truth of my person or hide from the movement that I represent or shy away from my political beliefs.

I was elected as a democratic socialist.

I will govern as a democratic socialist, giving all possible power to the working people, using every tool at my disposal to prevent the abuses of greed and exploitation, and standing with the oppressed as I struggle for liberation from Palestine to Turtle Island.

This election, this election may have ended, but our fight for the better world that everyone deserves is just beginning.

And I take great comfort in that knowledge, especially now as we celebrate this long-fought victory.

The fight ahead doesn't scare me, and it shouldn't stare scare you.

Because when we fight, when we fight.

Yes.

Well, I wasn't finished writing my remarks, mayor.

I didn't know I was going first.

Um, I guess I'll speak to you individually, then both.

Right?

All right.

Councilmember St.

George.

Congratulations on your election victory and congratulations on your swearing in and being here.

I have no idea, I have no doubt that you will be an effective advocate for our community in our city here on the dais.

Unfortunately, we didn't know each other very well when um you were here as an aide, but my two previous aides speak very highly of you.

In fact, one of them is here, Sarah.

I don't know if you know she was coming, Sarah's here.

I told Andy wanted to fly in for it, but couldn't.

So that speaks to these are these are two people that I trust implicitly with my life, and they they speak so highly of you that I couldn't be more thrilled to be your colleague now and serving together.

I'm sure there's a lot we can work on together.

There's a lot of things that the city faces a lot of challenges, and I'm looking forward to your to your even keel, your thoughtful and uriditic approach to the problems that I've seen you do, not only during the campaign, but while you were an aide of the city council.

You have me no doubt you were in a difficult difficult position, and you rose above that, and they made it all this way.

So, congratulations to you.

Well done.

Um campaigning is hard.

I've no I know that completely, and you did it with grace and dignity, and your victory uh is um representative of that.

So I'm very excited for you.

I'm very happy for you.

I hope you find serving on the City Council as stressful and rewarding as I have.

Thank you.

Absolutely.

No, no, it uh it that sounded bad.

I meant I meant that sincerely.

Okay.

All right, Councilmember Nichols.

I got words for you, sir.

Um remember, I don't know if you remember, and I I hope you don't mind if I tell the story.

Um when I we spoke on election night, I said, congratulations, you crazy bastard, you did it.

He did it, yes.

And and I love that you said comrades when you were you know friends, neighbors, Romans.

I I I I kind of thought maybe you would do that.

I love that you did.

One of the things I love about you, Councilmember Nichols, is uh we met very early on in the campaign.

You knew I wasn't supporting you.

Uh you just wanted to sit down and talk to me about the city and say, hey, look, if I win, how's this gonna work?

How's that gonna work?

And I appreciated that thoughtfulness.

I appreciated the relationship that we developed over time.

Um you're one of the few people um that I feel is very, well, I shouldn't say few.

Um I feel that you're very empathetic.

You're very, you're very hard on your sleeve.

You you made no apologies for who you are and what you stood for the entire campaign, even when people were telling you maybe to do the opposite, myself included, right?

So you went out there, you you told the voters who you are, what you wanted to do, and you won.

You deserve a chance to lead, and I have no doubt that you will do an excellent job in that role just from our conversations.

Now, if you can get the chicken wings bigger at the vine, you will have certainly accomplished much more than uh myself, I will say, after years of complaining.

Um I look forward to serving with you as well.

Um there are there are things I think that we could do very well together.

Um and given the relationship that we have, um, you know, I now consider you not only a friend, but but but a colleague.

So if I can ever be a resource to you or you, Councilmember St.

George, I'm happy to do that.

Um once an election happens, we move on and we work together for the betterment of the city, and I have no doubt that you too will um be stalwarts in that effort.

As I said to you both in private meetings, and that's I say all the time on Twitter.

Um campaigning is easy, right?

I know it seems like that was like the worst shit you've ever done in your life.

Uh let me tell you, uh, governing is hard, it's a lot harder.

And I I couldn't be happier with the new members of the council, because I know that you both will govern with fidelity, dignity, and responsibility.

One thing I'll say as a point of personal privilege.

Uh I can no longer call myself the youngest council member.

Um Councilmember Nichols.

I I love to say I was the youngest and senior council member.

Uh now I'm just a senior.

So it it couldn't have happened.

Um I couldn't have asked for a better younger member of the council.

I couldn't have asked for a more uriditic and thoughtful um new colleague than you both.

So congratulations to you on your victory.

Job well done.

Look forward to starting the hard work with you.

About two months.

It's pretty nice.

Congratulations.

Thank you, Council Burkey.

Next up, Councilberg.

When I was running for office the first time in 2020, um we were at um have at a forum, and my husband said, just a reminder for the next ones you do, don't follow Randy.

And I said, And here I am following Randy.

Um so um I'll say Brooke first.

Um I'm so happy for you.

I love the campaign that you run, and I've think I've told you a number of times how much I really love the videos that you put on because you're so real.

And those whoever did the videos, did a great job.

Um, but who you are, what you're about, and what this job was, how important this job was gonna be for you was you could see that in your videos.

And I I absolutely loved them.

You did a great job.

And I I've worked with you upstairs, got to know you then, um, gotten to know even better on the on this campaign trail with you.

Um, really appreciated the fact that you reached out and we've met and we've talked as you were going through this, because it just shows me how much you were willing to meet with anybody.

Um, if you we were all talking about what we could do to make the city better, and I knew that was always in your heart, so I'm so excited that you're here.

And it's gonna be a lot of fun to be able to work with you and your energy.

So I'm glad you're here.

Thank you.

Congratulations.

And Bobby, I didn't know who you were first until my friend Mickey Martin called me and said, Oh, I know Amy really, really well, and you've got to meet Bobby, he's great, and told me all about your family and about you, and that's where I first heard about you, and then we got together.

So I've really appreciated the time that we've met.

Um, and you always asked really good questions about what we're looking at, what this looks like, what the campaign looks like, what I'm hearing out there, and um I I'm just meeting with you, knowing that if you got on council, that you were going to put your whole heart in here, and I know you will, and I know how important that this community is to you, and I know that that's going to show through as you continue to be here.

And I'm I'm glad you're sitting next to me.

This will be really fun.

But I'm I'm glad you hear congratulations on your on your race.

And I already talked about you, you're the greatest.

Vice Mayor, Arlene is the greatest.

Congratulations, vice mayor.

Thank you, Councilmember Garland, Councilmember Amberg.

Oh.

I guess the first thing I'm gonna say is it feels really weird being over here.

So I moved to my cheese.

Wanna go back over there?

It's not because of me.

It's not because of you.

No, oh girl, so Brooke, I I don't I don't have the words.

You know how much I love you.

Um, we took the same early familiar path to sitting up here on the dais, um, including the color purple.

Looks good on you.

Uh I am beyond thrilled that you're up here with us, and I cannot wait to uh to start working with you.

Uh, Councilmember Nichols, you are the one that I don't know that much about.

Um I do love the fact that you are a policy nerd, so I'm going to have a lot of fun with you.

You and I took the similar path to that.

Um, and I guess I can say um I am not so much the youngest council member up here, but I am no longer the tallest.

So, so I know.

So you have to stand behind Arlene and all of the pictures.

I just want you to know.

Uh I want to dispute that you were the tallest before council member.

We can take shoes off measurement right now.

All right, whatever.

I'm not getting involved in this work.

But I am so happy that you're here.

I think you're gonna bring like the freshest uh best voice to this council.

So uh looking forward to it.

Vice Mayor, um Arlene.

Uh I I didn't say it whenever we were doing this, but I don't know if a lot of people know my first uh meeting with you.

I was actually working for the city of Mesao as the chief of staff for the for the um for the mayor over there at the time, and she called me up and I met her for lunch, and she asked me to quit my job because she wanted to run for city council, and she wanted me to run her campaign, which I did, and then about a month later, she decided she wasn't going to run.

So I forgive you.

It's been a lot of fun being up here with you.

I'm going to miss sitting next to you, so um, I'm gonna have to.

Oh no, I didn't.

All right, uh, but I I'll be texting you.

Uh, and if anybody wants to know, it's still one zero.

This is what happens whenever I don't put my glasses on.

All right, it's two zero, my bad.

All right, thank you.

All right.

I promise I will make this brief, whatever so folks can get back to the World Cup so I don't get dragged on social media this evening.

Um so, first of all, I wanted to just make sure I can thank everyone up here as well and congratulate some of the new folks.

First of all, the council member St.

George.

Uh I know we first you know became friends and worked together at a political capacity, and then you obviously worked on the third floor, and we had a chance to work together in a professional capacity as well.

And I've always thought you've done an exceptional job, and I've really enjoyed the opportunity of getting to know you as both a friend and also as a colleague.

And I get that opportunity to now deepen that relationship with you being a member of the city council.

As you talked about with the folks that you know in the community from PTO and the sort of network of women and men that you've got connections with.

I know that you're deeply embedded-you like Councilmember Chin, or Vice Mayor Chin, I should say, are a product of this community.

You know this community inside and out, and I know you deeply care about not just simply the present but the future.

So I'm really excited to have you up here.

You're obviously an incredibly intelligent person.

You're very much a policy wonk.

You've got an exceptionally strong work ethic.

Uh, one of the things that she's gonna be doing first and foremost, we have a lot of transportation needs in the city of Tempe.

Uh, it's taking a very important role with Valley Metro Rail and making sure to represent the city's interest when it comes to transportation.

And I can't think of a better person to frankly do that than congratulations, my friend.

Welcome to the city council.

And I know we're gonna get a lot of great work done together as a collective unit.

So thank you and congratulations to you for everything you've done.

So, councilmember Nichols.

So, we've known each other for quite a few years, actually, in sort of overlapping political circles during time.

And um I remember meeting with you on countless other occasions before you even declared yourself as a candidate for city council when you were advocating for workers' rights uh and for the rights of tenants and people and frankly, just anyone in our community or across the entire region or the state who would be considered to be in a vulnerable position.

You've always been there to stand up and provide a voice many times for people who might not be able to exercise their voices.

I got to know you a lot better, though, during the course of the campaign, uh, because like Councilmember St.

George, you and I many times would get together to what talk whether it was over a coffee or lunch or dinner, and we had very thought provoking, rousing conversations.

And just like me, you are also a policy wonk like Councilmember St.

George.

And I really look forward to the opportunity to talk about how to tackle some of the most pressing and important issues that this community faces in the future, uh, because I know that you have that background as an attorney, uh, as someone as a community organizer, and as someone who frankly just cares about working people and people who need a voice in our society.

Uh, we've already had conversations about a couple of things.

I remember uh sitting down at Ley Moon Cafe, probably a couple of weeks before you won, uh when you and I were both drinking energy drinks because we were exhausted.

Um, me for whatever reason, you because you were obviously running a very fierce campaign, and we were immediately not even talking about the campaign, but talking about if you had the opportunity to win and sit up here, some of the things that we could work together on to see if we could address some of the most pressing challenges this community faces.

So I am very, very proud of you, and also I should say, too, um, for to what something council member Keating said about you.

You've also never shied away from who you are.

You know, you I've always said, you know, I'm a proud democratic socialist.

Uh, you don't shy away from that many times.

There are people in the political world or folks who might say, maybe you shouldn't talk about that, or maybe you should go to your social media accounts and wipe out some of those references and start speaking differently when you're running for an office that that represents almost 200,000 people of the city of Tempe.

But like Councilmember St.

George, you were true to who you were, and you've never shied away from things you've done in the past, and you've never shied away from who you want to be moving forward and who you want to represent.

So I have the deepest level of respect for you.

Uh, I'm excited that during the course of the campaign, we got to become also friends, and I'm looking forward to working with you.

I know that you're gonna do an exceptional job on this council, along Councilmember St.

George, and can't wait to roll up our sleeves and get some work done on August 31st, as you talked about, Council Burkini.

So, congratulations on a hard fought and well-run campaign, and I'm excited to work alongside you.

Cool.

Vice Mayor Chin just looked at me and said, Take it easy.

Um, because she knows I'm coming to her next.

Uh she has been described by quite a few people up here as a rock, quite honestly.

She's one of the people that I always turn to on difficult issues to as a sounding board, as someone who provides very good guidance and expertise on any number of different policy issues.

Pretty much everything you could want to talk about, she's well versed in it.

Many times she'll call me about something two or three days before we actually have a council meeting.

I might not have even read that yet.

I'm gonna get to it in the next 36 to 48 hours, but she's already well versed on it and well read, and she's schooling me on what she's planning on doing on Thursday.

I will tell you, because of that level of due diligence and preparedness, you have always put a person that I will many times call immediately to ask you what your opinion on things is.

Even to see, frankly, if I've got some kind of a blind spot somewhere on certain issues.

One of the things that she always tells me is that sometimes I have this sort of personality where I want to go in and fix everything immediately.

And sometimes she says, Corey, you just need to back off and let things kind of work themselves out.

If there are a couple of people and they're having a disagreement, let them work that out.

You don't need to always step in between and try to solve everything.

Let people be adults, let people work together, and let them solve their own problems.

And frankly, that will be for the betterment of this community.

You have really to each and every one of us up here during your you, and it's reflected by your unanimous selection as vice mayor.

I mean, you have been a friend to each and every one of us.

You've been a policy confidant to each and every one of us, but especially to me, you have been my partner in food.

Um, if there is a the other, if we're not talking about just our friendship, or if we're not talking about matters that come before the city council, we are pretty much reading uh newspapers or magazines or going on social media, trying to figure out which restaurants we haven't gone to yet, and then trying to figure out exactly when we're gonna get there.

And as a matter of fact, two hours before this meeting, I sent her three dates for the middle of July when she and I can sit down and actually have dinner.

Um, but I will tell you, you are a phenomenal person.

You are also like Councilmember St.

George, a child of the city of Tempe.

You care deeply about this community, deeply about the university, and I couldn't be any more proud to call you a friend and a colleague.

So, congratulations and congratulations on your selection as our new vice mayor.

So thank you.

Just a note too.

I want to make sure to thank uh Chief Deputy City Manager Greg Reese, who's up here as well, sitting in.

Uh, our city manager had a family commitment out of town this week, and she obviously I know talked to all of the new council members and wanted to make sure that she wished them well, but had a family commitment she could not shake out of.

So uh, but uh she just wanted to make sure that she said hi and acknowledged you being here and the great victories that you all won.

Uh, want to make sure too, then to get to item number eight, because I know several people are now looking at me with the World Cup in their eyes.

Um, item number eight is adjournment.

The next regular city council meeting will be on August 31st, 2026.

Before I adjourn the meeting, just want to note I want to invite everyone here in the audience right now to a reception honoring the newly elected council members in the Don Cassano community room, which is located on the second floor of the Tempe Transportation Center, which is pretty much right across the street at 200 East Fifth Street, right here in Tempe.

Also, a golf cart will be available right outside City Hall to assist anyone who would like or needs transportation to the reception.

So thank you all for joining us.

We truly appreciate it.

We will see you at the reception, and we are adjourned right at 7 p.m.

Thank you, everyone.