Mesa approves Rio Salado housing and Cubs complex; Planned Parenthood grant passes 4-1

Thank you for your patience. Tonight, we'll welcome you to the Mesa City Council meeting for April 20th, 2026. Council members, go forth and Taylor participating by Zoom. Otherwise, all their council members are present. We'll begin this meeting with an invitation by Reverend Caleb Collins from the Church of Transfiguration followed by the Pledge of Allegiance. Would you please stand, Reverend? Come forward and bless us. Thank you, Mr. Mayor and the um members of the city council.

Honorable mayor and members of the city council and all gathered here today, I invite you to center yourselves and prepare to observe a moment of silence and to pray in the manner according to your faith, spiritual or existential tradition. Let us pray.

I offer prayer in the name of God of whom we have many understandings asking and inviting God's presence into this space that the breath of God may move within our hearts inspiring us to make informed decisions based on the well-being of our community. In my tradition, I pray in the name of Jesus who taught us to love our neighbors as ourselves. When asked, "Who is my neighbor?" Lord, you taught us that even an enemy, even one who hates us, is a neighbor to be loved.

God, pour out your loving inspiration upon us all that the city of Mesa may be a place of hope and livelihood for all people regardless of race, ethnicity, language, national origin, employment, housing, sex, gender identity, and sexual orientation. God, help us to show mercy to all in need of mercy, to those who are afraid and anxious in these times. Help us to show your mercy. I ask God's blessing upon the city of Mesa and upon all. In the name of God. Amen. Thank you, Reverend.

Please join me in the pledge of allegiance. I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. Okay. Thank you. We'll have the reading of the consent agenda. Mr. Christopher, there's quite a few things off the consent agenda. this. We'll compare notes as you go through it. All right. Good evening, mayor and council members. These are the items on the consent agenda.

All items listed with an asterisk will be considered as a group by the city council and will be enacted with one motion. There will be no separate discussion unless a council member or assistant request in which event the item will be removed from the consent agenda and considered as a separate item. Item two, approval of minutes of previous meetings is written. Item 3 A, act on liquor license application for Babu Jumac, 2909 South Dobson Road. Item 3B has been removed from the consent agenda.

Item 3 C act on liquor license application for Against the Grain, 124 West Main Street. Item 4 A has been removed from the consent agenda. Item 4 B, approving contract for Mesa Public Safety Communications, pre-construction services and construction manager at risk. This project is funded by 2024 public safety bonds. Item 4 C has been removed from the consent agenda.

Item 5A, approving resolution enter into an intergovernmental agreement with the Fort McDall Yavapai Nation relating to fire apparatus maintenance and repair services. Item 5B has been removed from the consent agenda. Items 5C and 5D are resolutions authorizing submittals of grant applications by the following agencies to the Oxygen Indian community and accepting subsequent awarded funds as pass through grants. 5C is from Boost to Foster Family. 5D is from Child Crisis Arizona.

Item 5E has been removed from the consent agenda. Items 5F and 5G are resolutions authorizing submittals of grant applications by the following agencies the Ochen Indian community and accepting subsequent awarded funds as pass through grants. 5F is from United National Indian Tribal Youth Incorporated. 5G is from Voices for Kaza Children. Item 5H has been removed consent agenda.

Items [clears throat] 5 through 5K are resolutions authorizing submittals of grant applications by the following agencies to the Ya Pasqua Yaki tribe and accepting subsequent awarded funds as pass through grants. 5 I is from Technical Assistance Partnership of Arizona. 5J is from United National Indian Tribal Youth Incorporated. 5K is from Voices for Cods of Children.

Items 5 L through 5N are resolutions authorizing submittals of grant applications by the following agencies to the Fort McDow Yavapai Nation and accepting subsequent awarded funds as pass through grants. 5L is from Arizona Refugee Center. 5M is from Child Crisis Arizona. 5N is from Foster Arizona. Item 5 O has been removed from the consent agenda.

Items 5P through 5R are resolutions authorizing submittals of grant applications by the following agencies to the Fort McDall Yavapai Nation and accepting subsequent awarded funds as passed through grants. 5P is from United National Indian Tribal Youth Incorporated. 5Q is from Voices for Cause of Children. 5R is from Desert Sounds Performing Arts. Item 5S approving resolution to authorize the purchase and lease of the real property and improvements located at West One West Main Street.

Item 5T, approving resolution to enter into an intergovernmental agreement with ADOT for construction of roadway improvements for Chrisman Road fundings from the local street sales tax. Item 5U, approving resolution to enter into a memorandum of understanding with the Mesa Police Association. Item 5B, 5B has been removed from the consent agenda. Item 6 A, 6B, 7A, and 7B have been removed from the consent agenda.

Item 8 A, approving the reappointment of city magistrate David Allen to a four-year term beginning July 1st, 2026 and ending June 30th, 2030. Item 8 B, approving the reappointment of city magistrate Alicia Lawler to a four-year term beginning July 1st, 2026 and ending June 30th, 2030. And item 8 C, approving the reappointment of presiding city magistrate Steven Humblebee to a two-year term beginning July 1st, 2026 and ending June 30th, 2028.

Mayor and council members, these are the items on the consent agenda. Thank you, Mr. Christopher. You got it right. With that, I'll entertain a motion for the consent agenda. Thank you, Vice Mayor. Thank you, Mr. Ready. Please cast your vote, Miss Taylor. And go forth. How do you vote? Yes. All right. Mass uh passes unanimously. Thank you, everyone. We'll move over to the beginning of the consent agenda. Our first speaker is going to be uh Noah James Markham.

Noah, you're going to talk about 3B, a restaurant that serves lunch and dinner. Um aloha, mayor, and to the rest of the city council. Um, I really like this um for Jake's unlimited. Um, so please approve it. Thank you so much. Okay, Noah, we could do that. Uh, I'll entertain a motion to approve item 3B. Thank you, Miss Duff. Thank you, Vice Mayor. Please cast your vote. Council members Taylor and Goforth. Yes. Okay. Next, we'll move over. That motion passes unanimously. Thank you.

We'll go over to 4A. 4A is uh Northwest Water Reclamation Plant Process Improvements. Noah, you're back up. Aloha, mayor, and to the rest of the city council again. Um, yes, we need to take care of our water. Um, because, you know, the state capital is not doing a very good job at it. So, thank you so much. Let's get this going. Thank you. There's a motion to approve item 4 A council. Thank you, Vice Mayor. Thank you, Mr. Ready. I'll cast your votes. Miss Goforth, Miss Taylor. Yes. All right.

Motion passes unanimously. Next, we'll go to item 4 C, [clears throat] which is a three months extension dollar limit increase to the term contract for private security officer services for Mesa Police Department. I have a Nathan Allen who would like to speak. Mr. Allen, you have three minutes. What um you know I would have some concerns regarding um you know and ask the question instead of just having me hiring extra security guards when I just have active officers performing these functions.

In the past when I was on the street not by choice mind you um I would see uh security guards um basically harassing homeless you know and can and keeping them from sleeping in the parking lot or outside the art center. And even then, if you have a security guard in the equation, they're still going to be required to call law enforcement. And as an old MCSO retired deputy once told me, when seconds count, law enforcement is at least 15 minutes away. Is that all? That's all. Thank you, council.

I'll entertain a motion to approve item 4 C. Thank you, Mr. Ry. Thank you, Mr. Summers. Miss Taylor, Miss Scoforth. Yes. All right. That motion passes unanimously. Next is item 5B. Noah, I'm going to give you a package. I'm going to let you speak on item 5B, 5E, 5H, and 5O at the same time for three minutes. Would you come forward? No one. We're going to bundle it for you. Um 5e, right? I could talk about 5B too, right? You're going to speak on items 5B, 5E, 5H, and 5 O. Okay. Okay.

Um, since I'm just going to talk about one, actually. Um, you pick whatever one you want to talk to, but you have three minutes to speak on all [laughter] five of them. Um, aloha, mayor, and to the rest of the city council. Um, 5e. I really do like this. um for women, Planned Parenthood really helps um about um abortions and um there's actually one more too I would like to talk about is five um oh is that the one you talked about too? Yes, you can speak on that.

Um Autism Research and Resource Center. I I love this too. Um especially for somebody that has autism myself. Um and so yeah, so thank you so much. Just approve all the other ones. Thank you. Thank you, Noah. Next, we'll hear from Mary Mabino. She's going to speak on 5e. Mary, you have three minutes, please. [clears throat] Good evening, mayor and council members. Um, I'm Mary Mayo. I live off of Brown and Recorder Road.

Prop 202, which passed in 2002, continued Indian gaming in Arizona and allowed for sharing a certain percentage of gaming revenues with the state, cities, and counties. This resolution seeks city council support for the pass through $20,000 grant application by Planned Parenthood to the Achin Indian community. Planned Parenthood says this will be for 167 lowincome patients in Mesa and they will provide highquality sexual and reproductive health care.

Planned Parenthood is one of the nation's most profitable nonprofits. It is the nation's largest abortion provider. Their annual report in 2023 to 24 showed abortions outnumbered prenatal care by 57 to1. So if women seek help there, more often than not, they are steered towards abortion. How does this improve their health and the overall health of our community? I know this is just a pass through resolution, but if it was me, I wouldn't want to be a part of this.

and would you want to be associated with and helping out a controversial organization? We have traditional family values here in Mesa and I would think the council would want to encourage that image. My final question is does the city of Mesa get some kind of financial cut with these pass through grant programs? Please do not adopt this resolution. Let Plann Parenthood seek an alternative local government to access this grant. Thank you. Let's uh have some order here.

Officers, if you find somebody disrupting, you can remove them, please. Okay. This is a business meeting. We're not going to yell and scream and clap. Okay. I want order here. Uh with that, would anybody would like to address uh Mary's uh on 5e? this a pass through grant for Planned Parenthood. Anybody on councel? Mayor and um maybe I can just provide some context and I know Mary did reference the fact that um this is a pass through grant.

The way that historically that this is have been administered. There's really two criteria that the city has looked at um to keep with the spirit of of um just passing these on to the the different tribal nations for their decision-m has been to um evaluate does does this nonprofit provide services in Mesa and or andor is it a Mesa based nonprofit and if they do then that is that is how [clears throat] staff is evaluated whether it's uh fit to go forward and under council consideration.

So all of these grants you see tonight um were reflected through that lens because it's not staff's um place to um start making judgment calls about um the politics of a of a particular uh nonprofit. That's just the way that we've looked at it. Certainly council has discretion.

You can you can choose um however you would like to to vote on this moving forward, but this is what we have historically done u by of course it's not a position for me no matter where a nonprofit may fall on the political spectrum to make a determination of staff. Um that is something that we've historically passed through and then the tribal nations make the decisions that they're going to make. Thank you for your comments. Any council member wish to address the item? Anyone online? Council.

Yes, thank you. This is Council Member Taylor. Can you hear me? Go ahead, Miss Taylor. Thank you. I just wanted to also thank Mary for coming up. Um, [clears throat] I prepared a very short statement about this and it's something that I am passionate about. So, this is to address uh mayor and council. Thank you for hearing me.

Um, this particular item does ask that the city of Mesa is an acting pass through sponsor for a grant application by a large well-funded national notfor-profit Planned Parenthood. While the funds themselves are not city dollars, our role as a sponsor is not neutral. It is an endorsement that carries the weight of city approval for an institution that is morally indefensible and a bastion of the willful slaughter of the most vulnerable and innocent in our society.

We will say that we want to stand up for the homeless. We will say that we want to stand up and look for out for the rights of our neighbor and love our neighbor. Then we as an institution of of government had better be willing to also say that we will stand up for literally the most vulnerable in our society which is the unborn and this institution supports them. My concern is not simply administrative. It is principled. Planned Parenthood is already a highly resourced multi-state enterprise.

They receive substantial funding streams. They do not require municipal sponsorship to remain operational or to serve a broader mission. More fundamentally, governments have always carried a basic and historic responsibility, which is to safeguard human life and to act in a way that upholds its dignity. That responsibility is not limited to policy. It extends to the moral credibility of the institutions we choose as a city government to act as a pass through for lending our authority to.

For this reason, governments like ours should be cautious about becoming facilitators for organizations whose central services include the intentional ending of unborn life. Even when such organizations provide other services, those services should not obscure or justify participation in actions that many residents of Mesa, many residents of my district and council your districts as well consider ethically unacceptable.

Regardless of personal views that we may have, the question before council today is whether Mesa, a body of government, should use its institutional authority to assist in advancing Planned Parenthood's access to funding. I would argue it should not, nor should it ever. City should maintain a clear separation between municipal authority and private advocacy organizations whose missions are deeply divisive and currently morally contested.

For these reasons, I believe the city should decline to act as act as a pass through sponsor for this application and we should all vote no. I hope that you will all see this as an opportunity to show wisdom in action in protecting the welfare of all our people from truly the smart smallest to the largest. Thank you so much. I really hope you will listen to me and and you will move forward with a no vote. Let's go. Let's go. I go. Mr.

Manager, the one of the questions was asked, do we receive any financial support from these pass through grants? Mayor and council, no, we don't unless it's specifically a grant that we've sub a grant application that the city of Mesa has submitted. um and and that would be delineated um as a city as a city program. But um for the other nonprofits, it's simply as a pass through entity. So administratively, uh there's no cost to us.

We we do um our grants administrator is the person who would just process uh any of these grant applications that are ultimately selected by the tribal nations and um and and that works for all the different tribes that are part of the the Indian gaming process. Okay. Thank you. I'm going to move down to item 5V. We have a speaker Lindseay Andres. Lindsay, do you want to come forward and speak? You have three minutes on item five V as in Victor. Thank you.

Hi, my name is Lindseay Andreas and apologies. It's 5U that I wish to speak about. Uh the one about the police budget. Um I'm a homeowner in Mesa and my husband and I have three businesses between the two of us. My husband and I is also an immigrant and we went through the whole process. It separated me from a dying member of my family for a year and it cost us $20,000 between all the fees. He's now a naturalized citizen. I live in the downtown area. My neighborhood is pretty diverse.

I do not feel comfortable calling the police. Now, when I say the police, I don't mean individuals, right? I think a lot of people um mean very well and they take the jobs that they're passionate about. I mean the system, okay? And the system in Mesa has not given us all a reason to trust them. Uh firstly on January 24th there was a truck that went through a crowd of protesters near the Mesa airport and this truck is on it was on the copper courier.

It was on a central video on YouTube and it was a power and ray was a gray GMC Denali Arizona license plates HA6FU. Now, I've called the Mesa Police Department twice about this, and I got no answers about what is happening with this case. There's a $10 million case regarding a Mr. Barza who is at his goddaughter's kinsenera [clears throat] that is still I don't expect the police to comment on it because that's still in litigation.

However, the body cam footage of that is especially harrowing and it really feels like some individuals in our community are being targeted by the police. Now, I've I've read the statement about 287G and how the police are addressing it. However, we need the trust and we don't have transparency. I live downtown. Half the week there's a police helicopter hovering over my backyard. It sounds like Afghanistan and I have no way of finding out why they're there.

I understand that the police radios need to be encoded and I understand that the officer's safety is paramount. However, we need to restore the trust between the police and repealing 287g would be a a good start to that. Thank you for your time. Thank you, Lindsay. Uh, with that, um, so I need to confirm if we did on the consent agenda 5U. Was that on the consent? Because I have VI 5V. She selected 5V on accident online, I believe. Pardon? She she chose to pull 5V.

She said that she accidentally chose that item and she talked on 5. She talked on 5U. Okay. So 5U is approved. It has already been approved. is approved on the consent agenda. Okay. Council, I'm going to [clears throat] entertain a motion for 5B, 5H, 5O, and 5V as in Victor. And then we'll have a separate motion on 5E. So that's one 2 3 4. Okay. Thank you, Vice Mayor. Second, Mr. Aidia, please cast your vote. [clears throat] Miss Taylor, Miss Go forth. Yes. Okay, that those pass unanimously.

Next, we'll have a motion on 5e, which is the Planned Parenthood one. Somebody like to make a motion, Miss Duff. Thank you, Mr. Radia. Please cast your vote. [clears throat] Miss Taylor, Miss Go forth. No. Yes. Okay. Okay. That motion passes. With that, uh we'll move over to item 6A and 6B. Noah, you're up. And I'm going to do a package deal again. We're going to bundle 6A and 6B for you. Thank you. Okay, sounds good. Aloha, mayor. Um, and to the rest of the city council.

I like 6A and 6B um because we do need um more stuff here um commercial um hotels and um residential. So, yes, vote yes. Thank you. Noah, why don't you stay there? I'm going to bundle even more for you. How about 7A and 7B at the same time? Okay. You're the next two speakers. Okay. 7 A and 7B. I I I I asked to um vote yes on these two because yes, we need more development here in um Mesa. Um and yeah, we need the housing here, too. Um so, and annex whatever you need to do.

Um and yeah, thank you so much. Thanks. Thank you, Noah. Council, I'll entertain a motion to approve items 6A, 6B, 7A, and 7B. Please cast your votes. Yes. Two yeses from Okay, those motions pass unanimously. Mr. Smith, are we doing good so far? Okay, thank you. I know you're keeping track of me. Next is uh items 9A and 9B. Would you believe Noah, you're coming up for both of those. And then following him, Mr. Carrie Davis will come up and speak on both of those. You have three minutes, Noah.

Aloha, mayor, and to the rest of the city council. Um, I like 9A and 9B. Um, because it's more residents, 36 unit multiple resident building. That's good. um especially by North Cubs way in Rio Salado, you know, that's really close to um the Cubs uh training over [laughter] there. So, um this is great. So, thank you so much. Okay. Yes. Don't go very far, Noah. Okay, Mr. Davis, you're up. Following which, Mr. Davis, uh we'll have items from citizen present. Mr.

Davis, you know you have three minutes. Thank you. Honorable mayor and city council, I'm in opposition to 9A and 9B. The document that going to be seen very first line shows an estimate of the size of the our two neighbors, the city of Chandler, the city of Gilbert. They sit at about 575,000. we sit at 520,000. So they're about 50,000 more. So they're actually larger than the city of Mesa. But if you look at Wallet Hub, the city of Chandler, the second line down is ranked 40th.

City of Gilbert is ranked 29th. Mr. Davis, um 9A and B are Rio Salado, 25 minor plan, general plan amenities. Correct. And so this you need to stay on that topic, please. This is part of that. So I'm not following you that it is. So you'll see that the city of Mesa is ranked 71st out of 182 cities. So if you go to the bottom, you look at single family units, the city of Chandler has about 68%. The city of Gilbert has about 80%. We have about 55%.

So, I believe that the city is suffering in part as a result of the mixed family, the high density units that are being built in the city of Mesa and that we need to discontinue taking that approach where the city of Mesa is starting to look like California. And I believe that that's one of the things that you campaigned against.

And so I believe that this is something that the city should not approve partly because it continues to I believe result in a higher crime level in the city because of the higher density and also the city of Mesa is needing to reduce the number of multifamily units. You've just passed I think an item for 230 single family units. I think that's very positive, but I don't think that we need more highdensity building in an area that probably this would result in a higher crime rate. So, thank you.

I oppose both 9A and 9B. Got it. Thank you for your comments. I follow where you're going now. Council, any comments, Mr. Radio, your district? I think Mr. Butler could provide an explanation. Well, I I think overall, Mr. Mr. Davis, you bring up some valid points. However, you know, from our perspective, this is a unique parcel. It's attached to Sloan Park and there's apartment complexes, multif family all around there. And this complex is also designed for uh professional baseball players.

That's what where they'll enter into a contract with. So, the players who come and stay at Sloan Park and do spring training all throughout the year. It's not spring training, but train throughout the year will stay in this facility. is being specifically built for them. Uh I will pivot a little to our mayor. Um I'm sorry. Is that Yes. Go ahead. Is council member Dorian. Um I just wanted Carrie to know that I asked a lot of questions about this particular parcel.

um because I too was concerned about it and um maybe this will help you a little bit in understanding that that particular design structure that we have that we're voting on it it it will serve it will be full-time usage by baseball players in the minor leagues. It's not for um general renters and the hotel will be used all year round by baseball players as well. So, it's it's kind of a dedicated resource.

I was hoping to see restaurants and and business in there, but I learned a little bit more about the uh the need for that particular area to serve minor league players. And um I know u Mark had explained it really well. I don't know if Mr. Butler can can give even more details on it, but it helped me understand that it's not going to necessarily suffer from blight or um a lack of use and just sit empty.

Um so yeah, I just I just wanted to clarify a little bit more that it will actually be full pretty much all year round and be in full-time use. Mr. Butler. Yeah, mayor and council, I appreciate the comments from Council Member Taylor um about the uniqueness of of this site and this arrangement. Um we we do believe the hotel use there considering the the challenges of access and and um the way it sits adjacent to the freeway is is a real impediment to development of the site. Um Mr.

Davis uh raises, you know, obviously the concern that council's had about making sure that we can have for for sale um owner occupied uh housing across the city. And I know you've stressed that and we've um adhere to that in in so many different agreements that you've had. This particular site though is is not conducive for single family residential. It's going to be a use like this.

And so, uh, having a hotel and then, um, a complex that serves to further strengthen our relationship with the with the Chicago Cubs and professional baseball players. Um, I I I get the point Mr. Davis was was trying to make, but I'm not worried about professional baseball players adding to the crime um, rate of our of our city. I I I think that'll be okay considering the partnership that we're going to have with with the Cubs.

But I do understand his point and council has reiterated that time and time again and staff has uh pushed hard to work with developers or projects as they come through to try to get more um owner occupied units of of all different sorts, town homes, uh condos that are owner occupied and so we've we've heard the concerns of council and and are um adhering to that. Thank you on Mr. Adams. Go ahead. Thank you, mayor. just uh just to weigh in really quickly.

I'm [clears throat] I'm a strong proponent of uh owner occupied housing as opposed to [sighs] additional multi. However, this is I agree with the comments Mr. Butler made earlier. This is a very specialty uh usage. Um the property really doesn't lend itself to single family detached. Um, I I don't think that uh um following through with u our support for the Chicago Cubs and Major League Baseball is going to be detrimental to the city in any way. In fact, it'll be just the opposite.

So, normally I would be a and am a strong proponent for uh single family homes ownership, but in this particular case, I do feel this is an appropriate use um for this property and I'm supportive of it for that reason. Thank you, Mr. Adams. Anyone else? I mayor, I would just chime in that um Oh, sorry. Go ahead. Just go forth. Go ahead.

um the council member Taylor and I did ask many a question about not just I mean not for single residents we understand it can't be used for that but maybe more commercial restaurants things like that and there are constraints for that as well so um I think with all the constraints of access size and the like this is probably the best use for it um considering as uh city manager u Mr. Butler said our relationship with the Cubs and and how this will uh support what they're doing over there.

So, thank you. Thank you, Vice Mayor. Uh everything that's been said, but to Mr. Davis point, you might be very happy to see that on 6B, 7A, and 7B, which we've already approved, we've reszoned for increased housing. Uh that will be a forale project. All right. Thank you. And I might add, this was a city-owned a county owned parcel and it used to be one of our dog facilities and county tore it down.

I worked with our county supervisor to find an adequate use for this parcel and ironically it turned out that the cubs needed help and putting the hotel there will help generate some sales tax revenue for the city. I mean this is in the very it's the last portion of vacant parcel in our on the Rio Salado and then you go into temp to the west.

So again I support this if it was some other use that we could uh facilitate it'd be good but as you know multif family is outpacing single family homes 10 to one and it it needs to be slowed down in Mesa. So with that, I council, I'm going to entertain a motion to approve items 9A and 9B. Is there a motion to that effect? Thank you, Mr. Ready. Thank you, Vice Mayor. Please cast your vote, ladies. How do you vote? Yes. Okay. Motion passes unanimously. Thank you.

Next, we'll move over to items from citizen present. We have uh Noah James Markham. Noah, come forward. Noah, I have a question for you. Where what city do you live in? I I have Mesa here. You've told Tempe before. Gilbert, I I [laughter] you just like to jump around city to city. Aloha, mayor. Yeah, I'm from the great city from uh Tempe. Yes. Yes. Um So, you're a Tempe resident? I am, but I used to live in Gilbert from Gilbert. [laughter] Yeah. Yeah. Um but yeah.

So, um, about this that's going on about the ice facility in Mesa and I'm so thankful for our Democratic Congresswoman, some of the strongest congresswoman um, and one of the strongest Congressmen that's representing my city of Tempest, uh, Greg Stanton. Um, and they came unexpectedly to um, surprise the ice um, facility in Mesa. Um, and they didn't know they were coming. Um, and so when they got to see this ice facility in Mesa, they said it was very they were very saddened and very heartbreak.

Um, even though, you know, I support the funding for the ICE and, you know, some of my Democratic colleagues support it, too. Um but they know what is right as a Democrat, and I'm so thankful for these people that came and unexpectedly came. Um, and so I'll explain a story that they were saying is, um, Congresswoman Adalita Graava, um, she's from Tucson and she is amazing. I love it.

Um, and she was talking about how we have one cell, right, that's supposed to be a capacity of 21 people in it, right? But you guys decided to pack them in with sardines and put about 46 in it. And so that is just unacceptable. I thought it would be, you know, [clears throat] at least 21, but you guys have extremely um went ballistic on it. Um and and this is not all right. This is not all right. this is inhumane. And then there was another story with another um illegal immigrant.

I guess she had hopped from a different state to another state and now she's here in Mesa. And so it it's just this is just disgraceful. Um but I know that the Democrats know what's going on and um yeah, so I just it's just not okay. Thank you so much. Thank you, Noah. Our next speaker will be Dorothy O'Brien and then followed by Jeremy Spilsbury. Dorothy, you have three minutes and Jeremy, you're on deck. Good evening, Mayor and Council. Um, I'm a resident of Encore and Eastark.

Um, I would like to thank you for letting me speak. Also, I'd like to have the letter that was sent to you on um, April 16th to the city clerk as well to become part of my comments. I'm hoping that can happen based on um conversations with the clerk's office. Um on March 26th at a council session, the community services individual presented what their accomplishments were during the past year and how many citizens they helped with the various funding sources.

Towards the end of the meeting, mayor, you mentioned that you wanted to and I I will read what was in the Mesa Tribune and I saw it online and I think it's relatively close that you'd like to offer in the future policy changes for council as we look towards funding additional code enforcement officers, redevelopment personnel for downtown transformational team, economic development, and how we leverage monies for the city of Mesa programs versus social programs. I was appalled.

Absolutely appalled. Um as a resident and also as an informed citizen who reads what it is that you have adopted as policy within this organization. First of all, the Mesa General Plan for 2050. I read it cover to cover before I voted on it. I contacted the economic development office and asked questions. It's the first time I ever voted no. But it talks about in there how we're going to behave and how we're going to fund things and who we're going to take care of.

And it talks about that the master plans for each one of the areas are very specific on how you're going to move forward. Well, the housing master plan is very specific about how you're going to move forward. And it says a focus of the city of Mesa is housing for all. That's what CDBG funds are for. They help low and moderate income individuals. And I really hope you think about that.

Also, within the community services area is the 2025 to 2029 5-year consolidated plan and FY2025 annual action plan for the city of Mesa Department of Housing and Community Development, which is currently open for public comment. Quite the document to read. Many, many pages. I've gone through it three times. It's a great document. It talks about the wonderful things we're going to do for low and moderate income individuals within the city of Mesa.

To make the changes that you want to do, you got to change that document. That would make me sad. I also looked at the executive executive budget plan within the city of Mesa for 2025. Now, that's an interesting document. Dorothy, would you like to summarize your comments? Certainly. Um, I really hope the council as a whole tells the mayor, "No, CDBG funds are off the table. We need to leave them for low and moderate income individuals. The group in community services does an amazing job.

They help so many people. Um, I've had some fantastic conversations with members within community services, um, as well as at least one member of you up on the council regarding my feelings. Like I said, I'm well verssed in city documents. Um, I think there are other places to get your money. Specifically looking would you like to quality of life funds? Let's summarize your comments. Your three minutes are up. Okay. Please. Thank you.

Please look at the quality of life funds for your funding as well as as reducing overtime within the city. I think you can get all the money you need there. All right. Thank you for your comments, Mr. Spilsbury. Welcome. Thank you. Good evening, Mayor and Council. Um [clears throat] I'm here to discuss the um ICE facility at the Mesa Gateway Airport. And though I understand this is outside your purview, um it it is located in Mesa and it affects uh it adversely affects members of our community.

Um as was already referenced, um a delegation of of Congress members went and and toured it and and found the the conditions to be very inhumane. Um which is consistent with the pattern that's being found in ice facilities across the country. Um and it's absolutely unacceptable. Um, a few years ago I was able to attend a documentary by a local artist and um, historian by the name of Bruce Nelson about a piece of history, a piece of Mesa history that I didn't know existed.

Um, his documentary talks about a neighborhood, a segregated neighborhood just a half a mile north of here. Um, and uh, you know, I was aware of the Jim Crow laws of the South and that uh, very um, shameful history in our past. I didn't realize Mesa had its own little version. Um, and not too long after that, I discovered that both sides, both of my grandparents live within a mile of of this neighborhood. And uh, it raised some questions in me.

Fortunately, I was never able to ask them because they had passed. But um questions I would have liked to have asked him is did this trouble you at all? Um and if so, did you do anything about it? Uh and if not, how did you reconcile that with the values that uh that you passed on to me that that are beautiful values that I cherish? Um and although I can't change the past, maybe I can do something about the future.

And um [clears throat] perhaps in 60 or 70 years uh when I'm no longer here and I have posterity learn about this shameful period of our history, they can find this video and they can hear my answer. This uh yes, I am very troubled by what is happening here. The systemic cruelty and dehumanization of our neighbors. Yes, I'm trying to do something about it. Not as much as I should, but I'm trying because I cannot. It's impossible for me to reconcile um being silent while I witness this happening.

More importantly, um I I came here tonight to express um to add my voice to a growing chorus of people in our community across the nation to express my solidarity to my immigrant neighbors and um and friends. Um I see their pain. I see their suffering, needless suffering. uh they uh I'm infuriated with them because of the injustices that are com that are being committed against them and they don't deserve this. They deserve to be treated with dignity and with love.

And so I will just end with saying my prayer for them is that um God will bless the rest of us to have enough love and courage to do what we need to do to stop it and and help to alleviate the suffering that they are experiencing. Thank you. Thank you, Jeremy. Um, council, that's all we have tonight. Is there a motion to adjourn? So moved. Thank you, Mr. Adams. Thank you, Vice Mayor. All in favor say I. I. Thank you. We're adjourned. Have a good evening. [music]