Tucson Approves Long-Delayed Moxy Hotel, Endorses Aggressive Quality-of-Life Crime Pilot Amid Safety Concerns

Heat. Heat. Heat. Hey, hey hey. [music] Heat [music] up here. [music] Hey hey hey. [music] Hey. [music] Hey, hey, hey. [music] [music] Hey. Hey. Hey. [music] Heat. [music] Heat. [music] and hope everyone's doing well. Um, welcome to the study session of Tuesday, July 21st. We're going to start so that we can go into executive session and then come back and finish the study. So, um, again, it is the study session of Tuesday, July 21st, 2026. Item one is an executive session.

Miss Clerk, item one is notice as an executive session. Robinson versus City of Tucson at Al Pima County Superior Court, case number 2027593. I have a motion to move into executive session, please. So moved. Second. There's a motion in a second. Any further discussion? Hearing none, let's go. Um I was going to say let's go to roll call. All those in favor, please signify by saying I. I. Any against? Motion carries. We will see you in maybe about 35 minutes. All righty.

We'll see you up in 35 minutes. Thank you. All [music] right. [music] Heat. Heat. Hey, hey hey. Hey hey hey. Happy birthday. [music] Hey, hey, hey. Hey, hey hey. [music] Heat. Heat. [music] Heat. Heat. [music] Heat. Heat. [music] Heat. Heat. [music] Heat. Heat. [music] Hey everyone, I do need a motion to return from ex. So moved. There's a motion. Second. Motion and a second. All those in favor, please indicate by saying I. I. Any against? Motion carries. Item two.

What is the council's pleasure? Honorable mayor, an appropriate motion would be to move that the mayor and council authorize and direct the city attorney to proceed as discussed in executive session to include the settlement of this tort lawsuit in the amount of $185,000. Make a motion. So moved. There's a motion and a second. Any further discussion on item two? Hearing none. All those in favor, please signify by saying I. I. I. Any against? Motion carries. Alrighty.

Item three, time has been set aside for a discussion of the update on strategic initiatives related to fentinel opioid public health crisis. As we all know, we have been hearing um about this item uh for a few years now. Um we know that fentinyl and opioid epidemic is a public health crisis and it impacts all of us every day. I want to thank Lee Hopkins and Jess Lo Soya who represent the city of Tucson on the regional opioid settlement um action committee.

Uh when the city of Tucson, the county Morirana and South Tucson decided to join our opioid funds together to make a more significant impact using the ROSAC committee to help coordinate those funds. It was a strategic decision to use that money to do the most good and um to fill the gaps and services that we as the city of Tucson would see every day.

Uh at the beginning of this year, we opened the sobering alternative facility for recovery, the safer center, which is something that the mayor and council and TPD and our community safety, health, and wellness program encouraged Puma County to fund um because we knew that the safer center was a service that we needed that we had a gap that we didn't have the funds for. And so now the safer center has been opened I think since the second day in January of this year.

It has made progress with 96% of the patients receiving a referral to continue treatment. Validating our city's need to have low barrier treatment facilities. From prevention, justice involvement and recovery. We are investing to break the cycles of addiction and poverty in a humane way with programs that are proven to work with the uh complexity of addiction. Uh there's not a one-sizefits-all solution. We know this. Uh we need options and resources dedicated to help us deal with this crisis.

Um, I'm continue to be interested in using the city-owned Desert Cove uh residential facility as a recovery center, a treatment facility, a supportive housing facility that we fund using opioid settlement money.

I also want to thank TPD core officers, our community safety, health and wellness, Puma County justice services, public defenders office, multidisciplinary outreach teams, which is our MDOT team, uh who are working day in day out, uh going out and doing outreach on the streets for people that um we believe need the uh treatment and resources. is to conquer their fentinyl um addiction.

So at this point we continue to use every point of contact whether through street outreach care coordination or housing navigation and through our Tucson Police Department to offer support programs and other diversion and deflection options for people that need them. So I just wanted to set the tone. uh we have been having these uh updates for Mr. manager two 3 years now. Two years now.

And we we have these updates every month so that our community um the public understand uh the work that we are doing um tirelessly to uh to offer a safe city um and a safe place for for all. So with that, Mr. Manager, the floor is yours. Thank you honorable mayor and members of the council. Uh joining us here at the table is Lee Hopkins who will be giving you the update for this month on u fentanyl opioid public health crisis. Thank you honorable mayor and members of the council.

It's a pleasure to be here today. Um before I begin with the report I just want to acknowledge and welcome some of esteemed guests we have in the audience today. So, we have our ROSAC chair, um, Assistant Chief Roberto Himenez from Morirana Police Department. Um, and we also have a number of the grantees that are doing the work day in and day out with the opioid settlement funds who were funded for projects in 2026. And so during my report, I will be listing out who is in the room.

And after I conclude, if you have specific questions for some of the grantees, I welcome for you to um raise those and they can come to the podium and answer them. Um in the memo that was provided, you'll find some additional history and background on how the areas of investment for funding were selected.

um national best practices such as the John's Hopkins Bloomberg uh School of Public Health recommendations that over 25 jurisdictions, states throughout the United States are using as well as recommendations from the American Society of Addiction Medicine um with some grounding um evidence that we used as a committee to make these decisions. But we also did a lot of local gaps analysed local gaps analysis from the city of Tucson, from the Puma County Health Department.

We reviewed historical overdose data and we did a geographical and um equity analysis to ensure that not only is the right type of work happening but that it's focused on the areas of town and the populations that need it the most. And this was all integrated into the RFPs. So some of the most of the RFPs actually had specific census tracks or zip codes where um where grantees had to commit to be doing the work.

For example um oh sorry uh and then the vast majority of this work so you know is happening within the bounds of the city of Tucson. Um there is also some work happening in more rural areas in Pima County, but the vast majority is happening within the city limits. So I also want to talk a little bit about metrics. There have been lots of questions about how are we measuring the work and how are we showing that these dollars are really making an impact. So bear with me.

This is a lengthy list, but um if you look at attachment A with the memo, that breaks down each project and the metrics that th that entity proposed to be measuring throughout the project. Right now, I'm going to give you a brief sample of those. So bear with me. Um so there's 10 projects in total with different funding levels depending on the type of work that was being done and the cost associated.

So, please see that attachment A for the specifics on how much funding was allocated for each project. And today we have representatives from eight of those projects here with us.

Um some an example of some of the metrics are enrollment numbers both at initial engagement and retention rates in programs, geographic and census track of programs and participants, assessment of risks and protective factors, pre and post evaluations, uh number of successful referrals to supportive services, percentage of medically assisted treatment referrals resulting in someone starting or getting induced onto medically assisted treatment. Uh that's specific to peer support, for example.

Um number of individuals who move into and retain permanent housing or gain and retain employment. That's relevant for transitional support services. Um tracking the origin of the referral. So hospital, jail, another community- based agency. Um where are those linkages happening? Um percentage of behavioral health crisis calls that result in a diversion. So that's specific to the co-response with law enforcement. Um number of repeat law enforcement encounters within 90 days.

Again, specific to behavioral health co-response with law enforcement. Um length of stay in programming, what type of programming they go to next. So that's something specific to safer, but also some other programs. for example, are they going to residential rehab after detox or family a family environment or um getting induced onto medically assisted treatment? Um and last but not least, another example is client outcomes at 30, 60 and 90 days after intake and treatment.

Um so that you could see is a broad sample of both outputs but also outcomes um to really be able to measure impact. So, quarter 2 reports were submitted just last week to the health department. And so, we don't have our hands quite on those results yet. I think by September's uh uh report out, I'll be able to give some more details on quarter 2 results, but I would like to talk a little bit about quarter 1 results for the projects. So, these were uh reported in April.

Um, and I want to highlight that I I will give some examples of results of a couple organizations, but that's not to say that others are not doing just as valuable work. I just had to make some choices so that I don't keep you all day long. [laughter] Um, so a lot of quarter one for youth prevention focused on hiring staff, drafting and updating curricula, and recruiting youth participants for programs.

So, some highlights, um, boys to men, um, had 54 masculine identified youth attend restorative mentoring circles, focused on social emotional learning, resilience, and culturally rooted practices, and then they also worked on recruitment for their youth leadership council, and began recruiting in schools for their programs in the fall.

Um, in quarter 1, Tucson Indian Center created a curriculum and began recruitment for youth community health representatives who are going to be peer mentors and health educators for middle schoolers focused on identity, indigenous cultural strengths, dialogue about stigma, mental health, and substance use. For peer support, um, Puma County Justice Services increased transition center staffing.

They worked towards providing 7-day coverage and they increased their data tracking capacity for transitional support. Um, quarter 1 was a lot about staffing, partnership building and building the structure of how they will operate, how their case management uh will will op will operate, pardon me.

Uh so for example, the Haven increased staffing as well as served 133 women with inpatient and outpatient services including placements in permanent housing, access to food, employment, and behavioral health care. And they increased their outreach efforts to promote their expanded transitional housing for um women with children. for behavioral health co-response with law enforcement.

Uh Puma County Justice Services worked on building outus with regional law enforcement partners and behavioral health partners. They hired program staff and they planned the operational and evaluational details for the project. And last but not least, uh the sobering alternative for recovery center safer operated by community bridges. Um many of the updates you heard in May directly from the source from um community bridges themselves as well as the uh University of Arizona evaluator Dr. Jacobs.

Um and since then they have continued to serve a span of about six to 15 patients per day and they have recently worked on increasing their community outreach and data tracking. Um and important um update about safer is that the contract was extended until June 2027 to be able to continue the pilot. So many of the grantees are in the audience today and just to highlight who those folks are. Um we have um and I'm sorry if a couple people are missing.

I got a couple updates uh today in the morning. So Megan Saloron is from Inner Mountain CPIH. Um, Amelia Hokensari is from The Haven. Uh, we have Paul Braden, uh, Trey and Erica from, uh, Boys to Men. Um, we have, uh, is Glenda Garcia from Arizona Cooperative Extension. I'm not sure if they made it. Um, Tucson Indian Center, we have Veron Oh, yes. Um, we have Veronica Boon and Denika. So, um, and from portable practical educational prep, we have Amy Bass and her colleague as well.

And, uh, is Kate Vesley in the room yet? From Puma County Justice Services, we have Kate Vesley. And the anchor that keeps us all afloat and and safe is Brian Eller from the the manager for mental health, addiction, and injury department from the Puma County Health Department. So, I also want to extend an invite to your offices, your um yourselves as the council members as well as your staff to attend a grantees quarterly gathering. That will be on August 5th from 3:00 to 5:00 p.m.

at the Abrams Public Health Center where the health department is um headquartered. It's 3950 South Country Club. I'm happy to send a follow-up email so all of your staff have that information. Um, and then another update is next Tuesday we have our upcoming ROSAC meeting uh July 28th and so um Jessa Soya and I will also be presenting um about the request for Desert Cove Bridge funding at that meeting next Tuesday. So we hope to have updates for you soon on that.

Um, and last but not least around uh the regional work, just some data trends I thought would be helpful for you to know because the landscape of overdose deaths specifically is evolving. So, we're seeing that death um deaths were about 325 to 35 between 310 and 350 per year from 2020 to 2023. Now, since 2024, it's gone down, which is a good thing. The distribution of Narcan and the education in the community is working. Um, now it's staying steady 2024, 2025.

We're on track to probably have the same amount, unfortunately, but um in 2026, which is about 250 overdose deaths per year. But what is what we're seeing changing is that it's less overdose deaths related just to opioids. And we're seeing about 78% of the overdo death overdose deaths, pardon me, that involve an opioid are actually poly substance. So especially meth and fetamine. And then the second would be cocaine.

So we're just seeing more mixing and overdoses resulting especially from high meth use in in in conjunction with opioids. So, I thought that would be important for everyone to understand as we make policy and programming related to this. Um, and now I'll do a brief update about the work that community safety, health, and wellness is doing. So, and kudos to our amazing team down at the hub.

Um, from January to May 2026, we educated 617 individuals, including outreach staff, first responders, community members, individuals who use drugs, um, about how to prevent an overdose, and how opioids work. And we also distributed 291 boxes of Narcan, which is 582 dispensers. Um, we also continue to do a lot of co-response with the TPD core unit to support efforts of deflection and we also are integrated in several cooling centers.

So, trying to provide triaging folks towards resources within the cooling centers when they're there. Um, and I just also want to highlight how we're integrating the system. The safer center has definitely expanded community safety, health, and wellness's impact in making it easier for us to get folks to detox. The ability for people to take their belongings, more belongings, but especially their pets, has made a huge difference in people saying yes, please. Today is the day.

Um, and we complement that with uh what our state opioid response grant funds, which is food packets, cell phones, and ID vouchers. So, those are also very um helpful with engagement. And then in conclusion, I just want to highlight some um outcomes from TPD. So since May 21st, 2026, TPD has saved five lives through nine doses of Narcan at five different incidents. So some of those were multiple doses. So that's a a huge win and something to celebrate for those five individuals.

Um, also with uh recent um safe city deployments, um, for the last six-month period, uh, I in the memo you'll see all of the stats, so I won't won't read them in their entirety, but some to highlight our total contacts was 203 individuals. Total arrests was 135. Um, video alternative to jail was 105 individuals. Um 32 accepted shelter, 34 went to detox, 39 started medically assisted treatment. Um and our amazing teams at environmental services removed 16 tons of debris.

Um so there's more details to read there. And now I will conclude and invite your questions and discussion. Thank you. Thank you so much, Lee. That was a very comprehensive and wonderful presentation. Thank you. and to our partners, nonprofit partners and Puma County. Brian, thank you so much for helping lead this work with the opioid settlement funds. I'm really excited about the statistics that you shared, the numbers that you shared and the work that's being done.

Um, thank you all for your partnership. This is a crisis. the fentinel crisis and the opioid crisis is something that no mayor, no city, uh no county, no jurisdiction can do alone. We need uh to be partners and work together to make sure that, you know, we find the solutions that work. And I think that because of the opioid settlement funds and our willingness to um really uh leave the the box, right?

We're not we're not constricted by boxes uh and try new things and experiment and pilot uh like the safer program and others. And what you're doing is very very important. So, thank you all so much for the work that you're doing uh in partnership with uh Puma County and the city of Tucson. Any questions, comments? Councilwoman Lee. Thank you, Mayor. Thank you for the amazing update and to everyone out there doing the work. We really appreciate all of that.

Lee, one thing you said really piqued my interest. Um the 78% of overdose deaths being poly substance. Is that because Narcan isn't as effective if there's meth in the system or what is what is leading to that number and what's being looked at to help reduce that number because that's a huge number. Thank you for that question.

I don't feel like I have the level of expertise to answer it specifically and I'd like to talk to the health department epidemiologists around this before I answer unless Brian wants to take that one. But um essentially Narcan is working to answer your question directly um and and I mean in the streets we're definitely and in working with constituents we're definitely seeing that there's more cocktails. So it's it's not to say I think there are less opioidon deaths which is great.

it means Narcan is working but the presence of other substances within the cocktail then reduce the effectiveness of Narcan right because like if meth is the main substance that that is creating the overdose so it's yes we're I don't know if I'm directly answering your question but but basically we are seeing that Narcan is working um but because people are mixing more drugs we're seeing similar similar levels of overdose death.

Um, and we don't have a we we don't necessarily we're not as evolved yet to know pharmacologically how to then reverse those. Yeah. No, that's really helpful because it seems like we celebrate one win and we move the needle and the opioid deaths decrease and now we've got another challenge that we have to go after. So, I was just curious about what might be it.

One of the things that um I will mention is for example it's safer folks typically detox has been specific to opioids and alcohol because it's what you most commonly need. You need medic you need health care in order to detox safely and not die. Um it's different with meth and some other and stimulants. You you just you can sober up without necessarily uh having to take medication. Um, but the great thing about safer is that you can go in for any substance.

So, it it really captures those poly substance users, which we're seeing is the majority of of the of of drug users currently. Um, it gives them a place where even if meth is their main drug of choice, um, they can go there to sober up, whereas previously that option didn't exist. Any others? Council member Cunningham and then council member Schubert. Um, I'm really interested about Safer and some of the referrals we're getting.

Um, uh, I wanted to I'm not really I'm not really I know this sounds weird, but let me finish the whole thing before you ask what the heck is he talking about. By the way, hi Amy. It's nice to see you, my old boss. So, okay. So, um, with safer with the with the mission that it has, which is that that that give me two two good days thing, like, hey, this is today's the day. Um, the long-term the long-term outcomes are less concerning to me because Safer's job is to move them to the next step.

It isn't to I I what they do in whether they're in residential treatment, whether they're in outpatient, whatever happens after that shouldn't be unsafer. To me, that success is whether or not we have an engagement in service, even if it's even if it's outpatient, even if we tell the client 57 times, you should probably go to residential, you should probably go to residential, and the client says, no, no, no, I can do it on my own. Because that never happens.

the the client never tries to change their treatment plan, right? I mean, that's never happened. I'm just kidding. Um, so I I'm I'm thinking about safer and those those outcomes. I think those outcomes are much better evaluated on if the client takes the next step and does not return to wherever they were before, which it sounds to me we're getting them from different folks.

Some of them they're walk-ins, some of them are referred by law enforcement through deflection, some of them are referred through I mean I'm sure we have a few that are post custody that are coming out of jail. So I'm just trying to I'd love to have that metric on where the mechanism on which they came in and then where they ended within 5 days.

So even if they after that that's up to the residential that's up to the treatment plan that's up to the that's up to the next step in their process in their in their thing and and then also um what I'd really I I I know we're already doing it to some degree but but I think we should probably have some type of re-entry plan post post residential or post outpatient whether it's uh whether it's shelter whether it's sober living, what [clears throat] whatever we're doing.

So, those are some of the things I'm looking at. I I safer is like the that's the thing on the ground and I I think there's ways to repeat it. I'd also like to see how we can create a like another tier of safer that's an alternative to jail. So, those are those are my thoughts today, but thanks for the report and thanks for all the work that everybody's doing. Council member Schubert. Thank you, Madame Mayor. Thanks, Lee, for being here. Great to see you.

Um, I just want to take a moment to thank the Puma County Health Department for all of their collaboration and work on this process. Um, I know they're doing a lot of work that we don't always see, um, such as offering technical assistance to the grantees, particularly around measurement, uh, monitoring grant compliance and ensuring that these funds are being used effectively.

I also want to voice my appreciation once again for the multifaceted approach of investing in both prevention and evidence-based interventions. And I'm also glad to see that we're focusing on populations that our local data shows are especially vulnerable, such as folks being discharged from hospitals, jails, and treatment centers with the transition grants with the Haven and community partners and also those seeking low barrier detox options with the safer center grant.

Um and I agree that we um we need to continue looking at these gaps and have options for people who are um exiting treatment or residential or um you know what's their next step after safer. Um so I'm really interested in being a part of that work. And I think the point that I take away about the poly substances and the fact that not everybody is using the same drugs is that um these kinds of evidence-based um community centered approaches are what's going to work.

like we need to continue focusing on the big picture of what the root causes are, which is that these individuals um need to have a pathway in order to find a way to thrive in society. Um these are folks who are existing on the margins and so regardless of what they're using, we need to have services and res resources to offer them um so that they can be compliant so that they can stay on a pathway to treatment. Um so just really appreciate the work. I do have a few questions.

Uh my top one is how is the city collaborating with these programs particularly with our safe city deployments and the safe city initiative. Um they have two other questions as as well. Um I could ask them all and then wait. Okay. Um it's also helpful to see the performance metrics laid out for each grant award. I really appreciate that. Um, will we get updates about progress on these metrics in future meetings?

And how will these metrics be reviewed by staff um as well as the ROSAC members when considering future funding? And then my final question, given their day-to-day work on the front lines, I'm curious if the grantees have reported any new or unexpected challenges in the substance use disorder landscape uh that are impacting their programs. Thank you so much. Thank you. And uh I'd love to answer those to the best of my ability unless you wanted more detailed answers after.

Is it okay if I answer right now? Okay, wonderful. And before I continue, I also just want to um note that LPKNC, I'm so sorry. They are also in the room and they do amazing work with youth as you know. And so Marcia is here representing them. Thank you for being here. Um, so let me know if I didn't capture the question correctly, but as far as collabing uh collaborating with grantees for safe city deployment, that's a really good question.

Up until now, a lot of the integration with grantees has been focused on um safer and puma county justice uh transition center. Yes. So the transition center staff and um CBI safer are part of uh those deployments for the most part. They have staff present on site. Um and uh then separate from that um a lot of our work in the office of violence prevention and intervention. So, not specifically with safe city deployment, but in our in our work to um mitigate and prevent violence in the community.

Our team works closely with several of the grantees as well. Um and and that's a lot of, you know, they're focused on substance use, but they're also focused on violence prevention, and there's intersections on those two issues, right? Um, last but not least, um, we intend to, so we work as partners in in referring people for services with all of these. Currently, I know our care coordinators refer folks to a lot of these these programs that provide services.

Um I we are looking forward to integrating more closely um with especially some of the transitional care services. So like the Haven Inner Mountain CPIH because that goes handinhand with our care coordination work. Um and actually I believe it's next week or the following CPIH is going to come talk to our staff. A few of the other grantees have also come and talk to our staff. Um so we are really trying to leverage these expanded services in order to benefit the constituents.

Um so not specific answer just to safe city deployment but bigger picture everything that we're doing in in yeah collaboration. Now, as far as metrics, um, so currently, as you know, uh, every grantee is reporting metrics that were they selected when they submitted their proposal. Um, and so they're accountable to reporting on those on a quarterly basis. Now, SAFER is the exception. SAFER submits a weekly report every week. Uh, but the rest of the grantees are submitting quarterly reports.

Um and then as far as how decisions will be made um moving forward after this initial grant year um so it will be tied to their their performance measures. So ROSAC will definitely be involved in reviewing how folks are doing um are they reaching the impact that they intended to? Are they spending the funds as as proposed? Um and those basically ROSAC will go through an evaluation process in order to then recommend who should continue on to year two with the same uh funding.

Um as far as reporting it out, yes, as soon as I am able to get some out of some outcomes from the quarter 2 reports, I intend to include those in the September update. Did I answer all your questions? I mean, this isn't really one you can answer, but I did have a curious question about if the grantees have reported any new or unexpected challenges. Thank you. I I wanted to actually open the floor to them to answer that.

If that would be great, but I just want to bring attention the 20 minutes scheduled for this item is gone. Uh but since we have the grantees here, I think we should absolutely make the time to have this conversation. Absolutely have this time to and um to the question in terms of safe city initiatives. I've been to a safe city uh deployment and I know that we have nonprofit partners there. I don't know if it's our grantees per se, but I know that we have nonprofit partners there helping. Yes.

a lot of the behavioral health ones are they because I think that the question was very particular to the grantees themselves which maybe we should invite to the safe city deployments but what are the nonprofit partners that show up to the safe city deployments so the on the common ones that come are CBI laara CMS Kodak what is CMS can you I'm sorry u community medical services uh Kodak uh behavioral health. Um, of course I mentioned the transition center. Um, Puma County Justice Services.

I just want to make sure housing first because I I usually housing first is always there. I usually see some of our teams there and community safety is always there where some of the key co-responders. Um, and then sometimes there are also individuals from some shelter providers like Salvation Army, Gospel Rescue, um, OPCS, Prima Vera. I don't want to miss anyone, but th that's those are the ones that I definitely know come to mind. Yeah.

And so if we invite any of the partners to come up to the mic if you want to um talk a little bit about maybe some um what you call them just like unexpected um challenges or you know new or unexpected challenges within the substance use disorder landscape. And also if people feel shy, they can reach out to us after the meeting. [laughter] Come on up. Come on up. This one. Okay. See, I think the green light is on. Okay, great. My name is Amelia Honasari and I'm from the Haven.

And to answer your uh we provide substance use treatment for women and I would say that the operating landscape has changed a lot just within the last year just the beginning of the year uh we operate most of our funding comes from access so the Arizona Medicaid system and we're seeing more and more women who uh qualify for access but are not able to get their benefits and that goes for health care that goes for SNAP benefits that goes for dees childare benefits so uh it's a lot of system level things that are kind of outside of our control and uh the women are not necessarily able to get into treatment if they don't have the right insurance.

And even when they get to treatment, we try to connect them to SNAP benefits and get DS child care and they're not necessarily able to get to those services. So, we're very grateful to be using some of the opioid settlement funds for our food pantry and for childare allowance and to reduce the barriers.

But, I'd say that the just the access and work requirements and um Medicaid changes are we're seeing the changes already now and they're going to get even worse in the beginning of next year when the all the work requirements actually go into effect. So, that's a big barrier that we're dealing with right now. Thank you so much for sharing that. [clears throat] Um, any others want to share anything?

Coming up and then we're going to have to go to if there's any other questions and then we'll we'll we'll wrap up this item. Come on up. Thank you. Um, my name is Amy Bass. I work for portable practical educational preparation PEP and we are funded for our opioid project down near the border in Amado.

Um and one of the things that we have noticed in the families that we serve is that a lot of them will not go to um services on this side of the border because they feel too much of a cultural difference or that they um don't know how to access them. So, it's been really nice for us now to have the opioid settlement funding. Um, we're doing both the youth programs after school and Helica is our youth um program coordinator and also well program coordinator. She also does the parenting programs.

um she put together packets for you and um there's we're able to establish that trust and when they see that local government is investing in them even though they are so far away rural from the city seat um the county seat that um it's building the trust and we're seeing a lot of people now more responsive to reach out um for the help.

One thing that I have seen that is not related to the opioid settlement funding that we have but related um um Councilman um Cunningham mentioned about people needing the help um for the transition. we have an underfunded um re-entry program. And one of the things that I keep seeing repeated is that during those small amounts of funding, they can get a one-time help with assistance for rent.

And so if you think of that in terms of rent monthtomonth, by the time the person figures out they don't have money for rent that month, then they spend two weeks um holding back the eviction from the landlord to get the help. So their two weeks is, you know, just concentrated on, oh my gosh, you what am I going to do? They finally get the help to pay that rent. Now all of a sudden the rent is due again for the next month.

So, um, for the programs that you have that provide those kinds of supports, think how fast a month goes by and all the trauma and anxiety that goes into a person who may be losing their place to live and extend it a little more because one month is a drop in the bucket and they're going to end up right back where they were in 30 days. So maybe [clears throat] a stipulation of like two months as long as they meet with some kind of a coach or um mentor or something.

And again that is not the project that we have funded but um when the subject was brought up I wanted to add that in. And Helica do you want to tell them in like just two minutes your success with the kids at the youth center? My my success at the youth center we are a small rural community in Amato.

We have about 72 kids a week and um yeah, that's all they have in that small community and they always want to me be there for them to run programs but we run only three three days out of the week program program and they love it. So yeah, thank you very much. Thank you so much. Really appreciate you and thank you council member Schubert for those questions. Uh council member Barahas. Thank you mayor. I'll make it fast. Well, thank you, Lee, so much.

We all know that this crisis continues to affect Tucson and that recovery is possible when people have access to services that are easy to reach and meet them where they're at. With that said, I would just like to thank our re our outreach teams, care coordinators, first responders and community partners who continue to work every day to respond to this crisis, to connect people to care, and to save lives. Together, we can continue to building a safer and healthier Tucson for everyone.

And I want to thank the grantees who are here in the room for the important work you all are doing around youth prevention, peer support, transitional support, behavioral health, corresponds with law enforcement, and for just everything at the safer center. Um I do have a couple questions possibly for you and city manager. I notice on the Rosac um Puma County website it indicates that there's a vacancy and I do believe it is one for a Puma County seat.

Do we have any more information on plans to fill that vacancy? And then something also connected to the website is I noticed the links to agendas and meetings from past meetings are available, but none appear or or none appear to be available um with past agendas and minutes.

So if city manager if you could help direct staff to obtain this information for past meetings as well as I would like to see a refresher course around the zip codes that are identified and um how were these zip codes selected? So what was the matrix behind that? Thank you. Honorable mayor, members of the council, we're happy to do followup on on those questions that you had for us.

And I'll just mention that um there was a recent um update on how the ROSAC is being administered is now being administered more as an open under open meeting law than it was previously which might be part of this transition you're seeing on what's available, what's not available.

Um and that's one of the reasons why the meeting where that's next Tuesday has been rescheduled a couple of times because they they went through that transition of how it was being operated before to how it's being operated moving forward. So, you'll be seeing a lot more transparency and uh publicly available outcomes from the Rose Act moving forward because of that. But we'll also get you some detailed follow-up on that vacancy, etc.

And uh the the county, the Pima County Public Health Department, it pretty much runs and manages uh the ROSAC. And so, uh, it is, uh, through an intergovernmental agreement that the city of Tucson, you know, put its, uh, opioid settlement funds, um, in we bundled the money. We basically put it all together so it could go further, but Pima County does manage and run these meetings.

Uh and we also recently as mayor and council gave direction to our city manager uh to review the intergovernmental agreement so that we could add more detail on how the meetings are run and um add some of this details about agendas and you know and notes and etc. I think Lee you can answer the question about zip codes and how they were selected.

So, the zip codes that were selected were based on overdose deaths and um heat maps of opioid use rates as well as an equity analysis of areas of town that we know have been underinvested in this area. Um especially when it comes into the supportive services and the youth prevention. Um, so I'd be happy to provide you a more deep analysis cuz the zip codes actually are different depending on the type of program. So like youth prevention has a specific set of zip codes.

Um, peer support has a slightly different set of zip codes um, just based on the target audience of that type of intervention and where the greatest geographic need is based on e equity and overdose deaths. So, if it's helpful, I can provide you a more deep analysis of that. I'll co coordinate with the health department. And also, um, the zip codes are available on the Puma County opioid settlement website.

If you look at the actual requests for proposals, you can see the zip codes listed under each category. Um, but I'll follow up with a more detailed report if that's okay. Okay. Thank you so much, Lee. really appreciate the update. This is incredible. Thank you to all the partners to Pima County. Um really appreciate the incredible work that you're doing. Thank you.

And the work that our nonprofit partners are doing um in prevention work is kind of related to the next topic that we're going to talk about really. It's a safe city initiative update. So we're moving on to item four. Time has been set aside for an update on the Safe City initiative, including public drug use enforcement and treat treatment pathways.

We're going to have our very own Chief Monica Prito and our uh invited guest, Kate Vesley, uh who's the director of the Justice Department within Pima County. Thank you so much much uh Kate for, uh joining us today. And I I I would be remiss if I didn't during the Safe City initiative update not talk about the shooting that happened on Sunday. Um Tucson experienced another serious and senseless act of gun violence. I am horrified. I am sad. I am mad.

Um and I think that most community members are feeling that way. and it's important that we talk about it at this table. Um, I know events like this leave a lasting impression and a and a feeling of unsafety to our community to not being safe in in different places. Um, but as your mayor, I take the safety and security of our residents very seriously. It's my number one priority.

and um the mayor and council have been working diligently in partnership with our city manager, with our chief of police, with the Pima County, with so many partners in our community to keep our community safe. And um I want to offer my sincere gratitude uh to our police officers that bravely acted immediately to protect the residents of our community immediately. Like there was not even a 911 call. They were there.

and because of their valiant efforts um I truly believe that there was no additional bloodshed or loss of life and so I want to commend you Chief Prito for the incredible team that we have and Chief and I have been talking and I'm like we have the best police department in Arizona and arguably one of the best police departments in the country. So, uh, thank you for the heroic efforts of our police officers, our firefighters, um, our 911 call takers.

I mean, it it it really was a, um, team effort and an approach that we trained for and it was deployed incredibly well. So I just wanted to offer my gratitude um and uh thank you uh profusely for the work done in partnership with other public safety h uh professionals. I also want to thank the medical professionals that helped um take care of the victims uh after the scene after they left the scene. Our county attorney and her staff for being on scene.

I want to thank our community members who helped at the scene uh that were really helping uh take care of people that were traumatized and concerned. Everyone who is supporting the people that were impacted um whether it was physical or not. Um I just want to reiterate our downtown is safe. Um our downtown is filled with activity and vibrancy. It is the heart of our city. And as I said before, this is not the time to abandon our locallyowned small businesses in our downtown.

Uh it is safe to go to the symphony. It is safe to go to a concert at the Fox. It is safe to go to the Rialto, to have dinner or lunch at Hotel Congress. Um, thanks to our partners at Rio Novo, we have a fully staffed and then some um, officers uh, in our downtown to offer help, support, safety um, to our community.

So, I want to reiterate to our community from those that live inside the city, those that live outside, uh to not let this incident affect uh the way we live as Tonins, what we do, the activities that we support, and the local businesses that we frequent. uh we need to keep working together to keep ourselves safe and uh we need to make sure that we're talking about this as a community, right?

This this is this is I feel um that um together we can work on making sure that we continue making our city safe. Um, as your mayor, I launched the Safe City Initiative last October. We've put efforts together with Pima County and other nonprofit partners as well as TPD um, community safety, health and wellness, housing first. We are doing this um, approach to make sure that we keep our citizens safe.

As part of our safe city initiative, uh we created the uh office of violence prevention intervention. Uh we created our uh viva violence interruption vitalization action. It used to be the PNI. We've had we've been working on this for years. Uh these programs alone have brought down gun violence by 80%. Um 75%.

I mean it these these programs, these services and the holistic approach that we as a city of Tucson use um they're working and um I know that uh chief you have some numbers in terms of uh homicide percentage numbers are going down. I think it's 19%. Correct me if I'm wrong. Uh gun violence incidents are down. And so what we are doing is working. One of the first things that I did as your mayor when I first elected was to sign sign up on to the mayors against illegal guns.

It's a bipartisan coalition of mayors who are working to reduce illegal access to firearms and to support proven prevention policies. That's something I'm very proud of and that this is not a Jenny come lately, right? This is something that I did seven years ago and we've been creating programs uh that have proven to bring down gun violence in our city. We need to do more. Obviously, we need to do more. Um but uh the work that we have been doing together has been working.

And I also think we need to keep as parents, I'm the mom of a 16-year-old and a 20year-old. As parents, we need to talk to our kids about not solving their problems with violence and with guns. We need our schools, libraries, houses of workshops, and other groups to teach deescalation skills. And that's something that the police department has been doing with our nonprofit partners.

As a matter of fact, in my conversation with Crystal Moore, who's the director of the Downtown Tucson Partnership, um she told me that for the last 3 months, we've been planning in partnership with TPD and um other partners a deescalation training for downtown Tucson businesses. That's happening tomorrow and we've been planning it for the last three years, I mean, three months. Um but this is something that we take very serious and that we will continue to work on um as a community.

So I just want to again thank you chief uh to our police department which is incredible uh to all of the community partners that have offered help. Uh on my end I've been receiving calls um for our residents in our community uh from Gabby Gfords. I mean, she called me hours after the incident was um was reported on. Um Congress people, mayors throughout the nation have called to um you know, give us their thoughts and and their support to the residents of our community.

Other mayors throughout the country have gone through this. Um, as a mayor, you never want to uh have this happen, but um there is a network that we work on and uh a network of mayors that are working on um bringing down these incidents of gun violence in our city.

We also need the support of our federal partners and our state partners um to institute pol policies that will [cough and clears throat] that will help our um cities and the mayors and our police departments face less um incidents like the one that we went through on Sunday. So, I just wanted to open up this particular item with uh with some comments to acknowledge uh what we've gone through and what we went through on Sunday. So, with that, I just wanted to open it up.

Our chief, I guess you want to pick it up from there. Thank you, mayor, mayor, members of council. Thank you for that um that acknowledgement. As you know, I'm beyond proud of the courageous actions my officers took on Sunday morning. um not only did they stop a shooter, they also rendered aid immediately and undoubtedly saved lives that that morning. So, um I know I'm proud. I know the city is proud of their actions um for their preparedness and their readiness to be able to do that.

Um I'm I'm here to talk today about the um basically followup from u my discussion that I had during mayor and council meeting this year on April 6th. um where I discussed my desire to build a focused deterrence initiative that would help address the criminal activity that most consistently affects the quality of life of our community members and our business owners. This pursuit turned into two distinct but related initiatives.

And I have with me the Kate Vesley um director of PI County Justice Services with me who will um who will help me here in a few. Um but the two the two programs I want to talk about is the top repeat offenders analysis and intervention program and the focus deterrence narcotics initiative. So let me just start with the top repeat offenders analysis and intervention program. Um, I'll refer to it as Troy if you don't mind.

Uh, this program was born out of the realization that there are numerous community members that are stuck in a cycle of lowlevel criminal activity. The same individuals are repeatedly cycling through our justice system without meaningful improvement. And Troy attempts to interrupt that pattern through coordinated intervention rather than repeatedly handing each incident in isolation. TBD will play a more active role in helping people break free from the cycle of crime.

Troy is a 180day pilot program that'll run an operations division west and it starts tomorrow. We'll focus on 50 individuals who have repeated police contacts for chronic quality of life offenses, misdemeanor offenses during the previous year. All individuals have committed misdemeanors anywhere from six to 14 times in the past 12 months. And these offenses include trespassing, disorderly conduct, shoplifting, solicitation, loitering, drug paraphernalia, public urination, median violations.

Each week, our operations division west zebra officers, our community outreach resource and education team, our core team, and our miss team, our mental health support team, and community safety, health and wellness. They'll help identify two individuals each week. And these teams will identify possible interventions. They'll make direct contact and offer appropriate services. And the analysis of all names will refresh every 90 days. Accepting services is voluntary.

A person will not be arrested, cited, booked, or subjected to greater charges merely because they decline assistance. When officers independently establish probable cause that a new offense occurred, they will make the legally appropriate custody or release decision under existing law and department policy.

TPD may provide relevant information on making um the legally appropriate recommendations, but release conditions, diversion eligibility, prosecution decisions, and area restrictions remain the decisions of pre-trial services, prosecutors, and the courts. In certain instances, TPD will make recommendations to city court to not dismiss new cases involving identified individuals and to consider court-ordered drug treatment.

Troy is not a roundup or an enforcement action based solely on someone appearing on a list. Placement does not independently establish reasonable suspicion or probable cause and it does not authorize detention. The pilot will be evaluated before any recommendation to expand, modify, or discontinue this program.

Our available intervention options include mental health and substance use treatment, housing and supportive services, alternative to jail programs when eligible, assistance addressing warrants and other barriers, continued service offers through appropriate partner agencies.

Our measures of success will include reduction in repeat offenses and police contacts, engagement with treatment or supportive services, housing or service placements, improved conditions for affected neighborhoods and businesses, and our goal is to place at least 10% of the identified individuals into housing or supportive services.

Now, it's important to note that the purpose of Troy is to proactively identify those who are repeatedly coming into contact with law enforcement and connect them with services that address the underlying causes of their behavior, such as the mental health challenges, substance use disorders, or homelessness. Officers will continue to offer services during every contact.

And with any law enforcement encounter, enforcement action will be based on the facts of the incident and the existence of probable cause, not on whether they accept services. Troy combines individualized outreach, service coordination, and lawful accountability. It does not criminalize homelessness, compel anyone to accept services, or give officers additional authority.

We are focused on helping these folks get out of the cycle, but prepare to hold them accountable if they refuse services and they continue to reoffend. We can't talk about the quality of life issues without recognizing that the drug epidemic ravages our community. And a key part of that problem is that there's people willing to sell and distribute the drugs. Southern Arizona continues to be one of the primary corridors for narcotics trafficking in the United States.

Enforcement efforts are ongoing and operations are actively conducted in all patrol divisions in partnership with the counter narcotics alliance. Our upcoming focused deterrence narcotics initiative will aim to increase the certainty of accountability for those driving narcotics activity. Currently, we're building the framework necessary for long-term success to include service connection.

We're meeting with internal stakeholders to establish clear roles, expectations, and methods for tracking outcomes. And those partnerships will include the Pumac County Attorney's Office, Community Safety, Health and Wellness, Counter Narcotics Alliance, TPD Research and Analysis, and our Zebra officers. Our research and analysis is developing an algorithm that will identify narcotics dealers based on objective data.

The idea is to have two candidates identified for intervention in each patrol division per month. And like our other focused deterrence initiatives, the following steps will take place. You'll have cashew and zebra officers providing intervention by offering a variety of services. Officers will make it clear that the candidates must break free from their lifestyle, contributing to the drug crisis plaguing our communities. Ideally, candidates will take the first step in accepting services.

However, if they refuse services and they continue to reaffend, will work with the county attorney's office to hold them accountable for their actions. And this would include us requesting no plea deals and no diversion. Potential outcomes for success of this initiative are still being explored.

Some of those discussions include a set percentage of candidates accepting services, a set percentage reduction in drugrelated calls for service in specific high crime areas, a set percentage reduction in community complaints in specific high drug areas. And we'll continue to update you as we continue to develop this initiative.

So these initiatives wouldn't be possible without our county partners and the Metro Justice work group helping to address the high utilizers and the gaps that we've identified a gaps that prevent us from connecting them to services. So with that, I hand it over to Kate Vesley, the director of justice services, so she could further discuss our ongoing collaborative efforts. Thank you very much, Chief. Appreciate that.

I was asked to share a little bit about myself as an introduction to the new council members. Uh a little bit about our team as well. So my name is Kate Vesley. Uh and I'm the director of the justice services department in Pimac County. Uh I would like to tell you a little bit about my history. I'm uh as my boss Chad likes to say iteration. I'm a a third generation tonin re raising fourth generation tonin.

So, not only have I been a professional in the justice space for the last 25 years, but I have lived here my whole life and don't plan on changing that anytime soon. So, I'm very invested in Tucson and what Tucson is and can become. I was raised by two parents whose careers were marked by civil service. My father was a Tucson Police Department officer and I learned from him the importance of accountability, public safety, and protecting our community. My mother was an educator.

AI Sunnyside TUSD. Uh, and she taught me people can learn, they can grow, they can change when the right opportunities and with the right expectations. Those two perspectives, accountability and opportunity, have stayed with me throughout my entire career. I don't believe they're competing values. They're both essential to creating safer communities.

The Department of Justice Services in Puma County operates much like a public health department, except our focus is the health of the justice system itself. We study how people move through police contact, courts, jail, treatment, community supervision. And we ask a complex question. What about those encounters can create lasting change? What can we do to make an individual actually change behaviors because of those engagements?

Our department oversees programs such as the transition center, which is 7 days a week, uh, 8:00 a.m. to midnight. Uh, we have wonderful new staff members. If you haven't been recently, you haven't been, come and see us. We would love to give you a tour. Uh we also w uh operate the crisis intervention team training along with Tucson Police Department, the Puma County Sheriff's Department, and Pima County Attorney's Office.

Uh we do a multid-disciplinary weekly jail population review and we are about to launch a regional co-responder initiative to complement and scale TPD's uh current program. We recognize the importance of research and data scientists. We have two data scientists on our team who are dedicated to not only understanding our utilization of the justice system but what aspects of that utilization is creating behavioral change.

So this makes us uniquely able to assist as partners in this work around high system utilizers utilizers. Sometimes I refer to them as familiar faces as well. Uh this is a national trend a national concern. There are lots of communities across the country that have looked at their familiar faces and developed innovations in this space. Uh the issues surrounding frequent flyers or familiar faces or high utilizers in the system vary dramatically.

Yes, we are more than aware of the impacts of behavioral health and substance use. uh but there are a lot of complexities and there is no one token uh person who has repeat justice system involvement. It's all very individualized. Those interventions for these community members should be as diverse as the reasons why somebody is justice involved in the first place.

The plan I'm discussing with you today is a product of the Metro Justice Workg Group, an initiative launched by Mayor Romero and Supervisor Rex Scott with the Puma County Board of Supervisors and it includes representation from all intercepts of our local justice system. Tucson City Court Director Josh Halverson and I co-chair the subcommittee. Say hi, Josh. If you have questions, direct them at him. Uh [laughter] uh and Mr. Lusk is also on our our committee as well. Oh, thank you, Roy.

So, we all came to the table with information. Tucson City Court identified over 500 individuals who had five or more open cases within a single year. Tucson Police Department did extensive studies around frequent arrests and justice services looked at individuals who had been booked five or more times in the span of a year. Working together, we identified individuals who meet this high utilizer threshold.

When we look closely at the top 5%, we found that more than half had serious behavioral health issues, substance use disorders, were experiencing homelessness, or some combination of the three. Their booking histories were overwhelmingly driven by trespassing, shoplifting, and drugrelated offenses. Many of our highest utilizers has also undergone undergone or were awaiting court competency evaluations. But that doesn't make up the entire population.

Of that high utilizer group, 20% of those individuals had domestic violence charges. So it's not all substance use, mental health. There's a a diversity of issues that are occurring at this level. [sighs] What became clear is that these individuals are not simply cycling through one system. They are cycling through all of them. courts, police, jail, behavioral health, emergency system services, outreach, city, county, other municipalities throughout our community back and forth.

From those insights that we gained from looking at that data, we came up with three primary strategies. One is to identify those familiar faces which we have been doing underway and we recognize that there is a lot more work to be done in gathering that space and to work across those systems to pin pinpoint which individuals are touching multiple systems routinely. Two can continue to invest in cross-system communication and data sharing.

Three, assess misdemeanor case processing as it pertains to this population and implement strategies to increase case adjudication with expectations for compliance with treatment and services. I really want to talk about adjudication here for a moment. It's really key to what we are trying to accomplish and it's critical to maximize the investments both the city and the county have already made in this space.

[clears throat] When we are invi identifying a familiar face, arrest is not the finish line and arrest is not guilt. Every individual remains presumed innocent until their case is adjudicated. An individual is arrested multiple times, which is very common as we discussed. They're not going to jail for the intended consequence. They're going to jail as an interruption to whatever behavior law enforcement identified, but that's not intended to be the corrective action.

It is imperative to put in place strategies that will quickly and effectively adjudicate a case. Most commonly please but trial all sorts of manner. And once found guilty it enables the court to utilize community supervision, set conditions and employ a range of consequences. Adjudication also creates an opportunity to establish clear expectations while connecting individuals with coordinated treatment, housing, behavioral health services, and recovery supports.

That structure allows us to move beyond simply processing cases into changing behavior. Before anybody gets too discouraged by the enormity of this task, there are promising signs. Uh, and I'm I'm feeling optimistic about the direction we're heading. One encouraging finding came from the transition center. Among the top five high system utilizers that were walking through our door, about uh about a third of all those individuals voluntarily returned after their initial contact.

That tells us something incredibly important. Even among our highest utilizers, there is measurable capacity for behavioral change when engagement is individualized, consistent, and built on trust. Looking forward, I believe there are three priorities. First, we must continue investing in data sharing systems across the justice system and service community.

We gain valuable insight into the behaviors and costs associated with high utilizers when court, TPD, justice services all share data and work together through that though that analysis has only scratched the surface. Frankly, so much data is at our fingertips, but in many instances, it is largely unusable for largecale analytics. Sometimes for as simple as a reason as there's the records are only paper and they get scanned in.

There's no digital entry that we're able to pull largecale aggregated analysis from. uh investing in this uh data collection methods and evaluation will allow us to continue evaluate how individuals move and behave through those systems which in turn will enable us to target interventions that actually reduce future system utilization rather than simply responding to the next incident. Second, we need to continue building coordinated progressive accountability.

Law enforcement will always play a critical role in public safety. But we should not ask police officers to carry the entire burden of solving problems that also require courts, treatment providers, housing systems, prosecutors, defense attorneys, probation officers, navigators, and community organizations. Accountability should not begin and end with arrest. Every part of the justice system has a role to play to provide the support and structure needed for these individuals.

Third, we need to continue investing in what works. We should create graduated opportunities paired with graduated accountability, making the right choice the easier choice and the wrong choice the harder choice. We should continue measuring outcomes, learning from our successes and setbacks, and refining our approach. Perhaps what encourages me most is this collaboration has already moved beyond meetings and data analysis.

The city and the county recently partner partnered on a major federal grant application that takes many of these concepts and translates them into an operational model. regardless of the funding outcome, but cross your fingers anyway. The partnership res represents meaningful progress and future collaborations. So, I'll leave you with this thought. Our goal is not to build a better revolving door. Our goal is to help people step off the carer cell completely.

So, let's keep the momentum on this effort. If we continue working together as the city, the county, our justice partners, the treatment community, we can reduce the number of individuals whose lives are defined by repeated contact with our justice system. That is good for those individuals. It's good for taxpayers, and it's essential to creating the safe, healthy, and vibrant community we all want for Tucson and Puma County. Thank you. Thank you so much, Kate. Thank you, Chief.

Uh really appreciate it.

Um more than a year ago um when chair uh Scott uh Rex Scott was the chair of the board of supervisors um we have I usually have a a monthly meeting with the whomever is the chair of the board of supervisors and him and I came to a conclusion in terms of uh the fentinel opioid crisis happening in our streets, our unsheltered homeless, a lot of mental behavioral health issues that we needed to put together a group of the city and the county and all of our um department directors that did similar work.

We called it the the metro justice working group and it basically was our city manager, the county administrator, the uh chief of police, the sheriff, the uh county attorney, the city attorney, like all of our our courts. um to be able to find where the gaps in um services, what was happening, what was not happening um and find solutions to a very complex issue and the justice system and the work that we all do is very complex.

So these conversations started because of us all sitting together and having conversations about our frustrations and the issues that were happening on the ground, not just in the city of Tucson, but throughout the county. And so because of this group, the conversations that have been had are um very productive. I love love love what you just said, Kate, and I've been saying it for years.

that uh for many decades, many many decades, society has been putting all responsibility of safety on the shoulders of police officers. And and that's not fair. We want them to be psychologists. We want them to be behavioral health specialists. We want them to, you know, we cannot. And so we need to spread the responsibility and find the solutions uh throughout the systems that we have.

So uh I appreciate that you said that because I believe truly that by expanding these programs, we take off some of that work that society has been putting on the shoulders of our police officers and putting the right work in the right hands is is something that I truly believe in. So I just wanted to thank um uh the work that has been happening in this in this working group because we've come to the conclusion in terms of um the frequent utilizers of our system. It's not about incarceration.

Um but it is about accountability and it's about treatment and getting people to the right resources as well. And so if there are crimes being committed, like you said, some of these frequent utilizers have domestic violence um issues, we need to make sure that there's accountability there. Um and then and then putting the right treatment to the victims of of of these crimes.

So, I wanted to also thank uh Councilwoman Lee because she did bring to us an ordinance to try and get to the bottom of these quality of life issues that were happening are happening in our city and brought an ordinance that she, you know, basically said, "Here, this is what I'm thinking.

Let's let's try and see what we can So, I I did want to thank Councilwoman uh Lee for, you know, putting an idea out there and letting all of us, including the Safe City Task Force, pick at it and figure out what the best approach was to resolve the issues that um she and all of us are trying to solve. So, I wanted to just open the floor to Councilman Lee to uh help us guide the conversation. Sure. Thank you, Mayor. Yes, that was September. Um, and we've had several conversations since then.

And at the time, as you said, mayor, we just kept continuing to hear from the community that the drug use in public spaces was a top concern of the community. So, again, in the spirit of trying to problem solve and be creative, I I threw something out there for us to iterate on. Um, and I'm I'm happy with the progress that we're making. I'm not going to lose the thread, though, on the specific aspect of the public drug use. I think this is amazing. the programs that we're putting together.

Uh when we left the conversation in April, the direction was to really help us understand where the accountability was dropping, right? Because the justice system, as you said, Kate, is is very complicated. And my concern is always that the officers that are out there doing this work every day, making the arrest, trying to get people connected with services may not be having the impact that we want them to have on the people we're trying to help, as well as the community at large.

So we left the conversation with direction to understand how many cases were actually being issued that our officers are sending over and it looks like we have a number of about 75. So that tells me that data has now been updated which was a issue before. So I think that's a good thing. I still don't have clarity on the final disposition. Right.

I think we said that was really a key to see the thread along the journey and how these cases are ending to see if they're having the results that we want to have. It says many of them plead guilty or many of them pled to a lesser charge or the charges were amended in court. But there's really just literally two sentences that answer what the direction was coming out of that last meeting.

So I don't want to lose the threat on that because I think it's important for us to understand how these cases are being handled, where there are gaps, and where we're not getting the outcomes that we want for the people we're trying to help and for the community at large. Um also, Chief, um love the information about the new initiatives. I made sure I had the revised packet, but there's no information in the packet about anything that you read.

So, I would love to see if we can get a summary or some sort of material so that we can dig a little bit deeper into that because that was a lot of information you shared and my brain could only process so much at a time while I'm taking notes. Um, so that's one request that I have. And then, um, Roy, I know you were working with the county attorney's office.

I still that is still an open item for me to understand those different phases or those places where cases might be dropped off and what the thread looks like all the way through. So I don't know if you have information about that but that wasn't really covered in the materials. Uh honorable mayor uh council member Lee, thank you for bringing that up. It is an ongoing process.

We're having uh conversations regularly with the county attorney's office along with my colleague uh the chief as well and her team uh to sort of pinpoint where those issues are. They are there are issues and we're willing to acknowledge that. Um there are issues with data transfer between the the two parties as well as where that data is. As as Miss Fesley uh sort of alluded to is is there's a challenge when uh we're not sure exactly where the data is and how to get it, but we're working on it.

Uh and there's actually been some movement recently. I know the county attorney is looking into some sort of more digital um uh tools to make that a little bit easier as well as uh my team who is also working on our m at the m level to work on our on new case management system which will provide some additional clarity on that issue specifically and especially uh working with TPD to get that information as well. Okay. I think that's really important part of this conversation Roy.

When do you feel like it would be appropriate for you guys to come back? I know we said 60 days and it's been over 90. So, I just want to I'm not going to lay off the pressure. Roy, we need to know this information. So, when can you commit to coming back to us with some something? Sure. Honorable mayor, uh me council member Lee, I I think uh an appropriate time would be after our new CA just to give the both the county attorney and the city attorney uh some opportunities to make some changes.

Um I think our our current uh case management system is set to go live in the September October time frame. So after that might be the best time to sort of bring it back and then we can have a really good conversation and really deep dig deep into it. First meeting in November. Sure. All right. Let it be done. I like this. I like this. Pin down the timeline. I really like this. You have to Mayor. We do. We do. Uh Council Member Cunningham.

So there's a couple concerns I have on the high user piece and it's not anything on our side. It's actually about the number of high users because we have incentivized ourselves to some degree, not on purpose, where we engage a high user who basically tells us to go away and they're not counted as a high user. There's no documentation. We've engaged them. We've talked to them.

We've asked them, "Hey, you know, this is probably not the best situation for you right here in this specific situation that you're in. Uh, what do you think about coming with us and talking to us for a little bit or what do you think about this or that?" And um, we've encountered that in a lot of our outreach.

A lot of times we will uh I think because I I think I think our resources are scarce to some degree to to manage engaging every single person who seems to be in need every single day and documenting it is even taller a taller order. So the question that I have is if we do say we engage somebody who's on the median, we get a complaint about somebody on the median or we're driving by, we get some complaint somebody on the median and we say, "Please leave the median." And they do and they comply.

They're like, "Sorry, you know, I don't want any trouble." And they go, "Well, we don't know if that person was engaged an hour ago or not. We don't know what their history is. We have no idea." The question becomes, what do we do?

The question becomes if that if that same person is engaged 15 times in one month in the same scenario or a different scenario where they're asked to leave a park, they're asked to leave a residence, they're asked to discontinue camping in a backyard and we don't really and they comply and they're cool and they're nice, but we've made no progress on their case. we have no ability to engage them and discuss whether or not this situation is the most conducive situation for them.

How do we get from one end to the other? How do we figure out how do we document? Okay, I talked to the guy with orange hair or I talked to the dude with who carries around the Harley parts. And I'm not being funny. These are actually people I've met red, right? [laughter] Doing street outreach. All right. um or famous the blonde lady who hangs out with the guy who carries the Harley parts, but they're all they're all they've all been nice.

They have all been courteous, but they also are all one sleeping on the streets, which we don't want them to do. Sometimes they're camping in washes, which right now is very dangerous with the rain. Um they are engaging probably in poly substance. We don't know, but I mean it, if you've been doing this work long enough, you can you [clears throat] can see things at face value.

And I have to know how can I or how can a cashier person document that contact and then a police officer document that contact. Very casual contact, not a big contact, but know that we're talking to these people. And I don't think there's really a way to do it. I It's a It's an incredibly hard puzzle, but if we're doing if we have some interaction with the workers in real time. Yeah.

uh you know, our person saw that same guy last month and we've been talking to him and we've told him not to, you know, camp in that specific alley because, you know, the word office let us know. The neighbors have been calling and if we have that kind of communication, maybe we can make a little more progress and I don't know what to do with what you can do with these suggestions, but that's where I think our missing piece on the high users are.

We still have high users that fly under the radar and that's okay, but uh we're not we're not getting them to where they probably need to be and that's that's that's a huge challenge for us and and I I'd love to hear if anybody can figure out how to and council member I just want to clarify that through the conversations that we have been having you know internally here with the city of Tucson from from housing first to community safety health and wellness to our TPD officer ers.

It is not just about having a person hanging out at the park. It's about a person violating some sort of law, city law or otherwise, and our officers detaining that person for public urination, for for burning fentinel on the on the street, for um you know, for either selling small amount of drugs. It is actually what what we were concerned about is that our officers were doing the arrests and once they were doing the arrest when we would lose any type of communication with our justice system.

So they would show up um to the court and then the judge would say all dismissed. And so we were we're really losing people in the system. So Kate mentioned that it was a revolving door, right? They would just come in and then they judge would let them out as opposed to all of us saying, "Okay, this person obviously needs to be compelled to take some sort of treatment and connected to resources and help. Like I said, it's not about incarceration.

Is about finding the solutions that are right for that person." And so the justice uh the metro justice working group is really trying to find these solutions and that's why this program was um suggested that we you know that we look at at least those that are committing 10 15 20 violations a week that are obviously in need of help. And so, um, that's what we're trying, that's the issue that we're trying to solve. Connect all of the pieces to find the help that many of these people need.

That's what we're here. That's why we're here. Any other questions? Council member Barakas. Well, thank you, Mayor. Um, I just want to add to the conversation something that I would like to add to the language around these initiatives. something that I know my neighbors and I have witnessed firsthand for many, many years with high users either through them using or dealing. Um, I would like to include some type of language around a regional landlord accountability component.

You know, if you follow some of these folks, we all know where they're where the apartment complexes where where some of these homes are. Um, so I would like the goal to be and this will take additional research looking across the country of what communities have done, but the goal is to work together across jurisdictions to address landlords who repeatedly allow their properties to become chronic problem locations.

Since many of these landlords own properties in multiple areas throughout the city and the county or in other jurisdictions, enforcement in one jurisdiction often just pushes the problem somewhere else. A regional approach would allow participating agencies to share information, coordinate code enforcement, nuisance abatement efforts, inspections, and legal actions, and ensure that repeat offenders face consistent consequences regardless of where they own property.

for landlords who continually fail to maintain safe code compliant properties or ignore repeated violations. This could include escalating civil penalties, nuisance abatement actions, and other enforcement measures available under local ordinances.

By coordinating these efforts across multiple um municipal boundaries, we can discourage chronic neglect, [clears throat] reduce crime and disorder associated with problem properties, and improve neighborhood safety and quality of life throughout the region. So, if we could add that regional landlord accountability component, I would like to see that happen. Thank you. Thank you, Council Member Schubert. [clears throat] Yes. Thank you, Madame Mayor.

And just um a heads up after my own remarks and brief questions, I also have a statement to read on behalf of Vice Mayor Santa Cruz, who couldn't be here today. Thank you. Um so, first I want to start by thanking you and affirming our shared goals. It's really great to hear the conversation at the table about routing people particularly high utilizers to treatment services and resources.

Hearing that um hearing that emphasis on the fact that we need diverse solutions for the diverse individuals we're trying to help that the goal is not incarceration and that we really want to improve quality of life in our community. Part of which does mean reducing these quality of life offenses. So I love that we have those shared goals.

Um, I do want to raise up that our office has been hearing from a lot of subject matter experts, um, folks with lived experience and community partners who work on, uh, justice and behavioral issues, um, who are sharing concerns about the focus deterrence approach. Um, most notably, they've shared that the model of force deterrence has, um, shown success when used specifically for violent crimes rather than quality of life misdemeanors.

Um, they've also raised a number of questions that I believe are worth considering. Um, many of these questions, such as those from the leadership at Just Communities Arizona, were just sent to us this morning. I do want to flag a few of them here. Um, this initiative is intended to impact high utilizers who have already likely been offer offered services many times. Given that, how can we differentiate this program from something that does resemble force treatment?

I want to be able to show our community what we're doing and be above board. Um, so we want to make sure that we can differentiate this program from something that resembles force treatment, which has been shown to be largely ineffective and harmful. Uh, another question, how can we ensure that this approach does not become a way to profile people who may simply be unhoused or using very small amounts of drugs?

Um, another question, how might implementing this approach impact our city and county courts? And then, um, a final a final question is, um, whether it's possible for Kate to work with city manager to distribute and share the weekly jail population review data with us here at the city of Tucson and to share with um, W six because our constituents have been asking and any other wards that might want to share that. Um, so those are those are my remarks and questions.

I want to make sure I'm keeping us on time so I understand if we don't have the time to maybe answer those now. Do we want to spend some time? I think that if both Kate and Chief want to, you know, if you if anything comes to mind that you want to respond to. Honorable mayor, me, members of council, council member Schubert, um just to answer the the first two questions, um this program is is specifically um geared so that we can have some meaningful impact on those that are um with data, right?

Using data to identify those those those high repeat offenders. I mean, we're talking about six to 14 times um of arrests in a one one year in a 12-month period. So that that is, you know, it's our responsibility to to really use that data and focus on on those that are struggling the most. Um, and we want to make sure that we do reach outs. And again, it's it's to to simply connect them with services um and do those reachouts and try to get them into into some type of treatment.

Um, it's not an enforcement action. um should they, you know, reaffend and and an officer come across them, you know, at a different period of time where they they reaffend and there's probable cause to arrest them for another um crime similar another misdemeanor like this.

Um yes, the the goal would be, you know, we're we're going to work with our with our city prosecutors on misdemeanor charges and um and and you know, advocate that they they there's that adjudication piece, right, that Kate was talking about. Um Director Vesley, sorry. um was talking about in terms of making sure that um you know that we follow through with that and make sure that you know we give them that best opportunity to um to get those services that are that they're so so in need of.

Um the you know again want to reiterate um the the 50 person list um the the base the database that we have is you know we're not going to use it to profile it's all based on data on on arrest the number of arrests and it's to plug them into treatment um and that uh that will remain that will remain true that our our main goal is again to have 10% getting into into some form of treatment. Uh, honorable mayor, council member Schubert, I'll add on the last two.

Uh, one of the goals of this is to reduce the burden on the city and county court system. These are high utilizers of those systems and we believe by further intervention, better connection to services and better accountability, we can actually overall reduce the burden on the city and the and the county court systems.

And then um regarding your question about uh weekly jail data, we are working on um how we can better report to you jail utilization from the city standpoint, but also the costs associated with that. I know that's been a standing question from this council and we we have that as active coordination with the county on how to better collect and then report that data to you. And director, did you want to just jump in? Mayor Romero, Councilwoman Schubert.

Um, I just wanted to a to address the jail population review. Uh, through the the blessing by Sheriff Nanos, we do a lot of the jail reporting and so we can talk with the sheriff about creating a custom report for you all. Um, and so we'll we'll follow up with you, Mr. Tamara, to to see what we can do about that. U, the jail population review committee is uh something we do in partnership with the city attorney's office.

We only see felonies, but most of the the folks that we do see in JPR also have misdemeanor cases. So, we're in very close communication with the city public defenders office in particular. Um, so that if somebody's movements happening on the felony side, we can coordinate on the misdemeanor side. Um, but I'm very happy to talk about JPR anytime. It's saved uh about 11,000 jailb days per year for every individual that we see in the program.

we we reduced their incarceration time about four to six weeks and these are folks who were going to get out anyway. Um and the taxpayers were just expending more resources keeping them in custody, you know. Yeah. So that's a great program. I I wanted to uh also emphasize uh uh just communities concerns. Um Caroline Isacs is brilliant and she often, you know, sees those those angles and I I think that type of open conversation is really critical.

The nobody has figured this stuff out anywhere across the country. Everybody is throwing stuff against the wall and seeing what works and what doesn't. And so I think we're in a place now where we have gotten to this continuous feedback loop of we're going to try something, we're going to collect data, we're going to invite community response and feedback on it. We're going to tinker with it. We're going to see is this equitable? Is this uh defensible? Is this, you know, constitutional?

And then look, are we actually making behavioral change or are we spending more resources to keep repeat the same cycle? And there's a lot of vulnerability that goes with saying, well, I invested all this money or I wrote this grant or we've run this program and it's not yielding the results that we were hoping for.

But that has to be part of the culture so that when we do try these innovative things that we can be comfortable saying we tried it, we learned from stuff but we really need to learn from this and evolve into something else. And I do want to mention that uh just communities does have an individual that sits at our safe city initiative task force right I mean shouldertosh shoulder with with director Vestley and others.

So, um, they do participate in giving the city of Tucson mayor and council advice on, uh, what should or should not happen. So, thank you so much. Yeah. And I really want to tour the transition center and definitely talk more about the JPR. That's super interesting. I also have remarks from and I know that you have I'm like worried about it. I know that you have a statement and then council member Dah has has his hand up. Go ahead. Do you want to do the I thought Kevin was going to go first.

I can go. He answered. Okay. Thank you. All right. So, on behalf of Vice Mayor Lane Santa Cruz, Ward One, um she couldn't be here today. Asked me to share the following. Um she says, "I share the desire of constituents, families, and business owners for safe, welcoming public spaces. That means fewer neighbors suffering from addiction, homelessness, and untreated mental illness. Not just pushed out of sight, but connected to care.

For too long, we have answered public suffering with arrest and incarceration. That moves the problem. It doesn't solve it. Treatment should always come first. Everyone deserves to feel safe in public and everyone deserves real access to treatment. I support evidence-based alternatives to incarceration with accountability. Um they've also asked staff to respond to the following on record today and in writing to their office. Um metrics. So the first question is about metrics.

The memo says the pilot will be evaluated after 6 months but names no success measures. Will effectiveness be measured by treatment engagement, housing placements, and reduced recidivism or only by reductions in visible offenses? They request the evaluation framework be defined prior to the pilot launching although I believe earlier in the conversation we affirmed that it's starting tomorrow. Um will results return to mayor and council before replication and other divisions?

Um so that's question one and I I understand that these are also getting sent. Uh number two is who makes first contact? Um community safety, health and wellness is listed on the action team but the structure is TPD.

Will the first outreach to the 50 identified individuals come from cashew staff or from officers as housing first has taught us trust comes first and community safety health and wellness's relationship building expertise makes them best positioned to lead outreach and not just partner in it. Question three, the narcotics algorithm. What data will feed the TPD research and analysis algorithm? Who will audit it for bias? And will the methodology be public?

Is there any process for a person to know if they have been flagged? And the final question, enhanced criminal justice accountability. The memo does not define this term. What does it mean in practice? And does declining services once move someone prematurely permanently to the enforcement track or does outreach continue?

Um, Vice Mayor Santa Cruz also notes that this pilot operates in operations division West, which includes Ward One, and requests ward level briefings and community input opportunities as it rolls out. Thank you so much. And, uh, let's make sure that we get that to our city attorney, our city manager, uh, our city clerk, uh, director Vesley, and our chief. Thank you, Council Member Dah. Thank you, mayor.

This is a very exciting pilot and it seems very well thought out by people who are doing a lot of great work in this area. We hear it at W 3 all the time. People wonder why there's recidivism, why they see the same people um businesses are being impacted. We call it quality of life, but it's um a a a financial burden on businesses to deal with repeat shoplifterss, repeat people who are whose presence, unlawful presence in front of their building doing things that are um not good to look at.

And I hate to say that it's because we don't want to look at them. It's not that it but it's interrupting our our um civic community by having people who obviously have needs um not getting the needs their needs met and falling into the trap of drugs or having mental problems that aren't being adequately cared with. I I think we're coming at this from a point of compassion. That's all I really wanted to say. I hope it's good luck.

I want to be kept in the loop because um uh Operations West is also um in my word. I want to come back to what you started with, mayor. Um, the incident downtown. Now, that's not in my ward, but it's a vital concern to me because Sunday morning I was we had an early phone call from my son, which is unusual, saying, "Dad, I'm okay." He was two blocks away because um he's a hype dancer in the clubs and is a regular fixture of downtown and he knows to avoid that particular block at 2:00.

Um, so he wasn't going to be impacted. Um, but his insights I think are helpful and um, what you said about downtown is still a great place to visit. Friday night my wife and I were at the Fox Theater. We went and had a great meal at the new um, uh, what's the the new grocery the the Yeah, I love seeing the pictures of him there and just had a delightful time downtown and everybody can continue to have a delightful time downtown. I am so impressed with the police response.

I think you had the right um amount of law enforcement happening the worst time of downtown. Um Saturday night at 2 o'clock. Um it's an old saying, nothing good happens after midnight. No, we push it to nothing good happens at 2 o'clock. Um because there are a lot of drunk people on the street. People who work down there delay going to their cars when it's 2 o'clock.

Um because it's not a safe it's not a great time when people who are having a good time drinking and people should do that are in a relatively space safe place in a club because there's bouncers. I mean there's people who know the deescalation and we need some of that deescalation on the street. I I think it's exciting that um Rio Noeo will work with the police and others to get those skills out on the street at 2 o'clock.

I don't think it's a police I don't think police would be best suited though I know you all have that training. Um but a bouncer type person should be at that line waiting in line for delicious pizza. You know, we want Empire and the other pizzeras, there's a couple of other ones um to thrive as well as all the restaurants.

And that period of time seems to me when troubled younger people who um don't know how to un handle their anger and really want a piece of pizza and they're somehow feel that people are impeding them enough to get a piece of pizza that they're going to shoot them. You know what sort of world has this become? So there's techniques that that our community needs to go in. What I was completely offended by mayor is the social media response. everybody who can click on their phone has a solution.

And the most amazing solution is that we should impeach the mayor that that a woman of color caused this problem when they don't know the incredible work she has been doing and all of us have been doing and our police force have been doing to make this community safe. I mean, that's a ridiculous politically um motivated criticism that I want just want to say publicly. I take great offense.

I mean, those people need to clean up their act and be part of the solution rather than just someone throwing not spaghetti against the wall to see those, but throwing mud to see who it sticks to. And I was offended. End of rant. Thank you, Mayor. Thank you, Council Member Doll. Really appreciate you uh and those words. That is something that I really appreciate and something that I tell people usually. I'd like to I'd love to have God like or goddess like powers, but I don't.

We need we need to do this together and and we need partners uh to bring down gun violence as we witnessed on on Sunday morning. So, thank you, Council Member Dal. Really appreciate your support. I'm going to end our item. I really appreciate Director Vesley. Your incredible insight into the work that you do and your partnership with the city of Tucson is highly appreciated. Uh, Chief, uh, thank you for your work.

You have an incredible, we all have an incredible Tucson Police Department that we should all be proud of and I am. So, thank you so much. Uh, let's continue the work and um, as the item ends, we're going to take a little bit of a break and then come back in the next five minutes to uh, to finish the study session. Thank you all so much. Really appreciate you. [music] Hey, hey, hey. [music] Hey, [music] hey hey. [music] Baby. [music] Hey. [music] Hey, hey, hey. [music] Heat. Heat.

[music] Hey, [music] hey hey. [music] Heat. Heat. [music] Hey, hey, hey. [music] [music] Hey. Hey. Hey. [music] Everything. [music] Hey. Hey. Hey. [music] Um, council colleagues are here, city manager, city attorney, city clerk. We have everyone in need to restart our study session. We are moving to item five. Time has been set aside to discuss the independent economic impact analysis for the proposed hotel development by Depot Plaza Hotel LLC. Mr.

Manager, thank you honorable mayor and members of the council. Joining us here at the table is our chief economic development officer, Mike Chakowski, who will be uh leading us through this item. Thank you, Mr. Manager, Mayor Romero, members of the council. Thank you very much for taking the time after that um rather healthy conversation about safe city.

This is a really appropriate conversation and considering investment in downtown and and as we can activate their spaces and I apologize I'm trying to log in but I'm putting in my two paragraph password in my laptop and it's not opening up for me right now. So yes. So um just as a reminder this was originally scheduled for the June 23rd council meeting.

We did request a delay because just to confirm we're in the right space as they are pursuing possibly a 25-y year inlude glet with Rio Noeo and just working with our attorneys and their attorneys we have confirmed that all of our eyes are dotted and our tees are crossed. They are in a good space to work for that because of the length of this project that they've been working on. I don't need to reiterate that this has been going on for well past my birth in the early 2000s.

So this has been going on for quite a while. So the the item we have today is is the economic analysis. So we have the results of the economic analysis for the GPL the 8year abatement on that. Um and reminder this is consideration for the depot plaza hotel LLC on uh Fifth Avenue and Tulle Avenue unique conjunction of two avenues in Tucson.

Um, we will be giving uh with our direction, we'll request a direction to move forward with a GPL lease agreement for consideration final adoption at a future council meeting. We will require a 60-day notice to all governing bodies of any city and town and school district which property is located prior to consideration of any lease agreement. Um, they do plan to to develop as mentioned a six-story 137 room Marriott branded Moxy Hotel.

If anybody has the opportunity yet so far to stay at a Moxy, they are the new very limited furniture kind of cool, get you out of the hotel type of product. E independent economic analysis demonstrates the benefit to the city, county, schools, and state is approximately $8.6 million direct revenue over that 8-year time frame. During the same period, the value of the foregone property taxes, the benefit to the developer is approximately $2.4 million.

In order to qualify for the GPL, the property must also demonstrate the value of the property increased by at least 100%. In this case, currently valued at $332,000. Projected value after completion 34,636,692, thereby meeting that requirement. Developer has negotiated one CBA with the current MLK apartment residents and is in active negotiations with other neighbors right now as well. Those CBA agreements will be part of the GPL lease agreement.

And with that, I'm happy to answer any specific questions about the economic analysis. I do have Brandy Haga Blackman here representing the developer if there's any specific questions for her. Thank you, Mr. Chicowski. I really appreciate your report and um you couldn't have been born when I first started council. It's just not possible. Um but these projects have been in the works in one way, shape or form uh since I first way before I actually was elected council member in November of 2007.

So these projects started even before my start at the council. So, it's almost going to be 20 years since all of these dreams were put on a napkin and um you know, here we are today.

So, I just want to reiterate how noteworthy this opportunity is for the city of Tucson, for downtown that um uh this proposed construction and development would be fully activating a space that has been vacant and as we know, not producing any sales taxes, not producing any property taxes, and not activating a very important space in our downtown. So for me to say that I am very happy this is starting that I am fully supportive of uh this project is an understatement.

Um so I want to thank everyone involved to getting us to this point um after many years of either one hiccup or the other. Um saying that I want to um mention that one of the issues that I truly believe in as well is the opportunity for a good quality of life for the people that work in these projects.

And so, uh, one of the issues that I wanted to bring up if there was a possibility of adding language in the community benefits agreement and in the lease agreement, um, that neither the developer nor the operator of the hotel will stand in the way of the employees wanting to unionize. That's very important. one because um labor unions really are an added benefit to any city. Um labor unions really advocate and work for um good pay, good benefits, and good quality of life for their employees.

So, I wanted to ask our city attorney uh about language to include for um the community benefits agreement and the lease agreement to make sure that neither developer nor operator will um try to union bust or stand in the way of the employees um wanting to unionize. Honorable mayor, thank you. Um I think that's something that we can work with the the attorneys for the de developer to to work on to include.

Um it'll be a conversation we'll have to develop the form uh once we once we uh engage with them. Uh what type of language can we can we use for that? So the type type of language will probably be something similar to um uh what you've already said. Um, we'll have to just ensure that we're complying with chapter 23 of the ARS, but we can work around that. Okay, perfect. Thank you. All righty. Saying that, um, again, 113 permanent, direct, indirect, and jobs.

Um, 190 constructed related jobs with a 11.9 million um, tag in terms of wages for the construction jobs. These impacts are estimated to generate approximately 5.9 million in annual wages, 14.2 million in annual economic output. I just want to again add what a a great opportunity this is and uh that we want to make sure that it happens, that the developers know that we're enthusiastic about this project and at the same time looking out for the workers in our city.

So, with that, I wanted to throw it over to Council Member Schubert because I know this is in W six. Thank you, Madame Mayor, and thank you for um raising the union aspect. Um, as a du paying union member myself, I'm excited that we're aligned on this. Um, also want to thank staff and Mike for walking us through the findings and this independent economic analysis and taking the time to answer our additional questions um, last week from the W 6 office.

Um, I appreciate seeing the numbers laid out this way, especially to get a better understanding of what we should expect from jobs and wages, both during the construction period as well as once the hotel gets going. Um, I was also really encouraged about the community benefits agreement, particularly with the MLK apartment residents. Um, folks that I know within the organization worker power wanted to uplift, that they felt appreciated and listened to throughout that process.

Um and uh you know the mayor's already made some great points about how important and long you know long time coming the act the activation of this of this lot is. Um I'll just add that turning vacant lots into active sites isn't just um a source of revenue but also contributes a diverse mix of people downtown um which is a safety and prevention strategy. Um so we are also very enthusiastic about this project um within the W six office.

So given that, I move that staff proceed with preparing a lease agreement to formalize an 8-year GPL financial incentive with the Depot Plaza Hotel LLC for the proposed project at 495 North Fth Avenue. Second. All righty. So, can we make sure that the language also includes the additional language on Absolutely. both the CBA and the lease agreement on the not standing in the way of unionizing. Yes. Absolutely.

and that that uh that approval be contingent upon um requiring that the um developer um not stand in the way of unionization efforts and operator and operators. [laughter] Yes, operators as well. Thank you so much. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Appreciate it. Appreciate it. And the second second accepts that. Yep. All righty. So, there's a motion and a second. Um any further discussion? Council member Cunningham. because I've asked this on every G flow we've had.

Um, have we [clears throat] gamed out the battle falling out of the boat scenario? What happens if they do not start construction within a certain amount of time? What happens if they do not meet the promise that they've made? Uh, thank you, Councilman Cunningham. On on all of our GPLED agreements, the the beauty of all of our incentives is they are they're very low risk for the city of Tucson. you build what you're going to say and then you get the incentive.

In this case, we do have uh required statutory timelines built into it that they can qualify for glets that we are going to negotiate into the lease as well. The good news is that the developer is actively working on getting this site built sooner than rather than later. But we always do incorporate to make sure that we have language. So, we have a couple safety measures in place, timelines, and no GLD occurs if no project is built. Thank you. Thank you. Any others? All righty.

With that, all those in favor of the motion, please signify by saying I. I. I. Any against? Motion carries. Thank you, Mr. Chicowski. Really appreciate your presentation. Thank you. Good job. All righty. So, we move on to item six. Six. What item six is? Um, item six, time has been set aside for discussion and direction relating to matters pending in front of the Puma County Board of Supervisors and other regional jurisdictions. Mr. Manager. Thank you, Honorable Mayor.

Coming to the table is Stephanie Zamora from my office who will give the update on Pima County and local jurisdictions. Good afternoon, mayor and members of the council. Uh submitted to the record is a report that summarized the adoption of Puma County's uh final budget. And I just wanted to highlight a few of the policy areas that um the county is focusing on in their budget. Affordable housing, transportation and infrastructure, the Wimma initiative, and the prosperity initiative.

Um the other part of the report summarized uh business happenings as part of Rio. And with that, um, that concludes my report. Thank you. Thank you so much. Really appreciate it. Any questions, comments, observations on item six? All righty. Thank you, Stephanie. All righty. So, hearing none, we move on to item seven.

Time has been set aside for the mayor and council to receive an update on state and national legislation and regional committees, executive orders, and direction to any associated litigation. Mr. manager. Thank you, honorable mayor, members of the council. Joining us at the table is Laura Dent, who will be giving um an a supplemental part of her update, which is a roundup of the legislative assession uh here at the state level.

So, with that, we have a brief PowerPoint for you to go over the highlights. I turn it to Laura. Thank you, Mayor Romero, members of the council, manager Tamir. Um it's great to be with you. Today is going to look a little different as described. Typically we do federal and state updates and we're going to do a broad brush overview of the legislative session this afternoon. Uh the legislature adjourned sin die about a month ago in mid June.

Um and at this point Governor Hobbes has signed all the bills she's going to sign and vetoed all the bills she's going to veto. So we now have a good sense of where the dust has settled on this legislative session. So, we can share some top lines for you now. Um, this was a high water mark for the legislative session. They broke their own record. They've introduced more than 2,000 bills um which is a um a watershed for this institution.

Um 456 bills were passed, 151 were vetoed, 264 were signed, and 47 um bills were weighed in on by the city of Tucson. For context, that's a little less than half of what historically we have weighed in on in years past.

And part of that has just been an effort by myself to move with care and take a conservative tact and and get a better sense and grounding with this body, with city staff um and with our legislative stakeholders at the capital um to take away some good learnings that Tucson can implement into the future. Um, so I typically try to think about the legislative session and the work that we're doing at the capital in three major buckets. The first is the the traditional legislative work.

So we're weighing in on bills that lawmakers are reviewing. We're testifying in hearings. We're communicating with lawmakers. We're asking them to weigh in um in a way that favors the city of Tucson and your will as determined in your legislative agenda. Um and then the second bucket is really more about administrative engagement. How do we engage with state agencies and departments in a way that complements the work of subject matter experts that already have really deep relationships?

So, we're moving our um work forward and building those relations and connections. And the third is a little bit more abstract. It's narrative and engagement work. So, how are we telling the story of Tucson really effectively in an institution um where we're, you know, sometimes going to look different in terms of our policy priorities and uplifting what the city does really well. So an example of that is water. Tucson water is obviously an incredibly um recognized and esteemed institution.

And so how do we make sure that um not just other folks in that arena understand and appreciate and respect that but also decision makers at every level of government, stakeholders around them so that we build on the existing credibility of the organization and become the go-to um for folks making decisions having policy inquiries um now and into the future and whatever the political landscape looks like.

Then another focus area of the narrative and education work is around housing and land use and zoning. You all are esteemed leaders on that, both this council, past councils, and city staff around addressing the affordability crisis, using land use tools and zoning tools to support and fill um and help folks um get housed at every level. So, that's another place that we're uplifting the leadership of Tucson.

Um, so some legislative themes, uh, in the budget this year, there was a three-year moratorum on the data center tax incentive. That was part of your legislative agenda. It was also part of Governor Hobb's state of the state address. Um, so many bills around restructuring that incentive were introduced, but also lots of bills relating to energy, land use, how and where these data centers fit into our communities and into the state.

So very much the same conversation happening in the public square is also happening at the legislature. Now um another strong theme housing zoning and land use. In talking to some of our delegation members I really heard loud and clear that lawmakers are looking for ways to address affordability and the challenges that folks are experiencing.

And this is an area that it can be easy to reach towards as a solution that you know implemented at the state level might look one way but of course in every community we're all different. And so, um, this is a theme that I think we're going to continue to see.

Um, and on a on a positive note here, we did have a a win on one of the, um, housing bills that was moving, uh, 2946, which actually would have restructured our, um, impact fee system and reworked how all cities, uh, developed their impact fees and we were able to grandfather our community in. So sometimes we're not, you know, running with the flag on certain bills, but we're also just making them work for the community a little bit better.

Um, revenue was another theme in that affordability vein, freezing rates and fees, undercutting local revenues, um, and always water. We should be expecting a decision any day from the Bureau of Reclamation around the immediate future of the Colorado River. And so communities across the state are in really different places around that. this theme we expect to continue coming up.

And I want to shout out um Attorney Avery, Chris Avery, and Natalie Durrook, who joined us to testify on uh some bad water bills at the legislature this session. Um highlights in relation to the budget. The governor did sign an $18.2 billion bipartisan budget. Um in relation to southern Arizona, Ron Noville was protected in that budget. You might remember that Republicans had previously attempted to zero that out.

Um I want to also uplift in this theme our um delegation who always takes meetings, calls and emails from us. We are very lucky in Southerners wanted to have members of leadership in both chambers um leader Cinderation in the Senate, Assistant Leader Gutierrez in the House and ranking member um Stall Hamilton on appropriations in the House that um really took our budget feedback to the mat. So want to recognize and acknowledge them for that.

Um tax conformity was part of the budget that um included alignment with HR1 um which folded in both corporate and individual tax cuts. Um so that was structured in a way that the impacts tapered down a little over time but that was a big um impact on our uh revenues at the state level. the data center tax incentive moratorum that I referenced which has a savings around $38 million and uh 2.5% agency cuts across the board. So there was a lot here.

Um but this did end up being a compromised bipartisan budget that the governor signed last month. Um in terms of the political landscape, I just wanted to obviously name we're in an election year. It is an election day today. So this is sort of the water that um we're swimming in at the legislature.

We have very um prominent stakeholders in the legislative process also either running for election or running for reelection including Senate President Warren Peterson who's running for attorney general um and of course Governor Hobbes who's running for reelection. So that um that energy and that kind of uh dynamic is very apparent in the legislative process this year.

And also very interestingly, this is the first year since 2014 that Arizona doesn't have a federal ticket at the top of the race, whether it's a presidential or a senate or a senate special. So that really changes the political ecosystem because it brings revenue um into the state to support electoral work. So the dynamic is leaner um and the landscape is is very uh charged.

I also want to acknowledge here um the League of Cities and Towns for being our policy home in a lot of ways at the legislature that we work with pretty closely. Um in terms of legislative referrals, there are many. We have 10 referrals that are going before voters. Um this is a lot, but I wanted to just make sure and name it for you all since I'm sure you're going to be getting questions and engaging with constituents about it.

But we we would probably expect a two-page ballot again in November of this year. Um the first three uh were passed in uh 2025. So really what's new to us is seven referrals that came out of the legislature this session. Um I'll touch on a couple of them. HCR 2001 is an effort to reform um our democratic process and how we access vote by mail. It creates some new constraints around voting by mail. Um Representative Calin who's running for Secretary of State shepherd this forward.

Um, some have called this a mini save act, an Arizona save act. So, that's um coming to the ballot. There's also a referral relating to athletes using facilities related to their biological sex in in schools. Uh, there's a pretty sweeping anti-Dei referral and then moving into the education realm. A lot happened at the legislative session.

Uh on this one, there's a citizens initiative that's moving forward right now that you all are probably aware of, the protect education act, which is being led by Save Our Schools and the Arizona Education Association. And that effort would create some guard rails around ESA, which are commonly known as vouchers. Arizona has one of the most permissive voucher um programs in the state. Um so this effort would create some guard rails around that.

Uh in the 11th hour of the legislative session, um efforts to create a compromise, neutralize the citizens initiative by some folks um leading that and create a modest middle ground referral fell apart. And as such, several new referrals emerged that um are pretty tough on the education sector and on the labor sector. So there is one that caps administrative spending in school districts, particularly in our major counties of Maricopa and Puma.

Um there is one that limits union release time for teachers that um has actually sparked a lot of conversation among labor groups across the state because both police and fire unions have named that some of the language here is a bit broad. So there are um concerns that move beyond the education sector around how that could impact working um families and unions across the state. And then the third is uh HCR 2048 which is a military families referral to retain access to ECAs.

This is being characterized in the press as what's called a poison pill that would undercut an affirmative outcome on the protect education act. So, this is a lot that is being asked of voters to think about, but that's some context on the education piece. And then lastly, very relevant to this body is the photo enforcement conversation. There's a referral going to the ballot that is essentially forcing the hand of communities to opt in or out of asking voters to weigh in on photo enforcement.

Um and for cities that either have it or are open to having it, um folks need to the cities need to essentially take this to the voters in the next general election or that technology be banned. So it's really putting cities in a situation where you've got to make a move on that and that'll also come before voters in November. Um so that's a lot. I wanted to um acknowledge and thank um staff.

I've been doing a significant number of legislative debriefs with staff to get a feeling of how um we do intergovernmental relations at the city. How do we engage subject matter experts and making sure that we're weighing in on the right things at the legislature? Um I'll be doing legislative debriefs with all of you in the coming weeks and our contract lobbyists which will be post-election.

So, we'll get a chance to really see the landscape and deep dive more on the legislative session and any issues that you want to bring forward. Um, and I also wanted to thank you all for being at the legislature. Many of you made it up to the capital this year, um, in one way, shape, or form. And that really doesn't go unnoticed. Our lawmakers have appreciated that, and I think stakeholders see that, and so um, I encourage this body to continue building those, um, connections.

Um, so with that, I will wrap up my report. Thank you, um, Miss Dent. Really appreciate your incredible work. um during this legislative session and always I want to just recognize uh the incredible work that you did um behind the scenes and working that session making sure that Tucson came out uh at the best place possible considering this legislature.

Um, but I also wanted to let all of my colleagues know and you that um, all of the legislators had really good things to say about the work that you've done this season. And so I just wanted to make sure that you all know that we have an incredible and awesome um, uh, director of federal and state relations and she's doing amazing work.

I know that you're also getting us all ready for the Arizona Cities and Towns uh conference in which uh because of Miss Dent, we have several um sessions that we're going to present in especially we have water panels that she's helping us with affordable housing work that we're going to be doing. So, um really appreciate all the incredible work. Any questions, comments, observations, anything at all? Okay, Council Member Schubert, I'll make it super quick. Thank you so much.

Um, I just wanted to check in about any opportunities related to gun violence legislation. Um, is there anything that we can add to our city, state, or federal agenda in the upcoming year? Um, and did the city weigh in on any gun violence related legislation during the last session? Thank you. Uh, Council Member Schubert. So, there was quite a few bills that moved through in relation to gun violence.

Um, we didn't weigh in on them, but I think it's a real opportunity for us to look at the next legislative session and see how we want to um, make sure that one, we're reflecting that priority in the legislative agenda and making sure that that's prominent and and reflecting all of the good work around Safe City, but that we're also bringing those voices up to the capital. Thank you. All right. Thank you so much for the presentations, uh, Stephanie and Laura.

I appreciate the time and all of the incredible work that you do. All righty. So, I know that, um, um, our city attorney has some updates on Amicus that we are participating in. Thanks, Honorable Mayor. I just wanted to update the council. So, I know if I've updated them uh by email, but also uh I wanted to clarify for uh a couple of things.

One is um the city attorney's office on the advice of mayor and council did uh weigh in on a proposed rule change by the office of management budget for the United States um which would uh we think uh inappropriately interject um the uh administr administration's executive orders into the OMB process especially for grant making.

Uh, and I know the mayor and council has been clear about u our office uh litigating to the fullest extent um anything that might affect our federal grant uh uh position. Um so that uh grant that rule comment period just ended on Monday July 13th. So we're hoping to hear uh what the results of that rule making is and how we might uh continue to to litigate against those kinds of interferences.

Uh, and just also real quickly, we wanted I wanted to update you on uh the mayor and council's direction to um enter uh an amicus brief with our with our litigation partners uh on the Louis Louisiana vda um for Presstone um case at the fifth uh fifth circuit. Um we have uh we did intervene uh on on the uh initial request for a stay uh in that matter. We've also intervened now on the on the merits.

So, we're we're on an amicus brief on the merits so that so that our our voices will be heard in that case as well. Thank you. Thank you so much. Um Mr. Attorney, anything else? Okay, hearing none. We're moving on to item eight. Does anyone have any items to remove from the consent agenda for tonight's regular meeting? I know. Council member Schubert, you wanted to Yeah, that was item D. I wanted to pull just to make a few comments. And item 7G, the Donote um uh resolution. Any others? Right.

Hearing none, we move on to item nine. Does anyone have any future agenda items for today? Seeing none, um, study session is adjourned. I can't believe it. We're running a little early. So, we will have an hour and a half to take a little bit of a break, stretch our legs, do a walk, have a coffee, and then come back. We'll see each other here at 5:30. Think take a nap. You could do that, too. [laughter] We'll see you. Hey. Hey. Hey. Hey. [music] Hey, [music] hey hey. [music] Heat. [music] Heat.

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Hey. Hey. [music] Hey. Hey. Hey. [music] Happy heat. [music] Heat. [music] Heat. [music] [music] Heat. Heat. [music] Hey, hey, hey. [music] ing everyone. Thank you so much for attending the mayor and council meeting of Tuesday, July 21st. Uh we will now stand in session and we will have a roll call. Council member Cunningham uh here. Council member Dah here. Councilwoman Lee [snorts] here. Council member Barahas here. Council member Schubert here. Vice Mayor Santa Cruz absent excused.

Mayor Romero here. Before we go to item two, the city attorney will go over the rules of decorum for mayor and council meetings. Mr. Attorney. Thank you, honorable mayor. Arizona's open meeting laws provide that members of the public may attend and listen to the proceedings during tonight's public meeting of the mayor and council.

Arizona law also allows the mayor and council to enforce rules and procedures for public attendance of the meetings to ensure orderly behavior and to prevent unnecessary interference with the public meeting. Here are the rules that apply. The rules required to quorum and orderly conduct by the members of the audience.

No person attending the meeting shall engage in conduct that disrupts or otherwise impedes the orderly conduct of the meeting, including any statements or conduct that interrupts the persons who might be addressing the mayor and counsel or that disrupts the discussion of the mayor and counsel. The mayor has the authority to ensure compliance with the rules of orderly conduct.

If disorderly or disruptive conduct continues after a warning, and this is that first warning, the mayor may direct the removal of persons from the chambers and or recess the meeting itself. If disruptive behavior makes it necessary to clear the chambers, the persons who disrupted the meeting will not be allowed to return to the chambers for the remainder remainder of nights tonight's meeting.

As a final note, please be aware that interfering with or preventing this lawful public meeting from being carried out in an orderly manner not only violates the rules of participation but also violates title 13 of your Arizona revised statutes. Thank you, Mr. Attorney. And then now we move on to item two, invocation, pledge of allegiance, and appointments to boards, committees, and commissions.

We will start uh we will start today with a land acknowledgement and then go to the pledge of allegiance. Um let us begin by grounding ourselves and acknowledging these lands. The city of Tucson is on the lands that have been stewarded by the Otam since time in memorial and the Pascoyaki people who have lived in the Sonoron Desert for thousands of years. Please rise for the pledge of allegiance of America and to the republic for it stands one nation indivisible with liberty and justice for all.

Thank you so much. Item 2D appointments to boards committees and commissions. City managers communication number 200 dated July 21st is received into and made part of the rep record. May I have a motion to approve the appointments and the report? So moved. Second.

There's a motion and a second to approve the appointments of Elaine McFersonson to the Commission on Equitable Housing and Development, Lucy Howell to the Pimac County Tucson Women's Commission, and reappointments of Darby Davis to the landscape advisory committee, and Anne Lopez to the Public Art and Community Design Committee. I would like to thank you for your willingness to serve the city of Tucson. Um, any further discussion on this? Uh, hearing none.

All those in favor, please signify by saying I. I. I. Any [snorts] against? Motion carries. Are there any personal appointments to be made at this time? Seeing none, we move on to item three. Mayor and council report, summary of current events. City managers communication number 2011 dated July 21st is received into and made part of the record. This time has been scheduled to allow members of the mayor and council to report on current events.

These are to be current events of activities within the community, not position statements on policy issues. Um, I know some of my colleagues have uh some uh statements, but I I would really want to start our uh summary of current events by uh making a statement on the horrific events of this weekend, the shooting in our downtown. Um, as your mayor, one of the most important things that I can do is to keep our community safe.

Um, last Sunday, Tucson experienced another serious and sensous act of gun violence. I'm horrified. I'm sad. I'm mad. And I know that events like these have a lasting and negative effect on our sense of safety in our community. I want to offer my sincere gratitude to our police officers, our firefighters, our 911 call takers, the medical professionals who helped care for the victims. I want to thank our county attorney and her staff that joined uh the scene immediately.

I want to thank the downtown Tucson partnership, Rio Noevo, for their support uh to pay for additional police officers on week nights in our downtown. I want to thank our community members who helped in the incident and everyone who is supporting the people who were impacted by this tra tragedy. Our downtown is safe. Our downtown is filled with activity and vibrancy.

It is the heart of our city and in spite of events like what happened on Sunday, we all need to rally around our local businesses, especially those downtown. We need to keep working together to keep ourselves and each other safe.

I'm grateful to Crystal Moore at the Downtown Tucson Partnership and TPD who have been working for months for months to plan a training for our downtown businesses that'll be occurring tomorrow to work on violence prevention, deescalation, preparedness, and working together to make our sure downtown remains a place where people can gather, work, play, and enjoy our beautiful city. There the there are actions all of us can take as well.

As policymakers, we need to continue to push our state and federal governments to do their parts in providing funding for the work that the city of Tucson mayor and council and our police department are doing. Uh we also need our families and our parents uh grandparents and parental figures to talk to their kids about not solving their problems with violence and guns. We need our schools, libraries, houses of worship to lean into teaching deescalation skills.

Most importantly, working together, we can do so much more. So I ask our community to stand together. Um this is something that not only mayor and council uh should be focused on but all of us can do together. So um thank you to all that acted bravely especially our police officers, our firefighters um and all those that helped on the scene um Sunday morning. With that, I invite my colleagues on the council uh to add to summary of current events. I'll start with council member Schubert.

[clears throat] Thank you, Madame Mayor. Um, honorable members of the council. Um, I'd like to open uh my current event report at this meeting by reading the statement that was issued um by the Ward One Office of Vice Mayor Santa Cruz as well as the W 6 office. Um, we've released this statement on our social media accounts and we'll also have it in our Friday newsletter. Our hearts are with the victims, their loved ones, and every person who witnessed this horrific act.

We are wishing everyone affected a full recovery, including access to the mental health care and support that will be essential in the days and months ahead. We are deeply grateful to the Tucson police officers, firefighters, paramedics, and all first responders who ran toward the danger, rendered immediate aid, and acted quickly to stop the suspected shooter before even more lives were harmed. Their swift response undoubtedly prevented an even greater tragedy.

and their quick responses due in part to the fact that Tucson invests in a dedicated TPD presence downtown on weekend nights. We also want to acknowledge the downtown businesses, employees, residents, and visitors whose sense of safety was shaken by this violence. Downtown is the heart of our two wards and a place where people should be able to gather, celebrate, work, and enjoy our city without fear. The person responsible for this shooting must be held fully accountable.

But accountability cannot stop with one individual. Tucson's leaders have tried repeatedly to act on gun safety. And each time the state legislature has preempted us, stripping cities of the power to protect our own residents. Congress refuses to pass even the most basic reforms most Americans support. Our community pays the price for their inaction.

As the council members whose wards include downtown Tucson, we will continue using every tool available to us to reduce gun violence, invest in evidence-based violence prevention, support our first responders, and advocate for policies that will help prevent tragedies like this from happening again. Thank you. And then moving on to the rest of my current event report. Um we wanted to acknowledge the artists behind our summer stampede program at the W 6 office.

Um we added some new stamps this week. Watch for even more to come next week. This is a program designed to activate our public spaces and get people out into the community. Um, so we just wanted to acknowledge um Ian Crombi who's been an integral part of the summer stampede designing multiple stamps as well as the um beautiful golden passport booklets we used to collect them.

We're so grateful to Ian for his hard work and creative designs that highlight major areas of ward 6 including Himmel Park, Toby the Griffin, the turtle pond, snake bridge, Reed Park, Duck Pond, and Malvin Plaza. Alexa Salazar designed our stamp for the Catalina pool where she is a regular swimmer and chose to honor Billy Sassy, an immigrant who dedicated 40 years to the parks and recreation department and trained many of our city's lifeguards.

As a reminder, the Catalina pool is free for everyone through August 1st. Colin Holmes designed a stamp to honor a hidden gem in the Garden District neighborhood, a keychain library and rock garden started by longtime resident Judy Auststerme. When you visit to get your stamp, feel free to bring a painted rock to add to the collection. Heather Free is a neighbor of the Broadmore Broadway Village neighborhood and chose to highlight the community's beloved poetry mailbox.

Hidden on the street walkway, the poetry mailbox has been a longtime neighborhood project, offering a unique space for thought and connection. Janet Miller is a multifaceted artist who has longtime been a supporter of stamp scavenger hunts, leading her own in 2013 alongside Clovia. She provided designs for the Blendman Elm Butterfly Garden, Rolph Skate Park, Postal History Foundation, Inc., Tucson Bird Alliance, Uova's Moon Tree, and Southern Arizona Transportation Museum.

Lawrence Willie is a Colonia Delva resident who chose to highlight the urban animals who love to who love we love who appreciate and thrive in the green space of Lomma Verde Park. For humans, this eastside park offers a playground, frisbee golf, and nearby community garden, and the city is in the process of drafting up plans to build a better connection to the space via the Alamo Wash Greenway.

Lex Jurassic's work, as some you have probably seen around town, as she's worked with the Southern Arizona Arts Foundation to paint some of the utility boxes downtown. Her work bursts with often uh her work bursts with flowers and colors, so of course we had to highlight her with a stamp at the Tucson Botanical Gardens. Monique Lairway designed the stamp for UOVA's ENR2 building, spotlighting urban wildlife that we grow accustomed to, and we sometimes forget their unique beauty.

As a result, her hummingbird stamp sits at the ENR2C seed library, which is another special place in the W 6 community. And finally, I want to acknowledge our own W 6 intern, Jolina, who made a stamp um for summer fund by highlighting the Catalina Park splash pad. Uh it's not out yet, but it will be released soon. And in closing, um I wanted to provide an update about the W 6 chill space, a aka our cooling center that we are operating out of the kitchen of the W 6 office.

As of last week, we've had 661 total visits um over the past 7 weeks with an average of four return visits per guest. Uh we're happy that people are seeing this as a valuable welcoming resource center that they feel comfortable returning to. We're currently offering eight different services. Top services used by visitors are housing outreach assistance from the city of Tucson and Pima County, followed by health support offered by El Rio.

And we're still seeing an average of five firsttime visitors a day. Um, so word is continuing to spread. And then in closing, I wanted to shout out water waste in Tucson water. A constituent says, "Please convey my appreciation to the staff members that respond to water waste submissions on 311. My submission was resolved by the next day." It was not the first time either. I've probably submitted half a dozen or more and each time there has been a prompt resolution. So, thank you so much.

That in concludes my current event report. Thank you, council member. Council member Vargas. Thank you, Mayor. Well, good evening everyone. I have a few updates I would like to share this evening. Before I begin, I would like to extend my heartfelt condolences, my heartfelt condolences to the to the mother, Bernardet, the family, and loved ones of 29-year-old Ernesto Oh, who tragically lost his life after being swept away by monsoon flood waters on July 17th.

Our thoughts are with his family during this difficult time. I would also like to acknowledge the tragic shooting that occurred downtown. As somebody born and raised here in Tucson, it hurts to see this happening to my hometown. My thoughts are with the victims, their families, and everyone impacted by the senseless act of violence.

I want to thank the Tucson Police Department, Tucson Fire Department, the community members, and local businesses that stepped up to help, and the dedicated staff at Banner who provided emergency care. As mayor and council, we remain committed to working together to help our community feel safe through strong public safety partnerships, proactive prevention efforts, and continued support for the first responders and our community partners.

These last few weeks have been filled with historic groundbreings and ribbon cutings in our Tucson community. On July 8th, we celebrated the ribbon cutting of the new Southside Public Safety Complex just down the way from our office here at W 5.

This new facility brings together the Tucson Police Department, Southside Substation, and Tucson Fire Department, Station 10 under one roof, creating a shared home that will strengthen collaboration, improve response time, and enhance the services our residents rely on every day. I would like to congratulate everyone who helped make this vision a reality. Thank you to you all the voters who supported the Tucson delivers safer city initiative.

To the construction teams who built this facility and the dedicated members of Tucson Police Department, Tucson Fire Department, city leadership and staff and community leaders who made this possible, this project possible.

As we prepare for a new school year, I would like to wish all the students who are here in the room and who are listening, teachers, staff, and families in both Tucson Unified School District and Sunnyside Unified School District a wonderful and successful 2026 2027 school year. I hope everyone has a safe, exciting, and productive year. To help students start the school year right, our office will be delivering a limited number of backpacks to each school located within Ward 5.

It's a small way to support our students, teachers, and families as they begin another year of learning and growth. We wish everyone a fantas fantastic school year. I would like to invite everyone to join us for our next lunch meetup with Ward 5. I will be alongside my staff at Alaco Rustiko located at 18:30 South Park Avenue on Friday, this Friday, July 24th, from 12 to 1:30 p.m. Let's come out and support owner Chef Juan Almansa and his family.

Chef Juan began his journey with the food stand at the Tona Atam Swap Meet before opening his first Alakaco location on North Oracle Road. Today, we're excited to celebrate his second location here in Ward 5. We would love for the community to come out and support his local business during this ongoing construction in the area. Parking is limited, so please plan accordingly or consider taking Sunran Route 25 along South Park Avenue.

Whether you stop by to pick up an order to go or stay and sit down for lunch, it's a great opportunity to connect with neighbors, share ideas, and support one of our Ward 5 small businesses. I hope to see many of you there. At Sanorita Park, we're continuing to see exciting progress in addition to the ongoing improvements. Beautiful new public artwork is being installed thanks to art the arts foundation, bringing history, culture, and community pride to this important neighborhood space.

I look forward to seeing the project continue to take shape and hopefully reopen sometime this fall. Finally, I'm excited that we're moving forward with a 7 million federally funded pro housing initiative grant, the intergovernmental agreement between the city, Pima County, Housing and Community Development, Planning, Development Services, and Arches at the University of Arizona. I would like to also acknowledge my chief of staff, Manisha BHA, who helped craft this grant during her time at HCD.

This grant is an important step toward addressing Tucson's housing needs by helping reduce regulatory and process barriers to building housing while lowering the cost of developing affordable housing. It's a great example of what strong partnerships can accomplish and I look forward to the positive impact this investment will have throughout our community. Thank you. Councilwoman Lee, no announcements. Council member D. Thank you, Mayor. Amazingly, it's back to school time.

It's not even August here, but already one school district uh is in session. So, it's time to help kids with backpacks. And there's lots of programs doing this. In Ward 3, we're going to be at the Marty Birdman Center, 2536 North Castro on uh July 31st from 5:00 to 7:00 p.m. with free backpacks and uh school supplies. Now, teachers need help, too. And I'm not going to get into the policy that requires us to be helping students and teachers rather than funding education the way it should be.

But there's a great nonprofit called Treasures for Teachers that provide lowcost or free materials that teachers need in the classroom. And you can um contribute even if you don't give them money. Teachers are inventive. They use things like bottle caps, um, baby food jars, coffee cans, egg cartons, and rather than throwing those away or trying to recycle them, you can take them to treasures for, uh, for teachers.

Finally, if you're new to town and are thinking about schooling, there is a nonprofit, my school tucson.org, org that provides information e um makes it easier to find out the school district that you're living in, what the deadlines are, when what what's the timetable, and other options you might have in education. Thank you, mayor. That's my announcement today. Thank you, council member.

Council member Cunningham, [cough] just uh first about the thing, Saturday, I talked to the business owner and I think we're lucky that none of the employees were were were harmed. I think it's important that we acknowledge the idea that um we had some folks that were physically harmed, but we also had some folks that were emotionally traumatized and uh we should commit ourselves, the community, to backing them.

Also, a shout out to the first responders, both police and fire, who uh uh basically managed the scene and what could have been much much worse. So, uh I have a statement online as well. I just didn't want to read the whole thing after this long deal. Um, for the third time in six years, the Tucson Sugar Skulls have made the playoffs. And I know it's a a different tiered sport, and we've been watching World Cup.

We've doing all this other stuff, but the Tucson Sugar Schools are owned by a collective of 15 Tucson locals. Uh, they've they've given us something uh that's a little niche here in Tucson. It's it's got a nice little group that goes. We've had uh they've had three or 4 thousand people at the at some of their games and they've made the playoffs. And here's the interesting thing. On August 16th, we're actually hosting the uh indoor bowl. We're we're hosting the bowl game.

Uh which is something fortunate. You know, we've had a couple um misses this year. our baseball, we had a local baseball franchise and uh we couldn't get visas for the players on the opposing teams and we were supposed to host a World Cup team and we couldn't get visas for them to host the team. So, we've had some of our sports commerce things fall through. So, I hope that u uh the sugar schools and the the bowl game that we're hosting is a success. So, I wish them all the success uh there.

The other thing is back to school bashes. Uh there's robust programs. Uh, Council Member Dah mentioned it. There are robust programs throughout the city where you can get school supplies for your child uh at very low cost or no cost. Uh, and you should check. There's a Caref Fair, there's back to school bash. Uh, I think there's three of them on the east side. And, uh, we'll get some more information out on the website for all the specifics.

But, uh, yeah, believe it or not, for a lot of people, school starts in 2 weeks. I really don't like to think about that because my the 17-year-old kid in me dreads that day. So anyway, uh thanks. That's the end of my report. Thank you, council member. And I forgot to say at the beginning, but if you are a registered voter and you did not vote, you have one hour exactly to go find your polling location and vote.

Uh it's a beautiful thing that we have as citizens of this country to be able to practice our right to vote. So one more hour you can leave and it'll be okay. [laughter] Um but thank you all so much. I'm not I'm not inviting you to leave. Just just saying if you want to vote, you still have an hour. Item four, city manager report, summary of current events. City manager's communication number 202 dated July 21st is received into and meet part of the record.

This time has been scheduled to allow the city manager to report on current events. Mr. Manager. Thank you, honorable mayor and members of the council. One item for tonight. It might take me a a moment to say it, but um I'm going to add my voice to all of your thanks to our police and fire and 911 operators. And I've asked for a a list that I can um read to you of all of the units that responded to the shooting event from Sunday morning.

We've talked about how there were 20 officers, t two CSOs and five sergeants and a force commander that were on site from TPD already before the incident occurred. These are the officers from operations division west, downtown district squads 30 and 40, and both operations division west community response teams. This was augmented by offduty officers hired through the downtown violence reduction and Ronstat transit center programs and the onduty force commander.

Those numbers were supplemented as soon as the calls went out through our 911 operators, our police dispatchers, and our fire dispatchers. Additional officers came out to the scene from every patrol division in our city. Tucson Fire Department there and and a couple of our neighbors. We had 27 total units from 12 stations. This included from Tucson Fire.

Battalion one, executive captain one, engine one, engine two, ladder one, paramedic one, paramedic 3, paramedic 4, engine 6, battalion 4, executive captain 4, engine 3, ladder 4, paramedic 8, paramedic 10, paramedic 15, paramedic 45, rescue 8, rescue 10, paramedic 7, staff duty officer 1, and battalion 1A. We in addition had one unit dispatched from Northwest Fire and four units from AMR which is the private ambulance company that provides backup service for us.

That was 27 total units from 12 stations. All of that coordinated through our 911 operators, police and fire dispatchers. So for my team members that were involved, thank you for all of your service. For those of you that were on site already, we appreciate you. You stopped things from getting worse than they were and you immediately rendered aid that saved lives. And for all of the units that responded from across the city, both police, fire, and 911. Thank you. That's what I have.

Mayor, thank you. Really appreciate it. Item five, liquor license applications. City manager communication number 203 dated July 21st is received into and part of the record. Madame Clerk, please read the liquor license agenda. Your honor, on the evening's agenda, we have five applications for new licenses and seven applications for a special event. All applications are in compliance with city requirements.

An appropriate motion would be to forward items 5B 1-5 and 5C 1-7 to the state liquor board with a recommendation of approval. So move. There's a motion and a second. Any further discussion? Hearing none. All those in favor, please indicate by saying I. I. Any against? Motion carries. Item six, call to the audience. Uh, madame clerk, please read the announcement.

At this time, any member of the public is allowed to address the mayor and council on any issue except items scheduled for a public hearing at this meeting. Call the audience will last for 30 minutes and speakers are limited to three-minute presentations. The green light will turn on when you're called to speak. It will turn yellow when you have 30 seconds remaining and it will turn red and beep when your time is up. At that time, please conclude your comments.

And we have a little bit of a stack of um of pe uh people wanting to speak. So, if you can keep it really concise and keep it to three minutes, we can go through all of the speakers. Our first speaker is JD Wallace. We're having a little bit of technical difficulties trying to connect the timer so that we can keep it at 3 minutes. Just one second. JD, take a second. Good. All righty. Okay, we're ready. Good evening, mayor and council.

I'm JD Wallace, a Tucson resident and retained speaker for Tucson Electric Power at 88 East Broadway downtown with some updates on how we're working to remain a trusted energy provider. We've welcomed the return of the monsoon and have been answering the challenges dealt by its storms. A week ago, Saturday, storm damage left 11,000 customers without power.

By 7:30 the following Sunday morning, that outage number was down to 350 with seven poles either blown down or damaged requiring replacement, potentially more. On uh Sunday night, storms took 4,400 customers out of service. All but 80 were restored by the following Monday with a handful of poles needing replacement. And then on Monday night, 6,400 customers experienced outages. They were restored within an hour, though, by rerouting power.

and all of those affected were restored by the following Tuesday. Approximately 55,000 TE customers have private solar systems and about 6,500 of them are located within the city limits. For customers considering rooftop solar or energy storage, we now have a qualified installer program to help them get started. It's strictly a research tool and does not guarantee contractor performance.

But those on the list have an active solar license through the Arizona registar of contractors, an active goodstanding registration with the Arizona Corporation Commission, have o operated under the same license and business name for at least 36 months, and have completed training on our solar price plants. Find the list on te.com. These [snorts] summer months are the time of highest demand for our customers and their cooling needs.

And while we do not shut off customers for non-payment during the summer moratorum, we're making sure they know about a variety of resources that can help them pay their bills. We've shared Power A with the media and in public outreach. Power A is a statewide fund from the Department of Economic Security that offers relief to working families and others who might not qualify under other assistance programs.

TE also offers all customers the opportunity to round their bill up to the nearest dollar or another amount they're comfortable with. That's called the HERO program. The money goes to the Salvation Army for bill assistance. From June through October, we're matching those donations up to $50,000 in the summer from cor from our corporate resources, not from rateayer funds. The Hero began in 2011 and has raised more than $2 million.

Our customer service representatives offer a variety of options for our customers from bill management to payment assistance. and from the state's lowincome home energy assistance program that's called lie heap as well as to our own lifeline monthly discount program. Please send any constituents with questions our way to either te.com or to our customer service representatives. Thank you all for your time this evening. Thank you. Our next speaker is Kevin Lucenville. Good evening.

My name is Kevin Luckenill. I'm a longtime resident of Tucson and these statements are a reflection of myself, not any other company or individual. Um, what I'm speaking about today or like to address is the fact that it's been decided to change a mountain fireworks to a drone show. So founding father, second US President John Adams believed Independence Day would be celebrated by succeeding generations and should be commemorated with pomp parades and fireworks.

Every year thousands upon thousands of people gather for this celebration and observe and watch the fireworks that take place on a mountain. So I've been a resident for over two or Tucson for over 48 years. My parents used to take me to watch these fireworks. Now, in the early 2000s, I began working with the company that conducts this fireworks display. And in 2019, I was asked to do a mountains fireworks. And my team and I have done it every year since besides 2020 for COVID.

You know, I understand what was stated in the Arizona Daily Star about dangers with fire and safety and that Paul Cunningham referenced a fire from 2017. That was over nine years ago. But we have not had a single fire since on a mountain because of the measures taken. A mountain is a secured controlled environment, very specific time limit. But what is not is all the neighborhood fireworks that take place.

We have a great vantage point from up on a mountain to observe all the fireworks that take place in and around the city. We observed several fires start before we even started our show. Um, Tucson Fire, Tucson Police, they're underst staffed. They're overworked. We understand that. I have reports here from Tucson Fire Department. Let's pick a random day of July 7th from 8:00 a.m. till 8:00 a.m. the next morning. There were 36 incidents or callouts for fire related incidents.

On that 24-hour period on July 4th, there were 117 callouts for fire related incidents from Tucson Fire. reasonable to assume most of those probably were from fireworks. But you know what? None of those came from a mountains fireworks because of the measures that Tucson Fire takes, city of Tucson takes, we take as the company and individuals ourselves. And [clears throat and cough] you know, we did not Tucson Fire informed me that we did not start any fires again this year.

And we're very proud of that. So, we do fully recognize and respect people with PTSD and animals. Again, our show starts at a specific time. It goes for a specific time. What is mayor and council going to do about the neighborhood fireworks instead of just cancing our show, which is very structured and specific. Lastly, I'd like to state, you know, drones, they do some pretty cool things. I understand that.

I wish I had more to speak, but before you arbitrarily make the decision, it'd be nice if you came up and saw what we did. Thank you, sir. I appreciate you being here. Patricia Barrell, my name is Patricia Bowly. I'm a longtime resident of Tucson, city of Tucson, and I'm here to speak about um a potential reme remedy for a previous honore um not applauded and also for um uh thanks to the bus drivers for continuing um continuing service.

Um during a previous Tucson City Council meeting on or about October 8th, 2025, Mayor Romero honored numerous Girl Scouts. The first girl who was honored that evening happened to be a young darkkinned girl who unfortunately didn't receive any applause, though all the others seemed to receive lots of applause.

I personally feel very guilty and ashamed for not applauding that young girl scout honory that evening and for taking so long to raise this issue in front of Mayor Rome and the other members of Tucson City Council.

The reason I unfortunately didn't personally applaud for that young Girl Scout who deserved applause that evening is because I had read that the Tucson City Council's rules prohibiting interruption include disciplinary action which included being excluded from Tucson City Council's meetings. Instead, I wanted to increase the likelihood that I would be able to speak during the call to the audience.

So that evening, as well as all the other evenings I've attended, I've only applauded after someone else has initiated the applause with the exception of during the c of the audience when there seems to be more pause between different speakers. Thus, I am asking Mayor Rome and Tucson City Council to consider creating some kind of appropriate remedy for that young Girl Scout honory who unfortunately didn't receive any applause um if not already provided.

Unfortunately, I've already ex I've experienced much difficulty trying to attend other Tucson City Council meetings to try to speak on this topic. Although I haven't been employed for a long time and have gratefully been receiving social security disability income, my own personal schedule has been extremely busy with having to commute via public transportation combined with much difficulties walking to my several exercise classes at Army Park Senior Center.

all my mental health and physical health mental medical appointments often time often five times a week including physical therapy all my grocery shopping and having to do all my errands such as replacing my keys etc that I've lost three times twice outside and once inside also and also my wallet most recently to attend Tucson City Council meetings and or Puma County Board of Supervisor meetings I've had to sacrifice either muchneeded counseling sessions or muchneeded wellness group in addition to a hearing voices group that I've attended via telephone in addition On Monday morning of June 22nd, my personal desktop computer died without my being able to access any files since then.

Um although I am very grateful that my husband is willing to try to see if he can remedy my computer, at least temporarily, my computer desk is a catastrophe that has been so overwhelming for me to try to clean out for my husband access my computer. So in the meantime, I've had to engage in very time-consuming commutes to attempt to access a computer at a public library.

Also, I want to thank the Sunshan drivers much for continuing bus service when contract negotiations were still ongoing and for not striking. So many of us tonians depend upon public transportation for so much. Thank you for your attention. Thank you so much Britney Aldrich. Honor mayor, honor mayor and council. I wanted to share a few things about Carlos Delator, our recent environmental services director whose last day was Friday, July 17th.

A few weeks ago, he announced to the department he was resigning. With this notice, a somber change occurred in for many of us throughout the department. Tears filled co-workers eyes. Office doors were shut so they can cope with the news privately. It was a shock to say the least. For me, I couldn't believe it. Since the m moment Carlos started, I have personally worked side by side with him since day one.

Initially, when he came on board, I was a little skeptical about this new director, a change from the previous one. But as time went on, I learned to work with him, almost to the point where I could predict what he needed during meetings, and we built trust in one another. As years passed, I saw Carlos not just as a director, but as a friend.

I valued his input and his perspective on things, the outward way he solved problems and was always um intrigued by how smart he is and the wealth of knowledge he had on all topics. Not only did Carlos bring change to our department at difficult points, navigating the city's budget restraints and changes from the China's national sword, but he also brought heart to the office. Carlos wasn't just the director who stayed in the corner office, delegated work, and kept to himself. He was present.

He was involved. He participated. He was a part of a family you surround yourself with for 40 to 50 hours a week. He valued the work every staff member did. He advocated for us when there was red tape. He didn't just show up for photo op. He ops opportunity. He was boots on the ground. He worked many staff events, the zero waste event, um team up. He participated in team up to cleanup events and he was dedicated to our drivers for our rodeo competition events.

It has been upsetting to see so much change throughout the city, especially when hardworking, dedicated employees leave, it hurts the organization. When that knowledge leaves and you no longer have that longevity, Carlos has been one of the longest standing directors or department directors that the city has seen in the past 10 years. And he would have given another 10 years if it was under different direct leadership.

and I wanted to take the time to acknowledge what an honor it has been to work with him and I wish him the best on his new career p path. Thank you. Thank you, Miss Aldridge. Uh Chris Yarter. Uh good evening, honorable mayor and council members. My name is Chris Yarter. I've lived in the city of Tucson for 56 years. It's where I went to college. It's where I got married and where I raised my sons. I'm chair of the environmental services advisory committee.

And all committee members are volunteers. Here is some history that I do not want mayor and counsel and the city manager's office to forget. Carlos Elator was the director of ESD until July 17th, 2026, which was his last day after resigning from ESD. I'm standing at this podium to remind Mayor and council about the amount of responsibility Carlos took on when he was appointed by Sen um city manager Ortega.

Not only was he in charge of the Los Rialis landfill, city manager Ortega added general services to ESD. This was a major addition of personnel, totally different from running trash and recycling pickup and managing a landfill. Then the failing PDSD code enforcement was moved to his supervision and they finally had offices at the Thomas Oo Price Center where EGSD offices were located. Code enforcement had a skeleton crew. Inspectors had no computer tablets. They needed trucks and uniforms.

EGSD found the money and outfitted them, assigning temporary help to catch up with the 1,400 cases they were behind. In addition to all of this, TE gave 5 years notice that they would no longer take the landfill gas to their power generating station. And now ESD has to figure out what to do with the gas and that is still not settled.

Um the city council changed the name of our old Los Rialis landfill to the Los Rialis sustainability campus with the goal of zero waste and developed a plan to get there. Carlos and his staff jumped right in.

They had to deal with the volatility of commodity markets, continued improvements in MURF contamination rates, expansion and stabilization of food cycle at home, and the green waste diversion programs, the Bifusion facility construction that was just finished, equipment modernization and recruitment efforts, especially after COVID pandemic. and now planning for long-term landfill gas utilization and infrastructure invested.

I want all of you to know that Carlos Deator was supported and appreciated and the staff valued him. In closing, I would like everyone to hear what ESAC committee member Fred Arisa wrote to me this morning. The departure of Carlos deour was his position with city environmental services deeply saddens me but I feel he leaves the department with a strong legacy always striving for quality confidence and expertise. Missard your your three minutes are over.

Um but you can finish you can finish I'd appreciate it your thought but I mean you have to do it right right now. Okay. [snorts] [sighs] Okay, thanks for listening. Thank you. Uh, Shay Heslop, I believe it is Shay or Sha has Shay. Good evening, mayor and council members. My name is Shay Hesup, and I'm here tonight on behalf of multiple neighbors in the Hedrickk Acres neighborhood.

And my late 93year-old mother owns a house in the Hedrickk Acres neighborhood near the private easement between Park Avenue and Sanorita Avenue. For several years, my mother's property has been repeatedly targeted by homeless individuals and criminals using this easement as a pathway to our neighborhood. This [snorts] is not an isolated incident. It is an ongoing public safety crisis.

Since May of 2025, we have experienced multiple breakins, trespassing incidents, attempted burglaries, vandalism, property damage, drug use on the property, and theft related activity. Homeless individuals have climbed over walls, attempted to enter the home, broken into storage buildings, damaged gates, covered security cameras, and left behind fentinel foil, drug paraphernelia, trash, and even human waste.

The documented repairs cost alone exceed $3,000, and that does not include the most devastating loss. On June [snorts] 5th of this year, potential buyers walked away from purchasing my mother's home after seeing homeless individuals passed out against the storage shed on the property. The sale price was $416,000. The closing was set for June 10th. The neighbor behind my mother's house lost his sale when a buyer saw a homeless guy passed out on the sidewalk right in front of the house.

I've spent months working the proper channels. I contacted Ward 3, obtained petition forms, gathered signatures of all the neighbors, attended meetings, and personally walked the alleyway with council member Kevin Dah and city staff. During that walk, everyone agreed that gates at both entrances of the private easement would be an appropriate solution.

After several months, the gates were finally approved and Ward 3 said in their letter that the neighbors needed to pay for the gates to close the easement because there were no funds available. Meanwhile, on the block next to our block, they have received monetary assistance from the city close to similar easements and they have installed the gates at Uklid and Tindle. Our block deserves the same consideration and the same level of protection.

And here we are months later with no gates, no solution, and continued criminal activity. This issue is no longer just about property damage. It is about the safety of residents, many of them who are elderly. My mom was 93 years old when she lived in that home. Okay? No senior citizen should have to live in fear of strangers or climbing over walls, checking doors, or attempting to break into their property.

I'm asking the mayor and council tonight to prioritize this closure and gating of this easement before someone is seriously injured. In the last break-in, my alarm company dispatched the police to my mother's house. And when I arrived at the house, and this was on June 16th, no police were on the premise. I entered the house by myself, hoping there was nobody inside. I had my gun, my taser with me, and I secured the house on my own. The police were dispatched at 9:30 a.m.

They showed up at 6:00 p.m. My parents moved in this house in 1970. We grew up here. I'm a 68-year-old native of Tucson. And ever since 1970 when we moved into that house, they've had allow access to Tucson Water and Tucson Electric Power and utility companies that need access using the side of the house to get to the easement. For this reason, I'm requesting the same courtesy to be given to us.

I do not want to close that area with the fence so I can cut the homeless traffic by the house because that will hinder the ability for the utility companies to do their work. The residents of Hedrickk Acres have waited long enough. We need action. We need compassion. No more delays. Thank you for your time and consideration. And thank you Tucson Police Department for doing what you guys do, especially being understaffed. Thank you, sir. Thank you. Thank you.

We will make sure that the city manager's office follows up on your request. Robert Royce. [clears throat] I came prepared to do a presentation to promote my Jefferson party petition for next year's city of C council elections, but I'm going to put that off for another time. First of all, directly to the mayor, how dare you tell the people of this city that downtown is safe less than 72 hours after nine people were shot mere months after a person was hatcheted to death at a bus stop.

That's fiction. Tell you're telling people downtown is safe is fiction. It is not. But the city would be there' be a greater sense of order in our city if you would actually enforce the laws that you passed some months back. You passed a ordinance banning solicitation in the medians. People are still doing it. I don't give pe money to people in the medians because 90% of the money goes for drugs and all I'm doing is expediting these people's death if I give them money.

But even beyond that, when I get in my automobile, I have four goals. Number one, not to hit another human being. Number two, not to cause an accident. Number three, not to have an accident, even if it's somebody else's fourth fault. And beyond that, my fourth goal is to actually get where I'm going and do what I got in the car to do. So when there's people in the medians juggling, demanding attention, getting close to my car, begging, that is a safety issue for me.

My first priority is to drive with 100% attention, which can't be done when people [clears throat] are in the median demanding my attention. [clears throat] Number two, another issue is some years back you passed an ordinance that construction companies could only close lanes adjacent to their work up until they close for business for the day and then they're to take the obstructions down and open up the lane. This law is never enforced.

[clears throat] Recently, Crayoft for the right lane and craycraftoft at Glenn was closed for months continuously in direct contradiction to a law that you now there's only three of us in this room that were actually in the room when the ordinance was passed. But now you passed a ordinance demanding steep fees for construction companies to close a lane.

You wouldn't need to be demanding steep fees from construction companies if they were made aware of the law as it stands at this moment and it was enforced. So once again, when you pass ordinances, you must enforce them or it cuts down on your credibility and people do not take you seriously. Thank you. All right. And our last speaker is Amir Korsby, I believe. Quirsqu hold up timer. Make sure I'm on this too. What up?

My name is Ommer and I'm someone who was actually present during the shooting. So, not on the scene, but I was actually helping out a friend of mine because she lost her phone at IBTS and I had to sit down with another friend. I basically was able to check in on Empire, which was the place where the shooter happened. And another one of my friends is currently working with someone who was there at the shootings, whose friends are currently in critical condition.

But the thing that I want to bring out that I quickly noticed through all of this process is people fundamentally don't trust you, which of course you're a politician, but a lot of them are young kids who are like 18, 19, 20. Some of them, let's be honest, are straight up sneaking into bars.

And a lot of them basically grew up uh watching a lot of Tik Tok reels, a lot of Instagram reels of just basically about how cops shoot people, how they'll bust everything in, how basically they'll do anything. So, it kind of to extend its point, it's not that kid, it's not that laws aren't enforced, it's that people don't know what laws are going to be enforced against them. that the cops are actually going to protect them.

I do know a lot of the cops here, they have to take certain steps and procedures, but the fact is they don't have the a lot of kids are coming in from California from around the world largely to a party school to do drugs. They have offered me drugs. That's beside the point. But the point that I want to get at is this. What we need is a more than a police force, a peace force. And for that I would offer the following suggestions.

One, not just a bunch of tough cops like this, but nice ones that can sit down at different street corners. Offer things like clean needle, narcan, and water. You can come talk to them. You can develop that trust. And above all else, let kids know that we know you're going to make mistakes. We don't want you to die from making mistakes because a lot of them are still trying to find their way through life.

And that's sometimes why they come to college to figure out how to make mistakes, but then also that they can recover, that they have resources, that basically the cops aren't going to burst down their neck. I literally had to call the cops for a kid who was actively being threatened. What's going on is a lot of the kids don't think that you guys are here to actually serve them, to protect them, and make sure that they're actually going to be well and well taken care of.

Having that type of outreach, having those types of resources, it is what's necessary for a lot of those people and why a lot of them are still struggling right now. Thank you very much. Thank you. That was our last speaker and we move on to item seven, consent agenda. Reports from the city manager on the consent agenda are received into and made part of the record. Madame clerk, you are requested to read the consent agenda.

Upon no objection for mayor and councel, items D and G will be removed from the consent agenda and addressed separately as discussed during today's study session. Item 7 A, approval of minutes. Item 7B, Fiber to the premise license agreement for use of public right ofway. Weird connect wired connect LLC project. Item 7 C, financial participation agreement with Arts Foundation for Tucson and Southern Arizona for fiscal year 2027. Item 7E, acceptance of award funding for OJJDP fiscal year 25.

Strategies to support children exposed to violence grant program. Item 7F, intergovernmental agreement with Puma County for the incarceration of city prisoners for fiscal year 2027. All righty. May I have a motion from my council colleagues, please? Mayor, I move to adopt the items on the consent agenda. There's a motion. There's a motion and a second. Any further discussion? Hearing none, we do have to go to roll call. Council member Dah I. Council member Schubert I. Council member Braas I.

Councilwoman Lee I. Council member Cunningham I. Mayor Romero I. Uh the items on the consent agenda are approved by a vote of 6 and the ones we're considering separately. Item 7D, intergovernmental agreement with Puma County and the city of Tucson Housing and Community Development Department for Tucson Puma Pathways to Removing Obstacles Housing Initiative. Um, would you like me to read the resolution number? Yes, please.

Resolution number 24152 relating to intergovernmental agreements approving IGA between the city of Tucson and Puma County for Tucson PEA pathways to removing obstacles housing initiative and declaring an emergency. Thank you, Miss Clerk. This item was cons uh requested to be considered separately by council member Schubert. Council member Schubert. Thank you, Madame Mayor, members of the council. I just wanted to pull this item from consent to say a few words.

Um I want to highlight the efforts of the city of Tucson and Puma County staff to bring 7 million federal dollars to address the region's affordable housing crisis. The Tucson Puma Regional Pro Housing Initiative was one of only 18 communities to be awarded a pro housing grant out of over 200 applicants. These funds will support developing new affordable housing through GAP funding, impact fee subsidies, and development on city-owned parcels.

It will also include funding to change zoning codes to make it easier to build more housing, including changing parking standards and expanding opportunities to build middle housing. Our community needs real solutions to the housing crisis, not to waste our time and resources moving and arresting people living outside when there's nowhere for them to go. So, thank you to HCD for working to make Tucson a place where everyone can thrive. Thank you so much.

May I May I get a motion to move this forward? Yes. And with that, I would like to I would like to make a motion to uh approve and adopt. Um so before I could make his motion before so Oh, okay. Um so before we make the motion, I know that our city attorney has u additional language or has to change some language and then we'll go with the motion. That's correct. Thank you, honorable mayor, may members of council me uh council member Schubert.

Uh there there's a correction that we need to read into the record on uh page three of exhibit A for this item. Uh that is the intergovernmental agreement determination. Uh if I could read it.

Uh the correct language should be the foregoing intergovernmental agreement between Puma County and the city of Tucson has been reviewed by the undersigned each of whom has determined that it is in proper form and is within the authority granted under the laws of the state of Arizona to the party they represent. All righty. So, with that language, if you'd like to move the motion forward. I move to [clears throat] excuse me.

I move to approve and adopt resolution number 24152 related to intergovernmental agreements approving the IG between the city of Tucson and Puma County for Tucson pathways to removing obstacles housing initiative and declaring an emergency. So, there's a motion. I need a second. I second. Motion and a second. Any further discussion?

I did want to add some some discussion on this because I I appreciate you, Council Member Schubert, pulling this item and appraising the work of our housing community development department. I too want to say uh what a wonderful team we have um that put this together. I also want to uh bring attention to the work that this mayor and council have been doing.

Uh this is not something that just the housing community development department is doing and I just wanted to make sure that I brought this up because you very specifically called that out.

We have an incredible team and uh this is a continuation of the direction that mayor and council have given our department for many years um and making sure that we expand on the work of the housing affordability strategy for Tucson and us taking advantage to be honest of the Biden Harris administration being able to have that relationship that we've had as a city with with that particular administration. We applied in 2024.

We were um granted in January 22nd of I think it was 21st or 22nd, well earlier, but we were told uh in January 22nd of 2025, just in time uh for us to be able to receive our grant under the Biden administration. So, this particular grant uh is a huge step forward uh in a continuation of the housing affordability strategy and another example of how we're leveraging federal resources to create local solutions and the work and the continuation of our work that started uh more than six years ago.

So, it is all of our wish to create affordable housing and putting together the housing affordability grant and going after federal funds, we were able to um create more than 1,200 affordable housing units uh that otherwise six 7 8 years ago would uh not exist because of the direction of the mayor and council. So with that, congratulations. Thank you so much for the work both the planning and development services department housing community development and our partners at Pima County.

Um this is really an incredible step forward and I'm already seeing the fruits of the work that is being funded through the program. So with that, any other um comments, observations? Righty. Congratulations to all of us. And with that, do we need to go to roll call? Yes. Okay, let's go to roll call. Council member Schubert. I. Council member Barahas. I. Council member Dah. I. Councilwoman Lee. Hi. Council member Cunningham. Hi. Mayor Romero. I. Item passes um by a vote of 6. 7G.

Yes, we go on to 7G. Item 7G, a resolution supporting the Toono Odome Nation's opposition to the border wall construction in southern Arizona. Thank you, Miss Clerk. I requested this item because um I wanted to make sure that we had a resolution and a method uh by the mayor and council to support the toonam nation and uh to express our sincere support and appreciation for the toonam nation bringing uh this lawsuit against the federal government.

Um, our the hono otam uh siblings are uh entitled to be able to make the decisions that they need in their land that they have stewarded since time in memorial. Uh I am in full support of their opposition to the expensive unnecessary border wall. The Sonoran Desert is one of the most biologically diverse deserts in the world and a border barrier um would further erode the greatness of our environmental um uh diversity in our um in our in our in our Sonoran desert.

More than that, um, this border wall is expensive. One, two, it separates land that has for time immemorial um, been the ground that the hono people and the sonoran desert people have been able to travel back and forth. The sonoran desert covers both sides of the border. It is one desert and um this barrier will continue to be a negative impact on how that the Honotam people move uh to support each other to visit each other and to be able to use this land as they have the right to do.

Uh so that's why I wanted to make sure um that the city of Tucson, the mayor and council had an opportunity to take a position against this border wall. The destruction that has happened already on environmental environmentally sensitive land um is devastating and we should all be um very upset and mad at what this administration is doing. um in on these lands. So, I know that there are representatives of the Tonote Nation here.

I appreciate your presence um and all of the uh work that you're doing. Know that you have uh my complete support in um in this action and um in what you do. So, just wanted to add that um and open it up for our colleagues on the council. And I know that our city attorney has some language to read into the record as well. Thank you, honorable mayor, members of council.

We just want to reiterate uh as you already mentioned that uh it's unfortunate how expensive these projects are and how many taxpayer dollars are wasted here when Arizonans have so many other unmet needs and how important it is that the council will take a stand as you are. Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Attorney. Um, so I believe the best way for us to do it is to have a motion to approve the resolution. Um, be happy to read the resolution title.

Um, resolution number 24154 relating to intergovernmental relations, a resolution supporting the Tono ODM Nation Nation's opposition to border wall construction in southern Arizona and declaring an emergency. May I have a motion? Second. There's a motion and a second. Any further discussion? I know council member Barahas, you would like to add your voice. Thank you, Madame Mayor.

I would like to express and support um to express my support for the Tonatham Nation and I would like to thank Chairman Berlin Jose and Vice Chairwoman Carla Johnson for their continued efforts to protect the land, culture, and people of the Tonatham Nation. Last year, I had the honor of visiting the nation alongside Chairman Jose and seeing firsthand the history, beauty, and significance of this region, including the lands along the border.

That experience was a powerful reminder of the deep connection between the land, the people, and the generations who have cared for it and the seven generations to come. I would also like to acknowledge and thank the Puma County Board of Supervisors for standing alongside our indigenous brothers and sisters and for their commitment to honoring and protecting the history, culture, and region of the future of the region.

As chair chairman Berlin Jose constantly reminds us, we are stronger when we stand together. The partnerships we build and the respect we have for one another are what allow our communities to move forward and create a better future for everyone. So, thank you for bringing this up, Mayor. Thank you, Council Member. Any others? Council member D. Thank you, Mayor. Thank you, Mayor, for bringing this and thank you, uh, Councilwoman Barahas, for your strong words. There's two aspects to this.

We should obviously support the Tonotom Nation. They're a sovereign people. They've always been our allies. They need to control their lands which exist not just on our side of the border but there are family members living on the south side of the border and they've always had easy access back and forth. To put a wall there is such an insult. The second aspect is that this wall is not accomplishing what it was intended to do.

Um it doesn't stop the flow of people because people go under it, over it, through it. For a $100 skill saw at um Home Depot, you can make a door that you can close and no one can detect it. If we are wanting to stop the the movement of people, and I'm not sure that we should be necessarily, but we have great surveillance. We are the mightiest military in the world and we can certainly observe where people are are moving and interdict them.

Um the traditional tono lands extend beyond their um nation lands into organ pipe cactus national monument. And I was there at one of the most sacred sites uh um keto springs and a pond, an oasis in the desert, the most magical special place, endangered species when the bulldozers were building the wall right next to it. And at this pond, you could hear the rumbling. It was such an insult. I later videotaped um people bulldozing saros.

They were supposed to transplant them and I got a picture that that went viral. There were people from Europe who were outraged. And recently in Cabesa Prieta, which is also traditional autumn land, a sacred site, or you might call it an archaeological site in Inaglio, a figure created on top of the earth, probably through dancing, but somehow the rocks were rearranged and from from the sky, you can see it was just bulldozed without following any of our basic laws of architectural protection.

That was a cultural not artifact, not just to the tonum, but belongs to all of us because it was in a national wildlife refuge. The wall is an abomination. Um uh and I'm really happy to be voting for this. Thank you, Mayor. Thank you, Council Member Do. I do want to add my gratitude to Chairman Berlin Jose and Vice Chairwoman Johnson. Um Chairman Jose called me immediately when they submitted their lawsuit against the federal government and uh just to let me know that this was happening.

Um I truly believe uh in the words that he uses that we are stronger when we work together. Um and this is one of the reasons why I wanted to bring this resolution uh to you all. And um it is not um not something that we have just got on board with. Right.

Back in 2017, the mayor and council adopted resolution number 22763, which stated unequivocally in part that the city of Tucson uh publicly and vehemently opposed Trump's border wall because we knew of the devastation and the lack of um public input that um the Trump administration would practice um putting together a useless, expensive border wall. Um, so with that, the motion is on the floor. There's a second and we need to go to roll call. Council member Dah. I, Council Member Schubert.

I, Council Member Cunningham. Hi, Councilwoman Lee. I, Council Member Schubert. She voted already. I think you voted already. Two votes. Who who did I did I miss you? Excuse me. I'm so sorry. Council member Barahas I. Maromero I. [laughter] Okay. Just for the record, we've all voted I. Uh and the item on the consent agenda, uh item 7G passes by a vote of 6. Uh thank you. Thank you so much. Thank you. Thank you so much for being here.

our um our um kind uh thoughts to chairman and vice chairwoman and all of the council and all of the people of the uh nomination. Thank you. Item eight, public hearing resoning, city manager support, city manager communication number 205 dated July 21st is received into and made part of the record.

This is the time and place legally advertised for a public hearing to reszone on approximately 11.26 acre parcel from SR Suburban Ranch to RX1 residential to allow for the development of a new 12 lot single family residential community. The subject side is located approximately 700 ft south of the intersection of Tank Verde Road and Bear Canyon Road. This site is currently developed with eight dwellings and a number of accessory structures.

The resoning would bring the site into compliance and facilitate subdivision of the site into 12 lots, six of which would contain existing dwellings, six primary dwellings, and two accessory dwelling units. The other six lots would be developed with new homes. This public hearing is scheduled to last for no more than one hour. Uh the address is um 8800 East Jakonda Way. Um and the TE and the TP ent11250023 already. So uh speakers are limited to 5m minute presentations.

We do have um a big amount of uh speakers wanting to speak and um please come forward when I call your name, make your presentation, state your name, whether you live in the city of Tucson, whom you are representing, and whether or not you are a paid speaker. Our first speaker is going to be Julia Taber or Taber. Julia Tabber or they have a batting order. They actually sent you an order of the number. Oh, okay. Can you please go sit down, council member?

Um, and the first person we have is Julia. Uh, who exactly do you want us to call in? Julia. Okay, go ahead. Please introduce yourself and um do your presentation. Good evening. My name is Julia Sprat. Can you make sure that you put the microphone close to your There you go. Good evening. My name is Julia Sprat. I am not a paid speaker and I'm representing the Tankvertie Valley. I grew up in the Tankvertie Valley.

I am now a student at the University of Arizona and my family owns a local business. This community has always been my home. I'm here tonight because I represent the generation that will inherit the decisions that you all make today. People don't choose Tucson because it looks like every other growing city.

They choose Tucson because of places like Sabino Canyon, Readington Pass, Mount Lemon, Tankvertie Falls, Tankvertie Guest Ranch, our horse properties, our trail systems, hiking, biking, and the beautiful open Sonorin desert. Those places are not simply recreational amenities. They are Tucson's identity. They are the landscapes that inspire people to visit, convince the families to stay, support local businesses, and make this valley unlike anywhere else. Growth is part of every community.

The question is whether we have the vision to protect what makes this one special. If every remaining open space is viewed only as the next opportunity for development, we will eventually lose the very places that make people want to live here. Our planning documents recognize the importance of neighborhood character, open space, and conservation.

But I hope they can do more to recognize the Tankvertie Valley as one of Tucson's defining landscapes and make preservation a stronger part of our vision for the future. My generation should not have to look at photographs to understand what made this valley extraordinary. We should have the opport opportunity to experience it ourselves, to raise our own families here, and to pass it on to the generations that follow.

Growth can always continue, but once these landscapes are gone, they cannot be recreated. Please let preservation be part of the legacy you leave for my generation. Thank you. Thank you. [applause] All righty. I'm going to call out names, but I don't know. Whoever wants to come up next is okay. This is Julia Tabber. This is Ella Taber. Okay, go ahead. Introduce yourself and do your presentation. Hello, my name is Ella Taber. I'm also an unpaid speaker.

I'm 19 years old and I have had the blessing of growing up here in the Tangiverie Valley. Although I attend the University of Arizona and have watched many of my peers choose to live downtown. I have chosen to remain in this charming community because of everything it offers. I'm studying veterary science with the goal of becoming an ecoin reproductive specialist.

I'm asking you to oppose the proposed reszoning of the property on East Hawk away from suburban ranch to higher density residential use. The UOVA is home to one of only 36 accredited veterary colleges in the country. It veterary program can attract students from across the nation at a time when large animal veterinarians are desperately needed. According to the American Veterary Medical Association, the US has lost 90% of its livestock veterinarians since World War II.

Today, only a small percentage of the veterary workforce focuses on food animals, leaving hundreds of counties across the country facing serious shortages. For students interested in equin and large animal medicine, the tanky valley provides something that cannot be recreated in a classroom. This valley is a stronghold for livestock education. Woodland Road alone has a high concentration of horses, goats, sheep, cattle, working dogs, and other farm animals.

When I'm not at school, I spend my time at Bandelero, a worldclass equin facility located at the threshold of the valley. I care for my own three horses there, and I also have access to client horses and hand hands-on learning opportunities. The breeding barn visible from the road supports important advancements in ecoin reproduction. as technology allows ecoin semen to be imported internationally, making it possible for mayors here to be bred to stallions located on other continents.

That is only one example of what this facility contributes from a scientific and business perspective. Beyond its innovation, its greatest impact is on the people it serves. For trainers, young riding students, horse owners, and future veterinarian professionals, the barn is more than a workplace or riding arena. is a community that teaches responsibility, perseverance, compassion, and purpose.

Facilities like Bandelero exist because the Tinkervery Valley still contains suburban ranch land capable of supporting horses, livestock, barns, trailers, veterary work, and agriculture. Thankfully, this area has not been converted entirely into housing and commercial development, both of which are already available nearby. You do not have to be a horse person to understand the value of this valley.

For Mount Leming, for Mount Lemon and Readington Pass to the washes that serve as a freeway of the desert, it is easy to understand why this area should not be overdeveloped. Land like this must be preserved intentionally. This land is already serving a purpose and its zoning should remain the same. Once it is divided and developed, the opportunity to use it for horses, livestock, agriculture, and veterary education is gone.

We cannot wait until these places disappear and then realize how much Tucson needed them. This valley supports animals education, veterary medicine, agriculture, local businesses, and future careers like mine. That is why the Tangaby Valley should be specifically recognized and plan Tucson as a rural equestrian, agricultural, veterary, and educational resource. Preservation is not opposition to progress. It is thoughtful planning for the future.

Please recognize what this area contributes to the entire city and protect what cannot be replaced once it is gone. Please oppo oppose this reszoning and allow this suburban ranch land to remain consistent with the community around it. Open horse properties, ranch homes, agricultural uses, and veterary resources rather than high density development and additional commercial uses that are already available nearby. Thank you. Thank you.

[applause] Our next speaker, just come up and introduce yourself. I'm Julie Taber. I'm Ella's mother. Um, finally I can [laughter] I hope I can express the same comp compassion for our land in Tankverie as you did so well on the Indian land, the desert and the beauty of the Tankvertie Valley. Um, my name is Julie Taber and I am not a paid speaker and I'm a resident of Tucson.

I'm asking you to oppose this resoning because the sewer capacity, storm water protection, enforcement, and emergency access needed to support more density have not been proven adequate. Sewer capacity. My family knows what happens when public infrastructure fails and describing it in a few minutes is impossible. We experienced a catastrophic sewer system failure. The public record documents the failure in approximately the 15,000 gallons of raw sewage flooding our home.

The pictures are only a glimpse of the devastation. It came through every drain. Everything that entered the surrounding public sewer lines flooded our home. Before that happened, we were raising a toddler we had recently adopted. It was a very joyful time in our lives. During the sewage flood, I was frantic. I reached into the sewage water trying to save our child's original adoption records from Mexico. A mother desperately trying to save any part of her child's history.

While our home was filling with raw sewage, our home was destroyed through no fault of our own. The health department draped yellow tape around our home, declared it condemned, and told us not to reenter. We were locked out and forced to walk away with nowhere to go, not even a bag in our hands. Then five years of displacement, financial uncertainty, litigation with the city while our family tried to recover from the infrastructure failure.

Some remediation was done, but when our home was returned to us, it was se severely damaged and unlivable. Records confirm the sewer system that flooded our home had serious defects, including sags, improper elevations, and a manhole configuration that caused sir charge. This proposed development would flu would flow through the same configuration that failed and caused the backup in our home. But sewage isn't the only threat. There's storm water.

The development would add more hardscape and runoff. Storm water from the shopping center above discharges down our street. [snorts] Their retention is a failure. While additional water barrels through the Fairinger Wash, across the Finger's prop property, onto Bear's Path Road, and ultimately in my picture in my pro onto my property. The photograph demonstrates the erosion and hazardous conditions in front of our home. Enforcement and the lack of enforcement at 8721 East Woodland Road.

A seven- foot iron structure with large swinging gates was installed in the Finger Wash along [snorts] our property line and within the FEMA flood plane without permits. The city engineer determined that it would created a flood and safety risk and ordered its removal. It was not removed during the first monsoon with the structure in place. The wash backed up to a level we have not seen before. The next morning, my husband went to check on the fairing as their home can become completely cut off.

He slipped in the silt, struck his head open. It required staples and he fractured his jaw. The iron wall and gates were later permitted with conditions requiring the gates to be operated opened during the storms. [snorts] The wash to be clear in annual engineering inspections and reports. None of those conditions are being followed or enforced. The gates are never opened during the storms. And I [snorts] found no annual engineering report.

Now we're being asked to trust more conditions, including some that depend on an HOA that does not exist. Lastly, emergency access. We know how quickly flooding can make our roads impassible and access disappear. This community includes homes and facilities with horses, fos, sheep, cattle, and other livestock. This danger also threatens Trot, Therapeutic Riding of Tucson, an organization helping veterans and children on the county land where numerous horse therapy horses live.

We have all seen the unforgettable images in the media during fires and floods. Families desperately trying to evacuate while horses and livestock livestock and frightened are frightened, [snorts] trapped, injured or left behind. Recently, more than 30 acres within one square mile of our homes have already been reszoned from suburban ranch to highdensity apartments and commercial development. Every household, rental apartment, and business depend on one road, Tankavery.

We have one way in, one way out. Evacuating livestock, evacuating our families would be a tragedy. I ask that this horse property remains the same. Thank you. Thank you, Miss Tabber. [applause] Our next speaker, please. Thank you. Good evening. [clears throat] Uh, my name is Tom Adding. I am a Tucson homeowner. I am not a paid speaker and I currently serve as the Bear Canyon Neighborhood Association President.

I join my fellow BCNA homeowners in strongly opposing this proposed reasonzoning and planned construction work. My opposition results from my primary focus on public safety and my ongoing four-year evaluation of uh dangerous development efforts within BCNA that are within or very close proximity to washes. I will speak to two primary areas of concern.

First, the complexity of the terrain within which the proposed development exists and second continued high-risk city engineering development decisions. So first complexity of the terrain. Uh there are high risk high risks to uh public safety uh by any additional building in this proposed development area adjacent to or within both a critical basin to the north that's the Faringer wash and watershed and a special flood hazard zone to the south tank of creek.

In 1988, the shops at Bear Bear's Path were built within the the Faringer watershed directly adjacent to the Finger Wash and have been consistently tied to uh its constant drainage and flooding uh for challenges for 38 years. My colleagues have spoken and will speak to the challenges and pain they've dealt with since Fender Wash um acts as the neighborhood's main natural drainage corridor.

Uh [snorts] it quite it cuts right along the borders of the residential areas on East Bears Path Road and properties flanking the shopping complex. The shopping c center's storefronts and parking spaces [snorts] engineered on on raised drain uh graded parcels directly discharge their storm water toward the earn creek bed wash basin. As the Finger Wash um uh runs at maximum capacity during summer monsoons and winter rains, the immediate area remains highly prone to flooding.

Drainage overflows routinely force the closure of Bears Path Road just south of Tangiverly um road and flooding within the neighborhood from the north is already at a tipping point. any uh development within the uh neighborhood will seriously enhance flooding of other homes to its south, especially with an existing high-grade downhill slope from the wash through the development area to the woodland ranches bordering the Tangvery Creek.

That creek poses additional flooding risks to the development area from the south. In fact, the Tanker Creek special flood hazard area runs through the southwest portion of the proposed development area. In essence, homes to the south of the proposed development area will suffer additional strong flooding by being sandwiched between the flooding from the north and the south.

These two charts that have been passed out show the Peringer Wash just south of Tank of Verie Creek in which most of these homes develop which then fits right into the top of the Tankver Creek creek below. This entire area is in a flooding zone and is a huge problem. Now on to negative impacts of outdated hydraologic data.

During my four-year effort to prevent unwise development in floodprone BCNA areas, I have frequently addressed uh flood model weaknesses with city and county flood plane management personnel. I provided both offices with documents which illustrate the validity of my concern, such as one from the flood plane management association that states, quote, "The most effective method to measure a flood model's performance is through calibration to past historic events.

For this reason, all flood engineers should place significant emphasis on model calibration. End quote. And then I recently received a letter from the Puma County Flood Control District Office which stated, quote, BCNA correctly states the FEMA special flood hazard area was delineated based on hydraologic data that has not been updated for several decades.

Although this may appear non-intuitive, reliance on the best available data for establishing regulatory flood planes and associated hazards is a standard practice. I found that statement very concerning. Engineering decisions made by these standard practices seriously underestimate the risk of flooding, drainage, and erosion dangers. In fact, accurate flood plane modeling and mapping are impossible using these standard practices and without calibrating updated models.

There have been substantial damages caused by flooding uh adjacent floods to this area over the past 40 years. Noah and Puma recently forecasted a 15 to 20% increase in flooding events which portends greater damages in the future. The last two weeks of the monsoon rains point in that direction. I close strongly encouraging this council to put public safety back as its top priority and deny this resoning. Thank you. [applause] Our next speaker, please. Is it possible for me to hand out to you?

We could get it to a clerk, one of the clerk staff, and she'll make sure that we receive them. Thank you. Go ahead, ma'am. Good evening, honorable mayor and council members. My name is Heidi Shuel. I'm a Tucson resident. I'm not a paid speaker and I'm representing Bear Canyon Neighborhood Association. I am a Tucson native and have lived in the Tanker Birdie Valley for 52 years. I repo I oppose this resoning. Let me begin by asking a few questions.

What do you think when you hear the words Yarnell Hill, Paradise, California, Big Horn Fire, and Camp Mystic? On June 30th, 2013, 19 firefighters were trapped and overrun by a fire and killed during the Yarnell Hill fire. In Paradise, hundreds of people were trapped in gridlocked traffic during evacuation from the campfire. Some perished while trapped inside or fallen beside their burned out vehicles.

In 2020, Foothills homes here in our own backyard were evacuated during the Big Horn Fi fire and homes later flooded during the summer of 2025 near Austin, Texas. 25 children and two camp counselors were trapped and swept away by flood waters from Camp Mystic. There are some tragedies you just can't erase from memory. A valid concern for limiting population growth in the Tangoverie Valley is the fact that we are landlocked.

Bounded on the north by the Santa Catalina Mountains and on the east by the Runcon Mountains. We have only two major arteries for ingress into and egress from the valley. Each putting considerable constraints on access for emergency vehicles and escape for residents in the event of an evacuation due to wildfire, flooding, or other causes.

These constraints are even heightened for those moving [clears throat] livestock and mobility challenged individuals, both of which are prevalent in the valley. I [snorts] worked for the US Forest Service for over 30 years, partially in wildfire and all incident emergency management. That service is relevant in this case and included frequent assignments on wildfire and other incidents where evacuations were necessary.

For example, in 1993, I worked with Puma County Sheriff's Office, Army Corps of Engineers, and Coronado National Forest to evacuate residents who are trapped by flooding in the east tank of Ready Valley. So, we've already seen these kind of evacuations happen here. Um, also we're getting hotter and wildfires are becoming more difficult to suppress.

Uh, Noah, National On Oceanic Administration, Atmospheric Administ Administration, I'm sorry, reported 2024 was the hottest year on Earth on record with 2025 the third warmest. They also predict 2026 will rank above the top five hottest years on record. And regarding wildfire season, uh, this is now year round. Fires are becoming more difficult to suppress with increasingly damaging results.

These factors contribute to the fact that wind driven wildfire coming west from the Ren cons or south from the Catalinas is a distinct po possibility in the Tangvery Valley. Flooding following wildfire is common there and around the ba Tucson basin in the areas of wildfires and also a possibility along with weatherdriven flooding from nearby water courses. Ingress egress capacity is a major concern during emergency evacuations, for example, from wildfire and flooding.

Our roads will already be over capacity in such cases. Avoiding human fatalities during wildfire is a key public policy objective. Outward road access or the number of egress routes is widely assumed to influence wildfire fatalities. In a recent study shared in the proceedings for the National Academy of Sciences, wildfire fatalities were highly concentrated in communities like ours with very few exits.

Limited [snorts] or poorly connected road networks restrict both firefighter access and civilian movement during wildfires, potentially increasing mortality and turning otherwise survivable fires into fatal events. With wildfires spreading faster as the climate gets hotter, evacuation is becoming even more critical.

When high high winds drive wildfires, like we've seen recently in the Catalinas, firefighters have little chance of slowing or stopping the blazes until winter or weather um helps with the efforts. We will see more frequent, hotter, destructive, and unstoppable wildfires putting our residents at risk. I ask again, what do you think about when you hear the words paradise, camp Mystic, your Null, or Big Horn? There are some tragedies you just can't erase from your memory.

Do you want the word Tucson to become one of those memories? Please reject this po proposal, which would add to a situation putting more people in harm's way. Also, personally, after living for over 50 years in the area, I love horses, open space while horses. Thank you, ma'am. Thank you very much. really appreciate it. Our next speaker, please. [applause] Good evening. My I'm a Tucson resident. I'm not paid.

My name is Steven Smith and my wife Anna and I live at 8900 East Bears Path Road where we've had a ringside seat to many of the serious flooding issues experienced by several of our neighbors. My topic is related to hydrarology, but first I'd like to provide briefly some background. When we moved into our house over 33 years ago, it was to be our retirement home. And thus, we began attending meetings of the Bear Canyon Neighborhood Association.

And ever since, we've seen far too many instances where our neighborhood has expressed genuine and often very serious concerns to the city related to flooding issues, raw sewage backups, traffic safety, scenic corridors violations. The list goes on. And over the decades, the responses from the city of Tucson to our concerns have commonly been a series of smooth, assuring statements that essentially said, "Don't worry. everything will be fine.

But a major and distressing detail is many of those concerns expressed to the city often don't manifest themselves immediately but can take 10, 15, 20 plus years until they've metastasized into major league problems that can seriously affect property values, livability, and possibly even people's lives. But by then, the city staff members who assure gave us all those asurances or even approved some very questionable act uh actions within our neighborhood, they're long gone. They've retired.

They're gone. And then we're stuck. So, you'll have to pardon us if we're a bit skeptical about receiving any more asurances from the city or developers. Now, on to hydrarology. We have several concerns about the rainwater retention basins as indicated by on the overall plan developed by Misell Airby's engineer. Primarily how the basins will be inspected, maintained and who will be responsible.

When the issue who will pay for the maintenance of basins came up in an earlier hearing in this room before the Brazonian examiner, Miss Larabes blindly stated the HOA will pay for it. And to my amazement, the presiding examiner basically immediately moved on to the next topic as if to indicate, well, that takes care of that. But her statement on HOA certainly caught my attention. And at the second hearing, I raised a few points.

Now, just for info, my wife and I were members of an HOA in California, and so we don't we do know a bit about how they function and that it's routine for an HOA to cover the expense of maintaining what are considered common areas. But in a present case, most of the proto proposed retention basins are fairly large with several I would call huge with the largest being to the best of my knowledge 90 ft long and 57 ft wide with a total footprint of over 5100 square ft.

Now, just to provide a bit of comparison, that largest basin's footprint is easily double the square footage of most of the houses in the neighborhood. And while not a civil engineer, I think it's safe to assume that when it's time the accumulated silt and debris need to be removed, it's not going to be just a guy with a shovel in a wheelbarrow. It's likely to require hiring a contractor equipped with backho, skid steers, whatever. And that will not be cheap.

And so when Miss Larabe says an HOA is supposedly going to pay for the contractors, I can't help but see major problems. Since a typical HOA distributes the maintenance fees among 20, 50, 100, however many households, the cost to each household can be viewed as reasonable for what they get. But in this case, the supposed HOA will likely consist of seven households. The six new subdivided lots and only Miss Larabby since the other households on the western portion of her property are renters.

So, can you imagine the size of the basic maintenance bill for each household when it's divided only seven ways? And does Miss Larabe or a developer really expect that prospective buyers of the reszone eastern portion to not recoil when informed, oh, by the way, down the road they're going to be on the hook to pay for maintaining structures that offer them no practicable benefit.

And if they still go on to purchase the property, I personally think they'll throw a major hissy fit when basin maintenance is eventually needed and they get the bill. And then I fully expect a long nightmare of citations, refusals, recriminations, perhaps even lawsuits that could take years to resolve. And during all that resulting turmoil, the simple fact is that many homes will remain in danger. Now, as to making sure the maintenance is accomplished on time, I I'll finish then.

We [clears throat] asked the engineer here how the maintenance said then he said well we'll do the best we can. Is that the best the city of Tucson can do is say we best they can instead of taking decisive action to make sure this maintenance will be be uh committed or are we just going to have more asurances. So mayor and city council I ask you with all sincerity are you going to let all this happen again to us? Thank you. Thank you. Our next speaker, please. Good evening.

My name is Katrina Trevor. I'm unpaid and I live in the city of Tucson. My spouse and I have lived at 8755 East Bears Path Road for 16 years. And I support preserving this property's SR zoning and oppose further urbanization of this area. I'm going to make several key points here. First of all, that changing this property from SR to RX1 may seem modest on paper, but it would significantly shift our neighborhood away from the suburban ranch character residents have relied on for decades.

Since the 1984 annexation and the creation of the Bear Canyon Neighborhood Association, this property has been and has remained SR. It's alongside nearby SR properties in the BCNA and west along East Wood Woodland Road. Many of us bought here because of the open space and the semi rural character. And I've given out figures, but I'll show you one figure. This is this will be hard for you to see, but this is the Jackaranda property here. I live here.

This is the rest of the SR property within the Bear Canyon Neighborhood Association and it runs all the way west all the way around the Woodland Loop. And I would say that from my house over to Woodland is only less than a mile and I walk it almost every day. So I wanted to emphasize that uh the existing zoning SR zoning reflects an intentional choice for open space and natural character. We are not an isolated neighborhood.

We exist along the Tankavverity scenic corridor bounded by the woodland r loop and tankerity road north and we have feature this great semi-ural character. We have desert vegetation. We have wonderful open spaces, horse and livestock amenities, access to trails. So, a lot of people, hikers, walkers, including myself, burers, families, all enjoy this whole strip of property that is out here in in that part of Tucson. This is a jewel. We don't want to lose it.

And I think we once we once we start getting rid of SR property, this it's gone forever and we have to think about that. This resonate would also accelerate the loss of the character that I was mentioning and leads towards further urbanization. The current existence of RX1 in our neighborhood does not by itself compel this resoning to RX1. It only sets a precedent for future S s destruction of SR1 property and the detrimental hardscape, the flooding in our area.

I invite you to come out here to see our area. It it it really is the topography is such that everything goes downhill including all the water. Our neighborhood is not an established urban area. We feel that we're be we're being pushed in that direction. The zoning examiner suggests that we should be moderate load intense infill. Well, that's really a description that you use for urban areas. That's not what we are.

I have a figure, another figure here that I want to show you of what's really happening. And it's almost frightening for a lot of us who live in this neighborhood. So here is Tankver Road. Here's the Jackaranda property we're talking about. Up here is all the developments that are happening. As we mentioned, there have been in the past 30 years, I mean past few years, 30 acres of SR1 property has disappeared. This is the the Mason Ranch apartments that are going in.

This is the new cassitas on Catalina. These are some of the apartments that are already there. This is all the commercial property that's gone in. These intersections are turning into nightmares. This is at in total we're going to have 1,273 rental units in very very soon. So, we've already talked about that.

the the roadways we're we're already moving into an urban kind of situation even by based on definitions by the city and we've talked about the reasonzoning threatens the equin and the the livestock infrastructure. So in summary, we ask the city to preserve this property in our neighborhood and surrounding area, especially this tank of verity road and the woodland loop.

Our area's natural open spaces, sonor and desert, mountain views, ecquin heritage help define its character and that of Tucson and attracts residents and visitors from worldwide to come here, especially some of these characters that in our neighborhood. So, please protect these qualities by voting against this resoning. Do not let one individual's desire result in irrevocably eroding a unique environment that benefits so many of us.

Our neighborhood and Tanker Valley as a whole truly deserve to be celebrated, protected, and preserved. Thank you. Thank you, ma'am. Our next speaker Mayor and council, my name is Aaron Corf. Um, I am not a paid speaker. Um, I live at 8951 East Bears Path Road. I oppose this resoning measure for several reasons. Uh, we are stake I represent uh the neighborhood at Bears Path Road.

We are stakeholders because our house sits directly south of the Jackarunda property uh proposed for resoning and will be directly impacted by the proposed resoning. My wife and I bought our house in 2022. We are in our mid50s and are firsttime homeowners. We were drawn back to Tucson by what the Tankver Valley offers. Easy access to nature, cycling, hiking, and the wildlife that comes uh right to our backyard is one of the gems of the Tucson Valley.

and we fell in love with it the first time we saw it. That is all being threatened by recent development though. The Tankvertie Valley is rapidly expanding and we've seen how developments north of Tankvertie Road like Mason Ranch Apartments, the cassitas on Catalina and the proposed casitas at Mariposa have already altered the area. We don't yet know how these developments are going to impact all the areas downstream below them uh like our neighborhood south of Tanker Verde.

What you need to know about this area is very simple. The Jackarunda property is the highest point in the neighborhood south of Tankvertie Road. We border the the Jackarunda property directly to the south and sit 3 to four feet below it. Whatever water is on Jackarunda comes uh comes down onto us and the neighboring lots. The reasonzoning proposal by the by the owner's engineer includes seven retention basins to catch water runoff.

These basins are gigantic and out of proportion for the lots being reszoned. Two of the basins would sit right on our property line and would be over 6,300 square feet, three times three times larger than our home. They would be placed less than 15 feet from 50-year-old mosquite trees, walls, and our garage. Looking up from our backyard where these basins will be placed is like virtually like looking up at the Hoover Dam from below.

I am most concerned that the impact of hydrarology and erosion from the proposed resoning will further damage our house and property and the neighbors and our neighbors feel the same way. We have spent tens of thousands of dollars to repair erosion and water damage since inhabiting our house. We have had to raise our 50-year-old foundation as has shifted in the past four years. Since April, all neighbors surrounding the Jackarunda property have been united against this resoning measure.

39 neighbors have signed a petition opposing the resoning. We have worked in good faith with Miss Larabe, attempting twice to meet with her to discuss our concerns and develop CCNR's guidelines that would protect the area. All attempts were ignored by Miss Larabe. We presented these concerns and objections twice before the city of Tucson zoning examiner.

It is a long It has been a long road to get here, but my neighbors and I are feel more connected by a common cause, protecting the area which we love and is so unique to Tucson. Lastly, I conclude by saying that I am thankful and hopeful to hear of city council member Paul Cunningham's determination to protect the area. Mr. Cunningham took the time to come to our neighborhood in May to meet with our neighbors and hear our concerns.

He looked up at the Jackarenda property from our backyard and immediately saw the the threat that resoning um poses to the surrounding lots. I really appreciate Council Member Cunningham coming out in person to see what is at stake and to hear us. It is heartening to hear that he shares our concerns. We are really grateful for his commitment to preserving the uniqueness of the Tankver Valley and hope that you too will oppose this resoning effort. Thank you. Our next speaker, please.

[clears throat] I'm Nancy Faringer. I'm I'm 90 years old. I only mention that because I just realized the other day that more than half of my 90 years has been spent next to the land in question. The land that we have and the house borders the entire west property line of 8800 East Hakaronda Way. That's the proposed resoning land. And so we know it very well. This area is unique as you have heard from so many people. It's a rare mix of rural and residential and also floodprone.

People mentioned the Fairinger Wash. It wasn't named that for because they loved us. It was named that. I heard I we didn't even know it was going to be named that. We happened to walk down the end of our driveway and we saw a sign and it said Faringer Wash and we said, "What?" Well, it was because they used an expletative before it when they would deal with it. That's finger wash. But anyway, it's very Our whole area is very floodprone.

We've had floods that have come down our bear's path with uh well, if you've ever tried to lift sheep and get them into a horse trailer when they're soden, when they're full of water, you It's quite an unusual experience. And we've had even more than that. Water has gone through many of our houses, not ours, but it's getting closer and closer. This area has a lot of birding hotspots. In fact, some people call it a bird's world destination.

So, it brings a lot of people from all over the United States just to see the birds that are in the Woodland Bears Path area. Once it's gone, as someone else just said, it's gone forever. So we are quite united in our opposition to the resoning which would bring in uh streets and of course houses. We hope that this decision will be reconsidered. A long time ago I guess was somebody mentioned that the re that we were brought into the city in the 80s. I thought it was around 1980.

I guess it was 84. I I actually attended that meeting with the city representative. He reassured us in the county that though they were bringing us into the city along with parts of Woodland Road, the city would do its best to maintain the special rural character of our area. He said he was quite a charming guy, I have to say. He said that um the special rural character of our area would remain a scenic corer with several churches along that road as focal points.

On the south, that was on the north. On the south, our bear canyon woods could stay the same with our horses, our ponies, even a 4- flock of sheep, which we know very well from having experienced them at close hand. We loved living there and part of the reason that we loved it was because it was so close to the tank of Herie Wash riding trails. Um it was it was paradise and we trusted the city's spokesperson to make every effort to keep his word.

And as you know, the city assurance was not necessarily kept. So, as one of our neighbors just said, our next door neighbor said, surrounding that same church that we had spoken about earlier, that lovely Lutheran church are 500 houses going up, a car wash begun, Circle K plans, a large gas station complex, and the promised scenic corridor is a dream of the past. The land in question already has seven buildings. Reszoning would add roads and intense development.

I hope you'll consider denying the resoning and keeping our area as it is right now as we love it very much. Thank you. Thank you, ma'am. [applause] And any other speakers wishing to be heard on this item? Where? Okay. My name is Carolyn Larby. I am the owner of the property that is uh trying to get the zoning changed. And good evening, honorable mayor and members of the council. I have lived at 8800 East Hawker on the way for nearly 20 years. I am not an outside developer trying to make money.

And I have paid a high price for that land because I bought it when it in 2007 when prices were very high. I am a neighbor for two decades. I have poured my heart and my body's energy into restoring and improving the existing 1940s homes that are on my property.

updating kitchens, bathrooms, heating, cooling, stuckle, painting, you name it, I have been doing it for 20 years because I love that area and those old homes because and because of many days that I work from sun up to sun down, I was called the ever ready bunny. because I did it day after day many times. It has always been my goal to preserve the peaceful, quiet, and rural character of our neighborhood. I have worked diligently and making sure that the people on my property respect that peace.

My request is to match, not change the neighborhood. Now, yes, there is SRS, but they're all around horse areas. My particular lot would not do for a queen horses because it's backed up to commercial property. You would constantly have problems with the horses. I am requesting a reszoning from SR to RX1 for my land so that I can build one home per acre as SR1 I mean RX1 calls for the six acres that are ondeveloped currently. Now the other five acres are already developed.

It's it's already been established that it's a residential not for horses and animals right there. This is not a radical change. I'm not asking for 30 apartments or whatever. I'm just asking to be like the rest of the people around me. And they're all RX1s. While yes, RX1 technically allows for accessory dwelling units, but all we have to do is look around our neighborhood.

And for over several decades, only a very, very few have built a second home because they came to that area because they loved the one acre lots, one home, and not an additional two little homes, especially in a neighborhood like that. That's not the reason they would buy in there. They chose the area because the nice homes are spread apart.

Now I completely understand there has been many tragedies in the past for the pro for the area with flooding and sewer but the city has stepped in even though they don't say that the city has stepped in and done things about it. They put a new uh larger sewer lines. They put in new uh manholes so that they could monitor those su those sewer lines and so far it has all worked out fine. Now I completely understand and respect that there's also uh other issues but most of them are all the past.

They are not now. Things have changed. The city has done some work on on the washes. They have made additional requirements since all this problems occurred that the new developments have to have this this and that so that there can be no runoff. I have added these basins because I wanted to make sure that there wouldn't be any runoff. Now, how much runoff are you going to get from six home uh and one little tiny road to go to them the different lots? Um, please come to a conclusion.

Your five minutes are over. Okay, thank you. So, adding six additional sites to a custom single home area is not a big change and change can be uncomfortable. because it's been so static for the last 40 years. And I have proven that I care about the neighborhood by all the stuff that I do for my property and for the rest of them. And all I ask is for support to bring this property into harmony with the zoning that's already around it immediately. Thank you for listening to me. Thank you, ma'am.

All righty. Um, if there's no others will wanting to be heard. All righty. Come on up, sir. My name is Paul Deagatti. I live at 8725 East Bears Path. I'm a neighbor and I'm in favor of Carolyn's development simply because we were promised back in ' 84 that when we got into the city, it'd be a house per acre. She started with a much larger project. She's whittleled it down. She's made concessions. She's tried to help every neighbor's concern.

And I find her efforts to be commendable, and I'm not opposed to this project, but I do share some of their concerns with the flooding. I think if the city hydraology people work closely with the developer, we can mitigate some of these problems and that Carolyn can enjoy her dream just as much as my neighbors and I enjoy our dream. Thank you very much. Thank you, sir. Any others wishing to be heard on this item? If not, may I have a motion to close the public hearing? So moved.

There's a motion. Second. And there's a motion and a second. Any further discussion on closing the public hearing? Hearing none. All those in favor, please signify by saying I. I. I. Any against? Motion carries. Uh, Council Member Cunningham. Few things. Um, first of all, this area is in a very sensitive situation. One thing I want to clarify on Mason Ranch. Um, Mason Ranch, of the 22 acres that Mason Ranch was being built on, 18 of them were prezoned. So, I just want to make that clarification.

But that being said, Mason Ranch, the Circle Ks, all with both that both had hard zonings and the La Mariposa redevelopment, which is on the other side is the south side of the wash, um, which has 27 conditions attached to it. There's a lot of things going on at once in this area.

So adding to that brings a degree of uncertainty as far as drainage, as far as um traffic load, as far as every study we have, we have all this uncertainty because we have all these other four projects that while they were they were prezoned when we don't know what how that's going to affect all the numbers that we have. So, I think that's a big piece to this and I just think the timing because of all those projects being involved. The other thing I'll talk about is sewage capacity.

That is not a red herring. [clears throat] Despite the changes, we just went through that with Mason Ranch. And not only was it so difficult for them to replace the sewage, they had to go back four times to the Department of Transportation to shut that road down. And I don't want to go through that again.

We they they just went through that piece and so we can't I do have questions about the sewage load because we just went through that with the Mason Ranch apartments and we and that the expansion of that sewage line took 5 months longer than it was supposed to and it wrecked traffic in the area and it wasn't fair to the residents of the Tucson residents adjacent to the Tanker Valley and the Rancheros who live outside the city limits.

After the discussion or during the discussions of the um Mariposa project, my team started working on drafting a ecoin project for this area.

What we're talking the area that we're talking about between Castle Rock and Hton Road has 33 active ranchas that actually work our working horse and agricultural properties that are residential and it has three agricultural um commercial properties including Trot the Tucson therapeutic the therapeutic wrership program which is a really special program for Tucson. It makes Tucson unique.

People come from around the country to participate in TR programs and they have voiced their concerns with this project. Not only that, on top of those 35 properties that I'm talking about, 36 properties that I'm talking about, there's another 146 acres of open space that's only that's north of the wash. That it doesn't count the other 90 acres south of the wash.

So there's 146 acres of open space north of the wash including um partially including I mean it's not fully open space because the uh Castle Rocks Lake is is included in that. [snorts] And so again this property is connected to the Finger Wash. [sighs] One thing about the Finger Wash and I want to make that part of the record tonight. I don't know if it was ever officially officially named the Finger Wash because on Google Maps and Apple Maps um it it it doesn't come up as Finger Wash.

[sighs] Um Nancy, you knew my grandmother and I think it's fitting that we name it officially. So, I'm going to start that process as soon as I can. Yeah, go ahead. Go ahead. That's fine. Um the next concern is that when we're talking about the piece, we don't have a developer per se. We have a plan site to divide six properties. And as I told Miss Larabe when I met with her, what she's asking is actually pretty modest.

It isn't the worst thing in the world per se in that she wants six RX1 things, but because we don't have an actual mechanism for the HOA, we don't know who the developer is, and we're leaving the other six properties on her 12 acre lot as is. We're really not developing the property into 12 congruent HOA new properties.

We're really taking a half the property which could be causing some of these pro um problems and leaving it the same and then half the property may get developed but we don't know by who. Again, that lends to the uncertainty of the flooding that we're having. So, not only is our timing poor, our uncertainty is there.

And this brings me to a situation where I just I don't think it would be responsible for me to recommend to this council that we pass this Finally, there are some code but there are some code enforcement issues on this property that have been resolved and the cases are closed, but the structures that caused that eye are still there and there are neighbors still have concerns about them.

And so when I take all this information into this discussion, I have no choice but to move that we reject the reasonzoning. There is a motion on the floor. May I have a second? Second. There's a motion and a second. Any further discussion? Uh, Council Member Doppler. Thank you. I want to support Paul in this. Not only the talks tonight, but I read a bunch of the emails. They're very convincing about the concern about flooding. Um, I've birded the area.

I was executive director of Tucson Ottabbon Society, now Tucson Bird Alliance. And, um, it is a special area. I think we need to be very careful and once we reszone it, it's reszoned. Um, uh, if we don't reszone it, there's the possibility of a better plan would come back, something that the neighbors might be able to support. But at this point, from what I've heard, I'm I'm with Paul. I'm not going to support the resoning. Thank you. Thank you, council member. Any others?

[clears throat] I too have been receiving um many written protests and um input from the community. Although I feel for you in terms of your property and wanting to do something um different and um comparable as you say to to the rest of the uh neighborhood. I'm very concerned about the big big big concerns brought to the table from um the residents in the area. I value this area. Um I think Miss Taber talked about um the love of the land, right?

And and the value that land very specifically open spaces and what they add to the quality of life um of Tonins is is very important. Um and so you know the issues of flooding, the issues of sewer and capacity are are big ones and I think that those need to be resolved further um in order for us to move forward with any additional um development. So I too will be supporting this. Any others? All righty. hearing none. Then we do we need a roll call. Yeah.

Just Okay, we'll we'll do a roll call vote just to be safe. Uh so let's go to roll call. Council member Cunningham. This is a move to deny. Right. This is the move to deny. I. Council member Dah. I. Council member Brahas. I. Council member Schubert. I. Councilwoman Lee. I. Maromero. I. Item passes. Um, move to deny with a vote of 6. Thank you so much for coming. Really appreciate it. [applause] Ready, we move on to item nine. Reszoning city manager support ordinance adoption.

TP NT04260000007 The Well Properties Prince Road 03 to C1. City manager's communication number 206 dated July 21st is received into and made part of the record. This is a request for ordinance adoption to reszone the subject parcel of 0.51 acres from office03 zone to commercial C1 zone in order to allow personal service land uses such as barber, beauty shop, nail salon, massage therapist, etc. within an exi existing approximately 3,000 square foot building.

The subject site is located at approximately 850 ft west of North Campbell Avenue on the north side of Prince Road. The city manager and zoning examiner recommend approval of the resoning request. Is the applicant or representative of the applicant present? Good evening, Madame Mayor, members of the council. Uh my name is Brian Underwood. with the planning center to East Congress here in downtown. Are you agreeable to the proposed requirements? Yes, madame mayor, we are. Thank you so much.

Really appreciate it. Madame clerk, you are requested to read ordinance 12264 by number and title only. Ordinance number 12264 related to zoning amending zoning district boundaries in the area located approximately 150 ft west of Campbell Avenue and Prince Road intersection on the north side of Prince Road in case TP NT 0426 0000007 the well properties 032C1 and setting an effective date. What is the council's pleasure? Madame Mayor, I move to pass and adopt ordinance number 12264.

I there's a motion and a second. Any further discussion on this hearing? None. Let's go to roll call. Council member Dah. I. Council member Barahas. I. Council member Lee. I. Council member Cunningham. Hi. Council member Schuert. Hi. Sorry. Mayor Romero. I. Ordinance 12264 passes by a vote of 6. Item 10. Just do adjournment. Council will stand adjourned. The next regularly scheduled meeting will be on Wednesday, August 5th, 2026 at or after 5:30 p.m. Thank you all. Have a wonderful rest of