Tempe Council Approves Axon Police Contract 6–1 Over ALPR Surveillance Fears; Advances Vocational School Rezoning; Splits on School-Area Driveway Safety

Yes. Hurry, hurry. Two seats. Good evening everyone. Welcome to the Tempe City Council regular council meeting. Item number one is called to order. Council meetings can be watched in real time via CoxCable channel 11 and at tempe.gov/temple. Members of the public may also attend the meeting virtually through Microsoft Teams. The city of Tempe is using the open meeting system for council meetings which includes electronic public speaker sign up.

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Thank you very much for being here this evening. And thank you to all of you watching at home. So, I'd now like to invite everyone who's able and willing to stand and join me in a moment of silence followed by the pledge of allegiance. Thank you. I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. Thank you.

We're now going to play a video conveying the city of Tempee's native land acknowledgement statement. We acknowledge that Tempe lies on the ancestral land of the native peoples who have lived here since time immemorial. The ancestral land of the aum andipage stretches far beyond the boundaries of our city. The landscape is sacred to them, embodying cultural values that are integral to their identity and way of life. The autoipage continue to maintain a deep spiritual connection to this land.

We embrace the responsibility of caring for these places and vow to uphold this commitment in all our actions. All right, thank you very much. We're now going to go to item number four, which is meeting minutes. There aren't any city council meeting minutes ready for approval under item 4 A. So, I'm going to move on to item 4B, which is acceptance of board, commission, and committee meeting minutes. I'll be assisted this evening by council member Keading. Thank you, mayor.

I move we accept item uh 4B 1 through 4. Okay, it's been moved by council member Keading. Do I have a second? I have a second by council member Garland. Any further comments or questions? All right, please vote on item 4B. And that item passes 7 to zero. Next up, item five, reports and announcements. Uh, I've got a few here that I'm going to do up front. Thank you, Jason. All right, first up, item 5 A1, National Crime Analysis and Intelligence Day Proclamation.

Want to see if the Crime Analysis and Intelligence Center team of the Tempe Police Department would like to join me up front? All right. So, this proclamation reads, "Whereas the crime analysis and intelligence center of the city of Tempe Police Department plays a vital role in enhancing public safety by identifying emerging crime patterns and series through comprehensive data analysis.

CIC informs strategic decision-making, guides departmental operations, and helps anticipate the evolving needs of the community. Their deep understanding of the department's internal processes combined with the strong communication ties to the surrounding agencies fosters a robust network of intelligence and resources. And whereas this year, CIC has completed 873 backgrounds and criminal history checks for investigations and employment.

They have created 46 bulletins for the law enforcement community to assist with investigations and produced 327 data analysis products for the department, city management, and the community. And whereas while fulfilling these requests, CIC has also provided real-time investigative support to several major crimes such as homicides, human trafficking, and public safety operations addressing street racing, gang affiliated activity, and metal thefts over the last year.

And whereas CIC significantly contributed this year to open data projects such as the city's data hub, providing calls for service and arrest and use of force data. Their knowledge and expertise have helped provide dynamic and informative data, furthering the city's commitment to transparency and accountability within the community. And whereas the crime analysis and intelligence cent's unwavering commitment and expertise play a pivotal role in fostering a safer and more resilient Tempe.

Now therefore, I Corey Woods, mayor of the city of Tempe, Arizona, do hereby declare September 20th, 2026 as National Crime Analysis and Intelligence Day in Tempe, Arizona. All right, next up is item 52, National Forensic Science Week Proclamation. So, I want to see if we can have the Forensic Service Unit of the Tempe Police Department join me up front. back. All right.

So, this proclamation reads, "Whereas the forensic service unit of the city of Tempe Police Department is comprised of two primary sections. one that provides vital support with crime scene response and processing that includes critical evidence collection and preservation and the other with fingerprint analysis and database entry, ensuring strong partnerships with investigative teams and other forensic service providers, ensuring communication and trust.

And whereas since the beginning of National Forensic Science Week 2025, the crime scene response team has responded to 396 calls for service, collected 1,768 items of evidence, retrieved 1,268 latent print lift cards, has taken 64,491 photographs and provided coverage across the city of Tempee 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year.

And whereas similarly, the fingerprint specialist has continued to provide critical skills for the department by ensuring prisoners are identified correctly, making certain criminal histories are accurate, and verifying applicants for whom the prospective job requires criminal history information access with 6,592 prisoner prints processed this year.

And whereas alongside their day-to-day duties, the forensic services unit is committed to community engagement through outreach, educational events, and youth mentorship, inspiring future generations of forensic scientists, and raises public awareness about STEM education and its applicability to the broader criminal justice system and the importance of forensic science.

And whereas this national forensic science week, the city of Tempe is proud to recognize our forensic services unit for their dedication to public safety, scientific excellence, and service to the Tempe community. Now, therefore, I, Corey Woods, mayor of the city of Tempe, Arizona, do hereby declare September 20th through the 26th, 2026 as National Forensic Science Week in Tempe, Arizona. All right. Next up, we have item 5 A3, America 250 Heart of Service Award.

And I'd like to invite Julie Crockett from Just Serve to join me up front here in presenting this award. So, I probably should read this as well here for those folks watching in the audience. Under the award here, it says, "The Heart of Service Award is presented in honor of extraordinary individuals whose service strengthens communities and inspires others to serve.

This medallion right here recognizes those who create lasting impact, bring people together in unity, and lead with generosity, integrity, and purpose. Through their example, they help build a culture of volunteerism and advance the spirit of America 250 and Just Serve, reminding us that service is the heart of a strong nation. With that said, Julie, would you like to go ahead and announce the winner? It feels more appropriate that you do it than me.

Uh, thank you, mayor and city council and friends. Uh, it's a privilege to be here. We were here. We were here. I've never been told to speak louder. We were here last winter when the city of Tempee proclaimed uh Tempe to be a just served city. And so we're grateful for the support that Tempe gives to service and to people who are trying to do good in the community. Um it's a privilege tonight to recognize Teresa Johnson with America with the America 250 just Serve Service Award.

Tricia began volunteering with Gathering Humanity in 2016, helping refugees who were beginning new lives in our community. For five years, she did whatever needed to be done, gathering furniture, setting up apartments, coordinating volunteers, and working in the warehouse.

Then in 2021, Tricia opened the serving c the serving center here in Tempee with a vision of creating a place where people could connect and use their own gifts and ability to help vulnerable and displaced members of our community. Since then, more than 15,000 community members have been involved. One of the most impressive pieces about Teresa's vision is her belief that everyone has something to give.

The serving center provides opportunities for children, older adults, individuals with special needs and memory challenges, and many others. Tesa doesn't simply serve people in need. She creates opportunities for the rest of us to become contributors, too. I've had the privilege of working with Tricia through Just Serve, and she's dedicated, patient, and remarkably calm when things go wrong. I once remember when we were dealing with a particularly frustrating technical problem.

I was getting stressed about it. But Teresa was completely calm. She simply told me, "Julie, it's all good. I'm a problem solver." I have never forgotten that. In fact, I remember thinking, "I want to be a problem solver." And really, Tricia does solve problems. When she sees a need, she looks for a way to meet it. She sees an obstacle and she begins looking for a solution. and when she sees people who want to help, she finds a meaningful way for them to contribute.

There is something especially fitting about that. Years ago, while she was attending BYU, Tricia served as a student body officer in the involvement office, helping students find ways to connect and serve. All these years later, she is still doing exactly that. Only now, thousands of people have been touched by that vision. Goodness. I'm sorry. Teresa, thank you for your dedication, your patience, your vision, and for reminding all of us that we all have something meaningful to give.

It's my great honor to present Teresa Johnson with the America 250 just Serve Heart of Volunteer Award. Thank you. Congratulations. You know what? I'll let you keep that. Just want to say as well too, we appreciate the work of Gathering Humanity and we are pleased that their headquarters and warehouse have been based in Tempee for over 10 years now. So, I want to make sure to let that be known for the folks here in the audience and for the folks watching at home. So, All right, here.

Next up, item 5 A4. Serve your city for by serving on a Tempe board or commission. Tempe boards and commissions make important recommendations to the city council about all aspects of our community. You could play a key role in shaping the future of our city. There are 28 boards and commissions. Each focus on a specific area of interest such as arts and culture, sustainability, veterans programs, and much, much more.

Serving takes only a few hours a month, and it's a great way to meet neighbors who also share your interests. A total of 69 openings on 19 boards and commissions need to be filled before the end of the year. So, we need your help.

Boards and commissions, especially in need of applications, include the Aviation Commission, Board of Adjustment, Commission on Disability Concerns, particularly for the two youth member seats, Desert Conservation Commission, Historic Preservation Commission, Human Relations Commission, Industrial Development Authority, Joint Review Committee, Merit System Board, Neighborhood Advisory Commission, particularly for residents in the 85282, 85283, and 85284 zip codes.

Technical Code Advisory Board of Appeals and the Veterans Commission. So, if you're interested, please apply at tempe.govgetinvolved. Once again, tempe.gov/getinvolved by Friday, November 13th to be considered for appointment at the December 17th regular council meeting. So, once again, 69 openings on 19 boards and commissions. So, please make sure to spread the word. We need your help to fill these very important positions.

Please play a very pivotal role in shaping the future of this community. and thank you for your service. Before I move on to city manager's announcement, I want to just make a take a quick point of personal privilege to say a very happy birthday to Mike Sims, our deputy city clerk. Who is probably very angry at me right now for doing that. Mike, they give me too much power up here, so I apologize. Mr.

Mir, by the way, um, Madame Clerk, I was going to say too, I recognize too that you have a video for the boards and comm. Now, I know what you were doing. You're I Cara's always trying to keep me on track, but I knew exactly what I was doing. So, Cara has a video here, our wonderful city clerk, about boards and commissions and the importance of serving. So, if we can cue up that video, Mr. Wolf, that would be fantastic.

I love serving on the sustainability and resiliency commission because I can help deliver a sustainable future for all of Tempe. We're so lucky to have such a beautiful city and uh being able to participate in that process and work with the city staff who are all incredible human beings who do so much work for the city. It's a opportunity to participate in civic life that I really enjoy.

I would definitely recommend serving on a Tempe Border Commission to anyone who is interested in getting more involved in their community. We really need diverse voices on these boards and commissions. Whatever your expertise is, whatever your love is, whatever your desire is, I think you should give back. I think that before you leave this earth, you should serve.

And the city of Tempi has all kinds of boards, all kinds of interests, and I'm sure that there is a board that you might be interested in. So, I invite you to serve. Serve your city. Excellent. If you're not inspired to serve after that, I don't frankly know what to tell you. So, with that said, that's the end of my announcements this evening. I'll move on to item 5B, city manager reports and announcements. Madam City Manager, good evening, mayor, council, and all of the audience.

uh wanted to share speaking of service I would like to acknowledge two employees that are retiring after many many years of service to this community um first I'd like to acknowledge Widell Holmes strategic management and innovation office director who retired last week after incredible 28 years of service uh Widell began her career in Tempe in 1998 in the recreation department or the recreation division and went on to serve many roles in our organization arts and culture human resources, employee development, and lastly, the strategic management and innovation office.

Throughout her career, Widell served on many different committees working with different departments. Strategic planning, as you all know, that's one of the departments I worked with. Widell, you get to work with every department. So, she formed a lot of relationships with different departments working on strategic planning, performance-led budgeting.

Her fingerprints are on so many initiatives from the city's council's strategic priorities as we know performance measures to vision zero reducing fatal and serious car crashes, wastewater biointel which Tempe is very much known for that innovation. Um Tempe's what works cities platinum certification Tempe datadriven organization and we are among the top leaders of this nation on that. And those are just a few examples of why Dell helped lead in this organization.

She is a valued colleague, a friend that I worked with for many years, a thoughtful leader, and if you ask me what her biggest strength was is taking big ideas and synthesizing them into actionable plans. If you ever got into a room with 30 people who had different ideas about how to accomplish something, Widelle was the person who helped facilitate that. Um, she helped the public safety task force, which was a very emotionally charged topic in 2021, and neighborhood passionate issues.

And Widell step foot in it with grace and um just complete uh honor to serve everyone in that in that group um no matter what the topic was. So, we're going to miss her dearly. So, I just wanted to acknowledge Widell and thank her for her service. The next one is Craig Hayden. And I know he's here in the audience because it's his last meeting, his last council meeting. And I know there you are. You always sit in the same seat. Um Craig began his career as a temporary employee.

Not many employees have that longevity of starting as a temporary employee in 1996 and then becoming a parks employee soon after. Um over the years, he continued to grow within the organization. And one of the great benefits of our city is to offer education partnership where employees are able to get their degrees while working at the city of Tempe. He received his bachelor's degree in public administration.

He went on to serve as a parks manager, deputy community services director in 2022 and community services director, overseeing arts, culture, library, parks, and recreation. All the quality of life things that people always remember, right? Craig's impact has seen throughout our community.

Among his many accomplishment, he negotiated the Los Angeles Angels on the Diablo Stadium master plan, oversaw the transition of our two city golf courses to public private partnerships, and helped launch the Tempe boats cruising on Tempe Town Lake, the evolution of the Town Lake. Craig has had his fingerprints on. He also helped advance the Rio Salado Master Planned Park ranger program, and he stepped foot into that park ranger program. No one wanted to take that on.

And I remember being in that meeting and he was willing because that's it's a whole new division that you are adding to a director's plate. And he he actually offered and stepped foot into it without any hesitation. Urban forestry team oversaw numerous parks and recreation improvements throughout Tempe. And the first dedicated, which I know people love, pickle ball courts. Some of you are sitting to my left. I know you're staring at me. Kowanas Dog Parks and Clark Park Recreation Center.

Um, but if you ask me what I admire most about Craig, aside from all his accomplishments, um, I always say he is a quiet strength in meetings. And what I mean by that, he is a powerful presence without saying many words. And that is an art. um because he commands presence uh with just having his expertise in the meeting and that is grounded in integrity, resolve and an unwavering commitment to a sense of purpose to serve others.

As we just heard, we talked about uh boards and commission and service. And sometimes people forget the public servants that serve this community are also serving. And uh Craig is a great example of what is all best about people who serve this community. Craig, we're going to miss you, but enjoy your well-deserved retirement. Thank you, Mayor. So, thank you very much. All right, tonight's agenda has a number of items that the city council must consider in order to conduct city business.

Guidelines for conduct at city council meetings are on the table near the entrance for those in attendance at tonight's meeting. We will now play a video with the proper protocol for ensuring the appropriate conduct at city council meetings. The public appearances portion of the Tempe City Council agenda welcomes people to address the Tempe City Council on city related issues. Speakers will generally be taken in the order in which they have signed up to speak.

No visual aids or pre-recorded materials are allowed. People may speak once during public appearances for up to three minutes. If there is a large number of speakers, the mayor may limit the amount of time allotted for each person. The city council as a whole is prohibited by state law from discussing, responding to, or taking action on matters that are not on the current agenda.

However, an individual council member may respond to criticism made by those who have addressed the public body, may ask the staff to review a matter, or may ask that a matter be put on a future agenda. The city council rules of procedure provides everyone with an opportunity to speak. However, rules of decorum are in effect and behavior that disrupts, disturbs, or otherwise impedes the orderly conduct of any city council meeting is not permitted.

This includes behavior at the podium, inside or adjacent to the council chambers. Speakers shall refrain from name calling, making personal or insulting comments, or slanderous remarks while addressing the city council or while attending the meeting. Should a speaker become disorderly, action will be taken. First, the mayor may issue a verbal warning.

And if the speaker continues disruptive behavior, the speaker will forfeit any remaining time for public comment and will be asked to leave the podium. Further disruption beyond that may result in removal from the council chambers and the mayor may ask security officers to remove the speaker. If the speaker refuses to leave, security will warn the speaker that they are now trespassing and the next step is an arrest for disorderly conduct, trespassing, or both.

If necessary to maintain order, the mayor may recess the meeting. Your right to address the Tempe City Council is important to us. These rules are intended to create an atmosphere that is conducive to thoughtful public speech. Thank you. Okay, before we move into public appearances, I want to take a moment to address campaign related activity ahead of the upcoming Tempe special election on November 3rd. City council meetings are open to the public in a revital forum for civic engagement.

We welcome all individuals, including political committee representatives, to speak on matters of public concern during the public comment portion of the meeting. However, because this is an official city council meeting that is both televised and livereamed using city resources, we ask everyone, including members of the city council, to refrain from electioneering or campaign related activity during the meeting.

That means no discussing local ballot initiatives, asking for votes or signatures, or displaying campaign materials such as signs, t-shirts, or literature while speaking. Thank you for helping us maintain the integrity and neutrality of our public meetings. Okay, that being said, we're going to move on here to item number six, public appearances.

This portion of the meeting is reserved for those wishing to speak on matters listed within the jurisdiction of the city council that are not listed elsewhere on tonight's agenda for discussion or legal action. If you speak now about a topic that appears later on in the agenda, that will serve as your only opportunity to speak on that item. You won't be permitted to speak again when that item comes forward later in the meeting. As a reminder, public speaker signup is electronic.

If you would like to speak during this public appearances period and have not already signed up, you may scan the QR code displayed on the signs in the chambers and select public appearances item six or see one of the designated staff members at the back of the council chambers for assistance. If you submitted the city's online comment card before the meeting and requested to speak during this public appearances period, you do not need to sign up again.

Your name has already been added to the speaker queue. With that said, I'm going to go ahead and get on here with these speakers in the order in which I received the cards. And the first speaker I have this evening is Mario Martinez. Please come forward. State your name and city of residence. You have three minutes. My name is Mario Martinez. I live in Tempee. I'm here to publicly point out the lack of tempe transparency regarding the proposed Prop 424 massive sales tax increase.

The deception is nothing short of cooking the sales tax revenue books and hiding the truth from the Tempe taxpayers in the temp september 1st Tempe prop. If I if I may interrupt, the speaker is not heeding the request to uh avoid discussing the prop 424. Okay. Okay. Wait. I I had like I had I wasn't even getting to this. I was looking for information on what are the sales tax revenues, what are the gross ones, what are they uh uh for uh uh given inflation for a certain period.

We have a right to know that information. I am asking for that information. I am not saying vote for it. I'm not saying vote against it. I'm asking what is the information? That is clearly something that the public should have. Can I continue? Okay. Because 30 seconds. No, please. Yeah. Okay. at the se September uh 1st prop uh uh uh 424 presentation.

Even though city manager Rosen Shousty who makes $370,000 per year and the chief's uh uh uh uh Tempe CFO who makes about 50 uh 250k a year uh were in the room, they could not provide the taxpayers with the expected additional revenues with and without inflation. City Attorney Eric Anderson, who also banks uh 260 per year, also failed to disclose the truth. I will go ahead and skip ahead because I was interrupted. Okay.

The proposed sales tax like to say this is only a half cent for every tax dollars in 10p, but they do not provide the gross amount. Okay. uh using the I went there with a spreadsheet using the CFO. It was $50.3 million per year. Using the spreadsheet, I immediately calculated that this would be $2.5 billion over a 50-year period.

I pointed out that the US bureau of uh uh statistics within the uh uh department of labor also publishes the CPI index for the last 50 years and which and the average was uh uh 3.7%. When this CPI is factored into the projected 2.5 billion unadjusted about uh base amount, it exponentially increases to over six billion dollars over 50 years.

And uh I I would gladly have have one penny or a half cent out of every sales tax, but I would gladly settle for what the for the 30070K or the 260K that our city manager and our city attorney uh receive per year in spite of their fiscal and legal qualifications to the contrary. and I do not appreciate being told that we cannot ask about what our taxes are going for. Thank you very much. Next speaker I have is Jagor Zenov who is also virtual. Virtual. Okay. Can you hear me? Can you hear me?

Okay. Uh uh Jagger, can you This is uh Corey Woods. Can you hear me? Are you able to unmute? Cara Mike, do you think I should come back around or Okay, let's then go to uh Katherine Dorne, who's the next speaker who's also virtual. Okay, Miss Dory, can you hear me? Hello? Yes. Uh, can you hear me? Yes, I can. Please state your name and city of residence. You have three minutes. Hi, Katherine Doring, Tempe, Arizona.

Um, and I'd like to say uh with regards to sorry, I don't have the agenda in front of me. Um, so I don't remember which item uh but the revised item about uh purchasing Axon supplies. Um, now with the note uh that the fleet cameras should not be automatic license plate reader tech enabled, um, I do appreciate the revision. I am nonetheless uh still very concerned about whether or not the city will be able to enforce that provision.

um particularly if any of the footage captured by the cameras is transmitted over the internet through Axon's servers um or into their databases.

However, supposedly temporarily, um I if there is a way for the city to guarantee that any footage taken by the fleet cameras will stay strictly on a local hard drive and go only to the Tempe Police Department and will ensure a completely transparent citizen overseen accountability process um for guaranteeing that that footage will only be used with a warrant. uh for genuinely necessary purposes. Um that would be okay. Uh otherwise I would say how badly do we really need the fleet cameras?

What will they capture that a body camera would not capture that is genuinely necessary for public safety at this point? Um oops. Now I think I'm running out of time. So, I'll just say please um do not move to approve that until you are completely sure that the city of Tempe will have full control and full accountability over and for the footage captured by those cameras. Thank you so much. Thank you. Okay, the next speaker I have is also virtual. It's Cynthia Shy file sticker. Okay. M. Yes. Hi.

Can you state your name? And Hi. I'm actually pulling off to the side of the freeway. So, Oh, yeah. Please be safe during public comment period at all times. So, I was going to say over and my hazards are on. We're good to go. If you could state your uh Miss Sharky, if you could state your name and city of residence, you have three minutes. All right. My name is Cynthia Shy file sticker.

I live in the Daily Park neighborhood of Tempe, Arizona, and I'm holding in my hand a foyer report I pulled for 1701 South College Avenue, which is the Community Christian Church on the corner of College and Encanto. And I just would like to read you a few things from it.

Um, subject with a knife, assault, found property, overdose, aggravated assault, threat intimidating a person, threat of a light, theft of a license plate, criminal damage, assault, assault, disorderly conduct, overdose, another overdose. I have four pages of these within the last two years. This is a foyer report I got directly from the city of Tempi.

And this is apparently what a half a million dollars will buy you between the police department, emergency, fire, park rangers, and private security. This is what we are paying for. This is a report not for J Park. This is solely the church. I will email this to you. We I believe you probably already have it. I'll send it again. But this is what we're paying for. This is costing us over a half a million dollars. In 25, I'm sorry. And in 26, we averaged an overdose a month.

Actually, just under an overdose a month in 26. It's It's insane. We You got a video from us yesterday of a woman running down our street, threatening people, chasing a vehicle. I just I want to say something really needs to be done. This This church is out of control. I also reached out to the Maricopa Environmental Health Department. They were out of compliance for the last two years. I'm working with my health inspector. They are finally now in compliance, but they went over two years.

They're serving 60,000 meals a a year and they don't even they're not even in compliance with health department. And that's all I really have to say. I just you need to be aware of what is happening. I don't suspect that anybody there that goes to their church would have four pages of assaults, overdose, threat, assault with a a a night. It's insane what goes on at that church. Thank you. Okay, I'm going to try to come back around here to uh Jerger Zenov, who is also virtual. Hello.

So, are you able to hear me? Yes, we can hear you. Please state your name and city of residence. You have three minutes. All right, I'll try to avoid cross talk from my phone. I was unable to unmute initially. My name is Yagor Zenov. I live in Chandler officially. I do research here in Tempee. Um, and I wanted to speak on the Axon contract and specifically three reasons why it should be voted down. The first is my concern about AI and automation and policing.

On August 31st, I explained why draft one or AI police reports was a bad idea. I want to also add fus AI um as a potential reason why that's a bad idea. We just learned last week that uh flot cameras are being used to uh look at people for loitering purposes. People were literally searching the word loitering and seeing what the AI would dredge up. I do not want this system to be administered by Axon instead of Flock. It's the same vend it's the same idea just from a different vendor.

But the other problem that I have is that AI systems are inherently designed also to skirt accountability and auditability. I don't trust Axon. They were sued by their own shareholders for buying politicians and not telling the shareholders even who was receiving the donations. The other problem is vendor concentration risk. This contract includes so much within it like interview cameras, evidence storage, the CIC which you shouted out at the beginning of the meeting.

If for example, Axon is targeted by a cyber attack, all of that goes down, which is why it's good practice usually to distribute this across vendors. But the other issue with vendor concentration risk is a lack of pricing power. Um, I looked through the uh various items and it looks like uh 400 tasers are going to cost around $200 million, which is about 5 to $6,000 per taser. Anyone who is familiar with this hardware knows it should cost 7 to 10 times less.

And indeed, this became a matter of public controversy in Mesa, Arizona in 2024. So, I would argue that merely for fiscal prudence reasons, this contract should be voted down because of the outrageously spiraling costs. So, even if you do not agree with the general arguments about mass surveillance, you should still be concerned about AI and policing, vendor concentration, and the price gouging that this results in. Please vote no on the Axon contract. Thank you. Okay.

The next speaker I have this evening is Kim Gaffne Loza. Please come forward. State your name and city of residents. You have three minutes. Good evening, Mayor and Council. Kim Gaffne Loza, North Tempee. And first, I'm going to apologize because I was going to give my opinion on 424. I didn't realize we could not do that.

So, I'm going to take this opportunity to thank Widell, who I appreciate so much because she would handle with such grace listening, responding, and mediating at every meeting that I was ever at with her. And then a special thanks to Craig. I'm gonna get Terry here because he was such a proponent of working with the parks, helping us get the preserve, helping us get the Desert Conservation Commission, and most of all listening and finding solutions.

He's going to be so missed by me and so many others. Thank you, Craig. Thank you. Thank you. Okay, the next speaker I have this evening is Nathan Taylor. Please come forward, state your name and city of residence. You have three minutes. Um, hi, my name is Nathan Taylor and while I live in Chandler, I take classes on the ASU main campus. So, you're good. Okay. Um, so I spend a significant amount of time here in Tempe.

I was here on August 31st when this Axon contract was on the agenda due to a reported clerical error and I and it was removed to allow time for ALPRs to be taken out of it. Well, now the contract is back. The fleet cameras are still there and the only change I can see on the first page is on the first page of the contract where it says Axon fleet cameras and support services. It says in parenthesis quote not ALPR enabled. That's it.

That's the only part where the phrase ALPR is mentioned in the entire contract. There's no definition of what an ALPR is. It doesn't even clarify that it stands for automated license plate reader. There are no details as to how this will be enforced. There are no instructions for how to make sure ALPR abilities are disabled. There are no consequences for officers who don't disable ALPR abilities. It's just those three words. Fleet 3 cameras are first and foremost mobile ALPRs.

That is pretty much their whole purpose. On Axon's Fleet 3 FAQ page under how do I turn ALPR off, it says, quote, "ALPR is functioning whenever Fleet 3 is powered on. Even if Fleet 3 dashboard is not running or the MDT is off, ALPR will function and the dual view camera will still produce audible alerts. If the if the ALPR subscription is terminated, when it's reactivated, ALPR functionality will be available within 10 minutes.

Without ALPR abilities, it sounds like Axon Fleet cameras are are just a dash cam. If you're not using the ALPR function, there's no reason to buy them. Because the contract doesn't define an ALPR, what's stopping the police department from using ALPR abilities to track characteristics of vehicles other than the license plate or even just people? Because maybe they still think that they're still allowed to do that.

And they would be able to because fleet cameras can track way more than license plates. As I'm sure you've heard repeatedly, in addition to date, time, and location, they record pretty much anything that the AI system can pick out. ALPRs also track people even without a vehicle to go along with them. This is an issue that applies to ALPRs, not just one company. Despite what many police departments claim, ALPRs can use facial recognition. Verata advertises it.

Flock has said for a long time that its ALPRs can't track people, but a recent Wired investigation found that they can, including an indivi an individual's race, height, clothing, etc. They have said ALPRs aren't used to monitor first amendment activity, but Tempe police used them to track No King's protesters last year. These companies lie repeatedly. Do not trust them and please don't contract with them. This contract has essentially stayed the same and ALPRs have not been removed.

Three words were added in parenthesis at the beginning with no definitions, details, or instructions for action. This is completely irresponsible and a huge public trust issue. I urge you to not approve this contract and pass a comprehensive ordinance banning all ALPRs, not just for law enforcement use. Thank you. Thank you. All right. All right, the next speaker I have this evening is Sergeant Rob Ferraro. Please come forward. State your name and city of residence. You have three minutes.

Thank you, mayor, and thank you, council members. My name is Rob Ferraro Chandler. I serve as president of the Tempe Officers Association. I'm here tonight to comment on item 8A1, but also to speak more generally about uh public safety in our city. I appreciate you listening. I want to be clear about the impact of the past few months.

With every loss of a useful crimerevention tool, every attack on our officers and uh and every statement of support not backed by meaningful action, we are making Tempe and its residents less safe. Let me say this again as clearly as I can. Tempe is getting less safe. I can't be any more direct than that. Not one piece of credible evidence has been presented showing that technology purchased from Flock and Axon.

Technology used to prevent and solve countless crimes has ever been misused by a Tempe officer. What has happened is that a few dozen loud people who loathe law enforcement have shown up to scream at you. There has been co this has been coupled with attacks by defense lawyers looking for a payday and anonymous council communicators attacking everyone from the police chief to the city manager and to the mayor.

Now we sit here debating whether to forbid certain technologies by adding restrictions to the city code. Maybe we should consider banning Microsoft Word while we're at it because we don't like what people say. Many many of you have campaigned on making our city safer. You've asked for our endorsement and told us you would be an ally for public safety. This is where those commitments are tested. You can make Tempee safer or you can make it less safe.

You can give our officers the tools they need to protect residents and solve crimes or you can make that work more difficult. And there will come a day, likely sooner than any of us would like, when a crime is not prevented, a suspect is not identified, where a case goes unsolved because a tool that could have been made the difference was no longer available. When that happens, we should remember that those outcomes do not begin on the street.

They begin with decisions made in rooms like this one on nights like tonight when we still had the opportunity to choose differently. Thank you very much for your time. Thank you. Thank you. That's all the speakers I have this evening. Is there anyone else in the audience wishing to address the council under item number six? Yes. Mr. Emorosi, please come forward. State your name and city of residence. You have three minutes. I went old school and filled out a card. I guess it doesn't work.

Don't worry, I got I got you. Sorry. The Amarosce, 50year resident of Tempe. On the June 4th council meeting, the last council voted six to one. The mayor was alone.

No vote to give the massive Marshall on Spence rent by the bedroom student housing project another six-month continuence to see if this out ofstate developer would change his sevenstory 85 foot high tower on a 25 foot wide neighborhood street into something more appropriate that matches the three and fourstory town homes and apartments that are already on Spence.

Councilman Randy Keading spearheaded this continuence and said he would approve any housing, no matter how inappropriate, no matter where the location, as long as it increases housing stock in Tempee. So that got me to thinking maybe I can help Councilman Keading out. I don't want to be a negative Nelly all the time. I found a street called Willow and it butts right up against Tempee's western canal. A sevenstory student housing development would fit perfectly along there.

Students would love to see a canal rather than the railroad tracks on Spence. All you have to do is approve the developer P A to change it to unlimited MU4 zoning like you have to do on Spence. Another plus would be you'd only have to displace four single family homes instead of 40 affordable apartments that are currently on Spence.

I'm sure the neighbors there wouldn't mind the extra traffic on a small neighborhood street from 269 bedrooms since it's the same width as Spence and there's only one way out like Spence. If you don't care about the existing neighbors on Spence, then how uh would you care about the uh people that are down in South Temp looking at an 85 foot high building? It shouldn't matter. What's fair is fair. You don't have to thank me for this idea, Randy. You can take all the credit for it.

You could be the face of putting student housing towers all over the city of Tempe. Me, I want to protect existing neighborhoods. Thank you, Mr. Amarosi. Uh, yes, Council Makit. Mayor, I'd like to respond to that if I could. Sure. Thank you again, Mr. Amarosi, for your comments. Uh, you certainly are a broken record on this issue.

I wish I had the privilege to buy my house in the 70s and live in it all the way up until today and come and herang the city council against any and all new development in the city. We just heard from a young man speaking about u the flock cameras and I'm very proud of you for being civically engaged. But the fact of the matter he and most of the people we hear speaking on this issue cannot afford to live in the city of Tempe. I remember during uh my first campaign you ran against me.

Most people in the audience and probably watching on TV don't know I won that election, but I remember in that first campaign, you bragged about how you'd done so much to bring the light rail down Apache and revitalize that corridor only then to shake your fist at any proposed new development that would come in because you're concerned about the traffic and you're concerned about the character of the neighborhood.

Why do we build these multimmodal transportation infrastructures on lines only so that you may use it? I would welcome more apartments in South Temp. In fact, we just approved apartment complex wasn't that long ago uh very close to my house and we heard the same um arguments care to their neighborhood traffic. How will I get to and from bogeies if there is a apartment uh complex across the street?

is a matter of profound privilege and profound um uh entitlement that you come here every meeting and cavet over a project that's not even going to get built. So I would hope whenever when I'm your age, which you know I I'll catch up to you soon enough. I would hope that that I'm fortunate enough to have been able to buy a house in Tempe during the last affordable time you really could buy a house in Tempe.

I wouldn't spend my time, my evenings or just any part of any second trying to ensure that the other the less fortunate those of us that weren't born frankly those of us that aren't baby boomers could not live in the city of Tempe because I'm concerned about the traffic and I'm concerned about the character. especially after I spent so much time taking credit for the development along that path. Thank you for your comments, Mr. Amarosi.

Okay, do I have any other speakers in the audience who wish to speak under item number six, public appearances? If so, can you please get my attention? Okay, seeing none, I will move Oh, is there someone? Oh okay. All right. I'll move on to item number seven here, the consent agenda. All items listed on the consent agenda will be considered as a group and will be enacted with one motion by the city council unless an item is removed for separate consideration.

Members of the public may remove public hearing items for separate consideration. Public hearing items are designated as public hearing item at the beginning of the item title. Council members may remove any item for separate consideration or to declare a conflict of interest. If a council member would like to declare a conflict at this time, the city clerk will provide the council member with a disclosure form. As a reminder, public speaker signed up as electronic.

If you wish to speak on a public hearing item and have not already signed up, please scan the QR code displayed on the signs in the chambers and select the specific agenda item or see one of the designated staff members at the back of the council chambers for assistance. Once again, want to announce that the consent agenda this evening is resolutions item 7C1. Uh, excuse me. That's it. Actually, item 7C1, that and my asthmatic cough is all you get.

Um, if you'd like to have council uh item 7C1 removed from the consent agenda, can you get my attention? Okay, seeing none, so it looks like I've got a motion to approve the consent agenda by council member Garland and a second by Vice Mayor Chin. Uh, any further comments or questions? Seeing none, please vote. And that item is approved 7 to Z. I I really do believe that is the smallest consent agenda I've ever seen in my now almost 15 full years of sitting up here. So, congratulations everyone.

All right. Now, item item eight, non-consent agenda. All items listed on the non-consent agenda will be considered separately. Agenda items scheduled for introduction and first public hearing will be heard but will not be voted upon at this meeting. Agenda items scheduled for second public hearing and final adoption will be voted upon tonight.

Council members who may have a conflict of interest may abstain from voting on a matter and the city clerk will provide the council members with the disclosure form at this time. Public hearing items subject to Arizona Revised Statutes section 9-462.04 are designated as public hearing item pursuant to ARS section 9-462.04 in the item title.

A person who gives testimony or submits written comments on a designated item must declare whether they've received compensation in any form to testify or submit written comments. So 8A miscellaneous items, bids, contracts, and resolutions.

First item under the section is 8A1 which is to approve the utilization of a 5-year Sourcewell cooperative contract with Axon Enterprise Incorporated for the purchase of various equipment, hardware, software and services utilized by the police department to include bodywn cameras, video cloud storage, taser electronic devices, fleet cameras, not automated license plate reader enabled, and software to support the real-time operation center, interview rooms, and evidence services.

All right, council members. Uh please, if you have any comments or questions on this item for staff, uh please make sure to submit your request to speak on in the online system here. Uh yes, Council Member Nichols. Thank you very much, Mayor. Um on this issue, I want to again thank so many people for coming out to speak about this both last time we had a meeting and also today.

Um, I think it's important as we look through this contract to identify the type of technology we are still going to be purchasing if this is approved. And that technology does, as one of our speakers today, you know, mentioned, uh, it does include technology that is intended to be operated as an automated license plate reader and has the same level of risk associated with it um, for Fourth Amendment and privacy rights as the flock cameras that we had initially decided to move away from.

Uh, as all of you know, we've been saying pretty consistently at this point that we are moving away from automated license plate reader technology.

And I think it's important for us to be thoughtful as we move forward especially because the large issue with this is not just the immediate uh recordings but also the storage of the data and how the third party private entities which profit from the collection of and sale of access to these large data uh bases um make their money essentially which requires these continued issues.

We've seen Flock uh data on Flock specifically which says that they have been misrepresenting whether their cameras are on or off or recording or collecting data and the same financial incentives exist for other um companies as well. For those reasons, I am planning to vote no on this and I just wanted to put that forward. Thank you very much, Council Nichols. Appreciate it. Uh anyone else on council? Any other comments or questions on item 8A1? Just one quick question.

I mean, maybe this is for you, Mr. City Attorney. Uh I I know right now I know Council Nichols had a meeting last night concerning uh banning ALPR technology in certain kinds of forms or I want to make sure I'm I'm projecting that properly. And I know the conversation is surrounding some of the things that are being purchased do have that do have the ability to have that technology, but they're not ALPR enabled.

But if the ordinance that council member Nichols is proposing moving forward was enacted, that would ensure that that the even though this device might have the ability to do so, that it would be strictly prohibited by the city of Tempe from turning that device on or enabling that ALPR technology by ordinance. Is that correct? Uh, mayor, members of council, is that comfortable?

And I I know that doesn't speak to I know council member Nichols made a separate point that I definitely respect, but I want to make sure that I'm understanding you know what's being on what's on the agenda tonight plus also what's being proposed in the future as well. As proposed, the ordinance would ban the use of that.

My understanding with the Axon contract was clarified that although those cameras would be able to be purchased with that technology, uh the city has specifically said we don't want that technology as part of the purchase. So, uh, my understanding is that that technology wouldn't even come with a camera. It's just a add-on that was available, but would not be purchased by the city at all. So, Okay. Okay. Thank you, Mr. Anderson. I just wanted to make sure that I got some clarification on that.

And also, thank you once again to Council Member Nichols for his comments as well. Uh, anyone else? Let's see. Council member St. George. Thank you, Mr. Mayor. Um I did want to clarify in this contract that we have we this is not new. This is not a new contract with Axon. We have several ongoing contracts with Axon. This is a consolidation of those and as a consolidation it is saving the city a significant amount of money.

Um also it includes a lot of things that we really do want our police departments to have including bodywn cameras, tasers, um software to support real-time operations center. So for that reason and because it is a significant cost savings to the city and because we have decided to move forward with fleet without the ALPR technology enabled I will be voting yes on this. Thank you council member St. George. Anyone else on council want to address item 81. Okay seeing none.

This is not a public hearing item. So I can look for a motion on item 8A1 from anyone on council. So the motion's being made by council member Garland and council garland. Just to clarify, is that to approve item 81? Okay. So it's been motion's been made to approve item 81 by council member Garland. There's been a second by Vice Mayor Chin. Uh any final comments or questions from anyone on the council? All right. Seeing none, please vote.

And that item passes six to one with council member Nichols voting no. Okay. The next item under the section is 8A2 which is to adopt a resolution authorizing the mayor to sign amendment one to a joint use and land joint use and lease agreement with the regional public transportation authority for the joint use and lease of the East Valley bus operations and maintenance facility. Council, any comments or questions on this item? Okay. If not, I will look for a motion.

It's been moved to approve by council member Garland and seconded by council member Amber. Any final comments or questions hearing? None. Please vote. And that item is approved 7 to zero. The last item under the section is 883, which is to adopt a resolution authorizing the mayor to sign amendment one to an intergovernmental agreement with the regional public transportation authority for paratransit services for fiscal year 2026 27. Council, any comments or questions on item 883?

Okay, it looks like there's been a motion to approve by Council Member St. George and a second by Council Member Keing. Any final comments? All right, seeing none, please vote. And that item passes 7 to zero. The next section on the non-consent agenda is ordinances items for introduction and first hearing. The items under the section will be read and introduced tonight, but no substantive votes will be taken. The second hearing and vote on item 8B1 is scheduled for October 15, 2026.

And the second hearing and vote on item 8B2 is scheduled for September 24th, 2026. So, first up, 8B1, introduce and hold the first public hearing to adopt an ordinance for a zoning map amendment from Roro to CSS for approximately.34 acres for assisted living training school located at 1843 East Southern Avenue. The applicant is Precious Living LLC. Is the applicant here, Cassie Latinovich, to make a presentation? Good evening.

Oh, you can also uh raise the um there's a button on the side if you need to raise the desk up a little bit. Right under there. Thank you. I'm a little tall. Okay. Once again, other words that have never been said about me. So, you can have some of my No problem. Uh, good evening, mayor and city council. Um, my name is Casey Latinovich, and today I'm presenting on Assisted Living Training School located at 1843 East Southern Avenue.

Um, we are requesting a zoning map amendment from RORO, which is residential office to CSS, a commercial shopping and services to allow a vocational school. This property is located on the southeast corner of Kacina and Southern Avenue. The property was bought in April of 2018. The existing building is in good condition and the assisted living training school has occupied it since it was bought, so for eight years now.

Um the school has over 25 years of experience um providing state approved training and certifications for caregivers and managers of assisted living taking care taking care of our elderly. So the training consists of mobility ambu ambulation uh memory care dementia care that sort of thing. The classes are relatively low in nature. So 80 to 100% of our classes are online with in-person classes one to two times per week. Um it's only a maximum of 20 students.

So normal day-to-day d day-to-day d traffic is expected to remain moderate um with no high impact or high operations. The office hours are Monday to Friday from 9:00 to 5:00 and those are that is our um building statistics. So the site plan has the existing building as well as a a covered car um covered parking as well as uncovered parking. There's a total of 15 parking spaces provided and 12 of those parking spaces are required. So we exceed what is required for parking.

Um then we will also then we will also um do a DPR to add three bicycle parkings as well as an ADA parking space so we can see that um is there a laser on this maybe not can't see it but we will add a ADA one ADA parking space which still allows plenty of parking spaces for our students. Um we do have a shared refuse agreement with the property to the south. Um originally with this property um the property south of us it was all one um one what is it called?

AP it was all one property and then it was split. So now our trash is on the s southern property. Um we do have a shared refuse agreement and we have that on file. Our floor plan, we have um 2,851 square feet. Our classroom space is going to be indicated in the yellow. The yellow is going to be classrooms with computers for our testing rooms because our caregivers and our managers do need to uh pass a state exam, which is a knowledgebased state exam.

So that is the yellow as well as a tutoring room and a a hands-on training room where our caregivers will actually have that hands-on experience. Um also doing our um memory care which we really really love. They get a hands-on experience um to actually be put into a place of where our dementia residents are actually are at. So they have a better understanding of how to care for our residents. Then our blue spaces are going to be our office space. So we have adviserss in the reception office.

Um our kitchen and break room, office rooms, hallways, restrooms, storage room, and our IT room. Um for a note, we will have to do a change of occupancy for our use, which has been approved at the DPR uh meeting a few weeks ago. Here are some photos of our hands-on training. handashing, doing vital signs, doing transfers, um using a Hoyer lift. And here are some of our happy happy graduates. Now they get to take care of our lovely seniors. Approval criteria and justification.

Uh the first point here is the amount of vehicles and traffic will be typically low intensity because classes only occur one to two times a week with a maximum of 20 students. The project does not conflict with the goals or objectives of the city's adopted plan or general plan.

In fact, it actually um does a really great job um agreeing with it especially with enhancing quality of life and aligns and promotes in neighborhood enhancement, quality of life and livability throughout the city of Tempe. It is also compatible with the alamada character area which emphasizes community sustainability and services that support aging in place that part specifically and access to essential education and resources.

We appreciate your time for in review for um our request of zoning amendment from RO to CSS. Thank you. Wonderful. Thank you so much. Appreciate it. Uh any members of the council have any comments or questions on this item? Yes, council for Garland. I was just gonna say I don't have a specific question, but I didn't realize we had a school like this in Tempe. And with Arizona being the highest population of aging adults in with Alzheimer's, I'm glad you're here. Thank you so much.

Thank you, Council Garland, Council St. George. Likewise. I'm so excited to know that you exist and my brain was spinning to like, can you provide classes for the city of Tempe? Yeah, absolutely.

I would I would love for our employees to be trained in dementia care so that when our officers or fire department is out there working with someone, they have specific knowledge of exactly how to handle that because like council member Garland said, we our population is aging and it would be amazing if everyone knew how to handle that oncoming onslaught of older um individuals who are going to be dealing with that. So, thank you for existing. Thank you. Thank you, Council St. George.

Uh, anyone else on council? Any comments? All right. See none. Thank you so much. Appreciate it. Thank you. Okay. This is also a public hearing item. So, I'm going to open up the public testimony portion. Please note that item 8B1 is designated as a public hearing item pursuant to ARS section 9-462.04. Anyone providing testimony or written comments on this item is required to declare whether they are being compensated to testify or submit written comments.

When called to speak, you will be asked to state your compensation declaration for the record before providing your comments. Uh, madame clerk, I believe there aren't any speakers for this item that I can see, but I'll double check with you one last time. That is correct. No speakers for this item. Thank you so much. Appreciate it. Uh, anyone in the audience wishing to speak on this item? If so, please get my attention.

Okay, seeing none, I'll close the public testimony portion of the public hearing. Just want to note as well uh there uh this is not the second hearing. This is only the first one. So the second and final public hearing on this item will be scheduled for October 15, 2026.

The last item under the section is 8B2, which is to introduce and hold the first public hearing to adopt an ordinance authorizing the abandonment of an 8oot easement for irrigation located north of Broadway Road and west of College Avenue for 147 East Bonita Way, which is the Hefernan residence. Council members, any comments or questions on item 8B2? Okay, seeing none, this is also a public hearing item, so open up the public testimony portion.

Uh, madame clerk, do we have any speakers on this item? None for this item. Thank you. Thank you very much. Appreciate that. Anyone in the audience wishing to address the council? If so, can you get my attention? Okay, seeing none, I'll close the public testimony portion of the public hearing. Uh, let's see. Council, any final opportunities for comments here? All right, the second and final public hearing on this item is going to be scheduled for September 24th, 2026.

All right, the last section on the non-consent agenda is ordinances items scheduled for second hearing and final adoption. So votes on these items will be taken tonight.

The first item under the section is 8C1, which is to hold the second and final public hearing to adopt an ordinance authorizing the city manager to negotiate and execute a lease agreement for the lease of city-owned commercial property located at 526 South Mill Avenue in Tempe, Arizona, subject to approval of the terms by the city attorney. Council members, any comments or questions on this item? Yes. Uh, no comments actually. There's been a motion made by council member Amber to approve.

Uh, it has been seconded by Council Member Garland. Any comments or questions, Mr. Mr. Mayor, we actually have two public speakers. Oh, we do. Wonderful. Okay, let's do it. So, okay, this is uh we're going to bring forward some folks here. Who where are the speakers? Oh, in the other screen here. Ah, there we go. Perfect. All right. So, I'm going to go to the public testimony portion here. The first speaker I have is Kobe Preston. Please come forward. State your name and city of residence.

You have three minutes. Uh hello, city council. Uh my name is Kobe Preston. I a current resident of Scottsdale, but I'm moving to Tempe next month. Um as with my comments last week during the work study session, uh I come to you today with a message of anti- monopoly. Uh globally, electronic dance music, or EDM for short, is a$ 15 billion industry and growing 7% year-over-year.

But like all live music events, the sector is prone to consolidation of its various functions from promoters to ticketing companies to the venues themselves. In the United States, the leading EDM company is Insomniac, of which Live Nation owns 50%. Uh their events are known among the EDM community as being overpriced and overcrowded, which correlates with violence, theft, and medical emergencies.

However, in Arizona and New Mexico, we have a smaller regional monopoly known as Relentless Beats, which formerly operated this location as Darkstar. Uh, while events by Relentless Beats are better than Insomniac, they nonetheless fall greed to the uh fall victim to the greed of monopolization when it comes to pricing, quality, and quantity of such events. In fact, Darkstar was abandoned by Relentless Beats because uh it owns another more successful venue on Mill Avenue block away, Sunbar.

As for the rest of the valley, Relentless Beast continues to operate other venues. The Roosevelt in downtown Phoenix, the Raw Height Event Center in Chandler, the Mesa Amphitheater, and the Maya Day and Nightclub in Oldtown Scottsdale. Uh but none of those venues are appropriate for up andcoming artists uh that require smaller, more intimate station uh spaces of which Darkstar was ideally equipped.

Meanwhile, independent competitors are cropping up across the valley, uh, such as IDG, FNC and Walter Studios, and they are great options for running a music venue in the former Darkstar space. So, other Tempe residents have expressed a desire for the city to maintain this as a live event space in the past. I am here today just saying maybe keep in mind the broader context of the industry and um, you know, prevent monopolization here in the valley. Thank you. Thank you. We appreciate it. Okay.

The next speaker I have this evening is Robert Moore. Please come forward. State your name and city of residence. You have three minutes. Hi, Robert Moore, Tempy, Arizona. Um, this is going to be a little abstract, so I ask for your patience. Um, so I think first of all, um, it was a great move to invest in these buildings with the bond funding initiative that was designated for historic preservation. So, thank you very much for doing that.

Um, and a lot of people and the gentleman just referenced our live music um, scene in downtown Tempb. Um, and that b dates back obviously decades. And one of the things that we have to recognize is how important accessibility is to the downtown and making it um, a grassroots environment as much it is as it is a corporate environment.

just become over the years it's become very exclusive and I think there was just a subcommittee on council about this topic and retail spaces not being available or accessible to ground level um community development of innovative maybe retail ideas or whatnot and so I know I know it's complicated with these sort of projects because of market pricing that the city has to fulfill um in terms of who it rents to and whatnot um but it is it is a great opportunity to create accessible spaces to the community level, the grassroots level, ASU students who are looking to experiment downtown with concepts and ideas.

Um, where we used to have accessible re retail points um, run by mom and pops who might take a chance on an ASU student or or a high school kid or a community member, we don't have that ecology anymore.

And so I hope that that especially the hardware building has a lot of smaller spaces and a lot of you smaller units and I don't know how you do that through these mechanisms but equally there are city programs um that have been doing well including art studios through um the community services department and it creates you know these spaces create an opportunity for um local artists to experiment in a downtown setting and help activate and make these spaces more accessible to that level of engagement and activation.

So when we look for these community level incubations of live music um creative culture um we have to start somewhere and maybe this can be sort of a place that can help seed recede the downtown along those lines and make it accessible again to that level of those residents or potential students graduating who might seek this type of opportunity. How easy it is, I'm not sure, but I just wanted to mention it. So, thank you very much. Thank you. Appreciate it.

Anyone else wishing to speak on item 8 C1? If so, could you please get my attention? Okay, seeing that, I'll close the public testimony portion of the public hearing. And I'm going to go back to my other screen here. I have a motion. Oh, I have a motion on the table to approve by Council Member Amber and a second by Council Member Garland. Uh, council, any other comments or questions on this item before the vote? Okay, seeing none, please vote. And that item passes 7 to zero.

The next item under the section is 8 C2, which is to hold the second and final public hearing to adopt an ordinance authorizing the city manager to negotiate and execute a lease agreement for the lease of city-owned commercial property located at 524 South Mill Avenue in Tempe, Arizona, subject to the approval of the lease terms by the city attorney. This is also a public hearing item as well. So, if anyone wants to speak on item 82, can you please get my attention?

Okay, seeing none, um, Madame Clerk, we don't have any comments on this one, do we? None on this item. Thank you. Okay, wonderful. Thank you so much. All right, I've got a motion on the table to approve item 8 C2 by Council Member St. George with a second by Council Member Garland. Council members, any final comments or questions? All right, seeing none, please vote. And that item passes seven to zero.

The next item under the section is 8C3, which is to hold the second and final public hearing to adopt an ordinance authorizing the granting of a power distribution easement to Arizona Public Service Company over certain city-owned land located at 101 East 6th Street Temp 85281 and authorizing the mayor or his designate to execute an easement agreement and related documents. This is also a public hearing item as well.

So, if there's any public testimony on this item, can you please get my attention? Okay, seeing none, I'll turn to our clerk. Any comments on item 8C3? None for this item. Thank you very much. Let's see. Council members, any final comments or questions? Or do I have a motion to approve item 83? The motion's been made to approve by council member Garland with a second by council member St. George. With that, please vote. And that item passes 7 to zero.

The last item under the section is 8C4, which is to hold the second and final public hearing to adopt an ordinance authorizing the partial abandonment of a 1 foot wide vehicular non-access easement located on the east side of Lakeshore Drive and south of Elliot Road for the for 1204 East Secretariat Drive, which is the ghetto residence. Is the applicant's representative John Gillespie here? Yes, please come forward. Good evening, Mr. Mayor and members of the council.

John Gillespie with the Rose Law Group, 7144 East, uh Stson here on behalf of the Ghetto family. I have to excuse the Ghetto family tonight. It's a popular night for for birthdays. are celebrating their third um daughter's uh birthday tonight.

And um they're they're grateful for the comments that was made here by this council two weeks ago and uh and have been working hard to to follow up on on the direction that was given, the questions that were asked and and uh excited to report back on on the good work that's been done on this project. Uh just as a reminder, the the Gettles uh home, they they purchased it two years ago here on on Lakeshore Drive in Secretariat. Um the the ghettos, they they want to invest here in Tempe.

they they bought this home in intending as it as their forever home. And as you can see that the majority of um the uh property does abode onto onto Lakeshore Drive. And the request tonight is to uh shift the driveway from Secretariat to to Lakeshore Drive. Uh abandoning the the one foot wide vehicular no access that was established in 1973. Um a little additional background, the the school Wagner Elementary was built in 1968.

Um and so that VNAE really is a tool that city uh transportation planners use to to guide development and to ensure that there's appropriate development and in the 50 years that uh since that B&E was placed on the property certainly development uh trends have have changed and and this area has become established and uh the transportation patterns are known and and um so we've we followed up with your transportation staff on on that that very item and and we're pleased with the steps that have have been taken.

Here's a little zoom in on the property. So, three three primary things that we were asked at at the last hearing. Uh number one was to reach uh again out to the schools. We had we had sent correspondence to them um and talked to the the crossing guards, but we doubled down on that. We we reached out to the principal and and uh had a good conversation with the principal, email conversation. Uh the principal and the uh Wagner Elementary has uh said they have no opposition.

They they support they would support the driveway that's being proposed. um they asked the city of Tempee to to analyze uh the traffic even closer uh as well and and they wanted to to see the city's uh comments on that.

So, we're grateful that your city transportation uh staff went out, visited the site, um an analyzed conditions uh particularly during school hours and uh provided a report that's in your packet uh where they have uh reaffirmed that they have no concerns and that they're um they re the recommendation is that this driveway is is safe. it's compliant and um and can be accepted uh for the ghetto's uh request.

So that second aspect there of working with your transportation department, we're thankful for staff spent a lot of time on this um and and I appreciate personally I know you you work on big zoning cases, you work on variances, you work on discretionary approvals and a lot of effort and energy goes into those cases.

I appreciate that a lot of care and and uh attention has been paid to the ghetto's request here and um and I I'm I'm pleased that the the results are showing that yes, the ghetto's request is appropriate. It's safe. It complies with the engineering standards. The school is supportive. Um and uh the third item that we followed up on was was continue to correspond with our neighbors. Uh there's a big email chain uh with the neighbors in this in the Sunburst Farms um uh community.

And so we've continued to engage with our neighbors. pleased to share that at the last meeting we had we had four neighbors who were who are in support and now we have 11 neighbors who have who indicated their support uh either by petition or email and that's in your your packet as well. So we're um maybe we have an old the older slide deck here but we we got another support here this afternoon. Cara, I might have the old the old uh presentation up here.

if you have that the other presentation handy. I have a couple other things I did want to point out to uh to the council if possible. Are you referring to the memo document you sent me? Um we can we go to the memo document if you have that if that's right. I wanted to to pull out and extract a couple of the the key details that were in the city's transportation here. So I wanted to make it easy in the other power portion of this. find the fifth paragraph down there.

You'll see that based on the observations of existing operations, the proposed driveway design and and comments received from the district up a little bit. Up a little bit, up a little bit, up a little bit. You had it fine zoomed in where it was at there. Yeah, zoom up. You're you're going down. There you go. Right there is good. Uh so just reiterating uh what this the city's observations based on existing operations.

The proposed driveway design and comments received from the district transportation finds the driveway acceptable with respect to location and design. And then that's uh the other PowerPoint presentation that I had there just pulled out the email actually from the school district saying that we would be in support. Um and so that's uh that's all that was missing from the from the deck there. So um we're very uh grateful for the the close eye that's been paid on this.

you know, that uh we've got some PTO moms here and and thankful that they were um cognizant of, hey, what does the school think of this and so that's why we we went and we did that due diligence and and got that support from from the school. Um if you can go back to my PowerPoint presentation, just want to point out a couple other things here that um so we went and and this is a picture here that you're looking here on the left side.

If you're standing at the crosswalk um at the intersection of Secretaria and Lakeshore, uh this answers a question that was raised at the last hearing about what's the vehicular and pedestrian foot uh traffic here. And so, as you'll see, the east side of Lakeshore, which is the side that the uh Ghetto family um lives on, uh that side has no parking. And so, there's no no drop offs or pickups that are happening there.

and the the crossing guards just reiterated there's very low traffic there because as you can see on the west side that's where that's where kids are walking to to school and getting dropped off by their parents not on the east side and so while we will have site visibility triangles established for our driveway onto Lake Shore. Uh it is a a low traffic corridor there.

Um as well the ghettos intend to you know it's it's going to be a gated entrance and so that gate uh provides some some sound that uh you know makes for an even safer condition. So, um, that's a condition that we we observed as well. If you look on the right there, that just reiterates, uh, looking down Secretariat, the Secretariat really is where the majority of of foot traffic and vehicular traffic happens. As you can see there, the ghetto driveway being, uh, right there close to to Lakeshore.

Um, not as safe as as moving that uh that driveway onto Lakeshore where there's uh there's more visibility, more room to to operate and and there's less foot traffic uh, moving in that that corridor there. So with that, I'd ask you to um please uh follow the recommendation from your staff, which is to approve uh this this abandonment uh with the following conditions here that that provide uh um for safe operation here.

This this second condition here was an important one that that we received comments of how do you kind of enforce this? And and so this was was drafted to to ensure that hey uh you know the the city has the the right to look at how that driveway design is being made and and and won't issue a building permit unless if they can show that that forward motion of the vehicle out on the lake shore can can be established.

So um we're uh we were able to work with your staff on that and I'm happy to answer any questions now. Um, thank you for the the consideration and I know there's a couple more neighbors who who still are here and like to express their opinion and if it's all right, Mayor, I' I'd be happy to reserve a little bit time after to address any questions that might be might be raised there. Sounds good. Thank you, Mr. Gillespie. Appreciate it. I do have one question here from Council Member St. George.

No, not a question yet, but I would like to hear from the neighbors first. Oh, sure. You got it. Absolutely. All right. Uh, any questions, council for Mr. Gillespie? Okay, let's then Oh, C. Okay. Okay. Council member Garland. I thought he was going to said he was going to ask answer questions later, but I'll be happy to. Okay. Um, so you said 10 neighbors are okay with this. How many neighbors are in the neighborhood?

So, the total uh in the Sunburst is 74 neighbors is how many households are there and that's who we sent our notice to. Um, and we've gotten 11 that have indicated support and and my understanding is uh six in your packet that have expressed either some neutrality or opposition to the to the project. Okay. I I'll save my comments and question another one for later. Thank you. Okay. Thank you. Anyone else on council? Any comments for or questions for Mr.

Gillespie or would we like to get the other folks up here first? Okay. Sounds good. Thank you so much. All right. This is also a public test hearing item. So, I'm going to get the public testimony started here. So, give me one quick second. All right. The first speaker I have this evening is Sandy Wahborn. Please come forward. State your name and city of residence. You have three minutes. And also, if you need to lower that, there's a button on the side. So, That's just about right. Thank you.

I'm Sandy Walahorn. I live just on the next street north of the lot that is asking for this easement. I will start out by expressing the fact that I have a safety concern mainly because my granddaughter uses that sidewalk every single day to go to and from school. One child's life is just as important as an additional driveway. My position here is mainly to express that the city had originally had a safety concern for that easement and the driveway access and nothing has changed.

The easement is still a safety issue, especially when it comes to children, whether it be one child or 30 children walking through that sidewalk. I also use that sidewalk every morning when I take my dog for a walk. Today I took a nice sp a nice spill on that sidewalk because I was avoiding the mosqu tree that is encroaching on the sidewalk from this neighbor's home. I had to walk on the rocks to avoid getting scraped by the growth of that mosqu tree that is growing onto the sidewalk.

My concern is the safety of the children. I'm asking each and every one of you to place yourself back when you were 11 years old. If you had the luxury to walk to school by yourselves, watching for a car coming out from the neighborhood was probably the last thing on your mind. So, I'm asking each and every one of you to think about this. and to vote against this request. Thank you. Thank you. Okay. The next speaker I have this evening is Mike Wahborn. Please come forward.

State your name and city of residence. You have three minutes. Mike Temp. I I love Tempe. And uh can you can you raise the desk on the uh on there's a button on the right hand side just to make sure the microphone's picking up your voice. Perfect. Thank you. We good. Yep. You got it. Go for it. All right. Um, thanks for hearing me out. I love Tempee and, um, longtime resident, 50 years, and I'm one of Mr.

Keading's privileged boomers that bought into that neighborhood when, uh, it was affordable. Um, 30 some years in that neighborhood. I I have a I guess a point about continuity that I want I'd like to make to you guys. Um, I think when you know people buy property in Tempe, any city, uh, where there's zoning, you you have some expectation of continuity. And I think the Shalomar golf course was kind of an example of that.

You buy a house in a golf course, you got some expectation that it's going to be a golf course. Um, so even though um I'm a property rights guy, I do think that continuity is important and I think that this it's incumbent on this city to not approve variances or abandonments of easements for when there are uh immediate neighbors who are opposed to it.

If I buy a piece of property, uh, my neighbor can do a lot of things next door to me that are completely within code, and I have to accept that it's his property, and I do accept that. Um, but I do think that it shouldn't be the city's place to um, I suppose enable enable changes that are against existing codes when when property is purchased.

So, I know that there are neighbors and my immediate neighbors and friends, uh, the royalties, they're opposed to it and they're an immediate neighbor of that property. Um, there's a lot of things you can do with a property that size that don't involve asking for an easement. This there was just another variance case before the city council in the same neighborhood. And I sent a letter to the to the council or to the engineering department, whoever, and I had the same position.

uh do whatever you want in your property, but the city shouldn't be approving variances and abandoning easements um if immediate neighbors are opposed to that situation. And you have a situation here where there's at least one immediate neighbor that I'm aware of who is opposed to it. And I my wife apparently is opposed to it too because she just told you.

Um, so my second my second point to you guys would be you're if you approve the uh this ordinance, you're in fact allowing a de facto subdivision of that lot, an 18,800 foot garage with the 6 800 foot cassita that's already there and they're joined together. You now have a house that's bigger than many of the houses in Tempee on the second half of an 8/10 of an acre lot. Just be aware that's essentially a subdivision and it will eventually become subdivision.

If if somebody owns that house and they no longer want a fivecar garage or a fourc car garage, it's connected to the cassita. It'll all become a house. So you should just be aware that you're de facto approving a subdivision of the lot. Thank you. Appreciate your time. Thank you. Is there anyone else in the audience wishing to address the council on item 8 C4? If so, can you please get my attention?

Okay, seeing none, I'll close the public testimony portion of the public hearing and switch back to my other screen here. All right. Um, do we now have any questions? Anyone on council for Mr. Gillespie or anyone else? I'm going to go back to Council Member St. George. Thank you, Mr. Mayor. Uh, thank you everyone who came to speak tonight. um in reading through all of the materials, all of the pros and cons, arguments from the neighbors and also driving by there.

I mentioned in the last meeting that I grew up in that neighborhood. I did have the privilege to walk to Wagner when I was an 11-year-old uh right up and down Lakeshore. I was very conscientious about the cars that were coming out of the driveways. Um, and I think we should teach all 11 year olds and all children to be very conscientious and get their faces up out of their phones and pay attention to their surroundings.

Um, there are already three driveways on Lakeshore that do exit on Lake Shore. I drove by this again yesterday to put my eyes on this property again. Um, and it is very concerning to see now what used to be a division between the the existing driveway and lakeshore is now all parking. Um, and you can see that those cars are backing directly out into a crosswalk. Uh also I think the point being made that this is on a side where there is not parking allowed where less people are walking.

Most of the activity is on the other side of the road. Um I also and I appreciate you reaching out to the school district getting us that information and just making sure that we have all of the materials available so we can make a smart decision here. Um, I've I voiced last time my, you know, my my indecision about this and and I got to admit I still feel some trepidation. I do want to make the point that building on properties um is not something that we are voting on tonight.

We're not voting on the ex, you know, his ability to build a sixcar garage. That is, you know, something that is kind of preempted at the state level. Um, we are voting on just the driveway situation and that that is the decision ahead of us tonight. And in taking all of this into account, I do believe that it will be safer for a driveway to exist on Lakeshore. I would like to request that the sorry I would like to request that the ghettos continue to be good neighbors.

I know they're new to the neighborhood. continue to reach out to their neighbors and be good neighbors and consider because right now that entire side of their property is all hedges that that driveway is just as visible to pedestrians, cyclists as as as it is to the people that are going to be entering and exiting out of that driveway. That they make that really prominent so that there is no sighteline issue.

so that no kid walking with their head in their phone um is going to be unaware that that is a place where a car might potentially come out. So in the design I would just hope that it just becomes a very large visible driveway and not blocked by hedges in any way. But that is just that is the comment I wanted to make. I do believe that this is the safer option to a solution that has only grown on that corner over the years. Thank you very much. Council St. porch. Council for Garland. Thank you.

So, my concerns haven't changed since the last time. I my it is a safety concern and I the picture that you showed had um cars parking um on the west side of Lakeshore, but as a person who has been a part of that school for many many many years and still live just down the street from this area, it won't take parents very long to start parking on the east side of the road when they're in a rush and they can't get their car onto the west side. I've seen it happen. It happens quite frequently.

So the picture you showed, I understand that and I accept that, but I also know the reality of what that street can look like. So I still think that there's a safety issue. Um, one of the things that you said or that was said in the documents that we received and that was sent to um to the residents is that um or the the documents that were given to us was about that there will be no backwards driving out of that driveway that they the ghetto said that they wouldn't be doing that.

We can't control or patrol that. I don't just being able to say that to me still does not make any sense. And I can't none of us can guarantee that they're going to be going out. They won't go out backwards for one reason or another at some time or another. Again, that's another huge safety issue for me.

The fact that when they sell this property, we all have said, "Right now, the house I'm in is going to be my forever home, but I might be looking for someplace else." We can say it's our forever home, but that's not guaranteeing it's going to be our forever home. My concern is they may say that they're going to try to only go out forward- facing, but they can't make sure that the person who buys it after them is going to go out forward facing. So again, that is a really big concern for me.

Um, and again, it goes back to that letter that was sent out to the neighborhood. there may not be a lot of people here because that letter neighborhood letter that was sent out in that letter. It made it seem like this was already approved by the city because the transportation department already said that they thought that they didn't have any questions to it. So I I have concern with the letter that was sent out because I don't think the residents quite maybe understood that.

At least the ones who contacted me. I don't appreciate I don't still don't think that the it's a safety issue. I still don't think that that's the right thing to do. and that driveway, we cannot guarantee people are going to go out the correct way. And I am concerned about that. That street is too busy. It's right across the street from the bus stop. There'll be buses be going by there. So, I'm I'm still a no. I don't see how this has changed at all. Um, but I appreciate your presentation.

Thank you, Council McGarland. Next up, count uh Vice Mayor Chin. Thank you, Mayor. Um, I had to pause on this one. I like Mr. Wahburn am a big proponent of property rights and the right for a homeowner to make improvements and add uh value to their property. My role tonight and my colleague Council Member St. George uh narrowed it down nicely. Thank you for doing that. I am being asked to look at this request and uh make a determination on a pragmatic determination on safety.

Um while I am not a PTO mom, I don't think that precludes me or my other colleagues from having an opinion and understanding safety concerns. What I can flex on is I attended Wagner. Um, yes, I did. Uh, but not in 1968. Okay. There. Yeah. Not then. Um, I drove the area. I think sometimes, and you'll find that some of us council members will often when something comes up for review, we really want to understand it. So, please know that uh I I took some extra care and concern.

And while Lakeshore and Secretariat are well marked, they may be uh busy, but they are well marked. As I moved south down to where the proposed driveway was, it becomes one lane on both sides and it is directly across from that bus and pickup area. and I had concerns and I watched the area for a while. Um, and I cannot shake the concerns.

So, as my colleague uh, Council Member Amber pointed out also last week about the whole caveat mour of the uh, the buyer and knowing where they were and some of the both the benefits. It's a great house and location. They did some great things to it. I have concerns and that will likely affect my support tonight, but thank you. Thank you, Vice Mayor Chin. Uh, Council Hamburg. Thank you, uh, Mr. Mayor. And I've just got to say, everybody keeps referring to us as those PTO bombs.

I'm going to take that as a compliment. I'm not I'm not so sure like everybody else would, but I'm taking that as a compliment. I did drive by again uh this week to take a look at it. I also saw the entire paved uh parking garage basically lot that's in front of the that's in front of the house and that I got some serious concerns how on earth that that that got through in the first place. But um my major concern was hey I'm not I'm not a safety expert. I'm not a transportation expert.

I wanted you to go to the school district. I wanted clear, concise from that school and from the school district that they were okay with that because their top concern is what's happening with those kids and what's going to happen with those kids before and after school and also with our transportation department. Um Kathy is fantastic when she goes out and she does this stuff. Um I have total trust in her. So I'm going to I'm going to be voting yes.

Uh and one of the reasons I'm going to is because it's very rare that we get up here. I'm and I'm not going to lie when we ask people that are asking us to vote yes or no to go out and take some additional steps and to do that and you actually did that in the last two weeks. So, thank you for that. Thank you, Council Brand.

Uh that was actually going to be precisely my comment as well was going to be you know many times we do have people who come up representatives and we ask them to go back and do some additional work and talk to the neighbors or talk to a school and many times they come back two weeks later four weeks later and it seems like they didn't hear a word that we said and they come back with basically the same presentation and the same proposal without any kind of adjustments whatsoever or they're just sort of paying modest lip service to what the council asked them to do.

But in this situation, I know one of the big things from my perspective was making sure that the adjacent school was comfortable and that they didn't have any safety concerns with this.

And so from my perspective, I do, you know, understand the concerns that have been raised, but based on the fact that you sort of there's been additional support secured from a lot of the people in the neighborhood who are sort of adjacent and in the area, but also the fact that the school doesn't have concerns and they're the ones with the most number of kids coming in and out each and every day, walking up and down the sidewalks and things of that nature.

Uh I I definitely from my perspective my concerns have been satisfied and I'll also be voting yes as well. Um council thank you very much mayor. Um first thank you for coming. I did not mean to use boomer as a pjorative term. Um you know some of my uh best parents are are boomers and um while um they may be that they certainly are not privileged. I was not trying to to paint with a a wide brush there. I was obviously um a little annoyed. So, I know I appreciate that.

Um you know, and I want to back I want to um piggyback on what both the mayor and the council member Amber said. I do appreciate you going out there. You were asked to do something. You went out there and you did it. Um while that I don't believe it is as rare as it has been made out to be, what is a little bit more rare is when a council member asks for something and that person does it, then it flips their opposition to support. So, I am I'm very happy with with how that process has worked.

U getting the school obviously is huge. I'm a big property rights guy myself. Um and I just for the life of me can't imagine um you know the the depths I'm going back to my earlier comments, right? We often hear a lot of like naysaying about kind of doomsaying of what could or could not happen and often times it it ends up being okay and I feel that way too. I'm satisfied with with the safety provisions that have been put in place. I'm satisfied with the school support.

Um I'm glad that you've worked with them and I'm glad and I do hope that the uh the individuals that own this property who say that they're going to stay there due to the vice mayor or excuse me the council member Garland's point um continue to be good neighbors and good stewards of that property moving forward so that way 20 years from now millennials don't come and yell at us um for um you know messing up that one.

So, I will be supporting it as well and I appreciate the effort that you and um uh the family has gone through to bring this to fruition. Thank you. Thank you, Council Keing. Uh Mr. Anderson, I see you you've requested to speak, but I had a quick thing for you as well. Uh so, it's actually glad I'm glad you pushed your request to speak button.

One of the things here, I believe it was in section 3B, there was something added, there was a comment that someone made regarding cars backing out of the driveway, and I believe there was a stipulation placed into this that basically said that backing out of the driveway would be enforceable as a city code violation, which also gives me some additional comfort. Is that correct? Uh, yes, Mayor. Thank you.

That was my request to speak because I I don't think it was made clear, and I appreciate the opportunity. We um we did add a stipulation. And I'm pretty sure the applicant had consented to that stipulation. That would be something that we would look at as being uh added as and recorded and attached to the property. And I think that will help address some of the concerns of whether a subsequent purchaser they would be bound because we'd have it recorded. Uh we did work with the applicants.

I wanted to just make sure it was clear that they did agree that that any violation of that backing out could be cited as a violation the same way in city code. So Okay. Thank you, Mr. Anderson. Appreciate it. All right. Um, Council Garland, my question is how do we enforce that? How do you I mean, how are we going to enforce that a sixcar garage that pulling vehicles in and out of that sixcar garage are not going to go backwards? How's the city planning on enforcing it?

Uh, mayor, uh, council member Garland, there's there's two things. One, some of the stipulations also that the uh building services department working on is that they their driveway will have to be designed so as to accommodate the ability to turn around to so they can't, you know, argue, well, we can't exit forward because we can't turn around.

So, that's one of the stipulations that is uh part of the package that the city's working on with them is that they will not they will have to have the ability to turn around. Um and then it the the fact it's in the ordinance it's enforceable as a violation of city code. We can cite that to the city court in the same manner as any other code violation. So okay just a quick note here as well just uh for Robert's rules purposes but we can obviously continue the conversation.

Uh there's a motion on the table I'm assuming to approve by council member Keiting and a second by council member Nichols. Uh that being said we can still have additional comments here as well. Uh, first of all, Council Garland, want to make sure that your question was answered satisfactoryy. It was answered. I'm not It's not satisfactory.

I still I still I mean, I get it that you're put that you can put that provision in there, but again, you can tell them to set up the driveway any way you want, but who is going to be there to monitor to make sure it won't happen on that street. We can't. So, I'm Mayor, it is what it is. To that point, I to that point though, may I suggest if it's okay with this young man here, a single ALPR outside driveway and if it ever pings, we will know. No good. All right, Council Member Amber. All right.

You know what? I'm not going to lie. Council member St. George was going to make that comment and I was like, don't you dare. I didn't know that you were going to do it, too. All right. So, um, Mr. city attorney just to make sure anyone any other PTO Wagner PTO moms that are out there if they see a car backing out of that driveway, they can take a picture and send it in and say this is a code. They should if the ordinance that is proposed to you is adopted.

Um and then it it would be some time because right now there's there's none because I probably have more faith in them than I do the police. um you know they certainly so it could be cited as a civil violation um which the code enforcement as we call them or community enhancement has the authority to write those citations to court. So if the proper evidence is presented uh yeah they can so we'll activate the network. Okay. Thank you. All right.

Once again there's been a motion on the table by council member Keing to approve and a second by council member Nichols. Uh, do I have any further comments or questions from council? All right, hearing none, please vote. Let me make sure I have this correct here. And that item is approved 5 to two with Vice Mayor Chin and Council Member Garland voting no. All right. Next up, that brings me to item number nine, current events, council announcements, and future agenda items.

Council members may request that an agenda item be added to a future council meeting, but in accordance with the open meeting law, there should be no discussion on the item other than to clarify the request. Council members, if you have a request to add an item to the agenda for a future council meeting, please select the request to speak button in the member app. I'm going to go here in the order in which this is on my script.

this evening, which means I'm starting this evening with you, Council Member Biti. Thank you, Mayor. I should have a slide. Um, yes. So, Monday, uh, this Monday, September 14th, from 3:00 to 4 p.m., um, myself, Vice Mayor Chin, and Council Member Nichols will be hosting our first governance, representation, and election subcommittee meeting. We'll be taking on issues such as rank choice voting, term limits, and uh, council districts. So, hopefully you can join us. again.

That's Monday, um, September 14th at 3 p.m. Thank you. Thank you, Council Keing. Next up, Council Garland. Thank you so much. And I should have a slide. Ah, there we go. So, um earlier we um uh council member um Amber and I um were at a kickoff um for information regarding our dementia and age friendly park that we are going to be um putting in the middle of Kuanas Park, a park within a park that is um focused on people that with dementia and age friendly.

It's going to be a park that um has sensory items. It's going to be ADA um walkways. It's going to have um a a garden in it. It's going to have a um a wheelchair swing. It's going to be an area that's going to be a quiet, beautiful area for people who are um suffering through dementia and for their caregivers.

Specifically, if you think about it, um I was a caregiver for my father who had dementia and it would have been wonderful to be able to take him someplace outdoors where he could have taken advantage of mother nature and nature's great medicine. It would have been wonderful him for him to be able to take advantage of that. And I hope that this park is going to turn into something that other people will be able to use where the caregiver could sit in an area that's going to be enclosed.

The caregiver could sit um in one area in a romada and their um person that they have taken there will be able to walk around and enjoy this beautiful peaceful area. Um if you would like more information about the dementia friendly park, you can go to tempe.gov dementia park. And Tempe has pretty been incredible. In 2015, we were the first um uh city in the state of Arizona to become a dementia friendly city. In 2022, we were the f we got the AARP age friendly designation.

We are moving forward on this um as the first dementia age friendly park in the country. It's really important to us to be able to do this. So, if you'd like more information, you can go to this website. I was going to ask Council Member Amber if she had anything she wanted to add. Um something about the just My dad who died of dementia would have been 102 years old yesterday. Oh well. Well, one of the things we're doing is we we have some grants.

We have some money in the CIP to get this started in 2028. But we are looking for anybody who would like to make a donation in honor of their um family member or friend. So again, if you go to demen um tempe.govdement park, you can get more information on that. We have uh programs set up with the Tempe Diablo. So if you want to make a donation, you will be able to get a tax credit. So, thank you. Thank you, Council Garland. Next up, Council Member Amber. Thank you, uh, Mr. Mayor.

As a Wagner PTO, former Wagner PTO mom, I will say that the child that turned me into a PTO mom is going to turn 24 this month. So, I want to wish a very happy birthday to my daughter Tyler down in Tucson going to school at that other university. Uh, but happy birthday, sweetie. Thank you, Council Brand. Next up, Council Member St. George. Thank you. Um, and thank you for reminding me, Council Member Amber, tomorrow would have been my father's birthday. So, happy 79th, Dad.

Um, I would like to congratulate Tempi Community Arts for winning Lights, Camera, Discovers Collaborator Award at their recent 15th anniversary celebration last Saturday night. I had the honor of receiving the award on their behalf. And I would like to present it to Craig Hatton for you to take it back to the team over at Arts and Culture. So, don't leave without me giving this to you. You don't have to get up now.

Um, but speaking of you, I just want to wish you the best as you retire and you leave us hanging high and dry. Thank you so much. Um, it has been an honor to work with you over the years. I I never hear a bad word about Craig Hayen. Everyone loves working with you. You have led community services with kindness and integrity and a level head. You are resourceful and knowledgeable and trustworthy. And you have been a dream colleague here at the city of Tempee for all of us.

You will be greatly missed. But I'm also your neighbor now. So I will see you around. I look forward to running into you at the grocery store. Good luck. Thank you, Council Member St. George. Next up, Council Member Nichols. Thank you very much. I don't think I have a slide, but I would like to announce that the first meeting of the public safety and community oversight committee that is going to be myself, Mayor Woods, Council Member St.

George, will also be meeting on Monday, uh, the 14th at 6 p.m. So, we're good in terms of timing. But if you need anything from Monday, reach out on Tuesday, please. And that'll be that's all I have. Thank you very much. Thank you very much. Next up, Vice Mayor Chin. I don't have a slide because I have no announcements. Thank you, Vice Mayor Chin. Uh, and that just leaves me just wanted to sort of uh echo some other comments as well.

Just thank you as well to Widell Holmes for everything you've done on behalf of the city of Tempe. You were always a joy to work with and I just wanted to say thank you and best of luck to you in your retirement and also to Craig Hayden, otherwise known of course as the Craig to all of us. Uh we definitely appreciate you and it's interesting hearing your story.

There are so many city employees that I know that we've all come across who have very similar stories about starting here as sort of a temporary employee and then 25 30 35 years they're still here. I mean it's really an incredible success story and someone who completely grew up within the organization uh and rose to the level of department director and did a truly exceptional job in that role.

And obviously so many people up here uh from the council and residents out there have, you know, talked about you this evening. And so we really do wish you the best of luck in your retirement. You have certainly earned it, but that doesn't mean that we're not going to miss you tremendously. So thank you for everything you've done for the city and enjoy your retirement. With that said, I'm going to go to item number 10 here, public appearances. I do have one speaker this evening.

Okay, the screen doesn't show it, but I know. Ah, there it is. Steve Kle, please come forward. State your name and city of residence. You have three minutes. All right, Mayor Woods, Vice Mayor Garland, uh, and council members. Uh, thank you. I'm Steve Kell and I'm the chairman of the Daily Park Neighborhood Association and a 30-year uh resident, over 30-year resident of Daily Park. And I just want to say first of all, thank you very much for such a wonderful new playground.

I mean, I can't wait till 22nd comes around so we can open that up and just enjoy. And it's just most marvelous little p playground I've seen, you know, in a long, long time. But but our concern at daily park is still hu huge. You know, months ago, uh I came up here and we were talking about the a certain church in our neighborhood that is offering uh food to the homeless and drawing them to our park. Okay? We have nothing against feeding the homeless.

There is uh TCAA, which is right down the street. All we're saying is that this park in this neighborhood is not the place to be feeding the homeless. And therefore, uh, the church really is becoming a nuisance because they're just drawing them in from everywhere. And, uh, you had voted seven to zero on a nuisance ordinance. And all I'm up here to do is is to ask you to please support that nuisance uh, ordinance. Issue citations if you have to.

Since that meeting, we've had a lot of situations again in our park. We have women that are scared to have their daughters jogging in that park and there's been there's a lot of evidence and we sent it to the council. Just yesterday there was another homeless person that was just going out of her mind and chasing um residents out of their driveway and they were taking off for a for an activity but they were she was chasing and yelling them all the way down the the street.

Um, and there have been uh there's there was a young lady that was jogging and her mother happened to be by the the people there, the homeless situation there, and couldn't believe what was coming out of their mouths about her daughter jogging. Um, it's not a safe place. It's still a problem. And I just want to ask the city council to please consider citations, consider, you know, whatever with the church. And by the way, we love the church.

They're good good um neighbors of ours and we have gone to them and asked them please not here just not here right but they're still doing it they haven't stopped and I just ask you please if you would enforce that nuisance ordinance um and and actually I'd like for you to take a look at a lot of the police reports because there's a lot of them at Daily Park since the last meeting we had when you voted seven to zero on the nuisance ordinance. So, that's what I'm here for.

Um, again, we're not against the homeless and we uh we want to support them in any way we can, but just not on at our park. Thank you very much. Thank you. Appreciate it. All right. Is everyone else in the audience wishing to address the council on item number 10? Yes, Mr. Martinez. Mr. City Attorney. Mayor, I think Mr. Martinez spoke earlier during public comment. So the rules are that you get once once during public appearances. So okay. Um Mr.

Martinez, it looks like we've we've I know we already took you during item number six. So the city attorney said we can't take you under item number 10 as well. So appreciate you not allowing the taxpayers to know what the gross impact is for the taxes. Goodbye. Okay. Okay. All right. Is there anyone else in the audience wishing to address the council under item number 10? If so, can you please get my attention? All right.

Seeing none, I'll close that portion of the meeting and I'll move to item number 11, which is adjournment. The next scheduled regular city council meeting will be on September 24th, 2026. We are adjourned at 8:05 p.m. Thank you very much, everyone. Have a great evening.