Phoenix Council Unanimously Passes Rio Salado Plan and Mixed-Use Rezoning, but Data Center Health Fears and Development Transparency Concerns Overshadow Success

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So spread the word, Arizona, keep it grand. Hi, my name is Brian Tice. I'm a water service technician for the City of Phoenix Water Department. My role as a technician is to provide excellent customer service to our residents in the City of Phoenix. As a water service technician, we deal with leaks, turn-on, turn-offs of homes with customers moving in and out of their residence, replacing meters and replacing stops. For me the most rewarding part, I grew up in the City of Phoenix.

I went to grade school, high school, so for me being able to come back and provide the service to the community that I grew up in is very important to me. I believe the water service technician position is important to our division because we are the first people the customers see. I can't wait and I'm going to the door. But I'm going to the door to the other, and I will wait for the table. I'll see you in the next few minutes later. I'm going to the next few minutes.

I'm going to the next few minutes later. I'm going to the next few minutes. That meeting with nobleman. I am so tired the game, I am so tired, I have to sit for it and wait for me in the afternoon right now. They are the ones who is ready. I need to understand the team, I know that I am so tired. 8. 7.5 g of water on Nose. 8.5 g of water and snow on the body. 9.6 g of water. 10.5 g of water. 11.5 g of water. The B I'm sure you just do this. People to get elected. Dr. Thank you!

Welcome, everyone. Starting the city's celebration of Diana Taurasi. I am in green. In the city of Phoenix, we celebrate people in many ways, and one is with street signs. For nearly a decade, fans coming here have been welcomed with the street sign bearing Diana Taurasi's name. When the sign first went up, Diana had just surpassed the great Tina Thompson to become the WNBA's all-time leading scorer.

Fortunately for Phoenix and for her fans she kept going and it is time to update the sign to recognize her incredible record scores in the city of Phoenix and the amount of baskets that she made She's been a really important part of our city. We are so lucky that the Mercury drafted her number one pick and that she spent 20 seasons with us and the Phoenix Mercury, becoming the most decorated Olympian in women's basketball and remaining the WNBA's all-time leading scorer. Honest, thank you.

Thank you. And she's not content with just greatness on the porch. She's also been an important contributor to our community, stepping up for parents and families, fighting for equality and more. We are so grateful to have her commitment to the city of Phoenix. And the city of Phoenix is so pleased that we can honor her with this street sign. We're looking forward to unveiling the sign which will show her current total unscoring, more than 10,000 points.

That number will forever mark her place in WNBA history and remind the city of the countless moments she gave us to celebrate. Diana, your legacy is something we are proud of in the city of Phoenix. Thank you. And now we'll welcome Josh Barlstein, the CEO of the Phoenix Suns and Mercury. Thank you. Yeah, that is good. Good morning. Good morning. It's a great day to celebrate the greatest of all time. You know, people throw around that word a lot. Don't. The greatest. There's only one greatest.

She happens to be standing right behind me. You can throw around the stats, a three-time champ, six gold medals, an MVP, go on and on and on. But DT was the ultimate winner. She cared about winning at the highest level and she did it for all 20 years in the Valley. Her loyalty, what she meant to the fans, her teammates and their coaches, and what they mean to her is what separates Diana Taurasi. Thank you. DT, your first basket, you know what it was? The other one who was against? There you go.

First basket, Sacramento Monarchs. Right? The last basket would be Minnesota Lynx. There was a little trivia to do this, Minnesota Lynx. But all along the way, the points, the baskets, there were game winners, there were step backs, there were and ones looking at the ref. But those don't capture who DT is. It's the moments and memories. And you're going to see that on Sunday when you have people crying because they know what she means to them and their family. All 10,646 baskets.

So it's a privilege, it's an honor to be the greatest, a winner, a true champion. So when you mean so much to Phoenix, the one and only Diana Taurasi, I want to thank Mayor Gallego and the city for all they've done for this as well. DT, floor is yours. Wow, how crazy. Good morning everyone. Good morning, DT. First off, I'd like to thank Mayor Gallego and the City of Phoenix. This wouldn't be possible without her vision.

Without her thinking this is really important for the City, for the Phoenix Mercury and all the Phoenix community. Josh and Matt, thank you guys so much. Since you guys have really taken over the Phoenix organization, there's been this push to really make sure that the legacy of this city is portrayed and not only the players that have played in this building, but what the city is all about.

You know, when I think of the 20 years that I spent here, I get really emotional because I came here as a little kid. I was 21. I guess that's not little, but it was in my head. And I'd never been to Phoenix before. I had no clue what this city was about. And 20 years later, it mirrors all the things that I thought were important in life as a teammate, as a daughter, and now as a mother. Hardworking city.

A community that brings everyone together and mirrors all the things that it takes to be a champion in life and on the court. And I just hope when people see that last name, it symbolizes all the things that it takes to really make it. And that's hard work, discipline, consistency, and not only that, a great community.

This wouldn't have been possible without everyone that played at the Phoenix Mercury, worked at the Phoenix Mercury, The Phoenix Mercury, everyone who's been part of the fabric of what this championship community means. It's an amazing thing. Thank you. . Good afternoon. Thank you for joining us. Police Chaplain Rabbi Levretov will provide an In keeping with the tradition of a legislative prayer for the council. Participation is entirely voluntary. Anyone may remain seated or step outside.

Rabbi, thank you so much for joining us. Thank you. Please join me in prayer. Almighty God, when you instructed Abraham, the father of monotheism, to leave his land, his birthplace, his family, and everything familiar and comfortable, you did not tell him exactly where he was going. You simply told him to go to the land that you would show him. You promised him great blessings, yet the journey ahead was anything but easy.

Abraham followed your direction with faith and courage, leaving behind the familiar and venturing into the unknown despite the doubts and questions that surrounded him. Shortly after arriving in the Promised Land, a famine forced him to travel to Egypt. The very land which you had directed him was now a place of hardship. Yet Abraham did not abandon his mission, he persevered, continued his journey, and ultimately saw your blessings begin to unfold.

Almighty God, our mayor and council members have been entrusted with a godly mission. Among the seven Noahide laws given to all mankind is the responsibility to establish justice in a society governed by law. They have been elected by the people to serve our community, stepping beyond the comforts of private life to take on the responsibility of helping make our city a better place. They too have stepped forward into a journey filled with challenges and uncertainty.

But when we are doing your work, may we have the faith to persevere knowing that with your help and blessings, our efforts will bear fruit. Bless our mayor and council members with the wisdom to recognize the right path, the courage to take it, the humility to listen to one another, and the strength to serve our community with integrity. May their efforts be blessed with success, bringing greater justice, peace, and prosperity to the people of Phoenix.

Watch over our dedicated city employees, first responders, and law enforcement officers, including those whose tireless work often goes unseen, yet upon whom we rely each day. Bless them and their families, along with the families of our mayor and council members, with strength, protection, good health, and the knowledge that their service is meaningful and appreciated.

And bless all who are gathered here today, and all the residents of Phoenix, with health, peace, prosperity, and your continued blessings. And let us say, Amen. Thank you, Rabbi. Councilman Kevin Robinson will lead us in the Pledge of Allegiance. Thank you, Councilman. I'll now call to order the formal meeting of the Phoenix City Council. Will the clerk call the roll?

Councilwoman Guardado, Councilwoman Hernandez, Councilwoman O'Brien, Councilwoman Pastor, Councilman Robinson, Councilwoman Stark, Councilman Waring, Vice Mayor Hodge Washington, Mayor Gallego, Mayor. Mario Barajas and Oscar Monroy are here with us to provide Spanish interpretation. Mario, would you introduce your team? Yes, ma'am. Thank you. Good afternoon. My name is Mario Barajas and today, Oscar Monroy will be helping me today in the interpretation for Spanish speaking residents.

I'll now take a moment to introduce ourselves to our Spanish speaking residents. Buenas tardes. Yo soy Mario Barajas y voy a estar sirviendo junto con Oscar Monroy como intérpretes a los de habla hispana. Quisiéramos repasar brevemente de que si acaso van a estar dando un comentario público, Thank you, Mayor. Thank you so much. Will the City Clerk read the 24-hour paragraph?

The titles of the following ordinance and resolution numbers on the agenda were available to the public at least 24 hours prior to this council meeting and therefore may be read by title or agenda item only Ordinances number G 7533 and 7552 through 7553 S 53253 through S 53264 and 53266 through 53288 and resolutions 22398 through 22406 Thank you. Will the city attorney please explain the role of public comment? Yes, thank you, Mayor.

Members of the public may speak for up to two minutes to comment on agenda items. Comments must be related to the agenda item and the action being considered by the council. General comments that go beyond the scope of the agenda item should be made during the citizen comment session at the end of the agenda. The city council and staff cannot discuss or comment on matters related to pending investigations, claims, or litigation.

Additionally, any member of the public who appears before the council in their capacity as a lobbyist must as required by Phoenix City Code, disclose this fact before addressing the council. The city code states that speakers must express their comments respectfully and courteously. Use of profane language threats or personal attacks on members of the public, council members, or staff are not allowed. Such comments are disruptive and unrelated to the council's business.

Any person who violates these rules may lose their opportunity to speak further and could be asked to leave. Thank you. Thank you so much. Item one, boards and commissions. Vice Mayor, Do you have a motion? I do. A motion to approve the mayor and city council board and commission's nominations. Second. We have a motion and second. All those in favor say aye. Aye. Any opposed nay? We have an impressive group of citizens to be sworn in today to advise the city of Phoenix.

Congratulations on your unanimous confirmation. Please come forward. Please raise your right hand. I state your name. I solemnly swear that I will support the Constitution of the United States and the Constitution and laws of the state of Arizona. That I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same and defend them against all enemies, foreign and domestic, in that I will faithfully and impartially discharge the duties of, state your board, according to the rest of my ability, so help me God.

Congratulations. If you will now go back behind the dais, the council would like to thank you. Thank you. Congratulations again to our new and returning commissioners. The City of Phoenix provides an advisory role to the State of Arizona on liquor licenses and we turn to that portion of our agenda next. Vice Mayor, do we have a motion? Motion to approve Items 2 through 62. Noting that Item 56 is being continued to the November 18, 2026 formal council meeting. Second. Motion and a second.

All those in favor say aye. Aye. Any opposed nay? Passes unanimously. City Clerk, are we ready for ordinances, resolutions, new business planning and zoning? Yes, Mayor. Wonderful. Vice Mayor, do we have a motion? Motion to approve item 63 through 125 except for the following. Item 67, 91, 105, 106, 121, 122, 123, 124, and 125.

noting that item 66 has additional information item 118 is continued to november 4 2026 formal council meeting items 121 and 124 or as revised and can the clerk confirm if there are any other items that should be excluded for in-person public comment yes mayor vice mayor also excluding items Items 66, 75, 77, 78, and 79. That's items 66, 75, 77, 78, and 79. Second. All those in favor say aye. Aye. Oh, I'm sorry, roll call. Hernandez? Yes. O'Brien? Yes. Pastor? Yes. Robinson? Yes. Stark? Yes.

Washington? Yes. Diego? Yes. Passes 8-0. Item 66, Vice Mayor. Motion to approve item 66. Second. Motion and a second, Jeremy Thacker. Mayor and Councilmembers, Jeremy Thacker speaking for Good Goat. Today you're being asked to ratify Judge Hudson's appointment because of possible open meeting law violations surrounding the May 12th executive session. This comment concerns your process, not Judge Hudson. I think he's a fine candidate. I listened to his interviews and questions.

Your agenda says this is because this was a formal action, there are no further written descriptions. But Arizona's ratification statute requires more than identifying the appointment and repeating the vote. It requires a detailed written description of the action and all proceeding related deliberations. and decisions. That description must be available at least 72 hours before the ratification, and the supplemental notice tells us those discussions occurred on May 12.

It does not describe those actions. It points to meeting materials and says executive session minutes are confidential. A statement about when discussions occurred is not a detailed description of what occurred. Good Goat requested the records behind the Attorney General matter on October 5th. The City Attorney first said the matter was confidential because it was pending. Subsequently, she asserted that attorney-client privilege and work product protection over any records the City has.

The Attorney General is investigating the city, not representing it. There is no privilege in that instance. So before voting, we ask that you identify the conduct you're attempting to cure, which you have not done. Identify the detailed description you contend satisfies the statute, and establish when it becomes publicly available. Release responsive and non-exempt records and explain the withholding before you vote. It is the public's right to know. Thank you. Thank you. Roll call. Hernandez?

Yes. Oh, I'm sorry. Vice Mayor. All right. Hernandez? Yes. O'Brien? Yes. Pastor? Yes. Robinson? Yes. Stark? Yes. Waring? Yes. Hutch Washington? Yes. Gallego? Yes. Passes 8-0. We next go to item 67, which is a proposed 32nd Avenue and Dauben Road's annexation. We'll open the public hearing. I do not have anyone to comment, so we'll close the public hearing. We will have a vote at a future date.

Alright, next we go to item 75 which is Salt River Pima Maricopa Indian Community Gaming Grant Vice Mayor. Motion to approve item 75. Second. We have a motion and a second. Leonard Clark. Thank you, Mayor, Council Members. I just want to thank the indigenous brothers and sisters of this nation and I was hoping to include this Thankfulness to the other indigenous nation that will be on the next item for their grants.

I think it's rather ironic after everything that has gone on through the last 500 years that we find ourselves in a place in history here in the city of Phoenix, especially with the symbol behind you, which goes back to indigenous spiritual beliefs that they are being kind in helping out our citizens with these grants So I want to thank them at least one citizen and I hope there other citizens that feel the same way Thank you so much I hope you vote yes on this Thank you Thank you Any comments This is an exciting item I include support for Sudavake Museum where we be able to do some great programming as well as some of our nonprofit partners including the Arizona Humane Society and several related to housing.

So appreciate the partnership with the Salt River Pima Maricopa Indian Community. Roll call. Hernandez? Yes. O'Brien? Yes. Pastor? Yes. Robinson? Yes. Stark? Yes. Waring? Hodge Washington? Yes. Gallego? Yes. Passes 8-0. We next go to item 77, relocation of protected birds and active nests including burrowing owls contract, Vice Mayor. Motion to approve item 77. Second. Leonard Clark? Thank you, Mayor and Council Members.

As our environmental laws are under attack and our species that are endangered and all the rest, I want to thank you and I hope for having this item and I hope you'll vote for it.

I know there are those who scoff at saving, quote, the birds, but they don't understand that the earth is our mother and that, you know, this is a whole interactive organism that we live on and Phoenix, as fast as it's growing, we need to protect especially endangered species such as the burrowed, Erling, Al, I'm not sure I got the exact name, but I thank you in this time when our environment is under attack from Washington, D.C. that you're doing this. Thank you. And I hope you'll vote yes.

Thank you. Roll call. Hernandez? Yes. O'Brien? Yes. Pastor? Yes. Robinson? Yes. Stark? Yes. Warren? Yes. Hodge Washington? Yes. Gallego? Yes. Passes 8-0. Item 78 is the requesting of retroactive authorization to apply for accept and disperse funding for the national household wasted food prevention project grant application catalyst grant by spare. Motion to approve item 78. Second. Motion and a second. Leonard Clark. Thank you mayor and council members.

I'm sorry but I did have to speak on this and I'm speaking a lot but with so much wasted food in the city of Phoenix and in the valley, I think this is an excellent thing that we need to do. Think of all the food that's going to waste when our unhoused brothers and sisters and many citizens in the city of Phoenix and the valley with the high fuel prices and everything don't have enough food. We're throwing this food away. I hope somewhere in there.

I know there's a lot of good restaurant owners that are already trying to help, but in your system, your study here that you'll find a way to work with the restaurant owners to donate more food in this time of high diesel and fuel prices in this Crazy economy thanks to what's going on in Washington DC. Thank you. Thank you. Roll call. Hernandez? Yes. O'Brien? Yes. Pastor? Yes. Robinson? Yes. Stark? Yes. Waring? Yes. Hodge Washington? Yes. Gallego? Yes. Passes 8-0.

Item 79 is the retroactive authorization to accept and disperse area agency on aging region 1 grant for home delivered meals by spare. Motion to approve item 79. Second. Motion and a second. Leonard Clark. I promise after this there'll just be one more but uh I just want to you know I was a meals on wheels driver many years ago and I think this is an excellent program. I hope you'll vote for it and I think it's another way of checking on our elderly and our uh physically challenged residents.

Many people are found passed away long after they passed away.

This is a huge tragedy and I think having meals on wheels not only helps people they can tell you with with physical challenges how hard it is to cook but also as a way of checking on our our uh challenged physically challenged and elderly neighbors that we have i think this is a very good thing thank you again and i'm glad that i hope you'll vote for this i hope that you will all vote for this thank you thank you and thanks for being a meals on wheel driver roll call. Hernandez? Yes. O'Brien?

Yes. Pastor? Yes. Robinson? Yes. Stark? Yes. Waring? Yes. Hodge Washington? Yes. Gallego? Yes. Passes 8-0. Next is item 91 retroactive authorization to apply for and accept the first responders comprehensive addiction act program vice mayor. Motion to approve item 91. Second. A motion and a second count. First we'll go to Leonard Clark.

Okay I thought it was going to be a little longer This is my last time But I want to thank you for putting this item on the agenda I know that it either hate or love the police or all of these other things but I think that this is an act of humanity I think people out there that are addicted that overdose and all of these things having our officers highly trained and using this type of system I hoping that it will inject more compassion into you know you have to have a thick skin in law enforcement I couldn do it I know many people that do it So I hoping this will help them interact with our community and help save a lot of lives Thank you And I hope you vote for this Thank you Thank you so much, Leonard.

Councilwoman Hernandez. Thank you mayor. I just have a couple questions for PD on this item. Mayor, Councilwoman, members of the council, as the team's coming down I'll introduce them. Assistant Chief Jeff Benza, Commander Brian Malone, and also Detective Sabrina Taylor who oversees our community. Oh my gosh, CIT. Crisis Intervention Team, the acronym just escaped me. There are so many acronyms, so don't worry I can't keep them all straight. Just have a couple questions.

I think this is a very important program that we have. First of all, I just wanted to start, can you elaborate a little bit on how the program would work? I need to turn your microphone on ma'am, please. Thank you. Thank you. We have a COSIP grant that ended September 30th where we were able to run this program and this would be a continuation of it. It's mirrored off a program in Tempe.

What it would do is if officers revive a person using Naloxone, La Frontera Impact will send a peer navigator out to that person within two hours if they're notified. and if we aren't able to notify them right away they'll send somebody out within a couple of days and to have a candid conversation about resources and openness to treatment, supporting family or trying to figure out if they need some kind of social services to assist them in recovery. Okay thank you for that.

In our community assistance program do we have any similar training or similar program to this? in community assistance program or if not what is different in this from that. Sorry I guess I should also. Mayor and members of the council, Councilman Hernandez, I'm not sure if Administrator D.C. Ernst is here or not, But I can speak to the fact that we do have naloxone training for many, many city employees across the city, and we also provide training to the community.

As far as the response component of this, I think this is more of a service augmentation. It is a service that CAP could potentially provide, but the ability to respond in every situation may be challenging, depending on whether they're on other calls and having the partnership with La Frontera Impact. is really critical in this situation as well.

Okay thank you for that because I that's what I was trying to get to if this is just a training for administering because I do agree that we need a I would like to I want to make sure that training is not exclusive just to PD when we're talking about opioid reversal and wanted to make sure that this is also extended to our CAP teams probably our fire since they We have a lot of interaction with our community members as well. So just trying to, if I can get that follow up, that would be great.

Yes, and Mayor, members of the council, Councilman Hernandez, I can definitively say our fire teams, our cap teams are trained and able to respond in those overdose situations. Okay, perfect. Thank you. And with the grant money in this, how does the financial structure break out? Does all of the grant money go through PD or is any of it allotted to impact on their end? Mayor members of the council, Councilwoman Hernandez.

The majority of the funding is going to go to La Frontera Impact with a little bit left for PD for administrative oversight and some outreach activities. We do meet every other Friday with CAP, Office of Homeless Solutions, Public Health, and it is a very collaborative effort and we all know what every team is doing and so that there's no overlap and that we're all looped into what everybody's doing. Okay, perfect.

And regarding monitoring and just success of the program, in a year would we be able, would the council be able to get an update on how many individuals we have helped under this program?

Yes Mayor members of the council Councilman Hernandez absolutely We required to monitor that for grant reporting and we do use a closed loop referral software so getting reports back to you is very easy Awesome And I think Laurie you touched a little bit already on that you know on broader training for more city staff and departments that are out because we have a lot of different functions in the city, right? We have park rangers that are out, we have streets employees that are out.

I would love to see like how much more we can expand opioid reversal training just so that many of us are prepared to help community members that are in need. So we can probably continue that conversation and figure out how to do some more work around that. Mayor, members of the council, Councilman Hernandez, yes, we can absolutely get you a report of exactly what has been done to this point.

We do offer training to any city employee that would like to be trained, but there are specific departments, like you mentioned, parks, Library, for example, Human Services that we do intentionally encourage staff to participate in that training and so we can get you some information on that and have further conversation. Okay, thank you so much. You know, I'm in agreement that we need as many of our staff that are out in the community prepared to help our residents that are having an overdose.

I do still have to be honest that I do have a little bit of concern remaining with police being the ones doing a lot of that opioid emergency response. But I do want to support the programs that already exist and ensure that they work and we are meeting the needs of our residents. I think my concerns lie in adding more to the plate of officers.

I've had some conversations with some rank and file officers and I think, you know, they don't want to engage with folks in a crisis, right, in an overdose situation. So my concerns lie more on that on what we're adding and asking to continue to respond. But I will be supporting this because I'm open to multiple solutions that really get us to addressing some of our overdose challenges.

But I definitely want to make sure that this is being monitored and we know what impact it's having out in the community and making sure we're successful in this model. But yeah, that's all I have there. Thank you so much, Mayor. Thank you. Vice Mayor. Thank you so much, Mayor. I just have maybe a clarifying question. I heard that you mentioned that this information is more of a closed loop system.

And I know, for example, we have the Office of Public Health, which does the Naloxone program, overdose prevention program. I'm wondering if that information will be shared with that office or any other department that may benefit from that information to ensure that we are targeting the right areas and we know we're just keeping better metrics. I see you nodding your head, so I'll go ahead and let you answer.

Mayor, members of the council, Councilwoman Hodge Washington, yes, we have been meeting with public health every Friday and we're moving to every other Friday. I provide them monthly reports. They already get data from FIRE, but now they're getting data from PD on what reversals have been reported. And we will continue to stay in close contact with them. All of our departments are looking at what software might help us better coordinate across all departments.

And so that's, there's a committee formed and we'll find out. But we do have some money in this grant to purchase licenses for our software that would make that easier. Thank you for that. I just think this work is so important. We want to make sure that the departments are not working in silo. I think a more comprehensive and collaborative approach is best. So thank you for that. That was my only question, Mayor. Thank you. Roll call. Hernandez? Yes. O'Brien? Yes. Pastor? Yes. Robinson? Yes.

Stark? Yes. Waring? Yes. Hodge Washington? Yes. Gallego? Yes. Passes 8-0. Items 105 and 106 have a connection, so we're going to take them together. Vice Mayor, do we have a motion? Yes. Combined motions on items approve 105 and 106. Second. Councilwoman O'Brien. Thank you so much Mayor. I just wanted to thank the Phoenix voters for their approval of the general obligation bonds. We are taking steps to strengthen public safety in District 1. First, the Cactus Park Police Precinct.

We are moving forward with construction of a modern precinct to replace an outdated facility. The new campus will better support our officers, improve operations, and provide space for community meetings. It's being built at the former Fry's electronic site on a on Thunderbird Road just off of Interstate 17. This is an important investment in a growing corridor with expanding residential, commercial, and industrial development.

And I look forward to celebrating the opening of the new Cactus Park precinct in the coming years. Additionally, Fire Station 51, today's item advances the architectural design The plan is designed for a new station near 43rd Avenue and Dove Valley Road. Plans call for six apparatus bays, modern living, working, and safety spaces for our firefighters, updated dispatch capabilities, and a district office.

These plans will help ensure the facility meets the needs of our firefighters and our growing Northwest community. Both projects demonstrate your tax dollars at work, investing in the public safety facilities our residents and first responders deserve. I'm proud to continue advocating for public safety and to see these important investments move forward. Thank you, Mayor. Thank you. Roll call. Hernandez. Sorry, this is for both items, the vote? Would you like an individual vote? No, that's fine.

Okay, it is for both. Okay, yes. O'Brien. Yes. Pastor. Yes. Robinson. Yes. Stark. Yes. Waring. Yes. Hutch Washington. Yes. Gallego. Yes. They passed 8-0. Next we move to the Rio policy plan. We will have one hearing but two votes on items 121 and 122. So we'll ask the team Enrique to come down and I'll say a few words of introduction.

This is an exciting item, the Rio policy plan and land use amendments which will advance the goals of Rio Reimagined, our regional effort to celebrate the river that made Phoenix and our neighboring communities possible. From the dedication of grassroots activists and indigenous communities to the halls of the U.S.

Congress, this initiative is made up of the dedication of people from all walks of life who are committed to preserving the riparian habitat and creating opportunities for residents to enjoy this special amenity.

We are thankful to Senator McCain and Congressman Ed Pastor whose vision was very important to this moving forward as well as to an incredible We have so much momentum bringing the vision of Reimagine to fruition, South Central Light Rail extension with its beautiful public art, grassroots efforts to keep the river clean and remove invasive plants, protectors of the Salt River including many members of our tribal communities who volunteer weekly.

I want to thank our voters who used general obligation bond dollars to purchase more than 20 acres east of the Audubon Center. We have four miles of bike and pedestrian pathways on both sides of the riverbed, which connects us with neighboring cities. The Miracolpe Association of Governments Active Transportation Study is going to build on this.

Greater Phoenix Leadership recently led the creation of a 501 social impact organization to bring together stakeholders from across the valley to drive momentum. And thank you to Larry Lazarus and Willow Kale Altman who are part of that. We have, in partnership with community members and philanthropy, we're turning a one-acre parcel just west of Audubon Center into a gateway to the riverbed to connect more residents to this special place.

It'll have shade, gathering space, native plants, and public art. Thank you to the Arizona Community Foundation and Bloomberg Philanthropies for help in that area. We work very closely with the ASU University City Exchange Rio Reimagine team and Cece and Maggie. Thank you for being here with us today. And the council offices have been incredibly involved with this.

I also want to thank the city's Rio PHX team, extensive outreach through workshop surveys and literally hundreds of interactions with community members. Thank you to Lisa, who has since taken a promotion in aviation, Joel, Christian, Enrique, Josh, and so many others, the Office of Environmental Programs. And with that, I will turn it over to Enrique to introduce the item. Enrique Bojorquez, Vice Mayor, Members of the Council.

As mentioned, Enrique Bojorquez, Planner 3 with Planning and Development Department. Today culminates three years of community planning work by PDD staff on the Rio Salado District Policy Plan. So we want to thank the project team, which was just previously mentioned, as well as our consultants, community partners, residents, property owners, for their involvement over the years, and also thank Gila River Indian Community for a grant that supported all of this work.

So once again, we'll discuss in two items here, companion cases. First one is the Rio Salado District Policy Plan, followed by a major general plan land use map amendments. So both of these cases here support the economic development goals of the Rio Reimagined vision. At the local level, this vision has been championed by late Senator John McCain, late Congressman Ed Passor, also supported by ASU GPL, and more recently by the Mayor Gallego and also many of you here in the council.

This map right here shows the boundaries of the policy plan as well as the general plan land use map amendments which is a seven square mile area south of downtown Phoenix bounded by I to the north Broadway Road to the south 32nd Street to the east and 19th Avenue to the west The Rio Salado District Policy Plan has four different parts. The first part introduces the importance of this project, followed by part two, which celebrates the existing community in the area.

Part number three captures a community input graphically in the plan, and part number four is essentially the roadmap that has a series of actions and goals to help achieve the goals in the plan. Here are just some of the images that took place within our public outreach process. As you can see, there were over a thousand interactions, 500 survey responses, and over 50 community engagements in this robust planning process, which was grounded extensively on community outreach.

Accompanied to the policy plan is a major general plan land use map amendments. This GPA supports the policy plan goals and encourages a transition in land uses in the area over the long term. Both the plan and the general plan amendments are grounded on these four ideas that are shown here on the screen, which arise from community inputs and work in tandem to achieve these community goals as part of this vision roadmap for the future.

We're happy to share that we received recommendation of approvals from the Central City Village Planning Committee back in July, followed by the South Mountain Village Planning Committee in September, and most recently by the Planning Commission on October 1st, which recommended approval for the staff memo dated September 29th, 2026. Since then, we have also received a letter from the Environmental Quality Sustainability Committee, which is in support of the policy plan.

We do want to thank them and also look forward to supporting their recommendations upon implementation of the plan actions. And with that, staff offers a recommendation of approval for both cases, for the planning commission recommendation and adopt the related resolutions. Be happy to answer any questions. Thank you. Thank you so much. Go ahead and open the public hearing. Would anyone like to reply comments before we go to public comment? We have many public comments. What? Public comment?

All right. We'll begin with Larry Lazarus, followed by CeCe. Good afternoon, Mayor, members of the council. I'm not here representing anybody. I am vice chairman of the founding board of the 501 C3 Rio Reimagine, comprising six cities, two Indian reservations, and over 55 miles, of Riverbed. We are going to be helping coordinate the entire plan over this period of time, as well as working on funding opportunities.

We are very much in support of, I am very much in support of the plan, and this is Senator McCain's vision before he passed away, and we're very happy to continue on that vision. and work with you on this plan, which is so important to the entire 55 miles. Thank you. Thank you. CeCe is next, followed by Gilbert Arvizu. CECILIA REVERE, CUNCIL MEMBERS, THANKS SO MUCH FOR THE OPPORTUNITY TO SPEAK TODAY. MY NAME IS CECILIA REVERE. I'M REPRESENTING ASU UNIVERSITY CITY EXCHANGE OFFICE.

ASU'S ROLE IN THE RE-REIMAGINED INITIATIVE IS PRETTY UNIQUE. WE'RE NOT AN OWNER, REGULATOR, WE'RE NOT A DEVELOPER OF THE CORRIDOR. INSTEAD, WE'RE A NEUTRAL CONVENER AND FACILITATOR. WE BRING TOGETHER CITIES, TRIBAL COMMUNITIES, Public agencies, nonprofits, and businesses, industry, our researchers, students, and community stakeholders around a shared vision for the future of the Salt and Gila River Corridor.

And since its launch in 2018, RIA Reimagined has worked to connect people, nature, culture, economic opportunity, transportation across a regional landscape that traverses multiple jurisdictions.

The vision recognizes that no single project or city can achieve transformation alone It requires each partner to advance bold locally grounded plans that contribute to the larger whole That why the Rio Salado district policy plan is so important Phoenix has taken the regional aspirations of Rio reimagined and translated them into thoughtful actionable framework for the future of the district The plan builds upon decades of planning by the City of Phoenix riverfront investments extensive community engagement and it provides a long range vision for how land use mobility economic development housing public space ecological and quality design can work together to create a more connected and vibrant community.

The plan sets a high standard for future river corridor planning efforts throughout the region for many of the other cities. It combines technical rigor and community vision, balancing economic opportunity with environmental stewardship, and it moves beyond concepts to implement future strategies and partnerships will be necessary. Thank you so much. Thank you. Mr. Arvisu followed by Armando Ruiz. Thank you, Mayor and members of council.

It's hard to believe that I've been coming up here for nearly a decade in support of Rio Reimagined, and the reason is, is I was in John McCain's D.C. office answering the phones when his longtime legislative assistant, Nick Mattia, walked in and asked, Are you from Phoenix? And I said yes, because most of McCain's DC interns are from the DC area. And he said, okay, well, you're going to help out on a project. And he turned around and he left. He didn't even tell me what the project was.

Well, the project ended up being real, reimagined. Virginia Pounds, McCain's long-time staffer and DC office manager at the time, later told me she couldn't remember ever a time where an intern traveled for official US Senate business, and I did, traveling here to Phoenix to meet with city staff in those early days of planning.

Of course, there were many of us who got us to this point, the ASU architecture students in the 60s, Harry Mitchell and Neil Giuliano, who helped turn that vision into Tempe Town Lake, and of course, Congressman Ed Pastor, who brought in the federal funding to restore the Rio in Phoenix. And while I was in the room when we voted to call it Rio Reimagined, of everything I contributed in those early days, there was one perspective I wanted understood in our briefings to Senator McCain.

And that the Rio Salado is not for the guy in Paradise Valley who's going to come and ride his bike and spend $8 on a cup of coffee once a month. It isn't for the person in town for the Final Four and All-Star Weekend or the Super Bowl. Can these folks use the Rio? Absolutely. Spend your time and money in downtown Phoenix, please. But this project is for the communities in and near the Salt River floodplain that have historically been left out of the investment and opportunity around them.

This is for them. And as we move forward, we cannot lose sight of who this is for. I appreciate Enrique and the staff for the meaningful community engagement that got us here, and I look forward to seeing this vision finally become a reality. Thank you. Thank you, Armando is next, followed by Bob Brown. Good afternoon, Mayor, members of the council.

I remember this issue 35-40 years ago and the suspicion was that this was not for us from South Phoenix, it was going to be for other folks who would come in from other areas and tell us, this is how you're going to live. This is what we're going to do for you. We're going to save you. And that suspicion has always been there. And I would tell you, being honest, it's still there. But you have an incredible staff.

And we've worked really, really hard with them these last years, sometimes almost beating each other up. You know, welcome to Southside. But it's about being honest. And we need to have a seat at the table for this dream to be successful. We are here in support. It's been a long time coming. Lots of folks who have your dad, you know, Senator DeConcini, Senator McCain, former mayor, Paul Johnson, lots of folks. They've had this dream. Now, we have also, we want to participate in that.

It's got to be good for everybody. Development just can't stop at Broadway. It just can't be just Rio Salado. It's got to be the South Phoenix, got to be entering into South Phoenix. It's got to be a whole city of Phoenix celebration. Now, we still have work to do, and now we just, you know, we have to be vigilant about things that can bring this down.

And now I bring up we have a methadone clinic that is right on Rozier and Central that is opening up Nobody knows about it Thank God we were at a meeting with Councilmember Hernandez and they just kind of came up So we have to be vigilant of that We have to work with the state and the county because we don know who brought that in Community doesn know about it There nine schools around that 24 hours a day seven days a week Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.

Bob is next, followed by Michael, who I believe is our final speaker. Good afternoon, Mayor, Council. Thank you for giving me this opportunity. My remarks might be a little off topic, but I'm looking like the last gentleman at the greater area. And I'm super in support of the Rio Reimagined. I was a student at ASU in 1984 and helped with the organizations to do, helped Tempe do the original planning. Always been a super big advocate.

But if we don't look at the larger picture, and one of the larger pictures in this area is the traffic in South Phoenix, particularly along Baseline Road, is a mess. It's a quagmire. Mag keeps kicking the can down the road for the interchange. You do got to connect it somehow to Rio. I'm just saying it's the larger area. We will take you in public comment if you want to talk about Baseline Road, but could you make it somehow related to Rio?

Yeah, well, I said it's the area around it, as the last gentleman just talked about, the clinic at Rozier and Central. This is the area around it, and it doesn't really help us to have a really groovy area if the traffic around it is just nothing but a quagmire. So I would employ you to think about improving the traffic along baseline. There are several things that could be done and it could be improved. So thank you for your time. Thank you.

We'll go next to Michael and then we do have one person virtual to speak if necessary. So we'll go to Sam. Good afternoon, Mayor and Council Members. Mike Merowitz with the law firm of Snell & Wilmer. I'm here on behalf of my client. CMEX, which owns 26 acres within the Rio Salado corridor. There's a letter that's included in your case packet from CMEX with some suggested revisions that we had proposed to the plan.

And as was clear in the letter, we very much are supportive of the city's overall policy goals for the Rio Salado in terms of transforming and revitalizing it. Our concern is really a simple one that as a policy plan it doesn't address or provide a policy framework for short term and interim uses that really are beneficial uses of properties within the Rio Salado corridor and are not incompatible with those future goals.

So as an example, in the case of C-Mex's property, the plan identifies the future use of C-Mex's property for a mixed-use campus with lots of open space and public trails, which is a great long-term use of the property. But C-Mex, as a construction materials producing company, views the site as a very valuable site that's a great opportunity to support its business operations and support construction through aggregate mining or construction materials producing activities.

And currently the plan is silent with respect to the short-term uses, which again can be compatible of a future use like a mixed-use campus if there's post-reclamation activities or requirements that are implemented. And so we did include suggested language for you. We completely understand all of the hard work that's been put into this by city staff and how difficult it is to make late changes.

And so really we just have a question that we're hoping staff could answer, which is, in light of the plan not addressing short-term uses, if a company like our client were to request a proposal or a special permit for a construction producing activity, if reclamation measures were proposed as part of that, would this plan preclude the city from supporting or staff from supporting a special permit request such as that one? Thank you. And I should note we are in court this morning.

Snell and Lomersudas on behalf of a data center. So we went to court this morning. Big day with Snell. All right. Councilwoman. Thank you. You threw me off my game level right there, but... I've never done that before. I know, I know. There's a first time for everything. But just to follow up on that question, would the plan, Josh, is there anything that you can address to that specific question, if they would be okay with the short-term use going through the permit process?

Mayor, Councilwoman Hernandez, members of the council, there is nothing in the plan that would preclude a property owner from exercising their existing zoning rights. What I think Mr. Merowitz is referring to is that a concrete batch plant or an asphalt batch plant is required to pursue a special permit today. This plan does not change the allowance for them to pursue that special permit.

They, as part of that special permit process, would have to just demonstrate how that request aligns and addresses the adopted vision in the Rio Phoenix plan. Ultimately, special permit goes through the rezoning process and the final say is the city council and it would go through our public hearing process. So I can't provide any assurances to Mr. Merowitz as part of that, but nothing in this plan precludes him or his client from pursuing that.

Okay, and if that answer doesn't suffice, I would be happy to continue the conversation, since CMEX I think is in the District 7 side of the Rio. So hopefully that, we can continue conversations if needed on that piece, but hopefully we got you a little bit of answer there. Okay, thank you. Thank you, Mayor. Thank you, and I was corrected. They sued us yesterday on some elected officials' birthdays. Vice Mayor. Thank you, Mayor. I just have a little trepidation.

I should also note that we have one speaker remaining, but it's very important. So, vice mayor. Yeah, thank you. I will just ask my question and then go back to the speaker. I just have some trepidation about a speaker asking for what could be viewed as an interpretation from the dais without more information.

I think there is a process, right, for a property owner to get clarification about their potential property rights and or the procedure, and it's not necessarily I'm sorry, comment on this item. Is there a procedure for further clarification if that clarification is needed? Mayor, Vice Mayor, Madam Chair of the Council, yes, a property owner certainly can pursue a zoning verification or zoning interpretation.

Again, my response was an attempt to verify or just confirm that this policy adoption does not preclude them from pursuing that route or a special permit request. And maybe it's the lawyer in me. I'm just concerned that we would say something here that will then bind us later on without a true review of the matter. So I just wanted to voice my concern about us doing that in this matter because there is a process for that. So thank you for clarifying that.

Mayor, I'll let the other speaker and then I'll come back to my other concerns. Perfect. I will go to you first, but very good point. Thank you, vice mayor. It's good to have a lawyer on the council. And so we did not provide any kind of interpretation. And should someone want to have an additional rock products facility, they would go through the normal process, perhaps a special use permit. But if councilman wants to push for more rock products, there's the existing ability. Sam.

Good afternoon. Can you guys hear me? We can. Can you hear me? Hello? Sam, we can hear you. Okay. Can you hear me now? Yes, we can. Okay. Thank you. Thank you, council. Thank you, Mayor Diego, Vice Mayor. So, I'm Sam Gomez. I represent the Sagrado.

I'm very excited about this milestone, as you know, after 10 years working in cultivating arts and culture on the corridor, participating with the 3rd Street pedestrian bicycle bridge, as well as curating art shows at the Autobahn for the last 10 years, almost 10 years now. As well as just always, you know, being involved, but also advocating for beautification as well as conscious development in the area. And I know that's sometimes hard to do based on budget zoning and policies.

But what I would love to see, and I think I've been sharing this with community and also been hearing this from community, is to see how the city can explore the possibilities of the Latino Cultural Center to be possibly developed and built at the Rio Salado. I think it would be a great investment in positive impact for the sake of the light rail connecting from north to south, south to north right now.

And just seeing trying to create the equity and the balance of just bringing arts and culture investment more to south of the tracks, all the museums. And most of the galleries or all the galleries are north of the tracks. It would be a great, I think it would be great for our community to gather as they gather now at the Rio Salado at the Rio Salado for arts and culture and doing other stewardship work at the Rio.

And just would love to see how the, also how the city would be able to make sure that the community is involved with the phases and the next steps implementation. And I would like Armando mentioned earlier that there plenty of work still need to be done but we will make sure that the community voice is being involved as we move forward Thank you Thank you. That, I believe, concludes public comment. I'll turn back to the vice mayor. Thank you, Mayor.

I just wanted to start off by saying thank you to Enrique and Josh for the great work you've done. having more than a thousand interactions and dozens of community meetings. Some have gone multiple hours, I know of those, and they've been robust and lively conversations. And I think that's a testament to how important this project is for our community.

I think this plan gives us an opportunity to think intentionally about how this area is developed, how we connect residents to the Rio Salado, and how we create neighborhoods that are more accessible, vibrant, and responsive to the needs of the people who already live there. I think as we plan, we need to ensure that we are incorporating our residents, our neighborhood organizations, businesses, and community partners. I thank them who have participated thus far.

And I recognize their efforts and I think their voices were very essential to ensuring that this vision reflects the priorities and experiences of people who are most directly affected. I'm also encouraged by the opportunity to connect economic development with housing affordability, improved mobility, environmental restoration, and neighborhood investment. I believe we have an obligation to make sure that growth is not simply about what we build, but also who benefits from that growth.

I also want to emphasize that as we move forward, implementation will be just as important as adoption. We need to continue working with residents, businesses, community organizations, and our regional partners to turn the goals of this plan into tangible improvements. I believe Mr. Ruiz said it best. This community wants this investment, but they also want to make sure that they are heard throughout this process.

I was grateful to see we have a 501c3 that is interested in moving this forward and I definitely want to make sure we have a good balance of the residents that live there or those that are affected and those that don't live there. But I want to make sure it feels like it's a cohesive project. Project. I think this is one of the many opportunities where this area, I like to say this, I don't believe I just represent District 8.

I believe it's also my role to re-present District 8 to our community. And I think this is one of the projects that gives us the opportunity to do so. Of course, I know this project predates myself, so I don't want to make it seem like I am taking credit for it, but I believe that this is an important, very important milestone that we that we take very carefully. It doesn't end here, the collaboration.

I'm saying this not just for the benefit of city staff, I'm saying it for the benefit of our residents that are also listening and have concerns. I know many of our residents were concerned about, for example, making sure there was more housing incorporated into this plan. And I really want to thank you for having those, sometimes it felt like difficult conversation with the community members about what's possible and what's feasible.

And I think we got to a really good place and it showed that this is a trusted process and I just want to acknowledge those efforts and thank you for taking those efforts and encourage us to continue building on this as we move forward. The Rio Salado is an important part of Phoenix's identity and our future. So this item I think brings forth a very strong framework for bringing together our environmental, economic, and community priorities that will benefit generations to come.

so again i just want to thank the planning and development department our village planning committees the planning commission and all of the community members who have helped shape this vision and i am very much in support of moving this item these items forward so thank you thank you well well said so wanted to recognize joelle for the work on this uh councilwoman thank you mayor um you know i i really appreciate you know the the comments from the community members here.

You're right, like this is going to be the community here has a vision and a dream of what they want to see for this area. And I fully agree that we cannot leave them out of the process, right? Like a lot of times we do a lot of really good things and sometimes we miss the mark in the implementation phase. And I think what I really appreciate about all the work that Joel, you and Josh and everybody has done on this is that we've been very honest about the history of this area in the report.

I don think anybody probably has not taken the time to read the full report that was put out but I do want to say and acknowledge that for me it was very important as part of representation in South Phoenix to really have the honesty of the history of this area the redlining that happened in the past right in the Barrio Unidos neighborhoods how certain people could only live south of the tracks And I think if we are not honest about our past we are not going to build a proper future for this community So I appreciate that that is in the rapport of the displacement that has happened in the past And you all know that that is one of the biggest concerns not just to me but to me through the community Right And every every conversation involves around how is this going to benefit us or are we going to be displaced in this area This is an area that has seen significant disinvestment over decades.

I know the report says that up to 2003 there were neighborhoods that still didn't have sidewalks. I mean, I still have streets in South Phoenix that still don't have sidewalks. So I know we got a long way to go. But I think this is a great step in getting us to the kind of South Phoenix and Rio area that everybody wants to see. You know, some of the other facts for those that don't know the numbers behind this area, it's also a 72% Latino Hispanic district, right, in the Rio district.

There's also, I like that we're incorporating health into this plan because right now there's a 3 to 13 year life expectancy difference in this area between the rest of the city of Phoenix. That means that residents in this area are living up to 13 years less than other residents across the city of Phoenix. So that's very important that we are incorporating that lens and bringing that framework into this plan of how we're going to build this area moving forward.

And I also want to reiterate that I am in full agreement that we have to incorporate the community in the decision-making process, keep them apprised of progress, Make sure that they are being communicated, that we maintain those open lines of communication so we continue, so we keep the trust of this community with us. So great work on all of this. The many years that have went into it, you know, I love where we're at.

I'm excited to see where we go with this and I'm excited that we're going to work in partnership with the community that is directly impacted by everything we do I didn't mean to admit Joel from my comments. I apologize for missing. So I just wanted to say thank you for your work as well. I'm just going to say thank you for your work as well. I'm going to say thank you for your work as well. Thank you for your work as well. Thank you for your work as well.

I just wanted to say thank you for your work as well. To Councilman Waringen, then Councilman Pastor. I think I'd just like to say thank you to the mayor for spearheading this. When she got elected mayor, I think one of the first things I remember her talking to me about was this, and I remember a meeting, I can't remember where, with Cindy McCain to discuss this. Just very grateful as someone who worked for Senator McCain.

I know he'd be thrilled that eight years after his passing, this is something we're discussing and focused on and as the passion project of his really his last big thing so that's very meaningful for me and again just very grateful for everybody who's been supportive and has been working on this um just wanted to say thank you thank you councilman pastor thank you mayor and thank you to my colleagues um i'm just going to set some records straight I'm great on history.

My dad would be 83 and 65 years ago this is where the vision started. The vision started as a assignment to one of his classes and he chose the Rio and he chose that area because he had worked in that area and he had also been part of Guadalupe and then And his vision continued when he became a county supervisor. The bridge actually kept, the bridge traveled to the north or you traveled to the south.

And when you traveled to the north, it was the working class families that lived in that area that went to their jobs and they traveled back. The bridges separated. I don't know if it was intentional, but they separated communities. The other piece is that that area, we have to think of that area as our families being truly authentic as to what is going to happen for the future. This plan is needed because the community's voice is needed in this plan, but it should be embedded even deeper.

It a rich area of history And so I am glad that you captured a majority of it some of it but we probably need to go deeper in this space The other piece is light rail went down Central. There was intention behind light rail going down Central. The intention of it going down Central was also to connect the North and South. In addition to that was also to bring housing. Not to change South Phoenix, but to bring the items that were deserved to that area.

So affordable housing is one of the things that has deepened the plan. Being able to keep and maintain our mom and pop businesses. There's been great effort for this area not to be regentified. And if the community does not follow it and stick with this and voice their opinions, it could be regentified.

The other piece is, this is a dream for many, and it was a dream of Congressman Pastor, who also secured all the dollars in order to start the Rio, in order for it to move and be where it is today. My understanding and my understanding is then Senator McCain then said, looked out at Tepe Town Lake and said, we need to make this happen on the Rio. And with the combo of both of them towards the end of their careers, they came together.

And it was a combo of both of them that are going to make their spirits still alive, that is going to make it happen. Because really, in true form, they're the legacy of Rio Salado. We're just continuing the legacy and making sure that it is built the way it is needed by community. I will end with the fact that the indigenous population is all part of this. I will end with the fact that there's a lot of love going into this. And I will end with the fact that it's all community driven.

So thank you for all your efforts. Thank you for everybody that has been part of this and generations of generations of families. And thank you for those that are standing here today that continue the legacy that is needed for our community. Thank you. Thank you. All right. Does anyone wish to comment before we move forward with the first of our two votes? All right. Vice Mayor, do we have a motion on item 121? Thank you, Mayor.

Motion is to approve per the Planning Commission recommendation and adopt a related resolution on item 121. Second. Motion and a second. Roll call. Hernandez? Yes. O'Brien? Yes. Pastor? Yes. Robinson? Yes. Stark? Yes. Waring? Yes. Hodge Washington? Yes. Gallego? Yes. Passes 8-0. 122, Vice Mayor. Motion to approve per the Planning Commission recommendation and adopt the related resolution as it pertains to item 122. Second. Motion and a second and I apologize I forgot to close the public hearing.

Roll call. Hernandez? Yes. O'Brien? Yes. Pastor? Yes. Robinson? Yes. Stark? Yes. Waring? Yes. Hodge Washington? Yes. Gallego? Yes. Passes 8-0. All right, thank you so much for the incredible work on the Rio. We will continue to invest in this legacy project for the City of Phoenix. Thank you to all the partners who've worked so hard and continue to work with us every day. Congratulations on the unanimous passage. We next go to item 123 and a related item 124, which is in District 7.

I understand we will have a brief five-minute report from the applicant. Is that right? To Councilwoman Hernandez and our staff. All right. So we'll open the public hearing and we will welcome Lindsay Shuby on behalf of the applicant for five minutes. Mayor, Vice Mayor, Council Members, Lindsay Shuby with the law firm of Gammage & Burnham here on behalf of Vintage Partners and Stream Realty. Walter Crutchfield is also here. He will be part of the presentation.

The development team, Vintage Partners, Stream Realty Partners, Locaihe, Jamie Blakeman will get a special shout out for all the great work RBI and Gamage and Burnham. This really is a tale of partnership. Mayor, you're aware you followed this very closely, Council Members, and of course District 7. This was a great tale of the city, city staff, Josh and his team working very closely with us.

Vintage Partners, as many of you know, commercial developer in Phoenix, Uptown Plaza, two affordable housing projects down in the Levine and Estrella area, Rise Hotel, great multi-generational development partner of Phoenix. Also, Stream Realty, they are new-ish to Arizona. The national company, ranked seventh nationally in development of Commerce Park projects, but most importantly, they have a local presence.

Ben Cooper, who is here, born and raised in Arizona, Westside, and very happy to be working on this project and worked very closely, not only with Josh and his team, as well as with the council district on this project. We're very excited about what this brings to this project or to this part of town. So why are we here? 65 acres. The current zoning is Commerce Park and General Commerce Park, A1C2.

We are surrounded by some undeveloped property to the north, the 202, as well as some single family residential. This was a remnant parcel from the development of the 202. The general plan is industrial, and again, as said, zoned Commerce Park and General Commerce Park. Mary, I think of, you know, when you originally thought of the development of the 202 and employment opportunities out here, and we're very excited to be bringing that dream into fruition. So what is our plan?

We are rezoning to PUD, Land Unit Development, to allow for retail, which is very necessary down here, and as well as Commerce Park for hopefully a great employment opportunity. So 22 acres of commercial neighborhood services, We've been talking to a variety of different uses. We do not have a site plan at this time. You will see there is a condition of approval that when we have our site plan in elevations that we do go to the Estrella Village and share that with that community.

The southern 43 acres, Commerce Park, it is consistent with the existing zoning now, however, with a bunch of arm wrestling from staff, sizable building setbacks, enhanced corner treatment design, decorative walls, shade, art, a lot of arm wrestling.

Sixty-third street improvements, I won't go into the details, but I do want to say Chris Kowalski, I want to thank him for his work with Jamie Blakeman, our traffic engineer, as they did a great job of negotiating all of the things everyone wants, right? We want that bike lane, we also want landscape setbacks, we also want sidewalk, we want all the things. And so between the two of them, they did a very fabulous job of getting everyone all of the things.

Community outreach, we had two neighborhood meetings. The first one had four neighbors in attendance. The second one had one neighbor in attendance. And post the Planning Commission hearing, Walter Crutchfield himself has reached out to the Australia Village Planning Committee chair, the Riverside School District Superintendent, as well as the Rio Del Rey neighborhood homeowner.

So with that, we do come to you with a recommendation of approval from staff, recommendation of approval from the Planning Commission, and Walter Crutchfield would just like to close us out. Mayor Gellegos, Council Members, it's an honor to be here today. I'm not going to go as far as to say it's historic, but it is definitely important. What was done here was elected officials came to us and said, we think you can do better.

And a less desirable use was pushed aside for a more desirable use and something that was focused on the community. And it's what we're not seeing happening in our present political age, where there's trust built, there is hard work, and there's sacrifice. And we walked away from potentially additional millions of dollars in order to do this. We ask a question, why would you do that? You're just good guys, that's why you do it. No, you have to have convictions that are bigger than money.

I'm not going to pay attention to that. Is that okay, Mary? We will ask you a question so you can continue. Ask him a question. I should turn on my mic. Walter, can you please elaborate a little bit more?

Thank you Mayor Councilmember Hernandez Because I think the opportunity here was setting aside a value proposition for a bigger proposition that of community And as a vintage partners team I think that is our reputation We done that all over the city But we don't do that simply because we want to have people say, what a good guy. We do it because we have a greater conviction, and that is we've received God's grace, so we show that, and that is exactly what this is.

This is a demonstration of do the better thing. When the question is asked, are you your brother's keeper? The answer is yes. And I'm proud of my partners, I'm proud of our investors that we were willing to do that to set aside a less desirable use to come up with something that reflected what the community desired.

And the second thing I would say and the last thing I would say is this is probably the last time I'll be in front of you doing this, as I have a great desire to retire and spend time with my 13 grandchildren on the farm we just finished. But that is this, what gets rewarded gets repeated.

And I would encourage you to be as brave as the mayor was in setting forth the text amendment, and then pushing those conversations to inevitable conclusions, some of those difficult, as you have highlighted already, and some of those positive, which this is. And so I'm proud to be a part of that.

I'm proud to be a part of this city, proud to work with you all as a team, and excited to open the doors of what this is going to be in terms of large-scale employment and retail development that's desperately needed in this area. Thank you. Thank you, Lindsay, for that. This doesn't happen without an outstanding staff on your part. Josh and his team made this happen.

They worked with us in partnership, even, I think, potentially frustrating some people because they moved it along quickly and did a great job. And it would not have happened without the whole planning team. And we want to make sure to say we're incredibly grateful for them as well. Thank you so much. Really appreciate it. This is a project that really addressed the city's concerns about health and safety and we're so thankful that you worked with us on that.

We do have more speakers, but do you want to say anything before we? Okay. Yeah, thank you, Mayor. I just want to, because I want to take the time really quick to thank Walter, because you really listen to the community. Not just you, but your entire team.

your entire team, but you all really put so much importance into what the community voice was telling you, what they wanted to see for this area, and I think this is just such a good example of good partnership between a developer and the city, right, and the staff and the community. I can't think of a better example anytime soon.

I think so many people should look at this on how you really engaged in good faith with us, but most importantly with the community, to really make sure that their needs were met in this process.

You know that it's it's not always easy and I know there was frustrations on both ends but I want to really thank you for just showing up how you showed up you and the entire team and how you all were really good partners in this because I think through this you have just earned yourself the trust and respect of residents in District 7 because of this project. And as you said, none of this would be possible without the amazing staff that we have here at the city.

Josh, Tricia, the hours that you have put into this, you know, Nayeli, Rassell from your department, our village planner Nayeli, and Chris Kowalski from Streets. I mean, the time that was put into this, none of this happens with us individually. And I think this is just such a great example. And I agree, it doesn't happen often. But this is exactly how we all deliver for our shared communities and really do right by them. So thank you, Josh, the entire team.

Thank you, Walter, Lindsey, the entire vintage team and all the partners for really delivering an amazing project for District 7. Thank you, Mayor. Thank you, Councilman, and congratulations to you and to District 7. Jamie Blakeman available to speak if necessary. We're good. Okay. Then we'll go virtual public comment to our our village planning commission leader, Lisa Perez.

Lisa give us just a second Lisa Lisa we are showing you as muted but we have not been able to hear you Can you unmute yourself Yes. Oh, we just heard you. It was a little faint. Can we get a sound check before you start? Hello? Can you hear me? All right, we can hear you. All right. Thank you. Sorry about that. I guess I'm a little stunned that- Mayor, members of the council, thank you for the opportunity to speak today.

I'm a little stunned by the conversations about the entire engagement of the community. I'm going to start by saying that there were two community meetings and the project that's in front of you today is not what was presented to the community at all. So, I'll start with my comments. I'm expressing my disappointment in our position of this project with all due respect for all of you and Mr. Crutchfield. I know that you believe that this is the best project we have as you can do, and I disagree.

And I'm absolutely aware of the circumstances that I've got to this point that we should be better. This part of the Strait Village is mostly residential. While the North Village is designated as the Southwest Employment Center, this area is home to hundreds, if not thousands, homes that would be impacted by this demand changing zone. When we're here at the first meeting, we have heavy tracking, but adding more without express input from the community is just timely.

This council of business will include the one meeting as perfect warehouse in our area that is surrounded on the countryside of Plain Yabrida, and we have a district 7 representative at the time. And now this project is going forward without going to the straight of those planning. It's incredibly disappointing. Well, we move forward on this project, which I assume you will approve. It is important for you to understand what the impact is. We have this kind of trucking with residential.

We wouldn't do this anywhere else in the city, and I don't know why that's okay. Why is it okay to tell the residents of my community that this is okay? Is our quality of life not as important as the rest of the city? We deserve quality of life without having to testify or sending out positioners. You all know that the service has been privately dedicated staff.

following law ordinance and stop suspending the rules for certain developers and projects, or make sure to communicate the intention why the inquiry that will be implemented. In closing, October is National Community Training Week. It is supposed to be a celebration of a day planning created to break families. I ask that you all make sure you are considering and cleaning about the community as you're doing the fight. Thank you for your time. Thank you.

With that, I will close the public hearing and turn to Councilwoman Hernandez for a motion. First on item 123. Thank you, Mayor. A bunch of papers up here. Motion to approve part of the Planning Commission's recommendation and adopt the related resolution on item 123. Second. We have a motion and a second. Comments? Roll call. Hernandez? Yes. O'Brien? Yes. Pastor? Yes. Robinson? Yes. Stark? Yes. Warren? Hodge Washington? Yes. Diego? Yes. Passes 8-0. Item 124.

Motion to approve per the October 20th, 2026 memo from the planning and development director and adopt the related ordinance on item 124. We have a motion and a second from Councilwoman Stark. Roll call. Hernandez? Yes. O'Brien? Yes. Pastor? Yes. Robinson? Yes. Stark? Yes. Waring? Yes. Hodge Washington? Yes. Gallego? Yes. Passes 8-0. Thank you so much. We actually go to item 125, consideration of a citizen petition submitted by Miss Elizabeth Venable. Vice Mayor, do you have a motion?

Yes, Mayor, the motion is to approve the staff recommendation as it impales to item 125. We have a motion, a second from Councilman Stark. Is Elizabeth with us today? Elizabeth, it would be your floor if you'd like to speak. All right, I do not see Elizabeth. We'll turn to Councilwoman Hernandez who has a comment. Thank you, Mayor. And I just want to first thank Elizabeth for bringing this forward, and I do have one question for Rachel from OHS just for clarity. Thank you Rachel.

You know this petition had to do around water the water situation at the SOS site and I know that one of the things in the in the response or the staff recommendation was that we we do test water regularly can you just elaborate a little bit on that and just make sure that I just want to make sure that the public is aware of that and hears that and we can just reiterate how we handle that Mayor, members of council, Councilwoman Hernandez, when we first heard that the water was too hot back at the July city council meeting, we did test the water at that time and adjusted it down and it had gotten hot, especially in our two new ADA trailers.

And since that time we've checked it periodically. However, since the citizen petition was submitted two weeks ago now, we've checked it daily. Okay, thank you. And do we plan on continuing, like what is the schedule that we will maintain moving forward? Councilwoman Hernandez, especially as we're starting to get a little bit chillier weather, we're looking at checking the water temperature daily for the next couple of weeks and then moving to a once a week temperature check.

Okay thank you so much for that. I just wanted to make sure that the Elizabeth and the public are aware of that we do continuously check that and make sure so we can get ahead of issues hopefully in the future. That's pretty much all my question. Thank you, Vice Mayor. Thank you. I just want to follow up on the question. Had OHS or the SOS partners received any complaints prior to the citizens petition regarding the shower temperature at the...

Mayor, members of council, Vice Mayor Hodge Washington, the only complaint we have received was in July, but since that time we have not received complaints. We've been asking people as they come out of the shower since the citizen petition was presented two weeks ago and we have not had any complaints since that time. And it might be worth repeating, what are the processes that are available for anyone who resides at the SOS to raise a complaint shy of a citizen's petition?

Vice Mayor Hodge Washington, specific to the showers, we do have a staff person who monitors the showers as they are open every day from 5 a.m. to 8 p.m. So they can bring those issues directly if they're shower related directly to that staff person. In addition to that, we have a grievance procedure at the Safe Outdoor Space, both one that goes straight to staff and then an anonymous grievance procedure as well. And can you talk a little bit more about the grievance procedure?

For example, is there, like, do they get responses to the individual that has filed a grievance and is there a timeframe for those grievances to be processed? Vice Mayor Hodge Washington, I can get back to you on the specific timeframe, but yes, we follow up on all grievances that are, that are brought to staff. The anonymous grievances will answer in a more general way via town hall. Our next town hall is November 6th at the Safe Outdoor Space. Okay.

And just for anyone that might be listening, including residents of the SOS, what are some of the issues that are permissible to be brought up at the town hall conversations? Sure. Vice Mayor Hodge Washington, we typically have an agenda of things that we want to talk about if there are things that we've heard bubble up. This town hall is really based on workforce opportunities. We have a new program at the town hall with St.

Vincent of Paul that we're going to highlight, but it's also an opportunity for people to bring up issues that they have that may be food related or shower related, things that have to do with a site that we are able to address. Thank you so much for that. Those are my questions, Mayor. Thank you. Thank you. All right. Roll call. Hernandez? Yes. Brian? Staff recommendation is to deny the petition since the office of homeless solutions staff has already addressed the water temperature. So yes.

O'Brien? Yes. Pastor? Yes. Robinson? Yes. Stark? Yes. Waring? Yes. Hodge Washington? Yes. Gallego? Yes. That concludes our agendized business and I'll turn to the city attorney to introduce the final portion of the meeting. Thank you, Mayor. During citizen comment, members of the public may speak to the city council for up to three minutes on issues of interest or concern.

However, the matters addressed must be within the jurisdiction of the Phoenix City Council and on which the council has the authority to act. The citizen comment session is limited to 30 minutes. The Arizona Open Meeting Law allows the city council to listen to comments that prohibits council members from discussing or acting on the issues presented. However, council members may respond to criticism. Thank you. Thank you so much.

And if we don't have time for everyone at the meeting before, we do take the people who were unable to speak at the start of the meeting. So today we will begin with William Monk, and appreciate his patience, and then followed by Leonard Clark. One vote. Thank you. William Monk, Good afternoon. My name is William Monk, and I live in the Monarch Subdivision, which is the first subdivision built directly across from the East Thistle Landing Data Center.

The pictures you have in front of you, I wanted to go over them to you because they're a little more current. The first picture on the left is taken in the backyard of the closest house to this project. It's about 125 feet away. Unfortunately, that was about 3 a.m., which is two hours prior to construction. The second one is a house approximately 150 feet, directly west and across 48th Street from the data center. The data center's original property zoning was 48 feet.

It has been approved and changed and changed. And are now asking for a height of 59 feet for the building. With everything else being added to the top of that, which is not included, we're looking at approximately 74 feet. If you'll see that right now, that's basically about 59 feet. Number three is kind of a street view from 48th Street of the building one and two of the data center being constructed.

The one on the left is a picture from my front yard approximately 1200 feet from the data center. And number five is basically a side view with a drone view of the top of the data center on the curve of Thistle Landing to the 48th intersection. Again, this was a property that was zoned to be light industrial. This is a heavy industrial property that is being utilized in the wrong way.

We have continued to see nothing but noise interruptions, and we don't even have a clear ideal of how this property is going to be cooled. We've been told it was going to be forced air, then a closed-loop brochure was presented to us. This is on 38 acres. When this was approved originally, none of the hyper data centers that were in use were even looked at. The closest one to us would have been in Oregon, Prinville. It was done by Meta. It's on 120 acres. This is 38 acres.

That one's 4.6 million square feet. This is 1.1. It only generates and requests use of 157 megawatts of power. This one is 50 percent in buildings, but yet asking for 100 additional megawatts of power. In other words, they're going to be doubling the amount of servers in five buildings, which is going to create a more possible heat island than usual, as well as potential fire problems.

I encourage you to continue to take a look at this and work with the city planning department to see if we can right this wrong. Thank you. Thank you so much. Leonard is next, followed by Haley Hendaka. Thank you, Mayor and Council Members. I just had several things I wanted to speak on. First is the high cost of diesel fuel and fuel for our residents of Phoenix and the surrounding areas.

I'm not sure, I know that you can't directly intervene, but I'm just wondering if the situation continues to worsen And the price per barrel of oil continues to go up. Many families could be in the city of Phoenix and around our city could be not being able to put enough food on the table, just like our hard-working truck drivers who live in the city of Phoenix are now having a hard time making ends meet. So I don't know if we could come up with more plans.

I know we have excellent organizations like St. Vincent DePaul and these other organizations. But even maybe look more closely at the situation. I know you can't help it. You can't help the policies in Washington, D.C. But our residents are beginning to even suffer more and more. And it's a real shame our economy could be doing good. And then also, even though I never went, I'd like to go, but it's saying here Phoenix Symphony is suspending its 26-27 season due to severe financial shortfalls.

And I do think that a mark of our city is to have that So maybe we could look into that And then finally look I not a saint but I know that in Phoenix it used to be break on yellow stop on red But as I driving around in Phoenix and the other surrounding areas I just seeing people run red lights Like you really have to drive defensively You have to hesitate I just asking our fellow residents and the people of the city of Phoenix and the surrounding areas please try you know don run the red lights I mean it not even like close I mean the light will be red and they will just go through it So I'm hoping we can do something about that.

And finally, I'm going to sound like an old man here, but we complain about light pollution, right, for astronomers. We complain about air pollution. People have to go smoke in a designated area. What about the noise pollution? I mean, I know I sound old, but these people, no offense against all of you that have Mustangs and your power cars, but I mean, some of your engines are like, sound like they're competing with airplane engines. There is such a thing as noise pollution.

It affects our children. And I know that this is not in the distant city of Phoenix. But the noise ordinances, our young people, our older people, the old guys trying to be 20 again with the gold necklace around their necks. Sorry if you're wearing a gold necklace. But what I'm saying is it's just so loud. And, you know, it doesn't just stress me out. Noise, you know, scientists have pointed this out.

high levels of noise decibels can affect people so I'm wondering if you can check on that so thank you so much uh I am very impressed today you did a lot of great things I think for the citizens of Phoenix and surrounding areas particularly regarding hunger and all of these other things so thank you so much and I hope you guys have a beautiful uh whenever we see you again thank you stay safe. Thank you. Haley Hanke is next followed by Stephen Johns. Hello, my name is Haley Ansca.

I just wanted to say that all in all, I think VEMES is improving. I do want to say that down by the bottom part of the courthouse and around the jail, it just feels like they're not putting back in the right bottoms. Well, around the jail, I think it's still a little bit too high around 19th Avenue. Thank you. Steven is next, followed by William Lockwood. Steven Johns, if you could sort of indicate your... He chose not to speak. Okay, thank you. That's very helpful. William Lockwood?

No, William Lockwood? Okay. Natalie Miller, you said what? Okay. And then Andrew Frank-Moorhead. Hi, I'm Natalie Miller. I do stay at the SOS. The water heat thing has been corrected, but two of those ramped bathrooms that have two other regular bathrooms attached to them have been sealed off. So the hot water doesn't matter. They have not fixed them. All of the other bathrooms, they have the sinks turned off in where they're just toilets and sinks.

So you have to go outside after and wash your hands outside, which is a sanitation issue. Most of the showers have, they're filthy, they have cracks in them, all kinds of things are broken. Toilets hanging off walls, toilets you sit on that fall over. These are rented or units or whatever that are not being maintained and a lot of people say, well, the people have destroyed them. I could fix them. My parents are landlords. They won't let us even have Ajax in there and clean them.

So it's more than an issue of heat. I'd like to say something about something I've lived through having to do with homeless, if for my own personal thing, it's about fentanyl overdoses. I've witnessed many people that I know homeless on the street die, and fentanyl is different than heroin. People, it turns down your circuitry. It's not like opioid with heroin when you're suppression of your heart and your breath.

I've seen multiple people just be put in an ambulance and not use the defibrillator. No, they do not use just the defibrillator on them, which they need their electricity shock back on. Because that's what fentanyl does, it turns off your circuitry. So I've seen countless, countless people, and I mean a lot, taken away who could have been shocked and resuscitated who needed to be defibrillated.

So that is not happening because the people's hearts are hard and they're just, they think they're not worthy.

And I've done CPR on multiple people and had someone revived to only have to have the by the time the ambulance got there and I had to get away from the situation they said she dead And I had brought her back to color from looking dead with my own CPR And they brought her up dead And they weren willing to do a shock or anything And I was just like what are you talking about So many people So fentanyl is different than heroin It is circuitry shut off Those people should be defibrillated and be given a chance to live because that and it not being done What else can I say?

The stigma of homeless, the umbrella. When people think of homeless people, they think of every other stigma as raindrops. I've walked around with the stigma of what people think of me because I'm homeless. I have no criminal history. I'm not a drug addict. And I used to be a Scottsdale school bus driver, a CNA, and a live-in nanny. I'm a widow. And I have many issues and my issues are my private issues. But the stigma is heavy. She changed her mindsets and hearts. Thank you. Thank you.

Andrew is next followed by Connie Rothkip. Andrew, could you indicate you're here? Andrew Frank Moorhead. All right, I do not see Andrew. We will go to Connie followed by Edwin. We have Connie and Edwin. Connie, Edwin. All right. Navlin Samuel followed by Tim Sirakowski. Navlin, I'm sorry, I'm not doing well with names, Nadal? All right. Okay. I don't know how this works, but I'm here because of mental health abuse. Basically, I ended up in mental health for wrong reasons.

And I noticed that when they give you the medication, your body starts changing. You start gaining weight. Now people ask me if I'm pregnant. I went from 95 pounds and so forth. Now I'm 270 something pounds because I'm taking medication that's not doing right. I'm not going to keep you guys any longer. Thank you and very sorry. Tim is next, followed by Jeremy. I'm not going to keep you guys any longer. Kirsten Croninger, I'm sorry. I'm sorry. Tim is next followed by Jeremy.

I'm not going to go to the next slide. I'm going to go to the next slide. Thank you and very sorry. Tim is next, followed by Jeremy. Good afternoon. Thank you, Tim Sierkowski. Recently, the Arizona Supreme Court passed new rules of record requests. And I'm not sure if the city is still following it or not, because we have record requests, which have been outstanding. standing for months and months, and according to the new rules, you have a certain time period that you now must respond to.

And if you don't respond to the new rules, and we have to hire an attorney once again to get this information, the city is going to be held liable for our attorney fees. So I'm trying to figure out when we're going to start getting a record request in a timely manner. Two or three months is too long. I know you guys are protecting yourselves, but there should be some ethical basis of trying to produce these records in a timely manner, and they're not being produced.

Second thing I want to really talk about is the new master plan for the Parks Department. They're spending a million dollars for a plan that does not incorporate three-quarters of the park. Why are we spending a million dollars on something that's not a master plan, but one specific segment of the park? We heard earlier today at a subcommittee meeting that they are going to add all this other stuff later. Well, how come they're not doing it now?

When I hear master plan, I hear in the back of my head saying, all of this stuff has to be integrated together.

This new master plan does not take in golf courses Why not It not taking in any of the part any of the reserves in town Why not It I baffled by it at the present time and I just not understanding why we spending a million dollars Plus he taken three years to do this plan It already outdated So why are we spending a million dollars for what Earlier we also talked about the golf courses and I want to go back to the golf courses.

You guys let ASU have Papaco Golf Course for about $200,000, $300,000 a year. The proper evaluation, the property's value is $42 million. Sell it to ASU. If ASU wants a golf course, sell it to them. $200,000, $300,000 wouldn't pay interest on the money. Grand Canyon, same way. Sell it to them. Current market value of the property. Everyone said they would keep the price of golf down at both these places. It's outrageous how much it costs to play at these two golf courses.

And no one's checking at the present time. So Papaco, they get to build something for a million dollars, but the property's worth 40 million. I think we should sell them. Thank you. Thank you. Jeremy is next, followed by John Ziegler. So Jerry is submitting citizen petitions today, and I want to make sure that they actually get in today. So can we bring them now? Yeah. We're submitting 16 separate citizen petitions today. Two of them should have been part of last week's.

They're what Kristen submitted and they weren't honored for some reason. The other 14 are on executive sessions. Executive sessions are when you exclude the public from public meetings. There's not a single instance of executive session in the code or the charter. We have no idea. How you operate them. You hold them in a location that we can't get to as the public. We can't see who goes in, who comes out, what time it started. Just taking your word for it.

So we're asking you to actually make the public aware of the rules of how you hold executive sessions. Simple ask. We should know that. If you're going to exclude us, tell us how it works. Tell us the rules. Put them out there. Make them available. So we've asked for very specific questions. We don't want you to vote on staff's recommendations. That's not what we're asking. We're asking you to vote on our recommendations. So our petitions address that.

We're asking for one legal action, which is for you to vote on the measures we've put forward, not staff's recommendation. If they want to put them forward, that's fine, but that's staff's petition, not ours. Ours are explained. Thank you. Thank you. John is next followed by Candace Washington. And if John Ziegler is here, could you indicate? All right, did you not see John? Candace is next, followed by Richard Venick. Candace Washington. Good evening, Mayor and members of the council.

My name is Candace Washington, and I am here today as a mother, as a concerned parent, as someone who believes that every family deserves fairness, accountability, and real chances to be heard. I am speaking out about the the Department of Child Safety and how allegations and some sometimes are treated as facts without full and careful investigations. Protecting children is essential. Treating parents fairly and respectfully due process is also essential.

My concern is what happens when allegations is accepted as truth before the facts are fully examined. What happens when the parents dispute an allegation, often evidence, offer evidence and ask questions but feel unheard? What happens when parents are past, what happens when parents past is given more weight than their present actions or when their efforts to explain are overlooked? In my own situation, I'm not asking for the council to look at that.

I am concerned about what happens to families when the Department of Child Safety, their communication and their Allegations go through as truth without proper investigations. Thank you City Council for hearing. Thank you. Thank you. Can I respond to her? Vice Mayor. Thank you. I just think it's important for the speaker to recognize that the Department of Child Safety is not under the purview of City Council. So I am sympathetic to your concerns, but this is probably not the best tribunal.

I just wanted to share that. We can talk to you after. Richard Vanek, Thank you, everybody. My name is Richard Vanek. Ladies and gentlemen, colleagues, fellow citizens, we're here today to address escalating incidents, threats to our nation's sovereignty, our people's fundamental sovereignty, freedoms from transnational repression. Transnational repression is, you have five executive orders, you have nine federal laws that have been made. Now, I am a victim of transnational repression.

My wife was born 100 miles from the North Korean border. And Richard, it sounds very important. We do need you to connect it to something under our jurisdiction. I will. Okay, I will. I'm sorry, ma'am. I was trying to get housing through CAS, and I was also trying to get housing through Justice Center. They denied me, okay? I was here last time and I would like to ask for forgiveness on how I asked, okay? Because my wife is missing of 34 years. I don't know where she's at.

We were renting a house from a Korean and basically my wife just went sideways on me. Transnational repression is a very serious thing. It is a mental problem.

Now, my wife has to do interpretation, translation, transliteration, and understand and do back the other way So she can understand what I was trying to explain to her What I saying to you is you know this is very very serious okay Our Lord Jesus Christ came here for a reason to expose things that are here that he went through It the same exact program You look at Revelations 9 it a red dragon rising Now if you look at our flag the flag has seven red stripes Those red stripes represent the seven continents Six white stripes represent the man that is running everything until Jesus Christ comes back and it seven it double perfection okay Blue Banthers, James 3.8, okay?

Treat your neighbors as yourself and you have, according to the scriptures, you have done well. The stars are not like what you guys say. It's not you guys, all right? It's, it's, you got the sun, the moon, and the star, the Christians, basically. We're last in line. Everyone wants to get mad at the Muslims. No, we're last, all right? The word myrrh means water. Water flows through the river, like currency, okay?

Now, we have false brother and unaware came in privately to steal our liberty, which we have in Christ Jesus. I am a victim. I am homeless. I just got evicted from my place that I'm at. Now, the place I got evicted from today, all right, the guy's mom works for Justice Center. What Rudy did over at Justice Center, he's trying to cover his tracks from going and denying me care. Okay, me and the manager of that place, Dan, all right, he got kind of He's a belligerent of me.

He wants to get violent. I don't have a problem. I got five years of martial arts and a couple other things. You want to mix it up? Let's rock. All right? But that's not what I'm supposed to do. I ended up in jail for no reason because Detective Faith on the Brady List put me there. I'm asking for help, please. This can happen to anyone in this room. All right? Like I say, transnational repression is very, very serious. Very, very serious. Thank you for the testimony.

Jerry Vanegas is next, followed by Shannon Brown.

Thank you Good afternoon Mayor and Council Tim and Jeremy have basically said most of what I was going to say that you know this is what has come to our last recourse through the city our the citizen petition Our attorneys and others at the Center for Law and the Public Interest have filed numerous record requests, since the start of the pandemic, basically, and they have met with, you know, ignored, and then with on, you know, after they follow up months later with a demand letter, we get a paltry smattering of record, knowing full well there's more, And we've gotten more from other sources, so we know they're not providing everything.

So, I mean, it's really simple. Just follow the law. The law says these records have to be produced in a timely manner. It can't sit on them forever. And so, you know, there are other recourses outside of the city, and we're going to avail, And the Center for Law has already said they'll help us avail ourselves of those recourses. So just follow the law again. Thank you, Shannon. Shannon Brown Brown- Hi, can everyone hear me? We can. Shannon Brown- Okay.

Good afternoon, Mayor, Vice Mayor and Council members. My name is Shannon Brown. I'm a small business owner with a background in health, biochemistry and science education. I'm also a District 6 resident member of the Ahwatukee Community Alliance, and I live about a mile from the Menlo Digital Data Center at 4E Street in Thistle Landing.

This is an industrial project by any standard It covers 38 acres with five buildings totaling nearly one million square feet It will draw 257 megawatts enough to power 154 to 205 homes That four to five times the number of homes in all of Ahwatukee Menlo filings with Maricopa County show 72 Caterpillar diesel generators on just the first three buildings with 120 planned overall And there are 24 planned Tier 2 generators which will release nitrogen The completed project will have 5,880 cooling fans running 24-7, 365.

The health impacts are real. Chronic exposure to low frequency noise is linked to vibroacoustic disease, which causes calcification in the arteries of the heart and lungs. I encourage you to look it up. Air pollution will increase asthma, bronchitis, and sinus infection, and we're already seeing it.

Anna Marshall lives 150 feet from the site and has taken her son to the doctor multiple times this year for sinus infections she attributes to the construction dust because he didn't have those symptoms before. I have two questions for you. First, did you know the original General Commerce Park zoning from 1996 does not allow industrial projects? It's light industrial, but not heavy like this. Why did this move forward?

The original preliminary site plan showed a substation, which was a clear indicator this project was heavy industrial from the very beginning. Second, did you know the General Commerce Park stipulations predate Prop 207? No new land use law devalued Menlo's property, so Menlo has no claim for damages and the city has no obligation to grant waivers. Menlo knew what it was buying. The property was never zoned for heavy industrial.

Fear of litigation is not a reason to ignore your constituents' concerns for their health and well-being. Thank you. Thank you for that testimony. That concludes our public comment for today. We are adjourned.