TEMPE, ARIZONA — January 10, 2025

Tempe approves 60-bed homeless shelter with mandatory security plan, rejects appeal 7-0

City Council denied appeal and approved controversial homeless shelter by TCA in Victoria Acres neighborhood with added security plan and public outreach requirements after significant community opposition.

Tempe Council Approves Homeless Shelter with Security Plan Rider After Heated Community Debate Over Victoria Acres Location

The Tempe City Council voted unanimously on January 10, 2025, to deny an appeal challenging a homeless shelter project, but sweetened the outcome by imposing two hard-coded conditions: a security plan enforceable under city code, and a mandatory public outreach component. The decision represents a compromise between the council's confidence in Tempe Community Action Agency (TCA) and real neighborhood fears about property values, public safety, and the concentration of vulnerable populations in a historically struggling residential area.

The East Valley Health Housing and Human Services Center—a 60-bed shelter plus seven on-site programs (food pantry, job training, financial assistance, transitional housing, health and wellness services)—will be built at 2423 East Apache Boulevard, one block south of the Apache light-rail station and adjacent to Victoria Acres, a historically low-income neighborhood where residents have battled homelessness and drug use for decades.

Key Speeches

"I have a parcel on Lemon Lane and I get complaints as it is currently in a situation where I have tenants complaining to me about homeless that traverse from the light rail to Esquire Park and loitering on my property… so she was just trespassing and loitering… I feel this is a total opposition to what I'm trying to do is better the property and you have bring as it is there's a homeless issue and what you're doing is adding fuel to the fire as far as I'm concerned." — Albert Avalar, appellant and property owner

"Shelter is not the only program that will be housed at this building and is not the only population that this site will serve… this site will have space for seven Human Services programs on site of which shelter is one of those programs… the programs at this site are designed to have a direct impact on neighborhood and family quality of life." — Deborah Artiaga, CEO, Tempe Community Action Agency

"I spent 10 years homeless I was part of this community and if it wasn't for organizations like tcaa that allowed me to find some resources and support to change my life I couldn't be standing here in front of you telling you that it's possible and what I learned through it all is if I can change a life then they can change a life it's exponential." — Bob Branstad, Senior Manager, Shelter Services, TCA

"What we're specifically dealing with here right now is kind of like what council member Nikki Amberg said it's very narrow very specific about the appeal… a vote of I will deny the appeal and add the conditions that vice mayor Garlett had talked about… a vote of yes will deny the appeal and add the conditions for the security plan and public outreach." — Corey D Woods, clarifying the council's narrow scope

Timeline

Appellant presentation: Albert Avalar testified that homeless from the light rail traverse his property, that the November neighborhood meeting was inadequately publicized (notice mixed with election materials), and that devaluation would occur due to proximity to the shelter and direct gateway to Victoria Acres via Lebanon Lane.
Staff recommendation: City planners confirmed that a neighborhood meeting was not legally required (only a voluntary best practice); noted that TCA held a 22-person meeting in November but did not submit formal documentation in the standard format; reported four police/city reviews of the site plan in the past year, all approving.
TCA presentation: Deborah Artiaga and Bob Branstad presented the organization's 59-year track record (since 1966), noting that TCA serves 35,000 people annually (roughly one in seven Tempe residents), operates the iHelp emergency shelter successfully in residential neighborhoods for 19 years, and will deliver wrap-around services including background checks, case management, time-limited housing placement (90 days), health worker support, and connections to Hope Team and Tempe Police.
Public comment: 13 speakers testified over approximately 90 minutes. Nine supported the shelter or TCA's mission; four opposed it, citing existing homelessness and drug use, property devaluation, inadequate lot size, and insufficient community notice. Supporters included TCA board members, clients and alumni of the iHelp program, faith leaders, business owners, a deaf community center director, and longtime Victoria Acres residents who framed homelessness as a citywide issue already present in the neighborhood. Opponents cited crime victimization, parks made unusable by drug use and loitering, the recent win of Proposition 312 (making it easier to arrest for urban camping), and concern that a 60-bed shelter on a "small lot" cannot deliver the services promised.
Council discussion: Nikki Amberg and Keading focused on the lack of formal public outreach by city staff and requested either a remand to the DRC with a mandatory neighborhood meeting requirement, or conditions on the permit. Police Commander Tom Hill and City Attorney Jeff Anderson clarified that security plans under Chapter 26 Article 5 of city code are typically applied to hotels/motels with five or more beds; they are living documents reviewed and updated annually and enforceable through use permit compliance. The council ultimately chose to add conditions rather than remand, reasoning that conditions could include both a security plan and a public outreach requirement.
Council vote: 7–0 denial of appeal; use permit upheld with two added conditions: (1) an approved security plan meeting city code Chapter 26 Article 5; (2) public outreach component integrated into the security plan process, approved by the city.

Opposition

Number of speakers: 4 (Albert Avalar, Dr. Fuschino [property owner on Apache], Chris Blessington [apartment complex owner], Garnet Marcus Rus [Victoria Acres resident], Robert Guzman [resident two blocks from Esquire Park], Maggie Pena [Victoria Acres native]; approximately 6 speakers if counting brief interjections).

Main concerns:

Existing homelessness and drug use already unsustainable: Residents reported that Esquire Park became unusable for children due to homeless encampments, drug use, and indecent exposure; one resident hired a 24-hour security monitor to oversee the park. The April 2024 passage of Prop 312 finally allowed police to cite for urban camping, and the neighborhood had just begun to recover.
Property devaluation: Albert Avalar consulted an appraiser who confirmed that proximity to a shelter would depress property values; he cited "100 different variables" affecting the calculation. Other property owners on Apache Boulevard reported a planned 61-unit apartment project had been "put on hold" due to the shelter proposal.
Location in middle of residential neighborhood, not industrial area: Speakers argued that the lot was too small; that alternative sites (the Coyote Stadium land, the park-and-ride at Price and Apache, Sycamore and Main Street) would be more suitable; and that shelters should be sited near police stations for rapid response and public confidence.
Insufficient community notification: Albert Avalar received notice only two days before the DRC deadline, mixed in with election mail. A property owner, Dr. Fuschino, stated he received no notice of the November neighborhood meeting. The November meeting was not formally documented per city standards.
Mental illness, substance abuse, and crime correlation: Multiple residents cited statistics: 31–66% of homeless suffer from mental illness; alcohol and drug abuse are 30–40% and 10–15% respectively; one resident reported being victimized in her home and citing her dogs at transients; another reported being propositioned for drugs at a nearby business; a third described finding someone sleeping in the bed of his truck.
Shelter alone does not solve homelessness; dispersal across town creates coordination problems: One commenter argued that 60 beds out of 10,000+ homeless in the metro does not justify placing the shelter in a residential area; another noted that "daisy-chaining" services across Tempe forces clients to travel between sites, making the program less effective.

Most compelling argument: Garnet Marcus Rus, a Victoria Acres resident of many years, testified that her neighborhood was already suffering crime (burglary, drug trafficking, sex in parked cars near children's park) and had just begun to recover thanks to Prop 312 enforcement and a new park ranger. She acknowledged that shelters provide services but argued the location was inappropriate and requested the city use larger, more suitable sites.

Organized groups: No formal community opposition group identified in transcript; opposition was individual residents and business owners, though some appeared to have coordinated (similar talking points about Prop 312, existing conditions, alternative sites).

Support

Number of speakers: 9 (Lewis Silverman, TCA board member and former chair; Eric Swick, TCA board and local business owner; Janice Sunon, priest at St. Augustine's Episcopal Church; Charles Redmond, Tempe resident; Adam Sopic, TCA iHelp client and current worker; Reginald Parsons, iHelp alumnus; Shanana Ellis, former Tempe Community Council director and TCA Capital Campaign Committee member; Linda Russell, deaf community center director; Jennifer Johnson, 50-year Tempe resident; Alas Tirado, long-time Victoria Acres resident and former Redevelopment Committee member; David Soosi, virtual commenter on urban camping criminalization).

Main themes:

TCA has 59 years of successful service, including 19-year track record with iHelp in residential neighborhoods: Supporters repeatedly cited the organization's founding in 1966, its service to one in seven Tempe residents annually, and the proven model of iHelp—which operates in residential neighborhoods, screens and supports clients actively seeking housing, and has never generated complaints at host sites (e.g., St. Augustine's Episcopal Church with on-site preschool).
Homelessness is already present in Victoria Acres; the shelter provides a contained, staffed alternative: Multiple speakers noted that homeless already sleep in parks and streets; a shelter with 24/7 staff, background checks, and case management is a step toward solving the problem, not creating it. One long-time resident said: "We have a homeless problem… a lot of it isn't just the park… we've known this… we've seen it… the problem's not going away until we find a way to resolve all those hotels and motels… we're not going to make that problem go away till we find a more homeless solution to put these people in… this is a bite out of the elephant."
The shelter model is not a "drop-in" but a time-limited, supportive program with housing-first focus: Bob Branstad explained that TCA's shelter is 90-day maximum, includes budget counseling, resume building, mock interviews, background checks, health workers, and direct pipeline to housing assistance. Multiple clients testified that without iHelp/TCA, they would be "under the bridge."
Economic argument: $8 million state/county investment; reduction of police/emergency service costs: Supporters noted that the project brings outside funding to address a city-wide problem, reducing the burden on police and hospital emergency departments.
Serves the city's own survey-identified priority: A speaker (Shanana Ellis, former city council appointee) cited Tempe's 2024 community survey in which "services for individuals experiencing homelessness" was residents' top priority for city action.
Neighbors become supporters and volunteers once they understand the program: Eric Swick noted that he takes his children to serve iHelp meals and that "the outcome is a complete flip side is what we've seen is that community that has those concerns ends up seeing the work that gets to be done and what happens and they end up becoming donors and volunteers."
The deaf community supports the facility and its proximity to accessible services: Linda Russell, manager of Apache Trails (a deaf community housing facility across the street), testified that TCA has been a great partner and that proximity to services actually benefits seniors and disabled residents who would otherwise have to cross a dangerous intersection.

Most compelling argument: iHelp clients Adam Sopic and Reginald Parsons testified in person. Sopic, a father of five who came to Tempe to find work after job loss, said: "if it wasn't for the program… I would be probably under the bridge literally because there's no way that I can afford… to stay in a motel and work and send money to feed my children." Parsons said the program "truly did change my life… without it I don't know where I would be."

Project Details

Case number: Not explicitly stated in transcript; referred to as appeal of DRC decision.
Applicant / developer: Tempe Community Action Agency (TCA); architect of record RSP Architects.
Attorney: Not identified in transcript.
Location / address: 2423 East Apache Boulevard, Tempe, Arizona (west side of US 101, north of light-rail station, adjacent to Victoria Acres neighborhood). One speaker (Albert Avalar) owns property on Lemon Lane; another apartment complex is directly west at Apache and Lebanon.
APN (Assessor's Parcel Number): Not stated in transcript.
Current zoning → Proposed zoning: CSS (Commercial Shopping and Services) district; no zoning change required. Use permit sought for "institution providing temporary housing."
Density / units / square footage: 60 beds (shelter); plus seven programs on-site (food pantry, financial assistance, job training, transitional housing, health and wellness, emergency rent/utility assistance, community gathering/partnership space). Estimated staff of close to 50; hundreds of volunteers.
Changes from previous version: N/A—this is the original proposal. TCA held a voluntary 22-person neighborhood meeting in November 2024 (before DRC hearing), but did not submit formal documentation; no changes were made to the proposal as a result of that meeting.

Vote Breakdown

Final: 7–0 (denial of appeal; use permit upheld with conditions).
Yes (deny appeal): Corey D Woods, Doreen Garlid, Council Members Jennifer Adams, Nikki Amberg, Arlene Chin, Berdetta Hodge, Randy Keating.
No: None.
Abstentions / absences: None.

Outcome & Next Steps

The appeal by Albert Avalar was denied. The DRC's approval of the use permit stands, but the council added two enforceable conditions:

Security Plan (Chapter 26 Article 5 compliance): TCA must work with Tempe Police Department to develop and maintain an approved security plan. The plan will address target hardening (crime prevention through environmental design), staffing levels and hours, uniform identification, deescalation training, and coordination with Hope Team and Tempe Police. The plan is a "living document" subject to annual review and modification if call-for-service data or site conditions change. Violation of the security plan constitutes non-compliance with the use permit and can trigger enforcement action.
Public Outreach Component: The security plan must include a public outreach element, approved by the city. This was added after Randy Keating and Nikki Amberg requested more formal, documented community engagement than the November meeting.

Randy Keating initially proposed a remand to the DRC with instructions to conduct a formal neighborhood meeting, but City Attorney Jeff Anderson suggested an alternative: add the public outreach to the security plan process, which keeps the decision on the council but builds in accountability. The council opted for the latter.

Next steps:

TCA must schedule a meeting with Tempe Police Department to develop the security plan.
The security plan must include a public outreach component and be approved by the city before the shelter opens.
Once operational, the plan will be reviewed annually and adjusted as needed.
Use permit compliance is enforced by both the Police Department (security plan) and Community Development Department (use permit conditions).

Controversies & Context

Proposition 312 and recent political shift: In November 2024, Arizona voters passed Prop 312, which expanded local authority to arrest or cite homeless individuals for urban camping. Tempe residents in Victoria Acres credit this law with finally allowing police to clear parks and streets; the neighborhood had just begun to recover. The announcement of a shelter project felt, to many residents, like a reversal of that progress.

"NIMBY" vs. legitimate safety concerns: The council and supporters framed opposition as fear-based, while opponents insisted their concerns were grounded in crime victimization and observable conditions (drug use, indecent exposure, theft). The testimony reveals a real tension: some residents have been crime victims; others see the homeless as a vulnerable population already present and deserving of services. A long-time Victoria Acres resident (Alas Tirado, who lived there since 1946) argued that the neighborhood is "evolving" and that the shelter is part of that evolution, not a step backward.

Inadequate community process: City staff acknowledged that the applicant's November meeting was not formally documented per standard city requirements (15-day notice, staff attendance, written report). While the city does not legally require a neighborhood meeting for a use permit (only for zoning changes), Nikki Amberg noted that best practice would include one and suggested the city may need to revise its policies. The council resolved this by adding a public outreach condition to the security plan, ensuring future engagement.

Property devaluation vs. program success: Albert Avalar cited an appraiser's opinion that property values would decline. Supporters countered that TCA's other facilities have not triggered devaluation and that the shelter brings $8 million in outside investment. The iHelp shelter has operated for 19 years in residential neighborhoods without (according to testimony) generating complaints.

Scale mismatch: Critics argued the lot is too small to deliver the services promised and that a 60-bed shelter solves only a fraction of Tempe's estimated 10,000+ homeless population. Supporters reframed this as a necessary first step ("one bite at a time").

Service provider trust: The council repeatedly expressed confidence in TCA's 59-year track record, even as neighbors voiced fears. Corey D Woods noted that the city spends $9 million annually on homelessness services—a signal that the council views this as a city-wide issue requiring partnership with trusted nonprofits, not a purely neighborhood issue.

Duration

This item (8A1, appeal hearing): Approximately 2.5 hours (extended public comment, multiple council questions, two applications of conditions, deliberation).
Total meeting: Approximately 4 hours (call to order ~6 p.m., adjourned ~10 p.m., with breaks for video playouts, proclamations, and consent agenda).

Other Notable Items

Sandy Hook Promise Gun Safety Resolution (7C4): Tempe became the first Arizona city and among the first in the nation to adopt a resolution supporting the Sandy Hook Promise program, which promotes proactive violence prevention in schools. Unanimously approved 7–0. Council Member RJ emphasized the shift from reactive to proactive school safety and thanked staff and school districts for collaboration.

Board and Commission Term Limits Ordinance (8C1): City Council approved an amendment allowing board and commission members with shorter designated terms (1–2 years) to serve an aggregate total of six years instead of the standard two 3-year terms (six years maximum). Approved 7–0 after Corey D Woods clarified that the ordinance does not reduce overall service—a potential source of confusion. The rule allows flexibility for boards with short terms while maintaining the same aggregate service cap.

Multiple CIP transfers (8C2, 8C3, 8C4): The council approved three Capital Improvement Program transfers: Vision Z Infrastructure to Transportation Master Plan (8C2); Roadway Mill and Overlay to Bike and Pedestrian Improvements on Country Club Way (8C3); and Energy Hubs and Microgrids to Interior Space Planning and Vision Center Kitchen at 1310 East Apache Boulevard (8C4). Jennifer Adams praised the bike lane project as critical to getting people out of cars. All three approved 7–0.

Announcements: Vice Mayor Garlett promoted the Shine Your Light Young Women's Conference (March 22, free, ages 14–22, focusing on careers, leadership, health, and financial wellness). Randy Keating asked the council to remember Southern California residents affected by the New Year's Day fires in the French Quarter area of New Orleans. Council Member RJ held a moment of silence for President Jimmy Carter's passing and announced MLK breakfast and enrollment expo on February 1. Berdetta Hodge honored the late Geneva Mosley, the first African-American teacher in the Tempe Elementary School District (taught for 50+ years; passed January 7).

View source transcript ▼

Source: Tempe City Council - Regular Session - Jan. 9, 2025 — January 10, 2025. Auto-generated YouTube transcript; may contain transcription errors.

good evening everyone welcome to the Tempe city council regular council meeting item number one is call to order Council meetings can be watched in real time via Cox Cable channel 11 and at tempe.gov 11 members of the public may also attend the meeting virtually through Microsoft teams if you have signed up to speak on items later on in the agenda please know that as the presiding officer I have the discretion to introduce it items out of their regular order as listed on the agenda I may also change the order of items from time to time to accommodate scheduling to allow us to address items with a large number of speaker cards so those wishing to speak on those items don't have to wait until later in the meeting or to otherwise expedite the business of the meeting if you wish to speak on an agenda item and you haven't filled out a speaker card yet please make sure to fill out and submit your completed card to the city clerk prior to the item coming forward for Council discussion I will call your name when it is your turn for public Comet next up here item number two uh I would like to ask everyone who's able and willing to please stand and join me for a moment of silence followed by the Pledge of Allegiance thank you I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the Republic for which it stands one nation under God indivisible with liberty and justice fora thank you very much tonight's agenda has a number of items that the city council must consider in order to conduct City business guidelines for conduct at City Council meetings are on the table near the entrance for those in attendance at tonight's meeting we will now play a video with the proper protocol for ensuring the appropriate conduct at City Council meetings the City of Tempe welcomes public comment at this time disruptive behavior will not be allowed continued disruptive behavior will lead to removal from the council chambers we need to be able to hear everyone in the room behavior that disrupts disturbs or otherwise impedes the orderly conduct of any city council meeting is not helpful and is not permitted this includes Behavior both inside and outside of the council chambers should individuals inside the council chambers become disruptive so that City business is not able to be conducted the mayor will first ask that the individuals allow City business to be completed there will be time for public comment during the call to the audience portion of the meeting if no cooperation the mayor will issue a verbal warning and let them know that the continued disruptive behavior will lead to removal from the council chambers if there is still no cooperation the mayor will issue a second verbal warning and let them know that the continued disruptive behavior will lead to removal from the council chambers if there is no cooperation after asking and two verbal warnings then the mayor will ask security officers to remove only those individuals who are causing the disruption security Personnel should not engage in any way but only escort them from the council chambers if individuals refuse to leave security Personnel shall warn them that they are trespassing and that the next step will be arrest by a Tempe Police Officer Tempe officers may have to arrest if individuals refuse to leave charges for trespass and disorderly conduct May apply as well as other charges should anyone be asked to be removed the mayor will recess the meeting thank you very much we're now going to play a video conveying the city of temp's native land acknowledgement statement we wish to acknowledge that Tempe is the homeland of the native people who have inhabited this landscape since time immemorial these ancestral lands of the aam known as Pima pipos known known as the Maricopa and their ancestors extend far beyond our city this land continues to be spiritually connected to the a aam of the Salt River Pima Maricopa Indian Community and hila River Indian Community we accept the responsibility of stewarding those places and solemnly pledge to consider this commitment in every action next up we have item number four meeting minutes tonight I'll be assisted by council member keing council member thank you mayor I'm I move for approval of items 4B 1 through 4 it's been moved by council member keing and seconded by council member chin okay seeing that please vote and that passes 7 to zero next up item 4B acceptance of board commission and committee meetings Council for keing uh we just did that there no we did 4 a there was nothing under 4 a so I did 4 B oh okay well wait a minute now that's not the item that's up here so so let's go back here all right let's let's let's do that again actually sorry about that mayor so uh so there was so I uh we just did item 4 A1 right so mayor I move we approve items 4B 1 through four okay sounds good okay been moved by Council and seconded by vice mayor Garland please vote and that item also passes 7 to zero next up reports and announcements I have a couple this evening which I will come down for yeah no I get it all right first up here we have item 5 A2 to human trafficking Awareness Month Proclamation uh it is Rachel rner here this evening H there we go as well as our community health and human services staff led by Tim Burch me too good good excellent all right well this Proclamation reads whereas the speak up standup Save a Life movement presents an ideal opportunity to help bridge the gap between young people our local community government and law enforcement in a positive way and whereas our local schools are facing preventable suicides and tragedies that may include warning signs in person or online but bystanders and Friends remain silent among threat or cries for help and whereas our young people can be empowered to seek help for themselves be advocates for their peers report concerning posts or comments to school Representatives or law enforcement and adults can receive training to help spread the message that it's okay to care enough to speak up stand up and save a life and whereas arizota students from 169 public charter private and tribal schools have learned the message and created student-led impact projects in their schools and communities that have impacted over 500,000 youth in the state of Arizona and whereas Arizona schools students parents Educators police departments and Community organizations are encouraged to coordinate a variety of awareness and prevention activities designed to make our community safer and promote a healthy environment for all children and Adolescence now therefore I Cory Woods mayor of the city of temp Arizona do hereby declare January 2025 as Speak Up Stand Up Save a Life month in Tempe Arizona [Applause] thank you you know what where's all right next up here item 5 A3 2024 annual report for City of Tempe boards and commissions so each year the city's boards and commissions are responsible for preparing and submitting an annual report to the mayor and city council the annual report details the membership accomplishments goals attendance and the overall work of the boards and commissions the 9th Annual 2024 boards and commissions annual report will be published to the city council weekly information packet and on the boards and commissions web page tomorrow Friday January 10th on behalf of the Tempe city council I'd like to thank the 268 residents and community members who serve on the city's 28 boards and commissions we are grateful to have engaged individuals willing to take time away from their own very busy lives and family and friends to make a difference in the city which they live in next up here item 5 A4 which is the Phoenix New Times best of Phoenix 2024 award and I see if I can have Brenda ABY and Josh rler and the museum team come up and join me here in the front so the Tempe history museum has received a best of Phoenix 2024 award from the Phoenix New Times identifying the museum as the best guardians of local history in the greater Phoenix area the award is in recognition of the Museum's work collecting and preserving thousands of Tempe artifacts and historic photographs as well as for their long track record creating memorable and Innovative exhibits Phoenix new time says in part the Tempe History Museum staff work uh staff works hard to catalog and showcase as much of the city's past as possible preserving its Legacy for future Generations what send tppe History Museum apart from the other local historical institutions are its engaging and fun exhibitions so congratulations to the Tempe history museum for being recognized as a leader in local history [Applause] all right next up item five city manager reports and announcements Madam city manager good evening mayor no announcements this evening thank you thank you so much that brings me to item number six public appearances according to the Arizona open meeting law the city council may only discuss respond to or take action on matters listed Elsewhere on this agenda for discussion and legal action the purpose of the open call to the public is to allow individuals to address the city council on any issue within the jurisdiction of the city council no person shall speak more than once and there is a limit of three minutes per speaker speakers present at the podium must State their name and city of residents and provide a speaker Card members of the public shall refrain from making personal impertinent or slanderous remarks and for becoming boisterous while addressing the city council or while attending the meeting speakers will be taken first come first serve in the order in which the cards are received speakers visual aids and appearances by phone or recordings are not allowed the city council is prohibited by state law from discussing responding to or taking action on matters raised during the call to the public even if asked to do so by a member of the public so long as the subject discussed by the speaker is not listed as a specific agenda item for council's consideration for discussion and legal action individual council members individual members of the council May respond to criticism made by speakers ask staff to review a matter or request a matter be placed on a future agenda I've got two people here this evening for public appearances the first one is virtual and that's David soosi is Mr soosi online hello can you hear me okay yes sir please state your name and city of Resident you have three minutes my name is David soosi I live in Tempe why is Tempe criminalizing urban camping we know there is a shelter in housing shortage homelessness has increased 20% Nationwide and we're not building enough are these people going to die in the streets the city forgot the lessons of the police Advisory Group it's not the job of the police to deal with social problems I complained about the signs the police department put at bus stops because we have issues like street racing and you're trying to arrest people for sleeping they were removed and I was told you wouldn't use the police if you're going to spend money for criminal justice you can rent an apartment and not waste police hours with arrest and release We already pay Park Rangers to play cat and mouse if you criminalize urban camping it tells us that every policy the city has created is failing and now we're going back to relying on the police department why are the policies failing because we're not solving the root cause of the problems the Nim's intent is to obstruct shelters and affordable housing they use a false narrative to justify the Prejudice even though shelters reduce crime there are 50 million drug users in the USA and it could be anyone less than 1% of them are homeless or unemployed most of the homeless never use drugs and half of them have jobs but we stigmatize them and make excuses by stigmatizing the homeless we make it more difficult for everyone to accept treatment research shows that First Responders struggle with addiction as much as the homeless population because they have high rates of anxiety depression and PE TSD but they still operate in the city it's not that complicated we have to invest in housing first denying the homeless shelters will not remove people from The Parks Building A shelter provides an alternative option the intent of s162 is for Tempe to house its own population including the homeless we need to take responsibility and sending people to Mesa doesn't solve the problem there are 10,000 homeless and less than 5,000 beds in all of Maricopa County that's why I think it's cruel and inhumane to criminalize things like urban camping it's imperative for the health safety and general welfare of our community to support new homeless shelters in Tempe thank you thank you the next speaker I have is Vincent Stanley please come forward state your name and city of residents you have three minutes hello uh Vincent Stanley I I live in Tempe Arizona and uh thank you Council for giving me the time to speak for a couple minutes uh first and foremost uh well this is about safe shalomar uh shalomar hold a special place in my heart uh it's started when I was 10 uh I first got introduced to golf taking lessons at shalomar um and then ever since I golfed here and there uh ever since and then golfing then ramped up during the pandemic uh I don't know if you guys remember you guys probably remember everything closed down even gyms so at that point I had to find other avenues for an active lifestyle so that consisted of running laps around the neighborhood shooting hoops and then luckily I had my third option down the street just take quick uh nine-hole course at shalomar so that was pretty cool thanks to that I was able to find another H uh golf became my one of my favorite hobbies uh and then I was able to add something to my bucket list uh golfing in the rain so that was really cool um thanks to shalomar I made that happen so it was pretty cool golfing in the rain uh the surrounding neighbor Neighbors were asking me hey uh they were inviting me to come inside and take a break I'm like no I know I got I know what I signed up for I I'm finishing this so I finished the nine holes in poring rain I knew what I signed up for so I was able to sign that on uh cross that on my bucket list so that was awesome it continued my passion my hobby for for golf um and then also thanks to shalomar I was able to introduce some friends into golf uh a lot of them were intimidated because they never swung a golf club in their life um but thanks to that I was able to introduce them to shalomar it was it was an easy it's not an easy course but it was easy to introduce them to a nine-hole course versus like an 18 hole grueling course um shalomar provides the same challenges like most courses with the water hazards the sand traps and the narrow Fairways but it was nine holes so we were able to just you know if if their attention span was a little shorter they were able to still finish those nine holes so thanks thanks to shalomar I was able to yeah I was able to introduce them the game of golf because they were intimidated otherwise so they loved it ever since hopefully they're still golfing I'll follow up with that um but yeah really hope you guys reconsider and save shalomar um I don't know if there's any nine-hole courses around here I know grass clippings I think is 18 there's a nine-hole option but I I really hope we can save shalomar um it's a it's great for the community and it provides yeah it provides a friendly approach to learning the game of golf so it's really good for like people around the suburbs to just learn Golf and not get so intimidated by it thank you thank you appreciate it the next speaker I have this evening is Mario Martinez please come forward St your city of resid president you have three minutes good evening my name is Mario Martinez I live in TP I am here to speak about a compliance with the uh or lack of it possible lack of it with the attorney general's uh directive considering uh the uh open meetings laws as we know Accord according to the attorney general uh three times under the direction of Corey Woods uh the city you uh used public resources to conduct three illegal meetings I I read the letter I read the letter and uh I uh there was some points in there that I have no evidence that the city has yet complied with I addressed a message to Corey saying that uh I want the portions of those executive sessions should be be made public uh for the meetings in question I did not receive that I received some cursory uh Corey Woods uh evasive reply saying oh yeah we're going to look into it according to that letter it should have been done that letter was uh written October 9th also according to this letter by the city had uh to complete uh training uh for about uh the open meetings law by uh December 9th that was over a month ago I have not received that Corey it's your responsibility to disclose that information to not only me but the other public we have a right to un understand how our money's being uh uh spent and uh I I I would appreciate it if you sto being so evasive on this Mr Martinez as you know I don't handle open meeting law uh requests the City attorney along with the city clerk handle any public meeting records I do not personally do that you know this you're very aware of this so if you want to direct your questions to Mr Anderson or Mr our clerk please but I don't actually hand those over you know that who who's in charge of them Corey who's in charge of them the mayor and counsel well then how come I haven't received those records it is your responsibility and you're always passing I will let I will let Mr always passing it off to someone no I'm speaking about what the charter actually says and what my responsibilities in the council are versus what the city attorneys are I'm just simply stating a matter of fact well then why hasn't the City attorney given it to me you're Char I will ask the City attorney uh mayor we we've done those things um you'll recall November 21st we had the training the matters are published I'll be glad to provide Mr Martinez with links and stuff to the the publication so okay what about the executive sessions those things should be made public when when when did that happen we'll provide Mr Martinez uh all the links to the that's my point this the these steps should have been completed by December 9th it's over a a month these are these people you're the one that signs off on their Employments it it comes back to you Corey and you're the one that violated the law you're the one that uh you're you're the one that had the most uh impact on it you you you uh let's see you had you were legally discuss this uh uh social media monitoring program without Le letting the public be involved that's wrong thank you okay next speaker I have this evening is Garrett I think it's Garrett Ros garet Garnet excuse me please come forward state your name and city of residence you have three minutes sorry I have broken oh no I my handwriting is terrible don't worry about it um I have a letter that I'd also like to submit to the committee sure please we're done uh my name is garnet Marcus Rus and I am a Tempe resident I've lived in Tempe since 1998 um I do not believe that the East Valley Health and housing for the homeless will be a good addition to our community in the Victoria Lanes neighborhood um oh sorry no no clapping please but please go ahead thank you sorry um and I do not believe it will be a good addition to our community because it will allow our residents alone the burden of risk should any of the shelter's res residents decide to leave and or act out in researching homelessness statistics I read that 31% of homeless individuals suffer from serious mental illness while other stats report 66% of homeless population suffer from General mental illness other stats include bipolar being at 11.4% with schizophrenia between 2 and 20% alcohol abuse is between 30 and 40% while drug abuse is between 10 and 15% you can check all of these stats online alcohol and drug abuse alone are one in three in homeless population showing chronic substance use at 36% crime has unfortunately been associated with Substance Abuse and Mental Illness in 2018 my home in uh Victoria or Victory I'm sorry uh was broken into by a mentally ill male who was high on drugs the police acted like this was normal for the area we also had a drug house on our street at the time who was feeding the homeless Community drugs that house is no longer there in addition we have also had serious um um we've had several neighbors that have had crimes committed towards them uh where we my house we have video surveillance and we give that over to the police anytime something has happened just in order to be good neighbors uh since the passing in prop 312 this past November in 10p um our neighborhood has finally gotten our neighborhood back I've seen people walking there their dogs again I've seeing little kids going back to Esquire Park um there was a point after the Rel light roll application when the homeless Community started entering our neighborhood where we couldn't even use Esquire Park drug use in our local park has made it almost unusable we have seen drug deals and bus we have seen adult men hide on drugs bathing in Splash pent meant for our children we have seen homeless adults having sex in their cars parked in front of Esquire across cross the houses across the street from houses or residents have children play in their front yard so since the passing that has really stopped the passing of prop uh 312 in addition um to this prop um I I just want to say like in addition to having no information on the type of shelter that the East Valley Health and housing for the homeless will be the current location would allow these populations at risk direct access to our front yards where we live um um I I took available I know there's available Lots I I'm sorry that's I I will say um here's my note if You' like to read full I really I really do think where the arena what is going to be coyot should be a great place for the thank you all right that's all the cards I have this evening is everyone L the audience yes please come forward oh sure okay out oh okay is there a little oh you you know it's probably is it is it for that issue okay yes that'll be coming later on yes you got it absolutely perfect all right is there anyone else in the audience who wants to address the council this evening if so please come forward yes please please state your name and city of Resident you have three minutes thank you I'm still filling out my card I'll get it to you momentarily after this sure um my name is Shawn Marcus I am a resident of Tempe I have lived here my entire life other than my service in the military and I've lived in Victoria Acres since 2015 I've seen so many changes throughout the entire city Tempe since it was Farmland until it's become sky skyscrapers everywhere and I will say in 2015 since we have been unable to use our neighborhoods Parks or resources because of the home homeless and drug addict population that never leaves our neighborhood I know the recent SB has Chang that with allowing us to have freedom in our park to where we can actually go back to it you can see families for the first time being able to go to this park since I've lived there in 2015 and when you guys are trying to create this new law for this homeless shelter to be built there you're bringing this back for the first time since 2015 we have been able to take a breath of fresh air in our neighborhoods that we finally have some substance of getting this back in this Freedom so that we can actually go outside without feeling like we're going to be assaulted or attacked or raped or God knows what else because this is a daily basis in our neighborhood and it just recently got better but you're going to be bringing this back I spent a tremendous amount of my time growing up doing community service at the Andre house and Cass for years and years and years I do not want my front yard in my neighborhood turned into that I've seen the damage this does to those communities and from the first guy that was speaking and he talked about all the housing for all the beds that need to be filled this property is not going to suit that that's clearly showing this is not a suitable or realistic option you need a bigger amount of property and the City of 10p has access to these lands there's a gigantic plot of land that the coyote stadium was going to be built on you have thousands of people that need beds and services you're going to have to combine all these services for these homeless because they're going to have transportation issues this lot on this tiny corner is not going to suit that you need to come up with a better idea of how you're going to help and support these communities because daisy chaining these places all around 10p is not the answer and I'm I'm sure you guys know it the the corner a broad Clint talk was a small uh was a small homeless help center that's not even suitable to help that population and now you're putting these all around town and trying to shuttle these homeless people back and forth to services and that's not realistic that is not going to work you need an actual community that can support them and help them go through these changes that they're going through that's time thank you sure okay the next card I have is from Raymond divine please come forward state your name and city of Resident you have three minutes good evening my name is Raymond Divine I live in Tempi it's good to see so many old friends up up in the board here tonight um I'm going to kind of disagree with some of my neighbors I'm a resident of Victor Acres I've lived there since 1991 when the boys used to hang out in the corner selling drugs and congregating and whatever the kind of thing that Victory Acres used to have a reputation for being a bad neighborhood so I've been there for 34 years and I've seen a lot of changes I'm kind of concerned where some of my neighbors don't even know how to pronounce the name of the neighborhood or the name of the park so I question how much they really know about our neighborhood um we have a problem with homeless I'm not going to give that I'm not going to I'm not going to disagree with that we have and a lot of it isn't just the park we have had homeless in the park since it was built but I will say that over the last few years with cooperation with the free police department and the park rangers it has gotten better but when you solve a problem here they move down the street to the other Park they go back and forth we've known this we've seen drug paraphernalia in the park down at the end of MacArthur towards a curve there curve there so the problem's not going away actually support this new project because 60 homeless beds what I was told by uh uh somebody who's working on the project means that 60 people will now have a place to go instead of St sleeping in our Parks or sleeping in our streets we know they have a place to go to it's not going to solve the whole problem we have a big homeless issue in Tempe but at least these aren't the people who are sleeping on our sidewalks on the sidewalks where our kids walk to go to our parks and go to our schools it's a small step it's like like the old say how do you how do you eat an elephant one bite at a time well this is a bite out of the elephant and I'm hoping that we can get this project done I know my friends are concerned about the the the the homeless that would continue to visiting there but that problem has gone away until we find a way to resolve all those hotels and motels that have been Dives for these people for the last 30 years 40 years we're not going to make that problem go away till we find a more homeless soldiers to put these people in the problem's not going to go away tampy has a homeless problem because we all we know many people know that we offer services for homeless they know to come here to find food to find showers to find support to find medical help so we either cut that out make them go somewhere else or we deal with the problem and as I say one step at a time I've heard one comment said what's going to make our property values go down in Victory Acres I'm sorry ladies and gentlemen our property values in in Victory Acres have been depressed for since I've lived there and the pro and we didn't even have sidewalks until 1995 because the way the city was treating that neighborhood for so long and now it's being recognized we see Redevelopment coming in we see improvements we see investors homes are being rebuilt I don't think this is going to scare them away but I do think that we need to get the people the the homeless people out of the parks where do we put them this is a start so I support this project and I'm looking forward to see it continue thank you appreciate it is there anyone else wishing to address the city council this evening if so please get my attention yes please this topic in particular well we're actually going to come to it later on but so but anyone uh any other general public appearances I should say uh please get my attention Okay seeing that I will close that portion of the meeting and move on to item number seven which is the consent agenda all items listed on the consent agenda will be considered as a group and will be enacted with one motion by the city council unless an item is removed for separate consideration members of the public May remove public hearing items for separate consideration public hearing items are designated as public hearing item at the beginning of the item title council members May remove any item for separate consideration or to declare a conflict of interest if a council member would like to declare a conflict at this time the city clerk will provide the council member with a disclosure form if you wish to speak on a public hearing item please fill out a speaker card and submit your completed card to the city clerk prior to the agenda item coming forward for Council discussion I will call your name when it is your turn for public comment the consent agenda this item uh this evening is listed as miscellaneous items 7 A1 through 7 A8 Awards of bids and contracts items 7b1 through 7b8 and resolutions items 7 C1 through 7c4 any agenda item designated as public hearing item can be removed by member of the public for separate consideration if anyone would like to have a public hearing item removed please get my attention now yes Council HJ yes I would like to remove 7c4 okay thank you very much um any members of the public looking to have a public hearing out of remove please get my attention all right seeing none uh Council any other agenda items that you'd like to have removed from the consent agenda for separate consideration move to approve M okay uh okay it's been moved by council member keading to approve the consent agenda seconded by council member Adams with the exception of item 7c4 which has been removed for separate consideration please vote and that item passes 7 to zero next up item 7c4 is to adopt a resolution authorizing the mayor and city council to formally recognize the city of temp's participation in the Sandy Hook promise program Council brj thank you mayor um I pulled that because um I'm proud to share with our city is the first one in Arizona to adopt a resolution to support s hook promise this is a vital and initial advocacy for policy for both state and federal um and gun safety also I want to just priv privilege we're one of the first in the country to do it so um and this will affect uh all of our Public Schools I would like to give a a really big shout out to our human resources Tim Tim bur and um our care 1 team for the collaboration with our school district and tempy Union and T L and kyne um there has been a lot of tragedy over the years when it comes to school violence and school shootings and there's no um there is no such thing as we can prepare for it so there is no is always a reactive scenario and this is going to be more of a proactive scenario for us our school districts are already working on the sing hooks on their end and for us as a city I I congratulate and thank my colleague Lees and all my city staff for all they do and work to and the police department for everything that's being done to help out with that in the Sandy Hook promise and for that I would like to uh move to approve 7c4 okay it's been moved by Council RJ and seconded by vice mayor Garland please vote and that item passes unanimously 7 to zero that brings me to the non-consent agenda which is item number eight all items listed on the non-consent agenda will be considered separately agenda item scheduled for introduction and first public hearing will be heard but will not be voted upon at this meeting agenda item scheduled for second public hearing and final adoption will be voted upon tonight council members who may have a conflict of interest May abstain from voting on a matter and the city clerk will provide the council members with a disclosure form at this time first up item 8A miscellaneous items bids contracts and resolutions the first item under the section is 8 A1 which is to hold a public hearing for the appeal of the development review commission's decision to approve a use permit to allow an institution providing temporary housing in the CSS zoning district for the East Valley Health housing and Human Services Center located at 2423 East Apache Boulevard the appellant is Albert Avalar the original applicant is RSP Architects and tippe Community Action Agency also just a note that this is a quasa Judicial item so I just wanted to State for the record here the city council sits as a quasi judicial body when hearing appeals in this situation the city council will conduct the public Hearing in a similar fashion to that of an Appel at Court premating contact with the city council on quasi judicial matters is prohibited any materials or conversations concerning the item shall only be presented to the city council at the scheduled public hearing per the zoning and development code an appeal shall be limited to the issues raised in the petition zdc section 6- 803 issues not raised in the petition for an appeal are not considered tonight's public hearing is an appeal of the development review commission's decision to approve a use permit to allow an institution providing temporary health uh providing temporary housing in the commercial shopping and services zoning district for the East Valley Health housing and Human Services Center located at 2423 East Apache Boulevard the appeal was filed by Albert Avalar and meets the legal requirements for an appeal under the zdc which is zoning and development code the original applicant is RSP Architects and Tempe Community Action Agency otherwise known as tcaa so I'll first call up the appellant Albert Avalar to make a presentation hello my name is Albert Avalar my seat of residence is Mesa and I uh filed a u objection to this construction of this uh homeless shelter I have a parcel on lemonon Lane and uh of hlex and I get complaints as it is currently in a situation where I have tenants complaining to me about homeless that Traverse the from the light rail to a square Park and loitering on my property and uh obstr the security of the tenants and uh supposedly breaking into vehicles or items missing this has been going on for years I've contacted the Tempe Police Department I talked to Tempe crime prevention uh crime prevention and a detective and uh I spoke to a uh professional appraiser and it there is a devaluation of the property with this uh Center being built and he said it's just a a matter there's a 100 different variables that apply here to figure out the devaluation amount so in the previous individual complaining about the or that was for it does not reside on the street that is on the Frontage Road to the Square Park so it wouldn't affect him as much so my location is Right adjacent to the the hearing pair Center which fronts uh Main Street and the homeless drifts from the Light Rail station over to Square Park in the process they come across my property and wander in there loitering and I found one a young lady with clothing back there and asked her what she was doing and she said I'm taking my clothing but she was in the uh property on my property adjacent to a house between the wall of the her imp Center and the house that I have on the property so she had as a homeless person she had her items stashed there so she just trespassing and loitering so it's on an ongoing issue and and any I I put money in to it the property to to uh maintain it and upgrade it and I feel this is a total opposition to what I'm trying to do is better the property and you have bring as it is there's a homeless issue and what you're doing is adding fuel to the fire as far as I'm concerned so my issue is every time I back out and and leave in Lebanon Lane is the main street into Victory acres and you put that structure right in that close proximity to the to my property and in Victory Acres so all the homeless the the main the One Main Street into Victory acres is Lebanon lane from 101 to uh not to to the end of the subdivision that is the main South entrance so those are my objections to it and I I have an issue with the uh timing of the of the card that was sent out I received it on the two days prior to the the deadline for the appeal because it was mixed in with the uh political paraphernalia which is during the election time so it seems to me like there was it was a way to slide it in with uh people not being notified properly and then you have a 600t uh restriction here so I'm sure that it would affect people beyond the 600t rule you have as far as notification so when I had question about that that's why I did take some flyers around the neighborhood and ask some of the tenants or the residents uh what their what their mindset was on this and they were not uh not aware of a proposed uh homeless shelter so those are my objections to it okay thank you so much apprciate time thank you all right um I'm going to look to City staff or Council uh do you have any questions of Staff regarding the staff report Council bramberg yes uh Mr Mayor thank you I've got a really quick question just reading through the DRC minutes I don't know if Jeff can answer this but um Jacob Payne who's a senior planner stated in the minutes that he advised that a neighborhood meeting was not required um for this before TRC so I was just wondering if that is normal good evening May and Council um council member Amberg uh that's correct in the meeting minutes it's noted that a neighborhood meeting is not required for the scope of applications that were submitted um so that was a major development plan review a use permit and Mr Mayor um Jacob did you guys ask you know or advise the petitioner for the use permit whether you know that you thought maybe it would be a good idea for them to actually get some feedback from the neighborhood council member Amberg yes in the early um stages of the project um at first there was a indication that they might need a variance which is a a process that does incur a neighborhood meeting um that was resolved through um the planning of the site changing um but it was recommended to TCA the applicant to host a voluntary neighborhood meeting um just to be proactive in reaching out to the community about their proposal Mr Mayor Jacob did that happen no would it be okay if I asked tcaa why they opted not to um you know that would be coming up right next actually so great okay any other questions for Jacob uh Council any other questions for staff okay sounds good thank you so much all right that means I'm going to now bring up the original applicants of they are representatives from RSP Architects and Tempe Community Action Agency who'd like to make a presentation as well please step forward good evening mayor and Council I'm Deborah artiaga chief executive officer at Tempe Community Action Agency I'm here with Bob Branstad our senior manager over shelter services at tcaa and we're very proud to present tonight on the uh Health housing and Human Services Center slated for construction at 2425 East Apache Boulevard to click there may be guests present in the audience tonight who are unfamiliar with tcaa so I thought we would start off with showing a photo of our very first location TCA is is the city's largest and longest standing nonprofit Human Services organization uh our first location was in the lavoria neighborhood in the back of this market and this is a picture of that first office we've been operating programs in Tempe starting in this neighborhood since 1966 um growing and evolving those programs as City population expanded and Human Services needs grew today C tcaa span of programs are serving about 35,000 adults and children in Tempe this is equivalent to one in seven Tempe residents TCA is also the operator of temp's very first emergency shelter we launched the shelter here in Tempe in 2006 it has been operating in residential neighborhoods throughout Tempe under the iHelp model since that time development of this site began over three years ago and involved several City departments it has been the subject of Prior city council discussions relating to development along along Apache Boulevard our site plan has undergone four official reviews by police and other City departments in the past year alone it's important to point out that shelter is not the only program that will be housed at this building and is not the only population that this site will serve this site will have space for seven Human Services programs on site of which shelter is one of those programs the spanner programs are designed to address poverty hunger and homelessness which we know are long-standing issues not not only in this portion of the city but throughout our city there would be space on site for Community Partners and volunteers and a wide array of resources so that in one location they're able to work their way from um situations of Crisis all the way to self-sufficiency the programs at this site are designed to have a direct impact on neighborhood and family quality of life programs on site will include those that feed the community DCA will offer a market Style choice-based food pantry so that Neighbors in that Community can shop for themselves and for their families with the type of food that they want and prefer we will operate a a commercial kitchen that prepares nutritious meals for our Meals on Wheels programming and lunches served at Tempe senior centers all this in conjunction with the Escalante community garden which is operated by TCA in the nearby Escalante neighborhood recognizing that poverty rates are highest in Tempe zip code will offer programs that improve household income and family stability including services like Financial education and coaching is uh services that address credit issues income supports for families of uh children in the nearby elementary schools and flexible funds to deal with crises such as an unexpected medical bill or an expensive car repair Bill and more importantly programs that address homelessness not only to intervene when homelessness occurs but to prevent it from happening in the first place TCA has for a long period of time since the 1960s been the city's core provider of emergency rent and utility assistance assisting landlords and tenants with making sure that an eviction does not occur we have resources for immediate placement into housing so that seniors and adults don't have to go to shelter in the first place and then a very structured shelter program that we'll be describing tonight for adults and seniors to prepare them for housing to shorten the duration of homelessness not to prolong it and transitional housing primarily for seniors who are going to struggle and may need to save money for a longer period of time before they can afford to move into housing the site will also offer public spaces for uh fostering collaboration things like uh other nonprofit partners that will be providing services on site like connecting individuals for healthcare resources Community involvement opportunities for student interns for community and business volunteers and neighborhood Gathering spaces for things like neighborhood meetings narrowing in on the shelter program specifically I will ask Bob to speak to the uniqueness of tca's shelter model followed by an overview of the new sites Safety and Security features good evening mayor council um you know it's you know starting with my experience in this world I have been in leadership in six different shelters across the Valley Phoenix Mesa 10p now I have launched four of them from the ground up and I have been to many of these meetings where obviously the community has concerns and I want to validate those concerns we get it um the outcome is is a complete flip side is what we've seen is that that community that has those concerns ends up seeing the the work that gets to be done and what happens and they end up becoming donors and volunteers within those shelters and I think that's an important aspect of all this maybe the real question should be is how do we get involved not we stop it um you know the unhoused has been expressed over many times here they're already they're here we get it this is a resource this is an opportunity if you look at what we're doing here you know the financial help with relocation we divert people back to family or friends that they've been transplanted here in Arizona and then ended up homeless we work on getting them back home we take care of that we assure that they're getting back to a safe environment we're dedicated to those who are actively pursuing the solutions you know the idea is to end the recidivism it's it's one thing to take somebody off off the streets and put them in a shelter that's the days of the old the way this program works is we're now providing the tools and the resources to assist them not to go back to that life and many times it's a life circumstance that's caused this maybe we should be asking the question is though how do they end up becoming homeless what is the why in all of this and then what is the solution so you know wrap around Services we're one of the first agencies from my understanding in the entire United States that's instituted a community health worker in the shelter this is an opportunity to treat what many of those concerns that were brought up mental health substance abuse physical health um you know anything that could be a catalyst to why they're homeless we're providing a Solution financial aid you know we've talked about that we have a housing program that assists people to get back on their feet as part of that process they're going through budgets they go through um you know life skill changes we we assist them in those processes to help them get through to understand it's like we also have you know housing organ and case management every person that comes in the shelter is vetted that's an important fact in all of this they go through a background check we understand that you know there are certain aspects of you know the community that we want to protect as well safety is obviously that concern as part of that process they have a 90-day window in which to complete this we help them get vital documents we help them you know obtain employment by offering resume building mock interviews we coach them through that and then we provide the housing assistance on the back end and I think that's the important part of this it's a build it's a model of success so time limited we talked about the 90 days I spent 20 years also prior to this in the security business so I'm pretty much very much aware I've done schools I've done Community commercial properties I've done mixed use properties you look at our site it's got limited access points it's gated we have you know 247 Staffing that's going to be there so it allows us to be able to to you know Zero Tolerance working with our staff to be deescalation and you know crisis management trained so we can deal with these situations when they arise but the campus will be enclosed um we also have a long-standing partnership with Tempe First Responders you know when needed you know we have a direct pipeline to the Hope team care 7 you know as well as Tempe Police Department and I will say this as I stand before you I spent 10 years homeless I was part of this community and if it wasn't for organizations like tcaa that allowed me to find some resources and support to change my life I couldn't be standing here in front of you telling you that it's possible and what I learned through it all is if I can change a life then they can change a life it's exponential so this project I think is is essential to the community it's going to provide an opportunity to address the concerns of the community with all these people that they're talking about around the street and in the Parks we're giving them a safe space we're giving them the opportunity to change their lives and I think that's the important act it's a solution it's not a problem the decision before city council tonight is one that can help everyone to win we don't want this to be a win- lose situation by upholding the decision of the DRC the neighborhood benefits the city benefits and lives will change this project fully aligns with the city of tempe's General plan objective which points to encouraging development of temporary short-term units for homeless individuals and families it is led by a trusted and proven community-based organization it offers solutions to issues that are already present in these neighborhoods it involves an experienced and reputable shelter provider with a model that moves committed individuals from homelessness to housed it also brings an $8 million investment through the State Department of Housing the Arizona governor's office and Maricopa County to Tempe to address homelessness through this project it offers long-term Financial benefits to the City of Tempe benefits that are gained when we reduce homelessness we reduce poverty in our neighborhoods in closing the development of this project has spanned over several years it has gone through extensive review by City Planning by law enforcement by Community enhancement liaison and was approved unanimously by a c citizens L development review Commission in um in November it is a project that's responsible and that is responsive we request city council to deny the appeal of the DRC position and support in helping move this much needed project forward thank you uh Council branberg I know you had a question um Debbie Mr Mayor Debbie can you walk me through your decision-making process I don't know if it was done on a staff level or from a board board level on when the city told you guys that they thought it would be a good idea and I'm got to tell you I'm like blown away that it wasn't a requirement um I think it really should be so we may need to change that later on down the road but why you opted not to hold a community meeting are to ask for you know substantial Community input from the surrounding neighborhoods especially in light of the passage of prop 312 yes thank you for the question council member um City TCA did invite uh neighborhood residents and we held a meeting in November and this was reported back to City staff we took notes and attendance at that meeting and are happy to share that we also reported this back to our board of directors our leadership over our nonprofit agency sure if you'd like sure Mr Mayor uh Jeff you guys me did you guys get that information from them council member Amberg um I did not receive information about a public meeting in the format that we typically see when we receive um we call it a public involvement plan um there's a report that the city will receive from applicants who host the meeting um and if typically what we do with those processes is um also have uh City staff in attendance at the meeting got it got it sorry sorry about that I think oh he knows he's got it so I'm sorry um Jacob could you repeat that just because I know we were all a little bit distracted with the sure light show um yeah uh I don't I did not receive information in the format that we typically receive when an applicant holds a neighborhood meeting um even though it was requested as a voluntary process we would still expect the format um and timing requirements that we impose for required neighborhood meetings um which implies uh 15 days prior to the hearing so uh this happening in November um would not have met that requirement so it wasn't uh information about this meeting wasn't provided in a typical format that we see um it's Mr Mayor then I guess Debbie since we don't have access to that information because it's not in any of our packet of information because it wasn't given to them can you give us a yeah kind of an overview of what happened in that community meeting yes you bet and probably because this wasn't a Mand a mandate since the zoning wasn't being change through this property uh we didn't have access to the kind of documents that would normally be submitted if it were a mandatory process for zoning change um but the summary of the meeting there were 22 people in attendance and they expressed similar concerns positive and concerns that you've already heard tonight issues that have been prevalent in the community and in the neighborhood and in the park for a long period of time ultimately by hearing the full presentation of the range of programming that will be at that at that site the SU summary of the attendees was that they felt this is a solution to to issues already in their community and appreciated our invitation to to have an open Dialogue on any at any point if there were uh concerns in the future as the project rolled out Mr Mayor Debbie did you make any changes to your proposal as a result of that meeting no we did not make changes to our proposal as a result of that meeting sounds good um any other council members any further questions question yes Council Brams so what percentage were in favor and what percentage were against the the project at the neighborhood meeting we did not call for a vote council member but all of the attendees appreciated the information and felt much more confident in the program design after hearing all of the details similar to what we presented tonight okay thank you thank you Council chin thank you mayor clarification when was that meeting in November do you know do you recall the date I I could go back to my appointment book and look okay was it before or after the DRC meeting it was before the DRC meeting okay yes it was a Saturday morning in November great yeah okay okay Council any other further other questions oh yes Council Chen sorry it was a different topic um sometimes name names speak to intent so I'm curious um can you talk about who the facility will is intended to serve because it's called the East Valley Health housing and Human Services Center yes you bet thank you that's a great question um currently TCA has a site at 2146 East Apache just west of the 101 at that site we operate a pretty large food pantry operation which is which serves individuals in Tempe and surrounding community ities that will be moved over under the new food pantry Market style food pantry model at the new site we have health and wellness programming that will stay at that 2146 nearby location that serves East Valley residents so we have some programs specific to Tempe residents and some programs that are open East valleywide can sorry this is uh I'm getting flashbacks of serving on uh tcc's uh agency review what percentage would you say are temp tans that you serve yes you bet TCA serves about 35,000 unduplicated individuals annually and about 33,000 of those are Tempe residents that thank you all right Council any other questions okay sounds good thank you so much okay now I'm going to open up the public testimony portion of this public hearing hearing and I will start by once again just reading the cards in the order in which I received them first one is Lewis Silverman good evening mayor and city council I uh I reside in tempia have for 44 years um I am currently on the board of tcaa I was chair of the board last year and this is also my second stint on the TCA board I was on the board about 15 years ago as well the uh just important points that I'd like to point out is that this project was highly vetted by our board and our board is uh composed of Representatives of the city from different walks of life from uh city city employees to private employees and retired folks and across the board um it's been vetted by the city I think on four different occasions and the the the conclusions which are which are in your packet point out a few points which is that uh this project is consistent with City goals that it would not contribute to the deterioration of the neighborhood it would not contribute to the downgrading of property values um so a lot of the concerns I think are more fear-based but I'd like to point out that this that the TCA has um supported the homeless through the iel program for many many years and that has been a highly successful program uh people have been rehabilitated they've been able to get back to to jobs and back to their home and I don't know if you remember a fellow by the name of Dave Tally but about 15 years ago he was an iel customer and Dave um had hit hard times like a lot of these people do they get hit hard hard times by divorce bankruptcy yes some drug use um yes some mental health issues Dave uh was a customer he found a backpack with about $1,000 in it did Dave take the backpack and the money no he did not he turned it into the C uh the COO at tcaa and they were able to find the um the owner of the pack who was taking the backpack to go try to buy a car so that's why it had $11,000 in it well because of that and because of the notoriety that that gained Dave got a new start on life um he was able eventually to start his own landscaping company and to my knowledge is still running that landscaping company so this the fear that the homeless are a threat to the neighborhood and a threat to us is just really fear-based and not fact-based these are people that that get back out on the street uh this facility will be uh secured um the city staff has already pointed out that there will be Security on hand uh so really I just would ask that the council Overlook the fear and really look at the facts and that fact How Deeply this has been vetted and overrule this appeal thank you very much thank you the next speaker I have and I hope I get the name correct uh Dr Fus jod please come forward uh you have three minutes good evening mayor good evening everybody thank you for G me the chance to talk as Property Owners within the uh Apache Light Rail Corridor we strongly oppose the establishment of this facility this proposed use will negatively impact the corridor development by one diminishing the property value number two hindered the econom economic growth and uh it will definitely discourage investment and Redevelopment of the property on this Corridor and I know for a fact that there was a plan to develop a new apartment building on Apache and Lebanon which will provide 61 new unit and that project has been put on hold due to this new proposal and it will also impact the hearing impaired individuals who live at ACL rails I think we are all familiar with that facility which serve the hearing impaired individuals and uh it I have not received any notification of the meeting which was uh mentioned that about the neighborhood meeting and I wish we had the opportunity to provide input about about this project before the approval was done by the city thank you thank you thank you the next speaker I have is Eric swick oh there we go please come forward you have three minutes good evening mayor City Council Members my name is Eric I've studied worked and lived in t for over 20 years I own a small business providing affordable housing to Tempe residents and I'm on the board at tcaa I'm here to express my support for TB Community Action agency's new facility project and to address the concerns raised in the appeal against the use permit first and foremost tcaa is a respected experienced and reliable nonprofit agency with a long-standing commitment to addressing Human Service issues in our neighborhoods and across our city for over five decades they have worked collaboratively with the Community Partners and city leaders to provide critical resources and support for those most in need one of their most notable successes is their operation of an emergency shelter within residential neighborhoods here in Tempe for 19 years they have run this shelter responsibly with great care for the community and its residents their model is not a generic dropin shelter but a program designed for individuals actively committed to overcoming homelessness this is an important distinction tca's shelter is a place of hope and transition not a magnet for prolonged homelessness on multiple occasions I take my seven and 10-year-old children to serve their homeless friends meals in the evening their clients are often employed adults or seniors working towards stable housing these individuals are already striving for a better future and during the day they are not loitering at the shelter instead they are working attending appointments or taking steps towards securing permanent housing the shelter and indeed the entire new facility provides a structured supportive environment to help them succeed it's also critical to recognize that the services provided at this new site will address the needs that already exist in the immediate neighborhoods tcaa is not introducing problems to our community they are providing solutions to problems that exist moreover the new facility will offer a comprehensive array of programs that will benefit those seeking assistance this includes the market style food pantry economic empowerment programs and health and wellness Services resources that enhance the quality of life for everyone in the community this project also represents a a significant financial investment in our city $8 million from the county and state dedicated to addressing homelessness right here in our city this is a tremendous opportunity to leverage outside funding to tackle an issue that affects all of us when we address poverty and homelessness the benefits Ripple outward it reduces The Strain on other City resources increases Public Safety and strengthens both individuals and neighborhoods in the end this project is a win for everyone thank you for your time consideration and leadership in making Tempe a place where everyone can Thrive thank you thank you the next speaker I have is Janice sunon please come forward you have three minutes thank you my name is Janna sine and I am a Tempe resident for most of my life and I'm also a priest at uh St Augustine's Episcopal Church in Tempe um and as a congregation we have been serving monthly meals through ielp since since about the beginning about 2006 um that's been hosted at various religious institutions around town and we've had people of all ages provide and serve the meal including young children and our youth group and it's always been a positive Community experience interacting with our neighbors and in the program and until recently we thought that we could not host IH help at our property because we have a preschool on site um but we finally were able to figure out a way that we could host and it's been a seamless experience um the group of participants does a great job of leaving things exactly as they found them and you wouldn't even know that they had been there there have never been any issues or complaints by neighbors or by anyone associated with the preschool I understand the concerns named in the appeal but having observed and helped with ielp for many years I do not believe that those fears will bear out with the actual program it's a program designed to screen and support people who want to find permanent housing and live stable lives and there is consistent monitoring and reinforcement of behavior expectations built into the iel community this is a positive program that changes lives and addressing homelessness and poverty will strengthen both individuals and the whole Community thank you thank you the next speaker is Chris blessington please come forward state your name City residents you have three minutes hi my name is Chris blessington I am a resident of temp Arizona I work for the ownership group of the apartment complex that's directly west of the proposed shelter at aache and Lebanon um we have dealt with numerous situations regarding homeless individuals both in and around our property and we believe the proposed shelter replacing Watson flowers will perpetuate this unfortunate reality we hold the safety of our residents staff and community at large in the highest regard and would like the city council to consider the movement of the proposed shelter to an alternate location for the following reasons direct access to the canal to the East and the railroad to the South peret perpetuate loing in the area resulting in vandalism of our property and increased safety concerns for our residents we have had numerous such occurrences on site resulting in the hiring of a security service on the property additionally we are currently working with the City of Tempe to to address homelessness in the area by reconfiguring the layout of our property along the southide we believe the creation of a homeless shelter in the area will lead to further congregation lering near our property resulting in again heightened safety concerns for our residents we are concerned that there's no or finally we are concerned that there is no permanent solution in the current proposal rather than the site being a permanent housing solution the current proposed site does not offer much to eradicate homeless homeless for the long term in the immediate area rather than explaining the potential issues with the with the current site thank I would like to propose additionally a few alternative ideas for the city council to consider regarding both the proposed site and alternative locations and homelessness in general divert attent first I think it would be interesting to divert attention and effort from the site at Watson flowers to the large site to the north of Apache Boulevard where subsidized housing is proposed and appears to be under construction second I would consider it alternative uses of the park and ride lot at the southeast corner of price in Apache it's largely underutilized and um I've seen lots of activity there as well finally I would consider the next light ril stop to the east at Sycamore and Main Street as a potential location for the shelter where there's a large undeveloped site and underutilized parking lot um this area also has a access to basic needs like a gym and grocery stores and direct access to Transportation along the light rail in conclusion always supported the eradication and homelessness we think there are other creative and less intensive issues that prioritize safety and wellbeing along aache Boulevard thank you thank you the next speaker I have is Charles Redmond please come forward state your name in city of residence you have three minutes thank you mayor I'm Charles Redmond Tempe resident for 41 years uh I want to endorse this project and agree with um a lot of what's been said in describing it and I think I just have a couple of major points to make and one is to reinforce the notion that this organization that's planning it has been very careful about it this is not a three-month activity this has been years in the making and it's Innovative it's creative it's designed to treat people with greater respect and and not as as sort of disadvantaged people and I think this is an important aspect for Tempe to be behind uh I also think if I've driven by there quite recently uh uh this is a vast Improvement to what's going on on this property right now and I think uh a lot of the kinds of problems that the neighbors are justifiably aware of or worried about uh are are probably encouraged by the current condition of the property uh if you notice from the slides uh this is going to be an awesome building uh there's going to be a staff of close to 50 there's hundreds of volunteers who come through I think we're really going to change the neighborhood and and the opportunities in the neighborhood uh and I think you'll find that basically um values will go up and I and I think people will uh become part of it and we heard from an earlier speaker that once this really gets underway a lot of the residents may become volunteers or other than critics so I hope you're able to uh support this project and and deny this this uh appeal thank you for your time thank you the next speaker is Adam sopic please come forward state your name and city of residence you have three minutes I sorry I can't take off my hat it's I was well building the whole day but anyway um I live at in Flagstaff but I met my wife and started my family here in Tempe so um when I lost my job in FL I came to the place that I best know closest which is Tempe and uh I found I help and um now I stay there uh I got a full-time job working through 10p works and now I um working at the Apache and no priest and um Rio salad the facility so it's beautiful if it wasn't for the program honestly because I have four children um and I came here with a purpose for a job to feed my five heads that I left behind in Flagstaff um I would be probably under the bridge literally because there's no way that that I can afford um to stay in a motel and work and send money to feed my children my children don't live off of my love they need food believe it or not so so if it wasn't for this program like I said I would God knows where I would be so what I'm saying is uh it's a it's a b blessing and it was actually pointed out to me by a temp police officer I asked them um across the library there's um Walmart and when I got here I just had a backpack because I told my wife I have to go I there's no money and uh when I got here I he pointed me out I asked him I was like hey I don't want to stay at the homeless shelter but I want to stay where with a program that will actually help me out and that's where he pointed me uh I help I hope stuff like that that that is actually for people that want to that want to actually do it and it's been great it's actually the best thing that can happen even for a person as me leaving my family to come here and make money and hopefully uh convince my wife to move back down here so I mean I have nothing bad to say about the program literally that because they do everything uh background check the whole nine yards so there is no um fear you oh yeah I'm sorry that's time so but I mean anything else that's yeah that that's it I'm sorry thank you sorry I've never done this before no no worries no thank you appreciate it thank you the next speaker is Reginal Parsons please come forward State your uh name and city of residence you have three minutes um thank you for seeing me uh mayor I'd like to speak very briefly in support of the IH help program if it really wasn't for that program I don't know where I would be at my bance of homelessness for a while and back in Tucson like I just ran out of opportunities I was trying for work I was trying everywhere I got divorced and things things got hard and they got hard real quick I moved to Phoenix cuz I had the feeling that I have a chance like make my life better and with this program it truly did uh change my life cuz without it I I don't know where I would be that's honest truth that's all I got thank you the next speaker I have is is shanana Ellis please come forward state your name and city of residence you have three minutes yes hello uh shanana Ellis um I'm have been a tempy resident for 48 years but currently reside in Phoenix um nice to be here mayor and councel um when I was um I want to talk a little bit about temp Community Action Agency as um a nonprofit in Tempe doing the math on this was a little scary but I had the privilege of working with tcaa for 39 years I started working at Tempe Community Council in 1986 and learned so much about the organization through the agency review process that council member Chen mentioned earlier over the years I stayed actively involved and I now serve on their Capital Campaign Committee for this very project I stand here today because tcaa has been a part of More than 70% of my life yes you can now figure out my age and this project is crucial to their ongoing efforts to meet the needs of Tempe residents speaking of needs I know it's been a minute since you received the presentation but I would like to highlight an important point from timy's annual community survey for 2024 when residents were asked what they feel should be the city's priorities for the coming year the top response was services for individuals experiencing homelessness this project directly addresses that concern concern and offers meaningful solutions to the very issues your constituents have identified as critical the city at Tempe has trusted tcaa to serve its most vulnerable residents for over 50 years each year tcaa helps over 35,000 people as was mentioned before which is one in seven Tempe residents while many cities run their own community action programs tempy has consistently relied on tcaa to deliver these critical Services year after year I served on the tempy city council when we approve the use permit for the first iel emergency shelter run by tcaa it was a controversial decision at the time with significant public opposition my colleagues and I approved the permit due to our ongoing partnership and trust with tcaa and now durly nearly two decades later I help has become a model for similar programs across Maricopa County I understand that decisions like this can be challenging but I have full confidence that TCA will collaborate closely with the neighborhood on the shelter just as they have done successfully with multiple neighborhoods that host and I help shelter as you may know I work for an organization that collaborates on homelessness and Housing Services I can spot off numbers all day about how shelter and affordable housing is needed but I know you are aware of the challenges and numbers so end with a quick story to explain why I'm here in person back in the early 1990s when I worked for Tempe Community Council I was asked to send an email via the council Communicator about tcaa Services its hours its leadership Etc it was my first Council Communicator message and I was so nervous back then hitting send triggered a spell checker that would offer to correct unknown words it asked if I wanted to replace tcaa with Taco I was shaking so much I accidentally hit yes so the council received an email describing Taco Services Taco hours and taco leadership that was my first and last Council Communicator message so I'm here in person you haven't figured it out yet I'm asking for your vote yes thank you for allowing me to speak thank you Council appreciate it next up is Irene Laos yes please come forward state your name and city of Resident sh of three minutes all right I'm GNA put my glasses on sure I'm at that age now all right good evening uh my name is Irene lidios and I am a resident um and business owner in the Victoria Lanes uh Community two blocks um my house is located two blocks uh from the opposed proposal for the uh the valley health and Housing Shelter and my business is in Evergreen and University I own three businesses there a construction uh landscape design company a decking company and a pergula company um I'm also an ASU graduate I'm an alumni I'm also um I have several degrees one in uh psychology I'm a sociologist and I have a master's degree in education and counseling with uh human relations services and I'm establishing that for my credibility purposes um I'm also a member of the 10p Chambers of Commerce and I'm in the panel uh member of the citizens panel for the 10p police department for the use of force as well I'm very involved in Tempe and my community um I moved to um Acres five years ago to be closer to ASU and because I saw a really great opportunity to De uh because of my construction company to be in that neighborhood and help my neighbors as well to beautify their yards and um I just love the uniqueness of this neighborhood now I also worked in the temp school district for over 10 years I worked in the social services field so I do have a lot of compassion for social services in anything children I was a children child activist and worked with uh drug related uh prevention programs as well as as homeless and um I am today I'm opposing uh this shelter in our community not opposing to helping human beings and Humanity I'm opposing it to being relocated in an appropriate site this community is already suffering a lot and I have been a a victim of violence um I have sicked my dogs at some homeless that those were my my my weapons it's on record with the 10 people police uh but I didn't have any other choice um and another one I took you know just as into my own hands and I've also had theft in my home with my cameras uh with these transients that are coming through this neighborhood so it's not the fear that one was talking about the program I love the program I really do but I've been victimized already I've I've I've seen it this is reality for me in my neighborhood this is what it's all about and I'm just breathing like one of my neighbors said well I'm I'm loving the fact that I could go to my park now that we have a park ranger that was funded in all the temp uh um the the temp Parks also uh yes there are a lot of you know while homelessness shelters aim to help those experiencing homelessness they can sometimes bring issues into our community including increasing uh perception of of of crime um sanitation hygiene uh neighborhood blight and uh substance abuse and so forth I'm sorry that's that's time opposing this because I have witnessed it I live it every day and I just want the best for my community this is a very underspoken Community because of the social economic status so I urge you to at least give us more thank you I'm sorry that's that's thank you thanks oh my you're good thank you all right the next speaker is Robert Gan please come forward States your name and city of residence you have three minutes yeah my name is uh Robert Gusman I'm a Tempe resident and I live two blocks down from escare Park and uh you're turning bills Market where everybody used to buy chisel and it was famous at one time to a homeless shelter now we're not dealing with the it's not a homeless situation it's a drug problem you see these people every morning they're on Blues everybody's nodded out it's not your average family it's a drug problem I've I've caught guys sleeping in my the bed of my truck ready to go to work and there's somebody not my tools but somebody sleeping in the back of my truck and so and I understand the homeless problem you know I I I really have compassion for them I am a I go to a place called The House of Refuge right here in uh right up in on on the north side of uh Phoenix and I'm a volunteer I'm a preacher in the county jail been there for 25 years I preach on the Apache reservation in San caros so I'm involved with people continually but this is a this is a neighborhood where you're you're getting right down into the the middle of the neighborhood is just not an approp appropriate Pace it's already suffering as it is and so I just would like you guys to consider uh park it you know what we need to do is start parking these uh places right next to a police department where the people feel safe at the same time and we know that something's going to get done immediately you call the police and I I I I love the police department 10 10p Police Department is outstanding but to call them constant and constantly and constantly and have people pass by your home I don't smoke I have cigarette buds right outside my door all the time and so it's changed it's it's really changed the four corners of all the stores Circle K on on Apache and Circle K on University they're packed in the morning they are literally packed the park they're bathing outside in the park it's not even a park anymore and since when do we have uh Park Rangers at a park I thought that was for the forest and and now we got Park Rangers at a park and so it it's drastically changed and I would re I would love for you guys to reconsider a different location not in the neck of the the neighborhood that I live in and believe me I've been there for 22 years so I've seen a lot of changes a lot of changes have come and gone but the last uh 3 to four years has really really been bad thank you thank you appreciate it the next speaker I have is Linda Russell quick question um Mr City attorney to um we're we're going to have an uh interpreter here and so they'll be a little bit longer than three minutes how much time should I allow for time for mayor whatever you think is reasonable in light of the circumstances to accommodate um the speaker disabilities let's do uh if it's three minutes normally let's do six let's allow for double just to ensure we have enough time so I want to stand in this direction not as an insult or disrespect to you but I want to my deaf peers to be a to see me because one interpreter can't sign in and speak at the same time so no disrespect and it's great to see you mayor I've seen for few years it's nice to see you again and thank you for the council members and for your commitment and your service to our community I live at uh patchy Trails I manage there and live there as well I've lived there since it opened I love my building and my deaf family that lived there we also to let you know we are also prefer to be called deaf not hearing impaired but deaf so everybody knows that we are the deaf Community we love to partner with the City of Tempe and care7 TCA oh they've been a great partnership with us they really support us and my Community as well so we're really thankful for them we're blessed by them the Food Services the financial resources there's a long list of things and that help my people that I love the deaf Community I feel that they show great respect for me professionally and they team with me as well they listened to me they came to my building and uh we requested what we had requested of them and they responded and I wanted to thank them for that I support TCA establishing this homeless Center they resource center and living that across from my building and the reason is because for senior citizens going across it's very difficult but having it nearer it would be a great easier for their services not have for the deaf people in my community not having to Traverse a dangerous intersection and what happens there is a Time light at that intersection that is uh very short and we really need it to be longer for the people for seniors to have a jump and run and try and hurry up to pass through that uh wide intersection with that light so if the city can extend the time limit on that walk light Crossing Apache I would appreciate that and I hear about the concerns that people have about that neighborhood and the fear of uh the neighborhood degrading and I encourage people to look at the big picture what would the results be what would happen what could be accomplished what improvements could happen in our community with this project I I understand the concerns with the issue about having a shelter there that thing can happens I've seen that a few things happens regardless I've seen things that have happened having to show PE shoot people off of the property of Apache trails and I've had to clean up after that that's happened a few times yes I that is definitely true we've had to deal with some issues but I've always also had a once wonderful response from the city from the police cs7 uh always a great response and always a positive response to solve any issues that we've had so I've seen a decrease in the amount of problems that we've had of the events that have happened on my property and I think we need to find more solutions for that and I think because it is a gated building loyalty there's no that many so I would look forward to working together in partnership with TCA help come to my building and help others around the area and keeps us updated about their progress so I am an advocate of TCA and I look forward to seeing more solutions their Solutions and the concerns related to the shelter thank you very much thank you that's all the cards I have this evening uh is there anyone else wishing to address the Council on this item if so please get my attention uh yes sir please come down uh please hand your card to the clerk and then state your name and city of residence you have three minutes hello Mr [Laughter] rcare I'm alasar and I'm doing it in self-defense because I want my name pronounced right it's not asquire it's not as Square it's a scare right uh I've been I was in Victor in 1946 it started in 1944 or five if I had my way I'd name it uh George and Maria tipini because those those were the owners of the of the property and they're the on that subdivided the cow pasture so that we could go in there and live because there was no other there were no other properties available anyway it started out as a cow pasture and they didn't level anything they just put in the water and the electric and that was it ah and the flat irrigation that's what drew a lot of people to Victory Acres because they could they could have Gardens so they they had flow irrigation they no longer have that because of course you know you can't run a ditch in front of a house anymore uh but anyway there are a couple of houses that do my brother-in-law still does that uh anyway temp uh La Victoria is what it is Victoria is an evolving Community it's not a steady Community it doesn't it didn't come up like a development every house in La Victoria is actually uh unique because it was built one house at a time because of the Redevelopment project that was uh started there in 19 uh uh 70 I was on the committee and I uh but I didn't live there anymore because I I had G to school and I was teaching but I was in the committee the Redevelopment committee uh for uh Victory acres and every house I would say that 90% of the residents of uh La Victoria had uh their home either tore down or or demolished by the by the uh uh the pro the the project the Redevelopment project because then we could go in there and build them a regular house because many of the houses were just checked there was no they had been built during during uh the time when when Temp and Mesa there was a county it was a County uh area so you didn't have zoning laws and we didn't have to follow any law for Ling law I can give you another 15 seconds to finish up but thank you all right anyway uh I'm Alas and basically uh like I say I see uh the community as evolving uh from a cow pasture to Mud streets to uh new streets and uh to uh uh as a matter of fact sidewalks because sidewalks were not you know so it's it keeps going it's not going to remain the same it's you know nothing stays the same everything changes so uh and I see this tcaa uh or t uh program is just part of that involvement so anyway thank you for hearing me absolutely thank you Mr scar good to see see you all right well that was highly I I didn't recognize you under the hat at first until you got closer so it's always good it's always good to see you thank you all right uh do I have does anyone else wish to speak if so yes good evening M Johnson please state your name and city of residence you have three minutes mayor council my name is Jennifer Johnson I'm a 50-year resident of tempy Arizona I he I'm here just to not reiterate what was already said but add a few points and just lend my support first of all I want to point out that these are people we've talked about them with lots of different ways but people human beings like you and me real people people like our families and people like our friends these are people in Tempe you hear the numbers 33,300 from Tempe out of 3500 these Services serve people already in our community some with a variety of issues yes but already in our parks and in our communities this location is on the light rail that's a highlight I don't think was quite pointed out enough tonight again it's not the whole solution but you've committed the community is committed to doing whatever we can and this is something we can do this also is our already been as pointed out reviewed hashed out reviewed and approved by the tcaa board by your city staff by the experts on your city staff by The Hired experts at tcaa by the DRC that you entrust to review ask questions and look for challenges they've already approved this I ask for your support for this wonderful existing programmatic Pro uh provider in Tempe and this wonderful partner in our community thank you thank you do I have any other speakers this evening if so please get my yes please come forward state your name and city of residents I'm going to give this to vice mayor Garett I will be right back hi hi my name is Maggie Pena um I'm been a resident in Tempe for 50 years and I grew up in the victory acres in the 80s and we used to call it the LVL which was La Victoria Loca um and growing up there you know it's it was kind of not the best neighborhood but over the years it's improved and I think now we have have it at a good place um my parent I I moved out of that neighborhood but my parents still live there so I go there two three times a week and they live by the esier park and it's gotten so bad there that they had to have like a 24-hour person that sits in a car overlooking a park just because it's gotten so bad with the homeless population like it's a park for little kids they have a playground there but little kids can't even go there because of the homeless people um the homeless shelter would be really close to that Park where the little kids play so it's just not a good idea and we're not against you know helping the homeless and giving them somewhere to stay but it's just not the right place for it because it's right in the middle of a neighborhood and it's a small lot there's no way like that picture they showed you with like the nice programs and stuff there's no way cuz that lot is really small it's like twice this room so I don't know like where they're getting all these it's a gated community with like all these programs there's no way and that's it I object thank you very much okay uh is there anyone else in the audience wishing to address the council if so please get my attention all right seeing none I will close the public testimony portion of the public hearing thank you very much vice mayor appreciate it uh I'm going to bring the appellant uh Albert Avalar back up for a response to the public comments as well as a summary statement oh is there another hold before Madam Clark is there another card no that was oh just the previous one okay sounds good okay Mr arar please come out just want to see sir if you had any response to what was said or you want to just have a concluding kind of wrap-up statement well my response is just uh is what it was when I at the of the my comments is I have a negative attitude toward it and so far I haven't seen I I've seen many people that in professional status that are of higher education than me present it in a more articulate manner but the bottom line is that the people in Victory Acres their wishes should be considered above the professionals that don't reside there so with that said that's a all I have to say sounds good thank you thank you so much appreciate it now I'm going to bring back up the original applicant RSP Architects and uh Tempe Community Action Agency Representatives uh to see if they have a response to the public comments and if they want to present a summary statement mayor and Council thank you I don't have anything to add other than the evolution of the conversation tonight is exactly what Human Service planning is about exactly the Legacy that TCA has in devel veloping and evolving our programs over time especi particularly in response to changing Community needs and this project is like uh like all others that we've operated over the 50 plus years we've been in business thank you thank you um council richin did you have a question thank you mayor um Miss artiaga were you able to check on that date for that public meeting thanks okay while uh she checks on that uh Council M I'll see other any further comments or discussion amongst ourselves here before oh uh Council Brams yes um first of all I want to thank everyone for coming tonight um this is a very critical issue um I would feel really good if we would do um a community outreach I've preached this for the last six years with the neighborhoods and and have an official with and have staff there also and I think that would really give us more information because I feel like we don't have enough information um yet about the neighborhoods and and how people feel about it I know I know that you did do um an Outreach but I would like it to be more of an official one with the city involved and the proper uh paperwork and things because that's something that is consistent in what I believe it you know the neighborhoods or the neighbors around wherever they are whatever the issue is are they're the experts in their neighborhood so I I just want to um I'm sorry like no no clapping I'm sorry I I just think it's important to really uh have that be official thing um and um maybe I've worked um in the bureaucracy for so long but I I just think that would be that would be helpful for for me personally to hear that feedback thank you council member council member Chen that was November 9th okay great thank you all right uh any other comments from Council okay um I just have one uh on my end and just you know thank you everyone for the presentations this evening one of the things I was wondering about because the main thing that I saw in some of the comments uh from some of the folks who were concerned about this being uh proposed to this area the main word that sort of stuck out to me and because it was in several emails was security um I saw that several times and I don't have a ton of concerns about the project uh you know I I obviously uh I'm very familiar with Tempe Community Action Agency and all the work that they've done uh in the City of Tempe uh South Scottsdale and frankly the entire region for well over 50 years uh you know full disclosure and a lot of I people all know this I talk about it regularly I was uh a board member for TCA from 2006 to 2012 so very familiar with the organization and its Mission and what it does um the one thing that popped up though was in terms of I said the residents concerns was security and I'm wondering if there would be some way uh just sort of as an added measure of uh frankly security for the residents in the surrounding area to see and this is probably I guess a staff question uh probably for someone within the Tempe Police Department perhaps Mr tamulevich but a way to incorporate some kind of a U security plan that would be enforcable uh for the de for the proposal here um I wonder that's the kind of thing I don't have all the specifics of what that might look like per se uh but quite hon H ly that's one of the things that I I I've personally thought in reading a lot of the comments uh might make a lot of the residents a lot more comfortable and so could someone speak to what a security plan might look like who from the staff would frankly have to review and approve such a plan I'm thinking it's probably the Tempe Police Department but I want to just double check oh Commander Hill a wing yeah the the security plan ordinance does not call out homeless shelters specifically um it does Define a hotel and motel um with a definition being any building that has five uh shelters or places or more so um it may qualify in that I'd have to lean to the City attorney if that definition or the based on calls for service and what takes place at the operation um then the chief can then come back and say well based on the cost for service it's going to require one and so those can happen um the applicant can always say hey we would like one and then we can partner with them and they're not they're not punitive by any stretch they are there to help the applicant and so um that's the the security plans so if the applicant said hey we would like a security plan we'd like to partner with them and try to provide it but um based on that definition and again I'd look to the City attorney for that to say you know it's it's not called out specifically but under the hotel motel it may qualify as having five shelter beds or more sounds good thank you Commander Hill Jeff anything you want to add or no uh Mr mayor council members uh What uh was stated here is is absolutely correct uh I will state that if the council were to choose to at a condition to add uh or require a security plan uh understand is that would be allowed by code okay sounds good thank you and just a quick question as well to our City attorney just since this is a qu a Judicial hearing uh that would be uh to Jeff's point would that be perfectly appropriate if we wanted to potentially uh modify um the drc's decision to add a security plan as a um if we were going to deny the appeal let's say is that are we allowed to actually do that in our role stipulation mayor yes the U Commander hail referred to the the standard code requirements was actually part of the uh police required security plan but there's also Provisions for that under the use permit criteria and the appeal rules the council can add conditions or modify the appeal so um addressing the security concerns one of the things you could do is add modify the uh decision of the DRC to add a requirement that the developer owner Havey security plan in place as a part of condition of the you use permit so that's perfectly acceptable under the zoning code as well okay sounds good thank you um okay Council Brad yes thank you thank thank you vice mayor for helping him out good good thing he has you anyway um I just can we also add a public meeting um like a more official public meeting um just so uh we we cover that base to one more time um mayor Woods council member um Adams it's difficult I think you could ask that the applicant do that as an additional um thing but the public meeting would be occurring after you made your decision so you could you could uh require that they provide information or make an Outreach as part of the stipulation as well so but I'm not sure where where you what you want the results to the public meeting to be I guess well I want to have City staff involved um like like we typically do with public meetings and and I would just feel more comfortable um having staff involved and having um you know Deborah and Company I see you mayor Woods council member in that scenario the recommendation I would make is that you rather than uh is you remand it back to the DRC with uh instructions to them to uh have the applicant hold a public hearing and then decide if their decision is still appropriate after that public hearing if be the wait to go with that rout okay that's what I would like to do then Mr Mayor okay thank you um Council bti uh thank you mayor uh about the security plan so um can you just walk us through like what what that looks like say we require the site to as a stipulation for uh denial the appeal that they have some sort of security plan in place I assume that then like TB PD comes to the property does kind of like an assessment of the security needs if there's I'm sure that they have plans for some sort of security features on their own um and then is there like levels of what you're looking for insecurity I mean just just walk walk the public through what exactly that looks like and then would that be then mandatory for that building so I imagine like a security plan could be something as simple as installing cameras or or it could be something as complex as having a a uniformed officer there 24 hours a day so could you just kind of walk us through what that looks like as far as what the burden would be not necessarily burden but the obligation to tcaa would be if something like that was in place you bet so security plan looks at tailoring all of the the plan to the specific site and the uses on that site and so it covers everything as you mentioned um from seped principles you know crime prevention through environmental design looking at what recommendations they might need to do to Target Harden their location again it's very site specific so it doesn't cover anything in in the surrounding neighborhoods or or adjacent to it but it's covering that site right um they talk about the hours of operation and based on those hours of operation then what they might entail when when security might need to be there um how many people will be Sheltering there um and then you know they'll they'll go in and talk about what the maybe a security person needs to wear What the uniform looks like so they're identified as security so they just kind of go through based on what the applicant is saying it's going to take place on the property and then based on those uses they try to tailor make a security plan that's going to help benefit them and kind of give them industry standards um and you know the client often times or the applicant knows the industry better than the officer right and so they're going to say these are the kinds of things we've experienced on the other site then the officer say to help with mitigate any of those threats then you know this is our recommendation for those kind of things and so it's really a cooperative you know conversation and working with the applicant to make sure that the security plan supports their needs and then there's a review process so that once a year they review it so if there's some kind of intens intensification of use or a different use that takes place um then they'll might have to adjust the plan with them and or in Midway throughout the the year something calls for service are dictating there's an issue that know they might need to go back in and talk to them and adjust that plan and so it's really is a living document so they can work with and try to keep a safe environment not only for the applicant but also for the surrounding Community thank you I appreciate that answer so if I'm understanding correctly then tbpd would work with TCA to develop some sort of approach to giving confidence that the that there's proper security at the property that would be added a stipulation to the the appet process and then now that's enforcable by temp PD to make sure that that security plan is being upheld you guys do inspections and things like that down the road yes is that correct it's it is enforceable and so that's you know when if they start deviating from that plan which they agree to um and then yes there is there's it's an enforceable plan and so there's violations that can occur thank you very much yes yeah I might might also add that uh you know if a condition was applied to the use permit then that use permit condition of approval would also need to be enforced and that would be enforced by the Community Development Department so they would have to comply with the security plan in order to comply with the use permit conditions of approval so um you know in a sense they're on the hook for both the security plan and the use permit thank you very much thank you Council branberg oh Council bin thank you people mistake us all the time oh happens all the time uh thank you mayor just first a comment and I I feel like I need to say this know uh I know there's been uh great support from the neighborhoods and for tcaa tonight know this that this body sitting up here and our staff in temp are um have committed more than 9 million last year in resources to address the unsheltered issue so we are partners and not uh trying to rebuke anyone for any plans we're looking at a very narrow scope of of an issue tonight um in the presentation uh there was a point of Pride listed I think it was the very first one and I think it was important that tcaa has been in the uh La Victoria neighborhood since 1966 I think I saw that correctly nods thank you um I think that's important to be a good neighbor also uh given recent legislation I think it is legally and practically sound to request a security plan that uh council member keading mentioned and I think we need to really take a look at that we're we've got a new set of rules now that we as a city need to follow also when it comes to proposition 312 and those parameters and I think that's important to note and we have to take that into consideration so I don't think a security plan is an unreasonable request for this project also in being a good neighbor I I don't think we can have a public meeting the way we have previously because we're um because we're pass that in this conversation but perhaps uh given the project and plan and we include some sort of Outreach and communication with the neighbors and businesses in the area in a more open and transparent and public way um I think that would be important thank you sounds good thank you want we go to council M Amberg and then I I'll come back so um Mr Mayor you know I'm I'm kind of going to Echo a little bit what my colleague said you know this vote is not about TCA and the programs that it provides I don't think you could find a single one of us sitting up here that does not absolutely 100% support everything that you do we've not just supported it but we've done it by action we've done it by money we've done it by our us you know donating hours upon ourselves for some of these programs what this vote is about is whether or not the project itself complies with the city use permit process and its requirements um it has absolutely nothing to do with the iel program I think it's fantastic um any of those programs it what we're being asked today is to vote on one thing that it is specific and it's whether or not this project requires with our use permits permit requirements um and I will say with the addition of a safety plan I feel a lot better about it but I do have one question about that is there a way that the safety plan can be almost like a living document because we don't have anything right now in code that has anything to do with shelters or any of these programs right now so we're just kind of Flying Blind with a security plan like this is there a way to write it to where when problems arise in the future that could possibly occur that we just couldn't we just couldn't for foreshadow that or foresee it is there a way to go back and make changes to that security plan yes and when the security plan is um agreed upon initially again if we start to have issues we can always go back with the applicant and say hey we're experiencing these issues we need to try to mitigate those concerns and these are the recommendations to do that and so we try to open it back up and uh and then make the changes and and then they're we need them to be agreed upon and then they we sign the renewal and and then continue on okay awesome thank you thank you council member Adams yes I think that's a great idea um council member Chen and council member Amberg about um adding that the homeless shelters and things um to our security plan uh that seems like a win-win to me and also it establishes a partnership with the organization and our Police Department which I think is good and uh and also um Eric Anderson said that we could have it tacked on to DRC for them to um work on the public Outreach correct council member Adams if you wanted to there's there's two I thought of another option I apologize so so if you wanted you could add a a condition that the security plan include a a public Outreach as part of the security plan process that the PD and I'm opposing I've turned to Commander hail and make sure that's going to work with them but they could include um part of their security plan processes a review of the site and everything and then you would be further in and it's part of the use permit they could required to have some public Outreach approved by the city as part of the security plan process alternatively if you still wanted to to Recon weren't sure on the the use permit itself my recommendation would be that you send it back to DRC with instructions to have a public Outreach and then have DRC consider whether its decision is still appropriate in light of that that public Outreach and report back so I think there's two options there but if you wanted to just add that to the security plan process I think that uh is an option as well yeah I think that's the best approach in my opinion to to to do it that way we could have both go ahead thank you okay Council BR I thought you no okay okay thank you this is probably one of the hardest decisions because as my our colleagues has been saying it's not that we don't support the process and the programs we have but I also hear my residents talking too and I understand um you know there's there's mixture on both sides so my question is if we if it goes past and we we do put the security plan in there I'm asking tcaa if they if we pass it the way it is are you going to keep I want to make sure that our residents know that they're being heard so if there is a way that we can they can you can set up something so you can have maybe not just an annually but more of a periodically quarterly conversation with them to see if there is concerns situations that they can address and talk to you about with it also if it's affecting um their area so that question I guess is more for you on that area thank you council member hjj to the security plan our site that's on Apache on the west side of the 101 is a site where we have invited Tempi police on an annual basis to come visit the site with us to look at security risks to understand the traffic that comes into the building now and to help us identify how we can continue to maintain a safe place not just for our staff but for our clients and for the neighborhood surrounding this is not something that is unusual or unique for us we wholeheartedly support that and absolutely open to continuing on a regular basis to share the security plan to visit with Tempe Police to make modifications as needed because Safety and Security is important to us in the neighborhood thank you so much thank you vice mayor Garland I just want to say thank you so much for um everybody who came to talk on to speak on this issue um whether it was the letters that we've already received or the people who were speaking here is that for me um uh and and the people that came with this in support of TCA um I just want to say thank you so much because it's important to have you be a part of that process what we're specifically dealing with here right now is kind of like what council member um Amber said it's very narrow very specific about the appeal um so I'm try I wrote down some notes to make sure that I don't mess this up mayor I'd like to make a motion okay I'd like to move to deny the appeal but modify the decision of the development review commission um so that the condition shall be added to the use permit that the owner operator of the property should have at all times an approved security plan that meets the criteria of chapter 26 Article 5 of the city code okay sounds good thank you uh do I have a second oh oh okay U you you want to add on to that that the security plan should also include a public Outreach okay thank you thank you great all right okay do I have a second on that motion seconded by Council M pin all right just once again just want to reiterate the this item is for an appeal of the drc's decision to approve a use permit to allow an institution providing temporary housing in the CSS zoning district for the East Valley Health housing and Human Services Center located at 2423 East Apache Boulevard uh there is a motion on the table uh by vice mayor garlett and a second by council member Shin any further comments or questions all right hearing and let me just make sure to um uh make sure our city attorneys so just so the vote here uh a vote of I will deny the appeal and add the conditions that vice mayor gar had talked about uh mayor that's correct yes okay sounds good thank you it's one of the clarifi a if I may just to clarify those are conditions that will become part of the use permit as as Mr taml levich pointed out so they would attach to the use and if the uh applicant wasn't following them then their use permit would be subject to further review under the city code so okay once again thank you very much really appreciate that so once again uh with all that said any further comments or questions with that please vote and that vote passes 7 to zero and I I can let me maybe read that just in case so everybody understands exactly Mr Anderson actually would you like to repeat back actually what that motion I know that's a stranger motion that what we normally do but just so for the folks in the audience and anyone watching at home just so this full clarity on what the council just voted for so uh mayor if you don't mind I'll start um at the beginning so I the show is yours my friend so the the uh under the city code the development review commission is vested with decision-making Authority on use permits uh in this instance the DRC granted the use permit um but there wasn't any conditions for a security plan or anything the appeal in this case asked the council to overturn the drc's decision and den effectively deny the use permit the effect of the motion and second it's now been passed is that the appeal is is not upheld so the use permit will stand but this Council under the authority it's provided in the code has added conditions to the use permit that uh what that require security plan uh the factors there's a number of factors set in the city code that was referenced that PD regularly uses for security plan and then an additional factor that would require a public Outreach component that security plan was also added as a stipulation those will be part of the use permit that uh attaches to this property so anytime the use continues in that the subject to the use permit that'll be required to remain in compliance of the stipulations that the council's added tonight excellent thank you so much appreciate it Mr Anderson okay sounds good well that ends item 8 A1 so that takes us to item 8 A2 which is to approve the utilization of a one-year sourcewell Cooperative contract with National Automotive Parts a division of genuine parts company to operate an on-site inventory part store Council any comments or discussion case nope it's uh Y no it's been it's been moved by vice mayor Garland second seconded by council member Amberg please vote we're voting oh oh oh we're waiting hey I'm gonna win the you are you're the only one okay and that item passes 7 to zero the last item of the section is 8 A3 which is award a a construction manager risk okay just want to make sure till we're going to need uh quiet in the council chambers because we still got to finish up this meeting so any conversations we would need to have them outside okay so I'll read this one again to award a const 883 award a construction manager at risk contract a Core Construction Incorporated for project number 67088 41s Municipal complex improvements gmp1 at City Hall second it's been moved by Council bradom seconded by Council keting please vote and that item passes 7 to zero all right let's see next section here non-consent agenda ordinances items for introduction first here ing there are no items scheduled under the section for this evening so the last section on the non-consent agenda is ordinances and item scheduled for second hearing and final adoption so votes on these items will be taken this evening the first item under the section is 8 C1 which is to hold the second and final public hearing to adopt an ordinance amending the Tempe city code chapter 2 Article 5 Section 2-1 182 related to limitation of terms and number of positions for boards and commissions motion to approve uh it's been moved by uh counc Adams seconded by counc just want to know yeah we have no I just okay hold on here just want to know we got really excited there Corey okay that's okay this see we are just want to let the public know there's a motion at a second on the floor but I want to make sure to once again let the public know uh here in the audience and at home so this evening we're considering an ordinance to update term limits and service Provisions for City boards and commissions as part of this update I want to clarify a key point that was brought to my attention by our City attorney so it was noted that some boards or commissions have designated terms of one or two years instead of the standard three-year term the intent of this ordinance is not to limit service on these Boards of commissions to just two years therefore the ordinance includes specific language allowing members of these boards or commissions to serve additional terms provided their total service does not exceed an aggregate of six years so I'm going to read the amended language uh for section 2-18 82 into the record quick question on that um Mr City attorney since the Motions were already made in secced would you like those to be withdrawn so I can read this language and then resubmit it mayor I don't think that's necessary I think you can hold the motion okay just wanted to make sure we were good okay thank you so much so unless otherwise further limited by the enabling ordinance for such board or commission members of the board and commission may not serve more than two total terms on any one border commission provided however if a member is appointed to a border commission which has a term of service of two years or less such member may serve an aggregate of terms on such Bard commission that do not exceed an aggregate total of six years this provision applies to both regular and Alternate positions so once again there also is a public hearing item so is there anyone wishing to speak uh during the public testimony portion of the public hearing is so please get my attention all right seeing none I will go ahead and close the public testimony portion of the public hearing council members any comments or discussion all right seeing none this but a motion made by council member Adams and a second by council member Hajj please vote and that item passes 7 to zero the next item under the section is 8 C2 which is to hold the second and final public hearing to adopted ordinance to transfer a portion of the capital Improvement program project number 5410 one80 Vision Z infrastructure improvements to provide sufficient funding to complete project Number 601 0769 Transportation master plan that's exactly how I feel Council when I'm reading those um this is also a public hearing item so I'm would to open up the public testimony portion if there's anyone wishing to speak please get my attention now okay seeing none I will close the public testimony portion of the public hearing council members any comments or discussion second been moved by council member hod and I think seconded by council member keing I believe I was going for the motion oh I'll take I'll give I'll give you the second on this one then so please vote and that passes 7 to zero the next item under the section is 8c3 which is to hold the second and final public hearing to adopt an ordinance to transfer a portion of the capital Improvement program project number 54 99741 roadway Mill and overlay and reconstructions to provide sufficient funding to complete project number 600 8961 bike and pedestrian improvements Country Club Way from ASU Research Park to us60 pedestrian bridge this is also a public public hearing item if there's any public testimony please get my attention Okay seeing that I'll close the public testimony portion of the public hearing Council memb any comments or discussion comment oh yes uh council do you want to do the first and second first and then do the discussion uh sure absolutely so move by Council keing seconded by Council M Hodge Council M Adams yes I just uh I'm very supportive of this project and uh providing safe bike Lanes it's so important that we get people out of their cars and bike biking is one of the the um great uh resources that we can use and I'm glad we're making it safer for bicyclists and I completely support this project thank you very much thank you and great catch on the Roberts Rules of Order Council Adams I appreciate that so takes it takes a village up here I promise you all right with that said uh this's b a motion in a second uh please vote and that item passes seven to zero the last item under the section is 8 C4 which is to hold the second and final public hearing to adopt an ordinance to transfer a portion of the capital Improvement program project number 67108 29 energy hubs and micr grids to provide sufficient funding to complete project number 67828 1l interior space planning and vision center Kitchen located at 1310 East Apache Boulevard this is also a public hearing item so if there's any public testimony on this item please get my attention cas then I'll close the public testimony portion of the public hearing council members any comments or discussion Mo by council member Amberg seconded by council member keing discussion and discussion yes anyone have any discussion on this one yes I do yes Council M Adams please very excited about the oops I'm very excited about the Invision Center and and adding the kitchen to it I think this is a win-win and it's a great um place for everyone to attend and to learn and and grow so I I am very supportive of this project thank you thank you so much any other uh comments from Council all right seeing none there's a motion of the second on the floor please vote and that item passes 7 to zero that brings me to item number nine current current events Council announcements and future agenda items once again council members May request that an agenda item be added to a future council meeting during their allotted time but in accordance with the open meeting law there should be no discussion on the item other than to clarify the request so I'll call upon council members for their comments and this evening I'm going to start with vice mayor garlett thank you mayor uh so I'm going to talk about the Young Women's Conference Shine Your Light um I want to thank Tim Burch and um deleno leforce in uh Community Health and Human Services for their support in making the SHINee light conference a reality the conference is um March 22nd in partnership with Rio salato we have created an event for young women ages 14 to 22 to learn more about how to navigate career opportunities leadership health and financial wellness and these are topics that our young women were interested in Industry speakers in high-tech construction Finance education and Health Services will share their experiences and insights to empower attendees to lead and to succeed registration is now open and it's free to attend register through my website you can go to www.tempe.gov garet and you'll be able to get to the registration paperwork the conference is sponsored by Google Fiber landing's Credit Union sunt construction and honor Health um a companion Shine Your Light mentoring program is also included and if you'd like to sponsor or to be a sponsor or to be a mentor please contact my assistant Parish spies at tempe.gov thank you thank you so much vice mayor next up Council m key thank you I just want to ask that we keep the residents of Southern California in our in our minds with the the fires that are going on it's absolutely devastating and incredible to see um as you know my my girlfriend's from that area thankfully her her family is safe but the fires are threatening where her family lives so um I just wanted to acknowledge that and you know ask that we we keep those those folks in our in our minds thank you thank you next up council member Adams yes thank you Mr mayor to plunge or not to plunge that is the question the annual Polar Plunge pre-party is tomorrow night um from 4:30 to 7:30 at spokes on Southern so I'd really encourage you to attend it's a great fundraiser um it actually helps uh kids with special needs um and in recreational programs so please uh plan on attending that like I said it's 4:30 to 7:30 and there'll be um a silent auction and a raffle the actual Polar Plunge will be at the Lakes clubhouse this Saturday the 11th check-in begins at 8:00 a.m.

and then you can um Plunge in the pool at 9: so um the cost is $25 if you pre-register and $30 if you wait till the morning of and you get a cool t-shirt a yummy snacks hot beverage and bragging rights because you survived and uh the next the next next slide I have is uh dance Tempe join us for dance Tempe from 7: to 8:30 p.m.

this Tuesday January 14th at the Tempe Center for the Arts one of my favorite places in town this free dance showcase will feature three professional resident dancers and their dance companies as well as student dancers from all six of our Tempe Union High Schools that's right dance Tempe is an annual program created by the Tempe Community Arts to help support our young dancers as well as Foster the work of local dance Educators and professional dance artists we hope that you can join us for the celebration and dance and it's free finally uh today is a national day of M for President Jimmy Carter Jimmy Carter was our 39th president and was our longest living president ever when he passed away at 100 years old um on December 29th he leaves behind a lifelong Legacy of activism public service and Humanity Arian work our hearts go out to his family and to our nation as we mourn the passing of this great man I'd like to ask for a moment of silence to honor His Life and Legacy thank you that's all my announcements thank you Mr Mayor thank you so much appreciate it next up Council M chin G to okay thank you uh next up Council perj yes um I am ex proud and excited to finish my chapter on Sandy Hook with the Sandy Hook promise with my breakfast of veretta we're going to have um sney hook um the organization there we're going to have representatives from the city of 10B and we also have um our school districts there so we can finish up a panel and discussion on it and we're going to allow the community to sign the Sandy Hook promise at that time their families and them can it's it's going to be a great thing so if you have time after the Polar Plunge to come to my breakfast at 10:00 a.m.

to noon at the Tempe Historical Museum um on February 1st uh as everybody know that um in our city and not just in our city but in our community and state and nation that um that enrollment is declining for our for our community and um this is a way that uh the the school districts came to me and the city and asked if we would help with an uh a city attemp uh Expo to have enrollment so we're going to have like a fair on February 1st from 9: to noon it's at the Tempe Community U Tempe Community complex at Aela library and we'll have highlights of all our school district well mostly Tempe Union and all of our programs that feed into our schools from the city there and you get a chance to enroll and get a chance to meet the principls and this the superintendent and just you know get a feel of what it feels to have a you know being a public school in the City of Tempe so if you don't have anybody and you know someone else that has someone please let them know um about that program and the chance to get to highlight get to see what our public schools are about and also um I want to congratulate all of our MLK diversity Award winners um that our award breakfast will be on Monday and also to let you know that uh our city closure will be will have City closure for MLK Day for on on Monday January 20th and also I just want to say that I um I was honored to be with uh the mayor and council member Adams at um at the Captain's uh Memorial it was a beautiful Memorial I want to thank our fire department our Police Department for all they put into it all the passion and love it showed and I just also want to give one more last thank you to our captain um he was a you know a phenomenal man is what we've heard and learned and I've met him a couple of times and and just a lot of thoughts to his family and his extended family for fire and police and I just have one last one that um I didn't do a a a a a slide on but this is important to me I guess um we lost one of our Pioneers in our city it was uh Mrs Mosley Geneva Mosley when I um maybe a few months ago I brought her in because we named uh used to be Gillan middle school after her her name is Geneva Mosley and she passed way four days ago and um she's a legend in her own time she was the first African-American to actually teach in the tempy elementary school district the very first and for a very long time she was the only for maybe 10 to 15 years so um I would like to ask you guys as a long time over 50 years resident of the City of Tempe and an employee of the school district who taught many of our our families um to give her a quick moment of silence for her time and dedication she gave to our city and our kids I thank you and her Memorial is January 17th if everybody wants to attend thank you thank you next up Council branberg thank you Mr Mayor as a lot of people know and seen my signs during the campaign um I was actually born and raised in south Louisiana actually south of New Orleans um a lot of people don't know I was actually in New Orleans uh over New Year's Eve visiting my mom and my brothers and all of their families and the night before uh New Year's Eve I was with my mom and my daughters in the French Quarter um we'd gone to see The Nutcracker it was her Christmas present and we went out to dinner in the French Quarter um spent the night there and then went back down to H Louisiana which is where my mom lives on New Year's Eve uh everybody knows what happened there I want to thank my colleagues and all of my friends that called me the day or texted me the day after uh council member Hodge actually called me at the crack of dawn which is even earlier here than it is in Louisiana to make sure that I was okay because she knew I was going to be in the French Quarter the night before um and we even I even had the city manager text me that day and told me that I wasn't um allowed to go to the Sugar Bowl um that had been rescheduled she piled on with my mom because my mom said no to and which was a big deal for us because I'm a very football Centric family which I'm sure a few of you know um so I just want to thank everybody for that uh New Orleans is very resilient uh the cult culture the community the people that are there tried to drown us with Katrina that didn't happen uh they are going to rise again after this so if everybody could just keep their thoughts and prayers with the city and with the victims and their families I would appreciate it thank you thank you uh I don't have any remarks this evening so I will go uh move to item number 10 public appearances uh I do have one card this evening from Michael George it's Michael George here okay uh is there anyone else in the audience who'd like to address the council uh if so please come forward and state your name and city of residence for the record okay seeing none that takes me to item number 11 which is adjournment the next scheduled regular city council meeting is going to be on January 23rd 2025 we are adjourned have a great evening everyone

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