Health and Human Services Commission - Regular Meeting

Okay. Alright. Okay. It's it's four minutes after five on the January 26. I'm meeting to order. All right. If we'll all stand, is there a Pledge of Allegiance? I pledge allegiance to the flag of The United States Of America All right. Roll call.

Commissioner Brennan. Present. Commissioner Danford.

Present.

Commissioner Montgomery. Present. Commissioner Krycelik. Present. Commissioner Smithson?

Awesome. Welcome, Angela. Commissioner Meikland? Here. Commissioner Wood? Here. You have a quorum, your honor.

Okay. Do I have a motion to approve the agenda?

I would like to move that we approve the consent agenda.

Consideration of the approval. Do I have a second? Second. Roll call.

Commissioner Montgomery.

Present here.

So what we're doing now is approving let me actually, I'll explain something for the new members. You should have a copy of the agenda as well as a copy of motions at each of your seats. And what we're doing now is approving the consent agenda and the minutes. And they're under on your motions list, they're under that very first item. So now we're doing a roll call. So the motion and the second have been made. So you're either agreeing or not agreeing to the consent and the minutes being approved from 03/31/2025.

Okay, got you.

So we'll start once again. Commissioner Montgomery? Approved. Commissioner Danford?

Yes.

Commissioner Krycelik? Yes. Commissioner Smithson? Yes. Commissioner Wood? Yes. Commissioner Mikeland? Yes. Commissioner Brennan?

Yes.

Motion passes unanimously.

Moving on. And let me add something, though. I've always found that somewhat unfair to individuals that are just entering the commission because they're asked to vote on something that they're not aware of. And that's sort of a strange procedural parliamentarian issue. It's like, how do you vote that you're Okay with those minutes when you're unaware of what those minutes are?

So they're attached on the agenda that was sent out last Thursday. That's why we send that agenda out for all of the attachments to be reviewed before this meeting. And secondly, the city attorney Joel Stern does meet with all new members, which he did in November. And I'm not aware of what all he goes through. But my belief is that he does go through parliamentary procedures and the open meeting law. I don't know that he specifically goes through step by step of a meeting. But maybe next year that's good input. Can, like, right after the meeting begins, I can give a little explanation of how things go.

I think that would be good.

Yeah.

Yeah, thank you.

You're welcome. That would

be really a better way to have it more functional and people would be more aware. All right, moving onward. Is there any old business?

No old business, your honor.

So that's old news. Right.

Old news is old news.

Okay. New business. Introduction of the new commission members and city staff. So I'm going to try and hopefully I don't ruin anybody's last name. Commissioner Montgomery, welcome to the commission. We're really glad that you bring your expertise to this forum. It will be very helpful, I promise. Here's some. And if I blow it, please correct me, okay? Commissioner Kresilik? Kresilik.

Very phonetic.

Very phonetic. Okay. Well, in kind, welcome to this commission. I think you'll find it a very interesting collaborative group. We have some fun. And at the same time, things do get mildly contestuous at times. But it's all pretty benign. So thank you for joining our group.

Thank you for having me.

Okay. Evie and Amy, etcetera, please would you introduce yourself to the new Commission?

Yeah. I'm Evie McKinney. I'm your city clerk, as well as the board liaison for the Health and Human Services Commission. Basically, I help the chair run the meeting, give explanations. I will have a report later that you'll see. We'll talk about the previous quarter funding. And if there's things that you want to have changed or like Chair Brennan brought up, having a point of instruction for new members. That's my job is to handle all of that. So if you have any questions, I'm always available. You can call. You know where I'm at, most of you.

I'm Amy Greene. I'm the deputy city clerk. And I just assist Abby with everything.

That's true.

If you

guys need anything, you can let me know as well.

And they really are very remarkable. They make this work and have the initial burden of looking over all of the applications that we get. So they do the preliminary screening.

Yeah. And I do want to bring attention to Naomi Funk. She's the city clerk's admin assistant. So she has helped with a lot of this. She did a lot of the leg work for back in October when we were doing the applications for new members. And she doesn't know this yet, but she'll be doing a lot of leg work on the applications we'll get by the end of this week.

Thank you, Naomi.

So run, Naomi, run. Anyway. Okay. And now comes the time for truth. Okay. So we've accepted the agenda. And now for the selection of chair. Is there a motion to nominate the chairperson?

So basically what we're doing now for the new commissioners, and a reminder for the existing commissioners, is that the chair is asking for a motion to open the nominations for a new chair and vice chair. So first we have to move that yes, we want to open this item. And then second it. And then we'll come back and you each can say who you would like to nominate as the chair or the vice chair.

I'd like to move that we open the nominations for chairperson.

Second. Was that Commissioner Meikland? Okay. Sorry, I wasn't looking up. Commissioner Smithson? Yes. Commissioner Montgomery? Yes. Commissioner Danford? Yes. Commissioner Kryselik?

Yes.

Commissioner Wood? Yes. Commissioner Meikland? Yes. Commissioner Brennan?

Yes.

Motion passes. And now it gets opened up to any one of you can nominate who you would like to serve as your chair.

Chairman, I'd like to nominate Jeff Danford for chairperson.

I'll second that nomination.

So we're not seconding yet. If there's someone that you want, you can just you state your name. So Commissioner Krycelik, you would like to nominate Danford as the chair? Okay.

That was me. I got you. Okay. But

then I think Alisa But seconded I'm going to take that as nomination. Okay.

And I'll nominate Doctor. Brennan.

Okay.

Second. Second. So I'm going

to take that, Dwane, as you are nominating Chair Brennan as the Chair. Correct. Okay. Anyone else?

Correct. Are there any other nominations? Okay. Now I'm required to be redundant. It appears that there are no further nominations. I'll ask once, are there any further nominations for chair? Seeing none, one more time. Are there any other nominations for chair? And the last time. Are there any other nominations for chair?

Motion for chair of the Human Health Services is closed.

So at this point we have a tie. There are two for Danford and two for Brendan. And we have to open it back up because clearly we haven't made a consensus.

Okay.

Again, this is for the chair.

So in light of the fact that there's a tie for the chair's position, I reopen the nominations. Any commissioner have

nominee. Excuse me, but isn't that for nominations? And then if she closes the process, then we vote?

No. No. If you look on your motion sheet, When it appears that there are no other motions, Chair Brennan asks for additional nominations, he must ask three times. I move that nominations for Chair of Health and Human Services be closed. Chair Brennan asks for a roll call. The first person receiving a majority of votes is selected as the chair. So if we have a tie, it has to be reopened.

So people who haven't voted need to vote?

Well, we haven't voted yet.

We've only know. Done the That's what I'm trying

to say.

You're only nominating. Right.

Right. Yeah. You don't need all seven nominations.

But if we're tied

Isn't that where the election comes up?

Yeah, there's got to be an election.

Oh. Okay.

If I read this correctly, first he closes the nomination process, and then he asks for a roll call vote on those who were nominated.

Okay. I stand corrected. I guess our forms are confusing. My apologies. I

did. Okay. So the nominating process is closed. And now a roll call vote.

Oh, yeah. Step six.

Right. Step six.

So we'll vote on Commissioner Danford as chair for our first position. Okay?

Correct.

Commissioner Smithson? Okay. So

Okay. Okay.

Commissioner Danford?

Yes.

Commissioner Montgomery? No. Commissioner Brennan?

I'm going to abstain.

Okay.

Commissioner Kryselik? Yes. Commissioner Meikland? Yes. Commissioner Wood? No. The motion fails as at a tie. And now we will make do the voting for Commissioner Brennan to serve as chair. Commissioner Smithson

yes

commissioner Danford

no

Commissioner Montgomery? Yes. Commissioner Brennan?

Present. I'm pleading neutrality. I think it's unfair for me to look

for a

You're abstaining?

You kind of have to.

Okay. Yes.

Commissioner Kryselik? No. Commissioner Mike Lind? No. Commissioner Wood? Yes. Motion passes four I'm sorry, let's see. Yeah, four to three. Now we're going to go through the same thing for the chairperson. Or the Vice chair. I'm sorry.

VICE CHAIRMAN I move that Commissioner Brennan be seated as chair of the Health and Human Services Commission.

I second that. You move to be seated. So I

You're second.

Second the motion.

Okay.

Yeah.

I need one more sheet.

So

that was Chair Brennan that moved it,

right?

Yes. Smithson I seconded I think that this is, like, redundant to me, isn't Because you already just determined that Brennan would be the commissioner the chair.

Right.

Yeah. So we're not going to we won't be doing another roll call on that one. Thank you. So now we're moving into a nomination for the vice chair.

Right. Okay. We open the nomination for vice president of Health and Human Services Commission. Is there a motion?

I'd like to make a motion to put Commissioner Danford as the Vice Chair.

Second. That's

not where we're at, though.

I think we want

to share. We're actually on step two.

I move. Yeah, we got to open the nominations.

Yeah, we opened the nominations.

Yeah, you did.

I'll second that we open nominations for Vice Chairman.

Okay. Yes. Yeah.

Commissioner Smithson? Yes. Commissioner Danford?

Yes.

Commissioner Montgomery? Yes. Commissioner Brennan?

Yes.

Commissioner Chris Ellich? Yes. Commissioner Meikland? Yes. Commissioner Wood? Yes. Motion passes unanimously.

Okay. The nomination committee, is there a nomination of a commissioner for vice chair?

Yes. I'd like to make a nomination for Commissioner Danford for vice chair.

Okay.

I second that.

But second is not necessary for nominations.

You're nominating Commissioner Danford?

Yeah. We might be here.

Okay. We'll have just one agent next year.

It appears okay. Are there any other nominations for vice chair? I have to do that as well. Three times. Three times. Yes. Others? Still. Any other nominations for vice chair? Are there no other nominations for vice chair? It appears that there are no other nominations. As for additional nominations, I did that three times. The next step is nomination for vice chair of Health and Human Services Division shall be closed.

I'll second that.

And now we're going to vote. We'll do a roll call on it. But I need someone to make a motion to open that and second it. Right?

Right.

I make a motion that the nominations for Vice Chairperson of Health and Human Services Commission be closed.

I'll second that.

Okay. Thank you.

So just to clarify, everyone understands now that your yes means that Commissioner Danford will be the Vice Chair. Your no means that he will not. Commissioner Smithson? Yes. Commissioner Danford?

Yes.

Commissioner Montgomery? Yes. Commissioner Brennan?

Yes.

Commissioner Kryselik? Yes. Commissioner Mike Lind?

Yes. Yes.

Commissioner Wood? Yes. Motion passes unanimously.

Wait, wait. We got through that.

Yeah, you did. Is it time to go? So I move that Commissioner Stanford be seated as vice chair if he behaves himself. DELL: Are you serious? There's strings attached to that?

There are.

Is there a second?

Okay. Be seated as the Health

Services I

make a motion that Vice Chairperson Danford be seated as Health and and Human Services Commission. That could have been worded

better, sorry.

Not in that order.

And then Okay. I guess we're good.

I think

I did it.

Okay. All right. Go back.

That only took twenty four minutes.

That was a lot of abstinence. Yeah, here we go. Okay. All right. So we're on twenty six-eight, which says discussion of fiscal year 'twenty six-'twenty seven, for Health and Human Services Commission applications and funding timeline. Funding applications. And if you wouldn't mind, I believe we'll have maybe a larger pool of money available to us this year, or is that not decided yet?

I believe the amount is going to be 100,000 I can give you an update that at this point we've only received two applications.

Only two?

I mean, they have until whatever what is It's thirty first. So was that Monday?

Saturday.

Saturday? Yeah. So they have until Saturday to get the applications. And because it falls on Saturday, we'll probably accept anything through the weekend. And then on Monday, we'll start going through them.

Just, you know, checking the criteria that everything is met in the application. At this point we won't disclose those that we've received the applications from. But that will be discussed at the meeting that comes up in February. So I can go over the timeline, which is in the application. So the little booklet that you each have at your chair has got the application.

I think it's the very last clipped together piece. And on page three of that application they're not numbered, but it is on page three is the timeline. I'll give you all a minute to get to that. Everybody there? Okay.

So as you can see, the application due date is January 31. The commission will review these applications at our next meeting on February 23. We typically meet twice in March. Once to just kind of hash over things. And then at the next meeting actually make your recommendation.

You'll vote on who you each feel and the dollar amount that you feel would be sufficient for each of those organizations. And then in April, the chairperson does the recommendations on behalf of the Board to the City Council. And council has then about six to eight weeks to hash things over and come back to the commission if they feel that funds should be distributed differently. And then they make their final decision when they approve the budget, which is officially the July 1 meeting. I don't know when that is, but I can't remember.

And is now okay to ask us something? Yeah. Okay. I don't want to do it at

Yeah, because this is just open for discussion. And

typically at our March meeting, they would show up and we ask questions, Right.

Yeah. So I think at the March 9 meeting will be basically like the interview of the applicants. And then you'll have maybe three weeks. Our next meeting is March 30. And that's where you will all determine which entities are going to get funding and how much of funding.

I have a question. On the March 9 meeting, that's the night we have our public arts meeting, too.

Right. So that's an item later in the agenda. It's a different time. It's not at 05:00.

Oh, Okay.

Yeah.

It's at 03:00.

We ran into this last year, and so we set it for 03:00.

My mistake.

That's okay.

So may I ask, how many candidates are typical historically that apply?

In the years past, we've had, I think, up to five.

So

having only two is a little bit disheartening. But also, it's going to make it so much easier for us. I mean, let's be honest.

It'll be easier than the chair.

What's that? It's going be

easier than trying to vote for chair and

vice chair. Yeah. We'll probably do it in less than twenty four minutes. No, I don't know.

We have had as many as seven since I've been involved. I think the largest year before last was seven. This current year that we're in is five. Which, this is probably a good time for me to bring this up. I did get an email from one of those entities.

And Begin Again Homes has forfeited their funding for this year. The person that was filling out the forms, basically acting as the secretary has been called away for family emergencies. And the president of Begin Again Homes owns a business that prohibits her from completing these forms for this funding application. So she just sent an email late last week and informed us that she regretfully has to forfeit that money. So that is $2,000 that will go back into the city's general fund.

It doesn't mean that you're going to have $102,000 to distribute next year. It just goes back into general fund.

Am Okay. I out of line by asking who the two applicants we have so far are?

We can't disclose that until after the thirty first.

Cool. Are we able to go online and see what the criteria is for the applicant? I know it's a non for profit, obviously.

It's actually in here.

So the application is in your folder?

Yeah, it's in the folder.

And that's what is on the city clerk's website.

Thank you.

Yeah. And this is extremely condensed and streamlined. It used to be, I don't know, 12 or 15 pages. And so we got great feedback last year. That was the first year that we had this shorter version. And it's so much easier for us to get through as well. Basically, it's a Word document so they can just, you know, they can do however much they want to put on each item. And if they don't answer it, then we kind of have to set that aside and maybe follow-up with them. But last year, we didn't have any issues with any of them.

Did any of the individuals that did not reapply not comply with the quarterly reports? Uh-uh. Okay. Okay. Well done.

So now commission duties.

So again, in your little binder that you have there, I don't know where it's located, but there is a sheet titled Apache Junction City Code Health and Human Services Commission duties.

Second page.

Yeah, page two. Second page, okay. And I'll just read through this really quick.

Oh, there you go.

The Commission duties are to conduct public hearings to determine the needs of city residents with regard to public health provision of human services and care of the elderly and disabled. Enhance the development of the public health through public forums, seminars, and work with other agencies. Review requests submitted by health and human service providers, the nonprofit agencies for city funding, and to make recommendations to the council regarding that funding. Assist in the development of healthcare facilities and make recommendations to the council regarding elderly healthcare and emergency transportation programs. This was the code that was written, I want to say it was in 1982.

I think that's when the commissions started.

On the bottom it says past twelveseventwenty twenty one.

There was a change, and that was to do with it had to do with the amount of members on the commission. I believe it used to be a five member commission, and we decided that a seven member board was more efficient. Any questions? We did

talk in the past, but I know it is an undertaking that maybe is not ready for this year. But we did talk in the past of maybe updating some of the I say the past within the past two years. Updating some of the duties. But, once again, that's going to take quite a bit. And in the '80s, well, things have changed since the '80s. So something to maybe think about.

But there used to be a provision, I believe, in which there was a solicitation of the community about what they believed the community needs are. And I don't know that we've queried in that fashion. We've not made a public query of what the citizenry believes are needs that the Health and Human Services Commission may provide. Now, that's predicated, obviously, on the idea that they have an understanding of what the scope of this commission can do. And that would have to be defined in terminology that would be comprehensible for everybody.

But I think that would be meritorious. And we may have some real revelations about where funding is more sought after in the community, and we're just sort of missing it.

Because I remember looking at it going, gosh, I wish there was more focused on youth or, you know, some stuff there, too, as the community grows. But something to think about.

And there are even some areas where we really have little or no control, if you will. I voiced my concern about academics. And I understand that some people think I'm just an elitist medical doctor. And that's all I think about is universities, but not at all. I'm concerned that Apache Junction High School has a graduation rate of eighty three percent.

And sadly, the larger number of people that drop out are males versus females. And they're trying to be overly looking at gender as an issue per se, but that's a fact. That's all I'm trying to point out. And I don't know what's been done to try and recruit alternatives that are quite viable and can really give someone a very sound foundation in a career, such as being an electrician, being a plumber, etcetera, and the utilization of East Valley EBIT. And that's never been answered.

We've asked one agency how many people graduate from their program, how many are seniors, and that's dwindled down to one last year. And you're right. We don't have a real emphasis on education per se and looking at progress with that. And it's sadly demonstrative in the graduation rate of the local high school.

And I see where you're trying to link, or where you are linking. I remember back to because we did have a nice presentation, and we may not have it this year, from the Boys and Girls Club. And I think we did allocate some funding for them, because there is a big link between the education that's out there, and health and human services in the community. It might be more than we can take on in our little commission. Something to think about.

Or even the scope of the commission. One of the things, as a physician, I'm concerned about is that, by happenstance, the statistics are somewhat daunting. We have 7,000,000 people in the state of Arizona. Of those 7,000,000, 2,000,000 people had been eligible for access and or for the ACA. And that group with those two entities are now less likely to receive those benefits than they were in the prior year.

And I don't know how many people in this community because one of the other things that has to be emphasized and we weren't exactly doing this as well. But last year, I really made it a point The council makes it pertinent that the funding has to be used for the betterment of citizens of Apache Junction. AJ only.

Yeah. AJ only.

Absolutely. And I think that's fair. I mean, I do. The one area that we got into some gray area, though, was in the issue of individuals that had been abused in a relationship. Because it's common in those sorts of situations to try and geographically distance them.

And we had sort of a quid pro quo quality with certain entities of the valley, where individuals from here could go to the Far West Side and be safe there and remain relatively anonymous, as it was inadvertently revealed, and vice versa. And that became a really interesting debate issue, because it wasn't as clean as saying that, absolutely, individuals from Apache Junction got the funding. But in a way, it was. But there was no way to do some accounting that said that it really was an exact equivalent. And I don't know that you can necessarily expect that.

It's just there's no way to know how many people are going be abused. And I suspect there's more than what we really know about.

Yeah,

we've got a couple things to take note of.

And if anyone's noticed I mean, this is no pitch for any organization but I was overwhelmed. I have my almost at least four to five days a week, journeyed from my place to the multigenerational center. And in transit, I pass by the food bank. And on Mondays, it has four to five lines of traffic in the internal lot and one line of traffic that goes all the way down Superstition around the corner on Idaho, almost all the way down to Fry's. It is overwhelming to see the mass of cars that are presenting to that food bank.

Chairman, I do want to direct back, though, that those people are not all Apache Junction. That's open to their criteria is the area. They're not just all AJ residents at that food bank.

Okay. Okay. And the last point I would have is, as I explained to some of the members earlier, I had a real revelation. I had believed that Pinal County had offered free education to any Pinal County resident at the community colleges. But I thought that was only during the pandemic, and there was an individual that's running for an office in Pinal County.

So, oh, no. That is still in effect. And I don't know that that's widely publicized. That's a real advantage, economically and otherwise. To be able to get minimally an associate arts degree, that's half of your four year degree, if you're going to go on. But on top of that, for a two year RN, that's a full degree. And it lends to the possibility of making a very reasonable wage. Is it phenomenal? No. But I'll tell you, starting wages for a hospital RN is $60,000 a year.

Okay.

All right.

When selecting the monies for the nonprofits, is there particular things that we're looking at? Do we have certain programs that we want to highlight each year? Like, maybe one year is suicide. Maybe one year is bullying, or things like that. Or we just look at each individual nonprofit and make a decision.

We typically look at the applications that come in. And then we decide among ourselves, one, if they get money, and two, how much do they get out of that pool.

Okay. And one of the criterias that we really looked at, even more so last year, was are they servicing residents in Apache Junction for the most part?

Correct.

Thank you.

Commissioner Michael mentioned that the food bank does serve people from other communities. But what is their main focus? Their main focus is feeding people in Apache Junction. Other organizations may service people from all over the area without really any regard of where they come from. So we try to focus on that. Because we are here to try to help the people in our community.

JULIE Correct.

JULIE And when he presented from the food bank, something that stood out was that he they were trying to do the backpack things with the kids in the schools here. So that was That was

my sweet spot. That was yes, backpack program for the kids was amazing. I'd love to see that. Who knows? But I'd love to see that expanded.

Well, unfortunately, we only have $100,000 to disperse. This would be a lot easier decision if we had half 1,000,000 to disperse.

So is it With GREGORY

only two nominations if we only have two applications, it does make it a lot easier than it has in the past.

GREGORY But this presents another issue. Because last year, we really gave some dispensations to people that hadn't, in a timely fashion, presented their documentation. Are we going to have a fine line? Or are we going to have because of the two applicants, are we going to be a little more generous with leeway about that if someone comes in last minute with information? I mean, it's got to be somewhat reasonable.

I would hope that we would say that because we're planning on having a meeting on the twenty third in which we'd look at applications, on the ninth, we're going to have interviews. And by the thirtieth, we're going to decide. We went to the last moment, literally, in interviewing two organizations. And I thought that was generous of you all to allow that and his commission to allow that. And it was somewhat fruitful for them.

They didn't get exactly what they wanted, but they got some. And I would be very intrigued to see how they used that because, in some ways, it's sort of a benefit and a curse because it was a very small amount, relatively speaking. It was about $2,000 And I just didn't know how far that was really going to go. But anyway.

Was there explanation as to why they had a late application?

I don't think it was the late application. It was presenting their information to us. They came the next week. And I think we already know how one of them used it. They weren't able to. Exactly. So we got the 2,000 coming back, I think. I don't know. Just drawing it.

Yeah, the application due date is the thirty first. But again, because it falls on Saturday, if somebody submits one on Sunday, you know, they're going to be submitted to the HHSC email. And we will accept it when we come in Monday morning. I believe that the two agencies that Doctor. Brennan is referring to were not able to come to the first meeting in March, and so we extended GRACE and let them come to the second one. I believe they both had been prior nonprofit requests. And I guess we thought things would be different. You know, unfortunately, didn't work out.

Had extended the possibility of a not in person, but a telephonic interview. And they apparently didn't opt to do that.

JAMES That is correct.

Customarily, do we try to give everybody that applies meets the deadline of application, submits the proper documentation something. Has there been years where an applicant meets the criteria and they have not been awarded any amount? Yes.

Yes, there has.

There have been. And that's part of the discussion process that we take place in here. We usually have several rounds of voting on

In the past, what is the average amount that has been allocated to the nonprofits?

It depends on how we end up deciding. Some of them have gotten as low as $2,000 Some of them have gotten as high as 60,000 or $70,000

how much is score average?

50,000

Well, dollars 100,000 is what

we have for all of them.

Okay. Yeah.

And we have to divide first, have to determine who we want to give money to. And then out of those people, how much of that $100 do we give to them? And then we vote on it.

And they put in their application how many people they'll be servicing in Apache you know, they try and get pretty specific. And then they ask for a certain amount. And then we kind of go off those numbers.

And in some instances, what we found was there was a program where they had very admirable aspirations. But what they did was they allocated almost all of their resources towards one individual.

And that didn't

seem to be really Like

a guest speaker. Effective.

I mean, and we had other problem I had is, well, once you did that, did that pay off?

In other words, didn't that help Bring in the services and

the help to remove it. Some greater continuation of this individual going on and being Okay? Because if it ends, then we ought to it isn't to be cruel. I really want to punctuate that point. It's to see how you can more effectively utilize resources to a point that it has some benefit for the individual.

Individual. You know, it is very interesting when we look at one's life. There is a philosopher who said, one does not live to survive. One lives with purpose. And I think that's what this is about, is having some purpose. That goes on.

So once we make our decision, does this go before city council for a final vote?

Yes.

So on the timeline

So

you'll meet twice in March. The first meeting in March will be to interview the applicants. And the second meeting in March is when you all vote on how much funding goes to each nonprofit. And then the second work session in April is when the chairperson brings the recommendations to mayor and city council. It's at a work session, not a regular city council meeting. Then council has about six weeks to discuss it amongst themselves. And if they want to see some changes, they will come back to the commission. And that would be my place then, is to call another meeting and explain to you what they would like to see.

But let me add. The commission has lent to the idea that they might modify the recommendations. And I've been on this commission. This is my fifth year. And there was one in which it really looked like that's what was gonna be the end result. It didn't materialize. They did take what it is that we did and implemented that. Now does that mean they're you know, it's it's sort of like the line about investing? The past doesn't always determine the future.

We are an advisory board. And it's our job to advise the council on our recommendations. And then they will decide. So they can overrule our recommendations. They rarely do. But they can decide, well, no, let's give this much to this person than that. And that is their purview. Because we are not a regulatory board. We are just an advisory board.

Is it our responsibility to distribute all the money, or does it ever roll over?

We've always done all. We've always

made our recommendations for the entire amount.

Okay. And where does this money come from?

It's part of our general fund. Okay.

Yeah. And allocated specifically for health and human services. Correct. Right. Right.

And your question is pertinent. But when you think about the sums, they really aren't that phenomenal. I mean, we've we've had a progression, which is really beneficial, but it started out at 80. Yeah. It got into a maybe 90 and then 90, and now potentially 100. Mhmm. It's nice. That for this community that's growing and a homeless population that's been estimated at about 100 plus people now, that's really limited resources to cover that broader spectrum.

So long as the proper organizations are getting their application in. Meaning you're talking five to seven in the past, which very simple math is $20 apiece or less. Now we have two applicants, which bumps them up to $50,000 if we were to split it right up the middle. And so to your point, we want to make sure the right organizations have applied and reached out that are benefiting the homeless and what other categories there are. So I agree with what you're saying.

So I'll give you an example. One of the issues that I had as a physician was the mortality rate related to our summary. Okay? And with 100 people plus as homeless, obviously, we're going have a percentage of those people that have that. I'm going to tell you that as I searched through data that might be available, the data was not there from Pinal County. I haven't ever seen any data from Apache Junction on heat mortality. Have you, Evie? Ever?

I don't know. The city tracks that. The Apache Junction Homeless Coalition does a great job with that in collaboration with Pinal County.

Okay. But at but at any rate, one of the issues was were are there cooling centers? And there was an organization that said, yes. We have a cooling center. And when I queried, well, how many people do you accommodate? Six. Now, let me be clear. Even at that, six is better than none. But by and large, cooling centers were really not that frequently open. They're not open

on weekends.

They're not open on nights. They're not open on holidays. And many of them were only open one day a week. Yeah, I know.

That's your day

to That cool

almost becomes sort of, if you will, tokenism, but doesn't have a benefit to what the problem is.

Right. So it was nice to be able to converse with those that are presenting, because initially it sounds, oh, that sounds great.

But we

also have to be careful with the monies and what we recommend.

So now you see some of the conundrums where it sounds like it would really be a good investment to put funds into that. But when you saw the payoff, there was another one that might be a lot better. The other thing that we had on occasion, to just bring some sort of focus as well, is that we had an organization that actually, what they wanted were structural issues on buildings. Now, I'll grant you with time, that's right. But the thrust of the funding is, does it have a more immediate consequence?

Is it implementable more immediately and has significant impact? And to build something takes time. To have that then be a benefit takes time, etcetera. Could you say, well, but that's still a good investment? Well, probably, but not with the limited resources we have.

One of the challenges we have is to determine the biggest bang for the buck for our area. And immediacy is part of that. Is the money we give them going to come into play in six months or a year? Or is it going to come into play immediately?

And when do they get the money, speaking of that?

July 1. So it starts on July 1 in the next fiscal year. And they are dispersed funding on a quarterly basis. So it's Do we

give them, like, a big check?

No, no, not for the full sum. It's a quarterly dispensation.

I was referring to size of it.

You hold the big

check up, and we all stand WOODRUFF: behind it and take our pictures

Like, you can if you want to.

The public

will be

recalled they have a big check Even if it's four quarterly, I mean, think that's good PR.

It might build up for future applicants.

Right. Get them excited. There's money here. And to think that there's only two applications and all the need, I bet we could go up and down this row four times and each come up with a different group of people or sector that needs help. And to think that only two have applied is just strange to me.

That's really not a bad idea to get some publicity for it. We've never done in the past. We do our job here. We give it to the city council. And then a couple months or weeks down the road, they make a decision. I think some publicity for it would be a great idea because it might give somebody else the idea, woah, why don't we apply

that? There's money out there.

JACKIE Yeah, think that's a good idea.

JACKIE Attach it to especially maybe for that first one, although it's July in the heat of the summer. But something like that.

You could have

it in the chambers here.

Yeah. We don't have to cross sides.

I think that's a great idea.

It is. I don't want to belabor a question I've already asked. So when I look at the Apache Junction ten year plan and I know that there's a lot of things that are going on, a lot of things that we want to accomplish in our city things like libraries, certain structures and programs and things that we want in that ten year plan. I'm just curious as to how this is seen to the public like, oh, we have this, but these are some of the things we feel are needs in our area. That's kind of where I'm going at.

Because a lot of times you have a lot of these organizations that have programs. And I think that they just say, Okay, maybe we can get some money from Apache Junction because we actually serve some of our clients are in this area. But I'm wondering if there is a strategic way of getting some of our needs met within this community structurally? Because we only got two applications for $100,000 I wonder if people know what our needs are.

What I was kind of thinking about is I know I've seen on the social media pages for the city where they advertise to put in your application. But I like the idea of not only talking about the organizations we've granted to, but it would be nice to see maybe if we could do updates throughout the year of how these organizations are using their funding. And maybe that could drive some feedback to us of how that has been helpful or maybe not

helpful. Helpful.

JULIE: Even ones that have gotten it in the past. Like, I could see Eric put on a big show down there with the backpacks and everything else. The superstition like, food bank. Put in for this. He gets monies from a lot of different DUNN: places.

But it would pump it up a little.

We want some razzmatazz when it comes to this.

I know when I tell people that I sit on the Health and Human Services Commission, their response is the same one I had when I was appointed to it. What is it? And I don't think that you're right. We don't publicize enough that we have this commission and what we do do. What to do with it. Exactly.

Because you can hire somebody. You can hire a consultant. Like, suppose you have bullying in one school. You can hire somebody to go out and talk to the schools and put on programs and take kids aside. I mean, that's just one example. Even like with the school, we've got people who have a lower graduation rate. They can hire consultants to come up there and work with this. And we can have people present to the community, say, this is what we're doing. These are things that are important to our area. But I just feel like it's almost like a silo. Like, we've got to put some dog and pony kind of into it.

I agree. There has to be some awareness. And if you don't know, it was like my issue with the subsidized education for two years. I was oblivious to that.

I've got a 19 year old.

And that's a great benefit.

Yeah. And they've redone the college there. It looks fabulous. It looks great.

Just needs that we have, I think it would be nice to, even like when we do it again, just kind of say, just throughout the year, these are some things that are needed, or these are some things that did well in Apache Junction. These are some things that the community is talking about, even kind of doing like a survey or, you know

Yeah, back to the query of the public.

Right. Right.

I like that.

All right. Well, moving on. So an update on previous funding nonprofits. So

did everyone look at those attachments?

Yes.

So you're familiar with the updates. Because I don't necessarily want to take the time to go through there's several reports. We have quarter three from last year, which is January, February, March quarter four, which is April, May, June and then first quarter of this new year. So basically, the first two, quarter three and quarter four, are for different nonprofits than what is necessarily in the quarter one fiscal year 'twenty five-'twenty six.

Right. Because it starts in The

new year started July. Right. Exactly. That's great.

All right.

So rather than go through each individual one, I would rather just open the floor for questions on, you know, if there was anything that you saw or you didn't see on any of those reports. I know Commissioner Mike Lind had expressed some concern about the backpack program and that was covered, I want to say it was in quarter three for the superstition food bank, but I'm not for certain.

I did see that. What I wondered though, is when presented it, he was talking about two additional schools. And I don't believe we added any additional schools. Those are the same schools he already did. So I was a little concerned that, I mean, it wasn't a hard line. But it was definitely he alluded to the fact that there was going to be two additional schools if they got the extra funding. And I believe those were the same schools that he had previously been doing the backpack program with. So I don't think there was an addition.

So they did add Peralta Trail. I don't think that was on his first two reports. And I'm sorry, but I don't remember off the top of my head, was the other one Avalon? It was Avalon.

Yeah. He had talked about maybe for the first time doing a charter. So, and I was kind of excited about that. Because that's territory that we haven't really been in. Charter schools have just as much need with the children who need to be fed on the weekend.

Apache Junction has, what, one charter school?

How many?

No, we've got several.

Avalon Imagine.

I think there's a couple more

than that. I

know they're building one behind Radiance, But that won't open until November.

That will be a weird time to open this

thing. I think

it's November.

That's Okay. Excuse me. I'll just pursue with Eric when he comes up to see if we can't get Avalon or some charter schools added than this next time.

So it

gives me something to work on.

JOSEPH All right. Moving on to meeting times, locations, and places, and purpose. We've sort of covered it already. Tentative meeting for the Health and Human Services Commission to be held at 5PM on February 23 year. On March 9, however, it moves to 03:00 so as not to conflict with a subsequent meeting at our time.

And then on the thirtieth, it returns back to 05:00. And that is in the city council chambers here. And then in April, as chair, I then present to the city council our recommendations and the rationale for those decisions. So

I do have one additional comment to make on this. The week of February 19 through the twenty fifth we are having new audiovisual equipment installed in here. And so this meeting room is going to be off limits. So we will be meeting for that February 23 meeting in the Executive Session Room, which is still here at City Hall, but it's upstairs near the city manager's office. So when you read the motion, please read the motion as written because we need to publicly notify that this meeting is going to be held in a different location.

How do you get upstairs?

We'll guide you. We'll just ask that you come to the city clerk's Office. And then when everybody is here we'll go up as one group. Yeah. And it's called the Executive Executive Session Room.

And that's open to the public, correct?

It does have to be open to the public.

Not just televised, but I mean, literally, the public can show up.

Yes, exactly.

Which is kind of interesting that this is open to the public tonight. And they've all been fasting so much.

I hear you.

All right.

So we had to make a motion. Right.

Right. So is there a motion to accept the dates, times, and location, and purpose of the meetings, with the addendum being that the meeting on February 23 is in the Executive Conference

Session. Session Room.

Executive Session Room.

Okay. Executive Section Room on the upper Level. Otherwise, the meetings on the March 9 at three p. M. Are in this facility as well as the March 30 at five p. M. Do I have a motion to accept that venue change?

I'll make a motion.

Do I

have to

say that whole thing again?

No. We need a second. Second.

Second.

So Commissioner Mikelin, would you read that motion, please?

The long one?

It should be on the very last page of I your motion

move that the Health and Human Services Commission meeting be held as follows: Monday, 02/23/2026, at 5PM in the Executive Session Room located at 300 East Superstition Boulevard, Apache Junction, Arizona Monday, 03/09/2026, at three p. M. And Monday, 03/30/2026 at five p. M. In the City Council Chambers located at 300 East Superstation Boulevard, Apache Junction, Arizona.

Roll call.

Roll call.

Commissioner Montgomery. Present. This would be an aye or a Yes. Commissioner Danford.

Yes.

Commissioner Krysilik. Yes. Commissioner Smithson? Yes. Commissioner Wood? Yes. Commissioner Meiklen? Yes. Chair Brennan?

Yes.

Motion passes unanimously.

Okay. In light of that, at 06:10 p. M. On the January 26, the meeting comes to a close.