City Council - Regular Meeting

is good night. Yeah. Yeah. Whenever I hit that gave and council members are out in the audience, suddenly they scramble. Welcome to the regular city council meeting of February 26, 2026. We have two meetings tonight. Most of you are here for the first one. So with that, clerk, please take the call. Please take the role.

Mayor Hart Key here. Vice Mayor Incas here. Council member Poston here. Council member Ellis. Council member Ellis. I know she was muted and on. You have me muted. There she is. Here. Council member Orlando here. Council member Harris here. Council member Hawkins here. We have a quorum.

Thank you so much. Our invitation tonight is going to be brought forth by Pastor Preston Dobbins of Bethl Sunrise Church and our pledge of allegiance by Council Member Harris. Pastor Well, uh good evening. As I was um just meditating on just a brief scripture to share um 1 Timothy 2 uh 1 through2 came to mind and I want to read it and um and this is what it says. says, "First of all, then I urge that all supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgiving be made for all people, for kings and all who are in high positions, that we may lead a peaceful and quiet life, godly and dignified in every way." And um and it really just struck me this time that to pray that life goes well for you guys and that as life goes well for you, life goes well for the city, life goes well for the state. and um I just wanna just pray for you by name. I was like, I want to pray for them by name. Like all their names are there. So awesome. And and so um that's what I felt led to do. So Father, in the name of Jesus, I just thank you um for these these council members, these leaders, God, um that they they're they are selfless. They have laid down their life uh for public service. And I just ask that you would uh pour back blessings upon them. uh pressed down, shaken together on Jennifer, on Kelly, on John, on Tad, on Jane, on Christine, on Angel, on Kevin, on Matt in the name of Jesus, on OD, on Jennifer, on Don, on Leah, and on Ryan. Father, I pray that you would bless them. Lord, I pray that you would bless every single thing that relates to them, their families, their marriages, their children. Lord, that everything

that is a weight and a burden on their hearts and on their minds, I pray that you would give them answers to their prayers. I pray that they would uh feel the the joy of your spirit as they serve. And I and I pray that this blessing would be upon them as I read it. The Lord bless you and the Lord keep you. The Lord make his face to shine upon you. The Lord be gracious to you and the Lord lift up his countenance upon you and the Lord give you peace in the name of Jesus. Amen. Amen. Amen.

Thank you, pastor. Please join me as we recite the pledge of allegiance. I aliance to the flag of the United States of America is scheduled public appearances. I'd like to invite Council Member Hawkins to come up. And council, please, when we do a photo here with some of these guys, please join up here as well. All right, first up is recognition of Basha High School football tonight. We've got the Basha Bears in the house. We're really excited to kick off the meeting to recognize these players and coaches who ended their season last year by winning their second open state football title in four years. Basha continues to stand out as one of Arizona's top high school football programs. And this title win marks a moment of tremendous pride for the team, the school, the entire commit Chandler community and the Chandler City Council. The hard work, discipline, teamwork, and dedication both on and off the field exemplify the spirit of excellence we're proud to celebrate in Chandler. So, congratulations, Basha Bears. Come on up, everybody.

Come on. All right. Normally, we say tall guys in the back. I don't know what we're gonna do here. So, I am I'm gonna be in the front. I can see this group. All right, coaches. Would uh either of y'all like to say anything? Any of our coaches?

Uh thank you to the city of Chandler, the council mayor for for recognizing these fine young men. This is um we've got a lot of kids. We got some kids that have already left and gone on to play at the next level. We got other kids that are currently participating in other sports. So, thank you gentlemen for showing up and thank you for for recogniz recognizing us and and thank you for the support whether it was directly or indirectly. Um uh it's you know we we do represent Bash High but we understand we we represent something larger as well and that's the city and um and uh we're proud to do that. Thank you very much.

All right, do you want to stand up? Get in this photo. Let's have y'all get into line for me.

Give him a round of applause.

Council, I can't really see you. I'm going to need you to come down. Come on down. Come on down, council.

And make sure you guys can see the photographers. Make sure you have a window.

Yeah. Can I come? I don't want to get cut off there. All right, ready everyone. One, two, three.

Okay, I think we're good. Thank you.

Thank you, Bash Bears. All right. Next, we have an I'm going to have you read the proclamation for we've got two disability awareness month. And um I understand we're going to read the proclamation first. Uh we do want to invite uh Bill Hespel, chair of mayor's committee for people with disabilities and other members that come on up to accept the proclamation. The mayor's committee for people with disabilities advocates for residents with all types of disabilities, celebrates their contributions, and works to expand opportunities for their success. And through their scholarship and stipen program, they also help increase access to education and employment in Chandler. Am I talking? Okay. Whereas more than 13% of the adults and children who live and work in Arizona communities have a disability and where as individuals and with disabilities are valued members of our community who contribute meaningful to its strength, diversity, and vitality. And whereas our community members are dedicated to promoting inclusion, awareness, empowerment so that every person is afforded equal opportunities, rights, and respect. And whereas it is our collective responsibility to champion the rights of people with disabilities, fostering

awareness and understanding of the challenges they face to create a more inclusive, educated, and accessible society. And whereas through education, advocacy, and collaboration, we strive to build a community that recognizes, celebrates, and supports the abilities and contributions of all individuals. Now therefore, Kevin Harky, mayor of city of Chandler, Arizona, do hereby proclaim the month of March 2026 as National Disabilities Awareness Month.

All right, we've got someone who would like to speak.

Sure, I will. Thank you so much for the proclamation, Mayor and Council. Thank you so much. Uh every year we give out awards to people that are really deserving that work so hard and people that have a a little bit of a disability. So we're today we're going to start off with employee of the year which is Natalie Tate. So, Natalie, I'm going to read a little bit about Natalie. Natalie has been a valued team member at Fry Store 668 for seven years. She was nominated by her supervisor for this award. Every day she brings a huge smile, a positive attitude, exceptional qualities like resilience, adaptability, problem solving, and focus. Her dedication not only supports a productive and positive workplace, but also makes her a role model for her colleagues. Her outstanding customer service, willingness to go above and beyond, and infectious work ethic has made a lasting impact on her co-workers and prize customers. Please join me in congratulating Natalie.

Hi, good evening and I would like to present the student of the year, Caleb Ginoaro, Arizona College Prep High School. So, I'll read a little bit about Caleb. Diagnosed with autism at age four, Caleb navigated multiple schools before successfully transitioning from private to public school where he excelled both academically and socially. Today, as a senior with a 3.92 GPA, very good. He is he is preparing to attend Arizona State University to study architecture. Caleb's journey reflects resilience, self- advocacy, and determination. As the inspiration behind positive friendships, he has helped shaped adaptive pet assisted activities that now benefit thousands. He has supported fellow students by sharing his experience, encouraging others to pursue their goals. Please join me in congratulating Caleb on this well-deserved honor. It is a great honor tonight to be presenting volunteer of the year, Gary Jansen. As a dedicated member of the recreation and athletics for individuals with disabilities board, also known as RAD, Gary is known as the quiet engine behind the scenes. He may not seek the spotlight, but he does the heavy lifting from securing unique raffle items to building connections at chamber and business alliance meetings. Gary works tirelessly to ensure athletes have the resources they need. He truly lives out the mission RAD pays so others can play. Removing financial barriers so inclusion

is always possible. Through his leadership on the golf scramble and bolathon committees, Gary has helped raise both funds and awareness, serving as a vital bridge between RAD and the Chandler community. He doesn't just give his time, he gives his heart. We are grateful for his dedication and the lasting impact he continues to have on our community. All right. Good evening. Uh, it's my honor to uh recognize the educator of the year, Denine Munt.

Denine serves seventh and eighth grade students at CUSD's Payne Junior High with a wide range of cognitive abilities. and she does so with extraordinary patience, skill, and heart. She meets each student exactly where they are while never losing sight of where they can go. Through every challenge, she remains a steady, encouraging presence, helping her students build confidence, independence, and belief in themselves. Denine is a powerful advocate for inclusion. She ensures her students are not only present in general education classrooms and campus activities, but truly included and valued. Because of her leadership, peers gain understanding, stigma is reduced, and a culture of respect and belonging grows stronger across the school. Denine's impact extends far beyond academics. She empowers students to find their voice, families to feel supported, and the entire community to better recognize the strengths and contributions of individuals with disabilities. Denine's work changes lives, and we are deeply grateful for her dedication. I am so very honored to recognize the disability ally of the year, Irma Andrade Garcia.

For the past decade, Irma, or Miss Irma, as her students refer to her, has been part of the Chandler Unified School District. For the last eight years, she's served as a special education bus driver, a role she treats as a calling. She understands that for many students with disabilities, the school day begins and ends on her bus. For parents of children with complex needs, the transition from home to school can be a source of great anxiety. Irma eliminates that stress through her kindness and professionalism. By greeting every student with a warm smile and personalized welcome, she sets a tone of inclusivity that stays with them all day. She acts as a vital team leader on her bus, collaborating with aids to ensure a safe and smooth environment. Her dedication has led to students who feel safe and are more ready to learn and families who feel heard and more connected to our community. Miss Irma exemplifies the spirit of Chandler by ensuring that our most vulnerable residents are treated with the highest level of respect, safety, and care. She doesn't just transport students, she champions their right to navigate their city with joy. Congratulations to all the 2026 disability awareness award winners.

All right, council. This is your disabilities uh commission. Why don't you come on down for a photo? If we could get you guys up front, all of our award winners, and uh direct us. Move on over this way more. Great. Great. And the commission and council, if you guys would get around them.

All right. Look at that paparazzi back there. All right. Move. Orlando double up or just come in a little bit more so you don't get Ready? One, two, three.

Okay, I think we're good. Thank you. Thank you all. Thank you.

All right, that concludes our up front. There's

right Chief Chapman, we've got a bottleneck of traffic in the back here. So

all right, council. Um before we um vote on the consent agenda, we have two items that have been called in as well as um one of them there were a couple board um um candidates here and I understand one is here. So a few are currently uh being voted on tonight. All right, Celia Ash from Economic Development Advisory Board. Thank you for coming. Yeah. Uh Mr. Bill. Mr. Bill would like to share his thoughts on item number four and 11. Please state your name. City of reference. You have up to three minutes to share your thoughts, sir. Port from Chandler. Um four and 11 are same ones I'm always talking about. These are the the canals that are operated by SRP. Um, and my I certainly am certainly in favor of having these uh canals and having being able to use them. Uh, my concern is is that again, city council, um, city manager, the city attorney, the the police department don't seem to get on board with their responsibilities. Uh, we need to spend a little bit more money here on patrolling and uh, putting up equipment. so that you can monitor these trails same as you do on each of the 230 red lights traffic signals in the city. Uh this isn't rocket science. You guys know how to do this. You're doing it already. Um but you don't seem to be willing to step up to it. So I'm opposed to both four and 11 until you you uh start uh accepting your responsibility for it. Thank you.

Thank you, sir. Um, council on the consent agenda, how would you like to proceed? Is there a motion? Council member Orlando, I move to approve the consent agenda February 26, 2026 regular meeting items 1 through 30. Is there a second? Second. Second. Oh, who'd you catch on that, sir? Council member Poston. All right, Council Member Poston. Well done. You snuck it in there. All right, we've got a motion and a second. Are there any recusals, explanations? Council, please vote.

Council member Ellis. Yes. Motion carries unanimously. Very good. Thank you. Council on action. We have um an item that'd like uh staff to give us an explanation on. uh there is the there is the possibility of of splitting this into two actions but I would like a presentation in general and then we'll see where we go any questions you have or would also be appropriate here after the presentation

good evening mayor and council it's great to be here at first I thought word got out that I was presenting tonight but it looks like that is not the case. Clearly, clearly it did.

Yeah. Ouch. All right. Touche, mayor. Touche. All right. Uh, so tonight I'm here to talk about an annual fee adjustment. This is resolution 5966, and we'll share some information of what the um possibilities are for these adjustments. Uh, just to keep in mind, we are doing a city-wide fee study. Um, and the purpose of that is just to really add methodology and clarity into some of the fees. uh talk about kind of a bigger policy picture on fees and you we will talk about some fees especially in the police department that were originally uh brought forward to you that have been removed and they're going to be part of that uh citywide fee study as we go throughout that the next year or so. So just an overview from a fee characteristics perspective. Uh fees really are assessed for use of facilities or services that benefit specific groups or individuals. uh and really they're made to charge those removing public space from availability for public or private use. They do provide partial or full cost recovery of the services being offered to those individuals or or entities or groups. Uh and the authority to charge the fee must exist in the city code and those are set by resolution as we're talking about tonight. Uh just as a reminder for the public, the difference kind of between our fees and taxes. uh taxes really the primary purpose of a tax is to raise general revenues used for general operations of the city, police, fire, streets, park improvements, all of those things. Uh whereas fees are really to recoup the cost incurred of providing specific services or privileges to individuals. So if they're using or taking a specific class, there's really an individual benefit versus a more global or community benefit. As far as the mandatory nature, taxes of course are mandatory. there's no opting out of paying the tax. Whereas fees, if you don't want those services, you don't have to pay those fees. So, there's a voluntary sense or uh to those fees. From a benefits received perspective, uh

taxes, the benefit is broad. Generally affects the the entire residents of the city of Chandler. They benefit from those whether directly or indirectly. Whereas a fee is uh there's a specific benefit to an individual or group. And then the use of funds, of course, taxes are deposited into the general fund to support wide ranging programs and infrastructure and fees are more restricted to cover kind of the cost of providing those services. And we do analysis on that periodically. And then that last one is really the important one, the impact on equity. uh really taxes broad-based taxation spreads across uh costs across the entire population. Whereas fees are really placed uh to ensure that that cost burden of those specific services aren't being paid for by broad users. They're paying being paid for by the individual users using that service. When we're talking about fees as a total revenue for the general fund for the city, uh you'll notice it's a very small component of our total general fund fees. Uh however, those costs are going to be spent by the city. So whether they're being spent from the revenues collected from these fees or by general tax revenues collected by the city, the expenses are going to remain there. This just helps offset so that those fees are being where those individuals having received direct support are paying for those. So annually we do review fees uh and we bring forward kind of the most pressing ones are the ones that uh really haven't been changed for many years or need to be changed. There's administrative changes that we bring forward. Uh we re make review of the cost recovery options and uh sometimes there's resident recommended changes which a couple of those are being presented tonight. Uh and sometimes it's to encourage compliance because we're seeing an issue or it's causing additional staff issues which there's one of those tonight as well. The department's proposing new fees tonight are cultural development, police, public works and utilities, and community services. For cultural

development, there's only it's three fees, but technically around one area. It's their temporary sales and promotional event permits. Uh there is currently a zero cost for those permits, and that will remain for any applicants that file for that permit within uh 60 days or uh more before their event. uh where they're running into problems is that if it becomes less than 60 days, there's additional staff time. Uh we have to kind of set aside other things that we're doing and focus on making sure that the event gets through and is approved. So, uh really this is to encourage compliance with that. The applicant should be filing 60 days or more before. Uh so there is a charge then if it's less than 60 days. Uh 46 to 59 days would be a $50 charge. 31 to 45 days would be a $100 charge and 20 to 30 days before the event would be a $200 charge.

M question. Do we ever say that um like this is 20 days before? Is there a point that we say I'm sorry you can't proceed with your event because you have not um done the necessary paperwork etc. What is when does that kick in if so?

Yeah, that's a great question mayor. Uh I learned that Monday night. That's a great question, mayor. Uh, so, you know, I think the the importance there is depending on the scope of that event. Some events are very small and they could, you know, 10 days before the event that could potentially go through and some are much larger where we need to have police review, we need to have fire review and other things like that which takes more time to get them through that process. So, depending on the event, sometimes the answer is yes, and sometimes the answer has to be no because there's just not enough time to make sure that that event is safe for our public. So we try to work with it and if it's just not possible like we've had I can recall last year a fairly high-scale event that was canceled because of this type of thing but others u it's not that big of a deal is what I think I heard you say.

Yep. Absolutely. Okay. Thank you.

For the police department they have uh two different fees coming forward. The first would change the video recording copies fee per report from $25, which is our their current fee, to $46 for up to the first hour, and then $46 prrated after the fact. It also would add a $10 letter letter of clearance fee to allow for the recovery of administrative costs associated with processing individual clearance requests. Uh just to put that in perspective. So the video recording copies that puts us in line at the same exact rate that $46 with Mesa, Gilbert, Tempe, Queen Creek, and just slightly above the Phoenix rate of $4266. Uh for the letter of clearance, also in the same vicinity as others, uh Mesa, Tempe are both at that $10. Phoenix is much higher at $28. Uh but that adds that fee to allow us to charge those individuals re receiving those clearance requests and um adding additional staff time to our days. Other administrative fees that were proposed were removed to allow time to review in that citywide policy to bring back forward direction. On the public works and utilities side, uh we've talked through the utility rate discussion on water and wastewater. um because those are set in in city code and these are in an the resolution and the fee schedule. These are brought forward kind of separately. They got a little out of sync. Uh typically we try to sync them up exactly, but with the dates and how things had to go, this got a little out of sync. But this is also related to our enterprise fund. So this is the public works and utilities solid waste enterprise fund. This would increase the monthly solid waste disposal fee from $20 to $215. Uh this is to reflect the 6% increase that's needed in that enterprise fund to keep it solvent. A $161 uh would is the current ALI solid waste customer additional cost and that would increase to the $1.71 which reflects the 6% as well. In addition to the general uh services that that enterprise fund

provides the increase there of 6% there's some additional fees that need to be increased as well. uh it would change the cost of solid waste containers from $148 to $150. That's what we charge to like a new build when they have to pay for the initial cans that are delivered to that residence. Uh our cost is $150. So this just resets it to our actual cost. It would change the special collection fee. Those costs have gone up from our uh the supplier that does those collections for us, waste management. So a one-time special curbside refuge container pickup currently costs $23.50 50 to the city and we're only charging $18.50 for those extra curbside pickups. Uh and that would be for example if you didn't roll your can to the street and it's full and you need us a a pickup on a separate day that you call us, we will send the truck out and there's an additional charge for that because it's not in the regular route of collection. Uh or if you have family in town and it's not your regular collection day but you need a collection, you would pay that and that's just recouping the the charge to us. Uh similarly on the onetime special alley refuge container pickups, $35 is the current fee we're currently being charged by waste management 4150. And then additional bulk material pickups would change from $35 to 43. Again, that's the cost that's being charged to the city. So we're just recouping those costs, keeping in mind that there are four free either bulk material collections that uh residents can have annually or uses of the uh solid waste recycling center. So, and it's any combination of four. You know, you could do two bulk and two RSWCC visits or four of each. Either one. Uh, this would be for those that are charged additionally above and beyond the the four free. Additionally, there would be a change to the residential use of the recycling solid waste collection center fee from $50 per ton to $70 per ton, which reflects the actual cost of removing that waste from the facility and delivering it to uh the facilities that

where I don't know where trash goes, but it's out somewhere else from here. So, it cost us $70 to deliver that. That just recoups that cost. Uh and it would also change the city service per ton fee. So, if community services is doing a a big cleanup and they bring a lot of trash that also goes to our RSWCC, they pay the same rate as a resident would, and that would adjust to $70 to reflect the cost that we currently pay. Uh, it would also change that cost. If residents go in with up to 400 pounds of materials, they currently pay $10 above and beyond their four free visits. Uh that would change to $14 which reflects the $70 per ton cost

community services. Number Orlando. So these fees here these are um per contract. So a lot of these fees are increased just because our contract with the haulers have increased. Right. Yeah. Through the mayor council member Orlando. That's correct. So we have contracts with haulers for waste management as well as out of our RSWCC facility. And those contracts have built-in escalators. So, this reflects the the new costs of those contracts. And there's nothing in here about um hazardous waste disposal. Correct. That's correct. There is nothing in here that that has any uh cost associated with a hazardous household hazardous waste collection.

Yeah, because I understand that's pretty expensive with having to wear suits and things like that. Okay. Thanks. May I have a question too? Have we ever considered um you mentioned increasing costs for late trash pickup of could that be one of their four freeze as opposed to it's certainly less expensive than a rolloff or other things if we ever I'd like us to look into that. Leave it at that. Just to point that out, mayor. So if I I need an extra curbside collection, it's $23.50. Uh whereas the bulk is $43. But if we were to say add it as an additional instead of for bulk or RSWCC, you could also have that as an option. We can definitely look into that

because I know most people in our city probably do not do a bulk pickup or or perhaps don't go there. But I I think if we're raising this fees, but also acknowledging that we're offering this to some residents, it might be this is a way I I I think of making it equitable to the rest of the city. So if we could look into that. Yeah, we can definitely and when I say we, I mean Jeremy Abbott there. So, hello. We Yeah, thank you.

All right. Community services is the uh final area in which there's some proposed changes. Uh fees were not adjusting just to make sure that that's clear. Any entrance facility facility entrance fees, swimming fees, library use, uh non-exclusive use of facilities, we're just focused on the exclusive use. And this is where we have a couple of fees that have been brought forward by residents. for example, uh a new archery range tournament fee. We've had requests to do tournaments at the archery range as well as our pickleball courts, uh which are fantastic. There's a little picture there of them. Uh but because we don't have a fee in the fee schedule to charge for tournaments, we can't kind of set aside some dedicated space for them to set up and and house tournaments uh there. So, this fee would these both of these fees would be new and allow us to uh meet that request that we have from our residents to have hold tournaments. Uh there's a resident, non-resident, and commercial rate. Uh on the archery range, there's a minimum of four hours. And then the uh the rate for pickleball tournament would be per court depending on the size of the courts. Uh but in discussion with community services, they would never uh rent out more than half of the facility for a tournament. And I'm just going to check that's correct. Okay, very good. Uh from a cost recovery perspective, there are a few in uh recreation services. Uh these relate to some of the community programming and specialized fitness programs that we have here. Again, this is to ensure that uh when I take a Zumba class or photography class or a martial arts class that the residents of Chandler aren't subsidizing me, that I'm paying for that the costs of those classes that I'm taking. So, community programming classes, we currently have a formula. This just adjusts the formula. There's a multiplier that was $2.75. We'll go up to $3.75. And with that change, that allows us to um pay for the increased wages that we're paying our current class

instructors. Uh there's also a an increase to the admin charges uh from $3 to $5 on the on the specialized fitness class. Uh same kind of formula is in place here where we were charging kind of the multiplier at $4.50 50 cents would go to $550. Uh and then that admin charge of $3 would go up to $5. And really that's to better reflect the actual costs of these classes and make sure that we're recovering that from the participants of the class versus the general public. On the recreation side, additionally, we have some educational exploration costs. Uh with the cost increases for the staffing and materials that are supplied for these uh it is recommended that these fees go up for up to 30 students from $65 to 78. Uh for non-residents $88 to 106 31 to 60 students from $169 to 203. Non-residents from $229 to $275. And then up to 91 to 61 to 90 students $283 to 340. and non-residents 383 to 460. Again, this is to have staff guide uh kind of this exploration uh have some materials. They spend time with them and depending on the number of students dictates how many staff members need to be there uh as they're there. Of course, they can also go to the the nature center for free and walk around without any kind of guided tour or additional um staff costs associated, but if they want to have kind of that exploration kind of experience, then there is a cost for that. And then this would change our birthday party packages uh for one to 10 children from there's a variety of different birthday packages. So uh there's kind of a standard which gives you a room and staff to kind of lead the birthday party and do some games and some decorations. There's a nature option that has a little bit higher cost, a sporttacular fun option, uh which sounds great to me.

and then a creative delight outdoor bounce main event or a theme option birthday party. So these are all uh I want to have a birthday party for my child or my spouse and I would like to have the city staff set up the room and decorate the room and provide entertainment or games for the room and have some staff members there that are running that so I can just kind of relax with my uh whoever I'm having the birthday party with and let city staff take care of that. So in an effort to ensure that uh those individuals requesting those services are paying for them, this increases those costs to more better articulate or show what our actual costs are. Uh from a timeline perspective, the majority of the uh timeline has been complete with tonight being the action item after we posted these fees online. Uh the only we did receive two comments online, but both of them were just questions about how do I find fees in the fee schedule, which we answered. None of them were negative towards the recommended fees or changes. Uh the if this were to pass tonight, the effective date of these fees would go into effect March 2nd, 2026. Uh in line with our other utility rate changes. And with that, we'll answer any questions.

All right. Thank you. Um, so we really have four categories and it it seems to be recovering real cost on all these certainly with trash, but all the others is to be in line with other cities or to and and again I appreciated the difference between fees and taxes. Your opening slide, council, how would you like to proceed, mayor? Council member Orlando.

Um, these are two separate entities. One was a contractual obligation and one is more at council discretion. Um what I'd like to do is propose that we do se two separate motions here. One to honor the contract obligation we have which is the uh public works and utility departments and then the second one with the uh community services, culture development, police uh fees. Do we need a motion here or can we at the mayor discretion divide this into two parts? City attorney.

Mayor, if I may, uh, council member Orlando, you can just make a motion to approve one set and then consider the next set after that. You don't have to make a motion to separate. Okay, got it. So, mayor, I move that we move we approve the public works and utility department's fee structure effective March 2nd, 2026. There's a motion. Is there a second? Second. Second. Any conversation? Seeing none, council vote on the first part of this. Council member Ellis. Yes. I'm trying.

Motion carries unanimously.

All right. Thank you. Um and then there's a second motion, mayor. So um at our last work session there was a lot of discussion on rates utilization between residents and non-residents and uh as I start looking at that and thinking about that I thought it might be an idea that um we look at the fee structure a little bit differently this time um and one of the things that uh and again there's a lot of discussion about u existing rates and how we could give some reprieve to our residents versus non-residents. Um, you know, we do this slight retrieve with property taxes like the primary tax and we'll keep it flat which gives some folks a benefit but others are not benefit. So my thoughts was to make a motion here tonight and I'm I'll make the motion if we have a second that's great. Then we have discussion on it. Um, but my motion is this. move to approve the city fee structure related to community services, cultural development, and police and any existing fee that has a um a resident and non-resident structure that we continue with the current resident fee structure and raise the proposed non-resident fee structure. So, in other words, we keep the residence as is and then we would move to just increase the non-resident fee structure in order to again uh let the individuals that are using our facilities pay additional costs. So, council member Orlando, would that we have a motion? There's a motion. Is there a second?

We can talk. Second. Second by council member Poston. So this would would this affect police where there is no delta where there is just the recording? This would not affect the the late fees on culture. Correct. This would not affect the public works. It would only affect some of the community services, not necessarily archery or pickle ball. It's it's it would be more of the wrecks, the parks, the the parties, those types of things. Everything else in your proposal, it would be to pass as presented. Is that correct? Correct.

Okay.

Correct. Um tell me from step is there a problem with this motion that that you see in basically whenever there's a party keeping residents flat and then everything else passing through are we able to track those kind of things or give us I'm going to look at John on most of those I think uh on for for the classes I know that's a formula and then residents get a reduction so if we were to change the formula uh in effect it would still because it's non-resident formula, it would still in effect affect the residents as well because the non-resident cost would go up and we give a discount off that non-resident rate. But I'll let John speak to that to make sure I'm saying it right.

Excellent. you did and uh and the philosophy. So in 2008 uh council adopted and through through city staff this uh pricing policy primarily for the recreation services and that is the premise that the and you did a great job kind of covering what the subsidy would necessarily be is that for the accelerated types of programs or the exclusive use programs those are designed to cover 100% of the related costs with them. So, the birthday parties and the um exploration we have proposed and knowing that we have the citywide fee policy discussion underway, I've put forward a 20% increase recognizing how far off we've been. So, it's a 20% increase uh as proposed uh over what has been historically not changed since 2008. Uh so the recognition of uh paying the staff increases that we have over time and certainly recognizing the increased cost for supplies and other things uh was is why this piece is here. Now to hit the question mayor council member Orlando we can do that uh but it would give us some ne some gap in how to create the uh the non-resident versus the resident especially with the formulas. So, I I would have to go back and really kind of figure what that would ultimately look like for the grid uh pricing that we have that 20% increase certainly simple to change the non-resident and the corporate rate. Leave the resident alone. I will say that the majority of our users are residents that are paying these. So, I think that to capture any additional revenue to to offset those increased costs, that would be a challenge. In essence, we would be subsidizing those residents for the exclusive use of the birthday parties and the exploration exploration uh programming.

Council member Orlando

and John, I appreciate that. And you know, my my obligation was to fix this thing permanently and I know city manager had discussion as well as others. Um, council members, what I'd like to see is come back um shortly, next five to six months with a longterm plan of what we could do with these fixed fee structure. I know you're working on some parks plans now. Other departments are working on their plans. We just had a strange discussion. They're working on plans. And what I'm trying to do is try to keep this from being a peacemail approach and take a look at this from holistic approach. So my my desire and hopefully the council is agrees is that over the next six months, you know, from the time we get this budget done because we have a good feel for what that will look like that sometime in the fall you come back to this council and say here's our fee structures, here's our goals and our objectives and this we want to do and then I I think I feel more comfortable going back to the res say look we did a comprehensive review and this is who's using it who's not using it, when it's being used, how it's being used, what fields are being used, who's privately, you know, we have some out, we have for-profit organization that are taking, you know, fields Friday and Saturday and Sunday. How do we fit them into the process? And yet I have a soccer game that the field is being overly used, yet the other field is in great shape. So all I want us to do is take a holistic approach to this and instead of peacemailing this John and give our res a small break while we do this study. Does that makes That's all I want. That's what my desire here tonight.

Certainly understood. Council additional questions or comments? Yeah. My problem with this is again we are get right to you is it in essence these these are not like taxes that you mentioned with property because

these are someone could go out to veterans oasis and have a birthday party in a romata but if they're asking staff or extra services I that's where I I don't mind our our residents pay because it's it's it's it's not like uh it's an option for them and I I would like to see the options pay for themselves rather than us further subsidizing. I understand what you're saying and and I don't know what the timeline is on that and I would certainly support that as well to make sure. Uh I was been out at soccer fields not long ago and I had people asking me about the status and seemed like they were getting beat up, you know, again with the amount of play. So, I I I like I like the fact that we're establishing new things, but I I certainly I don't see this as taxes. This is just asking people to pay for the services and they can opt in or opt out. So, I don't think I'm in line with that with what you're asking, but it's it's a vote we'll vote on. Council member Ellis.

Thank you, Mayor. I am asking myself at this time what is when did we go home because I believe that staff has been established very clearly for us why this is needed at this time was was that a question to staff I'm sorry council member Ellis did we lose you I'm speaking Can Can't you hear me? I We didn't hear you for about 30 seconds there. You said something about doing this at this time and then you went silent.

Okay. Well, I'm I'm going to hold on to the phone to make sure that you can hear me very clearly. Can you hear me now? Yes.

Hello. Okay. Yes. Thank you. Uh my concern is that if we keep sending this thing back to start knowing what the needs are right now in order for us to continue with the enterprise which is a fee for service process that we have already established. And if we decide that certain people can pay and other people cannot pay then we are going to discourage others from coming from other places to use our facilities in Chandler which is not going to work for us either because they they are saying okay why do they have to come to Chambler to spend money if we are going to god them where our residents are not getting getting also the same fee. Uh the numbers were very clear. These were not fees that we were trying to give put on residents that were going to destroy their budget. It was it was just to recoup barely but incur when a staff is helping practice at time or use in order for that to happen. So I am not in agreement of us changing this whole process in order for us to make sure that others pay more than than than certain other people. We went back we looked at not increase for kids. We looked at the the the pool. We said we were not going to increase pool fees to a place where the kids we will subsidize kids. Nobody will be turned away. We did all of those things. It's been almost a year and a half that we've been working on this to make sure. So at this time I I am willing to move forward. The resident of Chandler have been educated on this. They understand that this is inflation time. Everybody have to pay a little bit more. And so this is where I stand on that. As far as for John, the

questions that I have right now, you mentioned uh about going back to the table to try to reconfigure a formula in order for us to recoup who's going to pay more and who's not. How long did that take for us to do that? Through the mayor, council member Ellis, I believe that over the next two weeks, we could have have that solved. It's not a not a difficult but to try to do that on the fly that would be the challenge and for action tonight would be very difficult.

Oh and then my my my thing is that we move forward. I mean, I would love for us to move forward with this and then go back and check and see how can we amend it later or if it's not working and if we get residents that are having issues with this, then we can go back and we look at it again because we done the work in order for us to get where we are right now. That that's my that's my take on it. Mayor, thank you. Um, council, any other thoughts before we vote? Council member Harris.

Yeah, Mayor. Um, you know, I'm not I'm not I'm just going to keep keep it. I've been very consistent about these fees. John know it. It has nothing to do with John or anything like that. I think that inflation has really kicked our butt. And this is this is a direct impact of inflation and things of that nature. But yet, I still feel like the residents should still remain the same. people who come into our community outside if John if it gets worse and it just gets there's just this monumental difference I I think is worth coming back and having another conversation about it. I I've been very consistent about the fact that because inflation have been so great um the our people deserve to have more money back in their pocket to the best of their ability. I mean we're dealing with everyone. I I would rather see people who are outside the community pay more and for to give our residents at least another break for another 12 months as we try to recover from this economic disaster that we're in right now. Um economy is great in Chandler, but it's just a overall just all the tariffs and all this other stuff that's going on. Um but I would I would want to support my residents and just keep it the same. Um let's get more education out there. just continuing to get more education out there and let them know like, hey, this could come soon. I know that we're going to have to do it, but we've got a lot of stuff going up. I just think that this may be a way to uh keep the residents the same for a little while longer and until we have to come back and and have another approach. But I know that this is without an absolute what I'm saying. I know that's going to have to come back eventually again. But maybe now there we can start with the non-residents and then we'll have to continue to have conversation with the residents and moving forward. So that's kind of where I'm at uh right now at at this point. Um not to say that it's a no issue, but I am saying that it's we need to get relief back to the residents for now.

Thanks, Mayor. Um I I see our deputy director wanting to input your uh yes u mayor and council member Orlando. I guess I just would ask for clarification for the new fees, the new archery range and pickle ball tournament because a resident fee currently does not exist. That's right. I think my motion had existing fees. Existing. Okay. Existing fees. Yeah. So, those would be allowed. They're okay.

They would. All right. Thank you, sir. I also from what I I stated earlier I I think his fees anytime there was not a differentiation between for example the cultural late fees on on events or the police use or or public works or well that's already taken care of but those ones is not part of his motion to to bifurcate the residence from that. This would only affect specific fees where it's currently identified as resident, non-resident. Am I correct on that, Council Member Linder? Okay. All right. Did I hear you have a mayor over here? Council member Cost.

Thank you. Um I have two qu a couple of questions. One, if I I am in agreement with uh Council Member Orlando and Council Member Harris. when you do come back and maybe you have this tonight. Could we also talk about the total dollar amount that we're looking at? Um because I I believe that we're looking at, you know, the idea that we're providing a bit of a subsidy to our residents for some of the costs of these programs. So, if we could also get the total dollar amount, I think that would give us a broader understanding of how this fits in the overarching budget.

And then, this is a bit of a separate question, but it was back on the pickle ball courts and the archery. And I made a note here. There was a resident and a non-resident and a commercial and these were specific to tournaments. Can you maybe give me an example of when a resident might host an a tournament? That to me really seems like a specifically commercial activity. Council member, I could give you one is uh many of us were at Ascend's breakfast this morning, several of us, and Ascend has approached me and said we want to do a fundraiser for Ascend.

Okay. and uh and to to around pickle ball, but right now there is not the capability as or a fee structure for them to do. Would they be considered a resident then a resident tournament as a nonprofit organization in our community? Yes. Okay. So, you're looking at maybe nonprofits and different organizations that might want to be doing that or it could be your family decides you have everybody coming in posting pickle ball tournament pickle. We're so down. All right. Be a tournament as well. All right. Anything additional that you'd like to add?

Well said, Mayor Council Member Poston. Yes, that's that's the perfect example. Whether it be families, this gives us the flexibility of the half the courts, the nine up to nine courts, and we've had significant number of requests. There's commercial, there's the nonprofit, which we have the policy already in place for those types of discounts um associated with, but the getting it on the books so that we can navigate this next year of pickle ball mayhem. Okay. Uh and we'll figure it out and if we need to make changes in the future, we'll bring that forward.

Yeah. My request to that would be that I hate to open up these beautiful pickle ball courts that everybody has been looking forward to so much and I know they're very very popular. I would love to get an update at a time that you think it's appropriate whether it's 6 months or 12 months, maybe six months and just see how the program is going. I know there's some management in there, but I'd hate to get those resident complaints because we're now taking out this wonderful amenity that they've been waiting for for so long. So, if we could just kind of keep that in mind and let us know how it's going. Indeed. And John, this wouldn't necessarily just be tumble weed, right? We've got courts at Arrowhead. Do we have others that that someone could reserve or just those two facilities?

We would primarily look at those uh those two facilities where we have additional courts. So perhaps three courts at Arrowhead or nine courts at Tumbleeed. And uh those are the only real complexes that we have. Okay. Uh Vice Mayor, did you have a comment. No. Okay. All right. So, approving this motion takes out the discretionary fees of residents for parties and other things. Not approving it would then result in having to make another motion. Is that correct, city attorney? All right. Yes, that is absolutely correct, Mayor. All right. Council, please vote.

Council member Ellis. No.

Motion carries by majority with Mayor Hartkey voting no and council member Ellis voting no. All right. Thank you, council. Next on our agenda is a public hearing for the proposed local alternative expenditure limitation home rule option election. This is our second public hearing. So I'd like to open the public hearing and once again Sylvia Dat, our budget and research administrator will eloquently explain this. Sylvia,

thank you. Good evening, mayor, members of council. Tonight is the second public hearing for the proposed local alternative expenditure limitation called home rule option for the city of Chandler. On June 3rd, 1980, the state of Arizona placed a new expenditure limitation on cities and towns. The Arizona Constitution sets a maximum spending limit based upon a formula incorporating the expenditure level from fiscal year 197980 adjusted for annual increases in population and inflation. The formula the formula also allows for some expenditure exclusions. The constitution also provides several alternatives to the state and post spending limitations. a one-time override, local expenditure limitation known as home rule, and permanent adjustment of the base limit. Chandler has always opted for the local expenditure limitation, home rule option. Residents approval of home rule gives the city council the authority to make its budget decision based upon revenues available in service amenities desired by the citizens of Chandler rather than being held to a state formula based on the 1980 budget. Chandler voters have approved the home roll option 11 consecutive times since 1982, most recently in August 2022 that began with fiscal year 2223. The approval is good for four budget years. So the 2022 approval of home rule covers us through the upcoming fiscal year 2627 budget. The next home rule would then start with the fiscal year 2728 budget. Two public hearings are required. Monday night was the first of those hearings and tonight is the second one. Following this second public hearing, council will be asked to vote on a resolution to place a home roll on the

general election ballot on November 3rd. The council vote requires a twoth3 majority to approve the resolution and put the item on the ballot. That's five out of seven votes. If and when placed on the ballot, it needs a majority of those voting to approve.

The preliminary financial implications of operating without home rule are shown here. The state computed limit takes the 1978 population and the 1980 budget and applies a formula of population growth and inflation to come up with a comparable budget of about $350 million. In addition to this base amount, cities are allowed to spend bond proceeds, interest, income, federal grants, and some other revenues, which do not count against the spending limit and make the amount that can be spent higher, bringing the local state maximum to about $873 million. When comparing this to the city's anticipated fiscal year 2728 expenditures of about 1.1 billion, the preliminary projected amount over the state limits is about $232 million. Without approval of the home roll option, the city would need to reduce budgeted expenses by this amount. If the city were to not go forward with home rule, we don't know exactly which programs or services would be impacted. But some of the types of things that might be impacted are shown here on this slide. Of course, none of this would happen without working through a full process with the city manager, mayor, and council. It is important to note that home rule does not increase taxes. Without home rule, revenue will continue to be received, but it would not be able to be spent based on the state imposed expenditure limit. Lastly, I want to show you an abbreviated version of the home rule election schedule. There are actually many more administrative steps in the process, but I boiled it down to the key dates that are shown here. The first public hearing was on Monday. The second public hearing is tonight. Immediately after, a resolution will be presented for adoption during a special meeting

on July 21st. We will send off the financial worksheets to the state auditor general. The argument filing period is July 6th through August 5th. In July, we will be working with the city clerk to prepare the voting pamphlet. And these pamphlets will go out September 22nd after approval by the auditor general. Then we will end with a home roll item on the general election ballot on November 3rd. This concludes the public hearing presentation. And just as a followup from the meeting on Monday, there was a question about the 22 election and the number or the percentage of votes um that approved um home rule and it was 86.4%.

Are there any questions? Council, any questions for Sylvia on home roll? Seeing none. Oh, I'm sorry. Council member Hawkins. Thank you. I did have one question. You said we can still receive um the monies, but we just can't spend it. Correct. Did I hear that correctly? So, what happens to those funds while they're just sitting idle for the year and then or I guess for how long would that be? What would that look like worst case?

Yes. So, if we didn't have the avail the um possibility of spending above the expenditure limit, those funds would stay in our fund balance until we had the authorization to spend them. Okay. Uh through the mayor, council member Hawkins, uh we would invest them obviously so we could earn interest, but we would not be able to go back to the voters until the next election. So it would be a period of time where we would have to come up with a reduced service plan because we would be capped at that um really kind of artificial state limit.

Does that help? Yes, actually that answers my question perfectly. Um, and so you're saying uh it would be a two-year time span essentially before we would be able to look at that again through the mayor, council member Hawkins. That's correct. Okay. All right. But there is a third option for one-time override. So chances are we wouldn't want to wait the full two years for the regular election. So the one-time override I believe you can do in an off election year, an uneven year. So, um, we would probably opt for that one. You betcha. But it would be a year.

And Donor Sylvia, how many other cities uh currently uh use home rule? I mean, what are what's the what's our our peers with us? Mayor, I believe it's around 46 or 45 46 I recall. And the others because of size, it's just not an issue. our our income generation if you're in a US TUS or or Taylor where your budget might be more constrained. It fits within the state formula. Is that more likely?

Um well, from the different options that there are, the ones that have the state limit, the state and post limit is about eight of them. And it's likely because they are a smaller size and they don't have the growth perhaps that other cities do. And then the others have they they've gone on to do the permanent solution. That is corre. Okay. Very good. Okay. Seeing no additional questions, is there any discussion from the audience on this? Seeing none, I'd like to close the hearing. But before I gave out, also on this agenda, Council Member Harris had a question on item number 33.

Yeah, thank you, Mayor. I just kind of wanted to call um Chief Shelloski up real quick. Um Jason Sloki, just real quick um is in regards to the um items that is coming up in terms of St. Patty's Day for the extension of time for licensed liquor permits um to 2 o'clock a.m. And I guess my question um thank you chief for being here. Thank you.

Um just just wanted to I know St. Patties is a big day that's normally coming up and I know that on this agenda there are a couple of businesses that is asking for the extension of time and I just kind of wanted to you know ask you from a safety perspective. St. Patty's Day, the a big day where they like to join the Irish. And I just kind of want to know from your perspective, you know, have we have you seen issues? Are we ready to go um if we say yes? Because that's going to put more people in our downtown area. And I just kind of wanted to know that we're ready to go to deal with whatever we got to deal with if we say yes to these extension of time for the for the permits for liquor liquor license permits extensions.

Uh through the mayor, council member Harris. Yes, we're absolutely ready for any issues that may arise um both on St. Patrick's Day and really any day of the year. Um our department is resourced extremely well um thanks to the support of council and certainly our community. Um between the real-time operations center, um our DUI enforcement squad has a robust task force annually on St. Patrick's Day as well as many of the other holidays that are associated commonly with alcohol consumption that is not only unique to the city of Chandler, but it's also in partnership with other East Valley cities. So, Gilbert, Scottdale, Phoenix, uh, Mesa, Gilbert, Queen Creek, all those agencies partake and we all also share and kind of collectively gather our resources to ensure that everyone's able to safely move about the streets of the community. Um, as far as downtown, our bike our bicycle patrol team is going to be out and about as they always are on these holidays, just ensuring everyone has a safe but also good time.

Okay. Thank you. I just wanted to make sure because I know that um a couple of the businesses actually Saturday the actually starting Friday, March 13, 2026, 10:00 a.m. to 2:00 a.m. Saturday, March 14, 2026 from 10:00 a.m. to 2 a.m. And then Tuesday, March 17, 2026 from 10:00 a.m. till 2:00 a.m. And um I think there is another business that's going to be doing something on March 17th 10:00 a.m. to midnight. Uh and the others seems to be pretty standard, but I just kind of wanted to make sure that we're ready to go because if we, you know, saying yes and moving forward with thisformational information that you guys would be ready to go for three event three straight adventure days uh to 2 am in the morning. So being downtown and you know everyone's celebrating the Irish, you know, so Okay. Well,

absolutely. You're ready to go? Absolutely. Okay. All right. That Well, thanks, Mayor. That's all I have. Council member Harris, I'm part Irish, and I'm not ready to go till 2 am on any of those nights. But thank you. Thank you, Chief. Irish. Council, uh, we do have a a second special meeting, but that concludes our regular meeting. Welcome to the city of Chandler special meeting. I'd like to call this meeting to order. Clerk, please take the role. Mayor Hartkey here. Vice Mayor Incas here. Council member Poston here. Council member Ellis here. Council member Orlando here. Council member Harris here. Council member Hawkins

here. We have a quorum. Thank you, council. We have one action item on uh this special meeting which is recommending the continuation of local alternative expenditure limitation or the home rule option that was just explained. Since that was just explained, there's not a need for presentation. Council, how would you like to proceed on resolution number 5988? Mayor. Council member Orlando, I'd like to resol approve resolution number 5988 recommending the continuation of local alternative expend limitation home rule um be submitted to the voters of Chandler on the general election schedule for November 3rd, 2026. All right, we have a motion. Is there a second?

Second. Second by council member Hawkins. Council, please vote. Vice or council member Ellis? Yes. Motion carries unanimously.

Very good. Council, we do have two unscheduled public appearances. Mr. Bill also collect connected with that box. Let me invite up Mr. Bill. Sir, you have up to three minutes. This is unscheduled meaning that we cannot engage you but we listen to you and staff will respond accordingly. Brook from Chandler. So uh tonight I'm going to be talking about the April 5th 2025 uh annual 17th annual Chandler family bike ride. And it was at that event when someone who was at the time unknown to me but has uh subsequently been identified uh encouraged people to ride their electric bikes on the canal which is against the law u unlawful. So um I have some questions some terms I I guess I would like to have uh perhaps the city manager put something together for me uh for everyone here. Um, so the first term is suborn and the the dictionary definition is to encourage someone to break the law. So when this person spoke on April the 5th, 2025, was that person suborning uh criminal trespass, is there such a thing? Um, second, because this person was standing next to the mayor at the time, uh, one might assume that there was the color of authority. That is to say that she spoke with the authority of the city when she said so. Now, of course, she doesn't have the right to over override federal or state law, which is what she was doing. So, uh if you could address that. A third is a conspiracy. Um since she did not come up

with this on her own, uh someone told her, uh that this what she said would be appropriate. uh was there a conspiracy at that time? Um second is uh next is is it an accessory before the fact? Because it sounds like there was a discussion of this before it happened. So is there is there an issue with uh with an accessory before the fact and since no one was arrested or even warned or even any discussion of this during the uh uh the event, is there an accessory after the fact? That is to say, did the police department uh participate as as as accessories the six police uh officers who were on bicycles at the time who did not do anything about it? Is that an accessory after the fact? And then my my final term is is respect. Now, there's respect me having respect for you, for the city, for council, for the police department, but there's also the respect in the other direction. I mean, I've I've filed a thousand complaints and absolutely nothing has been done about it. Does that reflect respect for me? Does it reflect respect for SRP, uh, the Bureau of Reclamation and the Department of the Interior, they have told me in no uncertain terms that they want the patrol, they want the canal patrolled, and they don't want electric bikes on the canal. So, my question for you is that, does that reflect respect from the city of Chandler to them? Thank you.

Our next speaker is Mr. Thane Martin. Mr. Martin, you have up to three minutes. Please state your name and city. Uh again, we cannot engage you, but we can listen. The floor is yours, sir. Thank you. Good evening, Mayor and members of the council. My name is Thane Martin and I'm a homeowner here in Chandler. I'm here tonight because approximately a little over a year ago, I stood here before this body to formally bring forward a nuisance bird issue that has materially impacted not only my home but those of my neighbors and the quality of my life.

At that time, I followed the process. I raised the concern publicly. I provided information. I made myself available for followup. I trusted that the city would do what it entrusted to do, to protect me, the homeowner, to evaluate the concern and take reasonable steps to protect the residents who live here and to invest sustained substantially into this community through our taxes, through our hard work, and through our upkeep. At a council meeting in October of 2024, my wife Joy stood and addressed you. The mayor publicly committed that someone would be assigned to reach out and follow up with us. that gave myself and my neighbors some confidence of some progress was going to be made. I did hear from Councilman Orlando. I thank you. I did get an email from a uh the city attorney uh that went nowhere. Um however, let's go here. The only follow-up that I've had received has has just been it's crickets. You guys are doing nothing to help me as a homeowner. Absolutely nothing. I've I've done everything I've you've asked me to do and yet you're not protecting me in my home. Okay. So, the issue involves sanitation because the flock has gotten bigger now. Okay. And now I'm dealing with rodents on my barbecue grill. I have to clean it every time I bake food. If that was your barbecue grill, would you be doing something about it? Because quite frankly, I'm disgusted. I elected you people and you're doing nothing to help me. So, what are we going to do about it? Because I'm not going away until this is solved. It is a public problem. It is a nuisance problem. Other cities have taken care of this issue and the city of Chandler does nothing. It is not acceptable and I will be here every meeting until you address my concerns. Thank you very much.

Thank you, sir. City manager, um would you please address the the council? Let us know um I I know there's been conversations with neighborhood services requests, etc. And u if you could give us an update on the progress of where the city has been with this, we'd all appreciate it. Mayor, council, the the city staff has taken this issue very seriously. We have a proposed ordinance to bring forward to you. We need to schedule the time on work session. As you know, during the budget season, your work sessions are very heavy, but we have an ordinance ready to bring forward to you on this this very issue.

Great. Thank you so much, Castle. That's it for unscheduled public appearances. Next is current events. I'll start. Uh what an outstanding weekend it was with our Chandler Innovation Fair. Um I saw Council Member Poston out there. Uh I want to give a shout out to our economic development team. Last week we held our 15th annual innovation fair and it was an amazing success. There were over 160 exhibits. We had hundreds of Chandler students and families that joined us for a day of innovation and exploration. Want to give a huge shout out to Odet who leads the annual charge and the rest of the economic development team for their efforts in putting together this amazing event. While it's no easy feat, the event has become a hallmark for Chandler. Uh really the the the the groundwork and status of every city that would like to do, reflecting the bold innovation, entrepreneurial energy that defines our community. So, thank you team Chandler and all that were involved with this. Secondly, I do want to let you know applications are open for a few of our signature teen programs that council is excited about. First, our spring break teen program, the teen leadership academy, is now accepting applications. This is facilitated facilitated by the mayor's youth commission. It teaches Chandler high schoolers about the importance of civic engagement and professional development and facilitates connections through the teen community. We're also looking for the next group of bright teens to serve on the mayor's youth commission. Applications are online and open through March 31st, and selected commissioners will have the opportunity to learn more about their city government, uh, serve their community, and engage in

professional development in opportunities. So, I encourage our Chandler teens to learn more to apply to one or both of these opportunities. Then lastly, excited to remind us that the the Chandler Chamber Ostrich Festival is right around the corner. It's now hosted at Rawhidede Western Town and Event Center. The festival is back for two weekends on March 13 through 15 and March 20 through 22nd. The Ostrich Festival has long been one of our most cherished traditions and we're excited to see what's in store this year. Council member Poston.

Thank you, Mayor. So, um, in February, we had a series of absolutely amazing Black History Month events. So, I just want to talk about one today that I was very proud to attend and um, I was able to meet along I know the vice mayor was there along with council member Harris, but we were able to eat meet the family of EMTT Till and the family of his mother, um, my Till Mobley. And we read a pl I got to read a proclamation declaring today EMTT Till and my Till Mobly Legacy Day in Chandler. There's also a companion piece, a mural that's opening in downtown Phoenix. It was absolutely a beautiful event along with so many others during the month of February. The final Black History Month event is this weekend 11 o'clock Saturday at Tumbleeed Recreation Center and there is a tribute to the women of the civil rights movement. So, I highly encourage you to attend. Each one of these events has been absolutely outstanding. But this particular event is a nice segue to next month's um celebration because it is women's history month. And that's that's sort of an issue that is near and dear to my heart. So, that being said, I wanted to point out a really wonderful celebration for the entire country just for Women's History Month. I want to point out that women dominated the Winter Olympics this year. Um, we did amazing. Uh, I just read that they the women were responsible or contributed to 21 of the 33 medals for Team USA and eight out of 12 gold medals. So, pretty amazing for the women. Um, and so when you consider, I pulled up a couple of facts that when you consider until the 70s, women pretty much had to have permission um from their husbands to open their own bank account. Um, until 1978, women could

legally be fired for being pregnant. And until 1974, banks could refuse to issue a credit card to women without a male co-signer. So comparing those two, we've come a long way. Council member Hawkins, Council Member Ellis, a little celebration for us. And then finally, looking to the future, I am looking forward to interviewing there's an extraordinary young woman. She is making a difference right here in the valley. Um on Monday, I I have a program called Women Rise. I'm interviewing um Victoria Vdeoo. I'm struggling with her name a little. I apologize. But she is the founder of a nonprofit. It's called the Gender Violence Project. It's at ASU, but she is also currently serving as Miss Chandler 2026. So, she is right here, our very own Miss Chandler. So, I I really look forward to the community supporting her. I'm going to dive into both topics with her. Um, the show should air towards the end of March. So, stay tuned to see what yet another amazing woman in the city of Chandler is doing. Thank you,

Vice Mayor.

Thank you, Mayor. Um, I do just want to share um how great it was today to be part of the Chandler Fund Run uh put on by our community services team earlier today. I think this is about my third year attending this event with the students. Um the fun run brings our community together in celebration of health, inclusivity, and active living. And it was great to see our residents of all ages and all abilities. Um enjoying the music, the fun warm-up, and of course the run all through Tumbleeed Park today. Um, I got to walk in with the Anderson Junior High School students, my old junior high school. I was chatting with students from and students and parents from Chandler High School, from Hamilton High School. Uh, shout out to Alex from Chandler High School and to Richard from Hamilton High who ended up coming like one of our third uh, place uh, runners coming in. So, it was a great event. Um, I want to thank our recreation team and the volunteers and everyone who made it all happen. There was so many people out there. It's a great event. I encourage everyone to if you can attend it next year and give some great support out there. So, thank you.

Did you bust a move on the dance floor? I I I did. Yes, I did. I wore the right shoes. Council member Orlando. Yeah, I knew you weren't running in that suit. That's a It's a a very calm one, two step. Okay,

there you go. Nothing tonight, Mayor. Thank you, Council Member Harris. Thank you so much. Happy Black History Month to all those out there. I wanted to give you three amazing um three great facts about black history. Um Carter Woodson started um Black History was first called uh Negro History Week in 1926 and later became Black History Month. Um Cheryl Chisum became the first black woman elected to the US Congress in 1968. Third, Good Marshall became the first black US Supreme Court justice in 1967. Um, Ky Payne became the first black mayor uh in the city of Chandler uh and the first black mayor in the whole entire state of Arizona at that time. Uh and uh followed by uh we had Zoraf Foley who served as a council member in the city of Chandler, African-American uh as well as uh Phil Westbrook who served as a uh vice mayor uh here in the city of Chandler, but he was the first Afro Latino. Uh and and today you have myself and um council member Ellis who also serves today both have serving in the position of vice mayor. Um, but today I wanted to make sure I I do this because this is very important to the history of our country. I wanted to take a pause to honor and I wrote this on my social media, but I want to read out loud. Um, today I wanted to make sure I take a pause to honor the life of the legacy, the life and legacy of Reverend Jesse Jackson. Reverend Jackson was more than a preacher. He was a movement, a voice that refused to be silenced, a leader who believed America should America could and should be better. From standing alongside Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. during the civil rights movement to founding organizations that expanded economic opportunity and political empowerment, he dedicated his

life to justice equality for all people. He ran for president not simply to win, but to widen the table. He brought conversations about economic justice, voting rights, education, human dignity into rooms that had ignored them. He challenged this nations to live up to its founding promise. As a public servant, um I definitely understand the importance of that type of leadership. Um but today I I reflect on his life with gratitude. His life reminds us that democracy requires participation, conviction, and faith in something bigger than ourselves. So may Jesse Jackson rest well. Your legacy live on in every generation and willing to stand your your legacy lives on in every generation for those who are willing to stand up and speak out. with that. Um, may God bless his family and I I will be attending his service um um coming up and there will be a special memorial service that I'll send out to council that we're going to do at the state capital on March 6 uh to honor the life of Reverend Jesse Jackson. Uh, and I got a chance to meet Jesse Jackson and I got a chance to stay in contact with him and the work that he's been doing and he's going to be u missed by so many people that he has touched and may his memory live in all our lives. Thank you, Mayor

Council Member Hawkins. Thank you, Mayor. No announcements for tonight. All right, city manager.

Thank you, Mayor Council. I have two uh announcements tonight. First is fairly timely. It's an early preview of our family bike event. And what I wanted to let you know is that family bike event registration will begin in March 2nd. And the Chandler way involves respect, mayor and council. And one of the easiest ways to show respect is by listening. So I want to assure anyone who wants to participate in that family event that every absolute communication we send out will make sure people understand no ebikes. Whether it is on our website, registrations, press releases, social media, cityscope or announcements of the event, we will make it very clear that no ebikes are allowed at this event in terms of respect and listen. The second announcement is much more fun and a tribute maybe to uh my better half, I should say better threequarters. After 72 hours of of time where I think she has not slept, herself, Aiden, and myself are now proud residents of Champ. Congratulations.

All right. Well, it's a good good note to end. Welcome, Chandler Resident.