City Council - Regular Meeting

Yeah. Oh my god.

Good evening. We have several meetings tonight. The first is our public housing authority commission regular meeting. And to that end, I would like to call the PAC meeting to order. And clerk, will you please take the role? Chair Harky here. Vice Chair Cenus here. Commissioner Poston here. Commissioner Ellis here. Commissioner Orlando here. Commissioner Harris here. Commissioner Hawkins here. And Commissioner Lauren here. We have a quorum. Very good. Did we have any un uh scheduled public appearances scheduled? None.

Council, the other thing on this agenda is our consent agenda. How would you like to proceed? Commission mayor, excuse me, commissioner. Chair, I'd like to approve, excuse me, the public housing authority commission regular meeting Monday, March 23rd, 2026, items 1 through two. Very good. We have a motion. Is there a second? Second by council member Ellis. Commissioner Ellis. Thank you so much. Uh clerk, please take the vote. Vice Chair and Cenus, yes. Commissioner Poston, yes. Commissioner Ellis, yes. Commissioner Orlando, yes. Commissioner Harris, yes. Commissioner Hawkins,

yes. And Commissioner Lauren, yes. And Chair Harky, yes. Motion carries unanimously. Thank you so much. That concludes our PAC. Next is our regular city council meeting of February 23, 2026. Would like to call this meeting to order. Clerk, please take the role. Mayor Harky here. Vice Mayor Enzenas 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 so much. Our invocation tonight will be led by Pastor Ryan Artisan and from Redemption Church and followed after that the pledge of allegiance by Council Member Ellis. Pastor, our invocation tonight will be led by Mayor Kevin Hartkey and uh pastor Lord God, thank you for this opportunity to uh listen to weigh uh consider to make decisions on behalf of this city that each of us call home. We thank you for uh the way that uh you have blessed our city and we're grateful for the opportunity to continue those blessings. So we ask for wisdom, leadership, and the ability to hear tonight. Well, we give you thanks for this charge and for your charge for leaders to lead. We ask your blessings upon this gathering in Jesus name I pray. Amen. Please join me in pledge Ice to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands. One nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.

All right, council. Um, next we have scheduled public appearances and vice mayor, join me up front. All right. Different order tonight. So, first we have uh our first proclamation. I'll read this one. Is Valley Bike Month. Our second one is going to be library week. And we're going to let you tackle all the hard librarian words. Do we have anyone here receiving this tonight? No. Okay.

Oh, there they are. Yeah.

All right. almost made a comment on an ebike, but I won't. So, whereas the city of Chandler celebrates its 18th annual family bike ride event on April 11th, and whereas the city of Chandler Valley Metro and the surrounding communities will be promoting Valley Bike Month in April 2026. And whereas through the month of April, residents of Chandler and its visitors will experience the joys of cycling, bicycling through educational programs, commuting incentives, community events, and by simply getting out and going for a ride. And whereas bicycling is an al as an alternative to driving contributes to reduced pollution, traffic congestion, and wear and tear on local streets and roadways. And whereas creating a bicycle friendly community has been shown to improve citizens health, well-being, and quality of life, encourages economic activity, and attracts tourism dollars. And whereas events such as the Chandler family bike ride support clean air and environmental awareness and the presence of Gus T Breeze, Maricopa's only clean air and environmentally awareness mascot helps engage families and reinforce the importance of air quality and environmental stewardship. Now therefore, I Kevin Harky, mayor of the city of Chandler, to hereby proclaim April 2026 as Valley Bike Month. All right. Who would like to say something?

I'll go ahead. Thank you. Thank you, mayor, and and council members. We we do want to say thank you so much for all of your support for the family bike ride. Um, I think there's only been one event, one bike ride over the past 18 years where you have not attended. And so we are very much uh appreciative of that support over the years. And for all of those who are still interested in attending the family bike ride is it is on uh April 11th and registration is open. We ask you to register online and we invite everybody to come out to our event. Thank you. Great. Let's take a photo. The family bike ride has contributed to my robust t-shirt drawer.

See you at the park. All right. And next is proclamation for library week. Do we have our recipients for this? Thank you, mayor.

Yeah, for joining us. All right, for library week, whereas libraries serve as a vibrant community hubs connecting people with knowledge, technology, and resources while fostering engagement, community enrichment, and learn lifelong learning. And whereas these resources celebrate the diversity of our communities by providing inclusive places that welcome people of all ages from all backgrounds, cultures, and walks of life. And whereas Chandler Public Library has long served as a trusted institution at the heart of the city, neighborhoods and school campuses leading innovation, providing technology, training, and access to state-of-the-art creator equipment. And whereas Chandler Public Library and librarians look beyond their traditional roles, providing transformative opportunities for education, employment, entrepreneurship, empowerment, and engagement while thoughtfully developing collections and programs that explore the diversity of our everchanging society. And whereas America is celebrating National Library Week to recognize the far-reaching impact and importance of libraries and librarians, encouraging community members to find your joy in your local branch. Now, therefore, before Kevin Harky, mayor of the city of Chandler, Arizona, he does hereby proclaim April 19th, 2026. Oh, wait, yeah, April 19th through April 26 of 2026 as National Library Week. I know Joel, she's like, "Don't give me the mic." Um, we just want to take a moment um to thank city leadership, city council, Mayor Hart Key, the community. Um, libraries are still so so important in society today. And we have like worldclass libraries in Chandler. And if you haven't had a chance to get out and see some of our new um and amazing

things, our bookmobile is on the road. If you and Hamilton Library is just newly renovated and it's just coming together so nicely. So, I encourage you to come out, visit one of our libraries and get a library card if you don't already have one. And library giving day is also April 1st. So, if you'd like to support the library and what it does, you can head over to our website at chandler library.org to find that. Alexis. All right, city manager service recognitions.

Mayor, council, I may go a little off script, but the first one I'm going to call down, I'm going to ask the director for IT, Sandeep, to come on down, and we are going to recognize Ten Delva for 10 years of service. All right, as Tristan makes his way to the front, u mayor through council through mayor and council apologize. Today we cheer for Terson Delva 10 years at the city strong reflecting on a decade of service steady and long from the Marines day fixing fighter jets high to our asset management system to keep the city systems ready to fly. He chased aircrafts in the sky. Now he keeps our tech from going ary. He tackles big projects, brand new and tough. He learned from scratch and still made made analytics look like fun stuff. He moves mountains of data, improving how we print. He saved the city dollars and headaches and enabled employees to sprint. When not saving the day, he navigates the city planes with radiocontrolled choppers. Don't worry, Ryan. He stays clear of our airport's planes. He fishes with his son London, his pride. And these rare moments where they sit outdoors, side by side with daughter Zoe, it's thrifting and art, craft fairs and photos, creativity at heart. From cornhole showdowns to teamworks that teamwork that's pristine. We thank you, Tson, for 10 years of greatness at the city and for your service in the Marines.

Mayor, Council, next up, I'm going to ask Matt Berdick to come on down and we are going to recognize the retirement from Kappa of Jennifer Hony after 25 years of service,

city manager. Thank you, Mayor Council. Tonight, we're going to recognize Jennifer Hony, someone who spent her entire career celebrating our community and the people behind our city services. She's the steady hand and the creative writer behind Citys Scope, our monthly newsletter that residents receive, thousands of residents receive each month. She's helped residents stay informed about city programs, events, and services. Her words and design choices have shaped how we share what's happening in Chandler and they've done so with warmth, warmth, accuracy, and care. For team Chandler, she's probably more impactful, leading internal communications through campaigns, events, newsletters, and websites that keep employees connected and in the know. She supported communication needs of many key departments including human resources, information technology, management services, facilities, fleet, and strategic initiatives just to name a few. No matter what the assignment, her work has always reflected collaboration, professionalism, and pride and service to team Chandler. She's our cheerleader and a champion of our culture and customer service. She's spotlighted employees and recognizing those who go above and beyond to make Chandler great. But tonight, we get to shine a light on Jennifer and celebrate her incredible 25-y year legacy of service, creativity, and most important, heart. Congratulations on your retirement. Daddy, come on.

Now we know where you're going.

There you go. Mayor, council, uh, our last recognized. First, I will ask Jeremy Abbott to come down. And we have a double winner here recognizing 25 years of service and retirement, Liz Denning.

Thank you, mayor, council, city manager. So, this is an incredible milestone and I'm honored to recognize Liz Denning and her 25 years of service to the city of Chandler. Liz is an invaluable team Chandler and public works and utilities department, bringing expertise, dedication, and leadership that have shaped our operations for more than two decades. Her contributions span both accounting and public works, demonstrating remarkable versatility and institutional knowledge. Liz began her career in accounting where she spent six years as an accounting specialist, senior accounting specialist, and handling accounts receivable, accounts payable, fixed assets, and payroll. This foundation gave her deep insight into the city's financial operations, knowledge that continues to support our department here even today. For the past 19 years, she served public works and utilities progressively uh in roles as a management analyst, senior management analyst, and currently our financial services supervisor. Her current role, she manages our cap capital and operating uh activities from development through closeout, overseeing millions and millions of dollars of investments that keep our infrastructure strong and our level of service reliable. Liz earned her MPA from William Penn University in 2010 working full-time and she's also mentor mentored many staff members throughout her career through our city's mentoring program sharing her extensive knowledge and helping develop the next generation of finance and public works professionals. Liz has served the department department's APWA or American Public Works Association accreditation manager, successfully guiding us through many reacredititations over the years. This achievement reflects her extraordinary organizational skills and commitment to maintaining the highest professionalism professional standards. Her leadership

ensures our department rema remains recognized nationally for operational excellence. Beyond Chandler lives uh serves as APWA accreditation auditor traveling and sharing her experience with other cities throughout the nation. Most recently her hometown of Flagstaff, Arizona specifically requested her assistance in achieving APWA compliance, a tremendous honor and testament to her respected expertise. Liz has processed and tracked millions of dollars in grants in public works and utilities and other departments supporting transportation policy, uh, transportation engineering and various other agencies throughout the valley. My experience with Liz is that she's always the go-to person on street and transportation CIP projects. She's exceptionally dependable and can figure out the toughest financial issue with skill and patience. Her institutional knowledge and expertise and her collaborative approach make her an invaluable resource to the entire department. And I wish I could say I look forward to many more years of your service. But with this recognition, I must also congratulate you on your retirement. Lives leaves behind a legacy of excellence, integrity, and service. Your contributions have strengthened our financial systems and elevated our standards uh through many public works colleagues. So on behalf of the entire public works department and the city of Chandler, I thank you for 25 years of outstand outstanding service. You made an impact on our organization and our community. And we wish you joy, relaxation, and new adventures in your retirement. You've earned it. Thank you.

One person. I lost. All right, that concludes the scheduled public appearances. Council, before we go on to our consent agenda, I also do want to do a shout out to Alexis Apadaka. This is her last council meeting after staffing us for so many years. You will be missed. Your quiet leadership sometimes. Quiet. All right. Next on our agenda is the consent agenda on our city council meeting. Council, how would you like to proceed?

Is there a motion? Mayor. Council member Orlando. Um, I move to approve the consent agenda of March 23rd, 2026 regular meeting items 1 through two. All right, we have a motion. Is there a second? Second. Motion and a second. Council, please vote.

Motion carries unanimously. All right. And with that, that concludes our regular meeting. Uh, next we have our study session. Welcome to the February 23rd city council study session. Clerk, I'd like to call this meeting to order. Again, please take the role. Mayor Harkkey here. Vice Mayor Incinus 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 so much. So we have a few items that have been called in council. The first is by council member Orlando in regard to item number four supporting the naming the naming of a United States naval vessel the USS Chandler and Corey Pulvar is going to give us uh a briefing on that.

Thank you mayor. Um and so this item uh about the naming of a milit of a naval uh vessel really this item is about garnering the support from our city council and our city leadership for our military and veterans affairs commission to pursue this venture. There really is no clearcut path uh to pursuing this as a as a um opportunity for the city but this is a very important and very formal step in the process. We started with a unanimous vote with our military and veterans affairs commission of which I have our chair and vice chair here today. Uh and then this is kind of step number two in garnering uh official support from city leadership for our commission along with staff to put together a package a letter to present to the secretary of the navy to uh basically get it on the desk so that when a ship is being constructed the city of Chandler or the USS city of Chandler will be considered council member Orlando.

Uh great idea to the committee. Great job guys. Even though I'm an Air Force guy, it's I'll vote yes for this. All right, because I love our Navy guys and gals. Um, the other thing I would ask us to do is obviously can you get with our government affairs and make sure they get a letter to all of our delegation uh to the governor's office, anyone that we feel could champion this on our part. Um, that was the only missing thing I didn't see in here, but I'm assuming you guys are going to do that. So yeah, we we uh through the mayor, council member Orlando, that's a big part of this is garnering support locally as well through um our businesses that are here locally. Um but this is kind of step number two in our process. But I appreciate that.

All right, go Navy. Additional questions comments? Seeing none. Thank you, Corey. Amazing. All right. Next item uh called in uh also by council member Orlando. Item number 12, purchase of signage for Uptown Chandler employment corridor. Micah Miranda. May I just I just I just have a question for you. Okay. Um don't we already have signs for uptown Chandler? Are this replacing them or enhancing those

through the mayor? Uh council member Orlando. We did have um polemounted signs in the uptown corridor. We have since removed that signage and are okay looking to replace that. Uh we left the hardware up there, but those signs were becoming aged and faded. And this was the next step in the maturity of the employment corridor. So these will be more uh robust signs to last longer. Yes. Through the mayor, council member, these are going to be very um similar to the ones that we've placed in the air park area. Oh, actually monuments. Yes. Okay. West Chandler employment court. Just watch the line of sight. Yes. They had to move them with the airport a couple times now, but that's we're good. All right. I didn't understand this was for actually the monuments. Cool. Correct. Yes, sir. Great. All right. Thank you, Mayor. You're welcome.

Any other questions? Seeing none. Thank you, Micah. Okay. Next one. Item number 24, acceptance of a grant from the state of Arizona. Uh calling up uh Jason says whiskey uh to talk about this. Nope. Who's coming up? Chief got the wrong name here.

Good evening, mayor and council. This resolution is to accept the awardance of a grant of 302,000 from the Arizona Department of Public Safety focused on uh the purchase of forensic laboratory equipment and our drug trafficking efforts. Um this is good timing for the city. Um we are constructing or about to construct a new forensic facility which is in need of updated equipment. With this grant, we're able to pay for $227,000 worth of new equipment that would have inevitably come through the council for a budget decision. So, uh, timely for us to buy a new mass spectrometer. Um, another, uh, tool used to identify elicit drugs and some balances to weigh elicit drugs. $75,000 of this budget will be used for approximately 800 hours of overtime for our narcotics detectives in their efforts in combating drugs on the street. And um for perspective, in 2022, our narcotics unit seized 1.7 million fentanyl pills. In 2023, it was 1.8 million pills. 2024, we seized 2.4 million fentanyl pills. Um, in addition to that, we have seized um over 40 pounds of cocaine, over a,000 pounds of meth, and a bunch of other narcotics off the streets of Chandler. So, this uh in addition to 33 firearms from that team, this um grant will expire on June 30th of 2027, and I'm happy to answer any questions.

That was my I'm sorry, mayor. Thank you. I apologize, mayor. Should have been acknowledged first. So that was my original question is uh do we have to spend this money in that time frame? Okay. Otherwise it goes back or we'll I'm sure we'll we'll spend in a time frame right through the mayor uh council member Orlando. Yes, we will have no problem shall we say burning through this in uh in a year's time. It'll come open on July 1st. It's first time we've applied for the grant, first time we've been accepted. So we'll just uh check six months in and status.

Thank you. That was my second question. And I believe this is the first time I've seen from this organization and at least why I've been here. So congratulations on you and the team for um being creative and looking for uh other ways of subsidizing what we're doing out here to the mayor. Council member, thank you. Thanks, Council. Any additional questions, comments? Council member Harris, just one question. I mean, they mentioned that um Chief Just want to know like you talked about the drugs and fentanyl. Where is it? Where do you think that's all coming from?

Uh through the mayor, council member Harris. The majority of that comes through Mexico over the border. Um I'm I I'm probably going to improperly quote the DEA. Um but it was more than 50% of all fentanyl seized in the United States last year was seized in the state of Arizona. So there's a correlation there through what is coming across the border. And our our teams are are helping in ridding the streets of those pills. Okay. And we're about what 3 hours away from the border, but this land is somehow have circulated in our jurisdiction. Okay. Through the mayor, council member. That's correct.

Okay. Um well, we definitely need to continue to keep working with law enforcement to make sure that we're keeping drugs off the street. So, thank you. All right. Thank you, Chief. I guess for our next two questions, we have the assistant chiefs coming up. Yeah, Assistant Chief Deanda for the first one and then Assistant Chief Sakowski for the next. All right, so our next one is item number 25, Technical Operations Task Force. Chief Miranda, Deandra,

good afternoon or good evening, Mayor and Council. Uh so tonight we are seeking council approval for an IGA uh for a relationship between the department of public safety and the Chandler Police Department for a technical operations task force. So the uh technical operations task force is a regional collaboration designed to provide specialized technical investigative support to law enforcement agencies. Uh this task force is led by DPS's major crimes unit and it currently includes DPS and Gilbert PD uh with the planned expansion into other East Valley agencies. Um currently the task force will provide technical support for any high-profile or sensitive investigations uh critical incidents that that require some type of a technical uh response and assisting local law enforcement agencies with joint operations. Um, in addition to that, any task force uh, detectives assigned to the team will have the opportunity to have advanced training, certifications, and access to technical equipment. And all of that comes at no cost to the city of Chandler. Um, and this obviously ensures that our detectives remain current with training and best practices, especially with evolving technology. I just want to provide you just with a little bit of u background on our current team. Uh so we currently have only two technical surveillance detectives that support our entire department. They assist with all criminal investigations requiring any type of technical support. Uh that includes supporting any special events, large-scale operations, or responding to critical incidents. So the demand for their services continues to grow. So partnering with the DPS task force would definitely be a benefit to Chandler. And I'll be willing to take any questions that you may have.

Council member Orlando. Thank you, Mayor. Um G, this is good. Another good good story. How did this originate? I mean these just two cities. Uh I mean what what was the genesis of this?

Sure. Uh through the mayor, council member Orlando. Uh we often partner with DPS on any large scale operations and this is something that they have collectively been working for and it's been about two years in the making. Uh so last year or I'm sorry earlier this year Gilbert was able to join the task force and that is when they started reaching out to us and Tempe PD um for a collaborative effort. they see that uh we become a force multiplier when we have uh the a the availability to have multiple agencies involved in one task force. Um and that includes like I mentioned before the training and the resources and the support that we need to um support public safety in East Valley. So you this will be housed in the tech center or something or what?

Yes, it they DPS has an off-site facility where they would be housed. So it'll be here in Chandler. It would not be in Chandler. Oh, it would be in the East Valley. of East Valley, but it's a um collaborative effort. Correct. Got it. Yes. Okay. Well, it sounds exciting. Anytime we could do force multi multiplier, it's always benefit to the residents. So, that's great news. Agreed. Great. Thank you. And no cost. And no cost to us. No cost. All right. That's better. You guys are two for two. Thanks. Thank you.

Additional questions or comments? Council member Ellis. Um, chief, if a member of the community asked me, will this collaboration bring any type of collaboration with ICE and other departments like that? Because I know we do share information with different groups of uh, national departments and things like that. What answer should I give them?

Yeah, the uh, through the mayor, council member Ellis, um, this specific unit and task force has no affiliation with ICE whatsoever. This is just to support ongoing investigations. uh whether it's for special operations or special events that we have in like downtown Chandler or other that other other city sees uh any type of sensitive investigations that maybe our undercover operations are working for. Those are the type of uh investigations that this unit particularly supports. Uh this is they do not partner with any other federal agencies, specifically ICE. Thank you so much for making that very clear for us. Appreciate it.

Other questions council member Harris? Um, yes. Just when I'm reading the memo, uh, specialized resources such as cameras and communication equipment. What does that look like?

Uh, through the mayor, council member Harris. So, uh, oftentimes I'll just provide an example. We have a lot of special events that happen in the downtown area. We deploy cameras. Um, uh, they're we call them event cameras in those areas. And this is the team that does that. They're basically there for public safety purposes as well to keep keep our community safe. So, we would deploy that's an example of where we might deploy a camera. Um, for the the communication side of it, um, we have uh undercover investigative units that utilize undercover um, uh, it's like a communication key that they may use. That unit assists with equipping that team in order to be able to utilize them.

Yeah. Um just just kind of looking more closely at it. Just um community members concerned about facial detection software and listen large range listening devices into people's conversations. Um can you they have concerns about that with this with this. So can you discuss what that's what that looks like if it has that capability or will you be using it?

Yeah, absolutely. Through the mayor, council member Harris. Um these are very specific investigations that what they are being they would be used for. Um they are not listening devices where they're trying to capture other people's conversations. It is between like an undercover officer and the target or the suspect of that investigation. That is the uh conversation that is being captured for evidentiary purposes. And then as far as the cameras that you um that you spoke of um we are not using that camera footage for AFR. Uh that is not something that we're that we're looking that we're look using it for. It is more for event safety or to capture let's say we have uh you know high crime area right now with our backflow valve thefts. If we're seeing it in a very specific area, we can deploy these cameras in order to hopefully capture a vehicle or a person leaving that area that we can identify as a person of interest or a suspect in those investigations. And just just thinking about public privacy. Um because the concern was also the around the nature of them being spy detective type cameras to like community members, neighbors, things of that nature.

Yeah. Through the mayor, council member Harris. Um these cameras are only deployed for specific investigations or for operational events. They are not being deployed to spy on any of our community members or anything like that whatsoever. Um, we have policies and regulations that uh prevent us from doing that. Um, these cameras are deployed or anything that we're using from this unit is specifically for an investigation where suspects are potentially being identified or have been identified or utilizing them for some type of an event. Okay. Thank Thanks, Mayor. Any additional questions? Thank you, Chief Dander.

Okay. And lastly, item number 27, uh, Assistant Chief Ski, talking about, uh, presentation and then questions by Council Member Harris. Matt, can you We're good to go.

Good evening, Mayor and Council. Uh thank you for the opportunity tonight to present on our photo enforcement efforts here within the city of Chandler and our contract with Vera Mobility. Chandler's photo enforcement program uh began a continuous operation since February of 2007, which gives us nearly two decades of data and community safety results. The current agreement with Vera Mobility, formerly known as American Traffic Solutions, was approved by council in September of 2015 for a five-year term with one five-year extension. I apologize. I think it says a one-year extension on there. Um, both terms have been fully exercised at this point, which is how we lead to March of 2026. Tonight's action requires or requests a three-year extension, which is a measured bridge to allow Arizona's photo enforcement legislative landscape to settle um before we make any long-term decisions in our city. The program currently covers 12 intersections that are monitored by 17 cameras um all enforcing both speed and red light violations. Um, in Chandler's philosophy, um, has always been safety over profit. We aim to keep this program as revenue neutral as possible with any surplus funds being reinvested into our traffic safety efforts. Here's a map um, along with locations of where those 12 intersections are, as well as the directions of the cameras that monitor both speed and red light within our city for your review. This can also be found on our public website within the city and also on the police department. I want to talk a little bit about governing policies and framework. Um the program operates under Arizona revised statutes and Chandler city uh city of Chandler traffic code. Um all citations that are issued are civil in nature and we don't issue criminal traffic citations through the use of photo enforcement. Amendment number two in the current contract includes a new provision under section 7 that allows the violation form to be modified to comply with any Arizona Supreme Court directive that may arise during this legislative session. Um, this ensures our program adapts quickly and stays nimble to any regulatory changes without

having to renegotiate the current contract extension that we're proposing tonight. Any installation, relocation, or removal of cameras will require a written mutual agreement by both the city and Vera Mobility. Um, not allowing one party to alter this agreement at any time without mutual, I guess, a mutual agreement. Um, and then expert witness testimony for all contested citations is provided by Vera Mobility at no additional cost to the city. This covers things such as accuracy, calibration of machines, maintenance, and technical operations of their system. data ownership and human review. Um, every citation is human reviewed before it's issued by a trained Chandler PD employee. These are not sworn officers, but these are professional staff that have been trained by both our vehicular crimes unit, which previously did this did this role and also through Vera Mobility to ensure that they know how to operate the system appropriately. Images and video that are captured um are used solely for traffic violation documentation and the data is processed by Vera Mobility under strict contractual controls and is not shared with any third party for non-law enforcement purposes. The photo enforcement system underos a regular calibration and preventative maintenance and corrective maintenance. These records are available to both the city and used as evidence of system accuracy in any contested cases. And then recipients of a citation have the right to contest the violation as with any traffic citation in the state of Arizona. And the program does not boot vehicles or issue any warrants. Again, this is strictly a civil process. I want to talk a little bit about safety outcomes and program effectiveness. Um, since the inception of this program, we looked at a five-year a five-year period for this presentation here. And what we've seen is that in our cameras, in intersections in those 12 with those 17 cameras, we've driven down injury collisions by 37.6% as compared to other intersections within the city. Non-injury collisions are down 9 and

a.5%. And then when you combine traffic enforced rules with our other enforcement efforts on a holistic level, what you're seeing is a five-year reduction of about 4.2% across city-wide intersections. So, while these do target singular intersections, there is a a I guess a spread out to the rest of the city, which is incredibly important. And it's good to note that that is our biggest complaint within the police department. Moving on to a little bit of fiscal accountability. Um, in fiscal year 2425, we aim to keep this again as revenue neutral as possible and we did gain a net positive of roughly $23,000. Um, which again is reinvested into traffic safety initiatives. These include sign boards, the u radar signs that lead up to those intersections as well as enhanced polls safety measures that translate into better roadway safety. And then moving into the fiscal impact and contract terms, the total contract ceiling for this three-year extension is 1.5 million over three years or 500,000 per year. And that's consistent with our prior contract rate. Um, and this is funded through the general fund. If the contract is terminated for convenience, um the city compensates Vera Mobility only for the non-ameterized installation costs and we do not incur any punitive termination fee. The three-year term um not a longer extension was done intentionally. Um this provides program continuity without locking the city in while Arizona's photo enforcement legislative environment continues to evolve. Um all the terms and conditions of the original agreement remain unchanged. And again, amendment two controls um in the event of any conflict with an original agreement. And with that, I'm happy to take any questions from council or city mayor.

Thank you, Chief. Um I have a couple of questions. Um why we didn't go out and did why why are we not going out to see if there's other competitive bids with this particular contract

through the mayor, council member Harris? Uh we did. There was two companies that submitted um one was out of state and was not it wouldn't have been advantageous for us. Vera Mobility provided a much better level of customer service and responsiveness as well as cost for this contract. Uh moving forward with them based on the turbulent nature of the legislature right now is in in regards to photo enforcement. We felt it was better to simply ask for a contract extension of what we have right now um to keep that moving forward and just keep it status quo until we can get some sort of a concrete answer from the state as far as what's going to happen with the ability to leverage these photo enforcement tools.

What is the what is our enforcement mechanism as it pertains to the contract if it's ever data breached by any chance? Were residents information accidentally exposed through a data breach? Uh I would actually I would lean on city attorney for a greater explanation of that. However, looking at the contract, um it basically outlines that they have to notify us immediately of any breach of data and I would look to city attorney for maybe further on that one.

If I may, mayor, uh council member Harris, um yes, we have provisions in place for that, including insurance coverage. um so that if there's any um breach that results in damages, they have to indemnify, they have to take care of it, they have to pay. There are also a number of protocols they have to file follow through the Arizona Supreme Court to ensure to the best possible extent they can that there will be no data breach. So with those two things providing protection, I think the city is as covered as we possibly can be with this or any of of our other contracts that deal with people's personal data.

Okay. Um my other concern is because a lot of residents reach out to me about this big brother element that's that happens where there's constant big brother in people's business. Does these does these devices do recording or do these devices um when people are walking? Do they pick up that type of data? Do they do are we are we taking that type of data from our community members

through the mayor? Council member Harris. These devices do video record. You get a video of the violation if someone triggers the camera. So if you happen to be in the frame at that moment, yes, it will record you. However, they're not used for, as Chief Deanda said, AFR or anything of that nature. These are strictly for the vehicle violation that's being observed. So either the red light violation or the speed on green of 11 miles per hour or greater than the posted speed limit.

And then um in terms of this is no quota based because I I noticed that it was a net profit 23,000 but this ain't a quota based type system where residents are being um you know exercised where there's revenue being paid to keep this thing going. Is it through the mayor? Council member Harris. No sir, that's not true. Um, this is not a quota based system. This simply looks at violations observed um such as speeding through the intersection or violating the red light. And again, we aim to make it as revenue neutral as possible. Um, that has always been the city's philosophy and in fact, we post that on our website just to ensure that that is the that is the standard that we hold.

So, so if something does happen, it's just a cost. It's a if they are in violation of their ticket, then it's just paying the cost of whatever that would have been through the mayor, council member Harris. That's correct. As any other traffic citation, uh you would be assessed a fine based on the court's fine schedule and that would be the cost you would have to pay. Have this company ever been breached before through the mayor, council member Harris? I do not know that.

Can we find out that information? Um um also I'm kind of I'm leerary um probably on multiple things. Um probably not all ready to talk about right now on the diets in terms of this particular company us continuing on with this particular company. Um I think there needs to be we need to I want to address more policy issues as it pertains to privacy with our residents within the contract. Um, and I would like to be able to um, look at that contract a little bit more closely considering that it's been in active use, but now I want to see um, what other companies that was out there for us to bid on to potentially look at? And then also um, when it comes to the calibration of these machines, how often are they being calibrated? Um, how often are they being calibrated for speed? through the mayor. Council members, I don't know that information off hand. We can certainly provide that.

Okay. Because I I probably want to know what's the maintenance schedule on the actual on the actual 37 sites and what type of maintenance they provide, what type of updates do they give to you guys about whatever they're doing. Uh, I just kind of were like I would like to not put this forward because I think that we need more information. I want to learn a little bit more about the company. Uh, I want to look I want to learn a little bit more about how our residents privacy is being protected and what are the current practices since it's a old contract with an extension. I don't know what the current practices are. So, it might be something that we need to talk about a little bit more. Um, listen, I'm all for giving my law enforcement tools that they need to succeed, but I'm also want to make sure that the tools I'm giving them aligns with what I feel is good and safety for all community members. Um, and with us not knowing how many times have this country been, how many times have this company been breached, how many times have their cameras been calibrated, or what's their maintenance schedule on it? Um, and what does that look like? Because Lori knows if if if the machine is not calibrated, we know that a a bad calibrated machine creates a bad read, which creates another issue for residents that are trying to fight through and navigate uh a ticket when they're saying that it it did it, you know, they ran the light or whatever it may have been, but the machine is not calibrated. Now all of a sudden we're giving tickets to residents that shouldn't get a ticket because the machine had not been calibrated because we don't know what the maintenance schedule is and all the other different things that comes along with it. So with that being said, I just kind of wanted to bring that forward. Um, I just want

to make sure that we get these questions answered before we continue on with this company. And I would like to look at the language in terms of what is the exit language from the company if it there is exit language and what are the penalties for the exit language if there's something that happens as well. Um, I think we're in a pretty interesting time and I just want to make sure that I'm doing my job and making sure that we're looking over everything. I mean, this could be the right company. I just don't I just don't know enough about it because it was voted in a while ago and with the extensions and things like that, council has not revisited this conversation. We haven't revisited the terms of this particular contract. Um, we haven't revisited the privacy mechanisms, the protections that we have. I mean, people should be able to I'm I'm I I don't want our community being bogged down with so many different enforcement enforcement this that blah blah blah this this camera this, you know, there's so many different things that's going on. I just want to make sure that we're that is that their privacy is being protected and it's safe. And I think that's my main that's my main concern. And so I just kind of want to get some more background, some more information, um more about this company, more about the contract, more about those things. And if I can get some of those things answered, I'll probably be in a better place maybe on Thursday. But if I cannot get there, then I'm going to readress those issues again and making sure that we we get there. And I'm not saying that they're doing a terrible job now. That's not what I'm concluding. What I'm concluding is that I want to have more information um about the details. The devil's in the details. I want to make sure it's there. So um but thank you for the presentation. That's all I have. I don't know. City manager, if you wanted to chime in a little bit there.

Oh, actually I was before the city manager. Thank you so much. Um mayor. All right. I may be recognized. Hang on. I'm not sure he's done yet. Did you have any Well, I just for the city manager. Yeah. Well, I just kind of wanted him to be able to give me some direction on where we are with this and what what would be the game plan for this for what I just for my concerns I just mentioned.

Mayor, Council Member Harris. First, I will reiterate that this contract we can terminate for convenience and we would only pay the unadvertised amount. So, there is no penalty for terminating this contract. This contract we could um terminate. I would say that we can get you uh whatever whatever this information we can get by Thursday, we will get it for you. Uh in my previous career, I worked directly with this company for 19 years. I do not recall ever once seeing a data breach in the last so that would make 22 years uh because that would have directly come to me. So I do not believe there has been a data breach, but we can ask them of that. This is a local company. They they they're they reside in Arizona. um and they have been committed to making the streets safe during that time frame. So, we will get you all the information we can to make you comfortable with moving forward with this on Thursday.

And it was and also the the privacy aspect of the company is the privacy of how we protect our residents. What does that look like in that sweeping? Because they're because the information that they're getting from the information that's happen when you go past this this photo cam, there's a third party collecting my residents information which is being filtered to another third party which is the police station which is coming back. What I'm saying is that our the information is going back out to a different company and then it's coming back in filtered. And I'm concerned about that information that's going out. You know what I'm saying? It's not something that is already in house. It'd be different if our law enforcement was doing it in house. It's a third party doing it outside and then it's coming back in. So, I'm concerned that my data, my residents information is being arbitrarily uh collected without their permission. It's my where I'm trying to go with this.

You understand what I'm saying? That's that privacy area that I'm talking about. Mayor, Council Mer Harris, what I can tell you is the only data being collected by them and forwarded to the city is on the person who's actually in violation of the law. While that video recorder is going, they do not provide or secure any data about the other cars in the picture. They only go with the picture of the driver and the license plate behind them. The two cameras focus on one's in the front of the car, one is on the back of the car. You may see in the video all their cars going through, but those freeze frames only come through for the ones that were deemed to be a violation.

Okay. Well, um just want to make sure that my residents feel safe and they feel secure. I know that when you go out into the public, there's a reasonable of, you know, information that you give up when you go out into the public. I just don't want um I just don't want our systems that we pay collecting their information arbitrarily through a third party will like a photo cam or something else. That's kind of what I'm and I want to look at that privacy and making sure that they're 100% protected, that this partnership is protected, that the residents are protected from any bad behavior. And we know AI is a big thing now. So, I'm just thinking about those things. Okay. Thanks. And

council member, you had mentioned 37. It's 12 intersections with 17 cameras totally on those. So, I just wanted to make sure you had the you caught the right info there. Um, council member Ellis. Thank you. In line of uh with council member Harris, my my question was going to be to you, Chief, about this is the same company we've been doing business with for how long now? Through the mayor, council member Ellis since February of 2007.

Correct. And so through that whole process, when you said you don't know if there was any breach, meaning that there has not because if there was, we would have found out, right? there were any we would have found out. Uh the second is the idea of uh understanding this this particular contract in question. This is a contract that's already existing the the five years. So now we're just asking a prolongation of it. We are not starting a new contract with this company. We're just adding another three years to it. Correct. Through the mayor council member else. That is correct.

Okay. So this contract then has been written. We validated that contract already and through your presentation right now you have not told us that there was a lot of changes that were made in this contract. It was pretty much the existing contract. Correct? All right. All right. So, we're looking at a contract that we already had for five years. Now, you are asking us to just push another three years because of what's going on with the whole thing with legislature and all these kinds of things. So, we don't know what's going to happen with the cameras. Council member Ellis, that's correct. We've actually had this contract for 10 years. We had the five-year with the five-year extension and this adds another three years to it. That's correct.

Which mean that we have seen this contract numerous time uh in the beginning and then along the way. So, if I may ask, chief, do we have we ever had one of our residents who did not have a ticket, who was not in violation of the law calling and say that they took their information through the mayor, council member Ellis? Uh, not that I'm aware of. No. And in fact, in 2025, um, we had, it looks like 11,190, um, notices of violation legis. We moved my name from that list because I think I they got they caught me on M Queen and Queen. Remove my name from that one. Thanks for letting us know.

So, go ahead. those notices of violation. Um, those are for vehicles that maybe aren't being driven by the registered owner. So, our staff verify, they look at who's driving that vehicle. If it doesn't matches who or doesn't match who owns that vehicle, they have the opportunity to send what they call notice of violation, which is basically a written warning. Hey, your vehicle was observed speeding or running the red light. Um, we don't believe it was you driving. We just want to make you aware of it. There's no action needed at this time, but it's just how we ensure that we're issuing citations to the appropriate individuals.

All right. All right. Thank you so much. That that makes it really clear for me whether where it the contract originated, how long we've been within the contract, and what the contract is going to continue to do for us here in the city. Thank you, Council Member Poston. Then Council Member Orlando. Thank you, Mayor Chief. Thank you for this. Um, I had a question. Is there could you explain the difference between what happens and maybe the price of a ticket, the cost of a ticket if they get it through the red light camera versus if they were if a resident were pulled over by an officer for the same violation? Is the cost of the ticket the same? And maybe also is the process to go through and address that ticket the same as well

through the mayor council member post. I would look to judge scoopin for maybe further on that. I do believe the fine schedule is the same. Okay. But she could speak more to the court process once it once it leaves the photo citation and gets into the actual court. Okay. Thank you to the mayor Council Member Poston. The fines are exactly the same. In fact, I want to reiterate to council that the fines will not be changing for the next fiscal year. Uh the fines have remained the same for the last few years. And so whether you get a ticket in person by an officer pulling you over or through the photo enforcement system, they're exactly the same. Okay. Thank you, Council Brando.

Um, yes. So, you've answered a couple of questions. Thank you, Council Member Ellis. Um the other question I know we talked about this back in 2007. Um was the amount of officers it would take for us to do the same type of control with our city expanding so much said then I would hate to I would like you to venture on how many officers we would need to additional officers just to do traffic control to be able to while utilizing this technology. uh through the mayor, council member Orlando, probably in the hundreds of new officers. Um these photos have the capability of capturing repeated repeated violations at an intersection whereas one officer may pull a car over. That's a five minute that they're off the road to stop the car, issue the citation, print it out, reissue it to the driver, get the driver safely back on the road, and then continue on with their day. these can continually photograph the intersection if there's multiple violations occurring back to back. Um that's where these become extremely beneficial.

So even if we cut that in half, I would still be if I was going to hire officers today, I would love them to be looking at cyber crime, um you know, crimes against our society, um you know, sexual assault, rape, all the other assault type of activities than to be looking at traffic control. It's important obviously traffic control. It's important we answer these questions about sec uh security and um breach of breach of information. It was important um but again I also look at this technology is what we're as a city has been known for innovation and for me to be able to go back and say I need 50 officers or 100 officers in your mind it just doesn't make any sense. this is a good tool to be using and as you it works there's safety we've seen the numbers go down and let's be honest the insurance companies over the years they look at a city or a region and so the less accidents you have obviously in the region or stolen vehicles that type of stuff which we need officers to investigate um that drives your insurance cost up so if we're showing it a safe community potentially our insurance rate should not be a change as much as maybe another community that has less traffic control. So those those are things we have to look at as a factor as well. Thank you,

Mayor. Council member Harris.

Yeah, I just want to make a couple of comments. Um I'm I'm addressing I appreciate what my colleagues are saying, but I'm addressing terms in a contract. I'm addressing language in a contract and I'm addressing privacy and protection that's in a contract, not delivery of service, not what it does. Um, and not what it overall provide, which is allowing law enforcement, this giving law enforcement another tool so that way they don't have to be, you know, tracking people down, seeing who's speeding, who's not, and things like that. I don't look at this as a non-tool in your belt, but what I'm looking at is the language in the terms of the contract that you guys or that we're going to be saying yes or no to. That's what I'm addressing. I'm not addressing outcomes. And it sound like you guys are addressing outcomes and I'm I'm addressing language and terms and protection and making sure this not breach and making sure that it's not being um that our residents information it is protected because this is a third party information that's going out to a third party and it's coming back in to be executed. I'm addressing that issue and I want to make sure that language is secured and I feel comfortable with saying yes to what that privacy that protection that secure process of how that information move and making sure that residents understand that it's it's being used for a sole purpose and that sole purpose only. So I would ask my colleagues before Thursday, take a minute, read the contract that I'm

reading. And when you read the contract that I'm reading, it's not addressing the issues in a manner in which I feel comfortable moving forward. This is contract terms. This is contract language. This is privacy. That's what I'm reading and that's what I'm voting on. I'm not voting necessarily on the fulfillment of the outcome because I think the outcome does, but I do I will say if there's more tickets given to a community, insurance do go up because that's one way that they grade how well we do in our community. So what I'm saying is that I would like the language, the privacy, the protection that I can say that we're doing everything we need to do to make sure your privacy is protected even when we're using it for a tool to use it for such a reason. This is why I'm bringing it up. And last time we we we read this contract, it was over 10 years ago or however long we've been having it. I don't know last time council we had a chance to read that thing through and through and making sure that it's updated with the new things that's happening today and that's what I'm bringing up as a concern. So I appreciate it. Thank you so much and mayor. That's that's all I have.

All right. I think you were actually on council five years ago when we last addressed this. So yeah, I was 100% on council last time we addressed it and I'm 100% saying that it is now for a new contract and we're going to look at the language. We're going to make sure the privacy is updated for today's for today's time, not for yesterday's time.

Okay. And we will take this up on Thursday to see what council wants to say. Council, that's the last of our items called in. Uh Alexis, a couple people just wanted to say things to you from the days before we close this meeting because you love attention being called out in such fashion. council. U anybody that wants to please just chime vice mayor.

Yeah, I'll go first. I just wanted to take some time, Alexis, to thank you for your time and uh your service here to our city um ever since I've been here on council. You've all you've shown a level of professionalism in your communication in your service to um our city when you're advocating when you are advocating for us in government affairs and then as um our main staff person here with council. You've helped all of our carry out all of our issues concerns and I just want to thank you for your time and I wish you the best of luck um on your next endeavor. So, thank you.

I'll go second. I'm feeling like a proud mama because I remember the first day you came to work for the city. I was you were with for our city and we worked together on that project and doing things and then you started moving yourself up. I knew you were going destined for great things and I thought it was going to be within the city but Allah you live in us and so but I'm sending you with all the confidence knowing that you have really the last seven years grown. I've watched you really become the woman that you are right now. We even married you up and so here you are going on better things and let's stay in touch and continue to work together for the city of Chandler wherever you are. Remember that. Thank you again for all your service. God bless.

Well, I don't want to miss out, but I won't embarrass you too publicly. I think privately I said everything that um I did want to say just congratulations. Our loss is Arizona's gain. Please keep in touch. We really know that you will be very successful and look forward to hearing more. Mayor Lexa, we we had a private conversations the other day and so I appreciate how you're have you grown and you matured over the years and I always had a lot of faith in you and I'll continue having faith in you. So if you ever want to come back, John, bring her back. Don't don't even ask second question.

I'd like to happily say that offer's already been made, sir.

All right, you got it. Yeah. Um, Alexis, I've shared all the kudos I can give to one. The one piece of wisdom that I will give you is take what you've gathered here and take it to another level when you go there because you never know what God has for you. And what God has for you, no man can close the door. No one can shut it. Because when you're in upper mo upper movement, um, let God direct your steps. Let him continue to lead you in a way that that lifts him up and lifts your career up because you're young. You got a lot of energy. And, uh, we need good staff out there. We need good executives out there. We really do need it. One that understands what the goal is. And being solution oriented, you have a solutionoriented mindset. Um, and you have a a great accompanying of a great attitude when you're executing even the most difficult things. You keep a smile on your face and you keep pushing because you understand the process. So, I just want to say thank you for the years of service that you have provided for myself and the work you've done with my team to make sure that I I show up well and I've been showing up well. So, thank you.

Thank you. Um, Alexis, I just want to say one more time, I'm very excited for you. we have been so lucky to work with you. Obviously, I I feel very privileged over this last year. So, um just to get to know you, kind of learn a little bit about your background, and I know that you'll fall short of just doing spectacular things at the state level. Uh we're certainly going to miss you, and I know we're all very appreciative of everything that you've done for us. Um definitely couldn't have done it without you. So, thank you and good luck. As I shared earlier, uh it's good to know we'll have an inside the governor's office. So, and uh we've got a good track record of also hiring people from the governor's office. And so, uh who knows what your future is, but we love you and we're excited for you in your future. Thank you, Alexis. All right, with that, see you all on Thursday.