City Council - Regular Meeting

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Good evening and welcome to the March 26 regular city council meeting. I would like to call this meeting to order. So, clerk, please take the role. Mayor Hartkey here. Vice Mayor Enzen 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. Very good. Our invocation will be brought tonight by uh Minister Keith Shepard of Alma School Road Church of Christ. I like your new sign, by the way. Drive by it every day. and our uh pledge of allegiance by council member Harris.

Let's pray together, please. Almighty God, we thank you that you're the giver of life that you have blessed this country with your peace and prosperity, a blessing, and it's because of you that we have what we have. We thank you, Father, for this city, this state, and the blessings you've given us here. You given us life at this time in history and this place. We pray your blessings on our country, on our leaders, national, state, and local. Especially at this time, Father, we pray for our military, all military service members. Keep them safe. Watch over them and bless them as only you can. We thank you, Father, for the opportunity to live at this place. We pray your blessings on those in authority here. May they make wise decisions. May they be a blessing to the people of the city and honor and glorify you. Thank you, Father, that you are forgiving God and a gracious God. that bless the activities of this meeting tonight in Jesus name. 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 and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, liberty and justice for all.

Thank you, pastor. Thank you, council member. Council, next on our agenda is the consent agenda. These are all one item that we will be voting for. But before we do that, I would invite anyone who is part of the new boards and commission that you are being either re-uped or this is your first time, please stand. Thank you all. [applause]

Thank you for coming and uh we do have a a a breakfast coming up that I hope you're all able to attend and if you do not have that information you will be getting it soon. So very good. Council, how would you like to proceed on the consent agenda? Mayor Council Member Orlando propose a motion to move to approve the consent agenda of March 26, 2026 regular meeting items 1 through 37. Is there a second? Second. Second by council member Poston. Before we vote, is there any uh recusals? Anything else? Um mayor, I'll be dissenting on item number 27. All right. So, voting no on item number 27. Seeing no other council, please vote.

Council member Ellis. Yes. Motion carries unanimously with council member Harris desenting on number 27. All right. Thank you so much, Cler. Next on our agenda is unscheduled public appearances. I have two cards. First one on top is Noah James Marqu. Mr. Markhamm, you have up to three minutes to share um your thoughts. When the light turns yellow, please wrap up your comments. When it's red, you're done. Please state your name and your city of residence.

Um, aloha, mayor, and to the rest of the city council. My name is Noah James Markham. I'm from the great city of Tempi. Um, I kind of talked about this before, but it's very um I don't know if people don't know how to take showers or what it is, but it's very concerning to me because when I go up and down these streets of Chandler, I do not want to smell the sewer. It is just nasty. I get I get that we need to take a number two, but this is I don't want to smell it in the road. I mean, it is outrageous. I mean, I'm right by downtown Chandler and I can smell it in that sewer. It's very annoying. [laughter] So, I hope you guys get on that. Um, and secondly, I know we're about innovation here in Chandler, and I know this will be a big task, but I wonder if you guys could bring the light rail in here, because it would be great for accessibility for people with disabilities, too, and um, and other people that can't drive. So, maybe Chandler can think about this because the light rail is a great investment. and you know the city of Phoenix did something really bad but uh you know I hope that we can take this into consideration um and yeah thank you so much for the time today thank you sir uh I don't know if there's any followup that you would care to have with Mr. Mark him, but please do. City manager. Uh, next is

mayor. Mayor, council member.

I think I think um I think the followup is discussing the manholes. I mean, because that's really what we talked about earlier today. Um, which [clears throat] repairing manholes in various areas that I mean I passionately talked about earlier today, it it does make everything stinky. And that's what I'm hearing as well. So, I know we're working on it. I know we already have some capital investments going into manholes across the city, but I know that that concern is something that concerns me, too. So, thanks, city manager. Did you want to I mean, I know we're working on it, but any [clears throat] we are working on the problem and and we are inspired by the words you had earlier, so it is on a high priority for us, sir.

Thank you. because we don't want a stinky city. Thank you.

Next up is Mr. Beal. Mr. Beal, as you know, we cannot engage you, but please state your name and city of resident. You have up to three minutes. Uh my name is Brook Beal. uh live here in Chandler and I'm [clears throat] again speaking on the matter of ebikes and in general on ebikes but especially on the the consolidated canal. Uh first I'd like to thank uh Jason Brooks for his excellent article uh another excellent article on the topic. Um I that's that's great. I'm glad you're putting that out there making this uh this uh known to the public. Um, last time I spoke, uh, I sort of got a response back from the city manager during his, uh, few minutes at the end of the meeting, um, where I was talking about respect and I guess he he seemed to imply that he was doing all that he could. Uh but the fact of the matter is my understanding is that he is actually uh the chief of police's boss and that he is responsible for making sure that police chief of police and the police department do their job. Now this problem is a problem of property law. Owners of property have certain rights. One of which is uh this criminal trespass and they have set up they have told the city of Chandler that they want it enforced. They have signs that are posted on both sides of the canal every mile so that it's it's unambiguous. There is no criminal and no ebikes on the canal. It's criminal trespass. And yet every day I see one to 10 electric

vehicles on the canal. Uh not just electric, but motorized. I two three three weeks ago, the same kid blew past me at 40, 50, 60 miles an hour on his gas powered uh bike. [clears throat] Missed me by no more than a foot or two. And I I wasn't trying to get in his way. I wasn't I was walking the canal and he just blew past me like he was on the freeway. This is not unusual. This the police have seen this guy. I've been talking with police on the canal when he's gone past. They do nothing about it. I I you know I just I I don't understand um what what the problem is here. There's a law. You're supposed to enforce it. you're responsible for telling the police department to enforce it and they don't they don't seem to be doing it. So, uh the other thing I just want to bring up uh is council member Poston. It sounds like you're trying to do some sort of an ethics thing. I think it's great. I Good luck with that. Um I I just don't see [laughter] I don't see it happening uh with with what you got to work with there. So, uh, I don't think you want my support, but go for it. Thank you.

Next up is current events. And, uh, I'll start off. Last weekend, we had a tremendous gathering of citizens that came together for for our city day. Council member Ellis and I were there. And I don't know if anyone else stopped by on your own time, but thank you if you did. it. Uh we had nearly 700 volunteers show up that contributed uh 2,800 hours across 38 projects. And the impact was immediate. We had 80 tons of gravel spread, more than 57,000 square feet of walls painted and nearly 1,100 homes supported through the community improvements. And this would not have been possible without the support of our sponsors. Sheran Williams, Waste Management, Vyabi, Home Depot, PCL, as well as Salvation Army, and Resurrection Street Ministry for helping make this celebration in the park a success. Thank you for the FAR city leadership team, our community partners, and every volunteer who helped make a difference. Together, block by block, this community continues to lift each other up. And um to our housing folks, that was very touching. the the plaque that you gave me. So, uh thank you. I I wasn't anticipating that and uh it was a true honor as I've had the opportunity to have a role in this over the past 15 years or so. So, thank you. And [snorts] next, and last for me, I'd like to talk about our upcoming family Easter celebration. On Friday, April 3rd, at 5:30 p.m., this beloved annual event will take place at downtown in the Dr. AJ Chandler Park. This long-standing community tradition brings together families for an evening

full of fun, including the popular 24 karat with a K trail. Uh, live entertainment and games and activities for children and families. It's always a great opportunity for our community to come together, create lasting memories, and enjoy all that downtown Chandler has to offer. I encourage your residents to join us and take part of the festive Chandler tradition and I encourage council don't compete with uh three year olds and trying to grab Easter eggs. So I wasn't going to say any names. I did. Okay.

I took a little privilege. There you go. That um council member uh council member Poston

just a couple tonight. Thank you, mayor. Um, I'm excited to announce that Chairmore Housing and Redevelopment is opening its public housing wait list, and that's for three, four, and fivebedroom family sizes. Um, pre-applications will be accepted starting noon Friday, April 3rd. Um, all completed applications need to be submitted by noon on Friday, April 17th. And from that pool of applicants or pre-applicants submitted, 350 pre-applications will be placed on a lottery on a waiting list. So, it's great that we are able to open up that list. Again, if you need more information or know one who needs know someone who needs more information, they can find that by going to applychandlerhousing.com or by calling chandlerousing at 4807823200. And then my other announcement is the police criminal justice career week. Um the next criminal justice career week will be scheduled for June 8th through June 11th. That's 2026. The registration opens in April though and you can go to visit chandler aaz Chandlerazpd.gov and search for criminal justice career week or just go to our website and find criminal justice career week. Thank you.

Uh vice mayor.

Thank you mayor. Um, I do just want to take a minute to talk about Noce Illuminada last Friday, which is an event that we held right here at our own city hall, which we transformed and really elevated the space. No illuminada means uh illuminated night, and it was a vibrant celebration that brought our community together to honor culture, art, and connection. And I want to thank um Mayor for attending, Council Member Poston, and Alice for being in attendance as well. Thank you guys for being there to support. Um, one of the most meaningful moments of that evening was honoring Alberto Esparsa, whose lifelong dedication to serving the community and uplifting others, especially our youth in STEM, robotics, um, in many different categories, even soccer. He has left a lasting um, impact across our city and beyond. I've known him majority of my entire life. So, it was great to honor him and all the work that he's done here in Chandler. Um the event featured uh spectacular light displays, light performances or live performances and interactive experiences that highlighted the riches and diversity of our community. We also highlighted a nonprofit uh the Chandler Education Foundation and LiveWell Foundations helped highlight the importance of investing in youth including a powerful spoken word performance by a third grade students um who shared what community means to them and through their own voices and experiences. We had a very strong uh turnout of community members. It was great to celebrate with everybody and I do want to thank um CeCe, Dara, Adriana, and Nikki, the team who helped bring this event to life. It was a small vision that I had and they brought it to full life on Friday and it was a great event to be with everyone. So, thanks for everyone's hands on deck on that. Thank you.

Council member Orlando, nothing tonight, Mayor. Council member Harris,

thank you. [clears throat] I have a few announcements tonight. Um, first announcement I want to first earlier this month, Congressman Stanton secured critical funding to strengthen Arizona's water infrastructure and energy resilience as we continue to face the growing challenges of extreme heat. Um, his investment in water resources especially important to protecting and securing our state's future. And for Chandler, the ability to construct new wells will help reduce reliance on the Colorado River and further diversify the city's water portfolio, strengthening our long-term sustainability. So, we want to thank um Congressman Stanton on behalf of the city of Chandler for his leadership and continued support of Arizona's water priorities. Uh this investment is vital to maintaining the infrastructure needed to ensure a reliable and sustainable water supply for our community. well into the well into the future. The next announcement I want to share was this past week I had the opportunity along with my wife as well as other elected leaders across the valley was able to join the big brother Big Sisters gala. Uh as you know city of Chandler is partnered with Big Brother Big Sisters to help with mentorship. Um, but I had the pleasure of attending this gala and this event raises awareness of their programs and generates muchneeded funds to pro to support youth in our community. The evening creates a strong impact and fosters meaningful connections while also highlighting the continued positive influence of Big Brother Big Sister in our community. It was an honor to be present for a powerful stories that showcase the life change life-changing impact Big Brother Big Sister of Central Arizona has on the youth in the community. as a whole. And if you have the opportunity to attend this event in the future, I strongly encourage you to do so. It was truly inspiring. Also, I had the opportunity um some years ago, my wife and I, we was

able to be uh the co-chair for the event. We helped raise a lot of money. Um I think that night, we raised almost a million dollars to help Big Brother Big Sister. So it's a honor to really work with organizations like this and really see organization like this grow and and see the fruits of it even inside our city of Chandler. So thank you for that. And then I guess the last announcement I'm just going to take a point of privilege. As you guys know I started a teacher appreciation initiative last year. I implemented that. Uh and this year we're going to be setting up the link probably by Monday. We want you to um once we put the link out there, please we're please we're asking for you to nominate some of the teachers that are inside of the city of Chandler jurisdiction. Not Channel Unified School District that stretches past our jurisdiction, but teachers that are. And we're intentionally trying to make sure that we um get great teachers from the public school, private school, charter school, and monastery school so we can make sure that those teachers from all those different areas are um truly recognized. And um Quick Trip already have kicked in to give each one of the one each one of the teachers that is selected a $200 gas card. So I appreciate Quick Trip for doing that. So, I can't wait um for the the announcements to as you guys hear more about it. Can't wait to get some of the nominations going and get some of the teachers involved. And um and I'm I'm excited about it. So, I look forward to um working with the community. Any community partner that wants to be a part of that or wants to help or support um we want you to be able to do that. Please reach out to me and let me know. I would love to um support I would love to get your support to help support the teachers. With that being said, thank you, Mary. That's all I got.

Council member Hawkins. All right. Thank you, Mayor. Um, kind of along that same thread for CUSD or at least Chandler students, I just want to say welcome back. Uh, we hope you had a fun and relaxing spring break and we're ready to finish, excuse me, ready for a strong finish to the school year. And as we return, please remember to stay safe and hydrated as the warmer weather approaches or in other words is already here. Um, but we also want to wish the best of luck to the students and teachers preparing for state testing next week. I know that's a lot to handle, but your hard work and dedication uh is appreciated and we're cheering you on. So, thank you, Mayor, City Manager,

Mayor, Council, last night, I had the privilege of attending the police public safety awards. It is the first time in my over 30-year career that I went to one of these events, and all seven members of council were at one of those events. So, I take it as a point of pride that you were there to show your support and you got to see the amazing we work they're doing behind the scenes in our community to fight crimes such as child trafficking, cyber crimes, and things like that. They are keeping us safe and your support was noted and I wanted to thank you all for it. The police department here is a point of pride and I appreciate you for noticing that. Thank you. Thank you, sir. With that, that concludes our meeting. Thank you, councel. [clears throat]