Board of Supervisors - Regular Meeting

Good

morning, and welcome to the formal meeting of the Maricopa County Board of Supervisors for 05/20/2026. Madam Clerk, would you please call

the roll? Yes. Thank you, madam chair. Supervisor Stewart? Here. Supervisor Galvin? Here. Vice chair Lesko? Here. Supervisor Gallardo?

Here.

Chair Brophy McGee? Here. Thank you.

And now we will proceed to the invocation and pledge of allegiance. Supervisor Galvin, please introduce your guests.

Madam Chair, thank you very much. I'd like to welcome three special guests that we have today. They represent Vitalant, which is in District 2, which is an amazing leader and community member. And the three folks joining us this morning are Rob and Tyle, Bobby Shaw, and TJ Mitchell. And if I can, I'd like to talk more about them afterwards.

Please.

Okay. Thank you. Everyone, please rise.

Well, good morning, and thank you, Supervisor Galvin, for the invitation to be here today. I invite us to pause for a brief moment of reflection. We are grateful for the leadership and service represented in this room. And this Board as this Board begins its work, may its members be guided by wisdom, sound judgment, and shared commitment to the well-being of all those they serve. May the decisions made here reflect care, support, and a deep responsibility to our community.

The work done here helps strengthen our community and improve lives. At Vitalant, we see firsthand the power of community support through blood donation. And we are grateful for the opportunity to serve alongside leaders dedicated to the health and well-being of others. May we all carry that commitment forward in the work ahead. Thank you. My colleague, Bobby Shaw, will lead us in the Pledge of Allegiance.

I pledge allegiance to the flag of The United States Of America and to the republic for which it

stands, one nation under God,

God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.

Supervisor Gallatin.

Madam chair, thank you. Thank you to all three of you for coming down here this morning, taking time out of your busy schedule. But I really appreciate the time we're able to spend upstairs in my office and talk about the various issues and all the great work that you're doing. And I just wanna highlight that I was at your event celebrating Valentine's, and just so impressive how you had 800 people showing up, and it really shows how much people here in the community care about blood donations and the work that Vitalant does. But, madam chair, if I may, Rob Van Tile is president and chief operating officer of Vitalant, and he is responsible for blood operations, biotherapies, and laboratory and clinical services.

Bobby Shaw is Vitalant's Executive Vice President, Chief Administrative and Legal Officer, General Counsel, and corporate secretary. She oversees quality and regulatory services, legal affairs, corporate compliance, and privacy. TJ Mitchell is associate general counsel for Vitalant, and he handles government relations and public affairs. And some of you recall that TJ Mitchell previously served as chief of staff to former supervisor Bill Gates, and I'm honored to call him a friend as well. Vitalant was founded in Arizona in 1943 and is currently headquartered here in District 2 and has saved and improved millions of lives by providing essential blood donations, clinical services, medical consultation, and innovative research.

Vitalin serves the blood needs of a 100%, 100% of the hospitals in Maricopa County. It's incredible. Thank you for being here and dedicating your time and efforts to such a noble cause. And just for all of you, it's pronounced Vitalin. So I know I got that part right.

And also, please, if you can't donate blood, talk to family members about donating blood. It is so important. And they were just telling me upstairs that it's actually in the summer months where they see the slowest amount of time because, obviously, people are either traveling or have other obligations. But for Vitalant, seeking blood and getting blood donations is a daily mission, and they are working at it morning, day, and night. So I wanna thank all three of you for delivering that beautiful invocation and helping us do the Pledge of Allegiance, and I look forward to seeing you again. Thank you, and thank you, madam chair.

Thank you, supervisor Galvin, and welcome. We appreciate your being here. Okay. We will move on to the Pet Showcase and meet the current available slobbery friend.

Slobbery is confirmed. He just slobbered on my arm on my way

up here. Oh, so cute. This is Joey. He is four years old.

He came into the shelter on April 24 as a stray. He was actually found wandering around a junkyard, and they called us to help get him. He was limping. He was super skinny, had fleas and ticks covered all over him. And still, even with all that, he was extremely friendly towards our field officers, and he's been really friendly from the start.

And I think he was just really happy to be saved. He recently went on some Tails Around town trips over the weekend, and he got to hang out on a pet friendly patio, and he just laid down and enjoyed some I think they said they fed him cottage cheese, which I guess is high in protein, so okay. And some other fun snacks for dogs. And then he also went to Home Depot, another pet friendly establishment, and just was greeting a bunch of strangers, even some kids, and he just leans up to everybody who pets him. He definitely loves attention.

He is also our most recent Bark Ranger. He was out at Lake Pleasant yesterday our water and trail safety event, and he hopped right onto that boat like he's been doing it his whole life. And he also sat in the captain's chair, so he is officially the captain of Lake Pleasant. So he will be featured in a video on that very soon. But he is definitely a natural at the lake, he seems to be one of those dogs that can just go everywhere with you, and he probably would love any outdoor adventure as well. And he is already neutered, so that means he can go home today.

Thank you so much, Kim.

Madam Chair, if I may, first of all, Kim, thank you very much. But Supervisor Lesko and I had the honor of accompanying Joey to Lake Pleasant yesterday. And I just have to say after spending some time with him,

just a

beautiful, wonderful, loving dog that definitely deserves a home, and that demeanor and that sweet disposition is what we saw yesterday. So, any family should rush to adopt Joey, and we'll be very happy with him. So, thank you, Kim.

Yeah, Absolutely, thank

you. Supervisor Lusko.

Thank you. I agree with Supervisor Galvin. I got to spend time with Joey yesterday, and for anybody watching that is interested in adopting a dog, great dog, really friendly. You know, if I was in the market for adopting a dog, I would this is the guy I'd want. So, thank you.

Thank you. Thank you so much, and with those kudos and recommendations in hand, good luck. We'll now proceed to the business portion of our agenda. Madam Clerk, are there any announcements or corrections to the agenda? Madam Chair, yes, I do have some announcements to make. The first announcement is

on page 12, item number 10. That is the hearing for the proposed Fieldhouse Community Facilities District. This item has been withdrawn at the applicant's request. That is item number 10. On page 15, item number 12, the wastewater treatment plants item, that item is also withdrawn.

Then on page 49, item number seven, I have a couple of corrections. The first one is in the first paragraph, the first sentence, the language emergency vote centers is being added, and it should read as follows. Be it resolved that the Maricopa County Board of Supervisors adopts a resolution authorizing the use of vote centers and emergency vote centers, this is the language that is being added, for the twenty twenty six primary election. Thank you. Do board members have note of that language?

Madam chair, for clarification, in regards to the item that the that the clerk brought up, I believe the wastewater treatment items are on page 16. Is that item number 12? I just

It is item number 12.

I'm sorry. It is item number 12. Okay.

Thank you, madam chair.

Thank you for clarifying that. And vice chair? I madam chair, Oh. I have one more correction to this agenda item. The third paragraph, also the first sentence. Okay. In the first sentence, CD special is being deleted, so it now reads as follows. The board of supervisors also authorized the use of drop boxes for the primary and general elections. That is all I have. Okay.

Thank you. Do board members have note of those corrections and changes? Hearing nothing, I'm assuming the answer to that is yes. We will now proceed to the Planning and Zoning Consent Agenda Item five, six, and seven, Southwest Corner Of Val Vista Drive, Chandler Heights, Arizona self storage on Lindsay, and Dakota Creek modification of cons of conditions. Supervisors, do any of you wish to remove any of these three items from consent?

Hearing none, we will now consider items five through seven. Madam Vice Chair, is there a motion, please?

Thank you, Madam Chair. I move that we approve items number five through seven.

Thank you. I know there's additional language. Is it required, Brooke, or not? I know.

I don't think so. Madam madam vice madam chair,

that is correct. The additional language language has been, I believe, given Madam to all the supervisors, and it is incorporated into the agenda items.

Thank you. I'm never quite sure, so I'm glad you are. So if there is a motion, is there a second?

Second.

It's been moved and seconded. Hearing no further discussion, all those in favor will say aye.

Aye.

Any opposed? The motion carries unanimously. We will now move to Item eight, the Regular Agenda for Planning and Zoning Framework 2040 Maricopa County Comprehensive Plan. And I would like to invite Mr. Ellsworth and Mr. Girard to come forward and provide a brief presentation. And please pull your microphones close, make sure they're on, and introduce yourself for our audience and those who are online.

Good morning, Madam Chair, members of the Board. My name is Tom Ellsworth. I'm the Director of Planning and Development in Maricopa County. I have with me Darren Gerard, our Planning Manager. And I'd also like to recognize in the audience that we have our project manager for this project, our senior planner, Adam Cannon as well as representatives from our consulting firm. This was a two year effort. This item is for the consideration of the comprehensive plan. Framework 2,040 is the long range comprehensive plan for unincorporated areas of Maricopa County. This plan is a policy and decision making guide. It's not a zoning ordinance.

It's not an approved it does not approve individual projects. Instead, it provides the policy foundation for future decisions as rezonings, plan amendments, infrastructure questions and development proposals come forward. The value of this plan is that it helps the county ask better questions before growth decisions become permanent. This plan is organized into nine elements. Each of these elements is interconnected and affects how future development proposals are considered.

That's why the comprehensive plan matters. It brings these issues into one policy framework so they can be evaluated together. The plan translates these nine elements into 33 goals and a 137 related policies to guide the future's decisions of the county. These goals microphone a little closer. Oh.

Thank you, sir.

Together, these goals and policies give the board, residents, applicants, municipalities and staff a common policy foundation. It helps us ask questions or answer the questions, is this the right location? Is infrastructure available? Are services realistic? Does the proposal fit the area and the area's character?

It frames the review of each individual development proposal that comes forward. This is the practical value of Framework 2040. The plan was shaped by significant public outreach, agency review, municipal comments and stakeholder input over the last two years. That engagement produced broad and consistent themes that helped shape the direction of the plan. What we heard was that residents were not simply saying growth or no growth, they were asking for growth to be thoughtful.

They want natural and rural landscape protected. They want water and infrastructure considered. They want high quality development, economic opportunity, and attention to public safety and response times. Those comments shape the plant's three guiding themes of opportunity, stewardship, and prosperity. This input matters because unincorporated Maricopa County is not just one kind of place. We have county islands surrounded by cities. We have urban edge areas where development pressure is increasing. We also have rural areas where residents value open space, agricultural activity, and rural character. These areas should not all be evaluated in the same way. A county island surrounded by municipal services presents different questions than a rural property located away from urban infrastructure.

An urban edge near future annexation presents different questions in an area where rural character should remain the priority. This plan gives us a clear structure for recognizing those differences. It brings us to the most important policy tool in framework 2040, the municipal rural influence framework. This framework separates unincorporated areas into two broad contexts, either areas of influence by municipal planning areas and areas that are more rural in character. This does not rezone property.

It does not approve development. It does not create a new regulatory boundary. What it does is help the county evaluate whether a future request belongs in an urban growth conversation or a rural service conversation. That's a major improvement because it helps make future decisions more consistent, more transparent and more connected to infrastructure and context. The plan also continues a valuable policy of urban solutions for urban development.

This strategy and policy tool is used to evaluate whether infrastructure and services are available or accessible when urban development is being considered in unincorporated Maricopa County. The point here is not to create a rigid checklist or a pass fail test. The point is to make sure the county is looking at the full picture before urban development moves forward in unincorporated areas. The draft before you is before you has had significant public review and has gone through several drafts. The public draft, we had a sixty day review draft at the beginning of the year.

It was also reviewed by the Planning and Zoning Commission. As part of those refinements that were made through that draft, one important refinement was making the infrastructure language clearer so it reads as a policy evaluation tool and not a regulatory checklist. This draft also strengthens coordination with municipalities when proposals fall within municipal boundaries. These changes made the plan more practical and more aligned with how the county actually makes land use decisions. So in closing, Framework 2,040 is a practical policy document.

It does not solve every issue today, but it gives Maricopa County a stronger way to evaluate the decisions that will shape those issues over time. It helps protect what residents value. It supports opportunity where growth is appropriate. It reinforces stewardship of rural and natural areas, and it provides a clear policy foundation for future board decisions. The Planning and Zoning Commission reviewed this plan at their April 23 hearing and unanimously recommended approval. With that,

I'll take any questions you have. Thank you. First of all, are there questions or comments from board members? No. Absolutely outstanding. Thank you. It helped as I was coming into the county to run smack into this in the middle of the process. It was very helpful to me in understanding what exactly it is

you all do. Madam clerk, are there any speaker forms Madam. Received? Madam chair, yes. We do have five speaker forms. All wish to speak in favor. Please proceed. First person, Bryant Smith, followed by Amanda Moniz, then Janice Peterson. And please, if you could limit your comments to two minutes, that would be appreciated.

Certainly. And introduce yourself when you are at the microphone, please. Okay.

I lost my spot. Hold on one second. I'm sorry. Alright. Good morning, madam chair and members of the board.

My name is Brian Smith, and I'm a resident of the Rio Verde Foothills. I'm here today regarding Item eight, the Framework 2,040 Comprehensive Plan. I strongly urge the Board to preserve and protect the strict rural densities designation for Rio Verde Foothills and reject any shift towards higher density brackets such as proposed Mordeaux Ranch amendments. Under Arizona Statute Section eleven-eight 14, all future rezonings must strictly conform to the comprehensive plan you are voting on today. If you weaken the rural designations in framework twenty forty today, you open the floodgates to high density sprawl that our infrastructure cannot support.

The reality of our region dictates this restraint. First, water. The Arizona Department of Water Resources established a one hundred year groundwater deficit in the Phoenix active management area. The previous water analysis for Mordeaux Ranch expired back in 2021. There's no guaranteed water supply to super support urban densities in this unincorporated desert.

Second, public safety. Our narrow rural roads, unlit intersections, and overstretched emergency services cannot handle the thousands of daily trips. Framework twenty forty is meant to guide smart, sustainable growth, not to serve as a rubber stamp for speculative developers at the expense of existing taxpayers. Please protect our shared aquifer, our safety, and our rural heritage by keeping the Rio Verde Foothills designated exclusively for rural densities. Thank you.

Thank you. Amanda Park. Next up, Amanda Moniz, then Janice Peterson, then Theresa Hansen.

Hello. Good morning, chair and supervisors. Sorry. Did I speak too soon? Oh, welcome. My name is Amanda Moniz. I'm an elected member to the Central Arizona Water Conservation District. But today, I speak to you today as a citizen and resident of the Rio Verde Foothills. First, would like to acknowledge and appreciate the work being done on framework twenty forty. I understand the importance of having a long range planning document that helps guide responsible growth, infrastructure, and land use decisions throughout Maricopa County.

As someone who lives in the Rio Verde Foothills, I want to emphasize why these policies matter so deeply to our community. Less than a year ago, many residents in the Rio Verde Foothills were facing a very serious water crisis. While Sandpipe opened in January 2026 to help serve a portion of the community, many residents still do not have access to a long term sustainable backup water supply if wells run dry. That is why the comprehensive plan and especially the Rio Verde Foothills Area Plan are so important. Our community is zoned Rule 43, one acre home per acre for a reason that land use pattern reflects the realities of our infrastructure, our water limitations, and the real character of community.

I ask that Framework 2,040 continue to prioritize policies related to sustainable water resources, compatibility with existing rural communities, and ensuring infrastructure is adequate before higher density development is approved. I also respectfully ask that these principles be carefully considered when evaluating applications such as KCPA260001 and Z260002 Mordeaux Ranch, which propose significantly increasing density in the Rio Verde Foothills up to 12 dwellings per acre. Please do not allow another water crisis to happen in our community. Responsible growth must mean growth that can truly be supported by available water and infrastructure, not growth that places existing residents at greater risk. I support the adoption and implementation of framework 2,040 and appreciate the county's efforts to plan responsibly for the community and for the future of Maricopa County.

Thank you for your time and consideration.

Madam Chair,

if I Supervisor Galvin.

If I may be brief, I just wanna thank the honorable Amanda Moniz for coming down. We visited briefly before the hearing, and I wanna thank her for her service to Maricopa County serving on the Central Arizona Project Water Board. But Amanda is also a constituent, and I know has taken a keen interest in this comprehensive plan and has also been a community leader and a community advocate on issues affecting the Rio Verde Foothills and issues regarding this comprehensive plan. So, Ms. Moniz, thank you for your service on the CAP board, and thank you for coming today. Thank you, madam chair.

Thank you, supervisor. Madam clerk? Next up, Janice Peterson, followed by Teresa Hansen, and then Marie Mazzarella. Welcome. Good morning, board. My

name is Janice Peterson. I live in the town of Rio Verde. And I just wanted to say that I very much appreciate all your hard work on this 2040 plan. As everyone prior to me has already said, this is extremely important. This is not a joke for us. This is our livelihoods. This is our lives. This is our livestock, our pets, our families. This is a big deal, We very much appreciate your efforts and your help on this. Thank you. Thank you. Madam Clark?

Teresa Hansen, then Marie Mossarella.

Welcome. Welcome. Thank you. Good morning, Board. My name is Teresa Hansen. My family and I have lived in the Rio Verde Foothills for thirteen years, moved here from Texas. We intentionally chose the Rio Verde Foothills area because of the type of community it was, and because of the rural landscape and the rural lifestyle. So, first, I want to thank the entire team that was involved in developing this Framework 2040 Comprehensive Plan. As my neighbors have said before me, this is extremely important. We fully support actually read the entire plan, all two fifty one pages of it.

And I believe it covers all the major considerations that come into play when making considerations and decisions about development and land use in the unincorporated areas. My biggest concern beyond the water and the road infrastructure are the wildfires. I am a horse owner and an avid competitor with horses. I keep horses on my property, which is five acre, zoned 190, R-one 190. And I saw firsthand the dangers that wildfires can cause.

This is a year round risk for Maricopa County, particularly in the unincorporated areas. I was part of the groups that had to evacuate horses. And with the one road in and out of the area, which is Rio Verde Drive, and no plans for expanding that, we simply cannot support or sustain the high density growth that has already happened in our area and the high density growth that is proposed. So with that, I yield back my time, and thank you again for your support, and

we look forward to the implementation of this plan. Thank you. And Madam Clerk? Last speaker, Marie Mazzarella. Very quickly, hi. I'm Marie Mazzarella. I'm also from Rio Grande Foothills. Again, I'd like to thank everyone here for all the work that they did in Framework 2040. All my questions have been answered, and comments that I had has already been said. So again, with that, I just want to say thank you very much

for your hard

work. Thank you. As you are our last speaker and you all hail from Rio Verde, Thank you all for coming and making the trip down here to make your voices heard. It means the world. Any further questions for staff or comments from the board? Let's proceed to a vote. Madam Vice Chair, is there a motion?

Thank you, Madam Chair. I move that we approve item number eight, which is the approval of the Framework 2040 Maricopa County Comprehensive Plan. Thank you, Madam Vice Chair. Is there a second?

Second. And Madam Chair, if I may, I'd like to explain my vote.

I would appreciate it. Thank you. Do you want to do it while you vote or after? Why don't we comment after?

Whatever you prefer.

I will

for the question, hearing no further questions or comments, and then we'll hear comments about the vote after. All those in favor will say aye. Aye. Any opposed? Supervisor Galvin.

Thank you, madam chair. I know that all of my colleagues feel the same way, but we're really grateful to staff for the immense work that it takes to do a comprehensive plan. This is no small feat even though we only had five speakers today. But the fact that we have five speakers shows that, well, a, there are some people that are very interested in this and want to make sure that their voices are heard. But b, that you've been listening to the public throughout this entire process, and it's been a very lengthy process.

But if we arrive today where it's not acrimonious, that's a good thing. However, I do know that a lot of people throughout the county have taken an interest in the comprehensive plan, and obviously people in my district have as well. I am grateful for the five folks who spoke here this morning. All of them are from the Rio Verde Foothills and all of them represent or live in my district. But also it's really important for people that live in unincorporated areas. For many of them, this is basically the only local government that they have. They don't live in cities. They don't live in towns. And for me, and I know for all five of us, when you hear from constituents who live in unincorporated areas, you have to pay special heed to what they're saying and what they're desiring. Also a comprehensive plan is very important.

It's not just something that you just do and you just put it on the shelf and you put it away. This is a major statement that the Board of Supervisors in the county is making. This is policy document. And very rarely often do we get to express, ourselves in a in a policy way. We're not policy wonks. We have to do what the state mandates does to do to carry out our roles and responsibilities. But this is an important job that we have here in the comprehensive plan. And Tom and Darren and Jen Perkorsky, I want to thank all three of you for your leadership because I know there's an entire team that worked on this comprehensive plan from day one. This only happens every ten years. Years.

And I know it's a lot of folks that took it to this level, to this point. And all five of us, I think, did a good job of getting the word out. All of us took interest in making sure that constituents in our respective districts were heard and knew about these public meetings. And the fact that this is a very public process throughout is really important. And, madam chair, I wanna thank you for your leadership. As well, I wanna congratulate you for overseeing a new comprehensive plan that got approved today. So thank you to my constituents, and thank you to staff.

Thank you, mister Gowan. Mister Stewart?

Thank you, madam chair. Again, I wanna thank Adam Cannon and the planning and zoning staff. Tom, Darren, thanks so much for the work that you do. And, for, supervisor Galvin, who led the charge on this last year, and for, chairman McGee getting this across the finish line, this is a big deal. I think the community that's here today is sharing how important this is.

And I appreciate the fact that you and your team solicited over 20 230 comments. We've gotten feedback from the municipalities, from different stakeholders throughout the community in order to bring this together, Tom. So I appreciate the work you're doing. In the big picture here, this plan focuses on economic development, right, creating jobs for our kids and for ourselves. It produces infrastructure strategy, service availability and, very importantly, protecting our regional water supply and supporting improvements in the sheriff's deputy coverage, response times and offering opportunities for housing and gainful employment.

I think when you think about the 2040 framework, it's a vision, right, of where we think the county will be, when we grow up. I think we're already grown up, but when we where we're going to be in in 2040. And all of us will likely be gone by then, but hopefully, it sets the framework for future officials, for future staff members to work within so that we can grow as a community. People are still coming here, but we can grow as a community with a common sense approach. And so I appreciate the work that you've done, and I appreciate my colleagues for their input and support. Thank you, madam chair.

Thank you. Checking with supervisor Gallardo. Are you good?

Good.

Yeah. And I think what I'd like to finish up is having walked smack into the middle of the start of this in 2025, I continue to thank God for the opportunity to serve two and a half years on the Planning and Zoning Commission before I ran for County Supervisor. What you all do is amazingly complex. As I commonly say or constantly say, I've worked with many different levels of local government, and I am so impressed by the implementation. It's you're you're really thinking through the processes, you're working together, and you're coming up with real solutions.

And I see that across the county. I see that in your work on this plan. And Mr. Ellsworth and mister Gerard, thank you and thank your amazing staff for all the work they have put in on this plan. Thank you, sirs. And also, madam county manager. Keeping the boys in line,

Okay.

Moving on to statutory hearings. Clerk of the Board has nine only, 10 has been withdrawn. And then we have some transportation road files, 11 a a which is 11 a through c. Those are shown on the agenda. Madam Clerk, do

we have any speakers? Madam Chair, none on these items.

Okay. So, Board members will note, as previously mentioned, that Item 10 has been withdrawn per the applicant's request, and the Board will now consider Items nine and eleven A through C. Madam Vice Chair, is there a motion?

Thank you, Madam Chair. I move that we approve item nine and eleven A through C.

Thank you. Is there a second, please? Second. It's been moved and seconded. Hearing no further discussion, we'll proceed to a vote. All those in favor will say aye. Aye. Any opposed? Motion passes unanimously. Continuing to statutory hearings, please note that Item 12 has also been withdrawn, which moves us into the Board of Supervisors' consent agenda items 13 through 96. Supervisors, do any of you have an item you would wish to remove from 13 through 96?

Madam chair, I would like to pull item 45 from the consent

agenda. Any

other items? So if I get my numbers right, Madam Vice Chair, may we have a motion on items 13 through forty four and forty six through 96.

Madam Chair, I move that we approve items 13 through forty four and forty six through 96.

Thank you. Is there a second? Second. It's been moved and seconded. All those in favor will say aye.

Aye.

All those opposed, motion passes unanimously. We will now move for separate consideration to item number 45, which is the Maricopa County Recorder's Office budget adjustment. Is there Supervisor Gallardo, do you have some opening comments, sir?

Thank you, madam chair and fellow supervisors. This is an item I know has been debated quite a lot in terms of how we move forward. But it comes with difficult times right now, madam chair. We are dealing with an office that is has been very difficult to work with. Let's be blunt and honest.

I've been here ten years, over ten years now. I've worked with several counter recorders starting back in '88. I was working with Keith Pilitas, Helen Purcell, Adrian Fontes, Steven Richards, and now now mister Justin Heath. And I don't think I've ever seen a more difficult time between the relationship between this board and and the county recorder's office. I'm not trying to be partisan here at all, guys.

I'm not trying to be partisan. I'm being factual here. This is fact. It has been almost a year and a half since mister Heap has taken office. It has been an ongoing struggle to collaborate with this office, to work together. I understand the importance of this office, madam chair. I served there. I started my adult career in in in this area. I spent fourteen years in Maricopa County elections department before moving on and doing other stuff. I understand the importance of it.

I understand the relationship of both the board and the recorder's office has. I was here when we re rewrote the the agreement between the recorders and this board. It was during the term with Adrian Fontes. It was ongoing discussions and compromise. But that's not what we're seeing, madam chair.

We're not seeing that from from mister Heat. We're not seeing any any coming down and really really negotiating and working together in a in a true faith tradition as we've seen with other counter recorders. Half the time, madam chair, I can't even, you know, take his word on many of the stuff he says. Since day one, he has put out false statements. He has been truthful with this board.

I just have some strong doubt of his ability to carry out the twenty twenty six election. I have some doubt that of him wanting to to truly have a successful election. I think there's a there's a thought in my mind that perhaps maybe he wants it to fail. I don't know. I hope he doesn't.

But it has been difficult, more difficult than any any before. And I know we passed this. We passed our, I think, our resolution a few few weeks ago, couple months ago, and I was very supportive of that thinking we're gonna be able to work together. We're gonna be able to hopefully start collaborating more, being able to work together to identify some of the tasks, and it's just led from that to lawsuits and and everything else. We're still in the courts.

But nonetheless, I have very very strong doubts on his ability to carry out this office. We're dealing with public funds here. And I'm not too sure exactly what he's gonna do with this money. But nonetheless, I I just cannot in full faith be able to to spend taxpayer dollars in a way where I have no confidence in the ability of the counter recorder right now. Like I said, I'm not trying to be partisan.

I've worked with majority Republican counter recorders and had great working relationships. We didn't always agree, but we worked very well to get worked very well together. This is this is a tough one, and it's hard for me to swallow. So, madam chair, I am will not be supporting this motion at this time. I think we need to be able to to really have a a stronger discussion and confidence in the recorder, which we have not seen.

Again, I can't even take his word for anything he says. He has a reputation so far with me at least of not being very truthful and honest. Has put out definite lies on me saying that I've said stuff that I've never said. So it is very difficult for me to be able to support the motion in front of us. I just have to do it in the best interest of taxpayers and the people of Maricopa County, and I will be opposing item 45.

Thank you, supervisor Gallardo. I know, supervisor Stewart, you had also asked that this item be removed from consent. Do you have any comments?

Yes, ma'am. Thank you very much. No. I I this this is not this is not, I guess, a review of the process that's going forward or what's happened or what what may happen in the future. It's about trying to get to a place where an agreement, I think, that we made about supporting the recorder's IT staff requests and moving funding from essentially one bucket to another under his budget in order for those to be funded within his P and L.

And for that reason, I don't want to bring everything into this particular discussion, but this is something that I think we'd agreed on and we're going to move forward with here today, hopefully, so that we can fund this correctly as we had all agreed to do. I appreciate the time, madam chair, and I'll wait for the vote.

Thank you. Supervisor Lesko.

Thank you, madam chair. I believe the Board of Supervisors and Recorder Heap share the same goal of election integrity and running smooth and fair elections. I call on Recorder Heap to join us in structured meetings to work out our differences. In the past, Recorder Heap has said he is willing to do so. He wants to do so.

Judge Blaney, in his ruling, said he wants us to work this out. So I call on recorder Heap to join us in meetings to work out our differences differences for for the the benefit benefit of of the the voters, voters and election integrity. This item, if we approve it, increases funding to the recorder's office. I will be supporting it because we have already voted in a resolution in the past to give him more IT workers, which he has asked for. So again, I call on recorder heap to join us in structured meetings that may be open to the public or publicly recorded so that the voters know and we have transparency.

Thank you. And thank you for your comments.

I I've been in public service a long time, and I can tell you that you don't get to pick who the voters send you, but you are required by virtue of your office to work with them. And that goes both ways, both for the recorder and for the board of supervisors. I understand the comments that are that have been made from every angle, and I appreciate the frankness and the honesty in which they've been delivered. And we will move forward. Because at the end of the day, our goal as the Maricopa County Board of Supervisors is open, honest, transparent elections that are properly and fairly conducted.

Period. End of story. And it's not about political agendas. So with that, madam vice chair, is there a motion?

Thank you, madam chair. I move that we approve item number 45.

Second.

Thank you. Madam clerk, may I please have a roll call vote?

Yes. Supervisor Stewart?

Aye.

Supervisor Galvin?

Aye.

Vice Chair Lasko? Aye. Supervisor Gallardo?

I vote a resounding no.

Chair Brophy McGee? As chair of this board and for no other reason, I vote aye. Thank you, Board members. We will now proceed to the Board of Supervisors Addendum, Item number 97. I am seeking a motion to recess this meeting and go into executive session for the purpose of obtaining legal advice. Madam vice chair.

Thank you, madam chair. I move that we go into executive session for item number 97.

Second. It's

been moved and seconded. All those in favor will say aye. Aye. Aye. Aye. Okay. That vote was unanimous. What we will do is I'm looking at the clock. We will

I was waiting. Aye.

Oh, I thought you said I.

No. No.

I missed.

Oh, okay. But you're gonna have

your Thank you, madam chair.

You're gonna have your own executive session. So, with that in mind, my plan is for us to return, I hope, by 11:15 earlier, if at all possible.

Madam chair?

Yes, sir.

Thank you. Will I get a briefing on your meeting after you guys are completed,

or will it happen here?

It will be, as usual, sir, upstairs similar to what occurred on Monday.

Thank you, madam.

Thank you. And thank you all for your patience. Executive session, and that was item number 97. What we are going to do there is still one supervisor who will be joining us shortly. So what we will commence with is public comment. And, again, I thank everyone who has public comment for staying. Madam Clerk,

participation, emails, and speaker forms. Thank you, madam chair. I will share that we did receive a few email, comments regarding still e mails in opposition to the Project Beccarra and some e mails regarding opposition to Mordeaux Ranch proposal. And all of these comments have been shared with the board offices. We do have a total of 13 speaker forms for call to the public.

Thank you. Before we proceed with public comment, I wanted to remind those, present who will be speaking of our rules of decorum, in order to follow orderly procedures for conducting business. We do very much want to hear from you. We want to know what you have to say, but we must maintain order, during public testimony on any agenda item, and the following rules may be enforced. Attendees shall remain seated during an open meeting to minimize distractions to the Board or other attendees unless you're called upon by the Chair to address the Board or if leaving the meeting room.

No person attending an open meeting shall engage in disorderly or boisterous conduct, including but not limit to applause, whistling, stamping of feet, booing, or making any loud, threatening, profane, abusive, personal, impertinent, or slanderous utterance that disturbs, disrupts, or otherwise impedes the orderly conduct of the meeting. We also request that you not disparage what other speakers have said. They are entitled to their point of view. You are entitled to yours. Please state your point of view.

We do not allow signs of placards or other items in the audience during public meetings, again, for proper and orderly decorum. So with that, madam clerk, could we please proceed? First three, I

will call on Crystal Fox, Diane Barker, Gail Lagrander.

Welcome, and please state your name for the record.

Thank you, madam chair and board members. My name is Crystal Fox. I am the cofounder of the Arizona Mad Moms. I'm also the president of the Mad Moms Services and Educational Fund. We are a group of mothers primarily, but also fathers, brothers, sisters, sometimes even siblings, or children of loved ones that have serious mental illness.

We advocate strictly for those that have serious mental illness, not general mental health conditions. We work with individuals primarily with psychosis disorders, so that would be schizophrenia, bipolar with psychosis, and depression with psychosis. What brings me here today is I've reached out to everyone multiple times, and I haven't had a response. We I have also visited Utah, and I visited California and looked at some one is a secure residential facility synergy that is funded by the Americopa by their county, not Americopa County. And Utah is working together with the Department of Health Services, as well as the Maricopa County Jails for diversion and housing and working with mental health courts.

And I just don't really see the county supporting serious mental illness like I think that we could. And I'm I'm we're really solution based. Kind of my plan is starting in July, maybe sooner, we'll start bringing in Arizona Mad Moms to tell their stories about the gaps in the system, and Maricopa County's primarily issue primary issues with housing and everything. Thank you.

Thank you very much. Madam Clerk? Diane Barker, Gail LaGrander, Noah James Markham.

Afternoon, Chairwoman Kate Roffey McGee, Board of Supervisors. I'm District 5. And you had an agenda item that got passed, and it was specifically for the IGA with Valley Metro in regards to this connected vehicle acceleration project, CVAZ. It's a zone. So basically, not keeping to your rules, I'm not speaking specifically to your IGA with Valley Metro, but the program itself.

And it looks like we are moving in past the planning this particular item spoke about planning into the evaluation of this program. Why I see that it's significant, and we should talk about it, is that it is to alleviate these crashes, and you can imagine, you know, when we have emergency vehicles that are going through intersections at fast speeds, you could have more and more Maricopa County does have the problem of having too many many crashes throughout it, and it affects Phoenix is one of the cities that has the highest pedestrian deaths. So, this is the safety program, there's federal money in it now, they're expanding it outside of the Anthem area. And where I think that it's very pertinent today is in the corridor of Grand Avenue, because we all know that there's a lot going on in Surprise. The Surprise is that whole rail area up there, it's going to have the name of Phoenix in it.

Phoenix is what started the railroad that brought the prosperity to this area. So, let's see how this program helps us in safety and getting around mobility. Thank you, Madam Clerk. Gail Lagrander, James Noah James Markham, Vivian Seraphine. Welcome. Good afternoon, Chair and Supervisors.

My name is Gail Lagrander, and I live in District 2. I registered to vote in 1975, the moment I turned 18. I've been voting for nearly fifty years, and I've never taken that right lightly. Too many people in this country have struggled and even lost their lives for the right to vote. Every time I cast a ballot, I do so with that history in mind. For decades, voting in this country was something we could trust. But in recent years, we've seen a troubling shift. One where partisan politics have been injected into election administration in ways that feel increasingly shameless and dangerous. I fear that fair and peaceful elections are now being placed at risk. My spouse and I have voted by mail for many years.

Earlier this year, we dropped off our ballots in person, and were told that if we showed ID, our ballots would be countered sooner. That interaction was jarring. I left confused, unsettled, and was forced to search for answers about why an additional step was being presented to me. As someone who follows the news closely, and has voted for half a century, I should not have to dig through statutes or track down officials just to understand whether my vote will count. That experience felt like intimidation, and it echoed the kinds of barriers that still prevent many Americans from fully participating in our democracy.

As a voter, this is what I asked for: the removal of barriers to the ballot, election officials taking the time to count every vote accurately, and the protection of voter data from being used for partisan purposes. That's why I support the Maricopa County Board of Supervisors in appealing the decision that hands more unchecked power to Justin Heap. Across the country, policies like the SAVE Act and aggressive partisan gerrymandering are dismantling the democracy we claim to believe in. I urge you to show courage, resist partisan pressure, protect our elections, and help restore public trust in a system that belongs to all of us. Thank you.

Thank you. Madam clerk. Noah James Markham, Vivian Seraphine, Juan Mendez. Welcome.

Aloha, chair, and to the rest of the supervisors board. I love the woman power up here, but I see a little weakness right now. So let's get that straight right now. Also, so if we if I have my shirt off in Walmart or Target or a gas station, I should be able to wear it off. It's a pedophile thing that people ask me to put my shirt back on.

Now another thing, Navajo talked about, you know, about the talkers. We'd be talking about them all the time. But we don't talk about actually how much they affected the World War two war. They talk bad codes. They weren't saying the right codes to end the World War two.

So that's how the Japanese found out, and that's how we ended the war in World War two. Mark Stewart, it's time to build that rail, And Chandler, Mesa, Gilbert, Santa Valley, Vannell, Queen Creek, Justin Heap, and Mark Stewart, why do you take so long to just finalize the results of the Tempe City Council? Doesn't make don't make excuses and evil will never win. Love will always win with God's love. I know we didn't win that case against Justin Heath, but that judge must have been a republican and handed mine to him, not Ashley digesting into Justin Heath.

Shame on you, judge. Tempe homeless people matter and people with disabilities matter. And I will brag about the place I lived in. Town Of Gilbert is the best even though I live in Tempe right now. And, yes, we take care of our water there. Mahalo, and thank you for listening to me this morning. Thank you.

Madam clerk. Vivian Seraphine Juan Mendez Osvaldo Alvarez.

Welcome.

Good afternoon, chair and members of the board. My name is Vivian Seraphine, and I come to you again like I have for the past few weeks asking for voter protection I wish I didn't need to ask for. I know it's been a long, laborious process finding common ground between yours and the county recorder's office. You've been faced with bitter litigation, falsities, and seemingly purposeful sabotage in this season while political division is ubiquitous. Justin Heath pester in the security of our democracy, casted doubt in our election system and in the shared services agreement, and begun processes that have already disenfranchised many.

This unprecedented friction has eroded your trust. I commend your tenacity and your decision to appeal the court's decision that gave Justin Heat more power. It's been quite the battle on our side as well. We've been forced to watch as our rights are dangled in front of our eyes. The Voting Rights Act was gutted after unconstitutional gerrymandering in Louisiana, and our own senate president wants to do the same here.

We have been threatened with the SAVE Act. We have been threatened with ICE at the polls. Black and brown people were beaten and killed not long ago to ensure this level of disenfranchisement didn't happen again. Yet here we are. Though the fight seems insurmountable and is present at the federal level, it begins right here at the county level.

This board of supervisors is our last line of defense. Maricopa County is home to the largest population of voters here in Arizona. If hundreds of people have their signatures rejected, have their registrations revoked, or do not have nearby early voting polling locations, our democracy will be effectively tampered with. Elections are just around the corner. History is being made now, and it is currently in your hands. Please remember that. Remember us who only want proper representation in a country that promised it. Hold strong in your appeal. Thank you.

Thank you. Madam clerk? Juan Mendez, Oswaldo Alvarez, Albert Rivera?

Welcome, senator.

Good morning, chair, and board, or good afternoon. Yeah. Juan Mendez with LUCHA. I'm just here today to reaffirm that I stand with the board and and and you all as you continue your fight your as you continue forward with your legal battle to protect Maricopa County election data from reckless infrastructure migration in the middle of a primary. When you voted to appeal the disruptive ruling, you chose democratic stability over partisan chaos.

So keep standing strong. Right? Because we all know this isn't just about administrative data. It's about the real anxieties of the American people. A recent polling compiled by VoteBeat, like local, polling reveals that while a super majority of voters trust local administrators like yourselves, to run fair elections, they are deeply worried about high level attempts to overturn results.

A staggering 69% of people polled recently are terrified of partisan actors trying to subvert certified outcomes. Right? So it's not this idea of who's voting, it's the people in charge messing with outcomes. So when outside national actors demand unvetted unvetted access to local data and force a chaotic overhaul of our IT servers months before an election, they manufacture the exact nightmare scenario that the voters are afraid of, that they were pulled on. They attempt to undermine local authority and restrict access to the ballot.

So by holding steadfast in your appeal, you are aligning with the vast majority of your constituents who want secure and independent election administration. So do not back down. Do not let partisan fishing expeditions tear apart the trust that we have worked so hard to build in Maricopa County. The community stands with you as long as you stand with an unyielding democracy. But thank you.

Thank you. Madam clerk? Osvaldo Alvarez, Albert Rivera, Diana Jones Pickerel.

Good morning, chair and supervisors. My name is Osvaldo Alvarez, and I'm here today because it feels like we're moving backwards. After all the fights generations before us fought, here we still are, asking for rights that should be already granted. Voting is supposed to be a freedom baked into our constitution, not a privilege constantly under attack. I grew up in Maryville, a community of working class families who often don't participate in elections.

Not because they don't care, they skip them because they are focused on surviving, Finding a way to pay rent that's constantly increasing, working two or three jobs to keep up, being forced to choose between paying for electricity or health care. In a democracy like ours, that should mean we expand access to them, not make participation harder. My parents are naturalized citizens. I'll never forget how happy my mom was the first time she received her ballot in the mail. Voting made her feel seen, respected, and part of the country or part of this country.

Why is it now that our elections are suddenly being treated as untrustworthy and immigrants are the scapegoat? Our elections have been secure, but what we're seeing now is a deliberate effort to undermine that trust. County reporter Justin Heap is stripping hundreds of their voting rights and offers no transparency about how voters are flagged or whose ballots are being rejected. At the same time, he has shown a fixation on conspiracies around the twenty twenty presidential election and aligns with MAGA extremists like Chris Snow. When authoritarian politicians know they're losing public support, voter suppression becomes their strategy.

That's why I'm urging you, the Maricopa County Board of Supervisors, to be our last line of defense, appeal the court decision that gives Justin Heath power he can't be trusted with, make sure our county has fair or the voting centers that protect our voter data from being handed over

to

people. Thank you. Madam Clerk. Albert Rivera, Diana Jones Pickrell, Roger Pickrell.

Well, good morning. Good good afternoon, everybody. Chairwoman and members of the board, my name is Albert Rivera. And one thing that me and the the speaker prior to me have in common is that we're both we're both proud to be from the beautiful community of Maryvale. And let me let me be let me just make something very clear. I trust in my elections. I trust in these elections, which is why we have to trust in our democracy. Otherwise, what was this country even founded upon back on 07/04/1776? And another thing that

I wanna

talk about in regards to to election integrity is that the court did not grant the board an immediate stay. So your guys' next step is to appeal, and I commend each and every single one of you for appealing. And that is in the best interest of the community. And as far as the federal level is concerned, there's so much happening at the federal level. You know, like the evisceration of the Voting Rights Act and Trump Save Act.

And the same and the same group of people that align themselves with Donald Trump, they wanna cry wolf about about supposed election fraud, especially happening here in Maricopa County, is why the board has been so unfairly treated in that regard in regards to elections. For example, you know, Justin Heap, the county recorder. What he's doing to the senate president is not about protecting the citizens of the county. It's not to align it's not about, you know, anything else other than self anger and dicement. This is not what any elected official is put in office to do.

This is malfeasance. It is evil, and it is a direct violation of just of his public trust as the county recorder. Not even Helen Purcell was was like that. Helen Purcell, in my opinion, was one of the finest county records that we've ever had. And let me be let me let me make one last point. One another suggestion that I have for you guys is to make a map so that way we can make all voting locations accessible, and I think that'd be a really good thing for the community. So please stand strong and do not give up.

Thank you, madam clerk. Diana Jones Pickrell, Roger Pickrell, Veronica Corcoran.

Good afternoon, chairman, members of the board. I'm Diana Jones. I'm here today because many of us in Maricopa County are deeply concerned about the continued efforts to appeal the court's ruling regarding statutory authority. The court has already spoken clear clearly, and the voters spoke even more clearly when they elected recorder to perform these duties. Continuing to pursue appeals does not serve the public. It drains taxpayer money, consumes staff time, and prolongs a conflict that should never have existed in the first place. The people of this county expect their elected officials to respect both the law and the will of

the

voters. It was not ethical for the previous board and the previous recorder to alter the service agreement after the election. That undermines public trust, and every additional appeal only compounds that damage. We cannot rebuild confidence in our institute while ignoring the very process designed to protect confidence. One member of this Board has shown leadership by supporting the return of the equipment and personnel to the Recorder's Office.

I urge the rest of you to follow that example. This is not about personalities or politics. It's about integrity, accountability, and honoring the responsibility of your office. The responsible path forward is to simply stop the appeals, comply with the ruling, return the resources, and allow recorder heaps to do the job the voters elected him to do. Maricopa County deserves leadership that protects taxpayers, respects the law, and upholds ethical standards.

I'm asking you today to choose that path. And to other individuals in here, our nation is not a democracy. We are a constitutional republic. There is a difference. Thank you.

Madam clerk. Roger Pickrell, Veronica Corcoran, Ashim Ray.

Madam chairman, board of supervisors, I have an apology. I'm highly uncaffeinated today. So one thing that I noticed today, because a lot of times I'll review what everybody else has done up to this point. We've been coming here for quite some time and this is the actually the second time since about the last couple years that board business didn't get accomplished twice to have a meeting in executive fashion which took past the time that was announced. So that's kind of a weird a weird little thing.

My only point on that is let's see if we can get that business done and on the people's time. We're precious out there like you are precious and I'm sure we all wanna go to lunch. So that's my point on that. Next, I'm looking at this is item for public comment on if I read it right from my glass vault, a 100 number 106, and you did go out for a meeting on article 97. But when we came back, I didn't think that all those numbers in between were on consent. We didn't talk about it, any one of them. I just went. Apologize. I'm uncaffeinated. I mentioned that earlier.

So in all practicality, I'd like to be aware of where things didn't get involved to and did get involved to because we need to be able to be precise when we talk to each other. That's a matter of just like in a contract, you're talking across the table. You wanna be able to put your point there and they get their point back. We need to be adults in here and put our adult pants on and try to able to keep that communication between We The People and those that we put into office. Thank you very much.

Thank you. And to respond, and Brooke, I will be careful to mister Pickrell, if I did not explain more completely. We omitted those agenda items because we still have one board member out who is receiving legal advice, and when we finish with public comments, we will return to those agenda items. So, very much apologize for not making that clear. Thank you.

Know the feeling. Madam Clerk? Veronica Corcoran and Ashim Ray, Lewymar Garza.

Welcome, Veronica Corcoran. Hello, everybody. Let me set a few things straight. 2020 was stolen and evidence is now out. Ask yourself, why is media constantly lying about president Trump, which while covering a serious crimes administration has committed under his third term under Obama Biden administration. That was Obama's third term. They made fake Russia stories. It's all proven. Spies on Trump, not to mention his hush money he paid for his boyfriend. Nobody dragged Obama through the mud, only Trump.

Think about why. I also sent you an email of 2021 video of the man who is your employee who breached Maricopa County server data room, who also changed the data in that room. Please confirm if formal investigation was conducted and what are the disciplinary action. We all want election integrity. If we don't have it, we don't have, like, we don't have a family. Like, imagine inviting strangers into your home to steal and rape. You have a home? You don't

have a home. Do we

have a nation? We don't have a nation. Nation. We do want to have a nation. And I I encourage you, please, do yourself a favor. You guys are in power, not just to us here, but to the souls who came to this country, who started this nation four hundred years ago, our pilgrims. What truly happened to the story of America as being lied to those young people. America is evil. America is the most amazing country based on loving, godly principles. And there is a movie out there that I encourage you to watch, and you will be transformed from inside out.

Kirk Cameron Monumental. You can go to Kirk Cameron, watch Monumental, and let inspire each other so that we can love this country and protect each other on both sides. This is now life or death. Thank you. Madam clerk, Ashim Ray,

and last speaker, Luamar Garza.

Welcome. Please state your name for

the My

name is Ashim Ray. I'm actually running for governor under my own political party, the ex party. Not this weekend, but the weekend afterwards, right here at Kiwanis Park Camp together. You're all welcome. Now I wanna talk about ADA. I'm partially blind and visually impaired, and I have to miss school to come here and speak every time I've come. I've come about five times over the last year and a half, and I brought my daughters. I don't know if you remember about some some things. Well, first of all, I wanna be able to watch this on a live cast because with modern technology from home and be able to speak live cast from home. That's one.

Number two, I brought my daughters about the library books in the library sections that are not appropriate for little kids. The librarians are pointing at you guys. You guys are in power. Please do something about it. I've been waiting for so long to take the actual library books that are not for little kids, put them in the adult section, not the children's section, not for kids to get involved with things like that at that age. Please. You guys are the ones in power, not the governor. You guys are the ones in power. Please do something. I'm asking.

I'm only trying to make a change with the x party and that I don't believe in Republicans and Democrats anymore. So I'm I'm creating my own political party, and I'm a I'm a write in. A Xi Moray x party. Thank

Nice. Nice. Baby. Remar Garza, I'm looking at here. About 90% of the agenda today is off limits once again. It is hysterical that you would have another legal advice meeting when you had one on Monday. But you do this because all of you are your sphincters are very tight right now. Now, as far as disparaging remarks are concerned, there's a whole parcel of them over here to my right. And I would like to salt to say to all these chitlins and Excuse names. Me. Me. Remarks are Excuse particular do not interrupt me. In this the reason I did not comment on any other items

You are so welcome. Is because knew that shared your thoughts, but not about other people's comments. Not comment on any other items in this agenda Well, we might

but get my screen.

So if you will shut up. Alright. Shut up. You're done. There, and I come again. You're done. Say, a c. Madam clerk, does that conclude public participation? Madam

chair, there are no other speaker forms. Okay. So,

shortly, we will return to the agenda. Commencing with item number 78 or ninety eight? Ninety eight. Okay. 98. Of the IGA between Maricopa County Stadium District and Maricopa County treasurer's office. Madam clerk, do you have any speaker forms on items 98 or 99? Madam chair, I do have

one speaker form from Diane Barker, which is oh, only register her position in favor. That is on item number 98.

Okay. Thank you, miss Barker. The Board will now consider items ninety eight and ninety nine. Madam Vice Chair, do you have a motion for those two items, please?

Thank you, Madam Chair. I move that we approve number items number 9899. Thank you. Is there a second?

Second. Okay. It's been moved and seconded. Hearing no further discussion, we will proceed to a vote. All those in favor of items ninety eight and ninety nine will say aye. Aye. Any opposed? Both motions pass unanimously. We will now recess as the board of supervisors and convene as the improvement district board of directors. Madam Clerk, are there any speaker forms? Madam Chair, have none on this item. Okay. The Board will now consider Item one hundred, minutes. Is there a motion, Madam Vice Chair?

Madam Chair, I move that we approve item number 100.

Thank you. Is there a second? Second. Okay. Hearing no further discussion, all those in favor will vote aye. Aye. Any opposed? Motion passes unanimously. We will adjourn as the improvement district board of directors and convene as the flood control district board of directors to consider items one zero one, one zero two, one zero three, and one zero four, IGA

with

the city of Scottsdale, change order for Paradise Ridge drainage improvements, easement, right of way, and relocation assistance documents, and minutes. Madam clerk, do we have any speakers? Madam chair, none. Okay. There are no speakers. Hearing no discussion from board members, we will now consider items 101 through 104. Madam Vice Chair, is there a motion, please?

Madam Chair, I move that we approve items one zero one through one zero four. Second.

It's been moved and seconded. Hearing no further discussion, we will proceed to a vote. All those in favor will say aye. Aye. Those opposed? Motion passes unanimously. We will adjourn as the Flood Control District Board of Directors and convene as the Library District Board of Directors. Madam Clerk, are there any speaker forms received for item one zero five? Madam Chair, we have none. Okay, thank you. The Board will now consider Item 105, Library District Minutes. Madam Vice Chair, pitch to you for a motion.

Thank you, Madam Chair. I move that we approve number item 105.

Thank you. Is there a second? Second. It's been moved and seconded. Hearing no discussion, we will proceed to a vote. All those in favor will say aye.

Aye.

Any opposed? The motion passes unanimously. We are all cut up to, with one exception, to supervisor's summary of current events. Board members are welcome to comment if you show if you so wish, or we can recess until 01:00.

It's recess.

Yeah. I think we're vented out. So, thank you for your patience, Board members. I will now recess the regular Board meeting, the formal Board meeting, until one p. M.

Thank you, Madam Chair.

Thank you.

Meeting formal marathon board meeting of 05/20/2026 to discuss and take possible action on the final agenda item 97, adoption of resolution for the twenty twenty six primary election. Board members should have in their packets the amended language that was recited by the clerk or distributed by the clerk earlier. This resolution is intended to provide certainty to voters who will participate in the July twenty first primary, and I will have madam clerk read the resolution shortly. I would like to point out that I had invited Recorder Heap to appear at this meeting voluntarily. He was invited by an email from me and also by a direct phone call from me, and I invited him to come over and answer questions in relation to a very florid letter we received from mister Heap's lawyer, James Rogers, early this morning.

But let's start with the resolution. Madam Clerk, will you please read the resolution including the amended language? Madam

chair? Yes. I don't have the hard copy in front of me, but I have opened up what's attached to the agenda item. Thank you. I will read the resolution.

Vote center and Dropbox resolution for the twenty twenty six primary. Excuse me. Whereas a r s 16 dash four eleven b four grants the board of supervisors authority to authorize the use of voting centers on election day in place of or in addition to specifically dis designated polling places, and whereas whereas a r s 16 dash four eleven b five grants the Board of Supervisors authority to authorize the use of emergency voting centers to be used on specific days and times for a specific election. Now therefore be it resolved that Maricopa County Board of Supervisors adopts resolution vote center's resolution for the following purposes. Authorizing the use of voting centers for the twenty twenty six primary election.

The list of voting locations is included in exhibit a. And number two, authorizing the use of emergency centers for the twenty twenty six primary election with days and hours of operation as included in exhibit b. Number three, authorizing the use of secure drop boxes for the primary election. The list of drop boxes is included in exhibit c. Be it further resolved that the director of the elections department is authorized to sign and approve facility use agreements.

In addition, if a voter center or secure drop box established pursuant to this resolution becomes unavailable and there is not sufficient time for the board of supervisors to convene to approve an alternate location for that voting location, the director of the elections department is authorized to make changes to the approved vote center location or drop box location and shall notify the public and the Board of Supervisors regarding the change as soon as practicable practical. Alternate voting locations shall be as close in proximity to the approved voting locations as possible. Thank you, madam chair.

Thank you, madam clerk. And, I would like to point out that this resolution, which has come under fire, is specific to election day and emergency voting sites and drop boxes, which are within the board's authority. Vice chair Lesko, do you have some context to add, please?

Yes. Thank you, Madam Chair. I think it's important to point out to the other board members and to the public what has transpired. Today, right before this meeting, we received a letter from James Rogers, who is the attorney for recorder Heap. And it was quite threatening, but part of it was on page four of his letter titled Criminal Liability under ARS sixteen one thousand and five.

And parts of it I want to quote. It says, If the board establishes drop boxes during early voting without statutory authority to do so, and I'm going to fast forward because there's a lot of legal mumbo jumbo. It says, Any person or entity involved in establishing or operating such unauthorized drop boxes is committing a class five felony. It goes on, on page five of the letter from James Rogers, to say, board employees who collect ballots at drop boxes established without the recorder's legal authority are not acting within the scope of lawful official duties because the drop boxes themselves have not been lawfully established. Such employees, therefore, do not fall within the statutory exception, and they are committing criminal ballot harvesting under subsection H.

And I had talked to our elections directors, and our deputy county manager, and they said this could include temporary election employees that are merely picking up the ballots. These are people that could get paid eighteen, twenty dollars an hour. And so I it sounds like that the lawyer in this letter is threatening to criminally charge temporary election workers for merely doing their duty. And my understanding is this would be a bipartisan team. It's, you know, different political parties, and one person would be from the recorder's office, and the other would be from the elections department, and I believe that was worked out in advance.

But yet, at the last hour, we seemed to get this threatening letter from the attorney of Recorder Heap. Now, if Recorder Heap had been here as the chairman had asked him to be here, I would ask him certain questions. And one of the questions I would like to ask Recorder Heap is I wanted to ask him if he agreed with everything in this letter that was written by his attorney. And I wanted to know if he specifically wants to and is going to pursue criminal prosecutions, referring for criminal prosecutions against temporary election workers who are merely doing their job. But I guess I can't ask him that because he didn't show up as we have invited him.

And thank you, vice chair,

to that point. I did call recorder Heath, just to reiterate. I also sent him a simultaneous email around noon today asking him to appear here at 01:00. He's right up few floors up above in this building to share his side of things. I know he's in the office today, but he is making the choice not to appear. So all we have is what is in his letter and what we have heard over the past few weeks. Supervisor Galvin?

Madam chair, thank you so much, and thank you for that information you provided. Asking the recorder, who's one of our election officials, to come down here in response to a letter that we received this morning from his attorney with the astounding news that he might pursue criminal charges against volunteers and workers who make elections in Maricopa County great. Recorder Heap keeps changing his positions and we're going back in agreements that's making it impossible to coordinate because state law mandates that the board of supervisors coordinate with the recorder's office. I So would like, madam chair, to provide a short timeline of communications and ask mister Heap to come on comment on it. I was hoping he could come on it today because as I heard, he's right upstairs.

In just the past two weeks, we have received several communications from recorder Heap or his attorney detailing the rules that they are demanding that we follow for the twenty twenty six election cycle. On May 6, mister Heap wrote to our county manager to say that we cannot communicate with the recorder staff. I have never heard of a policy like that before, and I don't know how that would be helpful to the voters. On May 18, mister Herb Heap's attorney threatened to sanction us and hold us in contempt for run of the mill elections operations issues that are always coordinated and worked out between staff at the recorder's office and the board of supervisors elections department. On May 19, mister Heap wrote to our county manager to say that we cannot get legal advice from the county attorney.

County attorney is the attorney for the taxpayer. We are elected by the taxpayers. Mister Heap is elected by the taxpayers. But apparently, we cannot go to the county attorney to get our own legal advice according to this gentleman. And on May 20, today, mister Heap's attorney wrote to say that if we accept ballots from voters in the way that we always have, we and our staff will be prosecuted for felonies.

This is not the first time that the board of supervisors have been threatened with criminal action, but this is the first time that I can recall of our own employees and volunteers being threatened with criminal penalties, not only in Maricopa County, but in Arizona and The United States Of America. This is shocking and appalling. Recorder Heath, my question to you, sir, given how integrated our election system is and should be and has been designed and the separation of duties under Arizona law and despite your refusal to come downstairs to answer for this letter that your attorney sent this morning at the eleventh hour, how do you expect us to run an election under these rules? My concern, madam chair, is what voters will experience. They are the number one most paramount priority for all of us.

The voters experience must be optimal. By trying to hamstring this board for political reasons and gamesmanship, by trying to block us from approving voting locations and then drop box locations, the recorder is effectively taking away access to voters. His goal here is to punish the voters. You are making it harder, mister Heep, for registered voters to cast the ballot, and you've been doing it now on a daily basis, culminating in today's egregious actions. This cannot stand, and I don't expect this board to sit by and let it happen. Thank you, madam chair.

Thank you. And supervisor Gallardo, comments?

Thank you, madam chair. I've said this once. I'll say it again over and over again. We're working with the county recorder like never before. We have a county recorder who is totally out of touch with his office, county recorder that is just plain out incompetent.

This guy, at the and keep in mind, madam chair, this is a vote that has taken place by this board before every election. This is something new. We do this every election. I started my career in 1988, and the board of supervisors have always taken this vote to establish the vote centers or not get back back then was polling places. Now we have a counter or counter recorder at the eleventh hour sends us this threatening letter and then doesn't have the courage to come out and defend it or try to answer basic questions by the members of the supervisor.

He's just been a coward. Just a straight up coward to be able to threaten us and in volunteers of a felony, and then not wanna come in front and to try to explain or listen to some of the concerns just shows you how incompetent he is. He doesn't know what he's doing. He is purposely trying to corrupt this election. Purposely trying to compromise it, compromise the integrity, keeping people from actually casting the most fundamental right they have, the right to vote.

This is what he's doing. He's purposely wanting to do this. He wants the twenty twenty six election to fail, and he's doing everything he can to do it. He's surrounded by folks that have no idea what they're doing, never ran an election. All they do is tweet out negative comments about our democracy and the board. Just negative comments over and over and over. But yet they wanna send out this this really poorly drafted letter by an attorney. I don't even know why he's even a member of the bar. But he's put out this letter that's very threatening and not wanting to come and try to answer basic questions. This is what we're dealing with.

And madam chair, I have dealt with, I said, I dealt with Keith Politis. I dealt with Helen Purcell. I dealt with Adrian Fonta, Steven Richards. Never with a recorder like we're doing now. Never. It's always been a cooperative effort. It's always been a joint effort in order to make sure our elections are smooth and safe and transparent. But we now have the county recorder right now who's doing everything he can to compromise this election. He's doing everything he can to make it harder for people to vote. He's making it even harder for people who wanna volunteer or even work on our election.

Citizens, as as supervisor Lesko said, it's Republicans, Democrats, it's independent. This is a citizen driven process. And he's making it more difficult by threatening that he's gonna make up he's gonna they're gonna go after him as a felon. That's what he's doing. Madam chair, it is so frustrating to see the type of action this counter recorder and the people around him that really have no idea what they're doing. No idea. Totally incompetent. And now he has just proven once again to me he's a big coward. This is very frustrating, madam chair.

Thank you. Supervisor Stewart.

Thank you, madam chair. So trying to get back to, what we're here for, which is the resolution about what I think is is essentially three things. Right? It's about emergency vote centers. It's about voting centers on day of election, and it's about drop boxes.

So I I have a few questions and and then maybe a comment. So as I understand it, the elections team and the recorder work together to talk about some of the early Dropbox locations, which end up becoming day of voting location drop boxes. We get to, you know, mid mid last week when I first heard about this resolution. We had an exec session on Monday about this resolution. We added some changed some language around. I appreciate the support of, the attorney that's representing me, Steve, on on clarifying a few things. When was the first time, madam chair, that you reached out to the, recorder about this resolution?

About the resolution on today's agenda, mister Stewart? Yes, ma'am. I reached out to him around noon.

Okay. So

I'll just let the letter.

And We've About the letter, but also to come and testify related to the agenda item number 97, which was the subject of the letter

Right.

And these outlandish accusations that if we even consider this, we're felons.

And to that point, madam chair, I believe to answer mister Stewart's question that our staff and the recorder staff have been working hand in glove on this issue. So the recorder has been well aware for quite a while for this. So this resolution and its drafting is not a surprise to him or his office. Well, thank you

for that. And, madam chair, to address your point, I'll get back to, supervisor Galvin's point. Unfortunately, putting together a policy like this, and we've talked a lot about collaboration. It was actually mentioned this morning before we went into recess about let's let's work together and let's collaborate. From what I hear and from what I understand, an hour's notice to meet in front of the board and then the first time hearing about the resolution, formally was today, is not necessarily collaboration with what the recorder believes is his statutory authority to decide where the vote centers are.

And to your point, supervisor Galvin, you're absolutely right, and I addressed that when I first opened this conversation is that the recorder has been communicating, and his team has been communicating with the elections team to locate and to find places for these drop boxes. What is new to the recorder and what was new to me and new to all of us until last week was a resolution binding this. Here's the here's the caveat. The resolution is not a bad thing. And if we can get back to this without all the the arrows being pointed at one another, I get the the the letter from the, from his attorney is is rough.

It's not really the best way to do business. But I believe a phone call late or early last week from the chairman to the recorder to say, hey. We're putting together a resolution so that we can move forward on behalf of the voters, which we're all here for, would have put this to bed before it ever got here. I'll tell you, one other thing is that I had a conversation with the recorder last night. I had twenty four hours from the time this hit exec session to when we got to here at 09:30 this morning to have a conversation about him.

You know what I found out in that conversation? He is fine with one. He's fine with two. He just wants to be able to have some say and approval in where the early voting locations go because in his mind, the statute gives him the authority to approve those things. Now that's all of that could have been solved with a simple phone call. And I know that some people are gonna say, we reached out to their team. They haven't returned phone calls. We've done some everybody's gotta get better. And so as I've as I've been from the very beginning, we have got to be focused on solutions, and it's just deteriorating further. And that's why I have my own attorney.

It's because I don't agree with the with the way that the board has handled this. I don't agree with the way the recorder has handled this. And I'm sitting on the outside having to have separate meetings with separate people to find out what you guys are talking about, to find out what they're talking about, and it all goes back to 2024, pulling every single thing from the recorder from a previous election that, from what everybody on this in this room said was a well run election, I still don't understand why that was pulled. And I don't wanna add that to this To

that to that point

I'm I'm still chairman

I'm still speaking because Galvin. Making a point here.

We've all made our points without

any objection. Point, mister Galvin.

Okay. The 2024 SSA agreement, mister Stewart, which you have been gaslighting about for two years, which we're completely about for insults? Hold yeah.

Mister mister Stewart, mister Galvin

Scoop it.

That was not a to that point, but you may follow.

Okay.

You have to Please complete your comments.

Mister Stewart has to stop misrepresenting the facts of the 2024 SSA. Only two supervisors are here, know how it worked, know how it happened, know how it went down, know how it's negotiated for two years. It's been told to mister Stewart over and over again, but he keeps carrying water for a guy who's now threatening to arrest and have valid workers and volunteers

Thank you.

Arrested. You, madam chair.

Mister Stewart, complete your comments and direct them to agenda item number 97, not revisionist history.

Madam chair, in fairness, nobody's been directing it to item 97 from the four people that have or the three people that have spoke so far, but I will respect your request. I wish you would have delivered that request to the other board members. Guys, here's the deal. A phone call, which I've had a number of phone calls with the recorder, can solve a lot of these problems. And so the the taxpayer expects us to come to resolution.

I get that this resolution solves some of the operational challenges that we have. And as I mentioned before, the recorder is comfortable with one. He's comfortable with two. He just wants to have some authority to collaborate. He wants to have some authority to collaborate with you, madam chair, and as well as the staff on the final adoption of those voting locations.

So I'll sum it up with this, and then I've got one more comment. The the timeline at which this was presented to the recorder as a resolution and understanding all of the consternation we've had with this particular issue and the court case and all those things, a simple phone call may have gotten you to a place today, madam chair, where we are just here doing this on a consent agenda because he's already been apprised of what we're trying to accomplish and agrees with it. Maybe he doesn't, maybe he does, but at least that would get us somewhere. And then to address the as you used the term, but I don't wanna get into that. But but to address the challenges with the 2024, it just it you've never answered that question clearly and concisely on why that happened other than the richer may or may may not have blocked us out of

Excuse me, mister Stewart. I'm done. Thank you. To that point, vice chair, let's go.

He needs to be. Thank you, madam chair. I want to try to deescalate this a bit, but I do want to address a couple of the things that Supervisor Stewart has said. First, Supervisor Stewart, you said none of the other board members spoke about item number 97. I, for myself, was directly speaking to item number 97 You absolutely were.

Because it's about the resolution that we were going to vote on. And we got a letter from the attorney of recorder Heap this morning right before we're gonna vote on it, and saying that, basically, if we vote on this, you know, we're all criminals, and so are the temporary workers, and so on and so forth. Like, he's just going to prosecute everyone apparently that does anything. So, trying to run elections. The other the other thing I would say, I have a difference of opinion with you, Supervisor Stewart, and we can have different opinions, is a simple phone call would have solved it.

I wish, I wish a simple phone call would have solved it. We have tried this now for, like, a year and a half. As as you know, last April of of twenty twenty five, we thought we had an agreement with him. He texted both you and I in a group text saying, we're 95% there. There's only small little minor things that have to be worked out.

So we thought we were there. He has at one point, and I'm talking about Recorder Keep, it's been very difficult. I've been talking to the elections folks. It's been very difficult because they think they have an agreement with the recorder and the recorder staff, and they've talked to Sam Stone because Recorder Heap, quite frankly, said that's my point person. I heard him, because the chairwoman asked, Okay, clarify who are we supposed to talk to in your office?

And I remember Recorder Heap specifically saying it was Sam Stone, his chief of staff. Well then, we communicated with Sam Stone, he came back with an email saying, Yep, this is all good. You can do these election sites, you can do this, you can do whatever, the drop boxes, all this stuff. He said, It's all good for this election, for I think he said the primary and the general in 2026. It was in a letter, in an email, I saw it.

He said, yep. And then we get a letter from Justin Heap himself saying Sam Stone, who's this chief of staff, was an heir when he said that. Now, okay, so first of all, the person Recorder Keep told us we're supposed to speak to is his chief of staff Sam Stone. Then Sam Stone responds and says, yes. I agree. He responds to Scott Jared, our election director, says, yep. I agree with this. And we thought, okay. We're set. We're making progress, folks.

But then we get a letter from recorder heaps saying, disregard what my Chief of Staff Sam Sung said. You can only and only, he said, only speak to my attorney James Rogers. Well, it is very difficult to to operate if you can only talk if one time it says talk to my Chief of Staff Sam Stone, you get an agreement, and then the next minute, you're like, Nope, what he said was wrong, you got to talk to my lawyer. It's just so difficult. And that's why I was really looking forward to Mr.

Heap coming here today to answer some questions. He knew this was on the agenda, this was publicized yesterday, the staff has been working on these voting locations, you know, for months now, I think, or you know, at least a month, I think more than a month, trying to get joint voting locations, and so it's not like some big surprise. And so, you know, I just I wish that it could be solved by a phone call, But I I just don't think that's realistic because it keeps changing all the time. And that's why I sincerely call on Recorder Heap to join us. I am willing to put in the hours and the effort to meet together to iron this out in structured meetings.

And I think they're gonna have to be recorded so that people can't go back on their word on either side. They're gonna have to be recorded so the public can see it for full transparency, and we're doing it on the behalf of the voters, not this turf war, not this turf war like, I want to do this, I want to do this. No, we have to figure it out. We need election integrity, we need a smooth election, and we can't do it in this environment. And that's why I really wish Recorder Heap would have showed up and addressed this letter, because it's just so frustrating. Thank you. What I'd like to

do at this point is ask Zach, Shira, and Scott, Jarrett to come forward. Madam chair. Mister Stewart.

I think I still have the floor as I think No. Supervisor Lesko had point of to that point.

No. She had comments. But did you have something else

you wish

to say?

I was still okay. Yes, ma'am. Debbie, I I am grateful for our conversations.

It we can have this one offline.

We can. I'm just leading into a deeper

point. You better get there. Madam chair, please. Mister Stewart, please.

Like, we're all trying to be respectful here. I'd appreciate it if do the same. Thank you.

Mister Stewart? Yes, ma'am.

Thank you.

Get to the point. So

the the crux of this issue has has come down to communication. And I agree that the James Rogers letter is somewhat egregious. Right? I think it's very inflammatory. It certainly doesn't calm the conversation. But I will stick to what I said earlier, that if the conversations that I'm having with Justin, if the conversations that Debbie is having with Justin were had by the chair in order to create resolution for issues like this resolution that we're talking about today, I think we would have prevented that letter from happening in the first place. Thank you for your time, madam chair.

Thank you, mister Stewart. Mister Sheara, mister Jarrett, what I am interested in having you discuss and board members go through is an outline of the work that we, the board, have done with the recorder's office, with his staff to carry out five elections since we took office. And more specifically, the meetings that took place after we passed our three point resolution where we actually did come to an agreement. One of the meetings that I attended, actually the very first one, was when you, mister Jarrett, were summoned to a meeting with mister Heap, and I attended as a fellow elected. And one of the things that I asked going forward is, mister Yip, I've never really learned what your election early voting policy is.

Your legislative record says that you do not favor early voting. As you are aware from our resolution, the board favors a very robust early voting program. But he said, no. No. No. I'm I'm just totally in favor of it. I favor it. So that was the meeting where we clarified the lines of communication between your office and the recorder's office. But a lot's happened since. You we were working on voting sites. Can you speak to that?

So, madam chair and members of the board, I believe that meeting was on February 27, the one that you're referring to. And we did record that meeting, and we do have a transcript of that meeting. And that was the the point of contact that I was to work with at that point in time was Sam Stone. And I've worked week well, daily, but many, many times over the course since that that meeting on February 27 to gain agreement on how we were going to run the May jurisdictional election, that was election day was just yesterday, the upcoming primary elections, and the general elections. Those details involved trying to secure early voting locations for the recorder's office.

Right? We provided them the list of the locations that we had secured at that point in time and then any additional ones that the recorder's office would like to add. And then coordinating for us going out and doing inspections of those locations, finalizing contracts of those locations, included coordinating how we'd be doing hiring and training for the early voting locations as well as how that those poll workers that we end up hiring will work at early voting locations, emergency voting locations, as well as on election day. It also included how so there were separate meetings, and this was approved through Sam Stone, the recorder's chief of staff. When we are conducting elections that involve the cities, local cities and towns, and they're going to be joining the ballot in which they're statutory allowed to request to join the ballot when we have a primary election or a general election, we conduct something called a menu of service meetings.

And those menu of service meetings go through in detail what contests they're going to have on the ballot. Are there candidate contests? What candidates are going to be on the ballot? Are there going to be any questions related on the ballot? What locations are they willing to provide?

Are they wanting to offer a drop box? And there's also some information there that are really specific to the recorder's office, like the data that the recorder's office will be providing those jurisdictions. So we knew that those meet menu of service meetings had to happen, and we needed recorder's office representatives. We reached out to the recorder's office, let them know, and they appointed two individuals to attend those meetings. And in those meetings, dating all the way back to February, that's where drop boxes and these locations of drop boxes were discussed.

Subsequent to those meetings, we had to have discussions about, well, how are we going to manage those drop boxes? So we through our budget meetings, and we had a budget meeting just last month where I came before you all, presented something called an ELE one budget for the elections department. The recorder's office also presented his ELE one budget meeting. In those budget negotiation meetings, we discussed, well, how are we going to retrieve the ballots that are gonna be coming from those drop boxes, whether they're the stand alone drop boxes, the drop boxes are that are at the city and town clerk's offices, or even at the early voting locations. And what we decided was to have a the two member team that's established through the the state statute, the elections procedures manual, and have that be bipartisan and have one representative from the elections department and one representative from the recorder's office.

And so we both then went about putting together our budgets, and the recorder sat here and presented that budget with that understanding that we would have these bipartisan teams. So the recorder's office was aware of that we were going to be having these stand alone drop boxes through those managers of service meetings back in February. And then the process for which we would be retrieving the items from those ballot boxes through the budget meetings. So he had far in advance notice that these that we would be offering these drop boxes.

So then the question becomes, at some point in there, judge Blaney issued his ruling, and you continue to operate under the ruling and our resolution. I saw countless emails where you reached out to clarify, codify, gain understanding. Are those emails available for board members and the public's consumption?

Madam chair, yes. All of those emails are retained. They are public records, and I'm happy to forward them on to the board members or if any member of the public were to public records request them.

To that point,

miss Yes.

Madam chair, I would like to see if mister Stewart will recant his allegation that you sprung this upon the recorder in the last couple of days.

Madam chair will have that conversation at another time. Right now, we are taking testimony from staff. Mister Shera, do we have a website that is a repository of documents, legal and otherwise, pertaining to the lawsuit, that mister Heap initiated against the board this past year? And can you provide that for the public?

Yes, madam chair. We do have a website that takes us through the timeline and the history of our our initial negotiations with recorder Heap when he took office in 2025 up through the lawsuit that occurred in in June 2025 through today. We have made it a repository for letters back and forth between this board and mister Heap for legal filings, and we are in the process of updating it with the few letters that were exchanged within the last two weeks that impacted Yeah. The Tempe election yesterday.

To that point, madam chair.

Mister Stewart. Thank you.

So as it relates to communications about the resolution itself, right, this finalization this formal process moving forward. Those communications happened in the last two weeks, or they happened today? I've heard two different

Which resolution? The one on the

The the one that we're supposed to be talking about today.

97, and that we are talking about.

Right. Madam chair, supervisor Stewart, as we explained in our in our separate meeting earlier today, we did not have staff conversations specific to the resolution item that we had on the agenda today because it has been advice of staff and this board that the board has sole authority over ballot boxes and What their deployment. I'm hearing

Excuse me. May you finish the answer, please?

I'm sorry. I think we're done.

So, essentially, staff would have had no reason to coordinate on the actual resolution nor its putting on the agenda. However, the underlying planning, the deployment of resources, the agreement on how to hire staff, everything that goes into administering those drop drop boxes jointly as we have agreed, with the recorder's office, that that communication did occur, before the agenda item today.

Mister Stewart? Thank you.

And that's fantastic. That's what I've understood from the beginning is that staff has been communicating with one another regularly. This particular issue, and to address supervisor Galvin's point, is that the actual language and discussion about the resolution and codifying our move forward was not, communicated. And I've confirmed that with the recorder. I've confirmed that with members of his staff that this particular item moved forward very quickly, and they were not apprised of what we were voting on or that this was being forward.

I'm not arguing that we have or not arguing. I'm not saying that staff wasn't communicating and they weren't involved early. I'm talking specifically about Item 97 and the timelines and the communication breakdown that happened between there. So my question is, Madam Chair, do we have any emails speaking about the resolution that happened before yesterday?

Pardon me. If I may intervene with a different timeline. As we as mister Jarrett explained, we were going right straight along, communications between staff, meetings between staff, recorder and elections, and county manager. And then the early part of May is when the wheels fell off. On May 6, mister Heap wrote to our county manager to say, we cannot communicate with the recorder staff.

On May 18, mister Heap's attorney threatened to sanction us and hold us in contempt for run of the mill election operations issue issues. On May 19, mister Heap wrote to our county manager to say, we cannot get legal advice from the county attorney. During that same time period, mister Heap's attorney, through mister Heap, wrote to us and said, you can't don't talk to anybody in my staff or whatever they approve, basically, doesn't count. We're taking it back. And the only thing that can be approved is through me via my attorney.

And then today, mister Heap's attorney wrote to say, if we accept ballots from voters the way we always have, we and our staff will be prosecuted. So to your point, mister Stewart, we were communicating. We even had a joint executive session meeting related to an issue in the recorder's office on Monday that we are working with him and supporting him related to procurement. But, the idea that simply a phone call or reaching out, we're prohibited. You are prohibited from reaching out to recorder staff.

And when a county manager reached out, I think it was yesterday, the day before, about some issues at the Tempe elections site, she was she had her hand slapped and told no. So we have been trying, mister Stewart.

Madam chair. Sir. Thank you. I don't disagree that we've been communicating. What I'm asking specifically about and you have not addressed is when the communication about this particular resolution, item number 97, was presented to Justin Heap for his review and for his collaboration as we've all agreed that we should be doing before it came to this board for a vote.

Mister Mister Stewart, I just addressed it. And I'm sorry if

I What day did you say?

I'm sorry if my answer was too long. We were prohibited from talking to mister Heap. However So

now it's mister Heap. You said before it was staff. I'm just trying to

get clarification. Were communications were cut off by mister Heap and by his attorney. I communicate with Recorder. I know. You have

from day one. Right.

But in the meantime, what I'd like to put forward is that good communication is precluded and replaced with letters from his attorney threatening us, threatening our staff. So I could have subpoenaed mister Heap today. I did not. I still can. I made the offer for him to come down and meet with us and answer our questions.

And he said, well, what are those questions? I said, well, there's four board members. I'm not gonna begin to imagine what the questions might be, but please help us understand this letter from your attorney. I clarified at an earlier meeting, that mister Jarrett, the county manager, and I attended that, in fact, mister Heap supposedly supports early voting. He very, very strongly supports it.

His legislative record does not, but he does. But then the actions taken today raised that into question in my mind. And I will point out that mostly due to the gracious auspices of my vice chair, we continue to act in good faith. Today, we approved an appropriation for IT. Some time back, we approved an appropriation for signature verification stations it was a time sensitive appropriation.

Our staff has worked together up until this point. And as a matter of fact, the vice chair and I just sent a letter to mister Heap asking to meet publicly to see if we could come to some resolution. Where I'm standing at this point is, who is running the recorder's office? It's not the elected official. It's not Justin Heap.

It's James Rogers. And everything that we do must be approved by James Rogers, and everything that Mr. Heap or his staff do that countermands the way Mr. Rogers thinks it needs to go gets called back. And that puts us in a very, very perilous position, which is why we are here today. Vice chair Lesko. Thank

you, madam chair. I'd like staff to explain why we need to vote on this resolution and the timeliness, and and I think that's why we're here. And we've all been working on this for over a year now, trying to have resolutions with the recorder's office, because I believe both the recorder and all of us here want the elections to run smoothly, and we want election integrity. But there's obviously disagreements. And so, my understanding is the reason that we need to approve these voting centers is we have to run an election.

We have to run an election in July, and then again in November, and all of these things take time. And so what I've heard you say, staff, is that you've been meeting with the recorder staff all along, I saw the email where you got a response from the Chief of Staff of the Recorder saying, Yep, I agree with these different things, go forward on the twenty twenty six elections with this understanding. And then we got a letter from Justin Justin Heap himself to, I think it was Jen, I'm not sure, was it to you Jen, saying disregard, or he said he sent it in air, Sam Stone sent it in air, and you can only talk to James Rogers. So I guess I'd like you to explain, like, if we just waited around and tried to, you know, come to some kind of like, get the blessing of James Rogers, or Justin Heap on this election plan, which is our duty. Right?

This is this is the election plan for the elections department and our statutory duties. I mean, would we ever get it done?

So, madam chair, madam vice chair, we have always published the list of the voting locations so the voters can be aware of what their options to participate if they wanna participate in person in an election forty five days in advance of the election. So that's the purpose of having the meeting scheduled at this point in time and to get the board to adopt the resolution so then we can communicate to public, the voters, on where they can participate in the election. But there's other logistics that need to be completed. The political parties need to be able to recruit political party observers that go out to those voting locations. I've been requested from the political parties where are the locations going to be.

Well, I can't provide them that list until I have the final adopted locations. So that's the purpose. Also, as you mentioned, statutorily, these are statutory functions of the Board of Supervisors. Statute is clear that the Board has to if we're going to be using vote centers. The Board, through a resolution, has to adopt the vote centers that will be used.

If there's going to be emergency voting locations, the board has to adopt, through a resolution, the use of emergency voting locations. Also, state statute in the Elections Procedures Manual is clear that drop boxes are under the Board of Supervisors, at least the locations of those drop boxes. And I want to read that set. Well, two I want to read two statutes for you. One is where in state statute it points out that we're to follow the elections procedures manual as it relates to drop boxes.

So this is sixteen four five two, rules, instructions, and procedures manual. Approval of manual, field check, and review of systems, violation and classification. And section a of that says, after consultation with each county board of supervisors or other officer in charge of elections, the secretary of state shall prescribe rules to achieve and maintain the maximum degree of correctness, impartiality, uniformity, and efficiency on the procedures for early voting and voting and procedures distributing, collecting, counting, tabulating, and storing ballots. Drop boxes fall under those categories. And then within the Elections Procedures Manual, this is Chapter two, and under Chapter two H, so it's on page 77, it started at 77 and then carries on to 78.

It says, A ballot drop off location or drop box shall be located in a secure location such as inside or in front of a federal, state, local, or tribal government building in coordination with jurisdictions. All ballot drop off locations and drop boxes shall be approved by the board of supervisors or their designee. So that's what this resolution is bringing forward today, for us to be able to finalize the vote centers that will be used on election day, the emergency vote centers that will be available for voters if they have an issue that prevents them from voting on election day, and the drop boxes that will be available to voters for the primary election.

Thank you. Thank you.

For the record, and I will not respectfully, I will not give recorder heaps airtime, he responded to my invitation in writing to the effect that my attorney has already provided the board with a detailed letter outlining my legal objections to the proposed resolution, concerning ballot drop box locations and management authority. I will distribute that, make it available for documents. What's that website, sir?

Madam chair, if you go to mayorcode.vote and actually I can bring it up here in just a second.

I will put this letter on file there as well. He's basically saying what my attorney said is is what I think, which is you're all convicted felons if you go for or will be convicted felons if you go forward with this and so will your staff. So Well, in his mind.

Not convicted if if

Not convicted. But yeah. Is class five the least worst? It's the worst. I always get those mixed up. I would get so frustrated with me.

Madam chair, we'll work on a a shorter link. But if you go to maricopa.gov and type in elections dispute into the search bar, it'll be the first tab that comes

The other thing I well, let's go forward. And what I would ask, is there a motion to approve item number 97, resolution for the twenty twenty six primary election. And before I ask for that motion, I wanted to double check with Brooke that we've got the proper resolution on file, and we're good to go with the motion. Madam chair,

if if Madam clerk. If I may, just to clarify, and then Brooke may speak if she needs to Please. Correct me. But the resolution that I read to item number 97 is the unaltered resolution as attached to the agenda. Mhmm. The amendments that I stated to the agenda earlier at the beginning of the meeting, Those changes are only to the agenda language. Thank you very much. Thank you. Now it's clear. So sometimes it takes two of you, but you get it done. So I would entertain a motion, please, regarding item number 97.

I have a question. Should the motion be that we wanna approve the amended resolution?

No. Because it was just the agenda item language. The resolution itself was appropriate.

Already has the language?

Yeah. We're good. Or as stated or as well. Thank you. I'm sorry.

Thank you for that clarification. Either. Madam chair, I move that we approve item number 97.

Thank you.

Madam chair.

Thank you. Is there a second? Madam chair. Second. Mister Stewart.

So, Brooke, I'm not sure how this works from parliamentary procedure, but I'd like to make a motion to amend this particular resolution, which was issued prior to the second. Can you help me with that, please? Excuse me.

Madam Chair, Supervisor Stewart, members of the board, my understanding is that there's a motion to approve item 97. There's a second on that motion. Any requests or any requests to amend the motion as stated would need a first and a second, and that will be disposed of. And then either the amended motion, if that were to be approved, would be considered, or the original motion, if the request to amend was denied, would be considered. Mister Stewart.

Madam chair, thank you very much. You know, in the spirit of collaboration and communication, I move that we amend this resolution by inserting the following in paragraph three after the words exhibit c. This list will be final unless the recorder objects to any of the drop back for Dropbox locations by 06/01/2026, in which case the board agrees to reconvene on or before June 4 to reconsider the recorder's objections or additions. So if you'd like some more explanation on the motion, I'd be happy to share.

I don't need an explanation. What I would need is a second.

Madam chair, could I ask supervisor Stewart to Clarify. Reread the amendment and explain it?

I'd be happy to. Thank you, supervisor Lesko and madam chair. I move to amend the resolution by inserting the following paragraph in paragraph three after the words exhibit C. This list will be final unless the recorder objects to any of the Dropbox locations by 06/01/2026, in which case the Board agrees to reconvene on or before June 4 to consider the recorder's objections or additions. So the explanation is that in the spirit of collaboration that if the recorder who has already worked with staff and his staff to approve locations, it sometime over the next ten days decides that he's not comfortable with a location or has an opportunity to add another Dropbox somewhere, and can collaborate with the elections team that he has the opportunity opportunity to to do that.

So it just adds a little caveat in there to help move this forward and bring the recorder into the fold so that we start moving forward together on these issues.

Madam chair, I'd like to hear from staff on doability of that,

I guess. I'm I Respectfully, that motion has not been seconded.

Madam chair, can I lobby for a second so we can have a discussion?

You may lobby.

If, if I could get a second, we can discuss it further. But it's something that we discussed with staff upstairs after your executive session meeting. That might be a resolution that makes everyone happy, including the myself and the recorder.

There's a motion on the floor. Is there a second? Madam chair, you

know, this is this is tough because the recorder's not here. I wish the recorder would have came,

so it's a second vice chair or No. It is No. It's Okay. Motion dies for lack of a second. We're back to our original motion. And what I would like to do it's been moved. It's been seconded. I would like to conduct a roll call vote and each board member, either at the time they vote or following the vote, can explain.

Madam Clerk. Thank you. Supervisor Stewart.

Thank you, and thank you, madam chair. I'd make a comment before my vote. You know, by statute, we have to approve a resolution to use vote centers, to use emergency vote centers, and to ultimately, put drop boxes out in the field for the public, which we're going to do. This is a formality. In many cases, it's been done for, what, five elections now? Excuse me while I get a drink. No. Doing my best Rubio. So my vote is going to be yes under the, under statutory authority that that we do need to approve this to move forward. So thank you, madam chair.

Supervisor Galvin.

Thank you, madam chair. I wanna explain my vote on yes. You know, the experiences we've had with the recorder's office has just frankly been a roller coaster. Every single time we think we're in a good spot with them, then they send us careening in different directions, left, right, up, down. And as supervisor Lesko pointed out, we directly negotiated with Justin Heap on a new shared services agreement in April 2025.

Everything that happened before that was actually irrelevant and a moot point because, yes, every single time there's a new recorder, frankly, there's a new shared services agreement. So whatever happened previously really has no bearing or impact on his office or how we do things because different parties negotiate. And all I know is is that I was sitting across from him, and I had a deal with him. And then he disappeared for five weeks, and then he filed a lawsuit. This has been happening over and over and over again.

We have heard from today, and we've heard it at every single meeting related to elections that our staff sits with the recorder's office staff and works with them on a myriad bunch of issues putting an election together. This is like putting the Super Bowl together. You don't do it in one day. You work on it every single day for years. And the day after an election, you're working on the next election. They never take a day off. And they've been working with employees in the recorder's office for years as well. They have counterparts at the recorder's office. This notion that the language of a resolution just came at the last second. Oh my gosh.

Ridiculous. Everyone at the recorder's office knew what was coming. Everyone at the recorder's office knew what this was about, but they pulled this political gamesmanship where they hide behind an attorney who then threatens criminal prosecution of not only elected officials, but staff and volunteers. And frankly, if anyone here in this dais hasn't yet condemned that, there's something wrong with them. Stand up for the volunteers.

Stand up for the workers. We signed up for this. They didn't sign up for it. It's absolutely outrageous to write a letter at the eleventh hour right as the board of supervisors about to convene threatening criminal penalties for running elections, for having locations for people to vote and to drop off their ballots in our constitutional republic. I am sick of this. I am absolutely sick of this. And you know what the problem is? You know, we've heard, oh, yeah. This is the way to bring them back into the fold. They're gonna keep doing it.

They are cooking up more games, more schemes, more capers. Get ready. The show is on. And the Justin Heap show is rolling on, and they're laughing. But I'm not laughing because you know who's getting hurt in the process? The voters. They don't care about this inside baseball stuff. They don't care about this crap. They just wanna know when they show up to vote or when they mail their ballot, the election's gonna work out well. They find out who won or lost, and they move on with their lives.

But we are stuck in this hamster wheel of the twenty twenty election. That is the basis of it over and over and over again. And someone has to call out the recorder and say, cut it out. And I have seen four people on this dais consistently tell the recorder to cut it out. That's good enough for me at this point.

Four. But you cannot be carrying water for the recorder and expect these games to continue and think it's funny or worry about your own political hide. I don't worry about my political hide. I'm worrying about you, the voter that's watching this. And I'm voting yes because we're gonna move on, we're gonna do the job, we're gonna work with staff, we're gonna work with volunteers, and if anyone tries to put handcuffs on these volunteers, the four of us will be the first ones to step in front of them and say, take us. Thank you, madam chair.

Vice chair Lasko.

Wow. That was I I have to go after that. That was quite the impassioned speech. I am I'm going to explain my vote, madam Chair. It's very important that we vote on this item.

It's very important that we let the public know where the voting centers are going to be. I mean, I've already had people in my district ask me, Where are the voting centers going to be? And so, our election staff needs to know this to plan, and it's very important we do this. I was surprised by the letter today. I mean, a lot of things have gone on, but this letter from James Rogers today was really over the top, really over the top, threatening to, you know, criminalize part time election workers that are picking up ballots at a drop box.

I mean, come on. Let's So once again, recorder keep, I call on you. Let's sit down. As was announced just a few minutes ago, the chairwoman and myself, the vice chair, are willing to try this again. We've tried it many times, but I am a hopeful person.

And so, let's sit down, let's have public meetings, or recorded publicly meetings, so we can hammer out our differences. And we're not doing it for any other reason except to run a smooth, fair election, so that we have election integrity. And that's why Recorder Heap, I hope that you will answer our letter inviting you to these structured meetings, and let's hammer this out for the benefit of the voters, and I vote aye.

Supervisor Gallardo.

Thank you, madam chair. May I explain my vote? Please. Thank you, madam chair. We are, what, sixty tomorrow would be the sixty day mark and before the primary election. This is a vote that has been taken by this board since far as I can remember. Remember, I started, like I said, in in '88. The board of supervisors always cast the resolution to establish the polling sites at that time. Now it's vote centers and and drop off locations. This is a vote that has taken all the time right before an election.

But I don't recall ever waiting this long to actually make this type of vote. We continue to see the gamesmanship by, Justin Heath. This latest, threatening letter, is just is just on top of the the bucket here. It's just another one. I truly believe, madam chair, that mister Heap is purposely trying to compromise this election. He wants this election to fail. He wants it. He's doing everything he can to make this election fail. Just so he can stand in front of very few people that support him to say, look, I told you so. But it's not the board.

It's not our elections department, and it's not some of the folks in the recorder's office, but it is his election. It is his leadership team. It is him. I I really do believe they are way out of their of their scope of knowledge when it comes to conducting these election. Usually, when you do have a new counter recorder, they surround themselves with the best and brightest that understand elections that have done this before. He has not done that. He has surrounded himself by political hacks. Let's be honest. Folks that just wanna tweet stuff out that are negative comments continue to cast conspiracies and false statements and throw rocks at us. That's what he has around him.

So, madam chair, I I I do support this motion. We need to move forward. As been stated by a couple of my colleagues already, it's important for us to make sure we have an election that is safe, secure, accurate, and transparent, that every voter has the right to cast their ballots. Most fundamental right. I say it all the time. It's the most fundamental right. Everyone has should have free access to the ballot box and be able to choose the candidates of of of of their choice. But when you have a counter recorder who is just he is blatantly trying to disrupt this election. He is trying he's doing his best to make sure this election fails. He wants it.

This is what he wants. He's he had never when he got elected, he never intended to make sure our elections were safe, secure, transparent. He's never wanted to to to try to create an election process that is fair and transparent. It was never his intention. His intentions was to try to make the twenty twenty election a failure. And I don't believe I'm gonna stand. I know I will stand with him to try to make that happen. We have a task to do. It's a task that this board has done for years. For years.

I've been here ten years, going on eleven years. We've always made this vote. We've always worked in collaboration with recorder to make sure that we have polling sites and and drop off sites that are are fairly spread out throughout Maricopa County. And then we vote, and we give all the resources and tools and support we need to our professional staff to do a very difficult job. I've been in their shoes.

I've worked there for fourteen years. I know how hard it is. But we need a partner on the other side that is just as much, involved, just as much wanting to make sure we have an election that is safe, secure, and accurate, that is successful. But when you have a partner on the other side that is not wanting to have a successful election, it makes it very difficult. So, madam chair, I am proud to vote aye on this this motion, and I look forward to very successful twenty twenty six primary election. Chair Brophy McGee. Thank you. Quickly to comment. First of

all, you everyone for being here. Thank you for your patience. Thank you for your interest. It's important. We do understand this board that the voters' only concern is to be able to vote confidently, not worry about it, not think about it, just you guys figure it out. And that's been the message I've gotten from day one. And it's not about they did this, we did that. No. Vote confidently. And that is our aim, and that is our goal, and I will stop at nothing less.

I also understand from many years of sometimes really rocky, rough, service in office that we can't choose who the voters send us. So what I could say to mister Heap, we're stuck with each other. Yeah, the voters elected you, but they elected us too. Now, work with us. I will admit, because I am a human and I have lots of human feelings, that I'm tired of extending a hand in good faith and drawing back a stump.

But in the caveat that we must work with who the voters send us, I will continue forward because it's not about me. It's not about mister Heap. It's about our voters. My final message before my vote is to say this. Mister Heap, you are the recorder.

Start leading your office. When you make a decision, and you've made some good decisions, or at least somebody in your office has, stick with it. Go with it. I was in the room with mister Galvin a year ago when we got to a place on a working SSA for which you largely dictated every single term. And I saw you liked it, you texted my colleagues, Miss Lesko, mister Stewart, and said, we're 95% of the way there, and then you went dark.

That's because you went and you talked to somebody, is my guess. When somebody said, no, you're not gonna do that, you're gonna go back and do this. Mister Heat, you are the elected recorder. Start leaving your office. When you make a decision, stick to it, quit walking it back, quit directing your staff to do one thing and then undirecting them, and quit lashing out at our election staff?

We can get there and we can do this, and I'm gonna assume for the sake of the my belief that everyone has a soul, and in human decency, we want good things for our constituents, for our voters. Do your job, mister Heap. Little comment aside from the deranged threatening letter from your attorney this morning saying, don't do this, or you will all be arrested and charged with felonies. All you had to do, mister Heap, is say, yeah. I like I understand where we're headed.

Can we amend it? Can we amend it? It didn't take hellfire and damnation from mister James Rogers, mister recorder James Rogers at this point, to say, Yeah, if you need to change something, as long as we get it done by x date, then reach out. We can amend the resolution. But instead, you have to come in guns a blazing, scaring everybody half to death, completely discrediting you, completely discrediting your unethical attorney, completely tearing apart the voter confidence you profess to support that you profess to be the champion of, and do this.

It should have been a consent item. It wasn't because of your actions and those people to who guide you or, I think, tell you what to do. Stop it. Do your job. And with that, madam clerk, I vote aye. Madam chair, we have a unanimous roll call vote with five ayes. Okay. And having completed the business of the board with thanks to my colleagues, this meeting is finally adjourned.

Thank you.