Mayor and Council - Special Meeting

the special meeting to order at 5:30 p.m. Roll call, please. Here. Present. Present. Here. here. Residents

here.

Thank you. Item number three, persons wishing to address the council in writing or verbally on any item not on the agenda. We have one Miss Diana Lamar services and surrounding that actively support democracy, equality, transparency and government a mutual agartisan [laughter] with an opinion. We thank the Douglas Police Department, Chief Fulen, and the city for their cooperation and professionalism over the past year as we held several peaceful rallies. I want to acknowledge yesterday's fifth anniversary of the January 6th riot on our capital in which many police officers were harmed as over a thousand misdirected citizens attempted to interfere in the peaceful transfer of power. There will always be a small segment of the population that falls victim to conspiracy theories. We do not want our local elected officials to participate in that type of harmful rhetoric, but rely on common sense and facts. We do not want a militarized community. We do not want our community members to live in fear and distrust of law enforcement. And we do not want to be surveiled. A retired attorney, Republican activist, and indivisible member researched the national implications of flock surveillance systems and uncovered ISIS's use of flock to apprehend immigrants. They also discovered this system is storing and selling our data without our knowledge or permission. They were able to prove that the Flock team was misrepresenting the usage of personal data. This led to

the Sedona City Council voting for Flock's immediate removal. Um, and it is happening across the country. Norton, Ohio, San Marcus, Texas, Flagstaff, Arizona, they all have rejected, paused, or canceled the use of this technology. Automated license plate readers are mobile and stationary cameras, often concealed, that record and digitize license plate numbers and can reveal very intimate and private details of your personal life. This technology operates lightning fast. It can scan every driver on the road, logging their location regardless of whether they are suspected of being involved in a crime. via public information. It is estimated that we have five flock cameras in Douglas. One, we ask that the council enable the transparency portal on these devices, inform us whether they are municipal or federal and ultimately reconsider their use. Two, in Minneapolis today, an American citizen was killed by ICE. She was 37 years old. a segment of ICE is untrained, unhinged, and being used as a tool of the state. We reject the militarization of communities by the federal government and ask that the city council do the same. We look forward to this concern being addressed in a timely manner at a future council meeting. And with that in mind, we respectfully request the mayor direct city staff to this task tonight. Thank you. Well, um, uh, as far as the cameras and all that, I'll direct staff to update us on that and see see what's going on. Then we'll, um, we'll get briefed on it. Thank you. Item number four, discussion decision on approvals. Item A, resolution number 26-1711, a resolution of the mayor and council of the city of Douglas, Arizona, Coochis

County or Douglas Coois County, Arizona, authorizing the city of Douglas to accept grant funding and enter into a subg guarantee subgrantee agreement with the state of Arizona for a reimburseable grant fund allocation in the amount of $396,000 for equipment under the local border support program. Chief Fulen, uh,

good evening, Mr. Mayor, members of the council. The state of Arizona through its Department of Public Safety selected the department to receive $396,000 in funding under the local border support program. The performance period for this grant cycle is July 1st, 2025 through June 30th, 2027. Lieutenant Mike Lomale submitted a funding request on behalf of the department and the money will be used to purchase multiband mobile radios. Those are the radios that are in our cars. Um, at a cost of $330,000 and then an additional $66,000 for the installation and programming of those radios. The local border support program enhances law enforcement services to deter, apprehend, prosecute, and detain individuals charged with drug trafficking, human smuggling, illegal immigration, other border related crimes um within the city of Douglas through cooperative efforts of DPS and Douglas PD. Um through our partnership with Coochis County and SECCOM, we have already upgraded two of our radio systems um in dispatch, which gives us redundancy between our system and SECOM's so that we can each serve as as the other's backup um answering point should one of us have to vacate our premises for um an emergency or other um circumstances. So the funding uh that Lieutenant Loma Lee um was able to get, I would like to commend him for both his initiative um and the amount that he received, but it also gives us enhanced capability at the officer level for interoperable communications, meaning we can talk to our partners um at the local, county, state, and federal level

um through these radios. So with that, we are requesting that um council approve Thank you, Chief. May I have a motion to approve resolution number 26-1711? Mayor, Mr. Aosta, I move the mayor and council approve resolution number 26-1 1711. Do I have a second? Second. Motion by Mr. Aosta, second by Mr. Shelton. Any discussion? Hearing none. Roll call, please. Council member Rodriguez, yes. Council member Montano, yes. Council member Dilman, yes. Council member A Costa, yes. Mayor Promper Shelton, yes. Mr. Mayor,

yes. Motion passes. And thank you to Lieutenant Lieutenant Liy for this. Um, item number five, discussion with possible decision on W three seat vacancy. Um, Miss Clerk.

Thank you, Mr. Mayor. Pursuant to the city charter article 2 section 13B, in case of any vacancy for whatever reason in the council, the remaining members including the mayor shall by a majority vote select a qualified person from the ward in which the vacancy occurs. The vacancy in the council shall be filled within 31 days but not less than 15 days from the date of the vacancy. The appointed council member shall serve until the next general election until his successor shall be qualified. Former council member Dia A Costa resigned on December 10, 2025. Um, my office initiated a process of public notice to seek qualified candidates to fill the vacancy. The notice was also shared on social media channels and it published in the hero review on December 17. Letters of interest were collected um in my office resulting in the receipt of three submissions. Um also let me mention that two um individuals not resided in the ward were also interested but not qualified. They didn't meet the qualifications. Um the city charter article 2 section 13C states that if the vacated council seat has an excess of two years remaining in its term, the appointed council member shall serve until the next election. After the election, the elected council member will serve the remainder of the term created by the vacancy. Um, therefore, the the city of Douglas will be having an election, a primary election in August and those names or those or that candidate will be also on that ballot.

Thank you. Um, so we're going to uh so the way we're going to do this is it was different with Miss Dilman because Miss Dilman was the only one uh for the last appointment. I have talked to the candidates. Uh we'll call them up. Uh they can read their letter of interest and state their case and then we can ask them questions. They were okay with everybody being in the same room. I'd like to uh let council know that executive session is not on the agenda as far as us going mandatory after this or before this, but if any of you feel like we should go to executive session, that option is available due to the notice on our uh agenda. So feel free to want to go into executive session at any at any point during this if if uh you all feel we need to. Uh so we'll go in order. Um Mr. Gustavo Duraso.

Good evening. Uh my I'm here to formally express my interest uh as serving as 43 representative for the city of Douglas. I'm deeply committed to our community and to contribute my time and experience and dedication to the residents of the city. I probably call home. I was born and raised in Douglas, Arizona. Growing up here has given me the strong appreciation for the values, challenges, and strengths that define our community. Douglas is not just where I live. It's also where my roots are. Where my family is and where I have chosen to build my life and my career. This lifelong connection uh gives me the genuine understanding of the needs and concerns of our residents uh particularly those working families, seniors, and underserved populations. Uh professionally I am an adult gertological primary care nurse practitioner currently serving the community through Chera Community Health Centers. In this role I care for patients across a wide range of ages, backgrounds, many of whom have faced barriers related to access, affordability, and continuity of care. My work has strengthened my ability to listen carefully and to thoughtfully and make ethical decisions and advocate for individuals and families. Skills directly translate to effective public service and leadership. In addition to my professional experience, I am a husband and father roles that shape my perspective every day. Like many families in Douglas, my priorities include safety, education, economic opportunity, and strong sense of community. I understand the importance of creating policies and decisions to that support families, promote long-term stability, and ensure healthy future for the next generation. I believe that my background as a healthcare provider combined with my long long lifelong ties to Douglas and my commitment as a felony man will allow me to serve as a war II with integrity, compassion, and accountability. I'm eager to work collaboratively with the fellow council members, city staff, and residents to

address challenges and support responsible growth um while preserving the character of our community. Thank you for consideration and I welcome to work with you. Thank you, Mr. Um, now I'll move to questions and we'll go in order of words if that's okay. Mrs. Rodriguez, any question? Yes, I have a question. Um, so what do you believe are the city's greatest strengths and biggest challenges?

So biggest strengths? Uh, I'll tell you why I moved back cuz actually we moved to Tucson for 9 years uh while I was uh doing my doctorate. it really brought was the sense of community. Uh having all of our families together here, Douglas is one of the smallest communities where you could be walking down the street and someone will offer your there's a a big strong sense of uh togetherness here. Also like when you do city events, you find everyone here and also working as a a healthcare provider here. I've worked in Tucson, Benson, Willox, Phoenix, and here the patients are different. Everyone like is a very appreciative of being educated, knowing where your your resources are and uh finding ways to make things work. And uh what was the sec second question?

The challenges biggest challenges that face our city.

So the biggest challenges that I've seen here is uh access to resources. But most of the time it's not that the resources are not available. It's that the people are not educated to identify those resources that are available to them. So most of the time what's it seems very easy to me because I'm very wellversed in finding uh care for uh for our patients our community also like okay we don't have a specialist we don't have this here how can we get them into service to Tucson. So there there is a lack of education uh in the community of the of the all the resources that are available to them.

Thank you

Mr. Montana. Thank you for what you do. Um and this is along the lines of when Miss Rodriguez asked about this uh based on your application. In your application, you mentioned that you care for patients that face barriers related to access affordability. Uh as a council member, do you feel you can have an impact on these issues? And if so, how would you address it or how what would you do? Mhm. So, uh the things that like within a because technically like W three falls where our clinic is and but we see it in Douglas. Uh what we uh what I see a lot is sometimes at us as me working as a as a provider, we have to track down the patient because they don't know anything better. So, we really have to uh identify our strengths as as in the community and then find a way to amplify it to for everyone to be able to use them. Like uh one of the things is we have a lot of patients that cannot afford a cab or um cannot be uh they're not in the route where they can pick them up. So, so how can we get them to the clinic? So a lot of our patients walk or they uh have to get a ride from someone. So we have to identify me I have to think okay for the next visit how can I make this person successful to see me again. So we have to identify okay look we uh there's this uh medical transfer that we could do. We could set it up like one or two days before. If not, you could call me and then then we could find a way to uh get a social worker or someone over there to to get

you. Um, a lot of times is also we have a lot of people that depend on transport to other cities like to see or Tucson for a specialist and all of a sudden they're uh insured approved ride cancels on them. So then okay, how can we do it? how can we uh what resources do we have to be able to help this uh people in the community that are falling uh between the cracks? So trying to identify uh city resources that could help and then because most of the population here in Douglas they're either on Medicare or they don't have uh they cannot afford to go out of town. So then how can we get them in into carpet queen? how can we get them into um Sarah Vista? Just finding uh our different resources and see how we could deploy them to a specific community that they're just the resources are available but they don't know how to utilize them. So we I would be able to navigate through uh our resources to that specific committee and that specific issue.

Thank you, Mr. Shelton. Okay. your position that you have now, are you going to be available for meetings and sometimes we have things before 5:00, you know, 4:30 or even events. Can you work around this? That is my my question.

Yes. And the way I could prove it to you is I never missed a football uh soccer game, recital, uh uh what's it called? Uh special school concert of my kids, I'm always there. Even if it's at 8:30, 12, 4, I make the I make the time. My work is uh very flexible and uh my patients are very understanding where I uh I see them. Thank you. I know several times. Yeah, you have to forgive me. I'm not sick. I got allergies or something. But

I know sometimes when I've had this position with my kids or my grandkids or other things that come up, you have to make a choice. Yeah. And I would hope it could probably your kids. Yeah. See? and only one block away. Thank you, Mr. Shelton. Mrs. Dilman, do you have a particular interest or a project that you would like to see accomplished?

Uh, I have more uh passions. Okay. Uh, one of um, one thing that I'm currently doing, I'm I'm actually getting my uh, pilot's license. So, one of my big passion is the airport and also like the country club, you know, like how th those two things like I see Douglas like a a place where like to me it seems like frozen in time. See, cuz there's such rich history here that people don't know because when I talked to people from I just went to Flagstaff and and Flax says like where are you from? From Douglas. Where's Douglas? Do you know where Bisby is? Yeah. So that and that's usually what everyone says. See, so I want to find a way like how can we bring them down to Douglas cuz like come on like we have a population of 15 to 16,000 with a neighboring city of 90,000 where that's twice the size of S Vista. How can we unlock that rich history of Douglas or and like our stores and everything to other communities? like just right now like what I've noticed with um just just right now like um with uh the new Ross there's a like a lot of increased traffic okay that has benefited a lot like Jessie Penney I've seen Jess Penney full almost every day just because of the traffic something that we haven't seen in years so how can we benefit of of having the the community thrive. The airport is one way to unlock it. There's a lot of people that want to come to Douglas, but they don't know it. It doesn't exist or we don't have special events for them. Also, tie it in with with we have a very beautiful country club. like how can we tie all of this and just use it on a constant uh like every quarter to have an event where

people just uh use our beautiful airport uh country club and also like visit the Gatson like I know uh right now one of my co-workers husband he's also he's a tour guide and he's like setting up like how to promote Douglas see so like Bisby does it to does it we are a lot bigger than Why can't we unlock that to the community? What? Because that increased traffic will benefit the community. We'll have more money. We'll have more to spend like our on families and just making Douglas more attractive to other people like to growing families especially right now that we have the port of entry project starting like how can we like someone who just going to is going to come and work. How uh they're going to say like hey Douglas we'd only have a five minute commute. the cost of living is low that right now how the economy is and everything that's very attractive to it growing families and also like one of the biggest things is like cuz we talk it every day me and my wife like if we ever move back to Phoenix or Tucson I wouldn't have the time to attend functions for my kids do multiple sports on the same day and also be home every day within 5 minutes of uh getting out of work. So like how can we bring that like make other people see that because people are craving that.

Thank you. Thank you Mr. Aosta.

Yes. Uh good afternoon Mr. Luraso. On your statement of interest you stated on there that uh you would support responsible growth while preserving the character of our community. How do you plan on preserving the character of our community? uh preserving it would be uh having the in the core values that Douglas has right now, the unity, the family and just uh like the society here and just that everyone is nice, everyone talks to each other. uh like within 3 months you could know everyone in Douglas and then just keep on having striving uh for that connection with the community even if um as a as a city like having uh more events for people to look forward to events that the that the city hosts. Uh a lot of the times uh me as a father uh and I'm 38 years old. I'm very well connected with social media and everything. There's a lot of events where I don't even know that are happening until I'm crossing 10th Street and all of a sudden like I I go to the social media of the city and see like hey what event is this? And then I have to go like two weeks before to figure it out what it is. See, so preserve uh by bringing the community together and preserving our legacy like that being proud that it was founded in 1901, that the Gazin is a ma major milestone that we had the first airport in in the US like people those are things that people are proud of and have a sense of identity with Douglas. Like I am proud to say that I'm from Douglas. Being a small community, growing up here, going to Lorettto to uh uh the Douglas High

School, being in sports, being in coaches college without having to leave here. So I think uh just every day uh showing up and um being uh cognizant of uh how we talk about each other and how uh well preserved we are as a committee uh will show uh perseverance with everyone else that wants to see it. Thank [snorts] you.

Thank you. Um, well, Miss Dilman took my question, so it's good we didn't coordinate, so I had to think on on on the fly. Um, are you comfortable being in the in this position? And, you know, with your line of work, you meet people from different walks of life, different economic situations, different cultures. Are you comfortable if you were to get the seat to not put your opinions whether it's your political beliefs, your religious whatever it might be and focus on the greater picture in Douglas where you know because we get a lot of people with different political mindsets coming you need to do this. Are you comfortable with basically looking at the bigger picture in Douglas and taking your own personal interests your own um beliefs and moving them to the side?

Yes. And the big reason is I have to do it every day. I have to be remain objective and see what are the needs of the community and how can we pass it on to our uh members. Thank you. Uh anyone else question? All right. Thank you, Mr. Dudas. Thank you. We're going in order that they were received. So, Miss Elizabeth Fagan,

you get two mics. I'm just gonna say which one is going to work better. Is this I sound okay? Um, hi, my name is I go by Beth Beth Fean. I'm a Douglas native. Uh, my parents are from here. My grandparents homesteaded here. So, uh, apparently we like living here. Um, and I'll read you the letter that I sent in. says, "Dear Mayor and members of the city council, I am writing to express my interest in representing Ward 3 as member of the city council for the city of Douglas. If given the opportunity to serve, I would work diligently to represent Ward 3 and the city of Douglas with integrity, collaboration, and a focus on practical solutions. I hold a bachelor of science degree in construction project management management from Arizona State University. With training in project planning, budgeting, scheduling, contract management, and cost control. This background provides practical insight into public infrastructure and capital improvement projects and the importance of delivering results efficiently and responsibly. Professionally, I am an independent insurance broker for specializing in property and casualty Medicare lines. Been doing this for 30 years. My work involves risk assessment, regulatory compliance, contract review, financial analysis for individuals, businesses, and nonprofit organizations. These skills trans translate directly to sound municipal decisionmaking and fisc fiscal oversight. I'm bilingual in English and Spanish, allowing me to communicate with a broad range of residents and support inclusive, accessible public engagement. I am also involved in community service and nonprofit leadership with experience in operational and financial oversight,

reinforcing the importance of transparency and accountability. Thank you for your time and consideration. I would welcome the opportunity to further discuss my qualifications and interest in serving the community. Thank you. I'll call you Fat since you said it was okay if you don't mind. Well, thank you. Yeah, Mrs. Rodriguez, any questions? Yes. Um, so what do you see as the most pressing issues facing War II right now and how would you prioritize them during your first year on the council? Okay. Um, excuse me.

Certainly. Excuse me. Shouldn't we have the same questions? I've been through many interviews. Um, if you'd like I mean I just wanted I mean I I think by having the same questions it gives the first person a big disadvantage. I agree. So we should have maybe everybody. Yeah. My understanding is that we were able to ask different questions to each of the candidates. Thank you. All right. I will repeat the question.

Thank you. Okay. So, what do you see as the most pressing issues facing WI 3 right now and how would you prioritize them during your first year on the council?

So, our pressing issues is our economic situation. I I feel that the job market isn't what it should be or what it could be. Um I also and this is probably way out of my league, but we need a hospital. If we want to grow as a community, we need a hospital. We could also use a grocery store on the east side of town. um priority. To be honest with you, I think sometimes people show up like the new sheriff in town when they get on a council, school board or whatever. I think you really have to check out the lay of the land and build a good working relationship with your constituents and understand what the people really want. what I want may not be what the citizens of Douglas want. We've got to take all those things into consideration.

Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Mo. Um, hi, Miss Fagen. Hi. In your application, you mentioned that you're part of a comm of community service organizations and uh what position do you currently hold and in that position what type of new initiatives have you implemented and what have the impacts of those initiatives been?

Okay, so currently um I'm involved with the Douglas Elks Lodge. I'm the treasurer. So we don't get a whole lot of uh being able to implement things but we my job there is to keep us financially solvent and keeping um how do I put it? We got to keep our doors open. We've got to raise money for charities. We do grant submitts. Uh prior to that I was involved with Boy Scouting. Um, my son is an Eagle Scout, which is something I'm very proud of. Um, that gave me a chance to to work with youth and and get to know these people. And I don't really think I'm answering your question, Mr. One [laughter] time.

No, that that's fine. Okay. Yeah. The one of one of the question part of the question was what type you but you I think you answered it. You said you really don't get a chance to to implement new initiatives. So, your job is more of a financial Correct. No, that's okay. Thank you, Mr. Sh. The position that you hold to date insurance. Mhm. How is that going to help with the ideas that you're going you would bring to the city to help the city out?

Okay. Um, when you're involved in insurance, there's a lot of regulator, it's a regulatory environment, just like the city of Douglas that in order to let's let's say we want to have a Boys and Girls Club, which I understand we're working on. There's a lot of different aspects to that and one of them is insurance like how do you ensure um the people working there the structure that it's in things like that there's a lot of things that you really need to take in consideration but I think mostly is just I follow the rules when I do things and it wouldn't be any different if I was on the city council. Yeah. things are kind of laid out how they should be,

right? And there's a lot of legal things. Yes. That concerned housing structure. Yeah. Yeah. And I'm familiar with contract management. So, thank you, Miss Dillman. Hi. How do you see the role of a council member in a small town like ours and where everyone knows everyone? How would you handle that?

Well, um I'm I'm no stranger to the public eye um because I've been in business for quite some time. But again, going back to what I was explaining to Miss Rodriguez was you really have to include the people that you represent. You have to listen to them. You may not always agree with them, but you should. Everybody People want to be included. They want to feel like their voice matters, and that's part of the job. You Sure.

Yes. Uh good afternoon, Miss Fagan. Uh on your letter of interest, you mentioned that you hold a bachelor of science and construction project management from ASU, go Sunundells.

And uh with that training and background that you have, how do you plan on serving our community? as as best to my ability. Um, you know, it's I'm I've been away from construction for a long time. However, I I can't hardly pass a construction site without looking. Um, so that said, we if you had projects, sure, you know, it's got to come in handy. I And I I I um the budgeting, the scheduling, the contract management. Not that a city council person would ever really truly be involved in that, but you are aware of how the construction world works and how the engineering world works. The degree I have is um so much of it is engineering, so much of it is construction and then there's the business management portion of it. So, it's a very well-rounded degree and it is something that helped me in all things the insurance business just when you and I read people's resumes. It's a well educated group of people that I'm talking to. College doesn't make you smart, but it makes you think. And uh I always kind of joke around about well you I should be able to engineer engineer my way out of a problem and I usually do. If I if

there's a problem I sit down and figure it out. Um whether it's a budget, a schedule, um how to fix the water heater, I can figure it out. So Okay. Thank you. Thank you. Um, Miss Fagen, how involved are you in the community right now? Um, between my office and uh I spend quite a bit of time with the Elks Lodge. That is my involvement at this point in time. Okay. Thank you. Are we done?

Yeah.

Okay. If you want to stay up there, you know, take some time away from Miss Kramer, Miss Susan Kramer. I'm short. Okay. Um, my name is Susan Kramer. I've lived on Ninth Street. Um, I'm just going to paraphrase my letter. Um, I've lived on 9inth Street since basically 1983. I started teaching in Douglas in 1981. Um, I was hired to through DUSD to teach home economics at Rayain Middle School when it was Douglas Junior High right after it left being 12th Street Middle School or Junior High. Um, throughout my time at Ray Brain, I was part of the Douglas Education Association. Um, and starting with the first year I taught there, I got elected to be the building rep and basically held that position for 30 or 27 years. Um, and I was vice president for two years. I was also on negotiations uh with the superintendent's office and uh contracting disputes and things like that. Um, I also have been after I retired in 2007

from school, I joined the or I ran for and won the election for school board. And actually, the first year there were not enough candidates, so I got in by default, which upset my daughter a great deal because she wanted to see my name on the ballot. But then I ran for a second term. So for eight years I was on the school board and um after I retired I became a business owner and worked here with the community. I've also been a member of the chamber greater Douglas Chamber of Commerce because I know we have several now uh for since 2007 um is when I joined the chamber and I've held the president's position there several times um on and off. Uh, I was part of the Douglas Merchants Association and was vice president there for a while. Um, I moved here from Southern California. I didn't intend to stay in Douglas uh back then because I really don't like the desert. I'm more of a mountain person. But I got the job here. I fell in love with Douglas and I've tried to be a community member. I've also, uh, worked with the Douglas Ark, um, Special Olympics. I did Girl Scouts. I coached little league uh, T-ball and, uh, AYSO soccer. And one thing that I feel is if you are part of a community,

you need to be involved in that community. So I do attend meetings um of what's going on like the meetings about the water issues, the meetings about the port. Um, basically if there's a meeting and I haven't heard or don't know about it, I do a try and attend. Thank you, Mrs. Rodriguez.

All right. So, I know Mrs. Kramer for a very long time. She was my teacher. Um, so you've been very involved in our community. Um, and have also served on the school board. Um, and you've served on several committees, city-based committees at that. So, with that experience, what do you hope to bring to our city city council? I hope to bring uh separate ideas because I was not born and raised here. I do consider Douglas my home, um, but I wasn't born and raised here. So, I'm no longer an outsider looking in, but I do see where things can be improved. Also, one thing that I want to um implement is my availability to the community as far as our ward, my ward. Um, when I was on the school board, I went one day to go to uh Walmart to get dog food and I was there for three hours in the dog food aisle because there was a line of people who saw me and one person came and talked to me and had a question about something on the schoolboard and then there was a line and I couldn't get out of Walmart. But I never said to anybody, gosh, you know, I need to get home and feed my dogs because as an elected official or as someone who is serving the community um as a representative, I want to make sure that I'm available. And there are things that I've seen and as a as a citizen, I've reported things that I've seen uh especially in my

neighborhood when I would walk with my dog, things that were dangerous or challenging and I've called and you know talked to people and said, "Hey, you know, this probably needs to be fixed before somebody hurts themselves and sues the city." So I, you know, I hope to be someone who's available in my ward to the to the rest of the ward. Thank you, Miss Montana. Hi, Miss Kramer. Hi. On your application, you mentioned that you are current president of the Douglas Chamber of Commerce. Is that correct?

The Greater Douglas Chamber of Commerce. Yes. Uh so um from what I understand uh membership has declined in the last few years because there's other things coming up or other organizations. Why do you think that membership has declined and what steps have you taken to grow memberships in the greater Douglas Chamber of Commerce? Um I the decline actually started [sighs] it was way before the pandemic and there was a split in uh the chamber. There were two people who got into a tussle um an argument over some political beliefs and people went with one and people went with the other. And so we are working. It's a struggle. I will tell you it's a struggle. But we have been working very hard to try and get things put together in a way that people will notice us again and will want to rejoin. Um we have been a participant at the uh Douglas days um for the last several years. We sponsored um and have launched the um Miss Douglas Day's scholarship pageant which we make sure we give scholarships to um three or four girls, however many girls we have. Um and we're trying to get things to where people want to join the chamber. A lot of people don't want to join. They I don't know. They think that we're charging too much and our dues is sliding scale and it starts at $25 a year, not a month. Um we have meetings

and in fact we had a meeting earlier today and and I don't know if it's because of the weather or what, but uh we had nobody show up. So, um, we're trying we're we're working on some programs to get people more, uh, visibility for their businesses in our in our community. Thank you, Mr. Shelton.

Okay. with your [clears throat] excuse my voice again with your educational and then your professional uh teaching experiences. [clears throat] How can you help Douglas? because your education and then your um oh experiences being a teacher have been wide and you've had to face problems with administration with students be with other teachers how can I all work together to help them

one thing that I think I have I have the ability to explain things to people so that they can understand. And that was why when I was on the school board, people would find me or call me or even text me and they would ask because they didn't understand what happened at the school board or what was said. and after I explained it, they would say, "Oh, that's what that meant." So, I think I have that ability and that's one part of my education, you know, being a teacher. Um, but I also I want to see Douglas get back to the point it was when I moved here in the 80s. The I want downtown to thrive. I want the rest of the city to thrive. I know that we've from the time I moved here, we've moved east and now we're going to be doing the port expansion. Um I I want to see all that really take off and the Boys and Girls Club. I'm I'm so excited about that. Um, I want to see things take off and I think I can I have the ability to explain to people the benefits of those things and to get people to really get excited about it.

Thank you. And you've answered a lot of the other questions I was going to ask in your summary and then the other two questions. Thank you. Okay. Thank you. Thank you, Mrs. Dilman. Hi, Mrs. Greenwell. Hi, Terry. Um, how would you deal with the difference of opinions amongst council members if it were ever to happen? Having been on the school board,

I can I can tell you that I have gotten very good at listening and making sure that everybody gets heard. Um, and allowing everyone to speak. Um, I I think everybody has, you know, ideas and their own ideas and I believe that it's important that we listen to one another. And if somebody had comments that clearly showed that they did not understand what had been presented, I would try and assist with that. um you know like ask another question after they were finished speaking that would kind of lead the person who presented into getting into more detail. Um, I I can be I can be very um persuasive at times, but again, that's because I can explain things fairly well.

Thank you, Mr. Costa. Yes. Hi, Miss. Hi. on your statement of [clears throat] interest, you mentioned that you want to be involved in the forward growth of our community. Yes. How can you help us grow?

Um, like I said, I I want to see downtown brought back. I I want us I mean I I've sat through numerous meetings with the different con um consultants that the city has hired over the last 20 years to build Douglas up. And there are so many good ideas that have been floated around. We need to communicate well with the rest of the population and get them to understand the benefits. You know, I hear all the time, we need jobs in Douglas because we need to keep our children here. I have a different opinion of that. I think we do need jobs in in Douglas. Yes, because there are people who want to live here and want to stay here. My daughter is not one of them. She loves Douglas, but she has no intention of ever coming back here because she's she's a grew up in a small city small town. She's a big city girl now and she enjoys the big city. So, you know, I think we need to really focus on putting together the plan for downtown and doing something about the vacant buildings. Um, improving, you know, I love I love the lights that are up now. Um, that are up like all year long. And I I think that's great. I think that's something, you know, we really need to promote our town and I just want to see us

revitalize and that includes bringing people in from Mexico from I know I've talked to people at the consulate who they grew up in Nakasari Kana and they said when they were little they would come to Douglas for the weekend and shop and eat and go to the movie, do you know do whatever. And we have so many interesting things. We have the car museum. We have parks. I there was a lady in Sierra Vista who said, you know, I was at that park with that beautiful fountain. We don't even have that in Sierra Vista. I'm like, yeah, we have a lot of things in Douglas. So, you know, I I want to see that kind of energy and I think there are ways we can do that and get the community behind the city council.

Thank you, Mr. [clears throat] Kramer. I'm going to piggy back off of Mr. Montano sort of question about the the chamber, the greater chamber. Uh, you know, if if you're in this seat, like you mentioned, there's more more. We have the Douglas Merchants. We have, you know, D, we have all these different organizations. The perception could be, you know, if the chamber, your chamber works with the city, that could be favoritism. Uh, with your your with your enrollment already suffering like you said,

how important is it to keep that neutral uh, you know, uh, perception when it comes to working with other organizations like yours? first. Funny you mentioned that. Yesterday, um, art Tuesday, Monday, Monday, I met with, um, a member of the the Hispanic Chamber. They go by the Douglas Chamber of Commerce. Um, and we were talking about collaborating along with the uh he didn't know about the Douglas Merchants, but he did know about um the other group that Mr. Robas has. Um, and so we were talking about that and working with the city as the organizations and I would not I mean obviously if it was something that was being voted on that concerned my group, you know, the Douglas the Greater Douglas Chamber of Commerce, I would definitely recuse myself um and state the reasons why. But um We've been able to work previously with other groups and it not be an issue. So I think we could continue that.

Thank you. Uh so to respect councils um because I did get asked about executive session just in general by the newspaper. Um we can go into executive session if there's a motion in a second. So, I'll just respectfully ask, is there a motion to go into executive session, discuss the the uh interviews? Okay. Um, may I have a motion? Mr. Montana.

Uh, first of all, I want to thank all the candidates, so it was close. I move that the mayor and council appoint that you're asking. Do I have a second? Second. Motion by Mr. Montano, second by Mrs. Rodriguez. Any discussion? Hearing none. Roll call, please. Council member Rodriguez, yes. Council member Montano, yes. Council member Dilman, yes. Council member Vraa, yes. Mayor Pat Shelton, yes. Mr. Mayor, yes. Motion passes. Congratulations, Mr. Montano.

What did I call you? Montaso.

The weather. The weather. Sorry. Um, uh, I'd like to thank the applicants, the other applicants, Miss FA, uh, Beth and Miss Kramer. Like, Miss uh, I was gonna call her Mrs. Rodriguez, like Mrs. Andrada said, um, uh, you know, there's there's possibilities and opportunities for for the next election like it was, um, uh, uh, announced. Um, [clears throat] so we'll have the the oath item C, the oath of office to the new council member. Yeah. And you're going to get a photo op in your work clothes. Okay. So people can know. [laughter] I do solemnly swear or affirm that I will support the Constitution of the United States. and that constitution and laws of the state of Arizona that I will bear truth, faith, and allegiance to the same to the saint and defend them against all enemies, foreign and domestic, and they will faithfully and impartially discharge the duties of the office of war three council member for the city of Douglas, Arizona according to the best of my ability. So help me God.

Oh or so do I affirm. Thank you. You're up, sir. Mr. Mayor, yes, we have a certificate of appointment. Um, if you would like to take a photo also.

Oh, then we'll take a photo out. Item D, comments by the newly appointed council member, Mr. Duraso. Anything you want to say to your constituents? Uh, I will try my best uh to represent our ward and our committee as a whole uh and be as the most objective I can as I do every day at work.

Thank you. Item number six, discussion decision to call for and conduct an executive session. And item A, under the authority of ARS 38-431.03 A3 and A7 to consider its position, instruct its representatives and obtain legal advice regarding the purchase, sale, or development of real property within the city of Douglas or near the commercial port of entry. May I have a motion to enter into executive session? Mr. Mayor, Mr. Mr. Rodriguez. I move to uh call for and conduct an executive session. I'll go to Mr. Shelton. Do you have a second? Second. Motion by Mr. Rodriguez. Second by Mr. Shelton. Any discussion hearing? None. Roll call, please. Council member Rodriguez,

yes. Council member Montano, yes. Council member Duraso, yes. Council member Dilman, yes. Council member Aosta, yes. Mayor Temper Shelton, yes. Mr. Mayor, yes. Motion passes. We enter into executive session at 6:33. Thank you.

PM. Item number seven, adjournment. Do I have a motion to adjurnn? I make a motion. We adjourn. Do I have a second? Second. Motion by Mr. Shelton, second by Mrs. Dillman. All in favor say I. I. Any nays? Eyes have it. We adjourn at 7:09 p.m. All right, everyone. Have a nice evening. Thank you. Have a good evening, Dennis. You, too. All right.