City Council Formal Meeting - Regular Meeting

Good afternoon. It is September 9th. Thank you for joining us. We lost a giant in our community and I will turn to Vice Mayor Hodge Washington to lead a moment of silence for George Dean.

Thank you, Mayor. Today, I would like to ask my colleagues and everyone to join us and pause as we remember Mr. George Dean, who passed away recently. Having served more than three decades leading the Greater Phoenix Urban League, Mr. Dean was a devoted servant leader and a beloved member of our Phoenix community, and his passing is a loss to all who had the privilege of knowing him. Under his leadership, the Greater Phoenix Urban League helped many Phoenicians achieve homeownership, elevate their employment, and even the youngest Phoenicians excel through the Head Start program. At moments li

Thank you, Mayor. Thank you, Vice Mayor, for those powerful words. Chaplain, Rabbi Levertov will provide an invocation in keeping with the tradition of a legislative prayer for the council. Participation is entirely voluntary. Anyone may remain seated or step outside. Rabbi Levertov, thank you.

Thank you, Shana Tova. Please remain standing for the Pledge of Allegiance.

Thank you so much. We'll now call to order the formal meeting of the Phoenix City Council.

Elsie Duarte is with us to provide Spanish interpretation and Oscar Monroy. Elsie, would you introduce your team?

Thank you so much. We begin with the formal meeting minutes. Councilman Robinson, item number one.

We motion a second. All in favor say aye. Aye. Any opposed, nay? Passes unanimously. Item two, vice mayor.

Thank you, mayor. Move to approve the minutes from January 7, 2026. Second.

Motion and second. All those in favor, say aye. Aye. Any opposed, nay? Passes unanimously. Next, we move to boards and commissions. Vice mayor, do you have a motion?

Yes, mayor. Motion to approve the mayor and city council's boards and commission nominations. Second.

Motion and a second. All those in favor, say aye. Aye. Any opposed, nay. Congratulations to our commissioners on your unanimous confirmation. If you'll come forward, we will conduct your swearing-in ceremony. Thank you for serving our city. Please raise your right hand. I state your name. Do solemnly swear that I will support the Constitution of the United States and the Constitution and laws of the state of Arizona, that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same and defend them against all enemies, and that I will faithfully and impartially Discharge the duties of? State your board. A

Thank you. Motion to approve items 4 through 28? Second.

A motion and a second. I'm seeing we do not have anyone wishing to speak. All those in favor, please say aye. Aye. Any opposed? Passes unanimously. 14 special events on today's liquor license, including some very exciting ones.

Phoenix Pride. Thank you, Mayor. I'm excited to welcome the Phoenix Pride Parade and Festival to District 8 in downtown Phoenix. Pride celebrations, as we know, are a way for us to ensure that all members of our community are supported and feel that they have a home here in Phoenix. I look forward to marching in the Pride Parade and joining in celebrations at the Arizona Center. See you next month.

And speaking of special events, there's a big one coming up this weekend celebrating Mexican independence.

Yes, thank you so much, Mayor. Yes, we want to invite everyone to our yearly El Grito event that's going to be taking place this Saturday starting at 4 o'clock. here on Third Avenue in Washington, come and support all of our small businesses. We love being able to kick off Hispanic Heritage Month this way. It's so meaningful to all the small businesses that come out and celebrate and expose all of their amazing food and everything else that they sell. At the end of La Grito this year, we're gonna do something that's never been done before. We're gonna have fireworks. So we're hoping that all o

Thank you so much. City Clerk, are we ready for ordinances, resolutions, new business planning and zoning? Yes, Mayor. Vice Mayor, do we have a motion?

Yes. Motion to approve items 29 through 106, except for the following. Item 61, 64, 94, 99, 102, 103, 104, 105, and 106. Noting that item 49 is continued to September 23rd, 2026. And can the clerk confirm if there are any other items that should be excluded for in-person public comment?

We next go to item 51, which is a contract with UMOM New Day Centers for heat-related respite operator and supportive services. Vice Mayor, do we have a motion? We have a motion and a second. We have several members of the public here to comment. We'll begin with Faith, followed by Clarissa.

Thank you for that important testimony. Clarissa is next, followed by Frank.

Thank you so much for your testimony. Frank is next, followed by Elizabeth.

Thank you so much. Our final speaker will be Elizabeth Venable.

We next go to item 61, authorization to amend the ordinance for school resource officer services. Vice Mayor.

We have a motion and a second. Noting Councilman Waring will not participate in this item.

Next is 64, the Arizona Criminal Justice Commission grant. Vice Mayor?

Mayor, may I explain my vote? Yes. Thank you. I understand that this grant will be used for improving the quality of timeliness of forensic science, reduce backlogs, train personnel, and implement new technologies. My issue is not with that. My issue is that these funds also supplement Phoenix Police Department overtime and fringe benefits. Once again, we find that this department is pulling from outside sources to cover their out of control overtime. The cost is that the other things this grant is supposed to cover will be sacrificed to pay for overtime and that to me is irresponsible. I real

rezoning related to historic preservation in district three councilwoman stark do you have a motion yes i will recommend approval sorry i recommend approval uh for this with the company ordinance second we have a motion and a second this will be a historic preservation overlay for the acacia library which is very exciting a beloved part of our city, and we do have public testimony on this, so Julia, if you could come on down.

Thank you so much for that very important information.

All right, item 99 is Amend City Code Ordinance Adoption Rezoning Application, Southwest corner of 15th Avenue and Jackson Street, also known as the Safe Outdoor Space in District 7. Councilwoman Hernandez, would you recognize you for a motion and comments?

Thank you so much, Mayor. And I would move for approval of item of the, sorry, I would move to approve the ordinance adoption for the rezoning application and the approval THE ACCOMPANIED ORDINANCE. SECOND. I'LL ROLL RIGHT INTO MY COMMENTS. I THINK ANOTHER REALLY GOOD FEEL-GOOD ITEM, I REALLY WANT TO SPEAK IN SUPPORT OF THIS REZONING AND MORE IMPORTANTLY WHAT THIS REALLY WHAT THE SUPPORT WHAT WE BELIEVE IT REPRESENTS FOR DISTRICT 7 WHICH IS OUR COMMITMENT TO CREATING SAFE OUTDOOR SPACES WHILE CONTINUING TO EXPAND the range of housing options available to our residents. You know, I want to be h

Thank you. I wanted to just piggyback also and extend my gratitude to our OHS staff. I think this is an important, a valuable tool as we try to address homelessness in our community. I thank them for always approaching this with a spirit of continual improvement, and they've always heeded the opportunity to grow and learn from the residents' concerns. I think this is a definitely shows that it's a partnership between the residents and our Office of Homeless Solutions. I just wanted to say thank you for their work. And I think the fact that they've done such a great job is why the SOS extension

We next go to items 102 and 103, which are related to the, what? We have speakers on 99, okay, thank you. Thank you, apologies. So Octavius, followed by Terrell.

Thank you so much. Elizabeth is next, followed by Dorian.

Thank you so much. Dorian is next, followed by Charles, who will be our final speaker on this item.

Thank you. Charles will be our final speaker.

Thank you so much, and as noted earlier, some improvements on the way, but moving forward, roll call. The clerk's informed me the earlier roll call will stand, so it continues to have passed. All right, now we get to 102, 103, which are both related to the southwest corner of 15th Avenue and baseline in District 8. We'll open the public hearing. I do not believe we have anyone... all to speak if necessary. Okay. We have many people available to speak if necessary. Would we? Does anyone? I think we're good. Okay. We'll close the public hearing and I will turn to the Vice Mayor for motions first

Perfect. We can't wait to hear what you have to say on 105. The anticipation is building already. And so for people who don't come often, you can register to speak if necessary, and that's if an item becomes debated, contested, then you can come forward and provide your input. But in this case, it appears this is not a contested item. So 102, Vice Mayor.

Thank you, Mayor. Motion to approve per the Planning Commission's recommendation and related resolution on item 102. Second.

We have a motion and a second roll call.

Motion to approve for the Planning Commission recommendation and adopt a related ordinance as to item 103. Second.

Item 104 is Downtown Arts Vending on Private Property Pilot Program Resolution. Oh, no, we do not need a public hearing on this one.

Okay, Vice Mayor, do you have a motion? Motion to approve the Downtown Arts Vending on Private Property Pilot Program per the staff recommendation and adopt the related resolution. Second.

We have a motion and a second. We do have folks available to speak if necessary who've been spending a lot of time on this. Would you like to? Okay, Katrina, if you could come forward, thanks.

That's a bye compliment from you, the spirit of an artist. All right. Cindy, if you could come forward and testify, we'd appreciate that. And then for our folks from DPI, we're good. You approve of the item? Approval. Two thumbs up. Thanks for being here.

Thank you. Thanks for helping build a great downtown and arts community. Vice Mayor.

Cool. I'll kick it off. I want to just say, first and foremost, start off by thanking staff on this. Deputy City Manager, Alan Stevenson. Deputy Planning and Development Director, Tricia Gomes. Management Assistant, Danielle Varen. They helped us think outside of the box. I also want to thank all of our partners, Roosevelt Road, DPI, Art Link, and all of the stakeholders who assisted us in getting to where we are. Over the past year, we held a number of listening sessions, and hopefully we've shown that we've listened closely to the artists, to the neighbors, to the business owners about what

Thank you, Mayor. Yeah, when we think about First Fridays in Phoenix, Roosevelt Row is the first place that comes to mind. Residents have been coming downtown to experience First Friday on Roosevelt for a long time. I've been one of those residents where I've enjoyed the art, the food and the scene. However, what First Friday in Roosevelt became was much different than where it started. By the beginning of this year, crowds of over 20,000 people were descending onto Roosevelt Row, and this created several challenges for our city. First, the original focus of art or on art was, you know, a litt

Thank you so much, and thank you to the community leaders who built First Friday and Roosevelt Row and helped make us such a great art city. We so appreciate you. The city's role in this is a support role, and it is artist-led, and that is what we hope to have move forward. Roll call.

That concludes our planning and zoning agenda. Today we have enabled 432 units of housing in addition to important investments in partners like UMOM and in the safe outdoor space. It's a good day for community services in our city. The Catholic Diocese in St. Mary will be opening up a new mental health training center today and there's a lot of important work happening in Phoenix today. And we continue that work with two final items, a citizen petition and a vote related to Farm Workers Day. We'll go first to the citizen petition and we will ask the petitioner, Clarissa Peterson, to begin the

Wonderful. Thank you so much for submitting the petition and for your testimony. We'll next go to Octavius followed by David Morgan.

Thank you for that testimony. David is next, followed by Faith.

Thank you for your testimony. Faith is next, followed by Randy.

Thank you. Our final three speakers on this item will be Richard, Frank, and Elizabeth. Richard, the floor is yours.

Thank you for your testimony. Our final speaker will be Elizabeth.

Thank you so much. That includes our testimony. Vice Mayor, do we have a motion? We'll begin with questions. Vice Mayor.

Thank you, Mayor. I would love to call Rachel Milne from the Office of Homeless Solutions down to ask a couple questions. Thank you. Thank you so much for coming down. I just wanted to ask a few clarifying questions based on the testimony we heard from some of the citizens regarding the status at the SOS and other city-owned shelter. Can you explain to me how our city-owned shelters and SOS space deal with behavioral health recommendations?

Thank you. Given some of the testimony that I've heard today, it appears that there may be some lack of understanding of how one gets to speak to a behavioral health specialist or a mental health specialist. Could you share, if possible, how a resident at the safe outdoor space might be able to speak to someone regarding their behavioral or mental health needs?

Thank you so much for that. And this petition, one of the bases for recommend and a denial is because there is, if I can summarize it in my own words, is there is no true one entity that provides oversight for every shelter in Phoenix, is that?

And then just maybe for edification purposes, we both serve on the Maricopa Continuum of Care. Can you explain a little bit of the role of the COC?

Okay, thank you. And then I just want my second to last question is, can you speak a little bit about the ADA compliance at our city owned facilities?

Thank you so much. Those are my questions, Mayor. Thank you so much, Director Milne.

Thank you so much, Councilwoman Hernandez.

Thank you so much, Mayor. Just a couple of questions for Rachel. And thank you so much, because Vice Mayor actually broach some of the questions I was gonna ask, so we got those out of the way. When I was reading through the petition and just hearing some of the comments today, I really believe this petition comes at a place of concern where it's pretty evident that maybe not everyone's having the same level of access to either mental health support or behavioral support or any medical services. ACCESS TO MEDICAL TREATMENT, RIGHT? SO WE, AND JUST FOR CLARIFICATION, WE AS A CITY OWN THE SOS SIT

I guess what I wanna, you know, because I think it's very valuable for our residents that are, you know, residents and participants at the SOS site to come and share their concerns and just so we know what's happening there, right? Because we visit, we go, we stay up to date on what's happening. WHAT PATH EXISTS TO IMPROVE THE ACCESS? IS IT US WORKING WITH THE KEYS OPERATION SIDE? IS IT WORKING DIRECTLY WITH CIRCLE OF THE CITY, FOR EXAMPLE, OR WITH CBI? BECAUSE I WANT TO REASSURE RESIDENTS, RIGHT, LIKE, STAFF IS RECOMMENDING DENIAL OF THE PETITION, BUT I DON'T WANT THE RESIDENTS AND OUR COMMUN

OKAY THANK YOU SO MUCH BECAUSE I THINK THERE'S DISTINCTIONS TO ME TO BE MADE RIGHT LIKE WE UNDERSTAND THAT WE DON'T HAVE ONE I MEAN THE CONTINUUM OF CARE IS BASICALLY THE REGIONAL OPERATOR OF OVERSEEING I THINK TO THE VICE MAYOR'S COMMENTS THE CONTINUUM OF CARE REALLY PROVIDES SOME PIECES IN OUR HOMELESS OR SERVICES BUT NOT THE EVERYDAY OPERATIONAL TOOLS RIGHT WHICH THAT IS WHERE WE AS A CITY ARE WORKING WITH OUR OUTSIDE PARTNERS AND I THINK YOU KNOW it would be valuable to go back to them also and just reiterate our expectations of the level of service they are providing in partnership on suc

Okay, that would be great. And one other thing, Rachel, sorry, my last question I think for you would be, if residents there are having issues with accessing some of the services there, what is the best route for them to report that or submit feedback?

Okay, thank you so much for sharing that. And I want to be clear, the residents, the District 7 office is also an option if you are not receiving access or you're having issues and you feel safer to come into us as a city, please know that the District 7 office is also a resource for you to provide that feedback. And we work very closely with Rachel and the entire OHS team to make sure that we as a city are addressing issues as they come up. So please know that that is also an option for you all. I think that's it on my questions. Thank you so much, Mayor.

Thank you, Mayor. So Rachel, my understanding is we have three facilities, correct, that are managed by the City of Phoenix.

And if I'm reading the petition right, it's asking for shelter system, the whole shelter system, to collaborate and build a stronger system. However, there are 56 plus transitional housing in this space and three of them are ours. So I'm gonna narrow down to the three that are ours. I think it's important of what I heard and what I read is that they need or what is needed is mental and behavioral support and safety, safety and the quality of those that are protecting them. And really, I kind of broke it down as they need a mediator. in what is happening within their space and what is happening

Thank you. Thank you, Mayor. I think it's worth clarifying that my understanding of denial, and please correct me if I'm incorrect, my understanding of the denial is the things that they're asking for as a petition as written was that it extended beyond the scope of the City of Phoenix. That's part one. And then part two of our analysis is for city operated shelters, we already have standards in place that ensure compliance with the ada and we already we also have mechanisms that ensure that that all of our participants have access to behavioral health and mental health and then part three all

And hopefully soon we will have some openings as we move on to Master Leasing. Correct, yes. Thank you. I believe we still do not have a motion on the table unless that was sort of a motion. My apologies. Mayor, the motion to deny citizens petition per staff recommendation on item 105. Second.

Thank you. We have a motion and a second. I appreciate everyone's work on this and our work to continuously make our facilities better. I too would prefer people be indoors with air conditioning in the summer, but Rachel took me out when we talked to people experiencing homelessness and I saw someone offered a single room indoors and a safe outdoor space spot and take the safe outdoor space spot so for some people this is a better option it would not be for me but we want to meet people where they are and and keep getting better and we've made so many changes and we're gonna keep making improv

Thank you, Mayor, and I fully echo that. I think that YOU KNOW WE HAVE REGIONAL PARTNERS THAT WOULD DO WELL TO STEP UP AND PUT IN MORE EFFORT INTO TACKLING THIS ISSUE BECAUSE IT REALLY AFFECTS US ALL. I DO WANT TO YOU KNOW I THINK COUNCILMAN PASTOR RAISE A GOOD POINT THAT IT IS A LITTLE HARD TO SEE READ A STAFF RECOMMENDATION IS TO DENY THE PETITION I HEAR YOU KNOW THE THE THE DISTINCTION THAT THE VICE MAYOR RAISE BUT I think where there's a little disconnect is like we're saying, hey, no, we're not going to approve this petition, but we're not offering up an alternative plan for how we're goi

Thank you. I want to disagree with that. I think we've been very responsive. It is very common after this testimony for less than an hour later, Rachel, to give us an update on what we are doing to make changes and be responsive. Pretty much everyone at this table has gone to the SOS right after testimony. Our city manager, her testimony, went to go see it. We did make changes. We've made multiple investments at multiple different junctures. I think we've been very responsive. We've tried very hard to get this right. have some disagreements with the form of this process in the petition. I don'

We go to our final agendized item today before citizen comment, item 106, which is from Councilwoman Guardado, Councilwoman Pastor, and myself. It is to permanently designate the spring holiday as Farm Workers Day citywide. The city of Phoenix has been very involved and benefited from the farm workers movement. So much of our economy has agricultural roots. So much of farm workers organizing has happened here. Delores Huerta created the iconic phrase si se puede in Phoenix, Arizona. The National Farm Workers Service Center has built housing, provided services. We've connected people with resou

Yes, of course. I would like to make a motion to approve item 106. Second.

We have a motion and a second. We have two public testimonies today. Hector, followed by Lena, if you would come forward. Thank you so much. I want to acknowledge our city employee unions, including AFSCME, have been very involved in crafting and moving this forward.

Thank you so much for that important testimony. Councilwoman Gordado.

Thank you, Mayor, so much. This item is deeply personal for me. As a former housekeeper and organizer for the labor movement, even before I was elected to sit in this seat, I organized and taught housekeepers, bellmen, servers, and a lot of other farm workers how to demand and fight for better wages, safe working conditions, and a voice on the job. Things that we should take for granted, like water breaks, access to restrooms, access to lunch breaks, were never a given. Farm workers and all workers had to fight for that basic need. And this is exactly what the farm worker movement is all about

Thank you. This is actually a really emotional moment, because it takes me back to my family days. I was part of the farm worker movement in the sense of my family, and I was very young when it started. And it just brings me chills right now. Who we really need to recognize in this are the unsung heroes who did the work, who made the movement happen. We need to honor those who made the movement happen, but we need to honor those who make it possible for us to bring food to our table every night and every day. Who went to work while injured, who didn't have access to healthcare, who split a sin

Thank you. Thank you so much. Important. Councilwoman Hernandez and then the Vice Mayor.

Thank you so much, Mayor, and thank you so much, Councilman Pastor, for sharing that history. I know your roots run deep in the farmworkers movement and in labor and everything that that means. So thank you so much for your leadership on this topic over the last almost year, I think now. And yeah, I... It's always been important to recognize that every movement is built out of a collective and not one individual. And it is so important for us as public servants to really ensure that as a city of Phoenix leadership, we are recognizing an entire movement that has done so much for so many of us a

Thank you so much, Mayor. I wanted to extend my support for this item and give honor to the farm workers who fought for workers' rights, fair wages and safe working conditions. The alignment of the spring holiday with the historic April 6th agreement between the National Farm Workers Association and a major agricultural grower showed intentionality, thoughtfulness and reaffirms the city's support for workers. This agreement came amidst the historic 300 mile march from Delano to Sacramento, which was organized to draw public attention to the exploitation of migrant field hands. On April 6th, 19

Thank you, Vice Mayor. Thanks for making sure we're rooted in history. Roll call.

Thank you. That concludes our agendized business, and I'll turn to our city attorney to introduce the final portion of the meeting.

Thank you. And we have 10 speakers today, so we should have time for everyone. Shannon Brown, followed by Jeff Cottle.

Thank you so much for that testimony. Jeff is next, followed by Lee.

Thanks so much. Rochelle is next, followed by Elsia.

And I said, hey, hey, hey, what's going on with all these colorful stuff in my yard?

There's no bulletin or explanation or nothing.

Can we? Councilman Hernandez. Thank you, Mayor. Sounds like it might be District 7 side. If we can have Josh connect with the resident, that would be great. Thank you.

Thank you for that. And I'm not sure if Josh is the right person to follow up, but if we could find the right person. I have a theory of what's happening, but I'm not sure. Elsia is next followed by Faith.

Thank you so much for that update. Faith followed by David.

Thank you so much, David, followed by Birgit.

Thank you for that important testimony. Virgie Popp, followed by Devonte.

Thank you for that. Mr. Suarez will be our final speaker today.

Thank you. That concludes today's council meeting. We are adjourned.