City Council Formal Meeting - Regular Meeting

Good afternoon. Fire chaplain Tim Martinell 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. When the chaplain is done, Vice Mayor Hodge-Washington will lead us in the Pledge of Allegiance.

Thank you. I'll now call to order the meeting of the Phoenix City Council. Will the clerk please call the roll?

Here. Mario Barajas is with us to provide Spanish interpretation. Mario, would you introduce your team?

Will the city attorney explain public comment, please?

Thank you so much. We'll next go to item one, boards and commissions.

Vice Mayor, do you have a motion? I do. Motion to approve the Mayor and City Council's board and commissions nominations. Second.

Ayes carry. The Vice Mayor will conduct a swearing-in ceremony. After the ceremony, I recognize Councilwoman Gordado for a comment.

I, state your name, do solemnly swear or affirm 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, foreign and domestic, And I will faithfully and impartially discharge the duties of, name of your board or commission. According to the best of my ability. So help me God. Thank you, congratulations.

thank you so much mayor and i'm truly honored to accept the responsibility of serving as culture of the fast track cities that hot committee i want to thank councilwoman deborah stark laura pastor for their leadership and for the important work they have done alongside our community partners this committee does incredible work bringing together the people, resources, and expertise we need to prevent new HIV infections, connect people to treatment, and care and confront the stigma that too often keeps people from seeking help. For me, this comes down to something very simple. Where you live, wh

Thank you, Councilwoman, for stepping up. This is truly life-saving work. We have such important medical advances that can help so much, but not everyone in our community is getting them. Thank you to Councilwoman Stark, Councilman Pastor, and our community volunteers. We have gotten international recognition for this effort, but we still got a lot of work to do and grateful that you are taking it on. With that, we move on to the liquor license portion of our agenda. We provide an advisory role to the state of Arizona. Vice Mayor, do we have a motion?

Motion to approve items 2 through 24. Second.

We have a motion and a second. All those in favor, please say aye. Aye. Any opposed nay? Passes. Next, we go to City Clerk. Are we ready for ordinances, resolutions, new business planning, and zoning? Yes, Mayor. Vice Mayor.

Motion to approve items 25 through 81, except for the following. Items 30, 44, 46, 47, and 63. Noting that item 33 is continued to October 7, 2026, and item 45 is withdrawn. And can the clerk confirm if there are any other items that should be excluded for in-person public comment?

We have a motion and a second. Roll call.

We next go to item 30, which is a proposed 44th Street and Bajada Road annexation. We'll open the public hearing. We do not have any comments on the public hearing. I will close the public hearing. We'll have a vote at a later day. We next go to item 44, Vice Mayor.

Thank you so much, Mayor. I just have a couple of questions on this item for probably David and team. Thank you so much, David. I almost called you Jason. I know Jason isn't here, so my bad. UM BUT THANKS FOR BRINGING THIS TO THE COUNCIL FOR CONSIDERATION I THINK THERE IS A NEED FOR UM THIS TYPE OF UH STRUCTURE IN THE CITY UM YOU KNOW I THINK I'VE PERSONALLY WINNED THIS A FEW UH SHOUTING MATCHES AMONGST THE CITY EMPLOYEES AND I'M HAPPY TO SUPPORT THIS ITEM UM JUST A COUPLE QUESTIONS CAN YOU HELP ME UNDERSTAND HOW YOU WILL IDENTIFY WHICH 125 CITY EMPLOYEES GET TO BE PART OF THE TRAINING

Thank you so much. My next question is, how do we plan to spread out the certified mediator training program? You know, 20 participants is a small number of certified mediators for such a big city.

Thank you so much. And just my last question. Will this conflict resolution opportunities be extended to mayor, council, and staff on the 11th floor? I'm just asking for a friend.

Yes. Passes 9-0. Next, we go to item 46. The Vice Mayor has been working on this one for a while, so I will turn to her.

Thank you so much, Mayor. I move to approve item 46. Second. Thank you, Mayor. If I may continue, I am especially proud to see the master leasing continue to move forward in Phoenix. It is an approach I've advocated for because we need more tools to move people from homelessness into stable housing, and I'm pleased to see that advocacy become real action. Master leasing is an important part of the housing strategy. Today, we are taking another step toward creating the capacity to bring properties online, connect people to housing, and provide the support they need to remain housed. I also appr

Thank you so much for your work on this item. Roll call.

I'll do a word explanation. Hernandez? May I explain my vote? YES. THANK YOU. JUST WANTED TO SAY, VICE MAYOR, THANK VICE MAYOR FOR LEADING ON THIS. THIS IS ONE OF THE IMPORTANT TOOLS THAT WE NEED AS WE, YOU KNOW, NAVIGATE THROUGH OUR HOUSING SHORTAGE. THIS IS THE TYPE OF CREATIVE SOLUTIONS THAT CITIES CAN DO AND SO I'M REALLY PROUD TO SEE THIS. HAPPY TO SUPPORT THIS AND JUST REALLY AGAIN THANK YOU TO THE VICE MAYOR FOR LEADING ON THIS. INNOVATIVE IDEA AND TO ALL THE CITY STAFF THAT REALLY HELP MAKE THIS POSSIBLE BECAUSE THIS IS LIKE I SAID ONE OF THE ONE OF THE TOOLS THAT WE NEED IN REALLY NAV

More good news in District 8. Item 47, Vice Mayor.

Motion to approve Item 47. Second. Thank you. Again, I'm very excited about this investment in our Levine neighborhood. Our seniors deserve spaces where they can stay active, build relationships, access services, and continue to be an active part of our community. Over this past summer, I was able to sponsor senior programming at the Prickly Pier Library, and there was an overwhelming amount of support from the seniors in this area. I would like to publicly thank the Human Services Department for filling in that gap this summer. This project is particularly meaningful because the general oblig

THANK YOU SO MUCH. This is a very exciting vote. I have been talking and working on a senior center in Levine for more than a decade, and how fabulous to move it forward during September, which is National Senior Center Month. So good news for all of Phoenix's seniors, including our Southwest Valley. Roll call.

Thank you. We next move to Item 63, Police Public Record Service Fees and Increase staffing level. This is a real priority, one I brought up during our budget process. Our backlog is unacceptably long. We want our residents and members of the media to get their records in a timely way. So I'll introduce Lori Bays, who has been working long and hard to address this problem.

Thank you so much, Councilman Hernandez.

Thank you, Mayor. Have a... plethora of questions, I think, on this. But I want to start by saying that I fully support the need to reduce our backlog. I think my disagreement comes in this fee increase maybe being the best path forward for that. I want to first start with my understanding is that our current policy, and I think it was talked about a little bit in here, is that a victim, the victim's attorney, on behalf of the victim or an immediate family member of the victim. If the victim is killed or incapacitated, can receive one copy of the police report, audio recording, and video recor

OK. Well, the reason I asked is because even based on the current policy, There's a huge problem with this, with who's accessing the public records, submitting public records, and are they gonna have to pay or not? For example, an officer-involved shootings, the individual is usually listed, and every single case I have seen is listed as a suspect. So if we have a community member that is shot by police, they're gonna be listed and usually remain designated as a suspect for the entirety of the case. That is the case in my brother's case, where even in the final reporting, he remains listed as

Okay, because I still feel like there's going to be a gap there between the folks that are listed as, I don't know if, maybe I'm not stating my question correctly, but if we're using the police reports and that's where they are being identified as either a suspect or a victim, like where in our policy is that going to be designated to make sure that when those public records requests are submitted, that our staff CAN PROPERLY IDENTIFY THEM. WOULD SOMEONE MANUALLY HAVE TO CHANGE THE POLICE REPORT TO SHOW A VICTIM? AND I'M TALKING LIKE OFFICER INVOLVED SHOOTINGS, CRITICAL INCIDENTS WHERE THEY AR

Okay, and then my next kind of question is, within this policy and part of what I read, it says the immediate family of anyone killed or incapacitated, but that leaves an entire amount of folks not identified in that gap because there can be a lot that happens in between someone being killed or incapacitated. So how does that play into this proposed increase fee?

I think so. And maybe I just need to give you, sorry, let me backtrack. There is a video currently circulating through media, through ABC 15 reporting about Deontay Smith, who was pulled from his vehicle by his hair and repeatedly punched by police officers. I'm going to assume, right, without knowing any other things, that he is probably very likely listed as a suspect in our reporting. Under this, what I'm hearing you say is would he have to, he would be provided with copies of his public records at no cost because it's a critical incident? Or how would this scenario, how would this apply he

Okay, that I think answers what I'm getting at. And so is our policy going to reflect involved party versus victim

OKAY. SOMETIMES POLICIES ARE LEFT UP TO INTERPRETATION, EVEN NOW, THE WAY THAT I'M READING IT AND I INTERPRET IT IS A LITTLE DIFFERENT FROM HOW OTHER FOLKS MAY INTERPRET THE POLICY, SO I WANT TO MAKE SURE that were very clear, because I don't feel it is fair if we have folks that are victims of police violence or their families to have to pay for any of the public records. So just wanted some clarity there. I think my next concern is do we see any And whoever wants to take this, but do we see any concern or risk with increasing these fees that would deter the public from, you know, not leaning

OKAY. THANK YOU FOR THAT. I THINK THAT MOVES IT INTO MY OTHER BIG CONCERN IS THIS IS ULTIMATELY LIKE I SEE THIS AS A BUDGET ITEM AND IT AFFECTS OUR BUDGET. JUST THIS PAST JUNE FOR THE PAST FISCAL YEAR, COUNCIL APPROVED WITHIN THE BUDGET THERE WAS $1.4 MILLION FOR POLICE TO EXPAND THE PUBLIC RECORDS DEPARTMENT. SPECIFICALLY I BELIEVE IT WAS SET TO ADDRESS THIS RECORDS REQUEST BACKLOG. SO I'M TRYING TO UNDERSTAND WHAT HAPPENED TO THAT FUNDING AND WAS THAT NOT ENOUGH AND IS THAT WHY WE ARE NOW HEARING THIS REQUEST FOR INCREASED FEES?

I mean, it's still a little concerning because the totality of the police budget is about $1.3 billion, right, between your general funds and your enterprise funds. AND I THINK THE THIRD FUND WHICH OR MAYBE IT'S JUST TWO FUNDS. IN TOTALITY THAT'S $1.3 BILLION. THIS FEE IS THE FEE INCREASE IS PROJECTING TO DO REVENUES OF ABOUT LET'S RUN IT UP TO $800,000. SO WITHIN THAT $1.3 BILLION ARE WE NOT ABLE TO IDENTIFY $800,000 THAT WOULD COVER THESE POSITIONS? BECAUSE ALSO AND I'LL ADD THIS THAT For the last few years, just our police department overtime alone has went over budget by over $20 million,

Okay, I appreciate that, Laura. I think I just still have, I still have an issue with just any, because ultimately what this boils down to is that this is an increase in the police budget, right? Like we are having the department come to us to increase the fees that ultimately will generate $800,000 that goes on top of their already total budget of 1.3 billion. I JUST THINK THAT'S FISCALLY IRRESPONSIBLE OF US TO DO IF WE HAVE THE PATHWAYS TO DO IT. I ALREADY GAVE ONE EXAMPLE WHERE IF WE CONTROL OUR OVERTIME, WE HAVE PLENTY OF FUNDS TO DO THIS EXACT SAME THING WITHOUT INCREASING FEES TO THE PUB

Yeah, and I think, you know, I appreciate it. I think that is a point of contention and we're going to agree to disagree on the overtime and how that shapes out. You know, I still have, I'm going to continue to have my concerns and, you know, I know in the presentation it was mentioned affordability, right? based on this new structure that we as Phoenix still remain affordable on these public records. But when we're looking at affordability as a whole, we're talking about either on either side, right? Commercial or non-commercial users, everybody's being impacted by so many rising costs and so

Thank you. I appreciate that. And thank you for answering all my questions. I still fundamentally believe that there is a way to identify the funds in the current $1.3 billion total police budget to achieve the same goals. And I think that's... JUST MY INTERPRETATION OF THE KNOWLEDGE THAT I HAVE ON THE BUDGET AND BECAUSE BUDGET AND RESEARCH IS SO GREAT AT WHAT THEY DO AND BEEN ABLE TO HELP ME AND MY TEAM UNDERSTAND THE BUDGET THERE'S STILL A FUNDAMENTAL ISSUE THERE FOR ME AND CONCERN BUT THANK YOU FOR ANSWERING MY QUESTIONS THANK YOU MAYOR COUNCILMAN ROBINSON THANK YOU MAYOR UM

Thank you. We'll go to Councilwoman Gordado, and then I'll turn to the Vice Mayor for a motion.

THANK YOU, MAYOR. I JUST HAD JUST SOME CLARIFYING QUESTIONS. THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR THE PRESENTATION. I KNOW THAT AS A CITY IT'S ALWAYS HARD. I THINK WE'RE KNOWN TO BE THE CITY THAT NEVER INCREASES FEES, RIGHT? AND I SEE NUMBERS FROM OTHER CITIES AND THE NUMBERS THAT WE HAVE WERE ALWAYS ONE OF THE comparable cities, I think. And there are some places where it's great and other places where it doesn't work. But I just have some questions as we move forward with these fees. If you guys can answer this, that would be great. I guess the question that still comes to mind for me is what specific benc

Great. And then is there, I know you talked a little bit about separating commercial from non-commercial. I mean, I would add another layer on top of that. You know, I mean, especially with our officer involved shootings, you know, when families are needing, are wanting, right, and deserve that information as soon as possible. Is there a way where we can say these are the requests that will be expedited no matter what else is happening, especially with folks that are making money off us, right? Like, how is it? that we deprioritize commercial to making sure that we let families know what's hap

I appreciate that. Thank you for that. I guess the only other last thing that I would request is that as you guys are working through your backlog, you know, for us, you know, it could be either in a briefing or what have you, just letting us know how that backlog is going and how we're getting through it and what other support you might need. from us to be able to get through that backlog. I think that's important. Like for me, every time we do an increase, it's never easy, but I know that it's necessary. So I think it's also important for us to be able to respond to the public and be able to

Thank you, Councilwoman. We'll go to the Vice Mayor for comments and a motion, and then Councilwoman Pastor and then Councilwoman O'Brien.

Thank you, Mayor. I actually had a question before I make the motion. I just want to make sure I clarify on this. One of the stats that stood out to me was on slide 13 was the current backlog status for body-worn cameras being 1.7 to 2.4 years. And then when you pair that with slide 17, it says 40% of the existing backlog are commercial requests. If I had to interpret that, that would say 60% of the backlog are non-commercial or general public requests, correct?

I would love to hear specifically what are we trying to do, because I find I know we're here to talk about the fee, but I find that backlog to be the most troubling of the group, to think that someone has to wait almost two and a half years to get a copy of the body worn camera footage. I would love to hear specifically what we plan to do, because I don't see a slide that explains our projected timeframes for these. I just want to hear a little bit more on this one.

So did I hear you correctly that the intent or the goal is with this additional staffing that this would be reduced from 1.7 to 2.4 years down to a hope of within one year?

Okay. That's very helpful to hear because, like I said, I find that to be a little troubling. My next question is, I guess slide 22 is probably the best way to look at this. With respect to the video under the proposed, it says the primary is free. How long does it take to get the primary redaction done and out to a resident or a requester?

So I guess I maybe could be just kind of forthright with my question. I'm trying to get us some clear parameters so we can determine expectations for our residents. Is it going to be... Because I think your last comments would throw me off. Your last comment said, we hope to have it within days after rectifying the backlog or something similar to that. And my question is... The primary, for example, someone wants a primary video. How long can the average Phoenix resident, not for commercial use, a general non-commercial user, how long can they expect to receive one of these primary videos with

No? Not necessarily. So let me ask it this way. If we're funding these additional staffing through increased fees, how will we measure whether or not these new positions are actually improving access for residents?

If we were to approve the fees that has been requested, this fee schedule proposed changes, you were able to get the additional positions that have been requested. At what juncture do you expect that we will be caught up on this backlog in order to have a more shorter timeframe for responding to these outstanding, not just outstanding, all public records requests from police departments?

Thank you so much for that. That is helpful. And I I WANT TO JUST MAKE SURE CLARIFICATION. SO WITHIN ONE YEAR OF THE POSITIONS BEING FILLED OR ONE YEAR FROM OUR APPROVING THIS ADDITIONAL FEE STRUCTURE?

And are these 30, my last question, these 35 positions, they are considered sworn or are they considered civilian position?

Thank you, Mayor, for allowing me to ask my additional questions. I would move for the approval of item 63. Second.

Thank you. We'll go to Councilwoman Pastore and then Councilwoman O'Brien. Thank you.

Thank you, Mayor. I have... question and I'm looking at slide 12 and I'm looking at the backlog totals of where we started where we really peaked how we started and then it peaked again I want to thank the mayor for finding or charging for a solution for this. Because I recall sitting in 2020, 2021, when community was coming and discussing about the backlog and wanting public records. And they continued year after year. So I wanna thank the mayor for getting to this point. It states though, WHY THE BACKLOG INCREASED ON 16 WAS BECAUSE COMMERCIAL REQUESTS, AND IT'S UP 24% IN 2025. YET IN 2022, A

Thank you. Thanks for your words. Councilwoman O'Brien.

Thank you so much, Mayor. Thank you for this presentation and for the work that you've put in to get us here. I want to ask a couple of questions related to the data. You've shown in the presentation how many requests we've gotten. In the future, I would love for those requests to be broken down by commercial versus non-commercial to start with. I appreciate that the backlog is broken down that way, but it would also be helpful to see it in that beginning request, what it is. Generally speaking, are commercial requests more or less time consuming, or is it just kind of depends?

Okay, I appreciate that. Another data point when you start providing us how we're catching up on this backlog, I think that will be important additionally is staffing. I know the hope is to be fully staffed by the end of January and to be fully trained. In a perfect world, we'd always have all of our positions filled. So I think it'll be important to know where we're at in staffing as we go through this process. So if we backslide or jump ahead, we can understand that aspect of it as well. And then I appreciate that you've been asked a lot of questions about different types of situations. And

I'll now turn to our city attorney to explain our final portion of the meeting.

Thank you so much. We'll begin with Shannon Brown, followed by Chris Miller.

Thank you so much. We'll next go to Jenny Pelner, followed by Catherine Monk, followed by Bill Monk.

Thank you. Catherine is next, followed by Bill, followed by James.

Thank you. Bill is next, followed by James.

Thank you. And we actually did not go in the order I had intended. So I may actually ask the vice mayor to call the name so that she can help me with that. But I meant to have next Bill Monk, followed by James Pelner, and then Noah James Markham. So Bill, thank you for your patience.

Thank you. Our next speaker is James Peltner.

NEW SPEAKER THANK YOU. OUR NEXT SPEAKERS ARE RICHARD VENEK AND ELISA GRIERADO.

I'll be back with more on this, all right? Trust me. Thank you. Our next speaker is Elisa Greer-Herrata.

Is it possible to reset her time and let her start over so I can make sure we can hear her? Okay. Thank you.

Thank you so much for your time. And then our final speaker will be Craig Weaver.

Thank you for this important update, Vice Mayor. Thank you. We did not have time for everyone who had signed up for public comment. So if you did not get your slot today, we will take you at the beginning of public comment at the next formal meeting of the Phoenix City Council. We are adjourned.