Remarks by Anna Hernandez
57 remarks on the record, newest first · Page 1 of 3
- Play at 20:46
“Thank you, Mayor. I move to approve the minutes of the formal meeting on December 17, 2025. Second.”
City Council Formal Meeting · Oct 7, 2026
- Play at 38:09
“Thank you, Mayor. Just have a couple comments on this. You know, I just want to acknowledge that this is one of two settlements that puts us as roughly $600,000 in settlements that the city is being asked to approve for accidents involving on-duty police officers who are driving their vehicles. That's $600,000 in public dollars that could otherwise be invested in youth programs and housing and to human services and other resources our communities really need right now. I am going to be voting yes on this because when residents are harmed, they deserve repair and accountability. At the same…”
City Council Formal Meeting · Oct 7, 2026
- Play at 45:55
“Thank you, Mayor. I just have a couple of questions on this item. As the newest member to the council, just trying to understand, and for the public, My first question is, can you elaborate a little bit on what the purpose of the Ethics Commission is and how people are selected to join the Ethics Commission?”
City Council Formal Meeting · Oct 7, 2026
- Play at 47:26
“Okay, thank you so much. And who does, when those reports come in, those complaints come in, they only go to the, I mean, obviously they go to the Ethics Commission. And then who do they report? I guess, where's the reporting hierarchy there?”
City Council Formal Meeting · Oct 7, 2026
- Play at 48:23
“Okay. Thank you so much. And what are, if there's ethics violations found or substantiated, what are the consequences there and who determines that?”
City Council Formal Meeting · Oct 7, 2026
- Play at 49:01
“Okay, thank you so much. And then my final question is really around this, the amount on this item. Is there anything we can provide to answer to some of the questions that we just heard in public comment on what the expansion of this contract is looking to really focus on?”
City Council Formal Meeting · Oct 7, 2026
- Play at 50:12
“Okay, thank you so much. You know, I think there are I think optically and for the public right there, exist concerns when we're talking about ethics commission and I don't think that exists just to Phoenix. This was the same structure that is modeled at the state legislature where ethics complaints for elected members go through the committees that are served by the elected members. So I think there's an opportunity across different jurisdictions to really look at how we structure ethics committees. to ensure that our residents are seeing those bodies as independent and actually could…”
City Council Formal Meeting · Oct 7, 2026
- Play at 58:21
“Hernandez. Mayor may I explain my vote? Yes. Thank you so much. I just want to take a moment to highlight a really amazing item on the agenda today, which is this item, the proposed $500,000 grant application to support a workforce readiness program and onsite case management and navigation services at the Phoenix Navigation Center. This program would provide daily employment opportunities through the neighborhood brigade workforce readiness program, along with case management, onsite navigation services, behavioral health support, and assistance with housing placement. This is the kind of…”
City Council Formal Meeting · Oct 7, 2026
- Play at 1:07:31
“Thank you so much, Mayor. Just have a couple questions on this item.”
City Council Formal Meeting · Oct 7, 2026
- Play at 1:07:44
“Perfect. Thank you so much. Thank you so much. My first question around this is how is the tracking currently being used?”
City Council Formal Meeting · Oct 7, 2026
- Play at 1:08:43
“And where is that information stored? That's all with the court. Okay. And it only lives with the court? Yes. Okay. And I guess because it lives there, how are we- Councilwoman Hernandez, I'm sorry.”
City Council Formal Meeting · Oct 7, 2026
- Play at 1:09:10
“Okay. And what auditing mechanism do we have? Is that all? Go ahead, Dave. Okay, ma'am, once more. What auditing mechanism do we have around the use of this technology to ensure that access is not being abused to this tool?”
City Council Formal Meeting · Oct 7, 2026
- Play at 1:10:03
“Okay, thank you. And if there's any misuse there or any gaps in that process that you just walked us through, what measures of accountability are there in place?”
City Council Formal Meeting · Oct 7, 2026
- Play at 1:10:40
“Okay. Thank you so much. I just have a lot of concerns around any tool of mass surveillance, especially right now when our communities are calling on us for more accountability and transparency in our police department and with use of all of the surveillance equipment that law enforcement has at their disposal. Because what we've seen in a lot of different is that there's no proper parameters that we have been able to put in place to absolutely protect our residents from privacy data breaches. And I have a lot of concerns supporting this item. for a lot of those reasons right there. We're…”
City Council Formal Meeting · Oct 7, 2026
- Play at 25:47
“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”
City Council Formal Meeting · Sep 23, 2026
- Play at 27:20
“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.”
City Council Formal Meeting · Sep 23, 2026
- Play at 28:03
“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.”
City Council Formal Meeting · Sep 23, 2026
- Play at 30:08
“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…”
City Council Formal Meeting · Sep 23, 2026
- Play at 1:00:20
“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…”
City Council Formal Meeting · Sep 23, 2026
- Play at 1:01:23
“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…”
City Council Formal Meeting · Sep 23, 2026
- Play at 1:03:53
“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…”
City Council Formal Meeting · Sep 23, 2026
- Play at 1:05:15
“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?”
City Council Formal Meeting · Sep 23, 2026
- Play at 1:06:29
“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…”
City Council Formal Meeting · Sep 23, 2026
- Play at 1:07:57
“Okay, that I think answers what I'm getting at. And so is our policy going to reflect involved party versus victim”
City Council Formal Meeting · Sep 23, 2026
- Play at 1:08:12
“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…”
City Council Formal Meeting · Sep 23, 2026