City Council Formal Meeting - Regular Meeting

Step into history and into the future. In the heart of downtown Phoenix, the Orpheum Theater opened its doors in 1929. Having hosted theater productions, concerts, comedy shows, movie premieres, high profile speakers, more, the Orpheum theater has shown versatility. And almost a century later, we ask, how could we transform the Orpheum for the next generation? It starts with immersion.

Taking a step back in time, we looked at the Orpheum's original hand drawn plans. They gave us context of a grand design and an intent to fully immerse the audience. An atmospheric garden oasis was beautifully created in this space, surrounded by Spanish medieval, Baroque style architecture, murals of mountains and forests under a deep blue dome sky. It was hailed an architectural and artistic marvel expressing modern theater at its finest. We were inspired to marry today's technology to that original intent.

Taking a step forward, we gathered sounds that are true to Arizona, mixing and layering hours of recordings, achieving realism to surround our audience. The dome sky is further brought to life, where advanced lighting and visuals are meticulously synced to captured sounds. Witness dusk till dawn and the expanse of our universe. All this magic to honor the Orpheum's original intent for audiences to lose themselves in this garden oasis and be drawn closer to the performance. These efforts are a nod to the Orpheum's history and performances past, present, and future.

As stewards of this historic space, we look forward to welcoming you and walking beside you, One step into history. One step into the future.

My name is Dustin Sire. I'm a management assistant in the director's office of the Human Services Department. The City of Phoenix Management Fellowship Program is a year long program that allows folks with any graduate degree to come in and it's like an introductory program for folks looking to get into local government. Throughout the time you have three different rotations and you have interdepartmental projects as well that you assist in, as well as assisting in council projects. It really just gives you a feel of what it's like to work in the public sector for those with limited experience before and to develop your leadership skills.

You know, my background is largely in social work. So I have my master's in social work and I have my master's in public administration. And so I really wanted to get into macro level work and it really allowed me to utilize both my social work skills and my public administration skills like to a T, especially within this position and everything I was working on during my management fellowship. It was very enjoyable in life. I am so grateful for it.

Since it's been around for seventy five years, you find prior fellows that have been here twenty five years plus that started in the fellowship program and are like wanting to support you and hear you out and help you. Last year, the city of Phoenix and Mayor Kate Gallego, it was really important for them to focus on mental health. And so us as a department had a community resource fair at our Travis L. Williams Family Service Center, and we brought together over 20, agencies agencies from from around around the the community. We had over 200 people come to the resource fair to get resources.

We were able to really cover it all and like had a really good turnout for the first time ever. So it was very, very neat. That was probably one of my favorite projects. I feel like the fellowship is so unique where you don't need to come from a public administration background. What I think is important about the fellowship program is that it allows a route for everyone to come in.

No matter your background, you could still find your place in the city. And it's important that you do. I just really think the City of Phoenix Management Fellowship is so special for those that are looking to impact their community. And it really puts you in a position to just keep on growing and learning more in your career, especially if you're looking to stay in local government. So what I would say to someone that's applying is just to reach out. We're excited to talk to you, excited to have the community learn more about the program because we're really looking for everyone. We're looking for you.

The City of Phoenix Partner with the Principal Program pairs local leaders with school principals to spark ideas, build relationships, and create real impact for students across the city. And after a day in the life experience, everyone gathered at GCU to continue discussions on how to turn inspiration into action, building partnerships that strengthen our schools and future workforce. Here's a look at some of those partnerships.

Last year was my first year of doing a partner with a principal program through the city of Phoenix, and it led to a wonderful partnership, with at the outlet who ended up coming, to work with us and our students every Friday. We're at our Family Choice Friday.

This was our first time being part of this program. We got to come and take a tour. Principal Schnecklaus told us some of the things that she was looking for, and it seemed like we were a good match and a good fit, we got

right to work. Students had wonderful opportunities through the arts, whether it was palm, dance, vocal, drumline, but they build in a lot of life and social skills within their musical and arts instruction that the students really benefited from and just absolutely loved the experience.

They teach us dances. They help us if we don't know. If we forget, they help us and help us until we actually know it. I think it's a good practice because I wanna be, like, a singer and a dancer, and all the coaches were supportive. And we always had, like, a performance in front of our parents and the school. And it felt so good because they would clap for us.

Once they start seeing that they're good at something, they start excelling at other areas as well because it helps boost their confidence.

They weren't just working on the skills of the arts. They were also bringing in that social and character development throughout their instruction. I think that's where those relationships truly get built.

We get to actually practice what we preach, right? And then it's a win win because we actually saw the difference it made for the student. It led to other opportunities. We were able to do a halftime show for the Rattlers and some of these students got to do that.

I may not have known about At The Outlet, which is a nonprofit literally just right down the street, if I hadn't, applied for a partner with a principal. So it really brings our eyes open to people right in the community, right in our neighborhood that want to support us. Just as the school, we want to support them.

I would encourage other businesses to get involved with the partner with a principal program so that you could see firsthand what's going on in our public school settings and be part of the difference that the students need.

Kitchell came in today to do a beautification project here at William R. Sullivan Elementary with the Murphy School District, and they are painting our beautiful walls in the Literacy Hub. They're also doing an improvement with our bulletin boards with the different quotes.

Not only does Kitchell want to be known a great real estate company, but we want to be known as really a Phoenix institution that cares about those that we serve.

They brought in the resources and everything that we needed, and it was done within a few hours.

We really made quick work of our tasks that were ahead of us. We think the classroom looks great. We like the bulletin boards and everything. So yeah, overall, we're just really excited with how it turned out.

I know that our students are gonna love it. I could imagine their little faces when they come in.

The more resource that we have, the more resources that we're able to provide to our students to help them improve with their literacy, their academics, so then our students can get that additional support from our partnerships that we have.

It's very important that we emphasize that the youth of today are the future leaders of tomorrow, and therefore we have to do all that we can to help make sure the kids have the right learning environment they need to succeed.

This was a great opportunity to partner with the principal and it has been wonderful. I have been coming over to Vista College Prep now. It's been one year and it's been amazing working with Principal Roy. She immediately was so supportive and I'm

not really sure what we can provide for you. And she was like, No, it's not about me. What can we do for your school, for your team?

I know that some other corporations, they have like a lot of funding and that's available to create all these programs. And I was like, Oh my gosh, I would love to do that kind of stuff, but I don't have that. So in talking to Principal Roy, I did say, So what do you guys need? Like, what can we do that's, I guess, inside of my realm? I said, Our teachers are hungry all the time.

We love snacks.

I said, Snacks? Are you Really? She goes, Yes. The teachers love snacks because they work long days, hard days, and they're not always able to just go break away and have a meal, especially if they're here late in the evening. And I said, Well, wait a minute now, we can do snacks. I solicited the help of the community, like through LinkedIn, friends, family, Facebook. I'm like, look, look, these teachers need snacks. They're amazing. They're great. And everybody's like, you know what? I'm donating because teachers do need that extra layer of love. And so it was so easy to get it.

So we set up a snack station in the leadership office. That's where it started and then she said that she had some experience in public speaking and wellness and I said the other thing that I really think my staff would appreciate is just some self care tips. We practice many different skills and danced and we journaled and had some breathing exercises.

We gave techniques on how to take care of yourselves because we know the teachers are always taking care of the littles and sometimes it's easy not to just, you know, embrace themselves and say this is what I need.

And then she reached out again, hey, what do you still need?

I said, well,

microwaves? Microwaves? She goes, yeah, ours are old and, you know, they don't have the numbers. We don't know how long the food has been there.

The teacher was like, Can

we get ones that have, like, the plate that spins?

And I said, You know what? We've got that. We went out and we bought a couple of microwaves. I'm so excited that they love the microwaves. Know, that's just proof that sometimes it's just the small things that make a really, really big impact.

We've just been really blessed to have Lashonda and not just her, but again, the community behind her, her sorority sisters, that means the world to us.

I would just encourage anyone, everyone, if you're interested to participate in this program. It is so important to pour into our young people at a very early age. But with that, we can't pour into them without pouring into the teachers.

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ADOT, connecting Arizona. From the snow capped mountains of Northern Arizona to the arid desert and lush farmland of the central and southern regions of our state, Arizona's natural beauty is diverse and breathtaking. Residents and tourists alike certainly enjoy our scenic state. Unfortunately, sometimes a closer look reveals litter.

I found a lot of socks.

ADOT spends about $8,000,000 a year cleaning up litter along our state highways. Removing litter from our roads and highways is a time consuming and costly job that threatens to get worse as Arizona's population grows.

Thank you for participating in the Adopt A Highway program.

So we greatly appreciate the help of Arizona citizens like you who volunteer in our Adopt A Highway program.

Your

group has graciously agreed to clean up litter along a specific section of highway for a period of two years. As you begin efforts, please keep in mind that a public highway can be dangerous and some basic safety issues must be considered before you start work. So, are you ready to tackle the trash?

I'm ready.

We ready. It

is important that you properly prepare yourself for the workday. Proper clothing and hydration are two priorities. When it comes to water, ask yourself these questions and plan accordingly for your water supply. How many people will be in your group? How many hours do you plan to work? How many miles do you plan to cover? What is the forecast temperature for the day? Now think about your location. Does your cell phone get service where your adopted road is in case of emergency? How far is the nearest medical facility?

Next, think about what to wear. Since most everything in Arizona has thorns, long sleeve shirts and pants are recommended because of the harsh terrain, cactus, reptiles, and insects you may encounter. Wear protective gloves and strong soled shoes or boots. Avoid sandals or loose fitting shoes. Don't forget your sunscreen, and you'll probably want a hat too. Congratulations. You're ready to pick up trash. Your group should car pool as much as possible to keep the number of cars on-site to a minimum, and always remember to park as far away from the roadway as possible. Next, your group coordinator will conduct a safety meeting for all group members. Each person must wear a safety vest at all times.

Safety vests, along with trash bags, will be supplied to you by ADOT. Remember, no children below the age of 12 or pets are permitted in the program or in the work area. For your safety, do not utilize music players. Your ears are often the first thing to warn you of imminent danger. Appoint a lookout for your group. Work facing oncoming traffic, and remember to stay at least five feet from the pavement edge. The fewer distractions for the traveling public and your group, the better. Now when it comes to trash, know what you're picking up. If you cannot identify it, don't pick it up. This brings us to the topic of hazardous waste.

Methamphetamine is the number one drug abused in The United States and Arizona today and is responsible for a lot of our violent crime. Each pound of meth that is manufactured produces five to six pounds of hazardous materials as waste. So when you're out here on the roadway, don't pick up things that have tubing that is red, ice chests that are red, or red chemical bottles. Bad guys throw them here they don't want to get caught with them. Also, those corroded propane bottles alone. Used car batteries, needles, syringes or anything that you don't know what it is. The best rule of thumb is if you are uncertain, don't touch it and inform local law enforcement. Remember, be alert.

Also, do not enter pipes or culverts. The danger is too high, so let the pros deal with that. You should pick up small items made of paper, cardboard, plastic, styrofoam, wood or rubber. Glass items in small empty containers are okay if they do not have sharp edges. Tie your bags securely shut and place the filled bags at least six feet from the pavement edge.

Do not overfill or overstuff the bags. ADOT workers must lift these bags into their trucks. Place large or heavier items like tire debris or any items that would tear a bag near the filled bags. Remember, don't move anything that could cause you or your team members physical harm. ADOT will remove your filled trash bags from the roadside after the cleanup is complete.

Avoid overexertion and drink plenty of fluids to stay hydrated. Adopt a Highway program encourages recycling, so collect the recyclables and take them with you. Make sure your group has enough water and that on-site first aid is excited the We very and alert at all times. If you or a group member is bitten, wash the bite with soap and water. Immobilize the bitten area and keep it lower than the heart and get medical help.

Remember, you signed a permit to do this. That permit has terms and conditions. It is very important that you read and abide by them. Inform your ADOT Adopt A Highway contact at least five days prior to the cleanup effort. We need to make sure your dates don't conflict with other highway uses, so it's very important to know who your Adopt A Highway contact is and that they have your contact information.

We need to know as quickly as possible if a new coordinator is appointed or if you change any of your contact information. Make sure everyone in your group fills out a volunteer registration form before each cleanup. The Arizona Department of Transportation wants this to be a rewarding and safe experience for all of you. Volunteers like you make this program successful by giving your time and energy to make a positive impact on the environment. Your efforts are appreciated, very much so, not only by ADOT, but also by the citizens of Arizona and the visitors who will enjoy a cleaner state because of your hard work. So spread the word. Arizona. Keep it Grand.

My name is Brian Song. I'm a Management System II at the Planning and Development Department at the City of Phoenix. The Management Fellowship Program is a year long program for people that have interest in being in local government or City of Phoenix for that matter to get to really experience what and how the City of Phoenix works. I was considering a career change into local government, so I felt a little nervous making that jump from academia to practice. And I felt like the Management Fellowship Program was a great way to make that jump, be okay, to take risks, but be able to get access to really try to learn and absorb and really do a deeper dive on how local governments work.

If I were to describe the Management Fellowship Program, I would say felt like a classroom where I could really study and engage in whatever I wanted to do. And we had great teachers and mentors that could navigate me through the process. What I really appreciate about the program is that I was given really the fullest level of access to everybody that you could think of in the city of Phoenix, is a wide range of diversity of people. A lot of great people that we got access to got to interact with them and really learn from their expertise and receive great advice from them long term. The Management Fellowship Program really gave me confidence that if I really put my head down and really try to understand how the city works, how things operate, how people operate, I can learn great things and I can achieve great things throughout my career at the City of Phoenix.

The City of Phoenix set me up on a career of lifelong learning, I really enjoy doing. I'm just going never run out of opportunities to learn at the City of Phoenix. If you're as curious as I am, if you're excited about learning new things and learning about public service and learning about what local government does to service people, I can't think of a better way than the Management Fellowship Program to do that.

What a wonderful day it is to be here as we welcome China Airlines with the first ever nonstop service from Taipei to Phoenix, Arizona. What a great day it is.

It was an honor to be on that inaugural flight from Taipei, Taiwan to Phoenix. It is indicative of what I know is a tremendous partnership that is really going to propel this region, the relationship between the two countries. This new route is more than just connection between two cities. It's a bridge between two dynamic regions. The economic impact of this year round service is expected to exceed $100,000,000 on an annual basis.

Passenger traffic between Phoenix and Taipei has surged by more than 400% since 2019, highlighting the growing demand for this connection. We are thrilled to welcome travelers from the Silicon Island to the Silicon Desert. The future is bright, and this is just the beginning.

This flight is not only about tourism, it's about forging more collaboration, in our industries, in our technologies, in our exchanges, in education, in in all fronts.

We truly believe in this city potential and look forward to building even stronger partnership together in here. The milestone is possible because of your dedication.

You had the confidence to make sure that this day happened, and I just wanna thank you and the entire China Airlines team for allowing us to make the today possible.

My name is Destiny Dominguez. I'm an Administrative Assistant II in the Public Works Solid Waste Division. The Phoenix Management Fellowship Program is a year long program where you rotate through three different departments four months each. And during that time, you really just have the opportunity to learn about different, things happening in that department. And it all kind of ties back to the city manager's office, which is where you're housed.

You're learning from these top level staff. It's just such a year long learning opportunity. The goal of the Phoenix Management Fellowship then and I think now since it's been around for seventy five plus years has been to help really just gain exposure to city operations. I grew up in Phoenix, and so when I began studying, public service, public policy, and then eventually public administration, I knew that I wanted to pursue a career in local government. And so during one of my undergrad classes, I heard about the Phoenix Management Fellowship Program.

And so thankfully, I got it. Really just about giving back to the community that gave so much to me growing up. And Phoenix is the fifth largest city in The United States, largest council manager form of government, who doesn't want to be a part of that? I was seeking a couple of things. I was seeking mentorship, just support, and then experiences that would be able to kind of carry me through my career hopefully with the city of Phoenix and thankfully I'm here now today, but that was all here at the city of Phoenix.

I think people are often, kind of worried about how large Phoenix is, 1,700,000 people, 15,000 employees, but truly you have such a diverse group of people here at the city to learn from who are willing to just help you get through anything and just willing to be there. So I think that commitment to just building up the Phoenix of tomorrow is what really intrigued me, to be here and I'm so thankful that I'm still here contributing to that. One of my favorite memories is really the community budget hearings, sitting in on those, listening to the community. The staff was always willing to listen. Them just being able to kind of have those conversations with them was really, really good to hear.

Interacting with field administrative staff on a day to day basis, and the incredible executive team that we have here at the City of Phoenix, it's unparalleled. Having gone through the program through that entirely crazy year, has prepared me now here because the amount of connections that you have, the amount of, resources that you're able to provide that a lot of people aren't aware of, I think it's a big benefit to me. I knew coming into the program that this was my calling, but now I know more than ever that it is.

Good afternoon. It is 05/06/2026, and we will begin formal meeting shortly. We'll begin with an invocation today from police chaplain John Taylor.

Stand with me. Please join me in prayer. Dear heavenly father, on behalf of all who are gathered here today, we thank you for your many blessings, we thank you for life itself. Thank you for the freedoms we enjoy in this great nation. You have established authorities to promote peace and order and justice, and so today, I pray for our mayor, for the various levels of city officials, and in particular for this assembled council.

I'm asking that you would grant them wisdom to govern, a sense of the true needs and welfare of our people, confidence in what is good, just, and right, the ability to work together in harmony, personal peace in their lives, and joy in their work. I pray for the agenda set before them today. Please give them an assurance of what would please you and what would benefit those who live and work in and around our beloved city of Phoenix. It's in your most blessed name I pray. Amen.

Please join us for the pledge of allegiance. I pledge Call to the order of the meeting. Will the clerk call the roll?

Councilwoman Guerrero. Here. Councilwoman Hernandez. Here. Councilwoman O'Brien. Here. Councilwoman Pastor. Councilman Robinson.

Here.

Councilwoman Stark. Councilman Waring? Here. Vice mayor Hodge Washington? Here. Mayor Gallego?

Here. Mario Borajas and his team are here to provide interpretation. Mario, would you introduce yourself?

Yes, mayor. Thank you. Afternoon. My name is Mario Barajas, and I'm gonna be working with Oscar Monroy and El Silguarte as Spanish interpreters. I'll now take a moment to introduce ourselves to our Spanish speaking audience.

Thank you, mayor.

Thank you, Mario. Will the city clerk please read the twenty four hour paragraph?

The titles of the following ordinance and resolution numbers on the agenda were available to the public at least twenty four hours prior to this council meeting and therefore may be read by title or agenda item only. Ordinances number g seven five eleven through seven five one four s five two six nine eight five two eight one zero through five two eight four six and resolutions two two three seven zero through two two three seven six.

Will the city attorney please explain the role of public comment?

Yes. Thank you, mayor. Members of the public may speak for up to two minutes to comment on agenda items. Comments must be related to the agenda item and the action being considered by the council. General comments that go beyond the scope of the agenda item should be made during the citizen comment session at the end of the agenda.

City council and staff cannot discuss or comment on matters related to pending investigations, claims, litigation. Additionally, any member of the public who appears before the council in their capacity as a lobbyist must, as required by Phoenix City Code, disclose this fact before addressing the council. The city code states that speakers must express their comments respectfully and courteously. Use of profane language threats or personal attacks on members of the public council members or staff are not allowed. Such comments are disruptive and unrelated to the council's business. Any person who violates these rules may lose their opportunity to speak further and could be asked to leave. Thank you, mayor.

Thank you so much. We'll next go to item one meeting minutes.

Councilman Stark, do you have

a motion on item one?

Yes, ma'am. I move to approve. Second.

Motion and second. All those in favor say aye. Aye. Any opposed nay? Motion carries. Item two, vice mayor. Do we have a motion on boards and commissions?

Motion to approve mayor and city council boards and commission nominations. Second. We

have motion and a second. All those in favor, please say aye. Aye. Any opposed, nay? Passes unanimously. We have two individuals who will be joining us on our village planning commissions. They could please come forward. Congratulations. Thank you. Please raise your right hand. I state your name.

Scott Flannery. Do

solemnly swear That I will support the constitution of The United States.

That I will support the constitution of The United States.

And the constitution and laws

of the state of Arizona.

And the

constitution and laws Arizona.

That I

will bear true faith.

And allegiance to the same and defend them against all enemies foreign and domestic and that I will faithfully and impartially

And I will faithfully and impartially.

Discharge the duties of the office

Discharge the duties

of the office of.

Village Planning Commissioner.

Village Planning

According to the best of my ability. According to

the best of my ability.

So help me God. So help me. Congratulations. Thank you for serving our city. Congratulations again. The city of Phoenix provides an advisory role to the state of Arizona on liquor licenses. We'll turn to that portion of our meeting. Vice mayor, do we have a motion?

Motion to approve items three through 26 except items 26 and noting that item 22 is being continued to the 05/20/2026. And item 26 is as revised.

Second. Second.

We have a motion and a second. All those in favor, please say aye. Aye. Any opposed, nay. Carries unanimously.

Item 26 is in District 24. So I'll turn to Councilwoman Pester.

I gotta turn myself off the meeting. Sorry. Item number 26, is there somebody here that can We do.

Do I hear from staff or we have the Staff.

Members of the council, have Leo Swanton with city clerk.

Mayor and councilwoman Pastor, This is a liquor license application for the Barracks Bar in District 4. It's a first series six located at 4601 North 7th Avenue. There is a sixty day limit for processing the application, which is 05/12/2026. This request is for an ownership and location transfer of a liquor license for a bar. This location was not previously licensed for liquor sales and does not have an interim permit.

There were, valid letters that were received protesting the issuance of this license. And originally, staff had recommend recommended disapproval based on the police department recommendation for disapproval. However, that has now changed, and the police department is now recommending approval because the original owner has removed themselves from the application and is no longer involved in the business. So as to that, the city of Phoenix staff is recommending approval of this application. Okay.

So I wanna just add some clarity. As of yesterday, after speaking with the city clerk, the removal of that applicant which had some background issues and issues where that was administered for a denial. As of yesterday, the removal, then it became approval. However, it did not remove all the complaints that I received or denial from neighborhoods that sit or neighbors that sit right near the property. So I just wanted to put that on record so that people understand where I'm going with this.

My recommendation is no recommendation and to allow the state to administer the liquor license and do what they need to do due to the fact that I did get protests and now approval. So that is my vote. No recommendation. That's my motion.

Second.

We have a motion and a second. We do have three potential speakers. We have Matthew Moody in support, Andrea Lukowitz available to speak if necessary, and Matt Wolf. Shall we start with Andrea? Available to speak if necessary? Do we have or do you wanna start with the it looks like mister Moody might be the applicant. Alright. Mister Moody, you have two minutes.

Thank you for your time. I appreciate it. I know a lot of these choices are statistical facts. They're not emotional. But as most people who know me will tell you, I very much am.

This is my dream to do something like this because a bar like Barracks was what saved me, and it made me feel that I was allowed to be a gay man in the world because I never quite fit in. I was a punk rock kid and in touring bands, but I was gay. I was always half of one, not the other, And these places create homes for those of us who don't often feel that we have one. I understand my ex business partner had some issues, and trust me, I was terrified of them and with his removal. I feel that no.

I know in my soul that I could be exactly the right person for this bar and a person who can protect the next generation and make the streets safer and give people a great night because, gosh, isn't life hard enough as it is right now? Who doesn't wanna go dance it out? I appreciate your time. I I'm shaking in my boots literally, so thank you.

Good afternoon, council members. We've been working with mister Moody, and he has worked diligently with other attorneys with zoning staff to create a place that will be safe. They have gone through, a use permit process. The property does support the proposed use. They've worked directly with neighbors and will continue to be a part of the community.

And, of course, there's nothing worse than a community that doesn't get along. So he is providing his contact information, email, telephone, anything they need so that they can let him know if there are issues for the operations at any time. I know they're concerned with parking. He did work through the city, and they have now approved permit parking for the street, so that will restrict it from his guests. And we're hoping that with the cooperation of everyone, they will not

have any issue. Thanks so much for your consideration.

Our final speaker will be Matt Wolf. Mr. Wolf, if you could indicate you're here for this item, that would be helpful. Alright. I do not see mister Wolff. So we'll we have a motion on the floor. Does anyone any additional comments?

Leah, can you explain a no recommendation and what that does for the state because really the state is the one who licensed the liquor license.

Yes. Councilwoman pastor and council members and mayor. By issuing if the city issues, makes a no recommendation as as you have made your motion, the state can issue the license fifteen days after council takes action. If there's no other issues or the item can be set for a hearing with the state liquor board if there are other issues.

Thank you. Thank you. Mister Wolf?

Not no. No. We do

not have mister Wolf. Okay.

He is downstairs. So will he speak from downstairs?

I'm not.

No. Okay. Mister Wolf? Okay. Alright. Then, councilman, are we ready for roll call? Roll call.

Hordado? Yes. Hernandez? Yes. O'Brien? Yes. Pastor? Yes. Robinson?

Yes. Stark?

Yes. Waring? Yeah. Hutch Washington?

Yes.

Gallegos? Yes. Passes nine zero.

Alright. City

city clerk, are we ready

for ordinances, resolutions, new business planning, and zoning?

Yes, ma'am.

Vice mayor, do we have motion?

Yes, we do.

Motion to approve item items 27 through 89 except for the following items 45, 49, 57, 65, and 67. Noting that item 57 has additional information, item 63 is requested to be withdrawn from the agenda. Item 87 is requested to be withdrawn from the agenda. And can the clerk confirm are there any other items that should be excluded for in person public comment?

Yes, mayor. Vice mayor, also excluding items thirty seven and forty two. That's item thirty seven and forty two.

Wait a second. Second. Alright. We have a motion. Do we have a second?

Roll call. Murlado? Yes. Hernandez? Yes. O'Brien?

Yes.

Pastor? Yes. Robinson? Yes. Stark? Yes. Waring? Hodge Washington? Yes. Gallego? Yes. Passes nine zero.

Alright. Item 37 is conduct of an election. The election to be held on November 3. Vice mayor to a motion.

Motion to approve item 37. Second.

We have one comment from Leonard Clark. And, Leonard, after you speak, if you could stay close, you're the next comment as well.

Thank you, Mayor and Councilmembers. Was born right down the street at Good Samaritan Hospital. My name is Leonard Clark from this beautiful city of Phoenix. I am deeply concerned and that's why I'm speaking. I am in support of this measure.

But again, I've spoken on this before that the election, that the safety of the citizens of Phoenix, all those who are constitutionally allowed to vote, not have their rights infringed upon. I'm just concerned about the private domestic army known as ICE coming to our election station. So I I hope that you have some contingency plans up there about what's gonna happen so that citizens aren't intimidated by just hearing about Mark Wayne Mullen, you know, sicking ICE on our polling stations. So please, I hope you have contingency options on this. We should have free and fair elections. I know you want that, but we, after all, do have a private domestic army roaming our streets, threatening American citizens and our immigrant brothers and sisters. Thank you.

Thank you.

Roll call. Cordado?

Yes.

Hernandez? Yes. O'Brien?

Yes.

Pastor? Yes. Robinson?

Yes.

Stark? Yes. Waring? Hodge Washington?

Yes.

Gallegos? Yes.

Passes nine zero. Next, we turn to item 42, which is an MOU between the city of Phoenix and Labors International. Vice mayor, do we have a motion?

Motion to approve item 42.

Second. Second.

Motion and a second. Leonard.

Thank you. If the unions agree, because my father was a carpenter for fifteen years as a carpenter, I strongly hope you've worked with them and that they agree with it, and if the union, our brothers and sisters in our unions who make sure that we have an eight hour workday, we're paid overtime, thanks to our unions, all of these things that we wouldn't have, our workers, even for people who aren't in unions, I hope that you'll pass this if they agree, and thank you to our union brothers and sisters. But we need to keep supporting them because there's a lot of our workers that are not being treated fairly and being paid a fair wage while billionaires are making so much money off of our government. Thank you.

Thank you. Roll call. Guerrero? Yes. Hernandez? Yes. O'Brien? Yes. Pastor? Yes. Robinson?

Yes.

Start? Yes. Waring? Hodge Washington? Yes. Gallego? Yes. Passes nine zero. Item 45

is an MOU between the city of Phoenix and the Phoenix Law Enforcement Association.

Vice mayor? Motion to approve item 45.

Second.

Motion and a second. We'll turn to councilman Hernandez for comments.

Thank you, mayor. For me, this contract is truly not it. The entire process on this specific contract is flawed, disappointing, and riddled with concerns. It is lacking transparency, which is a huge flaw. We are again being asked to deliberate and vote on a memorandum of understanding that governs one of the most powerful institutions in our city with limited public visibility, limited community input, and limited time for meaningful scrutiny, and that is unacceptable.

We know that our police department takes up more than double of the amount of any other department in our city budget. This is a department in which our sworn officers have the power to kill us and face zero discipline or accountability for it. It is problematic to issue pay rate increases for sworn officers when we have a lack of proper containment, for sworn officer overtime. The increased funding for special assignment units, the air force, and the duties implied by the authorized representatives in the time bank system also posed major concerns. This contract is at the heart of what led to the experience my family lived after my little brother was killed by one of our sworn officers.

Many of the protections outlined in this contract are the reason why my family and other Phoenix families have not seen any justice or accountability for the crimes committed by Phoenix police sworn officers, and they do not say that lightly. There are families across Phoenix who have lost loved ones, who have experienced brutality and irreparable harm, and who have navigated a system that too often fails to deliver justice. Forget justice for a second. We fail often at just providing answers to actions from our sworn officers. We cannot continue to separate this contract from those lived realities.

They are inextricably linked. We should be prioritizing and protecting our families, creating more mechanisms for accountability, transparency, and access. Instead, I see a continuation of a status quo that prioritize institutional protections over police accountability. Also, we have sworn officers in this association that are a hot mess right now, an embarrassment. So for those reasons, I vote no I will be voting no on this MOU. Thank you, mayor.

Councilwoman O'Brien.

Thank you, mayor. I want to, thank the men and women of our police department who serve our community every day to ensure that our families, residents, businesses, and visitors feel safe. Without that safety, we would not have people who want to live here or businesses who want to come here. And every day, these men and women run towards danger instead of away from danger. So as part of the overall group of employee MOUs, this is one of five, and they are all done in the same way. So I will be supporting this, and I'm thankful every day for those men and women.

Roll call. Vardado? Yes. Hernandez? No. O'Brien? Yes. Pastor? Yes. Robinson?

Yes.

Stark? Yes. Waring? Hodge Washington? Yes. Gallego?

Yes. Passes eight one. We'll next go to item 49, and we'll begin by asking the clerk to read the title.

Item 49 is ordinance g seven five one four, an ordinance amending Phoenix City code chapter 24 parks and recreation to add new section related relating to certain services and parks.

Thank you. We'll begin with the presentation, and I'll introduce our deputy city manager. Cynthia, thank you for providing us with an update.

Sure. Good good afternoon, mayor, members of the council. I am here today with assistant parks and recreation director, Brandy Barrett, and we will be providing you with an overview and update of the medical treatment and food distribution in city parks ordinance. I wanted to start off by thanking our amazing city team who have been working alongside with me on these efforts. We have representatives from the city manager's office, parks and recreation, the office of homeless solutions, public health, Phoenix Fire and Neighborhood Services and these individuals have either served in an advisory capacity or have been part of our working group and have been attending many of the in person and virtual stakeholder meetings with me and are with us in the audience today.

Also wanted to start off by doing a quick review and why do we need a medical treatment and food distribution in city park ordinance. This is information that we've included and tried to take out in the community when we've conducted our stakeholder meetings We've tried to make it very clear that these activities are already taking place in city parks and that parks are protected spaces under the First Amendment. And that means that legally we cannot ban these activities, but as a city we do have the right to establish time, place, and manner parameters, and that's really the foundation of this ordinance. Currently, is no park rule or city ordinance that addresses or provides parameters around these services in parks. And how we got here is the Parks Integration Department along with many of your offices continue to receive concerns from residents regarding the lack of regulation and the impact that these services have had on our parks throughout the park system.

I wanted to take you through some photos and the photos are certainly photos that represent why we're here in terms of the challenges that are being found again in parks throughout the entire park system. Well intended individuals that come into the parks to provide care or services but can leave unsafe conditions behind. All of the photos are in a variety of different City Of Phoenix parks, again throughout the park system. And these individuals, this one in particular is not a licensed individual in the case of the photos that I've just shown you the first couple photos of. This photo is intended to show that when it comes to food distribution in parks, it has proven to be an activity that can generate a large volume of people in a short period of time and really be impactful in a park.

This is just some of the trash and waste. Some of these are staff photos. Some of these are photos that residents have submitted as well. In this case, you can see the name of a church that may have been involved in the activity itself. These two photos were provided by a resident fairly recently following a food distribution event in our Cave Creek Park system where they reported to see individuals who were part of the activity, who remained on park property, open drug use and finding open sharp container with needles inside.

Again, these are staff photos of things that our groundskeepers and other staff have come across. The photos on the left too are in Roosevelt Park. The one on the right was a collection of over 120 needles that were found in South Mountain Park as part of a clean up. These photos are photos of needles found in Homestead Park and these were drug paraphernalia needles found in Margaret T. Hunt's Park. And again, I'm going to turn it over to Brandy but this is just a small sampling of some of the things that our employees are finding and I will turn it over to Brandy to give a little more information on that.

Thank you very much Cynthia, mayor, members of the council. The images shown paint the picture of risks that not only the public encounter in city parks but also our staff. Field employees across all divisions report frequent encounters with hypodermic needles particularly in parks. These situations often require staff to stop work and retrieve appropriate tools for safe disposal. Although most encounters do not result in injury, they consume time and continue to pose a safety risk.

And this risk includes many of our different types of parks employees such as groundskeepers, gardeners, our recreation employees, and park rangers who are in our parks daily. The Parks and Recreation Department safety team has emphasized proper procedures and provides training for identifying, handling, and disposing of needles. In addition, staff received training on how to control exposure to blood borne pathogens. We felt it was important to note that the risks are not just to the public but also to all of the employees who work in our city parks every day. I'll turn the presentation back over to Cynthia.

Thank you, Brandy. And just to do a quick recap on the action and the efforts so far regarding the ordinance. Back in December, City Council approved the Safe Medical Care and City Parks ordinance with the delayed effective date of March 30 and direction to staff to conduct stakeholder engagement. That was followed by action on March 6 to further delay the effective date to June 1 with the direction following that to add or incorporate food distribution into this ordinance as well. After further work with mayor and council, we posted the revised draft ordinance that is being proposed today and we conducted additional stakeholder engagement between March 27 and April 27.

In terms of key components of the ordinance as it's written today, it would entirely prohibit needle exchange distribution and distribution of needle intramuscular naloxone. So those activities would not even be allowable with a permit. It does require a permit for other types of medical treatment and food distribution activities. We'll start with medical treatment activities. The maximum number of permits issued for these services would be two permits per month per eligible park.

You can see in bold later when I talk about food distribution that it is a total of two between both activities. So two services permits, not two for food and two for medical. In terms of eligible parks, the eligible parks include neighborhood parks with parking lots, community parks and regional parks excluding sports complexes and the medical treatment activities must take place in an enclosed tent or a mobile medical vehicle in a parking lot or other hardscape area that is not an athletic court. They must also be performed under the supervision of a licensed professional operating under the scope of their licensure and permittees must agree to provide indemnification and insurance. There are exceptions, and some exceptions, these are not all of them, include first responders such as firefighters, law enforcement, paramedics, individuals who in the course of their professional duties are responding to emergencies would be an exception as well as any person rendering aid to another person experiencing a sudden injury or emergency.

Additionally, licensed professionals who are acting within the scope of their license or licensure at an otherwise already permitted event would be an exception. So, for example, when we host large athletic tournaments in parks or fun runs, these are types of activities that go through the park's special event process or permit process and they may have a reason to have medical staff on-site such as an athletic tournament or a fun run. Those would be an exception to this because they would go through an already established special event permit application process. And then also the distribution of intranasal naloxone in non emergency or emergency situations. So what this is saying is that the nasal naloxone could be distributed.

Both types of naloxone, needle, intramuscular and nasal, can be administered when there is an emergency, but this is specific to distribution and handing it out. So as written, only the intranasal would be allowed to be handed out. In terms of food distribution, a food distribution event is defined as a gathering for charitable or humanitarian purposes that was planned, organized or conducted to distribute food to any member of the general public at no cost or for a nominal charge. And again, we have that maximum number of permits issued here just as that reminder that we are talking two service permits per park in a one month period. Exceptions to food distribution are that this does not apply to any event that was not planned or intended to serve or distribute food to the general public.

So examples of this include family events such as celebrations, weddings, reunions or other types of informal gatherings and events that are not open to the general public or where the general public is not invited. Something I also wanted to point out because we've had some questions around this, things that will continue to be allowable without a permit would be things like outreach and education. So people and organisations would still be able to walk into the park and conduct outreach and provide information about services. They can connect and transport people to services and they can still distribute water and electrolyte beverages as written in the proposed ordinance today. That concludes our formal presentation and we'd be happy to answer any questions.

Thank you so much. We'll begin with council member questions. Councilwoman Guardado.

Thank you, Mayor.

So, I have some questions for you, Cynthia and then I'm also gonna need, is Rachel here? Rachel as well. Thank you, guys. Cynthia, so so per your presentation, so thank you, so much for for leading us on this and the education that you have given. When it comes to permits, how many times a month do you think that we deny permits for a soccer league or a baseball league?

Mayor, members of the council, Councilwoman Guerreroto, I don't have a specific number. What I can tell you is that athletic fields are a good example of permits that get denied on a fairly frequent basis and there's a variety of reasons for that. One, the inventory of athletic fields, the demand outweighs the inventory that we have. Other reasons that we might deny other types of permit have to do with other criteria like what we have already approved for activities and events going on in the park, the size of a parking lot and whether or not it can accommodate additional people. So there are other factors such as that.

We try to accommodate as many people as possible but there are certainly those types of reasons in which we would deny a permit. But we always offer alternatives. If there's an alternative park date, time, location, we would try to do that as well.

And then other question, when it comes to our groundskeepers, when it comes to our park rangers, every time that they accidentally encounter a needle, what's the process that they have to go through in order for for them to get care?

Sure. Mayor members of the council, councilwoman Guerdata. There are protocols. We work with HR safety to have an established protocol program and so there is a process in place where they are to immediately notify a supervisor. They go to Concentra and then, it's voluntary for them to go through many months optional training if they're actually exposed or poked by something like a needle. So there is training on the prevention side to try to prevent that and then there is training on what happens if somebody is exposed.

And if care is needed, how long long do they have to get care for?

It can be up to six months, councilwoman.

Okay. Thank you. And can permits be denied, revoked, or restricted if activities negatively impact surrounding neighborhoods or park operations?

Mayor, members of city council councilwoman Gardado, yes, that would be one of the factors similar to when we receive a special event application. We're going to look at what that impact is to the park. For much larger events, we're accustomed to community notification processes. In the case of this particular service permit, if approved, there would be a web page where people would be able to get information on what activities and permits have been approved within the parks.

And can you walk us through if there were to be a violation from anyone, whether it's a soccer league, whether it's anyone that's asking for a permit. If they commit a violation, what are the different steps that need to be taken?

Sure, councilwoman, mayor, members of city council. We really strive to lead with education. So unless it is, an emergency, a crime, you know, that would warrant an immediate trespass or contacting PD, we're going to lead with education, and so we're going to offer a warning. That's what we do with many of our other park rules that are in the Code of Conduct as well as some of the other rules that are listed in ordinances specific to parks. Following that education and warning, that would be documented, and then we would move to a citation.

And so a citation would be able to be issued by a park ranger or a Phoenix police officer since this would be an ordinance, and then they would forfeit any remaining permits for one hundred and twenty days, and if it continued, they would forfeit the ability to obtain permits for a one year period. The most comparable thing I can think of is our field allocation permit system and we have a very similar process in place. Most commonly with them, if

they leave

trash, alcohol, other things like that, we follow the same process or a similar process.

Great. And this is true for anyone that requests a permit, right? This is not just a specific for certain groups?

Mayor, members of the council council and Gardado, yes, we have this escalation of leading with education into, warnings, trespassing, forfeiting, permitting rights with other permits as well.

Okay. Because we've heard so many concerns from different residents as we started this process. It's been confusing for a lot of the neighbors out there. And I guess for you, what what message could you give to our neighbors that are a little concerned on the vote that we're taking today given the confusion, given what people wish would happen in the parks and what they wish wouldn't happen in the parks?

Mayor, members of council, Councilwoman Gardado, I know through the stakeholder process, when we were engaging with residents with concerns, you know, you can imagine, we've heard many opinions on this with people who have different lenses on this. Residents were confused. There was some confusion. Some were saying they were in opposition of the ordinance because they don't want to see these activities taking place at all in a park and we had to do educating like one of the first slides I showed to say these activities, it's not an introduction of new activities. There was some confusion in the community about that, that these activities have already been taking place.

They can take place, most of these activities and this is really about putting parameters to help minimize some of the negative impacts that we're seeing in the parks, and that is kind of what our message has been out there, to make sure they understand that piece and they understand that the intent, other activities in parks that require permits, is to determine time, place and manner so we know who are in our parks and when they're in the parks.

Great. Thank you. Thank you, Cynthia. Rachel, I just have a couple of questions for you. I know when we established the the Department of Homeless Solutions, the idea was to have people end homelessness and being able to give them a bed and a place to stay and for them to be able to get back on their feet and and and be more independent. I know that was the goal when we did that, and I know that that continues to be the goal to be able to lead with services. My question to you is, will you be providing services during these distribution events?

Mayor, members of council, councilwoman Guerardo, that is something that we have, requested in this year's budget is an additional two positions specifically to work directly in parks in addition to the two that we currently have, but to be present in when there are events, when a permit has been pulled so that our team can be there offering the whole array of services that Office of Homeless Solutions offers and be there in support of those services to help end those individuals homelessness and get them into an indoor environment if possible.

Thank you. And I know we've, I looked, I was given some numbers and we're looking that from April 2025 till April, majority of the care cases were outside of the parks, right? Only eight percent of of those cases were in our parks. Do you can you can you answer that of why that is that we offered more services outside of the parks than inside our parks?

Sure. Mayor, members of council, Councilwoman Gardado. Yes. We pulled some Cares data prior to this meeting. We looked specifically at all of the CARES cases from April to April just to do a quick analysis of where those cases are. And as you stated, about eight percent of those cases were in parks. So that is the community giving us information that there is an encampment. We received those CARES cases twenty four hours a day on MyPhoenix 3 eleven as well as via the phone line and eight roughly eight percent of those cases were in parks. Correct.

So given that you guys see you guys attend to these cases, you guys are out there every day, your team is out there, which which all of them are wonderful. There ideas that you have of where these services could also take place given that only we've only saw eight percent success rate in the parks?

Mayor, members of council, so one of the things, that the Office of Homeless Solutions has done over the last several years is create additional outreach teams to meet the needs of people experiencing unsheltered homelessness. So we have a liaison team that solely works in alleys for example. We have a liaison team that only works in streets and the right of way. We have a liaison team that only works in parks. And so we are looking certainly to expand all those services and meet people where they are, provide the resources that will help individuals and their homelessness.

And that could be many different things to many different people. Most frequently we're offering shelter services, treatment services. Right now beginning May 1, we've been offering heat relief services now that we have all of our extended hour heat relief sites open.

And I know that a lot of your, liaisons have really good relationships now with a lot of the neighbors. If residents report unsafe conditions, discarded needles, or sanitation concerns, what immediate response mechanisms will your office have in place?

Sure. Mayor, members of council, councilwoman Gardado, most community, neighborhood groups are aware of our homelessness liaisons, which are our liaisons that are assigned to the different areas of the city. Neighborhood groups could certainly reach out to those liaisons, could create a CARES case which would trigger not only Office of Home Solutions teams going out, but a wide variety of city departments that respond to CARES cases as well as our outreach partner, Community Bridges Inc.

And I guess this question is either for you or for Cynthia. What safeguards are in place to ensure that activities involving needles do not create safety concerns for children and families using these parks?

Sure, mayor, members of city council councilwoman Gardado. Parks and migration department does certainly have safety protocols when it comes to how we deploy our staff, and so every morning we have teams of staff throughout the park system who are cleaning parks first thing in the morning to ensure that they are safe to the public before they open, and then that overlaps with other hours throughout the day as well in parks where there are staff that are located on-site or Park Rovers who go through later in the afternoon. In terms of the exposure that we talked about earlier, then there are separate safety protocols specific to what employees are trained to do when they encounter biohazard potential emergency situations, blood borne pathogen training, sharps training. So there are daily maintenance procedures in the park and then there are actual training protocols if exposed. Great.

Thank you. And this one's for

you, Rachel. Is the Office of Homeless Solutions working to expand indoor or facility based service options that that may be more appropriate than public parks?

Councilwoman Guardado. So at each one of our city owned shelters and our partner shelters, we are open to having, as many partners as possible on-site. We currently have a great relationship with Circle the City. They came to all of our city owned sites including our heat relief sites this summer. We're very much open to expanding that partnership to other groups. We also partner with Street Medicine Phoenix. They come to our safe outdoor space And and last year, Terros, came to our our heat release sites, but we're we're more than welcome to to welcome additional, groups to those sites. They only will help enhance our services there.

Great. Thank you. Well, thank you. Those were all my questions. I just have some comments. I wanted to start by acknowledging something that is very important. This is not an easy issue. It sits at the intersection of public health, community safety, and the lived experiences of our neighborhoods. And I've heard clearly from my residents loud and consistent concerns about needles and certain types of activities taking place in our parks. Let me also be clear about something else.

By law, we cannot simply prohibit everything. There are legal realities we must operate within, and we have a responsibility to respond in a way that is both lawful and responsible. So the question before us is not whether these activities exist. They do. The question is, are we going to leave them unregulated, or are we going to put structure around them to protect our communities? That

is

why I am supporting this ordinance because without clear rules, without permits, without accountability, these activities can and will happen in ways that create greater risk for our neighborhoods. This ordinance gives us tools. It sets limits. It creates oversight. It establishes expectations around safety and cleanup, and it allows the city to step in when things are not done appropriately. At the same time, I wanna be very clear about my values and my priorities. Our parks are for families. They are for children. They are for our communities to gather safely. And in District 5, those parks represent years of hard work by our residents.

During the pandemic, it was not easy for neighbors to be out there and reporting what was happening and for them to push for all the different resources that they now have. Many of our Latino, black, and working families have fought really hard to making sure that our parks are safe. I carry those voices with me today in this vote. That is why I will continue to push for strong enforcement, clear boundaries, appropriate locations within parks, and accountability when standards are not met. As a mom of two young boys, I have I see the need of our parks, of our spaces.

During the pandemic, that is what the pandemic taught us, is making sure that our children were out in the green spaces and our children were able to be out there safe. My children encountered many times a lot of needles in the parks. And as a mom, that was a very scary feeling to understand if they had touched the needles, if they had been poked by the needles. And I have health insurance that was able to get my children attended. Not all of our residents have that luxury.

Because regulation must mean something, it must act is it must actually protect people. I also want to say this, supporting this ordinance is not the same as saying parks are the ideal place for these activities, and they are not. But if these activities are going to occur, they have a responsibility to ensure they are done in a way that minimizes harm, protects children, and respects the communities that rely on these spaces every day. Doing nothing is not an option. Ignoring the issue is not an option.

This ordinance is about taking control of a situation that without structure creates even greater risks. So I will be voting yes, not because this is perfect, but because it is a step towards protecting our parks while operating within the realities we face. And I will continue working to make sure our parks remain what they are meant to be, safe, clean, and welcoming spaces for our families. I know we have some residents here. We will be hearing for from a lot of the children that play in a lot of these in in a lot of these baseball leagues and the soccer leagues and hearing from the moms themselves.

We go to the parks to make sure that our children are not using drugs, that our our children don't get into gangs, and for them to show up in the park show up to our parks and see the activities that they see in the parks, that that is not the type of leader that I wanna be. I don't wanna be that person that's sitting in the seat and having our children be facing that every single day. And remember, for a lot of our working class communities, this is their only outlet. They don't have the money to spend to go get private lessons or go into a private academy. This is this is their only outlet that they have.

And and it's my responsibility to be that voice, for my constituents. That's what I was voted to do, and that's what I will continue to do. Thank you, mayor.

Councilwoman Stark.

Thank you. I just wanted to follow-up on some of the councilwoman's questions. So I got numerous pictures from constituents, some with regards to what happens after a feeding or during a feeding. I also got pictures of just some of the unsightly messes we see in our parks. But also, I got pictures from residents who live next to washes.

And looking at a couple of these pictures, and this is directed towards you, Rachel, you see there are actually tents, this tent is right next to a park, Werner Park. I know that, your, OHS specialist for my district goes down to the washes a lot. Would it be feasible if some of, these medical treatment, organizations wanted to go down in the wash? Would you be willing to go? I know it sometimes it's risky going down there and you probably wanna go together, but that would be acceptable, and that wouldn't be a violation of the this particular ordinance because the wash is not necessarily a park.

It may be county land. It could be for our flood control. So is that something we could do so that we are rendering the care? Because clearly, just looking at this picture, this one picture, it looks like it's a community down there so that they could really serve a

lot of people. Mayor, members of council, councilwoman Stark, as you know, our OHS liaisons will do anything and everything to to connect with an individual. So, yes, they would definitely be willing to and and as you know, your your, homelessness liaison assigned to District 3 is spends a lot of time in the washes, and that is certainly something that that we would do in order to connect with that individual and offer resources.

Yes. So I don't disagree. There is a need. We need to serve the unhoused, and there are other areas besides parks so we can do that. I think this particular, ordinance provides a compromise so that they can still render services in the park, but I think we can team up and show them other parts of the city where we could definitely help folks in need. And perhaps if you go out, you could also assist and touch and try to get them into some

of the shelters that we are funding. Correct? Councilman Stark, that's absolutely correct. We we find that when we coordinate our outreach efforts with other groups, we just broaden the number of resources and services we can bring to an individual.

Thank you. I I I know we have a lot of speakers, so I'll just leave it at that. I just wanted to do some follow-up from the questions that she had, and I know I have speakers here as well. Thank you, mayor.

Thank you. Councilwoman O'Brien.

Thank you, mayor. One of the concerns I heard from some from some stakeholders in the community about is about unintended consequences. So, I'm curious what we'll be doing to track progress of this ordinance if it's implemented and how we would maybe intend to react to unintended consequences if there are some.

Sure. Mayor, members of the city council, Councilwoman O'Brien, Some of the information that we're going to track is specifically related to the permit itself, we have an idea of volume and what's coming in, how many permits are coming in, how many permits are being approved, how many may need to be denied. We're also going to have staff that are there to arrive when these groups are arriving to make sure that things are being conducted well. We'll track successes and we'll track if there continue to be challenges, if there are violations, if there are citations issued, if we are seeing a reduction in trash in the parks itself. So those are some of the metrics that we'll be prepared to track.

Will you also work with the fire department? I know that one of the concerns is that 911 calls might start going up and that we'll have more trips to emergency rooms via our ambulances which could impact emergency rooms. So, will you work with the fire department as well as our our hospitals and

emergency rooms? Councilman O'Brien, mayor, members of the council. So some of that data is not data that as a city we have historically collected in terms of emergency room visits specifically. However, fire can provide statistics on calls for service to parks just as police does. So that is something certainly that we could work with them to track in terms of their responses to parks specifically.

Excellent. I would I would appreciate that very much. And I have some comments that I'd like to make before we hear from others. I do wanna thank the Parks and Recreation Department, our community groups and stakeholders, and all the residents who shared their input through surveys, emails, phone calls, and community meetings. Actually, I'm gonna interrupt that real quick because I apologize, Mayor.

I had two community members who struggled with our system and they sent their statements to me. One is Stan Bates who fully supports the proposed ordinance because it would limit food, organized food distribution in the city parks to twice per month. The goal of the ordinance is to ensure that parks remain accessible and usable for all residents. Right now, these activities have significantly affected how the surrounding community is able to use and enjoy their neighborhood parks, and this ordinance helps provide a reasonable balance between supporting social services efforts and maintaining parks for general public use. Another resident who's lived across the street from Deer Valley Park for thirty years is in favor of this ordinance.

She's concerned about trash and needles that are left behind and also promotion of more transits transients staying in the park. I'm concerned for the children and community that use the park. I've lived here thirty years and my kids would go and play there but now, I don't like taking my grandkids because of the safety issues. Also, because as a homeowner, property value is a concern and it's because of the safety. The homeless, trash, and needles. She would actually prefer that we didn't allow any

of these activities in our parks.

So I have heard from many residents who are frustrated and want safe, clean parks for their children and families, and I share that priority. And this ordinance addresses these concerns. I also want to address misleading rhetoric suggesting this ordinance prevents people from helping vulnerable populations. Let me be clear, this proposal does not ban food distribution, it does not ban medical care, it does not prevent anyone from helping people experiencing homelessness. What it does is require coordination, safety standards, and sanitation protocols for organized activities in our parks.

Some residents have asked why we allow these activities in parks at all. And the answer is straightforward. First amendment protections must be respected. But respecting constitutional rights does not mean we cannot require safety standards and reasonable coordination. In Phoenix, we have about ten, zero people experiencing homelessness in the region, in the Maricopa County region. But we have a city of one. 7,000,000 residents. Our parks serve everyone and a permitting process ensures all uses coexist safely. Some have suggested this ordinance is inhumane and that is simply false. What's inhumane is medical treatment without emergency backup or sanitation standards.

What's inhumane is children encountering improperly disposed needles near playgrounds. What's inhumane is families feeling their neighborhood parks are unsafe due to medical waste. Residents have every right to expect safe, clean parks. Parents who want their children to play without encountering needles or other hazards are not asking too much. This ordinance ensures we deliver on that basic responsibility.

This ordinance establishes a permitting system for medical treatment and food distribution in parks with proper health, safety, and sanitation standards. It does not impact emergency responders. It does not ban naloxone. It does not prevent people from helping others in emergencies. What it does is create accountability and ensure an organized activities happen with proper coordination and oversight that protects everyone using our parks.

This ordinance protects both constitutional rights and public safety. It allows services to continue while ensuring our parks remain safe, clean spaces that families can constantly use. To residents frustrated about park conditions, I hear you. And this ordinance helps to address your concerns. To those serving vulnerable populations, your work can continue with the support and coordination of city resources. I will not apologize for supporting an ordinance that balances constitutional protections with residents' reasonable expectations for safe, clean parks. Today, I will be supporting this ordinance. Thank you.

Thank you.

Councilman Hernandez.

Thank you, mayor. Just have a few questions for fire, police, OHS, public health. Gina and Cynthia got a couple for you and Brandy probably will go in that order. Chief Christ, thank you so much. I'm gonna start with a couple questions for you.

Was your department consulted in any way about the impact of this ordinance on the fire department's workload?

Mayor Gallegos, members of council, councilwoman Hernandez, yes. The fire department was consulted in Bolton stakeholder meetings.

Okay. Thank you. What increased cost, and additional work will the fire department see as a result of if this ordinance passes?

Mayor Gallegos, members of council, councilwoman Hernandez, specific to nine one one calls at parks, we go on about a thousand calls in these parks annually. In 2025, we ran 240,000 calls citywide and about a 107,000 transports. Calls in these parks equal a fraction of a percent. That said, it's extremely difficult to forecast the impact on nine one one activity levels, and our plan based on the decision today is to monitor those changes. Part of that monitoring must include that nine eleven activity levels do increase a few percent over the years.

For example, in 2024, we ran about 236,000 calls. Last year, we ran about 240,000 calls. If our current trend line continues, we'll be at about 243,000 calls for 2026. Given the low incident rate, in addition to the monitoring, we rely on systems to get get feedback from our responding personnel on impacts to our system.

Thank you, chief. My next question is, what is the projected impact on EMS call volume specific to dehydration, malnutrition, overdose, and unmanaged chronic conditions if access to these basic survival resources are restricted?

Mayor Gallego, members of council, councilwoman Hernandez, it's a difficult question for the fire department to answer. We're not a long term care provider. For example, if we go on an emergency medical call for a patient, let's say that's having a cardiovascular emergency, we treat and transport that patient to the hospital. These critical and life saving medical interventions are short term by their necessity, and they are really absent insights into chronic conditions and otherwise detailed public health insights.

Okay. Thank you so much. And then my last question for you, chief, is how will the increased workload, that is a little unknown on of this ordinance impact fire response time to other calls.

Thank you. Mayor Gago, members of the council, because of the high number of system wide calls that we get annually and that this is about 4% in these parks that we're discussing, Our plan is to monitor to understand if there are changes in our system depending on the decision.

Thank you so much, chief Christ. Chief Giordano, my first question to you is what is the projected increase in calls for service and officer time? Sorry. Let me go back. Was your department consulted in any way about the impact of this ordinance on the police department's workload?

Mary Yeo, members of council, council Mernandez, absolutely. We were part of the discussions from the beginning to look into this and see how it would impact our service levels. Much to the same as chief Christ, it's hard to forecast what what that'll look like down the road, but we will continue to monitor that and adjust accordingly.

Okay. Perfect. Thank you so much. What is the projected increase in calls for service and officer time associated with enforcement of this ordinance?

You know, again, that's a really hard question to answer. You know, we will continue to monitor it. We'll watch what goes on. We we will look at this almost like like traffic enforcement. We'll start with education, we'll start with notification and look to gain voluntary compliance. And those are not long term, long hours of lots of engagement. And then ultimately if we couldn't get voluntary compliance, obviously we would go with enforcement, But we would continue to monitor that, what that workload looks like.

Okay. Thank you, chief. Because even with the leading with education, right, that still takes an officer to be engaged with a resident or a community member. Correct?

Not not always because there there will be overarching communication as well in education, whether it's through social media, whatever it might be, that would not require individual officers to respond. But there would be occasions where we would have to respond and interact with members of the community just to educate them on on the new ordinance.

Okay. Thank you so much. What what work will you pull your officers off of in order to respond to the increased calls that would likely be generated by this ordinance?

Well, it would start with

our patrol officers would respond to calls for service. We could also transition to using community action officers to go out and conduct education. Some of our neighborhood enforcement teams could be called up to be to do make make those notifications and educational contacts as well. But, again, it's really hard for us to under to to understand till we know what that volume of work will look like.

Okay. Thank you. And then my final question to you is just, you know, I just want a a reminder that one of the central issues that was highlighted in the Department of Justice investigation, was the misconduct of Phoenix sworn officers, treatment towards individuals experiencing homelessness. Basically, Phoenix officers were found to have violated the constitutional protected rights of homeless residents. So given that fact, what training protocols are in place, to ensure officers can distinguish between prohibited activity outlined in this ordinance and the constitutionally protected rights of our homeless residents? Mayor Giego, members

of council, councilor Maherambs, that's a great question. I know one chief Ken and I have talked about as as recent as this morning. If this ordinance is passed, we'll work very closely with our law department and our training unit to create a briefing for all officers that we would push out to all officers almost like an informational sheet on what our expectations are because again I believe in clear expectations on the front end so it's not a guessing game of what we expect for our officers. But then also the description and explanation of the ordinance and then what enforcement or what educational resources we look for them to give when interacting with members, in the parks.

Okay. Thank you so much. That was all my questions for you both. Rachel, I have a few questions for you and then I'll have a question for, public health and then Gina and Cynthia. Rachel, I'll start with you first. Your department is tasked with supporting our residents who are experiencing homelessness, and I would like to take a point of personal privileges. Really thank you for all the work that OHS is doing now, especially our coordinators out in the districts. Right? They're connecting with folks every day and trying to bridge that gap and get folks the help that they need. So thank you for that.

This ordinance will directly impact that work from your department. How will your work change or increase if we push homeless individuals out of the parks and into our alleys and our streets?

Mayor, members of council, councilwoman Hernandez, thank you for for acknowledging our our hard work. As you know, the Office of Homeless Solutions outreach, our liaisons and our caseworkers as well as all our contractor partners really work tirelessly every day to connect people with services to help them end their homelessness. We work all over the city. We not only have the liaisons assigned to council districts, I mentioned earlier we have liaisons specifically assigned to parks, but we also have liaisons that are assigned specifically to alleys and to streets and those folks are paired with the streets department and the public works department and in the case of parks with park rangers. So we are working every day to help meet more people and connect them with resources to help them end their homelessness and we will continue to do so throughout the city.

Okay. Thank you so much. Care providers and, you know, food food sharing providers, they I I really believe that they bridge a big gap that the city is unable to meet. What would be the impact on the needs,

for service from your department if we move forward with criminalizing these providers? Mayor, members of council, councilwoman Hernandez, we welcome additional partnerships with these medical providers. I mentioned we already have a very close relationship with Circle the City who comes to all of our sites. We really would like to enhance that relationship as well as other organizations. We also recently, within the last few months, have began a program both at our Safe Outdoor Space and the Phoenix Navigation Center where we can welcome groups who distribute food at those sites.

So we're really looking to work with individuals at our current sites as well as the additional positions that we requested in the budget this year and that would be really to work collaboratively with these groups out in the parks when there is a permit pulled or, or, you know, doing outreach on on a daily basis. Thank you. And, Rachel, what is the capacity that our sites are at? Like, the

city run sites, like SOS and Phoenix Navigation Center, and the other shelters.

Sure. Yeah. As as, mayor and members of council, we deal with probably a handful of of open beds at each one of our sites and our outreach teams are coordinating those beds daily. So every day we know exactly how many male beds, female beds, spaces that are safe outdoor space that that we as a city have and then we also additionally have other partners, nonprofit owned shelters, other treatment programs that that we coordinate with, when when our beds are full. Okay.

Thank you. But my understanding is that most of our shelters are near capacity. So even if we expanded more, partnerships with organizations, that is still limited. If, let's say, for example, Phoenix Navigation Center is at 99%, full. Right? Even if we bring in other partners, it's still not gonna address the concern for the folks that aren't able to get into, one of our shelters.

Thank you for that clarification. So, Councilwoman Hernandez, we do have a a handful of beds. We make sure those beds are are filled by our outreach teams every day. One of the partnerships that we recently began actually with the Circle of the City outreach team is they brought on board additional beds that we did not have access to, their medical respite beds. So, yes, we make sure that we fill capacity every day with individuals who are looking to get indoors. Okay.

Thank you so much. And, has your department looked into creating safe distribution zones? If so, or is there any findings around that?

Mayor, members of council, councilman Hernandez, we look at best practices at other cities all the time. In fact, other cities come and look at us for best practices as well, and this is not something that we have recommended to to policymakers at this time. We've really focused on, ensuring we have indoor resources, building our shelter capacity, and building our

outreach teams. Okay. Thank you so much. And then just my final question for you is, is OHS prepared to to meet the additional workload, that these groups do? Right? I I shared earlier, like, I really believe they fill a big gap that we just can't meet. We haven't been able to meet in the past. So are are we now in a position? Because two additional positions through the upcoming budget, is that gonna be enough to meet the need that for the workload that could shift?

Mayor and members of council, councilman Hernandez, we will continue to do the best that we do every day, and we are hoping to really coordinate with these organizations to to collaborate and and do more as as we can. Thank you.

Appreciate that. Yanita, for for my question for you would be from the public health perspective. What will be the impact of this ordinance on the community?

Mayor, members of the council, councilwoman Hernandez, thank you for that question. Really from a public health perspective, I I do wanna acknowledge how complex this issue is as as noted by council woman guardado. This is a crisis that is, compounding, right, with substance use increasing, mental health, issues that are increasing for our community as well as decreasing access to health care for our neighbors. And in order to maintain and ensure that the significance of these compounding crisis do not continue to impact our community negatively, the office of public health shares the priority of ensuring that access to these services, lifesaving services are made accessible to the community. The public health office also shares this priority with our fellow city colleagues, departments, and community agencies and ensuring that all people utilizing the park spaces, including people who use drugs and people experiencing homelessness, continue to have access to services.

Okay.

Thank you. And, you know, Thank you so much. What advice would you offer us as a council, to consider in making this decision today?

Mayor, members of the council, councilman Hernandez, advice for council is to ensure that we're continuing to include a public health approach when decision making, ensuring that we're centering the voices of the community as we heard so well and eloquently shared at many stakeholder meetings we've engaged over the past several months, as well as ensuring that a public health approach that we shift from sort of the public health approach of the past and that is when we have an issue and then a condition comes from that. The example I use is substance use. If an individual is using substance use, the condition thereafter might become a substance use disorder and then ultimately unfortunately that might lead to mortality or death. And instead there is a public health framework that we can really challenge ourselves to consider using where we are ensuring that health impacts are considered at the beginning of any decision making processes and we're not only addressing you know the condition, the behavior, the condition and the outcome, instead we're really addressing all of these additional environmental, social impacts that you know are all of us face and in our most vulnerable communities face especially.

Thank you so much for that. Gina, I have a just one question for you. I know that the city of Phoenix has made commitments to support SSP through fast track cities. How do we support that and other harm reduction efforts if this ordinance passes now? And going forward, how will this impact our commitment to support that work? Or if someone else can answer that. Thank

you, mayor, members of council, council member Hernandez. In terms of as a city and where we go as a city, I think we continue to kind of evaluate each each issue as it comes up. And, as as Yanitza mentioned, she she is embedded in in in our work and she has been, working with Office of Home Solutions and other departments in terms of looking at the data, looking at the impacts of of of, you know, things like heat, kind of advising, how our our heat relief program and our, those sites are going. She's embedded kind of in what we do as an organization. And so I think, the the syringe issue is a is a very complex issue, and so we are always balancing, the impacts on on the community as a whole, how the parks are are able to be used by by all members of the community.

And so we'll continue to to to look at how we can support the operations of those sites so that, so that all the residents, can enjoy them.

Thank you so much, Gina. That was my only question for for you. Cynthia and Brandy, just a few questions, so whoever wants to take take these. First, you know, there's a lot of pictures, included in the presentation. How are we able to I I wanna provide some context to the public. So how are we able to tell or to know what organizations these, items were linked to?

Sure. Absolutely. Mayor, members of the city council, Councilwoman Hernandez. For some of the photos that you saw, in particular in District 3 in the Cave Creek system, we are familiar because that organization, or who we believe it to be, is someone that has worked with us to obtain approval to be there on a very regular basis. In some of those photos what we find because there is no formal permitting procedure rule or ordinance currently, we don't always know who's leaving that behind and oftentimes it's either shared by residents, reported by staff, but just simply unknown in how to contact the individuals that were doing those services.

Okay. Thank you. But I just wanna kind of follow-up a little bit. Believing we know what the who the group is that left the trash and knowing for sure for a fact who left the trash are two completely different things. Right?

Yes, counsel Hernandez. There are certainly times where we don't know who is leaving it and who we either have had staff observed or had residents take photos of.

Okay. Thank you so much. I saw in the survey report, thank you for getting us all also, let me make sure I thank you for I know this has taken a lot of work, for everybody, for all of staff. So just regardless of the decision that happens today, I just do wanna take a moment to thank you for all the work that you've done on leading this. I did see in the survey report that that we were given back, that staff did research on what other cities have done in their parks. Largely, this research showed that, these cities are not doing anything as harsh as this ordinance. Did you talk to those cities to see how it's going or to get feedback on, the proposed on our proposed ordinance?

Mayor members of city council councilman Hernandez, there was a team of us who certainly conducted the research in different ways. So between parks department, the law department, I think Yanitza and the public health office, we have certainly talked to different cities, locally and across the country to help, get information that would be helpful in crafting the ordinance.

Okay. Thank you so much. I appreciate that. I also went and did some of my own due diligence. I did reach out and talk to elected officials from New York, from San Diego, from LA, from Philly, and, you know, bigger cities that are pretty comparable to Phoenix.

And honestly, the the response I get was they were pretty shocked that Phoenix was moving in such a punitive way. And some of the ideas I got from them was not to lead with criminalization or prohibiting or restricting. It was to try to find, more resources to get folks housed or into shelter or provide, disposal bins in the parks, right, things like that. That's why I was just curious to see what was the feedback that you all got in those those conversations. And which city parks have we heard complaints from residents about needles and food distribution?

Mayor members of the council, Councilman Hernandez, we do have 189 parks and there are many many I don't have an exact exact count, know, but where we regularly encounter needles, trash, we probably have at least a list of at least 40 parks or more that are experiencing this on a very frequent basis.

Okay. Thank you so much for that. And my next question is, are you able to provide data on the percentage of individuals that are currently, accessing these services in the parks through some of the providers that that are out there doing this work?

Mayor, members of the council, councilman Hernandez, because we have never had a formalized approval process, we don't have data on everyone who has been in the parks and how frequently they are. Through this process, we've certainly engaged with organizations who say they are providing services regularly, but without a process, we haven't had a way to track that.

Okay. Thank you so much. And I'm assuming that that's we're gonna find a way to track that if this ordinance passes and after a time, we might be able to know what those percentages are?

Yes. May remember the council councilman Hernandez, that is correct. So we will absolutely be tracking the number of applications that come in, that are approved, that are denied. There'll be very specific data that we will now be able to track.

Okay. Thank you so much. My next question is what empirical evidence do we have that restricting care distribution will result in measurably cleaner parks? Council.

Councilwoman Hernandez. We do not have data that is specific to that on park property.

Yep. I I got a couple more questions, y'all. Let me let me get through them. Okay. Thank you so much. Have you or have we as a city evaluated, any, partnership models with harm reduction organizations that are already conducting, like, routine cleanup and stewardship? I know, like, in LA, there's a partnership that exists between LA and some organizations that have a agreement, and they work together to keep parks clean. Did we do any do we know of any of that, or do we look into that?

Mayor, members of the council, councilman Hernandez, we do not specifically do any work specifically with harm reduction groups. We do have an established volunteer program where many different types of organizations are providing regular park cleanups, but I cannot think of any, specific harm reduction organizations we partner with to do that currently.

Okay. Thank you so much. I think those are all my questions for now. Thank you, mayor. I'm sorry, mayor. One more thing. Again, thank you so much to Cynthia, to you, and to all of the city staff, for your candidates in answering, my questions and trust that I understand the position you all have been put in. Thank you, mayor.

Councilwoman Pester.

Thank you, Mayor. Right now, we were talking about the questions were about data. And so I wanna know how you're going to collect that data and how you're gonna distribute it to the public so that we can monitor and watch what is happening.

Mayor, members of the council, councilwoman Pastor, we can certainly work on putting together information on the type of data that we're going to be able to track if approved now that we have a permitting process. That is certainly information that we can share in a variety of ways at the direction of the council. We can report it to you. We can report it to the parks board. So we can work on that and come back with a recommendation.

And what I mean is I would like to know what data you would be collecting. What have you thought about?

Yes, Councilman Pastor. So, right now, we know that we will be able to report on data such as the number of permit applications we receive, the number of permanent applications that are approved, that are denied, the number of permits per park will be able to be something that we track. We'll be able to track if there's any education or contact made, citations that are issued, success that we're seeing and challenges that we're still seeing.

Okay. And when you see the successes, most importantly the challenges, how would you go about solving those challenges?

Mayor members of city council, councilwoman Pastore, in terms of finding groups or individuals that are out of compliance, we would we have a process established where that would be a warning, a letter, so there would be an educational component to that.

I'm asking how would you confront the challenges if we are seeing that this ordinance is facing challenges,

how

would you notify any of us to possibly look at the ordinance and face the challenges? Sure, Councilwoman Pastor, mayor, members of

the city council. At the council's direction, we can certainly establish a formalized way to bring that information back to the council or city council subcommittee.

And would it be the council or would it be the parks board? Because that gets confusing at times and sometimes it's thrown out. Let's go to the Parks Board. Not the council and then sometimes it's thrown to let's go to the council. So how would we give clarity to

that? Councilwoman Storr, because this is an ordinance, council has authority over ordinances. The Parks and Recreation Board does not, so it would be the city council.

Okay. Rachel, how many beds do we have in total? The city have?

So at our city owned sites, I'm just doing a quick calculation. We have two eighty at PNC, 200 at Washington, and 300 at the Safe Outdoor Space.

So about a thousand? I'm

And just then we have city controlled sites as well with Rio Fresco and North Mountain Healing Center and then we partner with several other nonprofit organizations. So the city has under 1,000 but when we add in the city controlled sites, it's over a thousand.

So I'll round out 1,500? About 1,500? I'm just rounding up. Yes. So we're just gonna give a guess. I'm gonna use 1,500. Let me just put it that way. I'm gonna use 1,500. So the city has 1,500 beds. In our last briefing, how many are facing homelessness? So Population total that we

have in Phoenix. Mayor, members of council, their numbers are coming out very soon, this week I'm told. At the last pick count, there was roughly in Maricopa County, a little under 10,000 individuals and roughly half of them in shelter and half of them unsheltered.

In Phoenix? In Maricopa County. I'm particularly now layering into Phoenix. I did not And we're the largest city and I'm assuming, and I don't wanna assume, but I don't think we have enough beds in 1,500 beds. And I'm just putting this in context because we're kind of saying we have this, we have that.

And I just want to put it in context in the sense of the fact that we are at this space because we don't have enough resources and we need more resources. So I just wanna lay it down. And it's nobody's fault. Okay? Because we're all trying, and we're trying to do what we gotta do to make it, in the sense of trying to put the resources that we need to do because other cities are not helping us.

Mayor, members of council, I do just wanna clarify. I apologize. I thought you were asking how many of the city itself owns. But in our region, there are roughly 4,500 shelter beds.

But I'm talking about Phoenix.

Yes. Okay.

And I'm talking

about our Phoenix beds. And there are many more than what the city owns. For example, I wasn't including Cass in that. Just I understand that. Yes, you will not get any argument from me that there are

Thank you.

We need more.

Yes, thank you. You know where I was going. This is such a complex issue and I think this has really been an emotional issue with not only community, but with staff and even my colleagues because it is we are talking about human lives and we are talking about people. And sometimes it's difficult to have these hard conversations when we speak about people. And this is not an easy vote.

I don't think it's an easy vote for any one of us. What I have to say is that I have heard from a broad perspective of community and I have seen my colleagues also listen and hear from a broad perspective of community. And I've also have heard solutions from the community. And I believe that there are some solutions that we should consider. And in that space, we have to open up as a city a little bit broader in dealing with an ordinance.

And I want to thank my colleagues and I want to thank staff for providing the space to have these conversations because I was the one who made the motion, the original motion in December. And I was the one who made the motion to ask for a ninety day extension. And I did that because I was thinking of community, and I was thinking of community not having a voice at that time. And we extended the ninety day extension. And there was voice given.

And it's such a we're in a space where we have to do balance. There's balance with our parks. There's balance with what is happening in our parks, what people are seeing in our parks, and what does that look like? And how do we keep everybody safe, quite frankly? It's safety.

And so my point is that this, as we continue and we will listen to community, I do believe there are solutions within the community voice. And that's where I want to sit at this moment to hear some of the solutions of the community voice. I believe and I will ask, I wanna look at the heat relief because you were talking about the heat relief, that the space of our heat relief opens in May and goes to September. There has been a request through some of the documents and actions was if we could open up more space in our parks or more opportunity in our parks during our heat relief months. I don't know if that's possible or not, but that's that's that is something that I think we should consider.

To the chief, you've mentioned that you would treat this like a traffic citation. Could you give me more context to that?

Mayor Gageo, members of council, council member Pasteur. What what I was referring to is how we would address the issue holistically. We would look to address that through because ultimately, what we want is voluntary compliance with the ordinance just like we do for traffic and violations, we want voluntary compliance. So we would lead with education and then we would ultimately result if we had to, we result in enforcement. So that's the analogy I was trying to

make there.

So you're saying that if I I'm trying to figure out the analogy and I don't even know how to go there in the sense of you would for a traffic citation, you had first given me a education. And then if I continue to speed and I get you see me again, then I would get a traffic citation. Is that what I'm hearing?

Correct.

Okay. Is a traffic citation what type of citation is that?

It's a civil violation.

Okay. Alright. I'm just I was curious because I didn't understand, and I was asking about the traffic citation. Thank you. At the end of the day, what I wanted to also say is that the ninety days was also for to look at our First Amendment rights and our constitutional rights. And that's what the other reason why I wanted the ninety days so that staff not staff, so the lawyers could look at at the ordinance, and I heard that loud and clear. Thank you, mayor.

Thank you so much. The city of Phoenix has really been leading in this area. So if we look at Maricopa County, about 36% of the population in Maricopa County. We are 83% of the shelter beds. We are stepping up in a way that our other cities are. We are stepping up ahead of our population. Since we spent $185,000,000 on new, over the last four years, on new capital projects and homeless service operations.

I think we should contrast that

with the state. Could someone from government affairs please come up? So we passed a budget this week or I'm sorry. We had a meeting yesterday on our budget. Should we move forward with that budget? It will bring us Ed to $15,000,000 on our housing trust fund?

Mayor, that's correct. It would be $15,000,000 just slightly over $15,000,000 for the housing trust fund.

Okay. So the state passed a budget this week. As I understand it, the state swept a similar amount, about 14,400,000 from the housing trust fund that could have been used for homeless services. Our budget so the state budget that passed this week provides 3,500,000 for coordinated homeless services for the entire state of Arizona, entire state. Does our budget do more?

Mayor, I'll defer to Rachel, but just in in the budget you discussed yesterday, there's almost $20,000,000 additional that the city is adding to its budget this year for outreach in homeless solutions Mhmm. In addition to what you mentioned in addition to the staffing that Rachel has?

Mayor, members of council, once that budget is passed, if passed as as planned, our budget in office of homeless solutions without capital will be about $40,000,000 a year.

K. So let's contrast that. The entire state of Arizona, 3,500,000 for coordinated homeless services. So we all agree we gotta do more. The current situation is not acceptable, but the city of Phoenix is leading our region. 83% of the beds are in our community. If other cities stepped up, we could address this much more quickly. Overnight heat relief. Entire West Valley. How many facilities?

Mayor and members of council, I do not have that that information.

None. None. There are many cities that don't have a single facility. So we are stepping up at the city of Phoenix. And, again, we gotta do more. We have not addressed this problem. But I really think for folks who are doing advocacy in this area, you gotta acknowledge what we have accomplished. We gotta show wins. We gotta show the voters that this $885,000,000 is making a difference. If we wanna keep going to the voters and saying we need to invest in housing and ending homelessness, we ought to recognize where we have had success and that the City of Phoenix has stepped up in a big way compared to our regional partners.

All right. Any additional council comments? All right. We'll begin with public comment. And again, if you are a professional advocate, do need you, if you're being paid, to identify that. We'll begin with Cleo Lewis followed by Kelsey Reed.

Good afternoon, mayor and city council. My name is Cleo, Lewis. I'm I do a couple of things, but the I'm in charge of the Healthy Giving Council. We looked at this, and there's two thoughts. We have one group of people that says you can't do anything in the park, we're through with it.

We do education with that group. We have another group of, people that are service providers, and we do education with that group. The balance of this ordinance, if it's approved, we promise that we will do the education in our part. We're not looking at the enforcement of it. We're looking at the education.

I've got ten years lived experience in this. I begged for help in the middle of the night. Some of my colleagues are in this room on both sides of this issue. Trust me when I tell you this is the right way we need to go, And additionally, we also in my nonprofit, I bring beds to the streets every night when I'm out working. OHS is no problem, they get to come out where we're at.

Community Bridges, some of my colleagues are no problem. There's a lot of people that do this the right way. We're trying to educate people so we can get better at this. That's about all I have to say. Thank you so much.

Thank you. Kelsey Reed is next, followed by Mike Ruelis.

Good afternoon. I am the President of the Administrative Supervisory Professional and Technical Employees of Unit seven for the City Of Phoenix. One of my primary obligations is to keep those employees safe. With that said, I want to talk about what's going to be happening if concentrating food distribution, medical services, and needle exchange activities in the public parks creates a higher risk environment, including exposure to biohazards and increased incidents requiring response. These activities also intensify workloads in already impacted areas, placing an undue burden on parks maintenance staff, parks recreation staff, and park rangers.

Employees who are responsible for managing park operations, supporting public use, and maintaining and securing these spaces. Unit seven is composed of more than 200 Parks employees who would be directly impacted by these conditions, underscoring the scale of both the safety concerns and the operational strain. With that said, I'm respectfully requesting that you approve the proposed ordinance that both restricts and manages these formal activities in public parks and instead direct them to appropriate locations that are better equipped with the infrastructure, sanitation and oversight necessary to deliver these services safely and effectively. I have a statement from one of my members that is actually working in one of the parks right now, and he asked me to read this on his behalf. Distributing food, needles, and medical supplies in public parks can unintentionally signal that long term habitation is permitted.

This often contributes to increased litter, human waste, and improperly discarded syringes.

Will you take a question? I will. Will you talk about some of the operational and safety challenges for park staff when food distribution, medical care and needle exchanges are provided?

As far as operations, what happens is it's a strain on the operations. So when these things happen, we have the limited staff as it is. So you have this influx of members into the park, and it's a numbers game. So the more people, the higher number of incidences. So it creates a strain on the staff, operationally speaking.

Okay.

And then we got some feedback in the earlier process. We didn't talk enough to our own employees about this. Can you tell us some of the safety concerns our employees have raised?

Well, the needles is the number one safety concern, but we have had employees obviously get stuck by needles, and for anybody that's familiar with that process, it's a lengthy process. You end up at Concentra. You have to take a cocktail. It makes them nauseous. They have to go back month after month after month. So it's really stressful for these employees that are picking up these needles, but also the biohazardous waste. So there's fecal material. There's there are bloody bandages. There's things left behind. It it's upsetting. These employees are reaching out to me asking how what I can do to help them. So here I am speaking on their behalf.

Thank you. Anyone else have a question? Councilwoman Gordado.

Thank you, Mayor. Kelsey, thank you so much for your for your remarks. I I know that in the past, we have struggled to hire park rangers. Can you tell us right now what is the turnover rate within Park Rangers or what is it that you're hearing from Park Rangers when it comes to morale given given given what they're seeing today?

I I couldn't speak to the turnover rate, but hopefully, Cynthia can speak to that. As far as morale, I I don't know that it's impacted by this. This is more of a stress you know, a work stress issue versus a morale at work issue. So we haven't really discussed with the park ranger team specifically about that. I in Unit 7, we have park rangers and foremen and recreation coordinators that all work at these parks, so they're all directly impacted. So it's not just the rangers.

And within all of the staff, do you think that they feel that this is because they know that we have so many parks and we only have so many park rangers. Like, how hard is it gonna be for them to move from park to park? If they have to be at certain parks for a number, you know, for because they know they only come for certain times to the different parks. How much more time do you think they're gonna have to spend at the parks? And how does that work with the with being overworked?

Well, they they are already, overworked, for lack of better description. So by eliminating this with this ordinance, by approving this ordinance, it would essentially support the park rangers, the parks foremen, and it would help them complete their job effectively. Right now, they're already, like I said, they already have limited resources, so they're struggling as it is, keeping up with the number of cases that they have and the number of issues and instances that they're having to respond to. So once you start increasing that, it's going to make it more and more challenging.

Great. Okay. Thank you.

We'll go to I think Councilman O'Brien and then the Vice Mayor.

Would you please finish the statement that was provided by the employee who's working right now?

Yes.

Park employees have been accidentally stuck by needles during routine work requiring extensive medical testing and follow-up. These encounters with discarded needles are not uncommon, creating ongoing hazards for staff during daily maintenance and operations. These conditions raise legitimate health and safety concerns not only for our employees, but also for members of the public who use these spaces. While addressing homelessness and public health remains essential, these services are more appropriately delivered in settings specifically designed to provide care without compromising safety, cleanliness, and intended use of public parks.

Vice mayor.

Thank you so much, mayor. I have a follow-up question regarding you indicated when an employee has been stuck by a needle, they undertake treatment, including a cocktail of medication. Can you talk a little bit more about that?

Very briefly, because I personally haven't been stuck, so all I know is that there are cocktails of treatments. One of them is for HIV and it can cause nausea and there are months and months of treatment to follow-up. And I know that there is a timeframe, a short timeframe, that these employees can take these cocktails.

So I did a little bit of

research on it. My understanding is the treatment at the at least the cocktail is taken for an initial, twenty eight days and some of the side effects include nausea, fatigue, headache, insomnia, diarrhea. There's all types of consequences that come from this, treatment from itself, including the psychological stress sometimes of just having this unknown unknown exposure as a result. Is there anything else you've heard from employees that you think should be mentioned when it comes to the impact from the needle bricks?

I don't have any other information other than what I provided.

Okay. Thank you so much for that. And I just wanna say thank you to the employees. I I feel like this has become almost like an occupational hazard of the job, and we need to do something to respond to that. So thank you.

Thank you. I think that is it for you. And do we Jared or could the vice mayor's question like the a little bit more the medical background on this, what employees go through?

Sure, mayor, members of the council, and vice mayor. It, I know every situation is a little different but the protocol itself does require an immediate visit, immediate notification of the supervisor, an immediate visit to Concentra and an immediate prescription of a variety of medications. And then my understanding is on a minimum, on a monthly basis up to as much as six months, they return for additional testing and potential adjustments or modifications that they are on, maybe an increase or a decrease in dose and determining if they're seeing any symptoms is a big part of how that treatment would progress up through that six month period.

Okay, thank you. And just a clarification, who actually pays for the medication and the medical treatment that would be incurred?

Sure. Mayor, members of city council, vice mayor, and so that would be, the city that pays for that. Thank you.

So the residents. Councilwoman Hernandez.

Thank you, mayor. And super quick question, I promise. Cynthia, what is the number of employees and the parks employees that have been poked by needles in the parks?

Yes, mayor, members of the council, Councilwoman Hernandez. And so Parks HR HR safety started tracking this information back in 2021 On average, depending on the year, I believe we've had anywhere from one to two employees that actually receive a puncture that we would have records of.

Thank you. I appreciate it. Thank you, Mayor.

Thank you.

Thank you so much. Mike is next followed by Jonathan Bauersock.

Good afternoon, mayor and councilman. I'm a labor representative for Launa representing approximately three fifty parks field staff. I'm here to speak on the proposed amendments to the safe medical treatment and food ordinance in our parks. First, I want to acknowledge the direction this council has already taken. The original ordinance and the decision to delay implementation showed an understanding that structure and accountability are important.

The question now is how to put the structure in place in a way that works. Right now, services are occurring in our parks without consistent oversight, and the impact is being felt by both city employees and the public. Our parks employees regularly find discarded needles along with other hazards often early in the morning before the public arrives. While that work helps prevent harm, it also highlights the conditions they are working in every day. In some cases, employees have been sent to medical providers for testing after exposure.

That is not a one time concern. It is an ongoing reality. It creates real health risks and adds stress for employees who are simply trying to do their jobs safely. A permit process that is limited, predictable, and responsible offers a practical path forward. For example, limiting permits to set a number per month will allow park staff to better understand when and where services are being provided. This is not a new concept. The city already requires permits for sports leagues and organized activities. Applying a similar structure here helps create accountability and allows the city to distinguish between organizations that consistently maintain safe and clean conditions and those that

do

not. Food distribution presents similar challenges. Without some level of coordination, it could lead to sanitation issues and leave parks employees responsible for conditions they did not create. At its core, this is about ensuring our parks remain safe, functional, and accessible for everyone. This is not about ending services. It's about making sure they are provided in a way that is safe, coordinated, and sustainable. I encourage you to approve the proposed ordinance and adopt clear workable parameters that support employees, park users Thank you. And the integrity of our spaces.

Thank you so much. Jonathan is next followed by June Beraford. I will try to call the next speaker and the subsequent one, and often best to go around back and come in so we sort of talk about an area behind the speaker desk that might be a good place for folks if you want to wait. And if you have a need, there is also, for accessibility reason, ability to bring a microphone to people with mobility challenges. Alright. Jonathan.

Hi. My name is Jonathan Mowersok. I'm here as a volunteer with Food Not Bombs. We serve out of the Civic Space Park, not far from here, every Sunday night and have done so from that park for more than eight years. I honestly didn't know what I came to say.

I have some concerns that I hear from a lot of comments I get out here that it seems so many of you do not consider the homeless population as your constituents are part of your community. What we do is not charity but build community, and we're meeting people where they are, another area where the city does not seem to have the resources to do. We keep lists of all the publicly available resources, and when people are ready to make that step, we will help them find additional help, whether it be medical help, whether it be housing concerns with their but so many of them don't and often tell us that we are one of the few people who treat them with dignity as people. They're scared often to go to the shelters and the beds. As far as free speech goes, this is a clear violation of that.

Construction Limiting permits to two times per month is a constructive ban. It is not a regulation on it. And beyond that, at Civic Space Park, we would have no opportunity for permits if we wanted to get them because there is no parking lot. So apparently, if there's not a parking lot, there's not a problem. But also beyond the two per month limit, that does not address that some areas have much greater needs than others. I eliminate two per park. We were saying, great. You can have twice a month. We feed four to five times a month at this park alone, or we'll now be allowed none. Apparently, I have no First Amendment rights.

And it seems like a waste of resources to have, whether it's going to be rangers, police enforcing this on something that we're inevitably going to lose. Food and bomb across the country has won and established that this is a First Amendment protected right.

So Thank

you. And in case it wasn't clear, I highly encourage everyone to not vote for this. This is just unconscionable.

June is next followed by Derek Tolano.

Events around medical care and food distribution are not a cause of the problems that already exist and restricting them is not going to resolve safety concern. If you're truly to coordinate with existing aid groups, there should be avenues of direct support opened up to their effort, not penalization or financial barriers or babysitting over their professional care. You don't mind if I go biblical today. I'll summarize Matthew 25 verse 31 through 46. Jesus said that he was hungry, he was thirsty, he needed clothes, he was a stranger, he was imprisoned.

Those witnessed to him either fed and quenched and clothed him, invited him in, and visited, or they failed to do so. They were either brought into heaven or cast into a lake of fire. Y'all are grown. You can use some face face deduction reasoning over who went where. I'm hungry, and you're deliberating on whether you should punish those who feed me.

I have been violently raped and assaulted and sold and you defunded support programs and add barriers to those who would fill the gaps. You restrict accessibility down to pipelines that are retraumatizing. I am isolated and you tell me that I would have better support if I lose my voice and a chorus of others whose experiences differ greatly from mine. I'm an adult survivor of childhood sexual trauma and improved systems of support seek to pathologize and invalidate me while protecting enablers and enactors of such violences. Where we are failed people who provide services in these spaces do the best that they can to accommodate our specific need.

The city's response to a violent assault and sex trafficking survivor coming forward is negligent. My ongoing experience is that it would arrest or find those helping people like me to get to a place where we can find our voice. Thank you.

Thank you so much. Derek is next, followed by Danielle Jay.

Thank you, and good evening. Thank you for the opportunity to speak today. My name is Derek Tilano, and I'm here representing Cactus Youth Baseball League CYBL. We are host to over 300 youth baseball players over the city of Phoenix. We appreciate the work you're doing to support all the members of our community, and we recognize the importance of addressing complex social challenges with compassion. However, we have concerns about portions of the proposed park ordinance specifically allowing needle distributions in public parks. Our parks are more than open spaces. They are where children learn teamwork, discipline, and confidence. They are where families gather and where young athletes grow in a safe and structured environment. Organizations like ours maintaining the environment is essential.

We are proud to be supported by organizations such as the Arizona Diamondbacks and Mexican Baseball Fiesta who share and promote the same commute commitment to providing a safe, positive environment for all youth and families. That standard is something that we work hard to uphold every day. Recently, our families and coaches have encountered discarded needles and related drug paraphernalia waste in park areas. These situations create real safety risks, not just perceived ones. Parents should not have to worry about their children's coming into contact with hazardous materials while playing baseball or simply enjoying the park.

We fully support efforts to help the vulnerable population, but we believe parks, especially those heavily used by youth programs and the local communities, should remain clean, safe, and clearly designated as family first environments. This is not about excluding anyone. It is about ensuring that spaces designed for children remain protected. We are committed to continuing to be part of a constructive conversation and working towards balanced solutions that serve the entire community without compromising the safety of our youth. We believe we can support vulnerable population while preserving the safe, dedicated spaces for children. We thank you for your time and your consideration.

Mayor. Thank you. Councilwoman.

I have some mister Dilip, I have some questions for you. So in your in your conversations with with the residents and do can you, tell us how many how many parks do you guys play in? Or which parks? I'm sorry.

So we serve mainly in the West Valley. We park at Oslo Park, Maryview Park, Maryville Park, surrounding areas. But it's not just the facilities that we obtain. Our team spread out throughout the entire city of Phoenix. So even though our main games are held here in the community, we see the effects and impacts far across Phoenix from all these families. You know, we have over 35 teams that participate in different parks around the Phoenix area, and they can all say without a doubt that they see the impacts.

And another question for you. Any of your families that you serve, the families that you've been working with for a long time, could they afford to put their children in private leagues if the parks became unbearable to use?

They cannot. No. Community parks and local parks are such a big impact to our league. That's what makes it possible. And keeping these community parks safe and clean is one of the big and utmost important factors in helping a league like ours that supports the youth run.

So you're saying you you support the ordinance as is?

Correct.

Okay. Thank you. Thank you so much.

Thank you. We'll go next to Danielle and then Karen Olson.

Hello. This is Danielle. Can you guys hear me? We can. Okay. I support this ordinance because I believe it creates safer conditions for residents and community members, especially children. I live near the Cave Creek Park. I'm a mother, and I'm afraid to take my child there. Something as simple as going to the park should feel safe and joyful, but instead I'm scanning the ground and playground equipment for blood filled needles, drug paraphernalia like used foils, used condoms, and anything that could seriously harm my child, if not lead to death like fentanyl. The services in the park are attracting members of the unhoused community who participate in illegal activity.

They're coming into the park and surrounding neighborhoods where they remain for an extended period of time, leave and then return for the next event. In my experiences, these services are not meeting people where they're at. They're bringing them in from wherever they are into the park system and into the neighborhoods. It's concentrating activity in a space that was never designed for it. This has already led to the closure of features like the rock climbing caves due to unhoused illicit activity occurring in them, such as defecation, urination, sexual acts and drug use.

As a result of the events, the city is spending taxpayer doctor dollars reactively modifying playground equipment, installing gates and alleys, addressing ongoing safety concerns rather than proactively addressing the root of the issue. Parks are intended to be safe recreational spaces, not sites for ongoing medical services or food distribution. My neighbors and I have witnessed open drug use at the parks, individuals passed out on our front porches after the events, erratic behavior along the street, people rummaging through our trash cans, banging on our doors after the events, theft from the backyard, drug related altercations. There's been multiple shootings, multiple fires in the park and wash. And when these events don't occur, the issues seem to dissipate.

Let me be clear outreach and medical care are important, but parks are not equipped for this. They lack sanitation, proper medical infrastructure, follow-up care coordination with long term services and delivering care this way is not just ineffective, it's also unfair to the people it's meant to help. A study in the crime and delinquency in 2022 found that higher concentrations of homeless

Councilwoman Stark, could you stay on? I think Councilman Stark has a question.

Thank you. Hey, Daniel. You have been how long calling my office asking for help? Has it been about two years? Yes. And were you once approached by one of the medical, I don't want to get you in an uncomfortable situation, but were you once approached by one of the medical users who Yes. Pretty forceful with you?

Yes. I have personally taken my child to the park in his stroller, been followed toward my house to where I've had to go a different direction, call my husband to come help me because I was scared to call the

police because I didn't wanna be

targeted. So, I have been personally, because I've seen drug use at the park, I tried to take a picture to call and report it. They saw me taking a picture. They were like, oh, it's her that took the picture and then proceeded to follow me. So I have been scared of retaliation, but I'm also trying to stand up for my neighbors and my son.

And I thank you. I know that she has been very nervous about approaching us for the past years, but I want to thank her for testifying today. Thank you, Mayor.

Thank you. Karen is next, followed by Brian Willingham.

Hello. Can you hear me?

We can.

Hi. I'm back as of yesterday. My name is Karen Olson. I am a resident here in Phoenix in District 4. I live and work in District 4.

And I am calling in to oppose the ordinance mainly because I think it is trying to take a symptom and call it the problem. It is trying to police an already over policed city. And it's not actually looking for solutions. It's looking to invisibilize people. I believe that people who are unhoused are our neighbors just as much as children are, and we should not use either of those people as shields or weapons or ways in which we justify statistics that we ourselves abuse.

In particular, in coming today, I was trying to think of what this made me feel. And it's a self fulfilling prophecy. Self fulfilling prophecies occur when a prediction brings about its own fulfillment. In layman's terms, that means that if you believe something is true, you'll act as if it were true. And your actions double down on your prediction to make it a reality.

I mainly bring this up because many different times, statistics, and anecdotes have been used by all sides, to be honest. And I'm here to say, I see the human first and foremost. I want parks to be available for unfounded and children alike because we actually could take resources such as our bloated police budget and put this toward housing people, toward a city that doesn't take away ways in which we don't have enough trash cans. We don't have enough shade. We don't have enough of these resources. And yes, while we may be the city that has the most of them now, we should not champion ourselves that that's enough. I really hope.

Thank you. Brian is next. And Brian is followed by Amanda K. Kaminski. Thank you, Brian.

Hi. May

Well, thank you. My name is Brian Willinghown. I'm president of the United Phoenix Firefighters Local four ninety three representing firefighters and paramedics serving the city and 3,000 firefighters valley wide. An issue. Many of the people living on our streets are struggling with mental health challenges, addiction, trauma, or simply just a series of bad breaks in life, and I think we've all been there for that.

They deserve compassion, dignity, and and access to meaningful services. First, quick sidebar, I'll share with everybody and have no shame in this. I grew up outside of Oakland, California in section eight housing and which is the only opportunity we had to eat in my household. We collected a government box of food every single month. And I'm not ashamed of that.

That's the circumstance that I grew up in, and I'm coming from a space of empathy, and I wanted to be very clear upfront about that. But we also have a responsibility to protect the safety of the entire community, especially children and families and vulnerable residents who use our parks, schools, sidewalks, and public spaces every day. From a public safety perspective, firefighters and paramedics see the reality these encampments of these encampments firsthand. We respond to overdoses, assaults, fires, medical emergencies, adverse conditions, sanitation issues, and and calls involving children and families who no longer feel safe in areas meant for recreation and community use. This ordinance, in my opinion, assumes responsibility.

It is about establishing locations where public safety risks become unacceptable. Schools, parks, shelters, and childcare facilities should remain safe and accessible for the people they were intended to serve, and that's everyone. They're intended to serve everyone. As firefighters, we understand that compassion and accountability are not mutually exclusive exclusive and, in fact, are both necessary.

Thank you so much. Amanda, I did not say your name very well. Kameniscus, I apologize, is next. And then Liliana Santoyo Proxima.

Thank you, Mayor and council members. My name is Amanda Kaminskas. I am speaking to you tonight from three time zones away while I'm supposed to be on vacation. This is how deeply I care about what this council is about to do. I'm a medically retired paramedic, the assistant director of Tom's Palms, and the founder of the Red Heart Pantry, which now operates as a mobile outreach effort serving people in West Phoenix, specifically Maryville. None of this work is paid. I do it because I believe it is what I am supposed to do on this earth. I am Christian. My faith teaches me to feed the hungry. This is not optional to me.

This is a moral obligation. And now this city wants to criminalize that compassion. The state loves to talk about religious liberty, but apparently it only matters when it is politically convenient because now it is my religious liberty being targeted. People are already in these parks. Volunteers like me are not creating homelessness. We are responding to human suffering that already exists. People use drugs whether we approve or not. Harm reduction is about keeping human beings alive. As a paramedic, I quickly learned that people that are dead do not recover. And please do not say just call 911 is the solution.

Not everyone trusts that system, and many people have been traumatized by it. Some people do not want the specific services the city wants to push, and they still deserve to stay alive. So what exactly are we supposed to do when someone is hungry, medically fragile, or withdrawing, and it is not one of the city approved permit days? Walk past them because compassion has been limited to twice a month. Public parks belong to the public, even the people you may not like. You may have the power to criminalize compassion tonight, but you do not have the power to make it wrong. Thank you.

Liliana Proxima and then Alexis Garcia.

Good afternoon. My name is Liliana Santoya Santoya Martinez. Dear mayor and council members, I'm a member of the Andalucia neighborhood. I'm writing to you respectfully to express my opposition to parts of the ordinance regarding parks in this proposal. As a mother, I made a conscious effort to take my son to parks as a space for his development, recreation, and positive social interaction.

However, on several occasions, we found dirty needles, and I've witnessed increasingly concentrated situations of problems in places like University Park. These experiences have been deeply troubling, and frankly, it's been discouraging as a mother. My intention has always been for my son to see parks as safe places where he can learn, play, and grow. And unfortunately, the presence of these dangers and situations has affected this vision. They've raised concerns about their safety.