City Council Formal Meeting - Special Meeting

So Irish dance is comprised of two different forms, the soft shoe, which the dancers started in, and then gonna finish up one more number for you. This is a treble wheel. Again, thank you very much for having us here today and happy Saint Patrick's Day.

It's a real priority for us to have a resilient food system. We want a system that will survive shocks, whether it be a pandemic, supply chain, climate challenges. We're a city that really values our food system. Our roots are agricultural. Phoenix would not exist without Native American farmers and more recent founders who were also in farming. It's definitely in our DNA as a city to have a resilient food system, we want to keep working to make sure that we improve it.

Our first ever Phoenix Food Action Plan started in about 2017. We recognized that there were some challenges out there that people in our community were facing. Kids were hungry, families at the end of the month may not have enough income to purchase food, they may have run out of their SNAP benefits, they may not even have gotten benefits or have resources to know where to get them. So definitely found that there was an opportunity for the city of Phoenix to get involved and do what we could as a local government. So the first step in that is creating a plan.

How do we get from where we are at that particular point in time which was 43 food deserts out of 55 in Maricopa County. So the majority of food deserts, which are places where people have more than a mile to travel to get access to healthy food. So they might have a corner store that has a very sad banana in there but they don't have access to produce and dairy and meat and all the eggs and all of those kinds of products. So within our city nearly half of the population lived in a food desert. So definitely a serious situation that we wanted to get involved with.

The Resilient Food System Initiative was really based on the 2025 Food Action Plan that was adopted by city council in 2020. And so that plan was in place just in time to lay out a vision for what the food system could look like in its programs right when it was really needed during COVID.

The residents then asked us to create a equitable, affordable, sustainable local food economy.

So we created groups, you might even call them focus groups, made up of primarily women of color who were responsible for buying in their household but who faced food insecurity on a daily basis.

I call myself a village mother and in that, I feel like I've grown to do a lot of things. We have an education center. We also do maternal, paternal, and child health work. I'm a traditional midwife. We participated in the 2025 Food Action Plan with the City of Phoenix, and that allowed us at that time to be able to offer, I would call it a wellness kit, but it was more of a fresh food kit, And we tailored it specifically to our pregnant and postpartum families.

Families are really, really appreciative and it was really beneficial because iron is something that is a challenge in our community, especially communities of color. So we wanted to make sure that we had a positive impact in that way. Food is always a key piece, the access to food, the type of food, the quality of food, the nutritional composition. So it doesn't just start and stop at the mother. It extends into the well-being of the family.

Our food action plan was approved by council in March 2020. And just about two weeks later, the pandemic hit with full force and we were all in lockdown.

85% of what's grown here in Arizona is designed to be exported. And it's not that exports are a problem per se, it's that essentially we are growing tomatoes and exporting them and then paying to import somebody else's tomatoes. So from a climate perspective and truly from a resilience perspective, that is terribly broken. And we discovered this during COVID when we had just a wave of calls at Local First Arizona of everything from a cattle rancher that had just slaughtered meat and had the order canceled. Producers who said, we do not have a way to get this food distributed because the restaurant that was supposed to buy it is closed right now.

Our food system here is broken in the middle. We have a lot of producers, and obviously, we have a lot of chefs, restaurants, grocery eaters. And in between is processing, packaging, distribution, storage, and that's the area where we most need investment. The Feed Phoenix program really was a dream of an opportunity for Local First Arizona to partner with the city of Phoenix and specifically with the Office of Environmental Programs to create a program that essentially ran that money through the local economy. We were able to partner with 13 farms and about 45 restaurants, and we put together a connected pipeline to feed families.

So these are farms that had food in the fields that was going to rot because they didn't have a buyer. We were able to come in and buy that food. The chefs on the restaurant end committed to including at least three locally grown products, you know, types of produce in each meal they prepared. And so we were able to be the connection between the farm and the restaurant, get everything delivered. It was really a significant operations to make it all work.

And then we partnered with wonderful entities like Saint Vincent de Paul and Native American Health Services to distribute those meals. So they knew they could count on, you know, every Tuesday, 300 meals or every Thursday, five meals or whatever they needed. So in the end, I think it was 54 businesses said that this program saved them, and that equated to 270 or so jobs. The Feed Phoenix program was largely held up as a wonderful success story nationally. We had a lot of great national coverage for it, and, we had other cities, call us up really regularly to say, how did you make this work?

So what that did was created those connections between the farmers and the restaurants. It also provided healthy meals because that was important to us that those meals had to be healthy. So that kind of behavioral change really helps us to start to move that food system in a different sort of way.

We're growing really big.

Backyard Garden program is a program where we empower residents to grow their own food. And so what we've done is we're working with three different partners, Tiger Mountain Foundation folks who have a raised bed, Leer with the Leer system, and then NXT Horizon with the aquaponics system. And so residents receive one of those garden systems along with seeds, plants, education, maintenance, training, support for one year. Really what it was meant to do was to show people from various levels of gardening skills, how to grow in their own backyard in in Arizona and specifically in Phoenix. What we wanted to see was folks, one, eating more nutritious food but having a healthier lifestyle and then saving money on their food budgets because they had that food right there for them.

Through this program, residents, reported, increasing their daily vegetable intake, spending more time with their families, spending more time outdoors. Some residents even, reported that the program helped them with their anxiety and depression. It's like a stress reliever and it's something that excites me, that lights me up.

That's what my husband said. He was like,

I never seen anything light you up so much, emphasize this. And I was like, well, this is it then. This is what I love.

It's a lot of work, but we got, a lot of food out of it.

And,

it's been a exciting challenge and learning new things. Charlotte's been helping me a lot with keeping the chemistry of the water good

and Painting all the plants, harvesting the plants. Mom's made a lot of food with it.

I actually like the sound of the bubbling water in the backyard and the fact that we've these plants growing out here and we

And then mom

will be like, I don't have this vegetable on it. I need it to make dinner. And we're like, oh, well, we have that. And we go pick it and bring it in.

My son, my two year old, is a very picky eater. But when we would come out here in the garden, he would, like, for instance, the broccoli, he would take the leaves off the broccoli and eat them raw, where my my son does not eat anything but french fries and chicken nuggets and pizza. But for some reason he loved to come out here and help me prune and then he would eat fresh fruits and vegetables right off the vine.

This program is so powerful for so many different reasons. We had residents saying that they shared their harvest with their friends. They shared their harvest with their neighbors, their churches.

Coming back from, you know, the early days of Arizona and Phoenix in particular, we are a farming community. And as we grow and more population comes here and farmland gets converted, we still all have to eat. So it's supporting those various initiatives, the farmers or the residents to grow their own food that's healthy and nutritious and accessible.

I

think the biggest thing with food systems work that I'm passionate about is the partnerships. So the work that we do wouldn't be possible without all of the community and private sector partners that we work with to do it. And so it's really exciting to me when we're able to work with new folks, whether it's a community organization or residents themselves that are really passionate about the food system and want to be involved.

We look at challenges like water use, as well as making sure we have local production, and we're finding solutions. Homer Farms is a great example.

How do we grow vegetables in an area where we have 120 degree temperatures? City of Phoenix came up to us. They wanted to look at partnering with both ASU and SRP to to bring a vertical vertical ag project in a in a food desert location. And we sat down as a group and kind of discussed the project. City of Phoenix was going to bring a portion of land to the project. We would help with some of the infrastructure that was needed for that project.

Three of us founded Homo Farms in 2019 with the purpose to conserve water in Arizona. So we choose to grow leafy green in a vertical farm using hydroponic technologies. Without that program, we won't be here today. That was a program that actually helped us to relocate in Phoenix, help us find a warehouse, get the right zoning, and get us actually start off the ground. So yeah.

We are in a warehouse and it's a fully controlled environment. When people drive by, they may not know or they may not believe there is actually a farm inside the warehouse. But if they actually go to local farmers market, if they actually go to local food banks, and if they actually eat in local restaurants, they will real realize that there are much more local produce with a consistent year long supply from us. So when the weather is not good out there, when the supply is low and they have to pay a premium to

Good afternoon. Welcome to today's special meeting. Will the clerk please call the roll?

Councilwoman Guayvabo? Here. Councilwoman Hernandez? Councilwoman O'Brien? Here. Councilwoman Pastor. Here. Councilman Robinson. Here. Councilwoman Stark. Here. Councilman Waring. Here. Vice Mayor Hutch Washington. Here. Mayor Gallego. Here.

Thank you so much for joining us. Today is a special meeting for the purpose of interviewing candidates for our Chief Presiding Judge of the Phoenix Municipal Court. We have a wonderful court system, and we're thrilled so many people were interested in this position. We have, with the assistance of our Judicial Selection Advisory Board, narrowed it down to three candidates, each of whom we will interview today. Each candidate will have a maximum of forty five minutes to answer.

One candidate at a time will be upstairs in the council chambers and the other two will be in the basement with no audio to ensure a fair interview process. The candidates will be called in alphabetical order by their last names. After the interview, we will take public comments with a maximum of two minutes per speaker. All candidates are welcome upstairs to listen to the public comments. After the public comments, the city council may vote to go in an executive session on this personnel matter.

If approved, the council will go downstairs to the Lower Council chambers for executive session and return to the Upper Council chambers to resume the special meeting and take action or close the meeting. The order of candidates today will be judge Wilbur Hudson, judge Michelle Liu Sang, judge Tina Solomon. Do any of my colleagues have comments before we begin the interview or questions? All right. Well then we will begin with Judge Wilbur Hudson.

And if you could please come forward, thank you. Thank you for your service to our city. Please introduce yourself and outline the professional experiences, qualifications, and leadership competencies that have prepared you for the role of chief presiding judge. Additionally, describe what aspects of this opportunity prompted you to pursue it, and welcome.

Alright. William, thank you for having me. I appreciate the opportunity. I started out as bailiff for judge Patterson. I was a staff member of his court. From there, I went to the county attorney's office. From there, I went to the attorney general's office. I was the civil rights and employment attorney for the northern half of the state. I was the Arizona Fair Housing attorney for the state. I helped write the, Arizona Fair Housing statute.

From there, I went to a firm called Jones, Gellman, Hockley. I did some civil practice, some municipal liability work. And from there, I went and formed my own practice. I did civil, criminal. I practiced in city courts around the county. I practiced in justice courts around the county. I practiced in courts outside of the county. I had a federal practice. I was on the federal panel for a number of years. And from there, I became a city thinks municipal court judge.

I wanna back up a little bit. So while I was doing that, my experience with this court is approximately thirty years. I started out as a public defender in the old court building on 7th And Van Buren. I was one of the first attorneys to work the veteran stand down. As a Phoenix public defender, I worked in I did arraignments. I worked in a very high volume in custody division, it was Judge Cota's. I worked in our prior chief presiding judge Song Ong's division, I worked in judge James Carter's division. He used to be the city prosecutor. Along the way, I've learned a lot. I learned a lot about demeanor, how to manage a court.

I would like to think I had close relationships with all of them. I also worked in our jail court. I've done almost everything you can do as an attorney in this system. Once I became a judge, I worked in what we call arraignments or walk in courts. I did that for three years. From there, I went into a very high volume, in custody division. From there, I went to a out of custody division. I've worked in our civil traffic courts. I've worked in our protective orders, doing injunctions against harassment, injunctions against workplace harassment, protective orders of protection. I was also the trucking court judge for Phoenix Missile Court.

And I currently and for the last approximately eight years have worked in a trial division and been a specialty court judge. I am the veterans court judge for Phoenix Municipal Court. It is one of the largest veterans courts in the state and I believe in the country. The reason why I pursued this position is because I've spent almost thirty years in this system. I've developed friends, relationships along the way.

I've seen what this court was, what it is, and I know what it can be. While working in this system, I've had the pleasure of helping, with the CAP program. I have seen behavioral health court, community court, and veterans court, and I know what restorative justice can do for our community. I know that I can help make this, a place where everybody, this court we have what in veterans court is called a vet court family. Every single week, we sit down with the stakeholders, the city prosecutor's office, the city public defender's office, the veterans administration, and numerous community partners.

And we sit down and look at what's the goal, is to have our veterans be in the best place they can be. Having been in our court, we want them to be better off from having the opportunity to be in any other court. We look at them and tell them that, look, we're gonna help you get to your healthiest, your most productive and the happiest. And we do that through collaboration with the stakeholders and just recently we've reached out to the office of Homeless Solutions to help us with our mission. I want to be the chief presiding judge of this court because it's important to me. I care about people.

Part of

it is the reason the way I was raised. My great grandmother was a pastor, my grandfather was a pastor, my dad's brother, Bob was a pastor, my sisters ordained, I was ordained by the late great Reverend Brooks. Giving is part of who my family is, it's part of who I am. I want everybody in Phoenix Municipal Court to want to be there. I want them to be their best self.

I want to help them achieve their goals. I watched my mother, she worked two jobs, a good portion of my life. My mother was a nurse. She worked at a hospital and then she worked after she got off work at a doctor's office. She would come home, put dinner on the table, make sure we were doing our homework. And then she had a box, she had a tin box that had files of people that did not make their doctor's appointments. If there was something to be concerned about, my mother would leave us and she would go to their homes. She would go to their homes to check on them to make sure they were okay. My dad's no different. He's one of the greatest men I've ever known.

My dad always had a business, sometimes he had a business and a job. My dad would get off of work late night and come check on me. Son, how you doing? Let's go out and shoot some baskets. Let's go run. Let's go ride our bikes. My community, I'm from Illinois, my community was experiencing some significant violence. My father started a program called Co Pops. He took the young men in the community and he wrapped his arms around and he organized different community groups to mentor what we would now call at risk youth. And they really cut down on the violence in our community.

I've been on the board of Southwestern Presbyterian Church on 16th And Broadway. I've been on the board of Faith Family Community Church. I've been on the board of Bethel. I've been on the board of Southeast Neighborhood Development, Three Court Foundation, Hudson Heroes, the common theme, the common denominator is giving back. I've put so much of my community service, my heart, my spirit into this community because it's important to me.

I know what this court can be. I know its place in the community. I know what we can do to bring the community into our court. We practice procedural justice. We want everybody that comes in that court to understand that you're respected, you're treated fairly, equally, you're given the dignity that you deserve. You shouldn't come into the court and be intimidated because you see a prosecutor in a suit and a tie and a judge sitting up on a bench above you. You should know when you come into that court that you're gonna get a fair shake. That's my reason.

Thank you so much. Vice mayor.

Thank you, mayor. Congratulations, judge Hudson for making it this far. My question for you is two parts. What guiding principles shape your approach to judicial leadership within a large municipal court system? And two, how have you exemplified those principles in your professional career today? I'll say it one more time. What guiding principles shape your approach to judicial leadership within a large municipal court system? And two, how have you exemplified those principles in your professional career today?

Alright. So the guiding principles for me are honesty, integrity, open communication, making sure everyone understands that you respect their role. Doesn't matter if they're I was a bailiff. Doesn't matter whether you're bailiff or a judge or anything in between. There's not a bunch of big eyes and little use in the court system. My guiding principles of honesty and integrity, you walk it, you do it every single day. People see you, judge gave me one of the best compliments I've had in a long time. He said, Will, you're a grinder. You're the first one in and you're of the last ones to leave every day. I try to beat you in the work and I can't do it.

You lead by example. You have open communication. I walk around every day and I talk to my staff, I talk to them, I ask them how you're doing. I want feedback from them. If there's something that we can do better, I wanna know.

Just because I'm a judge doesn't mean I know everything, in fact I don't. And you can get great ideas from any place and if you have one, I want to hear it. I use those principles in a large municipal court in veterans court, we do it every week. As I said earlier, we sit down with the veterans administration, we sit down with the prosecutor's office, we sit down with the public defender's office, we have community partners, community bridges, Valley Of Phoenix Rescue Mission, Southwest Behavioral, we Axiom, we sit down collectively and we come up with a game plan to put our veterans in the best possible place. That's why.

Councilman O'Brien.

Thank you, mayor. The city charter establishes the city court system as an independent branch of the city of Phoenix government. Court employees remain subject to the city's work rules, employment laws, and many of the same labor agreements as other city employees. As chief presiding judge, how would you manage employee relations within this dual framework of judicial independence and citywide employment structures? Additionally, how would you promote professional development opportunities to ensure your staff continues to excel in serving the public?

Alright. Alright. So, we are independent branches, but we still work for the same city. And employment law is employment law. So the city of Phoenix is one of the best run cities in the nation, not the county, not the state in the nation.

They have an incredible human relations staff. I did some employment law back in my previous previous practice, whether it is the Phoenix Municipal Court or City Hall or any branch of this, great city, we have to follow the law. And I would. With respect to helping develop or helping our employees develop, I think you do that by sitting, at least I've done it in the past by sitting down and putting out goals. What are your employment goals?

Where do you see yourself in a year? Where do you see yourself in two or three years? Where do you ultimately want to go? These are the steps. Let's sit down and see if we can agree on the steps that you need to take to get there. You're working in courtroom operations. Do you have any background or have you worked in records? Have you worked in customer service? What it is, we down and we would sit down and put a plan together to meet the needs of your next step, to get you to the next level.

May ask a follow-up,

ma'am? Please.

Do you believe the court employees should, take all the same required trainings that other city employees are required to take?

Absolutely.

Thank you. Councilman Waring.

What metrics or indicators do you consider most important when evaluating the performance of the court?

The Arizona Supreme Court gives us time standards or guidelines in how we're supposed to have cases adjudicated. I think that is important. In the past, and this was I've been around the court system for a very long time. Back in the day, there used to be cases that hung around for not months, but years. And so I think the time standards are extremely important.

I think along with the time standards, looking at how we're resolving motions, whether cases are being adjudicated prior to trial, how many of them are, how many of are actually going to trial, how many are being set for trial. I think those are the primary indicators that let you know whether or not the system is working right. The majority of cases aren't gonna go to trial. And the majority of cases should not take an extended period of time if they're gonna plea, if they're gonna be resolved short of a trial. A lot of it has to do with whether or not the state can give the defense what we call discovery, that's police reports, toxicology reports.

I think those are important metrics because I don't care how motivated you are to move a case, if the defense does not have all the necessary information it needs to evaluate the case, it's gonna get hung up. It's gonna take some time. Yesterday, I had two cases that they've gone on for months and it wasn't that the defense attorney was dragging his feet, it's that the state did not have the ability to give them the blood tests. They've been waiting on the blood test for months. I think you have to look at all of that when you're evaluating how efficient a court is. Thank you.

Councilwoman Stark.

Thank you. As the chief presiding judge, your role in the community is critical. How do you engage the community organizations or local government partners to address systemic issues that come before the court?

So I alluded to it a little earlier, I've been deeply invested in the Phoenix community for well over thirty years. I shouldn't say well over, but approximately thirty years. I've been on the boards of multiple churches, multiple civic organizations, I have ties to the community. One of the bigger issues the city is facing is, and we do have multiple chronic issues, but for instance, there's an unsheltered issue that the city is facing, it's significant. The city of Phoenix is almost uniquely qualified to deal with it.

We have three outstanding restorative justice courts. We have a behavioral health court that's presided over by Judge Sanchez, we have a community court that's presided over by Judge Hernandez and I am the Veterans Court Judge. If you come to our courts, you'll see on a weekly basis, we take the unsheltered and they become housed. We take those with serious substance abuse issues and they get clean and sober. We take those that are unemployed and we get them employed.

We do that by using evidence based modalities of treatments that are designed to eliminate some of those issues that actually cause individuals to be unsheltered. I also think we can make better use of what we call our community resource centers. We have two community resource centers, one on the 1st Floor, one on the 2nd Floor. There is a wealth of information for those that wanna take advantage of it. I think one of the things I one of the things I would do as Chief Presiding Judge, is I would gather that information.

It's maybe too much to put in one pamphlet, but I would put together a flyer or pamphlet and I would disseminate it around the court so that those, not just defendants, but victims and witnesses that need those services could take advantage of it.

Councilwoman Pessdorf.

Thank you, mayor. Congratulations. What do you see as the biggest challenges facing the court today and how would you address them?

Well, an easy one is budget. Budget is always big. If you're an administrator, you're going to live with the budget. It affects virtually everything that you do, who you can hire, who you can retain, the programs that you can implement. And when you're dealing with budgets, sometimes you have to make tough calls.

Ran my own practice for eighteen years, I know the need for fiscal responsibility. You sit down with By the way, the city thinks doesn't have good staff, it has great staff in the municipal court and outside of the municipal court. But in the municipal court specifically, most of those people I've known for over twenty years, I trust them, they trust me. You sit down with the department heads and you say, okay, what is essential? You cover the things that are essential and then you work from there.

I also think accessibility is one of the major issues. When I started with the city of Phoenix in jail court, we had at least three settings. I believe we have four, but now we have two. So what's happening is defendants are having to go longer hours without seeing a judge. That is very disconcerting for them.

One of the things we may have to do is take a serious look at expanding court hours. We may need to if if we look at the numbers and if it's justified and we can do it fiscally responsibly, we may need to expand court hours. I also think we can make greater use of, and this goes into my my third one, technology. We have existing technology that we can use better. Enterprise justice is gonna come on board regardless of who the chief presiding judge is.

The March date is February 2027. But the court has some it has some technologies that we're using but not to their fullest. So on the civil side, we're using video conferencing to do hearings, but only on the civil side. We're not using them on the criminal side. If I were chief presiding judge, I'd make that available to all my judges. You have to do it again as you can afford to put in the equipment and you have to do those things. Can you a great deal of the people, maybe the majority of people we see qualify

for

a public defender. That means they are at or near the federal poverty guideline. Every time they have to take a half a day off work or a day off work, it is impactful to their finances, to their family, and to the community. If we had the ability to do video conferencing and all they had to do was step outside of the workplace for fifteen minutes for a hearing, that would make a significant difference to a lot of their lives. We also use teleconferencing, we need to make better use of it.

It is more applicable on the post adjudicated side or after people are convicted. My pod mate, Judge Surta is one of the best I've ever seen. If you look at her sense review and stat dockets, which are following up on the sentences that defendants have been given once they've been convicted. She does an incredible job of eliminating before that court date, a lot of those cases. So a lot of her defendants do not have to come to court.

And that takes a lot of work. Really, really working hard to do it, but she's excellent at doing it. And that's something I would look at implementing, or at least encouraging the judges in our court to do a little better. Then I call it creative scheduling. Yesterday, we had two defendants in our court that had been in court multiple times.

We were running into the problems with the toxicology reports, them all the discovery they needed. I sat down with the state and the defense and I said, look, do we know that we're gonna have this in thirty days? And the answer was no. I said, we agree to waive the defendant? We'll still set the hearing, but can we agree to waive the defendant's presence so they won't have to show up to a court date where they may not have all the information they need to make an informed decision.

Thank you. Thank you. Councilwoman Gordado.

Thank you, mayor. Good afternoon.

Good afternoon.

Many courts have adopted technologies such as virtual hearings to improve accessibility, yet usage remains inconsistent. Would you prioritize broader adoption adoption, I'm sorry, of virtual hearings? And how would you communicate and implement this initiative with staff to ensure a smooth rollout and effective access for the community?

Well, let me say, I'm in complete agreement with that. I since I was a public defender almost thirty years ago, I was in favor of doing anything that would lighten the burden on And let me back up, it's not just defendants. Every time somebody has to take off work, whether you're a victim or a witness, it impacts you. And so anything we can do to lighten the load on the defendants, victims, witnesses and law enforcement. Every time we have to take an officer off the street, every time an officer has to come to court that's unnecessary, that impacts the community too.

We have a model right now that we're using on the civil side of the house. Judge Villa is the master of video conferencing. I would have her come in and do some training for the rest of our court, show them the efficacy of it, the fact that it will cut down on has the potential to cut down on the dockets and lighten the load on defendants, sometimes witnesses and victims as well. And and I would encourage them to do so.

Thank you. You're welcome.

Thank you. And we had a request if you could put the microphone a little bit closer.

Sorry about that. Is that That

is wonderful. Thank you. Councilman Robinson.

Thank you, mayor. Judge Hudson, what strategies do you use to ensure consistency and fairness across all court divisions under your supervision?

I'm not the chief presiding judge, but what I would do is, you know, for I believe in leading by example. If you're doing it, virtually everybody in the court will do it too. I told you I'm usually the first one in the building and I'm typically one of the later ones to leave. What I would do is sit down and have a training. We have judges meetings, and I'd explain to them why we need to do this.

We practice what's called procedural justice. Procedural justice is one of the most important things you can do. I practice it every day and I try to do it with every hearing. It's letting everyone that comes in your courtroom know that they're gonna be treated equally, fairly, and partially with dignity. You you let everyone understand that you respect them and that you want them to have a meaningful opportunity to be heard.

A lot of times people come in and they're intimidated in our courts. It's a big beautiful building. Again, you have a judge sitting up there on a bench. You have a prosecutor who knows all the legalese. You, have a defendant that maybe has never been in court, or if they've been in court it hasn't been very often. It it's so easy to say, look, this is not a race. I wanna hear what you have to say. Do you need a recess? Because we can recall your case. 90% of the time, they're just saying that decompresses that defendant and it gives them an opportunity to actually express themselves.

We do training in veterans court. I would do the same thing for the court in general. People come in and the staff and sometimes even other judges have come in and sat down and watch how we conduct ourselves in veterans court. We can do the same thing in trial court. We also have training judges in our court. That would be one of the things I would have the training judges emphasize. This is how we operate. This is who Phoenix Municipal Court is. We want everybody to come through that door to receive procedural justice. We want them to be respected, being treated with dignity, fairly and impartially.

I tell defendants all the time, this is not a race, I'm gonna be here. You take your time, I wanna hear what you have to say. We would have our training judges do that for all of our judges.

Thank you.

Councilwoman Hernandez.

Thank you, mayor, and congratulations, judge Hudson. The municipal court currently operates three specialty courts Yes. Community court, veterans court, and the behavioral health, court. Each court is designed to address underlying issues and re reduce recidivism through evidence based practices. How would you approach expanding or enhancing the specialty court model, and what methods or metrics would you use to evaluate the effectiveness and long term impact of these courts? Alright.

So how would we expand those? We have to get out with our community partners. We have good relationships with Los Alamos Gado. We need to reach out to Chicano Port la Casa. We need to reach out to the Urban League. We need to get out in the community. That's one of the things I did when I was with the attorney general's office. I went out into the community. I also did it in my practice. Once they understand that the resources are available, is big as Veterans Court is and it is big and as big as behavioral court is, and those are big, huge courts, they could be much bigger.

But a lot of people don't even know that those are available to them. My method would be to go to the churches, go to the community organizations, the civil groups, I mean the civic groups, and give them the information, make presentations to them. I used to go out on Saturdays and do stuff like access to law day and you can inform them of what's available to them. And the metrics I would use to determine whether or not they're being successful is just to track it. We need to track it, we need to see how many are coming in, what they're doing six months from now, a year from now.

Just anecdotally, know veterans court is extremely successful. Since I've been the veterans court judge, we've had over 3,000 veterans come in, we've had over 1,500 successful graduations. The rate of recidivism is extremely low, but we need to put the numbers to it. We need the resources to be able to actually track it.

Thank you. Thank you so much for answering one question from each of us. We really appreciate the time you've put into this and thank you for your interest in this very important position.

Listen. Thank you. It's been an honor and a privilege. I thank you for allowing me to get to this point.

Thank you to judge Hudson. And in a moment, we will welcome judge Michelle losing. Judge, welcome and congratulations. We had a wide applicant pool and you were one of our three who rose to the top. We're thrilled in your interest.

Each of us will ask you one question. We have forty five minutes, and I will begin. Please introduce yourself and outline the professional experiences, qualifications, and leadership competencies that have prepared you for the role of Chief Presiding Judge. Additionally, describe what aspects of this opportunity prompted you to pursue it.

Good afternoon. My name is Michelle Lu Sang. I'm currently a judge on the Chandler Municipal Court bench. I have twenty eight years of judicial experience. I was first appointed at a bench, to the Mesa City bench in 1998, and I rapidly became an educator of judges.

I just fell into the role, and I found that I was good at it. I was able to impart the knowledge that I had then, and what I have learned over twenty four years of teaching is that every time you teach, you learn. People ask me why I keep going back to teach, and my response is, every time you teach, you learn. I have not ever gone to teach new judges without actually learning something myself. And part of the I feel that I'm qualified for this position.

Why I'm seeking it is that, as I've sat through twenty plus years of new judge orientation, I've been exposed to the administrative aspects of being a judge because potentially every judge has to be an administrative presiding judge. If you are the only judge in the court, you are by default the presiding judge. So I had to teach new judges how to do that as well, how to navigate the administrative aspect of being a judge, how to be a presiding judge, and how to be a leader in that role. Before I was appointed to bench, I actually opened an office. It was the public defender's office representing dependent children.

I was a juvenile public defender supervisor for about four years and a decision was made that the kids and the dependency system were probably not getting the best representation and they would get better representation if there was an actual office tasked with representing them. So, I opened that office and it was a very successful office. I only ran that office for a year but it's still in existence. It really accomplished what we wanted to accomplish, which was consistent, good representation of dependent children.

Wonderful. And is there anything about your background before you became a judge that you want us to pay particular attention to?

I've always been committed to public service. Originally, first job was a juvenile public defender, and then I was a Phoenix City prosecutor, that was an incredible experience. I think that is what put me in a position to actually be appointed to the bench. The skills that I learned as a prosecutor and then I was an assistant attorney general representing what was then called child protective services. I represented case workers.

So that also put me in a position where I had a lot of skills. I have an affinity for Phoenix. Cut my teeth as an attorney in Phoenix. It was juvenile court than it was the Phoenix prosecutor's office, which was the best program I've ever attended as far as teaching me unbelievable skills. And as an assistant attorney general, again, you know, I I feel such a connection to Phoenix because I believe that all of that experience is what allowed me to be appointed in Mesa because when I was appointed in bench in 1998, I had never been a pro tem judge because I was always a government lawyer.

So I wasn't able to volunteer my time to pick up any judicial skills. So, the Mesa City Council decided to take a chance on someone who was untried. I'd never been on the bench before I was actually appointed to the bench, and I would have to say that I did not disappoint them, because I believe that every day as a judge, I have to earn being on the bench. I have never taken being on the bench for granted. I never assumed I would be reappointed every two years, every four years because it is such an honor to be on the bench.

It's such a a position of trust that it's something that I have to work toward every single day. And I feel that I do that. I again I've never felt entitled to it. Because it's something that's earned and something you have to keep earning.

Thank you. I'll turn to the vice mayor.

Thank you, and congratulations on making it this far in our process. My question is two part. The first part is what guiding principles shape your approach to judicial leadership within a large municipal court system? And two, how have you exemplified those principles in your professional career to date? And I'll say it one more time for you. What guiding principles shape your approach to judicial leadership within a large municipal court system? And two, how have you exemplified those principles in your professional career to date?

The guiding principle is an absolute commitment to justice and the rule of law. We have to have confidence in our justice system. Everyone has to feel confident that the court works for them. It doesn't matter if it is a large court or a small court. If the public does not feel that the court system is there for them to resolve differences, because that's what we go to court for.

It's an adversary position. It always is. That's why there are lawsuits, but the parties walking out of any court proceeding must feel that they've been heard, they've been treated fairly, and they've had due process. That's why it's very important to always follow the rule of law. Follow the procedures. Don't ever take any shortcuts. And leadership in an organization is I I believe you lead by example. You have to be on time. You have to care. I'm on the bench every single day on time.

And my philosophy as a judge is, even if there is nothing for me to do immediately while on the bench, I don't want the court, my courtroom full of people wondering, where's the judge? Does she have something more important to do? No. The important thing I need to do is to be on the bench, to adjudicate cases, to be a presence for them, to know that I am there, I'm available. So the most important thing I think really is I'm leading by example and preparing if you have multiple, you know, multiple judge court, preparing other judges to lead by example because judges are all leaders.

We don't directly supervise our court clerks, but we have to have a good relationship with them and show them that we understand what it is they are doing, how important it is that their jobs are. You know, it's important to be a judge, but it's really important to be a court clerk as well. I can't do my job without good court clerks. You know, it's yes. Nothing can happen without me being there.

That's why I'm there all the time, but I acknowledge and I let everyone that I work with know that we are a team, everyone is important, in order to make the system work we have to work together. We have to get along and we spend so much time at our jobs that's important that it's a comfortable, safe place where we feel valued.

Thank you. Councilwoman O'Brien.

Thank you so much, mayor. The city charter establishes the city court system as an independent branch of the city of Phoenix government. Court employees remain subject to the city's work rules, employment laws, and many of the same labor agreements as other city employees. As chief presiding judge, how would you manage employee relations within this dual framework of judicial independence and citywide employment structures? Additionally, how would you promote professional development opportunities to ensure your staff continues to excel in serving the public?

A presiding judge has to be well aware of the separation of powers because that is important. That is why we have checks and balances. The court is independent, but the court also has to adhere to the city, know, the HR department and the rules that the city has. A lot of it is on education, and we we we need to know what our roles are to govern a city. And as a presiding judge, I'll make sure that there's that independence of the court, but still completely adhere to what we need to adhere to as far as the other city departments where, you know, HR.

It's it's important that we follow the HR rules. I've had a lot of supervisory training regarding human resources because you know, there there are just so many federal rules that we need to follow and I like rules, and I think it's a good thing we have these rules, so I believe we absolutely have to follow the rules. So I think we can function as a court and be independent and still adhere to all of those things that need to be adhered to as far as HR and other issues like that. When it comes to promoting and keeping a workforce, that's really close to me because all of the courts have a lot of vacancies. I thought it was so important to be mindful of that I actually joined a committee.

It's a committee on leadership and workforce excellence. And the reason I joined that is I want to see what I, as a judge, can do to encourage people to stay within the judiciary, to let them know that there is room for growth and how we can encourage that growth. I like continuity, I like when people stay because when people leave, especially if they leave after a very short period of time, you lose so much. You have so much time spent in training. And I've lost some very good clerks that I wish had stayed.

And I think all of the courts experience the same type of thing. How do we keep people in the judiciary? Let them know that they can grow and show them the path to growth so that they'll stay an enhanced institution.

Thank thank you.

Councilman Waring. What metrics or indicators do you consider most important when evaluating the performance of the court?

I think that the most important indicator is how the court users feel. Do they feel that they've been treated fairly? Do they feel that when they come into court to do any business whatsoever, if they're coming to deal with a parking ticket, if they're coming for protection or some kind of restraining order, if they're coming as a witness, that they are respected, that their time is valued. It's very important that anyone, any court user feels that they're important because they are important. They're in the court because there is some reason they're in the court, either, again, as a defendant, as a witness, as someone seeking, you know, seeking some type of protective order, as a juror.

I don't want jurors to come to my court and feel that their time isn't important, and we waste time. I don't believe in wasting anyone's time. My time is important, and everyone who walks into the court building, their time is just as important as my time, regardless of what they do for a living. Time is important. We're limited. We all have limited times. We need to make the best use of it that we can. So I I really think it's how the people who use the court facilities feel about the experience they've had.

Thank you.

Thank you. Councilwoman Stark.

Thank you, mayor. As the chief presiding judge, your role in the community is critical. How do you engage with community organizations or local government partners to address the systemic issues that come before the court?

We all all have to work together. I believe it's very important for judges, particularly the presiding judge, to be well known in the community. Because if we're not well known in the community, it's hard to get that trust and the community needs to know that aside from what we do on the bench and judges are, you know, judges twenty four seven. We don't stop being judged when we are no longer on the bench. So community involvement is very important and communication, talking to the other branches of government.

What's the issue? How can the court help? And I I have to tell you, I'm really impressed that when I found out that the Phoenix Municipal Court has a community justice resource center, I was blown away by that. I was odd and I don't get odd usually because what the Phoenix City Court has been able to, I'm sure, with the help, you know, with council had had been involved in allowing this community justice resource center to be in existence. It is such a great program.

It is forward thinking. It meets the needs of so many people that I I wish every court could have a community justice resource center. I wish my court in Chandler had it, but we don't. And Phoenix is a a much larger court, so it's probably easier when it's a larger court, but I think something like that is needed in every community because it addresses so many things that cause people to get involved in the court system and to stay involved in the court system. Some people just can't get out of, you know, they have one brush with the law and it's continuous and there are ways that I think as a court that we can address those issues and I I know Phoenix has the community court and that is something that works well and again, we have to work with every branch of government to make these type of programs successful.

Thank you, Councilwoman Festival. Thank you, mayor. Congratulations.

Thank you.

You're welcome. What do you see as the biggest challenges facing the court today, and how would you address them?

If it's the court as a whole or specifically with the Phoenix City Court, I think the biggest challenge is going to digital files. I think that's the biggest challenge because it's tough to go from paper files. I have been in a court that went from paper files to electronic files, and there's resentment because it's difficult. Every time something changes, it's hard to change, even though it ends up being for the better. When I was in Mason, we went from paper files to electronic files.

Even those people who weren't a fan of electronic files, once they realized how much more efficient it was and they were allowed to have input in how the system worked, it worked out well. Know Phoenix is a lot larger than any court that I've ever worked in, but I think the same things, could address it the same way. You have to talk to people. You have to talk to the people who are actually going to be working with these programs. So for the short term, I think the biggest thing facing Phoenix is electronic files.

And I know it's been a couple of, you know, two or three years since the transition has been in place, and it will eventually transition, but it must only transition when whatever system is used can meet the needs of the court. Phoenix is a big court, it's the largest court in Arizona, it's the fifth largest court in the nation, and I really think that whatever the Phoenix City Court does can be an example for other large city courts in the nation. I mean, I think Arizona as far as judiciary goes is, you know, they're well known and has a good reputation and I I think Phoenix can be that as well. I know it's you know, municipal court is different from a general jurisdiction court but we are so forward thinking in Arizona that anything that happens in Phoenix Municipal Court, I think, can have a ripple effect in the rest of the country. Honestly think that.

Thank you, Councilwoman Gordado.

Thank you, mayor. Good afternoon and congratulations. Thank you. Many courts have adopted technologies such as virtual hearings to improve accessibility. Yet usage remains inconsistent. Would you prioritize broader adoption of virtual hearings? And how would you communicate and implement this initiative with staff to ensure a smooth rollout and effective access for the community. Okay. I believe that we need to make justice more accessible. I cannot tell you my frustration when in Chandler, where

I sit currently, there is a defendant who lives in Phoenix, has no transportation, can't get to court because they have no transportation. Sometimes they have no money. So they miss court. A warrant is issued. They come into court and the warrant is quashed, they are given a new court appearance, and they miss court again for transportation.

Transportation is a huge issue. And if we use more virtual proceedings, I believe that the failure to appear rate will go down tremendously. And I think probably the most important thing about having people involved is the education of the staff. I'm not a techie. I struggle with technology to some extent, but I think it's important.

If you show people, teach them how to use it, bring up their comfort level, I think people will actually want to use it. So I I really think that we need to use more virtual hearings so the cases can be resolved and people can move on with their lives. And they can't move on with their lives if they keep getting warrants issued because they can't appear because they don't have transportation.

Thank you so much. Mhmm. Councilman Robinson.

Thank you, mayor. Judge, what strategies do you use to ensure consistency and fairness across all court divisions under your supervision?

I think that's a difficult question, and it's a difficult question because we can assure consistency and fairness to the extent that if we have five judges, we don't overload any particular judge. We make sure that the cases are evenly distributed. There's a program that does that. A case comes in, it's assigned to a particular judge, and I think it's just assigned according to the numbers. So we can promote consistency and fairness as far as caseload management.

As far as fairness, the important thing is making sure that the judges are up to date with regard to case law. Presiding judges, they don't direct a judge how to judge. We trust that our judges have been educated, and they are going to make the best judgment they can for that case. If, let's say, I were to get a complaint about a judge's demeanor, that is something that needs to be addressed. Judges get into trouble for demeanor more so than they get in trouble for rulings.

And if it's a demeanor issue with anyone, we need to respect everyone who comes before us. It doesn't matter who that defendant is. We need to respect them. We may not agree with what they're saying, but we need to listen to them. And, I would ensure that people who are using the court, particularly defendants, because the reality is defendants aren't there voluntarily, they don't want to be there.

They are summoned to court because there has been some problem with the law. So they come in feeling as if they are being targeted, and if they're not respected by a judge, then, I will address that issue because that is really important because we are the face. We in limited jurisdiction courts, we adjudicate probably 95% of the cases that come into the justice system. So we're the face of justice. We're the people who people go in at dinnertime, they talk about the experience they've had with the judge.

And that's what is viral. If you have a good experience with a judge, that's good. But know, them talk about good experiences, they talk about bad experiences. So my goal would be to make sure that every experience they have, it may not be the outcome that they want, but it is an outcome that they understand. So as far as justice and fairness, I will make sure that all of the judges and the court treat everyone with the utmost respect and due process and the rule of law.

Thank you.

Councilwoman Mandis.

Thank you, Mayor. Thank you and congratulations. The Phoenix Municipal Court currently operates three specialty community court, veterans court, and behavioral health court. Each court is designed to address underlying issues and reduce recidivism through evidence based practices. How would you approach expanding or enhancing the specialty court model? And what methods or metrics, would you use to evaluate the effectiveness and long term impact of these courts?

I am a very I advocate for specialty courts because they've been shown to work. They're very labor intensive, and if done right, they can be very successful. And you evaluate the success of a specialty court by looking at the people who have gone through the court. Have they gotten to the point where there is no longer court involvement? And it is very individualized.

Some people on the specialty court for a long time. Some people just shorter period of time but the whole goal is to address the underlying legal issues to keep them from coming back into the system. So, evaluating the success of it is looking at individual cases. You know, did someone come into the court system with 15 outstanding trespassing cases? Have they resolved it?

And when was the last one? You know, if they come in and they keep getting it and when it comes to, you know, offenses such as trespassing and when it comes to substance abuse, some issues, you know, do we still have this person coming in repeatedly with possession of drug paraphernalia charges? And because of course the whole goal is to stop that behavior from happening. So looking at cases to see if the recidivism rate. That's what it's about. You know we want to stop that.

Well, thank you so much for answering one question from each of us and for your service in our judiciary in the State of Arizona. We appreciate your time. Thank you. I think we will next welcome Judge Tina Solomon for your final interview.

Yeah. Okay.

Welcome Judge Solomon. Thank you for your interest in the Chief Presiding Court position. We had a lot of interest and you were one of

our three

finalists. Each one of us will ask you one question. And I will go first, if you could just introduce yourself and outline your professional experiences, qualifications and leadership competencies that have prepared you for the role of Chief Presiding Judge. Additionally, describe what aspects of this opportunity prompted you to pursue it. Welcome and congratulations.

Thank you. Mayor, Vice Mayor, and Council Members, good afternoon. My name is Tina Solomon, and first and foremost, I want to thank all of you for the opportunity to interview today. It's an honor and a privilege to be here and be considered for this position. I want to tell you a little bit about myself first of all.

I'm currently a City of Phoenix Municipal Court Judge. I have been since 2018, and I preside over a very busy in custody docket, often dealing with domestic violence cases. I'm also involved in the computer, the committee in the court where we are transforming paper files to digital files, which is the computer management system. Prior to being on the bench, I was a prosecutor for nineteen years, also in the City Of Phoenix. And prior to that, I was a bailiff for Judge Mo Portley in juvenile court.

And that's where I first saw how a judge can impact a person's life. On a more personal level, I am a City Of Phoenix resident. I am married to a wonderful husband. I have been over twenty two years. We have a very strong willed teenage daughter, and she would want me to tell you that we also have a sweet 12 year old golden retriever. So that is me in a nutshell, and I welcome all of

your questions. Wonderful. Thank you. We'll begin. We'll go next to our vice mayor.

Thank you. Congratulations again for making it this far as one of our finalists.

Thank you.

My question is two parts, so I'll start off one. What guiding principles shape your approach to judicial leadership within a large municipal system? And two, how have you exemplified those principles in your professional career today? I'll say it one more time for you to make sure

you got

Thank you. One, what guiding principles shape your approach to judicial leadership within a large municipal court system? And two, how have you exemplified those principles in your professional career today?

Alright. Well, I will tell you one guiding principle that has always been with me is the golden rule and treat other people how you would like people to treat you. And it is very important to me to treat people with respect and dignity, compassion and kindness. And that has always guided me. Also, what guides me is doing the right thing, and I believe in justice.

And I will tell you that I'm a person, I say what I mean, and I do what I say. So I'm never gonna tell you something just so that you can hear it. If I say it, I mean it, and I will follow-up with that. I treat people with kindness, compassion, accountability, and respect in my courtroom, and I do that through the elements of procedural justice. I call the litigants by name.

I engage in dialogue. I don't use, you know, big words or, you know, condescending attitudes. I speak to people on a level that I feel comfortable with. And based on my humble upbringings, I'm never going to be the person in the room who is saying the biggest words or trying to get you to believe I'm the smartest person in the room because I am absolutely not. But what I will do is I will dialogue, I will talk to people, I will listen to what they say, and so that guides me because I truly believe that I can make a difference in people's lives.

I saw that in juvenile court with judge Portley. As a prosecutor. There were victims behind each case that deserved help. There were defendants that deserved fair and just treatment, and I carried that onto the bench as well. So when I speak to people, I speak in just the way I've talked to you.

This may seem silly, but I have some defendants who come in when I'm not there on a particular day, and they're like, Where's my judge? I want to speak to my judge. And I take pride in that because I believe that I'm engaging with them, and I'm hoping that I'm making an impact. So those are guiding principles as a judge, as a person, and, of course, as I would be as a chief presiding judge.

Thank you. Councilwoman O'Brien.

Thank you, mayor. Thank you for being with us here today. The city charter establishes the city court system as an independent branch of the city of Phoenix government. Court employees remain subject to the city's work rules, employment laws, and many of the same labor agreements as other city employees. As chief presiding judge, how would you manage employee relations within this dual framework of judicial independence and citywide employment structures? Additionally, how would you promote professional development opportunities to ensure your staff continues to excel in serving the public?

Well, first of all, of course I understand that the court is an independent branch. It's not a city department. It's an independent and separate branch by the constitution, by our own charter, by the Phoenix Charter. However, I understand that there's conversations with other departments that will also assist the court. I will tell you that even though I believe it's an independent branch, and of course we're guided by the judicial code of conduct in terms of independence, impartiality, and integrity, that it doesn't prevent me from having conversations with people and talking to people and understanding what it is they're asking about the court, why they're asking about the court.

As for the employees of the court, I would of course work in terms of the dual management system in terms of employment issues. I believe that employment development is very important. I care about the almost 300 employees in the courthouse and I know that we have tremendous training opportunities. We want people to promote so it benefits them, their families, as well as the community. So I would consider that employee development is still a high priority as it is now in the court.

So would you support the court employees attending mandatory and suggested training that other city employees have to attend?

I believe I I would support that. I would certainly have a conversation if it's something that someone in terms of believe it's a violation of the code, would want to talk about it. Because I honestly believe that even if there's a difference of opinion from people on this bench, I think that everybody comes from the same spot, and that's wanting to make the city of Phoenix better, the city employees better, and the community better. So I think it starts with a conversation. As I said earlier, I'm never going to give you an answer just to give you the answer that I think that you want to hear.

I'm going to listen to what you're asking me, what you would like to see happen, and I would have a conversation and discuss it with you, and I would tell you what I believe I think is the right thing.

Thank you. Councilman Waring.

What metrics or indicators do you consider most important when evaluating the performance of the court?

I'm sorry?

What metrics or indicators do you consider most important when evaluating the performance of the court?

Well, I believe that people's perception of fairness is strongly connected to their experiences in the courtroom. So I think it matters what the parties and the people in the courthouse that are coming into the courthouse, what they believe. We have surveys that we are giving we give to customers, I also believe it's important to know how our own staff and how our employees judge and measure success. Because they're doing these difficult jobs on a daily basis in what they believe is successful. And I am very much about collaboration.

I'm not going to be the person who sits on the 9th Floor and directs. I'm going be the person walking around in the courtrooms, listening to people, hearing what they have to say, whether they're litigants, whether they're attorneys,

whether

it's court staff. And so it's difficult to say how it's measured, but I think the most important thing is to actually be involved in all aspects of the court, and that's listening to what people are saying. So I think that that is crucial in terms of how we measure success in the courtroom. Now, metrics, I think timing of cases, making sure that we are handling cases in a timely manner. I will tell you that right now, when I cover the in custody docket, that is extremely heavy.

That would be one of my priorities in working on that. We don't want employees working through lunch. We don't want litigants waiting longer than is necessary. And so I think the timing of cases in terms of dockets is something that I would want to address. And I will tell you that that is something that I'm familiar with.

When I first became a judge in 2018, I thought the dockets for my division were unusually heavy. And I was assigned to a certain chambers, I threw up a white board and I started making all these numbers of the docket sizes with the help of my bailiff. And for months, we charted the docket sizes, and we were able to get the docket back into a manageable type of form. So I think that there can be metrics for how we measure success, not all success, because sometimes it's just the human element of things. But I'm very much process oriented, I'm very much about results, improving processes, so I do think that there are ways to measure success to an extent.

Thank you, Councilman. Councilwoman Stark.

Thank you, sir. It's Phineas Reinee. As the chief presiding judge, your role in the community is critical. How do you engage with community organizations or local government partners to address systemic issues that come before the court?

Well, I'm very familiar obviously with court operations and the court employees as well as the stakeholders. And I believe that community service and community outreach are very important for the court. We want to promote confidence in the legal system and the judiciary, and we are involved in the public right now. We have navigators in our community justice resource center that go out and speak to people. We have people who give information on how to request an order of protection.

And so we are already out in the community. But that's important to continue to do so, so that we know when people come in, they feel comfortable. Me personally, as a judge in my courtroom, I'm very connected to the Community Justice Resource Center, and it is not uncommon for each person that appears in front of me to ask certain questions and refer people to the Community Justice Resource Center. Because I think part of my job in terms of accountability and justice is to also connect humans to resources so that they can improve their lives, the lives of the family, the community can also improve. So I do believe that reaching out, resources, and outreach are highly important.

Thank you.

Thank you, Councilwoman Stark. Councilwoman Pastor. Well, congratulations.

Thank you.

To get

to this point. It can be tedious at times and nerve racking. What do you see as the biggest challenges facing the court today, and how would you address it?

Alright. Well, there's two very pressing issues. Right now, it's the court management system that we've been working on for several years already. As you all know, it's a multi million dollar project that is very intensive. And so that is a most pressing issue right now. We also have the photo safety issue. I'm not as familiar with that issue, but I know that that's an important and pressing issue. In my first ninety days, I plan, have and that would be of course to continue working on those two projects, but one of the first things I would do is sit down with the stakeholders and ask how can we improve. I do think that there needs to be more domestic violence training for our judges. I also think Westlaw training would be helpful.

I do think that we need to consider a risk management tool, a risk assessment tool for the jail. Frankly, I think that the fifth largest city in the country should have a domestic violence court, so that's one of my long term goals. I do have a plan, especially for the first ninety days. I have mid and long term goals, but I believe the most pressing issues right now in front of us are the CMS project and the photo safety project. Thank you. Councilwoman Gordado.

Thank you, Mayor. Congratulations.

Thank you.

Many courts have adopted technologies such as virtual hearings to improve accessibility. Yet usage remains inconsistent. Would you prioritize broader adoption of virtual hearings? And how would you communicate and implement this initiative with staff to ensure a smooth rollout and effective access for the community?

Right now, in our civil arena, we do do remote hearings and in certain traffic offenses, you can appear remotely. Also, for orders of protection for ex parte petitions, you can also appear remotely. So of course I would continue that. I believe that with the new CMS project, we are increasing access to justice. That's an important element that I think every person here wants to promote.

And I believe with our new CMS system, we'll be able to offer more accessibility by the public to the court. That doesn't mean all hearings can be remote. They certainly cannot. In some, it's better that they are not because I believe that when people come in and actually speak to a judge, certainly in sentence review hearings, I think that you get more compliance, you have more dialogue. I will tell you, for domestic violence cases, I typically bring in people every eight weeks.

To some that may seem excessive, but I believe that when they come in every eight weeks and they're talking to me and I'm having a conversation with them as to how they are doing, I think it promotes more compliance. And frankly, many of them enjoy coming in and speaking to me. I will say, You know, you've been so compliant for this many months, we can do the next telephonically. No, no, judge. I want to come in and I want to talk to you myself. And again, I take pride in that. But there are certain cases that I think must be held in person. I think for the benefit of the individual, the victims and the community.

Thank you. Councilman Robinson.

Thank you, Mayor. Judge, what strategies do you use to ensure consistency and fairness across all court divisions under your supervision?

Well, as I said earlier, I'm going to be involved. I'm going to be walking around and talking to people. I think that that's important. I think it's important that the chief presiding judge be present. I think that they should be aware of what's going on in the courtrooms.

I think that they should be listening to what people are saying, whether it's the litigants, whether it's the attorneys, whether it's court staff. And of course, every judge must work within the bounds of the judicial code of conduct, the statute, and the constitution. But treating people with dignity and respect would of course be a priority. Frankly, I lead by example. I would lead in that way and I would expect people to follow, and I believe that they already do.

So again, I think the key is to stay involved and communicate with staff and again the attorneys, the litigants, and everyone that's involved to make sure that what we are doing in the Phoenix Municipal Courthouse is reflective of our ideals and our vision.

Thank you. Councilwoman Hernandez.

Thank you, mayor. Thank you and congratulations. The Phoenix Municipal Court currently operates three specialty courts, community court, veterans court, and behavioral health court. Each court is designed to address underlying issues and reduce recidivism through evidence based practices. How would you approach expanding or enhancing the specialty court model? And what methods or metrics would you use to evaluate the effectiveness and long term impact of these courts?

I will tell you that as a prosecutor, I was an integral part of developing the driving on suspended license court, which was a specialty court. And that court gave people the opportunity to actually learn why their driver's license was suspended and to fix it. And so it wasn't a matter of people just coming in, paying their fine, and it being a cycle that just continued on indefinitely. People were getting their licenses back, people who hadn't had a driver's license in twenty years. And I worked with the defense bar closely as well as the court, and I found that it was a very successful specialty court.

I'm familiar with the other specialty courts, Veterans Court, Behavioral Health Court, and recently presided over the community court. And I know the successes from those courtrooms, and I refer people to those courtrooms from my courtroom many times. And so I think the City of Phoenix should be proud of those specialty courts. I think it's proven to be successful. And I think we have numerous success stories out of each of those courts.

As I said earlier, I believe the fifth largest city in the country should have a domestic violence court. Much of my prosecutorial career was dedicated to domestic violence. And as I said earlier, my in custody courtroom deals with a lot of domestic cases. And so I think that the court and the city and the community would benefit from that court. I think there can be a lot of successes from the domestic violence court. I know in 2022, we were discussing a post adjudicated domestic violence court. Now we were coming off of COVID, and, there were other pressing issues, but I think that we need to get back to that conversation. And frankly, I believe that's a specialty court that we should look at next.

Well, you so much. Each of us have asked you a question, so that concludes your interview. And now we'll, you can, sit back and and be off the hot seat.

Oh, alright.

And we will ask our staff if we could get the other two judges to the upper council chamber as we're now going into public comments. Thank you all. Yes, thank you so much for interviewing and congrats on being one of our finalists. We'll give folks a little bit of time to, come up, but we will begin with Valerie Boyer Wells followed by Adriana Genco. For folks, if you could come down to the podium on the Alright.

I think our candidates are all here. You also don't if you're a candidate and you don't want to be here, that's fine too. We'll begin with Valerie followed by Adriana.

Good afternoon, mayor, vice mayor, and city council. Thank you so much for this opportunity for me to be able to speak on behalf of Judge Michelle Lusain. I have known Judge Lusain since 1983. When I recruited her to come to Sandra Day O'Connor College of Law at Arizona State University for law school. She completed her degree in two and a half years demonstrating exceptional intellect, discipline, and drive that have defined her entire career.

As both lawyer and judge, she has shown unwavering integrity, fairness, and clear legal judgment. She leads by example, she treats people with respect, and consistently earns the trust of peers, staff, and litigants. Judge Lusain is experienced manager and mentor who builds consensus, improves processes, and prioritizes access to judges. Qualities that make her uniquely suited to serve as the chief presiding judge for the Phoenix Municipal Court. I believe you have all of her qualifications before you that you didn't need me to go over, but just to summarize what it all means, she would be your best candidate.

Thank you.

Thank you. Adriana is next, followed by Teri Marks.

Good afternoon, everyone. My name is Adriana Jenko. I'm an Assistant United States attorney here in Phoenix. I am the president of the Los Abogados Foundation, and I am the media past president of Arizona Hispanic Bar Association. I am here as a legal professional and as a community member to speak on behalf of judge Hudson, who is a long term friend and mentor of mine.

I have been a prosecutor for ten years, and I have practiced in federal courts, in state courts, and in municipal courts. And each one of those courts is essential to the fair administration of justice. But of course, it is the municipal courts that most often touch the lives of our citizens, and that's why I think that Judge Hudson is the right person for the job. He has a breadth of experience. He, has practiced criminal and civil, and he has practiced as a public, a government employee as well as a private attorney.

He has practiced in federal and state courts and in municipal courts. But he, above all, is a member of this community and has been for a very long time. He has the breadth of experience that allows him to really connect with people and bring people together and work well with others. And I think that that's extremely important because it fosters that collaboration with all the stakeholders. The other thing I wanted to briefly touch on is the need now more than ever for the public's trust in our court system.

And Judge Hudson is somebody that cares deeply about every member of the community. And again, that is so important because when the community and the public sees that its judicial officers are invested in all of the public that they serve, that in and of itself brings the trust and the confidence that we need on our system. And so I believe that Phoenix needs a person, such as Judge Hudson, that will hold himself and the court to the highest standards of service and of accountability. Thank you.

Thank you so much. Terry is next and then we'll go virtual to Joshua Fisher.

Good afternoon, mayor, vice mayor, and members of the Phoenix City Council. I thank you for the opportunity to speak on behalf of judge Hudson. I met judge Hudson probably well over twenty years ago, two decades ago, maybe approaching three. But before I met the man, I met his reputation. And the reputation that I heard about him was that he is a good man, a good brother, a good person.

That reputation was about not so much his words, but his action. He was one who could be counted upon to be a presence in the community. When I was in my doctoral studies and I was studying Skid Row in Los Angeles, the chaplain of the Los Angeles Police Department lectured us about the power of presence. Judge Hudson is one who exemplifies the presence for the community. You know about his professional qualifications, about his education.

But, what can't always be taught in education is integrity. He's a man of the utmost of integrity. He honors his family. He honors his community. And I think when you talk about our court system that represents us and wanting that contact and connectivity with the community, you have that in Judge Hudson. And so I pray and hope that you would see not only his qualifications, but also his integrity and his honor as one who would represent our court in the manner that I think would do us proud. Thank you so much for your time.

Thank you. Joshua is next, followed by Chris McBride.

I think you madam mayor and members of the council are I. Not sure if- I'm- on this for the whole plan.

We can't see you

okay. I can try to. Nobody wants to see

me anyway.

No I'm sorry there is no capability to see you so it is working how we intended it's just just.

Perfect thank you for that.

I asked for a few moments to speak on behalf of Tina Solomon. I've been a legal practitioner now for over two decades. I started my career with the city of Phoenix and Tina was eighteen captain there was an invaluable source of information guidance and support. I worked for the city of Phoenix for eight years before becoming a county attorney in Yavapai, but have maintained contact with Judge Solomon. And since returning back to the Valley, I now work as a shareholder at Gallagher and Kennedy, where I have the distinct privilege of appearing in front of all of the municipal court judges to include Judge Sullivan.

During my nine years of experience with her, she has been the epitome of hard work and diligence. I cannot extend my support of her candidacy for this position enough. She is an invaluable asset to the city and as the city looks to have a presiding judge take over leadership position. I believe she would be uniquely well suited having spent the bulk of her career obviously working for and within that community. Thank you.

Thank you so much. Chris is next followed by Alicia.

I'm old enough where I can say that I met Will Hudson, before the turn of the century. We were young attorneys. We had contracts with the city of Phoenix, provide service to the indigence in the Phoenix City Court. We had heads full of hair and a desire to change the world. Time has gone by, I have had the opportunity since that, time to not only see the extraordinary legal service, that mister Hudson, or Will as we called him then, provided to indigents, but also to his community.

In the, early nineties, I became one of the first assistant directors for the city of Phoenix public defender's office. Part and parcel of my duties there was to review the work of the attorneys, to watch the attorneys, to see who the good attorneys were, and to make certain that we rehired the good attorneys. When I looked at the good attorneys, Will Hudson was there. It was also in that period that the proudest moment of the Phoenix City Court history was when it showed up with the first veteran standout. It was the only court that did, and we were able to resolve the issues of many of the servicemen at that time, but there was literally a list as long as my arm of people who had matters in other courts.

We had to look to the private bar to find people that would provide pro bono service. One on that list, Will Hudson was there, and he went out on his own nickel. Pro bono was just a fancy word for free. And in a state as big as Arizona and a county that's as big as Rhode Island, he put on the miles, to take care of those who were most deserving. In 2001, I was the assistant director in the city of Phoenix public defender's office, and we started the arduous task of building out your specialty courts, the homeless court, the veterans court, the mental health court.

Took a long time to get those going. During the meantime, there were a lot of people that couldn't avail themselves to the services of different bureaucracies for a bunch of stupid reason. And at that time, we still had to look to members of the private bar. Will Hudson was there. And what that means when it gets real is that the unsheltered got a roof, the hungry got fed, and people that were in severe mental, health issues got professional therapeutic service. Thank you.

Thank you. Alicia is next, and then our final speaker will be Chuck.

Good afternoon, mayor, council members. Thank you for the opportunity to speak. My name is Alicia Scoopin. I am currently the presiding judge for the Chandler Municipal Court. I'm here to speak on behalf of judge Michelle Luzang.

She is a proven leader in times of transition. I've known Judge Lu Sang for over twenty years. First, as a practicing attorney, I appeared in her court various times over every month for over maybe three or four years. She took me in as a mentee and mentored me, and I've been a judge now for almost fourteen years, currently serving in Chandler as a presiding judge for about five years. Three things with Judge Michelle Lusang that you get that other candidates don't bring with them, although you have a very great list here, and it's going to be a hard decision.

But what Judge Lusang brings to the table, first, she has experience as a presiding judge. She sat in at Apache Junction City Court when they needed a presiding judge, and she served that role exemplary. Second, in Mesa, she led the transition from paper files to electronic files. She was the judge that piloted that and made that happen, and she has experience in that area as well. Third, she has longstanding trusted relationships with the Supreme Court of Arizona and its staff at the Administrative Office of the Courts, and that knowledge base brings a lot of skills and benefit to the Phoenix court.

And what you get with Judge Lusang is a very balanced approach. She will honor tradition and the excellent reputation the Phoenix court has with also bringing in a new, fresh perspective to help move the Phoenix Court forward. She's also not a gatekeeper. She will share information and help prepare next presiding judge as the coming years come. So I really wholeheartedly am here to represent and recommend to you Judge Lousse. Thank you.

Thank you so much. And our final speaker will be Chuck Whitehead.

Good afternoon. It's kinda weird. I'm I'm nervous about talking to you all. I talk to my courtroom every day with people probably more than this, but I'm nervous today. Anyway, thank you, mayor, vice mayor, and council members. I'm here to talk speak on behalf of Will Hudson. I met Will gosh. I started practicing about twenty years ago. I met him when I was in private practice as a court appointed attorney with the city of Phoenix. As a court appointed attorney, I saw people coming to him for guidance, suggestions on how to do things, and I saw it as a leadership role even at that point.

I was appointed to be a judge across the street in superior court about ten years ago, and I've had the unique perspective to see Will as a private attorney, a public attorney, and as a judge. At the judicial conference, I often see people coming up to him asking him for guidance, suggestions, and direction on how to proceed with their matters. And I think that's really telling because there are hundreds of people at that conference, and we all interact with each other on different levels. A lot of times, it's a social level. In addition to the social level interaction I see with Will, I do see people coming to him for guidance, which is really important, and it shows me that people respect him for his opinion and his suggestions.

I also know that Will understands the challenges that we have as judges in this environment. The public perception of judges has deteriorated quite a bit over the past few years, and Will understands that. He understands we need to get back in the public's eye and that access to justice is very important to us and very important to the community. Things like these specialty courts, virtual court appearances are very important to him and very high on his priority list, and I think he'll use those things to gain the trust of the community. So I recommend him. Thank you.

Thank you. That, I believe, concludes all of our public speakers. So, the council now has a chance to have a motion to go in executive session. Vice mayor, do we have a motion?

I move to go into executive session on this agenda item.

Second. All those in favor say aye.

Aye.

We will now go into executive session. Thank you to all. We had three very strong applicants here and we're thrilled that you're interested in serving our municipal courts in this position. Thank you for great interviews.

Thank you for attending today's meeting. We will begin in about thirty seconds. Thank you.

Thank you so much. I will call to order the special meeting. Welcome back. I'll turn to our public safety chairman, Councilman Robinson, for a motion.

Mayor, thank you very much. I move appointment of Wilbur Hudson as a municipal court judge to complete the term of former judge b Don Taylor the third from 06/03/2026 through 02/09/2029, and as chief presiding judge for a term from 06/03/2026 through 06/02/2027.

Second. All those in favor, please say aye. Aye. Any opposed, nay. Passes unanimously. Congratulations to Judge Michael. Thank you so much. That concludes today's meeting. We are adjourned.

Okay, take care.