City Council Formal Meeting - Regular Meeting

Taipei could not be a more important partner to us and the country of Taiwan.

We're incredibly grateful to you all, as you know, for your commitment to connecting our two great cities and our communities for a vibrant future. International flights contribute more than $3.4 billion to the local economy each year, and this flight is expected to generate over $170 million each year statewide.

This is more than just a new route. It's also a meaningful milestone in the close partnership between Taiwan and the United States. Arizona has become one of Taiwan's key partners in the global semiconductor industry. And Phoenix is now a cherished second home for many Taiwanese families.

Phoenix actually offers very strong potential in both business and tourism. It has emerged as a major hub for innovation. Starlux Airlines helps to further strengthen business and tourism ties between Phoenix and Taiwan. We look forward welcoming you on board very soon.

We have formed not just a partnership, but a friendship. And I think the people in Phoenix are going to see just what a wonderful, wonderful carrier Starlux is, and they're going to love flying the airline. This new service is a win. It's a win for travelers. It's a win for all the airlines here today. And it's a win for the communities that we serve.

Starlux is a new airline with brand new planes and great friendly, friendly staff. So we look forward to filling your planes and to this deep, deep partnership. It's time to start thinking about your next vacation and Taiwan should be at the top of your list. So Starlux, welcome to Phoenix.

Music Music Music Music Music

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Welcome to the city of Phoenix. Welcome to South Mountain Park and Preserve on this beautiful morning. This is an exciting day to culminate years of planning and construction and community outreach to get to a point where we're ready to open this amazing facility. On behalf of the Parks and Recreation Department, I want to welcome you to the first and therefore oldest mountain preserve that we have in the city of Phoenix. This is South Mountain Park and Preserve. In 2024, we celebrated 100 years of stewardship of the city of Phoenix of this amazing place. Thank you all for taking time out of your busy day. We know you have other things you could be doing, but you being here means a lot to us who have stewardship of this land, and it means so much to us. So thank you. I want to acknowledge that we have many people here visiting that we want to make sure that you are aware of that. We've got Mayor Kate Gallego, who's always been an amazing advocate for our preserves, Vice Mayor Kesha Hodge-Washington from District 8. We have City Manager Ed Zerker, who is a frequent user of our mountain preserves as well, Parks Director Martin Whitfield, Deputy City Manager Cynthia Aguilar, Assistant Parks and Rec Directors Brandi Barrett and Todd Shackelford. As well, we have some visitors from other agencies, including Sundae Isalt from the Salt River Pima Maricopa Indian Community Tribal Historic Preservation Office. Thank you, Sundae, for being here, as well as Barnaby Lewis from the Gila River Indian Community, who will be providing a blessing as we get started in a few minutes. I also want to acknowledge we have several members of our Phoenix Sonoran Preserve and Mountain Parks and Preservation Committee. We have John Furness and Scott Covey. There may be others here. If you're here, I apologize if I didn't see you. We also have some educational exhibits that are available in the back to kind of learn more about our Sonoran Preserve, including the Office of Environmental Programs, the Phoenix, sorry, also Central Arizona Conservation Alliance and the Phoenix Mountains Preservation Council. I want to take just a moment, others will also acknowledge them, but I wanted to, as somebody who worked with the design team and the construction team, I just want to say thank you for all of your hard work and professionalism to make this project a success, specifically J2 Environmental Design. The contractors were Valley Rain with Caliente Ironworks, Kimbrough Electric, Rummel, Sierra Signs, and AF Still, among others. My name is Jared Rogers. I'm the Deputy Director of the Natural Resources Division within the City of Phoenix Parks and Recreation Department. A few years ago, walking around on this site, we were struck by the amazing views that you can see behind me of the valley. As the ground drops away from where we are now, it reaches its lowest point at the Rio Salado Habitat Restoration Area, where the city of Phoenix has stewardship of an amazing restored riparian habitat. From there, as you continue to head north, the land rises until you see the distinct peaks in the Phoenix Mountains Preserve, the Camelback Mountain Preserve, and Papago Park. A key feature of what you'll see if you walk around the site when we're completed here is bands of pavement that point to those peaks. And on the t-shirt, you'll notice that same motif. We worked with the Gila River Ending Community and Salt River Pima Maricopa Ending Community to make sure that we were okay using those symbols. And we're very fortunate to be able to point out those other views that you can acknowledge and see the city and then beyond that the other preserves that we have in our system. We do have a great relationship with both the Gila River Indian Community and the Salt River Pima Maricopa Indian Community. I wanted to take a moment to read our land acknowledgement statement and following that statement we'll have a blessing from Barnaby Lewis, an elder from the Gila River Indian Community. The Parks and Recreation Department acknowledges the City of Phoenix is located within the homeland of the O'odham and Peeposh peoples and their ancestors who have inhabited this landscape from time immemorial to present day. The landscape is sacred and reflects cultural values central to the O'odham and Peeposh way of life and their self-definition. This acknowledgement demonstrates our commitment to work in partnership with the ancestral indigenous communities to foster understanding, appreciation, and respect for this heritage. So now we'll have a blessing by Barnaby Lewis. Thank you, Barnaby.

Good morning. My name is Barnaby Lewis. . . . . Good morning. My name is Barnaby Lewis. I'm from the village of Blackwater, located on the east end of the East Little River Indian community. I'm pleased to be here this morning in this way to help and this way to ask the Creator for His blessing for this gathering today. And I hope to see this in the language that the Creator gave us, the O'odham language. He gave me a piece of wood, and I said to him, if you don't give me a piece of wood, I'll kill you. He said, no, I won't give you a piece of wood. He said, no, I won't give you a piece of wood. He said, no, I won't give you a piece of wood. He said, no, I won't give you a piece of wood. . . . . . . . . . .

. . . . Chanting Chanting

Thank you. That concludes the activities for this morning. Thank you.

Thank you, Barnaby. We love having you here and appreciate your willingness to come and bless these events. We'll now get to hear from Mayor Kate Gallego, followed by Vice Mayor Kesha Hodge-Washington against from Council District 8. And then following Councilwoman Washington or Vice Mayor Washington, we'll have Parks Interim Director Marty Whitfield, the mayor.

Good morning. It's such a pleasure to be with you in one of the most special places in the City of Phoenix. To Barnaby Lewis, thank you so much for the very special blessing to start this event on the right note and to recognize the heritage of this area. This is a really special day for us at the City of Phoenix as we share with all of you this beautiful new space in our city we are under a pavilion that is about a half an acre and it is one of the most beautiful spots in our city and a really a new way for people to enjoy a beloved park as jared mentioned we just in 2024 celebrated 100 years of the city's involvement in south mountain park and i like to think this is like a belated birthday present for the park South Mountain Park is a favorite for so many of us. For me, it is the first park, mountain park I took my son to when he was still in a stroller and he did so many of his hikes here. This is the park that got us through COVID, but a really special place. Many people have celebrated graduations, done their photos here. or we've had some movies filmed here, we've had weddings, and now we have a really special place for so many incredible events or family picnics to come together. And we're so excited to celebrate the South Mountain Activity Complex. This very special park, the city bought for $17,000. So I think a great investment. We are able to do these type of investments because of our wonderful voters. The voters overwhelmingly supported our Phoenix Parks and Preserve Initiative, and I gotta say, we have very smart voters here in the city of Phoenix. This new facility has everything you would expect from a world-class facility, including ramadas, restrooms, and lighting, but also some amenities that are very unique to our wonderful desert environment. We're really excited to invest in so much shade. We know that helps people enjoy our parks for more and more of the year. And there's a beautiful breeze blowing today, so really creating a nice space for community gatherings. I had a little bit of fun yesterday on April Fool's Day, where I announced I was going to be the new bachelorette. We were joking we would continue with it and have the wedding here. What do you guys think?

I am not the new bachelorette.

But we do try to create a space that will make sense for people's special events, but also just to get to know more about our city and to see how you can manage well in a desert environment. This park is intentionally designed with water harvesting features. There's a terraced tree bosque and a cactus garden. We have a beautiful pollinator garden behind us. I'm part of the Mayor's Monarch Pledge where we try to make sure we create habitat for monarchs and pollinators. And this is a wonderful example of that habitat. It's one of the few places in Phoenix where you can see an elephant tree. So thank you to the Desert Botanical Gardens for partnering with us to make that possible. And again, you can learn more about water harvesting and how to take advantage of rainwater. There's also a chance to learn about our other beautiful mountains in the area. So as Jared mentioned, there are bands that point to the different mountains and you can figure out if you don't know which mountain is also known as Iron Mountain, you can learn from the signs here. And then the signs also celebrate the Odom names for the places and help us learn that history. I want to do a huge thank you to the Parks and Recreation Department, to Marty Whitfield and his team, including Justin Olson. Thank you to Todd Shackelford, to our partners from J2 Design to Valley Rain. Thank you for bringing this vision to life. And I understand Valley Rain will get to celebrate here very soon. So very, very important. A ton of work taking out lots and lots of asphalt and concrete and creating a beautiful space. But I think we can say that it is absolutely worth it. And now I get to introduce to the podium one of my great partners who represents District 8, the north side of the mountain, our vice mayor, Vice Mayor Hutch Washington.

Thank you, Mayor. Thank you all for being here. I'm Vice Mayor Keisha Hodge-Washington, and I have the honor of representing District 8 here in the City of Phoenix. And for me, South Mountain holds a very special place. When I first moved to Phoenix, I was trying to get oriented as to where everything was located. And at night, the advice that was always given to me is, if you can find South Mountain, you'll see the red lights, you'll find your beacon. It was my compass on how to navigate this city. And I think it's a great way to kind of talk about the importance of south mountain to our community it holds such a valuable space many of us hike it many of us have had events here or just had the opportunity to engage with some of the educational things that are out here or for others for me specifically it's a place to come on wine just come on the mountain take a walk and just forget that i'm in the fifth largest city not that you need to forget it but it's a reminder that in the midst of our urban area we have such wonderful preserves here and i think this new complex represents a major investment in the people of district 8 in our community it continues to give our community a place to gather to continue to do that to celebrate and to connect with the natural beauty of south mountain in a way that feels welcoming and accessible to all. As the Mayor mentioned, this is almost a half an acre. This is a 14,000 square foot pavilion, which creates a gathering space that truly belongs to the community. And with the trailhead to Holbert Trail right here, residents can step directly from their neighborhood into one of the most iconic experiences South Mountain has to offer. That connection to nature, to culture, to one another is the heart of what makes this project so special. This redesign isn't just about new buildings or new pathways. It's about creating a space where families can come together, where residents can build healthier lifestyles, and where the community can take pride in a park that reflects who we are and what we value. This space was truly built for the community, and I'm excited to see what it will be utilized for for years to come. I want to take a moment also to recognize the incredible staff who make this possible. Our Parks and Recreation Department team, our designers, our construction crew, and the many, many employees who work behind the scenes who put their hearts into this project. Their dedication ensures that this community and our district and our residents from across the city have a gathering space at South Mountain that does not only serve them, but it serves them across all generations. I want to take a quick point of privilege to take a shout out for the preserved rangers here. One of my first opportunities as I started this concept called Keisha on the Job, one of the first jobs that I did was being a preserve ranger. I've learned how much goes into keeping the preserves beautiful, keeping our residents safe, and just making sure that we continue to be great stewards of this land. So thank you to our preserve rangers for all that you do. Not that all of the departments don't deserve it, but I just want to give a special thank you because they are the ones that make sure that this park continues to be accessible and usable by all of our residents. And with that being said, I get to welcome Interim Parks and Director, Parks and Recreation Director, Marty Whitfield, who will share more about this project.

Good morning, folks. Like the Vice Mayor said, I'm Marty Whitfield, the Interim Parks and Recreation Director for the City of Phoenix. And wow, this place is amazing and such a remarkable day. I was a little concerned the last couple of weeks with our increased temperatures, but what a great day. I'd like to thank Mayor Gallego and Vice Mayor Hodge Washington for your attendance today and your continued support for the Parks Department. So please give them a round of applause. The mayor did mention our voter-approved Parks and Preserve Initiative programming funding. We are so grateful to have that funding, and the voters did it, right? We have this funding through 2038, and without that funding, we'd be unable to build great amenities like this and keep our maintenance up as well. A lot of great amenities at this location. We've added more than 250 new trees to expand shade and comfort, and we carefully salvaged and replanted over 40 mature trees to preserve the site's character. Alongside those, more than 700 new shrubs and native plants now fill out the landscape. And another three acres have been hydro-seeded and desert-appropriate vegetation, so great stuff out there. I know Jared mentioned our team, but I am very thankful to lead an amazing team on a daily basis, so I cannot close without saying, talking about our amazing Park and Recreation team. My Assistant Directors Brandy Barrett and Todd Shackelford are here. I'm sure Todd is in the back someplace. Natural Resources Division Deputy Director Jared Rogers and the incredible South Mountain team. I also want to thank our partners on this project, J2 Design and Valley Rain Construction, who are also here today. We are very grateful for your partnership and a job well done in this beautiful new facility for the community. I would also like to thank our amazing communications team that does an amazing job on a daily basis and got us ready for today. That's Talia Galevez and Stephanie Chavez. Thank you for being here today to celebrate the opening of the new South Mountain Activity Complex. And without further ado, let's cut the ribbon and officially open the space. Thank you.

Woohoo!

I think when you consider the Seneca Pre and the impact it had on Phoenicians and Phoenix and society around this area, you've got to stop for a second and really understand where Phoenix as a city was at that time. I mean, in the early 60s, Phoenix had just come from about a 10-year span where the population of our city increased 400%. Phoenix has always been associated with growth, but especially in the early 60s, we just reached a point where we're almost about 500,000 people. So it was really growing like crazy. The downtown had shifted. Shopping had moved from downtown. Places like Biltmore, where the Senate Capri was, were really booming. The whole Arcadia area, all of that was really booming. really growing at a very rapid pace movie theaters in town with it just on the leading edge of what we're called multiplexes where they're very common now where you go and there's 10 or 12 theaters in one shopping mall or something you have all kinds of choices Well that was just beginning. The majority of the theaters were still the single screen like the Fox Theater, the Orpheum, the Palms Theater. They were single screen theaters. Paramount Arizona hired a guy named Ralph Haver to design the Seneca Pre-Theater. They really wanted a one-of-a-kind massive, very ornate, luxurious theater that rivaled theaters anywhere in the country. And that's what they wanted. They hired Ralph Haver, who at that time was a very prominent architect in Phoenix. He was primarily known for designing homes and residences and different kinds of retail buildings. He wasn't really known for designing and drawing a theater and so they hired him and building it starting in about 1964 and The building itself when it was finished 16,000 square feet

Good afternoon. It is May 19th. Welcome to the Phoenix City Council policy meeting. I'll call the meeting to order and ask the clerk to call the roll. Councilwoman Guardado?

Here.

Councilwoman Hernandez?

Here.

Councilwoman O'Brien? Here. Councilwoman Pastor? Here. Councilman Robinson?

Here.

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

Elsie Duarte is with us to provide Spanish interpretation. Elsie, would you introduce yourself?

Yes, thank you, Mayor. As stated, my name is Elsie Duarte, and along with Carmen Cota, we will be providing Spanish interpretation today. I will now introduce ourselves to our Spanish speaking audience. Muy buenas tardes, bienvenidos a esta sesión de políticas. Mi nombre es Elsie Duarte y junto con Carmen Cota estaremos brindándoles interpretación durante esta sesión. Para las personas que se encuentran presencialmente y quieren escuchar la reunión simultáneamente al español, pueden pasar al kiosco a la entrada de la sala de cámaras por unos audífonos. Las personas que pasen al frente a hacer un comentario público Thank you so much. We'll begin with council information and follow-up request, and I'll turn to Councilwoman Stark. Thank you, Mayor. I actually have a couple slides.

I know, shocking, right? This is different for you. Me and technology. Maybe here in a minute. So I want to take a big moment to say thank you to city staff from District 3, and in particular parks. So this weekend, we had a huge event at Cape Creek Park. We needed help. And I'll tell you what, staff came to our rescue. At 4 o'clock in the morning, they were up helping set up the park for us. And I know we often spend a lot of time giving our gratitude to our managers, our directors. But I just want to place the next slide. the names of the people who really do the hard work. And I gotta tell you, they came out and they did a tremendous amount of work. And I know that Marty came out And I know you were thanking them as well, but you've got to be really proud. And they stayed the entire day, and we left around maybe 2, 2.30. I've got to tell you, this is what makes our city so great, is our staff. And I hope you let them know that. that they have a huge thanks from District 3. You have a tremendous group of workers, and I thank you so much. Mayor, I'm really proud of the work they did, and give them a raise, Marty. Thank you, Mayor.

Thank you, Councilwoman. A timely comment with today's budget. WHICH DOES INCLUDE EMPLOYEE COMPENSATION. WE'LL GO NEXT TO COUNCILWOMAN GUARDADO AND THEN THE VICE MAYOR.

THANK YOU, MAYOR. FIRST OF ALL, I WANTED TO CONGRATULATE ALL OF THE STUDENTS WHO ARE GRADUATING, GRADUATED AND WILL GRADUATE THIS MONTH, INCLUDING COLLEGE AND HIGH SCHOOL. AND ALL OF THEIR EDUCATIONAL PROGRAMS. WE APPRECIATE ALL THE HARD WORK OF THE STUDENTS AND TEACH OUR TO PROGRESS IN THEIR EDUCATION AND WISH EVERYONE THE BEST IN THE FUTURE. NOW SUMMER IS HERE AND PHOENIX PARKS HAS GREAT AFFORDABLE AND SAFE OPTIONS TO KEEP OUR KIDS ENTERTAINED. COOL SAFE THROUGHOUT THE SUMMER. SPLASH PATS. TO BEAT THE EARLY HEAT, ON MARCH 20TH, PARKS AND RECREATION OPENED ALL 11 SPLASH PATS ON FRIDAYS, SATURDAYS, AND SUNDAYS. STARTING THIS SATURDAY, MAY 23rd, SPLASH PATS WILL BE OPEN SEVEN DAYS A WEEK FROM 8 A.M. UNTIL 8 P.M. DISTRICT 5 HAS THREE SPLASH PATS, MARIPOSA PARK AT 31ST AVENUE AND ORANGEWOOD, AND DUST DEVIL PARK ON 107th AVENUE AND CAMELBACK ROAD. THE CITY HAS SOME OF THE MOST AFFORDABLE SWIM LESSONS AND CHEAP EVEN FREE ENTRY INTO OUR POOLS. 23 POOLS WILL OPEN ACROSS PHOENIX DURING SUMMER 2026. DISTRICT 5 HAS THREE POOLS ARE COOL KIDS POOL MEANING KIDS ARE FREE THANKS TO DONATIONS FROM THE MILWAUKEE BREWERS. The pools that will be open in District 5 are Washington, 23rd Avenue in Glendale, Maryville Pool, 51st Avenue in Campbell, Starlight Pool, 79th Avenue in Osborne. Pools are open from Memorial Day weekend, May 23rd through the 25th, then May 30th through July 26th. And for all of the parents that have nowhere to leave their children while they continue to work, we will have some great summer camps. Phoenix provides affordable summer camps for all of the children. These are 18 summer camp locations, including Maryville Community Center and Washington Activity Center. Daily drop-in rates are only $20 a day, $70 to $80 for a week for an entire week of care from 7 a.m. to 6 p.m. Learn more at phoenix.gov. And we're also excited to celebrate 602 Day. This year for 602 Day, my team and I have been invited HAVE INVITED MORE THAN, MORE, WE HAVE A LOT MORE SMALL BUSINESSES THAN WE'VE HAD IN THE PAST. WE'RE EXCITED TO BE ABLE TO ANNOUNCE THAT WE HAVE HAD 20 SMALL BUSINESSES THAT HAVE REGISTERED TO PARTICIPATE IN 602 DAY. AND WE WANT TO CELEBRATE OUR EMPLOYEES BY JOINING THE 602 EMPLOYEE APPRECIATION EVENT AT THE WASHINGTON ACTIVITY CENTER ON FRIDAY MAY 29TH FOR ANYONE THAT WOULD LIKE TO JOIN US. WE WILL HAVE FREE FOOD FOR EMPLOYEES DRINKS, RAPPEL PRICES, MUSIC, AND A DUNK TANK. FOR EMPLOYEES TO TAKE THEIR SHOT AT DUNKING CITY LEADERSHIP, INCLUDING OUR VERY OWN CITY MANAGER, ED ZERKER, AND A LOT OF OTHER STAFF THAT WILL JOIN US ON THAT DAY. THANK YOU SO MUCH, MAYOR.

NEW SPEAKER THANK YOU, VICE MAYOR, AND THEN WHO WOULD LIKE TO GO AFTER THAT? COUNCILMAN HERNANDEZ.

Thank you, Mayor. Next slide. WANTED TO START OFF, LAST WEEK WE CELEBRATED THE DEDICATION OF THE NEW RING FOR THE SALVATION ARMY'S FAMILY SHELTER IN DISTRICT 8. THANKS TO AN $8 MILLION INVESTMENT FROM THE CITY OF PHOENIX, THIS EXPANSION ADDS 12 NEW FAMILY ROOMS ALLOWING THE SHELTER TO PROVIDE SAFE HOUSING AND SUPPORTIVE SERVICES FOR UP TO 36 FAMILIES. Also, I was excited to join the celebration of 50 years being a sister city with Himeji Japan. The celebration was a great way to continue building strong international relationships. I look forward to seeing Himeji leaders in Japan next time. Also, go back real quick, one more. Thank you. I had the opportunity to speak at the Support Sky Harbor Mixer on Thursday to share exciting updates about the great work happening at the airport. During the discussion, I shared important updates on the land reuse strategy, the cultural corridor, and the work that's being done with our community regarding the Yuma Street Memorial Space. Next slide. Last weekend, I had the honor of receiving an award from Kappa League. It was very humbling to receive an award from our young men as they go through a mentorship program, and the fact that they decided to say thank you to me was very sweet. I also had recently joined GPAC on a delegation trip to Washington, D.C., where we engaged with leaders in biotechnology about bringing investments to Phoenix and continuing that effort in the biosciences here as Phoenix continues to grow. I also want to say thank you to the Phoenix Women's Commission for inviting me to participate as a keynote speaker during the recent equity forum. It was inspiring to speak and meet with so many women and help encourage them and continue to highlight women making meaningful impact throughout our community. Next slide. THE DISTRICT 8 YOUTH ADVISORY COUNCIL HAS OFFICIALLY WRAPPED UP FOR THIS YEAR AND IT HAS BEEN AN INCREDIBLE JOURNEY. I AM SO PROUD TO SPOTLIGHT THREE STANDOUT MEMBERS WHOSE DEDICATION MADE A LASTING IMPACT. ON SATURDAY THEY PRESENTED THEIR PROPOSALS TO COUNCILMAN ROBINSON, MYSELF, ANOTHER CITY STAFF. I WILL TAKE A FEW MINUTES TO HIGHLIGHT THEIR PROGRAMS. Chance focused on affordable housing and health care for seniors and championed solutions that prioritize their dignity, access, and long-term stability. Carson pitched an idea for a Maricopa County Unity Day to support our unhoused neighbors in one centralized location. And Liliana presented an idea to implement a resource hub as a one-stop spot to connect youth and families with the tools they need to thrive throughout the city of Phoenix. As mentioned to them on Saturday, Don't be surprised when you see their works being incorporated here at the City of Phoenix. Congratulations again to all of these young leaders, and special thank you again to Councilman Robinson and city staff, including Titus Matthews, Scott Hall, Stephanie Bracken, and Jenny from Councilman Robinson's office for serving as part of our panelists and for joining us to hear their amazing presentation. Next slide. And one of our signature events is just a few days away. I invite all of our community to join us for the second annual community cookout at Hermosa Park from 12 to four this Saturday, May 23rd from noon to four. We will have food, games, activities, and community resources with special guests from the Phoenix Suns and the Mercury. We hope to see you there. Next slide. And as always, please feel free to reach out to myself and my team if you have any issues. We have been working diligently on several issues, including the future of First Friday on Roosevelt Row. We recently held a listening session with businesses along Roosevelt to hear about their vision for the future of that event. Thank you, Councilwoman Hernandez, for joining us. I look forward to continue working with partners on this issue and other community concerns. Thank you, Mayor.

Thank you so much, Councilwoman Hernandez.

Thank you so much, Mayor. Wait for slides to come up. Okay, thanks so much, Mayor. Let's go ahead and review this. Next slide. Big thanks to the team. We all do this work together. Next slide, please. Also, I'd like to introduce everyone to our new team member, Oso. Oso is gonna be our new D7 Public Information Officer. Sorry, Adam. So look for him to bring updates in the future. Next slide. Our team is meeting community where they are at. Next slide. In February and March, we listened and leaned into community guidance during the CTI process. Thanks to all the community for continuing to push us. We are voting on a budget today that includes support you named in that CTI process. So thank you so much. Next slide. This spring, we also sat down and read with kids in South Phoenix. Next slide. Some more pictures of some of the cute kids in the classes. Next slide. We also went down to Tolleson and met with the Community Assistance Program. Y'all are doing really great work in supporting residents struggling with mental health challenges. So thank you so much for all the work that you do there. Next slide. Here's a bunch of pictures of all of us being cute in all the different events for the last few months. Next slide. CAFES CONANA have been a huge success for the team this year. Not only have we met our residents, but now I've tried every ice caramel latte in the district. I will not say which one is my favorite. Stay tuned, maybe I'll say later. Next slide. You can join us for, we have upcoming Tacos con Ana on June 11th right here in downtown at Centrico in their new expanded location, which is right here on First Avenue. Hope to see you all there. Next slide. Last month was heavy for our team and many in the community as the city passed the parks, the new parks ordinance. I'd just really like to thank every one of the residents and providers who turned out and raised your voice. Thank you for caring. Next slide. Next slide, please. And next slide. Now let's get into the budget and all the possums who stepped up this spring. Next slide. In January, my team met with the LA City Controller to learn how his office approaches the budget and how they make it accessible for LA residents. Next slide. In March, we hosted our first D7 community budget meeting. Next slide. thanks to the 50 residents that showed up and got into the budget with us. Next slide. We asked residents to identify where they would spend their city's money. Their top four investments were housing, youth, public health, and human services. Next slide. We also launched our first budget working group. Next slide. We had 30 residents from across the city apply, and we accepted 11 of those 30. Next slide. Some of our budget working group members are here today, and they were tabling outside. Thank you so much for your leadership on this project. Next slide. We have a few upcoming events. Join us for two community meetings with District 8. On May 28th, we will be meeting with downtown residents, and on June 16th, we will be out in Levine meeting with the residents at the Levine Quarterly. Next slide. And in the fall, stay tuned for updates on how to apply for our next budget working group and look for save the dates on District 7 town halls on data centers and housing and homelessness. Next slide. Next slide. And as always, if you need us, don't hesitate to reach out. Thank you so much, Mayor.

Thank you, Councilwoman Pastor. Thank you. Thank you, Mayor. Thank you, I'll just wait for the slides. Obviously May 2026 updates. I have an update on the Phoenix area FAA modernization project. We had our coffee chat at Memorial Hall to get ready for our FAA watch party. And then we will also have another gathering to submit our questions. Next slide. Right here is where you can review the draft environment assessment and learn more about what is being changed and what type of questions you would like to ask. Next slide. THURSDAY, WE WILL BE HOSTING WEST PHOENIX TRANSPORTATION PROJECTS. THIS IS IN REGARDS AND TO FROM BRT TO LIGHT RAIL TO STREET SAFETY IMPROVEMENTS. MARYVILLE AND WEST PHOENIX IS RECEIVING HISTORIC INVESTMENTS, SO THIS IS WHY I'M HOSTING THE MEETING. THE INTENTION OF THE MEETING IS TO EDUCATE ALL THE INVESTMENT IN THAT AREA AND ALSO TO PROVIDE A TIMELINE OF WHAT IT'S GOING TO LOOK LIKE. next slide as always if you need to get in touch with us there's my number social media and of course my email thank you councilwoman o'brien

Thank you so much, Mayor. The one thing I would like to touch on is the, as Councilman Pastor alluded to, was the FAA's changing of the routes in Phoenix. And so there are two more meetings, May 19th and May 20th. Would encourage their virtual meetings from five to seven and definitely encourage everybody to log in and listen and ask questions. If you Google FAA community engagement, Phoenix, you will find their page and be able to use the link to log in. It is important, given what has happened in Phoenix before with FAA changes, that we participate and let them know what we think and ask questions. Thank you so much, Mayor.

Thank you. Any additional comments? All right. I will turn to our city manager to introduce the budget item.

Thank you, Mayor, members of the City Council. So the final proposed budget today represents a year of work and includes changes from the trial budget to address your and the community's input, including more than doubling the amount for flexible emergency financial assistance from $1.5 million to $3.2 million to help Phoenicians impacted by diminishing federal grant programs. A significant investment in youth is also included in the general fund, doubling the new allocation for teen and youth programs to provide tutoring, creative arts, fitness, and social activities. I would add that you are also adding another $500,000 through neighborhood block watch funds to this important investment.

As we discussed two weeks ago, changes to the recommended general fund

BUDGET ALLOCATIONS REQUIRE NEW RESOURCES OR REDUCTIONS TO OTHER PROGRAMS. THERE ARE NO NEW RESOURCES AVAILABLE AT THIS TIME AND CUTS ARE NOT PROPOSED IN THE BUDGET TO ANY OTHER PROGRAM IN ACTION TODAY. HOWEVER, WE WILL ADDRESS SOME QUESTIONS THAT THE COUNCIL RAISED TWO WEEKS AGO AND THE COMMUNITY WITH INFORMATION ABOUT EXISTING INVESTMENTS IN SHADE AND YOUTH AND EDUCATION PROGRAMS BY THE CITY. FURTHER INFORMATION IS AVAILABLE IN OUR WRITTEN REPORT ON DOWNTOWN PARK SECURITY, VETERAN SERVICES AND EVICTION LEGAL SERVICES. I THINK IT'S IMPORTANT TO REMEMBER THAT THE BUDGET DEVELOPMENT PROCESS REALLY IS A YEAR ROUND OCCURRENCE. THIS PROPOSED BUDGET THAT WE'RE TALKING ABOUT TODAY REFLECTS COUNCIL ACTIONS AND DISCUSSIONS THAT HAVE BEEN ONGOING FOR THE LAST 12 MONTHS, WHICH MEANS REALLY THAT NEXT YEAR'S BUDGET CONVERSATION IS STARTING TODAY. AS IN PAST YEARS, This fall, we will return to you to present the year end results that we will have after June 30th of this year. In that report in September, we will identify whether there are additional resources or deficits that may be identified for consideration in the 27-28 budget process. Another thing happening right now is the American Rescue Plan Act funds conclude and must all be spent by December 31st of this year. Amber and her team are actively monitoring that to ensure that we are spending our full allocation. however as you know there are some interest earnings that we uh have accumulated for that most of those have gone to fund the housing trust fund but as we have once we have done year-end accounting into next year next spring there may be some unanticipated interest earnings that will be the council's role to allocate and then finally for uh capital projects The 2028 General Obligation Bond Program will provide an outlet for further conversation about those larger investments in the community that you all have been talking about as well. But I think if we just take a step back, I would just commend you for your fiscal responsibility You've stayed within our resources and invested, at the same time invested in competitive employee compensation, continued investments in community safety, youth, families in need and homeless services, all while taking very responsible steps to ensure the city's long-term financial security. Today I had the privilege of going to two events. One, well, not an event, but I got a tour of the navigation center at 71st Avenue. That is a home for 280 individuals who have been experiencing homelessness. That is an investment by the city council that you did through a budget process. THIS AFTERNOON I GOT TO SEE THE OPENING OF ACACIA HEIGHTS THREE WITH COUNCILMAN PASTOR AND MAYOR GAYGO, WHICH WAS THE CITY WAS PART OF AN INVESTMENT IN 60 PLUS UNITS OF AFFORDABLE HOUSING. THAT $4 MILLION INVESTMENT BY THE CITY CAME THROUGH A BUDGET PROCESS. SO YOU ARE INVESTING, THAT IS WHAT THE BUDGET DOES WHEN YOU INVEST IN THE COMMUNITY. The other thing I just note is we're the fifth largest city in the United States. There are only four other city councils in this country who are acting on budgets that affect more people than what you are doing today. That's a big responsibility, and I think we should just acknowledge that what you have done with this budget, financially responsible and investing in the community, is significant and is not necessarily what's going on in other large cities. And it makes this even more remarkable. So thank you for your leadership and engagement in shaping the budget. I ALSO WANT TO RECOGNIZE OUR BUDGET AND RESEARCH TEAM, OUR CITY DEPARTMENTS, LABOR PARTNERS, AND EMPLOYEES WHO HAVE WORKED TO BRING THIS BUDGET TOGETHER WITH YOU. IT TRULY WAS A TEAM EFFORT. AND BEFORE I TURN IT OVER TO ERIN, I JUST WANT TO RECOGNIZE THAT THIS IS OUR BUDGET DIRECTOR ERIN MERZ'S FIRST BUDGET AS BUDGET DIRECTOR, AND IT IS OUR DEPUTY CITY MANAGER AMBER WILLIAMSON'S FINAL BUDGET. AS SHE IS PLANNING TO RETIRE LATER THIS YEAR. AND SO I JUST WANT TO THANK BOTH OF THEM FOR THE WORK THEY'VE DONE IN THEIR FIRST AND THEIR LAST. SO NOW I'LL TURN IT TO ERIN AND OUR TEAM TO WALK YOU THROUGH THE BUDGET AND EXPLAIN A COUPLE THINGS THAT RESPOND TO QUESTIONS WE HAD LAST TIME. ERIN?

ALL RIGHT. THANK YOU, ED. GOOD AFTERNOON, MAYOR, MEMBERS OF COUNCIL. THANK YOU FOR THE OPPORTUNITY TO PRESENT THE 2627 PROPOSED BUDGET. In this presentation, I'll provide a brief overview of the 26-27 budget and also discuss the outreach and community feedback that we brought into the budget process. And then I'll recap the general fund status before providing an overview of the additions to next year's budget in both the general fund and our non-general funds. I'LL THEN TURN THE PRESENTATION OVER TO A FEW DIFFERENT CO-PRESENTERS INCLUDING OUR OFFICE OF HEAT RESPONSE AND MITIGATION, OUR PARKS AND RECREATION DEPARTMENT AND OUR YOUTH AND EDUCATION OFFICE. AT BOTH THE BUDGET HEARINGS AND THE POLICY MEETING ON MAY 5TH, COMMENTS WERE MADE ON SHADE AND YOUTH TEAM PROGRAMMING SPECIFICALLY AND SO WE WANTED TO GIVE THESE DEPARTMENTS AN OPPORTUNITY TO REALLY HIGHLIGHT THE WORK THAT IS ALREADY BEING DONE IN THESE AREAS. PARKS AND RECREATION WILL ALSO DISCUSS THE EXPANDED TEAM PROGRAMMING BEING ADDED TO THIS BUDGET. AND BOTH PARKS AND YOUTH AND EDUCATION WILL DISCUSS THE YOUTH PILOT PROGRAM THAT IS BEING FUNDED BY NEIGHBORHOOD BLOCK WATCH FUNDS. AFTER THESE SPOTLIGHTS, I'LL DISCUSS NEXT STEPS IN THE BUDGET PROCESS. First, here is a high-level picture of the 26-27 general fund budget. The largest share is in public safety, which includes police and fire. Community enrichment is the next largest section. This includes our parks, our libraries, our human services, which includes our Office of Homeless Solutions, and our arts and culture department as well. GENERAL GOVERNMENT IS THE NEXT LARGEST SHARE AT 11%. CRIMINAL JUSTICE, COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT, ENVIRONMENTAL SERVICES, AND TRANSPORTATION MAKE UP A COMBINED 7%. AGAIN, MANY OF THESE CATEGORIES HAVE MUCH LARGER OVERALL BUDGETS, BUT THEIR MAIN FUNDING SOURCES ARE EITHER ENTERPRISE FUNDS OR SPECIAL REVENUE FUNDS RATHER THAN THE GENERAL FUND. WE'LL TALK ABOUT THOSE IN JUST A MOMENT. FINALLY, OUR CONTINGENCY AND OTHER ITEMS SUCH AS SET ASIDES MAKE UP ABOUT 7% OF THE GENERAL FUND BUDGET. While the general fund is the focus of this presentation, it's actually a little bit less than one-third of the city's total operating budget, which is just about $7.8 billion. Enterprise funds such as water, aviation, solid waste, and convention center make up the largest slice of the pie. And then our special revenue funds, which include funds that are restricted in some ways, such as grants or voter-approved dedicated sales taxes like the Parks and Preserve Initiative or T2050, Transportation 2050, that is, THOSE ARE OUR SPECIAL REVENUE FUNDS. THEY MAKE UP ABOUT 31% OF THE BUDGET. THESE FIGURES HAVE BEEN UPDATED VERY SLIGHTLY FROM THE CITY MANAGER'S PROPOSED BUDGET BACK ON MAY 5TH BASED ON FINALIZED CAPITAL IMPROVEMENT PROGRAMS AND CARRY-OVERS IN THE CIP. THE CITYWIDE OPERATING BUDGET COVERS THE WIDE RANGE OF SERVICES THAT OUR RESIDENTS HAVE COME TO KNOW, AND YOU CAN SEE THAT BREAK DOWN HERE. PUBLIC SAFETY DOES REMAIN THE LARGEST SHARE OF THE PIE AT 34%, BUT YOU CAN SEE THE SIGNIFICANT INVESTMENTS IN OTHER AREAS, INCLUDING TRANSPORTATION AT 20%, ENVIRONMENTAL SERVICES AT 16%, AND THEN COMMUNITY ENRICHMENT AND COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT AS WELL. AS I MENTIONED, THIS CHART IS IMPORTANT BECAUSE IT HIGHLIGHTS THAT WHILE SOME OF THESE AREAS MAY NOT HAVE SIGNIFICANT GENERAL FUNDING, THEY DO HAVE SIGNIFICANT OTHER FUNDS AND PROVIDE A VERY LARGE IMPACT ON OUR COMMUNITY. NOW, AFTER EXTENSIVE ADVERTISING IN LOCAL TELEVISION, RADIO, DIGITAL MEDIA, AS WELL AS OTHER FORMS OF OUTREACH, WE TOOK THE TRIAL BUDGET OUT INTO THE COMMUNITY THROUGH 12 HEARINGS IN LATE MARCH AND MID APRIL. WE ALSO SOLICITED FEEDBACK VIA PHONE AND E-MAIL. We received more than 400 comments on the budget, which was really a great response from our community. Major themes included flexible financial assistance, refugee support, shade, libraries, and eviction legal assistance. A summary of these comments, as well as significant information about the ways the city is already addressing many of these issues, is included in today's council report in attachment d as ed mentioned that attachment has been updated to include even more information on the city's shade efforts as well as on downtown park safety including efforts at margaret t hance park which was brought up at the discussion in our may 5th meeting so again i encourage residents to make sure they check out attachment d in today's report NOW, AS A REMINDER, OUR PROPOSED BUDGET SURPLUS IS $162.5 MILLION. THE CHART BELOW SHOWS HOW WE DETERMINE THE SURPLUS, COMPARING OUR FORECASTED REVENUES AND RESOURCES, EXCUSE ME, VERSUS OUR FORECASTED EXPENDITURES. YOU CAN SEE THE RESULTING SURPLUS, 162.5 MILLION, BROKEN UP BETWEEN A MIXTURE OF ONE-TIME FUNDS, JUST OVER $100 MILLION, AND $62 MILLION IN ONGOING FUNDS. AGAIN, WE MUST HAVE A BALANCED BUDGET, BOTH BY CITY CHARTER AND BY STATE LAW, AND THAT SIMPLY MEANS THAT OUR RESOURCES MUST EQUAL OUR EXPENDITURES, AND SO THE PROPOSED BUDGET RECOMMENDS ALLOCATING THE SURPLUS IN A NUMBER OF WAYS. YOU CAN SEE THOSE WAYS HERE. THEY INCLUDE INVESTMENTS IN A VARIETY OF KEY COUNCIL PRIORITY AREAS, ADDRESSING EMPLOYEE COMPENSATION, AND SETTING ASIDE FUNDS TO MAKE SURE THAT WE REMAIN BALANCED IN FISCAL YEAR 27-28. I'LL NOW BRIEFLY WALK THROUGH EACH OF THESE CATEGORIES. The first is Community Health and Safety, which totals $1.6 million and 11.5 FTEs. This area includes $500,000 in one-time funds for community safety plan enhancements along the 27th Avenue corridor. It also includes $500,000 in one-time funds in lighting enhancements at several city parks. There's also $266,000 in 8 1⁄2 FTEs. Those are ongoing funds for two new spaces, the Geo Bond-funded Esteban Park Recreation Center and Lone Mountain Park, both of which will be opening next year. And then finally, this category includes the Park Services Permit Program. This includes three positions and $379,000 in ongoing funds to administer the program and provide outreach to individuals experiencing homelessness. THE NEXT PRIORITY AREA IS CHILDREN, YOUTH, AND FAMILIES AND INCLUDES $9.4 MILLION AND .5 FTEs. THIS AREA INCLUDES THE $5 MILLION CHILDCARE AFFORDABILITY SET ASIDE TO IMPROVE CHILDCARE AFFORDABILITY FOR PHOENIX FAMILIES. THIS ALSO INCLUDES A ONE-TIME USE IN FISCAL YEAR 26-27 FOR SNAP NAVIGATION SUPPORT. FOR OUR RESIDENTS WHO HAVE BEEN IMPACTED BY FEDERAL CHANGES TO THE SNAP PROGRAM AND STATE CHANGES TO THE ADMINISTRATION OF THIS PROGRAM. THE NEXT, THE FLEXIBLE EMERGENCY FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE PROGRAM INCLUDES $3.15 MILLION IN ONE-TIME FUNDS. IT INCLUDES UP TO $200,000 FOR STAFFING COSTS AND THAT WILL PROVIDE ONE-TIME CRISIS ASSISTANCE AND STABILITY ASSISTANCE WHICH INCLUDES CASE MANAGEMENT AND FINANCIAL COACHING FOR OUR RESIDENTS WHO ARE EXPERIENCING FINANCIAL HARDSHIP. TEAM SERVICES PROGRAMMING INCLUDES $937,000 IN ONGOING FUNDS, AND THIS WILL BE DISCUSSED IN FURTHER DETAIL IN JUST A MOMENT. AND FINALLY, THIS PRIORITY AREA INCLUDES $322,000 IN ONGOING FUNDS TO SECURE A PARKING LEASE FOR THE CHOYA BRANCH LIBRARY. THE NEXT PRIORITY AREA IS HOMELESS SERVICE CONTINUITY, WHICH INCLUDES $18.4 MILLION IN ONGOING FUNDS TO REPLACE EXPIRING AMERICAN RESCUE PLAN ACT FUNDS. THESE FUNDS WILL SUPPORT SHELTER OPERATIONS AT BOTH CITY OPERATED AND NONPROFIT OPERATED SHELTERS, AS WELL AS CITY HEAT RELIEF EFFORTS, THE KEYS TO CHANGE KEY CAMPUS OPERATIONS, AND THE MASTER LEASE PROGRAM. THESE PROGRAMS ARE ALL DESIGNED TO ADDRESS HOMELESSNESS IN TARGETED WAYS IN OUR COMMUNITY. THE NEXT PRIORITY AREA IS HOUSING AFFORDABILITY AT $6.6 MILLION. THIS ITEM FOCUSES ON THE HOUSING TRUST FUND. WITH THIS ONE TIME $6.6 MILLION ALLOCATION TO THE TRUST, THE TRUST WILL OVERALL REACH $15 MILLION IN TOTAL FUNDING. NOW WITHIN THIS FUNDING THERE IS $2 MILLION DESIGNATED FOR AFFORDABLE HOUSING FEE WAIVERS AND THEN $1 MILLION DESIGNATED FOR PREAPPROVED HOUSING PLANS. The next priority area is planning and development customer service enhancements at $1.5 million. This one-time allocation will make improvements to the customer experience inside Phoenix City Hall, as well as supporting other customer service and process improvement initiatives. THE CITY MANAGER'S PROPOSED BUDGET ALSO INCLUDES FUNDING FOR EMPLOYEE COMPENSATION, HELPING THE CITY TO REMAIN COMPETITIVE IN THE LABOR MARKET. $50 MILLION IS THE AMOUNT NEEDED FOR THE FIRST YEAR OF THE NEW LABOR AGREEMENTS WHICH WERE APPROVED BY COUNCIL ON MAY 6TH. THE BUDGET ALSO SETS ASIDE $75 MILLION TO HELP ENSURE THAT OUR FISCAL YEAR 2728 BUDGET REMAINS BALANCED, REFLECTING THE MAYOR AND COUNCIL'S CONTINUED CONCERN FOR SOUND FINANCIAL PLANNING. The proposed budget also includes position conversions totaling just under 70 FTEs. These conversions use existing department resources, so they require no additional funds, and they include positions in the Fire Special Hazards Unit and the Law Department where litigation is being brought in-house. FINALLY, THE BUDGET INCLUDES A NON-GENERAL FUND ADDITION IN AVIATION OF $1.2 MILLION AND EIGHT FTEs WHICH ARE BEING ADDED TO ADDRESS SEVERAL AREAS INCLUDING INTERNATIONAL AIRLINE SUPPORT, CAPITAL PROJECT MANAGEMENT AND WATER QUALITY MONITORING. AND NOW I'LL PASS THE PRESENTATION OVER TO OUR OFFICE OF HEAT RESPONSE AND MITIGATION DIRECTOR, DR. DAVID HONDULA.

Thank you Erin and good afternoon Mayor and Council pleasure to be here with you as my colleagues alluded to we heard the community's interest and enthusiasm to keep pushing forward on our citywide tree and shade initiatives through the budget hearing process and other budget feedback dialogue. And I wanted to take a few moments to highlight for our residents and for you, Mayor and Council, where we are. And I think it's fair to say that you have placed us on an unbelievably positive trajectory for tree and shade work over the past few years. That work is anchored by the Shade Phoenix Plan that you unanimously passed in November 2024. THAT PLAN OUTLINES 36 SPECIFIC ACTIONS FOR CITY DEPARTMENTS AND EXTERNAL PARTNERS TO TAKE OVER A FIVE-YEAR TIME PERIOD THAT ARE BACKED BY $60 MILLION IN INVESTMENT THAT YOU HAVE ALLOCATED TO THESE EFFORTS. AND THOSE ALLOCATIONS ARE THROUGH NOT JUST THE GENERAL FUND BUT ALSO THE CAPITAL IMPROVEMENT PROGRAM, THE GENERAL OBLIGATION BOND, AND A NUMBER OF GRANTS THAT THE CITY HAS BEEN FORTUNATE TO EARN. We shared progress for the first year of the Shade Phoenix Plan work at a subcommittee meeting last year. And just to share a couple of highlights, our team found that meaningful progress had been made on all 36 actions in the Shade Phoenix Plan in the first year after its adoption. And that included some real highlights, some real milestones, including more than 7,000 trees planted citywide. That's the highest number that I've seen since the heat office has existed over a four-year time period. 155 shade structures added to the community as well, including 81 at public bus stops and many, many more actions that are described in that progress report we shared with the subcommittee. And for some more recent highlights, this fiscal year, of course, is still a work in progress, but just a couple of highlights that we know so far. SEVEN SCHOOLS HAVE WORKED WITH US, ASU, WATERSHED MANAGEMENT GROUP, AND ECORISE WITH OUR CANOPY FOR KIDS PROGRAM THAT'S PART OF THE INFLATION REDUCTION ACT FUNDED URBAN AND COMMUNITY FORESTRY GRANT. THAT'S ADDED 224 TREES, BUT ARGUABLY MORE IMPORTANTLY ENGAGED WITH HUNDREDS, THOUSANDS OF STUDENTS AND TEACHERS PROVIDING EDUCATION ABOUT THE IMPORTANCE OF URBAN FORESTRY, STORM WATER MANAGEMENT AND LANDSCAPE DESIGN. Council members, we've seen many of you out at some of the tree planting celebrations for the community canopy program that has also been funded by the Inflation Reduction Act. More than 2,000 trees are in the ground just over the past year through this program and more than 1,200 individual residences throughout the city. And we're also really proud of the Tree Stewards Program that came to life through the Inflation Reduction Act, where we now have 10 hired and trained community leaders who are supporting urban and community forestry efforts in the community. They themselves have planted an additional 180 trees this year in partnership with the Arizona Sustainability Alliance. Now I'm happy to turn the presentation over to my colleague Marty Whitfield for even more.

Thank you, David. Good afternoon, Mayor and Council. I'm also thrilled to be here this afternoon to talk about the park's proposed budget. Before I do that, I would like to remind the community and the Mayor and Council that we do have several programs for teens. Phoenix Teens launched in 2016, and it offers teen-created activities for youth between the ages of 13 and 17 at facilities citywide. Our youth engage with their communities. They participate in programs including game nights, cultural activities, volunteering opportunities, and summer camp team leadership and more. Founded in 1997, you're probably familiar with Project BRAVE. That stands for Bringing Reality About Violence Education. It is a violence prevention initiative education program that was created with the goal of decreasing violence in our communities through awareness, leadership training, activities, and effective partnerships with other local agencies. Participants range from ages 6 through adult, with an emphasis on youth between the ages of 10 and 18. Many of our teams also are employed by the Phoenix Parks and Recreation Department through our Phoenix Afterschool Center at 34 locations across the city. Councilwoman Guardardo mentioned our aquatics program. Thank you for that plug. It starts this Saturday. Many of our youth are employed in our aquatics program, and also many youth participate in many of our youth sports programs, and that's for both boys and girls. As Erin mentioned earlier, Parks does have proposed funding. We propose to use that funding and partner with the Youth and Education Office to provide read-on Phoenix literacy hubs to address early literacy challenges inside a few community centers for youth zero to third grade. Also, part of this funding will be used to add staff at the South Phoenix Youth Center to allow the center to be open on Saturdays from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Currently, the center is just open from Monday through Friday. This will provide a safe place for our teens to be on the weekend. Additional funding will also be used to supplement our youth and teen recreation programming across our system and 16 of our community centers. The department will have flexibility with the funding, but opportunities include after school youth clubs, billiards, and esports. And finally, with the funding, the department strives to offer free and affordable programs that still some community members are unable to participate due to financial burdens. This request will establish a fee waiver program at several recreation centers where families can request to have fees waived for select programming. Erin also mentioned the $500,000 in block wedge funding that has been proposed to split between the Parks Department and the Youth and Education Office. The Parks Department is recommending a portion of that funding be used to fund one full-time Recreation Coordinator II position FOR THE PHOENIX TEENS PROGRAM. THIS POSITION WILL OFFER GREATER OVERSIGHT OF EXISTING PHOENIX TEENS PROGRAMS AND ADDITIONAL COMMUNITY CENTERS INCLUDING DEER VALLEY COMMUNITY CENTER, SOUTH MOUNTAIN COMMUNITY CENTER, THE WASHINGTON ACTIVITY COMMUNITY CENTER, THE COMMUNITY CENTER IN LEVINE AND THE SUNNY SLOPE USE CENTER. IN ADDITION, WE'D ALSO LIKE TO IMPLEMENT THE EXPANSION OF A YEAR ROUND PHOENIX TEENS FIELD TRIP WHICH WILL HAPPEN ON THE WEEKENDS. WITH THAT, I'LL TURN THE PRESENTATION OVER TO TIM VALENCIA.

Thank you. So in addition to the funding that the Parks Director Martin just mentioned, we are looking to add additional staff, one full-time FTE, as well as part-time staff for youth mentoring program. And really this program is for youth the ages of 12 to 24, really integrating accountability plans, culturally responsive skill building, family engagement, and community partnerships. The most important thing is we want to educate and empower our youth to take accountability and strengthen Phoenix communities through culturally responsive and trauma-informed practices. So in addition to this exciting time of the youth development and mentoring programs that were just mentioned, the Youth and Education Office leads citywide efforts to strengthen literacy, expand early learning, and elevate youth leadership. And we have four core areas. And first is our education initiative. Read on Phoenix is really our center of the work that we do. It's a public-private partnership really focused on improving grade-level reading through school readiness, family engagement, and high-quality out-of-school enrichment. The other four areas that we focus on are early literacy and school readiness, where we implement several evidence-based initiatives that help children build strong early literacy skills, such as our literacy hubs, which we're very excited to expand in parks, our experience core tutoring program, and our Phoenix Families First Resource Centers. The second is our youth leadership and civic engagement area, which is really important to amplify youth voice and leadership, such as our outstanding Phoenix Youth Leadership Program, as well as our Future Leader Town Halls. NEXT CORE AREAS ARE EDUCATION AND COMMUNITY PARTNERSHIP WHICH REALLY STRENGTHEN THE CONNECTION BETWEEN SCHOOLS, BUSINESSES AND THE COMMUNITY. WE PARTNER WITH THE PRINCIPAL AND EDUCATOR APPRECIATION WEEK THAT REALLY CREATES PARTNERSHIPS THAT HELP THE STUDENTS AND THE COMMUNITY. And last is our special events and programs that really celebrate learning, creative voice, even civic engagement. And that's our students day at City Hall, as well as our Phoenix History Month art contest. But most importantly that we're proud of the outcomes that we produce. Every year we have about a million dollars in grant funding for literacy support. We give over 10,000 books for families and students. We serve 5,000 families annually and over 100 business partnerships that develop each year. So the results reflected is really true on the collaboration, the commitment not only that you made within this budget, but also to the community and the young people in Phoenix. But most importantly, the newest youth development and mentoring program will only add another additional element to the Youth Indication Office. And I'll hand this back over to Budget and Research with Erin.

ALL RIGHT. THANK YOU ALL. MAYOR, MEMBERS OF COUNCIL, NEXT STEPS IN THE BUDGET PROCESS. TODAY'S MEETING IS FOR ACTION. THIS IS THE FIRST VOTE ON THE BUDGET OF THREE SCHEDULED VOTES. WE'LL COME BACK ON JUNE 3 AT THE FORMAL MEETING FOR THE TENTATIVE ADOPTION OF THE BUDGET. And then we'll return on June 17th's formal meeting for the final adoption of the budget. That will be the third and final vote on the budget adoption process. And then finally, the property tax levy adoption is scheduled for the July 1st formal meeting. And with that, I'll conclude my presentation and would be happy to answer any questions.

Thank you. Does anyone have any questions before we get to public comment? All right. Wonderful. Thank you. We will begin public comment with Barbie Prinster. And Barbie will be followed by Lee Marino.

Unless... Is it on? Okay. Okay. Good afternoon, mayor and council members. My name is Barbie Prinster. I'm wearing two hats today. I am first representing the Arizona Early Childhood Education Association. I am the executive director. We are a trade association and represent private licensed child care centers across Arizona. I'm also the co-chair of the Arizona Early Childhood Alliance. also known as ZECA. We have lots of acronyms in early childhood, I apologize. I'm here today to ask you to protect the proposed $5 million investment for child care in the final city of Phoenix budget. For families across Phoenix, child care is one of the largest monthly expenses they face, often rivaling rent or mortgage. parents are working hard but many are being priced out of quality care at the same time child care programs are struggling to pay the wonderful teachers and caregivers that do this incredibly important work every single day the reality is Child care operates like a teeter-totter. Programs want to pay teachers wages they deserve so we can retain a strong workforce, but when costs rise, parents are the ones who end up carrying the burden. Families simply cannot absorb anymore. This is not just a child care issue. This is a workforce issue, an economic issue, and a community issue. When parents cannot afford care, they miss work, reduce hours, or leave the workforce entirely. Businesses feel it, families feel it, our entire community feels it. I appreciate that the City of Phoenix is recognizing this challenge by exploring options to help bring down the cost of childcare for Phoenix families. This is a forward-thinking investment for working families. in our local economy and the future of our community. It helps families today while also starting larger conversations about how we continue building long-term support for working families, early childhood educators, and our workforce. I want to thank you for recognizing the need and for your leadership on this investment. Thank you.

Thank you so much. Thank you. Lee is next, followed by Elizabeth Lenderos.

Good afternoon. My name is Lee Marino. This is my son Everett. He's six weeks old. We are residents of District 4 here in strong support of the proposed $5 million investment for childcare and just wanted to thank you for the proposition and put a human face and some real numbers to the childcare crisis in Arizona. As I'm sure a lot of city employees are well aware, there is one daycare in downtown Phoenix. My husband and I live and work in downtown Phoenix. And for our first son, who's two years old, I got on the wait list for that daycare when I was 12 weeks pregnant so he could enroll when he was six months old. So that was one full calendar year on the wait list. And once this little guy enrolls in October, we've been very happy there. But the price tag for that will be about $45,000 a year. for both of our children. This is not a luxury child care. It's not a nanny. It's not a concierge experience. It's been wonderful, but that number really makes you realize how hard it is for a lot of families to swing that. For us, it's worth it in the long term. But a lot of people really just can't make that work. And so I thank you guys for bringing this proposition. Phoenix has been so wonderful and forward-thinking about building us a strong economy, attracting businesses that are going to need workers in the next 20 years. And I think this is a really important investment to make sure that especially women can participate meaningfully in the workforce and not have to make these really hard decisions with very real large price tags attached to them. Thank you.

Thank you, and thank you to Everett for being engaged at such a young age and bettering his community. Elizabeth is next, followed by Taylor Salaya.

Good afternoon. My name is Elizabeth Landeros. I'm a Phoenix mother of two young children, a Head Start parent leader, and an early childhood advocate. I'm here today to strongly support protecting the $5 million ongoing investment in child care. Child care is not a luxury. It's an infrastructure. For working families, child care determines whether a parent can keep their job, accept a promotion, finish school, or even show up consistently. That affects not only families, but employers and our entire local economy. But this is not just about economics. High-quality early education shapes brain development during the most critical years of life. It impacts school readiness, emotional regulation, long-term academic outcomes, even future workforce participation. When we invest in early childhood, we are investing in safer communities, stronger schools, and a more resilient city. The proposed $5 million set aside is a mindful step forward. It acknowledges that childcare is a real financial challenge for Phoenix families. I urge you not to only protect the investment, but to ensure it is used to expand access, reduce costs for working families, and support providers who are already stretched thin. Phoenix has the opportunity to lead locally in a way that supports families immediately. When you invest in child care, you invest in stability, opportunity, and the future workforce of the city. Please protect the $5 million child care investment in the final budget. Thank you.

Thank you so much. Taylor is next, followed by Maria Avila Proxima.

Good afternoon. My name is Taylor. My husband and I have a 16-month-old daughter, and we've been Phoenix residents for seven years. In 2024, after going through IVF, we found out I was pregnant. And as two working parents, we began planning for what child care was going to look like when I returned from my maternity leave. After having spent thousands of dollars to conceive our daughter, we were astounded that the cost of full-time daycare in Phoenix would likely cost as much as our monthly mortgage payment or my entire paycheck. Lucky for us, my husband works for a large healthcare organization in the Valley which offers just one single location for daycare at a lower rate for its employees. Unlucky for us, it came with a very long wait list. So at seven months pregnant, we added our names to that list in the hopes that she would be able to join a class by nine months old. Unwilling to strap ourselves financially by choosing a more expensive daycare with immediate availability, we relied on our family and a hybrid work schedule to help care for our daughter for those 10 months after my maternity leave ended. This is a luxury that we acknowledge and know that most people are not afforded this. And while we may have saved money during this 10 months, the constant rearranging of care schedules and moving target of a daycare start date caused significant stress on us as new parents. Our daughter finally made it off the wait list at 13 months old. And even now she's only able to attend three days a week. And it takes us nearly an hour each day commuting round trip to get her there. Having affordable childcare even closer to our home would have made my transition back to work even smoother, our family routines more stable, and our stress significantly reduced. Families should not have to choose between financial stability, career growth, and reliable care for their children. Accessible and affordable childcare is not a luxury. It is essential for working families in Phoenix to thrive. Thank you.

Thank you so much. Maria. And then Yolanda Barrera.

Hola, buenas tardes. Mi nombre es Maria y yo estoy aquí para exigir a la ciudad de Phoenix que debe aumentar la partida de servicio al cliente para fondos de alivio en crisis de 6.5 millones de dólares y ampliar el acceso a todos los residentes de Phoenix. Porque las familias inmigrantes especialmente necesitan apoyo de vivienda, alimentos y otras necesidades mientras se defienden en corte de inmigración durante la detención. La ciudad está diciendo que no puede encontrar 3 millones de dólares adicionales para fondos de alivio de crisis. En este momento que nuestra gente está bajo ataques sin precedentes por parte del gobierno federal. Pero la ciudad si puede encontrar los fondos para aumentar el presupuesto de la policía de 59 millones de dólares. Gracias.

Good afternoon. My name is Maria. And I am here to demand the city of Phoenix to increase the amount of customer service funds for relief circumstances of $6.1 million. and expand the access to all the residents of Phoenix because the families, the immigrant families, especially need the support for housing, food, and other needs while they are working through the court system, immigration, immigration court system while they are detained. The city says that they don't have the funds or the $3 million to support these additional funds for crisis relief. But at this time, especially during this time where our people are under attack in unprecedented ways by the federal government, BUT THE CITY SOMEHOW DOES FIND THE FUNDS TO INCREASE THE BUDGET FOR POLICE FUNDING OF $59 MILLION. THANK YOU.

YOLANDA. MONICA. BUENAS TARDES.

Vengo a compartir un poco de mi historia. Mi familia ha sido impactada por la policía. Mi hijo fue detenido por una parada de tráfico, la cual lo llevó a ser arrestado y terminar en la Cuarta Avenida y ser procesado para terminarlo de inmediato. y después de una deportación estoy aquí alzando mi voz porque es verdad que la policía no está aquí para mantener a la gente segura por eso les pido que aporten el resto de dinero para que se pueda complementar los 6.5 millones que necesitamos en estos momentos de crisis gracias

Good afternoon. My name is Yolanda, and I'm here to share a little bit about my story. My family has been impacted by the police. My son was detained during a traffic stop. which led him to be arrested and ended up at Fourth Avenue and was processed to end up in the hands of immigration. And then after that, there was a deportation. So that is why I'm here to raise my voice because it is true that the police is not here to keep people safe. And that's why I'm asking to utilize the rest of the monies to be complemented with the $6.5 million that are needed, that we need at this time, crisis times. Thank you.

Thank you. Monica is next, followed by Carolyn Wilmer.

Good afternoon council members. I am a resident of district four. I grew up in district two and I lived most of my adult life in district three. As a first generation immigrant from a working class family, I'm here to thank the city council offices and city staff that supported the doubling of the crisis relief fund. However, as much as I wish this was enough with how dire the world is right now, Phoenix families need more. I'm asking that the city increase this line item to $6.5 million and that the city expand access to all Phoenix residents so that everyone can access flexible financial assistance, refugee crisis support, housing and food. This funding must be sub-granted to trusted and culturally competent providers already embedded in the community. And an implementation committee made up of providers and community members must be created to ensure effective distribution of these funds. I also see that the trial budget has designated $500,000 to teen prevention. I support this investment and want to ask that we please ensure that it stays in the budget. Additionally, if we're serious about helping our youth thrive, we need to see at least $1.5 million invested. Lastly, I also ask that you support right to counsel. The city should pass an ordinance to guarantee the right to an attorney for people facing eviction. This has been a community demand for the last three years, and now more than ever is incredibly crucial. If we truly want to lower the amount of people on the streets, we need to invest in solutions to help people from ending up on the streets to begin with. There are things like right to counsel, increasing the youth prevention budget to 1.5 million, and increasing the client services line item for crisis relief funds to 6.5 million. I ask that the council do everything they can to ensure that all Phoenix residents thrive. Thank you.

Thank you. Carolyn is next, followed by Elizabeth Venable. Hello.

Thank you for the opportunity to speak today. I'm speaking in support of the $5 million set aside for childcare for residents of Phoenix. Childcare is essential to the workforce of the City of Phoenix. It's a central infrastructure for parents who need to work or even go back to school so that they can advance professionally and get better paying jobs and be able to better support their children. When you don't have adequate resources for childcare, people have to drop out of the workforce or significantly reduce their work hours. That's very hard on families, especially since many low-income part-time jobs have very irregular work hours. And that makes it difficult to arrange even partial part-time child care. So this is a significant financial challenge for families. And we always think of infrastructure as being physical objects, roads and bridges and things like that. But this is an important part of the infrastructure for the city of Phoenix. We need women to stay in the workforce. We need families to be able to provide for their children, and affordable childcare is an essential part of that. Thank you very much.

Thank you. Elizabeth is next, followed by Estella Varela.

Elizabeth Venable, Fund for Empowerment. So I want to thank you for the allocation of the general fund. I think it's pretty substantive for the homeless shelters. I think it's a historic kind of allocation in light of the fact that about prior to about four years ago, you weren't seeing these expenditures come out of the general fund. And it really shows a commitment, I think, from the city of Phoenix to address this issue in a way that I haven't seen in a long time. And so I appreciate that. Always there need to be improvements in everything we do. And one of the things that we've been talking about a lot is the safe outdoor space. And people have noticed that there have started to be some improvements at the safe outdoor space. They're not totally completed yet, but to address the ADA issues and some of the restroom issues and possibly like that. I think that, though, it's a pretty brutal environment. And once you get past a certain temperature of at about 108, your brain starts cooking. And then like 103, your vital organs start cooking. And just because you're under an awning, it doesn't make it less hot. I would say that that's the most, the issue of most concern to me personally about the homelessness services is just any way you can ameliorate that heat. I don't think you should close that facility because there's no other alternative, but anything you're going to do.

Thank you. Estella, followed by Stuart Tanner.

Gracias. Hola, buenas tardes, miembros del concilio y comunidad. Mi nombre es Estela y vivo en el distrito 5 y el día de hoy estoy aquí para que la ciudad de Phoenix vote aumentar la partida de servicio al cliente para fondos de alivio de familias trabajadoras en crisis a 6.5 millones de dólares y dar acceso a todos los residentes de Phoenix sin importar su estatus legal. Permitiendo que quienes se vean afectados por estas políticas accedan a asistencia financiera, flexible, apoyo en crisis para refugiados, viviendas y alimentos. Ya que bajo esta administración estamos sufriendo una violencia masiva por parte de ICE. Separando familias y dejando a las familias en el proveedor de su hogar. Dejando niños con miedo, ya que no saben qué esperar de su futuro, en el cual el futuro de ellos debería de ser un futuro libre, feliz y seguro. Las familias inmigrantes especialmente necesitan apoyo con viviendas, alimentos y otras necesidades básicas, mientras defienden a sus familiares. que solo han venido a forjar un mejor futuro para sus hijos y hoy están peleando en una corte de inmigración pidiendo una oportunidad, aunque no tengan un récord criminal. Para seguir cumpliendo su sueño para su familia, apreciamos la manera en la que la ciudad ha escuchado y trabajado con la comunidad en el proceso para lograr esta victoria. Esperamos seguir viendo más de esto. Aunque la ciudad está diciendo que no puede encontrar 3 millones de dólares adicionales para fondos de alivio en crisis en un momento en que nuestra gente está bajo ataque sin precedentes por parte del gobierno federal. Pero la ciudad sí puede encontrar los fondos para aumentar el presupuesto de la policía en 59 millones de dólares. Creo que ustedes deben de ver las necesidades de su comunidad y votar por 6.5 millones para los recursos y necesidades de nuestra comunidad porque queremos tener comunidades prósperas y seguras. Gracias.

THANK YOU. MY NAME, GOOD AFTERNOON, MY NAME, MEMBERS OF THE COUNCIL AND OF THE COMMUNITY, MY NAME IS ESTELLA AND I LIVE IN DISTRICT 5 AND TODAY I AM HERE SO THAT THE CITY OF PHOENIX CAN VOTE TO INCREASE THE CUSTOMER SERVICE ALLOCATION FOR CRISIS, FOR WORKING FAMILIES AND CRISIS RELIEF FUND. to $6.5 million to be allocated to the residents of Phoenix without not taking into account their, or in spite of their immigration status. And allowing that those that are being affected by these policies can receive the services that they need. and that there be flexibility to provide them the support that they need while in crisis. And for those that are refugees, for those that are needing housing services, because now that we are under the attack of this administration, we are being attacked by ICE. And our families are being separated and leaving them without their main provider for their home and leaving a lot of children in fear because they don't know what to expect of their future because their future should be free and happy and secure. The immigration families especially need housing services and other basic needs while they try to defend their families that only came here to provide a better future for their children and now are fighting, I find themselves fighting in an immigration court asking for an opportunity even though they don't have any criminal records. in order for them to be able to realize their dreams for their family. And we appreciate the way that the city has been willing to listen to us and work with the community during this process in order to be able to have this victory. But we continue to wait more to come out of this. Even though the city is saying that they can't find $3 million, additional funds for crisis relief in a moment when our family our families are under attack and during these unprecedented times by our federal government but the city can't find the funds however to increase the budget for the police of 59 million dollars Do you think that you should reconsider the needs of the community and use 6.5 or allocate $6.5 million for resources and necessities of our community because we want to have prosperous communities and safe communities? Thank you.

Stuart Tanner is next, followed by Michelle Suarez.

Hi, I'm Stuart Tanner. Good afternoon, everyone. I want to say that me as a senior citizen, disabled, I suffer from low vision and some other things. Well, I don't even know where to start. Okay, let me start with this. I was in a position to where I was trying to use the resources that they have out here. I'm not too sure exactly what they have. I've kind of ran into some dead ends, just feeling as if I was victimized by some of the establishments that were set up. uh, basically, um, put it this way. I just now finally got another ID in the mail today and I'm replacing steadily phones and everything. Um, it's kind of difficult. I just got finished paying a week in a hotel and on my, um, limited budget, I'm not able to work that type of stuff. Um, the privilege that I did have, I imagine it was two or three weeks ago sitting in on one of the meetings they were speaking about, uh, A LOT OF AFFORDABLE HOUSING THAT WAS SET UP FOR THE SENIORS. IT'S IN THAT NATURE. I WAS JUST WONDERING IF THERE WAS A LIST OF THESE THINGS, IF I COULD GET A LIST OF THESE THINGS BECAUSE I DON'T HAVE ANY OF THEM. THEY'RE NOT GIVING ME, MYSELF, AS A SENIOR CITIZEN DISABLED Well, you know, I can't seem to get these resources other than cats referring themselves to cats. And so that's the part that I'm kind of running into and I'm tired of being victimized and I'm too old to be out there fighting crime. You know, it's kind of crazy, but that's kind of like what it seems like. So I was just wondering if anyone has a list. Thank you very much. All right.

Thank you so much for your testimony. I think coordinated entry at the Human Service Campus should be the best list, but maybe we can follow up and see if we can get some better information.

Mayor, we'll have a member of our staff connect with Mr. Tanner.

Wonderful. Thank you to our city manager. All right, Michelle is next. Followed by Beverly Solis-Jones.

Hi, council. Hi, community members. My name is Michelle. I live in District 5. And I am here with Poder in Action today. And I am here to ask the council to do what's right and provide financial relief to impacted families, your constituents, by increasing the line item to $6.5 million. I've been a community organizer for the past 12 years. I've been a witness to the pain of families impacted by police violence. to the pain of black mothers, to the pain of undocumented families being separated. I've seen the trauma of undocumented children when their parents are taken away. So I've seen a lot. But I've also seen community-led initiatives And that's what we're asking of you today. One thing that I want to share is that other cities are already looking into shifting funds from police to community initiatives. And one of those initiatives that I've seen is safety buses. There's also crisis lines that are led by communities and that provide communities with services and referrals without police intervention. And what the studies show is that community trust people that look like them, community trust people, leaders in their communities that are able to provide them with the solutions, as well as organizations, which you have a room full of leaders here that can provide you with ideas and solutions. So, yeah, we're asking you to put people first, to increase the budget, and we have an opportunity to dream big and execute even bigger to ensure a just future for your constituents who are already facing so much. And the decision is in your hands if you want to see a thriving community or if you want to build a police state. Thank you.

Beverly is next, followed by Rhonda Savage.

Hello, council members. My name is Beverly Solis. I live in District 6. I want to first thank the city council members, their offices, city staff, and community members that have successfully supported the more than $3 million increase to the client services line item for crisis relief. While that increase helps, it is still not enough to hedge against the rising cost in food, housing, child care, health care, energy, and fuel. Under the Trump administration, Phoenix residents have also seen their SNAP benefits revoked. Nearly 192,000 children in Arizona have lost access to benefits. A large portion of those children live here in Phoenix. The City of Phoenix has the opportunity to support our community by providing financial relief for working families impacted by recent federal policy changes. I am requesting the City increase the client services line item for crisis relief to $6.5 million. I am also requesting the City increase the pilot youth programs from $500,000 to $1.5 million. Our city should prioritize supporting the health, safety, and success of our youth, and our budget should reflect those priorities. In addition, please ensure access to the funds expand to all Phoenix residents. I am also requesting the city subgrant these funds to trusted community organizations that are already resourced and trained to work with our local communities. As impactful as these additional funds will be on our communities, the requested increase is dismal by comparison to the proposed police budget for the 2026-2027 year. The proposed Phoenix police budget increase is 300 times what I am requesting to be added to the client services line item for crisis relief funds. If the city was able to budget a $59 million increase for Phoenix police, totaling over $1 billion, I know we should and we can invest more in programs that deliver immediate positive results for working families and residents, most impacted by rising costs. I appreciate your time.

Thank you and welcome to your daughter as well. Rhonda is next.

And Laura Rodriguez. Good afternoon Councilman, the panel. I appreciate again you folks being here to hear us. It's very important that you listen and these meetings help us know that you're listening. I represent Funds for Empowerment. I also am a resident at the SOS camp. I wanted to talk to you about this heat that we have. The other day a lady had to move in the back because it was 126 degrees inside of her tent with her 19-year-old dog. We don't have adequate cooling there. We have the fountains, yes. We appreciate the new fountain that you did put in for us. While the other one has a red indicator on it that's still red. I would like to see if maybe it's possible to put in some misters. I know it's a lot because of just the keeping up of it, but those misters would help our animals stay a lot cooler. I have a cat who sweats profusely and I try to keep him, I pour water on him I don't know if you know many cats, they don't like water. My cat is welcoming water being poured on him because it is so hot. You know, in the day room, it gets so full, there's not enough room for 250 tents worth plus animals. You can imagine dogs and cats in a day room together. It's very loud. It's very sticky and tight quarters. So I would like to see if maybe it would be something that we can put in the budget to have misters. Maybe it's more water. I don't know. But I just wanted to say thank you again for having us and for hearing us. Thank you.

Laura Rodriguez and Juana Rita.

Hola, buenas tardes. Mi nombre es Laura Rodriguez. Gracias a todos los miembros del concilio. Les agradecemos por su trabajo junto a la comunidad y puedan escuchar nuestras preocupaciones. Soy residente de Phoenix por más de 30 años. Vivo en el Distrito 4. Pido el aumento de servicio al cliente para finalmente tener un total de 6.5 millones de dólares de ayuda para familias afectadas y que están en crisis. por esta nueva administración. Mi comentario es que no pienso que sea necesario invertir la cantidad de 59 millones al departamento de policía cuando nuestra comunidad tiene muchas más necesidades que son prioridad de emergencia. Pido reflexión en los números y comprensión para las y comprensión financiera para las familias. En sus manos ponemos nuestras necesidades y ustedes tienen la oportunidad de hacer ese cambio y que nosotros tengamos como comunidad una comunidad segura. Gracias.

hello good afternoon my name is laura rodriguez and thank you for to all the members of the council we are thankful for all your work towards the community and for listening to all our concerns i am a resident of phoenix i've been here for 30 years and i live in district 4. so i'm asking for the increase of customer service for so that we can finally have the $6.5 million of help for families that are in crisis. due to this new administration. And my comment is that I don't think it's necessary to invest the amount of $59 million to the police department when in our community there's a lot more needs that are priority and are emergency. So I'm asking you to reflect on these numbers and understanding and towards your attention, more comprehensive attention to the finances and consider them. BECAUSE WE ARE PUTTING THEM IN YOUR HANDS, WE ARE PUTTING OUR NEEDS IN YOUR HANDS, AND YOU HAVE THE OPPORTUNITY TO MAKE THAT CHANGE SO THAT WE CAN HAVE AS A COMMUNITY, A SAFE COMMUNITY. THANK YOU.

WANARITA BURTARITA.

Hola, buenas tardes, miembros del concilio. Mi nombre es Juana. Bueno, yo estoy aquí una primero para agradecer que después de tanta lucha que hemos dado, han puesto atención a las necesidades de nuestras comunidades. Y sé que han puesto un presupuesto de más de tres millones para los fondos que se están pidiendo para la ayuda en crisis de las familias que estamos pasando. Es por eso que estamos pidiendo que aporten el resto del dinero para llegar a un total de servicio al cliente de 6.5 millones para las crisis que están pasando las familias con estas políticas de la administración Trump. Les han quitado servicios de comida y seguros médicos. Por eso pido que aporten ese resto a total de 6.5 millones de dólares y que las familias puedan acceder a estos servicios sin ningún problema. Porque hay muchas familias tratando de sobrellevar sus gastos mientras pelean en cortes de migración y no saben qué hacer para solvertar esos gastos de servicios básicos como agua, luz, comida. Y doctor, porque se les ha quitado también a muchas familias esos servicios. Es todo, gracias.

HELLO, GOOD AFTERNOON, MEMBERS OF THE COUNCIL. MY NAME IS JUANA AND I AM HERE FIRST OF ALL TO THANK YOU AFTER SO MUCH STRUGGLE THAT WE'VE BEEN THROUGH THAT YOU FINALLY LISTENED TO THE NEEDS OF OUR COMMUNITIES. AND I KNOW THAT YOU'VE ALLOCATED A BUDGET $3.9 million that are being asked to help people in families in crisis that we're going, that we're having these situations, that are having these situations right now. So we're asking that you support and allocate this funds to the customer service of increase it by $6.5 million for crisis relief funds that the families that are being affected by the administration Trump. They have lost their services, their food services, and a lot of these families have also lost their medical services. And that's why I'm asking you to allocate a total of $6.5 million. And SO THAT THESE FAMILIES CAN HAVE ACCESS TO THESE SERVICES WITHOUT ANY PROBLEMS. BECAUSE THERE'S A LOT OF FAMILIES THAT ARE TRYING TO COME UP WITH WAYS TO BE ABLE TO PAY FOR THEIR BASIC NEEDS WHILE THEY ARE FIGHTING IN IMMIGRATION COURTS FOR THEIR CASES AND THEY DON'T KNOW HOW TO COME UP WITH THE MONIES TO BE ABLE TO PAY FOR ALL THEIR BASIC NEEDS LIKE THEIR WATER, THEIR LIGHT, THEIR FOOD, AND DOCTORS BECAUSE THEY'VE ALSO LIKE LOST A LOT OF THE FAMILIES HAVE LOST THE SERVICES AS WELL. AND THAT IS ALL. THANK YOU.

Hola, buenas tardes, concejales. Mi nombre es Berta Rita. Antes que nada, quiero decirles que hoy me siento feliz de estar aquí. Este porque año tras años hemos estado aquí pidiendo que nuestro dinero se invierta en recursos que nos mantengan a salvo y seguros. Y este año por fin fuimos escuchados. Por eso quiero agradecerles a las personas que han escuchado nuestras voces y han ayudado a aumentar el Fondo de Alivio en Crisis a más de tres millones. aunque todos sabemos que esto no es suficiente para apoyar a miles de familias que estamos sobreviviendo a todos estos ataques. Nuestra gente de la tercera edad y los niños se han quedado sin cobertura médica y sin apoyo para sus alimentos, aparte de enfrentar la violencia por parte de ICE. Por eso les pido a todos los concejales que aporten el resto del presupuesto que falta para llegar a un total de 6.5 millones de servicio al cliente para fondos de alivio en crisis. La policía no nos mantiene seguros. Necesitamos que inviertan nuestro dinero en recursos para el pueblo, no más dinero al departamento de policía. Nuestros hijos tienen derecho también a ser felices. Gracias.

Hello, good afternoon council members. My name is Berta Rita and before, first of all, I'd like to say that today I feel very happy, a lot of joy to be here because year after year we have been here asking for the money to be allocated and invested in resources that will keep us safe and secure. And this year, finally, we feel we've been heard. That is why I want to thank the people that have listened to our voices and have helped us increase the crisis relief fund to more than $3 million. EVEN THOUGH WE ALL KNOW THAT THIS IS NOT ENOUGH TO SUPPORT MILLIONS OF FAMILIES THAT ARE SURVIVING ALL OF THESE ATTACKS, OUR PEOPLE, OUR SENIOR CITIZENS AND OUR CHILDREN DON'T HAVE BEEN LEFT WITHOUT MEDICAL CARE AND WITHOUT THE SUPPORT FOR THEIR FOOD. and also on top of that have to put up with the violence from ICE. And that is why I'm asking all the council members to allocate the rest of the funds that is needed to be able to have a total of $6.5 million towards the customer service crisis relief fund. The police is not keeping us safe. We need our money to be allocated towards resources for the people. No more money towards the police. Our children have the right to also be happy. Thank you.

Thank you. We'll go to Eric next, and then we'll go to a virtual with Maria Urias.

Hi, my name is Eric Richardson, and I am representing Funds for Empowerment. And I'm also a resident at the SOS lot. shelter and basically I want to speak on I mean first I want to thank you all for actually centering like the homeless and resources that you're allowing in the budget for us like my peer Elizabeth said earlier two years back you probably wasn't receiving anything so and In saying that, though, I think everybody agrees that it still is not enough as far as resources and everything. And I'm hoping we'll still see more improvement as we go on, basically. Especially where I've stayed, personally, at the SOS lot. Again, I mean, I don't think it should be shut down or anything like that. But it's definitely need to be some improvement, especially as we deal with the summer heat, basically. And this period, I mean, I've stayed on the streets and everything, even with the heat reliefs. Uh, we need more of them basically. Uh, I mean, even added an additional 24 hour heat relief center. I mean, there's, there's one here downtown on Jackson. Um, I think there should be another one here in the Phoenix area, basically. Uh, that's not ready. I know that one's like CBI, CBI, uh, ran and, um, nothing against CBI, but maybe have another one that's 24 hour like that. That's, um, non CBI that does not affiliated with CBI or whatever like that.

Basically.

Uh,

I mean, there's a lot of things I could say. I just say you got the time. But also, I wanted to include, too, that we do have a town hall meeting at the SOS lot. I don't know if you're all aware of it or whatever, but if y'all can, possibly come, basically. Maybe you'll hear more about what's going on at SOS.

Thank you. And while we go to our virtual speakers, our department directors, if you wish to return to your seat, that would now would be a good time for that. Maria Proxima and Alma Nunez.

Buenas tardes, alcaldesa y miembros del consejo. Mi nombre es Maria y soy mamá de un niño de tres años aquí en Phoenix. Estoy aquí hoy para pedirles que protejan los 5 millones destinados al cuidado infantil en el presupuesto final de la ciudad de Phoenix. Para familias como la mía, el cuidado infantil es lo que hace posible todo lo demás. Es lo que nos permite mantener nuestros empleos, ir a la escuela y mantener estabilidad en nuestros hogares. Cuando el cuidado infantil es demasiado caro o no está disponible, los padres se ven obligados a tomar decisiones imposibles. And the employers feel the impact through the lack of staff. Child care is really the infrastructure for the labor force. I appreciate that the proposed budget recognizes how high the costs of child care are for the families of CINIC. This investment of 5 million is an important local solution that helps reduce the cost and expand the Good afternoon.

good afternoon mayor and members of the council my name is maria and i am a mother of a three-year-old here in phoenix and i am here to to ask you to protect the five million that are designated for child care in this final budget of the city of phoenix for families like mine Childcare is what makes everything else possible, and that is what allows us to be able to keep our jobs, go to work, and have stability in our homes. Currently, daycare is way too expensive. And sometimes parents are obligated to make decisions that make things more difficult or impossible. And then our employers are also impacted by this because there's not enough employees. Daycare. is a real infrastructure to help the work labor force. And I appreciate that the budget is acknowledging how high the costs are for daycare that are affecting Phoenix families. And these $5 million ARE VERY IMPORTANT BECAUSE THEY HELP US TO REDUCE THE COSTS RELATED TO THIS AND GIVE US THE ABILITY OR ACCESSIBILITY TO BE ABLE TO USE THESE SERVICES, ESPECIALLY LIKE FOR FAMILIES LIKE MINE. SO PLEASE KEEP THE $5 MILLION DESIGNATED TOWARDS DAY CARE IN THE BUDGET, IN THE FINAL BUDGET. THANK YOU.

Alma Nunez, Sulem Escobar.

Hola, buenas tardes, alcaldesa y miembros del consejo. Mi nombre es Alma y soy mamá de tres niños. Mis hijos tienen 10, 14 y 19 años. Pero recuerdo claramente cuando los años eran, cuando ellos eran pequeños y mi familia luchaba por encontrar un balance entre conseguir cuidado infantil, accesible y trabajar. Estoy aquí hoy para pedirles que protejan los 5 millones continuos destinados al cuidado infantil en el presupuesto final de la ciudad de Phoenix. El cuidado infantil es esencial para familias como la mía. Les permite a los padres trabajar, proveer para nuestros hijos y construir estabilidad. Cuando el cuidado infantil está fuera del alcance económico, las familias sufren y nuestra comunidad pierde el potencial tanto de los padres como de los niños. Estoy agradecida de que el presupuesto propuesto reconozca los significativos que son los costos del cuidado infantil para las familias de Phoenix. Esta inversión de 5 millones es un paso importante para reducir esos costos y ampliar el acceso. Thank you. Sulem, followed by Harrison Redmond.

HELLO, GOOD AFTERNOON, MAYOR AND MEMBERS OF THE COUNCIL. MY NAME IS ALMA AND I AM AND I WAS A MOTHER OF THREE CHILDREN. MY CHILDREN ARE 10, 14, AND 19. And I remember very clearly in those years when they were much younger and my family would struggle to find a balance between daycare, finding daycare that would be accessible and going to work or that would be affordable and going to work. So I am asking you to protect these $5 million that are ongoing, destined to daycare in the final budget for the City of Phoenix. Childcare is essential for families like mine. It allows parents to work, to provide for their children, and be able to have stability or build stability. When this is out of reach for the families at an economic level, the families suffer. A community as a whole suffers. because the parents are not able to meet their potential and the children are also not able to meet their potential. So I'm very thankful that the budget is acknowledging how significant these costs for childcare are for families in the City of Phoenix This investment of the $5 million is a very important step to reduce those costs and provide or expand that accessibility. And protecting this financing is a way to invest in the future of our children and our overall strength at long-term for our city. Respectfully, I ask you to maintain the $5 million destined to the daycare in the final budget. Thank you. Thank you.

Harrison is next, followed by John Preston.

Good afternoon, Mayor Gallego, council members. My name is Harrison Redmond speaking for myself as a civil rights advocate and Phoenix resident to urge this council to increase the client services crisis relief fund to $6.5 million. Increasing this fund from $1.5 to $3 million is a real win and will have tangible benefits for so many Phoenicians. The community members and council offices who fought for that win deserve credit. However, any of us would be lying if we called it enough. We're living through a moment where Arizonans are losing food assistance, more so than anywhere else in the country, losing health care, and living in genuine fear of ICE raids, kidnappings, and deportations. I personally work with immigrant communities across Arizona. I've seen what it looks like when a parent stops leaving their house because they're afraid of masked ICE thugs abducting them away from their kids. I've seen what happens when a family can't pay rent because their SNAP benefits were cut, and they're too afraid to ask for help or have no idea whether it even exists. These are not talking points or hollow arguments. It is literally what's happening in Phoenix and across our state right now. Furthermore, Phoenix's own budget language acknowledges that this fund exists to address exactly those harms of housing instability, food insecurity, and the economic fallout of devastating federal policy on our most vulnerable residents. As we all heard, Phoenix is sitting on a projected surplus of over $162 million. That number matters because it means the question before all of you today is not whether Phoenix can afford to fully fund crisis relief. The question is whether this council will choose to do so. The ask from community members, advocates, and others is clear. $6.5 million for client services sub-granted to be distributed through trusted local organizations that are already embedded in the community's most at risk. all of which can and should be done in tandem with an implementation committee to ensure transparency, accountability, and equitable distribution. This is not a radical ask, but the council's answer determines whether this city believes, as shown through its words and actions, that all residents of Phoenix matter enough to protect. All power to the people. Thank you.

John Preston is next, followed by Clarissa Peterson.

Hello, City of Phoenix Council Members. My name is John Preston, and I'm an example of what happens when you lose your job in Phoenix and you become homeless. I currently stay at the SOS Center over off West Jackson. I do have some issues with the center. Sanitation would be one of the primary ones with black mold in the showers. We've had that on occasion where some individual that lives there has lost all the toes on one of his feet because of it. The food situation is a little bit different than it used to be when I first got there. We now receive on Saturdays and Sundays one four ounce milk, one one ounce box of cereal, and a banana, and a piece of bread. So that's not much of a breakfast when you think about having to take in 2,200 calories a day. It's less than 300 calories. The situation there with the heat is not the greatest. It would not be all that much to take visqueen and take it from the roof to the floor and put the coolers that are outside, keeping the staff cool, blowing into the tents to keep the residents cool so they're not so hot. With the heat being the way it is in Phoenix, I'm sure you can understand that. I just think some more needs to be done as far as making water available to those that live in the shelter. When the city stores its water there for the cooling centers, and there's no water available for the residents other than two water fountains, which one of them has a filter that needs to be changed constantly that's never changed, hardly at all.

That's basically all I have to say. Thank you.

Thank you, John. And then we'll have Clarissa. And then I skipped Sulem. And Elsie, could you translate that? We're going back to Sulem.

Hi. My name is Clarissa Peterson. I'm here for Fund for Empowerment. And I am a resident at the SOS, a safe outdoor space. And this is my first time being homeless. And It is hot out there in the tent and with the three-digit heat. And I'm talking for the animals and us. And I think they should put misters or air conditioners out there for us and more water and ice for us to have to keep us cool. And talking for them. changing the filters and the water balance, because sometimes the water is not good for us to drink, too. And they don't provide water for anybody there. And they say it's for the workers that work for the city. And a couple of days ago, we had a dog that died out there because it was hot. And sometimes we usually have people that's passing away out there, too, just because of the heat. And you need to see it or hear it from either of us or do something about it. And we have a town hall meeting tomorrow at 1230. I think you guys should attend. Thank you.

I APOLOGIZE, MAYOR.

SULEM PROXIMA. VIRTUAL SULEM ESCOBAR GONZALEZ.

Hola, buenas tardes alcaldesa y miembros del consejo. Mi nombre es Zuley y soy mamá de una niña de un año y vivo aquí en Phoenix. Estoy aquí hoy para pedirles que protejan los cinco millones destinados al cuidado infantil en el presupuesto final de la ciudad de Phoenix. El cuidado infantil es una parte fundamental de la infraestructura económica de Phoenix. Los padres no pueden trabajar ni avanzar en sus carreras sin acceso a cuidado infantil confiable y accesible. Esta inversión apoya tanto a los padres trabajadores como a la fortaleza de nuestra economía local. El presupuesto propuesto reconoce que los costos del cuidado infantil representan una carga financiera real para las familias. Estos cinco millones le dan a Phoenix una manera práctica de reducir esos costos y mejorar el acceso al cuidado infantil desde ahora. Phoenix tiene la oportunidad de ser líder con una solución inteligente y local que apoye una fuerza laboral más fuerte para el futuro. Por favor protejan los 5 millones destinados al cuidado infantil que ayudan a familias como la mía. Gracias.

GOOD AFTERNOON, MAYOR AND MEMBERS OF THE COUNCIL. MY NAME IS ULE AND I AM THE MOTHER OF A ONE-YEAR-OLD GIRL AND I LIVE HERE IN PHOENIX AND I AM HERE TODAY TO PROTECT THE $5 MILLION DISTANT TO CHILDCARE AND THE FINAL BUDGET OF THE CITY OF PHOENIX. Childcare is a fundamental part of the economic infrastructure of Phoenix. Parents can't work or get ahead in their careers without having access to childcare that is reliable and accessible. This investment is going to support working families and also going to strengthen our economy. The proposed budget acknowledges that the costs of daycare represent a financial burden for families. These $5 million give Phoenix a practical way to reduce those costs and improve the access to childcare starting now. Phoenix has the opportunity to be a leader with an intelligent solution for the local people that is going to support the workforce and make it stronger for the future. Please protect the $5 million destined and allocated to child care that will help working families like mine. Thank you.

Thank you. Next, we will hear from David Morgan, followed by Maria Mora.

David Morgan with Funds for Empowerment. I also live at the SOS. Hearing all this talk about child care, the need for funding, just blows me away.

It makes me feel like I got really old really fast.

Because back in my day, my dad supported our family. My mom stayed at home and raised us kids. So this is like really, really serious stuff that we've changed, such as a society that both people have to work in order to have a home. And there's no one there to raise the kids. I don't know how that works, but there you go. My big complaint with the SOS right now isn't really with the SOS. It's with the Office of Homeless Solutions for not providing water and ice, more than anything, ice to the residents. We get a bucket approximately two feet by three feet by about two and a half feet. full of ice only once a day at 1030 in the morning. By 11 o'clock in the morning, it is gone. And that is the only ice they allocate on the yard. Here's the problem with that. There's three nearby circle caves. Those three circle caves are inundated with the homeless getting ice. They're not obligated to give us ice, and we're destroying their machines. I go in to get me a soda. I can't get a soda because the soda fountains are down. There's no ice. There's no sodas because they're overworked. We really need to address this. The ice situation is out of control. The inhumane treatment. They brought in a ready ice, huge freezer, stacked it full of ice, put it in our day room where we have to look at it, locked it up, and said, guess what? That's for the heat relief centers. You guys don't get none of that. They brought in three, and this is no lie, I'm not going to swear because I want to be indignant or anything, but they're called big-ass fans. They're outdoor swamp coolers. They brought three of them, put one at the laundry area for the staff, one for the security, and one for the check-in gate. We get none of it.

Next. Next.

Buenas tardes, miembros del Consejo, alcaldesa. Mi nombre es Lupe Mora y estoy aquí para pedirles que voten por esos 6.5 millones para nuestra comunidad, que ya sabemos que se encuentra en crisis. Es una crisis económica en la que por esta administración y redadas de aire están siendo afectadas. Y ya no pueden pagar sus rentas, biles, servicios médicos y cuidado de niños. which the city has the opportunity to be a line of defense against these attacks by providing economic relief to working families. Many families have been separated by ICE. For this reason, we have depressed children, young people worried about their parents and desperate parents for not being able to take care of their children, for not having a job, han cambiado sus vidas y se les están haciendo difíciles muchas de estas personas Familias viviendo en las calles. No todos los que viven en la calle son drogadictos. Lo estamos viendo. Hay muchas gentes trabajadoras viviendo en la calle. Y están viviendo en la calle porque se quedaron sin un hogar, porque se quedaron sin un trabajo, porque ya no pudieron pagar. Y son personas que también pagan impuestos, como todos los que nos encontramos en este momento. Por eso les pido que por favor apoyen esos 6.5 millones para estas familias que han sido afectadas. Nosotros no necesitamos que le den más presupuesto a la policía, ya que muchas veces sus servicios no son tan necesarios como este que estamos viviendo nosotros con nuestra comunidad. Nosotros como comunidad nos sentimos... Nos sentimos responsables por ellos y por eso los estamos apoyando. Ustedes que tienen el poder deben sentir esa responsabilidad de dar ese voto de sí para esta comunidad. Gracias.

Good afternoon, mayor, members of the council. My name is Lupe Mora, and I am here to ask you to vote for those $6.5 million to go for our community, because we know that our community is in crisis. It is a financial or economic crisis because of this current administration and the raids by ICE our families are being affected by. And they're not able to pay their rents, their bills, their medical services, and childcare. And the city has the opportunity to be a line of defense against these attacks by bringing relief financial relief to working families a lot of families have been separated by ice for this reason we have children that are experiencing depression Children that are worried for their parents and parents desperate to find ways to be able to provide for their children and their inability to be able to take care of them because they don't have a job. Their lives have changed, and a lot of things are becoming more difficult for these people, for these families that are living on the streets. Not everybody that lives in the streets are drug addicts. We are seeing it. There's a lot of working people that are living in the streets because they were left without a home. because they were left without a job, because they were no longer able to pay. There are people that are also paying taxes, just like all of us that are here today. That is why I am asking you to please allocate those $6.5 million for these families that have been affected. We don't need for you to allocate more funds towards the police because a lot of times we find that a lot of their services are not as necessary or as high as what we are facing now in our community. As a community, we feel responsible for them, and that is why we are supporting them. And you, that you have the power, should feel the responsibility to give that yes vote for this community. Thank you.

Thank you. Maria Mora, followed by Francisco Luna. FRANCISCO LUNA FOLLOWED BY ANDREA LUNA.

MY NAME IS FRANCISCO LUNA. GOOD AFTERNOON COMMUNITY, PHOENIX RESIDENTS, COUNCIL MEMBERS. I'M HERE TODAY IN SUPPORT AND ASKING FOR THE 6.5 MILLION FOR COMMUNITIES. COMMUNITIES WHO HAVE BEEN IMPACTED BY ICE, BY THE CUTS OF SNAP BENEFITS. by housing costs rising up, by gas prices rising up, by the terror of Trump administration within our communities. It is outstanding that 59 million could be found for the police department, but we cannot invest more for our communities. And although we have over 3 million, our families deserve more. Communities deserve more. So although we're going to celebrate, we want more. And we are here in support of the $6.5 million. Thank you.

Andrea Luna is next, followed by Ben Waffle.

Good afternoon, Mayor and Council. My name is Andrea Luna Cervantes. I'm the campaign manager with Organized Power and Numbers. And I'm here today because Phoenix families are struggling to survive growing economic instability and fear caused by the federal administration's policy and ongoing violence from ICE. We've seen people lose SNAP benefits, health care, and watch loved ones be detained or deported. Families are being pushed into impossible situations where they have to choose between rent, food, transportation, or caring for their children, as we've heard today. I do want to thank city council offices and staff who have helped increase the client service line item for crisis relief funds to more than $3 million and invest in affordable housing programs and child care services. This is a real victory and I'd like to also thank the community members who showed up to advocate at budget hearings throughout the city. Organizing with your neighbors truly does work. YOU WILL HEAR THROUGHOUT AND HAVE HEARD THAT COMMUNITY MEMBERS ARE ASKING FOR A FLEXIBLE FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE SLIDE TO INCREASE TO A TOTAL OF $6.5 MILLION. THIS IS BECAUSE THERE IS A TRUE FEAR AND UNCERTAINTY IN OUR COMMUNITY BECAUSE OF THE TRUMP ADMINISTRATION, RISING GAS AND FOOD PRICES AND INCREASED IMMIGRATION ENFORCEMENT ARE ALREADY OUR NEW NORMAL AND WE EXPECT THIS TO GET EVEN WORSE. We are also asking that the city ensure these funds are accessible to people who need them without overwhelming documentation. Our members are also aware that there are still funds available for the eviction legal services program. We're asking that you consider funding and codifying that program past the ARPA allocation so that community members have access to council. I urge you to vote yes on this budget and continue to invest in our communities. Thank you all so much.

Ben is next, followed by Nancy Lam.

Hi, my name is Ben Laughlin, and I'm a resident of District 4. In 2022, over 300 community members came together to reimagine the way public safety was done in this city. We spent three months talking about what people loved about their neighborhoods and what they needed to feel healthier, safer, and more stable. Out of that came a list of nearly 70 items that people wanted to see prioritized for investment in their community, which we've called the Pueblos budget. Our goal with the Pueblos budget has been to shift the city budget from one that prioritizes policing and criminalization to one that prioritizes the health and well-being of Phoenix residents. I'm here today feeling really conflicted about the proposed city budget before us. There are several things in here that community members identified as a priority in the Pueblos budget, from childcare assistance to crisis relief to youth programming to more money for affordable housing. These are all things we've been advocating for for years. And for the first time in recent memory, there isn't any money going to the police department for new positions or programs. These are huge wins for the community. So thank you for listening to community needs. The thing I can't accept, though, is that you found $59 million for police pay raises and new cop cars, but couldn't find $3 million more for crisis assistance funds. My understanding is that y'all are spending over $7 million on new cop cars. New cop cars don't keep people in their homes or food on people's table. They do nothing to increase community well-being. In fact, they do the opposite. They make sure cops can better harass, surveil, brutalize, and kidnap community members. So you have a choice. Give cops new cars or make sure that families stay in their homes and have food on their tables. Choice is only hard if cars are more important to you than people.

Thank you. Nancy is next, followed by William Kirkland.

Good afternoon, Mayor and members of council. My name is Nancy Lamb. I live in District 4, work in District 5. Thank you so much for expanding the client services line item for flexible emergency financial assistance and for increasing teen services programming. I want to be proud to live in a city that says with our dollars that we value the health and well-being of children, youth, and families, which is why I'm asking you all to increase the client services line item for crisis relief to $6.5 million. While this year's budget has improvements worth celebrating, the amount of money going to police still far outweighs the amount going to the resources and services our communities need to thrive. The next fiscal year's police budget is set to reach $1.086 billion. All of this for a police force that has killed 190 community members since 2013. Last year, the city council approved a $5.5 million settlement for the fatal shooting of Ali Osman and a $5.25 million settlement for a toddler severely injured by a police cruiser. Both of these settlements are much costlier than adding $3 million more to the client services budget. The city is currently being sued by the family of Christian Diaz, who was shot and killed in his own home when protecting his family from an intruder, murdered by the police whose job he was doing when he successfully defended his family. Murdered by the same police, their family called to help them, but instead caused the greatest tragedy. We will continue to remind the Phoenix City Council that policing will never be a solution for the crisis we face. There is an opportunity right now as the Trump administration has canceled SNAP benefits May us lose our health care and as we face constant violence from ICE to invest in resourcing our community. The police budget additions call for $7 million for new cop cars. $3 million of this should be shifted to cover the gap in crisis relief funds to increase the client services line item for crisis relief to $6.5 million. Thank you.

William is next, followed by Sabrina Kernighus.

Yes, ma'am. My name is William Kirkland. I found it lucky enough to call Phoenix my second home. And I am at SIS, and I'm with Ms. Elizabeth. I just got one thing to say. Last year and this year, when you have people sitting in the day room that are just dying of thirst, and the city's got sacks, sacks. And we're told if we touch one, we get kicked out. Sorry. You know, I'm thankful to have a roof at SOS. Very thankful. But that is wrong. That's all I've got to say. Thank you, ma'am. Thank you all.

Sabrina is next, followed by Randy Kelling.

Good afternoon Mayor, council members and city staff. My name is Sabrina Kanegas and I am here today to speak on the 2026-2027 budget and to continue voicing concerns surrounding transparency, accountability and oversight within the city departments. I appreciate the city's investments in housing stability, homelessness response, youth programs and emergency assistance because many Phoenix families are struggling. I also want to acknowledge community organizations and residents advocating for an additional $6.5 million in crisis relief proposal to support families impacted by ICE activity, including housing assistance, food support, legal aid, and crisis stabilization. These conversations matter because many Phoenix families are living in fear and uncertainty right now. But beyond funding, Phoenix must prioritize accountability. Today, I am asking council to reallocate funding towards stronger oversight and transparency standards across all city departments and affiliated programs, including the city's Office of Environmental Programs. current and former city employees within the office environmental programs have raised serious concerns and retaliatory behavior surrounding the city's backyard garden initiative program involving claims that non food grade safe materials are being used in city funded provided garden systems connected to 57 phoenix families potentially compromising and poisoning their health and well-being If true, this is not just an administrative issue. It is a public health concern involving families who trusted the city to provide safe and sustainable food growing opportunities. Phoenix cannot promote sustainability within the proposed budget while failing to ensure proper safety standards, transparent inspections, and independent oversight. i respectfully ask council to strengthen oversight mechanisms create safer reporting pathways without fear of retaliation and ensure publicly funded programs are ethical transparent and truly serving the community thank you for your time thank you randy is next followed by darren

Thank you, Madam Mayor and Madam Vice Mayor. Appreciate your time to hear me out, including the council, city council. I want to thank you very much, and thanks for addressing the issue with the ADA situation with the showers and the toilets. They did arrive over there. One of the other issues I did want to mention are things as far as what they are correct that it is getting hot out there and that for some reason we need to get some sort of misters or fans or things to cool people down over there. The animals are getting hot and they are getting tired. And one, as a matter of fact, as Ms. Clarissa Peterson did say, that did die from heat. As far as for, as for inside the day room, inside the SOS itself or things, by the way, I'm also with what is called Funds for Empowerment. Sorry about that. They do have ice that came in from Ready Ice or things that have big cooler systems or things. They put bags in there. They're saying that we cannot have that ice. It's for the staff only kind of things. They don't have the water or anything like that, water bottle waters that is needed or things to help cool people down. The other thing is that when it gets hot out there or things, people are actually getting really hot. So we needed a little bit of help. I understand that you guys are very limited on what budgets that you can do. But the people over there, they really do need help over there getting staying cool, fans, ice, and stuff like that without the water being kept from them. The last thing I want to mention is that the water drinking fountains, they have a filtration system, a three-step. You've got green, yellow, and red. Green is good. Yellow is starting to get dirty. And red, I think, is unsafe to drink. Okay, those need to be replaced. And just to make everything short, thank you very much. Thank you.

Darren is next, followed by Adriana.

Hi, how y'all doing? My name is Darren Jezik. I'm a member of Organized Power in Numbers, the Take Back Our Homes campaign, as well as the Fuerte Arts Movement. There is no doubt that you all have done a lot for us, and we appreciate it more than you think. But it's really just a Band-Aid to a problem that's going to get much worse. I know we are asking for more funding, but we need it. We are talking about families, businesses, neighborhoods, everything. People are struggling just to survive. We are dealing with an administration that is hell-bent on the destruction of this country and the less fortunate. You can do something now to make things better. Don't you think you should? Right to counsel is necessary. We showed you the facts and the proof it works. Other cities are very satisfied with the program, and you will be too. Remember, it keeps people from being homeless. Don't you realize that?

Thank you. Adriana is next, followed by Jessica Galaz.

Good afternoon, Mayor Gallego, members of the Phoenix City Council, and city staff. My name is Adriana Garcia-Maximiliano, and I'm here representing Organized Power in Numbers. First, I want to thank the council members who took the time to meet with Organized Power in Numbers, our partner organizations, and directly impacted community members throughout this budget process. We especially want to thank those who champion investments in housing support, flexible crisis assistance, childcare, and refugee support. These investments matter because families across Phoenix are facing deep instability right now. At a previous budget hearing, I shared that my cousin was detained by ICE on his way to work. Since then, he has been deported, leaving behind his wife and children here in Phoenix. He was their only source of income. And stories like his are becoming more common across Arizona and Phoenix. Immigrant and working families are living with constant fear and uncertainty because of the attacks coming from the current administration. People are afraid to go to work, afraid to seek services, and afraid to participate in public life. And that fear does not stay isolated to individual families. It impacts our entire city. Recent research is already showing that immigration crackdowns are hurting workforce participation and damaging Arizona's economy. That is why the investments this council is making are so important. We applaud these investments, but for them to truly work, families need to be able to access them. So today, we're asking that the city continue listening to community feedback as these programs are implemented. Lower barriers to access, reduce unnecessary documentation requirements, ensure language access, protect people's privacy, and build systems that families can easily navigate. Thanks so much for your time.

THANK YOU. JESSICA IS NEXT FOLLOWED BY GABBY AND JESSICA G. HELLO.

HI. MY NAME IS JESSICA GALAZ AND I'M A FORMER HIGH SCHOOL TEACHER AND A CURRENT MEMBER OF THE PHOENIX UNION HIGH SCHOOL DISTRICT BUDGET ADVISORY COMMITTEE. AND I AM HERE TO ASK FOR AN INCREASE TO THE BUDGET AND ACCESSIBILITY FOR THE CRISIS RELIEF FUNDS. From April of 2025 to our meeting last week, the Phoenix Union Budget Committee has had to make recommendations on budget cuts equating to about $30 million, with $20 million in cuts still needing to move forward. As I sit in those advisory committee meetings trying to determine what needs to take priority, I think to myself that this would all be unnecessary if our local, state, and federal governments did their job. THERE ARE TWO MAIN REASONS ALL ARIZONA SCHOOLS ARE SUFFERING RIGHT NOW. REASON ONE, ESA VOUCHERS WHICH COST ARIZONA ABOUT 700 MILLION BY THE END OF 2024. AND REASON TWO, WE ARE SEEING A DECLINE IN STUDENT ENROLLMENT WHICH STEMS FROM FAMILIES FLEEING THE STATE IN 2010 DUE TO SB 1070. THIS HAPPENED AT A TIME WHEN I WAS IN HIGH SCHOOL AND I WITNESSED THIS MASS EXODUS MYSELF. Fifteen years later, those families with children that should be entering our schools now are gone and are hopefully safe. It does not matter which level of government passed this legislation or at what point in time it was passed. It is each government's responsibility to address the consequences of those decisions and protect its constituents. Support our students and families as they deal with the fallout now. I would also like to highlight the fact that earlier this year, a Phoenix Union board member was not acting in the interest of that community and was removed from his position. You work for us. Please act accordingly. Thank you.

Gabby is next, followed by Melina. Gabby Friedman.

gabby could you indicate if you're here all right melina is next followed by angelina good afternoon everyone my name is melina i have a very short commute to work it's only about 15 minutes or so depending on traffic And on my way, I encounter about 10 to 20 unhoused folks, folks that may have lost everything, whether that be due to one health care bill that they couldn't afford or simply because they need money to feed their children because groceries are just way too expensive right now. It's incredibly hard asking for help. Imagine how hard it is to stand on the street in the blazing hot sun to ask for anything. Would you be able to do that? I've heard many folks come up here to say that the city isn't even doing the bare minimum to provide what they need, including ice, water, and misters. While our families suffer and we have to beg for a couple of million for the client services line item, PPD over here gets an additional 59 million. 59 million going to an institution that does not keep people that look like me safe. Millions that will go towards new gadgets and cars that will be used to terrorize and incarcerate my people. $59 million compared to the 6.5 we are asking the client services line item increase to that provides actual, reasonable solutions. It seems like a no-brainer, right? While this year's budget has improvements, the amount of money going to police far outweighs the amount of going to resources for our communities. We will continue to show up to remind council that policing is not, has not, and will never be an effective solution. We need 6.5 million. Thank you for your time.

Angelina is next followed by Myesha.

Buenas tardes, miembro del concilio. Mi nombre es Angelina. Tengo viviendo aquí en el estado de Arizona 47 años, los cuales he trabajado muy duro en el campo, limpiando oficinas, trabajando en hoteles, haciendo todos los trabajos que son muy pesados. Aparte de que tengo que trabajar, que tenía que trabajar, pues tenía que tener muchas... tenía también muchos problemas. Por motivos de problemas de salud, yo hace cinco años dejé de trabajar. Y en esos cinco años yo pedí mi disability porque no podía trabajar, me lo negaron. Y ahorita vivo en una crisis bien difícil porque mis hijas ya todas son adultas, se casaron, tienen sus propios problemas, y yo soy la que tengo que batallar para pagar mis filhos. y eso siempre me trae una crisis muy difícil por eso estoy aquí esta tarde participando verdad con la comunidad en el grupo apoyando para que reciban este estos esos este pidiendo que lleguemos a los 6.5 millones de dólares para que podamos seguir ayudando a familias ahorita en crisis que están muy necesitadas en vivienda, en alimentación y en pagar sus utilidades porque la vida ahorita ya cada día es más cara, se puede vivir menos y pienso que todos nosotros tenemos también la dignidad de vivir con una vida digna y segura Y espero apoyen el aumentar, el llegar a los 6.5 millones para alivianar esa crisis. Gracias.

Good afternoon members of the council. My name is Angelina and I've been living here in the state of Arizona for the last 47 years. I have worked a lot of hard jobs. I've worked in the fields. I've cleaned offices. I've worked in hotels. I've done all those jobs that are really hard. And also, on top of that, I had to work and have a lot of, well, I had a lot of problems at the time related to my health. And about five years ago, I had to stop working. And during those five years, I asked for my disability services because I could not work, but it was denied. And now I'm going through a very difficult crisis. My daughters, they're now adults. They have their own families, and they have their own problems. So now I'm looking out for myself and struggling to pay my bills. And that is, that also, that brings me, or puts me in a very difficult situation, and I feel like I'm in this high crisis. And that is why I'm here this afternoon, participating alongside with the community, with our group, supporting so that they can acquire those resources or asking that we get to that $6.5 million so that we can continue to help families right now that have high needs, especially with housing and nutrition and paying the utilities, because right now life is very expensive. And I feel and I think that all of us deserve the dignity to live in dignity and safety. And I hope that we can get to that increase of the $6.5 million to be able to provide that relief for this crisis. Thank you.

Thank you. Myesha is next, followed by Stephanie Faircloth.

Good afternoon, Mayor, council members. My name is Myesha Fish. I am a disabled resident of over 50, living currently in District 3. And I am here with organized power in numbers. I am so humbled by pain today. And I am so proud of my efforts here before you. This budget matters to me. to my community and those in my demographic, the fixed income, disabled, mentally and physically challenged. We are the ones that are struggling and need your help the most. My district is one of the highest in valley evictions. However, when I was here last year, I asked and the mayor responded to help me to avoid possible eviction by getting one of her city reps to help me. I bypassed one of the roadblocks on the online process. And then I was approved, only to be denied an hour later another roadblock because my landlord had not presented me a notice to evict. Even though I fit the emergency fund criteria, had it not been for the efforts and generosity of organized power numbers raising the funds for my rent that month, eviction would have been imminent. I have nowhere else to go in that scenario. One unexpected expense can undo everything and push me back onto the streets. we appreciate the way the city has listened and work with our community in this process and we expect to see more of this in the future as our people continue to navigate economic instability and state violence we appreciate the addition of the flexible emergency financial assistance but we need to see more That's why I'm here in pain asking you to increase the client services line item for crisis relief funds for a total of 6.5 million and expand access to all Phoenix residents. Thank you very much.

Thank you, and I don't know if it would help with pain, but we can bring microphones to folks for whom it's difficult to stand. Stephanie is next, followed by Lee Ellis.

Hi there. My name is Steffi, and I live in District 4. Over the past year, I've had to see a lot of friends leave the city of Phoenix and move either out of the state or out of the country, especially with the ongoing violence from ICE. My best friend left. He, along with many others, don't want to live in fear anymore. They no longer want to risk losing health care. They don't want to risk... getting detained. More people are leaving the city of Phoenix, and that makes me really sad because the people here are what make this city beautiful. And the city has an obligation to protect its residents overall. Additionally, when I lost my job a few years back, my friends guided me through getting SNAP benefits, which is something that gave me a sense of security at the time when everything else was unstable. I wasn't sure if I was going to be able to pay rent or bills. Within the past few months, Arizona has seen the most amount of SNAP benefits cut nationwide, and that's something we shouldn't be proud of being number one in. That sense of security has been diminished over the past year, with many people losing benefits and then people who didn't even have access to them to begin with. The increase of crisis relief funds to a total of $6.5 million will help our residents most affected to be able to pay for housing, food, childcare, and refugee crisis support. This is going to be extremely essential to immigrants and those who are in detention who are dealing with intense financial stress of paying for basic necessities, such as housing and food, plus their cases. And this would alleviate their stress drastically. I do want to recognize the improvements made to this budget and thank City Council for working with organizations and individuals alike, being open to our feedback. However, I can't help but also recognize the continued imbalance between funds directly helping our communities here in Phoenix versus what is going to the police budget. I am confident that given that there is a 59 million increase in the police budget, that there can be just 3 million more added to the client services line item for crisis relief funds. Thank you for listening.

Thank you. Lee is next, followed by Paige.

Lee Ellis, are you with us?

Could you wave? That's Paige. All right, Paige is next, followed by Jason Chavez.

Hi, good afternoon, Mayor and members of council. My name is Paige, and I live in District 4, and I work in District 7 with Arizona Democracy Resource Center. I appreciate that the city has listened and successfully doubled the client services line item for the crisis relief funds to more than $3 million. I hope to see more of this in the future, as our people will continue to navigate economic instability, and as we obviously know, we will continue to see state violence. All of us who showed up today have a collective responsibility to take care of one another and the city should feel that too. I'm asking for more, more for Phoenix families and more for those impacted by ice. The city must increase the client services line item for the crisis relief funds to $6.5 million and to expand access to all Phoenix residents. We can't forget that Arizona is home to Eloy Detention Center, one of the deadliest ICE detention centers in the country. People inside Eloy continue to report medical neglect, abuse, and denial of care. Our community continues to show up to support families impacted by detention. Just one of them is Yadi, a legal resident and active member of the LGBTQ plus community who has leukemia and is currently dying. IN THIS DETENTION CENTER WHO NEEDS EMERGENCY CARE. I KNOW ELA IS NOT FUNDED BY THE CITY AND IS PRIVATELY OWNED, BUT THE CITY CAN INVEST IN IMMIGRANT FAMILIES THAT NEED SUPPORT WITH HOUSING, FOOD, AND OTHER BASIC NEEDS WHILE THEY DEFEND THEMSELVES IN IMMIGRATION COURT AND DETENTION. WE KNOW YOU HAVE THE MONEY WITH A POLICE BUDGET OF OVER $1 BILLION. YOU CAN FIND 3 MILLION MORE TO INVEST IN ACTUAL SAFETY RATHER THAN VIOLENCE AND CRIMINALIZATION. Members of council, you have a chance to protect local residents from Trump and ICE by investing 6.5 million in economic stability and actual safety for our communities. Please stand up for your people. Thank you.

Thank you. Jason is next, followed by Jessica Bueno.

Hello. My name is Jason Chavez. I am with Badera in Action and Organized Power in Numbers. But more importantly, I just want you to think of me as just an engaged resident here to tell you the pleas of the communities that I try to lead. Now, last time I went here, I spoke about increasing the budget for the crisis relief fund to $5 million. And I do appreciate that over $3 million was provided. That is not an insignificant amount. And it will be instrumental in supporting working families. That said, it is insignificant when compared to the nearly $60 million budget increase for policing. And why such a big number for policing? Is it because of increasing homeless population or crime? Because let me tell you, this crisis relief funds can address those issues much more cheaply. because lots of families are struggling in deciding whether to pay for rent and with food, and that could lead them to housing insecurity that would increase the general dangerousness, the less safety of the communities. And this is what the crisis relief funds can do in a much more cheap sense. I also would like to say that we also need to guarantee the right to counsel for those facing eviction as well as keeping the budget for the youth programming since I don't think I need to tell you how keeping kids off the streets helps with the safety. And more policing can backfire as lots of kids will be scared to even go to school if they see all this police present. So I urge you to spend just on an ounce of prevention rather than a pound on this supposed cure. Thank you.

Thank you. Jessica is next, followed by Elizabeth Gavina. All right, Elizabeth is next.

Elizabeth. Hi, my name is Elizabeth. Can you hear me? Yes. Okay, sorry about that. My name is Elizabeth and I am a Phoenix resident. I wanted to thank you for increasing the release funds to over $3 million. But Phoenix families do need more. So I'm asking that the city of Phoenix increase the client service line item for crisis relief funds to $6.5 million and expand access to all Phoenix residents, allowing those impacted by the Trump administration policies to access flexible financial assistance, refugee crisis support, housing, and food. I know it is hard to hear, you know, we want money here, we want money there, but I feel like this would make a huge difference for our community. I also hope that eligibility for this funding be expanded and accessible with low barriers. to all Phoenix residents. This funding should be subjugated to trusted and culturally competent providers already embedded in the community and an implementation committee consisting of providers and community members must be established to ensure effective distribution of these funds. Again, I do thank you for what you've done already, but When you look at the budget, the policing fund far outweighs the amount going to the resources and services of our communities, which we need to thrive. So again, I asked you to increase that fund to 6.5 million total, so it can help all of our communities so we can actually thrive in such hard, difficult situations.

Thank you. Did I call anyone after Elizabeth?

No, okay. Then we'll do Ana Castaneda and Danielle Rangel Proxima.

Hola. Hola. Hola, buenas tardes. Si, la escuchamos. Adelante, Ana. Okay. Hola, soy Ana Castaneda. Hoy quiero echar mi voz por mí y por muchas familias que estamos siendo afectadas bajo esta administración de Trump. Hay muchas familias que se les han arrebatado sus beneficios de alimentos y médicos. Debido a todo esto, estamos viviendo con estrés y ansiedad y tristemente todo esto lo estamos transmitiendo a nuestros hijos. Además de enfrentar racismo, violencia y maltratos por parte de ICE, Por todo esto les pido a todos los concejales con el corazón de madre que apoyen con los 6.5 millones de servicio al cliente para fondos de alivio en crisis y que puedan ser accesible para todos los residentes de Phoenix. Gracias.

Hello, good afternoon. My name is Ana Castaneda and I want to raise my voice today for myself and for a lot of families that are being affected under this administration by Trump. There's a lot of families that have been, um, have lost their benefits for nutrition and also medical. Due to all of this, we are living with stress and anxiety, and unfortunately, we are transmitting this to our children. We are also facing racism, violence, and mistreatment by ICE. For all of this, I ask all of you council members with the heart of a mother to support with the $6.5 million to customer service of the relief for the relief fund, crisis relief fund, so they could be accessible to all the residents of Phoenix. Thank you.

Thank you, Danielle.

And then Regina.

Danielle? Hello. Hello, floor is yours.

OK. Hola, buenas tardes, concejales. Mi nombre es Danielle Arangel. Hoy participo en esta llamada porque me gustaría usar mi voz para todos los residentes de Phoenix, Arizona. Gracias a mucha gente y varias organizaciones, hemos podido aumentar el fondo de Alivio en Crisis. Sin embargo, la cantidad no es lo suficiente para apoyar a la gente de esta ciudad. Varias familias se han quedado sin cobertura médica, sin apoyo para alimentos y sin otros beneficios necesarios. Encima de eso, mucha gente sigue sufriendo maltrato psicológico y físico de parte de ICE. Por eso les pido a todos los concejales que aporten el resto del dinero para llegar a los 6.5 millones de servicio al cliente para fondos de alivio en crisis. Es necesario invertir nuestro dinero en recursos para el pueblo y su gente. Gracias.

Hello, good afternoon, council members. My name is Daniela Rangel, and I am participating today in this call because I would like to raise my voice for all the residents of Phoenix, Arizona. And thanks to a lot of people and a lot of the organizations, we've been able to raise the amount for the relief fund. However, the amount is not enough to support all the people in this city. A lot of the families don't have any medical coverage anymore. They don't have the support for nutrition benefits and are left with a lot of their basic needs. And on top of this, there's a lot of people that are suffering from psychological mistreatment and physical mistreatment by ICE. This is why I'm asking all the council members to allocate all the money that is needed to get to the $6.5 million to go towards the customer service of the crisis relief fund. IT IS NECESSARY TO INVEST THE MONEY IN RESOURCES FOR ITS PEOPLE. THANK YOU.

THANK YOU. AND I BELIEVE OUR FINAL TWO SPEAKERS ARE REGINA OR REGINA AND THEN ERIN HAYDEN.

HI, GOOD AFTERNOON. I'M REGINA DORSEY AND I WAS BORN AND RAISED IN PHOENIX, I'm here to speak on investing in our childcare. Our childcare funding has been extremely important to me in the last few years because I unexpectedly had to step in and adopt my grandchildren, four and 14. So imagine that at 50, I was struggling trying to find childcare. I stayed downtown Phoenix and I work in downtown Phoenix. And between the limited daycare centers, the wait list, application fees, it was quite difficult. Six to eight months later, I was able to get him into daycare and to pre-K half day. So the four-year-old who does attend the YMCA without childcare and the help of them and their services and grants, I would not be able to work, making it impossible for me to provide for them. i'm not alone i mean i work with other moms who struggle from check to check to provide food and housing for their households if they receive assistance with child care this is one less barrier and burden that we all have to endure i understand the budget the issues i know everyone has a need but too often we forget about children our children who are the foundation of our future I have firsthand experience in raising my children, my grandkids. Childcare is a fundamental need in our community, and it has been for several decades. I hope that sharing a piece of my life and the lives of others, other mothers, other parents, grandparents, resonates with you to keep childcare a priority. Thank you for all that you do, and thank you for hearing me, and have a good day.

Thank you for sharing your story. That helps us do a better job. Our grand finale speaker is the very patient Erin Hayden.

Thank you so much and thank you for making the time for me to speak at the very end here. Mayor Gallego and members of the Phoenix City Council, my name is Erin Hayden and I am a government relations manager for LearningCare testifying in support of the inclusion of the $5 million set aside to address childcare affordability. LearningCare is among the largest providers of high quality early childhood education in the nation. And in Arizona, we proudly operate 46 childcare centers under the Child Time, La Petite Academy and Tutor Time brands. Each day, our schools have the capacity to serve more than 13,000 children and employ more than 930 educators and staff. And approximately 47% of the children we serve in the state are served through child care assistance, public pre-K programs, Head Start, off-base military care, and employer partnerships. And in Phoenix specifically, we operate 12 centers. We want to applaud the council for the inclusion of the $5 million set aside in this trial budget dedicated to addressing the childcare affordability crisis. Exploring options like a public private partnership is a visionary step forward for Phoenix families and making childcare more accessible and affordable for the working families that we serve through our centers. Crucially, as you design this program, we ask that you explicitly include and emphasize low-income families who qualify for the state's child care assistance program. Arizona's state waitlist for child care assistance continues to grow, leaving thousands of vulnerable families stranded without options. By integrating these families into Phoenix's local public-private partnership model, the city can provide an immediate life-changing lifeline for those currently stuck without safe, affordable care. Thank you for your leadership on behalf of the city's children and families.

Thank you. That concludes public testimony. We have had so many of our residents participate, whether virtually, in person, written comments, and we appreciate everyone's time. I'll turn to the Vice Mayor for a motion.

MOTION TO APPROVE THE FISCAL YEAR 2026-2027 CITY OF PHOENIX PROPOSED BUDGET.

SECOND.

THANK YOU. WE HAVE A MOTION FROM THE VICE MAYOR AND A SECOND FROM COUNCILWOMAN O'BRIEN. NOW WE HAVE COMMENTS AND COUNCIL QUESTIONS. I'LL START FOR ONE. I THINK IT MAY BE MY LAST BUDGET QUESTION OF SO MANY I HAVE ASKED OF OUR, OF AMBER. SO, I MEAN, ERIN, YOU CAN DO IT IF YOU WANT. BUT WE TALKED A LOT ABOUT AFFORDABILITY, THE PROPERTY TAX RATE. WHAT'S HAPPENING THERE? Oh, you're delegating, all right. Look at that leader, developing the next leader.

I apologize to deny her the great joy of talking about property tax one more time. However, yes, property tax, the property tax rate, Mayor and members of council, which we'll vote on on July 1st, is scheduled to go down in fiscal year 26-27. So coming down from about $2.08 per $100 of assessed valuation down to $2.04. And that continues a trend actually that's been going on for several years now OF THE OVERALL PROPERTY TAX RATE COMING DOWN.

THANK YOU SO MUCH. THIS IS A BUDGET THAT'S VERY MUCH FOCUSED ON AFFORDABILITY. WE'RE INVESTING IN THE HOUSING TRUST FUND AND SO MANY OTHER HOUSING PROGRAMS, INCLUDING GENERAL FUND IN A BIG WAY TO FIGHT HOMELESSNESS. WE ARE INVESTING IN CHILDCARE ASSISTANCE. WE'RE REALLY TRYING TO LOOK AT SO MANY OF THE CHALLENGES OUR COMMUNITY IS FACING. WE'RE STEPPING UP TO HELP FAMILIES THAT SHOULD BE GETTING FEDERAL BENEFITS, THAT SHOULD BE GETTING SNAP FOR THEIR KIDS. to help them navigate through the system. We know it's a priority of Governor Hobbs as well, and Team Phoenix had a great discussion with Governor Hobbs and her team about how we can get folks federal benefits for which they qualify. So really trying to do our part for affordability The budget's also doing a lot of investments in kids. We're investing more in our parks, our libraries. We are trying to continue to make public safety a priority, and I do have one question for our police department. Those of you who have been to many of these budget hearings know for many years I've talked about public records, important to transparency. We've done some budgets that had very significant increases in staffing to SUPPORT PUBLIC RECORDS AND WE'RE CONTINUING THAT INVESTMENT WITH THIS BUDGET. UNFORTUNATELY WE'RE NOT MAKING PROGRESS AS QUICKLY AS I HAD HOPED SO CHIEF COULD YOU GIVE US AN UPDATE ON HOW WE'RE USING THE BUDGET INVESTMENT BUT ALSO SOME OF THE NON-BUDGET INVESTMENT WE'RE TRYING TO MAKE TO ADDRESS THE PUBLIC RECORDS CHALLENGE AND THE PUBLIC SAFETY SIDE.

Mayor, members of council, thank you for this opportunity. I share your concern with public records. I know back in about 2023, we hired, under the direction and support of council and staff, we hired more personnel to process requests. We saw we were doing a much better job in 2024. About halfway through 2024, we were able to fill 14 positions, allowing part-time employment. So we were very successful with that. Going into 2025, we had a surge in the number of public records requests. We had approximately, in 2024, we had about 100,000 public records requests throughout the year. In 2025, we had 134,000. and this year we're on par to do the same number. It's an incredible increase in the number of requests which take a lot of time. Some things we're doing, we recently hired a programmer and we're in the process of hiring a second programmer to automate traffic crash reports. We get about 56,000, let me make sure I get that number correct, 61,000 a year in 2025. That's a lot of reports to release and redact. So those programmers, hopefully by first quarter of 2027, will release a product that will allow members of our community to go online and request them themselves, which will expedite the process. We've also instituted some technology surrounding body-worn camera redaction. As you're aware, we have to redact all of our body-worn cameras. Up until recently, to do a full redaction, it would take about four hours to redact one hour of body-worn camera footage. Now we are using what we call a half blur. So at the first request, we blur out the body-worn cameras. It doesn't require us to go through every frame and redact. and we give that to the clients or to our customers. And then they're able to go and take that information, identify the exact piece they want, and then re-request the unblurred, normal redaction, which speeds up the process for them, speeds up the process for us. So with some of those technology advancements, we're really hoping that we'll see an increase or a decrease in our backlog and increase in our productivity.

Wonderful, thank you. It's important for transparency with our media partners, as well as people just needing their information to address challenges. So we have put a lot of investment in this, and we're not making progress as quickly as you and I hoped, but hopefully we can move forward with that. So thank you for making that a priority in this budget year. Turn to my council colleagues. Sorry, Mayor, I do have a question for council and for the police chief. Anyone? Okay, Councilwoman O'Brien.

Thank you, Mayor. Today, I want to thank all of the community members who participated in our budget stakeholder meetings, as well as those who have come to our budget meetings here. Additionally, I'd like to thank Ed, Amber, aaron and and all of the entire city team for the work that's been done on this budget as ed mentioned in the beginning this is a year-round process and they continue to be impressed by the work on how close you come to making sure your i hate to say predictions but projections for our budget years are are very close. And so for that work, I very much appreciate it because it does help to make our job a little bit easier. So thank you for that. And Amber, we will miss you. So I'm excited for you for your retirement, but the city of Phoenix will miss you greatly. I do want to say that today we are putting 8.1 million behind a simple idea. that it should be easier and cheaper to build housing in Phoenix. And the 6.6 million we're adding to the Housing Trust Fund does three things. It waives fees for affordable projects because fees don't build homes, they just make them more expensive. It funds pre-approved housing plans so builders move faster and families get housed sooner. Time is money and reducing both helps everyone. It puts the remaining dollars to work, funding construction, preserving existing homes and supporting our partners on the ground doing this work every day. Real dollars directed at the people and projects keeping Phoenix livable. The 1.5 million for planning and development is about something equally important, making it easier, making it less painful to build in Phoenix. If a developer walks into City Hall and can't figure out where to go, what they need or how long it will take, that's a project at risk and we're fixing that. This funding will help provide better navigation, better technology and clearer information at every step. The funding, I've called for reliable timelines, transparent processes and a planning experience that work for builders of all sizes. This investment moves us in that direction. It signals to the development community that Phoenix is serious about being a place where things can get done efficiently and professionally. Together, these two investments total 8.1 million and represent a clear strategy to reduce the cost to build affordable housing, cut the time it takes to build any housing, and create a system that's easier for everyone to use. We have no time to waste. Every streamlined permit, every waived fee, and every pre-approved plan is a family that gets housed faster. Affordable housing, though, is only part of what this budget addresses. The nearly 18.1 million that will go to emergency shelters to serve 6,000 people annually. We continue to invest in heat, respite, and cooling centers, and we're adding new caseworkers to support medical providers conducting outreach so that we can offer services and resources to end homelessness. This budget also invests in residents and employees who keep Phoenix moving forward. Five million will be set aside to address childcare affordability because no family should have to choose between going to work and caring for their children. And 50 million honors the agreement we made with our city employees. Competitive compensation is not a luxury, it's how we keep talented, dedicated people who deliver vital services to our residents every day. Taken together, this budget is a strategy built on community input, grounded in data, and designed to address our most pressing challenges. Thank you all. I look forward to supporting the budget, Mayor. Thank you so much.

And when you mentioned the accurate budget forecasts, I have a close to annual tradition of recognizing Councilman Waring, who worked very closely with the budget and research team to make sure we had as accurate forecasts as possible, so. I DIDN'T SAY YOU WERE MEAN ABOUT IT.

NO, I THINK IT WAS MEANT TO BE A COMPLIMENT.

IT WAS A WONDERFUL PARTNERSHIP, WASN'T IT? OKAY. GREAT. COUNCILMAN GUARDADO.

THANK YOU, MAYOR. FIRST I WANTED TO TAKE A MOMENT TO THANK ALL THE RESIDENTS OF PHOENIX WHO PARTICIPATED IN THIS BUDGET PROCESS. whether you attend a community budget hearings, send emails, made phone calls, or share your concerns directly with us. Your voices helped shape this budget and that matters. I ALSO WANT TO THANK CITY MANAGER ED ZERKER, BUDGET AND RESEARCH DEPARTMENT, AMBER WILLIAMSON AND ERIN MERZ AND ALL OF THE CITY STAFF FOR THEIR TREMENDOUS AMOUNT OF WORK THAT WENT INTO BUILDING A BALANCED AND RESPONSIBLE BUDGET DURING A CHALLENGING AND UNCERTAIN TIME. AND AMBER, YES, YOU WILL BE MISSED. AND ERIN, WE DEFINITELY LOOKING FORWARD TO CONTINUE TO WORK WITH YOU IN FUTURE YEARS. SO THANK YOU GUYS FOR YOUR LEADERSHIP. THIS BUDGET REFLECTS THE PRIORITIES WE HEARD FROM OUR COMMUNITY. As a mom of two young boys, I understand the need of childcare. I understand how hard it is to find childcare that's affordable and that you can trust. Leaving our children with strangers is not easy. There's many folks that have the luxury of being able to leave them with family members, but sometimes that's just not enough. being able to have childcare for our families, for our children, knowing where you're going to leave them and knowing at what time you're going to pick them up, that is important. And we are doubling the amount for flexible emergency financial assistance, increasing it from 1.5 million to 3.15 million to help families facing rising costs, housing instability, and food insecurity. We are also nearly doubling investments in teen and youth programming, expanding tutoring, recreation arts, and activities for young people across our city. This budget also includes an important child care affordability set aside and support for supplemental nutritional assistance program, navigating services to help families access critical food assistance during the time when many residents are struggling with rising costs and changes to federal and state programs. And we understand there's so many families out there that are living paycheck to paycheck and that they are one one paycheck, one flat tire for being homeless. So we understand how hard it is. We're trying our very best of being able to do everything that we can to assist families in these difficult times and with everything that's going on in our country. We see the challenges AND WE KNOW THAT THIS IS NOT ENOUGH. I WISH THAT THERE WAS MORE THAT COULD BE DONE, BUT WE WILL MAKE SURE THAT WE CONTINUE TO LOOK AT THINGS AND WE CONTINUE TO DO EVERYTHING THAT WE CAN AS A CITY. THIS BUDGET ALSO CONTINUES IMPORTANT INVESTMENTS IN HOMELESSNESS SERVICES, HOUSING AFFORDABILITY, NEIGHBORHOOD SAFETY, PARKS AND HEAT RELIEF EFFORTS THAT MANY PHOENIX FAMILIES RELY ON EVERY SINGLE DAY. I'M ESPECIALLY GLAD TO SEE INVESTMENTS IN PARK LIGHTING AND NEIGHBORHOOD SAFETY IMPROVEMENTS AS WELL AS CONTINUED SUPPORT FOR SHELTER OPERATIONS AND COOLING CENTERS DURING OUR EXTREME SUMMER HEAT. THESE ARE REAL INVESTMENTS THAT DIRECTLY IMPACT QUALITY OF LIFE IN OUR NEIGHBORHOODS. And more importantly, this budget recognizes the hardworking city employees who provide critical services to our residents every single day. Their work keeps Phoenix moving forward and we need to keep our workforce motivated. We need to continue to stay competitive and show our workers that go into the workplace every single day giving their best and we gotta give our best back. IT'S KEY TO KNOW THIS BUDGET REFLECTS PARTNERSHIPS BETWEEN THE COMMUNITY CITY STAFF AND THIS COUNCIL. Thank you so much for everyone that participated. And again, thank you to all of the city staff, to everyone that made this possible. Thank you so much, Mayor.

Thank you so much, Councilwoman. Vice Mayor and then Councilwoman Hernandez.

Thank you, Mayor. I too wanted to start off by extending my gratitude to the budget and research team for leading, again, a very successful community engaged budget development process. Amber, thank you for all of your service. Erin, thank you for all that you've done. I want to also thank everyone throughout our community who showed up and participated in this process, whether or not attending hearing council, ATTENDING DISTRICT SPECIFIC CONVERSATIONS, FOR PARTICIPATING WHETHER OR NOT YOU SUBMITTED YOUR CONCERNS VIRTUALLY BY E-MAIL. WE APPRECIATE YOUR COMMITMENT TO THIS PROCESS. I HAD THE OPPORTUNITY TO ATTEND SEVERAL OF OUR BUDGET HEARINGS AND CONDUCTED MY OWN IMPROMPTU LESS SCIENTIFIC BUDGET PRIORITIZATION EXERCISE WITH OUR COMMUNITY TO HELP GATHER OUR FEEDBACK AND I THINK ADDRESSING AFFORDABILITY CONCERNS AND HELPING OUR VULNERABLE NEIGHBORS ARE THE ISSUES THAT ROSE TO THE TOP AND I THINK WE'VE TRIED TO INCORPORATE THAT HERE IN OUR BUDGET AND ALSO SUPPORTING OUR CITY EMPLOYEES. I THINK THIS BUDGET REFLECTS OUR COMMUNITY PRIORITIES. I, SINCE JOINING COUNCIL, I HAVE CHAMPIONED FOR THE HOUSING TRUST FUND AND TO SEE IT, I CONSIDERED IT A SMALL VICTORY WHEN WE WERE ABLE TO GET SOME ARPA INTEREST ALLOCATED TO THIS. FOR US TO NOW MOVE FORWARD TO A POINT WHERE WE'RE ALLOCATING GENERAL FUNDS TO IT AND BRING IT TO $15 MILLION, I AM JUST BEYOND EXCITED BECAUSE IT NOT ONLY HELPS THE DEVELOPMENT COMMUNITY THAT ARE TRYING TO BUILD THOSE TYPES OF projects, but it also puts a tangible solution for some of our homeowners and our residents. We know that housing affordability continues to be a concern and housing stability continue to be a concern. So for me to see two of my priorities implemented in the budget in such a meaningful way means a lot. Master leasing I think will be a tremendous tool in how we will help address those that are otherwise are being blocked out of housing. STABLE HOUSING AND HELP FREE UP MORE HOUSING, I'M SORRY, HOMELESS SPACE IN OUR SHELTER. SO I REALLY JUST WANTED TO SAY THANK YOU FOR ALL OF THOSE EFFORTS. THANK YOU FOR LISTENING TO THE COMMUNITY BECAUSE THE COMMUNITY SHOWED UP AND EXPLAINED THAT THIS IS WHAT THEY WANTED TO SEE US INVEST IN. THEY DIDN'T QUITE HAVE THE NAME FOR THE MASTER LEASING PROGRAM BUT THIS WAS US BRINGING A SOLUTION TO ADDRESS THE COMMUNITY'S NEED. I REALLY THIS PILOT I THINK WILL HELP STABILIZE INDIVIDUALS WHO ARE EXISTING HOMELESSNESS WHILE FREING UP SHELTER SPACE AND REDUCING THE STRAIN ON OUR EMERGENCY RESPONSE SYSTEM. SPECIFICALLY IN DISTRICT 8, I'M VERY HAPPY TO SEE BECAUSE WE'VE HAD RESIDENTS ADVOCATE FOR SAFER PARK, EXPANDED YOUTH OPPORTUNITIES AND MORE ACCESSIBLE COMMUNITY PROGRAMS AND THIS BUDGET DELIVERS IN A TANGIBLE WAY FROM INCREASING SECURITY LIGHT enhancement at Hilaria Rodriguez Park, added new recreation staff at the Esteban Park Recreation Center, expanding Saturday hours at the South Phoenix Youth Center, enhancing programming for youth and teens at the Eastlake Community Center and Harmon Park Recreational Center, and also improving program affordability at the Levine Community Center. These investments will make a real difference in the day-to-day lives of our families and residents who rely on these spaces. I also would like to say hearing the positive response to the child care set-aside also was very positive. SHOWS THAT WE ARE IN THE RIGHT, MOVING IN THE RIGHT DIRECTION. CHILDCARE CONTINUES TO BE ONE OF THOSE EXPENSES THAT MOST FAMILIES, IT IS INCREASING IN A WAY THAT BECOMES A LITTLE UNSTABLE AND THE FACT THAT WE AS A CITY WILL BECOME THE FIRST CITY TO PROVIDE THIS LEVEL OF SET ASIDE FOR OUR RESIDENTS IS DEFINITELY FORETELLING. I ALSO WANT TO HIGHLIGHT THE FLEXIBLE FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE PROGRAM. IN LOOKING AT THE DATA FROM PROGRAMS SUCH AS THE TENANT EVICTION ASSISTANCE PROGRAM, WE REALIZE THAT SOMETIMES IT IS ONE THING THAT COULD MAKE A TREMENDOUS DIFFERENCE. SO BY US ALLOCATING THAT, WE'RE HELPING TO CREATE MORE STABILITY FOR OUR FAMILIES. SO I'M VERY GRATEFUL FOR THAT. AND I ALSO WANTED TO SAY THANK YOU FOR HIGHLIGHTING THE FACT THAT THESE ARE JUST NEW PROGRAMS. UNLIKE MANY CITIES AND MANY JURISDICTIONS, WE ARE NOT CUTTING ANY OF OUR PROGRAMS. IN FACT, WE ARE ABLE TO PROVIDE ADDITIONAL PROGRAMS AND WE'RE ABLE TO PROVIDE INCREASED COMPENSATION TO OUR EMPLOYEES TO CONTINUE THE WORK THAT WE DO HERE IN THE CITY OF PHOENIX AND THAT WE DO VERY WELL. And that is because you've allowed us to be good financial stewards by hitting and nailing those projections. So I just wanted to say thank you. Budget and Research Department does a phenomenal job. And I think you say it best, Erin, when you said this is just the culmination of it, but it's a process that works all year round. And I just wanted to say thank you for those efforts. Thank you for all that you've done. Thank you for listening to our community. And thank you for crafting something that I believe addresses a lot of our community concerns. There are still other things that... ARE OUT THERE THAT ARE OUTSIDE OF OUR CONTROL BUT I THINK WE AS A CITY ARE STEPPING UP IN A BIG WAY WITH THIS BUDGET SO I THANK YOU FOR THAT THANK YOU MAYOR THANK YOU COUNCILMAN HERNANDEZ

THANK YOU, MAYOR. FIRST I WANT TO ACKNOWLEDGE THAT THIS WAS MY TEAM'S FIRST FULL BUDGET CYCLE. I'M INCREDIBLY GRATEFUL TO MY STAFF FOR ONE, NERDING OUT ON THE BUDGET PROCESS WITH ME AND SEEING THIS PROCESS THROUGH WITH ME. LUKE FOR HOLDING US TOGETHER, DR. WASHINGTON FOR YOUR VISION, DR. RYAN MOSES FOR YOUR GUIDANCE. BATI for keeping constituents engaged, Betsy for supporting our community partners, and Noemi for leading our communication so gracefully. I think what makes this team special is our commitment to collective leadership. We know leadership is not about titles or ego, but about responsibility, collaboration, and showing up for those we serve and for one another. Our office is stronger because of every person on this team, so thank you all so much. I also want to thank our community partners and everyone who participated in this process, those who rallied, spoke publicly, submitted comments virtually, or wanted to speak but could not. It was brought to my attention that many individuals declined to come in person to speak or to speak at all out of fear of retaliation because of their immigration status and the fears that exist out there in the climate that we're in. I want you to know that your voice matters, you deserve to be heard, and my office will always be a safe place to share your concerns. Refugees, lawyers, doctors, organizers, youth, mothers, and educators all helped shape this process, and I remain committed to centering your priorities in this work. THIS YEAR WE ALSO PILOTED OUR FIRST BUDGET WORKING GROUP BRINGING 11 DISTRICT 7 RESIDENTS TOGETHER OUT OF THE 31 APPLICANTS TO BETTER UNDERSTAND THE CITY BUDGET AND PROVIDE CRITICAL FEEDBACK ON THIS PROCESS. OVER THE PAST THREE MONTHS THE PARTICIPANTS ATTENDED HEARINGS, MET WITH met with budget and research staff and helped strengthen community budget education. This group moved from a deep desire to support Aaron and his team in how we deliver future budget education. I'm deeply grateful to everyone who participated and we look forward to recruiting the next cohort after this budget cycle ends. I would like to take a moment to really give a special thanks to Amber and Aaron IN OUR BUDGET AND RESEARCH DEPARTMENT, YOU HAVE REALLY GONE OUT OF YOUR WAY TO ENSURE WE HAVE A VERY SMOOTH BUDGET CYCLE. AMBER, WHEN WE CAME INTO OFFICE, YOU GUIDED MY TEAM THROUGH A VERY COMPLEX PROCESS IN THE BUDGET, AND THEN YOU TURNED THAT DEPARTMENT OVER TO ERIN, AND ERIN, YOU'VE DONE A GREAT JOB. I HOPE WE CAN CONTINUE TO WORK CLOSELY TOGETHER ON THESE BUDGET-RELATED ISSUES. I WOULD ALSO LIKE TO THANK THE CITY MANAGER'S OFFICE, INCLUDING EACH ASSISTANT CITY MANAGER, DCMs, AND ED WHO HAVE HEARD OUR COMMUNITY'S CONCERNS AND OUR OFFICE CONCERNS AROUND THE BUDGET AND HAVE TAKEN ACTION AROUND WHAT WE SHARED. I ALSO WANT TO ESPECIALLY THANK THE MAYOR FOR SETTING ASIDE $5 MILLION FOR CHILD CARE PROGRAMS AND REALLY CHAMPIONING THAT PIECE OF WHAT WE'RE SEEING IN THIS BUDGET AND FOR INCLUDING SOCIAL SERVICE NAVIGATORS TO HELP RESIDENTS STAY CONNECTED TO THEIR SNAP BENEFITS. These investments recognize that families need real support and that people should not have to navigate the complex systems alone, especially in the face of federal attacks on social services. This is a kind of thoughtful, people-centered approach we should continue investing in as a city. THIS BUDGET SHOWED A LOT OF VERY IMPORTANT PROGRESS. FOR YEARS THE SURPLUS, AND I WANT TO EMPHASIZE JUST THE SURPLUS, IN OUR BUDGET HAS ALLOCATED ADDITIONAL FUNDING TO THE POLICE DEPARTMENT, A DEPARTMENT WHICH ALREADY TAKES UP A DISPROPORTIONATE AMOUNT OF THE GENERAL FUND. THIS YEAR THAT IS NOT THE CASE, AND THAT IS GREAT. Instead, we are looking at big investments in housing affordability, homeless services, human services, youth, and jobs. However, in looking at the total GENERAL FUND, NOT JUST THE SURPLUS, BUT THE ENTIRE GENERAL FUND, I STILL SEE SOME SERIOUS ROOMS FOR IMPROVEMENT. THE SURPLUS ACCOUNTS FOR 162.5 MILLION, BUT AS WE SAW FROM SCHEDULE 4 ON PAGES 88 THROUGH 89 OF THE PROPOSED BUDGET, THE GENERAL FUND IS EXPECTING OPERATING EXPENDITURES TO BE APPROXIMATELY 2.2 BILLION, WITH THE POLICE RECEIVING $51 MILLION MORE THAN THE YEAR BEFORE WITH THEIR NOW $850 MILLION BUDGET MAKING UP NEARLY 38% OF OUR OPERATING EXPENSES. FOR COMPARISON, 34 OUT OF THE OTHER 38 CITY DEPARTMENTS ON THAT LIST EACH HAVE A BUDGET MAKING UP LESS THAN 3%. EACH. WITH HUMAN SERVICES ONLY RECEIVING 2.99% OF THE GENERAL FUND TO BE EXACT. In meeting with you, Ed, I have asked for additional 4.6 million spread across a few items. As community members have also shared today, this ask is not a lot. It actually only comes up to half of a percent of the police's total operating budget for next year. THE THREE INCREASES WERE FIRST AN ADDITIONAL THREE MILLION FOR CLIENT SERVICES. UNDER AN ADMINISTRATION WHERE OUR SOCIAL SERVICES ARE NOT PROMISED, PEOPLE ARE REALLY LOOKING AT THEIR LOCAL GOVERNMENT FOR SOLUTIONS. I REALLY BELIEVE IT IS OUR JOB AS PUBLIC SERVANTS TO PROVIDE THOSE SOLUTIONS WITH URGENCY AND CARE DESERVES. SECOND, AN ADDITIONAL INVESTMENT IN LITERACY. LITERACY IS CLOSELY TIED TO LONG-TERM OUTCOMES, INCLUDING ECONOMIC MOBILITY, EDUCATIONAL ENTAINMENT, HEALTH AND INVOLVEMENT IN THE CRIMINAL LEGAL SYSTEM. IF WE WANT SAFER AND HEALTHIER COMMUNITIES, WE MUST INVEST EARLY IN YOUNG PEOPLE'S ABILITY TO READ, LEARN AND SUCCEED. I'M GRATEFUL WE WERE ABLE TO SECURE FUNDING FOR LITERACY HUBS IN THE FINAL WEEKS OF THIS PROCESS, AND I HOPE TO SEE EVEN GREATER INVESTMENTS MOVING FORWARD. WE ALSO PROPOSED 500,000 FOR HEAT RELIEF EFFORT NEAR SCHOOLS AFTER HEARING DIRECTLY FROM YOUTH ABOUT UNSAFE CONDITIONS, WALKING HOME, OR WAITING FOR BUSES WITHOUT SHADE OR COOLING INFRASTRUCTURE. THESE ARE CONCERNS THAT SHOULD BE TAKEN SERIOUSLY, ESPECIALLY WHEN PHOENIX IS THE HOTTEST MAJOR URBAN CENTER IN THE NATION. And we continue to see, to face record breaking heat waves and the rising number of heat related illness and deaths. Heat is not just an environmental issue, it is a public health, infrastructure and equity issue. Children and working class communities are often impacted the most by the lack of shade, the lack of cooling access and the lack of climate resilient infrastructure. I really believe we have to listen to our youth, honor their experiences, and respect their voices. They are not only the future of the city, but they are also residents of the city right now, and they deserve to move through their community safely and with dignity. That said, I do have a few questions for Ed and Erin, maybe you. Oh, David. I do have a question for you. Thank you so much for the presentation earlier. It is very clear that you are doing a lot of great work around heat mitigation. AND THE PLANS THAT WE HAVE AROUND SHADING. IN THAT WORK, HAVE YOU SPECIFICALLY BEEN ABLE TO LOOK AT INVESTING IN SHADE AND COOLING INFRASTRUCTURE FOR YOUTH AROUND SCHOOLS AND THEIR ROUTINE WALKS HOME? I KNOW WE HEARD A LOT ABOUT THE ENTIRE CITY SHADE PROGRAM, BUT I JUST REALLY WANT TO FOCUS ON WHAT WE HEARD FROM THE YOUTH IN THE HEARINGS.

NEW SPEAKER THANK YOU FOR THE QUESTION, COUNCIL MEMBER HERNANDEZ, MAYOR AND COUNCIL MEMBERS. First, I'd like to acknowledge that the tree and shade efforts are certainly not just our office, but many city departments are participating and want to be sure that they are credited for their important part of this work. I think the answer to your question is a somewhat, to provide an honest answer. There are many pedestrians that use the streetscape, and as we are making investments in trees and built shade structures, youth would be among those who are benefiting. But to date, there has not been a specific explicit program focused exactly on youth the way that you framed the question.

OKAY, THANK YOU. I KNOW THAT WE'RE GOING TO CONTINUE TO LOOK AT WHERE WE CAN MAKE INVESTMENTS INTO SHADING RIGHT ACROSS THE CITY, SO I REALLY JUST APPRECIATE AND THANK YOU FOR THAT. ED, JUST HAVE A QUICK QUESTION FOR YOU. YOU TOUCHED A LITTLE BIT ABOUT THIS EARLIER IN THE OPENING OF THE, BEFORE WE SAW THE PRESENTATION, BUT CAN YOU EXPLAIN WHAT POSSIBLE INVESTMENTS FOR SHADE STRUCTURE DEVELOPMENT IN YOUR SCHOOLS CAN BE MADE OUTSIDE OF THE BUDGET THAT WE'RE VOTING ON TODAY?

sure mayor members of the council councilman hernandez i think uh when you're talking about built shade the um Probably the one to think about for the longer term is whether an allocation of general obligation bond program makes sense for shade structures. I know Mr. Hondala and his team, our parks team and streets team, have been good about seeking grants for tree shade, and so they will continue to do those. So I'd say those are probably the two areas to look at outside of the city's general fund budget would be grants and general obligation bonds.

Okay, thank you. And then as far as the client services are concerned, do you think that we as a city are fiscally prepared to support our family, our constituents, given the direction the federal administration has chosen to take with cutting social services?

I think the city council is allocating to the extent they can for an issue that is not the responsibility of local government. The federal government and the state government are primarily responsible for social service programs like benefits and entitlement programs. And unfortunately, when the federal government chooses to reduce and the state government consistently chooses to underinvest in those programs, it gets left to the city, which is not given the charge in our system of government with that, nor do we have the resources to adequately fill the hole left by the federal government or the state government. BUT I THINK WHAT WE'RE HEARING TODAY IS TO THE EXTENT WE CAN, THIS BUDGET IS REFLECTING A RECOGNITION BY THE COUNCIL OF THE NEED AND ALLOCATION OF FUNDING TO THE EXTENT POSSIBLE THAT WE'RE ABLE TO DO THAT.

And I don't disagree with you. I really want the residents to understand that because of the actions of the federal government and because of the Republican-controlled legislature that has had control for over 70 years in the state of Arizona, they have continuously... DEFUNDED SOCIAL SERVICE PROGRAMS THAT WOULD ACTUALLY HELP THE RESIDENTS OF THE CITY OF PHOENIX. SO I JUST WANT TO MAKE SURE THAT'S CLEAR TO THE PUBLIC. I ALSO THINK THAT WE NEED TO AT LEAST PLAN FOR HOW WE ARE GOING TO BACK UP, WE'RE GOING TO HAVE BACK UP FINANCIAL, FISCAL SOLUTIONS BECAUSE THAT'S JUST THE REALITY, RIGHT? LIKE RESIDENTS ARE ALWAYS GOING TO COME TO THE LOCAL GOVERNMENT TO LOOK FOR SUPPORT, TO SEEK SUPPORT AND HOW WE ARE GOING TO HELP THEM um get through their daily lives and so i think we just need to be prepared for that um in the fall you know this is the piece that i you did mention a little bit in the fall you'll come back with updates on the budget which is the final 20 20 25 20 26 numbers and the final arpa interest numbers can you explain a little bit more about what each of those updates mean

Sure, and I'm actually gonna ask Aaron to do that because that is his charge as the budget director to prepare that report that'll be coming to the council in September, and we've done that consistently. It's really a best practice to do a review of what's happened, so I'll ask Aaron to answer that.

Thanks, Ed, and thanks, Councilmember. As Ed said, we'll return in September with basically the results of what our 25-26 year end came in as, right? So looking at how both our resources and revenues did as well as our expenditures this past year was very, very close to being on the mark at $11 million variance, which on a $2.2, $2.3 billion budget is really, really good. So we will come back to show that to Council in September. And then that really, in some ways, is kind of the kickoff of the budget process in many ways, right? We then roll out the inventory of programs in November. It's showing where that current budget is, and that leads us into, based on what our ending balance is, what does that tell us for our status as we begin to build that in January and February and eventually November.

coming to council with that information so that that's what you can anticipate coming forward okay thank you so much yeah and i just want to echo the the way that y'all do these projections is amazing because to put phoenix in such a strong fiscal position as you know we've some it's already mentioned tonight and i've shared in previous meetings i think we're unique in that where a lot of our neighbors might not be in the same situation that you all, right, like this entire city staff has put us in to really be able to make these investments. So when we come back in September with that update, do you anticipate we will see additional money at that update?

Yeah, members of council, Councilwoman Hernandez. Obviously, I don't know for sure, right? And one of the things that's been brought up today is there is still a lot of volatility going on in the world, right? And so the impact that that is having on our revenues is still to be determined. So I'll have to wait until we get to the year end to really see where things shake out. So I can't say for sure. Again, I can say that there was a positive $11 million variance last year. But either way, that's the analysis that we'll be doing as soon as the fiscal year closes and bringing that back to council for your consideration.

Okay, thank you so much, Aaron. And then I just have one question for, or sorry, a comment for Tim and Marty for your presentations. You know, just thank you for those presentations. It's also, you know, it's amazing to see the great work that both of these departments do. I know that the collaboration that, you know, work that happens between both parks AND ESPECIALLY OUR COMMUNITY CENTERS AND THE USE AND EDUCATION OFFICE WILL HELP US EFFECTIVELY ENGAGE KIDS AND OUR YOUTH, WELL, KIDS, RIGHT, TO IMPROVE READING LEVELS THROUGH THE LITERACY HUBS, BUT ALSO TO INVEST, YOU KNOW, RESOURCES FOR OUR YOUTH THAT WILL ENSURE WE PUT THEM ON A PATH TO BUILDING A THRIVING FUTURE IN THE COMMUNITY. SO THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR THAT. THAT IS ALL. THANK YOU, MAYOR.

NEW SPEAKER THANK YOU SO MUCH, COUNCILWOMAN PESTOR.

Thank you, Mayor. I want to first recognize and acknowledge that all the diverse items that are within our budget and they go from planning and development to really looking at how we need to change that process all the way to childcare and everything in between. And so I wanna thank everybody in particular the community because their voices have been embedded in this process and are reflected in the budget. It may not be at a higher number, but they were heard and it was embedded. And I will give you an example. The flexible emergency financial assistance, that went from 1.5 million to 3.15 million, and that was Community Voice that showed up. The teen services programming, it increased from 500K to 937 for teen services programming, which was a voice of the community. Our employee compensation, which I believe in paying our employees for all the hard work that we asked them to do and the long hours were compensated and it was set aside in our budget. And most importantly, what we have been talking about today is the child care set aside and also the supplemental nutrition assistance program, SNAP, for navigation. That also was a community voice. What I wanna say is I'll be selfish, but I don't wanna like to be selfish because I'm very much community oriented in the sense that it's a celebration for all. And that would be 500K one-time funds, additional street lights and street lighting upgrades in 27th Avenue community safety plan corridor, which is needed. 500K one-time funds, security lighting enhancements at city parks, including Sueno Park. That was also a community voice. And 3.15 million one-time funds, flexibility emergency financial assistance to Phoenix residents intended to prevent homelessness and stabilize housing and food security for low-income individuals and family. So I do want to recognize that Not everything that was asked for is in here, but a lot is. And in this whole process, there was dignity given, there was safety pieces in here, and really some relief to the community. So I want to thank you for doing that and hearing them. And investment of money went into people too. And that, I believe, that's what government is for, is investment in money for people and to help people's needs and to lift community. But most importantly, I want to thank staff, too, because this couldn't have been done without staff and being out in the community and listening and lifting what needed to be lifted and to be heard. I want to thank staff from all departments because it took everybody in all departments to go to those meetings and to accompanying us. And finally, Aaron, I know this was your first round and I know at one point I asked a lot of questions and it was like Vice Pastor asking that. I was just getting you ready to sit up in front. Amber. I'm gonna miss you because you have taught me a lot about the budget. I have learned so much on the budget because of different pieces where I'm like, I don't understand it, please tell me. But I hope you really enjoy your retirement. But most importantly, I hope you enjoy your family in Idaho and build a whole nother world for you. So congratulations and thank you.

Thank you, Councilwoman.

Councilwoman Stark.

Thank you, Mayor. And I know a lot has been said, so I'll try to be short. First and foremost, I do want to thank staff. And you have put together a remarkable team. And I really do appreciate everything you've done, Amber. You can tell I'm tired. Sorry, Amber. And I know we're all going to miss you. And Aaron, thank you. This is a great start for your career as our budget hearing officer, budget officer. I really am tired. I'm sorry. It's a long week. So I do like our budget process. And we really do get a lot of people involved. And of course, we can always do better. But also, we need to remember that we hear from our constituents every day. And they're always making suggestions. For example, today, we were out at uh... one of our parks and the neighborhoods had some issues with some isolated flooding and and so we're going to work on that and fortunately streets and parks were there and we do have money set aside so we can take care of those issues but they are built into our budget and they are important even though you may not hear at our budget hearings they are built in there because of those everyday calls that we get from our residents this budget is great because it does address incentives for affordable housing it's going to help improve services for planning and development it is increasing funding for our community services which includes increasing the emergency fund and of course we're seeing some increases in how we help the unhoused And thank you to the mayor, we're now going to help fund childcare. And we continue to keep the pay and benefits competitive for our staff. We also, as a council, get some money for our staff to run our offices. And this year we're getting a little additional funding. Each year we have money set aside for discretionary funds that way we can help our neighborhoods and we can help nonprofits. For example, every year, D3 donates money to the Cleo Lewis Ministries. He works in Sunny Slope to help people that are unhoused get off the streets and into shelters and seek the help they need. We also sometimes have money left over for participatory funds. And so, for example, I run, I think, a pretty clean mean machine and we usually have some money left over that we can then give back. And this year we're giving some money to streets to look at a study for a hawk. In one of our neighborhoods, we also gave money to parks this year. We bought two big water vats so that when you have community events in the parks, you have water readily available for people attending those events. We're looking at helping STEAM perhaps do some loop hearing in our senior centers to help hearing impaired. But this year, we are getting an additional $110,000. I doubt that our district will use it. So I am committed to giving that money to human services and to OHS to help in any way we can help with emergency funding and helping the unhoused. So I do make that commitment. I know it's not a lot of money, but every little bit helps. Thank you very much for the process this year. Again, I thank staff. You always do an amazing job. Thank you, Mayor.

Thank you, Councilwoman. I think we are ready for roll call.

Yes, Hernandez. May I explain my vote?

Yes, but please briefly.

Thank you. I remain deeply disappointed that this budget continues to prioritize massive investments in policing over fully funding the resources, services and community infrastructure that actually keep people safe. That said, the surplus additions included meaningful improvements that will have a real and immediate impact on people's lives. INVESTMENTS IN HOUSING SUPPORT, FOOD ACCESS, CHILDCARE, YOUTH PROGRAMMING AND COMMUNITY-BASED SERVICES MATTER BECAUSE SOCIAL SERVICES SAVE LIVES. AT A TIME WHEN TRUMP IS MAKING CLEAR HE DOES NOT CARE ABOUT PEOPLE'S FINANCIAL STRUGGLES. THESE INVESTMENTS MAY BE ONE OF THE FEW PROTECTIONS PHOENIX RESIDENTS HAVE AGAINST FURTHER ATTACKS ON ESSENTIAL SERVICES. THEY REFLECT ON UNDERSTANDING THAT PUBLIC SAFETY IS NOT CREATED THROUGH PUNISHMENT ALONE, BUT THROUGH MEETING PEOPLE'S BASIC NEEDS AND HAVING COMMUNITIES AND GIVING COMMUNITIES THE RESOURCES TO THRIVE. AT THE SAME TIME, WE STILL HAVE SIGNIFICANT WORK TO DO. OUR CITY HAS LIMITED ABILITY TO GENERATE NEW REVENUE YET WE CONTINUE DIRECTING TOO MUCH OF IT TOWARDS POLICING INSTEAD OF SOCIAL SERVICES AND INFRASTRUCTURE THAT ADDRESSES ROOT CAUSES AND TRULY KEEP PEOPLE SAFE. THINGS LIKE AFFORDABLE HOUSING, MENTAL HEALTH CARE, COOLING INFRASTRUCTURE AND OTHER ESSENTIAL SERVICES. IF WE WANT SAFER COMMUNITIES, WE MUST BE WILLING TO INVEST AT THE SCALE NECESSARY TO ENSURE PEOPLE CAN LIVE HEALTHY, STABLE, DIGNIFIED AND THRIVING LIVES. I hope future budgets reflect a stronger commitment to that vision. A budget is a moral document. It reflects who we are, what we value, and who we choose to prioritize as a city. While this budget includes important investments worth supporting, we must continue pushing for a Phoenix that prioritizes prevention equity and community well-being over criminalization and punishment. EVEN IF I'M VERY CONFLICTED ON THIS BUDGET BECAUSE OF THE POLICE INVESTMENTS, BUT I ALSO RECOGNIZE WE'RE IN A MOMENT WHERE WE HAVE TO SAVE LIVES, AND SO WITH THAT, I VOTE YES.

NEW SPEAKERS. NEW SPEAKERS. NEW SPEAKERS. NEW SPEAKERS. NEW SPEAKERS. NEW SPEAKERS. NEW SPEAKERS. NEW SPEAKERS. NEW SPEAKERS. NEW SPEAKERS. NEW SPEAKERS. NEW SPEAKERS. NEW SPEAKERS.

NEW SPEAKERS.

NEW SPEAKERS. NEW SPEAKERS. Hodge, Washington.

Yes. Gallego. Yes. Passes 9-0. Unanimous budget approval. Congratulations to the budget team.

We are adjourned.