Board of Supervisors Addendum - Regular Meeting

We are gonna begin. I will pass it to our clerk for roll call. Supervisor Conno. Present. Supervisor Christie. Here. Supervisor Hines. Supervisor Scott. Here. Chair Allen. Here. Let the record show Supervisor Hines is not present. All other board members are present. We will start out with the pledge of allegiance and I would like to invite Ale Reese from Grants Management Innovation, grants coordinator to lead us in the pledge. I

pledge allegiance to the flag of The United States Of America and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.

Anything

happening over at grants grants management innovation you'd like to share?

Yes. So we just reviewed some of our grants and contracts that have been processed. We are at 295 grants since July 1. So we're really excited to see the momentum there. We also had a team go to the National Grants Management Association conference in Washington DC, and a number of us are looking at getting our certified grants manager specialist certifications as well later this year. So lots of momentum in terms of growing and learning, and then also making sure too that we're doing the best to review these agreements in a timely manner. Thank you. Thank you.

I feel like I should also just acknowledge, like, welcome to our first ever 5PM board of supervisors meeting. We also had our first ever study session this morning. I'm still getting acclimated to this new table, and then everybody at the podium there feels very far away. So lots of adjustments, so bear with us as we navigate this I don't know. The sun is lower, but it feels very different, more than just the sun being lower. So moving on, our next item is our land acknowledgment statement, which will be offered today by Bonnie Schach, executive director of the Fox Tucson Theater.

Good evening, everyone. On behalf of Pima County residents, we honor the tribal nations who have served as caretakers of this land from time immemorial and respectfully acknowledge the ancestral homelands of the Tohono O'odham Nation and the multimillennial presence of the Pascua Yaqui tribe within Pima County. Consistent with Pima County's commitment to diversity and inclusion, we strive toward building equal partner relationships with Arizona's tribal nations.

Thank you. Anything you want to share about the happenings at Fox Theater?

Yeah. Thanks for having me. I'm Bonnie. I'm the executive director of the Fox Tucson Theater. We are just up the street.

Our mission is to enliven Tucson, fostering community growth and connections by shaping exceptional live arts experiences in a celebrated setting. We've been doing that for almost one hundred years, currently serving about 100,000 people annually, including nearly 15,000 ks through 12 students each year and over 1,400,000 since the venue reopened after full renovation in 2006. And we've got big plans for the future, including a major expansion project just around the corner that's gonna allow us to do that work even better and even deeper. So thanks to everyone in the community for support and and showing up and participating in live experiences, which are so important for all of us to do. Thanks.

On on the agenda is pause for pause.

Good evening, everyone. This sleepy boy is very sleepy. He has already taken two naps. So he is not sure about the nighttime, but he's happy to be here. He is one of about 500 dogs we have at PAC right now. And the reason I brought him is because we he just got to the shelter, and he's one of many. Like, we have so many dogs that clearly have owners. This guy has not let me walk him. He wants to be held the whole time. So we know he clearly has an owner, so we're hoping maybe they're watching and they can come pick him up when they're watching it.

And we wanna remind other people that this is the start of PAC's busiest season. Actually, Memorial Day weekend starts off our highest intake season, and it doesn't really slow down till about November. And that's because people are out. They're on vacations. They have different people watching their dogs, you know, parties, things like that for the holidays, the different holidays. Now is the time we encourage people to come to PAC. Whether you have a PAC dog or not, get a free tag. Put your name and, a phone number where someone can reach you, and that's free. All you gotta do is get there. And I want to mention that we are moving East Side.

We don't have a confirmed date yet, but we are it is in the works, so we are excited to be on that side of town, and it will be an adoptions only center. So if you need, you know, outreach services or other things, you can still come to the main location on Silver Bell. And this weekend, we have a free medical care clinic. It is going to be I'm so sorry. I'm blanking on the location, but it's on our Facebook page.

And it is free to show up, and you can get all the vaccines and some free medical care. And we also have a program that we just started for $35 spay neuters for owned pets in Pima County, and that's with participating vets. And we know that there is a big need for that. We've seen that at our outreach events. So we really want folks to, you know, adopt another dog and maybe get your other one spayed or neutered. So thank you so much, and please come get a tag. It's free. Say bye.

Chair Allen. Supervisor Kanna. I I did hear our new deputy county administrator say, new job, new dog. So perhaps, you know, he might

Thank you.

Next is current events and and public acknowledgements.

Actually, if supervisor Christie, I know you had requested a a moment of personal privilege. I this seems like a good time for us. Thank you, madam chair. I'd like to pay tribute to a community leader that we lost recently, Fred Boyce. And I'll just give a brief bio of him.

He was a real pillar in this community, a community leader and another community leader that will greatly be missed. He was a long time Tucson civic leader, rancher, and champion of higher education. And he died Tuesday, May 5, and he was 96. Fred Boyce was an influential community leader having served on the Arizona Board of Regents, Tucson Airport Authority, Tucson Medical Center's Board of Trustees, and numerous nonprofit and civic boards. He also served as president of the University of Arizona Foundation and was a founding member of the Tucson Conquistadors, the civic group that helped establish the Tucson Open Golf Tournament.

He was born in Pasadena, California in 1930 and raised in Tucson after his family moved here in 1937. He attended Sam Hughes Elementary, Mansfield Junior High, and Tucson Senior High School. Ranching became central to his life at an early age. And at age 11, Fred began spending his summers working on Aravaca Cattle Ranch south of Tucson, experiences that launched a lifelong career in the cattle industry. Fred moved to LA to attend Occidental College where he earned a bachelor's degree in economics before moving back to Southern Arizona to take up cattle ranching full time.

He started his own firm, the American Cattle Company, and he later served as president of the Arizona Cattle Growers Association and on the executive committee of the National Cattlemen's Association as well. But it was his civic involvement that made Fred Boyce one of Tucson's most respected behind the scenes leaders. In 2002, then governor Jane Hull appointed Fred Boyce to the Arizona Board of Regents. During his tenure, he advocated for expanding access to affordable higher education and became the first regent to serve two consecutive terms as board president. He also served on boards committees including Arizona State Parks, Junior Achievement of Tucson, and the Tucson Metro Chamber.

In 2017, the Greater Tucson leadership honored him with its founder's award for his civic contributions. He survived by his wife of seventy three years, Anne. He's requested no memorial service, and contributions in his memory can be made to the University of Arizona Foundation. Madam chair, I'd like to ask for a moment silence in the memory of Fred Boyce. Thank you, madam chair.

Thank you. Thank you.

Supervisor Cohner?

Thank you, chair Allen. Welcome to your board of supervisors hearing room. I wanted to take a moment of personal privilege to, welcome to our board of supervisors chambers, a council member who I have the deep honor of, knowing and whose leadership I am most proud of on the Pasquale Yaqui tribe, and that's council member Edmenia Freas. Welcome to the board of supervisors hearing room, and thank you for your years of service to the people of Pascua Yaqui and to Pima County. Welcome.

I have a couple of events, announcements. The National Letter Carriers Annual Stamp Out Hunger Food Drive happened this past Saturday on May ninth. It started in '93, grown into the nation's largest one day food drive, helping to fill the shelves of food banks in cities and towns throughout The United States. Also coming up is the thirty second commemoration of the nineteen eighty four genocide against the Tutsis in Rwanda. There is an event taking place at Grace to the Nations on May 17 to honor the memory of over 1,000,000 lives lost and to renew our collective commitment to peace, unity, and justice.

And then a quick reminder that we the district three office has our Pitcher Rocks office hours on May 20 from 04:30 to 07:30 at community center. Iowa should be out of town, so my staff member, Bonnie Bazada, will be there along with Tom Droszkowski, deputy director from Pima County's development services to answer any questions around zoning or other issues in the Pitcher Rocks area. So we will move on now to item number six, which is agenda adjustments. We'll pass

to the clerk. On the regular agenda, page five, item 19 under board of supervisors, twenty twenty six Regional Transportation Authority special election. This item will be heard at a time turn of 06:45. On page seven, item 31 under finance and risk management, this is the fiscal year twenty twenty four-twenty five audit results. This item requires approval prior to consideration of agenda item number 32 and will be heard at a time certain of 6PM. And on page seven, item 32 under human resources, this is the certification of compliance with Arizona revised statutes. This item is contingent upon approval of agenda item number 31. Thank you.

Okay. We have a couple of proclamations. So item number seven is a presentation of a proclamation to Melanie Bustamante, a Proxia Kids volunteer proclaiming the day of Thursday, May 14, the Proxia Aware awareness day. I will move the item.

Second.

Seconded by supervisor Scott. Discussion? All in favor? Aye. Aye. Opposed? Item passes five zero. Supervisor Scott, would you like

to discuss? Yes, ma'am. Ma'am. And

I will note for the record that we are joined by supervisor Hine.

Before I read the proclamation for Apraxia Awareness Week, I wanna point out that Melanie Bustamante, who is here to accept the proclamation, also supervises the board of supervisors outside agencies process. And we have asked an awful lot of your office recently with some emergency grants to help deal help our community deal with federal cuts, and we're just very grateful to you. So I would just ask that everybody recognize miss Bustamante for the outstanding work that she does. And who'd you bring with you? Hi, John.

How are you? Do you wanna say hi to everybody?

Yeah. Hi.

Perfect. Alright. Whereas childhood apraxia of speech is a speech disorder that affects one in one thousand children with one third having a genetic causal basis. And whereas childhood apraxia of speech causes children to have significant difficulty learning to speak and is among the most severe childhood speech defects. And whereas children with apraxia require early, appropriate, and intensive speech therapy, often for many years to learn to speak.

And whereas without appropriate speech therapy intervention, children with apraxia will have diminished communication skills and high risk for secondary impacts in reading, writing, spelling, and other skills. And whereas these impacts diminish future independence and employment opportunities and challenge the ability to become productive contributing citizens if not resolved or improved. And and whereas Apraxia Kids is the leading nonprofit that strengthens the support systems in the lives of children with apraxia of speech, and whereas May is recognized as national speech language hearing month to raise awareness about communication disorders and promote early intervention and support for speech, language, and hearing health, and whereas public awareness about childhood apraxia of speech is essential for families of children with this neurological disorder and the professionals who support them to achieve the needed services for those learning to use their own voice, and whereas our highest respect goes to these children and their families for their effort, determination, and resilience. Now therefore be it resolved that the Pima County Board of Supervisors hereby proclaims Thursday, 05/14/2026 to be apraxia awareness day and encourages individuals and families to work within their communities to increase awareness and understanding of childhood apraxia of speech and to support environments where all children can thrive.

Thank you. Thank

you. Alright. Thank you all so much. Thank you board of supervisors and everybody. Hello, everybody.

I'm Melanie Bustamante. I am here today as a volunteer for Apraxia Kids, a mother of a child with childhood apraxia of speech, and an advocate for all children working to find their voice. Today, we recognize the strength of children with childhood apraxia of speech and the dedication of families, therapists, and advocates who support them. May 14 marks apraxia awareness day, a time to bridge the gap between not knowing and understanding this often misunderstood neurological motor speech disorder. So imagine knowing exactly what you want to say, but your brain struggles to send the correct signals to your lips, your jaw, and your tongue to produce those words.

This is the daily experience for children with apraxia. It isn't just being a late talker. It's a motor planning difficulty that requires specialized intensive speech therapy. The theme of this day is every child deserves a voice. For many children, their voice includes sounds, spoken words, signs, gestures, and augmentative and alternative devices.

All tools that allow them to express themselves fully and confidently. Awareness is essential. I'm shaking. It leads to early identification, appropriate intervention, and access to evidence based treatment. With support, children with apraxia can overcome significant challenges, reduce frustration, and make their voices heard in meaningful ways.

To the parents, speech language pathologists, and community advocates, your commitment is creating brighter futures. As we recognize May as National Speech Language Hearing Month, we celebrate the professionals who dedicate their lives to helping individuals communicate, connect, and thrive. Thank you so much for honoring this important work and continuing to uplift the voices of those who cannot yet speak for themselves. Thank you.

Our next item is a presentation of a proclamation to Annette Leva, tribal administrator, Pasquale Yaqui tribe, Ms. Leila Gokobachie, Ms. Native American University of Arizona, Katherine Demotica, program and volunteer manager of Arizona Diaper Bank Felicia Leon, Tucson Unified School District, Native American Services Magdalena Verdugo, CEO Victor Boleg, program manager and Lindsay Terry, all of the YWCA, proclaiming the week of May 12 through May 18 to be period poverty awareness week. I move the item. Second. Seconded by supervisor Hines. Discussion? All in favor? Aye. Opposed?

Item passes five zero. I would like to invite all of the folks who are here to please come on up to the front up there. And I also really want to acknowledge the leadership on this of the district five team and supervisor Kano who've been really driving forward the collection. You. So we're, like, awkward.

Sorry. So you all come around here. And then would somebody be willing to hold the proclamation? Thank you. So I will read the proclamation.

Whereas access to menstrual products is a basic health necessity for people who menstruate and is essential to dignity and well-being. And whereas Pima County, through resolution number twenty twenty dash 92, has committed to advancing equity by addressing disparities relating to race, ethnicity, and socioeconomics while centering community voices and improving outcomes for populations that have been historically underserved. And whereas menstrual equity ensures that all people, regardless of income, housing status, or background, can access products, facilities, and information needed to manage their menstrual health safely and with dignity. And whereas the impacts of these barriers are not experienced equally with period poverty disproportionately affecting low income individuals, youth, black, indigenous, and Latine communities, and whereas ensuring access to menstrual products is a matter of public health, education, workforce participation, and economic stability, and whereas reducing stigma and increasing access to menstrual products strengthens the health and resilience of our entire community. Now therefore be it resolved that the Pima County Board of Supervisors hereby proclaims the week of May 12 through 05/18/2026 to be period poverty awareness week and encourages residents, organizations, and institutions to support efforts that expand access to menstrual products, reduce stigma, and advance health equity across Pima County.

Be it further resolved that the board directs the county administrator day. Day. A We We to

six.

Thank you. And I think we we brought a donation of what perhaps the first for for receptacles soon to be. I'd like to I'd like to say a few words.

I'm one of the tribal council members for Pascua Yaqui tribe, and I really wanna thank you for this proclamation. It really is important for women, to have access to, to feminine products. You know, I I'm just gonna tell you something quick. I was just at NIH last month, and they had exactly this. And I've gone to, you know, these hotels that give you this for free, and it makes no sense. It's like we should be doing something. So I really do appreciate that you're doing this because this is something that women need. So I appreciate it. Thank you. Hi.

Good evening. My name is Catherine Namotica, and I am with the Arizona Diaper Bank. Thank you so much for this proclamation. As the diaper bank, we do mostly do children's supplies. However, we started supplying, period products in 2018.

We found that families who need diapers also need other hygiene products, including period products. Something that I'd also like to note is that, the diaper bank is a member of the Alliance for Period Supplies Network, and they found that in the Southwestern Region, Arizona and Utah are the only states that still have sales tax on period products. So I'm hoping that this is a further conversation that we can have and hopefully one day join the rest of the the states in our region to get rid of the sales tax. So thank you so much.

I don't wanna say much, but thank you, Andres, for bringing this collaboration together of the different Pima County partners to be able to have one voice and share together the needs and celebrate these wins. So thank you for that.

I

just wanna thank all of the community partners for coming to your board of supervisors hearing room and ensuring that we continue to send a message that Pima County stands, with all women, in our community. And, I agree with everything that's been said, especially the fact that this has long been a District 5 issue issue from the time of supervisor Elias organizing to, collect some of these critical hygiene items. But most importantly, they're about our wellness, and they're essential care. So thank you, chair Allen, for continuing that tradition. I know that all of the folks in District 5 will, continue to be mindful of the need for us to put this at the top of our priority list. So thank you.

On to item number nine, which is a presentation of a proclamation to Anna Harper, CEO of Emerge Doctor. Felina Cordova, assistant professor, health promotion sciences, University of Arizona Veronica Boone, wellness director, Tucson Indian Center, Marcelino Flores, tribal liaison, Pima County health department, and Rosa Alvarez, council member and secretary, Pascua Yaqui tribal council, proclaiming the month of May 2026 to be hope healing and solutions month for missing and murdered indigenous people. I move the item. Second. Seconded by supervisor Hines. Discussion? And all those in favor? Aye. Opposed? Item passes five zero.

And I invite everyone to please come up to the front to receive the proclamation. I will read the proclamation. So whereas, homicide is the third leading leading cause of death for indigenous women between the ages of 10 and 24, and the fifth leading cause of death for indigenous women ages 25 to 34. And whereas in 2017, the Urban India Indian Health Institute and Tribal Epidemiology Center began assessing the number and dynamics of cases of missing and murdered indigenous women and girls, identifying the Southern Arizona region as having the third highest rates of missing and murdered indigenous people's cases nationally. And whereas the Pima County Health Department maintains a clearinghouse of information frameworks and collaborative models regarding missing and murdered indigenous people to support finding and address root causes while centering indigenous voices.

And whereas healing initiatives are designed to address the deep rooted trauma and systemic violence faced by indigenous communities and to heal survivors, strengthen communities, and improve responses to missing and murdered indigenous people's cases. And whereas throughout the month of May, local tribal nations, community partners, and advocacy organizations led numerous activities focused on healing, awareness, prevention, and justice for missing and murdered indigenous people. Now therefore be it resolved that the Pima County Board of Supervisors hereby proclaims the month of May 2026 to be hope, healing, and solutions month for missing and murdered indigenous people, to honor the lives of missing and murdered indigenous people, and reinforce the urgent need for prevention, culturally grounded healing, and systemic change. Pima County, in collaboration with tribal nations, community partners, and local organizations, reaffirms its commitment to advancing healing, strengthening coordinated response, and supporting initiatives that center indigenous leadership, and we'll continue to work towards safety, healing, and justice for all indigenous people, passed and adopted this May 2026.

Well, thank you, chair Allen, esteemed supervisors, and county residents. I'm very honored to be a part of this. I'm a member of Pascua Yaqui tribe, and this issue has been one of my highest priorities since I first started under doctor Cullen about three years ago. And so I'm really proud to be to say that this resolution came forward with the help of doctor Cullen, her policy advisers, the the office of policy resilience and engagement, so office of Celia, and the folks here. So, MMIP is a complicated issue and one

of

the things that I understood from the warriors of old is that they would have a black mark across their face, and this meant that there would be no more words. There would be only actions. So that would be their intentions going into battle. Today's warriors, we are fighting for systemic multisector change that starts with prevention. We're fighting for economic justice and to always center indigenous voices when when possible. So I'm really pleased to be a part of this, and I thank here the folks that are with me that I'll I'll let them share some comments. So

Good evening again. Erminia Frias, Pascua Yaqui tribal council. I wanna thank thank you honorable board board of supervisors for this acknowledgment. It really does mean a lot, not only for Pasco Yaqui tribe, but all of our tribal nations in Arizona and throughout the country. You know, shining light on this epidemic is very important.

For many, many years, we weren't even counted. People were just dismissing the fact that our women, men, and children were going missing. And so having you acknowledge this is important because this really needs the attention from the entire community. And I appreciate the work, collaborations that we do with the sheriff's office, with Pima County Health Department. Just on Saturday, we had a run walk, and I really did appreciate seeing doctor Collin there from Pima County Health Department. And also, of course, seeing our tribal liaison here, Mr. Marcelino Flores, and just a representation that is there to shine light. So with all of my from deep in my heart, Josem Chocolatessia. Thank you.

Hello, and may creator go with you all. My name is Leila Lanaygokobachi. I am the 2026 to 2027 Miss Native American University of Arizona. And this is a continuous issue that has impacted our communities across the nation. Almost every indigenous person has a relative, woman, two spirit, any indigenous relative that has been impacted by this.

So I am here to help with bringing awareness to MMIP and to acknowledge what has been going on in our communities, but not only to highlight how it has negatively impact us, but how we as a community come together for healing and for that hope for justice for our relatives. So this is not only just a small thing. This going to be a continuous effort that we all make together as a community. So thank you for allowing us to take this first step, and I hope that there's many more.

Good evening. My name's Veronica Boone. I'm the wellness director for the Tucson Indian Center. Thank you for having us and for joining it's like joining forces with other partners across Tucson and with the two local tribal nations. So I think that's really good because we're planting some good seeds here.

And in case you didn't know, Tucson is, I think, number four in the number of missing and murdered, you know, indigenous people across the nation, which is startling but not surprising. We're very close to the border. We're we're we're within city limits with the San Xavier District, the Pascua Yaqui tribe. So if you're talking about jurisdiction, that just adds so much complication to what if we're missing, you know, who do we call? What do we do?

What advice do we get? What level do we take it up to? So, again, with these partners, I think this is promising, and I just wanna say thank you for having us. And, TAC is just around the corner, so, we definitely offer services, which Tanya will talk about a little bit. Good evening. I'm glad

to be here. I'm honored. My name is Tanya Rios. I am an enrolled member of the Thawna Oatham Nation. I am the domestic Tucson Indian Center.

So when I took on that position and that role a year ago, I didn't I didn't I wasn't expecting to be much more than just a desert the domestic violence prevention specialist at the Indian Center. I've become much more than that. I'm involved with the Southern Arizona MMIP task force, a bunch of coalitions, and partnerships to help with this crisis that our people face. I also am a survivor. My cousin was murdered in South Tucson, still unsolved, over ten years ago.

So I am a big believer that you end up where you're meant to be, and I think that this is where I am meant to be, to be a voice for our people. Thank you. You.

We have one final proclamation. This is addendum item number one. This is a presentation to Courtney Slaneker, director of Red Cross Fatima Luna, chief resiliency officer, Karina Martinez Molina, community relations coordinator, city of Tucson, Nate Young and Betsy Camara, program managers, and Harrison Brown, University of Arizona Brace intern, Pima County Health Department, proclaiming the week of May 11 through May 15 to be heat awareness week. I move the items.

Second.

Seconded by supervisor Hines. Discussion. All in favor? Aye. Opposed? Item passes five zero. And supervisor Connell is ready to present.

Thank you kindly. Can you tell this setup is throwing everybody off? Hour number one. Okay. Thank you so much for being here. Triple digit temperatures are here. We felt them this weekend. I spent a little bit in the pool, and thank goodness I had that. Whereas the May has been designated as heat awareness week to raise awareness of the risk of extreme heat and to provide information about preparedness actions to prevent heat related illness and death. And whereas extreme heat waves during the summer pose one of the biggest weather related threats to life in Arizona and are the leading weather killer nationally.

And whereas there were one hundred and seventeen heat related deaths in Pima County in 2025, and Pima County experienced a heat related death for the first time ever in the month of March 2026, and whereas in 2026, the earliest 100 degree day on record occurred on March 19, surpassing the prior record set on 04/11/2025. And whereas heat related deaths and illnesses are preventable through awareness, preparedness, community resilience, and effective intervention strategies, and whereas extreme heat disproportionately affects our most vulnerable populations, including older adults, children, people of color, individuals experiencing homelessness, low income individuals, and those with heart disease, diabetes, respiratory illness, and other health conditions which are particularly susceptible to heat, and whereas Pima County is committed to ensuring the safety and well-being of its workforce through policies, resources, and protective measures aimed at mitigating heat related risks, and whereas the Pima County Health Department, in collaboration with local partners and stakeholders, continues to strengthen efforts to protect residents from the dangers of extreme heat. Now, therefore, be it resolved that the Pima County Board of Supervisors hereby proclaims the week of May 11 through 05/15/2026 to be heat awareness week to raise awareness about the dangers of extreme heat, promote preventative measures, and encourage community wide efforts to protect the health and safety of all residents passed and adopted this May 2026.

Thank you.

Thank you, everybody. I also just wanna recognize Steven Pelaez, for the Primavera Foundation. He is a program officer, and we weren't able to get him on the agenda today. And I wanna recognize the other members of the Pima County Heat Relief Network. We have dozens of other partner agencies who are working tirelessly every day to help us keep our community safe. This is a kind of work that you can't do by yourself. It really does take their continued support, involvement, and collaboration. So thank you to everyone who is standing with us here today. Thank you to the other members who are not present but are very much present in the Pima County Heat Relief Network. Make sure you're checking on your neighbors and your loved ones and helping each other stay safe this summer.

Thank you. Miss Luna, do you wanna say

unexpected.

I just wanna reiterate that message of the importance of collaborating. Thank you so much, chair and board, for recognizing extreme heat, the number one weather related cause of death in The US, and it's not as flashy. It actually kills more people than tornadoes, hurricanes, and floods combined, but it's not as visual and flashy as those other climate disasters. So I the fact that this is being recognized today and hopefully throughout the year with preparedness ongoing preparedness and, relief, it's very important in our community, and partnerships are critical to be on the ground year round with preparedness, planning, and heat relief. So I just wanna thank everybody here and the partners who are not here for doing this work.

Thank you.

So we are going to move on now to call to the public. I will flag that we have a time certain item at 06:00 presentation from the state auditor general. So we will be pausing call to the public for that 06:00 time certain, and then resuming call to the public until we get through it. We have eleven, ten speakers. Speakers.

I am going to first read the rules, the guidelines for call of the public, and then I will start out actually then with telephonic speaker. So guidelines. Citizens attending the meeting shall observe rules of propriety, decorum, and good conduct. Any person making personal impertinent or slanderous remarks or who becomes boisterous while addressing the board may be removed by the sergeant at arms if directed by the chair. Such person may be barred from further audience before the board.

Unauthorized remarks from the audience, stamping of feet, whistling, yells, and similar demonstrations shall not be permitted by the chair who may direct offenders from the hearing room. We have first three speakers, and I'll ask if you are speaker two and three to please come up to the front. The row is reserved for a seat reserved. Please come up front so we can move through quickly. Because we have less than 20 speakers signed up, each speaker gets three minutes.

So our first speaker will be Trista DeGenova, who is on the phone. And then our second speaker is Patricia. Then it starts with a B and maybe an A, and I apologize I can't read the last name. Maybe you. Perfectly said. Then our third speaker will be Corey Stephens. So is Trista on the line?

Yes, Diane, can you hear me?

Yes, please continue. You have three minutes.

Okay. Great. Okay. Thank you. Hi, board. My name is Trista DeGenova. And I grew up here in Tucson, and I spent a lot of years abroad. I studied at Oxford University and Pisces Medical University and UC Berkeley, public health researcher. And I came back to America when my mother died in 2014 as result of what should have been a routine welfare check, but the Kim County Sheriff's Department did it in the middle of the night, and it literally scared my mother to death. That was in 2014, and that's why I had to come back to The United States.

I was working in media and as an educator, university instructor in Taiwan for many years. And then I have had several encounters with horror stories basically with the Pima County Sheriff's Department. And in 2023, they carried out an illegal highly illegal home invasion with upwards of 60 officers on my private residence here in the county, and they falsely arrested me as a detective in the in the case, obtained a warrant without probable cause. By the way, I'm a team of fellow voters. I'm running for I'm a declared Pima County sheriff candidate for 2028 if we have elections, so feel free to sign my nominating petition.

And, also, I'm running as a as a write in independent candidate for District 5 Cayman County Board Of Supervisors because I have requested eight times now from my Cayman County supervisor some assistance in getting back my service dog which was a violation of ARS $13.29 interference with a service animal and also cruelty to him and intentional emotional distress. At the time, I was a candidate for sheriff as well. So I'm wondering if this was something personal and I wanted to call on the Board to please look at other many other very valid reasons that you should have already removed Sheriff Nano from his position, let alone the fact that he resides over probably the worst jail in the country with four times more jail deaths at Peach County Jail than Brickell Island. So and in my own personal case, he authorized this home invasion again when I was a sheriff's candidate, this was twenty twenty three, August thirty and pack and the the up to upwards of 60 officers on my property fabricated evidence, and they lied to the media about the condition of my animals, and and they did not carry out body camera footage.

They turned it off

That is on time. Also, will note, people are always welcome and invited and encouraged to submit written comments as well if they don't fit within three minutes. Our next speaker is Patricia Bauerle.

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pleased made instruments of mass murder, and neither have ours, wrote talk show host Tom Harmon recently. History isn't whispering. It's warning. It's shouting. Entitled The Trump Men Is Building a Mass Detention System, What Will You Do About It, authored by John Marks, includes the following statement.

What they have not told you is that the immigration detention system is not processing people. It is accumulating that. The customs enforcement referred to as ICE has been routinely violating people's constitutional rights as documented in part by someone in front of Tucson City Council on Tuesday, 03/03/2026, turned the call to the audience. Our federal government has also been majorly Board

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of an individual envelope addressed to each Board Pima County Board of Supervisor hand delivered to the Pima County Board of Supervisor's office on or about the morning of Monday, 03/23/2026. Thank you.

Thank you. Our next speaker is Corey Stephens.

I'm speaking today about hypocrisy. I hope today brings some resolution in the sheriff Nanos investigation or what you will be doing in regards to this, horrific investigation we have going on with him. As a constituent and citizen of this county, I have spoken on this issue numerous times over the last four years as have many citizens. I would ask you, how many IA investigations, disciplinary hearings did he sit in on and make decisions that affected deputy and CO's careers that have led to either termination, demotion, or them being unhirable with other agencies. Let me ask you a question, Matt.

Had you lied when you became a physician, would you be subsequent to having your medical license revoked. Let me ask you, Rex Scott. When you were in charge of teachers, had they lied on their application, would they be hireable in a school district? Let me ask Sam Brown. If an attorney were to lie under oath or not act in a fiduciary dish, way when representing a client, would he have his state bar revoked?

Probably so. Jan, when you're in the financial industry and you do not act with fiduciary responsibility, Are you subsequent to punitive or other actions? I would say so. Let me ask you this, Jen Allen. Do you think mister Urias had any social justice when he was beaten by Chris Nanos and subsequently put in a coma?

I think not. You guys have a duty, not an obligation, a duty to the citizens of Pima County to make this right. You need to ask yourselves, how many people have been affected by this man? On 12/11/2025, Nanos answered no when he was asked under oath if he had ever been suspended as a law enforcement officer. There were no mincing of words.

That was a clear cut question. Clear cut question. Do the right thing and remove him We from

are now going to have to because it's 06:00, we've gotta put a pause on call to the public, switch over to our time certain of presentation by the auditor General, and then we will be resuming call to the audience thereafter. I will flag that we have another time certain at 06:45. So moving on to item number 31 on the agenda. This is the fiscal year twenty four-twenty five audit results. We will first hear the presentation, and

then the board will consider the item. Madam Chair, members, Administrator Lesher, good evening. Thank you for having us. I'm Lindsey Perry, the auditor general for the state. Joining me today is also also Catherine Edwards Decker. She's my financial audit director. And Vicky Fisher, she oversaw the county's audits. She's a manager of my financial audit division. So again, thank you for inviting us to attend your regular board meeting to present the audit results and findings for Pima County. Today, Catherine's going to cover some of the financial highlights from the county briefly.

I know you received all of this from us several months ago. And then Vicki will discuss our audit results. But before we get to that, if we could go to the next slide please.

One more.

Okay. I know many of you are aware of my office, but I wanted to refresh your memory. My office is a legislative agency made up of nonpartisan staff. We provide impartial information and specific recommendations to improve the operations and programs of state and local entities, including the county. We are well versed in and follow several standards including governmental auditing standards.

Next slide please. Similar to our previous presentations in front of the board, we are here today in accordance with state law which directs the County Board of Supervisors to require its auditors, my office, to present audit results and findings to the board regular meeting without the use of a consent agenda and within ninety days of the report's, completion. This is a great opportunity for us to be in front of you, to answer your questions, to help you understand what we're finding, and what strides the county is making from the prior fiscal year. So we are here to answer questions as well as provide information. Next slide please.

Each year the county signs what we call engagement terms and conditions, and this document outlines our responsibilities as well as your responsibilities regarding the financial statement and single audit reports. Highlighted for you on this slide are some of our key responsibilities including conducting your audits in accordance with various auditing standards and federal requirements. We obtain reasonable assurance about whether the county's statements are free from material misstatement. While reasonable assurance is high, it is not absolute. It's not an absolute level of assurance.

With that being said, the risk of not identifying material misstatements and non compliance is higher due to fraud than from any other error because fraud, as you know, oftentimes involves collaborative efforts and includes management not using or overriding internal controls. Further, we operate under a no surprises approach and we are responsible for keeping you informed and your management team of things that we're finding significant matters both on the financial statement and federal single audit sides. We also report our opinion to you as auditors on your financial statements and federal awards. On side note, you may recall last year, my office was granted authority to conduct procedural reviews of county treasurer's offices. This our present presentation today will cover it that is a separate review.

However, my team is currently conducting the procedural review of Pima County Treasurer's Office and we certainly will report to you separately when we've concluded that work. Next slide please. On this slide are some of the key county responsibilities for the audit process, including providing accurate financial statements and financial information in accordance with county principles and federal requirements. Additionally, providing fraud representations, including formal communication from the county about your responsibilities for preventing fraud, that you have communicated with my team about all known and suspected fraud, and that you have not hidden or failed to provide any material information to my team. We sent the fraud representation letter to the board in July 2025 for the audit results we are discussing today.

Additionally, the county is responsible for taking corrective action on any audit findings, which includes providing a written corrective action plan that is included in your audit reports, and we'll briefly discuss that later in our presentation. Finally, the county is responsible for providing my team with unrestricted access to staff, documentation, information systems, and any resources necessary to complete the audit. This also includes meeting deadlines that were previously agreed upon at the start of the audit. Next slide please. Oops, we could go back to that one.

Perfect. It keeps advancing. Apologies. Today we'll be discussing our audit work on three required annual reports. So the first is the county's annual comprehensive financial report.

Second is the report on internal control and on compliance. And finally, the federal single audit report. As we have done in the past, when your annual reports were completed, we emailed each of you links to these reports, which we issued in February and March, respectively. The first report, the county's annual comprehensive financial report, presents the county's annual financial statements and our opinion on them. For fiscal year 2025, I am happy to report really good news that we reported an unmodified, which is an auditor's term for clean opinion, which means county's financial statements are reliable.

The second report, our report on internal control and compliance, which is included in the single audit report, is where we report any findings and recommendations resulting from our audit of the county's financial statements. We reported two financial statement findings and Vicki will cover those later in our presentation. Finally, the third and final report, federal single audit report, includes our assessment of the county's compliance with federal program requirements over each federal program that we are required to audit and express an opinion on. This report allows the federal government to understand if the county is spending federal monies in compliance with the requirements. So for fiscal year twenty twenty five, we reported qualified opinions due to non compliance regarding reporting compliance requirements on two of five major federal programs or clusters that we tested.

This also resulted in two single audit findings again Vicki will cover those shortly. Before we get into those findings Katherine is briefly going to go through the County's five year financial trends and highlights. Next slide please. Thank you.

Good evening, madam chair, members of the board, and county administrator Lesher. My name is Katherine Edwards Decker. Because we know these reports can be lengthy and complex, we also prepare audit report highlights, which is a three page summary that you received with the single audit report. I would like to take the opportunity to present some key financial information for the county over the last five years which are included in the highlights. The graph that's on the screen here highlights the five year trend of the county's revenues expenses and net total net position.

Total county revenues are shown in light blue and total county expenses are shown in dark blue. It's important to note that the county's revenues have exceeded its expenses since at least fiscal year twenty twenty one. The county's four main sources of revenue continue to be county property tax, federal and state grant programs, shared state sales tax, and county sales taxes. The county's property taxes increased in 2025, by nearly 39,800,000 due to an increased net assessed valuations of taxable property in the county, while federal and state grant programs decreased by 51,300,000 due to expiration or termination of COVID nineteen funding. Overall, the total of all county revenues decreased by 64,600,000 in fiscal year twenty five.

The county's four primary expense purposes continue to consist of general government, public safety, health and welfare, and highways and streets. Public safety and highways and streets have remained relatively consistent since the prior fiscal period while general government expenses have increased by $55,400,000 mostly attributed to the recognition of the county's new ERP system and salary increases. Health and welfare expenses, have fluctuated up and down a little over the last five years however decreased by 27,200,000 in fiscal year twenty five mostly due to the completion of the new medical examiner's building. Overall total county expenses increased by 14,100,000 for fiscal year twenty five. Also you can see from the bar line that's on the chart that the county's net position, also referred to as its reserves, is considerably higher than its current revenue or expenses.

Most importantly, the county's overall net position increased in fiscal year twenty twenty five. The total net position for the county was $2,900,000,000 as of 06/30/2025. And it's important to note that not all of the net position balance was spendable because at the end of fiscal year twenty twenty five, 2,700,000,000 was invested in capital assets. An additional $480,000,000 was restricted, which leaves a negative unrestricted balance of $3.00 1,000,000. This is primarily attributed to the county's county's pension liability which was 547,000,000 at the end of fiscal year twenty twenty five.

Next slide please. Finally I would like to highlight the county's federal expenditures that are presented each year in the single audit report. You can see from the table on the screen that the four largest federal agencies the county received federal grants for were from the Department of Treasury, Department of Health and Human Services, the Department of Labor, and the Department of Homeland Security. You can see a decrease in federal expenditures for fiscal year twenty five again again, nearly 52,000,000 primarily due to a reduction in the amount of COVID nineteen pandemic monies the county received and spent, specifically from the Department of Treasury and the Department of Homeland Security. The county's Department of Treasury programs, emergency rental assistance program, coronavirus state and local fiscal recovery funds, and local assistance and tribal consistency fund all decreased by 9,200,000, 7,600,000, and 7,900,000 respectively from the previous year.

In addition, the Department of Homeland Security programs, the emergency food and shelter national board program decreased by $22,600,000 and Shelter and Services program expenditures decreased by $3,400,000 Next slide, please. Vicki will now discuss the county's four current audit findings and the recommendations that we reported in fiscal year twenty twenty five reports as well as the county's progress on implementing recommendations from our prior year audit findings.

Good evening, madam chair Allen, members, and county administrator Lesher. My name is Victoria Fisher. And before we, discuss the findings reporting of fiscal year twenty five audits, we'd like to acknowledge the county's process in correcting prior year findings. Our auditing standards require that we follow-up on any prior year audit findings until they have been fully corrected. And in fiscal year, in '24, we reported two financial financial statement findings were related to information technology deficiencies.

One of these IT findings was fully corrected, and the other was partially corrected. And we reported similar we're to then And going do that. Wards, commonly known as the CEFA. And the county identified this finding as partially corrected, and we reported similar recommendations in '25. They also did not perform all required monitoring of its subrecipients' activities for compliance with award terms and program requirements.

The county identified this finding as partially corrected. However, because we found no deficiencies in the programs we audited in fiscal year twenty five, we did not report a similar finding. Were also two federal reporting findings. They were related to lack of policies and procedures to perform an independent review and approval of reports prior to submitting them to the federal awarding agencies and not always reporting accurate information or retaining documentation to support the submitted reports. The county identified these findings as partially corrected and we reported similar reporting recommendations in '25.

Next slide please. Now moving on to our fiscal year twenty twenty five audit findings and recommendations, the report on internal control and compliance is where you'll find the financial statement findings along with the county's responses to them. The first financial statement finding twenty twenty five zero one identified deficiencies in the county's control procedures over IT systems and data that increase the risk of inadequate system and data protection. We found deficiencies over restricting access that helps ensure systems and data are accessed by users who have need, the access granted is appropriate, and access is monitored and reviewed. We also found that securing systems and data that help prevent and detect and respond to instances of unauthorized access or inappropriate access or use manipulation manipulation, damage, or loss to its IT systems and data.

Next slide, please. To correct this finding, we made five recommendations to the county. Make it a priority to develop and document comprehensive IT policies and procedures and ensure the procedures are consistently followed. Assign and regularly review employee user access for job role appropriateness. Review all other account access to confirm ongoing need and appropriateness, strengthen authentication requirements across IT systems, and prevent and and provide ongoing IT security training to all employees on security on IT security risk and responsibilities.

This is a similar finding to the twenty twenty four zero two finding that was initially reported in fiscal year twenty four. And the county reported it anticipates correcting this finding and implementing recommendations by 12/31/2026. The second financial statement finding twenty twenty five zero two was reported by other auditors who audit the Pima County School Reserve Reserve Fund, a component unit of Pima County included in Pima County's annual comprehensive financial report in which we relied upon the other auditors work over the Pima Pima County County School Reserve Fund. The other auditors found that the county's school superintendent's office did not timely reconcile its school reserve funds cash balances to the county treasurer's balances increasing the risk of ineffective management of school refund, school reserve resources, and inaccurate financial reporting. Next slide, please.

To correct this finding, the other auditors made one recommendation to the county school superintendent's office to complete cash reconciliations timely, promptly research and resolve differences, and post any needed adjustments to the school reserve or the county treasurer's records. The county school superintendent's office reported it corrected this finding implemented recommendations in December 2025. I'll now go over the two federal compliance re findings we reported in the single audit report. Next slide, please. The county did not accurately compile its its CIFA.

As a result, the county's initially prepared CIFA contained errors errors increasing the risk of misinforming those who rely on the CEFA. Specifically the county understated total expenditures by nearly 3,900,000 million dollars overstated total expenditures passed through to subrecipients by roughly $694,000 and excluded two pass through entities totaling approximately $310,000 The county subsequently corrected these errors from the initial draft and resubmitted its corrected CEFA for audit. Next slide, please. To correct this finding we made two recommendations to the county. The first to accurately prepare the CPA by providing training on existing policies and procedures to perform detailed CEFA preparation steps and review the CEFA for accuracy prior to submitting it for audit.

The second was to create and maintain comprehensive listing of federal funds recorded in its accounting system. This finding is similar to the prior year finding 2024 dash one zero one, which was initially reported in fiscal year 2024. The county reported it anticipates correcting this finding and implementing recommendations by 06/30/2027. Next of

California,

requirements for the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act, the WIOA cluster, the coronavirus state and local fiscal recovery funds program, and immunization cooperative agreements program. For 13 of 17 reports we tested we found the department did not perform an independent review and approval of reports prior to submitting them to the federal awarding agency or pass through grantor to ensure the reported expenditures were accurate, agreed to county records, and contained only allowable expenditures. We found this for nine of nine WIOA monthly reconciliation reports we tested, three of four coronavirus state and local fiscal recovery quarterly project and expenditure reports we tested, and one of four immunization cooperative agreement programs quarterly contract expenditure reports we tested. And these quarterly reports are also used to request reimbursement from the federal agency. Now despite the lacking internal control procedures, we did not find any inaccurate WIOA or immunization cooperative agreements information reported incorrectly.

For the state and local recovery funds and the immunization cooperative agreements programs, we did identify noncompliance. For the state state and local recovery fiscal recovery funds reports, we found the department did not retain documentation, such as system reports, screenshots, or queries to support the information it reported. And for immunization cooperative agreements programs, the department did not prepare and submit timely immunization bridge access program information to the federal agency for monitoring. Specifically, the department failed to submit the three quarterly certified expenditure reports by their required due dates in fiscal year twenty five and instead submitted one report containing or covering all of the fiscal year twenty five quarterly information. The noncompliance that we found in these two programs resulted in qualified opinions for county.

We federal agencies are states Florida. Contained only allowable expenditures. Keep detailed supporting documentation such as system reports, screenshots, or queries related to the submitted reports to ensure accurate and complete program information is reported. Quarterly due date. Follow county and federal requirements to retain all records relating to federal awards for a period of three years from the date of the submission of the reports, implement policies and procedures to reform and document independent review and approval of all federal program reports, and finally implement a tracking system to ensure timely submissions.

This finding is similar to the prior year finding twenty twenty four one zero four initially reported in fiscal year twenty four. The county reported it anticipates correcting this finding and implementing recommendations by 06/30/2027. Next slide, please. I want to thank Madam Chair Allen, members, and county administrator Lesher for having us present our audit results today. I'd also like to thank the county staff for their cooperation during the audits.

We've had a really good working relationship with them, with management and staff. This completes our presentation for the fiscal year twenty five audit results. Are there any questions that we can answer for you concerning our audits?

Supervisor Hines.

Thank you, Chair Allen. Thank you all for your report. I'm just curious, given in 2025 there was, of course, in January, a change of administration at the federal level that greatly complicated federal grants and changes and rules and just kind of all sorts of chaos going on at the federal level. How did you all navigate the audit of 2025 in light of some of those changing requirements? Or I'm just curious about how that impacted your ability to do the audit here for 2025. One.

Thank you for the question. So for the federal compliance audits, we use office of management and budget. They issue a compliance supplement, and we audit in accordance with that. So, those rules are usually published a little prior to the start of the calendar year and were in effect for '25 as of, I believe, November '24.

Okay. Great. Thank you.

Supervisor Kannock, thank you. Chair Allen, I want to thank all members of the Auditor General's team, but especially general Perry. You have incredible responsibility cast not just by statute, but by the legislature. And two of us have spent some time on this dais there, and we know the duties in front of you are are vast and great. These efforts, the recommendations that you've suggested, of course, will be taken very seriously by this board and, of course, by our county administrator.

And I wanna give a special thanks to our finance team who also works diligently to ensure that the work and the preparation that happens every single year and consecutive years for this particular report that it's done with the utmost professionalism and integrity, and it goes both ways. And I am really pleased with the recommendations and staff's input as well so that they can be implemented. And thank you, general Perry.

I I would also like to extend my my gratitude for the work that you've done. I think what's the word I'm looking for? Sort of uncovering issues and bringing forth recommendations is helpful. Right? It is important, and it is what needs to be done.

So I I I thank you for doing that. I I also, you know, was sort of thinking about the the year right? The years and the funding, like, the unique situation in which we were found, which I think is comparable to other local governments. And that, you know, in in looking through some of the funds that grants management, the innovation department, GMI, had at the time, It was the 203,000,000 from the coronavirus state and local fiscal recovery funds, the 52,600,000 for humanitarian aid. So Pima County could care for and process the average of 1,100 people per day, right, who were the legal asylum seekers.

The 45,000,000 in emergency rental assistance, right, ensuring that thousands didn't become homeless or lose their homes. And that in implementing some of the requirements of that funding, right, a lot of it was done through subrecipients and working with community partners. Maybe my question is, given the totality of those funds, that is a pretty remarkable amount funds. Is is what you some of the the recommendations that you're making, was it exceptional? Right?

Like, was that an were we going through sort of pretty unusual or exceptional time? And and I I guess I'm just wondering if we there were, like, lessons that were then learned from this sort of exceptional period of time with these enormous grants going through some different crises. Madam chair, thank you for

the question. I think there's always something to learn from audit findings, I and I certainly appreciate administrative leisure and the finance team always taking those with open arms to improve the county. I don't know that we're in any different situation or maybe a better situation than we were in COVID. That was a tremendous influx of federal dollars into the state, into the counties, into local governments. And so I I think a lot of us learned a lot from that process.

To supervisor Heinz's question too, know that the federal requirements were changing probably by the day during the COVID pandemic and money's being rolled out starting in March 2020 and and trying to figure out from a governance position how to how to distribute those monies in line with the federal requirements that we're changing. So I think that Pima County has evolved with that. I would say that the findings that we're seeing are not remarkable. They are, you know, pretty standard findings that we see in other entities with difficulties with the CIFA, but I know you've got a finance team that's on top of that and moving forward to make corrections. So, you know, I I think that we all continue to look at the federal government and the money's coming out from the federal government and the requirements around those and trying to be partners in that of understanding what those requirements are so that the county can follow those.

And you're not in jeopardy of having question costs and having to repay the federal government. So the four findings that we're talking about today, again, I think those are are pretty typical that we see. You know, the federal findings are a little bit unique in that these are programs that the county is managing, but the financial statement findings, the IT controls, that's something that my auditors have been focusing on since 2016 because we know that that's a real risk for counties and and local government. So hopefully that answers your question. Thank you.

Chair Allen. Supervisor Scott.

Thank you. I also wanted to thank general Perry and and miss Decker, miss Fisher for your report tonight. Wanted to ask miss Lesher, we get a monthly financial update every month. We had one tonight during our study session. I'm wondering if we could incorporate into the monthly financial update a section where you and your team brief us on how you're following up on the recommendations from the auditor general and her team. I think that would be instructive to the board if that could be an addition to the monthly financial update. Thank you. Thank you, Chair Allen. Okay.

Any further questions?

Move that we may if I may, I'd like to move that we accept the twenty twenty four, twenty twenty five report of the auditor general.

Seconded by supervisor Allen. Discussion? All those in favor?

Aye.

Opposed? Item passes, five zero. Thank you, madam chair, members. Thank you. We are we have a time certain at 06:45.

I am wondering if those who are here for that 06:45 would be game for doing it a little bit early. Okay. I see two head shakes. So let's then go over to item number it is 19 on the regular agenda. This is unfinished business from previous meeting twenty twenty six Regional Transportation Authority Special Election.

This is an item from District 4. So I will pass

it to Supervisor Christie. Thank you, madam chair. Madam recorder and madam elections director, thank you so much for coming here tonight to go over the after action report. We didn't have a chance to do it in the last couple of meetings, and we appreciate your willingness to be here tonight to answer some questions regarding that report. First, madam elections director, miss Hagro, thank you for your very comprehensive and detailed report.

It covered a a whole wide range of areas and issues very comprehensively. It was an easy read, and I appreciate and I know the community appreciates your conscientious efforts to provide a very clear and dedicated synopsis of the voting situation in a highly irregular election, the r t a RTA election. Really, I only have one question for you, and that is what do you foresee or predict or envision as any kind of new approach for the upcoming primary election or and any elections after that?

Chair Allen, members of the board, good afternoon. Thank you for allowing me to be here to actually speak to that. So for future elections, of course, we now have our portal, citizens portal, where individuals who present propositions to the county that the county is responsible for can now have citizens provide their arguments for and against anything that they put forward. So that is definitely a step forward. We are actually required to have that, but that's a step forward.

As well as our new election night reporting I've got to highlight that our new election night reporting where you can actually see the results of the county's election right there immediately without having to go to the state's website to see it. Of course, with statewide elections, you still have to go to that site. One of the major things that we have implemented so far is the ballot proofing, which I'll have more information of course after we get through this election. But so far with the new ballot proofing and having the additional individual come in to take a look at what we're doing. Of course, any time when you look at something all the time, it all begins to look the same.

As far as you know, it's correct. Brain begins to transform things into what it should be when maybe shouldn't. So very small, minute, maybe formatting, maybe quotation marks. One may be one way, one may be in a different direction. Bolding, different things like that were caught very quickly with these proovers.

I was really excited about that. And then just other things that we would, in the first stage of the proofing process, that we actually caught before it actually got to the third tier, which will still be in my office to prove. So we were really excited about that. The timeline worked out well. We were able to get those proofs out to the candidates this week for them to review so that we can timely submit those to the vendor.

Moving forward, the recorder's office and the elections department, we work very closely together. We communicate often before the election, during the election, and after the election. And so I think what we are looking forward to going forward is a better coordination of election day when we do have vote centers open and there are sites open for early voting, emergency voting on Monday. When we do our Monday night setup, a better coordination of how we transition from one part of the election to the other part before election day. We are in the process of meeting with libraries to ensure that everyone has understanding of the two different functions, the two different offices, what the different requirements are, that the recorder's office is actually a separate entity who needs the space for twenty seven days, whereas the elections office only needs that space for basically two days.

So we reserve it for the Monday to go in and set up, and then we reserve it for Tuesday. So lots of things to look forward to. One of the things that you can look forward to is the new law that is in place, and I'm gonna make this very brief, where individuals can drop off their early ballots at a vote center, have it ID verified. So we would verify the individual's identification. We would stamp that early ballot.

It goes in a separate, box for us, whereas that ballot now does not have to go through signature verification because we've already verified it at the vote center. And so, one of the exciting things about Pima County is that we are already implementing where we can check these voters into our e poll books, And we can verify at the end of the night how many we checked in against our count of ballots, physical ballots that we have. We can produce a report for the recorder's office where they can upload that information and give the voters a record of vote without actually having to touch these ballots a second time. So we're really excited about that. So that's a new process that will be in place on election day.

And more information to come, so we will have some communications going out about that so voters will know what to expect on election day. So

And I failed to mention also a thanks for your accessibility. And if there's ever been an issue with any of my constituents or anybody in particular that with the voting process, you and your staff have always been accessible, always been available, and it's highly and greatly appreciated for that kind of forthcoming. So thank you. And I think it's my final question to you, miss Hargrove. Do you have any idea what the final question I might be asking you right now might be?

What's keeping me up at night?

That's the one.

Honestly, lots of things. Thank you for that question.

Nothing specific you'd wanna share? No, sir.

Not at the moment.

Well, thank you again very much for your report and for your thoroughness and preparation. Madam Recorder, I have a number of questions. One of them we discussed the last time you were here on this issue, and that has to do with the vote mobile. In your final report, you mentioned that this project was made possible by a grant from the Tonawatom Nation in partnership with the Pima County Board of Supervisors. This was a grant given to the elections department by the nation.

It was not revealed how much the grant was for or the purpose of what the grant was for to the board of supervisors. We had no knowledge, no understanding, no idea about this boatmobile until it was presented to us. And I think it's it's not accurate to say that we were in any kind of a partnership when the board of supervisors never received any information on it nor did we approve it or not. But you were able to get it approved through the process, but it was not divulged or brought before the board of supervisors.

If if I may, that that's actually not true. We did go back in and look at the records, and we did find that the board of supervisors did receive the grant and approve the grant.

We recruit what we were not advised of what the grant was for nor were we advised as to how much.

Oh, we saw we saw the grant language.

Was And that was after it was it was accepted?

It was what what I saw was that we had the board had saw and approved the contract.

Well, that was not my understanding, but be that as it may. My understanding from our discussion in the last time was that there was no prior knowledge of what the grant was for, what it was gonna be used for. But let's move on to the actual Vote Mobile statistics in your in your report, you do you do indicate the the places of location that the the Voatmobile went and the amount of balance that were dropped off and the replacement ballots that were issued on-site. So if you add up all of the the locations roughly one, two, three, four, five, and at those five locations, 1,948 ballots were dropped off and only 42 ballots were issued on-site. So 42 people actually voted while there were just under 2,000 that were dropped off.

So really this is more of a dropping off center rather than a vote center.

The board of supervisors on 09/06/2022, and a second supplementary grant was unanimously approved on 08/08/2023 for the purchase of the mobile voting unit. It was very clear within those documents that that was the intention. We went through all appropriate legal processes through procurement, through legal. We did everything according to the requirements of Pima County to procure that vehicle. And it was very much communicated that we were going to have this mobile mobile voting unit.

So that's one. The next thing is, yes, our mobile voting unit is both used for ballot drop off as well as issuing ballots on-site. Many of our locations throughout Pima County have a higher number of ballot drop offs than they do actual ballots being issued. It is both a part of of the benefit of having early voting sites in all of those locations, and a vote mobile is simply a self contained early voting site.

Well, I think we're not gonna be able to agree on the how it was procured because this was an agreement that was a pass through item. No grants were listed. And we went through each Boss Air agenda item. No mention that this was x amount of money for the Vote Mobile. That's our finding.

I guess we'll have to agree to disagree on that. Moving on to observers. We have number of observers at one, two, three, four, five locations including the boatmobile, the recorders, country club office, processing center, the country club office, the main office, the Ward 2 office. Number of observers are listed at each one respectively. Two, one, three, three, two.

Are these, for instance, recorders, country club, office, ballot processing center, number of observers, two. Is that per day, for the whole month since the voting is open for a month? What's the breakdown on that? On the boatmobile, it only was available at a much more limited time frame, and it shows two observers. Is that also two per day or per week? Or what what are the numbers of observers represent as far as participation?

Chair Allen, board of supervisors, that number indicates the number of observers that we had during the duration of that election. Duration.

What what do you mean duration? The whole time

there was only there were there were two each day? Or There would have been and I would have to pull up their logs, but there were several observers who came, I believe, multiple days in a row. They

Were there two observers there every day during the that process? No. How many were there during the process?

We we don't other than other than the information that's listed here, we're not breaking down that information because it is not required for us to have observers in order to complete our functions.

So there very well could could have been no observers.

Yes. They're they're observers are not required for us to complete any of statutory functions whatsoever. It is simply for their personal enjoyment.

Under your your title of challenges and resolutions under available voting options. Are you open to placing ballot drop boxes perhaps in Pima County Libraries during their hours of operation?

Chair Allen, board supervisors, I am currently in communication with Pima County Libraries about the placement of additional ballot drop boxes. We are talking about installing them so that they're available twenty four seven during the early voting

time frame. Are libraries under consideration? Yes. Throughout Pima County?

Not throughout Pima County because we have a large number of libraries here, and each ballot drop box is very expensive. It is a $6,000 box for just the box. That does not include freight, taxes, placement, the waterless fire extinguisher, cameras, nor the couriers to empty them. So it is a very expensive option for us to have. However, in locations where there is high volume, or maybe in areas where it's low volume in rural locations, we are looking at installing boxes in those additional locations.

So currently, we're in conversation with Ajo, Cells, Sawarita, Oro Valley. We're trying to get the University of Arizona. It's not looking like it's gonna happen this cycle. We may be bringing forth additional amendments to our drop off options. We're hoping if we can move this through as quickly as possible that we could have those in place before the primary, but certainly before the general election.

Could they be placed inside the libraries? That way they'd even be more secure and easier to access and operate during hours.

If I I'm sorry. If if I may. Supervisor Christie, these are very specific questions. I I'm wondering if perhaps you could submit these in writing to the recorder and and get answers I've only got to those some of those specific questions because I'm not really sure where

we're only got a couple, three more to go and it won't take me long, Madam Chair. And if it gets to me that we can't get an answer, we'll be glad to do that. Just a couple of more questions. One of the the issues was a reporting a website reporting versus Canvas report. And that the elections department caught a discrepancy in the number of eligible voters. And the elections department corrected the the total that was in the discrepancy. How are you prepared to address those complaints?

Chair Allen, Board of supervisors. So we I mean, I guess I would like to understand your further question. That issue has been resolved? I I don't understand your question.

Well, I'm just going by what you say in your report. It doesn't say it's resolved. It it says that there was some discrepancy in the number of eligible voters as well as also in the single ballot affidavit return envelopes. And you say we are prepared to continue to address these complaints. I see. My apologies for that.

So the original number of voter eligible voters that we submitted to the elections department included a number of federal only national active voters who are not eligible for jurisdiction al elections. It did not make any changes to any of the no no ballots were issued to those folks. If they had come, it would have shown up as national active or federal only. And so we realized that we had sent the quarterly report. We're we're required to send those to the secretary of state's office.

And because this is such a rare it's such a rare countywide election, It was my staff inadvertently sent the quarterly numbers, which normally would have sufficed. Again, this is specific to a jurisdictional, and so those numbers would have been correct for a federal election, and so we we we simply sent the the wrong information. We completely own up to that. We had a conversation with the elections department, and it was through our standard audits that we we have multi day audits after an election to ensure that all of our numbers match up to what they're supposed to. And if that if there is any reason that it doesn't, it's a red flag for us to to take a look at the data, and that's exactly what happened.

And so, yes, this has been resolved. It was resolved in time for the Canvas. It it was completely appropriate. It was completely completely resolved. It was simply a matter of those federal only voters being reported, and that was, again, it made absolutely no impact to the voters.

No voters were impacted whatsoever, and we were able to resolve that. The other situation that we had was a difference in reporting for it was the paper receipts for ballot turnovers. And so a paper receipt is issued when we wheel over the signature verified ballots over to the elections department. We have a physical piece of paper that my staff sign and her staff signs, and they are then uploaded into our online website for public viewing. Those are it is very specific that those reports are available and they are viewable to the public for transparency purposes, but they are not official they are not the official results of anything.

That is simply to show the number of there's a high interest in turnout, and that's what we use them for. Those individual receipts are individually scanned and uploaded, and sometimes they're uploaded within batches at a time. And every once in a while, there might not be one. And through our audits, again, standard automatic thing that we do after every election, we make sure that we have all receipts, all t's crossed, all i's dotted, and we were able to scan that last receipt, and that was never an issue. It was resolved throughout the audit process.

We did get a legal challenge, but I will say I I can't say too much about that legal challenge, but it was in connection with the proposition of the sale of software or or something of that sort.

Well, thank you for that. And my final question, Madam Chair, is I'd just like to point out that in your locations for the ballot drop offs and future initiatives, we don't see any action in that regard in Vail, Green Valley, the Tenga Verde Valley, or really on the Southeast Side. And I'm hoping that that that's gonna be taken into consideration. We will have early voting location in Sawarita. That is it is it's not a vote mobile.

We are actually have we're gonna be there for multiple days within that region. And so that has been a conversation that I think there's an overall struggle. Anything we can do in our district office to assist in your finessing that ability to get locations course, were available. But I appreciate the fact that you're looking into that and trying to be as accommodating as possible. It means a lot to the folks out there as you can imagine. With that, thank you, Madam Chair. And thank you, Madam Recorder. And did you want to say something else?

Yes. Can can I just, Madam Chair, speak to the observers? So throughout the course of the election, the parties will provide observers. They will send observers to observe whatever processes we may be doing at the time. So we have our early ballot processing, and we have our tabulation processing throughout the election, and then, of course, election day.

There is not always an observer assigned to the early ballot processing. It really depends on the staffing of the parties and who they can find to do it. So for me, if I were speaking, if you ask me the same question, I do not keep track of how many observers are there, per day. We do know who's there. Normally, there is someone in the tabulation room. There's always someone in the tabulation room, and we try to ensure that they do have enough people to do that. But on a daily basis, we may not see someone in every area where we process ballots. So, just wanted to clarify that. I

will just say thank you both for being here. Thank you for your transparency. Reports, I think, were a reflection of having strong internal controls and demonstrating that internal controls work. That's why you have them. You've reported them, and I appreciate your sort of prompt response as as, items are identified, things to fix and improve.

And so I really appreciate the the the work and the accountability that I think is exemplified from both of your offices. And knowing it has been a whirlwind of nonstop elections. So given all of that, much appreciation for all that you and your teams do. Thank you. Okay.

We are I was asked if we could approve quickly an item that is connected to the audit. So that is item 32, and then I promise we will get back call to the public. And then just the road map of where we go from call to the public. We are going to move from call to the public to item which item is it? Addendum item number three, which is the board oversight and potential responses concerning the office of the sheriff, because I know that there are people here interested in that item as well.

So going to the item that needed to be approved in conjunction with the audit, it is item number 32. Charlie. 2? Mhmm. Item 32. Day. Then go the end of

I I'll go

just have to note that I will support the approval of this because it is contingent. It is connected to the audit. But I find it a little bit appalling. This is a state statute that I would define as sort of the white fragility state statute because it says certifying the Pima County won't require an employee to engage in training, orientation, or therapy that presents any form of blame or judgment based on race, ethnicity, or sex. And furthermore, use public monies for training, orientation, or therapy that prevents any form of blame or judgment based on race, ethnicity, or sex.

Because this is a state statute, we need to be in conformance. We are required essentially, we have to approve this. But the absurdity of this law is even more evident today in a state that is facing a financial crisis, families that can't afford day to day expenses, and a federal government whose policies not only punish working people, but want to make people of color, women, and queer people literally and figuratively disappear. So it is with great objection that I am forced to approve this state requirement.

And this is 32, your

This is item 32. So all those in favor favor, say say aye. Aye.

Aye. Aye.

Opposed? Opposed. Item passes four one. No one said it had to be approved unanimously. All right. Now we will move back to call of the public. We have and thank you for your patience, everyone our next three speakers is just simply Reyes, Regis Reyes. Then we have Lori Moore and Bruce Wheeler. As a reminder, three minutes to each of you.

Hi. My name is Reyes Suarez. I'm not a paid speaker, though I am presenting on behalf of Dflok Tucson. I wanna thank you for having these evening sessions and allowing those who work the standard schedule an opportunity to voice our concerns. Today, I wanna address AI surveillance. From 2019 to 2021 in Pima County, there were four ALPRs set up. From 2021 to 2024, there were 10 implemented. And then in 2025 alone, there were 227 put up

on our

streets. By January, there were 60 put up. By that trend, there could be over 300 placed just this year, almost doubling that amount total amount. According to the Institute of Justice piece, there have been at least 14 incidents nationwide in which officers misused access to these cameras for personal reasons, such as stalking former romantic partners, spouses, and even strangers that just caught their eye. Most of these cases were only brought forward when the victims themselves discovered that their license plates were searched by auditing the site haveibeenflocked.com.

The same institute believes that due to a lack of sufficient auditing process, these incidents are likely to be much more prevalent due to this technology being so new and the general public not even knowing how to look it up themselves. We have allowed a system where law enforcement decides unilaterally on the powers they are allowed to wield with next to no transparency and no oversight. TPD and the sheriff's department claim this data isn't being shared with ICE, but Oro Valley has access to this data and is working with ICE. They even purchased four flock drones through the Homeland Security Stone Gardener funding. You can't guarantee this data is not helping ICE round up our neighbors.

The fourth amendment was clear that there were supposed to be protections blocking from unreasonable searches and seizures. All this data can be accessed without warrant, and it's much more than a lack of expectation or privacy. That's reserved for a static camera in a single location or perspective. These AI cameras are always watching and from inconceivable amounts of angles and locations. It's more in effect to the GPS location feed, which is barred from retrieval without warrants or consent.

And with only a limited period of time, these are constantly going, and I don't believe the thirty day limit exists. If you aren't willing to remove these cameras, you at the very least need to give the public a chance to express our concerns in a town hall setting. This board lost a lot of respect with the data center vote and recent knowledge of trend discussions from the sheriff. This could be a step in the right direction. Thank you.

Our next speaker is Laurie Moore.

I think we should order pizza. My name is Laurie Moore, district one. I'm very grateful that we still say the pledge of allegiance before these meetings. To the Democrats on this board, I'm questioning your understanding of the word sovereign and your belief that The United States is a sovereign nation. Observations that I have made at these meetings make me question your loyalty to this nation and The US citizens of Pima County.

Mexico, for example, has flooded this country with drugs and human trafficking, yet there is a flag of Mexico hanging in the foyer and no other foreign countries are so represented. In addition, the Democrats on this board have aided and abetted hundreds of thousands of illegal aliens to enter The United States, violating the law that says people fleeing for persecution must stay in the first landmass of safe harbor. It does not mean traveling across two oceans and two continents to get here. We also know that the liberals are fond of a saying, there are no illegals on stolen land, as if that slogan is going to halt ICE deportations. Your actions prove to me that the Democrats on this board believe that that that statement is to be true in word and deed.

By funding the open border invasion in an attempt to rig elections and inject socialism and communism into this country, your actions do not reflect any desire to protect and defend the sovereignty of The United States. This is a violation of your oath of office and a violation to your commitment to uphold the US constitution and the laws of Arizona. You need to resign. Thank you for your attention to this matter. I also have a question regarding, the recorder's appearance tonight. She said that IDs are checked, voter IDs. But I think there are many forms of ID, and I just wanna make sure that they're clarifying the IDs prove citizenship to vote. That's my question. Thank you.

Our next speaker is Bruce Wheeler. And then following Bruce Wheeler, our next three speakers and final speakers will be Paula Cortez, Reed Sperling, and JP Salvatierra in that order. Mister Wheeler.

Wow. Well, good evening, members. Ever since candidates have run for public office, many have lied, cheated, and even stolen their way into office. In fact, a good number of present day office holders across our land fall into these examples of untruthfulness and treachery. I would like to address your possible decision on whether to remove the elected sheriff from office.

It is troubling to think that three elected individuals can unelect, remove from office, someone else elected and voted into office by thousands of voters as well. I believe that if you judge to remove sheriff Nanos from office, you would be acting against the will of the people, voters that voted for him. At its core, such action would be undemocratic, I believe. To be clear, I publicly endorse sheriff Nano's opponent, Mark Napier. I was at the time a democratic legislator.

Mark is a republican. And my god, how times have changed. So I am not an apologist nor a supporter of sheriff Nano's. You face a wide slipstream of an issue far more important at play here. It is about the democratic process and the vote of the people.

In the case of treachery, dishonesty, or incompetence by elected officials, we, the public, are afforded remedies to such misbehavior. We can recall, we can vote them out of office, or we can impeach. In the sheriff's case, the former two options are available to us. In summary, with the anachronism of an electoral college, which strips us all of the democratic one person, one vote in our national election process, gerrymandering, which has been unleashed on steroids by both parties, I truly believe that if here, three, four, or five of you were to vote to remove an elected official who may have or not acted dishonorably, but who has not committed a crime, you would be contributing to a most serious decline within our democratic fabric, that of our most cherished democratic values, the voice of the citizen, their vote. Such such action may prove to be yet another serious blow against this already sorry collapsing house of cards, our democratic process.

Please, I respectfully, to each of you, I urge you, reprimand if you must, but let the people judge and decide this case. Thank you.

Thank you. Our next speaker is Paula Cortez.

Good evening, chair Allen Allen and members of the board. My name is Paula Cortez. I'm here with my son Christian Cortez. My younger son Jonathan died on April 2 at the age of 36. Sixteen days earlier than that, he had been released to the care of Pima County adult probation from Pima County jail, where he had served a ninety day sentence for drug use.

I am here because I feel a strong responsibility to share publicly the series of events that followed his release in the hopes that it never happens to another person in a similar situation. My son's sentence included a mandated door to door handoff from jail directly into residential treatment through adult probation. And both he and I were grateful for it. During his ninety days of abstinence, my son had regained clarity, physical strength, and hope for a sober future. He was eager to comply with probation.

Tragically, the door to door handoff never occurred. In the morning of his release, instead of taking him directly to a residential program, his probation officer gave him a list of phone numbers, asked me if I would take him into my home, and told him to notify her when he found placement for himself. Nonetheless, he remained motivated and compliant, but abandoned. Then a mere five days after leaving jail, Jonathan admitted to using both alcohol and drugs. The speed of relapse should surprise no one.

What followed was an unsupported race to get him into a facility before the relapse spiraled farther. Communication from probation remained vague despite repeated requests for guidance, and meanwhile, my son became too sick to search for help himself. By the time I located a facility in Tucson that had a bed, he was already critically ill. He was transferred to Tucson Medical Center and died less than twenty four hours later. The medical examiner confirmed that his death was caused by stroke linked to his recent drug use.

Since my son's death, I have learned about the budget and staffing shortages and overwhelming caseloads affecting Pima County adult probation. Overburdened officers lacked the time to properly coordinate treatment placement. I cannot know what the outcome would have been if the court ordered transfer directly into treatment had happened. But I do know that in its absence, my son went from sober, hopeful, and compliant on March 15 to terminally ill on April 1. I feel a duty to bring to your attention how shortages and funding are leading to dangerous gaps for people at extremely high risk of relapse, recidivism, homelessness, and even death immediately after release from jail.

The individuals, their families, and our entire community are bearing the

Sperling.

Good evening, supervisors. My name is Reed, and I'm not paid to be here. Pima County residents and communities across Arizona are fed up with the willingness of our elected officials to commodify and sell off our land and water for surveillance enabling big data centers. In the middle of rapidly worsening drought and the rise in heat deaths that you acknowledged today, data centers are now the main driver of a boom in the fossil fuel industry causing these problems for Pima County families in the first place. Your constituents' increasing frustration with this untenable situation is shown in part by the disruption that took place at the law offices of Lazarus and Sylvan last Thursday.

These attorneys are representing Beale Infrastructure, the developer of the Project Blue Data Center widely opposed by Pima County residents and unanimously rejected by the Tucson City Council. Supervisor Hines and supervisor Scott, when Beale lied to Pima County last summer about your contract with them, you did not speak out then. When Beal made a deal with TEP, planning to pay for hundreds of megawatts worth of new generators by raising our electric bills, you did not speak out then. When you had a chance to review the health impacts of Project Blue, you voted no. And when Beale was recently caught stealing water from the city of Tucson, you did not speak out then.

Instead, you quickly stepped in to defend Beale's lawyer, Lazarus and Sylvan, after protesters played drums and carried signs inside their offices. Is this really where your priorities lie? As far as I'm aware, protesting remains legal and the physical safety of Lazarus and Sylvan's staff was not threatened. I was watching their presentation to the Arizona Planning Association on Zoom. At the time, they were able to resume the presentation just a few minutes after the disruption began.

The presenter said he wasn't sure he could have had a better introduction to his discussion of the history and politics of zoning. When politicians hand away their power to private industry behind closed doors, protests must remain focused on those in power by shifting that focus to private industry. This protest was civil disobedience in the proudest sense of the term, drawing attention to the representatives of wealthy developers who prefer to operate without accountability and who see Pima County as their personal monopoly board. Supervisor Hines and supervisor Scott, you have no standing to dictate the behavior of your constituents, especially if they choose to protest a law firm that you appear to have close relationships with. I asked you this time last time I was here, and I am increasingly worried about what a truthful answer might tell us.

Who do you work for?

Thank you. Our next speaker is JP Savatierra.

Madam chair, supervisors, I'm here to identify a 2026 RTA NEXT nonexistent canvas. In my last meeting before you, I mentioned that no effort was made to review, critique, or prudently address the RTA next props four eighteen, four nineteen and pose any effort to affect procedural canvas scrutiny. The Pima County Election Commission was not prompted to appear before the board to ascertain any action as prescribed by law regarding the duty taken to verify that the accuracy and logic along with all requisite functions were completed along with any unusual potential errors of omissions, commissions, or unexpected flaws in vote tabulation that occurred for your clarification and corrective measure taken. In fact, the agenda item for an election canvas presentation was moved ahead by a full week. Then no prescribed discussion to affect your prudent oversight was made before a motion to close move to accept with a second and a single member vote received by the clerk, seventy three seconds.

This was essentially the same effort and effect as moving an item to be reviewed at a later time because intentionality prevailed to forego the prudent following of procedure to demand a presentation by the election commission. Was something ominously remiss in the the previous warning that you received from mister John Brekey, who made a call the audience clarification? Ignorance of the law regarding your collective fiduciary duty to the prudent and faithful service to the public has been seriously breached. Was another politically motivated objective a possible rationale for the blatant misconduct? The act of voting is private.

The adherence to the protection and preserving of undiminished tabulation of that vote is a pure and sank or sank act. I pray that you don't perform any other politically motivated actions against sheriff Nanos as the the true culprit. And this is the HR over ten years that never did anything to verify or or create rescission of that contract agreement.

Thank you. Thank you.

There are no other speakers. I am now closing call to the public. And would any board members like to do any of the following? Request staff to follow-up on any matter from call to the public, request that an item be placed on a future agenda, or respond to a criticism. Well, I have two follow ups.

One is that I would like to understand the use of FLAC cameras within the county. I have been told that we don't have them, but would love to know whether we do or don't, and to what extent. And then second, I would like to know if there's more that we can learn about what happened to the young man and what happened with adult probation and why that handoff did not happen in the way that it was supposed to. Thank you. Alright.

We are now going to move to and we're gonna gonna take two items. We're gonna hear we're gonna kinda look at the same time. Item number 25 from the regular agenda, that is the carryover or continued unfinished business item, the report from sheriff Nanos, and addendum item number three, which is the board oversight and potential responses concerning

process to replace the current sheriff immediately.

Hearing no second, the motion fails. Supervisor Scott.

On the advice of legal counsel, I move that we take no action to declare the office of sheriff vacant nor to move for the removal of based on Arizona revised statute 11 dash two fifty three. Also on the advice of counsel, I move that we refer allegations of potential perjury by the sheriff to the Arizona attorney general's office and to direct the county administrator to do so on behalf of the board, and that the board takes no position on whether or not perjury was committed.

I will second.

Seconded by Supervisor Hines. Any further discussion? All those in favor?

Aye.

Opposed? Abstain. Item passes four with four four votes with one abstention.

Chair Allen. Supervisor Scott. Since we're also motion that we just approved unanimously with one abstention speaks for itself. Concern with what's been going on within the sheriff's department is that our elected sheriff has taken no discernible efforts efforts to repair relationships and trust within our largest department. I think the most telling example of that was the unanimous vote of the Pima County deputies organization, declaring no confidence in his leadership.

Yes. There were, over 60 members of that organization who abstained, but nobody, voted that they had confidence in the sheriff's leadership, and well over 250 of the members of the organization voted no confidence. That's very telling, with regard to climate and feelings about the stewardship of the department, by its frontline employees. Just as telling are the emails and letters board offices have received from current and former Pima County Sheriff's Department employees who have expressed no faith or trust, in the sheriff's leadership. They've offered very specific examples of pettiness, favoritism, rash decision making.

To be fair, we have also heard from a a number of employees who've expressed their support for the sheriff. But there really is only one person in that department who can bring all those people together. And, again, it's our largest department in terms of number of employees, and that's the leader. He needs to take not just the first step, but the second step, the third step, the fourth step, the fifth step to try and bring up the level of climate, within that department. You have to first admit the obvious, that there is a real crisis of confidence within the department in his leadership.

Then you have to reach out both publicly and privately to both individuals and groups within the department seeking their input and offering to engage in honest dialogue. Third, you need to offer after those communicative efforts, you need to bring forth a plan to rebuild rapport, relationships, and trust and ask to be held accountable for its success. Based on the advice of legal counsel, counsel, I I do not I believe, and obviously, the majority of the board agrees that we have the right to, remove the sheriff, declare the office vacant. He met his obligations under the statute. But, I I think it's important that we make the referral to the attorney general's office that we did.

And what is most important is that the sheriff take immediate action, to repair the extraordinary climate of distrust and lack of faith in his leadership. Thank you, chair Allen.

Thank you, supervisor Scott. Supervisor Connell.

Thank you, chair Allen. I want to acknowledge that for many people in our community, this discussion has been deeply personal and deeply concerning. I understand the genuine care that people have for the integrity of leadership within our sheriff's department and for the future of public safety throughout our county. And I also understand how difficult it can be to see your values reflected in a sheriff that you disagree with. I know this because I lived through it.

When s b ten seventy was signed into law in 2010, I was a college student in Maricopa County during height of sheriff Joe Arpaio's power. Just blocks from my dorm room, I watched families and immigrants living in fear, and most importantly, I watched neighbors lose faith in what public safety was supposed to mean. What I learned during that time is that the Pima the Maricopa County Board of Supervisors was not the ultimate decider of whether sheriff Arpaio stayed in office or not. The people were, and the people acted through the democratic process by recalling sheriff Arpaio. I use this example because it's relevant to the conversation we are having tonight.

In Arizona, county sheriffs are elected directly by the people every four years. They are not hired by a board of supervisors, and they cannot be removed by the board in the way a city manager can appoint or dismiss a city police chief. However, over the last month, this board exercised a narrowly defined oversight tool in statute to ask questions of the sheriff. Responses were submitted, those responses were reviewed, and our legal counsel has informed us regarding the limits of this board's authority to proceed with any further action. Moving forward, what this board of supervisors can do is continue to listen to the concerns of residents, taxpayers, and people across this county who want a safe place to live and who want integrity and accountability from our public institutions.

And while much of this discussion has centered on one individual, public safety in this county depends on far more than one person. 1,500 of our 7,000 county employees work for the sheriff's department. They are the public servants answering calls, responding to emergencies, conducting investigations, and serving communities across our entire county. And this is where the board can and will continue to focus, ensuring that those public safety systems remain strong, stable, and responsive to the people we serve. The board took the concerns raised before our entire community seriously, and we used the remedies within our legal authority to seek answers from an independently elected county officer.

This board will continue meeting its responsibility to the people of Pima County by investing in those 1,500 men and women in the sheriff's department who keep this community safe every single day. That is our constitutional responsibility, and it is our obligation to the public. And that is the work that this board will continue focusing on moving forward. Thank you.

I want to thank my colleagues for your really thoughtful comments. I has been a a challenging conversation. I think the thing that I am clinging to, I think, holding on to, is the the department. And I think as supervisor Conno alluded to, that it is the sheriff's department is our largest department in Pima County. And we rely on the deputies every single day.

I represent a rural district, a district that is comprised of families who live out down bumpy dirt roads, seniors, immigrant families, other folks who call Pima County home. They rely on the sheriff's department for trust, right, that when they need to call the sheriff, the sheriffs will be there. That justice will be served. That there will be responsiveness. That there is accountability.

Are essential values for essential services. For some folks who are most isolated, for people who are most vulnerable, and people who live in fear. I want to thank the department for stepping up. I imagine that this has been an incredibly difficult process and will still continue to be a difficult process. Leadership is so incredibly important, and leadership from our sheriff is so incredibly important.

And I hope that what we see in the path ahead is true leadership that looks out for the interests of the full team, that looks out for the interests of all Pima County residents, residents and reinstates the trust that is needed in our community, in our sheriff's department. I'll leave it at that. Thank you all for engaging in this conversation and bringing it to the fore. I appreciate that. We there's nothing else.

We are moving on. We are going back to item number 11 of the regular agenda. This is a contract with the Arizona Water Company. I move to approve the item.

Second.

Seconded by Supervisor Hines. Any discussion? I will just quickly thank, because this is the the contract with the Arizona Water Company for the the manned operation of the Ajo Dwid, the Improvement District. So we are in the process of selling the DWID. First, we took on the operations of selling it.

It has taken a lot of work to get here to this point, the DWID has been managed by volunteers in the community for many years. And they are ready to pass it on. So I just wanted to thank the lawyers for negotiating this with the Arizona Water Company and getting us to this point and moving us along and also the county administration. All that said

If I may

Oh, yes, please.

To build on what you said, I wanna thank publicly the volunteers in Naho who continued as this was much more complicated than our attorneys thought that it would be and they continue to volunteer to keep the work moving. So I just wanted to publicly acknowledge them and you and your staff for helping them get this across the finish line. Thank you.

All those in favor?

Aye.

Opposed? Item passes, five zero. Moving on to item 12, this is contract related to right of way. I will move to approve the item. Second. Second by supervisor Hines for their discussion. All those in favor? Aye. Opposed? Item passes five-zero. And I did not actually note, but I should have, that those last two items we voted on sitting as the AHO Domestic Water Improvement Board. Learning things. Now we will be sitting as the library district board.

What number is this, madam

chair? 13.

Item number 13. This is a contract with off duty management. Move to approve the item. Second. Seconded by supervisor Hines. Any discussion?

Madam chair. Supervisor Christie. This item is interesting, if not troubling. Since September, out of the sole source procurement process, the procurement director approved an award of $250,000 back in 2022. By the same process, they extended it.

And then in 'twenty three, they exceeded the amount another $192,000 On June 23, through the same procurement process, they awarded another $250,000 In June 24, they awarded another 250,000 additional award of $250,000 So now the entire award has been well over $1,000,000 and it's to provide security guards that are trained to address professionally and to protect libraries. They are to pay Tucson Police Department off duty officers to guard and and protect the libraries and the library staff all owned by Pima County. The library is all is owned and run by Pima County. First of why are we why are they using Tucson Police Department officers? Why aren't they using Pima County sheriffs?

That's my first question. And second, we hear all all of these issues with homelessness and crime and drug addiction and mental health. And we see all the numbers that that our organizations in both in the city and the county have gone out to do research on why there are these incidents of violence, why there are homeless camps, why there are people standing in the streets. Yet we have a very dire situation with our own county library system where they have protection to the tune of well over $1,000,000 over three or four or four or five years to protect the public and staff from individuals. And I quote, these security guards are trained to address these situations professionally, allowing library staff to focus on service delivery rather than enforcement.

We have a safety problem in our libraries. We just spent another, I don't know, how many millions to buy a beautiful old bank building to convert it to another library that's gonna have more problems just like the ones we're having now that are costing us $250,000 a year in protection. Yet I hear nothing in all of the all of the reports from our homeless and substance abuse and mental illness experts. We've got a problem with the libraries and nobody's addressing it. And I'd like to know, a, why are are we not addressing this and including this in a problem in the problem of homelessness and violence in our community in our own libraries?

And at very least, why aren't we using Pima County Sheriff's Department to protect our Pima County libraries with money?

Chair Allen, supervisor Christie, I'll give it a shot and then turn it to deputy county administrator. Holmes would like to respond. First of all, not all of our libraries are in unincorporated Pima County. We do have libraries that are in the city of Tucson, and we work with our we use the off duty police officers in those locations. Also use and I know we can get a more robust response to the various different element different individuals we use to protect the libraries.

We we I mean, I guess I'm not clear in that. We do have security issues at our libraries. We problem. We have a And we spend about $250,000 a year to address that issue so that people who wanna come into our libraries do feel safe using those facilities. And so it varies by library, which different locations have different kinds of concerns. And Holmes

is concerned. We can find this money to protect our libraries at $250,000 a year with Tucson off duty police officers even though the the county owns and operates the libraries. That's one thing. But how come we are we're so short handed and short staffed on our city streets to protect us when we could find this money to protect our libraries. Nothing's being done to address the rest of the crime, but we are addressing it to address the libraries.

Well, again, super chair Allen and supervisor Christie, very similar to as you're sitting here tonight, we have VetSec that protect many of our buildings and secure buildings to make sure that they are not only our employees, but all of the public who come to any of our facilities feel safe and secure. We have a variety of options that we do that within those

communities. Waiting for bus drivers. How about the public going through intersections and seeing homeless people stand there begging for money? What where's the the comparability of it?

I'm I'm not sure how we address that in a procurement contract with the libraries, but if there's a different information about what we're doing at the libraries, if there's anything else you'd like to add. We've responded simply our need to provide security at public libraries. I will sorry. But it's

my understanding that this comes as a result of the library conducting an extensive review of incidents at the libraries and looking at how many and what. And that is a report that I believe is available, that's out there, and that is sort of the basis. It's not that the issues are not known and that nobody's talking about. In fact, this item is a direct response of the library conducting an assessment of what has been happening. But I'm sorry. I've interrupted DCA Holmes.

Chair Allen, and Lesher, and and supervisor Christie, absolutely, these these are libraries that are within the city of Tucson limits. We've hired TPD officers within the city for the issues associated with some of the concerns that have been echoed by staff there. It's based upon a needs assessment. This is why it's coming to you, and we bring it forward as a procurement process. But I can't answer TPD's other shortages. At this point, these are off duty, so they're not being pulled from their current duties. These are off duty of people that are being assigned after their general work hours.

Madam Chair, just as a point of reference, I do see Pima County sheriff deputies standing in front of Walmart as protection. So I don't think the jurisdictional thing is as important as the fact that the libraries are the same thing to Pima County as the deputies are to Pima County. They're Pima County. That that's an aside who who we pay. The the issue I'm trying to address is we have a problem of safety in the libraries.

And yes, we may be addressing it with money, but why can't that same amount of money be directed to address the overall crime problem we have? It it doesn't seem like any of the discussion is including the the incidents that we have at libraries. And you talk to library staff, and you talk to constituents going to libraries, they're terrified, even with the protection. That's all I'm going to say. Just seems very odd and weird that we put the libraries in a special place and the rest of the citizenry has to suffer from bad situations with criminals. Thank you.

The item was seconded by Supervisor Hines, I believe. All those in favor? Aye. Opposed? Item passes five zero. Now we are returning to sit as the board of supervisors. We are going to go through a few hearings. So item number 14 is a hearing for a fireworks permit for Mountain View High School. Is there anyone present who wishes to speak to the item? Alright. Then I move to close hearing and approve the permit. Second. Seconded by Supervisor Scott. Any discussion? All those in favor?

Aye.

Opposed? Motion passes four one. Next hearing is Walden Grove High School fireworks permit. Is there anyone present who wishes to speak to the item? Hearing none, I will move to close the public hearing and approve the permit. Second. Seconded by Supervisor Scott. Any discussion? All those in favor? Aye. Opposed? No. Passes four-one. Next item is a hearing for a liquor license. Is there anyone present for quick Mart on Flowing Wells Road?

Anyone present who wishes to speak to the item? Hearing none, I will move to close the public hearing and approve the liquor license recommendation. Second. Seconded by supervisor Hines. Any discussion? All those in favor? Aye. Aye. Opposed? Item passes. 50. Next, we will move to hearing item number 17. This is a building code text amendment, for the building construction codes updates.

Thank Chair Allen, I'll move the item. I'll move to close the public hearing and approve ordinance twenty twenty six dash six. Second.

Seconded by supervisor Hines. Discussion?

Madam chair. Go ahead, supervisor.

I'd just like to point out from the Southern Arizona Home Builders Association, Madam Chair, I know you were the recipient of both of these letters and they were spread through email to the board. The President and CEO of the Southern Arizona Home Builders made two distinct comments about this particular item. And one states that the Southern Arizona Home Builders have concerns about the compliance costs of the new code at a time when affordability challenges are already significant. They are willing to work with the county to address any unintended consequences to mitigate cost impacts while achieving goals of energy efficiency. In his next letter, he states very directly that compliance of this item before us will result in between 1,500 and $2,600 additional construction costs.

Oro Valley estimated that the cost could run as high $6,000 to $9,000 per home. It's these kinds of regulations that are making our housing situation unaffordable and are causing the housing crisis that we're enduring. So I will be voting against this ordinance amendment.

Supervisor Scott.

Chair Allen. To follow-up on Supervisor Christie's comments, I I appreciated the opportunity to talk with mister Gudlevsky from the Southern Arizona Home Builders Association about the concerns of his members and want to also thank mister De Bonis for the conversation that we had prior to the study session about this item. I appreciated hearing not only how the county and the city of Tucson work collaboratively on on these codes, but also the dialogue that occurs between officials within our department with the representatives from the towns as well, Marana, Sabarita, and and Oro Valley. And I know that mister De Bonis and and mister Ice was also here, have had conversations with Mr. Gudliewski and their leadership with Saba as to how our staff will work in in collaboration with their membership to address some of their concerns.

And I just wondered if I could ask miss Lesher if I could ask mister and or mister Ice if they could address how that would look operationally, that collaboration with Saba and its members.

Sure, Allen and and supervisor Scott. Happy to. And I've I've had conversation with mister Gudlisky as well. I think that the code committee, the joint code committee between the county and the city was very conscious of this issue of cost and energy efficiency in our buildings, both residential and commercial. And so that committee has indicated that they will continue to hold dialogue around the implementation of these changes so that they can hear input from our stakeholders and can evaluate whether any subsequent changes are necessary.

In addition to that, there are a variety of forums that exist. And so county staff, including Mr. Ice, our building official and deputy director at development services, participates in the technical committee meetings of the Southern Arizona Home Builders Association. The deputy county administrators meet with executive leadership of the Southern Arizona Home Builders Association. There are a variety of official meetings.

Mister Ice meets with the building officials of the other jurisdictions on a regular basis. We have a stakeholder development industry stakeholder meeting that includes SABA and the Metropolitan Pima Alliance and other industry professionals that identifies issues and works to address them collaboratively. And so I have indicated to Mr. Godlisky that we will continue to use all those channels and any others that are helpful to go ahead and track the implementation of this. I will indicate, and in Ms.

Fleisher's memorandum from yesterday, noted that there were a series of questions received from board offices, particularly around the commercial provisions and some of the sections that were not recommended for adoption and an interest in evaluating whether or not those thresholds for applicability for commercial structures are appropriately sized. And so the recommendation in the county administrator's memorandum was to ask the board to direct staff to initiate additional discussions with the joint county and city building code committee and to have some input from the Pima County Climate Action executive team as it relates to that matter on the commercial provision. So long way of saying that there's a number of forums as we discuss, Supervisor Scott, where this dialogue can continue. And we've got a long and productive relationship with the homebuilders and the development industry of understanding the impacts of things that are being proposed and adopted and working to try and address those in a collaborative and comprehensive way.

Thank you, Mr. De Bonis. And Chair Allen, just to follow-up, I appreciated also, Mr. De Bonis, the conversation we had prior to the study session about the fact that the three towns, Marana, Orovale, Savarvita, often want to assert their own concerns and and and and their own needs, and and that sometimes being in engaged in decisions where the influence of the much larger city or county can have an effect on their focus on those needs and concerns within their jurisdictional boundaries. But I just think that moving forward, in in terms in the interest of regional consistency, I'm hoping that the city and the county can look for more ways to reach out to the towns.

Two in in two of those towns, we're gonna be seeing a significant amount of growth. One of them might be more built out than the other two. But I just think at the in the interest of regional consistency, reaching out to the towns more, but not just the county, but also the city, I think is going to help. We're already working in partnership with regard to our needs to increase housing stock at the affordable workforce and market rate level. I think there ought to be more efforts for regional collaboration in these arenas as well. Thank Thank you, Chair Allen.

I wanted to thank the Tucson Pima Joint Code Committee, and the Pima County Planning and Zoning Department, and Development Services for their work to bring this before the board. Our office has paid close attention to the energy code as it's kind of moved along through the process. And I think in large part because one of the lessons that we learned in the last year was that there are very few ways that we as a county can have a direct impact on energy usage and emissions in the broader community. We have approved recently the climate action plan for county operations that helps us reduce waste in our own systems and reducing costs and environmental impact. But impact outside of our own operations is really limited.

So the building code, especially energy code, becomes a portion right? Which is the the energy code is the portion that is in front of us today. It is the primary and best tool for us to be able to move the needle on reducing countywide energy use and emissions. So we have a few concerns, right? And we have brought this forward and discussed this with development services, and two of them in particular.

So one is changes made that exempt buildings under 50,000 square feet from complying with additional energy efficiency credits and load management requirements. So if this standard was applied to the current building stock, that would mean that 80% of buildings would be exempted. The International Energy Conservation Code recommends that these codes apply to buildings that are 1,000 square square feet or greater. Our second concern is that there was the complete removal of sections related to on-site renewable energy installation, energy use monitoring, and automatic receptacle controls. So taking the climate crisis seriously means that we also have to take seriously opportunities like these that can have a real impact on how much energy is used in our buildings and the emissions that they produce.

So to be clear, new standards right? These standards will existing buildings. We're only talking about new construction. I, you know, we I I I don't like the framing of sort of cost versus climate. Right? We need a code that is practical but strong enough to reduce energy use, lower long term costs, and support better building stock over time. Right? We heard today when we discussed our 2026 heat plan. We have discussed our climate plan. Our office, one of the greatest calls that we get is around people who are struggling to pay for their utilities.

Putting attention now in energy code within our building codes will make a difference. I think it is better to be upfront in in around energy efficiency and reducing energy use and reducing emissions so that people aren't bearing that cost down the road. The city of Tucson has already adopted the energy code before us today, but there is interest among some members of the council to address these same concerns that our office has shared. So I would like to do a friendly amendment to the motion, which is to approve the ordinance that we have before us today and request, as noted in the memo from the county administrator, for staff to reconvene the Tucson Pima Joint Code Committee to address these two specific concerns and bring amendments, again, as was outlined in the county administrator's memo, bring amendments back before the board of supervisors within a hundred and twenty days.

I would continue to second and adopt or accept that if the motion is okay with that, but could we make it maybe 180?

We could, although one twenty was a time frame that was acceptable and was was, delineated in the memo from the county administrator. Oh, and that's fine. He did. You moved the item, so I think there's

Oh, I was like, why is everybody looking at me? I It

was a while.

I have a wager that we're gonna be done by 08:12, and that's not I'm not winning that. So shows shows you where I'm focused. Administrator Lesher, does the motion, the and the friendly amendment adhere to the administration's belief that you can have both adoption of the code as presented and the opportunity to come back to the board with additional recommendations?

Chair Allen and supervisor Conno, yes. It does. Thank you.

Okay. So, yes, I accept the friendly amendment. Thank you.

Seconded by supervisor Haim. Any further discussion? All those in favor? Aye. Opposed? No. Item with amendment passes four-one. We are thank you. Moving to item 18, which is approval of the consent calendar. Chair Allen. Supervisor Heinz.

I would like to pull for a separate consideration item number five, the consent calendar.

Alright. Item five is pulled?

Madam Chair, I'd like to pull item on the consent. Item 11. Five and item 11. And maybe I could speak to that because it could be bundled in anyway. In other words, we don't have to do it separately.

But if I may, we have some representatives from my district in Green Valley who have been patiently waiting to hear this item passed. They've worked so hard at formulating this that they came all the way up here and had to sit here through this lovely meeting at this time of day. And I can tell by your demeanor that you've really enjoyed it. So in their honor, Madam Chair, I'd just like to make a special acknowledgement that they are the Green Valley Gardeners, and they've been working to provide a Pima County license for right of way encroachment to access county right of way medians to plant, to water and maintain vegetation and related irrigation equipment. And that there's no cost involved but their hard work and labor, and they deserve to be recognized for their efforts.

And they are proud members of the Green Valley community and we are grateful for all the work they've done and we thank you so much for all your efforts and especially for surviving tonight. So, thank you so much for being here. And other than that, if you wanna bundle it in

With the rest, keep it? Yes. I also was really impressed when we read the item that you do all of that work as volunteers. Thank discussion in favor?

Aye.

Aye. Opposed? Consent passes five zero. We will take consent calendar item number 5 now. That is a contract procurement contract with Sunnt Construction.

Thank you. Yeah. Oh, sorry.

You you could go ahead.

I'll move the item. Second. Seconded by supervisor Hines. Discussion.

Thank you, chair Allen. Thank This is with regard to the down downtown library relocation, and I just wanted to hear from staff a little bit a few more details. Five years feels like a long time. I'm still stuck on the 22nd Bridge being down for thirty six months. So but five years feels like a very long time, so I just wanted hear more a little bit more about, like, is that normal? Do we really is that for real? Or like just like a boilerplate thing we put in place in case? Or and also when when is our lease up? Because don't we we lease this from the city of Tucson, like the current Joel Valdez main library space is leased from the City of Tucson. Do we just if I could hear a couple of those answers, that would be great.

Happy to. Thank you, Chair Allen and Supervisor. Mr. De Bonis.

Chair Allen and Supervisor Heinz. So the five year terms is fairly standard. And so we don't anticipate it's going to take five years, but the design process and the construction process will take us several years. We're getting ready to kick off outreach and community engagement for that project. So that's going to give us an opportunity to hear what the needs are on the design and configuring of that library.

So this will have a series of guaranteed maximum price packages that go along with this project. This is a fairly typical structure for these types of contracts when we're dealing with these larger projects. But I assure you that it will not take five years for us to complete that improvement.

That's great. Thank you for for reassuring me.

Mhmm. Thank

you. Any further discussion? All All those in favor? Aye. Opposed? Item passes five zero. All right. We have already done item number 19. Moving on to item 20, which is the county administrator hiring process. I think we will have more on this in the next meeting.

I think for this meeting, the job post is live. People are applying. Thank you to my colleagues for putting forward some ideas for people to serve on the community search committee. The letters have gone out from the administrator's office inviting people to be part of that committee. And a rough timeline, I think, been shared with those members and will be shared, I think, in the next meeting in more detail with all of us and looking at some questions and and other opportunities for engagement for other folks across Pima County and the community.

Madam chair. Supervisor Christie. Would the board entertain a discussion on some bundling of or or are there issues that they want to pontific, I mean, to discuss? I'm thinking we could bundle 21, 22, 23, 24 at least. And then go through 27 through '20 nine, thirty, thirty three, 34, 36

Maybe I'm getting lost. 3738. Second.

So we would be discussing '26, 30 '5, and that's about it.

We could still make comments on some of those in your Sure.

But, I mean, when do you want to go ahead and pontificate? I mean, make comments.

All right. That was seconded, right, by Supervisor Conno. Discussion. Supervisor Scott.

Chair Allen, given the hour and given the fact that I think all of us share the broad support across the county for Rio Nuevo, I was fine with item number 21, which was put forth by district one being part of that bundle. It's unfortunate that there have been members of the legislature who have referred to Rio Nuevo as an example of what they have called crony capitalism. And And

that. To do

If the majority caucus budget were approved, it may provide a short term increase in state revenue. But long term, it would cost the state money as well as being a true, true devastating decision, for the people of Pima County. And I also wanted to take a second, to recognize, the members of the Rio Nuevo board. Supervisor Christie was kind enough at our last meeting to honor the memory of Chris Schief who died in a tragic accident a few weeks ago. Mister Schief was the treasurer for the Rio Nuevo board.

Their chair is Fletcher McCusker. Their vice chair is Edmund Marquez. Their secretary, Villa Cana Villa Cana, Jani Cox, Mike Levin, Porky Poster, Richard O'Saron, and Sharaya Jimenez are their members. And I think the entire community is grateful to the service of the Rio Nuevo board and certainly hope the governor and the legislature make the right decision about continuing Rio Nuevo when a final budget is passed. Thank you, Chair Allen. And Madam Chair,

I would just like to thank Supervisor Scott for making those comments of which I whole of I I

we we have expanding the area that where businesses and investments can occur, like down farther down to twenty second, for example, and we should be looking at making it better, for the area, not trying to take it down.

Madam Chair, if I may ask a question as Supervisor Scott did on one of the items just for clarity. Number 38, one of the deputy directors might be able to help here. What is the completion date of the work encompassed in item 38? What that's been going on forever. What what

when are we gonna The rest of the building is pardon Chair Allen and Supervisor Christie. He's been working a variety of the building, now we're just finally getting to the last two. Mr. DeBonis?

Chair Allen and Supervisor Christie. As the county administrator indicated, that project and and county administration back into that building.

And so did we move out of there, the board of supervisors? '21. With the intention of going back in 2022. Is that right?

Supervisor Christie, I I I think there were various intentions along that. So this is, like,

a bunch 2023. No. Wait. Twenty twenty twenty four. 2028. Maybe '25. I think it's a few months to discuss. Any prognostication again?

So I I would say with the award of this contract, we could expect roughly a two year time frame. You see From now? A year for design, year for construction.

Another two years? Yes, sir. It's still going to be standing the whole

building, right? It'll be less than five years.

Well, that's clarity for you. Thank you, Madam Chair. Thank you, Mr. DeVonis. Allen.

Yeah. Do we have to move?

We better after waiting for fifty five years.

I just Chair Allen and Supervisor Heinz, let me we've I know that there have been opportunities to talk with members of the board and your staff. We had a discussion about this briefly at the retreat. I think you've we do have a period of time. We're gonna need the space built out to move into. It will be ultimately a decision of the

board if that's what you choose to do. I I also to Alan and and folks, I I don't feel like it's maybe it's the highest best use monetarily of the old courthouse building to not have administration and then to rent it out to someone else for money. But I kinda feel like there should be a government entity in that building. Do you all wanna move?

Chair Allen and Supervisor Hines, think what we have been talking about is when when we finished the renovation on the historic courthouse and we were looking to lease the space, there really was an interest in that remaining 4,400 square feet. I think and which is one of the reasons administration moved at the time. We decided just to move everyone out of ten and 11 and get the work done in this building. I think that now that people have had an opportunity to see the historic courthouse built out, They can see what it can be, what it can do. What we're looking at is we look at the entire plan to move departments and organizations within the downtown area.

We continue to look at this building. The reality is we could rent space to another organization in historic courthouse. We can't do that in this tower. So I think it's some of the options that we're continuing to to discuss. It it is but I think supervisor Heinz before you were here, both county administration and the Board of Supervisors were in this building and on adjacent floors. And there were some positive feelings that came from that ability for that close interaction. So I think as you've heard, we have a year for planning and design. And I think that's the time we'll be able to really talk with the board about what your desires are for the use of the building.

Okay. Thank you.

And, madam chair, I'm just wondering, and I'll do whatever is a little of the board. But I'm just wondering on number 26, I have a lot to say on that. I'm wondering if it could be continued to the next meeting in the interest of time or is there a time certain that's needed for this? If there's a And pardon me? I think we have

to first go through there's a motion

Okay.

To vote on the the combined items and then come to 26.

And we're holding out 36. Correct. But everything else?

Yeah. I'm sorry. Except twenty twenty six and thirty five?

Yeah. And I and I do wanna Yeah.

I'm sorry. 35.

I also just wanna note the the importance of item number 22 and our support of naming the Raul Castro Memorial Highway. And I think ours will be the first vote of support for this, and it is being similar asks are being made from the Nogales City Council, Saburita Town Council, Santa Cruz Board of Supervisors, all the way on up the stretch of of of highway. And that stretch of highway going from Nogales up to Phoenix is symbolic of the the impact of the work of Raul Castro as being both as the, you know, resolution already says that I'd be so you've all seen county attorney, judge, governor, US ambassador. And so his stretch of his legacy is one in which is reflective of what we are naming. So I'm about doing that.

That said, all those in favor of this bundle of items? Aye. Those opposed. The bundle of items up is approved. Five zero. Chair Allen? Yes. Supervisor Kano.

I would like to move that we approve item number 26.

Approve it or Second.

Seconded by supervisor Hines. Discussion? Chair Allen, if I may. The

item is to appoint a member to the task force.

You. The

task force, I've created a task force. Happy to respond to any questions that people might have. Yeah. And we were looking for people who might be appointed to that.

So

there's no disc pardon me. May I so there there's no discussion of the actual board itself or the oversight committee itself, that whole concept?

Chair Allen, supervisor Christie, not not that the action is needed tonight. Happy to have any follow-up conversations with you about what the intent might be and what we're looking for.

So this is just a board appointment that we're here to vote for?

Yes, sir.

Yes. And who's making the appointment?

Like to make a nomination if that's okay, chair Allen. Chair Allen, I'm wondering if my colleague from District 1, Rex Scott, would be interested in serving as the board's liaison to the elections oversight task force. I'll second. Thank you. Supervisor Sine? Seeing yes. In the affirmative, I'd like to make that as a formal part of the motion. Thank you.

Alright. Further discussion? All those in favor?

Aye. Wait. Is that

okay with you? Very much so.

Are just gonna you don't get a chance. All those opposed? Item passes five zero.

All right now.

Madam Chair, 30 five. Yes. I'd like to move the item.

Seconded by Supervisor Hines. Any discussion? All those in favor? Aye. Opposed? No. Item passes for one. Alright. Now we move to the addendum. Almost. Almost. Item two. This is waiving pledge and land acknowledgment for study sessions.

Move the item. Second.

Seconded by supervisor Hines. Discussion? All those in favor? Aye. Opposed? Item passes 50. Item four, creation of a policy for proclamation.

Do

I I will move the item.

Second.

Seconded by supervisor Hines. Discussion.

Madam chair, I'm I'm just a little bit curious. What happens if a department or a department head asks a supervisor to present a proclamation? You've stipulated in this in this particular item that each supervisor should be like divvied up a certain quota per year. Would that from another department, from an administrator or the head of administration department requesting a proclamation, would that go against my quota or to my quota? Or how does that work?

You could frame it as going against or perhaps supporting the fulfillment of your quota. It's a glass half empty glass half full. But I mean, up for discussion. Would If say

it would go towards my quota. Because I could always disagree and say no, it won't. It's true. The other question I have is what if I get a quota of 24 proclamations here and I decide next meeting is April 21. I want all my proclamations proclaimed. I mean

I think we've done that.

That was the last meeting. I mean, you know.

It would be Christapalooza.

Yeah, yeah.

Be something else than that too. I'm just wondering if maybe we should reflect on this a little bit more and continue it with and submit recommendations or ideas to the chair?

You do that or if you have an amendment? Just, you know, just

I really don't. At this time, I don't know how to control it. That's the thing. I love proclamations and I think they're important. But my god, they're getting out of hand. They really are.

Is there, Chair Allen and staff, can we quantify the number of proclamations that are coming specifically from like a department and then use that information to inform our decision? I just don't know it off the top of my head.

Nor do I. Chair Allen and Supervisor Hines, we could go through and see what are coming from departments or the corrections officers day or health days that relate to those and do that count for you and get an idea of where they're coming from or how that's occurring. And I wanted to understand, Chair Allen, well, is this limiting the number of proclamations that would be presented at a board meeting, but any member of the board could provide for additional proclamations if you wanted the board to approve them and then present them maybe at an event or another activity. Is that

Yes, absolutely. This does not limit the number of proclamations that could be put on consent consent and then would be delivered at community events. So it only relates to the proclamations that would be presented at the board meeting and acknowledging that they and I think we all hear this, that it is important, right?

What if somebody doesn't want to use their 24 allocation? Is there trading going on?

We can bank them like sick time.

I'll take six of your proclamations if you forego 15 of yours. And I'm as guilty as anybody. I've been putting here's an example.

Am not guilty.

Here's an example. The Department of Health has asked us, our office, to present a proclamation honoring I don't know specifically, but some of the effect of Men's Health Week or Health Month. How could I turn that down? I want men to be I want everybody to be healthy, men too. But I didn't bring it forward. I was asked to.

That would be a departmental one. Forgive me, Cherilyn.

So our wonderful clerk just noted that the item is explicitly directing the county administrator to create policy. So per our own definition here, it is going to come

back right away. It is going come back to us.

Are you deferring that till January,

Chair Allen. Supervisor Cottom.

I think we've belabored the point that a draft policy is forthcoming. I'm not interested in this board having a proclamation police. I feel like the most important thing that we ought to be doing is distinguishing what should be on a public facing agenda with the presentation to the public versus what can be on consent for a presentation in private or at a later time, and it's gonna require an adjustment. I I have never seen a cap like this, but I feel like the board should absolutely recognize that the flexibility in this policy is based on the five of us coming together around consensus and how that happens, which meetings it happens. That's why we have an agenda committee now.

That's why we are tasking the clerk and the administrator to come up with this. But all really good questions for what I hope will be reforms so that we cannot be here until 10PM.

Alright. So, madam chair Yes.

Just to wrap it all

up, we we will be expecting some a recommendation from the the accounting industry. Yes. Alright. We

have three items left.

Do you have to vote on?

Oh, and then we have oh, sorry. Alright. All those in favor? Aye. Opposed? Item passes five zero. Item five, procurement contract with Sun Construction. I'll move the item.

Second.

Seconded by supervisor Hines. Discussion? All those in favor? Aye. Opposed? Item passes 50. I will bundle up items six and seven. Both of these are appointments. I will move to approve the appointments.

Second.

Seconded by supervisor Hines. Discussion? All those in favor? Aye. Opposed? Item passes 5 zero. And we are adjourned. I think it's 08:30.