City Council - Regular Meeting

Thank you.

¶¶ Bye.

Happy Tuesday. For the record, I wanted to start the meeting by stating that Councilman Lee will be participating electronically through Microsoft Teams. And our first item is going to be an executive session. So item one, Ms. Clerk.

Executive session, UAS appeal before the Civil Service Commission.

may have a motion to go into executive session moved a second there is a motion and a second any further discussion on going into executive session hearing none all those in favor please signify by saying aye aye aye anyone against motion carries mr attorney how long will we take for this maybe 30 minutes already we'll be back in 30 minutes thank you everyone

you you

Thank you.

Bye. . . . Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Bye. so so

We are all here. Just need a motion to return to study.

So moved, Your Honor. Second.

There is a motion and a second to return to study. Any further discussion? Hearing none, all those in favor, please signify by saying aye. Aye. Aye. Any against? Motion carries. What is the council's pleasure for item two?

Honorable Mayor, the appropriate motion would be to move that the mayor and council authorize and direct the city attorney to proceed as discussed in the executive session to include the settlement of the civil service appeal in the amount of $47,000. So moved. Second.

There is a motion and a second. Any further discussion? Hearing none, all those in favor, please signify by saying aye. Aye. Aye. Any against? Motion carries. All right. Item three, time has been set aside for discussion of the fiscal year 2027 final budget and compensation plan. Mr. Manager.

Thank you, honorable mayor and members of the council. Just a reminder, we're at the finish line on the FY27 budget and comp plan this evening. Tonight, you'll have on the consent agenda, approval of the compensation plan that we've been reviewing with you the last several months. And then we will also have a public hearing and special meeting to consider the recommended budget. The recommended budget has no changes from the tentative budget that you adopted last meeting. Some of the highlights are this budget has robust funding for core services of the general fund, including public safety parks, planning and development services, and our management and internal functions. It does provide for the sustainable operations of our special revenue funds like Tucson Water, environmental services, our housing activities, and the Highway Users Revenue Fund, our roadways. It continues the delivery of voter-approved programs that rebuild and expand our core infrastructure, including Prop 101, Prop 407, Prop 411, the existing Regional Transportation Authority, and it includes the initiation of RTA Next as approved by the voters this past spring. Even though it was a difficult budget year and revenues are tight, We did have some expansion of some of our core services, specifically funding 50 additional commissioned police officers, and we were able to continue the development of a general fund, capital fund, by contributing to that fund for the second year. Most importantly to you at the table, it has significant additional investments in our employees to address market pay and pay equity, totaling over $18 million across all funds. And it continues our strong fiscal management of some of our long-term commitments, including our debt service, our public safety personnel retirement system, PSPRS, our Tucson supplemental retirement system, TSRS, and our health insurance and risk funds. In short, this budget, we believe, was developed in in consult with you with compliance with your major policies and goals for the community and that it sets us up for success in FY27 and moving forward. With that, I would invite our Assistant City Manager and Chief Financial Officer, Anna Rosenberry, to add her commentary.

Thank you. Thank you, Mayor and members of the council. In particular, I do just want to offer some words of appreciation to all of you. I counted on the calendar. I think this is our ninth study session discussion in a row with you talking about the development of the fiscal year 27 budget. I know that you have read, indulged, considered a lot of different solutions to the challenges that we've been discussing and been facing as an organization and as a community. So I appreciate all of the work that you've helped us accomplish. There are additional people on our teams and our staff that I would like to give a shout out to in helping us get to a point where you've got a recommended budget, a balanced budget in front of you for consideration for the coming fiscal year. That would be first on the list is our budget team led by our business services director, Angel Ozomalam, and the deputy directors within business services. We had a new member of that team, a new budget manager this year, Roberta Sullivan. She did great work for us. I want to say thank you to that entire team, as well as the team that put together the compensation plan. That's Director Terri Train and the Deputy Directors in the Human Resources Department. We had a new key team member for the compensation plan as well this year, Randall Moore worked heavily on that plan. I also a big thank you to all of our partners with our local labor representatives, our executive leadership team, and all of the community members that came out and had discussions with us, attended information sessions with us. We all got here together. And so thank you for the opportunity. And again, thank you for your careful consideration and what you helped us bring together for you tonight.

Well, Mr. Manager and Ms. Rosenberry, thank you so much for the incredible work that your teams have done to put together this balanced budget. This is what cities do, right? Mayor and councils and city managers and their teams put together a balanced budget. We do not have the luxury. as the federal government to not have a balanced budget in front of our community. At a time when Tucsonans are facing tough decisions and feeling the consequences of disinvestment from our federal government and our state government, it was important for me as the mayor of Tucson to continue investing in offering our community affordability. When it comes to the values and the priorities that our community, our residents want their mayor and council to invest in, I believe that this particular budget serves that purpose. you know, providing the quality of life and the affordability that people need at a time when there's so much pressure on their pocketbook. So this budget is safeguarding the services and programs that our residents rely on every single day. And this budget is focused on supporting working families and improving the quality of life for our families. So we're making investments in our children by providing extended access to pools and splash pads and continuing our critical support of Kidco programs, which is our after-school and summer program. You will not find an after-school program or a summer program that is such a good quality program and costs less and so that particular child care is one of the biggest expenses that our families are having to face day in and day out and kidco for me has been something that the city of tucson has been providing our community for decades, and so it's important that we improve the program, that we continue investing in it. And this year we're making access to pools free. Helping working families access safe, affordable childcare, as I said. Adding 50 additional officers to continue providing the safety that our citizens deserve. maintaining the support for Star Village and the Wildcat Inn, which provides low barrier entry level shelter to the most vulnerable communities amongst us. We've hired key people in expanding the way we work with community to reduce violence within our VIVA program, our violence prevention and intervention program, which helps navigate people to the resources that they need through Housing First, the work, with our multi-agency resource manager and the work to balance that with continued enforcement and accountability is important for our community. We've invested in additional day trucks to our fire department, bringing video alternative to jail to our safe city deployments and expanded our community courts. We're making an additional $18 million investment in our employees, maintaining our commitment to make sure that everyone is placed correctly and taking important strides towards wage equity and cost of living adjustments. Despite the financially challenging times that we're living through and the cuts from the federal government and the state government, we continue to invest in affordable housing and supporting projects that will become homes. for seniors, for working families, for young professionals and the members of our un-sheltered community. We have more than 1,200 affordable housing units in the pipeline and some really good news coming from our congressional partners that I will be announcing later in terms of their commitment to continuing to invest in the city of Tucson. THIS BUDGET DEMONSTRATES THAT WE CAN BE FISCALLY RESPONSIBLE WHILE CONTINUING TO MOVE TUCSON FORWARD. THAT THE VISION THAT WE'VE ALWAYS HELD AS A COMMUNITY AND THAT I HAVE AS THE MAYOR OF THE CITY OF TUCSON, THAT WE CONTINUE TO INVEST IN THE PRIORITIES THAT OUR RESIDENTS WANT US TO FOCUS IN AND that we're making the commitments for hopefully tonight when we approve this budget. With that, any other vice mayor?

Thank you, Mayor. I just also wanted to take the opportunity to thank our city manager and our assistant city manager, Anna Rosenberry, and the entire team for your work on this budget. I know that the past couple of months felt like a roller coaster. I think I did appreciate the exercise of having a menu of options of what we would cut and not cut, because I think it's always important to have those difficult conversations, and I think even leading up to the partnerships. I know there's going to be follow-up conversations in July with the state and the U of A, just kind of revisiting those opportunities. So thank you. I know it freaked out some of our members of our community. I don't think that was the intention, but it gave us an opportunity to open a door to continue dialogue. I appreciated also this past year, city manager, as it's something I've been asking since I've been on council about doing ENGAGEMENT WITH THE PUBLIC AROUND OUR BUDGET YEAR ROUND AND NOT JUST THE VERY LAST MONTH OR TWO BEFORE WE HAVE TO ADOPT THE BUDGET. AND SO I APPRECIATE THAT AND I HOPE THAT CONTINUES TO MOVE FORWARD IN THE FUTURE. I'M JUST REALLY PROUD OF THE WORK THAT THIS MAYOR AND COUNCIL AND CITY MANAGER AND TEAM HAVE PUT TOGETHER. SO THANK YOU.

ANY OTHERS? COUNCIL MEMBER CUNNINGHAM.

The compensation plan is outstanding. It's been a very tough year financially for us, but to have a financial compensation plan that I think sends a good message that we want to send the message the best we can to our employees that we have their backs. That's a big piece to this. So for the compensation plan piece, it's a job well done. I'll reserve a lot of my other comments about the budget for tonight. What I'll say about it is that the work that went into it by the employees is incredible work. You were given a significant number of parameters and requirements to dance through. You did that masterfully. And that while I have some questions about what we face going into 28 already, And while we have some discussion about the one-time money we're using to meet our budget requirements, some of the stuff we front-loaded made a lot of sense. So it's not the worst. But this conversation is pretty much ongoing. Yeah, we're going to pass a budget tonight. And come July 2nd, we're going to be working on another one. Let's enjoy the party while it lasts, all four days of it. In the meantime, I can't stress to you the number of compliments I've gotten about the compensation plan from different stakeholders. There was just enough balance for everyone. There's still a few outliers and a few little things we need to clean up, but that's always the case, right? So congratulations to your team. Tim, had a way to get it done, man.

There's Council Member Dahl and then Council Member Baras.

Ditto. Great job, thanks.

Council Member Barajas. Thank you, Mayor. Well, thank you, City Manager, and to your team, Mayor, all the city departments, members of the public, and my colleagues here at the table for your diligent work on this budget. It has come a long way from our initial discussions a few months ago, and this budget better reflects the core funding priorities, including investments in public safety, parks and recreation, planning and development, and core city functions. Funding critical city services and maintaining our parks, fire stations, recreation centers, and other key city facilities is important for retaining and building trust in our city government. Let's make sure to keep sharing with our community what their taxes and fees are funding and how we are leveraging additional resources as well. The robust conversations we've had at this table and with our community members have shown the need to keep telling our story and to keep communicating and to continue to listen to public feedback throughout the year as well as during our budget season. Now we are in a time of economic uncertainty with individuals and families in our community struggling with the loss of public benefits and rising costs along with reduced cross-border tourism and other revenue. And I know these challenges were factored into the projections for the coming year and I look forward to receiving updates on how our community is faring amid these challenges, along with hopefully positive news. With respect to investments in tourism, what are our plans to track bed tax receipts and hotel-motel transit occupancy? Ward 5 is home to a major tourism destination, the Tucson Rodeo Grounds, a cultural and historic landmark. that has been a cornerstone of Tucson's identity for more than 100 years. As a home of one of the nation's longest running rodeo traditions and annual rodeo parade, the rodeo ground attracts thousands of visitors each year while celebrating the region's rich western ranching and multicultural So I would like to see some of the rodeo grounds be in the next budget cycle and I look forward to advancing these collaborations with the relevant city of Tucson departments. Visit Tucson, Tucson Rodeo Committee, Tucson Rodeo Parade over the coming year. With tourism, you know, addition to the downtown area, we also can benefit from more investments around the Tucson International Airport and around the Keno Sports Complex and Mosaic Quarter. So these are areas that I would like to incorporate more into our tourism discussion. Thank you.

Thank you. Council Member Schubert.

Just expressing my appreciation to city manager's office and to staff. I received feedback from constituents who are really appreciative of the one pager and the pie chart. So I'm excited to move forward. I'm already ready to talk about the next cycle just because I think it feels good to be able to provide clear information to our constituents. And I have to mention the Jenga video. The Jenga video was awesome. I watched all 20 minutes of it. So I love seeing this kind of clear and transparent communication with our

with our constituents thank you and then uh councilman lee i don't know if you wanted to jump in here since all of us uh jumped in but we can always wait for later thank you mayor no i was also going to save my comments but i will join in the love fest for our team because you all have done an amazing job kudos to you all and to the extended team and i agree with everything that my colleagues have said and all the commentary that the city manager said at the very beginning and you mayor, there's just so many amazing elements of this budget. So I'm just grateful for all of the amazing work and I'm really, really grateful to everyone. So thank you.

Thank you so much. There's no direction in this item. We're going to have a budget hearing and a vote on the budget today during the regular session. So thank you so much. Really appreciate the hard work. Thank you. We move on to item four.

Safe City Initiative, 21st Century Policing and Draft RTA Next Transit Safety and Security Budget.

Oh, no, no, that's a community.

This is why you don't let me do this. Introduction of Office of Community and Economic Impact.

Item four, time has been set aside at the request of the city manager to introduce and discuss the creation of the Office of Community and Economic Impact. Mr. Manager.

Thank you, Mayor and members of the council. And please welcome to the table, for the first time in her 14-year tenure with the city, Lane Mandel. Lane has agreed to take on some tasking for the organization and for the community. More importantly, it's about the community. and advancing your key policy initiatives. And I'll be giving Lane a moment to share her thoughts, but I just want to give you a little bit of background on this. This is an example of the fact that we actually do listen to you. You take votes, you set policy direction, you do a lot of things that are for the betterment of the community. And we often take each of those and we go running head first in that direction, and then we get another one and we run ahead first in that direction. And what I think is important about this item is it's us also understanding how intersectional all that work is. And we're not discovering it for the first time. We are hearing you when you talk about how important economic mobility is for Tucsonans within the context of what's right for Tucson from an equity perspective, prosperity perspective, sustainability perspective. So we've had guidance from you in the form of strategic and action plans in these areas. What we have not done a good job of is driving that work holistically together. So it is my hope and belief that by forming this office, which brings together folks from within the city manager's office who are already here, and you'll note some vacancies we're going to fill. Those are all existing vacancies. This is not an addition of staff. This is a coalition and a collection of staff under a set of guiding principles as led by the mayor and council. And I can't think of anybody better to take that TASKING FORWARD THAN LANE MANDEL, WHO UNTIL THIS MOMENT HAS BEEN SERVING AS MY CHIEF OF STAFF. SHE WAS MR. ORTEGA'S CHIEF OF STAFF. MY RUNNING JOKE WHEN I'M ASKED TO TALK ABOUT WHAT'S IT LIKE TO BE A CITY MANAGER, I'M LIKE, GET YOURSELF A CHIEF OF STAFF. THAT'S LIKE THE MAGIC. Don't do anything else. Get yourself a chief of staff, specifically one like Lane Mandel. And now I'm in the somewhat reluctant, somewhat pitchforked position of offering her up to the community at large. So with that, you've seen an org chart. We have talked to most of those people on that org chart. Hopefully nobody woke up this morning and said, wait a minute. And we have talked with you all and I especially want to take a moment to thank the guidance of the mayor. We'll talk a bit about the Harvard Bloomberg journey we've taken over the past year, but also just a consistent policy setting and priority setting from all of you and from our mayor has put us in a position where we believe this is the right way to go and the direction that we think will bring great things for prosperity for Tucsonans. And at the end of the day, that's what this is all about. So with that, I would like to invite Lane Mandel to share a few thoughts about this journey.

Honorable Mayor, Vice Mayor, members of the Council, I am thrilled to be here today to discuss the creation of, under the City Manager's leadership, the Office of Community and Economic Impact, or OCEI. This new division within the city manager's office represents an important evolution in how the city organizes the work of interrelated planning efforts to reflect community priorities and achieve improved long-term outcomes for those resilient members of our community most in need of economic security. Several events over the course of the last year have brought me to the center of this conversation, but none more important than being part of the mayor's team for the Bloomberg Harvard City Leadership Program, or BH9. As you may remember from the BH9 presentation back in April, the mayor set the ambitious, impactful mission or aim of working with Tucson partners and residents to reduce poverty below the state average by ensuring equitable access to economic security so that Tucson is a safe, affordable, and resilient city where everyone can prosper all by 2035. The team has spent almost nine months now creating innovative, scalable solutions that can do the work to chip away at poverty. As this work has progressed, what's become clear is that to achieve an aim as ambitious as ours, we would need more than a couple of scalable ideas. We need to consider how we can best organize our work on various plans and programs to create an economic development strategy that leaves no one behind while protecting our natural environment. While discussing the best way to support this work, the city managers sketched the beginning of what you see here today. While we innately understand the connection between climate action, economic development, equity initiatives, cultural affairs and prosperity programs, this work has largely operated as separate efforts across the organization. While each of these areas has accomplished important work, by unifying these functions, I believe we can improve coordination, reduce our duplication, strengthen accountability and create greater impact from the resources we are already investing. With a renewed understanding of your vision and enthusiasm for what we can accomplish, I ask to be a part of this work. After more than 14 years in the city manager's office, I am thrilled by the challenge and opportunity before us with this office. The backbone of the Office of Community and Economic Impact will be several of the city's major strategic plans and initiatives, including Two Summers Laid Together, Somos Uno, Equity by Design, the Prosperity Initiative, and the Comprehensive Economic Development Strategy. Rather than treating these plans as separate work programs, this office will focus on identifying the intersections among them and developing integrated solutions that advance multiple community goals simultaneously. This approach will allow us to better align investments, use data to inform our decision making, improve implementation, and strengthen partnerships with our educational institutions, businesses, nonprofit organizations, neighborhood leaders, and regional stakeholders. One area where this integrated approach is especially important is economic development. Historically, economic development efforts have focused primarily on business attraction, business retention, and foreign direct investment. Those activities remain important and will continue under OCEI. However, through our participation in BH9, as well as community engagement and consistent messaging from all of you, We understand that economic success must not be measured by the businesses we attract, but by the opportunities we create for Tucsonans. Through your leadership, we have identified poverty reduction, affordability, workforce opportunities, and access to good paying jobs as among the city's highest priorities. In response, OCEI will expand our economic development framework to include strategies that connect residents directly to opportunity. This includes exploring new approaches to workforce development, micro-business support, new partnerships, and continued small business support that helps our residents achieve long-term financial stability. Once in need of some extra income myself, but not exactly out of entrepreneurial spirit, I, along with my husband, were both small business owners, and I am excited to jump back into this work. When economic growth is broadly shared, communities are stronger. When we infuse our neighborhoods with art and green infrastructure, and when we celebrate our rich culture and history, Tucson becomes a more vibrant and resilient place. The Office of Community and Economic Impact will bring together staff members with rich and diverse talents, and we immediately will work to fill our vacancies, all of which are budgeted for FY27. Frankie Villegas has had tremendous success standing up the Small Business Program and will look to leverage that success in the partnership she's built as she moves into the role of direct investment for Mexico. Mike Tchaikovsky will lead our attraction, retention, and annexation efforts in an expansion of his current role. Fatima Luna and Kelly Way are all doing tremendous work already as the Chief Resiliency Officer and Cultural Affairs Officer respectively. And we'll be supporting their work and integrating it with prosperity and economic development efforts. We do this work best not in silos, but as a team. And I am ecstatic to lead this team. I appreciate the trust from Tim and from all of you. We look forward to sharing additional implementation updates as the office becomes operational and strategic priorities as they are developed. And with that, Mayor and Council, I welcome your questions and feedback.

Lane congratulations, I'm very excited that you will be leading the office of community and economic impact I'm sorry Tim that you are losing Lane as a chief of staff, but she has proven herself to be very capable and to lead in the most wonderful ways that she does. So congratulations, Lane. I am so excited about the work that we have been doing as a team, right? Mayor and council and the city manager and the team that we put together with the Bloomberg Harvard City Leadership Initiative that has been receiving a lot of technical support from Harvard. And the city of Tucson, my main priority as I applied for the Bloomberg Harvard City Leadership Initiative, because we had to compete as a city, we applied for it and my main priority was economic development and economic mobility for our residents. And we approached that with looking at the numbers, not of the jobs created, but the opportunity for economic mobility for our residents and the opportunity to bring down poverty numbers in our city. And so we were put in the innovative track. And we've been at this for about a year. And so having you as part of that team and really think through in a very innovative way on how the vision that I have for economic development really became this office. And In thinking about putting this office together and thinking about the work that I have been doing serving the residents of Tucson for 18 years, it really brings together all of the pieces of the work that I have been doing and many of you on the council have been doing to bring down the silos of that work. So bringing together economic development, which I first started working on when I was a council member, serving the residents of Ward 1 in the city, climate resilience, which we had never worked on as a city, equity, public health, workforce development, You know, the Cultural Affairs Officer that we just created with the Somos Uno Cultural Heritage Plan, the Comprehensive Economic Development Strategy that I first pitched when I was a council member back in 2010. All of these pieces put together from my career and my service to the community, but also with all of the investment of my colleagues here, and see it happen in this office, right? I've always believed that bringing down silos, working together across departments, putting the right work in the right hands, being able to really talk to each other and connect one thing to the other has been important. So the creation of this office is really exciting for me in putting together prosperity and the prosperity initiative to work that means so much to our community. I've always felt for a long time that our economic development strategy as a region has been siloed and dysfunctional. Now we have the opportunity to be able to work amongst each other, but also work with our partners, right? Our partners in Pima County, with the University of Arizona, in the business community, to be able to say, look, this is a vision that we should all hold hands. Economic mobility and economic prosperity for our residents is good for everyone. And so we should hold hands. And I'll talk a little bit more about my trip to Taiwan with the Arizona Commerce Authority and with Pima County and the University of Arizona. But that trip itself as well really kind of we hit a reset button. amongst all the partners to be able to get to the point where we need to to create the high-wage long-term jobs and the opportunity and quality of life that our residents deserve. And so I believe this office represents that vision that we've been working on so hard that will continue creating Tucson as a modern model of local government that is not afraid to innovate and move beyond the silos and work together internally and externally to be able to face the challenges that we have in this modern world. uh and be able to find solutions together for the residents of tucson so i'm really happy uh that you are leading this space i know that you will do great in working with the experts in every space from equity to prosperity to sustainability to economic development to small business to you know cultural and heritage strategy for our city so uh thank you so much mr tamir lane i am looking forward to this is just the beginning and that's exactly what i said um when i received my certificate from harvard for the city leadership initiative this we have to make sure that we bring in We continue bringing in our colleagues on the council, the community, and there's a lot of work that we have to do in front of us, but I'm so ready and I'm so excited about the approach that we're taking with this office. So congratulations. Looking forward to working with you. Any questions, comments? All righty. Vice Mayor and then Council Member Dahl.

Thank you, City Manager and Mayor. I'm really seeing your leadership come to fruition in this way. Thank you for bringing this opportunity with Bloomberg for us to think outside the box and kind of connect the dots. And you can totally see that in this effort. As City Manager, you're going to have to find another lane. I'm just going to... I'm just going to pitch that you needed an excellent communicator that has emotional intelligence and cares about Tucson. So thank you, Lane, for stepping up to the plate. I'm also thrilled, you know, to see this work under your leadership because I know that you'll really help, you know, develop all the folks that will be working with you plus, you know, working with our community partners. I'm really thankful to see the prosperity initiative, like, embedded within this structure. I think that's a huge win for us. WE TALK A LOT ABOUT PLANS ALL THE TIME AND PART OF OUR WORK HAS BEEN HOW DO WE NOT JUST MAKE PLANS THAT SIT ON A SHELF BUT THIS IS REALLY KEEPING US ACCOUNTABLE TO THE WORK THAT WE SAID WE WERE GOING TO DO TO OUR COMMUNITY. AS THE MAYOR SAID, PUTTING HOUSING, YOU KNOW, OUR WORK WITH HOUSING BUT THEN PUTTING IN EQUITY, CLIMATE, ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT TOGETHER REFLECTS THIS INTEGRATED APPROACH THAT THESE ISSUES DESERVE. THE EXPLICIT COMMITMENT TO POVERTY REDUCTION AND ECONOMIC MOBILITY AS CORE ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT GOALS ARE NOT JUST BUSINESS ATTRACTION METRICS IS A MEANINGFUL SHIFT. And Ward 1, the support for legacy businesses as a named priority is really important to our constituents, especially on the south side of Tucson. And I just wanted to add something because I know we talk most of the time we talk about opportunities and having more opportunities. I want to make sure we keep in mind that we also measure outcomes because that way we have a better gauge of whether those opportunities are actually getting people to where they need to they need to be. I DO SEE THAT WE HAVE TWO OFFICER POSITIONS THAT ARE VACANT, AND SO I'M JUST CURIOUS WHAT THE PROCESS IS FOR THE HIRING AND WHAT'S THE IN-BETWEEN AS FAR AS LEADERSHIP IN THAT AREA. AND THEN I KNOW WITH THE PROSPERITY INITIATIVE IN THE PAST, IT WAS LIVING IN HCD. HOW ARE WE CONTINUING TO INCLUDE SOME OF THESE OTHER CITY DEPARTMENTS THAT ARE IMPORTANT TO OUR PROSPERITY INITIATIVE GOALS? THANK YOU.

Thank you, with that, Vice Mayor, I would answer. For the Chief Equity Officer, that one, we need to be looking for a Chief Equity Officer that is now inheriting a program that's established. Previously, we were looking for somebody to come in and work from from nothing and try to bring something to fruition now we have an equity and inclusion action plan um as interrelated so i think we're looking for somebody operational in that space but that that is a recruitment that can go forward fairly quickly i think we need to spend some time looking at developing that chief prosperity officer and and what should that job look like because it's a new function Having said that, Lena Perel in HCD will remain a member of this team, even though she remains in HCD. There might be a promotional opportunity out there for you, Lena, just pay attention. But we're not going to lose that connection to housing and community development. As you've stated many times, that's a key connection for us. And so Lane and I have talked a little bit about what some next steps would be. So I would turn it to Lane to say, what do you see as the next steps on filling those vacancies?

So as I mentioned, all those vacancies are funded as part of FY27, so we'll get moving on them really quickly. Prosperity we will be a little more deliberative with because this is a new area for us, and we want to make sure that we can provide the support necessary to keep the initiatives in there moving and create the necessary integration both with HCD and with the programs under the new office as well. There's also some opportunities related to small business and traditional economic initiatives, and we'll look to fill those positions as well. We'll look to fill a developer position in economic initiatives. That's somebody who can, as a gap that Tim has identified, where somebody can come in and help negotiate and close different deals that we are working on. And then really exciting work in small business, We'll count on Frankie to keep us moving on the programs that she's created. But then also we'll look to create some really new innovative programs. And I think that's a place where we can really innovate and create, that is under prosperity. And we'll look to create some new programs there and really some solution navigators that can go out in the community and listen to people and understand what can directly impact individuals. perhaps even beyond what we've normally done in small business. Maybe there's some micro business opportunities there and some other opportunities. So that's a place where we'll be really innovative and we'll look to fill those prosperity initiative positions and vacancies right away.

And then to round out the latter part of your question, what about in the interim as we're filling these positions? For the chief equity officer, we already have an office of equity. Sarah Sherman, Laura Sharp are excellent and well known to all of you. will be continuing that work they've been working closely with anna rosenberry and now they'll be pivoting to working with lane mandel so that work and we you recently adopted the equity by design so we've got some clarity there and it's just all systems are go and on prosperity again as as lane and i both mentioned we're going to explore that together but we do really plan to rely on lena perel and the the team that's been bringing it forward so far so we we hope to not lose any ground there in fact pick up some momentum and then really define who's the right person to take that forward.

Council Member Dahl.

Thank you.

Mayor, city manager, this is brilliant. I look at this and it makes so much sense. And a couple of things. One, I really appreciate the presentation where you're recognizing that we're moving up talent. I'm looking at Mike in the audience, Frankie, others that can take on more. Sorry, Mike. And bring their skills to higher impact. Climate. I want to mention climate. I recently discovered a group that's non-biased scientists that do analysis and share it with the media and with cities and stuff. The city of Tucson, since 1970 to 2025, has an average temperature raise of five degrees Fahrenheit. Doesn't sound like much, but it's like 2.78 centigrade. Two point centigrade rise was the tipping point that 97% of the climate scientists in the world say, We got to bring it down. We got to bring it down. Now, this is us, and other places are lower. But anybody who's lived here understands that it's getting hotter. And so there was an op-ed recently that chastised us. for spending money on climate change. And a deeper dive into that, the things we did for climate change benefited so many other things as well. And I think we need to not, and I don't think, I think this integration will help us do even more on climate change. By the way, that same period of time, 1970 to 2025, precipitation change as minus 2.7 inches per year. This is a wake-up call, and it's a long overdue wake-up call because 30, 40 years ago people were warning us. Hey, in Ward 3, Friends of Ward 3 has embarked, and I've mentioned this before, in an interesting economic initiatives project because the people involved in Friends of Ward 3 are business people, and they think we could be doing more. Part of that project is establishing a baseline of the businesses, and they're doing one-on-one surveys. It's not scientific, but each survey is deep. And I haven't done a deep dive into what we're finding out, but one thing is clear, is that many businesses don't think Tucson's doing a very good job of supporting them. and this isn't just small businesses, this is a whole range of businesses, and to some degree we're getting a bad rap, and it may be a PR thing, but in some things I think we can do improvements, and I've already seen some improvements happening with some of our new department heads, planning and community development, great work in code enforcement, making the permitting process easier and make more sense, but I think I hope under this, we'll look at some more processes so that we're not asking businesses to jump over backwards and do somersaults and all sorts of things. We want businesses to be successful. Because of the data center thing, I think people are, oh, they don't want anything. We don't want big, stupid businesses that use a lot of water and a lot of electricity. We want healthy businesses that hire local and are part of our community. Finally, and this is because I saw a dashboard. Google, Mr. Google is my friend. And whenever I want to find out something about the city rather than asking Tim, well, sometimes I ask Tim, I go to Google and I find a website that's out of date. I think we need to be better communicating electronically with our residents. More Jenga videos, more mayor dancing on TikTok, whatever it takes. But again, congratulations. This is truly a step forward. I'm thankful.

Thank you, Council Member Dalla. I agree with you that our climate and sustainability should be working with the Economic Development Office. As a matter of fact, without water resources and a 118, 120-degree weather, Climate and our sustainability is the possibility of survival, right? I mean, without water, we don't survive as a city. We don't thrive as a city. And so climate, our climate work has everything to do with economic development. Heat deaths affect our community. The possibility of having 118 degree Celsius affects workers, affects construction, affects our community. So I agree with you, being able to have the sustainability office with economic development and working hand in hand is an important piece. And that's why we wanted it there, right? Because we... do want long-term high wage jobs in our community. We do not want to put our resources of water on the line for minimal jobs in our city. So I agree. I mean, You talked a little bit, you alluded to criticism on mayor and council investing in sustainability and climate. Listen, I'm not, I'm used to being criticized. I've lived with that all my life. But we keep on marching forward. And we know what Tucsonans want. We know what they deserve. And we know there's an innovative and different way of creating jobs in our community. When I first ran Premier, part of my platform was to work on climate. And there are people that laughed at me. But now more than ever, we see how expensive climate change is. in the billions because of climate emergencies and incidents that happen throughout our world. So anyway, I just wanted to add to that, Council Member Barajas.

Thank you, Mayor. I too am happy to know that this office will bring together climate action, cultural affairs, economic initiatives, prosperity and equity programs. And I am excited about the addition of insight services, mapping, analysis, engagement, and innovation, and I know this will help us level up our governance. So thank you, and I'm looking forward to seeing you in Action Lane.

Any others? I do have a question. I think partnerships are gonna be very important as we move forward in unsiloing, where we're unsiloing ourselves, but the partnerships with Pima County on economic development, our prosperity initiative, on all of these, pieces of the office with the University of Arizona with the philanthropy nonprofits and private sector are important for economic development strategy as well as our prosperity initiative and all the other pieces of this office. What opportunities do you see this office to strengthen those partnerships?

yeah there are a lot of opportunities this office presents but partnership is certainly one of them we will continue to look to your leadership mayor as you are the incredible convener between our partners and staff has already started some of that work tomorrow our economic development team along with the county will meet and have a have a summit together they're going to have a retreat together So that work has already begun. You know, we've started that over the past year with cultural affairs now that Samosono is complete. Kelly Way has been in the community making partnerships with as many different groups and educational leaders out there that she can because those are relationships we've just not cultivated in the past. By having folks in these positions, we can begin to cultivate these these connections in ways that we haven't in a very long time. So there's a lot of opportunity there for us and it'll be part of our strategic planning moving forward.

Thank you. Council Member Cunningham.

So I have to be the not fun guy. I just want to be sure From what I understand was reported to me, but I want to do this for the record, we're not adding any actual PCNs in this action. We're taking a group of already existing offices and putting them in one group, which makes actual sense, but I want to just be sure for the record that we're not adding PCNs.

Honorable Mayor, Councilmember Cunningham, that is correct. We are not adding any PCNs or labor costs.

So this item is budget neutral? That is correct. My second piece is, As we go through this, there's one group that's missing. I'm hoping that we talk about that within the group of equity as well as some of the other opportunities and that's disability advocacy. I really hope that we engage our hearing impaired, visually impaired community as well as our paratransit community in these efforts and take a look at what opportunities exist for them in our community. I think that's a big piece to this new office, and I hope that that request isn't falling on deaf ears.

Any others? All righty. Well, thank you so much. Congratulations, Lane. I'm really excited about this and looking forward to the continued work. Thank you. All righty. Item five.

Everyone's ready for Safe City now?

They're moving in this direction.

Safe City Initiative Update, 21st Century Policing and Draft RTA, Next Transit Safety and Security Budget.

Alrighty, this item is an item that I've requested that we have updates on. We first initiated the Safe City Initiative under my request in October of 2025. And since then, we have been having monthly updates. When I first wrote the open letter to Tucsonans back in October, it was clear that our community and our residents were demanding a response to the concerns of community safety. And I believe that my responsibility And frankly, my priority as mayor is making sure our residents are safe and making sure that we are responsive to our community. So Safe City, we started... unsiloing, right, the work and putting the right work on the right hands to make sure that it was more than just our police department that had the responsibility of safety. And we've been able to create a safe city task force with different stakeholders representative in the safe city task force. They've been very involved. And one of the pieces of our safe city initiative our transit safety and security action plan as well as all of the other pieces that we've been working on. So I'm happy that we're here. We're going to receive an update from both Tucson Police Department and their plans and piloting efforts to bring our policing to the 21st century with additional technology. And then, of course, we're going to hear from our Department of Transportation and Mobility about transit safety and security. So, Mr. Manager, the floor is yours.

Thank you, honorable mayor and members of the council. And we have a team here to present on these two specific aspects of the Safe City Initiative. Before I turn it over to the team, I want to add my thanks to Assistant City Manager Liz Morales, who has been tirelessly advancing the priorities under the Safe City Initiative and being the glue to try to bring all of these things together and make sure we have good outcomes for the community. So thank you, Liz, for your tireless efforts there. And with that, we have Deputy Director of Transportation Mobility, Annie Bemis, here. We have many chiefs from the police department, including Stacey Shainer here at the table, and our chief, Monica Prieto, will be approaching either the table or the microphone, and Luis from our TPD analysis division. So without further ado, I think we're gonna start with Andy and Stacey here, and we'll get you into our updates.

Thank you, Mr. Manager, honorable mayor, members of the council. For a little background on the Transit Safety and Security Action Plan, as the Mayor noted over the course of the second part of last year on your direction, we developed the plan, which was ultimately approved in December of 2025. After several months of engagement with DTM staff, with our partners at TPD, our community safety, health and wellness team, Suntran management, bus drivers, Teamsters leadership, the Tucson Transit Advisory Community, and the general public at large, We did provide an update on the progress of the immediate and near term actions back in April at a study session. I'll share some additional progress today since then, but really try and focus on the draft RTA next transit safety and security funding plan you have attached here as attachment B. which is intended to further the long range recommendations from the plan. So briefly on the near term items, since March 9th we have been implementing the TPD special duty deployments on the transit system. For a time it started out Monday, Wednesday and Friday. We've been able to redeploy in a way that within the existing resources we have a presence six days a week now. So actually Monday through Saturday at different times and on different priority corridors. To date, those efforts have resulted in 730 warnings, 127 arrests, 88 citations, 28 referrals for services, and 15 deflections. I'll defer to my TPD colleagues for further detail or questions on that. We've continued to implement improvements at bus stops in coordination with business owners, neighborhood leaders, and bus operators and riders throughout the system. We've improved our data management and tracking dashboards and have expanded our private contract and security hours as well. So turning to the RTA next draft budget for the long range recommendations in the plan, So just as a reminder, the RTA Next included $51 million over 20 years for transit safety and security activities region-wide. $43 million of that is expected to come to the city of Tucson, which results in about a $2.15 million annual budget target. In terms of the process, we're here seeking your feedback and input today, and we've engaged the Transit Advisory Committee as well to make sure we're all aligned, and then we'll approach the RTA to confirm the eligibility of the activities that we wanna do before moving forward and spending on them. We did share this with TTAC, the Transit Advisory Committee last week. They passed a motion in general support of the draft as shown. There was some discussion and they have articulated an interest in continuing to be involved in developing the details of the Transit Ambassador Program as that's propped up, as well as to continue playing a role in reviewing the performance and developing metrics for success on implementing the plan. It is a standing item on the TTAC agendas, and we are kind of simultaneously working to prepare a recruitment for transit ambassador program while we work with them. And we've also, on the details of the program, we also have some interviews scheduled with other agencies who have transit ambassador programs to learn from some of their efforts. OK, note that this is a draft budget reflecting our priorities for just the first year of activity. Since a lot of these items are new and we're still learning what interventions are the most effective, there is a need for some flexibility across these categories. Note that some of them are one-time expenditures and others are ongoing. So there may be opportunities. The budget won't necessarily look the same every year. There may be opportunities to front load expenditures if there's a need in some years and overspend. underspent and others subject to the availability of RTA funding in their cash flow. So what's in the draft budget? You will see an attachment be there funding for the transit ambassador program. And there's an additional detail with all the kind of COMPONENTS OF THAT INCLUDED.

I HATE TO INTERRUPT, BUT I THINK THAT IT'S IMPORTANT TO TALK ABOUT THE TRANSIT SAFETY AND SECURITY ACTION PLAN FOR THE PUBLIC, BUT ALSO TO REMIND MAYOR AND COUNCIL, THE STAKEHOLDERS THAT PARTICIPATING IN PUTTING THAT TRANSIT ACTION PLAN TOGETHER AND WHY WE'RE MAKING, WHY YOU'RE SUGGESTING THE INVESTMENTS THAT YOU'RE SUGGESTING FOR THE ADDITIONAL MONEY THAT THE CITY OF TUCSON IS RECEIVING FROM RTA NEXT FUND. SO CAN YOU GO JUST A LITTLE BIT, YOU DON'T NEED TO GO DEEPLY, DON'T DIVE DEEPLY, BUT UPDATE US IN TERMS OF OR REMIND US IN TERMS OF THE PARTNERSHIPS why you have these recommendations and who the stakeholders are that you worked with to put together the transit safety action plan together.

Thank you for that. I'd be happy to do that and I'll roll back into what's included. So all these recommendations from the immediate, near-term, and long-term recommendations in the plan, we put together with a working group that included... several meetings with the transit operators themselves who understand what their needs are from a safety perspective and what they're experiencing. We met with their union stewards and their union leadership. We partnered with TPD, with our community safety health and wellness teams. We met several times with the transit advisory committee. When it comes to transit ambassadors or other programs, we've worked with our community safety, health and wellness team, with our housing and community development teams as well. We did several surveys of the general public, also of operators that informed the recommendations that are in the plan.

You did a good job. Go ahead. Now tell us the budget that you've put together for us.

All right. So with that, what you'll see in that first year budget, there's some categories. So one are the transit ambassadors, and you see the detail shown there. The goal really of that program is that in addition to some of the enforcement and other efforts I'll talk about is to provide resources to connect people with services, people who are in need, people who are vulnerable using our transit system. to get them connected with resources to help improve their lives, help them navigate the transit system, understand how to use the app, how to make a transfer, just generally supporting users of the transit system. I mentioned that we're still in the early stages of propping that up and there's opportunity to incorporate more feedback into how that will look. Another big one are the operator safety improvements. So one of the recommendations in the plan was to survey the operators, identify needs. There's several that are already underway. One we heard from them was the need to upgrade and replace the radio system, which we have other grant funding to do and that is in progress right now outside of this funding effort. What we are gonna rely on these funds for is to evaluate and upgrade the barrier systems in the buses. So all the buses in the fleet today have barriers in them. Those barriers were selected in partnership and in testing with operators themselves when they were selected. Since there's newer technologies out there, there's other barriers, we wanna make sure we're meeting the needs and taking advantage of what's out there. You'll see seed funding in here. The amount you'll see is not to replace the entire fleet yet, that's intentional. It's enough to purchase several samples, put them on the buses, have the operators use them, test them, give us their feedback, understand what is the right barrier system, so that then in the future, your budget, you'll see that funds put in there to start retrofitting the fleet and incorporating those barriers into new bus purchases once we decide what's the best one. There are ongoing conversations. These are ongoing with the operators and with unions. So for example, next week, we're here first, I'll be attending their quarterly safety meetings where we meet with operators to present the same plan, continue to solicit their feedback on how we can improve it and move forward. You'll see funding for extending the TPD special duty deployments that are currently happening with the one-time funding, local funding. We'll be continuing that effort or proposing to continue that effort with the RTA funds. expanding the contracted security guard presence, expanding the cleaning crews, so adding another cleaning crew to the Suntran team. And just to update on that, the crews are currently cleaning 275 stops every day out of the 2200 in the whole system, all of which get touched at least once a week. There's funding for propping up and continuing to develop a repeat offender tracking and enforcement mechanism to keep, you know, repeat bad actors off of the buses. Funding for enhancing operator de-escalation training and post-incident support services. And again, to continue the bus stop, physical improvements of bus stops, adding lighting and shade and other amenities. So it's not anticipated that we would spend exactly to the penny as shown here. This is a draft, the problem is evolving, the interventions are evolving. The goals really were to make sure we're generally aligned, I think, on the priorities and the spending, and to also get confirmation from RTA that all those activities that we want to pursue are eligible and available for reimbursement. So for the next steps, we have meetings actually scheduled with the RTA in the coming weeks to do that once we receive your feedback. We'll seek pre-authorization from them so that once they say yes, these items are eligible, we can start doing them immediately and getting reimbursed for them at a future date when we have an IGA and a project charter in place with the RTA. We will continue developing KPIs and metrics for how to evaluate the success of each of these interventions and the plan as a whole, identify desired reporting structure and metrics, We have this as a standing item at TTAC, I mentioned that. There will also be a quarterly report for the RTA, Citizens Accountability for Regional Transportation with the CART Committee, and then future updates to Mayor and Council. So I'll stop there and happy to answer any questions.

Thank you so much, Andy. Really appreciate your update. I appreciate all of the time that has been spent in making sure that the stakeholders Both riders and operators as well as our community and advisory and our safe city task force, all of them including Teamsters, Suntran and others have spent time in really defining what the needs are for our community. I said it before and I'll say it again, as your mayor, the safety of our community is my number one priority. And so, Mayor and Council really heard from our operators that there were concerns in terms of safety. and immediately we started working on putting the safety and security action plan together and actually put money, half a million dollars of general fund into starting the process. With the passage of the RTA next, now we can tap into $2.1 million or 48, you said 48, $43 million within the next 10 years. to be able to institutionalize the work and the security that both our writers and our drivers deserve. I think that it's important that we talk about the draft budget that you have. For me, it's important to be able to have immediate investment in operator safety. And so I do see in the budget that you have funds for additional investment for the private security company that we've been using for years now. I really don't see the value or the return on investment in additional dollars for that private security company. right now. I would much rather spend those funds for additional operator security investments. And I would much rather see additional funds allocated for the ambassador program because the ambassador program, besides helping riders get to where they need to get, The whole purpose of having a transit ambassador program as well is to try and connect the people that the trained eye of the ambassador will see need referrals to mental behavioral health, substance use locations, or even be the eyes and ears for the drivers to say, we need to call police in this situation. So hopefully the ambassadors will have access to ride on the buses as well, besides being at the transit centers and in hotspot locations at the bus stops as well. That's hopefully what the definition of the ambassadors will be, besides being at the bus stops you know, people that can give information and can help connect people to where they need to go, that they also are a connector to the individuals that need to be referred to treatment and, you know, be the extra eyes and ears in terms of safety for our operators and other riders. Besides that, I want to hear from my colleagues on the council. I think that it's important that we don't confuse safety and security and the actions that we're taking with the value of offering free transit for our community. We've seen the numbers in terms of who's using our system. and the numbers of workers that has grown is really invaluable. And so let's make sure that now that we have additional funds, that we put those funds to work immediately to make sure that there's safety, that our people are feeling safe and secure. You know, the city has made incredible strides in investing in the safety and security of our residents and reducing crime many times by double digits. But I also understand that safety is more than just crime rates, right? We have the proof to show that crime is going down in Tucson, but it's also about how people feel. And so being able to approach the services of providing transit for our community and providing safety everywhere, not just in our transit system, in our parks, in our neighborhoods, in our alleys, throughout the city of Tucson is something that we have to make sure that we continue working on and that people need to understand that it is our priority to make sure that people have safety and security as a quality of life issue for a resident. So I want to extend and open up for any questions that you all might have. I see Councilman Lee's hand up and then Councilmember Cunningham.

Thank you, Mayor. And I do have a total of 18 questions, but I am not going to punish you all by going through those. Andy, I will work with you offline. But I do want to ask a couple of the more strategic questions today. One is around the barriers. There's $25,000 listed in the potential spending plan for barriers. And I've mentioned this in a couple different department level meetings, but I feel like there's a disconnect in what bus and transit operators feel is an adequate barrier for their safety versus what exists today, which is more like a sneeze guard at a buffet from what I'm told that we installed during COVID versus something that might be able to be a little more durable and provide a better level of safety. So there's still a disconnect to me. I think we need to get on the same page about what is truly needed to ensure operator safety because that line item feels pretty small if I'm understanding the sentiment from some of the folks who are operating the transit system. So I would like to get some clarification and alignment on that. Mayor, you did ask one of the questions I had about who all was involved in creating the plan. I understand the working group and kind of the stakeholder composition for that. My question for Andy and the team is, did that same working group take a look at this plan and provide any feedback? Or was that just kind of developed and it went through the advisory committee and then to us.

Thank you, Mayor, Council Member Lee. On the first point, you're correct. $25,000 is not sufficient to retrofit the entire fleet with needed barrier enhancements. We've been working closely with Suntran and a few different vendors of barriers. The costs for those range from $3,000 to $10,000-ish. each. So to retrofit the entire fleet, we're looking at significantly more than that. The goal here would be we want to test out a variety of barriers with operators to understand which ones most effectively meet their needs before we commit to a full fleet-wide replacement. So I absolutely would expect that sometime afterward, later this year, next year, we would be coming back with an additional line item for actually fully replacing the barriers fleet-wide. On your second question, yes, there is a smaller working group that meets bi-weekly to flesh out all these items. They've all been intimately involved in preparing the draft budget. We did share it with the Transit Advisory Committee, though I will say we've been trying to move fast, so we didn't give them necessarily enough time to really digest it, have several meetings to incorporate feedback. We did share it at their last meeting. Again, they provided some initial support for the concept with the desire to continue to be involved and pass the motion to that effect. I will be returning to, there are Suntran employees involved in that working group who we've been working with, and I will be returning to meet directly with operators and union representatives next week to solicit their feedback.

So this draft budget, just to follow up, this draft budget will be discussed when there's a conversation with the Suntran employees.

That is correct.

Go ahead, Councilman.

Thank you. Thank you, Andy. I really like the iterative approach to testing out the best solutions for the barriers. So thank you for the extra context on that. You know, operators and the union have repeatedly identified the onboard safety as a top concern. And so I'm curious about the data that we're using to measure onboard incidents, specifically in operator safety as we go through this process and how the proposed spending directly addresses those concerns. And my second question slash comment, which is very much in alignment with this, and you kind of touched on this, Andy, is before we approve 2.15 million annually for transit safety, can we clearly understand how we're going to measure success one year from now? So you mentioned KPIs. I think it's absolutely critical that every dollar we spend, we have a metric and a way to evaluate whether that is moving the needle on our key priorities. And that's definitely something that I'm gonna be looking for as we roll these, these different mitigation steps out there. And also, Andy, same thing about ensuring flexibility. I appreciate how you mentioned that this is year one. We have to be able to adapt as the conditions change and as we learn. So appreciate your sentiment around that as well. So I think that's everything. And then I will bother you all with the other 82 questions later. Thank you.

Council Member Cunningham and then Vice Mayor.

All right. We just got a little bit of feedback. My concern right here, number one, is the operators. So when we're thinking about the operators, I was under the impression that the barriers were kind of first, had to be first. So we're going to test it out for a year and then we're going to come back. But then how are we going to be able to meet the cost of that? Because it sounds like it's really substantial. So to me, I don't think we actually have a plan to do that. So that to me isn't... really the direction I wanna go. I also got some feedback that the role of the ambassadors is a little undefined, it's a little vague. Sounds like in some cases they're social workers, in some cases they're helpful to people who are just riding in general and need help with the bus book or how to navigate the system. Others says they'd be able, one person in the meeting, apparently was very concerned if they'd be wearing tactical gear and I'll be out putting and make people feel comfortable. So we had different folks coming from different directions on what the ambassadors are doing. And I don't, Quite frankly, I actually think we need all three in all three roles. So the real question is, is that how do we manage that? And how do we do that with the budget that we have, the $374,000 that we're putting into that? Finally, someone talked about how we have people that are going from one bus stop and we have a situation where we have a group of people engaging in behavior at a bus stop that's not intended for what a bus stop is, and so they chase them away, and that group of people walks down to the next bus stop. We can't have that. So I wanna figure out how we can try to integrate some of the efforts that Tucson Police is making, some of the efforts that our community outreach in Cashew are making and how they kind of all intertwine here. I feel like what we're doing is we're actually adding positions to those departments, but they would specifically work for the bus. And maybe that would be a better work directly in the transit realm. And maybe that would be a better use of how we do that. I will say for the record that I'm not sure this is the best transit safety plan we can come up with. though I also made it very clear that I believe that the best avenue to have a transit safety plan is to have some semblance of a pass for you to get onto the bus and use it, some user expectation. So for me, that's kind of where I'm hesitant about this. I don't want to be on record as voting against this transit safety plan. So if this is what we got, this is what we got. but in the meantime, I wanna challenge y'all to think about the philosophy we're taking here. I think our number one concern should be our operators. If we don't have a person feeling safe operating the bus, then everyone else on the bus is at risk. So that's like bottom line number one. Everything else is kind of secondary. Then it comes to whether or not whether or not the people riding on the bus also feel safe. And I feel like we, I think we have a mixed, I think we have a mixed, a mixed group of messages coming in about that. So that's kind of where I am on this. I'm happy to vote for this safety plan. I hope it yields us some knowledge. But I don't, I think that there's other opportunities in there.

IDEAS ARE ALWAYS WELCOME, COUNCILMEMBER. VICE MAYOR AND THEN COUNCILMEMBER DALL.

THANK YOU, MAYOR. I JUST WANT TO AGAIN SHARE THAT CHARGING FIRST DOES NOT PREVENT TRANSIT CRIME. Cities with fair systems like LA, Phoenix, Valley Metro, New York, Philly, all charge fairs and their systems are still dealing with assaults, drug use, trespassing disorder, and rider fear. I think what matters is whether the agency has a real safety strategy, targeted deployment, operator protections, lighting, cameras, outreach enforcement, and data-driven hotspot response. So I appreciate all the work that's gone into THIS FRAMEWORK AND THE BUDGET FOR TRANSIT SAFETY IMPROVEMENTS, WHAT I, THE QUESTIONS THAT I HAVE, BECAUSE I SAW IN THE TRAFFIC SAFETY SECURITY ACTION PLAN that we highlight panic and duress systems and recommend evaluating current alert systems, operator familiarity, maintenance, testing, and response protocols. These systems are intended to provide real-time assistance when operators or riders encounter threatening situations. I just don't see a dedicated line, like budget line item for this, so just curious. I guess what the plan is on that end. I was speaking to the city manager yesterday asking if we can explore emergency alert systems at transit stops. If rider safety is a priority, because I think it's both operators and the riders, we should explore emergency communication infrastructure at major transit centers and high-incident stops. At the U of A, they have a blue light emergency phone system as just one example of how pedestrians can immediately connect with security personnel. So if there's an opportunity to evaluate a similar model for our transit stops. We have on the budget that we're proposing off-duty officers rather than dedicated on-duty transit assignments, and that accounts for around 700,000. And just wondering, I'm just wanting to have a better understanding of the operational limitations that prevent the use of on-duty officers on transit-specific assignments or other similar deployments. I THANK YOU, ANDY, FOR SHARING HOW THE BUDGET PRIORITIES WOULD BE RE-EVALUATED OVER TIME. I THINK THAT WAS SOMETHING THAT STOOD OUT TO ME THAT I WANTED TO MAKE SURE WE HAD FLEXIBILITY. SO AS WE'RE BUILDING OUT THIS SAFETY INFRASTRUCTURE, WHAT'S WORKING AND WHAT'S NOT AND WHERE DO WE NEED TO PIVOT. SO THANK YOU FOR INCLUDING THAT. And finally, with metrics, the metrics that we're using to measure success, I just wanna have just a better understanding of how the data that we're using to establish goals and how we evaluate it to make sure that these investments are working. So are we measuring operator assaults, calls for service, rider perceptions of safety, repeat offenders, transit center incidents, onboard incidents, response times, WRITER RETENTION AND WRITERSHIP. AND I KNOW THAT WE'RE WORKING ON ALL THIS HOT SPOT MAPPING AND COORDINATED REPORTER WRITER FEEDBACK. I JUST WANT TO MAKE SURE THAT WE ARE USING THESE DATA POINTS TO COMMUNICATE BACK TO THE COMMUNITY, YOU KNOW, HOW WE'RE BEING SUCCESSFUL WITH THIS SAFETY ACTION PLAN. Finally, I was sharing with the mayor and the city manager about a recent trip to Miami and riding the bus there. And aside from the shield, the barrier for the bus drivers, there's also a big sticker on there that lets the public know that any kind of assault on the operator is a felony charge. And curious if that's something in the state of Arizona. that we currently have and if not is that something that we can explore just as another visible measure that we take safety for our operators seriously thank you vice mayor just to your last point yes it is a felony to um to assault a transit worker here in the state of arizona so is that something we could try you know to like visibly posted notices um for the public to know I didn't know if you wanted to answer my questions because then I have a motion.

Yes, I'd be happy to. Thank you, Mayor, Vice Mayor. Those are currently posted that it is a felony to assault a transit operator on the buses. So going through your other questions and look forward to the motion. Okay. There are, one of the reasons you don't see the line item in the budget for updated panic and duress system is my understanding there is a system in place right now, but it isn't well understood or well utilized. So there is a line item there for training on that. And so that's one of the things. It's something we intend to further investigate is could it be more effective? Right now, my understanding is it doesn't connect, like the button doesn't connect directly to TPD to let them know immediately that something's going on without some sort of a call. So something we can absolutely continue to focus on and improve. And if there's a thing to purchase or install a technology, that can be included in the future if it goes beyond just additional training on what's out there today. to you on the the off duty but there's a couple other i'll just finish um uh on the metrics and perceptions yes is the answer to all the uh items you described those are sources of data we're tracking and doing frankly a better job of it now in consistent dashboards with the one exception you mentioned of um community and rider and operator perceptions. That's something we absolutely can do, should do. We don't have a survey tool developed right now or a plan to do that beyond the past survey we've done. All the other metrics you mentioned are already underway.

Honorable Mayor, Vice Mayor Santa Cruz, members of the Council, to speak on the off-duty program versus on dedicated on-duty resources. Just like any other special duty or off-duty program, it is an enhancement of our ability to respond. to safety needs within the city. So our on-duty resources are obviously responding to calls for service through the 911 system. They're engaging in proactive efforts based on different strategies we have, like the problem-oriented precision policing or hotspots policing initiatives, VIVA strategies, and that sort of thing. The idea is that the investment in off-duty officers dedicates personnel that are solely responsible for engaging with the transit corridors and with the intent of improving safety sentiment. So it does go beyond strictly enforcement, which is why we've directed our officers to engage in contacts with all users of the transit system. We'd like to improve the safety sentiment of all users. We'd like to refer people to services. We'd like to refer them to other city programs or community-based providers. They can offer deflection or pre-arrest deflection if they're in possession of personal use narcotics or paraphernalia. And of course they can use enforcement when necessary. And so what that does is it dedicates those officers to that problem without having to worry about what the call load is and the calls that are waiting and response times to people that have called into the 911 system. And I can tell you from the patrol divisions, they do see it as an enhancement of their ability to address crime and safety concerns within their divisions and helping with those corridors.

THANK YOU FOR THAT CLARIFICATION. SO WITH THAT, MAYOR, I WANT TO MOVE TO APPROVE THE DRAFT RTA NEXT TRANSIT SAFETY AND SECURITY BUDGET WITH THE FOLLOWING REVISIONS. INCREASE FUNDING IN THIS YEAR'S BUDGET FOR ADDITIONAL TRANSIT AMBASSADORS AND OPERATOR SAFETY INFRASTRUCTURE INCLUDING BARRIER IMPROVEMENTS, PANIC BUTTONS AND OTHER MEASURES THAT ENHANCE THE SAFETY OF TRANSIT OPERATORS AND PASSENGERS. include regular updates to Mayor and Council, Tucson Transit Advisory Committee, and the Safe City Task Force, including outcomes of strategies being implemented and relevant data to drive future decision-making, and direct staff to explore options to further enhance the implementation of the Safe City Initiative, which drives our investments in delivering safety to our residents.

Second. So there's a motion and a second. Any further discussion? Council Member Dahl.

Thank you, Mayor. This isn't on the motion, and it's going to be short. I have a thought, and I'm not sure if it's a good thought, but I want to put it out there for further review. When I first heard the term ambassadors, I didn't understand that it was professional people who were offering resources to the people who need help, who are on the bus, and who are maybe causing a problem. I thought of docents at the Arizona Desert Museum, friendly people who make the bus experience nice for everybody. The docents are volunteers. A volunteer program can really extend resources. It takes a little bit of staffing to oversee. I have no idea if that makes sense in a transit setting. When you're exploring ambassador programs elsewhere, I wonder if you could also explore whether other systems have used volunteers effectively and if that's a possibility that could happen here. I know Tucson, we have a lot of people who love to volunteer.

And perhaps the continued conversations with Suntran and the operators and Teamsters and our Safe City Task Force and our Transit Advisory Committee could help inform what we want, the city of Tucson, what we want our ambassadors to be. So I hope, Andy, that that's the direction that we're moving in.

Yes, ma'am, and thank you, Councilmember, for the question. It is a good idea. It does exist in other communities. We've discovered that. There's volunteers, there's community stipends, part-time work, a variety of ways it can exist. I think the sky's the limit. We look forward to, well, maybe some budgets limit, but volunteers, the sky's the limit. Yes, basically. We will absolutely investigate incorporating all opportunities to get people who want to contribute engaged and contributing to making transit safer.

Council Member Barajas. Thank you, Mayor. I want to discuss the impacts of the initial pre-RTA next, the $500,000, the allocation. Has that money already been spent, and how are these investments tracked, and any outcomes identified before we look into RTA next? And I have some other comments, too.

Thank you for the question. Mayor, Councilmember Barajas, I don't have the dollar amount today. I can follow up with you and show you with how much has been spent to date. So far, mostly what we have are what I call outputs, all right, number of arrests, number of contacts, warnings, the stuff we mentioned earlier. We do intend on evaluating more longer-term outcomes in that regard. We're looking at reductions in calls for service, reductions of incidents at bus stops and on buses and that sort of thing. It's only been a few months that they've been out there and that we've been making the changes at bus stops too. So a lot of the evaluation at this stage would be more observational or anecdotal, but that is absolutely something we intend on evaluating once we have a longer data set to look at.

Well, I would like to see a plan just implemented with urgency. We can keep refining it as we go along, but tension in the community around transit safety is growing and people are experiencing real issues, safety issues on the bus and off the bus. And I would also like to see some type of layout with holistic community conversations. I do feel like there has been a lack of that. in a safe space setting. So when this is executed, I would like to revisit some type of Safe City Connect format because when reviewing the notes that we had at the El Pueblo Center, the last Safe City Connect meeting, the main conversations were around public transit and public safety. So this could also be something with all the departments in the room when discussing the transit Ambassador concept because I am really interested in this concept because it takes a proactive approach focused on people service and prevention And if it is implemented thoughtfully ambassadors can enhance the rider experience Support operators connect vulnerable individuals with resources and reduce the need for enforcement intervention I want to ensure we establish clear goals, accountability, and community-centered practices from the beginning so this program achieves the outcomes our residents expect. I do have some questions around what the training of the ambassadors, what type of trainings will they receive, and also when thinking of our hotspot areas, and the hotspot mapping, are we coordinating with our neighbor community city of South Tucson? Because within that 1.2 square mile radius city, there is some hotspot zones, and I wanna make sure that we are coordinating efforts with South Tucson Police Department. Thank you.

So, did you wanna answer? Go ahead. I was going to bring up South Tucson and communication with South Tucson as well, so.

Go ahead.

I was going to bring it up so that you can answer.

Okay, great. In regard to the South Tucson coordination, we've had some conversations with their planning team. I don't believe TPD has been deployed there to date or has jurisdiction there.

That is correct. We aren't currently deployed there, but we do dispatch for them, so we oftentimes respond to assist based on the needs of the call.

What I would add is that there's additional funding beyond the $43 million coming to us, there's 51 for the region. So there's additional funding available through the RTA to support South Tucson and other jurisdictions with the safety and security needs. Also there's transit operation funding for specifically earmarked for South Tucson in the RTA next plan. So there are definitely resources available to support needs in South Tucson. And we're happy to share our lessons learned you know, and support them as needed. Obviously we service the area.

Yes, I would like to recommend that we start coordinating those efforts. Thank you.

Thank you Council Member Barajas for bringing that up because I've had conversations with Mayor Valenzuela and they do want to cooperate with the City of Tucson on transit safety and security and additional resources for transit. So I think it would be smart for us to add South Tucson as one of the stakeholders in our working group because they need to be able to request those funds for transit safety and security on their end. And they more than anyone know the hotspots. I know that we work with them and dispatch for them. So we are aware of their hotspots and their issues, but I think it's important that they know add their voice to this working group. It's much better to have a unified strategy that we can all, different jurisdictions can work together on. And thank you, Vice Mayor, for the motion. I 100% agree. We absolutely, in our budget, as we look at it, we absolutely need to prioritize operator and rider safety and their input in terms of what that operator and rider safety consists of, right? It is about barrier improvements. I think that the priority areas are the hotspot areas based on the data that we currently have. I'm not thinking barriers for the entire fleet. I'm thinking priority areas are the hotspot areas and as much investment as we possibly can immediately. So appreciate your motion, Vice Mayor. I see the hand up for Councilwoman Lee. Councilwoman Lee.

Thank you, Mayor. I was wondering if the Vice Mayor could read the first component of the motion again for me, please.

Number one is to increase funding in this year's budget for additional transit ambassadors and operator safety infrastructure, including barrier improvements, panic buttons and other measures that enhance the safety of transit operators and passengers.

OK, thank you for that. The piece that I'm curious about is. what that additional investment would look like and how other elements of the plan would then have less funding if you know what I mean if we're going to shift things around with a fixed budget I'm curious about what is going to drop off of the list to put more transit Ambassador funding in place so that's a big question for me because I don't know how much we're talking about moving around and where those funds are going to come from within the budget so that's a big question To the long list of questions that I have, and I think, for me, before I feel comfortable personally. Moving this forward, I would like to make sure that the working group has a chance to chime in and I would also like much more definition on what the transit ambassadors are actually going to do what's their roles and responsibilities going to look like, how are we going to capture a baseline for. what we need to measure and map all of these different interventions to that. So we at least have a starting point. So for me, I still have way too many questions to support the motion, but I appreciate the fact that we absolutely need to move quickly. And we have already started that work with the half a million dollars. So those are my thoughts. And that's the reason why I won't be supporting the motion, but absolutely support getting these interventions in place as quickly as we can.

Alrighty, Council Member Schubert. Thank you, Madam Mayor, members of the Council. Appreciate all the work that's been done on the Transit Safety and Security Action Plan, which I've started calling in my head TSAP, trying to make that happen. I also just, you know, I went through the materials for this meeting, even though I had already read the materials when I started engaging in discussions about transit four years ago as a community organizer. In reviewing the information from the 2022 study where we had extensive public input about safety issues on the transit system and what the nature of those interactions was, I was very interested to see that the current barriers in place were implemented in 2015 and that was the last time there was a Teamsters strike and they were striking over safety. They were striking over feeling unsafe. Part of what they were responding to was that there were 22 assaults, specifically on bus drivers. And that was in 2015. We were still in Obama's America. It was a different time. And here we are again talking about barriers again. We've been doing these deployments for three months. My anecdotal information from my office is that has not reduced the number of calls and complaints that we have received. I think it's important for us to focus first and foremost on driver and operator safety as well as riders and that we need to be paying attention to evidence and data that tells us what works. We have a starting point for the ambassador program. We ran a Primavera pilot with some really promising results. So I do think that we have a starting point and we don't need to start from scratch. We also got feedback that that pilot enhanced people's feelings of safety and led to more people being connected to resources. And I think an important part of the data discussion is being proportional about our response. 99.999% of transit users are normal people who don't assault bus drivers or behave in these ways. We're talking about a very small group of people. And it makes sense to be proportional in that response. I don't think that two special duty, two private security officers and eight special duty officers spread out through our entire system presents the opportunity for prevention that just having more people on the buses will, the ambassador program or the docent program, whatever you want to call it. Albuquerque is running an ambassador program right now that includes volunteers, and those results have been incredibly promising. So a lot of great feedback from that as well. Just to point out a couple specific things in the TSAP. One is the stuff about repeat offenders, and conversations that I have had with people who've been working closely on this issue, there are just a few bad actors. We don't have a clear policy right now for drivers and operators to prevent those people from getting on. We also don't have a clear expulsion policy yet In my opinion, these are low hanging fruit and basic features of making a safe transit system. And I think that those are really important to tackle before we go into anything fancy having to do with tracking people or charging money or trying to exclude people from a system when literally 99.9% of them are normal, regular, everyday people and over 70% are low income. I think I agree with my colleagues a lot about more than I disagree. I think we need to use data. I think we need to be closely monitoring and measuring the impacts of this spending and to be able to make adjustments when necessary. But when we talk about things like rider code of conduct, expectations, making sure people understand it's a felony to assault a bus driver, these are areas where we still need to totally check the box and say that we've done that and we are doing it. We're in the process now. I'm interested in being a part of ensuring that the public knows what efforts we are undertaking because we are listening very carefully and we're really concerned about enhancing the functionality of the system. So we have a starting point. We have bus stops that we know are the hotspot trouble areas and we have increased deployments to those areas. But an essential component of that as well, Councilmember Cunningham mentioned people going from bus stop to bus stop. They're going to keep doing it, and they're going to go into the neighborhoods, they're going to go into the alleys, they're going to go into the parks until we find other places for people to go. This is not a bus or a transit issue. This is an issue of social problems becoming more visible in public spaces. And when you think about the transit system and the bus stops, I have been using the bus a lot more lately and so have other people in my office. And what we have noticed about the transit stops, oh my gosh, I totally lost my train of thought. No, I totally lost it. But all of that is to say that the system is here to connect people to resources. It's here to get people from A to B. And focusing solely on enforcement is not going to increase the safety of the system. I'll raise my hand if I think of the other point again.

Thank you. That's why the ambassador program, I think, is so important to be able to have that additional resource. And I think that's how we all approach this, including our police officers, right? They are part of a holistic approach to offering safety, security, and services to our community. I truly believe that so much. I think you thought about your point.

Thank you so much. The other aspect of safety is how hot it's getting here in Tucson and how vulnerable people are. So we need more shade. We need more benches where people can sit. Almost every time I'm on the bus, I see at least one person who is using a wheelchair or a mobility device or has different abilities that cause them to not be able to drive. We need more water fountains, we need more trash cans, and just more attention on the system so that the people who are operating and using the system feel cared for and safe. And that's not gonna happen from like 10 cops roving around the whole system. It's like playing whack-a-mole, right? We need to make a safer system by addressing the root causes. Thank you.

Well, thank you so much. We've gone way over our time limit. We have a motion on the floor, and so I think it's appropriate that we vote on the motion on the floor. I think the city manager and our team has listened to, you know, continue to save city, you know, ENGAGEMENT APPROACH THAT WE'VE HAD BEFORE, CONTINUOUS REPORTING AND THEN BETTER DEFINITION IN TERMS OF THE AMBASSADORS, BUT ALSO I REALLY WANT TO REITERATE THIS AGAIN AND I WANT TO BE COMPLETELY CLEAR. MY PRIORITY IS MAKING SURE THAT OUR WRITERS AND OPERATORS ARE FIRST IN THIS BUDGET. And whether that's duress systems or the additional lights in our bus stops and the ambassador putting more money into the ambassador program and to making sure that, you know, we have the barriers, protective barriers to make sure, especially in the hotspot areas and those routes, is the most important for me. And I know that you're going to continue getting input on this draft budget, but that's what I've heard. That is my priority. With that, all those in favor of the motion, please signify by saying aye. Aye. Any against? No. Okay, so motion passes 5-2. I know that you have a second piece to the presentation. I'm more than happy to hear. For this particular presentation, we do not need a motion, but we'd be more than happy to listen to the presentation and then just have you continue the work that you're all doing.

Thank you, Mayor and members of the Council. That's correct. So thank you to the team on transit safety and security. We'll be moving into the 21st century of policing, which we've been in that century for a while. Let's keep, yep, that's... We are short of RoboCop, but we're working on it today. And you are correct, Mayor, for this next piece, we don't need any further direction, but we are interested in your feedback on the activities that we're advancing. So I turn it over to our Police Chief, Monica Perretto.

Honorable Mayor, members of council, good afternoon. The technology topic is incredibly important, so I'm excited to be able to present on it, provide an overview of our current technology, and then provide our next steps. So our responsibility is to provide the community with the highest level of public safety possible. While being good stewards of public resources, TBD is using technology as part of the Safe City Initiative to improve neighborhood safety, strengthen investigations, support crime prevention, and make better use of our city resources. Our Community Safety Awareness and Response Center, who we affectionately call CSARC, is our real-time data and intelligence hub that assists first responders. It is an element of our approach to the 21st century policing. CSARC brings real-time information into one coordinated community safety environment, which allows police to work more effectively with other departments and public safety partners, such as fire, comma, water, and IT. This interagency initiative means better collaboration on emergency events and daily operations. CSARC integrates technologies such as community safety cameras, license plate reader capability, line of sight drones, as well as the upcoming aerial emergency response pilot program, which will help provide a more informed and coordinated response model. Having a real time information supports responses to active calls, follow up investigations, quality of life concerns, problem solving around high demand locations, and coordination with broader safe city efforts. These technologies are force multipliers that enable better informed, safer, and faster decision making to help us achieve our mission in ensuring a safe city. Cameras and license plate readers help provide objective evidence during criminal investigations, identify vehicles involved in crimes, develop leads that can significantly reduce investigative time, and increase our clearance rates to help bring resolution to those victims of crimes. We believe strongly that additional cameras will increase the safe city outcomes we all strive for. While camera technology has been used effectively for some time, I would like to discuss our aerial emergency response what we call AER, our pilot program which will allow us to expand our emergency response model with the use of drone technology. AER is the next evolution of Tucson's Safe City Initiative and the 21st Century Policing Strategy. Our goal is faster information, better decision making, and safer responses for both the public and for first responders. Drones will be invaluable and often arrive on scene significantly faster than ground units. We approximate AER drones will arrive in about two to three minutes, and that's faster than our ground units can 91% of the time. Aerial information provides critical situational awareness to our first responders before they arrive on scene. Early information helps improve resource development, identifies hazards, supports de-escalation, and enhances responder safety and decision making. Drones help with locating missing people, fleeing suspects, and individuals in crisis more quickly and safely. And I can't stress enough how important drones have been to keeping my officers safe and the community safe. One example of that is a homicide suspect that patrol was able to locate using the drone and arrest him safely and recover evidence of that homicide during an active homicide scene. The AER pilot program supports both Tucson police and Tucson fire operations and will be operated out of CSARC. The pilot program is designed to evaluate outcomes before any future expansion decisions are made. We believe AER and all our community safety tool investments are powerful, but we also understand that the success of these technologies depends on public trust. Privacy, accountability, and public trust are built into the program from the beginning. Access to collected data is limited to authorized personnel for legitimate law enforcement purposes. Every AER deployment will be tied to an active public safety incident and approved use case. There are no random controls, passive surveillance, or routine monitoring of the public. Strong safeguards and oversight mechanisms include audit logs, access controls, retention requirements, compliance reviews, and transparency reporting. Community trust and oversight continue to be essential when implementing technology the Independent Audit and Performance Commission, IAPC, and the Community Police Advisory Review Board, CPARB, provide important community review and accountability functions. The bottom line is this, Tucson Police, we're investing in technology to improve emergency response, first responder safety, investigative support, and community safety outcomes. The AER pilot program will be a measured and transparent evaluation of a promising public safety capability. The city will assess operational value, privacy protections, public feedback, and governance compliance before making any long-term decisions. Our purpose is to improve public safety outcomes while keeping strong policy in place for privacy, access, retention, oversight, and accountability. Public safety technology is not a replacement for police officers or firefighters or community partnerships. It is a tool that allows us to provide more effectively respond more effectively, solve crimes more efficiently, improve officer safety and community safety, and use taxpayer resources responsibly. Our goal is to leverage these tools in a manner that is transparent, accountable, and respectful of the rights and the expectations of the community that we serve.

Alrighty, first and foremost, thank you so much for the presentation. I am supportive of modernizing our police department and all of the programs in support of keeping our community safe. I know that there are plenty of examples that we have recently where we've used either licensed plate readers or cameras or drones to keep our officers safe or even to find out the perpetrators of crime. And so I am very, very supportive of us being able to use technology to enhance the services that we have for our community. I think most importantly, I think people have questions about how we use the information and data. And I know that we have a very tight approach to that. Can you explain it for the record?

I brought Administrator Luis Romero with me to help me with some of the technical questions.

Thank you, Your Honorable Mayor, Vice Mayor, Council Members.

Again, the use of the technology is always gonna be tied to any type of investigation or a calls for service. In specific, when we're dealing with the AER pilot, we're gonna be using very specific use cases, all are gonna be tied to calls for service or any type of investigative measure. And we're also gonna ensure that everything that's done within these systems are able to be audited and ensuring that we're doing these audit reports in a quarterly basis to ensure compliance with that. And then for any of the data related to data retention, unlike a lot of the recordings that will follow the exact same rules that we have today for body-worn cameras, for non-evidentiary type of recordings, as well as for our current line-of-sight drones, so that would be 185 days.

Thank you. Any questions or comments on this piece of the presentation? Councilman Lee.

Thank you, Mayor, and thank you to the team. And Luis, you've done an amazing job of briefing us and really getting to the weeds, especially with me on exactly what the mayor just brought up. And I just wanted to direct the community to the city's website. If you just Google City of Tucson technology policies, It's a front-facing, public-facing website that TPD and IT helped put together to really disclose the policies, how we use the data, how we retain and protect the data. And I think that that's absolutely critical in this day and age to understand that we do have internal policies, auditing, and citizen oversight, which to me is the most important thing to make sure that the community is at the table in helping oversee how the city is using technology and the associated data. So I just wanted to add that to the conversation. Thank you, Mayor.

Thank you, Councilwoman. Any other Council colleagues? Council Member Schubert?

Thank you so much. And we already touched on this a little bit, but, you know, we have really interested constituents. So I just want to make sure that I can answer the questions that come to our office. So Ward 6 has had conversations with both TPD and CSARC on this topic. We have been so appreciative of the communication, the accountability that is built into this approach. It's my understanding that safeguards are incorporated to prioritize safety while protecting the privacy, as we were just discussing, such as AER only being used when there's a deployment related to a call for service or an investigation. I'm curious how the contract is written with the company that's providing this. The company providing it is Skydio, Axon-based product. We're asking because Axon does have an ongoing contract with the Department of Homeland Security. So just, are you able to talk a little bit more about our closed system and what safeguards that we might have in place? And then I have more questions after that.

Honorable Mayor, Council Member Schuber, yes, so Axon is the same system that we use for our body-worn camera system. In terms of contract and informational language in there, I'll have Luis answer that if you're willing to answer that.

Yeah, Honorable Mayor, Councilmember Schubert. Regarding the current contract language that we're looking at for this AER pilot, this will be hosted in an Azure GovCloud environment that's gonna be owned and operated by the city, meaning this is not a shared ecosystem with any other agencies. This is solely for the city of Tucson, and it's specific for the Tucson Police Department for the use case of this Skydio platform that we'll be piloting for. for the next year in addition to that unlike all the drone technology does meet all the requirements from an encryption perspective to ensure the privacy of any information is being captured end-to-end as well as we have role-based access controls in place currently in our accent environment but also for the skydio platform will be piloting that would be the same so only authorized users and administrators will be able to access that system and And again, I want to very strongly kind of state this, that these are not shared ecosystems. This is its own separate cloud-based technology that is only associated as our own private cloud for the city of Tucson, and specific with the Tucson Police Department.

And then just following the pilot, I'm pretty curious to know during the pilot, the opportunities for public input and then how we will consider the pilot once it's closed and how we're going to move forward.

Honorable Mayor, Council Member Schubert. Again, so as we're looking at, we are establishing certain KPIs for the success and the measurement of how we're using the technology when it comes to public sentiment. Currently right now, anyone that calls 911, they do get something from our SpiderTech tech stack, which anytime somebody calls 911, they would get a message similar to what our partners over at Pima County. or any of the other jurisdictions that would provide a survey for them to be able to fill out. But we're also looking at other different types of strategy as we're looking to expand the transparency page that would be available as well. So all of the flights that will be actually being done for this pilot are gonna be available for the public to see as well. and a public facing forward dashboard. And we're gonna look at different opportunities to be able to put surveys out there, being able to collate that data, and be able to present that back after we look and see how we can keep this productional if the pilot seems to be very successful.

Sorry, just one more question. On page six of the memo, there's a note for a six-month review path. There's six groups listed as stakeholders for review on the pilot, the Advanced Technology Committee, the Information Technology Committee, City Manager's Office, Procurement, Independent Audit and Performance Commission. There's also the UAS Governance Group, and I was just kind of curious to know more about them, and then I just have a question about vacancies on the IAPC.

Honorable Mayor, Council Member Schubert, so regarding the different governance and the oversight groups that are going to be part of the evaluation of the AER, the city through partnerships with the IT department as well as with the Advanced Technology Committee and the City Manager's Office, there is a very rigorous process for any IT or any technology related projects to move forward. So we will be putting this pilot after the six months through that process, which is our idea to completion process, which will include like members of city attorney's office, city of Tucson's equity office, or now the, I'm sorry. the community and economic, I should've been paying attention. Apologies for that. But again, the art is formally known as the City of Tucson's Equity Office, as well as the IEPC, as we mentioned earlier, but also due to the newly published administrative directive for UAS and drones for the City of Tucson, there's an established AES Governance Committee that's going to be formed. So that would be any department that currently operates any drone operations for city business. Currently we have folks from our department at the Tucson Police Department, our Tucson Fire Department, the Water Department, as well as Real Estate and some others that I don't know off the top of my head right now. But they have representatives that will also be providing feedback on the overall THE OVERALL PERFORMANCE OF THIS PILOT AND THEN ALL OF THOSE FINDINGS WILL MAKE IT UP TO THE CITY MANAGER'S OFFICE FOR APPROVALS AS THEN FROM THERE WE'LL CONTINUE ON THROUGH THE IDC PROCESS WHICH CONSISTS OF MANY GATES FOR FINAL APPROVAL.

LUIS, COULD YOU FOR THE PUBLIC DEFINE WHAT UAS STANDS FOR?

I KNOW IT'S HARD FOR A TECH GUY.

Unmanned aerial support.

So that's the new group? Yes.

Okay, that's why I haven't heard of it. It's a new idea that was put out there. And again, I'm like, that's the proper terminology in the tech sector and the tech sector we love our acronyms. So I'm like, but overall, they say drone governance committee.

And then just my final thing is that we were surprised to find that we at the Ward 6 office had a vacancy on the IAPC. And I understand that they're going to play an important role in this pilot. So just want to know if the IAPC, and this might be a city clerk question, if they are currently making quorum and if we have any current vacancies. And that's my last question. Thank you.

Independent Audit Commission.

I'm afraid that I don't know that information offhand, but I may be able to look it up for you. I think there's vacancies.

I would assume. I'll just remind all of us, let's make sure that we appoint to the IAPC to make sure that they do meet quorum and that we do the work that our departments need us to do. Councilmember Barajas, and then we need to wrap this item up, and I will give us a little bit of a break in between, and then come back to item six.

Councilmember Barajas. I just have one question. Thank you, Chief, and thank you, Luis, for the detailed report. I know that there's... AER is currently limited in the areas surrounding the airport, which includes a lot of Ward 5. Do you have a sense of how long the waiver process would take from FAA or other agencies?

Honorable Mayor, Councilmember Abrahas. So regarding that, we are looking at, once we kick off the pilot, we are looking at working with the Skydio team to be able to engage with the FAA, but more importantly with our partners over at Davis Mountain, as well as the airport authority, to be able to figure out different pathways to be able to at least have some level of ceiling or permissions or you know some type of Schedule where we'll be able to use these drones and unrestricted airspace

All righty, thank you all so much for the update. Really appreciate the report. Looking forward to continued improvement in our technology and making sure that we keep both our officers and our community safe. Looking forward to hearing more of what you're all doing. We are done with this item. We're like half an hour over. So what I'm going to do is I'm going to give us a little bit of a recess, stretch our legs, use the restroom, and then come back to finish the study. Thank you all.

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BACK. THANK YOU FOR ALLOWING ME THAT LITTLE BIT OF A BREAK. WE WILL MOVE ON TO ITEM 6.

CONSIDERATION OF SITE SPECIFIC SALES TAX ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT INCENTIVE FOR TUCSON N LLC.

I think it's really important to remind everyone that the item before us tonight is not whether to approve an incentive. The question before us is whether this proposal merits additional analysis so that Mayor and Council can make a fully informed decision. based on independent data. So we are just starting the process. And so this direction that we will give will be to start a process to get the data to make an informed decision for mayor and council. So what stands out to me is that this represents a substantial private investment. in downtown Tucson and over the last decade, we have worked hard to create the conditions for more development, more housing, more small businesses, more private investment in our urban core and creating density is something that's very, very good to create transit-oriented development in the city of Tucson, to create additional tax revenue, to create additional property tax revenue, all of it is good. So before we have to make any future decision on incentives, this particular item is to start a process to collect the data. So with that, Mr. Manager.

Thank you, honorable mayor and members of the council. That introduction covers this topic very well. So with that, I will turn it over to a member of our Office of Community and Economic Impact, Mike Joukowsky.

Thanks. I'm not sure what to say now. I'll just keep it brief. Mayor, as you mentioned, Mayor and members of Council, this is the initial step in the site-specific sales tax incentive. So what we are requesting direction on is just to move forward, collect a check for $5,000 from the applicant, and initiate the independent economic analysis, which will be brought to Mayor and Council for discussion to show what the actual impact is for the city of Tucson based on that sales tax. I do also want to mention that that will also incorporate all of the other items that are included, the Rio Nuevo incentive, the Pima County, all of that, so it will be a holistic economic analysis for the Council's review as we're working on all of these together.

So this is an item that is in Ward 6, so I usually like to give the council person representing the area the opportunity to ask questions and introduce the item.

Thank you, Madam Mayor. Yeah, I'm excited about this because this is a parcel that's been empty for 40 years, right in the middle of downtown. I'm generally cautious when it comes to the use of public incentives for private development. I believe each request needs to be evaluated individually on its own merits. That being said, one aspect of the proposed Tucson Inn and Marketplace that I find encouraging is its emphasis on creating more active and walkable downtown environment, much like you were saying, Madam Mayor. By introducing a mix of lodging, small-scale retail, and publicly accessible gathering spaces on a currently vacant parcel, the project has the potential to generate additional pedestrian activity through the day and evening. That aspect of the project is really important to me, the publicly accessible part where everybody who's downtown benefits from this project, not just people who are buying things and providing more connection to different places downtown. the proposed event alley and marketplace concept appear designed to encourage people to spend time on foot visit multiple destinations engage in local businesses in a downtown we've invested significantly in transit streetscape improvements and public spaces projects that help create more continuous pedestrian experience can provide community benefits beyond the project site itself While I would encourage continued scrutiny of the financial details and public return on investment associated with any GPLAT request, I believe the project's contribution to downtown walkability, street activation, pedestrian-oriented development are factors worthy of consideration as part of the overall evaluation. And I'll add to that that I'm also really interested in the types of jobs that this project will eventually provide and that those would be good jobs for local Tucsonans to have and you know raise their families and support their loved ones on. Thank you so much. So Council Member, I think that it would be great to do the motion to approve. All right. So with that being said, I would like to move to initiate the economic analysis for this project. Second.

So there's a motion and a second. Any further discussion on this item? Council Member Cunningham.

So I think Rio Nuevo's end with the county all in is about nine million. Our site-specific sales tax would come after the bill, no more than a million, million and a half anyway, and that's after the fact on what we collect, so we're not laying out actual cash on it. This also represents, I think, the early estimates are $50, $55 million. So that's a five-to-one ratio on just the construction investment, not to mention the long-term effects. The other thing is they probably could have gone for a seven-year higher-yield G-plet, so they're taking the 25-year partial G-plet, which is a better estimate. actually a better deal for us so i'm happy to second the motion and it it uh it looks like this could be a good deal um i do have one concern i want to put on the record now which is we've got to have some guard rails later on so if the bottom falls out of the boat and the deal goes south or they don't build um there's an opportunity for the county or the city to reacquire the property so that's the only piece i always ask for that every single one of these but i think it's just important to say it now for the record because I'm pretty confident the economic analysis is going to be favorable to granting these incentives. Thanks.

Any other comments, questions? Already all those in favor of the motion, please indicate by saying aye. Aye. Any against? Motion carries. Thank you so much, Mike. Thank you so much. Can I just say on this item, I love that they are calling it the Tucson Inn. That is, just connects so well with all of us. So thank you so much. Really appreciate it. Alrighty, with that, we are moving on to item seven.

Discussion and direction relating to matters that are pending in front of the Pima County Board of Supervisors and other regional jurisdictions. All righty.

Mr. Manager.

Honorable Mayor, members of the council, joining us as always are Stephanie Zamora and Laura Dent. from our Intergovernmental Relations team, and we will handle item seven, and then at your pleasure, item eight as well. With that, I turn it over to the team.

Good afternoon, honorable mayor, members of the council. My report included updates from the Pima County Board of Supervisors regarding regional heat preparedness efforts. It also included information from Rio Nuevo on their approved funding for the Gibson Food Hall project, which is expected to come in the coming weeks. And then we also included some information about tribal leaders, local elected officials, and members of Arizona's congressional delegation expressing concerns about a proposal to consolidate the Tucson Indian Health Service area into Phoenix. That's included in our report. And with that, Mayor, I'll hand it over.

Thank you so much. Before we start the other pieces of the item, I just wanted to ask Assistant City Manager Liz Morales, I know that you had some concerns the last time we talked, we met, you had concerns about a project that the City of Tucson pitched to the Opioid Settlement Committee. that you were concerned did not move forward. So can you give us an update on the Desert Cove project that we had in front of ROSAC and where we are in the process and if you need additional direction from Mayor and Council.

Yes, thank you, Mayor and members of council. When at the last meeting, I shared the proposal that I presented to the Regional Opioid Settlement Committee, Advisory Committee, also referred to as ROSAC, After that conversation, they opted to put the funding out for an RFP. After the last meeting, I met with Pima County officials from the Health Department and the County Administration's office and had a positive discussion. They're looking at alternative options for us, understanding our concerns. That is... NOT BEEN DECIDED YET, BUT I'M HOPEFUL THAT WE CAN FIND A WAY TO FUND DESERT COVE. AND SO, MAYOR, I it's up to you and the council if you want further direction, but I think it further, with the work we're doing around the IGA to ask to open that up and provide a little bit more governance structure where the mayor and council can provide some input, if you would like to provide any input for both county leadership and ROSAC committee for them to understand the position of mayor and council on Desert Cove.

i think um ms morales we don't have enough time yes uh the last time that rosac went out for request for proposals it took about eight to nine months for them to go from start to finish through the process and um my concern is that right now without Desert Cove and that particular pilot we are seeing people one of the biggest gaps that we have in terms of substance use disorders and people that are affected by fentanyl use One of the biggest gaps that we have is that people are being arrested and treated medically assisted treatment in jail And when they're let out three, five days later, they go out into the street. And then they go back into the use of fentanyl or other opioids or other really strong drugs. And so we're investing a lot of money in them in jail to deliver medically assisted treatment, which is the right thing to do. But then losing all that investment when they have nowhere to go to recover. Yeah, they go to the transition center, but the transition center doesn't have a place to refer them to. The same thing is happening with the Safer Center. You know, we are referring people. We're very successful as referring people to the Safer Center, and they spend 96 hours there with medically assisted treatment trying to recover, but four days, five days is not enough. And so the biggest gaps in the system, I would say, is people leaving safer, people leaving jail and having no place to go recover. And so in my perspective, I don't know my colleagues on the council, the biggest load of calls that we all receive in our offices are people that are unsheltered. and are openly using drugs and many others maybe are not unsheltered but have substance use disorders that they really need serious investment in and connections to. And so I do not want to spend another year trying to figure out an intergovernmental agreement or a request for proposals when the urgency is now. And so I don't know, Liz, I'm relying on you. You're the one that's having conversations with Roszak. You're the one that's having conversation with Steve Holmes and Dr. Cullen. What is your recommendation that we do as mayor and council? Because I think that you've had separate conversations with my colleagues on the council about the idea of Desert Cove. How do we proceed?

Thank you, Mayor. I would love, to be able to utilize Desert Cove immediately with funding. That would be the preferred recommendation. Understanding that it does still, the decision still needs to come from ROSAC and from the Board of Supervisors. Any urgency that they could put and put funding on it sooner than later I think is imperative. And I agree with the gaps that this would fill.

Mr. Tamir, and then I would have some requests from my colleagues on the Council to add urgency in the decision-making between Mayor and Council and the Board of Supervisors on this. Mr. Tamir.

Thank you, Madam Mayor. In support of what Assistant City Manager Morales said, we will engage with the administrative side of the county. I'll reach out to County Administrator Lesher to express the urgency as well, and we'll work all angles from our end to expedite getting this service up and running.

This is my dilemma before I go to my council colleagues. My dilemma is that the opioid settlement funds, if we would have, we, mayor and council in the city of Tucson, control of those funds, which some of those funds Rightly were directed at the city of Tucson we could put those opioid settlement funds to work immediately in the places where we believe we have the needs. And in the spirit of collaboration and cooperation and partnership, mayor and council went into an agreement with Pima County to do this together, to compile all of the money, the money that would come to the city of Tucson, we put it in a pot, the money that would come to Pima County would put it in a pot, and then we would, together we would decide where we have the investments. There are absolute urgencies in the city of Tucson and we hear about it every day. And so it just seems to me as though ROSAC or the Board of Supervisors don't have that same urgency. I would really want to get direction from my colleagues on the council to have Liz go back and have a conversation and as well as Mr. Tamir, have a conversation with John Lesher, with Steve Holmes, with Dr. Cullen about the urgency of our requests so that we can cover this huge gap that we know, right? It's not just the city of Tucson, it's service providers, it's nonprofits, it's the community. Everybody knows there's this huge gap in terms of providing services. So I would like for my council colleagues to consider making a motion that we direct the city manager and assistant city manager Morales that we add urgency to the request from the city of Tucson for Desert Cove for the funds to be allocated for Desert Cove.

So moved, Mayor.

So there is a motion. Is there consideration for a second? I second the motion. There's a motion and a second. Council Member Cunningham.

The way I understand it is we already have an operator at that site providing a different service. But that operator can provide the service that we want without having them to leave. So we'd have contiguous handover. That's really what the discussion is. And I think it's okay to be transparent about that. I think it's okay to say that the operator we have should get the, I wanted to make a different motion. I wanted to make a motion that basically said, I wanted to get in the weeds. They always say don't get in the weeds.

I totally disagree.

I wanted to get into the weeds and make a completely different motion and say that we instruct them to recommend from the council that the current operator stays in the facility, moves to their new mission for at least one year, and then ROSAT can figure out who the new operator or if they want to use the same operator and go through their process. But at least we don't have a vacant building for a year. And I think that's a very reasonable request from us. So when we just say urgency, they're going to say, well, I don't know what that is. If we say to them, this is what you need to do, you need to allow the current operator to retain their management of the facility, adopt the new mission of detox, and then ROSAC can go through their process to see if there's a better operator. But we can't miss a beat. So that's, if we can clarify that that's what the spirit of this motion is, I'm more than happy to support it and lead the parade.

Yeah, I think that's the spirit of the motion. Most importantly for me is getting the money immediately so that we can transition into the new mission. And of course, the operator that is there currently servicing the individuals that are at Desert Cove uh it should be considered right is there anyone else that provides recovery services in um in the county i'm not sure but yes the the i would say in on my end the um the spirit of the motion is to have that

Logistically, if we have to get a new operator, we have to have the current operator hand in keys, the place needs to be rekeyed, the place gets shut down, then we have to go back in and order another CFO, and all of a sudden we've lost 60, 90, 120 days. That doesn't make sense. Let's go. So my thing is that specifically we use this operator, and they handle that mission.

Let me ask Liz and Tim. Liz, I know that that is the suggested that you have in writing, right? That's what you suggested to Mayor and Council we do.

Mayor and Council Member Cunningham, that is one of the big issues is transition to a new operator would be very difficult. time consuming, and so I think continuing with community bridges, they have the model, they have the service model, and can do the work that we're asking them to do, and so that would be the most expeditious going forward. Yeah. Tim?

Mayor, I'll just add that that is actually what our initial request was. fund it with the current operator, so this is totally in alignment with how we would efficiently have done it from the get-go.

I just want to make sure that the motion maker feels

Yeah, I feel good with that. I think the only thing I wanted to add to the conversation, and this is what I've shared with some of our colleagues on the Board of Supervisors, is that we're under a different pressure than they are as a county or even ROSAC. We're the public-facing where the community thinks we're not doing anything. right like the mayor allows for public drug use the council doesn't care and so we like you said that is the number one thing we hear from our constituents and so we know we can't incarcerate our way out of you know the this um epidemic that we're in but we're creating real long-term solutions um to the folks that are ready to take that step into sobriety and so i just want to continue to put in front that you um we are the front facing part of this frustration from the public and we need the county and ROSAC to maybe be a little more sensitive to that and see why we have urgency around this issue. So I support the amendments to the motion and we ask the second if they do as well.

I second.

Okay. I think we're all on the same page. Would you like to call the question, council member? Okay. All those in favor of the motion, please signify by saying aye. Aye. Any against? Motion carries. I just wanted to make sure that we got to that, Liz, because it's an important piece that we need to move expeditiously on that. All righty. With that, did you have anything else, Stephanie, to add on the county report? Yep. Okay, go ahead.

Sorry, I got off this because I was researching CBI, who's a good operator of Desert Cove, by the way. All right, it's been brought to my attention that on May 25th or thereabouts, ADWR approved a 96.5 acre foot well, that's 31 million gallons a year, for a company called Bobcat Tucson, which isn't even a company. It's a company that got made up by Beal, which is why I didn't like those guys in the first place, to drill wells out where Project Blue is. And they're claiming that they had rights to do that. And even though it is technically out of our service area, I feel to some degree that the aquifer that they're drawing that from could adversely affect our aquifer. And I think groundwater is too serious a discussion point when you're all of a sudden just handing out brand new 31 million gallon well permits. I wanna know if we are allowed to protest this and if it's within our purview to protest the approval of this well to AWWR. And if we are allowed to protest this well, I move that we instruct the city attorney's office or Tucson Water attorney to file that formal protest.

All righty, Mr. Manager.

Thank you honorable mayor members of the Council, we do have standing that we can. Research and file appropriate objections and or actions against these wells I can't. guarantee what the outcome would be, but I certainly, between the city attorney's office and my office, we could pursue whatever direction the mayor and council would provide. I would ask that you do give us that direction because you gave us very clear direction to have no involvement with this project previously, which we've done. But in this case, we're absolutely here to do whatever you feel is the most prudent thing. And if you would like us to insert ourselves into this process of the water service to that and the drilling of those wells, we're happy to follow your direction.

I move that we instruct you to do that.

I second.

Second. There's a motion and a second. Any further discussion on this item? Hearing none, all those in favor indicate by saying aye. Aye. Any against? Motion carries. All righty, anything else on the county matters? Hearing none, I think it's important that we go into our federal report and then we can talk about state. Lots of things going on, but I do have some good news though. I do have some good news that are promising. I'd like to thank Congresswoman Adelita Grijalva for securing house support for several city of Tucson priorities through the community project funding process. In the annual appropriations bill, $1.8 million was one of her projects selected by the Congresswoman. $1.8 million for the Stone and Speedway housing development. $850,000 for the Fry apartment rehabilitation project. $850,000 for South 12th Avenue corridor safety and complete streets project. You know, at a time that we're expanding and preserving affordable housing as a top priority of the city of Tucson, these investments would help us do just that. I also want to thank Senators Mark Kelly and Ruben Gallego for advancing Tucson priorities in the Senate appropriations process. They're supporting the same projects as the Congresswoman, but they're also appropriating $1.3 million for ambulances and peak volume and emergency trucks for Tucson Fire Department. They still have to go through the process of appropriation. So it's good news, but we haven't reached the finish line with this particular issue. So I'm happy that it passed this particular threshold and want to thank Congresswoman Grijalva, Senators Kelly and Gallego on behalf of Tucson for their work in moving these appropriations forward. And with that, I'm going to pass it over to Ms. Dent for her report.

Thank you, Mayor, members of the Council. Yes, indeed, fantastic news and an important first step in the congressionally-directed spending project process. So we'll continue with federal updates. Congress continues to focus on the budget reconciliation package. Just about an hour ago, the House passed this package, which includes approximately $40 billion for ICE, $26 billion for CBP, and $5 billion for the Secretary of Homeland Security. This is a reconciliation package that has been in limbo for some time at the federal level, and it was passed on a 2014 to 2012 or to the 214 to 212 party line vote. So it shows how narrow and high the stakes are at the federal level and the House, it is now going to President Trump for signature. Additionally, the House Appropriations Committee has approved its fiscal year 27 Transportation, Housing, and Urban Development Appropriations Bill. This bill preserves funding for the CDBG program, but it does include some reductions to home and other important housing projects and programs for the community. And this is where our community project funding is folded in so we're grateful for that and final funding levels will be negotiated later in the year and lastly on the federal front the house transportation and infrastructure committee advanced its five-year transportation reauthorization bill this includes a program intended to make it easier for bus rapid transit and other smaller transit projects to compete for federal funding So that's good news, and it leaves us well-positioned for our BRT proposal and project, paired with the fact that Tucson residents and regional residents supported RTA Next. So that's good news. And the House also rejected an amendment you may have heard about, and I think we've discussed with several members of the Council An amendment related to fare-free transit systems. There was some effort by the administration to disqualify communities that offer fare-free transit. That amendment was rejected, so this truly was a bipartisan package that is moving forward at the federal level. At the state level, lawmakers are expected to consider a state budget this week. The bills may be dropping right now as we speak. We should expect those to be moving at any moment and will likely be heard in appropriations tomorrow. So we don't have complete details. We've heard some chatter on what that is, but I'll be happy to provide a more official report to you all once we get those read in. We also expect lawmakers after approving a budget, traditionally is the timeline, to consider 24 legislative referrals that are in the hopper, essentially at the finish line, and we will see how many of those get moved forward to the ballot in November. So the legislature is statutorily obligated to pass a budget by June 30th, so the clock is ticking and we should expect lawmakers to be very busy this week. So that concludes my report.

Already any questions or comments, Vice Mayor?

Yeah, I was talking to Laura Dent right now and just trying to give our representative, Betty Villegas, some shine. And I was asking about SB 1118, which is a striker. AMENDMENT ON THE MIDDLE HOUSING AND HISTORIC PRESERVATION AND REPRESENTATIVE VILLAGAS WAS ABLE TO GET US TO A COMPROMISE WHERE WE CONTINUE TO GIVE LOCAL CITIES THE AUTHORITY TO DESIGN REVIEW PROCESS FOR MIDDLE HOUSING DEVELOPMENTS AND NATIONAL HISTORIC DISTRICTS AND DISINCENTIVIZE THE DEMOLITION OF HISTORIC BUILDINGS. And I know that this bill started from a lot of the politicking that happens in Maricopa County in Phoenix. But I just wanted to say we've been doing both. You know, we approved a middle housing citywide and have continued to disincentivize demolition of historic buildings. So I just wanted to give her some props. I know at the beginning of before this became a strike everything amendment, we weren't taking a position, but since we have, and again, just wanted to give some love to Rep Villegas for getting us there.

Any others, any questions? Alrighty, thank you so much. It has been an exciting year in the legislature. I hope that, you know, the city of Tucson doesn't come out too beaten up on the budget space with the state legislature and rooting for our delegation up there. So thank you, Ms. Dent. Thank you, Stephanie, really appreciate it. I am going to save my report to the Marian Council on my economic development mission trip to Taiwan for the summary of current events so that I can also report to the public. It was a very successful, very busy trip. trip in partnership with Pima County, the University of Arizona, and the Arizona Commerce Authority, a really important time for all of us, all our partners to gather and be on the same page. We had We signed a memorandum of understanding for educational exchange between the Education Bureau of Kaohsiung City Government, Pima County, and the City of Tucson, and we also signed a sister city agreement, which was amazing. So I'll tell you all about it and the summary of current events so that I can report to the community. WITH THAT, IF WE DON'T HAVE ANY MORE COMMENTARY ON THIS ITEM, WE ARE MOVING ON TO ITEM 9. MAYOR AND COUNCIL DISCUSSION OF REGULAR AGENDA. DOES ANYONE HAVE ANY ITEMS TO REMOVE FROM THE CONSENT AGENDA FOR TODAY'S MEETING? COUNCIL MEMBER SCHUBERT.

YES, THE TEP RATE CASE. JUST TO SAY A FEW WORDS.

ANY OTHERS? AND THAT ITEM, I THINK IT'S H. On the consent, G on the consent.

Your Honor, can I chime in on that one?

Sure.

Any chance we can remove H, and I don't know if the clerk and the attorney need to chime in. I mean, G, the TEP discussion, and have it right before we have the discussion about the undergrounding.

It's a different item, but we could do consent and consider this separately.

Okay, I tried.

All righty, any others? If there's no others, we move on to item 10. Mayor and council discussion of future agendas. Does anyone have any items for future agendas? Roy.

Sorry, Your Honor, I was a little too late. The manager and I were just talking. I think we had maybe discussed bringing the TEP public hearing item forward in the agenda. I don't know if that's something that you wanted to do after consent.

I mean, I know that there's going to be people here, so we could consider something like that, yeah.

And that way would be right after that. Right. Two TEP items.

That's all. All righty. so that's the agenda item 12 to consent and then 12 right after g is the proposed agenda item talk to you right after the consent okay thank you so we'll start the regular with that um all righty anyone else hearing none let me see we are adjourned and we will be back at 5 40 so that we can start the meeting thank you all

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Good evening, everyone. Thank you all so much for coming. I appreciate everyone in attendance for whatever the reason that you're here. Thank you so much for joining us to the Mayor and Council meeting. But first we are going to start with the Tucson Public Housing Authority Board of Commissioners meeting. So I'm gonna have to call this session to order. Um, Ms. Clark, I think we, I believe we need a roll call.

Roll call. Council Member Cunningham?

Here. Here.

Council Member Lee? Here. Council Member... Here. Council Member Tubert?

Here.

Vice Mayor Santa Cruz? Here. Mayor Romero? Here. Um, and...

commissioner hawkins sorry we're all commissioners not council members in this meeting our commissioner is absent excused thank you all righty item two quarterly public housing authority update city managers pha communication number 10 dated june 9th is received into and made part of the record is there a motion to approve well we need an actual update before we do a motion to approve the update uh I know that you included a memo in your material. I just wanted to see if you wanted to do a very short update.

Good evening, Chair Romero and members of the board. One of Housing and Community Development's priorities is to provide meaningful and consistent information to you, our Public Housing Authority Board of Commissioners. As you know, we provide a monthly memorandum to each of you, and then we meet in person about quarterly. During those in-person meetings, we are committed to giving a very short update. And so this update covers January through April of this year. The Housing Choice Voucher has provided rental and utility assistance benefiting over 10,000 low-income individuals throughout our community and has distributed more than $19.4 million in rental assistance payments to local property owners. In addition to housing assistance, the program has continued advancing self-sufficiency initiatives Providing supportive services to 104 participating households. HCD is preparing to host a landlord appreciation event later in June to recognize participating voucher property owners and managers for their continued partnership in providing affordable housing opportunities. for our public housing we've provided housing assistance to over 2500 low-income individuals i should note that number is a little lower than it used to be because tucson house is no longer public housing but as you know tucson house is still an important part of our housing portfolio Speaking of Tucson House, our housing, our HCD resident services team continues to provide important support. Since January, 266 participant households received case management and wraparound supportive services. Public Housing Authority staff have also continued focusing on property improvements. Since January, 49 units of public housing have been approved. Additionally, water conservation features have been installed at 513 units through a funding partnership with Tucson Water and the Water Infrastructure Finance Authority of Arizona. Thanks, city manager, for securing that funding for us. Given the lack of funding for public housing, the Public Housing Authority continues advancing several key projects under the Public Housing Financial Stability Plan, or what HUD calls asset repositioning. At Tucson House, construction activities are currently underway, and we are at about 17% complete. Progress also continues at Craycroft Towers where volume cap financing has been secured and an equity investor has been identified. However, there is still a funding gap on that project we need to close in order to move that forward. And so in closing, the Public Housing Authority remains committed to strengthening housing stability, improving operational performance, modernizing systems and infrastructure, and expanding supportive services for our residents and clients. Staff appreciate the continued support and guidance of the Board of Commissioners and look forward to continued progress throughout the remainder of the year. Thank you.

Thank you for the update, Director Shanaka. Hearing that update, if you have any questions or if I can get a motion to approve the update.

So moved.

Second. There's a motion and a second. Any further discussion? Hearing none. All those in favor, please signify. Aye. Any against? Motion carries. Item three.

Public Housing Authority write off uncollectible tenant account receivable approval.

City Manager's PHA communication number seven dated June 9th is received into and made part of the record. Madam Clerk, you are requested to read resolution PHA 2026-52 by number and title only.

Resolution number PHA 2026-52 relating to public housing authority authorizing the write-off of $119,694.76 of certain uncollectible tenant accounts receivable and declaring an emergency.

What is the board's pleasure? So move. Second. There is a motion to pass and adopt resolution PHA 2026-52. If there's, is there any further discussion? Hearing none, we do have to go to roll call vote.

Commissioner Santa Cruz.

Aye.

Commissioner Dahl.

Aye.

Commissioner Lee. Aye. Aye. Commissioner Barajas. Aye. Commissioner Schubert.

Aye.

Commissioner Hawkins. Chair Romero.

Aye. The motion to approve Resolution PHA 2026-52 passes by a vote of 7-0. Item 4.

Public Housing Authority Public Housing Program flat rent adoption.

City managers, PHA communication number eight, dated June 9th, is received internally, part of the record. Madam Clerk, you are requested to read resolution PHA 2026-53 by number and title only.

Resolution number PHA 2026-53 relating to the Public Housing Authority authorizing the adoption of the flat rent for the public housing program and setting an effective date. May I have a motion, please?

So here I move to pass and drop to PHJ 2026-53.

Second. There is a motion and a second. Any further discussion on this motion? Hearing none, let's go to roll call. Commissioner Lee?

Aye. Commissioner Cunningham?

Aye.

Commissioner Dahl?

Aye.

Commissioner Santa Cruz?

Aye.

Commissioner Schubert?

Aye.

Commissioner... Aye.

Chair Romero? Aye. The motion to approve resolution PHA 2026-53 passes by a vote of 7-0. Item five?

Public Housing Program Utility Allowance Adoption.

City Manager's PHA communication number 11, dated June 9th, is received in to make part of the record. Madam Clerk, you are requested to read resolution PHA 2026-54 by number and title only.

Resolution number PHA 2026-54 relating to public housing resolution adopting and approving the City of Tucson revised utility allowance schedule effective July 1, 2026 and declaring an emergency.

What is the board's pleasure? I move to approve and adopt resolution PHA 2026-54. I second.

There is a motion and a second. Any further discussion? Hearing none, let's go to roll call. Commissioner Schubert. Aye.

Aye. Commissioner Dahl.

Aye.

Commissioner Santa Cruz.

Aye.

Commissioner Lee.

Aye.

Commissioner Cunningham.

Aye. Aye.

Chair Romero? Aye. The motion to approve resolution PHA 2026, death 54, passes by a vote of 7-0. Item 6? Fiscal year 2027, public housing authority budget approval. City managers, PHA communication number nine, dated June 9th, is received into and made part of the record. Madam Clerk, you are requested to read resolution PHA 2026-55 by number and title only.

Resolution number PHA 2026-55 relating to the Housing and Community Development Department's reviewing and approving the public housing asset management project budgets developed for the city of Tucson as required by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development for HUD fiscal year 2027, authorizing execution delivery of HUD form 52574 and declaring an emergency. What is the board's pleasure?

So moved.

There is a motion and a second to pass and adopt resolution PHA 2026-55. Is there any further discussion on this item? Hearing none, let's go to roll call. Commissioner Dahl?

Aye.

Commissioner Schubert? Aye. Commissioner Lee? Aye. Commissioner Cunningham. Aye. Commissioner Barajas. Aye. Commissioner Santa Cruz. Aye. Chair Romero.

Aye. The motion to approve Resolution PHA 2026-55 passes by a vote of 7-0. Item 7. Approval of Minutes. City Manager's PHA Communication No. 12, dated June 9, is received into and made part of the record. Is there a motion to approve the minutes of the April 7, 2026 meeting? So moved. Second. There's a motion and a second. All those in favor of the motion, please signify by saying aye. Aye. Aye. Any against? Motion carries. And item eight, adjournment. The meeting of the Board of Commissioners is now adjourned. The Mayor and Council will now convene our regular meeting. Alrighty, now we are reconvening for the regular meeting of the Mayor and Council. For the record, I forgot to say this with the PHA meeting. For the record, Councilwoman Lee will be participating electronically through Microsoft Teams. Council will stand in session. Let's go to roll call.

Councilmember Cunningham.

Here.

Councilmember Dahl.

Here.

Councilmember Lee. Here. Here. Council Member Barajas. Here. Council Member Schiff.

Here.

Vice Mayor Santa Cruz.

Here.

Mayor Romero. Here.

Before we go to item two, the city attorney will go over the rules of decorum for mayor and council meetings. Mr. Attorney.

Thank you. Arizona's open meeting laws provide that members of the public may attend and listen to the proceedings during tonight's public meeting of the mayor and council. Arizona law also allows the mayor and council to enforce rules and procedures for public attendance of the meetings to ensure orderly behavior and to prevent unnecessary interference with the public meeting. Here are the rules that apply. The rules are required decorum and orderly conduct by the members of the audience. No person attending the meeting shall engage in conduct that disrupts or otherwise impedes the orderly conduct of the meeting, including any statements or conduct that interrupts the persons who might be addressing the mayor and council or that disrupts the discussions of the mayor and council. The mayor has the authority to ensure compliance with the rules of orderly conduct. If disorderly or disruptive conduct continues after a warning, and this is that first warning, the mayor may direct the removal of persons from the chambers and or recess the meeting itself. If disruptive behavior makes it necessary to clear the chambers, the persons who disrupted the meeting will not be allowed to return to the chambers for the remainder of tonight's meeting. As a final note, please be aware that interfering with or preventing this lawful public meeting from being carried out in an orderly manner not only violates the rules of participation, but also violates Title 13 of the Arizona Revised Statutes.

All righty, let's see. We move on to item two. invocation, pledge of allegiance and appointments to boards, committees and commissions.

Alrighty, so we will have, we will start today with a land acknowledgement and then move to the pledge of allegiance. Let us begin by grounding ourselves and acknowledging these lands. The city of Tucson is on the lands that have been stewarded by the Tohono O'odham since time immemorial and the Pascua Yaqui people who have lived in the Sonoran Desert for thousands of years. We acknowledge the history of this land in order for us to move forward representing the people that this land belongs to. Please rise for the Pledge of Allegiance. We'll now move on to item 2C, which is the presentations. We have two proclamations today. We have a proclamation that I'd like to invite forward many community members that are with us today who have dedicated themselves to reducing gun violence and supporting survivors in our community. Whether through advocacy, public safety, health care, prevention programs, or sharing their own stories, these individuals remind us that behind every statistic is a human life. Their work challenges us to build a Tucson where every person can feel safe, supported, and free from violence. Let me see, I think I have a list of individuals that will... Join us. Our guests are Azul Navarrete-Valera and Isaac Villegas-Jergen from the City of Tucson's VIVA Violence Interruption Vitalization Action Program. Graduates from the 2026 VIVA Community Safety Leadership Institute. Brittany Peterson, our very own TPD Violence Reduction Coordinator. Representatives from Giffords, Eli Raspet and Daniel Garcia. These next two teams are partnered together with Arizona's first Hospital-Linked Violence Intervention Program, Banner UMC Level 1 Trauma Center, Alisa Michal, Trauma Center Program Manager, Dr. Colin Stewart, Trauma Medical Director, and Dr. Kaitlyn Saeed. Goodwill of Southern Arizona, The Village Program, Lance Meeks, Vice President of Community Engagement, Carlos Ramirez, Fay McCorry, Michael Lopez Minor, Andres Medina, and Let me see if we have more. Advocates and survivors of gun violence shootings in our community. Lisa Kistner, associate clinical professor at the University of Arizona and survivor of the nursing school shooting. Katie Woodall, survivor of Las Vegas shooting. Pat Massage, survivor of the January 8th shooting. Pam Simon, Linda Patterson Vargas, Sarah Roberts, and Robert Valera. Mike Humphrey, gun violence prevention advocate in Pima County Medical Board, Sandra Gutierrez, Moms Demand Action, and Lisa Teyechea from Pima Prevention Partnership. If you can join me, those that are here and present up in the front so that we can go through the proclamation, and then we have a second proclamation, and I'll invite all of our guests for that when we reach the I would like to invite my colleagues on the council to join me if you would want. Yeah, for those of you, please, please join us up here at front. There's plenty of room over here. Make yourselves at home. You could join us here. Yes, please squish in. Come on in. I like all of the orange T-shirts. Yeah, please join us. Please join us. Thank you all so much. Yes, join us. Please stand here and gather with us. First, let me thank you all for making the time to be able to join us for this proclamation. The work that you all do to affect the lives of our community, and not just Tucson and Arizona, but nationwide, is very meaningful. and very important for me as the mayor of our beautiful city. And so your work is valued by all of us. And we all know we need to do additional work, but we don't do it alone. We do it together. And there's so much power in solidarity and holding hands as a community for the benefit of our residents. So thank you all so much for making this time and for your important work for all of us. Alrighty, so on behalf of the Office of the Mayor in the City of Tucson, I'd like to read this important proclamation. Whereas every day, nearly 130 people in the United States are killed by gun violence and more than 200 are shot and wounded, with an average of more than 19,000 gun homicides every year. And whereas Arizona has an average of 1,383 gun deaths per year, with a rate of 18.1 deaths per 100,000 people, a crisis that costs the state $15.9 billion each year, of which $253.2 million is paid by taxpayers. Arizona has the 17th highest rate of gun deaths in the U.S., And whereas cities across the nation, including in Tucson, are working to end the senseless violence with evidence-based solutions. And whereas in January 13th, 2013, Hadiyah Pendleton was tragically shot and killed at age 15. And on June 5th, 2026, to recognize the 29th birthday of Hadiya Pendleton, born June 5th, June 2nd, 1997, people across the United States will recognize National Gun Violence Awareness Day and wear orange. And whereas in collaboration with law enforcement, community organizations, and engaging in dialogue with our neighbors, we renew our commitment to reduce gun violence and pledge to do all we can to keep firearms out of the hands of people who should not have access to them, and encourage responsible gun ownership to help keep our families and community safe. And whereas the City of Tucson's Violence Interruption and Vitalization Action, VIVA program, is a holistic, data-driven, and evidence-informed approach to address gun violence at specific locations across the city that have experienced high levels of gun-related violence. And whereas, since implementing this work, three of the VIVA sites have seen a reduction of gun violence by 80% on Grant and Albernon, 77% on Prudence and 22nd, and 75% on Campbell and Bilby. Now, therefore, I, Regina Romero, Mayor of the City of Tucson, Arizona, declare the first Friday in June 2026 to be National Gun Violence Awareness Day in this community and encourage residents to support local efforts to prevent the tragic effects of gun violence to honor and value human lives. And witness whereof, I have here unto set my hand and cast the seal of the city of Tucson, Arizona to be affixed this ninth day of June 2026. Thank you all for your incredible work. And I would be remiss if I do not ask our guests, at least a few representatives, not all, to speak to all of us with your message. So I would love to invite a representative of the village program, either Banner or Goodwill, to speak to us. The village program. Like it takes a village.

I'm not going to do YMCA, but, you know, we've been coming and I appreciate the support of the mayor's office and the recognition of this every year. You know, we come and I look forward to the day that we don't have to do this. You know, we see these people come in in the worst of times in the hospital. And while we continue to work to reduce gun violence in the coordination with all of our partners in the city and the various community agencies, We're not there yet, we still have a long way to go, and like I said, I just look forward to the day that we don't have to recognize this day because gun violence isn't a problem anymore.

Thank you. Lance Meeks, representing Goodwill.

Thank you, Mayor and Council. On behalf of Goodwill Southern Arizona, we are thankful to be able to partner with so many agencies and organizations in this room. I've hugged so many people, shake so many hands. So the love is definitely here. We know that there's some urgency to do this work and we are committed as an organization to working with All in our community, I would like to definitely give a shout out to the folks on our front line, Carlos Ramirez, Faye McCorry, Andy Medina, and Michael Lopez Minor. Without these opportunities, with the support of the city of Tucson, Tucson Police Department, and so many of you in this room, we could not do what we do on a daily basis. So it does take a village. Thank you, Mayor. Appreciate you.

I'd also like to invite Sandra Gutierrez.

If it's OK, I will be brief, but I wrote a speech. Good evening, Mayor Romero and members of city council. My name is Sandra Gutierrez, and I'm here tonight on behalf of Moms Demand Action for Gun Sons in America. First, I want to extend our gratitude to Mayor Romero and the council for officially proclaiming June as Gun Violence Awareness Month in Tucson. Thank you for your continued leadership and for standing with survivors, families, and advocates who refuse to let gun violence define our community. This proclamation is not a piece of paper, it is a public commitment. Gun violence is a public health crisis. In Arizona, on average of 1,383 people lose their lives to firearms every year, and across our nation, firearms remain a leading cause of death for our children. Every number represents a Tucson neighbor, a student, a friend, or an empty seat at a family dinner table. But as moms, we know that awareness must drive action. That is why we are proud to stand alongside a city that doesn't just talk about change, but it invests in it. When we wear orange this month, we do it to honor those that we've lost, but we also wear it as a promise to keep fighting for secure gun storage, common sense safety laws, and a future where every child in Tucson can play in their neighborhood without fear. Thank you, Mayor and Council, for seeing us, partnering with us, and working to keep Tucson safe. We look forward to continuing this vital work together.

Thank you.

And I would love to invite a graduate of the VIVA Community Safety Leadership Institute. Anyone? Alrighty, come on over.

My name is Susie Jacobs with a Z. Why? I heard about this program from Kevin Dahl's newsletter. So I was really grateful to be a part of it. We learned how to stop the bleed. We learned how to apply Narcan. We learned the... different programs and opportunities with small business, with the Goodwill who is part of our class, one of the speakers, and then a victim. And we brought all different kinds of people together because government is good. And when government comes together and works with people in nonprofits and in the public who care, nothing stops except gun violence. So thank you.

Thank you. And now we're going to take a big group family photo.

So Squishen.

We like each other. Move in. There you go, Squishen. Don't be afraid.

All righty.

Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.

Thank you guys.

Alrighty, so thank you all so much for your incredible work. And we have a second proclamation. So we're going to, as we confront the realities of gun violence and the work that is being done in our community by pretty incredible people, we are going to finish with a pride proclamation. We're gonna bring some joy as we present another proclamation. So we're joined by many incredible advocates, business owners and leaders who helped Tucson become a more welcoming, inclusive and vibrant city for all. I especially want to thank the LGBTQ Chamber and the LGBTQ Plus owned businesses and highlight their work this year. As entrepreneurs and community leaders, they continue to create jobs, build community, and provide welcoming spaces while navigating an uncertain economy and a challenging climate for LGBTQ Plus communities across the country. So I'm going to invite our guests for this proclamation tonight, the Tucson LGBT Chamber and member businesses, Humberto Rivera-Garcia on behalf of LGBT Chamber President Dante Solerio, Tori Dueñas, owner of Monsoon Mystics.

As I call your name, come up here, join us.

Colette Barajas, owner of Sentra Realty. Alana Solis, owner of Dirty Tea Tamarindo, which has delicious, delicious snacks. Yesabel Garcia, owner of La Bikini Bruja. Let me see. Other chamber members and LGBTQ owned businesses joining us today. Mary O'Donohue, Executive Director of Southern Arizona Senior Pride, which I had the great honor to marry with her wife. My good friend, Jaime Tadeo, Carlos Hernandez, CEO at SAFE, Southern Arizona AIDS Foundation, and esteemed staff, Christopher, David, and Eric, the fabulous Jenae DeVos, or Jenae Divas. Mr. Wolf, City of Tucson LGBTQ Commissioner member, Josue Romero, Erna Rosen, Kyle Snowden, Gail Brickard, Al Brickton, and any other who would like to join us here up front. We have another extra proclamation if you all want to hold it. Because the diva here has won. All righty. So... So happy. We're all here. We can squish in. Thank you all so much for joining us. Really appreciate you being here with us. Your work is significant and so important to continue making the city of Tucson the inclusive, beautiful city that we are. So on behalf of the city of Tucson and the Office of the Mayor, I would like to read this proclamation. Whereas the uprising at New York City Stonewall Inn in June of 1969 sparked a liberation movement, a call to action that continues to inspire us to live up to our nation's promise of equality, liberty, and justice for all. Whereas, in the 55 years since the Stonewall Riots, Pride has been recognized as a time to uplift and celebrate the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer community, to recall the trials this community has endured, and to rejoice in the trumps and trailblazing individuals who have bravely fought and continue to fight for equality. And whereas Pride Month is also a call to action and a reminder that many LGBTQ plus people, especially transgender people, queer and trans plus people of color, indigenous two-spirit relatives, immigrants, people with disabilities and youth, continue to face discrimination and violence amid anti-LGBTQ plus legislation, attacks on gender affirming healthcare, and efforts to erase two-spirit lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans plus, and queer people from public life. and whereas Tucson's first Pride event was held in Hemel Park on June 28th, 1977, one year after the murder of Richard J. Heacon Jr. in a parking lot outside of Tucson's Stonewall Tavern on North First Avenue. and whereas also in 1977, the city of Tucson was among the first US cities to pass an anti-discrimination ordinance protecting the gay, lesbian, bisexual, and queer people, and whereas in February 1999, the city council passed an amendment to the human relations ordinance banning discrimination in employment, housing, and public accommodations, based on gender identity. And whereas on November 2025, the Tucson City Council passed a resolution reaffirming the unwavering commitment to the rights, dignity, and safety of transgender and gender diverse people in the city of Tucson. And whereas the current City of Tucson Mayor and Council, the city officials that have served before this Mayor and Council have taken positions in opposition to legislation that would limit freedom of expression, reproductive freedom, and that would harm our LGBTQIA plus community. And whereas LGBTQ plus Tucsonans strengthen our community through their leadership, culture, creativity, and resilience. And Pride Month celebrates the histories and contributions of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, two-spirit, intersex, asexual, and gender diverse people in our community. And whereas the city of Tucson acknowledges that we must continue to be vigilant and tireless work to honor, support, and defend these civil rights and freedoms granted not only for LGBTQIA plus community, but for all of our residents as we seek positive change to eliminate sexism, racism, bigotry, and prejudice of any and all types. And I promise this is the last whereas. And whereas, we will continue to strive towards progress on being a more just, equitable, and welcoming community where all people, no matter their sexual orientation, gender identity, or gender expression, are able to enjoy affirming lives in Tucson. Now, therefore, I, Regina Romero, Mayor of the City of Tucson, Arizona, do hereby proclaim the month of June 2026 to be LGBTQ Plus Pride Month in this community. and call all to support our LGBTQIA plus friends, family members, and neighbors in building an inclusive community where everyone can prosper and thrive. In witness whereof, I have here unto set my hand and cast the seal of the city of Tucson, Arizona to be affixed this ninth day of June, 2025. Congratulations. And thank you all. for the work that you do. And I know we still have to do so much work, especially in the face of renewed efforts to silence us. So I do want to invite some of you. I'm not going to let you all go without speaking. So I would like to invite some of you to come and say a couple of words. Humberto Rivera Garcia is our first guest.

Hello, everyone. Good evening to Mayor Regina Romero and the council. Thank you for extending your invitation to this beautiful proclamation. I'm Humberto Rivera-Garcia, and I'm representing FLUX as a board member and a volunteer. Flux empowers LGBTQ plus communities with a special focus on queer, trans, black, indigenous, and people of color, or QTBIPOC for those that are familiar, through arts, activism, and mutual aid. In the span of 20 plus years, we've created a safe space pardon me, we've created safe and inclusive spaces via 13 year round programs and community events and fundraisers, including our upcoming Desert Pride Tucson community celebration in 2027 that all celebrate diversity, amplify marginalized voices and inspire social change, fostering collective liberation and community resilience. Thank you to Mayor, Senora Alcaldesa Regina Romero, and the city of Tucson for their continued support to the LGBTQ plus community and their improvement of Tucson as a whole. Thank you everyone.

All righty, Colette Barajas.

Thank you for having us here. I can't believe it's 43 years ago I opened the first lesbian bar in Tucson, Arizona, just as we were saying, to provide a safe space for women to meet other women and to show our love and who we are to the city. We had a large marquee on Speedway and we did a lot of education through that. I have always found Tucson as a welcoming city for businesses, especially minority. You know, being a Latina woman, a lesbian, owning the first women's bar. I had the privilege of the police being very supportive and helping. We had some challenges from time to time, but we continued to collectively communicate and prove that we were all one and that we all belonged here. And after closing the bar, I decided to open a real estate company really to focus on trans and to educate associate businesses on the differences of same-sex couples and the challenges that we have in housing. So I just want to thank the city of Tucson and everyone that I've had the privilege of working with for over 40, almost 50 years in establishing and having successful businesses because of all of your support and of the community in which I live. And I can't thank enough everyone who has held me up and supported me in over 45 years. Thank you.

The diva herself, Janay Divas.

I have to pull my notes up. God made me pretty, but not fast. Good evening, everybody. Mayor Romero, Council Salina, and vice mayor and council members. My name is Armando, and many people know me as Janay Divas from Diva's Illusion Show. I'll hold for the applause. Thank you. and I am also part of Ward 5. Standing here today as a proud Latino member of the LGBTQ plus community is an honor I do not take lightly. When I think about pride, I don't just think about celebration, I think about community. Because the truth is, there was a time in my life when I wasn't sure where I belonged. Like many people, I spent years trying to figure out who I was, where I fit in, and whether there was space for someone like me. What I discovered was something beautiful. Community has the power to change a life, not because it solves every problem, but because it reminds us that we don't have to go through those problems alone. As Latinos, we are taught the importance of family, love, resilience, and showing up for one another. Pride has taught me that family can be both the one you are born into and the one you build along the way. Through my work in our community, I've had the privilege of creating spaces where strangers become friends, friends become family, and people feel safe enough to be exactly who they are. And that's what pride means to me. It's not just about being seen. It's about making sure that others feel seen too. Tonight, I want every person who may be questioning whether they belong to hear this. There is a place for you. There is a community for you. There is nothing wrong with you. You do not have to choose between your culture and your identity. You do not have to make yourself smaller so others feel comfortable. You deserve to be loved exactly as you are. For the kid I used to be and for every person still searching for whether they belong, I want you to know this. You belong here, in this city, in this community, with us. Thank you, Mayor. Thank you to the city of Tucson for recognizing Pride Month and celebrating people who make our community stronger every day. Happy Pride.

Alrighty. And then we're going to finish off with Carlos Hernandez, CEO of SAFE. Carlos.

Good evening, everyone. I'll keep it short and sweet. Thank you for inviting us here today. Thank you for this beautiful proclamation. We are really happy that we are becoming a much more progressive society, and we're just excited to share this beautiful moment with you. So thank you very much.

And before everyone parts, we're going to take a nice family picture.

Okay, everybody look at me. Ready? One, two, three. Pride! Pride!

Yes! Appointments all righty. Thank you all so much for letting us have that special time and That celebration so item 2d Appointments to boards committees and commissions city managers communication number 166 stated June 9th is received into and made part of the record may have a motion to approve the appointments and the report please so moved second there is a motion and a second to appoint and I'm going to say, I'm going to do right now. To appoint Val Little to the Environmental Services Advisory Committee, Trevor Ledbetter to the Environmental Services Advisory Committee, and to appoint Charles P. Trujillo to the Self-Insured Risk Trust Fund. So any discussion to this motion? Hearing none, I would like to thank all of the appointees for your willingness to serve the city of Tucson. All those in favor of the motion, please signify by saying aye. Aye. Any against? Motion carries. Are there any personal appointments to be made at this time? Hearing none, we move on to item three, Mayor and Council report, summary of current events. City managers communication number 167 dated June 9th is received into and made part of the record. This time has been scheduled to allow members of the mayor and council to report on current events. These are to be current events of activities within the community, not position statements on policy issues. I know that our colleagues have reports and I would like to take this time I usually let you all do your thing, and then I do it at the end. But I did want to talk about my historic trip, economic development trip to Taiwan to represent the city of Tucson. I went along with our partners at the Arizona Commerce Authority, Pima County, and the University of Arizona, as well as the city of Tucson. DURING OUR TRIP, WE MET GOVERNMENT LEADERS, UNIVERSITY REPRESENTATIVES, RESEARCHERS, AND TECHNOLOGY COMPANIES, AND I'M REALLY PROUD TO ANNOUNCE TWO MAJOR OUTCOMES. THE FIRST, AND I HAVE SOME PROOF HERE, I HAVE SOME PROOF TO SHOW. I HAVE PROPS AS COUNCILMEMBER DALLAS. THE FIRST SIGNIFICANT STEP THAT THE CITY OF TUCSON TOOK WAS THAT THE CITY OF TUCSON AND PIMA COUNTY SIGNED A SISTER CITIES AGREEMENT. do show-and-tell as well you can take a look at it second is that we signed a memorandum of understanding for educational exchange between the Education Bureau of Kaohsiung city government Pima County and the city of Tucson and This is how it's defined. These agreements build upon the Six-Party Memorandum of Understanding on Semiconductor Ecosystems and Global Talent Partnership signed in Tucson earlier this year by Kaohsiung City Mayor Chi-Mai Chen, National Sun Yat-sen University, the University of Arizona, the City of Tucson, Pima County, and the Arizona Commerce Authority. These partnerships create opportunities for student exchange, workforce development, scientific collaboration, economic cooperation, and most importantly, job creation. THIS IS THE SISTER CITY SIGNATURE. OUR MEETINGS WERE MANY. THEY KEPT US REALLY, REALLY BUSY. AND WE MET WITH IMPORTANT COMPANIES IN TAIWAN FOCUSED ON SEMICONDUCTORS, MICROCHIP MANUFACTURING, OPTICS, PHOTONICS, ADVANCED PACKAGING, SUPPLY CHAIN DEVELOPMENT AND WORKFORCE TRAINING. As Arizona's technology economy grows, Tucson has an opportunity to support innovation, high quality jobs, water stewardship, renewable energy, and sustainable development, all at the same time as creating jobs for our economy. We also strengthen partnerships with National Symiot-Sen University, a leader in semiconductor, silicon photonics, and optics research. Together with the University of Arizona, they will help advance research collaboration and help develop the skilled workforce these industries need. One of the biggest lessons from Taiwan was seeing how universities, manufacturers, suppliers, workforce programs, and government work together as a connected technology ecosystem. Arizona is building a similar model with semiconductor manufacturing growing in the Phoenix region and Tucson contributing leadership in optics, photonics, engineering, water innovation, and research commercialization. The interest from companies and universities in partnering with Tucson and Southern Arizona was abundantly clear. As Taiwan looks to Arizona for opportunities connected to the technologies powering solar panels, computers, artificial intelligence, and electric vehicles, now is the time to build on our region's advanced manufacturing momentum and create high quality, water efficient jobs that can help transform our economy. I come back very enthusiastic from our economic development mission trip and look forward to continuing the relationship building that we signed into our memorandum of understanding and our sister city agreement. Thank you all for allowing me the space and the time. I know that many of you serve to represent me. Vice Mayor, thank you so much for taking over on so many events and activities to allow me the time to be able to travel to Taiwan on behalf of the residents of the city of Tucson and really look for high wage, long term jobs and economic opportunities for our city. Thank you. And that's my report. I'D LIKE TO INVITE MY COLLEAGUES TO PRESENT AT ANY CURRENT EVENTS. WE'RE GOING TO START WITH COUNCILMEMBER SCHUBERT AND THEN GO DOWN THE LINE.

THANK YOU, MADAM MAYOR.

My current event report today will start with an update about traffic violence that has occurred since our last mayor and council meeting, which was on May 19th. And this is just an effort to keep these people at the forefront of our mind as we move forward with leveraging investments in safety here in Tucson. And I hope some time when we have this meeting, I don't have any deaths or injuries to report. On May 22nd, two men died in a road rage-related shooting. A 21-year-old and a 41-year-old got into a confrontation while they were driving. They pulled over and then they fatally shot each other. On May 24th, a 21-year-old was killed and a 24-year-old passenger suffered life-threatening injuries in a high-speed single-vehicle crash. That same day, a motorcycle driver was taken to the hospital in a separate crash with serious injuries. On June 3rd, one person suffered life-threatening injuries in a crash. That same day, there was also a two-vehicle crash that killed a 34-year-old. On June 5th, traffic was diverted for hours after a two-vehicle crash with injuries. On June 6th, the 22-year-old motorcyclist was killed in an early morning crash. And on June 7th, there was a fatal crash. And I'm only reporting on incidents that happened in Tucson. Moving on to current events, just want to shout out that June, in addition to being Pride Month, is also National Aphasia Awareness Month. Wanted to shout out the Friends of Aphasia who meets regularly at the Ward 6 office and brought that to our attention. We also wanted to, I'm excited to announce to you a fun summer project that we have been working on in the Ward 6 office. One of our guiding values at the Ward 6 office is love and love for Tucson is behind our new effort, which is called the Ward 6 Summer Stampede. That's stamp with all caps. Launching the week of June 22nd, the Summer Stampede is a screen-free analog adventure inspired by Japan's eki stamp tradition. The program highlights special locations throughout Ward 6 where unique carved rubber stamps are hidden in plain sight, celebrating local flora, small businesses, parks, artists, and city services, like where the recycling is, while encouraging exploration and discovery. So you can stop by the Ward 6 office during the week of June 22nd or starting during the week of June 22nd to pick up a stamp passport and map. There's a map with all the locations. And then you can head out to find stamps and place the stamps in your booklet as a summer keepsake. We're also brainstorming prizes to give out to folks who participate. So keep an eye out for updates throughout our weekly newsletter activities. and social media. And we're going to have a couple of special interns who will be helping with this project over the summer. We are bringing on two teenage interns to the Ward 6 office, and they're getting onboarded this week. And then finally, just a quick update about the Ward 6 chill space, which is the cooling center that we have opened at the Ward 6 office. We converted our kitchen to the cooling center so that we can maintain use of our community rooms for community groups and neighborhoods. We've been open for two weeks. 60 people have been served in the first two weeks. and 22 of them have taken showers. Because our offices used to be a police station and a fire station, there's showers and lockers, which is a great resource for us to be able to offer. This week, we're starting to host agency partners with additional resources, including health checks, recovery resources, and housing navigation. And there's also plans to offer haircuts and bike tune-ups later that summer. Empire Beauty School is nearby, so they always need people to practice on. And if you are looking to help out, we can use donations of disposable razors, women's underwear all sizes, and men's boxers all sizes, snacks like chips and granola bars, ramen noodle cups, juice boxes, and single-serve flavored water. single-serve flavor water packets like the electrolyte kind, trial-size sunscreen, and trial-size insect repellent. So I'll continue to provide updates. Feel free to reach out to the Ward 6 office if you want the donation list, and we'll also include updates in our Friday newsletter. Okay, thank you. That concludes my report.

Thank you, Councilmember. Councilmember Barajas.

Thank you, Mayor. Hello, everyone. I would like to begin by sharing that last week, our Heat Loteria Night at the Ward 5 office was a tremendous success. We were proud to partner with the City of Tucson Climate Action Team to host this community event focused on heat. preparedness and safety. I would also like to recognize and thank Elma Alvarez, who's here in the chambers, our civic and family engagement advisor, and the entire Ward 5 team for their hard work in making this event a success. Thank you, Elma. Their efforts included canvassing nearby mobile home communities, conducting community outreach and ensuring residents were aware of the resources and information available to help them stay safe during the summer heat. More than 60 community members joined us for an evening of learning, conversation and fun. We were joined by ward five commissioners, informational resource booths, nonprofit partners, and residents from across ward five. Thank you to everyone who attended, participated, and of course, congratulations to all of our Loteria winners, some here in the room. Events like these help ensure our neighbors have access to critical information and resources as we enter the hottest months of the year. And speaking of summer heat, I would like to remind our residents that the City of Tucson's cooling centers are now open. From June through September, six city-operated cooling centers will provide safe, air-conditioned spaces for residents seeking relief from extreme temperatures. I am grateful that the El Pueblo Center, located at 101 West Irvington Road, road in Ward 5, that's a little tongue twister, is serving as one of these locations. All cooling centers are accessible by Suntran routes and will operate daily from noon to 4 p.m. I encourage anyone in need or anyone who knows someone who may be vulnerable to the heat to take advantage of this important resource. This past weekend, I had the honor of serving as a speaker at the Iota Phi Lambda Sorority Inc. 97th Founders Day Luncheon and Awards. My sincere thanks to Sierra Connerly, President of the Tucson Chapter for the invitation. It was an honor to participate in and to celebrate Arizona Statewide Founders Day along such dedicated leaders and community members and to see sisterhood in action. I am pleased to share some exciting news for our Ward 5 families. The new playground at Bristol Park is now officially open. This project was made possible through Tucson Deliver's Proposition 407 bond, funding approved by voters to improve parks, public spaces, and neighborhood amenities throughout our city. The new playground provides another welcoming place for children and families to gather, to play and to enjoy time together outdoors. Thank you to everyone who helped make this investment possible. I encourage residents to stop by and to enjoy this wonderful addition in the Barrio Centro neighborhood. You are all invited to join me and our Ward 5 team for our next lunch meetup this Friday, June 12, from 12 to 1.30 p.m. at Nico's Mexican Food, located at 1616 East 22nd Street. These meetups provide an opportunity for our neighbors to connect with our office, share concerns and ideas, and support local Ward 5 businesses navigating construction impacts in the area. We hope to see many of you there. I am looking forward to attending the 56th Annual Juneteenth Festival on Saturday, June 20th from 6 to 10 p.m. at the Keno Sports Complex as we come together to honor freedom, heritage, and community. I would like to invite the community to a special event later this month honoring the life and legacy of Coach Dawn Kohlstreich. The Jet Sports Foundation and Southside community will gather to celebrate the late Sunnyside wrestling coach whose leadership helped establish a tradition of excellence and championship success that continues throughout the Sunnyside district today. The event will also recognize Sunnyside and Desert View alumni who who were state championship, who are on state championship teams and also runner-up teams. I am honored to provide welcoming remarks and I encourage anyone who's listening that has participated in any sports, families, neighbors, to come and attend. The event will be held at the Tucson Convention Center on June 27th. I would also like to wish a happy 21st birthday to our Parks and Public Space fellow, Cassandra Chavarria, who celebrated her birthday last week, as well as happy birthday to our Communications and Civic Engagement fellow, Jack Erickson, who will be celebrating his birthday in a few days. If you're here, Jack, happy birthday. We are grateful for the contributions to Ward 5 in our community. Lastly, I would like to offer my heartfelt condolences on the passing of a community leader and community champion, Julie Gallego Gonzalez. Julie's loss is deeply felt by many in our community, and my thoughts are with her family, friends, and loved ones during this difficult time. She passed away yesterday afternoon, and in February, we here in the chambers had the honor of recognizing Julie for her incredible work and the lasting impact she made through the founding of Viva Dance Studio. For the past 40 years, through her leadership and dedication, she created a space that not only celebrated dance and culture, but also inspired a whole community of youth, families, and brought the community together year after year through the arts and through her faith. Her legacy will continue to live on in the students she mentored and the many lives she touched. May her family find comfort in the memories they shared and in the enduring impact she leaves behind. Thank you.

Thank you, Council Member. Councilwoman Lee, I don't know if you wanted to jump in with a summary of current events. Thank you, Mayor. No announcements tonight. Thank you. Council Member Dahl.

Thank you, Mayor. One announcement. Congratulations to Tucson Parks and Rec for working with neighbors to improve a sweet little neighborhood park located at 245 East Glen. the Keeling Desert Park. It needed some love. And thanks to funding from the voter-approved Proposition 407 bond and a grant from the Tawantum Nation, the park will be a safer, and a more playful place for kids to play. For the youngsters, there's new cement animals. I hope you can see these. If you can't, come to the park. We're doing a ribbon cutting Thursday, June 11th. The mayor will be there, 9 a.m. Also a grasshopper, and not pictured is Mr. Tortoise.

There's improved lighting.

We lowered masonry walls at the beginning that we're providing hidey holes for folks that shouldn't be in the park and improved and enlarged masonry walls at the back to shield neighbors from the noise because there will be some noise because there's now a half court basketball court for the older kids to enjoy playing there. There's also a new kiosk and maybe see some of you Thursday morning when we cut the ribbon.

Council Member Cunningham.

All right, I'm going to try to go fast. I've got six announcements. Sorry about that. I want to thank everybody about Palo Verde Park. We had two ribbon cuttings in Palo Verde Park last week, one for improvements to the park. This included an LED new softball field. upgraded irrigation system, a new shaded playground with accessible features on it so that paratransit and disabled children could use. The two, what used to be the tennis court was actually converted into two full-size basketball courts. I'll talk about that in a second. And then the former basketball court is now three pickleball courts and all of them are now lighted so they can be used. We also added 101 trees into the park. We replanted 101 trees with 42 going on the Langley parcel, which is across the street and added acreage to the existing park. The bulk of it was paid for by Prop 407 bond funds and impact fees. We also cut the ribbon, though, the next day in the same park to the Judith Mammablair courts. It's a modern, covered, two full-court, 94-feet-long NBA-sized basketball courts. It's the only one in Tucson with all three international women's basketball, men's basketball, three-point lines painted on. And the work was done mainly because I was approached by my friend Joseph Blair, who works for the Houston Rockets, He used to be on the University of Arizona Wildcat basketball team and spent 12 years as a professional basketball player. And he actually came back here every year while he was still a player and did a free camp for children for two weeks. And we had a lot of kids come out who had attended those camps over the years. So it was a really neat community thing. And we dedicated the court to his mother, Judith Blair. Mama Blair was one of the few people that was a volunteer organ donor later in life and help someone survive. She, uh, organized, uh, the salvation army, um, fashion show every year when she was here in Tucson. And most people who met her would describe her, uh, as a fortune force of nature. Uh, much of the costs to cover this court came from donors in the community and from Joseph himself. Uh, this Friday is the Fort wool commissary, uh, RIBBON CUTTING, THE PUBLIC IS INVITED TO CELEBRATE THE RESTORATION AND PRESERVATION OF THE LOWELL COMMISSARY AND DONALDSON HOUSE. THE WORK WAS FUNDED OUT OF 407 BONDS AND STATE PARKS HERITAGE AND TRAILS GRANT. We've taken a very big interest in the commissary property, which was constructed, we believe, in about 1873 as part of Fort Lowell Park. So it's one of the oldest structures east of Swan in Tucson, right down the street from Dr. Swan's original house. So there's that. Anyway, my staff and... Some of my staff even went out and we helped reseal some of the doors and work on some of the preservation ourselves. And that celebration is June 12th, 830 in the morning, located at 5477 East Fort Lowell. We also celebrated the opening of the east side. Pima Animal Care Eastside Pet Adoption Center this week. We had, I think there was maybe 40 or 50 dogs that were adopted that day. That's located at 7225 East Broadway, and it's open seven days a week. Now this is an interesting one, so bear with me. The United States Capitol flies about three or four flags a day, every single day. And Every year, people make requests to receive those flags that actually flew at the Capitol. And thanks to Congresswoman Grijalva, our office received the one that was flown on May 1st, International Workers' Day. So for all of our labor union folks in the room, we have the Workers' Day flag that was flown at the Capitol, and that will be flying every day for the next year. from sunup to sundown at word two. And I really want to thank my team for arranging that with Congresswoman Grijalva's office. It's a really, really cool thing to have. All right. I'm going as fast as I can. Sorry, everybody. The last two are fresh off the presses and they are kind of business related. The first one is I want to let everyone know that from 7 p.m. to 6 a.m. on Sunday, June 14th, overnight, we have to shut down the intersection of Speedway and Harrison over in Ward 2. And we're doing that to do some road work and that way we don't have to obstruct traffic as much through the week as we complete that road repair. And so I thought that was, I thought it was worth it to do some of that work overnight so that we don't have to have people come in and out of one lane for two, three, four, five days in one week. We just get it all done in overnight. And in that same Road, I have an update on the construction at Tankoverty Road. Tankoverty Road had a permit pulled in December by a developer to improve sewage lines and they got two permits. One to improve the sewage and one to block traffic while they improve sewage. And we went down at one point to two lanes on each side of the road. It's been quite the burden to the folks living way out east. and that permits now been extended twice sixty days twice so it's still going and their final permit expired today and we we recommended out of our office not to renew that permit. We said, that's unacceptable. You can't block the road for six months. So we met with the developer, and they actually told us they were about a week and a half away, and our streets department said, look, if we shut them down, it's still going to take us two or three weeks to clean up what they did before we were able to open traffic anyway. They said they're almost done. So we granted them an additional 30 days, but we have a couple requirements for them. One, they need to move to a six- or seven-day-a-week working model so they get moved along a little bit. And also, we are requiring them to have a neighborhood meeting. We want them to explain to everyone the burden they took on with the community. And I'll be honest with you, it's one of the main reasons we voted for some of the recent fees with traffic blocks. when people pull permits to block traffic. This is one of the reasons we need to do that. So the meeting will be on Thursday, this Thursday at 6 p.m. at Ward 2, which is 7820 East Broadway. And for those of you who are interested, you can talk to the developer and the contractor of this project. And one, vent your frustrations, but two, let them know, at least have an open mind to listen about their explanation on all the holdups. Sorry for taking so much time But thank you.

Vice Mayor. All right, thank you, Mayor. I recently had the opportunity to attend a New American Leaders Conference and training in Miami, where I joined other city electeds and county electeds from across the country to discuss land use, transportation, climate resilience, and community development. One of the most impactful parts of the trip was visiting Little Haiti, where residents are actively organizing against climate-driven displacement while preserving their culture and identity in their neighborhoods. I also had the opportunity to learn about their transit system, the Everglades environmental challenges, and the fragile water ecosystem in South Florida. and getting to hear from passionate community organizations and elected leaders on the approaches that they're taking to their public infrastructure. I came away with valuable ideas and connections and I look forward to sharing some of that with my colleagues. My office is excited to announce the completion of our fourth cycle of Budget de la Gente, our participatory budgeting program that puts public dollars directly into community hands. After months of ideas sharing, proposal development, and outreach, we had over 1,500 votes that were casted by people who live, work, or learn in board one. And we selected 20 community, well, the voters selected 20 community driven projects, each receiving $10,000 for a total of 200,000. Winning projects range from an emergency fund to help prevent eviction, monthly food and toiletry distribution, neighborhood literacy events to senior lunches that were impacted by the loss of federal funding, and also support for annual Fiesta de Maiz. Before reaching the ballot, each proposal was shaped with support from community volunteers, Ward 1 youth interns who also helped spread the word and encourage broad community participation, through our voting process. To find out more information on the selected projects, you can go to LaneSantaCruzTUCWardOne.com to get more information and just want to extend a congratulations to the Budget de la Gente awardees. Last week, I had the opportunity to join Congresswoman Nalita Grijalva at a press conference opposing the elimination of the Indian Health Services Center for their Tucson location. I also joined our local Tohono O'odham and Pascua Yaqui tribal leaders, public health officials, community advocates, and our... FEDERAL REPRESENTATIVES TO VOICE OPPOSITION TO THE CLOSURE AND THE RELOCATION FROM THE TUCSON AREA INDIAN HEALTH SERVICE OFFICE TO PHOENIX. THIS DECISION WAS MADE WITHOUT CONSULTATION WITH THE HONATAM NATION, PASQUAYAKI TRIBE AND OTHER IMPACTED INDIGENOUS COMMUNITIES. The Tucson office provides critical public health, environmental health and administrative services that support tribal nations and the broader region. And I stand with our tribal partners in calling for a pause to this closure and for a consultation process that respects the tribal sovereignty and addresses the significant impacts this decision would have on Southern Arizona. For events coming up in Ward 1, Saturday, June 13th at 9 a.m., join Pima County Public Library for the Richard Elias Mission Library Grand Reopening. The celebration begins with a dedication and ribbon cutting at 9 a.m., followed by a full day of activities for... People of all ages from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. enjoy performances by Mariachi Luz de Luna and Ballet Folklorico Tapatio, children's crafts team, makerspace activities, and book giveaways. There will be pan dulce and refreshments, and this is located at 3770 South Mission Road. And then also on Saturday, June 13th, from 9 to 1 p.m., join Regeneracion Tucson and the Southwest Folklife Alliance for the second Community Land Trust Symposium at Louie's Market. This bilingual community event will explore how community land trusts can support affordable housing and community ownership through workshops, discussions on governance and legal considerations, and a community policy conversation. There will be free food and will be provided. Louie's Market is located at 4001 South 12th Avenue. And then this Sunday, 8 a.m., join Fuga and my office for our annual BCM Burros Pride Ride. Bring your family, your friends, your flags, and your pride as we roll together in celebration of our LGBTQ plus community. We ride for love, visibility, and freedom to be ourselves. And like Councilmember Schubert said, people should be extra nice to the queers in the month of June. So finally, I want to wish a happy birthday to Councilmember Schubert, who celebrated a birthday this past Sunday. Love my 1984 babies. So I hope you had a good time and just wish you well this coming year. Thank you. THAT'S AWESOME.

THANK YOU, EVERYONE, FOR YOUR REPORTS AND SUMMARY OF EVENTS. THIS IS WHAT WE'RE GOING TO DO. WE DO HAVE A REQUEST FROM COUNCILMAN LEE THAT WE MOVE THINGS AROUND A LITTLE BIT ONLY BECAUSE She is on East Coast time. And so I just wanted to make sure that I made some time for her to be able to vote on our budget and also on item 12. So what we're going to do before we go to item four is that we're going to go through our liquor license applications. And then we're going to do consent agenda, consider item G separately. MOVE ITEM 12 FOR CONSIDERATION BEFORE OTHER ITEMS, AND THEN MOVE THE BUDGET SO THAT WE CAN VOTE ON IT, AND THEN RETURN TO CALL TO THE AUDIENCE. AND, YEAH, WE'RE GOING TO DO CITY MANAGERS REPORT AFTER. SO I DO NEED TO CHECK IN WITH YOU TO SEE IF THAT WOULD BE ACCEPTABLE TO ALL.

NEW SPEAKER I'M GOOD.

NEW SPEAKER EVERYONE, I THINK WE NEED to make sure that we have your, yeah, no objections to that.

So we'd be delaying call to audience to a little bit later? Until a little later. How many people do we have signed up?

Um, we have a good number of people.

Okay, people. Yeah, but otherwise council council member Lee wouldn't be able to weigh in if we didn't move it, right? Right. She is time limited. It's pretty important for all the members of council. So I'm okay with that.

Okay. So if there's no objection, we're going to move on to item four, which is a city manager reports summary of current events.

Thank you, Mayor. Just one for this evening. City of Tucson Housing and Community Development Department is accepting grant applications from eligible commercial property and storefront owners for the Thrive Storefront Renovation Project, a facade improvement program within the Thrive and the 05 area. HCD will award up to $500,000 in construction funding for up to three exterior improvement projects that enhance commercial corridors, attract customers and support economic vitality. An additional historic preservation grant of up to $50,000 is available for eligible properties in the historic Miracle Mile District. Submission deadlines and more information can be found at tucsanez.gov. Thank you, Mayor.

Thank you, Mr. City Manager, and I just have to make sure that we put it into the record. So City Manager communication accepted. Number 168, dated June 9th, is received into and made part of the record. So we move on to, we said Liquor License Agenda, item five.

Liquor license applications. Your Honor, on this evening's agenda, we have two applications for new licenses, two applications for a personal and location transfer, four applications for a special event, and one acquisition of control. All applications are in compliance with city requirements. An appropriate motion would be to forward items 5B1 through 4, 5C1 through 4, and item 5D1 to the State Liquor Board with a recommendation of approval.

So moved.

So there is a motion and a second. And I just want to make sure that I read the communication number. So city manager's communication number 169 dated June 9th is received intimate part of the record. There is a motion and a second. Any discussion on this item? Hearing none, all those in favor, please signify by saying aye.

Aye.

Any against? Motion carries. All righty. We are moving on to consent agenda items.

Item seven. Consent agenda.

Reports from the city manager on the consent agenda are received into and made part of the record. Madam Clerk, you are requested to read the consent agenda.

Upon no objection from mayor and council, item G will be removed from the consent agenda and adjust separately. Consent agenda 7A, approval of minutes. Item 7B, approval of FY2027 classification compensation plan. Item 7C, third amendment to the intergovernmental agreement with Pima County and the city of Tucson for occupancy and operation of low barrier shelter at Knights Inn. Item 7D, title six, equity analysis and public outreach report for major service changes to Suntran routes 489 102X, 104X, 108X, and new 124X and Sun on Demand Zone 3. Item 7E, Intergovernmental Agreement with Pima County Health Department for Tucson Parks and Recreation Department for free learn to swim lessons at City of Tucson Pools. Item 7F, Arizona State Parks Outdoor Recreation Grant, El Pueblo Park. And item G is held over.

May I have a motion, please? So moved.

Second.

There's a motion and a second. Any further discussion on this item or this list? Hearing none, let's go to roll call.

Council Member Barajas? Aye. Council Member Dahl? Aye. Council Member Cunningham? Aye. Council Member Lee? Aye.

Aye.

Council Member Schubert.

Aye. Vice Mayor Santa Cruz. Aye. Mayor Romero. Aye. The items on the consent agenda are approved by a vote of 7-0. And we're going to consider item G separately.

Item G, City of Tucson opposition TEP requests for 14% rate increase and annual rate adjustment mechanism.

Alrighty, thank you. I appreciate it, Ms. Clerk. Yeah, can you read the resolution, please?

Read the resolution by name and title. Resolution number 24135 relating to the mayor and council and the city of Tucson's opposition to the Tucson electric powers request for 14% rate increase in annual adjustable rate mechanism and declaring an emergency.

Thank you, Ms. Clerk. I just want to make sure that we start with this particular item by thanking Council Member Schubert for making sure that we added to the City of Tucson's back in September of 2025, I requested that mayor and council vote formally to intervene the Tucson electric power case. And so mayor and council back in September of last year voted to intervene and add our voice as a city to our attorney general's intervention of the case for TEP's 14% rate increase. I just wanted to remind the community that we have taken a position on this as mayor and council. We all feel as though 14% rate increase is significant at a time when families are struggling with housing costs, groceries, insurance, gas and other expenses, we have an obligation as a mayor and council to ask whether the magnitude of this request is reasonable and fully justified. This issue is particularly important because the impact extend beyond individual households. The city itself would experience more than a $2 million in addition annual electric costs. Those ultimately affect the services we provide to taxpayers who fund them. I'm also concerned about the proposed annual rate adjustment mechanism. Residents deserve meaningful opportunities to understand proposed increases, ask questions, and participate in the process. Any mechanism that reduces the public visibility or limits the stakeholders' participation deserves scrutiny. We can work together with TEP on energy resiliency, reliability, and clean energy initiatives while still expecting transparency, strong oversight, and reasonable rates for people of Tucson. So ultimately this resolution sends a simple message, affordability matters, transparency matters, and Tucson residents deserve both. We also have a responsibility to stand up for Tucson residents, small businesses and taxpayers when affordability is at stake. I really think it's important for residents to understand that supporting TEP through initiatives like our energy collaboration agreement does not mean giving up our responsibility as mayor and council to advocate for affordability and advocate for Tucson residents. So I just wanted to open up with that and throw it over to council member Schubert.

Thank you, Madam Mayor. I want to thank my colleagues for the unified voice in moving forward on this resolution during our last meeting and to staff for their efforts in crafting it. This resolution builds off the work that Councilmember Cunningham and the Mayor and Council initiated last fall when they directed our city attorney and city manager to intervene in the Tucson electric power rate case before the Arizona Corporation Commission. Today's resolution formalizes our opposition to the annual rate adjustment mechanism, also known as ARAM, which is a proposed regulatory framework that allows TEP to adjust customer rates every year to account for changing business, fuel, and infrastructure costs, rather than waiting for a formal rate case. It also clarifies our formal position in support of Attorney General May's recommendation of limiting customer rate increases to 4%. That was the result of her independent analysis. And just a reminder that TEP has asked for the rate increase to go into effect in September before the Arizona Corporation Commission and the Tucson Franchise Agreement elections. It's imperative that we act quickly and with one loud, unified voice so there's no daylight in where Tucson stands in this case. I appreciate the opportunity to move this resolution forward and to reaffirm our commitment to protect our community members from unjust costs, processes, and environmental compromises as much as we can. Thank you.

Would you like to move the item?

Yeah, so moved. Second.

There's a motion and a second. Any further discussion? We need a roll call vote. Yes.

Council Member Schubert?

Aye.

Council Member Cunningham? Aye. Council Member Lee? Aye. Aye. Councilmember Dahl?

Aye.

Councilmember Barajas? Aye. Vice Mayor Santa Cruz? Aye. Mayor Romero?

Aye. Item passes with a 7-0 vote. Thank you so much. Really appreciate it. All right. Now we are going to move to item 12. And let me make sure that I have the language for that item. Item 12.

Public hearing. Appeal of zoning examiner special exception land use decision TEP ENT 1025-00021 TEP Vine substation, Vine Avenue R2.

City Manager's communication number 159, dated June 9th, is received in to make part of the record. Ladies and gentlemen, this is the time and place legally advertised for a public hearing on an appeal of the zoning examiner's decision in case number TP-ENT-1025-00021, the TEP Vine substation. The City Attorney will first summarize the issues presented in this case.

Honorable Mayor, Members of Council, thank you very much. This appeal of the zoning examiner's special exception that granted the relief requested by the applicant, Tucson Electric Power, for the Vines substation will is to resolve the issues presented by the appellant. The appellants are Underground Coalition and Underground Arizona. Those appellants have requested the mayor and council to decide whether or not the zoning examiner correctly reached the correct results. by reviewing the findings required by the unified development code including 3.4.5 as well as the conditions placed upon the zoning examiner's grant of the relief requested and the conditions including under UDC 3.4.6. The findings required for the grant of a special exception in this case includes meeting the standards expressly applied by all adopted by all codes and regulations for that type of land use for the land use to class applicable to the proposed use. This is this proposed use is for a substation electrical substation to be used as part of its transmission system in the midtown reliability project. Additionally, the required findings are does not adversely affect the adjacent land uses or the surrounding neighborhood or that such adverse effects can be substantially mitigated through the use of additional conditions as provided in section 3.4.6. Provides for adequate and efficient vehicular and pedestrian access and circulation vehicular parking. can be adequately and efficiently served by public facilities and services such as water, stormwater, drainage, fire, and police protection, and complies with the general plan in any applicable sub-regional area or neighborhood plans. The testimony before the zoning examiner in this case was provided in January and February of this year. that testimony was reviewed by the zoning examiner. The zoning examiner found that the appropriate finding was to grant the special exception given that the parcel under consideration was appropriately consistent with the UDC. The appellant's argument is related to the requirement or a requirement that the transmission lines connected to the substation not existing on the parcel be completely undergrounded and the zoning examiner in finding that the special exception was appropriate found that that was not an appropriate condition given that the parcel itself complied with the UDC. In today's proceeding, what will occur is that the appellant will provide their presentations first, and they can reserve time for rebuttal if they wish to. The applicant will then reply and have their own presentation, again having a rebuttal if they wish to, and then we'll have the public hearing, which will last no longer than an hour.

ALL RIGHTY. ALL RIGHTY. SO DID YOU WANT TO ADD SO DID YOU WANT TO ADD ANYTHING, MADAM CLERK? ANYTHING, MADAM CLERK?

I THINK THAT THE CITY ATTORNEY I THINK THAT THE CITY ATTORNEY COVERED IT WELL AS LONG AS COVERED IT WELL AS LONG AS THERE ARE NO QUESTIONS ABOUT THERE ARE NO QUESTIONS ABOUT THE ORDER OF APPEAL AND THE ORDER OF APPEAL AND RELATED PUBLIC HEARING.

RELATED PUBLIC HEARING. ALL RIGHT, SO THE APPLICANT ALL RIGHT, SO THE APPLICANT IS GOING TO PRESENT. IS GOING TO PRESENT. AND THEN... AND THEN... THE APPEALENT. THE APPEALENT. THE APPEALENT. THE APPEALENT, YEAH. THE APPEALENT, YEAH. THE APPEALENT, YEAH. THE APPEALENT, Right? And then we're going to open up the public hearing.

Correct, Honorable Mayor. So it'll be the appellant, the applicant, and then if the appellant wish to reserve time for a rebuttal of the applicant, they can do that.

Okay. Alrighty. So is the appellant present? Alrighty. Please, I know that there's two. So can our first appellant come forward? According to the city clerk, your time is combined for 15 minutes, okay?

So I'm going to go, can you, is this on? Can you hear me? Okay, so I'm going to go as fast as I can. I don't want to go so fast, but I don't have a choice. Good evening, Mayor and Council. My name is Daniel Dempsey with Underground Arizona. So like I said, I'm going to go pretty fast here. So for details, please review the written record. There's an extensive written record that you should review. We are appealing the zoning examiner's decision to approve the Vine substation special exception permit without mitigating the impact of new on-site or off-site 95 foot tall high voltage transmission lines to adjacent property or the university area. Undergrounding new utility lines has been preferred or required by the UDC in special exceptions for decades. This boils down to two issues. One, what is required by UDC 3.4.5 to grant a special exception permit? And two, what conditions are allowed to be placed upon a special exception permit by UDC 3.4.6? UDC 3.4.5 requires that you look beyond the strict parcel boundaries in determining a project's impact. Clearly, two zoning examiners have had different takes on this issue, one an attorney and the other not an attorney. The attorney took the position that you must look beyond the parcel boundaries at transmission line impacts and denied TEP's application. The non-attorney did not and invented new TEP requested limits on his authority. It is our opinion that these limits are arbitrary and erroneous. If you are not allowed to look beyond the parcel boundaries, then you could not, for example, create requirements to mitigate the impact of new traffic from a large building by requiring new turning lanes or crosswalks or speed bumps or other traffic calming. We disagree. You absolutely have the requirement and authority to assess and mitigate the full impact of a project, and not merely what is within the parcel boundaries. Clearly, city staff and TEP, not even a year ago, agreed with us because special exception conditions on the two intersections of this very same project went well beyond the parcel boundaries to require distribution undergrounding and the removal of substations. Logically, one must consider impacts beyond parcel boundaries to create conditions mitigating those impacts. In fact, until this application, TEP has always included transmission lines as part of its substation applications. As the record shows, this is the only application where TEP went so far as to not just exclude the transmission lines, but say they could not be reviewed. At a minimum, TEP cannot be permitted to get approval by omission of material facts. That all being said, we can set aside UDC 3.4.5 requirements because even we're undergrounding new electric lines not required by law, you can make following plans a condition under UDC 3.4.6, which allows you to protect the general welfare of the community. It is inescapable that if you read the University Area Plan, Plan Tucson 2025, the West University HPZ, or any other policy directives formally issued to guide City of Tucson development, that the city's goal is gradual aesthetic improvement, not decline. Encircling the University of Arizona in 95-foot tall transmission lines two to three times taller than any existing lines in the area is contrary to all city plans and directives. Why? Because new economic development does not occur in cities that do not care about or protect their view sheds. Developers don't want to build new high-density infill development mere feet from or looking at transmission lines. Nobody wants to live under transmission lines. Why would we put new overhead transmission lines to the densest part of the city by inventing some contrived technicality for TEP? It is not TEP's job to protect Tucson's interests. It is not the city staff's job to protect Tucson's interests. It is your job as the elected representatives of the people. In 2020, TEP on its own accord eliminated the Euclid route because of conflicts with adjacent land uses. Then on September 1st, 2021, when Euclid surfaced again as a route, you unanimously told TEP and city staff in a special meeting and a written directive that Euclid must be rejected and TEP needed to underground on Campbell. The facts have not substantively changed since then. In fact, we fought to keep Campbell as a route before the ACC because we expected this very situation. TEP has belligerently plowed forward, including suing the city and losing, and including having the ACC adopt a policy statement banning undergrounding and losing on appeal. To put TEP's belligerence in perspective, Central Phoenix has over 14 miles of underground transmission lines. Tempe and ASU have over eight miles of underground transmission lines. Chandler has over seven miles. APS has over 60 miles of underground transmission lines. TEP and Tucson have zero. Not because we can't, but because TEP doesn't want to. So it fabricates all these excuses as to why it cannot do it and tries to pit neighborhoods against each other. But TEP not wanting to do it does not make the law optional. As the record shows, cost is a non-issue. APS's costs are not substantively different than TEP's. There will be no rate increases because of undergrounding two miles of transmission lines. In fact, TEP has already spent more money fighting city plans and ordinances than following them would have cost. You have to disincentivize such wasteful behavior to protect rate payers because TEP admitted in its rate case that it earns money on delays. IN CLOSING, YOU HAVE THE LEGAL POWER TO CONDITION THE VINE SUBSTATION SPECIAL EXCEPTION PERMIT ON TEP UNDERGROUNDING ITS NEW TRANSMISSION LINES WITHIN THE UNIVERSITY AREA PLAN. AS SECTION 6 POLICY 6 OF THAT PLAN HAS DIRECTED SINCE 1989, AND AS GUIDELINE A25 OF PLAN TUCSON 2025 HAS DIRECTED SINCE 2025, WE BELIEVE SUCH A DECISION IS REQUIRED BY UDC 3.4.5 AND PRECEDENT. BUT EVEN IF YOU DISAGREE, YOU CAN CREATE SUCH A CONDITION ANYWAYS. UDC 3.4.6 gives you broad authority to protect the city and enforce your policy directives. After all, what is the purpose of these policy directives if not this very process? TEP must not be allowed to keep treating Tucson as a second-class city By enforcing plans now, you can sidestep a lot of other subsequent issues that will cause further delay, especially in areas with narrow rights of way as TEP and the city identified over five years ago. Finally, if you are still undecided, I ask that you defer to the preferences you stated on the record in 2021 and defer to the preferences of Ward 6 and Ward 3. There is no good reason to break precedent to deliver damage to our community on behalf of TEP. Thank you for your time.

Thank you, Mr. Dempsey. All righty, we are taking time away from our second speaker, please.

Thank you, thank you. I'm John Schwartz, a member of the steering committee of the Tucson Neighborhood Underground Coalition. We're comprised of 14 neighborhoods and business organizations representing between 25 to 30,000 Tucsonans. half directly affected by the project, around half not directly affected but deeply concerned about the adverse effects for the entire Tucson community. TEP opposes our appeal of the zoning examiner's decision to grant TEP a special exception for the Vine substation with no condition for undergrounding the transmission lines to and from it. We vehemently disagree. And apparently the Unified Development Code disagrees too. In fact, it contains a section devoted solely to requests for special exceptions, a section specifically addressing the issue of adverse effects of special exceptions both off-site private property and on public rights of way. I'm referring to 3.4.6 of the UDC. It directly states, paraphrasing here, quote, in approving an application for a zoning exception, the zoning examiner or mayor and council may impose such reasonable and appropriate conditions and safeguards as are necessary to ensure compliance with the criteria for approval. I'm still quoting, conditions and safeguards may also be imposed to reduce or minimize any potentially injurious effects on adjacent properties, the character of the neighborhood, or the health, safety, or general welfare of the community. TEP contends that the UDC has no jurisdiction whatsoever over following the ordinances and area plans of the city's special exception process for offsite properties, which what I've said clearly disputes. We also just heard from Mr. Dempsey that prior zoning examiners such as zoning examiner Irino's ruling on the Vine substationary zoning also oppose the reasoning of TEP and the current zoning examiner's decision about offsite effects. And Mr. Dempsey mentioned too, TEP itself disagrees, agrees, excuse me, that the UDC does apply to it as regards setting conditions to mitigate adverse effects on offsite private property and public rights of way. It did so when it concurred in the city's decision last fall to construct the same project underground at TEP's expense across the Broadway-Euclid intersection. In our written submissions to you, we have described the multitude of harmful historic, economic, safety, and aesthetic impacts of overhead transmission lines imposed on the directly affected neighborhoods and also on the community of Tucson at large. UDC 3.4.6 gives you authority to insert conditions on the vine rezoning exception to mitigate each of these effects. The numerous harmful impacts of overheaded utilities, in fact, is precisely why the city's university area plan includes a specific provision stating that utilities be placed underground wherever possible. This 5.2 square mile area in Tucson encompasses every income and socioeconomic level of the community. It is one of the most economically diverse areas in the city. I emphasize this because some people may think that undergrounding only serves wealthy areas. Couple, one example of in the University area of a lower income area is Jefferson Park neighborhood, which borders on the Vine substation. It has a median household income of $42,000, well below the $57,000 median in Tucson and the metropolitan area median of about $73,000. the same would be true for feldman neighborhood and other neighborhoods along the route stringing dozens of massive 100-foot industrial overhead pylons and lines looming over everything else along the route in this area does not comport with the University Area Plan and so opposes this legal requirement of the UDC, meaning that under the UDC, a zoning exception cannot be granted in this case unless conditioned on undergrounding. With all this in mind, I respectfully ask you to remit the vine substation exception only on condition that the transmission lines to and from the substation are placed underground at least within the area bounded by the University Area Plan. As UDC 3.4.5 requires, as UDC 3.4.6 invites you to do, and in line with what Mayor and Council voted unanimously to do several years ago when you ruled Euclid Avenue out as a route. Thank you for your consideration. We hope that you will grant us a few minutes to respond to TEP's presentation in the same manner as you gave to TEP to respond at the last hearing on the intersections. Thank you so much.

Thank you, sir. Is the applicant present? Please come forward.

Good evening, honorable mayor and council members. Thank you for the opportunity to speak with you this evening. For the record, my name is Steven Eddy. I am the Director of Public Affairs for Tucson Electric Power, 88 East Broadway. We appreciate your time, your leadership, and your continued engagement on issues that are critical to Tucson's future. Tonight, I'd like to do two things. First, provide context on the Midtown Reliability Project and the extensive public and policy process that has already occurred. And second, explain the Vine substation, its benefits and why the zoning examiner's decision should be upheld. Throughout, I want to emphasize one central theme, collaboration. That is how these series of projects have been shaped, albeit challenging and contentious at times, but also how we continue to work with the city to ensure we are meeting the needs of our community, not just by providing an essential service to our customers, but also working with our community stakeholders. The City of Tucson and TEP have recently entered into a historic energy collaboration agreement, reflecting a shared commitment to work together in service of the community. That agreement establishes a framework for ongoing coordination focused on energy reliability, affordability, resilience, and long-term community priorities. Importantly, it recognizes that significant infrastructure investments, like the previously decided Midtown reliability project transmission line, require early consistent collaboration between the city and TEP to ensure they are planned thoughtfully and serve the broader community interest. While Midtown Reliability Project and the present Vine substation predate the agreement, it reflects exactly the kind of deep coordination, engagement and partnership that the ECA is designed to formalize and strengthen moving forward. So let me address the Midtown Reliability Project, a process that has been thoroughly decided. Mayor and Council, the project before you today did not start here. The Midtown Reliability Project has been the subject of years of public process, legal review, and collaboration. The project began in 2019 and resulted in a state approval of the transmission line route in September 2024. Try to go to the next slide if possible.

I think you have to point behind you. Okay, perfect.

The city played a direct role throughout the siting process, not only as a stakeholder, but as an intervener in the case. Underground Arizona was also a key stakeholder and an intervener in that case. Additionally, the city has also established a policy relating to transmission lines in its jurisdiction by establishing the gateway corridor special exception process, which has already been utilized as part of this project. through that process underground arizona was an active stakeholder offering arguments largely similar to the arguments before you today the mayor and council approved two crossings as overhead and required one crossing at broadway and euclid to be undergrounded reflecting a balanced policy decision These decisions are final and reflect a robust and transparent public process, one in which Underground Arizona, the appellant, fully participated both in the ACC lines citing proceeding and in the city's gateway court or special exception process where undergrounding was specifically addressed and resolved. Having been a party of those proceedings, they cannot re-litigate those same issues in this appeal. I think my attorney friend would call that collateral estoppel. This appeal has nothing to do with the special exception land use permit for Vine substation, but entirely on continued opposition to the transmission line, which we recognize. To that end, I want to be clear about the broader Midtown Reliability Project transmission line. This line has already received a certificate of environmental compatibility from the ACC and authorization from Mayor Council to cross the three gateway intersections that I referenced before. All requirements for constructing the line have been satisfied. More importantly, it delivers important system-wide benefits, including strengthening reliability and supporting growth throughout the region, including Keno substation in Ward 5. And for that reason, TEP will move forward with the construction of the Midtown Reliability Project to deliver on those benefits. Let me address Vine substation and the benefits and community values it brings. The Vine substation is fundamentally about one thing, ensuring reliable, resilient electric service for Midtown Tucson, both today and for decades to come. By connecting into the Midtown Reliability Project, the Vine substation allows the Midtown area to fully realize the benefits of a modern, more reliable, and resilient electric grid. It supports key community assets, including the University of Arizona, Banner UMC, and the surrounding neighborhoods, and importantly, it helps serve the core of the city's community corridors areas, particularly in Ward 6. where Tucson is prioritizing infill development, housing, and walkability and transit-oriented growth. We can see this throughout the Midtown area and around the U of A, including at the corner of Campbell and Speedway, a stone's throw from Vine substation. And importantly, this project is not just about adding infrastructure, it's about modernizing it. It enables the retirement of aging substations, reduces overhead infrastructure, and significantly expands underground distribution resulting in long-term benefits for the community. Midtown is currently served by infrastructure built generations ago at a time when energy use looked much different. Today, swamp coolers are replaced by ACs. Homes now have battery storage systems and solar panels. EVs are proliferating throughout Midtown. And more connected devices rely on reliable energy. These changes combined with an aging 46 kV infrastructure nearing capacity require system upgrades. And in fact, Vine substation will enable further proliferation of those technologies like solar, like storage, like EVs and resiliency within our community. So let's talk about strengthening reliability in Midtown. The Vine substation enables a modern redundant system that prevents outages, provides multiple delivery paths of energy, supports critical institutions like the U of A and UMC, and meets current and future energy demand. It's also a system upgrade that reduces infrastructure over time. I reference collaboration as part of the Midtown Reliability Project. It's also about compromise. As a result of the extensive public process for that project, there are specific conditions in the CEC that address undergrounding and reduction of overhead infrastructure. 100% of the distribution lines along the project route, as noted in this map here, will be placed underground. That is approximately 6.3 miles of distribution lines and over 20 miles of that low-hanging cable that we all see. Approximately 19 miles of overhead infrastructure will be removed, which includes the 46 kV system that this 138 system will replace. It results in long-term reduction in above-ground infrastructure and improved neighborhood conditions. While this is many years ahead, the Vine substation will also allow the retirement of up to eight substations, again, as identified in this map, throughout Midtown, which creates an opportunity for infill development, including affordable housing and strengthens collaboration between TEP and the city for those efforts. Let me talk about site selection. The site was selected after evaluating 15 different locations. It meets key critical criteria, including proximity to demand, compatibility with surrounding uses, and adjacency to existing utility infrastructure. It happens to also be located adjacent to an existing substation. The exact use that we want to replace it with it around the bounds of this parcel. Let me talk about compatibility with residential areas. The project has been carefully designed to be compatible with its surroundings, incorporating architectural treatments, landscaping, public art, along with a 20 foot buffer along Vine Avenue. This was considered in the design review board as well as specific conditions placed by the zoning examiner to ensure that there is compatibility with the adjacent uses. Additionally, TEP operates multiple substations near residential areas throughout its service territory. These facilities operate safely and reliably. The Vine substation ensures Midtown Tucson will have a modern, reliable energy system that supports future growth and community needs. So in closing, I want to recognize the process that has brought us here. TEP appreciates the zoning examiner's careful and thorough evaluation of the Vine substation special exception land use permit and the deliberative process that led to the February 17th decision. His findings are clear. I encourage you to read through them. I don't have time to address his findings entirely, but it is clear. It is subject to the parcel. The permit is subject to the parcel that we are considering for the Vine substation. That decision reflects a clear understanding of the scope and purpose of the project, the applicable provisions of the UDC, and the distinct legal proceedings that have already resolved the siting and construction of the associated transmission facilities. We also want to acknowledge staff for their thoughtful and comprehensive review of this application. Staff's recommendation for approval together with the conditions ultimately imposed by the zoning examiner demonstrate a balanced and thorough consideration of land use standards, neighborhood context, and community concerns. Importantly, the appeal before you does not identify any deficiencies with the vine substations compliance with UDC or the special exception findings. Instead, it raises issues about the transmission line that are outside the scope of the zoning review beyond the zoning examiner's authority and are not appropriate given the prior proceedings. This has been a long journey. and we appreciate the steps that we have gotten to where we are today. It has not been easy. We understand the concerns, but we feel we have gotten to the right place, the right site, and this is the right use for this site. We appreciate your consideration, and we respectfully request that you deny the appeal and uphold the zoning examiner's approval. Thank you.

Thank you. I have been informed by the clerk that the time remaining, the applicant and the appellant have time for rebuttal. Both landed at one minute, 30 seconds for rebuttal. So I'm going to invite the applicant Appellant, I'm sorry. I keep confusing this. Appellant for a one minute, 30 second rebut.

I have some procedural questions first. So in August when we had an appeal, the public spoke first because they might address some of the things that we would address and then we could rebut after the public speaks. And then TEP also had another 15 minutes after it spoke. It spoke for 30 minutes in the August appeal. So I just want to make sure that we're having some consistent treatment here.

All righty. Mr. Attorney?

If I may, Honorable Mayor, the Mayor and Council may proceed with the public hearing first and then ask questions of the or reserve the a minute and 30 left for the applicant and the appellant in your discretion.

So we do have the possibility opening the public hearing and then having some additional time for rebuttal. Okay. So what we're going to do let's see is open up the public hearing so this public hearing is scheduled to last for no more than an hour speakers are limited to five minute presentations we don't have many speakers we have three cards for the public hearing so when i call your name please come forward and make your presentation

I apologize, Honorable Mayor. It occurred to me that neither of the party discussed what the actual special exception request was, so I thought it might be helpful before we get to the public hearing to describe what that was for the Mayor and Council. The actual application requested from TAP requested a relief from 20-foot setbacks from the north, south, and east sections of the property. well as an increase from the 10 foot allowed 10 foot wall allowed to 13.5 feet that was just the requested relief from TEP which the zoning examiner granted okay so we can start the public here okay so we're starting the public hearing please come forward when I call your name make your presentation

state your name, whether or not you live in the city of Tucson, whom you are representing, and whether or not you are a paid speaker. The first person that I have is Rosemary, I think Bolza? Bolza?

Yes, I'm Rosemary Bolza. My last name is spelled B as in Bravo, O-L-Z as in Zebra A. I live at 1432 East Lester Street. I am not a paid speaker. I live within one block of the substation. And I have a safety concern because Banner, the hospital, is right there. And it's the only trauma one center in southern Arizona. And helicopters come from all over. They're not all familiar with the hospital or the landing pad. And I see them flying in and sometimes circling. And the last thing we need is poles with these high-volume voltage transmission lines. The helicopter pilots are bringing seriously injured people. and they are having to navigate by line of sight and we do not need any other hazards for them to navigate. Also, the university has a gas powered electric generating plant that's as close to the hospital as you are to the door outside. And this to me is a real hazard without the poles and these high-powered lines. But this adds another layer of hazard. If a helicopter crashes into the gas-powered electric generating plant, it would disable Banner, and we have nowhere to take those patients. And I had some pictures that I wasn't allowed to put on the screen. But I would ask you to think hard about this And I would really want people to come and actually walk through this and see it because life is precious and we have to look for the safest way to build our infrastructure. And having the high voltage lines above ground They are more vulnerable to vandalism, to drones, to all of this technology now that people can use to cause harm. And so I ask that you require, if you approve the substation, that you require that to be undergrounded in this very important place for the entire community. Thank you.

Thank you, Ms. Bolsa. Our next speaker is Randy Hutchinson, maybe? Randy? I think it's Hutch. I can't read the writing, so I'm so sorry. Randy? Okay. And our next speaker is Betsy Larson.

Hello, my name is Betsy Larson. I'm president of the West University Neighborhood, which includes Main Gate Square. For the last seven years, oh, it's a long time, TEP has done a great job of pitting neighborhoods and causes against one another. So I'd like to address the wards not directly impacted by this special, specific exemption tonight. How can tonight's decision help your wards? Why should you care and hold TEP accountable for the infrastructure they build? Precedent. Tonight will help lay the legal pathway for all neighborhoods. No home or school in any ward should live under high power transmission lines. If we are successful, then we are going to look towards the future. How can we replicate undergrounding and responsible TEP infrastructure for your wards? Neighborhood plans, creating more zoning overlays, and strengthening existing laws are some of these ways. These are grassroot tools that we can expand and strengthen upon. All of us volunteers here tonight are fighting to make the roadmap for you, for your neighborhoods, and for your community spaces. TEP has fought a ridiculous amount of time for a mere two miles of undergrounding. Why? For a billion dollar international corporation, this project is a mere drop in their vast bucket of wealth. So what's the real reason? They're afraid of our community waking up to the possibilities ahead. They're afraid of new expectations and accountability. So again, why does this matter to your ward? Infill. There's a reason Phoenix, Tempe, and other dense cities require miles of transmission line undergrounding. Infill and density are not compatible with high power transmission lines at obnoxiously large poles in tight right of ways. West University is actively experiencing rapid increases of density and infill. We intimately understand the challenges of accommodating new infill and infrastructure failures. Adding 100-foot power, high-power lines into the mix is counterproductive and dangerous. So I ask you tonight, reverse and modify TEP's Vine special exemption. Underground the lines according to multiple zoning overlays and general plan. Help us empower all neighborhoods. Give them the precedent and the tools that they need to fight corporate greed. Thank you very much for hearing us tonight.

Is there anyone else wishing to be heard on this public hearing?

Yes, my apologies. I thought we only had 30 minutes. I didn't know it was open to the public.

It is a public hearing, and you do have the right to... I'm sorry, was this gentleman first?

No, you can go ahead. So I'll give you my card later. My name is Kathy McLaughlin. I live at 2739 East Carthay Circle. I have been part of this fight for nearly seven years. And the disingenuousness of Mr. Eddy just makes me furious. TEP has done nothing but put barrier after barrier after barrier after excuse throughout this whole process. I am an architect and a planner. I care about what Tucson looks like. I've been on the billboard review committee since 1985. And what used to be about 930 billboards in this city has been reduced to less than 270. But what has happened is TEP has taken over the uglification of our streets. If it's okay with you what they've done on Grant Road and on Broadway and at almost every intersection that there is, then vote in their favor. But if you don't like what this is looking like, give them what they want, but make them put it underground. We don't have any fight about needing up-to-date technology. We do have a fight with putting it on 100-foot poles straight down the heart of our city through historic and dense neighborhoods. Please, consider the aesthetics of this city. That's what made Tucson on the map to begin with, tourism. Tourists are gonna go elsewhere. These poles are just gonna take over in terms of what you see. You're gonna miss the mountains. You're already missing them along Grant. So I would encourage you to please give TEP what they want but make them put it underground because you have the right to do that. I would also like to point out that I was in a meeting in October of 2019 held at Pima College where Mr. Ed Beck, who I think preceded Mr. Eddy, told the group a lot of lies. And when I pointed out to him that I thought Keno and Campbell were a scenic route, and I didn't think his polls were going to be allowed to go up there, he dismissed me. He said I was wrong. And then John Schwartz found the ordinance. You have every right as our mayor and council, as our leaders, to require them to underground their utility on our property, City of Tucson property. You have every right to require that. And I'm asking you that you do. Thank you.

Thank you, Ms. McLaughlin. Mr. Salvatierra.

My name is Jonathan Salvatierra. I'm not a retained speaker. I'm a native Tucsonan. And I've gone over a number of video journalism and social issues with the Tucson area and how the council and and the Board of Supervisors have dealt with our immediate interests our safety our health the quality of our neighborhoods and it seems like there's there's a some mistake like the provider is going to do everything in their possible effort to appease the public. And that's so far from the truth. When you negotiate with them with their nondisclosure agreements and everything is already in line within the executive sessions that you take, there is nothing but a rubber stamp that precedes it. It's the tail wagging the dog again. And I don't know if you want to act like you're just representing stakeholders or whether you really feel any intrinsic desire to represent the public. That is the question here now. I see every time... there's a pole above ground. If any tornadic event affects it, we pay Tucson Electric 12% over the cost of replacing and repairing that pole. So why are we doing all these stupid redundant things? Why are we allowing TEP Fortis as a foreign proxy to dictate everything that goes on in this city the 47 years of 47 KV that have been under underrated and abused the situation that we enjoy it's It's implausible that anything that comes up from TEP is going to benefit the public. Their interest is totally separate and given their stakeholders' interests. Why would I say this? I've done this for over two years now. I came to this council two years and better in October of 24, and it's just like we repeat the same things, and this council hears, but they don't listen. So what's up with that? Do you care about us? Is this really an issue? Or is it just another rubber stamp because TEP has given their consent and control in their nondisclosure agreements and all their contracts are already laid in place and all you have to do is be nice and comfortable and just act like, oh, we're just following our direction within the limited scope of our authority. No. No. No. This is not right. And I'm saying this because it's really frustrating and aggravating to see the people that I love and appreciate sitting at this board that have so much more to offer their constituency. 138 KV, gee, isn't that the same KV that Sarita is going to be requesting and supporting for Copper World? Is this a backup system? Why aren't we doing something that plans a future master plan for everything that goes on electrically and through the utilities? The Commonwealth Utility Cooperative that includes Arizona for the transmission, the counties and the cities that create their own bond issues to support the takeover of TEP. There's no more having the tail wag the dog. Why are we doing this over and over again? It doesn't benefit us. We're not independent. We're interdependent on TEP's little token gifts. Oh, here's $2 million. Oh, take it and use it. You know, we just, out of our largesse, you know, we're going to help you.

This is abysmal. Thank you, Mr. Salvatierra. And I appreciate your time.

Thank you for listening.

Anyone else wishing to be heard on this item? Okay. If not, may I have a motion to close the public hearing, please? So moved. Second. There's a motion to close the public hearing and a second. Any further discussion on closing the public hearing? SEEING OR HEARING NONE, ALL THOSE IN FAVOR OF CLOSING THE PUBLIC HEARING? AYE. ANY AGAINST? PUBLIC HEARING IS CLOSED. ALREADY. WE DO HAVE AN HOUR, A MINUTE AND 30 SECONDS TO REBUT. SO I BELIEVE THE APPLICANT? APPEALENT. Appellant can do it first.

Okay, so just there's a lot of things that Mr. Eddy said that were incorrect. It's too much for me to address, but it's addressed in our writings. First of all, replacing 30-foot poles with 90-foot poles is not an improvement by any reasonable definition. And TEP has no control over the joint use attachers. So when TEP takes down a distribution pole, you still have the cable and the fiber and all those guys. They don't have to underground. It's up to them. So there's no improvement to its undergrounding some distribution lines. And he seemed to imply that the ACC controls how something is constructed. That's not how it works. The ACC controls routes. How something is constructed is up to you guys, and it's up to our plans, and our plans have been very specific for a long time. Whether or not you agree with it, whether it's required, you absolutely should be enforcing the spirit of those plans.

All righty, is the applicant wishing, oh, still, still.

Mr. Schwartz. I just wanna say that Mr. Eddy talked about a balanced decision with the intersections because one of the three of them were done underground. We're asking in essence for a balanced decision on the undergrounding. The route is seven to eight miles long. We're asking that approximately two miles be placed underground in conformance with the Unified Development Code. And finally, virtually everything that Mr. Eddy said raising the project is diversionary in the sense that it will also be achieved if the transmission line is underground as we believe it should be. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Schwartz. Is the applicant wanting to rebut?

HONORABLE MAYOR, COUNCIL MEMBERS, I THINK THE CLOSING STATEMENT THAT I PROVIDED EARLIER MAKES IT VERY CLEAR IN TERMS OF WHERE WE ARE AT IN THIS PROCESS AND THE AUTHORITY GRANTED BY THE ZONING EXAMINER WITH RESPECT TO THIS SPECIAL EXCEPTION LAND USE PERMIT FOR THE SUBSTATION. THE TRANSMISSION LINE OBVIOUSLY WE'VE HEARD HAS BEEN CONTENTIOUS. IT HAS BEEN SETTLED. THAT ROUTE HAS BEEN DECIDED. Mayor and council weighed in on the underground crossings that have been considered. And today we are considering the Vine substation. I will though take one moment to address one of the concerns around UMC. And I will state that they have been an active stakeholder in this process. In fact, they should have submitted a letter of support as part of this hearing. And we have ensured that their safety has been applied to the siting of this substation. But even previously, as part of the line siting decision, their concerns were addressed as part of that decision. So thank you. And obviously, if we get to any questions, happy to address those. Thank you.

Alrighty. Does Council have any questions for the appellant or the applicant or other persons who may have relevant information in order to establish the reasons for affirming, reversing, or modifying the zoning examiner's decision? And this is for Council. This is the time of discussion. This is for Council, yes. Yes, for questions for the appellant, applicant, or other persons that might have relevant information in order to establish the reasons for affirming, reserving, reversing, or modifying the zoning examiner's decision.

Does that include questions for staff?

Yes.

I'm going to defer to 6, 5, and 3 first.

All righty. I guess if there's no questions, I think this is the time and place for you all to have your questions. This includes for the applicant, the appellant, the city attorney, the city manager. I guess my question would be, can we ask questions to the zoning examiner?

If the zoning examiner is present, yes.

Yes.

He is here.

So we can ask questions to the zoning examiner as well. So, Vice Mayor.

All right. Thank you, Mayor. I have a couple of questions. And I'm not sure if these will all be to the city attorney or to other staff. So I'm just ask them. First, if the mayor and council were to uphold the appeal and require undergrounding, what is the strongest legal basis for doing so and what litigation risk would the city face?

Honorable Mayor, Vice Mayor, the strongest legal argument for granting the appeal?

For requiring the undergrounding for...

I think the, it's hard for me to speak for the appellant, but I think the appellant would say that the strongest legal argument would be to uphold or to apply the university area plan in UDC 3.4.5. The litigation risk, there's a couple and I'll go through them just so that's clear. One is that we would be exceeding the authority granted under UDC 3.4.6. That can happen in two ways. Under the code itself, I think there would be no surprise that TAP would likely want to litigate that authority under 3.4.6 and whether or not it was appropriately applied in this case, given the request from the applicant was to get relief from a 20-foot setback. to get relief from a wall to an increased wall height. Those two requests if granted with the condition would lead to a relatively expensive construction project for them where we grant those sorts of We grant that kind of relief all the time without requiring anything off-site or anything like that. The other issue related to is the basis for that grant of those conditions. The basis in this case, the strongest legal argument I just described is would also be treating the university area plan and other plans like it as regulation versus policy documents. That's an argument that we've already, the city has in prior litigation won against Because we argued, and Arizona state law sort of is on our side with that, is that while there are policy documents and they're appropriate to consider in things like rezonings and things like that, they're not the same as actual legislative action like the UDC, which the UDC is a regulation that can be applied and can be applied with specificity. If we were to go into court and then reverse that argument, I think the court would look unkindly on that. Additionally, the other concern that that condition would raise is that the third issue would be that while the condition may be appropriate or may not, the condition doesn't include how to pay for it. There's two ways it could be paid for. One is either through rate payers if TEP wishes to put that into the rate base, or they could invoke the franchise, which even though it expired in April of this year, it's still... under its own terms, it's still in effect and for one year from that April date. The concern would be that they could invoke section 21 of that franchise, which would then require us, the city, to pay for that undergrounding. Not the ratepayers, but the city. And then finally, the other concern would be that it could be seen by the court as an illegal exaction under ARS 9.500-12. The concern there would be it's similar to a taking, which we're all familiar with, a regulatory taking, which basically says that we are taking property from a property owner or diminishing its value. And if the court finds that that is true, we could be required to pay for that, the city.

I appreciate you bringing up the interpretation of neighborhood and area plans, because that is something that concerns me. So are you saying that that would establish a precedent that treats those plans as regulatory documents rather than guiding policy documents?

That could be the interpretation by the court and could create its own precedent in that way, which would also require in other cases where we use rezonings or special exceptions, the concern could be that we would not be able to do the kinds of things that I think have been discussed in the proceeding today, like urban infill, where we use the flexible lot development, for example, to give relief for residents zoning regulations or things like that in order to create more affordable housing, more urban infill, those kinds of things.

So I heard from a lot of the speakers today, and so I want to better understand why we see more substantial undergrounding of utility infrastructure in the Phoenix metropolitan area than we do in Tucson. Is that driven by different development patterns, different utility requirements, different regulatory structures, any combination of those factors, and what lessons, if anything, should Tucson be learning from those communities?

I'll answer for the legal slash experiential to the extent I know. I lived in Phoenix for about 10 years, and Phoenix infrastructure is much newer. A lot of the houses built there and the structures that were built there were built in the 90s as opposed to here in Tucson where we... go back to the 50s and 60s, especially in the downtown area. In addition, in terms of the legal structures, I think there are different codes, different applications of those codes. We have a gateway corridor. They don't necessarily have one that's similar like that. So it's just a sort of community preference as far as I understand.

Okay, and then my final question is like, we hear this debate, you know, since the time I've been on council that we've been talking about undergrounding. Could mayor and council consider a potential policy for a citywide undergrounding framework? I'D BE INTERESTED IN UNDERSTANDING IF THERE'S SUCH A POLICY OR REGULATORY INFRASTRUCTURE THAT WE COULD IMPLEMENT HERE IN THE CITY SO THAT WE HAVE MORE OF A CONSISTENT STANDARD RATHER THAN ADDRESSING THESE ON PROJECT BY PROJECT BASIS.

I think that's absolutely within the mayor and council's purview. Obviously the mayor and council has already taken the steps to designate the gateway corridors and the scenic corridors within the city as requiring underground, and we've been successful in holding TAP to those requirements, even through litigation if we need to. If the Mayor and Council, and again, this goes to the difference between the policies and the regulation, if the Mayor and Council really want to do that, they can pass through the Planning Commission and the adoption process of new codes or land use codes that would accomplish that result.

That's all, Mayor. Thank you.

Councilman Lee?

Thank you, Mayor. I have a question for the City Attorney and City, you mentioned this two separate times, but I just want to clarify because there's been a lot of components in the conversation tonight. For the special exception, am I understanding correctly that it's really two components? TEP is asking to be able to go to 13 and a half feet for a block wall. That's one component versus 10 feet and have an exception from 20 foot setbacks so they can have shorter setbacks. In English, is that the two components of what they're asking for relief for?

Honorable Mayor, Council Member Lee, that is correct. That is the request that TAP was making in its application for a special exception.

Okay, I just wanted to kind of recenter myself to make sure I was understanding the scope of what we're considering tonight, what's in scope and what's out of scope. So I just wanted to make sure I was understanding that correctly. That's my only question, Mayor.

Thank you, Council Member. Any others? Council Member Dahl.

Follow-up question to that. There was an earlier attempt to get a special exception for this substation, and the ruling was that undergrounding of the lines would have to occur. Is that correct? And if that's correct, what was the special exemption being applied for then? Was it the same thing?

Honorable Mayor, Councilmember Dahl, I don't believe, and correct me if I'm speaking about the wrong special exception, there's been two special exception processes related to this line. The first was the original line special exception request, which was denied because the line hadn't been determined at that point. And then there's also a second special exception process which actually involved three separate special exceptions. Those three special exceptions were for the intersections crossing gateway corridors.

I'm asking about something else. Sure. And I think the applicant was the one who talked about the, and maybe they can answer the question. Appellant.

Now you're doing what I was doing. Okay. Daniel, can you answer that question? Appellant.

And then maybe Steve, you can see if he got it right.

So ask the question again.

I'm sorry. There was a previous special exemption effort at the Vine substation. What were they asking for? And did that, you said that it was denied.

Right, so my understanding is they were asking for the same thing. And what Roy leaves out is that he denied it because we didn't have a route determined, but the reason why he denied it was because the route wasn't determined because he couldn't determine where the transmission lines would be, right? There's no reason to deny it if you're not tying it to the transmission lines because the ACC only has jurisdiction over the routing of transmission lines. That's what doesn't make sense about what Roy just said. And then something else that he spoke about on our behalf. So a special exception, you don't have to grant a special exception, right? A special exception is for to be allowed to build something you are not otherwise allowed to build. So whether it's a big thing or a little thing, you're not allowed to build it. And when you ask for it, you can create conditions. And we think we also disagree. And so you can create a condition that you underground the transmission lines, right? The other thing is that he mentioned the requirements. Again, this is really confusing because the UDC 3.4.5 requires that you comply with the area plans. It's not a suggestion, it's a requirement. Roy has told me this before in the past. If it's a special exception, they're required. If it's not a special exception, yeah, they're just suggestions, but this is a special exception, so they're required. Again, there's a couple of things there that didn't make any sense to me. I'm happy to answer any other questions. Thanks.

Because the route wasn't decided, the examiner didn't know whether in the end it would comply with the UDC, excuse me, with the university area plan. And so he was really saying it had to comply with the university area plan before it could be approved. Thank you.

Can I do a follow-up question to the current special examiner?

Sure.

Yes. And kind of following up that, why did you do something different than was done before, or do you disagree with that analysis? And hi, by the way.

Good evening. I'm Jim Mazzocco, and I'm the current zoning examiner. So in this particular case, it had to do with a substation, and the line had been established. And there was a lot of the testimony, I heard two, at least six hours of testimony, and a lot of that testimony had to do with the laying of the transmission line underground or above ground. I only had, what I had to focus in on was this single property at Vine Avenue. Did it comply? and I looked at it and I listened to the testimony, I looked at all the materials and I made my decision on that. I could not make a decision on whether the transmission line should go above ground or below ground because they're in the right of way. There's a part of the zoning code, section 1.4.2 says zoning applies to private properties except right of ways. So I applied to the property. I couldn't jump into the right of ways and start regulating those. You have a document that regulates the right of ways. That's the franchise agreement. Franchise agreement handles right-of-ways, zoning code handles substations. That's just how it's written. So I handled the substation as a single property and I applied the university plan and the general plan to make it fit into that situation. Because a substation is only permitted in industrial zones. It's a special exception in commercial zones and residential zones. So you have to have special conditions to make it fit. So we looked at noise. We looked at light. We looked at the gases they use. We looked at the size of the wall was an industrial wall. That's what... It's going to be 13.5 feet because that would mitigate some of the federal concerns of the property. But we said, okay, if you have a 13.5 foot wall, it can't look like an industrial wall when it's in a neighborhood. You have to put public art on the wall. So that's how we fit it together. And that's why ours is different, because in the one case with the gateway, that does apply to right-of-ways, but it has a specific part of the zoning code that talks about transmission lines. It's called A13, that part of the U-specific standards. A13 isn't in the U-specific standards for A13. substations. So we couldn't use that as a criteria to evaluate this property. So that's the reason. And as far as Mr. Urenos, he basically said, there's no line, so I'm not going to prove the substation. Well, in my case, there was a line that was approved. So I couldn't use that argument. I just looked at the substation. And I made my decision from the zoning code. and the U-specific standards, and looking at the general plan and the university area plan, which policies fit to make this substation fit into this particular situation. And that's how I made my decision.

Any other questions? Any questions? Council Member Finningham.

So I'm just trying to figure out, when you made that decision on the zoning code, were we granted a special exception when we allowed the substation to go by the hospital? Because I don't remember that being a special exception.

That's what this is all about because that property is in the R2 zone. It can only be allowed as a substation, as a special exception. So what you're voting on is appealing my decision where I'm saying a special exception. I get all that.

I understand all that. I'm just, I was thinking that when, I'm going back to when we didn't have a line. Mm-hmm. established so that was when the special exception got denied correct in the first place was because the the line wasn't established and when we had the vote on the new special exception was there consensus on where the line was going at that point

or marginal consensus. You're talking about this current case, correct? Yes. So there's two special exceptions. There was the previous one and this one. That's the only ones. So the one in front of you now, there is a line that has been approved.

Okay. Okay? That helps. Okay.

For me, my question might be legal or zoning examiner. would we, even if we were to approve the appeal, would we as a mayor and council be able to request in this particular case, the undergrounding of the lines moving into the substation?

So Madam Mayor, members of council, I think what you're asking is that if you were to Affirm the zoning examiner's decision, but add conditions to that decision. Is that where is that what you're asking? Yes whether you can do that or not, I've explained I think the I Can't say you can't do that. What I what I would say is that those significant litigation risks that I just described Would be the concern that I would have in doing that so on the litigation risk that you have I

you've said that you are concerned about the city of Tucson getting into a position that we would support, but have argued against.

Correct. So the concern first is that precedent where we start to use policy documents, the area plans as regulations that aren't adopted through the normal UDC process as regulation would then create a precedent where we would be limited in applying things like the flexible lot development or other tools that we use to create and fill development. That would be one of the concerns. In addition, the other concern is who would pay for that undergrounding because I think there's a real risk that we would be required to do that under our current franchise agreement.

Is there a possibility, and I think the vice mayor asked this as well, is there any other way of, as a mayor and council, creating land use codes that would require undergrounding throughout the city of Tucson?

Absolutely. The mayor and council have the ability to legislate as they always have in terms of creating additional codes or expanding the use of the major streets and routes plan, which creates the gateway corridor and the scenic corridor. And they could do that in other ways, in many ways.

Would going into a lawsuit, if we were to, we're assuming, right? If we were to deny the exception, right? And would it tie our hands as mayor and council to go against any particular pieces of neighborhood plans or area plans?

It could based on that precedent I would just described earlier, yes.

So I'm just thinking about the time here that I've been on the council and I think we've done a few things. And one of the instances is the mountain enclave example that mayor and council voted against Particular piece of a neighborhood plans and that that action Was consistent with a general plan and resulted in a significant increase of Density in a particular area. So we went against the neighborhood plan a piece of it, but it was consistent with the general plan approved by voters and IT CREATED LOTS OF DENSITY. THE OTHER PIECE I'M THINKING ABOUT IS THAT MAYOR AND COUNCIL TOOK A POSITION AGAINST, I'M SORRY WEST UNIVERSITY, BUT WE TOOK A POSITION AGAINST WEST UNIVERSITY TO CREATE THE DENSITY AROUND JUST OUTSIDE THE UNIVERSITY, THE MAIN GATE, BECAUSE THE NEIGHBORHOOD PLAN HAD JUST A THREE FLOOR

High requirement, correct?

Yeah, density restriction. And so the mayor and council voted against that particular piece of the neighborhood plan, and we were able to create transit-oriented development in that piece alone. Would it limit something like that?

It could, Your Honor, just because that precedent, especially if we were in litigation, obviously the Mayor and Council can do things differently in different proposals, but once we get the courts involved, they create precedents, so if that litigation were to say that you know, the area plans have the weight of planning code in the same way that the UDC does. That could limit what we could and could not do, especially in those projects you described, which create those infill sort of developments that you're talking about.

Any other questions? Councilmember Dahl and then Councilmember Barajas.

So Roy, my understanding of area plans was that they were to make recommendations for actions that are done by the Planning Commission and by Mayor and Council. So I'm not sure. They're recommending to us, and it was done a long time ago, that we don't have big overhead lines. In fact, all utilities should be undergrounded. That was the wish for the whole University area. So I don't see how that's a president saying that we're using that to regulate. I think we're taking advice from this plan, and we have our own We make our own actions. We make our own decisions on this. So that would be my non-lawyer pretending to be Perry Mason review of the situation. Now, it occurs to me that if we want TEP to underground, and I do want you to underground this. It's going to look nicer. Tucson will benefit. It's not tremendously expensive in the scheme of things. And I think it would be a great thing for TEP to do. But if we don't want the overhead lines, and there's a lot of people who live in Ward 3 and Ward 6 who don't want them, we have two choices tonight. And tell me if I'm wrong. One is we just deny this special exemption. Now, what's the legal risk if we just deny it? Because we don't want a 3 and 1 half foot wall for whatever reason. We don't even have to express a reason. It's a special exemption. There's asking for something special. We can deny it, correct? Is there potential litigation from that?

There's potential litigation from that. It's a little bit different in terms of what the outcome might be. But I think it's still the risk of litigation is similar. And I think in that litigation, there's still the opportunity for either side to argue that the reason why, because of the discussion here at Mayor and Council and with the public hearing, that the reason why you did decline to affirm that special exception was because of the area plans, and that litigation could lead to a similar result, not exactly the same, but it's possible.

And in that court, I would argue, what's the use of area plans if you can never use their recommendations? I mean, that doesn't make any sense going through that process. But thanks for the answers. This is an incredibly complicated thing, isn't it?

Council Member Barajas. Thank you, Mayor. Well, I just, I guess, need a little bit more clarity in terms of the right-of-way and infrastructure impacts. How would this affect our existing road improvements? And we still don't have clarity, right, of who will cover that cost.

Honorable Mayor, Council Member Barajas, that's correct. So, to your first question, the impacts are pretty significant. If you're undergrounding a transmission line, that takes quite a bit, and I don't want to take away from TEP so hopefully they'll correct me if I'm wrong and I encourage you to ask them about this but my recollection from our ACC power line siding committee hearing they presented testimony and evidence that the way you have to underground a transmission line includes sort of tearing up basically a lane at a time and so however long that transmission line is, you basically are taking out an entire lane of traffic. For however long it takes to do that, that can be, you know, a significant undertaking. So, you know, you're talking about taking out a lane of traffic for, I don't know, a couple months. But again, I'm not the expert. That'd be more to you if you... And then I'm sorry, the other question was how we pay for it again. The concern is that the TEP could invoke that section 21 of the franchise, which would require us to pay for it and or it would be paid through rates.

Any other questions? Council Member Cunningham.

I've got some things I just want to clarify. And forgive me, it's been a minute. I'm trying to figure this out. I remember that part of this includes some distribution lines being undergrounded. Is that correct? So there's undergrounding of distribution lines only on the route. And then the transmission lines that don't currently exist go where the distribution lines would be. Am I essentially saying that correctly? Then we had some exemptions that we voted for, or I voted against, actually. about four months ago with the three intersection thing. So my hang up on this whole process back then was that, all right, all right, transmission lines, if we don't underground them, we risk the rate payers, we risk prices going up, we risk litigation, all that rigmarole. And that may be true, maybe not true, whatever. If we're going to approve the exemption, then why don't we get something else? Because I still have that same thing in my mind about Oro Valley and Scottsdale and Paradise Valley and Chandler and Gilbert. in, oh, the 18 other jurisdictions that have underground distribution, and we can't get a little extra underground distribution in other areas or in neighborhoods nearby or a couple extra easements, at least we get something extra. I mean, if we've got a bill that the transmission lines are really expensive and underground transmission lines are really expensive, can we get something extra to underground? So that was kind of my thought process back then. So it's really an interesting situation we have here that we haven't, three and a half foot variance on a wall and the setbacks where the poles already exist. But what, I don't know if that's what we're talking about. What I think we're talking about is whether or not the rules applied that there was an expectation for undergrounding prior to this application. So do we have a requirement, did we have a requirement for them to underground transmission lines when they submitted this? Are you talking about in this area? I'm sorry, Council Member. I'm talking about in general. We already adopted our transmission line undergrounding requirement when this application was set forth.

Correct, so if I understand your question correctly, Councilmember Cunningham, the requirement that we have in the City of Tucson is to require that all overhead lines be undergrounded in the areas of the Gateway corridor and the scenic corridor. In this area, that is not a requirement under the UDC.

Any other questions? What is the council's pleasure?

Council Member Schuber. Thank you Madam Mayor, members of the council, and everybody who's here tonight spending the time on this issue, and for everybody who's been spending time on this issue for the past seven years. I've been following this issue since well before I was elected as a candidate for the seat, which isn't too hard since I've only been in for six months. I'll be honest, I did not really take this issue very seriously at first. I thought that this was about privileged homeowners wanting undergrounding in their neighborhoods. And I didn't understand because I grew up in Las Vegas where they gave up on stuff like that a long time ago. Neighbors don't organize for things like that because they know they're not going to be listened to. I thought it was a specific niche of people, a very specific issue that didn't affect everybody in the city. I took the time to meet with the organizers and with the neighbors who wanted to tell me about this topic. And in the bigger picture, what ended up selling me was the precedent, was the precedent that is set by this case. I have been told by members of the Underground Coalition that they do not see this as an issue that affects only them. And you heard from John that the split of people who are directly affected by this and the split of people who are not is pretty even. The sense that I was given that really sold me was when I was told if this particular discussion over the Vine substation does not go in the direction of the neighbors, then the neighbors feel that that's probably the precedent and there's no need to argue anymore about undergrounding. I feel optimistic about what I've heard here at the dais tonight. I do think that this is a yes and situation where we need to look at a broad citywide policy around undergrounding so that we don't have to keep doing this. It's well past my bedtime. And the neighbors are really unified about this. I was elected to represent and to serve the community. Like Councilmember Dahl, I also am not a lawyer. I don't even pretend to be one. I feel it is my duty to use the discretion that has been granted to me as an elected official and to use my authority. I understand that neighborhood plans and area plans are not regulatory and that the Unified Development Code, the UDC, is regulatory. I understand the legal risks. But from where I'm sitting, thinking about seven years of organizing, I think that we're going to face litigation whether we uphold the zoning examiner's decision or not. So the legal risk is there on both sides. I'm not a lawyer, so I'm scared when I hear about all the risks. But I heard a lot of coulds. I didn't hear anything that was 100% definitely we have no shot. And to me, that means we still have a chance. At the end of the day, I was elected to represent people and not just when it's not risky. So I move to modify the zoning examiner's decision by approving the special exception land use permit subject to the zoning examiner's conditions and adding the following condition requiring any currently planned or future connecting transmission lines in the university area plan and in any residential neighborhoods to be placed underground in accordance with the duly adopted directives of the university area plan and in accordance with our own voter co-created and adopted general plan, Plan Tucson. Thank you, that's my motion.

Second.

There is a motion and a second. Any further discussion on the motion?

Can I just add one more thing? There's another point I forgot to make, and it was about the neighborhood plans on the precedent. Because a lot of the stuff that the city of Tucson has done to encourage density, flexible lot development, all that is awesome. I think it's really great. Neighborhood plans, I think that we should have the purview to pick and choose the things that we want to enforce. Because we've done it in the past we have used pieces of the neighborhood plan to make our arguments I don't think it's an all-or-nothing And I also think we need to look at neighborhood plans if they're that counter to what the city's goals are but in this case I would like to pick apart the plan and say I want to Use the part that tells us that we need to underground and that's my motion.

Thank you any other Questions by the council colleagues councilmember Cunningham.

I just need clarification does the undergrounding that you're adding is apply to this project?

Yes, so just to be clear, I haven't heard from any constituents that they have any trouble with the setback relief or the wall height or anything like that. They've been very clear. They're concerned about the lines that are going to connect the substation to the rest of the grid.

Alrighty. Mr. Attorney, I just have a question about the authority that we have in front of us to be able to add the additional requirements as stated by Council Member Schubert.

Mayor, Councilmember Schubert, and Councilmembers, I think the argument would be that the authority was exceeded in 3.4.6 and could be an exaction because it's unrelated to the requested relief. It far outweighs, and the court would look at that and say that it is greatly exceeded by what the relief requested is.

I'm really concerned. I am so concerned and torn here because there was an accusation by one of the public hearing speakers that we're just sitting here, not caring, with a decision already made. And that can't be further from the truth. I make my decisions on evidence and my concerns with this particular motion is that we know, if that is your intention, that you know we're going to go into litigation. My concern is that we're going to spend time and money. to get to a point where we're all going to lose. I want to make sure that we look at undergrounding in Tucson as a whole. And for me, it is irresponsible to say that this mayor and council don't care about this. This is something we want. We've been fighting for the gateway corridors. We've been fighting for this. the rights of our neighborhoods throughout this process. I mean, I don't know, it's been seven years. And we've gone to court, we've pushed back on TEP, It concerns me where we are today because mayor and council need to be able to make decisions based on our land use codes and our voter approved general plan. The general plan that we have right now look very, very different. It looks very different than many of the neighborhood and area plans. Why? Because some of these neighborhood and area plans have not been updated in decades. And so I mentioned the Mayor and Council, I don't know how many years ago it was, moving against the West University neighborhood plan, one piece of it, which was the density and the size of, or the amount of floors that we could add to development next to and in the West University area. And because we did take a position as mayor and council to GO AGAINST THAT PARTICULAR PIECE OF THE NEIGHBORHOOD PLAN, WE'VE BEEN ABLE TO DEVELOP DENSITY IN THE UNIVERSITY, WHICH, BY THE WAY, REALLY HELPED WITH PUSHING BACK AGAINST MINI-DORM DEVELOPMENT IN OUR NEIGHBORHOODS. AND SO IT CONCERNS ME WE WOULD GO TO COURT and argue against our ability as a city to push back against maybe antiquated neighborhood plans or area plans. And so I'm not completely convinced that we should move in the direction of the motion. And I'm very torn because I wish we could say, yes, let's underground everything. I am too. I think an urban planner and architect spoke at the public hearing. I too am about aesthetics and how our city looks. I'm concerned how this particular case can get us into a rabbit hole and not solve what we want. which is continued undergrounding. Vice Mayor.

Thank you, Mayor. I think that what I'm sitting with tonight is that the question before us is whether the zoning examiner erred in approving this special exemption and whether this appeal should be granted. And what has been presented to us by the zoning examiner was that he conducted extensive review, held multiple hearings, requested additional information, considered testimony from both supporters and opponents, and ultimately determine that the project complies with the applicable standards for this location. And so I am also concerned about the precedent that we could be establishing in granting this appeal and that I want to continue to use neighborhood and area plans as important planning tools that help guide our decision making and express our community values And I am concerned about using this appeal for undergrounding, kind of putting that together. And like, I think that's the legal, THAT COULD HAVE LEGAL RAMIFICATIONS FOR US UNINTENDED AS WELL BECAUSE I THINK AT THE END OF THE DAY WE ALL WANT TO SEE UNDERGROUNDING THROUGHOUT OUR THE CITY OF TUCSON AND I DEFINITELY WANT TO FROM THIS CONVERSATION HOW DO WE MOVE TO UPDATING OUR UDC so that it mirrors what the community is asking from us. So I echo your sentiment about feeling torn. I don't feel like this is the mechanism for accomplishing that, but I also do think what the neighborhoods, what the community is asking for us is to have a more robust citywide policy on undergrounding. So I think that we can accomplish both. Thank you.

Council Member Dahl?

Yeah, I don't think the city, the community, at least not in this area, is asking for a citywide plan. The community is asking for us to protect them from these overhead lines that will ruin the character of these neighborhoods. I want to say, Roy, you've done a really good job. I'm going to tell you something I told Adam, the attorney from TEP, recently in another matter. You're doing a great job of being a risk-averse advisor. Sometimes we need to take risks. And also it occurred to me that if we go the way of, oh, we won't do it this time, but we're going to do it citywide soon, then TEP has won the battle but lost the war. It's going to cost you a lot of money to underground everyone because I think if we don't do this, there's going to be a movement to force us to do what you're saying we're going to do and do undergrounding everywhere. So in this case, I think we should do... AND RECOGNIZING THAT IT IS COMPLICATED AND EVERYBODY HAS A PERSPECTIVE ON THIS, BUT IN TALKING TO MY WARD THREE NEIGHBORS WHO ARE SO CONCERNED ABOUT THESE GOING INTO AN ESTABLISHED NEIGHBORHOOD, I THINK THE RIGHT THING TO DO IS TO PASS THE MOTION MY COLLEAGUE HAS PUT BEFORE US. BUT I WON'T BE MAD AT ANYBODY WHO GOES THE OTHER WAY.

I COUNT ON EVERYBODY ELSE.

Thank you, Mayor. Well, you know, I am concerned. I do feel like we do need a comprehensive citywide plan because a lot of the neighborhoods that are the most vulnerable do not have neighborhood plans, and they won't be here at Mayor and Council meeting past 9 o'clock because of work and other issues. So I do think... We need to create a process for a long-term policy based on what's before us today. And I don't feel I can support this proposed modification by Council Member Schubert. Additionally, within the narrow scope of the special exception, I think we have to have a solid reason to deny. So with all that said, I support approval of the special exception, but would support a long-term process to explore underground. Undergrounding citywide.

Are you making that in the form of a substitute motion?

I would like to do a substitute motion to propose a citywide policy for undergrounding citywide.

So that's a process motion. I'LL SECOND THAT. OKAY. THERE'S A MOTION AND A SECOND. AND YOU ALSO ASKED THAT WE APPROVE THE CITY MANAGER RECOMMENDATION? BECAUSE I HEARD YOU WOULD. YES. OKAY. SO THERE IS A SUBSTITUTE MOTION AND A SECOND. ANY DISCUSSION ON THAT? COUNCIL MEMBER LEE.

Thank you, Mayor. I just want to confirm that I'm tracking Council Member Barajas. We are essentially, the motion is to deny the appeal, right? That's the language that I have in my brain, deny the appeal, and then give direction to start a process of exploring a citywide undergrounding policy. Am I tracking, Selena, what you're looking for? Okay. Thank you for the clarification.

Any other questions? Council Member Cunningham.

All right. Couple things. One is, I'm still thinking about the actual setback. I'm still back at the 13 and a half foot wall. I'm trying to figure out whether or not they, I thought if you go over eight feet on a wall in a residential, you're required an additional setback. Was that considered when they did the wall? Yeah, Jim.

Honorable Mayor, Councilmember Cunningham, they picked that number because that would make it consistent with the wall that's already there. And so otherwise you're gonna have this wall that has one height here and one height there. So it was to make it consistent with the university wall that they had.

So the university wall, was the university wall grandfathered in? Does it have a variance?

Yeah, I'm sure it's to code. So that was the point of that one. having that higher wall.

So they went on the continuous wall at 13 and a half feet, which is even with the existing university wall.

Did I say that correctly? Yeah, okay.

And is there a required setback when they build that wall?

The setback where they're requesting setbacks, there's only non-residential uses. The side that has a residential, they're setting back 20 feet and putting in a landscape buffer yard there.

And is that in compliance with our existing code, or is that basically the exception piece?

The 20 feet is required, and the landscape buffer yard, I assume that's part of our landscaping code, but I can't say for sure. But it's going to be landscaped, too. And that's where they're going to have public art along the wall.

Did they... You also said they had to have a setback. The 20-foot setback, I thought that was for a different place. That's not for where the substation is?

It's for the substation, and normally it would be on all sides of the substation, but there are three sides of the substation. Part of it is facing an alleyway by the hospital, and the other parts are by non-residential uses on both sides. So three sides are non-residential. It's up against industrial-like uses. Then one side is facing the residents.

So the sides that are not facing residences weren't, it was your interpretation, they weren't subject to the setback requirements.

They got a waiver from that. There's a provision in the special exception that you can ask for a waiver of one of the use-specific standards. And that when we said, okay, that makes sense, but we also want you to do these other things.

I'm assuming that Banner owned those Adjacent properties.

I think where they got the waiver.

I think so so the property owner has to grant the waiver No, well the the waiver is granted as part of the special exception unless the property owner Protests the way they came here and they were protesting that but they're not they're writing a letter of support and then on the place that there's an alley is that our easement or is that a private easement and

The place where there's an alleyway, that's a little road between this property and the hospital, the back of the hospital.

But is it city or is it the hospital owns it?

The hospital.

All right. Thank you very much.

Alrighty, so we're gonna have to vote on the substitute motion, but this is what I'm concerned about. There's so many different things. This is such a complex issue. We've been at it for more than seven years, and we absolutely understand that the neighbors in this area want to see undergrounding. What I'm concerned about, besides the issues that I've already talked about, is that there's a big question mark about who is going to pay for this. Okay, and this conversation happened initially when the issue about undergrounding first happened. I don't know if you all remember, we had put together a really complex and complicated franchise agreement that would find a way to underground this and added to the rate payer. And the rate payer would pay for the undergrounding. The franchise agreement had a lot. But what I heard a lot from the community is that why are we and other people that live in other places that are not going to see the benefit of undergrounding have to pay for that? And so one of the things that we've heard time and time again in our sustainability town halls especially the Spanish-speaking town halls, was that affordability was a huge issue for them, that they needed relief in terms of pay. And that was one of the main issues that they brought up over and over and over again. I feel as though two things. One, that in whatever way we get sued, one way or the other, our residents are going to feel the pain of wherever we go, whoever decides to sue us. Two, I'm concerned about that language in the surviving franchise agreement that could possibly make the city of Tucson pay. Again, the residents stand to pay for that. And then the other piece that I have in my mind as well is that it really would cement mayor and council's or there would be an inability for mayor and council to be able to differentiate with pieces of neighborhood plans that we don't agree with that possibly have been passed by the voters in the general plan that two of those don't jive. And that could get us into further unintended consequences that I do not want to get ourselves into or get any other future mayor and council from being able to have the flexibility to use. This is not about wanting good aesthetics for our neighborhoods in our city. It's about getting to a place where we can put together a code that will be beneficial for everyone. And so I'm going to call the question and go to roll call on the substitute motion.

Councilmember Barajas? Aye. Councilmember Cunningham?

Nay.

Councilmember Dahl?

Nay.

Councilmember Lee?

Aye.

Councilmember Schubert? Nay. Vice Mayor Santa Cruz?

Aye.

Mayor Romero?

Aye. Substitute motion passes.

So I think the motion was if we are going to have the substitute motion as the main motion. And so now if you would like to pass the substitute motion, you would vote on that.

Okay.

We voted on the substitute motion. So in Robert's Rules of Order, this is treated as an amendment. Okay. So you had decided if you were substituting the motion. So you voted to substitute the motion. Now we vote on the substitute motion. If there's no further discussion, yes.

To clarify, the substitute motion is to look for a citywide policy and to uphold the zoning examiner's decision and deny the appeal. Is that the motion that we're about to vote on?

That is my understanding, yes. Okay, thank you. Councilmember Barajas?

Aye.

Councilmember Cunningham?