Name: City Council Regular Meeting on 2026-09-01 6:00 PM
Uploaded: 2026-09-01T00:00:00Z
Duration: 1 h 36 min 36 s
Description: As a concern, Mayor Copa resident asking our city council to seriously reconsider our use of flock automated license plate reader cameras and to end our relationship with flock safety.

[0:04] Welcome, everyone. I will call this meeting, September 1, this regular city council meeting to order and I am going to ask Pastor Roger Thompson to please come forward to give the invocation and councilmember Marsh to lead us in the pledge of allegiance. Please rise if you're able.

[0:38] There we go. Let's go ahead and pray, shall we? Heavenly Father, thank you for the opportunity we have tonight or to gather with freedom.

[0:50] Lord, this and its meetings like this embody what America is and so Lord, we pray for our

[0:56] time together, we pray for wisdom and discernment and direction and for peace.

[1:01] Lord, I thank you for the council members, Lord, give them direction and understanding

[1:06] and all things regarding our city and the direction we're going, Lord, we pray for the people

[1:10] of this city, Lord, would you bless them and prosper them, keep them safe, God, we pray

[1:14] for our first responders, our fire, our police, and all those got involved in keeping the

[1:21] city and the people of the city safe.

[1:23] We pray for the churches that are lifting up the name of Jesus tonight.

[1:26] We thank you for them and just how important they are, Lord, to this community.

[1:30] And Lord, we pray for our school, school teachers, Lord, our parents and our students.

[1:35] God, we pray for our schools that they would be a place of learning and growing and a place

[1:42] for our community comes together, Lord.

[1:44] And so, Lord, again, we offer this time.

[1:46] We offer this meeting to you in Jesus' name.

[1:50] Amen.

[1:51] Thank you.

[1:54] I pledge allegiance of the United States of America.

[1:59] Thank you very much.

[2:02] One nation under God in this world

[2:05] with liberty and justice for all.

[2:08] All

[2:11] right, thank you, Pastor Thompson and Councilmember Marsh.

[2:14] That'll take us to roll call, Vanessa, please.

[2:18] Councilmember Gettel.

[2:19] Councilmember Noor.

[2:21] Councilmember Learman.

[2:23] Here.

[2:23] Councilmember Marsh.

[2:24] Here.

[2:25] Councilmember Wade.

[2:27] Vice Mayor Manfredi.

[2:28] Here.

[2:28] Mayor Smith.

[2:29] Here.

[2:29] Madam Mayor, we have a quorum.

[2:31] Thank you very much.

[2:32] That takes us to the next item on the agenda, which is Proclamation's

[2:37] Acknowledgements Awards and presentations.

[2:39] Tonight we have one on fall prevention.

[2:42] And I'm going to ask the council to come join me if you would like to.

[2:46] and Ron Smith from the audience and any of your invited guests, please.

[3:16] Right, whereas slips and falls are the leading cause of injury related deaths amongst Arizona residents 65 and older.

[3:25] It is estimated that one in four adults will suffer a serious fall and

[3:29] it's accounts for the highest mortality rate of men over 85.

[3:35] And whereas falls can result in sizable personal and financial tolls that greatly affect a person's quality of life.

[3:42] life, traumatic brain injury, TBI, depression, loss of mobility, and loss of functional independence

[3:50] are frequent challenges impacting those that are injured.

[3:54] And whereas the total cost of unintentional slips and falls, including costs associated

[3:59] with physician care, EMS services, rehabilitation, or long-term disability exceeds $3 billion annually.

[4:08] And whereas following is not an inevitable result of aging, prevention programs can assist with everyday strategies to improve both mobility and stability and reduce risks.

[4:20] And whereas I urge all older adults, family members, caregivers, healthcare providers, medical centers, first responders, law enforcement, and community partners to routinely assess older adults.

[4:35] including our veterans and those with disabilities for fall risks and enact strategies to improve mobility, stability, and independence.

[4:45] Now, therefore, I, Nancy Smith, Mayor of the City of Maricopa, do hereby proclaim the month of September as Fall Prevention Awareness Month, and this is on September 1st, 2026.

[6:00] That takes us to the report from the mayor and council, council, do you have items you'd like to share? Yes, councilmember Marsh.

[6:10] Well, it's been 28 days since our last meeting.

[6:16] I've been busy. On August 7th, the Penal Partnership held a breakfast meeting and the topic was energy gas, electric, solar, and wind. On the 11th, the Penal County Water Augmentation

[6:32] the Asian Authority Board focused on adding additional water sources to Penal County's water supply.

[6:40] We are in a long-term drought.

[6:43] The Colorado River is in a long-term drought, and the federal government has just reduced Arizona's allocation of the Colorado River severely.

[6:53] We do have some potential for new water sources from conservation, doing things like reducing turf watering

[7:01] of potable water, converting turf watering from potable to reclaimed,

[7:08] converting turf parks in HOAs, and nonproductive turf areas, to Zariscape.

[7:16] Second solution is aquifer recharge.

[7:19] We're looking at putting beaver dams in the Santa Cruz and Santa Rosa washes to hold back the water and let it percolate into the aquifer.

[7:31] There's a consulting company that's doing a project down near Pocaccio where a wash is approaching I-10.

[7:40] They don't want to wash out I-10, so they're going to put in beaver dams.

[7:47] On the 17th, the senior advisory council meeting, the committee and staff are starting to plan the January senior info expo.

[7:56] I do have an opening to fill on the senior advisory council.

[8:01] So anybody over 50 who's interested, you know, Rich, yes, you can apply on the city website.

[8:15] On the 20th, we had a lunch and learn featuring Jake Lenderking, the global water vice-president

[8:24] for sourcing new waters, water supply.

[8:27] It was an excellent presentation.

[8:29] He introduced his new water conservation expert,

[8:32] and she's excellent.

[8:35] On the 25th, Dolly Parton died,

[8:37] and I took two days off to remember her life

[8:40] for music and all the good things she's done.

[8:43] We all should be more like Dolly Parton.

[8:46] On the 27th, we held a Board of Adjustments meeting

[8:50] in Florence, same old undersized lots, variances, even one case, and didn't valley south of

[8:57] the Maricopa. Going forward, the Maricopa Community Senior Center calendar is posted

[9:02] on the city website and is available at the Community Center.

[9:09] Every Monday, 10 to 11 a.m.,

[9:12] meet and greet at the community center,

[9:16] it helps get seniors out of their houses, and

[9:21] there's a movie matinee every Friday at 1 p.m., except 9.11, it starts at noon.

[9:28] There's a blood pressure clinic on 9.11 at 10.30 to 11 a.m.

[9:34] Cooper seniors is on the 10th at 9.30 a.m., and the luncheon learned topic, this fall is fall prevention starting around Smith, that's on the 17th, and then there's a fall prevention awareness info expo at the library on the 26th.

[10:00] From nine to one, putting icing on the cake of follow-awareness month, that's about it, Mayor. Thank you. Thank you very much, Councilmember Marsh, Councilmember Lerman.

[10:15] I would like to congratulate my son,

[10:20] America Baha'i School graduate and Air Force Cadet, Charles Lerman, a senior at the United States Air Force Academy for his job drop on Saturday, August 15th,

[10:29] getting his dream job of cyberspace operations.

[10:33] We are so proud of him, and he will be graduating June 3rd of 2027.

[10:38] And I remember when he was at Maricopa Wells coming home and telling me,

[10:44] mom, I want to go into the Air Force Academy, and I want to go into cyber.

[10:49] And for him to get his dream job this month or last month, we were ecstatic.

[10:55] So we're so proud of him.

[11:00] I want to thank Adam Orte for hosting Maricopa's Got Talent on August 29th.

[11:06] The judges were Mayor Smith, Fire Chief Batassi, local comedian DT and Duke Roadhouse general

[11:13] manager, Haley Nelson.

[11:15] It was a really great night.

[11:16] There were artisans present, 34 acts.

[11:20] There were four categories, youth, senior, solo, duo and group.

[11:24] It was great entertainment.

[11:25] I think there are about 12 acts that are moved forward to September 12th.

[11:31] They will be competing for first, second, and third place at Duke's Roadhouse from two to five.

[11:37] And the public will be the judges, so you guys will choose the winner.

[11:41] And that event on September 12th is a fundraiser for Maricopa First Friday.

[11:46] So it was a really great event.

[11:48] Thank you for everyone that came out and participated and just watched.

[11:51] I would like to also announce that Maricopa's second art gallery is opening this fall.

[11:58] We have a current art gallery in the library and we're opening our second art gallery here in City Hall.

[12:05] It's going to be a solo artist spotlight gallery opening here for one artist to display their art.

[12:13] So this is something new that we're doing in Maricopa, we're really excited about it.

[12:17] But we have an amazing art community here that we want to recognize and honor and give more opportunities to, and I want to thank our Cultural Affairs and Arts Committee and Travis Orien and Brenda Campbell for helping that come to fruition.

[12:30] And Maricopa Police Department made 80 contacts and 62 citations on the first day of school.

[12:37] The citations were for speeding failure to yield and cell phone violations.

[12:41] Thank you to our America Police Department for keeping our students safe and for continuing to educate our community.

[12:49] They were also reminding our youth to wear a helmet if you're under the age of 18.

[12:54] And I'm also want to give them a huge shout out.

[12:57] They have a ride safe program.

[12:59] It's an online program for anyone that has any violations for e-bikes or scooters.

[13:05] So if they get a violation, they will go through an online program just helping them understand the rules.

[13:10] for writing e-bikes and scooters, so thank you to MPD for getting that program up so quickly.

[13:17] I also want to thank AZDPS for their presence on 347.

[13:21] I have seen them out there consistently, and I think it is helping, so thank you to them.

[13:26] And then I just want to give a shout out to our library for some great programming that they're offering our youth.

[13:32] They offer Friday Fibers, ages 14 and up on Fridays at 4 p.m.

[13:37] They have an APOP group ages 12 to 18 every other Friday at 5 p.m.

[13:43] They have Dungeons and Dragons Adventures League age 13 and up every other Saturday at noon

[13:49] and they have a Lego Club age 7 to 12 years old Thursdays at 5 p.m.

[13:56] I also want to remind everyone that Stage Coach Days is coming up October 15th through the

[14:01] 28.

[14:01] There's going to be a lot of fun activities going on, hoping everybody can get involved.

[14:06] And first Friday's is starting Friday, October 2nd, from 6 to 10 PM in the Heritage District.

[14:13] I want to thank the Mayor and Council for your support and your sponsorship, and for the community coming together to make that happen.

[14:22] I want to thank the Penal County Supervisor of it's yellow for having our second meeting regarding improving the welfare of our animals here in Maricopa and

[14:33] discussing the opportunity for a shelter here.

[14:36] I want to thank you for their engagement and conversation,

[14:39] and we look forward to more conversations about that.

[14:43] I want to give a shout out to Global Water.

[14:45] This last month, I had a lot of meetings on my calendar

[14:48] and I noticed I kept driving to Global Water

[14:50] like over and over and over again.

[14:53] Global Water goes above and beyond

[14:55] and hosting meetings for community groups.

[14:58] Space is so limited here in my area.

[15:00] So when you're a group looking for a space to meet, they continually are so generous and open their doors to nonprofits, small groups, maybe they don't have a lot of money to spend. And so this is just a huge service that they do to our community, and I want to thank them. If you guys will give them a round of applause, they're here tonight. So thank you so much.

[15:25] I also just want to thank Mayor Coppa Police Department. This month, I just kept hearing, oh, Mayor Coppa Police Department's doing cops and cons.

[15:38] I mean, they're really just doing so many things, and we think about they're out there 24-7 serving us, but they're actually going way above and beyond just serving us on the street, and in our homes, they're really serving our community, and when you ask them, like, hey, we have this, would you want, yeah, what do you need? We'll help out.

[16:00] They're just, they're here to serve our community and we're so grateful for that, and so I just want to thank them for all that they do, and all that they do that people don't know that they do.

[16:12] And then I want to thank Councilmember Gettel.

[16:16] He created a coalition, maybe you're going to talk about it a little bit tonight, but I was able to go for the first time this last week to his group.

[16:24] He's bringing non-profits and churches together to collaborate and coordinate so that we can serve the community.

[16:30] The room was packed, it was really a great event, just for us to meet each other, learn about resources, and connect with each other of how we can do more together.

[16:40] And so thank you Council Member Gettel for that.

[16:42] And then I have one last thing.

[16:44] I want to thank Arizona Game and Fish Officer Travis Clarkson.

[16:48] He is the officer for our region here in Arizona, and he came out on August 5th and 6th to assess our Bobcat Coyote and Fox situation.

[16:59] He was really helpful.

[17:01] He drove around Maricopa, looked at some different areas, talked to some different people.

[17:06] And what he is suggesting is if you ever see a Bobcat Coyote or Fox, to please call their Dispatch Hotline, it's 602-942-3000.

[17:17] and give them the address of where you spotted the animal because that's really helpful in tracking the animal and knowing where it tends to be.

[17:25] And then he also said that if you want to have detour the animal away from your area, they do not like ammonia and music and talking.

[17:35] So you could play like a radio or something like that, they will not like that.

[17:39] Or he said dip rags in ammonia, set them out on your patio, they will not like that.

[17:43] And the things that attract them are bird feeders, water, rodents, and garbage cans, so those things might attract them to your area.

[17:52] And that is all I have, Mayor.

[17:53] Thank you very much.

[17:54] Thank you very much, Councilor Lairman.

[17:56] Councilor Arway.

[17:58] Thank you, Madam Mayor, I appreciate it.

[18:01] Listen, we have some dynamic young people that live in this community.

[18:06] They are always about the business of taking care of business.

[18:09] It's amazing how quickly they fall in the step when they're asked to be called

[18:13] when they're called upon. We had an orientation here last Wednesday, Wednesday night to encourage

[18:20] people, young people, to come and be a part of the Youth Council. The place was full.

[18:27] Just like you said in there now, it was full, but it was dark. They did a Halloween type

[18:35] or glow-in-the-dark activity and the leadership of the organization is about to change because

[18:47] we have seven seniors that are a part of the leadership and they have been a part of

[18:51] the organization for at least three years. So they chose you how much they participate.

[18:56] We had an opportunity to take a group of students to the cities and towns and they know

[19:04] Maricopa.

[19:05] They know Maricopa is an outstanding city without standing youth council and we look forward

[19:11] to showing our stuff and they did, they did very well.

[19:15] So I want to encourage you if you have a young person in your home and maybe civic minded

[19:20] And once they're getting involved, have them getting in contact with me, you can do it through the city hall.

[19:26] Our next meeting is going to be November or excuse me September the 9th, and

[19:32] it'll be right here in this room starting at 5 o'clock.

[19:36] And on that night, we'll be holding elections for the new season.

[19:41] And so it's going to be kind of a bit of sweet because the folks at least there's a couple that are really sharp.

[19:49] you know, people are ready ready to take out a leadership role and so we'll probably

[19:53] introduce them to you guys in one of our meetings as well. So be on the lookout for some

[19:59] to show people.

[20:02] Thank you. Councilmember Wade. Councilmember Nor. Thank you, Mayor. I just have a couple of things to report. It has been a while since our last meeting, though. I wanted to follow up on Councilwoman Learman's point about the Cultural Affairs and Arts Committee. I serve as the Council liaison to that committee. And let me tell you, they put in a lot of work. They are all volunteer. They are appointed by the Council. And they do a lot for our community in terms of cultural affairs and arts.

[20:31] and I'm really excited that we're able to bring back the gallery that's going to be here

[20:36] in City Hall featuring our local artists and that's one of the things that they are working on and

[20:40] so that's just been something that I've really been looking forward to is bringing that back.

[20:45] I remember when we had it before some renovations and it was my favorite thing to do when I was at

[20:49] City Hall so I'm looking forward to checking it out again and I encourage all of you to do that.

[20:56] This month's spent a lot about economic development.

[20:58] I was able to attend the economic development forum, put on by the greater Maricopa Chamber

[21:05] of Commerce.

[21:06] I think that's their name.

[21:07] Greater Maricopa, panel, business alliance, Kelly Anderson's group.

[21:13] They did a great economic development forum hosted at Global Water, which was really fantastic

[21:20] talking about what we need here in Maricopa, how do we bring it here and some solutions

[21:25] and bringing a bunch of businesses and public officials together.

[21:28] And so that was fantastic.

[21:29] And they're doing another one in October on workforce development.

[21:33] So I encourage y'all to attend that.

[21:35] It was really great.

[21:36] I also attended the breakout session at the League of Cities and Towns on economic development.

[21:41] And that was also fantastic and gained a lot of good information from that as well.

[21:46] I was able to tour a senator from Phoenix, Senator Corinne Warner.

[21:53] She's also on the Scottsdale Unified School District governing board.

[21:58] She was really interested in our new all-me-ferral innovation academy when I had talked to her about it, and she wanted to come see it.

[22:05] And so she came out, and Dr. Loatman and I, and President Paddy-Katray were able to tour her and one of her other fellow board members from Scottsdale through the Innovation Academy, and you guys, they were so impressed.

[22:18] I mean they want to bring our ideas from Maricopa into Scottsdale, that's how impressed they were and so I just think that's a testament to all of the wonderful things that MUSD is doing to prepare our students for the future in career and technology and it was just really a great event and not only did they like the innovation of the academy and the career focus and it's the first K-8 career academy but they also really made comments about how professional and

[22:47] and respectful our students are, and they go through schools all the time, and so I thought that was great and a real testament to our families and our kids here in Maricopa.

[22:58] Finally, this is about our community.

[23:02] I was able to get a certificate in continuous compression CPR and AED skills.

[23:10] And really, this is like the best display of communities working together.

[23:15] Bill Robertson and Kelly Anderson are a dynamic duo.

[23:18] They present this class for free.

[23:21] They were doing it for a church group at the time, and I just happened to be able to tag in.

[23:25] It was also at Global Water, so we're seeing a theme here.

[23:28] Thank you for all you do for the community.

[23:31] And they do it with the resources that are provided by the province HOA,

[23:36] because they have purchased the mannequins and the AEDs, the practice AEDs.

[23:42] And it really is great so that our community can learn how to help when someone is in sudden cardiac arrest.

[23:49] And it's truly important that we are able to, as community members, be able to provide that level of care until the first responders get there.

[24:00] It really increases the chance of survival.

[24:02] And so I just want to thank Bill and Kelly for putting that on and also encourage all of you that if you have a group that wants to learn,

[24:09] and he just reached out to Bill and he does it for free and it's wonderful.

[24:13] So I think it's a great resource for our community, and that's all I have.

[24:17] Thank you very much, Council Member Nore, Vice Mayor.

[24:27] Like many of us up here, I attended the league of hours on the cities and

[24:31] towns meeting this past month, it was a great meeting and it always is a great meeting.

[24:36] We go to the federal one sometimes and the state one blows it away because

[24:40] is what we deal with is state issues.

[24:43] And that's, of course, the most important thing for us.

[24:45] We got to meet with state, county, federal representatives,

[24:49] supervisor, video, as there, as well as, I think,

[24:51] all of our supervisors from now county showed up

[24:53] or many of them, a lot of our state reps.

[24:56] And you get to time to just talk to them

[24:58] about what's important in the city of America.

[25:00] And how they can help us, because that's what they're there for. I need to help us out. Council member Wade mentioned the youth council, and that's always the greatest thing. They carry our flag. I know that doesn't sound like a lot, but it's important. It's they carry our flag on the opening day, and they bring it through, and they come to, and they're so proud to be part of it. And then they have an entire day of learning about civics and what's happening, and how to run a city and a town and things like that.

[25:29] One of the greatest things that we do there, one of the greatest classes, I think, is not

[25:34] classes, they break out sessions or whatever they're called if you ever been to a convention

[25:38] or whatever, is reading the tea leaves, that's really fun, because in that, they talk about

[25:44] what's going to happen in the next legislative session, and you get to hear about what they

[25:50] think is going to happen, and God, it scares me every year because of the fight that Katie

[25:56] and us will have to put on to stop some of the things they want to do.

[26:03] Also last week I attended, was that last week yesterday?

[26:07] I don't remember anymore.

[26:09] The Penal Regional Transit Authority, we all talk about this all the time.

[26:13] I remember Prop 416, 417, or $90 million that was collected in sales taxes.

[26:20] about $48 million has been returned back to the taxpayer, which is the businesses that requested it back, although you paid it.

[26:30] So some of those businesses got it back.

[26:32] I think it's 650 businesses got refunds.

[26:35] Refunds closed a few months ago, so that's it.

[26:38] What's going to be left over is a certain dollar amount, depending on interest and such.

[26:43] Should be about $44 to $45 million.

[26:46] Now what do we do with that is the question.

[26:48] because everybody up in Phoenix knows what we should do with it.

[26:53] Unfortunately, they're not looking out for us in Penal County, right?

[26:57] So everybody up in the capital knows what they should do with it.

[27:01] But we in Penal County, I think, know better.

[27:04] So my goal is to push that it is distributed the same way we distribute.

[27:09] They have sent sales tax currently in place in Penal County that pays for

[27:14] road maintenance.

[27:15] And if we distributed that way, city should see about $68 million, depending on that money, which is a good thing.

[27:24] That was our PRTA meeting.

[27:27] On 9-11 coming up, the Maricopa High School have a flag raising at 8.30 AM, arrive at 8.15, so you can get a good spot for it.

[27:36] And then a desert sunrise high school has one at 10.30 right after, so you can go from high school to high school if you'd like.

[27:44] And I know the veterans will have one, but I'm not sure what time they'll be doing theirs.

[27:50] We've beg pleaded and fought to bring back the salsa festival.

[27:56] It's currently on our website, so all of you salsa chefs out there right now sign up.

[28:03] Make sure that you come out and you taste salsa if you're not signed up.

[28:07] But if you want to make salsa, please sign up, make it.

[28:11] I've competed in it three times I've lost three times. I guess I'm not good

[28:17] Show me up and you guys do it. I'm still deciding if we should do it my wife has said no

[28:22] But my wife has said no to a lot of things like running for office, and I'm here

[28:28] so

[28:30] Last one September September is a crazy month because my birthdays in September

[28:37] That's not why it's crazy.

[28:38] September's a crazy month because we have so much going on.

[28:42] Every weekend there'll be three or four or five different things that we have to all run to.

[28:46] And this council will do that.

[28:48] You'll see us at tons of different events and tons of different things.

[28:52] But city council at maricopa-az.gov.

[28:57] If you have an event send it to us.

[28:59] That way you can have somebody from city council show up if you want us.

[29:03] If you don't want us don't send it.

[29:05] Show up, we like talking to groups, we like showing up and answering questions all of us do.

[29:10] So reach out, September is also important because it's Suicide Awareness Month.

[29:16] And Maricopa, we need to look out for each other.

[29:20] That's what we need to do at all times.

[29:22] Suicide is September Suicide Prevention Month, a time to remind ourselves that sometimes

[29:27] Sometimes the people who seem like they're doing fine, maybe carrying something you don't see.

[29:35] So check it on people you know, asking extra question, listen without judgment for what

[29:41] they're saying, and remind someone who's struggling that they don't have to face it alone.

[29:46] If you or someone you love needs support, you can always text 988, call 988, it's a suicide

[29:53] and crisis lifeline.

[29:54] It is free.

[29:55] It is confidential.

[29:56] They're not calling somebody and telling them that you called

[30:00] It's available 24-7. Sometimes a simple, are you okay to a friend or a family member, keep some here with us another day, another week, and another month. You matter, everyone here matters, and we're stronger when we look out for each other. My cell phone number is 602-373-996. It's my cell phone that carry with me everywhere. If you don't want to call 988, call me. I'm happy to sit and talk. Thank you.

[30:29] Thank you, Vice Mayor.

[30:32] All right, excuse me.

[30:37] Grace Fellowship is a church here in Maricopa.

[30:40] They invited me to celebrate their 10th year anniversary.

[30:44] And what I'm finding is that as old as we are, we're working towards our 23 years.

[30:50] We're starting to see a lot of 10 year, 15 year, 20 year.

[30:54] I try to post those on my mayor page, so if you have a business organization,

[30:59] non-profit that wants to have a celebration and have me put it onto my Mayor Facebook page, I'm happy to do that because these milestones are critical.

[31:10] As someone mentioned, the Arizona League of Cities conference took place.

[31:14] I spoke on two panels, it was really a lot of fun.

[31:18] First spoke on the growth in rural communities and the interest that was involved in Maricopa and handling the growth.

[31:27] with primarily still 347, they want to know how we got that to happen, but just a lot

[31:32] of good dialogue back and forth.

[31:34] The second panel was on Maricopa or global waters, aquifer recharge and water recycling,

[31:42] and that was very interesting to the public as well in terms of understanding exactly how

[31:49] much water the City of Maricopa recycles every single year.

[31:54] It's pretty amazing.

[31:55] What was it, a billion gallons, billion gallons every year recycled?

[32:00] And so that took a lot of the people in attendance by all.

[32:04] So great information to share there.

[32:07] Councilmember Wade did mention the Youth Council at the conference.

[32:11] And I have to tell you, on the leadership of Councilmember Wade, Travis and Brenda,

[32:17] our youth excelled in their leadership skills at this conference.

[32:21] It was quite amazing.

[32:23] When I was walking the halls, people would stop me and say, you're the mayor of Maricopa,

[32:28] your youth booth is so phenomenal.

[32:32] And it was just beautiful, very colorful, and people noticed.

[32:36] And our youth did a great job representing Maricopa.

[32:39] And then, as council member Wade indicated, they did a glow event just last week,

[32:45] where they were enticing other young people to join the youth council.

[32:49] This is an amazing group of people.

[32:51] and if you do have young people, I agree council member Wade, encourage them to get started on this.

[32:58] Council member Wade is our council liaison to the youth group.

[33:03] I also attended a thing that was called Maricopa Art Council Open Mike event.

[33:09] That was held at Hunnicut Coffee and they had a variety of really great talent that's here in our city.

[33:17] They had comedians, they had spoken word, which is really dramatic if you've never heard

[33:23] that, a lot of music talent.

[33:25] And so it was really quite quaint because you're in a coffee shop and just watching all

[33:31] of these artists.

[33:32] So a lot of fun.

[33:33] Cops and cones was a huge success, Chief Goodman and my goodness, I don't know how many more

[33:39] people you could have fit in there, but what I loved is all of the children really interfacing

[33:45] with a room full of police officers and having dialogue with them.

[33:50] And what way are you in line to talk to Chief Goodman?

[33:53] So what a lot of fun and they got ice cream too.

[33:57] And Chief Goodman, we had one police officer graduate on Friday.

[34:01] And so we just welcomed in one additional new police officer.

[34:06] So that's exciting as well.

[34:07] And then as was mentioned, Maricopa's got talent, 34 artists.

[34:11] I had a ball being the judge, one of the judges, and you're going to be able to see if you'd like 12 of those 34 groups come forward at Duke Roadhouse on September 12th at 5 o'clock where you get to be the judge.

[34:26] So that's the end of our report from the mayor and council, City Manager, I will turn it over to you.

[34:32] Thank you Madam Mayor, members of the council.

[34:35] Just a few slides to run through today about really things that we're excited to have come to Maricopa, really to enhance the quality of life.

[34:43] So our first one, we have restrooms coming to my King Grim Heritage Park.

[34:49] So here in a couple of weeks we'll start construction, we're just wrapping up the permitting process.

[34:54] But two restroom facilities there is we've seen the use in that park take off and as we want to have that available.

[35:00] We're available for the amphitheater or as people are visiting the historical museum, what have you, that became a need. And so we found a way to get that done and are moving forward with that should be done by the end of the year on that project. Second one I want to talk about is our veterans banner program. And that is in partnership with the American Legion, who actually is able to use this as a fundraiser. But you'll see this, we're really starting a pilot program this year.

[35:29] and next to recognize some of the veterans and active duty members within our community.

[35:36] And so you might see some faces you recognize on that image there.

[35:40] But goal is really to fly these during Veterans Day and

[35:43] the 4th of July and have an opportunity for some recognition there.

[35:47] And then at the end of that two year period where the sun will have hit them a little bit,

[35:54] then maybe they'll retire those banners and

[35:56] can be taken home as a keepsake for those that have sponsored those.

[36:00] And so we're going to give that a shot and see how things go and as we get towards the

[36:04] end of that initial period, we'll adjust and see how we can make that work better in

[36:08] the future if that makes the sense.

[36:11] And then the final thing to mention, we've obviously got a few construction projects that

[36:16] the city is doing around town.

[36:20] Here coming up and just to kind of be a save the date, we've got the ribbon cutting for

[36:24] the outdoor pickle ball courts, we have some indoor courts coming this fall, but the six additional outdoor courts at Copper Sky can see an image of what that looks like as of last week.

[36:36] There's the new San volleyball courts there adjacent where those were moved previously so we could make room for the six new pickle ball courts.

[36:44] So the courts are in, we're just waiting on getting the painting and the lines in place.

[36:50] And then those will be ready to go in about three weeks.

[36:53] And so we'll be doing that ribbon cutting on Tuesday, September 22nd at 9 a.m.

[36:59] So look forward to having some more information on that here in the future.

[37:02] But that's my manager's report tonight.

[37:04] Thank you.

[37:05] Thank you very much, city manager, better.

[37:08] All right, that takes us to the cause of the public.

[37:10] This evening, we have approximately 21 cards.

[37:13] Each person will be given three minutes.

[37:17] If that is about an hour and so prepare yourself, if you don't need all three minutes, you're not forced to use three minutes, but if you would like to use them, it's definitely there for you.

[37:32] We're going to start first with Tori Anderson, please.

[37:36] Mayors,

[37:46] Smith, Council, I'm here tonight on behalf of the against abuse incorporated.

[37:53] I know it's here before for open arms.

[37:55] Now I'm asking for something else, always up her asking.

[37:59] So October is domestic violence awareness month, and so I'm getting you already.

[38:03] October 10th is our 21st annual Seeds of Change Gala.

[38:08] And the Gala has been used to build our domestic violence shelter here in the city of Maricopa.

[38:13] It's been open for 12 years and it has served thousands and thousands of families.

[38:18] We also provide services for families who are not in shelter, it's safe for them to stay at home.

[38:24] And so we provide the same services they would receive if they were in shelter to their homes.

[38:29] So we actually have our outreach program last year around Christmas time.

[38:33] I had 25 additional families that were not in shelter that we were servicing.

[38:38] So, we also have a men's program because we have several fathers who also have stepped up as we know that it's growing.

[38:46] So, the scene to change Kayla has definitely made an impact on this city and I want to thank this city for coming together because we are a community who cares.

[38:56] So, thank you for 21 years of making this absolutely best community project happen.

[39:03] So with that, my invitation to you is on October 10th, at 6 p.m., at Harris,

[39:11] Oxen, Casino, we have a royal Christmas, so we have got Christmas trees from 22 different

[39:17] businesses who are decorating them, we're going to auction them off.

[39:21] And so you get to go home with a Christmas tree that's already decorated.

[39:24] We've got a moving company that's going to deliver them right to your home, so that's

[39:30] an exciting part that we've added to our seats to change Gala.

[39:33] So the Royal Christmas takes place again on October 10th at 6 p.m.

[39:38] at Harris, auction.

[39:39] I do have your invitations.

[39:40] I know they went to your house,

[39:42] but sometimes we forget to check the mail.

[39:44] Not that I would ever do that, but I do have other ones.

[39:47] I'll give them to Vanessa so that you can have those.

[39:50] You can go to seedsofchangegala.org to purchase tickets.

[39:55] They are on sale right now.

[39:57] I am excited for all the sponsors that we have.

[40:00] We have this year and again, this opportunity would not be available to our families without you. So thank you for your support. And again, you can call me or email me in my numbers 520-560-3665. If you have questions, concerns or suggestions, but I will see you on October 10th. So thank you.

[40:25] All right. Next up is Ron Smith. And then I'll call the next person after Ron.

[40:30] And I'm sorry if I butchered your name.

[40:34] Rosemar, Bacara, please come up and be ready after Ron Smith.

[40:42] Good evening, Mayor Vice-Mayor and Council.

[40:45] Thank you for the proclamation.

[40:47] It's an exciting month, and you already know about the event on the 26th.

[40:51] I'm here to make sure you don't forget, but I want to take it a little bit further.

[40:55] This event is not a solo activity.

[40:57] It's designed to be a kickoff for a series of follow-up events on fall prevention that

[41:03] go into the next year.

[41:05] We're going to be doing workshops, seminars, all kinds of activities, some outreach with

[41:10] the fire department, working on doing assessments, home assessments.

[41:14] So we're beginning to build partnerships with other private entities to be able to go out

[41:19] there and do things together to build further our cause, which is to bring new resources and

[41:26] services to the city. So this event is the kickoff and it will be followed on with a number

[41:31] of other events. We're going to announce those at the conference. For those of you

[41:36] are unaware, I have brochures that I'll put up here and my contact information is not

[41:43] here for those that need it. So thank you very much for that opportunity.

[41:48] All right. Next up, I couldn't hear you. Please say your name.

[41:53] Rosina Bacari. Perfect. Thank you. Thank you.

[41:56] Good evening, Mayor Smith, members of the City Council and members of the Maricopa community.

[42:02] My name is Dr. Rosina Bacari and I'm the founder of Seven Exits.

[42:06] It's a professional and personal development business founded here in Maricopa in 2020.

[42:11] My husband and I chose Maricopa as our retirement home but retirement for us does not mean that we are done serving.

[42:18] It means that we are entering a new season of service and we want that service to begin right here in the community we now call home.

[42:25] On October 17, seven exits will host the arrival, aligning with inter ease, and an all-girl women's empowerment event at the Element Event Center.

[42:37] We are expecting approximately 50 to 80 women, including women who have already registered from across Arizona and as far away as New York and California.

[42:46] This event has the potential to make Maricopa a destination for women seeking meaningful personal and professional growth.

[42:54] not only from across Arizona, but from across the country.

[42:58] The arrival was designed for women who have spent years caring for families,

[43:02] building careers, leading organizations, and showing up for everyone else.

[43:06] It will give them an opportunity to pause, reconnect with themselves, and

[43:10] consider what they need for the next chapter of their lives.

[43:15] Tonight, I am asking for your help in three areas.

[43:19] First, we need individual and organizations willing to sponsor women

[43:23] who would benefit from this experience, but may find the registration cost of $125 prohibited because of current like difficulties.

[43:33] Second, the planning for the arrival is already well underway and thorough, but there is still room for community voices.

[43:41] We welcome individuals who would like to contribute to the planning committee and areas that align with the mission.

[43:47] Finally, we are still accepting sponsors, particularly those who can support our printing

[43:53] needs, advertising, and community promotion.

[43:56] Financial support is welcome, but we are also in need of resources, relationships, and

[44:02] a willingness to help us reach women who may not otherwise hear about this opportunity.

[44:07] My husband and I did not simply choose a house in Maricopa.

[44:11] We chose a community.

[44:12] 7x is here, and we are ready to serve, and we welcome the opportunity to build something meaningful together.

[44:19] I have flyers, I'll leave for you, thank you.

[44:25] All right, next is Dr. John and May, and after that, Tina Dugan.

[44:38] Good evening, Mayor and Council, we are back again with Kids Day Maricopa.

[44:44] I just wanted to remind everybody about the event, it's an event for children, it's a health safety environmental awareness,

[44:52] and we have about a hundred activities for kids and we want to teach them in a fun way and I would like to invite all of them.

[45:00] All of you to come out there. It is Saturday, September 19th is from 10 to 4 p.m. At Maricopa Wells Middle School. That's 18 days from today is KIDSA. And I wish our son was here so he could wrap because we have a lot to share really, really quick. Maricopa Police Foundation is having their golf tournament the weekend after on the 26th. We're still looking for people to play, build a team.

[45:30] But also getting back to kids day, I just, you know, again, without all the support and sponsorship from our City Council and the community itself.

[45:40] Miraculable Animal Hospital, Miraculable Rotary, the Auction Indian Community.

[45:45] We have very fun events.

[45:47] We have the 4-H Club, good art, equine, a cactus, a cactus equine.

[45:55] I'm sorry, I'm trying to wrap, but it's not working.

[45:58] We're having pony rides.

[46:00] America fire truck.

[46:02] We also have bicycle safety with America Police Department

[46:06] and Phoenix Children's.

[46:08] We have life-size lightning McQueen car

[46:11] that's gonna be visiting us as well.

[46:14] We appreciate electrical district three.

[46:17] There's sponsorship and then they're also teaching electric safety.

[46:21] Water conservation again with global water.

[46:24] Panell County, search and rescue, Sheriff's Department bringing their Humvee, Duke's Roadhouse is cooking up some sliders for us.

[46:32] We're having an old-fashioned family picnic.

[46:35] Again, Maricopa pantry served over 3,000 snow cones last year, and then we also have four Maricopa with our cotton candy.

[46:43] So we have lots of goodies and fun gardening with A's hardware, smoky bears, 82nd birthday.

[46:50] So we want you all, everyone who has a birthday in September, to come and join us.

[46:56] Let's see.

[46:58] Oh, and I just wanted to share, we are finalists for the Maricopa Scott talent.

[47:04] My husband and I entered the duo on our son.

[47:07] I was really kind of happy that, you know, he's one of the finalists as well.

[47:12] He has a little bit of wrap, so that again, that's at the Duke's Road House, Saturday, September 12th, from two to five.

[47:18] So we are busy this month, you are correct.

[47:21] And I made it with 16 seconds somewhere.

[47:24] Thank you, everyone.

[47:26] Thank you.

[47:27] Thank you.

[47:27] Thank you all.

[47:28] Okay.

[47:29] I know.

[47:31] All right.

[47:32] Tina Dugan.

[47:33] Up next will be crystal all done.

[47:36] Good evening, Marin Council.

[47:38] A little over a week ago, there were proposed industrial zoning changes scheduled to come before

[47:43] planning and zoning.

[47:44] I submitted a number of questions about those changes, particularly because of the potential

[47:50] for data center development.

[47:52] Those items were ultimately removed from that planning and zoning agenda.

[47:56] And I'm glad they were, because I believe we have an opportunity right now to slow down

[48:01] and get this right, before we make any additional zoning changes to industrial property.

[48:08] On August 26th, the Pima County Health Department released a public health review of data center

[48:13] development, developed with researchers from Johns Hopkins.

[48:17] They identified 21 different pathways that should be considered or monitored in data center development.

[48:24] Those include water use, air quality, diesel backup generators, noise, traffic, heat, light pollution, power generation, grid stability, energy costs, electronic waste,

[48:37] and what happens when those facilities are eventually decommissioned.

[48:40] Their recommendation is not to wait until there's a problem.

[48:44] It says I've been saying all along, established baseline information, site specific data, and

[48:51] monitoring before and during development.

[48:54] And then we don't have to guess what can happen if it's we wait too long to put those regulations in place.

[49:00] Just up the road, Casa Grande changed its data center regulations after property already had industrial zoning.

[49:06] and then face to approximately $146 million in proposition 207 claims.

[49:14] This should be our warning.

[49:16] Once development rights are created, taking the map can be very expensive.

[49:21] Attorney General Chris Mays is calling for a statewide pause on data center approvals while Arizona develops a plan for managing their growth.

[49:29] So I'm asking you as the council to consider holding off on any additional zoning changes to industrial property.

[49:36] until Maricopa has strong and specific data center regulations in place.

[49:42] And I don't just mean a few development standards.

[49:45] I mean regulations that address water consumption, power, noise,

[49:49] backup generators, air quality, fire protection, setbacks, heat, infrastructure, and most importantly, decommissioning.

[49:57] I believe we should require ongoing public reporting.

[50:00] So the residents can easily see whether these facilities meet the requirements and regulations without enforcement or just suggestions. There need to be meaningful penalties when those requirements are not met. Other Arizona communities are trying to deal with these issues after the door was already opened and Maricopa has the opportunity to do something different. We can become that city that other communities point to and say they planned before it happened. Growth is coming, technology is changing.

[50:29] changing quickly. This is our opportunity to be proactive instead of reactive. Let's not waste it.

[50:39] Perfect time. Christolo John, please.

[50:42] Hi, my name is Christolo John and I'm to the mayor and all the city council members.

[50:47] Thank you for having me and light and respect to all of the other people that have to speak.

[50:51] I'll make mine really quick.

[50:53] So as a concerned community member, and I've been talking to so many of our concerned community members

[51:01] about flock cameras which I'm sure everyone's going to talk about but I had just a couple

[51:07] questions and I'm hoping that you'll just think about or make these available but I'm

[51:12] asking for a couple things.

[51:15] If possible if their documents that exist that could help us I think understand the flock

[51:21] situation a little bit better would you make these available one would be the audit log which

[51:28] which is the block records for every search of Miracle Pistata, which agencies, which reasons

[51:33] and that sort of thing.

[51:35] And then two, would you publish the performance data?

[51:39] Performance data is the total searches versus cases actually clear because of the block hit

[51:45] and the cost per case.

[51:47] So if the cameras work, the numbers will, in fact, defend themselves.

[51:51] And number three, is there a data sharing list?

[51:54] Every outside agency with access to marital post cameras and under what agreement so 41% of residents pulled out of post cameras, the flat cameras from up up from 28%.

[52:07] And that's not French, so that's people losing their confidence in them, so I just really have those questions and I wonder if we could make that information available to the public.

[52:16] Thank you.

[52:17] I yield. Up next is Gregory Follett.

[52:32] Good evening, Madam Mayor, Council Members. My name is Gregory Follett,

[52:37] and I'm respectfully advocating for the City of Maricopa to become safer. Public safety matters.

[52:47] As someone who remembers needing protection and the sudden surprise of realizing I was alone,

[52:54] I understand how our school age citizens may feel every time they navigate the

[53:01] many busy and dangerous crosswalks, say that 10 times real fast, in our community.

[53:09] Going to school and coming home should not be a scary adventure.

[53:15] Parents need the confidence that their child is protected.

[53:19] Imagine being 12 or 13 years old and crossing a busy and dangerous roadway, praying that you

[53:30] will be seen, that the distracted drivers don't harm you, that every driver doesn't creep

[53:39] any closer towards the three or four feet that separates you from the bumper of every

[53:48] car or worse, the wheels of even an 80,000 pound truck that's perched on the edge of

[53:56] that crosswalk.

[53:59] The traffic is stopped, the signal flashes walk.

[54:04] You move off the curb, step into the street, and without warning, a car from nowhere passes

[54:11] right in front of you.

[54:14] There's no place or any time to escape.

[54:17] your fear turns to anger, your anger to confusion, your confusion to wonder. Am I

[54:27] safe?

[54:30] Imagine you were driving. You're stopped at a crosswalk and waiting for the

[54:35] traffic light to turn green. Your line of sight both to the left and to the right

[54:42] is obscured. Big truck, maybe the hood of an SUV. You hope the crosswalk is empty

[54:51] and suddenly a pedestrian is in front of your vehicle.

[54:59] Many of us in

[55:00] In this room, have had, heard, or seen these experiences. City Code Title 10, chapter 10.50,

[55:12] sections A, B, and D, provide the city engineer or the chief of police with authority to

[55:19] designate and maintain safety zones of such kind and character and at such places deemed

[55:27] necessary, and establish marks or lines,

[55:35] wow, that was fast.

[55:38] When you're talking three minutes goes really fast.

[55:40] I guess so.

[55:42] City manager, is there somebody he could give the remaining portion of his information to?

[55:50] Yeah, we could, if you want to meet afterwards, we can talk.

[55:53] Thank you.

[55:53] That would be great.

[55:54] Thank you.

[55:56] All right, up next is Brad Follett.

[56:06] Thank you Mayor, Vice Mayor and Council, a couple of weeks ago I sent a letter to the city staff in regards to data centers so Tina kind of like pushed the button so I'm going to try to reset a little bit with some information.

[56:21] I want to thank staff for responding so quickly and trying to take initiative to move forward to developing some guardrails for data centers and everything else and that's really what needed to be done.

[56:33] And also, I had submitted documentation to the council and everybody else in a report

[56:39] that I did.

[56:40] It was only about 60 pages on data centers, AI, quantum, and also for battery storage

[56:48] units.

[56:50] Now, the paper is evidence-based, and it's entitled, why medical needs a ban on data, AI, quantum

[56:56] centers, and battery energy storage systems.

[56:58] This and other data is available on my website at earthhyphenmonth.org on the data page site.

[57:06] Now in pertinent part, being applicable over that of a moratorium it was due to security

[57:12] concerns and components contained in centers and the predominantly obtained from countries

[57:18] of concern, China.

[57:20] And they are banned by Congress, and you can thank our Senator, late Senator John McCain

[57:25] for doing that, and also a fellow in other regulations.

[57:30] The administration along with other agencies in Washington are pursuing other avenues and

[57:36] regulations to prohibit other things coming from China.

[57:41] Now along with the requests that I made for the city to place a ban over a moratorium,

[57:47] I sent one to the state in July, they received a July 18th.

[57:53] In regards to this, yesterday, the Attorney General received this made a response.

[57:59] And she's asking for the governor and also the state legislature for a moratorium.

[58:04] But more importantly to this is what reason for that is that without guardrails things happen and this happened in the city of Phoenix.

[58:11] It was in December of 2024 that they finally realized what a data center was.

[58:18] They didn't know, they've been building data centers for over 30 years, but

[58:21] But they didn't know what a data center was.

[58:23] So it wasn't until July last year they finally put in some railroad tracks supposedly or guard rails to prevent it.

[58:31] But unfortunately a data center slept overnight and got in.

[58:36] And the problem with that is that it is now zoned for data center in a light commercial area, right next to apartments and homes.

[58:46] So it's a big fiasco.

[58:47] So I'd ask the city to not only move forward, I am willing to help out with doing this, but I wanted the public to know as well as to be able to develop these guardrails and also move forward with a ban, not a moratorium.

[59:00] Thank you.

[59:02] Next up is John Corwin, after him, Allen Anderson.

[59:13] Good evening, Mayor Smith, council members.

[59:16] Just a couple of quick updates from global water that I wanted to share.

[59:19] We'll have some additional communication on these items as well.

[59:22] But the first one was just a quick update on our payment processing vendor through our customer portal.

[59:28] That's going to be changing in December.

[59:29] So most customers probably won't really see the difference other than some additional functionality on our website.

[59:34] That they can make payments through things like Apple Pay, Google Pay, they can, it'll have a wallet where they can save their payment.

[59:42] The only impact that really will be to customers is those that are on auto pay will need to update their auto pay.

[59:47] So, we'll be sending out information on that in the coming months, but just wanted to start to get the word out on that.

[59:53] The second one is our customer walk-in office here in Maricopa, so we have very low walk-in traffic, so we're trying to...

[1:00:00] Make it efficient and really right-size kind of our hours for the office here in North Copa. So we are adjusting our hours from 830 to 1230 Monday through Friday. It doesn't change our call center hours, the ability to, you know, we'll aid to call in or be to make have access to our online portal as well. So we wanted to provide that update. And again, we'll be sending information out on that. That'll take effect on October 19th. And then lastly, Colorado River has kind of been a big topic recently in the news.

[1:00:29] And so I wanted just to provide a little bit of information on that.

[1:00:33] The probably the headline there is in Maricopa, Global Water.

[1:00:37] We do not use Colorado River Water, it is groundwater.

[1:00:40] So I guess the impact on the immediate news is minimal to us at this point in time.

[1:00:46] But I think it's important to continue to promote conservation, council member Marsh, kind of the things that you were talking about on things that we can do to continue to advance conservation.

[1:00:56] And also think to the future of how we're going to find our future water sources for the City of America episode

[1:01:01] Jake and our team at Global Water that's something that we focus on daily and you know

[1:01:05] We're looking 50 years 100 years into the future to make sure that the water availability is there for you know customers

[1:01:11] Long after we're we're gone. So just wanted to provide those updates. Appreciate the time. Thank you

[1:01:17] All right next up is Alan Anderson after that Kathleen Stevens

[1:01:24] Thank you, City Council.

[1:01:25] Look, I'm not just kind of winged this.

[1:01:27] I don't really do a lot of speeches.

[1:01:30] I'll look at this every once in a while for tips, but listen.

[1:01:35] I'm here about the flood cameras as many others are.

[1:01:39] I'm extremely disappointed in y'all.

[1:01:42] That's something that should have put up for a vote.

[1:01:45] We are at least with the City Council, if not to the people.

[1:01:48] These are cameras that aren't just automatic license plate readers.

[1:01:52] They record everything we know they record everything everything it sent a flock flock has its

[1:01:58] Guidelines it's guardrails so to speak

[1:02:01] Do you really believe them? I don't believe them what we're getting here. Now is just constant surveillance

[1:02:08] I've been here since oh nine November of oh nine right this was a small town

[1:02:13] I love this town it was small it was family friendly everything was going good and now look what's big this place is become

[1:02:19] It's just a high-tech, data center-friendly, surveillance-friendly city that has no personality.

[1:02:29] And the flocked cameras are like the worst idea ever.

[1:02:34] We've seen what happens. We've seen cops in other districts, other states, other counties.

[1:02:40] They've had to resign. They've been charged with abusing these systems.

[1:02:45] The government abuses every tool it has, so even if it's not a being abused now, it will be.

[1:02:51] So what I'm asking is do something, do the right thing, I know it may not be a popular thing.

[1:02:58] We may be in the minority, I don't know.

[1:03:01] But still being in the minority tells you I know what's right, I know what's wrong.

[1:03:07] Flot cameras are wrong, that's all.

[1:03:12] Kathleen, please, let's keep business to Corm, Kathleen Stevens.

[1:03:17] Yes. My name is Kathleen Stevens. I'm a fairly new resident of Maricopa. I won't speak long. I'm not used to public speaking, but I have some real serious concerns about the way that flood cameras are flooding our neighborhoods.

[1:03:37] I know that they're pointed at schools, they're pointed at playgrounds, I moved here, realizing this was a city that was new and fresh and growing and evolving and I'm really afraid that we're evolving in the wrong direction.

[1:03:59] It seems that the citizens are being forced into this kind of surveillance over them.

[1:04:12] I've lived in huge cities.

[1:04:14] I've lived in inner cities.

[1:04:16] I'm a former social worker.

[1:04:19] This is not a huge crime area.

[1:04:22] We don't need this kind of surveillance.

[1:04:25] It is very frightening to me.

[1:04:28] We look at what's going on in our whole nation.

[1:04:33] We have police in our cities.

[1:04:36] We have national guard in our cities.

[1:04:42] We have men barely trained, supposedly police officers wearing masks, not identifying themselves,

[1:04:53] running around in cars that aren't marked, kidnapping people off the street.

[1:05:00] Maybe it'll be weeks before we find out whether they're even citizens. They're taking whole families and children off of our streets. We cannot let Maricopa follow this kind of culture. This is a police state culture. This is not not what any citizen in this group would want. You've got a lot of people that came here today.

[1:05:30] tonight on the spur of the moment, unprepared, as I am, because they're very, very concerned.

[1:05:40] I'm sorry.

[1:05:42] I appreciate that you have a lot of work to do, and I think it's lovely all these events that you have planned,

[1:05:51] but let's take a look at this flat camera and see if this is really what we want.

[1:05:58] I think there are a lot of people here who do not want it.

[1:06:02] Thank you.

[1:06:05] Next up is Julia Romero-Gessie.

[1:06:09] Next is Gary Benedict, after Julia.

[1:06:13] Good evening, Julia Romero-Gessie from Sanita resident.

[1:06:18] Also a candidate for the Arizona House of Representatives.

[1:06:22] I attended the county supervisors meeting last week to oppose La Rosa data center.

[1:06:26] Thank goodness this was defeated, but to my surprise the water company proposed for that project was global water.

[1:06:34] For full disclosure, I was serving as a born member for the Maricopa Consolidated Domestic Water Improvement District, but I submitted my resignation this morning.

[1:06:43] For those that are not familiar with that water district, that's another company here that does water services within the city limits.

[1:06:51] I own a few properties and pay for the water for those properties.

[1:06:55] I have copies of four water bills here that I'm going to provide for the record.

[1:06:58] I'll go ahead and give them to our city clerk.

[1:07:02] I'm very concerned that global water is requesting an increase of our water at a time when they are venturing out to provide water to data centers.

[1:07:11] Especially at a time of alarm with our depleting water resources for our own human consumption.

[1:07:17] I am determined to oppose data centers to find measures to preserve our water for our kids, for our grandkids, and the generations to come.

[1:07:27] In regards to the flock cameras, I am sure you're going to hear many and I'm not going to repeat some of the issues that they're going to bring up.

[1:07:33] I joined the rally right before coming here to this council meeting because I do oppose those cameras.

[1:07:39] While in the Air Force, I worked at the National Security Agency.

[1:07:42] I had a top secret clearance, and I'm not going to go into details of what I did, but we were monitoring and surveilling the enemy.

[1:07:51] We the residents of Maricopa are not the enemy.

[1:07:55] These cameras must come down.

[1:07:57] I support the police, and I know that many of you discuss this and see this as a necessary need for our police department.

[1:08:05] But these cameras will only create more questions than answers.

[1:08:09] By who will have access to this information?

[1:08:12] Is the data being sold or accessed by others?

[1:08:15] Can Maricop police department staff access this data for personal reasons?

[1:08:20] Will a council member have access to the footage for his or her own personal game or business?

[1:08:25] Will the images of the children caught on these cameras require parental consent?

[1:08:30] And I could go on and on.

[1:08:32] I just heard just coming here, I saw the news.

[1:08:35] Corona does so just at the high school, they have cameras in the high school.

[1:08:39] They just found that there was a person there that was using the footage from the camera for voyeurism.

[1:08:45] So, flock cameras, data centers, and water are not partisan issues.

[1:08:49] You're going to hear from many people here today.

[1:08:51] I'm concerned and most concerned about the data centers and the use of our water.

[1:08:57] Please say no to data centers, please take down those cameras.

[1:09:00] Lastly, take a look at these water bills and I'm going to provide for the record and make

[1:09:05] your own observations.

[1:09:06] But please work on conserving our water, protecting our water, and making sure that our

[1:09:11] utility bills stay down.

[1:09:13] Thank you.

[1:09:14] Next up is Gary Menendick, and next up for him is Dale Jussle, please.

[1:09:21] Mayor and members of the Council, thank you for allowing me to speak.

[1:09:26] I'm asking you to do something very simple.

[1:09:28] Remove the flock cameras from the City of Maricopa and do not replace them with another system that provides the same type of AI mass surveillance.

[1:09:38] I know with the responsibility, you'll hear that flock is a valuable law enforcement tool and that the answers to concerns about misuse is better policies, audits and guardrails.

[1:09:50] I do not agree.

[1:09:51] The problem isn't simply what someone might do with the data, the problem is the data itself.

[1:09:56] A flat camera is not simply a-

[1:10:00] The license plate reader. The license plate is just the beginning. The cameras captured the vehicles make, model, color, damage, dense, accessories, bumper stickers, decals, and other characteristics. AI then uses those characteristics to recognize the vehicle in various locations. AI begins to build a detailed picture of someone's movements without probable cause or a warrant. It profiles their activities. Where do they go?

[1:10:29] No, when do they go there?

[1:10:31] What places do they regularly visit?

[1:10:34] What other vehicles are repeatedly seen with them?

[1:10:37] That's not simply identifying a stolen vehicle.

[1:10:41] That's creating a record of people's lives.

[1:10:44] And this isn't just my concern.

[1:10:46] About three weeks ago, Penel County Sheriff Ross Teeple canceled his department's

[1:10:51] flock contract because of concerns about the technologies expanding AI capabilities and the Fourth Amendment.

[1:10:58] Chair of people said he was particularly concerned that AI would build a database showing what

[1:11:04] citizens are doing on a day-to-day basis, profiling.

[1:11:09] And I believe that's a critical point.

[1:11:11] Once information has been collected, we don't get to decide what someone might be able to do

[1:11:17] with it years from now.

[1:11:18] Edward Snowden put it very simply in chapter one of his book titled Permanent Record to digitize

[1:11:25] something is to record it in a format that will last forever.

[1:11:30] We have a fourth amendment for a reason.

[1:11:32] It wasn't written because our founders believe government employees weren't inherently

[1:11:36] bad people.

[1:11:37] It was written because government power must have limits, even when that power is being

[1:11:42] used with good intention.

[1:11:44] I want Maricopa to be safe, but I don't believe we should create a permanent record of innocent

[1:11:50] citizens movements without a warrant in order to accomplish that.

[1:11:55] I don't want to live in a place where I have to surrender my privacy and

[1:11:59] forth amendment rights so that I can feel a little bit safer.

[1:12:03] Please follow Sheriff Teeples example.

[1:12:06] Remove the flock cameras from Maricopa.

[1:12:09] Thank you.

[1:12:10] Next up is Dale Dressel, and after him is Jay Wolford.

[1:12:18] Good evening, council members.

[1:12:20] I know most of you.

[1:12:21] I've been a realtor here in America for 14 years now, and I think I've sold at least

[1:12:28] one house on every street.

[1:12:30] But I'm here because of the flock cameras also.

[1:12:33] I just came back from Wisconsin, and my goodness, they're everywhere.

[1:12:38] Everywhere I drive, as a realtor, I see a flock camera, either in my windshield or in my

[1:12:44] room, room, air.

[1:12:45] Is it really necessary?

[1:12:47] What is it cost?

[1:12:49] Who approved it?

[1:12:50] Why was it approved that we have that much crime here in the city that we need them?

[1:12:56] Could we have spent the money on something else like right turn lanes to help our traffic

[1:13:01] work better or you know some other thing like four lanes on honey cut going all the way

[1:13:07] up to Torchosa instead of two lanes or sidewalks along bowl and avenue there where the kids are

[1:13:15] They're riding their scooters and in the dirt on the side of the road, just waiting for

[1:13:20] somebody to get ploughed under.

[1:13:23] So that's my idea of the plot cameras, either besides the privacy, I just don't think that

[1:13:28] we need them in our community and I think the money was ill spent and should have been at

[1:13:33] least talked about before they were put in.

[1:13:37] The second thing I just want to mention is water usage.

[1:13:40] is a big concern being an Arizona.

[1:13:44] I drove across the country just this last month.

[1:13:48] Lakes and reservoirs are so low everywhere.

[1:13:51] It's just ridiculous.

[1:13:53] And I get home and I see a brand new school in my backyard

[1:13:57] with three acres of turf being watered six times a day.

[1:14:02] Now really, should we be putting six acres of turf

[1:14:06] in our school yard, can't we put in a real turf instead?

[1:14:13] It's pretty nice stuff.

[1:14:14] Football fields use it all over the country.

[1:14:17] Then the H-O-A sends me a note saying,

[1:14:19] I gotta put in two more plants in my yard

[1:14:23] because I don't have 12 plants.

[1:14:27] So there's two more plants that have to use water.

[1:14:31] Where's the common sense at?

[1:14:33] Just think about it.

[1:14:34] There's no common sense to this at all, and don't get me going on apartments.

[1:14:41] Thank you.

[1:14:44] Next up is Jay Wilford, and after that person is Jesse Martinez.

[1:14:52] Thank you for the time.

[1:14:54] Also here to speak out for the removal of the flock cameras.

[1:14:58] Bill Thorello, violation.

[1:15:00] We're going to both the first and fourth amendments. It gives police state. There is no need for this type of surveillance. We don't know where the information is going, where it's coming from. And there have been too many instances of misuse. And it seems a lot more harm than it does good. There is no need for the AI to know everything about everybody.

[1:15:31] And as safe as this community is, the money could definitely be used elsewhere, to improve the community.

[1:15:40] Thank you for your time.

[1:15:43] Next up is Jesse Martinez, and then Alissa Gauhoof.

[1:15:52] Hello, my name is Jesse Martinez, and I want to thank you for this opportunity.

[1:15:57] My first request would be to put out an article in Maricopa to share exactly how we got here.

[1:16:02] I woke up this morning and there's cameras all over this city, and I don't remember any

[1:16:08] meeting out there that asked any of us if this is what we wanted, so it'd be nice to

[1:16:14] figure that out and share that with everybody.

[1:16:17] Next, as this meeting was starting, we stopped to say a prayer.

[1:16:23] Romans 13, 1-4, gives government a legitimate role in restraining wrongdoing and protecting

[1:16:29] society. That can reasonably include investigating crimes and gathering evidence, but the passage

[1:16:35] does not give government unlimited authority such as I feel you took advantage of by not

[1:16:41] asking the people what they wanted. There is a legitimate biblical argument that protecting

[1:16:46] people from crime can be an appropriate governmental function while creating pervasive surveillance

[1:16:53] of innocent people and using that information

[1:16:59] to exercise unjust control can cross into human overreach.

[1:17:05] And as much as it has stated, this will not happen.

[1:17:09] We have already seen so many cases of this happening.

[1:17:13] Does this activity not seem hypocritical to stopping to stay a prayer?

[1:17:21] My stance is against these cameras.

[1:17:24] Thank you.

[1:17:26] Up next is Alyssa, and then after Alyssa we'll be Sean?

[1:17:33] I'm Alyssa Cohuth, I'm so honored to be here tonight and thank you for your time.

[1:17:41] I feel very similar to everybody else, I'm a newer citizen here, but there is a lot of

[1:17:48] questions about the safety and where everybody's data is going to be going, so that's a huge

[1:17:55] thing, you know, and especially since this is such a beautiful city and everybody's been so welcoming,

[1:18:01] you know, it's been a big change with these moving in and the vibe is a little bit different,

[1:18:08] everybody is, you know, fearful of what's going to happen here and especially, you know, people with

[1:18:15] kids you know where is our information on our kids going so again respectfully and humbly

[1:18:26] thank you for your time and you know we just want the cameras taken down. Thank you.

[1:18:33] Next up is Sean and after Sean will be Kenya Rivers. Sean please state your last name.

[1:18:40] My name is Sean Stinson.

[1:18:42] Thank you.

[1:18:43] Thank you Mayor.

[1:18:44] Thank you councilmembers.

[1:18:45] I'm going to keep this really short.

[1:18:47] I'm also here to oppose the flock cameras, it's a violation of my rights, it's in the

[1:18:53] 4th amendment and the Constitution and that's really all I have to say about it.

[1:19:00] Just mark that down as opposed.

[1:19:03] Next up is Kenya Rivers.

[1:19:05] After Kenya will be Amber Reston.

[1:19:07] I

[1:19:12] can't keep up with the crowd, but hi everyone, I'm Kenya Rivers, I want to invite everybody

[1:19:18] to the business expo September the 12th, it's at 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. I have invited you

[1:19:26] man for it. I try to send everybody you invite. If you didn't get invited, you didn't want

[1:19:31] now. Everybody here is me. I hope to see you guys there, to promote all the small businesses

[1:19:36] or networking, or just come and hang out.

[1:19:40] I would love to see everybody.

[1:19:42] Thank you.

[1:19:43] 10 to 4 at the High Library.

[1:19:47] Yes, thank you.

[1:19:50] Next up is Amber.

[1:19:51] After Amber is Sherice.

[1:19:56] Good evening, Mayor, Council members,

[1:19:57] and members of our community.

[1:19:59] I'm here tonight.

[1:20:00] As a concern, Mayor Copa resident asking our city council to seriously reconsider our use of flock automated license plate reader cameras and to end our relationship with flock safety. I want to make something clear from the beginning. This is not about being anti-police. I support our local law enforcement, and I want them to have effective tools to solve crimes and to keep our families safe. But public safety and constitutional liberty should not be treated as though we have to sacrifice one to have the other.

[1:20:29] In September of 2025, Maricopa was reported to have 45 flock cameras throughout our city up from just 32 to years earlier.

[1:20:40] These cameras capture license plates and vehicle information as people travel our roads along with the time location of those vehicle sightings.

[1:20:50] Most of those people are not suspected of committing a crime.

[1:20:54] They're going to work, they're taking their children to school.

[1:20:57] They're going to church, visiting family, buying groceries, or simply driving home.

[1:21:02] And I think we need to ask ourselves a very important question.

[1:21:06] How much surveillance are we willing to accept simply because the technology exists?

[1:21:11] Earlier last month, Penal County Sheriff Ross Teeple announced that his office would not renew its contract with flock safety.

[1:21:19] He specifically raised serious, forth amendment concerns and concerns about the direction of

[1:21:24] of newer artificial intelligence capabilities.

[1:21:28] That should matter to us.

[1:21:30] Our own county sheriff is saying there is a line between technology that helps law enforcement

[1:21:34] self-crimes and technology capable of tracking the movements of ordinary citizens.

[1:21:40] Panau County is not alone.

[1:21:42] This month, the City of Chandler discontinued all 40 of its flock cameras after an audit discovered unexplained use of the system.

[1:21:50] And officer later resigned after admitting to using the flock system improperly to locate a family member.

[1:21:56] This is exactly why safeguards matter.

[1:21:59] I understand that flock cameras have helped locate stolen vehicles, missing people in suspects.

[1:22:06] Those are real benefits and I don't dismiss them.

[1:22:09] But effectiveness cannot be the only standard we use when evaluating government surveillance.

[1:22:15] The fourth amendment wasn't written only for people who have something to hide.

[1:22:19] privacy and freedom from unreasonable government intrusion belong to all of us.

[1:22:24] So tonight I'm asking this council to follow Panao's county's lead.

[1:22:28] In Maricopa's relationship with flock safety, remove these cameras, and have a transparent

[1:22:33] public discussion about what limits the people of Maricopa wanted placed on surveillance

[1:22:39] technology in our community.

[1:22:41] Public safety matters, privacy matters, the fourth amendment matters.

[1:22:45] And the residents of Maricopa deserve a voice in deciding where that line is drawn.

[1:22:50] Thank you.

[1:22:52] Up next is Sheree's Tresk.

[1:22:57] Hello, first of all, I'd like to thank you all for your time.

[1:23:00] Thank you so much.

[1:23:01] I appreciate it.

[1:23:02] I'm coming here tonight as a mother and as a teacher because I feel it is my duty and all

[1:23:08] of our duty to speak up and encourage young people to speak up if they see something that

[1:23:15] is wrong.

[1:23:15] wrong. Myself and many other people in the town here, we have concerns about the surveillance

[1:23:22] of the flock cameras. We feel like we're being followed as we go home, as we go to work,

[1:23:30] as we go to the grocery store. And many people will say, why are you concerned if you're

[1:23:37] not doing anything wrong? Well, I'm not doing anything wrong. I'm a teacher, right? I have

[1:23:41] I have to have my fingerprint clearance card in order to do that, what's legal today can be redefined tomorrow.

[1:23:49] So I think this is a pivotal moment and we'll look back at this time in the future where we can stop the ushering in of the surveillance state, or we can encourage it.

[1:24:02] And I feel it is our duty to protect the fourth amendment.

[1:24:06] Thank you so much, have a good evening.

[1:24:09] That is the end of our speaker cards.

[1:24:11] Would anyone else from the audience like to approach the podium?

[1:24:14] If so, please state your name.

[1:24:19] Good evening, Mayor.

[1:24:21] Mayor?

[1:24:22] Vice Mayor, Councilor.

[1:24:25] First of all, I want to ask you.

[1:24:25] Who are you?

[1:24:26] Oh, Peno County Supervisor Rich for the yellow.

[1:24:29] I'm actually here today because Vince Manfredi reminded me of 45 million reasons why I'm here today.

[1:24:36] Those 45 million reasons are our money.

[1:24:41] The state of Arizona has legislators who believe that $45 million that we paid taxes for should go back to their general fund and they decide what's going to happen to it.

[1:24:53] I need the encouragement of the council and everybody in this room, those 120,000 emails that I got to visit.

[1:25:00] For the 347, I hope that we can get another campaign to get that money brought back to Penel County and let us decide what's going to happen with that money. Okay, so I encourage people to send us emails, Penel County supervisors. I know my supervisors are going to be very upset with me about that, but that's okay. And our state legislators, they're going to be the ones who are going to decide where that money goes. And if it goes to the general fund, Penel County,

[1:25:29] who paid those taxes will not see a penny of it, because they feel they know better.

[1:25:34] So please encourage everybody here when you talk to your friends and family, send us the emails, send your state representatives,

[1:25:41] who are the ones who are going to make that decision.

[1:25:44] As Vince talked about the PRTA, they're getting back together, they're going to fight this.

[1:25:49] Because again, that is our money, we already lost $50 million of that money.

[1:25:55] It went back to the stores who we paid those stores taxes

[1:26:00] That's our money. So again 45 million reasons why we need that money staying in Penel County to get distributed to Penel County roads

[1:26:08] Thank you very much

[1:26:11] All right, would anybody else like to approach the podium please state your name

[1:26:20] Good evening mayor council pick chapatos. I'd like to make a plea to my fellow mayor copains one month from today is the deadline

[1:26:29] to register to vote in the November election.

[1:26:32] Our last primary election was little over 20% voter turnout.

[1:26:37] I've heard a number of people come to the microphone tonight and say that my opinion,

[1:26:41] I want to share it with you and I'm going to echo that sentiment.

[1:26:46] Your vote matters.

[1:26:47] Here are local elections.

[1:26:48] There have been elections that have been decided by single digits, by double digits.

[1:26:53] Please register to vote.

[1:26:55] October 5th is the deadline.

[1:26:57] November 3rd is the general election.

[1:26:59] There's a lot of things that affect Maricopa, our quality of life, our quality of education, our freedoms, our benefits that we enjoy.

[1:27:07] So please, you can vote at your kitchen table, but please register to vote, and then remember to vote.

[1:27:13] Thank you.

[1:27:16] Anyone else like to approach the podium?

[1:27:29] The mayor forced me to come down here instead of doing a firm up there.

[1:27:33] I forgot something.

[1:27:33] Please say your name.

[1:27:34] My conversation earlier, Vincent Manfredi, Vice Mayor, City of Maricopa.

[1:27:39] The reason I wanted to just chat for one second, I got an email from Earthwise pet supply

[1:27:48] and I was going to mention it earlier and I totally forgot so I wanted to say it now.

[1:27:52] I wanted to let you guys know that good arc sustained a lot of damage over the weekend and

[1:27:56] good arc is one of our pet rescue places here in the City of Maricopa or animal rescue

[1:28:04] They're located south of the city, but at Earthwise Pet Supply, they're collecting donations and

[1:28:11] having signups for volunteers to help rebuild everything for good art.

[1:28:15] And I really wanted to mention it earlier, but I totally forgot, so I wanted to step down here and just let you guys know.

[1:28:20] They're collecting cash donations at the store, and then if you guys want to set up a time to volunteer, go down there and help with all the animals and such.

[1:28:30] they've actually lost a few animals during the storm the other day, just reach out through

[1:28:36] Candace over at Earthwise Pet Supply. Thank you.

[1:28:40] But anyone else like to approach the podium?

[1:28:45] Seeing none, I will close the call to the public.

[1:28:48] That'll take us on to the consent agenda this evening. We have consent agenda items 7.1 through 7.6.

[1:28:56] I have no speaker cards for consent agenda council members. Do you have any questions or concerns?

[1:29:03] Seeing none, I will accept a motion move to approve move to approve by vice mayor

[1:29:09] Seconded by councilmember Wade last opportunity for questions comments

[1:29:14] Seeing none all in favor say aye aye any opposed that motion carries

[1:29:20] That'll take us on to agenda item eight dot one eight dot one is a

[1:29:26] the annexation, public hearing, and we will first see a presentation from Laurie Mason.

[1:29:35] Good evening, Mayor Council, Laurie Mason on behalf of Development Services here to present annexation 20601.

[1:29:42] You may recall this item came before you in June, requesting your approval and direction to initiate an annexation procedure.

[1:29:53] In accordance with Title 18, Section 185 of the Maricopa City's zoning code, tonight

[1:30:00] All right, we request that mayor and council listen to public comment regarding 73 acre property located in the unincorporated area of Penal County. Specifically, this is parcel 502-14002b as in Betty. This annexation area map you can see to the right is the vicinity of the Maricopa City boundary. The arrow pointing to the southeastern portion to the left is a zoomed inversion

[1:30:29] at the same area. You can see in gray with the dash lines. That is the Maricopa City Boundary

[1:30:36] on the square that it had with the solid line and the text inside is the 73 acres we're talking

[1:30:42] about. This property is on the east side of Anderson Road, one mile south of Maricopa,

[1:30:47] Castigran Highway. Inside that text you'll see it's dobs and trusts with a parcel number

[1:30:53] of the approximately 73 acres in size.

[1:30:58] And again, this is one mile south.

[1:31:01] The acreage is 73 acres, parcel 50214002.

[1:31:05] B is in Betty.

[1:31:07] Hopefully you can see a little bit more with this image.

[1:31:09] Property 2B addicts is just that that is hashed

[1:31:12] with the solid boundary around it.

[1:31:17] Just wanna go over the completed steps

[1:31:19] since you first heard this item.

[1:31:21] After the June 16th meeting, staff went ahead

[1:31:24] and prepared the area for a neighborhood meeting.

[1:31:28] So that included posting on site.

[1:31:32] There were three, I think, 32 square foot signs.

[1:31:35] We reached out to the neighborhood

[1:31:37] and had published a notice in the paper.

[1:31:43] I'm just kind of thinking of all those different steps.

[1:31:45] In addition, we did put something on the web page as well.

[1:31:49] Having met all those requirements,

[1:31:50] we did conduct a neighborhood meeting on July 13.

[1:31:54] We did have about six members of the public attend.

[1:31:57] A lot of the questions that came up were, you know, how does it affect my property?

[1:32:01] What's going on with the development is there going to be a reason?

[1:32:05] I just want to just clarify at this time, this is just a request to have the city bring a property into

[1:32:11] America, but there are no known plans to develop a reason.

[1:32:16] The property itself is single residents zone with a PAD, I think initially approved in 2005.

[1:32:25] After the neighborhood meeting, we went ahead to prepare for the public hearing.

[1:32:29] We submitted the annexation petition, reached out to the property owners once again, as

[1:32:34] well as the board of supervisors chair posted the site once more, as well as the legal notices

[1:32:39] in Cassell Grant Dispatch and as a secondary Maricopa City, or Maricopa Monitor, I believe.

[1:32:47] And tonight we meet September 1 for the public hearing.

[1:32:53] Just to follow up and what you can anticipate next is the, you know, third segment here.

[1:32:59] City of Maricopa staff will prepare a 10-year infrastructure plan for City Council to

[1:33:04] review and approve and that will be accompanied with an annexation ordinance.

[1:33:08] We anticipate to see you again on this October 6th, Tuesday, October 6th this year.

[1:33:15] with that staff recommend Mayor and Council open this meeting for public comment regarding

[1:33:21] the annexation that concludes my presentation. Does Mayor and Council, do you, any of you

[1:33:26] have questions? Thank you very much. So as mentioned, this is a public

[1:33:31] hearing and at this time I will open the public hearing. I have zero speaker cards. Would anyone

[1:33:38] like to approach the podium on this topic?

[1:33:43] Seeing none, I will close the public hearing.

[1:33:46] Council, do you have any questions or comments? Seeing none, thank you very much.

[1:33:53] That'll take us to item 8.2 and this is an appointment and this is an appointment to

[1:34:00] the vacancy on cultural affairs and arts committee and this will be turned over to Councilmember

[1:34:05] Leraman.

[1:34:06] Thank you, Mayor. This evening it is my pleasure to recommend

[1:34:10] Lisa Anderson to the Cultural Affairs and Arts Committee.

[1:34:13] Lisa, if you would please stand.

[1:34:16] Thank you for being here this evening.

[1:34:19] Lisa is a leadership academy graduate

[1:34:22] with 14 years of volunteerism here in the city of Maricopa.

[1:34:26] She has experience in arts, performance, dance,

[1:34:29] choreography, and hosted a podcast for 106 episodes.

[1:34:34] And I just wanna read one quote from her application.

[1:34:37] I believe Maricopa has tremendous potential

[1:34:39] to use the arts to tell our story, celebrate our diversity, connect generations, and create

[1:34:45] opportunities.

[1:34:46] So Mayor, I'd like to recommend Lisa for our cultural affairs and arts committee.

[1:34:51] Very good.

[1:34:52] Councilor, do you have any questions, comments?

[1:34:54] Yeah.

[1:34:55] Yes.

[1:34:56] Vice Mayor.

[1:34:56] I had an opportunity, I think, to look over the resume, I've known.

[1:35:00] Lisa, for a little while, and I couldn't think of a person more capable and more just

[1:35:09] available to the community and having someone like her in this position is going to serve the city greatly. I'd like to second the motion. I have a motion in a second, but one last chance for comments and questions. I couldn't let it get away without comment. Those of you who know or may not know, I have initiated since I've been on council.

[1:35:32] Council, a little private, say, out of way that he gives the members of the community who serve the community and do good things for the community.

[1:35:43] I submitted, or served one, or presented one to Lisa Anderson on Sunday during her chair Sunday.

[1:35:52] And so, Veronica, that today she would be recognized as someone to support the city as she has been doing for many, many years.

[1:35:59] and I'm just ecstatic that she's going to be on the committee so thank you very much for nominating her.

[1:36:07] I wanted to second it.

[1:36:09] I withdraw my second.

[1:36:11] I withdraw my second.

[1:36:12] He withdrew his second.

[1:36:13] I like the second video.

[1:36:16] All right.

[1:36:16] Seconded by Councilmember Wade.

[1:36:18] Any additional comments, questions?

[1:36:21] All right.

[1:36:21] Seeing none, all in favor say aye.

[1:36:23] Aye.

[1:36:23] Any opposed?

[1:36:25] That motion carries.

[1:36:26] Congratulations.

[1:36:31] That brings us to the end of our agenda, this meeting is adjourned.

[1:36:35] Thank you, minutes.

City Council Regular Meeting on 2026-09-01 6:00 PM

Agenda

Transcript