[0:01] get started. We'll officially call this meeting to order. Uh we'll go on to item

[0:07] two, consent items. Uh consent items will be

[0:11] » Yes. >> Oh, sorry. Go ahead. I'll let you read.

[0:14] » Are you jumping? >> Yes, I am.

[0:17] » I will call you. Thank you. Consent items will be provided to the

[0:24] board in writing and are not intended for formal presentation obviously unless

[0:29] a board member requests or has questions. So any questions on items 2

[0:35] A, B, or C? Yes, Mr. Chairman. This is Rick Neymar.

[0:41] I would I just have a quick question on item 2B. And I don't know whether you

[0:47] want to, you know, pull it separately and have a motion on the other items or

[0:51] just once my question's answered, I think I'll be fine to move on the whole

[0:56] thing. >> Let's go ahead.

[0:59] » Okay. So my question is um just for the staff to explain a little bit about the

[1:07] what is the process for determining when they submitted

[1:12] um they had two submittals for the operations and I was just uh looking to

[1:18] hear a little more about what the criteria are and and what why they

[1:23] selected the proposal that they did.

[1:28] Thank you, Chair Moya, board member Neymar for your questions. I'm happy to

[1:33] provide additional information. Uh, as you noted, there were two respondents to

[1:37] this RFP. There are um, the evaluation is out of a

[1:41] thousand possible points. Um, and there are five areas that have multiple uh,

[1:48] criteria that the evaluation committee reviewed and those are method of

[1:52] approach, qualifications and experience, financial capacity. there was an

[1:56] interview and then 501c3 status. Uh the two uh proposals were initially rated.

[2:03] Um the unsuccessful proposer had seven areas that were marked as unacceptable

[2:10] in relation to the scope of work. The proposer the other proposer had two

[2:16] areas that were listed as unacceptable to the scope of work. And so the team

[2:21] did a BAFO, best and final offer process to help uh clarify the response for the

[2:28] bidder that only had two areas that were listed as unacceptable. And so that

[2:32] consisted of a handful of questions again to help with that clarification.

[2:37] Following the Baffo process, the RFP evaluation panel met again to re-review

[2:43] the submitt. At that moment um the scores were changed uh and adjusted to

[2:49] um show that they met or exceeded all areas that were required by the scope of

[2:54] work and that led to a total score of 775 in comparison to the other vendor uh

[3:02] proposing uh at a 131 uh score.

[3:09] » Thank you. Uh that's very helpful. Um, and if some of that information could be

[3:15] put in future reports in these kinds of situations, it would be helpful to just

[3:21] understand a little more about the process. Um, and with that, Mr.

[3:26] Chairman, unless anybody else has questions, I would move approval of the

[3:30] consent agenda. >> Thank you, Rick. Just one quick second.

[3:34] I I do have one uh public comment. Um, Jeremy Packer, you have uh two minutes.

[3:47] My comment was similar to Mr. Neymar's. I was just curious why the information

[3:52] regarding the process and the contract and the amounts were not included in the

[3:56] in the packet. And I would like to suggest that they should be moving

[4:01] forward for the public to know and for the apparently the the board to know as

[4:05] well. Thank you. Uh if there aren't any other

[4:09] questions, um we'll go ahead and go with your um

[4:14] cons. What is that thing called?

[4:18] » Motion. Thank you. >> Motion from Rick to accept items 2 A, B,

[4:23] and C. Uh do we have a second? >> Second.

[4:26] » Thank you. Any other questions? All those in favor, please say I.

[4:31] » I. >> I. Any oppose?

[4:33] » I. >> Thank you. Passes. So item uh three item

[4:39] three uh information and discussion items uh will appear and will be

[4:44] presented verbally to the parks board and are for discussion only. No action

[4:49] will take place on these items at this meeting. So the first item 3A the only

[4:55] item is urban farm project 32nd Avenue in Mcdow.

[5:01] » Good evening Mr. Chair, members of the parks board. We're excited to provide an

[5:05] update on the urban farm and community food project. Uh this project is a

[5:09] collaboration including Councilwoman Laura Pastor, the office of

[5:12] environmental programs, the parks department, and unlimited potential.

[5:27] Just as a reminder, the parks department acquired an 11 acre parcel uh located

[5:31] near 32nd Avenue in Mcdow in the West Valley. The parcel has sat vacant for

[5:35] over 20 years at this point. Uh the parcel is a former Brownsfield site that

[5:40] was uh remediated by the Office of Environmental Programs over the past

[5:44] couple years. The parcel was identified by

[5:48] Councilwoman Laura Pastor's office as a potential urban farm that could provide

[5:52] food in our community. In January of this year, uh the parks board gave

[5:57] approval for the city to begin outreach efforts to receive community feedback on

[6:02] the project. In February of this year, an internal city began working on and

[6:07] implementing a community engagement plan. Tonight I'm joined at the table uh

[6:12] by with Mattie Mercer, food systems program manager from the office of

[6:16] environmental programs who will provide an update on the recently completed

[6:20] community engagements. With that, I'll turn it over to Maddie.

[6:26] » Right. Thank you, Marty. Thank you, chair, and members of the board. We're

[6:29] excited to be here tonight to share some updates on the community engagement

[6:33] process. So after the parks board gave the approval to move forward in January,

[6:38] we had five community events at different city and community locations

[6:43] near the site. Starting in March of 2026 and going through June, we had workshops

[6:50] in the evenings and in the morning so that we could reach different audiences.

[6:55] And we worked closely with Unlimited Potential, a community-based

[6:58] organization to do outreach and get residents involved in the areas

[7:03] surrounding the site in a two-mile radius. We also did a survey so that we

[7:07] could reach people online and get additional feedback on the project.

[7:13] Through our workshops, we reached over 130 attendees and through the survey, we

[7:19] reached an additional 138 respondents. So through our community engagement

[7:24] events this spring, we reached over 268 members of the public to get feedback on

[7:29] this project. And we did that through two different activities at our

[7:33] workshops. And I'm going to go through some of the feedback from the public and

[7:36] how we solicited it. So for the first three workshops, we had the same content

[7:42] where we asked members of the public what kind of components should be at

[7:46] this urban farm site because the food system and urban farms are really broad.

[7:52] It could be a lot of different elements included there. So we wanted to get

[7:56] feedback on what specific components should take place at this farm project.

[8:01] And so for the first activity that we did at the first three workshops, we

[8:06] used what we were calling a bingo card to get feedback on the different

[8:10] elements that could be included at the site broken up into four different

[8:14] categories that were related to different ways that people interact with

[8:17] food. And I'll go through them and then go through the top voted categories to

[8:22] give you some more context on what residents would like to see happen at

[8:25] this parcel. So the four categories that we had were growing food. So we had

[8:31] eight different or 10 different solutions related to growing food in

[8:34] different ways as well as different uh programs and initiatives that could help

[8:38] food production at the site. We also had a category related to learning and

[8:43] education, different classes and training opportunities that could take

[8:46] place there. The third category was related to

[8:51] helping people connect with each other and their neighbors, different spaces

[8:54] where people meetings or hold those education events.

[8:59] And the last category was related to accessing food at the site. So these are

[9:03] all different strategies for people to directly get access to produce and other

[9:08] food items in their neighborhoods at this location. And so for this activity,

[9:13] we had people select their favorite idea in each of these rows or if they had

[9:18] another idea, they could add their own so that we could get some highle

[9:22] feedback on the high level elements that people wanted to see at the site. and

[9:26] then we got additional feedback on the logistics and specifics of implementing

[9:31] them. So I'm going to go through each category, share some of the findings,

[9:35] and then I'll talk about what we did after that. So here are the top voted

[9:41] elements across each of those four categories on the bingo card in growing

[9:46] food, gathering, learning, and accessing food. You can see and I'll go through

[9:50] each of these and share a little bit more about what they mean. But overall,

[9:53] the community was very excited about the project. There was a very positive

[9:57] response in both the workshops and and through the survey. And overall, there

[10:01] was a priority in having space available for people to learn how to grow food,

[10:06] how to garden at the site so that they had better access to healthy affordable

[10:11] food and have education around cooking and nutrition as well once it's been

[10:15] grown. So in the first category related to

[10:18] growing food, the top voted solution was community gardens. So that could be

[10:23] shared space where people are growing food together with their neighbors or

[10:26] independ independent plots where people are renting them and growing food on

[10:29] their own. The second top rated solution in this category was food forest. So

[10:34] that's another strategy for growing food where you incorporate not just

[10:39] vegetables and other plants at the ground level but you go vertical and you

[10:44] incorporate trees and shrubs so that you have this forest like canopy effect and

[10:49] can grow more food in a smaller area. The third voted highest voted solution

[10:54] was a community plant nursery that could go grow vegetable sfs or tree sfs to be

[10:59] used in the community garden or at homes. And then the fourth highest voted

[11:02] solution in this category was a pollinator garden. So plants that

[11:06] provide food and habitat for birds, bees, and other beneficial insects.

[11:11] In the gathering category, the top voted idea was to have a community event

[11:15] space. For most residents, this meant an open space that was outside where people

[11:20] could come to have events. They could hold things like farmers markets or

[11:24] classes that could be flexible and meet the community's needs in different ways.

[11:28] And the second highest voted solution was a community kitchen. So a commercial

[11:32] kitchen space that could be used for classes for people to learn about how to

[11:37] cook and nutrition as well as for growers at the site to wash and prep

[11:42] their produce so it could be ready for market.

[11:45] In the learning category, the one the solution that received the most votes

[11:49] was gardening classes followed by health, cooking, and nutrition classes.

[11:53] So again, this was a high priority for residents across the workshops and

[11:56] through the survey. And then in the fourth category, accessing food, there's

[12:01] the most interest in having a farmers market at the site to sell food that was

[12:05] grown by residents and farmers at that location. And then a farm bag program,

[12:10] which is like a subscription program where you can sign up to get food on a

[12:13] bi-weekly or monthly basis that could be picked up and distributed at the site.

[12:18] So then the second activity that we did at the fourth and fifth workshop built

[12:23] upon these top voted solutions and we had residents design a site map of what

[12:29] the project could look like using these top voted ideas in each of those four

[12:33] categories. So you can see here some of the site maps that were created by

[12:37] community. There was a lot of excitement and people had a lot of fun. they didn't

[12:41] want to leave the workshop because they're having such a good time signing

[12:45] these site plans and coming up with names for the project. So, this was a

[12:49] great way to reaffirm that these elements were of interest to the

[12:52] community and that they fit into the site and hear more ideas about some of

[12:56] the other things like shade and other elements that would make this project a

[13:00] success. And with that, I'll hand it back over to Marty to talk about next

[13:04] steps. >> Okay. Thank you, Maddie, and thank you

[13:08] for your leadership on the community engagement of this project. Everybody's

[13:11] excited. Um, like Maddie said, next steps include uh completing a rendering

[13:16] so we can include that in a request for proposal that we'll be working with the

[13:20] finance department on. This is a going to be a lease agreement that's similar

[13:24] to farm leases that we have. Uh the city is also working with the Salt River

[13:29] project uh team to provide water infrastructure to the site. Uh it will

[13:34] be flood irrigated. uh the final step will be to work with the successful

[13:38] proposer uh to finalize the site design and then ultimately construction of the

[13:42] site. So uh that concludes our presentation and we'll be happy to

[13:46] answer any questions. >> Great. Thank you very much. Um any

[13:50] questions from my fellow board members?

[13:57] » I have a quick question. Um Marty, do we have other projects similar to this in

[14:01] our system? >> Mr. Mr. Chair and members of the parks

[14:04] board not in our system. This this is going to be a kind, no pun intended, a

[14:09] groundbreaking thing for for the parks department and we're excited about it'll

[14:13] be an opportunity to pro provide food to that area

[14:18] » and I know you provided a rough timeline any uh dates associated with those.

[14:22] » Uh Mr. Chair, members of the parks board, this is just a rough timeline,

[14:26] but we are uh working to release the RFP by the end of next month. The RP will

[14:31] most likely be on the streets for two months. Um, and then hopefully we'll

[14:35] have a successful proposer, contract negotiations, and then design and

[14:40] construction. >> Thank you. It sounds like a great

[14:44] project. Best of luck. Thank you.

[14:51] » Now we'll move on to uh item four. uh items uh are for discussion, possible

[14:59] action. Uh items are for information, discussion, and possible action as I

[15:04] said. So, we'll start off with item 4 A, requests the acceptance of the abandoned

[15:10] alley acreage to Hilaria Rodriguez Park. >> Thank you so much, Chair Moya.

[15:18] » Hilaria Rodriguez Park uh is located at 2801 East Adams and at 0.83 83 acres is

[15:25] classified as a pocket park within our system. In recent years, neighborhood

[15:29] alleyway and the park itself have experienced an increase in illegal

[15:32] activity. Parks and Recreation in collaboration with our partners in the

[15:36] Office of Homeless Solutions, the Phoenix Police Department, and the

[15:39] Neighborhood Services Department have made significant efforts to address

[15:42] these challenges and improve the area. Uh I would like to recognize uh Lisa

[15:47] Huggins who is either in the audience or will be here shortly um for all of her

[15:51] wonderful work. Uh she is here. Thank you, Lisa. Um, also, um, I would go I'd

[15:57] like to go ahead and turn the pro presentation over. This item is a next

[16:01] step in that process. So, with that, I'll ask our deputy parks and recreation

[16:04] director, Joe Diaz, uh, to proceed with the presentation.

[16:08] » Thank you, Randy. Lord, chair Moya, members of the board, thank you for this

[16:12] opportunity to be with you this evening. As uh Brandy had mentioned, this is the

[16:16] next step in the process for Hilaria Rodriguez Park, which is the alley

[16:20] abandonment and the land sale of the property that will be associated with

[16:24] that abandonment. To give you [clears throat] a little bit

[16:28] of uh orientation of where the park is located is located on the southeast

[16:32] corner of 28th Street in Adams. It is designated as a pocket park. it, as as

[16:38] Brandy mentioned, it's 83 acres in size, but it also has a large playground with

[16:43] integral shade. It's got a large uh ramada area and picnic area, a lot of

[16:49] turf in the park that's used by the community, and some really great um

[16:53] pistachies to provide some shades of the to the community as well.

[16:59] So, Brandy mentioned teamwork and the team that's been working on this. And

[17:02] so, I wanted to highlight that real quickly. So, the parks and recreation

[17:06] department leadership as well as the south division maintenance and

[17:09] recreation team and then our ranger team has been working with police um

[17:14] neighborhood services, the office of homeless solutions and most importantly

[17:17] the sky harbor neighborhood association. We've been working diligently for a

[17:22] couple years now to improve some of the issues that we have seen in the

[17:26] community. Um we had to close the park for a period of time as you're well

[17:30] aware. Um, and this was to mitigate some of that negative activity that we were

[17:34] seeing in the neighborhood that was trickling into the park as well. We

[17:38] reopened the park on October 30th, 2025. And since then, we've seen some very

[17:44] positive movement in the park. We're seeing kids back playing on the

[17:47] playground. We have families that come out and utilize the turf in the area and

[17:52] and utilize the space for picnicking. And this is really a testament to the

[17:57] team and the effort that the team has has has put in to to make this a

[18:01] success. So the next step, the alley abandonment.

[18:06] So now we we are working again with neighborhood services and we have a new

[18:09] team team member planning and development and we'll be working on an

[18:13] alley abandonment uh process. So the yellow line that you see that is the

[18:18] south border of Haria Rodriguez Park. In addition, there is a six foot high chain

[18:23] length fence that runs along that area. The alleyway is 20 feet wide and 250 ft

[18:30] long. And so once the alley abandonment takes place, the parks and recreation

[18:35] department will receive the space that's um above the the yellow or the red dash

[18:41] line. It's approximately 2,500 square ft. has very little recreational value,

[18:47] but we have had some conversations with the BIS business owners to the south

[18:53] that have interest not only in acquiring their portion of the alley, but also the

[18:56] portion that is designated for the parks and recreation department. Um they their

[19:02] plan is to utilize this for additional storage as well as install a 6 foot high

[19:07] or higher block wall along the south south edge of the park to provide some

[19:12] additional safety to the park.

[19:16] So the land sale the parks board policy 3.9 uh outlines the requirements for

[19:22] sale of park property because of the unique nature of this space um and the

[19:27] efforts that the community has put in and the city has put in. We are asking

[19:32] this evening to deviate from that policy and work with the property owner to the

[19:37] south of the park uh on a direct sale. So, next steps would be complete the

[19:43] abandonment process with city council action, obtain an appraisal from um for

[19:48] the property. So, we'd work with our real estate um in our finance um

[19:53] department and then request city council action for the deposition of this

[19:57] property. The parks and recreation department is

[20:01] seeking approval for the abandoned alley property south of Lar Rios Park not to

[20:06] follow board policy 3.9 and that parks moves forward with a direct land sale

[20:12] with Rolling Eagle Investments LLC and I can answer any questions that you may

[20:16] have at this time. >> Great. Thank you. Any questions?

[20:21] » Rick, go right ahead. Um, thanks Joe for a very good presentation. It's very

[20:27] helpful to see the details. Um just a two two questions. One is um do you know

[20:33] what the property owner's intent is for the use of the property once we abandon

[20:40] uh and then sell it back? >> Um board chair Moya, members of the

[20:45] parks board and board member Neymar. Yes. The intent is to use it for

[20:49] additional storage and um install the the block fence for security.

[20:54] » Got it. And my other really isn't a question. It's more of a comment.

[20:58] Obviously, you considered whether or not it could be used to enhance the park,

[21:03] but given the odd shape of it, I think your assessment is is a good one. And

[21:09] and I'm supportive of selling it once we receive it. And it uh and I'll also just

[21:16] say that obviously the normal disposition process doesn't work. you

[21:22] don't want some separate property owner to own that other than the property

[21:25] owner to the south. And of course, you're going to get appraised value for

[21:29] it. So, uh it'll appraise weird because it's not a very developable property,

[21:34] but whatever you get, you get. And and that makes total sense to me. Thank you.

[21:41] Thank you, uh Jessica.

[21:48] We can't hear you. Now, can you hear me?

[21:53] » Now we can. Thank you. >> Oh, thank you so much. Sorry about that.

[21:56] Thank you, Chairman Moya. Um, just one quick question. Um, is it that is the

[22:02] property owner to the south the only property owner that was amongst those

[22:08] property owners um that have access to that piece of property that's interested

[22:15] in acquiring it? Or was there any other property owners

[22:20] not outside of like an RFP or what Rick talked about that wouldn't be feasible

[22:26] to have an independent or someone come in and buy that strip, but just curious

[22:30] if if they were the only one that expressed interest or if there was any

[22:33] other

[22:37] » board chair, board chair Moya, members of the par board and board owner Finos.

[22:42] No, we have not had any other um interest in this property. We've been

[22:45] working directly with the property owner to the south.

[22:50] » Thank you. >> Are there any other questions?

[22:56] » If not, let me make the very specific motion.

[23:02] uh is to uh for the board to approve to accept is it 0.13 acres of the abandoned

[23:09] alleyway south of Hill area Rodriguez Park as part of the overall park acreage

[23:15] and to deviate from the procedures and parks board policy 3.9 public

[23:22] notification of sale or disposition of park land and proceed with the sale of

[23:28] the.13 acres of abandoned in property. Do I

[23:33] have a motion? >> So moved.

[23:37] » Second. >> I second that.

[23:42] » Um, any other questions? All those in favor say I. I.

[23:48] » I. >> Any oppose?

[23:51] Thank you.

[23:56] » All right. We [clears throat] go on to item 4B,

[24:01] request for approval of the new name for the park and community center at 35th

[24:07] Avenue and baseline. Mr. Chair, members of the parks board,

[24:12] uh on March the 25th of this year, the city council requested the city rename

[24:17] the Caesar Chavez Holiday and directed city staff to begin the process to

[24:21] rename all city facilities that bear the Chavez name. sites impacted uh in the

[24:26] parks department include uh the park plaza that the arts and culture

[24:31] department has their own process. Uh so they're handling that uh the community

[24:36] center uh and the park or the responsibility of the parks department.

[24:40] With that, I will turn the presentation over to assistant director Brandy

[24:43] Barrett who will uh talk us through the process.

[24:47] » Thank you so much, Marty. Chair Moya, members of the board, at the March board

[24:51] meeting, you directed staff to begin the formal renaming process for the park and

[24:55] community center to gather input. In May, the department launched a public

[24:59] survey in both English and Spanish. The survey featured six potential names

[25:04] thoughtfully selected based on the area's history and community culture.

[25:07] Lavine, Agila, Olstein Heritage, Arizona Sunset, Desert Oasis, and farm workers.

[25:14] Residents also have the option to submit their own name suggestions for

[25:17] consideration. In addition to posting signage with a QR code linking directly

[25:21] to the survey around the park and in the community center, the city issued a

[25:25] press release and a Phoenix newsroom article on the survey. More than 14,000

[25:30] center participants were emailed directly with a link to the survey and

[25:33] the city's various social media accounts also promoted the survey. Finally, our

[25:37] communications team provided the mayor and council with toolkits to promote the

[25:41] survey on their social media accounts as well. And the results are in.

[25:47] Here we go. Uh, the survey ran from May 15th to June 24th, 2026 and received a

[25:53] total of 1,843 responses. The top name by number of

[25:57] responses from the total respondent pool was Aguila Park and Community Center

[26:01] with 565 votes. In second place with 472 votes is Lavine Park and Community

[26:07] Center. Farmworkers Park Community Center received the third highest number

[26:10] of votes with 235. Arizona Sunset Park and Community Center

[26:15] received 190 votes and Desert Oasis Park and Holene Heritage received 144 and 55

[26:22] votes respectively. Notably, 182 writein votes were received

[26:27] with the largest number of writein votes going for Alward Park at 28 votes and

[26:31] the second highest number of writein votes for Jesse Owens at 23.

[26:39] The park is classified as a regional park with a five mile service radius.

[26:43] Typically, the department utilizes the service area to gather community input

[26:46] during public engagement processes. And we've reviewed the survey results for

[26:50] this service area as well. You can see the zip codes associated with the

[26:54] service area. to the right of the map. Of the total 1,843 responses, 74% or

[27:01] 1,365 responses came from zip codes that are

[27:05] within the park service radius. The top two names were consistent with the full

[27:09] survey results. The name that received the highest number of votes both overall

[27:13] 565 votes and within the service area 445 votes was Aguila Park and Aguila

[27:18] Community Center. Lavine received 406 votes from within the service area.

[27:24] Arizona Sunset and Farm Workers came in next with 142 and 133 votes

[27:29] respectively.

[27:33] This chart compares the survey results for each of the names for all boats,

[27:36] which is in the maroon, and the service area results, which is showed by the

[27:40] gray bar. Again, you can see the top two names remained the same across both

[27:44] populations. For awareness, a citizen position was

[27:48] submitted to the mayor and council regarding the renaming of the park and

[27:51] community center. and response to that petition is scheduled for the July 1st

[27:55] city council formal meeting. With that, staff to respectfully request

[28:00] the board approve the name Aguila Park and Aguila Community Center for the

[28:03] Regional Park located at 35th Avenue and Baseline Road.

[28:07] » Great. Thank you very much. Before I open up questions to the board, I will

[28:11] go ahead and have two community members speak. Uh first, Jerry, go right ahead.

[28:16] You have two minutes.

[28:30] Good evening, Jerry Van Gas. Uh, March 26th, I was up here with Jesse Owens,

[28:38] four gold medals from the Olympics in 1936.

[28:42] At that time, I asked that he be considered, his name be considered

[28:47] to rename the park. Uh subsequently we went out to the state track meet and had

[28:55] two giant posters uh signed by practically every track

[29:00] coach in the state. You you disregarded everything except

[29:05] your lame survey. And you know once I heard you Tony say this doesn't have to

[29:12] be named after an individual. It can be named after other things. Well, that's

[29:15] exactly what you did. You concocted four, five, six. You know, nobody takes

[29:22] credit for it. Uh, it was supposed to be out in April. It came out in May after

[29:27] all the schools are closed. We can take them to the schools to their track teams

[29:31] to sign. Uh, you know, it's pretty gutless. Pretty gutless. Uh, but that's

[29:38] not the worst. 13 years ago, your cohort sitting right there, Mr. Neymar

[29:45] with city officials concocted a plan to take $19 million from the voter

[29:51] initiative, parks and preserve initiative fund

[29:56] to pay off golf debt. Uh their newly

[30:02] uh implanted city de deputy director over parts

[30:08] uh was helping us. He was slid out of position, never came back, committed

[30:15] suicide, and

[30:19] you passed that bill. We sued, we prevailed, and because of Inger Ericson,

[30:26] the money was repaid. So, uh, that's also gutless.

[30:33] Thank you. Uh, Jeremy, you have two minutes.

[30:42] popularity of a name uh for a park shouldn't necessarily be what we're

[30:47] shooting for. Um just because the golf course is already named that most people

[30:53] in Phoenix don't realize that Jesse Owens who is a not a just a national

[30:58] hero, he's a world hero. He won four gold medals um in Germany in front of

[31:05] Hitler. Uh he lived here for the last 10 years of his life and according to his

[31:10] wife were the best years of his life. Uh Jerry is the custodian of his gold

[31:16] medals. Uh he laid in state but nothing in the city other than the medical city

[31:23] center that he helped found and raised $1.8 million for

[31:29] nothing carries his name in the city. So this is an opportunity as we approach

[31:36] the 200 250th anniversary of the country to make Phoenix a part of that. Phoenix

[31:41] is not a old city. So we don't have a lot of history. Uh it's hard to imagine

[31:46] having someone associated with the city uh that could mean more than Jesse

[31:50] Owens. And we've got an opportunity to celebrate that along with So the USA

[31:54] Today just had an article out and they'll be releasing on the 4th of July

[31:57] uh the greatest athlete of all time. and they said if not the greatest, Jesse

[32:03] Owens is certainly the most important and we could be associated with that or

[32:08] we can go with a generic name that's already on the golf course next door.

[32:13] Um, or if we want to inspire the kids that go to the park and the other people

[32:17] that go around to know history that they probably don't and how important it was,

[32:23] uh, we could do something special here and name it Jesse Owens Park. you guys

[32:27] have the ability to to make that decision tonight.

[32:31] Thank you. Uh board members, any questions,

[32:37] » right? Couple of questions. One, I guess I'm wondering why the Jesse Owens name

[32:43] wasn't at part of the survey, what the process was for that. Question number

[32:47] one, and question number two is what would the lift look like? And is it

[32:52] possible to redo the survey with the name included?

[32:58] » Mr. Chair and members of the parks board and uh board member Thomas. Um to answer

[33:03] that first question, um as the director, I asked our team to come up with names

[33:08] that were reflective of that area. So they came up with the six names. I did

[33:13] ask for a write in as well. So hopefully that answers the first question. Um,

[33:18] your your question about a lift, kind of a difficult one since we have a

[33:23] uh citizens petition out there for the mayor and council to entertain that

[33:29] petition on July 1st. Whatever their direction is, uh, the parks department

[33:35] will will take at that time.

[33:41] » Any other questions? So, I have one more. Yeah, go right

[33:46] ahead. So the so on July 1st the petition for

[33:52] July 1 you said >> that's correct.

[33:54] » Okay. So can that be extended or is that something that's set in stone? Like

[33:58] could we actually take another look at this and rethink this and make sure that

[34:02] we are doing our due diligence as far as including this

[34:12] chair. terms of the parks board. Uh got to be a little careful about this

[34:16] because you know the mayor and council will have their their say about the the

[34:20] petition on the first. Um the parks board could could have another you know

[34:26] thought on on the name and direct staff.

[34:32] » Thank you. Rick, did you have a question?

[34:36] » I think I think you answered my question. the the only I I do know that

[34:43] the parks board is charged with making the decision. Um and so I would imagine

[34:49] the mayor and council acted. They wouldn't act to do something that

[34:57] doesn't recognize the charter authority, the parks board to make these kinds of

[35:02] decisions. Um however um you know I am interested in in you know the the

[35:09] question about could we do it you know could we do

[35:15] something different um and take a little more time with it.

[35:19] I and I I'm not I don't know that it

[35:24] necessarily relates in my mind to a petition to the council. It's just a

[35:28] question of if we did do what was suggested,

[35:33] what you know, how long would that take?

[35:39] » Chairman Moyer and um members of the parks board, I'm going to ask our

[35:42] attorney uh Dustin to help us with some of the legal stuff.

[35:49] Uh, Chairman [clears throat] Wea, board member Neymar, members of the board. Um,

[35:54] with respect to what what happens here with the citizens petition that is part

[35:59] of the the charter uh and it it does require the city council to act on an

[36:05] appropriate one within 15 days. And so that um July 1st meeting is the

[36:11] opportunity that the council has to act on that. Um with respect to um where the

[36:16] authority is to you know for naming um that has generally uh rested with the

[36:22] parks board historically um the

[36:27] if the city council whatever direction whatever action the city council decided

[36:32] to take on that citizens petition uh we would have to address that and um

[36:38] when we come to it and figure out exactly what Um uh what we would do with

[36:44] that, it depends. I I have uh presented as uh you know as potential ways to

[36:50] address um the citizens petition and the fact that it will not be addressed by

[36:54] city council until July 1st. Uh the board could um take action and make it

[36:59] effective uh after that date and depending on what city council does um

[37:05] the board can um table this item for uh future action uh if necessary. um the

[37:13] board could make it explicitly dependent on um what the city council decides.

[37:19] It's it's really up to the board.

[37:23] » Thank you. A couple quick comments. Um like everything else this uh board has

[37:29] done in the past, we've always asked for citizen input and I think we got exactly

[37:33] that. We got citizen input. It's not probably what we want to hear, but

[37:38] that's what we got. did and we got overwhelming response from those in that

[37:43] [laughter] zip code who live and work in that area.

[37:48] So to me, yes, we could revisit this again and again and again until we get

[37:54] whoever we want, but to me that's what happened. And I wish I had enough power

[38:01] to make these suggestions and make these determinations for the entire city, but

[38:05] I don't. That's why I went through the process.

[38:09] And again, the city, the people who live in that area overwhelmingly approved

[38:15] this. So, we could vote to give the community what we want, what they want,

[38:23] what we've always done on this board, and make that stipulation. If the if

[38:29] city council after July 1 chooses to change that, then that would be their

[38:37] decision at that point. So that would be my recommendation.

[38:44] » Go ahead, J. If I could, if we could make a consideration for Yes, the city

[38:50] or not the city, the citizens did, you know, vote on this. I'm not sure how

[38:54] much weight was actually placed on the ability for the Jesse Owens name to have

[39:00] equal footing. >> And in that case, bring up other names

[39:04] that weren't included. You know, we could be here all year

[39:09] throwing in names until one came to the top.

[39:12] » We could, but the one did come to the top. And the one that came to the top

[39:16] was the Jesse Owens name. >> Well, no, you only got 20. 23, was it of

[39:20] the 565? >> I'm saying in addition to and so I was

[39:24] just wondering if we could just create the space at least to see if you know we

[39:29] can reconsider this. And if rest of the board is not feeling that way, I'll

[39:33] acquies. But I just feel like it's pretty solid what they're talking about

[39:37] as far as his significance and history, his ties to the city,

[39:41] » right? >> Having been born and raised in South

[39:44] Phoenix, there is a Jesse Owens Parkway. There is a Jesse Owens Hospital. So

[39:50] there are things named after Jesse Owens. As a Phoenix native, I know that

[39:58] » Moya, can I ask a question? >> Go right.

[40:03] My question is um just for clarification um that the Jesse Owens that got 23

[40:10] votes, those were writeins um and the six that were um actually um

[40:17] put forth as options um Jesse Owens was not one of them.

[40:25] » Is that correct? Chairman Moyer, members of the parks

[40:30] board, and uh board member Barnwell, that that is that is correct. There was

[40:33] six uh names that were on the survey and then an opportunity for writeins, and

[40:39] that's uh where Mr. Jesse Owens received 23 votes.

[40:44] » So, for clarification, um

[40:49] why wasn't that included in one of the six?

[40:55] Uh uh Chairman Moyan, members of the parks board and board member Barn

[40:59] Barnwell. That was a decision that I made as the parks and recreation

[41:03] director. I tked the team to come up with six names that uh were

[41:08] representative of that area. >> Okay.

[41:14] I I would then um I would like to see that we put Betsy Owens as one of the

[41:25] six um and redo it just just just for um um

[41:32] for my comfort um and uh and making sure that that it was given u uh adequate um

[41:42] visibility.

[41:45] So, uh, my suggestion for a motion is that we, uh, table this until after the,

[41:53] uh, July 1, um, city council meeting and, uh, maybe

[41:59] that will provide us with a clearer direction as to what um, we're to do.

[42:07] And um even though we don't meet in July and August, some of the work could

[42:13] possibly be done at that time. So um that would be my motion as a suggestion

[42:20] is to table it until after the July 1 uh city council meeting and then revisit it

[42:28] at that time. >> Mr. Chair, understood. Thank you.

[42:34] » Do we need to vote on it or are we good on that?

[42:40] I um the only the only question I have I mean the council really doesn't have the

[42:44] authority to deal with this but I think it would be

[42:47] » I think it would be a good idea to see what the council's uh response to the

[42:52] petition is and then come back and and that way it'll clarify that part of this

[43:01] discussion is once they've had that opportunity to do that.

[43:05] » Yeah. and we can revisit it again after the

[43:09] summer break. That great we

[43:14] and then just one other well I'll wait to comment when we have the motion I

[43:19] guess. Well, no, I can I guess I shouldn't. I feel like there were some

[43:22] other names thrown out to us in the very first or second meeting that we had and

[43:30] I just want to make sure that if there were other if we do go back out, we make

[43:35] sure that come back and just look at those. Um and and the other thing that I

[43:40] think is really important, why are we here today?

[43:44] um the park was named after somebody and some information came out that was very

[43:51] very negative about that that person. So whatever individual names we put on uh I

[43:58] want to make sure that we know as much as we can about any of those names um

[44:06] before and I think the board should provide you that guidance of of what to

[44:11] put on if we go back out. So, um I don't anticipate anything negative out there

[44:17] about Jesse Owens or any of the other names that were suggested, but I I just

[44:22] want to make sure. Um and uh so yeah, so uh maybe some of that can be done

[44:32] during the break as well. So it's not like we're not going to have formal

[44:35] meetings, but we obviously can have these discussions at that time.

[44:39] » Understood. Thank you, Chair. Can can I get some clarity on what the city

[44:46] council is going to do on the first what is what are we asking them to do?

[44:58] » Uh board member Barnwell. Um just to uh address that what the uh city council is

[45:05] considering is is simply action on a citizen's petition. There's

[45:10] not um a specific well there there is a staff recommendation

[45:15] um that is going to city council although um some of that may change as a

[45:20] result of um this meeting. Um and essentially the the petition or the yeah

[45:28] the citizen petition will be presented to uh the city council um with all of

[45:34] the suggestions that are there and then the city council can act on any of them.

[45:39] they can reject them, deny them, come to some other action that's on the same

[45:43] topic, you know, is within the same um uh general idea. And so the the council

[45:51] would simply take some action [clears throat] and what we what they

[45:54] would do um is up to the city council.

[46:01] So am I clear that the parks board is actually responsible?

[46:11] » The uh that that actually is probably

[46:15] something that should be addressed. Um

[46:22] I can prepare um some documents that that goes over some

[46:26] of those issues and send it to the board before the next meeting. Um some of that

[46:32] um would like to be distributed as as attorney work product um and so would

[46:39] have to be distributed outside of this meeting. Um but the the short answer is

[46:45] um that there are there are questions with respect to who ultimately has

[46:49] authority uh to name a park within the city.

[46:54] » Okay,

[46:57] » Jessica, your hands up. >> Yes. Um just to uh I think um echo um

[47:06] fellow board member uh Rick Neymar's comments was not to say that no position

[47:12] at right now with regard to um any of the of the six names or the process that

[47:18] has already occurred but if um after next week's city council meeting or if

[47:25] we um are to uh decide to make an endeavor ever to um reservey or include

[47:33] any individuals. I would strongly recommend and again I'm with uh member

[47:40] Neymar not to say that anything um negative or disparaging would come out

[47:45] about Jesse Owens, but for any individual that may be may be under

[47:50] consideration that that individual be uh be be significantly vetted. Um, so

[47:59] we don't find ourselves, you can't always prevent everything, but I would

[48:04] not want to find ourselves in the position that that we need to be in with

[48:10] regard to renaming or taking a park name away to the best of our ability and

[48:16] control as a board.

[48:22] » Correct. >> Thank you, Jessica. I'm thinking um and

[48:27] this is really just a question just to understand process being fairly new. So

[48:31] more of a hypothetical question. So if we would have voted on this and it did

[48:38] not pass right, what would the process have been then in determining what the

[48:43] name would have been if this name would not have passed the board vote tonight?

[48:48] » Mr. Chair, members of the parks board and board member Thomas, um then we

[48:52] would have gone back out for another survey. Now, again, the caveat with the

[48:58] council being involved on Wednesday, again, like Justin mentioned, that's a

[49:02] decision that they're going to make. So, it's it's I know he says it's a

[49:05] hypothetical question, but it's kind of hard to answer because I'm not sure

[49:08] what's going to happen on Wednesday.

[49:13] » Great. So, thank you. We will table this and revisit this after the July 1

[49:18] meeting. Thank you. >> Do you need a motion to do that or or

[49:22] can we just not make any motions and we'll deal with

[49:27] it when it comes back. >> Well, and um anyone is is free to make a

[49:32] motion, but uh to the decision to not make a motion is simply just basically

[49:37] the absence of one that results in tableabling it. So,

[49:41] » sounds good. Great. Thank you. Thank you everyone.

[49:46] That's probably been the liveliest discussion in my 10 12 years on this. I

[49:51] love it. So, uh, number five, call to public. We

[49:57] welcome citizen input. However, items brought to the board's attention cannot

[50:01] be discussed unless they are listed as an agenda item. Actions taken as a

[50:05] result of public comment comments will be limited to requesting staff to study

[50:11] the matter or rescheduling the matter for further consideration andor decision

[50:15] on a later date. Uh, we do have uh two speakers. We have uh Jeremy Ther

[50:25] Jeremy

[50:38] Chairman. Um, I think your one of your ideas was actually a good one, which is

[50:42] that any name that anyone wants to suggest

[50:45] should probably be the first process is to gather the names that are going to be

[50:49] part of the survey. That would be a good first start. Um, and to say that uh the

[50:54] city is you follow the city's or the citizens

[50:59] direction is I have a hard time to believe that that would be the case if

[51:04] uh some names were chosen. So I think there are times when you definitely go

[51:08] against the citizens will and sometimes it's for the best, sometimes it's for

[51:11] the worst. Um, good goat which Jerry is the president and I am a member uh

[51:18] submitted the citizen petition. So

[51:23] I agree that with Mr. Neymar that the city that the council does not have the

[51:31] Yeah, they can't that they don't have the ability to rename it that it is sub

[51:35] parks board. So, uh, I would suggest, and I'm not sure, I haven't talked to

[51:39] the car about it, but if you wanted to, we'd be probably willing to withdraw our

[51:43] citizen petition, um, if you were to put follow a good survey process again and

[51:49] go that route. So, thank you. Thank you, Jerry.

[51:55] And I'm sorry, I I forgot Christina Taylor, but if you're will be next.

[52:00] Thank you.

[52:06] I know I was getting a little passionate there at the end, but but for good

[52:10] reason. Uh the person that was the deputy city manager at that time over

[52:15] parks, his name was Jerome Miller, and I didn't know him very long, but uh uh we

[52:22] became good friends. Uh basically, I mean, this is bizarre, unbelievable to

[52:27] me at the time. He was mentored while he was at ASU. to his black

[52:33] student uh black union president back in the mid70s. His mentor was Jesse Owen

[52:44] and he could not talk. I mean uh that was his his idol

[52:49] and uh you know to be uh forced out he he loved his job running neighborhood

[52:56] services. Then he became deputy director over parks

[53:00] uh and you know was kind of leveraged out. Who knows why or how uh but that it

[53:08] destroyed him. Totally destroyed him. So uh know for 13 years I've been uh kind

[53:14] of saying I'm doing this for Jerome. So I don't know if any of you knew that

[53:19] that Jesse was his mentor, but uh to me that's pretty special. So, uh, you know,

[53:26] we want to, uh, we want to do right by everybody. Thank you.

[53:31] Thank you, Christina.

[53:41] And Christina, you'll have two minutes. Thank you.

[53:46] » Good afternoon, chair and board members. Uh, first thing that I'd like to start

[53:50] with is uh discussing how one of my friends came to speak here today. And

[53:57] because of your guys's lack of accessibility components to where

[54:01] there's not a number to call to have someone uh pick a person up from the uh

[54:07] free parking lot over to here, you guys need to make things more accessible. Uh

[54:13] because that's not acceptable or Okay. Uh but uh the other things I'd like to

[54:20] discuss is that I appreciate the work with the parks and recreation department

[54:25] does for our community and I'd like to offer several ideas that I believe can

[54:30] improve our parks while creating new funding opportunities. First, I

[54:34] encourage the city to continue improving ADA accessibility. For example, portions

[54:39] of Desert West Parks Lake lack sidewalks that would make the park more acceptable

[54:45] accessible for individuals with disabilities, seniors, and families.

[54:49] Second, I asked the city to continue evaluating maintenance needs at Caesar

[54:55] Chavez Park, including the flagpull flag, park infrastructure, and

[54:59] opportunities to straighten part partnerships and a written procedural

[55:04] process with nonprofit organizations that can assist with environmental

[55:08] stewardship, volunteer projects, and wildlife programs. Finally, I'd like the

[55:14] board to consider creating a community athletic field sponsorship program that

[55:18] would allow local businesses to be able to sponsor athletic fields through

[55:23] annual recognition banners with the names of the donors with the revenue

[55:28] helping fund improvements such as protective

[55:31] safety netting at baseball and softball fields. separate changing rooms for male

[55:35] and female officials, referees and umpires, accessibility improvements, and

[55:40] other parks and recreation priorities. Thank you for the opportunity to speak.

[55:46] » Thank you very much. Perfect timing you have.

[55:50] So item six is the board chair's report and I have nothing to report other we

[55:56] will not have official uh board meetings for July and August uh during those two

[56:02] months and regular meetings will resume in September.

[56:09] Did you have your Did you fill in a card or comment?

[56:23] Could you state your name, please? And you have two minutes. Jamie, go

[56:28] right ahead.

[56:33] Everybody good? Can we hear her?

[56:38] Oh yeah. Thank you. You're right, J.

[56:53] Okay. So, I'm here to talk about Chavez Park or

[56:57] whatever you name it and about the bachulism problem there. We had a mass

[57:02] mortality rate of ducks and geese at that park uh this month and last month

[57:08] we had quite a few die off here and there and and I understand that this

[57:12] happens uh you'll see a couple but this was mass. This was like 35 or 40 ducks

[57:19] and they're laying all over the park dead. They were there for days. And when

[57:23] I asked one of the employees at the park if they were going to pick them up, he

[57:26] said, "That's not my job." So, first of all, that's not a good

[57:32] thing to say to the public. And then the public walks around and sees all these

[57:35] dead ducks laying everywhere. And botulism, the worst part of it is when

[57:40] the flies lay eggs in it. And then the animals and the other ducks come up and

[57:44] eat eat the maggots and then it just worse. When's the last time Chavez Lake

[57:50] was ever dredged? And when are they going to fix the air

[57:55] raators at the park? There's like five air

[57:59] raators in that water. None of them work. They haven't been working for

[58:03] probably I'm going to say years. I go there every day. And I I just think

[58:09] there needs to be more education also with the park maintenance and the

[58:13] supervisors with the park rangers because I'm one of the people that was

[58:16] trespassed at Desert West over endangering the wildlife

[58:22] while these ducks are dying at Chavez left and right and the city's doing

[58:25] nothing about it. They they didn't seem to think it was a priority to pick up

[58:29] those dead carcasses. Three days they laid there and I called Arizona Game and

[58:34] Fish and that's how we got them picked up.

[58:37] So, I think that the employees over there need to be more educated. It's the

[58:41] only park we're having a mass mortality rate at. And I know that you guys no

[58:45] longer have to report your water testing to the ADQ.

[58:49] So, now we don't even know when the last time the water was tested or what's

[58:53] going on that can't test for botulism. >> Thank you.

[59:01] Uh, board members, any comments or questions or any discussion you'd like

[59:06] to have?

[59:12] » No, we're all set. Great. Thank you. Uh, director's briefing,

[59:17] » Mr. Chair, members of the parks board, um, just Brandy and I this evening, so

[59:20] I'll have assistant director Brandy Barrett start us off.

[59:24] » Thank you, Marty. Well, if you're signed up for our extreme heat warning

[59:28] notifications, you know that we are currently in an extreme heat warning.

[59:33] Thank you. >> Uh that has been issued by the National

[59:37] Weather Service. And we wanted just to take this opportunity to remind the

[59:41] public that these extreme heat warning days trigger trail restrictions from

[59:45] 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 pm at Camelback Mountain Peak three uh trails at South

[59:50] Mountain Park as well as um access to the national trail from Puma Canyon. All

[59:55] trails do remain open outside of those restriction hours. Uh to support hiker

[59:59] safety and improve operational efficiency, the department has

[1:00:01] implemented several upgrades across key trail heads. Electronic gates are

[1:00:06] installed at Pyestto Peak, South Mountain Park gate house, and Puma

[1:00:09] Canyon. These gates allow us to automate closures rather than ma opening those

[1:00:14] gates manually. Uh digital message boards at Pyesttoa and Echo Canyon trail

[1:00:19] heads are providing real-time closure alerts and year- round safety messaging.

[1:00:23] In addition, 24-hour a day, seven days a week cameras have been installed at

[1:00:27] Pyestto Peak, South Mountain Park Gate House, and South Mountain Activity

[1:00:30] Center, uh, sorry, South Mountain Activity Complex to enhance remote

[1:00:34] monitoring and overhaul trail head oversight. And again, we just urge folks

[1:00:39] to take a hike, do it right, and follow safety tips, including watching the

[1:00:43] weather, dressing appropriately, ensuring you have more than sufficient

[1:00:47] water, carrying a mobile phone, not hiking alone, and being honest with

[1:00:52] yourself about your abilities or any conditions you may have, um, and just,

[1:00:56] uh, taking responsibility with that. Thank you.

[1:01:03] » Thank you, Brandy. Uh last week, uh Mayor Kate Ggo stopped by our Washington

[1:01:08] Activity Center, uh during our Phoenix Place summer camper visit, highlighted

[1:01:12] the great work happening in our programs and the positive experiences our campers

[1:01:17] are having this season. The mayor shared a note about her visit on social media,

[1:01:22] saying there there was lots of patriotism on display as campers colored

[1:01:28] flags and talked about what they love most about our country. She called it a

[1:01:32] wonderful way to celebrate 250 years of America.

[1:01:36] All right, speaking of celebration, uh starting Saturday will be uh the kickoff

[1:01:40] of our Fourth of July events. After Dark in the Park is going to be another drone

[1:01:45] show at Deer Valley Park on June the 27th uh from 6 PM to 900 pm, followed up

[1:01:51] by Light Up the Sky at American Family Fields of Phoenix on July the 2nd from

[1:01:57] 6:30 to 9:30 p.m. And then our Crown Jewel, the Fabulous Fourth at Steel

[1:02:02] Indian School Park on July 4th from 6 PM to 10 p.m. which usually uh gets about

[1:02:08] 100,000 folks. So, okay, I'm going to reach back here and

[1:02:14] look, but um uh this certainly a bittersweet meeting for our team. I'm

[1:02:20] going to try to keep it together here, but tonight is the last parks board

[1:02:23] meeting for our management services deputy director, Teresa Fall, who'll be

[1:02:27] retiring next month. I got permission from her to do this uh tonight because I

[1:02:32] know she doesn't like this types of types of things or fanfare, and she told

[1:02:35] me to keep it short. So, I certainly will do that. Uh for the last four plus

[1:02:39] years uh Teresa has served as a management services deputy director

[1:02:43] where she was responsible for our budget procurement IT accounting and our admin

[1:02:48] staff. Before that she served as our management assistant too and our

[1:02:52] director's office where she was responsible for virtually everything

[1:02:55] under the sun. Right. Okay. Uh during her career she also spent time in the

[1:02:59] human resources and planning departments. Uh, in my almost 25 year

[1:03:04] career at the city of Phoenix, I've never been around an employee like

[1:03:07] Teresa who does it all. I love all my employees, but I just want to point that

[1:03:11] out. I have thoroughly enjoyed working with you since I joined the parks

[1:03:15] department. You're an amazing employee and a better person. Congratulations on

[1:03:19] your retirement.

[1:03:25] » It's it's been a pleasure working with you all this year, Teresa.

[1:03:28] Congratulations. >> That concludes our update. Thank you.

[1:03:32] » Great. Uh thank you uh Marty and thank you again to the entire uh city park

[1:03:37] staff for getting us all ready. The presentations again were amazing uh

[1:03:43] today and thank you to my fellow board members. Enjoy your summer break

[1:03:47] although Marty might reach out to us for one reason or another and we will see

[1:03:52] you all in September. Thank you. Meetings adjourned.

Parks and Recreation Board Meeting – June 25, 2026

Transcript