[0:04] regular meeting. Good evening

[0:07] and welcome to your Board of

[0:10] Supervisors meeting today,

[0:12] AUGUST 25th. I thought I would

[0:14] start out with a quick quote

[0:19] from Dolly Parton, because how

[0:22] could I not? And it is, I think,

[0:24] relevant for our board. We

[0:25] cannot direct the wind, but we

[0:28] can adjust the sails. So we

[0:30] will be doing some sail

[0:31] adjusting as we move through

[0:33] our agenda today. So with that,

[0:35] I will pass it to the clerk for

[0:37] roll call. Supervisor Connell.

[0:40] Present supervisor Christy here.

[0:43] Supervisor Haynes. Supervisor

[0:45] Scott here. Chair Allen here.

[0:46] Let the record show. Supervisor

[0:48] Haynes is not present. All

[0:51] other board members are present.

[0:53] Next on our agenda is the

[0:54] Pledge of Allegiance. And I

[0:56] would like to invite Sonja

[0:57] Felix, administrative

[0:58] specialist one Fleet Services,

[1:03] to lead us in the pledge. I

[1:05] pledge allegiance to the flag

[1:08] of the United States of America

[1:10] and to the Republic for which

[1:14] it stands. One nation under GOD,

[1:16] indivisible, with liberty and

[1:21] justice for all. And, Sonja, is

[1:23] there anything going on in

[1:24] Fleet Services that you'd like

[1:27] to tell us about? Right now,

[1:29] our biggest project is

[1:31] transferring our fleet

[1:33] administration management to

[1:35] asset work. So everybody's busy

[1:37] with that, right? Yeah. All

[1:38] right. Well, good luck with

[1:41] that. Thank you. Thank you.

[1:43] Next, I would like to invite up

[1:46] Robert Ojeda, the ceo of the

[1:47] Pima Council on Aging, to lead

[1:53] us in the land. Acknowledgment.

[1:55] On behalf of Pima County

[1:57] residents. We honor the tribal

[1:59] nations who have served as

[2:01] caretakers of this land from

[2:03] time immemorial, and

[2:05] respectfully acknowledge the

[2:06] ancestral homelands of the

[2:08] Tohono o'odham Nation and the

[2:09] multi millennial presence of

[2:11] the Pascua Yaqui tribe within

[2:13] Pima County. Consistent with

[2:15] Pima County commitment to

[2:17] diversity and inclusion, we

[2:19] strive toward building equal

[2:21] partner relationships with

[2:23] Arizona's tribal nations. Thank

[2:25] you. We would love to hear

[2:27] about what's happening at Pima

[2:29] Council on Aging. Thank you,

[2:30] supervisor Allen and

[2:33] supervisors. So Pima Council on

[2:36] Aging is an organization that

[2:37] really strives to make sure

[2:39] that our older adults in Pima

[2:41] County stay at home as long as

[2:44] possible, living healthy lives,

[2:46] connecting with other human

[2:47] beings, and getting the

[2:49] resources they need.

[2:50] Unfortunately, in Pima County,

[2:52] we have at least 3000 older

[2:54] adults who are experiencing

[2:56] extreme poverty and have

[2:57] limited options to improve

[2:59] their lives. So we fight for

[3:02] the rights of folks who are

[3:04] incredible contributors to our

[3:08] community, who are incredible

[3:10] at having wisdom for how to

[3:13] live lives, and that live a

[3:15] life that is interconnected

[3:16] with other human beings in our

[3:19] community. And so but not only

[3:22] that, we also provide support

[3:23] for caregivers who are taking

[3:26] care of family members or the

[3:28] many, many caregivers, paid

[3:29] caregivers that are taking care

[3:32] of our older adults and also

[3:33] work towards making sure that

[3:35] we address the root causes of

[3:37] the issues. And so what are the

[3:39] systems that need to improve

[3:41] and change to make sure that we

[3:42] continue to have older adults

[3:44] that thrive in our communities,

[3:45] and we appreciate the

[3:46] partnership with the County?

[3:49] Thank you. I know a lot of

[3:50] District 3 communities value

[3:52] the Neighbors Helping Neighbors

[3:54] program of neighbors. Just

[3:56] looking at looking out for

[3:58] checking in on some of the

[3:59] elderly residents in their

[4:00] community and making sure that

[4:01] they're okay. So appreciate all

[4:03] of that. Thank you. We have as

[4:04] well, I think we have 22

[4:06] Neighbor Care Alliance groups

[4:08] now in 22 neighborhoods. So we

[4:10] continue to grow that. Thank

[4:14] you. Thank you. Item four on

[4:17] our agenda is current events

[4:20] and public acknowledgments.

[4:21] Chair Allen, supervisor. Scott.

[4:24] Then supervisor. Connell. I

[4:27] wanted to share with my

[4:28] colleagues and the members of

[4:30] the community who are here

[4:32] today. For those of you who

[4:35] don't know the news of the sad

[4:37] passing of Joel Ireland, a

[4:40] longtime leader within our

[4:42] community. He was a Rincon High

[4:44] School and University of

[4:46] Arizona graduate, and he was

[4:49] also one of the longest serving

[4:51] members of the Tucson Unified

[4:52] School District Governing Board,

[4:55] serving in that role for 20

[4:58] years. He was both a seminary

[5:01] and a law school grad, which I

[5:03] don't know how many people can

[5:05] say something like that. I love

[5:06] that the attorney down at the

[5:08] end is laughing. As soon as I

[5:11] said that at at one time, he

[5:14] served as the priest at Saint

[5:16] Michael's and All Angels Church.

[5:19] He was also an active

[5:21] preservationist, helping to

[5:23] save several historic homes

[5:24] around the University of

[5:26] Arizona. If you read the

[5:28] beautiful article about Joel in

[5:31] the Tucson Sentinel, I think

[5:34] his son did a great job of

[5:35] summing up one of his two sons,

[5:37] I should say, did a great job

[5:39] of summing up exactly the kind

[5:42] of person Joel was, his son,

[5:44] Samuel said he was community

[5:46] oriented and believed that we

[5:47] should all take care of each

[5:50] other, and that everyone should

[5:52] have a fair chance at success

[5:54] in life. So at this moment,

[5:56] Jared Allen, I'd ask that we

[5:59] have a moment of silence in

[6:08] honor of Joel Ireland. Thank

[6:11] you, Chair Ellen. Thank you,

[6:12] Supervisor Kino. Thank you,

[6:14] Chair Allen, and good evening,

[6:15] everyone. Welcome to your Board

[6:17] of Supervisors hearing room. I

[6:19] want to make two acknowledges.

[6:21] I did this last one last time.

[6:22] So you'll forgive me former

[6:23] state Senator Maria Garcia. And

[6:27] also want to acknowledge Doctor

[6:28] Octavia Trujillo, the first

[6:30] woman elected to serve as the

[6:31] Chair of the Pascua Yaqui tribe

[6:33] in 1994. Welcome to your Board

[6:36] of Supervisors hearing room.

[6:38] Two more quick announcements. I

[6:41] want to acknowledge the fact

[6:42] that the District 5 office has

[6:45] a new member of our team, Arnie

[6:47] Ramirez, who is Bermudez,

[6:50] excuse me, who is such already

[6:52] a dynamic force in our office.

[6:55] It's been so I feel so

[6:57] fortunate to be the recipient

[6:59] of his leadership, bringing

[7:00] more than 15 years of

[7:02] experience in communications,

[7:03] multimedia production, graphic

[7:06] design and community engagement.

[7:09] I am grateful to Council Member

[7:11] Kevin Dahl for preparing him

[7:12] wisely for being able to make

[7:14] his way over to Pima County,

[7:16] but really the wealth of

[7:17] experience that he brings. I'm

[7:18] excited, Arnie, to continue to

[7:21] work with you, to serve our

[7:23] constituents in a way that I

[7:24] know they will be proud of,

[7:26] because you are dedicated to

[7:28] this. So please welcome Arnie

[7:33] Bermudez to the team. And Chair

[7:34] Allen. Last but not least,

[7:37] we've had an exciting week both

[7:40] yesterday and today. We

[7:41] distributed about 100 books to

[7:43] first graders in district five.

[7:45] It's the first 100 of 500 that

[7:46] we are going to be distributing

[7:48] to first graders throughout our

[7:50] community. It's all part of

[7:51] District Five's signature love

[7:53] of lecture series, which

[7:54] translates to love of reading.

[7:57] This year's featured book is by

[8:00] a local author named Ronnie

[8:01] Rivera Ashford. You MAY have

[8:03] heard of some of her books, My

[8:05] Nana's Remedies, My Tata's

[8:06] Remedies Raulito. It's about

[8:08] our first Latino governor in

[8:09] Arizona. But the book that

[8:12] we're previewing this week and

[8:13] distributing was hip, Hip,

[8:14] hooray! It's Monsoon day, which

[8:15] is really perfect given that

[8:17] the rain is making its way

[8:18] right now here. And the first

[8:20] graders Chair Allen colleagues

[8:22] have loved this book, have

[8:24] loved the, you know, the back

[8:26] to school welcome and super

[8:27] exciting these last two days to

[8:29] have been able to do that with

[8:30] our first graders. So thank you

[8:32] for letting me welcome our

[8:34] guests, welcome a new member of

[8:36] the team, and celebrate the

[8:37] power of reading and literacy

[8:41] in our community. Supervisor

[8:44] Christy, I just want to let

[8:46] everybody know that district

[8:48] four had a great opportunity to

[8:50] take part in a a terrific

[8:51] celebration at the southernmost

[8:53] reaches of district four, right

[8:54] before it reaches the Santa

[8:56] Cruz County line. On Saturday,

[8:59] it was the 150th anniversary of

[9:03] the working and historic Empire

[9:06] Ranch, and it was a tremendous

[9:07] success. It's such a beautiful

[9:09] area down there. You come off

[9:12] of of ten and you get onto 86,

[9:14] and once you're on 86, heading

[9:15] south towards the ranch, it's

[9:17] like a different world that

[9:19] kind of reaches inside you and

[9:21] holds your soul. It's a

[9:24] beautiful area, a beautiful

[9:27] history of of Western culture

[9:30] and ranching and conservation.

[9:32] And they had a whole series of

[9:35] tours and programs on, on the

[9:37] various areas of the ranch. And

[9:39] at one point at some during

[9:40] some of the programs, they had

[9:42] as many as 300 people there. So

[9:44] it was a tremendous success.

[9:47] And all year long there will be

[9:48] celebrations at the Empire

[9:51] Ranch commemorating its 150th

[9:52] anniversary, and I encourage

[9:54] the community to take part in

[9:57] this great piece of south

[10:00] eastern Arizona and South and

[10:02] southern Pima County. It's a

[10:03] beautiful experience and a

[10:04] beautiful history. Thank you,

[10:08] MADAM Chair. And I will note

[10:09] for the record that we have

[10:11] been joined by Supervisor

[10:15] Heintz, fresh from the airport.

[10:17] I have a couple of

[10:18] announcements as well, so I

[10:20] will be presenting a

[10:22] proclamation tomorrow night to

[10:23] the Women's Commission

[10:25] celebrating Women's Equality

[10:27] Day and the 50th anniversary of

[10:29] the commission. So that's

[10:31] tomorrow, which is Wednesday,

[10:34] August 26th at the ywca. Both

[10:37] the city and County have passed

[10:38] proclamations and will be

[10:39] presenting them jointly. And

[10:41] that's from 530 to 8. And then

[10:43] we have office hours coming up

[10:47] in Marana on Thursday, AUGUST

[10:48] 27th at the Marana Food Bank

[10:50] from 9 to 12. And then our

[10:52] Sahuarita office hours are at

[10:55] the Sahuarita Food Bank on

[10:57] Tuesday, SEPTEMBER 1st from 10

[11:00] to 1. And then finally, just a

[11:02] plug for the Pima Area Labor

[11:03] Federation's picnic and

[11:04] celebration of Labor Day, which

[11:07] will be on Monday, SEPTEMBER

[11:10] 7th from 9 to 12 at Joaquin

[11:11] Murrieta Park. There will be,

[11:13] as always, speakers, music,

[11:15] food and games for the whole

[11:19] family. Hope to see you there.

[11:22] Anyone else? All right then we

[11:24] will move on to agenda

[11:26] adjustments with Clerk

[11:27] Manriquez. Okay, on the regular

[11:30] agenda page five, item 18 under

[11:31] Economic Development, this is

[11:33] unfinished business. From

[11:34] AUGUST 11th, Pima County

[11:35] Economic Development Strategic

[11:39] Plan 2026 2029 and item 19

[11:40] Unfinished Business from AUGUST

[11:42] 11th. This is a contract

[11:44] Southern Arizona Education

[11:45] Council and on the addendum,

[11:47] page three, item eight. It's a

[11:49] contract. Economic development,

[11:50] University of Arizona. These

[11:52] items will be heard after call

[11:57] to the public. Thank you. And

[12:02] then I'm going to do a move up

[12:04] from the addendum. I think it

[12:09] is addendum number addendum

[12:10] item number one. It's a

[12:12] presentation of a proclamation.

[12:15] This is to Kevin Hamilton,

[12:16] co-founder, PRESIDENT And

[12:18] artistic director, and Tanisha

[12:19] Hamilton, co-founder and chief

[12:21] operating officer of Southwest

[12:25] Soul Circuit. I, proclaiming

[12:27] Saturday, AUGUST 29th to be

[12:29] Southwest Soul Circuit 20th

[12:31] anniversary. I will move the

[12:33] item. Second. Seconded by

[12:35] Supervisor Haynes. Discussion.

[12:38] All those in favor? I opposed

[12:40] item passes five zero and

[12:42] Supervisor Kino is here to

[13:20] present. This is a new setup

[13:21] since the last time you were

[13:23] here. Yeah, we're all getting

[13:26] adjusted to it. Well, thank you

[13:28] so much for the opportunity to

[13:29] celebrate the incredible work

[13:32] that you have been doing for 20

[13:34] years. I'm going to read the

[13:37] proclamation and then offer the

[13:38] ability for you guys to say a

[13:40] few words right after if you

[13:43] desire. Whereas Southwest Soul

[13:45] Circuit was founded in Tucson,

[13:47] Arizona in 2006 by Kevin and

[13:48] Tanisha Hamilton with a

[13:50] commitment to connecting people

[13:51] through arts, culture,

[13:53] education and community

[13:55] engagement. And whereas, for 20

[13:56] years, Southwest Soul Circuit

[13:58] has contributed to the cultural

[13:59] life of Pima County and

[14:01] Southern Arizona by creating

[14:03] platforms for artists,

[14:05] educators, community leaders,

[14:06] entrepreneurs, and

[14:08] organizations to share their

[14:10] talents, stories, and

[14:11] contributions with the

[14:12] community. And Whereas

[14:13] Southwest Soul Circuit has

[14:15] produced concerts, cultural

[14:16] celebrations, community

[14:18] programs, educational

[14:19] initiatives, and collaborations

[14:20] that have brought people

[14:22] together across generations and

[14:24] communities. And whereas

[14:26] Southwest Soul Circuit has

[14:27] enjoyed a long standing

[14:29] relationship with Pima County,

[14:30] including recognition and

[14:32] encouragement from the late

[14:33] District 5 supervisor and board

[14:35] Chair Richard Elias, whose

[14:37] public service and support of

[14:39] community and cultural

[14:40] organizations remain part of

[14:42] Southwest Soul Circuits 20 year

[14:45] story. And Whereas, in 2026,

[14:46] Southwest Soul Circuit

[14:48] celebrates two decades of

[14:49] service while beginning its

[14:51] next chapter through the Vibe

[14:53] network, expanding the

[14:54] organization's ability to

[14:56] connect music, storytelling,

[14:58] and culture with audiences

[15:00] locally and beyond. And whereas,

[15:03] on AUGUST 29th, 2026, Southwest

[15:04] Soul Circuit will commemorate

[15:06] this milestone at Pima

[15:07] Community College West Campus

[15:10] with its 20th anniversary

[15:11] celebration, The Vibe Network,

[15:13] a live radio experience

[15:14] bringing together artists,

[15:16] community members, civic

[15:17] leaders, and friends who have

[15:19] contributed to and supported

[15:21] this 20 year journey. Now,

[15:22] therefore, be it resolved that

[15:24] the Pima County Board of

[15:26] Supervisors hereby proclaims

[15:28] Saturday, AUGUST 29th to be

[15:29] southwest Southwest Soul

[15:31] Circuit 20th Anniversary Day

[15:34] and honors its 20 years of

[15:35] artistic, cultural and

[15:36] community contributions to Pima

[15:38] County and Southern Arizona and

[15:40] extends its best wishes as

[15:42] Southwest Soul Circuit begins

[15:44] its next chapter. The next 20

[15:46] years of connecting people

[15:47] through music, culture,

[15:49] storytelling, storytelling and

[15:51] community pass and adopted this

[15:53] 25th day of AUGUST 2026.

[15:54] Congratulations! Let's hear it

[16:03] up for Southwest Circuit. I

[16:05] just want to express how

[16:08] grateful we are to Supervisor

[16:11] Canos and the board for

[16:13] recognizing us. We have a huge

[16:15] debt of gratitude to Pima

[16:18] County to also the late Richard

[16:21] Elias. He really saw something

[16:23] in us that we didn't fully see

[16:25] ourselves. And so we're

[16:26] grateful that those who serve

[16:28] our community can see the

[16:30] values that others MAY have to

[16:34] serve our community. And so we

[16:36] just we want to dedicate this

[16:38] time to him and to the many

[16:40] people who have helped us along

[16:44] the way. In 2006, my wife and I

[16:46] married, and we also started

[16:49] Southwest Soul Circuit. And our

[16:50] marriage and our business has

[16:53] worked alongside of each other.

[16:54] We've been through the ups and

[16:56] downs, but we've learned how to

[16:58] turn ourselves as the winds

[17:01] changed. And so and we found so

[17:03] many wonderful, amazing people

[17:05] throughout Pima County,

[17:07] throughout the southwest who've

[17:09] helped us to uplift, inspire,

[17:11] and entertain our communities

[17:13] by combining community service

[17:16] and world class music. And so

[17:18] we have a few of the people who

[17:21] help us here. Karen Stewart has

[17:23] been helping us with admin and

[17:26] operations, and Aretha Reed.

[17:30] I'm okay. I'm a little nervous

[17:31] here, so I don't got a name,

[17:33] but Aretha Reed has really been

[17:36] helping us also with our admin

[17:37] and operations, and it's

[17:39] allowed us to be able to do

[17:42] more, be a little more detailed

[17:43] and do more for the community.

[17:45] So I'm just just overwhelmed

[17:47] with gratitude. And I'd like to

[17:48] thank you all for acknowledging

[17:50] that. Congratulations. Thank

[18:30] you. Thank you. Our next item

[18:33] on the agenda is call to the

[18:35] public. So if you're here to

[18:37] call the public you and want to

[18:40] speak, you complete one of the

[18:41] green speaker cards. If,

[18:43] however, you're here for one of

[18:45] the hearings, you can complete

[18:47] a yellow speaker card and speak.

[18:49] When we get to that agenda

[18:53] specific agenda item. And if we

[18:56] have the. When there are less

[18:58] than 20 speakers, we. Each

[19:00] speaker gets three minutes.

[19:02] Once we cross over into 20

[19:04] speakers, it reduces to two

[19:08] minutes. We have 14. So

[19:10] everybody gets three minutes.

[19:14] And then I will read the rules.

[19:15] People attending the meeting

[19:17] shall observe rules of

[19:18] propriety, decorum and good

[19:20] conduct. Any person making

[19:21] personal, impertinent or

[19:22] slanderous remarks, or who

[19:23] become boisterous while

[19:25] addressing the board MAY be

[19:26] removed by the Sergeant at arms

[19:28] if directed by the Chair.

[19:29] Unauthorized remarks from the

[19:30] audience, stamping the feet,

[19:31] whistling yells and similar

[19:32] demonstrations shall not be

[19:33] permitted by the Chair, who MAY

[19:35] direct offenders from the

[19:38] hearing room. So we have. Our

[19:42] first speaker is MISS Trista Di

[19:45] Genova, who will be joining us.

[19:52] Telephonically. Hi there. Hi.

[19:53] Board members and Pima County

[19:56] voters. My name is Trista di

[19:58] Genova. I am a writer and

[19:59] independent candidate for Pima

[20:00] County Board of Supervisors,

[20:02] district five. When you elect

[20:03] me NOVEMBER 3rd, I promise to

[20:05] immediately introduce the

[20:06] resolution I already submitted

[20:08] to this board and which they

[20:10] have ignored to remove Sheriff

[20:12] Nanos. If you agree that the

[20:13] Guthrie family deserves an

[20:15] independent investigation, you

[20:17] need to write me in NOVEMBER

[20:19] 3rd, if you want to shut down

[20:20] Ice concentration camps and

[20:23] data centers in Pima County and

[20:24] charge Ice goons with kidnaping

[20:26] and domestic terrorism, then

[20:28] you also need to write me in

[20:29] NOVEMBER 3rd, if you agree that

[20:31] it is an abomination that Pima

[20:33] County Jail has four times more

[20:34] jail deaths than Rikers Island,

[20:36] then you need to write me in

[20:37] NOVEMBER 3rd so we can bring in

[20:40] the aclu, shut it down and

[20:42] reform it all. Trista. I'm an

[20:44] award winning teacher,

[20:45] investigative journalist,

[20:47] comedian, artist, published

[20:48] author and public health

[20:49] scholar with honors degrees

[20:52] from Oxford University, uc

[20:53] Berkeley and Taipei Medical

[20:55] University. This is the 22nd

[20:57] time I have come before this

[21:00] board to demand an independent

[21:01] investigation into my case and

[21:03] for and to demand the board do

[21:05] their job and intervene and

[21:07] provide oversight. I've already

[21:09] made several documentaries

[21:10] about what happened in my case,

[21:12] and post them all over social

[21:14] media every day until we all

[21:16] you Pima County voters, me and

[21:18] my animals get justice. Law

[21:20] enforcement in this town picked

[21:21] the wrong person to mess with

[21:23] because now that I survived the

[21:24] onslaught of their attack, I'm

[21:26] on a mission from GOD to speak

[21:28] up for all the other innocent

[21:29] people who have been terrorized

[21:31] and whose lives have been

[21:33] destroyed by these malignant

[21:35] narcissists. The proof of their

[21:36] egregious misconduct is posted

[21:38] all over the internet every day,

[21:40] including my documentary

[21:41] Watching the Detectives, and a

[21:44] 28 minute documentary about my

[21:45] beautiful, award winning flock

[21:46] of therapy animals and

[21:48] miniature pioneer breed of

[21:49] miniature service chickens.

[21:52] Footage taken days before a 16

[21:54] man military grade raid on my

[21:56] private residence in Pima

[21:57] County all paid for with your

[21:59] taxpayer dollars. As an update,

[22:00] I'm calling on the Pima County

[22:02] Attorney's Office to drop all

[22:04] charges, reverse the charges,

[22:06] and return my pay with

[22:09] restitution. I filed a $20

[22:10] million civil lawsuit against

[22:12] Pima Animal Care Center for the

[22:13] unlawful, unnecessary and cruel

[22:16] seizure of my flock. On

[22:17] SEPTEMBER 15th, there will be

[22:19] an order to show cause hearing,

[22:20] and I invite members of the

[22:21] public and media to come and

[22:23] show their support so that I

[22:25] can, at the very least, get my

[22:26] service dog back. Doctor Baker,

[22:28] the jewel in my crown. This

[22:29] caused me profound emotional

[22:30] distress to be deprived of my

[22:32] service dog for this long, and

[22:33] it was done intentionally as

[22:35] well as the theft of my

[22:36] livelihood and the ruination of

[22:38] my good reputation. So I cannot

[22:40] run for office, and it all fits

[22:43] the intentions of Sheriff Nanez

[22:44] well. Too bad for you. It's not

[22:46] going to work. I published the

[22:47] receipts every day of their

[22:48] gross and shocking misconduct

[22:50] using your taxpayer dollars,

[22:52] and I welcome the public to put

[22:53] pressure on these agencies to

[22:55] drop all charges. And thank you.

[22:58] That is time. So I'm going to

[22:59] call the next three speakers.

[23:01] And so the first person. But

[23:03] the but the other two, the

[23:04] seats are reserved in the front

[23:06] for the other speakers, just so

[23:08] we can kind of go through

[23:09] quickly. So if you could come

[23:11] forward and, and be ready, our

[23:13] first speaker is going to be

[23:15] Rabbi Samuel Cohen, followed by

[23:18] Kent Blumenthal, followed by

[23:21] Scott Hancock. So, Rabbi Cohen,

[23:26] please. It's a tough act to

[23:29] follow. I want to thank you for

[23:31] the opportunity to address this

[23:33] meeting. My last visit in this

[23:34] room was for my father, Rabbi

[23:37] Baruch Cohen's 100th birthday

[23:39] celebration in APRIL. We still

[23:40] appreciate the standing ovation.

[23:42] Thank you. I come for a less

[23:45] happy reason today as a

[23:46] congregational rabbi in Pima

[23:48] County for 27 years, a founder

[23:50] of the Multifaith Alliance, a

[23:51] member of the Northwest Tucson

[23:52] Multi-Faith Group, and a Chair

[23:54] of community nine over 11

[23:55] commemorations for a decade and

[23:58] a long time member of the

[23:58] Metropolitan Education

[23:59] Commission, it's been my

[24:00] privilege to serve Southern

[24:02] Arizona with the goal of

[24:04] reaching across all religious,

[24:06] cultural, ethnic, and racial

[24:08] lines and recognizing the spark

[24:10] of the divine presence in every

[24:12] single human being in the face

[24:14] of rising anti-Semitism and

[24:17] rampant unfounded conspiracy

[24:18] theorizing. It is the

[24:19] responsibility of all who seek

[24:21] to lead and educate our society

[24:24] to prevent demonizing anyone on

[24:26] the basis of religion or ethnic

[24:28] origin. Anti-Semitism is the

[24:30] oldest documented racism in

[24:32] human history, going back

[24:33] literally thousands of years.

[24:35] It's based on some of the worst

[24:37] lies ever circulated. It has

[24:38] resulted in massacres and other

[24:40] brutalities perpetrated against

[24:42] Jews for many centuries and

[24:44] many countries, including the

[24:45] Holocaust, of course, that

[24:46] murdered half the Jews of

[24:49] Europe in the 20th century.

[24:50] Anti-Semitism has no place in

[24:53] decent societies. Yet today,

[24:55] the revived lies and insane

[24:57] conspiracy theories that fuel

[24:58] it have led to repeated

[25:00] violence against Jews all over

[25:02] the world, including fatal

[25:04] attacks in America and

[25:05] anti-Semitic acts right here in

[25:08] Pima County. I visited the

[25:09] sacred places of every religion

[25:10] all over the world, in more

[25:12] than 20 countries on every

[25:14] continent, almost none require

[25:16] security except the Jewish holy

[25:18] places, where even the humblest

[25:19] synagogue in the United States

[25:21] has security personnel

[25:22] protecting congregants from

[25:24] anti-Semitic attacks. Every

[25:27] Sabbath service, as ours does.

[25:30] In my service at the

[25:30] Metropolitan Education

[25:31] Commission. Civility,

[25:32] acceptance of religious and

[25:33] racial difference and respect

[25:35] for the good intentions of

[25:37] everybody who participated in

[25:39] the work of education was

[25:40] universal. No one was ever

[25:42] denigrated or disrespected for

[25:44] their religion or background,

[25:46] ever in any way. It was

[25:48] unthinkable. I have read the

[25:49] disturbing words of the present

[25:50] head of the Southern Arizona

[25:52] Educational Council. What he

[25:53] said and posted during the

[25:56] recent campaign. Many times,

[25:57] MR. Perez advanced anti-Semitic

[25:59] tropes about dual allegiance,

[26:02] foreign meaning, Jewish money

[26:04] and corporations, as well as

[26:05] attacking aipac, a lobbying

[26:07] group for Israel that does not

[26:10] fund any local races at all. In

[26:11] his post and in the campaign,

[26:13] he used his opponent's Jewish

[26:15] identity and her support for

[26:16] Israel as though it were part

[26:18] of a conspiracy against Tucson

[26:20] residents, and said her support

[26:21] for a Holocaust center was

[26:23] driven by international

[26:24] interests, implying

[26:25] non-American Jews were

[26:28] interfering in local politics.

[26:29] My friends, these are. Rabbi,

[26:31] come on. I'm sorry. That's time.

[26:32] If you were unable to finish

[26:33] your comments or either. Either

[26:35] way, you're also welcome to

[26:36] submit the what's in writing

[26:38] and then they can be. I did so

[26:40] thank you. I just hope that you

[26:44] all hear what I say. Thank you.

[26:46] Our next speaker is Kent

[26:50] Blumenthal. Chair Allen,

[26:51] members of the board

[26:53] Administrator Lesher. My name

[26:55] is Kent Blumenthal. I reside in

[26:56] Green Valley and have served on

[26:58] the Pima County Small Business

[27:00] Commission since 2015. I speak

[27:05] to agenda item number 19, the

[27:07] $122,000 for Southern Arizona

[27:10] Education Council or csa. You

[27:13] know, and I know that Sciac has

[27:15] underperformed its

[27:17] underperformance does not

[27:18] justify funding the. At the

[27:20] same level, Pima County has

[27:23] contributed since 2022.

[27:26] Consider this. This year, six

[27:28] Hallmark Teen Town Hall program

[27:29] disappeared. About one half of

[27:32] csa board positions are vacant,

[27:34] demonstrating a severe lack of

[27:36] interest among supposedly

[27:38] interested parties. A

[27:40] partnership with AmeriCorps

[27:43] lapsed with a. No explanation.

[27:45] Csa failed to achieve broader

[27:47] regional representation

[27:48] contemplated with Santa Cruz

[27:50] County when its name changed

[27:53] from the Metropolitan Education

[27:55] Commission and worse, csa

[27:57] partner, City of Tucson,

[27:59] Lowballed its contribution for

[28:02] next year to under $20,000.

[28:05] Budgets reflect organizational

[28:08] priorities. Is csa a Tucson

[28:10] priority? I think not. The

[28:11] County has always paid more

[28:14] than its fair share to support

[28:18] csa. Let's compare k through 12

[28:20] public school enrollment data

[28:24] for 2024 to 2025. The city of

[28:27] Tucson has 81% of total area

[28:28] enrollment in seven public

[28:30] school districts serving the

[28:33] Tucson area. Pima County has

[28:35] 19% enrollment outside of the

[28:40] Tucson area. Yet for years 2022

[28:45] to 2026, Tucson ponied up only

[28:46] 23% to 46.5% of monies

[28:48] contributed by the two local

[28:49] governments. Is this fair to

[28:52] Pima County taxpayers? Is this

[28:54] fair to you? Many questions

[28:56] about csa remain unanswered.

[28:58] Why the underperformance? What

[29:00] programs does it actually

[29:01] produce and which does it

[29:03] simply promote? What are Pima

[29:05] County's expectations for

[29:06] deliverables? Why should the

[29:07] County contribute more money

[29:09] than the City of Tucson? Why

[29:11] are nearly one half of the

[29:13] board seats vacant? Why did

[29:15] Santa Cruz County not join? Why

[29:17] did the partnership with

[29:20] AmeriCorps lapse? Who's

[29:21] responsible for the oversight?

[29:24] As an outside agency of csa,

[29:25] your fiduciary responsibility

[29:28] is to. Pima County taxpayers.

[29:30] Every taxpayer dollar must earn

[29:32] its place in the budget. If csa

[29:34] can demonstrate a compelling,

[29:36] measurable return to your

[29:37] taxpayers, let the evidence

[29:40] make the case. Thus far, it has

[29:45] not. Thank you. Thank you. Our

[29:48] next speaker is Scott Hancock.

[29:50] And then MR. Hancock will be

[29:53] followed by Mariano Martinez,

[29:58] Maria Garcia and Linda Bixby.

[29:59] Thank you for your time today.

[30:01] My name is Scott Hancock and

[30:02] I'm a resident of Pima County.

[30:04] I'm representing myself, but I

[30:05] am a clean energy professional

[30:06] concerned about anti renewables

[30:08] chatter that I've been hearing.

[30:09] Don't get me wrong, when a

[30:10] community starts to organize

[30:12] early, that's how we can make

[30:13] sure that the right project

[30:15] ends up in our community. But

[30:16] I'd be ashamed of a small but

[30:18] loud anti clean energy group

[30:19] took over the conversation,

[30:20] leading to Pima County turning

[30:21] away the correct projects for

[30:22] our community. That's why I'm

[30:25] here today. In a previous role,

[30:26] I was tasked with creating a

[30:28] national toolkit for County

[30:29] staff who are not solar experts

[30:31] themselves, but who are all too

[30:32] often dealing with utility

[30:33] scale solar projects. Anyway,

[30:35] I've spent a lot of time

[30:36] thinking about how rural

[30:37] counties like ours can prepare

[30:38] themselves to get the most

[30:40] value out of these large energy

[30:42] projects. In the big energy

[30:43] landscape, extracted developers

[30:45] are especially heinous. In Pima

[30:47] County, we can learn about

[30:48] responsible development from an

[30:49] elite group known as Community

[30:50] Benefits Agreements. These are

[30:52] their stories. Spoke with a

[30:54] County supervisor from South

[30:55] Carolina who oversaw the

[30:57] application of a 145 megawatt

[30:59] project known as Project

[31:00] Charles. They saw heavy

[31:02] community opposition out the

[31:03] gates, but got them over the

[31:04] hump, was having real

[31:05] conversations about what the

[31:07] community needed. They had an

[31:08] issue where they were losing

[31:09] their young public safety

[31:10] officers to their neighbors,

[31:12] who could offer more

[31:14] competitive rates. When the

[31:15] developer heard this, they

[31:16] offered to make ongoing

[31:17] donations in addition to the

[31:19] other benefits to the County to

[31:21] make their public safety

[31:22] officer salaries more

[31:23] competitive and to retain the

[31:25] youth locally. Other

[31:26] municipalities have

[31:27] successfully negotiated for

[31:28] very specific things that won

[31:30] people over educational

[31:32] resources, technology for

[31:33] classrooms, teacher programs,

[31:35] solar education opportunities,

[31:37] infrastructure investments for

[31:38] libraries, community centers,

[31:40] public transit and fire

[31:41] departments, health care

[31:42] investments for rural hospitals

[31:44] and clinics, contributions to

[31:46] food pantries. So instead of,

[31:48] you know, blanket organizing

[31:49] against the next project, which

[31:51] is what I'm afraid is happening,

[31:52] why don't we figure out what we

[31:54] want out of these things? What

[31:56] are we going to ask for? How do

[31:57] we make it generational? How

[31:59] can we ensure that this project

[32:00] gives back to the landscape

[32:01] around it rather than

[32:02] diminishing it? That is all

[32:04] possible. Pollinator habitat

[32:06] that's maintained in the area

[32:07] can support the surrounding

[32:09] farms and wildlands. We can

[32:10] raise fences for wildlife

[32:11] access, we can raise panels for

[32:14] continued grazing. Excuse me.

[32:16] Solar doesn't need to grade the

[32:18] land anymore. We can save that

[32:19] topsoil, reduce erosion and

[32:20] disruption. The most resonant

[32:22] point for me personally is that

[32:24] clean energy is an anti war

[32:26] technology. The more we have,

[32:27] the less reliant we are on

[32:28] foreign oil, the more energy

[32:30] independence we achieve here.

[32:31] None of this happens by

[32:32] accident, though. It happens

[32:33] when a community pushes for

[32:36] what it wants. Thank you, thank

[32:38] you. Our next speaker is

[32:44] Mariana Martinez. Hello. Good

[32:46] afternoon, Board of Supervisors.

[32:48] I am here in support of the

[32:50] renewal of Pima County's

[32:51] partnership with the Southern

[32:53] Arizona Education Council and

[32:56] of Ricky Perez as ceo. As a

[32:58] student who has experienced the

[33:01] program as a beneficiary, it

[33:02] would be a loss to the

[33:04] community of Southern Arizona

[33:05] if this program were no longer

[33:08] here. During my time in the

[33:10] Southern Arizona Education

[33:12] Council slash Metropolitan

[33:13] Education Commission as a

[33:15] student peer coach, I was given

[33:16] the opportunity to network with

[33:18] many individuals from other

[33:20] high schools and community

[33:23] leadership. It has given me the

[33:24] opportunity to be involved in

[33:26] my community and create a

[33:27] college going environment. To

[33:29] my high school of Pueblo High

[33:32] School that most times is not

[33:34] perceived that way. The

[33:36] Southern Arizona Education

[33:37] Council is a program that gives

[33:39] local students the opportunity

[33:40] to be equipped with knowledge

[33:42] and be given the opportunity to

[33:45] share with their peers. As our

[33:47] goal is to eliminate poverty

[33:49] through education, I have seen

[33:52] that firsthand with many peers,

[33:53] including myself, who have

[33:55] received many generous

[33:57] scholarships to continue our

[33:59] studies beyond and attain

[34:00] occupations that take our

[34:02] community members out of the

[34:04] normal, which is not having the

[34:05] opportunity to a proper

[34:08] education based on a zip code.

[34:09] With the federal government

[34:12] terminating $400 million in

[34:13] AmeriCorps grants that have

[34:16] affected many other programs

[34:17] nationwide, we as a community

[34:19] should not allow other

[34:20] governments, including Pima

[34:21] County, to terminate that

[34:24] funding as well. As I enter my

[34:26] second year of college at the

[34:27] University of Arizona, W.A.

[34:29] Frankie Honors College, double

[34:30] majoring in speech, language

[34:32] and hearing Sciences and

[34:34] Spanish on a $100,000

[34:35] scholarship. I owe the Southern

[34:38] Arizona Education Council as

[34:40] part of my success and support

[34:42] throughout that journey,

[34:43] especially Rocky Perez as a

[34:45] mentor who is dedicated to

[34:48] serving the community and

[34:49] providing opportunity to equal

[34:51] access to education through the

[34:53] Southern Arizona Education

[34:56] Council and including Fafsa,

[34:58] applying to those kinds of

[35:00] applications and scholarship

[35:01] applications. This just

[35:03] increases that more community

[35:05] members are able to go into

[35:06] higher education, including

[35:08] myself. So thank you so much

[35:11] for your time. Thank you, thank

[35:13] you. Our next speaker is Maria

[35:22] Garcia. Chair and members of

[35:25] the Pima County Board of

[35:27] Supervisors. Sorry I'm nervous.

[35:29] My name is Maria Garcia, a

[35:31] former Pima Community College

[35:33] governing board member and a

[35:35] longtime supporter of education

[35:37] and programs that serve our

[35:39] community. Throughout my career,

[35:41] I have worked to help students

[35:43] families succeed, and I know

[35:45] firsthand the tremendous work

[35:46] our schools and community

[35:48] colleges already do to help

[35:51] students access higher

[35:53] education. I went back and

[35:54] reviewed what Pima Community

[35:57] College is currently providing,

[35:58] particularly through its Office

[36:00] of Financial Aid and

[36:03] Scholarships. Pcc already

[36:04] provides students with one on

[36:06] one assistance in completing

[36:08] the Fafsa, help with

[36:10] understanding financial aid,

[36:12] awards and scholarship

[36:14] opportunities and support. To

[36:16] remain eligible for assistance,

[36:17] students can schedule an

[36:19] appointment with financial aid

[36:21] staff or attend a Fafsa

[36:23] assistance event. This is not

[36:27] the theatrical. It is a service

[36:28] already available to our

[36:30] students and families. You can

[36:32] find them directly on the

[36:34] website or by simply calling

[36:37] the leadership. This is why I

[36:38] have serious concerns about

[36:43] Pima County providing. Saec

[36:46] 122,000. Southern Arizona

[36:47] Educational Council reported

[36:51] nearly 298,000 in revenues.

[36:54] Approximately 57,000 in net

[36:57] revenues and up to 100 000

[36:59] annually from our board from

[37:02] the Pima Peer Coach program.

[37:04] Yet the County is being asked

[37:06] to provide more than six times

[37:10] the city recurring 19,580

[37:14] allocation. The report, 99,007

[37:17] Executive director salary also

[37:19] deserves scrutiny. Taxpayer

[37:21] dollars should prioritize

[37:23] students and direct services,

[37:25] particularly when sac has not

[37:27] demonstrated its official

[37:28] outcome, are uniquely

[37:31] attributed to its work. Saec

[37:34] points to 750 000 Fafsa

[37:35] completions, 144 event

[37:37] coordinator connections, 61

[37:39] peer coaches and numerous forms

[37:40] events that are actively

[37:42] measured. Not proof that Pima

[37:44] County 122,000 was necessary,

[37:47] and that the outcomes would not

[37:49] have occurred through schools,

[37:51] pcc Arbor and other community

[37:53] partners. Many have reported

[37:56] similar numbers and awards. So

[37:57] I get the sense that there is a

[37:59] lot of duplication in reporting.

[38:02] I recognize that's e. C MAY

[38:05] provide supplemental services.

[38:07] I'm not arguing that it is.

[38:09] Work has no value, but

[38:11] supplemental does not

[38:12] automatically mean the County

[38:15] should fund its live at this

[38:17] level. I urge the board to

[38:20] match the city revenue 19,580

[38:21] investment, rather than

[38:24] providing 122,000. There needs

[38:26] to be a compelling reason why

[38:27] Pima County should provide six

[38:30] time. MISS Garcia, thank you. I

[38:32] appreciate that. Our next

[38:35] speaker is Doctor Linda Bixby,

[38:37] who will be followed by Rocky

[38:44] Perez. Czajkowski and Melinda

[38:49] Mattson. Chair Allen, Vice

[38:51] Chair DR. Heinz and members of

[38:53] the board. It is a pleasure to

[38:54] be here this evening to speak

[38:57] about the Memorandum of

[38:59] Understanding establishing the

[39:01] Arizona Taiwan Talent and

[39:03] Innovation Hub at the Roy Place

[39:06] Building. As mentioned, my name

[39:08] is Doctor Linda Bixby. I am the

[39:10] chief research partnerships

[39:11] officer at the University of

[39:13] Arizona. I'm in a company today

[39:15] here by our director of our

[39:17] center for Semiconductor

[39:19] Manufacturing, Doctor Krishna

[39:21] Darin, and also Julie Katzel,

[39:22] who is our executive Director

[39:25] for community Relations

[39:27] regarding the Talent and

[39:29] Innovation Hub. It will connect

[39:30] education, research and

[39:31] workforce development in

[39:33] southern Arizona with one of

[39:34] the world's leading

[39:37] semiconductor ecosystems in

[39:39] Taiwan. It is a partnership

[39:41] between the University of

[39:43] Arizona and the National

[39:44] Yang-ming Chiao Tung University,

[39:47] with strong support from Pima

[39:49] County. On behalf of the

[39:51] university, I'm here to thank

[39:52] you. Thank you for providing

[39:54] the building that will house

[39:57] this hub. A partnership of this

[39:59] scale needs a visible home and

[40:01] the County support gives

[40:04] students, researchers, workers

[40:06] and industry partners a place

[40:09] to learn, collaborate and solve

[40:11] problems. Together, we look

[40:13] forward to celebrating

[40:15] celebrating this commitment in

[40:17] our ribbon cutting in OCTOBER

[40:19] and welcoming our first

[40:22] students already in JANUARY of

[40:25] 2027, the economic benefits for

[40:27] Pima County will reach well

[40:30] beyond the hub itself. A strong

[40:32] local talent pipeline here now

[40:35] helps Arizona companies hire.

[40:38] Here in southern Arizona. It

[40:39] strengthens Pima County's

[40:42] ability to attract suppliers,

[40:44] startups and new investments,

[40:46] and it can move university

[40:48] research into new products and

[40:51] businesses. Here, it can move

[40:53] university research and also

[40:54] brings these students and

[40:55] visiting researchers and

[40:57] industry partners to our region,

[41:00] supporting local employers and

[41:02] expanding connections to the

[41:04] global semiconductor economy.

[41:06] So thank you. Thank you for

[41:08] investing in the talent and

[41:09] innovation hub, for helping

[41:12] turn this partnership into a

[41:14] lasting asset for our community.

[41:16] We are grateful for your

[41:18] leadership and for your. And it

[41:20] excites us that we can build

[41:22] something together. So thank

[41:27] you again. Thank you. Our next

[41:36] speaker is Ricky Perez. Hello.

[41:39] Thanks again for having me. I

[41:42] wish it was under lighter

[41:43] circumstances, and I never

[41:44] thought I'd be back in call to

[41:46] the audience. So it's a weird

[41:48] place to be. I'm here obviously,

[41:50] in support of our item with the

[41:51] Southern Arizona Education

[41:53] Council's contract. I think

[41:55] it's apparent to me that

[41:56] there's a commonality within

[41:57] the outside interests in this,

[41:59] and unfortunately, it's

[42:01] political and personal. I think

[42:02] that the questions and the

[42:03] concerns that have been

[42:04] presented by individual

[42:06] supervisors are valid, and we

[42:08] have given them to the best of

[42:09] our ability, honest and

[42:12] thorough answers. I think that

[42:14] still a lot of them are without

[42:16] context, and I think a lot of

[42:17] the comments that I've heard

[42:19] here today are also without

[42:20] context. In talking with my

[42:23] board Chair earlier this week,

[42:24] and I think she also submitted

[42:27] an item to you all. I think we

[42:30] were in strong agreement that

[42:32] when it comes to this contract

[42:33] and the measurables relative to

[42:36] our peer coach program,

[42:38] post-secondary access to civic

[42:39] empowerment, they're all in

[42:40] alignment with action that this

[42:42] board took simultaneous to the

[42:44] evolution of mec, to the

[42:47] Education Council. And I think

[42:50] that there's room for

[42:51] opportunity that I think we can

[42:54] regard as growing pains. I hope,

[42:57] in the long run. But I think

[43:00] that it's a disservice to not

[43:01] recognize the immense growth

[43:04] that this organization has

[43:06] experienced over the last year

[43:08] and doubling its revenues,

[43:09] enrolling its sleeves up.

[43:11] Because, like you, I recognize

[43:13] the inequities between the city

[43:15] of Tucson and Pima County. It's

[43:17] not just relative to this

[43:18] contract. I recognize the same

[43:20] as applicable to PEEPs. And

[43:21] when I was a city Council

[43:23] member, I was the one that did

[43:24] the groundwork to ensure that

[43:27] we fronted some cost because it

[43:29] felt an imperative. I felt an

[43:30] imperative that we invested in

[43:31] Sunnyside and Flowing well

[43:33] school districts, and I was

[43:34] privileged to have actualized

[43:36] that. But in the absence of a

[43:39] city contribution of equal

[43:41] measure this year, as we have

[43:43] last year, we've always rolled

[43:45] our sleeves up. Like you all,

[43:46] when it comes to PEEPs and

[43:49] looking for alternative methods

[43:50] to to front those costs. And I

[43:52] think we've done exactly that.

[43:54] And so we will continue, I

[43:55] think, to the best of our

[43:56] ability in working with our

[43:58] city and County partners. But I

[44:00] think it would be a disservice

[44:02] to really hit us when we're

[44:04] already on a strong upwards

[44:07] momentum with, I think, some

[44:09] much needed action that could

[44:10] be remedied easily with action

[44:12] by this board. And so I hope

[44:14] you all will consider that. I

[44:16] also will say with my last 20s,

[44:18] that today I had an opportunity

[44:21] to join 80 or so people from

[44:24] across Arizona in Phoenix in a

[44:25] meeting that we called the

[44:28] Arizona Fafsa summit. And I

[44:30] think it was exactly the fuel

[44:31] that I needed and affirming. I

[44:33] was one amongst 80 people from

[44:34] Tucson that were actually

[44:35] present. And I think that's

[44:36] emblematic of the necessary

[44:38] investments you all have to

[44:40] make. Thank you. Thank you. And

[44:42] our next speaker is Mike

[44:47] Czajkowski. Hello. Good

[44:48] afternoon, Chair Allen. Members

[44:50] of the Board of Supervisors.

[44:52] Administrator Lesher. Pleasure

[44:53] to be speaking in front of you

[44:55] today. My name is Mike

[44:56] Czajkowski, newly appointed

[44:58] chief economic development

[45:01] officer for the Office of

[45:02] Community and Economic Impact

[45:03] for the City of Tucson. Say

[45:05] that five times fast. I'm here

[45:07] to share my support for the

[45:09] Talent Innovation Hub as well.

[45:11] I echo all of Doctor Bixby's

[45:12] comments on that. So I'm not

[45:14] going to repeat those comments

[45:15] in the effort, but I am very

[45:16] excited to see the

[45:18] possibilities of this. And as I

[45:20] will refer to the former

[45:21] Walgreens building where my mom

[45:23] worked when I was a kid and

[45:24] used to drink ice cream sodas.

[45:25] So very excited about that

[45:28] opportunity. I would also like

[45:29] to share my support for the

[45:30] Pima County Economic

[45:32] Development Strategic Plan. I

[45:33] will say collaboration between

[45:34] the city and the County is as

[45:36] high as I can remember in my 20

[45:38] plus years of service for the

[45:39] city of Tucson. I very much

[45:41] appreciate the work of Heath

[45:42] Vescovi and Frank Dillon in

[45:43] these efforts. The

[45:45] thoughtfulness not only for the

[45:46] second largest city in the

[45:48] state of Arizona, which we need

[45:50] to remind people more often of,

[45:52] I believe, but also for Oro

[45:54] Valley, Marana, Sahuarita

[45:56] unincorporated areas, and

[45:57] notably South Tucson very much

[45:59] appreciate those efforts. We

[46:01] are continuing that

[46:02] collaboration with all of our

[46:04] partners here, including the u

[46:06] of a, as we leave for Taiwan

[46:08] tomorrow, furthering economic

[46:08] development opportunities here

[46:11] in southern Arizona, support of

[46:12] the Economic Development

[46:13] Strategic Plan would only

[46:15] strengthen these opportunities

[46:16] in collaboration. So thank you

[46:18] very much for your time.

[46:22] Appreciate it. Thank you. And

[46:24] our next speaker is Melinda

[46:27] Matson Spina. And then it will

[46:29] be Megan Fink, followed by

[46:32] Casey Carrillo and Douglas Levy

[46:37] and Jay Tokov. Hello, my name

[46:41] is Melinda Matson Spina on

[46:44] OCTOBER 5th, 2024. I sent this

[46:47] board a letter. Administrator

[46:49] Lesher had sent you a memo that

[46:52] there was confusing overlap

[46:54] between military proposals

[46:56] coming to Pima County. My

[47:00] letter expanded on that fact. I

[47:01] wrote that many of us were

[47:03] concerned not only about these

[47:06] proposals overlap, but their

[47:08] changing use of the word

[47:10] hazardous in relation to

[47:13] civilian life, their lack of

[47:15] transparency, and their glaring

[47:18] absence of any mention of

[47:21] drones or ai. I reminded you

[47:23] that military announcements

[47:25] were rapidly advancing ai

[47:27] enabled weapons. And to be

[47:29] clear, surveillance is a weapon

[47:31] that tracks targets and

[47:34] controls people. I wrote that

[47:35] we were in the earliest stages

[47:38] of navigating ethics, let alone

[47:40] policy around these issues, and

[47:44] I formally requested that you,

[47:47] the leaders, start talking to

[47:50] us, the people, about this.

[47:53] That was two years ago. Now

[47:56] it's everywhere. The future is

[47:58] being decided for humanity by a

[48:01] dozen or so billionaires, a

[48:04] future built on vast expansion

[48:07] of strip mining, radioactive

[48:11] reprocessing, hyperscale data,

[48:14] mass surveillance, ai directed

[48:18] kill chains, global conflict,

[48:21] and upon each individual's

[48:24] personal intellectual property

[48:28] without consent and without

[48:32] quantitative support. Frontline

[48:33] communities are getting hit

[48:35] first because the front line

[48:39] never changes. Supervisor Allen,

[48:41] you have my deep gratitude for

[48:43] doing your best to catch up to

[48:47] the people. Supervisors Christy

[48:50] Hines and Scott, you were also

[48:51] put in office by the people to

[48:54] serve the people. In regards to

[48:57] your work around Project Blue,

[48:59] I have an announcement for you

[49:02] and those like you, politicians

[49:03] who make deals or decisions

[49:06] around technology before real

[49:08] rules for that technology even

[49:10] exist are not serving the

[49:12] people. So some of us in our

[49:13] community, together with other

[49:15] communities across the

[49:16] southwest, are now working to

[49:18] produce a documentary film. So

[49:21] that movement, this movement,

[49:23] integrity and your negligence

[49:25] will both be better marked in

[49:30] history. Thank you. And our

[49:39] next speaker is Megan Fink.

[49:41] Good evening. Thanks for having

[49:43] me. Chairs and members of the

[49:44] board. I'm Megan Fink, director

[49:45] of programs and events at

[49:47] Startup Tucson and ten West

[49:49] here. On behalf of our ceo, Liz

[49:50] Pocock, I'm sure you all know

[49:52] well to express our support for

[49:55] the memorandum mou for

[49:57] workplace, for the economic

[49:59] Development people to move into

[50:00] our building. As the longest

[50:02] running occupant of that

[50:03] building, we are thrilled to

[50:04] see these partners come

[50:05] together to further activate

[50:07] the building and continue

[50:09] building on downtown Tucson's

[50:11] innovation story. We've had a

[50:13] long standing partnership with

[50:15] Pima County Economic

[50:16] Development and the University

[50:17] of Arizona, including our

[50:19] friends at uac, who follows me

[50:20] in a second, and we're excited

[50:22] to see those partnerships

[50:24] deepen as this initiative

[50:25] evolves. We look forward to

[50:26] continuing to play a role in

[50:29] making workplace a place where

[50:30] entrepreneurs, partners, and

[50:32] new ideas come together. Thank

[50:33] you for your leadership and

[50:34] continued investment in

[50:35] Southern Arizona's innovation

[50:39] community. Thanks. Thank you.

[50:41] Our next speaker is Casey

[50:46] Carrillo. Good evening, Chair

[50:47] Allen and members of the board.

[50:49] My name is Casey Carrillo, and

[50:50] I am the chief innovation

[50:51] officer at the University of

[50:53] Arizona Center for innovation.

[50:54] That's a mouthful. We go by uac

[50:57] for short. I would like to

[50:59] express uac support for Pima

[51:01] County's vision to activate the

[51:03] place building as a hub for

[51:05] innovation, entrepreneurship

[51:06] and economic opportunity in

[51:09] downtown Tucson. Pima County

[51:10] has been a long standing and

[51:12] valued partner in advancing

[51:13] economic development across

[51:14] southern Arizona, which makes

[51:16] this partnership especially

[51:18] impactful and its ability to

[51:19] support the full continuum of

[51:21] economic growth. From helping

[51:23] our entrepreneurs and small

[51:24] businesses to the full scale

[51:26] and large scale businesses that

[51:27] we can help attract here to

[51:29] Pima County in southern Arizona.

[51:32] Through these efforts, uac has

[51:34] served more than 300 startups

[51:35] and were long standing partners

[51:36] and working very closely with

[51:37] Pima County Economic

[51:38] Development on our Soft

[51:41] Landings program and our fdi

[51:42] efforts. So we were very

[51:43] excited for the reactivation of

[51:46] this hub. The right place

[51:47] building represents an exciting

[51:49] opportunity to build on this

[51:50] momentum by creating a place

[51:52] that supports entrepreneurs,

[51:54] fosters innovation, and

[51:56] continues the and helps support

[51:58] the continued growth and

[52:00] vitality of downtown Tucson.

[52:01] Thank you for your leadership

[52:03] and commitment to economic

[52:05] development. Uac is a proud

[52:06] partner with Pima County and

[52:08] creating opportunities that

[52:09] strengthen Southern Arizona

[52:10] today and generations to come.

[52:13] Thank you so much. And that was

[52:14] only about 30s. So thank you

[52:17] all. Thank you. Our next

[52:21] speaker is Douglas Levy. I'd

[52:23] like to take some of her time.

[52:25] Chair Allen and members of the

[52:26] board. My name is Doug Levy.

[52:28] I'm a proud Democrat in Pima

[52:29] County with my business in the

[52:31] heart of downtown Tucson. And I

[52:33] take seriously how this board

[52:36] spends our tax dollars. I have

[52:37] closely read MR. Perez's

[52:39] memorandum and the financial

[52:40] materials submitted to the

[52:42] board. I believe they raise

[52:44] more questions than they answer.

[52:46] As MR. Blumenthal pointed out.

[52:48] First, MR. Perez now

[52:52] acknowledges that 52,200 of the

[52:54] 122,000 Pima County allocation

[52:56] went toward personnel expenses.

[52:59] Nearly half of the county's

[53:00] contribution. That matters

[53:02] because this contract has been

[53:03] presented as primarily

[53:06] supporting programs. Taxpayers

[53:07] deserve to know exactly how

[53:10] much of our money is supporting

[53:12] administration and executive

[53:13] compensation, and what

[53:14] measurable County services we

[53:18] receive in return. Second, cec

[53:21] reports nearly $298,000 in

[53:22] operating revenue,

[53:25] approximately 57,700 in net

[53:28] revenue, and more than 240,000

[53:29] in expenditures. Yet Pima

[53:30] County is being asked for

[53:34] another $122,000, more than six

[53:37] times the city's recurring

[53:39] $19,600 allocation. And then

[53:42] there is performance cec points

[53:46] to 5750 Fafsa completions and

[53:48] tens of millions of dollars in

[53:50] potential financial aid. But

[53:52] Fafsa completion is a

[53:54] collaborative effort involving

[53:57] schools, counselors, colleges,

[53:58] families, the Arizona Board of

[54:00] Regents, and other

[54:01] organizations. The materials do

[54:03] not establish how many of those

[54:05] outcomes were uniquely

[54:06] attributable to c, e, c, or,

[54:09] more importantly, what Pima

[54:12] County's $122,000 specifically

[54:15] produced. There is also the

[54:17] teen town hall, which did not

[54:20] happen secs own expenditures.

[54:23] Expenditure records show a $207

[54:25] cancellation fee paid for the

[54:28] venue in NOVEMBER 2025. This is

[54:29] the organization's own

[54:31] paperwork, confirming that a

[54:34] program described as a 30 year

[54:36] initiative did not occur. I

[54:38] also want to address

[54:39] compensation. MR. Perez's

[54:41] materials use inflation to

[54:43] justify his salary, pointing

[54:46] back to approximately $70,000

[54:47] salaries for his predecessors.

[54:49] But inflation alone cannot be

[54:51] the standard for taxpayer

[54:52] funded compensation.

[54:54] Compensation should also

[54:56] reflect qualifications,

[54:58] responsibilities, performance

[55:00] and measurable deliverables.

[55:01] Delivery. I'm not asking the

[55:03] board to make this decision

[55:05] based on personalities or

[55:07] relationships. I am asking you

[55:09] to apply the same standard to

[55:10] this organization that

[55:12] taxpayers expect from every

[55:13] public expenditure. Show us

[55:15] what was promised, what was

[55:17] delivered, what it cost, and

[55:19] what results taxpayers received.

[55:21] If you approve funding, I

[55:23] strongly urge you to require

[55:25] itemized contractual

[55:26] deliverables, quarterly

[55:28] financial reporting. Thank you.

[55:29] And then our last speaker is

[55:37] Jay Tarkoff. Well, good evening,

[55:40] board members, staff, fellow

[55:44] citizens. I came here with a

[55:46] statement in mind and my

[55:47] thunder is pretty much been

[55:49] ripped away. So I'm just going

[55:50] to wing it. I'm going to start

[55:53] out with a statement, which is

[55:57] extremely scary to me. 48 years

[55:58] and ten days ago, I drove

[56:00] across country and established

[56:02] residency here in Pima County,

[56:05] which means that I'm really old.

[56:08] I am a retired person, and in

[56:12] my retirement, I've decided to

[56:14] spend time interacting with

[56:16] many, many different groups of

[56:19] people across the spectrum to

[56:21] try to bring a better Pima

[56:26] County to us all. I was utterly

[56:29] amazed at of people

[56:31] that have reached out to me in

[56:32] the past couple of weeks about

[56:37] the issue, and being a guy who

[56:38] has directly employed almost

[56:40] ten 000 people in this County

[56:44] in his life, I'm really aware

[56:46] of that old saying that

[56:47] sometimes it's tough to

[56:48] remember. Your objective was to

[56:49] drain the swamp swamp when

[56:52] you're up to your in alligators,

[56:55] and I don't want to make any

[56:56] assumptions about the

[56:58] leadership at sec because I

[57:00] don't have enough information.

[57:02] But I do know this, that

[57:03] there's a lot of people out

[57:05] there that are not happy with

[57:07] the results. They're talking

[57:08] about it. And the decision that

[57:10] you make today is going to

[57:11] resound with a lot of people

[57:13] that you might not be aware of.

[57:18] I will say that I am a bit

[57:21] concerned about how cec has

[57:24] been run. I, I reviewed almost

[57:26] 130 pages of documents in the

[57:30] last week that have been

[57:33] provided through your offices.

[57:34] And, you know, just on a

[57:37] surface, I see an organization

[57:39] that in one month paid three

[57:43] months of rent with penalties.

[57:45] That doesn't say a well-run

[57:48] organization. We've talked

[57:51] about the the event that didn't

[57:52] happen, but there was a

[57:53] substitute event that happened,

[57:55] which was supposedly a

[57:57] democracy forum that was really

[57:58] nothing more than a litany of

[58:01] Partizan people on stage. I

[58:03] don't think that is a

[58:05] reasonable expense for the

[58:06] taxpayers to fund, and I think

[58:08] more than anything else, it's

[58:09] amazing to me that this

[58:11] contract was basically up at

[58:13] the end of the fiscal year, and

[58:15] almost a month and a half later,

[58:17] that organization is coming

[58:18] before this board asking for

[58:21] more money. I would say the,

[58:22] you know, they don't have their

[58:24] eye on the ball the way it

[58:26] should be. And I think there's

[58:27] a lot of people out there that

[58:29] know that I wanted to make sure

[58:31] you were aware of it, and I

[58:32] thank you for your time. Thank

[58:34] you. And with that, if there

[58:36] are no more speakers, I am

[58:41] closing. Oh, would you could

[58:42] you please fill out a speaker

[58:47] card after up right there.

[58:52] Super easy. Yeah. So if you

[58:54] want to go ahead, you can fill

[58:56] that out afterwards. Oh, I have

[58:58] oh, you could, you can go ahead

[58:59] and speak and then fill it out

[59:01] afterwards. I don't want to

[59:02] waste any time. Hand it in and

[59:04] then we will start the three

[59:06] minute timer as soon as we get

[59:07] started. CHAIRWOMAN. Go right

[59:08] ahead. Okay. Thank you. Thank

[59:09] you. So, CHAIRWOMAN Allen,

[59:12] thank you very much. My name is

[59:13] Jacqueline. Adele Kim. I come

[59:14] here on behalf of the United

[59:16] States Air Force reservists

[59:18] here at Davis-Monthan. I'd like

[59:20] once again to please take a

[59:21] moment of silence for that

[59:23] honorable citizen that we lost

[59:39] earlier this evening. I'm here

[59:40] today to speak about an

[59:42] extremely important matter, and

[59:45] I am here on behalf of the

[59:50] Center to End Domestic Violence.

[59:54] Sorry to take a turn down a

[59:55] dark alley that we never wanted

[59:56] to fully address here in the

[59:59] state of Arizona. Let's talk

[1:00:01] domestic violence and guns.

[1:00:04] These are the facts. A woman in

[1:00:05] an abusive relationship is five

[1:00:07] times more likely to be

[1:00:09] murdered when her partner has

[1:00:11] access to a gun. I'm a peace

[1:00:15] officer. I do not carry. Learn

[1:00:17] what you can do to protect your

[1:00:19] safety. These are widely

[1:00:21] available, widely available. I

[1:00:23] don't I don't know who's not

[1:00:24] ever heard of the emergency

[1:00:26] centers and domestic violence

[1:00:27] here in the state of Arizona,

[1:00:29] Arizona in the County. I don't

[1:00:32] know. What's alarmed me greatly

[1:00:35] is that the more and more and

[1:00:37] more that we see the violence

[1:00:39] in the state of Arizona, the

[1:00:40] violence in the city of Tucson,

[1:00:42] the violence in the County of

[1:00:44] Pima increase, increase and

[1:00:47] increase. It seems like

[1:00:49] survivors of domestic violence.

[1:00:51] Advocates of domestic violence.

[1:00:52] DR. Heinz, who used to work at

[1:00:54] Tucson Medical Center. You were

[1:00:55] one of my training physicians.

[1:00:57] Oh my gosh, I've heard your

[1:01:00] background. I'm glad that you

[1:01:06] no longer work there. I'm very

[1:01:07] disappointed in the recent care

[1:01:08] that I've received at Tucson

[1:01:10] Medical Center. But again, the

[1:01:12] issue is about domestic

[1:01:14] violence and guns. Seven women,

[1:01:16] 70 women on average, are killed

[1:01:17] every month by an intimate

[1:01:21] partner with a gun. A 2015

[1:01:23] report found by found that

[1:01:24] Arizona's domestic violence gun

[1:01:27] homicide rate is 45% higher

[1:01:32] than the national average. The

[1:01:35] same report showed that 62% of

[1:01:36] women killed by an intimate

[1:01:37] partner in Arizona were shot to

[1:01:45] death. Shot to death. I don't

[1:01:46] think this is the way that we

[1:01:48] need to proceed in the state of

[1:01:51] Arizona. So here are some

[1:01:54] warning signs. To get a

[1:01:55] domestic violence protective

[1:01:57] order in the state of Arizona.

[1:02:00] County of Pima. City of Tucson.

[1:02:01] An order of protection is an

[1:02:03] issue is issued by any court in

[1:02:04] Arizona is designed to prevent

[1:02:07] abuse. What you can ask for in

[1:02:09] this pamphlet. I have one

[1:02:10] second. Thank you very much. My

[1:02:13] name is Jacqueline Kim. Wish

[1:02:15] you all very well this evening.

[1:02:20] Thank you. So with that, we're

[1:02:21] going to close call to the

[1:02:23] public. And would any board

[1:02:24] members like to do any of the

[1:02:25] following request staff to

[1:02:27] follow up on a matter from call.

[1:02:28] The public requested an item be

[1:02:30] placed on a future agenda or

[1:02:32] respond to a criticism.

[1:02:35] Supervisor Kino Chair Allen. I

[1:02:37] simply wanted to thank the

[1:02:38] bravery of our neighbor

[1:02:40] Jacqueline, who just came up to

[1:02:42] discuss a very pressing issue

[1:02:43] of rising domestic violence

[1:02:45] cases throughout Pima County.

[1:02:47] You can take a little bit of a

[1:02:49] deep breath to know that this

[1:02:54] board, just a few weeks ago,

[1:02:56] approved an additional $250,000

[1:02:58] investment in domestic violence

[1:02:59] prevention programs, including

[1:03:00] the Southern Arizona Center

[1:03:02] Against Sexual Assault, the

[1:03:05] Emerge Center Against Domestic

[1:03:07] Violence and Abuse, as well,

[1:03:08] particularly the County, is

[1:03:09] going to be ensuring that some

[1:03:13] of the forensic exams that are

[1:03:15] administered after an act of

[1:03:18] violence against a victim are

[1:03:19] processed in a way, and we are

[1:03:21] filling the gaps and really

[1:03:23] critical ways. I know all of us

[1:03:25] share that commitment. This

[1:03:28] board voted. And to advance

[1:03:31] that additional priority. And I

[1:03:32] you know, I just want you to

[1:03:34] know, Jacqueline, that we're

[1:03:35] paying very close attention to

[1:03:37] the attention to this. And with

[1:03:39] many people in my life who have

[1:03:40] been impacted by domestic

[1:03:43] violence, including losing a

[1:03:46] family member to a stabbing by

[1:03:48] her boyfriend. This is a very

[1:03:49] sensitive issue that we will

[1:03:51] always be paying attention to

[1:03:56] and District 5. Thank you.

[1:04:00] Thank you, Supervisor Cano. We

[1:04:03] are now going to move on to the

[1:04:07] regular agenda. We have moved

[1:04:13] up items 18, 19 and addendum

[1:04:17] item number seven. And so I

[1:04:18] think though, given that we

[1:04:21] have people here who are for

[1:04:23] that are here for item number

[1:04:25] 19, the Southern Arizona

[1:04:26] Education Council, that will

[1:04:28] pop that up and address that

[1:04:30] one first. So we'll take that

[1:04:32] one now and then come back to

[1:04:33] the Pima County Economic

[1:04:36] Development Strategic Plan. So

[1:04:40] for item 19, this is a contract.

[1:04:41] This was continued from the

[1:04:44] previous meeting to provide for

[1:04:46] advancing economic, academic

[1:04:48] success and civic engagement

[1:04:54] for 122,000. I am the

[1:04:57] representative of the board on

[1:04:58] representative of the Board of

[1:05:01] Supervisors on the board of

[1:05:03] saec. So I wanted to just share

[1:05:07] a few initial comments, you

[1:05:09] know, for for just context,

[1:05:12] right? Mec saec has been a

[1:05:14] standing body standing

[1:05:15] commission that is jointly of

[1:05:18] the city and the County for 36

[1:05:21] years. Since 1990, it has been

[1:05:23] the role of the Board of

[1:05:25] Supervisors to appoint a member

[1:05:27] from the board to the to the

[1:05:29] Commission. In recent years it

[1:05:32] has been both. Chair Scott. It

[1:05:34] was Supervisor Grijalva, and

[1:05:36] then as of JANUARY it has been

[1:05:41] me, I and I have participated

[1:05:43] in one board meeting held this

[1:05:48] year. The County gives out

[1:05:50] hundreds of contracts and

[1:05:54] grants every single year.

[1:05:55] Undoubtedly in many of them,

[1:05:58] the leadership of that

[1:06:00] organization or that business

[1:06:03] are highly paid, and they MAY

[1:06:05] be earning salaries that are

[1:06:08] many times that of their lowest

[1:06:10] paid employee. And I will say

[1:06:14] the board has not, and I would

[1:06:17] believe, should not attempt to

[1:06:21] manage salary levels. And I

[1:06:23] think that there was we we

[1:06:24] received comments, too, about

[1:06:26] comparing the salary to that of

[1:06:29] teachers and noticing that

[1:06:31] discrepancy, which I. Which is

[1:06:33] a tremendous. Which is just

[1:06:36] well, it's it is wrong,

[1:06:37] woefully wrong that our

[1:06:39] teachers are underpaid. But I

[1:06:41] don't think that that is an

[1:06:42] argument for lowering the bar

[1:06:45] that we should all be striving

[1:06:46] towards being paid at the lower

[1:06:48] level that teachers are.

[1:06:49] Instead, it should be about

[1:06:51] raising the bar for for

[1:06:56] educators in our state. And I

[1:06:58] and I also just want to flag

[1:06:59] that I don't believe that it is

[1:07:01] the role of the Board of

[1:07:04] Supervisors to be micromanaging

[1:07:06] decisions that are made by. In

[1:07:09] this particular case of sac of

[1:07:11] the executive Committee of the

[1:07:13] board. Those are decisions that

[1:07:14] are made by that entity's

[1:07:16] executive committee, and that

[1:07:18] is. I don't think that it is

[1:07:20] our role to dig in and splice

[1:07:21] and dice, that we don't do it

[1:07:23] for other entities, and I'm

[1:07:25] concerned about the call that

[1:07:29] we should do it here. After

[1:07:32] looking at the the detailed

[1:07:36] reports from sec, there's a few

[1:07:37] things that I just wanted to

[1:07:40] note. The organization is

[1:07:41] doubled the number of host

[1:07:44] schools for a total of 18,

[1:07:45] added a new school system and

[1:07:47] almost tripled the number of

[1:07:48] peer coaches. Those are

[1:07:50] significant achievements.

[1:07:52] Program evaluation showed that

[1:07:54] 90% of advisors and 96% of peer

[1:07:56] coaches had an overall positive

[1:07:58] experience. The partnership

[1:07:58] with the Arizona Board of

[1:08:01] Regents has been a smart move,

[1:08:02] allowing sort of a shared

[1:08:04] investment model for greater

[1:08:08] impact and reach smart use of

[1:08:09] technology, which can expand

[1:08:11] program reach and the

[1:08:12] effectiveness, such as using

[1:08:14] the Strive scan to track

[1:08:16] registration and engagement and

[1:08:18] parent square to increase

[1:08:20] communication with parents. And

[1:08:22] then in the contract that that

[1:08:25] we have before us today. I am

[1:08:27] comfortable with the four

[1:08:28] deliverables that were

[1:08:30] specifically outlined. So one

[1:08:32] is that at least 4000 students

[1:08:33] receive college and career

[1:08:34] readiness support, with a

[1:08:36] minimum of 2500 completing

[1:08:38] post-secondary applications,

[1:08:39] scholarships or Fafsa

[1:08:40] submissions with peer coaching

[1:08:42] staff assistance. Second,

[1:08:44] students participating in at

[1:08:45] least two community based

[1:08:46] opportunities for public

[1:08:47] service policy learning.

[1:08:50] Community advocacy. Third,

[1:08:51] increasing Fafsa submissions by

[1:08:54] 15% each year, and fourth,

[1:08:55] delivering a minimum of three

[1:08:57] signature events, reaching at

[1:09:00] least 3200 students, family

[1:09:01] members, educators, and civic

[1:09:05] leaders. Going forward. For me

[1:09:06] personally, I have appreciated

[1:09:08] that Marana and Vale School

[1:09:10] System school districts are now

[1:09:12] among the participating

[1:09:13] districts, and I would love to

[1:09:16] see Ajo, and Bobby Yu school

[1:09:18] districts included. The vision

[1:09:20] of Southern Arizona Education

[1:09:22] Council is the right direction.

[1:09:24] There needs to be a plan, I

[1:09:26] think, to make a regional

[1:09:28] impact more of a reality. I

[1:09:30] think it's important to set a

[1:09:31] schedule for board meetings and

[1:09:33] a plan for filling existing

[1:09:36] board slots. And then I think

[1:09:38] last, I would be interested too,

[1:09:39] in moving forward and thinking

[1:09:41] about how Pima County can

[1:09:43] assist with reaching families.

[1:09:45] We have 7000 employees and some

[1:09:47] have children in high school

[1:09:48] and would be interested in

[1:09:50] knowing how we can be a good

[1:09:51] partner in integrating the

[1:09:53] services and the programs in

[1:09:59] within the County. I would like

[1:10:04] to move this forward with two.

[1:10:08] With us having two votes, one

[1:10:13] being around the the

[1:10:14] recommendations from the County

[1:10:15] administrator and considering

[1:10:17] those recommendations, the

[1:10:23] other being for the contract. I

[1:10:25] would like to move to approve

[1:10:30] funding the contract for

[1:10:33] 122,000. Second, seconded by

[1:10:36] Supervisor Hines. Is there

[1:10:41] discussion. MR. Scott. Chair

[1:10:43] Allen, I appreciate all of your

[1:10:45] comments and I appreciate your

[1:10:47] service. As our liaison to the

[1:10:49] Southern Arizona Education

[1:10:53] Council Board. Along with

[1:10:56] adding participation by the two

[1:10:57] school districts that you

[1:11:01] mentioned. Ajo, and Baboquivari.

[1:11:02] I would also like to see moving

[1:11:05] forward participation by

[1:11:07] Catalina Foothills Flowing

[1:11:09] Wells and Tanque Verde, who

[1:11:12] were not yet included in the

[1:11:16] peer coaching program. I'm not

[1:11:19] able to support continuing

[1:11:22] support for the County at the

[1:11:24] level that we have provided for

[1:11:29] the last two years of $122,000,

[1:11:31] and I have several reasons for

[1:11:35] that. One of them is that I

[1:11:38] think that, just like I have

[1:11:39] said from this dais to people

[1:11:42] from job path, I think that the

[1:11:44] Southern Arizona Education

[1:11:46] Council needs to diversify

[1:11:49] their revenue base. The County

[1:11:52] is providing a significant part

[1:11:55] of of the revenue. And the

[1:11:58] County administrator proposed

[1:12:02] what I thought was a way of not

[1:12:04] only helping to diversify that

[1:12:07] funding base, but also to

[1:12:10] potentially bring in even more

[1:12:11] revenue than you're getting

[1:12:13] right now. If you look at the

[1:12:14] County administrator's

[1:12:17] memorandum from AUGUST 19th,

[1:12:19] the fourth option that she

[1:12:24] offered was funding at $19,580

[1:12:26] based on the city's allocation,

[1:12:27] with a commitment for Pima

[1:12:29] County to increase funding up

[1:12:33] to $122,000 as a 1 to 1 match

[1:12:35] for documented new funding

[1:12:39] secured by cec above fiscal

[1:12:43] year 2025 2026 amounts, meaning

[1:12:45] that if sec brought in

[1:12:47] additional funding from another

[1:12:49] entity, the County would match

[1:12:50] that as long as it was

[1:12:53] documented. MR. Perez made what

[1:12:55] I thought was a valid point

[1:12:58] when he said that the city's

[1:13:01] allocation should not just be

[1:13:04] 19,000, should not be just the

[1:13:06] $19,580 that's coming out of

[1:13:07] the city manager's budget. But

[1:13:09] we should also take into

[1:13:12] account the slightly more than

[1:13:18] $30,000 of. Slightly more than.

[1:13:20] $20,000. I think it was an

[1:13:23] in-kind contribution for the

[1:13:26] rent of a city facility. So

[1:13:28] what I would do, Chair Allen,

[1:13:31] is make a substitute motion

[1:13:36] that we would fund at $40,000

[1:13:38] based on the city's allocation,

[1:13:39] with a commitment for Pima

[1:13:41] County to increase funding up

[1:13:45] to $122,000 as a 1 to 1 match

[1:13:46] for documented new funding

[1:13:49] secured by cec above fiscal

[1:13:58] year 2025 2026 amounts. So I'm

[1:14:01] not hearing a second. We will

[1:14:03] continue on if there is further

[1:14:05] discussion on the existing

[1:14:06] motion. Supervisor Christy,

[1:14:08] just for clarification, MADAM

[1:14:10] Chair, when you made your

[1:14:12] motion, does that include

[1:14:15] retaining the current director?

[1:14:20] I yes, that that's not our the

[1:14:21] the agenda item is, is to

[1:14:23] continue the contract or

[1:14:24] whether the contract is what's

[1:14:26] on the table. And so my motion

[1:14:30] is to fund the contract for

[1:14:33] 122,000 and retain MR. Perez as

[1:14:35] the director. That's not our

[1:14:38] decision. So it's basically

[1:14:41] just to fund the fund, the

[1:14:43] money to the organization,

[1:14:46] regardless of personnel or

[1:14:48] executive leadership. Correct.

[1:14:50] Okay. Thank you, MADAM Chair.

[1:14:51] The contract is what's on the

[1:14:53] table. And then I did note just

[1:14:55] just to clarify, is there is

[1:14:57] going to be a second vote that

[1:14:59] looks at some recommendations

[1:15:00] that the County administrator

[1:15:02] had put on the table. So this

[1:15:04] is a vote for the contract

[1:15:06] amount and then separate. We

[1:15:09] can look at the recommendations.

[1:15:12] So Chair Allen, Supervisor

[1:15:16] Scott, I neglected to say this

[1:15:18] earlier. Another reason I

[1:15:21] cannot support that amount is

[1:15:24] it the city of Tucson is

[1:15:27] contributing one sixth of what

[1:15:31] the of what Pima County is

[1:15:32] providing. And even if we take

[1:15:35] into account the in-kind

[1:15:37] contribution of rent, this

[1:15:39] inequity in funding a joint

[1:15:41] city County Commission, which

[1:15:44] has been a historic concern for

[1:15:46] most of the 36 years that the

[1:15:48] Commission has been in place,

[1:15:49] is not something that I can

[1:15:51] continue to support. I can

[1:15:53] remember when I was a member of

[1:15:56] the Executive Board of the

[1:15:57] Metropolitan Education

[1:15:59] Commission, we had former

[1:16:02] former late supervisor Elias

[1:16:03] and then Ward one Council

[1:16:05] member, Regina Romero, come to

[1:16:07] an executive board meeting and

[1:16:08] assure us that equalizing

[1:16:09] funding between the city and

[1:16:11] County would be a priority.

[1:16:13] That's never happened. So

[1:16:14] that's another reason that I'm

[1:16:19] just not able to support that.

[1:16:21] I'm I want to continue to

[1:16:23] support the organization, but

[1:16:25] there needs to be a means of

[1:16:28] addressing this historic

[1:16:30] inequity between funding for

[1:16:32] what was has always been a

[1:16:35] joint endeavor of both

[1:16:40] jurisdictions. Supervisor Hines,

[1:16:43] thank you. Look, sometimes I

[1:16:44] think maybe there hasn't been

[1:16:45] the best communication, but I

[1:16:47] can point to the same thing

[1:16:48] with other entities that we

[1:16:50] fund at a very at a much larger

[1:16:52] amount. We give half $1 million

[1:16:55] to the Southern Arizona Chamber.

[1:16:58] And what's that? And I don't

[1:16:59] know. The city gives much, if

[1:17:01] at all. So. And also the city

[1:17:03] is in a bit of a pickle right

[1:17:04] now. I mean, later on in this

[1:17:06] agenda, we're going to approve

[1:17:08] $35 million for asphalt, by the

[1:17:10] way. So I just think it's

[1:17:12] important. Context is important.

[1:17:14] We've seen an increase in Fafsa

[1:17:14] applications, which I

[1:17:15] appreciate. That's what it's

[1:17:17] there for. This was originally

[1:17:20] a two city of Tucson County of

[1:17:22] Pima entity. And so I would

[1:17:23] like to see it supported at the

[1:17:25] same level. And again, I think

[1:17:26] it's important to differentiate.

[1:17:30] This board does not like hire a

[1:17:32] director or tell this other

[1:17:33] board how to do their job.

[1:17:35] That's this is this is to

[1:17:38] simply saying this type of

[1:17:39] service and this type of work

[1:17:41] is a priority for Pima County,

[1:17:43] as it should be. And we should

[1:17:46] work with sec to, to make these

[1:17:50] numbers bigger, frankly. Chair

[1:17:51] Supervisor Cano, first off, I

[1:17:53] want to say thank you to you,

[1:17:55] Chair Allen, for your service

[1:17:57] on this Southern Arizona

[1:17:59] Education Council. All of us on

[1:18:01] this board have an assignment

[1:18:03] to a regional entity. And I

[1:18:06] applaud your leadership as the

[1:18:08] only board member with a parent

[1:18:12] in our public schools right now

[1:18:14] whose peers benefit from

[1:18:16] college access and college

[1:18:18] attainment, the partnership

[1:18:19] that the County has had with

[1:18:21] the former Metropolitan

[1:18:22] Education Commission, now

[1:18:24] Southern Arizona Education

[1:18:26] Council is nearly three decades

[1:18:29] in the making. I was one of

[1:18:30] their participants with the

[1:18:32] Youth Advisory Council, Tucson

[1:18:34] Teen Congress, when I was 15

[1:18:36] years old. I went through the

[1:18:38] program, took my first trip to

[1:18:40] Washington, dc to advocate for

[1:18:42] Early Childhood Education fund,

[1:18:44] to be doing that now as a board

[1:18:47] of supervisor. And I was able

[1:18:49] to meet an entire network of

[1:18:51] folks like MISS Martinez at the

[1:18:54] young age of 15, 16, 17, 18,

[1:18:56] all throughout high school and

[1:18:58] college, to be able to

[1:19:00] encourage folks to give to

[1:19:02] their community by going to

[1:19:04] school. And just in the last

[1:19:06] two years, from a statewide

[1:19:09] perspective, when we have had a

[1:19:11] significant drop in Fafsa

[1:19:13] applications because of a

[1:19:14] botched rollout, for instance,

[1:19:16] with the Department of

[1:19:17] Education, where Pima Community

[1:19:19] College had to come in, where

[1:19:20] our University of Arizona had

[1:19:22] to come in to be able to say,

[1:19:25] we want our kids to go to

[1:19:26] college. The decision that I'm

[1:19:27] making today to support this

[1:19:29] motion is irrespective of who

[1:19:31] the executive director is, it

[1:19:36] is irrespective of the what I

[1:19:38] feel is, is ultimately trying

[1:19:41] to put this board into a binary

[1:19:43] choice between whether we

[1:19:45] support progress or not. I will

[1:19:47] always vote for our kids and

[1:19:49] for our youth and for our

[1:19:52] children. And I, I, I encourage

[1:19:56] those who are looking for an

[1:19:57] opportunity to make sure that

[1:19:59] their taxpayer dollars are well

[1:20:02] spent. Please know that this

[1:20:03] County, thanks to you. Thanks

[1:20:05] to the hard working taxpayers

[1:20:07] of this jurisdiction, support

[1:20:09] outside agencies in a

[1:20:12] meaningful way. $4 million

[1:20:14] annually going to regions,

[1:20:15] nonprofits from housing

[1:20:20] security, from access to legal

[1:20:22] to legal rights. When it comes

[1:20:24] to people's worst nightmares,

[1:20:28] having opportunity. There's

[1:20:30] over 130 organizations that get

[1:20:31] County dollars. And if I were

[1:20:33] to go line by line asking each

[1:20:35] and every single one of them

[1:20:37] about some of the concerns that

[1:20:39] have been brought for this

[1:20:41] contract, I just don't think

[1:20:43] it's a good precedent. And I, I

[1:20:46] implore us to figure out how we

[1:20:48] can ensure that some of the

[1:20:50] recommendations that the

[1:20:51] administrator has made can

[1:20:58] really be. Explored before we

[1:21:00] absolutely decimate a program

[1:21:03] that, in my opinion, is working

[1:21:04] the way that this contract is

[1:21:06] brought forth right now as a

[1:21:08] proposal through the economic

[1:21:09] development team is different

[1:21:11] than our outside agency team. I

[1:21:13] have questions about what that

[1:21:15] means moving forward, and how

[1:21:16] we are ensuring that there is

[1:21:18] some parity in that. Because

[1:21:21] the to my colleague from

[1:21:22] district two, his point there

[1:21:23] are other organizations who

[1:21:25] have not had to go through the

[1:21:28] three memorandums of inquiries

[1:21:31] that we've had. And let me

[1:21:34] remind the. Let me remind us

[1:21:35] the difference between the

[1:21:37] County and the city funding

[1:21:39] structure. Cities are dependent

[1:21:41] on sales tax and state shared

[1:21:43] revenue. That means that their

[1:21:46] budget goes like this every

[1:21:48] single year. And the flat tax

[1:21:50] passed by the state legislature

[1:21:52] just a few years ago has meant

[1:21:53] that cities and towns and their

[1:21:57] revenue is going like this. The

[1:21:59] County is funded through

[1:22:02] property taxes. Property taxes

[1:22:05] are stagnant. In most cases. We.

[1:22:06] Whether those economic storms

[1:22:09] and people's property is now

[1:22:11] worth more when the valuations

[1:22:12] come up. And so that's how

[1:22:13] we've been able to continue

[1:22:15] making investments across the

[1:22:16] board in our people and our

[1:22:18] nonprofits in our community. So

[1:22:20] to put the expectation that we

[1:22:22] would go to 40,000, or we would

[1:22:24] go to 2000 to match what the

[1:22:26] city is doing means that there

[1:22:29] would be fewer students served.

[1:22:31] I refuse to accept that reality,

[1:22:33] and I look forward to

[1:22:39] supporting the motion. I feel

[1:22:40] compelled to just throw in one

[1:22:42] last little morsel. Sorry. I

[1:22:46] know we try to keep moving, but

[1:22:47] so I am the. I'm the first

[1:22:50] person in my family and for a

[1:22:51] large swath of family to

[1:22:53] graduate with a four year

[1:22:54] degree. And one of the things

[1:22:56] that means is that my parents

[1:22:59] were not able to help me do the

[1:23:01] search for college and to fill

[1:23:02] out the applications and think

[1:23:04] about where do I want to go and

[1:23:06] all of that labyrinth. We were

[1:23:09] we were fortunate enough to. We

[1:23:11] had we had to hire somebody who

[1:23:13] could like, sit down and walk

[1:23:15] me through all of the paperwork

[1:23:16] that was necessary and think

[1:23:18] about where to go. Those, those

[1:23:20] roles. If I hadn't had that

[1:23:22] help, things would have been

[1:23:25] very different. So the support

[1:23:27] that is that needs to be there,

[1:23:29] I think often gets taken for

[1:23:31] granted without having if you

[1:23:33] don't come from parents who

[1:23:34] understand what that process

[1:23:37] looks like, it's really hard to

[1:23:40] navigate. So I appreciate the

[1:23:42] work then that is done. To hold

[1:23:44] kids by the hand. Especially

[1:23:46] had it been done by a peer

[1:23:50] would have been amazing. So the

[1:23:52] the work is important and I

[1:23:54] have lived the importance of

[1:23:57] that kind of work. So with that,

[1:24:00] all those in favor. Chair.

[1:24:02] Sorry to interrupt. Oh, on the

[1:24:05] on the you mentioned splitting

[1:24:06] this into two votes. It's

[1:24:08] agendized as a contract vote.

[1:24:11] If there is a desire to put

[1:24:13] conditions on a vote of

[1:24:14] approval, that MAY be

[1:24:15] appropriate, but a separate

[1:24:17] vote is not agendized for the

[1:24:20] rest of the recommendations.

[1:24:23] Good point. All right, all

[1:24:28] right. So I we're gonna have to

[1:24:36] bundle back into one vote. So.

[1:24:41] Can. Yeah, I'll withdraw my

[1:24:44] motion and then put forward a

[1:24:50] new motion that is to approve

[1:24:55] the contract for 122 k and

[1:24:57] include the recommendations

[1:24:59] that the County administrator

[1:25:03] had outlined in the AUGUST 9th

[1:25:05] memo, I believe. Chair. Alice.

[1:25:09] AUGUST 5th, AUGUST 5th memo

[1:25:10] that states one develop a

[1:25:11] matrix of monthly, quarterly

[1:25:13] annual reports and deliverables,

[1:25:14] including blah, blah, blah,

[1:25:16] blah blah. Two provide the

[1:25:17] board and supervisors with

[1:25:18] quarterly reports on the

[1:25:20] operations sac beginning

[1:25:21] OCTOBER 1st and three. Schedule

[1:25:23] the requested amendment to Pima

[1:25:26] County Board resolution for

[1:25:27] consideration. The SEPTEMBER

[1:25:28] 8th Board of Supervisors

[1:25:31] meeting. Those recommendations,

[1:25:33] I think, bolster the

[1:25:35] transparency, accountability,

[1:25:38] communication and start to get

[1:25:41] some of the the paperwork

[1:25:43] alignment right for the new

[1:25:46] resolution for the name. So

[1:25:49] that is my new motion. Second,

[1:25:54] second and administrator Lesher.

[1:26:02] MADAM. Can we. Is it. I'm. To

[1:26:05] the. I'm sorry. Can we. Well,

[1:26:07] we'll finish our. We had call

[1:26:10] to the public which was the

[1:26:14] time to speak about it. I I'm

[1:26:15] not I'm sorry. Not right now.

[1:26:17] We can't we can't do it during

[1:26:19] without being in call to the

[1:26:23] public. Thank you. Seconded.

[1:26:24] Discussion. Chair. Alan. Go

[1:26:28] ahead. Thank you, Chair Allen.

[1:26:29] Administrator Lesher, I want to

[1:26:31] commend you for being a strong

[1:26:33] champion of our partnership

[1:26:34] with the Southern Arizona

[1:26:35] Education Council and ensuring

[1:26:37] that these recommendations to

[1:26:39] ensure transparency and

[1:26:41] oversight are included in the

[1:26:43] recommendations. Is it not the

[1:26:46] case with this overarching

[1:26:48] contract of 122,000 that the

[1:26:50] County is also, if they are not

[1:26:52] compliant with some of these

[1:26:54] recommendations, this payment.

[1:26:55] Question number one is this

[1:26:58] payment is not a lump sum. And

[1:26:59] so is that is that accurate?

[1:27:02] And number two, if we see as a

[1:27:04] board that there are

[1:27:06] deficiencies in administering

[1:27:07] the recommendations that this

[1:27:09] board approves, how do you make

[1:27:11] that decision to not send the

[1:27:12] second, the third or the fourth

[1:27:14] check? Does that question make

[1:27:15] sense? It does. Thank you.

[1:27:17] Chair Allen and Supervisor Kino,

[1:27:18] as we note in the

[1:27:19] recommendation, we are looking

[1:27:21] for the inclusion in this

[1:27:23] contract, a very specific

[1:27:24] reporting requirements, what we

[1:27:26] have been discussing, and we

[1:27:28] can work with the organization

[1:27:30] examples we have of another

[1:27:32] organization where there are

[1:27:33] regular deliverables. We

[1:27:35] receive those deliverables a

[1:27:36] response, and we see what they

[1:27:38] have done each month and at the

[1:27:40] end of the month or the quarter,

[1:27:41] whatever we've determined, if

[1:27:43] everything has come in as it is

[1:27:44] required, then payment is sent.

[1:27:46] So I think that's one of the

[1:27:47] things that we can that our

[1:27:49] staff will be working with sac

[1:27:50] to make sure we understand

[1:27:51] those very specifics, that

[1:27:53] without the work being done and

[1:27:54] the report coming to the board,

[1:27:55] the next checks wouldn't be

[1:27:58] sent. Thank you for that

[1:28:00] clarification. Chair Allen.

[1:28:02] Supervisor Scott, I want to

[1:28:06] thank you for attempting to

[1:28:08] divide the question. That was

[1:28:10] at my request, as you know, and

[1:28:11] I'm sorry that I got you in

[1:28:13] trouble with MR. Brown. I am

[1:28:15] going to support your new

[1:28:18] motion because although I

[1:28:19] disagree with the amount, for

[1:28:23] the reasons that I stated, the

[1:28:26] measures that are recommended

[1:28:28] by the County administrator in

[1:28:30] her AUGUST 5th memo, I think

[1:28:32] are going to not only safeguard

[1:28:37] our investment, but also assist

[1:28:40] both our staff and sac staff in

[1:28:44] making sure that the priorities

[1:28:45] of the organization in terms of

[1:28:48] student service are exemplified.

[1:28:50] And, you know, it means a great

[1:28:52] deal to me to hear you and

[1:28:54] Supervisor Cano talk about the

[1:28:55] role that education has played

[1:28:58] in your lives, because as the

[1:29:01] only educator on this dais, I

[1:29:04] spent close to three decades

[1:29:05] working in middle and high

[1:29:07] schools with the kind of

[1:29:08] students who are served by the

[1:29:10] Southern Arizona Education

[1:29:12] Council. The one of the very

[1:29:15] first things that I did as a

[1:29:16] student council advisor when I

[1:29:18] was a seventh grade teacher,

[1:29:21] was take students to a

[1:29:22] Metropolitan Education

[1:29:23] Commission event. I was the

[1:29:25] principal of a school that

[1:29:27] hosted the teen town hall more

[1:29:29] than once. And as I said

[1:29:31] previously, I was on the

[1:29:33] Metropolitan Education

[1:29:35] Commission Executive Board

[1:29:37] during my last position as a as

[1:29:41] a principal. And it was because

[1:29:43] of that long history and

[1:29:44] appreciation for and

[1:29:47] understanding of the role the

[1:29:48] Commission now Council has

[1:29:50] played in our community for 36

[1:29:52] years, that I asked the

[1:29:55] questions that I did. And to be

[1:29:57] fair, I waited two months to

[1:30:00] get answers. Two months. And

[1:30:02] then when those answers came in,

[1:30:04] I did have some follow up

[1:30:06] questions and I got answers to

[1:30:08] those. I do feel good about

[1:30:11] what I'm hearing about the peer

[1:30:12] coaching program. I am glad

[1:30:17] that there is a date for a date

[1:30:20] certain for a teen town hall. I

[1:30:24] do think that there is. Still a

[1:30:26] lot of questions that I have

[1:30:27] about the partnership with

[1:30:28] Santa Cruz County, but I know

[1:30:31] that we're taking that up on

[1:30:33] SEPTEMBER 8th based on, on, on

[1:30:38] this, on on this motion, if

[1:30:39] it's approved. But I just want

[1:30:41] my colleagues to know I asked

[1:30:44] these questions not to start up

[1:30:48] some kind of intraparty dispute

[1:30:50] that was an essentially an

[1:30:51] extension of the legislative

[1:30:54] district 20 Democratic primary.

[1:30:59] Nor did I want to make this a

[1:31:01] discussion about the person who.

[1:31:04] As Chair Allen pointed out, the

[1:31:06] saac board has appointed as

[1:31:08] their chief employee. We have

[1:31:10] no role in that. What I wanted

[1:31:13] to bring up were questions that

[1:31:15] I had about what was happening

[1:31:17] and what was not happening

[1:31:20] during the last contract year

[1:31:21] before we approved a new

[1:31:23] contract. I did that not only

[1:31:26] because of my past as an

[1:31:27] educator, my interest in the

[1:31:29] work of the commission, but

[1:31:32] it's because I have a fiduciary

[1:31:33] responsibility, as all of us do

[1:31:35] when we're considering a

[1:31:36] contract, a six figure contract.

[1:31:38] And yes, it's small compared to

[1:31:40] some of the other things that

[1:31:41] come before us. But I felt

[1:31:42] those questions were important

[1:31:46] to ask, and I appreciate MR.

[1:31:48] Perez's responses, and I look

[1:31:51] forward to the work that the

[1:31:52] Commission does. I'm sorry I

[1:31:53] keep calling it the commission.

[1:31:55] The council does in in the year

[1:31:57] to come. And Chair Allen, thank

[1:31:59] you for your new motion, which

[1:32:03] I will be pleased to support.

[1:32:05] Supervisor Christy. I keep

[1:32:07] listening to the discussions,

[1:32:08] listening to the call to the

[1:32:11] public, listening to our my

[1:32:13] colleagues, reading letters to

[1:32:15] my office from numerous

[1:32:17] citizens about this whole issue.

[1:32:20] And I, I, I know there's

[1:32:21] something missing here, and I

[1:32:23] think I put my finger on it.

[1:32:25] It's called common sense. There

[1:32:27] are so many red flags being

[1:32:29] waved in this whole process

[1:32:32] from the leadership of this

[1:32:34] organization that it to me, it

[1:32:36] is astounding that we can sit

[1:32:39] here and not raise those issues

[1:32:44] every everything. That points

[1:32:47] to dysfunction points to the

[1:32:49] way that the structure is is

[1:32:51] created in this organization.

[1:32:54] And it starts at the top. The

[1:32:56] issue of, of sitting on the

[1:32:59] city Council and putting excess

[1:33:01] funds from his predecessor and

[1:33:02] directing it to the same

[1:33:03] commission, he's going to come

[1:33:06] back and sit as the executive

[1:33:07] director from going down to

[1:33:09] Santa Cruz County and bringing

[1:33:10] bringing them on board. And

[1:33:12] then they're not on board, but

[1:33:13] yet keeping a name that

[1:33:15] includes them, all of these

[1:33:18] issues, I think, show that

[1:33:20] there is something inherently

[1:33:22] wrong with the structure of

[1:33:24] this organization. And it

[1:33:27] starts at the top. We can't

[1:33:29] proceed. And with my colleagues

[1:33:32] saying that it's only $122,000,

[1:33:34] or we have a fiduciary

[1:33:36] relationship with the community

[1:33:38] to make sure that everything is

[1:33:41] is being spent properly,

[1:33:42] $122,000 is still taxpayer

[1:33:44] money, and we have to look at

[1:33:46] how it's being spent and who is

[1:33:48] spending it and what leadership

[1:33:51] is behind it. Until the

[1:33:52] leadership and the until the

[1:33:55] inherent structure of this

[1:33:58] organization is dismantled and

[1:34:00] started over, if even if indeed

[1:34:03] it even needs to be, then we

[1:34:05] must really look at what we're

[1:34:07] doing as far as our

[1:34:09] responsibility to the taxpayers.

[1:34:11] This whole thing stinks to high

[1:34:13] heaven. There's flags and

[1:34:15] signals that are saying so, and

[1:34:18] it. And I just can't understand

[1:34:20] why my colleagues aren't more

[1:34:21] concerned about how taxpayer

[1:34:24] money is being spent and where

[1:34:25] the money is going, and who's

[1:34:28] in charge of it. Thank you,

[1:34:32] MADAM Chair. All those in favor?

[1:34:36] Aye. Opposed? Opposed. Motion

[1:34:41] passes for one Chair. Yes. For

[1:34:42] clarification. For the record,

[1:34:44] based on that motion, there is

[1:34:46] a contract that was just

[1:34:48] approved, but there are three

[1:34:49] recommendations that should not

[1:34:51] be considered incorporated by

[1:34:53] reference into that contract.

[1:34:54] Our office will make those

[1:34:57] changes. But so the the version

[1:34:59] that's in the agenda was not

[1:35:00] the version that was just

[1:35:01] approved. It's the version

[1:35:02] version based on the motion

[1:35:04] that includes those three

[1:35:04] recommendations. And we'll

[1:35:06] submit those changes to the

[1:35:08] board office. Thank you, thank

[1:35:13] you. I'm going to hop. As I

[1:35:15] know I said we were going to go

[1:35:17] to one thing. I'm going to pop

[1:35:18] this to one other thing. Just

[1:35:20] because there's a number of

[1:35:21] people that are here for

[1:35:22] addendum item number seven.

[1:35:23] That's the University of

[1:35:24] Arizona with the mou

[1:35:25] establishing the Arizona,

[1:35:27] Arizona, Taiwan Talent and

[1:35:30] Innovation Hub at the Roy Place

[1:35:33] building. Oh. Addendum eight oh,

[1:35:41] sorry. So. Addendum eight. I

[1:35:43] will move the item. Okay.

[1:35:44] Seconded by Supervisor Hines.

[1:35:46] Any discussion, MADAM Chair

[1:35:48] Supervisor Christy, let me

[1:35:49] preface my remarks by saying I

[1:35:52] have the utmost respect for the

[1:35:54] for the program, for the

[1:35:55] University's involvement in it,

[1:35:57] and for the speakers who are

[1:35:59] here tonight speaking in favor

[1:36:03] of this motion. I have a

[1:36:05] problem with that. I, I that is

[1:36:07] causing me not to be able to

[1:36:09] support this, this particular

[1:36:11] item for one particular reason.

[1:36:15] I feel that the location is

[1:36:17] misguided and misplaced. The

[1:36:21] Roy Place building is not being

[1:36:25] utilized now. It is in a very

[1:36:28] highly attractive area for

[1:36:30] development. It should be put

[1:36:34] to use to derive income and in

[1:36:35] a lease basis, maybe even a

[1:36:38] purchase basis for the

[1:36:40] taxpayers. I have no problem

[1:36:43] with the with the connection

[1:36:46] between Taiwan and the

[1:36:47] educational elements and the

[1:36:49] innovative elements of it, I

[1:36:51] think is terrific, but I think

[1:36:52] that it needs a second look at

[1:36:56] to the location. It's downtown.

[1:36:59] It's a iconic building that has,

[1:37:01] I think, such capacity to

[1:37:04] generate revenue and, and be

[1:37:06] put on the tax rolls and create

[1:37:07] income for the County and for

[1:37:10] its citizens. And I would

[1:37:12] suggest that the the best place

[1:37:15] that this entity or this

[1:37:17] headquarters should be located

[1:37:20] is preferably at at one of our

[1:37:22] u of a tech parks. It makes

[1:37:24] sense to put something of this

[1:37:26] technical, innovative nature in

[1:37:28] one of our tech parks, rather

[1:37:30] than a building downtown that

[1:37:33] could be generating income and

[1:37:34] revenue for the taxpayers of

[1:37:38] Pima County. I would hope that

[1:37:40] I'm certain that this is going

[1:37:42] to pass as presented, but I

[1:37:44] would hope that perhaps the

[1:37:47] leaders behind this and at the

[1:37:48] university would consider

[1:37:50] putting it in a more opportune

[1:37:53] place to to grow and to enhance

[1:37:56] the whole ethos of what they're

[1:37:57] trying to do, rather than

[1:38:00] putting it downtown in a, in a

[1:38:02] location that could be put on

[1:38:04] the tax rolls and, and be

[1:38:07] generating revenue. So I'm, I

[1:38:09] respect the folks that talk

[1:38:10] tonight. They're friends of

[1:38:12] mine. I, I applaud the efforts

[1:38:14] that they're doing. I just feel

[1:38:16] that the location is wrong and

[1:38:18] that it would be better located

[1:38:20] at a tech park. And we have

[1:38:21] beautiful tech parks. As a

[1:38:22] matter of fact, there's one in

[1:38:27] district four. So I won't be

[1:38:30] able to support this based on

[1:38:31] where the location is. Not not

[1:38:34] the project, not the connection

[1:38:36] with the innovation, but the

[1:38:37] location. Thank you, MADAM

[1:38:40] Chair. Chair Allen. Supervisor,

[1:38:41] I have an inquiry and a

[1:38:45] question of the administrator

[1:38:46] or an inquiry. Then I'm going

[1:38:48] to make a statement.

[1:38:49] Administrator Lesher is it not

[1:38:52] the case already that your

[1:38:55] office is exploring the best

[1:38:58] way to limit our footprint

[1:39:01] downtown, and to look for

[1:39:02] avenues to bring in additional

[1:39:04] revenues with their existing

[1:39:06] properties? Chair Allen

[1:39:07] Supervisor Connor Yes, we have

[1:39:09] been spending a couple of years

[1:39:10] looking at how we can

[1:39:12] reallocate, how we use space

[1:39:13] differently, and how we can

[1:39:15] combine facilities so that we

[1:39:17] can get out of leases on some

[1:39:18] buildings or those we own. We

[1:39:20] could sell if necessary. So yes,

[1:39:23] sir. So for the folks watching,

[1:39:24] watching at home, the County is

[1:39:26] already looking for ways to

[1:39:27] reduce our footprint footprint

[1:39:30] in the downtown area that can

[1:39:31] encourage public private

[1:39:33] partnership, that can get

[1:39:34] properties that don't need to

[1:39:36] be on the on the county's tax

[1:39:37] roll into the private sector.

[1:39:39] That's a good thing because

[1:39:41] it'll mean efficiency. It'll

[1:39:43] mean us being a lot smarter

[1:39:45] about the space that we are

[1:39:48] using. Second, welcome to our

[1:39:50] partners in Taiwan to District

[1:39:51] 5, and the opportunity for us

[1:39:54] to continue to look for ways to

[1:39:55] grow our footprint downtown and

[1:39:58] to ensure that public private

[1:39:59] partnerships, especially with

[1:40:02] our academic institutions, be a

[1:40:04] core focus of our economic

[1:40:05] development as a County and as

[1:40:07] a region. I have seen

[1:40:09] partnerships like this work in

[1:40:11] other communities, particularly

[1:40:12] in Phoenix, attending Arizona

[1:40:14] State University and seeing

[1:40:16] that downtown campus when it

[1:40:17] was just starting, when it was

[1:40:19] completely brand new, when the

[1:40:20] dorms were being built, and now

[1:40:23] it is a state of the art

[1:40:25] extension of higher education,

[1:40:27] of economic development. And I

[1:40:29] believe very strongly in our

[1:40:30] partnership between our County

[1:40:32] economic development team, our

[1:40:34] academic institutions, but most

[1:40:35] importantly to the people of

[1:40:37] Taiwan who have invested,

[1:40:38] particularly in one County,

[1:40:40] very heavily, I am eager to get

[1:40:43] some of those resources down to

[1:40:45] our County, the second largest

[1:40:46] County, because it's good

[1:40:49] economic development, it's good

[1:40:50] international relations, and

[1:40:52] more than anything, it's an

[1:40:55] exciting opportunity for a

[1:40:56] return on investment to the

[1:40:59] taxpayers. Thank you,

[1:41:01] Supervisor Haynes. Thank you.

[1:41:03] And excellent comments from my

[1:41:04] colleague from district five as

[1:41:05] well. I would say, having been

[1:41:08] to Taiwan and I will be going

[1:41:11] back tomorrow, actually, I

[1:41:14] details matter where especially

[1:41:18] for this first this first

[1:41:21] building, this first this

[1:41:23] effort details matter very,

[1:41:25] very much. Heck, when they

[1:41:26] didn't have my title right on a

[1:41:28] couple of cards, people freaked

[1:41:31] out. Right? So it is important

[1:41:32] that we make a statement not

[1:41:35] just by saying, yes, we're

[1:41:36] going to partner with u of a

[1:41:37] and the County. And that's

[1:41:39] great, but doing it in a place

[1:41:40] where it's literally across the

[1:41:42] street from the seat of our

[1:41:43] County government and right

[1:41:44] next to City Hall and right

[1:41:47] next to the court and in a very

[1:41:48] prominent central location. And

[1:41:50] there will be so many more uses,

[1:41:52] amazing uses for the tech parks

[1:41:54] and district four. And in other

[1:41:55] districts. Do not worry,

[1:41:57] because not only will this be

[1:41:58] the start of a great

[1:42:01] relationship with an nyc u, but

[1:42:02] also we have an exchange. I

[1:42:04] think it's 20 students, right?

[1:42:05] Anyway, but we already have an

[1:42:09] exchange going on with n, s y,

[1:42:10] su2020 students coming here, I

[1:42:12] think right now and then going

[1:42:14] there from u of a and that's

[1:42:16] that university is actually in

[1:42:17] Zhoushan, which is our sister

[1:42:20] city now. So I think anywhere

[1:42:23] we can, the semiconductor

[1:42:25] adjacent ecosystem that is that

[1:42:26] is driven, of course, by the

[1:42:28] critical mass that is tsmc up

[1:42:30] in North Phoenix is going to

[1:42:32] bring, I believe, a tremendous

[1:42:35] amount of economic benefit and

[1:42:37] innovation and so many, so many

[1:42:39] benefits to the state and

[1:42:40] southern Arizona and the nation.

[1:42:42] So I'm happy that it's going to

[1:42:45] be that this this relationship,

[1:42:49] this initial entity is going to

[1:42:51] be right right here downtown,

[1:42:56] across the street from us. I

[1:42:59] have a sort of related

[1:43:01] unrelated request, I think, of

[1:43:05] the administrator. And, and it

[1:43:08] is, you know, we have been

[1:43:10] trips to Taiwan, we've signed a

[1:43:14] few MoUs looking at this mou

[1:43:15] for the use of the Roy place

[1:43:17] and the Talent and Innovation

[1:43:19] hub. And a lot of times around

[1:43:22] the sort of semiconductor

[1:43:25] adjacent ecosystem I would I

[1:43:27] would love a memo that breaks

[1:43:29] that down a bit more. I feel

[1:43:30] like there's a lot of terms

[1:43:34] that are used that I that are

[1:43:37] unclear. And I would, I would

[1:43:39] benefit from and I, and I think

[1:43:41] the public could benefit from

[1:43:42] understanding, you know, sort

[1:43:46] of what it is that we are what,

[1:43:47] what, what's what are the steps

[1:43:49] that we are taking? What are we

[1:43:51] moving into? And, and while we

[1:43:52] MAY not know and the

[1:43:54] relationship is evolving, I

[1:43:56] think we can have some

[1:43:58] anticipation of both the

[1:44:00] industry and, and kind of the

[1:44:02] path that we are building step

[1:44:03] by step. Because what I, what I

[1:44:06] don't want to happen is that we,

[1:44:08] we take one small step, a small

[1:44:10] step, a small step, and then we

[1:44:13] arrive somewhere without having,

[1:44:14] without seeing the big picture

[1:44:17] from the from the outset, I

[1:44:19] don't know if that's enough

[1:44:21] information, if I. Okay. Thank

[1:44:23] you. And Chair Allen,

[1:44:24] supervisor really quick with

[1:44:25] administrator Lesher because I

[1:44:27] think it's really important for

[1:44:29] this to be a unanimous vote to

[1:44:30] send a good economic

[1:44:31] development message to the

[1:44:32] people of Taiwan. There is no

[1:44:36] mention in this mou about costs

[1:44:38] associated. And is that

[1:44:40] accurate? And isn't it right

[1:44:42] that this has always been a

[1:44:45] revenue generating parcel?

[1:44:48] We've had. But right before we

[1:44:50] became vacant, it was being

[1:44:51] leased and we and the County

[1:44:54] taxpayers were getting

[1:44:57] resources, were they not? Chair

[1:44:59] Allen Supervisor. Kino yes, the

[1:45:03] lease amount was $100 a year.

[1:45:05] From. Yeah. And that's pretty

[1:45:06] typical of academic

[1:45:08] partnerships. It was. Yes,

[1:45:12] there was a. The County can't

[1:45:14] just provide services like that

[1:45:16] or rent like that as a gift. It

[1:45:18] has to be something that

[1:45:19] provides a significant return

[1:45:21] on investment to taxpayers. So

[1:45:23] what that the allocation and

[1:45:25] the distribution of services

[1:45:27] and the the benefit received

[1:45:30] was delineated and that the

[1:45:32] $100 was not simply because we

[1:45:33] were giving him something nice.

[1:45:35] We got lots in return. And that

[1:45:38] will be the same in these

[1:45:41] agreements. Got it. Chair Allen,

[1:45:42] Supervisor Scott following up

[1:45:47] on the concerns expressed by

[1:45:48] Supervisor Christy and the

[1:45:49] points made by Supervisors

[1:45:52] Haynes and Kono. I'm looking at

[1:45:55] the program goals and predicted

[1:45:58] outcomes in the Vice Chair. I

[1:46:02] wonder if we could have staff

[1:46:04] comment on why this particular

[1:46:07] location is best suited in

[1:46:10] terms of helping to achieve

[1:46:13] those goals and outcomes? Thank

[1:46:17] you, MR. Debonis. Thank you.

[1:46:19] Chair Allen and Supervisor

[1:46:21] Scott. I think, as was noted,

[1:46:23] this is a central location in

[1:46:25] in downtown Tucson. It's

[1:46:29] adjacent to other key partners

[1:46:31] that the County has in the work

[1:46:32] that we're doing from an

[1:46:34] economic development standpoint

[1:46:35] and just from a community

[1:46:38] support standpoint. And so when

[1:46:40] you look at the confluence of

[1:46:41] Pima County government, the

[1:46:45] city of Tucson, the Rio Nuevo

[1:46:47] District, the University of

[1:46:49] Arizona, and proximity and

[1:46:50] connectivity to the university

[1:46:53] by the the modern streetcar. We

[1:46:56] have other major employers in

[1:46:58] the downtown community. So when

[1:47:01] you look at hexagon having

[1:47:03] their national headquarters

[1:47:08] here in Tucson, we have also

[1:47:10] others in the community. Tucson

[1:47:12] Electric Power is located in

[1:47:15] the downtown area where

[1:47:18] adjacent to caterpillar, west

[1:47:21] of of the freeway, there's been

[1:47:23] a revitalization in investment

[1:47:25] in in small businesses in the

[1:47:28] downtown area, both privately

[1:47:30] funded and through the Rio

[1:47:32] Nuevo District. We've seen an

[1:47:36] expansion intentionally, with

[1:47:38] hospitality units being brought

[1:47:41] into the downtown area. There

[1:47:42] is vibrance that is occurring

[1:47:45] in in the downtown when we've

[1:47:48] had our partners from Taiwan

[1:47:50] visiting, they are really

[1:47:52] pleased with the potential for

[1:47:55] having a presence in a downtown

[1:47:56] community. Right. And so you

[1:47:59] start to build synergies that

[1:48:01] are, you know, greater than,

[1:48:03] than the sum of the individual

[1:48:07] parts. The County has purchased

[1:48:09] the Wells Fargo former Wells

[1:48:11] Fargo building and will be

[1:48:12] relocating the main library

[1:48:15] into that space, providing an

[1:48:16] opportunity for our City of

[1:48:19] Tucson partners to envision

[1:48:21] with that property that

[1:48:23] currently houses the main

[1:48:25] library will be into the future.

[1:48:27] So I think that there are a lot

[1:48:29] of positives, a lot of touch

[1:48:31] points that make this

[1:48:34] attractive and make it viable

[1:48:38] from partnering and economic

[1:48:41] success potential. MR. MR.

[1:48:42] Debonis, thank you and Chair

[1:48:45] Allen, thank you, MADAM Chair.

[1:48:48] One quick question. What was

[1:48:51] Rio Nuevo response when this

[1:48:55] Roy Place building became

[1:48:59] available for this organization?

[1:49:01] This this partnership did was

[1:49:04] it was it presented to Rio

[1:49:06] Nuevo that they could look at

[1:49:07] it? Did they have an

[1:49:08] opportunity to say anything

[1:49:10] about economic development of

[1:49:13] that that parcel Chair Allen

[1:49:15] and, and Supervisor Christy,

[1:49:17] we've had conversations with

[1:49:19] Rio Nuevo about spaces and. No.

[1:49:21] But that particular one. Well,

[1:49:24] and I yes. And so Roy Place has

[1:49:28] been a location that Rio Nuevo

[1:49:32] has expressed some interest in

[1:49:35] for potential uses, as they

[1:49:36] have with the Wells Fargo

[1:49:38] building. I think that if we

[1:49:41] put in perspective the whole

[1:49:44] purpose of Rio Nuevo right is a

[1:49:46] tax incentive district

[1:49:47] supported by sales tax. And so

[1:49:50] their mission is to promote

[1:49:53] uses that generate sales tax in

[1:49:55] in the district boundary. I'm

[1:49:57] aware that there their mission,

[1:49:58] their uses. I'm just wondering

[1:50:00] what their response was. But

[1:50:01] did they have some viable plans

[1:50:04] or possibilities that that

[1:50:06] property could be utilized in

[1:50:08] some manner other than what

[1:50:10] it's being planned for now,

[1:50:12] just up the block, as you

[1:50:14] pointed out, we have a Dao

[1:50:15] County County Library that's

[1:50:17] taking over another iconic

[1:50:19] building downtown. I'm just

[1:50:21] curious if if there was any

[1:50:23] response to this whole effort

[1:50:25] by Rio Nuevo Chair Allen

[1:50:26] Supervisor Christy, there was

[1:50:28] not a specifically identified

[1:50:30] use. The discussions were that

[1:50:32] they would have interest in

[1:50:35] seeing potential sales tax

[1:50:36] generating uses in there, but

[1:50:38] there was no specific

[1:50:39] opportunity that was presented

[1:50:43] to the County for those

[1:50:48] locations. Right? Okay. There

[1:50:51] is no further discussion. All

[1:50:54] those in favor I opposed

[1:51:02] opposed item passes four one.

[1:51:04] Now we are going to go to item

[1:51:07] number 18. Back on the regular

[1:51:11] agenda. This is unfinished

[1:51:12] business. This is the Pima

[1:51:14] County Economic Development

[1:51:23] Strategic Plan. I am going to

[1:51:27] move that. We continue the plan.

[1:51:30] Oh I'm sorry, I'm just jumping

[1:51:35] in. Which never mind, I said

[1:51:38] nothing. Well, I just I, I am

[1:51:40] going to put forward a motion

[1:51:41] to, to continue the plan, which

[1:51:44] is not preclude the

[1:51:46] presentation by any means. In

[1:51:48] fact, I think it still warrants

[1:51:50] for having discussion. I

[1:51:52] completely your call. We happy

[1:51:54] to table this for the next

[1:51:55] whenever you want to discuss it

[1:51:57] or not, table it. We'll do it

[1:51:58] all when we discuss it. Thank

[1:52:03] you. Okay. I did want to know

[1:52:05] why I would like to continue it,

[1:52:10] if I MAY. I think, you know,

[1:52:11] largely because this plan

[1:52:13] matters and it matters a whole

[1:52:16] lot. You know, we're at a time

[1:52:19] with such economic instability

[1:52:22] and unprecedented wealth

[1:52:24] concentration and people making

[1:52:26] our average salary for the

[1:52:28] region, being unable to pay the

[1:52:30] bills, let alone thrive. So,

[1:52:33] you know, our roadmap for

[1:52:35] strengthening our economy, I

[1:52:38] really feel should be discussed

[1:52:41] thoroughly, kind of by us and

[1:52:44] and between us. So I would love

[1:52:46] to put on the study, the next

[1:52:49] study session, the plan. And

[1:52:51] then I also want to make sure

[1:52:54] that we have a specific

[1:52:56] discussion carved out for us to

[1:52:59] talk about the targeted

[1:53:02] industries. There is a list of

[1:53:03] seven targeted industries

[1:53:06] within the plan, and I think

[1:53:09] there are significant that we

[1:53:10] should discuss if they all make

[1:53:13] sense for us in Pima County.

[1:53:14] What goes behind determining

[1:53:16] what is on those targeted

[1:53:19] industries? But but ensure that

[1:53:20] it's been something that has

[1:53:23] been vetted and thought through

[1:53:26] by us. There was also a few

[1:53:28] things that that I've requested

[1:53:31] be added that I thought were

[1:53:33] missing, and I did want to flag

[1:53:36] those. Now, from a district

[1:53:38] three perspective, the the plan

[1:53:44] is very urban centric. The.

[1:53:46] Rural and unincorporated I mean,

[1:53:49] rural is mentioned three times

[1:53:51] in the plan in relationship to

[1:53:54] broadband and another time in

[1:53:56] relation to the Small Business

[1:54:03] Commission. I think the the.

[1:54:04] Business retention and

[1:54:06] expansion attraction, workforce,

[1:54:07] infrastructure, all of those

[1:54:09] pieces play out uniquely in

[1:54:11] rural areas and different in

[1:54:14] rural areas than, than in the,

[1:54:16] the urban core or in urban

[1:54:18] areas. And I, and I do need to

[1:54:21] see some of how we're thinking

[1:54:24] about economic, the

[1:54:26] strengthening of the economy in,

[1:54:28] in rural areas and

[1:54:32] unincorporated Pima County. And

[1:54:35] then also teasing out, teasing

[1:54:37] out more of the focus on small

[1:54:39] business. I'm excited that

[1:54:41] we've got new staff that are

[1:54:43] coming on board within the

[1:54:46] department and who will be

[1:54:48] focusing on supporting small

[1:54:51] business. And I think in the

[1:54:53] report, you see that small

[1:54:55] business activities show up in

[1:54:57] the different pillars because

[1:54:59] it is so fundamental to

[1:55:01] strengthening our economy. I

[1:55:02] would like to see how, how

[1:55:04] those pieces fit together and

[1:55:10] what they add up to. And then

[1:55:11] thinking too about the

[1:55:13] Prosperity initiative. And I

[1:55:15] would love to see deeper

[1:55:17] integration of the prosperity

[1:55:19] Initiative that is tied to

[1:55:21] small business support. You

[1:55:24] know, Prosperity Initiative has

[1:55:26] behind or underneath all of the,

[1:55:29] the 13 policies and the three

[1:55:32] cross section policies are a

[1:55:33] slew of really specific

[1:55:35] policies that have been

[1:55:36] researched, evidence based.

[1:55:38] There are case studies behind

[1:55:40] them. And in the small business

[1:55:42] context, there's outlines of

[1:55:44] regional loan funds, loan loss

[1:55:46] guarantee programs. There's

[1:55:47] building purchase assistance

[1:55:50] for entrepreneurs, capital

[1:55:52] provider collaborations, and,

[1:55:54] and so there's like creative

[1:55:56] things that are outlined in

[1:55:57] prosperity. And I would love to

[1:55:59] see how some of those pieces

[1:56:01] that we have approved from

[1:56:04] prosperity are showing up some

[1:56:05] innovative approaches, creative

[1:56:07] approaches, evidence based

[1:56:09] approaches that support small

[1:56:13] business growth. There's a few

[1:56:15] other things I noticed that the,

[1:56:18] the, the KPIs, the key

[1:56:21] performance indicators aren't

[1:56:24] are not finalized. There's a

[1:56:25] list and it says that they

[1:56:28] might be drawn from that list.

[1:56:31] You know, KPIs should reflect

[1:56:32] what we think matters, right?

[1:56:34] We should be looking for

[1:56:35] indicators for the things that

[1:56:37] are important to us in

[1:56:39] assessing progress towards them.

[1:56:40] They reflect, you know, kind of

[1:56:42] where we want and need to see

[1:56:44] economic progress. And they

[1:56:45] help us assess if we're on the

[1:56:47] right path or of course,

[1:56:50] correction is needed. So I just

[1:56:52] would need to see those defined,

[1:56:55] I think, before being able to

[1:56:59] approve a plan. And then I not

[1:57:00] everyone loves a logic model,

[1:57:02] but there is a page that talks

[1:57:06] about a logic model. They have

[1:57:07] some value. But, but it's not

[1:57:09] it's not what the page on the

[1:57:10] logic model. That's not a logic.

[1:57:15] It's not done. You know, a

[1:57:17] logic model sort of maps out

[1:57:20] how programs will have the

[1:57:23] impacts and the outcomes that

[1:57:25] that that the various

[1:57:26] activities of that program are

[1:57:28] going to achieve. Given that

[1:57:30] we've got new work from

[1:57:31] business retention, expansion,

[1:57:34] the fdi work, those are new

[1:57:36] programs. And so articulating

[1:57:38] what impact we want to have

[1:57:39] from them, what the outcomes

[1:57:41] that we anticipate from those,

[1:57:43] and then what we are doing to

[1:57:44] achieve them, I think, given

[1:57:49] its newness, would be valuable.

[1:57:52] And then last, last piece that

[1:57:55] I feel like is missing is, is

[1:57:58] about the, the perspective of

[1:58:03] low wage workers. I suspect

[1:58:06] that within stakeholder groups,

[1:58:08] the perspective of low wage

[1:58:12] workers was not included. I

[1:58:15] think there's a lot of emphasis,

[1:58:17] as there should be on both

[1:58:19] bringing in higher wage jobs

[1:58:22] into our community, reskilling,

[1:58:24] upskilling, getting people into

[1:58:27] new, higher wage jobs. But the

[1:58:28] fact remains that those low

[1:58:31] wage jobs are still there and

[1:58:32] someone's going to fill them.

[1:58:34] And then we're going to have to

[1:58:35] figure out a way to reach those

[1:58:36] folks and upskill, reskill, get

[1:58:38] them into new. Right. It's sort

[1:58:40] of a continuing cycle. And so

[1:58:42] it begs the question, and it is

[1:58:43] a question that the Prosperity

[1:58:44] Initiative has laid out an

[1:58:48] answer to, which is about how

[1:58:50] to how to how to raise the

[1:58:52] floor. How do we incentivize

[1:58:55] business to invest in increased

[1:58:58] wages and benefits? And so we

[1:59:00] have thought about this, but

[1:59:01] it's a piece that I think that

[1:59:02] we've thought about in the

[1:59:04] context of prosperity. I would

[1:59:06] love to see our plan address

[1:59:08] that. So we're not just going

[1:59:09] around and around moving people

[1:59:10] into higher wage jobs and then

[1:59:12] constantly having to pull

[1:59:16] people up as wages stay low.

[1:59:17] Yes. Sorry. Just maybe should

[1:59:19] we move this for discussion

[1:59:21] purposes so that we can keep

[1:59:22] doing this? Or do you want to

[1:59:25] just I just want to clarify

[1:59:27] what you or do I just want to

[1:59:28] keep talking. That was actually

[1:59:29] my last point. Prerogative of

[1:59:31] the Chair You can talk as long

[1:59:33] as you want. I just wanted to

[1:59:34] make sure we're not getting in

[1:59:35] trouble with Sam Brown or, you

[1:59:38] know, anything. Yeah. I had

[1:59:41] moved to continue the item. Was

[1:59:45] it a motion? Sorry. Motion? I

[1:59:47] thought I did it in motion. You

[1:59:48] did. But then you were

[1:59:50] explaining the motion. Yes. And

[1:59:56] other. Yes. Chair Ellen, to

[2:00:03] what date? The SEPTEMBER 22nd

[2:00:05] second. Seconded by Supervisor

[2:00:06] Kino. Chair, just to clarify

[2:00:09] your motion. So you are moving

[2:00:11] to continue item number 18,

[2:00:13] which is the adoption of the

[2:00:15] strategic plan to SEPTEMBER

[2:00:17] 22nd. But then in your

[2:00:18] discussion, you also spoke

[2:00:20] about adding the Economic

[2:00:21] Development strategic plan to a

[2:00:23] study session. Did you want

[2:00:26] that also on SEPTEMBER 22nd or

[2:00:30] on SEPTEMBER 8th? Chair Allen

[2:00:32] Yes, if I if I could suggest

[2:00:37] something because just the

[2:00:40] items that you want to discuss,

[2:00:43] I think could take up a

[2:00:44] significant part of a study

[2:00:46] session, I think there would be

[2:00:51] value in having the plan as the

[2:00:53] sole agenda item for a

[2:00:56] SEPTEMBER 8th study session,

[2:00:58] and then it could be taken up

[2:01:00] again for consideration on the

[2:01:02] 22nd, if that was acceptable to

[2:01:03] you and to the agenda committee,

[2:01:05] because I know that you have to

[2:01:08] discuss that with them. Chair

[2:01:10] Allen, as you consider how you

[2:01:12] would like us to be allies in

[2:01:14] this motion, I, I just want to

[2:01:17] say I, I'm more. The experience

[2:01:20] that I had with the updates to

[2:01:21] the economic development plan

[2:01:23] and District 5 interest in

[2:01:25] ensuring that early childhood

[2:01:27] education was a strategic

[2:01:29] priority was best worked out in

[2:01:31] a meeting that I had with the

[2:01:32] Economic Development director

[2:01:34] and consultation with the

[2:01:38] administrator, I. I don't love

[2:01:40] everything in this plan, but

[2:01:42] the framework is there that I

[2:01:43] would feel comfortable

[2:01:46] supporting it. Today. I will

[2:01:47] say that it is important for

[2:01:50] this to be a plan that has the

[2:01:52] support of the majority members,

[2:01:54] and that we hold hands with our

[2:01:55] colleague from district three

[2:01:56] and ensuring that some of those

[2:01:59] key points are mentioned. But

[2:02:01] what I want to avoid in a study

[2:02:02] session is wordsmithing. And I

[2:02:04] fear that if we do that in a

[2:02:07] study session form, it will

[2:02:08] take up the whole meeting and

[2:02:10] perhaps it can, but I, I do

[2:02:12] feel that a lot of what you are

[2:02:13] recommending can can be

[2:02:16] addressed in a in meetings

[2:02:18] outside of the regular board or

[2:02:23] study session personally. Chair

[2:02:25] excuse me, a clarification, if

[2:02:27] I MAY, to I heard at 1.2 study

[2:02:28] session items, if you will. One

[2:02:30] for the discussion of the plan

[2:02:32] and one you're interested in a

[2:02:33] deeper dive on targeted

[2:02:36] industries. So I think where

[2:02:38] those two separate items that

[2:02:40] we would like it study sessions

[2:02:42] or how to do it, I have been

[2:02:44] thinking study session,

[2:02:46] discussion of targeted

[2:02:50] industries, vote on plan on

[2:02:51] SEPTEMBER 22nd at the next at

[2:02:55] the next meeting. So just to

[2:02:58] clarify, Chair Alan, you want

[2:03:00] to limit the study session

[2:03:01] discussion to targeted

[2:03:03] industries. But the other

[2:03:05] points that you had to.

[2:03:08] Supervisor Kono's point, you

[2:03:09] might address them in the same

[2:03:11] way that not only he addressed

[2:03:14] his concern, but in the same

[2:03:17] memorandum I had for

[2:03:20] recommendations as well, that I

[2:03:22] was pleased that the the team

[2:03:24] was willing to adopt,

[2:03:25] especially in terms of more

[2:03:27] what I consider to be more

[2:03:29] detailed and fulsome. Annual

[2:03:33] reporting. So how about this?

[2:03:35] How about we have the

[2:03:38] presentation and study session,

[2:03:40] an explicit conversation,

[2:03:42] discussion around the targeted

[2:03:44] industries, and then with. And

[2:03:46] if there are other discussion

[2:03:48] pieces, then we've had the

[2:03:50] presentation. So just in terms

[2:03:53] of agenda ization, it is open

[2:03:55] for other discussion because of

[2:04:00] the presentation. In both study

[2:04:02] session and the 22nd in study

[2:04:05] session. And then the 22nd is

[2:04:07] we're back up for a decision on

[2:04:12] the plan. Okay. Just to clarify,

[2:04:14] and I'm sorry, Supervisor Hines.

[2:04:17] And then just to clarify, and I

[2:04:20] and I appreciated the

[2:04:23] discussion, this would be the

[2:04:25] study session on the eighth. We

[2:04:27] we wouldn't have anything else

[2:04:31] because if if we do, it's we're

[2:04:33] never going to get through this.

[2:04:36] Chair Allen Supervisor Scott, I

[2:04:38] think the last I looked, we

[2:04:39] have at least seven items, 6 or

[2:04:41] 7 items on study session at

[2:04:43] this point. But it's your

[2:04:44] agenda. They are proposed. We

[2:04:45] can certainly. The agenda

[2:04:47] committee can look at what it

[2:04:52] wants to move to other meetings.

[2:04:54] I have prepared remarks which I

[2:04:56] will not deliver because we are

[2:04:58] not going to. I never have

[2:05:00] prepared remarks. See, this is

[2:05:03] what he was doing earlier. A

[2:05:05] long plane ride. Yeah, yeah.

[2:05:07] Let me print stuff up. Okay.

[2:05:08] Never mind. Yeah. And just so

[2:05:11] you guys are one of the items

[2:05:12] on study session for SEPTEMBER

[2:05:15] 8th is an executive session. Oh,

[2:05:23] Sam. Okay. It might not be

[2:05:25] possible for it to be the only

[2:05:26] item on study session, at least

[2:05:28] given the executive session.

[2:05:29] And there might be some things

[2:05:31] that cannot be moved from study

[2:05:33] session. But how about that?

[2:05:35] The agenda committee looks at

[2:05:37] study session agenda with an

[2:05:39] eye towards minimizing those

[2:05:40] items. And if there's anything

[2:05:42] that can be put on there that

[2:05:43] makes sense. Yes, yes.

[2:05:45] Streamlining that agenda. And

[2:05:47] then that way we can have some

[2:05:51] dedicated time. I would just

[2:05:53] say Chair. I think it's very

[2:05:54] valuable for us. I think people

[2:05:56] tend not to tune in as much to

[2:05:59] study sessions. And I think the

[2:06:00] economic development strategic

[2:06:03] plan is something that is

[2:06:04] absolutely something we should

[2:06:07] be talking about in a as much

[2:06:09] as possible during our regular

[2:06:10] meeting, just especially if

[2:06:12] we're making adjustments and

[2:06:14] asking staff clarifications and

[2:06:17] my remarks like, like, I think

[2:06:19] that would be good to be in the

[2:06:21] in the regular meeting as well.

[2:06:22] So also, is there just to

[2:06:23] clarify from perhaps staff, I

[2:06:27] guess, is there like, I mean,

[2:06:28] this is just our thing, right?

[2:06:30] Is there a deadline for this or

[2:06:31] have we like, are we missing

[2:06:33] things by not doing this now or

[2:06:37] I we're good. Okay. It's just

[2:06:38] our plan. Yeah. You got it.

[2:06:43] Thank you. Okay, so some items

[2:06:45] are going to appear. The only

[2:06:47] thing we're voting on is

[2:06:50] continuing until the vote on

[2:06:53] the plan. Not the next meeting,

[2:06:55] but the meeting after that,

[2:06:59] SEPTEMBER 22nd. So. And you

[2:07:04] split. Continuing. Seconder was.

[2:07:07] All those in favor? Aye.

[2:07:13] Opposed. Item passes five zero.

[2:07:19] Chair Allen. Supervisor Scott

[2:07:24] in. Oh. Oh I'm sorry, MISS

[2:07:29] Lesher go ahead Cheryl, we are

[2:07:34] going to move to la la la.

[2:07:37] Regular agenda item number 14.

[2:07:42] This is the hearing. With

[2:07:46] wastewater conveyance system.

[2:07:48] And this is the appeal of the

[2:07:50] procurement director's decision.

[2:07:54] We have a speaker. Oh, in case

[2:07:57] there are questions. Okay. If I

[2:07:59] MAY, Chair Allen and just after

[2:08:01] collaboration with procurement

[2:08:02] and the County Attorney's

[2:08:04] office and such, the collective

[2:08:05] opinion is we are recommending

[2:08:08] to you that you accept the

[2:08:10] appeal and award a contract to

[2:08:12] I can garden. I pronounced it

[2:08:15] correctly, and if that. If you

[2:08:19] approve the appeal of this. Of

[2:08:21] the procurement director's

[2:08:24] decision, we will return on

[2:08:25] SEPTEMBER 8th to the regular

[2:08:28] agenda with this contract. So

[2:08:29] what we would recommend is that

[2:08:35] you accept the the appeal. Okay.

[2:08:37] So I will move to close the

[2:08:39] hearing regarding solicitation

[2:08:45] number, rfp dash (260) 000-0677

[2:08:51] and approve. The protest of

[2:08:56] Aitken Gardener and Award no.

[2:08:59] To accept the appeal. It's

[2:09:02] correct. Yes. Second, seconded

[2:09:06] by Supervisor Scott. Discussion.

[2:09:09] All those in favor? Aye.

[2:09:14] Opposed. Item passes four zero

[2:09:17] with Supervisor Hines absent.

[2:09:20] Okay. Thank you. Chair. Yes.

[2:09:23] Supervisor Scott, thank you.

[2:09:26] Chair Allen, in the interest of

[2:09:28] time, I was wondering if my

[2:09:29] colleagues might want to

[2:09:31] consider some items in bulk

[2:09:33] sitting as the Flood Control

[2:09:36] District board, I would move

[2:09:39] items seven through 11. Second,

[2:09:42] seconded by Supervisor Christy.

[2:09:44] Discussion Chair supervisor

[2:09:47] Kino. Thank you. I appreciate

[2:09:49] the bundling. And I also just

[2:09:51] very quickly want to share two

[2:09:54] things. Number one, I am asking

[2:09:56] the administration to give the

[2:09:59] District 5 office an update on

[2:10:01] the request to allow the public

[2:10:03] to understand some of these

[2:10:03] contracts a bit more, and how

[2:10:05] many jobs are created when we

[2:10:08] are having these contracts go

[2:10:11] out to very worthy partners in

[2:10:13] the construction industry? It's

[2:10:15] not clear right now if we are

[2:10:17] if, if any of these items,

[2:10:19] seven through 11 are creating

[2:10:21] ten jobs, 100 jobs or 400 jobs.

[2:10:23] And I know that that's a

[2:10:24] request that several months in

[2:10:27] the making. Number two, I am

[2:10:28] very excited about item number

[2:10:30] seven. This is investments that

[2:10:32] is going to be correlated with

[2:10:34] the construction of the Drexel

[2:10:36] Bridge on the southwest side of

[2:10:37] town, all in that area, which

[2:10:39] is one of our highest grossing

[2:10:41] retail areas with the spectrum

[2:10:44] mall combined with the bridge,

[2:10:45] combined with the improvements

[2:10:46] that we're making to the loop

[2:10:49] on the eastern side of Santa

[2:10:51] Cruz, this is much needed

[2:10:53] investment in the people of

[2:10:55] district five, and I just

[2:10:56] wanted to make sure that I said

[2:10:58] that out loud, because that's a

[2:10:59] good thing. And I'm excited to

[2:11:10] see that. Number seven. All

[2:11:12] those in favor? Aye aye.

[2:11:18] Opposed. Items pass four zero.

[2:11:21] MADAM Supervisor Christy, would

[2:11:23] the board consider addressing

[2:11:26] items that for hearing items 12

[2:11:34] and 13. Sitting as the board

[2:11:41] and. I. So move or do you close

[2:11:42] it or should I close you close

[2:11:44] it. Then I got to get my

[2:11:48] glasses. Oh. I'd like to close

[2:11:52] the public hearing. On item

[2:11:56] number 12 of Skyline Country

[2:11:57] Club's request for firework

[2:12:00] permit. I'd also simultaneously

[2:12:01] like to close the hearing on

[2:12:08] job number 401965. For a liquor

[2:12:12] license. Second, seconded by

[2:12:15] Supervisor Kino. Discussion.

[2:12:19] All those in favor? Aye. MADAM

[2:12:24] Chair. Oh, supervisor Christy,

[2:12:25] apparently you've closed the

[2:12:28] hearing but did not state

[2:12:29] approving the motion was to

[2:12:33] approve them. So let me back up.

[2:12:38] And we have to have a motion to.

[2:12:39] She's just asking you to amend

[2:12:41] the motion to close the public

[2:12:43] hearing and approve. I will

[2:12:44] amend the motion to close the

[2:12:45] public hearing and approve the

[2:12:50] motions. Second, seconded by

[2:12:52] supervisor. All those in favor?

[2:12:56] Aye. Opposed. Items passed four

[2:13:00] zero. MADAM Chair. Yes. Could

[2:13:06] we address items? 2021, 22, 23,

[2:13:19] 24, 25, 26. 27, 28, 29 and 30.

[2:13:23] Let's leave 28, 29 and 30 out

[2:13:25] because those have to be

[2:13:27] approved in a certain sequence.

[2:13:30] Okay. I'll amend my motion to

[2:13:33] remove 28, 29, and 30 and

[2:13:37] approve 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25,

[2:13:41] 26 and 27. I'll second question

[2:13:46] for the for the clerk on the

[2:13:48] elections on. 20 through 24,

[2:13:55] can we bundle those? Okay. Read

[2:13:57] the resolution numbers for each

[2:14:01] of them. Each time I bundle

[2:14:05] anything around here. Famous

[2:14:08] last words. Yeah. Okay. On item

[2:14:10] 20. MADAM Chair, I'd like to

[2:14:14] approve the resolution number

[2:14:15] 2026 -- 46. Canceling the

[2:14:17] election for the Green Valley

[2:14:18] Domestic Water Improvement

[2:14:22] District. Can I do it all at

[2:14:28] once? I'd like to further. Move

[2:14:32] to close resolution 2020 647

[2:14:34] and approve the canceling of

[2:14:36] election of the Marana Water

[2:14:37] Domestic Water Improvement

[2:14:40] District. I'd like to move also

[2:14:42] the. The move. I'd like to move

[2:14:45] also the resolution number

[2:14:47] 2026-48. Canceling the district

[2:14:48] board members of the

[2:14:50] Metropolitan Water Improvement

[2:14:53] District. I'd like to move also

[2:14:55] that we approve resolution

[2:14:59] number 2026-49. Canceling the

[2:15:00] election of district board

[2:15:02] members for the Mount Lemon

[2:15:03] domestic district. I'd like to

[2:15:07] move that we close resolution

[2:15:10] number 2026-50, canceling the

[2:15:11] election of district board

[2:15:13] members of the y Domestic Water

[2:15:15] Improvement District. The

[2:15:18] cancellation of of the

[2:15:19] uncontested fire, water and

[2:15:21] Health District elections

[2:15:23] agenda item number 25. Do I

[2:15:27] need to read that one? No. So

[2:15:30] I'll move those items on the on

[2:15:32] the Water Improvement District

[2:15:43] and include 25, 26, 27. Second

[2:15:45] seconded by supervisor Kino

[2:15:47] discussion Chair supervisor. I

[2:15:49] just want to make my point

[2:15:50] again about how many jobs are

[2:15:52] we creating with item number

[2:15:54] seven? This is a $35 million

[2:15:55] contract, and the taxpayers

[2:15:57] should know how many jobs are

[2:16:04] included in that contract. All

[2:16:08] those in favor? Aye. Opposed.

[2:16:14] Items pass five zero Chair. Yes.

[2:16:16] Continuing with the this

[2:16:19] bundling venture would like to

[2:16:23] move on the addendum items six

[2:16:27] and seven and also items nine,

[2:16:36] ten, 11 and 12. Second.

[2:16:37] Seconded by supervisor

[2:16:40] o'Connell. Discussion. All

[2:16:45] those in favor, I opposed items

[2:16:52] pass five zero. MADAM Chair.

[2:16:54] Yes, I'd like to approve. Make

[2:16:57] a motion to approve the consent

[2:16:59] calendar. Except for pulling

[2:17:05] item number two. Second.

[2:17:07] Discussion. All those in favor?

[2:17:12] Aye. Opposed. Item passes.

[2:17:15] Items pass five zero. Item

[2:17:18] number two. I'll move.

[2:17:19] Supervisor Kino. Yes, I'll move

[2:17:22] the item second. Seconded by

[2:17:24] Supervisor Hines. Discussion.

[2:17:27] All those in favor? Aye, aye.

[2:17:30] Opposed. Opposed. Item passes

[2:17:48] for one. All right. I'm gonna.

[2:17:51] And 16 and 17. I think those

[2:17:54] are the last two. And then that

[2:17:57] 28, 2930. The the Ajo, airport

[2:17:59] improvements are there. Oh

[2:18:00] right. And then there are a few

[2:18:02] there too. Okay. So I'll take

[2:18:05] up 16. This is a quick update

[2:18:06] on the County administrator

[2:18:08] hiring process. So this is

[2:18:09] basically just a reminder of

[2:18:11] some of the key dates that we

[2:18:14] have pinned down or on

[2:18:16] calendars. The recruitment main

[2:18:18] remains open, and our recruiter

[2:18:19] from Slavin Management

[2:18:21] Consultants is continuing to

[2:18:23] collect applicant information.

[2:18:25] We have scheduled on SEPTEMBER

[2:18:27] 22nd, an executive session. The

[2:18:29] recruiter is going to provide

[2:18:31] semifinalist report to the

[2:18:33] board members. There can be up

[2:18:35] to eight. We're thinking up to

[2:18:38] eight semifinalists on

[2:18:39] SEPTEMBER 30th. We have a

[2:18:42] virtual in-person interviews of

[2:18:43] semifinalists by the search

[2:18:46] committee. OCTOBER 13th you

[2:18:47] have on your calendars the

[2:18:49] executive session. This would

[2:18:51] be when the recruiter is going

[2:18:53] to provide finalist report to

[2:18:55] the board. And we're aiming for

[2:18:57] having three finalists or up to

[2:19:00] three finalists. And then

[2:19:01] OCTOBER 14th, the finalists

[2:19:04] will be announced and notified

[2:19:06] of selection. And then OCTOBER

[2:19:09] 19th and 20th would be a two

[2:19:12] days in person with the

[2:19:13] finalists. We're planning

[2:19:15] events for the finalist

[2:19:17] candidates over that two day

[2:19:18] period to include some

[2:19:19] interaction with the directors,

[2:19:21] employees, community members.

[2:19:23] And then on the 20th, we have

[2:19:25] on our calendars an executive

[2:19:26] session. It's a special meeting

[2:19:29] from 1 to 6 or 1 to 5, and

[2:19:31] that'll be finalist interviews

[2:19:33] with the board. And then we

[2:19:35] expect to make a decision as a

[2:19:37] board on either OCTOBER 20th,

[2:19:39] on the day in which we conduct

[2:19:40] those interviews, the final

[2:19:42] interviews, or it could be

[2:19:45] OCTOBER 27th. So that's what

[2:19:49] we've got ahead of us. All

[2:19:51] right. Chair Allen? Yes. Rex

[2:19:55] Scott could I request that the

[2:19:57] clerk's office send those dates

[2:20:01] to district offices? Sure.

[2:20:08] Thank you. Moving on to 17.

[2:20:11] This is protecting the public

[2:20:16] trust resolution. County

[2:20:17] Administrator would you like to

[2:20:19] read? Sure. Thank you very much,

[2:20:21] Chair and members of the board,

[2:20:22] this is a resolution that we're

[2:20:24] bringing forward to the board

[2:20:26] to bottom line is protect the

[2:20:27] public trust prohibiting County

[2:20:29] employees from using any

[2:20:30] nonpublic information for any

[2:20:33] kind of profit, particularly

[2:20:34] what we're seeing more and more

[2:20:35] of these days, unfortunately,

[2:20:37] is in the predictive markets

[2:20:39] where people are betting on

[2:20:40] anything these days. And what

[2:20:42] people are starting to do at

[2:20:44] all levels is make sure that we

[2:20:46] are not only preventing any

[2:20:47] conflict of interest, that

[2:20:49] we're protecting confidential

[2:20:51] information. We hope that this

[2:20:53] is providing clear rules for

[2:20:54] employees so people know that

[2:20:57] path forward. We are hoping to

[2:20:58] maintain that public confidence.

[2:21:01] And then finally, looking at

[2:21:03] this is consistent with what

[2:21:04] other County cities in the

[2:21:06] state are doing, as well as, I

[2:21:07] believe, parts of the federal

[2:21:09] government, just to ensure that

[2:21:11] we don't have any lack of

[2:21:13] clarity about what people can

[2:21:16] and can't do with the nonpublic

[2:21:17] information to which they might

[2:21:22] be accessed. Thank you. I will

[2:21:28] move the item second. Seconded

[2:21:30] by Supervisor Hines. Any

[2:21:34] further discussion? And all

[2:21:36] those in favor of approving

[2:21:41] resolution number 2026-45. I I,

[2:21:46] I opposed item passes for zero.

[2:21:52] Thank you. Moving on. We'll

[2:21:57] take us to items at 28, 29 and

[2:22:00] 30. 29 and 30 need to be

[2:22:04] approved prior to 28. So we are

[2:22:10] going to take up 29 and 30. So

[2:22:14] 29 is the acceptance of a grant

[2:22:15] from the Department of

[2:22:19] Transportation faa for some

[2:22:21] infrastructure improvements in

[2:22:23] the Ajo, airport. I will move

[2:22:25] the item seconded by Supervisor

[2:22:28] Hines. Discussion. All those in

[2:22:31] favor opposed item passes for

[2:22:36] zero. Item 30 is. Similarly,

[2:22:37] acceptance of a transportation

[2:22:40] related grant faa Ajo, I will

[2:22:41] move the item. Second, seconded

[2:22:44] by Supervisor Hines. Discussion.

[2:22:47] All those in favor? Aye.

[2:22:51] Opposed. Item passes four zero.

[2:22:57] Now to item 28. This is to

[2:22:59] provide for again the Eric

[2:23:00] Marcus Municipal Airport in

[2:23:06] Ajo, For Quebec's court. I will

[2:23:08] move the items seconded by

[2:23:10] Supervisor Hines. Any

[2:23:13] discussion? All those in favor?

[2:23:17] Aye. Opposed. Item passes for

[2:23:21] zero. And I will just note a.

[2:23:23] Thanks to Anna Steiner. She is

[2:23:26] the first manager of the Eric

[2:23:28] Marcus Municipal Airport, which

[2:23:30] is owned and operated by Pima

[2:23:31] County for getting these grants

[2:23:33] to revitalize the airport,

[2:23:36] totaling more than $830,000.

[2:23:38] And as she has noted, these

[2:23:39] improvements not only increase

[2:23:41] safety at the airport, but are

[2:23:43] also part of Western Pima

[2:23:45] County's economic development

[2:23:47] plan that has been developed by

[2:23:49] different entities out in that

[2:23:51] area. So glad to see those come

[2:23:52] in and be approved by my

[2:23:56] colleagues. Moving on to what

[2:23:58] is left of the addendum, we

[2:24:01] have addendum item number two.

[2:24:03] This is the 2027 legislative

[2:24:05] agenda additions submitted by

[2:24:09] district two. Yes. Thank you.

[2:24:13] And for my colleagues request,

[2:24:16] I put this in a memo two, not 3

[2:24:19] or 1 I said last time. But this

[2:24:22] we've talked quite a bit about

[2:24:25] Constable's the antiquated

[2:24:27] system of the constabulary and

[2:24:29] frankly, the, the, the jp

[2:24:31] system as well. I've talked

[2:24:33] about this so much with, with

[2:24:34] Michael Rossi. I think even

[2:24:36] back when I was a legislator,

[2:24:39] even. And like, these are not

[2:24:41] constitutional things. We the

[2:24:43] counties I think Graham County

[2:24:44] still doesn't have one. Sorry,

[2:24:46] we out of them, but they still

[2:24:47] do not have an elected

[2:24:49] constable in Graham County for

[2:24:51] 60 plus years. They just never

[2:24:53] did it. But they're supposed to

[2:24:55] according to statute, we would,

[2:24:57] I think, benefit greatly. I

[2:24:58] think each County needs to just

[2:25:00] have the ability to make

[2:25:01] decisions on their own. Do we

[2:25:04] want one constable and one jp

[2:25:06] per jp district? Do we want to

[2:25:08] decide? Maybe we just want one

[2:25:09] constable for the entire County

[2:25:11] and we don't need any others,

[2:25:12] and we're just going to hire a

[2:25:14] bunch of deputy constables to

[2:25:15] do things that have to be like

[2:25:17] post certified unless our other

[2:25:19] items work. So this first one

[2:25:21] is basically just giving

[2:25:23] counties like more flexibility,

[2:25:25] whatever that is. If a shallow

[2:25:27] becomes a MAY or however,

[2:25:29] within the statutes that that

[2:25:31] MR. Rossi and his team can

[2:25:32] effectively make this happen. I

[2:25:34] understand that a lot of

[2:25:35] legislators look to themselves

[2:25:38] as as constables in waiting or

[2:25:40] in waiting for the retirement

[2:25:42] benefits, which is just not a

[2:25:44] great way to run a railroad. So

[2:25:46] that is the first one. I'm

[2:25:47] happy to hear everyone's

[2:25:49] thoughts about that. And the

[2:25:50] second just occurred to me,

[2:25:51] since I just realized the first

[2:25:53] time I ran for office was in

[2:25:57] 2006. So 20 years ago, like we

[2:25:59] were doing flood irrigation,

[2:26:00] just about the same then as we

[2:26:02] are now. And we're gonna we're

[2:26:03] a few years away from losing

[2:26:04] cap water, right? I mean,

[2:26:06] that's pretty obvious. So let's

[2:26:08] just kind of call this beta

[2:26:10] spade. We and this to some

[2:26:12] degree, this phase out of

[2:26:14] agricultural flood, irrigation

[2:26:16] and conversion of our of our ag

[2:26:17] industry into more water

[2:26:19] efficient irrigation systems.

[2:26:20] This has been a known thing for

[2:26:23] a long time, but making this a

[2:26:24] priority, especially because

[2:26:26] Pima County is going to be

[2:26:27] really particularly screwed

[2:26:29] without cap water eventually

[2:26:31] here soon. I think it really

[2:26:33] this needs to be on our list of

[2:26:35] things to talk about. There is

[2:26:36] a fund, I believe, federal

[2:26:38] dollars. There's some funds

[2:26:39] that are available to help.

[2:26:41] This is a voluntary thing at

[2:26:43] this point. We need this to

[2:26:45] become a nope. This is going to

[2:26:47] be phased out over three years,

[2:26:49] four years, five years. The

[2:26:51] technology's been around for

[2:26:52] decades to change to a much

[2:26:55] more efficient way to water.

[2:26:57] 72% of our water is used in

[2:26:58] Arizona for agricultural

[2:27:00] purposes, which is fine, but

[2:27:02] humans need a little bit too,

[2:27:03] especially with a cap water

[2:27:04] going away. So I think putting

[2:27:06] this on paper and saying, hey,

[2:27:08] we Pima County really need you

[2:27:10] to help. The legislature needs

[2:27:11] to start looking at some real

[2:27:14] ways to do this, to do some

[2:27:16] some more water conservation.

[2:27:18] Oh, we could even add, if

[2:27:19] people want, we could even say,

[2:27:21] and let's make the upper basin

[2:27:22] states have to do more

[2:27:23] conservation like we do. But I

[2:27:25] feel like, you know, this, this

[2:27:27] is definitely an obvious thing

[2:27:29] that we can do with our

[2:27:30] agricultural industry that we

[2:27:32] can do right now. And they've

[2:27:33] already been discussing right

[2:27:35] now. So I'd love to hear my

[2:27:36] colleagues thoughts on either

[2:27:41] of both of these. Benny, I am

[2:27:43] curious what you know about the

[2:27:44] discussions that that have been

[2:27:47] going on about the second

[2:27:49] agenda item around the phasing

[2:27:51] out flood irrigation and

[2:27:52] switching to more water

[2:27:54] efficient systems. It according

[2:27:55] to MR. Rossi, there again,

[2:27:58] there are funds available for

[2:28:01] for farmers who want to like,

[2:28:02] like use those resources and

[2:28:04] then kind of voluntarily go

[2:28:07] into like a more targeted, much

[2:28:09] more efficient form of

[2:28:10] irrigation. There are two

[2:28:11] different ones that would work

[2:28:12] perfectly well for, for our

[2:28:14] most of our uses in the state.

[2:28:15] There has been a working group

[2:28:18] for a number of years. So this

[2:28:19] isn't just out of the blue,

[2:28:21] like, what the heck is Pima

[2:28:22] County? Even thinking? There's

[2:28:24] there has been some work to

[2:28:26] this effect, but hasn't gotten.

[2:28:27] Well, maybe now with the cap

[2:28:29] water changes, it will get more

[2:28:30] legs, but it hasn't gotten to

[2:28:32] the point where like, I mean,

[2:28:33] I've not heard of any as a

[2:28:35] legislator myself or recently,

[2:28:37] I don't know, maybe my

[2:28:38] colleague from District 5 would

[2:28:39] know, but I don't know of

[2:28:40] anything actually being

[2:28:42] proposed like, like this, like

[2:28:44] some sort of very realistic

[2:28:45] thing we're going to have to

[2:28:46] consider doing if we want to

[2:28:47] continue watering humans, not

[2:28:55] just plants. So. Supervisor

[2:29:09] Cano. One second. All right.

[2:29:12] Administrator Lesher, my hope

[2:29:14] is that you are working with

[2:29:16] MR. Rossi on kind of the

[2:29:17] formatting of these

[2:29:18] recommendations. When we

[2:29:20] considered other

[2:29:21] recommendations from district

[2:29:23] two at our last meeting or the

[2:29:24] meeting prior, what I was just

[2:29:26] trying to explain is that I

[2:29:27] believe that the the

[2:29:28] recommendations that make most

[2:29:29] sense to be added to the

[2:29:30] legislative agenda are the

[2:29:31] bolded words and the

[2:29:32] recommendation, not the

[2:29:34] discussion portion. Do you

[2:29:35] remember that? And has that

[2:29:37] been communicated and just.

[2:29:39] Chair Supervisor Connor Yes, I

[2:29:40] remember, yes. And I've been

[2:29:41] working with MR. Rossi to make

[2:29:43] sure that we are properly

[2:29:44] formatting what the requests

[2:29:46] are and how they go before csa

[2:29:48] and how we then the ones that

[2:29:49] don't necessarily go to csa,

[2:29:51] but that are in our agenda for

[2:29:52] our contract lobbyists and

[2:29:55] staff to work on. Okay. Thank

[2:29:57] you for that, because I

[2:29:58] personally don't see any of

[2:30:00] these two additions is

[2:30:01] problematic. And Supervisor

[2:30:04] Hines, just to ask, you, had

[2:30:06] asked if there was any recent

[2:30:09] work, something that I helped

[2:30:11] negotiate with Governor Ducey

[2:30:14] actually was a short term water

[2:30:16] conservation grants for

[2:30:17] municipalities, tribes, and

[2:30:20] jurisdictions throughout our

[2:30:21] state through the Water

[2:30:22] Infrastructure Finance

[2:30:23] Authority. And I would I would

[2:30:27] really just that was a $150

[2:30:28] million investment. I think

[2:30:29] that's probably how I would put

[2:30:30] the tie between your

[2:30:32] recommendation and what we need

[2:30:33] to do. The legislature actually,

[2:30:35] over the last three years, was

[2:30:37] $1 billion fund for the big

[2:30:38] water desal, and then it was

[2:30:41] for the shorter term funds that

[2:30:43] 150. What they've continued to

[2:30:44] do at the legislature is raid

[2:30:47] the big bucket and put it to

[2:30:49] offset other state revenues or

[2:30:50] other state expenditures,

[2:30:53] rather, I should say, and not

[2:30:55] fund the water conservation

[2:30:56] programs. And I just kind of

[2:30:59] feel like that's reverse in

[2:31:01] reverse in terms of priorities.

[2:31:02] But that's where we could

[2:31:05] probably really align is using

[2:31:08] our impact to be able to get

[2:31:09] the short term water

[2:31:12] conservation dollars funded. I

[2:31:13] believe City of Tucson and the

[2:31:15] County are recipients of that

[2:31:17] fund for some of our water

[2:31:22] saving measures. Thank you. Did

[2:31:24] you move the item? Oh yes. I

[2:31:26] will move the items as

[2:31:32] presented in the memo. Seconded

[2:31:35] by me. Vice Chair Allen.

[2:31:39] Discussion. All those in favor?

[2:31:42] Aye. Opposed. Item passes five

[2:31:45] zero. Which takes us to

[2:31:48] addendum item number three.

[2:31:56] This is you. MR. Brown. Chair

[2:31:57] supervisor Assistant Dean item

[2:31:59] was connected to the executive

[2:32:01] session, and I believe there's

[2:32:04] a motion. There is. I will move

[2:32:06] to join a lawsuit related to

[2:32:09] the omb proposed rule. Second,

[2:32:11] seconded by Supervisor Hines.

[2:32:17] Any discussion? All those in

[2:32:21] favor? Aye. Opposed. Opposed.

[2:32:26] Motion passes for one. And then

[2:32:28] let's see. Did we take up item

[2:32:33] four in the bundle? No. Okay.

[2:32:35] Four and five. Okay then.

[2:32:39] Addendum item number four. I

[2:32:42] will. Move to approve

[2:32:46] resolution number 2026-51.

[2:32:50] Second. Seconded by Supervisor

[2:32:54] Hines. Discussion. All those in

[2:32:57] favor? Aye. Opposed. Item

[2:33:00] passes five zero. Item number

[2:33:04] five. I will move to approve

[2:33:07] resolution number 2026-52.

[2:33:10] Second seconded by Supervisor

[2:33:14] Hines. Discussion. All those in

[2:33:18] favor? Aye. Opposed. Motion

[2:33:22] passes five zero. Item number

[2:33:24] six. I will move the item.

[2:33:25] Second. Seconded by Supervisor

[2:33:30] Hines. Discussion. Chair Allen.

[2:33:32] Oh, did we bundle that bundle?

[2:33:34] Okay, that was in the bundle.

[2:33:37] It was okay. We're done then.

[2:33:40] We're all done. Well all right,

Board of Supervisors on 2026-08-25 5:00 PM

Agenda

Transcript