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[0:00]
Gary Garrett Craig Christiansen Katrina
[0:02]
McCay Rachel Whipple Peggy Bogden Travis
[0:05]
Hoban Jeff Whitlock
[0:07]
Today's prayer will be given to us by a
[0:09]
new resident, Joanne Osmond. She's
[0:12]
recently moved here. And then after her,
[0:14]
we'll have a pledge of allegiance by
[0:15]
counselor Rachel Whipple.
[0:22]
She was on the school board for 35
[0:24]
years, guys.
[0:27]
Our most gracious heavenly father we're
[0:29]
very grateful to be here on this
[0:31]
beautiful earth to be able to serve thee
[0:33]
and to serve the
[0:34]
members of this community.
[0:36]
I pray that you will
[0:38]
and thy spirit be with us as we as they
[0:41]
make decisions and they look at the
[0:43]
needs of the residents of this area.
[0:46]
We're so very grateful for all that we
[0:48]
have and for our families that just
[0:49]
support us. I say this in the name of
[0:51]
Jesus Christ. Amen. Amen.
[0:55]
Please stand and join me in the pledge
[0:57]
of allegiance.
[0:59]
I pledge allegiance to the flag of the
[1:02]
United States of America and to the
[1:05]
republic for which it stands, one nation
[1:08]
under God, indivisible, with liberty and
[1:12]
justice for all.
[1:16]
On another note, April 1st was our 175th
[1:19]
birthday of Provo. Wow. So, that's cool,
[1:22]
too. All right. As indicated on the
[1:24]
screen, a required public hearing will
[1:25]
be held for certain agenda items prior
[1:27]
to council action. After each such item
[1:29]
has been presented, time to comment will
[1:31]
be provided for all those who wish to
[1:32]
speak. For items that do not require a
[1:34]
public hearing, public comment will
[1:36]
still be taken following presentation of
[1:38]
the item, but will be limited to 10
[1:39]
minutes. At this time, up to 15 minutes
[1:42]
have been set aside for an open public
[1:44]
comment period, which is intended to
[1:45]
allow comment on matters that do not
[1:47]
appear on the agenda, but are limited to
[1:49]
topics regarding municipal business or
[1:51]
within municipal council purview.
[1:53]
Persons who speak during this time to an
[1:55]
item that is on the agenda will not
[1:56]
normally be afforded a second
[1:58]
opportunity to speak during the comment
[1:59]
period specific to that item.
[2:01]
During any public comment period, each
[2:03]
speaker will generally be limited to 2
[2:04]
minutes. Due to noticing requirements,
[2:06]
no formal action will be taken in this
[2:08]
meeting on matters that do not appear on
[2:10]
the agenda.
[2:11]
Those with comments are invited to
[2:12]
approach the podium. Those with Those
[2:14]
participating on Zoom will need to use
[2:16]
the raise hand feature to indicate they
[2:17]
wish to comment. The chair may choose to
[2:19]
alternate between in-person and online
[2:21]
commenters. Please begin your comments
[2:23]
by stating your name and your city of
[2:25]
residence. And whoever wishes to comment
[2:27]
now has 2 minutes.
[2:35]
Members of the council, my name is
[2:37]
Joshua Johns and I'm a resident of Provo
[2:40]
and um
[2:42]
these are my daughters, Amelia and
[2:44]
Sophia.
[2:46]
Um
[2:48]
they have been missing since last July
[2:50]
when their mother abducted them.
[2:53]
And since that day, I've spent every
[2:54]
moment that I can and every resource
[2:56]
that I can to try and bring them home.
[2:58]
But from my first interaction with the
[3:00]
Provo Police Department to the most
[3:02]
recent one I had just yesterday
[3:04]
uh I've been met with responses that
[3:06]
were callous, dismissive,
[3:09]
and cold. I've spent tens of thousands
[3:12]
of dollars on private investigators and
[3:14]
lawyers.
[3:15]
I've cooperated fully, tried to make
[3:17]
contact with the FBI. I've waited weeks
[3:19]
for missing posters to be approved by
[3:21]
the local police.
[3:23]
And even after obtaining a writ of
[3:24]
assistance from a judge commanding the
[3:26]
police to help locate my daughters, I
[3:28]
was told it was a civil matter
[3:30]
and that they would not act on it.
[3:32]
I'm not only their father, but I'm their
[3:35]
sole custodial parent.
[3:38]
But I've been treated more or less
[3:41]
like this was just a missed weekend with
[3:43]
my kids.
[3:45]
But Amelia and Sophia, my daughters and
[3:47]
residences of your city, have not been
[3:49]
seen or heard from by anybody
[3:54]
that we know of since July.
[3:56]
And I wanted to come here initially to
[3:57]
ask you to implore the local police to
[4:00]
do more or even just to follow their own
[4:02]
internal procedures when it comes to
[4:04]
missing children.
[4:06]
But honestly, my faith in that
[4:08]
institution is a bit shaken right now.
[4:10]
And so
[4:12]
I don't know how good that would
[4:13]
actually do and instead I'm just asking
[4:16]
for awareness to this matter.
[4:19]
I'm asking you to please remember Amelia
[4:21]
and Sophia, my daughters. They're 7
[4:22]
years old.
[4:24]
And to please use your voices
[4:27]
uh whether it's on social media or in
[4:29]
your own circles
[4:30]
to just help bring attention to this so
[4:32]
that we can bring them home.
[4:35]
Um I have several
[4:38]
Can you please leave a flyer with our
[4:40]
staff there and include your name and
[4:41]
number and email?
[4:43]
Thank you.
[4:53]
My name is Glenn Johns.
[4:55]
I'm from Springville.
[4:57]
And my twin granddaughters, Amelia and
[4:59]
Sophia, are missing.
[5:03]
They've been missing for 9 months.
[5:06]
And I think as parents and grandparents
[5:10]
I'd like for you to reflect for a moment
[5:12]
of how you would feel
[5:14]
if this happened to you.
[5:19]
We've been met We have met with local
[5:21]
and federal officials on this matter
[5:23]
and here are a few of the examples of
[5:25]
the things that we've been told.
[5:27]
This is a civil matter.
[5:30]
No laws have been broken.
[5:33]
They're not missing. They're with their
[5:35]
mother.
[5:37]
We have submitted the case and it's been
[5:39]
declined.
[5:40]
Or
[5:42]
we only prosecute felony offenses and we
[5:44]
cannot go approve beyond a reasonable
[5:46]
doubt
[5:47]
that they have left the state.
[5:50]
And still my grandchildren are missing
[5:52]
for nearly 9 months.
[5:55]
To the point of when people say they are
[5:57]
not missing, they're with their mother
[5:59]
I'd like to share with you a quote from
[6:01]
the National Center
[6:02]
for Missing and Exploited Children.
[6:05]
I quote.
[6:07]
We now We also now recognize children
[6:10]
are deeply and permanently affected by
[6:12]
family abduction.
[6:14]
The emotional scarring caused by these
[6:16]
events
[6:17]
requires officers to recognize family
[6:19]
abduction
[6:21]
not as a harm harm harmless offense
[6:23]
where two parents are arguing over who
[6:25]
loves the children more,
[6:28]
but instead as an insidious form of
[6:30]
child abuse.
[6:32]
I've come here tonight to ask the city
[6:34]
council three things.
[6:37]
Number one, urge the police department
[6:40]
to make this case a higher priority
[6:42]
and give them the resources that they
[6:44]
need to do that.
[6:46]
Number two,
[6:48]
use your personal and agency social
[6:50]
media accounts to spread the word
[6:53]
children.
[6:55]
And if I may
[6:56]
give one more comment.
[6:58]
Support and assist our future efforts to
[7:01]
change the state laws to prevent better
[7:04]
response to missing children like me and
[7:07]
Sophia.
[7:08]
Thank you.
[7:13]
Next, an implied motion on a resolution
[7:15]
approving the appropriation of 96,547
[7:19]
to pay for three new firefighters and
[7:21]
their equipment between May and June for
[7:23]
the fiscal year ending June 30th, 2026.
[7:26]
This will be presented by Jeremy Hedman,
[7:28]
our fire chief. It is This is an item
[7:30]
that we have heard um multiple times in
[7:33]
a work meeting.
[7:37]
Council, thanks for giving me a few
[7:38]
minutes this evening to talk to you
[7:40]
about our request. Uh I know you've
[7:42]
heard all heard it already,
[7:44]
but uh we're requesting that we hire
[7:47]
three firefighters
[7:48]
uh
[7:49]
for just for June and July of this year.
[7:51]
We're requesting appropriation for
[7:53]
96,547
[7:56]
dollars.
[7:57]
Um 60 of that is for the three
[7:59]
firefighters.
[8:01]
36 of that is for the equipment we need
[8:03]
to get them started.
[8:05]
Um
[8:07]
the reason we need these firefighters,
[8:09]
it'll put one additional firefighter per
[8:10]
shift, which helps us with our staffing
[8:13]
needs.
[8:15]
Um the reason we need these firefighters
[8:17]
now instead of later is
[8:20]
it helps us with our training
[8:22]
for
[8:24]
the the camp we run them through, an
[8:25]
8-week camp. It'll make it so we only
[8:28]
have to do that once instead of three firefighters now, three
[8:31]
firefighters later.
[8:33]
Um and then on top of that
[8:35]
we have recently done a test. We have a
[8:38]
list and we have some good candidates on
[8:40]
that list that we'd like to hire before
[8:42]
they get hired somewhere else.
[8:44]
Uh two of those firefighters that were
[8:46]
on the list or candidates have already
[8:48]
been hired in other fire departments. So
[8:52]
we'd like to to get the best of the best
[8:55]
while we can.
[8:56]
Um So, do we still have three that are
[8:59]
available? We have three great great
[9:01]
quality firefighter candidates still on
[9:03]
the list. Okay.
[9:05]
All right.
[9:06]
Thank you, Chief. Any questions for
[9:08]
Chief?
[9:09]
Okay. Thank you. We will open this item
[9:11]
up for public comment. Is there any
[9:13]
public comment on this item?
[9:16]
Seeing no public comment, we'll go to
[9:17]
council discussion. Is there any council
[9:19]
discussion on this item?
[9:23]
All right. We'll have a Oh.
[9:24]
Counselor Whitlock. Um just I think
[9:27]
maybe for the benefit of the public who
[9:28]
wasn't part of the work meetings, I I
[9:30]
really appreciate what we're doing here.
[9:32]
We're hiring full-time staff, which is
[9:34]
going to be covered by reductions in
[9:36]
uh overtime budget. So, on a run rate
[9:38]
basis or on an ongoing basis, this is
[9:40]
going to be budget neutral.
[9:43]
Thank you.
[9:44]
All right. We will now call for a vote
[9:46]
on the implied motion. Counselor
[9:48]
Garrett.
[9:49]
Yes. Counselor McCay, yes. Counselor
[9:51]
Christiansen. Yes. Counselor Whitlock.
[9:54]
Yes. Counselor Bogden. Yes. Counselor
[9:56]
Hoban. Yes. Councilor Whipple. Yes.
[10:00]
The motion passes 7-0. And if there's no
[10:03]
objection, we will now adjourn the Pro
[10:04]
Municipal Council by unanimous consent.