[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.