Here today.
Our mayor, city council and officials
grant them clarity of mind.
Patience of spirit and a deep commitment
to the common good of all people.
Make each of us instruments
of peace and goodwill.
Bless.
We pray this city of surprise
hits neighborhoods and homes.
May we each be reminded this evening
of the responsibility which is ours to bear,
that this city be a place where goodness is nurtured
and love is made visible in all that we do.
Amen.
And thank you, Reverend.
Madam clerk, please call the roll.
Mayor Sartor present.
Vice mayor Greenburg here.
Councilman Haney here.
Councilman Duffy here.
Councilman Melton.
Present. Councilman Hastings here. Councilman.
Jet here. Thank you. Mayor. We have quorum.
All right.
Thank you.
So tonight, we have a special group
to lead us in the Pledge of Allegiance.
We have the Dysart
High School Skills USA and broadcasting team.
Here is, is was Mr.
Yoder at stand here?
Oh, in the back. Okay.
So if you could help
lead us in the pledge, I would appreciate it.
I cannot.
I pledge
allegiance to the flag of the United States of America.
And to the Republic for which it stands.
One nation under God, indivisible,
with liberty and justice for all.
Thank.
Right.
So, did you have something you wanted to say?
So we have a proclamation to.
So you go ahead and we'll do the proclamation.
Good evening, Mayor and Council.
My name is Grace
Brennan, and I am a senior at Desert High School
and the president of our skills USA chapter.
Skills USA is a career and technical student
organization that empowers its members to become world
class leaders, workers, and responsible citizens.
We are also a part of the Desert Student Broadcasting Program,
a program
that is student led and student driven and student produced.
We broadcast academic and sporting
events live to our school's YouTube channel for any and all
to join us throughout the 2025 2026 school year.
Our in film,
desert, film and TV
gave back to our community in ways
I could have never imagined we'd achieve
as a two time, hopefully going on
three goal chapter distinction.
We are proud to share
some of our accomplishments over the last year
working in Desert Student Broadcasting.
We have worked closely with surprise TV
to cover events such as the Veterans Day Parade,
the SciTech Festival,
and with other events like Partnership Day coming up.
We have participated in multiple street
cleanups for a street in Glendale
and have collected
over 160 pounds of trash, and we are still counting.
Additionally, we held our second annual toys for tots
drive raising nearly 240 toys for children in need.
In just a few weeks, 38 of our members will be headed
to the Glendale Community College
to compete in the annual region
five Leadership in Skills Conference.
Thank you for giving us the opportunity to share
more about our accomplishments and contributions
to the City of El Mirage, Glendale and surprise!
Thank you.
All right, so we got a two for tonight.
We have the pledge, which is led by, skills USA.
And we get a proclamation about skills USA.
So let me do this.
All right.
So proclamation from the office of the mayor.
Whereas February 2nd through February 6th, 2026
has been designated by the skills USA, National Association
as Skills USA week.
And Whereas Career and Technical Education provide students
with a school to career connection
and is the backbone of a strong and educated workforce
that fosters productivity in business and industry
and contributes to leadership
in the national and global economies.
And Whereas,
Career and Technical Education and Skills USA gives high school
students empowering experiences and the meaningful
application of skills such as reading,
writing and mathematics,
as well as the development of skill USA framework skills,
including personal skills,
workplace skills and technical skills grounded in academics,
thus improving the quality of their education,
providing increased motivation to learn,
and giving all students leadership opportunities
and their career fields, schools and communities.
And Whereas, career and technical education
offer students opportunities to learn skills
and have career experiences that may lead to further education
or meaningful employment.
And Whereas, the cooperative efforts
of career and technical educators
working with business and industry
stimulates the vitality of our nation's economy
by preparing graduates for careers, forecast
to experience the large, largest growth within the next decade.
And Whereas skills USA is the number one workforce
development organization for students preparing
middle school, high school and college post-secondary
students, and technical skills
and career programs to be high performing workers.
Now, therefore, I, Kevin Sartor, mayor of the City of Surprise,
to hereby proclaim February 6th
and February 2nd through February 6th, 2026 as skills
USA week and urge all citizens
to acquaint themselves with the mission of skills USA
and to give support to the members who are working hard
to achieve the goals that will make them outstanding,
skilled workers in our community.
You mind if we get a picture?
I can I can give this to you, counselor.
You want to join us for that?
Thank you.
Are you taking anything here?
I'm just going
to here.
Yeah.
Jonathan. You could.
You knew that was which
we looked at.
And so I don't, you know, like.
Oh, I know.
All right.
Thank you.
Did you come?
With you one.
Hey, way to represent skills, you guys.
Good job.
Good job guys. Thank you.
Appreciate it. Now
thanks a bunch.
Yeah.
Absolutely. Yes.
You got it. You.
Here.
Just sharing a few words.
Perfect.
It is with great honor to accept this on behalf
of my personal chapter, as well as skills USA as a whole.
As a student leader, I always question
how can I empower my fellow peers?
How can I convince them that they too can be a leader?
I'm sure many of you are curious as to what skills USA is,
and I'm here to explain how this program alone
is the answer to my two previous questions.
Skills USA is the number one youth workforce development
organization with over 444,000 members nationally.
As mentioned, the purpose of this organization
is to ensure students are prepared
for careers in trade, technical and skills service operations.
Their mission is to, quote,
empower students to become skilled professionals,
career ready leaders, and responsible
community members, unquote.
If I told you that a year ago, I refuse to use my voice
and I wouldn't dare speak up for the good of my school,
would it be hard to believe me?
To help you all understand,
I'd like to begin by recognizing the previously
mentioned achievements of my film
and TV program within this past year.
Personally, I understood what my sole purpose was.
A senior chapter president,
I knew I needed
to give back to my computer
community that has invested so much into us.
And I knew I was going to utilize
every opportunity that came across me,
not just for me, but for my advisor,
my beloved peers, and the school in which I spent more time out
than my own home.
Now I stand here before you, overwhelmed
with pride for what we have accomplished.
I would like to ask again,
would you believe me if I told you that I would dare
not speak up for the good of my school?
A year prior to now?
I'm sure at this moment, most,
if not all of you are asking yourself
what was my turning point?
My change only truly began once I took part in skills USA.
This organization has taught me that I too can be a leader
and take that next step
and that any voice, no matter how proudly spoken or nervously
whispered, is a voice that is deserved to be heard.
Finally, as I end here, I would like to express
the importance of teamwork, diversity and involvement with a
not only a career and technical education program
such as ours,
but within everything practice in our lives,
within our schools, cities and communities.
Skills USA in CTE allows every student
from any background to become a leader. Thank you.
Thank.
You. Well, young
lady, I was going to give you one of my coins
because you did such a great job. I owe you one.
I don't have one of my my coins, but great job presenting.
Oh, wait. Karina has one. You got to.
You got to appreciate that. Okay.
One sack.
Is going down.
16. That's kind of Mr.
Omar.
He put a bunch of us.
I wanted that, but that's okay.
Here we go.
So you need a visor in the,
You can't find it on the challenge coin,
and I don't give them up for various reasons,
so you have to wait for them
right in front of the council for all these people.
Amazing. Yes, certainly.
For us on here says these not words.
It's something that I love.
I said talking about it could be anybody.
That's how you are in school. That's leadership.
Congratulations. And Cheering okay
I. Mrs.
Davis do you have a city manager report.
Thank you mayor Council members no reports tonight.
The item that is Agendize will be rescheduled
for the February 17th meeting. Okay. Thank you.
Thank you.
There are three items on the consent agenda.
Would any of the council members
like to pull in for clarification?
Hearing none.
I will entertain a motion to approve the consent agenda.
Motion to approve consent agenda.
I can't.
It's been moved and seconded.
Please cast your vote.
That's a unanimous vote, mayor.
Thank you.
Please read. Item four.
Item four Arizona Corporation
Commission update. Is.
Good evening, mayor and Council.
Today I have with me Arizona Corporation Commissioner
Kevin Thompson, who's going to provide an update
of what the SEC does, how they approach rate cases,
some of their recent wins over the last year
because they've had several
they're a lot of people don't know about.
So I'm going to pull up
his presentation and call him down. And.
Have him share the good news with all of you.
And Judy, thank you for coordinating this.
Yeah. You're welcome.
This is something that we haven't done in the past,
but thanks to you,
everyone will have the same update now.
Thank you.
Just a little spread.
Yeah.
Good evening.
Sir. How are you?
We broke it.
Oh. Oh, you got this better a moment ago.
You got to wing it, but I think it's.
Okay.
Good evening, mayor and council.
Thank you for inviting me to come
and speak about the Arizona Corporation Commission.
The Arizona Corporation Commission
is one of those entities that was founded.
It was founded at statehood.
Constitutionally, so we don't report to the governor. We
don't report to the legislature or the attorney general.
We report to the citizens that elected us,
statewide to represent them.
The main, focus of the Arizona Corporation Commission is,
really to regulate the non munic
Our primary function is, is that that's about 98%
of what we do appears to be, you know, Source Energy,
Southwest Gas, and about 220 or so private water
wastewater, companies across Arizona.
We also have a securities department
where we investigate securities fraud.
We also have pipeline and railroad safety.
Division.
So we inspect every inch of rail line,
across the entire state of Arizona.
We're responsible for all of the crossings at grade crossings
to make sure
that the lights are flashing, that the arms come down
when the train's coming, and so forth.
And then we also have a incorporations division.
So if you're an entrepreneur
and you want to start your business,
we will help, you, fill out your paperwork to become an LLC.
We don't regulate business.
We're only the filing, agency for that.
So the corporation commission, our mission is to power
Arizona's future.
As simple as that.
We we try to protect, ratepayers, during rate,
when when the utilities come in for a rate cases.
That's our primary responsibility is to ensure
that we have a reliable grid and the grid is both water, gas
and electric at the lowest possible price.
And we do, we take our job very, very seriously
at the commission to ensure that we're keeping our,
prices as low as possible.
Arizona right now is ranked
nationally seventh in reliability in the U.S.
compared to other states.
The, the Energy
Information administration.gov is the one that they're a big,
government entity in DC that, is kind of like the watchdog
and they, look at all the states and compare states.
And Arizona, as I said, was, ranked seventh nationally.
Over the last three years, we have had, no
major outages other than, well, we've had six major outages,
which is well below the, national average.
California, for example, had 145
major outages, Texas had 210, and Nevada had six.
And so, nationally, we're doing very, very good.
The nationwide average
for retail residential prices rose, nationally from,
roughly six points, or increased by 6.5% nationally.
In Arizona,
our rates over that same period only increased by 1.7%.
So we're doing our job to put the utilities
back in their lane, ensuring that,
that, we're holding our utilities accountable
and we're not letting them, spend frivolously on projects.
Their job is to produce power,
but the power in the,
in the transmission and distribution lines
and serve the ratepayers.
And that's what
we're trying to get the utilities back to doing.
Arizona ranked seventh for population growth
from from prior years, and the state's population
is projected to increase by 102% between 2000 and 2030.
Our infrastructure is aging.
And so,
with a aging infrastructure, as you know, with your water
and sewer lines,
you have to start replacing aging infrastructure.
Our rates,
previously were outdated.
They didn't really reflect the actual cost
of providing service.
And so,
we're working with our utilities to make sure
that they're updating their utility grid.
They're updating water, lines.
We have private water companies in Arizona,
some that have never been in for a rate for rate case,
which tells us that they're not investing in their utility.
We have some water companies that haven't
been in for a rate case in over 30 years.
So they're not really investing in their in their utility
to provide potable, safe drinking water.
Arizona's
generation is a diverse mix, primarily natural gas,
that fuels
most of our electricity across Arizona, with a roughly 46%
nuclear power is, out at Palo Verde.
That's about 27%.
Solar is about 10 to 13%, along with coal,
which is 7 to 8%, and renewable hydro wind, which is around 5%.
It's worth noting that both SRP and Tucson
Electric Power,
as well as APS, plan on converting some of their
existing coal plants.
There's three left in the in Arizona.
They're looking to convert those coal plants to natural gas,
so that we can keep those plants open and functional
for another 25 years.
We're
also, supportive of all of the above.
We believe that every electron that we can put into the grid
is what's going to help us keep the lights on in Arizona
during our summers.
And very few people know this last summer,
in Arizona, all of our utilities,
all three of our utilities SRP, DPI, and APS
hit back to back to back record days with the heat.
So they,
when it was 120 degrees here in the Valley,
every single day, the utility was breaking new records
and our lights never flickered, our power never went out,
and we were able to keep the air
conditioning on across Arizona.
This past year,
we did repeal the rest rules.
Those are the renewable energy standards and tariffs.
Those are rules that were put in place,
around 15 years ago that have cost our ratepayers,
to this point in time, over $3.2 billion.
Those were the mandates
that said the utilities had to produce a certain
percentage of their power using renewables.
What's happened over time is that our commission
has forgotten
about baseload generation and relied on renewables,
and the renewables have not, kept up,
with that baseload generation.
And so you're seeing our
utilities now to back, back off a lot of their commitments
on renewables.
And they're starting to reinvest in natural gas generation
to help keep the lights on.
We also are supporting our,
supporting consolidation of the water companies.
As I said, we have some companies
that haven't been in for 30 years,
to renew their or for a rate case,
which means they aren't investing in their utility.
Their, their leakage is is 30 plus percent leakage.
And that's water that the that the ratepayers
have paid for that's going right back into the ground.
And so, we're very supportive of supportive of consolidation
where you have a larger utility that will come in and purchase
the smaller utilities,
and they're reinvesting in those utilities,
bringing them up to, the standard for the day.
We've also eliminated a lot of the special interest
incentives and ratepayer subsidies.
Again, we believe that ratepayers that if you want
rooftop solar, you can have rooftop solar.
Don't make me pay for your rooftop solar.
And so, so we're eliminating a lot of the mandates
and a lot of the subsidies that have cost our ratepayers
hundreds of thousands, if not millions of dollars.
And, letting those utilities down on the on their own merits.
Data centers and large load customers
have become the topic of the day,
and it's no different for us at the commission.
We strive every day
to make sure that our lights stay on amongst all of this
high load, factors that are coming in.
We don't discriminate against projects.
So whenever we're looking
at, contracts, for example, we approved the Project
Blue, which was down in, Tucson in the Marana area.
We approved that project not too long ago.
That project was a data center.
We did not look at the data center.
The project itself.
That's your job as the local government
to deal with the ordinances and the land use issues.
All we look at is the electric piece,
whether it's a generation tie or whether it's a contract.
And, what we do is we verify and make sure that the contracts
that the utilities are putting in place
aren't going to impact our residential consumers.
And so we take that job very, very seriously.
We don't want to interfere with what your job is as
local government, because you are the government
that's closest to the people.
And our job is to really manage the power grid,
to keep an eye on that.
Renewables.
The commission,
it's something to note that a lot of people think
that the commission has authority over renewables.
The only authority that we have is on the generation
tie itself.
The, Arizona revised statute, title 40, gives us authority
and authority, as well as title or, Arizona Constitution.
Section 15, our authority, stops at thermal and hydro.
We do not have any, authority over, over non thermal.
So all of renewables, wind, solar.
We have zero authority over that other than the generation
tie itself where it ties
into the transmission lines coming into the valley.
A lot of people feel that or think that we have
that authority, that we can stop projects and we simply cannot.
That's again,
it goes back to local jurisdictions and your ability,
to to manage your projects and,
manage your ordinances and your city.
So with that, if you have any questions, I'll
be happy to answer.
Thank you.
Council. Any questions?
Councilman Hastings.
Thank you. Mayor.
Well, thanks for coming out and appreciate you.
I mean, you got your start on it. Was it?
The Mesa City Council
spent eight years on the Mesa City Council.
I've never heard a statewide elected official say that.
You know, you guys are a local government,
and you should be making decisions.
I think that's the first time.
But thank you for all you're doing.
I think that, sometimes, like, we overlook,
you know, the utilities and supposedly
the offensive lineman in a sense,
like you ever notice
when they're doing a good job, you only kind of
see them on the news if something happens.
And maybe that's kind of like it for all officials.
But I appreciate your work
and thanks so much for coming out here
and especially talking about the data center piece,
because I think that is new.
So is that considered is data considered a utility now
like in your umbrella that like what she regulator or
where where's that at.
It's not mayor council
council member Hastings.
It's not.
Again we we don't look at the project itself.
We try to do our best to manage.
You know, we've said
from the dais that development has to pay for itself.
So we're not going to put, the cost to serve a data center
onto the backs of our residential, ratepayers.
We've made that commitment,
and we're working hard to to live up to that.
But we don't manage.
I we don't manage data centers.
I know
there's a lot of legislation that's being ran this, this,
this cycle,
or this session where they are trying
to put regulations in place to manage AI.
Somebody out there needs to,
but it's not the corporation commission. Absolutely.
Well, you sure know how to go to draw a crowd to as well.
So I say you have a good night.
Thank you. Sir. Yeah. Thank you.
Yeah. Jokester over there.
And vice mayor. You were serious now?
Councilman. Free Ramos.
Vice. Councilman Milton.
Thank you.
Mayor.
Commissioner Thompson, thanks for
thanks for coming out to see us.
You're obviously your job is
the commission has a has a tough has a tough role.
As you as you pointed out, Arizona is doing
everything we can to keep up with our demand curves.
And it's, and you have to balance all of these things.
And I will tell you that
having, being observer of the ACC
all these years, I'm very impressed
with what you guys are doing.
I know that you're doing every tool you have,
to keep up that demand curve to be respectful
to the ratepayers.
But, having watching you, you know, promoting securitization,
promoting permitting reform, repealing these,
mandates, with the rules, the rest rules,
you know, doing what you can for energy conversion.
I really appreciate
I know what it's,
you know, on city council, we're doing everything
we can just to keep up with infrastructure.
Every tool we have, we are trying to we're trying to use.
And you guys are kind of similar
to every tool you have, how you're supposed to,
to keep up with our demand curves.
And I really appreciate it.
Everything you guys do at DCC, and I really appreciate
you guys coming down and and briefing on the committee.
So thank you.
Thank you. Mayor and council. Thank you.
Council member Melton.
It hasn't been easy.
It, it was, you know, when we first got into office
in January 23rd, the commission was in disarray, and,
we were dead last in the nation for regulatory stability.
That showed up in our rates because our utilities,
if you think about,
regulatory stability and the ability for our utilities to,
to go out and get capital for these capital intensive
programs, replacing poles,
replacing wires and so forth, and equipment,
transformers, pipelines, all of that takes capital.
And because our credit ratings were in the gutters,
our utilities were paying, higher interest rates.
It's no different than a consumer.
If you have bad credit,
you're going to pay a higher interest rate.
Our utilities were paying higher interest rates
a lot of people say so what?
Well, that interest rate is a pass through cost
onto our consumers.
And so, while you're paying 7% interest on, on several
hundreds of millions of dollars, that interest is compounding.
And our utilities, our ratepayers are paying that
by stabilizing our regulatory environment in Arizona,
we've actually opened up access to capital.
So now our utilities have access to cheaper capital
where they're only paying 2
to 3%
interest on, on the on those hundreds
of millions of dollars of capital,
which means it helps reduce our cost as ratepayers.
And at the end of the day, I'm
a ratepayer just like you're a ratepayer.
So I don't want my rates to go up.
My wife don't want my rates, our rates to go up.
She makes sure she reminds me of that all the time.
And so, again, we're working hard.
We've cut, since we were sworn into office in January 23.
We've got over $1 billion of waste out of our utilities.
That's a big deal.
That a lot of people don't talk about.
But $1 billion in waste that our utilities have been spending.
We've cut that out.
And hopefully that's going to show up as our, in our rates,
in the future.
Again, we use a test here in Arizona.
So the money that we're the rates that are set today
is money that the utility spent two years ago,
and they're just now starting to recover, that
hopefully we can minimize
these stranded assets that might be possible.
So yeah. Yeah. Exactly.
So, so again, thank you all for allowing me to be here tonight.
Thank you.
I'm going to thank you.
Thank you.
Madam clerk, please read item number five.
Thank you.
Item five presentation and discussion
pertaining to the f y 2027 budget kickoff.
Good evening, Mayor and Council.
Good evening, Mayor Simmons.
How are you doing?
You guys are stuck with me
for three presentations, I apologize.
All right.
It's important stuff for the budget.
We're looking forward to. Okay.
All right.
So we are here for our annual budget kickoff.
So what is the city budget?
This is where we take
limited resources and allocate them to maintain
our service levels.
We consider the budget to be all four of these items
financial plan, communications
device operating guide, and a policy document.
Everyone here at the city participates
in the budget process, and one way or another,
through the strategic plan that you guys help initiate
all the way through our staff.
Asking for their
needs and expressing those needs
and developing the budget.
We utilize council's strategic plan to ensure
we are maintaining service levels, but also
to ensure that we are able to expand or
create new programs and services as needed.
We are constantly evaluating operational demands
and reviewing and prioritizing needs versus wants to ensure
that we are in line with council goals and meeting
safety, compliance and contractual obligations
while prioritizing.
We recognize that everything we want to do is important,
while accepting that we have to allocate limited resources
to those needs and wants.
Something that we must be able to do is keep up with growth.
But what does that mean?
Increased population doesn't just equate to increased
revenue.
It also equates to an increase in demand on services,
which in turn means an increase to our expenses,
which isn't always 1 to 1.
Our top priority is to maintain
our current service levels.
So everything I just told you
has to fit in within our state requirements.
We have to follow Arizona Revised Statute title
42 to ensure that we meet specific deadlines by posting
forms and publishing documents accordingly.
The state forum is one of the most important forms
that is utilized in communicating
and publishing our tentative and final budget.
And here, this is just a quick outline of,
some of the rules we have to follow.
We also have very strict rules
when it comes to publishing the truth
and taxation notice for property tax.
This is a quick picture of what that posting looks like.
Again, with some rules that we have to adhere to.
Following state requirements,
we have to ensure that we are creating a balanced budget
that is structurally balanced
with our sources and our uses.
We do this by identifying what are one time versus
ongoing or in other words, consistent versus inconsistent.
For example, we know we will always have
personnel costs and local sales tax to pay for them.
While construction sales tax can be volatile.
Our capital projects are considered one time in nature.
Here is a high level
look at how we start and proceed through our budget process.
We do.
We start with continuous monitoring
our budget versus actuals, and we continue that through
every cycle of the process.
So now that I have explained the what the why in the how,
I want to remind everyone how the FY 26 budget is laid out.
Here is a summary of what is in our budget book.
Pages 26 through 29.
Our total 986 million and uses.
For the purpose of this slide,
we focus on the operating of 395 million.
And you can see those can be broken out
by category and fund type accordingly.
We also have capital debt contingency and transfers
out that we, monitor and maintain.
Taking the numbers a step further
to include capital and funding types.
This is how each set of funds are budgeted for a total of 788
million, not including contingency and transfers.
You can see that our enterprise funds
are 160.5 million.
Those include our water,
our wastewater, our stormwater, and our sanitation.
Our special revenue funds, grants, municipal court,
streetlight improvement districts,
highway user revenue funds, donations,
sports, entertainment and culture.
Those all are in our special Revenue fund, among others.
Our internal service funds are our employee health care,
work comp and risk management and our capital project funds.
Include transportation, public safety and asset replacement
to name a few.
Of that 788 million.
This is how we are investing into our functional areas.
Again, this is citywide.
This includes incorporating the support service functions
of HR, finance, I.T., communications, etc.
and to each one of these functional areas,
they're pretty well evenly spaced out with community
and economic development at 7%
and community services at 15%,
and so forth, so on.
What revenues support our citywide functions?
Almost 300
million are from taxes, local, state and property, and almost
200 million are from licenses, fees and charges for services.
The citywide charges for services category does
include our enterprise funds
along with our permitting,
engineering, parks, programs, etc..
Our next set of slides will break down
the general fund revenue and expenses.
The general fund makes up 29% of our total budget,
but it is within this area
that the majority of the city operates.
That is, since all the other funds
are restricted for a specific use.
Of the 231 million of general fund expenditures.
We are investing almost 60% into public safety,
and the remaining 40% is divided pretty equally across our
other functional areas.
Again, this
depicts, our internal support services of H.R..
IT, communications, finance, etc..
Again, how are the general fund items funded?
The majority of them are funded by taxes.
And in order for us to offer many of our community services,
we also have charges for services.
So you can see our local sales tax,
our state shared sales tax, income tax
and other intergovernmental and our property tax.
Those are the taxes. And then our charges
for services make up a good chunk of that.
The charges for services category
help offset a lot of the costs to have those programs,
the fees charged and the number of customers, participants
are the main drivers for this revenue category.
And economic outlook.
Where do we go from here?
What are we looking at for FY 27?
At this time it is still too early to tell.
There are approximately 500 bills
that may have an impact
to cities that are actively being looked at by our staff.
We are patiently waiting for further updates
from the state and legislation at this time.
Our budget calendar.
We have tonight our budget kickoff on April 7th.
We will be back.
For our department and operating capital overview,
kind of our recommended budget and May
5th will be our tentative adopted budget.
Any questions or comments?
All right.
Thank you for your presentation.
Council.
Councilman Haney.
Thank you. Mayor.
Any thank you for your presentation.
I, I know we're going to have you out
in some of my community meetings just because
I think, especially in northwest
surprise, we deal with a lot with roads.
And, we severely underestimate just how much it costs
for certain things.
And I and I was one of those folks
where I thought a road was a lot
cheaper than it was the traffic signal.
Everything has a cost.
And so having, the opportunity to break down the budget
for folks to see where, where is the city spending your money?
I believe that we exist as a service organization,
but those services cost money.
And I really appreciated you.
Kind of making the point.
A lot of folks say, hey,
we we're growing at a rapid rate,
which if you go in my district, you can see that.
But that doesn't necessarily mean that all of that growth
is just paying for itself, service wise.
And so I always tell folks that although we are growing
and you think, you know, the city's just,
hey, let's have the growth.
We are responsible providing services for those residents.
And those services cost money.
Public safety is very expensive, but it's critical
to keeping our community safe and so,
I appreciate
I know we're just starting this whole kickoff,
but my hope is that we continue to have presentations like this
that will give easily digestible
information for our folks so they can see exactly
where their money is going.
What are we prioritizing as a city
and how does our budget reflect that?
So I know it's a lot of information.
So I appreciate you,
condensing it down in a way that that folks can understand it.
And I look forward to our future conversations.
Thanks, mayor.
Well said. Thank you.
Seeing no other comments or questions.
Thank you. Okay,
so, Madam Clerk, please read item number six.
Item six presentation and discussion
pertaining to proposed updates
to the comprehensive citywide fee schedule.
All right.
Moving on to the next pack.
Okay.
Our citywide
fee schedule is something that we look at annually.
The purpose of our fee schedule is to recover the costs
associated with city programs and services.
We need these fees to help offset operating costs
with a balance of affordability versus sustainability.
They are examined and updated annually.
We adhere to statutes and policies to get us there.
I want to mention that our fees cover the entire city,
and that the majority of them
are cost recovery for our time and services.
For example, charges for services
are based on community versus individual benefit.
High individual benefit equals low general fund
subsidy to offset programs.
Parks and rec.
But not all Parks and Rec is supported by fees.
It is also subsidized by our taxes.
Not all programs are 100% cost recovery.
And Holly will be up here joining me
for our next presentation to go over our park programs
development services growth pays for growth.
Fees are a direct correlation of our costs for service
in compliance with state statute.
We have to issue a public notice for any new or increase fees.
A public notice is not required for lowering or eliminating
a fee or any text changes to that fee.
There are fees that are exempt
that won't be on our fee schedule.
Tonight, I am here to go over some of the updates that we will
be issuing the public notice for tomorrow, actually.
CDD has three new fees and amending
seven biomedical amending two
human services.
Community vitality has 16 new and amending for parks,
12 new, 12 removed amending two
and our water resource management
are removing ten.
But they're just going to the the rate schedule,
which is posted on their website.
I'm going to highlight what some of these updates
are on the next few slides.
One of the new fees for community
development is to allow applicants
to request an expedited plan review,
if they have a history of compliance.
This fees to recover administrative
and operational costs
that are associated with that expedited review.
This fee is being brought forth to align with Arizona
House Bill 2447.
Human Services and Community Vitality is implementing
a new program fee for the planned outings
and trips for senior center members and nonmembers.
One of park's updates to their fees is increasing tennis
court rentals to both residents and nonresidents.
Parks
is removing fees associated with group tennis
court rentals after 4 p.m., sticking with a single rate
per court regardless of time of day.
And community development is also making
updates to the name of two of their fees
to better align with their operations.
With that, the timeline.
Tomorrow we will post a public notice
with the new and updated fees,
and I will be back on April 7th for
you guys to take action on the updates of the fee schedule.
Any questions or comments?
Council
Councilman Hastings.
Thank you.
Mayor.
Could you go back to the side with the, chart on it?
I think it was towards the beginning.
Awesome. Thank you.
So I know, like, when I first start in this role,
you know, we would do this kind of every year
and you know, obviously fees,
you know, go up and it's not exciting.
But at the end of the day someone has to pay for it.
Right?
So if the person isn't paying
for the service, right, then we're subsidizing it.
And so especially when someone's paying for something
like club Swim,
which is beyond the recreation
swim or beyond swim lessons, it's just different program.
But you know, I, you know, a few years ago, I know last year
we took a look, I was like, okay,
if we're going to raise some, can we at least,
you know, go through and eliminate some too.
And so I think we eliminated
nine last year and this year's is 22.
And that's awesome
because even though on here you see
three for community development those are fees for developers.
And then as far as you know eight
if you're wondering what HSC,
the it's human services community vitality department,
we have a new resource center.
So that's just a
brand new building that doesn't have any fee schedule at all.
So we're kind of implementing that for the first time.
And then yeah, you know Parks and Rec is has 12
but they're getting rid of 12.
And then you know is you know a little different.
So I'm really glad the city is, you know, trying to work.
And so we're trying to,
you know, make life more affordable for residents.
Obviously we've been going on.
And so thank you for your guys's work on this.
I know I've,
you know, with fees I've,
I make a few calls and ask questions,
but it really seems like you guys have
done your due diligence and
and people are kind of getting what they're paying for.
So thank you. Thank you.
All right.
Thank you all said
thanks.
Okay.
Madam clerk, please read item number seven.
Item seven presentation and discussion
pertaining to Parks and recreation programs.
Do you want to spend
all you want to do?
You need to stand the whole time.
Okay.
I'm going to sit.
Please do.
Sandy has a brief 45 slide
presentation on Parks and Rec.
Sorry.
Good evening, Mayor and Council.
Good evening, Mrs. Osborne. How are you?
I'm wonderful. Good, good.
And so, just before you start, what one of the things I talked
to the city manager about, Miss Davis, is that,
you know, we have these programs and and we implement things.
And I don't think there was ever.
And I know the staff
does the review,
but it never really came to council as far as
is this program effective?
Are we gonna continue it I think for me or.
But I'm not gonna speak for the council.
But it's important that we review these programs
to make sure
that we're putting the money where,
you know,
where the residents want us to put money
and where the programs that they need
based on usage, all those different things. So,
Miss Osborne, I appreciate
you being the first one
to present,
but it's important that we do our residents
so that we do review all of our programs every year
through the budget process and, and,
make cuts where we have to.
Yes. Well,
that doesn't mean I'm
the first department to get cut it
just all right in the first department.
So wanted to make sure that was clear.
But we're going to go in just to talk about our budget
and go over our revenues, our expenses
and what we allocate those expenses for.
And, to council.
And Hastings Point is,
how do we come up with our fees and what is our balance.
So we'll go through that.
I'll be as fast as possible.
But also get my point across.
Okay. Here we go.
I'm going to start off with the budget.
So a FY 26 general fund expense
budget for Parks and Recreation is $17 million.
That budget is, broken out.
As you can see, park maintenance is our biggest portion, 32%.
There is very little cost recovery there, if at all.
And then we have our
aquatics and our recreation programs as such.
And Holly
will go into more detail on each one of these programs.
But this is
how the budget is broken out
and then charges for services.
Budget is 3.5 million.
So going back you see 17 million.
And we budgeted for 3.5 million cost recovery for them
this year.
And of that 3.5 million, 60% of that is within
their recreation programs.
And with that, I'm going to pass it over to Holly.
So what does that mean for Parks and Recreation?
We will never be able to move out of our parents basement.
We will always rely on the general fund for funding,
unless we start charging for each
one of these different amenities and we'll go through
and kind of talk about that,
but how we end up doing our charges for services,
we notice them
because if we're charging a service and city government
is charging, it's essentially a tax, right.
So we try to use our general
fund subsidies to benefit the greatest amount of people.
But then as we shrink into more of those special interests,
like we had talked about clubs swimming, then we go into,
okay, now you have to pay for 100% of those direct cost.
So case in point, a city park.
We get 0% recovery on the scale of the 3.5.
But adult sports you don't have to play adult sports.
It is a niche.
So they pay 100%.
And I do say direct costs so they don't pay the indirect
as far as like that staffing in that.
But they do pay all of the direct costs.
And we do go through our budgets every year and we try them up.
We try to bring
if we can bring in more money, that's good for us
because then we can expend more money.
We try to be as self-sufficient as possible, but again,
we never will.
Aquatics is another one where we we do bring in some money
more than our park services.
But open swim is something
that with especially with our new pool,
our numbers are 85,000 people go to our pools,
but our swim teams, we have like 400 our swim lessons.
We just try to cover our staff costs.
We'll try to get 30 to 50%.
So we do have a cost recovery model based on that.
So parks is 0%.
Then you have the greater good. Like our adaptive.
We try to make
some our swim lessons just to cover a little bit.
But it's never going to be 100% recoverable.
And we could make it that.
But your fees are going to be a lot.
But then you go into youth sports,
which is 50 to 75%, but then you go into adults
and rentals and that's 100% recoverable.
So that makes sense.
I will always look a quick while we're on this slide.
The park maintenance of 5% revenue here,
that is, for the maintenance of Marley Park.
So it is just it's like
less than $300,000, $211,000.
And it's the owner for the Marley Park CFDs.
So we can only spend on maintenance
and we can't spend it on staff.
So it's only for supplies and services.
Very fun facts.
So speaking of park maintenance,
we support over 700 field rentals a year.
These are just little fun facts.
You know how I love fun facts?
Our parks do playground maintenance remodels.
We to our lake quality.
We take care of, fish, animals, stock the lake with fish.
We have dog park maintenance, all of the turf maintenance,
the mowing, field repairs of all sorts. So,
of our parks, these are a snippet of all of them.
Our newest baby is McMeekin.
It used to be Oasis, but, we we gave you this one.
But kind of going into how we allocate these
and what this looks like.
This may be my favorite slide that I put in here.
We wouldn't have been able to get this data without our place
or AI software, so we're pretty new into this.
But you can see that surprise community Park
gets over a million visitors a year.
Like I said, it's
one of the top ten most popular parks in Arizona,
and that is up there with the Grand Canyon.
So we're doing something right there.
So 40% pretty close to the Grand Canyon.
Marley Park Heritage Park is,
second.
Then we have Dick McComb, then fields at countryside.
That's our newest one.
And then a sante.
It's very popular park and then Oasis Swim Center,
our newest one, and this is based on 25 data from placer.
There's some things that,
two Councilman's Judd's looking at me.
I wanted to talk about mCMC, and just for a nanosecond,
with getting the placer I.
Because the area mass is so big, because you did
such a wonderful job
of securing 3500 acres for the city and its residents,
we haven't narrowed down those parameters of the heat maps.
So we're getting permission from those.
So I do have an asterisk just to know that it is low,
but it's not that low.
That's just a certain percentage
that we could get the geo fencing around.
But that should increase.
So we'll we'll get that one.
But I did want to
put it on there because it is one of our newest facilities.
But this kind of goes to show of all of this
to almost 3 million visitors a year.
They're not unique.
These could be
they go to the pool and then they go to the park,
and then they go to the tennis center.
But this is just total
based on our placer I and our heat map.
So, just kind of give you a snippet
of our 165,000 residents that we have here.
They do enjoy our parks.
And it's evident in this, that we don't charge money for. So,
another thing that we have very low to
minimal cost is our special events
that are also very highly attended.
Backyard Bash is our newest one
that is our 90s throwback this Friday.
It's going to be 80 degrees and we're going to add
the other ten degrees and coolness.
That's a weather joke for you.
Because I have a tendency to rain out events.
That was just shameless, I know, oh, I have just one.
I have a debate in my house is a 90s, like,
fluorescent 90s or 90s like alternative 90s.
We're trying to figure out which.
And it could be 90s hip hop.
Like it depends on or grunge, like, who were you in the 90s?
There's no we're not 90s country.
Probably the best era of country ever.
I think people agree with me back here.
So we're it's it's a variety.
We're going to that's why we did a DJ instead of a band.
So we can get four non blonds and Tim McGraw playing
in the same four hours, but you can't get that in a band.
So saying you an interesting.
Okay. Back to 4th of July.
America's 250th birthday.
4th of July is one of our heavily attended events.
This year.
We have bigger, better fireworks.
Something really special if I can pull it off.
Which I hope I can, I might lose my job.
But Fiesta Grande is our fall fest with about 9000
Veterans Day, 8000 prize party,
14,000 per day, which is Friday Saturday.
So almost 30,000 collectively over that two day weekend.
And then sparkling surprise the month of December,
not including the surprise party weekend.
We had over 32,000 visitors at the community park.
So again, we don't charge a lot of revenue for those,
but those would things that would be easily cut
should you look at a budget.
But looking at the numbers, that's how we tried to
the cost benefit.
So it's Osborne? Yes, sir.
Hastings. Other question. Yes, sir.
No. I'm sorry.
I remember when Donna came up here.
I think when I first got on the council,
I think she might have showed us that,
you know, how do you measure recovery?
And we all say like.
Like we like to run government like a business.
But there are certain things that are a service, right?
We're not in the, you know, trash business to, to,
to make money or to take money from residents.
We're trying to offer that service.
And so the way it was described
me then, and I think what you're saying is,
you know, obviously there's certain things like,
Councilman, he's done a great job with helping kids
get some lessons. Right.
It's a huge benefit to the community
that we do try to, you know, I guess you could say subsidized
may cheaper because it's a it's a safety thing, you know, or,
you know, surprise party sparkling
surprise that the benefit there is just so much to me
that this kind of where it's measured.
Now, obviously, if you get back on the other side,
we talked about Club Swim
or this is sports and tourism, but VIP seats at the concert
versus like, you know, regular ones,
that is less benefit to the community,
less benefits to any member of the individual.
And so you would require for that a higher cost recovery.
And so I know I've, I've seen that in the past.
And so, we we appreciate the work you do.
And, you know,
if we were making money at the public pool,
we'd probably be charging a lot more.
So definitely.
But, yeah,
people can use the pool, but, you know,
you want to rent a room for,
you know, a birthday rental, something like that.
That's a little bit different, right? Right.
Absolutely awesome.
And for those of you guys who haven't been to a
sparkling surprise or surprise party next holiday season,
you guys should definitely come check it out.
You know, as I always say, my favorite title,
but I say that about so many things
that my team laughs at me all the time.
But that was my favorite. But the pools are my favorite.
But the Christmas is my favorite.
Puppies are my favorite.
I could go on.
I have lots of favorites.
So speaking of favorites, youth and adult sports,
I would say that this is a community favorite.
We have 16 different youth sports programs
which go into that's
two seasons, a baseball, two seasons,
a softball, two seasons, a basketball.
But in all those seasons combined, we have over
15,000 kids that are in our youth sports program,
where we talk
about trying to maximize our facilities.
We our team does an amazing job of trying to make sure
we can get as many kids in for as little fees as possible.
So to, Councilman's Hastings Point,
when you get into the club level,
you're spending a lot of money now.
So our volleyball program is $80 for eight weeks.
I'm not going to tell you
what I spend on my kids club
volleyball and mayor, I'm
not going to ask you what you spend on
your daughter's club volleyball, but it's a lot more than that.
But when you're paying for the coaches
and you're paying for the fields and you're paying for that,
the travel, that's where your fees go in.
Our job in recreation is the city is exposure
to give kids the ability to learn new skills,
to make new friends, to learn teamwork, to get along.
Those are social skills
that they don't always get in school
and to find their niche and find their sport.
So, our youth sports is huge and our staff does amazing.
We used to have, council member
that was a wonderful red shirt is what we call them.
Back in the day.
So, our youth camps and clinics are growing in popularity.
So summertime is good.
We have clinics on getting ready for school sports or tryouts,
refreshers, skills developments.
Then we have teen tournaments which are growing.
We have a wiffle ball tournament coming up.
We started doing a beach
volleyball tournament for teens, which is sold out.
And then our adult sports.
So you can see
we have 5000, 5000 people compared to 15,000 people.
You can see the difference of,
where we're putting our finances.
So we subsidize more for the youth, but not for the adults.
I'll just try to go faster.
Racket sports.
We have over 800 total programs of our tennis and classes,
so we racket ball is pickleball racket.
And then we also have pickleball
tournaments and tennis tournaments. So,
it's a little bit interesting because sports and tourism
does some of the tournaments.
And then we do the classes.
We're probably going to change that model.
If I haven't talked to you, we can talk after class
or maybe tomorrow.
But we have 17 pickleball tournaments
a year at our tennis facility where we have 25 courts.
So pickleball is all the rage.
It's huge, but tennis is still thriving.
And racket ball, those courts are full all the time, too.
Then our other side is youth, teen and adaptive.
So we have our summer camp break camp.
Those programs are 100% recoverable preschool program,
100% recoverable special, and two classes the same.
Special programs or not teen programs.
We subsidize and adaptive programs.
We subsidize. So,
going into that
aquatics and then that's another one of my favorite children,
swim.
I was a lifeguard when I was 16,
so I have to caveat it's my home, my right.
We have this.
So swim lessons.
We have almost
4000 kids in our swim lessons, which is a very big deal.
And thank you to mayor and council for making that happen.
We were at 1500 with almost 3000 on the waitlist
before we opened our new pool.
So, we definitely have made an impact on that.
We have over 500 participants in swim team, 8500 people
coming to our pools, our three pools that we have,
and then our special interest classes, 350.
So special interest classes, something
that's 100% recoverable.
Open swim is subsidized.
You can see the difference.
5085 what did I say? Million.
And I said 85.
I meant 85 million thousand to
get that one okay.
Questions I was fast I talked fast.
Did I do okay?
85,000,085 million people are here in surprise every day.
Or thousand. Which zeros are hard?
Oh, I almost
I just want to say thank you to you, your entire team.
What you provide for the city
is just an incredible thing for our residents.
I hear nothing but good things from all the events.
All of it.
And it's just, it's a treat to have it here in the city.
It's because of your effort
and your team's effort, and I am grateful for that.
So thank you.
Thank you.
Councilman, any
thank you.
Mayor Holley,
I do have a question and I have a comment.
So my question is and I apologize if I missed it.
Are we still getting a pretty
decent amount of attendance in those special
interest classes that we used to offer?
Are we still offering?
We're holding steady. Yeah, those ones are 100% recoverable.
Mine for the direct costs. Yeah. And yeah.
Look at it.
What? Where are we at?
It's on there somewhere. I skimmed past it.
Oh, there it is. 700 programs and 5000.
So it was similar to adult sports,
but we have more classes, so we'll have like a dance class
that only has like 12 kids, because you can only handle
so many three and four year olds at it to get it.
So and can you give us like a just a few examples of,
special interest classes?
I know you said dance, but there's a wide variety, right?
Anything you could think of that's not
involving a ball, really?
We have skateboards,
we have dance classes, we have tumbling is a huge one.
Cheer
martial arts.
Keep going.
Aqua aerobics. There's going to throw.
There's something for everybody.
Zumba dance.
We have a
I think we have a 90s or some new,
like 40 year old women that are awesome dance class
that like,
we can go back into the 90s hip hop
and without our kids around making fun of us
and like really jam out like we used to
so that skating in popularity to the 90s are back.
I would have been good to know
a few weeks ago I would have taken that
weekend. Yeah.
Thank you. Thank you for your presentation.
I, you know, we're a multigenerational city,
and I think it's so important that we're investing in these
programs, obviously, aquatics.
You know, Jack
and I got our start in aquatics, as you did.
And, but it's something that's super, super important.
We talk public safety, but we also have to talk about
making sure that we're keeping our kids safe.
And I don't want to get on my
soapbox about drowning and drowning prevention,
but a lot of the work that you guys do helps, helps with that.
And I'm so appreciative.
I mean, just
every time I hear that number, I just
I watched the video over
and over and over again because I still can't
believe you guys were able to accomplish that.
And I did have to
I had to
if I had to cast someone for a Parks and Recreation director,
I don't think you could find any better than Holly Osborne
here. So,
thank you for your part.
I mean, it's it's reflective on
not only
how hard your team works to put on all these events,
but we're really kind of the tip of the spear
on some of these major events
where we're getting folks from all across the state
to come to our city and experience,
just what, what we all love about it.
It's a reason why so many of us call it home.
And so thank you for your work.
Thank you for your passion that you inject
into these programs, because it wouldn't
be the same without you.
So we appreciate you.
And she was my old boss, so I had to get that in there.
So I'm not anymore though. But he did have to say that.
And Vice Mayor Greenberg.
Oh, thank you, mayor. I only have one thing.
Thank you for taking advantage of AI to give us better data,
because just better data we have, the better decisions
we can make. And that's
all I got to say.
Thank you.
Councilman Joe.
Thank you mayor.
Thank you. Holly, this is great.
So I love the parties.
I love the events that you put on.
And I love that we have nearly 3 million
people visiting our parks.
I mean, this really is this is all about quality of life.
And I think you're doing
a great job of subsidizing the ones that need subsidize
for the little guys running around
and then making the adults that still want
to throw a ball around, you know, pay their way.
As this is a budget meeting and we're working towards
what we're going to do next year with our budget money.
What do you have planned for McMeekin?
Do you have budget money in there?
What kind of things can we look?
I mean, one of the reasons the number is so small
is it's a space that needs to be activated.
So what's our plan? That. That's a hard.
Thank you, Councilman Judd.
I'm stalling to give Sandy
some time to think of a better answer.
I mean, not to throw under the bus.
We have a lot of things planned,
but it depends on how financially we end up.
So we have we have money to start the design process.
As you know, we're going through our Parks
and Recreation master plan right now.
That does encompass make and dam.
Once we figure out
we have a couple of geographical locations
where we're looking at budget permitting, we want to start
at least a 30% design to get us to the point, where
we could do a programable park and then also know the, the geo.
What is the type of topography?
Is that the word,
the topography of the land,
while we're doing our master plan
to figure out the most advantageous
and where we can actually do programable parks within that.
So that would be the design phase.
With McMeekin dam, we have a lot of it.
Is our park rangers coming up.
We would like to eventually start
more of an outdoor program,
but right now we currently are in the enforcement
and education as opposed to the luxury side of things.
Yeah.
And I think the idea I mean, we, I expect it to be a long time
before we can actually afford to build
a, build a proper programable park out there.
They're not cheap, they're hard to do.
And we're going to want
a lot of community input before we do that.
But it is a nice conservation area.
We'd like
to see some great outdoor, skills type things out there,
hopefully an archery range
on the outside of town over there,
so we don't have to go all the way
to Ben Avery for that stuff.
But really just some outdoor
focused nature type things would be great.
And again, it's
the the main goal of this is, is a conservation area.
So just giving people a chance
to get outdoors right next to the white tanks
and maybe even join up for the white thanks there
through Andy's property.
Yes, that is our plan.
Thank you. Timing and money.
Any other council members hearing?
None I appreciate thank you very much.
And thanks everyone for showing up for our parks presentation.
So we're going to move on
to the call to the public, portion of this meeting.
I have a brief statement I want to read.
I to here we go.
So before I open the call, the public,
I just want to thank everyone for being here.
I know many of you signed up to speak,
and I want you to know
that this council is here to listen to you.
So, hearing from residents is what really our our job is.
Listen here you
it's what makes our community incredibly strong. It.
If you haven't
filled out a request to speak, there's one in the back.
I encourage you to do so.
And then you just give that to our city clerk.
That way you can put you on the list to speak.
We want
everybody to feel heard and respected
and ask to remain kind and courteous to everybody
and follow the rules of decorum in this chamber
and throughout the entire process.
I understand that many of you are here
this evening to talk about
the recent purchase of the building and surprise
by the Department of Homeland Security,
and because there are
limitations on the council's ability to respond.
During the public comment, I want to share some information
just to have some clarity on on our stance
for the city was not aware of the
that the efforts were under way to purchase a building
that was secured by the Department of Homeland Security,
was not notified
of the transaction by any of the parties involved.
It's important to note that federal projects
are not subject to local regulation, such as zoning,
and although the
city cannot regulate the Homeland Security's purchase
or the use of the building, the council is
genuinely committed to hearing your thoughts and your concerns.
And so we're going to hear from people on both sides of this.
And I ask that you respect one another.
I don't want to hear cheering or clapping.
I know we're passionate about it,
but I don't want one person
to feel intimidated
regardless of what side of the aisle
you're on, we're going to listen to you.
And I think we just need to lower the temperature
and respect each other in this chamber.
And I appreciate that of you.
And we're here to listen and and I appreciate you,
Madam Clerk.
Thank you.
Mayor.
To make this go as smoothly as possible,
I am going to read out five names at a time.
So if I call your name and you're in this room,
if you would make your way to the center
aisle in the order that I call you,
and the same for the other room,
they will send those speakers forward,
and we'll just have to be a little bit patient.
The first five are Brant Peak,
Sarah Helgeson,
Catherine Faber, Hagen,
Alex, Chris
and Stephen Quebec.
If you could make your way to the center
when you get to the podium, please
state your name and cross streets for the record
window.
Good evening sir.
Mayor and Council members, thank you
for the opportunity to speak.
My name is Brant Peak.
I'm co-chair of Northwest Valley Indivisible.
I am not a resident of surprise,
but our organization includes many surprise residents.
And over the past year,
we have
held many peaceful protests and other events here in town.
Tonight, I want to be very clear about who we are
and how we show up.
Northwest Valley indivisible is made up entirely
of unpaid volunteers, including myself.
No one is paid to attend our
events, organize our actions, or speak on our behalf.
We show up on our own time at our own expense,
because we care about the Northwest Valley
and the issues that affect it.
I share this paraphrased sentiment
with one Minnesota protester, who recently said,
I got to get up in the morning just like everybody else.
I'm just here to stand up for community.
Northwest Valley Indivisible is firmly committed to peaceful,
nonviolent, weapons free protest.
That commitment is rooted
in the National Indivisible Movement's
nonviolence policy, and it is non-negotiable for us.
We plan with de-escalation in mind.
We set clear expectations for participants,
and we do not tolerate intimidation, threats
or weapons from our participants at our events.
Tonight, I want to clarify why we oppose
the proposed Ice facility here in surprise.
We support holding people accountable for their crimes,
whether they are citizens or immigrants.
We do not want to excuse or allow criminal behavior.
Our concern is that Ice cannot be trusted
to exercise their authority responsibly,
whether on the streets or in a detention center.
We do not trust Ice to distinguish between criminals
and non criminals,
between a violent offense or a misdemeanor.
We do not trust them to reliably uphold
the constitutional rights of citizens,
much less immigrants, documented or not.
And we do not trust Ice to respond to peaceful protests
like ours
with the professionalism and respect
that we have consistently experienced
from the surprise police department.
Based on ICE's recent conduct, we believe that
allowing this facility in surprise risks introducing
chaos and cruelty into a community that has worked
hard to maintain peace and safety for its residents.
But please know this
as Northwest Valley Indivisible responds to this situation,
we will continue to hold
to our standards of peaceful, nonviolent, weapons free protest
interest in this facility is tremendous,
and outside groups are already here to take action
if any plan to do so.
If any of those planned to do so in coordination with us,
they will be expected to follow the same principles
we do peaceful protest, nonviolence, no weapons.
And if they are unwilling to do that,
we will not partner with them.
We value our relationship with the city of Surprise
and the surprise police department.
We will continue to coordinate the surprise with surprise
PD in advance.
We will communicate clearly,
and we will express our appreciation
for the department's
consistent focus on safety and professionalism
as residents exercise their First Amendment rights.
We will continue being the kind of civic partner
this city has come to expect from us. Thank you sir.
Thank you Mayor.
Thank you mayor.
Vice mayor, Council members, thank you so much
for allowing us to come here.
I appreciate this council
of how you guys always hear what we have to say.
And I appreciate my fellow surprise.
The ants and those from, neighboring,
communities as well, that have come out
taking their time to come out here and express
our passion to you as well.
Mayor, I'm here to support our fellow law enforcement
who daily put on the uniform,
whether it's our police, our medical, our fire,
our nurses, our doctors, and yes,
even Customs and Immigration force, I support them.
They do a hard job and I am not going to impede on their job.
A well funded, a
well trained and a well supported law enforcement
is an essential part of our republic.
Whether it's our nation, our state,
or even right here in surprise.
And I've gotten to know the chiefs of both.
And they are professional and they are great.
And I appreciate the hard work that these men and women
who wake up every day, take up these shifts
and say, I will protect you.
And my prayer for them is that they go safely and return
safely back to their families, that I can support them as well.
I want to thank everyone that has come out here.
From what we've seen on YouTube and different,
news media, this isn't anything like that.
They have been very respectful from both sides.
They have been here and saying, I will support
whether this cause or that cause in a very respectful manner,
and I hope that this is going to be
the way it should be for all communities.
Mayor,
vice mayor, council members.
This is a great republic, and I hope
that we can continue another 250 years.
Thank you very much.
Thank you sir.
Before you start, I'm going to read the next five.
The next five are Lisa Everett,
Michael Chester, Kelly.
Vote.
Bhavani I
I Connie, I hope I said that right.
Ricky. Hi, Tara.
Okay, you can begin.
Thank you.
Good evening, Mr. Mayor.
Men and women of the council
and any distinguished guests who have left out.
Thank you for the time to talk about this controversial topic.
The ice warehouse.
I support the police and ice.
These men and women have a job to do to protect us.
They, like all of us,
want to go home and see their families after work
in the last four months.
Here is an example of a few states
and the number of illegal aliens who were deported.
Texas 17,000.
Louisiana 7000.
California 6000.
Florida 4000, Georgia 4000.
West Virginia 650.
And Maine 200.
I bring these numbers up because while they are
all substantial, all are without incident
because people living there and the local police
worked with ice and ice, went in,
arrested them and left.
My hope is
we are all neighbors here in surprise, and
I hope we would work with Ice and with our local police.
So they can do their job.
To my knowledge, we do not know yet
if this facility is to store their equipment
or to temporarily house
or to temporarily house illegals
before deportation.
But either way,
why are some people against it?
I can't answer that question.
We can.
One second, sir.
I asked at the beginning of this.
We're going to respect each other.
I know that we have we have passion about it.
I know we got some claps, but we need to really respect it.
Give this man his time.
Like we're going to get you your time
and we're going to respect each other
and the way that we approach this.
So I appreciate your candor
and letting everybody
speak their piece and and letting everybody say
what they need to say.
So so I'm going to give you we'll go ahead and continue.
We pass the time.
Thank you, Mr.
Mayor. But.
It's actually a great location.
It's not interrupting our daily lives.
It's not in the middle of our city.
I fear that the reason for this anti-choice sentiment
is because many protesters have the attitude.
These people are our neighbors, but are they?
The minute they come across the border
and step foot in our country, they're illegal.
In fact, the current administration
has offered them to leave now voluntarily,
and they have a chance to return.
In closing,
I am a God fearing man.
I will pray for the mayor
and for the council members
to do the right thing for our community.
I will also pray for Ice to get their job done
and go home safely,
so we can all go back to our lives here in Arizona.
God bless you all again.
Good evening mayor.
Council,
thank you for giving me the opportunity to speak tonight.
I appreciate the time
you've set aside for residents to voice their concerns
about the proposed 1500 bed Ice detention
facility, planned near nine schools.
I understand and want to acknowledge
this project is not under your jurisdiction,
but this is still something.
Is this is an appropriate place for us?
For it?
Is it a place that we want to put a detention center?
This is not a Democrat or Republican issue.
It is an issue about human dignity.
I stand for the dignity of life
in all of its forms the unborn victims of crime,
those on death row and immigrants.
Dignity does not depend on someone's legal status,
political affiliation or where they were born.
It is either value that we hold consistently
or it is not a value at all.
Immigration and Ice enforcement
have become deeply polarizing topics.
The media often pushes people towards
the most extreme positions as if there are only two sides.
But most Americans do not reside in the extremes.
Most people are in the middle.
I believe in borders and laws and they believe,
and I believe in basic humanity and decency.
I respect the First Amendment right of all of those
who protest and I also recognize that Ice agents are doing
the job that they signed up to do under federal law.
Two things can be true at the same time.
I have legitimate concerns
about this building being in surprise.
It's going to have a negative effect
on our community, as it already has this evening.
I have heard there are
hundreds and hundreds of people outside of this room.
It concerns me that undue
attention is being brought to our city.
My prayer is simple that people take their concerns to those
who actually have the power to make a change, right?
Your members of Congress, right where US Congress, Senator,
let them know that you are not okay with this.
But more importantly, we need to pass the Dignity Act.
The Dignity Act is in committee right now,
and if that were to be passed, this would be a moot point.
We want our country to return to being that shining
city on the hill.
One that enforces laws, protects communities,
and never forgets the dignity of every human life.
Thank you ma'am, thank you.
The next five speakers
Samantha Hooley, Shannon Rayburn,
Sonia Ramirez.
Lynn Peters,
Christopher Grams.
Do we know if they're coming from the overflow room?
I'm checking.
I'll read the next five.
And if they come in, we'll know.
There.
Colleen Pullman,
Diane Eden Giordano,
Alexandria in.
Stephanie Boehm.
Anybody?
Okay, we might have two coming.
Okay.
And if you have somebody sitting next to you that stepped out
for whatever reason and they come back,
we can put them in line as well.
If they call their name.
Can we keep reading?
So I'm going to continue.
Carrie.
I'm sorry, is there someone,
please state your name when you get to the podium.
Okay?
Okay. Hey.
Christopher Grams.
Good evening sir.
There. Councilwoman. Mayor.
Good. Here.
Tonight
I come to you to speak
about the current and concerning situation regarding the $70
million purchase of a facility down by DHS and Ice
as American citizens,
whether you were born here or come here, does that matter?
As citizens of the USA, we have to demand
expect complete transparency from our elected officials.
We deserve to know what plans are for this facility,
how it will affect not just the price, but all of Arizona.
I urge you to work in the best interest of everyone
and not just here, but also the rest of you in those states.
Our neighbors, queens and friends who come here
and hope to come and deserve a better life in the United States
that's welcoming to all and for everyone.
I would like to end with this quote from the Constitution.
We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men
are created equal.
Thank you sir.
Next, next.
I have names Erin Jones, Alexandra Sullivan,
Lawrence, Julian,
Christina Dunham,
Alexa Poulter.
Please state your name when you get to the podium.
Good evening.
My name is Alexandria mullin, and I'm here to speak about
the new Ice detention center on Desert in Sweetwater,
purchased from the Rockefeller Group
for $70 million in cash on January 23rd.
The new center is a warehouse facility
being turned into a center with 1500 beds.
Just a second drive from Dysart High School, my alma mater,
and a minutes drive from right here.
The City of Surprise said they were unaware
of a new facility being built in our city.
And meanwhile, DHS says they expect it to be up
and running by April 2nd months to convert a warehouse
with no infrastructure to a death camp
a camp I believe will have at least double the 1500 beds
we were informed of
based on the pictures of facilities across the nation.
How will they manage to convert a building meant
for laborers to a building housing over a thousand?
That is a major difference in sewage lighting
and especially air conditioning
in these upcoming summer months.
Not only does this new facility pose a moral dilemma
for some of the citizens here who have watched our brothers,
sisters, friends and neighbors be stolen away,
but it causes a multitude of issues for those who live close,
one resident said.
When interviewed by 12 news.
They dread the crowds of protesters.
I imagine they would also dread the sounds of trucks in and out
day and night, and the sounds of detainees
screaming for help like we've seen in
so many detention centers, including in Eloy, Arizona.
I'm terrified that the detention center
will begin to target
the 60% Hispanic population at Dysart High School.
Once again, my alma mater,
and the children are terrified as well.
Last week,
over 40 schools in the valley
stood up to show their solidarity
for those abused and kidnaped by Ice,
not only here but across the nation.
These children are smart, fiery and our duty to protect.
We can protect them from increased profiling,
increased police presence
and heartache by stopping this when we have the chance.
Does the council not wish to have known of this camp
before it was purchased? Does the council not wish
to know of the plans for their land?
Please show the community your strength and solidarity
and stop this.
Thank you.
Thank you again.
I need to ask you to not
clap or cheer or boo or whatever it may be.
I know that you want to,
but I don't want anybody to feel intimidated, regardless
of the side of the issue that you're on.
Everybody needs a chance to be heard
without fear of intimidation.
Ma'am.
Good evening.
Good evening, mayor and council members.
My name is Alexa Colter, and I've been a resident
of surprise for the past 26 years.
I currently live near Grand Avenue and Rheims Road.
I'm here tonight to speak about my grave concern
for our community,
as Immigration and Customs Enforcement recently purchased
their massive warehouse space last week
near the intersection of Dysart and Cactus Roads.
According to its recent statement,
the City of Surprise was not aware
that there were efforts underway to purchase this building
and given the current context
of other cities such as Portland, LA,
Chicago or Minneapolis, it is wildly irresponsible
that the city failed to work
either on its own or in coordination
with other nearby governmental agencies,
to strategically plan for our community's needs.
Given the current agenda of this presidential administration,
Ice is above the rule of law.
Vice President Vance has publicly stated
that Ice agents have federal immunity,
meaning their actions go without consequence.
There is documentation of Ice
aggressively and violently approaching
people in every area of their communities
cars, homes, schools and businesses.
There is also documented evidence of retaliatory
violence against Americans who are peacefully protesting
and organizing in their communities
to protect vulnerable populations,
and this is not political conjecture,
inflammatory platforming, or alarmist rhetoric.
There is qualitative data from the federal government
that affirm these realities.
Federal judge
Judge Patrick Schultz wrote in a January ruling
that Ice had violated
conservatively 96 court orders in January alone
regarding the release of detainees,
federal Judge Fred Bieri wrote in a January order
that in his specific case, observing human behavior confirm
that for some of us, perfidious lust for unbridled power
and the imposition of cruelty in this quest knew no bounds
and are bereft of human decency and the rule of law be damned.
And yet,
despite this evidence of authoritarian power,
it is possible for even the most local forms of government
to take a stand in the name of the people.
In January, the Kansas City City Council passed an ordinance
banning non municipal detention centers for five years
to protect their city from this exact situation,
our city found its best course of action
was to have no course at all
to simply folded hands and say, how could we have known?
But it was your job to know and it was your job to plan.
Our community will forever be altered by this course.
I currently have no call to action or
recommendation of the council.
It did feel
vitally important though, and in America, and a surprise
that are very clearly for some
and not all, that I use my privilege
to hold this Council accountable for this failure.
Each of you ran for public office
to serve every human being in your jurisdiction.
As public servants, you do not get to selectively choose
who to serve.
Depending on your personal politics or platforms,
you have a moral and ethical obligation
to defend every life in our city.
And the reality is that people under your care
are now incredibly scared and incredibly unsafe.
For people
who are most vulnerable
to the actions of Ice,
I want to be sure they know there are people
in their community
who will use their privileges to advocate for their lives
and the dignity and compassion they deserve as human beings,
as a group of people with a great amount of power
and privilege as leaders of this city,
I implore you to catch up and do the same.
The lives of people in our city
will literally now depend upon it. Thank you.
Thank you.
So do
you state your name when you get to the podium?
Good evening.
My name is Samantha Cooley and I do not live in surprise,
but I am a resident of Phoenix and I am a rapid responder.
When the community reports that they've seen Ice activity,
I go out and I try and videotape and record and report
what's happening. It's upsetting.
It's awful.
They treat people horribly.
One of my own family members was detained by Ice.
He was here on a visa
and also had a permit to travel anywhere in the United States.
I took him and detained him for three days.
He was taken to the field office.
It was supposed to be a 12 hour hold,
and instead of using the field
office as that 12 hour hold, they kept him for three days.
They knew he had a visa.
They fed him occasionally a bean burrito,
maybe twice, sometimes three times a day.
They are deplorable conditions
that no one should have to live in.
They're keeping people in these temporary holding facilities
for up to 43 days with no showers,
no brushing their teeth, no beds, and the fact
that they want to build a 1500 bed
property here, it's disgusting.
I am helping a family right now. Who?
The father is taken on Christmas Day.
I met the daughter at the field office
when she was looking for her father.
She's 16 years old.
He's HIV positive,
and he takes medication that he has to take every day.
ISIS would held his medication for seven day periods,
and when we finally are able to get him his medication,
they'll give it to him
for 30 days and then they withhold it again.
This man has no signs of HIV yet.
When they don't let him take his medication, he gets signs of
he can get the symptoms. I also am
working with the family of Yori who has leukemia.
Ice has given her Advil instead of giving her
the chemotherapy treatment she needs.
I have a
list here of 50 people that have died in Ice custody,
most of which is because of the lack of care.
And I would hope
the city is surprised, does not want to have
this kind of blood on their hands,
and would actually say no to this and figure out a way
to stop this facility from being built.
Thank you.
Madam clerk, can you call a few more names, please?
Yes, I'm going to call five more Kendall Strobel,
Vince, Manjula, Jennifer Woods,
Donna Bruns e John.
Manila.
Weiser. State your name, please.
I'm John Manila.
I live 15 minutes south of here, right down Dicer.
Mayor and city council, thank you for
having public comment tonight.
I appreciate that.
DHS says that Ice is going after the worst of the worst.
This is their words, right?
The worst of the worst.
Pedophiles, murderers, gang bangers, psychopaths.
The absolute worst of the worst.
So I ask you, why are you allowing them to houses?
Worst of the worst. Right next to Dysart High School.
There's a building, right, bordering this facility
that has, cheerleading studio where little girls go to learn
how to do cheerleading and tumbling.
You're allowing the so-called worst of the worst to be housed
right there.
I do say allow, because other cities
are successfully fighting back against these facilities.
So I ask you, either
they really are the worst of the worst,
and you're doing a disservice to the children of surprise
by allowing them to be right next to them.
Or DHS is lying.
And either way, we shouldn't have a jail right here.
Not in my backyard.
And I would certainly not.
I think you need to do something.
There's plenty of things that you can try,
such as getting an environmental review.
You can petition our representative.
You can go to our senators, ask them for an inquiry.
You can fight back.
You can do something instead of just sitting here and saying,
no, I imagine if this was a homeless shelter
or a mental health center, you would find a way to stop it.
He would pull out all the stops.
He would go to the tomes of English common law,
dust them off and try to find
some appendix in there to make sure that you didn't
have to build this building.
Well, just pretend that it's that and put a stop to it.
Thank you very much.
Hey. Good evening ma'am.
Good evening, mayor and council members.
My name is Jackie Salas.
I'm a proud Latina American, a parent, and a long time
resident of surprise, Arizona.
I believe in our community,
and I'm here tonight to respectfully ask
that the City of Surprise not allow an Ice detention
center to be built or operated in our community.
My family and I choose surprise because it's a place
that values safety, family, and opportunity.
It's where we're raising our children,
building our lives, and investing in our future.
As a parent, I think deeply about the kind
of community my kids are growing up
and, and one of the main reasons
we live in this city and chose it,
not just what it looks like today, but what it stands for.
An Ice detention center does not reflect
the values that brought many of us here.
These facilities are not just buildings, they are.
They impact real people and real families.
Across the country,
detention centers have raised serious concerns
about conditions, medical care, prolonged
detention of individuals without clear timelines,
regardless of political views.
Because this is not about politics.
Human dignity should always come first.
As a Latino American, immigration is personal for me,
but as a parent and a resident, this affects everyone.
Facilities like these create fear
and communities fear that keeps parents
from attending school events, neighbors from reporting crimes,
and families from fully participating in civic life.
That park and surprise that we spent so much money
and that you guys just talked about
how much money is spent there will no longer be full.
None of us will feel safe.
None of our children feel safe here.
That fear does not make surprise safer.
It weakens the trust that strong communities depend on.
And many of us choose surprise
because of the sense of community
that we feel as we walk through the streets
with our children and play in the playgrounds.
I am also concerned about the message,
the sense to our children.
What are we teaching them?
If we normalize the detention of families
as an acceptable form of development?
Surprise should be a city that invest in projects
that bring people together, strengthen
our economy, and reflect compassion and responsibility.
I urge you to not only listen to me tonight,
but everybody that has signed up to speak
and all the people that are peacefully protesting outside.
I urge you not only to listen to that,
but also you need to deeply care about the generations
to come in this city.
Please choose development that aligns
with our shared values, our safety, our unity
and respect for all families who call surprise home.
I want to thank you for your time
and thank you for listening.
But most of all, we are begging you to hear us
to not allow this to happen to the city
that we are also proud to live in. Thank you. Thank you.
Just one moment, ma'am.
Before you start, I'm going to call a couple more names. Okay?
Just one moment.
Randy Carnet,
Olivia Lozano, Lisa Brinkman,
Nancy Stevens, Matthew royster.
Okay. Please state your name.
Good evening, mayor and council.
Jennifer Woods.
I live at, resident Cactus and Rams.
I want to be very clear.
I'm not a paid protester.
I'm not a shell.
I'm a daughter, mother, wife, a neighbor, a small business
owner here in surprise and a disabled veteran.
My family and I first moved to surprise in 2005.
We followed my sister,
who moved here in 2000 because it was a beautiful city.
City had a lot to offer. It was up and coming.
They entice us with families.
Families move here.
It was booming, full of promise.
Spring training tickets were still $5 for grass seats
and like many of us, we were sold on the vision of prasada.
Even back then.
The vision faded for a while,
but we stayed and we stayed and stayed.
We built a life here.
Multiple Goodwill's, Burger Kings and finally Prasada.
And I do have a bone to pick eventually with somebody
who planned the parking lot that isn't there.
Mayor, I
met you and your wife at Home Goods right before the election.
We even had a sign in our yard for you.
You looked me in the eye at that time,
and you said you would listen to all sides.
Both sides.
Didn't matter which side anybody came from,
that you would make informed decisions and you would do
what's right. You would do what's right for the city.
You said you would be out and about in the community,
talking to people and hearing everything
that we had to say, regardless of what side we were on.
And here we all are.
We are here coming to you.
The building of cactus and desert.
It's a inhumane operation.
It's about
to put surprise on the map and not for spring training,
not for the beautiful year round the weather,
for this, for this blemish on our city.
And who's standing up here for desert?
I'm sorry for El Mirage,
because this is just as much
in their backyard as it is, and ours.
Our kids are scared, our neighbors are scared,
and our community is divided even more now than before.
This will be the history that our grandchildren learn.
Your names will be attached to it.
Mayor Schaefer, she would be absolutely appalled.
She worked tirelessly so families will feel safe here
through community projects, diversity, inclusion
and connection, not fear and not division.
You may think this moment will pass quietly, but it won't.
Mayor Schaefer has been gone for many years,
and I still stand here
speaking on behalf of her name with absolute respect,
because she was a true community leader.
People remember her and they will always remember this.
We have fallen as a nation when we allowed this
to happen in our cities, in our own backyards,
we have neighbors who complain about the HOA fees,
but yet they are welcoming ice with open arms.
Not me.
And I refuse to look away with the rest of my time.
I would like to honor the men and women
who have lost their life,
their lives to Ice, people killed over power trips,
rage and unchecked authority.
I will be watching and I like to think surprised
is a pretty good place to raise families and live.
Thank you. Thank you.
Can I ask?
Good evening.
Council members, city staff and neighbors.
My name is Kendall Strobel.
I'm in the fourth district.
Before I begin,
I want to be honest about something
I am terrified of public speaking.
I don't seek out microphones or podiums, but standing here
tonight is far outside my comfort zone.
This issue is too important, too
urgent for me to let my own discomfort get in the way.
I am here because this proposal is not just another line item,
it is a direct threat to the well-being
of our families, our neighbors, and the future of surprise.
The plan to build an Ice detention center on West
Sweetwater is something I cannot
and will not stay silent about.
Not as a resident,
not as a mother,
and not as someone
who has seen firsthand the cost of human detention centers.
I do not want to raise my children
ten minutes away from a facility that brings trauma, fear,
and heartbreak into the communities around it.
I refuse to normalize the idea that suffering is something
our kids should grow up watching from their backyards.
That is not the world I want for my family,
and that is not the world this city should be building.
And the concerns here are not hypothetical.
They are documented,
they are measurable, and they are real.
National data shows detention centers bring increased traffic,
increased enforcement activity, an increased strain
on emergency services, often without compensation,
that matches the burden placed on the local systems.
Studies also have shown that property values within a one
mile radius between have dropped between 6 and 10%.
That affects
our local homeowners, families
and the long term economic health of our city.
Detention centers do not make communities safer.
There is no evidence that placing a detention
facility near neighborhoods reduces crime
because the people detained are not local offenders,
many are asylum seekers or individuals awaiting hearings.
So the question becomes why should surprise absorb the risk,
the cost and the consequences
of a facility that offers us nothing in return?
I grew up in a
diverse community shaped by incredible immigrant families.
When we moved to
from a small town in Washington to surprise Arizona,
it was because I wanted my children
to grow up with the same richness,
surrounded by people
from different backgrounds, cultures, and stories.
And I know the human reality behind these centers.
My uncle is an immigration lawyer.
I watched him spent years fighting for people seeking
asylum,
people working tirelessly for a better life for their children.
These were not criminals.
These were family
parents who would give anything to protect their children.
So when I hear that a detention center
is being proposed in the heart of our community, near homes,
schools, small businesses, I can't accept it.
And I know I'm not alone.
Look around this room. We are here because we care.
We are here because we see what's at stake.
We are here because this is our city.
And we will not let the federal
detention facility redefine who we are.
If this proposal moves forward in any form,
the Council has a responsibility to use every tool available
to protect its residents.
That means refusing to partner with or fund private
detention operations operators through the city contracts.
Can I finish my little.
Thank you, ma'am?
Okay.
Good evening.
Good evening, Mayor and Council.
My name is Donna Brodsky and I live near the intersection
of Bell and Rhames.
First, I want to thank you for accommodating
on the speakers tonight.
It's a long night for everyone, but
everybody needs a chance to be able to be heard
tonight.
I'm here because I'd like to.
I'd like to urge you to oppose the proposed facility.
And because I believe we share the same goal
to protect the character and safety of surprise.
This facility is planned within two miles of at least six
public and private schools, and maybe more, because you
you get different information when you Google it.
This isn't just a federal policy issue.
It's a land use and public safety issue that directly
impacts our students and our neighborhoods.
Well, I understand
the federal Supremacy Clause issue exists.
I believe this council can be
our strongest advocate, and I'm asking you to stand
with us by exploring every tool in the municipal toolbox.
For example, a few possible tools
might be lead with transparency.
Use your platform to demand that the Ice provides full
operational plans for residents, aren't left in the dark
to strict oversight.
Require
rigorous environmental traffic infrastructure impact reviews
anything that would help us know what they're going to do.
That's a that was designed as a warehouse, not as a
housing facility.
A roads and public safety resources
belong to this community, and we must know how
this facility will train them, will strain them
and principal partnership,
commit to not using any city contracts
or local tax dollars to subsidize the facility
and the operation of this detention center.
Lastly, we are not alone in this.
Other jurisdictions around the country
country are investigating ways
to reject the Ice facilities in their jurisdictions.
According to the El Paso Herald Post, on February 2nd,
the City of Orlando, the State of New Mexico,
Kansas City and Oklahoma City are all researching and
or attempting various actions to bypass the Supremacy Clause
and to stop potential Ice detention facilities.
Perhaps surprise could collaborate with
some of these jurisdictions.
We know you weren't given a seat at the table
when this project was planned, but you have the power
to pull up a chair right now.
Let's work together to ensure
that the safety of our schools and the integrity
of our neighborhoods remain your top priority.
Thank you.
Thank you for.
Where you begin, I'm going to call for.
Hold on one state.
Ma'am, can you get Karina in the back?
I'd like to meet with you, please.
After an a day or two. I've got it.
Okay, okay, okay.
Thank you.
Thank you
for the next five.
Names are Linda Landry, Gail
Manahan, Natalie artista,
Cassandra Harbin, Stacy Jones.
Thank you. Please state your name.
My name is Yolanda Rose.
I'm from Buckeye, but I show up here and surprise me.
Ma'am, please don't normalize by hate
and violence against innocent human beings.
Don't put detention centers in our community.
What we are witnessing today is not law and order.
It is a violation of it.
Over 40 innocent people have been killed
by Ice agents across our nation,
kidnaping and detaining innocent human beings
from their homes, cars, cars, schools and workplaces
based solely on how they look is illegal.
It violates existing federal and state laws,
and it violates the United States Constitution.
Racial profiling
has no place in a nation that claims to value justice.
Immigration laws were created
during the era of chattel slavery,
when only free white persons were allowed to become U.S.
citizens.
For more than 200 years, immigration policy
has been shaped by racism designed to endanger, exploited,
criminalized, and exclude nonwhite innocent human beings.
The Constitution is clear.
The 14th Amendment,
section one, guarantees equal protection under the law.
The Supreme Court affirms this in equal versus Hopkins
ruling that any person, whether present
any person, lawful or unlawful, temporary or permanent,
is entitled to constitutional protection.
Marginalized communities are labeled as criminals
when the true worst of the worst are rarely held accountable.
The worst of the worst are the masked men and women
roaming the streets shooting innocent people, doing the mall
time, billionaires dirty work, mass deportation.
It's not about safety.
It's about racism, ethnic cleansing,
profit for the greedy investors in Geo group and core civic.
The most dangerous criminals in our society
are the extreme wealthy and powerful
that Epstein class of multi billionaires
who exploit people with near-total impunity.
Their power allow them to influence
legislation, manipulate the judicial system
and dominate the news media and social media.
They shape public narratives while avoiding
responsibility for immense harm.
Justice cannot exist when the Epstein class
of the most powerful billionaires are in control.
Some laws are unjust
and just as the man's not blind obedience to them,
but the courage to change them in pursuit of a better future.
Abolish Ice.
Thank you very.
Touched him.
He says. Interesting stuff.
Yeah.
Madam clerk, we're going to take a recess
now for the last time and for about ten minutes.
Okay.
Before you call more names, you got it.
Please state good, sir. Yes, sir.
Good evening. My name is Matthew Reisner.
I appreciate your time here tonight.
We're not talking about normal law enforcement.
Normal law enforcement follows the rules of the United States,
the Constitution, and is accountable.
We're talking about the creation of a police force
similar to what Nazi Germany had in the 1930s,
with its total disregard to the citizens of the country
that they're supposedly protecting.
Surprise is about to become an experience,
the biggest public safety crisis in its history.
You're going to become the epicenter
across the southwest and further of huge protests,
thousands of people opposed to the violence
that Ice is using against people and the disregard
for the constitutional rights of all people
living in this country, both citizens and non citizens.
It will likely spark violent clashes.
Anon citizens, I'm sorry, I apologize.
It will likely spark violent clashes and more potential
killings, murders and detentions of innocent people
trying just to exercise their constitutional rights.
While it may be the case, possibly that there is nothing
that you can do to hold off
federal.
Agency wanting to come in,
what you can do, and there must be something
you can do to slow down the process
and put some impediments in that pathway.
At the very least, what you can also do
is to pass a resolution stating on record
that you all oppose this facility
that is proposed for the town of surprise.
What I lastly do want to say though,
this detention prison center does not belong in
anybody's backyard, any place in the United States.
I should be disbanded.
And anything this board does in support of this,
or not doing anything to impede Ice
is supporting them by your silence.
Thank you. Thank you sir.
Okay,
mayor and members of the council, I'm Eugene Hunt.
I'm a resident of surprise.
I live in a son village.
Bell and son village.
I'm an architect and a planner.
I have an active practice, and I have a past experience
in correctional facilities, and my,
want to address you tonight because I think this is an
inappropriate location for this type facility.
They're talking about
one of the busiest intersections in the city.
A surprise.
It it's also a building that wasn't designed for this
purpose.
It's an industrial warehouse building.
I think
if they were going to locate here,
they should have done some planning rather
than just buy a first building on the street.
It's an inappropriate location.
I think it's going to be a disaster for
those that are going to be incarcerated there.
So I would ask your favor in not approving this location.
Thank you. Thank you sir.
Good evening.
Good evening mayor, Council.
Missus Davis, my name is William Cunningham.
I have lived near Litchfield Waddell for 17 years.
I'm here today
to voice my strong opposition to the federal purchase
of the warehouse on Sweetwater Avenue,
but approached
from a slightly different approach
than in many others here, but similar to,
the gentleman architect.
While I understand the legal complexities
regarding federal authority,
it's deeply disappointing
to see the federal government
abandon the good neighbor policies
that have traditionally defined these relations.
Historically, even when federal agencies
had the legal right to bypass local zoning,
they work closely with cities to ensure
project wouldn't overwhelm local infrastructure.
This property was marketed as a class
A distribution facility, premium asset designed to attract
high quality corporate tenants and jobs to surprise.
Its original design included less than 20 500ft² of office
space with plumbing intended for a standard warehouse staff
retrofitting the same shell to house
1500 people creates an immediate,
unplanned for load on our city's water and sewer lines.
By bypassing our planning department,
the federal government is forcing a massive utility
burden onto our local system
without a single public impact study.
Furthermore, we must consider the long term scars
this leaves on our industrial corridor
by installing specialized plumbing
and high security reinforcements.
They're effectively ruining the buildings for resale value.
No CEO is going to move their company into a facility
that requires millions of dollars to remediate.
Just a strip of detention cells and hundreds of floor drains.
They will simply move those jobs
to a clean site in a neighboring city.
Finally, we must look at the exit strategy
when this site is eventually vacated
federal law under title five of the Mckinney-vento act.
But you guys writing this down
requires that surplus federal property be offered to
regional homeless shelter providers at no cost
before it can be sold to a private developer,
because this building will have already
will already have the massive plumbing
and bed capacity for 1500 people.
It will be flagged as a perfect candidate for a permanent
large scale regional homeless shelter.
By allowing this build out
now, we are essentially letting the federal government
repackage a prime industrial site into a permanent
non-tax generating shelter hub.
I urge this council to use every utility
and legal lever available to protect our city's vision.
Surprise deserves a future built on economic growth,
not a permanent zombie building
forced on us by federal overreach.
We deserve development that contributes
to our local economy
and aligns with the long term vision
of the people who actually live here. Thank you.
Thank you.
Mr. Murray,
Mr. Murray, can you, sir,
you're speaking out of turn.
Thank you,
Mr. Murray.
Can you do research on the Mckinney-vento act,
please, and brief us?
Ma'am, I.
Hi, my name is Lisa
Brinkman and I live over at Cotton Lane and Waddell Road.
And I've lived in surprise for about ten years now.
I'm also not a professional public speaker.
My interest, is in the humane treatment of people
that would potentially be at this facility,
because we all know that that facility
is going to be targeted as a detention center.
It's a very personal to me.
My husband is from Guatemala and he works for the US,
United States Postal Service, and he's in our neighborhoods
all the time.
I make him carry his U.S passport card with him
because I'm scared to death
they're going to grab him off the street,
and I'm not going to know when or where he's going.
But what I'd like to talk to you about,
which I think that it would be more interesting
for you, is how you can fight back.
Leavenworth, Kansas.
There are situation is a little bit different.
They have a private,
profit prison system that's coming in to try
to reactivate a shut down prison
in their community as a detention center.
And so they are using land use rights to fight back against Ice
taking over that facility for that purpose.
And the way they're doing that is they're,
pushing for.
Let's see.
Sorry, I wrote it down.
Oh, they're,
requiring a public review process.
Which is
required for a special use permit.
So because that facility wasn't intended for that purpose,
and their jurisdiction, it requires a special
use permit, which then opens up that process for public review.
So it's put forward in front of the residents.
That way the residents get to decide
whether or not that facility is going forward.
And it's currently in,
a legal process with the US Department of Justice
who is trying to back that private prison
and the use of that prison as a detention center.
So, that's also an avenue for us.
The ACLU is supporting their efforts in that,
legal process with the Department of Justice,
providing support with documentation
of the inhumane treatment of people,
the safety issues, understaffing,
management problems in these facilities
and the fact that the
warehouse here is also not zoned for residential use.
You can use that to stop them from taking over that facility.
So as the woman before me said, we do have options available
for us to fight back against the federal government.
And I implore you to please use every means you can to do so
for our community, for our residents.
Anybody that's affected in our community affects everyone.
And I please, please urge you to take care of all of us.
Thank you so much. Thank you.
Good evening.
Good evening, mayor and council members.
My name is Natalie Batiste.
I'm a registered nurse.
I'm a volunteer community outreach specialist,
and for over a decade, I've been a resident of the City
of Surprise, specifically Greenway Road and Cotton Lane.
I'm here to speak about this
building purchased last month by Ice,
and why the City of Surprise should not allow them
to set up operations in our community.
I've heard the argument that this facility would make
our community safer from an immigration standpoint.
I want to respectfully but firmly challenge that claim
because it does not reflect
what actually ends up happening on the ground.
I've seen with my own eyes what it looks like
when Ice expands its operations into a community
such as in Portland, where I've been doing what I can to help.
What follows is not increased safety.
It is fear.
Families, both immigrant and U.S.
citizens, become afraid to leave their homes.
Parents stop taking children to school, stop taking them
to their activities, and even to doctor appointments.
Victims stop calling the police because trust is lost
when they witness local law enforcement working with Ice
communities go into hiding, local businesses suffer.
That is not public safety.
That is destabilization.
Facilities like this bring increased surveillance,
militarized activity and trauma into surrounding neighborhoods.
They disproportionately impact people of color, mixed status
families and U.S.
citizens who are mistakenly detained.
The ripple effects harm
the entire community, not just immigrants.
Surprise is a city that prides itself on being
family oriented, welcoming, and safe to approving.
This facility will move us in the opposite direction.
It would tie our city's name and resources to,
system agencies that have documented
history of constitutional rights violations,
a lack of accountability
and violence towards both immigrants and U.S.
citizens.
I ask you to please,
look at and listen to the lived experiences of the communities
that have already been through this, such as Portland,
Los Angeles, Chicago, Minneapolis, and so many more.
Look at
inviting ice into the community has done to those communities.
Do not allow Ice or any of these federal agencies
to set up operations in our beautiful city of surprise.
Thank you.
Mayor and Congress or
the members of the board here.
My name is Linda Landry.
I've been in surprise for 25 years.
Homeowner I worked at Palo Verde for 25 years.
And, that came to surprise because it's a nice community.
Lots of changes have occurred in this community,
a lot of growth.
And I've seen a lot of it.
And I like surprise.
And I don't want it to be,
place that has
a, some facility that is not appropriate.
I object to the DHS and Ice creating
1500 bed detention facilities.
Few things I want you to, consider.
And then I have some background in utility.
So one of the things is where is the power coming from?
We have a limited amount of power.
It's not, unlimited.
And we have to create it.
It has to be created somewhere.
And Palo Verde produces quite a bit of power,
but not all of it.
Another thing is huge water requirements.
Where's our water coming from?
You know I do.
You you are responsible for making sure
that your residents have plenty of water.
There's drinking water, cooking showers, toilets, sewage.
Another thing, sewage increase.
We have a limited capacity.
Buckeye has a huge facility for sewer, but it's not unlimited.
These are
impacts that I hope that you consider.
And these impacts are important because,
you know,
we don't want to run out of water or power or sewage
and fire and rescue is another thing.
Do we have a plan and,
evacuation plans for getting these people out?
An event in an event of the, huge fire.
If they're
detained and locked up, we could have a huge disaster.
Do we want that in our community?
I don't think so.
Medical impacts.
What about, fire?
People rescue in hospitals.
If that's 1500 people, they have to go somewhere.
If in the event that there's an outbreak of disease,
medical impact, summer heat,
a warehouse is not designed for summer heat.
It is. Insulation is not adequate.
And its air conditioning, facilities are not adequate.
So they the
they can't take care of people, create a lot of heat.
And you have a lot of people in a small area,
and then all of a sudden you have too much heat.
Deaths could occur.
Do we want that to happen? And surprise.
I don't think so.
I just want to make sure that you,
consider these impacts on the city of Surprise.
And they're not alone in that, in that detention center.
They're not they're not an island.
They have to have all of these infrastructures in place.
And you are all responsible for them
having those, facilities available to them.
Thank you for your your considerations. Thank you.
Sir. Honorable mayor and will.
Deputy mayor
and honorable members of the City Council,
thank you for the opportunity to come and speak about the Ice
detention facility.
My name is Casey Jones.
I live in district one.
In Arizona. Traditions.
I'd like to make four points about the Ice detention
facility.
First, Ice is recklessly
and incompetently pursuing its mission.
One example you may not know about, but
you'll recall from the news this last spring, 252
Venezuelans were forcibly deported to San Salvador,
El Salvador, and they were incarcerated,
going to the secret detention center.
Now there's a group called Human Rights Watch,
a private
nonprofit organization, and they had access to Ice data.
And they found the following
half of those people that were deported had no record
whatsoever in the United States for a criminal conviction
or a conviction of any kind.
There were another one fourth of those people
who had pending charges
but undecided charges.
So there were no convictions among those people.
They were in the process of being adjudicated.
There were only
a third and, pardon me, a 3%,
of the people had been convicted of a previous
violent crime or a crime that could be violent,
and the rest of the people had minor convictions for
really misdemeanor type things, very minor kinds of things.
So a great proportion of those people, contrary
to what was publicized, we're not criminals.
We're not the worst.
So it counterpoints
the argument that ice is going
after the most serious criminals.
The other thing is Minneapolis.
And that speaks for itself.
I'm not going to repeat all the horror we've seen there.
My second main point is that that warehouse
where this is intended to be
was never designed to be a housing,
for and for human beings.
And I do know this there was a
permit issued by the City of Surprise on December 23rd
to construct some tenant improvements.
This was issued to Rockefeller Group,
the group that sold this property to Ice.
So that was put into place before anybody knew
that Ice was coming.
Better hurry and wrap this up.
I would commend you to have your permit,
and your inspectors inspect that facility to make sure
that it is decently habitable for human beings.
Another point
is that's very close to schools, as people have mentioned,
but also to the Dysart Community Center.
Urge ice to leave that community alone.
It serves a large Hispanic community.
And finally,
I would commend you
to pass a five year moratorium like the city of Saint Louis.
Did I have a copy of the ordinance right here?
And it was attached to my request to speak.
Thank you sir.
Good evening.
My name is Claudia Nolasco.
I'm an American citizen, born and raised in Arizona.
And I stand before you tonight asking that respectfully
and urgently, that you listen to the voices of our community.
For many of us, having Mexican heritage
in this moment feels incredibly heavy.
The constant weigh of fear, fear of leaving our homes,
taking our children to school, or fear of going to work,
and fear of carrying out the most basic task.
This is not a way.
This is not any way a family should have to live.
I am a United States
citizen, an American with Hispanic heritage and I.
And yet I live in fear every day.
If this is my reality, I cannot express the pain
and anxiety experienced
by those who are here and who are here legally under DACA,
permanent residency, or any kind of work visa.
The issue is far greater than political differences.
It's about humanity, compassion, and it's about dignity.
Our Mexican and Latino communities are not outsiders.
They're they are essentials.
They're workers, parents,
caregivers, business owners, and our neighbors.
They're a vital part of what truly makes this country strong.
I ask you this tonight, what steps do you plan
to ensure the safety of our Latino community members?
My children are still very young,
yet they're already live in fear
that they may come home one day and not find their parents,
their
no child should ever have to carry that fear at their age.
They should be focused on learning, dreaming and growing,
not worried about family separation.
Our children
should be happy and proud to be Hispanic.
Not taught to fear it.
With that in mind, I respectfully urge you
to reconsider the establishment of the Ice facility.
Its presence does not bring any safety to our community.
It brings fear, trauma, and division.
We should not allow policies that that place the families
at risk and undermine
the sense of security every resident deserves.
No person should ever be detained,
targeted or locked away simply for being Hispanic.
Our identities are not a crime.
Our culture is not a threat
and our existence deserves dignity and protection,
not punishment.
Thank you for your time and I ask you to use compassion,
courage and humanity in your decision.
Okay.
Thank you.
The time is now 812.
We'll take a ten minute recess and reconvene at 822.
The. Opening.
Oh. Oh.
Oh, yeah.
Oh, yeah. I.
Oh oh, yeah.
Oh oh.
I I. I.
Oh, yeah,
oh yeah.
Oh yeah I.
Oh oh yeah. Oh.
I 000 yeah.
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yeah I.
City council meeting.
Madam clerk, can you please call
additional public speakers?
Yes, sir.
Next five is Maureen Miller, Greg Bearman,
Ian Henderson, Christy Nielsen,
Marney Caldwell.
Ellen.
I'm going to go ahead and call five more.
You just come on up.
Sir, if you could state your name
and cross roads for the record, please.
My name is Greg Ehrmann.
I live in Vermont area, so yes, I'm a resident of district,
where you see, he's he's he's not here right now.
We're six. No, it's district six.
Switch to somewhere else. Okay.
I'm, have been here for five and a half years.
I'm a, was a former science instructor for 45 years.
So I'm used to, doing practice on hands on research.
So I deal with facts.
So that's my.
My lines are things like you.
If from the research, it says that if you're going to increase
ice presence at all, you're going to increase the number of,
convicted felons and criminals in this neighborhood.
So that's what we're inviting.
If you're if you're inviting ice at all,
fact to there's already been mentioned
property values you're going to drop.
I heard
someone said something before, but I've come anywhere from 1
to 20%.
So here our property values are going to go down.
Chris. There goes taxes.
The safety of schools already been mentioned.
We already know that, Ice has been known to use, pick up kids
and use them as bait to bring people out,
which, again,
the safety of this community is going into the dumpster.
In that particular case,
another fact, you're going to have more people carrying guns.
And the more guns that are carried,
the more likelihood that someone's
going to have an accident.
So there's, you know, the fear factors of that
all the way around.
The economy is going to be suffering.
Therefore the tax is going to be going up.
You may some people think it's a great idea
to have more people come in.
Well, the Calgary, the quality of the types of people
that you're going to be attracting are different story.
Having 1500,
a 1500 bed facility means you're
probably going to have somewhere between fact, 1500
to 3000 Ice agents coming into the facility area.
Besides,
can we
take care of that many people?
As far as transportation is concerned,
all the, utilities that you're talking about,
you just look through your budget
and said something to the effect of, well,
we need to work on our roads. Noise.
Roads are costing more than before.
How are you going to be able to support the facility with that?
With the the lack of road, the infrastructure area?
Sad fact
that I think you should all realize is that
the United States has more people in detention facilities
and in criminal facilities
than any other percentage than any other country in the world.
When is that going to turn around?
When we stop spending money on criminal facilities
and put it towards more social activities,
social events, which you would you were, you know,
presenting early on that I good luck.
Thank you sir.
Good evening ma'am.
Mayor, city council I'm Christy Nielsen.
I live in district two and I've lived in surprise
for 28 years and love my community.
But we do not want an Ice detention center.
And surprise, there are neighborhoods,
schools, shops and businesses.
It is a warehouse
meant to be for merchandise, not humans.
Ice does not follow due process
and that's something under the Constitution we're all
supposed to be granted.
And so they're arrested.
They don't have to,
have a warrant to go into people's houses
and take parents away from their children.
I did not seek out
the proper permits from our city for this.
We especially do not want masked Ice agents
having rounded up victims in and out of our city,
frightening our residents and especially our children.
And that's all I have to say.
Thank you.
Thank you ma'am.
Thank you, Madam clerk,
can you call a few more speakers, please?
Yes, mayor.
The next five, Janet Amini's David Kwan Smith?
Nicholas asked, making up a list.
I'm sorry if I butchered that Cynthia fuck and more.
Angelina Torres.
Good evening ma'am.
Hello, my name is Maureen Miller
and I live in Desert Oasis.
Boy, I have a lot to say.
As I was leading up to this, event, I was thinking to myself,
I have so much that I want to say, so much that I need to say,
and three minutes isn't enough time.
The other thing I'd like to say, so many of my friends here
tonight have been so eloquent on what they want to say,
and I can't possibly compete with them, but I, in good
faith, cannot sit back and not say my $0.02.
First thing I want to let you know
is that I've recently retired,
and I did not expect that I would need to spend
so much time standing up for common decency.
I am fortunate to have extra time
moving forward, to continue to do so against hateful policies.
I was so disappointed when I learned about the recent
DHS building purchase and surprise.
Over the last couple of days, I learned of other communities
who are pushing back
and passing ordinances in order to reject Ice facilities.
I expected to learn that surprise
would be mentioned as a resistor to an Ice prison,
but that has not been the case.
Not yet.
We must show that we have learned from our country's
history.
Portions of our history are ugly, and we cannot rewrite it.
But we can show that we learn from it and continue to learn.
We must pay attention.
Building an Ice concentration camp is in
no way, in no way, will protect us.
Our friends, neighbors, and fellow humans.
No ice and no ice camps.
If we do not stand up, we lose bragging rights.
And what a great city this is.
The last thing that I wanted
to point out that I found kind of ironic
is the name of this building in question
is the Surprise Point Commerce Center.
If we take this on,
we are in the commerce of having illegal facilities.
Thank you.
Thank you ma'am.
Any sir.
Hello, my name is Ian Henderson.
I'm here
to speak about the warehouse recently
purchased by DHS to be turned into a concentration camp.
As far as I understood prior to this evening, which you.
One of you confirmed?
The city has no ability to stop
such a purchase by the federal government.
And even if you did have the ability,
and I don't believe you would do anything if you could.
So I'm here to tell people what they can do.
And I'm sure everybody who's listening and would agree,
you guys all love jury duty, right?
But did you know that as a member of a trial jury,
you are not required to give a guilty verdict?
Even if prosecutors have proven without a reason
within reasonable doubt that a person is guilty.
This is called a jury nullification.
We have the power to render a not guilty verdict in defiance.
Here's a hypothetical to help everybody understand
if a hypothetical warehouse were to be hypothetically
burned down in order to stop a hypothetical concentration
camp from being built, hypothetically,
and the
alleged person was hypothetically caught.
The arson is a journey edification.
We as that we, as a jury in a criminal trial
can declare the hypothetical as arson is innocent
regardless of evidence that would be sent free.
Nobody could be recharged again due to deputy laws.
And jurors cannot be punished for this.
We have a responsibility to defend
any hypothetical person in this way,
because why would anybody allow
a concentration camp to be built?
And why would anybody
allow a hypothetical hero to be punished for this?
People are being violated
with their first, fourth and Fifth Amendment rights.
Ice guards are murdering detainees.
There have been tens of thousands of reported rapes
at the hands of Ice guards, let alone the unreported.
And the concentration camp in Pennsylvania
just recently argued in court last month
that their guards are not liable for the rapes they commit.
This cannot be allowed.
I do have some time left.
I want to use this remaining time to say that the same
tactics and methods of terror and eye tracking
that Ice and DHS are using were all perfected in Palestine.
Elise. Ice.
They were all trained with the terrorist, genocidal
ethno colony known as Israel.
And all of these tactics and technologies
are coming back to be used on us
and what is called the Imperial boomerang.
This is why a free Palestine is intrinsically linked
to our struggles here today.
Because unless we stop the atrocities
the US empire is committing in Palestine, we,
Well, well, we also need to end the U.S.
bipartisan policy of not a violent colonial imperialism.
Because no one will be set free until Palestine is free,
until the Congo is free, until Sudan is free.
Power to the working class.
Fuck ice and fuck fuck Israel.
Before
you start me, I'm going to call five more names, please.
Good evening councilmembers.
My name is Janet Jimenez.
I speak today
as a proud daughter of hard working immigrants
and as an esteemed member of this community,
it is disheartening that the first time
our small town makes national news,
it is not for who we are,
but for something
that threatens the dignity and safety of our own people.
Immigrants are not numbers to tally.
We are human beings with histories, families and dreams.
We contribute,
we work relentlessly and we belong with the approval
for a new Ice detention center in surprise,
what we have seen unfold across the country,
what once felt distant, has now knocked on the door of the city
I call home.
The dehumanizing treatment of immigrants, detention
without due process.
Discrimination based solely on the color of one's
skin is coming to a neighborhood near you.
Surprise is the only home
I have ever known it is where I learned
the meaning of community, of peace, of belonging.
It is where my family planted roots and now families
are being asked to wonder, will this city still feel safe?
For people who look like me?
A detention center does not just change a building,
it changes the soul of a city.
It alters the rhythm of neighborhoods,
the laughter in playgrounds, the confidence of children
walking to school.
It turns familiarity into fear, neighbors
into strangers, safety into uncertainty.
Our community deserves more than statements
that protect the city's liability.
We deserve action.
We deserve accountability.
What concrete steps
will be taken to ensure that residents are not profiled,
targeted, or made to feel unsafe in their own homes?
Transparency after the fact is not enough.
Silence is not enough.
We need real commitments, commitments
that protect the dignity
and safety of the people who call surprise home.
Our neighbors, our friends, our families.
The heart of this city is in its people.
We cannot let silence and blind compliance decide who belongs.
Thank you. Thank you.
Ma'am, before you start, I'm going to call a few more names.
Okay.
Next I have Tina mollica,
Milton Moreau, Christina Unter,
Rosalind Melling, Dorota,
Alyssa Eastview.
Good evening ma'am.
Good evening, mayor and council members.
I don't have my glasses, so I'm going to have to hold this one.
I can alone you. So. Yeah, yeah.
Thank you.
My name is Cynthia Fox and I'm a resident of surprise.
I stand here tonight speaking from a place of deep
moral alarm.
We understand that this council cannot overrule ISIS
federal authority.
We're not asking you to do what you legally cannot do.
But what you can do and what you must do is refuse
silence, refuse complicity, and refuse to look away.
The Department of Homeland Security quiet, quietly
purchased property in our city to build the 1500 person
detention center.
And neither the council nor the people who live here
knew about it.
Just over a week ago.
That should stop every one of us cold.
Because this
is not just another development project.
This is not a warehouse.
This is not housing.
This is a place where human beings will be confined.
We've all seen reports coming out of Florida.
People held in overcrowded, degrading conditions,
people denied basic medical care,
including the current outbreak of measles.
Families torn apart. Arrests
carried out with brutality that shocks the conscience.
These are not abstract policy debates.
These are real
human experiences, and they're happening right now.
And now our community is being asked without warning,
without consent, to host
the next chapter of that story.
Whether someone supports strict immigration enforcement or not,
there must be a line.
There must be a point where we say this
violates our shared humanity.
Human dignity is not partizan.
Decency is not radical, and morality does not stop
at jurisdictional boundaries.
If our city becomes home to a facility like this, then
our city's name becomes attached to what happens inside it.
We cannot say it's not our responsibility.
You may not control Ice, but you do control
whether this city stands up and says.
It says not without scrutiny, not without accountability.
Said it.
Oh, not without
our voices being heard.
We are asking you to speak publicly
and clearly against inhumane detention practices.
I demand transparency from Ice and federal partners,
use every lawful tool available to slow, review
and challenge this project, and most importantly,
to stand on the side of human dignity.
Thank you ma'am.
Good evening.
Hello.
My name is David Klingon Smith.
I've lived here in surprise for, five years now,
and I'm here to express my serious concerns as well
about the this Department of Homeland Security occupying a
this massive warehouse facility down on Sweetwater Avenue.
Surprise prides itself on being a desirable
residential community
built around families and schools and churches
and small businesses and long term neighborhood investment
and a large DHS operational presence,
especially one housed in a warehouse like this, is
fundamentally incompatible with the character,
the planning priorities,
and the expectations of this community.
I share many of the other speakers concerns
about the the total lack of transparency.
From DHS
in the whole purchase of this building.
And, I agree with the other speakers that,
I would encourage you to do everything
possible to to have as much oversight
of this facility as this is possible.
I share the concerns about,
safety and traffic and infrastructure issues
that many other folks have mentioned.
I think that Ice has proved in many ways
that it is an out of control organization.
And I think a DHS facility of this scale,
in addition to bringing things like vehicle traffic,
has also concerns of things like,
security, perimeter surveillance activity,
and all kinds of other operational risks
that were never meant to be part of a zoning,
intent for that particular area.
And I think that,
as other speakers
have mentioned, that our roads and utilities and emergency
services were not designed to support a facility like this.
So I'm going to
kind of just say that I agree with many of the other speakers.
And I want to add, though, at the end here, that, I'm also a,
Christian clergy person,
minister in the United Church of Christ denomination.
And I would remind all who claim to be followers of Jesus
that the actions taken by Ice are incompatible
with Jesus teachings,
that we are to love our neighbor
and the immigrant is our neighbor.
And Scripture
tells us to treat the immigrant as one of our own. And,
I'm one of those people that also believes that that,
unless you're a Native American here,
we're all immigrants.
So I will just end with that.
Thank you.
Thank you. Sir.
I'm going to call a few more names.
Elaine Burke.
Zach m Nolan,
Christian Gutierrez, Zane Gordon, Sophie borowski.
Thank you.
Good evening, ma'am.
Good evening. Mayor, councilmen.
My name is Tina mollica.
I'm a 25 year resident of surprise.
My husband and I have raised two children in this city.
One a district graduate, one still in school.
I live in Marley Park. I've lived there for nine years.
Mr. judge, you are my councilman. Hello.
My home is 2.8 miles from this warehouse.
There are many parks where children live
and nine schools within three miles of this warehouse.
A high school, a middle school, and five elementary schools.
All of them are title one schools
who serve our minority and low income communities.
This location is not a coincidence.
Ice agents have been kidnaping children,
families, even off duty police officers.
I'm holding one of them in front of you right now.
A five year old boy, Liam Ramos.
This facility
puts our citizens, our children, at risk of violence.
It will put a strain on our police department
and our emergency response teams.
Lower our property values
and strain our water and sewage systems.
Experience shows that they are not arresting violent criminals.
But as someone else mentioned,
even if they were, why would we want that here?
This community deserves transparency and action.
Other communities like Salt Lake City, Oklahoma City, San
Antonio, Kansas City were able to stop such sales to DHS.
Somehow, no one in this city knew
anything was happening.
What is the plan
now to protect our neighborhoods and our schools?
When I come, because they're coming
and we've seen what they do.
We've seen them take children and parents from pick up lines.
I've already signed up to get training
so that I can watch and record
when they
start taking our children, because that's my sign
says without due process, it's kidnaping.
Councilman Judd, I'm going to
implore you that leaders do not say our hands are tied.
I'm asking all of you to untie your hands.
Leaders work with their community members.
The businesses, their police,
their school districts, the people in this room.
We work together, and we find something to do
to protect our children and our community members.
The government cannot force municipalities, municipalities.
Excuse me.
To build roads and utilities.
Construction permits
will be required for toilets, showers, dining facilities.
So what you can do is refuse to partner with or fund private
detention operators through city contracts.
You can demand environmental traffic, public safety
and infrastructure impact reviews.
You can require transparency about how this facility
will operate and affect our community.
To ever occur to you
and to everyone in the room, I ask that
we do not let this end tonight.
I ask that we work together,
contact our senators, our representatives,
our attorney general, whoever we need, and we are asking
for you to do it with us.
Thank you ma'am.
Good evening.
This is.
Good evening mayor Council.
Good evening, mayor and council.
My name is Alyssa Maria
and I was born here in Arizona and raised in surprise.
I grew up in the original town site.
I've been here for 36 years, and my family has deep roots
here, not only in surprise, but also in Mirage,
where my grandparents
have lived in both cities for over 60 years.
I am a true local I, and I'm proud
to say I'm a native of surprise from before.
Surprise even became a city.
I am a third generation resident whose family has grown
here, worked here, and invested in this community for decades.
Both my father and my stepmother, Christy, who
some of you know well,
dedicated over 20 years of service to the City of Surprise
and retired after a lifetime of public service.
I also work for the City of Surprise
as a resource specialist
and a case manager, supporting vulnerable
individuals and families within our community.
I know well what the city stands for,
and this city is known for its diversity.
Growing up, I remember surprise when it was full of fields,
orchards and farmland.
I remember driving by and seeing Hispanic families
and immigrants working hard in those fields,
helping put food on our tables,
supporting the economy and contributing to the culture
of this area.
The Hispanic community has always
been a huge part of surprise in our marriage,
and it is impossible
to separate the success of this region
from the contributions of immigrants.
This is where we went to school.
This is where we played sports.
This is where we were raised
and where we are now raising our children.
Today, surprise is no longer a small town.
It's a growing city.
But with the decision to bring a detention center
into our community right in our backyard
on the borderline of El Mirage,
many families who live here are now living in fear.
There are children who go to school
with my children, who are scared to attend class
because they don't know if their parents
will still be home at the end of the day.
Parents are afraid to go to work.
Families are afraid to shop for groceries, attend church,
or even take their kids to sports and city parks.
This is not what a safe community looks like.
I truly believe
bringing a detention center into our city
will not bring peace or stability.
It will bring chaos, fear, division and trauma.
It increases the risk of harassment,
discrimination and racial profiling.
It will create tension in neighborhoods
and could impact public safety, not improve it.
I do not want to live in a city where residents are forced
to watch ice activity near our homes,
schools, parks or everyday public spaces.
I don't want families to be afraid to exist
in the same place they call home for years.
That is not the city of surprise I grew up in,
and it is not the future I want for my children.
Citizens and immigrants in this community
are not a political stunt.
These are real human beings mothers, fathers, workers,
grandparents and children who are here to build
better lives and raise families
who will grow up and contribute to this community.
Right now, this center is already causing
harm, not just do feel, but online as well.
There are hundreds, if not thousands of people
discussing this facility
and the comments are filled with hate, ignorance and cruelty.
That should be deeply concerning to all of us,
because the tone of a community matters.
The message we send matters and bringing
a detention facility here
sends a message that surprises
becoming a national political stage
instead of the family centered community we claim to be.
I am asking our city leaders to make the right decision
and take action immediately to stop the detention center
from operating in surprise.
This is not what residents want.
It does not represent the value of our city.
We should be a community
built on safety, dignity and humanity, not fear.
Thank you for your time. Hey.
You. I'm going
to call a few more names before you start, ma'am.
Yeah. Hello.
Okay, I'm going to click up. Yep.
Okay. Five more names.
Michael O'Shea, Candice Dietsch, Stephen Cramer,
Daniel Quigley, Alan klein.
Thank you. Thanks.
Good evening. Ma'am. Hi.
My name is Rosalyn Melling Derosier.
I've lived at Cactus and Rams in Rancho Gabriela for 22 years.
My home is three miles from both the proposed
Ice detention center and a data center power plant.
My kids are now 21, 16 and 15.
When they were little,
we rode our bikes through the fields
where these facilities are being proposed.
Beautiful flowers and cotton grew all around here.
I've loved
being a tiny part of the growth and progress in this town.
I've been involved but never felt compelled
to speak in front of the council until now.
Normally I'm good with background organizing
and holding signs.
I've stood on street
corners to get school bonds and overrides passed.
I volunteered as the vice president
for the Marlay Park PTA for many years,
before my kids moved up to high school.
I have a small community pantry at my house,
where friends can drop off
and pick up food to reduce waste and grocery costs.
I do little things because I feel a responsibility
to my community and my neighbors.
I don't know what to do now.
Mayor.
Council members, neighbors.
I need your help.
These proposed facilities cannot be
allowed to operate in our community.
The drain on our resources, the additional congestion
on our streets.
The negative press about our town.
I mean, do you want to buy a house
next door to alligator Alcatraz right now?
Nobody will want to live in surprise.
Those are selfish reasons for surprise residents
to oppose these facilities, but they are valid.
There are also more important reasons to oppose as well.
The data center is not good for the environment
as far as power and water consumption.
Sound pollution in residential neighborhoods.
Interference with Luke air Force Base and more.
The ice facilities
that were documented on
60 minutes showed that laws are being broken.
Human rights trampled,
and people are getting hurt and killed in these places.
We cannot live next door to that.
The people of surprise, this community,
and specifically this suburban mom, need you to represent us
and do whatever you can do to stop the data center
and detention center from moving forward.
Please refuse to partner with or fund
detention center operations through any city contracts.
Also, we need you to demand environmental
traffic and public safety impact reviews immediately.
These proposed facilities are within two miles of each other.
Slow them down before there is irreversible damage done here.
Thank you.
Ma'am. Good evening. Good evening.
Thank you for your time.
My name is Zach Miller.
I just recently moved to surprise.
But we need to call this Ice facility out for what it truly
is going to be a for profit concentration warehouse.
Well, surprise.
Local officials have access to make sure
the conditions of the facility are humane and sanitary.
Will you all have DHS provide a full environmental
impact statement?
We have seen with our very own eyes
what these Call of Duty
cosplaying white supremacists, ice terrorists will do in broad
daylight with cameras filming them, such as executing U.S.
citizens.
So what do we think they are going to do
in that concentration
warehouse behind brick walls, with the public not watching?
Some of these
terrorists have been trained by the IDF.
We see what kind of morals they put on display
and Ice have pedophile enablers and puppy killers
as some of their leaders, such as Kristi Noem,
who is staying at the Arizona Grand Resort right now.
Even if they were getting the so-called worst of the worst.
Do we, as a surprise,
really want that to be a part of our backyard?
Will these so-called ice agents be held accountable
and arrested if they violate the laws of surprise?
I love that the city talks about being proactive,
but this is truly the time to walk the walk
and to decide if you will stand on the side of the people,
and if you will stand with the good and stand up to the evil
and and come up with a proactive plan
to keep the people in the community safe
from these federal domestic terrorists.
Immigration enforcement is important,
but the way this current form of
Ice is going about, it is pure evil and needs to be abolished.
This concentration warehouse most certainly will leave a
blood stain
on the city of Surprise forever if something is not done
about it.
Thank you.
Thank you sir.
Go ahead.
No one said.
Madam clerk, can you call for more names, please?
Yes, sir. Five more.
Carol Gondo, Jerry Perez, Timothy Woolard,
Claudio Carillo, Nancy Martin.
Good evening.
I'm doctor Stephen Kramer.
I'm a resident of Sun Village for 14 years.
And I thank, in Johnny's district.
And I thank the, mayor and city council for my.
Allow me the opportunity to raise the issue
of grave concern about the DHS decision
to site a detention center here in the City of surprise,
but especially at the Sweetwater Avenue location.
That location is less than a mile from Desert High School,
and less than 2000ft from the nearest children's playground.
This poses
the greatest threat
to the children and residents of Desert Cactus community.
Based on the planned detention of the worst of the worst
brutal criminals and rapists, they plan to housed
in an insecure warehouse there.
I thank the city for making us aware that federal
jurisdiction takes precedence over local regulations.
However, states rights do take precedence over federal,
federal federal unless
expressly permitted by law.
It is a state's rights right and obligation
to ensure the safety and security of its citizens.
Citizens.
Therefore, Your Honors, I ask, what has the Council
and the mayor done to take steps to to?
What steps have you taken to make Governor Hobbs and A.G.
Hayes, aware of this critical safety and security risk?
This detention center poses to our community
and the need to prevent the potential disaster,
for our community.
Finally, what will be the impact of the unplanned, major
increase in demand for potable water and sewers and the
detention center on surprise and its planned expansion
of working and taxpaying families?
Housing that can be.
And that you can refuse to grant
this request to increase for that facility.
I thank you for your time and look forward to your response.
Thank you sir.
Good evening.
Good evening, Mayor Sartor.
Members of the city council and city attorney.
Larry. My name is Alan Klein.
I've been a resident of surprise for well over 20 years.
I've called surprise home.
I've got this prepared speech,
and I'm going to go through that because a few other
things came up while I was in the audience.
So, yeah, we've
we've gone through all the buying the warehouse
and the federal agency and breakdown
in intergovernmental transparency and all that
in the warehouse of people, the concentration camp,
the lousy location,
the tax to our infrastructure.
And I hope, I implore you, I hope you'll study all that
and slow this thing down as much as you can
and do what you can.
All the studies and all that.
And, you know,
I'm going to go off my prepared speech
because I'm speaking from the heart,
because I spoke with
some of the people
in the audience,
and they told me they have to carry their passport
because they're in fear and they're American citizens.
This is not America. And.
And I saw what happened to Rene.
Good.
I have family and friends in Minneapolis,
and we hear it's worse than what you see in the news.
And I woke up one morning, and I'm an avid cyclist
to go mountain biking.
And I saw Alex Prentiss picture on a mountain bike.
And I went to a protest this week,
and I've gone to multiple protests,
and I did a memorial bike ride for Alex.
Pretty nice. This is not America.
Surprise.
Arizona, all of you.
You have an opportunity to show the rest of the country
and the rest of the world how to stand up
to the federal government.
And I'm going to ask you a question.
I want to know what are you going to do?
And I want to see it.
I want there was no transparency in what the federal government
did when they acquired that property.
I want I'm asking you for transparency.
I want to know what you're going to do.
And I want to hear what you going to do publicly.
I want to see it.
So I implore you, I hope you will do that.
And don't let this facility ruin surprise.
Arizona.
Thank you.
Good evening.
Carol Goncalo. Grand and reams.
I was deeply disappointed by the statement
of the City of Surprise released on January
30th. It essentially told residents
that there is nothing you can do.
And from where we sit, you're not even going to try.
That's unacceptable.
If you truly don't know how to push back,
then look to those cities
whose leaders are standing up for the residents
and pushing back and stopping it.
Hanover City, Virginia.
Durant, Oklahoma.
San Antonio, Texas, Merrimack, New Hampshire.
Social circle, Georgia, Roxbury, new Jersey,
Kansas City, Missouri, to name a few.
These communities don't hide behind federal language.
They use every tool available to make it clear
that detention centers are not welcome here.
Right now, surprise is doing the opposite by staying quiet.
If you allow this to move forward
without resistance, our city will be remembered
for one thing.
Standing by while detention center was ushered in,
we will be known as a city that is complicit.
A city that signaled it was friendly to a system
that harms children, tears families apart
and detains people who are here illegally.
We expect you to act and we expect you to fight.
We expect you to show the same courage
that other leaders and other cities have shown. Thank you.
Hello.
My name is Claudio Cirillo.
I live in Tempe, but I grew up right here
and went to school in surprise and El Mirage.
My family lives on Dishearten Cactus, just a stone's
throw from where this facility is.
And where it was sold under the people's noses.
Here.
Since the news broke, I've truly never felt
more ashamed to call this place home.
I really I can't accept
the fact that if this goes through
while we shop, while we go to school,
while we spend time with our family, less than a mile away,
there will be men, women, children kept in cages.
It's a it will be a failing of the city
to allow this kind of violence to take root here.
We all, we know all about the similar facilities
across the United States.
Like alligator Alcatraz.
We know so little of what is actually going on in there,
but what does come out is truly horrifying.
We see daily violations of human rights,
including disappearances of way too many.
That's the future that awaits.
Surprise.
Unless this is fully halted in its tracks.
This facility will be a stain on this that will never fade.
I want to be clear that what's needed in this moment
is not a push for more oversight of the facility,
or more training for those that will staff it.
This building cannot be allowed
to be operational in any capacity.
To the council members,
it is up to you to do the utmost to prevent this.
This building will require municipal utilities.
It will require frequent contact with public safety workers.
Police. All of this.
If it's allowed to happen, it's nothing more than collaboration
with what is a fascist enterprise.
So use your imagination.
If if that fails, I'm sure the people of surprise can vote
in someone with more creativity and backbone to the people.
We cannot let the results of this room
dictate the course of action going forward.
Our collective imagination
needs to stretch beyond the four walls of this room.
This facility cannot become operational.
There is a moral imperative
to prevent this by any means necessary.
Thank you.
Okay.
I'm going to call a few more names before you start.
Hello, sir.
Sir. One second.
I'm going to call a few more names before you start.
Mary Bank, Stephanie Medrano,
Alexis Young, Sarah Hartman, Susan Anderson.
Thank you, sir.
Thank you. Good evening sir.
My name is Tim Willard, and I live at, Rheims in Tacoma area.
69 years old.
Never spoke before.
More than about ten people in one place at any time.
Never been an activist.
And until about ten months ago, I was never a protester.
So kind of nervous.
I just want you to know that I object
to the lack of transparency that,
our current federal government.
They gave us no prior notice.
They gave you no prior notice, as I understand it.
This deal was made
and closed in total secrecy.
I object to the inhumane
separation of families,
often without due process, without reason.
Other than what?
Color of skin.
They don't look American.
They don't speak American.
They don't sound American.
Suspected
of possible fraud.
So the fraudster in chief.
Even Native Americans have been caught up in this.
I object
on the grounds that our community infrastructure,
our water, our sewer,
our emergency services will likely be strained.
Let's for a moment imagine
that, what the so-called president
and the so-called officials and and cabinet people and
and his other bureaucrats,
are telling us is true.
That the worst of the worst is going to be
put in this facility.
This doesn't make any sense to house them, right?
In a highly populated neighborhood in our community.
I think not, and I object, and I hope
and pray that you all object also.
I urge you, each and individually
to make your views known on this matter,
because it's important to know what side of history
you are on.
I also urge and demand the each
and together.
You move,
to take any action possible to slow down,
impede this facility from opening in our community.
I love surprise.
I love Arizona.
I love the USA.
And in closing.
No kings, no tyrants, no fascist USA.
Thank you very much.
Good evening ma'am.
Hi, mayor. Council.
I'm going to just keep this very simple.
I been a resident of, surprise since 2009.
Live in Sun City Grand.
And I just.
I beg you to try to do something to stop this,
you know, DHS detention, center.
The plan to create a concentration camp,
as far as I'm concerned,
would would disrupt learning at the dice schools,
and and it would terrorize the neighborhoods nearby and even
either beyond and surprise and put fear in surprise.
We should not have to live in fear.
I heard I sat through this whole meeting and heard
that your biggest budget is,
is safety in this community?
Please show that that is the case.
And please try to do something to stop this detention center.
Thank you.
Ma'am, can I have your name, please, ma'am?
Yeah. Can I have your name, please?
For the record, it's Nancy Martin.
Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.
Good evening.
Ma'am. Hello.
Hear me.
Okay.
Good evening, mayor and council members.
My name is Stephanie Medrano.
I am a lifelong Arizona resident.
A former elementary school teacher and the daughter
of a first generation migrant farm worker.
I'm here tonight because this decision
is not just about a warehouse.
It's about who we choose to be as a city and as human beings.
My father
worked in the fields of Arizona so that others could eat.
As a child, he attended a school in Tolleson
that was legally segregated until the federal court
ruling of Gonzalez racially forced Arizona to confront
its discrimination against Mexican-American children.
He grew up in a system that taught him through law and
policy.
His life and his future would be of less significance,
but he proved them wrong by becoming an educator.
That history matters today
because what's being proposed here is not new.
It's the same injustice repackaged today.
Instead of segregated schools, they're building
detention centers instead of open discriminatory laws.
They hide behind dehumanizing terms like illegal
aliens and domestic terrorists, which are saturated.
The media, by this current administration.
But the outcome is the same.
The communities of color are criminalized.
Families are separated, and suffering is turned into profit.
The Rockefeller group made $70 million in taxpayers
money are money by facilitating immigrant detention.
This isn't economic development.
It's profiting from human pain.
Any corporation that profits from Ice detention
is complicit in the harm.
And any city that allows it shares that responsibility.
As a former elementary school teacher, I'm
especially disturbed
that this facility is so close to the nearby schools.
As a teacher who has experienced lockdown situations,
you're giving a set of keys to keep your children safe.
Children
deserve safety, stability and freedom to learn,
not a constant 24 hour ice presence in the neighborhoods.
No child should fear carry fear into the classroom.
We know what is.
Attention brings
wrongful arrest, abuse, death,
and total lack of accountability.
A permanent Ice presence does not make our community safer.
And no one is safe with this ice.
And surprise.
If this facility does move forward,
it will place an unfair and dangerous burden
on our local fire, police and EMS departments.
These are civil servants who chose to serve this community.
Our neighbors, children and elders not to support
a federal detention operation designed for profit.
A 24 over seven detention center will require
emergency responses that pull resources away
from surprise residents in crisis and put lives at risk.
It also
places civil servants in a compromising position,
forcing them to choose between their duty
to their community and involvement
in a system that causes harm.
Thank you ma'am.
I'm going to call a few more names before you begin.
Collier, Baca, Jonathan,
Sarah.
Hartman, Walter.
Thorndyke, Rich. Manolis.
Thank you.
Hello.
My name is Alexis Courtney Greenway.
Let's talk to you guys a couple weeks ago.
I'm here to state clearly, and for the public record,
this community does not consent
to an ice concentration camp in the City of Surprise.
We've all seen the atrocities being carried out by ice.
The senseless violent violence,
inhumane practices, and complete disregard for due process.
These preventable tragedies are happening before our eyes,
and many more are doubtlessly
being carried out behind fences and locked doors.
Federal funding does
not erase local responsibility.
The city Council cannot shift
the consequences of this project on to the federal government.
The impacts will be felt on a local level.
We will see increased traffic,
emergency services and water use.
The trust broken will be immediate and lasting.
Residents will be fearful to call for help, report crimes,
attend schools and participate in local events.
That fear undermines public safety for everyone.
But let's be very clear who this harms.
Most people of color and immigrants
and migrant families
are a beautiful and essential part of our community.
They are our friends, our neighbors, our classmates,
our coworkers, our small business owners,
our caregivers, our faith leaders.
They bring resilience,
culture, food, music, labor, and love to surprise.
They strengthen our schools, our economy,
and our everyday lives.
A concentration camp sends a message
that these families are a threat instead of a gift.
And that message is both false and deeply damaging.
A city that claims to value families cannot knowingly
introduce
a facility that makes families feel unsafe in their own homes.
We are demanding that this council uses its authority
to block this project by any means at your disposal,
and place the opposition of residents clearly
and unmistakably on the public record.
No Ice concentration camps in surprise.
Let me be clear
this council will not outlast the community on this issue.
We are organizing.
We are paying attention.
We are documenting every vote, every statement, every decision,
and every attempt to quietly move this forward.
You answer to us, the people of surprise.
We are here.
We are watching. We will continue to show up.
We will continue to apply pressure
not only for surprise, but for all of Arizona.
Do your duty.
Use your authority.
Stop this Ice concentration camp.
All power to the people. Abolish Ice.
Burning, sir.
Hey. My name is Jonathan Cook.
I live off of Grand in Deer Valley.
Just recently purchased my home.
Not next to a nice warehouse.
And it's very disappointing to find that
that is the future plans for surprise.
And, my neighborhood is a new.
The up and coming neighborhood they're building.
And, I often wake up in the morning to see
people building houses next to me.
And, you know, they're not, like, most of us
here are up there sitting on their, on the chairs.
We're
white skinned.
We don't have to worry about
getting picked up just because we look a little bit different.
But, you know,
when I look outside, my window every morning and seven days
a week and see who's building my community,
it's often people who have different color skin.
And to think that our city is going to be
the hot spot for a warehouse to store them all
in, or whatever the plan is for it.
It's very upsetting to know that that is the future
of my community.
The street I live on
has all families of all
colors, all backgrounds, and we all get along
just fine.
I am very, against
the the warehouse being used for that.
And I hope that
all of you that have a voice that can use it to speak up,
just like the community
that is coming here tonight to tell you their concerns
that you can take your voices to,
voice your concerns and make something happen,
whether it slows it down.
We we need to think about
the future of surprise and where we're going ahead.
What's our what's the goal?
Thank you for your time.
I'd like to call a few more names.
Adriana Garcia,
Andrea Cervantes, Rebecca Murray,
Connie Adams, William Murphy.
Thank you, sir.
Evening, Walter Thorndyke.
Mister mayor Council.
I'm a resident of Phoenix.
And as your neighbor, I'd like to share a story,
from a local paper in cold water, Michigan,
dated to the 9th of April, 1945.
It tells how the U.S.
Army, under General Patton, the U.S.
Third Army, came on to what you might call
a detention center
just outside the village of Order of Germany.
The U.S.
Army brought the leading citizens of order
to tour the facility,
which turned out to be part of the book
and world network of concentration camps.
A U.S.
Army colonel told the German civilians, who viewed the scenes
without muttering a word that they were to blame.
One of the Germans replied that what happened in the camp was,
quote, done by a few people, and you cannot blame us all.
And the American,
who could have been any one of our grandfathers, said
this was done by those that the German people chose
to lead them, and all are responsible.
The morning after the tour,
the mayor of Order of killed himself,
and maybe he did not know
the full extent of the outrages
that were committed in his community, but he knew enough.
And we don't know exactly how Ice will use this warehouse.
But we know enough.
I ask you to consider
what the mayor of Order of might have thought before he died.
Maybe he felt like a victim.
He might have thought.
How is this my fault? I had no jurisdiction over this site.
Maybe he
would have said this site was not subject to local zoning.
What could I do?
But I think when he reflected
on the suffering that occurred at this camp
just outside of town, that those words would have sounded
hollow even to him,
because in his heart he knew as we do,
that we are all responsible for what happens in our community.
And I urge the council to take action, to stop
or stall, or at the barest minimum,
to think creatively
about how to exercise oversight over
this proposed Ice facility.
Thank you. Sir.
Good evening.
Mayor and council members.
My name is Richmond Ellis.
I live near the intersection of Grand and Sunrise,
and I'm here to talk briefly about my concerns
about this Ice facility and to do my best
to increase your motivation to do whatever is necessary.
As me, my previous speakers have said to find a way
to get rid of this,
construction.
It's an immoral,
unAmerican.
I see, Trump two as focused.
It's it's methods.
By disrespecting the rule of law
and, which is terrible and even more terrible.
Big treat humans, with no compassion.
No, no humanity, even if they're no matter if they're
members of of, of our of our citizenry or immigrants.
This is this is unacceptable because it's un-American.
And so,
you know, all I can say to you is that do your best.
Go beyond what you think you could do.
Find a way to to,
decrease the probability or eliminate
the building of this institution.
You know, a comment I learned later on in early life
where there's a will, there's a way.
I hope you have the will find a way.
And even citizens could help you form committees if necessary.
Gather evidence. We gotta.
We gotta get rid of this.
Thank you very much for your time.
I'd like to call a few more names before we start again.
Tammy Hall,
Dana Strickland,
Mary Hendrick, Sarah Cleveland.
Jason went.
Thank you.
Hello.
Mayor, council and city staff.
My name is Adriana Garcia,
and I'm a longtime resident of the West Valley
and a member of Organized Power in Numbers.
I watched in horror, like many of us.
The constant violence that Ice has inflicted on communities
and on people, regardless of their immigration status.
The recent murder of Alex Brady, an ICU nurse,
is a clear result of escalating violence.
Let's be clear
the only ones who win by having this concentration
camp in our community are mega-corporations
that the administration has given sweetheart deals to.
Like the Rockefeller Group, they received 70,000,070 million
of our taxpayer dollars with no transparency.
The federal government is telling
the residents a surprise and this governing body
that they don't care what this community actually needs.
The federal government
then not consult with you nor give you notice of its plans.
The mayor and council should know
and have a say on what happens in the city.
That is what you were elected to do.
You know better than Washington
what's happening here and what's good for your city.
Bringing that attention to the detention center,
to the doorstep
doorstep of students and residents
is a danger to this community.
I doubt that the young people,
like the ones who presented today,
in the nearby high schools, want a detention center
that might hold their friends or family members in it.
Mayor, council and city manager.
You all have a moral responsibility
and a fiduciary duty
to not allow this detention center in your city.
The federal government's property will be tax exempt,
will be costly to your city
through the infrastructure changes needed,
and will be a drain on resources,
including fire and police cities across the country.
Both Republican and Democrat led
are recognizing the danger of these detention facilities
and barring them from opening up and denying, permitting
and utilities surprised can take action to,
like other folks here have said, a thousand people,
not just the folks in the chambers,
but the people who are in overflow.
And all the people protesting
outside came out against this on very short notice.
We aren't going anywhere, and we will continue to demand
that you shut down this plan. Thank you for your time.
Good evening or good evening.
Hello, mayor, Council and city staff.
My name is Andrea
Luna and I'm a member with organized power in numbers.
I'm here tonight with working
people who keep our cities running.
People from different backgrounds are gathered
here in the City of Surprise to deliver one clear message.
This facility must never be used as a detention center.
The Rockefeller group is cashing in $70 million,
leaving our community to deal with the consequences.
This isn't just another real estate deal.
It's a deliberate choice
to bring a permanent
federal detention center into our backyard.
And to add insult to injury.
It's our own taxpayer
funds that are funding this human suffering.
If this detention center is built, that would mean
1500 people who live, work, worship
and raise families in Arizona could be held here out of sight,
behind walls, under an agency with a record of abuse,
neglect and wrongful detention.
When corporations profit from ISIS violence,
they are complicit in what follows.
Shame on you,
Rockefeller Group, for putting people in danger
just to make money off our backs.
And let's talk about what happens for supplies.
What does this mean for us?
This warehouse
is close to our high school and nearby elementary schools.
Having ice presence will create fear and disrupt living.
And really drawback,
you know, the usage
of those parks and events you all just shared.
It will also strain city resources
when we should be investing in our community.
No one is safer
because the detention center moves next door.
And this is a question of local governance.
If the federal government can override surprise laws,
what does that mean for local control?
You're going to let the federal government just do that to you.
It is
not enough for you to say that this is out of your control.
Your residents deserve a clear position from this council.
Your responsibility is to the people of surprise.
You must publicly denounce
the use of this facility for immigrant detention.
Maryland just passed a bill to prohibit using structure
from operating as an immigration detention facility.
If it was not meant for people.
Let's follow in their footsteps.
Working people built this city.
We won't allow it to become a site of detention
and trauma for someone else's profit.
We must put people over profit
workers over billionaires.
Thank you.
Good evening sir. Good evening mayor.
City Council may begin by saying my name is William Murphree.
I reside with my wife at 15626 North 159th Lane.
Surprised. Arizona.
That is in Congressional District nine.
Legislative district 29.
City of surprised.
District Council five.
Not the biggest, just the best.
Jack. So,
your staff
came here tonight to say.
Mayor like you, I took an oath of office many, many years ago.
You see about this globe and anchor that I have on my hat.
Nobody has
removed me from that oath of office.
In my lifetime, I have dealt with most.
I've been around and introduced to most police agencies
across the country, including Secret Service.
What I have never had to deal with.
Well, let me just pause for a moment
and say, when I came to the City Hall tonight,
surprise police department was on the front door.
How did I know that
they had their badges?
Big smiles. Blue uniforms.
Come on in.
Welcome to Democracy in Action.
But what I have never had to deal with
was a black SUV pulling up beside me.
Somebody.
And something that looked like that was a Halloween outfit.
Jump out and say I'm a law enforcement officer.
I say, oh yeah, where's your badge?
He doesn't have one.
So the city of Surprised does not need
nor want.
Ice in this community.
We don't need them.
We have a fine police department.
We have federal partners.
I'm really disappointed at the
lack of transparency from our federal partners.
And I live in, as I told you, condensed Congressional District
nine, I have contacted my representative
and got no answer.
Frustration, frustration, frustration.
And it
just appalling to have.
Honorable Purple Heart
discharge veterans, purple Heart recipients.
Honorable D.D.
2014 snatched up and deported.
Now that don't bother me.
You know I'm mad.
They won't do that to me.
But this last answer that happened in Minnesota.
And I'll be brief, Mr., mayor,
caused me to pause and say,
what would I do if I saw something like that happen?
I've been known to get involved when I get involved again.
So I have a quick question and I'll sit down.
You guys, are you folks on that panel?
And city staff know your job?
I don't have to tell you what it is.
My question to you is, what can we do to help?
What can we do to help you make sure
the word goes out of this place tonight?
Not here, not now, not ever. Ice.
No ice. Detention. No Gestapo.
None of that B.S.
in the city is the price.
Because.
I'd like to call a few more names before you start.
Hold on one second. Chris, you.
Thank you for your service, sir.
Sir, thank you for your service.
Thank you. Mayor.
Thank each and everyone who served.
Thank you.
Little Rudolph, a couple names, please.
She's already some names.
Go ahead.
Ronald.
Feltner, Tony Rosenberger, Shelley Smith,
Sebastian de Portillo, Evelyn Castillo.
Thank you. Thank you.
Good evening.
Mayor. And council members.
My name is Rebecca Murray.
I do not live in surprise,
but I am very close to the water,
so I feel that this directly impacts me as well.
Additionally, I am a Arizona local.
I've lived here for all 41 years of my life
in the Phoenix metro area, and I take great pride in that.
I am here to urge you to do everything that you possibly can
in your power to stop ice from setting up and operating.
There are 1500 bed prison camp in our communities.
Not only will it disrupt
the safety and unity of our neighborhoods.
It will also send the message
that the city supports the separation of families
and the unlawful detention of our communities.
As I've watched the horror unfold in Minnesota, I think
I'm in good company stating we are all horror struck by.
Excuse me, I'm so sorry.
By the large loss of life that we're seeing at ISIS hands.
I also feel confident that if we do nothing to stop
this detention center
being created
and stop the increased presence of officers in our communities,
we will soon mirror the chaos, terror
and danger that is ever present in our citizens lives.
Now is a perfect time to take a stand
and show communities you support,
that you truly support their best interest and safety,
that you won't idly
stand by as fascism digs its claws deeper into our society,
and that you will do everything in your power
to protect the people who have entrusted you with this power.
If nothing else moves you, remember the economic hit
Arizona took after ten b SB 1070.
This will be much worse.
Yeah, I respectfully ask that you consider the long term
consequences and how history will undoubtedly view you
when everyone is against this. Thank you for your time.
Good evening ma'am.
Good evening,
mayor, council members and fellow residents.
My name is Cammy Hall, and my cross streets are grand
and Remes.
I have lived in our community for about seven years.
I'm here tonight because I care deeply
about the future of our city
and the quality of life for everyone who calls it home.
I'm here to address the proposed Ice detention center.
My family and I do not want a detention facility.
And surprise.
Every day, families and children navigate these areas.
And without proper
safety measures, we're putting them at unnecessary risk.
I am concerned about the lack of water and sewer capacity
to transform a warehouse into a detention site.
We need to require transparency about how this facility
will operate and affect our community.
I demand that we
have impact reviews for the environment, traffic,
public safety and infrastructure.
This city has been growing beautifully.
I have been proud to live here
and proud to invite others to enjoy and experience
what this community has to offer.
I a detention center is not a business
that will stay and help our community.
It is not a business that will respect our rights as citizens.
It will not bring people
to help our community grow and better itself.
This type of business will only bring us down
with negative views
and policies that breed violence and tear families apart.
This is not a business with a positive future.
The type of business,
this type of business has a terrible track record.
The ACLU American Civil Liberties Union
report that detained immigrants, detailed physical abuse,
sexual abuse, medical neglect and intimidation to self-deport.
Deaths are reported at these facilities.
Can we support a business?
And yes, it is a big business.
$70 million business.
Where were people?
Where people are caged.
Literally caged in our backyard cages.
Surprise can refuse to fund or partner
with private detention operators for city contracts.
We can deter this facility from going forward with building
permits and regulations.
Can we require,
adequate, adequate food, adequate water,
adequate medical care, mental health care?
They should.
They should be allowed religious counsel.
We should require citizen representatives to have access
to the detainees to assure their needs are met as humans.
Detainees should be allowed access to lawyers and family.
They should be allowed phone calls
at the time of detention and of release.
They just dump people out on the street.
Could be 120.
They should be allowed phone calls.
They should be allowed work release
if they're in for more than 72 hours.
No call, no show.
You get fired.
Your family doesn't have an income.
They need to be accounted for.
No disappearances.
I believe the federal government is putting our community
at risk of physical, emotional, and financial harm.
I believe our local government
has a responsibility to act in every way.
They have available authority.
According to the national news reports, members of communities
are being erroneously detained.
People with citizenship.
And thank you very much.
I believe we can do better.
Ma'am, can I have your name, please, ma'am?
Can I have your name, please? Cammy Hall.
Thank you.
Thank
Christ.
Good evening, ma'am. Evening.
Good name.
Good evening, mayor and council members.
My name is Mary Hendricks.
I've lived in surprise for eight years.
This is hard.
And I don't know what to do with this.
This makes me terrified every day.
And I.
Listening to everybody else
speak so eloquently.
It's been very, very good point.
And please listen to them.
Do anything and everything you can to not bring this
to our community.
Sorry.
Excuse me.
It is absolutely terrifying.
Even going to work.
Seen a dark vehicle
blacked out.
I work in
areas where there's high
populations of
all kinds of immigrants.
They all make this country beautiful.
I'm just terrified.
And I don't know what to do anymore.
Please do anything and everything you can
to not bring this to our community.
We won't survive it.
It's not good for us.
Thank you.
I'd like to call a few more names.
Okay.
I'm Clara with
Gary Allison, Anthony Robinson,
Nancy blazing came Jacqueline Jimenez.
Thank you.
Good evening, ma'am. Thank you, Mr.
Mayor and council members. Thank you for your time.
My name is Shelley Smith.
I'm a ten year resident of Grand near Sunrise and Bell.
I'm here tonight due to the recent purchase,
by DHS of the where? Warehouse on die.
Of course,
while I understand that our corrupt federal government
chose not to communicate
with local government about this purchase,
and that the Supremacy Clause in the Constitution may apply.
I also believe that
now is not the time to rapidly raise our hands in the air
and surrender.
And that's kind of how I took your statement
from the city as a big surrender.
We can't stand by and let the ice thuggery into our community.
So the city must take all action
The city has full control
over providing sewer services and can withhold those services.
They can't operate a facility without sewer.
What about environmental impacts?
Has a study been completed?
It's time to be creative and to be leaders.
Does the city have leverage over vendor contracts
for private agencies
that may be contracted to run the facility?
You all know better than I do.
What your areas of leverage are.
And I ask you to use those.
The bottom line, please stand behind your citizens.
We don't want this in our community.
And as a city council, if you don't do everything
in your power to stop it, you're all complicit
in supporting the Trump regime's violent deportation processes.
They are not just detaining violent criminals.
They are detaining many hard citizens who live and work
amongst us and have no criminal records.
A felon president is behind the violence and murder of U.S.
citizens by Ice agents.
And this facility puts us all in danger,
including the students in the nearby schools.
So I have just a moment more,
and I just want to thank the local,
surprise police department for helping us
stay safe during the protests on Saturday.
Thank you very much.
Good evening, sir.
Good evening, Mayor and council.
Thank you for allowing this space to happen on hearing
from your constituents.
My name is, Sarah Sanders Portillo.
An organizer with organized power and numbers.
We have members all over the valley,
including a lot of members here in surprise, members
who are appalled that this this warehouse will be used as,
an actual concentration camp for working families who are
being scapegoated and targeted by this fascist administration.
This council right here has the responsibility
to do everything in its power,
so that this concentration camp does not open.
Working class
immigrant families
are being kidnaped, brutalized, and they're being killed.
Also that companies can profit from the system.
The billionaire class is the real beneficiary
from these state sanctioned killings, these abductions,
these assaults all over the country.
That's why there were over
a thousand people here today protesting outside.
Really enraged.
And they're speaking to you,
and they're speaking out right now.
The seller of this warehouse, Rockefeller Group,
sold it for a whopping $70 million.
They got a cash payment from DHS.
That was our money.
Our money is being used.
Let's really think about this.
To imprison innocent working people.
Not to mention
all the tens of millions of dollars
that are going to go to the contractors
to run this, this concentration camp.
There is no public process, no public input,
no consideration with the residents.
Obviously, on this project.
It's going to be a huge cost to the city and its resources,
and it's going to allow and allowing this to move forward
will just put residents at risk, not only because it's going to
suck up resources,
increase wait times for first first responders
and emergencies, but also all the shit that Ice
is going to create in the community.
It's only a matter of time until Ice residents
here are brutalized by ice.
All of us here have had to bear witness to all of the murders
online, which have been horrible for all of us to watch.
This agency should be nowhere near communities.
Nowhere near our youth and our children.
And in fact, that shouldn't exist at all.
So the demands are pretty clear.
You need to publicly denounce
the use of this concentration camp.
The City of surprise,
and its attorney must outline their position
regarding whether the federal government
has the authority to override city zoning laws.
And while you may not have all been involved in the purchase,
not doing anything about this will make you complicit in sets
and facilitating this
unimaginable cruelty that's going to go on there.
So in the most literal way right
now, doing something to stop that, to stop this is up to you.
Thank you.
Good evening.
Good evening, mayor and city council members.
My name is Evelyn Castillo.
I'm also an organizer with organized power numbers.
We have many members who are rooted in this community.
And they,
along with their neighbors, are deeply alarmed and outraged
by what is happening here.
And surprise,
the sale of this warehouse to Ice for immigrant detention
is not a neutral business decision.
It is an immoral one, and it sends a clear message
that profit is being placed above human dignity
and above the well-being of this community.
Like you've heard numerous times,
this facility is dangerously close
to a local high school and nearby elementary schools.
Children should be thinking about their dreams and future,
not growing up in the shadow of a detention center.
A permanent Ice presence threatens students safety and
disrupts learning, and exposes children to the traumatic
a potentially violent ice encounters.
That alone should make this development unacceptable.
Community members are already struggling.
They are worried about the lack of housing,
rising rents, inaccessible health care
and the daily reality of economic hardship.
Adding an Ice detention center does nothing to address
these needs and problems.
It deepens them.
It diverts public attention and resources towards incarceration
while our community's real needs go unmet.
If you allow this to proceed, you are choosing complicity.
We demand that this council
publicly denounce immigrant detention
and that you stand
with the people of surprise, not corporations, not Ice.
I'm sure we're all exhausted and tired,
but it doesn't matter, because if nothing is done,
we will be back and we will continue to show up.
So choose people over profit and the billionaires.
Good evening sir.
Thank you for this opportunity and your attention.
My name is Tony Rosenberger.
I've enjoyed retiring.
And. Surprise.
Close to the cross streets, North Stadium
way and Bell.
What Putin does with despotism.
Trump does with corruption.
We don't want his corrupt ice.
We don't want his detention.
Gulag.
Surprise!
I retire to pickleball courts,
swimming pools and a gulag next.
Good evening ma'am.
Good evening.
My name is Dana Strickland.
I've lived in surprise since 2009.
I'm a disabled veteran, a mental health
professional, and a two small businesses.
I'm speaking today with an urgency and conviction
that all of you oppose the proposed.
I concentration camp because that's what it is,
not just because of the proximity to schools,
parks, children's activities
and all of the things that defin
with our families,
because across the country is facilities,
very loose air, quotes and enforcement actions
have not been isolated policy decisions.
They've produced documented deaths,
egregious human rights violations and trauma
to the people in custody
and the families that they're being torn away from
in 2025, more than 30 people that we know of.
And I attached a PDF with their names
and the circumstances of their deaths
and my request to speak.
So you have it.
So more than 30 people that we know of
died in these camps, and that doesn't include
the people who were kidnaped and taken to Alligator Alcatraz
because we don't have that information.
So these are the known deaths.
Just in 2025, it was the deadliest year for ice on record
in at least a decade.
These deaths are tied to systemic racism,
abuse and neglect, inadequate medical care, poor
inhumane conditions, and lack of transparency.
These are not accidents
in any way, shape or form in multiple cities.
Ice operations, including horizon raids and enforcement
near schools and homes, have fractured.
The sense of safety
that education play in communities should provide.
Schools are supposed to be safe havens.
These policies
and just the outright fascist actions
of the government.
Are upending our communities.
People are fearful of going to school,
of going to work, of going to school
just in the community and living their lives
and they shouldn't have to be.
Educators and mental health professionals have reported
that immigration enforcement centers near the schools creates
anxiety, depression, disrupted learning for students
whose families live in fear of detention and separation.
Communities that have lived in detention centers nearby
describe a chilling psychological effect,
with constant reminders of families being ripped apart.
Fears of being killed in the streets.
And it should not happen.
I have more, but what I will say
is that not just for the sake of our children,
our communities and our families,
but for the moral integrity of this city in this state.
I am strongly urging you to outright reject this proposal,
to stop it from happening, and to use
every bit of your power and privilege to do it.
I know that we're paying attention,
and that ultimately, you will all be held accountable
for what side of history you choose to be on.
Before you start, ma'am, I'm going to cost more names, okay.
Thank you for your service as well, ma'am.
Elaina Thomas, Jeffrey.
Smith. Brittany Burback.
Jemison. Holley. Roxanna Catlett.
Thank you.
Good evening.
I know you must be tired, and I appreciate you listening
to the mayor, the vice mayor and the city council members.
I just recently retired from teaching,
and my husband and I, he taught high school
English and speech and debate, and I taught kindergarten.
And in June, we moved away from Bullhead City
in the Mojave Desert to live where we believed
we could experience a beautiful garden city.
We crawled out of the dust in the scorching wind,
hot moon to live in Paradise.
And now we have this Trump Army
concentration camp built in our Paradise.
It reminds me of a cattle slaughterhouse
that was being considered
in Junction City, Kansas, another beautiful garden city,
and the people fought against it
because they knew if they didn't, they would reek
like the cattle yards of Fort Worth and Dodge City.
And it reminds me of Auschwitz, quite frankly.
We are all very kind people.
We're all very considerate.
We help our communities. We love each other.
We've been listening to people after people express
their love for each other and for this community
and the people of this tiny Polish city called,
I can't pronounce it.
Oh, why yes I am.
They loved their parks and recreation, too.
And in 1939 it was annexed by the Nazi Germany
and its name was changed to Auschwitz.
Those people, although they were aware
of the network of concentration camps
being built close by and in their town,
and they saw the smoke
every single day they choose to look away.
And after 7 million Jews and others deemed unwanted
and marginalized and different were confined and disappeared,
the people of that beautiful garden city were forced
to look at what they had ignored.
I had a very good friend named Eva Schloss,
who's survived Birkenau, and she was the stepsister
of Anne Frank, and she spent her life
warning the world that this could happen again.
And it's happening again.
I will not ignore this detention center and this camp
that is going to sit in our garden city and kill it.
The city Council gave doesn't have to give them water.
You don't have to give them electricity
or air conditioning or sewage.
Just make it a hot box that no one can work in
and they'll go away.
If the current Adminis Space Station administration,
excuse me,
needs a large building to contain people
and separate them from their loved ones.
They've got a huge $400 million ball room to put them in.
They bought
they bought this trench Trump concentration camp,
not for $70 million, but for 30 pieces of silver.
Thank you ma'am.
Thank you ma'am, can I have your name, please, ma'am?
Ma'am, can I have your name, please?
Clara woods. Okay. Thank you.
Sure. Can.
Claro w I fell Rome and,
my stadium went all right.
And she.
Good evening, sir.
Good evening.
Mayor and and, city council members.
I've been watching,
these speakers and, so far, I've noticed
there were only two that
that were for this facility.
So that should tell you something.
This warehouse was purchased by the Department
of Homeland Security on January 23rd
for $1,770 million, at the expense of taxpayers,
without informing the city of this transaction.
This lawless federal government made this purchase in secret
in order to avoid public scrutiny.
This is a prison like processing center with schools and parks
nearby placed in residential area.
No public hearing until now
after the purchase has already been made.
If this goes through, it will reduce property values.
Local businesses will suffer
and children will stay home from school for fear of them
and their parents being arrested and separated and detained
or deported.
We have
all been seeing the lawlessness and arrests with no due process
in other states by these masked, wearing thugs
smashing windows and pulling innocent American civilians
out of their cars with impunity, terrorizing cities
with rubber bullets and tear gas if not already.
We are becoming a county under siege and authoritarian rule,
especially right now in Minnesota for the past
three months.
My heart goes out to the families and friends of Rene.
Good. And Alex.
Pretty, who are gunned down by Ice agents
who somehow think they have special immunity.
This is what we're up against this year.
This year, through 3800 children
have been abducted across the country and detained.
No more funds for DHS has impeached
Christie. No.
These are excerpts from a speech
by Chase ionize, an attorney of the Lakota tribe.
Speaking during a hearing.
The impact that the impact of ice on Minnesota,
what was described by Senator Dibble was, I declare
declaration of war on American people, American families.
What we are facing
is an attempt to overthrow of constitutional order.
The integrity and sanctity
of the United States Constitution is being overrun
outside the scope of the law, outside the scope of
constitutional authority.
The good people of Minnesota and the whole country
deserve better.
This is this is the gravity of the weight
and the magnitude of a very live controversy,
a constitutional crisis
that is disturbing the peace of all Minnesotans.
Right now, this is no small matter.
Thank you.
This is a seizure of constitutional order.
Where can I have your name, please?
Thank you.
So you have your name, please.
Can you say your name, please?
I'm sorry.
Have your name, please. Gary. Allison. Okay.
Thank you.
Good evening.
My name is Jacqueline Jimenez.
I live in district five.
First of all,
I want to thank you all for your time
and your attentiveness and engagement.
This issue is critical for my community.
My statement will echo
the sentiments of the room, but I need to add my voice.
My parents moved us to surprise over 20 years ago,
because they believed that this was the best place
to raise a family.
Since then, my siblings and I have started our own families
here to.
Whom we own property
and we're small business owners where we work as a family.
Proudly serving our communities for the past 15 years.
We have deep roots here,
and surprise has changed so much in the last 20 years,
with expansion of retail and housing replacing
so many of the crop yields which immigrants picked, which
if you still drive by, you can still see them today.
Today, our small city has the spotlight
for wrong reasons and all the eyes are on you.
You can tell us you weren't consulted
or notified about the Ice facility, but now you know.
Now we all know and it's time for action.
You can't just say that there is nothing you can do.
It's your duty to protect our community and use
any and all means necessary, available to you to fight
for our rights and for the peace of our community.
Many great suggestions were offered tonight.
The impact this will have will be devastating
and our community will forever be changed.
No federal agency should be allowed
to operate in secrecy, especially not in our backyards.
You can't just say that there is nothing you can do.
We will all be looking to you for deeds, not words
from everyone.
What I do take comfort is
seeing the turnout today.
Unanimous vote. Oh!
And. And all the support of my neighbors
opposing this facility and.
And backing people who look like me.
Thank you.
Madam clerk, are there any more names to read?
Yes. Let me read a few more, please.
Alexia. Isaiah's.
Danya Duran.
Thomas.
Skipper Vince Mendez,
Amanda Kaminski is Yvette Servin.
Thank you.
Good evening ma'am. Go ahead.
Good evening. Hello, mayor and council.
My name is Brittany Burback.
I'm a lifelong Arizonan, West Valley resident.
I'm live in Peoria.
But my children attend Woodlands Elite Cheer gym.
That's directly within 500ft of this concentration camp.
And I am here with a lot of other moms,
to not only voice my opposition for this facility in general,
but to also bring your attention to the severe and foreseeable
risk that this facility poses to our children.
Not to mention the schools that are all directly around there.
But again, we are within 500ft.
We walk out our door and there's the building right there.
And we know that that base on the rest of the
nation, ISIS tactics.
We know that they deploy tear gas and pepper spray
and long range acoustic devices that can permanently damage
hearing.
Though our children are directly within,
we are not in a safe zone.
So if Ice gets into a scrap with some, with a protester,
with whomever they deem unsafe,
our children are directly.
This is a direct
and foreseeable risk that the city has an obligation
to protect against.
You should be ashamed of yourselves
to not be able to provide answers to us today,
to your constituents,
as to what this facility is being used for,
that we don't know what it's going to be used for
is unacceptable.
Tell me that the mayor of the price
cannot get someone from DHS on the phone
to say what this facility is going to be used for,
and to issue an appropriate statement.
I'm calling on this council
to do everything in your power, including zoning and land use
authority, emergency police
powers, emergency city ordinance ordinances,
any kind of risk mitigation, anything that you can do
to prevent this facility from moving forward.
There's our entire community is at risk,
citizens, immigrants alike.
And this is unacceptable and despicable.
And history will remember
where you stood, what you did and what you didn't do.
This isn't about politics.
This isn't about this is about basic human
decency, morals, and especially we listen to a prayer
at the beginning of this council meeting
that to me, to sit up here and say that,
you know,
you're going to follow
Christ's teachings or you're a Christian,
and this is how we're going to treat people.
I don't care where you're from.
I don't care how you came here.
I don't care any of that is deplorable.
And it is your duty.
You swore an oath when you took office
to the Constitution, to uphold the Constitution.
And we know that ice is actively violating the Constitution.
They said the constitution, the Fourth Amendment doesn't
apply. So
in Arizona, in general,
the Fourth Amendment wouldn't apply to
over half of the citizens here because they look like
they might be here illegally.
I'm asking you to take a stand and take.
Thank you.
Good evening ma'am.
Good evening, mayor and members of the city Council.
My name is Janessa Holley Roebuck.
I'm here as an indigenous American from Minnesota
and a proud member of the white Earth nation of Ojibwe.
I'm a parent, a new resident of surprise,
and someone who chose this city very intentionally.
As an Indigenous American, I do have to say I find it rich
that we just sat
and listened to budget and the AC telling us
about our aging energy infrastructure.
For a city that is now set to allow a facility to operate
here, where we treat people without human dignity
and further strain that infrastructure in the process.
My mother still lives in Saint Paul, Minnesota,
and she's now staying with me indefinitely because her home
now feels too unsafe thanks to Ice agents.
My family recently moved here because surprise has a
reputation for being safe, family focused, and transparent.
We chose this community specifically
because it felt like a place where children can grow up
without fear,
where parents feel confident
dropping their kids off at a school and sports
like my child's chair gym right next door, Woodlands Elite.
That's why the recent purchase
by ice of this large warehouse is so alarming.
This facility is located
close to homes, schools and youth spaces,
and yet residents were not informed, consulted
or given the opportunity before this
to voice our concerns for the purchase was made.
A decision of this magnitude
should never happen without community input.
For families like mine, this isn't an abstract.
This is about the daily sense of safety
we feel driving our kids to practice
walking our neighborhoods and putting down our roots here.
Introducing a large
federal detention operation so close to children's spaces
fundamentally changes how the area feels, and that matters.
So tonight I'm asking for action.
I respectfully urge this council to formally request full
transparency from Ice
regarding the intended use of this facility.
Further, immediately stop the implementation
of whatever it is that they have planned.
Because I can tell you right now,
our community does not have room for the fear, hate
and division
that this concentration camp will undoubtably bring.
Leadership means standing up
for the families who trusted this city
to protect their quality of life.
I moved here because I believe.
Surprise! Put safety first.
I'm asking you tonight to prove that trust was well placed
by standing with residents, with parents,
and with our children.
Please stand on the right side of history.
Thank you.
I'd like to call a few more names before you start.
Michael Roe, Diane Bernick
or Ben. Rick I apologize.
Natalie. Mendez. Hernandez.
Mark. Come on. Come. Irina.
William. Earlier.
Thank you.
Good evening.
Hello. My name is Alexia. Jesus.
I am a history teacher,
a proud Mexican-American
and a member of the party for Socialism Liberation.
I'm standing here today in pride and,
in my identity in the face of concentration
camps being built in our backyards.
And I want to point out something that this meeting
for the first hour was run as business as usual.
And this is not a business as usual kind of meeting.
So it was not not the right thing to do.
We were joking about music and hanging out at the pool
and other items for about an hour.
It's like what
I tell my students time and place or read the room
as we speak.
More than 400 protesters were outside of these chambers
chanting against ice in the proposed facility.
And we already know by now
how many millions were spent on this facility.
And to make it run is going to cost even more.
What about building schools?
What about making sure that my students have pens and pencils,
and the things
that they need to be able to actually go about their day?
They don't have those things.
Why was my last school shut down?
Why are we trying to build ice facilities in the face
of our crumbling infrastructure,
in the face of crumbling education
and every other thing that we have
that people need to survive in this community?
This body should be concerned with those types of things.
It should be standing with its constituents,
fighting back
against this parasitic regime that is violating our rights,
and against billionaires who are dividing us with lies
that immigrants are why grocery prices are high,
why hospitals are shutting down, why schools are shutting down
when that's not the case.
It's these rich people who are making those decisions.
These are our neighbors.
Some of my own family fears going to grocery stores.
And if we get any say in it, the mothers, the fathers,
the students, the stakeholders of this community in this room,
we will not allow our community or any community
to be turned into this warped reality
of terror, death, destruction and chaos in our streets.
We have to fight back
against Ice and the Trump administration.
There shouldn't
even be consideration to allow people to be dragged
through the streets, shot in the face,
not on our dime and not without a fight.
Just a few days ago,
tens of thousands of Phoenix residents marched
through the streets of the Arizona State Capitol.
There were so many people, it was hard to keep
track of just how many were coming through.
We chanted ice off our streets.
We chanted on and on and on.
There was a diversity of people.
I've seen a diversity of people here today, young,
old people who are teachers, people who have different,
you know, who are in different professions.
That is something that is that I look at
as a as hope and optimistic as an optimistic point.
And if you imagine a facility built here,
expect the chance of those tens of thousands
to be echoing through the walls of these
very council chambers, to be hundreds, to be thousands.
Because if you don't stand up to ice, we will.
The energy is here and is one that I fear,
has to be talked about and has to be, expressed.
So before I go, I just want to chant real quick
with the rest of the audience.
Thank you ma'am. We want justice.
We want peace.
We want prosperity.
We want ice off our streets.
Thank you. Ma'am. Hi. Oh, I.
Whoa!
Breathing.
Hello, everyone.
My name is Dania.
I'm also a member of the party for Socialism and Liberation.
I hiki forgot what I was going to say,
so I'm just going to speak from the heart.
I was out
here with the 500 people that were outside
and chanting over and over and over and over again.
Ice off our streets.
Ice out of Arizona.
The people here today are here for one reason alone.
To say this surprise will not be bought and sold.
Surprise is not going to let this detention center happen
here.
Surprise is not going to allow the data centers,
the project Makara, that is also,
threatening to be built here
as well.
The workers here of surprise are not going
to let this happen.
We as a community
are going to stand up and rise up and fight back.
And we are not going to let this happen.
We are turning to you guys to be in defense of our community.
We're all looking at you guys here to be a part of history.
To be on the right side to prevent this concentration
camp from being built here in surprise.
The fact that $70 million were spent here is a
waste of our taxpayer dollars, and a waste of our labor.
Alex, you just mentioned
on the West Side all over,
we've been seeing schools being shut down.
The Isaac School District just shut down
because it was in a $30 million deficit.
That's a little bit under half of what this,
what was spent to build this detention center.
And so we can imagine all the benefit that $70 million
could be able to do to actually uplift
the residents of surprise
instead of threaten them with kidnapings,
instead of threatening with murders,
instead of threatening with this state sanctioned violence.
Surprise deserves better than this.
And the surprise community here is saying no today.
Thank you.
I call a few more names.
Cordy dead. Decker.
Brianna. Adams, Taylor.
Warren one.
Makiya and Kayla Walsham.
Thank you. Good evening sir.
Good evening, Council mayor.
I'm sure you're very tired,
so I'd like to give your eyes a break
as I'm going to turn and face audience.
I'd like to speak to the people, if you don't mind.
Good evening, everybody, and thank you so much for being here
and taking the time to really stand for what's right.
My name is Thomas.
My last name is skipper.
In Spanish, that roughly translates to Thomas El Capitan,
which is ironic since I'm afraid of the ocean.
I digress.
My family has been here so long
that my mom, who just celebrated her 73rd
birthday, was a graduate from Dysart High School.
To be clear,
I stand with all of you here tonight.
I have a different opinion of immigrants and who they
are as people.
When I was without a home
in my 20s, it was an immigrant who invited me into theirs
and provided me with clothing, housing and food.
Something we should be doing for them.
The purpose of the government
and councils like this is to
serve the people and promote prosperity,
not cages them in a warehouse.
The voice of the people is their vote.
I didn't vote for this.
I know you didn't.
To allow $7 million
spent without public support strips us of the choice
and sets a much different tone
for our country, for our cities.
We must reject that
council respectfully.
We don't want to hear that you can't do anything.
Because if you don't, we will see whether in
Phoenix is not just our capital.
It's a bird of fire, a symbol of resurrection and renewal.
Residents, the surprise and Arizona
were no stranger to traffic here.
I can barely get to work
the morning, and I live maybe six miles away.
It takes me an hour.
If and when Ice detention starts up,
may I suggest a Sunday drive around that block, a Monday
drive, a Tuesday drive or an everyday drive?
The time has come.
Regardless of your imaginary
city lines to rise like the Phoenix.
Have passion and fire in your heart, not ice.
What do you mean, sir?
Good evening, mayor, city council and city staff.
My name is Mark Camarena.
I'm a a neighbor from the city of Phoenix.
I'm also a son of immigrants.
So this issue is quite personal to me.
I think everyone has really shared
how they truly feel about this detention center.
And, you know, most of the folks here
clearly care so much about their community here.
Surprise. They don't want to see
a detention center being built here.
A detention center
that will only bring chaos, will only bring suffering here
to a community that has shown their pride
and has shown how beautiful their parks are.
You guys should be proud
of what you've been able to accomplish
in building in this city a surprise.
You don't
want to tarnish your legacy by putting a detention center
that threatens our community, that threatens
Dysart High School.
Many, many mothers are enrolling their kids
into these recreational programs at your parks.
The last thing you guys would want
is for mothers
to pull their kids out, because they don't feel safe
sending their kids to the park,
because ice is roaming around, because these ice thugs
are roaming around in the streets.
You know, Council member Jack Hastings spoke about
he lauded the Arizona Corporate Commission for not overstepping
and, letting local government do their job.
Well, I implore you, sir, and everyone here to do your job
and to actually fight back, to take a stand.
To riddle the Department of Homeland Security
with as much paperwork as possible.
And to really take a, a, a line, a hard stance,
because history has already drawn the lines.
You guys had the choice of where you want to stand in that,
and you have you are responsible for your own legacy
that you are leaving here in surprise.
Arizona remembers very clearly the stain
that was left by the Japanese internment camps
in the Gila River and passed on.
We don't want to repeat that history here in Arizona anymore.
We are better than that.
And I know the people here understand that.
In fact, how many of you raise your hands,
are in favor of ice being out of surprise,
folks.
That is people power right there.
That is the power of your constituents.
And more people are coming to that realization
that they do have power
if they come together and bend together.
Whether y'all choose to recognize it or not,
it's up to you. But it's happening.
And the people of surprise have the power to shut it down
and to start the city back up, because it's the workers,
it's the people, the city that actually make this run.
Thank you so much.
You. I'd like to call a few more names, please.
Sean McKeever.
Oh, what a what?
Blanch Brampton.
Joanne Miller.
Joshua. Oh.
Thank you. Good evening.
Okay. Hello.
My name is Juan here, and I'm from Phoenix.
It is very concerning
that such a detention center is being built near me.
So let me speak about my opinions on it.
So the City of Surprised said
that they put out a statement saying that federal projects
do not have to abide by local zoning laws.
To me,
it sounds like the City of Surprise is not willing
to protect its residents when the federal government
does something that violates human rights.
We have seen the deaths of Alex Prairie.
Rene. Good.
We have seen a five year old girl.
Even though she's a citizen,
be deported to Honduras at the hands of ice.
Ice may be a federal agency.
But is it okay to allow them to do whatever they want
just because they're a federal agency?
The ACLU that is American civil, like a Civil Liberties
Union, has documented various human rights violations.
I can't I camp East Montana Ice detention center
near Fort Bliss in El Paso, Texas.
They interviewed 45 people who gave their testimonies.
You've heard similar testimonies today
about people who are live in cramped, squalid pods.
They're not given adequate nutrition or medical care.
They've been physically and sexually abused by Ice agents
in the last six weeks.
Three people have died at Fort Bliss.
Is this what you want? Surprise!
This warehouse is near Dysart and some other schools.
And you are putting children at risk for local ice terror.
I implore the City Council to investigate what can be done.
And as we've heard many times tonight, Kansas City, many
other places are trying their best to deter them.
So even if we can't legally deter them,
I implore you to speak your voice, denounce ice evil,
and show the show what the moral character
and type of surprise is all about. Thank you.
Good evening.
My name is Kayla Basham.
I've lived in Surprise
Farms community since I was the age of
eight years old, so almost 22 years ago.
I love surprises so much.
I am deciding to raise my daughter
and surprise with my husband, who has also been
a resident of surprise for 15 years.
We have roots in this community.
We were raised in this community.
We did not decide to raise our daughter here
with the anticipation that there would be
a detention center right around the corner from us.
This is not the place to introduce the violence
and vengeance that follows Ice and DHS agents surprises
a multitude of communities
blended together with families from all walks of life.
This will disrupt our community
and turn our community into something that it's not.
We need to prioritize
making surprise and surrounding areas sanctuary
sanctuary cities so that we can keep surprise
family oriented, not fear oriented.
As a school based therapies to five years,
I am seeing the impact
of the current administration, including Ice and DHS,
has had on children and adolescents,
including anxiety and depression.
From the immense fear and hopelessness
for themselves, their families,
and their respective communities.
Even as citizens of the United States.
Intense fear and hopelessness regarding being detained,
harassed or deported
based solely on how they and their families look or talk.
These detention facilities do not belong in surprise
or anywhere, especially their elementary and high schools.
We have seen firsthand that the protests can become
violent and lives can be lost.
We can expect protests outside of these detention facilities,
and if there were to be gun violence that transpires,
as we have seen in Minnesota by agents,
we will see a disruption of a school day
when schools go into lockdown.
We will see children
who are already afraid to go to school,
not knowing if there will be gun violence.
And now, sorry.
Gun violence and now being detained
declined going to school.
And when we don't have students
in our schools, what happens to those schools?
There is a long list of not what ifs,
but went to consider as a result of this detention center.
I am also asking, in addition to making surprise,
a sanctuary city, that if we are not able
to stop these warehouses from becoming detention centers,
that surprise takes extra care
to make sure that these facilities
are meeting requirements for regulation.
As there have been several media reports
stating that
some detention facilities do not have running water
and are not properly conditioned or heated,
among other concerns.
I am asking you to hold DHS
and Ice accountable to treat those detained
with dignity and respect as the humans that they are.
Just like you, me, people that lean right and lean left.
Doctor Martin Luther King Jr said it best.
Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.
I am asking you whom we have voted for in the best
interest of surprise.
Please do what you can to prevent
this detention facility being placed in our backyards.
Thank you for letting me take the time to do to speak.
Immigrants make America great.
Good evening.
Good evening, and thank you for greeting us all.
Dozens of us. Almost 200.
There's a lot of us.
And I hope you've heard us.
And continue to hear us.
Thank you for being here this late.
Almost tomorrow.
My name is Taylor Warren.
I'm a constituent of district one.
My cross streets are 1/47 and Happy Valley.
I'm a small business owner.
I am born and raised in Arizona.
And I'm a homeowner.
I think those are my relevant qualifications.
I thank you for listening,
but I want to do it again because I really appreciate it.
You've made eye contact.
I haven't seen
you shaking your head at certain people or thumbs up.
And others like you've really given us a chance to speak.
Thank you.
And I don't envy your position.
You've had a lot to listen to, and I'm grateful that
what I would consider to be the most important points
or points that you have heard again and again and again.
And what I ask you to do is to remember them and remember us.
Because if you're like me, you'll go home and get on line
before you go to bed and scroll through your phone,
and you might see the post from the City of Surprise
that I saw before I came here,
and the post that launched me here,
because I saw
a long list of people saying, yeah, let's have this facility.
This is great, this is awesome, let's do this.
But that's not what I'm hearing here
from the people who are showing up
and the people who are present,
and the people who will continue to be present and show up.
I hope
that you will carry the words tonight with you moving forward.
Because this is just the beginning,
and I.
Again, don't envy the pressure that you're under.
And I want you to hear not only the true words from
the people that have spoken before me and will speak after,
but also here that we're here for you.
We're here to help.
We're here to stop this together.
This facility that is being proposed. And,
in, building that is completely inappropriate
for that.
I wrote something down
that has already been said a bunch of times.
So here's what I will say.
Some of the things that you have or your background
in public safety.
You know, we can do better than this.
And, there are lots of experts who are ready to speak up
and help you come up with ideas.
You have media platforms.
You have your positions within government
that we don't have to talk to people and to make change.
You have that power, whether you recognize it or not.
And so we are very happy to hear our people in leadership
ask for help from the people who put you in office,
because we want to help make surprise safe.
Thank you.
I'd like to call a couple more names.
Kelly. Great.
Donna horn, Sean.
Salazar.
That one doesn't have a name for coming.
More names to a hill.
Have about 20.
Can you just read them all, please?
Sure.
Stephanie Rios,
Erin Flores, you can sit down as we move.
For as deadline gets shorter, you can move up.
You have to stand up right now.
Jeffrey Haller or Holland, possibly
Caleb Brown,
Eva Osuna,
Vince Mendez,
Richard McFarlane.
We just. Oh, funny.
Connie Adams.
Sylvia Asta
Rico or our senator Lorraine.
Luke.
John Bachman.
In, without a last name.
Mark Graham.
Sharon Rodriguez.
Cameron Klein.
Josiah's last initial f Mary Elena.
Aguirre,
Sofia Rios,
Isaac.
Barrio and Jean.
I think it's a roll list.
And I have one that doesn't have a name on it.
Or if I didn't call your name.
When we get towards the end, please raise your hand.
Thank you.
Good evening, ladies and gentlemen.
I am I am here to represent myself and my deceased husband
who served 30 years in the United States Air Force
and, taught me and my children more about
patriotism and community,
than anybody else.
He taught us there was no color or religion in a foxhole.
That was his favorite, saying.
Anyway, if he had seen what was going on
in this country right now, he would be beside himself.
So I'm here to speak for him as well.
His last deployment was at Luke Air Force Base,
and that's what made us choose surprise as a place to retire.
We thought this was a safe, beautiful community,
and he loved to play golf
and everything was here
that we were going to need in retirement.
We loved it so much that we convinced our children
and our grandchildren to move here,
because this was going to be a safe place to raise children.
That's changed, and it's all
changed in a very, very short time.
I watched and followed a lot of these detention
camp places that were trying to be built in
Oklahoma and Maryland and Virginia and San Antonio,
and those communities knew that they were coming in
to buy these properties before they were bought.
They put pressure on the realtors.
They put pressure on the development companies.
I find it strange that nobody here knew
this was going to happen.
We just wake up one day and find out they've spent
$78 million on a facility in surprise.
That's shocking.
And then there's a letter from the City of Surprise saying,
we really can't do anything about it.
It's federal, like your police force is there.
Well, our police force has always been here.
Our police force has been great.
We've had great, great public servants in this city.
It's been a wonderful place to live.
It's not going to be that anywhere if that continues
to happen.
I'm not a politician and I'm not an attorney,
but you guys are all connected one way or another.
There's got to be a loophole.
There's got to be a zoning ordinance.
There's got to be a contract that can be withheld.
There's got to be something that can be done
to stop this from happening in this community.
It's up to
you, but we're all behind you, and we'll all support you.
And we'll all do anything we can to help.
But you've got to lead the way,
and I'm going to leave it at your doorstep to lead the way.
Thank you for your time. Thank you.
Ma'am, can I have your name, please, ma'am?
Ma'am? Ma'am.
Your name, please, Blanch Branton.
Okay. Thank you. Ma'am.
One. One second.
Sir, I know we call a lot of names.
If you wanted to sit down.
And then as the line is shorter, you can move up.
I don't want to have you stand for the next 30 minutes.
Good evening, sir. Yep.
Good evening.
Thanks for giving me the time to speak tonight.
I wanted to say all of your names
because I want to call all of you to action.
Andrea Davis,
Jeff Murray, Jack Hastings, Nick Haney, Earl Greenburg,
Kevin Sartor, Chris Judge, Patrick Duffy, Johnny Melton.
You've heard everybody say that we need action,
and it's great that you're here to listen to our words,
and we truly appreciate that.
But we must have action.
Just like a lot of people said.
I read what was put out as a press release from my city,
and it was very disheartening.
So action is the key.
My name is Sean McKeever and I am angry
you might be able to tell that.
And some of that anger is actually now directed to you,
but it's a positive anger is an anger meant to make change.
That's what we need.
Our family has lived in surprise for over 20 years.
We're close to Cactus in Litchfield.
We raised two amazing children here.
They went to all desert public schools.
They were amazing.
They're amazing adults.
During that time, those 20 years surprise population
went from 80,000 humans to 160,000.
Humans doubled and that's awesome, right?
And I will say that overall, we feel like the surprise
leaders have done a really good job.
You've done a good job providing great services,
to all the surprise humans, good education,
many things are moving in amazing directions.
So the past has been good.
But right now you all the names that I read,
you are the leaders of surprise.
You have the biggest challenge in front of you right now.
This is the biggest challenge I can remember the whole time
I've been here,
and it's up to you to decide how to deal with it.
How will you respond to our federal government
opening the Trump ice prison in our city?
Because that's what it is.
How will you respond to the federal government
opening the Trump Ice prison in our city?
Mr. mayor, I disagree with the statement you read.
That's the city of surprises, powerless because of the rules
that the federal government can override the local zoning laws.
As many people have said, other cities have done this.
We can do it too.
We can do it as well.
Together, we are here to work with you.
All these people want to support your efforts.
That's what we want.
But we need you to take a stand.
We need all of you to take a stand.
Please.
Obviously, the building is not meant for this.
The zoning isn't meant for that.
We know that we will not accept this Trump Ice prison.
We will not accept it.
So I think what you have before you is a chance to take action.
Positive action,
you know, to support us and we are here for you.
But we need that action and we need it now.
I'll just end with a quote from Margaret
Mead, one of my favorite people.
Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful,
committed individuals can change the world.
Indeed, they are the only ones that ever do.
If we could please pause for one second.
I missed called Catherine's
name a little while ago, and I would like to
get her a chance to come.
Oh, Katherine, if you want to come up.
Because I missed called your name, you can go now.
Okay?
Okay.
Good evening.
Hello. Hi, my name is Catherine Saber again.
I'm a resident of Phoenix.
I've been here for nearly 50 years.
I have been,
I watched the Trump administration turn into,
a despicable regime, an authoritarian regime.
And they are poisoning this country with their behavior.
The process
of creating detention centers in the state of Arizona.
And now, one in surprise, Arizona
disgusts me.
I could not be more angry,
more disgusted, or more,
fed up
with the United States government treating its people
like they are chattel.
I urge you,
all of you, to do your utmost to stop this.
We need to stand up to this government
and allowing them to create
the kind of detention facility
which is more like.
It's not even a detention facility.
It's a disgusting way to house people for no good reason.
And we should not allow it.
It is nowhere in Arizona.
The the Eloy Detention facility houses.
I don't know how many thousand people
they have a measles outbreak now because they don't provide
health care.
They don't provide any kind of reasonable health care.
They had peop for people,
got measles, and now the entire place
is shut down because it's an epidemic.
How much longer is it going to be before that spreads out?
You shouldn't allow this in your city.
I apologize,
for my anger.
And I hope that you will take every effort
you can to stop this.
Stand up for yourselves.
Stand up for your state and for your city.
Stand up for your constituents.
We all have to stand up and oppose this nonsense,
because if we do not, it will spread
like wildfire throughout the rest of the country.
We need to be active and and forceful
in our opposition to what's going on
in the federal government and it starts at our local level.
And I appreciate your time, and I appreciate everything
you're going to do, because I know you will do something.
Good evening.
Good evening, and thank you, mayor, vice
mayor, mayor and council members.
My name is Donna Horne.
And when you look in that picture,
you're going to see where I live.
Right there on the other side of the university.
We are a nation of immigrants.
Many came here to find a better way of life,
many to pursue the American dream.
Some may have come after hearing her invitation.
Give me your tired, your poor,
your huddled masses yearning to breathe free.
73 years ago, my dad was in the military,
stationed just down the road at Luke Air Force Base.
My sister and I were born there, and we spent most of our youth
and teenage years in this valley of the sun.
Back then, I remember this
area was mostly farmland with acres of citrus
trees, vegetables and cotton fields.
An internet search of the history of surprise reads.
The cotton industry relied heavily on migrant workers,
especially from Mexico, who lived in labor camps
during the 1920s to 1940s.
Think about it.
Isn't it possible some of
those migrants from Mexico were undocumented?
At any rate, those workers
contributed to the economic growth and success
of our City of Surprise that we love
and enjoy today.
This planned Ice detention facility,
which, by the way, is located in a neighborhood with family
homes, small businesses and a high school.
And ironically.
Within earshot of passing trains
is to me a hard no.
I urge our elected officials to instead
spend money on legal and administrative policies
that will lead immigration, immigrants
on a path to America, American citizenship.
I believe history will not be kind
to this administration's immigration policies.
If we allow this Ice detention facility to operate in surprise,
the shame of these policies will become a stain
on our great city's history.
Thank you. Thank you.
Good evening, good evening, good night.
Actually, my name is Estefany Rios.
My cross streets are Litchfield and Greenway.
I'm district four.
And I'm here today as a proud, daughter of immigrants
who came to this country, worked hard and chose surprise
as their city to live, and raised me and my sister
because they felt
like it was going to be a place where we would be safe.
And I personally have also chosen
to stay in the City of Surprise because I too believe
that this is going to be a place of lots of growth.
As you know, it's continued to grow recently,
and continue to provide safety
for me and my future family.
But recently, with the news of this warehouse,
being purchased here, right between
Desert and Sweetwater Drive,
it's unfortunate that our city
has been getting negative media.
That outshines all the good work that you guys have
all put together in those before you.
I will be brief, as many of my constituents
have been voicing the stats and all the facts
and all the great information that you all also have
at the touch of your fingertips on the phone.
Via Google.
Don't use I,
I would like to just say that
if you are to uphold what surprises for
I ask of you to please continue to not just stand
by and say, well, we can't do anything about it.
Sorry, it's not in our jurisdiction.
And actually be proactive
the way that my constituents have been today.
And I'm so proud of.
That I would hate
for surprised to pick up a place.
You got this.
I would hate for surprises
to be a place where,
The stain of of
what's going on in Minneapolis
would play out here as well,
because that would mean
the number one.
This current administration is continuing to win.
And their agenda and number two,
that you guys have technically failed us as citizens.
Thank you for your time.
Good evening.
All right.
Good evening, mayor and city council members.
Thank you for your time.
First off, I want to thank all of you for being here.
This is amazing. So many of you showed up.
So we'll give you guys a round of applause.
Okay.
My name is ironic if I didn't know this.
Flores, I am a resident
of the City of Surprise and live off of Happy Valley
and the 303.
I am also a member and organizer for the Phoenix Metro DSA
or Democratic Socialists of America.
I am here to make demands and speak against ISIS.
Plan to use the warehouse located here in surprise
as a concentration,
concentration camp, because that's what it is.
My demands are that one,
the city of Surprise, and the City Council stops
this warehouse from being used
and developed into a concentration camp.
Two that the City of Surprise attorney outlines their position
on whether the federal government
has the authority to override city zoning laws,
and lastly,
that city officials denounce the use of this facility
to illegally detain and hold any and all persons,
especially those who are vulnerable, such as immigrants.
I said, this administration are not here
to detain criminals as they claim.
They are here to silence those who oppose their fascist
regime and target the most vulnerable people
in our communities.
Across Arizona,
we all saw with our own ears and eyes the murder of Alex Brady.
If the Trump administration and Ice are willing
to murder a white man,
then they have absolutely no problem
murdering the rest of us, including those in city council.
That's right. None of us are safe.
It's shameful that this city council
officially stated
that they were not aware of the efforts being made by Ice
to purchase a warehouse in our backyard,
as well as stating that local police are unable
to protect their own taxpayers
from being kidnaped and trafficked by Ice.
This was reminiscent of the Nuremberg trials,
where they excuse use by Nazis trying to rinse their bloody
and guilty hands was I was just following orders.
If this city council decides to continue to be complicit
and does not take actionable steps
to stop these unidentified, unaccountable mass thugs
from terrorizing our communities,
then we the people will hold you all completely accountable
for the human atrocities,
the human rights atrocities that Ice will commit
under your watch, inside the $7 million concentration camp.
I was going to say something to you earlier, mayor,
because you seemed uncomfortable with us
clapping for us, standing up for what's right.
But I'll let it go this time
because you've been giving this time.
So that's all I have to say. And I really appreciate
everyone's time and for being here.
Good evening.
Good night.
My name is Sharon Rodriguez.
I'm a Goodyear resident, so I'm in 44th.
I've an Indian school, but I'm always here,
because you have the best parks.
You have such great libraries.
I love the Goodyear library, too.
And I have my baby girl, and I see the effort and I see
all that you've accomplished in your beautiful city.
But what happens in surprise?
Well, for Goodyear, Waddell
affects everybody in Litchfield as well and beyond.
And I've seen Parks and Rec.
I know your jobs are really hard, but I do.
I do recognize that our
our federal government has collapsed essentially,
especially with the Epstein files that just drop.
We just see that the federal government
has no regard for the people and just uses us for money.
So really, your government and we're all here
with our hands and our hearts asking you to
be the government that we need you to be
because the federal government
no longer has laws, they're no longer
accountable to anyone, Democrat or Republican,
white House or Supreme Court.
Everybody has failed us.
You're the only one standing in the way.
And if you don't assist us in assisting you
in getting rid of this or stopping this
or preventing this Ice facility,
things are going to get really violent.
Just like in L.A., just like in Minnesota,
just like in Gaza, just like in every single place
where once the government fails, it's up to us.
Just like Governor
Tim Walz shrugged his hands and said, just use mutual aid.
Just reach out to your neighbors.
We can do that.
But we elected you guys
to represent us,
and I really appreciate all that you've done,
and I appreciate
that you've been here so late,
and I appreciate you listening to us.
And I hope and I pray that when you go to sleep tonight,
wake up tomorrow with the new fire under your feet.
Thank you and God bless. You.
Good evening.
Mr. mayor,
city council.
To my fellow friends
and Americans.
And if there's anybody freezing their butts off outside.
God bless you.
My name is Mark Graham.
I'm a resident of Sun City.
I'm a mechanic.
An aircraft mechanic.
I'm the Democratic candidate for LD 28.
The district for this state right next door.
And my people have concerns.
I'd like to state a few truths, and I'd like to ask
a few questions that you may or may not answer in the future.
Here's the truth.
Nobody.
Nobody is illegal in stolen land.
Nobody.
Here's the truth.
Every single person that's a living, breathing human
being on the earth
has the same
constitutional rights as the president of the United States.
Every person that's going to be living in this facility,
you are their representatives, whether you like it or not.
They are your constituents.
If they are only there for one night,
you have personal responsibility for the
a few questions,
because I think this is a time for questions.
Madam City Manager, I don't know your schedule,
but I'll bet tomorrow
you're going to have a big discussion
of how much money you need to claw back
from all these great programs for special police operations
because of a because of the ice plant,
the ice plant, the concentration camp.
Mr. City attorney, I sure hope
you have a huge civil rights division in your office
because you are going to be filing or fighting lawsuits,
both legitimate
and trivial, for the next several years.
I don't have much more to say here
than anybody else has to say, but I'll tell you this I am
completely and unequivocally opposed to this.
More questions for you right now.
Are you cooperating with Ice?
Are you allowing the ice to use our police facilities?
Are you allowing them to use our video cameras?
Are you working with them right now?
I don't expect an answer, but I just like people to know
that we should really be looking at
practical, real solutions for this.
And we will be looking for those solutions from you.
Thank you so much for your time.
And, Mr.
Mayor,
you could have sent us out of here at any time this night.
Nobody expected you to let us talk for 4 or 5 hours.
I thank you so much for your grace and patience.
Thank you.
Good evening.
Good evening to everyone.
Mr. mayor, the city council,
the clerks, the officers, the cameramen.
Thank you for your time.
And the people here with me.
Thank you for your time as well.
I have come, unfortunately, not to talk about ice.
I have a different matter that I think is just as important.
I hope you guys know by name.
Flock. Safety flock, incorporated.
Flock. Whatever. Camera.
Personally, I well,
like, before I go on a tangent and lose time.
I Jeffrey holler.
Do not consent to the installation of flock cameras.
Flock programs flock software flock.
Anything in the state or in the state of Arizona,
in the United States, or in surprise.
I do not want it.
I understand that there is a greater good,
and I can play devil's advocate.
I have talked to police officers in Tempe
and Peoria and Scottsdale and now here
today, and I have had a few say that with it.
They have definitely gone through cases a lot faster, a
lot more completely, a lot more certainly because of flock.
However, I fully believe that they
are a price that we as citizens cannot pay.
And I hope that the issue is that you guys have been
almost lied to by flock because flock, the CEO,
is mostly just a liar
and I don't want to just throw around the word.
But he has committed multiple felonies among privacy
and among for these guys.
He his company has helped out Ice despite it
being a felony for,
deportation services to use flock services.
So really,
all I can say is that I do not want them here.
And I have been scrambled from all of my thoughts,
from listening to 132 people talk.
And I'm sure it's hard for everyone else too.
And I would be happy to come back with
some more sleep, really, and
and come back and more clearly state my opinions, facts,
and properly discuss what I could hope to be a discussion.
I appreciate everyone's time here,
especially you, camera guy.
I know how tough it is.
Have a good night.
Sir. We have a meeting on the
first and third Tuesday of every month,
and we have a call to the public every meeting.
So you're more than welcome to come back.
Thank you. Mayor.
I have two additional speakers.
Add, Gary Nixon and Kelly Overs.
You want to go ahead and wrap?
Thank you.
Good evening.
Hello, mayor and council.
My name is Sophia Rios, and I fall under Mr.
Melton's district.
And I was a student at Vista while Mr.
Hazy as an educator.
I am an American citizen
and also a proud daughter of immigrants.
My husband, proud United States
Navy servicemember, is also a son of immigrants.
Our parents were fortunate enough to get citizenship
through amnesty.
And I share this with you. So you understand
just how deeply personal this issue is to me.
Just this past week,
my husband returned home from a larger wave.
My first phone call to him was to tell him
that less than two miles away
from my childhood homes,
an ice warehouse was being built.
News like
this does not land quietly
in a household like ours.
He was deeply disturbed.
And now, in addition to serving his country,
he carries the weight of worry about the safety
and well-being of our family.
Even though we hold
citizenship and permanent residency,
that fear is not unfounded.
History
and lived experience have taught us our communities
that proximity to detention centers brings harm,
trauma, and instability, not safety.
I am standing you and I am standing here today
and sharing my story
so that no one in this room can say they did not know
so, but personally affected by this decision.
I am your constituent.
I am your neighbor and I am part of this community.
Thank you.
It. Is.
Good evening everyone.
First of all,
I would like to
thank all of the community members
and that have come to both
to speak in here and to stand outside
to make their voices heard tonight.
My name is Cam Klein,
and I'm a long time resident of surprise, Arizona.
I attended every year of my
first through 12th grade education here in surprise.
I resided in surprise while I attended my alma mater,
Arizona State University.
So, I would say that I have a pretty good grasp on
both the character of this state and the character of the city.
And, a word on my own character.
Anyone who would know me in real life would say that
I am pretty even tempered and not quick to get upset.
So I do not take it lightly when I say
that the presence of ice in our community
is nothing short of an attack and an insult.
This agency has shown time
and time again, both since its inception
and especially in the last few weeks and months,
that it does not have respect for our community,
its members, or general human dignity
to stand by and allow this facility to be unimpeded
would be nothing short of cowardice.
To wring our hands and say there is nothing that can be
done is not just an abdication of our responsibility
as citizens, but also our own human morality.
My fellow community members
have spoken at length about the multitude of ways
that the council can oppose this facility,
and anything less than a complete
and total opposition to this project is, in my eyes,
a failure of the biggest magnitude.
I am a proud descendant of Jewish immigrants
to this country.
Through my life I have heard these
words stated so many times.
Never again.
And when I look at the state of this country as it is right
now, those were all those words feel a bit hollow, which is why
we demand that they be respected and upheld for all peoples.
Never again means to keep ice out.
When?
When all
when all of this is said and done, I hope that all of you
city council members do the right thing.
And, take actions that allow you to sleep at night
with a clear conscience.
Thank you.
Good evening.
Hi, my name is Josias Michelle Flores.
You can call me Josiah.
Joe Jojo, I don't know.
You're probably never going to see me again after today.
I'm not from around here.
I'm from Mesa, Arizona, 21 years.
Born and raised.
I am first generation.
My parents are both from Mexico.
They are immigrants.
My family, they are all Hispanic.
We live every day with fear of being stomped
and being ridiculed by your officers.
And you're making a detention facility or a warehouse.
I don't know what it is,
but I don't want it anywhere near this state.
I want that to be clear, I hate this.
I see that flag and I don't see freedom.
I see a swastika.
I see prejudice.
I see an excuse for hatred.
I can never respect that flag.
I am a dual citizen.
I am a citizen of America.
But I'm also a citizen of Mexico.
And I would be
more than happy to leave here if this place becomes like
World War two. Nazi Germany.
It's crazy that we are
always talking about these kinds of things.
Concentration camps.
Why are we so obsessed with them?
All of us can agree that they don't do anything.
Where are these people going?
You know how many people are missing
from these detention facilities?
We don't know where they go.
The people that have died in their care.
That's blood on your hands.
If you pass this, you are on my radar.
I will never forget your names or faces.
And I will make sure you will never forget mine.
Sorry if this makes me a little bit emotional.
It keeps me up at night, and it kind of makes me mad
that you guys are being thanked for doing your jobs.
You guys are sitting there just listening.
I would love to do that.
I would love to get paid
to just stare at random people all day
and just listen to what they have to say.
I'm sure some of you guys are good people,
but I've been watching every single one of you
and the amount of care that you are even putting into
just listening is pathetic.
I have no respect for any of you.
I have no respect for authority or government.
I respect democracy.
I believe in democracy.
I don't believe in America's system because it is corrupt.
It is awful and is evil.
If you want an example, look at our president
and his friends.
Look at Bill gates.
Look at Jeffrey Epstein. Look at.
Oh, there's so many Mark
Zuckerberg, Jeff Bezos all in cahoots.
The billionaires are all together.
And that should scare you, because the amount of power
they hold right now, the wealth disparity
should be affecting you,
and you should be seeing it in your everyday life.
You need to be taking this more seriously because I'm young.
This is my future. How old are all of you?
What is the average age on this board?
If it's above 30, then that's kind of disappointing.
I think I'm good.
Thank you.
Good evening sir.
Good evening.
Thank you, Mr. Mayor.
And the City Council and all the city staff
that have stuck around.
I do appreciate you keeping the floor
open to let everybody speak.
I attended today just to be a silent partner
in supporting my community.
And I feel like I just have to put my name on the record.
My name is Jean rolls, and I'm a retired military officer.
I've lived in the Phoenix area since 2001.
We chose to retire in the Grand.
Our cross streets are bell and cotton.
And it is so unfortunate how this has played out.
And I think it's going to tarnish what what many people
have.
Tried to say surprised is good about I think surprise.
I remember as a small town when the target was built
at Bell and Grand.
That was a big deal.
We are 60,000 people.
We're going to get an Applebee's in town.
So the growth that the city has managed over these 25 years
has been remarkable.
We chose to retire here because it is a great place to live.
You know, I didn't think as a retiree
I would attend so many protests in the last year
that I've attended more than in my entire life.
I'd like to give a shout out to this.
The police department here.
I think they do a wonderful job
managing the protests that are happening.
Every Saturday they're world class.
If this Ice detention facility comes into our community,
they're going to be overstressed
and their reputation is going to be tarnished
because it won't be peaceful like it is
every day on Saturday. Okay.
This Ice detention facility and
the policies and executive actions of our
leadership are very divisive for our community
and for our nation.
And as a result of that,
violence will percolate to the surface.
And we won't have these conversations
like we're having now.
I know the city council can stand up,
because in October, you passed a resolution saying you were not
in support of the Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railroad.
Head up and Waddell at a minimum.
I think that should come out of the city council
in the next week or
two to say that we do not want this facility here.
If we have no legal
avenues to go against the federal government,
we have to, as a local community,
try to stop this overreach of the federal government
skirting the issue of localities
and running much of the federal
purse based off executive orders coming out of the white House.
We may disagree on politics, but that's not
how democracy is supposed to work in America.
We have three branches of government.
Congress controls the purse.
The executive branch executes the law.
Thank you sir.
Thank you.
Good evening.
Good evening, Mayor Sartor and council members.
My name is Maria Leonardi Foster
and I am a resident of surprise, living near Peoria and raised.
I am a full time behavioral health professional
and a full time addiction study and public policy student.
I do not come here with new data, innovative talking points,
or unique legal arguments regarding
the new confirmed Ice facility now planned in our city.
Having done my research on each of your policies, public
comments, and initiatives,
I am confident that reminding you of the emotional weight
and the mental toll that this news has on
our community members will not sway your position
even worse.
As incredible as the messages
have been this evening, I fear many of you do not care
regardless of where you stand.
For being here and listening to the members of the community.
You have my respect.
Mayor. Our tour.
You said at the start that you wish
to remind the people about the lack of power
that surprised City Council has on this issue.
I, and every person inside and outside of this building,
are here to remind you of what power looks like.
Yes, the federal government
has authority over immigration law and federal facilities.
And as you have said,
the city does not have the power
to interrupt or prevent Ice operations directly
under the Immigration and Nationality Act.
Federal projects are not subject to local zoning laws,
and the city
was not even notified prior to the proper purchase.
You, the surprise City Council, do have real
and meaningful power when it comes to demanding
transparency from federal agencies.
The community deserves clear public information
about the intended information
about the intended use of the facility,
the number of people
it will hold, protocols for oversight,
and how the city will be informed about changes.
It is these policies that ensure safe and humane
treatment of human beings
when transparency ceases to exist,
when overreach of power takes place, lives are lost.
We have seen it.
I formally request that the City of Surprise pass
a resolution demanding DHS and Ice publicly disclose
operating operational plans, community impact assessments,
and clear points of contact for ongoing communication.
While you cannot stop federal enforcement.
You can act to protect municipal resources.
That includes insisting on assurances
that federal operations will not drain city emergency services,
create jobs and public safety, or endanger any persons life.
You do have the power to limit cooperation
between city
law enforcement and federal immigration
enforcement beyond what the law requires,
such as implementing policies
restricting local involvement in immigration, arrests
detainees, or information shared unless required by law.
Many cities have done this.
Now it is your turn as a third generation Hispanic immigrant.
I've seen how these practices affect my family, our neighbors,
and our sense of safety and equity.
I stand here asking you, as the elected officials charged
with providing safety
and equitable care for all residents,
to listen to the voices of your constituents,
to use the power you do have,
and to act in ways that protect our community,
uphold human rights and demand accountability.
Thank you.
Good evening.
Good evening to you, mayor and the council.
My name is Kelly Oubre.
I live on Bullard and Cactus.
And I can see this detention center
from points in my neighborhood.
I can see this building from my school.
That being said, I'm a current student
at Desert High School in the student body.
Vice president.
The GPA of GPA of 4.3 before anyone passes me off
as young and dumb.
I would like to speak on behalf of my school
and represent it like my position calls me to.
In this past week,
we have had students organize three anti ice protest.
We have gotten online threats and comments for these protest.
One asking if they're allowed to run us over children
ice in this administration has created
hatred within their supporters
that is now affecting
our community as students at this school.
This detention center is a scary reality
we all had to deal with,
but we will not stay silent about it.
At my school, it is well known that we have
a predominantly Hispanic population.
Our minority is a majority there.
We as students are going to be heavily affected
as this detention center is right down our road.
These children and their families
are not the violent criminals the government says they are.
I get a pit in my stomach
when I think about how in a few months
I have to go to school, knowing humans are screaming for help
and not getting the rights they are.
It hurts me to know that my peers
are undoubtably going to be hurt.
The immigrant families that I've first handedly seen
build these students up to be hardworking and successful
may not be able to celebrate with them as they walk
the stage.
Students are at risk to come home with no family,
and have to take care of themselves who are dealing with
not knowing what is happening
to their families in this detention center.
If we can all agree on one thing,
no child should have to live
through these traumatic experiences
and be ripped away from their family.
We have all seen the damage and physical harm Ice
has done on peaceful protesters, citizens and immigrants.
Who's to say
they won't harm the students of Surprise and El Mirage?
Who's to say that they won't come after my school?
That's supposed to be a safe place for all.
If any of you care to protect
the students and children who are the future of the city,
then you will find a way to either contain this.
Ensure everyone is safe, or get this out of our city
by working with our Senators and Representatives.
Do not let
what happened in Germany during the 40s come back to us.
I pray to God that everybody will listen
to the voice of the children and future. And one last thing.
No one will ever be illegal on stolen land.
Thank you.
Good evening.
As you're still awake.
Hello. My name is Iverson.
I live in Peoria, just a few miles away from here.
I'm speaking because the proposed 1500 bed
detention facility will have impacts that extend the region.
The north side of the facility is less than three quarters
of a mile from Primrose School of Surprise.
And its proximity to other nearby schools
raises concerns for children and families.
Large detention centers also placed
demands on shared infrastructure.
It's been it's been spoken about all through this meeting,
including water, sewer, emergency services
and major roads used by commuters
throughout Peoria, Glendale, Elmira, Johnson City
traffic, emergency response and neighborhood safety concerns
do not stop at surprised city limits,
making regional oversight critical.
That means it's going to reach my city.
While the city cannot prevent Ice from operating
as a federal agency, it has established
legal and ethical processes to ensure that
any facility operates in a way that protects the community
through zoning and building fire and life safety codes.
The city can guide and coordinate compliance
to ensure that infrastructure, safety
and neighborhood concerns are fully addressed
under the National Environmental Policy Act, or Nepa,
Ice is required to evaluate the environmental impacts
of converting the warehouse.
This includes traffic safety, land use, and effects
on surrounding neighborhoods and school
before final decisions are made.
Nepa also mandates meaningful public participation,
which ensures comments like ours are considerate in the review.
This shows the importance of public oversight
and local review.
While Nepa does not guarantee a specific outcome, it requires
the potential impacts or that potential impacts
are assessed and alternatives eternities are evaluated.
I urge you, council, mayor and council to stay focused, strong.
Exercise all the available local authority
authority that you have.
Ensure Nepa processes are fully followed,
and give our community a real voice in decisions
that will affect both surprise and the surrounding West Valley.
This is not just about surprise, it is about protecting
children, families and shared resources across the region.
And what I want to say
is that I hope you recognize in your constituency the power,
the courage and the wisdom that you have in your city.
In the city of
Peoria, we had a group of,
citizens that stood up for something
that they did not want in Peoria, and they won.
So constituents know that you can stand up
and you can fight for stuff.
Okay.
Good evening. Good evening.
Excuse me. My voice is raspy.
I was among the thousand others protesting outside.
My name is Isaac Barrio and I live on Greenway in the 303.
I'm here to urge you, like the many others,
to do everything in your power
to stop this facility. And that includes
ending the contract with Fox safety cameras.
These systems don't just capture license plates,
they enable mass warrantless surveillance.
People going to work, school, church, doctor's appointments
all tracked without their consent and or suspicion.
That's not what public safety looks like
in a free society.
What makes what makes this
especially dangerous is how the data is used.
Multiple independent
studies have found that these cameras are unencrypted,
easy to hack, and use by federal agencies like Ice and DHS,
which have documented history
of using surveillance tools to target, track and intimidate
immigrant communities and political dissent.
This turns our city infrastructure into a pipeline
for surveillance and abuse, often without transparency,
oversight, or meaningful accountability.
Privacy is not a luxury is a constitutional right
with the government, the surprise government,
collecting and sharing this data on innocent people,
it chills free movement, free association and free speech
can mean these become afraid, not safer.
Surprise to invest in safety measures
that respect civil liberties
not technologies that normalize
constant monitoring and federal overreach.
Ending this kind of contract with is a clear statement
that the city values our rights, dignity, trust over fear,
and it stands up to this concentration camp
and the technocracy.
This is something you can act upon now.
Will you act?
Thank you.
Good evening.
Good evening. Oh.
Oh, there you go.
Good evening. My name is Scotty Nixon.
25. I've lived in surprise my entire life.
I've had the privilege
of really seeing the change in this city.
I saw a lot of people grow through these changes.
And instead of separating, we all came together.
And I especially got to see that in 2020.
I led one of the first protests out here.
I don't know if we remember BLM surprise.
We fought a lot of perspectives, negative ones.
I had a lot of uncomfortable conversations with people
throwing slurs my way.
A lot of people who lacked, true idea of a bigger perspective.
And that's one thing we did back
then was spread a lot of good perspective.
We brought people together and showed
what a city really looks like, that cares
about their community, that cares about one another.
In all your neighbors, especially tonight, it's 1114.
When did this start? At six?
I don't know if there's
still people out of sight, but I hope you guys understand.
I know the power that the people have.
I know the power that one person has to make big change.
And if you guys don't do that, we will.
And I hope you have our back in that process as well.
I really believe Jack Hastings.
Awesome.
I believe for you.
I saw you fall asleep laughing over there with Mr.
City Attorney.
I don't know what's so funny right now.
This is not a laughing matter.
I understand. It's been a long day.
I've seen you since 2020.
I haven't seen shown one more ounce of care
for anything.
Come on.
I know you're up for reelection this year to
Nick Haney. You as well.
You guys are the youngest members on this council.
Speak up, speak out.
Do something.
I know you guys don't have a lot of power
against the federal government, but you have a voice as well.
You are a party of the people.
You know that, right?
Help us or we will help ourselves.
And that's not a threat.
We just want to feel safe and we will keep ourselves safe.
Thank you.
I just came to you.
I want to thank every. That's that's everybody. Correct.
I just want to make sure that there's
not anyone else whose name that I didn't call.
Okay?
So I want to thank everybody for coming in here.
We hear you.
I want to consider
your voice as impactful and as powerful.
As our other future agenda items
or business the council members want to bring forward.
No council reports.
No, no.
Okay,
I'll entertain a motion to adjourn.
Moved to adjourn. Second.
All in favor, say aye. Opposed or adjourned.