2026-11-02 - City Council Study Session Meeting

00:01[music]

00:07>> Welcome everyone to our Mesa City

00:09Council study session for November

00:11second.

00:12My gosh, November already.

00:15Thank you. Uh it's 2026. All of our

00:17council members are present.

00:20As usual council item one is to review

00:22the consent agenda if you can do that. I

00:24know that we went over it previously,

00:26but if you have any more questions staff

00:28is here to help answer.

00:38>> And and Mayor maybe I could just clarify

00:40for council's wishes on this. 7A and 7B

00:43would be removed

00:45right council member Duff because you

00:47wanted a presentation upstairs on that.

00:50Is that

00:51>> I was just talking to Mary about that.

00:52>> Okay. [laughter]

00:54>> Uh and and

00:55um and wanted to inquire also. I know I

00:59really wanted the presentation to be

01:02more public facing because this is a

01:04tremendous

01:06accomplishment to get this these

01:07guidelines and the text amendments done.

01:10It's been in the works for many years.

01:13Um

01:14now I realize that the council meeting

01:18is more public facing, but I also

01:21realize we might have a gap of time

01:23between this meeting and the next if

01:25there's not a lot of discussion

01:27and we could use it wisely. So Mayor

01:30this is your meeting. I'll let you

01:31decide.

01:35>> Wow.

01:36Thank you.

01:37>> Well, if you're asking me

01:39So let's do this. We're going to take

01:41these two items off consent and we'll

01:43have

01:44presentation on it and then we'll vote

01:46on those separately. Okay. Upstairs.

01:49Upstairs we'll have a presentation for

01:51everybody.

01:53So thank you for remembering that and

01:56otherwise is there anything else on the

01:59agenda for tonight that you would like

02:02discussion with?

02:13Okay.

02:16Well, hearing none,

02:18then

02:21the next item is Gosh, it's pretty

02:23simple. Next is current events and

02:24conferences attended. Council members,

02:26do you have anything you wish to share?

02:28We can start to my right. Miss Taylor,

02:30put you on this spot. Are you okay or

02:32should I start with Mr. Adams?

02:33>> Mr. Adams

02:35>> Mr. Adams, would you have anything you'd

02:36like to share?

02:39>> Mayor will go. Um

02:41Mayor, I imagine you'll have some

02:43remarks about this as well, but

02:46a number of us attended the renaming of

02:48the Park of Canals, Park of the Canals.

02:51And I'm going to try this.

02:53I believe it's Toa Vacoin

02:55is the new name. Well, I messed that up.

03:00Toa Va

03:00>> We could have always said yes.

03:03>> Toa Vacoin

03:04Okay. Well, I will In my defense, I will

03:07say that that several members of the

03:09Salt River Pima-Maricopa community had a

03:13different take on it. So um

03:15I'm going to I'm going to defer to to

03:17that

03:18um

03:20phonetic pronunciation. It's a cool

03:22name.

03:23And uh it was a very

03:24>> it mean, Mr. Adams?

03:25>> I believe it refers to a waterfowl of

03:27some kind, doesn't it? It's a It's a

03:30It's a snowy

03:31It's a snowy white egret.

03:33>> The Indigenous Woods.

03:35I didn't know that.

03:36>> Yeah.

03:37>> But it was a great ceremony and uh

03:39um I'll I'll leave it at that. You

03:41probably have some things to add.

03:44>> You can add whatever you like. Okay. Uh

03:46well, the mayor made some very poignant

03:48remarks as did uh

03:50uh President Javier of the Salt River

03:52Pima-Maricopa community and uh

03:55uh was a great ceremony. I uh

03:57I remember that uh I remember taking my

03:59kids there and learning about the

04:01history.

04:02And [snorts] um

04:04a couple of the members of the community

04:06did a prayer and a song in in native

04:09words, native voice.

04:12So I was very impressed with it and

04:15I think [snorts] it's I think it's a

04:17good thing that

04:18we have honored their heritage, that

04:20community's heritage with that renaming.

04:22So

04:23very good.

04:25>> Thank you Mr. Adams. Miss Duff.

04:28>> Yes. Um I'm going to start back to

04:31Thursday when several of us, Council

04:35Member Galaforth and Council Member

04:36Taylor, [clears throat]

04:37we went to the PTK magazine launch which

04:40was had awarded Jay O'Donnell as a

04:44person one of the most influential

04:46people in Arizona real estate. She was

04:49recognized.

04:50Congratulations Jay. You did a

04:52tremendous work for the city.

04:54On Friday I went to the

04:57well several of us

04:59it's in your district but my

05:02police substation district too. I don't

05:04know, shared districts.

05:06Um Halloween walk and treat event at

05:09Fiesta's PD substation. Council Member

05:12Taylor was there as well. So usually

05:15every year they do a drive-through and

05:18this year it was a walk-through. So

05:20thank you to all the officers and

05:24commander at Fiesta substation for

05:26putting together a wonderful

05:29Halloween event. Hundreds of people show

05:30up every year. This is a big deal and it

05:33gets bigger and bigger every year and

05:35they continue and impress me and do more

05:37every year.

05:39Um on Saturday morning I attended the

05:41General Federation of Women's Clubs

05:43South Central Region annual conference

05:46here the Holiday Inn on South Country

05:48Club.

05:49Um this is the same organization that

05:51owns the Women's Club historic building

05:55on

05:56Second Street in McDonald, 200 North

05:59McDonald. It was built in 1931 and it's

06:02on the National Register of historic

06:04buildings.

06:06Um,

06:06the Mesa chapter is no longer in effect,

06:09but there are many chapters across the

06:11United States, and I was glad to see

06:13welcome the South Central region

06:16um to their conference. And the

06:19Federation, General Federation of

06:20Women's Clubs is a service organization.

06:23It's a nonprofit that service, and they

06:25were established in 1809. I think it's

06:28amazing. They have been able to continue

06:30their work for all these years. So thank

06:33you to them and

06:35for choosing Mesa and the work that they

06:37do.

06:38Um, and this morning um some of let's

06:42see. No? No?

06:45No. I think it was just me.

06:47At the um Global Ties had a cafe

06:52and they had an

06:53Global Ties is a state organization

06:56um that introduces international leaders

07:00on world It's a global event. Anyway, we

07:03had some international leaders a

07:06delegation here, and we were met at the

07:09Arizona Natural History Museum, and they

07:11were interested in STEM education.

07:15And STEM is a big part of what Arizona

07:18Natural History Museum does here in

07:21downtown Mesa.

07:22Um, they have um preserve a number of

07:26collections. They have um scientific

07:29research by real scientists and uh noted

07:33a lot of discoveries. So um it was a

07:37great place for them to learn about

07:40STEM education through um

07:44research at the museum.

07:46And David Luna, our former council

07:49member,

07:50invited them, and he's the chair of the

07:53um Global Ties. So thank you to David

07:56for inviting them to Mesa and showing

07:58them what we have here.

08:03>> Thank you, Ms. Duff. Mr. Redondo?

08:06>> No

08:06>> I think

08:10this upcoming Saturday, you know, gain

08:13in our neighborhoods. I always look

08:15forward to to those events. So folks be

08:18out in the lookout for those

08:20neighborhood events if your neighborhood

08:23watch

08:25it's having this Saturday from I think

08:27you know from 3 to 8 p.m. So should be a

08:30fun

08:31Saturday evening. So

08:33>> Okay. Thank you.

08:36Ms. Taylor, do you want to start there?

08:37>> Oh, okay.

08:39>> Thank you.

08:42>> On Thursday, I was also there with

08:44Councilmember Adams, Councilmember

08:46Death, Mayor and Councilmember Goforth

08:49to congratulate Jay O'Donnell, who I see

08:51out there behind us right now. Go Jay,

08:53we're really proud of you.

08:55[clears throat]

08:57It was a really great event people to

08:58know there's a magazine launch. I was

09:00very grateful to have the opportunity to

09:02join them and celebrate her. And then on

09:04Friday, I had my first PD ride along. I

09:07got to ride along with our police

09:08officers out of Red Mountain Station. It

09:11was the eve before Halloween.

09:14So it was you know it was a really good

09:16experience. I'm just I can't praise our

09:19our police officers enough. They do such

09:20a great job coming together. We actually

09:22didn't have a wildly eventful night,

09:24which was quite nice.

09:27There was unfortunately a fire. So I'd

09:29also like to give kudos to our amazing

09:31fire department because they tackled it

09:32quickly.

09:34And I got and I got to see them in

09:35action. I

09:37I tend to not show up when there's fires

09:39in action. So that was you know an

09:41enlightening experience. And I also

09:43attended the Fiesta District

09:46Halloween walkthrough. Oh my gosh,

09:48Councilmember Duff was right. There were

09:49so many people at this event. The the

09:51kids were so excited.

09:53And I think what I loved most about it

09:56was the the people in the community got

09:59to have more of a

10:00a personal experience with our Mesa PD

10:03officers, you know, seeing them enjoy

10:07celebrating the holiday, but also or an

10:08event, I guess, and also just kind of

10:10hanging out with the kids. Some of them

10:12were dressed up. They had the police

10:14cars all decked out and like cobwebs and

10:16stuff and

10:17I I was only there for a little while

10:19and I mean the line was tremendous. It

10:22went all the way down the street and and

10:24started to wrap around into a parking

10:26lot. So that was really cool. And then

10:28um let me see.

10:30On Saturday I went to the Falcon Field

10:32Haunted Hangar event.

10:34I won I didn't have any kids with me to

10:36go to this. I showed up and I just

10:38walked around and I was like this there

10:40were so many people at this event. There

10:41were hundreds and hundreds of people. So

10:43congratulations to the Falcon Field

10:45Haunted Hangar event. That was very

10:46popular. Um I actually looked for some

10:48of the council members. I don't know if

10:49anybody was there but I I was so

10:52impressed by how many people were there.

10:53I just took some pictures and I was like

10:55well

10:56that was cool. Um they did a great job.

10:58I'm going to go now because I actually

10:60wasn't dressed up either.

11:01[laughter] But uh that's you know that

11:03was cool. I've never attended one. And

11:05they had a car show at Falcon Field that

11:07was also very popular. Um I was excited

11:09to see how many people were going to

11:11that too. There was a little confusion.

11:12I showed up at the car show

11:14and I got to see some really cool cars

11:15and then I went to the the hangar. So

11:18that was my weekend.

11:20>> Thank you Ms. Duff. I mean Ms. Go Forth.

11:24>> Um yeah so yes I was there. I was the

11:26second table. I don't know how you

11:27missed me.

11:28[laughter] I walked in and was just

11:29costume.

11:31Uh well I had a hat on or I had Ben hat

11:34so maybe but there was probably a

11:36thousand people. I mean more than more

11:38than hundreds. There was probably

11:39thousands. So that was very successful.

11:41It was a great event.

11:42And then Mayor and I attended Mesa PD's

11:44uh

11:45class 64 I think it was Academy on

11:47Thursday along with some other

11:50um folks here in the room and that was

11:52those are always great to attend. So

11:53appreciate going to that and seeing the

11:56the cadets the young officers become

11:58officers.

11:58>> Yeah.

12:00Vice Mayor.

12:02>> Just uh

12:03thanks to Dawn and Superstition Springs

12:06uh

12:07precinct for it as well as the air unit,

12:10the SWAT team, somebody else. We had a

12:11trunk or treat

12:13uh Desert Ridge High School. We do this

12:15every year uh for the district. Uh very

12:18well attended. It's better attended when

12:20your team isn't playing in a world

12:22series or something apparently. Few

12:23years ago that was a little little

12:25rough. Uh coming up on the 7th and I

12:28think Mr. Butler will probably have some

12:30more information, but we have a big day

12:31in district six fire station 224.

12:34>> Yeah.

12:35>> We'll have a grand opening

12:36and then we're going to I can't remember

12:38which one you ordered. I think you got

12:40it, but we're going to open a brand new

12:41fire station and the uh pump tracks at

12:45the BMX park at Signal Butte and Elliot.

12:49So

12:50yay me.

12:52>> [laughter]

12:53>> And and and gain

12:54on top of that.

12:55>> And gain on top of that, yeah.

12:56>> Yeah. It'll be a busy Saturday.

12:58>> Yep.

12:59>> Ms. Taylor, you forgot something.

13:01>> Well, I thought maybe council member

13:02Duff would like to Is it Saturday is the

13:04barbecue too in your district?

13:06>> Barbecue and bluegrass. That's what I

13:08want make there. I never been

13:10coming, but yeah, I'll be a judge.

13:12>> Well, if you have barbecue I understand.

13:14>> eating on Saturday. I'll be a judge.

13:17>> Well, and it starts Friday too cuz I'm a

13:18judge on Friday.

13:19>> yeah, on Friday night um from I think it

13:22starts at 5:00 or so. I'd have to look

13:23at my calendar and then all day on

13:26Saturday as well.

13:27>> I think we get to judge desserts too.

13:29>> Oh.

13:30Appetizers and desserts

13:32on Friday

13:33>> Yeah.

13:34>> and barbecue

13:36>> Mhm.

13:36>> on Saturday.

13:37>> It's going to be bad weekend.

13:40Um you're done then? Uh I'll just add

13:43that

13:45on Friday I attended a Innovation Summit

13:48here at the Mix Center ASU and

13:51spoke at that.

13:52It's an Innovation Summit with high

13:54technology here being held and it was

13:56really interesting.

13:58Boots and Bling was a college bound gala

14:02attended at the Sheridan at

14:04Riverview.

14:06And then the Park of the Canals I'm

14:08going to try the name Mr. Adams Thawaw

14:12Pa Quinn Thawaw Pa Quinn.

14:15Where's Andrea? Okay, I got thumbs up at

14:17least close. So it means snowy white

14:19egret.

14:21Um, Mr. Adams, I think you have a

14:25community meeting Friday, this coming

14:27Friday, 6 p.m. at the

14:30Thursday. Thursday we do is Thursday, 6

14:33p.m. at the Lee High School for those

14:36listening. Mr. Aldridge, I see you

14:37there. You might want to attend that

14:39Thursday. You can't be there? Or you

14:41will you will be there. Okay.

14:43Again, a lot going on.

14:47Mr. Butler, your turn.

14:48>> Well, thank you, Mayor. I think you all

14:51have done my job for me. Just a reminder

14:53that Thursday study session is canceled

14:56Thursday morning. So we'll convene back

14:58here

15:00on Thursday, November 12th for the next

15:03study session. But yes, I'm trying to

15:06see what you didn't include. So we we

15:08talked about the downtown barbecue on

15:10Friday and Saturday. Signal Butte Park

15:12opening as the vice mayor said, that is

15:14at 10 a.m. So Signal Butte Bike Park

15:17opens at 10 a.m. And then the fire

15:19station 224

15:22ribbon cutting and open house is at 1:30

15:24p.m. So

15:26you can hang out in District 6 for for a

15:28few hours in between if you need to.

15:31Again, which has already been mentioned,

15:333 to 7 p.m. on Saturday. So thank you

15:35for your involvement and for all the the

15:38PD and and Fire Medical and everyone

15:41else who's involved in making gain a

15:42success. But next Wednesday is the East

15:46Valley Veterans Day parade. I know many

15:49of you attend annually. It's a great

15:52event at 11 a.m. next Wednesday where

15:54we'll honor all those who have served or

15:57are serving.

15:59So please come out next Wednesday for

16:01the East East Valley Veterans Day

16:03parade. It's over 60 years that we've

16:05been hosting this parade in Mesa. So

16:07real

16:09point of pride for the community. So

16:11great forward to seeing you all at all

16:13of these events coming up.

16:14>> Is something going on tomorrow?

16:18>> Well, you mean voting like November

16:20third?

16:21>> That'd be good.

16:21>> Okay. So, those of you who haven't

16:23voted, you can count here at our

16:25convention center at 263 North Center or

16:28your favorite place.

16:30And remember, you can't mail it in. You

16:32have to at least drop it off to be

16:34counted. So, do not mail. People ask me,

16:36do I have time to mail? I say, no, you

16:38do not.

16:40With that, we do have a proclamation

16:42tonight about Alzheimer's and myself and

16:45council member Heredia will address that

16:47and then we'll invite the

16:49council down for a photo

16:51Alzheimer's Awareness Month.

16:54Council, I'll entertain a motion to

16:55adjourn. Thank you, Mr. Adams. Thank

16:57you, Mr. Heredia. All in favor say aye.

16:59>> Aye.

17:00>> We're adjourned. See you upstairs.

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