HomeMy WebLinkAboutMinutes - Minutes - City Council - Meeting Date: 4/2/2013 (3) *PLEASE NOTE: Since the Glendale City Council does not take formal action at the
Workshops,Workshop minutes are not approved by the City Council.
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MINUTES OF THE
GLENDALE CITY COUNCIL WORKSHOP SESSION
Council Chambers
5850 West Glendale Avenue
April 2, 2013
1:30 p.m.
PRESENT: Mayor Jerry P. Weiers, Vice Mayor Yvonne J. Knaack and Councilmembers
Norma S. Alvarez, Ian Hugh, Manuel D. Martinez, Gary D. Sherwood, and Samuel U. Chavira
ALSO PRESENT: Richard Bowers, Acting City Manager; Horatio Skeete, Assistant City
Manager; Nick DiPiazza, Acting City Attorney; and Pamela Hanna, City Clerk
WORKSHOP SESSION
1. STATE LEGISLATIVE UPDATE
PRESENTED BY: Brent Stoddard, Executive Director, Intergovernmental Programs and
Jenna Goad, Intergovernmental Programs Administrator
This is a legislative update which will allow the City Council to provide guidance on
proposed state legislation.
Mr. Stoddard said there have been over 2100 bills introduced at the legislature to date. The three
major themes from this this session include the budget, Governor Brewer's Medicaid expansion
and the Governor's TPT reform package.
Ms. Goad said the state budget is always a primary topic of conversation. The discussions are a
little different from last year as the budget is showing a surplus. The analysts estimate that the
state will end the fiscal year with a surplus between $650 and $700 million. She said some of
that surplus is attributed to the one cent sales tax which expires on June 1st. There will be $400
to $600 million less to utilize for the next fiscal year. There has not been a budget proposal made
public at this time.
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Mr. Stoddard said Governor Brewer's proposal to restore Medicaid may lengthen this legislative
session since no deal has been worked out at this point. He said the most controversial issue this
session is the recommendations from the Governor's TPT task force. He said seven of the
recommendations were fully supported by cities and towns and these are being implemented.
Three related to the state administration of tax collections, auditing of tax payments and
calculation and payment of construction sales tax and prime contracting that they did not agree
to. These were introduced as a package in a house bill and these have not moved forward until
an agreement can be reached with the cities and towns.
Ms. Goad discussed state administration and a proposed online sales tax portal. This bill requires
the Department of Revenue (DOR) to take over tax collection from the 18 cities and towns that
collect their own local sales taxes, known as self-collecting cities. The bill does not provide any
increased resources to the Department of Revenue to allow for increased staffing and workload to
accommodate this additional responsibility. There would be an increase of 243 percent above
revenue that DOR is currently collecting and there is concern about how they would handle that
increased workload. The cities and towns are proposing to create an online sales tax portal
through a third party website that is managed by DOR. This is similar to what has been done in
other states. This portal would create a single point of payment so businesses could authorize
one transfer for all of these tax liabilities. The system would distribute the monies appropriately.
Ms. Goad said this portal would also serve as a one stop shop for business licenses. This portal
would include all the TPT jurisdictions, cities, counties and state. Offering this portal would be
much more beneficial to businesses than consolidating all of the collections into the current DOR
system.
Councilmember Sherwood asked about the status of the marketplace fairness act. Mr. Stoddard
said it would have to be a federal enactment through Congress and comes forward each year. He
said provisions of the fair marketplace act were adopted in the budget resolutions that moved
forward, but nothing has progressed beyond that point. He said it is hard to say how far this will
go this year, but the city wants to be ready to comply.
Mr. Stoddard spoke about auditing. He said the DOR would be the only entity allowed to
conduct audits in the state. It would eliminate the city's ability to employ their own auditors and
audit their own local businesses. He said it is unrealistic to think that the DOR is able to take on
those responsibilities. Mr. Stoddard said the city's focus is to create a level playing field
amongst the small businesses. He said the DOR would not spend the resources to conduct an
audit on a small business in Glendale as they are focused on the larger corporations in the state.
He said the DOR wouldn't even know there was an issue as they do not do business license
renewal. The city is much more able to see there is a problem developing as they renew the
businesses licenses and would be able to see if there were taxes owing. He said they are working
with the Governor's office to find a solution to multi jurisdictional audit. He said the city's
proposal is if a business operates in multiple jurisdictions, the DOR will conduct the audit. If
the business operates in a single city, the city is responsible for notifying DOR that they will
conduct the audit, but the audit would be conducted by the local city auditors. He also explained
that uniform auditing standards would be created by the DOR and the unified audit committee
and would be binding on everyone.
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Ms. Goad discussed the construction sales tax or prime contracting. Under this bill, the materials
are taxed at the point of sale and that city would receive all the tax collected. The city where the
materials are being used would receive nothing. There isn't reliable data that would show the
potential impact of this policy change, but potentially millions of dollars could be lost. The cities
are proposing that a study be conducted so there is current and accurate information when
considering such sweeping policy changes.
Mr. Stoddard said the state made decisions years ago not to rely heavily on property tax revenue.
The state now relies heavily on the sales tax system. He said these changes cannot be made
lightly. He said for state administration, there is a compromise on the table through the portal
and he hopes this will be accepted. State auditing has a proposal as well as he hopes there will
be a resolution soon. There is still a wide divide on the construction sales tax. A deal is not
close and they continue to advise legislators of the significant financial impact this will have not
only on the cities and towns but on the state's general fund.
Mayor Weiers said of the 10 original items, 7 were agreed upon. Two items were agreed upon
after negotiations. He asked where this last item came from and if the contractors or builders
were pushing this item. Mr. Stoddard said this was an issue brought forward by the development
community, specifically by the homebuilders. He said the small trade's people are front and
center on this issue and they are working to put the small trade's people into a different retail
category. The DOR is not able to provide information about the economic impact of this on
smaller towns and cities. He said they are not willing to discuss this issue until they get all the
numbers on how this will affect everyone. Mayor Weiers said they could compromise on 9 out
of 10 items, and take the time to research the last issue. Mr. Stoddard said this is a major
package of reform.
Councilmember Sherwood asked about the auditing function and how the city not having
resources was being addressed on the city's proposal. Mr. Stoddard said a lot of the cities hire
their own auditors to do the auditing function. He said there would not be any additional cost to
the cities and towns. He said they would not be supportive of the DOR asking for a user fee to
come up with money.
Councilmember Martinez asked if studies had been done showing the impact of doing this. Mr.
Stoddard said the one stop portal has been done successfully in other states.
Mr. Stoddard highlighted a few of the bills that have come up this session. He said SB 1210
would require the state treasurer to withhold 10 percent of the city's state shared revenue if the
city was found to have violated its personnel and purchasing policies. He said the bill failed on a
12 to 16 vote. HB2231 would have included any debt issued by a special taxing district or
industrial development within a city and that would be included in a city's debt limit calculation.
He said the bill has not moved since February 7th and it most likely will not move forward. He
said HB2456 would establish a revenue allocation district, giving cities flexibility in creating
districts for new development. He said the bill passed the house on a 39 to 17 vote and is now
making its way through the senate.
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Ms. Goad discussed two bills that involved land use planning. The first bill establishes a
statewide energy efficiency standard and prohibits cities and towns from further regulating
energy consumption and energy efficiency. She said the bill originally failed, but was revived.
The new bill has been approved by committees and is awaiting consideration by the full senate.
Ms. Goad said the next bill would have allowed a property owner to claim a tax credit for any
city land use action that reduced the market value of the property and required the state treasurer
to withhold an amount equal to any of these claimed credits from the city state shared revenue
and then deposited that amount into the state's general fund. This bill was never heard and it is
now presumed to not be moving forward.
Ms. Goad next discussed bills that would have an impact on the neighborhoods. The first bill
would prohibit a municipality from requiring that a developer establish a Home Owners
Association (HOA) except for the maintenance of community owned property. This was
approved by the senate committee and awaits action by the full senate. The next bill prohibits an
HOA formed after 2014 from regulating roadways or parking within the community. This bill
has been introduced for several years and has failed. She said the bill previously applied to all
HOAs in existence, but now only applies to HOAs formed after 2014. This has removed much
of the opposition and the bill has moved much further this session. It has been approved by the
senate and is working its way through the house.
Mr. Stoddard spoke about bills relating to public safety. The first bill would have allowed
municipalities to regulate both the sale and use of consumer fireworks. Currently, cities are only
allowed to regulate the use of the fireworks, but not the sale. The bill never received a
committee hearing. A second fireworks bill would make a fireworks violation a petty offense.
Currently, violation of a fireworks provision is a class 3 misdemeanor. The bill passed the house
and is currently making its way through the senate.
Mr. Stoddard said another bill regarding public safety that the city has supported would extend
the surviving spouse's eligibility for the employer's health insurance program for any spouse of
any police or firefighter killed in the line of duty beyond the one year time frame that currently
exists in state statute. He said the city has chosen to provide health insurance benefits for the
surviving spouses of, and dependents, for any Glendale employee killed while on the job at no
out of pocket cost. This will begin with the new contract with Blue Cross Blue Shield.
Mr. Stoddard discussed another issue under public safety and financial sustainability, which are
the costs associated with hosting major events that bring a lot of tourism and revenue to the state.
These costs are paid by the local communities. Glendale spent almost $2.3 million on public
safety costs alone during Super Bowl of 2008. He said they must develop a public safety
reimbursement program so the city can partner with the state and have them share in the public
safety costs incurred during these special events. He hopes to continue educating legislators and
will introduce language at the beginning of the next legislative session.
Vice Mayor Knaack asked what kind of support we had for this in the legislature. Mr. Stoddard
said the legislature is very interested in the growth of revenue to the state, and tourism is a
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priority. After conversations with the legislature, there is a willingness to begin constructing a
framework for this. He said it will take an appropriation of dollars to fund this program. He
believes the support is there, but it is difficult at this point to get the money.
Mayor Weiers said legislators are not allowed to come up with legislation that only affects one
city. He has spoken with several members of the legislature and they appear to be very
interested.
Vice Mayor Knaack said her concern was the Super Bowl is in less than two years and there isn't
time for a lot of negotiation about this and the city needs the money. Mr. Stoddard said when
they first began these discussions the legislators wanted to get started on the framework right
away and would worry about the money later. He said they have told them both the framework
and money discussions need to happen right away.
Councilmember Sherwood added there were a lot of items coming up in the state and these issues
do need to be resolved.
Councilmember Chavira asked if any states were using this model and what their success rate
was. Mr. Stoddard said that Texas was using this model and it has been very successful. He said
they have also used the success of their model in bids for major events.
Councilmember Martinez asked if the Governor's office has been approached about endorsing
this. Mr. Stoddard said they have had conversations with her staff and are doing outreach.
Mr. Stoddard discussed the neighborhood legislative link program to assist citizens in learning
about legislation impacting their neighborhood.
2. COUNCIL ITEM OF SPECIAL INTEREST: POLICE DEPARTMENT BUDGET AND
BASELINE SERVICE LEVELS
PRESENTED BY: Debora Black, Interim Police Chief
This report contains information on the Police Department's budget and baseline service levels.
Debora Black, Interim Police Chief, said the police department has been accredited by CALEA
since 2000, with the most reaccreditation in 2012. The department requests to be reviewed at the
gold standard. Chief Black was going to provide a historical overview and comparative analysis
from 2008 to 2012 of the staffing levels, calls for service, response time and crime. She said the
staffing needs of a department are determined by many factors. The department allocates patrol
resources as 20 minutes of each hour allocated to responding to calls for service, 20 minutes of
each hour allocated to administrative duties and 20 minutes of each hour for proactive patrol
response. She said the cities most comparable to Glendale are Chandler and Scottsdale. She said
in 2008, Glendale has a 1.88 officer per 1,000 population ratio, compared to today of 1.73
officers. She provided staffing levels for calendar year 2012.
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Vice Mayor Knaack asked Chief Black to explain the unfunded positions? Chief Black said in
2007-2008, council authorized positions but did not attach any funding for sworn officers. She
said the expectation was that when the economy improved, those positions could be filled
without returning to council. She said the economy has not improved so those positions were
never filled.
Councilmember Chavira asked if the police department was adequately staffed with personnel
and equipment to protect and serve the public and keep the officers safe. Chief Black said based
on all of the factors, she said they are meeting the needs of the community as best they can with
the funds that are available. She said they are meeting the needs and demands. Councilmember
Chavira said if they had proper staffing and personnel, they wouldn't just be meeting the needs;
they would be exceeding and preparing for future needs. Chief Black said that was a fair
assessment. Councilmember Chavira said the protection of the citizens and police and
firefighters is most important.
Councilmember Alvarez asked if the department was meeting the 20/20/20 detail that Chief
Black mentioned, especially the proactive patrol response. Chief Black said this is an ideal
situation and they are not meeting that goal at this time. She said patrol staffing levels have been
increased and this will help them meet the 20 minute goal. Councilmember Alvarez said she is
concerned because more people are put into patrol, but they are taking away from the schools and
other preventative programs. She said they cannot allow more crime in the city and it looks like
crime is increasing, especially in the south side of Glendale. She said they definitely need more
police. Chief Black said some of the issues raised by Councilmember Alvarez will be addressed
in her presentation.
Chief Black discussed staffing levels. She said some vacancies have been eliminated. She said
staffing levels were 405 police officers and 126.5 civilians, for a total of 531.5 FTEs for FY14.
Councilmember Alvarez asked why they were going back to 2008 on these statistics. Chief
Black said it was a five year comparison.
Chief Black also mentioned how the 405 sworn officers were deployed. She said 65 percent
were dedicated to patrol, including all ranks and all functions within patrol. This includes the
neighborhood response officers, the school liaison officers, and the CAT officers. She said the
investigations function included all investigations staff, including undercover officers, violent
crimes and family crimes squads. The others were special operations, which include traffic,
canine, SWAT and planning unit. Support services include all the other functions, including
professional standards, Chief's office staff, training and recruiting.
Chief Black next talked about sworn vacancies. She said since July of 2012, they had just below
10 vacancies. She said during that time, with the possibility of major departmental cuts citywide,
many officers were making decisions about retirement and applying with other agencies. She
said they are actively recruiting lateral police officers and have identified three recruit classes
beginning between May and August of 2013, and they have secured spots in each of those
academies for Glendale police recruits.
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Councilmember Alvarez said the 18 vacancies did not include the unfunded positions. Chief
Black said that was correct and there were 33 unfunded positions.
Chief Black next discussed calls for service. She said the overall number of priority calls
dispatched has increased since 2008 and the number has remained constant for the past 3 years.
She said there have been decreases in the total number of calls for service. She explained how
the calls were prioritized. She said the standard is high priority calls should have a response time
of 5 minutes or less, and a 15 to 35 minute response time for lower priority calls for service. She
said their response time for high priority calls was 4.6 minutes.
Councilmember Alvarez asked for an example of a priority 3, or urgent, call. Chief Black said it
was a burglary alarm with no suspect present or a suspicious activity call. Councilmember
Alvarez asked what a report call was. Chief Black said that was a call of a theft without a
suspect on scene, a residential or business burglary where they are reporting what has already
occurred.
Vice Mayor Knaack said the City Council report compared 2011 to 2012 crimes of homicide,
rape, robbery and auto theft all showed a reduction, but aggravated assault, burglary and larceny
had increased. She wanted the public to understand that crime has increased on some levels, but
has decreased in others. Chief Black said she does have information in her presentation on this
issue.
Chief Black continued next discussing response times and the elimination of the Callback
department and civilian accident investigators. She noted response times have increased about
30 seconds.
Mayor Weiers asked if the response times are measured from the time the officer receives the call
until he arrives on scene. Chief Black said that was correct.
Chief Black then talked about the uniform crime reporting (UCR) statistics. She explained the
different types of crimes under the UCR reporting. She said aggravated assault and robbery were
the most prevalent part 1 crimes. She said from 2008 to 2012, there was a difference in part 1
crimes of 178 crimes. Chief Black said theft is highest in part 1 property crimes. Shoplifting has
seen an increase of 30 percent from 2008 to 2012. Auto theft has shown the most significant
decrease. Theft and burglary have steadily increased.
Chief Black advised the new records management system, online reporting, new partnerships and
community outreach are forthcoming from the department.
Mayor Weiers asked how the officers choose the calls that are placed on the screen. Chief Black
said higher priority calls are broadcast and units respond based on availability. The officers
themselves choose which of the lower priority calls to respond to. Mayor Weiers and Chief
Black had a further discussion about responding to calls.
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Councilmember Chavira asked Chief Black to explain the AVL or auto vehicle locator system.
Chief Black explained that the system allows the dispatch center to know which officers are
closest to calls for service and if they are available. Chief Black discussed the benefits and new
features of the new Computer Aided Dispatch/Records Management System and how the
department is encouraging new partnerships and relationship for crime prevention and control.
She also mentioned that several members of the police management staff were in the audience
and commended them for their leadership.
Vice Mayor Knaack said she was worried about officer burnout and the effect it has on
investigations. Chief Black said last year the department went through an extensive review and
reorganization. She said they wanted to make sure that investigations staffing was adequate. She
said they are continuing to monitor that and will make changes if necessary. Vice Mayor Knaack
said she is concerned about the level of staffing in the police department and feels the vacant
positions should be funded as soon as possible.
Vice Mayor Knaack then asked how much money was in RICO. Chief Black said there was
about $4.5 million in RICO funds. She said one half of one FTE was employed from that fund
and it is used for expenses directly related to a law enforcement function, such as equipment
costs. Vice Mayor Knaack asked about the public safety sales tax fund and how those funds
were being spent. Chief Black said some of the funds were going to be used for overtime, but
salary savings due to vacancies may make that unnecessary. She said the remaining funds will be
rolled into the fund balance at the end of the fiscal year.
Councilmember Alvarez asked how officers were assigned. Chief Black explained they were
currently assigned to zones and at the beginning of the next fiscal year, would be reassigned to
beats. She said there were currently 172 first responder officers deployed to the zones. Mayor
Weiers asked if the number of officers deployed changed daily. Chief Black said the number of
officers deployed changed based on the time of day and the day of the week and various other
factors.
Councilmember Hugh asked if there were any officers in positions that could be filled by
civilians. Chief Black said nothing came to mind right now. The duties of some civilian
positions that have been eliminated have been assumed by supervisors or other officers.
Councilmember Hugh asked what it would take for the department to meet the 20/20/20
standard. Chief Black said to achieve that standard; she would need 213 officers on patrol.
Mayor Weiers said 31 more. Chief Black yes. Councilmember Hugh said the chart listed 7 cities,
if he moved here, which city would he have the least chance of being a victim of crime. Chief
Black said the numbers of officers is not directly correlated to the crime rate it isn't always as
tightly connected as you would think. Historically Glendale has compared their crime rate to
their rate. Recently, we're paying more attention now to how we compare to other valley cities.
The crime rate is not necessarily related to number of officer, for instance Chandler has fewer
officers then we do but have a lower property and violent crime rate. We are actively reaching
out to those agencies to find out the differences to try and reduce our crime rate.
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Councilmember Martinez asked if crime was uniform throughout the city. Chief Black said
crime was not uniform throughout the city. She said there were eight zones. Councilmember
Martinez asked about the criteria to determine how many officers serve each zone. Chief Black
said it was based on calls for services and geography. She also said it was based on safety issues;
they needed a certain number of officers to meet the needs of the citizens safely.
Councilmember Sherwood asked if the more officers were placed in areas where crime was
higher. She said when they did have available time officers were directed to areas where the
need was higher. Councilmember Sherwood asked about the $7 million fund balance and if it
carried over to next year. Chief Black said it was being carried over. Mr. Skeete said the public
safety sales tax has generated about $20 million, with two thirds to the police department and one
third to the fire department.
Vice Mayor Knaack said the public safety sales tax was for officers and some of it should be
used to fill sworn positions.
Councilmember Chavira asked Chief Black for the statistics of how Glendale compares to other
cities for crime. Chief Black said she would get that information and provide it to all the
Councilmembers.
Councilmember Alvarez asked if the 85301 neighborhoods is the central city. Chief Black said it
was. Councilmember Alvarez asked how many officers worked in the central city. Chief Black
can provide a breakdown of officers per zone and what the beats will look like and the numbers
deployed per beat to Council.
3. COUNCIL ITEM OF SPECIAL INTEREST: FIRE DEPARTMENT BUDGET AND
BASELINE SERVICE LEVELS
PRESENTED BY: Mark Burdick, Fire Chief
The purpose of this City Council Report is to address City Council's request to provide an update
and overview of the Fire Department's budget and baseline service levels.
Mark Burdick, Fire Chief, discussed the fire department's core services and objectives. He said
most of their staffing is assigned to the field. He said there are currently 13 vacancies. He talked
about how the department staffing works. He said they have found through research that it is
more effective to put the paramedics on the fire trucks, rather than running the smaller trucks.
Chief Burdick then discussed best practices and research done through TriData. He said stations
with 3,000 to 3,200 calls are considered busy and over 4,000 calls, they are very busy. He said
all fire departments measure their activity through response times and how busy they are. He
said they have had about a 14 percent increase in calls from 2008 to 2012. He said response
times have gotten worse. He said response times are usually from the time they get the call until
the time they arrive on scene. He presented some information on the types of calls and response
times over the last 5 years and said the number of actual fires has increased as well.
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Chief Burdick discussed reliability, and showed the number of calls received in a grid over the
city. He said they have redeployed their trucks and resources based on call volume and need. He
said efficiencies in the department, like location of the stations, the AVL (auto vehicle locator),
mobile computers and automatic aid. He said utilizing the staff and resources in the best, most
cost-effective way was most important. He said in 2007, they presented a needs assessment,
which identified needing a new truck. Also, they have had increased call volumes, increased
response times and Glendale has the highest number of calls compared to the other benchmark
cities it compares to.
Mayor Weiers mentioned the issue of Glendale's fire stations responding to a lot of calls in
Phoenix. He asked based on the total number of calls, does Phoenix respond to more calls in
Glendale than Glendale responds to in Phoenix. Chief Burdick said in 2012, they responded to
other cities over 5,000 times a year and Glendale received assistance from other cities just over
3,000 times. He said they have never discussed trying to balance those figures. He said
Phoenix did locate a station inside their border so Glendale didn't have to respond to so many of
their calls and this did assist with that. He said the sharing of resources is just part of the give
and take of automatic aid. He said traditionally they have viewed automatic aid as an
enhancement of services.
Mayor Weiers also asked about the possibility of having LPN (licensed practical nurse) staffing
on the fire trucks, to alleviate the cost of transporting some patients to the hospital. Chief
Burdick said that cost was an issue. He said they have had discussions with Mesa who has this in
place, but there is a cost for that service. He said after discussions with Arrowhead Hospital,
they are evaluating this model to see if there is a way to bill for the service. He said although this
service would help, it wouldn't alleviate the call volume problems they have today.
Councilmember Chavira commented that many calls he has gone out on and some were in
Glendale. He continued due to the automatic aid program, they cannot forecast where and when
the calls will come from. He asked Chief Burdick right now if the fire department was
adequately staffed and equipped to keep personnel and citizens safe. Chief Burdick said they are
adequately staffed today, but said they are not adequately staffed to meet the call volume.
Vice Mayor Knaack asked Chief Burdick what he needed right now in the way of staffing. Chief
Burdick said he was asking for 15 firefighters. He said the trend analysis is that they need them
now as they continue falling farther behind. Vice Mayor Knaack said the police and fire
departments need to be fully staffed. Chief Burdick said it is a difficult position knowing the
financial shape the city is in right now, and having to ask for these additional employees.
Councilmember Martinez spoke about having to build fire stations in the future.
Councilmember Alvarez asked about the partnership with Southwest Ambulance. Chief Burdick
said they are very close to an agreement. He said that the city will dual staff three units with
Southwest Ambulance and will respond from the fire station. He is hoping to get this item before
Council by May.
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Mayor Weiers asked if Chief Burdick could schedule a time to speak with him about everything
that was just discussed.
Councilmember Sherwood asked Chief Burdick if the 15 firefighters requested was in addition to
the 13 vacancies. Chief Burdick said he wasn't looking at the 13 vacancies, he was just asking
for 15 firefighters. Councilmember Sherwood also asked about the status of the fire truck. Chief
Burdick said he was able to find a lease purchase agreement that would bring the cost of the fire
truck down. He said they would look at the most cost effective way to get an additional unit.
Councilmember Hugh asked if Chief Burdick had a public safety sales tax fund balance. Chief
Burdick said they have no balance.
Vice Mayor Knaack said all Chief Burdick wants is the very best for his people and the citizens.
She thanked him for his years of service.
Councilmember Alvarez said Chief Burdick and all of the supervisors care for their employees
and want the best. She said now is the time for safety. She said she supports the fire and police
departments. She said they need to find the funds to get them the monetary support they need.
Councilmember Chavira said the fire stations he mentioned in his comments earlier were
purposely placed on the borders of Phoenix and Glendale to assist with mutual aid.
Mayor Weiers said he is looking out for the best interest of all the employees and if the numbers
are close, he wouldn't have a problem with that, but if the numbers vary widely, it is something
they need to review.
CITY MANAGER'S REPORT
Mr. Bowers had nothing to report.
COUNCIL ITEMS OF SPECIAL INTEREST
Councilmember Sherwood said they need to get the issue of a new City Attorney on the agenda.
Councilmember Alvarez said the Tohono O'Odham nation is getting ready to disburse grant
funds and said the city should look into putting in a proposal for getting assistance for police and
fire. She also said the city of Glendale bought the rights to the web page for the West Valley
Resort. She wanted to know more about this.
Councilmember Hugh said his items of interest were the same as Councilmember Sherwood and
Councilmember Alvarez. He said they should look into getting grant money to help out the
citizens of Glendale.
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Councilmember Chavira said he agreed with Councilmember Sherwood on the new City
Attorney and supported the requests by Councilmember Alvarez.
ADJOURNMENT
The meeting was adjourned at 4:03 p.m.
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