MESA CITY COUNCIL REMOTE VIRTUAL PLATFORM STUDY SESSION Thu 08.20.2020

This meeting will be held virtually via a video platform. 

For all meeting information, go to: https://www.mesaaz.gov/government/city-council-meetings/-fsiteid-1

The agenda will be available at least 24 hours in advance of the meeting at: http://mesa.legistar.com/Calendar.aspx and in the City Manager’s Office.

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Agenda printed 08.18.2020 
Roll Call 
1 Review and discuss items on the agenda for the August 24, 2020 regular Council meeting
BLOGGER NOTE: 44 Items

INSERT: Earlier post on this blog site: Read more > click or tap here

16 August 2020

NEW 15-PAGE TENTATIVE AGENDA: Mesa City Council Meeting Mon 08.24.2020

What's missing are any agendas for 2 Study Sessions before - one for this week on Thu  @ 07:30 a.m. 08.20.2020 and one for a Study Session scheduled just before the 08.24 regular meeting 
City Council Meeting Agenda
Tentative Monday, August 24, 2020 
5:45 PM 
CITIZEN PARTICIPATION All citizens are permitted and encouraged to speak on agenda items including and preceding “Items from citizens present." . . . 

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2 Acknowledge receipt of minutes of various boards and committees
2-a 20-0758 
Museum and Cultural Advisory Board meeting held on May 28, 2020. 
2-b 20-0763 
Transportation Advisory Board meeting held on May 19, 2020. 
2-c 20-0812 
Economic Development Advisory Board meeting held on June 2, 2020. 
3 Current events summary including meetings and conferences attended. 
4 Scheduling of meetings.

LINK ACCESS TO STUDY SESSION DETAILS

Meeting Name:

City Council Study Session

Agenda status:

Final

Meeting date/time:

8/20/2020 7:30 AM

Attachments:

• Meeting Items (3)

3 records

File # Agenda # Type Title Action Result Action Details 20-0758 2-a Minutes Museum and Cultural Advisory Board meeting held on May 28, 2020. Not available 20-0763 2-b Minutes Transportation Advisory Board meeting held on May 19, 2020. Not available 20-0812 2-c Minutes Economic Development Advisory Board meeting held on June 2, 2020. Not available

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BLOGGER NOTE: Next Meeting: There will be no meeting in July. The next EDAB meeting will be held on August 4, 2020, 7:30 a.m. 

File #:

20-0812

Type:

Minutes

Status:

Agenda Ready

In control:

City Council Study Session

On agenda:

8/20/2020

Title:

Economic Development Advisory Board meeting held on June 2, 2020.

Attachments:

1. 2020-06-02 City of Mesa EDAB Approved Meeting Minutes

MEETING MINUTES
Office of Economic Development Economic Development Advisory Board VIRTUAL PLATFORM
Council Chambers, 57 E. 1st Street Mesa, AZ 85201 June 2, 2020 7:30 A.M. MEMBERS PRESENT EX-OFFICIO STAFF PRESENT
Natascha Ovando-Karadsheh, Chair
Mayor John Giles (Excused)
William Jabjiniak
Jim Kasselmann, Vice Chair
Chris Brady, City Manager (Excused)
Jaye O’Donnell
Rich Adams
Sally Harrison
David Packard
Brian Campbell
Jeffrey Pitcher
Maribeth Smith
Deb Duvall
Jim Kalberer, on behalf of Dan Olson
Matt Likens
Dominic Perry
Christopher Nickerson
Brad Wilson
GUESTS PRESENT  
Jack Sellers, Maricopa County Supervisor 
Councilmember Jennifer Duff

4. Election of Chair and Vice Chair for 2020-21
    All voting members approved Jim Kasselmann as Chair and Rich Adams as Vice Chair
AYES – Ovando-Karadsheh, Kasselmann, Adams, Campbell, Duvall, Likens, Nickerson, Perry, Wilson

Economic Development Advisory Board Meeting Minutes June 2, 2020 
ITEM 5. State Route 24 & Growth in the East Valley
(Pages 2 - 4 of 9 )
Jack Sellers, Maricopa County Supervisor, actually served on the EDAB board in the past before serving on the Chandler City Council. He has just finished a 6-year term on the State Transportation Board, serving his last year as Chair. Current Gilbert Mayor Jenn Daniels will be his replacement on that board representing Maricopa County. 
Some extracts:
> Supervisor Sellers has been very involved with the transportation folks in Pinal County as a part of his Board function and has now developed a relationship with the County Supervisors in Pinal County. He will continue to pursue that because the area around Gateway is really impacted by what is going on in Pinal County as well. Pinal County was able to pass a sales tax initiative by a pretty wide margin to help with their funding for those kinds of projects. They are close to getting past all the lawsuits against them for that. They put some money in the bank and we just need to stay in touch with them and work together to resolve these issues.
> Supervisor Sellers stated that conversation has already started with the PIRATE project, . . .Supervisor Sellers stated as he was leaving the State Transportation Board, he was frustrated that he had developed a lot of contacts and a lot of influence in areas that he was afraid he wouldn’t be able to use. When he became a County Supervisor, the other supervisors stated he was the lead guy on transportation issues and he was pleased and excited about that.
 > Bill Jabjiniak thanked Supervisor Sellers for his support on the PIRATE project. He stated we’re seeing entitlements along State Route 24 and lot of interest in PIRATE. He just talked to an investor out of Canada on Friday interested in foreign trade zones and access to rail. Think about all the things coming together south of the airport in southeast Mesa and how it is starting to tell a great story. . .

> Supervisor Sellers stated he was notified yesterday of a potential zoning issue at Germann and Crismon that would allow a neighborhood to be built there. That area is almost out of the noise contour, although it may still be a concern. Mr. Jabjiniak stated that would be a concern because SRP has already sited a 230-power line along the Crismon alignment from just south of Germann north to the 24 and then over to the 202. That line is critical for our continued growth with the amount of interest we are seeing in southeast Mesa. Do we really want residential next to a 230 line? 

> Chair Ovando-Karadsheh asked Supervisor Sellers, as he has sat on so many different boards and after everything that has happened over the the past three months, how does he think Arizona and Maricopa County will fare in their recovery. Supervisor Sellers felt we will do very well on a recovery. His concern is how we will do in the longer term. We are in great shape today compared to other metropolitan areas because we had the leadership 20 years ago that had a plan. He was very concerned about what people will say about him 20 years from now and he is determined to make that more positive before he is done. Right now, we don’t have a plan for investing in infrastructure to maintain our lifestyle for the growth that we are seeing. We have been the fastest growing county in the US for three or four years in a row. Our lifestyle is not sustainable unless we are willing to invest. We have some work to do. . .

6. Mesa CARES Small Business Re-emergence Grant Update

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DEPARTMENT DETAILS FOR CITY COUNCIL STUDY SESSIONS AUGUST 2020

Body Name:

select All Meetings All City Council Related Meetings Audit, Finance and Enterprise Committee Board of Adjustment Public Hearing Board of Adjustment Study Session Cadence Community Facilities District Board City Council City Council Strategic Planning Session City Council Study Session Community and Cultural Development Committee Design Review Board Eastmark Community Facilities District No. 1 Board Eastmark Community Facilities District No. 2 Board Economic Development Committee Historic Preservation Board Joint Meeting of the Economic Development Council Sub-Committee and Economic Development Advisory Board Mesa Housing Services Governing Board Planning and Zoning Board - Public Hearing Planning and Zoning Board - Study Session Public Safety Committee Sustainability and Transportation Committee Audit and Finance Committee (inactive) Building Board of Appeals (inactive) Community and Neighborhood Services Committee (inactive) General and Economic Development Committee (inactive) Intergovernmental Affairs Committee (inactive) Planning and Zoning Board Public H (inactive) Planning Hearing Officer (inactive) Transportation and Infrastructure Committee (inactive)

Type:

City Council Study Session

Meeting location:

Council Chambers - Lower Level

• Calendar (4)

• List View
• Calendar View

4 records Group Clear sorting Clear filtering Clear grouping Group by Meeting Date Group by Meeting Date (Month) Group by Meeting Date (Year) Group by Meeting Location Export Export to Excel Export to PDF Export to Word Date: This Month 2020 2019 2018 2017 2016 2015 2014 2013 2012 2011 2010 All Years Last Year Last Month Last Week This Year This Month This Week Today Next Week Next Month Next Year

Date  Time Location Meeting Details Agenda Minutes Video 8/31/2020 5:15 PM Virtual Platform Meeting details Not available Not available Not available 8/27/2020 7:30 AM Virtual Platform Meeting details Not available Not available Not available 8/24/2020 5:15 PM Virtual Platform Meeting details Not available Not available Not available 8/20/2020 7:30 AM Virtual Platform Meeting details Agenda Not available Not available

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Re/View >> Predictions of Random Multiple Shocks: Thomas Picketty "Capital In The 21st Century"

All this takes of your valuable time is about 20 minutes to watch-and-listen to this clear and sound presentation - explanations of his assertions are clear and easy to understand . . .

Thomas Piketty: 

New thoughts on capital in the 21st century

323,893 views

•Oct 6, 2014

French economist Thomas Piketty caused a sensation in early 2014 with his book on a simple, brutal formula explaining economic inequality: r is greater than g (meaning that return on capital is generally higher than economic growth). Here, he talks through the massive data set that led him to conclude: Economic inequality is not new, but it is getting worse, with radical possible impacts. TEDTalks is a daily video podcast of the best talks and performances from the TED Conference, where the world's leading thinkers and doers give the talk of their lives in 18 minutes (or less). Look for talks on Technology, Entertainment and Design -- plus science, business, global issues, the arts and much more. Find closed captions and translated subtitles in many languages at http://www.ted.com/translate

TECHDIRT > Some of Tuesday's Hit Parade

O Yeah! GO HERE FOR MORE

(and connect-and-follow-the-dots while you're here  > https://www.techdirt.com/

Shitbirds Of A Feather Flock Together:

ICE Signs $274,000 Contract With Clearview

(Mis)Uses of Technology

from the voted-Most-Hateable-for-two-years-running! dept

Tue, Aug 18th 2020 12:03pm — Tim Cushing

"ICE continues to not care what anyone thinks of it. Its tactics over the past few years have turned it into one of the federal government's most infamous monsters, thanks to its separation of families, caging of children, unfettered surveillance of undocumented immigrants, its fake university sting created to punish students trying to remain in the country legally, its sudden rescinding of COVID-related distance learning guidelines solely for the purpose of punishing students trying to remain in the country legally… well, you get the picture.
Perhaps it's fitting ICE is buying tech from a company that appears unconcerned that most of the public hates it. Clearview -- the facial recognition software that matches uploaded facial images with billions of images scraped from the open web -- is one of the latest additions to ICE's surveillance tech arsenal.

Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) signed a contract with facial recognition company Clearview AI this week for “mission support,” government contracting records show (as first spotted by the tech accountability nonprofit Tech Inquiry). The purchase order for $224,000 describes “clearview licenses” and lists “ICE mission support dallas” as the contracting office. . .

Either way, we can safely conclude both partners here suck. ICE is bad and keeps getting worse, and Clearview isn't ever going to improve and is presumably still scraping sites for "content" it can sell to its customers.

Filed Under: dhs, facial recognition, for the children, hsi, ics, surveillance
Companies: clearview, clearview ai

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Why Keep Section 230?

Because People Need To Be Able To Complain

About The Police

Free Speech

from the discourse-demands-it dept

Tue, Aug 18th 2020 10:44am — Cathy Gellis

"The storm has passed and the charges have been dropped. But the fact that someone who tweeted about police behavior, and, worse, people who retweeted that tweet, were ever charged over it is an outrage, and to make sure that it never happens again, we need to talk about it. Because it stands as a cautionary tale about why First Amendment protections are so important – and, as we'll explain here, why Section 230 is as well.
To recap, protester Kevin Alfaro became upset by a police officer's behavior at a recent Black Lives Matter protest in Nutley, NJ. The officer had obscured his identifying information, so Alfaro tweeted a photo asking if anyone could identify the officer "to hold him accountable."
Several people, including Georgana Szisak, retweeted that tweet. The next thing they knew, Alfaro, Sziszak, and several other retweeters found themselves on the receiving end of a felony summons pressing charges of "cyber harassment" of the police officer.
As we've already pointed out, the charges were as pointless as they were spurious . . .
Think about it: think about how many of us share content online. Many of us may even share far more content created by others than we create ourselves. But all that sharing would grind to a halt, if we could be held liable for anything allegedly wrong with that content. Not just civilly, but, as this case shows, even criminally.
And that chilling is not a good thing.

. . .Our sole policy goal should be to enhance our speech protections, to impose costs on those who would undermine public discourse through their attempts at abusive process. The last thing we should be doing is taking steps to whittle away at them and make it any easier to chill discourse than it already is, and cases like this one, where people were trying to speak out against abuses of power, illustrate why.

Filed Under: criminal charges, georgana sziszak, kevin alfaro, new jersey, nutley, protests, retweets, section 230

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Verizon Forced To Back Off Charging Extra For 5G

Wireless

from the overhyped dept

Tue, Aug 18th 2020 6:29am — Karl Bode

"While fifth-generation (5G) wireless will result in faster, more resilient networks (once it's finally deployed at scale years from now), the technology has been over-hyped to an almost comical degree. Yes, faster, lower latency networks are a good thing, but 5G is not as paradigm-rattling as most wireless carriers and hardware vendors have led many in the press to believe. 5G is more of a useful evolution than a revolution, but it has become the equivalent of magic pixie dust in tech policy circles, wherein if you simply say "it will lead to faster deployment of 5G!" you'll immediately add gravitas to your otherwise underwhelming K Street policy pitch.
Here on planet Earth, most consumers couldn't care less about 5G. In most surveys U.S. consumers -- who pay some of the highest prices in the world for mobile data -- say their top priority is usually lower prices. That's increasingly true during a pandemic and economic crisis, where every dollar counts.
Enter Verizon, which, instead of reading the market, has been repeatedly trying to charge $10 extra for 5G despite consumers not seeing the value. Verizon executives had fooled themselves into thinking a "premium" upgrade warranted a premium price tag. But consumers quickly realized the extra money simply wasn't worth it . . .
. . .So while Verizon has struggled to extract its pound of flesh via an additional 5G surcharge, they'll surely come up with some ingenious new fees down the road. And U.S. regulators and Congress, by and large, will not only be fine with that, but they'll help Verizon pretend it's the pinnacle of innovation. After all, we wouldn't want to lose the "race to 5G," right?

Filed Under: 5g, competition, surcharges
Companies: Verizon

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Judge Forbids Facebook Users Being Sued By A Cop From Publishing The Cop's Name On Social Media

Defamation

from the [insert-Big-Lebowski-quote] dept

Tue, Aug 18th 2020 3:28am — Tim Cushing

Eugene Volokh reports an Ohio court has hit a number of defendants in a libel lawsuit with an unconstitutional order forbidding them from posting the name of the man suing them. It's no ordinary man, though. It's a police officer who several attendees of a Cincinnati city council meeting have both identified and claimed used a racist hand sign while interacting with them.

A veteran Cincinnati police officer sued several citizens in early July, accusing them of defamation in a closely watched case that could be the beginning of a trend of police officers going after critics in court.
Several citizens accused the officer of possibly being associated with white supremacy or of being racist after spotting a video and picture of him allegedly flashing the “ok” sign at a City Council meeting in June . . . >

The officer's Facebook page has had all of its posts deleted. The header image has been replaced with this, which appears to be a direct response to those accusing him of flashing the "ok" sign at the city council meeting.

 

 

A No-Brainer For Mesa: Cities Should Sell Their Airports

The City of Mesa has two - both hangovers from World War II. Here are a few snippets of ideas and reasons

Cities Should Sell Their Airports

Airport privatization can close gaping budget holes. It’s as close to a no-brainer as cities will find.

Joseph Guinto Writer and editor

The Atlantic | 6:00 AM ET

America’s airports may be mostly empty now, but they’re full of hidden potential—if local governments sell them

“If any U.S. city wanted to do a deal for its airport, there’d be a line of investors down the block tomorrow,” says DJ Gribbin, an infrastructure consultant who was the architect of the Trump administration’s 2018 plan to repair America’s aging roads, bridges, tunnels, and, also, airports. “There are literally hundreds of billions of dollars sloshing around investment markets wanting to invest in U.S. infrastructure today,” Gribbin added.
So why don’t governments jump at the chance?
The rest of the world knows what the U.S. doesn’t: that privatization pays. A lot. “It would, candidly, surprise most people in local governments in the U.S. to find out what their assets are worth,” says Tim Bath, a managing director at PJ Solomon, a financial advisory firm in New York and Houston that works with operators and investors on airport-privatization deals around the world. . .
To begin privatization, municipalities simply alert the FAA and fill out some paperwork. Then the federal government will send them up to $750,000 to defer some initial costs. The municipalities must hire lawyers and accountants, and set up meetings with private operators, financiers, and the airlines—who effectively have veto power over privatization deals under federal law—before the framework of a deal can take shape. That part is not so easy. “These are really complex issues that take a lot of highly detailed negotiating over months if not years,” says Steve Sisneros, who heads real-estate operations for Southwest Airlines.
"There is a lot of money out there for cities who need it right now,” Schmidt said, “and that can both help airlines and make better airports.”
So what are we waiting for?

Mesa Historic Preservation Virtual Platform Community Meeting

Historic Preservation Board
6:00 PM Virtual Platform Wednesday, August 19, 2020
Mesa Council Chambers 57 East First Street



The News about it > https://www.mesaaz.gov/Home/Components/News/News/7190/16

Historic preservation virtual community meeting in Mesa

Post Date:08/10/2020 11:10 AM

• Lead :  The Mesa Historic Preservation Office will host a community meeting on Wednesday Aug. 19 at 6 p.m. via Zoom to provide an introduction to the historic preservation office and programs in Mesa, and the opportunity to learn more about the City’s variety of valuable historic resources. Details at www.mesanow.org

The Mesa Historic Preservation Office will host a community meeting on Wednesday Aug. 19 at 6 p.m. via the Zoom virtual platform. The meeting will give historic district residents, historic property owners and any interested community members an introduction to the historic preservation office and programs in Mesa, and the opportunity to learn more about the City’s variety of valuable historic resources.
Historic Preservation Office staff will be available for a question-and-answer session in which attendees can pose their questions about Mesa’s historic buildings, historic districts, preservation processes, their own historic homes and offer their preservation-related suggestions. Historic Preservation Board Members will also be in attendance to introduce themselves to the community. Those interested in learning how to create new historic districts are also encouraged to attend.
A number of City officials and administrators will offer their remarks regarding the role of historic preservation in Mesa’s thriving future.
Please visit https://www.mesaaz.gov/residents/historic-preservation-office to access the meeting information and Zoom link. 
The purpose of Mesa’s Historic Preservation Program is to facilitate public knowledge of the City’s historic past, promote better awareness of its architectural and cultural history, and work sustainably with historic property owners to foster civic and neighborhood pride so future generations will have the opportunity to appreciate Mesa’s unique cultural heritage.

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The City of Mesa is committed to making its public meetings accessible to persons with disabilities.  For special accommodations, please contact the City Manager's Office at (480) 644-3333 or AzRelay 7-1-1 at least 48 hours in advance of the meeting.
Si necesita asistencia o traducción en español, favor de llamar al menos 48 horas antes de la reunión al (480) 644-2767.
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Historic Preservation Board LINK Click or Tap Here
Visit Historic Preservation Office site for more information about neighborhoods, buildings, maintenance and many other resources.
The Historic Preservation Board (HPB) is a seven-member citizen advisory committee that makes recommendations to the Downtown Development Committee, the Planning & Zoning Board, the Board of Adjustments, the Zoning Administrator and City Council.
The HPB oversees historic preservation on a citywide basis.
The HPB is responsible for hearing citizen comments and making recommendations on historic preservation zoning overlays for historic districts and historic landmarks (including archeological sites), as well as requests for demolition, new development within established historic districts, hear and decide appeals regarding proposed development, renovation, alterations, or additions to buildings or structures designated as historic.
The HPB establishes and maintains the Mesa Historic Property Register and conducts studies for assessing the potential of buildings, structures, or areas for designation as historic sites or districts.
The HPB also makes recommendations to the City Council regarding public policy development for the preservation of historic resources through the City.
As part of each meeting agenda, action may be taken on:
historic zoning overlay matters,
special use permits, design review cases regarding additions, changes or modifications to historic resources,
historic preservation survey projects,
applications for historic designation, and other matters affecting established historic resources.
During meetings, citizens may address the HPB on items pertaining to the agenda. 
Members of the Board may also be members of any other board or committee of the city. There shall be seven (7) members who are residents of the city at large. Members hall serve for three (3) years. Any vacancy shall be filled by the Mayor and City Council within a reasonable time after a vacancy occurs, for the unexpired term. Members shall serve until their successors are appointed. The members of the Board shall serve without compensation.
Members of the Board shall be selected form the areas of architecture, history, architectural history, planning, landscape architecture, archaeology, cultural geography or anthropology, or have demonstrated strong interest in past matters that involve historic preservation issues.
For a full explanation of the duties and responsibilities of the Design Review Board see Title 2 - Zoning Ordinance, Chapter 22 of the Mesa Code of Ordinances.

Board Member	Date appointed	Term Expires
Chair: Brandon Benzing	07/01/20	06/30/23
Vice-Chair: Laura Schaffer-Metcalf, Ed. D	07/01/14	06/30/21
Milagros Zingoni	07/01/16	06/30/22
Barbara Bingham	07/02/19	06/30/22
James Babos	01/27/20	06/30/21
Niti Desai	07/01/20	06/30/23

For more information please call the Historic Preservation Officer, Nana Appiah. 

Phone: 480-644-2181

Email:  nana.appiah@mesaaz.gov  

__________________________________________________________________________________Chair Brandon Benzing
Vice Chair Laura Schaffer-Metcalfe Ed.D.
Boardmember Milagros Zingoni
Boardmember Barbara Bingham
Boardmember James Babos
Boardmember Michelle Dahlke
Boardmember Niti Desai
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Meeting Name:

Historic Preservation Board

Agenda status:

Final

Meeting date/time:

8/19/2020 6:00 PM

Minutes status:

Draft

Meeting location:

Virtual Platform Historic Preservation Community Meeting

Published agenda:

Agenda

____________________________________________________________________________
1 Introductions
          a.  Development Services Director Christine Zielonka
          b.  Planning Director Nana Appiah
          c.  Historic Preservation Coordinator Arianna Urban
2 Introductions and Remarks
          a. Councilmember Jen Duff
          b. Vice-Mayor Mark Freeman
3 Introductions
          a. Historic Preservation Board Members
4 Remarks: Historic Preservation Board Chair Brandon Benzing
5 Presentation
          a. The Historic Preservation Office and its Functions
          b. Upcoming preservation programs

Page 1 City of Mesa Printed on 8/13/2020
August 19, 2020Historic Preservation Board Meeting Agenda - Final

6 Questions from Attendees

1 View 5 Days Ago : Virtual Aging & Healthcare Committee Meeting- August 8, 2020

Mesa Chamber of Commerce             
From the Mesa Chamber of Commerce (58 subscribers) YouTube Channel

Created as a discussion forum around business discussion points related to aging and healthcare, the Mesa Chamber Aging and Healthcare Committee provides a forum to collect data and identify opportunities for Chamber advocacy.