April 18, 2023 Draft Minutes
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DRAFT MINUTES CITY OF GLENDALE CITIZEN BOND ELECTION COMMITTEE CITY HALL 4th FLOOR CONFERENCE ROOM 5850 W. GLENDALE AVE. GLENDALE, ARIZONA 85301 APRIL 18, 2023 5:30 p.m. 1. Call to Order The meeting was called to order at 5:34 p.m. 2. Roll Call Roll call was conducted. Members Present: Lisa Baker, Committee Chair Jim Brodnax, Committee Member Connie Kiser, Committee Member Sam McConnell, Committee Member (arrived during agenda item #8) Michael Socaciu, Committee Member Members Absent: Alicia Rubio, Committee Vice Chair Helena Johnson-Bodine, Committee Member Other Attendees: Vicki Rios, Assistant City Manager Levi Gibson, Director, Budget and Finance Jamsheed Mehta, Assistant City Manager Ryan Lee, Intergovernmental Programs Director Tom Carlson, RBC Capital Markets William DeHaan, Greenberg Traurig 3. Citizen Comments None. 4. Administer Oath of Office Presented by: Levi Gibson, Director, Budget and Finance Mr. Gibson administered the Oath of Office to Committee Member Kiser and Committee Member Socaciu. 5. Approval of August 30, 2022 Minutes A motion was made by Committee Member Michael Socaciu, second by Committee Chair Lisa Baker, to approve the Citizen Bond Election Committee August 30, 2022 meeting minutes as written. AYE: Committee Chair Lisa Baker Committee Member Jim Brodnax Committee Member Connie Kiser Committee Member Michael Socaciu Other: Committee Vice Chair Alicia Rubio (ABSENT) Committee Member Helena Johnson-Bodine (ABSENT) Committee Member Sam McConnell (ABSENT) 6. Chair and Vice Chair Recommendations for 2023 Minutes of the Citizen Bond Election Committee April 18, 2023 Page 2 Mr. Gibson announced that recommendations to Council were needed for Chair and Vice Chair of the Committee. A motion was made by Committee Member Connie Kiser, second by Committee Member Michael Socaciu, to recommend Committee Member Lisa Baker as Chair and Committee Member Michael Socaciu as Vice Chair of the Citizen Bond Election Committee. AYE: Committee Chair Lisa Baker Committee Member Jim Brodnax Committee Member Connie Kiser Committee Member Michael Socaciu Other: Committee Vice Chair Alicia Rubio (ABSENT) Committee Member Helena Johnson-Bodine (ABSENT) Committee Member Sam McConnell, (ABSENT) 7. Introduction of Committee Members Presented by: Vicki Rios, Assistant City Manager Introductions were made. 8. Overview of Voter Sentiment Survey Results for a Special Election November 2023 Presented by: Ryan Lee, Intergovernmental Programs Director [Committee Member McConnell joined the meeting during the agenda item.] Mr. Lee gave a brief overview of the results of the 2022 bond election, at which the bonds failed to pass. He relayed that he and Ms. Rios saw it as beneficial to poll the citizens and a vendor was hired to conduct an evaluation of off-cycle vote sentiment. He said approximately 400 voters completed the survey. He relayed the results of the survey in detail. He noted that the respondents indicated high interest in funding Public Safety and Streets and Transportation and indicated low interest in funding Parks and Recreation and Flood Control. Ms. Rios said, based on the survey results and information from the consultant, staff was recommending to Council to hold a 2023 special bond election for just two questions, Public Safety and Streets and Intersection Improvements. She asked if the Committee would take action on a recommendation to Council in regards to holding a 2023 special election and on the two questions. Committee Member Socaciu asked if the verbiage from the last election would be used for the questions. Ms. Rios said if the two questions were approved by Council, the Bond Committee will spend time on the verbiage for project information for the two questions. Committee Member Brodnax inquired about the sales tax in Glendale. Ms. Rios explained that Council has a policy not to raise property taxes and new bonds can be issued without raising property taxes. She said bonds could not be used to fund operations, and would only be used for capital projects. Mr. Carlson concurred and said that the types of projects would be those that will outlast the life of the bond. 9. Draft Ballot Language Presented by: Vicki Rios, Assistant City Manager Ms. Rios presented draft questions for Streets and Intersection Improvements with a Principal Amount of $82 million and Public Safety with a Principal Amount of $78 million. Minutes of the Citizen Bond Election Committee April 18, 2023 Page 3 Committee Member Brodnax asked what the principal was owed on all G.O. Bonds. Mr. Carlson said the principal was $160 million. Ms. Rios said the debt service on those bonds was $20 million annually. Committee Member Brodnax asked if there was any other debt besides the G.O. Bonds. Ms. Rios said there was other debt and explained the different types. Ms. Rios asked if the Committee wanted to take action on a recommendation to Council. She said staff was going to make the recommendation, however, the Committee could take action on staff’s recommendation as well, if it so desired. Chair Baker asked about any changes in the question language from the 2022 election. Ms. Rios said language was added to the Streets question regarding intersection safety improvements. Committee Member Socaciu asked if there was urgency to bring a recommendation to Council at this time. Ms. Rios said the county must be notified by May 11th if there will be a special election and thus, May 9th was the opportunity to obtain Council consensus. Committee Member Kiser asked if Council had already discussed another special election briefly. Ms. Rios said staff spoke with Council about conducting a survey to determine what was resonating with voters and Council provided consensus to move forward with the survey. Committee Member Kiser asked if Council had seen the survey results. Ms. Rios said Council has seen the results informally, but has not discussed the results. Committee Member Socaciu asked about the Landfill. Ms. Rios said the Landfill revised their gate rates and has determined that a bond was not needed for another six years or so. Mr. Gibson said the Landfill will also generate revenue off of sales of gas due to the recent installation of a gas capture system. Committee Member Brodnax expressed concern about deciding to have an election without deciding on the exact projects to be included. Mr. Lee said the voters will need to see the City will use the funds responsibly and not with overreach. Committee Member Kiser inquired about a previous discussion regarding reallocation of bond funds. Mr. Lee said legislation had been passed that allowed cities and towns to repurpose existing bond authority within certain criteria. He said this topic was included in the survey, however, it did not poll well and respondents were confused. He said the consultant recommended letting the bond authorities remain and to ask for new authority where needed. Ms. Rios said the last chance for bond repurposing would be in 2024, as it was allowed during a limited timeframe. A motion was made by Committee Member Michael Socaciu, second by Committee Chair Lisa Baker, to recommend City Council consider setting up an off-cycle bond election for 2023. AYE: Committee Chair Lisa Baker Committee Member Connie Kiser Committee Member Sam McConnell Committee Member Michael Socaciu Other: Committee Member Jim Brodnax (ABSTAIN) Committee Vice Chair Alicia Rubio (ABSENT) Committee Member Helena Johnson-Bodine (ABSENT) A motion was made by Committee Member Connie Kiser, second by Committee Member Michael Socaciu, to recommend City Council consider language as presented by staff for the two bond questions for Streets and Intersection Improvements and Public Safety. Minutes of the Citizen Bond Election Committee April 18, 2023 Page 4 AYE: Committee Chair Lisa Baker Committee Member Connie Kiser Committee Member Sam McConnell Committee Member Michael Socaciu Other: Committee Member Jim Brodnax (ABSTAIN) Committee Vice Chair Alicia Rubio (ABSENT) Committee Member Helena Johnson-Bodine (ABSENT) Committee Member Kiser asked if there will be informational brochures for the voters. Ms. Rios said there will be brochures, along with videos on a website. Ms. Rios said staff can show the Committee what was done for the last election and said information on PACs can be included on the next agenda as well. Committee Member Socaciu asked if staff had statistics on the reach of the last campaign and said it may be found there was a better way to reach people. Ms. Rios said staff had statistics on the website visits. She said not very many people came to the in-person meetings. She explained that staff can only inform people, as City resources cannot be used to influence people how to vote. Chair Baker asked if the City could post where voters could find election information on the electronic billboards. Ms. Rios said this could be done. 10. Role and Purpose of the Bond Committee Presented by: Vicki Rios, Assistant City Manager Ms. Rios said the committee members were welcome to attend the May 9th Council meeting at which the special election recommendations will be made to Council. She said if Council wanted to move forward with the election, the county will be notified. She said project details for the two questions will be obtained from the specific departments and presented to the Committee for discussion and questions. 11. Potential Election Calendar Presented by: Levi Gibson, Director, Budget and Finance Mr. Gibson presented the tentative November 7, 2023 Special Election Internal Timeline. It was agreed that the next regular meeting of the Citizen Bond Election Committee will be held on May 16, 2023 at 5:30 p.m. in the 4th Floor Conference Room, located at 5850 West Glendale Avenue, Glendale, Arizona, 85301. 12. Adjournment A motion was made by Committee Member Connie Kiser, second by Committee Member Jim Brodnax to adjourn the meeting at 7:14 p.m. AYE: Committee Chair Lisa Baker Committee Member Jim Brodnax Committee Member Connie Kiser Committee Member Sam McConnell Committee Member Michael Socaciu Other: Committee Vice Chair Alicia Rubio (ABSENT) Committee Member Helena Johnson-Bodine (ABSENT) Minutes of the Citizen Bond Election Committee April 18, 2023 Page 5 The Citizen Bond Election Committee meeting minutes of August 30, 2022 were submitted and approved this 18th Day of April 2023. _______________________________ Levi Gibson Director, Budget and Finance