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Informal Meeting Minutes
Monday, October 18, 2021
9:30 AM
BOARD OF SUPERVISORS
Maricopa County, Arizona
(and the Boards of Directors of the Flood Control District,
Library District, Stadium District, Improvement Districts
and/or Board of Deposit)
"The mission of Maricopa County is to
provide regional leadership and fiscally
responsible, necessary public services to
its residents so they can enjoy living in
healthy and safe communities”
Board Members
Jack Sellers, Chairman, District 1
Bill Gates, Vice Chairman, District 3
Steve Chucri, District 2
Clint Hickman, District 4
Steve Gallardo, District 5
County Manager
Joy Rich
Clerk of the Board
Juanita Garza
Meeting Location
Supervisors’ Auditorium
205 W. Jefferson
Phoenix, AZ 85003
BOARD OF SUPERVISORS
The Board of Supervisors of Maricopa County, Phoenix, Arizona, convened in an Informal Session at
9:30 AM on Monday, October 18, 2021, in the Supervisors’ Auditorium, 205 W Jefferson, Phoenix, AZ
85003, with the following members present: Jack Sellers, Chairman, District 1; Bill Gates, Vice
Chairman, District 3; Clint Hickman, Supervisor, District 4; Steve Gallardo, Supervisor, District 5.
Absent: Steve Chucri, Supervisor, District 2. Also present: Joy Rich, County Manager; Juanita Garza,
Clerk; Andrea Cummings, Legal Counsel; Maria Ceaglske, Minutes Coordinator.
ACTION
1.
APPOINTMENT FOR LEGISLATIVE STATE REPRESENTATIVE DISTRICT 28
Pursuant to A.R.S. § 41-1202, receive the names of the three qualified electors as candidates
to fill the vacancy for the Legislative District 28 State Representative seat as determined by
the Legislative District 28 Precinct Committeemen and appoint one of the candidates from the
list to fill the vacancy created by the resignation of State Representative Aaron Lieberman.
The three candidate names submitted by the District are:
Sarah Liguori
Ginger Sykes Torres
Laura Terech (C-06-22-976-X-00)
Supervisor Gates said the Board has a responsibility to fill the vacancy left by Aaron Lieberman,
State Representative in Legislative District 28. He noted this is a difficult process and there
have been three names recommended to the Board by Legislative District 28 Democrats. The
Board has met with all three individuals, and all are great candidates for this position.
Supervisor Bill Gates made the motion to approve the appointment of Sarah Liguori to fill the
vacancy in Legislative District 28 State Representative.
Supervisor Gates said she has lived in the district for many years, and she is very active with
the Urban Land Institute. She knows the district, has the experience, and brings a business
mindset to the State Legislature.
The motion was seconded by Supervisor Steve Gallardo.
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Monday, October 18, 2021
Page 2 of 26
Supervisor Gallardo stated he had the opportunity to speak to applicants via phone last week.
He said he is not that familiar with the applicants, so it was not an easy decision. He said Ms.
Liguori has been very active politically and civically and she comes across as someone that
will advocate for her district.
Supervisor Hickman thanked Supervisor Gates and Supervisor Gallardo for this appointment.
He has gone through a few of these appointments and it is nice to come to a consensus. He
expressed his appreciation for vetting the candidates and thanked the candidates for their time.
Chairman Sellers thanked the Supervisors as well and completed the vote.
Ayes: Jack Sellers, Bill Gates, Clint Hickman, Steve Gallardo
Absent: Steve Chucri
PRESENTATION
2.
ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT PRESENTATION
Presentation regarding the Economic Development.
Chris Camacho, Greater Phoenix Economic Council (C-18-22-124-X-00)
Chris Camacho stated he is optimistic about the near-term future. He said the most significant
impact has been work done to shepherd and steward alignment around the small business
community. He spoke about the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) and the very uneven
disbursement of those funds and loan volume. He said Arizona was among the bottom 10
states in receiving those funds. The community came together and created an apparatus with
all kinds of unique tools and partnerships and became one of the top 10 in support of the PPP
program. The Greater Phoenix Economic Council (GPEC) made a quick decision to be nimble
in support of small business.
He said the Board knows GPEC’s top priority is to attract and grow businesses in the region.
The County and the partnerships with 21 other cities provide one third of the total GPEC
funding while the private sector contributes 70 percent to GPEC.
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He said the results from last year in a traditional economy, 65 percent of their active projects
were the office footprint with the remaining 35 percent being industrial. He said due to a lot of
different factors, he saw those numbers flip to 70 percent industrial and 30 percent office. He
said what that means is the prospect number converted to new transactions were highly tied
to an industrial prospect pipeline. He said there is a wave coming that will be putting Phoenix
as one of the top five destinations to relocate. He said the region was able to support 9,928
phase-one jobs with an average wage of $77,000.
The slide below shows some of the 40 companies that have relocated to the valley in the past
year. He highlighted the Taiwan Semiconductor and said they did a recent interview on CNBC
that gave a lot of global recognition to Maricopa County for cultivating the semiconductor
industry growth. He listed several companies and industries putting the area at the top of the
market for business growth.
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Mr. Camacho noted new business locations within transportation corridors which is where
these companies want to reside. Next, he addressed job equity and the working relationship
GPEC has with County staff, helping facilitate the economic experience here in Arizona. He
said it has been a solid 12 months.
He stated the slide below illustrates the five-year trend on revenue return as $64 to $1. The
funding request from Maricopa County has been $685,941 for the last four years and the slide
shows a direct result of the projects that have come here.
The slide below illustrates highlighted successes and noted the amounts of new payroll that
have been generated.
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The slide below shows there are currently more manufacturing jobs than construction jobs
when compared to 2008 when there was too much reliance on the housing market. He said he
is excited about what is to come. He expects the office market to hit its stride in the middle of
2022. He thinks there will be another three-quarters of recovery including the recovery from
the supply chain disruption. Mr. Camacho said there is expansion of the companies including
Intel and another 44 advanced electronic and semiconductor companies coming onboard. He
stated he was recently at the International Economic Development Conference in Nashville
and this region and GPEC were ranked the number one economic development organization
in the world.
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Mr. Camacho said GPEC is going to continue to use data science and as California continues
with its challenges, Arizona will be cultivating a new breed of Arizona-grown companies.
Supervisor Gates thanked Mr. Camacho for this presentation and said he appreciated the
County’s partnership with GPEC. He asked Mr. Camacho to expand a little more on workforce
development such as challenges that are presented as these projects move forward.
Mr. Camacho explained the three major prerequisites in a decision to come to Arizona:
Labor supply with future labor production
A pro-business environment
The quality of a modern infrastructure
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Mr. Camacho said there is a demand for high quality skilled labor and engineering. It is
extremely important today to enhance technical education within the high schools ensuring
students have skills for the jobs that are coming up. All areas of industry are now in demand
and there is a need to continue to work with the education system and partner with community
colleges so there will be skilled labor to meet precision manufacturing needs.
Supervisor Gates thanked Mr. Camacho for his clarification on these challenges.
Chairman Sellers expressed his concerns with keeping up with infrastructure improvements to
meet these challenges. He offered congratulations to GPEC for their successes in luring new
jobs and quality companies to the region.
Supervisor Hickman thanked Mr. Camacho for his presentation. He noted the Board has
always been viewed as a businessman’s Board who look past the horizon. He said water issues
continue to be a concern in all the counties. He noted the former governor was of the opinion
this issue should be in the hands of the Board of Supervisors. He asked Mr. Camacho what
GPEC is doing when it comes to water, and the increased demand new businesses will put on
the infrastructure.
Mr. Camacho said there still needs to be a focus on scarcity management and noted some of
the new projects are very sensitive to the 100-year water management plan established in
1981. Going forward, GPEC is going to need to be a voice of many voices in dealing with
drought. A lot of companies recycle their water. He said every national media source
sensationalizes the west when it comes to water. The Colorado River shortage is a concern
because one-third of Arizona’s water reliability is the Colorado River. He said modern
infrastructure is a key piece as the economy evolves and conversations about how to use water
prudently will continue.
Supervisor Hickman said chip manufacturers recycle, reuse and adapt when it comes to water
conservation. He said there needs to be honest conversations with companies about the need
for water conservation when they move here. Supervisor Hickman asked who was the contact
for GPEC in the legislature who helps with this conversation. Mr. Camacho said when it comes
to the legislature GPEC works with the Arizona Commerce Commission and the Governor’s
Office. He said they have worked with Jeff Winegar and Shauna Bullock.
Supervisor Gallardo thanked Mr. Camacho for the presentation. He especially thanked him for
the work being done for the school districts. He stated it is critical to keep having these
conversations on the school district level. Supervisor Gallardo noted the challenges some of
the students face are getting to school. He wants to continue the conversation on how to help
students enter the workforce and be prepared for basic living experiences.
Chairman Sellers thanked Mr. Camacho and said not many people realize how long it takes to
attract these businesses. He noted that years of planning has resulted in what is seen today
with businesses coming to Arizona.
3.
MARS PROJECT UPDATE PRESENTATION
MARS Project status update (C-12-22-014-X-00)
Assessor Eddie Cook said he sincerely appreciates the Board and staff participation in
transforming the Assessor’s Office into a highly efficient and effective team; He is very happy
the public trust has been restored in the Assessor’s Office. In reference to the MARS project,
when the Board approved the PC-05 contract, he said it allowed his team to manage the project
properly and the results have been fantastic.
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He said the slide below lists the core team for this project, including the County staff such as
OET and the collaboration with Esri Canada. He knows there was a target date of February,
2022 for going live and he will talk about this later in the presentation. He thanked the Board
for being allowed to lead this team and his executive team and give this update.
Mr. Cook introduced Dawn Marie Buckland, Chief Deputy Assessor, to begin the update on
this project. She said she will review what is going on with the project and the budget. But first,
she introduced Mark Kramer, the Director of Technology in the Assessor’s office.
Mr. Kramer provided the project update seen on the slide below.
Mr. Kramer stated the project is in a really good place and is on track for February 2022.
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Mr. Kramer explained MARS is beginning to get a corporate branding from the vendor and they
are going to talk a lot about testing today and some challenges in the future, and a quick
financial overview.
Mr. Kramer explained that MARS is now known as Assessment Analyst GAMA. They have
more contracts in the signing process which is a great sign this is a sustainable project.
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Mr. Kramer reviewed the following slide highlighting the current testing being conducted.
Supervisor Hickman asked if the County had any ownership value or revenue because the
County is the first in. Ms. Buckland responded that the County has no ownership on the patent,
but it does get a considerably decreased fee for the first 10 years of the project.
Supervisor Hickman asked if the Maricopa County taxpayers would, in some way, derive some
sort of value from this project. Mr. Cook confirmed they would as being the first customer.
Mr. Kramer explained product testing includes performance testing, gap testing and they are
confident they are on track.
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Mr. Kramer noted there has not been a technology change like this in the Assessor’s Office for
20+ years. So getting personnel prepared on how to operate business a little differently with a
very new tool is a key component in change management.
Mr. Kramer said there are 60+ training courses employees take with quizzes at the end. Digital
content is built and personnel learn the system live.
Chairman Sellers asked who provides this training and Mr. Kramer said the team member
training is done online through The HUB system with the County.
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Mr. Kramer noted this slide shows the challenges that they still tracking. They are confident
they can get through for final acceptance.
Supervisor Gates asked if this was going to impact valuations. Mr. Kramer responded the goal
is not to impact valuations He said one of the advantages of being the first customer is many
of the County’s approaches in the industry are adopted into the core product.
Mr. Cook noted the original system they continue to use is the single point of failure for the
Assessor’s Office. He said as Mr. Kramer was working on MARS another team was working
on a parallel strategy in modernizing the system.
Ms. Buckland stated the direction given to the team was to have the most accurate valuation
as possible and they have been pleased to find valuations are matching.
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Chairman Sellers stated this was important to know.
Ms. Buckland informed the Board the funding requested is still on track and she noted the two
PCR 05 requests are still needed. She reiterated their appreciation for the partnerships with
the Finance Department, Office of Enterprise Technology (OET), and the Office of
Management and Budget (OMB). She thanked the Board for its support and this will provide
excellent service to our taxpayers.
Chairman Sellers noted this has been an area of frustration for the Board even before he
became a Supervisor. He said it is encouraging to see progress being made on this project.
Supervisor Hickman noted he has a better outlook on this project because of the presentations
that have been made. He expressed appreciation for the questions being answered when they
are asked.
Mr. Cook said there is a ribbon cutting ceremony being planned in February and he would be
honored if the Board could attend.
4.
PRESENTATION BY THE DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC HEALTH
Department of Public Health will be presenting on:
• COVID-19 Update
• Delta Variant
• Vaccine Events
Marcy Flanagan, Director, Department of Public Health
Rebecca Sunenshine, Department Medical Director (C-86-22-244-X-00)
Marcy Flanagan informed the Board they were going to give a brief update on COVID from the
presentation given a few months ago. She said the case count is now over 713,000 and they
are seeing cases every day. The death count is now up to 11,771 of Maricopa County residents.
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Ms. Flanagan explained the third wave epi curve did not peak as high as the last. The curve
has flattened out instead of a drastic decrease as seen before. This is because before there
were some strict mitigations factors that had taken place.
Ms. Flanagan stated the next slide shows the curve coming down nationally but Maricopa
County has leveled off. She said this is unique to Arizona.
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Chairman Sellers asked if this was due to vaccination rates. Ms. Flanagan said there were
several factors, such as vaccine rates, municipalities and states that still have mask mandates
in place
Supervisor Gallardo asked if there is a possible 4th wave due to the upcoming holidays. Ms.
Flanagan said they are hoping the vaccine for children will be coming out within the next couple
of weeks.
Ms. Flanagan said the following slide is about hospitalizations. She noted this third peak has
not seen as drastic a decline as the U.S. She said the worst West Nile patients along with catch
up on surgeries postponed are keeping hospital capacities full.
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Ms. Flanagan stated hospitals are still very full and there are staff shortages nationally and
locally. They are running at high capacity.
She noted that high community transmission has come down but is still in the red and is two
times higher than the limit. This indicates a high spread of COVID in our community.
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Ms. Flanagan noted deaths have not decreased but have leveled out as seen in the other
slides. They were hoping for a more downward trend, and she noted different targets for
vaccine education, etc. in an effort to bring the death count down further.
Dr. Rebecca Sunenshine noted the previous conversation about what was driving community
spread and increases and that one in four cases were children under 18. This statistic has not
changed and it is still one in four children. She said the numbers are coming down only slightly
for a couple of reasons. Children are returning to school without the same measures as before,
resulting in a higher spread rate.
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Dr. Sunenshine noted that one in six cases are children under 12.
Dr. Sunenshine noted that 6% of hospitalizations are still among children. A significant number
of those children have chronic conditions that caused the hospitalizations to rise from
September to October.
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She said the blue line is slowly coming down and has leveled off in pediatric hospitalizations.
This slide below indicates fewer outbreaks from September to October.
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Dr. Sunenshine noted the slide below illustrates that current outbreaks continue to rise as
indicated on the green line. This is outside the norm for the U.S.. Maricopa County is higher
compared toother locations that have stricter mitigation policies in place.
Supervisor Hickman asked what counts as an outbreak. Dr. Sunenshine drew the Board’s
attention to the next slide in response to Supervisor Hickman’s question.
Dr. Sunenshine noted that an outbreak was considered two cases of COVID in a school that
did not have a known contact outside of school that occurred within a 14 day period. Since this
study came out, the CDC has altered their definition of an outbreak to 3 cases within a 14-day
period. A study by Arizona State University (ASU) showed that schools without mask
requirements were 3.5% more likely to have COVID outbreaks.
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Supervisor Hickman asked if the number of cases are greater in Maricopa County because
there are a greater number of opportunities. Dr. Sunenshine stated there was control for size
and number of schools for the ASU study and they were still able to see the 3.5x number.
This slide illustrates how Maricopa County is doing with vaccinations. She said almost 54% of
all residents are vaccinated. The data circled at the end indicates there is not a lot of activity
for first and second doses.
Dr. Sunenshine reviewed the slide below regarding information on the approval of boosters by
the FDA. She noted job types that put a person at risk or those with a chronic illness should
get a booster. They also met concerning the Jansen boosters. She spoke briefly concerning
the “mix and match” booster and noted they would work the same.
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Supervisor Hickman asked if there were different technologies in play between Pfizer and
Moderna versus Johnson and Johnson. Dr. Sunenshine stated these are questions being
asked and she continued to report how the vaccines differ and how they might have similar
technologies.
Chairman Sellers asked about the deaths of people who have been vaccinated and was it due
to the Delta variant. She said it was the combination of a waning immunity when Delta came
into play.
Dr. Sunenshine stated Pfizer has submitted data to the FDA for an emergency use
authorization for a vaccine for children ages 5-11 with meetings scheduled to discuss the data.
Preparations have been made so that as soon as the authorization has been made, children
can then be vaccinated before the holidays.
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The slide below notes 36.1% of 10-19-year-olds have received at least one dose of a vaccine
compared with 65% of adults. The concern with this statistic is it can lead to community
transmission. Maricopa County still needs to encourage vaccinations.
Supervisor Gates asked if there was any data on break-through cases for children. Dr.
Sunenshine gave her opinion and said there will not be a lot of break-through cases in children
because they have only been able to be vaccinated less than six months.
Dr. Sunenshine said the following slide shows only 1/3 of the parents of 5-11 year-olds plan to
vaccinate their children right away. She said there is a lot of misinformation concerning fertility
issues. She stated there is no evidence that vaccines can affect fertility. She said they need to
get pediatricians on board to help parents become more comfortable with vaccinating their
children.
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Chairman Sellers commented that there seemed to be a push get the vaccines out to the
general practitioners and pediatricians.
Supervisor Gallardo asked if there would be any coordination with the schools. Ms. Flanagan
said she would address this in the presentation.
Supervisor Hickman asked what the usual rate of children being vaccinated for the flu. Dr.
Sunenshine said it was around 66-67%.
Ms. Flanagan reviewed the following slide. She noted that from a public health standpoint, no
one would be turned away if they ask for a booster. She commented that Maricopa County is
one of the locations that will be receiving a large number of Afghan refugees and they will be
provided COVID testing and vaccines.
Ms. Flanagan provided an overview of the following slide:
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Supervisor Hickman asked for an update on the West Nile virus and the Hepatitis A outbreak
in the jails. Ms. Flanagan noted cooler weather will significantly reduce these numbers and
there have been collaborations with the State to educate the public. She said the Environmental
Services Department has done a wonderful job with testing throughout the community and
spraying for mosquito control.
Dr. Sunenshine gave statistics concerning mosquito pools that demonstrated increased
mosquito activity. She said now, even though mosquito activity has significantly been reduced,
there are still 500 cases of the West Nile virus in the hospitals that are under investigation.
Ms. Flanagan noted the Hepatitis A outbreak in Maricopa County has ended. She said the
department keeps an eye on all reported diseases in the County.
Supervisor Gallardo noted the department has been through trying times over the last year and
a half. He offered his assistance to the department if there was anything he and his team could
do. He elaborated on what the school districts are doing to promote vaccines.
Supervisor Gates noted that Maricopa County Public Health has been about facts and data.
He said Public Health is providing accurate information and letting the Board know that the
numbers are not falling the way they are in other parts of the country. He reiterated the Board
is limited on the actions it can take.
Chairman Sellers stated how proud he is of the Maricopa County Public Health Department. In
his opinion the County Public Health Department are the authorities for the whole country.
5.
EXECUTIVE SESSION
Vote to convene in Executive Session to consider the items on the Executive Agenda dated
Monday, October 18, 2021, for Board of Supervisors and relevant Special Districts pursuant to
the statutory authority listed for each item.
Motion to approve by Supervisor Clint Hickman, seconded by Supervisor Steve Gallardo
Ayes: Jack Sellers, Bill Gates, Clint Hickman, Steve Gallardo
Absent: Steve Chucri
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MEETING ADJOURNED
After discussion on the Executive Session items and there being no further business to come before the
Board, the meeting was adjourned.
_____________________________
Jack Sellers, Chairman of the Board
ATTEST:
___________________________
Juanita Garza, Clerk of the Board