This was the first formal Maricopa County Board of Supervisors meeting that I attended in person. I had attended virtually and viewed previous meetings online during the last two weeks of October. But this was the first live one for which I made the trip from Chandler to downtown Phoenix.
Here is a brief summary:
Before the start of the actual Agenda, County Attorney Rachel Mitchell led the prayer of invocation and pledge of allegiance. She had to leave immediately afterward. The kickoff of the meeting consisted of a virtual presentation–“Pet Showcase”==by Kim from the Animal Care and Control Department, who showed members this meeting’s official Board of Supervisors Dog, “Copper”.
During the course of the one-hour meeting, the five-member Board voted on a total of 74 items that were scheduled on its Agenda. These included Planning and Zoning requests by Cactus and Perryville RV and Boat Storage and Virgin Industrial Park, requests to decommission the area plans for Laveen, Estrella, Mobile, East Mesa and Queen Creek, a request for continuance on a zoning violation for the Isfan Residence (regarding the lack of a special use permit for operating a “cottage industry” business on their property).
The Board also passed a motion to continue for the proposed Medlock Place irrigation water delivery district, and approved two transportation-related requests: one for a road file declaration and the other for a federal patent easement abandonment.
They accepted the resignation of Ira McCullough from the Community Development Advisory Committee in District 4, and granted special event liquor licenses that had been applied for and an extension of an existing liquor license. They also approved requests from the Sheriff’s Department regarding certain law enforcement agreements and donations to the Sheriff’s Office.
Other items voted on had to do with county management and county offices, finance, human services, procurement, public health, real estate, transportation and setting of hearings.
In their Consent Agenda, the Board approved a number of items pertaining to the Clerk of the Board, settlement of a property tax case and certain matters of the County Attorney’s office.
During the course of the meeting, the Board adjourned and convened as the Improvement District Board of Directors to vote on an item, adjourned and convened as the Flood Control District Board of Directors to vote on an item, adjourned and convened as the Library District Board of Directors to vote on an item, and finally adjourned and reconvened as the Board of Supervisors.
The remainder of the meeting was opened to public comment. A gentleman named Blue Crawley spoke on matters concerning some of the transportation items. The Supervisors then made some individual comments on various matters including remarks on Proposition 400 and the recent opiod settlement (Supervisor Sellers) and the upcoming elections (Supervisors Galvin and Gates). Supervisor Hickman spoke about some important lessons he learned on values and ethics while attending a friend’s cowboy wedding in Colorado.
Chairman Bill Gates (District 3j adjourned.
Video of the meeting (starts at 5:00):