Formal Meeting · 18 February 2026

1. 0:03:13Councilwoman Guardado?

1. 0:03:15Councilwoman Hernandez?

1. 0:03:17Councilwoman O'Brien?

1. 0:03:19Councilwoman Pastor?

1. 0:03:21Councilman Robinson?

1. 0:03:23Councilwoman Stark?

1. 0:03:24Councilman Waring?

1. 0:03:26Vice Mayor Hodge Washington?

1. 0:03:28Mayor Gallego?

1. 0:03:37Yes, Mayor.
2. 0:03:38Thank you.
3. 0:03:40As already mentioned, I'm Mario Barajas.
4. 0:03:42I'll be working with Elsie Duarte as Spanish interpreters for our Spanish speaking residents.
5. 0:03:48I'll take a moment now to introduce ourselves to our Spanish speaking audience and also review a couple of guidelines.
6. 0:03:54Buenas tardes, yo soy Mario Barajas.
7. 0:03:55Hoy esta trabajando junto con mi colega Elsie Duarte.
8. 0:04:00Thank you, Mayor.
9. 0:04:07Thank you so much.
10. 0:04:17Will the city clerk read the 24-hour paragraph?

Spoken in Spanish, transcribed as said

Some lines may be an automatic translation of Spanish speech, not the speaker's own words

1. 0:04:26The titles of the following ordinance and resolution numbers on the agenda were available to the public at least 24 hours prior to this council meeting and therefore may be read by title or agenda item only.
2. 0:04:34Ordinances number G7471 and S52517, 52595 through 52626.

1. 0:04:48Yes, thank you, Mayor.
2. 0:04:49Members of the public may speak for up to two minutes to comment on agenda items.
3. 0:04:53Comments must be related to the agenda item in the action being considered by the council.
4. 0:04:58General comments go beyond the scope of the agenda item should be made during the citizen comment session at the end of the agenda.
5. 0:05:05The city council and staff cannot discuss or comment
6. 0:05:08on matters related to pending investigations, claims, or litigation.
7. 0:05:12Additionally, any member of the public who appears before the council in their capacity as a lobbyist must, as required by Phoenix City Code, disclose this fact before addressing the council.
8. 0:05:21City Code states that speakers must express their comments respectfully and courteously.
9. 0:05:26Use of profane language, threats, or personal attacks on members of the public, council members, or staff are not allowed.
10. 0:05:31Such comments are disruptive and unrelated to the council's business.
11. 0:05:35Any person who violates these rules may lose their opportunity to speak further and could be asked to leave.
12. 0:05:40Thank you.

1. 0:11:18Guardado.
2. 0:11:18Yes.
3. 0:11:19Hernandez.
4. 0:11:20Yes.
5. 0:11:21O'Brien.
6. 0:11:22Yes.
7. 0:11:22Pastor.

1. 0:11:24Robinson.

1. 0:11:25Stark.
2. 0:11:26Yes.
3. 0:11:27Waring.
4. 0:11:28Yes.
5. 0:11:28Hodge Washington.
6. 0:11:29Yes.
7. 0:11:30Gallego.
8. 0:11:31Yes.
9. 0:11:32Passes 9-0.

1. 0:12:01Yes, Mayor, Vice Mayor.
2. 0:12:02Also excluding items 19, 36, and 37.
3. 0:12:06Second.

1. 0:12:21O'Brien?

1. 0:12:23Yes.
2. 0:12:24Robinson?

1. 0:12:25Stark?
2. 0:12:26Waring?
3. 0:12:28Yes.
4. 0:12:28Hodge Washington?

1. 0:12:29Gallego?
2. 0:12:30Yes.
3. 0:12:31Passes 9-0.

1. 0:17:28Thank you, Mayor.
2. 0:17:30Thank you.
3. 0:17:31Roll call.
4. 0:17:32Guardado?

1. 0:17:35O'Brien?

1. 0:17:36Pastor?
2. 0:17:36Yes.
3. 0:17:37Robinson?

1. 0:17:39Stark?
2. 0:17:39Yes.
3. 0:17:40Waring?
4. 0:17:41Yes.
5. 0:17:41Hodge Washington?
6. 0:17:42Yes.

1. 0:17:43Yes.
2. 0:17:44Passes 9-0.

1. 0:20:42Roll call.
2. 0:20:43Guardado?
3. 0:20:44Yes.
4. 0:20:45Hernandez?
5. 0:20:45Yes.
6. 0:20:46O'Brien?
7. 0:20:47Yes.
8. 0:20:48Pastor?

1. 0:20:49Robinson?

1. 0:20:50Stark?
2. 0:20:51Yes.
3. 0:20:52Waring?
4. 0:20:53Yes.
5. 0:20:53Hodge Washington?
6. 0:20:54Yes.
7. 0:20:55Gallego?
8. 0:20:56Yes.
9. 0:20:56Passes 9-0.

1. 0:31:00Mayor, Councilman Stark, I think the option would be sort of what the Councilman suggested, which is if you approve it now, then we don't hold up anybody's increase.
2. 0:31:10And understanding this direction, we can have the HR team go back and take another look at it and come back and explain to the Council whatever those findings are.
3. 0:31:20But I think to your point,
4. 0:31:21There's an immediate increase that's on the table here.
5. 0:31:25We can do that and then come back and revisit that.
6. 0:31:29That's what the council would like to do.

1. 0:33:27I would say one other thing we could also do is just to give you a presentation on the process itself as it stands today that may also give you a sense of what goes into that, how the HR staff and the HRC work through that.
2. 0:33:42That may give you more of a sense of how that works.

1. 0:38:50I think you have it right.
2. 0:38:53If the desire of the council is for us to go back and look at this again, we do need that in the form of a motion.
3. 0:38:59That's correct, Councilwoman.

1. 0:44:54and mayor members of council.
2. 0:44:56So are you making a substitute motion?

1. 0:45:18Mayor, members of council, if the maker of the, so there is a motion on the table, if the maker of the motion doesn't agree to a friendly amendment, which should be a minor modification, then it would be a substitute amendment and needs a second, or a substitute motion which needs a second.

1. 0:54:40So Mayor, Councilman O'Brien, my understanding of the motion would be
2. 0:54:46that you're moving to approve this item as it is so that no one's increase, because there's others on here, are held up.
3. 0:54:55We would then, as staff, go back, re-examine all the steps we took, re-consult with the labor groups, talk with the employees,
4. 0:55:04and then come back with, if there were any changes that came out of that process, we would bring those back.
5. 0:55:10It is possible that after doing all that, they would still come to the same conclusion, possible.
6. 0:55:15It's also possible that they might come with a different conclusion, but they would lay all that out very clearly.
7. 0:55:20And as you said, we'd be able to brief council members beforehand with that, as well as I think to the vice mayor's question,
8. 0:55:29more fully lay out the process so you understand all those steps that go into it as well.
9. 0:55:33Does that capture what you're seeking?

1. 1:00:05Mayor, Council Member O'Brien, yes, that was the intention of what I stated was we would do that.
2. 1:00:10And I think you said something important which is,
3. 1:00:14that we should come back and show the data.
4. 1:00:16So I think what this does is gives staff the opportunity with this as a test, not a test, but an example to really come back and walk through with each of you what steps to go through, what data fed into the assessment.
5. 1:00:31And if as we go back and we assess that it should be higher because of factors, we'll lay all that out.
6. 1:00:36If not, we'll lay all that out in either direction.
7. 1:00:39but it'll give an opportunity for you to fully understand the reclassification and HRC process and we can take the time to do that and you can understand every step of that and the evaluation that has gone into the recommendation that we're bringing you.

1. 1:03:08And Mayor, if I may just add to that point, we do publish each year for each employee a personalized summary of their total compensation.
2. 1:03:20So it includes everything that they receive from
3. 1:03:23All of those things summarized in a document for them to be able to review exactly how much they get to the penny for each of those items, and it includes their total compensation package.
4. 1:03:46and so on.
5. 1:03:50So I do want to point that out.
6. 1:03:56Some employees may not realize that that's available to them in ECRIS and so I would encourage all employees to review that because it does give a very good summary of everything that we provide to our employees and it is a very, very rich benefit package.

1. 1:04:28So, Mayor, members of the Council, the reality is in the job market that we've been in, and things have recently started to slow down, but by and large, the job market over the last several years has been highly competitive, and we have had to compete both at base pay alone and
2. 1:04:44at Total Compensation.
3. 1:04:46So we've really been trying to focus on both at the same time.
4. 1:04:49Now that things are slowing down in the labor market, we can definitely focus a little bit more on looking at that Total Compensation package and advertising what we're doing with regard to benefits and other pays outside of base pay.
5. 1:05:04But it is really important right now and has been for the last several years that we also focus on base pay.
6. 1:05:10So I don't think that we can
7. 1:05:11take our foot off the gas of focusing on base pay if we're going to remain competitive in the labor market.
8. 1:05:16But we do have to also, to your points, point out what we have in total compensation and how wonderful of a benefit package we offer.