Council Subcommittee

MINUTES OF THE GILBERT TOWN COUNCIL SUBCOMMITTEE ON TEEN VIOLENCE, IN SPECIAL MEETING OF TUESDAY, MARCH 26, 2024, AT 6:00 P.M., SOUTHEAST REGIONAL LIBRARY, 775 N GREENFIELD ROAD, GILBERT, ARIZONA COUNCIL PRESENT: Vice Mayor/Subcommittee Chair Scott Anderson, Councilmembers Chuck Bongiovanni and Jim Torgeson COUNCIL ABSENT: None STAFF PRESENT: Deputy Town Clerk Judy Martinez, and Police Chief Michael Soelberg CALL TO ORDER Subcommittee Chair Anderson called the meeting to order at 6:05 p.m. ROLL CALL Town Clerk Herrera declared a quorum present. AGENDA ITEMS 1. Consider approval of the minutes of the Subcommittee on Teen Violence Meeting of February 26, 2024. A MOTION was made by Councilmember Bongiovanni, seconded by Councilmember Torgeson, to approve the minutes of the Subcommittee on Teen Violence Meeting of February 26, 2024. Motion carried 3-0. 2. Discussion of progress on actionable items 1 Councilmember Bongiovanni stated he was proud of those involved and spoke of the change of the current status of the endeavor from where it began. He said the Subcommittee hoped to have its recommendations to the Council on April 16, 2024, and then bring the topic to a task force. He noted they should receive the Arizona Youth Survey (AYS) results about one month prior to the public receiving them, they would be working with Eric Herbert on a program for elementary schools, and he was excited to bring the final recommendation forward. Councilmember Torgeson said everyone had been through so much, and the most important thing was coming up with actionable items and trying to get to a solution. He asked the speakers to share ideas and not distract from the mission. Subcommittee Chair Anderson welcomed the students in attendance from the Mayor’s Youth Advisory Committee (MYAC), then spoke of those who organized a vigil and said he looked forward to participating in an upcoming one. He said he wanted to craft a plan that focused on solutions to present to the Council. 3. Statement from Police Chief Michael Soelberg Police Chief Soelberg provided a statement, first thanking the teens in attendance. He discussed the importance of the Subcommittee, said it was their first time meeting since the indictment, and he recognized the sacrifice of Preston Lord’s family and other victims of violence. He said Gilbert stood united with the community in seeking justice. He noted there was an ongoing investigation on the possible classification of the Gilbert Goons as a gang; they were still actively working on it and he would have an update soon. He said there were two more arrests since the prior week, a total of 29. He said the work was not done and asked anyone with additional information to come forward and they would continue to thoroughly investigate and hold those responsible. He said it was not just a Police Department issue, but a community issue that would take community involvement, adding he was looking forward to working with the community on the recommendations they provided. 4. Public Comments 2 Subcommittee Chair Anderson asked those in attendance to submit their written recommendations and comments that could be used to formulate a report back to the Council. Councilmember Bongiovanni stated if anyone did not feel comfortable speaking, they would fill out a paper in the back and submit it. Doralise Machado-Liddell, Gilbert resident, said that she had attended meetings of the Community Engagement Task Force and they were concerned with avenues of trying to change the school system. She said it was great to be involved with the schools, but the Town could not change them; she supported focusing on what could be changed. She discussed working with teens, then said she would like to see an independent consultant guide the Task Force and not have staff set the direction. She spoke against the money the Town spent for consultants for things such as electric vehicle charging stations. Charisia Arnold, Gilbert resident, provided a relationship scenario and spoke of abuse and blame. She said it took courage to report incidents, then discussed the process of having victims wait and speak to multiple people. She said she understood the goal of the Town having an advocacy center, but said it was important to provide those services before the advocacy center was built. She asked what defined if a lie was told to a police officer and how that was addressed in state law. Police Chief Soelberg said cases of providing false information were unique, but if they could prove a lie was told, it would be false reporting. He said often people disagreed about what happened and they could not prove who was lying; in those cases, they would have to take evidence to the County Attorney for them to decide. Charisia Arnold asked what happened if the suspect said they could not recall what happened or changed their story. Chief Soelberg said each case was different and it would depend on evidence. Charisia Arnold discussed assaults on school campuses and interference where cases were not filed; she asked for policies to be put into place with Student Resource Officers (SROs) to make records of assaults by students on campuses. Mindy Brocker, Gilbert resident, discussed meeting with Councilmember Bongiovanni outside of the Subcommittee meetings. She said she did not like conspiracies, then spoke of instead having meetings that were Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) eligible. She said the issue 3 was a community problem, but also a law enforcement problem, adding she was hearing excuses but not changes. She asked what Gilbert Police Depart (GPD) had done to examine multiple investigation, then discussed data, policies, and reports not being completed fully. She asked if they had planned to do an audit, build new quality assurance processes, and review law enforcement action regarding those cases. She said she wanted to hear what changes they were making to restore trust in the department. Angela Rogers, Gilbert resident, said she was grateful for the Town’s willingness to engage with citizens, then spoke of some identified key issues the Council should consider. She said she and others had formed a nonprofit, Lily Waterfield, and discussed a proposal that she had given to the Subcommittee as a working document. She asked if, in the absence of an immediate proposal, the Subcommittee would review the document and respond. Bridget Vega, Gilbert resident, asked about the process of how to engage with the task force and present information to the Council. She questioned if engagement would be limited to certain individuals, then asked if gang and human trafficking would be part of it. Subcommittee Chair Anderson said the current meeting would be the last of the Subcommittee, then said the Subcommittee would provide a recommendation to the entire Council at the Council meeting of April 16, 2024; he then discussed conducting interviews and said that those not appointed to the task force could be involved, though not as members. Bridget Vega asked about laws regarding being a mandated reporter and what were penalties if they did not report. Police Chief Soelberg provided information on who were mandated reporters including teachers, officers, and doctors; he highlighted Arizona Revised Statute 13-3620 and said penalties for non-reporting depended on the severity ranging from a Class 1 misdemeanor to a Class 6 felony. Bridget Vega discussed transparency and said she sent an email regarding community connection and Red Light Rebellion; she thanked the teens in attendance and offered to share their ideas and thoughts if they were not comfortable speaking at meetings. Teen 1 stated she had written a story about the issue for her school’s paper, but she decided not to submit it to administration because she did not think it would get approved and because of concerns about her safety. She discussed not being allowed to discuss the issue at school 4 and said not talking about it almost amplified the problem or added an “air of mystique”. She said not discussing it almost felt like negligence by not letting students have the resources to talk about it. She said any plan of action needed to include addressing the issues directly. Councilmember Bongiovanni stated he would like to read her article if she was comfortable sharing. Teen 2 said she was glad they were planning on talking to schools, but said as a teen, they did not really listen to teachers that much. She said she listened more to her peers and formed opinions from social media, noting efforts may not be as effective. She spoke of the importance of protecting children but said, after a certain point, it became non-beneficial to overprotect them and tell them to stay home. She said kids wanted independence. Teen 3 discussed how children needed to be taught accountability. She said people could do small things and nothing was going to happen, that some believed they were “just being kids”, but said the things that you did as a teen would affect you later in life. She spoke of stopping issues before other things happened, like how bullying could lead to bigger things. She said everyone needed to learn to be accountable, not just to avoid issues with the police, but with general morals. 5. Next Steps and Subcommittee Status Subcommittee Chair Anderson discussed the difficult task of compiling comments into a report of recommendations that would be available to the public and the Council. He thanked everyone for attending. Councilmember Torgeson agreed that children not being able to talk about their issues with peers was a problem. Mindy Brocker, Gilbert resident, said it was never okay to take away a child’s right to speak. She discussed having a curfew, then said not to take a child’s right to exist in a community away because of some bad kids. 5 Some of the adults in the room asked the students to write down their thoughts and suggestions if they were not comfortable sharing. Councilmember Bongiovanni said one of his recommendations was legislation regarding juveniles with brass knuckles. He said his other recommendation was to add some type of mandatory arrest with teens and violence, if possible, similar to how there was a mandatory arrest with abuse of spouse in domestic violence cases. He thanked everyone in attendance and those who had been involved, stating he was proud of those who made the journey. ADJOURN Subcommittee Chair Anderson adjourned the meeting at 6:58 p.m. ATTEST: ___________________________ ___________________________________ Scott Anderson, Vice Mayor Chaveli Herrera, Town Clerk CERTIFICATION I hereby certify that the foregoing minutes are a true and correct copy of the minutes of the special meeting of the Subcommittee on Teen Violence of the Town of Gilbert held on the 26th day of March, 2024. I further certify that the meeting was duly called and held and that a quorum was present. Dated this ____ day of ____________________2024. 6 ___________________________________ Chaveli Herrera, Town Clerk 7