Tempe 1st

05/23/2026

The City of Chandler was set to vote on renewing its contract for Flock cameras. Instead, they delayed the decision.

It came after several residents spoke out against the controversial license plate readers during public comment at Thursday's city council meeting.

Some in the audience were yelling and cursing at the meeting, demanding that all cameras be removed immediately.

Some councilmembers call for safeguards and oversight, and some in the audience yelled and cursed at the meeting, demanding that all cameras be removed immediately.

05/19/2026

Considering politics from other places..
In Festus, a town of roughly 14,000 people, city leaders approved a proposed $6 billion AI data center project planned for 360 acres north of Highway 67.

But many residents say the process lacked transparency.
Critics accused officials of holding key discussions behind closed doors and releasing documents too late for the public to properly review the project before the vote.

Then came election week.
Voter turnout reportedly surged by 129%, and every city council member who voted in favor of the project lost reelection. In one race, a 70-year-old first-time candidate defeated an eight-year incumbent by nearly 40 points.
Now, residents are circulating a recall petition targeting the mayor, while a lawsuit against the city has already been filed.
Whether people support or oppose the AI project itself, the backlash appears to send a clear message about how strongly communities expect transparency and public input from local government.

05/12/2026

Someone in Virginia is trying to influence an election in Tempe.

A Republican Super PAC paid for and distributed mailers against two of the four Tempe City Council candidates on the ballot in the city’s first runoff election in more than a decade

Tempe voters received mailers, paid for "100 percent from out of state contributors," attacking two city council candidates.

05/12/2026

Dear Tempe Citizens and Taxpayers,

Tempe City Council Meeting: Thursday, May 14, 2026 – 6:00 PM

Tempe City Hall – City Council Chambers 31 East Fifth Street, Tempe, Arizona

Please Attend and Voice your opinion

Two critical agenda items.

City Hall is targeting the poor/homeless and faith-based organizations.

They are proposing changes to an existing nuisance law that could enforce the city code of recurring noise and activity on private property. This is focused on restricting and closing Church support efforts for the poor and homeless.

City Hall is pivoting off Proposition 312 which allows property owners to apply for a refund of property taxes. Elected officials are seeking to codify this vague and expansive State Statute into City Code.

The Council will adopt a resolution to raise our taxes.

Voting for Special Election to be held on November 3, 2026, for a new transaction privilege (sales) tax and use tax of five- tenths of one percent (0.5%).

The City Hall proposal would have us vote on all three proposals as one...rather than separating them into three separate votes.

This is being proposed when questionable City expenditures have been highlighted. Extravagant office redesigns and wasted $2 million on questionable signage on Mill Ave.

Some history...We have been "taxed" ..

We just approved three (3) bond initiatives. City Hall already approved a 16 % sales tax on smoke shop products.

The Government Property Lease Excise Tax (GPLET) is used in Tempe to encourage redevelopment by replacing traditional property tax with an excise tax based on building type and size, rather than property value. GPLET can include an 8-year tax abatement (exemption) for developments in central business or redevelopment areas. There are many.

Add to this the multi-million-dollar liability this city has exposed taxpayers through numerous lawsuits ( ironically against public safety).

You have a council that has outspent its own limitations and run afoul of policies and procedures for municipalities.

Citizens need a full accounting and audit of the present budget.

05/11/2026

https://www.facebook.com/share/v/1BPqNW6et2/

05/11/2026

New Deal Meal NDM

Record high temperatures. Mothers Day at The Hill.
Another large group. Lots of water passed out.
And good food.

05/08/2026

Posted from another page..
Todd Freedom Hansen
4h
·

THE TEMPE CLOWN CAR IS OFFICIALLY FULL!
I’ve seen this game played at the highest levels. When I was a USCP Officer in Washington D.C., they actually offered me the PIO (Public Information Officer) position right before I resigned. I know exactly what these roles are: they’re professional spin doctors designed to manage the “narrative” while the real work goes unfinished.
Now, looking at Tempe, it’s the same old story. We have an army of at least 12 “Clowns” on the payroll -spokespeople, media liaisons, and social media coordinators — all producing hot air while our parks stay dirty and our hungry residents are ignored.
The hypocrisy is stunning. While the City Council is busy passing ordinances to make it harder for groups to get permits to feed the hungry in our parks— under the weak pretext that it’s “too messy” for families—they are simultaneously paying an army of “media experts” to take selfies and tweet from their air-conditioned offices.
This isn’t a theory: it’s happening right now. After a brief pause due to public outrage, the Council has reintroduced this “Distribution Permit” red tape with a final vote scheduled for June 4, 2026. They are literally legislating away kindness while spending millions of your tax dollars on professional spin.
Here’s a thought: If these clowns left the AC, put down their phones, and actually served ALL our residents, the “cleanliness” problem would be solved in a day. Instead, they’d rather regulate kindness and hire more people to spin the failure.
It’s time to reinvent our city government. We don’t need more “Communication Specilists.” We need people on the ground doing the work. Let’s trade the “spin” for some actual service.

05/07/2026

Posted from another page...
AZ HUGS

Last night, after the community rallied together to speak against the City of Phoenix, AZ passing the Medical Treatment and Food Distribution in Parks Ordinance, Council passed it anyway.
That exact scenario happened to us in Tempe last year, after we took the City to federal court with Pacific Legal Foundation.

The City changed the ordinance we were suing them over in the middle of the lawsuit — then after 100+ people spoke in opposition, at the longest Tempe City Council meeting in history, the City still voted unanimously to pass it.

You know what happened next? The community organized, filed a referendum and got enough signatures to push it to the ballot.
Shoutout to DSA, ASU Young Democrats, and all the local advocacy groups and community members who spent hours in the sun gathering signatures and fighting for the streets.

After that, the City of Tempe Government dropped the ordinance because they knew they’d lose if it went to a vote.
Tempe’s intention behind their parks ordinance was to stop mutual aid groups from being able to serve the homeless community.
The goal was, and still is for Mayor Corey Woods and the Tempe City Council, to reduce homelessness in Tempe by taking away access to food, breaking up community solidarity, and further criminalizing those on the streets.

Is that the City of Phoenix’s goal with this ordinance right now? Because if it is, the people deserve to know how it will be weaponized against them.
The ordinance states that to serve a meal to those in need at a park in Phoenix, a mutual aid group would have to obtain a Parks Services Permit.

The ordinance then says, “No more than two Parks Services Permits, per eligible park, per calendar month will be issued.”
Does the City of Phoenix not comprehend that people — even poor people, need to eat a meal more than twice a month?

Passing this ordinance is an insult and threat to those we serve, as well as to all the mutual aid groups and community partners in Phoenix doing their life-saving work on the streets every day.

To our friends at Circle the City, Shot in the Dark, Billy's Way Home, and every other service provider in Phoenix currently being hit by this — SHARING FOOD IS NOT A CRIME.
Not today, not tomorrow, not ever, and as a community we can and must stand our ground together in solidarity with people’s basic human rights.

05/07/2026

Tempe city manager, mayor/Council continue to take a page from the Trump administration regarding the abuse and injustices visited upon the homeless population in our city.

In the past month, the Trump administration has intensified its multi-agency assault on our homeless neighbors and has issued several policies and funding changes that will make homelessness worse. These policies all tie back to Trump’s anti-homeless order issued in July 2025.

05/07/2026

Tempe to pay $150K to settle lawsuit over drowning death

The family accused Tempe officials of negligently failing to properly train employees to respond to water rescues at the lake.

The family accused Tempe officials of negligently failing to properly train employees to respond to water rescues at the lake.