Council member Williams resigns; staff to include polling software pricing in tentative budget

Mayor Paguna told the council on May 1 that Council member Williams resigned effective 03:01 the same afternoon. “Mister Williams resigned as of 03:01 this afternoon, so he is no longer a council member,” the mayor said.

Council then discussed a list of council requests. Council member Freund had proposed polling software to gather structured public input; staff confirmed they have priced the software and that the cost will be included in the tentative budget materials.

A staff representative told council, “we do have—we'll have the capacity for that. So we've got it priced out and what'll be included in the budget when we submit it for tentative approval.” Council members also said some items on the list of requests associated with the departing council member were worth future consideration and that staff should not discard those ideas wholesale.

Separately, staff flagged several program transfers and administrative moves to be reflected in the tentative budget: funds and contracts for certain nonprofit partners (prevent child abuse and Arizona crisis team) will move to the police department for management, and the emergency services agreement will move to the town manager’s office under a new emergency management division.

Ending: The council received notice of Council member Williams’s resignation and directed staff to include polling software pricing in the tentative budget; staff will return May 22 with the tentative budget that incorporates these items where appropriate.