Tempe council subcommittees report progress; heat-safety draft ordinance to be introduced to public

Tempe City Councilmembers gave status updates March 20 on several council subcommittees. The Heat Safety for Tempe Contract Workers subcommittee reported it has reached consensus to draft a proposed ordinance and will introduce it to the public at a forthcoming subcommittee meeting; the council heard updates from other subcommittees on youth disability advocacy, nuisance ordinance work, and Tempe Town Lake revitalization.

Councilmember Keating, who co-chairs the heat-safety subcommittee, told the council the group held its first meeting the previous day and had broad stakeholder participation. "We have come to consensus in our subcommittee to draft an ordinance for consideration, which we'll introduce to the public at our next subcommittee meeting," Keating said, adding the subcommittee intends the ordinance to be "the most robust heat safety ordinance in the state" and that it will be revenue neutral to the city.

City Attorney Mary (first name provided in the record) clarified that the item at the work study session was a status update and required no council direction that evening: "That's correct, yeah, it's just an update so there's no direction tonight," she said. Keating and other councilmembers framed the report as an informational status update; staff did not seek or record a formal vote.

Other subcommittee…