Council directs staff to study process for memorials after request to honor Charlie Kirk

At the meeting Vice Mayor Adam Kwasman asked the Scottsdale City Council to direct the city manager to investigate ways to establish a memorial for Charlie Kirk, whom Kwasman described as a Scottsdale resident who recently died.

Kwasman asked the council to "find the best way to honor Charlie Kirk and the principles of respectful democratic discourse he fought for and died to secure." Several councilmembers responded by proposing that the city adopt a consistent, citywide memorial policy. Councilwoman Mary Anne McCallan suggested mirroring the state practice that a person be deceased for a minimum period (she cited a five‑year waiting period used by the state) before a commemorative naming of a geographic feature is approved, and she said memorials should be privately funded rather than paid for by taxpayers.

Councilmembers discussed forming a subcommittee and asked staff to produce a written report describing options, legal constraints, examples (waiting periods, funding sources, location decisions) and recommended practices. The city manager and city attorney explained that council can only have a limited number of simultaneous motions but that staff would work to produce an expedited written report and schedule the matter for discussion at a future council meeting or work study so the council could provide policy direction.

The council voted to direct the city manager to investigate and report back and to agendize the policy discussion; the transcript records the approved direction and follow‑up assignment but no roll‑call tally was read into the record.

Provenance: discussion and direction on memorial policy began at 00:58:41 and concluded with staff direction around 01:10:22 (transcript segments).