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Avondale council approves creation of citizen bond committee to explore possible 2025 GO bond
Summary
Council unanimously approved a resolution forming a seven-member Avondale 2025 Citizen Bond Election Committee to identify capital priorities and advise whether to place general obligation bond questions before voters, with staff to post applications and a subcommittee to vet nominees.
The Avondale City Council voted unanimously on Sept. 9 to create a seven-member Avondale 2025 Citizen Bond Election Committee and adopt committee bylaws, a move staff said will begin public outreach and help the city decide whether to place general obligation (GO) bond proposals before voters in a future election.
Renee, the city’s finance director, told the council the presentation was meant to solicit the council’s appetite for pursuing a potential bond election in November 2025 and to authorize a committee to evaluate capital needs and recommend a question or package to the council. She explained that general obligation bonds require voter approval and are repaid through a secondary property tax.
Renee said Avondale currently has remaining voter authorizations for water and sewer ($15.5 million) and streets ($9.2 million) and described CIP projects that would need new voter authorization—among them an Alamar public safety substation, a multimodal trail, a Boulevard police substation and a regional wireless cooperative tower. She noted credit ratings that support lower borrowing costs.
Staff proposed a committee of seven members plus two alternates to review department needs, prioritize projects and make a final recommendation to council; the timeline would allow the council to call an election as late as May 2025 if it chose to do so.
Council emphasized the importance of recruiting residents with financial experience and a long-term perspective. Staff said applications for the committee would be posted the next day and that a council subcommittee would review applications and forward recommendations to the full council.
The council then voted 'Aye' in roll call for the resolution (recorded votes: Condie, Malone, Nielsen, Solario, White, Vice Mayor Pineda, Mayor Weiss). The vote authorizes staff to recruit applicants and begin committee organization; it does not itself call a bond election.
What’s next: staff will post applications, the council’s subcommittee will vet candidates, and the committee—if appointed—will work with departments to identify and prioritize projects for any eventual voter question.
