OFFICE OF CITY CLERK

COUNCIL MINUTES

October 20, 2008

The City Council of the City of Mesa met in a Study Session in the lower level meeting room of the Council Chambers, 57 East 1st Street, on October 20, 2008 at 5:15 p.m.

COUNCIL PRESENT	COUNCIL ABSENT	OFFICERS PRESENT
Mayor Scott Smith	None	Christopher Brady
Alex Finter		Debbie Spinner
Dina Higgins		Linda Crocker
Kyle Jones
Dennis Kavanaugh Dave Richins
Scott Somers

1. Review items on the agenda for the October 20, 2008 Regular Council meeting.

All of the items on the agenda were reviewed among Council and staff and the following was noted:

Conflicts of interest declared: 6b (Finter)

2. Hear reports on meetings and/or conferences attended.

Councilmember Kavanaugh: Mekong Plaza Grand Opening

Councilmember Richins: Annual GAIN Event; “Mesa Old West Days” Festival

Mayor Smith: Annual GAIN Event

3. Scheduling of meetings and general information.

City Manager Christopher Brady stated that the meeting schedule is as follows:

Thursday, October 23, 2008, 7:30 a.m. – Joint City Council/Planning & Zoning Board Study Session

Thursday, October 23, 2008, 3:45 p.m. – Ribbon Cutting Ceremony for new Police Forensic Services Building

Saturday, October 25, 2008, 10:00 a.m. – City Hall at the Mall at Superstition Springs

Saturday, November 1, 2008 – District 4 Pancake Breakfast at Fire Station 202

4. Prescheduled public opinion appearances.

a. Hear from Anita Stapleton regarding cruising on Main Street

Anita Stapleton, owner of Jersey Girl Café, addressed the Council and stated that the presence of cruisers on Main Street during the recent “Second Friday” events has brought a dramatic increase in traffic to the downtown area and boosted revenues for the local merchants. She stated that the downtown merchants would like to welcome back the car clubs for future “Second Friday” celebrations and inquired if the City Council would be willing to assist in this effort. Ms. Stapleton added that some of the car club members are reluctant to return to the event because they are under the impression that the City has enacted an ordinance that would prevent them from cruising on Main Street and could result in the issuance of traffic tickets or their vehicles being impounded.

Mayor Smith commented that he would be happy to support the local merchants in welcoming the car clubs to downtown Mesa.

Councilmember Richins stated that he too would like to publicly welcome the car clubs to Mesa for the “Second Friday” events or on other occasions as well. He noted that there is no City ordinance that prohibits cruising and said he would only ask that the cruisers obey Mesa’s traffic laws.

5 Adjournment.

Without objection, the Study Session adjourned at 5:29 p.m.

________________________________

SCOTT SMITH, MAYOR

ATTEST:

_______________________________

LINDA CROCKER, CITY CLERK

I hereby certify that the foregoing minutes are a true and correct copy of the minutes of the Study Session of the City Council of Mesa, Arizona, held on the 20^th day of October 2008. I further certify that the meeting was duly called and held and that a quorum was present.

___________________________________

LINDA CROCKER, CITY CLERK

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