| Todd: | 00:00 | Welcome to Let's Talk Business, Phoenix today. We are absolutely honored and thrilled to have Phoenix Mayor, Kate Gallego joining us. Welcome Mayor.
| Mayor Kate Gall...: | 00:09 | Thank you for having me.
| Todd: | 00:11 | Well, obviously, a lot's going on in the city, a lot's going on obviously in the country, but I'd like to kind of start with you,
| | | former economic developer. I'm sure the career was going
| | | great. What was the decision like? What made you decide to get into public policy and public life?
| Mayor Kate Gall...: | 00:28 | I've always been interested in public policy, but I never thought of myself as the type who would run for office. I really thought
| | | I'd be more the behind the scenes person. I worked at the Salt Fiver Project in Economic Development and have actually had
| | | several opportunities at SRP, including related to water and
| | | some of the clean energy projects that SRP has done.
| Mayor Kate Gall...: | 00:51 | I got very involved volunteering at the city. I served as Chair of
| | | the Environmental Quality Commission and Vice Chair of the Long-Term Plan. I was always impressed with how much the city
| | | could accomplish and that people can get involved and make a difference. I found it very tangible and rewarding. You could come up with an idea, and the city was open to implementing it. It's incredible for a city of our size. I am originally from
| | | Albuquerque, New Mexico, moved out here with my pickup
| | | truck and not much else after college, and have really been able to feel welcome in this community and make a difference.
| Mayor Kate Gall...: | 01:29 | It's one of the things I love about the City of Phoenix. We judge you based on what you accomplish, what you have to offer, not
| | | whether you have a last name, that's hard for some people to
| | | pronounce or where your parents went to school. I think that's been part of the reason Phoenix has been successful, and for
| | | me as well. Not the most natural at this, I was terrible at public speaking when I started, and my first debate had some very
| | | awkward moments, but I had a lot of ideas and that seems to be what people most responded to. So I'm glad that I chose this
| | | career.
| Mayor Kate Gall...: | 02:07 | It was a little bit of a left turn for me. I had just finished business school, and I had a huge amount of debt. I was worried when I
| | | first ran for City Council, that people would look at how much debt I have and said, maybe we don't want her in decision
| | | making positions, but now people are talking much more openly about their student debt, so maybe it was too much worrying
| | | on my part.
| Todd: | 02:31 | Well, interesting that you had a background in the city, so you felt comfortable in the city. You didn't see yourself as someone
| | | who necessarily should be in office, but I always get the sense that people that don't necessarily feel like they belong, are the
| | | people that tend to do really well in public policy, because they're there for the right reasons.
| Todd: | 02:49 | So let's fast forward. Obviously, we look at history, second female mayor. It's interesting when you talk about it, it's not
| | | that you're a female mayor. It's, just you're a strong mayor, but
| | | what's that been like? Talk to us a little bit about that journey.
| Mayor Kate Gall...: | 03:02 | Well, I did have some bumps that were related to being female,
| | | when I first ran for Office of Mayor. As you may recall, the year I ran for mayor was quite exciting in my personal life. I got
| | | divorced, had a baby, moved, and filed for mayor, in that order.
| | | I do not recommend it at all. It was more than one would want ideally in one year, and I almost didn't run for mayor.
| Mayor Kate Gall...: | 03:28 | I was a little bit embarrassed about having had a baby and gotten divorced at the same time. It was certainly not how I had
| | | planned it, and I wasn't sure how people would respond to me being a divorced mom, and wanting an executive office. I had
| | | gone to school in Massachusetts when Governor Swift had
| | | given birth, and she got a very negative response about whether or not she could be a mom and a governor.
| Mayor Kate Gall...: | 03:58 | I worried that the same thing would happen to me, so I almost didn't run for Office of Mayor. Also looked around and I tend to
| | | be a little bit younger than the other people who are leading top 15 cities, and at the time there were no women. So it wasn't
| | | anyone and a community pushing on me, but there were just
| | | some doubts on my own side about whether or not I looked like the type of person who would be mayor.
| Mayor Kate Gall...: | 04:24 | I really hesitated to run and probably started the campaign later than I should have, because I was asking myself too many
| | | questions. So if there's anyone out there who's listening to this and you're deciding whether to make a jump with your
| | | business, switch to a new job, my advice to you is, do not wait till your personal life is perfect. In my case, it has never been,
| | | but I'm so glad, ultimately, I did decide to file that paperwork
| | | and run for mayor. Don't talk yourself out of challenges.
| Todd: | 04:52 | Well, and you never look back. I love that story and interesting
| | | that you had that struggle. It reminds, I think, us that you were a real person, just like everyone else. And these are people who
| | | want to make a difference in our community, and things are just like everyone else struggles.
| Todd: | 05:09 | I want to go back to that time too, because I remember, I mean you became mayor, COVID, almost immediately. So you had
| | | these other challenges; you become mayor, great. You have a lot of plans and COVID hit. Had to be an incredible challenge for
| | | you. I mean, I know we had lots of conversations. You made a lot of tough decisions. In my opinion, history's going to be on
| | | your side on those decisions, but that had to be a pretty tough
| | | way to get into office.
| Mayor Kate Gall...: | 05:37 | COVID hit during my first year as mayor. Phoenix was one of the
| | | first five cities to have a case. The reason people may not remember that is, we were able to work with local public health
| | | officials and many other partners, to really provide support. And it did not end up spreading in Phoenix as early as it did in other
| | | communities.
| Mayor Kate Gall...: | 06:00 | But again, having, yes, in your first year, a global pandemic, was not something I planned for. You run for mayor and you have all
| | | these ideas. People want to partner with you. You have so much momentum in your early years, and then to go in a different
| | | direction was tough. We tried to be data driven and science driven. When I made decisions, I talked to a wide variety of
| | | stakeholders. I appreciate you taking some odd phone calls from me, to talk about potential decisions.
| Mayor Kate Gall...: | 06:32 | I worked very hard to share how I was making decisions and
| | | what data I was looking at. I think the city took a lot of steps that really supported our small businesses, that put public
| | | health at the forefront, made people aware of resources to get through tough times.
| Mayor Kate Gall...: | 06:51 | It was an unprecedented difficult challenge. I am still seeing different implications of that, but more and more, there are
| | | some silver linings, whether it be bridging the digital divide or helping online government become more efficient. So I'm proud of how we navigated, although we are still very much navigating it.
| Todd: | 07:12 | Well, and I think you had to make some decisions that at the time weren't that popular, but they were the right decisions.
| | | And I guess, do you feel like that made you a stronger leader,
| | | having to go through that tribe by fire, sort of immediately?
| Mayor Kate Gall...: | 07:26 | I do. When I talk to peer mayors, who've been in the office for
| | | 20 years, they say that 2020 was the most difficult year of their service. Having gotten through that, there are a lot of other
| | | challenges that seem more surmountable. It also really forced me to develop partnerships early, and I think partnerships
| | | across many levels of government that will pay off for a long
| | | time.
| Mayor Kate Gall...: | 07:53 | It also has really restructured some of the ways we do things at
| | | the city, and many of those will be helpful long term; for example, because Maricopa County is in charge of public health,
| | | we didn't really have a lot of infrastructure in the health area. Now we're doing much more and we have the ability to provide
| | | support around mental health challenges, which is important to our first responders.
| Mayor Kate Gall...: | 08:16 | So as we film in 22, we are finally able to see some of the
| | | positives that are coming out of it that will leave the city better positioned. And we were hit much less than many of our pure
| | | large cities. Of the top 10 construction markets in the country, Phoenix was the only one in 2020 that saw an increase in jobs
| | | and activity. So a lot of people were able to find ways to put
| | | health first, but still have that economic activity that is so important to our region.
| Todd: | 08:52 | Oh great. It is astounding to watch the "recovery" from COVID, and to your point, I mean there are some silver linings; certainly
| | | we would never want this to happen again and certainly wish it never did, but I think we did learn a lot of important lessons,
| | | and I agree, I think the city has taken a lot of those lessons and
| | | certainly we have as well. So all in all, hopefully, something we never have to look at again.
| Todd: | 09:17 | Speaking of difficult times, probably been 40 years since we saw significant inflation in the United States. Certainly we're seeing
| | | it here in a lot of different areas. Talk to us about how this is impacting the city, and perhaps if the city's looking at any kind
| | | of measures that might help people as they're struggling
| | | through inflation.
| Mayor Kate Gall...: | 09:36 | Phoenix has been the fastest growing large city in the country.
| | | We've seen more people move to Phoenix than any other city. Housing supply has not kept up with the demand to live in our
| | | community. As mayor, understand you much prefer to be a growing city than a shrinking city. It is good news that people
| | | are voting with their feet, that they want to be part of Phoenix. But we have seen very significant increases in housing prices. A
| | | lot of that has been a prime driver of inflation in our
| | | community; gas, food prices, supply chain challenges, all contribute to that. But at the city we've been very focused on
| | | our housing supply, including affordable housing.
| Mayor Kate Gall...: | 10:18 | We want the people who power our city to be able to work in
| | | the community. We've made a concerted effort to bring a wide diversity of housing options that the city has moved forward on
| | | the type of supply that are most often associated with Phoenix; single family for ownership products. And we've had from the
| | | west side to North Phoenix, to the Laveen area; very significant investments in the last year, but we also are seeing single
| | | homeowner facilities that are detached as well as traditional apartments.
| Mayor Kate Gall...: | 10:52 | If you look in our downtown, you are seeing very significant,
| | | both condo and apartment investments, and we've been working a lot on that. We also have been investing in more
| | | projects where the city is a partner. We looked at all of our land holdings about where we could build affordable housing. We've
| | | done a hotels to housing program for people who are most vulnerable.
| Mayor Kate Gall...: | 11:17 | Then workforce is a big part of that. You are partners with us on
| | | making sure we have the construction workforce that we need in this community. Maricopa Community Colleges has also been
| | | a key partner for us in a variety of different areas, from semiconductors to construction workforce. And we're working
| | | with them to make sure that people who were impacted by the downturn, have a chance to pivot to high wage careers that
| | | help you afford housing in our community, but also give our residents the chance to contribute to building the future of
| | | Phoenix.
| Todd: | 11:50 | Oh, absolutely, and hopefully we've seen recent signs of inflation ebbing a little bit, and hopefully those will continue. I
| | | want to sort of pivot. Whenever I travel, the first thing people want to ask me about is TSMC. Amazing win for Phoenix.
| Todd: | 12:07 | I know that you were front and center. I'm sure there were a number of trips, that you were over in Taiwan and you were
| | | part of those negotiations. We see now that the building is... At least the Shell's complete. Tell us what's happening. What's happening with TSMC?
| Mayor Kate Gall...: | 12:20 | It has been an exciting end of summer and spring for TSMC.
| | | They've made significant progress on their building. It looks like a small city. If you have a chance to go to North Phoenix, I'd
| | | recommend everyone listening, just take a look at the huge
| | | number of cranes that are out there. I think we they've been up to 40, including one of the largest cranes on planet earth.
| Todd: | 12:43 | It's pretty huge out there.
| Mayor Kate Gall...: | 12:44 | They have their own cement plant. They are building a state-of-
| | | the-art facility for the most advanced chips. The cutting edge technology in semiconductors is happening right here in
| | | Phoenix, which means we get top professionals and that entire
| | | innovation. The city's planned a supplier campus for their business partners who want to be close by.
| Mayor Kate Gall...: | 13:07 | But we're also seeing suppliers in several areas, including Pinal County that are coming to Arizona because of TSMC. In
| | | economic development, we often talk about multiplier effects, and businesses that grow jobs beyond their direct employment. I've never seen anything like TSMC in years of doing this.
| Todd: | 13:30 | Absolutely agree.
| Mayor Kate Gall...: | 13:31 | So we are very excited to work with them. We appreciate the
| | | Chambers' support of the CHIPS Act, which President Biden has signed to support the semiconductor industry, $39 billion in
| | | investment in American manufacturing, in the United States. That's important from an innovation perspective, but also from
| | | a national security perspective.
| Mayor Kate Gall...: | 13:55 | When we were in Taiwan, we saw how much of the world's semiconductors are being built in a relatively small island.
| | | During COVID, we realized how fragile supply chains are, having that manufacturing in the United States, and more importantly
| | | in Arizona, is important to many different levels. So we're excited to see TSMC continue to grow. They did tell us that our
| | | personal investment, that the elected officials have made,
| | | including going over to Taiwan, really mattered to them.
| Mayor Kate Gall...: | 14:28 | We did not offer the most generous incentives, but they loved
| | | our workforce. They loved the sites that were available in Phoenix, and our expertise in semiconductor. Intel on
| | | semiconductor, Avnet, all of the ecosystem here, made Phoenix attractive for TSMC and for so many other continued
| | | investments. So we have a lot to celebrate and it really was a
| | | community win.
| Todd: | 14:55 | Well, it would've been fantastic to be a fly on the wall in some
| | | of those discussions you had, and maybe someday, we'll get a glimpse of those discussions with the TSMC folks. As a former
| | | economic developer, I'm sure it also warms your heart to see all of these supplier companies also coming from Taiwan.
| Todd: | 15:12 | A number of companies have called us and asked us for some advice in terms of where they might be looking, and some of
| | | the opportunities here. I'm assuming you're expecting some
| | | more of these supplier companies to establish bases here?
| Mayor Kate Gall...: | 15:26 | The CHIPS Act is very important to us and that will help us
| | | compete effectively for many more suppliers. It's now at the point where there'll be a hundred million dollar investment and
| | | it won't make the newspaper anymore. The supply chain investments, again, will create so many jobs that are good
| | | working salaries. Many of these jobs are for people who don't have college degrees, and are going to be making more than the Mayor of Phoenix, which I consider good news.
| Mayor Kate Gall...: | 15:58 | The Bank of Taiwan has invested in Phoenix. We're also seeing
| | | bioscience companies from Taiwan that are paying attention to us, because of our great bioscience campus and the synergies
| | | with Taiwan. So it's gotten to be a much bigger economic
| | | impact than just semiconductors, because we are getting so much international attention.
| Mayor Kate Gall...: | 16:21 | I think Taiwan is well known for great cuisine, and we're also, I think, all going to benefit from better eating opportunities. If
| | | you have not had Taiwanese dumpling, I think there are going to be lots of good opportunities that we will all enjoy.
| Todd: | 16:38 | That's fantastic, and I think they mentioned that at least in the
| | | startup phase, there are going to be a significant number of folks from Taiwan coming to Phoenix. Is the city part of that
| | | integration process with those families coming over?
| Mayor Kate Gall...: | 16:49 | We've had some wonderful events where we've welcomed
| | | people from Taiwan. So many of our business partners have stepped up as well as our school districts, to support them. They are located in the Deer Valley School District, which has a great Mandarin program and has really been making investments to
| | | support TSMC and supplier families.
| Mayor Kate Gall...: | 17:11 | Our healthcare providers in North Phoenix have been looking which physicians have expertise and can provide healthcare to
| | | people who are coming to us from Taiwan. So it's been a really entire Phoenix effort to do this. My pitch to Phoenix is that we
| | | will all benefit as well, from being a more global city, from the
| | | tax revenue that is coming in and the type of high caliber engineering talent that will be here. They're making great
| | | investments with the school district, so even if your family is not working at TSMC, you might benefit from having globally
| | | leading experts in the community.
| Todd: | 17:53 | No doubt, and a really a good opportunity to have some
| | | diversity and these students to learn from each other, I think.
| | | Well, let's switch gears a little bit. We're hearing a lot about Rio Re-imagined, and I think there are people that maybe who don't
| | | know about that, or might be thinking, "Well, is it sort of like what happened in Tempe? Talk to us a little bit about what it is
| | | and why it's significant.
| Mayor Kate Gall...: | 18:16 | Phoenix exists as a city because of the Salt River. It was our
| | | original economic engine, and it's my hope as mayor, that it will
| | | continue to be a big part of our future. Some people would say that we've turned away from development along the river, and
| | | that we have not always fully embraced the open space that's in that area.
| Mayor Kate Gall...: | 18:41 | Several community leaders and elected officials from Congressman Ed Pastor, to Senator McCain, have made that a
| | | priority and made initial investments to redevelop along the river. I hope to stand on the shoulders of many leaders, along
| | | with my colleagues on the city council, and make investments to
| | | ensure that the riverfront is the future of Phoenix. We are not picturing a long lake, a La Tempe Town Lake, but we do hope
| | | that when you're, in the future, picking the best place to ride your bike in Phoenix, it will be along the riverfront.
| Mayor Kate Gall...: | 19:18 | We're also hoping to do some ecosystem restoration and then have really attractive places for economic development. If we
| | | get it right, living or working along the river will be very desirable. We've had a exciting fall for the riverfront. We kicked
| | | off our bond process and there's an economic development committee on which you serve, that is looking at making some
| | | investments along the riverfront through our general obligation bond.
| Mayor Kate Gall...: | 19:51 | Then we received a wonderful grant from the department of
| | | transportation, through the Infrastructure and Jobs Act, that will help us build the kind of high quality path that you see in
| | | Tempe, but you do not see right now yet in all parts of Phoenix. It'll have great lighting powered by solar energy, so very on-
| | | brand for a pro-solar city. There'll be a bridge that won't have any cars on it for pedestrians and cyclists at 3rd, and that will be
| | | a safer connection.
| Mayor Kate Gall...: | 20:21 | If you're a true cyclist, you're happy to drive right next to cars, but we hear from many people who'd prefer a separated
| | | bridge; that's a 25 million investment from the Federal Government, which was also excited about reconnecting
| | | communities, in partnership with our Congressional Delegation, working with the Army Corps of Engineers to make investments.
| | | We're looking with the state of Arizona, because they own land that is in the area, and then there's a planned freeway called SR
| | | 30, that is in the area. So trying to align a variety of different
| | | investments so that we can have what we call catalytic projects. Some first projects that will remind people how much we love
| | | our river.
| Mayor Kate Gall...: | 21:05 | I go to the Audubon Facility on the river probably every other
| | | month, but I'm told that many people in our city, don't know it's there, so highly recommend it. If you're a bird lover, nature
| | | lover, it's a wonderful oasis in the middle of the city.
| Mayor Kate Gall...: | 21:24 | We have many other assets in the area that we hope to highlight, and it'll all be part of the Rio Re-imagined Vision, the
| | | community foundation, ASU, Arizona Forward, are among the many partners who've been helping us move forward. I've been
| | | a little frustrated we haven't moved as much dirt as I'd like, and I think this year will end up being a pivotal time.
| Mayor Kate Gall...: | 21:47 | We are making small investments now, with the grant we
| | | received. We are in full community meeting process right now. There's several artists renderings around bridges, so we want to
| | | see what people think about different design concepts, and some of the planning. But we have officially got the grant. The
| | | US Secretary of Transportation himself, came here to deliver it.
| Todd: | 22:11 | Absolutely. Well, it'll be nice to have the river scene as a way to
| | | unify communities versus a divider, so congratulations on that.
| | | Since we're talking about Rio, and everyone's talking about water, recently announced the water cuts to Arizona; what does
| | | that mean for us? And what's the city's thoughts on this, or how are they planning for these reductions in availability of water?
| Mayor Kate Gall...: | 22:37 | I would encourage everyone to follow closely what's happening on the Colorado River. Water is essential to us as a desert city,
| | | and how we manage it is among the most important things that will determine the future of Phoenix. We have been in a long
| | | term drought on the Colorado River. It is also oversubscribed,
| | | that means the same water was given to more than one entity, so it faces multiple challenges at once.
| Mayor Kate Gall...: | 23:05 | We knew this was coming and the City of Phoenix has been preparing. We've been storing water. We've been investing in
| | | infrastructure, such as wells and a drought pipeline, to prepare
| | | for this. If you drive along the 51, you may have seen our drought pipeline-
| Todd: | 23:22 | Absolutely.
| Mayor Kate Gall...: | 23:22 | Investment. That's all key to preparing for drought as is the
| | | conservation programs we have. Most of the residential water use in Phoenix is outdoor, so would encourage people to think
| | | about any opportunities to save water, both indoor and out. We
| | | also want to partner with our businesses, particularly industrial companies that have more opportunities to invest in efficient
| | | cooling systems, save you money and reduce water.
| Mayor Kate Gall...: | 23:53 | We had a pilot at the airport where we looked at our cooling
| | | towers and saved ourselves a lot of money and water, and we have the opportunity to share technical expertise with
| | | companies who might be interested. We also have a blue bank
| | | project to help financing, if that's an obstacle for our companies.
| Mayor Kate Gall...: | 24:12 | I believe there's still low hanging fruit where we can invest in conservation, save money and not have negative implications
| | | for our city. But there's no doubt with the drought situation that we are in, it could get to be very, very difficult situations. There's some real political challenges with Arizona having the lowest priority for Central Arizona. We work very closely with
| | | other levels of government to try to articulate what we think
| | | are fair solutions.
| Mayor Kate Gall...: | 24:43 | This year, there's some very high profile cuts to Arizona that are
| | | happening. Our farmers are feeling it most. If we plan ahead, I think we can make responsible decisions. There's something
| | | called direct potable reuse that we're really looking at, at the
| | | City of Phoenix, so that we can stretch our existing supplies further. But whether you are making capital planning decisions or just deciding for whom you vote, water is worthy of your consideration.
| Todd: | 25:13 | Absolutely. When I think about Arizona, it seems like in the west, we have done a really good job of trying to be good
| | | stewards of our water, and so I'm glad to hear that we're
| | | looking at this current situation from a, not just today, but what is this going to mean for us 10 or 15 years down the road? And
| | | hopefully, that'll put us in a much better position than we find ourselves today.
| Mayor Kate Gall...: | 25:34 | Exactly.
| Todd: | 25:36 | You mentioned the general obligation of bond program. I
| | | believe it was authorized in June, and thank you for that
| | | opportunity to serve. $500 million, why now? And what do you hope for this?
| Mayor Kate Gall...: | 25:52 | Todd, it's been 16 years since we'd lasted a general obligation bond. We are way overdue. We have a lot of capital needs at
| | | the city, including just deferred maintenance, but we also have the chance to do some very exciting projects. Much of our modern downtown Phoenix, in partnership with Arizona State University, came out of a previous bond campaign.
| Mayor Kate Gall...: | 26:14 | If you look at our regional parks facilities, investments in public
| | | safety, so much of that also came out of support from our voters for these general obligation bonds. This fall, we are
| | | working on a process to identify the top priorities for this bond. I hope that we will have another one in five years, no longer a
| | | 16 year gap in between, because we need to continue to make regular investments. There's a huge amount of needs.
| Mayor Kate Gall...: | 26:43 | But we also have the chance to make generational investments that you and I can take our kids to or our grandkids to, in
| | | decades. One of the investments that's proposed is significant, Rio Re-imagined funding. We're also looking at how we can
| | | support our higher education partners in moving the Phoenix
| | | economy to be more competitive. Then we just have traditional City of Phoenix projects, like we've grown a lot and we need
| | | new fire stations, so that we can serve our community well.
| Todd: | 27:17 | Yeah, I think that's true. Surprising the need for fire stations. We
| | | are behind there, even with the good job that we've done and certainly some opportunities to shore up some additional
| | | infrastructure. I think one of the things that I was paying
| | | attention to was debt service. And right now, we're at a good place in terms of debt service. When this would go into play,
| | | we'd be in a great place in terms of debt service. Can you speak to that a little bit?
| Mayor Kate Gall...: | 27:41 | Absolutely. So we have been paying down our debt and now have some capacity to make real investments without a tax
| | | increase. We know we talked about inflation. We know dollars are tight right now, and if we can do this without any new
| | | burden, we think that will be a more effective way to making
| | | long-term investments that we need without seeing that bump in the property tax that some other communities have had to
| | | do.
| Mayor Kate Gall...: | 28:09 | So we've really been trying to plan and pay down our debt so
| | | that we have capacity to take on some big new projects in addition to the maintenance.
| Todd: | 28:20 | Absolutely. Let me pivot a little bit. At our City of the City address when you and I spoke, you talked about the fact that
| | | we need to support our police and that you, aside the idea that going to defund the police, you're saying we're actually going to
| | | go the opposite. And you just made a commitment to, I think we're paying our police force at the highest paid police force in
| | | the country.
| Todd: | 28:45 | Talk to us about that decision. I know you also talked about having some resources for our police officers, like mental health
| | | counselors, as part of that. So talk to us a little bit about that investment and why you think it's important.
| Mayor Kate Gall...: | 28:56 | On August 8th, Phoenix became the highest paid police force in the state of Arizona. We are very proud of that investment. We
| | | need to attract the best and brightest, and being able to pay a
| | | competitive rate is very important to that. No one is getting fabulously wealthy going into government work, but we can
| | | now attract highly trained veterans, who are leaving the military. We're competitive for college graduates who are very
| | | sought after in today's market.
| Mayor Kate Gall...: | 29:28 | That higher level of talent will allow us to be more flexible and
| | | nimble. We've always had good luck in attracting great officers because of the great opportunities here. You can specialize in
| | | the type of work that you love. We are much larger than many
| | | of the other agencies, and so we have the chance for people who want to do motorcycle work, to be able to do motorcycle
| | | work. I spent some time this week with people who are following up on sex crimes, which particularly crimes against
| | | children, break my heart.
| Mayor Kate Gall...: | 30:02 | I do not know that I could do that day in and out, but when I talked to them, they were so motivated by the work they were
| | | doing and the appreciation to be able to specialize in that area. And Phoenix Police Foundation, I should plug, is raising money
| | | to support the great work they are doing. So if you're interested in partnership, let us know. All of that contributes to a safer city.
| Mayor Kate Gall...: | 30:26 | We've also invested in officer wellness, including more
| | | opportunities for counseling. Our officers see heartbreaking things out there. We've responded to mothers who've strangled
| | | their children, and just talking to anyone involved in that response about how heartbreaking exhausting that is. We need
| | | to take care of our officers who have to go... It's harder for us just to talk about some of the things that the calls entail, but we
| | | understand that it's very stressful.
| Mayor Kate Gall...: | 30:59 | The same for our 911 operators. We've tried to provide more support to them because they talk to people at their most
| | | difficult moments, and that is incredibly important work, vital to our city, but we all need to appreciate and acknowledge how
| | | difficult it is.
| Todd: | 31:15 | It's a holistic question, and thanks for the correction, it's the
| | | highest paid force in Arizona, not the country. I want to pivot a little bit; Super Bowl, even if it's hot, it's just around the corner.
| | | I think we blew it out of the water last time. What can we
| | | expect from Phoenix this time?
| Mayor Kate Gall...: | 31:31 | Want to acknowledge, so Glendale is the host city for the game,
| | | but the whole region benefits. I was a City Councilwoman in 2015, and I got to represent part of Downtown as we welcomed
| | | people from all over The Valley who hadn't been to Downtown in a while, and were so impressed with what was happening.
| | | We have over 5,000 credentialed media that we expect to attend Super Bowl, so it is a wonderful opportunity for us to tell the Phoenix story.
| Mayor Kate Gall...: | 31:57 | You and I talk often that when we're outside of Phoenix, people
| | | don't appreciate we're the fifth largest city with an incredibly dynamic economy. We have some of the most advanced
| | | companies in the world right here in Phoenix. Innovators who
| | | are solving challenges from cancer to public safety right here in Phoenix. We are trying to be very intentional about the moment
| | | you hit Phoenix, whether it be at Sky Harbor or however you choose to arrive, branding the city and telling our story.
| Mayor Kate Gall...: | 32:30 | We also want to make sure that our residents get to enjoy a great experience. There will be multiple free concerts,
| | | entertainment, chances to explore our Downtown, and so it
| | | should be a great experience for residents, whether you're a football fan or not. We at the city are doing economic
| | | development introductions for the many people who will be visiting and trying to really prioritize, "What are the investments
| | | that people of Phoenix are telling us we need to make? What are the type of jobs they want to work in? What are the type of
| | | amenities that they want?"
| Mayor Kate Gall...: | 33:04 | This is a great platform for us to really promote our city and
| | | where we want to go. And it's a global audience. They say
| | | National Football League, but it is in an international audience with media from all over, who we can introduce to Phoenix.
| Todd: | 33:19 | Absolutely. It's such a great way to showcase Phoenix, and obviously the game is in Glendale, but I think Phoenix plays such
| | | a big role, and the fact that there's this economic development
| | | opportunity for us to talk to leaders from around the country about why this is a good place for them to be thinking about.
| Todd: | 33:36 | You mentioned the airport. I know we're kind of running short on time. We just open up a new wing, Terminal 4. Fantastic,
| | | absolutely fantastic. Everyone always focuses on that, and also maybe new flight opportunities, and I'm sure you probably are
| | | limited to what you can say, but any announcements about
| | | international flights that you can talk about?
| Mayor Kate Gall...: | 33:58 | We continue to see new investments in international flights and
| | | something actually differentiates from us are our peer airports. We've had amazing recovery of international air service, which
| | | many other cities cannot say. So our European flights are back. As of September, Canadian flights are back. Next summer, you
| | | can fly nonstop to Montreal, Toronto, Vancouver.
| Mayor Kate Gall...: | 34:27 | My personal dream is that nonstop service to Asia and I very much absolutely look forward to being able to hopefully share
| | | announcements, but unfortunately, not today. We have had three airlines this year, establish service at Sky Harbor, and then
| | | significant route expansion from our existing partners. That's very different from the rest of the country. You hear a lot about
| | | airlines struggling just to maintain former service. It's a real compliment to us that if they have limited abilities to expand,
| | | Phoenix is where they are choosing to do it.
| Mayor Kate Gall...: | 35:05 | Sky Harbor is looking great. The new S1 Concourse is phenomenal, and it's a Southwest airlines concourse, so not
| | | everyone has had a chance to see it yet, but looks great. We'll have a milestone soon with the Sky Train, going to the Rental
| | | Car Center. Realized if you're listening to this, you probably don't rent a lot of cars in Phoenix, but we'll be taking significant
| | | traffic off Sky Harbor Boulevard so you'll be able to get there more easily.
| Mayor Kate Gall...: | 35:34 | Waymo is now dropping off at our 44th Street Station. I believe that makes us the first airport in the country where you can
| | | have an autonomous electric ride to the airport. We took a little bit of a risk there, but we're an innovative city.
| Mayor Kate Gall...: | 35:50 | Speaking of electric cars, we're looking at partnership with APS
| | | and our rental car companies, to make sure that you have a chance to rent a electric vehicle in Phoenix. We often talk about
| | | how we're the electric valley, and the airport wants to be part of showing that off as well.
| Todd: | 36:07 | It is nice when you travel around and you see what a great airport we have. It's getting better to your point, the
| | | improvements that we're seeing today, and probably what's
| | | going to be coming, I think, really keeps us in the mix as one of the top airports, not only in the country, but in the world.
| Mayor Kate Gall...: | 36:24 | We just hit number eight globally for takeoffs and landings, so moving up in that rankings. Wall Street Journal has said, we are
| | | the top airport in the United States, and we're going to keep investing to stay competitive.
| Todd: | 36:37 | Well, we'll take that. All right, so now I'm going to ask you a real hard ball, so hope you're ready. First day of kindergarten for
| | | your son. Last time we talked, it was dinosaurs. What's
| | | happening today, and how did it go?
| Mayor Kate Gall...: | 36:51 | It went fine for him, but it was a little tough on day one at
| | | kindergarten for mom. I dropped him off and I did not get a goodbye hug. He just went in. I also got in trouble on the first
| | | day of kindergarten, which I feel like is a parenting achievement.
| Mayor Kate Gall...: | 37:07 | You probably don't remember this, but on the first day of school, everyone is taking pictures of their kids, and a bunch of
| | | people don't know where they're going, and traffic is terrible. So I sat in traffic for 15 minutes, and then I was one minute late,
| | | and they sent me to the office to do late sign in on the first day
| | | of kindergarten.
| Todd: | 37:23 | Not at good start.
| Mayor Kate Gall...: | 37:28 | Then they go, "Are you the mayor?" And I went like, "Not today."
| Todd: | 37:30 | I'm a mom today.
| Mayor Kate Gall...: | 37:30 | I'm a kindergarten mom, who can't believe she messed up her
| | | kid's first day of kindergarten.
| Todd: | 37:35 | Well, pick up will be great.
| Mayor Kate Gall...: | 37:36 | Yes.
| Todd: | 37:36 | And I'm sure he'll have a ton to talk about.
| Mayor Kate Gall...: | 37:39 | It does not seem to have phased him at all.
| Todd: | 37:42 | My son's going to Gonzaga next week, and he doesn't seem to phase him at all, but I'll have a lot of allergies, I think, when I
| | | drop him off.
| Mayor Kate Gall...: | 37:51 | Congratulations.
| Todd: | 37:52 | Thank you. And Mayor, thank you for joining us today. Thank you for your leadership and always willing to answer the phone.
| | | We don't always agree and that's okay, but you're always willing to listen, and I think that's the most important thing. We'll look
| | | forward to seeing you at your annual State Of The City Address and continuing this journey with you.
| Mayor Kate Gall...: | 38:12 | Wonderful. Thank you for your partnership.
| Todd: | 38:14 | Thank you. For more episodes, come to Phoenixchamber.com, and we will look forward to seeing you there and at our next
| | | event, take care.