Todd:
Well, welcome back to the podcast. We are honored to have the CEO of Valley Metro. Jessica Mefford-Miller, who has been on the job for 16 months and doing an amazing job. Welcome and thank you for joining us today.
Jessica Mefford-Miller:
Thanks for having me, Todd. Good morning.
Todd:
Morning. Obviously newer to the Valley from St. Louis I think was your last posting. Tell us a little bit about yourself and perhaps something about you that we wouldn't find on your bio.
Jessica Mefford-Miller:
Okay. So I have worked in transportation a little over 20 years. Most recently I was executive director at Metro Transit, the transit system in the greater St. Louis region. I am really passionate about creating more sustainable communities and connecting people with places. The things that drive me or my reasons why I work in transit are really creating access to opportunity, especially for people who wouldn't otherwise have that access and then creating more environmentally and financially sustainable transportation systems in their livable cities.
Todd:
Excellent. Like I mentioned, 16 months here, something about you that we wouldn't know about you from your bio, which is extensive.
Jessica Mefford-Miller:
It is, yeah. So while I have worked in transportation a long time and my role certainly keeps me very busy, outside of being CEO of Valley Metro, I'm a mom of three daughters and we are a super active family. I love Arizona. We camp, we hike, we bike, we snowboard. I'm a soccer mom, two of my three club soccer players. So it's a busy life.
Todd:
I can imagine. Is the dry heat thing real or is it just hot?
Jessica Mefford-Miller:
Is it real, but right now it's just hot.
Todd:
That's true, absolutely. I also noted in sort of looking up a few things about you that one of your first jobs was working for the National Park Service.
Jessica Mefford-Miller:
Yeah, absolutely.
Todd:
Which I thought was really extraordinary. They basically needed someone and you said, "I'll be there in three days."
Jessica Mefford-Miller:
I did. Yep. You know what, I think one of my greatest strengths is grit and tenacity. So I raised my hand and packed the truck and drove to Texas.
Todd:
Good lesson for the girls, correct?
Jessica Mefford-Miller:
That's right.
Todd:
Well, I want to get into sort Valley Metro and everything that that means, but I would like to sort of focus on something that happened last week. The legislature passed and the governor signed the Prop 400 authorization. Talk to us a little bit about 400 and why it's important for Valley Metro and for the Valley.
Jessica Mefford-Miller:
So the passage of Senate Bill 1102 is huge development for us across the Valley because that means that voters will once again have the opportunity to vote on continuation of our regional half-cent transportation sales tax, and that'll be in November 2024. We have had so many successes with the current sales tax, that's Prop 400 and then Prop 300 before. It has built our highway system, our arterials, the transit system that we have today, including our buses, our paratransit and light rail.
We also know that while it was a challenging and really long legislative session, we expect strong support from the voters. Recent polling data indicated that 68% of residents of Maricopa County would be likely to vote yes to extend our transportation sales tax. This is important because we are growing fast and our infrastructure is feeling the stress of our growth. So we've got to continue to invest in expansion and the balance plan that Prop 400 extension would support includes additional highways, arterials, but also continued and ongoing investment in our public transit system.
Todd:
So pretty holistic in terms of the scope.
Jessica Mefford-Miller:
It is, and I think that for us in Phoenix, that's the great thing about the way we have and hope to continue funding transportation. It's a balanced program. We've got so many different communities across the Valley and they're in different stages of development too, so they need different infrastructure mobility solutions.
Todd:
Yeah, and such a big footprint too.
Jessica Mefford-Miller:
That's right.
Todd:
It's not like a compact city like a Boston or maybe a New York or a Manhattan. So much more compact than here in the Valley.
Jessica Mefford-Miller:
Yeah, that's right. We serve over 800 square miles in Maricopa County. It's huge, so.
Todd:
It's hard to imagine.
Jessica Mefford-Miller:
It is, yeah. But it's low density communities where people are living and then it's high density places like Phoenix and Tempe and Corridors and Mesa where we are building up.
Todd:
Absolutely. Well, for those who may sort of know a little bit about Valley Metro, give us kind of an overview of the organization and your role as well as the mission.
Jessica Mefford-Miller:
Sure. So our mission at Valley Metro is connecting communities and enhancing lives. So we are equally focused on creating a stronger, more livable Valley as we are and delivering excellent experiences to our individual customers every day. We do that by planning, designing, building, operating and maintaining our region's public transportation system. We carry about 34 million rides per year. We have a large bus system that spans most communities in Maricopa County. We have a paratransit service and that's our service for our elderly and disabled neighbors. We also have a program called Ride Choice and we use a lot of taxi cabs, Uber and Lyft type services to help people who can't drive and can't access bus and light rail to get around.
Todd:
So you partner with them to provide those services.
Jessica Mefford-Miller:
We do. Yeah, yeah. We have a lot of partnerships. So some of the service we directly contract for, and others we subcontract through partners. We provide a lot of different mobility solutions. We also have a large and expanding rail system. Today we've got 28 miles of light rail that serve 38 stations. Last year we opened our first streetcar that was three miles in Tempe. We're also under construction right now on two light rail extensions. One will push us further toward Northwest Valley, that's our Northwest phase two extension.
Todd:
To Metro Center?
Jessica Mefford-Miller:
The Metro Center.
Todd:
It was Metro Center?
Jessica Mefford-Miller:
Yeah, to what was once Metro Center, and it's of course now undergoing the demolition phase and there's an exciting new development taking shape there that will include mixed use development. So that's housing, it's retail, it's entertainment attractions to keep Metro Center being the destination it has long been for the Valley. So we'll open that extension in early 2024.
Todd:
Okay, when? Okay. So that's coming right up, okay.
Jessica Mefford-Miller:
It's coming fast. We're also building into South Central Phoenix with our South Central extension. That's a big project. That's five miles and that will continue on Central all the way down south to Baseline, connecting a lot of residential communities, also a lot of small businesses in the South Phoenix area. Then we're in the next phases of planning and design for light rail extension pushing west and then street car expansion, pushing north into Mesa.
Todd:
A lot going on that front. For those of us who are kind downtown now, sort of trying to get through a lot of the maze here, what's the timeline for the South Central extension?
Jessica Mefford-Miller:
So South Central, we've largely completed most of the work in downtown, just putting some finishing touches. Mostly we're south of Lincoln right now. We expect that the project, we're at about 70% completion now. We expect to wrap construction in the end of 2025 and then open sometime around 2025, 2026.
Todd:
Okay, so coming up.
Jessica Mefford-Miller:
Yeah. Coming real fast.
Todd:
So you mentioned 800 square miles. That's a significant footprint, probably unique in most of the country. What are some of the challenges with operating a system that large and I suppose that diverse?
Jessica Mefford-Miller:
Yeah, so it's connecting people and making sure that you've got service that works for short trips. So how do I get from home to the doctor or the drug store in my local community? But also facilitating those longer trips, so how do I get from home in West Valley to an employment center in Downtown Phoenix? So we've got to provide a number of different types of mobility that match the unique needs of customers across the region.
Todd:
You mentioned planning for it, thinking just back 10 years, I don't think it would've been possible to imagine what Phoenix looks like today. How do you do that? What mechanisms do you use to plan for the next 10, 15, 20 years?
Jessica Mefford-Miller:
So it is an iterative and collaborative process. We work really closely with our partners at Maricopa Association of Governments, and they're responsible for our regional transportation plan. But then it's also conversations with individual cities, understanding how they're growing, where new businesses are going to locate, where new housing is going to be developed to make sure that we're keeping pace with that, and then it is laying out the routes. Then once you do, it's like any business, then we evaluate how we're doing and we pivot and make changes when it feels like there's a way we could do it better.
Todd:
So you can be responsive to the market.
Jessica Mefford-Miller:
Absolutely.
Todd:
I'm curious, this is obviously one of the larger metros in the country. When you get together with your colleagues from, for instance, LA and Atlanta, New York, what are some of the conversations that are occurring about transportation?
Jessica Mefford-Miller:
So I think some of our biggest challenges, we're all working to find our footing as we emerge from the pandemic. We know that in the Valley and in our peer cities, the way people travel, when and if people travel, has changed perhaps irrevocably. We're seeing more and more remote living, so people ordering things at home, participating in work or in even school virtually. So there are trips not being taken. But at the same time we're back up here in the Valley to vehicle miles traveled that look like they did pre-pandemic and that's our growth. But it's also the emergence of other trips, not just that journey to work. So what we're trying to do collectively as transit providers is capture more of those trips, make adjustments to how we provide service, when we provide service to ensure that it's meaningful.
We're also working to respond to the financial realities of the pandemic. We have been fortunate in the Valley because of our growth. Our economy is very strong and we're a contributor to that, that we've been able to sustain our operations. Then finally, another challenge that's facing all of us is emergent challenges with safety and security. Society has changed, and Valley Metro and Phoenix, like a lot of other cities are really struggling to keep pace with changing civil behavior, a rise in homelessness, which I think we're all aware of here in the Valley and in other cities. Some of the challenges that chronic poverty brings and also mental illness and substance abuse. These are all big issues. They're not just urban issues, they're suburban issues and they're regionwide issues, but they do sometimes find our way onto our system just as they do other public spaces.
Todd:
And certainly in common with all of these other large metros.
Jessica Mefford-Miller:
Absolutely.
Todd:
So let me kind of focus in on the pandemic a little bit, because you're right, I mean, the world significantly changed. We were going full steam ahead and then there was basically no one on the streets and then we came back pretty suddenly. What are some of the biggest changes you've had to make to adapt to that new normal and is there a silver lining?
Jessica Mefford-Miller:
One thing that I think it's important to know is that even during the height of the pandemic here in Phoenix Valley, Metro was still carrying about half of our rider. So not all of us were home during the pandemic, right? Our essential-
Todd:
Important to remember, yes.
Jessica Mefford-Miller:
Yeah, it is. Our essential workers, they were still out there and Valley Metro carries our essential workers. So we were still showing up every day, and so were a good many of our customers. So building on that base of that 50% of our ridership, now we've got to look to find how we can return some of that back. Even if someone's not commuting to downtown Phoenix five days a week, maybe they're commuting with us three days a week, maybe they're also catching Valley Metro Light Rail to take in a Diamondbacks game on the weekend. So it is tapping it into all of those different markets. We've increased our relationships with the tourism and hospitality industries and then education is another space where we play a very important role.
Todd:
Absolutely. Thinking of another constituency, given that this is a business focused podcast, businesses that are here, incredibly important part of the strategy is how to get people into the office, even in a hybrid model. How do you work with the business community to ensure that there is the right kind of mix to serve the needs of the businesses in the areas that you're serving?
Jessica Mefford-Miller:
Yeah. So it is understanding what those schedules and those locations are, and I feel like we've got a pretty decent handle on that. One of the places we're going next is creating more past programs and relationships with businesses, also tourism and hospitality to make it easier to encourage transit usage from employees or from patrons. We've got some pretty strong programs. We call it our Platinum Pass Program now, but part of our fair collection modernization, which includes mobile payment and it'll include stored value card payment. We'll be putting those types of media in the hands of businesses so that they can share them with their employees in ways that make sense. If we can take some of the stress out of the commute for coming to the office, which is a big deterrent for a lot of people-
Todd:
It is.
Jessica Mefford-Miller:
Especially if you've been home for a long time, the idea of sitting in 45 minutes of white knuckle traffic is not appealing. So we do have resources and we've got good service. You can hop on a Valley Metro Rapid or Express Bus and get to where you want to go. I know on days when I take our Express Bus service, I'm a different and better person.
Todd:
When you get to work.
Jessica Mefford-Miller:
Absolutely, and when I get home.
Todd:
So employers can work with Valley Metro to I guess partner on a pass program for employees?
Jessica Mefford-Miller:
Yeah, yeah. We have a whole commute solutions program, and it doesn't just include bus and light rail. We also operate our region's van pool service, so we can match carpoolers together. We can create van pools specific to employers, which is a great option for a lot of employers. We operate over 200 van pools in the Valley today. So it's a big program and we definitely have capacity for growth. We also help people create paths to work that might include biking and walking.
Todd:
Excellent.
Jessica Mefford-Miller:
We're full service.
Todd:
Well, that brings up a point related to technology, and that is such a broad topic. One of the things that come to mind is I remember back in the early 2000s the idea that we moved to natural gas and the bus system, I think LNG. What can we expect to see perhaps electric buses or other kind of alternative fuel buses out there as we move away from fossil fuels?
Jessica Mefford-Miller:
Yeah, so today, Todd, we're about 78% compressed natural gas fuel for our bus fleet. But we are moving to battery electric. We're also focused on the future prospect of hydrogen fuel cell technology. We have a plan in place and fortunately now thanks to a $13.2 million award from the Federal Transit Administration's Low or No Emissions Vehicle Program, we've got the funding in place to begin our fleet transition. So that award just took place this year. Plus we have some other congressionally directed funding. We've got such strong presence in Congress here in Arizona, and they've helped attract a ton of federal funding under bipartisan infrastructure law to the Valley. We expect that we'll begin to see those battery electric buses roll into Phoenix in 2028.
Todd:
It would be a test bed do you think for the country, given the extreme temperatures here?
Jessica Mefford-Miller:
The heat, yeah.
Todd:
Right, we're the opposite of Minneapolis, I suppose. I'm assuming from a reliability standpoint, that's probably going to be an important factor for you.
Jessica Mefford-Miller:
Absolutely. Our needs look different than a lot of our peer cities. We also work closely with peers like us, like Palm Springs and Los Angeles Foothills Transit in the LA Greater Metropolitan Area to learn from them. But our needs are greater because of the high temps and the sustained heat, especially when you're talking about energy. We've got some of the largest air conditioners on the market on board all of our vehicles, but those units require a lot of energy and we've got to keep those buses out all day every day. They don't get to stop and plug in the middle of the day.
Todd:
So that's going to be an interesting test I think probably for the country to see how this can work in Phoenix.
Jessica Mefford-Miller:
It is.
Todd:
Because if it could work in Phoenix, it can certainly work in Peoria, for instance, Illinois.
Jessica Mefford-Miller:
Yeah, yeah.
Todd:
From a rider perspective, technology that you see coming towards us, what might we expect?
Jessica Mefford-Miller:
Yeah. So our technology kind of focus areas are really threefold. We are focused on technology to help us get cleaner and greener, technology to help improve our customer experience, and then technology to help make us safer and more secure. So for the rider experience, I mentioned earlier we're modernizing our fair collection system. So with the Valley Metro app today, you can plan your trip, you can see your vehicle coming in real time, which is super helpful.
Todd:
That's nice.
Jessica Mefford-Miller:
Yeah, especially in today's heat. You can know when you're going to leave your office or home to walk out to that bus stop because you know exactly when it's coming. You can also pay your fare using that app. Another space that we're getting into is the micro mobility space. We do mostly mass transit and those commute solutions, but we're also dipping our toe in the water in a demand responsive service. So there's a type of service called micro transit that comes when customers hail it. It's not the open-ended Uber or Lyft that'll connect you from here in the Biltmore area all the way to the airport directly. But it typically covers a zone and you can hail that ride and there are probably other people in that zone who are taking the same trip. So it might carry four to six passengers at a time.
So that's something some of our communities in the West Valley have forayed into. So now as we're preparing for the next generation of service, we'll actually release a request for proposals for vendors this fall. We're asking for vendors to propose on fixed route kind of arterial service that we're all accustomed to, express route service that connects to major places like downtown, and micro mobility, what I was just talking about, and paratransit for our elderly and disabled customers. So we're really trying to leverage the technology that's available in the marketplace. It wasn't here 10 years ago, so we couldn't do this, but we're tapping into it now. The timing is great because as we've just been talking about, how and where people travel and how they expect to travel has changed.
Todd:
It has. I think people's expectations of what's on the road as travel makes me think about driverless cars that are coming. We have Waymo here, saw the mayor take that to the airport. What about driverless buses? I mean, is that something you see coming into the future or is it too early to tell whether that could be something-
Jessica Mefford-Miller:
Well, we're actually continuing our autonomous vehicle program. We've got a request for proposals on the street right now, seeking proposals from AV firms. We're first focusing on that smaller vehicle space. So think that micro transit, the four to six person type of vehicle. Buses would be, that's next level stuff. But let's talk about our trains for a moment, our light rail and our streetcar vehicles. This is something that we're more actively exploring there first, including technology on those vehicles that's going to help us with safety. So not driverless, but automating some of that so that you've got a backstop to the human decision-making process and then the next level would be preparing for autonomous. So we're going there.
Todd:
Brave new world.
Jessica Mefford-Miller:
Yeah.
Todd:
Let me then sort of segue to an area that you just talked about, which is safety and security. I think when I hear reluctance once in a while from people, it's usually being cautious about what might happen in a light rail situation because it's not like a bus where you have a bus driver right there and they can act. You're on a light rail system where you don't know whether or not you could stop a situation. How do you keep people safe in terms of light rail?
Jessica Mefford-Miller:
Sure. I want to tell you how we keep people safe. But first for your listeners, I want to remind us that you are so much safer riding transit than you are in a vehicle out on the streets driving, or even unfortunately in our region as a bicyclist or a pedestrian. We know we've got a lot of bike and ped fatalities, but our highest priority is keeping our customers safe and secure. So we do that in a number of different ways. On light rail, we contract with a firm called Allied Universal for security, and their job is to be out there and they're out there all day every day riding with our customers, inspecting fares, enforcing our code of conduct to make sure that we don't have any unsavory behavior.
We are supported also by our law enforcement partners, and on rail, that's law enforcement in the cities of Phoenix, Tempe and Mesa. We've got a program called Operation Blue Ride where we're working with those law enforcement partners to increase proactive patrols and police presence across light rail, and in Tempe Streetcar too. That's exciting. It's growing, a lot of development in that space. Then we also have what we call our customer experience coordinators. These are non-security personnel who are out there riding with our customers, answering questions, detecting and reporting any potential security challenges.
During pandemic, we had a huge workforce shortage, like so many other industries. We were down by as much as 50% on some of our teams, including those contract security guards. Because of a really comprehensive program, we have been able to restore our workforce. So we are delivering our service as scheduled and as promised. Now we have a full security contingent out there deployed all day every day riding with our customers.
Todd:
So we're fully staffed in terms of security on-
Jessica Mefford-Miller:
We're almost fully staffed. We never really hit 100%, but with the help of overtime and team members coming in from other contracts, those shifts are covered.
Todd:
Great. The other thing I think that's important to talk about and seems like everyone's chatting about it, especially this hot summer is climate change and what we can do to reduce the impact of the environment. Talk to us about your commitment to climate change here in the Valley.
Jessica Mefford-Miller:
Sure. So the biggest thing that we can do to mitigate the impacts of climate change is getting people out of single occupancy vehicles. Every year, 10 million tons of pollutants are prevented from entering the atmosphere when people are choosing to ride Valley Metro as opposed to driving. So that's our biggest impact. Then we look at how we're using energy. So our trains and our streetcars are powered by electric technology. Streetcars are actually battery electric. They go off wire for a segment in Tempe. Then on our bus lead, as I mentioned, we're transitioning away from compressed natural gas to battery electric, maybe hydrogen fuel cell in the future, if we can get that reliable and affordable energy supply here. So exciting developments. That transition for buses starts in 2028, and then we'll phase out those CNG buses as they're scheduled to retire.
Todd:
Excellent. Thinking about the rest of the country, maybe around the world, we just returned from a trip and everyone does this a little bit different. Is there one or two things that you see around the country, around the world that you think we should be thinking about here in Phoenix for the future?
Jessica Mefford-Miller:
I think we should be thinking more about a mobility ecosystem. This really is where we're going. So it's not just trains or cars. It could be micro transit, scooter, rideshare, creating hubs where somebody could take a longer trip aboard Valley Metro Light Rail and maybe they get to their final destination via an Uber or a Lyft. So it's really shifting from a bus or car to a larger mobility ecosystem where we've got a lot of options and that's important, because we are a diverse and really interesting and growing community, and we've got different needs in every space.
Todd:
To that point, given this sort of the rise of the Ubers and Lyft of the world, is there still a place for mass transit when you look at those types of solutions, which seem to sort of your point, help people on a micro scale versus a macro scale?
Jessica Mefford-Miller:
Yeah, for sure. So if we imagine for a moment taking transit system away for a day and trying to replace that with Ubers or Lyfts, our freeways and our arterials are going to come to a halt because that's so many more vehicles cruising around our transportation system waiting for fare. So it's a lot more vehicles on the street. It's more, it's not less. So putting most of those trips, or at least some of those trips on transit is just super important for getting those cars off the road. Financially, it's also not sustainable. We have seen record inflation in Phoenix lately. Our housing costs are going up, everything's getting more expensive.
We're seeing wage growth. But for a lot of people, that wage growth isn't keeping pace with the growth in the rents that they're seeing. So the idea of taking an Uber to work every day is completely out of reach for most Phoenicians. For an occasional discretionary trip, for people who are earning a higher income is feasible. But that is not reflective of most of the trips that are actually happening in our Valley. So we've got to be really mindful of that.
Todd:
Still essential to most people.
Jessica Mefford-Miller:
Absolutely.
Todd:
In terms of a mobility solution.
Jessica Mefford-Miller:
Yeah. If I think just for a moment, for my family of five, all of the work and school and discretionary trips that take place over the course of the day, and if I took the school buses out of the equation and replaced all of that with Uber or Lyft, it's a lot more cars and it's going to hit my pocketbook a lot more.
Todd:
Absolutely. Well, as I mentioned, newly minted, obviously 16 months, but when you think about how you want to see your time here in Phoenix and what are some of the major initiatives that you want to make sure that you address during your time here in Phoenix?
Jessica Mefford-Miller:
So yeah, I talked a lot about this customer focus. We're moving through a strategic planning process right now. It's the first strategic plan that we've undertaken in about eight years at Valley Metro. The northstar for that plan is customer experience. That is what we have to focus on. We recognize people have a lot of options. They can choose to make a trip or not make a trip. They can choose to get around a different way. So we really have to lean in to consumer expectations as they are today. That's going to guide our service design, our safety and security, our technology investments. So this forward-looking customer-focused agency is where we're going. As an organization, we're also evolving. I find Valley Metro to be a very young transit system. I come from a legacy system. A lot of our big transit systems in the United States have been around a long time. We're the new kids on the block.
Todd:
Is that good?
Jessica Mefford-Miller:
You know what, I think it's exciting because we've got the opportunity to really build in a way that reflects where we're going now instead of where we've been, where instead of focusing on state of good repair and trying to repair a system that's aging because it was built decades ago, we're able to build new. But the thing is, our system is going to age too. So part of what I'm doing and part of my experience in running a legacy system in my past is knowing what we're going to look like and what's going to happen down the road when those shiny new trains reach midlife and need overhauls. So I'm also building a strong team and strong programs that are going to sustain us into the future. That's some of the inside baseball, but when you are running a large operation like Valley Metro, you've got to anticipate the future. You've got to build the team that's going to get you there and carry you forward.
Todd:
Well, such an important point. I think really in terms of your legacy, I think preventative medicine is much less expensive and difficult than major surgery down the road.
Jessica Mefford-Miller:
It sure is.
Todd:
Because of avoiding investments in the system. So that's certainly something that I think we can all celebrate.
Jessica Mefford-Miller:
Absolutely.
Todd:
Well, I want to thank you for joining us today. Really appreciate it. It's been such a pleasure. We're going to do a quick lightning round. I promise, this is easy. We'll start with the first one. I know this doesn't have to be your first professional job, but first job.
Jessica Mefford-Miller:
First job. I was a youth soccer referee.
Todd:
What did you learn?
Jessica Mefford-Miller:
You know what, how to respond to people when they're in an escalated state and calm the situation down and how to have fun. That's important to me in my day-to-day career.
Todd:
Not to act as a parent when your kid's playing soccer?
Jessica Mefford-Miller:
That's right.
Todd:
I know you're obviously have an incredible job, there's no doubt. But dream job, if you could do anything?
Jessica Mefford-Miller:
Oh gosh. I think I have my dream job right now. I think if I could do anything, I would be working in a space where I would be working with large systems like mine more on a consultant basis, setting their priorities and directions. I love working with my fellow CEOs across the industry. I'm on our CEO coordinating council, so I enjoy being a leader of leaders and sharing experiences, bringing different ideas together. I'm a convener of people.
Todd:
Absolutely. Then we're going to help people out a little bit, Arizona and St. Louis. You go to St. Louis. What's the one restaurant we should go to in St. Louis that it was your go-to?
Jessica Mefford-Miller:
Our go-to. You know what, you got to go to a neighborhood called The Hill. It's an Italian neighborhood. For a long time, my husband and I lived right next to The Hill. So I think my favorite restaurant there, and it's not even for the food, it was called Rigazzi's. It's a staple. They serve beer in these giant fish bowls, and it's an old neighborhood. It's been there for many generations.
Todd:
Okay. Rigazzi's, you've got to remember that. Now, Arizona, what's your go-to place here?
Jessica Mefford-Miller:
Ooh, you know what, so I love Mexican food. I could have tacos three meals a day, five days a week. I think a place that I found I was living downtown when I first moved to Phoenix was La Piñata at 7th. I love it. It's good.
Todd:
That's a classic.
Jessica Mefford-Miller:
Yeah, yeah. My family and I live in Gilbert, but we go there often when we're hitting a museum or we're in downtown taking in an event.
Todd:
Well done. You found an absolute treasure from Arizona. So congrats on that and congratulations on the obviously not new job anymore, but for being here, appreciate everything you're doing to making sure that we're able to move around Maricopa County and that you're going to keep us on the right path going forward into the future.
Jessica Mefford-Miller:
Thanks for the opportunity, Todd.
Todd:
You bet.