Mayor Kate Gallego Discusses the City of Phoenix’s Affordability Agenda

A week after the Phoenix City Council unanimously passed a budget that focuses on affordability, and days before Phoenicians celebrate 602 day, a June 2 event where more than 350 organizations offer events or deals like 6.02% discounts or items as low as $6.02, Mayor Kate Gallego graciously interviewed with Blog for Arizona and discussed how the budget increases in housing, childcare, SNAP-food assistance, and extreme heat mitigation, will help lift people during these trying economic times. 

The questions and Mayor Gallego’s responses are below. 

Please tell the readers at least two ways the recently passed budget helps Phoenix residents, including the homeless, secure affordable housing.

“We are very excited about our investments in the Phoenix Housing Trust Fund, which will let us reduce fees for affordable housing as well as invest in new projects. So, with this year’s budget, it will be $15 million. The budget that the Republican majority just passed at the legislature sweeps the state housing trust fund of about $14 million. Thankfully, Governor Hobbs vetoed it, but we’re really proud that Phoenix is going in this pro-housing direction. We have a great record as a region led the country for the most new housing, and Phoenix has zoned 90,000 units and created or preserved 65,000 units since I have been Mayor, so we have good momentum to build on, but we are not done. And, this is our first budget after Federal support during COVID ended, where we’re making a very large permanent contribution from general fund dollars to address homelessness. This was not something we ever did before I was Mayor. I’m really proud to have been the Mayor who created the Office of Homeless Solutions and is now funding it at the $18 million level. So, we’re making it a big priority. The City of Phoenix is already the overwhelming majority of the transitional and shelter housing in our region, and we think we’re stepping up in a big way.”

Is this new funding for the Phoenix Housing Trust Fund, which replaced the COVID-era funding, sustainable over the long term? 

“That’s our plan.”

And the new funding for the Housing Trust Fund, and I think you may have mentioned it.  Forgive me if I missed it, how many people or families will that be helping? 

“We’re hoping to be able to make a major investment in reducing the fees for affordable housing, which will make them eligible for tens of millions of additional tax credits, so we think we’re going to be very strategic. We’re also trying to look at some of the other programs that are out there and make sure we leverage the money so that we get benefits far beyond our direct payment.”

Please tell at least one way the recently passed budget helps Phoenix residents find affordable, high-quality childcare options.

“This one’s really important to me. I ran for Mayor the same year I became a mom. Childcare is incredibly expensive in Phoenix. You’ve got to resign to run. So, you have to give up your income to run for Mayor, and it was a real juggle for me. A lot of people helped me, and I want to pay it forward and make sure we do our part as a City to help parents. For so many working families, this is an enormous expenditure. We had a woman who testified at our Council meeting that she pays $45,000 a year for her two kids for early childhood care. For many families, that’s not doable, and sometimes one parent has to leave the workforce. Childcare is the workforce behind the workforce. It lets parents stay working. So, good public policy if people want to be out there working that we make sure they can afford childcare options. We’re putting up $5 million dollars to invest in our young people and really focusing on a Tri-Share model where the employer, the City, and the parent will all contribute to childcare. That’s very exciting for us. This pot of money will also help us support kids who’ve lost SNAP benefits. Federal food assistance is so important to families. I was talking to two parents and their young kid, and the mom was pregnant. They lost SNAP benefits just when nutrition was so important for a baby in utero and a young kid. That early nutrition makes a difference for the rest of their lives. We are going to support navigators to help people get back to the federal benefits for which they qualify. Unfortunately, Arizona has seen more people lose their SNAP benefits as a percent. 200,000 of our kiddos. So, we’re very hopeful that we can make big investments in our kids. We have a very Pro-Kid City Council, and we’re glad to be able to pass (with a unanimous budget). It was very exciting.

We have very progressive Democrats and very fiscally conservative Republicans, and we come together to pass a unanimous budget. We hope to give our residents a good feeling.”

How many families will be impacted by that new childcare program?

 “I’ve said we are going to do a major announcement, but probably in the fall, about some of the details.”

With regard to assisting families, children on SNAP, can you please explain how the navigation assistant measures passed and the recent budget will help Phoenix residents find food security? 

“We are working very closely with Governor Hobbs and the state of Arizona to try to help families get through the very complicated qualifying process. We believe there are many people in Phoenix who are eligible for federal benefits who should not have been removed. We also believe, with others, that we might be able to connect people with work programs or volunteer programs to meet the work requirements. So, we’re hoping to primarily focus on navigators to help people receive the benefits for which they qualify. We think that’ll bring our fair share of federal dollars back to the community and hopefully keep people from facing more significant challenges.”

Do the navigators reach out to the families, or is it up to the families to reach out to the navigators? 

“We think initially the demand will be such that people will reach it come to us.”

Please tell the readers at least two ways the $9 million appropriated for the Office of Heat Response and Mitigation will help Phoenix residents meet the challenges of the summer heat months.

“I’m going to speak globally about our heat programs. We’re really proud of the programs that we have in our community. We’ve actually had people come from all over the world to look at our heat-related programs. Many people think Phoenix is the hottest big city in the United States, and we have a lot of experience with this issue. We are investing in a very significant heat relief network, which includes an overnight facility if people don’t have good housing or they lose their air conditioner. They’ll have a place they can go. We’re investing in facilities that support kids and families, as well as new shelter units for families, so that people have again a safe place to stay cool.  We are also investing in tree planting in the City of Phoenix. We have our Canopies for Kids program that brings shade canopies to playgrounds. I got to meet with a young student who said now the slide isn’t too hot to use aynmore, so being endorsed by the Elementary School kids of Phoenix is a high praise for our Canopies for Kids, and we also have programs for neighborhoods to plant trees (for the shading) so you can reduce energy bills, and you can make it more comfortable to walk. Shade really makes a difference in Phoenix.

That (shading) has been an ongoing project over the last several years for your term here. How about paving the streets? 

“We believe we have the largest cool pavement program in our country, so that’s a lighter colored coating on the city streets that reflects light and heat. We know black asphalt can get quite hot, and it’s contributing to the fact that we get much hotter at night than we used to. If any neighborhoods that are reading this are interested in getting that cool pavement program, please reach out to our office because we do want to make that investment in neighborhoods that are excited to have a cooling technology. ”

With regard to the funding increases for housing, childcare, SNAP, and heat response, do you feel those increases are adequate, or would you like to see more in future budgets? Please explain? 

“We’re really proud of this year’s budget. We think it delivers with an affordability focus.

It also does so with a tick down in the property tax rate because we know that bill is important to our residents. We’re proud to be stepping up on housing affordability and childcare affordability. We know it’s a time when the federal government is making enormous cuts. We cannot take over everything the federal government has done. We understand that our residents need us to be more creative, and we feel like we’re meeting the moment.”

Is there anyone in your office you would like to praise for their contributions to Phoenix this year? It could be more than one person.

“I would like to congratulate my chief of staff, Seth Scott. He has been steering a ship for our office and is a new dad. His daughter just celebrated her first birthday.”

“We have a great team at the City of Phoenix. We have 14,000 incredible employees who deliver for our residents, and no one calls City Hall to say the water was clean, the streetlights work, but it’s an enormous amount of effort to deliver all of those services, and I’m grateful to be part of this team.”

I saw that post yesterday. I think you were at the pothole. 

“Even filling a pothole. There’s some strategy around how to do that in a smart way. We do try to fill all the potholes within 24 hours. Let us know if any of your readers like that service.

Is there anything not covered in the first six questions that you would like the readers to know about this year, the budget, or moving forward?

“I really appreciate working with my City Council colleagues. They all made a major impact in the budget, and we were able to put forward something we’re proud of.”

Please click here to find out more about 602 day. 

In a press release, Mayor Gallego commented that: 

“602 Day is a great time to show our pride and embrace the energy and places that make our community special. Named after our area code, 602 Day highlights our restaurants, retailers, artists, entrepreneurs, and unique places—there’s no better opportunity to discover something new and celebrate Phoenix.” 

It also helps Phoenicians and Arizonans with affordability.