File #: 21-1547   
Type: Ordinance-S Status: Adopted
Meeting Body: City Council Formal Meeting
On agenda: 6/16/2021 Final action: 6/16/2021
Title: Ak-Chin Indian Community Gaming Grants (Ordinance S-47716)
District: Citywide

Title

Ak-Chin Indian Community Gaming Grants (Ordinance S-47716)

 

Description

Request to authorize the City Manager, or his designee, to apply, accept, and if awarded, enter into related agreements for up to $637,944 in new funding from the Ak-Chin Indian Community under the 2021 funding cycle. Further request authorization for the City Treasurer to accept and the City Controller to disburse funds as directed by the Ak-Chin Indian Community in connection with these grants.

 

Report

Summary

If awarded, these monies would be applied, as directed by the Ak-Chin Indian Community, towards the following:

 

City Applications

  • Community and Economic Development Department: $50,000 for the Reinvest Maryvale Marketing Campaign, which will attract investment and development interest in the Maryvale Village, with the project goal to attract meaningful investment and development that will provide education, recreational and economic opportunity to the residents and visitors of Maryvale.
  • Housing Department: $40,000 for the Digital Literacy Program, which will allow for the development of a custom digital literacy program for residents who recently received a device and two years of free internet service. Residents will receive access to device-specific training and social activities to reduce social isolation, increase access to tele-medicine and online access to services. Additionally, funding will be provided to onside residents interested in becoming Tech Ambassadors to assist their neighbors who need individual assistance.
  • Human Services Department: $30,000 for the Men All Need to be Caring, Actively-Engaged, Vested and Encouraged (M.A.N. C.A.V.E.) Fatherhood Program, which will fund the curriculum, workshops, participation support costs and the annual Helping Boys Thrive/Fatherhood Summit. Additionally, funding will support the partnership with the Native American Fathers and Families Program to provide educational information and training to support engaging fathers.
  • Parks and Recreation Department: $5,000 for the FitPHX Yoga and Hike program, which will fund the opportunity to host a monthly, free, FitPHX Yoga and Hike program for the community of Phoenix, Ak-Chin Indian community and surrounding communities at the South Mountain Preserve. This program will provide a pre-hike yoga class led by a contracted certified yoga teacher, followed by an instructor led interpretative hike through South Mountain Preserve that is suitable for all levels. Participants will get a well-rounded approach to health and wellness through the benefits of the yoga class and hike. After completion of the hike, participants will have the opportunity to win raffle prizes and interact with instructors and fellow participants. 
  • Parks and Recreation Department: $47,800 for the Collaborating for Cultural Continuity: A New Plan for Permanent Exhibits at Pueblo Grande Museum, which will fund the creation of an interpretive plan and conceptual design plan for a complete redo of the permanent exhibit galleries at Pueblo Grande Museum. The plan will include the goals of 1) ensuring that the perspectives of descendant communities is clearly evident and central to exhibit interpretation; 2) delivering a holistic presentation of ancestral culture to include environmental contexts and implications for 21st Century desert life and 3) redesigning the physical gallery spaces to meet current environmental standards, improve traffic flow and better accommodate visitor groups.
  • Phoenix Police Department: $300,000 for The Great Outdoors - A Positive Relationship Between Police and Community program, which aims to provide a structure for children of Santa Maria Middle School and Western Valley Middle School that will help achieve greater physical and mental health. The Phoenix Police Department and the Fowler School District are hoping to partner in providing an after-school and summer program for students at Santa Maria Middle School and Western Middle School. This program will seek to use the outdoors in as many of the activities as possible to promote physical, emotional, and mental health. During each activity, a planned "fireside discussion" will be led by one of the officers. These fireside discussions will focus on relevant topics to children that will focus on their emotional, mental, and physical health.

 

Non-Profit Applications

  • American Indian Veterans Memorial Organization: $100,000 for the American Indian Veterans Memorial, which will be built at Steele Indian School Park in Phoenix.
  • Arizona Helping Hands: $10,000 for the Basic Needs Program, a signature program of Arizona Helping Hands, which will provide beds and other essential items for children in foster care so they can lead healthy and safe lives.
  • Creighton Community Foundation: $30,000 for the Fresh in the Neighborhood program, as part of the Creighton Community Gardens Program, which seeks to transform the local food system to bring inclusive, equitable, and participatory food access to the most vulnerable communities. The program aims to build capacity and create healthy connections around food and nutrition throughout school-centered neighborhoods who suffer from a variety of systemic inequalities.
  • River of Dreams DBA Daring Adventures: $25,144 for the Daring Adventures: Helping People with Disabilities Reach Their Everest program, which will improve the health and wellness of individuals with disabilities. Funds will be used to increase participation for #OurEverest programming including but not limited to Glen Canyon, kayaking, hiking, cycling and camping.   

 

The gaming compact entered into by the State of Arizona and various tribes calls for 12 percent of gaming revenue to be contributed to cities, towns, and counties for government services that benefit the general public including public safety, mitigation of impacts of gaming, and promotion of commerce and economic development. The Ak-Chin Indian Community will notify the City, by resolution, of the Tribal Council, if it desires to convey to the City a portion of its annual 12 percent local revenue-sharing contribution.

 

Financial Impact

There is no budgetary impact to the City of Phoenix and no general purpose funds are required. Entities that receive gaming grants are responsible for the management of those funds.

 

Department

Responsible Department

This item is submitted by City Manager Ed Zuercher and the Office of Government Relations.