Maricopa County chair lays out 2026 agenda, urges renewal of public‑safety tax

Unidentified Speaker, chair of the Maricopa County Board of Supervisors, opened a board meeting by thanking residents and guests and said she was "honored to be the first female chair of the Maricopa County Board of Supervisors in nearly a quarter century." She used the remarks to lay out priorities for 2026, including asking voters to renew a "fifth of a cent" public‑safety tax that funds the sheriff, the courts and other public‑safety partners.

The chair framed the tax renewal as a multidecade funding mechanism, saying it has provided "sustainable public safety funding for nearly 3 decades" and noting the board was empowered by the 2024 Arizona legislature to ask voters to renew the measure. She thanked the Citizens Public Safety Committee and East Valley Partnership CEO John Lewis for work recommending continuation of the funding.

On housing, the chair said the county faces an eviction crisis and that "our justice courts processed more than 80,000 evictions filings in 2025," the third straight year above that level. She announced Maricopa County will participate in a working group focused on eviction prevention and described a pilot with the city of Phoenix targeting the "critical time period" five days before and five days after a first missed payment.

Addressing mental‑health system gaps tied to court‑ordered evaluations and treatment, the chair said delays can force a restart of the commitment process or send people back to the community without immediate access to care. She pledged to "work with Judge Pamela Gates to improve efficiency, reduce delays" and better connect people in crisis with treatment.

On infrastructure and growth, the chair announced staff recommendations for "infrastructure readiness assessments" and a public "development pipeline dashboard" intended to give early, public visibility into development activity and where capacity is lagging.

Public safety and oversight of the sheriff's office also drew attention. The chair said the board has "been working to end the federal judicial oversight of our sheriff's department" and argued the federal monitor now covers issues "that go well beyond the scope of that original lawsuit," harming morale and recruitment. "The millions we pay the monitor in salary fees and other compliance costs should be reinvested back into true public safety needs," she said, while asserting the office had achieved "100 compliance with required policy changes" and reported "0 new allegations of targeted immigration enforcement." The transcript does not record a response from the monitor or the sheriff's office in this meeting.

On elections, the chair said a comprehensive review of election processes — including technology and chain of custody — is nearly complete and promised the findings will be presented publicly. She said the county will continue public tours and live video feeds of its election facility. After reporting that rejected mail‑in ballot signatures had tripled at the November 2025 canvas, she stated, "We want every legal vote to count," and said the board has asked the recorder's office for a report on nearly 6,000 voters whose signatures were rejected.

The address included recognition of past and present officials and civic leaders (Betsy Bayless, former Governor Jan Brewer, Phoenix Councilwoman Deborah Stark, long‑serving elections official Helen Purcell and others). The chair closed by praising the county's record of lean, accessible government and said she would adjourn the meeting with thanks to staff and colleagues.

The meeting ended with the chair's closing remarks and the formal statement that she would adjourn.