To get started, let's call the City Council meeting the Monday, July 22nd, 2024 to order. Deputy Clerk, please call the roll.
Council President Protem LeCava, Council Member Campbell, Council Member Whitburn, Council Member Foster, Council Member von Wilpert, Council Member Lee, Council Member Campio, Council Member Moreno, and Council President Milo Rivera.
Also attending the meeting in our City Attorney Mara Elliott, independent budget analyst Charles Monica, and myself, your deputy city clerk, Jennifer Barry.
Thank you, Deputy Clerk Barry. Let's get started with an indication led by our deputy clerk, which will be followed with a land acknowledgement in the Pledge of Allegiance, which will be led by Council Member Campbell. Please rise.
Grant those who hold office in the city, the spirit of wisdom, charity and justice, without with steadfast purpose, they may faithfully serve in their offices to promote the well-being of all people.
Thank you, Deputy Clerk. We respectfully acknowledge that the community nation are the original inhabitants of the unceded land now known as San Diego, despite enduring the horrors of genocide and colonization, the community spirit remains unbroken.
We honor the resilience of their ancestors who fought to protect their culture in land.
Today, they carry their legacy forward ensuring that their traditions continue to thrive and gratitude and strength.
We stand with the community nation connected to our past and committed to a thriving future.
I would like to note for the public that city TV online is having technical difficulties, but that you may still watch the meeting via Channel 24 on Cox Channel 99 on AT&T Uvers and on the line via Zoom.
I will now go over how the public can offer their public testimony during today's meeting.
If you are in person, please complete a speaker slip located at the entrance of Chambers on Place at on top of the box indicated at the high lectern at the front of the room.
Please submit your speaker slip in a timely manner to ensure proper meeting management.
No further in-person testimony will be taken once the Council begins virtual testimony.
If you'd like to participate virtually, you can do so via the webinar information found on the agenda cover page.
Members of the public who wish to provide virtual testimony must enter the virtual queue by raising their hand, but either dialing star nine or pressing the raise your hand icon before the queue closes.
The queue will close when the last virtual speaker finishes speaking or five minutes after in-person testimony ends, whichever occurs first.
Public employment, performance evaluation, pursuant to California government code section 54957B1, CS1 title, CS clerk, CS2 title, independent budget analyst.
It looks like we have one speaker here in Council chambers.
If you could go ahead and let us know which items you'll be speaking to.
Yes, about the items for the independent budget analysts and the city clerk. Thank you.
And I decided to come in person because even though the city clerk is doing an excellent job managing virtual comments, it appears in a few days we won't have that option.
If the rules committee gets their way on their agenda, they have noticed a change to that.
I served as the speaker pro-tem of the California Assembly.
I work closely with the clerk's office. Our version of a clerk's office up in the legislature.
And the city of San Diego is blessed to have very professional qualified and well-trained staff to manage the business of the council.
I'm providing officers know how important that is to keep things going smoothly.
And it is a testimony to their skill, their experience that they are managing public comment as well as your comments, your deliberations, your votes.
All of those things are essential to good governance.
I have said this in the past that when people's voices are denied and the city clerk is the first gateway to our voices being raised at council.
That is when uncivil behavior often develops.
So I appreciate that they have during a time of COVID and during a time of flooding and disasters when people couldn't make it personal to the council.
It is essential that voices still be heard and the clerk has managed that.
And even though COVID is actually we still have COVID with us, but we are only one epidemic.
One disaster away from leading remote testimony to be maintained.
So to see the strikeout language coming before the rules committee in a few days is troubling is going to make the clerks work which is already often challenging even more difficult.
If you don't have that option, what will you as council members do in a time of necessity or does this not apply to council members, you'll be able to continue to work remotely.
So I am speaking because I believe that the members of the clerks office have become more transparent, more available to the public.
They've moved their offices from upstairs down to the lobby.
All of those things show that they are willing to interact with the public on a continuous and efficient basis.
And to see public comment curtailed in any way goes against what they are embodying in their work.
On the other action, we have an independent budget analyst in part because we have a strong mayor.
It was part of the original proposal put to the voters.
Do you want to have a strong mayor instead of someone who presides over the council as was the practice for most of the city's history?
An independent budget analyst is, again, to harken back to my days in the California Assembly, very similar to our legislative analyst.
They look at the policy at the budget at the expenses that are related to what you propose, what the mayor proposes.
Their answers are their responses and analysis doesn't always match the politics of what is coming forward, but that is why they are so essential.
They are another branch of government to provide oversight, essential financial oversight.
And I'll never forget flying back to San Diego with members of the legislature from the city who include now U.S. representatives and others and getting noticed that our mayor had resigned.
That Dick Murphy had stepped down from the mayor office. Why? Because of the financial issues that were facing him and basically a vote of no confidence in the previous election, but that day in 2005 was shocking.
And what happened is we started to learn in part because of work done before the budget analyst offices was enacted that there were SEC violations.
There were raised on city council offices that funding for a major project that we now all enjoy a pet copark had not been done by the rules.
And if we had had an independent budget analyst in place then, it may have looked very different. We may have had a different mayor. We may not have had a special election.
So the IBA's office is essential to good governance. Just as essential as the city clerk.
So I wanted to be here in person today. Normally I do this remotely on closed session, but there's a lot on the agenda this afternoon as well.
And I frankly don't know how long I and others will be able to comment remotely, depending on what happens in a few days at rules committee.
Thank you and now we'll fill out the forum and hopefully we find the pan that works.
Thank you so much. I'm going to go ahead and start our five minute timer here in chambers.
Our first public speaker is caller ending in seven nine six eight. If you could go ahead and unmute.
I cannot unmute you there you go.
Thank you to the deputy city clerk.
I will be speaking on one and two both.
And do I have two minutes each?
Two minutes each. Thank you.
Wow. I don't need that time. But that's great.
Okay. I'll start of course with the evaluation of our city clerk.
And I'm going to be on a J F. Fuentes.
She facilitates clear channels so I can participate in government meetings.
She is patient and kind with the public on zoom in the chambers and elsewhere.
She is sincere in helping all cultures all languages be honored.
The number of people she engages with in her work every year is awesome.
She makes people feel good about our city.
Our city clerk.
J F. Fuentes performance is absolutely excellent.
I love to all on that one.
We're going to now speak for the independent budget analyst evaluation.
And I'd be a Charles Monica is solid.
I so appreciate your steady presence at the dias with the council.
The budget reports and other budget work from his office team are top of the line and user friendly for the public.
The reason office that is one of the most important to our city.
He helps make my public participation in city government enjoyable.
Our IBA Charles Monica's performance is absolutely excellent.
I'm looking forward to it and love to all.
Thank you so much.
Our next speaker is Blair Bigman.
If you could go ahead and unmute and let me know what items you'll be speaking to.
Both items.
Thank you.
We got two minutes on the first item.
Please proceed.
Yeah.
Thank you.
Just be to the first item evaluation of the city clerk.
I just want to thank the work of the city clerk that she does.
She does her deanna Fuente and her new role has done her job very well.
And it's just nice to hear her words and describing her role.
They're trying to update current.
Record systems and and other other systems they're updating in all of those updates.
She's talked about she's always included this very naturally how the public can be.
It can be involved and needs to be involved in that process and she needs help and advice.
Basically and it says really incredibly nice to hear.
It's really the way life should work in our country and it's just it's I think I can't thank you enough in how to work that way.
I mean, that is the way I really strive to work towards myself and and to do it just friendly and naturally is really helpful.
Thank you.
I'm really sad and to hear that you're going to add on to the a steer approach of wanting to end the zoom public meeting process and choose austerity over an uptightness over public accessibility.
I hope this can be a longer debate and say boards and commissions can have options to use zoom in the future they feel necessary.
A lot of people need zoom to attend meetings they can't get to meetings and you need to respect that we have to consider at least.
Thanks a lot and good luck with budget analyst issues as well and that and that work and and the role the base serve good luck in your meeting today.
Thank you.
Is that conclude there you go do you have two minutes you were not like to speak in the second item okay go ahead.
I think I will include that will conclude all my public comment thank you.
Thank you so much.
We have one more caller in our virtual queue.
Danny of each I have unmuted can you that there you go.
Which items would you like to speak to.
Can you confirm that you can hear me.
Yes we can hear you which items would you like to speak to.
Item two you said.
Okay okay you may proceed.
Thank you very much and good morning council.
I just wanted to add additional comments about the city clerk's office.
The are one of the most friendliest and kindest offices that we have in the city of San Diego and they have just been extremely open and.
Accessible to the public and making sure that.
Not only we have access to records and that we know what we need to do to provide public comment so it's a vital resource that I just commend the.
Especially the folks that you know we don't necessarily see behind the scenes doing the hard work and making sure that everything runs smoothly.
So.
Thank you for that and onto the second item I wanted to just add that the independent budget analysis.
I'm to department is.
Something that I think.
We take for granted often especially in the city of San Diego where you know we go through difficult budget processes and difficult negotiations that need to be.
Overlooked to make sure that we're.
Financial stable and so I think this is a vital important role that serves as a check on both the council and the mayor.
And since it's its inception has been moving our city in a more.
In a better place and so I will say thank you to the again to the staff that we don't often see doing the work behind the scenes and making sure that everything runs smoothly it is a vital.
Extremely vital thing especially when you have.
The idea came out with the recent report and doing these reports are just extremely vital because sometimes.
Thank you to the work that they do, and I, better, will be my comments.
Thank you so much. Our five-minute timer has expired here in Chambers, and I'm seeing no one else in the queue.
So that concludes public comment on the closed session items.
All right. Thank you, Deputy Clerk and everyone who made public comment.
We'll adjourn in the closed session now and reconvene an open session for open session.
Thank you, everyone.
Thank you.