[2:37] And

[4:37] the first

[5:09] All right.

[5:09] Good morning.

[5:10] I will now call the city

[5:14] council meeting Monday, MAY

[5:14] 18th, 2026 to order Deputy

[5:17] Clerk Please call the roll

[5:22] Council member Campbell Council

[5:23] Member Whitburn Council Member

[5:27] Foster Council Member Von

[5:32] Wilbur Council PRESIDENT Pro

[5:37] Tem Lee Council Member Campo

[5:37] Council Member Moreno Council

[5:42] Member Eli Rivera and Council

[5:43] PRESIDENT LaCava present also

[5:47] attending the meeting are

[5:48] Senior Deputy City Attorney

[5:49] David Carlin, Independent

[5:53] budget analyst Charles Mollica,

[5:53] Council Affairs Advisor in

[5:54] the Mayor's office, Code

[5:57] advisor and myself your City

[5:58] Clerk, Deputy City Clerk Kevin

[6:02] Smith All right.

[6:03] Thank you sir.

[6:03] A quorum is now present.

[6:04] We will begin this morning with

[6:07] an invocation by Deputy Clerk

[6:08] Smith followed with the land

[6:09] acknowledgment and the Pledge

[6:09] of Allegiance led by Council

[6:10] member Kemp.

[6:15] You grant those who hold

[6:20] the office who hold office in

[6:21] the city the spirit of wisdom,

[6:21] charity and justice that

[6:24] steadfast purpose they MAY

[6:25] faithfully serve in their

[6:26] offices to promote

[6:30] the well-being of all people.

[6:31] We respectfully acknowledge

[6:31] that the culmination are

[6:35] the original inhabitants of

[6:36] the Unceded land now known as

[6:36] San Diego.

[6:37] Despite entering the horrors of

[6:40] genocide and colonization,

[6:41] the community spirit remains

[6:41] unbroken.

[6:42] We honor the resilience of

[6:45] their ancestors who fought to

[6:46] protect their culture and land.

[6:46] Today they carry their legacy

[6:50] forward ensuring that their

[6:51] traditions continue to thrive

[6:51] in gratitude and strength.

[6:55] We stand with the culmination

[6:56] connected to our past and

[6:57] committed to a thriving future.

[7:20] Please face the flag.

[7:21] >> Deputy Clerk Please go over

[7:22] how the public can offer their

[7:26] testimony.

[7:26] I will now highlight the slide

[7:30] on the screen The reviews how

[7:31] the public can offer their

[7:32] public testimony during

[7:32] the today's meeting.

[7:36] If you are in person please

[7:36] complete a speaker slip located

[7:37] at the entrance of chambers and

[7:41] bring it to the front of

[7:42] the room.

[7:42] No further in-person testimony

[7:43] will be taken once the council

[7:46] begins virtual testimony for

[7:47] better meeting management

[7:50] purposes Each speaker will have

[7:51] one minute per item per person

[7:55] with a maximum of three

[7:55] minutes.

[7:56] If you are speaking to three or

[8:00] more items.

[8:00] >> All right.

[8:01] Thank you for that.

[8:02] With that please please read

[8:05] the call the session items into

[8:06] the record.

[8:06] >> Conference with Legal

[8:10] counsel existing Litigation

[8:10] pursuant to California

[8:15] Government Code 54956.9 d1c us

[8:15] one The Sustainability

[8:20] Institute at all versus Donald

[8:20] j.

[8:25] Trump at all cost to Magdalena

[8:26] Garcia versus City of San Diego

[8:30] See us three Maria del Rosario

[8:31] years Munoz versus City of San

[8:36] Diego.

[8:36] Conference with Labor

[8:37] Negotiators Pursuant to

[8:40] Government Code Section 54957.6

[8:40] See us for City Designated

[8:45] Management Team representatives

[8:46] Conference with Legal Counsel

[8:46] Existing litigation pursuant to

[8:51] California Government Code

[8:55] Section 5495 6.91 See as five

[8:56] very all read versus City of

[9:00] San Diego csx Arthur Scott

[9:01] versus City of San Diego and

[9:02] Arthur Scott versus City of San

[9:06] Diego pd and Scott Wall.

[9:07] >> All right.

[9:07] And with that deputy clerk

[9:08] please proceed with public

[9:14] comment.

[9:15] >> We will begin with in-person

[9:15] comments.

[9:20] We do have two speakers.

[9:20] Tim Douglass, please come

[9:20] forward.

[9:25] You have requested to speak on

[9:25] c.

[9:26] S four and you have time ceded

[9:31] to you by Andres Alva Cardenas

[9:31] Good.

[9:35] Thank you.

[9:42] Please begin your comment.

[9:44] Council Douglas PRESIDENT

[9:45] Basketball 127 I want to remind

[9:46] this Council that the workers

[9:46] we represent are the employees

[9:50] who keep the city running every

[9:50] single day.

[9:51] We maintain the streets, parks,

[9:55] facilities, public services

[9:56] that San Diego depend on.

[9:57] We show up early, stay late and

[9:58] continue serving this community

[10:00] through every challenge because

[10:01] we care deeply about this city.

[10:02] That's why I think this is a

[10:06] pretty simple idea.

[10:06] We're not asking for anything

[10:07] special.

[10:07] We're asking for the respect of

[10:11] being treated like the other

[10:12] employees of the city.

[10:12] Our members deserve fairness,

[10:13] dignity and the same

[10:16] consideration that others

[10:17] receive when workers decide

[10:18] that their lives to the public

[10:22] service they should not have to

[10:23] fight just to be recognized or

[10:26] equality Number one we request

[10:27] reopen language to ensure our

[10:27] members receive their

[10:32] recommended equity adjustments

[10:32] to receive much earned special

[10:33] assignments and voluntary

[10:38] certification pays in the later

[10:38] years of this multi-year mou

[10:44] contract Number two however, we

[10:44] do not agree to reopening

[10:45] language continuing upon

[10:45] the attempt to repeal

[10:49] the refuge collection fees.

[10:50] We're adamant about both of

[10:50] these request.

[10:51] Supporting city workers is not

[10:55] just about contracts it's about

[10:56] valuing the people behind

[10:56] the work.

[10:57] It's about recognizing

[11:00] the strong city depends on

[11:01] stability, respect workforce

[11:02] that can afford to stay here,

[11:06] raise families here and

[11:07] continue to serve the community

[11:07] with pride.

[11:11] This morning I'm asking you to

[11:12] stand with your workers,

[11:12] support fairness, ensure that

[11:16] this Council values employees

[11:16] who make their city function

[11:17] every day.

[11:22] Thank you folks.

[11:23] Thank you for those comments.

[11:24] I've started the five minute

[11:27] timer in council chambers.

[11:28] We will now turn to the virtual

[11:29] queue in which there are

[11:33] currently five participants

[11:38] requesting to speak.

[11:44] >> Katherine Rose Please

[11:44] proceed.

[11:45] >> This is.

[11:45] Hi, this is Katherine Rhodes.

[11:50] What I wanted to say is you

[11:50] know, I don't think you can

[11:51] afford to give people raises

[11:52] right now if this is what

[11:55] you're going to be doing here.

[12:01] And you know what I think you

[12:02] should do for the unions So

[12:02] it's your meeting with them.

[12:06] It's ask them if they want to

[12:07] get rid of all that those 300

[12:11] nonunion middle managers and

[12:12] get them back into the union

[12:12] fold by firing all of them

[12:17] Because when you when you

[12:17] created all these middle

[12:18] managers that you did on

[12:22] consent throughout these 13

[12:23] years, you started doing this

[12:28] through city charter section

[12:29] 117 817 that allows you to give

[12:34] people raises when you have and

[12:38] it all started with these new

[12:39] 300 people when you have

[12:44] the 2013, when you have

[12:44] the five year pensionable pay

[12:45] freeze that was going to end

[12:49] the pension crisis by 2018 and

[12:49] it would all have been paid

[12:50] down.

[12:53] Now we have 3 to $4 billion in

[12:54] pension debt And so I don't

[12:55] think it's fair to the union

[12:59] members that people get paid

[12:59] more than they do for doing

[13:00] the same exact job and they

[13:04] should just all be hired and

[13:05] fired back by the union hired

[13:06] back by the unions.

[13:10] Thank you.

[13:10] Thank you for those comments.

[13:16] Our next speaker Speaker is

[13:16] the original.

[13:17] Please proceed and state which

[13:18] concession item or items you

[13:21] wish to speak to.

[13:22] Give me three minutes because

[13:23] I'm going to cover as many as i

[13:23] can.

[13:23] Okay.

[13:24] Please proceed.

[13:27] Okay.

[13:27] It's interesting with this

[13:28] first one that you guys are

[13:32] engaging in litigation against

[13:33] Donald Trump, you know, because

[13:38] of funding that has been cut or

[13:39] blocked due to you guys being

[13:39] like a sanctuary city.

[13:44] I mean the choices that you

[13:45] made along the years to aid and

[13:50] abet illegal aliens and give

[13:50] money that you shouldn't be to

[13:51] these people you're reaping

[13:56] what you have sown.

[13:57] So it's like and unfortunately

[13:57] other people are reaping what

[14:01] you have sown and so it just

[14:02] shows that you're negligent in

[14:03] the way that you're doing stuff

[14:04] and now you're trying to make

[14:07] him a scapegoat of the reasons

[14:08] why the city isn't getting

[14:08] stuff.

[14:09] It's like sure, you know I'm

[14:13] not, you know, condoning

[14:13] everything that that man is

[14:14] doing but you guys have led to

[14:19] this type of things happening

[14:20] And so it's just you know, you

[14:20] continue down the path.

[14:24] It's like you guys sitting

[14:25] there and you know, continuing

[14:26] business when you don't have a

[14:30] quorum right Blatantly like in

[14:31] your face type of stuff And

[14:32] then later you kind of course

[14:33] correct because I don't know

[14:37] maybe it was on the news and

[14:37] like you guys don't like that

[14:42] kind of you know, attention

[14:43] because you always like it to

[14:43] be spun in your way But you

[14:44] know, you guys just can't be

[14:48] trusted to be making decisions

[14:49] when you do things that

[14:49] literally impede people's

[14:54] ability to thrive And you're

[14:55] we're constantly in litigation

[15:00] for sidewalks that you know,

[15:01] cause people to trip and fall

[15:01] And it's like, you know and

[15:05] the sidewalks continue to look

[15:06] like.

[15:07] So it's like I mean at what

[15:07] point are you going to

[15:08] actually, you know, try and

[15:11] make those better so that we

[15:12] don't have to continue to be in

[15:12] litigation like this.

[15:18] But you know, it's all a racket

[15:18] anyway with the labor

[15:19] negotiations.

[15:19] It's interesting because you

[15:23] know, people used to you know,

[15:24] get a raise off of the merit

[15:25] like off of their work and how

[15:26] they did it as an individual

[15:30] And now it's like you guys want

[15:30] to like group everything

[15:31] together all the time and act

[15:35] like you know, you can just do

[15:36] it in a lump sum type of a

[15:36] thing.

[15:37] But I mean you know that in

[15:38] itself is negligent because it

[15:41] should be based off of how

[15:42] the person is performing

[15:47] individually not as a group

[15:48] because even as a group it's

[15:48] like the city of San Diego

[15:49] looks like.

[15:49] So I mean you could spend you

[15:53] know, you might as well just

[15:54] throw the million dollars in

[15:55] the streets and let the people

[15:58] take it you know, spend more

[15:59] wisely than that.

[16:00] And then even just with

[16:05] the utilities and the charges

[16:05] and you guys violating

[16:06] Proposition 218, you continue

[16:07] to do that And it's just

[16:11] ridiculous that we have to even

[16:11] pay more money because you

[16:12] can't do your job right.

[16:12] If you guys did your job right,

[16:16] we wouldn't constantly be in

[16:16] litigation.

[16:17] But I mean how cool is it to

[16:23] like be protected like that to

[16:23] do really nefarious things and

[16:24] then just be like it's cool

[16:25] because we're just gonna use

[16:28] the people's money to cover our

[16:30] and like pay it off so we can

[16:30] just keep doing it over and

[16:31] over while they think we're

[16:34] bettering their lives.

[16:35] >> Thank you for your comments.

[16:36] That does conclude your time.

[16:36] Our next speaker is Hector.

[16:38] Please begin your comments and

[16:39] state which close session item

[16:46] items you wish to speak to.

[16:47] I'd like to speak to the Trump

[16:47] thing this Hector Trump thing

[16:51] and number four and the other

[16:51] one that oddly I was talking

[16:52] about anyway with the Trump

[16:56] with the Trump lawsuit,

[16:56] the Trump proclamation thanking

[17:01] him for deporting 17,000 people

[17:02] in 14 months when he took

[17:07] office in San Diego County that

[17:07] really got the crime rate going

[17:08] down and thank him again when

[17:13] he deports another 100,000

[17:14] illegal aliens in our county.

[17:14] And if you want to sue him,

[17:19] that's just going to he walks

[17:20] that man he's been sued by 100

[17:21] times That's is more you're

[17:25] going to call attention to him

[17:26] that he's going to come down

[17:26] and send the other guys in here

[17:31] to audit the NGOs that are

[17:31] ripping us off That wheels of

[17:35] change places 350 bucks a night

[17:36] for one homeless guy That's a

[17:42] total rip.

[17:43] But anyway, I give you guys a

[17:47] pay raise we got to lay off

[17:48] instead of 400 guys, we got to

[17:48] lay off 2000 guys.

[17:53] Times are tough, man.

[17:54] And they only lay off guys that

[17:57] make over 1000 100,000 a year

[17:58] and let the other guys But you

[17:59] can't give up pay raises I

[18:04] guess you're gonna But where's

[18:05] the money going to And then

[18:05] the pension system is killing

[18:06] us.

[18:06] It's not going to get any

[18:10] better in a year ten years.

[18:10] The pension system as it sits

[18:16] now is just an anchor on

[18:17] the whole city for decades and

[18:18] it's not going away.

[18:22] That's the main problem.

[18:22] Get rid of the drop program.

[18:28] Get rid of any kind of guys,

[18:29] Push down the retirement age to

[18:34] 6065 only get retirement age

[18:35] early for firemen and the cops

[18:35] The rest the guys got to wait

[18:40] till the 65 man Otherwise we're

[18:41] already the money flying out

[18:47] the door about millions guys

[18:47] are getting million dollar

[18:48] paychecks when they retire.

[18:52] That's the drop program that

[18:53] does not help us the way

[18:53] the cities now look at

[18:54] the services now it's not

[18:58] helping Have all these

[18:59] employees they're not really

[19:00] went up the whole city like

[19:00] it's role And with all these

[19:04] employees cut 2000 guys just

[19:04] start cutting them down and

[19:09] then give the money to the poor

[19:10] kids And south of Highway eight

[19:15] opened up all the libraries,

[19:16] all the rec centers that north

[19:17] of eight suffer for 3 or 4

[19:17] years.

[19:22] They can handle it and just get

[19:22] everything Those guys just

[19:23] shower and wash stuff and build

[19:27] a new sewer plant in Mexico.

[19:28] That's what we really need.

[19:34] Call it whatever it just all

[19:34] money to the new sewer plant in

[19:39] Tijuana and clean it all up

[19:40] once and for all.

[19:40] Okay.

[19:40] Thanks a lot.

[19:45] Thank you.

[19:46] Please note that the five

[19:46] minute timer has concluded with

[19:47] three speakers left in

[19:51] the queue.

[19:52] Caller With the last four

[19:53] digits 8700 please begin and

[19:54] state which close session item

[20:00] or items you wish to speak to.

[20:07] Thank you Deputy City Clerk.

[20:07] I was speaking to one, two,

[20:11] three and four please.

[20:12] >> Please proceed You three

[20:12] minutes.

[20:17] Thank you, Joy.

[20:18] First of all, I want to thank

[20:24] the gentleman that spoke in

[20:24] the chambers first this

[20:25] morning.

[20:26] I want to tell him that I heard

[20:29] you and I respect you.

[20:30] And then also Katherine Rhodes.

[20:35] I want to thank you for her

[20:35] opinion very, very much.

[20:36] Okay.

[20:36] This is my opinion.

[20:41] So I'm for us won the challenge

[20:42] challenging the orders,

[20:47] blocking grant funding which

[20:53] seems to be already getting

[20:54] teeth Which reversal is

[20:54] possible?

[20:59] Multiple federal courts have

[21:00] continued to block this freeze

[21:00] of grant money.

[21:05] Most are temporary.

[21:06] A lot of blessings on this a

[21:11] very, very important case of

[21:12] combine 52 and three which are

[21:16] both trip and falls.

[21:17] And I'll say this this is

[21:18] interesting I just learned this

[21:23] It's legal duty.

[21:23] Duty of care is

[21:28] the foundational legal

[21:29] obligation to the city.

[21:35] Does it cause harm to bear?

[21:35] Excuse me.

[21:36] I'm going to read that again.

[21:37] Duty of care is

[21:40] the foundational legal

[21:41] obligation to the city doesn't

[21:42] cause harm to others in various

[21:47] ways.

[21:47] A question for you In how many

[21:54] ways In how many other ways is

[21:55] the city of San Diego falling

[21:55] short?

[21:56] No pun intended Here on it's

[22:00] legal obligations to care.

[22:00] Duty of care.

[22:01] Thank you for that.

[22:06] I really enjoyed studying that

[22:07] on 64 which is the labor

[22:11] negotiation review the city's

[22:12] position on Meet and Confer

[22:18] negotiated no issues for me in

[22:23] this budget deficit time.

[22:23] I would appreciate actually

[22:24] knowing the city's position on

[22:29] where the employee's pay and

[22:36] benefits will impact priorities

[22:36] the deepest especially since

[22:42] deficits could get deeper and

[22:43] last longer.

[22:44] So I really enjoy those two

[22:44] speakers in the chamber this

[22:48] morning because I think they

[22:49] were in my opinion sort of

[22:50] giving us two different sort of

[22:54] perspectives and they're both

[22:54] on the table.

[22:55] They're both in

[22:56] the conversation and we've got

[22:56] to work together.

[23:00] The art of Negotiation.

[23:00] You're very good at that

[23:01] especially on the legal and

[23:06] they're trained in that So I'm

[23:06] with you.

[23:07] I support you.

[23:08] Have a beautiful day and go to

[23:08] all.

[23:16] Thank you.

[23:16] Blair Beakman.

[23:17] Please state which concession

[23:18] items items you wish to speak

[23:21] to.

[23:21] Hi.

[23:27] Morning.

[23:28] I'd like to speak to items one,

[23:31] four, five and six.

[23:32] Please proceed.

[23:32] Thank you.

[23:38] We're happy me everyone to

[23:39] speak to see this one.

[23:44] If it is an item of sanctuary

[23:44] city issues in San Diego versus

[23:49] a sustainability institute

[23:49] versus Donald j.

[23:50] >> Trump, good luck in

[23:51] the argument that the ideas of

[23:56] sanctuary cities is if we

[23:57] practice basically our decent

[24:02] selves or decent beliefs and

[24:03] that people should be treated

[24:08] as equals that can be just as

[24:08] effective if not a more

[24:09] effective way than constantly

[24:14] offering punitive concepts of

[24:14] society.

[24:15] And I think we worked out

[24:16] something pretty kind of

[24:21] interesting.

[24:21] There can definitely be an

[24:22] argument about the balance of

[24:23] that but I think Sanctuary City

[24:26] is a very decent way to think

[24:27] and work and good luck in your

[24:28] continued efforts that I think

[24:33] we can have a strong case for

[24:38] providing for management issues

[24:38] .

[24:39] >> Man Boy I've been wanting to

[24:40] say this a long time For as

[24:41] much as I deeply respect

[24:45] Councilperson over various

[24:46] ideas and opinions and that our

[24:47] city government workers really

[24:51] needed pay raises a few years

[24:51] ago.

[24:52] If city government workers city

[24:52] council and the mayor really

[24:57] seriously looked at themselves

[24:58] and offered to take some sort

[24:58] of pay cut no matter how small

[25:02] at this time I think it would

[25:03] just be an incredible boost to

[25:03] our community and we have an

[25:09] incredible respect for you.

[25:10] You would be geared towards a

[25:10] thinking of how to be working

[25:16] towards how to manage budget.

[25:16] You'd better ipo and we'd be

[25:17] working with a sense of trust

[25:21] and good efforts all around

[25:22] that If you guys are willing to

[25:22] actually take a pay cut

[25:23] together and really consider

[25:27] that please at this time.

[25:28] >> That's it.

[25:28] Be an awesome way to help build

[25:29] community.

[25:34] I feel and trust and like to

[25:34] consider that notion instead of

[25:35] continuously asking for

[25:39] increases however small by

[25:46] the way with 65 that's an old

[25:51] item that for me I wish I had a

[25:52] better legal understanding and

[25:56] better legal advice that people

[25:57] have money and then people

[25:58] don't have money and that we

[25:58] all have to be paying the same

[26:03] amount of bills is a decent

[26:03] noble gesture.

[26:04] But people also paying what

[26:04] they can afford should also be

[26:10] considered just invaluable and

[26:10] meaningful in that effort.

[26:16] And to conclude all of

[26:17] the Scott Wall issues dealing

[26:21] with now we're dealing with our

[26:22] speak pd in a really sad way

[26:22] right now we're dealing with

[26:26] the concepts of retaliation a

[26:27] lot and I hope along with

[26:27] the mayor's office and

[26:32] the community we are dealing

[26:33] with how to better consider

[26:33] retaliation.

[26:34] Think of Andrea.

[26:38] I mean it's grown to way out of

[26:38] proportion.

[26:39] We got to work on something

[26:39] together.

[26:40] Thank you.

[26:44] Thank you.

[26:45] Our final speaker is Luis

[26:46] Rodolico Please state which

[26:47] closed session item or items

[27:00] you wish to speak to Item 250

[27:01] We are on the closed session

[27:02] agenda which includes c.

[27:06] S 116 as the as the reasons for

[27:06] c.

[27:08] >> s five and ca6 oh this is a

[27:15] public trust issue as well.

[27:15] Okay.

[27:20] You MAY need to speak to non

[27:21] agenda public comment or item

[27:22] 250 in the afternoon.

[27:26] Okay.

[27:27] All right thank you.

[27:28] That does conclude public

[27:33] comment.

[27:34] >> All right.

[27:34] Thank you for that.

[27:35] We will now recess in

[27:36] the closed session and

[27:36] reconvene council today at 2

[28:43] P.M. Or shortly thereafter

[30:43] and

[30:51] good afternoon in the afternoon

[30:54] and the evening sessions of

[30:55] the MAY 18th, 2026 San Diego

[30:56] City Council meeting are

[30:59] adjourned due to unforeseen

[31:00] circumstances.

[31:00] Hearing of the items will be

[31:05] rescheduled to a future date.

[31:05] We are now adjourned to

[31:06] the next regularly scheduled

[31:10] council meeting on Tuesday May

City Council Meetings — Monday Agenda Revised Added S400

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