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Good evening, everyone. Welcome to our

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regular City Council meeting Wednesday,

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July 8th at 6:00 p.m. Meeting called to

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order.

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Madam Clerk, may I have roll call,

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please?

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>> Yes.

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Mayor O'Neal

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>> Present.

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>> Vice Mayor Cano

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>> Here.

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>> Councilmember Gonzales, Councilmember

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Perez, Councilmember Gutierrez

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>> Here.

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>> We have quorum.

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>> Now, leading us in the invocation is

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going to be our Vice Mayor, Ricardo

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Cano.

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» Lord, we come before you with grateful

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hearts asking for your presence in this

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meeting. Open our minds to receive

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wisdom, our spirits to find clarity, and

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our hearts to practice patience. Help us

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to challenge one another towards excellence while

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maintaining a spirit of unity and

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respect. Let our focus remain entirely

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on serving our citizens faithfully and

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fairly. Amen.

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>> Amen. Now, can everybody please stand

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for our pledge of allegiance led by

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Council Member Gutierrez.

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» Ready.

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>> I pledge allegiance to the flag of the

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United States of America, and to the

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republic for which it stands, one nation

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under God, indivisible, with liberty and

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justice for all.

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» Now, may I have a motion to approve

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agenda as to form?

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>> Motion.

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by Vice Mayor Cano, second by

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Council Member Gutierrez. Madam Clerk,

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may I roll call, please?

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>> Yes. Mayor Leon.

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>> Aye.

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>> Vice Mayor Cano.

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>> Aye.

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>> Council Member Gonzales, Council Member

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Parra, Council Member Gutierrez.

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>> Aye.

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>> Motion passes.

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>> Thank you, Madam Clerk. Now, leading us

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to the feature pet of the of the week,

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highlights a pet available for adoption

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from our McFarland Animal Shelter.

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Feature presented by our Chief of

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Police,

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Adrian Olmos.

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» Stop. Don't shop. Thank you.

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>> Thank you, Chief. What a story for

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Taylor. Is there any takers today?

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See that any?

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No. Yes. Back there.

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Tristan.

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All righty.

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What the Thank you, Chief. Hopefully, uh

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somebody will come and and adopt Taylor.

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Thank you. Have a good day.

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>> Thank you.

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>> Now, moving on to public comment.

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Members of the public wishing to address

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the City Council on non-agenda matters

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or agenda items may do so at this time.

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Speakers are limited to 2 minutes per

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person. 20 minutes

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is allocated for non-agenda public

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comment and 20 minutes for agenda items

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public comments within 10 minutes of of

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person and remote speakers, unless

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otherwise

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adjusted by the presiding officer. Madam

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Clerk, do we have anybody for public

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comment?

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>> There is none.

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>> Anybody from the public would like to

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make a comment?

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Seeing none, I'm going to be closing

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public comment. Now, moving on to

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consent agenda. The consent agenda

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consists of items

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that in staff's opinion are routine and

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non-controversial. These items are

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approved in one motion unless a council

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member

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or a board or a member of the public

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requests to remove a particular item. Is

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there anybody from the public that would

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like to remove or discuss

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a consent agenda item?

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Seeing none, is there a council member

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that would like to remove or or pull an

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uh consent agenda consent item?

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>> No.

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>> Seeing none, may I have a motion to

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approve consent agenda?

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>> Motion.

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>> Second.

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>> Motion by Vice Mayor Cano, second by

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Councilmember Contreras. Madam Clerk,

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may I have roll call, please?

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>> Yes. Mayor Young?

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>> Aye.

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>> Vice Mayor Cano?

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>> Aye.

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>> Councilmember Councilmember Gonzales,

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Councilmember Perez, Councilmember

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Gutierrez?

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>> Aye.

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>> Motion passes.

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>> Thank you. Now, moving on to public

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hearings. Item 10, conduct annual public

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hearing to receive and file the fiscal year

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2025-2026 state staff agency recruitment

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and retention report pursuant to

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government code section 3502.3

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subsection AB 2561. Ms. McQueen.

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>> Good evening, Council.

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Um in accordance with uh government code

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section 3502.3

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enacted through Assembly Bill 2561,

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local public agencies

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that adopt [clears throat] an annual

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budget budget are required to conduct at

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least one public hearing each fiscal

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year regarding the status of employee

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vacancies in the agency's recruitment

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and retention efforts. To comply with

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this requirement, the City Council

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adopted resolution number 2025-69 on

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January 1st, 2025, establishing the

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city's policy to conduct an annual

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public hearing on employee vacancies and

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recruitment and retention efforts. Uh

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this report fulfills the specific

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education um certifications, licenses,

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prior experience um which has reduced

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the number of applicants uh that are

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qualified.

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And then as far as availability, some

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recruitments receive a limited number of

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qualified applicants requiring an

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extended recruitment uh period or

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multiple recruitment efforts before a

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position can be filled.

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Uh despite these challenges experienced

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by our agency, uh the city continues to

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evaluate and improve its recruitment and

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retention strategies. HR remains

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committed to expanding outreach,

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streamlining hiring processes, um

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investing in employee development, and

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maintaining a competitive workplace to

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attract and retain a highly qualified

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workforce.

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The final steps are to receive and file

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this report, consider consider council

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direction, and continue annual

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reporting.

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And I'm open to any questions.

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>> Thank you very much, Ms. McQueen. I'm

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going to open up the uh open it up to

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the public. Anybody have questions

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regarding the receive and file report? Can we go

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back to the

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first the first

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>> Oh, the first you

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>> the staffing overview.

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>> Okay. Okay.

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>> All right.

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Seeing none, seeing none,

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I'm going to bring it back to the

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council.

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>> the council.

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Uh

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great presentation, by the way.

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It allows

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for people to see what job opportunities

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there is,

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based on their past

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qualifications and certifications. But

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it But it This is the This is the This

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is daily and daily and

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good for

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individuals that want to want to

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start a job if if if it's a new

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>> start a job if if if it's presented

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>> an entry position in the city

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with the city, but at least gives the

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opportunity for people to see what job

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opportunities there

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>> And then see the growth that we've had

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over the years

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We're at 50 and 40 now we're at like 70, This is what happens what happens

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>> Services are being provided to our

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community. But our outstanding job today

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I'm going to bring it to our council.

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» Great presentation. Great information.

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Uh

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>> Overall.

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You're

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>> Everything.

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>> Excellent.

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>> Vice Mayor.

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>> No questions.

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>> Thank you.

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>> Seeing that this is

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>> See the file now.

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I just need to see the

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presentation. Thank you so much for the

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presentation.

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>> Thank you.

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» Now, moving on to administrative

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matters.

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>> Agenda.

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>> I don't know if I can bring that up.

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Resolution 2016-82.

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The resolution 2016-82 of the City

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Council of the City of McFarland,

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California, authorizing the City of

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McFarland to apply for and cooperate

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with the County of Kern in the Urban

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County CDBG

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program for grant and state grant

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assistance to execute all required

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documents,

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including the cooperation agreement.

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Mr. Saldana.

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>> Yes, Mr. Mayor and members of the

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Council. And this item before you

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uh allows the city of McFarland and the

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County of Kern to participate in the

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>> CDBG program with the

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>> with the County of Kern as the

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>> [clears throat]

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>> agent for the CDBG.

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Urban County participant.

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>> This is

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a

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unique situation in which counties like

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Kern

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are not

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have their cities participate in CDBG

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allocation and they increase their CDBG

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allocation

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>> as a result of the number of communities

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that participate.

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>> Currently, we're non-CDBG

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>> and they just need me to sign the

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application

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to pass it

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through the state of California to

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receive

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CDBG funds.

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>> Uh by adopting this resolution and including the

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agreement with the county for the next

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three years, we'll be receiving an

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annual allocation of CDBG funds

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that

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>> that can be used for

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a variety of different programs that are

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outlined

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in the federal guidelines,

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which include public infrastructure,

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housing rehabilitation,

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and

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economic development initiatives.

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In discussing this opportunity with the

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county, they indicated that

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the city would city would stand to stand

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to receive $100,000 per year

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through this through this allocation.

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And again, currently we don't receive we

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don't receive anything.