[0:46] Oh no! There's an inoperable vehicle on my property! Help
[0:50] me code Crusaders! Go Crusa. Don't worry
[0:59] ma'am, I'll dispose of this eyesore.
[1:10] Thank you coding forcer. Happy to help. And remember Citizen.
[1:16] Any inoperable vehicle can be ticketed or tow. Vehicles on
[1:19] the street driveways or in public view must be in
[1:22] running condition and moved after 72 hours in the same
[1:25] location. Vehicles can be kept in the driveway for up
[1:28] to 72 hours for repairs. Su. Cookie, what happened to
[1:34] my car. Danny. Wake up.
[1:47] Danny. Da. La. Danny. What are you talking. About.
[1:59] Danny. She's overdosing. When no one else knows what to
[2:05] do, it's gotta be you Carrying the lock zone You
[2:08] could save a life. You need some help? Your toe
[2:17] chains are a little loose Could spark a wildfire I
[2:20] could show you how to secure them properly if you'd
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[2:33] prevention. Only you can prevent wildfires.
[2:48] When disaster strikes, staying informed isn't just important. It can
[2:53] save lives. That's why the city of Marino Valley created
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[3:01] updated when emergencies happen in our community. Operated by the
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[3:32] family for an emergency. Visit moval. org slash alert to
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[3:51] alerts countywide. For even broader protection, download Genesis Protect, this
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[4:16] for Alert MoVal now, and stay a step ahead. Every
[4:21] day Thousands of Kids start vaping. And I can't let
[4:24] this happen to my kid Of course, it's awkward to
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[5:19] have debate talk.
[12:43] Good evening, and welcome to the special meeting of the
[12:45] city council of the city of Moreno Valley. Please know
[12:49] that the city council receives a separate stipend from the
[12:52] community services district If any CSD business is conducted during
[12:56] this meeting. And now call this special meeting to order
[13:00] on February 26. At 6 PM. The Pledge of Allegiance.
[13:06] Will be led by Mayor Protem Gonzalez. Followed by a
[13:11] Rocal. Please Place your right hand of your heart and
[13:17] repeat after me I pledge allegiance to the flag of
[13:20] the United States of America. And to the Republic for
[13:23] which stands. One nation, under God, indivisible with liberty and
[13:28] justice for all. Thank You mayor Pro Tim.
[13:40] Next item is C, a roll call Madam Clerk, I'll
[13:42] turn it over to you. Thank you Mayor Council Member
[13:45] Bernard Here Council Member Delgado Here ma'am Council Member Bakasana
[13:49] Cruz. Here, we are pro - Tem Gonzalez Here, and
[13:53] Mayor Cabrera. Here Thank you. Thank you Before I move
[13:58] on to staff introductions I would like to note that
[14:02] we only have relevant staff here. Tonight Uh, uh, the
[14:06] mall topic under discussion Typically we have a full... team
[14:11] of staff that is here But just wanted to clarify
[14:14] for the record Y UC some of these empty seats
[14:17] We have only the relevant staff Uh... For this particular
[14:21] item here this evening. And so with that I'll turn
[14:24] it over to Uh... Our city clerk for staff introductions,
[14:27] please. Thank you Mayor Patty Rodriguez City clerk. Sonia Gomez,
[14:31] senior deputy city clerk Stephen Kitniya City Attorney Brian Mohan,
[14:35] city manager. James Verdugo Billion Official. Edgar Gonzalez Fire Marshal.
[14:42] Jesse Park, fire chief. Sarah Mac Chief of police. Thank
[14:47] you team. Next we will go to item E, which
[14:51] is public comments. And a friendly reminder that public comment
[14:56] shall be limited to only those items listed On the
[14:59] special meeting agenda pursuant to California Government Code Section 54954..
[15:05] 3. As many of you know, the city offers language
[15:09] translation services through a free app called Wordly The app
[15:13] automatically translates a variety of languages into English and vice
[15:16] versa. To use this service, please scan the QR code
[15:20] at the speakersign - up table by the double doors.
[15:23] For the visually impaired, please use your earphones, or earbuds
[15:26] to listen to the verbal translation. If you do not
[15:29] have any such listening devices, please let the city clerk
[15:32] know. And we will gladly let you borrow some for
[15:34] this meeting. La ciudad ahora ofrece servicios de traducción de
[15:39] idiomas a través de una aplicación gratuita llamada Worldly Si
[15:43] gustan usar este servicio avísale Y entregue una tarjeta para
[15:48] hablar. Para usar la traducción escanee el código QR que
[15:52] está en la mesa junto a las puertas. Before we
[15:55] move on to public comment on The only item on
[15:58] tonight's special agenda I respectfully request that all comments be
[16:02] addressed to the presiding officer Which is myself... And to
[16:06] the city council, my four colleagues And I ask that
[16:09] all speakers keep their comments respectful And that members of
[16:11] the audience be courteous and refrain from disrupting any speakers
[16:15] At the podium. Now we'll move into item F, special
[16:20] order of business. I now open the special order of
[16:23] business regarding the status of the mall's closure. Item F1.
[16:29] Report on status of Reynold Valley Mall closure. And we
[16:32] will have a staff report. From The Fire Chief Building
[16:36] Official And the city Attorney. The fire chief Jesse Park,
[16:44] building official James Verdugo and city attorney Steve Quintanilla. Following
[16:49] the staff's presentations, the city council will have an opportunity
[16:52] to ask questions of staff I will then open the
[16:55] matter up for public comment. However, I like to remind
[16:58] everyone beforehand that since this is a special meeting Public
[17:01] comments must pertain to the subject matter that is under
[17:05] consideration. Those wishing to comment are encouraged to complete a
[17:09] purple speaker slip and submit that to the city clerk's
[17:12] staff Each speaker will have a total of 3 minutes
[17:15] to comment, which may be modified Based on the number
[17:19] of speakers that are present and submit their speaker slips
[17:23] If necessary, I will ask for consensus from my colleagues
[17:27] Uh, to reduce the amount of time per speaker In
[17:30] order to ensure that we can complete our business this
[17:33] evening. Now, let's proceed with the staff's presentations And at
[17:39] this time I will turn it over to our city
[17:41] staff And first up is our fire chief Jesse Park.
[17:46] Good evening. Council and to our attendees My name is
[17:49] Jesse Park, and I act as the city's fire chief.
[17:52] I'll be presenting information regarding the Moreno Valley Mall This
[17:55] presentation is a summary The times, dates, and violations are
[18:00] on record And this presentation isn't intended to provide the
[18:04] full comprehensive list. It is intended to give you an
[18:07] overview of the events leading up to the closure of
[18:11] the mall. To start with, I want to provide some
[18:15] background information The city does not have its ow municipal
[18:18] fire department in the same way our neighbor Riverside city
[18:20] does. Moreno Valley contracts with Riverside County to be part
[18:23] of regional Cooperative fire protection. This is similar to other
[18:27] regional county fire departments in Southern California, like Orange County,
[18:30] Los Angeles County, and San Diego County Both Riverside County
[18:34] and San Diego County contract with CalFire, the state's fire
[18:38] department. For operational staffing, and Cal Fire has many such
[18:44] cooperative fire protection agreements throughout the state. Moreno Valley also
[18:48] contracts with Riverside County for fire marshal services County Fire
[18:52] Marshals are not Cal Fire staff And therefore the patches
[18:57] may be different. But the mission is the same to
[18:59] protect life and property. Fire codes and laws are initiated
[19:04] at the state level. The state issues the current fire
[19:08] code, the county then adopts the code, and the city
[19:11] in turn adopts the code, and it becomes city policy.
[19:14] Each jurisdiction can amend the code However, we have not.
[19:17] Made any changes, and we accepted the code as written.
[19:21] Your fire marshal then uses the city code to perform
[19:24] inspections in the city. I'm providing this background because CAL
[19:31] FIRE was not responsible for the mall being temporary closed.
[19:35] And Riverside county fire is not responsible for the mall
[19:39] being closed. Nor is the city of Moreno Valley responsible
[19:42] for the mall being closed. The person responsible for the
[19:46] mall's closure is the owner of the mall. And I'll
[19:50] tell you why I can say that with full confidence.
[19:54] But before I go into the timeline of the current
[19:58] mall closure, I want to remind everybody that this is
[20:00] the second time in three years That the fire department
[20:03] has had to partially close the mall due to serious
[20:06] life - safety violations. The first time was in 2023
[20:09] at the anchor store location that was formerly Gotchox, which
[20:12] is still owned by the current mall owner. Although this
[20:15] building was occupied. It did not receive the same amount
[20:19] of attention as today. Because it was operating as an
[20:22] unpermitted distribution center. And its closure did not affect the
[20:26] suites inside the mall. The reason that it was ordered
[20:31] closed and vacated were very serious. Unpermitted high pile storage,
[20:37] high hazards in a building where fire protection systems had
[20:39] been disabled. Doors welded shut. Fire exits blocked, emergency lighting
[20:46] removed, and Unrated electrical hanging. These violations are the responsibility
[20:52] of the mall owner, and despite having them all owner
[20:55] and his team, a meeting here at City Hall, it's
[20:59] still took more than a year to make those corrections.
[21:03] And the city litigation is still Unresolved in that case.
[21:09] This pattern. Of removing fire protection systems, performing unpermitted construction,
[21:15] and storing inappropriate material in the mall continues On one
[21:18] occasion, our inspectors found the mall owner Illegally storing pallets
[21:22] of expired hand sanitizer in a vacant portion of them
[21:26] all hand sanitizer is incredibly flammable. And the sprinklers are
[21:31] not rated to extinguish that type of fire. We were
[21:35] very lucky that our inspectors were so thorough, and we
[21:37] had that hazard removed immediately. But our warnings to stop
[21:41] this type of practice seemed to go unheard by the
[21:43] mall owner. In March of 2025 our inspectors were at
[21:47] the mall looking at the tenant improvement plans for four
[21:50] new businesses. When they found the sprinkler pipes and alarms
[21:54] had been ripped out without getting a permit, or installing
[21:57] new ones. If a fire occurred in that location There
[22:00] would be nothing to stop it from growing, and the
[22:02] results could be catastrophic. That portion of the mall was
[22:06] immediately placed on fire watch. And unfortunately counsel to this
[22:11] day. They're still on fire watch almost a year later.
[22:15] And that's because the mall owner will not replace the
[22:18] fire system. Effectively, this makes it impossible for those four
[22:23] businesses to open. So now let's get to the timeline.
[22:30] Of the current mall closure. On April 3rd of 2024.
[22:36] The mall was scheduled for its routine annual inspection The
[22:39] mall, just like any other business like it, is required
[22:41] by law to provide us with the testing and maintenance
[22:43] records for their sprinklers. Alarms, generators. Exit an emergency lighting,
[22:49] and smoke control systems. When a business is prepared They
[22:53] will hand over these records on our arrival, and our
[22:55] walkthrough, an inspection is relatively brief. Unfortunately, the mall did
[22:59] not have any of these records, and during the walkthrough
[23:02] our inspectors found many other violations that needed to be
[23:05] resolved. It's important to note that just because of property
[23:12] owner doesn't have a curtain current maintenance records We don't
[23:16] shut them down immediately. We only deem a building unsafe
[23:20] when there is a true threat to public safety. So
[23:23] when we ask them all to provide a record, that
[23:26] says their generators are working order. And they tell us
[23:29] they don't have one. But they say the generator works,
[23:32] we give them the benefit of the doubt. Our inspectors
[23:35] are not certified contractors We do not make the owner
[23:39] start up the generator to prove that it runs, because
[23:41] we would be making ourselves liable if we signed it
[23:44] off. That's what the contractor's for. If we ask them
[23:51] all staff if their sprinklers are in good working order,
[23:53] and they say yes, but we don't have any records
[23:55] to prove it We still issue them a notice of
[23:57] violation They're still in violation And then we inform them
[24:00] in the requirements and schedule another inspection Hoping that upon
[24:03] the next inspection, we'll have the proper documents And we
[24:07] can sign that violation off. We provided them all the
[24:10] notices of the violation. All the violations, how to correct
[24:14] them. And we scheduled and rescheduled many return visits. But
[24:19] the mall owner refused to correct these violations, and this
[24:22] is continued past 2024 through 2025. And right into early
[24:27] 2026. Over time, despite the mall revitalization plan
[24:37] being approved, we suspected that the mall may not comply
[24:40] with the law, and this could really affect all the
[24:42] businesses in the mall In general, unless there is an
[24:46] obvious life safety violation, we do not close a business
[24:48] due to outdated documentation. If a business is located in
[24:51] a larger building like them all. And the smaller business
[24:54] has completed their requirements, but the larger shell has not,
[25:00] and they have outdated requirements. Our past practice is still
[25:03] at the new business Open and create revenue. Believing fully
[25:08] that the building owner is indeed making those needed corrections.
[25:13] However, the continued pattern by the mall owner of refusing
[25:17] to correct any violations. Became so concerning that it needed
[25:21] to be brought to the attention of the city manager.
[25:24] And the council. We requested that the mall owner come
[25:30] to City Hall, and we reinform him of the violations.
[25:34] And schedule return inspection in two weeks Where he could
[25:38] provide us the required testing and maintenance records that had
[25:42] been due for the last two years. We met with
[25:47] the mall owner on February 5, 2026. And then we
[25:52] scheduled our return visit for February 19. On February 19th,
[25:59] myself, your fire marshal, and your city building official went
[26:02] to the mall to collect the updated records. Unfortunately, not
[26:06] only did the mall owner not have the required maintenance
[26:08] records. But the mall staff also freely admitted, and this
[26:13] is very important. They admitted that the exit doors were
[26:18] broken, the alarm panel didn't work. And the generators did
[26:22] not work. We had given them the benefit of the
[26:25] doubt in the past, but now we knew for a
[26:29] fact That the mall was unsafe for the public to
[26:32] be in. I denied on safe, and our city building
[26:36] official provided them a notice to vacate effectively closing the
[26:38] mall to the public. While still letting the required security
[26:42] and contractors Enter to get the work done, and to
[26:45] get them all back open. That's what we've been doing.
[26:50] Every day, your farm Russia staff, myself unceded of doing
[26:53] their daily business, we're going back to them all. Explaining
[26:56] again and again what is required to get them all
[26:59] back open. Every day our answer to the mall is
[27:02] the same, fix the nine life safety violations. The mall
[27:07] actually has hundreds of FIRE - code violations that need
[27:11] correcting. But there are nine that we have identified as
[27:15] true life safety hazards. When those Niner corrected, the Mal
[27:18] can open. Finally. I want to counter of false narrative
[27:25] that the mall was ignorant of the violations and caught
[27:28] off guard. Our inspectors all utilize an iPad. With location
[27:34] services enabled. Every violation is digitally recorded. It's accompanied by
[27:40] a picture. And that is timestamped and dated. The notices
[27:44] are recorded onto our server and provided to the mall's
[27:46] owner's designated officials. All of this information is stored for
[27:50] analytics and for billing, and for potential litigation. In no
[27:54] way was the mall ignorant to the violations or corrections
[27:57] made. Or needed. The only people that were caught off
[28:01] guard were the tenants. It would have been highly inappropriate
[28:06] for the fire department to tell the tenants that the
[28:10] mall can close. That is the responsibility of the mall
[28:13] owner to tell them what's going on. However, once it
[28:18] became clear that the mall was unsafe, your fire martial
[28:21] staff, along with myself, we went door to door to
[28:24] every suite, and we handed them oppress release, and we
[28:27] answered their questions. Again, it was never our intent to
[28:31] see the mall closed, but it is our responsibility to
[28:34] ensure that serious public safety violations are resolved. That's why
[28:41] I can confidently say that the reason the mall is
[28:43] temporary closed is due to the mall owners in action.
[28:49] That is the end of my report in presentation, and
[28:51] before any take any questions I'd like to provide our
[28:54] city building official And our city attorney, an opportunity to
[28:58] provide some additional information. Thank you. Good evening. My name
[29:05] is James Verdugo, and I serve as the billion official
[29:07] for the city of Marino Valley. In light of the
[29:10] serious nature of this matter I would like to provide
[29:11] additional context regarding the role and involvement of the billing
[29:14] official within the timeline reference by fire chief Jesse Bart.
[29:19] The core duties and responsibilities of a billing official are
[29:22] established through certification by the international code council, and through
[29:26] the enforcement of the California Building Codes, as adopted by
[29:29] this jurisdiction. Under this authority, the billing officials with authorize
[29:33] an obligated to administer and enforce the California Building Code,
[29:37] and all applicable state - adopted standards. The purpose of
[29:41] these codes is clear to establish minimum requirements that safeguard,
[29:45] public health, life safety, and the general welfare of the
[29:49] community. These standards address structural integrity, adequate means of egress,
[29:55] proper lighting, and ventilation, accessibility, and protection of life and
[29:58] property from fire, and other hazards associated with the built
[30:02] environment. They are not aspirational guidelines, they are the minimum
[30:07] safeguards necessary to ensure that buildings remain safe for occupancy
[30:11] and enjoyment of the public. Pursuant to section 104. 1
[30:16] of the California Building Code, the billing official is responsible
[30:18] for enforcement of the code, and it's authorized to interpret
[30:22] and apply its provisions While interpretations, policies, and procedures may
[30:25] be adopted to clarify application They must remain consistent with
[30:29] the intent and purpose of the code, and may not
[30:32] waive any explicitly prescribe requirements. Preservation of life safety is
[30:36] not discretionary, it is a defined boundary of the authority
[30:40] entrusted to this office. Similarly, the fire code is official
[30:45] is charged with ensuring that required fire protection and life
[30:48] safety systems are properly maintained, documented, and brought into compliance.
[30:52] When conditions are present, when conditions present a clear threat
[30:57] to life, safety, or health under the California fire code,
[31:00] those conditions must be addressed Any structure or equipment deem
[31:03] unsafe due to inadequate means of egress, inefficient lighting, or
[31:07] ventilation, fire hazards, improper occupancy, or lack of maintenance is
[31:11] referred to the billing official for appropriate action Which may
[31:14] include repair alteration or demolition, or notices and orders to
[31:19] follow procedure. When unsafe conditions are identified, the code requires
[31:24] that notices be served by the property owner authorized to
[31:27] the property owner or authorized agents specifying the deficiencies and
[31:31] the correction of actions necessary to obey the hazard. The
[31:34] billing official is further authorized to issue required notices or
[31:37] orders, including written and vacate orders when occupancy is determined
[31:41] to be unsafe. Unlawful. In order to protect life. These
[31:48] provisions collectively establish the fundamental life safety obligation of the
[31:52] code officials to ensure that no occupied condition falls below
[31:55] the minimum standards established by the California Building and fire
[31:59] codes. Property owners bear the ongoing responsibility to maintain all
[32:04] - fire protection and life safety systems and operable condition
[32:07] at all times. Under the authority granted by the state
[32:10] of California billion fire codes and undermised certification as a
[32:13] billing official through the international code council in order to
[32:16] vacate was issued, as noted by a chief Jessie Park.
[32:20] That order will remain in effect until all require life
[32:22] safety systems within the building have been fully repaired, restored
[32:25] to proper working order, and verify to comply with applicable
[32:29] life safety codes and regulations. This action is protective. Our
[32:33] obligation both legal and ethical is to ensure that buildings
[32:36] occupy by the public meet the minimum life safety standards
[32:39] established by law. Until these standards are met occupancy will
[32:43] need to be differed into compliance is achieved. I refer
[32:48] to Mike over too. City Attorney Steve continue. Thank you
[32:52] James Good evening everyone, good evening council, and good evening
[32:57] to everybody who took the time to come out here.
[33:00] I'd like to start out with talking about what we
[33:03] all have in common in this room. And all we
[33:07] have in common is that we want the mall to
[33:11] be open and open as soon as possible. I can
[33:15] tell everyone in this room that each one of these
[33:19] council members have come to me and pleaded try to
[33:25] do whatever you can figure out anything you can. To
[33:29] get this mall reopen. But at the same time, the
[33:33] council understands the predicament we're in, and that predicament is
[33:38] a good predicament, and that is we have a fire
[33:41] department who has a duty and an obligation to ensure
[33:45] that whatever business operates within the city is operated in
[33:49] a matter that protects health and safety. So I'd just
[33:54] like to start with that, so that's what we all
[33:56] have in common, that's what our common objective is, is
[33:58] to ensure that this mall is open as soon as
[34:01] possible. We are losing tax revenue every day. From the
[34:08] cells that take place there at the mall. Our retail
[34:12] businesses are losing income. Their employees are losing, they have
[34:17] lost their jobs. That affects families in our community. Families
[34:23] who depend on the income that they earn from these
[34:26] retail tenants. Who have their businesses in the mall. To
[34:32] feed their families, to clothe their children. To do everything
[34:36] that's necessary to take care of their families. Without that
[34:41] income, they continue to suffer. That's why we all want
[34:46] this mall to reopen. And in addition to that, it
[34:50] causes a lot of inconvenience for shoppers and visitors. Of
[34:54] the mall We not only have shoppers in the mall,
[34:57] but we have groups of senior citizens who go in
[35:00] there and get exercised by walking throughout the mall. I
[35:04] would do that, I'm a senior, but I don't have
[35:06] time to go for walks. Anyway, so let's begin with
[35:11] that We all know what the issues are here We
[35:13] all understand that this council understands it. And it's unfortunate
[35:17] for them that they have their hands tied here Because
[35:21] the fire department has to do with the fire department
[35:24] has to do to protect the life, safety. Of everyone
[35:28] in this room. So this is all really about life
[35:33] safety and fire protection deficiencies at the mall. That's simply
[35:39] what it's all about. When do they have to comply
[35:43] with all of these violations, and the nine violations. As
[35:48] soon as possible. Before the mall can be realpen. And
[35:53] the determination as to when they comply is a determination
[35:57] that has to be made by our experts, which include
[36:00] our fire chief and our fire marshal. You know we
[36:04] all heard about these horrible stories that came out of
[36:07] the city of Oakland when there was a fire there,
[36:10] we lost over 30 lives there. When you take a
[36:15] deep dive into what the result of all that was,
[36:20] families were destroyed. Because of the lost of loved ones.
[36:26] But in addition to that, the taxpayers had to cover
[36:28] the bill. For the damages and the loss of these
[36:33] loved ones. They had to pay out millions, millions of
[36:37] dollars. That's not going to restore the lives of the
[36:42] people who were laws. But that was a direct impact
[36:46] on the taxpayers in the city of Oakland. In Switzerland,
[36:53] you I'm sure many of us have read about or
[36:56] heard about the fire that took place there. And what
[37:00] was in common in both the Oakland fires and the
[37:03] fire in Switzerland. Or lack of inspections. Lack of follow
[37:09] - up. By their respective fire departments. That is not
[37:17] happening here. And with our fire department I can assure
[37:20] you it will never happen here. So this is what
[37:24] this is all about. It's all about a deficiencies that
[37:28] are fire department has determined exists there with respect to
[37:32] life, safety, and fire protection. Oh, as an aside, I'd
[37:38] just like to point out that... Staff has set up
[37:40] a page on our city's website that provides background information
[37:45] on this particular situation. Explains how we got there, or
[37:49] how we got here. It also includes a list of
[37:53] frequently and frequently ask questions that are be frequently asked
[37:58] about the situation. And we are also providing a status
[38:03] update every day at 4. 30 Uh... listing all the
[38:08] violations that have been resolved, and all depending violations. Now
[38:13] in this came to my attention Um... In January, so
[38:18] I was aware that a lot were violations out there.
[38:23] But when it got to the level of having to
[38:26] make a determination. That we may have to shut them
[38:30] all down. The city manager and I immediately dispatched a
[38:34] joint letter to the mall owner. Informing them all owner
[38:38] that our fire department has identified That there are various
[38:43] fire protection systems that were demolished, they were moved or
[38:46] modified without the knowledge or pre - approval of our
[38:50] fire department. And this included like basic, very basic life
[38:55] - saving devices such as fire alarms and fire sprinklers.
[39:00] I mean that's something we all understand is necessary. We
[39:05] also pointed out in that joint letter to the owner,
[39:10] that in addition to these fire violations. We had community
[39:15] enhancement in our neighborhood services division, which essentially our code
[39:19] enforcement division. We had learned that they had issued 88
[39:25] code violations. To the mall for, things such as unpermitted
[39:30] construction. The lack of certificates of occupancy If you don't
[39:34] have a certificate of Occam C, that means that that
[39:37] place, it's not been determined to be safe for anyone
[39:40] to occupy that facility. That the pavement curbing, adequate and
[39:49] complete parking and lane striping. There's a long list of
[39:55] violations. But I just want to point out those are
[39:58] not the reasons why the mall was ordered to be
[40:02] shuttered. After I sent this letter I had anticipated that
[40:09] I would receive an immediate response from the mall owner
[40:12] or the mall management, and lo and behold, nothing. And
[40:17] then I was informed by the fire department that. We
[40:21] had some very, very significant fire safety issues there. Some
[40:26] of these issues were discovered simply because we have a
[40:30] contractor there working on the facility that we have leased
[40:35] for, or immersive museum that the city is planning on
[40:38] opening up their suit. So our contractor had reported to
[40:43] staff that they've identified that the issues there that we
[40:47] should be concerned about with respect not only to the
[40:50] least premises, but also for the entire mall. The concern
[40:59] that we have is that, with a concern that I
[41:02] had is that since I didn't receive a response I
[41:05] thought, okay Let me give the owner another opportunity to
[41:11] respond. So on February 26 just coincided with the time,
[41:19] the fire department had considered issuing an order to vacate.
[41:25] A dispatched a letter to the mall owner, informing the
[41:29] mall owner that these issues have not been resolved. And
[41:34] I included in that letter. Oh, on February, that was
[41:37] on February 19th, I'm sorry, thank you. Brian So I
[41:41] sent a letter on February 19 And in that letter
[41:45] I reiterated the nine violations that had been identified by
[41:49] the fire department, and those included lack of inspections in
[41:53] regards to, and testing in regards to the fire sprinklers,
[41:57] the malls fire sprinkler system, the multi - fire alarm
[42:01] system. The smoke control system, the malt fire doors, the
[42:05] malls fire stamp system Which I have no idea what
[42:09] that is. The fire smoke dampers, emergency generators, emergency lighting,
[42:15] and emergency exit lighting. Now these are just the categories.
[42:21] That they were cited for. And within these categories, it
[42:25] included issues such as locks on certain exit doors that
[42:30] needed to be either removed because they weren't working, or
[42:33] needed to be repaired or replaced. There was signage that
[42:37] was missing, that was... These are, we're talking about emergency
[42:42] exit sighting, just basic signage like that that needed to
[42:46] be repaired or replaced. The mall needed to provide updated
[42:50] key codes for the emergency communications room Can you imagine
[42:54] having our fire department show up, and they can't get
[42:57] into that room. You know in the case of an
[43:00] emergency There are multitude of smoke detectors that needed to
[43:05] be clean immediately to clear some of the dust build
[43:08] - up are replaced In fact, my fire alarm was
[43:10] going off on Sunday, and I couldn't figure out what
[43:13] was going on, I looked up there, and it was
[43:14] covered with dust. There are various fire extinguishers throughout the
[43:19] mall that needed to be tested and inspected to ensure
[43:22] that they work. There are piles of storage that needed
[43:26] to be removed, that were placed and stored near certain
[43:30] emergency exit doors. There were... We have fire rated doors
[43:36] throughout the mall, and a lot of business establishments that
[43:40] withstand fire and smoke during an emergency. Many of those
[43:45] needed to be repaired. The fire rated doors. They had
[43:50] to have some of the self - closing hardware, and
[43:53] the smoke seals tested and replaced There are certain repairs
[43:57] that needed to be made to all the fire resistant
[44:01] walls to ensure that smoke and fire couldn't go through
[44:06] these walls to spread throughout the mall They needed to
[44:10] install Illuminated signs that fire exit doors. The main alarm
[44:18] control unit and the fire command room needed to be
[44:21] a diagnosed to ensure that it was functional during a
[44:24] fire emergency. They needed to remove storage that was piled
[44:29] up in the electrical room. And so the list goes
[44:32] on and on... So although there's only nine violations that
[44:37] they've been cited for for reasons which is the justification
[44:41] for shutting down the mall. Within each of those categories,
[44:47] a host of violations, and issues that need to be
[44:50] resolved immediately before the mole is allowed to be open.
[44:56] So one thing that the good news I have to
[45:00] report is that the mall retain attorneys. And I have
[45:07] to say that it was a relief to be talking
[45:11] to their attorneys, because I believe they understand the law.
[45:18] With respect to these particular issues They understand the procedures
[45:23] they must comply with in order to get us through
[45:26] this. Ordeal. In order to get them all open. So
[45:31] that's the good thing to report. The other good thing
[45:33] to report is that the mall has resolved for violations
[45:39] so far. So now we're down to 5 of them.
[45:46] And the 5 that have been resolved include. The 4
[45:51] that have been resolved. Include the inspection and testing and
[45:57] documentation for the fire sprinkler systems. The fire stampite systems,
[46:02] the fire smoke dampers, and the emergency generators. So we're
[46:07] down to 5 now that need to be resolved before
[46:10] the mall can be reopened, and that includes these very
[46:13] critical issues. They need to... conduct inspections, testing, and maintenance,
[46:19] not just inspection, not just testing, but all three with
[46:23] respect to the fire alarm system, the smoke control system.
[46:27] The fire doors, the emergency lighting, and the exit lighting.
[46:33] Now how long that's going to take, I can't tell
[46:35] you. The mall's attorneys have informed me that they designated
[46:42] an individual who has some background with fire issues. Who's
[46:48] been assigned to deal specifically with our fire department and
[46:53] our building department on how to comply with these various
[46:57] issues At first. They assign these duties. To a security
[47:04] person. Which shocked me. Which indicated to me that somehow
[47:13] somebody was missing the point here. But again I think
[47:17] we are moving in the right direction. Because we are
[47:20] getting compliance In fact on my way into city hall
[47:24] today, by the time I got here, they resolved another
[47:27] issue. So we are moving in the right direction. In
[47:32] the meantime, unfortunately this city council does not have the
[47:37] legal authority, I do not have the legal authority Your
[47:40] city manager does not have the legal authority. To order
[47:43] the mall to be reopened as long as these fire
[47:47] safety, these life safety and fire protection issues are resolved.
[47:52] And so I anticipate that, and I should also point
[47:56] out that in order to expedite matters in this particular
[48:01] situation are fire department, and they're not required to do
[48:05] this has promised and committed to show up every single
[48:09] day during the weekdays at 1 o'clock PM to conduct
[48:15] inspections, to answer questions, to assist in any way they
[48:19] can. To get the ball in a condition where they
[48:23] should be to ensure that the public who visits them
[48:28] all, the employees who work there, the retail tenants who
[48:33] rent space there. And anybody else who walks in that
[48:36] mall is going to be safe and ensured that if
[48:41] there is a fire emergency, and a fire evacuation That
[48:47] is most likely they'll survive that situation. Now, so the
[48:52] bottom line question is when do they have to do
[48:55] this. And I think that the question should be. And
[49:01] the answer to that question is. They need to do
[49:04] it as soon as possible. To get back into business
[49:08] So these retail businesses can get back and earn money,
[49:13] pay taxes. The customers can come in there shop. Without
[49:18] any concern about their safety. And families can earn money
[49:24] to put food on the table, pay the rent and
[49:27] mortgages. And live their lives as in a peaceful way
[49:32] without the stress of not knowing where their next paycheck
[49:39] is going to come from. So again I'll conclude my
[49:44] remarks with. We all have in common the objective to
[49:49] get this mall open as soon as possible in a
[49:52] matter that's safe for everyone. So I am, that concludes
[49:57] my statement. If there's available to try to answer them.
[50:04] Thank you very much to our fire chief, our building
[50:07] official, and our city attorney for the report Uh, at
[50:12] this time, we'll bring it back to the dais for
[50:14] council questions of staff, and it looks like Uh, we
[50:17] have Question from Council Member Bank of Santa Cruz. Chief
[50:22] Park Could you explain firewatch and who pays for then?
[50:26] And what's the purpose. You said that the mall's been
[50:29] on fire watch for a year Yeah, actually I'll defer
[50:32] to agrees, our expert for firewatch, and exactly how it
[50:35] works, because he receives the reports. Yeah, so a fire
[50:38] watch is conducted by a security company, and they're required
[50:43] to monitor the building 24 - 7 and basically act
[50:46] as a point of Uh, communication for people that are
[50:50] Occupying the building in case there is an emergency, you're
[50:52] a fire They see smoke Uh... To help evacuate people
[50:56] and call the fire department, some and help Um... Act
[51:00] as a fire alarm system would traditionally if it was
[51:02] installed. All covers that, right? That's an additional cost that
[51:10] the mall has to have, because their systems are not
[51:12] up - to - date Correct. Council Member Delgado. Thank
[51:19] you for those presentations, all three of you guys, that
[51:21] was very helpful for us, very helpful for the public
[51:24] to understand Uh... What transpired, and we just didn't wake
[51:28] up one day and decide that this needed to be
[51:30] done I have two questions for Chief Park. We understand
[51:35] why fire extinguishers are so important, fire sprinklers are so
[51:38] important Doors being... readily available to exit egress... But what's
[51:44] the importance of having backup generators for the mall? I
[51:47] mean lighting I guess would be the number one, what
[51:51] would be the other, for fire life safety in that
[51:54] regards? Yeah Fabulous question, even without a fire, if the
[52:00] mall goes dark because of a power outage, like we
[52:02] just recently had with our storms. There would be panic
[52:05] in the mall Because the generators are there to provide
[52:09] that emergency lighting, to light up the way to go,
[52:12] to keep the alarm system running, the PA, and to
[52:16] highlight where the exits are So even if there wasn't
[52:19] a fire without any backup generators going, that can create
[52:23] a hazard all - on - its own. Um... However,
[52:27] with a fire, we may not be able to have
[52:29] the doors work, we may not have the smoke control
[52:32] systems work We may not get alarms There could be
[52:36] a fire in the mall. Uh... That occurs... After a
[52:41] power outage. And that could create just pure chaos And
[52:48] a true catastrophe, so that's why the generators are so
[52:51] important. Thank you, sir, in my last question for you
[52:54] Chief Park From your training and experience, would it be
[52:56] safe or appropriate for this city council, for this body,
[53:00] or city staff to override any safety issues that were
[53:05] presented to us regarding the closure of them all. I
[53:08] would not recommend that I would strongly discourage that, and
[53:12] one of the reasons being... We're here to be your
[53:16] experts, experts are here to tell you what happened in
[53:18] the past We can't, you know, see what's happening in
[53:21] the future But we know what's happened in the past,
[53:24] and the rules out there for this... The other reason
[53:27] is You would be accepting the liability completely, as the
[53:31] city council, because you would be going against your building
[53:34] official, your fire marshal, and your fire department, and you
[53:37] would be taking on all that liability. Yourself So I
[53:40] would not recommend that. Thank you Chief Parkin, thank you
[53:43] to each of you guys for your presentations. Thank you,
[53:48] next we'll go to Mayor Pro Tim Gonzalez. Again, thank
[53:53] you, thank you team for those presentations, and chief Park
[53:58] of the five remaining violations Are these almost challenging ones
[54:04] of the... of the nine? Or are they... Are they
[54:09] all different? Um, what's the kind of challenge of the
[54:12] last remaining five? Yeah, that's actually a good question So
[54:16] in our opinion, the mall handled the easier ones first
[54:20] So for instance, they did not buy new generators They
[54:23] just rented temporary ones, right? And I will explain that
[54:28] in a minute, but... So their renting generators that are
[54:32] in good working order They haven't fixed their generators Um...
[54:36] So that still needs to occur, but that's an easy
[54:38] fix, because your renting something that works The sprinklers as
[54:42] well Uh, are pretty basic I mean it's plumbing, right?
[54:45] So to get a clean sprinkler report and a standpipe
[54:48] report is pretty basic However. If you have not maintained
[54:53] your fire alarm panel, and it has gone completely outdated
[54:56] You're going to have a hard time, they're not going
[54:58] to make those parts They're not going to update that
[55:00] software So you're looking at more challenging Same with your
[55:04] smoke control systems that are tied into that. Uh... Also
[55:07] your fire doors, and your exit signs, and your emergency
[55:10] lighting Those are all more challenging things, because they outdate
[55:13] themselves, and if you've never kept up on them You
[55:16] may have to just replace them completely, and that's going
[55:19] to be a timeline Because you're going to have to
[55:20] wait for the shipping, right? So I would agree with
[55:24] you, sir, that Yes, the less challenging things occurred first,
[55:28] and the 5 remaining are going to be more challenging.
[55:31] Thank you. Next up, council member Bernard. Thank you, so.
[55:38] The questions that I have is... So JCPenney's Macy's in
[55:43] harkens were able to stay open Can you please explain
[55:46] why they were able to stay open? Yeah, so in
[55:48] the case of Macy's and Harkins, or excuse me, Macy
[55:51] and JCPenney's. They own their own building, they own their
[55:55] own parking lot, they own their own fire protection systems
[55:59] And one of the crucial things is, is their exit
[56:02] and evacuation plans, exit outside them all So they have
[56:05] sufficient exits. With the mall concourse doors being closed, which
[56:10] is what they're at now And they're all up to
[56:13] date. And so we have a history in the city
[56:18] if we are going to issue violations of only Closing
[56:21] down the offending area, right? We're not going to close
[56:24] down a whole business if we can just say, hey
[56:27] your firehood isn't working So you can't cook There, but
[56:31] we'll slat your business stay open, right? Because we don't
[56:34] want the full impact to the business Um... And so
[56:37] that's the case for Macy's and J. C. Penny Harkinson's
[56:39] a little different We had to go and change their
[56:41] business practice So we had to work with their management.
[56:45] Harkins has sufficient exits because of the type of occupancy
[56:50] It is, you know, with it being a theater They
[56:51] need to be able to exit a lot of people
[56:53] very quickly And so they have a lot of exits,
[56:56] and they actually have like 6 bay doors at the
[57:00] rear entrance of them all, kind of over there by...
[57:02] Our GB. And so we were able to identify that
[57:06] they still had smoke doors, that they could bring down
[57:09] They could close off their kiosks, they could partition off
[57:14] those exit doors that normally people would exit into them
[57:16] all And so we weren't able to do it to
[57:19] start with councilwoman, but we were after working with them
[57:22] all We were able to let them open Unfortunately every
[57:24] other business, they share fire protection, and they share exits,
[57:29] and hallways... And so Even though we went to all
[57:32] the businesses that we thought, Okay, maybe the Open This
[57:36] business They're just already tied in, and so those were
[57:39] the only three that we could. Thank you. Thank you,
[57:45] and then one last question, maybe. For our city manager.
[57:50] Uh, to transition over... Uh, toward the businesses. Uh, the
[57:55] employees who are without work... And more of the economic
[57:58] and financial components of this. Can you share Mr. City
[58:01] Manager, any of our members of our staff... Uh... What
[58:04] options the city might have to try to provide any
[58:07] kind of assistance Uh... Economic, financial, or otherwise... For the
[58:11] businesses, for the workers... Who have been affected by the
[58:15] closure. Um... Thank you Mayor Council Members, let me go
[58:19] back to what economic development... Has already done... So the
[58:25] day of the notice evacuation... As fire was going through...
[58:29] Uh, the building... Uh... Economic development was also... We had
[58:34] developed a strike team, in which they were going through
[58:37] to the businesses, to the employees, providing them information about...
[58:43] Their respective resources, whether it be an employee or business.
[58:47] Um... They've also put out additional information... About the Burke
[58:53] and other resources that are available to the business community,
[58:56] as well as the employees. Um... Regards to your specific
[59:01] question... Um... On what does the city do now... Um...
[59:07] The city does not have anything... Uh... Currently... codified... that
[59:14] when a situation like this happens, that a particular... fund
[59:19] or particular reserve... or particular policy kicks in, in which
[59:24] we deem... an economic package... Give you an example. Recently...
[59:31] When we had... Federal shutdown. One of the longest ones
[59:36] in history. Um... This particular body under emergency powers created
[59:41] a fund......'for a food program. So, although we don't have
[59:48] a standing codified policy or practice...... this body could make
[59:53] a decision...... as to...... something of that nature that we
[59:58] did with the food program, or the food pantry,...... do
[1:00:01] something here. Um, but at this particular point in time,
[1:00:03] we do not have anything in place. Other than the
[1:00:06] economic development, uh, department department going out, and providing resources
[1:00:10] for the businesses and the employees. Did that answer your
[1:00:13] question? Yes, thank you, Mr. Senior Manager. Mr. Mayor. Yes.
[1:00:20] If I could, I'd like to give a progress report
[1:00:24] of what occurred today so that you can be fully
[1:00:26] up - to - date. I couldn't put it in
[1:00:28] the presentation because it occurred today, and you know, we
[1:00:31] have a posting time. But I think it would be
[1:00:33] beneficial to the council, if you would like. Absolutely, please.
[1:00:37] Okay, so today myself in Edgar and the team went
[1:00:39] out to meet with the mall owner, and his staff,
[1:00:42] and this is what we found. Um... The good news
[1:00:44] is the mall owner has hired several people to address
[1:00:47] the nine life safety violations, and each day that we
[1:00:50] go to the mall, we receive... reports, and we continue
[1:00:53] our inspections, and some progress has been made. Some of
[1:00:56] that has been explained pretty well by our city attorney.
[1:00:59] But I'd like to show you what one of the
[1:01:01] reports. This is called a clean report. I know you
[1:01:03] can't see it very well, but on the clean report,
[1:01:06] what you'll see is there's a spot that says pass,
[1:01:08] and then the spot that says fail. This is for
[1:01:10] the sprinklers, okay? So this is a clean report, and
[1:01:13] that's why it's got everything is itemized, right? It says
[1:01:16] all the parameters. Who did it? Where it was? What...
[1:01:19] What sprinkler they're looking at? All those things. And then
[1:01:22] the opposite is a dirty report. So the Durry report
[1:01:25] basically has a box here that says fail. Right? And
[1:01:30] so that is also required so that we know what
[1:01:33] they're working on, right? So when we go in, we
[1:01:35] say, where's your dirty report, and they hand it to
[1:01:37] us? And we said, okay, how are you working on
[1:01:39] this? And so, so far, we've gotten clean reports from
[1:01:42] sprinklers and stamp pipes and smoke dampers. When we asked
[1:01:49] for the report. For the emergency lights and exit signs.
[1:01:58] We were given this letter. This letter is... this is
[1:02:01] when we were there on 221, okay? So a few
[1:02:03] days ago on 21, we went there, and they gave
[1:02:05] us the layer. We said, where's your report? We want
[1:02:07] more information. Do you have a clean report? They said,
[1:02:09] yes, this is our clean report. Okay, I'm gonna read
[1:02:12] it to you, okay? To whom it may concern, this
[1:02:15] letter is to confirm that all emergency lights and exit
[1:02:18] signs. At the above reference job site have been inspected
[1:02:21] and tested. All units are currently in good working order......
[1:02:25] and operating as intended. Testing was performed to verify proper
[1:02:30] illumination...... and functionality during emergency power. No deficiencies where it
[1:02:37] deserved at the time of this inspection. Of a signature......
[1:02:42] it didn't put a name down. It's an electrical services.
[1:02:45] Okay, so this is what they presented to us. Except...
[1:02:51] That we know it's false. Because it says they tested
[1:02:55] it under emergency power. But they didn't have generators. So
[1:02:59] how are they going to test something that it's under
[1:03:01] emergency power? They can't. Also, we know, because we've done
[1:03:04] the inspection that there's several exit signs that are in
[1:03:08] violation. So we went out to check them, right? They're
[1:03:10] telling us that it's good. Okay? Again, I know you
[1:03:14] can't see these, but they're for you. Broken. Broken. Broken.
[1:03:23] Broken. And broken. So we cannot sign off anything, right?
[1:03:29] That says, an obvious violation. It also makes us very
[1:03:34] hard for us to trust who we're talking to. Now,
[1:03:37] today, full transparency, they came in at the mall owner
[1:03:41] and his representative came in. They gave us some more.
[1:03:45] Dirty reports. Okay, so... I just told you that they
[1:03:50] told us that this was their clean report. And now
[1:03:52] they gave us this report. For fire and exit signs.
[1:03:56] Because we told them we cannot accept this. And it's
[1:03:59] dirty. Okay, so it means that the failures in this.
[1:04:03] In all the additional reports, they had failures. So here's
[1:04:09] another report. That we receive from a contractor. And they're
[1:04:13] just being honest here, this contractor. They wrote, repairs are
[1:04:16] needed. Units turned off at the breaker. And they list
[1:04:20] the items. So we know the smoke management system is
[1:04:23] not in working order. And even if some of it
[1:04:26] did work, it's turned off right at the breakers, because
[1:04:28] it's failed. So. We do have additional reports each day.
[1:04:36] We will be looking at them. We'll go out there.
[1:04:38] But the past history is not helping the situation. And
[1:04:44] our goal is for the mall to be safe and
[1:04:47] prosperous, right? We all want that, like our city attorney
[1:04:50] said. We want to reopen it, but we want it
[1:04:54] to stay open. And I say, stay open, because the
[1:04:59] mall owner told us that their generators are 30 years
[1:05:01] old, and they don't work. And so he asked us,
[1:05:05] could we approve a backup to the backup. In other
[1:05:09] words, temporary generators, right? One's on wheels. We said, yeah.
[1:05:13] Okay. As long as they meet the requirements of the
[1:05:16] building, and they're approved by our building official, we'll do
[1:05:19] that, because we want you to get the testing done,
[1:05:21] and we want it up and running. But the law
[1:05:24] is very clear. Temporary means 90 days. Okay? So the
[1:05:29] mall has pledged that they'll fix these nine life safety
[1:05:32] violations. But remember, they have hundreds. The ones that Steve
[1:05:35] talks. There's hundreds of those other violations. So, what happens
[1:05:39] in 90 days when we go back? They still have
[1:05:42] many violations undone. And they didn't get the generators. It's
[1:05:48] really a tough question that we're all having to think
[1:05:51] about right now, but that's the situation we're in. So
[1:05:55] that is today's update. Tomorrow there will be a new
[1:05:57] update, but I hope I was able to shed some
[1:06:01] clarity on that. Thank you. Thank you very much. Once
[1:06:06] again, for the reports and the updates. We'll go ahead
[1:06:11] and. Bring it back to the day and sell out
[1:06:15] just one last time if there are any further questions
[1:06:16] from the council. If there are none. Seeing none, we
[1:06:21] will go ahead and move into public. Council Member Broncos
[1:06:26] hackers. One more question that has been brought up on
[1:06:29] your business card that you're leaving at the mall? Yeah.
[1:06:32] Is there a bad contact number on it. It's possible.
[1:06:35] It's a city card. It may go to, and it's
[1:06:37] supposed to go to the admin, fire admin. I'll have
[1:06:41] IT look into it. Thank you. Yes. Thank you for
[1:06:43] letting me know. Thank you. We have been directing everybody
[1:06:49] to the website and the FAQs, and the call line,
[1:06:54] um, that goes to the appropriate person. So if it's
[1:06:57] a question that I can answer, I'll call them back.
[1:07:01] Thank you. So seeing there are no further questions. We
[1:07:05] will go ahead and move into public comment. Madam Clerk,
[1:07:09] how many requests do we have to speak. Thank you,
[1:07:12] Mayor. We currently have 15. I'd like for them to
[1:07:19] have the full three minutes. Okay. Madam Clerk, please go
[1:07:25] ahead and call up our first speakers. Thank you, Mayor.
[1:07:28] The first three speakers are Sheena McGill, followed by Toni
[1:07:32] Hernandez. Followed by John Stevens. And just a friendly reminder,
[1:07:39] you couldn't see your names up on the screen just
[1:07:41] in case if you're curious in what order you fall
[1:07:44] on the list. Um, so you can be prepared. And
[1:07:47] then a friendly reminder that every speaker does get three
[1:07:49] minutes per speaker. And there is a clock up on
[1:07:51] the screen, just in case if you want to reference
[1:07:53] that. Thank you. Hi, I'm Sheena McGill. I'm pretty sure
[1:07:57] everybody's sitting on the panel has heard for me. I'm
[1:08:00] speaking not only on behalf of my business, but in
[1:08:02] support of the mall and the many small business owners
[1:08:04] who operate within it. I have been overseeing properties of
[1:08:08] this magnitude since 2003 over 20 years of experience in
[1:08:12] mom management and large - scale property management. In my
[1:08:15] space alone, I have 20 staff members, including my 66
[1:08:19] - year - old mother and my child. We represent
[1:08:22] just a small portion of many individuals currently out of
[1:08:25] work and unable to provide for their families due to
[1:08:28] this closure. I poured my heart, my soul into this
[1:08:31] place, and I've sacrificed so much over 100, 000 dollars
[1:08:35] in my 4, 000 square feet. When I've learned that
[1:08:38] the mall was closed, closing, I immediately reached out to
[1:08:41] ownership who's in the building right now, and I asked,
[1:08:44] what's needed to be done, and how could I help?
[1:08:47] Within days I worked with ownership, I've secured qualified vendors
[1:08:52] to begin addressing the site of corrections, even on the
[1:08:55] weekend. I also reached out to my city and county
[1:08:58] contacts to ensure I was speaking with the right decision
[1:09:02] makers. Matt has acknowledged that mistakes were made. Ball was
[1:09:07] dropped. However, we are supposed to also believe in accountability
[1:09:10] paired with correction. Jesus teaches us to forgive, right? Neighborhood
[1:09:15] fire owner, Steve Miller, who's also in this building, a
[1:09:19] former fire chief with dead cake, decades of experience has
[1:09:22] evaluated this property. He has continuously stated and certified that
[1:09:26] the mall is in no immediate danger and does not
[1:09:30] pose a life safety risk at this time. Of the
[1:09:35] nine correction cited, the remaining items are, we're talking about
[1:09:39] doors and alarm components. We're talking about stuff that we
[1:09:41] can't find that you have to source and then buy.
[1:09:44] I'm gonna skip through some of this because I got,
[1:09:46] you know, just a minute, but your guys'city of Reno
[1:09:50] Valleys vision statement speaks about building a strong, safe, and
[1:09:55] prosperous community about economic vitality about opportunity and partnership. Keeping
[1:10:01] this small clothes as long as you guys are keeping
[1:10:03] this mall closed, this doesn't strengthen the community. It weakens
[1:10:06] a small businesses, it displaces the workers, it disrupts families
[1:10:10] and reopening with oversight. And eerie opening with an oversight
[1:10:16] aligns with your vision. You guys have to align with
[1:10:19] your vision that's on your website. It allows safety and
[1:10:24] economic stability to move forward together. Look at your mission
[1:10:27] statement, look at what's happening right now with this mom.
[1:10:30] We have so many people that are not able to
[1:10:32] go back to work for some doors. And some lighting.
[1:10:38] You just admitted that the backup generators are back up
[1:10:41] and running temporarily. There can be a fire watch, an
[1:10:46] extended fire watch. There's other avenues than to keep this
[1:10:49] mall close. Thank you. Our next three speakers are Toni
[1:10:53] Hernandez, followed by John Stevens, followed by Ismael Gonzalez. Hey,
[1:11:04] my name is Toni Hernandez, and I'm here to represent,
[1:11:07] I'll speak on behalf of them all. You know, in
[1:11:10] our main concern, I'm always to provide a safe environment
[1:11:12] for our tenants and customers. And we try to keep
[1:11:15] up as much as possible with our equipment, with our
[1:11:18] fire equipment. We have been working diligently with the fire
[1:11:21] department in the last week or so, we have been
[1:11:24] working 24 hours a day to make sure we take
[1:11:27] care of these issues. And basically, uh, we are working
[1:11:30] on that, and we are asking basically that, you know,
[1:11:37] here you mentioned something of the generators, the generators, we
[1:11:40] have ordered their parts, you know, and that's one thing
[1:11:43] where you guys are incorrect. You ordered parts and the
[1:11:46] parts are due to come in within the next few
[1:11:48] days. And, you know, we are working on these repairs.
[1:11:51] We are working on these issues, and basically you guys
[1:11:54] are being negative that we are not doing anything about
[1:11:56] this. We are working really hard, you know, cause this
[1:12:00] mall, the people that depend for this mall, you know,
[1:12:03] for their, you know, to provide for their families, you
[1:12:06] know, for their rents, for their families, you know, we
[1:12:09] have a lot of seniors that go in there in
[1:12:11] the mall walking. We have two schools that are, you
[1:12:14] know, that are backed up by the federal government. We
[1:12:18] have, you know, a couple of doctors, you know, dentist
[1:12:22] in the mall, you know, and basically this, you guys,
[1:12:25] uh, all we're asking for, you know, we will go
[1:12:29] ahead and continue to gather, to take care of all
[1:12:32] these issues in a timely manner. We just asking for
[1:12:36] an extension and let them all go back to work,
[1:12:39] you know, all the employees, cause, you know, basically you
[1:12:41] are hurting that. And we're supposed to be a city
[1:12:44] where we're supposed to be united to work together. We
[1:12:47] understand the safety issues. We understand what the fire department
[1:12:50] is doing. You know, and, you know, but we need
[1:12:52] to work together. And my recommendation is to give them
[1:12:56] all an extension and, you know, basically to allow us,
[1:12:59] uh, to get these things done while, you know, while,
[1:13:03] you know, we have the people back to work and
[1:13:06] them all, you know, to creating revenue for everybody else.
[1:13:10] So basically that is what I'm recommending the stuff to
[1:13:13] do. We're supposed to be a city to work together,
[1:13:17] not to destroy, be destroyed by the media. The media
[1:13:20] is destroyed, the city, destroying the mall, everywhere. And I
[1:13:22] understand we're working for safety. Two and a half years,
[1:13:26] we have knocked it a single issue in the mall.
[1:13:29] You know what? And basically, but I understand that there's
[1:13:32] certain issues, you know, cause you know, the most 30
[1:13:35] years old. And we are working on these issues and
[1:13:39] with your support, you know, and basically for you to
[1:13:43] a loss to do something with them all. I would
[1:13:45] appreciate it because we're going to work together and make
[1:13:47] this city what it should be. And that's what I
[1:13:51] have to say. The next three speakers are John Stevens,
[1:13:58] followed by Ismael Gonzalez, followed by Elizabeth Toribio. Hi counsel,
[1:14:03] my name's John Stevens and I'm a lawyer and I
[1:14:05] represent them all. Um, but I'm also the mayor of
[1:14:08] the city of Costa Mesa. So first thing I want
[1:14:10] to do is say thank you to Mary Cabrera to
[1:14:15] hold this meeting, this special meeting and hold it is
[1:14:19] a very good thing to listen to the public and
[1:14:22] to listen to the mall owner and me. And I
[1:14:25] appreciate it. I also like to commend your city attorney,
[1:14:29] uh, Mr. Keen to knew who since I've been working
[1:14:32] with him has been a model of responsiveness. Um, we
[1:14:36] can disagree on the substance our position, of course, is
[1:14:41] the mall shouldn't have been red tagged as a substantive
[1:14:43] manner because it didn't meet the standard of the health
[1:14:47] and safety code. We also filed an appeal that says
[1:14:51] that the actual documents were procedurally deficient. And you can
[1:14:55] read our appeal. Uh, because there wasn't a reasonable time
[1:15:00] limit for correction based on the nature of the nuisance,
[1:15:03] which is right in your code section. 6. 04. There
[1:15:07] wasn't a reference to the potential consequences of failure to
[1:15:11] abate the nuisance by the specified period. And there wasn't
[1:15:15] a notice of right to appeal in those documents. So
[1:15:19] the documents themselves were deficient. But, but I'm not here
[1:15:24] to litigate that. What I'm here to do is to
[1:15:27] be an agent to fix this problem. And as Mr.
[1:15:31] Keeniya said, he, he and I are on speed dial
[1:15:34] with one another right now. He picks up on the
[1:15:36] second ring and he responds and I appreciate it. One
[1:15:40] thing I would like to do by way of an
[1:15:42] ask is I would love it if other, um, uh,
[1:15:46] I know the fire, uh, fire department and is important
[1:15:50] is busy. But if they could have that level of
[1:15:54] responsiveness to our team, we have Mr. Miller who's working
[1:15:58] around the clock. I'm on this 24 seven to make
[1:16:01] them all open. We want this mall open, please. Please,
[1:16:06] by the weekend. Okay. And, and I, I know the
[1:16:10] position you're in also, because I sit in your chair
[1:16:13] and I know you have to listen to your experts.
[1:16:15] And I know you can't overrule your experts. But please
[1:16:18] ask them to be used their own discretion. When you
[1:16:22] elevate this to a level of a fire chief or
[1:16:25] a fire marshal, they have discretion. Please ask them to
[1:16:29] be creative and collaborative with them all. I understand that
[1:16:36] there's trust issues that have been built up over many
[1:16:39] years. I'm here as an agent to address those trust
[1:16:42] issues. I'm willing to talk to all of you. I'm
[1:16:46] willing to talk to you mayor, mayor to mayor. And
[1:16:48] I know I have the right to do that. Whatever
[1:16:50] we can do to open this mall, let's do it.
[1:16:52] Let's do it together for this community because a lot
[1:16:55] of people need to get back to work and the
[1:16:58] city needs to start running again. Thank you. The next
[1:17:02] three speakers are Ismael Gonzalez followed by Lisbeth Terribio, followed
[1:17:06] by Thomas Smith. Hello and good evening. My name is
[1:17:10] Johan Gonzalez. I'm a member of the Hero Club and,
[1:17:13] uh, Iled Alliance for Environmental Justice as well as Mary
[1:17:17] Novelli historical society. Um, I want to first buy first
[1:17:21] congratulate and applaud your fire staff, uh, your fire staff
[1:17:25] are the true heroes and the circumstance in the story.
[1:17:28] Um, without them, uh, fire chief paints a very, uh,
[1:17:34] unfortunate situation where there was pellets of alcohol sanitizer just
[1:17:40] waiting in the, uh, wrong areas of them all without
[1:17:45] any power generators, right without any sort of, uh, sprinklers.
[1:17:50] Uh, that paint, he's not eating his head. Like that
[1:17:53] paints a gruesome. Idea of one of those crates lighting
[1:17:59] up, exploding possibly with hundreds of people kids in the
[1:18:03] mall. And for the owners who asked for extensions and
[1:18:07] more leniency from the staff and from city council is
[1:18:11] ridiculous because they've even said that they've been contacting, uh,
[1:18:15] the owners for two years since 2024 in that city
[1:18:18] staff report. If he wants more availability with the fire
[1:18:24] staff, I mean, the fire staff has already said they're
[1:18:26] there every day at 1 p. m. Like how much
[1:18:29] more do you need, right? And my heart goes out
[1:18:32] for all the small business owners of the, uh, citizens
[1:18:36] of Miranda Valley because here is an owner who admitted
[1:18:39] that is from Costa Mesa, Orange County. Um, I'm not
[1:18:43] sure why the mall cannot afford its penalties or any
[1:18:46] of, uh, the upgrades that it needs 30 years for
[1:18:50] power generators. The mall was constructed in 1992. That's 34
[1:18:53] years. So that means they've never even thought about replacing
[1:18:57] them, upgrading them, um, as well as the fire emergency,
[1:19:02] uh, technology, right? Uh, that's really unfortunate. And maybe it's
[1:19:07] due to be cut or it's due in part because
[1:19:09] of how much e - commerce has infiltrated or new
[1:19:13] livelihood, right? Every day, um, people order online unceded of
[1:19:17] going to the mall. Maybe the mall needs more money
[1:19:19] to pay for all these repairs. And they're afraid to
[1:19:22] say so, you know? But that goes back to the
[1:19:24] problem of warehouses. You guys have, you guys have caused
[1:19:28] this issue in reality. You know, you guys are in
[1:19:30] part, um, responsible for the lack of, uh, malls, the
[1:19:35] decline of malls. And here are the real, uh, the
[1:19:39] constituents who are hurt by warehouses. You guys failed to
[1:19:43] pass moratorium to, uh, stop incidents like this. And here
[1:19:48] is a real life incident where, um, e - commerce
[1:19:53] is really taking advantage of brick and mortar stores. They're
[1:19:59] being so, uh, competitive that it's, it doesn't really make
[1:20:02] sense to have moss anymore. Across America. This is a
[1:20:05] problem. And, um, yeah, I think unfortunately the more has.
[1:20:13] The next three speakers are Elizabeth Terebio followed by Thomas
[1:20:16] Smith, followed by Stephen Miller. And I would like just
[1:20:21] before the next speaker comes up, Liz bet Toribio. Just
[1:20:26] a friendly reminder for everyone to please keep it respectful.
[1:20:29] Everyone gets equal amount of time. Um, hearing some kind
[1:20:31] of, um, people speaking up while we have a speaker
[1:20:35] at the podium, if you could please just, uh, everybody
[1:20:37] be respectful and allow everybody their three minutes to, uh,
[1:20:40] make their public comments. So next up, Lisbeth Toribio.
[1:20:51] I'm speaking on behalf of Luni Suede Cafe. I understand
[1:20:56] everything that's going on. You know, you guys explained everything
[1:20:59] pretty well. Um, it's good to hear it. Um, good
[1:21:02] to hear positive feedback. It's really just, we really just
[1:21:05] want to be back, you know, uh, we have a
[1:21:07] lot of, um, employees. My whole family works there. It's
[1:21:12] just kind of been a lot on us. Want to
[1:21:17] reopen, you know, just kind of want you guys to
[1:21:19] push us, you know, push it a little bit, even
[1:21:21] if it's, I know it's hard. I know a lot
[1:21:23] of stuff going on, but if there's just any way
[1:21:25] for us to get open as soon as possible next
[1:21:28] week, maybe in two weeks, just not a month. Don't
[1:21:30] let it go for too long, you know. It's affecting
[1:21:35] us a lot, a small businesses. You know, but it's
[1:21:38] really all I have to say. Just try to get
[1:21:42] it reopened pretty quick. Thank you. The next three speakers
[1:21:47] are Thomas Smith, followed by Stephen Miller, followed by Laura
[1:21:50] Vallejo. Is Thomas Smith here. If not, we can come
[1:21:58] back. Okay. We'll go ahead and go to Steven Miller.
[1:22:08] Thank you. Uh, Mayor and Council members. I want to
[1:22:12] compliment you on your fire department. I'm a professional firefighter
[1:22:16] retired with Orange County. And I've been in the fire
[1:22:19] protection industry for 50 years. And I see with your
[1:22:23] professionals that they're doing just an A plus job, their
[1:22:26] knowledge is above base. They're, um, staff, the inspectors are
[1:22:30] there. They've been working with us. I've only been there
[1:22:33] five days. So in those five days, I think we've
[1:22:35] done leaps and bounds. Um, the only. Thing that I
[1:22:40] would like to bring into bear to mind is the
[1:22:43] current owner and manager has only had this building for
[1:22:46] three years. Everybody's talking about 30 years and all these
[1:22:50] things that need to be done. Well, he's moving forward.
[1:22:52] We've had contractors there day and night working. I, in
[1:22:56] my personal opinion, believe there may be some other options
[1:22:59] to the closure of the mall. But that's just me.
[1:23:02] And every firefighter will fight a fire a different way.
[1:23:05] And they interpret things differently. But again, they're doing their
[1:23:09] job right. And I hope that we can come to
[1:23:11] some understanding. I believe so to move this forward and
[1:23:14] get them open as fast as possible. And again, Matt
[1:23:17] is not the problem. He's the solution. Thank you very
[1:23:20] much. The next three speakers are Laura Vallejo followed by
[1:23:26] surgery Jones followed by Bob Palomares. Is Laura Vallejo here.
[1:23:34] Oh.
[1:23:49] Hello counsel. My name is Laura. I am speaking on
[1:23:52] behalf of Vallejo Western wear. And just wanted the community
[1:23:56] to know. Put a face to our name. That we
[1:24:02] are one of the small family businesses that has been
[1:24:04] deeply affected by the mall closure. It has deeply affected
[1:24:08] our livelihood as we are of small family business. And
[1:24:11] we just want them all to be open as soon
[1:24:13] as possible. Thank you. The next three speakers are surgery
[1:24:18] Jones followed by Bob Palomaris, followed by Seth Cox. Hello.
[1:24:24] I'm surgery Jones. I'm a supermodel and community activist. I
[1:24:28] just moved on July 1st. And my aunt been staying
[1:24:33] in Marino Valley for 25 years. She brought me to
[1:24:36] this mall. When they first opened. I already been helping
[1:24:40] some of the, um, some of the business owners. To
[1:24:43] support them to help bring more revenue to the, um,
[1:24:46] to the stores. And I don't feel like it should
[1:24:48] be closed. I'm going to be honest. It's the hub
[1:24:51] of this neighborhood. They got two schools in this mall.
[1:24:55] Too. That helped the neighborhood. They helped the homeless. They
[1:24:58] have a library. They have several different things. They feed
[1:25:01] the homeless. If this mall closed, a lot of people
[1:25:04] going to lose their jobs. A lot of people going
[1:25:06] to lose their revenue. A lot of people going to
[1:25:08] be out on the street and then it's going to
[1:25:10] be more homeless people. I'm disabled because I got hit
[1:25:13] by a truck last year and I was planning on
[1:25:15] opening a store in this mall. And I feel like
[1:25:18] every day I go in that mom. Them people are
[1:25:21] very nice to me. They're very opening. They respectful. And
[1:25:25] I understand they have issues, but they could be worked
[1:25:27] out. It's not even that bad of the issues. I
[1:25:30] understand they have cool issues. They all could be figured
[1:25:32] out. I also have a plane to help them all
[1:25:35] have a fundraiser to help to raise money. At the
[1:25:39] end of the day, I don't think y'all should close
[1:25:40] this mall because it's going to close moove out. Thank
[1:25:42] you. The next three speakers are ball Palomares followed by
[1:25:47] Seth Cox, followed by Christopher Bacca.
[1:26:06] And Council. Uh, I feel bad for these people that
[1:26:09] have businesses in the mall and all the employees. They're
[1:26:12] the ones that are really hurting. But, uh. My opinion,
[1:26:18] you know, I'm not an attorney or anything, but I
[1:26:20] think the city had and has an obligation going back
[1:26:27] to 2019 when there was violations then up to now,
[1:26:34] uh, apparently the current owner had it for three years
[1:26:38] in the violations have been there. And everybody's talking about,
[1:26:43] you know, what we're going to do. And I got
[1:26:47] to take my hat off to the fire chief for,
[1:26:50] you know, the great job. He did exactly what he
[1:26:52] had to do. Period. But the city has an obligation
[1:26:57] to all the people that go in that mall. And
[1:27:00] the one thing I didn't hear, and I haven't heard
[1:27:04] is that no legal action was taken against the owner.
[1:27:09] Had an incident occurred in that mall where there was
[1:27:12] life lost. Believe me, we would be in court. There's
[1:27:17] probably going to be lawsuits anyway. But we're fortunate that
[1:27:22] we're here talking about correcting these things. But the city
[1:27:27] is obligated to protect the citizens. And because you didn't
[1:27:30] take no legal action. That's no good. You know, you
[1:27:36] had plenty of time, all the violations are there. I
[1:27:41] know maybe you want to smooth it out and make
[1:27:43] a good with a... And even the city has investment
[1:27:49] in that mall. And you would risk. That all these
[1:27:52] violations are here. And you're allowing people to go in
[1:27:56] there that are affiliated with the city. That's negligent. So
[1:28:03] you need to clean it up. You've got to do
[1:28:06] what you've got to do now. The chief told us
[1:28:08] what has to be done. But you, as the city
[1:28:12] council. Need to get this guy in court. Because it's
[1:28:18] been going on for far too long. You know, this
[1:28:22] way at least you can have something to tell him.
[1:28:24] We took you to court. They told you what you
[1:28:26] need to do. Now we're going to take action. But
[1:28:29] right here, it seems like there's a little passing the
[1:28:32] buck going on. Thank you. The next three speakers are
[1:28:36] Seth Cox, followed by Christopher Bacca, followed by Alexander Johnson.
[1:28:43] Good evening, Council Mayor. Staff, first responders gallery. I'm going
[1:28:53] to steal from Ms. Palmerish tonight. All right. Wow. Just
[1:28:57] wow. How did we get here? Uh, thank you fire
[1:29:02] department for telling us how we got here. All right.
[1:29:05] Um. And it's even more disturbing to me after I
[1:29:09] hear how we got here. All right. Uh, I'm a
[1:29:13] data guy and a numbers guy. Back in June of
[1:29:18] 2023. There was a notice of determination filed. About the
[1:29:25] marino Valery development. Right. At 11 bullet points that they
[1:29:31] were going to do. I don't believe any one of
[1:29:35] them has been done. Okay. So that's one way. What
[1:29:42] that's one thing. Now comes the most current stuff. Over
[1:29:49] the 15 months. The last 15 months. The city of
[1:29:55] Marino Valley. Has spent 12. 389 million dollars on the
[1:30:02] mall. Would you like to know how they did that.
[1:30:09] The immersion studio has been paid. Seven and a half
[1:30:13] million dollars. The five million dollars they got up front.
[1:30:17] And 250, 000 dollars for the next 10 months. They
[1:30:23] were supposed to open when. This month. What's the condition
[1:30:29] of that contract right now. Is it ever going to
[1:30:32] happen. We also paid VA consult VCA consultants 75, 000
[1:30:40] dollars for structure engineering services for mall museum project. We
[1:30:48] paid electric incorporated. 4. 7 million dollars for the marina
[1:30:56] valley lease facility improvement project phase one two and three.
[1:31:01] Which that line item, I believe is in the development
[1:31:05] thing They were supposed to rehab the series building for
[1:31:09] commercial use. And now we're doing that for them in
[1:31:12] my opinion. Uh, the last one. We have a library
[1:31:18] there over the last year. If anybody doesn't know I
[1:31:23] believe the current monthly rent on that is 6, 874
[1:31:27] dollars in 54 cents. So over the last year we
[1:31:31] paid merino valley. Mall holding LLC 8, 000 82, 500
[1:31:39] dollars worth of rent. So we've been bailing them all
[1:31:43] out for over forever At least the current. The next
[1:31:52] three speakers are Christopher Baka followed by Alexander Johnson followed
[1:31:56] by Krista Hawkins. Hello good evening.
[1:32:07] Again my comments on my own don't reflect anybody else's
[1:32:10] opinion other than myself Um, so I want to start
[1:32:13] with Moreno Valley. The land of economics I mean commercial
[1:32:22] and retail. Development forces. So I'll start with Aqua Bala
[1:32:28] That's the longest that's been BS in the books for
[1:32:33] over 25 years Then you have the WLC that's been
[1:32:37] on the books for 10 years with nothing going on.
[1:32:41] Now you have the Gilmans which is coming up during
[1:32:44] the political season. So you'll vote for it so they
[1:32:49] won't have candidates running against you Um, and then now
[1:32:55] the point to this is. The redevelopment of the mall
[1:32:59] was approved in 2022 I believe. How many years has
[1:33:05] that been 2022 to redevelop the mall? And where are
[1:33:08] we now. Where are we now? Look at this situation
[1:33:14] that we're on now As far as I'm concerned This
[1:33:18] mall should be gutted out I mean I'm sorry for
[1:33:21] the businesses I think I commend the city Uh... Staff
[1:33:26] I believe Uh Santa Cruz and Bernard are proactive in
[1:33:30] helping the retailers in their economic Um... Downfalls They should
[1:33:37] be subsidized and moved Uh, and there's space throughout the
[1:33:42] city for them to be relocated to that mall should
[1:33:45] be gutted down Uh, like one of the other speakers
[1:33:49] said this era is over. It is completely over. And
[1:33:53] you need to rethink the redevelopment of this malt interior
[1:33:57] Including when they do the apartments and so forth Grocery
[1:34:03] stores may be educational facilities Maybe Just other stuff You
[1:34:10] know these trick - in chops And you know Cinnabons
[1:34:14] and all of that stuff is stuff of the past
[1:34:18] So you really need to rethink the redevelopment And as
[1:34:22] far as I'm concerned I was there Last time I
[1:34:24] was at the mall was May And that place is
[1:34:27] borderline indoor swap meet. The escalators don't work Their stores
[1:34:33] there They are plywood and chain link fence. I mean
[1:34:39] it's not You know That's not gonna attract nobody You
[1:34:42] think people are gonna get off the freeway to come
[1:34:44] to that? I don't think so That mall needs to
[1:34:47] be totally gutted out and redevelop And the city should
[1:34:52] take incentive into relocating these businesses elsewhere And those businesses
[1:34:58] can sue the mall for whatever infrastructure They put in
[1:35:01] there But otherwise It's ridiculous for them to pour and
[1:35:06] more money. The next three speakers are Alexander Johnson followed
[1:35:10] by Krista Hawkins Father by James Abaca.
[1:35:23] Good evening my name's Alexander Johnson I'm here just to
[1:35:25] speak on behalf of the city I'm on the city
[1:35:27] resident I've been here for my entire life I just
[1:35:29] want to speak on the behalf of the city and
[1:35:32] their anger and all the small businesses that were closed
[1:35:35] down during the small shutdown Also want to call on
[1:35:40] the council to build a milled touring fund for the
[1:35:43] businesses that were affected These people are going to go
[1:35:45] weeks without revenue We're going to go weeks without being
[1:35:48] their families And they're going to be behind on rent
[1:35:50] And they won't get any city support or support from
[1:35:53] the residencies Electric utilities They won't get any support. I
[1:35:58] Want the city council to put an issue Um... Into
[1:36:05] the... Their next agenda for the next city council meeting
[1:36:08] Also want to applaud the fire department Um... Their hard
[1:36:12] work and everything they've did. To make sure the mall
[1:36:15] is up to date Uh, the mall owner was very
[1:36:18] negligent And, um, he should be held accountable for that
[1:36:21] Um, these businesses are going to be greatly affected Um...
[1:36:25] It's also quite convenient that May season JC pennies and
[1:36:28] Harkins theater Uh, also Big businesses that were affected by
[1:36:31] this shutdown I think that's Totally Unfair for all the
[1:36:35] businesses that were... Affected by this shut down. Also want
[1:36:41] to talk about fire department Uh... When a great lead
[1:36:48] Thank you them for all their service for the past
[1:36:50] couple of weeks Um They gave them all two weak
[1:36:53] notice I was kind of just skimming through the meeting
[1:36:57] agenda February 5 On February 5th They contacted the mall
[1:37:04] owner And then February 19th They shut them all down
[1:37:06] I don't think they should have shut them all down
[1:37:08] On the 19th I think they should have Um... Worked
[1:37:11] with the city council Um... And... Do that. So what
[1:37:16] I want the city council to also as well is
[1:37:18] to work with the fire department and come to agreement
[1:37:21] Uh compromise Um... You know, either be forced to sell
[1:37:27] them all to make sure This doesn't happen again in
[1:37:29] the future Um... Not being able to even restore backup
[1:37:34] generators after you got them all in three years ago
[1:37:36] Is a gross negligence And... And I think there should
[1:37:39] be I just wanted to again speak to the anger
[1:37:42] Of the city And I just want those businesses to
[1:37:45] know that we are all Um... In your prayers Thank
[1:37:47] you so much. The next three speakers are Krista Hawkins
[1:37:53] followed by James Vega followed by Louise Palomares. Hi my
[1:37:57] name is Krista Hawkins I'm just here as a resident
[1:38:00] Been in Renovalle all my life Um My heart goes
[1:38:03] out to the small business owners And wow I just
[1:38:06] I just have to say Wow merino Valley Like you
[1:38:09] guys are just doing an amazing job Showing what merino
[1:38:12] Valley is about. Like the... You guys are gonna go
[1:38:15] home tonight Y'all Y'all gonna Eat I'm sure you're gonna
[1:38:17] be able to pay your bills And these business owners
[1:38:20] These small business on theirs They're gonna have to sit
[1:38:22] up tonight and try to figure out How they're gonna
[1:38:24] make things work How they're gonna pull it together And
[1:38:27] like everyone has been saying It's been negligence Years of
[1:38:30] negligence I don't know all the politics I don't know
[1:38:34] The hierarchies But I don't know You can't work any
[1:38:36] job Where you don't have accountability Everyone has a boss
[1:38:40] Everyone has someone to answer to And it's been years
[1:38:42] of the owner or whoever the city council The city
[1:38:47] Not holding this person accountable To what's been doing And
[1:38:50] now in the end Capitalism The small businesses suffer. They
[1:38:55] suffer And they're the ones that are gonna have to
[1:38:57] figure out what they have to do To feed their
[1:38:59] family and to keep on going with the business The
[1:39:01] young man who just spoke He spoke amazing I didn't
[1:39:03] even think about that They're gonna be behind on their
[1:39:05] bills And I'm sure they're still gonna be expected to
[1:39:07] pay them. And not being in business right now. So
[1:39:10] it's just really sad And also we know that Marino
[1:39:14] Valley Let's be transparent There's not a lot of jobs
[1:39:16] here Moreno Valley is a commuter city Unless you work
[1:39:19] at the hospital Maybe at the college Maybe at some
[1:39:23] schools There's not a lot of jobs here And I
[1:39:25] really blame that on the city And I want you
[1:39:27] guys to think the city council What vision do you
[1:39:30] have for more in a valley. What vision do you
[1:39:33] have? Because the mall is a place where jobs are.
[1:39:36] And now the mall is closed. Not everybody wants to
[1:39:39] work out a warehouse I'm sorry That you guys keep
[1:39:42] putting every other day Every other week. So I'm just
[1:39:48] looking at you guys And I really hope that you
[1:39:50] hold yourself accountable Everyone here Like I said I don't
[1:39:53] know the politics But everyone who has a position to
[1:39:55] do something. I hope you guys hold yourself accountable And
[1:39:59] think come together I don't know if the fun I
[1:40:02] don't know if the budget But I know the money
[1:40:04] somewhere that you guys can help these small businesses while
[1:40:07] they're out of work. And I do I understand that
[1:40:12] the chief that you guys are under a lot of
[1:40:14] pressure The fire department is under a lot of pressure
[1:40:17] Because it's been ongoing problems with the mall Since I've
[1:40:20] been in high school. But like I said once again
[1:40:24] The small business owners are the ones who are affected
[1:40:27] So really sit and think about your vision from Rinavalle
[1:40:30] Because it's just being destroyed And think again before you
[1:40:33] put another Um, warehouse. The next three speakers are James
[1:40:41] Vega followed by Louise Palomares followed by Nikita Wilson. Hi
[1:40:47] everybody Good afternoon. Here on behalf of Robert Garcia Specifically
[1:40:52] he's out of town So Uh So He just wants
[1:40:55] to put on the record Uh based on him coming
[1:40:58] to the city and trying to bring something positive to
[1:41:00] the city that Uh, obviously he's unhappy A big investment
[1:41:04] on his part time effort to try to bring something
[1:41:07] positive to the city But he wants to put on
[1:41:09] the record that the current lease that he's in is
[1:41:12] Unvalid Uh, based on lack of disclosure. Um... About the
[1:41:18] conditions of the mall Okay Uh Two parts The contract
[1:41:22] never stipulates anything in regards to them being any external
[1:41:26] issues with the fire department Uh, that can affect his
[1:41:30] livelihood Over 200 kids that he trains Uh just in
[1:41:34] bad taste Uh, he's not happy about it It's very
[1:41:36] unfortunate Um, second part Uh, we went through Personally I
[1:41:41] went through over a year. Uh... Working to try to
[1:41:44] make this happen And Unfortunately We were never told by
[1:41:50] the fire department outside of the building What the conditions
[1:41:52] were... Or else the investment would have never been made
[1:41:55] So With that said It's unfortunate Uh, but he just
[1:41:58] wants to put on the record that he has no
[1:42:00] ties Uh... To the mall at this point. Uh... Due
[1:42:04] to the contract not stipulating what... And needed to stipulate
[1:42:08] Or anything that can hinder his business He runs a
[1:42:11] multi - million dollar championship boxing Operation that was in
[1:42:15] Reynold Valley. And he can't do it at this point
[1:42:18] with no idea when it can happen again So based
[1:42:21] on that, the lack of communication from Lamar Uh He
[1:42:24] just wants to put that on the record Thank you
[1:42:26] Jim. The next three speakers are Louise Palomar is followed
[1:42:32] by Nikita Wilson. Wow Just swap We're on the Titanic
[1:42:38] here. This is our merit The Titanic Mayor Everything is
[1:42:41] touched turns the crap It's so sad He's the leader
[1:42:44] of the city here He's the one I know He
[1:42:46] was involved with the Garcia boys You know to bring
[1:42:49] it on Hey we can do this Let's do it
[1:42:52] They brought it the poor man Right now He could
[1:42:55] lose his shirt here Because of you that encouraged him.
[1:42:59] You know You should have told him all the red
[1:43:01] tape That was going on behind the scenes You're the
[1:43:03] mayor You should've known This was going on But you're
[1:43:05] too busy on a campaign trail. unceded of doing what
[1:43:09] you gotta do for the city You probably knew a
[1:43:11] lot of these violations Why didn't you get on the
[1:43:13] owner over there? Don't you know the owner also Mr.
[1:43:15] Matt We should be protesting at his house You know
[1:43:19] really It's so sad It's a sad day Amarino Valley
[1:43:21] That we have a mayor with no leadership skills And
[1:43:24] other businesses that are there too also are suffering Because
[1:43:28] the museum We had... It's not even open yet We're
[1:43:31] pouring money there Why did we even Do it there
[1:43:34] When we knew all these violations We're going on Who
[1:43:37] knew what and when did they know it And golly
[1:43:39] really really really Come on You're too busy suing people
[1:43:43] like me that come in speak truth to power And
[1:43:47] the facts. So to shut us up to go away
[1:43:50] You know the Thomas's You suit them You put them
[1:43:53] in court for over a year Violated the First Amendment
[1:43:56] right. The First Amendment Right We the city had to
[1:43:59] pay They took you back to court We the city
[1:44:01] had to pay 2 million dollars on your watch We're
[1:44:06] paying your bill Maybe we could use some of that
[1:44:09] 2 million to help these people out It's not their
[1:44:11] fault They went to work one day and didn't have
[1:44:14] a place to go to work at People got up
[1:44:16] in the morning Then know that they were going to
[1:44:19] a job That wasn't going to be there When were
[1:44:20] you going to tell these are the victims These are
[1:44:23] the victims The decisions that our mayor has made And
[1:44:27] a leadership Yes you're too busy suing your company The
[1:44:31] flock cameras The flock camera member You were working for
[1:44:34] them That's a complic adventures But you were working for
[1:44:37] them And you turn them around in student for a
[1:44:40] sexual harassment lawsuit Come on wasn't that a complic of
[1:44:43] interest You suit them got money from them You shouldn't
[1:44:46] have been working for those camera people Really really really
[1:44:50] So it's sad The leadership here is going to pot
[1:44:53] here I just feel sorry for the people here that
[1:44:56] work in those stores And that own the stores rent
[1:44:59] the start And the people that work in those stores
[1:45:02] Wow tell Cabrera give me a break When are you
[1:45:06] going to change it up Cabrera. Man you got us
[1:45:09] on a train wreck slash Um golly I'm upset I'm
[1:45:15] upset because outrageous me How much money do these people
[1:45:19] owe in back taxes Over 7 million? I mean Strike
[1:45:23] that over 700, 000 from 119 One owner to another
[1:45:27] When we're going to collect those black taxes But we
[1:45:29] let it go on and on and on. Everybody's got
[1:45:32] a part to play here Really really. Come on Kaber
[1:45:36] Get with it Do the right thing for the right
[1:45:38] reason It's not just about. The next three speakers are
[1:45:43] Nikita Wilson followed by SI followed by Micah Barrett. Hello
[1:45:50] everyone I'm Nikita Wilson My comments is of my own.
[1:45:56] I just wanted to address Repeated notices. Repeated opportunities. Continued
[1:46:05] non - compliance. Institutional patients. I'll repeat that. Institutional. Patience.
[1:46:16] I Understand that the violations. Are the responsibility of the
[1:46:19] owner. We've heard that. Going forward I'm just curious Are
[1:46:24] there being policy tools implemented to prevent You know make
[1:46:32] shorter enforcements when people are non - compliant. Is there
[1:46:36] been something implemented to once you have this amount of
[1:46:42] non - compliance and institutional patients. Is there a shorter
[1:46:48] limit being implemented to prevent this risk from happening in
[1:46:52] the future. The next three speakers are SI followed by
[1:47:00] Micah Barry followed by Jeslyn McGill.
[1:47:11] This will allow you to under him. Thank you everybody
[1:47:15] here that we want to see some solution today. I'm
[1:47:20] honored up to a story in the mall. And I
[1:47:23] have family and I have to pay the rain I
[1:47:25] have to pay my family Also I have to survive
[1:47:28] I have old mother 85 years old I have to
[1:47:32] feed for heart. And I work every seven days in
[1:47:36] this mall. I'm being here three years. And I didn't
[1:47:39] see any bad things in this model. And all the
[1:47:43] customer was happy And I want to know like the
[1:47:46] fire department and the mall management They both say hyperman
[1:47:50] say nine violation and moral say is fixed. What is
[1:47:54] the who making this decision to solve this problem Party
[1:47:58] permanent state the hundred court can be they counted. How
[1:48:02] they say nine and they let her on and say
[1:48:05] 100 point gonna become a later on This is I
[1:48:08] know I understand. We don't understand this point We only
[1:48:12] want to see as soon as possible to mold the
[1:48:15] opinion. Is this decision. What we're going to do we
[1:48:19] now have code I'm hungry and the and the fire
[1:48:21] dependence say close your business Ford We don't know when
[1:48:24] they're going to hop in I invested their 300, 000
[1:48:28] Dollars And I know making money in nothing I staying
[1:48:30] home I get in depression. I Getting so sick. My
[1:48:35] family need the money. The hungry Uh the lion If
[1:48:40] they see any food They're going to grab it. So
[1:48:44] you guys at least do something that the power department
[1:48:48] can work perily as well the mall Open the same
[1:48:53] times So we can do the business and solve the
[1:48:56] problem as well We want to these assault the problem
[1:48:59] We don't want like that Oh the firepan may be
[1:49:01] time Go and say stop it Stop it Is he
[1:49:04] at this point So I know when I open the
[1:49:06] business Party Mind men go and say two problem I
[1:49:10] fixed troops They send the different man and they go
[1:49:14] They say Oh no no no You have two other.
[1:49:17] So when you say the two it should be two
[1:49:20] It's not be like again Oh another two. So same
[1:49:23] thing that small management close That is the 134 restore
[1:49:28] And there is the 3, 000 employee walk I have
[1:49:32] employee They don't have put I ask them What did
[1:49:35] they do not getting any job Monobilly is the best
[1:49:38] city Here we have the good mayor We have good
[1:49:41] to stop. Why the monoville mall going to be close
[1:49:45] for seven days. Why should anybody tell in 10 years
[1:49:51] more and he has the fire. Nobody can say the
[1:49:54] moyle has the fire pole M safety I drive every
[1:49:57] day from here to enter a year And I drive
[1:50:00] my thought I can be accident. But he's I cannot
[1:50:04] say Oh I'm not going to go home because I'm
[1:50:06] going to get accident. I type every day 1000 thousand
[1:50:10] people driving Maul is good place to go there by
[1:50:14] shopping And we make money there And the customer Thanks
[1:50:17] a lot of stuff on that Thank you The next
[1:50:19] three speakers are Micah Barrett followed by Jeslyn McGill. Followed
[1:50:24] by Oliver Olivares. My name is Michael Barrett all comments
[1:50:30] I make her of my own opinion Uh, I've been
[1:50:32] a resident of Reyno Valley for the last two years
[1:50:35] Um, I enjoy living in this city Um, and when
[1:50:39] I listen to everyone that has spoken today The number
[1:50:41] one thing that I see that comes up is the
[1:50:43] communication And I know that you said that the onus
[1:50:46] of the communication is on the mall owner Which I
[1:50:48] do agree with because a lot of these violations should
[1:50:50] have been addressed much sooner They should have also been
[1:50:53] you know made known to the tenets of them all
[1:50:56] so they can understand You know what consistent What type
[1:50:58] of situation they could face in the future Um, and
[1:51:02] one thing that I'll say Mr. Uh mayor Cabrera that
[1:51:04] I appreciated was your social media post yesterday And I'm
[1:51:07] sure it was posted other places as well Um, you
[1:51:09] know addressing the situation with them all Uh, and then
[1:51:12] also You know council members holding this meeting today I
[1:51:15] really do appreciate that And I hope that the city
[1:51:17] does as well Uh, but I think that we need
[1:51:19] more of that communication going forward Um, I speak to
[1:51:23] the mall owner I've spoken to him since I've gotten
[1:51:25] back on Tuesday And you know he told me on
[1:51:28] Tuesday that they expect to be open end of day
[1:51:31] Wednesday I spoke to him today He said he expects
[1:51:33] to be opened by end of day Thursday Which is
[1:51:35] today I understand there was fire marshal Uh inspection Uh,
[1:51:40] done today And we just don't know where we stand.
[1:51:44] And I think that I know again that the onus
[1:51:47] is on the mall owner to provide that communication But
[1:51:50] I think that we also appreciate hearing it from you
[1:51:52] as well And that we feel that we know that
[1:51:54] you guys are handling it and that you're on top
[1:51:56] of it Um, and I also liked in that post
[1:51:58] because I didn't know about this until yesterday was that
[1:52:00] there is the mobile. org slash mall that shows that
[1:52:04] the violations are being addressed Um, and I think just
[1:52:08] maybe as those violations get addressed unceded of just You
[1:52:11] know the update on the website is just kind of
[1:52:13] setting out like hey You know This is where the
[1:52:14] mall is currently and you know they've addressed another two
[1:52:17] violations or another one violation and you know We're expecting
[1:52:20] and you don't have to give a date on when
[1:52:21] you expect them all to be open But just giving
[1:52:23] us that you know that Uh that sense of comfortability
[1:52:27] that you know things are moving ahead because again when
[1:52:29] I talk to them all owner He doesn't know and
[1:52:31] so I'm not saying that you would know or that
[1:52:33] you know the fire chief of no or the fire
[1:52:35] marshal would know Um, but at least we can get
[1:52:37] a sense that you know things are moving ahead and
[1:52:39] You know we are going to be reopened You know
[1:52:42] in a timely manner. Thank you for your time. The
[1:52:48] next two speakers are Jesslyn McGill followed by Oliver Olivares.
[1:52:53] Hello good evening my name is Jessly McGill. I just
[1:52:56] had just a few things just I just wanted to
[1:52:59] say in regards to my daughter Oh she know she
[1:53:02] owns a boutique inside the mall A hair salon. You
[1:53:07] know the fire department comes in they check everything out
[1:53:12] You know but they check them out You know as
[1:53:14] soon before they when they open a business they come
[1:53:15] in So how do them all have all these issues
[1:53:19] When they're checking everyone that moves into the mall We
[1:53:22] have a whole lot of new people that moved into
[1:53:26] the mall But yet they're saying that the mall have
[1:53:28] all these issues How can that be with all these
[1:53:31] issues When you're checking everyone that moves into the mall.
[1:53:36] I don't understand that. Yeah we are including the museum
[1:53:43] The museum is downstairs They're they allowed them all to
[1:53:47] open up that well get ready to open up the
[1:53:49] museum But yet they have all these issues. And I
[1:53:52] don't understand that how can they have all these issues
[1:53:55] all these Reports and all these things that need to
[1:53:57] be done Whenever someone Open up they check them I
[1:54:03] don't understand it That's all I have to say. The
[1:54:09] next two speakers are Oliver Olivares followed by Lorena Calderón.
[1:54:20] Good evening everyone My name is Halo Olivares CEO and
[1:54:23] co - owner of Roy Garcia Box and Academy. And
[1:54:26] the reason why I'm here You know That problem that
[1:54:29] everybody has out here Uh just open up the gym
[1:54:34] last year Uh, thinking all this kid Kids and people
[1:54:38] that we could help And we have over 300 kids
[1:54:42] plus a professionals that we had Um I had the
[1:54:44] opportunity to work with Uh Weed Ulyses and his team
[1:54:48] Do you guys great people I know you guys can
[1:54:50] pull this off I know you guys can make it
[1:54:51] happen I know you guys are smart enough to help
[1:54:54] us out and get this going Um, also I'm a
[1:54:58] general contractor Hajjno And I know what they're calling is
[1:55:02] true. You know it's safe to issues that needs to
[1:55:05] be Um, resolve But we can make it happen guys
[1:55:09] I mean there's a lot of people that they need
[1:55:12] There's been this open And talking to my business and
[1:55:15] my behalf Uh, we just Like I said We just
[1:55:18] open up our business like a year ago And we
[1:55:20] have compliances with everything I mean Everything that you guys
[1:55:23] are looking for We had it We have Umors going
[1:55:27] to the parking lot So I mean I don't want
[1:55:32] to be selfish here But we have hundreds of thousands
[1:55:35] of dollars investing this There's a lot of kids Uh
[1:55:39] They see their future there So I think our business
[1:55:42] to be compliant to be reopened tomorrow. We have everything
[1:55:48] we comply with lighting and everything We just pass that
[1:55:51] I Mean March 8. Last year we opened this gym
[1:55:54] And we complain with everything So we went through the
[1:55:57] whole thing And thank you who listens for putting up
[1:55:59] the team We work with James Verdugo También He help
[1:56:03] us out a lot to went through So please guys
[1:56:07] Let me open my gym tomorrow. We comply not too
[1:56:10] long ago And I know It's good to go. Thank
[1:56:14] you. Our next speaker is Lorena Calderón. Hi my name
[1:56:23] is Lorena I have a sports shop at the Marino
[1:56:26] Valley Mall. I came tonight to see hopefully there was
[1:56:30] a solution Which I don't see any solution Like I
[1:56:33] thought you guys were here to help us attendance or
[1:56:34] anything I don't see anything like that There's stuff that
[1:56:38] have question is like Harkin stayed open But yeah They're
[1:56:41] still using the entrance to go to the mall to
[1:56:43] go into their theaters. The museum It was open So
[1:56:48] with all these violations How did it get approved to
[1:56:51] get open. When I opened my location The fire department
[1:56:54] went in They didn't let him You know about any
[1:56:56] of all this And now like all this. So I
[1:57:00] just asked for please let us. The next speaker is
[1:57:07] Roy Blecker. What
[1:57:17] a great points were just made. Want to say this
[1:57:22] off the beginning I mean I can go back to
[1:57:24] wiser The recently retired cow Fire Chief County chief to
[1:57:28] Jesse I've been crossing these guys for parts of seven
[1:57:31] decades. I can tell you this from my experience If
[1:57:35] it got to this point There is something really radical
[1:57:39] wrong Because those guys will bend over backwards to try
[1:57:42] and help you out So all this maligning of the
[1:57:44] fire department of that I believe in my experience has
[1:57:48] shown that there is no way that could be possible
[1:57:51] going on. So I listen I've heard the reports everything
[1:57:59] in the comments. Now we're going to address the elephant
[1:58:03] in the room. There's a reports I heard the mall
[1:58:06] company owes almost half a million dollars at least from
[1:58:09] press reports I saw for officers services billing hours that
[1:58:14] were provided in the last year that were not paid
[1:58:16] for. If this is the case then how did that
[1:58:21] get to Forition. And is there a provision for that
[1:58:26] to be taken care of? Because that's actual money that's
[1:58:28] been paid out. And what is the contract? Because I
[1:58:34] believe my understanding If I remember correctly back in 89
[1:58:38] The conditions of approval were supposed to be an officer
[1:58:41] for every hour that mall was open was supposed to
[1:58:45] be on site. What are the billing hours today? When
[1:58:49] how are they... How many hours are on there Because
[1:58:53] my understanding Temecula has four cops For every hour that
[1:58:56] mall down there is open Everybody talks about public safety.
[1:59:01] Let's compare merino valley to what everybody else does and
[1:59:04] what this mall is doing Let's get the real Fox
[1:59:07] out on the table. Something is going wrong here. Big
[1:59:13] time. We didn't get to this Position. Out of nowhere.
[1:59:20] And well you can go Central City Mall if you're
[1:59:22] a fossil like me or care somal Disappears to me
[1:59:25] to be going that direction. And if we don't stop
[1:59:29] it or correct it. What the... What you're hearing today
[1:59:35] is going to be tittly Wings to what's coming. And
[1:59:38] you heard the amount of money Everything needs to be
[1:59:41] put on the table We need a full report of
[1:59:44] what the contracts were What's been spent? What's been done?
[1:59:48] We shouldn't have to make FOIA requests It should be
[1:59:51] out there tomorrow. Everything. Any amendments Anything to disagreement Because
[1:59:58] public safety is at stake And I will tell you
[2:00:00] Mr. Costa Mayor Attorney Mayor or anybody Maul All of
[2:00:03] you Again I will put the offer on the table
[2:00:07] You can come on my show And we'll address this
[2:00:09] till the cows come home. Come on have some balls
[2:00:13] and stand up and defend your positions and your actions
[2:00:17] all around That's how we'll solve this anywhere else You're
[2:00:21] all the chicken beliefs that you. Mayor that concludes all
[2:00:30] of public comments for tonight's item. Thank you Madam Clerk
[2:00:34] And thank you to all of our public speakers as
[2:00:35] well for coming out this evening At this time We
[2:00:38] will before we bring it back up to the dais
[2:00:41] I do want to just bring it back to the
[2:00:43] staff level And hand it over back to Uh our
[2:00:47] city staff to respond to any questions that may still
[2:00:50] need to be answered So at this time I'll go
[2:00:52] ahead and turn it over to city staff. Well I
[2:00:57] think some points of clarification Um... As the city and
[2:01:02] attorney and I were listening to some comments. I don't
[2:01:05] know how... People reference that the mall owner has only
[2:01:09] owned it for three years He's owned it since November
[2:01:11] of 2017. So much longer than three years And the
[2:01:17] owner does have the responsibility Uh... To ensure that... Uh...
[2:01:22] The property meets the state building codes Also somebody mentioned
[2:01:27] that the museum is open The museum is not open
[2:01:32] And we were going through tenant improvements and working with
[2:01:37] lighthouse immersive Uh... Which is the consultant Uh... For the
[2:01:42] museum... And designing and building out that all work has
[2:01:47] stopped Um... And... And our library that the city owns
[2:01:51] Uh... The mall doesn't own that It's a city library
[2:01:55] has also seized operations as well Um... Yes, we have
[2:01:59] been... Um... Tenants of that particular mall Um... For some
[2:02:07] time. As it has been an initiative of this particular
[2:02:11] council and councils before this council. That we have libraries
[2:02:16] in every district And so just as we have a
[2:02:20] main library We also have satellite libraries in each of
[2:02:23] the districts And we're currently building one Um... At Lakeshore
[2:02:27] Village And so... Um... That is why we Our tenants
[2:02:32] there I would also say that Um... As far as
[2:02:37] when businesses come in. And there's an inspection what is
[2:02:44] more typically known as a certificate of occupancy That particular
[2:02:47] inspection is inspecting the suite Um... Or the space in
[2:02:53] which the business or tenant is going into All of
[2:02:57] those have sub - panels. All of those have different
[2:03:01] requirements for the tenant to ensure that Um... It is
[2:03:07] safe for that space The sub panels are not the
[2:03:10] issue here It's main pane panels Uh related to fire
[2:03:18] safety life safety Um... Any of the panels in their
[2:03:23] area It is the main panels for the entire mall
[2:03:27] Um... So that takes care of why businesses are able
[2:03:33] to Occupy those spaces when they become new tenants Um
[2:03:40] I do want to also mention that when council Um...
[2:03:46] In early 2025 Uh... Approved Uh... The lease and the
[2:03:51] immersive mall Uh... To go in the bottom Uh... Or
[2:03:55] the first floor of the old Sears building Um... Once
[2:03:59] we started getting in that space and started taking a
[2:04:01] look at Um... Various tenant improvements Uh... We And I
[2:04:07] think Chief alluded to this earlier We started noticing some
[2:04:12] things about Um... How the mall operates and saw some...
[2:04:18] Unpermitted work and so forth Even steel beams that we
[2:04:21] cut out Um... Do a 16, 000 square foot Um...
[2:04:27] Sorry... Um... Floor to ceiling Uh... Section in the second
[2:04:30] floor of the seers building. Those particular beams Uh... That
[2:04:34] were laying on the ground Um... Later that week were
[2:04:37] used by the mall owner Uh... Weld in where they
[2:04:42] were supposed to be closing Uh... The escalators that were
[2:04:45] in the old Sears building Well those are warped Um...
[2:04:48] Steel beams And so Uh... That is against building codes
[2:04:53] and so forth So we did learn a lot over
[2:04:56] 2025 Um So I've answered Um... Why tenants are able
[2:05:01] to Occupy certain spaces I've answered the fact that the
[2:05:07] mall owner his own Uh the building since November 2017
[2:05:11] Talked about our museum and our library I think that's
[2:05:15] covered a lot of the things that we were concerned
[2:05:17] about And some of the comments But I know Uh
[2:05:20] the city attorney Uh... Wants to briefly discuss Um... Why
[2:05:25] the city didn't take... Um... Legal Action against them all.
[2:05:31] This may sound very awkward coming from an attorney But
[2:05:36] I believe that litigation should always be the last resort.
[2:05:40] Particularly when alternative remedies exist. In this particular case You
[2:05:45] know we have a relationship with the mall Because we
[2:05:48] have entered into a lease agreement with the mall. And
[2:05:53] with respect to the numerous code violations The violations related
[2:05:58] to our municipal code Which are not the reasons for
[2:06:01] shutting down the mall. We have attempted The staff has
[2:06:05] attempted to resolve these matters or to get them all
[2:06:08] owner to resolve these matters Over the last few years.
[2:06:12] Um... And some of them have been resolved. But because
[2:06:17] as a city manager mentioned We have had contractors in
[2:06:19] there Uh... Working on preparing the premises that we have
[2:06:24] leased for the immersive Museum We're planning on opening there
[2:06:29] And through our contractors That's... I understand that's where our...
[2:06:33] When our fire department discovered That some of these issues
[2:06:36] related to fire protection and life safety issues were a
[2:06:40] lot more severe That we have no we knew or
[2:06:46] in anticipated. In response to that When that came to
[2:06:49] the attention of the city manager in my office That's
[2:06:53] when we made a decision to send out this joint
[2:06:55] letter to the mall owner Advising the moral owner Not
[2:06:58] only of the municipal code violations Which again don't form
[2:07:01] the basis for shutting down the mall But it was
[2:07:04] all the life safety and fire protection issues that turned
[2:07:07] out to be very very serious. And when we didn't
[2:07:11] get a response from that We I sent out another
[2:07:15] letter, a follow - up letter And at the same
[2:07:18] time You know after comparing with fire department We realized
[2:07:22] that we had reached an impasse with the mole owner
[2:07:25] Because I didn't receive any response to the letter that
[2:07:29] I sent to him And the fire department did not
[2:07:33] receive any response with respect to any attempt or any
[2:07:38] planned attempt by the mall owner to remedy These nine...
[2:07:43] Safety issues. So again litigation should always be the last
[2:07:48] resort And also in the context of government Right now
[2:07:53] we're dealing with a property interest and as all of
[2:07:57] us know in this country We protect property interests. We
[2:08:02] cannot take the rights away from a property owner without
[2:08:06] providing them with due process What's that mean? Well we
[2:08:10] have to provide them with an opportunity to appeal our
[2:08:13] decision. And I can inform the council today That as
[2:08:18] of yesterday we did receive an appeal of this determination.
[2:08:22] So we have to go to that process before we
[2:08:24] can initiate any litigation against the mall owner. So I
[2:08:29] just wanted to put, you know Go on record to
[2:08:32] explain why we didn't jump to litigation on this issue.
[2:08:38] And of course this is part of the process as
[2:08:40] well. Thank you very much for that. And for answering
[2:08:46] those additional questions And so at this time we will
[2:08:50] bring it back to the dais for any additional questions
[2:08:54] or comments from the council Before adjourning and then opening
[2:08:58] our closed session meeting We do have a closed session
[2:09:01] immediately after this as well Uh, so at this time
[2:09:03] I would look to my colleagues. For questions comments Uh...
[2:09:07] Primarily comments But if there are more questions that come
[2:09:10] up We can address those as well. Council Member Delgado.
[2:09:15] Yeah First of all I want to thank everybody that
[2:09:17] came out tonight to express their concerns Um... Our hearts
[2:09:21] do go out to the tenants and the employees of
[2:09:24] them all Um... Obviously you guys are part of our
[2:09:27] community I've been in constant contact Uh... Prior to the
[2:09:32] attorneys getting involved with Sheena Um... Yes And we were
[2:09:37] working on solutions Uh... With the employees and how we
[2:09:42] can help them But what I... What I will say
[2:09:45] is on any critical incident. Um. I think Chief Park
[2:09:51] brought up the Oakland Incident over 30 people perished in
[2:09:55] that fire Right They didn't leave there that night Leaf
[2:09:59] home They got ready and they went out And they
[2:10:02] went to an event at that They didn't do that
[2:10:05] knowing they were gonna Lose their life. Critical incidents like
[2:10:08] that Do not tell us that they're going to occur.
[2:10:12] So we have to prepare and plan. For such incidents
[2:10:17] Then that's what Firelife safety is all about. If we
[2:10:21] saved one life By following the law and following our
[2:10:27] fire department's building safety And our attorney If we saved
[2:10:32] one life Because we did that. All of this is
[2:10:35] worth it In my opinion. So again our hearts do
[2:10:43] go out to the employees Because they are part of
[2:10:44] our community Um... We will come up with a solution.
[2:10:49] And get this... This mall that our mall back open.
[2:10:55] Council Member Baka Santa Cruz. Um When we found out
[2:11:01] Tuesday a final inspection was going to happen on Wednesday
[2:11:04] I did You know reach out to the mall owner
[2:11:07] And so he knew that this was coming that day
[2:11:10] And... Once the inspection was failed I also tried to
[2:11:15] warn business owners and the community That you know This
[2:11:18] was happening that day And we've Put out communication We've
[2:11:24] made a webpage We've given it a daily update We've
[2:11:28] sent people out there. The goal is opening the mall.
[2:11:34] In district 1 The mall is the largest employer I
[2:11:37] mean all the businesses are in there And we value
[2:11:40] those businesses I remember being in high school in 1992
[2:11:44] When the mall opened And applying for jobs at the
[2:11:47] trailers And I remember applying You know and thinking This
[2:11:50] is going to be the greatest thing ever A mall
[2:11:52] right in our city And you know My kids grew
[2:11:55] up spending Friday nights going there I dropped them off
[2:11:58] and picked them up And not anymore But the older
[2:12:02] But I have grandson now And you know We go
[2:12:05] to the mall We took pictures at the mall in
[2:12:07] the center Um... Two weeks ago And we haven't been
[2:12:10] able to pick them up Because the mall's been close
[2:12:13] But We have two schools in the mall Um... Schools
[2:12:18] that we work with closely A lot of businesses We
[2:12:21] do food giveaways with nonprofits in the parking lot We
[2:12:27] the mall is a center point of this city And
[2:12:29] it is all of our highest priority to get it
[2:12:32] open That's why we've dedicated staff Um... Updating You to
[2:12:38] going out inspecting And we've said If we inspect and
[2:12:41] the one thing left And you're able to fix it
[2:12:44] We'll come out again that same day The goal is
[2:12:46] to get them all opened But we can't risk your
[2:12:50] lives We can't risk our lives Um... And it's just
[2:12:55] the right thing to do. And when you're up here
[2:12:59] Decisions are hard Because the people affected on both sides
[2:13:03] of your decision And it's hard to shut down a
[2:13:06] business And when we were told All of us went
[2:13:11] home with worry And you know a heavy heart But
[2:13:14] at the end The next day we all came back
[2:13:17] ready to Um... Do whatever it takes to reopen So
[2:13:21] we don't want to Let the mall go We don't
[2:13:24] want it to close down And, um... I plan to
[2:13:28] do everything I can to get it open And even
[2:13:30] if it means You know We do some kind of
[2:13:33] a Bateman Like we did with Keltrans Where the freeway
[2:13:37] accents weren't being cleaned So we went into an agreement
[2:13:39] We made an MOU And we said We'll clean the
[2:13:42] exits and then we'll bill you That's a possibility too
[2:13:45] Maybe we can do the repairs and then Bill The
[2:13:48] something that we'd have to ask resort Um... We don't
[2:13:52] ever want to take property You know We have property
[2:13:54] rights We don't want to do that To business owners
[2:13:57] We wouldn't come into your business We wouldn't come into
[2:13:59] your home We shouldn't Right but... That's where we are
[2:14:04] today. And this meeting You know came up so that
[2:14:09] we could be transparent and stand here and answer your
[2:14:12] questions And presents the information Because you deserve this You
[2:14:16] deserve to know what's going on And we will do
[2:14:19] everything right. And make sure that the mall is safe
[2:14:22] when you come back And the things that can be
[2:14:24] worked on will continue to work on those So that
[2:14:27] they're done Um... So that the mall is entirely safe
[2:14:31] All of the code violations are addressed And even the
[2:14:34] violations When we violate Business owners or residents Or the
[2:14:40] goal is correction We're not looking to make money We're
[2:14:44] looking for correction. So That's where we're at today And
[2:14:48] that's where I stand And I stand with you Unreaopening
[2:14:51] the mall as soon as possible. Council Member Bernard. Um
[2:14:58] So I just Again want to thank everyone for coming
[2:15:01] out This when we found out everything that was going
[2:15:04] on in the mall It was not a decision that
[2:15:06] was taken lightly Um, I think there had to be
[2:15:10] some conversations around the fact that The goal is not
[2:15:15] to close them all I know There are all of
[2:15:16] these rumors that we want to close them all permanently
[2:15:18] That's what this is why we were calling the temporary
[2:15:20] clothes Um, there are Will the city wants to take
[2:15:24] over them all We do not. We actually approved a
[2:15:26] plan for the redevelopment of the mall. And that is
[2:15:30] why we were putting the museum There's why we were
[2:15:35] renovating this ears Because we are trying to invest in
[2:15:38] them all because we are trying to be part of
[2:15:39] the growth And I think... There's no way that we
[2:15:43] can say like Oh, this was an easy decision to
[2:15:46] just shut it down But at some point Um... I
[2:15:49] had to, me personally I had to think of the
[2:15:52] lives in there Because there were two schools in there
[2:15:54] There are dozens of people that have businesses in there
[2:15:57] There are like people are in and out of that
[2:15:59] Maw My own family is in and out of that
[2:16:00] mall Also I mean Lord, thy brow shopping me go
[2:16:05] way back almost 20 years in that mall Um... So
[2:16:09] for me I had to look at At some point
[2:16:12] we were talking about people's lives And the truth is
[2:16:16] really simple Um... We said we would send someone out
[2:16:19] there every day to check to see what's being done
[2:16:21] He's making the corrections that are needed I think for
[2:16:23] me Um This may or may not land well It
[2:16:27] is what it is. I wish that the mall owner
[2:16:30] had just did What was asked of him from jump?
[2:16:33] Because then we wouldn't be in these predicaments V I
[2:16:35] know someone was like Well how do you have all
[2:16:36] these violations? Because those violations were ones that were like
[2:16:39] You can work on those Those are fine That those
[2:16:41] aren't life - threatening violations It's the life - threatening
[2:16:45] ones that got him shut down The rest of them
[2:16:48] We even went as far as to wave What was
[2:16:49] it? 350, 000 dollars worth of fees. To bring it
[2:16:53] down. So it's the life - threatening ones that actually
[2:16:57] were the ones that got him shut down And so
[2:17:00] at some point though Um... I'm actually sad that we
[2:17:03] had to get to a predicament to shut it down
[2:17:05] In order for him to start to address these things
[2:17:08] And I'm hoping Um... Like everyone said to get this
[2:17:11] mall open as soon as possible That he's able to
[2:17:15] continually address him Which by the way The way he's
[2:17:17] lighting the fire to address them I wish he'd had
[2:17:19] had this fire the entire time. Because he is put...
[2:17:24] All of you in these predicaments Of how you're going
[2:17:27] to take care of your families And what are you
[2:17:29] going to do? And so... We are not here to
[2:17:32] be difficult. We are not here to keep you all
[2:17:35] from your businesses If he go out there tomorrow And
[2:17:39] everything is checked off. Then good You guys can open
[2:17:43] up What I also do think is false is that
[2:17:45] He's promising you from day to day Oh no You're
[2:17:48] going to open Wednesday Well Wednesday's here Okay Thursday Well
[2:17:50] Thursday's here He's also not giving you all a realistic
[2:17:53] timeline. And the realistic timeline should be Here are the
[2:17:57] things that I actually have done left. And I understand
[2:18:00] There are parts that we need to get And this
[2:18:01] is that But realistically These are the things that I
[2:18:04] have done left The other thing that I think is
[2:18:06] very important is that they are running on the temporary
[2:18:08] generators that are good for 90 days The goal is
[2:18:10] for us If we are able to get all of
[2:18:13] these Met to not be back here in 90 days
[2:18:15] Because he hasn't gotten the permanent generator into So I
[2:18:19] think that's the other thing That we have to constantly
[2:18:21] keep thinking about Um So again The goal is not
[2:18:24] to keep you all shut down and out of your
[2:18:26] business and unable to take care of your families and
[2:18:28] provide the services that you all provide Um, the goal
[2:18:31] is to get this mall open If we could have
[2:18:33] got that mall open two days later 48 hours later
[2:18:36] Trust me We would have done it Um, so I
[2:18:41] promise you I think all of us up here That
[2:18:44] is our main goal is to get this small open
[2:18:46] Where we can make the compromises at We will As
[2:18:49] you can tell when they said like We have the
[2:18:51] temporary generators And the chief fine We'll take the temporaries
[2:18:55] for now But it's only for 90 days So we're
[2:18:57] taking them But it's only for 90 days And those
[2:19:00] are the things that I think we need to just
[2:19:01] keep in mind That we are trying the best we
[2:19:03] can to get it done And that's why we also
[2:19:05] had this meeting Because we wanted all of us in
[2:19:08] the same room So that we could all talk about
[2:19:10] this And hopefully be able to come to a resolution
[2:19:13] or solution to get this done Thank you Mayor. Thank
[2:19:17] you Mayor Pro Tem Gonzalez. Good evening everyone And thank
[2:19:20] you for all the participants that came tonight Um, again
[2:19:25] I'm gonna I don't want to belabor with repeating what
[2:19:28] my colleague said But our goal is to reopen them
[2:19:31] all. Make sure that all the businesses continue thriving Um,
[2:19:35] you know I It's there's a personal connection as well
[2:19:37] You know I have family that Uh owns a business
[2:19:39] there And they're suffering Just like everyone else that is
[2:19:43] a business owner Um, and our goal is to make
[2:19:47] sure that the more reopens And I also want to
[2:19:51] kind of dispel a few things You know That's why
[2:19:54] the checks and balances Right we need our building officials
[2:19:57] or fire officials to give us that objective Um, analysis
[2:20:00] of when there's life threatening issues And it insulates us,
[2:20:04] right? Because if not, we would probably negotiate our way
[2:20:08] out of these issues And we can't do that. We
[2:20:13] want to make sure that the businesses are taken care
[2:20:14] of But at the same time That the owners held
[2:20:17] accountable And that we're able to move forward in a
[2:20:20] safe manner And I know we will I know with
[2:20:22] my colleagues We're going to Hopefully provide some solutions And
[2:20:27] we need to move forward so we can make sure
[2:20:29] that these businesses that are key to our economy Tormenta
[2:20:33] Valley that the reopen again And continuing for their families
[2:20:37] So thank you. And I'll say that I first and
[2:20:44] foremost agree with everything that all four of my colleagues
[2:20:47] have said And to also not repeat everything that they
[2:20:50] have said. At the end of the day This is
[2:20:53] about protecting all of you. Making sure that we protect
[2:20:57] your lives And not only that But your property Imagine
[2:21:00] if there were a fire. And we didn't do anything
[2:21:03] to try to correct and fix that You would not
[2:21:05] only possibly injure yourself or get seriously hurt You would
[2:21:10] possibly lose everything that's in your store And then what
[2:21:13] kind of position does that put you in? That's the
[2:21:15] last thing any of us want The lasting any of
[2:21:17] us wanted was to close down that mall But we
[2:21:20] were left with no choice. And all of us were
[2:21:24] in agreement. To ensure that that mall comes into compliance
[2:21:29] that those life threatening violations are addressed and fixed and
[2:21:33] corrected Not just to reopen the mall in the short
[2:21:36] term But to ensure that that mall is thriving for
[2:21:39] the long - term. That you all continue to scale
[2:21:43] and grow your businesses That we drive as much foot
[2:21:45] traffic as possible into those businesses To ensure that you're
[2:21:49] successful. That is the goal. And like Council Member Bernard
[2:21:54] mentioned That's why we're doing everything that pertains to approving
[2:21:58] the revitalization Back in 2023 We did our part By
[2:22:02] approving the proposal that the mob brought to us. It's
[2:22:06] up to them to build it We can't force them
[2:22:08] to build it. We already did our part. We can
[2:22:11] help them to attract businesses to attract others to come
[2:22:14] to the mall But they're the ones that have to
[2:22:16] sign the contracts They're the ones that have to finish
[2:22:18] the work They're the ones that have to build Hire
[2:22:21] the contractors We want that mall to thrive. And how
[2:22:25] do you think it makes me feel When I spent
[2:22:28] years trying to convince a few Several of those businesses
[2:22:33] Like RGBA To come to Moreno Valley And then for
[2:22:36] this to happen How do you think that makes me
[2:22:38] feel. Because I put my neck out there And told
[2:22:42] them to come here And then this happens It's the
[2:22:44] last thing That I wanted to happen And I have
[2:22:47] to face all of you and just keep it real
[2:22:50] We have to be honest And that's what this meeting
[2:22:53] is all about So that we put the truth out
[2:22:55] there Because from the get - go There was a
[2:22:57] lot of misinformation and rumors and flat out lies that
[2:23:00] were being told. And this was to clarify all of
[2:23:04] that. So that there's no room for misinformation and spewing
[2:23:09] of the facts. And at the end of the day.
[2:23:13] Even as a council Our hands are tied by the
[2:23:17] law We have to abide by the law. And that
[2:23:20] is clear It was stipulated and spelled out by our
[2:23:23] staff Uh... During their staff report. And so I have
[2:23:27] no doubt That we're gonna go into closed session Immediately
[2:23:31] after this We're gonna have a robust conversation To figure
[2:23:35] out a solution to reopen the mall ASAP. And again
[2:23:40] In short not just that we open it for 30
[2:23:42] days 90 days That that mall stays open in perpetuity
[2:23:46] And that we do everything we can to ensure that
[2:23:49] it is successful That is the goal. We have a
[2:23:52] museum That's under construction And it had to pause Because
[2:23:55] of this situation. That museum needs to get open. The
[2:24:00] schools need to get reopened. All of it needs to
[2:24:04] be reopened. And I know that we're gonna go into
[2:24:07] this close session Put our heads together Have a very
[2:24:12] hard difficult thorough conversation And my hope is that The
[2:24:16] five of us After closed session can come out here
[2:24:19] and report out What that solution What that plan looks
[2:24:22] like so we can get that mall reopened in a
[2:24:25] safe Matter. So with that I'll conclude my comments. And
[2:24:30] we'll conclude deliberation. For this particular item. And we will
[2:24:36] adjourn the special open session. At 8 12 PM. And
[2:24:45] at this time We'll go ahead and transition over to
[2:24:47] our special closed session. And again I need to note
[2:24:51] for the record by law that the city Council receives
[2:24:54] a separate stipend from the community services district If any
[2:24:57] CSD business is conducted at this meeting I now call
[2:25:00] the special closed session meeting to order on February 26th
[2:25:04] at 8 12 PM. Item B is public comments on
[2:25:10] matters on the agenda Only And again I would like
[2:25:12] to remind everyone that since this is a special meeting
[2:25:16] All public comments must be limited only to those items
[2:25:18] that are on the special closed session meeting agenda And
[2:25:22] there is a three minute time limit per person unless
[2:25:25] modified based on the number of speakers.
[2:25:44] View to do so if you wish. So Madam Clerk.
[2:25:49] Yes mr. City Manager. Do we need a moment to
[2:25:54] transition over to close session? Yes, maybe. Okay, so we'll
[2:25:57] take a brief five minute recess. We're gonna take a
[2:25:59] break while staff transitions are computers over to close session
[2:26:03] and we'll resume in about five minutes. Thank you.