[0:06] We got quiet. Must be the right time. So with that,
[0:11] before we do get started, if we could ask for the interpreter, um,
[0:15] to take a moment to explain the city's interpretation services that will be offered for
[0:19] this evening's meeting. Thank you, mayor. Uh, the following will be an
[0:23] announcement for our spanish speaking guests. We wanna start this.
[0:57] thank you, mayor. Thank you very much. Uh, just as a reminder, if we could
[1:01] please silence all cell phones or any other devices in the chamber, that would
[1:05] be greatly appreciated. With that, I'd like to call the meeting to order
[1:10] a live webcast of the meeting may be viewed on the city's website. If you're watching
[1:14] via, uh, zoom, viewing the spanish version of the meeting, interpreter instructions
[1:18] will appear in the chat box at the bottom of your screen. For those
[1:22] who refer to sit in the chamber, headsets are available to provide live spanish
[1:27] translation, please see the, uh, city clerk's, uh, desk,
[1:31] and, uh, to check out a headsets. The notice agenda and information
[1:35] on the city of national city's website inform members of the public that they may submit
[1:40] a general public comment or a public comment on a specific agenda item
[1:44] in a number of ways, either in person, uh, in the council chamber by
[1:48] submitting one of these salmon colored slips here at the back of the chamber. And please get those over
[1:52] just as soon as possible over to our, uh, clerk's desk or via
[1:56] zoom by pre-registering on the city's website, no later than two hours before the meeting,
[2:00] or by emailing no later than four hours before the meeting. And
[2:09] all, uh, excuse me, all written, uh, comments received or
[2:13] distributed to the city council prior to the meeting and published on the city's website
[2:17] if received by the deadline. With that, if we could have roll call please.
[2:22] thank you. Council member yamani here. Council member rodriguez.
[2:26] present. Council member bush here. Vice mayor
[2:30] molina. Present. Mayor morrison. Uh, present. May
[2:34] I have a quorum? Thank you. Can we please stand for the pledge of allegiance? Please
[2:39] remain standing for the invocation. Uh, member bush, would you leave this, please?
[2:43] right hand over your heart. Ready? Begin. I pledge allegiance
[2:47] to the flag of the united states of america and to the
[2:52] republic for which it stands, one nation under god, under god,
[2:56] indivisible, with liberty and justice. All
[3:07] morrison council members and everybody present, this is reverend dr. Kamilla
[3:12] lead, pastor city church here in nashville city. You join me in prayer,
[3:17] your lord. We thank you for these wonderful and beautiful days you have given us.
[3:22] and we pray today that you guide all of these council members,
[3:26] the mayor and everybody present, and all that will be discussed today
[3:30] will be with sincerity for the public good of everyone that you would be glorified,
[3:35] and the desire of good amongst us here in this city
[3:39] for your glory. In the name of jesus christ, I pray. Amen. Amen. Thank you.
[3:51] alright. Uh, we'll now hear public comments on items that are not on
[3:55] the agenda, and
[3:59] we'll give each person, uh, two minutes on that.
[4:06] and, uh, with that I will call, uh, three people at a time. And,
[4:10] uh, so when you hear your name call, please come out into the, into the open area, and that
[4:15] way it'll be save time between people. Uh, cesar, javier
[4:19] and paha javier, be followed by ted godshaw.
[4:50] okay. Evening. Mm-hmm .
[4:57] okay. Start now.
[5:04] good evening. I am purita
[5:08] javier, senior with existing medical condition.
[5:16] we are with you to share lessons
[5:21] learned for from our community.
[5:25] bounded city, san diego
[5:29] by district nine or poor
[5:34] under leadership of consular
[5:38] sean rivera and council
[5:42] lord. Um,
[5:47] um, this is henry foster,
[5:54] respectively.
[5:58] um, george graphic
[6:02] political boundaries like
[6:06] ours at west bank of
[6:11] choice creek represent disadvantaged
[6:15] vantage community. Per
[6:19] observation, one witness
[6:23] is the devastating of programs
[6:28] such as physical development on
[6:33] shelter, mobility, transportation,
[6:38] roads, streets, amongst other
[6:42] services in our community,
[6:47] we have at least eight
[6:52] concerns. One is the location,
[6:58] construction and operation
[7:02] of ceramics manufacturing
[7:07] with kiln facility
[7:12] poisoning the air we breathe.
[7:17] thank, thank you very much. Since 1997,
[7:23] uh, cesar javier, followed by ted godshaw, be followed by cynthia fo, uh, fuller
[7:28] es. Thank you uncle sam. Thank you, honorable
[7:32] mayor morrison, my classmates in, uh, sandag.
[7:37] we are here consistently, passively,
[7:42] if only to remind and educate and inform. Councilor
[7:46] bush. We would say partly
[7:50] you are accountable in our mystery because
[7:55] councilor booth is, has volunteered
[7:59] or perhaps committed to the air pollution control
[8:03] district, a member of the governing board, a thinker
[8:08] along with then councilor rivera and the mayor.
[8:13] the mayor is the founder of taking out a pcd from the county
[8:18] who is supposed to be regionwide, ensuring clean air for
[8:22] everyone. But our expectation a hundred
[8:27] percent is failing because he
[8:31] favored, if I may say, businesses, rather than help
[8:35] of san dies. We are witness since
[8:39] 2022 when we accidentally
[8:44] visited the air pollution control district office in
[8:48] essa. And we found out that these are the aptors
[8:53] one, uh, I forgot their names, but the original
[8:58] mr. Uh, anyway,
[9:03] , you went our home. We showed you
[9:08] the ceramic scale, which the a pcd has sent.
[9:14] science. Don't you respect science?
[9:19] don't you understand science? It destroys the respira
[9:23] respiratory gland. Cerus.
[9:27] and what did you do? They just erased the few.
[9:31] thank you for your comment in this ceramics. Thank you very much.
[9:35] help us, mr. Go. Thank you. Okay, ted gotch, followed by cynthia fuller
[9:39] quinone, followed by edwin neto,
[9:52] ted gotch here tonight I want to address some of the broken commitments that you have made
[9:56] lately. First, for 2024, the city council approved a
[10:00] community health and environmental planner position. This position was never filled,
[10:04] never taken seriously by anyone here. And now you don't even recognize it as a
[10:08] vacancy just gone a broken commitment. Second, and about the same year,
[10:12] you took away arpa funding from the paradise creek educational park habitat and
[10:17] bathroom project over our objections. You said you would fund it in the next year in the
[10:21] general fund in 2025, and you did not do that. My third example of
[10:25] breaking commitments to the community concerns mr. Bush's actions at the countywide a pcd
[10:29] or the air quality control district. Mr. Bush was not appointed by the mayor or
[10:33] the council. He did not run for the position. And you know that right
[10:38] at the may 14th, a pcd meeting, mr. Bush killed a compromise motion made
[10:42] by county supervisor agiri to have their staff complete a four year
[10:47] study process with a draft rule to control emissions from warehouse trucks. Mr. Bush
[10:52] voted against a compromise that would've included incentives
[10:56] instead suggesting that more air filters would make this pollution problem
[11:00] somehow better for residents in our city and in the south county.
[11:04] with public testimony, standing at two to one in favor of new controls, mr. Bush
[11:08] stood with probe business board members and they voted
[11:12] five to four to kill the compromise. With this action, mr. Bush
[11:17] did harm to members of our community. And now I think this council should do two things.
[11:22] first, thank mrs. Aguire for, with an email
[11:26] for her support of the residents of national city in the south bay.
[11:30] second, ask mrs. Aguire to remove
[11:34] mr. Bush from the a pcd board and request a new member for south
[11:39] county. Please start addressing
[11:43] the other commitments that lie broken on your desks.
[11:48] thank you very much. Uh, cynthia fuller be followed by
[11:52] edward nieto to be followed by liliana arma. Good
[11:56] evening mayor. City council members and all here tonight. Uh, you know me,
[12:01] cynthia, cynthia fuller quinones. I'm here speaking as a national city
[12:05] resident who, like many other community members, is feeling compelled to
[12:09] speak up about our representation on the air pollution control district board.
[12:13] and yet another missed opportunity to make real progress, uh,
[12:18] addressing terrible air pollution. Here at the may 14th, a pcd
[12:22] board meeting council member bush cast a deciding vote against beginning,
[12:26] indirect source role, uh, making, uh, something
[12:30] that our community has long asked for. His was the fifth vote,
[12:35] uh, and a five four decision that stopped progress on reducing
[12:39] the truck pollution that directly impacts neighborhoods like district one. What's
[12:43] especially concerning is that as a vote went against clear community input
[12:47] at the a pcd meeting, public testimony was more than two to one in
[12:51] favor of moving forward with the indirect source rule, process,
[12:56] residents, advocates, and families who live with health impacts every day.
[13:00] people like me with copd and uh, chronic asthma,
[13:04] we spoke up and yet our voices were not reflected in his vote.
[13:08] instead of supporting a concrete step towards reducing emissions, council
[13:13] member, uh, bush proposed air filters for which funding is limited at
[13:17] best and which do nothing to address, uh, to reduce the diesel
[13:21] trucks driving through our streets and polluting the air we breathe, our
[13:25] community has been clear. We need real solutions that prevent
[13:29] pollution, not just measures that help us cope with it.
[13:33] when a solution exists and the community has spoken, our representatives
[13:38] have a responsibility to act in support of this and us.
[13:42] so I urge the council to review council member bush's actions
[13:46] at the s-b-a-p-c-d, uh, thank supervisor paloma
[13:51] agiri for supporting our communities and consider whether our city is being
[13:55] fully, uh, represented at, represented in these critical regional decisions. Thank
[13:59] you for your comment. Thank you so much. Okay. Edwardo to be followed by
[14:03] liliana arma.
[14:09] yes. I'm here to, uh, ask once again and I've asked many times
[14:14] the fi the fiscal year 24 25 audit report. Last time
[14:18] I mentioned it, somebody said that it's gonna be, it was due on march 31st
[14:22] and somebody said they're gonna call up and ask the auditors. Now, you know, you
[14:27] get to the sitting point we've been asking and asking and asking, there's nothing
[14:31] to stop a citizen from ask. Calling up the auditors and, and telling them,
[14:35] where are you with this? It's, I pay for that. I don't wanna do that.
[14:39] but I gotta tell you, you know, this is an audit report that
[14:43] reflects, you know, multiple years of deficits, uh, all the things
[14:47] I've talked about before, and it's one that has an audit finding
[14:51] that's been repeated. Half put in financial system,
[14:55] not any bad reflection on, on fiscal staff, but just something
[15:00] that you just haven't given enough priority to. And it's exactly the thing
[15:04] you need right now to answer some of your budget questions. So I
[15:08] don't see why this is not a priority, why you're not asking about it. And where,
[15:12] and if you do have some idea of the audit report, can you share what the findings
[15:16] are right now, even before it's issued, and tell us what the status of the recommendations
[15:21] is. Have you got a management letter? Are you working on the response already? You
[15:25] know, this is something that's really important that's understated. And I think, again, it's
[15:29] part of your governance problems that you have in, in the council. If you don't know
[15:33] what the problems are and it clearly defines what it is, how can you
[15:37] actually make progress on these things? So that's, um, I'm looking forward to hearing
[15:41] some disclosure on what, what you're gonna do with that. Okay.
[15:46] kind of got 25 seconds. I can't believe that. Oh my god. .
[15:50] lil menta. .
[15:56] if I can have his 25 seconds, I'd appreciate it, .
[16:00] all right. Good evening, mayor. Council members and staff. I'm here tonight
[16:04] as the commander elect of american legion larry e. Bennett, post 2 55
[16:09] in national city. I want to ask a few questions.
[16:13] how are we honoring the veterans who live here in national city?
[16:18] national city is home to hundreds of veterans, families and
[16:22] veterans and military families. Yet we do not have a city sponsored
[16:27] memorial day ceremony, nor a veteran's day celebration dedicated
[16:31] to recognizing their service and sacrifice. When do,
[16:35] when veterans do not see themselves reflected in our city events? We feel forgotten.
[16:42] so many proclamations have been issued yet. When was the last time
[16:46] one was issued to a veteran? Just to say thank you for their service?
[16:50] the city partners with the chamber of commerce for the annual salute to navy luncheon.
[16:55] why not also partner with the american legion post 2, 5, 5, and other
[16:59] veteran organizations for veteran focused events and programs.
[17:04] as I step into my new role as commander, I'm committed to building those partnerships
[17:08] and bringing awareness to veteran issues in our community. Supporting veterans
[17:12] is not just honoring the past. It's about investing in leaders who continue serving
[17:16] our community every day. I'm also concerned that the city's
[17:21] wall of honor has not had an active process for veterans and their
[17:25] families to purchase plaques for quite some time. I can't even purchase a plaque
[17:29] for myself or anybody else. Recognition matters to us.
[17:33] it tells veterans that their service is valued and remembered.
[17:37] tonight, I ask for action together. I
[17:41] want to work with you all to make national city the most friendly,
[17:45] the most military friendly city in san diego county. Not just in words,
[17:50] but through actions, partnerships, visible support for those who serve.
[17:54] thank you, mayor and marcus for always supporting our events and I'd like to see the other
[17:59] council members of our events as well. Right. Can we
[18:03] now have on, uh, on zoom? Sure.
[18:07] carrie skelly.
[18:16] terry skelly,
[18:25] madison wrap.
[18:31] hi. Good evening mayor and city council members. Tonight I wanted
[18:35] to raise some awareness about marijuana use and respiratory health, especially
[18:40] among people living with asthma. As a mother of a
[18:44] child recently diagnosed with asthma, I was especially interested in this information
[18:48] and wanted to make sure it was known because as marijuana use continues to rise,
[18:52] it is critical that we understand its potential health impacts. Asthma
[18:57] is one of the most common chronic respiratory diseases
[19:01] affecting millions of adults and children. Yet surprisingly little
[19:05] research has examined how inhaling marijuana affects asthma outcomes.
[19:10] a recent national study analyzed data from 4,000 adults
[19:14] with asthma and found that inhaling marijuana, whether by smoking
[19:18] vaping or both, was associated with a significantly higher likelihood
[19:23] of experiencing an asthma attack within one year. These findings
[19:27] highlight a clear association between inhaled marijuana use and
[19:31] increased asthma risk. The sensitivities, people with asthma have
[19:35] should open the window for us to see that these inhaled products are actually dangerous
[19:39] for everyone. On some level, it is not safe to be breathing in these toxic
[19:44] chemicals. So why are we allowing them to be sold? Four cities
[19:48] in california now have bans on all tobacco sales, so it's not
[19:52] a huge leap to expect that all of these harmful products could be banned.
[19:57] as policymakers, you have a responsibility to ensure that residents receive
[20:02] accurate health information. Public education, warning labels,
[20:06] and continued research are essential so that individuals and especially
[20:11] those with asthma, can make informed decisions about their health. Thank you.
[20:16] thank you, judy str.
[20:23] good evening city council and mayor morrison. Thank you. I wanted to share some
[20:27] information that we've been talking about in my afterschool program
[20:32] where we provide mentoring to elementary school students and that
[20:36] mentoring is done by teens. We were very concerned about some
[20:41] research that was, uh, just came out in the journal of addictive behaviors regarding
[20:45] the increase in the number of parents that are parenting
[20:50] children actively who are using marijuana. That rate
[20:54] is now at one for every 12 parents in the united states.
[20:58] this is triple what it was just 12 years ago. As you can imagine,
[21:03] the effect that it has on children to be parented by those who
[21:07] be might be inattentive or unable to give them the care they needed.
[21:12] the studies of the effects of this situation have been studied and
[21:16] the concern they have for risk of neglect and the higher likelihood
[21:21] of showing children about substance use
[21:25] are dramatic and tragic, we think. But a particular concern
[21:29] to us is that population of parents that seem to be using, and they
[21:33] are younger parents and lower income households and parents who haven't
[21:38] had the opportunity to go to college and perhaps unmarried parents as well.
[21:42] so we think as a city, we would want you to know how important it is that
[21:46] we demonstrate to parents wherever they are, their
[21:50] role in protecting children and that the role marijuana plays
[21:55] in making them less than available to their children. So I'd
[21:59] like to suggest that we take a new look at what the city does in
[22:03] the way of billboards and permitting, and remember that it is
[22:07] normalizing and commercializing a product that damages families.
[22:12] thank you. Thank you, becky. Wrap.
[22:20] good evening. Thank you for allowing me to speak tonight. My name is becky
[22:24] rapp and I come as I'm very concerned regarding the
[22:28] illegal products, um, being sold at our local tobacco and smoke
[22:32] shops. Stores are blatantly selling flavored tobacco
[22:36] cre products and intoxicating hemp products that appeal to you
[22:41] and often violate state and local laws. Nearby cities
[22:45] are increasing enforcement and issuing major penalties.
[22:49] recently, a smoke shop in encinitas received a multimillion dollar
[22:54] fine, um, and the owner paid it.
[22:58] why is our city not taking the same aggressive enforcement approach?
[23:04] we often talk about budget and, and raising, um,
[23:08] and collecting more funding for all of the important things
[23:12] that we we need for our community. Um, strong
[23:16] enforcement would do two things, protect public health, as
[23:21] well as generate revenue through fines, penalties, permit actions,
[23:25] and product confiscation. Um, please send the message
[23:30] that national city will not tolerate businesses profiting from illegal
[23:34] and dangerous sales in our neighborhoods. It's time to
[23:38] take the blatant signs out of the windows advertising
[23:42] these, these products. Thank you. Thank you.
[23:47] terry kelley?
[23:52] hello? Can you hear me? Yes. Sorry I missed you earlier. I just stepped out for
[23:56] one second. Okay. Um, good evening. National city, city council mayor
[24:00] morrison, I wanna thank you for the adoption of a comprehensive tobacco
[24:04] retailers licensure program ordinance. As a parent,
[24:08] I applaud your efforts to reduce tobacco product sales to those under
[24:12] the age of 21. Please do the same for marijuana products
[24:17] that young adults find so attractive and available. We all know
[24:21] that smoking and vaping are leading causes of preventable death,
[24:25] disease and disability worldwide. Both
[24:29] marijuana and tobacco deliver toxic chemicals that cause severe respiratory
[24:34] and cardiovascular damage. These cancer causing chemicals are
[24:38] dissolved in particles that can be easily inhaled deep into
[24:42] lungs. Due to their very small size, the chemicals
[24:47] should never be inhaled by children and rapidly growing teens,
[24:51] older persons. Those with health deficiencies
[24:55] on women who are pregnant or nursing regarding enforcement activities,
[24:59] please remove unauthorized tobacco and marijuana products from the
[25:04] shelves like illegal flavored tobacco and marijuana products,
[25:08] and prosecute those who continue to sell them. Thank you for
[25:12] your continued enforcement actions that affirm your commitment to
[25:17] healthy and safe residents here in national city. Thank
[25:21] you and good evening. Thank you. Peggy walker.
[25:27] hi. Thank you. And good evening. I'm peggy walker, public health educator
[25:31] for considerable time. Now, medical professionals have warned that smoked
[25:36] and ingested dispensary marijuana products have no medical
[25:40] benefit yet. Unsubstantiated, misleading health
[25:44] claims by the industry persist. This issue
[25:48] will now be addressed in federal court. A new class action lawsuit
[25:53] accuses three major cannabis companies of systematically
[25:57] advertising their products as medicine. While knowing the science does
[26:02] not support those claims. In another lawsuit, the trump administration
[26:06] is being sued by a coalition, including doctors
[26:11] alleging failure to consider marijuana's well-documented health risks
[26:16] in rescheduling. I bring this here to urge awareness
[26:20] of mounting lawsuits alleging that unverified health
[26:24] claims of cannabis products have caused harm, especially
[26:29] when excessive potency is involved. And these lawsuits allege
[26:33] use can even worsen health conditions. You'll find if
[26:38] you check that product sold as medical in dispensaries.
[26:42] and yes, consumption lounges generally are the same
[26:46] as those sold as recreational marijuana.
[26:50] profiteers have deceived the public with false therapeutic claims
[26:54] for too long. In the worst con, since big tobacco
[26:59] efforts to hold a industry accountable, suggests it
[27:03] would serve public health to one codify prohibition
[27:07] of the sale and marketing of marijuana products as quote,
[27:11] medical, and two to enact potency caps.
[27:15] I urge you to consider those policy steps or to support
[27:20] them at a state level. Thank you. Thank
[27:24] you. And mayor, that concludes our comment. Alright, thank you very much
[27:29] with that, then, uh, we go into our recognition
[27:34] and we have our introduction of new hires and promotions on city employees.
[27:39] so we can start off first, how about with the, uh,
[27:43] with the police department captain?
[27:48] good evening, mayor, vice mayor, council, staff, and community. My name
[27:52] is chris sullivan. I'm a captain with the national city police department. I have the
[27:56] pleasure to introduce you to chance knight. Chance knight joined the
[28:01] national city police department in 2025. Uh, he was originally hired
[28:05] as an it analyst. Uh, his knowledge of it systems
[28:09] has been an invaluable resource to the department, not only to the department, but to the city
[28:14] as well. His impressive experience in his abilities. He was
[28:18] recently promoted to senior it analyst. Uh, chance has a
[28:22] great personality. He works great with everybody. Uh, he's
[28:26] also an extremely talented musician. He plays both the clarinet
[28:30] and the saxophone. And he also taught private lessons after high school.
[28:34] he loves animals and would love to volunteer at a local shelter in the near future.
[28:39] we are extremely proud of chance, our senior it analyst and we
[28:43] welcome to our national city family. Thank you. Uh,
[28:47] next we go over to engineering
[28:55] .
[29:01] good evening. We have a live one from our department today,
[29:05] . I know, right? Uh, well, good evening, mayor, vice mayor, council
[29:09] member, staff and community. My name is marta juarez. I'm the acting
[29:13] director for engineering and public works. And tonight it's my true joy to
[29:18] announce this promotion in the engineering division of our department.
[29:22] jason jasmine first joined the city in 2017 as
[29:26] an unpaid volunteer, which he did for about three years later. He
[29:30] came back in 2022 as a part-time student worker. And,
[29:35] uh, while he continued to go to school, uh, a year later, he joined
[29:39] us as a full-time permanent employee in 2023. And has served
[29:43] on our team as an engineering technician the past three years.
[29:47] and during this time, jason worked really, really hard. He was doing double duty
[29:51] as he completed his bachelor's of science in civil engineering from
[29:56] sdsu, which he completed just about a month ago. So
[30:00] we wanna congratulate him on that .
[30:08] and, and earlier this year, he also passed the eit exam, the engineer and
[30:12] training exam with the state of california for civil engineering. So he's well in his way.
[30:17] he's an exemplary team member who provides excellent customer service, both
[30:21] internally and externally, uh, in any role regardless of the title.
[30:25] so we're very fortunate. The city's incredibly fortunate to have such a committed
[30:30] employee here. Please join me in congratulating jason and his promotion to junior
[30:34] engineer sybil. Thank you.
[30:41] thank you everybody for, uh, the, the, uh, gratitude. Um, I
[30:45] continue to look forward to helping and assisting, uh, the community, uh, within the confines of
[30:49] my position. So thank you very much, everyone. Nice.
[30:57] all right. Fire department.
[31:02] good evening, mayor, vice mayor, members of the council city staff and members of the
[31:06] public. Sergio mora fire chief, and it is my sincere pleasure to
[31:10] introduce jody and spirit. Uh, jody pierce is our new ems
[31:14] coordinator. Um, this is a new position for the fire department
[31:18] and jody's role will be to assist in the fire department in our efforts
[31:23] to enhance our quality assurance and quality improvement programs at the fire
[31:27] department. Jody will also play an integral part in be
[31:31] a key member of our staff as we develop our own emergency medical
[31:35] transport system. A little bit about jodi. Jodi has
[31:39] over 32 years in caring for people in emergency medicine.
[31:44] uh, ms. Pierce retired from the san diego fire rescue department as
[31:48] the deputy chief of emergency medical services. Throughout
[31:52] her career, she pour her energy into helping the ems division grow through major changes
[31:57] and into strengthening the city, the city's medical transportation system.
[32:02] jodi has also had the privilege of leading and supporting many incredible teams and programs
[32:07] such as, uh, education quality assurance, ems logistics,
[32:12] star paramedics, project heartbeat, community health, uh, the
[32:16] paramedic program for the city of san diego field training medical directors
[32:20] and ambulance transport agreements. One
[32:24] of the things jodi is most proud of is helping to expand how the city can show up
[32:28] for the people in need. And she want would like to do this by growing community
[32:33] health efforts, supporting alternate destination transport and improving emergency
[32:37] medical dispatch. I've known jodi for quite some time. And
[32:42] then we know jodi as someone who listens, brings people together, and keeps the focus
[32:46] on what matters most practical solutions that help crews do their
[32:50] best work and help patients get the right care at the right time.
[32:54] as mentioned, she was the deputy fire chief of emergency medicine city of san
[32:58] diego. So she brings a wealth of knowledge and experience to our ranks
[33:02] as we strive to make improvements in the medical services
[33:07] delivery system, uh, to our residents and to our visitors. We are
[33:11] extremely fortunate to have jodi join our ranks and look forward to her
[33:15] many contributions as we move forward. And as mentioned, jody
[33:19] comes with a, a great, great amount of experience and, and the things that
[33:23] we're trying to accomplish here in the fire department. Uh, and I will
[33:27] bring her around to meet, meet all of you in person here shortly. Thank you. Alright.
[33:33] okay, next, I'm gonna look to our, uh, acting city manager to, uh, introduce
[33:37] the next individual. Alright, thank you mayor. Council members of the public staff.
[33:42] uh, tonight I'm very excited to introduce our interim hr, our
[33:46] interim human resources director, rex sanders. Little background on, on
[33:50] rex. He, he grew up in, in gainesville, florida. So for those of
[33:54] you who are into sports, they pretty big time. Football,
[33:58] basketball, baseball. But rex, uh, by the time he
[34:02] was done growing up in a college town, uh, he wanted, he
[34:07] wanted a change of pace and, and new experiences. So he moved to the west coast, came
[34:11] to california, uh, finished his schooling, found
[34:15] his way into the hr world, and, uh, really
[34:19] had, um, but the bulk of his career working for
[34:23] a, a regional california public agency where he started really at
[34:28] the ground level as a technician and worked his way all the way up to an hr
[34:32] director. And ultimately, uh, an administrative services director, uh, made a
[34:36] career of it, um, decided to, uh, move to san the
[34:40] san diego region and, and co-founded a consulting firm where he
[34:44] continues with his partner to provide support to public agencies with
[34:49] all things human resources related. Uh, he, he also serves
[34:53] as the president of the public sector human resources association,
[34:57] san diego chapter. Um, you know, his resume, uh,
[35:01] speaks for itself. He comes with the wealth of, of experience. But,
[35:06] uh, what I really appreciate about rex is just his, his thoughtful
[35:10] approach in nature. Um, I had a conversation with
[35:14] him for about an hour. Um, he was referred to us from,
[35:19] from a colleague, and we initially, we instantly hit it off
[35:23] and I said, you know, I, I really want to take 'em to meet, um,
[35:28] the team at, at, at hr. And, uh, they've been through a lot. There's been
[35:32] a lot of transition in leadership with our hr staff.
[35:37] and we set up a meet and greet and, um, gave
[35:41] our staff an opportunity to get to know rex and ask some questions. And then, um,
[35:46] I left. They had lunch, I came back and it was unanimous.
[35:51] they really wanted him to come on board right away. And
[35:55] I just sense, uh, an immediate calming, uh, for the staff
[35:59] for our department. And he's really coming in and filling a critical role.
[36:03] he did it, uh, immediately. And we look forward to, uh,
[36:08] getting to know rex more, working together across departments and,
[36:12] and, uh, everything that he brings to our organization. Rex, we really appreciate
[36:16] you being here and, um, contributing to our organization and look
[36:20] forward to working with you in the coming months.
[36:32] alright.
[36:36] you want, you wanna say anything? Rex ?
[36:40] not really, but I got those. Looks like I, , I were expecting. Um,
[36:45] thank you so much, steve, for the warm welcome. And I have to say that everybody at the city of national city who
[36:49] I have come in contact with, and there's plenty of other people that I still need to meet and, and connect
[36:53] with, has just been so welcoming and warm to me coming in. So thank
[36:58] you so much. It's helped me a lot. Get, get settled, especially the human
[37:02] resources team who you mentioned. Steve is, uh, one of the, um,
[37:07] the folks who just keep me inspired to keep coming back every day and working hard
[37:11] for the city. Several of 'em are here tonight. Um, and thank you for being here,
[37:16] uh, hr staff to support , um, me and the city. Um,
[37:20] it is my pleasure and, uh, an honor to serve this city, its
[37:24] staff and its residents. Um, so thank you so much for the opportunity, steve and everyone here. Thank
[37:28] you. Thank you. All right, next we go into
[37:32] presentations. Our first one is, uh, 7.1. This is, uh,
[37:36] edco. And give us an update here.
[37:50] adjusted up here. It stays.
[37:55] uh, so good evening, mayor and council. I'm carl sheva. Um, I'm the
[37:59] general manager of family owned and operated edco waste and recycling. And as always,
[38:03] I'm here with steve south, our ceo. And, uh, so we're just here to
[38:07] provide you a, an update and oh, thank you very much.
[38:13] if I can get this right, right. I wanted to talk
[38:17] a little bit about the, uh, rate increase and the rate increase for standard
[38:21] residential service. As you can see there, uh, went up a dollar
[38:26] one or 3.65%. Um, and I wanted
[38:30] to mention that these rates were part of a five year, two 18 already approved
[38:34] in 2023, and then will be effective july 1st, 2026.
[38:41] so, um, in addition, I wanted to point out that edco offers a 20%
[38:45] discount for seniors, um, at 2282. And
[38:49] as well as we also offer silver bags at the chamber, um,
[38:53] for those that produce small amounts of refuge and recycling
[38:58] at a, at a large discount. So, um, I also wanted to highlight, as you can
[39:02] see the chart there, um, there's a lot of cities up there and, um,
[39:07] edco continues to provide the lowest rate, um, in the region. So,
[39:16] all right, I wanted to talk about some of the programs that we have. Um,
[39:20] so every year we have four, three, uh, four free, bulky item
[39:24] curbside collections. Um, and then in addition to that, we have free shredding,
[39:29] uh, e-waste and mulch. And as you can see, there are over 700,000
[39:33] pounds hauled away from the numerous, uh, neighborhood cleanups
[39:38] that, uh, we've all partnered with public works on. Um,
[39:42] and couldn't do it without the public works department and their, their partnership,
[39:46] um, as well as council. Um, and so you can see that's a significant,
[39:50] uh, um, amount all the way. And I'm
[39:54] happy to say that, uh, we have 49%, uh, over a 49%
[39:59] diversion rate, so nearly half of that was recycled.
[40:03] so as you know, we don't own any landfills, so we're really incentivized, um,
[40:08] to recycle. And then I wanted to point out our public containers that you see throughout
[40:12] the city. Um, in total we donated 75 of those. And then more
[40:16] recently with the partnership public works, we're also refurbishing any of those
[40:20] that need, uh, to be refinished just to make sure that they, um, are
[40:24] well, um, presented in the public. So,
[40:29] alright. Um, and I think you've heard me talk about sb 1383
[40:33] for quite a few years now. Um, sb uh, 1383
[40:38] went into law in 2016 and we busily went to work,
[40:42] um, with staff to, to roll out organics to make sure that's diverted from
[40:46] the landfill. And I'm proud to say that, that those organics,
[40:51] um, in our anaerobic digester, um, are turned into renewable
[40:56] natural gas, right. And they're powering our trucks. So, uh, from an emission standpoint,
[41:00] um, very, very clean. Um, and that, uh,
[41:06] national city was the first one to be at 100% compliance on sb
[41:10] 13 83 3 stream. And then that's continuous work from
[41:14] our reps and, uh, public work staff to make sure that we stay in
[41:19] compliance with state regulations. Okay.
[41:24] right. Um, also wanted to talk, um, a little about
[41:28] our enhanced public education. Um, as part of a state
[41:32] mandate of sb 1383, edco has developed a multi-level
[41:37] educational and outreach program. Um, we use social media,
[41:41] um, multiple layers, mailers, and, uh, we've developed a
[41:46] vast video library, um, over many years that's easily accessible.
[41:51] um, and then the next steps for our reps is to
[41:55] go out and, and visit, uh, dining or fast food restaurants
[42:00] and make sure that they're properly recycling, they have the right signage, they
[42:04] have the right containers, um, and that they meet the,
[42:08] uh, requirements of ab 8 27. Um, so we're
[42:12] busily working, um, doing, doing that out in the community right now.
[42:21] alright. Um, with that, um, that
[42:25] concludes my presentation unless there's any questions,
[42:29] comments. Thank you, carl. Such
[42:34] a pleasure to see you again. And steve, thank you for coming and visiting us. It,
[42:38] it is such a wonderful partnership that national city has with edco.
[42:42] thank you for everything. Um, I always remember the visit that I had to
[42:46] visit the digester. Um, I, I would love to have another visit. And, and,
[42:50] uh, I know that, uh, I do, you do offer visits to visit that
[42:55] location. I, I know that at the time that I visited, it was several weeks, several years
[42:59] ago. Uh, I don't know if there's another update to the,
[43:03] the situation with the digester. I think there was another one that was coming on board. Yeah. Um,
[43:07] that's the great point. And we offer tours anytime anybody wants to tour there.
[43:12] um, it's very interesting and educational. Um, and, uh, so
[43:16] we can set that up. And then in addition to that, we've had two additional chambers
[43:20] to the enter digester. Mm-hmm . Nice. We also got a grant from the state that's helping us with that.
[43:24] so allow us to have more and more tons within the digester producing
[43:28] more gas and, uh, helping the city reach its goals for usb
[43:33] 1383. Well, I'll book another tour 'cause I would love to visit and, and see the new updates. And
[43:37] yeah. Uh, I encourage anybody interested in all of that. The, the tour is
[43:41] fascinating. All of the science is explained. It is a little smelly, but you know, my background
[43:45] is in fermentation, so I didn't mind the smells at all. So. Perfect. Thank you.
[43:49] thank you. Mine two, but that was something .
[43:57] alright. Okay. Yes. Thank you mayor. Thank you carl
[44:01] for this presentation. Thank you for this report. We just like to, um, extend
[44:05] again the, the, the, um, thanks, thanks to you and ed echo. And
[44:09] I see our ceo there hiding all, always very humble. Um,
[44:13] you know, I mean, during our cleanup, not only do we see all of you there, but we
[44:17] see the ceo also, uh, lifting a finger to make sure that our city
[44:22] is clean from all those, um, the, the things
[44:26] that we, we collect. I know we have another one june 20, so we look forward
[44:30] to that, um, cleanup day again. Thank you, sir. Absolutely.
[44:34] and I thought I'd just quickly mention that. Um, it's just a public, uh, it's
[44:38] a real pleasure working with public works with martha and steve and the whole group.
[44:42] um, and we're all out there in the community working side by side, but most recently
[44:46] we had public works appreciation week and so we kinda sponsored
[44:50] a little over there and I got to spend time as well as
[44:54] some of our staff got to spend time. 'cause typically we're out there working side by side
[44:59] at cleanups. But, uh, we gotta spend some time there. And, uh, just gotta say
[45:03] that entire team was a pleasure to be around and you could tell they really take pride in what they're doing.
[45:07] okay. I good. Thanks mayor. Uh, thank you all carl. And, um, thank
[45:11] you so much again for all the great work that you continue to do in our city and the great partnership.
[45:16] I still remember, um, you all are available whenever we need
[45:20] to have a cleanup or whenever there's a disaster that hits our city as it did a few years ago,
[45:24] is something that I certainly remember and keep close to my heart and really thank
[45:28] you and your employees for coming out and continuing to assist our community. Thank you.
[45:32] but if there's anything we can do better, we're available. 7 24. Okay. Well,
[45:37] uh, member bush is gonna tell you what you can do better now. . Yeah, I, um, don't have
[45:41] much, uh, to add beyond my colleagues. Um, I'm really happy with the service
[45:45] level you provide, especially when I look at some of the chaos that some of your competitors
[45:50] republic, I think as a competitor and just like how the labor disputes they have and everything
[45:54] else. I hear a lot, what I care about a lot is workers and
[45:58] how a company treats their workers and ever nothing but good things from your, your workforce
[46:02] about you all. So I really appreciate that. And then especially the, um, community events
[46:06] you guys do quarterly, the the cleanups. I think that helps not just clean up, uh, our neighborhoods,
[46:11] our residents use advantage, uh, take advantage of that. And it, it just, it just really helps.
[46:15] so I really am satisfied with the work you guys are doing. I don't have, and yeah, the mirror's,
[46:19] right? I'm not afraid to give constructive feedback. And so, um, I I honestly, I
[46:23] don't, I don't have any, like, I think you guys do a great job and I'm
[46:27] open to, you know, we have budget discussions if there's in the future, not for
[46:31] tonight 'cause not ize, but if there's anything creative that, um, that we can partner
[46:36] on to, that's a win-win. Um, you know, I'm definitely
[46:40] open to hearing what more creative things that, that we could be
[46:44] doing to, to partner. So I really appreciate the work you guys have done. Yeah,
[46:48] absolutely. And if, uh, there's anything that we, you think we could do better? Um, any of
[46:52] the council members, mayor, we're available all the time. Um, steve
[46:56] always says 7 24 and he means it, well sometimes
[47:01] even beyond that point. Uh, and, uh, you know, I've enjoyed through the decades working
[47:05] with edco and, and through our solid, uh, uh, regional solid waste association
[47:10] and everything else and, and the commitments that we put together. And, uh,
[47:14] but as I say, everyone's got nothing but great things to say about edco and,
[47:18] uh, and I agree. I mean, you guys are out there all the time, um, and whether
[47:22] if it is a trash situation or if it's a community project, whether if it's
[47:26] roofing a house on steve yes. Yes. And, uh,
[47:31] uh, or a flood say what? Or a flood. Or
[47:35] a flood, yes. But, uh, yeah, he'll have to tell you about his story about roofing a house one of these
[47:39] days. He's back there shaking his head like, no, I won't. Okay. Uh, but,
[47:43] uh, uh, but anyway, yeah, and you know, and you talk about the bio digesters and a lot
[47:47] of people go, okay, it sounds really nice, but, you know, those are four standalone
[47:52] containers, uh, half a million gallons a piece.
[47:56] and so all of your yard waste or your food waste,
[48:00] you know, you wonder where all that stuff goes. It goes into those things and they go up there to escondido
[48:04] to their plant up there, and, uh, then you fill it with
[48:08] enzymes and by the time it gets done, it's got a whole lot of methane gas, which is
[48:13] what you use to, to run your trucks. And there's not much left
[48:17] , uh, by the time those enzymes get done with all that stuff. But, uh,
[48:22] but it's, it's a great way of, of recycling and, uh, and, and
[48:26] yet at the same time, uh, turning it into something useful. So once again, you
[48:30] guys, and, and believe me, I, because I go to most of the trade shows, the, uh, uh, the
[48:34] trash trade shows around and edco is the envy of, of so
[48:38] many because you're, we're based, we're used to these huge corporations
[48:43] and edco is the largest family owned trash company in the united states.
[48:47] and so it's different than, you know, one of these ones that's traded on the, uh, on the
[48:51] stock exchange or something else, and is very personal. And as, uh, member bush
[48:55] says, uh, your employees constantly rave about working for edco. And
[48:59] that's, uh, that's something good to say in this day and age. Well, thank
[49:03] you. And, and, uh, have to give, uh, credit to our employees too. Absolutely. Just
[49:08] absolute pleasure working with them. We're blessed. Thank you. Alright, thank you very much. Thank
[49:12] you. Alright, next we go on to, uh, 7.2.
[49:16] this is building together mural reveal.
[49:20] and who is gonna kick this one off?
[49:26] well, I guess we're just going to bring up the crew.
[49:33] okay. Uh, yep. You can use that. Just identify yourself and let's
[49:37] go with it. Alright. Good, good evening, mr. Mayor and, uh, city council. Thank
[49:41] you for taking the time to hear us out tonight. Um, we're the vision culture
[49:46] foundation, uh, based right here in national city on highland avenue.
[49:50] um, we do art, art therapy, mental health support, resources.
[49:54] um, we do a lot in the community. Um, all our programming's free.
[49:58] um, but we wanted to bring tonight to your, uh, attention. There's
[50:02] a, there's an opportunity for national city. So I'm gonna talk about that. I'll keep it as brief as
[50:06] I can. Hey, . Okay,
[50:11] so, okay. So on may 2nd, um, we
[50:15] did a party with you guys. Um, we, it was a building together. We painted a
[50:19] mural. It's up in the top left hand corner where this slide, um, it's at the public works
[50:23] building on 18th and wilson. Um, that's some other stuff
[50:27] we've done in the community real fast. That's under, uh, ma, which
[50:31] is, uh, on division in palm on the east side. And then, um,
[50:35] there's a few other projects as well. Uh, thanks speaking to edco again.
[50:40] thank you. Uh, thanks to edco. We were able to finish the 18th street bridge on the east
[50:44] side as well, um, that mural. Um, so anyway,
[50:48] what we want to talk about tonight is for over 40 years, we're talking about
[50:52] a specific corridor, and it's right by nash, right by the public works building on 18th and wilson.
[50:56] so for over 40 years, that corridor has cost the city money through repeated graffiti
[51:01] abatement. Um, we're bringing an event that's never
[51:05] come to this city before. It's, it's been around for 30 plus years. They've
[51:09] done over 400 events all over the world. It's an inter it's an international
[51:13] art event. Okay. And it's finally coming to san diego. So we're hoping to,
[51:17] to partner with the city again. Um, it's an opportunity to permanently transform
[51:21] the space on 18th and wilson into internationally recognized public art destination
[51:26] at almost no cost to the city. And we say almost no cost because it, it
[51:30] would be the same as we did on the second. I don't know if you guys recall, but all we did was shut
[51:35] down a couple streets and had detour signs. That's it. We didn't, we, there was no
[51:39] additional cost. Um, so like I was saying about meeting
[51:43] a styles, it's a global public art movement. Um, it's a world
[51:47] recognized street art platform, um, all around the world. It'll help establish
[51:52] national city as an instant global cultural infrastructure, um, and international.
[51:56] and it brings an international artistic exchange and it'll become
[52:01] a world renowned mural movement for the city. Um, the, the event itself,
[52:05] like I said, over 30 years of history, 400 plus events, um,
[52:09] brings the best artists from all over the planet. Um, and it'll,
[52:13] it'll, it'll leave permanent large scale public murals in that area. And it, it'll
[52:18] attract community engagement and tourism activation. Um,
[52:22] national city already has the culture here. We're not importing culture into the city.
[52:26] it's just amplify, amplifying what what already exists here in national city.
[52:31] national city has deep roots, deep roots in hip hop, muralism, low rider culture
[52:35] and street art. Um, we're a very tight-knit community. A
[52:39] a very diverse working class community. Our leadership, we have an
[52:43] existing public art committee. Um, art is kind of important. We don't have an, uh,
[52:47] an an art district yet, but it's important to the city. Youth arts as well. There's
[52:51] a strong youth arts ecosystem. We're part of it. Um, and the
[52:56] location, it's, you know, national city's beachfront property right here. Very
[53:00] strategic location in south bay and san diego region. Um, for
[53:04] decades, the city has, has repeatedly painted over vandalized walls,
[53:09] removed graff, spent money removing graffiti, spent money late on labor,
[53:13] on, on covering up this paint, spent maintenance funds. And it's,
[53:17] it's been a repeated cycle endlessly for over 40 years. Right. Um, but
[53:21] meeting a stylists has the opportunity to interrupt that. Um, it's large scale
[53:25] respected murals. People don't want to vandalize things that are respected, you
[53:29] know what I mean? It's painted from community members that, that are very well known in the art
[53:34] community. It will dramatically reduce tagging. It will create a
[53:38] sense of community stewardship and ownership. It will discourage vandalism
[53:42] and it will reduce those reoccurring abatement costs. It'll save the,
[53:46] the city tons of money. We did a study a while back and it, it
[53:50] costs the city over 30 grand every couple months. You know what I mean? Just in graffiti
[53:54] abatement alone. Um, so again, the cheapest graffiti abatement
[53:59] strategy is creating spaces. People no longer want to vandalize. And how do you do that? You
[54:03] activate it with art and vibrant, beautiful murals. This is the area
[54:07] we're talking about right here. It's on 18th and 19th.
[54:12] wilson and mckinley are the, are the, the sides. So, so it's all that area down
[54:16] under there. It's on the west side. It's right by the public works building. That's that
[54:20] building in the top, top corner. Um, the event that we're
[54:24] hoping to, to do is on sunday, july 19th. And the only thing that we need
[54:28] from the city is, is to close the street. That's it. The same thing that we did
[54:32] before. This is the area right here. And as if you look at these pictures, you can see
[54:36] all that buff paint all over it. It's just an endless cycle.
[54:41] james and his crew, this is, if you guys don't know this, it's the man right here.
[54:47] james and his crew spent countless hours down there painting over this stuff that
[54:51] gets, it, gets hit all the time. This would immediately activate
[54:55] the space. It would kind of defacto start like an art
[55:00] district, you know what I mean? Overnight, you know what I mean? Because these artists come and,
[55:04] and the reason why it won't cost the city any, any money is because these artists come from all over the
[55:08] world and they bring their own paint. They bring their own, they, they, they get their own ladders.
[55:13] they have their own crews, they have their own helpers. They get in one day and
[55:17] they get out. You know what I mean? It's, there's a theme. And this year it's comic-con
[55:21] theme. So the area that that was assigned to this would be
[55:25] all, um, like, like, uh, cartoons. So it'd be cartoon themes.
[55:29] it would be like betty boop and, you know what I mean? Just think of any kind of cartoon, any era
[55:34] that those are the themes. Um, so it's, it's all this area right here.
[55:38] and can you imagine if it was just activated with color, just like that one photo where you could see our
[55:42] little mural up there. Um, it would change it overnight. This is the party
[55:46] that we did on may 2nd. These are just some photos from it. It was a really great time.
[55:50] we know you guys were busy doing city interviews and stuff like that mm-hmm .
[55:55] but we just want to thank you again for allowing it to happen. 'cause it was, it was a great day.
[55:59] um, we had a lot of fun and, uh, there was obviously no incidents
[56:03] or anything like that. It was just a a, a really fun day. Um, and we just wanna do
[56:07] the same thing on july 19th is just activate that space. Let the artists come
[56:11] in, these international world re renowned artists with their guidelines and everything
[56:15] that they're allowed to paint and then, and then get out. Right.
[56:20] so I'll, I'll I'm almost done guys. Sorry. No problem. So
[56:24] the beautiful public spaces, it improves community wellness. And that's a fact.
[56:28] you know what I mean? It it, environmental psychology investing in beautiful
[56:32] spaces recognizes that our physical surroundings deeply dictate our inner, our wellbeing.
[56:37] it's, it creates a sense of belonging. Curated public areas in, uh,
[56:41] invite diverse residents to step outta isolation, gather collectively
[56:45] and form deep social connections. It's also a sense of identity. Public art and
[56:49] thoughtful design. Reflect and honor, reflect and honor a community's unique
[56:53] history, culture, and roots. Um, public art reduces visual blight
[56:58] increases na, neighborhood pride creates safer feeling. Environments
[57:02] encourages walking and gathering. And, um, by gathering we mean that
[57:06] that area could then be activated for street festivals, farmer's markets,
[57:10] you know what I mean? Um, things like that. It supports youth expression and artistic expression.
[57:15] and it po it will positively impact the community's emotional wellbeing.
[57:19] 'cause people deserve to see beauty where they live. Um, uh,
[57:23] yeah, we already said that. . So here's
[57:28] what national city gets, is this artwork can either remain as either a permanent
[57:32] public asset or it also opens the door to activate this space
[57:36] in order for national city to host quarterly yearly art festivals.
[57:40] so it doesn't have to, we don't have to keep these inter national murals forever.
[57:44] it can be, you know, interchanged all the time using artists from
[57:49] the area, from these neighborhoods. Um, these are, like I
[57:53] said, these are large scale murals. It's a big area. So overnight it would get international
[57:57] recognition. It would beautify the infrastructure over there that, that gets tagged
[58:01] on every day. Um, inspires the youth that see that in their community.
[58:06] it'll attract tourism and visitors for sure. Because this is, this is a,
[58:10] this, this event's been going on over 30 years internationally. It's huge.
[58:15] um, it'll bring positive media attention, community activation, reduce vandalism,
[58:19] and it leaves a cultural legacy. Um, I think
[58:23] you guys get, just like, have you guys ever heard of art basel in, in miami? It's a huge
[58:27] festival they do every year. Yeah. And they activate all the south beach and it, it would basically, essentially
[58:32] turn national city into that overnight. You know what I mean? So
[58:37] that's really it. Guys. I already kind of touched on this. The artists donate and volunteer
[58:41] their, their labor. They do it, you know, um, we'll organize all
[58:45] the logistics just like we did for the last party. And all we need from you guys is just to
[58:49] support the, support the party on that day, you know?
[58:53] okay. Good. Um, so yeah, I'm
[58:57] good. Do you wanna say anything? No, I just wanted to say guys, thank you guys vision, culture for
[59:02] stepping up and helping our community as well. Um, I've been doing this for going on 20 years
[59:06] and this is something we're doing new in our city to beautify our community and
[59:10] keep it safe and, and put color into it. I mean, if you've gone to that street on
[59:14] 18th and 19th street by yourself at night, good luck. You'd be scared. ,
[59:18] believe me, I wouldn't even go on there if I wasn't there. It's very dark and dingy. It's, it's
[59:23] scary. But if we could do something like this in our community to keep it safe
[59:27] mm-hmm . And the one thing that, uh, rj and I were doing the first, you know, project on
[59:31] the public works building, we, we kind of talked about it like we
[59:35] seen elderly. We see young kids walking through
[59:39] there throughout the day, not a certain time throughout the day.
[59:43] and all the elements around there man is just pretty scary. We've
[59:48] seen some stuff as we're working. We see some crazy stuff down there at night. Yeah. So
[59:52] it, to us, to beautify our community, we're in the right step of doing this.
[59:56] this is what this happened. This is the answer. These guys, this is the answer.
[1:00:00] this is the answer that what I'm doing. It's a bad because
[1:00:04] it is a cat and mouse chase. I'll buffet it three hours later and hit again.
[1:00:08] mm-hmm . And we're losing money, we're losing the battle. And these guys
[1:00:12] are stepping up and, uh, be able to do that for our community.
[1:00:17] not just do that, but our mental health and working with our youth. High school
[1:00:21] kids, not just the high school kids, but also the, the elderly across
[1:00:25] the street. They teach graffiti art to be elderly.
[1:00:30] that's amazing. That tells you there's no boundary or age of the art
[1:00:34] who not considering looking at it as a bad thing anymore. It's a good thing.
[1:00:39] and that's what we're trying to create in our community, is to do better things.
[1:00:44] 'cause what we're doing in the past, guess what?
[1:00:48] we gotta find different avenues. Go outside the box, collaborate with
[1:00:52] these young men, with young minds and great in our communities.
[1:00:57] they don't have to be here, but they're here. Yeah. For the old, why
[1:01:01] could they take pride in our community? I just gotta thank them. Thank you guys for
[1:01:05] doing. Thank you. Thank you. That was
[1:01:09] beautiful. I wanna add also young women and children to that group,
[1:01:14] but I just wanna say on, on b, my name is jessica marie banya.
[1:01:18] I'm a licensed clinical social worker. I go by ree. It's so good to see you all again.
[1:01:23] I just wanna say we have so much gratitude. We've been working together for a long time,
[1:01:27] you know, with the low rider, uh, culture movement, it's, I mean even,
[1:01:32] let's go back to even like the elections. My daughter, she's now 14
[1:01:36] and she was a part of the interview process and you know, the questions that we asked like several
[1:01:40] years ago and we're here still working together. I just wanna add that
[1:01:45] I know we said, um, community wellbeing and, you know, these are all like punch words
[1:01:49] that, you know, I think we know to use. We're aware of what
[1:01:53] it is. Um, but I just wanna say thank you, uh, to our mayor
[1:01:57] and to city council just for being in collaboration.
[1:02:02] we're, we're, we're collaborators in this work in really just loving
[1:02:06] our people, loving our community, loving our youth, loving our elderly,
[1:02:11] and just seeing the power that we have within. It's a beautiful thing. So
[1:02:16] I know we're here. We, we had a wonderful presentation thank you rj for this and for the whole team.
[1:02:20] but I just wanted to add that this is, uh, suicide prevention. This
[1:02:24] is mental health wellness and community wellness and wellbeing. These are the ways in
[1:02:28] which we could do that is by continuing this collaboration that we have with one another.
[1:02:32] and we're it, we're here, you know, I, I like wake up every day. I'm like,
[1:02:36] oh my gosh. Like, oh, our friends, our people, our colleagues, our city council, you know, ,
[1:02:40] you know, we're not just begging to be heard. We're, we're working together in community.
[1:02:44] so I appreciate it. We appreciate it. Yeah. Okay. Questions. Alright.
[1:02:53] do you guys have questions or? Well, well before we do, let me just find out who all is
[1:02:57] speaking because I got a bunch of speaker slips here and I want to see if you're the ones up here. So do
[1:03:02] we have, uh, gazelle, giselle, or she's back there?
[1:03:06] she's got separately. Okay. How about larry? Okay, so larry's right there.
[1:03:11] uh, and then we got george. George
[1:03:15] right there. Uh, last name is ramirez
[1:03:19] ine. Ah, ine okay. . Okay. You notices how I did that. Then we
[1:03:23] have angela. Angela. Oh, angela's over there.
[1:03:27] okay, come on up there. And carlos. Carlos right there. Okay.
[1:03:32] alright. So we know who all, who all we had there. Uh, alright.
[1:03:37] um, so if any of you who I just said who
[1:03:41] want to also speak will give you a quick chance to do that also.
[1:03:45] okay. Okay. Um, I can start. Hi, my name is giselle. I'm a community advocate and
[1:03:49] artist. Um, my family has lived a long time in national city.
[1:03:54] um, for decades, these walls have told a story of neglect,
[1:03:58] maintain maintenance, and erasure. Every layer of paint covering graffiti
[1:04:02] has been an attempt to solve a problem without addressing its root. And tonight we
[1:04:06] have an opportunity to tell a different story. Uh, meeting of styles is not simply
[1:04:10] an art event. It's an act of transformation. It is the belief that the
[1:04:14] places we pass every day should reflect the beauty, creativity, and humanity of
[1:04:18] people who live here. It is understanding that the walls can do more than divide
[1:04:22] spaces. They can carry our history, our struggles, our dreams, and
[1:04:27] our collective imagination. National city does not need culture
[1:04:31] imported into it. Culture is already here. It lives in our families, our
[1:04:35] neighborhoods, our youth, our artists, our low rider traditions,
[1:04:39] our murals, and our streets. Um, what meeting of styles offers
[1:04:43] is a platform to honor that culture and to place it on a global stage.
[1:04:48] um, imagine stepping off the trolley and being greeted not by
[1:04:52] great concrete, but by stories. Imagine young people seeing artists from
[1:04:57] around the world, painting alongside local creatives and realizing that their
[1:05:01] own voice, their own vision, belongs in the future of the city.
[1:05:05] um, public art does something powerful. It reminds people that
[1:05:09] they matter. It tells residents that their neighborhood is worthy of care,
[1:05:13] worthy of beauty, and worthy of investment. 40 years from now,
[1:05:17] no one will remember how many gallons of paints were used to cover these walls,
[1:05:22] but they may remember the moment. National city chose creativity over maintenance,
[1:05:26] possibility over limitation, and community over neglect.
[1:05:30] this is more than just murals. This is placemaking. This is cultural stewardship.
[1:05:35] this is a declaration that national city believes beauty belongs to
[1:05:40] everyone. I urge you to support this partnership. Thank you. Thank
[1:05:44] you. Hi,
[1:05:48] everybody. My name's larry. Um, I was invited here one time
[1:05:53] to watch my friend carlos do a painting of armando
[1:05:58] regatta. Mm-hmm . And he told me a story. I'm like, who's this guy? And he, you know, I never got to meet him. And he
[1:06:02] told me, hey, well, you know, he passed away. But one of his, uh, visions was
[1:06:06] like, you know what? He wanted to beautify the city. And I'm like, man, I mean, you
[1:06:10] know, that's cool, man. That's too bad. He, you know, he passed away and he's like,
[1:06:14] you know what? Um, you know, we should carry that. You know, we should
[1:06:18] just, you know, make it a reality, not just let it, let it die. So
[1:06:22] I support that. I'm like, you know what? Let's, you know, I'm down with that. Let's, let's do it. Let's make it
[1:06:26] happen. Um, you know, and, and, and I explored that little
[1:06:31] area where they're doing the painting that's like, it's probably the
[1:06:35] loneliest part of nashville city, . Like, nobody goes over there. And I'm like, man, you know, it's, it's
[1:06:39] pretty, uh, it's pretty dead over there, , you know?
[1:06:43] and, and I'm like, but you know what? This is the perfect place. You know, it's perfect place.
[1:06:49] I don't know why, but, you know, whenever I go to other communities, I always compare, you know,
[1:06:53] uh, nashville city has that. They don't have it. You know, I don't know why I do that, but , I
[1:06:57] do that, you know, I do too. . And, um, and I'm like, man, we don't
[1:07:02] have an art district here. You know? I don't know what happened, you know? Um, I go to,
[1:07:06] uh, north park, they have a nice, you know, it's, and it, they just
[1:07:10] created it. Mm-hmm . And I'm like, you know what? Why can't we do that here? Mm-hmm . So,
[1:07:14] um, I hope, you know, we could start something and, and it's
[1:07:18] not gonna cost anybody. It's, it's a win-win. I think there's a lot of artists already in national
[1:07:23] city that, that wanna do something for their city and hopefully
[1:07:28] make it happen. Yeah. Thank you. Thank you.
[1:07:35] there. She's good evening mayor and council members. My name is angie micena.
[1:07:39] I'm here with logan heights community development corporation, or logan heights, cdc.
[1:07:43] and I'm really here to vouch for these artists and this
[1:07:47] event, the meeting of styles. Um, we have been working with some
[1:07:51] of these artists for about four years now, on a variety of murals
[1:07:56] in the logan heights community that have done all the things that you've been hearing
[1:08:00] about that have stopped graffiti and tagging
[1:08:04] in on public walls that have increased, you
[1:08:09] know, community pride in their neighborhood and really reflected the culture
[1:08:13] and the stories of the community and created placemaking.
[1:08:17] and that's exactly what these artists and community members are trying to do here
[1:08:21] in national city. Um, the meeting of styles event is a truly
[1:08:25] amazing collection of artists from all over the world coming together to
[1:08:30] beautify our communities and our streets and spaces.
[1:08:34] and, uh, for logan heights, cdc, we were able to, um, provide some,
[1:08:39] some wall space for these artists to put their art. And it has totally transformed the
[1:08:43] space. We get compliments on it. People like to take pictures in front of it.
[1:08:47] it just transforms a space and really gives folks a sense of
[1:08:51] pride in their community. And so, I highly encourage you to
[1:08:56] take advantage of this opportunity. Again, these are, these are artists who
[1:09:00] are donating their time and, um, they just need, they just
[1:09:04] need your support to do that. So I highly encourage you to vote. Vote in favor. Thanks.
[1:09:08] thank you.
[1:09:14] hello, city campbell. My name is carlos daniel es, also known
[1:09:18] as den lock. I'm a multi
[1:09:23] medium artist. I'm, I have murals from chula vista to oceanside,
[1:09:27] over 30 pieces at murals in chicano park in,
[1:09:32] uh, bald park. I'm also a board member of the bar law and planning committee.
[1:09:36] I'm a mural advisor for the love city heights committee, as well as I'm over there helping
[1:09:40] and fixing murals. And, um, I just, I wanted to come and talk to
[1:09:44] you about this, to help, to encourage you to support us with
[1:09:49] this, because events like this create artists like me,
[1:09:53] you know, create people that become successful and follow the dreams, you
[1:09:57] know? And, and I'm a good example of that, and I want to come here and
[1:10:01] keep that going. You know, when I was in high school and artists came and
[1:10:05] he planted a seed by painting a mural with me at 15 years old.
[1:10:10] and that developed to what I am now. So events like this
[1:10:14] can create more like this for all of us. Thank you.
[1:10:21] he painted armando, he painted armando's portrait. Okay.
[1:10:25] alright. Okay. Yep.
[1:10:29] hi, uh, mayor, uh, council members, uh, I'm george. I'm one of the artists here, and
[1:10:33] we've contributed a lot of art here. And, um, I
[1:10:37] actually love these things. I go to all over the country. We've, we've done these, we've been invited to different
[1:10:42] countries to do these things. Um, it's a good time.
[1:10:46] uh, and just to, just to be very concise about
[1:10:50] this, I think if you consider the cultural contribution
[1:10:54] and the graffiti abatement savings, and it's
[1:10:59] basically for the cost of some cones, we could probably come with the cones
[1:11:03] too. , you know,
[1:11:07] I know you guys are, are, you're always considering a lot of serious stuff and very
[1:11:11] important things. Right. This is a layup, this is an easy one. Mm-hmm . This is,
[1:11:15] this is a lot for nothing. So, you know, I,
[1:11:19] I strongly consider, uh, I want you guys to consider this and, and support us in this.
[1:11:24] thank you guys. Alright, great.
[1:11:28] good evening, uh, mayor and council members, thank you for allowing us the opportunity
[1:11:33] to speak. I am a volunteer for the vision culture foundation and
[1:11:37] a muralist as well. And I just wanted to say this is a great opportunity to build
[1:11:41] that culture of belonging here for national city. And I think that comes with
[1:11:45] care and accountability through arts. And I think, you know, through that support we can beautify
[1:11:49] the city. I make that commute every morning and when I see the public works
[1:11:54] building, I always tell, like everyone, like, this is something that I tell my coworkers about. This
[1:11:58] is something that makes their commute better. 'cause it's something for them to look at. So I
[1:12:02] hope that you consider this opportunity and support this class. Thank you. Alright,
[1:12:07] can you state your name for the workers? Jill and ramirez?
[1:12:11] thank you. Thank you. Alright. I think that was basically
[1:12:15] all of 'em that we had there. Um, okay, let me, uh,
[1:12:20] let me just make a couple quick observations and as a, the work you guys, don is
[1:12:24] great. One problem I have with it, it's getting lost
[1:12:28] with all that graffiti that's on the rest of those walls. You drive down through there,
[1:12:32] it's, your work is, gets kinda lost in the middle 'cause it's gorgeous work,
[1:12:37] but all that other garbage that's up there. And so I know we've talked about working
[1:12:41] together with mts, that as we're doing these things, getting, getting that cleaned
[1:12:45] off at least for the time being so that the people can say, hey, no, this is what we're doing. We're not doing
[1:12:49] that. We're doing this. 'cause you, what you guys do is great work. Uh, another
[1:12:53] thing is, a number of years ago we started to deal with whenever we were doing, uh, projects
[1:12:57] in the city and people were building stuff that we had to have them add a
[1:13:02] element of art to it. And so there's a lot of different things where there's
[1:13:06] been art pieces have been put to, uh, that goes along with the construction.
[1:13:10] one of 'em that was supposed to have been done that they didn't follow through on was
[1:13:15] southwestern college. 'cause they were supposed to put something out on the corner,
[1:13:19] uh, when they built that. 'cause the city put $20 million into that college,
[1:13:23] believe it or not. And they were supposed to put something out on the corner of eighth and
[1:13:27] national. The other thing they were doing, they were supposed to finish the parking
[1:13:31] structure instead of it just being a cinder block.
[1:13:36] and, uh, could you imagine the mural you could do there around education,
[1:13:40] everything else that would be seen from the freeway. So,
[1:13:45] uh, anyway, uh, but anyway, they are talking about doing some expansion right
[1:13:49] now in, in to work with the city on. So we might
[1:13:53] have a little bit of leverage with them. And, uh, so that, that might be something we might be able
[1:13:57] to talk about in the future. But anyway. Okay. We're gonna
[1:14:01] gonna go down, down the lines here. Uh, I believe mark. Okay. Okay. Go ahead. Thank
[1:14:05] you. Thank you so much to the speakers, the artists here today. Thank you, mr. James. Kim.
[1:14:09] thank you rj and the vision, culture foundation for being here today. Uh,
[1:14:14] absolutely. Uh, I love public art. I think it is so important. It
[1:14:18] especially brings a lot of community pride. Um, and I go by, uh,
[1:14:22] that area, you know, I think I heard one of the speakers say, it's such a lonely area. Well, I go
[1:14:26] by there. It's on, in the west side of national city, and I go to church at st. Anthony's.
[1:14:31] and every single sunday, I do see that mural, uh, and, uh, armando
[1:14:35] vera every single sunday. And it does, it fills my heart with pride. Thank
[1:14:39] you very much for the, the, the, just the reminder. You know,
[1:14:44] it is a piece of pride, uh, in national city. So I'm very grateful for
[1:14:48] that. And I do wanna give a, a very good shout out to my colleague here, marcus
[1:14:52] bush. Uh, his, um, enthusiasm for this project
[1:14:57] from the very beginning has been, uh, one of the reasons I think
[1:15:01] that it exists. And I know that his work towards, uh, getting caltrans
[1:15:05] involved in mts and, and just all of the red tape that has to, you
[1:15:10] know, we have to, to work with. Um, I do wanna give a shout out to
[1:15:14] marcus and all of the artists that have come out here to represent. Thank
[1:15:18] you. I appreciate all the work. Thank you. Thank you,
[1:15:23] marcus. Well, thank you luis, as a team effort. So,
[1:15:27] uh, thank you luis for that. And so wanna thank just everyone, vision,
[1:15:31] culture foundation. I wanna give a special shout to my council rep,
[1:15:35] uh, daniel gonzalez, who's, uh, uh, really worked on this. Like, I couldn't
[1:15:39] have done this without him, so I know he is listening. So shout out to him, especially
[1:15:44] on this upcoming event. He's working on the permits and with our city staff. So I think this coming to
[1:15:48] council in two weeks, the, uh, uh, tup, um, uh, for this
[1:15:52] event. Um, but really, um, I want to thank him because, uh,
[1:15:56] this was an initiative even though, you know, not in, uh, this is lucy's district, um, not
[1:16:00] mine. But this is something that we put a lot of effort into because it benefits us
[1:16:05] citywide. And you guys just touched on it, the budget. Uh, there's a better way more
[1:16:09] efficient way to do things. So really appreciate the work that he's done on this.
[1:16:13] um, and the other major person of this is james. Kim, a huge, uh, shout
[1:16:18] out to him. So thank you, james, because you've been a graffiti tech
[1:16:22] for, and working with the city for 17, 20, so
[1:16:26] almost 20 years, right? Almost 20 years. And thank you for having
[1:16:30] the courage and the bravery. Um, just when we were, me and daniel were, were talking and
[1:16:34] going downstairs and just seeing how are things going. And you had the bravery to just tell
[1:16:38] us and give me, and give us constructive feedback. This is the,
[1:16:42] we've been doing for many years, especially along that 24th street corridor.
[1:16:46] I'll go out there, I'll paint over it, and within 24 hours at times it's
[1:16:50] tagged up again. And so, uh, you know, I thought it was gonna go a lot faster.
[1:16:55] I thought it was gonna be, oh, two months, I could get this done. It's been like two years .
[1:16:59] but it's taken a lot. It's been worth it. It's the labor of love, I think, for all of us. And
[1:17:03] it wouldn't happen without my colleagues here on the dais, our city staff, our active city manager
[1:17:07] and his team for, um, approving this and being flexible and innovative with
[1:17:12] some of the different, um, logistical, uh, challenges like
[1:17:16] the, the crane thing and just, just all of that. And, and, but the crux of this idea,
[1:17:20] and it also came from our former city manager, armando vera. So it's just,
[1:17:24] all of this is just so beautiful. And it's honestly, for me personally, it's one
[1:17:28] of the, the best projects or the best things I feel like I I've
[1:17:32] done here on city council other than the, the low rider thing. So just, you know, we, 'cause we
[1:17:37] have budget, we have a lot of great stuff that I'm, I'm proud that we've done. Um, but this is just like
[1:17:41] transformational and it's economic development. I think this, this,
[1:17:46] um, uh, opportunity, um, coming up next month. It doesn't
[1:17:50] happen often. And it's just like the stars are aligning and this is like free art.
[1:17:54] we're getting good free. And I hope that we, as a city or chamber, I hope that those
[1:17:58] artists that are coming, that we can encourage them to stay in our hotels and spend money here
[1:18:02] and do little side events here and things that just, you know, um, bring
[1:18:07] that attention. Attention. I think there's opportunity for us to, um, if we have
[1:18:11] initiatives that staff have initiative, things that they're working on, whether it's our parks,
[1:18:15] our library, you know, I don't, I don't even know. There's just so many opportunities. We have a, as a
[1:18:19] city has, has to, um, really grow and expand on this. So,
[1:18:24] um, and I really think vision, culture, um, you guys, your volunteers,
[1:18:28] your staff, everyone really appreciate. Just, you're one of the best nonprofits
[1:18:32] in the county, um, and one of the best profits in, uh, national state. We have some
[1:18:36] great nonprofits. I, I I just, but what you guys do for mental health,
[1:18:40] uh, for our youth, um, for teaching and being a, a community
[1:18:45] activist space, I, I want our partnership to, uh, continue to grow
[1:18:49] and just what you've brought to the table and how, uh, you do your events and
[1:18:53] you're working on the maum, uh, project as well. And, and, uh, council
[1:18:57] member rodriguez's district. And so I just, I just think you guys are doing a phenomenal job
[1:19:01] and I want, um, continue to do that. Um, the may 2nd event, it
[1:19:06] was, it was really good. It was really amazing. And, and we did like that we
[1:19:10] were, we were coming off of like a eight hour like marathon on interviews. So we,
[1:19:14] like we just said, we were behind on events, so not all of us could make it. Um, but
[1:19:18] I'm really excited for this, for this potential event. Um,
[1:19:22] a couple things just for city staff, I would ask the city manager.
[1:19:27] I don't need an answer right now, unless you or your public works department does have
[1:19:31] one. But for this future, um, for this meeting of styles event
[1:19:35] in this two p on july 17th, I know we have, um, long
[1:19:39] term a, um, a, a project, um, a bike, uh, active
[1:19:43] transportation project that we've had a lot of previous back and forth discussions on
[1:19:48] city council about design and all that. So, um, I, I'm
[1:19:52] not trying to put you on the spot, but if your staff could check into just making
[1:19:56] sure there's no, um, like conflicts or anything that was predetermined,
[1:20:00] um, uh, with that, because we have caltrans permits that caltrans has been
[1:20:04] great, we're working with them. Um, but I just wanna make sure, I think this, this fits
[1:20:09] like perfectly and even is enhanced and I think improved what kind of we
[1:20:13] had conceptually. And so I think this is consistent because there's no kind of infrastructure.
[1:20:17] this is just paint. But, um, if, uh, you, your staff can
[1:20:21] look into, uh, this or have any comments about that, um,
[1:20:25] or feel free to chime in. Um, and then, um, just
[1:20:30] response to, uh, the, uh, mayor and agree with what
[1:20:34] he said, um, about the other buildings. We have a long-term plan
[1:20:38] for those other buildings. So this first phase was the, uh,
[1:20:43] catalyst and it was the easiest to implement because it's land and a
[1:20:47] building that we at the city control. So now the next phase and challenges will
[1:20:51] be drafting mous. I'm looking at you, city attorney, mous
[1:20:55] and, uh, legal work. Uh, because the other part of this is, um, this is
[1:20:59] private property that is tagged and they do have a responsibility. And I appreciate you,
[1:21:03] james, in one of the meetings you like told them, you just laid it out like it is, like, hey, this is us
[1:21:07] as public subsidizing your private operations in your graffiti and it needs to stop.
[1:21:12] and so willing to work with them. But those are the next phases of this.
[1:21:16] and, uh, we don't have a set budget or anything for it. So this is
[1:21:20] a future work that I think we need to do to, for that to implement. And you guys
[1:21:25] provided us some concepts. So there's more work that needs to be done. I will say we do have
[1:21:29] the money for a project like that. It could come out of our economic contingency reserve
[1:21:33] that, uh, the unspent funds from last year. So we could talk more about that.
[1:21:37] um, and then the opportunity, I appreciate the mayor's idea of the opportunity for southwestern college because
[1:21:42] that garage that's, it's prominent and I didn't realize that that was part of, uh,
[1:21:46] mou that they, the southwestern college didn't follow through on. So that's another
[1:21:50] opportunity 'cause that's an ugly parking garage. And that's something that's an entrance to the city and we just
[1:21:54] need to take better care of our, our city's image. Um, I personally
[1:21:59] don't care when people call it nasty city. I really don't because those are the kind of people that
[1:22:03] personally I don't care that are coming here, right? Like, so, but we
[1:22:07] also want to shed some of the negativity and, and the ugliness
[1:22:11] at the same time, or at least like, redefine it and transform it. Um, and embrace like kinda what
[1:22:15] you guys are talking about, em, embrace our, our urban culture and embrace
[1:22:19] like our, our people that are stereotyped and like graffiti are the,
[1:22:23] the graffiti, the murals. Like, there's a bigger, deeper cultural story that's really beautiful
[1:22:28] to that. So that's why I love what you guys are doing. I, I really appreciate it and I, I
[1:22:32] think we can really get this done. This is economic development too, so I really appreciate you guys.
[1:22:36] thank you. Thank you. Oh, last thing, last thing, james, on, on, uh, just on james,
[1:22:40] if you continue to to work with our staff and coordinate, um,
[1:22:44] uh, on this and in particularly for like in the, uh,
[1:22:48] budget longer term, not, not for like this particular discussion, but at least like
[1:22:53] for the next, uh, few weeks. But I really appreciate the leadership.
[1:22:57] you're, you as a tech. I haven't seen a city employee
[1:23:01] that isn't in a manager and leader position. I have not seen an employee do the level of work that
[1:23:05] you did in front of the bottom of my heart. I just wanna give you a big shout at and thank you. 'cause this project would not have happened without
[1:23:09] you. Thank you.
[1:23:13] okay, member rodriguez. Thank you mr. Mayor. I echo the sentiments of my colleagues
[1:23:18] and really want to commend the effort of all volunteers, uh, staff,
[1:23:22] uh, vision culture foundation, as well as other nonprofits that are involved in the process.
[1:23:26] uh, council member bush, thank you so much for leading the effort and daniel as well for helping
[1:23:30] make this happen. I mean, I know, I know we all, um, know this
[1:23:34] to be true. Art is, uh, is an expression of our history, of our collective history.
[1:23:39] and, and it is, um, it's critical that we continue to support that and
[1:23:43] demonstrate that at every phase of our city and anywhere we possibly
[1:23:48] can. And so there's so many beautiful murals, but there's so much more and so many more opportunities.
[1:23:52] and so you certainly have my support and that of our council office on, on, uh,
[1:23:56] partnering with, with continuing to expand mural space within our city and within our
[1:24:01] district. I think it's imperative in order to display our history and not allow our history
[1:24:05] to be written by others. And so thank you so much. Really appreciate all your help. Thank you.
[1:24:13] thank you mayor. Um, vision, culture foundation. I'm
[1:24:18] awed by the, by the work that you do for our community. Thank you so
[1:24:22] much. Thank you. Uh, you have a big support here. Okay.
[1:24:29] thank you all very much. Thank you guys. Thank you you for hearing us.
[1:24:33] thank you guys. Alright,
[1:24:39] next we go into here. Sorry, can we take a picture with them? Is that okay?
[1:24:43] uh, if we can get 'em all back up here. Yeah. Can you guys, do you guys mind all coming back up so we can get a
[1:24:47] picture? Oh, sure.
[1:24:54] thank you. It was a good idea. . Sorry, I forgot. Sorry.
[1:25:00] come on. Okay. Yep. Uh, yep. Stay on that side of the podium or otherwise
[1:25:04] on this, on this side. You all get blocked out. Thank you.
[1:25:12] oh, a couple extra trouble makers in there. Okay.
[1:25:26] alright. Thank you. Yeah.
[1:25:30] yo, I was waiting for the threat .
[1:25:36] oh, just really quick guys, that the mic culture, mike.
[1:25:41] oh, vision culture just came up with the great idea. Uh, I know the
[1:25:45] passing of mike mejia. I've been working and talking to the fire guys here
[1:25:49] and that's something, they came outta heart. They said, you know what? Anything for our first responders,
[1:25:53] they'd be more glad to put a mural somewhere in nashville city of honor of mike bia.
[1:25:57] that's another thing that they're willing to do and, uh, to our community. Love
[1:26:01] it. So just putting it out there as that. Well, thank you james. Love it. And james, since you brought up
[1:26:05] something, last thing I forgot to tell you, um, there was a question, um, on
[1:26:09] budget and what, um, the return on the investment is and kind of the,
[1:26:14] uh, improved, uh, cost estimation for this. So this is, uh, for you, james. So if we can get that, and
[1:26:18] actually I'll say it mr. Edt though. And so, um, and I'm sure he doesn't mind
[1:26:22] just that, uh, that I disclosed that. So if we can get, uh, some of the
[1:26:26] numbers, I think we already have an estimate and, um, and I think it just, uh,
[1:26:30] needs a little bit of, uh, refinement. And you can go ahead and talk to mr. Nieto
[1:26:35] for some of the details he was working on. But the, this, we did do high
[1:26:39] level analysis and this was proven, this concept to save money. So I just, uh,
[1:26:43] but getting those numbers I think is, is good. Okay. Thank you. Alright.
[1:26:47] um, before we go into consent count, we also have, uh, regional boards
[1:26:52] and committee reports. Start down here. Nothing
[1:26:56] to report mayor. Okay. Um, no report, mr. Mayor.
[1:27:00] okay. Down
[1:27:04] here with, uh, mr. Bush. Yes. So a report on air
[1:27:08] pollution control district, and also wanted to, uh, respond to the, uh, public comments
[1:27:12] about that, which I appreciate. So I want to thank, uh, mr.
[1:27:17] ock and, uh, ms. Quinone, and especially, particularly ms. Quinone because, uh, ms.
[1:27:21] quinone, you did come to our epc board meetings and you've been,
[1:27:25] uh, uh, an advocate about our delayed, uh, pair program and asking those
[1:27:30] questions. So I really appreciate the, um, engagement despite some of my, uh, disagreements on
[1:27:34] policy, which I'm happy to, uh, sort of give high level update on. And,
[1:27:38] you know, we can have follow up conversations on the dais and outside. Um, so
[1:27:42] the, um, indirect source rule was, uh, an item that I've updated kept our,
[1:27:46] uh, council updated on it. Uh, absolutely was a difficult,
[1:27:50] uh, decision and tough for all of us. But I want to do, uh, point out some
[1:27:54] things, not just, uh, from the staff report, but also,
[1:27:59] um, in the response to the, uh, the email
[1:28:03] that you all sent. Um, because there is some facts that I think
[1:28:07] need to be stated in and corrected. Um, so,
[1:28:11] uh, in terms of the, um, the email,
[1:28:16] so one of, so, uh, it was the may 14th, uh,
[1:28:20] uh, uh, board agenda meeting, uh, where
[1:28:24] we took up the indirect source role. And one of the most important things, I think this letter, uh,
[1:28:30] uh, mrs. Is, um, and it, and it states
[1:28:34] at the board meeting that I voted against a motion introduced by fellow board member,
[1:28:39] district supervisor, olo mere, actually do think for the record, it was introduced by, um,
[1:28:43] our chair, berkeley garcia. Um, but, um, but a gire was,
[1:28:47] uh, supportive directing a-p-c-d-a-p-c-d staff to do,
[1:28:51] to begin drafting an indirect source rule. This rule has been studied
[1:28:56] by epcd staff for four years and would be a first step in
[1:29:00] a new program to limit emissions from trucks at warehouses. Now, the, now
[1:29:04] the key part that, that, that statement that that email misses
[1:29:08] is that it was the staff, our a pcd staff that recommended against
[1:29:13] moving forward with an indirect source rule. So, um, part of,
[1:29:17] uh, well, part of it, I I will say for our a pcd staff, they
[1:29:21] are the most, um, uh, I think progressive pro-environmental
[1:29:26] justice, uh, staff of any, uh, public agency staff
[1:29:30] in the county. Um, and they have been very proactive on protecting health,
[1:29:34] on getting data research. So they've been studying this for
[1:29:38] four years, and in this staff report in the research,
[1:29:43] uh, they, they're based on their research, this was not
[1:29:47] the best route to go in, in direct source rule. And these are the reasons
[1:29:51] why that I'll read some of these here. So
[1:29:56] the, uh, part of this was here, let me get my notes and
[1:30:00] read directly from the report.
[1:30:11] uh, let's see. Sorry
[1:30:15] guys, I lost where I was on the report, so I'm pulling this back up on my laptop.
[1:30:28] alright, here we go. So the vote was, uh, five four. It
[1:30:32] was, uh, a member gloria bailey, koval, board member, member fitzgerald
[1:30:37] and myself in support of the staff recommendation, which was to
[1:30:41] move forward with incentives and not to kill the rule, but to delay it.
[1:30:45] and the delay was due to the legal risk was
[1:30:49] due to the, and I'll read it right here. The estimated emission reductions from a
[1:30:53] potential warehouse isr in san diego are projected to be significantly less
[1:30:58] than the reductions anticipated from other rulemaking. So it was the cost, and, and
[1:31:02] there's a whole, uh, set of bullet points. Uh, I don't wanna, uh, read, um, and
[1:31:06] just in sake of, uh, public time. But it was the cost effectiveness, the compliance
[1:31:10] cost, uh, the fact that the emission reductions were significantly
[1:31:14] less. So staff researched this, and after the research they did,
[1:31:18] this rule was not determined to be effective. And staff is an independent body
[1:31:23] industry, of course, did support that. But industries, um,
[1:31:27] their position besides, you know, the facts, I'm not going
[1:31:31] to support industry. I'm gonna support the community and the decades
[1:31:36] of, uh, pollution of, uh, health impacts that we've had. But this wasn't the best
[1:31:40] approach, in my opinion. It was the legal risk. This rule has been overturned in other
[1:31:44] areas. These are facts. This rule has been overturned in other areas. So there's
[1:31:48] a legal risk, especially with the state and the federal courts and how they're made up.
[1:31:52] so spending this amount of money, and then it would be two to three years to
[1:31:57] actually be implemented. And yes, there was a lot of public comment, which I appreciate
[1:32:01] all the public testimony, uh, uh, in favor of a rule. But
[1:32:05] what the public comments all said is, we need action. We need help now.
[1:32:09] so I'm not gonna promise the public that we're gonna do something that's gonna be
[1:32:13] two to three years maybe in the making that's expensive and that our staff is telling us
[1:32:18] is not the most effective approach or tool. So it's not that it's,
[1:32:22] uh, gonna be killed forever. It's, it's paused right now. I offered
[1:32:26] some ideas of solutions that can happen to, um, not today,
[1:32:30] uh, but that can happen very short term as in the next few months. And a lot of that is based
[1:32:35] on what's already existing. It's our pair program, it's our air filter. And
[1:32:39] what I wasn't going to do was, uh, and I've done this before where
[1:32:43] staff recommended, uh, specifically with the tijuana sewage river crisis, recommended
[1:32:47] that we on the board, that we not push them into, uh, creating a new program,
[1:32:52] um, addressing this because it, uh, it is a water quality issue. They
[1:32:56] argued it not an air quality issue, but we still did what
[1:33:00] I, I think was all right. And we, uh, directed staff against their recommendation
[1:33:04] to still pursue this. And that was very helpful to getting solutions to
[1:33:09] the tijuana river, uh, sewage crisis and getting air filters to those people.
[1:33:13] that was helpful. But I disclosed it in this, uh, previous meetings that
[1:33:17] actually ended up being negatively impactful to national city. We ended up spreading
[1:33:21] our resources to thin at a pcd. So the pair program,
[1:33:26] uh, which was for air monitors and air filters to be distributed here in
[1:33:30] national city, got delayed and has been delayed for over a year and a half. And the staff did report
[1:33:34] that. Part of that was because we started a new program. So, uh, national city's
[1:33:38] already, uh, been delayed in some of what I think the resources,
[1:33:43] the opportunities to address these issues. So I'm not gonna just, you know, rules
[1:33:47] make us feel good regulations. Sometimes they're, they're good for, um,
[1:33:52] uh, for doing press releases and saying, oh yeah, we did something, but
[1:33:56] I don't think that this was going to do, um, what it, what we,
[1:34:00] what we hope to do. And in fact, the staff analysis did say that if
[1:34:04] this rule even did survive legal challenge, even after all the money that we spend
[1:34:09] on it, they would average an estimated, um, six,
[1:34:13] uh, six people. Their health would improve six
[1:34:17] per year. And not just in national city, but in what's called the port side
[1:34:21] communities. That is a fact. That is in the report. There's a lot of other data in
[1:34:25] the report. There is opportunities, and I'm open to changing my
[1:34:30] position on this. So I would, um, be definitely open to, uh, planning,
[1:34:34] uh, commission, uh, discussion about it, having epcd, uh, uh, come,
[1:34:38] come here. Um, but I am interested in doing something now and doing something
[1:34:42] with, uh, air filters and getting our air monitors, uh, on track. So
[1:34:46] this isn't over, but, and I encourage, uh, continued discussion, but just wanted to,
[1:34:50] uh, give an, uh, comprehensive update about that, and then hopefully we
[1:34:55] can yeah. Move, uh, move, uh, forward more. Last thing I'll say
[1:34:59] on the email, this references, uh, aguire about three or
[1:35:03] four times. It feels very political. This letter aguire was
[1:35:07] not the only one that supported this. So there's more if, if the, if
[1:35:11] the goldie ask in this email is to have our city council think, think
[1:35:15] a pcd, then we should think if, if that's the council's decision, then
[1:35:20] we should think more than just one supervisor. We, we should thank everyone if that's
[1:35:24] the role, if that's what the council wanted to do. So that's my updates for ap
[1:35:28] pcd. Thank you. Thank you. Okay. Uh, thank you. I will be attending the
[1:35:32] sandag audit committee meeting this friday. Those are all the updates I have. Thank you.
[1:35:37] okay. Uh, just real quickly, uh, a couple things. We had
[1:35:41] a meeting yesterday on the budget committee for, uh, risa and taking a
[1:35:45] look at, uh, for the next two years, uh, national city will
[1:35:49] continue to get our, uh, there's an extra amount of money that we get
[1:35:53] that the other cities don't get for the simple reason. When we formed risa,
[1:35:58] um, our rates were the lowest in the county, so
[1:36:03] edco wouldn't go any lower. But what they did do, they dropped the north county rates down,
[1:36:08] so we didn't get anything directly out of it. So as a result,
[1:36:12] the other cities pay us an amount of money, so we get paid because
[1:36:16] we helped get their rates lower. And so that is, uh, continuing.
[1:36:21] we've had a couple times we get new board members, they can't figure out why our city, these are
[1:36:25] ones from north county, and they can't figure out why our city is getting a rebate on stuff.
[1:36:30] and then when we have to explain to 'em the reason your rates are so lower
[1:36:34] is because of what we, we put into this project. So, um,
[1:36:38] so that was good. The other thing is we're turning over the treasurer, um,
[1:36:42] uh, national city has been the treasurer for risk for the last five years, and
[1:36:46] now is another city's turn. So we rotated among the city. So,
[1:36:51] um, and we had been paid each year to, for the cost that it cost us to do
[1:36:55] both the, uh, uh, the treasury work and also on the audit. And
[1:36:59] so, um, uh, so, but I say, but it's another city's turn now
[1:37:03] for doing on that one. Uh, one other thing is we had the planning meeting of, of,
[1:37:07] uh, sandag this last week. And, uh, the discussion was on housing
[1:37:12] the arena numbers and, uh, let's just say
[1:37:16] lively discussion. And, and it was, it was interesting,
[1:37:20] um, different cities, viewpoints and some people, some cities
[1:37:25] that have almost no arena numbers, which is the housing, uh,
[1:37:29] numbers that, that are assigned to the cities. And, uh,
[1:37:34] they were just crying the blues. You would not believe how much they were just crying the blues.
[1:37:38] and then when we mentioned what our numbers were, they, they shut up. But, uh,
[1:37:42] so it's, uh, um, anyway, but that, that's the debate that's
[1:37:46] gonna be going on heavier in the next few years as we enter into the next eight year cycle.
[1:37:50] uh, that's the only two things that I have to report at this, at this time. Um,
[1:37:55] next we go on to consent calendars. Uh, this is nine
[1:37:59] one through nine 16.
[1:38:04] 16, yes. Nine 16. I have request to
[1:38:08] pull, uh, item 7, 8, 11, 15,
[1:38:15] and 16. Mayor, I'd like to request to pull item nine
[1:38:19] 10 and nine 12, please. You said 9 10, 9 10
[1:38:23] and nine 12. And nine 12. Thank you.
[1:38:28] okay.
[1:38:33] all right. Anything else? Just comment on nine, 9.9,
[1:38:38] mayor. Okay. Just comment. Okay.
[1:38:43] I, and I have, um, a, uh, motion for
[1:38:48] 9.6, a different one. So, or just, just some
[1:38:52] addition. I'm sorry, what? Now? I have an addition, a
[1:38:56] motion I wanna make for 9.6. Do you want both? Just I can pull it. Yeah, let's pull it. Okay.
[1:39:02] alright. Alright. Uh, anything else?
[1:39:06] okay, then we have a motion for the remainder of the calendar.
[1:39:11] so move, mr. Mayor. Okay. We have a motion? Do I have a second?
[1:39:15] second. Okay. We have a motion and a second.
[1:39:19] we have no other discussion. Please vote for the remainder of the calendar.
[1:39:24] motion. Prove unanimously. Okay. First we go with, uh, nine six. This
[1:39:28] is the annual military equipment use report.
[1:39:33] and I believe that was member rodriguez, was it?
[1:39:37] oh, no, no, I'm sorry. Member bush. Yeah. So my, and I asked this in briefing, so I wasn't sure
[1:39:41] if we had an answer yet, but if not, that's okay. So, um, uh,
[1:39:45] the last council meeting, we directed this, uh, to go to the,
[1:39:50] um, cprc, which they did, they reviewed it. So thank you to
[1:39:54] staff for presenting that. My problem was that there was not,
[1:39:58] in terms of their attachments, only the powerpoint was included. None of the background attachments
[1:40:02] that we were, um, provided, um, on the
[1:40:06] city council, including the list of the weapons and the staff report and all out
[1:40:11] of that. So, uh, my question was why that wasn't, uh, included
[1:40:15] in the, in the original, like, what, what happened there?
[1:40:22] thank you. Council member bush, chris sullivan, uh, captain once again.
[1:40:26] so when we were asked to present to the cprc, that's what we had
[1:40:30] done. And obviously trying to, uh,
[1:40:35] present to counsel on the first go round. Um, and
[1:40:39] it was pushed. So we can do that provided us more, uh,
[1:40:44] engagement into, uh, community members of the cprc.
[1:40:49] the reason that we have the presentation is to try
[1:40:53] to present to them, one of the options that we can do is
[1:40:57] provide all of the materials in the, in the book to them,
[1:41:01] into the future. Great. Um,
[1:41:06] okay. So, um, so then
[1:41:10] I, so then staff just made a decision not to just, they, uh, to abbreviate
[1:41:15] is, is that why, to abbreviate what was given to the cprc?
[1:41:19] um, what was given already provided to city council?
[1:41:24] when we present in the manner of like a, a, of a powerpoint,
[1:41:30] if you're asking why, or is it possible that we can give them the
[1:41:34] entire report itself at that time? Yes, we
[1:41:38] can do that. Uh, right. Well, that, yes, and that
[1:41:42] technically wasn't my question. My question was why they weren't
[1:41:46] provided the full report and information that we and counsel was
[1:41:50] given were given, I believe at that time
[1:41:54] it was trying to get to that presentation to them,
[1:41:59] and we just provided them the actual presentation, which is a modified
[1:42:03] version, which has all the information that we do have in the report, just not the
[1:42:07] extended version of it. Okay. I appreciate that. Um, well, I
[1:42:11] just, I mean, I'm ready to make a motion. They, um, they had their input, um,
[1:42:16] and, uh, I did listen to, uh, that meeting and talk to some,
[1:42:20] uh, to our city staff about some of the ways I think the commission could, um,
[1:42:25] I guess be more productive in tone and just it be a little more productive and less,
[1:42:29] uh, maybe accusatory, which I'm, you know, comfortable with that. But in the future,
[1:42:33] I, I do believe that, um, our
[1:42:37] anything that our, um, oversight boards, our,
[1:42:41] our, our citizens committees, I think they should have as much information as
[1:42:46] possible in the spirit of transparency, accountability, openness, and getting that as, as
[1:42:50] advanced and possible. So it sounds like this was just kind of an oversight, and I'm okay with that.
[1:42:54] um, but, uh, you know, moving forward, I, I would like, um, and this,
[1:42:59] uh, this has come up before last year, so, so moving forward, I would like
[1:43:03] our cprc, or for that matter, any commission that is reviewing
[1:43:07] something to get all of the information and all the materials, uh, the background because it is
[1:43:11] public, and then it, it, you know, it, it might, it will result in a little more work
[1:43:16] on our part in the city, but I think it's gonna build more trust and then allow a better understanding
[1:43:20] back and forth and for us to make, um, improved, uh,
[1:43:24] decision making on, on the budget earlier so that we all have the
[1:43:28] capacity to make decisions, okay? Uh, the, you know, the military grade equipment,
[1:43:33] do we need this particular piece of equipment that is expensive at the, is there a
[1:43:37] cheaper way to do this to achieve the public safety goals that we need? And then you all have an opportunity,
[1:43:41] hey, this is a scenario where we need this and this is the risk analysis and
[1:43:45] all that. So that's like for me just to better explain what the intent of that would be. So,
[1:43:49] but I'm, I'm supportive. I, uh, and I'll, I'll make a motion to support this
[1:43:53] item and would, uh, direct staff to when this item
[1:43:57] comes up before, before it's, uh, uh, before it comes to city council,
[1:44:02] that it goes to the full cprc with the full available information,
[1:44:07] um, so that they could provide comments and potential recommendation
[1:44:12] or thoughts on that to, to us. So that would be my emotion, approve
[1:44:16] this item and have it in the future. Come back to council, come next year's annual report
[1:44:20] and next year's annual report whenever it comes back next time, whenever
[1:44:24] this related item has got it. Because I think we've had this come in midyear, but
[1:44:28] I think we've had budget meetings about things like this. So if it comes up before then, I think it's appropriate
[1:44:33] before then, so, okay. Whenever it comes up. So as it relates to the military
[1:44:37] equipment report, that's what you're asking for, correct. As it relates to the military grade equipment? Yes.
[1:44:41] okay. Thank you. Clarification question. Yes. So, so this, uh, motion has been seconded.
[1:44:46] yes. Thank you. Um, and, and so you're fine moving forward with the today?
[1:44:50] yes, today's fine. Mm-hmm . Okay. Thank you. And, and I do agree, uh, just for the sake of information,
[1:44:54] uh, I appreciate information, I appreciate a lot of information. And because
[1:44:58] all of the information had already come to city council, it was published on our city website,
[1:45:02] uh, I do agree that it, it should have been fully presented
[1:45:07] to the cprc. Um, and I do agree that, uh, we should
[1:45:11] utilize our volunteers that wanna do the work, let them do the work. So I do agree with,
[1:45:16] um, presenting them with all the information that's available. Thank you. And I'm in, uh, uh,
[1:45:20] support of the motion.
[1:45:26] all right, so we have a motion and a second. See, no
[1:45:30] more discussion, please vote. Motion to approve
[1:45:35] unanimously.
[1:45:39] alright, next, we'll go to nine seven. Uh, this is the regulatory agreement execution
[1:45:44] and amendment to the kimball highland ground leaves and promissory
[1:45:48] note. Uh, cesar javier.
[1:45:59] thank you uncle sam. I love my national
[1:46:03] city. This is my first residence.
[1:46:08] when I heard the word kimball, it came to my mind. That's
[1:46:12] for the seniors, came to my mind,
[1:46:17] the very important element in planning sheltering.
[1:46:22] but this item is all about lease and how much
[1:46:30] our expectation here, your honor, is that
[1:46:34] it would help us in our revenue,
[1:46:39] in support of
[1:46:44] affordable housing. That's my line of thinking, uh,
[1:46:49] sir. And I hope this would
[1:46:54] add to the revenue that is being
[1:46:58] planned now through sandag
[1:47:02] about housing, whether it is 1000
[1:47:07] or million, this is a great idea,
[1:47:12] particularly coping up with
[1:47:16] the high rise of everything. Sir, we
[1:47:21] welcome this, particularly if it helps
[1:47:26] invest in sheltering within
[1:47:30] mind for the seniors.
[1:47:37] I commented in sandag that how much 6.8,
[1:47:42] less or more if the planners are already
[1:47:47] engaged in that particular issue, shelter for many, many
[1:47:51] years. And I hope this is a lesson,
[1:47:56] if only to realize that there ought to be sheltered for
[1:48:00] everyone. Thank you. Okay. Thank you very much.
[1:48:05] all right. That's the only speaker I have. What is the council pleasure chair comment
[1:48:09] on 9.7. Yes. Somebody wanted to make a motion first before I make a comment,
[1:48:16] a move to support 9.7. I'll second
[1:48:20] the motion comment. Mr. Chair? Yes. Thank you. I have a, uh,
[1:48:25] uh, long conversation with, uh, executive staff at, uh, my
[1:48:29] briefing, and I have some, um, request to the city manager
[1:48:33] with regards to my questions and comments, and I would like to put that
[1:48:37] on record. Thank you. Okay.
[1:48:42] alright. Um, so we do have a motion, a second.
[1:48:46] seeing no other discussion, please vote.
[1:48:53] motion to approve unanimously. Okay, next we go to nine eighth. This is a
[1:48:57] notice of completion on the bicycle wayfinding signage project.
[1:49:02] and so this is just saying that the project has been completed. Mr. Thomas reich,
[1:49:06] and then mr. Cesar javier,
[1:49:12] uh, this project is for signs $439,000
[1:49:19] for signs for that say where
[1:49:23] the bike path is. Well, that's,
[1:49:27] that's the, that's the point I'm making. That's too expensive. And
[1:49:32] this is all, this $439,000 is
[1:49:36] going to the good sign and graphics company at 2010,
[1:49:41] south five susan street, santa alley,
[1:49:45] california. So they're, they're gonna be good
[1:49:49] customers of national city, I'm sure. But, uh,
[1:49:54] this is, uh, well, the
[1:49:58] bike path for people, it,
[1:50:02] how many people does, does include, does mere morrison your wife, do you use the
[1:50:06] bike path a lot? Oh yeah. Yeah. Every
[1:50:10] day. And yeah, there's a sign right out ho right outside here in front from go
[1:50:14] to the bike path. So thank you. Alright,
[1:50:19] uh, mr. Uh, cesar javier.
[1:50:26] thank you, sir. We have
[1:50:30] discussed this bike, uh,
[1:50:35] issue or problem at sandag. I say problem because,
[1:50:42] you know, these bike lanes, signages, et
[1:50:46] cetera, are not implemented
[1:50:51] as far as standard is concerned. Every community
[1:50:56] has its own version. That's true.
[1:51:00] very expensive. Others are not just paint,
[1:51:05] but something solid that it
[1:51:09] is prone to accidents.
[1:51:13] come to our city, go around our city,
[1:51:17] our community. We haven't gone much in our area
[1:51:22] except the major routes and we see a clean, nice
[1:51:27] painted lane.
[1:51:31] this is a lesson, sir, that
[1:51:37] once in my mind, just like an experiment,
[1:51:41] this is stages experiment. Why? Because
[1:51:45] dmb has already taught riders,
[1:51:50] including, uh, cars that hey, let's share the road
[1:51:55] so we know even without those lanes, that you have to look
[1:51:59] at your side windows, et cetera, to ensure that everyone is safe.
[1:52:06] now, for some reason, sandberg approved these projects.
[1:52:13] I hope this will not be permanent, sir. Mm-hmm . That's the
[1:52:18] next cycle probably of we just put a nice paint costing
[1:52:22] 10% of the cost only just
[1:52:27] to save money. Thank you. Thank you.
[1:52:31] alright, that's all the speakers we have for 9.8. What is your
[1:52:35] pleasure? The approve. Mr. Chair. Second.
[1:52:40] okay. Motion second. This is just a notice of completion, uh,
[1:52:44] seeing no other discussion, uh, please vote.
[1:52:50] motion approve with council member bush absent. Alright,
[1:52:55] next we go to nine 10. This is notice decision planning commission approval
[1:52:59] of a conditional use permit for a drive-through edition to an existing restaurant
[1:53:03] that's karina's mexican seafood, located at 1705
[1:53:07] highland avenue. And, um, chair, I believe that mr. Rodriguez
[1:53:12] pulled that she's got a question about it. Mr. Mayor, 9.9,
[1:53:16] I have a comment on 9.90, you have a comment on 9.9. Okay. Thank you ma'am. Okay. Okay.
[1:53:20] um, just wanted to, um, commend our engineering public works
[1:53:25] for completing this project. Um, this is the, uh,
[1:53:30] the project, um, is to increase the system capacity of our,
[1:53:34] um, of this, um, of this infrastructure. And I just wanted to make to,
[1:53:38] um, think our, our engineer and public works for making
[1:53:42] sure that our city's infrastructure, um, fits the city's requirements
[1:53:47] to serve our people. Thank you and thank you so much. Uh, public works and,
[1:53:51] and engineering. Okay. Alright. Now we go
[1:53:55] to, uh, nine 10, which is the notice of decision planning commission. We need to,
[1:54:00] we already did that was, that was, we did that, uh,
[1:54:05] on the remaining. One second. Thank you, mayor. Um, just as a, uh,
[1:54:09] this is regarding the, uh, drive-through that is being proposed through carinas over on
[1:54:13] highland, uh, avenue. Uh, just a quick question about the landscape plan.
[1:54:17] was the landscape plan provided in anticipation or is this something that
[1:54:21] the applicant is going to work with staff to develop?
[1:54:26] uh, generally speaking, they would be, um, this is an existing building with
[1:54:30] existing landscaping and that would need to be maintained and we will work with them through the building permit
[1:54:34] process to make sure that they're meeting code requirements for landscaping.
[1:54:38] uh, but with regard to landscaping requirements for a drive through which there are
[1:54:42] specific requirements because the, uh, drive through lane goes into the
[1:54:46] property around and back out again, it wouldn't be, uh, it wouldn't be, the landscape buffer
[1:54:50] wouldn't be required, so it would just be whatever landscaping they have that would,
[1:54:55] that was approved as part of the original building would need to be maintained. Right. Thank
[1:54:59] you. Um, many of us have very fond memories of carinas. It's a wonderful place in
[1:55:03] our neighborhood and community. Um, I, I would have, because we've
[1:55:07] done this consistently over the last three drive-through applications that we've had a pretty consistent
[1:55:12] plan when it comes to our landscaping. And I think we set
[1:55:16] very strict standards when it came to, to landscaping with in and out.
[1:55:20] and we continue that, uh, with, um, god, what
[1:55:24] is the coffee place called? Dutch brothers dutch bros as well. I, I would like to
[1:55:28] recommend that we, you know, work with the applicant and have those same strict
[1:55:33] guidelines when it comes to planting trees and making sure that they are more
[1:55:37] mature trees, as we would assume that there would be more carbon
[1:55:41] emissions through, uh, vehicles waiting in the drive through location.
[1:55:45] understood. We will work with the application to your building. Thank you. Yeah. Do you need that in the
[1:55:49] form of a motion or simply a, a direction would suffice? Uh, I
[1:55:53] think, well, direction is fine for us. What I would, what I would say without going too far into this project,
[1:55:58] but uh, as it's just a notice of decision, not a public hearing, is
[1:56:02] again, the requirements in the land use code for a conditional use permit
[1:56:06] for a drive through include landscaping requirements when the
[1:56:10] drive through window or the drive aisle is between the drive through window and the right of way.
[1:56:14] in which case we require at least three feet high landscaping, 10 feet wide,
[1:56:19] et cetera. In this case, the location of the drive through window on the
[1:56:23] building would not, uh, we don't get involved in that because it's
[1:56:27] not between the right of way and the drive through. Right. So, but however, we, you
[1:56:31] know, we will ensure that we maintain our policy of, of uh, making sure
[1:56:35] that any required landscaping, whichever was significant when it was built, is maintained
[1:56:39] as a part of our normal building permit process. But, but to
[1:56:43] keep in line with the previous applicants as well when it came to,
[1:56:48] um, uh, tree plantings around the property,
[1:56:53] if, if I could that the previous ones were new construction
[1:56:57] and so this one is not, this is an existing building that they're just adding
[1:57:01] the drive through on. I understand. But with adding a drive through means that
[1:57:05] we have further carbon emissions and that's why it's coming to council in the first place because
[1:57:09] it would be a drive through. It's, it's the engineering on it that they're quote coming before
[1:57:13] us. Is that not correct? I beg, pardon me? It's the engineering and that's the reason it's coming before
[1:57:17] us. The engineering of the drive through, uh, that's part of it. There are are
[1:57:22] a handful of different things that are involved with the cep that were all analyzed on the staff report that
[1:57:26] went to the planning commission. One is the turning radius, which, uh, is established
[1:57:30] by the city engineer, which the project was consistent with that. Uh, there
[1:57:34] is the landscaping requirement if the drive through mm-hmm . Aisle is between the
[1:57:38] window and the doesn't right of way, which is not the case in, in this one. Uh,
[1:57:43] and there are also general design requirements as far as, you know, we look, we always look at
[1:57:47] noise, we always look at, um, you know, potential nuisance if there are other, um,
[1:57:51] if there are houses nearby for example. And of course traffic. Um, and
[1:57:55] then we did base all of that on the fact that what corinas would be reopening
[1:58:00] and, uh, operating a drive through. And we do have conditions in there if
[1:58:04] it morphs into something more intensive that we will have the opportunity to come back
[1:58:08] later and look at traffic again. But, uh, sorry. Um,
[1:58:13] just to finish off my thought, with the landscaping, obviously we were to the mayor's point, we
[1:58:17] were building new, um, new construction and it was, there was,
[1:58:21] it definitely, uh, required the 10 foot
[1:58:25] landscaping and obviously next to, uh, the freeway on ramp. But with within
[1:58:30] and out there was a lot of, uh, landscaping area and, you know, just
[1:58:34] a general, a problem in general and that was intended to, to offset that. So
[1:58:38] while we do wanna make sure that we have adequate landscaping,
[1:58:42] if we have anything that's too big in this location, it's gonna be all in front of the
[1:58:47] business on highland avenue, which, which doesn't really, uh,
[1:58:51] it doesn't really factor into the drive through discussion in this case. However, we will ensure that, you
[1:58:56] know, mature landscaping is, is remains in place after, uh,
[1:59:00] the, uh, building permit is, is approved. I appreciate it. Yeah. You know,
[1:59:05] I would want to be, uh, continuing to support expansion of
[1:59:09] drive-through locations without more mature foliage and trees around the
[1:59:13] neighborhood. But I, I, I, I understand and I, uh,
[1:59:17] I mean it sounds like you understand what we're referring to. I do understand.
[1:59:21] and that also, I think that would be a good opportunity to have future discussion on policy and,
[1:59:25] and changing the code to make, maybe make that change based on the potential
[1:59:29] for emissions increase. But yeah, I understand. I appreciate that. I know we had that conversation
[1:59:33] with the in and out yes. A few years back. Um, and, and it would be
[1:59:37] good for us to revise a policy and, and, uh, be more specific when
[1:59:42] it comes to new applicants. Yes. Thank you. You're welcome.
[1:59:47] uh, with that, I would like to make a motion to adopt item nine point ten nine. Ten second.
[1:59:53] okay. Question mr. Chair, we have a motion and a second you have
[1:59:57] a question. I would like, um, would you be very kind to please state for the
[2:00:01] record, um, why traffic study was not required for this project?
[2:00:07] uh, absolutely through the chair. Uh, madam mia, as we just, we
[2:00:11] uh, talked about in the planning commission staff report, this is an
[2:00:15] existing building and uh, we do look at, well there
[2:00:19] was a, a focus traffic study that was, that was, uh, actually I don't even think we did
[2:00:23] a focus traffic study, did we? On this one? We did, yes. So it was a very, it was a minor traffic study and
[2:00:27] it determined that with the pass by trips with the existing building and the existing trips that were
[2:00:32] be generated by this restaurant, that there wasn't an increase enough to require a full traffic
[2:00:36] study and therefore any mitigation measures. Thank you mr.
[2:00:40] thank you. But if I could, but if the use changes
[2:00:44] to a different type, use a heavier use, then we could, right? Yes.
[2:00:48] the staff report did discuss that and that was discussed with the planning commission. If it morphed into
[2:00:53] a starbucks, shall we say sure. And mega coffee joint,
[2:00:57] then we would re-look at that. Yes. Right. Okay. Alright.
[2:01:01] alright. We have a motion a second. This is to, uh, accept the notice of decision.
[2:01:06] um, nothing else, please vote.
[2:01:12] motion carried. Unanimously. Alright, next we go to, uh, nine 11.
[2:01:17] there's projects to receive funding pursuant to sb one from the road maintenance
[2:01:21] and rehabilitation account through the local streets and roads funding program.
[2:01:26] and we have one speaker, uh, uh, says cesar javier.
[2:01:37] thank you, sir. Still fresh.
[2:01:42] we learned it from sandag that they have, uh, allocated, uh,
[2:01:46] 1.68 billion for the
[2:01:51] city's improvements, maintenance,
[2:01:55] rehabilitation of road cities road, very
[2:01:59] specific. And, uh, 50% of this
[2:02:05] is dedicated for such program. We welcome
[2:02:09] this, sir, and let's grab this as soon as possible
[2:02:15] before other cities might, uh, you know, jujitsu this
[2:02:20] to their advantage. I commented,
[2:02:24] uh, heavy enough because
[2:02:28] the city of san diego, I hope it'll not happen here,
[2:02:32] that our streets, after a year
[2:02:37] or two, the, the roads are already cracking.
[2:02:43] and we noticed that there is only this thin
[2:02:48] adhesive or asphalt. I mean, and
[2:02:52] so one time I asked the supervisor, sir,
[2:02:57] mr. Supervisor, how many years would this
[2:03:01] last? The newly paved road? Oh, mr. Javier, 10 years.
[2:03:07] I'll take that. I document that. Why is
[2:03:11] it that the fine aggregates one four
[2:03:15] inch diameter aggregate
[2:03:21] on the surface? I mean, it should not be,
[2:03:25] it should be the asphalt payment. Right, sir? Cons,
[2:03:29] planner bus. That
[2:03:33] should not happen in national city. Sir,
[2:03:39] thank you for your comment.
[2:03:43] alright. Uh, that's the only speaker that we have on that item.
[2:03:48] what is your pleasure? Motion, uh, mr. Chair. Second.
[2:03:52] okay, we have a motion. And second. See no
[2:03:56] more discussion. Please vote.
[2:04:03] motion to approve unanimously. Next we go with, uh, item nine 12. This
[2:04:07] is the investment report for the quarter ending december 31st, 2025.
[2:04:11] and I believe that was mr. Rodriguez. Was it?
[2:04:16] yeah. Um, thank you mayor. Just have
[2:04:20] a quick question regarding the investment report. Um, can you walk us through,
[2:04:24] uh, can you just walk us through
[2:04:28] the, um,
[2:04:34] the report, please? Lemme try to pull it up.
[2:04:50] specifically the amount that was, oh, there, it's,
[2:04:56] um, there was a significant decrease in funding from,
[2:05:00] uh, the lafe fund. Um, can you walk us through,
[2:05:05] um, that reduction in funding? Of course. Thank you.
[2:05:09] um, mayor, counsel, uh, my name is rachel barrera, representing
[2:05:13] your, uh, finance department, uh, acting director of finance.
[2:05:18] um, so in terms of la, um, that is our more liquid,
[2:05:22] uh, liquid account where if we need any amounts
[2:05:27] to cover any obligations that we have for personnel or for
[2:05:31] accounts payable, we use this account to replenish our cash account
[2:05:35] to ensure checks don't, um, get returned from the vendors.
[2:05:40] and in terms of the amount, um, as of
[2:05:44] quarter ending 12 31, 20 25, you'll see that it was, it
[2:05:48] went down to 14,000,486. Is that the one that you're referring
[2:05:53] to? Correct. I see, uh, 14,000,517,
[2:05:57] is that correct? Uh, five 17. Yeah. Sorry, I apologize. Yep. Um, so we had a couple of things happening.
[2:06:02] uh, we had, uh, big ticket items that were, uh, processed
[2:06:06] through personnel, um, including the payroll and
[2:06:10] the accounts payable. So in those combinations, um, our
[2:06:14] job is to make sure that we have enough cash balance in our checking account and to
[2:06:19] ensure that we have, that we will turn to lafe where we don't have as much,
[2:06:23] um, difficulty with drawing from that account to ensure that
[2:06:27] we have enough funds to cover these checks that we produce. Great. And
[2:06:31] so, um, combined in the
[2:06:35] different accounts, uh, we're looking at chandler,
[2:06:40] um, as of december 31st, 2025, 40 million
[2:06:44] county of san diego, 41, the lafe account, 14 five
[2:06:49] and neighborhood national bank at 2 million. Yes. With a sum of 98 million
[2:06:54] in as of december 31st, 2025, correct? Yeah.
[2:06:59] and the, um, reduction in, um,
[2:07:03] funding amount and the lafe fund, uh,
[2:07:07] are we expecting any reduction in that fund over the next year
[2:07:12] as a result of our unassigned general fund balance expected to decrease? So
[2:07:16] that is all dependent. Um, I'm not gonna say that's an absolute, um, because
[2:07:21] we do rely on tax revenue to come in and then of course we've mentioned
[2:07:25] several times the revenue initiatives that we're trying to pursue.
[2:07:30] I see. And so, um, and just to, to kind of clarify some
[2:07:34] of this stuff. So it's 98 millions in total investments
[2:07:38] and, and that money comes from our reserve balances.
[2:07:42] where does that money? It's a combination of our reserves. Yeah. So our cash balances
[2:07:47] are spread out through these different investment accounts to get the highest yield.
[2:07:52] and of course, uh, we try to, um, avoid
[2:07:56] touching the other ones, which are chandler in the county pool. Um, which is why
[2:08:00] we, we actually use lathe as our revolving account
[2:08:04] as needed. I see. And um, lastly,
[2:08:08] um, so the 98 million in comparison to our total
[2:08:13] general fund budget, year to year, how much is it? Um,
[2:08:17] I, unfortunately I don't have that in front of me. That's okay. I'll have to, I'll, I'll,
[2:08:21] I'll follow up and provide that to you. Yeah, I guess we're going over the, um,
[2:08:26] what is it called? The proposed budget for next year. Right. But yeah,
[2:08:30] the balance, uh, the budget workshop document, right? I I believe it was in the
[2:08:35] eighties. Yeah, it was in the eighties. But again, remember that, uh, that was
[2:08:39] derived off of the last quarter of 3 31 20 26.
[2:08:44] right. So that does change. Right? Right. But it's safe to say that
[2:08:48] considering the reserve balance in the investment amount, um,
[2:08:52] it is, it is at about a hundred percent of our yearly operating fund.
[2:08:57] that is correct. Okay. Alright. Thank you for the clarification. I know that we haven't
[2:09:01] really had deep briefings on our, um, investments
[2:09:05] and investment portfolio. Yes. And I very much look forward to the first one
[2:09:09] next june, eighth week. Mm-hmm . Next monday. Yeah, next monday. Uh, thank you
[2:09:13] very much, appreciated. You're welcome. Thank you. Thank you. Are, are all the, the funds that are
[2:09:17] in that from reserve, are those all general fund uh, reserves?
[2:09:22] that is correct. We have, um, a number of things sitting there. We have the,
[2:09:26] um, let me , we do have the, um, assigned
[2:09:30] unassigned. We have all of the five, uh, different categories that we
[2:09:34] have in our gasb 54 that are reflected in that amount. Okay. So they're both
[2:09:39] assigned. Assigned and unassigned restricted. Unassigned. And do we have
[2:09:43] controls on some of those assigned ones as far as liquidity
[2:09:47] or us, what we can use 'em for or what we can't. It depends what it is. Yep. If they
[2:09:51] are restricted, it will say in the, uh, compliance and the agreements.
[2:09:55] so we'll have to read into those to determine whether or not we are able to touch them. There you go. Okay. Thank you.
[2:10:01] alright. Um, alright. So what is your pleasure on, uh, nine
[2:10:05] 12? This is the investment report. Thank you. I'd like to adopt item nine 12.
[2:10:09] okay. Second. All right.
[2:10:14] uh, there we go. We have motion in a second. See, no more discussion.
[2:10:18] please do. Motion to approve a unanimously plea.
[2:10:22] alright, next we go to nine 15. This is a warrant registry and
[2:10:26] I'm gonna nine 15 and nine 16. We're gonna take
[2:10:31] 'em together. Uh, mr. Thomas reich. And then
[2:10:35] mr. Yto,
[2:10:41] I'm just gonna review some of the big items for,
[2:10:46] for, for register. 43 and 45. Uh,
[2:10:50] dick miller incorporated the toy and park improvements, 160
[2:10:54] thou $116,000. Dick meyer,
[2:11:00] dick miller, east, east side 1 0 5
[2:11:04] greenbelt, 100, 100,000 southwest
[2:11:08] signal for intersection, 61,000
[2:11:13] city attorney legal services took 300 and
[2:11:17] I mean three 33,000 city manager
[2:11:21] js and sons catering for employee appreciation lunch, $5,300.
[2:11:29] uh, answer grant villa,
[2:11:33] $13,000. National electrical,
[2:11:39] wo arts workshop, $30,000
[2:11:44] motorolas, uh, fire motorola solutions radio
[2:11:48] batteries, $2,000. Uh, ec
[2:11:53] pipeline store upsizing 515,000.
[2:11:59] fernando araiza, 19,000.
[2:12:05] no. Okay, I'm for nc national city police department.
[2:12:10] investigations capacity 194,000
[2:12:14] exus incorporated personnel staffing, 58,000.
[2:12:19] it data circuits 27,000. City attorney,
[2:12:24] 26,000. And
[2:12:28] uh, that's all for that. Thank you. Okay. Alright.
[2:12:32] uh, edwardo,
[2:12:43] um, I, I'm just coming up. I always come up in this area, um,
[2:12:47] asking in this warrant register, why don't you put
[2:12:51] the date of the invoice finding in the past that
[2:12:55] these invoices have been submitted way late and you
[2:12:59] don't have the date. And we all know that, you know, your end comes around
[2:13:04] and all of a sudden, you know, these miraculous invoices that have
[2:13:08] been outstanding for months come in and you start asking,
[2:13:12] why would they do that? So that's an audit adjustment that people need
[2:13:17] to look at. Why are invoices late? Why is there a surprise?
[2:13:21] and, um, you know, I, I've been coming for months to ask if that could be put in
[2:13:25] there and I think that would be helpful. Okay. Thank
[2:13:29] you. Okay. That is items nine 15 and nine 16
[2:13:33] warrant registries. What is your pleasure?
[2:13:38] motion to, uh, accept. Okay.
[2:13:42] warrants, um, nine point 15
[2:13:47] chair. Okay. Alright. Do you have a second?
[2:13:54] I'll second. Okay. Okay. We have a motion and a second.
[2:13:59] I see. No more discussion. Please vote.
[2:14:03] council member
[2:14:07] waiting for council member molina. Okay.
[2:14:12] this is register. Mm-hmm . This is, yeah. The warrant registries.
[2:14:17] motion to approve unanimously. Alright, this is
[2:14:21] outta consent calendar. Next we go into public hearings.
[2:14:25] first public hearing is public hearing and adoption resolution. Accepting
[2:14:30] the city of nashville city's, uh, city sewer tax roll, fiscal year
[2:14:34] 26 27 report, uh, staff.
[2:14:42] good evening. Um, mayor, vice mayor, council members and
[2:14:47] staff and community. Marta juarez, acting director for engineering and public works.
[2:14:51] um, tonight we have this item, which is, uh, something we bring to you every
[2:14:56] year. We're essentially just seeking acceptance of the sewer tax
[2:15:00] role for fiscal year two th 20 26 27, uh, which
[2:15:04] will be submitted to the county for inclusion on the of the city
[2:15:08] sewer service charges on property tax bills. Um,
[2:15:13] this opens, uh, the public hearing. And upon authorization,
[2:15:17] we'll be able to send this to the county, um, open for any questions or specific
[2:15:21] information you'd like on this.
[2:15:25] all right. Um, with that, seeing on that, I'm
[2:15:29] gonna open the public hearing. We have one speaker on
[2:15:33] this. Uh, it says our javier.
[2:15:44] thank you, sir. This is
[2:15:49] what I diagram. Sweetwater
[2:15:54] coming from, uh, sweetwater authority
[2:16:01] used by man goes to the sewer.
[2:16:06] we call it sewage. Wes
[2:16:11] sea. Wes, at an appointed time will be pumped out
[2:16:15] by a mobile truck. And
[2:16:19] that mobile truck now will bring it to where
[2:16:27] treatment plant, of course. And a pcd
[2:16:34] investigate, oh, there is an emission,
[2:16:40] a neighborhood says. And a pcd goes
[2:16:44] there, investigate. There is a leak,
[2:16:48] there is a, uh, emission from the treatment plant
[2:16:52] specialists come and go. Why? Because that's
[2:16:56] a big business throughout the travel of that
[2:17:01] sea or sewed costs
[2:17:05] because of that service rendered.
[2:17:11] my question is,
[2:17:15] are we to increase or tax
[2:17:20] the already tax resident
[2:17:26] when the water, which is supposed to be,
[2:17:30] if possible, chip?
[2:17:35] what does it mean now, councilor
[2:17:40] buser adequate supply of water
[2:17:44] and yet we do not recognize collecting. Thank you for your comments. Saving
[2:17:49] this gift from heaven. Rain. Thank you sir. Thank you.
[2:17:54] that's all the speakers we have. If we could have a motion to close the public
[2:17:58] hearing. Close the public hearing. Okay. We have a motion. Can we have a second?
[2:18:07] okay. I'll second that. Alright. Um, with that we have
[2:18:11] a motion and a second. This is to, uh, close the public hearing. Uh, please vote.
[2:18:20] motion preview unanimously. Okay. Alright. We have,
[2:18:26] uh, basically a three part that needs to be done on this, accepting
[2:18:30] the, uh, the report and then also directing our city clerk to
[2:18:34] file a report with the county, uh, auditor and controller. And also directing our
[2:18:38] city engineer to submit a certification of the sewer service charges
[2:18:42] to the county of san diego auditor and controller. So, move.
[2:18:46] okay. Motion can three motions or can all be in one motion. It can all be in one, but yeah. So move
[2:18:52] second. We have a motion and a second for the
[2:18:56] staff's recommendation. And seeing no discussion,
[2:19:00] please vote.
[2:19:07] motion preview a unanimously mr. May I have point of clarification? Does
[2:19:11] that, does this come back to us again for second reading or no more?
[2:19:16] uh, no, this is not, this is not the type that does. Thank you. No.
[2:19:20] 'cause it's not, it is not an ordinance. Okay. It's an ordinance. It would,
[2:19:24] um, okay, next we go to ten two.
[2:19:28] this is the, uh, public hearing on the local public employees vacant
[2:19:33] positions. That's through assembly bill, uh, 25 61.
[2:19:37] um, any staff report on this? Yes. Uh, mr. Mayor, and,
[2:19:42] uh, thank you so much for the opportunity tonight. Uh, I'd like to, um,
[2:19:46] introduce this item, uh, who, this item which will be presented
[2:19:50] by, uh, haley lusher, one of our hr analysts, , um,
[2:19:55] in recruitment, uh, does a lot of our public safety recruitments, uh, right
[2:19:59] now, very heavy and, uh, working on fire. So thank you hailey, for being here.
[2:20:03] this, uh, tonight is a, uh, public hearing
[2:20:07] on local public employees vacant positions pursuant to ab 2 5 6 1.
[2:20:13] this is a report that we provide every year as part of the budget process
[2:20:17] to highlight the agency's vacancies and what we're working on to, uh, improve
[2:20:21] vacancy rates. So, with that, I'll turn it over to haley. Thank you so much. He's been waiting all
[2:20:25] evening for this. I know. Ready to go. Okay, let's go with it. Okay. Good
[2:20:29] evening, mayor, vice mayor and council members. Uh, my name is haley.
[2:20:33] I'm here to represent the hr department to speak on behalf of ab
[2:20:37] 25 61. So what is,
[2:20:41] oops. Oh, so
[2:20:46] what is ab 25 61?
[2:20:50] so, as a reminder from last year's presentation, let's revisit the
[2:20:54] legislation intent behind ab 25 61. The legislature
[2:21:00] recognized that job vacancies in local government are a widespread
[2:21:04] and ongoing challenge. High vacancy rates can increase
[2:21:08] workloads for existing staff, contribute to burnout and
[2:21:12] turnover, and ulti ultimately affect agency's ability to maintain service
[2:21:17] levels and workforce stability. As we move into
[2:21:21] this year's update, it's important to keep this context in mind as
[2:21:25] these concerns continue to shape the reporting requirements under ab 25 61.
[2:21:33] as a result of the findings I mentioned on the previous slide, effective january 1st, 2025,
[2:21:39] local government agencies are now required to one
[2:21:43] present vacancy data and recruitment efforts as a public hearing
[2:21:47] at least once per fiscal year. This includes job openings,
[2:21:52] candidate activity, eligibility lists, and retention efforts. And
[2:21:56] the hearing must take place before the budget is approved. Um,
[2:22:00] and number two, bargaining unions must be notified and if
[2:22:04] they choose, so may speak on behalf of this matter.
[2:22:10] so, to quickly go over the status of our vacancies, as of may 12th,
[2:22:15] we've opened 49 recruitments since the start of this fiscal
[2:22:19] year. As a result of our active recruitment efforts, we
[2:22:23] have successful, successfully filled 64 full-time
[2:22:28] positions. That said, we currently have 40 full-time
[2:22:32] vacancies. So here on this side, we have the vacancies
[2:22:36] broken down by bargaining union. Um, we can see that we have a total of
[2:22:41] 376 career full-time positions.
[2:22:45] of that total four 40 positions are vacant as of
[2:22:49] may 12th. In regards to
[2:22:53] our recruitment and retention efforts. Over the past year, the city implemented
[2:22:58] several strategies to support recruitment and retention efforts. First,
[2:23:02] um, the council approved salary increases across all
[2:23:07] employee groups to help maintain competi competitiveness
[2:23:11] in the labor market. Um, in addition, requisition
[2:23:16] approval workflows in neo gov were streamlined to improve efficiency and reduce
[2:23:20] delays in the hiring process, helping departments move more quickly
[2:23:24] when filling vacancies. And finally, internally within
[2:23:29] hr, we reorganized our recruitment responsibilities to provide more
[2:23:33] focus support to departments and strengthen overall recruitment efforts.
[2:23:38] so thank you and rex and I are here to answer any questions you may
[2:23:42] have. Right. Any
[2:23:46] questions? Okay.
[2:23:50] thank you very much. Uh, we do have one speaker on this
[2:23:55] , you have hailey a hand. Yay,
[2:24:00] . All right. Uh, jeremy day.
[2:24:05] good evening, mayor, vice mayor, and I should say opening the public hearing. Go now. Now go for it. Council
[2:24:10] staff and members of the public, uh, jeremy day, I am the president of
[2:24:14] the national city firefighters. Um, very often
[2:24:19] we are here to speak into the mic about not necessarily
[2:24:23] something negative, but to call light to something to cause a change.
[2:24:27] um, but today I want to be positive in that if you look the report,
[2:24:32] the fire department has a 2%, uh, vacancy rate.
[2:24:36] and that's actually one position, which is a fire captain, which we have interviews for tomorrow.
[2:24:41] uh, that does not happen without the hr department
[2:24:45] working hand in hand with the staff of the fire department to ensure that we have
[2:24:49] continuing and ongoing recruitments. And internally we are
[2:24:53] consistently working on our culture and our workload to ensure we
[2:24:58] retain folks. If they're leaving faster than you can recruit them,
[2:25:02] that's a problem. And if you're not doing the recruitments, then you can't fill the
[2:25:06] positions. Now, when, when this assembly bill
[2:25:10] was written, it was, it focuses on unions
[2:25:14] because we have a voice, because we're a collective
[2:25:18] group. The hr department
[2:25:23] has had four hr directors in five years.
[2:25:27] they're not the only department that has a evolving door in the leadership
[2:25:32] position of that department, including the city in general. Recruitment and retention
[2:25:36] needs to be focused on across the entire city, not just on the bargaining units.
[2:25:41] we can't correctly support our members without
[2:25:46] leadership looking for revenues,
[2:25:50] developing balanced budgets, and ensuring that our members
[2:25:54] are supported. So I just use this item to highlight retention
[2:25:58] is a citywide issue and we should be focused on everyone.
[2:26:03] thank you very much with that.
[2:26:09] um, we have a motion
[2:26:14] to close the public hearing, so chair second.
[2:26:19] okay. Um, uh,
[2:26:24] this is to close the public hearing. Please vote.
[2:26:29] question prove unanimously. Now,
[2:26:33] I got in turn to our city attorney here in this case, our obligations to hold a public
[2:26:37] hearing. But there's really nothing to vote on. Correct? There's no votes. There's no vote
[2:26:42] on this one. Alright, that's what I thought. So, as long as we just held the public hearing itself,
[2:26:46] we did it. We did it. So we're, we're good there. So
[2:26:50] next we get into staff reports. Oh, no. You guys got
[2:26:55] anything to report on tonight? Just
[2:26:59] a little item
[2:27:05] crunch.
[2:27:10] cat. I'll kill the mic.
[2:28:01] all right, mayor, uh, council members of the public, I'm gonna go ahead and turn it over to
[2:28:05] our budget manager, paul valez, to present your proposed budget
[2:28:09] for fiscal year 27. Um, upon, uh, completion
[2:28:14] of this presentation, I'll offer a few closing remarks and then we'll open it up for,
[2:28:18] for questions. Thank you.
[2:28:26] good evening, mayor morrison, vice mayor molina, and members of the city council. Paul ez,
[2:28:30] budget manager. Tonight, staff presents the fiscal year 27
[2:28:35] proposed budget for your consideration, and I'll also provide a summary of the following
[2:28:39] items. First, I'll be giving an overview of the city's budget, process,
[2:28:43] and calendar. Next are some informational slides that address
[2:28:48] requests from council at the may 18th workshop. I'll
[2:28:52] recap the recommended budget reductions from that workshop, as well as some other
[2:28:56] reductions that have been identified and incorporated into the proposed budget.
[2:29:01] finally, I'll show the estimated impact of the proposed budget on the general fund
[2:29:05] unassigned fund balance.
[2:29:12] the city's current budget process was briefly reviewed at the may 18th workshop,
[2:29:16] but I wanted to go over it again and give an idea of the timeframe of the
[2:29:20] development process. So, beginning in december, finance
[2:29:24] begins to gather all the information to develop non-discretionary budgets.
[2:29:29] on the expenditure side. This includes extracting informa employee information from the payroll
[2:29:33] system, creating salary tables that will be in effect for the next fiscal
[2:29:38] year, collecting information on new calpers rates, healthcare
[2:29:42] and insurance premium increases and debt service schedules.
[2:29:47] on the revenue side, the city meets with our sales tax consultant to
[2:29:51] discuss their updated projections for the upcoming fiscal year.
[2:29:56] we review valuation reports for the city's property tax revenue and
[2:30:00] analyze recent actuals, as well as other economic indicators for the city's
[2:30:04] other general revenues. In january,
[2:30:09] the financial system is opened up to the departments where they begin entering budget
[2:30:13] detail for their discretionary accounts. These accounts are
[2:30:17] zero based and include contracts, professional services,
[2:30:21] and other maintenance and operations accounts. All expenditures
[2:30:26] entered during this part of the process are for maintaining current service levels
[2:30:30] only, and do not include any service level enhancements.
[2:30:34] departments also enter their estimated program revenues at this time,
[2:30:40] a separate but concurrent process allows departments to submit enhancement
[2:30:44] requests for items such as additional staff or other service level increases.
[2:30:49] these are reviewed and considered independent of the baseline budget process
[2:30:55] in march and april. Each department meets with the city manager and finance to
[2:30:59] discuss their baseline budget and present information about department operations.
[2:31:04] the council are reviewed line by line to ensure that only items maintained in current
[2:31:09] service levels are included in the baseline.
[2:31:13] these meetings sometimes require one or more follow up meetings.
[2:31:18] any enhancement items are considered by the city manager for alignment with the city's
[2:31:22] priorities, as well as for available funding due
[2:31:27] to the, due to the anticipated budget deficit. There are no general fund
[2:31:31] enhancements included in the fiscal year 27 proposed budget.
[2:31:38] on may 4th, a workshop was held to review the city's preliminary budget as well as the
[2:31:42] estimated impact on the city's unassigned fund balance
[2:31:46] on may 18th. A second budget workshop was held to follow up on items dis
[2:31:50] discussed on may 4th, as well as to present a series of staff recommended
[2:31:55] budget reductions aimed at reducing the estimated budget deficit.
[2:32:00] that brings us to today, june 2nd. In addition to the budget
[2:32:04] reductions recommended on may 18th, staff has identified additional
[2:32:08] reductions that have been also been incorporated into the proposed budget before you today.
[2:32:15] and looking forward to the next steps in the process, the city is required to
[2:32:19] adopt a budget for the next fiscal year by june 30th. Once
[2:32:23] the budget is adopted, drafting of the adopted budget document begins
[2:32:28] in addition to the schedules and detail reports included in the propo proposed version
[2:32:32] that you have, uh, the adopted document includes additional narrative sections,
[2:32:36] including information about national city budget, message and highlights,
[2:32:41] department goals and objectives, as well as performance metrics.
[2:32:49] the next few slides address council requests that came up during the last budget
[2:32:54] workshop. A request was made by council to
[2:32:58] provide revenues and expenditures by category for the columns shown here,
[2:33:03] fiscal year 2024, actuals fiscal year 2025,
[2:33:07] unaudited actuals, year to date actuals through march 31st
[2:33:13] for fiscal year 2026, which were presented as part
[2:33:17] of the third quarter report on april 21st.
[2:33:21] the next column, uh, is made up of those same year to date actuals
[2:33:26] through march 31st, plus projected activity for the remainder
[2:33:30] of fiscal year 26. These were also presented at the april 21st
[2:33:34] council meeting. And finally, the fiscal year 2027
[2:33:39] proposed budget, which you'll see again in the upcoming slide.
[2:33:46] here are those same columns on the expenditure side,
[2:33:51] the impact on the general fund unassigned fund balance, as well as the
[2:33:55] change from the fiscal year 27 preliminary to the 27
[2:33:59] proposed budget, will be discussed later in the presentation.
[2:34:09] here's a list of the 383 fte authorized position in
[2:34:13] the fiscal year 27 budget. The slide is for informational
[2:34:17] purposes only, and includes and does include positions that have been
[2:34:22] frozen in the proposed budget. There has
[2:34:26] been an increase of one fte from the preliminary budget due to a
[2:34:30] critical need for administrative support and housing. This has no
[2:34:34] impact on the general fund as the position is 100% funded
[2:34:38] by housing funds.
[2:34:45] at the last council workshop, council requested an updated snapshot of general
[2:34:49] fund vacancies along with their estimated annual cost.
[2:34:53] the list on these two pages aligns with the vacant position report submitted by
[2:34:57] human resources in the previous item. I would like to emphasize,
[2:35:02] once again, that vacancies are continually changing and this
[2:35:06] report would likely look different if regenerated next week.
[2:35:14] I've made a note of the positions on the list that are already frozen in the proposed budget.
[2:35:19] this was done to indicate that no further savings could be realized by freezing these
[2:35:23] positions.
[2:35:29] also, at the last workshop, counsel requested to see the impact of recently
[2:35:33] approved cost of living adjustments on fiscal year 2027.
[2:35:38] I've broken out this information by group as well as general fund versus
[2:35:42] other funds. I do wanna point out that the poa adjustments
[2:35:46] already went into effect in may, but are included here to show the
[2:35:50] value of the increases in fiscal year 2027.
[2:36:01] the reductions on this slide were presented and discussed at the may 18th workshop as
[2:36:05] staff recommendations, they have now been incorporated into
[2:36:09] the proposed budget you are seeing, uh, before you tonight.
[2:36:20] in addition to the reductions listed on the previous slide, the reductions listed
[2:36:24] below were identified and also incorporated into the proposed budget,
[2:36:29] include an additional reduction of vehicle replacement charges, 337,000
[2:36:35] reduction of legal services and city manager's office of 60,000,
[2:36:39] reallocation of unfunded pension liability debt service on pension
[2:36:44] obligation bonds, and general liability costs, 80,000
[2:36:48] and a 40,000 reduction of overtime, governmental purposes, and
[2:36:52] hourly wages in the mayor's office.
[2:37:02] the slide shows the change in revenues from the fiscal year 27 preliminary budget
[2:37:06] presented on may 18th to the budget being proposed tonight.
[2:37:11] there weren't significant changes on the revenue side. The $73,000
[2:37:16] increase you see here are for utility reimbursements and the new golf
[2:37:20] course agreement in the community services department.
[2:37:28] here we see the result of the budget reductions that we saw earlier.
[2:37:34] the $900,000 in personnel services is from, uh, a
[2:37:38] reduction from the frozen position and the general fund
[2:37:42] $560,000 reduction in m and o, primarily from contractual
[2:37:47] services, $468,000 from vehicle replacement
[2:37:51] charge reductions and a 1.5 million
[2:37:56] reduction in transfer out. If we drill down into that 1.5 million
[2:38:00] reduction in transfer out, $1 million was from eliminating new
[2:38:04] general fund cip funding, $280,000 from,
[2:38:09] uh, nutrition center adjustments and $170,000
[2:38:13] from library adjustments.
[2:38:18] so when the fiscal year 27 preliminary budget was presented,
[2:38:23] there was a $16.1 million deficit after
[2:38:27] making the recommended budget reductions previously discussed. The
[2:38:31] proposed budget now shows a $12.7 million deficit.
[2:38:42] the slide shows the impact of projected deficit on the city's general fund unassigned fund
[2:38:47] balance. The first three lines of each column are identical.
[2:38:52] the estimated the estimated ending fund balance for fiscal year 25
[2:38:56] was 23.4 million. This was presented to council back in
[2:39:01] december. If we then subtract the fiscal year 26 projected
[2:39:05] deficit of 10.3 million, that leaves an unassigned fund balance of
[2:39:10] 13.1 million going into fiscal year 27.
[2:39:17] looking first at the preliminary column that was presented on may 18th deficit of
[2:39:21] 16.1 million would completely exhaust the city's general
[2:39:25] fund unassigned fund balance and leave an additional $3 million
[2:39:29] deficit to cover. Now,
[2:39:33] over to the next column, to the budget that we are proposing tonight for your consideration,
[2:39:38] the deficit has been reduced to 12.7 million, leaving an estimated
[2:39:42] general fund unassigned fund balance of $500,000
[2:39:46] at the end of fiscal year 2027.
[2:39:53] in addition to the budget reductions that have already been identified, staff will
[2:39:57] continue to pursue actions that can mitigate the city's structural deficit,
[2:40:01] not only on the expenditure side, but on the revenue side
[2:40:05] as well. Council provided
[2:40:09] direction at the last budget workshop to continue exploring the revenue revenue
[2:40:13] initiatives listed here, which are already in various stages of the
[2:40:17] process. And with that, I'll
[2:40:21] turn it back over to the city manager. Thank you,
[2:40:25] paul. I I just want to acknowledge paul, for the heavy lift and just
[2:40:30] the dedication and getting us to this point, keeping us on
[2:40:34] schedules, collaboration with all the departments. Um,
[2:40:38] excellent job, paul. I know there, there was a lot here in a short amount of time.
[2:40:43] um, you know, I also want to acknowledge the public for, for their comments
[2:40:48] and, and feedback and our city council for,
[2:40:52] you know, their support, their direction and their guidance to this point.
[2:40:56] um, you know, looking at where we were, um,
[2:41:01] about 30 days ago and what we're proposing tonight,
[2:41:05] um, you know, a lot of credit goes to city staff.
[2:41:09] uh, our leadership team, working with their staff to, to
[2:41:14] come up with a very strategic and thoughtful approach to
[2:41:19] presenting roughly three and a half million dollars in, in savings
[2:41:23] or budget reductions in a short amount of time. Um,
[2:41:27] that's not easy. Um, it's a, it's a very good first step,
[2:41:32] but obviously there's a lot more work that needs to be done in a very short amount
[2:41:36] of time. Um, if we are going to get
[2:41:40] the city, um, on a path to, to fiscal sustainability,
[2:41:45] um, we're all gonna have to work together with the staff, with the council, with the
[2:41:49] community, um, to make some difficult decisions over the next six to 12 months.
[2:41:55] um, so in that vein, what we are proposing
[2:41:59] is one, um, looking to the council to,
[2:42:03] to adopt the budget for fiscal year 2027.
[2:42:07] and then starting in august, uh, we were planning on scheduling a
[2:42:11] series of strategic planning workshops with emphasis on
[2:42:16] going through the process of priority based budgeting. Uh, which essentially will
[2:42:20] allow us to take a deep dive at all the services and programs we offer
[2:42:24] to the community, get a better understanding of those costs, the
[2:42:28] benefits, and what those opportunities are to right size, a lot of
[2:42:33] what we do to fit our budgets in addition to continuing
[2:42:37] to, uh, advance these revenue initiatives both in the near term
[2:42:41] and long term. With that, I'll turn over to,
[2:42:45] uh, the city council for any questions. Thank you.
[2:42:53] at this point, any questions towards the staff?
[2:42:58] okay. Member bush. Yeah, so, um, thank you staff for
[2:43:02] your work on this and, um, appreciate, um, the response
[2:43:06] and, um, to our, uh, last action, uh, which was
[2:43:10] updating the presentation and, and some of the numbers and just the, um, focusing
[2:43:14] on more of the actuals instead of just the, the, the
[2:43:18] previous year budget. So I appreciate that paul and city manager and staff for,
[2:43:22] um, for hearing us and adjusting. Um, appreciate
[2:43:27] us getting the full budget book. Um, I would like
[2:43:31] to see that move forward, um, a lot sooner. I think
[2:43:36] this is something that we should, I think more consistently,
[2:43:40] um, review, keep track of, follow through on,
[2:43:44] uh, mid-year reports, a look to this, to updating this, um, because
[2:43:49] there, um, was even a couple of months ago, um,
[2:43:54] the information that I asked for that I, uh,
[2:43:58] I didn't get some of the line item info that is actually of, of reflected on
[2:44:02] here. And I have some questions about them. Um, not necessarily
[2:44:07] expecting answers tonight for each one, but that's why
[2:44:11] I think that moving forward, we, we have to get this, um, we have to get this information
[2:44:15] earlier because we have to have time to, uh, digest it. I didn't have time to look
[2:44:19] over this budget book over the weekend, so I only started doing it yesterday. So that's just
[2:44:23] not enough time to review this thick book. And the devil's
[2:44:27] in the details, and this is a lot of good information, a lot of, um, but there's a
[2:44:31] lot of things to follow up on. So I'll just, uh, say that. Um, and just overall,
[2:44:35] we just need more transparency in this organization. I truly believe that we really need more transparency.
[2:44:40] we need to be getting more of the information early on, need more accountability, and
[2:44:44] I think we're moving towards that. So I, I see some progress here, but I think there's still,
[2:44:48] uh, work to do. Um, I would also like to see, um, I
[2:44:52] know city manager, you said that, um, you, you gave direction to the
[2:44:56] directors to engage employees, um, at all level because I would, ideally, for me,
[2:45:01] I would like to see, um, all, every single employee
[2:45:05] asked about this, engaged on the budget, uh, for ideas for,
[2:45:10] uh, not just on our expenditure side of it, but our revenue side of it, getting their ideas,
[2:45:14] the, the, the boots on the ground, the folks, um, that are in entry level that, um,
[2:45:18] do some of this day-to-day work. And I, um, there
[2:45:22] have been a couple of employees who reported to me that that wasn't done. So again, these are
[2:45:26] improvements that I think we really do need to, um, be an organization
[2:45:30] that, that engages more of the employees and, uh, doesn't just go from the top down,
[2:45:34] including us, top down, but really, uh, bottom up. So just things I think that, um, that
[2:45:38] we should work towards that I, that they think we are, um, on this budget book. Um,
[2:45:43] the biggest concern that I've seen so far, I'm concerned that we're undercounting
[2:45:47] our revenues. And I'm gonna give some examples and I have some questions. So I'll start with page
[2:45:51] 58 of the budget book. And I'm looking at code 3,300, and that's
[2:45:55] our investment earnings. This is something that I asked our, uh, staff about.
[2:46:00] so, um, city manager, uh, uh, um, paul
[2:46:04] brittany staff, can you go over a high level, um,
[2:46:09] and whatever detail you can provide, the investment earnings, because one of the concerns
[2:46:13] I see here that I have is, um, we have about 3.4 million,
[2:46:17] um, from fy 25 is our unaudited. Actuals is
[2:46:22] what we received in our investment earnings. The fy 26 adopted budget,
[2:46:26] the cycle we're currently in is only 1.2 million.
[2:46:30] I'm not clear what the actuals are, um, so far
[2:46:34] on that or how that number factors into, um,
[2:46:39] the powerpoint presentation we were given. But I don't, I think that number's
[2:46:43] under counted based on what I know about the stock market and bonds. And there's
[2:46:47] a lot, I don't know, um, not an expert in that, but, um,
[2:46:51] but the stock market does drive a lot of our investments. And from this to go
[2:46:56] down so much at 1.2 million, I like, I I just say, I wanna
[2:47:00] make sure that we're act accurately reflecting that. So could, could you,
[2:47:04] uh, staff, uh, talk about the investment earnings and maybe
[2:47:08] what the actuals are for that? Let, let's see what, get something from them.
[2:47:15] well, what I can tell you council member is that for investment earnings,
[2:47:19] they can be very volatile and, and hard to predict. So if you were
[2:47:23] to look, you know, even further back than the information you have, you, you'll
[2:47:27] see some years where we didn't, there were no investment earnings.
[2:47:32] uh, so what you don't want to do is, uh, count on those
[2:47:36] revenues on a year where they don't come in. Uh, so for the budget, we tend
[2:47:40] to be very conservative with, uh, with the investment earnings.
[2:47:44] I understand that. So thank you for that. However, for
[2:47:49] fy 26, we have some actuals for that. So what are the, to date
[2:47:53] actuals that we have, that staff has for code 3,300?
[2:47:57] so what are the date actuals? So I'm talking about july
[2:48:01] of 2025 to march 31st,
[2:48:06] um, almost april of 2026. What is that number?
[2:48:10] the actuals so far? I would, I would have to get that number. Okay. Uh, that's fine. So
[2:48:14] if we can find that out, uh, please. Uh, I appreciate that because that's
[2:48:18] important. That should automatically be built into this, the way
[2:48:22] I see it, unless those revenues are tied up some way.
[2:48:26] so I just need more clarification. I think we need more clarification on that. Um,
[2:48:31] 33 1 4, um, uh, rental land,
[2:48:35] um, is there, is the rental land, so I see 988,000
[2:48:40] and then 900,000 for the year after that. Um,
[2:48:45] I actually don't have a question, but I think I just wanna highlight that that is an area,
[2:48:49] um, that I think we can get more revenue potential this year in the workshop. Uh,
[2:48:53] the workshops we do is the rental land. Um, 3, 3, 1 7 is
[2:48:57] the rental las palmas golf course. So I see the actuals,
[2:49:02] or excuse me, the adopted fy 26 was 143,000. But again,
[2:49:06] um, the actual, I'm not sure that this is reflected
[2:49:10] of the actuals because the previous year was 217,000,
[2:49:15] so I don't think it makes sense that that would've dropped so much.
[2:49:20] so do we. Um, and then they see the next year,
[2:49:24] um, for the proposed fy 27 budget is 269,000. So just
[2:49:28] for clarification, that 269,000 number that I see, code
[2:49:32] 33 1 7, page 58, that
[2:49:36] was updated then. Correct? Um, because I,
[2:49:41] I, I think we, um, had updated as, as you, I think
[2:49:45] you said earlier that we updated the golf course numbers because we just renewed
[2:49:49] their, their lease with, um, with new terms
[2:49:56] age 58, 100 general funds. And it's under the, um,
[2:50:01] fund revenue and expenditure detail.
[2:50:07] and I'm sorry, council member, what was the object account number? Sure. 33 1 7.
[2:50:11] so, uh, so the key areas that I've asked about so far are 3,300, um,
[2:50:16] 33 14, and 33 17 is the
[2:50:20] los palmas golf course. Uh, yes. That, that number 33 17
[2:50:25] would reflect the, uh, the new agreement. So the two, so
[2:50:29] the fy 27, the 269,000 that has been updated
[2:50:33] to reflect the new agreement? That is correct. Okay. So has
[2:50:37] the 143, so then is that 143,000
[2:50:42] number accurate? Currently? Is that based on our
[2:50:46] actuals? No, it is not. The 1 43 is what
[2:50:50] was in the fy 26 adopted budget. Okay. So
[2:50:54] again, if we can check that, that is another example. And just one line item where
[2:50:59] I'm concerned that like all of this is starting to add up, all of these line items are
[2:51:03] starting to add up that I'm seeing that I don't have details for. And so I'm worried that we're
[2:51:07] under counting revenue. Um, I I, I'm okay with being conservative on some of the estimates,
[2:51:11] but now we have updated data on this. So the actuals for these line
[2:51:15] items is gonna be important. So need, need that. Um,
[2:51:19] 3, 4 69 overtime reimbursements. I see
[2:51:24] that in, um, uh, fy 25,
[2:51:28] the unaudited actuals is 1,492,000 155,
[2:51:33] and our fy 26 budgeted is 660,000.
[2:51:37] so that's, um, I, I think on this,
[2:51:42] I, I think that number, I don't know that, that I, that that should be,
[2:51:47] that should be u updated, I think because, um, we have actuals.
[2:51:51] I think we already received the actuals that weigh over that, that exceed
[2:51:56] that. So I'm just concerned that, that we're not, um,
[2:52:00] that we're not basing it off the, the new budget off of the, the actuals
[2:52:05] or that this number isn't updated. Yeah,
[2:52:09] I can, I can speak to that. The, uh, reimburse overtime is primarily
[2:52:13] in the fire department, and so there's really no way of predicting
[2:52:17] how much they're gonna be called out to fires outside of the area.
[2:52:22] and, um, also as that revenue would
[2:52:26] increase, you'd have a corresponding increase on the expenditure side as well.
[2:52:30] so it would net out, would net out to a zero. Got it.
[2:52:34] okay. I, I appreciate that clarification. And then, um, and then I'll, I'll
[2:52:38] step here, but because this is as far as it got, um, on this, but 35 41
[2:52:44] plan review fire systems, the actuals
[2:52:48] for fy 25, 110,000, we budgeted 65,000
[2:52:52] and we budget again for fy 27, 60 5,000. So again, I just, um,
[2:52:57] concerned about the, um, just understating the revenues
[2:53:01] and how that's feeding into, um, our proposed budget. So,
[2:53:06] um, there, I think there's still more to, to look at here, but I, I just
[2:53:10] wanna learn more about these, um, these different line item codes, which departments
[2:53:14] it's associated with, and, um, anything we
[2:53:18] can do for, for savings on this. Like, and I didn't really get to code much
[2:53:22] over the expenditure side, but on the expenditure side, I code 72 36
[2:53:27] water, the audited actuals, um, or excuse me, the unaudited
[2:53:32] actuals for fy 25 for water costs. Again, that's 72 36.
[2:53:36] um, it was, uh, 197,000. Our adopted
[2:53:41] budget has our, um, water cost of 275,000.
[2:53:45] I do not believe that we've been, um, that we've gotten that info
[2:53:49] on what our water expenditures are. And so we might be
[2:53:53] overstating the expenditures on
[2:53:57] water here based on what I see on the actuals for the past. So it's, these are
[2:54:02] just, I think some, some things that, again, I, um, could,
[2:54:06] could be wrong on this in terms of like, maybe, maybe we aren't
[2:54:10] overstating. Maybe this is accurate, but I, I just think, um, that,
[2:54:14] that this is a level of detail that, um, I'd like to have more follow up questions and, and
[2:54:18] dive into other specific questions
[2:54:25] in the moment. We do have a couple speakers, I'll call him up and then we can continue
[2:54:29] mr. Thomas rech and then, uh, edward netto.
[2:54:42] yeah, don't forget your checkbook. Uh, mr. Ike
[2:54:46] .
[2:55:04] all right. Alright.
[2:55:08] the point I went up, I lost a piece of paper, but it
[2:55:12] says there's a,
[2:55:16] oh, here it is. The revenue is 140,124,480.
[2:55:23] the expenditures are 150 3009,
[2:55:27] 997,047, the deficit
[2:55:32] of 13 million 872, 567.
[2:55:37] now, the question I have, do we have enough in the general fund to
[2:55:41] cover this year and how many years can they recover it?
[2:55:45] so that's, that's, that's the thing.
[2:55:49] so bunch of directors can say,
[2:55:58] enough, we have enough money in the bank this year. We have enough money in the bank next
[2:56:02] year. Right. Edward
[2:56:07] netto,
[2:56:14] I got, I was prepared to blast you guys , but I'm not gonna do that.
[2:56:18] okay. Uh, could I, could you change it to the slide if possible?
[2:56:22] I could have somebody change it to the slide for the talk about the revenues and expenditures
[2:56:29] stuff that drives me nuts.
[2:56:34] hopefully can be a little time here.
[2:56:38] um, one more, the, the slides that have expenditures and revenue.
[2:56:45] hey, uh, they were getting close. They don't have a slide. They, let's see here.
[2:56:49] it's right here. Were right here. This, this one here. Oh, there it is.
[2:56:53] okay. There. It's okay. Okay. Could you, could you restart his time, mayor? I would just like to, I mean,
[2:56:57] if, if this is the way we're going to allow public comment, I would just like it to be consistent.
[2:57:02] it's very unusual to have a public commenter to, uh, direct our staff
[2:57:06] to bring up individual slides, but just let's try to be consistent when
[2:57:10] it comes to that dividual and commun, thank you so much. Okay. Please go
[2:57:14] ahead. Okay. Mike , 70,
[2:57:18] $78 million in revenue can go back down
[2:57:22] to the expenditure side for fiscal year 2025.
[2:57:28] that's a revenue. Go to the expenditure slide,
[2:57:34] which doing the slides. Okay,
[2:57:38] $78 million. I look at this, I'm saying,
[2:57:43] where's the deficit
[2:57:47] audit unaudited figure?
[2:57:52] see that? You'd see the difference there. Mm-hmm . Yet on the other slide,
[2:57:57] we have unaudited fi. Uh, we, we start off with the audited figures
[2:58:02] and we have projected deficits that come down to the $2.9 million.
[2:58:07] this is unaudited, I keep saying where our audited 2025
[2:58:12] figures. So we know what you keep asking about the actuals. All
[2:58:16] these actuals would be there if you had that audit
[2:58:20] report. Hopefully. Okay. Am I
[2:58:24] getting, are you guys getting catching onto this? You sort of look at it and
[2:58:28] have a question, you know, where, where are we going with this? So,
[2:58:33] you know, on the one hand I look at this, I say, well,
[2:58:37] good grief, you know, we're pretty close on audited figures. And then
[2:58:41] I see another slide that says, we're off, you know, 12 million, uh, $10 million,
[2:58:46] 2000, 26, 20, uh, 25. We don't have the audited
[2:58:50] figures. We, so I'm really confused. I mean, looking
[2:58:55] at it in, in the overall level, you know,
[2:58:59] it seems a little confusing. You getting into the detail level makes
[2:59:03] it even more confusing because I can see that you're asking about actuals
[2:59:08] for what year and then comparing them to what the budget years are.
[2:59:13] and I can hear the confusion. I just like to hear it be consistent
[2:59:17] and hopefully, uh, make sense
[2:59:21] of what's seen it on the, um, on the, on the, on the high level
[2:59:26] side. Before we get into the detail side, uh, that's my com comment. Hopefully
[2:59:30] that was helpful. Yep. Thank you.
[2:59:34] okay. Back to the matter at hand
[2:59:39] and
[2:59:43] member yamani. Thank you, mayor. Um, so
[2:59:47] I am grateful for city manager for leading,
[2:59:51] um, to provide us this report. I am, um,
[2:59:57] I, I appreciate, um, how directors have streamlined
[3:00:01] some of your, uh, department budgets. I understand
[3:00:05] that this is a living document and you see projected numbers.
[3:00:10] you can see an audited for 24 and 25, you know, mean even
[3:00:14] if it's an audited, you know, I mean, we, we will see the correct, the,
[3:00:19] the right numbers close to those numbers. And this
[3:00:23] 26 you'll already see. There's also projected,
[3:00:27] as of you, I mean, to, to uh, complete our,
[3:00:31] um, fiscal year. But you can already see, um,
[3:00:36] as of the last quarter of 26, um,
[3:00:40] there's the, uh, unaudited actuals and you added a projected.
[3:00:44] so these are projected numbers, and of course, we have to project 2027.
[3:00:49] um, what with the addition of our,
[3:00:53] um, um, mea, you know, I mean the, the,
[3:00:58] the personnel, um, um, decision that we have to, to
[3:01:02] have to, uh, provide to our workforce, not only to our workforce,
[3:01:06] but for everybody because, um, you know, I mean,
[3:01:11] it, it, it's the right thing to do, right? For us to take care
[3:01:15] of our staff and for the staff to take care of the people that
[3:01:19] we pledge to serve. So, um, these numbers are all projected,
[3:01:24] um, come with the revenue, um, program that the staff
[3:01:28] had brought before us. I'm very confident that, um,
[3:01:32] you know, mean we will get to the closest numbers. Again,
[3:01:36] these are good initiatives that we, that we can work on. And I asked
[3:01:40] city manager, I wanted 12 months. I wanted zero
[3:01:45] to 12 months, and then report at the first quarter of a fiscal year 27.
[3:01:49] so we can see our numbers. So of course we have to project, you
[3:01:53] know, I mean, we have debt service, we have all this, um, you nomine, um,
[3:01:58] expenses that we have to fulfill. Um, so, um, I,
[3:02:02] I, I am, um, you noman, I in the, uh, in
[3:02:06] the revenue initiative that you have presented city manager, um,
[3:02:10] as, as we have, um, um, done our,
[3:02:15] um, our, uh, briefing, you know, I mean, I asked for two
[3:02:19] things, right? Focused on two things. Our, um,
[3:02:23] msa with port to be consistent in the people who
[3:02:27] sit in that room, in order for us to have that, um,
[3:02:31] that, that, that, um, the, the, the, the,
[3:02:36] the confidence and then the, the cons, the consistency of that relationship
[3:02:40] between, you know, and the, the staff between the staff of
[3:02:44] the city and the staff of the port. So, so then it'll
[3:02:48] be clearer and the, they will have more. Um, you
[3:02:52] know, I mean, they, they will have more answers to the presentation that we have
[3:02:56] presented to them. And, um, the other one that I have,
[3:03:01] um, added is to look into the essential services for,
[3:03:05] um, all the, the, um, um, um,
[3:03:10] affordable housing, affordable, um, homes that we have,
[3:03:15] that we provide for essential services. I, I think those are,
[3:03:20] it, it is already here. It's, you know, we are providing them service.
[3:03:24] um, I believe that those are faster for us to recoup
[3:03:28] cost recovery that we call, you know, I mean,
[3:03:32] pd go there, you know, I mean, I, I requested for just a, uh,
[3:03:37] an initial report from the chief and I receive a report through the city
[3:03:41] manager, and I ask, can we monetize that? So these are the
[3:03:45] things that, um, that we can, um, recover based on
[3:03:50] you, I mean, the services that we provide. So, um, you
[3:03:54] know, I mean, I will, I think I, I believe that I
[3:03:58] can work with this budget that you all have presented. I am grateful.
[3:04:02] I understand this is a living document, and there are projections
[3:04:07] and projections that we are going to see. Those are numbers, right?
[3:04:11] um, however, with the revenue that we are projecting
[3:04:16] to, that will come to the, you know, come within, um, the city.
[3:04:20] uh, there are lots of resources that we have that are now
[3:04:24] being looked at being revisited. And so, uh, we can
[3:04:28] recoup some, uh, cost recovery there. Um, I think I, I have
[3:04:32] a very good conversation through the city manager with our
[3:04:37] finance director, and, um, she understands, um,
[3:04:41] with the, with her team, uh, in the finance department what we
[3:04:45] need to streamline more, um, and, and the things that we need to double
[3:04:49] check and see those numbers to be tighter. So, um,
[3:04:54] I, I, I think I will, uh, support this, uh, for the sake of us moving
[3:04:59] forward. And we are going to be asked the five responsible party,
[3:05:03] uh, on this daes to be more diligent in how we move forward with
[3:05:07] this projections that they are presenting to us today. Thank you,
[3:05:13] member rodriguez. Thank you, ms. Mayor. Thank you so much to, uh, uh,
[3:05:17] for community for reaching out on this particular item. Thank you to staff for working
[3:05:22] on it and having additional budget discussions with me and providing me, uh, numerous,
[3:05:26] um, uh, briefings and, and discussions. Very much appreciated.
[3:05:30] um, and I agree with my colleagues. This is a living document. I look very much look
[3:05:34] forward to having our staff and our, uh, touching base with our city manager
[3:05:39] on a monthly basis to make sure that we anticipate on not just
[3:05:43] projected revenues, but expenditures and make sure that we keep as expenditures
[3:05:47] as low as possible. Um, and also looking forward to the
[3:05:51] future, we have a lot of, um, opportunities ahead of us. We're gonna
[3:05:55] have ongoing discussions about the business license tax reform, uh, about
[3:05:59] the short term rental ordinance, which is going to be applicable soon enough, and about,
[3:06:03] uh, digital billboard expansion, as well as other revenue generating opportunities.
[3:06:08] so I, I very much appreciate it. The only, um, issue,
[3:06:12] and I think this is no surprise, I will continue to bring up, you
[3:06:16] know, we just went through a discussion or a, um, update about our,
[3:06:21] uh, uh, investment reports, which are, uh,
[3:06:25] nearly, uh, 98 million or so as of last december. And
[3:06:29] I know those are fluctuating at all times. But, um, so
[3:06:34] I, I'm constantly juggling between, you know, um, uh, making
[3:06:38] sure that we have a, a balanced budget year to year so that our reserves are healthy,
[3:06:42] and also the fact that the reserves are indeed healthy, right? So we
[3:06:46] must maintain those reserves. Um, and at the same time, uh,
[3:06:50] look out for our community in times of need. Um, a program
[3:06:55] in particular that has to serve that purpose has been the nutrition center. So I have
[3:06:59] been very vocal and outspoken about, um, stopping the reduction of the meal caps
[3:07:03] from two 50 to two 200 that would cost the city $235,000.
[3:07:08] um, I'm essentially, uh, look forward to adopting the budget
[3:07:12] except for that portion of it, and making sure that the budget stays the
[3:07:16] same as it is now, and it is not reduced by 235,000. Thank
[3:07:20] you member.
[3:07:25] thank you, mayor. Thank you to staff, uh, for all of the work.
[3:07:30] um, we have, um, we
[3:07:34] have, uh, arrived at the budget, right? So,
[3:07:38] um, paul, I just have a question on slide 14.
[3:07:42] um, the projected deficit for fiscal
[3:07:47] year 27, um, you know, it
[3:07:51] is, it is a positive thing. You know, it, it, it's good to see that
[3:07:55] what we had, uh, a preliminary deficit of 16.13 million
[3:08:02] now has been reduced, which is good. It's still a big deficit, but it did get
[3:08:06] reduced from 16.13 million to 12.65 million.
[3:08:13] so that, that big decrease is very helpful. And I appreciate
[3:08:17] staff. That is all because of all of the reductions that staff were willing to make.
[3:08:21] and I know it's a sacrifice. So I do appreciate that. Uh, my, my
[3:08:25] question does have to do that deficit, the 12.6 million
[3:08:31] of that, going back to slide nine,
[3:08:36] uh, the cost of living adjustments that we
[3:08:40] approved due to the bargaining that we did with our, uh, labor groups,
[3:08:45] um, and then also confidential management and executive.
[3:08:50] um, the cost of living adjustments for 27 equal two point
[3:08:54] nearly five, 2.5 million, um, what is the
[3:08:58] rest of that deficit is made up of? I know
[3:09:02] part of it is the pension obligation, right? Well, well,
[3:09:06] uh, just to clarify, the 2.5 million is for, for all funds. The general
[3:09:10] fund portion is just, uh, the 1.9, almost 2 million
[3:09:14] you see there. Uh, the rest of it is the increase in the unfunded
[3:09:19] pension liability. Uh, there was a very large increase in
[3:09:23] general liability, which shows up as part of personnel
[3:09:27] services. Um, those are the two, those are the two
[3:09:32] other driving factors in addition to the, uh, the pension general liability
[3:09:37] 2.5 for the cola adjustments is essentially
[3:09:41] what made up the, that's, that's, that's the increase over
[3:09:46] last year. Mm-hmm . Okay. And I could provide more details,
[3:09:50] just thought I remember seeing it in in the past. Yeah, there was a slide in some
[3:09:54] of our workshops. I remember seeing that info. It just wasn't in this slide deck.
[3:09:58] uh, but I did wanna point out, um, uh, we remain
[3:10:03] a very lean organization. You know, we still have
[3:10:07] a lot of, um, just a lot that we're responsible for that
[3:10:11] we have to pay for that. We have to, you know, remember
[3:10:15] that it's gonna come up again next year. So, uh, in, you know, working
[3:10:19] hard. And I, I'm so happy during the briefing that I had with, um, all of the
[3:10:23] directors and then our, um, uh, city manager, mr. Steve mag
[3:10:28] to hear that we are preparing for next year's
[3:10:32] budget. Fiscal year 28, as early as august, um,
[3:10:37] is going to be such an important task because it is going to be,
[3:10:41] it is gonna be quite the chore. So thank you very much. You know, this is a difficult budget,
[3:10:45] but, um, I'm glad that, um, we are gonna make it work
[3:10:49] one way or another. We will make it work. I have a lot of faith in that. Thank you. Okay.
[3:10:53] if, if I could, uh, a couple things. My understanding is what we're, what
[3:10:57] I heard the city manager say that we would be, start looking in august
[3:11:01] is still the 27th budget, not necessarily looking to next year, the
[3:11:06] following year's budget, but saying that this budget is still needs, needs worked on,
[3:11:10] right? So that this gets us through the, the state
[3:11:14] requirement and everything. But then in august,
[3:11:18] we got right back into this budget. Uh, uh, the other thing
[3:11:22] is, if I could, the one other deal is if you'll take a look on
[3:11:26] that same page that you were looking at, the, the deficit
[3:11:32] at for 26 was over $10 million that carries
[3:11:36] over. That's 'cause those expenditures are still the same. And then you get the other
[3:11:40] $2 million in just a loan for the, uh, um,
[3:11:45] for the coal loan that takes you up to the 12, 12 million right there by itself.
[3:11:50] and so it's, uh, um, so yeah,
[3:11:54] so then that 12 million will carry on over to the
[3:11:58] next year unless we do some changes. Okay. Uh,
[3:12:03] member bush. Uh, so,
[3:12:07] oh, appreciate the additional, um, information, um,
[3:12:11] on, uh, this slide. And we did, um, have a discussion
[3:12:15] at the council level about potentially, I'm looking at
[3:12:19] freezing some of these salary groups. So really the only ones are management and executive.
[3:12:24] and so I wanted to disclose, I did have a good conversation with, in my briefing on
[3:12:28] staff, um, a about that and the concept
[3:12:32] of holding or, or freezing, um, the
[3:12:37] increases for the following year because we would get a savings from that. So, and what was,
[3:12:41] uh, told to me through the city manager and the directors that that would, you know, potentially
[3:12:45] impact morale and, um, and just, um,
[3:12:49] some of the, uh, just their, their, their kind of, their
[3:12:53] workload is already kind of expanded. And so I hear that
[3:12:58] and I still do want to see more accountability,
[3:13:03] more kind of goals, metrics, and I think some of that will come when we get a
[3:13:07] new city manager in. And as the directors have complained, um, to me
[3:13:11] and to others at council before that, there's been a lot of chaos in the organization. So I recognize
[3:13:15] that. And as I've said, I take, uh, responsibility for that. Um, but,
[3:13:20] um, you know, I I I'm just concerned that one of the items, for example, and
[3:13:24] council member rodriguez, uh, brought this up, the nutrition center, like
[3:13:28] I want, I, I want us to balance as an organization, cutting
[3:13:33] food to our seniors and then increases
[3:13:37] for some of the highest paid employees. Like, those are just balances, they're realities
[3:13:42] that we have to have uncomfortable conversations about. Like the, all the budget is
[3:13:46] about our choices. It's about, I mean, I did ask for information about,
[3:13:50] you know, like our annuitants and, um, uh,
[3:13:54] proposing looking at early retirements to save money. So we're not discussing
[3:13:59] much of that tonight. I, I think if we were in a better position that should have been talked
[3:14:03] about before. So I just say that to emphasize that we really need tom move
[3:14:07] forward with some of those creative and tough decisions. Like we talked about
[3:14:12] increasing, um, some of the, in, in my briefing we talked about, um,
[3:14:16] increasing fees for some of our, um,
[3:14:20] uh, resident community, um, programs and services like the
[3:14:24] pool and, and stuff like that. So like I, I'm open to those things to increasing
[3:14:28] even some of the user fees that are really, um, that I
[3:14:32] think are, are really low. Maybe too low, but wanna see that. Another thing
[3:14:36] I forgot to, um, bring up is on part-time, the
[3:14:40] part-time, uh, salaries and, and
[3:14:45] personnel, it's, it's still hard to see where that is reflected
[3:14:49] in the budget book and particular, uh, particularly it's, um,
[3:14:54] staffing levels by fund page 25, and then the
[3:14:58] staffing levels by department, which is page 35. I,
[3:15:02] I am, I'm just not understanding how our part-time employees are reflected
[3:15:07] in here. So I don't know whether they're included in the fte full-time equivalent,
[3:15:12] um, as part of this number. And if they are, then I think they should be broken
[3:15:16] out. So it's more clear to us, like what part, how many part-timers
[3:15:20] we have versus the full-timers, et cetera.
[3:15:24] I can address that. Council member, uh, the staffing
[3:15:28] reports that you see with the fte count, those represent permanent
[3:15:32] benefited employees or positions, fte. Now,
[3:15:37] your hourly non benefitted employees, those are budgeted
[3:15:41] as a lump sum in each department. Right. Or departments that have hourly
[3:15:45] employees under object code, I think 6 0 0 5.
[3:15:49] so those are just budgeted as a, as a lump sum dollar amount.
[3:15:54] and the expectation is that departments manage to that budget,
[3:15:59] uh, regardless of what, uh, hourly positions they're using
[3:16:03] to, uh, you know, to, to, uh, supplement
[3:16:08] their permanent staff. Well, well lump
[3:16:12] sum, it's, it's hard for us to glean from that. How many personnel,
[3:16:16] what is their rate, what, you know, um, hours kind
[3:16:20] of, they're working or, you know, maybe it's seasonal. So for example, um,
[3:16:25] some of our community programs, services, some of it's after school programs. So all that, I, I
[3:16:29] would just like to see more broken out, um, in here because
[3:16:33] it's not, it's, it's, uh, not clear. So that's, that's all the comments
[3:16:37] I have. Okay. Um, one thing I'm gonna go back and
[3:16:41] if I can ask mr. Chenko, in your report that you gave to
[3:16:45] us a couple meetings ago, uh, concerning the nutrition
[3:16:50] center, the understanding I had from that is that we were not gonna be cutting,
[3:16:54] uh, food amounts or the number of food to our senior,
[3:16:59] uh, residents, but that we were gonna limit
[3:17:03] the number. And so national city residents would get the first
[3:17:07] grouping of that. And then it's just the idea of us providing
[3:17:11] food for all the other cities too, I think was, am I saying that right?
[3:17:15] uh, yes sir. You're correct. Um, a couple months back, um, we had to,
[3:17:19] um, do a reservation system per the county. Um, they
[3:17:24] said that, you know, this is the norm and all the other nutrition centers, um, because
[3:17:28] we're like cooking, like on the spot, we were just providing as many as meals
[3:17:32] as we could for the day. Other nutrition centers bring their food in, so they have to have
[3:17:36] a, a reservation system, certain count, but the county said they didn't like
[3:17:40] the insecurity of seniors just showing up, not knowing if they were gonna get a meal for the day and they'd
[3:17:44] get there really early. So this, this reservation system was a long time coming mm-hmm
[3:17:49] . Um, and so we, we found a good, uh, number was, um,
[3:17:53] 250, um, because that, that seemed to be like what we were kind of averaging.
[3:17:57] um, but now that we've kind of noticed that it, the reservation system was
[3:18:02] great because, uh, I think just getting some direction from you all of, of
[3:18:06] trying to prioritize residents. 'cause a lot of non-residents were coming and then the
[3:18:10] residents would get there and then we'd be, we'd be outta food. Um, so now we've given them
[3:18:14] priority res, um, reservations and so now we've kind of noticed a little bit more,
[3:18:18] um, residents coming 'cause they know they can get in. So now we're really confident
[3:18:23] that 150 is what we're pretty solid on averaging. So we thought if
[3:18:27] we had some room to grow, maybe 200 could be what we could get up to.
[3:18:31] um, and if, if that number seems to go up even more because it just keeps getting more successful,
[3:18:35] I think we could come back to the budget adjustment if we wanted to, to bump it up again.
[3:18:40] um, this is kind of conservative number by saying we, you know,
[3:18:44] um, can get to 2 35 to, to serve 200 seniors.
[3:18:48] we're thinking just because we see food costs that just keep going up. Um,
[3:18:53] so we think 200 would be a, a good number and we're really looking
[3:18:58] at the county would help us with, with getting the other non-residents to
[3:19:02] the nearby nutrition centers, um, so that it wouldn't be, you know, turning anyone away at all.
[3:19:06] okay. Great. Okay. Appreciate that. Yes, sir. Yeah, I, you know, what we've
[3:19:10] got before us is a lot of work has went in by a lot of people to
[3:19:15] try to get us to this point is it's not, it's always easier to add to a budget than it is to
[3:19:19] take away from a budget. It's just the reality. Um, and so
[3:19:23] I appreciate all the work that's been done, to be honest with you at this stage of the game, until
[3:19:27] we do a deeper dive, I would not be for adding anything
[3:19:31] to what has been proposed to us at this stage of the game. Um,
[3:19:35] but then we can come back in august, uh, if we do
[3:19:40] approve this tonight, come back in august and start work on this
[3:19:44] document again, both on the expenditure and also
[3:19:48] on the revenue side, and, uh, to see what, you know,
[3:19:52] what kind of magic we can we start working. 'cause we got to, otherwise,
[3:19:56] you know, we can survive this year. You know, that was, he's not here anymore,
[3:20:01] but, uh, uh, uh, you know, he asked the question, do we have enough for this
[3:20:05] year? Yeah, we got enough for this year, uh, next year and
[3:20:09] the following year starts to be major problem if we don't address
[3:20:13] it now. And, uh, so I think that's, there's a lot
[3:20:17] of work still ahead of us, even if we approve this and this up
[3:20:21] to the state and says, here's our budget. There's still a lot of work on this budget
[3:20:26] that we need to do during this, uh, this fiscal year.
[3:20:31] so unless there's any other, uh, question,
[3:20:35] um, maybe juan, do you have something? Yes. Um, you know, um,
[3:20:39] during our, um, briefing with city manager, he really,
[3:20:44] um, committed to a, uh, comprehensive revisiting mm-hmm . Budget
[3:20:48] per department. And, uh, you know, I mean, I had, um, pointed
[3:20:52] out to him, you know, I mean the, uh, overtime of, uh, 3.1
[3:20:57] and he said he's gonna really look into that. So then our food
[3:21:02] for our seniors in community services, um, will not
[3:21:06] be, um, infringed or will not, um, be sacrificed.
[3:21:10] um, so I, I know that there are a lot of items here
[3:21:15] that, um, you know, I mean, city manager will hand hold,
[3:21:19] um, the, whoever is incoming or onboarding city manager
[3:21:23] to revisit all this and, and, um, you know, I mean, have
[3:21:27] a, a comprehensive look, um, after, you know, during
[3:21:31] this, um, dark, dark month that we have. Thank you, mayor.
[3:21:36] thank you. Uh, member rodriguez. Thank you, mayor.
[3:21:40] um, I appreciate all the work. Um,
[3:21:45] sometimes we, we, I mean the budget is a living document and we're talking about,
[3:21:50] you know, 80 million plus dollars, right? So to get into the weeds
[3:21:54] of now talking about $235,000 in the grand scheme of things,
[3:21:58] it's not a insurmountable amount, right? And,
[3:22:03] and so it's important to keep that in perspective. Um, it's also
[3:22:07] important and, um, I, I know I've brought this up publicly,
[3:22:11] but I've also brought this up on, uh, with, with, uh, discussions
[3:22:15] with staff. I mean, we failed to apply for a grant for the county
[3:22:20] in order to fund the program. The recommendations are then to cut the
[3:22:25] program or parts of it. And we've also provided
[3:22:29] salaries to our highest paid individuals in our city. And so
[3:22:34] I think, I think we have to think through where we are placing our priorities.
[3:22:38] and again, $235,000 will not make or break us.
[3:22:42] and the purpose of the county program is to provide food for needy individuals in our community.
[3:22:47] and yeah, some might live one block away from the city, but they're still in
[3:22:51] our community. And so I think, um, I think it's a, it's a matter of
[3:22:55] priority and I think that there seems to be a, um,
[3:23:00] um, uh, you know, ongoing effort to try to,
[3:23:04] uh, reduce the program, not just the funding, but to privatize it. This has been
[3:23:08] going on for a long time. Um, and this seems to be a continuation
[3:23:13] of that. And so I, I, you know, it, it's kind of a, it
[3:23:17] strikes a, um, uh, a nerve with me,
[3:23:22] uh, seen as we, we might be able to be able to
[3:23:26] continue the same services, yet the recommendations are not that, and,
[3:23:30] and it is deeply frustrating to say the least. And so, um,
[3:23:35] I mean, just by two comments, I don't know if we're ready to make a motion at some point, but,
[3:23:39] uh, I would like to hear from my other colleagues as well. Okay. Any
[3:23:43] other comments? Just that I share that
[3:23:48] frustration, especially on the, I, you know, staff ex explain
[3:23:52] why we didn't apply for the grant and it's psych that's just
[3:23:57] not acceptable moving forward. We shouldn't leave money on the table.
[3:24:01] let's just, um, be better not pointing the fingers. It's just be better. Okay.
[3:24:06] alright. With that then, do I have a motion?
[3:24:15] I will make an motion. Sorry, go ahead. Sorry. Uh, move to,
[3:24:19] um, approve the proposed budget and
[3:24:23] we'll be looking at it more in august, so move to approve.
[3:24:27] okay. We have a motion. I'll, I'll second the motion. Okay.
[3:24:31] motion. And a second is the person, the maker of the motion, willing to,
[3:24:36] um, uh, remove the, um, $235,000,
[3:24:42] uh, suggested reduction for the meal program from two
[3:24:46] 50 to 200 for right now? Yes, I'm willing to do that. Thank you. I'm sorry, what now?
[3:24:51] removing the, the meal reduction for the senior nutrition program.
[3:24:55] thank you. Okay. We
[3:24:59] have a motion and a second
[3:25:04] council member. Uh, rodriguez, if you could push press the second button and
[3:25:09] there a second. Thank you. I have a motion and a second. Um, speaking to the
[3:25:13] motion, I will speak against it. I know we can start cherry picking and I know it's
[3:25:17] election time and it's great to stand up for this thing. Um,
[3:25:21] but I think staff has worked hard to do this. It's always easy to
[3:25:25] say it's just $235,000 when it's somebody else's money.
[3:25:29] it's not ours. Um, and at the same time,
[3:25:34] we are not taking away from our residents and I think
[3:25:38] that's what we have to look at here. I mean, we could do a lot of programs for the entire
[3:25:43] county, but that's, we, we either have the obligation
[3:25:47] even more so we do not have the funds to do that. So I would speak against that motion
[3:25:53] and I would make a substitute motion that we would accept the,
[3:25:57] um, this proposal as, as
[3:26:01] accept motion. Mr. Chair. It was not amendment. No, that was no, we
[3:26:05] just made the first motion that motion can do the motion
[3:26:10] and I would make a motion that we accept, uh, this budget
[3:26:14] as presented by staff and to be revisited, uh, after
[3:26:18] the, uh, july break. Second. Okay.
[3:26:25] whoops. May have a motion in a second.
[3:26:30] okay. With that, uh,
[3:26:34] we have a motion a second. This is on the substitute motion. Please vote.
[3:26:40] motion fails by three to two vote. Okay. We go
[3:26:44] back to the original motion. This is to
[3:26:48] add $235,000 to the budget and
[3:26:52] that has been presented to us. Please don't politicize it. It's not to add 235,000,
[3:26:57] but, okay. Well that's, it's to the, what was proposed. It has two five
[3:27:01] and, and I'm also open to looking at 235,000 where we can cut, if you're concerned
[3:27:05] about that. Like which is a valid concern. Mm-hmm . But again, it's about priorities.
[3:27:09] I agree with my colleague, council member rodriguez, and I know these are uncomfortable conversations,
[3:27:13] but I've said it from the get go weighing priorities. I, they, I think we have
[3:27:18] as an organization made mistakes and it is two 35,000.
[3:27:22] I'm open to further cuts later, but I mean, for me, I'm just making a statement that I think this
[3:27:26] needs to be done better and I don't think that, um, yeah, I
[3:27:30] just think we can, uh, do better. Okay. We're back to the
[3:27:34] original motion. How do we,
[3:27:40] could you do your, uh, first and second? Okay. So the motion maker and
[3:27:44] the second would have to okay. Put it in there. Okay. So that is
[3:27:49] back to the original motion, which I say is to take
[3:27:53] the proposed budget and we add back in 235,000 bucks
[3:27:57] and also add that I'll, your point is valid about adding the 235,000.
[3:28:01] so at the next, uh, meeting I can mm-hmm . Uh, also suggest,
[3:28:05] um, cuts to balance off, um, that, um, additional expenditure.
[3:28:09] I think that's a fair point. Alright. Okay. Please vote.
[3:28:15] motion approved by four to one vote with mayor morrison. Voting
[3:28:19] no. Okay. Alright. With that, uh,
[3:28:24] do we have any other staff reports? Okay. We
[3:28:28] do not, uh, with that then we go to council reports. We start down here on my left.
[3:28:32] um, just, just thank you all for, uh, staff community members,
[3:28:37] um, for being so engaged. We have gone through a very tumultuous few months
[3:28:41] and thank you so much for, for sticking it through. We have another couple difficult
[3:28:45] meetings mm-hmm . At the end of the month, but, uh, but thank you so much. Okay.
[3:28:50] I'm grateful to all of you, city manager. Thank you.
[3:28:56] okay. Uh, yeah, I'm grateful to staff. I also
[3:29:00] wanna give a shout out to my colleagues. I think we've worked really well together in the last few
[3:29:04] months and we've improved and yes, there's been chaos and there's been, there's always gonna be politics, but
[3:29:08] I really think we have done a much better job. And I want to give special shout out to heidi
[3:29:12] because heidi, as our city attorney, I do really from my heart believe that you've
[3:29:17] really made an extra effort on that and kind of weighing some of our
[3:29:21] personalities. So, and just bouncing what we're trying to do. Yes. We're, we can
[3:29:25] be feisty, but it's 'cause we care because we love our community and you
[3:29:29] know, we want do the best. So I do think that we've, you know, we're not gonna always agree, but
[3:29:33] we're, we talk, we're creative, we've just worked better and I, there's close
[3:29:38] session, especially if you guys could see our close session. I think our close session's been even more better and
[3:29:42] it's really helped. So appreciate everyone and just us working more cohesively
[3:29:46] in the organization and on this diocese a team. Thank you. Alright.
[3:29:51] thank you mayor. Thank you staff. I wanna give a
[3:29:55] big shout out to all of our graduates at sweetwater high
[3:30:00] school this friday. There will be two graduations at 3:00 pm and at
[3:30:04] 6:00 pm and um, there will be three valedictorians
[3:30:08] from sweetwater high school. They are kenneth sagoon,
[3:30:12] brian rivera and sol lopez. And,
[3:30:17] uh, there are three lopez. Yes. Three valedictorians, uh, because
[3:30:21] they couldn't outdo each other at the end. Uh, principal laura,
[3:30:25] um, you know, finally called and said, okay, you guys can't do each other,
[3:30:29] outdo each other. Uh, they reached, uh, 4.4 0.66
[3:30:34] gpa. Um, and uh, one of those three is my,
[3:30:38] my kid. So I just wanted to be transparent about that.
[3:30:44] coming. You guys didn't see that one coming.
[3:30:50] um, you know, I've had tremendous emotions for the last two months, so thank
[3:30:54] you for giving me some grace here. But, um, you know, all three
[3:30:58] are very good friends. Uh, of all of the schools that all three
[3:31:03] got into, they are all gonna stay home and go to ucsd. So I
[3:31:07] am not worried about them. National city will be well represented
[3:31:11] in la jolla and I'm just so very proud. So congratulations to all three of them.
[3:31:15] and if you're gonna be at the graduation on friday, you know, give me, give me grace because
[3:31:19] I am going to be an emotional mess. Thank you, .
[3:31:24] great. Alright, . Well, I will not be an emotional mess.
[3:31:28] I'm sorry. Um, but anyway, uh, do you want to thank staff? I mean, we've
[3:31:32] done a lot of, a lot of work here. We've just got a lot more work to do on, on
[3:31:36] getting a handle on, on the budget and on the spending and opportunities
[3:31:41] for revenue and, uh, to see where we can go and be realistic in
[3:31:45] the middle of all this and just appreciate all the hard work that everyone's put into this. So
[3:31:49] thank you very much. With that, I'm gonna turn it on over to our city
[3:31:53] attorney to, uh, disclose out of closed session. Thank you. Um,
[3:31:58] tonight or today, the council did meet in closed session from four
[3:32:02] 10 uh, pm to 5:41 pm council member bush
[3:32:06] joined us at four 14 and all council members were present for the remainder of closed
[3:32:11] session. Um, uh, the counsel took no reportable actions tonight.
[3:32:15] thank you. And with that, we are adjourned till the 16th.