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If there are any members of the public in zoom that would like to speak on items not listed

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on the agenda, please use the ra raise hand feature. If dialing

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in, please press star nine. Now. First public comment is limited to

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a total of 10 speakers, combining both in person and zoom participants.

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if there are any members of the public in zoom that would like to speak on the consent calendar,

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items on the agenda or second public comment, please use a raise hand

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feature. If dialing in, please press star nine now.

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all right, we're gonna go ahead and call the meeting of the city council to order roll call please.

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councilwoman zendejas present, councilwoman allen.

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councilman allen, present? Council member duggan.

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here. Councilman super. Now here, councilwoman kerr. Present councilwoman

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sorrow. Present vice mayor uranga. Present. Councilwoman

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thresh ook. Council member rick sodi. Here.

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mayor richardson. I am here. We have a quorum. Alright, thank you. We're gonna go to

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council member duggan for the, uh, moment of silence of the pledge and the pledge of allegiance.

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please take a moment of silence now in remembrance of someone

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you have lost over the past few years,

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we're now going to have the pledge of allegiance rise. If you are able, put

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your right hand over your heart.

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alright, thank you. Well, welcome back folks. We are, uh,

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in our mid-summer season, so I hope you're off to a good and a fun and

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a safe season. We've got baseball this season. They've been playing five nights a week.

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the long beach coast has been doing pretty good. We just wrapped up the world cup. I saw many

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of you out there for our fan experiences. The concerts in the park

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are going, the movies in the park are going, it is full swing of summer,

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but it's good to see you all. Uh, tonight, uh, we're gonna be testing out

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a slight change in how we run our meetings to transition to align with

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sb 7 0 7. Uh, these are new state guidelines to allow remote

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participation. So I'm gonna pass it to our city clerk, monique de la garza, to walk us through

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what to expect this evening. So, good evening mayor. Members of the city council

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and the public. I'd like to introduce the sb 7 0 7 requirement that enhances

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our public comment process. Tonight is the first meeting of the long beach city council

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where we are implementing zoom based public comment. In addition to in

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person, I will read names of individuals who've requested to speak.

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please forgive me in advance if I mispronounce your name to speak on

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an item. You may submit a physical signup slip in person or of joining

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by zoom. Use the raise hand function. If you're dialing

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in, please dial star nine. When you use the raise hand

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feature. A city clerk staff member will temporarily move you into a

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breakout room to provide further instruction for those speaking in person.

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when your name is called, please proceed to the center aisle and line up at the lectern

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to deliver your public comment. For remote or zoom

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callers, we will announce your name when it is your turn to speak. You'll be

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heard live through our chamber audio system. For a

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full list of guidelines and instructions, please visit city clerk website@longbeach.gov

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slash city clerk. Thank you. All right, thank you. Monique.

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we have two presentations this evening. Uh, both will be five minutes.

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uh, first is park parks make life better month. We'll pass

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it to our city manager to kick it off.

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all right, I will introduce steve scott, our director of parks, recreation, and marine.

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okay,

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good evening, honorable mayor and members of the city council. Thank you so much for

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the opportunity, uh, this evening. Uh, as we are

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here to celebrate parks make life better month.

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uh, each july, we participate in a statewide recognition that

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showcases how agencies like your parks, recreation, and marine department

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create community through people, places, and

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programs. Presentations led by the california parks and recreation society

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or cprs. This month long recognition

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raises awareness of the benefits of the over 500 parks

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and recreation organizations across the state.

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and their role in providing vital community services

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guided by our own parks make long beach strategic plan.

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our work is deeply rooted in advancing equity and inclusion

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to ensure our spaces and programs are accessible.

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we take pride in ensuring our parks, beaches, and

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facilities remain safe, clean, and welcoming

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for all as we activate them with fun and

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engaging programming fit for all ages, interests

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and abilities. We offer places where

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families gather. We offer places where children and teens can

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come together and socialize and learn and

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explore. We offer places where our seniors can come

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and engage with each other and remain active.

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we foster not just recreation though, but health and

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wellness, personal enrichment, environmental stewardship,

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and community connection. This vital work is

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only made possible by our dedicated and hardworking staff.

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I am so proud of the incredible work our team does every single

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day in all corners of this city and the impact that our

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department has on our community. I wanna take this moment right

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now to thank our department team for their efforts. We have a number of people

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here, uh, attending with us, uh, in the audience today, but

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we also have a lot of people still out in our parks either wrapping up the daily programs

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or getting ready for some of our evening programs like be safe or municipal

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band. And so if I could just get our team to stand up those that are in

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attendance, I wanna make sure we recognize them for their hard

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work and leadership.

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very well deserved. Uh, they do great work. I also wanna recognize we have

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two commissioners, uh, parks and rec commissioners in attendance today.

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uh, commissioners allen and redfield. I wanna thank them for their leadership, um,

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for our department.

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so in conclusion, uh, parks absolutely

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make life better and parks absolutely

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make long beach better. And so, uh, thank you

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so much for allowing us this opportunity to present to you. Thank you

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for all of your support and ongoing leadership. Uh,

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we appreciate everything that we do together to provide the very

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best in park and recreation services to the community. So that

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concludes my comments. Uh, but we do have a very brief, uh, video that

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I'd like to show, uh, to wrap up our presentation. Thank you.

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better. Once

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long beach parks recreation and marine connects our community to people,

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places, and possibilities across our city.

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with 166 parks, 81 playgrounds, sports fields,

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skate parks, golf courses, and nature centers, there's a

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space for everyone. Our programs

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support every age from youth camps, sports leagues to older

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adult activities, helping our residents stay active and healthy

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year round. We care for over six miles

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of beaches and our marina system so visitors can enjoy the coastline.

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our animal care services helps build a more compassionate community

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with services for both people and pets.

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every park program and partnership helps create a long beach

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where everyone feels at home and memories that last a

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lifetime.

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explore all we offer and discover how long beach parks

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make life better.

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all right, well, well, thank you. I think we have a certificate for you. Uh,

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we'll take a come down and take a quick photo.

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can we get our team come

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and, and commissioners too. And commissioners should go. .

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all right. So we thank parks, recreation, uh, and marine

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parks make life better. Parks make long beach parks make

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lb and that was very clear at bixby park. Congratulations to

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the councilwomen, um, district two, district one on beach streets this past

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sunday. Incredible. And the final at bixby park. So

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great work to the parks and rec team and special events. You did a great job. Thank you. Let's here for

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our parks team one more time. Alright. Alright,

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our next presentation, harvey milk plaza. Inductees, uh,

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we want to pass it now to councilwoman and dejas. Thank you.

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um, thank you mayor. Our city is known for being a

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safe, inclusive, and welcoming place for all. We take

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pride in being home to a strong, rich,

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lgbtqia plus community, and we remain and will

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remain proud and loud always and forever.

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that is why it is one of my greatest honors to represent the

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district that houses our beloved harvey milk pomade park,

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the first public park to carry his name's sake.

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for the past couple of years, I have gladly and

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strongly supported this annual harvey milk equality plaza

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plaque recognition. It is important to me that we

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continue to honor leaders and activists who contribute immensely

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to protecting the rights and lives of our l-g-b-t-q-I

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plus community. And I am in full support

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of installing the names of these incredible long beach leaders

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onto our harvey milk wall of equality. And I would like to

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welcome the committee and pass it over to corey allen. And

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thank you so much for being here. Thank you so much. Councilwoman, uh, mayor, members

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of the council, corey allen. I get the great privilege of serving as one of the co-chairs, um,

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for this organization. And we're very proud to also, as you may see

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on the flyer, that we have reformed and reorganized, uh, with our friends

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at partners of parks to become the friends of harvey milk promenade park. As much

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as we loved our long name before, we thought this was much more, um, appropriate

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opportunity to not only, uh, continue to honor lgbt

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leaders and community members, but to also fundraise and support the work that's happening,

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um, at this, like this art lgbt established park, um, in recognition

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of them. So you'll hear from us. Uh, we're gonna read some bios to you about the amazing

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honorees. I want to say that we get dozens of, um,

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nominations every single year, um, and we are limited to to honor

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four people. And so these four take a two thirds majority of our volunteer

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group of 15 people, um, to, to get the recognition each

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year. And so, um, as we go through those, those recognitions that, uh, know

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that these are, um, really, really standouts and we have some incredible

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folks that continue to get nominated and we look forward to continuing to recognize folks

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each year. Um, so the two that I have, uh, the privilege of, of sharing

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some information about, um, is honey hatch, who couldn't be with us today,

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um, but is known as dj honey to many and is a second generation cambodian

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american, born in san diego and raised here in long beach. She's a dj, entrepreneur,

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and certified phlebotomist, um, who has spun music from hollywood to

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cambodia, all while running a family restaurant here in long beach. She has poured

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her work into her grassroots community, uh, and things like the cambodian

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town film festival, the cambodian youth institute, united cambodian

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community, and creating kamai.org with a q to celebrate

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and honor the work of btq cambodians in our community.

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uh, and she will now be the very first cambodian woman to ever be

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recognized and placed on our wall, um, at harvey milk park.

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the second person who you'll hear from in just a second. Paul. Lovely. Uh, for nearly 30

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years, paul has turned his personal journey as a gay man living with hiv

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and in recovery, into a lifelong commitment of helping others from his early volunteer

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work. As a director of the long beach l-g-b-t-q center to his leadership,

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uh, as the executive director at the care center at st. Mary's medical center,

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he has helped create affirming stigma free health care for our community.

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paul pioneered hiv peer support and prevention programs

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advanced lgbtq plus health equity, and led the development of a new $2.3 million

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care medical center. Paul truly embodies harvey milk's belief that

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living authentically and serving others can create hope and change.

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and then we're gonna bring up some of our other committee members to hear from the other honorees as well.

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uh, good evening. I get to represent heidi hoffman,

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who I knew personally from the day from the hood. Um, she

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is a pioneer for the l-g-b-t-q committee back in the eighties and nineties.

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she was one of the owners of the, uh, paradise bar. Once upon a time with her

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lovey cheryl labatte, she was, uh, very instrumental

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in starting the long beach teams project, which patrolled broadway back in the day when there

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was a whole lot of hate crimes. She was also a pi, she also was part of the,

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uh, lambda democratic club. And the, one of the biggest things that she did

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was she helped, um, bird dog and to pass the

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city's same sex domestic partnership ordinance. We would believe that it was kind

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of torpedoed when one of the council members, uh, did a 17 minute

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tirade about how gay and lesbian people were, uh, linked to, uh,

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bizarre sex acts and immoral behaviors. And as of

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september 1st, it looked like it was dead in the water. And with, uh,

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actually at the time, my partners passing by, killed by a drunk driver on september

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13, it came back and got passed in 1996. So it was kind of one,

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one of those big deal things. And heidi hoffman was very, um, instrumental

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in getting those things done. She was a larger than life person. She was a

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big redheaded tomato, and, and you didn't mess with her. So she was president of

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the, uh, uh, well, at the time it was the long beach, um,

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uh, sorry chamber. Uh, it's the community

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business network. She started that. Now it's the long beach gay chamber. She was instrumental in

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starting that, and she was also president of that. So she well deserves this honor. And thank

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you guys for recognizing her.

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good evening. Uh, it is my pleasure tonight to recognize a long beach

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artist, um, who is a multimedia artist, um, with

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various, uh, illustrations. And, uh, these illustrations give

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voice to queer and immigrant communities. Um, he

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is proud to state through his artwork and through his work that

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he is queer and formerly undocumented immigrant himself. Um,

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he has developed his craft locally here in long beach through jordan high school,

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all the way to long beach state. Mm-hmm . Um, and through

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his undocu un undocuqueer series and

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ali times comic stripped, good immigrant, bad immigrant,

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he has earned national recognition from san francisco

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moma to a short documentary documenting

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his journey to the smithsonian in washington dc and

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honors from princeton, princeton university. His murals, grace,

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our city now, and his posters are at various

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businesses, um, supporting immigrant rights in long beach.

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and without further ado, I would like to introduce julio salgado.

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yay, julio.

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um, good afternoon, uh, mayor, members of city council. My

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name is julio salgado, and I'm an artist who calls long beach home. I'm

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standing here today as a proud member of the long beach community, a

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city that adopted me and my immigrant family when we first moved here back in 1996.

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long beach has seen me grow into the proud queer immigrant men that you see standing before

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you. I want to thank the friends of harvey milk promenade park committee for hooting

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me as one of this year's honorees. The last couple of days have been

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tough for the immigrant community, of which many lgbtqi plus individuals

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like myself are part of. In recent days, we've seen how the powers that be

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have been attacking people who look like me just for having been born in a different place.

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today, I wanna dedicate this honor to the queer and straight immigrants that

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continue to feed, build, and contribute to this city and this country,

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despite not always being treated with respect. May we one day live

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without the fear of losing our loved ones at the hands of those who are supposed to protect

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us. Thank you so much. Yeah.

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all right. Good evening, mayor richardson and members of the city

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council. Uh, my name is paul lovely, and I'm so happy to be here with you

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tonight. And I just wanna say thank you and thank you, um,

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uh, thank you to the, the council, the committee that selected us.

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and it's really important and meaningful to me to be part of this amazing

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group. Um, and I think the honor is especially amazing to me because

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of really how far we've come in the lgbt community in, in,

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uh, in my life. Uh, I grew up in orange county in the seventies and

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eighties, and what it means to be gay and to be seen has changed

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enormously since then. Long beach has been a huge part of that change

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for me. And I love this city. The fact that long

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beach has a harvey milk park is just one of the reasons I,

258
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I love it so much. Uh, I don't think of myself as exceptional.

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00:48:51,375 --> 00:48:54,585
I'm, I'm not an activist who made one big defining mark.

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00:48:55,535 --> 00:48:59,395
my experience is that over almost 30 years working at

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the care center at st. Mary's, uh, is that I, I show

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00:49:03,835 --> 00:49:07,835
up every day. Uh, I always, and I, that when I

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show up every day, I can always do at least one thing to bring a little healing

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to a person's life. And I think it's those small things that add

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up over time to make a difference. And I feel so lucky that I

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am a part of a community where I'm able to do that. So,

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uh, thank you again. This really is a, a special honor.

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00:49:33,075 --> 00:49:36,765
thank you. Uh, we hope you will all join us on saturday, august 1st at 10:00 am

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uh, and then go to the jazz festival. We did it early just to make sure that there were no

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conflicts, but , please join us at 10:00 am at harvey milk park on the first. Thank you. Alright,

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let's hear it for our harvey milk promenade park, friends of harvey

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00:49:50,415 --> 00:49:53,785
milk promenade park. Uh, thank you for continuing this tradition

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and creating a space for previous leaders and

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emerging leaders to be recognized for their contributions to our city. Congratulations.

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00:50:02,805 --> 00:50:06,705
and we have a certificate for you and the committee and the honorees. And

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let's hear it for the honorees. One more time. Yes. Woo.

277
00:50:15,605 --> 00:50:16,625
yes. Let's come down.

278
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do you want everyone to come down? Come on.

279
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thanks to you. Congratulations.

280
00:52:18,625 --> 00:52:22,425
all right. Thank you. Congratulations. That concludes our

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00:52:22,645 --> 00:52:26,565
presentations. Uh, we will now move on. Let's have our report out from closed

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00:52:26,765 --> 00:52:30,755
session, please. Thank you, mayor. We have no report from closed session. Best

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00:52:31,045 --> 00:52:33,365
kind of report. Next, uh, consent calendar, please.

284
00:52:35,385 --> 00:52:39,175
is is there any public comment on consent? Oh, I'm gonna hand it to our clerk.

285
00:52:39,625 --> 00:52:43,585
now to facilitate public comment, there are two speakers for consent, for

286
00:52:43,805 --> 00:52:47,445
speaker need for transparency. And after that is x,

287
00:52:48,665 --> 00:52:49,885
you were in the building. Need for transparency?

288
00:52:59,125 --> 00:53:03,085
good afternoon. Uh, need for consent right here. Need

289
00:53:03,375 --> 00:53:07,215
for transparency? Um, I wanna talk about a couple items, a few items that we have. Number

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14. So 26 dash 5 55 92. Um, everything's

291
00:53:12,215 --> 00:53:16,215
lumped into one giant paragraph. Uh, I think we need more

292
00:53:16,375 --> 00:53:18,415
transparency before somebody wants to request $4.5 million.

293
00:53:20,475 --> 00:53:24,415
uh, that's the first one. Second one is, and there's a lot of

294
00:53:24,495 --> 00:53:28,355
them here. Uh, the second one is towards the end. Item

295
00:53:28,645 --> 00:53:32,485
number 25. Kind of ditto as well. We need a little more transparency

296
00:53:33,865 --> 00:53:37,845
on why we're having collecting, um, uh, using

297
00:53:38,045 --> 00:53:41,365
these technologies data to electronic citation, data collection system.

298
00:53:42,385 --> 00:53:46,225
um, also we need transparency for that. Um, all I can say is

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00:53:46,705 --> 00:53:50,605
before items are presented here, the public would like to see a

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00:53:50,725 --> 00:53:54,645
little more breakdown of where these funds and these monies, these

301
00:53:54,925 --> 00:53:58,855
dollars are going to and why, and how are they benefiting the city. Thank

302
00:53:59,205 --> 00:54:02,325
you. Thank you. Next speaker, please.

303
00:54:10,315 --> 00:54:14,245
dito, what the previous, uh, speaker said. I wasn't really

304
00:54:14,565 --> 00:54:18,485
planning on speaking today, but I just quickly glanced at the agenda and looked at some of the

305
00:54:18,605 --> 00:54:22,395
stuff in there. And it's, uh, almost

306
00:54:22,815 --> 00:54:26,475
every time I come here, I see money

307
00:54:26,885 --> 00:54:30,745
for cops, money for cops, money for cops. How many, like four or five

308
00:54:30,905 --> 00:54:34,785
items at this, uh, particular meeting that, that is, uh, looking to be approved.

309
00:54:36,365 --> 00:54:39,995
um, and then when I was out there,

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I was talking to, uh, a, uh, representative of, um, parks, recreation,

311
00:54:45,115 --> 00:54:48,235
and marine. And I was asking why is it that,

312
00:54:49,455 --> 00:54:52,995
uh, what, what percentage of the city's budget goes to parks and recreation?

313
00:54:53,555 --> 00:54:57,545
well, it's been cut. Well, it's been cut, but why is there so such

314
00:54:57,995 --> 00:55:01,215
a disproportionate, uh, number of funds going to

315
00:55:02,995 --> 00:55:06,995
the east side parks? Mm-hmm . Um, and

316
00:55:07,215 --> 00:55:11,095
so we have our, our, our police budget keeps increasing. I think we're

317
00:55:11,415 --> 00:55:14,075
like, what 60%? Does somebody know? Um,

318
00:55:15,775 --> 00:55:19,475
and our parks budget gets reduced and our library's budget gets reduced.

319
00:55:19,875 --> 00:55:21,595
everything gets reduced except the cops

320
00:55:24,225 --> 00:55:27,545
and the cops don't provide safety. Um,

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00:55:28,475 --> 00:55:32,205
time and again, uh, communities that have

322
00:55:32,885 --> 00:55:36,845
greater resources are safer than

323
00:55:37,205 --> 00:55:40,195
communities with more cops, right? I mean,

324
00:55:41,325 --> 00:55:45,235
look at the statistics, guys. You know, I don't know. I

325
00:55:45,355 --> 00:55:48,945
don't know what informs your decisions.

326
00:55:50,855 --> 00:55:54,735
and now there's money for additional surveillance that was,

327
00:55:55,095 --> 00:55:58,975
uh, getting pushed by, um, your former colleague, uh,

328
00:55:59,205 --> 00:56:02,825
state senator lena gonzalez. Surveillance jesus

329
00:56:03,275 --> 00:56:06,215
christ. I mean, we're losing our freedoms.

330
00:56:08,995 --> 00:56:12,465
and for what you know, well, for public safety,

331
00:56:13,195 --> 00:56:16,925
well, um, there

332
00:56:17,275 --> 00:56:20,245
are a million ways to reduce traffic fatalities

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00:56:21,305 --> 00:56:25,175
that do not involve additional surveillance. Again,

334
00:56:25,835 --> 00:56:29,665
look it up, guys. You

335
00:56:29,885 --> 00:56:32,605
know, you make decisions in a vacuum. None of you,

336
00:56:34,455 --> 00:56:38,055
uh, are apparently, uh, experts at anything, but

337
00:56:38,975 --> 00:56:42,945
you can google it or you can ask your staff to look it

338
00:56:43,305 --> 00:56:47,285
up. So, uh, I know it

339
00:56:47,505 --> 00:56:51,125
doesn't matter. You guys are still gonna spend money on cops, and you're

340
00:56:51,545 --> 00:56:55,465
gonna spend a disproportionate amount of, uh, the city's budget on the

341
00:56:55,585 --> 00:56:59,585
east side, particularly when it comes to parks and recreation. And those of us

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00:56:59,725 --> 00:57:02,945
who live on the west side of long beach and on the north side of long beach,

343
00:57:03,915 --> 00:57:05,565
nothing. So thank you for that.

344
00:57:10,635 --> 00:57:14,445
that concludes public comment. Alright. And you, you did virtual.

345
00:57:15,305 --> 00:57:18,925
all good. Alright. Okay, let's keep going. General public

346
00:57:19,325 --> 00:57:23,305
comment number one, madam clerk, please facilitate public comment. Oh,

347
00:57:23,525 --> 00:57:27,405
mayor, you need to actually vote on the consent. We have to vote on the consent. Oh, yeah. We need to vote. Members, please cast your

348
00:57:27,565 --> 00:57:29,995
vote getting used to this new system here.

349
00:57:33,045 --> 00:57:36,865
motion is carried. Thank you. Alright, general public comment, please

350
00:57:37,145 --> 00:57:37,145
facilitate.

351
00:57:48,795 --> 00:57:52,775
there are seven speakers for a non agenda, public comment. Maria rios

352
00:57:54,945 --> 00:57:58,405
gray, carolyn essex, free palestine,

353
00:57:59,075 --> 00:58:02,775
anthony, bryson, and tony. Can I get those

354
00:58:03,635 --> 00:58:06,465
in person speakers to line up at the lectern? Maria rios

355
00:58:07,995 --> 00:58:09,855
and then gray, and then carolyn essex,

356
00:58:18,145 --> 00:58:22,045
who first maria rios.

357
00:58:23,175 --> 00:58:26,875
yes. Present, please come to the lectern. Thank you.

358
00:58:34,075 --> 00:58:37,445
good evening. Rex richardson. Uh, mayor rex richardson,

359
00:58:40,165 --> 00:58:44,165
I admire you because you dressed so quickly. I saw you with a white jacket, and then I

360
00:58:44,285 --> 00:58:48,245
saw you and I said, how did he do that? What, what, what happened? I didn't know. I am sitting in front and

361
00:58:48,405 --> 00:58:52,265
I didn't notice that. Okay. To a serious note. Um,

362
00:58:52,685 --> 00:58:56,585
I am here because I happen to witness firsthand one

363
00:58:56,805 --> 00:59:00,515
of the so-called street racing where

364
00:59:00,895 --> 00:59:02,965
kids go and they, uh,

365
00:59:05,345 --> 00:59:09,165
let each other know via instagram or whatever platform.

366
00:59:09,385 --> 00:59:12,825
and I happened to be there, and I saw it firsthand,

367
00:59:13,485 --> 00:59:17,425
and it was very, very scary because there was a car burning

368
00:59:18,485 --> 00:59:22,325
and there were like three, four cars in front of me, me. And it was,

369
00:59:22,545 --> 00:59:25,305
it was terrible. It could have been a, um,

370
00:59:26,665 --> 00:59:30,245
nation tragic or something because chevron gas station is like

371
00:59:31,065 --> 00:59:35,025
50 yards or something. Then there is union 76, another 50 yards.

372
00:59:35,375 --> 00:59:39,155
and I'm like, where's the, where are the cops? What's going on? They know about

373
00:59:39,515 --> 00:59:43,395
this. Don't they have surveillance? Haven't they study all of this? Isn't there some

374
00:59:43,595 --> 00:59:47,595
record already? So I called the police and they said, where are

375
00:59:47,755 --> 00:59:51,605
you, ma'am? And I said, I'm on, uh, del lamo and santa

376
00:59:51,975 --> 00:59:55,675
fe. And they said, no, you're not. There you are at del lamo and wa santa fe and waterlow. And I said, I'm so

377
00:59:56,005 --> 00:59:59,715
scary. I don't know where I am. And, but I'm glad you know where I am. So yes, there's

378
01:00:00,075 --> 01:00:03,895
a car, there's three cars in front of me, and then the one right, right in

379
01:00:04,115 --> 01:00:07,775
the middle of the street racing, someone put it on fire and I could see the flames.

380
01:00:08,655 --> 01:00:12,635
it was very pan, it was terrible. So I went to the police the other day and

381
01:00:12,835 --> 01:00:16,755
they said, the best thing for you to do is go to the city council, tell them who do

382
01:00:16,955 --> 01:00:20,775
I go to? Find out the status, who who's doing the, the research, the

383
01:00:20,995 --> 01:00:24,545
study, the, what's the follow up on this? Because it's very serious. There's

384
01:00:25,035 --> 01:00:29,035
been teenagers that have been killed. And so I just wanna know, who do

385
01:00:29,235 --> 01:00:32,995
I contact with in long beach? Who knows how they're conducting

386
01:00:33,695 --> 01:00:37,655
the surveillance and what's, what's going on? Can the police

387
01:00:37,855 --> 01:00:41,815
answer that question? And if not right now, maybe later in the next week or so. And I

388
01:00:41,935 --> 01:00:45,835
have no clue. But I think it's something very serious. Very serious. And

389
01:00:46,055 --> 01:00:49,775
it's happening not only in long beach happening in other cities here, but I also

390
01:00:50,075 --> 01:00:54,055
did some research and it started happening back east new york and new jersey.

391
01:00:54,555 --> 01:00:58,135
and there's, so it's not just here, it's, it's, it's happening in the country.

392
01:00:58,635 --> 01:01:02,535
so I wanna know what is long beach doing about it? And I believe what long beach police

393
01:01:02,735 --> 01:01:06,645
department fire department are the ones who are surveilling,

394
01:01:07,385 --> 01:01:11,275
uh, learning about it and trying to find out how to stop this

395
01:01:11,985 --> 01:01:15,785
tragic things happening. Please, can you tell me? That's

396
01:01:16,205 --> 01:01:19,145
it. Thank you.

397
01:01:29,465 --> 01:01:32,785
monique, you gonna call the next person? Is this gray?

398
01:01:34,385 --> 01:01:38,045
yes, please proceed. Uh, first things first,

399
01:01:38,465 --> 01:01:42,345
you're gonna hear us say, free palestine until palestine is free. And

400
01:01:42,565 --> 01:01:46,445
also, f**k ice. Get ice the f**k out of our city. It's quieter now, but

401
01:01:46,605 --> 01:01:50,165
we know that they're still taking our f*****g immigrant neighbors. So can you please f*****g stop that s**t?

402
01:01:51,465 --> 01:01:55,145
uh, last time we were here, cancel, tried to impinge on our first amendment right by

403
01:01:55,565 --> 01:01:59,245
critically limiting public comment. After severe public backlash, the council largely

404
01:01:59,645 --> 01:02:03,605
voted against that agenda. I'm very proud of the public for holding the line

405
01:02:04,225 --> 01:02:08,155
and keeping the council from making a horrible mistake. That being said, some

406
01:02:08,445 --> 01:02:12,165
members still voted yes on infringing our first amendment, including the only

407
01:02:12,545 --> 01:02:15,885
two black women on our city council. Very disappointing ladies.

408
01:02:17,225 --> 01:02:21,185
I'd say it's ironic, but you guys are democrats, right? So sadly, that s**t is just on

409
01:02:21,405 --> 01:02:25,285
brand. Uh, you, you're happy to use your tokenism, but you're also

410
01:02:25,445 --> 01:02:28,425
happy to uphold and perpetuate white supremacy. Moving on.

411
01:02:29,515 --> 01:02:33,405
f**k andrew industries. F**k divergent, f**k flock, f**k. General

412
01:02:33,645 --> 01:02:36,835
dynamics it f**k lexus nexus and f**k chevron.

413
01:02:37,795 --> 01:02:41,765
have you noticed the pattern? And no, I don't mean my fabulous strings of f-bombs just now.

414
01:02:42,305 --> 01:02:46,045
the pattern is war and weapons manufacturing. The pattern is mass surveillance

415
01:02:46,725 --> 01:02:50,645
straight out of the most disturbing, dystopian fantasy that you ever watched or read. And why

416
01:02:50,765 --> 01:02:54,715
should these companies care about marrying, marrying dark fantasy? They're doing this s**t on purpose and will,

417
01:02:55,545 --> 01:02:59,485
are you f*****g kidding me? I f*****g hate palantir and peter

418
01:02:59,835 --> 01:03:03,745
theo. But at least that s**t is accurately named after an object of evil. But andrew

419
01:03:04,175 --> 01:03:08,065
industries, palmer lucky, trey stevens, matt graham, joe chen,

420
01:03:08,705 --> 01:03:12,525
and brian schiff can f**k off and die for naming their death cult

421
01:03:12,805 --> 01:03:16,805
company after aor sword. Andrew was supposed to be a sword reforged

422
01:03:17,205 --> 01:03:20,905
after being broken during the battle against sour on the dark lord, who rules over mordor

423
01:03:21,325 --> 01:03:25,055
and attempts to conquer all of middle earth cio, which is the broken sword.

424
01:03:25,425 --> 01:03:29,405
and andrew was forged from, became a symbol of kinship and was passed down through generations. It was

425
01:03:29,765 --> 01:03:33,525
reforged by elvin smith in dale so that aragorn could use this

426
01:03:33,975 --> 01:03:37,845
sword to protect the entire realm. Aragorn was of the mortal realm,

427
01:03:38,045 --> 01:03:42,005
but he was also, uh, an ancestor of a half elf, making him a mixed race. And did

428
01:03:42,165 --> 01:03:46,085
he use that sword just to fight for the mortals or the elves? No, he protected

429
01:03:46,715 --> 01:03:50,625
everybody, the hobbits, the ds, and the elves and

430
01:03:50,845 --> 01:03:53,985
the ants, which were the tree people and the great eagles.

431
01:03:55,465 --> 01:03:59,435
so I really take umbrage as a nerd that these f*****g people have

432
01:03:59,725 --> 01:04:03,725
named this company after error going sword. And honestly, f**k you, rex

433
01:04:03,885 --> 01:04:07,445
richardson for being the f*****g cheerleader of this company. We know they're breaking ground

434
01:04:07,935 --> 01:04:11,925
right now. We do not want that f*****g company in this f*****g city. We don't want

435
01:04:12,045 --> 01:04:16,005
them f*****g anywhere, but at the very least, we don't want that f*****g building by the long beach

436
01:04:16,165 --> 01:04:19,965
airport. So please stop f*****g championing them and please get them the f**k outta here.

437
01:04:20,305 --> 01:04:24,285
do you know what they announced yesterday and thunder? Autonomous hybrid

438
01:04:25,025 --> 01:04:28,645
ev try rotor again. Another f*****g horrible demonic weapon.

439
01:04:29,145 --> 01:04:32,755
and that's what you're bringing to this f*****g city. So again, f**k

440
01:04:33,225 --> 01:04:37,045
ice, f**k israel free palestine and get andrew industries

441
01:04:37,625 --> 01:04:38,765
the f**k out of this city.

442
01:04:42,375 --> 01:04:45,845
next speaker, please. Carolyn essex. And then free palestine and anthony bryson,

443
01:04:48,845 --> 01:04:48,845
all

444
01:05:02,705 --> 01:05:06,655
woo saw. Um,

445
01:05:07,065 --> 01:05:10,715
good evening mayor and members of city council. Welcome back everyone.

446
01:05:11,735 --> 01:05:15,555
uh, carolyn hass six here tonight. I'm standing with community members

447
01:05:15,895 --> 01:05:19,485
who have asked for greater attention to unsafe streets,

448
01:05:20,825 --> 01:05:24,245
um, speeding and pedestrian safety throughout long beach.

449
01:05:24,865 --> 01:05:28,685
um, I am pretty much a public figure now after getting over 26,000

450
01:05:29,645 --> 01:05:33,545
votes in the primary for state assembly. So in

451
01:05:33,765 --> 01:05:37,655
north pine neighborhood and I, I, um, experience these

452
01:05:38,005 --> 01:05:41,405
concerns. I'm especially concerned about our seniors and other vulnerable

453
01:05:42,365 --> 01:05:46,365
residents who must navigate these streets every day. But there is

454
01:05:46,745 --> 01:05:50,645
one, um, one issue I'm particularly interested in tonight, and that's

455
01:05:50,905 --> 01:05:54,485
the, the data, um, asking city staff to provide

456
01:05:55,125 --> 01:05:58,955
residents with the most current pedestrian fatality and serious injury data

457
01:05:59,545 --> 01:06:02,685
broken down by council district, neighborhood corridor and intersection.

458
01:06:03,985 --> 01:06:07,845
we need to know where people are being unloved and seriously injured. For our own

459
01:06:08,045 --> 01:06:12,045
safety, we need to know which communities are experiencing the greatest

460
01:06:12,685 --> 01:06:16,075
concentration of harm, which streets and intersection intersections

461
01:06:16,925 --> 01:06:20,825
have already been identified as high risk, uh, and,

462
01:06:21,345 --> 01:06:24,805
and what safety improvements have been recommended. And whether those improvements

463
01:06:25,385 --> 01:06:29,245
are currently funded. I am asking every member of the city council

464
01:06:29,865 --> 01:06:32,885
to please take the distribution of this information seriously,

465
01:06:33,905 --> 01:06:37,125
please get this information directly into the hands of the people

466
01:06:37,985 --> 01:06:41,405
who live in these identified, uh, corridors and neighborhoods.

467
01:06:42,925 --> 01:06:46,605
residents shouldn't have to be policy analysts or search through multiple city reports

468
01:06:47,105 --> 01:06:51,065
and databases to discover the street they walk across every day

469
01:06:51,745 --> 01:06:55,715
has already been identified as dangerous. Give people information,

470
01:06:56,475 --> 01:06:59,885
give them a pathway to, to participate and give the residents

471
01:07:00,505 --> 01:07:04,485
living along these corridors of concern, more peace of mind by letting them

472
01:07:04,685 --> 01:07:08,605
know what is being done to keep them safe. I would

473
01:07:08,955 --> 01:07:12,875
also like to know where residents can follow this work publicly. Okay.

474
01:07:13,715 --> 01:07:16,925
what commissions committee hearing or community process? So please,

475
01:07:17,785 --> 01:07:21,765
I'm asking, um, that, uh, I be directed towards a

476
01:07:21,885 --> 01:07:25,845
staff member today so that I can, um, answer people that

477
01:07:26,085 --> 01:07:29,965
are asking me about public safety. I've asked people to come down here,

478
01:07:30,475 --> 01:07:34,235
they're at work, and I said, well, I'm here pretty much every week,

479
01:07:34,665 --> 01:07:38,445
so I will ask for you because I'm concerned about

480
01:07:38,685 --> 01:07:42,645
that as well. So if someone could please point me to the staff person that can

481
01:07:42,805 --> 01:07:46,795
help me get the information for the constituents, that

482
01:07:47,085 --> 01:07:49,765
would be great. I would be more than glad to do that. Thank you.

483
01:07:54,795 --> 01:07:56,985
next speaker is free palestine, and then anthony bryson.

484
01:08:03,165 --> 01:08:04,845
I f*****g love my first amendment.

485
01:08:08,715 --> 01:08:12,405
good evening, white supremacists. Since our last city council

486
01:08:12,725 --> 01:08:16,465
meeting, ice has killed three more individuals. Israel is

487
01:08:16,845 --> 01:08:20,165
building a concentration camp in gaza. While the genocide of palestinians

488
01:08:21,045 --> 01:08:24,945
continues, a rocket motor exploded during a test firing at

489
01:08:25,165 --> 01:08:27,765
the andel facility in mchenry, mississippi

490
01:08:29,195 --> 01:08:32,925
to the good people of long beach. Do you see what is happening? America

491
01:08:33,515 --> 01:08:37,475
has already become a fascist country. Take a look around you. Ice

492
01:08:37,695 --> 01:08:41,645
is murdering citizens and immigrants. The police is murdering our loved ones

493
01:08:41,935 --> 01:08:45,135
and neighbors here in long beach and all over the country. Homelessness

494
01:08:46,195 --> 01:08:49,565
is at an all time high and no one can afford to pay their rent,

495
01:08:50,285 --> 01:08:54,135
groceries, gas, and the list continues. Some might argue

496
01:08:54,765 --> 01:08:58,735
that america has always been a fascist country, by the way. It has

497
01:08:58,935 --> 01:09:02,075
treated its black people by enslaving, raping,

498
01:09:03,215 --> 01:09:07,175
segregating, murdering, and incarcerating them. I tend to agree with

499
01:09:07,335 --> 01:09:11,295
this argument. George washington and thomas jefferson would be

500
01:09:11,615 --> 01:09:15,605
considered fascist by today's standards to name a few of our most

501
01:09:15,895 --> 01:09:19,695
beloved forefathers. Of course, none of these white supremacists are looking at me.

502
01:09:20,235 --> 01:09:23,645
the constituent, our dishonorable mayor and city manager,

503
01:09:24,315 --> 01:09:28,015
tom moca, continue to extend contracts to companies that hold contracts with

504
01:09:28,335 --> 01:09:32,335
dhs and ice. I will repeat some of the names of these

505
01:09:32,815 --> 01:09:36,375
companies for you all. Lexisnexis, general dynamics information technology,

506
01:09:37,215 --> 01:09:41,135
cdw, government and gov, inc. Connection. Why does the city

507
01:09:41,295 --> 01:09:44,895
of long beach insist on extending contracts with bad faith actors

508
01:09:45,565 --> 01:09:48,925
that assist dhs and ice in the killings and kidnappings

509
01:09:49,615 --> 01:09:53,215
of our citizens and immigrant community? Why is the city of long beach

510
01:09:53,775 --> 01:09:57,775
allowing weapons of mass destruction companies such as andel to be

511
01:09:57,895 --> 01:10:01,315
built in our backyard by the airport? Specifically?

512
01:10:02,265 --> 01:10:05,835
look at, look what happened in garden grove a few months ago.

513
01:10:06,525 --> 01:10:10,395
50,000 people were evacuated due to the chemical spill and still

514
01:10:10,635 --> 01:10:14,635
have yet to recover from the loss while surveillance companies keep tabs on

515
01:10:14,795 --> 01:10:18,345
us ice connect concentration camps continue being built weapons

516
01:10:18,895 --> 01:10:22,875
of mass destructions literally in our backyard and country. It is safe to say that

517
01:10:23,035 --> 01:10:26,985
long beach mayor, city council members and the city manager tom moca

518
01:10:27,335 --> 01:10:30,875
are aiding in the fascist state that we are currently in, in this country.

519
01:10:31,695 --> 01:10:35,585
our earth is heating up, our food and water supply are being poisoned. Cost

520
01:10:35,875 --> 01:10:39,555
of living and healthcare as unaffordable education defunded

521
01:10:40,465 --> 01:10:43,995
wake up people. They are trying to kill us with our own tax dollars.

522
01:10:45,145 --> 01:10:48,755
gaza is the blueprint. Act accordingly. Free palestine,

523
01:10:49,515 --> 01:10:53,435
sudan, congo, lebanon, syria, iran, yemen, and all

524
01:10:53,635 --> 01:10:57,315
who are oppressed by our white handlers protect black workers.

525
01:10:57,745 --> 01:11:01,665
f**k ice, f**k israel, f**k all of you, and especially you rex and tom moca free

526
01:11:02,275 --> 01:11:06,135
palestine. Go f**k yourselves. Oh

527
01:11:06,355 --> 01:11:10,275
yeah. Next speaker is anthony bryson. And then we have

528
01:11:10,395 --> 01:11:14,285
tony and ellie rose. Uh, good evening, councilmen

529
01:11:14,955 --> 01:11:18,555
and women. Uh, I am gonna come back up for item number 32

530
01:11:19,255 --> 01:11:23,155
to go ahead and give my, uh, concession speech. But I do want to thank

531
01:11:23,455 --> 01:11:27,255
all those, uh, councilmen and women who did a phenomenal job in

532
01:11:27,475 --> 01:11:31,295
their election, won in the landslide. Of course, mary, you, you

533
01:11:31,615 --> 01:11:35,395
did win, but you didn't win in the landslide. And I want to talk to you about that

534
01:11:36,205 --> 01:11:40,135
today. Um, three people have been kidnapped by ice

535
01:11:40,335 --> 01:11:44,115
in our city in the last week. One of them was in our district, district one.

536
01:11:45,045 --> 01:11:49,035
what are you doing about that? Also, we've experienced a shooting on cedar and

537
01:11:49,615 --> 01:11:53,375
anaheim did the same neighborhood I live in, and I ha

538
01:11:53,695 --> 01:11:57,535
I have yet to hear you reassure us residents that you're

539
01:11:57,895 --> 01:12:01,415
working on safety plans, you're working on initiatives to keep us safe in this city.

540
01:12:03,195 --> 01:12:07,155
as I continue to be a resident in this city, I'm not gonna be in opposition against just mary's

541
01:12:07,575 --> 01:12:11,175
and deha, but I'm gonna be a opposition against any lack of liberation

542
01:12:11,875 --> 01:12:15,735
for any resident in the city of long beach. Rents will continue

543
01:12:15,895 --> 01:12:19,695
to rise eight by 8% each year until you act as a body

544
01:12:19,955 --> 01:12:23,415
to do something. I brought progressive platforms

545
01:12:23,965 --> 01:12:27,855
that I'm gonna continue to push for as an activist in this city because

546
01:12:28,395 --> 01:12:30,935
the city deserves it. I

547
01:12:32,535 --> 01:12:36,505
want to thank all of you for giving me this opportunity to learn from the city

548
01:12:37,695 --> 01:12:41,435
and to learn from each and every one of you. The city showed

549
01:12:41,835 --> 01:12:45,695
us. I came in last candidate very last and

550
01:12:46,005 --> 01:12:49,675
still, you know, almost forced you to run off by 22 votes.

551
01:12:50,305 --> 01:12:53,315
there's about 22 people in here right now, so that's not much.

552
01:12:54,375 --> 01:12:58,155
so as an elected official, I would've loved to see you say, this is why democracy

553
01:12:58,665 --> 01:13:02,425
matters. You see, this is why every vote matters. This

554
01:13:02,715 --> 01:13:06,595
is what people need in our city is leadership that they can look towards

555
01:13:07,215 --> 01:13:11,095
to encourage them for change leadership that's about the

556
01:13:11,315 --> 01:13:15,235
change and the accessibility of their community, their residents,

557
01:13:15,855 --> 01:13:19,855
not about their clout, their pathway to any other seat, but

558
01:13:20,075 --> 01:13:23,985
the seat that they're on. I'm telling you now, your political

559
01:13:24,595 --> 01:13:28,155
career is over. You've taken money from los angeles sheriffs

560
01:13:28,895 --> 01:13:32,735
and from lbpd, these are the same entities working to

561
01:13:33,095 --> 01:13:36,125
kidnap people with ice. And you are not doing

562
01:13:37,195 --> 01:13:40,795
a service to the city of long beach or to the hispanic community, which you

563
01:13:41,355 --> 01:13:43,875
represent. Shame on you marries zendejas. Dejas.

564
01:13:45,855 --> 01:13:47,645
thank you. And I'll be back. Thank you.

565
01:13:50,955 --> 01:13:54,945
next speaker is tony and zoom. We have tony on

566
01:13:55,165 --> 01:13:58,185
zoom. You are now unmuted your time starts now.

567
01:13:59,425 --> 01:14:03,315
all hi. Thank you. Thank you to the city of long

568
01:14:03,605 --> 01:14:07,555
beach. I appreciate having this option of zoom. Now, uh, similarly

569
01:14:08,195 --> 01:14:12,105
like la county does for their council meetings for

570
01:14:12,325 --> 01:14:16,285
the board of supervisors, uh, I'm a constituent of district seven. Uh, two items

571
01:14:16,805 --> 01:14:20,785
I want to uh, kind of discuss. Uh, one is about, uh,

572
01:14:21,065 --> 01:14:25,005
the money that we're putting for police patrols. Um, we spend

573
01:14:25,285 --> 01:14:29,165
all this money for the police. However, uh, we're having,

574
01:14:29,705 --> 01:14:33,505
uh, catalytic converters having an uptick in, uh,

575
01:14:33,905 --> 01:14:37,785
people that are stealing them. Uh, I would appreciate if we had

576
01:14:38,225 --> 01:14:41,765
police enforcement on the actual neighborhood streets, uh, during their

577
01:14:42,315 --> 01:14:46,225
overnight hours to prevent that. Uh, specifically, uh,

578
01:14:46,745 --> 01:14:50,665
I'm in the, the wrigley area between hours of two to seven in

579
01:14:50,885 --> 01:14:54,745
the morning as we're getting a lot of catalytic converters stole. Uh,

580
01:14:55,025 --> 01:14:58,865
the second item that I wanted to touch upon, uh, and I'm

581
01:14:59,085 --> 01:15:02,665
glad carolyn kind of brought up, is, uh, the traffic engineering department, uh,

582
01:15:03,425 --> 01:15:07,295
for the city of long beach. Uh, it's kind of disappointed. I

583
01:15:07,565 --> 01:15:11,135
sent multiple emails and calls, uh, regarding different elements

584
01:15:11,575 --> 01:15:15,215
as I myself, uh, am a senior civil engineering assistant,

585
01:15:15,875 --> 01:15:19,615
uh, for traffic, uh, engineering for the county.

586
01:15:20,555 --> 01:15:24,355
and there's no way to get follow up on items when we do submit,

587
01:15:25,435 --> 01:15:28,995
uh, for different issues. Um, I'm still waiting on

588
01:15:29,495 --> 01:15:33,375
responses from stuff that I've called and emailed prior and still

589
01:15:33,655 --> 01:15:37,415
no follow up months later. Uh, sophie can please work

590
01:15:37,695 --> 01:15:41,415
on that. I would greatly appreciate it, uh, between some of the signage

591
01:15:41,855 --> 01:15:45,775
issues I'm seeing on our roadway signal issues, and then, uh, for a

592
01:15:46,095 --> 01:15:49,935
driveway application to prevent people parking and blocking driveways. And thank

593
01:15:50,215 --> 01:15:53,925
you so much and have a great evening. Thank

594
01:15:54,275 --> 01:15:55,625
you. Our last speaker is ellie rose.

595
01:16:05,285 --> 01:16:09,235
hello. Good evening. Um, it's good to be back. I'm not

596
01:16:09,395 --> 01:16:13,195
gonna be saying anything that we haven't heard before, but we've, uh, come back from

597
01:16:13,435 --> 01:16:16,875
a recess. We're in a, a new year and we're still seeing,

598
01:16:17,775 --> 01:16:21,665
um, issues with, uh, with our community. So just

599
01:16:21,955 --> 01:16:25,495
gotta keep bringing them up. Um, first of all, um,

600
01:16:26,745 --> 01:16:30,255
love to see the ethical investment screening policy passed,

601
01:16:31,375 --> 01:16:35,075
uh, that the equity and human relations commission recommended over nine months

602
01:16:35,415 --> 01:16:39,415
ago. Now, uh, the people of long beach have a right to know that our tax dollars are

603
01:16:39,635 --> 01:16:43,485
not being invested in companies which are complicit in war crimes abroad, especially

604
01:16:44,155 --> 01:16:47,515
with american companies continuing to supply arms to the israeli

605
01:16:48,315 --> 01:16:51,275
military while they commit genocide against the palestinian people.

606
01:16:52,455 --> 01:16:55,635
the equity and human relations commission, as I said, made this recommendation,

607
01:16:56,615 --> 01:17:00,515
uh, nearly nine months ago. Uh, the creation of this commission was more

608
01:17:00,715 --> 01:17:04,585
or less the only tangible change made by the city in the wake of george floyd's

609
01:17:05,075 --> 01:17:08,215
murder in 2020 and the protest that followed. Um,

610
01:17:09,105 --> 01:17:13,065
we certainly didn't reduce the budget for the lbpd and

611
01:17:13,315 --> 01:17:17,245
it's disheartening to see that the council seems to not take interest in following the

612
01:17:17,565 --> 01:17:20,785
guidance of this commission whose goal is to

613
01:17:21,625 --> 01:17:25,565
commit to human rights for the city of long beach. Uh, speaking of companies that are

614
01:17:25,685 --> 01:17:29,605
complicit in war crimes, uh, andel is still planning on opening

615
01:17:29,965 --> 01:17:33,715
a facility in long beach. As my comrades have already mentioned. Uh, this

616
01:17:34,005 --> 01:17:37,925
company creates autonomous weapons systems that raise serious ethical concerns,

617
01:17:38,775 --> 01:17:42,765
especially as we see the frequency with which us military equipment is being sold

618
01:17:43,075 --> 01:17:46,525
back to local police departments, including the lbpd

619
01:17:47,625 --> 01:17:51,615
and used against our own people, especially immigrants and communities of color

620
01:17:52,545 --> 01:17:55,645
in collaboration with ice. Uh, we saw the consequences,

621
01:17:56,745 --> 01:17:59,955
uh, recently in garden grove of welcoming defense contractors

622
01:18:00,875 --> 01:18:04,845
into our cities. Um, there's currently no publicly available

623
01:18:05,205 --> 01:18:08,765
environmental impact report for this project on the city's website,

624
01:18:09,585 --> 01:18:13,535
and there's been no public opportunity for the community to provide input

625
01:18:14,065 --> 01:18:17,845
on whether or not this project is something we want. The people of long beach overwhelmingly

626
01:18:18,525 --> 01:18:22,325
don't want this facility to be built. We demand transparency, a thorough

627
01:18:22,685 --> 01:18:26,535
environmental impact report, and a public opportunity to make our voices heard

628
01:18:27,245 --> 01:18:30,895
specifically on this project. Uh, lastly, we'd love to see the city close

629
01:18:31,305 --> 01:18:35,225
the substantial remodel loophole for evictions. Um, as has

630
01:18:35,445 --> 01:18:39,405
been brought up at city council meetings for close to two years now, the city

631
01:18:39,565 --> 01:18:43,565
council has a duty to protect the renters that make

632
01:18:43,725 --> 01:18:46,205
up over 60% of the city. Thank you very much.

633
01:18:49,235 --> 01:18:53,125
alright, thank you for your public comment. Thank you, monique. Uh, item 30,

634
01:18:53,445 --> 01:18:53,445
please

635
01:18:58,075 --> 01:19:02,075
report from city manager recommendation

636
01:19:02,975 --> 01:19:06,935
to receive supporting documentation into the record. Con concluded the public hearing and adopt

637
01:19:07,255 --> 01:19:10,975
a resolution amending the master fee and charges schedule to add a rental

638
01:19:11,315 --> 01:19:15,175
fee for the newly acquired mobile screen to be utilized for citywide activities

639
01:19:15,735 --> 01:19:19,535
and activations citywide. All right, there's no oath required. We'll

640
01:19:19,855 --> 01:19:23,595
go right into the hearing. Uh, city staff, yes,

641
01:19:24,095 --> 01:19:27,865
I will handle this one on behalf of the city manager's office. So, brief

642
01:19:28,615 --> 01:19:32,315
overview. On january 13th, 26, the city council approved the

643
01:19:32,735 --> 01:19:36,715
purchase of a mobile trailer, led screen. The screen was acquired to

644
01:19:36,935 --> 01:19:40,895
enhance emergency response citywide activations, community gatherings,

645
01:19:41,495 --> 01:19:45,455
and regional events. Most recently, you saw the city deploy the mobile

646
01:19:45,925 --> 01:19:49,175
trailer led screen across the city to support soccer and the lbc.

647
01:19:50,715 --> 01:19:54,685
since acquisitions staff have received inquiries from outside organizations and

648
01:19:55,385 --> 01:19:59,185
agencies regarding the feasibility of renting this asset. Uh, this

649
01:19:59,465 --> 01:20:03,305
item here tonight establishes a fee structure to allow for future rental opportunities

650
01:20:04,205 --> 01:20:07,935
and revenue generation. The proposed fee will recover costs

651
01:20:08,295 --> 01:20:11,885
associated with transport, technical setup, operational staffing,

652
01:20:12,785 --> 01:20:16,655
and long-term asset maintenance, ensuring the screen remains self-sustaining while

653
01:20:17,005 --> 01:20:20,845
remaining available for emergency response and community community utilization

654
01:20:21,445 --> 01:20:25,335
here in long beach. All right, we'll go to public

655
01:20:25,495 --> 01:20:29,245
comment. There is no public comment on this item. Alright,

656
01:20:29,835 --> 01:20:33,595
are there any questions, uh, from the council? Okay, if not members, please

657
01:20:33,875 --> 01:20:34,315
cast your vote

658
01:20:41,735 --> 01:20:45,615
mary. Motion is carried. Alright, and

659
01:20:45,835 --> 01:20:49,675
that screen was a hit for the world cup final. We gotta give this

660
01:20:49,995 --> 01:20:53,875
out into the movies in the park. Not saying that we don't like the blow up, we appreciate

661
01:20:54,355 --> 01:20:58,075
the blow up, but it's a whole different experience with the screen. So as an

662
01:20:58,435 --> 01:21:01,915
advocate for the kids, we need the screen in the movies in the park. Thanks a lot.

663
01:21:03,115 --> 01:21:06,925
item 31, please. Communication from council

664
01:21:07,165 --> 01:21:10,965
member duggan councilwoman allen, councilman thresh enuk recommendation to within

665
01:21:11,205 --> 01:21:15,145
30 days draft a letter expressing the city of long beach's support for

666
01:21:15,365 --> 01:21:19,115
the city of los angeles. Request for the los angeles regional water quality control

667
01:21:19,605 --> 01:21:23,435
board to issue a cleanup and abatement order related to toxic runoff from

668
01:21:23,725 --> 01:21:27,605
the lineage warehouse, fire and boyle heights. Alright, council

669
01:21:27,925 --> 01:21:30,785
member duggan. Alright, thank you mayor. Um,

670
01:21:33,235 --> 01:21:37,045
well this, I I wanna start by recognizing the impacts

671
01:21:37,635 --> 01:21:41,505
that this boyle heights, um, lineage warehouse fire has

672
01:21:41,725 --> 01:21:45,665
had on the boyle heights community. We recognize the scale of

673
01:21:45,885 --> 01:21:49,355
the emergency and the difficult work performed by firefighters, emergency

674
01:21:49,965 --> 01:21:53,605
responders, and public agencies. At the same time,

675
01:21:54,185 --> 01:21:58,145
we need to recognize that the impacts of this fire do not stop at

676
01:21:58,365 --> 01:22:02,325
the los angeles city boundary. Millions of gallons of firefighting

677
01:22:02,905 --> 01:22:06,805
runoff entered storm drain channels and the los angeles river system, which

678
01:22:07,445 --> 01:22:11,365
ultimately flows into long beach. I'm bringing this item forward

679
01:22:12,155 --> 01:22:15,985
because protecting long beach's water quality and the water quality of

680
01:22:16,205 --> 01:22:20,115
the entire region requires stronger regional coordination, more

681
01:22:20,425 --> 01:22:23,725
timely information and accountability when a major

682
01:22:24,445 --> 01:22:28,305
incident sends potentially hazardous runoff into our

683
01:22:28,705 --> 01:22:32,205
shared waterways. On june 17, the lineage

684
01:22:32,835 --> 01:22:36,605
warehouse fire started june 20. The city of los angeles

685
01:22:37,205 --> 01:22:41,195
declared a local emergency stating that this was not a typical fire

686
01:22:41,485 --> 01:22:44,965
because of the presence of solar panels, refrigeration, insulation,

687
01:22:46,075 --> 01:22:49,945
hazardous material, and approximately 85 million pounds of

688
01:22:50,165 --> 01:22:54,045
decaying food, the declaration acknowledged that traditional

689
01:22:54,725 --> 01:22:58,675
firefighting methods would not be sufficient to address this

690
01:22:59,325 --> 01:23:03,185
incident. On june 22, dead fish were reported in the los

691
01:23:03,405 --> 01:23:07,325
angeles river and the dominguez gap wetlands and the

692
01:23:07,485 --> 01:23:10,445
firefighting runoff was suspected to be the cause.

693
01:23:12,595 --> 01:23:16,015
on june 24, the city of long beach de detected elevated

694
01:23:16,615 --> 01:23:20,165
bacteria levels likely associated with runoff from the decaying food

695
01:23:20,635 --> 01:23:24,565
and issued a water quality advisory. Then

696
01:23:25,075 --> 01:23:29,015
on june 25th, eight days after the fire started, the city of long

697
01:23:29,215 --> 01:23:33,115
beach received its first notification that the fire related runoff may affect

698
01:23:33,795 --> 01:23:37,575
our water quality. During the first seven days after the fire started,

699
01:23:38,395 --> 01:23:42,135
people were fishing, boating, and jet skiing. And the long

700
01:23:42,515 --> 01:23:46,395
los angeles river estuary families were also swimming in

701
01:23:46,615 --> 01:23:50,255
our coastal waters. Without knowing that runoff from a major industrial

702
01:23:51,085 --> 01:23:55,065
fire may have affected water quality, that just isn't

703
01:23:55,425 --> 01:23:59,375
acceptable. It's now been more than a month since the

704
01:23:59,575 --> 01:24:03,105
fire started and our health department just today

705
01:24:04,415 --> 01:24:06,735
received testing results back from the county.

706
01:24:08,575 --> 01:24:12,215
now, this isn't about assigning blame or criticizing any

707
01:24:12,695 --> 01:24:16,635
agency. From everything I've learned, the responding agencies

708
01:24:17,315 --> 01:24:21,075
actually followed the existing regulations. I understand

709
01:24:21,435 --> 01:24:25,305
that firefighting runoff is ex, it's generally exempt from municipal

710
01:24:25,965 --> 01:24:29,955
stormwater permit requirements. Firefighters must be able

711
01:24:30,195 --> 01:24:33,715
to act quickly to pro protect lives, and property

712
01:24:34,215 --> 01:24:37,195
and emergency response can't be delayed by permitting requirements.

713
01:24:38,385 --> 01:24:41,415
however, this incident highlights an important gap.

714
01:24:42,415 --> 01:24:46,225
unlike sewage spills, oil spills, or even rainwater

715
01:24:46,835 --> 01:24:50,515
events, there's no clear protocol requiring downstream communities

716
01:24:51,155 --> 01:24:55,115
to be notified when firefighting runoff from a major industrial incident

717
01:24:56,015 --> 01:24:59,795
may affect our public waterways. I've also heard

718
01:25:00,075 --> 01:25:03,795
that incidents like this are rare, even though we've experienced several

719
01:25:04,415 --> 01:25:07,715
of these significant type of events across southern california

720
01:25:08,425 --> 01:25:11,935
over the past year. So whether these events incidents are common

721
01:25:12,775 --> 01:25:16,585
or rare, it's not really the point when

722
01:25:17,095 --> 01:25:20,905
any significant, any event that significantly impacts

723
01:25:21,615 --> 01:25:25,435
our water quality and puts the public at risk, it should trigger

724
01:25:26,355 --> 01:25:28,955
notification, protocol monitoring and coordination.

725
01:25:30,665 --> 01:25:33,795
long beach needs timely notification. Whenever there is reasonable,

726
01:25:34,705 --> 01:25:38,275
there's a reasonable possibility that hazardous materials

727
01:25:38,815 --> 01:25:42,775
or significance pollution may enter waterways flowing towards our

728
01:25:43,105 --> 01:25:47,105
city. This item asks the city to send a

729
01:25:47,225 --> 01:25:50,305
letter to the appropriate agency's requesting improved emergency notification

730
01:25:51,525 --> 01:25:55,055
and coordination protocols to protect our downstream communities.

731
01:25:57,175 --> 01:26:01,065
this item also requests that the city support mayor karen bass's request

732
01:26:01,485 --> 01:26:05,205
for the los angeles regional water quality control board to issue

733
01:26:05,565 --> 01:26:08,245
a cleanup and abatement order related to the lineage fire.

734
01:26:09,635 --> 01:26:13,325
if a cleanup and abatement order is issued, it must include

735
01:26:13,925 --> 01:26:17,305
long beach. Any remediation plan, environmental monitoring

736
01:26:17,975 --> 01:26:21,595
program, or regulatory action should evaluate the entire

737
01:26:22,105 --> 01:26:26,015
downstream system, including the los angeles river estuary,

738
01:26:26,915 --> 01:26:30,495
the dominguez gap wetlands, and the long and long beach's coastal

739
01:26:31,075 --> 01:26:34,895
waters. Pollution doesn't stop at jurisdictional boundaries

740
01:26:35,515 --> 01:26:39,415
and neither should the regulatory response long beach

741
01:26:39,835 --> 01:26:42,455
serves as southeast los angeles's beachfront

742
01:26:43,895 --> 01:26:46,695
families from from throughout the region rely on our beaches,

743
01:26:48,085 --> 01:26:51,835
bays, wetlands, and the estuary for recreation and

744
01:26:52,155 --> 01:26:56,115
access to the coast. We have a responsibility to protect that access

745
01:26:56,635 --> 01:27:00,565
and to make certain our public health professionals have the information they

746
01:27:00,855 --> 01:27:04,015
need to keep our community safe. I respectfully

747
01:27:04,875 --> 01:27:08,515
ask for your support. Thank you. Thank you. Councilman

748
01:27:09,035 --> 01:27:12,995
rowland. Thank you mayor. Um, first of all, I wanna say thank you to councilman duggan for asking

749
01:27:13,155 --> 01:27:16,795
me to sign on to this important item and for bringing the attention

750
01:27:17,535 --> 01:27:21,025
to the downstream impacts of the lineage warehouse fire.

751
01:27:22,065 --> 01:27:25,875
what happens upstream plays a huge part in the health and safety of our beaches,

752
01:27:26,955 --> 01:27:30,705
wetlands, and coastal waters right here in long beach. And it's

753
01:27:30,995 --> 01:27:34,665
important that long beach is included in every single conversation of about testing,

754
01:27:35,785 --> 01:27:38,115
cleanup, remediation, and accountability

755
01:27:39,825 --> 01:27:43,495
with, uh, pollution that enters into the los angeles river system.

756
01:27:44,775 --> 01:27:48,125
we need our regional partners and neighbors

757
01:27:49,445 --> 01:27:52,765
agencies to provide timely notification and coordinate with us

758
01:27:53,865 --> 01:27:57,325
so that our residents are informed and our public health teams

759
01:27:58,105 --> 01:28:01,915
can act quickly. Is also part of a larger conversation

760
01:28:02,725 --> 01:28:06,635
about regional responsibility and ensuring that

761
01:28:06,915 --> 01:28:10,625
long beach is not left to bear the environmental and financial

762
01:28:11,265 --> 01:28:14,865
impacts of pollution originating outside of our city.

763
01:28:16,025 --> 01:28:19,955
because protecting our coastline cannot fall on long

764
01:28:20,195 --> 01:28:24,055
beach alone. This is a shared regional responsibility

765
01:28:25,585 --> 01:28:29,555
from the source of the pollution all the way to

766
01:28:30,095 --> 01:28:32,925
ultimately where it ends up. Thank you.

767
01:28:34,125 --> 01:28:37,935
alright, is there any public comment? No public comment on this item. Members please

768
01:28:38,215 --> 01:28:38,615
cash your vote.

769
01:28:44,035 --> 01:28:47,245
motion is carried. All right. 32. Please

770
01:28:48,345 --> 01:28:52,045
report from city clerk recommendation to adopt a resolution declaring the official results

771
01:28:52,365 --> 01:28:55,715
of the city of long beach primary nominating election held on tuesday, june 2nd, 2026.

772
01:28:57,755 --> 01:29:01,565
alright, madam clerk, there's no official staff report. Just

773
01:29:01,845 --> 01:29:05,685
congratulations to all the candidates who participated in the primary nominating election.

774
01:29:06,225 --> 01:29:09,805
26 candidates ran for long beach offices and five for l-b-u-s-d.

775
01:29:10,915 --> 01:29:14,885
running for office is no easy feat. I wanna extend my congratulations to everybody who

776
01:29:15,045 --> 01:29:18,625
participated. End of report. Alright, so I, I'll, uh,

777
01:29:19,345 --> 01:29:22,685
concur with that. Congratulations to and thank you to everyone who participated

778
01:29:23,785 --> 01:29:27,685
in the civic process, uh, this election cycle. Uh, there will be no

779
01:29:27,885 --> 01:29:31,805
general election which produces some savings. We don't have to facilitate an election this

780
01:29:32,165 --> 01:29:36,165
november. Uh, and that gives us some opportunities in this upcoming budget. So, uh, congratulations

781
01:29:37,045 --> 01:29:41,005
and thank you. And, uh, we'll now go to public comment. Oh, actually

782
01:29:41,205 --> 01:29:41,725
I have, it looks like,

783
01:29:46,015 --> 01:29:50,015
uh, council member kerr, anything, council member sorrow, anything? Yeah, I too wanna add

784
01:29:50,255 --> 01:29:53,835
my congratulations to those who have been elected and reelected.

785
01:29:54,795 --> 01:29:58,355
I also wanna add that, you know, it takes a lot of courage

786
01:29:58,895 --> 01:30:02,815
to run, uh, whether you're a new candidate, uh, you know, running for

787
01:30:03,195 --> 01:30:07,135
reelection, it takes a lot of, uh, energy as well as, um,

788
01:30:08,315 --> 01:30:11,365
I think, you know, uh, uh, resource as well. So wanna

789
01:30:12,555 --> 01:30:16,395
commend all the voters for making sure to exercise there. Uh, civic

790
01:30:16,945 --> 01:30:20,755
duty. Uh, I think that it's very important more than ever that we

791
01:30:21,155 --> 01:30:25,035
continue to do so. So thank you. Thanks for those comments. Council member allen?

792
01:30:26,135 --> 01:30:30,035
yes, I just wanna say congratulations to mayor ricks richardson and council members

793
01:30:30,415 --> 01:30:34,095
in dejas and megan kerr and joni ricks oti

794
01:30:34,735 --> 01:30:37,995
on, um, winning your election. That's an interruption to the council meeting. Congratulations.

795
01:30:39,495 --> 01:30:43,435
and, um, I know that each of you, um, have shown a strong commitment to long

796
01:30:43,715 --> 01:30:47,715
beach and to the residents, and I have to say it's absolutely an honor and

797
01:30:47,875 --> 01:30:51,675
a privilege to work beside each and every one of you. And so congratulations

798
01:30:52,435 --> 01:30:56,015
again. And I also wanna say thank you for those that that ran, um,

799
01:30:56,575 --> 01:31:00,475
and those, um, that, uh, showed up to vote. So thank you very much for participating

800
01:31:00,835 --> 01:31:04,775
and congratulations to everyone. Thank you. Uh, we'll now

801
01:31:04,915 --> 01:31:08,885
go to public comment. There's three speakers, anthony, bryson, free

802
01:31:09,535 --> 01:31:13,535
palestine and x. If you can line up at the lectern, anthony bryson, free palestine,

803
01:31:13,855 --> 01:31:17,625
and then x. Hello again,

804
01:31:17,975 --> 01:31:21,575
counsel. Um, you're absolutely right. Sorrow. It does take courage

805
01:31:22,275 --> 01:31:25,615
to run for office, especially against the establishment like I did.

806
01:31:26,855 --> 01:31:30,775
I took the fight for what the people say matter in district one, one of the

807
01:31:30,935 --> 01:31:34,685
most covenant districts in our city. And the city showed us that

808
01:31:34,975 --> 01:31:38,375
they weren't ready for an activist. It's unfortunate that we're celebrating

809
01:31:39,015 --> 01:31:43,015
a general election being canceled when this means so many residents will not

810
01:31:43,175 --> 01:31:47,175
be participating in civil engagement. What a

811
01:31:47,295 --> 01:31:51,045
runoff would've done was, would have forced the first general

812
01:31:51,855 --> 01:31:55,165
election in district one in 12 years. This means more

813
01:31:56,015 --> 01:31:59,745
residents would've been able to participate in civil engagement and

814
01:32:00,035 --> 01:32:03,765
bettering the city. We should not be happy when we're saving

815
01:32:04,255 --> 01:32:08,005
funds by minimizing the voices of residents in this city.

816
01:32:09,205 --> 01:32:13,205
I am so glad for the opportunity, and I do concede I lost the race,

817
01:32:13,865 --> 01:32:17,845
but I will continue to fight until liberation is won in this

818
01:32:18,045 --> 01:32:22,005
city. There is so much work to be done. And you're right,

819
01:32:22,505 --> 01:32:26,405
you sit on a panel with wonderful resumes, including people

820
01:32:26,685 --> 01:32:30,485
like you, cindy allen, who shot an unarmed black man while you were a police officer.

821
01:32:31,885 --> 01:32:35,785
I see that the trueness of these council members during

822
01:32:36,205 --> 01:32:40,035
this election cycle and what they have to offer. It's

823
01:32:40,325 --> 01:32:44,155
unfortunate that status quo is the direction as the city will

824
01:32:44,685 --> 01:32:48,405
continue to go in. I want to see growth. I want to see development from

825
01:32:48,945 --> 01:32:52,535
our city council members. I want to know that constituents are being heard,

826
01:32:53,505 --> 01:32:57,405
not council members looking at their devices. When residents

827
01:32:57,685 --> 01:33:01,565
are up here talking about things that may seem mundane to you but are

828
01:33:02,005 --> 01:33:05,925
monumental for the resident. You have to understand that you wanted this job,

829
01:33:06,185 --> 01:33:09,685
nobody gave it to you. When I was out there door knocking and knocking,

830
01:33:10,465 --> 01:33:14,345
uh, and meeting residents, that's what I was hearing is that level of

831
01:33:14,565 --> 01:33:18,385
disconnect between council and residents. We saw in

832
01:33:18,885 --> 01:33:22,405
district three, in district five, in district seven, in district

833
01:33:23,155 --> 01:33:27,145
nine, we saw voter turnout was

834
01:33:27,605 --> 01:33:31,285
phenomenal because those council members are engaging with their

835
01:33:31,845 --> 01:33:35,445
residents. What's happening in district one? No one sees you.

836
01:33:35,905 --> 01:33:39,705
no one hears you. We need our voice to be amplified. We

837
01:33:39,925 --> 01:33:42,925
need you to represent us since you're the one in the job

838
01:33:43,985 --> 01:33:47,925
and f**k what a terrible concession speech. But I want you

839
01:33:48,045 --> 01:33:51,365
to know, I'm still gonna be out here fighting. I love long beach,

840
01:33:52,265 --> 01:33:56,005
and long beach deserves so much better

841
01:33:56,285 --> 01:34:00,275
than what we've given in it. We have to change our voting system, maybe rank

842
01:34:00,565 --> 01:34:04,525
choice voting or something that guarantees an option so that we do have

843
01:34:04,725 --> 01:34:08,485
a general election and so that residents voices are being heard. Thank you

844
01:34:08,825 --> 01:34:09,925
and have a great f*****g night.

845
01:34:17,355 --> 01:34:18,445
next speaker, free palestine.

846
01:34:21,635 --> 01:34:25,095
hello again. White supremacists. And I just wanna express

847
01:34:25,725 --> 01:34:29,425
the fact that you don't have to be white to be a white

848
01:34:29,905 --> 01:34:33,905
supremacist. I wanna

849
01:34:34,145 --> 01:34:36,965
thank anthony bryson for running in district one,

850
01:34:38,185 --> 01:34:40,585
a community leader, an activist and humanitarian,

851
01:34:42,205 --> 01:34:45,945
and has done a lot for the city of long beach, which I cannot

852
01:34:46,365 --> 01:34:49,385
say you all have done. You're despicable,

853
01:34:50,685 --> 01:34:54,325
you discuss this all, and you're not doing your job. I'm actually pretty

854
01:34:54,745 --> 01:34:58,595
disappointed in the outcome of this election. Um, unfortunately,

855
01:34:59,715 --> 01:35:02,645
mary zendejas, who has taken money from the lapd

856
01:35:04,105 --> 01:35:08,045
and lbpd, shame on you, mary. Yeah, you're smiling

857
01:35:08,825 --> 01:35:12,805
and I wanna say whoever's taking the, um, the video

858
01:35:13,385 --> 01:35:17,285
of city council live, you don't have to put my face on there.

859
01:35:17,665 --> 01:35:21,465
people can hear me. I saw what you guys are doing. I don't care for

860
01:35:21,685 --> 01:35:24,725
it. People can hear my voice. People can hear

861
01:35:25,785 --> 01:35:29,185
our voice, okay? So, uh,

862
01:35:30,425 --> 01:35:34,345
we just want our city council members to do right by

863
01:35:34,565 --> 01:35:37,545
us. Very disappointed in the outcome. Uh,

864
01:35:38,725 --> 01:35:42,565
rex is not even looking. He, none of you. Look at the residents that come

865
01:35:42,905 --> 01:35:46,665
and maybe perhaps give you ideas of how to be better,

866
01:35:47,665 --> 01:35:51,025
uh, members of city council or a mayor or

867
01:35:52,385 --> 01:35:56,295
tom malika, who you keep doing

868
01:35:56,645 --> 01:36:00,125
what you're doing as a white supremacist. I don't know if that's

869
01:36:00,795 --> 01:36:04,725
what you do. Um, this is just as

870
01:36:04,945 --> 01:36:08,655
the reality here in long beach, unfortunately. And

871
01:36:09,485 --> 01:36:12,595
we're not afraid of you. We're not afraid of you because

872
01:36:14,945 --> 01:36:18,475
the truth is on our side. The truth is on our side. Anthony

873
01:36:19,065 --> 01:36:23,065
bryson is still here and he's going to fight for us. And

874
01:36:23,285 --> 01:36:26,965
hopefully, mary zendejas, when you do retire, you can reflect on your

875
01:36:27,445 --> 01:36:30,725
horrible career as city council member. Go f**k yourself.

876
01:36:32,185 --> 01:36:35,915
woo. Amen. Last

877
01:36:36,205 --> 01:36:36,805
speaker is x

878
01:36:40,625 --> 01:36:42,685
um, democracy. What a,

879
01:36:45,085 --> 01:36:48,575
what a concept, right? I mean, um, the rule of the people.

880
01:36:50,435 --> 01:36:54,405
I I love the old city hall because we got to sit above

881
01:36:54,775 --> 01:36:58,755
you guys as opposed to you sitting above us because that

882
01:36:59,275 --> 01:37:03,125
reflected the actual meaning of the word democracy.

883
01:37:05,805 --> 01:37:09,735
um, we don't have that anymore. You know, we used to be in a city

884
01:37:10,045 --> 01:37:13,615
hall chambers where if the drapes were open,

885
01:37:14,195 --> 01:37:18,015
people in the plaza could look down on the public

886
01:37:18,295 --> 01:37:21,855
servants as opposed to the public servants looking down on us.

887
01:37:22,765 --> 01:37:25,845
it was real easy back then for me to sit there on the stands and

888
01:37:27,375 --> 01:37:31,175
videotape you guys, uh, you know, chatting away on your phones like

889
01:37:31,465 --> 01:37:35,125
this and, uh, you know, doing other stuff and chit-chatting and,

890
01:37:35,805 --> 01:37:39,605
and laughing and smirking at the rest of it. So it's a little more difficult now,

891
01:37:40,205 --> 01:37:44,065
and I could see why, you know, you guys, um, or many

892
01:37:44,345 --> 01:37:48,135
of you, uh, went ahead and changed, um, you know, created this, this

893
01:37:48,655 --> 01:37:52,185
city hall that we don't own. Um, the private

894
01:37:52,675 --> 01:37:55,785
company owns it anyway, congratulating

895
01:37:56,945 --> 01:38:00,845
mary's and they is like, that's got gotta be the funniest thing I've ever heard. I

896
01:38:00,965 --> 01:38:04,715
mean, as, as if mary had won

897
01:38:05,595 --> 01:38:09,095
the election. I mean, mary, I, I, I know a lot of people who know you

898
01:38:11,315 --> 01:38:15,125
and you're a nice woman and whatever, but this

899
01:38:15,415 --> 01:38:19,335
isn't about, this isn't a popularity contest. You know, you're supposed to

900
01:38:19,455 --> 01:38:23,275
be doing a job, but you're doing a job for the people who

901
01:38:23,555 --> 01:38:27,155
own you. And that goes to all of you. You're,

902
01:38:27,575 --> 01:38:31,335
you're owned by the cops or you're owned by the developers, or you're

903
01:38:31,615 --> 01:38:35,005
owned by, um, the military industrial complex.

904
01:38:36,275 --> 01:38:39,235
yep. Uh, and in this case, I mean, my god,

905
01:38:40,865 --> 01:38:44,585
the long beach police department is the lowest ranked

906
01:38:45,105 --> 01:38:48,785
police department in all of california, the fourth lowest ranked

907
01:38:49,205 --> 01:38:51,365
police department in the united states.

908
01:38:53,505 --> 01:38:57,445
the, the former police chief robert luna, who was

909
01:38:57,645 --> 01:39:01,595
convicted of conduct on becoming an officer, and the, and the city

910
01:39:01,885 --> 01:39:05,565
manager, oops. He let it slide. And then he was able to be elected

911
01:39:06,585 --> 01:39:10,515
as a police chief of the worst

912
01:39:11,415 --> 01:39:14,595
ranked sheriff's department in all of california

913
01:39:15,595 --> 01:39:19,315
. So, and both of these end up, you know, electing

914
01:39:19,675 --> 01:39:23,515
you, I mean, $34 a vote for you

915
01:39:23,775 --> 01:39:26,395
versus, what is it, $2 and 38 cents

916
01:39:27,935 --> 01:39:29,165
for anthony. I mean, jesus,

917
01:39:36,375 --> 01:39:40,205
that concludes public comment on this item. All right. Uh, thank you, uh,

918
01:39:40,485 --> 01:39:44,445
for your comments and thank you to the council members for your comments as well. You

919
01:39:44,665 --> 01:39:48,035
know, I'll also say, I remember when long beach had april

920
01:39:48,935 --> 01:39:52,725
primaries and our participation was incredibly low, uh,

921
01:39:53,165 --> 01:39:56,865
in april. And we had our generals in june, and it was

922
01:39:57,215 --> 01:40:00,425
even more difficult to have representation in our city back then.

923
01:40:01,325 --> 01:40:04,665
we never had a, um, we never had a citywide elected official

924
01:40:05,785 --> 01:40:09,665
anywhere from anywhere outside of like one or two neighborhoods. And then a few years

925
01:40:09,845 --> 01:40:13,285
ago, I think 2020 was when we finally changed that and we saw

926
01:40:14,065 --> 01:40:17,735
participation in our city quadruple in primaries. We elected

927
01:40:18,285 --> 01:40:21,665
our first citywide elected officials out of those very few neighborhoods.

928
01:40:22,885 --> 01:40:26,475
um, and you ended up with a more reflective

929
01:40:27,925 --> 01:40:31,855
council, uh, that looks like this council here. Um, I also wanna

930
01:40:32,075 --> 01:40:35,565
say it's harder to close out a race in a higher turnout

931
01:40:36,815 --> 01:40:40,735
scenario. Uh, there was commonly no runoff back when elections

932
01:40:40,975 --> 01:40:44,735
were in april, but when it moved to june, where people pay attention, more people

933
01:40:45,035 --> 01:40:48,315
run and it's more difficult. And in fact, um,

934
01:40:49,395 --> 01:40:53,370
you know, nationwide, this was a very difficult electorate. A lot

935
01:40:53,490 --> 01:40:57,365
of people wanna see, see change at every level of government. They wanna see more out

936
01:40:57,565 --> 01:41:01,405
of their government, more outta their, their public officials. And there's a lack of trust

937
01:41:01,625 --> 01:41:05,215
really stemming from the very top. And that permeated to every

938
01:41:05,835 --> 01:41:09,805
race on the ballot from school board races where national politics were

939
01:41:09,965 --> 01:41:13,605
being discussed in school board races, all the way through all the city council

940
01:41:14,015 --> 01:41:17,645
races. I say all that to say in a survey of the cities

941
01:41:18,035 --> 01:41:21,885
with a top 100 population nationally, only one city stood

942
01:41:22,205 --> 01:41:25,885
out without having a runoff. Meaning there was enough consensus,

943
01:41:26,595 --> 01:41:30,505
more than 50% in every district. And in the mayor's race did

944
01:41:30,725 --> 01:41:34,525
not trigger a runoff. The only city of the top 100 in america was long

945
01:41:34,805 --> 01:41:38,565
beach. And that should say a lot about the way we are navigating our

946
01:41:38,965 --> 01:41:42,965
challenges and building consensus with our communities. The other thing that I'll say

947
01:41:43,085 --> 01:41:46,525
is that there's healing to do, there's certainly healing to do in our communities.

948
01:41:48,265 --> 01:41:52,245
the election brought out a lot. Sure, a lot of anxiety, a lot of feelings, a lot of emotion.

949
01:41:53,795 --> 01:41:57,465
also a lot of like, you know, you know, uh,

950
01:41:58,005 --> 01:42:01,725
sentiment of don't trust data or don't trust the facts. I don't, I don't ever

951
01:42:02,125 --> 01:42:06,005
remember an election where people said, I don't trust that there are that few homicides in our

952
01:42:06,165 --> 01:42:10,165
city or that few shootings in our city. There's more

953
01:42:10,365 --> 01:42:14,345
we have to do to build that trust. 'cause people should be able to trust the local data. And

954
01:42:14,565 --> 01:42:18,565
over the next few months, we should do all that we can to build more trust and heal in our

955
01:42:18,685 --> 01:42:22,565
communities after a very divisive but very successful election season.

956
01:42:23,265 --> 01:42:27,165
so, offer congratulations to long beach and to everyone who's reelected

957
01:42:27,825 --> 01:42:31,685
for the work that you've done, but there's still a lot more work to do. Uh, the role of local

958
01:42:31,925 --> 01:42:35,805
government is elevating. There's more people expect from the local government. They did

959
01:42:36,005 --> 01:42:40,005
not use to ask this much of local government because the federal government used to step up

960
01:42:40,345 --> 01:42:44,325
on homelessness, workforce, all those elements. And we were simply a front door

961
01:42:44,785 --> 01:42:48,625
on those services. But now all the inv, all the innovation, all

962
01:42:48,865 --> 01:42:52,805
the sort of solving societal issues are now being placed on local government,

963
01:42:53,465 --> 01:42:57,005
but the resources are not given to local government to actually do that work. And so

964
01:42:57,695 --> 01:43:01,665
there is more work for us to do, but congratulations to all of the all,

965
01:43:01,945 --> 01:43:05,845
all of you and to the city of long beach. We're still committed. We're very

966
01:43:06,005 --> 01:43:09,765
much so committed to overcoming those challenges and continue to bring our community

967
01:43:10,285 --> 01:43:11,885
together. Uh, members, please cast your vote.

968
01:43:17,295 --> 01:43:20,675
motion is carried. Alright, now we will go to

969
01:43:21,425 --> 01:43:25,035
item 33. Please report from financial management

970
01:43:26,135 --> 01:43:29,945
recommendation to receive and file a presentation on the annual comprehensive financial

971
01:43:30,555 --> 01:43:33,835
report for the fiscal year ended september 30th, 2025 citywide.

972
01:43:34,565 --> 01:43:38,375
thank you. We have a, a staff presentation. Yes, we do. Uh,

973
01:43:38,615 --> 01:43:42,575
so this was an item that came to the mayor and city council, uh, about two months ago.

974
01:43:42,895 --> 01:43:46,695
and, uh, there was a motion on the floor asking us to, uh, come back, uh,

975
01:43:46,915 --> 01:43:50,835
with a fairly detailed presentation of the annual comprehensive financial report

976
01:43:51,040 --> 01:43:54,765
report. Uh, so we'll be, uh, turning to our city controller, uh, ruby carrillo to go through,

977
01:43:55,385 --> 01:43:59,245
uh, those numbers. And then, uh, we'll also have, um, some ability to hear from police,

978
01:43:59,555 --> 01:44:03,485
fire and, uh, public works. Uh, 'cause there was some specific questions about some of

979
01:44:03,605 --> 01:44:07,485
the performance metrics, uh, in the ac fee, um, or in the act for that.

980
01:44:07,665 --> 01:44:11,645
um, uh, that was, uh, the, the reason that this was asked for. So I will turn

981
01:44:11,845 --> 01:44:13,855
it over to our financial management director, kevin riper.

982
01:44:17,185 --> 01:44:20,795
good evening mayor. Members of the city council. I'm ruby rio quincy city controller,

983
01:44:21,435 --> 01:44:24,995
and I'm here with kevin riper, director of financial management. We will be presenting

984
01:44:25,475 --> 01:44:29,075
the financial results, results as reported in the annual comprehensive financial

985
01:44:29,635 --> 01:44:31,515
report for fiscal year ended september 30th, 2025.

986
01:44:38,145 --> 01:44:41,895
this is not it. Here we go. In providing an

987
01:44:42,215 --> 01:44:45,775
overview of the city's financial position, we will cover the government wide financial statements,

988
01:44:46,765 --> 01:44:50,575
then provide an overview of the general fund revenues, expenditures, and fund balance,

989
01:44:51,275 --> 01:44:55,185
and conclude with performance measures of the police, fire, and public works

990
01:44:55,425 --> 01:44:59,225
departments that were included in the report. The government-wide statements

991
01:44:59,765 --> 01:45:03,425
report city's financial results at a consolidated level by reporting activities

992
01:45:03,865 --> 01:45:07,025
as governmental and business type for governmental activities.

993
01:45:08,165 --> 01:45:12,065
we include governmental funds such as the general fund capital projects

994
01:45:12,625 --> 01:45:16,455
funds, and we also include internal service funds like fleet

995
01:45:16,935 --> 01:45:20,895
services and workers' compensation for business type activities. We include enterprise

996
01:45:21,375 --> 01:45:24,995
funds, which are funds that operate like a business. And examples of those are

997
01:45:25,455 --> 01:45:27,015
thailands operating airport and harbor.

998
01:45:31,175 --> 01:45:34,995
the statement of net position reports the city's assets, liabilities, and net position.

999
01:45:35,615 --> 01:45:39,555
the largest asset is capital assets totaling 6.6 billion in this

1000
01:45:40,035 --> 01:45:43,875
category. Accounts for investments in equipment and vehicles, building and land and infrastructure.

1001
01:45:45,405 --> 01:45:49,235
these assets normally require significant investment of city resources and are used

1002
01:45:49,435 --> 01:45:53,395
to provide services to the community like recreation facilities, fire

1003
01:45:53,635 --> 01:45:56,075
engines, the convention center, these council chambers,

1004
01:45:57,975 --> 01:46:01,835
the amount reported as capital assets does not represent available financial resources,

1005
01:46:02,425 --> 01:46:06,235
meaning these are not liquid assets and therefore cannot be used to fund current services

1006
01:46:06,495 --> 01:46:10,395
or programs. The second highest asset reported is cash

1007
01:46:10,655 --> 01:46:14,655
and investments at $2.6 billion. A way to measure if

1008
01:46:14,875 --> 01:46:18,435
the city has adequate levels of cash to pay its bills is to look at the liquidity

1009
01:46:18,925 --> 01:46:22,715
ratio. This ratio, if

1010
01:46:22,935 --> 01:46:26,575
we see a result of less than 100%, would indicate that the city does not have

1011
01:46:27,055 --> 01:46:30,975
sufficient cash to meet its short term or current obligations based on

1012
01:46:31,095 --> 01:46:34,885
financial results. At september 30th, 2025, the city's

1013
01:46:35,245 --> 01:46:39,045
ratio for governmental activities was 193%. And for the city

1014
01:46:39,285 --> 01:46:43,205
as a whole, it was 366%. Indicating the city

1015
01:46:43,385 --> 01:46:47,245
has cash and investments in an amount that exceeds its short-term obligations, which

1016
01:46:47,525 --> 01:46:51,405
is a good financial position to be in when compared to fiscal year

1017
01:46:51,685 --> 01:46:55,305
24, the ratio of fiscal year 25 decrease for both governmental and

1018
01:46:55,765 --> 01:46:59,645
business type. The decrease in the ratio is mostly due to a

1019
01:47:00,005 --> 01:47:03,355
decrease in cash in governmental activities, specifically in the general fund.

1020
01:47:04,625 --> 01:47:07,765
and this is very much in line with financial results previously presented.

1021
01:47:08,665 --> 01:47:12,325
uh, in the fiscal year 25 yearend performance report where we communicated

1022
01:47:12,745 --> 01:47:16,335
the city did use, uh, cash reserves in the general fund to fund operations

1023
01:47:17,465 --> 01:47:20,285
due to underperforming revenues and higher operating expenses.

1024
01:47:22,105 --> 01:47:25,925
now we will shift to liabilities with a focus on long-term debt, and I will turn

1025
01:47:26,165 --> 01:47:29,685
it over to kevin reaper. Thank you, ms. Carillo.

1026
01:47:30,245 --> 01:47:33,745
quincy, um, slide five that ruby showed

1027
01:47:34,465 --> 01:47:38,165
is the, is a good short term measure of city financial

1028
01:47:38,725 --> 01:47:42,145
health and liquidity. And the next three slides that I'm gonna talk about look at a much longer

1029
01:47:42,795 --> 01:47:46,325
picture, uh, a much further out in the future picture

1030
01:47:46,825 --> 01:47:50,825
of city liabilities. So the, um, slide six,

1031
01:47:51,505 --> 01:47:55,305
the top row shows, uh, $1.6 billion of

1032
01:47:55,655 --> 01:47:59,565
bonds payable at the end of fiscal year 2025, and then another

1033
01:47:59,875 --> 01:48:03,805
$900,000 of long-term debt. $900 million of long-term debt

1034
01:48:04,045 --> 01:48:07,825
obligation. Long beach has an airport and

1035
01:48:08,125 --> 01:48:11,765
a port and a water utility, and a gas utility,

1036
01:48:12,265 --> 01:48:15,085
and a sewer utility. So long beach has a lot of capital intensive

1037
01:48:16,455 --> 01:48:20,125
operations. And so it's not surprising that we have a billion and a, uh, that we have

1038
01:48:20,805 --> 01:48:24,765
1,000,000,006 of outstanding bonds because, as you've been

1039
01:48:24,925 --> 01:48:28,565
hearing me, uh, advocate for five years,

1040
01:48:29,065 --> 01:48:32,465
it is appropriate to finance long-term capital assets

1041
01:48:33,275 --> 01:48:37,165
with long-term debt so that the payment for those assets matches the life of those

1042
01:48:37,285 --> 01:48:41,165
assets. Um, and yet if you've, if you,

1043
01:48:41,505 --> 01:48:45,045
uh, flip your eyesight down to the bottom of the graph

1044
01:48:45,665 --> 01:48:49,305
of, of, um, slide six, um,

1045
01:48:49,825 --> 01:48:53,725
our per capita debt for all kinds of debt. In

1046
01:48:53,925 --> 01:48:57,115
other words, the total of $2.4 billion of long-term debt obligations

1047
01:48:58,465 --> 01:49:02,305
on a per capita basis for all city residents is

1048
01:49:03,035 --> 01:49:06,605
only five and a quarter thousand dollars. That's in the fiscal, in the 2025

1049
01:49:07,205 --> 01:49:10,395
column. Uh, that, um, there's a bar drawn around five

1050
01:49:11,435 --> 01:49:15,245
$5,267,000 per capita. And it hasn't moved much

1051
01:49:15,445 --> 01:49:19,325
in the last couple years. Um, a survey of local governments across

1052
01:49:19,705 --> 01:49:23,125
the country showed the average local government has twice that debt,

1053
01:49:24,065 --> 01:49:27,485
uh, per capita, which is total debt divided by our number of residents.

1054
01:49:28,945 --> 01:49:32,805
so that leads to the a point I wanna make about the middle line, the middle

1055
01:49:33,065 --> 01:49:36,825
row in this slide, which is, um,

1056
01:49:37,675 --> 01:49:41,665
debt service, that's annual principle and interest payments as

1057
01:49:42,005 --> 01:49:45,925
a percentage of total spending on, on in our

1058
01:49:46,085 --> 01:49:49,805
governmental funds. And ruby described those, that's mostly the general

1059
01:49:50,115 --> 01:49:53,625
fund, but it's also the health fund and the internal service funds and

1060
01:49:54,505 --> 01:49:58,485
our governmental funds. Debt service for fiscal year 2025 was only

1061
01:49:58,745 --> 01:50:02,685
2.1%. Well, the bond rating agencies, right? You've heard of moody's and

1062
01:50:02,805 --> 01:50:06,805
you've heard of fitch and s and p global. The bond rating agencies

1063
01:50:07,155 --> 01:50:10,965
only get nervous about a city's, uh, governmental debt when that

1064
01:50:11,255 --> 01:50:15,245
ratio approaches 10%. So we have a substantial amount

1065
01:50:15,625 --> 01:50:19,605
of remaining debt capacity with respect to an ability to

1066
01:50:19,805 --> 01:50:23,705
issue bonds and have investors buy them. But the caution to

1067
01:50:24,085 --> 01:50:28,045
that is, well, great issuing debt is wonderful, but you have to come up

1068
01:50:28,165 --> 01:50:31,445
with a revenue source to pay the principal and the interest each year.

1069
01:50:32,265 --> 01:50:35,975
so, and that's what we did with our 2023, um, lease

1070
01:50:36,325 --> 01:50:40,305
revenue bonds. And what we are proposing, we will come back to you in a couple of months for

1071
01:50:41,155 --> 01:50:44,485
another issue of lease revenue bonds with a whole bunch of, uh, revenue sources

1072
01:50:45,365 --> 01:50:49,365
identified to pay for the annual debt service on those bonds. But the point

1073
01:50:49,525 --> 01:50:53,345
of that middle slide, that middle row of slide, uh, six, is we

1074
01:50:53,565 --> 01:50:57,525
have debt capacity. Uh, turning to slide

1075
01:50:57,775 --> 01:51:01,745
seven, uh, this is the long term liability of

1076
01:51:01,965 --> 01:51:05,845
the city for what's called in accounting speak, other post-employment benefits,

1077
01:51:06,105 --> 01:51:10,045
and that's mostly, uh, retiree healthcare. And the numbers

1078
01:51:10,355 --> 01:51:14,195
here for long beach are quite striking because we have a, because long beach for some

1079
01:51:14,485 --> 01:51:17,445
decades has had a relatively modest retiree healthcare

1080
01:51:18,515 --> 01:51:22,405
program. Um, in the lower right in the bar on the far

1081
01:51:22,605 --> 01:51:25,595
right, you can see that at the end of last year long beach's

1082
01:51:27,215 --> 01:51:30,525
other post-employment benefits were capita were only a, was only $102.

1083
01:51:31,635 --> 01:51:34,285
compare that with our school district, the row above $739

1084
01:51:35,705 --> 01:51:39,645
and the county as a whole, like 20 times our number at $2,284.

1085
01:51:41,865 --> 01:51:45,765
so from a perspective of other post-employment benefits,

1086
01:51:46,475 --> 01:51:50,265
long beach is in very good shape for the short term, the

1087
01:51:50,485 --> 01:51:53,795
medium term, and the long term because of this relatively small liability.

1088
01:51:56,025 --> 01:52:00,015
now let's get to the big liability, and that, of course is pensions. So slide

1089
01:52:00,365 --> 01:52:04,075
eight shows the remaining net pension liability.

1090
01:52:04,685 --> 01:52:08,545
this is what we owe in the long term to calpers of $1.3 billion

1091
01:52:10,015 --> 01:52:12,865
split about equally between, uh, the public safety

1092
01:52:14,115 --> 01:52:17,805
pension program with calpers, which is for sworn police and fire

1093
01:52:18,605 --> 01:52:22,285
employees. And then the miscellaneous calpers pension plan, which is for everybody

1094
01:52:22,645 --> 01:52:26,445
else, all other employees in the city. Uh, and you say, oh my

1095
01:52:26,665 --> 01:52:30,515
god, $1.3 billion. How are we ever gonna pay that off? Well,

1096
01:52:31,185 --> 01:52:35,085
uh, per calpers regulations and state law, we are

1097
01:52:35,245 --> 01:52:38,905
paying that off starting this month, for example. Um,

1098
01:52:39,425 --> 01:52:43,125
the city from, from all funds put together will be paying

1099
01:52:43,465 --> 01:52:47,285
$160 million this coming 12 month period

1100
01:52:47,865 --> 01:52:51,865
to calpers to eat into that $1.3 billion amount.

1101
01:52:52,745 --> 01:52:56,565
and we have about 15 more years before that will ultimately be paid off if all

1102
01:52:56,765 --> 01:53:00,765
the actuarial assumptions come true. So yes, it's a big number, but there's

1103
01:53:01,045 --> 01:53:04,925
a long time in which the city has to pay it off and there's a plan to pay

1104
01:53:05,125 --> 01:53:09,045
it off and we should be fine. And a measure of that is in the bottom

1105
01:53:09,355 --> 01:53:13,225
half of slide eight. Um, these five cities are

1106
01:53:13,445 --> 01:53:17,275
the five largest cities by population in calpers. We're the second most

1107
01:53:17,565 --> 01:53:21,175
populous city in the calpers retirement system. Only sacramento,

1108
01:53:22,585 --> 01:53:26,385
uh, in calpers has more residents than we do. And

1109
01:53:26,605 --> 01:53:29,445
look at those funding ratios, especially for safety.

1110
01:53:30,665 --> 01:53:33,805
the city of long beach safety plan is 76% funded.

1111
01:53:34,785 --> 01:53:38,085
and in my career, for all the actuaries I've worked with,

1112
01:53:39,025 --> 01:53:42,845
uh, 80% funding ratio is a pretty good target.

1113
01:53:43,315 --> 01:53:46,605
ideally, you want to get to 90 or even a hundred, but 80%

1114
01:53:47,545 --> 01:53:51,505
is a, is a very healthy place to be. And in our safety program or

1115
01:53:51,725 --> 01:53:55,675
safety, uh, calpers pension plan, we're within four

1116
01:53:55,965 --> 01:53:59,855
percentage points of reaching the 80% funded level. That also bodes

1117
01:54:00,205 --> 01:54:04,165
well. And you can see how much higher our percentage is in long beach

1118
01:54:05,045 --> 01:54:07,605
compared with the other four cities closest to us in population.

1119
01:54:09,425 --> 01:54:12,565
uh, on the miscellaneous side, yeah, we're still the highest almo almost 75%,

1120
01:54:13,705 --> 01:54:17,645
but only a couple percentage points higher than the other four cities that are

1121
01:54:17,885 --> 01:54:21,645
close to us in population. So that's all that's reported in the annual comprehensive

1122
01:54:22,515 --> 01:54:26,285
financial report. That's what investors look at when they consider buying

1123
01:54:26,605 --> 01:54:30,255
our bonds. How healthy is the city going forward on a long-term basis?

1124
01:54:31,625 --> 01:54:33,525
and now I'll turn it back to ms. Creo quincy.

1125
01:54:36,395 --> 01:54:40,165
okay. So after covering assets and liabilities, we're gonna shift to the statement of activities

1126
01:54:40,685 --> 01:54:44,685
that summarizes revenues and expenses. I will not spend a lot of time on the

1127
01:54:44,805 --> 01:54:48,805
statements since we normally analyze revenues and expenses at a much more detailed level like fund,

1128
01:54:49,085 --> 01:54:53,005
group or department. But a key point here is that the largest revenue sources for governmental

1129
01:54:53,485 --> 01:54:57,485
activities were taxes and operating grants and contributions. These two sources

1130
01:54:57,765 --> 01:55:01,405
accounted for over 68% of revenue in terms of

1131
01:55:01,845 --> 01:55:05,275
expenses for governmental activities. The largest category was public safety reporting,

1132
01:55:05,885 --> 01:55:09,485
42.2%, followed by community and cultural reporting at 21.4%.

1133
01:55:11,385 --> 01:55:15,085
and this category includes library and parks, recreation and marine services.

1134
01:55:16,225 --> 01:55:19,575
in summarizing the net change in revenue and expense activity for governmental activities,

1135
01:55:20,345 --> 01:55:24,325
we can see a decrease in that position of 71.8 million at the very bottom of

1136
01:55:24,525 --> 01:55:28,145
that table with a decrease mostly attributed to the general fund. As

1137
01:55:28,565 --> 01:55:32,525
previously mentioned, for business type activities, the city reported an increase of

1138
01:55:32,685 --> 01:55:36,645
301 million resulting from revenue exceeding expenses in various funds, including

1139
01:55:37,165 --> 01:55:41,085
water, utility and thailands. But the majority was attributed to the harbor

1140
01:55:41,395 --> 01:55:41,395
fund.

1141
01:55:45,515 --> 01:55:49,355
the next few slides report the financial results of the general fund. We began with, uh,

1142
01:55:49,575 --> 01:55:53,575
general fund revenues and other financing sources with the largest revenue category

1143
01:55:53,775 --> 01:55:57,335
being taxes, and that includes property sales and use tax utility users,

1144
01:55:57,975 --> 01:56:01,935
tot and business license taxes. Compared to fiscal year 24, this

1145
01:56:02,455 --> 01:56:06,315
category increased 11 million or a modest 2.3%. Property tax

1146
01:56:06,535 --> 01:56:10,375
revenue increased 8.2 million due to citywide valuation increases

1147
01:56:10,615 --> 01:56:14,415
from new development. Although this was a slight increase from the prior year, the city

1148
01:56:14,635 --> 01:56:18,415
did anticipate a higher increase in these revenues that did not material material materialize

1149
01:56:19,395 --> 01:56:23,125
due to deferred property tax amendments by la county. Um, this

1150
01:56:23,415 --> 01:56:26,655
was due to fire events and also higher delinquency rates than prior years.

1151
01:56:28,285 --> 01:56:31,855
a modest increase was also reported in sales taxes of 3.4 million attributed

1152
01:56:32,625 --> 01:56:36,485
to growth in restaurants and hotels along with steady performance and revenue generated from one

1153
01:56:36,685 --> 01:56:40,565
time use tax from development projects. However, declines were also

1154
01:56:40,805 --> 01:56:44,365
noted in consumer goods and autos and transportation due to shifts in customer

1155
01:56:44,845 --> 01:56:48,785
behavior. The city's sales tax performance mirrored a broader lower growth growth

1156
01:56:49,215 --> 01:56:52,925
trend observed across the region. Use of money and property decreased

1157
01:56:53,405 --> 01:56:57,405
by 16.7 million. And there were two main reasons for that. The general fund earned

1158
01:56:57,885 --> 01:57:01,725
5.4 million less in interest income, and this was due to lower cash balances

1159
01:57:02,435 --> 01:57:05,455
resulting from the use of reserves to fund operations.

1160
01:57:06,715 --> 01:57:10,535
um, it also saw a decline in interest income due to a change in the way we

1161
01:57:10,895 --> 01:57:14,715
allocate interest to the employee benefit and fleet services funds. The

1162
01:57:14,935 --> 01:57:18,395
second reason was a lower fair market value of investments of 10.7 million,

1163
01:57:19,945 --> 01:57:23,815
which is an unrealized loss. The city is required to report at the end of the fiscal

1164
01:57:24,085 --> 01:57:27,495
year. However, it is not likely to materialize since the normally,

1165
01:57:28,175 --> 01:57:29,975
normally the city holds investments until maturity

1166
01:57:34,965 --> 01:57:38,825
for general fund expenditures and other financing uses. There was an increase of 34 million

1167
01:57:39,575 --> 01:57:43,385
when compared to the prior year. Significant changes were noted in the general

1168
01:57:43,585 --> 01:57:47,425
government category reporting an increase of 8.3 million. This was due

1169
01:57:47,625 --> 01:57:51,545
to a lower rate derived from the city's cost allocation plan. The general fund recouped

1170
01:57:51,905 --> 01:57:55,675
11.3 million less from indirect charges to capital projects, which

1171
01:57:56,025 --> 01:57:58,945
is a reimbursement for support provided by central departments.

1172
01:58:00,445 --> 01:58:03,745
the largest increase of 39.2 million was reported in public safety

1173
01:58:04,565 --> 01:58:08,115
and was due to increased wages and benefit costs, including higher pension costs

1174
01:58:08,775 --> 01:58:12,665
from an increase in the calpers unfunded liability payment that kevin just spoke

1175
01:58:12,905 --> 01:58:16,825
about. It was also due to higher operational costs for investments in

1176
01:58:17,185 --> 01:58:20,985
communications technology and related support and for digital evidence storage

1177
01:58:22,555 --> 01:58:26,235
also noted as a decrease of 16.7 million in other financing uses.

1178
01:58:26,795 --> 01:58:30,645
this was due to lower transfers of $20 million from the general fund to the general

1179
01:58:30,885 --> 01:58:34,885
capital projects fund, which is partially offset by an increase in transfers

1180
01:58:35,125 --> 01:58:39,045
to the health fund, rising personnel costs, expanding technology needs

1181
01:58:39,385 --> 01:58:43,355
and greater overhead costs led to an operating operating deficit in the health fund,

1182
01:58:43,955 --> 01:58:47,885
requiring the general fund to provide additional funding to support public health services.

1183
01:58:51,965 --> 01:58:53,905
in summary, the general fund revenues total 722,703,000

1184
01:58:56,445 --> 01:59:00,385
and expenses total 793,686,000 resulting

1185
01:59:00,925 --> 01:59:04,925
in a net deficit of just under 71 million of this deficit. 31 million

1186
01:59:05,885 --> 01:59:09,265
was funded from planned fiscal year, 24 year end leases of reserves

1187
01:59:10,045 --> 01:59:13,665
and fiscal year 25 midyear actions. The remaining 40 million

1188
01:59:14,375 --> 01:59:17,935
that was not anticipated was funded with the use of reserves established

1189
01:59:18,645 --> 01:59:22,645
in previous years that included remaining long beach recovery act funds of

1190
01:59:22,865 --> 01:59:26,805
15.9 million cares act funding of 5.4 million and

1191
01:59:27,025 --> 01:59:30,945
operating reserves of 7.8 million. Now we will look

1192
01:59:31,065 --> 01:59:34,175
at ending fund balance and how that 185 million breaks down

1193
01:59:37,165 --> 01:59:40,375
fund balance is an indicator of the financial strength of a fund

1194
01:59:41,275 --> 01:59:45,135
and is the difference between the assets and the liabilities of the fund.

1195
01:59:45,875 --> 01:59:49,695
it is not the same as budgetary funds available, which is used to determine

1196
01:59:50,195 --> 01:59:54,075
actual available resources that can be appropriated or program for services and

1197
01:59:54,295 --> 01:59:58,115
projects. This table reports general fund fund balance by

1198
01:59:58,335 --> 02:00:01,175
various categories with three years of data for comparison purposes.

1199
02:00:02,715 --> 02:00:06,575
in looking at total fund balance, we can see declining balances over the past

1200
02:00:06,735 --> 02:00:10,735
few years from fiscal year 24 to fiscal year 23. Much of the decline

1201
02:00:11,095 --> 02:00:14,975
was due to the use of funding to carry out programs under the long beach recovery

1202
02:00:15,355 --> 02:00:19,335
act for the decline that occurred in fiscal

1203
02:00:19,495 --> 02:00:23,455
year 25 when compared to fiscal year 24. We already summarized the general funds

1204
02:00:23,795 --> 02:00:27,465
net change and fund balance of negative 71 million, which

1205
02:00:27,815 --> 02:00:31,295
was largely driven by continued underperformance of key tax and fee revenues,

1206
02:00:32,285 --> 02:00:35,935
increased cost pressures across multiple departments, and the need to

1207
02:00:36,295 --> 02:00:39,295
continue for continuing transfers to the health fund to support operations.

1208
02:00:40,875 --> 02:00:43,135
to further evaluate the general fund's financial position,

1209
02:00:45,115 --> 02:00:48,855
we can look at whether the city has sufficient reserves to maintain levels of service to the community

1210
02:00:49,295 --> 02:00:52,695
during revenue shortfalls or unanticipated expenditure increases.

1211
02:00:54,035 --> 02:00:57,895
and at the end of the fiscal year, the general fund reported sufficient reserves to fund expenditures

1212
02:00:58,515 --> 02:01:02,435
for one and a half months. The city council's financial policy is

1213
02:01:02,655 --> 02:01:06,575
to maintain no less than two months of emergency and operating reserves in the general

1214
02:01:06,805 --> 02:01:10,495
fund. And as of last september, the city is reporting on an accounting

1215
02:01:10,815 --> 02:01:14,695
basis less than the recommendation. One last point on general

1216
02:01:14,895 --> 02:01:18,575
fund reserves, emergency reserves were not impacted in fiscal year 25

1217
02:01:19,315 --> 02:01:23,255
and remained at 50.1 million. And operating re reserves were just under

1218
02:01:23,495 --> 02:01:23,495
8 million.

1219
02:01:28,445 --> 02:01:32,425
now we're gonna shift to performance measures that were brought up by council member duggan. At the

1220
02:01:32,705 --> 02:01:36,505
previous meeting, we began with the police department and the measure of priority

1221
02:01:36,725 --> 02:01:40,525
one response time. This measure accounts for calls that are potentially life-threatening

1222
02:01:41,405 --> 02:01:45,105
emergencies such as shooting, shooting domestic violence calls or a robbery and

1223
02:01:45,525 --> 02:01:48,805
progress. These high priority calls received the police department's fastest

1224
02:01:49,645 --> 02:01:53,285
response time in 2016. The average response time was 4.6 minutes

1225
02:01:53,665 --> 02:01:57,605
per call. Despite, despite a troubling vacancy rate in staffing levels,

1226
02:01:57,765 --> 02:02:01,685
which have contributed to the most significant shortages in decades, the police department

1227
02:02:02,205 --> 02:02:06,125
worked mandatory overtime in patrol and other critical assignments to ensure

1228
02:02:06,885 --> 02:02:10,725
priority one response times remain within the national average of five to

1229
02:02:10,925 --> 02:02:12,925
six minutes for major city police departments.

1230
02:02:15,115 --> 02:02:18,975
and currently that response time is averaging 5.6 minutes for long beach

1231
02:02:20,075 --> 02:02:23,615
on the measure of violent crimes per 1000 residents, the police department

1232
02:02:24,095 --> 02:02:27,895
noted the numbers reported in the financial report were using the national incident based reporting

1233
02:02:28,415 --> 02:02:32,295
system standard for 2025, which is a different reporting method than was

1234
02:02:32,565 --> 02:02:36,335
used in 2016 and often includes higher numbers in some

1235
02:02:36,575 --> 02:02:40,395
crime categories. However, for a more comprehensive view, we

1236
02:02:40,615 --> 02:02:44,095
can look at the chart on the slide showing violent crime trends in the past 20 years,

1237
02:02:44,785 --> 02:02:48,455
which is a more comprehensive summary of total violent crimes and reports

1238
02:02:48,815 --> 02:02:50,795
a decrease of 18% since 2005.

1239
02:02:52,935 --> 02:02:56,865
central police services require an increased investment to match rising costs of operational

1240
02:02:57,445 --> 02:03:01,265
law enforcement demands. As can be seen in the fully loaded cost per officer.

1241
02:03:02,155 --> 02:03:06,105
since 2016, public safety costs have grown and reflect broader inflationary

1242
02:03:06,845 --> 02:03:10,625
and fiscal challenges which have contributed to broader fiscal pressures.

1243
02:03:10,905 --> 02:03:11,575
on the general fund

1244
02:03:16,495 --> 02:03:20,155
for the fire department, we are looking at the performance measure of on-scene arrival

1245
02:03:20,575 --> 02:03:24,435
for emergency calls within six minutes. The fire department noted that increasing

1246
02:03:24,825 --> 02:03:28,715
call demand, which we can see increased by 16.6% from fiscal year 16

1247
02:03:29,075 --> 02:03:32,875
to fiscal year 25 in re resource commitment levels, have reduced

1248
02:03:33,195 --> 02:03:36,835
operational flexibility and increase the frequency with which

1249
02:03:37,515 --> 02:03:41,125
incidents are handled by units responding from outside their primary service areas.

1250
02:03:42,145 --> 02:03:46,115
this has resulted in longer traveling distances that has led to an increase in response times

1251
02:03:46,705 --> 02:03:50,595
with the average response time in fiscal year 25 being six minutes and 45

1252
02:03:51,075 --> 02:03:54,755
seconds. The fire department noted that absent additional

1253
02:03:55,115 --> 02:03:58,955
system capacity or reductions in demand, these factors are expected

1254
02:03:59,135 --> 02:04:01,795
to continue placing upward pressure on response times.

1255
02:04:05,285 --> 02:04:09,235
this next slide reports public works measures. The first performance measure is

1256
02:04:09,535 --> 02:04:13,295
number of trees trimmed and we see a decrease of 23% when comparing fiscal year

1257
02:04:13,575 --> 02:04:17,455
16 to fiscal year 25. Even though fewer trees were trimmed in fiscal year

1258
02:04:17,735 --> 02:04:21,415
25 expenses increased by 61% over the 10 year period.

1259
02:04:22,355 --> 02:04:26,255
on the personnel side, we only see a 5% increase in costs. This is a direct

1260
02:04:26,455 --> 02:04:29,885
result of public works experience in per experiencing persistent vacancies.

1261
02:04:30,495 --> 02:04:34,495
that has led to the loss of loss of experienced personnel contributing to lower production

1262
02:04:35,055 --> 02:04:38,915
levels for contract costs. However, we reported an

1263
02:04:39,235 --> 02:04:43,235
increase of 159% over the past 10 years, averaging an

1264
02:04:43,595 --> 02:04:47,475
increase of 5.5% per year. Although the city increased funding for tree trimming

1265
02:04:47,995 --> 02:04:51,715
services over time, fewer trees were trimmed due to contract rates increasing

1266
02:04:52,185 --> 02:04:55,875
substantially contributing to the average cost per tree trim increasing

1267
02:04:56,385 --> 02:04:59,915
from $142 to $298 per tree.

1268
02:05:01,045 --> 02:05:04,785
on the measure of sidewalk repairs in square feet, the fiscal year 25 amount

1269
02:05:05,105 --> 02:05:09,105
was less than the 10 year average due to various factors including higher than

1270
02:05:09,345 --> 02:05:13,265
average inflation, similar to tree trimming. Due to increased contract rates,

1271
02:05:13,725 --> 02:05:16,725
the city is seeing fewer sidewalk repairs completed within

1272
02:05:17,905 --> 02:05:21,825
existing funding levels. Additionally, contractors recently experienced workforce

1273
02:05:22,535 --> 02:05:26,325
workforce issues and the city too has seen staff turnover within the

1274
02:05:26,745 --> 02:05:28,065
sidewalk program impacting productivity.

1275
02:05:31,515 --> 02:05:35,085
this concludes our presentation on the fiscal year 25 annual comprehensive financial

1276
02:05:35,685 --> 02:05:38,845
report and we are available to answer questions at this time. Thank you.

1277
02:05:39,915 --> 02:05:43,885
alright, thank you very much for that presentation. We'll take

1278
02:05:43,965 --> 02:05:47,375
it back behind the rail. Let's see. Council member allen,

1279
02:05:50,215 --> 02:05:54,115
uh, yes. Uh, just thank you. I wanna thank financial management for, uh, for those reports,

1280
02:05:54,735 --> 02:05:58,715
so I appreciate that. Um, you know, you talk about our, our liquidity

1281
02:05:59,365 --> 02:06:03,155
ratio and um, our short term and current obligations at 360 6.

1282
02:06:04,255 --> 02:06:07,815
um, that looks really good. I do have some questions, um,

1283
02:06:08,265 --> 02:06:12,175
with regards to, uh, calpers and um,

1284
02:06:13,215 --> 02:06:16,175
so I know there's a lot of, uh, assumptions. Is there, is there, um,

1285
02:06:17,455 --> 02:06:20,755
is there any, uh, do we have a plan to get to 80 or 90%

1286
02:06:21,585 --> 02:06:25,545
with that? Is that possible? Uh, yes, it's possible.

1287
02:06:25,965 --> 02:06:29,625
uh, if the, um, actuarial assumptions about the economy

1288
02:06:30,365 --> 02:06:34,205
and about wage rate increases and hiring levels,

1289
02:06:35,205 --> 02:06:39,105
um, come true, you know, with, and

1290
02:06:39,355 --> 02:06:43,245
it's a whole bunch of assumptions. So one can never be sure

1291
02:06:43,405 --> 02:06:47,245
they're going to come, they're the actuaries will be correct in their projections. Uh, we should

1292
02:06:47,745 --> 02:06:50,885
get to 80% and I'd have to go back and look as to when.

1293
02:06:52,215 --> 02:06:56,145
alright, thank you. And then with our reserves, um, with two months in the

1294
02:06:56,265 --> 02:07:00,125
general fund is, can you, um, speak like in comparison to other big cities? Are

1295
02:07:00,345 --> 02:07:04,115
we kind of in this, are they in the same ballpark? Uh,

1296
02:07:04,955 --> 02:07:08,515
in my experience, most cities have the same, um,

1297
02:07:09,885 --> 02:07:13,815
reserve policy that long beach has, which is aimed for two

1298
02:07:14,015 --> 02:07:16,915
months of reserves in their general fund. Um,

1299
02:07:18,035 --> 02:07:21,775
and certainly here in california, uh, a lot of cities

1300
02:07:22,195 --> 02:07:26,035
are not meeting that goal right now because of the, uh,

1301
02:07:26,255 --> 02:07:29,965
shortfall in revenue and the pressure on costs that ruby described.

1302
02:07:31,195 --> 02:07:34,870
so yeah, uh, a two month goal that city council established

1303
02:07:35,550 --> 02:07:39,265
some years back. That's quite reasonable. Well, thank you for answering

1304
02:07:39,585 --> 02:07:42,785
my questions. That's it, that's all I have. Thank you. Council member duggan.

1305
02:07:44,415 --> 02:07:48,305
alright. Thank you so much for this, um, overview

1306
02:07:48,505 --> 02:07:52,455
of the city's annual financial report. This is typically

1307
02:07:53,085 --> 02:07:56,895
an item that passes without much discussion and that

1308
02:07:57,185 --> 02:08:01,145
was a very big, that was an extensive report, so I appreciate

1309
02:08:01,665 --> 02:08:04,645
that we took the time today to review it in greater detail.

1310
02:08:05,705 --> 02:08:09,315
I wanna focus on what this report tells us about the delivery of basic

1311
02:08:09,935 --> 02:08:13,815
city services. Am concerned that we're

1312
02:08:14,055 --> 02:08:17,815
not investing enough to maintain the services our community relies on

1313
02:08:18,265 --> 02:08:21,455
every single day. We can launch new projects

1314
02:08:22,615 --> 02:08:26,575
programs, but they aren't going to matter if we don't keep people safe, collect

1315
02:08:27,055 --> 02:08:30,795
their trash and maintain basic infrastructure such as

1316
02:08:31,955 --> 02:08:34,705
our streets, sidewalks, medians, and trees.

1317
02:08:36,035 --> 02:08:39,265
so I wanna start with emergency response. Slide

1318
02:08:40,055 --> 02:08:44,055
14 states that lbpd priority one response time in fiscal

1319
02:08:44,325 --> 02:08:48,005
year 2025 was 5.6 minutes. However,

1320
02:08:48,915 --> 02:08:52,285
the official, uh, annual comprehensive

1321
02:08:54,605 --> 02:08:58,365
financial report that was approved by city

1322
02:08:58,655 --> 02:09:01,975
council listed the response time as six minutes.

1323
02:09:03,435 --> 02:09:07,295
and the presentation also states that violent crime was 7.4 incidents

1324
02:09:07,715 --> 02:09:11,215
per thousand residents while the report approved by council listed at 7.9.

1325
02:09:12,995 --> 02:09:16,155
um, can you just explain why the numbers differ?

1326
02:09:20,085 --> 02:09:23,865
yes, good evening, council member, I'm actually gonna defer to financial management. That's a systems

1327
02:09:24,555 --> 02:09:28,325
issue, um, in, in how their systems record and round up

1328
02:09:28,725 --> 02:09:32,625
on certain, um, response times or numbers. And so maybe they could provide

1329
02:09:32,905 --> 02:09:34,745
a more intelligent response to that.

1330
02:09:37,005 --> 02:09:40,925
the information was compiled when the report was prepared, um, about six months ago.

1331
02:09:41,365 --> 02:09:45,065
so when we received, um, the most newest recent information

1332
02:09:45,815 --> 02:09:49,045
from the police department, they did indicate that, um,

1333
02:09:50,005 --> 02:09:53,945
the reporting had been revised. And so that is a difference.

1334
02:09:54,765 --> 02:09:58,425
um, and again, there's a difference between just the reporting

1335
02:09:59,105 --> 02:10:02,785
standards from fiscal year 25 to fiscal year 16 because it was a different

1336
02:10:03,255 --> 02:10:06,185
methodology with that was used back in fiscal year 16.

1337
02:10:14,045 --> 02:10:17,655
so we approved a report that was inaccurate. I think that

1338
02:10:18,055 --> 02:10:20,865
data is really important, our response times,

1339
02:10:22,145 --> 02:10:25,925
that's something that I would hope that we can look at and get accurate

1340
02:10:26,345 --> 02:10:30,225
as our city council approving that 'cause that's, uh,

1341
02:10:30,445 --> 02:10:32,435
public information. Okay.

1342
02:10:37,455 --> 02:10:41,175
um, I know that we are

1343
02:10:41,555 --> 02:10:45,155
making progress with hiring more officers, um,

1344
02:10:46,725 --> 02:10:50,465
but I would like to know if the current academy classes and hiring

1345
02:10:50,775 --> 02:10:54,775
efforts, are they sufficient to bringing response times back

1346
02:10:55,065 --> 02:10:58,105
down or are we looking at an error here?

1347
02:11:00,505 --> 02:11:04,485
no, I don't think you're looking at an error. Um, when you have more police officers that can

1348
02:11:04,605 --> 02:11:08,325
impact response times, uh, the hiring efforts have been significant and successful.

1349
02:11:08,925 --> 02:11:12,505
that's why we have our largest class ever out on the street being trained. Those 85

1350
02:11:13,125 --> 02:11:17,025
officers won't be deployable for 18 to 24 months from date of hire. But

1351
02:11:17,245 --> 02:11:21,125
when they are, that significantly impacts response time. If you're going

1352
02:11:21,285 --> 02:11:25,105
back to 2016, there's a variety of of contributing factors, um,

1353
02:11:25,475 --> 02:11:29,445
including, uh, the fact that we had more officers. And when you have more officers, you

1354
02:11:29,565 --> 02:11:33,325
have the ability to have an increased buffer over your base staffing,

1355
02:11:33,765 --> 02:11:37,545
which means more officers in certain areas can pick up calls quicker. Um,

1356
02:11:37,865 --> 02:11:41,805
the other thing of note is that in 2022 when we recognized that

1357
02:11:41,925 --> 02:11:45,285
we had a staffing issue and a staffing crisis, we invested heavily as a city.

1358
02:11:46,595 --> 02:11:50,595
all of you were involved in this, in hiring and recruiting and retaining. And

1359
02:11:50,815 --> 02:11:54,735
so, um, since 2022, I've consistently had officers out

1360
02:11:54,935 --> 02:11:58,815
in the field whether they were new police officers or lateral officers being trained. And that

1361
02:11:59,015 --> 02:12:02,855
can contribute to taking more time on each call as well. In addition,

1362
02:12:03,355 --> 02:12:06,995
um, there's been changes in, in legislation, the types of calls we go to and

1363
02:12:07,575 --> 02:12:11,315
emphasis on community policing and spending time explaining, um,

1364
02:12:11,605 --> 02:12:15,345
certain calls, uh, uh, when you can. Um, and it's, it, there

1365
02:12:15,695 --> 02:12:19,595
are so many factors that are contributing to whether response time has

1366
02:12:19,815 --> 02:12:23,655
gone up or gone down. Uh, what I will say is I'm, I'm proud that our response time

1367
02:12:23,855 --> 02:12:27,855
remains between the five to six minute national average. Um, and we've been there for over three

1368
02:12:28,135 --> 02:12:32,035
decades aids and I do recognize that and

1369
02:12:32,255 --> 02:12:34,925
that officers are doing a good job with,

1370
02:12:36,595 --> 02:12:40,425
uh, with responding and I'm very happy about our academy graduating

1371
02:12:41,095 --> 02:12:45,095
85 more officers. My second question relates to the fire department.

1372
02:12:45,875 --> 02:12:49,405
uh, 10 years ago the fire department arrived at emergency

1373
02:12:50,015 --> 02:12:53,615
calls within six minutes, 43% of the time.

1374
02:12:54,995 --> 02:12:58,915
uh, in fiscal year 2025, the fire department arrived at

1375
02:12:59,135 --> 02:13:03,095
emergency calls within six minutes, just 25.6% of the time.

1376
02:13:04,015 --> 02:13:08,015
I understand that call volume and operating costs have increased significantly.

1377
02:13:09,385 --> 02:13:12,775
thank you chief for coming up. Um, but responding

1378
02:13:13,475 --> 02:13:17,295
to a fire or a medical call, uh, is one

1379
02:13:17,495 --> 02:13:20,095
of the most fundamental services that the city provides.

1380
02:13:23,245 --> 02:13:27,085
what is the city doing to reverse that trend of longer fire

1381
02:13:27,375 --> 02:13:31,285
department response times and what additional resources would be

1382
02:13:31,405 --> 02:13:33,525
needed to make that measurable progress?

1383
02:13:35,975 --> 02:13:39,925
thank you councilwoman. Further question before I answer it. We, we utilize the

1384
02:13:40,365 --> 02:13:44,315
national fire protection association standard. That's a 1710 standard that that sets

1385
02:13:45,105 --> 02:13:49,085
uh, the standards for response times. And our goal is always to have a, a

1386
02:13:49,355 --> 02:13:52,485
fire unit on scene at a structure fire within four minutes or less.

1387
02:13:53,465 --> 02:13:57,265
um, and then on ems calls, they don't have exact time on the ems calls, but

1388
02:13:57,605 --> 02:14:01,505
I always look at it in regards to if a community member is in cardiac arrest,

1389
02:14:02,465 --> 02:14:06,445
uh, and biological death starts occurring within four to six minutes after that heart stops. So we want to have

1390
02:14:06,525 --> 02:14:10,525
paramedics on scene. Um, it is our goal to reduce that response

1391
02:14:10,685 --> 02:14:14,205
time since 2016. Uh, just recently we added paramedic

1392
02:14:14,765 --> 02:14:18,645
rescue 13, which is a peak low unit and we also added, uh, rescue two this

1393
02:14:18,885 --> 02:14:22,765
year. And that has really reduced our response time. So we'll continue to do, address their

1394
02:14:23,045 --> 02:14:26,845
ems calls on fires. Um, yeah, our goal is to

1395
02:14:27,085 --> 02:14:31,045
make sure that we have a full first alarm assignment within eight minutes, the time of

1396
02:14:31,445 --> 02:14:35,365
dispatch. Um, and that is our goal, uh, to make sure that we are able

1397
02:14:35,565 --> 02:14:39,525
to contain that fire to the room of origin on a weekly basis. You do get a, a

1398
02:14:39,645 --> 02:14:43,565
notification that most of our fires were able to contain to that room of origin to make sure

1399
02:14:43,725 --> 02:14:47,465
that we protect life and property. Alright,

1400
02:14:47,955 --> 02:14:51,495
council member, that is time all I gonna move the next councilperson all

1401
02:14:52,095 --> 02:14:56,055
oti. Uh, thank you mayor. Um, I wanna thank staff. Uh, that was an excellent presentation. Um,

1402
02:14:56,915 --> 02:15:00,795
I, uh, believe it or not, you answered almost all of my questions

1403
02:15:00,995 --> 02:15:04,835
that I had when I looked at the presentation. So, nice job. Um, I also

1404
02:15:05,075 --> 02:15:08,855
really appreciated the presentation 'cause I know as we talk about the budget year to year, um,

1405
02:15:09,145 --> 02:15:12,765
it's different when you look at the financial health of a city over time, right?

1406
02:15:13,215 --> 02:15:16,915
and it macro. And so oftentimes I think even in a, a budget constraints

1407
02:15:17,315 --> 02:15:21,315
like we're in this year, right? It's kind of, you kind of get a little myopic and think about, okay, well what are we

1408
02:15:21,395 --> 02:15:25,395
doing right now? You know, are we being fiscally responsible? You hear all the things

1409
02:15:25,475 --> 02:15:29,395
kind of conversations that are out there. And so I think it's really important for us to also take a step

1410
02:15:29,555 --> 02:15:33,235
back and look at the overall financial health of the city, um, as it pertains

1411
02:15:33,755 --> 02:15:37,435
to all of our liabilities, all of our expenses and our revenues, and think about those things,

1412
02:15:37,775 --> 02:15:41,675
um, year to year. And also really appreciated the comparisons, right? To allow

1413
02:15:41,915 --> 02:15:45,595
us to kind of benchmark ourselves for those of us who aren't, you know, we're not financial

1414
02:15:45,995 --> 02:15:49,585
management folks, right? I'm not an accountant. So this allows us to think about, okay,

1415
02:15:50,425 --> 02:15:54,275
overall what is the health of our city? And so that helped me a lot to kind of think about our budget more

1416
02:15:54,555 --> 02:15:58,535
broadly. Uh, and so thank you again for that. Uh, and so I just actually had, uh,

1417
02:15:58,755 --> 02:16:02,455
two questions. 'cause I'll admit, when I originally read the,

1418
02:16:02,815 --> 02:16:06,685
the annual comprehensive financial report, I thought it was interesting that it included these

1419
02:16:07,035 --> 02:16:10,095
performance measures. Um, and so the two questions I had was,

1420
02:16:11,135 --> 02:16:15,135
why do we include performance measures specifically? Are those required as

1421
02:16:15,355 --> 02:16:18,745
part of this annual report? Um, and then second, who chooses

1422
02:16:19,425 --> 02:16:21,935
what performance measures are included in the annual report.

1423
02:16:25,305 --> 02:16:29,205
so we apply for an award every year to the government finance officers

1424
02:16:29,795 --> 02:16:33,755
association that, um, that is awarded

1425
02:16:34,265 --> 02:16:38,165
to cities that are fully transparent, provide a

1426
02:16:38,285 --> 02:16:42,115
lot of financial disclosures, performance measures, and they also

1427
02:16:42,405 --> 02:16:46,395
provide guidelines of what that means. And so these, um, disclosures,

1428
02:16:47,085 --> 02:16:50,285
these performance measures are those that are suggested by this award program.

1429
02:16:51,225 --> 02:16:54,965
and we do receive the award every year. We like to keep it. And so we, we do

1430
02:16:55,305 --> 02:16:59,005
try to compile that information and include it in the, in the act for every year.

1431
02:17:00,535 --> 02:17:04,405
understood. So this is a, we applied for this grant from this agency and then basically

1432
02:17:04,885 --> 02:17:08,565
they kind of set out as it pertains to the transparency related to reports,

1433
02:17:09,085 --> 02:17:12,405
a set of kind of, I don't wanna say expectations, but suggestions around

1434
02:17:13,155 --> 02:17:16,945
what a city that is being, trying to be transparent about their finances would present. And

1435
02:17:17,165 --> 02:17:21,155
then we adhere to that so that we're eligible for the award every single year. Yes. Okay.

1436
02:17:21,445 --> 02:17:25,445
that's fantastic. I think, you know, we often hear it public comment a lot about just the

1437
02:17:25,605 --> 02:17:29,245
need for transparency. And so I think it's really important for us to uplift as a city

1438
02:17:29,745 --> 02:17:33,365
the fact that we actually, we, we are not only attempting to do it, we are

1439
02:17:33,805 --> 02:17:37,785
actually being, um, transparent about our finances, the fiscal health, um,

1440
02:17:38,145 --> 02:17:41,845
in the current and also a long term. So again, thank you again staff for this, uh, great presentation.

1441
02:17:44,275 --> 02:17:45,285
thank you. Council member duggan.

1442
02:17:49,605 --> 02:17:53,575
alright, the last item I just wanna point out, uh, it, I wanna

1443
02:17:53,815 --> 02:17:57,375
address tree trimming and um, I do

1444
02:17:57,935 --> 02:18:01,895
consider tree trimming basic core services. It protects public

1445
02:18:02,195 --> 02:18:05,885
safety, preserves our urban forest, and reduces

1446
02:18:06,525 --> 02:18:09,935
hazards and claims that we see against our city.

1447
02:18:10,715 --> 02:18:14,655
so the re the report shows that the cost of tree trimming has increased substantially

1448
02:18:15,985 --> 02:18:19,335
while the number of trees being trimmed has declined

1449
02:18:20,365 --> 02:18:24,335
drastically. If the cost of providing this essential service

1450
02:18:24,975 --> 02:18:28,805
increases, then the budget supporting it should also keep

1451
02:18:29,245 --> 02:18:32,965
pace. Um, residents are less likely to support replacing

1452
02:18:33,575 --> 02:18:37,555
or planting street trees if they don't believe that the city is

1453
02:18:37,775 --> 02:18:41,365
going to be able to maintain them, which means less

1454
02:18:41,805 --> 02:18:45,715
tree cover for our city. Um, I, the city

1455
02:18:46,005 --> 02:18:49,875
needs to protect our basic services and this is going

1456
02:18:50,115 --> 02:18:53,385
to be a major focus of mine as we begin the budget process.

1457
02:18:54,815 --> 02:18:58,675
so during the upcoming budget discussions, unlike our

1458
02:18:58,835 --> 02:19:02,225
departments to clearly present the funding and service levels for core

1459
02:19:02,875 --> 02:19:06,315
services such as street and sidewalk maintenance, tree trimming,

1460
02:19:07,535 --> 02:19:10,935
median and park maintenance and other basic infrastructure

1461
02:19:11,925 --> 02:19:15,645
needs, um, I think it's important that we have this, this discussion

1462
02:19:16,415 --> 02:19:19,655
now so we can reach a point where residents, um,

1463
02:19:20,815 --> 02:19:24,415
we don't want residents to no longer rely on

1464
02:19:24,935 --> 02:19:28,865
the essential services that the city is responsible for providing. So

1465
02:19:29,175 --> 02:19:33,075
thank you. Thank you council member.

1466
02:19:33,275 --> 02:19:37,225
super. Um, I'd just like to go back to, uh, some

1467
02:19:37,515 --> 02:19:41,175
of the response time statistics for the fire department. If the chief can,

1468
02:19:41,535 --> 02:19:45,355
um, uh, provide just a

1469
02:19:45,595 --> 02:19:49,375
little more background on this. Um, are,

1470
02:19:49,775 --> 02:19:53,575
can you give us a few of the variables between 2016 and today? Why

1471
02:19:53,795 --> 02:19:57,595
that response time might be a little longer? I don't think we really have

1472
02:19:57,895 --> 02:20:01,675
apples to apples here in in in that amount of time. Are there a few variables that you'd

1473
02:20:01,995 --> 02:20:04,395
like to point out? Uh, the, the difference between those years?

1474
02:20:06,055 --> 02:20:09,715
yes. Uh, thank you for that question. Council member superal. Yeah, some of the variables,

1475
02:20:10,375 --> 02:20:14,195
the biggest one is every year we're seeing an increase around approximately a thousand emergency

1476
02:20:15,035 --> 02:20:18,455
incidents. So when you look at 2016 to 2025,

1477
02:20:20,055 --> 02:20:23,855
you're seeing approximately around 9,000 more incidents. And

1478
02:20:24,075 --> 02:20:27,995
what occurs is, uh, when a unit is on a incident, for example,

1479
02:20:28,345 --> 02:20:32,235
here we're in downtown long beach, next door we have our engine one and

1480
02:20:32,395 --> 02:20:36,175
truck one and rescue one. If they're on an incident and another incident comes in

1481
02:20:36,675 --> 02:20:40,555
downtown, you have a unit that's responding from a distance. And so now

1482
02:20:40,755 --> 02:20:44,715
you have a longer trial of time, which is increases of response times and that's

1483
02:20:44,955 --> 02:20:47,915
where you're gonna see an increase in, in the response times citywide.

1484
02:20:49,345 --> 02:20:53,245
okay, thank you. Appreciate the explanation. Alright,

1485
02:20:53,885 --> 02:20:57,795
well, uh, thank you for the report and the 20 minute presentation. Oh,

1486
02:20:58,115 --> 02:21:01,845
oh, I just saw you. Okay. Council member kerr. No worries. Just, um, just

1487
02:21:02,135 --> 02:21:06,135
one quick comment on all of it. I wanna thank the, uh, the team for a really detailed and extensive

1488
02:21:06,615 --> 02:21:10,545
report. Um, you talked about,

1489
02:21:10,845 --> 02:21:14,425
I'm gonna pick on this one thing because I think it illustrates a larger point. You talked about tree trimming

1490
02:21:15,085 --> 02:21:18,855
and that there's a significant cost increase to the contractors, so the cost

1491
02:21:19,285 --> 02:21:22,785
per tree has increased, but you also mentioned that those contractors

1492
02:21:23,685 --> 02:21:27,665
are experiencing significant staffing shortages. And I just

1493
02:21:27,825 --> 02:21:31,705
wanna bring attention to the larger context of all of the things that we're

1494
02:21:31,985 --> 02:21:35,985
talking about. That there are forces that are impacting all of the things in

1495
02:21:36,185 --> 02:21:39,865
our budget that are out of our control. They very well may be experiencing staffing

1496
02:21:40,545 --> 02:21:44,155
shortages because we know that landscaping companies often

1497
02:21:44,575 --> 02:21:48,505
work with immigrant communities. We know that their immigrant community has been under attack

1498
02:21:48,865 --> 02:21:52,525
from the federal administration. People aren't going to work. Um,

1499
02:21:53,365 --> 02:21:57,325
so when we talk about the minutiae for me, we get

1500
02:21:57,545 --> 02:22:01,385
in the weeds and we get in our long beach bubble. But it's important, I think as we enter

1501
02:22:01,665 --> 02:22:04,975
budget season to acknowledge that there are really big forces happening

1502
02:22:06,095 --> 02:22:09,735
that impact us in, in significant ways that

1503
02:22:10,675 --> 02:22:14,665
might have nothing to do with the work that we're doing here in long beach or the way that

1504
02:22:14,785 --> 02:22:18,585
we're trying to do the work in long beach. Um, so I just wanted to take a moment because

1505
02:22:18,975 --> 02:22:22,815
that was really caught me in a different way tonight.

1506
02:22:23,405 --> 02:22:27,105
so, um, thank you for the report. That's just my comments. Thank

1507
02:22:27,455 --> 02:22:31,015
you. Alright, great perspective, great context.

1508
02:22:32,075 --> 02:22:35,365
and I wanna thank you all for the presentation. Now, I know that

1509
02:22:36,215 --> 02:22:40,175
normally we wouldn't go in deep on this annual report and it's my hope that we

1510
02:22:40,295 --> 02:22:43,855
don't do this annually. My hope is that

1511
02:22:44,735 --> 02:22:48,245
I know we have a study session early in the budget development

1512
02:22:48,935 --> 02:22:52,865
process. And I think from what I've heard from most of the council

1513
02:22:53,105 --> 02:22:57,095
members, they want to hear and they want it stated publicly. Some of the

1514
02:22:57,215 --> 02:23:01,075
statements around, are we doing the right things about our pensions? Are

1515
02:23:01,295 --> 02:23:05,295
we make doing the right things about our fiscal policies and our

1516
02:23:05,495 --> 02:23:08,855
reserves? Where do we compare to other california cities

1517
02:23:09,675 --> 02:23:13,535
as it relates to planning for the future? How's our credit and how

1518
02:23:13,735 --> 02:23:17,015
are we evaluated compared to other cities of our jurisdiction? And I think

1519
02:23:17,995 --> 02:23:21,815
if we make sure that in our early council presentation

1520
02:23:22,725 --> 02:23:26,665
that we do in like january, february, whenever we do that, we touch

1521
02:23:27,035 --> 02:23:30,815
on those things just so there's a little bit of assurance publicly that council members

1522
02:23:31,115 --> 02:23:35,095
can point to, to say, yeah, we may have, uh, short term

1523
02:23:35,315 --> 02:23:39,135
fiscal challenges with this upcoming budget, but we're maintaining our commitment

1524
02:23:39,615 --> 02:23:43,455
of fidelity. So our long-term financial fiscal practices, here's where you rank and compare

1525
02:23:43,775 --> 02:23:47,455
to other cities. I think that might be a, an efficient way to have this conversation

1526
02:23:47,955 --> 02:23:51,895
in context. And we can prepare for it every year to show are we changing course? Are we still

1527
02:23:52,115 --> 02:23:55,255
on course? And then maybe every few years we take a deeper dive.

1528
02:23:56,605 --> 02:24:00,585
the other part, uh, that I would mention is I think it's important.

1529
02:24:01,805 --> 02:24:05,085
I know it's very easy and we hear it in the community all the time to say

1530
02:24:05,935 --> 02:24:09,905
we're not as safe as we were 20 years ago or 40 years ago,

1531
02:24:11,645 --> 02:24:15,565
or we are not, we don't have the services. I remember the good old days, things

1532
02:24:15,985 --> 02:24:19,585
have changed. Number one, the way we calculate our data changes

1533
02:24:20,365 --> 02:24:24,325
all the time and we don't calculate our data the same way as we did years ago.

1534
02:24:25,045 --> 02:24:28,825
and then the cost of doing business and providing services has grown

1535
02:24:29,065 --> 02:24:33,025
significantly and dramatically. I think it's important for folks to understand that.

1536
02:24:34,005 --> 02:24:37,945
and we're seeing the long term effects of proposition 13 in california

1537
02:24:38,795 --> 02:24:42,215
where other states have the ability to their property taxes grow

1538
02:24:43,205 --> 02:24:46,775
and ours do not. Not at the same rate on, um, residential,

1539
02:24:47,845 --> 02:24:51,385
uh, businesses and properties, which majority of our revenue comes from

1540
02:24:52,425 --> 02:24:56,365
property taxes. And we we're not apples to apples. I hear it all the time. Hey

1541
02:24:56,675 --> 02:25:00,665
mayor ami balances budget passed, taxes on the rich and didn't pass the poor.

1542
02:25:01,045 --> 02:25:04,755
we don't even have that bill in california to just levy attacks by city council. Action. Everything

1543
02:25:05,425 --> 02:25:08,375
goes to the voters. So it's important to put in context,

1544
02:25:09,955 --> 02:25:13,575
um, and in perspective that yeah, it's different now.

1545
02:25:14,215 --> 02:25:18,095
policies that were passed 20 years ago restricted our hands and you cannot grow your

1546
02:25:18,455 --> 02:25:22,195
services to keep pace with your expectations for 20 years ago, which forces us

1547
02:25:22,835 --> 02:25:26,405
to have long-term revenue growth plans and strategies of embracing

1548
02:25:26,885 --> 02:25:30,885
new industries and finding new ways to maximize revenue. So I

1549
02:25:31,005 --> 02:25:34,875
say all that to say this was a good presentation. These questions are not gonna stop.

1550
02:25:35,955 --> 02:25:39,555
I think we should plan for it. And this is less to financial management 'cause you don't

1551
02:25:39,975 --> 02:25:43,915
set the agenda for the city council. This is me looking at you, but really talking to

1552
02:25:44,115 --> 02:25:47,725
the council members. We should talk about this in context,

1553
02:25:48,625 --> 02:25:52,595
not when we see some statistics stand out in the budget because

1554
02:25:53,255 --> 02:25:57,145
we're no, the media isn't gonna tell the story for us and we gotta be really responsible and

1555
02:25:57,385 --> 02:26:01,205
how we have this conversation responsibly, thoughtfully, and within context

1556
02:26:02,565 --> 02:26:06,485
so that we can actually make smart decisions as a body within the context of

1557
02:26:06,705 --> 02:26:10,465
everything that's happening globally and how it impacts our, our revenue.

1558
02:26:10,965 --> 02:26:14,905
so those are my perspectives on this as council. Thank you for the discussion. Is there any

1559
02:26:15,025 --> 02:26:18,845
public comment? There's no public comment on this item. Members,

1560
02:26:19,455 --> 02:26:20,175
please cast your vote.

1561
02:26:25,345 --> 02:26:29,245
motion is carried. You know, no disrespect to my fellow mayor ami, but, you know, long

1562
02:26:29,485 --> 02:26:33,325
beach and new york are not the same. Alright, now we're gonna go to 34. Please

1563
02:26:34,185 --> 02:26:37,765
report from financial management recommendation to receive and file the fy 26

1564
02:26:38,435 --> 02:26:42,365
midyear budget performance report, providing an update on the city

1565
02:26:42,525 --> 02:26:46,365
of long beach's fy 26 financial status and projections citywide.

1566
02:26:47,745 --> 02:26:51,185
all right, financial management wasn't gone for long. They are back. Uh,

1567
02:26:52,195 --> 02:26:55,945
okay, so I, I just wanna remind the council like this is really, uh,

1568
02:26:56,225 --> 02:27:00,205
uh, update on the, on how we closed out fy 26, but this isn't the

1569
02:27:00,445 --> 02:27:04,385
fy 27. Um, and really remind the public this is not the fy 27 budget

1570
02:27:04,805 --> 02:27:08,765
discussion. We're getting to that in the next, um, you know, just shy of two

1571
02:27:08,885 --> 02:27:12,845
weeks, we'll be introducing the upcoming budget and recommendations and we'll have a full conversation there.

1572
02:27:13,315 --> 02:27:16,565
this is, uh, uh, the way we close out fy 26

1573
02:27:17,425 --> 02:27:21,205
and a preview of some of the impacts that will impact our upcoming budget.

1574
02:27:21,985 --> 02:27:25,675
tom. Thank you mr. Mayor. Uh, yeah. So, uh, exactly

1575
02:27:26,165 --> 02:27:30,165
right. So this is about, um, kind of an indication of how the current year is going. Uh, we've

1576
02:27:30,365 --> 02:27:34,245
had, uh, several discussions, uh, uh, about the budget over the last year. Uh, and so

1577
02:27:34,525 --> 02:27:37,925
this is kind of as we get close to the end of fy 26, what we are experiencing.

1578
02:27:38,945 --> 02:27:42,765
uh, and, uh, I think, uh, council member ker said it well. There's a lot of external,

1579
02:27:43,465 --> 02:27:47,405
uh, things that happen elsewhere that has pressure on our budget. It affects our residents. When

1580
02:27:47,605 --> 02:27:51,365
it affects our resident, it affects the city. And so we're gonna talk about some of those things, uh, tonight.

1581
02:27:53,265 --> 02:27:57,245
uh, first of all, where does the revenue come from? Um, so we always like to do a little bit

1582
02:27:57,405 --> 02:28:01,365
of grounding. Uh, so we do have, as you see that, that pie, lots of different

1583
02:28:01,645 --> 02:28:05,645
types of revenue. We're a pretty diversified, uh, city. If you were an east coast

1584
02:28:05,885 --> 02:28:09,785
city, that, um, bar, uh, chart would look like 90% property tax. Uh,

1585
02:28:10,305 --> 02:28:14,205
and, uh, and so in california, because of a lot of things that have happened with prop

1586
02:28:14,645 --> 02:28:18,585
13 and all these other, uh, uh, restricted restrictions on revenue that, uh,

1587
02:28:18,805 --> 02:28:22,365
cities have had to adapt and look at all different ways to fund government services.

1588
02:28:23,105 --> 02:28:27,005
uh, but, uh, our top three are property tax, sales tax and utility users and franchise

1589
02:28:27,475 --> 02:28:31,445
fees. Uh, so you can see the percentage there. And then taxes in general make up about

1590
02:28:31,645 --> 02:28:35,565
72% of our general fund revenue. So what's been going

1591
02:28:35,725 --> 02:28:39,565
on in fy 26? Um, we have seen, uh, pretty dramatic drop in

1592
02:28:39,765 --> 02:28:43,635
key revenues. Uh, we experienced that for the fy 25 budget just

1593
02:28:43,965 --> 02:28:47,925
a little while ago. And, uh, uh, it's not a secret that there's some very turbulent financial

1594
02:28:48,445 --> 02:28:52,445
times out there that our residents are feeling and, uh, and our employees are

1595
02:28:52,605 --> 02:28:56,445
feeling. And also, uh, our, our budget feels. So, uh, we've had

1596
02:28:56,645 --> 02:29:00,225
a 14, almost $15 million drop in utility users tax.

1597
02:29:00,825 --> 02:29:04,785
uh, we've had about a $10 million drop in interest earnings, uh, which is related to,

1598
02:29:05,305 --> 02:29:09,145
uh, national policy as well as us. Um, you know, having less cash to

1599
02:29:09,365 --> 02:29:13,225
invest, uh, uh, property tax has not come in, uh, as strongly as

1600
02:29:13,505 --> 02:29:17,425
as we had hoped. Uh, and the same thing with sales tax has been, uh, non mesure

1601
02:29:17,865 --> 02:29:21,805
not coming in quite as strongly as we had hoped. Uh, where do

1602
02:29:21,965 --> 02:29:25,825
the funds go? Um, uh, 65% of our funds go to public safety. So,

1603
02:29:26,305 --> 02:29:30,105
and, uh, something like 80% of our funds go to people. So, uh,

1604
02:29:30,325 --> 02:29:34,325
the the dollars are really there for people who provide services, uh, and

1605
02:29:34,525 --> 02:29:38,525
help our community. And so 65% is public safety, and you can see the

1606
02:29:38,685 --> 02:29:42,165
other sections of community service, public works and legislative and, and general government.

1607
02:29:44,515 --> 02:29:48,375
and so what's been driving, uh, on the expense side, um, it is really the increased

1608
02:29:48,815 --> 02:29:52,415
cost of the existing services. So it's not that we have been spending new programs

1609
02:29:53,035 --> 02:29:56,935
and adding new staff and, and going into new areas that we haven't before.

1610
02:29:57,715 --> 02:30:01,685
it is, uh, the discussion that we just had, which is how do we keep pace with

1611
02:30:01,975 --> 02:30:05,815
all those increased costs with, um, with providing those existing

1612
02:30:06,095 --> 02:30:09,935
services. So think of it this way, if you're providing a service and the cost went

1613
02:30:10,215 --> 02:30:14,075
up 10%, you either need to reduce the service by 10%, or

1614
02:30:14,355 --> 02:30:18,295
you need to go find 10% of additional revenue to keep the same amount of service.

1615
02:30:18,835 --> 02:30:22,815
so even though the amount of dollars in that program has gone up, you haven't received any more

1616
02:30:23,015 --> 02:30:26,935
service. You're basically paying for that cost of, of the existing service. And that's what we're seeing.

1617
02:30:27,875 --> 02:30:31,625
one of the big areas that is driving cost is, is actually a very good area, which

1618
02:30:31,975 --> 02:30:35,865
is we've been investing, uh, in our public safety, uh, in bringing in additional,

1619
02:30:36,915 --> 02:30:39,795
uh, graduates into our academy. It's been about 235

1620
02:30:40,975 --> 02:30:44,735
people who have graduated from our academy, uh, over the past four years,

1621
02:30:45,355 --> 02:30:49,185
uh, on the police side. And then you can see the numbers there. Um, it's, uh, close

1622
02:30:49,555 --> 02:30:53,535
to, you know, close to a hundred on the fire side. And so that's been

1623
02:30:53,615 --> 02:30:57,375
very deliberate. Uh, mayor and council heard from our community that we need, uh, to reduce

1624
02:30:57,695 --> 02:31:01,485
our vacancies and police and fire. And so, uh, we have, uh, uh, made

1625
02:31:01,775 --> 02:31:05,755
a lot of efforts at that and it's worked. Um, we are on the

1626
02:31:05,975 --> 02:31:09,575
right path. Our police, uh, sworn vacancy rate last year was 26%

1627
02:31:10,825 --> 02:31:14,015
happy to report now it is 13%, uh, within those,

1628
02:31:14,835 --> 02:31:18,635
I'm sorry, can you say that one more time, tom? I, we cut it in half like I've heard you. Okay. Yes.

1629
02:31:19,195 --> 02:31:23,125
alright, we cut police, uh, uh, uh, police vacancy rate in half. Alright,

1630
02:31:23,715 --> 02:31:27,325
just checking. Uh, the chief mentioned this too. The, uh, part of those are our 85 brand new officers,

1631
02:31:27,865 --> 02:31:31,665
um, who we've, we've graduated the largest academy class in our generation. Uh,

1632
02:31:31,905 --> 02:31:35,485
and they're still in training even though they have completed the academy, they're still partnered

1633
02:31:36,085 --> 02:31:40,045
up. They're not a fully fledged, um, uh, deployable police officer, but they're out

1634
02:31:40,205 --> 02:31:44,195
there, they're doing the work, uh, and getting trained, uh, on the fire side.

1635
02:31:44,555 --> 02:31:48,345
that percent is now 3.2%. Uh, it's one of the lowest in the city for

1636
02:31:48,565 --> 02:31:52,355
a vacancy rate. Uh, as we've been staffing up in our, in our firehouses, there's

1637
02:31:52,845 --> 02:31:56,805
a cost to that. Um, and so, um, we recently did some, uh, agreements with

1638
02:31:57,045 --> 02:32:00,845
our, our two, uh, associations. And, uh, we heard very clearly from the members

1639
02:32:01,075 --> 02:32:05,025
that they needed extra ability to bring in people and to retain the

1640
02:32:05,245 --> 02:32:09,065
officers we had. So we had to slow the, uh, uh, officers leaving, and

1641
02:32:09,285 --> 02:32:12,405
we needed to also have, uh, the resources to bring on additional officers.

1642
02:32:13,345 --> 02:32:17,325
so that has been a key area of focus. And the third is in the,

1643
02:32:17,485 --> 02:32:21,405
the health department. So we've talked about revenue, we've talked about police and fire hiring and hiring

1644
02:32:21,645 --> 02:32:25,645
throughout the city. Uh, and the third is the health department. Uh, it's

1645
02:32:25,925 --> 02:32:29,565
also not a secret that we have had a lot of lost revenue coming from the federal government

1646
02:32:30,085 --> 02:32:33,775
and state and county into our health department, but also very little additional

1647
02:32:34,445 --> 02:32:38,345
support for the general cost it takes to run health programs. And

1648
02:32:38,565 --> 02:32:42,505
so, uh, those costs continue to rise. It is about an $11 million now,

1649
02:32:43,155 --> 02:32:47,115
subsidy from the general fund, what used to be about zero or $1 million, then

1650
02:32:47,405 --> 02:32:50,645
grew to two to three, then you know, five to six and is now 11.

1651
02:32:51,545 --> 02:32:55,365
uh, and again, those aren't because new services were provided, it's the cost of

1652
02:32:55,565 --> 02:32:59,485
the existing services, uh, now requires that level of general fund support.

1653
02:33:01,405 --> 02:33:05,265
so what was our strategy? What have we done about did about this? Uh, we started early last year.

1654
02:33:05,525 --> 02:33:09,325
uh, we started, as we started to see this, uh, real change in

1655
02:33:09,545 --> 02:33:13,465
the economy, uh, and these outside pressures, we started a general fund

1656
02:33:13,705 --> 02:33:17,425
savings target. So that started at 1% and it was, uh, bumped up to 3%.

1657
02:33:18,365 --> 02:33:22,115
and that means we're actively managing our vacant positions. We're limiting fills,

1658
02:33:22,565 --> 02:33:25,835
um, uh, filling to essential operations. Uh, in some areas we're,

1659
02:33:26,605 --> 02:33:30,545
uh, reducing overtime and other areas we're relying more on overtime as we're not

1660
02:33:30,625 --> 02:33:34,375
filling positions. So each department had the ability to, um, meet

1661
02:33:34,695 --> 02:33:38,465
that 3% savings target. Um, the, there were no significant

1662
02:33:38,945 --> 02:33:42,945
disruptions during, uh, during this time. Uh, it, uh, it is basically

1663
02:33:43,625 --> 02:33:47,505
a way to slow down spending. And so these weren't budget cuts, but it was a way to manage

1664
02:33:47,785 --> 02:33:51,785
those costs. Uh, but we knew it was not going to fully cover the fy

1665
02:33:52,105 --> 02:33:54,645
20 cent six, uh, deficit that we were looking at.

1666
02:33:56,165 --> 02:34:00,145
I'm proud to report that when we called on every single department to try to hit

1667
02:34:00,305 --> 02:34:04,125
that 3% savings, uh, we met our goal. So, uh, we either met

1668
02:34:04,345 --> 02:34:08,125
or exceeded in just about every department. Uh, again, this was

1669
02:34:08,765 --> 02:34:12,665
active management. There were some departments that if we had done that, we would've seen, uh, the full 3%.

1670
02:34:13,165 --> 02:34:16,665
we would've seen a huge impact to the community. And so some of those are 2.7%

1671
02:34:17,785 --> 02:34:21,605
or 2.5. Some were even more. Some went all the way up to six and 7%.

1672
02:34:23,025 --> 02:34:26,565
uh, I am very grateful also to the mayor and city council who hit their 3%

1673
02:34:27,045 --> 02:34:30,985
savings target as well. So, uh, every single one of you took part in that. And

1674
02:34:31,205 --> 02:34:35,125
so, uh, that has been achieved. And so

1675
02:34:35,245 --> 02:34:39,245
again, we were able to do this without any major program cuts. But it doesn't mean it

1676
02:34:39,445 --> 02:34:43,365
wasn't stress on the organization. It wasn't, uh, there were things that came in where

1677
02:34:43,605 --> 02:34:47,565
community would ask, well, can't you do this and spend some overtime? Or, you know, can't you add

1678
02:34:47,725 --> 02:34:51,245
to the budget on this? And the answer this year was, no, we need to manage to that 3%.

1679
02:34:52,225 --> 02:34:55,805
and so there was less ability and flexibility, especially for unbudgeted

1680
02:34:56,405 --> 02:35:00,325
requests. And we also, you know, uh, use, uh, less outside contract

1681
02:35:00,485 --> 02:35:02,645
support, which we sometimes use to supplement services.

1682
02:35:05,265 --> 02:35:09,185
so there's some balancing solutions, uh, that we need to close fy 26. Um,

1683
02:35:09,405 --> 02:35:13,385
and so even with that, uh, we, uh, are transitioning and,

1684
02:35:13,825 --> 02:35:17,645
uh, from in our fleet we are funded, uh, we have a lot of cash set aside in our fleet.

1685
02:35:18,145 --> 02:35:22,125
uh, we set aside money every single year to fund, uh, our fleet replacement,

1686
02:35:22,685 --> 02:35:26,685
which is approximately every five years we're funding, uh, our fleet. And so this year

1687
02:35:26,845 --> 02:35:30,485
we're looking at actually using a lease financing approach, uh, which will free up about $15 million.

1688
02:35:31,825 --> 02:35:35,665
uh, you'll see a little bit more of this, and we'll get into this in the next year budget, uh,

1689
02:35:36,175 --> 02:35:40,005
about what this could look like in the future. Um, and so, uh, kevin ryer

1690
02:35:40,205 --> 02:35:44,145
can answer some questions on that. Most importantly, this won't have any impact on our fleet. Our

1691
02:35:44,365 --> 02:35:48,265
vehicles, uh, will still be maintained. They'll still be, uh, replaced. Um,

1692
02:35:48,625 --> 02:35:52,285
uh, but it does, uh, help with some additional, uh, cash to help in this year.

1693
02:35:53,065 --> 02:35:56,675
uh, same thing with, uh, interest earnings and the internal service funds, and also,

1694
02:35:57,385 --> 02:36:00,795
uh, uh, not setting aside about a million dollars worth of oil abandonment.

1695
02:36:02,465 --> 02:36:06,405
so even with that, uh, we, with our 3% savings, uh, and, and departments all

1696
02:36:06,605 --> 02:36:10,605
saving money, uh, and those, those solutions, we still had about a $27 million

1697
02:36:11,825 --> 02:36:15,805
use of reserves, uh, that were projected to need by the end of this

1698
02:36:15,925 --> 02:36:19,905
fiscal year. That's what reserves are for. Uh, you set aside dollars to, uh,

1699
02:36:20,195 --> 02:36:23,965
when you have these unexpected issues come up throughout the year, you can rely on your reserves,

1700
02:36:24,545 --> 02:36:28,425
but what's important is that you also create a plan to replace them. Uh,

1701
02:36:28,745 --> 02:36:32,645
and so I'll get to that in a second, but, uh, we're using our operating reserve, uh, 4.6 million.

1702
02:36:33,665 --> 02:36:36,885
we have a rainy day fund, um, measure b, that's 3.5 million.

1703
02:36:38,065 --> 02:36:41,965
we have an unfunded liability reserve of 2.8 million. And then ultimately this

1704
02:36:42,125 --> 02:36:45,315
year, we do need to, uh, rely on the emergency reserve, about 16.5 million

1705
02:36:46,865 --> 02:36:50,735
of the $50 million. And

1706
02:36:50,955 --> 02:36:54,955
so, again, um, use of reserves is not necessarily a bad thing, uh, but it

1707
02:36:55,115 --> 02:36:58,995
can't be done year after year after year. And so, uh, they're really there for temporary

1708
02:36:59,235 --> 02:37:03,175
support when revenue softened or expenditures, uh, increase. And so, um,

1709
02:37:03,455 --> 02:37:07,355
it is strongly encouraged that we, uh, create a plan through the fy

1710
02:37:07,675 --> 02:37:11,555
27 budget to restore those levels. And so I will be presenting a structurally

1711
02:37:12,035 --> 02:37:15,845
balanced budget to you to address these issues and a plan to replenish the reserves.

1712
02:37:17,835 --> 02:37:21,735
so there are some other key highlights out there. Um, in measure a, um, uh, we do

1713
02:37:21,855 --> 02:37:25,735
have a $66.7 million, um, adopted budget target. And that

1714
02:37:26,135 --> 02:37:28,975
actually came in, um, a little bit over. So it's $67 million.

1715
02:37:30,155 --> 02:37:34,155
and so we've got a contingency reserve set aside, a measure a, there were no impacts to

1716
02:37:34,375 --> 02:37:38,215
measure a funded projects. Um, those were all infrastructure or public safety. And that

1717
02:37:38,655 --> 02:37:42,145
continues in tidelands. We've actually seen a little bit better financial

1718
02:37:42,705 --> 02:37:46,525
performance than we had expected. Uh, the harbor transfer has actually grown, um,

1719
02:37:46,885 --> 02:37:50,865
and is expected to grow more in the, in the coming year. Uh, we continue

1720
02:37:51,025 --> 02:37:54,465
to see some transfer from oil revenue, and we'll have some, uh, tidelands

1721
02:37:55,065 --> 02:37:58,905
dollars that we're expecting to this year, end the year. With that, we can propose in

1722
02:37:59,105 --> 02:38:03,085
the fy 27 budget, but we're still seeing impacts, um, on, on

1723
02:38:03,405 --> 02:38:07,385
oil production from senate bill 1137. Uh, and, uh, continue

1724
02:38:07,545 --> 02:38:09,965
to see some, uh, some cost pressures at our convention center

1725
02:38:12,455 --> 02:38:16,435
in the special advertising and promotions fund. This is, uh, the special fund that can

1726
02:38:16,635 --> 02:38:20,295
only fund things related to, uh, promotions of the city. Uh,

1727
02:38:20,655 --> 02:38:24,655
and so that was voted on by voters decades ago. Uh, transit occupancy tax,

1728
02:38:24,935 --> 02:38:28,755
uh, our hotel bed tax is still doing very well. Uh, we're one of the leading cities

1729
02:38:29,095 --> 02:38:32,915
in california in the area of tourism. So we are leading, uh, san diego

1730
02:38:33,335 --> 02:38:36,955
and anaheim and phoenix and san and, uh, los angeles and san francisco.

1731
02:38:37,815 --> 02:38:41,675
and so, uh, we are continuing to see those revenues where others are, are seeing, uh, lower

1732
02:38:41,955 --> 02:38:45,875
revenues. Uh, in our marina fund, we're projecting a surplus this year of about 2.8 million.

1733
02:38:47,335 --> 02:38:51,135
and in the queen mary fund, uh, the queen mary continues to, to, uh,

1734
02:38:51,425 --> 02:38:54,495
meet its, uh, its, uh, goals. And so there is a, uh, $1.25 million

1735
02:38:56,115 --> 02:39:00,115
surplus and a $200,000 positive balance. Uh, even with, uh, the new

1736
02:39:00,555 --> 02:39:04,475
addition of the amphitheater and the ship operations are covering their cost right now, and they're looking at

1737
02:39:04,635 --> 02:39:06,915
new ways to, uh, continue to increase revenue.

1738
02:39:09,165 --> 02:39:13,125
so this presentation's almost done, but I do wanna do a little bit of mythbusters just to

1739
02:39:13,575 --> 02:39:17,405
help us all remind ourselves of some of the things we hear out there. Um, uh,

1740
02:39:17,625 --> 02:39:21,505
governments, uh, finance is complex. Uh, we don't just have one fund called the general

1741
02:39:21,705 --> 02:39:25,545
fund that everything goes into. Most of our funds are actually

1742
02:39:25,805 --> 02:39:29,235
in special funds. They're in funds that are restricted by state law. California

1743
02:39:30,005 --> 02:39:33,265
is unique. And then we have a lot of voter referendums that says exactly

1744
02:39:34,255 --> 02:39:38,065
certain funds can only be spent for certain items. And so

1745
02:39:38,265 --> 02:39:42,105
I do wanna talk a little bit about some of the mythbusters that we hear out there. I hear from time to time,

1746
02:39:42,445 --> 02:39:45,995
how can we build bike lanes when we have a deficit? Uh, I don't like bike lanes.

1747
02:39:46,645 --> 02:39:50,355
you know, I don't think they're needed. Bike lanes are almost all completely grant

1748
02:39:50,705 --> 02:39:54,615
funded. They come from state and federal government, and you cannot use bike

1749
02:39:54,905 --> 02:39:58,905
lane funding to fund police or fire or potholes or those other things.

1750
02:39:59,125 --> 02:40:03,105
so, um, that goes for a lot of our infrastructure projects. We still

1751
02:40:03,305 --> 02:40:06,755
build infrastructure even when we have these shortfalls, those are restricted funds.

1752
02:40:08,285 --> 02:40:12,105
we hear this one a lot too. Why is the city spending money on an amphitheater when

1753
02:40:12,305 --> 02:40:16,085
we have a deficit? Uh, very similarly, completely different funding

1754
02:40:16,325 --> 02:40:20,305
sources cannot be used in the general fund. So the money that was used to

1755
02:40:20,525 --> 02:40:24,365
build the amphitheater, uh, it is $27 million. And we

1756
02:40:24,825 --> 02:40:28,565
see that people say, you have a $27 million, uh, shortfall and you spent 27

1757
02:40:29,105 --> 02:40:32,905
on the amphitheater. That's basic math. It actually isn't. Uh, that is,

1758
02:40:33,125 --> 02:40:36,925
those are not comparable. And so the amphitheater is actually a way to grow

1759
02:40:37,205 --> 02:40:41,165
revenues in the general fund. So we fund it out of a special fund that can only be used

1760
02:40:41,465 --> 02:40:45,445
by the beach, and therefore it can also help create economic activity in our city.

1761
02:40:46,585 --> 02:40:50,545
we hear this too, about our either refuse or the port or the airport. Um,

1762
02:40:50,905 --> 02:40:54,475
why do we not tax those things or bring that money into the general fund?

1763
02:40:55,015 --> 02:40:58,805
again, we are legally prohibited and restricted from doing that. That is not allowed in california.

1764
02:41:00,585 --> 02:41:04,445
we hear that, you know, the deficits due to overspending, that the council has authorized all

1765
02:41:04,645 --> 02:41:08,605
these new positions and programs and things that are not priorities. That is not

1766
02:41:08,765 --> 02:41:12,765
true. Uh, we have stayed, uh, uh, pretty, um, focused on what

1767
02:41:12,965 --> 02:41:16,605
those core services are, but the cost of the core services are more expensive.

1768
02:41:17,185 --> 02:41:21,005
so it is, uh, an increase in the cost of providing those services, not an

1769
02:41:21,365 --> 02:41:25,315
increase in overspending. We also hear, isn't the current deficit the worst

1770
02:41:25,435 --> 02:41:29,295
it's ever been? Uh, no. Uh, definitely not. During the great recession. Uh,

1771
02:41:29,615 --> 02:41:33,515
we had year after year of major reductions, and even before that, uh, back in the,

1772
02:41:33,735 --> 02:41:37,735
uh, after september 11th as a percentage, we were looking at about 30 to

1773
02:41:37,955 --> 02:41:41,795
40% of the general fund had to be, uh, reduced back then, which is, uh, much, much different

1774
02:41:42,075 --> 02:41:46,035
than where we are today. And then finally, um, what are we doing

1775
02:41:46,155 --> 02:41:50,035
to grow revenue? Why aren't there more things to do to grow revenue? We have a lot of, uh,

1776
02:41:50,515 --> 02:41:54,335
economic development underway. We have programs like space beach and grow long beach, uh,

1777
02:41:54,575 --> 02:41:58,375
to really grow our economy into new, uh, areas and to bring additional tax

1778
02:41:58,595 --> 02:42:02,485
revenue into the city. So, uh, just in

1779
02:42:02,645 --> 02:42:06,405
summary, looking forward, uh, we do have to use reserves this year, um, and including

1780
02:42:06,805 --> 02:42:10,645
the reserving, uh, the emergency reserve, which is a concern, but we

1781
02:42:10,955 --> 02:42:14,825
must address it going forward. So, uh, reserves are there, again, to

1782
02:42:15,045 --> 02:42:18,845
temporarily address these issues. And, uh, we will be presenting a proposed

1783
02:42:19,165 --> 02:42:22,765
structurally balanced budget to you to address these. Uh, it'll be difficult,

1784
02:42:23,265 --> 02:42:27,165
but it is the right thing to do. And, uh, I have every faith that the council will consider

1785
02:42:27,325 --> 02:42:31,325
that and do whatever you need to do to make, uh, modifications and pass a structurally

1786
02:42:31,725 --> 02:42:35,485
balanced budget. Uh, and then to create a plan over the next several years

1787
02:42:35,865 --> 02:42:39,645
to continue to replace our reserves and grow our reserves. 'cause there will be times in the future

1788
02:42:40,095 --> 02:42:44,065
where we're gonna need to, to rely on reserves again. So

1789
02:42:44,285 --> 02:42:48,245
with that, um, the team is here as well to help me answer any questions. Uh, and I really appreciate,

1790
02:42:48,785 --> 02:42:52,525
uh, the chance to present this to you tonight. All right. Thank

1791
02:42:52,845 --> 02:42:56,695
you for that, uh, presentation we're gonna take. We're

1792
02:42:57,045 --> 02:42:59,365
public comment. Is there any public comment here?

1793
02:43:01,545 --> 02:43:05,465
no public comment on this item. All right. Now we'll go to council questions. Council member

1794
02:43:05,705 --> 02:43:09,705
rick oti. Also, nobody, nobody in the public cares about the budget

1795
02:43:09,885 --> 02:43:13,045
as much as we do. That's too bad. That's all right. We love it.

1796
02:43:13,905 --> 02:43:17,645
um, thank you for that. It was a great presentation. Um, and again, I think it's just a sobering

1797
02:43:18,125 --> 02:43:22,125
reminder of where we're at, right? But also where we're going. Um, and I think you

1798
02:43:22,285 --> 02:43:26,285
all are putting forward and I'm, um, looking forward to seeing the budget and the

1799
02:43:26,405 --> 02:43:29,805
plan moving forward around, uh, replacing, you know, our emergency revenues,

1800
02:43:30,865 --> 02:43:34,705
um, and, you know, how we're, you know, the balanced budget, um, and how

1801
02:43:34,925 --> 02:43:38,795
we are going to continue to, uh, deliver services, um, but also

1802
02:43:39,145 --> 02:43:43,125
be responsible about our current fi um, financial position as a city. Uh, just

1803
02:43:43,285 --> 02:43:47,155
a couple of just clarifying questions. Um, I often get a lot of people who ask, when

1804
02:43:47,445 --> 02:43:50,885
I look at, say, slide three, where I say key revenue shortfalls, and they're just like, well,

1805
02:43:51,505 --> 02:43:55,305
why, you know, why was the city, you know, why were we, uh, so off,

1806
02:43:56,145 --> 02:44:00,105
uh, on our utility users tax or, you know, our estimates around property tax. Um,

1807
02:44:00,345 --> 02:44:04,245
can you just talk a little bit about just the, the general kind of macro economy, um, and

1808
02:44:04,445 --> 02:44:07,685
why we're seeing some of these decreases in revenue? Just to remind the public.

1809
02:44:09,395 --> 02:44:13,305
sure. Let me go by, um, size of revenue on the, and, uh,

1810
02:44:13,525 --> 02:44:17,515
highest to lowest. So property tax, uh, it's, it's

1811
02:44:17,805 --> 02:44:21,205
1,000,001 short on a $200 million base. So that's half a percent.

1812
02:44:22,325 --> 02:44:26,265
interestingly. Um, fy 26 property tax revenue for

1813
02:44:26,485 --> 02:44:30,425
us and every other taxing jurisdiction in los angeles county,

1814
02:44:31,345 --> 02:44:34,985
um, is experiencing slightly lower property tax because of,

1815
02:44:35,665 --> 02:44:39,345
uh, the january, 2025, uh, wildfires, um,

1816
02:44:39,715 --> 02:44:43,505
that affected property tax payments in altadena and

1817
02:44:44,265 --> 02:44:47,795
um, um, pacific

1818
02:44:48,285 --> 02:44:52,225
palisades. Yeah, pacific palisades, I almost said pacific heights 'cause I'm from san francisco. Um,

1819
02:44:55,235 --> 02:44:59,045
that shortfall in property tax payments gets spread amongst

1820
02:44:59,465 --> 02:45:03,215
all taxing jurisdictions in los angeles county. We'll

1821
02:45:03,565 --> 02:45:07,005
eventually make it up. Um, but for now, there's a slight decline

1822
02:45:07,745 --> 02:45:11,065
in property tax. Uh, second largest is sales tax. Um,

1823
02:45:11,865 --> 02:45:15,205
that's on a base of about 90 million. So it's only half a percent

1824
02:45:16,265 --> 02:45:19,765
off, less than half a, about a half a percent off. But I've made much bigger

1825
02:45:20,525 --> 02:45:24,465
forecast errors than that, uh, even, even here in my time in

1826
02:45:25,235 --> 02:45:29,205
long beach. And that's because forecasting consumer

1827
02:45:29,765 --> 02:45:33,075
behavior on taxable goods is very difficult.

1828
02:45:34,185 --> 02:45:37,625
um, if, if I might be indulged for a moment of humor, um,

1829
02:45:38,585 --> 02:45:42,295
in, uh, the 1930 nobel prize

1830
02:45:42,645 --> 02:45:46,575
winner for physics was a danish physicist by the name of neils

1831
02:45:47,115 --> 02:45:49,925
bohr, bohr. And he's famous for saying

1832
02:45:51,295 --> 02:45:54,325
prediction is very difficult, especially if it's about the future.

1833
02:45:56,585 --> 02:46:00,525
and that's the difficulty with sales tax forecasting. It's really

1834
02:46:00,725 --> 02:46:04,585
hard to know what's gonna happen with consumer behavior. Um,

1835
02:46:04,905 --> 02:46:08,745
so we're not that far off. Uh, interest earnings, the

1836
02:46:09,045 --> 02:46:12,745
city manager explained, um, that we have less cash to

1837
02:46:13,065 --> 02:46:16,125
invest on behalf of the general fund because we're using reserves.

1838
02:46:17,185 --> 02:46:21,165
but the big miss is then the utility user tax. That's the big miss that I made. Mm-hmm

1839
02:46:21,565 --> 02:46:25,465
. And that's, uh, largely down to measure lb not

1840
02:46:25,685 --> 02:46:29,625
coming in anywhere near where I and southern cal

1841
02:46:30,045 --> 02:46:33,555
edison thought it would be. And we have the city auditor

1842
02:46:35,125 --> 02:46:38,675
doing a formal audit of socal gas and the underlying

1843
02:46:40,325 --> 02:46:44,195
utility gas, um, utility users, tax, gas paying

1844
02:46:45,055 --> 02:46:48,925
accounts to figure out why, because I couldn't get anywhere with

1845
02:46:49,345 --> 02:46:53,195
socal gas because I don't have the audit power. So understood. That's

1846
02:46:53,615 --> 02:46:57,595
a big miss. Understood. Okay. And that's helpful for me 'cause I know we've talked about, um,

1847
02:46:58,235 --> 02:47:02,055
having the city audit to do that investigation, so it sounds like that is still underway for us to

1848
02:47:02,255 --> 02:47:06,215
determine the underlying factors related to that. Yeah. Confirm today, uh, she and

1849
02:47:06,335 --> 02:47:10,255
I spoke and they're working very hard on this, so, uh, but it does take a lot to go and get all the records

1850
02:47:10,555 --> 02:47:14,555
we need to be able to do that. Understood. Uh, and then two additional questions. So one

1851
02:47:14,795 --> 02:47:18,795
was, uh, looking at slide 10 around the year end savings averages, obviously, uh,

1852
02:47:19,035 --> 02:47:22,975
you um, you all did a uh, and we've been talking about the ongoing issues

1853
02:47:23,295 --> 02:47:27,055
with our, um, our health department, unfortunately. Um, can you talk a little bit about,

1854
02:47:27,475 --> 02:47:30,975
um, economic development opportunity? 'cause it looks like they had, um, overages

1855
02:47:31,535 --> 02:47:35,375
and I just wanted to know why. Yeah, so, um, that has been, uh, chronic that

1856
02:47:35,655 --> 02:47:39,655
it happens, uh, um, uh, over and over again. And it's really because of where we record

1857
02:47:40,055 --> 02:47:43,935
the expenses. So they have a pretty small general fund budget for their,

1858
02:47:44,275 --> 02:47:47,855
um, for their economic development opportunity, um, work. But they

1859
02:47:48,485 --> 02:47:52,395
also are the repository for any time that we buy a building. Um, then if

1860
02:47:52,615 --> 02:47:56,455
we buy a building midyear, they have the ability they have to fund the operating

1861
02:47:56,995 --> 02:48:00,975
and the security and the utilities, none of which they have budget

1862
02:48:01,235 --> 02:48:05,175
for. And so, uh, they essentially absorb those expenses and do whatever they can to

1863
02:48:05,375 --> 02:48:09,315
manage within that. And then, uh, we give a budget correction at the end of the year. So,

1864
02:48:09,755 --> 02:48:13,615
uh, this was all telegraphed, this wasn't a surprise. Um, uh, these are things

1865
02:48:13,895 --> 02:48:17,655
that, you know, they get, you know, given during the year that then they have to, uh, address

1866
02:48:18,475 --> 02:48:22,145
and some of these projects, you know, they'll carry for two or three or four years while

1867
02:48:22,495 --> 02:48:26,315
we work on the, um, the, uh, you know, the infrastructure project to

1868
02:48:26,695 --> 02:48:30,585
formally turn it over, uh, to the operating department. Understood. Um, mayor,

1869
02:48:31,035 --> 02:48:34,745
can I ask one more question? Um, and the last question is for slide

1870
02:48:35,095 --> 02:48:38,935
12, uh, talking about the one-time balancing solutions, um, we talked about fleet

1871
02:48:39,175 --> 02:48:43,095
financing and it talks about transitioning from a cash funded fleet replacement model to a lease

1872
02:48:43,325 --> 02:48:47,075
financing approach for, uh, for your all general fund vehicles. I'm

1873
02:48:47,375 --> 02:48:51,285
assuming this has to do with our ongoing conversation, uh, kevin, about long

1874
02:48:51,575 --> 02:48:55,495
kind of longer, these longer term assets and then spreading that kind of rev, that kind

1875
02:48:55,655 --> 02:48:59,595
of expense and cost over time. I'm assuming that's related to this? Yes,

1876
02:49:00,075 --> 02:49:03,635
it is related to that. That's correct. Yeah. And if you think about in your own, uh,

1877
02:49:04,095 --> 02:49:07,600
personal life, most people, uh, get a short term car loan to pay pay for a car. So

1878
02:49:08,155 --> 02:49:12,065
even if you had 50, $60,000, you know, to set, you know, to, to

1879
02:49:12,285 --> 02:49:16,145
buy a new car, um, you might not, you know, choose to use all your cash at

1880
02:49:16,365 --> 02:49:20,365
once. And so you would then spread that out over five years. That's essentially what this is,

1881
02:49:20,505 --> 02:49:24,205
is we would then, we're currently setting aside this money in cash every year

1882
02:49:24,865 --> 02:49:28,765
for five years, and then we collect the cash and pay for it. Uh, this allows us to basically

1883
02:49:29,265 --> 02:49:33,085
use some, uh, very low, um, financing 'cause we are a government, uh, to

1884
02:49:33,285 --> 02:49:37,165
be able to, uh, use this cash for other purposes while we continue to fund

1885
02:49:37,325 --> 02:49:39,445
our fleet. Understood. Alright, thank you so much,

1886
02:49:41,975 --> 02:49:45,605
council member allen. Yes. Uh, thank you and thank you financial management and

1887
02:49:46,205 --> 02:49:49,925
all the departments, uh, for providing this, uh, mid-year update

1888
02:49:50,965 --> 02:49:54,935
and for being so, uh, transparent about the challenges that

1889
02:49:55,225 --> 02:49:59,105
we have ahead of us. Um, I also appreciate tom, um, you explaining

1890
02:50:00,045 --> 02:50:03,745
how we're funded because we'll, we'll have to continue

1891
02:50:04,085 --> 02:50:08,045
to talk to the public and help them to understand that, um, you

1892
02:50:08,265 --> 02:50:11,905
know, we hear the same thing, I'm sure all of our offices do. Like, why are you spending money here?

1893
02:50:12,325 --> 02:50:15,905
we should be doing this. And so I think us continuing to educate,

1894
02:50:16,765 --> 02:50:20,705
uh, the public, um, it was really great and I do appreciate you did a great job at explaining

1895
02:50:21,345 --> 02:50:24,975
that. Um, I think this, uh, report makes it clear that the city

1896
02:50:25,485 --> 02:50:29,485
is facing both, um, lower than expected revenues and,

1897
02:50:29,925 --> 02:50:33,905
um, higher costs for, uh, maintaining, uh, those services.

1898
02:50:34,845 --> 02:50:38,805
um, I do appreciate that reserves and other one-time solutions are

1899
02:50:39,025 --> 02:50:42,885
helping us avoid immediate service reductions, but

1900
02:50:43,165 --> 02:50:47,045
we also know that those are, uh, just, uh, temporary, uh,

1901
02:50:47,375 --> 02:50:50,425
solutions, um, as we begin fy 2027

1902
02:50:51,605 --> 02:50:55,545
budget process. Um, and I look forward to serving, uh, with the chair

1903
02:50:55,785 --> 02:50:59,705
on the boc. I think it's important, um, that we receive clear information,

1904
02:51:01,405 --> 02:51:05,385
um, and about the proposed, uh, reductions, which I know we

1905
02:51:05,545 --> 02:51:09,525
will. And then how the services employees are being affected and how,

1906
02:51:10,285 --> 02:51:13,425
um, the city plans to, uh, to build those reserves.

1907
02:51:14,605 --> 02:51:18,585
and our goal must be to protect essential services while developing

1908
02:51:19,185 --> 02:51:22,665
a responsible, sustainable plan that reflects the revenue

1909
02:51:23,445 --> 02:51:27,065
the city can realist, realistically expect and depend on.

1910
02:51:27,565 --> 02:51:30,305
so, uh, thank you again, um, for, uh, your presentation.

1911
02:51:32,245 --> 02:51:36,175
thank you. Council member sorrow. Yes. To add to my

1912
02:51:36,635 --> 02:51:40,525
colleagues' comments, I appreciate this presentation. It's a little bit more digestible

1913
02:51:41,495 --> 02:51:45,325
in general to have visuals and you know, one of my favorite shows

1914
02:51:46,135 --> 02:51:49,215
is mythbusters. I love that show, and

1915
02:51:50,315 --> 02:51:54,035
I think it's, uh, one of my requests was how do we make it digestible to the public

1916
02:51:54,335 --> 02:51:58,275
who doesn't understand, um, the, the ways

1917
02:51:58,505 --> 02:52:02,435
that budget works for a public entity versus a small business

1918
02:52:03,455 --> 02:52:06,365
or, uh, even individual budgets, home budgets.

1919
02:52:07,485 --> 02:52:11,105
I think it's hard to understand that you get other source of revenue that's

1920
02:52:11,845 --> 02:52:15,445
restricted. I think nonprofits understand that because you have restricted

1921
02:52:16,105 --> 02:52:19,845
grants to spend it for specific things. But I think that

1922
02:52:20,145 --> 02:52:24,025
one of the areas, because I'm not going to be here on august 4th and

1923
02:52:24,655 --> 02:52:27,925
we're gonna be doing a due to work, my other jobs,

1924
02:52:28,705 --> 02:52:32,345
uh, travel , uh, I would like to be here for it, but, um,

1925
02:52:32,845 --> 02:52:36,485
I know there's gonna be health and human service presentation, but one of the areas I think

1926
02:52:37,055 --> 02:52:40,965
would require a lot of myth busting is around how we're spending

1927
02:52:41,185 --> 02:52:44,965
our homeless services dollars. I think that there's a, because

1928
02:52:45,555 --> 02:52:49,285
it's such, uh, an important issue to all of our residents

1929
02:52:49,605 --> 02:52:53,455
and businesses, it would be great if there's a way we can make sure we're

1930
02:52:53,805 --> 02:52:57,695
lifting out, um, uh, facts about

1931
02:52:58,785 --> 02:53:01,825
wh why certain dollars are being spent a certain way.

1932
02:53:02,825 --> 02:53:06,555
um, because as we have our, uh, homeless time count come

1933
02:53:06,905 --> 02:53:10,725
out, it's important we share well what, where those

1934
02:53:10,925 --> 02:53:14,845
dollars came from and how they're spent in a myth busting way. It also

1935
02:53:15,045 --> 02:53:18,955
makes it more entertaining, right? It's like, oh, that's a myth. What,

1936
02:53:20,045 --> 02:53:23,795
I gotta check this out, right? So anyway, thank you very much. Um, look

1937
02:53:24,085 --> 02:53:27,725
forward to hearing more from the team on, um, how we're gonna close

1938
02:53:28,265 --> 02:53:30,885
the deficit, but also make sure we're responsibly,

1939
02:53:32,345 --> 02:53:36,025
uh, preparing for our future, uh, budget and, um,

1940
02:53:37,065 --> 02:53:40,965
and our expenses as well. Thank you. Thank you. And, uh, just, uh, to help share,

1941
02:53:41,265 --> 02:53:44,805
we have been starting to do actual myth busters. We've been carrying that in our presentations

1942
02:53:45,385 --> 02:53:49,065
and we have a, a, I think it's one page, you know, both sides. Um,

1943
02:53:49,595 --> 02:53:53,565
myth busters very simply broken down. Can you do this? No, you can't. Can you know,

1944
02:53:53,645 --> 02:53:57,485
did this this happen? No, it didn't. Um, those are more about general budget things

1945
02:53:57,725 --> 02:54:01,605
that at long beach.gov/budget, um, but we can start looking at that

1946
02:54:01,745 --> 02:54:05,075
for some other things as well. And I hope we don't get copyright infringement for mythbusters.

1947
02:54:05,765 --> 02:54:09,625
so, well, as a, just quick, if there's a way to make sure the

1948
02:54:09,845 --> 02:54:13,555
science researcher in me ask if we can reference where that information

1949
02:54:14,415 --> 02:54:17,855
comes from so that people know that we're drawing from facts

1950
02:54:18,825 --> 02:54:22,595
and not city, um, you know, city,

1951
02:54:23,345 --> 02:54:26,245
uh, expertise, knowledge, ,

1952
02:54:28,455 --> 02:54:32,315
uh, I think it might be worth paying for the license. Just get ahead of it. It's gonna be a lot more myth

1953
02:54:32,595 --> 02:54:36,435
busting. Long beach myth buster. And we don't need to get a line

1954
02:54:36,745 --> 02:54:40,195
myth, myth, figure out if we can do a lb in there somehow.

1955
02:54:41,535 --> 02:54:42,775
uh, council member duggan.

1956
02:54:45,735 --> 02:54:49,735
um, alright. Yes, the myth busters are great. I think it's important for

1957
02:54:49,955 --> 02:54:53,875
people to understand what is the truth and what perception

1958
02:54:54,435 --> 02:54:58,105
is. So, but I also think it's important that, uh, council

1959
02:54:58,745 --> 02:55:02,185
clearly understands what services are being reduced

1960
02:55:03,705 --> 02:55:07,535
or deprioritized in order for departments to hit their

1961
02:55:07,885 --> 02:55:11,665
3% goal. So my office has heard, ex

1962
02:55:12,335 --> 02:55:15,565
heard this over and over, and we hear from residents. We, by happenstance,

1963
02:55:17,005 --> 02:55:20,485
I have three examples. Uh, we heard from examples

1964
02:55:21,045 --> 02:55:23,845
of things that were cut as part of the 3%

1965
02:55:25,565 --> 02:55:29,445
reduction or savings. First of all, we heard that from a community member that

1966
02:55:29,685 --> 02:55:33,525
the long beach police department was no longer supporting county led cleanups

1967
02:55:34,575 --> 02:55:38,265
along our waterway. We didn't know that we were struggling

1968
02:55:38,865 --> 02:55:42,375
with it. That can become a public safety concern,

1969
02:55:43,165 --> 02:55:47,085
but it was part of that 3% savings. Um,

1970
02:55:47,405 --> 02:55:50,845
we also heard that the city isn't removing tree stumps

1971
02:55:52,375 --> 02:55:55,335
to save money and, um,

1972
02:55:57,065 --> 02:56:00,905
because funding has been exhausted, but when

1973
02:56:01,195 --> 02:56:05,015
a tree stump isn't removed, people aren't going to be able to replace the

1974
02:56:05,265 --> 02:56:08,795
tree. It doesn't look very good when you're driving down the street.

1975
02:56:09,575 --> 02:56:13,505
the third example is, uh, we were told that tree trimming that

1976
02:56:13,795 --> 02:56:17,735
would be a, a, a safety measure to,

1977
02:56:18,575 --> 02:56:22,415
um, widen, uh, visibility around

1978
02:56:22,945 --> 02:56:26,555
crosswalks, traffic signs that

1979
02:56:26,985 --> 02:56:30,755
may not be a priority. And tree trimming is important

1980
02:56:31,545 --> 02:56:35,105
in these situations, uh, and potential

1981
02:56:36,115 --> 02:56:39,955
reduction in these services that my

1982
02:56:40,175 --> 02:56:43,615
office isn't learning about. We're learning, again by happenstance through

1983
02:56:44,215 --> 02:56:47,725
residents, um, that makes it more difficult

1984
02:56:48,265 --> 02:56:52,125
for us to be blindsided when residents are hearing it before

1985
02:56:52,445 --> 02:56:55,755
us. So can staff provide more details

1986
02:56:56,625 --> 02:57:00,385
on which services have been reduced, paused,

1987
02:57:01,275 --> 02:57:05,245
delayed deprioritized, um, as part of this

1988
02:57:05,405 --> 02:57:09,205
3% target savings? And if it,

1989
02:57:09,715 --> 02:57:13,705
it's a lot. So if we can have a tff on that, unless

1990
02:57:14,185 --> 02:57:18,085
you can go through more of those three percents, the tff would

1991
02:57:18,365 --> 02:57:21,125
be great. So we have it in writing and we can share with our residents.

1992
02:57:22,665 --> 02:57:26,405
yes. Um, so those have been in some of our financial reports, uh, so we can pull that part

1993
02:57:26,705 --> 02:57:30,325
out and give you some of that information. So yeah, a 3% savings and saving $20 million

1994
02:57:31,185 --> 02:57:35,045
out of the budget doesn't come without any sort of impact. So we were pretty

1995
02:57:35,205 --> 02:57:39,205
clear early on when we did these savings that there will be impacts, but we're going

1996
02:57:39,325 --> 02:57:43,205
to minimize the effect on the public as much as possible. So first we looked internally,

1997
02:57:44,145 --> 02:57:48,105
uh, and said, what can we do if we're not gonna fill certain admin positions and others? Um,

1998
02:57:48,355 --> 02:57:51,735
there's not a list where we say cut these things. This was really budget management

1999
02:57:52,405 --> 02:57:56,385
that each individual department, uh, needed to come up with. And so for

2000
02:57:56,605 --> 02:58:00,085
those three examples, I can give good examples on those. We've heard some of that too.

2001
02:58:00,625 --> 02:58:04,605
uh, quality of life, um, was not cut in the budget. Uh, we still have the exact same amount

2002
02:58:04,885 --> 02:58:08,795
of quality of life officers. What we don't have is their extra overtime that

2003
02:58:09,085 --> 02:58:13,005
they were doing. So the police department to save, I believe their, it was in the,

2004
02:58:13,145 --> 02:58:17,065
you know, $10 million range needed to basically say, I can own, I'm

2005
02:58:17,285 --> 02:58:21,185
gonna prioritize our overtime for our patrols call for spon or

2006
02:58:21,405 --> 02:58:25,365
call for service. So, uh, that's where their overtime went. Uh, we had set aside

2007
02:58:25,685 --> 02:58:29,235
over several years money to do additional work in the, um, riverbeds

2008
02:58:29,915 --> 02:58:33,805
that the county's not doing. Um, and so that was funding, uh, our ability of quality

2009
02:58:33,925 --> 02:58:37,905
of life to go above and beyond when that account is exhausted and

2010
02:58:38,125 --> 02:58:41,885
they didn't have any other additional overtime to draw on. They had to basically do it within

2011
02:58:42,175 --> 02:58:46,125
their existing services. So, uh, that just meant we couldn't go above and beyond

2012
02:58:46,405 --> 02:58:50,285
and do more. Uh, same thing with tree trumps or tree stumps. Uh, we don't

2013
02:58:50,485 --> 02:58:54,405
really have a very large budget for tree stumps. And so, uh, in the past, uh, public

2014
02:58:54,685 --> 02:58:58,565
service would just try to get it done. If more requests came in than funded, they'd try

2015
02:58:58,725 --> 02:59:02,665
to save somewhere else. But when we take their ability to, um, to

2016
02:59:02,885 --> 02:59:06,725
save somewhere else by taking that 3%, they have nowhere else to put those expenses.

2017
02:59:07,025 --> 02:59:11,005
and so they would essentially get to their budget and then say, we're gonna have to wait until we get

2018
02:59:11,165 --> 02:59:14,885
more budget. And so again, we didn't cut the program tree trimming and tree

2019
02:59:15,205 --> 02:59:19,065
stumps are still there, but we ran out of capacity to do extra. Um,

2020
02:59:19,345 --> 02:59:22,755
and then on the tree trimming as well, so we have our grid tree trimming and that continued.

2021
02:59:23,585 --> 02:59:27,525
uh, but then, um, same thing. A lot of about those extra limbs and things are

2022
02:59:27,725 --> 02:59:31,285
done on overtime and so, uh, they still go out and do those and we can still prioritize

2023
02:59:31,885 --> 02:59:35,405
safety. Uh, but uh, we don't have as many resources to do those, especially

2024
02:59:35,925 --> 02:59:39,745
the, the alternative ones. Uh, so there's a, you know, basically every department had

2025
02:59:39,965 --> 02:59:43,345
to make those kind of funding decisions. Some chose to reduce

2026
02:59:44,045 --> 02:59:48,005
overtime, some chose to not fill positions and increase overtime. And so I give

2027
02:59:48,355 --> 02:59:51,605
each department director that flexibility to manage that 3%.

2028
02:59:55,005 --> 02:59:58,905
I just think when safety concerns are a part of these budget

2029
02:59:59,595 --> 03:00:02,585
savings, we really need to look at our

2030
03:00:03,655 --> 03:00:07,075
basic services related to safety. Yeah.

2031
03:00:07,705 --> 03:00:11,405
and so that is the difference between the, the budget management and the budget, you know,

2032
03:00:11,805 --> 03:00:15,645
reductions this year and trying to reduce the 3%. It's really not a good strategy long term

2033
03:00:16,265 --> 03:00:20,125
to do this by percentages. So, um, it's sometimes tempting that,

2034
03:00:20,465 --> 03:00:23,855
um, you know, the residents will say, well just reduce everyone's budget by two, five, 7%

2035
03:00:24,605 --> 03:00:28,245
and you're done. It's really important in the budget process to outline what those

2036
03:00:28,885 --> 03:00:32,525
specific impacts are gonna be and have a public policy debate and have your

2037
03:00:33,035 --> 03:00:36,865
your council be able to make those decisions. So that is what you get to do in,

2038
03:00:37,185 --> 03:00:40,845
in august. Um, it won't be an easy task. It'll be some, some difficult choices,

2039
03:00:41,545 --> 03:00:45,485
but that those are actual budget reductions as opposed to budget management. We will

2040
03:00:45,655 --> 03:00:49,485
spell out this is what we are gonna have to reduce and then there'll be, there'll

2041
03:00:50,045 --> 03:00:53,805
be clear, you know, um, understanding of what those service impacts

2042
03:00:54,285 --> 03:00:58,245
will be and that's what the council will have to vote on and either accept or reject or give an

2043
03:00:58,365 --> 03:00:59,765
alternative and figure out something else.

2044
03:01:03,035 --> 03:01:06,485
alright, thank you. Councilman carr. Yeah, I wanna thank the team for a presentation.

2045
03:01:07,145 --> 03:01:10,925
um, and the rec only question I had, uh, dr. Ricks odi asked, which

2046
03:01:11,165 --> 03:01:15,145
was, um, how do we make the projections for the budget on taxes? And

2047
03:01:15,365 --> 03:01:18,605
I appreciate you giving us a really straightforward, honest answer

2048
03:01:19,435 --> 03:01:23,365
that is shareable. Um, the piece about the property taxes, I don't

2049
03:01:23,525 --> 03:01:27,525
think a lot of people understood that there is kind of a sharing of the pain on that.

2050
03:01:28,185 --> 03:01:31,625
um, and also that you have engaged the auditor's office to see how,

2051
03:01:32,735 --> 03:01:36,415
um, that projection was so off and making sure that everything, um,

2052
03:01:36,815 --> 03:01:40,435
is happening the way that it should be. So, um, I appreciate the straightforward

2053
03:01:40,995 --> 03:01:44,895
responses. Thank you. Alright, well, uh, good

2054
03:01:45,185 --> 03:01:48,985
budget management. We wish the circumstances were different. I think, uh, we have to

2055
03:01:49,265 --> 03:01:53,105
continue our focus on revenue growth and diversification, and we need to figure out what happened with measure

2056
03:01:53,765 --> 03:01:57,735
lb. We projected $15 million in general fund

2057
03:01:58,025 --> 03:02:01,305
revenue from that measure. Uh, I think the number was like 90 million

2058
03:02:02,095 --> 03:02:06,065
between now and 23rd. Some crazy number like that. It's crazy. Seems crazy now, but it

2059
03:02:06,185 --> 03:02:09,945
was, you know, voters voted for that at 80%, right? So I think there's

2060
03:02:10,225 --> 03:02:14,065
an expectation. So we'll be, you know, we'll be asking the auditor to make their

2061
03:02:14,505 --> 03:02:18,405
her number one focus, um, on ensuring that we are getting, uh,

2062
03:02:18,625 --> 03:02:22,625
our fair share and that, uh, our, our, you know, every resident in long beach

2063
03:02:22,825 --> 03:02:26,585
pays the utility users tax and show should the power plants, we put it on the ballot, people

2064
03:02:26,905 --> 03:02:30,885
voted for it, that's $15 million in restorations that could potentially be there. Uh,

2065
03:02:31,105 --> 03:02:34,945
so that needs to be our focus more to come, uh, in the upcoming budget presentation.

2066
03:02:36,165 --> 03:02:40,115
uh, that said, did we already do public comment here? Okay. Members, please cast

2067
03:02:40,315 --> 03:02:40,515
your vote.

2068
03:02:45,205 --> 03:02:48,915
motion is carried. 35 report

2069
03:02:49,335 --> 03:02:53,295
from public works recommendation to adopt a resolution to execute a contract and any necessary

2070
03:02:54,215 --> 03:02:58,135
documents, including any necessary subsequent amendments with landscape

2071
03:02:58,895 --> 03:03:02,815
structures for providing outdoor fitness equipment, playground equipment, water play

2072
03:03:03,095 --> 03:03:07,095
equipment, installation, servicing, site furnishing and related products,

2073
03:03:07,655 --> 03:03:11,535
accessories and services on an as needed basis in a total contract amount,

2074
03:03:12,155 --> 03:03:16,015
not to exceed $5 million citywide. Thank you. Is there any public

2075
03:03:16,215 --> 03:03:20,215
comment? Yes, there is

2076
03:03:20,395 --> 03:03:24,335
one public comment, speaker need for transparency. If you're still in the

2077
03:03:24,655 --> 03:03:25,615
audience, please come forward.

2078
03:03:29,345 --> 03:03:31,995
that concludes public comment. Members, please cast your vote.

2079
03:03:37,325 --> 03:03:41,265
motion is carried. Thank you. Now we'll go to our final public comment.

2080
03:03:46,005 --> 03:03:47,995
there are six speakers signed up. Need for transparency,

2081
03:03:50,225 --> 03:03:52,625
long beach, gray panthers, and zoom, russell c. Waters,

2082
03:03:55,855 --> 03:03:59,585
fred veto, and jackson martin,

2083
03:04:00,185 --> 03:04:04,155
if I can have need for transparency, who is no, no longer in the audience. Next,

2084
03:04:04,445 --> 03:04:05,445
if you heard your name, please come forward.

2085
03:04:09,745 --> 03:04:13,675
next speaker is long beach, gray panthers and zoom. We have

2086
03:04:13,795 --> 03:04:16,905
long beach gray panthers on zoom. You are now unmuted.

2087
03:04:18,025 --> 03:04:18,895
your time starts now.

2088
03:04:40,595 --> 03:04:42,045
long beach gray panthers, your time starts.

2089
03:04:52,115 --> 03:04:55,875
we're gonna move on to the next public speaker, russell c. Water.

2090
03:04:59,245 --> 03:05:03,185
hi, how are you? Uh, you may remember me a a few years

2091
03:05:03,465 --> 03:05:07,135
ago I was in there crying with my child who had been taken from

2092
03:05:07,585 --> 03:05:11,465
d by dcfs at the behest of your deputy

2093
03:05:12,735 --> 03:05:16,155
city attorney. Today I want to talk about the crown

2094
03:05:16,845 --> 03:05:20,745
act. And specifically I want talk about the

2095
03:05:21,125 --> 03:05:25,025
occupational provisions of the crown act. Now,

2096
03:05:25,245 --> 03:05:29,245
the crown act passed in 2019, in june, I think it

2097
03:05:29,445 --> 03:05:32,805
was in july. It went into effect in january

2098
03:05:33,465 --> 03:05:37,005
of 2020. We had a pandemic. Nobody

2099
03:05:37,825 --> 03:05:40,625
realized what was going on. We came out in 21, 20 21,

2100
03:05:42,385 --> 03:05:46,345
and we went and we began to conduct ourselves freely based on the crown

2101
03:05:46,725 --> 03:05:50,305
act. And immediately we were attacked by the city,

2102
03:05:51,565 --> 03:05:54,805
but not just any attack. It was a multi-agency

2103
03:05:57,235 --> 03:06:01,155
task force to take us down. It was so bad

2104
03:06:01,765 --> 03:06:05,095
that sergeant sono had to stop the illegal

2105
03:06:05,805 --> 03:06:09,785
raid that lets you know that it was a federal

2106
03:06:10,275 --> 03:06:13,855
crime. Do you know when the last time it's been

2107
03:06:15,305 --> 03:06:19,175
since law enforcement had to

2108
03:06:19,725 --> 03:06:23,475
stop the city attorney's office from

2109
03:06:23,875 --> 03:06:27,165
attacking black people for their civil rights? It was reconstruction

2110
03:06:30,255 --> 03:06:33,555
the first time that it's happened in our history since reconstruction.

2111
03:06:35,255 --> 03:06:39,235
now the ticket came in, we went to court, I won.

2112
03:06:39,795 --> 03:06:43,695
you've never found out about it. You didn't know that the occupational provisions of

2113
03:06:43,855 --> 03:06:47,765
the crown act were the law of long beach. You know why? We know you didn't know? Because

2114
03:06:48,395 --> 03:06:52,125
you never made any changes to the protocols. You never made

2115
03:06:52,435 --> 03:06:56,205
any changes to the licensing. You never made any changes

2116
03:06:56,625 --> 03:07:00,445
to the enforcement. The police were still out there giving people tickets

2117
03:07:02,385 --> 03:07:06,205
and you passed laws to un to undermine, to nullify

2118
03:07:06,585 --> 03:07:10,145
the law. You are in what they call monell

2119
03:07:11,165 --> 03:07:15,035
territory like ferguson. That's where you are right now because

2120
03:07:15,625 --> 03:07:19,475
you had a chance to adjust. You didn't, it went to court, you lost,

2121
03:07:20,025 --> 03:07:23,865
you didn't acknowledge it. And then you went on to pass all

2122
03:07:24,085 --> 03:07:27,985
kinds of ordinances that undermined it. And then on top of that, you

2123
03:07:28,205 --> 03:07:31,525
gotta add the corruption. So now let me tell you where we are.

2124
03:07:32,385 --> 03:07:36,345
you have 30 days to meet our demands. If you do

2125
03:07:36,585 --> 03:07:39,605
not meet our demands, we are filing any a motion

2126
03:07:41,205 --> 03:07:44,665
for summary judgment. One phone call. It's over.

2127
03:07:45,445 --> 03:07:49,245
as soon as sergeant solorzano admits that he had to call off

2128
03:07:49,465 --> 03:07:53,085
the entire operation led by your deputy

2129
03:07:53,695 --> 03:07:57,275
city attorney, it's over. I'm letting you know

2130
03:07:57,865 --> 03:08:01,075
here. The affidavit is right here. Each of you will have a copy.

2131
03:08:04,285 --> 03:08:06,305
next speaker, please. Fred,

2132
03:08:10,635 --> 03:08:14,075
is there fred in the audience? Yes. ? Yes.

2133
03:08:14,685 --> 03:08:14,685
okay.

2134
03:08:21,775 --> 03:08:25,505
hello. Uh, I'm here tonight to, to ask you why

2135
03:08:25,825 --> 03:08:29,355
the city of long beach okayed a hauling contract with

2136
03:08:30,005 --> 03:08:33,995
republic services. We called you because

2137
03:08:34,545 --> 03:08:38,525
we had some trash in our yard, building trash that needed to be disposed. We

2138
03:08:38,725 --> 03:08:42,625
were told we needed to use a private holder hauler. We were given the

2139
03:08:42,845 --> 03:08:46,295
name of republic services and it's been a nightmarish experience.

2140
03:08:47,345 --> 03:08:51,285
the bill has been $1,800 instead of $1,800. And we've

2141
03:08:51,525 --> 03:08:55,305
had all sorts of problems with communication, failure to

2142
03:08:55,585 --> 03:08:59,505
act lies, overcharging, et cetera. Now

2143
03:08:59,835 --> 03:09:03,805
anybody who, who did their due diligence would know that this is

2144
03:09:04,085 --> 03:09:07,725
a horrible company. If you go online like I did within

2145
03:09:08,305 --> 03:09:11,965
an hour, I found out that all of the major services

2146
03:09:12,315 --> 03:09:15,605
that evaluate the, uh, competency of a company

2147
03:09:16,475 --> 03:09:20,265
give this company 1.1 out

2148
03:09:20,485 --> 03:09:24,445
of a lowest score of one. 90% of people who deal

2149
03:09:24,685 --> 03:09:28,585
with this company give it the worst possible rating. And

2150
03:09:28,825 --> 03:09:32,445
yet, your city has signed a contract with this organization.

2151
03:09:34,115 --> 03:09:37,565
this organization is the second biggest hauler in the united states.

2152
03:09:39,235 --> 03:09:43,005
it's 35% owned by bill gates, and they have,

2153
03:09:43,625 --> 03:09:44,965
uh, all sorts. They have $177 million

2154
03:09:48,025 --> 03:09:51,825
in, in, in, uh, judgments against them. They've had

2155
03:09:52,045 --> 03:09:55,745
a garbage strike in our neighboring seal beach. They've had two

2156
03:09:56,115 --> 03:10:00,065
huge lawsuits in huntington beach. And it goes on and

2157
03:10:00,385 --> 03:10:03,585
on and on. And I'm confused how

2158
03:10:04,605 --> 03:10:08,325
a competent, uh, city could have signed a

2159
03:10:08,685 --> 03:10:12,525
contract with this, this predatory company. This company

2160
03:10:13,075 --> 03:10:17,025
goes after people and tries to take their homes in,

2161
03:10:17,305 --> 03:10:20,975
in when they, when they, uh, uh, protest the, uh, false

2162
03:10:21,325 --> 03:10:24,565
charges that have been, uh, put into their bills.

2163
03:10:25,585 --> 03:10:29,245
uh, and I hope there's a newspaper reporter around because there's a, there's an

2164
03:10:29,725 --> 03:10:33,605
interesting story. Uh, we need to find out how the city of long

2165
03:10:33,885 --> 03:10:37,745
beach signed this company. Who evaluated the contract, who

2166
03:10:37,965 --> 03:10:41,765
did their due diligence, uh, who signed off on it, city council members,

2167
03:10:42,625 --> 03:10:46,555
uh, city managers, mayors, et cetera. What about the city lawyers who evaluated

2168
03:10:47,165 --> 03:10:51,155
this contract? Uh, there's something rotten, uh, with

2169
03:10:51,445 --> 03:10:55,365
this, this process. Uh, the city, when we called the

2170
03:10:55,565 --> 03:10:59,365
city, they gave us this, they gave us three names, but this

2171
03:10:59,645 --> 03:11:03,505
was the name on the top of the list. Uh, and we followed the advice and

2172
03:11:03,785 --> 03:11:05,805
got stung badly. Thank you very much.

2173
03:11:08,025 --> 03:11:09,755
next speaker is v two and then jackson.

2174
03:11:16,005 --> 03:11:19,945
hi, my name is vitu. I am a resident of long beach. I live

2175
03:11:20,105 --> 03:11:24,055
in the third district. I am a rising senior at wilson high

2176
03:11:24,345 --> 03:11:28,345
school. I come here today because I'm passionate about the environment.

2177
03:11:28,845 --> 03:11:32,705
I'm passionate about, uh, trees and expanding access to

2178
03:11:32,905 --> 03:11:36,825
our green spaces and preserving those green spaces here in long beach. I believe trees

2179
03:11:37,125 --> 03:11:40,865
are essential. They're essential to our wellbeing. They're essential to our health. They're essential

2180
03:11:41,245 --> 03:11:45,225
to making our neighborhoods look, um, like places that you want to live in.

2181
03:11:45,385 --> 03:11:49,225
they are, they're proven to help,

2182
03:11:50,405 --> 03:11:53,595
um, combat climate change, reduce,

2183
03:11:54,595 --> 03:11:58,235
uh, um, the prevalence of heat islands and

2184
03:11:58,725 --> 03:12:01,735
also, strangely enough, reduce speeding in our, in our neighborhoods.

2185
03:12:03,995 --> 03:12:07,695
the forest service recommends that 30% of cities

2186
03:12:08,055 --> 03:12:11,855
should be covered in tree canopy. Uh, in long

2187
03:12:12,135 --> 03:12:15,655
beach. Only 15% on average is covered by trees

2188
03:12:16,395 --> 03:12:19,775
in some areas as low as 5% in some areas as low as 9%.

2189
03:12:21,335 --> 03:12:24,795
of course, I know. Um, I've done some research efforts are being made

2190
03:12:25,495 --> 03:12:29,495
in, uh, the upcoming budget in past budgets to address this demand,

2191
03:12:30,255 --> 03:12:33,955
uh, for trees. But I believe, um,

2192
03:12:34,755 --> 03:12:38,675
one section of our, of long beach that should be, uh,

2193
03:12:38,895 --> 03:12:42,695
looked into for, um, planting trees is the stretch

2194
03:12:43,245 --> 03:12:47,245
from, um, anaheim to pch

2195
03:12:47,745 --> 03:12:51,085
on examine that corridor could really use some trees.

2196
03:12:51,905 --> 03:12:55,405
um, I personally go down, um, that street, uh, going to school.

2197
03:12:56,425 --> 03:13:00,115
um, and I would really appreciate if city council could look into

2198
03:13:00,535 --> 03:13:04,505
maybe, um, in the upcoming budget, uh, ways to,

2199
03:13:05,105 --> 03:13:08,905
um, expand that. Um, tree canopy. Uh,

2200
03:13:09,215 --> 03:13:13,075
thank you very much everyone. Have a great evening. All right. V two, hang

2201
03:13:13,385 --> 03:13:17,255
on. It's a good issue. Uh, good to see you.

2202
03:13:17,415 --> 03:13:21,135
you're still, so you're interning in cd three now? Yes. Good. So v two,

2203
03:13:21,635 --> 03:13:25,595
his first internship with the city was in my office last year as mayor. And

2204
03:13:26,075 --> 03:13:29,845
the good news is, it is budget season. I hope you're talking with your, your

2205
03:13:30,135 --> 03:13:34,135
boss, your new boss, uh, council member duggan about trees. Um, and I'm

2206
03:13:34,335 --> 03:13:38,215
glad to see that you're, you're um, continuing uh, your service with the city.

2207
03:13:38,395 --> 03:13:42,295
and what are you senior now? I'm gonna be a senior. Gonna be a senior. Congratulations. Thanks for coming down.

2208
03:13:42,535 --> 03:13:46,195
thank you. Alright, next speaker is jackson.

2209
03:13:52,825 --> 03:13:56,615
hello everyone. My name is jackson and um, I also live in city council

2210
03:13:57,215 --> 03:14:00,775
district three and like v two. I'm also an upcoming senior at wilson high school.

2211
03:14:01,755 --> 03:14:05,335
um, I have recently been recently been noticing a lot more flooding

2212
03:14:06,125 --> 03:14:09,835
near the marina where I live. Um, and

2213
03:14:10,515 --> 03:14:14,315
on high tides, the water is getting dangerously close to, or if not

2214
03:14:14,965 --> 03:14:18,935
like, just close to outright flooding the areas near the marina.

2215
03:14:19,955 --> 03:14:23,775
um, the reason I've decided to speak about this though is because even though I've

2216
03:14:23,975 --> 03:14:27,955
noticed this my entire life, it's been getting a lot worse recently. Um,

2217
03:14:28,715 --> 03:14:32,635
for example, near the um, like marine stadium launch

2218
03:14:33,085 --> 03:14:36,875
ramp, there's a parking lot and usually on high tides the

2219
03:14:37,095 --> 03:14:40,845
water can come kind of close, like maybe a foot underneath like

2220
03:14:41,155 --> 03:14:45,095
the surface of like where the street is or in like the beach coming up to

2221
03:14:45,215 --> 03:14:49,205
it. Um, recently it's been outright flooding the parking lot, like

2222
03:14:49,545 --> 03:14:53,535
water when it's been high tides. I've been noticing this a lot recently. High tides are just

2223
03:14:54,265 --> 03:14:57,915
completely like over like flooding the parking lot and making it so

2224
03:14:58,425 --> 03:15:01,075
water is intersecting the area. Um,

2225
03:15:02,855 --> 03:15:05,615
I worry about the trajectory of the this problem

2226
03:15:06,875 --> 03:15:10,855
and I worry that eventually it's gonna become such an

2227
03:15:11,015 --> 03:15:14,495
issue that even if we put a lot of resources to it, it's gonna be really hard to solve.

2228
03:15:15,275 --> 03:15:19,215
so I advocate for a reallocation, some, some reallocation of the

2229
03:15:19,475 --> 03:15:23,415
city's budget in order to try to fix these problems near the waterfront areas

2230
03:15:23,755 --> 03:15:27,335
in marine stadium, naples and the beach areas in long beach.

2231
03:15:28,065 --> 03:15:31,525
thank you city council and thank you mayor for your time. I appreciate it. Alright,

2232
03:15:32,145 --> 03:15:35,815
thank you. Another budget request. Council member duggan. Thank you.

2233
03:15:36,205 --> 03:15:40,095
alright, that concludes public comment. Alright, thank you so

2234
03:15:40,295 --> 03:15:44,215
much. Um, uh, I'm tempted to

2235
03:15:44,415 --> 03:15:48,335
make a joke about this. I'm not gonna do it right now. Time council member, we wait

2236
03:15:48,575 --> 03:15:52,475
until we, we get in the budget discussions and then we're gonna break out the button. , I've

2237
03:15:52,765 --> 03:15:56,715
heard it. All right. Uh, okay, so now we're getting into

2238
03:15:57,005 --> 03:16:00,425
closing comments and adjournment. Queue up now.

2239
03:16:03,635 --> 03:16:07,465
alright, I think people ready to go home. Oh, here we go. Council member sorrow.

2240
03:16:08,385 --> 03:16:12,105
yes. Um, there's several great events happening uh,

2241
03:16:12,395 --> 03:16:16,125
this weekend. Uh, I wanted to invite, uh, everyone

2242
03:16:16,465 --> 03:16:20,385
or um, to the everyone's coast zone in update

2243
03:16:20,805 --> 03:16:24,445
and mobility plan meeting to learn more about the potential transportation

2244
03:16:25,105 --> 03:16:28,605
and mobility improvements that will make it easier, safer, and more comfortable

2245
03:16:29,465 --> 03:16:33,425
to travel to the coast. And this is gonna be saturday, uh,

2246
03:16:33,955 --> 03:16:37,945
july 25th from 9:00 am to 1:00 pm at macarthur park. And

2247
03:16:38,165 --> 03:16:41,925
then also the same day there's a neighborhood

2248
03:16:42,205 --> 03:16:45,805
leadership program rise through learning. Um, it's an education

2249
03:16:46,805 --> 03:16:50,725
resource fair happening at macarthur park, so you can do

2250
03:16:50,885 --> 03:16:54,765
two events in one place. The other uh, is that we have

2251
03:16:54,925 --> 03:16:58,515
a movies in the park this friday, july 24th at six 30 showing

2252
03:16:59,315 --> 03:17:03,185
hoppers at mlk, uh, uh, junior park. And on

2253
03:17:03,405 --> 03:17:07,325
monday, july 27th at 6:30 pm there's gonna be

2254
03:17:07,445 --> 03:17:11,035
a showing of super mario galaxy movie at mcbride

2255
03:17:11,525 --> 03:17:14,325
park. So we'll see you at one of those events. Thank you.

2256
03:17:17,265 --> 03:17:21,235
alright, thank you. Council member carr. Yes. Thank you mr. Mayor. This weekend in honor

2257
03:17:21,435 --> 03:17:24,915
of national adoption week, I invite residents to consider adopting a kitten

2258
03:17:25,535 --> 03:17:29,315
in need of a forever home. Our local nonprofit, the little lion foundation, is hosting

2259
03:17:29,715 --> 03:17:32,985
a summer is cooler with kitten's adoption event this saturday, july 25th

2260
03:17:33,755 --> 03:17:37,555
from 11:00 am to 3:00 pm at signal hill petsmart at 2 5 5

2261
03:17:38,155 --> 03:17:42,015
oh cherry this saturday, july 25th. You can also bring the whole family to

2262
03:17:42,235 --> 03:17:44,095
the hangar at lbx. No, no

2263
03:17:47,475 --> 03:17:51,435
I, sorry, I asked him. You asked him to push the button. We're just trying

2264
03:17:51,595 --> 03:17:55,555
to talk about lilo and stitch. Come on. So at the hangar at long beach exchange, you can

2265
03:17:55,675 --> 03:17:59,525
go to a lilo and stitch themed to market from noon to five following the market stick

2266
03:17:59,875 --> 03:18:03,795
around the hangar for a free showing of the lilo and stitch movie on the hangar lawn,

2267
03:18:04,235 --> 03:18:08,025
starting at six 30 that same evening. You can stop by ambitious ails

2268
03:18:08,315 --> 03:18:12,125
for their next ambitious records fair from four to 9:00 pm where you can shop and swap records while

2269
03:18:12,475 --> 03:18:16,395
supporting local businesses. And finally, I'd like to invite all of you to my office's next

2270
03:18:16,615 --> 03:18:20,075
cd five community meeting on thursday, july 30th from six to 7:00 pm

2271
03:18:20,855 --> 03:18:24,755
at wardlow park community center. We will have the city manager's office

2272
03:18:24,915 --> 03:18:28,855
there to learn more about the ongoing preparations for the upcoming olympic games. So

2273
03:18:29,075 --> 03:18:33,035
get the latest and greatest on how that's going. And our city clerk will join us to talk about the

2274
03:18:33,155 --> 03:18:37,135
new hybrid city council meeting format and answer your questions. Uh, so

2275
03:18:37,545 --> 03:18:40,075
join us for more information and to learn more. Thanks.

2276
03:18:42,045 --> 03:18:45,915
thank you. Council member allen. Yes. This saturday, july 25th at zacharia

2277
03:18:46,475 --> 03:18:50,115
heights neighborhood association will host its monthly community cleanup

2278
03:18:50,605 --> 03:18:54,445
from 8:00 am to noon at or zba park. And that's at

2279
03:18:54,885 --> 03:18:58,155
1435 or zaba avenue on sunday, july 26th.

2280
03:18:59,625 --> 03:19:03,555
um, I hope that you come and join the carroll park association for its next

2281
03:19:04,025 --> 03:19:07,975
summer concert featuring distracted by dogs performing

2282
03:19:08,645 --> 03:19:12,465
classic rock. The free concert will take place from five to

2283
03:19:12,685 --> 03:19:15,325
6:00 pm in the south parklet. Thank you.

2284
03:19:17,465 --> 03:19:20,675
thank you. Council members zendejas. Thank you. Um,

2285
03:19:22,355 --> 03:19:26,135
exciting times in the washington neighborhood. The washington banner

2286
03:19:26,905 --> 03:19:30,535
unveiling celebration will take place saturday, august 1st

2287
03:19:31,535 --> 03:19:34,955
at 14th street park at 10:30 am to 12:30 pm

2288
03:19:36,695 --> 03:19:40,595
and then we're gonna be headed up to uptown for the jazz festival and

2289
03:19:40,795 --> 03:19:44,635
hope to see everybody there. Um, the craftsman's village

2290
03:19:45,515 --> 03:19:49,465
national night out will be on tuesday, august 4th from 5:00 pm

2291
03:19:50,215 --> 03:19:54,025
to 8:00 pm thank you to the craftsman's village, um, community

2292
03:19:54,775 --> 03:19:58,505
for always hosting a national night out. It's always a great time. Hope

2293
03:19:58,795 --> 03:20:02,675
to see you there and like always please subscribe to my newsletter

2294
03:20:03,695 --> 03:20:07,655
to make sure that you receive all the updates and everything that's going on

2295
03:20:08,185 --> 03:20:12,175
here in the first district as well. I want to say thank you to

2296
03:20:12,395 --> 03:20:15,675
everybody who participated in beach streets this weekend.

2297
03:20:16,555 --> 03:20:20,135
I want to say thank you to councilwoman allen for making

2298
03:20:20,865 --> 03:20:24,735
sure that we all had a great time in the second district. So

2299
03:20:24,955 --> 03:20:28,555
thank you very much for doing so. And also I want,

2300
03:20:29,015 --> 03:20:32,105
um, I want to say that district one proudly

2301
03:20:33,215 --> 03:20:37,075
hosted the world cup champions in our district.

2302
03:20:37,815 --> 03:20:41,775
um, spain was housed in, um, the west end

2303
03:20:42,025 --> 03:20:45,975
here in long beach. So big, big props to us, um, the

2304
03:20:46,195 --> 03:20:50,195
world. Um, the world has seen long beach and we'll continue seeing

2305
03:20:50,585 --> 03:20:54,435
long beach, so thank you everyone. That's right.

2306
03:20:54,595 --> 03:20:58,595
I think because of that, uh, high quality rest that they got at the

2307
03:20:58,795 --> 03:21:02,635
west end, they were prepared to go the all the way. Uh, council

2308
03:21:02,875 --> 03:21:06,595
member brite, clearly, clearly that is true, mayor. Thank you. We should

2309
03:21:06,915 --> 03:21:10,835
actually put that on like a t-shirt or a banner or something. . Um, thank you council

2310
03:21:10,995 --> 03:21:14,735
members zendejas for the shout out. Uh, yes. I'd like to invite everyone out to the 15th annual

2311
03:21:15,375 --> 03:21:19,355
uptown jazz festival next saturday, august 1st from 2:00 pm to 7:00 pm

2312
03:21:20,095 --> 03:21:23,595
at houghton park in north long beach. Uh, this is a free family event featuring

2313
03:21:24,155 --> 03:21:28,115
headliner morris day in the time. So if you are a prince fan, we are

2314
03:21:28,195 --> 03:21:31,855
gonna have a great, we're gonna have a great time. So more for more information, please contact my office at

2315
03:21:32,275 --> 03:21:36,155
district9@longbeach.gov. Um, I also would like to thank everyone who

2316
03:21:36,355 --> 03:21:40,275
came out to our third annual fire and ice cream event with the long beach fire department

2317
03:21:40,715 --> 03:21:44,635
last weekend. We had a wonderful time, uh, turnout with ice cream from la katrina,

2318
03:21:45,195 --> 03:21:48,445
miss yana. We had hot dogs served up by our long beach firefighters association,

2319
03:21:49,335 --> 03:21:53,165
great family event. Uh, if you haven't been, I'd encourage you to come next year. We do it every year.

2320
03:21:53,665 --> 03:21:57,485
um, and lastly, I'd like to invite everybody out to participate in this year's, uh, fiscal year 26 27

2321
03:21:58,285 --> 03:22:02,265
budget cycle, beginning tuesday, uh, july 28th. You can come and

2322
03:22:02,485 --> 03:22:06,445
hang out with me, uh, and council member, uh, vice mayor aranga and council

2323
03:22:06,645 --> 03:22:10,565
member allen at our boc meeting. It's tons of fun. Uh, that will

2324
03:22:10,685 --> 03:22:14,605
be on tuesday. Um, and for more information about meeting details and more information about

2325
03:22:14,805 --> 03:22:17,485
our budget, you can go to long beach.gov/fy 27.

2326
03:22:19,865 --> 03:22:23,715
all right, well, good job everyone. Uh, and welcome back from,

2327
03:22:24,225 --> 03:22:28,105
uh, your retreat. I hope you got to spend some time with your, or

2328
03:22:28,325 --> 03:22:32,325
your recess rather. Got, hope you got some time. Got to spend some time with your loved ones and

2329
03:22:32,445 --> 03:22:36,365
your family and got a break. Uh, our next meeting, we are diving into the budget,

2330
03:22:36,785 --> 03:22:40,645
so be ready. Uh, and I hope our staff was able to, all of our city

2331
03:22:40,845 --> 03:22:44,465
staff were able to actually check out a little bit too. Uh, 'cause we got a lot of work to do. Thanks

2332
03:22:45,125 --> 03:22:46,685
everyone. This meeting is now adjourned. Thank you.