[0:33] special city council meeting agenda and good for May 7th please rise for the

[0:39] Pledge of Allegiance I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of

[0:46] America and to the Republic for which it stands one nation under God indivisible

[0:52] with liberty and justice for all

[0:57] this may 7th 2020 City Council meeting will be conducted pursuant to provisions

[1:02] of the governor's executive order in 29 - 20

[1:11] roll call

[1:22] council member Abner councilmember Weber here mayor Bader here reflect all

[1:41] council members are present just in case anyone doesn't hear councilman Evan er

[1:49] is participating from teleconferencing

[2:03] okay public public comment on closed session items Jeff mayor before we start

[2:12] the public comment I wanted the City Council in closed session tonight is

[2:36] going to be discussing and directing staff regarding potential initiation of

[2:42] litigation and the legal risks of initiating that litigation in connection

[2:48] with a proposed agreement between Los Angeles County and Motel six to use the

[2:54] motel 6 in San Dimas for a county program called project room key the

[3:04] purpose of the project room key program

[3:19] okay Jeff the purpose of the project room key program is to secure hotel and

[3:26] motel rooms for people who are at least 65 years of age and who are experiencing

[3:33] homelessness and are not infected with The Cove in nineteen virus but they do

[3:39] have underlying medical conditions putting them at a high risk of serious

[3:44] medical issues or even death if they become infected with kovat 19 it is a

[3:50] requirement as part of the program to be at least age 65 and to have underlying

[3:56] medical conditions the project room key program provides a way for senior

[4:05] citizens who do not have a home to stay inside senior citizens who do not have a

[4:10] home to stay inside and protect themselves from the virus project room

[4:15] key is a private agreement between the county of los angeles and motel 6 in San

[4:22] Dimas for these persons to stay in rooms at the hotel for a period of what we're

[4:29] being told 90 days the current proposal between the county and motel 6 is for

[4:35] all 118 rooms at the motel 6 to be used for this project room key program the

[4:42] city is not a party to the agreement between the county and motel 6 and we

[4:49] are not involved since we're not a party in negotiating that agreement the

[4:55] agreement between the county and motel 6 has not yet been signed by both of the

[4:59] parties as of yesterday according to what we're told by motel 6

[5:03] representatives Thank You mayor that's the topic of the

[5:08] council's closed session tonight thank you just one question Jeff okay the two

[5:18] parties involved in this is in the county and in motel six but isn't this a

[5:23] mandated thing from the state also this is a program that has been authorized by

[5:31] governors and urgency order under the California sorry

[5:35] the governor's executive order under the California Emergency Services Act and it

[5:43] has been held by several trial courts that cities do not have the legal

[5:50] authority to zone these kinds of uses okay we'll open up public comment do we

[6:02] have anybody on the line well but actually mr. mayor if I could make just

[6:05] a couple of comments regarding how people can participate so the the

[6:11] opportunity to provide comment during oral communications is via telephone and

[6:19] individuals can call in to nine oh nine three nine four six two zero six that

[6:25] number is on the screen and it was posted about a half hour before the

[6:30] meeting as well as it was posted on the agenda so if individuals would like to

[6:34] make comment they can call in we do have a limited number of lines calling in so

[6:39] if you do receive a busy signal please call back and if you do get connect

[6:43] we'll put you in the queue and once the previous caller ahead of you concludes

[6:48] their comments then you'll be patched into the city council chambers to make

[6:51] your comments during oral communications there is a three minute time limit

[6:55] are we still adhering to that 30-minute time limit okay but we may extend it at

[6:59] depending on who's calling her you know not who's calling we may extend the 30

[7:04] minutes to pass that if we calls keep coming in okay but three minutes per per

[7:09] caller okay and if I can ask a City Attorney

[7:11] Olave if he could make a comment regarding the Brown Act and as far as

[7:15] the council's ability to respond to public comment yes it is important to

[7:19] keep in mind tonight that we have public comment on the agenda but we do not have

[7:25] an open session item on the agenda to discuss this item tonight we only have a

[7:30] closed session so the public comment is for the public to give input to the

[7:36] council about this topic but it is not for the council to get into a discussion

[7:41] or a back and forth with public thank you okay ready to go

[7:48] anything else again no I think we're ready to take the first caller okay can

[7:53] we have the first caller please

[8:06] mayor can I ask a question really quick while we're waiting Jeff might you while

[8:10] we're waiting for this clarify in your opening remarks that were not a party to

[8:16] but the purpose is I think if someone was listening why are we even having a

[8:21] closed session we're having closed session to discuss the city's potential

[8:28] initiation of litigation in connection with the project room key program and

[8:33] the legal risks of the the potential for litigation and to send to have the City

[8:41] Council direct staff on potential initiation of litigation thank you yes

[8:52] my name is Lisa Vermeulen and I live here in San Dimas I have been here since

[8:58] 2005 and when I first heard about this project I was really kind of appalled

[9:06] and concerned at the same time my concerns are is well first of all with

[9:14] the area that it's added close to restaurants which means that there will

[9:19] probably be a lot of homeless people panhandling asking for money I'm

[9:24] concerned also about possibly crime going up in San Dimas in this area and

[9:32] and possibly burglaries close to it being by the park and ride then

[9:39] wandering around also too worried about its bringing down I mean how are we

[9:47] going to get them out of here once the ninety days is up are they really going

[9:52] to leave trying to get them out it's going to be responsible of cleaning up

[9:57] the hotel room making sure everything is okay

[10:00] there's just a lot of concerns and I know that they need a place that they

[10:04] need to go with San Dimas is such a beautiful city and you take a lot of

[10:10] pride here all of us do and it's just a big concern we also have the Gold Line

[10:16] coming at some point in time so it's system

[10:20] this raises some concerns so I would really really hope that you guys would

[10:29] really consider I'm Vanagon please probably along with everybody else

[10:34] that's going to call you too I mean I understand that the homeless people they

[10:39] do need a place to go how are we gonna test them to make sure

[10:43] that they don't have hope at 19 before they go in the rooms and they stay there

[10:49] and then how are they gonna get there and who's gonna happen leave when it's

[10:53] time to go I mean they may have friends and say hey Dan Jean this is a beautiful

[10:59] place you guys come on out here and then before you know it we've got tents going

[11:03] up and that sort of thing so I'm just kind of looking at like future stuff

[11:07] that could happen yeah well thank you very much coming up today okay thank you

[11:13] very much for your concerns and we appreciate you calling all right thank

[11:17] you good yeah we have somebody else

[11:41] [Music]

[11:55] years ago that was it I just want to make it known that my husband and I are

[13:15] thank you thank you for your call all right thank you very much yes ma'am

[13:22] anyway out okay

[13:46] yes this is my name is Carrie Newton and I am extremely concerned about this

[13:53] project I already worked on the projects in Covina and bacon with the vanillin

[13:57] hotel and we stopped that one okay and we chose this hotel down the street we

[14:11] have an assisted living for those people around them hundred ten people nobody

[14:23] nobody and nobody who's gonna make sure this by know there's heart did they

[14:28] think we're stupid and then right next is facility we're going to have we have

[14:32] that pool and when it goes back in position session goes get watching that

[14:37] and all and we're trying to get all these stores to bring back customers

[14:43] when we're just starting to open up who's gonna want to walk around and go

[14:48] back you have these people wandering around it's a concern and I explained to

[14:57] them what was going on and I asked them if we have a problem with can they

[15:04] handle any other she said absolutely not we haven't

[15:10] we understand

[16:03] [Music]

[16:33] [Music]

[16:43] [Music]

[17:10] Thank You Man we appreciate your concern and thank you for calling in

[17:17] thank you ma'am

[17:26] [Music]

[17:37] [Music]

[17:44] [Music]

[17:53] [Music] reverse to strong opposition to project

[18:02] room key itself became aware of this I understand the attorneys explanation

[18:11] that the the two parties involved in off the county and representative hotel six

[18:17] however here and again community outreach with with things that effective

[18:24] community of first potential crime property values and other concerns in

[18:29] the long team resident in this community are concerning that has been fulfilled

[18:33] woman Vienna and his Facebook indication I have to tell you I was doing a lot of

[18:40] dodging for dollars and state to friends and neighbor the lights all honest were

[18:44] unaware other than maybe with either a compliment or write in a Facebook post

[18:49] or next door and so where is the outreach airs and again especially

[18:54] during the Senate quarantine especially when people are limited to communication

[18:59] something is significant and it's a business not a few months ago the

[19:03] council [Music]

[19:17] and already fallen reading the criteria it also said it would be no fast round

[19:48] for criterion check to verify or validate it's pretty much all so anybody

[19:52] who stated that they had an underlying medical condition regardless of age

[19:57] would ultimately allows the stay there and then what is that our previous for

[20:02] adventures what is the facts somebody moves to another few days later

[20:05] positives were good 19 where do we go in this and then how is it that one becomes

[20:12] whatever to it as how do you get people to vacate after 90 days 21 22 nobody

[20:31] knows at this point so many days is the fictitious number was no idea what could

[20:37] happen like aspect of all I'm very concerned also about talk about bringing

[20:43] life back sense for community in the downtown area we are looking to bring

[20:48] work across and get people accident and

[20:54] [Music]

[21:07] [Music]

[21:20] [Music] physically mentally emotionally or

[21:26] otherwise that is a concern that it's not an improvement or a contribution to

[21:31] the people who have chosen to live in this community pay taxes it's a concern

[21:36] about I'm sorry ma'am all right well I would if the council is not at liberty

[21:49] to discuss publicly this evening because of the closed session of potential

[21:53] litigation I would like to know if the council city attorney can do something

[21:57] to advise the people taking time to call in and communicate with you when in fact

[22:02] this can receive some additional public comment and interaction with the city

[22:08] council mayor themselves and even the city manager he chose to speak on this

[22:12] matter I thank you for your time no we thank you and as I understand that

[22:16] the city attorney will make an announcement after the city's study says

[22:21] closed session is over you have anything else you want to add I beg your pardon

[22:28] okay there's going to be an announcement by this city attorney after the closed

[22:33] session yeah it'll be a public announcement

[22:39] thank you very much for calling in and we appreciate your time thank you thank

[22:44] you very much

[22:53] welcome to the San Dimas City Council meeting your life yeah thanks for taking

[22:58] my call I would echo a lot of the other concerns that that have been brought up

[23:04] here primarily I would comment that there has been little to no public

[23:10] education or outreach revolving around this I lucked upon it based on a

[23:16] Facebook post and you know fortunately I was able to then react and and reach out

[23:23] to as many friends and family as possible but I don't think a fraction of

[23:27] the the population of San Dimas is aware of this this process second I think that

[23:35] we're all kidding ourselves if you think that it's a 90 day hard statement and

[23:42] then we're just going to magically evaporate the participants in this

[23:47] program it never happens that way third I heard at this meeting you guys were

[23:53] explicit about it being age 65 and over criteria that's not how I read the

[24:00] program to be I heard 65 and or medical condition I would really appreciate it

[24:08] you could clarify that in this meeting it doesn't have to be a back-and-forth

[24:12] but if you are under the impression that is a hard 65 and over and medical then

[24:20] that is not my interpretation of this this program and third I just think that

[24:27] there are many different ways to handle this homeless epidemic that we're

[24:33] struggling on under this is not in my opinion an effective way to handle a

[24:42] macro problem like homelessness in California this is a band-aid a

[24:48] desperate attempt during pandemic times the takes advantage of chaos and slam

[24:55] this through under everybody's you know noses and I appreciate the opportunity

[25:01] to voice my the other day and and that'll be all I

[25:05] have to say thank you very much is it possible Jeff could you reiterate

[25:11] what the 65 and over is I'm gonna ask the city attorney to clear clear the

[25:19] understanding of the ordinance that was based on my reading the county's program

[25:27] website but if you give me a few seconds I can take another look okay I think we

[25:33] have some other calls thank you sir you don't know I thanks for having our

[25:50] commentary tonight I just want to express my extreme discontent for LA

[25:55] County Supervisors who seem to want to scapegoat the problem of homelessness

[25:59] cities and really ship out the problem to communities that that problem

[26:06] shouldn't be handed to I think the biggest issue is the Pandora's Box the

[26:11] problems that sometimes come with our homeless folks and it's not for lack of

[26:15] everything that I don't want them to have housing but it's to acknowledge

[26:18] that sticking them in a hotel without the number of services are probably

[26:22] required to keep these folks stable sober medically well etc is not going to

[26:29] be it's not going to be adequate in a motel 6 much less than a community near

[26:35] shopping centers that are just barely trying to get back on their feet after a

[26:39] number of weeks of being forced to shut down you know I look forward to seeing

[26:45] y'all fight for our city and the wonderful law-abiding taxpaying citizens

[26:50] who try to go to work every day to keep a humble home and a good future for

[26:54] their family and kids because we don't we don't have to put up with the stuff

[26:59] Dale Lake supervisors wanted you know the problems that they fail to address

[27:03] and want to ship out to communities that don't have the problems so you know with

[27:08] sincere respect I think you all for having our commentary today and please

[27:12] keep the citizens of San Dimas in your thoughts when you look forward to

[27:15] hopefully fighting this through litigation thank you all for

[27:19] your time this evening thank you thank you sir do you have anything else sad no

[27:24] no no thanks today thank you for a concern okay mayor I did take a look at

[27:31] the county's documentation again and I did I had misread and an or for an and

[27:40] so it's or it is either over 65 or having underlying medical conditions

[27:46] Thank You Shawn here good evening City Council and members of

[27:57] the audience I have reservations about project room key that is being

[28:02] considered in our city we should be good stewards to our neighborhood neighbors

[28:06] and kin but to the degree when that there are outside elements from across

[28:12] LA County who will be occupying the 118 rooms of motel 6 and won't be receiving

[28:18] background checks to ensure that these people aren't bad actors throughout the

[28:22] homelessness crisis plaguing LA County and the rest of the state we've seen

[28:28] beforehand the result of the homeless population camped in San Dimas you see

[28:33] shopping carts around the city many encampments brought up and businesses

[28:37] and experienced break-ins and handlers and the trash leftover from the

[28:42] aftermath I'll be supposed to take at face value

[28:46] who the county will dump on us will our public see with our public safety and

[28:51] infrastructure at stake I can't support this as suggested by a comments or on

[28:57] councilman vienna's Facebook page why aren't the count County Supervisors

[29:01] leading by example well why aren't they leaving by example placing your

[29:06] neighborhood before considering dumping them into ours and with that I yield

[29:11] back the balance of my time thank you very much thank you sir thank

[29:15] you for your concerns

[29:26] welcome to the City my city council meeting your lives

[29:29] hello mayor god this is myself I live near Pioneer Park I don't know what

[29:34] people's making a big bust for the homeless been living in motel 6 and Red

[29:40] Roof and all these places for the last eight years there's not we could do

[29:44] about it they not there my daughter's a veteran and she does housekeeping in

[29:47] these hotels and she said they have somewhere to stay

[29:52] you know nothing what the Grice is all about I live around and they don't

[29:56] bother me you know they mind their own business I

[29:59] over here near Pioneer Park so I don't know why they're living in fear we have

[30:04] enough going on in the world today we don't need to be worried about you know

[30:07] well their housing homeless we have this damn virus roaming through our towns and

[30:13] everything that's killing people that's what they should be worried about you

[30:17] know and we got to save lives out here you know it's about saving lives not

[30:22] having dead bodies on the roadside okay thank you thank you for your concern no

[30:30] more okay I'm being advised that we have no further calls at this time we'll

[30:40] close this this portion of the council meeting and we'll move into closed

[30:45] session mayor yes I believe we may have some written communications that are for

[30:50] public comment and the city clerk could address those yes

[30:57] in addition excuse me in addition to the phone calls received at tonight's

[31:01] meeting the city clerk received over 79 emails on this matter by the 5:00 p.m.

[31:07] deadline today these have been provided

[31:14] excuse me these have been provided to the council

[31:18] and will be entered into the record and have been posted on the city's website

[31:22] on the agenda page any email emails that have been received after the cutoff will

[31:28] be posted by the end of day tomorrow thank you okay this portion of the

[31:35] meetings adjourned we'll move into closed session

[32:17] closed session yes thank you million City Council met in closed session

[32:22] tonight to discuss the one item on the closed session agenda attend initiation

[32:29] of litigation pursuant to government code section 54956.9 d4 in one case

[32:35] there's no there's no action that is legally needed to be reported out of the

[32:41] closed session tonight however the City Council does intend to express its

[32:47] opposition to the county regarding the project room key use at the Motel six

[32:51] and is determined to continue negotiating with the county for terms to

[32:57] protect the city of San Dimas including additional security at the facility a

[33:02] limit on the number of rooms used to be reflective of the need in the San Dimas

[33:07] community and additional exit terms for the end of the program that are

[33:14] protective of the city there's a statement that the council authorized me

[33:19] to make tonight that's the end of the closed session report Thank You mayor

[33:25] okay that'll be the end of the special session of the City Council will

[33:31] continue to May 12th the regular City Council meeting

[33:37] [Music]

City of San Dimas Special City Council Meeting May 7, 2020

Transcript