[0:00] new ordinance. All right, I'm going to
call this meeting to order and if you
[0:05] will lead us in our pledge.
>> Just say ready, begin. Okay, whenever
[0:11] you're ready.
[0:14] » I aliance to the flag of the United
States of America and to the republic
[0:21] for which it stands. One nation under
God, indivisible, with liberty and
[0:28] justice for all.
[0:34] » So, we're having the uh Melon Carnival
coming up and we have a bunch of uh
[0:39] young ladies that are going to be in a
contest. So, now you have a little bit
[0:43] of appetite for what's going on out
there. And I hope everybody wants to
[0:47] participate. So from that point, let's
start with a roll call for uh
[0:52] declarations of conflict of interest and
being present.
[0:56] » Council member Abram here and none.
>> Council member Vixel,
[0:59] » here none.
>> Vice Mayor Mes.
[1:01] » Council member Phillips here none.
>> Mayor Bidler,
[1:03] » here none.
>> All right. Uh approval of agenda as
[1:06] posted or amended.
>> So moved. Second.
[1:08] » Motion to second. Call the role, please.
>> Council member Abram, yes. Council
[1:11] member Bixel,
>> yes.
[1:12] » Vice Mayor Monet, yes.
>> Council member Phillips, yes.
[1:14] » Mayor Bibler,
>> yes. Passes on a 5-0. All right. Uh, we
[1:18] have Turtle Partnership Incentive
Program and I believe that Mr. Sims is
[1:22] ready.
[1:28] Tell us something good.
>> Good evening, mayor, council members,
[1:30] city staff, and members of the public.
Tonight, we are celebrating another new
[1:34] Turlock business that has completed the
steps in the Turlock Partnership
[1:37] Incentive Program, Inspire and Bloom
LLC, located at 21101 Gear Road, Sweet
[1:43] 101A. They're family-built organization
providing applied behavior analysis
[1:47] therapy and support to children with
autism and developmental needs, helping
[1:52] children build communication, social and
everyday life skills. Beyond supporting
[1:56] local families, Inspire and Bloom is
committed to our community by hiring
[2:00] locally, mentoring students with
institutions like Santa State, and
[2:04] creating sustainable ABA career
opportunities right here in the Central
[2:07] Valley. We wish this new business
continued success and look forward to
[2:11] watching them thrive in our community.
At this time, I'd like to invite Mayor
[2:14] Bublack, city council members, city
manager, and the business owners, Mr.
[2:18] Mike Morgan and Olivia Morgan, forward
for a special check presentation.
[2:36] It's child.
[3:05] One, two, three.
One more.
[3:17] [applause]
[3:24] Just like that.
[3:38] » You got money for us, too?
[3:47] All right. Good evening, Mayor and
Council. Um, on behalf of the transit
[3:51] team, I want to give you a brief update
on what we've been up to in July. We've
[3:54] been pretty busy with a lot of different
activities, a lot of good stuff.
[3:58] First, I wanted to speak about our free
rides in July program. This is something
[4:02] we've been doing for quite a few years
now, partnering with our regional
[4:06] partners at Stan and most recently
Merced to offer free rides throughout
[4:09] the region, which has been great. Um, so
here you can see our writership numbers.
[4:14] Saw a 14.2% increase of writership
overall compared to the same period last
[4:18] year, which is great. If you look at the
details there, you can see the large
[4:22] portion of that was our on demand
service. So, as word gets out about
[4:26] that, I think more and more folks are
using that. A lot of folks use that to
[4:29] get to the fair, which is great. And so,
again, the purpose with this is
[4:32] increased writership. It's achieving
that purpose. Every year we do this,
[4:35] we're seeing more and more writers,
which is great. Um, this is largely
[4:40] funded by a grant through the state
called LCTOP.
[4:44] Unfortunately, LCTOP funding is being
cut and so we aren't going to be able to
[4:48] do these free ride promotions throughout
the year like we used to. We used to
[4:51] have multiple periods. Now, it's just
going to be limited to July. If things
[4:54] change, we'll increase it back again,
but for now, it'll still be July, but
[4:59] received well by the community. Hearing
a lot of good things.
[5:03] Obviously, the fair is a big part of
that. Uh I just got through talking
[5:07] about all of July. Now we're focusing on
the fair and we provided a lot of
[5:11] expanded and extended service during the
fair which was July 10th through the
[5:14] 19th. And that service was running buses
to later, running more buses, running
[5:19] the shuttle and um the the main
difference between this year and last
[5:23] year is that prior we would have a
physical presence inside the fairgrounds
[5:28] and this year we changed it up a bit. We
decided to focus our efforts at the
[5:32] transit center itself. That seemed to
work really well. We invested a lot more
[5:35] effort and time into the folks that were
using the service to get to the transit
[5:39] center to ride the shuttle. It started
with our gateway to the fair kickoff
[5:42] event which was great. Had lots of
regional transportation partners there
[5:46] with us. We had the recreation
department there with some food, some
[5:49] games and just was received really well
by the community. And so radio
[5:53] advertising was another big change. You
may have noticed uh in prior years the
[5:58] transit center parking lot would maybe
be 50% full at the most. Well, it was
[6:02] packed pretty much every night of the
fair this year. And so, a lot of people
[6:05] are hearing about the shuttle, uh,
hearing about our service, and again,
[6:09] lots of good things coming from that.
The shuttle itself was running every 5
[6:14] to 10 minutes. We saw, you know, over
7,400 total trips provided, which is a
[6:19] 72% increase over the prior year. Pretty
substantial. We handed out over 3,600
[6:24] bottles of cold water, which was 111%
increase. So, for give you an idea, we
[6:29] order a large pallet of water. That's
what we typically go through. We went
[6:32] more than two pallets of water this year
and so it was pretty substantial. We're
[6:36] going to increase that order next year.
Um, but again, the radio advertising
[6:40] played a huge role. Lots of strong
positive feedback from writers, largely
[6:44] non-transit riders, too. That's the
beauty of this system is we're we're
[6:46] investing in typically non-transit
riders. And so, we're breaking down some
[6:50] of those stigmas that folks have about
transit in the community. So, it just
[6:54] helps us achieve our goals. Going past
the fair, we also sponsored a free swim
[7:00] day at Columbia Pool, which was great.
So on July 30th, uh, everybody could
[7:04] come in for free and so 38 adults and 56
youth were able to take advantage of
[7:08] that. We were there with our staff. Buzz
was there. He did not get in the pool,
[7:12] but he was there. Um, but had a great
time. Uh, lots of interactions with
[7:16] folks that were learning about the
service. And um given that that
[7:21] particular segment of the city is a
disadvantaged area, transit is a really
[7:25] important feature for a lot of
households in that area. And so they
[7:28] were able to learn about services that
are available to them often for free. A
[7:32] lot of times we're still letting people
know kids ride free, you know, so that
[7:35] they they're not aware of this. So we're
able to do that. We had a great time
[7:38] there. And last but not least, our
short-range transit plan. So we at the
[7:44] last meeting here, we let you know about
some upcoming community input sessions.
[7:48] And so we actually had those. We had our
pop-up events throughout Turlock. We had
[7:52] two community workshops, one at the
library and one at the transit center.
[7:55] We had 10 or 11 folks that showed up for
that. Provided a lot of good feedback.
[8:00] Few notes for the council and the
community to know. Community is
[8:04] generally pretty happy with the transit
service that they have. So we were
[8:06] hearing that loud and clear. We also
heard loud and clear Sunday service.
[8:10] That's probably the most common request
that we're getting is for some version
[8:13] of Sunday service, whether that's fixed
route, on demand, uh something just to
[8:18] be able to get around on Sundays,
whether that's to church, whether that's
[8:20] to Amtrak, um just various places in our
community. So, we're hearing that loud
[8:24] and clear. And then also some other
general service changes and some bus
[8:29] stop improvements, amenity improvements
like bus shelters and benches and things
[8:33] like that. So, a lot of good stuff. And
where we're at in that plan right now,
[8:37] we're at the end of phase two. So, we're
kind of wrapping up the community
[8:41] feedback portion. By all means, if you
have feedback, uh, feel free to continue
[8:45] to send that in. But, we're kind of
reaching the end of this phase, moving
[8:48] into the next phase, which is service
evaluation, where we crunch all the
[8:52] data, look at all the numbers, and
eventually get to um some
[8:55] recommendations back to the community
and to the council and say, "This is
[8:59] what we're hearing. This is what we
understand. Here's our budget. Here's
[9:02] what we can provide. Here's our
recommendations. What do you all think
[9:05] about that?" So, that's where we're at.
So, we've been pretty busy during July.
[9:09] Wanted to give you that update and happy
to answer any questions you may have.
[9:13] » Dr. Murphy and I uh joined there. It was
pretty nice. Yeah, I drank at least two
[9:17] of those waters.
>> Very good.
[9:19] » Any questions?
>> Thank you, Mr. York. I appreciate it.
[9:22] » Thank you.
>> Okay, we have a sidewalk program.
[9:28] Director Fiser,
[9:32] there's a sidewalk on the mountain.
[9:39] Good evening, council members, mayor.
Thanks for having me tonight. I wanted
[9:43] to bring you a brief update on our
sidewalk program. The last time we
[9:46] talked about this was in January.
[9:52] City and state law has long placed
responsibility of the sidewalks on the
[9:55] property of the adjacent property
owners. In December of 2025, um we had
[9:59] brought um a financial assistance
program that was primarily funded
[10:02] through measure L, which gave some
assistance to residents that needed to
[10:05] repair their sidewalks or or mitigate
some of the tripping hazards. Um program
[10:10] involves a city contractor performing
the work at prevailing wage. Um and then
[10:15] the resident the city would pay for that
and the resident would then reimburse
[10:18] their portion of the of the cost. Um and
then and in January, we brought the
[10:22] finalized program um to the municipal
code for the updates.
[10:28] overall process generally takes three to
four months um in the from the initial
[10:31] notice to the of the defect to a city
initiated repair. Um obviously if the
[10:36] residents want to repair that on their
own they can't do that and they can do
[10:38] that within their time frame and we
encourage them to do that if if they
[10:42] choose to do so. Um we conduct a lot of
public outreach. We um put utility
[10:47] mailers um we do social media. Um, we're
actually physically going out to the
[10:51] property and talking to the property
owners and we're following up with phone
[10:54] calls just to make sure that we know
that we get all of the education
[10:57] opportunity that we can and people that
are understanding of the program and
[11:00] what the benefits are. Um, when we do go
out to the property, um, once we have
[11:04] notification of it, we'll paint it and
we'll put the appropriate signage and
[11:07] that really reduces the risk of tripping
hazards because it makes it more
[11:10] obvious. And then we find that some of
the smaller lifts in the sidewalks can
[11:14] create some of the bigger problems
because they're not they're not as um,
[11:17] blatantly obvious as some of the bigger
lifts.
[11:19] Um once we do that, we begin notifying
the property owners of their obligation
[11:24] to repair.
City does um we do everything we can to
[11:29] make sure that we're properly explaining
um what the to the owners what the
[11:34] program is um why why it's respons who's
responsible for it and why it's
[11:39] important. Um we also encourage them to
to when they when they get um an
[11:44] encroment permit, we'll we'll cover that
as well. So even if they choose to
[11:48] repair the subway on their own, we're
going to initiate the encroachment
[11:50] permit for them again and give them um
financial assistance on that. So the
[11:55] city's typically going to send five
notices um combination of first class
[11:59] and certified letters um if the property
owner remains nonresponsive um through
[12:04] this process. the city will initiate the
repair um and after the pair the city
[12:09] you know begins the cost recovery
process which ultimately um ends up on
[12:13] sending a bill to the property owner and
ultimately if it's not paid we will put
[12:17] it on the tax ro as a form of a lean
again um this is just a visual
[12:22] representation of the 3 to four month
process um the mailing uh notices and
[12:27] the owner outreach the phone calls that
is the majority of the process and
[12:30] really the the you know the the city
initiated repairs smallest portion of
[12:35] that. It usually takes like four four
weeks to get it done once we decide to
[12:39] get um that that we'll make the repairs.
Couple of stats on it. Um the total
[12:44] number of properties um city-owned and
non cityowned inspect in 2026 have been
[12:48] 187. Um number of applicants that have
rolled in our sidewalk repair assistance
[12:52] program of 54. We've made um 29
completed repairs. We have 15 more that
[12:57] are out ongoing with the contractor
current currently. We have 10 more on
[13:00] deck. Um there have been some pairs that
have not completed through our sidewalk
[13:04] assistance program. Um there's 25 of
those and so the total repair is about
[13:08] 54 and these range um anywhere from a
few hundred to you know to several
[13:14] thousand up to you know in some cases
$10,000 depending on you know large
[13:19] properties and business owners and
stuff.
[13:22] Um looking at budgets the assist program
began um in spring of the prior fiscal
[13:27] year. We didn't budget a whole bunch of
money, but we, you know, during the the
[13:30] new fiscal year, we did. Um, so there's
approximately 36,000 assistance has been
[13:34] or is expected to be provided this year
so far. Um, so we have about $263,000
[13:40] remaining available for the program
budget. Um, we're only about two months
[13:44] into this fiscal year, so um there's
plenty of funding left. Um, if we do run
[13:48] into a a case where it's wildly
successful and we need more more money,
[13:52] we'll we'll be back up here asking for
some more.
[13:56] I want to focus on a couple or bring it,
you know, notice to, you know, city
[14:00] locations. We have been um busy. We've
had a combination of staff making
[14:04] repairs. I know they made numerous
repairs at Padretti Park not that long
[14:07] ago. Um but other city locations of
Broadway, Crane, Rotary, Four Seasons,
[14:12] Kurt, Andre Parks, making sure those
parks are safe for our children and
[14:15] anyone that wants to walk through there,
you know, because they're a big part of
[14:17] our our community and we recognize the
importance of those.
[14:22] We have had some challenges. Um
inspection capacity has been limited. Um
[14:27] you we have a lot of we have a lot of um
on deck. We've you know so far we've
[14:30] done 187 inspections. Um the same
inspectors reporting the sidewalk
[14:34] program. You know they're they're
responsible for the capital work in the
[14:37] city, the utility work um such as like
you know looking at race and crochets
[14:41] and other development projects and any
other construction that's that's
[14:45] operating through the city. Um some
property owners have been nonresponsive
[14:49] or disagree with their responsibility to
make the repairs and you know staff is
[14:53] is spending a sign significant amount of
time um conducting outreach and
[14:57] explaining both obligations and
assistance opportunities. Um so
[15:02] approximately 120 um properties that are
currently um in in the compliance
[15:07] program at this point. So as we're
working through this, we started off
[15:11] kind of slow just kind of get the
program filled out um make any changes
[15:15] that we needed to do and now Now we're
at the point where we're ramping up.
[15:20] So in conclusion, staff will continue to
outreach inspections and compliance
[15:23] efforts. Um we'll continue to, you know,
that we'll continue to make sure that we
[15:28] have adequate inspection capacity and
timely um property owner response and
[15:32] contractor availability. That's one of
our key things is keeping this rolling,
[15:36] making sure that we're keeping our
contractors happy and then and we're
[15:39] going through and making, you know,
meaningful repairs where we're grouping
[15:42] them in areas where, you know, it makes
the most sense for everybody. um any you
[15:47] know any substantive program change at
this point we would bring this back to
[15:50] the council at this point you know we
feel that the program is is successful
[15:54] um but if there's any suggestions at all
that you know that we would definitely
[15:57] listen to them but we would need to
bring it back to the council um
[16:02] currently participation appears
generally within our expectations what
[16:05] we expected and I think that we're just
a little bit higher than we expected on
[16:08] the sidewalk repair assistance program
meaning I think that you know there's a
[16:11] good value to it we're finding that the
smaller repairs are generally very
[16:15] inexpensive for the property owners in
some cases as low as $60 for their
[16:19] portion. And I would be happy to answer
any questions that you may have on it.
[16:23] » Is it true that uh Turlock has one of
the better uh methodologies for
[16:29] sidewalks?
>> Yes, it is true. We've actually received
[16:32] several um inquiries from neighboring
cities um that that looking at our
[16:37] program um and we've also looked at a
couple other programs and comparing
[16:41] them. I think that we really have one of
the one of the better programs
[16:46] um that that it's out there right now. I
know that there's other cities that are
[16:48] really close to us right now that are
going through similar issues and
[16:51] they're, you know, they're struggling
with it. We'd be happy to help them, you
[16:53] know.
>> Awesome. Anybody?
[16:56] All right, stay there because we have to
give you a uh
[17:08] traffic.
[17:13] pretty big.
>> I think so.
[17:15] » Okay.
[17:19] » Okay. So, um Mr. Fischer, Director
Fischer is going to be leaving us, but
[17:24] uh not without uh knowing that he still
lives here and his heart will still be
[17:28] here and that he's always welcome to
come back, but he got a better job. He
[17:31] can tell you, not me. Um just more
money. So in honor of the distinguished
[17:36] service of municipal services director
SRWA general manager Christopher J.
[17:41] Fiser.
So Chris began his service in the city
[17:44] of Turlock on October 16th, 2023.
During his tenure, he helped guide the
[17:49] concluding stages of the regional
surface water supply project and the
[17:53] delivery of treated surface water to
Turlock and series, a project that
[17:57] received the design build institution uh
of America's national award of merit.
[18:02] Pretty big deal. Then Chris advanced
difficult but necessary initiatives
[18:06] including financially sustainable and
equitable sewer rates and sidewalk
[18:10] compliance programs as we just heard. He
supported the city's roads program
[18:14] through interdep departmental
coordination and staff support and
[18:17] oversaw completion of the Columbia Pool
improvement project. He barely been
[18:20] here. This is a lot. In the summer of
2026, Chris temporarily served in the
[18:25] role of city manager during a leadership
vacancy, providing continuity and a
[18:29] steady leadership to city operations,
guided by the principles of safety,
[18:32] quality, and community. Your three
pillars, uh Chris inspired those around
[18:37] him to work smarter and more efficiently
while maintaining the higher standards
[18:42] of ethics, professionalism, and public
service. So, on behalf of the city
[18:47] council, myself, our entire team, and
our city, we wish you well and hope that
[18:52] you come back soon. But I'd love to get
a picture with all of us because you are
[18:56] part of the team. Is that all right?
>> Yeah.
[18:57] » Do you want to say something?
>> I do.
[18:59] » All right.
>> Yeah.
[19:01] » You know, and this wasn't a decision
that was that was made easily. Um, you
[19:06] guys have been incredibly supportive
throughout and I have a great staff.
[19:10] They just they're wonderful people and
they will take care of this and like my
[19:13] work isn't done here you know like I I
expect to be back here in you know in
[19:17] the future because this is my hometown
and this is this is where I belong and
[19:20] I'm I'm extremely proud of the work
we've done and JJ I mean I'm sorry Dr.
[19:24] Murphy, I you know I you know I'm just
getting to know you, but you know like
[19:29] this is the first time and I've seen
smiles in the hall and just in people
[19:32] jumping around. So like I I I feel like
you know like there was a lot to learn
[19:37] you know from you and and but I I hope
we can stay in touch and and we can
[19:40] definitely you know work together in the
future.
[19:48] [applause]
[20:20] Two, three,
four.
[20:39] So the next one will not take place
today because uh Martin is sick and uh
[20:44] we asked if he wanted if he wanted to do
this or if he was sick and he he is in
[20:48] fact sick. So he he would like to do it
another time. So we'll probably the next
[20:51] meeting we'll we'll correlate with him.
He he actually will be uh I think
[20:55] September 1st is his last day or
something. Is that right?
[20:58] » That sounds about right. He told me when
I was uh found him in Ghiradelli in San
[21:03] Francisco months and months ago he's
like I'm I'm leaving. I'm like, "No."
[21:06] So, 30 some day years he's he's
entitled. But our next person is a
[21:11] police captain, Miguel Pico. Come on up,
[applause]
[21:19] man.
Is it something in the water, Chris?
[21:22] What's happening? Why are these people
leaving?
[21:25] So, uh, we have Captain Miguel Pacheo
here who was hired as police officer on
[21:31] April 16th of 2000. Beginning more than
26 years of dedicated service to the
[21:36] city, marked by courage, integrity, and
professionalism,
[21:39] Miguel advanced from police officer
through the ranks of corporal, sergeant,
[21:43] lieutenant, and captain, reflecting his
enduring commitment to the city, proven
[21:48] leadership, and continued pursuit of
excellence. During his distinguished
[21:52] career, Captain Pico served on the SWAT
team and was entrusted to lead the
[21:56] police department on several occasions
as interim and acting police chief. As
[22:01] police captain, he provided steady
leadership, oversaw critical public
[22:05] safety operations, supported and
mentored fellow officers, and worked
[22:09] with city officials and community
partners to meet the needs of residents.
[22:14] Uh, it doesn't say on here, but you did.
FBI also started running again. That was
[22:18] awesome.
So Miguel Sound judgment, dedication,
[22:22] and commitment to community oriented
policing have strengthened the police
[22:25] department, advanced public safety, and
helped build trust throughout our
[22:29] community. So on behalf of myself, our
entire council, and our community, we
[22:34] thank you for so many years that you've
given to our city and the safeness that
[22:40] we feel because of you and your
leadership. So thank you, Miguel.
[22:44] [applause]
[22:47] » Yeah. Uh just super super quick. Um to
my wife, uh it's been a journey, but we
[22:52] made it, right? I'm retiring, so uh most
of my sanity is still here, so we're
[22:56] doing pretty good. Uh to my mom who took
me to Explorer meetings, um when I was a
[23:00] kid, thank you. Family came in. To my
kids, uh thank you for all the bad days
[23:03] they came home and hear me talk about
it. Uh won't have that anymore. Uh I
[23:07] made a lot of requests to council in my
years here. Thank you for all the
[23:09] support. Usually it was around money and
stuff we were trying to get, and you
[23:13] were very supportive. So, thank you. Uh
I think it's appropriate to say one
[23:16] thing before I leave. Uh, one last
request and it's really for the city of
[23:20] Turlock. Please keep the officers in
mind who are still doing the job. Uh,
[23:24] admittedly I've wrote a desk for several
years, but um, cops are my heroes. Just
[23:28] straight up, they are. Um, if you can
imagine the worst day in your life, our
[23:32] officers do that uh, every day of every
shift that they work. They meet people
[23:36] in trauma, dangerous, emotional stuff
they go through. So, to the city council
[23:40] for your support of frontline staff, I
do thank you. Turlock's very special. Uh
[23:45] to the community out there, you've got
good cops working here. Um don't believe
[23:48] everything you see in the paper. It's a
special place. I came from Sacramento. I
[23:51] thought I'd be here a year. We made a
life out of here. I raised my kids and
[23:54] my beautiful wife. Uh we laid roots here
special. Please keep the cops in our
[24:00] prayers. That's all I ask. But thank
you.
[24:01] » Thank you. [applause]
[24:23] One, two, three, four,
[24:53] Wait till the KMA point. That's the
hardest part, huh?
[24:58] All right. On to consent calendar. At
this time, we will open the public
[25:02] comment on the consent calendar. This is
the opportunity to comment on any item
[25:06] on the consent calendar or to request
from the council that an item be removed
[25:10] for separate consideration. If you are
requesting that an item be pulled,
[25:13] please state the item number and briefly
explain
[25:17] your request to the council. Public
comment on the consent calendar is
[25:20] limited to one minute. The city clerk
will now facilitate that public comment.
[25:25] » All right, we will for consent item we
will begin with we have zero speaker
[25:28] cards. So we'll go to our online remote
speakers. If anyone online would like to
[25:33] speak, this is your time to raise your
hand or press star 9 to indicate so.
[25:39] Seeing none, we'll go back to in person.
If there's anyone in person that would
[25:42] like to speak regarding the consent
calendar, please come forward to the
[25:45] left turn.
>> Seeing none, mayor.
[25:49] » Okay. At this time, public comment is
now closed.
[25:52] » Move to approve consent calendar as
written.
[25:54] » Second.
>> Second.
[25:55] » Have a motion to second. Will you call
the role, please?
[25:57] » Council member Abram.
>> Yes. Council member Bixel.
[26:00] » Yes.
>> Vice Mayor Manz. Yes. Council member
[26:02] Phillips. Yes.
>> Mayor BL.
[26:03] » Yes. Passes on a 5-0. There are no final
readings. Public hearings. We have 8A
[26:08] authorizing the submitt of PLHA plan
amendment uh for 2020 allocation year.
[26:14] Money man.
[26:21] Thank you, honorable mayor and council
members. item we have before you today
[26:25] is a request for an amendment to the
permanent local housing allocation plan
[26:29] for the program year of 2020.
So the recommended action before you is
[26:36] really just to amend that the program
year of 2020 to adjust what was
[26:40] submitted prior to for the 80% factor of
area income um which we call AMI from
[26:48] 80% to 120%. Really what this does is
realign all the other allocations that
[26:52] we have in place and how we're utilizing
the AMI uh factor for first-time home
[26:57] buyer program
background. Um so this program came into
[27:02] place back in 2017 2017 for some
legislation that move forward. Basically
[27:07] what they did is establish a fee uh for
recording uh real estate documentation
[27:12] for $75 that was carved out uh
established this program. Overall, the
[27:17] program was meant to to assist with
housing needs.
[27:22] Current issue as we just stated really
again remending what was done in 2020 um
[27:28] to match what our current program years
and how we're doing the AMI factor of
[27:32] 80%. Why this is important? Because we
have an 80% factor for some of our enter
[27:36] programs where the PHA is a state
program which actually has a little more
[27:40] flexibility where we can increase that
number and take on other applications
[27:43] where we couldn't do another program
funding sources. Just to give you an
[27:47] overall idea of what we've done so far
with these with these fundings, we've re
[27:51] rehabilitated a forplex, one forplex, uh
three single family homes, and we've
[27:56] also done for two first-time home buyer
programs.
[28:01] The physical impact of this action is
none really just staff time really
[28:05] submitting the application and what the
action we're doing today. Next steps
[28:09] overall is to execute the the resolution
and the amendments. Again, that is
[28:13] before you with within your packet
overall today.
[28:17] Again, this this is really just amending
the overall program itself to be in line
[28:20] with the rest of the fiscal years and
how they line up. We actually do have
[28:23] the first-time home buyer in place ready
to go as soon as this amendment is done.
[28:27] So we'll submit that resolution
application at least about 30 days to to
[28:31] move forward and then we can get the
applicant moving forward.
[28:34] » Is there any questions?
>> Questions for director.
[28:38] » Okay. Uh at this time I will open the
public comment and ask the city clerk to
[28:42] facilitate the public comment. Each of
you will have three minutes.
[28:46] » Okay. We have no blue cards for this
item. Um if anyone joining remotely
[28:50] would like to speak regarding this item,
please raise your hand or press star 9.
[28:55] No one online is indicating as anyone in
person would like to speak regarding
[28:58] this item, please come forward to the
left turn.
[29:02] » Seeing none, mayor.
>> All right, I will close public comment
[29:04] at this time.
>> Move to approve ad.
[29:06] » Second.
>> Motion in a second. Will you call the
[29:08] role, please?
>> Council member Abram, yes. Council
[29:11] member Bixel,
>> yes.
[29:12] » Vice Mayor Mes, yes.
>> Council member Phillips, yes.
[29:14] » Mayor Vlac,
>> yes. On a 5-0. Thank you, director.
[29:17] » All right. The next item is a second
reading of the ordinance amendment for
[29:20] our general plan amendment of 2026.
[29:25] Miss Quintterero.
>> Yes.
[29:28] » Thank you. Good evening, mayor, council,
members of the public. The item before
[29:31] you tonight is the housing element and
the associated general plan amendments,
[29:36] ordinance updates, and reszone actions.
This item was introduced at the last
[29:41] city council meeting and tonight is the
public hearing and second reading of the
[29:46] item and I'm available and happy to
answer any questions if there are
[29:50] » questions for
Okay, no questions. All right. So, at
[29:55] this time I will open it to the public
and ask the clerk to facilitate public
[29:59] comment.
>> We have no blue cards for this item. If
[30:02] anyone is joining remotely that would
like to speak regarding this item,
[30:06] please either raise your hand or press
star 9.
[30:10] Seeing none, mayor, moving back to in
person. Would anyone in person like to
[30:13] speak regarding this item? Please come
forward. Thank you.
[30:21] » Good evening, council, staff, community
members. Milt treeer. Our Turle planning
[30:26] department along with consult have been
working on this Turlock housing element
[30:29] for over two years now. On July 18th,
2024 at the planning commission meeting,
[30:34] there was a Turlock housing element
study to prepare for the housing
[30:38] element. A notice of the city of the
first public review period for the draft
[30:43] of housing element ran from October 1st
or October 2nd to November 1st, 2024.
[30:50] Two years ago, almost two years ago, the
state responded on April 30th, 2025. The
[30:57] California Department of Housing and
PUNY Velum completed a review of the
[31:00] draft housing element and found that
while the draft address sees addresses
[31:06] many of the statutory requirements, some
further revisions are necessary to
[31:10] substantially comply with the state's
housing element law.
[31:16] After that, multiple plans were
submitted to the state for review and
[31:21] they were all turned down by the state.
It seems to me that our planning staff
[31:25] and consultant were not allowed to make
or present the solutions to the issues
[31:30] of not complying to the state because
possibly of from pressure of the many
[31:35] city managers we had during that period
of time
[31:40] because the city managers are Atwell
employees and they're controlled by our
[31:44] current city of Turlock elected
officials. But now once again we're
[31:49] presenting this to the state.
So we will once again find out if the
[31:55] planning department and the consultants
were allowed to do their jobs because if
[31:59] they have been this will go through.
Thank you.
[32:04] » Is there anyone further would like to
speak? Ron Ber
[32:13] uh just some general comments. Um I've
looked through a little bit of the
[32:17] document. It's a long document with a
lot in it. Um, it's got some fascinating
[32:24] information in it. It really does. Um,
and I've made a good number of posts
[32:29] about that. Um,
I just u basically wanted to uh thank
[32:35] Katie and everybody else who worked on
it. I mean, it's a very detailed, very
[32:39] involved document. I know it's been a
long process, but I can't imagine
[32:45] how much time and effort they had to put
into it. So, I just wanted to say thank
[32:50] you.
>> Are there any further speakers regarding
[32:54] this item?
>> Seeing none, mayor.
[32:57] » All right. Closing public comment.
>> Motion to approve the resolution and
[33:03] both ordin ordinances contained within
item 8b.
[33:06] » Second. We have a motion in a second.
May you call the role, please.
[33:09] » Council member Abram.
>> Yes. Yes. Council member Bixel. Yes.
[33:11] » Vice Mayor Monet. Yes. Council member
Phillips. Yes. Mayor Bill Black.
[33:14] » Yes. Pon50. Thank you everyone.
>> All right. 9A is accepting the economic
[33:19] development strategic implementation
plan.
[33:23] Mr. Sims got a lot going on today.
[33:30] Good evening, mayor, council, members,
city staff, and members of the public.
[33:34] Before you tonight is the proposed
economic development strategic plan
[33:38] implementation plan for 2026 through
2029. As council will recall, on March
[33:44] 10th, 2026, council adopted the updated
economic development strategic plan
[33:48] prepared by Cosmont, establishing nine
strategic priorities to focus on in
[33:52] economic development. The implementation
plan takes those priorities, turns them
[33:56] into specific action items, timelines,
and performance metrics so we can track
[34:00] our progress as we regularly report back
to council.
[34:05] The plan is organized into three phases
over three years. Phase one is
[34:09] foundation and business engagement.
Phase two is investment and development
[34:12] activation. Phase three is long-term
growth and destination development. Now,
[34:18] these phases are not firm boundaries.
Economic development doesn't always
[34:21] happen according to a predetermined
schedule. Markets change, opportunities
[34:25] arise, and we have to be nimble.
Something identified for year three may
[34:29] make sense to pursue in year one.
Several activities are also reoccurring
[34:34] strategies that will continue throughout
all three years, including business
[34:37] retention, attraction, developer
engagement, marketing, and business
[34:41] assistance. We look at this
implementation plan much like a playbook
[34:44] as a coach will carry on the field. We
have a game plan. We know what we want
[34:48] to where we want to go and what we want
to do, but we also have to read what's
[34:52] happening in front of us and adjust the
play when conditions change. So, this
[34:56] plan is I just want to say it's very
collaborative. It's crossepart
[34:59] departmental effort and a great example
is the Chick-fil-A grand opening. Uh
[35:03] that project required significant
involvement from development services,
[35:07] engineering, municipal services, fire,
police, city administration, and others
[35:11] working together to get that project
across the finish line. So, great job to
[35:14] Adrian and her team, Chris and his team,
city administration, all staff involved.
[35:19] And we received tremendous feedback.
Chick-fil-A's opening team told us
[35:22] Turlock was their most businessfriendly
experience and that Turlock's
[35:26] Chick-fil-A grand opening day was the
highest performing of all Chick-fil-A
[35:30] grand openings in the US. So, being able
to receive that type of feedback from a
[35:34] new business comes from leadership,
coordination, and city staff working
[35:38] together to get a project to Yes. So,
and as the mayor had said, this isn't
[35:42] just about Chick-fil-A. It's about using
that success as a springboard for
[35:46] additional investment, jobs, sales tax
revenue that support services for our
[35:49] community. Tonight,
rather than going in depth on every
[35:54] action item in the plan, there's about
35 to 40. I want to highlight a few
[35:58] examples of what's already happening and
why it's happening. One action item
[36:03] focuses on business retention and
expansion. Our city manager is joining
[36:07] economic development on meetings with
some of our largest employers and
[36:10] stakeholders to better understand
challenges, successes, and opportunities
[36:14] for growth. In one recent meeting, we
learned that a large employer has an
[36:18] opportunity for a 10,000 square foot
expansion that could add production
[36:22] lines and additional jobs in Turlock.
This organization has a corporate office
[36:26] out of state is in and is competing to
have an additional investment at their
[36:30] Turlock facility. And being able to have
a development incentive program like the
[36:34] Turlock development incentive program is
an added benefit that we can that can
[36:38] add to help that large employer win that
job.
[36:43] These incentive programs are prime
examples of how it will bring wins to
[36:46] us. This will help attract projects in
WISP and throughout Turlock. We met with
[36:50] another business that happens to be
opening soon that needed assistance with
[36:54] their project and through collaboration,
we coordinated a team meeting to help
[36:58] that business find a path forward. This
is an example of business concierge
[37:02] priority that is called out in this
implementation plan. Instead of
[37:05] businesses being stuck or not
understanding a path forward, acting as
[37:09] a business concierge will assist our
economic development efforts going
[37:12] forward. Another major focus is business
attraction. And we're going all in on
[37:16] this one. The city manager and I are
committed to targeting recruitment
[37:19] meetings and conferences ICS
uh to prospective businesses uh outside
[37:26] of California to put Turlock in front of
them. We've already had several
[37:30] discussions with high performing
businesses considering Turlock for a
[37:33] location. We're speaking with large
employers, potential sports users, and
[37:36] family entertainment venues. Sports and
entertainment are massive economic
[37:40] drivers for communities, a magnet that
pulls outside dollars and assists
[37:44] others, other local business such as
hotels and shopping. The incentive
[37:48] program will help us get those business
attraction wins as well. We're also
[37:52] meeting and strengthening partnerships
with organizations in our community,
[37:56] including the Turlock Chamber, Santa
Loss, Latino Chamber, Beam Circular,
[37:59] Opportunity Stannis Loss, and Volt
Institute. and we're increasing
[38:03] engagement with developers, property
owners, and commercial real estate
[38:06] brokers. We want to hear what's working,
what isn't, and where we can move
[38:10] faster. The city manager and I have the
developer roundt scheduled for early
[38:15] September to continue that conversation
with our local realtors and developers.
[38:21] And finally, branding, communication,
and marketing are important components
[38:25] of economic development. Our economic
development and communications team
[38:28] continues to do a great job highlighting
Turlock businesses, community events,
[38:33] and opportunities. And we're seeing
strong engagement across all our social
[38:36] media platforms. We're stringing we're
seeing strong participation in the
[38:40] Turlock partnership incentive program
with economic development, planning, and
[38:44] building staff working together to
promote that program as businesses come
[38:47] to the counter. It's really helping us
get more wins for that program. Looking
[38:51] ahead, we're going to market Turlock
more aggressively. We're going to think
[38:54] outside the box. Working with our city
manager, our PIO and communication staff
[38:58] are exploring targeted advertising,
commercial real estate and development
[39:02] publications, geo fencing campaigns, and
other strategies to put Turlock in front
[39:07] of the businesses, developers, and
investors, maybe even advertisements in
[39:11] Bay Area sports team publications.
There's a lot of momentum around
[39:15] economic development in Turlock right
now with our new city manager economic
[39:18] development experience, energy and and
how how we get to yes philosophy. I
[39:23] believe we have an opportunity to build
on that momentum and take our efforts to
[39:26] another level. And that philosophy
aligns with this implementation plan. We
[39:30] want Turlock to compete for investment,
respond when opportunities arise, work
[39:34] collaboratively to solve problems, and
get projects across the finish line.
[39:39] This implementation plan gives us the
playbook. Our job now is to execute,
[39:44] measure our results, remain flexible,
and continue working together as one
[39:48] city team to bring investment,
businesses, jobs, and economic
[39:52] opportunity to Turlock.
So, with that, that kind of concludes my
[39:56] presentation. If there's further
question, we can go into that, but I
[40:00] kind of wanted to give you guys a high
level overview of what's going on and
[40:03] why it's happening and the momentum that
we're building.
[40:06] » Questions for Mr. Simps?
>> Great presentation. Thank you.
[40:10] » Very good. Okay. At this time, uh, we
will have we'll open it to the public
[40:14] and ask the clerk to
handle it.
[40:18] » Yes. So, we have no blue cards for this
item. Um, if anyone joining remotely
[40:21] would like to speak, please raise your
hand or press star 9 to indicate so.
[40:28] Seeing none, if when anyone in person
would like to speak regarding this item,
[40:31] please come forward to the left turn.
>> Seeing none, mayor. Okay, we're going to
[40:36] close public comment, but uh John Madden
was on this somehow like the X's and O's
[40:40] all over the place.
>> It's a playbook. We're ready to move.
[40:42] » Okay,
>> if we got to call audible, we will.
[40:45] » Yeah. Um so, you know, no particular
questions, but you know, thank you for
[40:49] really highlighting kind of where we're
at, what we're doing. Um you know, in
[40:54] the implementation plan, like you said,
I think there's what 35 different
[40:58] different items. Um, and I, you know,
back in March when we were presented
[41:02] with sort of the overarching plan, I I
think it was, I can speak for everybody
[41:06] that it was important to have like
here's here's the order of what we're
[41:10] going to do. Um, and you know, one thing
that I I'm not seeing in the plan that I
[41:15] would have wanted to see a little bit
more is sort of like maybe a little bit
[41:19] more specific timelines on like, you
know, a lot of things are listed as
[41:24] ongoing or in progress and, you know,
having having some specific milestones.
[41:28] So we can come back at that date and say
where are we at and and a little bit
[41:33] more of the the how like phase phase
three year three is we're going to
[41:38] support housing development but I would
like to see whatever comes through all
[41:43] of this collaboration and and you know
really talking through departments. I
[41:47] want to see the specific policies come
forth to us so we can really talk about
[41:51] how we can support what what is out
there and what's needed in the
[41:55] community.
Yes, sir.
[41:59] » So, I just want to say uh economic
development will no longer be a just a
[42:04] department goal. I mean, we're all going
to work towards it. If you look at all
[42:08] the directors over there and this the
council, the community, we are all going
[42:13] to be part of this team. Uh this is not
going to be driven by one person, one
[42:18] branch. We all got to roll up our
sleeves and do this. So to your point um
[42:24] and and I think Anthony said it good in
the beginning, economic development has
[42:28] to be flexible because today's
opportunity may be gone, but we always
[42:34] have to be striving for tomorrow and and
how to build what this council and this
[42:39] community needs. We don't have to chase
every bright light out there. We have to
[42:44] pick what's right for Turlock and and
our team's going to be behind that.
[42:50] Uh, with that I'll move to approve the
this item. Second
[42:53] » with a motion and second. I'll call the
role.
[42:55] » Council member Abram. Yes.
>> Council member Bixel. Yes.
[42:57] » Vice Mayor Manz. Yes.
>> Council member Phillips. Yes.
[42:59] » Mayor BL.
>> Yes. Pass on 5 Z. Thank you, Mr. Sims.
[43:03] All right. The next one is approving an
agreement with St. Francis Electric for
[43:07] traffic signal and and street light
prevention, maintenance, and repair
[43:10] services for five years. Mr. Fisher.
>> Back again.
[43:21] too soon.
>> No, no, no.
[43:25] » This item um tonight before you is
requesting a 5-year agreement with St.
[43:29] Francis Electric for traffic signal and
street light maintenance repair services
[43:33] in the amount not to exceed 2.5 million.
Um just a little bit of background. The
[43:38] city maintains about 100 traffic 102
traffic signals and uh rapid uh flashing
[43:43] beacon locations along with associated
controllers uh detection system, battery
[43:47] backups, pedestrian equipment, um and
street light infrastructure. These are
[43:51] all critical components um of our of our
transportation system and um hopefully
[43:55] you know we can we can demonstrate
tonight like what we've done with the
[43:58] previous contract and and get you swayed
to to approve this one. So, under our
[44:02] current contract, um, we've been able to
do more than simply just respond, um, to
[44:06] when a signal has a problem. Um, we've
really taken a proactive approach on our
[44:09] maintenance. We've looked at our entire
system. We've looked at all of our
[44:13] inspection records and we've we've
prioritized all of the the suggestions
[44:17] or the information. We've replaced all
of the aging battery backup systems. So,
[44:21] when our, you know, our power goes out,
you know, our street lights aren't dark.
[44:25] Um,
fail detection loops. That means that
[44:28] when you pull up to, you know, you and
you stage, um, it detects it detects the
[44:32] cars in there and it it changes the
light appropriately and it prioritizes
[44:35] those things failed. You won't
necessarily know. You're just going to
[44:38] wait a little bit longer. You know, for
instance, when I first started here in
[44:42] city tour lock, my my distance from my
house to to church on Sunday was 17
[44:47] minutes. It's now 12. Um, so there's a
big improvement. Now, have we got areas?
[44:52] » No. [laughter]
[44:55] » Sorry.
haven't asked, sir.
[44:58] » So, you know, it's
it's a combination of all the little
[45:02] things, you know, and then, you know,
and we got far enough ahead on the on
[45:06] the the deferred maintenance so we could
start making improvements for safety and
[45:09] visibility. So, you see our new our new
uh street signs, you know, replacing the
[45:13] ones that have been damaged by wind many
decades ago where you can't unfadable,
[45:17] then putting, you know, the signal tape
around there and repainting so they
[45:20] really stand out, right? And like that
really helps some of the newer vehicles
[45:24] that have detection, you know, and be
and be more safer. Now when the way I
[45:26] look at it is, you know, if we pre
prevent one injury accident at one
[45:30] intersection, like the money's well
spent. I mean, it's just it's absolutely
[45:33] incredible. I mean, not only from, you
know, people having a bad day to, you
[45:37] know, to all the time invest spending on
on mitigating some of those things. For
[45:42] this RFP, we went out um and we went out
for competitive bid process. Um we you
[45:48] know propos all all the proposals were
evaluated on qualification staffing
[45:51] methodology and emergency response
capability pricing and re you know and
[45:55] references and following that St.
Francis simply was just the the best
[45:59] one. So under the new proposed agreement
sorry sticky fingers
[46:07] um we made some changes to the scope.
Um, previously it was more just
[46:10] responding um and going out and fixing
things. You know, we we've made some
[46:13] changes to include all of um any changes
that we want to make to make safety
[46:18] improvements. So, if we want to change,
for instance, in front of them, you
[46:21] know, the the junior high to put
countdown signal heads for pedestrians,
[46:25] we can do that with this new contract,
you know, and we could use utilize those
[46:28] existing assets in other locations that
maybe don't need that. Um,
[46:33] so this current contract is basically
the same contract. Now, if you remember
[46:37] when I first started back in 2022, we
came back to the council and I asked for
[46:41] for more money because like I looked at
that, you know, our system and I said,
[46:44] "This is simply isn't enough for what we
want to do." You know, when we looked at
[46:47] it and we said, "Okay, I think this is
the amount of work that we can do um
[46:50] given, you know, our budget, you know,
our budget year." So, we we proved that
[46:55] was accurate. We made a lot of
improvements and we're looking for the
[46:58] next phase of of making this this
better. So, um obviously the actual
[47:03] expenditures will vary. Um this is a not
to exceed amount if we find a place
[47:06] where you know we're we're meeting we
won't spend the money but um this is all
[47:09] funded through um fund 219 which is
contract services signalization um we
[47:15] recommend that you approve this
agreement um and it really the goal uh
[47:19] for me is just have a safe reliable
system that is keeps traffic moving and
[47:24] it makes efficiency because it makes all
of our lives better. And again it's it's
[47:27] so hard to explain the things that we
fix that like we don't notice but we
[47:30] only notice when we're sitting there
waiting at a light because it doesn't
[47:33] go. So, be happy to answer any
questions. Yeah.
[47:36] » Is it true the ants were eating some of
the
[47:40] » Oh, yeah. Regis, that's a thing. That
was I didn't believe it. I had to go out
[47:43] there and look at it myself. But yeah,
it was absolutely true.
[47:46] » So, the ants eat like
>> they ate the insulation off the wiring
[47:49] which cause intermittent shorts during
fog events. Yeah.
[47:53] » Who knew?
>> Yeah.
[47:54] » Who knew?
>> Question for director.
[47:58] » Okay. Um for that then I will open the
public comment and ask the city clerk to
[48:02] facilitate the public comment.
>> We have no blue speaker cards. If anyone
[48:06] joining remotely would like to speak,
please raise your hand or press star 9
[48:10] to indicate.
Seeing none any if anyone in person
[48:16] would like to speak regarding this item,
please come forward to lect turn.
[48:20] » Seeing none, mayor.
>> All right, then I will be closing the
[48:22] public comment.
>> Move to approve 9B.
[48:25] » Second.
>> Motion in a second. Will you call the
[48:27] role, please?
>> Council member Abram. Yes. Council
[48:28] member Bixel. Yes.
>> Vice Mayor Manz.
[48:30] » Council member Phillips. Yes. Mayor
>> Back. Yes. Passes on 5-0. Thank you,
[48:34] Director Fischer.
>> Okay. This is the time set aside for the
[48:37] general public participation and we'll
ask the city clerk to facilitate the
[48:41] public comment. This is opportunity for
members of public to address the city
[48:44] council on matters that are not on
tonight's agenda and are within the
[48:47] council's subject matter jurisdiction.
Each speaker will have up to three
[48:50] minutes and the total time allotted for
general public participation is 30
[48:54] minutes. Madam clerk,
>> we have a total of seven speaker cards.
[48:58] We'll begin with the first five speaker
cards and then we'll move to our remote
[49:01] speakers and then coming back to address
the remainder of the blue cards. So the
[49:05] first blue speaker is Maddie S. If you
can please come forward to the lect
[49:09] turn.
>> Yep. Over there.
[49:13] » Hold that microphone down, sweetheart,
so you can reach it. There you go.
[49:23] Hi, my name is Maddie, which you
probably already know, and I'm here
[49:27] because I think that kids,
too. I have three ideas that I think I
[49:32] could that I think could make our
community a better place for kids.
[49:36] First, create a kids cleanup turlock
community day where the community
[49:40] gathers together to help clean. It would
be great to have free or inexpensive
[49:46] sports art programs, movie night, game
night, and community events. Chillock
[49:52] does not currently offer any ongoing
completely free self-defense class for
[49:57] kids. So, it would be great to have one
so kids can learn to be safe.
[50:02] » Thank you.
[50:08] » We have Haley Cooper.
[50:14] Only speakers with sashes get to speak
tonight.
[50:16] » Yes.
>> Good evening, council mayor. My name is
[50:21] Haley Cooper. I am 12 years old. What
[snorts] I love about Turlock is the
[50:26] farmers market and meeting new people
and communities. I also love to attend
[50:31] them with my family and I love holiday
parades to see what our community could
[50:35] do and come together.
[50:39] » [applause]
>> Thank you.
[50:42] We have Audrey Nelson.
[51:04] » Hi, my name is Audrey Nelson.
And thank you for the people that are
[51:11] here today. And I love Turlock.
[51:27] » My favorite thing about Turlock
is
[51:34] the fair.
[51:42] Thank you.
[51:47] » Next speaker is Millie Clawson.
[52:02] » Hello, my name is Lily.
One of my favorite things about Sherlock
[52:08] is that they brought the melon festival
back. One,
[52:13] I really like the parks, too. My
favorite park is Crane Park. Thank you
[52:17] for your time.
[52:20] [applause]
[52:23] Next speaker is Melissa Lopez.
[52:35] All right. Can you hear me? Okay. Okay.
Uh, good evening. My name is Melissa
[52:38] Lopez and there was two comments I
wanted to make. Firstly was one that was
[52:42] already brought up, the sidewalks. Um,
myself and other community members on I
[52:47] don't know directions that side of town.
Um, really appreciate that sidewalks
[52:52] were put in where there was like more
like dirt patch. It makes it look nicer.
[52:55] It's safer. So, we really appreciate
that and just wanted to say that. The
[52:58] second thing was um about two years ago
uh Self-Help Enterprises came in and
[53:04] built I think 24 homes here in Turlock.
And I think that was a really great
[53:07] thing that you guys did it uh really
fast. You did the inspections really
[53:11] quick. And as someone that personally
benefit benefited from that, um it was
[53:14] really great that you guys did that. So,
thank you for your time.
[53:22] Okay, we'll move to our remote speakers
before coming back to the blue cards.
[53:26] Um, if you are joining remotely and
would like to speak, please raise your
[53:29] hand or press star nine. We do have our
first speaker is Ramon Rodriguez. Please
[53:34] go ahead and speak.
[53:38] » Can everyone hear me?
>> We can hear you. Yes.
[53:42] Uh anyways, my uh suggestions for to see
Turlock grow is since California's uh
[53:53] home to many marathons and half
marathons, I think we should have half
[53:58] marathons in marics here in Turlock
because you imagine having a
[54:05] marathon and half marathon in Turlock.
It will bring it will put Turlock on the
[54:10] map as long as uh being on a list of
cities that host marathons and half
[54:15] marathons because we all know Turlock
loves the sports. We have great high
[54:20] school and college sport programs.
Everyone knows about this all and since
[54:26] uh we can have it, it could be either
one year, two years or maybe someday.
[54:31] But hopefully I would love to see a half
marathon and marathon because if you do
[54:37] allow it, it will bring a lot of
recognition. It will bring many visitors
[54:43] to know where Turlock is and also it
means new economic opportunities because
[54:50] who might know a visitor from Bay Area
or Southern California or elsewhere if
[54:56] they see Turlock being hey this town's
nice we I could open up my business or
[55:01] expand operations.
That's a chance right there. So
[55:07] we have everything. We have the
Christmas parade, the Fourth of July
[55:10] parade, the melon carnival, the farmers
market, the the market. That's
[55:16] everything that Turlock has. The only
thing Turlock needs is a half marathon,
[55:20] a marathon, and that could be a huge
multiplier effect for our community as
[55:25] well as our economic
uh engine because we know Turlock is
[55:30] growing. So if we want to do that, we
should consider looking into having a
[55:36] such an events like a half marathon
marathon because every city has these
[55:42] events. It's a great huge booster for
our economy.
[55:47] You should look at it too.
[55:55] » Ramon, I believe you've muted yourself.
>> Oh, sorry.
[56:00] » There you go.
Anyways,
[56:03] having a half marathon and a marathon in
Turlock is going to be a huge game
[56:07] booster on the on our community. It will
bring a lot of change. It'll bring a lot
[56:13] of community pride. Also, a lot of
opportunities for to grow our economy.
[56:18] So, we could look at it and I hope you
look at it too because Turlock needs to
[56:23] be on the map all over California. Thank
you.
[56:28] » Thank you. We have no further online.
Um, so next person is Candace Bills.
[56:44] » Hi. I know you guys all know who I am.
So, I think that I wouldn't have been so
[56:48] pissed off last week if our little
business arrangement hadn't started off
[56:53] on lies. So, I spent weeks calling the
city departments, uh, the building
[56:57] department, code enforcement, trying to
get some things set up, um, an
[57:01] inspection of something. And I was told
that that wasn't something that existed
[57:04] in the city of Turlock, that you didn't
have a code enforcement. You didn't have
[57:08] a building inspection department. So,
whoever answers your phone for both of
[57:12] those departments lied to me. It took an
email to get the ball rolling. And then
[57:17] you finally got you finally started to
listen to me little bit. And then when I
[57:23] asked you to correct your mistakes on
the thing because you had it you had um
[57:27] a structural flood listed as a pl a
plumbing leak. I said, "Ah, actually
[57:32] that's factually incorrect. It was a
flood structural flood. Water came out
[57:37] at the baseboards. I thought a pipe
broke. That's not a plumbing leak. That
[57:41] is a flood. Please correct it." Ghost
it. Cool. And then there was another
[57:46] time that um when the inspection did
happen, it was 4 days late. no problem
[57:50] there because you guys uh said it was
fine. Um and and when it was supposedly
[57:55] looked into, uh the city uh manager
didn't look into it himself like he
[57:59] said. He passed it on to somebody else
who said it was within the time frame,
[58:03] which I'm sorry, but 28 comes after 24.
I thought could be wrong but um anyway
[58:09] so that happened and then when I called
him out on that on the fact the you know
[58:14] factual like all the inadequacies and
all the inaccuracies on his report
[58:19] ghosted again no response like okay well
that's fun and so then by the time I did
[58:24] get a response it was past the 10 days
so then there was no appeal process so I
[58:28] come here and then I'm told to appeal
how it's already past the 10 days and
[58:33] everybody knows it so that was done. So,
I dealt with that and then I get told
[58:38] that everything's going to get looked
into and it's not. And then last week, I
[58:42] realized that if this might be a racial
thing, I said because I'm a black girl
[58:46] with cancer and you guys are trying to
sweep me under the rug, but you're so
[58:49] quick to remove a car for someone who is
of the white race. And so I just don't
[58:55] think that I'm that there's some there's
some racial disparities here because
[58:59] I've been begging for your guys' help
for months, weeks, whatever. And
[59:05] nothing. You guys are telling me that 28
is like nothing you guys are telling me
[59:10] makes sense. Nothing. And then you guys
are scrambling to like, oh, we're going
[59:14] to come fix it now. We're going to
reopen your case based on new
[59:17] information. I'm like, what new
information? It's been like this. And
[59:21] it's actually been a year. I tried so
hard not to come to you guys. Tried so
[59:25] hard because I knew it would meant
penalties. I knew that there would be a
[59:29] problem for my landlord because you guys
were supposed to be what's that word
[59:34] where you don't play favorites. You were
supposed to be anti-good boys club and
[59:38] instead you went right in there with it
and now hindsight's shown me that that's
[59:41] how it happened from the start because
you guys would have given me a right.
[59:47] » The next speaker is Amora Maldonado.
[1:00:11] One, two, one, two, three.
[1:00:42] That's okay.
[1:00:56] We're gonna come back to you guys next
time.
[1:01:03] » Amora,
>> next time.
[1:01:05] » You are smart and beautiful. You come
back next time and try again,
[1:01:09] sweetheart. It's okay. Thank you.
[applause]
[1:01:19] Are there any speakers that would like
to come up to lect turn? Go ahead.
[1:01:29] » Okay. I'm speaking uh unexpectedly
tonight. I postponed addressing this
[1:01:34] council regarding the city's gross
handling of public records requests, but
[1:01:38] I'm here due to highly unscrupulous
interactions that occurred just hours
[1:01:44] ago.
Your executive administration has
[1:01:47] descended into operational chaos,
providing contradictory directives
[1:01:52] regarding my statutory right to appeal
to the planning commission.
[1:01:56] The city manager claims I exhausted my
administrative remedies in June, but on
[1:02:01] July 20th, I made an entirely new
discovery. Building permit 25-1123
[1:02:08] is void by state law. A six-unit
building must be handled as a commercial
[1:02:14] property and the city paid the state a
fee based on a residential status rather
[1:02:20] than the mandated commercial status.
I cannot tell the story in three
[1:02:25] minutes, but after the city manager sent
a letter via certified mail dated July
[1:02:30] 29th, I realized that I had not
exhausted local administrative remedies
[1:02:36] due to the explicit and exclusive
language of both the planning commission
[1:02:41] and city council resolutions regarding
my earlier appeals.
[1:02:46] Dr. Murphy emailed at 3:00 today to
unilaterally shut me down. case closed.
[1:02:54] But 45 minutes later, Director Wernern
emailed an entirely new appeal form that
[1:03:00] did not exist before today. Yet, it
shows a revised date of yesterday. How
[1:03:06] convenient. And in the frantic rush, it
cites on the new form a 2023 resolution
[1:03:13] for the appeal fee rather than the
council's August 2025 fee schedule.
[1:03:18] I have to ask this council who is
exactly in charge. The city manager
[1:03:24] tells a resident in writing, "The case
is closed and no fees, no appeal will be
[1:03:28] accepted." Less than an hour later, a
department director countermands him
[1:03:33] using a new backdated legally
incompetent form. I would like to demand
[1:03:39] immediate intervention from the city
attorney to clarify this administrative
[1:03:43] train wreck, but I don't know how she
could not be part of the problem.
[1:03:50] You must be excited, mayor, to give your
got you covered state of the city
[1:03:55] address on Thursday.
But I am forced to constantly wonder
[1:04:01] what would have happened to my elderly
mother if she had not had a legal agent
[1:04:06] to stand up to this genuinely
unscrupulous administration.
[1:04:13] Is there anyone further that would like
to speak? Please come forth.
[1:04:24] » Good evening. uh melt treewater. Do we
adults and parents have a responsibility
[1:04:29] to our children, grandchildren, and
descendants? We sure do because they
[1:04:33] can't plan for themselves because
they're too young or they haven't been
[1:04:36] born yet. In an online vote two years
ago, the residents of Turlock responded
[1:04:40] to a survey that they liked our small
town. Our 73,000 residents is an ideal
[1:04:47] population for the city in this valley.
Residents of Turlock, remember that
[1:04:51] anyone at this das can say almost
anything they want. But that doesn't
[1:04:56] mean that what they say is good for the
Turlock residents.
[1:04:59] If you're on your computer now, right
now, please open up a new window on your
[1:05:04] computer. Go to the city website, city
of turlock.org.
[1:05:08] Scroll down to the bottom and click on
government. Then select the Turlock City
[1:05:13] Council and then select the picture of
the mayor.
[1:05:17] We all know that there's an election
coming up, but did you know that we
[1:05:20] Turlock residents are paying for the
mayor's campaign literature? Here you
[1:05:25] will see a 1,700word
campaign ad for the mayor. Having
[1:05:30] attended, having attended almost every
council meeting in the past 12 years, I
[1:05:35] can guarantee you that some t staff time
was spent on this campaign
[1:05:40] advertisement. Of course, it's uh got a
lot of exaggerations and false
[1:05:45] statements in it, but research will help
you find that out. This prepos this is
[1:05:51] preposterous. The residents of Turlock
must not pay for the Turlock's campaign
[1:05:55] advertisement.
Just check the two council members on
[1:05:59] the same page running for office. They
don't have campaign advertisements on
[1:06:03] their Tur on the Turlock website. The
other two candidates running for mayor
[1:06:07] do not have campaign advertisements on
the city of Turlock website.
[1:06:11] This is a prime example of people seated
this dis are falling short.
[1:06:17] Lastly, let me make you aware that we
must not allow the data centers here in
[1:06:22] Turlock or Stannislas County. Data
centers will suck up our water, eat up
[1:06:28] our electrical power, and pollute our
city's air. Data center advocates are
[1:06:32] not concerned that we live in an area
with the best farmland on Earth. The
[1:06:37] data center advocates are not concerned
about what is best for our children, our
[1:06:43] grandchildren and descendants, but how
much money that they can make.
[1:06:48] We must aggressively fight against data
centers here in Turlock and in Stannis
[1:06:54] Los County. We must have an ordinance
that will ban data centers here in the
[1:06:58] city of Turlock and all the rural areas
of Stannislas County. A lot of work to
[1:07:03] do, but we've got to get this
accomplished. We cannot have these
[1:07:07] terrible data centers in the central
valley of California. Thank you.
[1:07:14] » Thank you. Would anyone else like to
speak?
[1:07:17] Please.
>> All right. Good evening, mayor, city
[1:07:20] council, all of our amazing leaders over
here. Um, I probably should have gotten
[1:07:25] up and said what all our girls were
going to be doing. I know that we I made
[1:07:28] sure that Mayor Amy had a text message
about 25 minutes before we were coming
[1:07:32] in here, but when we did bring back in
the Turlock Melon Carnival, we also
[1:07:36] brought back in the Turlock Melon
Pageant. And for the first two years, we
[1:07:40] have done a pretty great job for that.
But this year, we have changed our melon
[1:07:43] pageant um to be more of an ambassador
program instead of just a beauty
[1:07:47] pageant, right? All of our all of our
girls are amazing and beautiful, but we
[1:07:51] did think it was important to go ahead
and start instilling in this next
[1:07:54] generation the importance of being
civic-minded and being a strong leader
[1:08:00] who has honor, respect, and integrity in
their community. So, the girls will be
[1:08:05] attending two city council meetings,
this one and the other one will be on
[1:08:07] September 8th. So, I have notified you
guys a little bit earlier. I'm so sorry
[1:08:11] about that. And part of it is that they
do have to give up and they have to
[1:08:14] speak at just one of those meetings. So,
a lot of our girls did a really great
[1:08:17] job not coming in here before and and
jumping up there. So, just so you guys
[1:08:21] know, the girls in the sashes, that's
what they're doing is they're actually
[1:08:23] practicing what it means to be
civic-minded and be involved and learn
[1:08:27] how to make a difference. Um, the
assignment was that they were to come
[1:08:30] here and they were to talk to you guys
either about something they heard about
[1:08:32] during the meeting or to comment about
something in Turlock that they're really
[1:08:36] proud of that you guys have done or
something that they would like to see
[1:08:39] improved on. um all with being able to
do that with respect and kindness
[1:08:44] because we get a lot more done with
honey than we do with vinegar. Um so
[1:08:48] girls, I am really proud of you guys for
coming up here and we are really proud
[1:08:51] of what's going on with the Turlock
Melon Pageant. And then just a quick
[1:08:56] plug cuz I still have a a$124. I still
got a dollar again a minute. Um, the
[1:09:02] Melon Carnival will be this September
19th and 20th, and all of our girls will
[1:09:06] be on stage on that Saturday, September
19th, to see who's going to be Miss
[1:09:11] Melon. Um, and our winners will actually
have a legacy program that they're going
[1:09:16] to continue working on. So, anything
that you guys need help with, they
[1:09:19] definitely want to be there for you
guys. But also, as a group, they'll get
[1:09:22] together and they'll think of one item,
one thing that they want to do to leave
[1:09:24] as a legacy for their reign in Turlock.
could be something as simple as um
[1:09:30] fundraisers to get blankets for our
shelters or planting a tree in one of
[1:09:34] the parks, figuring out how to get a
bench somewhere. They'll figure out
[1:09:37] what's what's close to their heart and
work on that together as a group of the
[1:09:40] reigning queens this year. So, we're
very excited, very proud of them, and
[1:09:44] that is what our girls were doing up
here with you guys today. So, thank you
[1:09:46] for your time.
[1:09:51] » Thank you. Is there anyone else that
would like to speak regarding public
[1:09:53] comment?
Seeing none, mayor,
[1:10:01] » I'm closing public comment. Moving to
the city manager reports and updates.
[1:10:06] » Good evening, council. Uh, a couple
things. First, I just want to commend
[1:10:10] Chris. Chris, uh, it was great working
with you side by side. Uh I remember
[1:10:16] watching some Turlock council meetings
when you were actually in this chair or
[1:10:21] presentations you made and uh even in
your comments today, you can tell you
[1:10:26] love this city, you love this
organization, and it's been great to
[1:10:29] work and you'll always have a home here
whenever you want to come back to the
[1:10:32] varsity team. All right.
>> Oh, dang.
[1:10:36] » Um
>> I've been honored. Uh this week I
[1:10:41] started my operation switch. So stopped
working in the city hall and I got to
[1:10:44] work in 911 uh with the staff this week
uh the other day. I guess it was
[1:10:50] yesterday. Feels like it was a week. It
was I guess it was guess it's only
[1:10:53] Tuesday. So yesterday I worked a couple
hours over there and you know what the
[1:10:58] police officer said earlier truly you
know you you listen to some of the calls
[1:11:03] they take and what what's you know both
fire and and police are dispatched to
[1:11:09] you never know uh as bad as a day you
think you're having what you know they
[1:11:15] have to deal with sometimes. And then uh
lastly uh this is a bad news good news
[1:11:22] story. I had my car towed uh last week
and I had to take an Uber to my first
[1:11:29] meeting at 7 a.m. And uh when I
explained that to the employees, I met
[1:11:33] with like 70 employees. Uh this is the
type of organization you have. I left. I
[1:11:39] was trying to then call 911 to take care
of, you know, what's going on and found
[1:11:43] out that the car was towed, but there
were like five employees who came out
[1:11:49] and said, "Hey, sir, uh, what's your car
look like?" Because we work all over the
[1:11:53] city, you know, where they're the
maintenance team and, you know, we'll
[1:11:56] keep an eye out for your car. And I was
just so touched that employees listened
[1:12:01] to my plight and decided take it upon
themselves to come out and say, "Look,
[1:12:06] we're getting ready to drive out and
start our day. But if we can help, we'll
[1:12:09] we'll put our eyes out there." So that's
what you have. And that's why I'm so
[1:12:13] proud to work with this team and I
understand why Chris was emotional
[1:12:16] because truly we have great employees
that are just trying to just do a little
[1:12:21] bit to make our community better. So
proud to be here.
[1:12:25] » Thank you.
All right, council member comments,
[1:12:28] announcements, and or future items.
Council member Raven,
[1:12:31] » uh, just briefly, I wanted to say, you
know, welcome to all the young ladies
[1:12:34] that came out tonight and spoke. And,
um, I'll look forward to seeing you
[1:12:37] again in in two weeks or however long it
is. Um, I saw a couple of you are Girl
[1:12:42] Scouts and I saw a few of the daisies
leave. So, I hope you're counting this
[1:12:45] for part of your Democracy for Daisies
and Brownies because this is this is
[1:12:49] democracy and work. This is, you know,
your government, the closest that you
[1:12:53] can get to it. So, welcome. I'm so glad
you guys are getting involved.
[1:12:58] » I just want to give a shout out to
Chris. Um, wish you absolutely, you
[1:13:02] know, the best. You will be missed.
You're an absolute consumate pro and we
[1:13:07] thank you and welcome you back anytime.
>> Um, first to our ladies, our young
[1:13:13] ladies, our ambassadors. I know some of
you are going to be future leaders
[1:13:17] around here. And Miss Samora, I just
want to tell you, don't be scared,
[1:13:22] sweetheart, at coming back to the next
council meeting and speaking because
[1:13:26] we're all leaders up here in elected
officials, but sometimes we get nervous,
[1:13:29] too. And it's and it's totally okay. So,
we'll be looking forward to what you
[1:13:34] have to say at the next council meeting
in September. And I wish all of you
[1:13:38] young ladies the best at becoming the
next Miss Melon. I'm so glad that's
[1:13:42] back. Fisher. Oh, Fisher.
three short years, Betty, but you've
[1:13:48] done some very, very heavy lifting
around here at city hall. Um, and it
[1:13:53] didn't go unnoticed and it certainly
doesn't go unappreciated. So, I'm going
[1:13:57] to piggyback what JJ said. When you want
to come back to the varsity team, come
[1:14:00] on. Um, because you will be missed and
you've done a lot in your very short
[1:14:04] stay here and we're very grateful. So,
but we wish you well and we understand
[1:14:07] family commitments and families first
and and we want the best for you and
[1:14:11] yours. So, thank you. The last thing I
have, fire chief Serpa. Boy, you guys
[1:14:16] are killing it, man. I love it. Um, it's
See, am I wrong to say all of our
[1:14:20] firefighters are home?
>> Almost except one unit. Just one. Yeah.
[1:14:25] Okay. Um, well done. Very appreciated.
Um, you guys are knocking it out of the
[1:14:30] park. Um, we thought we had a reported
structure fire uh down on Lewis and all
[1:14:35] of our Turlock units were were tied up
and MST showed up with a ladder truck
[1:14:40] and a whole company and five extra
engines. I it's the support we have from
[1:14:44] you guys and the organization is amazing
and we're grateful. So, thank you for
[1:14:48] that.
>> Chris Fischer, we are going to miss you.
[1:14:52] Um, just the time I have spent with you.
Um, I've learned a lot from you and just
[1:14:56] listening to your um, presentation. So,
thank you for all that you have done uh
[1:15:00] while being here. Um like everybody else
said, you are going to be missed. Um but
[1:15:03] I'm sure we'll see you around. And to
all the young ladies, um everybody who
[1:15:08] spoke, you guys did an amazing job. I
wish I had I was that brave when I was a
[1:15:12] kid. So, um I look forward to seeing you
girls back uh in a couple weeks.
[1:15:18] » All right, Chris Fischer, you've got big
shoes to fill. You you saved us on SRWA.
[1:15:24] you set it up for complete just
wonderful situation now. It's it's
[1:15:30] amazing that what you've done while
you've been here and you're always
[1:15:33] welcome back. Um to Captain Peno, thank
you for all of your years of service
[1:15:39] that obviously law enforcement's close
to my heart and uh I I get what he's
[1:15:44] saying. It's it's think about those
people that are going out there every
[1:15:47] day still and taking those calls that
are your worst day. And then uh loved
[1:15:52] hearing the the young voices, the the
hope and the the dreams. Bring it you
[1:15:57] guys. That's what we need here. That's
you guys are our future. So keep coming
[1:16:02] and you'll learn. You you'll get your
voice. It'll be perfect. All right. We
[1:16:06] have close session room.
>> Yes, we have two items. A conference
[1:16:10] with legal counsel anticipated
litigation purs California government
[1:16:13] code 549569D21
case. And item B is conference with
[1:16:18] legal council existing litigation
pursuant to government code 5495
[1:16:23] 9D1 one case people versus state of
California versus the city of Turlock.
[1:16:28] At this time I will open up public
comment for any items on the close
[1:16:32] session the two items that I just read.
If anyone would like to come forward to
[1:16:35] the lect turn or if anyone is on the
remote that would like to speak
[1:16:38] regarding this item please raise your
hand.
[1:16:42] Seeing none, we'll close public comment.
>> All right. And we will uh go to close
[1:16:46] session. Should there be anything to
report out, we'll let you know. Thank
[1:16:49] you and be safe.
[1:28:11] All right, we're back.
[1:28:18] Three,
four.