[This transcript was generated automatically from audio using AI and hasn't been reviewed by a person -- it can contain mistakes, including plausible-sounding sentences that were never actually said. Treat it as a starting point, not a verbatim record.]

[5:03] Recording in progress.
[10:32] Although it's four o'clock, we're going to wait five more minutes for our remaining colleague who has not arrived.
[15:38] Good afternoon, everyone. It's now 4.05 p.m. This is the, actually, a regular city council meeting on August 4th of 2026, held at a special time, 4 p.m.
[15:50] And I would like to ask our clerk to call the roll, please. Marisa?
[15:56] Councilmember Lansberg?
[15:57] Here.
[15:57] Councilmember Garcia-Cadena?
[15:59] Here.
[16:00] Mayor Stollard?
[16:00] Here.
[16:02] Councilmembers Vega and Moreno are absent.
[16:04] All right, we expect Councilmember Moreno momentarily, but Councilmember Vega is out of town
[16:14] All right, well now begin with the Pledge of Allegiance. I will leave it today. Please join me
[16:20] I
[16:24] pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the Republic for which it stands
[16:30] One nation under God indivisible with liberty and justice, Carl.
[16:36] I don't know what that means, guys.
[16:38] Pardon me?
[16:39] No.
[16:40] Yeah.
[16:40] Okay.
[16:41] All right.
[16:44] And this brings us to item D, which is public comment.
[16:49] Public comment is the time in the meeting for people who wish to address the council on items not on our agenda to stand up and do so.
[16:57] So Madam Clerk, do we have any expressions of public comment today?
[17:01] I have two speakers signed up to speak.
[17:04] First is Amel Ben-Hodge.
[17:07] Okay.
[17:10] And your first name is Amel?
[17:12] Yeah.
[17:12] Yeah, welcome.
[17:14] Come right up and speak into that microphone or no one on watching remotely will be able
[17:19] to hear you.
[17:20] Okay.
[17:20] Okay.
[17:21] Hello.
[17:22] My name is Amel Ben-Hodge.
[17:23] And I'm here to support Valerie Quintero's proposal for Fourth in Hope.
[17:28] So, my family has been volunteering there for the last year, mostly teaching art and
[17:33] just hanging out with the residents and talking.
[17:36] And they are some of the kindest people I've ever met.
[17:38] In spite of some of the hard things they have faced, they never complain.
[17:42] They tell their stories with humor and dignity.
[17:45] Residents are often seniors battling cancer, depression, dementia, and other difficulties
[17:50] that are not their fault.
[17:52] Many grow up in abusive homes or suffer from domestic abuse.
[17:55] Many were injured when they were doing military service.
[17:59] Studies show that lack of green space increases risk of anxiety and depression and worsens
[18:05] mental health conditions.
[18:07] The tiny homes are of course a blessing but as you drive there you notice just one small
[18:12] tree out front with many trees squeezing into the little bit of shade.
[18:16] You also often see people trying to get into the city on busy roads in their wheelchairs
[18:22] so that they can get their groceries.
[18:24] trees. I would be so proud if our city could show the rest of California how to better treat
[18:29] vulnerable people with dignity by making this place a little greener and safer. After all,
[18:34] we are the city of the trees. Thank you.
[18:37] Thank you. Appreciate your coming. And you said we have another card too today?
[18:43] Next speaker is Fatima Ben-Hash.
[18:46] All right.
[18:50] Welcome. I'm Fatima.
[18:56] I'm Fatima, a resident of Woodland, and I'm also here
[18:59] in support of Valerie Quinteros with Forth & Hope to give some reasons that Woodland should
[19:04] increase trees in nature along roads, especially near the East Beamer and Coroad 102 area.
[19:11] First of all, it's important that the city of Woodland consider the mental and
[19:15] health of unhoused and formerly unhoused populations in city planning decisions.
[19:20] Research done by the USDA has shown that spending time around trees reduces
[19:24] stress and anxiety, lowers blood pressure, and improves mood. This is especially
[19:29] important for senior populations. California's unhoused senior populations
[19:33] are growing rapidly with adults over 50 making up nearly 40% of those
[19:38] needing shelter. Having more nature will lead to better physical and
[19:43] mental well-being for these populations. Secondly, trees can make cities feel up
[19:48] to 14 degrees cooler, which is especially important in this weather. We're here in an
[19:52] air-conditioned room.
[19:56] We're here in an air-conditioned room, but imagine
[19:57] what it's like to be constantly outside without shelter when it's
[20:01] consistently in the hundreds. Thank you. Thank you. Are there additional cards?
[20:07] I do have one additional speaker Valerie Quinteros.
[20:11] All right. Well, please proceed. You have three minutes.
[20:19] They may still be signing up to speak.
[20:35] Next speaker is Valerie Quinteros.
[20:43] Welcome.
[20:46] I'm so sorry.
[20:50] We're going to start the clock over.
[20:53] We're having some technical deputies on our side.
[20:54] Okay.
[20:57] Okay.
[20:57] That's my breath. We had to take the beeline and it was late. Sorry about that.
[21:01] Good evening, City Council members.
[21:03] My name is Valerie Quinteros. Thank you.
[21:05] for giving me the opportunity to speak tonight.
[21:08] I am here because I care deeply about the community
[21:12] I live in.
[21:13] I live at the community of Hope Tiny Homes on East Beamer.
[21:22] The community is made up of seniors,
[21:25] those who have gone through hardships
[21:27] and people with mental disabilities,
[21:32] like for example, myself, bipolar disorder and PTSD.
[21:37] We, I don't even need these cards.
[21:39] Let me just tell you, we cannot travel out of the tiny home.
[21:43] Some of the seniors have not left in three years,
[21:46] only when a case manager picks them up
[21:48] to take them to a doctor's appointment.
[21:50] The potholes are severe.
[21:52] I go to college and I pass on the scooter.
[21:55] The potholes are all through the street.
[21:57] There's no way of avoiding them going around them.
[22:00] The street is horrible and there's no sidewalks
[22:04] On my way home from school on several occasions, I see Frankie on his, usually he's in a wheelchair,
[22:12] he's on a scooter today, but in his wheelchair trying to get to A.M.P.M.,
[22:17] a couple feet away from semi-trucks. I too have almost been hit on my way to and from school.
[22:24] There's no sidewalks, there's no safe area. The bike lanes have debris in them,
[22:30] glass weeds growing up through them on East Beemer itself and also green areas.
[22:37] There's no trees, there's no sitting areas for the people. I know when they
[22:44] brought the plan to you it looked like a lot of community areas, a lot of green
[22:49] areas. I've seen those pictures. It's not what it is today. It's a hard paved
[22:54] hard pavement, hardscape, not a landscape, and I see some of my senior neighbors health
[23:01] digressing. I take care of one of the seniors across the way from me. He's in his 70s. I
[23:07] bring him dinner every night. I'm not an IHS worker. I go to school. We just share
[23:12] our dinner with him. And his health is digressing. He has nowhere to walk and sit and enjoy
[23:18] his life. They're isolated in their apartments and he's not the only one. I brought one of
[23:25] my friends, Robert Talley, he's going to speak as well. But the seniors are isolated in their
[23:30] apartments, their air condition. I tried to just deliver the Zoom ID to all the apartment
[23:36] chest area and I had to come home. It was so hot for me and my dog to be out there.
[23:40] There needs to be more trees and I have an idea for that is to partner with the
[23:45] community, the community gardens that are in the area, Woodland community gardens,
[23:51] maybe they can partner with us because a lot of the people that live there are
[23:56] not physically or mentally capable to maintain a landscaped plot. So if we
[24:03] partnership with the schools or companies, foundations, as well as when my
[24:09] my son passed away. My job had sponsored a bench for him with his name on it. It didn't
[24:15] just become somewhere to sit. It was a remembrance of my son. And if you have others that would
[24:21] like to sponsor a bench or a tree that they can have their family name on or their company
[24:26] name to support the community of hope, there's ideas that we can do that are not going
[24:33] to be funded, you know, that the community can help us,
[24:38] but we need to humanize the people that are out there.
[24:42] They think of us as a community of delinquents.
[24:44] About 15 more seconds, okay.
[24:46] We're not delinquents, we're people,
[24:48] let's not just survive, let's thrive.
[24:51] Thank you for coming, all right.
[24:55] And was anyone else wishing to speak tonight, today?
[25:03] Marissa, do you have an additional card?
[25:06] Apologies.
[25:06] I do have two more cards.
[25:07] Next is Frankie Silva.
[25:10] Come on up, Mr. Silva.
[25:12] Pull that microphone down to you if you can.
[25:14] If you can't, we'll bring you a portable one.
[25:21] The clerk is bringing you a portable mic, okay?
[25:24] Thank you.
[25:26] That way you can look at us.
[25:28] My name is Frank Silva, and I too live in the tiny homes.
[25:32] And it's very difficult for me to get to the store
[25:35] while I'm barely a mile.
[25:37] The roads are all messed up.
[25:39] and it's hard for me to get out and I want to get out and explore more things.
[25:43] I do dialysis four times a week where I have to go around the corner.
[25:48] It's just around the corner, but it's still a lot just to get there.
[25:51] And I only have this to get me there.
[25:54] And I already have broken my wheelchair.
[25:57] And my Medi-Cal along in cover so much.
[26:01] And I really want to get out and do more stuff.
[26:03] And I'm just beginning to better my health wise.
[26:08] and so I want to enjoy what every time I do have you know and yeah I wanted if you
[26:16] guys could help any help assistance please we appreciate your coming today we
[26:23] know it probably takes a big effort for you to be here yeah thank you thank you
[26:28] sir next speaker have is Robert tally hi
[26:41] it's pretty much the same what he was
[26:44] saying to, you know, there's people out there like me.
[26:47] I got a wheelchair and a walker because I can't walk.
[26:49] My legs get out coming here.
[26:53] You need some things done out to really bad, like the sidewalk
[26:59] for one.
[27:00] These people have been killed on there already for three
[27:02] or four people trying to come out there.
[27:05] There's no sidewalk to walk on.
[27:06] You've got to walk in the road with a white line.
[27:10] My friend just got run over this last year by an 18
[27:13] or got killed. Something needs to be done out there because people can't, it's dangerous
[27:21] out there. It's the worst road to drive on to. And we need some trees out there at the
[27:28] tiny home, something to grow for shade. There's nothing out there, no shade at all. And the
[27:35] bugs are starting to come in out there. It's really bad, but you mentioned Cern is
[27:41] my friend he can't get around you know I'll appreciate if you guys think about
[27:47] that very much thank you and thank you for coming sir I have no further comment
[27:55] or sign up to speak any further public comment from the audience today okay
[28:02] we'll conclude public comment thank you for the input with all respect we are
[28:08] well aware of the condition of the road, the absence of sidewalks, the absence of
[28:13] shade, but we do have housing there now, which we didn't have. So we're crawling
[28:22] before we walk and we're walking before we run, unless we're rolling. Okay, we
[28:30] love you, you're part of our community, we care about you, and we put our
[28:34] caring and do first things first it's time to get on with some other things
[28:38] we'll see what we can do as we go forward right now I know they're building
[28:42] the new restrooms and shower rooms you
[28:48] know we can't even hear you because
[28:51] you're not at the mic but that's all right we understand what you're saying
[28:54] all right well we'll conclude public hearing with that and move along to
[28:58] the next item of the agenda which is item e communications and I don't
[29:02] believe anyone today wishes to speak is that correct yeah we're not council
[29:06] has no communications but it is national night out. You might mention that, Mr.
[29:11] Manager. Yeah, we're just going to mention two things. One, national night out. We have
[29:15] about 29 block parties throughout the community. We'll be celebrating this
[29:20] evening in the heat. So encourage neighbors to get out and get to know
[29:24] each other and stay hydrated. And then on that topic as well, cooling
[29:29] centers for this heat wave we're experiencing. If anybody needs access to
[29:35] cooling center or a place to cool down. The city and the county both have a map
[29:40] that we sponsor where you can identify different locations throughout the
[29:43] community where you can go and cool off. So please access those resources if
[29:47] needed. Thank you Mr. Manager. All right that brings us to public hearings. We
[29:55] only have a single item today which is why we're meeting. It's
[30:00] Item two, the subject is the appeal of determination of transit occupancy tax
[30:05] amount for shadow Oaks hospitality Inc. Mr. Manager, do you want to introduce the
[30:10] item? Actually, before we move on to this next item, we need about five more minutes,
[30:15] it sounds like, for our IT department to figure out why the system's not
[30:20] working. We're working on a technical problem. The council will stand in
[30:23] recess for five to ten minutes. Hopefully we can get back as soon as
[30:28] the problem is resolved. We'll be briefly recessed.
[36:02] All right, it's now 4.25. Councilman
[36:07] Moreno has joined us just when we got to the business of the meeting, David. So the timing
[36:11] is perfect. Apologies to all that we had to take a little time, a little delay there.
[36:17] But now, Mr. Managry, would you proceed with item F?
[36:22] Yeah, in the interest of time, I'm just going to hand it over to Ms. McKinney,
[36:25] who will walk the council through the presentation.
[36:27] Thank you.
[36:29] Hi, Kim.
[36:30] Good afternoon.
[36:31] I'm Kim McKinney, administrative services director.
[36:34] And this afternoon, we're here for an appeal hearing
[36:37] on the determination of a transient occupancy tax
[36:40] amount due for shadow oaks hospitality.
[36:44] As indicated in the staff report,
[36:47] the recommended action is to conduct the public hearing
[36:50] for the appeal, for the determination of the tax amount following administrative hearing
[36:57] for shadow in transient occupancy tax audit assessment issued on July 1st, 2026 concerning
[37:03] violation of municipal code chapter 3.12 for unpaid taxes penalties, fraud penalties and
[37:10] interest and then to adopt the resolution to uphold the tax administrator's determination
[37:15] nation and deny the appeal.
[37:19] So briefly here, the municipal code chapter that we're talking about, 3.12 is for our
[37:24] transient occupancy tax or TOT and also related is the Tourism Business Improvement District
[37:31] or TBIT on here.
[37:34] So our Woodland Municipal Code, Section 312, establishes our TOT program which is a 10%
[37:40] charge on room rents at primarily at hotels here in town per the ordinance the
[37:48] amounts collected for TOT must be held in trust in account for the city until
[37:54] they are remitted to the city. Also require that monthly tax returns be
[37:59] prepared and that they are due by the 15th of each calendar month to the
[38:04] city finance department.
[38:07] Similarly to TOT, TBIT is 2% of the room rents and is also collected, reported and enforced
[38:13] in the same manner as the TOT.
[38:18] When there are delinquent payments of the tax, the municipal code outlines four areas
[38:24] that can be included in the calculation.
[38:27] There's an original delinquency, so for the first four weeks that an amount is delinquent,
[38:31] There's an additional 10% late payment penalty that is added on to the original taxes due.
[38:39] If there continues to be a delinquency after that first four weeks, there's an additional
[38:44] 10% of a continued delinquency payment, so a total of 20% between the two for late payment
[38:51] penalties.
[38:53] There's also a section for a fraud penalty, which is 25% of the tax due when nonpayment
[38:59] is determined to be fraudulent and finally there's allowance for interest on the unpaid
[39:05] taxes which is one half of a percent per month or portion of a month on any of the unpaid
[39:11] taxes but not on any of the penalties associated with that tax.
[39:18] So a little history over here tonight, specific to shadow ends, excuse me, to shadow Oaks
[39:24] hospitality. They own and operate the best western shadow in here in town. We have been
[39:33] struggling for some time to get timely remittance of reports and payments starting in the fall of
[39:39] 2022. They did eventually get caught up but then ceased remitting payments for TOT and TBID in May
[39:47] of 2023. From that time through June 30, 2026 there would have been 37 monthly payments that
[39:56] were due. The city has received two payments during that time. One in July of 2023 for partial
[40:03] payment of the May taxes due and a second in October 2023 for partial payment of August 2023
[40:11] 23 taxes due. There was a third payment but the check was returned for insufficient funds
[40:17] so it's not included on here. And then there was a just in the staff report we noted that
[40:22] there were three payments but one of those actually didn't count as a payment. So since
[40:28] October 2023 we have received no money, no payment from Shadow Oaks. During our communication
[40:36] with them via email when we're requesting reports and updates on payments. The Hotel
[40:42] Management did note in several emails to the City Manager and staff that economic
[40:47] hardship was the reason for non-payment, noting increased utility costs, lending
[40:55] costs, and general economic factors as a reason for non-payment.
[41:04] As I noted
[41:04] earlier per the requirements of the ordinance, there is supposed to be a monthly TOT or tax
[41:12] return filed by the 15th following the end of each month.
[41:16] During the period of May 2023 through now, we received some of those tax returns, but
[41:26] many of them were laid if we received them at all.
[41:29] And in many cases, in lieu of filling out the return, we did get a printout from the
[41:33] hotel management software that was provided by Shadow Oaks so that we could do the calculations
[41:39] ourselves rather than management completing their own forms.
[41:51] So when we got those reports from Shadow Oaks, we reviewed them and we can see separate
[41:57] line items on those reports denoting that TOT and TBID were collected by Shadow Oaks
[42:03] from the hotel guests, but they have not been remitted to the city.
[42:09] No information of any kind has been provided since January 2026.
[42:14] So we have reports up through January 2026 that allow us to determine what the TOT and
[42:18] TBIT is, but for the months of May through June, I'm sorry, February through June, we
[42:24] have received no reports.
[42:25] So there are taxes due, but we have no information to calculate what those might be.
[42:31] And I guess I'll just note that July's report and remittance will be due next week, so we're
[42:37] coming up on another one.
[42:42] So the determination of the amounts due that we're here to talk about today included taxes
[42:49] and assessment owed, late payment penalties, fraud penalties assessed, and interest on
[42:55] the unpaid tax balances.
[42:57] This is based on a point-in-time calculation, and as I just mentioned, we've only received
[43:04] reports through January of 2026.
[43:06] So this includes the actual taxes owed through January 2026 of $695,580.
[43:17] Late payment penalties, which I described earlier, which is an original 10 percent
[43:22] an additional 10 for continued delinquency of $141,793.
[43:28] We've included a fraud assessment penalty here of $173,895 and an interest on those balances
[43:36] of unpaid taxes of $78,371 for a total due of $1,089,640 and again, that's a point
[43:46] in time.
[43:46] I'm actually currently more than that,
[43:49] but we don't have the information
[43:51] to calculate that currently.
[43:53] And as every month goes by,
[43:55] additional interest accrues on the unpaid balances as well.
[44:05] I'd also want to note that the appellant here tonight
[44:08] has not disputed any of the amounts for taxes owed,
[44:13] late payment penalties or interest calculation,
[44:15] but they do indicate that they dispute the fraud penalty.
[44:19] So this language in the Woodland Municipal Code is clear that all money
[44:29] collected from guests for taxes and assessment must be held separately for
[44:34] remittance to the city. At the time the money is collected it isn't the hotel's
[44:38] money anymore but rather is funds owed to the city. It's clear from the reports
[44:43] that the appellant has provided to the city that they did in fact charge
[44:48] to their guests for the TOT and TBIT assessments. It's also clear that they have not remitted
[44:53] those funds to the city. As I noted earlier, the appellant has previously stated through
[44:59] email communication.
[45:00] The application that their nonpayment is due to their ongoing financial hardship, which really
[45:04] should not affect remittance of the funds held specifically for another entity.
[45:10] The appellant
[45:11] does not dispute that they owe money or any of the calculated taxes, late payment penalties
[45:16] or interest. The appellant has recently indicated that it has made payments and intends to
[45:22] pay, but no payments have been made to the city for 33 months at this point. They may
[45:28] no indication of when they intend to pay the city, even though these amounts have been
[45:32] collected by them and intentionally they continue to retain the money legally owed to the city.
[45:39] I believe if they were genuine in their interest to comply with the municipal code, they would
[45:43] at a minimum pay the amounts that they do not dispute, which is the majority of the
[45:47] balance due at this point.
[45:50] The appellant also continues to ignore the requirements of the municipal code and
[45:54] it does not provide monthly tax returns or any information that the city could use
[45:58] to calculate taxes owed through the current day, and it's based on these items that's
[46:05] the termination of the tax administrator, that the fraud penalty authorized by the Woodland
[46:09] Municipal Code is warranted.
[46:15] And then this is all in the staff report, and I won't go through every one of it, but
[46:18] it's kind of a history of how we got here.
[46:21] There is following a process that's outlined in the Municipal Codes that allows for an
[46:26] administrative hearing when we when they're notified by the tax administrator of
[46:32] total amounts due. We did hold that administrative hearing and tonight is the
[46:37] the appellants appeal of the finding based on that. In addition to that we
[46:42] also have filed tax liens for delinquent amounts through the January
[46:47] 2026 amount and it is likely we would continue to do that as we have more
[46:52] information available for amounts that were not covered on the liens before.
[46:58] And so back here we're just getting to the recommended action is to conduct a
[47:02] public hearing and following the public hearing we recommend that you adopt
[47:08] the resolution to uphold the tax administrator's determination and
[47:11] deny the appeal.
[47:14] Thank you. Does that include your report? It does. Thank you.
[47:17] Members of the council you've heard the staff report. Are there any
[47:21] questions that you have of staff. I do. Council Member Lansberg. Thank you, Mayor.
[47:33] Besides penalties, etc., what other sanctions are available to the city when
[47:39] a business owner refuses to pay due amounts?
[47:47] For example, pulling their
[47:50] business license pulling their occupancy permits yeah I don't believe the
[47:56] municipal code speaks to allowing anything like that really it ultimately
[48:01] says that any unpaid amounts become debt owed to the city and we have a ability
[48:06] to pursue legal collection of any debt that's owed to us but outside of that
[48:10] it doesn't have provisions for the operating I don't know if the attorney
[48:17] he wants to weigh in.
[48:19] I inquire from the Council what we can do with air.
[48:22] We can take a closer look at those other options that may be available to the city.
[48:27] I don't know the city municipal code off the top of my head, unfortunately.
[48:33] However, I think in terms of the interests and penalties, those are in the ordinance
[48:39] that governs the transient occupancy tax collection.
[48:42] So those are allowed for in your ordinance outside of that particular ordinance. That's the topic today
[48:48] We can take a look and explore that as well
[48:52] additional questions yes
[48:55] Who makes the call regarding the issue of fraud?
[49:02] Per the municipal code. It's the attacks administrator, which is our city clerk
[49:07] What is the standard used to determine fraud?
[49:13] Yeah, there is no standard. That's defined in the code.
[49:18] Is there a
[49:20] And I'm not pointing fingers, trust me.
[49:23] This has been since 2023.
[49:26] Why is, this is August of 2026.
[49:30] Why weren't you here, you know,
[49:32] six months after they didn't pay?
[49:39] Well, like many businesses, right?
[49:41] We work with them to try to bring them
[49:43] current on-pass due taxes.
[49:45] We've been communicating regularly
[49:47] with the hotel operator.
[49:49] They indicated their intent to pay.
[49:52] we have filed several liens for the past few taxes and we got to the point
[49:57] where they finally contested the amounts calculated which prompted the
[50:02] administrative hearing which was held in front of the City Clerk and then they
[50:07] appealed the determination of the City Clerk so here we are before the
[50:09] Council to make a determination.
[50:16] Okay I may have others in a minute but go
[50:18] ahead. Okay thank you.
[50:22] All right I don't believe the rest of us have
[50:24] questions. So I think at this point it's appropriate for me to open the public
[50:27] hearing, invite the appellant to come forward and to state their case.
[50:37] Normally
[50:37] speakers have three minutes for this purpose but this special hearing I
[50:41] think you can take a little more time. And by the way, my name's Craig Hansen.
[50:45] I'm counsel for the appellant. And your name? Craig Hansen.
[50:50] Nice to meet you. Thank you very much. Mr. Mayor, council members, just so
[50:56] I'm aware with the format.
[50:58] I have some legal argument to make.
[51:02] I brought Mr. Darshan Patel,
[51:05] who is the Corporate Representative for Shadow Oaks.
[51:08] He's prepared to talk about some things as well.
[51:11] Is there a time parameter or format
[51:13] that we should be aware of?
[51:16] Council respond to that.
[51:17] I can speak to that.
[51:18] There is no formal set time parameter.
[51:21] You have about the same time that staff did
[51:23] present your side so that would be about 15 minutes or so. Okay thank you so I
[51:28] think I think what we'll do is we'll begin with with kind of my general legal
[51:33] discussion of you know how we see things and then I'll invite my client
[51:39] Mr. Patel to talk a little bit about the financial hardship and the lack of
[51:45] fraud that we're dealing with here. So you know as was made clear by the
[51:51] the opening statements. There have been assessed the outstanding taxes. There have been late
[52:02] penalties of $141,000 assessed. Fraud penalties of $173,895. That's what we're contesting
[52:12] here today. An interest of $78,000. So the underlying principal amount, the late penalties
[52:19] and the interest are not contested.
[52:23] My client intends to pay those is attaining financing
[52:27] that we expect to have closed by the end of this month to pay those.
[52:32] And what we're here to talk about today is a lack of fraud.
[52:35] So there were two code sections that recited to support the fraud,
[52:41] alleged fraud.
[52:42] One, it's just section 3.12.070 with returns and remittances, makes no reference to the
[52:51] term fraud.
[52:52] The term fraud actually appears in section 3.12.080, sub C, which reads, if the tax
[53:02] administrator determines that the nonpayment of any remittance due under this chapter
[53:08] is due to fraud. A penalty of 25% of the amount of the tax shall be added there to in addition
[53:17] to the penalties stated in subsections A and B of this section.
[53:24] Fraud is a serious term
[53:26] and it is defined under the law if it's not defined under the code. And it's a term that
[53:31] refers to dishonesty and deceit.
[53:36] And that involves a misrepresentation of fact
[53:41] or an omission of material fact.
[53:44] Everything that was contained in this report
[53:47] and that you'll hear from my client
[53:49] is that my client was always honest.
[53:52] Submitted reports that the city was used
[53:56] to determine the taxes owed was up front
[54:00] about the financial circumstances that my client and his family in the hotel were facing.
[54:06] My client will talk a little bit more about that.
[54:08] But never misrepresented anything.
[54:19] There was never a false TOT return submitted.
[54:23] There was never any underreporting of taxable room revenue.
[54:28] Never any concealed transactions.
[54:30] Never any fabricated or altered financial record.
[54:34] unanswered, no false statement that the taxes had been paid when they were not, no representation
[54:40] intended to mislead the city, and there's no secret diversion of funds to shadow Oaks
[54:47] for their personal benefit, and no deceptive device that caused or facilitated the nonpayment.
[54:54] So the critical questions that remain unanswered are what was the lie?
[55:00] What was concealed?
[55:02] what record was falsified? What false statements did Shadow Oaks make? How was
[55:10] the city deceived? The answer to the question is none of those things happened
[55:15] here. This is not an issue of fraud. To put this in perspective, there's already
[55:23] obviously significant late penalties that my client will need to pay. And if
[55:30] If the standard that the city so far has been applying were these standard, which is, hey,
[55:39] you didn't pay them, you knew you needed to pay them and they remain unpaid, then late
[55:46] penalties and fraud penalties would be merged into one standard and there would be no segregation
[55:52] between the two. That would render the fraud penalty meaningless. Basically anyone who didn't
[56:01] pay TOT on time would be guilty of fraud and subject to a 25% penalty. And meanwhile those
[56:09] folks who are dishonest with the city, who submitted false information or misled the
[56:15] city would be held to the same standard as those who were honest and submitted the information
[56:23] and didn't pay because they couldn't, not because they were lying or dishonest.
[56:29] So fraud means something.
[56:32] Our legal counsel for the city knows that.
[56:35] And as was submitted in the presentation, this standard of fraud was applied without
[56:41] really understanding what fraud is because there's no definition of in the
[56:45] code but there's certainly a definition of the law and it is is deceit and is
[56:50] dishonesty that did not occur here. So I'd like to bring my client Mr. Patel.
[56:58] I've been proud enough to represent Shadow Oaks and the Patel family for over
[57:02] 10 years. He's going to talk a bit about the financial circumstances that
[57:08] led to the inability to pay and the efforts to obtain financing that we're
[57:13] hopeful are going to manifest within weeks to allow full repayment of the
[57:18] TOT. Can you come forward?
[57:24] So can you just tell the council who you are and how
[57:26] you relate to the hotel? Absolutely. So my name is Darshan Patel. I am the
[57:30] owner representative for Shadow Oaks. Is it too close? Stay close. Can you hear me?
[57:36] close my name is Darshan Patel I'm the owner representative for shadow Oaks
[57:41] hospitality and mr. Patel were you always you and shadow looks we're always
[57:52] honest with the city with regard to financial reporting t.o.t. Ode and
[57:59] your financial. Absolutely.
[58:05] Did
[58:05] Shadow Wolves ever falsify any
[58:08] records or reduce taxable room
[58:11] revenue shown in reports to the
[58:13] city? No. Did Shadow Wolves
[58:16] creating false exemptions or
[58:17] keep a second set of books or
[58:19] concealed room transactions
[58:20] from the city? No. Did
[58:22] Shadow Wolves ever misidentify
[58:23] the operator or conceal who
[58:25] owned or managed the hotel?
[58:26] No.
[58:28] And during the delinquency, did shadow oaks continue providing the city with information
[58:33] from which the city could calculate the taxes due?
[58:36] Absolutely.
[58:38] Let's talk about the financial distress.
[58:42] What happened with the, was there a renovation that occurred in 2021?
[58:47] That is correct.
[58:48] And what renovation was undergoing?
[58:51] Refreshing gas bedrooms with new furniture, new carpeting, wall tech, you know, the
[58:56] wall textures and such.
[58:58] And about how many rooms are being renovated?
[59:01] At that time, 30.
[59:05] And was there any difficulties with the contractor
[59:07] working on that project?
[59:09] Absolutely, we left midway.
[59:12] So the contractor abandoned the work
[59:16] during a remodel of approximately 30 rooms,
[59:18] is that right?
[59:19] And the lobby, yes.
[59:21] And what effect did that have
[59:22] on the lobby and the breakfast operations?
[59:26] Guests would have to check in in a kiosk in one of the guest bedrooms. There's no breakfast offerings. No lobby
[59:33] open until
[59:35] May of
[59:39] 2023 and
[59:41] How did that affect the guest experience?
[59:46] It affected them. I mean guests stay with us for breakfast and a bedroom and a lobby to get away from the bedroom
[59:54] So it definitely affected them fully and its construction expanded what happened to the number of rooms available to guests
[1:00:00] It kept shrinking. At the largest point of shrinkage about how many rooms were
[1:00:06] unavailable? Sixty. Out of how many? 122. So about half the hotel was shut down?
[1:00:12] Correct.
[1:00:15] And that obviously eliminated revenue producing inventory during the
[1:00:20] market recovery, is that right? That is correct.
[1:00:24] And approximately how long did
[1:00:34] Did Shadow Oaks obtain financing to continue the renovation in September 22?
[1:00:40] That is correct, yes.
[1:00:41] And who did obtain financing through?
[1:00:43] State Bank of Texas.
[1:00:45] Okay, and possibly what was the interest rate?
[1:00:48] 6.75% five-year term, interest only.
[1:00:53] And was that variable?
[1:00:54] Yes.
[1:00:55] And what did that ultimately climb to?
[1:00:58] 15%.
[1:00:58] Okay.
[1:00:59] And at times was the monthly payment up to $120,000 a month?
[1:01:06] Yes, $120,000 plus.
[1:01:09] And what were the monthly revenues during the time that you were paying $120,000 on lender fees?
[1:01:14] Anywhere from $98,000 to $200,000.
[1:01:19] What happened to the annual revenues by 2025?
[1:01:22] It had gone down over 40% in revenue.
[1:01:29] So what was it before and after the decline?
[1:01:33] It went from 3.5 million down to 1.9 million.
[1:01:38] And besides the construction costs and the lender costs,
[1:01:43] what were the general expenses just to keep the hotel going?
[1:01:49] First obligation is your lender then your second one is your franchise and
[1:01:54] your OTAs. Your third would be your payroll and your taxes afterwards
[1:01:58] regarding your payroll taxes and then after that you have your utilities.
[1:02:04] And even though revenues decreased by half, did the expenses decrease?
[1:02:12] know they actually increased with inflation.
[1:02:18] After making all the payments
[1:02:20] were absolutely necessary to keep the well let me ask you this in addition to
[1:02:27] paying the expenses just to keep the hotel going did you and your family
[1:02:34] fund any personal funds into the business? Yes my wife and I funded it. Out
[1:02:40] of your own personal savings?
[1:02:41] That is correct.
[1:02:42] So after all these payments and funding the operations
[1:02:46] from your personal savings,
[1:02:47] was there any money left over to pay the TOT?
[1:02:50] No.
[1:02:51] Did you and your family divert any income
[1:02:56] to your pockets rather than paying the TOT?
[1:02:59] No.
[1:03:03] And if you had not paid the franchise fees,
[1:03:07] the ongoing operational expenses,
[1:03:09] the lender fees, what would have happened to the business?
[1:03:12] First obligation, if I didn't pay the lender, they would take the keys the
[1:03:16] following day of the due date. Third or second one would be
[1:03:20] franchise. If you do not pay your franchise fees, they take you off the public
[1:03:24] or the OTA or your online. So there's no reservations coming in.
[1:03:28] After that, if you don't pay payroll, you have no staff. Nobody's cleaning
[1:03:31] the rooms, nobody's at the front desk. After that, if you don't pay your
[1:03:34] PG&E, your water bills, there's nothing.
[1:03:36] to reduce the cost of the
[1:03:38] And during this time of
[1:03:39] hardship, what measures did
[1:03:41] Shadow Oaks take to reduce
[1:03:43] costs?
[1:03:45] Shadow Oaks got rid of all
[1:03:47] senior management, all revenue
[1:03:49] management, all marketing.
[1:03:56] Did anyone at Shadow Oaks
[1:03:58] ever instruct the hotel
[1:03:59] personnel to hide room revenue
[1:04:01] from the city?
[1:04:02] No.
[1:04:03] Did anyone at Shadow Oaks
[1:04:04] ever knowingly submit a
[1:04:05] falls report to reduce tax?
[1:04:08] No.
[1:04:09] Does shadow looks ever make any false statement
[1:04:11] to induce the city to refrain from collecting the TOT?
[1:04:13] No.
[1:04:16] What are the current efforts right now
[1:04:18] to obtain financing to pay the city what is owed?
[1:04:23] Absolutely.
[1:04:24] So we're looking for the whole intentions
[1:04:27] have been to find financing that's feasible,
[1:04:29] not just financing to get out to get to another,
[1:04:33] you know, Jack to pay Jill or Jill to pay Jack.
[1:04:36] How long have you been making efforts to refinance the hotel?
[1:04:40] Since 2023.
[1:04:41] And what is the current status of those efforts?
[1:04:44] We have a lender set to close at the end of the month.
[1:04:49] And assuming that we arrive at a figure that includes the taxes,
[1:04:56] the late payment penalties and the interest,
[1:04:58] is it Shadow Oaks' intention to use the refinancing funds to pay off those
[1:05:04] amounts? That is correct. And even with the money from the refinance will you
[1:05:09] still be working with limited funds to keep the business going? We'll be
[1:05:15] we'll be continuing to work the business yes with funds. And would a
[1:05:21] a late fraud penalty of almost $174,000
[1:05:26] impede the business's ability to recover
[1:05:29] from its financial hardship.
[1:05:30] Absolutely.
[1:05:32] Council, I am just interjecting, since it's been about 15 minutes.
[1:05:36] So if you could wrap up your opening,
[1:05:37] and then you'll have a chance for rebuttal
[1:05:39] after the city's rebuttal as well.
[1:05:43] So thank you.
[1:05:45] And I just to close.
[1:05:48] you know. Obviously businesses suffer from hardship. It happens. Unexpected
[1:05:59] situations, contractors leaving the job, lenders having sometimes predatory loan
[1:06:07] terms. This is a business that is a well-meaning family that employs a lot
[1:06:14] of folks and is doing what it can to recover from this and intends to make
[1:06:19] the city hold on the outstanding taxes owed. It did not commit fraud. It's never been dishonest
[1:06:25] with the city. It hasn't concealed anything. It hasn't misrepresented anything. So we
[1:06:31] asked that the city not issue unsupported fraud penalties against this citizen. Thank
[1:06:41] you.
[1:06:41] at
[1:06:48] this point I suppose the city has the opportunity to respond I don't know if
[1:06:55] there's much to respond to do you wish to respond to any of the statements made
[1:07:00] we do have a couple of comments yeah first I would say that in regards to
[1:07:07] what the appellant just mentioned here this would not be the first time that
[1:07:10] we've heard that financing was imminent to pay amounts due to the
[1:07:14] city we've been hearing that for almost three years now that it was imminent we
[1:07:19] would be having you know end of the month we're gonna pay you we're gonna pay
[1:07:22] you and then like I mentioned before it's been almost three years since we
[1:07:26] received any payment whatsoever from the appellant they walked through here
[1:07:33] the financial hardships that they are facing and in doing so basically admitted
[1:07:37] that they took the city's money and spent it on other things that they
[1:07:42] were required to admit, remit the money to us, but they instead spent it for other
[1:07:47] items to run the hotel business. And also, you know, one of the questions that was
[1:07:54] asked there was whether or not the appellant had ever, or had they been
[1:08:02] providing information to the city all along so that we could count or do an
[1:08:07] accounting of how much they owe us. And Mr. Patel responded, absolutely. They've
[1:08:13] provided the information to us and we have not found that to be accurate along the way.
[1:08:17] They have not provided the information in a timely manner.
[1:08:21] In many cases, it took finally their attorneys sending it to us, sometimes six, seven, eight
[1:08:27] months late, and they still refuse to provide the data to us.
[1:08:31] So I would think it's dishonest for him to say that they absolutely have provided
[1:08:35] the information to the city to allow us to do the calculations for the TOT.
[1:08:39] I
[1:08:45] think that covers it just ultimately all the information they provided about
[1:08:49] their operations is really essentially irrelevant. It is not their money to
[1:08:54] spend. Thank you. I think probably rather than asking council to comment at this
[1:08:59] point we'll go for rebuttal and then it comes back to us to resolve okay. So
[1:09:06] you have a few more minutes if you wish to respond to the things that Kim has
[1:09:10] said. Thank you. And again, it comes down to they haven't paid. There's there's a
[1:09:16] remedy for that. And it's late payment penalty and the interest, which are not
[1:09:20] insignificant, which my client acknowledges will be paid. Yes, there have been
[1:09:26] prior efforts to refinance. There have been hope that those efforts would
[1:09:30] manifest. I've been closely working with my client to get that refinancing
[1:09:35] And Mike Lyne is here to tell you under oath today that those efforts are manifesting.
[1:09:43] There's final walkthroughs.
[1:09:44] We're at the point now where we're ready to get a funding commitment, funding actual by the end of this month.
[1:09:50] So we're hoping to get this resolved.
[1:09:52] Thank you, sir. And thank you.
[1:09:54] All right. That brings it back to us.
[1:09:56] and we have to decide whether to sustain the decision of the staff
[1:10:03] or to sustain the appeal.
[1:10:05] And Mr. Mayer, since this is a public hearing,
[1:10:08] if we have any comments from the public generally,
[1:10:10] that would be a good time to accept those.
[1:10:12] All right.
[1:10:13] It is a public hearing.
[1:10:14] So I'm going to open the public hearing.
[1:10:17] Are there any comments?
[1:10:18] I see no one in the room.
[1:10:20] Madam Clerk, is there anybody online?
[1:10:22] He's there.
[1:10:23] Oh, I apologize.
[1:10:24] You know something you were perfectly covered by these two gentlemen, so I didn't even see you. I apologize
[1:10:30] Since I'm here. I
[1:10:33] Think that what the city is saying was fraud that they collected the money and didn't send it to them
[1:10:40] And I don't think that was touched on and I do houses and stuff all over the place
[1:10:45] I like to buy and sale. I can't tell my Linda. I'm gonna pay you and don't pay him and
[1:10:51] 33 months
[1:10:51] No body waits that long to collect.
[1:10:55] And did you identify yourself for the record?
[1:10:58] My name is Dr. John Jackson and I'm a resident of Woodland.
[1:11:01] Thank you.
[1:11:03] All right.
[1:11:04] Okay.
[1:11:05] Any additional public comment?
[1:11:07] All right.
[1:11:09] I apologize for missing you.
[1:11:11] It's okay.
[1:11:11] All right.
[1:11:12] All right.
[1:11:15] There being no further public comment,
[1:11:18] the hearing is closed.
[1:11:19] and now that we've heard from both the staff and from the appellant and
[1:11:25] We've been back and forth it and heard from the public. It's now in the council's hands to decide
[1:11:32] Does anybody wish to speak?
[1:11:34] Are we allowed to ask the appellant or its council questions?
[1:11:40] Yes, you're allowed to ask questions. I'm as you know that with staff
[1:11:50] Council you would agree that your client
[1:11:53] Runs a hotel
[1:11:55] That's correct.
[1:11:57] And you would agree that your client is aware that the city of Woodland has a TOT?
[1:12:02] That's correct.
[1:12:03] And would you agree that your client had paid TOT in the past?
[1:12:09] While they're able to, yes.
[1:12:10] You relied heavily on the word honesty, and I think you should.
[1:12:17] But one of the questions I have is if your client collected the TOT from the guest,
[1:12:23] First, why wasn't that put aside knowing it doesn't belong to him?
[1:12:31] So the TOT funds are deposited with the whole entire deposit.
[1:12:35] It's not a separate account, it goes into.
[1:12:38] So when you come in to the Best Western, any hotel, it's $100 plus tax.
[1:12:43] So let's say it's 12% tax, so it's $12.
[1:12:46] So the deposit's going to be $112.
[1:12:48] Now if that came through OTA, they're going to subtract their 25%, 20%.
[1:12:52] OTAs like booking.com, Expedia and such. Then, you know, and so forth. So, unfortunately,
[1:13:00] there's no way for us to extract your TOT or any tax dollars to the side. It automatically goes.
[1:13:06] It gets deposited as one lump sum. Mr. Patel, it's my understanding you're the only hotel
[1:13:14] in the city of Woodland who's behind in their TOT. How do other hotels do it?
[1:13:21] How do other hotels collect and set aside their TOTs?
[1:13:25] So for us, I mean, I'm not sure how other people operate their hotels.
[1:13:29] Do you ever ask another hotel how they do it?
[1:13:32] No, their deposits come in the same way our deposits come in.
[1:13:35] Let me ask you a question.
[1:13:37] Is that 10% your money or does it belong to the city?
[1:13:41] It belongs.
[1:13:42] I mean, I'm not denying it.
[1:13:44] It doesn't belong to me.
[1:13:45] Not your money, is it?
[1:13:46] I never said I'm denying it.
[1:13:47] Why don't you set it aside?
[1:13:48] in some other fashion, talk to an accountant,
[1:13:51] talk to your lawyer to figure out a way
[1:13:53] to set that money aside and you would be here today,
[1:13:57] had you done that?
[1:13:59] To be honest, there's no possible way for us
[1:14:02] because they think our lawyer.
[1:14:04] I don't believe that, sir, at all,
[1:14:06] because other hotels are doing it.
[1:14:08] You collected the 10% from your guest.
[1:14:11] There has to be an accounting method, a banking method,
[1:14:15] talk to your counsel about setting that aside
[1:14:17] and given it to the proper authorities.
[1:14:20] Sir, we take in 180,000 maximum deposits,
[1:14:24] our overhead is fixed up to 40.
[1:14:26] I'm not asking you that, I'm asking you if that's your money.
[1:14:31] I never denied, I never said it was my money.
[1:14:33] My question is why wasn't it set aside in some fashion?
[1:14:37] I'm explaining to yourself, sir.
[1:14:39] I'm not buying that explanation, it's the problem, sir.
[1:14:42] Did you look at methods of finding a way to set it aside?
[1:14:47] Sir, there is no way for us to set it aside.
[1:14:50] That's what I'm trying to convey to you is that if the 240 break even, right, and our monthly income is 180, there's a negative loss of 60,000 a month.
[1:14:58] Is this
[1:15:00] First venture in hotel business? No, sir. Have you run into the same problem in other hotels
[1:15:06] collecting TOTs? No. It's the first time. And it's been going on for like three plus years.
[1:15:16] What have you done to change your method of collecting the TOT and setting it aside?
[1:15:25] We've
[1:15:26] been trying to seek financing. We've been trying to work with it, but there's an influx
[1:15:31] of room capacity in town so we don't our occupancy isn't where it is how are we
[1:15:38] supposed I mean revenue isn't where it used to be over a half we already
[1:15:42] explained we were doing 3.3 million dollars we're down to less than 1.9
[1:15:46] million that's
[1:15:53] it yeah I'll just respectfully say you you collected the
[1:16:05] tax that wasn't your money, but you used it for your needs.
[1:16:09] To me, that's fraud.
[1:16:11] It isn't that you're not a nice person
[1:16:13] and that you're not working very hard to save a business,
[1:16:16] but it seems to me the business may be more gone
[1:16:21] than you think anyway.
[1:16:23] But that's not our issue today.
[1:16:25] The issue is you collected tax to which we were entitled
[1:16:31] to the city of Woodland, and you
[1:16:33] didn't give that to the city of Woodland you instead converted that money for
[1:16:36] other purposes I don't know but to me that's fraud so that's all I have to say
[1:16:42] and it isn't that I wouldn't like it to help you but the fact of the matter is
[1:16:47] we've already gone way way too long we have issues here too to fund the city
[1:16:52] meet the needs of all of the residents here and things are real tight for us too
[1:16:58] So we have to depend that tax collected is tax-delivered, and it wasn't delivered.
[1:17:04] It was converted to other purposes.
[1:17:07] Now, however you're accounting, you have to own up to that.
[1:17:11] That's your business.
[1:17:12] But the fact of the matter is, the city was entitled this money month by month by month,
[1:17:17] and now we're pushing three years.
[1:17:20] So I feel like we cannot extend more goodwill to you.
[1:17:24] we have to give us what the law entitles us to
[1:17:28] and that's how I intend to vote today.
[1:17:31] Anybody else want to speak?
[1:17:36] Mayor, I had the same question.
[1:17:38] So those taxes were collected
[1:17:39] and from what I understand were to be held in trust
[1:17:43] and that clearly was not happening.
[1:17:45] So they were diverted and used for another purpose
[1:17:50] which in my mind comes across as fraud.
[1:17:56] Hi. Are we ready for a motion? David?
[1:18:00] Well, to add on to everybody, but why the delay in communication? It seems like it was patchy,
[1:18:06] and there's a disconnect of you saying that you were providing these reports,
[1:18:11] but staff is letting us know that you weren't providing this information,
[1:18:16] and that could have prevented this from escalating.
[1:18:21] So, aside from myself, there's a management team that was operating that hotel.
[1:18:27] That's no longer there.
[1:18:29] That is correct.
[1:18:30] I took over October 2025.
[1:18:32] October.
[1:18:33] Okay.
[1:18:35] Thank you.
[1:18:36] My wife did.
[1:18:37] Sorry.
[1:18:41] We have a question for staff.
[1:18:50] The business owed the city, besides the TOT, reports.
[1:18:56] Correct?
[1:18:57] Correct.
[1:19:01] Could the appellant have submitted reports on a regular basis, as they do, without paying the tax?
[1:19:09] Yes, absolutely.
[1:19:11] And he failed to even file the reports?
[1:19:14] Correct. I mean, and as I mentioned a number of times in here, we have received no reports from February through June so far this year either.
[1:19:21] I'm going to turn to council. Please explain why the appellant did not file reports when
[1:19:28] they were due. It looks like there were quite a few that were due late and not at all.
[1:19:35] Because the city sued my client prematurely before allowing the public hearing. And so
[1:19:43] the reports were submitted through council as part of the litigation process and as
[1:19:51] right now in the superior court is why did the city sue my client before
[1:19:56] exhausting its remedies and allowing this public hearing. We have a motion to
[1:20:01] dismiss pending before the court right now because the city did what it was not
[1:20:04] supposed to do which was sue my client before giving it the right to a public
[1:20:08] hearing. So the reports were submitted to counsel who submitted them to
[1:20:12] counsel for the city. That explains the delay.
[1:20:14] Okay,
[1:20:27] Ms. McKinney.
[1:20:31] I still believe that our council has not received reports for
[1:20:36] the last six months either. So even if it's what he said is true that council
[1:20:40] is submitting it to council, I don't believe that they have submitted the
[1:20:43] most recent reports either. Even if there was a delay, we'd be happy to
[1:20:47] receive them, but we have not. So we have a conflict of perspective on that
[1:20:52] issue information we need. At this point, it's time to make a decision. I've
[1:21:00] tipped my hand. I think one of us has as well, so someone want to make a
[1:21:05] motion. I move that we uphold the tax administrator's determination and
[1:21:10] deny this appeal.
[1:21:13] Thank you. Madam, our legal counsel, does that motion
[1:21:20] and accommodate the objective here?
[1:21:24] Yes, that's the motion that is attached
[1:21:26] to the staff report by way of resolution.
[1:21:29] So yes, that's the motion for today.
[1:21:31] Thank you.
[1:21:32] Is there a second?
[1:21:33] Not yet.
[1:21:35] Oh, I do have additional.
[1:21:36] I'd like a second and then we'll have further discussion.
[1:21:39] I'll second that motion.
[1:21:40] Oh, we have a motion on the floor
[1:21:42] to sustain the staff's action in this matter.
[1:21:45] And now we're gonna have further discussion.
[1:21:49] Thank you. Regarding the fraud portion of the $171,000 in fraud fees, is there a way
[1:22:02] to stay that pending payment that is due for TOT penalties and interest?
[1:22:16] Yes. So that could be part of the motion that you make today. It could be a motion to approve
[1:22:20] the resolution with that addition that could be included in the resolution. It could
[1:22:27] be reviewed by the city attorney's office before adoption.
[1:22:29] And as far as, I don't want to come back here in the year to be in the same
[1:22:35] situation. Can there be a requirement in any resolution that the appellant be
[1:22:43] timely with his payments as well as his reports? We can include that in the
[1:22:50] resolution however it would be up to appellant to be timely with the
[1:22:53] payments.
[1:22:55] You understand my concern, Council?
[1:22:57] Absolutely. How can we address that?
[1:23:01] Well, frankly,
[1:23:04] with regard to an agreement to have the time we report submitted, the
[1:23:11] payment submitted, and particularly in make, for example, stay the fraud penalty subject
[1:23:21] to compliance. And if there's non-compliance, then have that reinstated?
[1:23:27] Yeah. And lastly, counsel, I'm very concerned about your client's answers to my questions
[1:23:34] about how to remedy this in the future. I didn't get a good answer. Other hotels do
[1:23:41] it every day. They set that money aside. They must have an accountant or a bookkeeper
[1:23:46] or some method of doing that, and then you take care of business at the end of the month.
[1:23:54] I didn't hear anything solid that assures me that this is going to occur again.
[1:24:02] Well, what we can say is that the renovations that did cause all the distress and the issues
[1:24:08] are complete at this point, that the funds will be used to further strengthen the business.
[1:24:14] And I will tell you that I will be working with my client to ensure that we avoid this sort of thing going forward
[1:24:21] So one of the renovations get done
[1:24:25] They're incomplete when they're incomplete
[1:24:28] They're incomplete. Well the 22 rooms. Yeah, those are complete. That's correct. Yeah, what is your current occupancy rate?
[1:24:38] my current occupancy
[1:24:41] 30 to 50 percent
[1:24:44] 30. Pretty low. Pretty low. Yeah. And you have an explanation why? Over supply, both ends, so, you know, it varies, but I think supply has a lot to do with it.
[1:25:03] Okay. All right. There's a motion on the floor. It's been seconded. We've had some further discussion. Is there anyone else who wishes to weigh in?
[1:25:12] Are you ready to vote on the on the on the basic motion?
[1:25:18] All in favor say aye.
[1:25:20] Aye. Opposed?
[1:25:24] We can only wish you the best as you go forward. But I would suggest the hole's bigger than you may think it is.
[1:25:32] And you may have to pursue other remedies for your situation.
[1:25:37] But the City of Woodland, the people who depend on this revenue are entitled to have it.
[1:25:44] It was not given to them in timely fashion.
[1:25:47] And now we're at the end of the road, so we're doing what we need to do.
[1:25:52] You can do what you need to do.
[1:25:54] And I apologize for all the hassle, but we didn't create the situation, okay?
[1:26:00] With that, anybody have a memorial adjournment or anything else?
[1:26:04] Alright, we're adjourned.