Phil BacerraOpposed
3:41:57Said he was disappointed, that disbanding rushed work the council had spent countless hours on, and that no ordinance has a prescribed timetable.
29July
2022
2022
Special City Council Meeting · One key issue
This was a work study session, where the council gives staff direction without taking any votes.
▶ Check this moment · 1:43:42
4.3 hours
2 agenda items
2 located in video
46% attributed to a named speaker
Brief
What happened
Friday, July 29, 2022
- 01
Two subjects filled the evening: rewriting the city's cannabis rules, and what shape a police oversight body should take.
▶1:56:18Explore this issue
Related agenda item 2Open agenda item →Police Oversight Model and Implementation
Member positions
Nelida MendozaOpposed3:44:05Called the issue too serious to hurry and asked that the committee continue examining the options.
Thai Viet PhanRaised concerns3:48:55Said she still did not know what the committee was recommending or what each model would cost, and wanted the commission to have real power before deciding.
David PenalozaRaised concerns4:12:25Backed an oversight commission as long overdue but noted he had never been shown a concrete recommendation from the committee.
Johnathan Ryan HernandezSupported4:09:36Served on the committee and said he supported disbanding it and moving to a draft ordinance.
- 02
On cannabis, members divided over whether to allow more retail shops and to shrink the required distance between them, with Mayor Pro Tem Bacerra against both.
▶2:22:27Explore this issue
Related agenda item 2Open agenda item →Police Oversight Model and Implementation
Member positions
Phil BacerraOpposed3:41:57Said he was disappointed, that disbanding rushed work the council had spent countless hours on, and that no ordinance has a prescribed timetable.
Nelida MendozaOpposed3:44:05Called the issue too serious to hurry and asked that the committee continue examining the options.
Thai Viet PhanRaised concerns3:48:55Said she still did not know what the committee was recommending or what each model would cost, and wanted the commission to have real power before deciding.
David PenalozaRaised concerns4:12:25Backed an oversight commission as long overdue but noted he had never been shown a concrete recommendation from the committee.
Johnathan Ryan HernandezSupported4:09:36Served on the committee and said he supported disbanding it and moving to a draft ordinance.
- 03
Several members agreed that the fingerprint background check required of cannabis workers should be dropped, treating it as a barrier to employment.
▶2:03:10Explore this issue
Related agenda item 2Open agenda item →Police Oversight Model and Implementation
Member positions
Phil BacerraOpposed3:41:57Said he was disappointed, that disbanding rushed work the council had spent countless hours on, and that no ordinance has a prescribed timetable.
Nelida MendozaOpposed3:44:05Called the issue too serious to hurry and asked that the committee continue examining the options.
Thai Viet PhanRaised concerns3:48:55Said she still did not know what the committee was recommending or what each model would cost, and wanted the commission to have real power before deciding.
David PenalozaRaised concerns4:12:25Backed an oversight commission as long overdue but noted he had never been shown a concrete recommendation from the committee.
Johnathan Ryan HernandezSupported4:09:36Served on the committee and said he supported disbanding it and moving to a draft ordinance.
- 04
On police oversight, the sharpest split was whether to wind up the committee that had spent nine months on it and go straight to drafting an ordinance.
▶3:41:57Explore this issue
Related agenda item 2Open agenda item →Police Oversight Model and Implementation
Member positions
Phil BacerraOpposed3:41:57Said he was disappointed, that disbanding rushed work the council had spent countless hours on, and that no ordinance has a prescribed timetable.
Nelida MendozaOpposed3:44:05Called the issue too serious to hurry and asked that the committee continue examining the options.
Thai Viet PhanRaised concerns3:48:55Said she still did not know what the committee was recommending or what each model would cost, and wanted the commission to have real power before deciding.
David PenalozaRaised concerns4:12:25Backed an oversight commission as long overdue but noted he had never been shown a concrete recommendation from the committee.
Johnathan Ryan HernandezSupported4:09:36Served on the committee and said he supported disbanding it and moving to a draft ordinance.
- 05
Councilmember Hernandez, who sat on that committee, was ready to close it, while Mayor Pro Tem Bacerra and Councilmember Mendoza said the work was being rushed.
▶4:09:36Explore this issue
Related agenda item 2Open agenda item →Police Oversight Model and Implementation
Member positions
Phil BacerraOpposed3:41:57Said he was disappointed, that disbanding rushed work the council had spent countless hours on, and that no ordinance has a prescribed timetable.
Nelida MendozaOpposed3:44:05Called the issue too serious to hurry and asked that the committee continue examining the options.
Thai Viet PhanRaised concerns3:48:55Said she still did not know what the committee was recommending or what each model would cost, and wanted the commission to have real power before deciding.
David PenalozaRaised concerns4:12:25Backed an oversight commission as long overdue but noted he had never been shown a concrete recommendation from the committee.
Johnathan Ryan HernandezSupported4:09:36Served on the committee and said he supported disbanding it and moving to a draft ordinance.
How this brief was made
The current summaries were prepared during an in-session review of the transcripts. This prototype shows only sentences with a timestamp citation. 0 uncited sentences were withheld from this page.
Focus
Where they differed
Splits in votes or reasoning
Members disagreed about loosening the city's cannabis rules, particularly whether to allow more shops and reduce the distance required between them.
Opposed both additional retail storefronts and the reduced buffer, preferring to tie any concession to community benefits like local hiring.
Did not support more licences, and worried outside operators would crowd out the thirty businesses already in the city.
Wanted Santa Ana patients prioritised in the donation programme and a tax analysis before any change to the retail rate.
Supported what staff had brought forward and wanted the fingerprint check dropped as a hiring barrier.
Would support consumption lounges provided ventilation kept smoke away from neighbouring premises.
The council divided over whether the committee that had studied police oversight for nine months should be wound up now or allowed to keep working.
Said he was disappointed, that disbanding rushed work the council had spent countless hours on, and that no ordinance has a prescribed timetable.
Called the issue too serious to hurry and asked that the committee continue examining the options.
Said she still did not know what the committee was recommending or what each model would cost, and wanted the commission to have real power before deciding.
Backed an oversight commission as long overdue but noted he had never been shown a concrete recommendation from the committee.
Served on the committee and said he supported disbanding it and moving to a draft ordinance.
Agenda
Every item
2 items in agenda order
Work Study Session
▶1:23:57 Municipal Code Changes Related to Cannabis
- Staff asked the council for direction on a rewrite of the city's cannabis rules, covering consumption lounges, how many shops are allowed, and how far apart they must sit.1:56:18
- Councilmember Mendoza asked how smoking inside a lounge would be ventilated, and said she would support lounges provided those precautions were taken.1:55:50
- Councilmember Penaloza worried that opening the door to lounges and festivals would bring in outside operators ahead of the roughly thirty businesses already trading in the city.1:56:18
- He also said he did not support issuing additional business licences at this point.2:42:19
- Councilmembers Hernandez and Penaloza both asked for the fingerprint background check to be removed as a condition of employment in the industry.2:03:10
- Mayor Pro Tem Bacerra opposed both extra retail storefronts and the smaller buffer, and floated tying concessions to community benefits such as local hiring.2:22:27
- He later suggested allowing the lounges outdoors, as the city had done with alcohol during the pandemic.2:47:42
- Councilmember Phan, who had read the city's draft alongside two others submitted by a lawyer and a union, asked that Santa Ana patients be prioritised in the donation programme and requested an analysis before changing the retail tax.2:49:05
Work Study Session
▶1:24:17 Police Oversight Model and Implementation
- Staff presented options for how the city could oversee its police department, the question a council ad hoc committee had been working on for nine months.2:54:37
- Councilmember Hernandez, who served on that committee, described hearing from experts, residents and city staff over that period.3:39:15
- The disagreement was procedural but sharp: whether to disband the committee now and have the city attorney draft an ordinance, or keep it going.3:41:57
- Mayor Pro Tem Bacerra said he was disappointed, that the effort should not be rushed after countless hours of work.3:41:57
- Councilmember Mendoza agreed the issue was too serious to hurry and asked that the committee carry on examining it.3:44:05
- Councilmember Penaloza said he had not served on the committee and had never seen a concrete recommendation from it, but supported creating an oversight commission and thought it long overdue.4:12:25
- Councilmember Phan said she still did not know what the committee was recommending or what each model would cost, and pressed on how much power the body would really have.3:48:55
- She raised making the city manager able to overturn an oversight commission's recommendation only on clear and convincing evidence, and offered to send the city attorney a draft ordinance she had found.3:57:32
- Councilmember Hernandez said he supported disbanding the committee and moving on.4:09:36
- Mayor Pro Tem Bacerra answered that there is no prescribed time for writing an ordinance and that getting it right matters more than the calendar.4:14:27
Full transcript
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