Valerie AmezcuaOpposed
7:02:18Said the image was too personal given family names on the Vietnam memorial, and would not support continuing the item either.
21March
2023
2023
Special Closed Session and Regular City Council Meeting · One key issue
Councilmember Hernandez's nominee to the police oversight commission was held over after Councilmember Bacerra showed the chamber social media posts the nominee had shared, including an anti-police slogan and a photograph of a captured American pilot guarded by a Viet Cong militiawoman.
▶ Check this moment · 6:34:29
8.2 hours
25 agenda items
21 located in video
59% attributed to a named speaker
Public meeting recording8.2 hoursOpen on YouTube ↗
Public recording
Watch the meeting
Choose any timestamp in the meeting record to play that moment here. When opened directly from disk, timestamps open on YouTube instead.
Open the full recording on YouTubeBrief
What happened
Tuesday, March 21, 2023
- 01
Councilmember Hernandez answered that the image had not come from the nominee's own page and that someone had been watching his accounts, while saying he was ashamed it had been shared at all.
▶7:04:06Explore this issue
Related agenda item 22Open agenda item →Appoint Fernando Delgado Nominated by Councilmember Hernandez as the Ward 5 Representative to the Police Oversight Commission for a…
Member positions
Phil BacerraOpposed6:34:29Displayed the posts and said the nominee does not share the council's purpose for the commission.
David PenalozaOpposed6:37:14Said the nominee had attacked officers online before the facts of a shooting were known.
Thai Viet PhanRaised concerns6:50:38Said the image was deeply upsetting but moved to continue so the nominee could answer for himself.
Benjamin VazquezSupported6:47:04Said the nominee is a good man and should be taken at his word.
Jessie LopezSupported6:44:10Said members do not scrutinise each other's appointments and she would not start.
Johnathan Ryan HernandezSupported7:04:06Nominated him, said the image came from an organisation page rather than his account, and defended his work in the community.
- 02
Mayor Amezcua spoke about finding her family's names on the Vietnam memorial and said she could not vote for it.
▶6:53:50Explore this issue
Related agenda item 22Open agenda item →Appoint Fernando Delgado Nominated by Councilmember Hernandez as the Ward 5 Representative to the Police Oversight Commission for a…
Member positions
Valerie AmezcuaOpposed7:02:18Said the image was too personal given family names on the Vietnam memorial, and would not support continuing the item either.
Phil BacerraOpposed6:34:29Displayed the posts and said the nominee does not share the council's purpose for the commission.
David PenalozaOpposed6:37:14Said the nominee had attacked officers online before the facts of a shooting were known.
Thai Viet PhanRaised concerns6:50:38Said the image was deeply upsetting but moved to continue so the nominee could answer for himself.
Benjamin VazquezSupported6:47:04Said the nominee is a good man and should be taken at his word.
Jessie LopezSupported6:44:10Said members do not scrutinise each other's appointments and she would not start.
Johnathan Ryan HernandezSupported7:04:06Nominated him, said the image came from an organisation page rather than his account, and defended his work in the community.
- 03
The council voted six to one to bring the appointment back so the nominee could answer for himself.
▶7:19:46Explore this issue
Related agenda item 22Open agenda item →Appoint Fernando Delgado Nominated by Councilmember Hernandez as the Ward 5 Representative to the Police Oversight Commission for a…
Member positions
Valerie AmezcuaOpposed7:02:18Said the image was too personal given family names on the Vietnam memorial, and would not support continuing the item either.
Phil BacerraOpposed6:34:29Displayed the posts and said the nominee does not share the council's purpose for the commission.
David PenalozaOpposed6:37:14Said the nominee had attacked officers online before the facts of a shooting were known.
Thai Viet PhanRaised concerns6:50:38Said the image was deeply upsetting but moved to continue so the nominee could answer for himself.
Benjamin VazquezSupported6:47:04Said the nominee is a good man and should be taken at his word.
Jessie LopezSupported6:44:10Said members do not scrutinise each other's appointments and she would not start.
Johnathan Ryan HernandezSupported7:04:06Nominated him, said the image came from an organisation page rather than his account, and defended his work in the community.
- 04
A design contract for the historic Cypress fire station passed five votes to two, after Councilmember Vazquez said his ward has police athletic league sites, one and a half parks and no library at all.
▶6:11:48Explore this issue
Related agenda item 17Open agenda item →Approve an Agreement with Dunbar Architecture for Architectural Design Services for the Historic Cypress Fire Station in an Amount…
Member positions
Benjamin VazquezVoted no6:11:48Said the ward has athletic league sites, one and a half parks and no library, and wanted the item tabled.
Johnathan Ryan HernandezVoted no6:26:55Moved to bring it back with community input from the ward first.
Valerie AmezcuaVoted yes6:21:54Said the objection was really about policing and that the previous council had already given direction.
Phil BacerraVoted yes6:18:11Said the chamber had been full of people asking for the athletic league in August 2022.
David PenalozaVoted yes6:28:31Raised a point of order that the item was the architect's contract, then moved it on a three year term instead of five.
- 05
Residents split over the same building, some asking for a digital library and others for the athletic league, and two children spoke, one of them about having guns pointed at her family by the police.
▶4:30:50Explore this issue
Related agenda item 17Open agenda item →Approve an Agreement with Dunbar Architecture for Architectural Design Services for the Historic Cypress Fire Station in an Amount…
Member positions
Benjamin VazquezVoted no6:11:48Said the ward has athletic league sites, one and a half parks and no library, and wanted the item tabled.
Johnathan Ryan HernandezVoted no6:26:55Moved to bring it back with community input from the ward first.
Valerie AmezcuaVoted yes6:21:54Said the objection was really about policing and that the previous council had already given direction.
Phil BacerraVoted yes6:18:11Said the chamber had been full of people asking for the athletic league in August 2022.
David PenalozaVoted yes6:28:31Raised a point of order that the item was the architect's contract, then moved it on a three year term instead of five.
- 06
Fourth Street business owners said construction and events have cut their takings by eighty per cent and that little Mexico is disappearing.
▶4:39:29Explore this issue
Related agenda item 8Open agenda item →City of Santa Ana 2022 General Plan Annual Progress Report
What councilmembers said
Representative transcript excerpts—not inferred positions.
Jessie LopezMayor Pro Tem6:06:37so thank you thank you thank you I just have a question and I'm I'm new here and sort of remind you so the West cluster including the Willowick site and Santanita neighborhood can you talk about that a little bit because you're proposing five geographic…
Jennifer L. HallCity Clerk6:10:29Okay, I'm sorry, I'll try better. the motion by council member becerra seconded by penalosa to approve item number eight the city of santa anna 2022 general plan annual progress report perfect and is the voting system up i can't vote on mine i don't know okay…
Kristine RidgeCity Manager6:11:28No, sir. It is actually a built out as indicated in the staff report. It's the hiring of an architectural firm to do the design of the building, but the purpose of the design is that the site is adaptively reused as a police athletic and activities league as…
Benjamin VazquezCouncilmember6:11:13Yeah, I called on it. Just to be clear, and we've mentioned it before, this is just for rehabilitation of the building, not to be built out for a purpose of any kind, specific kind? Is it just a general built out?
- 07
The mid-year budget passed four votes to three, the dissenters objecting that the trash hauler's contractual donation is being spread across city departments rather than reaching community organisations.
▶7:46:17Explore this issue
Related agenda item 24Open agenda item →Fiscal Year 2022-23 Mid-Year Budget Update, Revive Spending Plan Update, Appropriation Requests, and Workforce Changes
Member positions
Benjamin VazquezVoted no7:39:14Wanted the money distributed through the arts and culture commission.
Jessie LopezVoted no7:37:52Said the breakdown leaves community organisations out altogether.
Johnathan Ryan HernandezVoted no7:35:57Wanted three community festivals added to what the donation funds.
Phil BacerraVoted yes7:45:42Seconded the motion.
David PenalozaVoted yes7:43:59Moved it, having established the donation supplements rather than replaces general fund spending.
- 08
Staff also disclosed that a councilmember had asked the trash hauler directly for a donation to a nonprofit, and that the company then deducted it from what it owed the city.
▶7:43:12Explore this issue
Related agenda item 24Open agenda item →Fiscal Year 2022-23 Mid-Year Budget Update, Revive Spending Plan Update, Appropriation Requests, and Workforce Changes
Member positions
Benjamin VazquezVoted no7:39:14Wanted the money distributed through the arts and culture commission.
Jessie LopezVoted no7:37:52Said the breakdown leaves community organisations out altogether.
Johnathan Ryan HernandezVoted no7:35:57Wanted three community festivals added to what the donation funds.
Phil BacerraVoted yes7:45:42Seconded the motion.
David PenalozaVoted yes7:43:59Moved it, having established the donation supplements rather than replaces general fund spending.
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
The Cypress fire station design contract passed five votes to two, over an argument about whether the ward needs a police athletic league site or a library.
Said the ward has athletic league sites, one and a half parks and no library, and wanted the item tabled.
Moved to bring it back with community input from the ward first.
Said the objection was really about policing and that the previous council had already given direction.
Said the chamber had been full of people asking for the athletic league in August 2022.
Raised a point of order that the item was the architect's contract, then moved it on a three year term instead of five.
Whether social media posts shared by a police oversight nominee, including an image of a captured American pilot, disqualified him from the commission.
Said the image was too personal given family names on the Vietnam memorial, and would not support continuing the item either.
Displayed the posts and said the nominee does not share the council's purpose for the commission.
Said the nominee had attacked officers online before the facts of a shooting were known.
Said the image was deeply upsetting but moved to continue so the nominee could answer for himself.
Said the nominee is a good man and should be taken at his word.
Said members do not scrutinise each other's appointments and she would not start.
Nominated him, said the image came from an organisation page rather than his account, and defended his work in the community.
The mid-year budget passed four votes to three, the dissenters objecting to how the trash hauler's contractual donation was being spread across city departments.
Wanted the money distributed through the arts and culture commission.
Said the breakdown leaves community organisations out altogether.
Wanted three community festivals added to what the donation funds.
Seconded the motion.
Moved it, having established the donation supplements rather than replaces general fund spending.
Agenda
Every item
25 items in agenda order
Closed Session Items
Not located Closed-session labor negotiations with city employee organizations
Ceremonial Presentations
Not located Certificate of Recognition presented by Mayor Pro Tem Lopez to Rachael Cianfrani for Outstanding Contributions to the Community
- A certificate of recognition from Mayor Pro Tem Lopez to Rachael Cianfrani for her contributions to the community.3:32:55
Ceremonial Presentations
Not located Certificate of Recognition presented by Councilmember Bacerra to Orange County Fire Authority Firefighter/Paramedic Nicholas Sibayan…
- Councilmember Bacerra presented a certificate to Orange County Fire Authority paramedic Nick Sibayan, who intervened when a nurse was assaulted in a hospital emergency department.3:37:35
Ceremonial Presentations
▶5:56:28 Proclamation presented by Councilmember Hernandez declaring March 3, 2023 as Ruben Salazar Day
- Councilmember Hernandez presented a proclamation declaring 3 March Ruben Salazar Day, for the journalist killed by a sheriff's tear gas round while covering the Chicano Moratorium in 1970.3:44:38
Staff Presentations
Not located A. Annual Presentation from Travel Santa Ana (Revised 3/15/2023) B. Homelessness Update
- Two presentations, one from Travel Santa Ana and one on homelessness.5:31:41
- Travel Santa Ana, funded by a levy on seventeen hotels, set out a new brand built with four local artists, a visitor guide and a restaurant week that drew twenty Santa Ana restaurants against three the year before.5:31:41
- Councilmember Penaloza asked that its maps stop concentrating on downtown and the mall and cover the whole city.5:36:16
- On homelessness, staff reported 157 beds occupied at the Carnegie shelter, eleven families with twenty nine children, and 114 people who have left for stable housing since it opened.4:43:01
- Councilmember Penaloza said the $10,000 in fines issued to the railway this year is pocket change to a company of that size, and staff agreed the railway could fix the problem if it chose to.4:57:35
- Councilmember Bacerra pressed on the county's flood control channels, on permanent supportive housing being spread across the county rather than concentrated here, and on a petrol station forecourt that drew 213 calls for service in a year and eight citations.5:11:45
- Councilmember Phan said homelessness is a housing problem first, and asked that opioid settlement money be tracked as it arrives.5:21:05
- Mayor Pro Tem Lopez asked for a CalOptima presentation on its street medicine funding and whether shelter rules were relaxed in the cold.5:16:14
Consent Calendar
▶5:49:49 Excused Absences
- A routine item excusing members who missed earlier meetings, approved with the rest of the consent calendar.5:51:51
Consent Calendar
▶5:49:49 Appoint Michelle Cisneros nominated by Councilmember Phan as the Ward 1 Representative to the Personnel Board for a partial-term…
- Michelle Cisneros was appointed to the Personnel Board as the Ward 1 representative and sworn in.5:54:06
Consent Calendar
▶4:17:02 Receive and File a Report Regarding the Brown Act and Teleconferencing Provisions
- An informational report on the Brown Act and what the rules now allow for members joining meetings remotely.5:51:51
Consent Calendar
▶5:56:30 City of Santa Ana 2022 General Plan Annual Progress Report
- The 2022 general plan annual progress report, for submission to the state.5:56:08
- Councilmember Bacerra noted the city has a state approved housing element, has already met fifty two per cent of its regional housing allocation for this cycle, and asked whether that earns it any relief from state housing laws.5:56:44
- The city manager said it exempts the city from the builder's remedy and that the state does not reward the few jurisdictions that comply.5:58:00
- The report also starts an environmental justice action committee, with five residents drawn from five parts of the city plus staff and the county health agency.6:00:21
- Mayor Pro Tem Lopez said the committee must include the university and community groups who did the original work rather than councilmembers' friends, and noted the county will not say how it spends its lead remediation money.6:05:07
- It passed seven votes to nothing.6:11:03
Consent Calendar
▶5:49:49 Annual Development Impact Fee Report for Fiscal Year 2021-2022
- The annual report on development impact fees for 2021-22.5:51:51
Consent Calendar
▶5:49:49 Award Aggregate Blanket Order Contracts to Promotethis!, Graphic Printsource, Inc., Superior Promos, and QCORP Printing Solutions…
- Blanket contracts with four suppliers for promotional items, up to $975,000 in total.5:51:51
Consent Calendar
▶5:49:49 Award a Purchase Order to Sonsray Machinery, LLC in the amount of $51,681 for One Felling Custom Saw Trailer for the Public Works…
- A purchase order of $51,681 for a saw trailer for the water resources division.5:51:51
Consent Calendar
▶5:49:49 Award a Purchase Order to FieldTurf USA to provide and install Synthetic Turf at Field Nos. 1 and 3 at the Dan Young Sports Complex…
- A purchase order of $2,970,859 to FieldTurf USA to lay artificial turf on two pitches at the Dan Young sports complex in Centennial Park.5:51:51
Consent Calendar
▶5:49:49 Approve Submittal of Request for Time Extension of the Measure M2 Comprehensive Transportation Funding Program for Fairview Avenue…
- A request to extend the deadline on Measure M2 transport funding for two stretches of Fairview Street.5:51:51
Consent Calendar
▶5:49:49 Approve an Amendment to the Project Cost Analysis to add $343,000 to an Existing Construction Contract with Big Ben, Inc. for a…
- An extra $343,000 for the Lincoln Avenue water and sewer main works, taking the project to $2,343,000.5:51:51
Consent Calendar
▶5:49:49 Approve Appropriation Adjustments and Award a Construction Contract to GMZ Engineering, Inc. in the amount of $4,642,644 for the…
- A construction contract of $4,642,644 with GMZ Engineering for the downtown flood reduction and stormwater infiltration scheme.5:51:51
Consent Calendar
▶5:51:14 Approve Agreements with Tetra Tech, Inc., Dudek, and ECORP Consulting Inc. for On-Call Environmental Services in aggregate amounts…
Consent Calendar
▶6:11:34 Approve an Agreement with Dunbar Architecture for Architectural Design Services for the Historic Cypress Fire Station in an Amount…
- A design contract of up to $434,880 with Dunbar Architecture to rehabilitate the historic Cypress fire station, which the council directed in August 2022 should become a police athletic league site with senior programming.6:11:37
- Councilmember Vazquez said his ward has athletic league sites, one and a half parks and no library, and that he grew up in the McFadden library that is now itself an athletic league site.6:11:48
- He asked for measurable results from the programme and said what the neighbourhood actually wants is a police substation.6:11:48
- Residents were divided, some describing the athletic league as life changing and others saying they had been promised a public say on the building and never got one.4:17:02
- Two children asked for a digital library open seven days a week, one of them saying guns had been pointed at her and her stepfather.4:30:50
- Councilmember Penaloza and the city attorney reminded the council the item before them was the architect's contract, not the use of the building.6:16:34
- Councilmember Hernandez moved to bring it back with community input and Councilmember Vazquez seconded, after a long argument over which motions had actually been seconded.6:26:55
- Councilmember Penaloza then moved a three year term instead of five, with an option to return for more, and that carried five votes to two.6:28:31
Consent Calendar
▶6:30:25 Agreement to Extend License with Southern California Edison Company for the Bristol/Alton Bike Trail (General Fund)
- A five year licence of $1,587 with Southern California Edison to keep using its land for the Bristol and Alton cycle trail.6:30:28
- Councilmember Bacerra said the site draws criminal activity and asked when the fencing and landscaping would be put right, and staff answered three months.6:32:40
- It passed seven votes to nothing.6:33:32
Consent Calendar
▶5:49:49 Approve Second Amendment to Master Service and Purchasing Agreement with Axon Enterprise, Inc., in the amount of $451,000, for a…
- An extra $451,000 to Axon Enterprise for a police records management system.5:51:51
Consent Calendar
▶5:49:49 Second Amendment to Professional Services Agreement with Holland & Knight LLP for Federal Legislative Advocacy Services
- A second amendment to the agreement with Holland and Knight for federal lobbying.5:51:51
Consent Calendar
▶5:49:49 Historic Property Preservation Agreements
- Historic property preservation agreements, approved with the consent calendar.5:51:51
Consent Calendar
▶6:34:25 Appoint Fernando Delgado Nominated by Councilmember Hernandez as the Ward 5 Representative to the Police Oversight Commission for a…
- The appointment of Fernando Delgado to the police oversight commission as the Ward 5 representative.6:33:38
- Councilmember Bacerra pulled it and displayed two posts the nominee had shared, one an anti-police slogan and one a photograph of a captured American pilot guarded by a Viet Cong militiawoman.6:34:29
- Councilmember Penaloza said he had received an email about another post attacking officers before the facts of a shooting were known, and could not support the appointment.6:37:14
- Councilmember Hernandez said he had not seen the posts, that he does not condone them, and described the nominee's work with families and young people in the ward.6:39:41
- Mayor Pro Tem Lopez said members do not scrutinise each other's appointments and she would not start now.6:44:10
- Councilmember Vazquez said the nominee is a good man whose anger came from unjustified killings, and should be taken at his word if he apologises.6:47:04
- Councilmember Phan, the one Vietnamese American on the dais, said she knows the nominee and respects his work but found the image deeply upsetting, and moved to continue the item so he could speak.6:50:38
- Mayor Amezcua described looking for her family's names on the Vietnam memorial in Washington and said she could not vote for it.6:53:50
- Councilmember Hernandez pointed out the image was posted by a community organisation rather than the nominee's own account, and asked how long someone had been watching him.7:04:06
- Councilmember Bacerra answered that the nominee's own profile links to that page and nowhere else.7:09:27
- The motion to continue carried six votes to one.7:19:46
Business Calendar
▶7:20:47 Councilmember-Requested Item Policy Informational Report
- A draft policy setting out what a councilmember must put in writing before an item goes on the agenda, brought forward by Councilmember Phan.7:20:47
- She said items had repeatedly been agendised that were already being done, or were illegal or unconstitutional.7:24:04
- Mayor Amezcua objected to the word confer and asked that it be changed to inform, and that anything unlawful be flagged to the whole council immediately.7:24:19
- Mayor Pro Tem Lopez reminded newer members that staff are not to write these reports for them.7:25:58
- Staff will return with a resolution adopting the policy.7:25:08
Business Calendar
▶7:28:41 Fiscal Year 2022-23 Mid-Year Budget Update, Revive Spending Plan Update, Appropriation Requests, and Workforce Changes
- The mid-year budget update, appropriations and staffing changes, carried over from February so members could be briefed.7:27:14
- Mayor Amezcua asked about a general fund payout for two finance staff retiring after nearly forty years each, and about unfreezing a forensic post to clear a backlog of unexamined evidence.7:28:54
- On the trash hauler's $183,000, staff confirmed it is a contractual obligation rather than a gift, and that it was being split between public works, the library and parks.7:30:15
- Councilmember Hernandez asked that the Chicano Heritage Festival, the Mid-Autumn Festival and the Day of the Dead celebration be added to what it funds.7:35:57
- Mayor Pro Tem Lopez said the breakdown leaves community organisations out altogether, which was the whole point of asking for the clause.7:37:52
- Councilmember Vazquez suggested the money go out through the arts and culture commission instead.7:39:14
- Staff then disclosed that a councilmember had approached the hauler directly for a donation to a nonprofit, and that the company deducted about $20,000 from what it owed the city, which staff only learned afterwards.7:43:12
- Councilmember Penaloza said every penny should come through the council and asked that it never happen again.7:43:59
- Mayor Amezcua asked the city attorney and city manager for a briefing on it.7:44:45
- The item passed four votes to three.7:46:17
Full transcript
Open transcript
Read or search the complete meeting
1,352 merged speaker turns are available in a dedicated reading view. It opens with unidentified speech hidden.