3March
2026

Regular City Council Meeting · One key issue

The council handed the River View Golf Course to a new operator, and Councilmember Hernandez cast the only vote against.

Check this moment · 2:37:49

3.7 hours 22 agenda items 22 located in video 50% attributed to a named speaker

Brief

What happened

Tuesday, March 3, 2026

01
He argued that a park-poor ward next to the course gets little from a golf course alone, and wanted playgrounds and amenities for people who do not golf.
2:34:17
Parks & libraries Budget

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Related agenda item 16
Agreement with Santa Ana Golf, LLC, a Wholly Owned Subsidiary of CourseCo, Inc., for River View Golf Course Management Services…
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Member positions

Johnathan Ryan HernandezVoted no
Said residents next to the course are split, that the area is park poor, and that he wanted playgrounds and amenities for non-golfers and seniors built in alongside the course.
2:34:17
Benjamin VazquezVoted yes
Seconded it and called the approach visionary for conserving the neighbourhood while improving the site.
2:31:37
Jessie LopezVoted yes
Backed it, crediting the parks director for years of meetings with residents.
2:31:53
David PenalozaVoted yes
Moved the item, saying the course had been in limbo for about five years and this settles it.
2:27:39
02
Golfers, the Riverview neighbourhood association and course staff had all spoken in support earlier in the evening.
1:57:03
Budget Parks & libraries

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Related agenda item 16
Agreement with Santa Ana Golf, LLC, a Wholly Owned Subsidiary of CourseCo, Inc., for River View Golf Course Management Services…
Open agenda item →

Member positions

Johnathan Ryan HernandezVoted no
Said residents next to the course are split, that the area is park poor, and that he wanted playgrounds and amenities for non-golfers and seniors built in alongside the course.
2:34:17
Benjamin VazquezVoted yes
Seconded it and called the approach visionary for conserving the neighbourhood while improving the site.
2:31:37
Jessie LopezVoted yes
Backed it, crediting the parks director for years of meetings with residents.
2:31:53
David PenalozaVoted yes
Moved the item, saying the course had been in limbo for about five years and this settles it.
2:27:39
03
The council also tightened the rules on smoke shops, setting distances they must keep from each other and creating an inspection fee.
2:58:33
Budget Land use

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Related agenda item 21
Public hearing: Zoning Ordinance Amendment No. 2026-01 to Amend Portions of Chapter 41 (Zoning) Relating to Smoke Shop…
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What councilmembers said
Representative transcript excerpts—not inferred positions.

David PenalozaMayor Pro Tem
the vote please thank you mayor ms1 thank you council member lopez for bringing this item forward i will also be supporting it the only question i had um mr city manager or director Director Ali, about the 1,000 foot separation between smoke shops. Is there…
3:11:55
Jennifer L. HallCity Clerk
Motion by Councilmember Becerra, seconded by Councilmember Lopez to introduce for first reading zoning ordinance amendment number 2026-01 ordinance of the city council of santa ana amending portions of chapter 41 zoning and municipal code relating to smoke…
3:14:44
Phil BacerraCouncilmember
Thank you. So real quick, first of all, thank you for bringing this forward and as quickly as you did. My question is more for PD. So as this item was coming through the process, I know PD was addressing some of the existing smoke shops and some of the issues…
3:07:53
Jessie LopezCouncilmember
yeah no I want to thank you Ali for the presentation I want to thank our entire team for the quick turnaround time on this you know we brought this late last last year, and so I'm very happy with the urgency and the collaboration. I also want to thank Planning…
3:06:35
04
It received the mid-year budget update and approved the spending changes that came with it.
2:57:42
Budget Labor & workforce

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Related agenda item 20
Proposed Fiscal Year 2025-26 Mid-Year Budget Update, Appropriation Requests, Workforce Changes, and Capital Improvement Program…
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What councilmembers said
Representative transcript excerpts—not inferred positions.

Thai Viet PhanCouncilmember
and families, three, operate and provide essential services and emergency shelters for homeless individuals and families, and three, prevent individuals and families from becoming homeless. I know our Colt team does a lot of that work. We obviously expanded to…
2:54:25
Benjamin VazquezCouncilmember
We're losing money there, so how do we support those spaces or how do we fill them in where they've gone missing? So I want to see an increase in the economic development team. also I just want to bring up really quick if we need the money on McFadden between…
2:47:07
Phil BacerraCouncilmember
Real quick, the ESG funds, though, I just want to be clear, though, they're not housing funds. They're funds that could be used for housing, but what you guys are prescribing them for here in regards to PD, that's an appropriate use of the funds. I just want…
2:51:56
Jessie LopezCouncilmember
Right, and I do have questions. So, Mike, can you reach out to my secretary to schedule us within the next two weeks to talk about it? Again, you know, I was supportive of the effort, a duplicative effort, because our staff, you know, talked, right, to not…
2:49:51
05
For Women's History Month, six councilmembers each honoured a girls' or women's team from a Santa Ana high school.
59:26
Youth & education

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Related agenda item 1
Certificates of Recognition presented by Mayor Pro Tem Penaloza to the Saddleback High School Women’s Soccer Team in Honor of…
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What councilmembers said
Representative transcript excerpts—not inferred positions.

David PenalozaMayor Pro Tem
All right. The next presentation is by Councilmember Becerra who's going to be presenting certificates of recognition presented to Valley High School Women's Wrestling Team in honor of Women's history month so if the valley high school women's wrestling team…
1:04:37

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

Split voteon “Agreement with Santa Ana Golf, LLC, a Wholly Owned Subsidiary of CourseCo, Inc., for River View Golf Course Management Services…”2:37:49

One member voted against the new golf course contract, arguing a park-poor neighbourhood needs more from the site than golf.

Johnathan Ryan HernandezVoted no2:34:17

Said residents next to the course are split, that the area is park poor, and that he wanted playgrounds and amenities for non-golfers and seniors built in alongside the course.

Benjamin VazquezVoted yes2:31:37

Seconded it and called the approach visionary for conserving the neighbourhood while improving the site.

Jessie LopezVoted yes2:31:53

Backed it, crediting the parks director for years of meetings with residents.

David PenalozaVoted yes2:27:39

Moved the item, saying the course had been in limbo for about five years and this settles it.

Agenda

Every item

22 items in agenda order

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Ceremonial Presentations

Certificates of Recognition presented by Mayor Pro Tem Penaloza to the Saddleback High School Women’s Soccer Team in Honor of…