Read the September 3 meeting.

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Mr. Mitchell. Thank you. Let's pray. Father God, we come before you with thankful hearts that we have a system that allows us to come peacefully together in order that decisions and plans can be put into place. God, I pray especially that today every voice and every vote would be done with integrity, that every heart would be filled with compassion, that every mind would be driven by what is true and what is right, and that every action would result in the betterment of our community, our citizens, our city council and all the staff that supports them. Unite us together behind those things that count the most with you.

God, that we would be one community that serves together and that you would strengthen us and guide us in every matter that's before us this night. And we pray it in Jesus' name. Amen.

You may be seated.

Madam City Attorney, I was asked if there was anything to report out of closed session, but we'll wait for that for a moment. Let's go to a special of presentations. We have the Chamber of Commerce here that I believe is going to make a presentation.

Come on down, Dave.

Sonia R. CarvalhoItem —

And Mayor, we do not have any portable action.

I'll bring half the audience with us. Got it.

You brought your fans. I told them they each have 15 minutes. No, just kidding.

Mr. Mayor and Council, Dave L.A., President and CEO of your Chamber of Commerce, and what we wanted to do tonight, something we've not done before, and I think Councilwoman Ziniglicias was your idea, for us to just kind of come in a few minutes to share what the Council's doing. And so what I've done tonight is I've asked the the leadership, we have four councils that work, that basically do all the work of the Chamber. Our Economic Development Council, our Community Engagement Council, our Government Affairs Council, and our Ambassadors Council. You should have one of these program guides.

This is kind of all of our programs that we do during the course of the year fall into this. Chambers of Commerce are noted for being networking organizations. We're a networking organization, but really the work that we do focuses on that community, that legislative advocacy and that economic development scenario. So what I've done is just ask our folks that are the chairs of each of those councils to come and give you about a minute overview of the work that they're doing. So I want to start with our ambassadors, and they'll come up, they'll introduce themselves, who they are, the companies they represent,

and give you just a quick overview of the work that they're doing in their specific area. Okay? All right, ambassadors.

Hello, my name is Eric Basel and I work for Goodwill of Orange County and I'm the co-chair of our ambassador group. We have roughly 35 ambassadors. It's really neat how we get out in the community so when there's a new business that comes to Santa Ana, we deliver their plaque and we're the welcoming arm. We do our chamber lunches and we use a local Santa Ana restaurant so we get to try their food and also give them our business. Yes. Now, my regular job, I work for Goodwin. I help people with disabilities find work. And I have to say that Santa Ana, out of every city in Orange County, employs the most people with a barrier.

So for that, I thank you.

Good afternoon. My name is William Young, and I'm the owner and operator of Forever Young Memory Care. It's a care facility for seniors with dementia and Alzheimer's in Santa Ana. And I'm grateful to be here today to tell you how important the chamber is to me and what it's done for me ever since my family decided to be an entrepreneur and open up our own facility. on May 27, 2015, at my grand opening, I had more chamber members there supporting me at the grand opening than I had my own family. And to tell you, that was such a big day for me because it was me taking a leap into a passion. So when I look back at the people attended

and seeing 19 people from the chamber supporting me, it meant the world to me. So I naturally wanted to give back. And like Dave said, it's about building community. But more so than that and doing business together, it's getting to meet people and finding out who they are as people, as a family man, as their household, and really what keeps them going. And those are the people that I want to do business with. So the Santa Ana Chamber is something else, and it's been a big part of my success and happiness. Thanks for letting us be here today. So next will be our Economic Development Council.

Thank you. My name is Jonathan Mayer. I'm from Main Place Mall. I'm the co-chair of the Economic Development Council for the Chamber of Commerce for Santa Ana. I just want to share a few of the programs that the Economic Development Council is kind of working on. One of them is the retention program where members of the chamber get out into the community and actually meet with local businesses through all different sectors of business to kind of understand the issues that face businesses that are operating in Santa Ana and things that affect their needs for training, hiring needs, issues they face,

things like parking, homeless, graffiti, and be able to provide that information back to the city. We also do a couple of large events through the chamber. One is a Taste of Santa Ana, which is an economic development event that brings together not only the community, but also large businesses throughout Santa Ana and the greater Orange County area. Really, you know, Santa Ana has become on the map as one of the best dining destinations in Orange County, and we want to highlight that. And we highlight that by not only showcasing some of the larger restaurants, but a lot of the smaller restaurants that people don't know about.

So we get together in a fun community event. And then we also host, and Lee, the GROW Conference. And GROW is Geography, Resources, Opportunity, and Workforce. This year we'll be celebrating our sixth year. It's going to be in February of 2020. It's an outstanding event that really invites people to invest in Santa Ana from a development perspective or to bring new businesses to Santa Ana.

Next, our Community Engagement Council, which is our newest council.

Good evening. My name is Paula Garcia-Arsenal, and I'm a vice president with Habitat for Humanity of Orange County. I'm going to go over just a couple of events that the Community Engagement Council does. We're very proud of our Difference Makers event. That's our annual luncheon. We'll be celebrating our 10th year. That's where we honor one graduating senior from every high school in Santa Ana, and also Santa Ana College, and then a couple of the private high schools here. We also honor seven outstanding business community leaders on making a difference in Santa Ana.

One of our other events that we have is our annual business expo, and that's where we have over 40 different businesses and community that come out and they get to network, enjoy an evening, and learn about the different businesses in our community.

Hello, my name is Richard Porras at AT&T. I'm co-chair with Paula. One of the reasons we love the Difference Makers, both Paula and I are graduates from Santa Ana Unified, so we love to get involved in that program. A couple of other events that we do sponsor is the Vision Makers Breakfast, where we bring in outstanding leaders from the community. On September 19th, we have Dr. Danielle Strupa, president of Chapman University, will be there. And then for AT&T, this is our 20th year that we'll be sponsoring the Santa Ana Chamber Golf Tournament, where we can help out the chamber.

and we've also helped out High School Inc. through that program. Thank you very much.

And our final council is our Government Affairs Council, and also, besides being a council member, Bill Erke is the chairman of our board, and he's going to make some final comments.

Good evening. I'm Sharon Ellis. I'm the CEO of Habitat for Humanity of Orange County, and very pleased to be the co-chair of the Government Affairs Council for the Santa Ana Chamber. We hold monthly meetings where we discuss the items that are relevant to things that are going on here in Santa Ana. We look at legislative issues and take positions on things for and against as we look at how it will support the community of Santa Ana.

Additionally, we hold individual meetings with every council member when they come on board to make sure that they have an appreciation of the work that we do at the chamber, and also to understand a little bit more about each council member. The other thing that we do is to hold the State of the City, the luncheon for the mayor. And this year, this event will be held on October 17th and will be at the Discovery Cube. Additionally, we hold sessions, forums, when we have candidates who are running for office.

so this year we will be hosting the forum for the Ward 4 candidates for the City Council and that will be on September 25th at the Delhi Center so there's a lot that goes on and I think as we look at all of the the government affairs events that happen throughout the year the chamber becomes a good resource for not only discussing but also analyzing information thank you

Good evening, Mr. Mayor and members of the council. Again, my name is Bill Erke, a partner at the law firm of Rutan and Tucker. I am the president through the end of this year of the chamber and just wanted to provide a couple closing remarks. Again, thank you for giving us the time to do this short presentation. organization. We have 450, approximately 450 member organizations who are with the Chamber, and they run the gamut from the big international corporations to the locally grown local retailers right down here in downtown Santa Ana. The main point I would like to leave all of you

with, and this is for the Council and for staff, is that we have an open door policy. We believe in that communication between our organization and yours. We have a very good working relationship with you and your staff, and if you have any ideas that you would like to bring to us, please do. On the other hand, if you would like to hear what our members are thinking about certain policy initiatives or ideas, by all means, please come knocking on our door. That's all I have for today. again, thank you very much for giving us the time for this presentation, and enjoy the rest of the evening.

Thank you very much. Congressman Iglesias, do you have any comment? Want to thank the folks? I didn't want to come down.

I just want to thank all of you for coming down and letting us know what you all are doing. I personally enjoy going to the ribbon cuttings with the ambassadors and welcoming the businesses into Santa Ana. And I believe your group and your chamber is the one that helps us facilitate that process. So you're in a way the ambassadors to the city personnel because what you guys are doing out there is welcoming them to us, knowing that many of us would want to go to those ribbon cuttings. But unfortunately, time doesn't allow for us to be at all the ribbon cuttings. But I know you guys are there faithfully and then you

you always send someone to represent. So you're representing the Santa Ana Chamber, but in a way you're also representing the city of Santa Ana. And every time I go there, I know everyone's having great dialogue, great sharing of information. And I know you are our eyes, in a way, of what's going on in the business community. So I want to thank you for all the hard work that you guys have been doing.

Thank you.

Thank you. Congratulations. Keep up the good work.

With that, the next presentation I'm going to handle is Allison Young here.

There she is.

Allison, this is a recognition of you and your service on the Senate Historical Preservation Society. I know that you began working, I believed, back when you moved here back in 1992. You have a 1938 Mediterranean home, which is on the city's historic register. I know you were a board member from 1995 to 97, and also from 1997 to 2019.

I know you helped restore the Ha-Waffle House, which I believe was, was it the first doctor in Santa Ana or the first female doctor? First female doctor, I know she had a horse and buggy, and it's still there, right? The little horde's carriage house and all that is there.

Also, I know you've worked very hard. It says you recently resigned as president of the society after 22 years, and it says that they're not sure what you're going to do now.

I'm still volunteering there.

You're going to continue to volunteer, but in a different capacity. Well, look, for your years of service, what you've done for the committee and all, Allison, I want to present you a proclamation. But prior to that, would you like to say a few words?

Yeah.

Go ahead.

Thank you so much. This is a great honor to be recognized by the city. I think 22 years as president of the society was long enough for me, but I am still, as I said, working with the society on other things. So I invite all of the community to come visit our two museums. We have the Dr. Willalahaw Waffle House, which is right across from the old courthouse, and we also have the Santa Ana Fire Museum. And on alternate months, we have on the first Saturday open houses there. and we change themes and the fire house you can see the firemen in action because it's an active fire station as well as a museum

and so I hope that you all if you have not been to either of our museums you feel free to come thank you

this is a certificate of recognition awarded to you for your outstanding contributions to the community dated this third day of September 2019, and it's my privilege and pleasure to present it to you. Keep up the good work. I know you hang out with people like Tim Rush, right? Yeah. Any other characters? Oh, we've got a lot of characters. So if you're a character and you want a home, Allison will be happy to welcome you, and you can be part of the Historical Society. Thank you very much, Allison. Take care.

Chamber guys, before you leave, come on up. They want a photo. So all of you, come on up. I'm going to get the council. Let's get the city manager involved because she's now part of everything. Come around. Come over to the side. We'll get a big picture here. And we'll hold off with Councilor Solario's presentation for just a moment.

You know, it's my fault. I didn't introduce Sam. Tim does great work without. Tim Jamal, Small Public Affairs.

Squeeze. Squeeze. Squeeze. Squeeze.

that's it

let's give our chamber of commerce another round of applause

You've been great partners a long time. So it's my honor to bring up Professor John Dombrink. One of the things about Santa Ana that is especially nice is that we are blessed with having colleges in our nearby areas. You know, we have Santa Ana College right here in Santa Ana. We have Cal State Fullerton not far away. and really just down the street we have UC Irvine. And what that offers students in terms of accessibility to go to those institutions

or many ways that those institutions give back, the blessings that come from all that is pretty amazing. Through just the offerings and the generosity of one professor, I'll give you a sense of how much they can offer to our city. Professor John Dombrink just retired from UCI and to a certain extent he's part of the reason why I'm standing here today. I because of him many years ago did my first community service in Santa Ana at the Legal Aid Society helping

you know poor people that were ripped off by their employers and we sought ways to get those individuals paid back and we were largely successful. Professor Don Brink is an emeritus professor in the Department of Criminology Law and Society in the School of Social Ecology at UC Irvine. He just recently retired this summer after teaching 37 years. And I would say you could tell by the color of his hair, but his hair has always been white. It's always been good. It's always been gray and white.

I was fortunate enough to be a mentee of Professor Dombrink in the Social Ecology Mentor Mentee Program, in which he was a faculty member and later a co-director. Professor Dombrink helped with many other departments and professors that offered volunteer and research services here in Santa Ana. But for example, he directed the criminology outreach program, which brought teams of undergraduate students from UC Irvine to work with 7th through 12th grade classes in local schools on a weekly and biweekly basis.

The mentors that were part of this engaged in small group lessons, teaching critical thinking, research, writing, oral presentations regarding the criminal justice system, etc. etc. Speaking of criminology, I took one of his criminology classes and it was rough because he forced me to read The Godfather and Goodfellas and a few other, you know, important literary works and I learned a lot. Beneficiaries of the criminology program I mentioned included Century High School, Santa Ana High School, and BF Fundamental Intermediate School and all their students. He also over the years, because he's this great professor and mentor,

Or he would send students to me, like when I was in assembly, and they'd become interns or fellows. You know, many of them got full-time jobs with me or with the state, and many of them are up there doing great things. And it's because also of your effort. And even just recently, you sent Edgar Ober, who's an outstanding student with Santa Ana Roots. He obviously, Professor Domberg, has had a profound personal impact on me, but really on a broader base of students. and I know those students will move on to do great things. So really through the work of just one professor,

he's made a positive impact for the lives of thousands of families. On behalf of a grateful city, we have a certificate, but also this year we're celebrating our 150th anniversary, and we recently got these, they're kind of like challenge coins, but they're commemorative coins, and the city's been standing up 150 years. you haven't been here all those years but you know for 25 years plus you've given a lot to this community and for that this city is grateful and I am personally will ever be in appreciation thank you let's give him a round of

applause you should never let a teacher near microphone I had a t-shirt when I came back to teaching last year it said I'm a stroke survivor so in case you think I had a drink on the way in just because it to make it through no we have passed a torch down it when somebody says 37 years ago like wow where'd that

go but Jose was a student in 1988 was a mentor the next year 1989 was student by president during the LA riots as he points out and with each generation the chance to give to him people like Enrique Rocho who works for Los Angeles schools and Lourdes Morales works in Sacramento for the legislative analyst office and now Mr. Espinosa went to Century High School the idea to me of

each passing on the torch to younger bright children and if you look at our schools they're filled with people who are making their way up opening the doors so it's for me great to be associated with the students at these schools and I'm optimistic about the future that they will create for us thanks so again a

certificate on behalf of a grateful city and many grateful students thank you and Congratulations.

And thank you to Maya, his better half, who's done many great things as well for our community.

I am now going to go to the consent calendar. but prior to that I believe we have one request to speak although Bruce Channing do you want to speak on item 20B?

Come on down and speak realize right now I think there's support for your item so speak at your own peril. Go ahead Bruce.

Thank you Mayor Polito. I am Bruce Channing the executive director recently appointed to the ACCOC, and as some of you know, 26 years as city manager in Laguna Hills. I take heed by your words, Mayor, and I'd be happy to answer any questions that you have.

Thank you. You're a wise man. Thank you. Keep up the good job and just be available. We might have a question, we might not. Okay, I'm right here. So far, I don't know if there's any requests over here to my right on people that want to pull items. For discussions? Go ahead. Which item is that?

That is 39A.

39A.

To the left, are there any items, Council Member Solario, that you wish to pull?

I don't think so.

Well, if not, then we only have one item. So, yeah. Pressure's on. Pressure's on. So why don't we vote on the balance first, and then we'll take the one item. I take or entertain a motion on the balance of the calendar. Those in favor, please say aye. Well, let's press the green button. Jose, the one on the right. He has two sets of green buttons. Mr. Mayor won't let me vote twice. Yeah, I won't let him vote twice.

If he were to vote twice, would it just appear another green one where that white? So if you want to vote twice, it's up to you, but to only count one. All right, so with that, 39A, Council Member Binsor-Amento, please.

Thank you, Mr. Mayor, and this is very brief. this is on the approval of naming a park, the new park over on East 6th Street. And I think there was two positions held by the two different commissions that oversaw this. So I think Parks and Rec wanted to call it Parque Mariposa, and the Planning Commission recommended the name to be Mariposa Park. So is there any way we can blend the two? I know we've done that at some other places where you call it Mariposa Park, and then we can do the Spanish translation underneath if that's something that's physically possible.

That way we embrace both because we know it's right in the middle of a very old neighborhood in Lacey. And so that's something that would accommodate both commission's recommendations and I think also the community's.

I think it's a reasonable request. I don't know if we make it of staff as we move this item or what would be appropriate. Go ahead, Councilor Peñalosa.

David PenalozaItem —

I thought that was the reason why we went with Mariposa Park because it embraced both languages and it made it Spanglish, how we often see in Santana. So I'm comfortable leaving it as Mariposa Park. That way it's consistent with the other parks in the city, unless I'm mistaken of the other parks that do have that translation somewhere else. If I could...

The only thing was, I know that we have some, like, let's say, Plaza Calle Cuatro. So that's a full Spanish translation. So this one would be sort of having both recognized. And I think, like I said, because we had two commissions that maybe weren't able to reconcile the two, I think they're both warranted. And I don't think it would take too much. Would it be an additional cost to maybe do that underneath?

Very minor. So if you've made the motion and you requested that we do the dual postage in both ways, we can certainly do that on the side for you.

I mean, I think it takes the spirit of what we're trying to say, which is embracing both recommendations, both languages. I think it's reasonable. I think when we do parks, let's say, in heavily Vietnamese communities, I know we had a city monument that was done in Vietnamese recognizing Little Saigon. I think those are things that I think speak to the multicultural, diverse communities that we have in the city.

Mayor Pro Tem. Mr. Mayor, I think that the Mariposa Park came about because it was to be consistent with all other 40 parks that we have here.

So you think that already is a...

i just want to keep consistency but if my colleague wants to have the name underneath we can give direction on that but we just have one name there won't be confusion i have a question

David PenalozaItem —

yes go ahead um if if um madam city manager you might want to want parks and rec staff to answer this but what what other parks have that spanish i'm thinking of cesar chavez park uh chepas park like, Salgado, Campesino, do they all have the Spanish translation underneath? Because I feel like that would just open up a can of worms to say, but not really worms. But, I mean, it's not a bad thing, but I'm just saying that if we do this, would that mean that we would have to follow suit with all the other parks that have similar names?

You certainly would not have to follow suit with it, and you are correct. the majority of our parks have the name first and park following the name i think the issue here is you did have the parks and rec commission want a different name than what the planning commission had so that it was it's a way to reconcile it but officially it would be mariposa park if i'm understanding the direction that councilmember sarrianto is is requesting okay i think

David PenalozaItem —

that if if it was um i just think of mariposa park as embracing both cultures and languages versus the planning commission they would have recommended butterfly park which that would have completely just gone over the the the wanting to have the spanish language in there so i'm comfortable with mariposa park uh not sure leave it as is yeah i mean i'd make a motion to to i i'd move the item to leave it as staff recommendation yeah is there a second Second.

All right. So with that, further discussion?

I'll be a no.

All right. Those in favor, please vote green. If you're a no, vote red.

All right. Next, item 55A, I believe. I would entertain a motion on this item. So moved. We have speakers.

Oh, there's an oath of office, Alberta Christie. Are you here? Come on down.

Raise your right hand and repeat after me. I please state your name for the record. Thank you. Do solemnly swear that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States and the Constitution of the State of California against all enemies. against all enemies, foreign and domestic, that I will bear true faith and allegiance

to the Constitution of the United States and the Constitution of the State of California,

that I take this obligation freely without any mental reservation, without any mental reservation or purpose of evasion that I will well and faithfully discharge the duties upon which I am about to enter. Congratulations. Thank you so much. Thank you.

I also want to acknowledge Rosie Avila. She's in the audience sitting next to Alberta or Alberta next to her. And she served on the school board and volunteered so much for this community for so many years. Rosie, it's a pleasure to have you here tonight.

So with that, let's go on to item, I believe it was 55A. I will entertain a motion on this item. So moved. Those in favor, please say aye. Aye. Those opposed, press red. If you're for it, press green. And let's go on to the next item.

Item on 60A.

All right, that's the next item.

If you want, you can speak on 55A. We already adopted it. That was a resolution for a water-integrated regional water management plan.

A little late, George.

All right, speakers, Lucy Santana. This is on 60A. It's an authorization to negotiate a development disposition agreement, DDA, for the renovation and reuse of the YMCA property. So let's start with Lucy and followed by Heather Luis Martinez. Please go ahead.

Thank you, Council Member, City Manager. Thank you for having us here this evening. As you stated, my name is Lucy Santana, and I am a longtime member and resident of the City of Santa Ana, grew up here. I am also a proud volunteer of Relampago del Cielo, Grupo Folclorico. I've been doing that for 26 years and currently serving as the board and chair president for 10 years. As our role in working in the community, we have been in partnership with the Orange County School of the Arts for the last 16 years. We have a partnership where we're able to serve our kids there every Saturday in our classes.

16 years ago, we started with 60 students. We are now at over 300 students there every Saturday. and it really has become part of our history, our culture. We're able to really build that relationship. Also, through our partnership, we have seen that more and more of our kids that live here in Santa Ana have been able to transfer and now become students at OSHA. So today, we're just here to state our opinion, I guess, and our thoughts on the current situation on 60A.

We were very hopeful that the recommendation currently that was initially made where it scored high for Orange County School of the Arts to be considered to take over the YMCA property has now changed. We hope that we can continue the conversation in terms of creating the YMCA into an educational institution as well as providing some community space for culture and arts. Thank you very much.

Thank you. And after Heather Oralia Aguilera, I believe it is, followed by Valerie Tsai.

Good evening. My name is Heather Luis Martinez. I'm a 16-year resident of the city of Santa Ana. I've long admired the YMCA building. I have four kids that I've shuttled for 12 years downtown to go to school and to dance folklorico with Relampago del Cielo. and I watched the building sit. There were a couple times that there were boards that were taken off the building and we thought, yes, somebody's going to take over this amazing piece of property here in downtown to only see it boarded up again. And so we're at this space that the City Council has a unique opportunity in their hands.

We know that research says that community spaces are vital to our youth. They're vital for creating safe spaces for students and youth to grow up in. and with a community as large as ours, we only have less than 10 community centers in our city. This opportunity opening up the YMCA building to OSHA and Relampoco del Cielo would be an amazing opportunity. 28% of our youth in this city are under the age of 18. So if you do the math for a city of 340,000 people, that is 11,000 people under the age of 18 served by the less than 10 community centers that we have.

This amazing opportunity to open this building would change the lives of so many other kids. So we're looking at you at this point to build on creating community of what we've heard from the chaplain, what we've heard from members of the Chamber of Commerce. This is an amazing opportunity to build community. And right now, as a mom of four kids who live in this city, go to school in this city, dance in this city, I look to you to be that positive beacon of hope and open another community center at the YMCA.

Thank you.

Aurelia, please go ahead, followed by Valerie Sy, and then Marlene Pena-Marine. Please go ahead.

Good evening to all. I appreciate the opportunity to be here. And I am, as mentioned, Oralia Aguilera. I have been a resident of Santa Ana for more than 30 years. I have been a teacher in the Santa Ana Unified School District for 25 years. I am speaking to you in those in that capacity, but also as a mother of two who have benefited from the blessings that we have through Relampago del Cielo and the partnership with OSHA.

And a lot of families would share in my experience that we might not have had, our children might not have had the opportunity to be exposed to the arts and to a great education had not the partnership existed. And so my two children have been in Relampado del Cielo for many years, and I've been a parent at Barocha, an OSHA parent, for about eight years with just the two students of mine, my own children.

But also as a teacher, I have seen how having these partnerships and having these opportunities opens such a door of opportunity for children. I had a student recently who could not do PE, who could not dance on our events at school, but after several surgeries, he was able to participate through the programs that OSHA offers to the community.

So OSHA is a very integral part and has come into our lives, into our city, and has done a lot of good things. And we would just love for that to continue, along with Relampado del Cielo, who serves so many families and so many children, who, again, have an opportunity to be exposed to the arts and to something different. As we all know, Santa Ana offers some great opportunities, but the district has reduced the amount of art classes, music classes.

Me as a first grade teacher have not had a music specialist, a music teacher come into my classroom for over 12 years. There's no art programs in the elementary schools offered to our children. So it's really important, as Heather Luis Martinez was saying, that you, the council, have opportunities, have the opportunity to give us opportunities, us, the community. So I thank you so much. I hope that as we continue working together, we can keep the interest of our children in mind.

Thank you so much.

Thank you.

Valerie followed by Marlene and then Jose Rea.

Thank you, Mayor and the Council members. My name is Valerie, and I'm a resident of Santa Ana for 10 years now. When I chose to come here and live here, I chose Santa Ana specifically because of the multicultural diversity that I wanted to expose my young daughters to. And here, with the support of Fray Lampago de Cielo, they have made an immense, powerful impact for not just my daughters, but our family overall, giving my daughters the opportunity to be part of a familia that they wouldn't have had elsewhere, really, because of our different cultural backgrounds.

And so now a day I think especially nowadays with the tense racial state of affairs it is so important that we strive beyond just teaching tolerance to our children but to really show our children the beauty of other cultures so that they can embrace it completely. And so for that, I cannot thank Relámpago de Cielo enough for being so invaluable, invaluable to my family and I. And I would like you guys to consider Relámpago de Cielo for the space,

because it does indeed work within your five-year strategic plan, goal number two of youth education and recreation. So, again, it is within your means to make it happen. Thank you.

Thank you. Marlene?

Mayor Mali, if appropriate, I know Manny's memory is never far from our minds, and he did so much for Relampago, and if you want to mention him at any point, that would be appropriate.

Thank you.

It's funny, when I walked here, the first thing I thought about was my dad, because I know he was here quite often with all of you, good, better, and different. sharing his views in this community, which he loved dearly. So thank you for that. Let me pull myself together. Anyhow, Marlene Feniamarin, Artistic Director of Rolampago del Cielo, thank you so much for your time, Mayor and City Council members, for this opportunity to speak on behalf of the project with the Orange County School of the Arts and Rolampago del Cielo. What I want to add are families that spoke so eloquently prior to myself.

Rolampago's original idea and mission when they started the organization in 1975 was that it wasn't going to be just about this dance group. It was also going to be about reaching the community. And the ultimate goal was to have a community center and a cultural center. When OSHA approached me for the project, I thought, wow, this is really great. Because every day when I drive by the YMCA building for the last 16 years, I thought, how cool would it be that Rolampago had that as their cultural center? Never thinking that maybe it was a possibility. So when I was approached by the Orange County School of the Arts,

I went home and I thought, wow, okay. Dreams sometimes do come true. And I know that it's a big dream and it's a pie in the sky. But again, going back to the original mission of serving the community with more than just dance classes, serving the community with other art forms that represent Mexico and other Latin culture communities, that's really been the goal.

So if I could leave you with anything, it is a big decision. I do understand all the parts of it. But I also believe that revitalizing that historical building that's so beautiful and bringing that back to the community where it was initially built for, I think would say a lot about who we are as a city, who we are as a community, and how we want to reach our youth and our community and giving it back to them. And so, again, thank you for your time. I think everyone has stated all their pros to this project, and so I'm just going to leave it with that. So, thank you.

Thank you, Rosie. Jose, Rhea. Marlene. Rosie Germán. Jose, Rhea, please. Fava, Christine Garcia, Rhea.

and Jose de Jesus Rhea may you're all coming down Rodrigo Rhea please go ahead

we all the same thing we're a family we're all going to speak so I want to start this

I'm here to speak to you as a board member of the Relâmpago del Cielo as a father of two, and also as a father for OSHA, and also for Relampago de Cielo, and a resident of Santana for 37 years. I'm also the executive director of a nonprofit that works at Madison Elementary. I'm sure Mr. Peñalosa and Mr. Sarmiento are aware of the work that we do there, as well as Councilman Villegas. So I just wanted to make your job a little easier,

Mr. Pulido. So I recently attended a couple of budget meetings where they asked the community, what are the priorities that you would like to see the city embark on? And if I remember correctly, the top priority was to invest in youth and invest in all youth in Santana. You know, we, We, our family, is one of the privileged ones in Santana. Both my wife and I are professionals. We are now retired. And our kids got the best education that is available to anybody in Santana.

They got a dual immersion program, followed by OSHA, and they will tell you a little bit more about themselves and how they benefited from that. So I just wanted to remind you that the motto of the city of Santana is education first. And I want you to look into that partnership that is in front of you to allow this partnership between OSHA, the wooden floor, and Relampago del Cielo to use that building for their purposes. El Lampago del Cielo, if you didn't know, is an institution with a 45-year history in Santana.

You need to keep it here in Santana. And here's your opportunity to keep it here in Santana because all the city want to grab it. And it belongs to us. And I think you owe it to the youth in Santana to create more opportunities at OSHA and not just for the privileged ones as your kids or our kids. and we need more, not less opportunities in education here in Santana. Thank you.

Good evening. My name is Christina Garcia-Drea and I have been a resident of San Antonio my whole life. Way back when the YMCA used to teach us to swim and things like that, that's what the building used to have, all kinds of activities for kids.

When the Orange County High School of the Arts arrived here, I think it was just like a momentous occasion for our city because it brought a higher level of education to our students. As a former teacher, I can tell you that there's nothing like education to bring our kids up to where they want to be, to make them competitive with other children, other cities, competitive when they're applying to the university.

I feel that the expansion of the High School of the Arts is going to provide more opportunities because it will allow them to have more children there, more children that can addition. And not only that, the idea that they're going to be working with community groups like the Wooden Floor and Relampago del Cielo, it makes it work hand in hand. The children will be trained by Relampago, by the Wooden Floor, and then have a better opportunity to be accepted when they audition to the High School of the Arts. On a personal note, both of my sons have gone to the High School of the Arts,

and I believe that they got the best education they could get here in Santa Ana. And my oldest son now is a junior at UCI, and my youngest is a junior at High School of the Arts. I urge you to please consider allowing the High School of the Arts to expand and take over the YMCA building. Thank you.

Good evening. My name is Jose Rea, and I'm currently a junior at UC Irvine, where I'm studying computer science and engineering. I graduated from the High School of the Arts in 2018 and I attended the school for six years. During this time I was able to improve my skills as a folklorico dancer while also receiving an excellent education. My academic training at the School of the Arts also prepared me for the rigors of university classes at UC Irvine. My folklorico dance preparation at the school has allowed me to become a part of the Rolampo del Cielo Dance Company

while also being able to perform and work at Disney's California Adventure Park. I urge you to support the expansion of the Orange County School of the Arts so that more students from Santa Ana have the same opportunities that I have. Please support our youth. Thank you.

Good evening.

Good evening. My name is Rodrigo Herrera, and I am a junior currently at the Orange County School of the Arts. And I believe it would be a really great thing to allow the Orange County School of the Arts to move into the YMCA building because it allows kids there in Relampago del Cielo to really, well, they can start dancing and you can have more kids there because if you can fit 300 kids in one school on one day, on one Saturday, imagine how many more kids you could fit into that building. And that would be so many more kids that are eligible to go to Orange County School of the Arts.

And that would be a very great thing because Orange County School of the Arts is a very, very intensive and it is very academic. So it will help the kids improve in their academics. And also, it would really help all the kids of Santa Ana to improve. Thank you.

Thank you very much. And with that, may we bring it back to Council for thoughts and consideration. Let me thank the community and folks for coming out and speaking. and as we deliberate let me just let everybody know especially folks at home that I personally have spent a lot of time on this issue talking to Ralph O'Basic and the folks at the high school talking to Michael Hare and Caribou Industries talking to my council colleagues, previous city manager, this city manager bunch of other folks trying to figure out can we do something

to merge both groups. And, you know, it's not over until it's over. And regardless of what happens today, I think both groups ought to continue talking to each other just to see what we can do in the future because that is a great building, great locale. It makes a lot of sense for what both the Caribou folks want to do and the OSHA folks want to do. So maybe there's a compromise at some point in the future. But for now, we have to talk, deliberate, and hopefully start moving in a direction. May that will encourage solutions. So with that, let me go to my colleagues for any comments. Rosie, you want to speak?

Are you going to decide about who I am speaking up right now?

That's what we're talking about right now.

Go ahead. Come on up.

Well, I came to Santa Ana about 30 years ago when I ran for the school board. First, I wanted city council members, mayor, new city manager. Thank you for letting me speak. And I was unaware of the big challenges of Santa Ana. I lived down by South Coast Plaza, and I took my kids to the merry-go-round.

And when I was on the school board and had to expel kids for drug use, gangs, and see the mothers crying, and learn about all the fatherless children, my heart broke. I started non-profits. I did character clubs in the school. I'm getting to the why the white game.

The light's still green. You can say whatever you want, but when it's red, I'll...

And I did, you know, teen sports programs in the city, and then I went to Garden Grove and did a thrift store to teach vulnerable youth how to work and start businesses. And now the last eight years I've been working on homeless issues. So I've been all over the place. And the issues are so big. How are we going to get rid of all of the drug use among our young people or get rid of the homeless, I mean, really solve the homeless situation? And I don't think it would hurt to put the national motto up, and I think it would also reflect the cultural and religious values of our community.

But my son went to the High School of the Arts, and I am recommending that you give the YMCA to Caribou Industries and to Micara. I think that what this city needs is a big economic boom and where there's an abundance of jobs, where our kids can find so much work and maybe even get paid higher wages because there's such a need right here for them. And I will be right there pushing their backs. So I would like to encourage you to go with Caribou Industries for the young people that I love.

With that, Council, thoughts or comments? Councilman Solorio, please.

Thank you, Mr. Mayor. I do agree with everybody that spoke, and we do need to find more venues for young people and families to recreate, to dance, to do after-school activities, especially over the summer when there's a gap, given that the schools are closed. This building, unfortunately, has been in a very bad state for the past 20, 30 years, and I think a lot of folks have looked at it. but just rehabbing these old historical structures is really hard and very expensive. So maybe we can help find other facilities for this non-profit

because it does have a very impressive legacy on the dancing side, but also on the academic side. I've seen many of those students do great things. And sometimes going into an older building, that also means more maintenance costs and other issues. but hopefully we can work with you to see what your needs are for additional facilities, and we can work towards that. And that's not to say that with this item here, it's not the final piece of action with respect to Mr. Harrod figuring out whether this makes sense or not,

but we would ask Mr. Harrod to continue to see if there is an opportunity to work there together. I know our mayor has made that effort for some time and it's been hard, but now I'm seeing you as a dance group kind of leading the effort rather than OSHA overall. So maybe that might be a game changer as well. You're working directly through Mike, so I would just ask for that. But we've been holding action on this time for months and that's how a project becomes 20 years late and happening because of continuances after continuances. and I think this community is hungry to see that improved.

And so I'm very much prepared to support this with, again, the encouragement that Mr. Harris, if he can work out something with them, and that staff also talk to the nonprofit to see if we couldn't find other options for them. Thank you.

Thanks for that. Other comment? Councilor Españolosa, any comment?

David PenalozaItem —

Thank you, Mr. Mayor. I, like every other resident in the city, would like to see this area develop much rather very quickly. I'm just tired. It's an eyesore, and I'm tired of seeing it be an eyesore for years, years, my entire life, literally. It's been boarded up. But so if we were to move down this direction with this DDA, with Caribou Industries, I would highly encourage to make sure that we have language in there that really is on a very, very strict timeline. I've said it before. I come from the private sector.

David PenalozaItem —

And I work in the private sector here in Santa Ana in a manufacturing company. Been there for 11 years. And we need things done yesterday. You know, the email that I sent five minutes ago should have had a response ten minutes ago. And to see things just kind of sit idle and not see much action on it is always upsetting across the board, whether it's everything from the smallest graffiti removal to big projects like this. So I'd really like to make sure that language is included in there, that any proposed development, that there has to be a strict timeline, that we're not going to be extending every three months, every six months.

David PenalozaItem —

There's another extension now. Before we know it, we're five years later, and it's still the same thing. So those are my comments. I want to thank the School of the Arts for coming out and speaking on the item. I would just hope that you guys all take a Spanish 101 and say relámpago, not relámpago. That's the only request that I make. It just makes me cringe every time I hear it. I'm like, ah, stop. With that said, that is the only comment I have.

David PenalozaItem —

Councilor Cesar Iglesias, please.

I want to thank the students and the parents and the community members for speaking out on this site. And it's something that what Councilmember Piñolosa has said. when I used to work for the County of Warren Social Services Agency, too, I used to be here at 888 North Main Street. I would pass by that building all the time, and it's definitely been in very – the condition is – it's a sad condition that it's in, and it needs renovation. And I would second what Council Member Penalosa said. It's something that if we go into this, Christine, Madam City Manager,

we should put in there the time restriction I don't know what is appropriate for this type of agreement but we should put it in there because there's been talk in the community that there's just some things that are not moving forward and I truly appreciate and respect Mr. Hara but you know also there's been some other projects that have been in the works and nothing much has materialized from it. And I just don't want it to be another project that is just going to be held up and then no one can do anything. So if you could put in there, or maybe you can speak on it right now,

what is the timeline on a project like this that we could, you know, as a council, ask Mr. O'Hara to ensure that it's in the agreement?

So this is actually a disposition of the bottom of the agreement.

Okay, I hear you.

There we go. This is actually a disposition and development agreement, or a DDA. It is a little different than an ENA, which is an exclusive negotiating agreement, which you've done before. It does have hard deliverables and timelines in it to keep it alive as a document. One of the things that is in his proposal already is within 180 days, he is going to beautify the exterior of the structure. So within six months, if authorized to execute and negotiate this with them, you would see that happening very rapidly.

Okay. So just the exterior, but how about the entire development of it? Because I know Mr. Herrera has a great vision, and I really like the project that he has proposed. And I believe it's going to give, as Ms. Avila said, a boost to our economy. But it's like, what's the time frame for that?

With your direction, we will certainly negotiate as hard as we can with the expedited timeline. The building, one of the reasons that it has sat vacant for so long is it does pose a lot of unique challenges as a historic structure. So there is substantial seismic and retrofitting that needs to go on in the building. And I know one of Caribou's, what they would like to achieve is to retain as much of the historical features of it. And I'm not sure if all of you have had the opportunity to actually go into the building. I was able to visit it with Council Member Penaloza, and there is some really beautiful features that are in there.

They're a little dirty, and they have some graffiti on them, but to restore those also takes a little bit of a longer time. But we will work really diligently, knowing that that is your direction.

Okay. So then if it would have been, say, given to OSHA, the same requirements and the same timeline could have also been applied to them?

They would have to absolutely retrofit the building as well, because it would not be habitable without that type of work performed on it.

So then you'll be keeping us updated as the project moves along?

Certainly can. So once, if this is just authorizing me to negotiate the DDA, the DDA will come back to you for approval. Okay, thank you.

David PenalozaItem —

Thank you, Mr. Mayor. And, yeah, we did go in there and took a tour of it. It's a beautiful building. And I just wanted just a little fun fact. all that graffiti in there and the I and Christine were both under the impression we're like oh the homeless have been in here and the junkies have taken over and they've over the years so I posted pictures on Instagram of my day at the YMCA building I got messages from people I went to junior high with that I haven't seen in ten plus years and they said wow I haven't been there in years that was the hangout spot in the early 2000s so it was a bunch of punk kids

David PenalozaItem —

that were breaking in and hanging out doing God knows what and so that answered the group I was like oh so you guys are behind the graffiti and they're like well it's part of it I was like unbelievable but they're not friends of mine there were just people on you know Facebook everyone just kind of that was just interesting to see that because I just I was like how do they get in here and graffiti this. Well, anyways, I would also encourage whatever other language is in there to make sure that we do our best to protect those bees. There was about four very, very large honeycomb.

David PenalozaItem —

When I mean large, it's like the size of this back wall in bees in numerous parts of the area. so I would want somebody to go in there carefully and when that is done.

And we keep them within the city.

David PenalozaItem —

Sure. We'll put them at your house. Yeah, here we go. They're for our flowers and our trees. Yeah. But I'd also like to make sure that if we do go forward with the ZDA that there's language in there that restricts the sell of the, whenever it's done, if it does get there to any nonprofit or any entity that would limit any tax revenue to the city. Just make sure that if we do go down, because I've gone through the numerous,

David PenalozaItem —

our five-year strategic plan and entering into this DDA does match about six of the goals you know economic development safe neighborhoods and on and jobs so it's a but it would I would want it to stay that way versus seeing it go off to some nonprofit you know ten years afterwards and you know there goes any benefit to the city so just wanted to make sure that that was noted Ms. City Manager.

All right, let's keep receiving comment. Councilor Vince Armiento, any comments? Mayor Pro Tem.

Thank you, Mr. Mayor.

So a while back, the school and Mr. Harrell was supposed to work together, and they both have a long history here. And if I recall, I think the school's in existence because Mr. Harrell helped a lot way back, if I recall. and I'm sorry they weren't able to work something out. I remember I was at a meeting with Mr. Heron. I was telling him, if you could do something for this one Ballet Flucorico group, I would appreciate it, and I told him the name, and it wasn't until after I realized that you were part of the school. Big surprise to me.

And I'm torn when it comes to this because this group, they've been here for 40 plus years you have you have the Peña family here who their parents started this a while back and this group is we're talking about generations and they put on a great show and they've grown so much and they bring so much culture and it's just great things to our city. And there's nothing that I would love to do more than to help them. But I have to look at the

facts. And the YMCA has been closed a while. And Mr. Harrah does have a lot of the parking issues. When I read some of the staff report, it looks like the school can't do much without a partner. You need a partner. That's why them working together was a great thing. Apparently, they You couldn't see eye to eye on a few things. So, and we're talking $13 million, I believe Mr. Mayor, $13 million is the cleanup cost just to get started on the YMCA. $13 million are going to, you're going to throw right in, you're not going to get anything other than it's going to be cleaned up. The seismic work. Everything that's in there, right.

There's a few, there's also problems in there. So, you know, it's just tough. And so I just wanted to lay those facts out. And I still admire and want to help this group. And I'm constantly looking for ways to see what we can do as a city. And I know my colleagues would love to help out also. But on this particular item here and this agreement here, it's leaning towards Mr. Harrah because, well, they have the money and the capability to go ahead and do something right now.

And so we can't let the building sit there much longer. We have to make a decision. And these things are tough. And so I just wanted to make that very clear to the public and to our friends on both sides. you know, caribou industries and the School of Arts. So thank you. Thank you, Mr. Mayor.

Thank you. Councilor Minto, if not, have you got comments? Go ahead. Just briefly, Mr. Mayor. So there's some legislative history on this site. Many years ago, a previous council put this public asset for procurement, and I believe it was Madam City Attorney, if it's correct, we circulated it twice. So the Edibit Committee, which has been kind of transformed, proposed this site and the Third and Broadway parking structure to go out to bid so we could develop some economic development drivers. So that was the initial purpose that these assets were put out for. And unfortunately, we didn't get many bids.

I think Mr. Harrow was probably one of the few people that did bid both times. but we decided to go in a different direction when the bids came back to us. I think it was St. Joseph that got the majority support for them to develop a wellness center, and we had a lot of faith and confidence in what they could do, and three or four years down the line they realized that they didn't have the financing or the capitalization or the ability to realize that, so we had to come back again. So it's had a long, tortured past, And really, these assets were here to generate revenue for the city.

When OSHA proposed their development, as well as the sound and as well as the fourth firm, they all had really great conceptuals. But we had such a relationship, such a long-term relationship with both Caribou and with OSHA that we kind of forced them into a shotgun marriage at that point and said, can you both just work together because we don't want to say no to either of you. We realized that, as I think Jose Rea's family said, the commitment that we had to youth and the ability to develop more economic revenue for the city were so compelling that we thought maybe there's a way we can have both of these uses work.

Unfortunately, they just appeared to be incompatible after some time. So my question for Madam City Attorney now is, is there a way that, and everybody's talked about timelines, so we all get that. Is there a way to maybe put some additional language in this that in the event that the, let's assume, caribou gets this, if they can't perform within a time certain, and it's not the 180 days that I'm worried about. I mean, anybody can fix up the exterior. It's the actual seismic retrofitting, all the really, really expensive work that occurs.

If they can't realize that, let's say within a year, can this revert back to the city? And we sort of give the first option to OSHA where we don't circulate again, but we actually just go back and say we had a backup bidder. And that's done all the time when it comes to receiverships. Trustees and bankruptcy do it all the time. so you know is there a way we can do that yeah just so the council knows that

Sonia R. CarvalhoItem —

DDA is actually what it's called the disposition you're disposing of the property and development you're actually envisioning a development agreement so it's disposition development disposition and development agreement there are two key components to that agreement one's called a scope of development in which you negotiate what you want to be there but the most important aspect of the DDA is a schedule of performance that's when the staff will negotiate when they want to see milestones achieved and which milestones they want to see achieved. So we can negotiate and as the city manager

Sonia R. CarvalhoItem —

said, the staff will be negotiating and coming back to the council and you'll get to see all those deal points. So we will if that's the direction you give to us this evening, then the city manager would work with her staff to negotiate that schedule of performance. And it could be if there's not if they're not meeting the milestones, then we can move to terminate the DDA at that time and you'd be free to choose another entity

to negotiate with. Right. My question is, can you add a reversion clause that reverts back to us for the purpose of having OSHA be first in line? And you could give that direction as well. When

Sonia R. CarvalhoItem —

you make the action to do the DDA as part of the action, you could say, and staff, if you terminate, then we automatically enter into a backup agreement. And we could even work on that

agreement while we're working on the DDA. And the reason for that is that, look, this has been, I think we're going on 10 years maybe on this thing. So to the extent that we don't go back, have to recirculate again and go through this whole cycle, you know, it could sit for another 10 years. So I just don't want it to sit idly by. So to the extent we can include that language now and be done with it and it binds us in the future, I would add that as a friendly amendment.

Let me say a few words and may I can speak to that as well. I think that could be and should be a very beneficial friendly amendment to the original motion here but it should not be I believe something that discourages a potential partnership if OSHA and Caribou were all of a sudden to say okay we figure out how to work together I don't want them to think well gee if we simply don't make it work and hold out and he fails then we'll get it that that's not the intent. The intent is that that's a back up if everything else fails, but

you know, that may they can still consider working together. Let me just say a few more words relative to this as an overall issue. And that is that earlier we spoke about how maybe if a nonprofit is in there, it's not good because it doesn't generate taxes. I would challenge that mentality in the sense that I think if there is an effective nonprofit, that saves a lot of taxes because you're taking kids off the streets, you don't have to hire police officers and have code enforcement and the broken theory, window theory and everything else.

So benefit to society comes in many ways, and I believe one of the best ways are effective nonprofits that are delivering an effective service to the community that in exchange enhances the community overall. So, I know earlier, as you were giving me direction, Madam City Manager, I believe it was Councilor Peñalosa that indicated, you know, let's make sure there's a clause in there that never goes to a nonprofit. I don't think that's the intent of what we're talking about here.

Certainly, OSHA would be a nonprofit, and if OSHA ends up getting it at the end of the day, I don't think as long as it benefits the community, that's what we need to be doing. Do you want to say something and then I'll continue? Please go ahead.

David PenalozaItem —

I didn't mean not to ever go to a nonprofit. I said that if we were to give it to Caribou Industries and they do develop the area and make it, they don't just turn around and sell it to a nonprofit where it's going to not, you know, what was the whole point of this? Then we should have just gone with OSHA from the very beginning. That was my, because I think of a beautiful building like what now is a Scientology building. I mean, that should have stayed to benefit the community, and now it's in this, what I think is a cult, but that's my opinion, and it has no benefit to the city whatsoever.

David PenalozaItem —

So that's what I meant when after any redevelopment is done with the property, it shouldn't just get sold off to just anybody. So we should have some kind of say in that as well. If this is a serious development and it's developed, let's make sure that it stays in a way where it would benefit the city, whether it's going to OSHA or somebody else after the fact.

Okay, and to that effect, I understand the current proposal, if it's converted potentially into a hotel, that'd be private sector 100%. So a lot of the quote-unquote community, unless they're going to go stay there at the hotel, and why would you go a few blocks from your house to stay at a hotel, is really not going to have access to it. So, again, I don't know if it's possible for these groups to continue to work together because there is a lot of benefit if we can get them to do that. Another thing I want to say is that parking is essential.

and as I understand it from city staff, only the Caribou Industries proposal is properly parked. The other proposals right now don't have sufficient parking and as we all know, without parking, things just don't function in today's world. Maybe in the future there will be Ubers everywhere and scooters everywhere and we're not going to need parking, but right now we still need parking. The other thing I want to direct is as we do this DEA, Development Disposition Community DDA, we're talking about 180 days.

I want to be real specific and maybe encourage less than 180 days because I know that I've seen caribou industries and Mike Hara do things in amazing ways. and relámpago del cielo means lightning from the sky.

So in the interim, if they can use the building or, I don't know, be creative, things that are safe, that would be a beautiful thing. And back to relámpago, maybe there's also other places that we can help them get into. I know over by the train station we have the, is it the wooden floor? there's a group there that's now using some of those buildings in the community spaces within the buildings that are being utilized. There's a lot of development going on right now in the downtown and beyond. Maybe we can find

other homes for Rellampago because you know they can dance many places. They'll just move around as long as they're there and they're happy. I mean I I remember the old days with Rolampago. There was nothing. I mean, you know, when Manny was, you know, all he had was cowboy boots, and he'd stamp really loud, but we had like a little floor. I remember we were on Ford Street somewhere, and you'd get there, and it was a little tiny room, and it's like, this is it? You're going to do all this stuff in here? And they would. So, you know, we've come a long way, and it's, I know that there's other organizations as well

that are working with OSHA, and OSHA is an amazing institution doing great work, and we want to do whatever we can to continue to be good neighbors and friends with OSHA. Another thing I wanted to say was that on those first 180 days or less, let's be real specific about, you know, are there finishes? Are we painting the building? Are we doing landscaping? Let's get it clear so that when it comes to the council, we know what we're talking about. We don't think, gee, that's not what we thought. let's define it clearly what we thought and relative to the final build-out I

know it's seismic I know it's a lot of work but but there's got to be some you know milestones and timelines maybe an overall you know three-year period of time you know as a goal for final completion because otherwise it can be a slippery slope something doesn't happen look what happens to us with you know the st. Joseph's was it the the sisters St. Joseph I mean they had billions of dollars that are going to do this project. And then, you know, it went on and on and on and on, and ultimately nothing happened, and here we are again. So let's not make that, allow that to

happen. And I know Mr. Harris in the back of the room, he's nodding yes, so he's hearing every word. And, you know, with Relámpago, we're all friends. You know, let's just continue to figure out how to live that dream and realize that when Relámpago began, there were a lot less people, a lot less facilities, a lot less recognition. And if we do it well, 25 years, 30 years, 40 years from now, it's going to even be a greater organization, hopefully helping even more and more kids and kids become adults and have better lives. And that's why we're here.

So with that, is that pretty clear direction? If we take a motion and vote yes, you've got a pretty good handle? Yes, sir. Okay. So with that, I believe, is there a motion, a formal motion? Okay, motion. We have three seconds. The clerk can choose who they want to second, either Iglesias or Villegas. Those in favor, please say aye. Aye is the green button.

All right, so let's move forward and make good things happen. Thank you, everybody. So with that, our next item, 65A.

What is the pleasure of the council? I know we discussed this earlier. Any discussion? If not, I'll entertain a motion and we'll go from there.

Actually, Mayor, these items would require you to, I think, do a discussion and make some choices as to what you're directing us to do.

Which one of these? What is the pleasure of the Council?

So each item here that you have before you, the first one is reviewing the current board vacancies and appointments with expired terms. and then just giving me direction to initiate the process for appointments. So what we're going to do in our office is just provide an advertisement indicating that there are these vacancies, and this would include those with expired terms.

I don't think that – go ahead, Councilor Iglesias.

I have a question because I don't think that's what was intended. When we talked about it, one of my items that I had in 85A is we don't have a sitting council member for Ward 4. So since we don't have one, then we shouldn't be having any commissioners for Ward 4. So then it's, if anything, and I know it could be done because it was done prior last year. I think it was like around June, July, when a commissioner was removed at the pleasure of the council.

Council member, I'm sorry, that is on here as well.

Yeah, that's item number three of the list.

Okay. There's three items we wanted you to consider.

And actually for that specific ward, there's only vacancies and expired terms. None of them are because of a sitting member. So every one of those are currently either expired or vacant. For Ward 4.

For Ward 4, that's correct. So there's nobody serving on any commission from Ward 4?

The ones who are serving are expired terms. So those who are-

And she wants them removed.

Yeah, so that's-

So that's every one of them that's listed on that report.

So that would be option number three? That's correct. Okay. Yeah.

So is that the motion that we approve option number three?

That's what I would recommend, to remove everyone from Ward 4.

Okay, and now there's other wards that also have vacancies and expired terms, and that's where number one comes.

comes in. But that's different. She wants only Ward 4 because there's no sitting council member from Ward 4. I don't mind the cleanup, but the youth commissioners, do you really want to remove them? I mean...

From Ward 4. Ward 4. Is that term expired also? I mean, I would make an exception with our youth. That's correct. They're all expired. They're not expired? They are expired. They are expired or vacant.

Can we reach out to them and have them reapply? So there's several options. It's a little different for me when it comes down to this.

Yeah, so there's several options. We can open up to the public and advertise this, or we can have as many applicants as we can, and the members who are currently seated could reapply, and then the council could go ahead.

Or we could just exclude the Youth Commission from this action. That would be best.

Okay, I would go with that. Okay. I hope my colleagues agree. Sure.

But I guess on the idea that they're all expired, you could just tell them all they're expired, they've got to reapply again, and that's, in effect, letting them go. And they can reapply, and if the council wants to reconsider them again.

That's correct.

Well, that's about the mechanism or the way of informing them. It does the same effect as what you're talking about, Councilor.

Yeah, the difference is that I would not be advertising unless the council directs me to go and advertise to see if there's any additional interested parties or even the ones that are currently seated.

I'd like to do it as quiet and clean as possible until we have a new election, a new council member is elected, and then let that person come in with recommended folks. Otherwise, we're going to be considering appointees and nobody really appointing them. and we'll appoint somebody, then you'll have a council member elected, and then you're going to have to do it again, remove them again. So I would say go with option three, except for the youth commission for now, and then when there's a new person elected to that ward, let's see what that person wants to recommend. Councilman Vince Armiento?

So we're going to carve out the youth commission because they're youth. Aren't we going to have some problems with quorum on some commissions that are very important, like planning? So I get the fact that we don't have somebody sitting in Ward 4, and I understand the public policy behind having somebody nominate. But we've always selected our commissioners based upon the will of the council. And it's not a single appointee or a single member of the council that appoints his or her commissioner. But it has to come back to consent by the entire council.

So if we're going to be doing this and we're going to be carving out based upon youth, shouldn't we also consider that we are going to have some commissions that are going to have very thin margins and with absences, with illnesses, and the planning commission is a quasi-judicial commission. So they have unique authority. They can go ahead and deliberate on things and approve things that other boards and commissions can't. So I guess I'm just having, and not to say the Youth Commission isn't important, but I guess we can say a lot of the commissions have value. And we can talk about the different values that they have.

And so we're making a decision that's, in my opinion, arbitrary. I mean, I think that at this point we're going to make it difficult for boards and commissions to deliberate and approve things that are going to be coming before them. So if we, as a council, it wasn't a single member that appointed these commissioners in Ward 4. It was the council that appointed them. So to the extent that we're going to, and I get the fact that there is a soft spot for our youth. I mean, we all have that, but I don't like to make arbitrary decisions either. So I can't be supportive of option 3.

Thank you, Mayor Pro Tem.

Thank you, Mr. Mayor. My take on this is, first off, I think that the youth, this should always be an exception for youth because it's hard to have our young people come and step up and want to serve on these boards. And, you know, I just don't see why we couldn't do something for the kids. Second, there is no board higher than this one. And we're making things happen. And we're one person short. So I don't see why. You know why? One of the reasons that I didn't appoint someone here, first off, you know I wanted the vote to go to the people. But second of all, everyone here needs to step up so we can get along.

And there's nothing wrong with holding our commissioners to the same, you know, that same standard. That they should get along and make a good decision. And I ain't worried about, oh, do we have a tiebreaker and all that. You know what, you've got to learn to work together. And that is my take on that, Mr. Mayor. And I still want to make a motion that we go ahead and adopt three and give the exception for the youth.

That's what's on the table right now. So we have that motion already. Those in favor, please press green. Those opposed, go red.

Isn't that like the Hawaiian symbol for Aloha or Chakra or something? There you go, Jose. You got it. So with that, where are we, item?

I think I have a question.

You have a question?

Sonia R. CarvalhoItem —

May I confer with the city clerk for just a second? Maybe go on to your next item of business, but I may want to have a point of clarification on that. All right. Okay, just based on information.

All right, let's accommodate that.

Thank you.

It's a very kind. You can just get back and find it.

Here's the name. It's a lot of people. It's a lot of people.

It's a lot of people. Oh, it's just for housing, okay?

Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.

Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.

We ready to proceed?

We would like you to go back and do a clarification and take a revote on that item because based on your input I don't think that the motion that you made and approved is going to achieve what you were looking for so what I understand you want to do is you want to remove those that were appointed that have an expired term with the exception of the Youth Commission and you also want to ensure that the results of the 2018 general election for Ward 4 which there's only one appointee made that still remains you want that individual removed as well am Am I correct in my understanding of what you're trying to achieve?

Councilman Iglesias?

If I may, but what my thought is to remove everyone except for the youth commissioner. From Ward 4.

That will work for what you want to do on that one, but however, that will not remove the other person because it appears the report attachment is incorrect that that individual doesn't have an expired term. So you would want to implement one, recommendation one, with the exception of youth commission, And you would want to authorize recommendation three to achieve what I believe you are trying to do.

What three says is review appointments post-2018 general election for Ward 4. Direct clerk of the council to take removal action.

Right, and that would be the only appointment made after post-2018 from Ward 4, which is the planning commissioner. that Planning Commissioner's term is not expired, so that person would not be removed by taking Action 1. Right, so you would make the motion to implement removal of those with expired terms with the exception of Youth Commissioners, and you would make the motion to remove the post-2018 general election.

So it's 1 and 3?

Yes. Okay, then.

So 1 and 3 with the exception of Youth.

Thank you.

All right, so that's a new motion. Those in favor, please vote green.

We need to stop.

Would 3-2 pass?

No, we need four.

You need four.

We're voting again. I was stuck in the hallway.

What are we voting for?

The same item, except in order to do what we want it to, it's got to be 1-3 plus the commission. So it's the same vote we just took. And we need you here because otherwise there's not enough council members.

David PenalozaItem —

Can you explain that to me, Madam City Manager?

Certainly. So the first motion that was made and voted on was removal of commissioners that had expired terms, with the exception of youth commissioners. I think the belief of the council was that that would also include the Ward 4 post-general election 2018 appointee to the Planning Commission. It would not because that commissioner does not have an expired term. So to achieve with what I think you wanted to do, you would need to remove those with an expired term with the exception of youth commissioners and remove the one appointee from Ward 4 post-election 2018. So that was the modified motion before you for your consideration.

So those in favor, please press green. Those opposed, red. Motion passes.

Now we have a public hearing, item 75A. Do we have any members of the audience at which to address is on the side of Madam Clerk? Mr. Mayor. Yes, Councilman Peñalosa.

David PenalozaItem —

So just for final clarification, so when the new Ward 4 Council member gets elected and sworn in later this year, they will just walk into vacancies across the board aside from the Youth Commission?

There's actually only one Ward 4 post-2018 general election appointee serving right now.

But the others will be removed also because they had expired terms. So to answer your question, they'll appoint everybody new except for the Youth Commission.

David PenalozaItem —

So they'll have vacancies, is what I'm asking.

Right, one way or another.

So with that, do we have any speakers on item 75A?

We do not.

Okay, I'm going to open up the public hearing anyways and make our city attorney happy. So this is a public hearing on item 75A. Does anybody wish to address this on this item? If not, I'm going to close the public hearing and bring it back to Council for consideration. This is to authorize submission of a consolidated annual performance and evaluation report to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. I would entertain a motion.

So moved.

We have a motion by Solario. Is there a second? Second. Second by Mayor Pro Tem. Those in favor, please say aye. Aye. Aye. Those opposed? Or everybody voted aye. But anyways, vote green. I still don't understand why we have to do this.

Sonia R. CarvalhoItem —

Well, the law simply requires that you call out with specificity how people have voted. And so you could take both votes.

So everybody was unanimous except Sarmiento was absent. All right. 75B, this is time and place for a public hearing, recovery of costs and expenditures, and an annual amount of $76,000 incurred by the city. I guess we are doing weed and trash abatement within the railroad right-of-way here in the city. We have Lupe Valdez that wishes to address us on the sitem, So I'm going to go ahead and open up the public hearing. And Lupe, if you could please address the council.

Good evening, Mayor and Council members. And thank you for the opportunity to meet with you tonight and discuss several things. I have a statement that I have submitted for the record, but I also want to read it because I realize individuals in the audience and on TV may not understand some of these issues. UP recognizes the presence I should have said I'm a Senior Director of Public Affairs for Union Pacific Railroad that's who I'm representing tonight. UP recognizes the presence of encampments on its property as an ongoing problem and UP must do a better job of addressing them. However to keep the Santa Ana

situation a little bit in perspective we have roughly 10 miles of track in your city. In California we have 3,300 miles of track and across the 23 states we have 30,000 miles of track. The scale of UP's total footprint makes it challenging for UP to be able to respond like other property owners because we have these all these places and that are impacted by a number of these trespassers across the board. Notwithstanding the challenges presented by the scale of UP's network in Santa Ana alone, since the beginning of 2018, UP has spent significant financial resources on

fencing and cleanup efforts. During this time, UP has completed 78 days of cleanup activity within Santa Ana. Unfortunately, the efforts by UP to date have not prevented the recurrence of the problem. Notwithstanding the almost immediate recurrence of trespassing and encampments following UP's cleanup up efforts, the city also approached its efforts on UP's right-of-way in the same fashion, now with the same unfortunate result. Also, as UP has previously indicated to the city, UP objects to the city engaging in these types of cleanup activities on UP's right-of-way without coordinating with UP.

And the reason I will tell you that it's so important, when you get onto the right-of-way, it's extremely important to have protection. It's called flag protection, and it means that someone is in communication with dispatching whenever trains are moving in that area. And it's a safety requirement of the Federal Railroad Administration. It's important that we have these people present. And we can provide that. We just have to be told, and we can coordinate that flagging to be on property when these cleanups occur. UP is now working to develop a revised, more comprehensive strategy to respond to encampments on UP right-of-way

with the objective of a more permanent improvement on the right-of-way. UP and the city will need to work together if the approach is to be successful. To that end, we would like to meet with the city this month to discuss what UP proposes and hear the city's willingness to work with UP toward achieving a better outcome for everyone. UP is interested in hearing from the city about the city's further progress on establishing its plan of action to address homelessness within Santa Ana. The city's residents are the persons trespassing on UP right-of-way and causing the various problems,

which are a subject of complaints by neighbors and businesses adjacent to the right-of-way, others in the community, as well as city staff. When UPR City completes a cleanup effort, very often either people return within an hour to two hours. I can tell you I have walked the right-of-way with Judge Carter myself on a rainy day in December, and folks came right back. City staff was out there trying to get these people to get into some type of housing situation, temporary. Some people took it. Some people did not.

if individuals have obviously some people were arrested that how it's standing warrants as well what the city's plan does not address is how the city is dealing with or plans to support the hundreds of Santa Ana residents who are homeless which is a challenge it's a concern to all of us these are persons that continue to trespass on UP's right-of-way and UP new more comprehensive strategy will only be successful and meet your expectations if it is informed by the city's plans for these residents.

Lupe, can you conclude pretty soon? Yes.

So bottom line is we would like to meet with the city with 30 days. The motion that you have before you, we have some questions about the bill that was submitted to UP, and individuals both from Omaha as well as from our Roseville office would like to come to the city to have that discussion with the city.

What I would suggest is let us continue with our action, but our city manager has been in touch with UP.

Correct.

Just go ahead and set up follow-up meetings, and you can discuss the bill and everything else. Madam city manager?

If I may, and thank you, Lupe, for being here. You're welcome. We have sent two different proposals to Union Pacific. We've been working with your vice president of risk management. Correct. We did get the last word that we got is you're going to do a pilot program, and I would be sent a potential MOU. you. So we were waiting for a response from you. In regards to not knowing about the dates of the cleanup, it was done under an enforcement action with a warrant which you were notified of the exact dates that we would be coming onto your property to abate it. So I'm a little

bit confused on maybe the miscommunication, but I'd be more than happy to sit down with you.

Yeah, we just have to coordinate that people are safe on the right of way. I don't care who the individuals are, I just don't want anyone hurt. And so that's my purpose for saying that so we just have to make sure that the communication is there and then

mayor we do have a very brief staff presentation on this item mayor I just

Sonia R. CarvalhoItem —

I want to add your council as your city attorney we will continue to enforce all of our laws that are on the books we have many people in this city who own thousands of apartments in the city very difficult to maintain their property we are treating all property owners the same if you own property in the city of Santa Ana we expect you to clean it up and we expect you to respond and by

I'm moving forward on the section. That's, in essence, what we would be doing. But, Lupe, be in touch. We will. We want to work with you. We want no homeless and all the different 10 miles that you have. Right. I know you have 3,000 throughout California. Right. And I bet you there's not any jurisdiction that you're in that you're not having this problem with. That's correct.

At the moment, that is correct. It is all over the West Coast. I have it in Vegas. I have it in Phoenix. I have it in a number of places. This is not just in California, unfortunately. It's very sad, but it is across the board.

Do you have any theory as to what's happening? Are they all moving west and they never did before?

I have a combination of theories because what I tend to see out there is you have mental health issues, you have drug abuse issues.

But we had them before.

But you also now have laws that allow for certain things to happen that before you had more jurisdiction to be able to remove. and those court cases have made an impact on all cities.

So it's mainly that.

That's a big impact in terms of what your abilities to remove people. That is huge.

Thank you, Lupe. Let's be in touch.

Thank you. Take care. Thank you.

So with that, anybody else? If not, I'm going to close the public hearing and bring it to council for consideration. Do I have a motion? Do I have a motion by Iglesias? Second by Mayor Pro Tempe-Legas. Those in favor, please press green.

Mr. Mayor, a couple of comments.

A comment? Go ahead. Before you press green, go ahead.

We do appreciate the UP representative being there, but we just feel like everybody needs to do more. And I think our city attorney said we're asking everybody to step up. And we recognize that our PD is largely responsible and able to deal with camping on public property. But on private property, it's really more of a code enforcement thing. and we are preparing materials and talking to a variety of businesses, including UP, about your responsibilities. It's my understanding, too, that I think you have your own police service that's post-certified, so you could also enforce many statutes on your own.

There also may be some design things, you know, bigger rocks, different fencing, lighting, music. You know, our community just needs some relief. Finally, I just looked at your stock earnings, just for the first quarter, $1.9 billion in profit. Again, that's just for one quarter, or $1.4 billion, one in quite a bit. So the resources are there, and it is an issue in some communities, but not all. And so I trust you can handle it. And as some of our council members up here also say, this isn't allowed in Irvine.

This isn't allowed in Laguna Niguel, but your company is allowing this to occur on your property, and the community wants you to step it up. Thank you.

So with that, we have a motion to second. Those in favor, please press green.

Motion carries unanimously. Next item, item 75C. Do we have any speakers on this item? Okay, there's a public hearing, and I'm going to go ahead and open it up and hear a comment. It's basically a cooperative agreement between the city and the county. We're annexing a 24-acre county island over on East 17th Street right by Tustin and the 55 freeway. So we have two speakers, Alan Rice and Peter Winningham.

Good evening, Mayor and Council. My name is Alan Rice. I live on Pasadena Street inside the county island and is being considered for annexation.

in the case of the proposal being considered tonight it is specifically for according to the county to facilitate the sewer connections for two proposed fast food restaurants the county would like us to be annexed so that the sewers can be connected for fast food restaurants Our neighborhood is universally opposed to this annexation. Your own paperwork shows that the community outreach, which was done just about exactly one year ago, there was no support for the annexation proposal at the community outreach.

In addition to that, at some point in the past, when this was proposed before, we took a poll of the residents of the single-family houses. pay attention to this line that says I oppose. This is 48 of the 49 houses opposing this. There was one abstention. Not a single person was for it. It seems that this is a fairly draconian measure by the county to have us annexed purely to, well, for the stated goal of streamlining the sewer connections of two fast food restaurants.

I would appreciate if you would not annex us and choose one of the other methods of dealing with this. The state says that you do not have to listen to our objections to this, but it does not require that you do that. You can listen to our objections and choose another method of dealing with the sewer for these two proposed restaurants. Thank you.

Thank you. Thank you very much. We have one more speaker, then let's bring it to Council. Peter Whittingham, please.

Good evening, Mr. Mayor and Councilmembers. Peter Whittingham appearing tonight on behalf of the Chick-fil-A and In-N-Out, who are going to be developing at the corner of 17th and Tustin, a property that has been vacant for more than two decades and much longer than that, in fact. What you have before you tonight is the product of several months, or many months, of collaboration, negotiation, and discussion between your staff, which has done a superb job of representing the city, their counterparts at the county, staff at the local agency formation commission, or LAFCO. The state has mandated to LAFCOs

up and down the state that these small county islands, less than 150 acres, essentially they advance it with expediency in every possible opportunity the annexation of these islands. And so this is in furtherance of a state's directive to LAFCO statewide. Certainly the city has approached this community with essentially every opportunity to, if they are on septic, at whatever opportunity it makes sense to go ahead and connect to the sewer, et cetera, but under no mandate to do so.

So this has been, again, a very collaborative and open process. There was a community meeting, again, approximately a year ago. There was probably 10 folks there from the community who spoke, but everything was done, obviously, in furtherance of the City of Sunshine and Ordinance, so we appreciate certainly your consideration of this evening and happy to answer any questions you might have.

Thank you for being here, Peter. Thank you. And thank you for the good work that you do. So with that, I'm going to close the public hearing and bring it to Council for questions and consideration. Councilor David Peñalosa, please.

David PenalozaItem —

Thank you, Mr. Mayor. I had a question for the 40 people representing the 49 homes. What was the reason for the opposition?

Our community sees more of a connection to the city of Tustin, which we border on one side, than the city of Santa Ana, we border on the other side. We would much prefer to remain an independent island, but if we have to go to a city, we'd much rather be part of Tustin. We're part of Tustin water, the school district, things like that. we do not see ourselves where we're located to be really part of Santa Ana and that's why we would like to remain independent or we'd rather go to Tustin where we see a much greater alliance

David PenalozaItem —

isn't there a freeway that separates you with Tustin?

let's not have this debate this way if you want them at the mic we can do that but

alright thank you Thank you. So with that, I would entertain a motion. Council Member Solario, motion to approve.

I'll second.

There's a second. Those in favor, please press green.

So I believe it'll be five. Do it again.

Council Member, can you push the button?

Roll call. Anybody opposed?

So Villegas is absent. Everybody else is in favor.

And Villegas is now joining, but it'll be 5-0. So with that, our next item, 85A, Councilor Iglesias.

Oh, you have speakers on this item. Do you want to take speakers first or do you want me to comment?

No, go ahead and take this one. All right.

Alberta Christie.

Followed by Gisela Contreras.

Thank you so much. I apologize for make it short Alberta I am I apologize for the voice I lost it when I came back from Chicago believe me it was not but anyway we're 150 years old we're 150 years old we formed Orange County and yet look at you look behind you. There is no identification that says City of Santa Ana, our seal, or anything, especially in God we trust, on this. I'm sorry that when I was on the council, I didn't think of this.

But we should be, as the county seat, and during this celebration, we should be proud, number one, to have our name behind this dience, have our seal behind this dience, and in addition to that, have the words, in God we trust. We have it on our money. It's in the halls of Congress, Supreme Court, and cities across this United States. And our laws are based on the community that surrounded our faith base, and informing what is right, truth, and just.

On August the 3rd, we had the blessing of the city. And many of you were there. And we had the interfaith from every religion. And what did they do? They asked God to bless this city, help us rule it, or help you rule it, help the city be ruled wisely.

and have it as a city of love and one that will be successful in the future. They all mention God. And I think that we as a city have to acknowledge that we are under God, the supreme being, and guiding our way. Thank you very much.

Thank you. The next speaker, Gisela Contreras, followed by Evelina Oliver.

Hi, good afternoon. Good afternoon. Good evening. My name is Gisela Contreras. I'm a 42-year resident of Santa Ana. And I'm just here to urge you and let you know that I support 85A in having an emblem and a display here in our city. just the fact that before each meeting we say a prayer that just kind of recognizes it shows that you recognize how important it is to do that. And the blessing that we just had to celebrate our 150th anniversary, that is another thing that I think just supports that. So I highly support that, and I would hope that you do too. Thank you.

Thank you. Next speaker, Ms. Oliver, followed by Melissa Jones, followed by Ann Coyle.

Good evening, Mayor, Councilor, City Manager. I just want to speak on behalf of having In God We Trust. It's on our money, and it should be in the council, and especially the city seal in the city council. It should be a big old seal up there, and I just wanted to speak in support of that. Thank you.

Great. Thank you very much.

Melissa Jones, followed by Ann Coyle.

Hi, my name is Melissa.

Followed by Gail Oliver. Sorry, go ahead.

My name is Melissa Jones. I'm here, a pastor at the Salvation Army, and I have the pleasure of knowing Ceci and having her on our board. And we want to come here and support this initiative, especially supporting our city seal and the fact that in God we trust will remain in these chambers. Throughout my, I guess, year or so in Santa Ana as a pastor, I've noticed the strong faith community. I've noticed how much people trust in God, and I know that it will be a great comfort to the people, to the churches, to the other faith communities to have those words up in the city council chambers.

And so we fully support this, and we thank you so much for bringing this to our attention.

Thank you very much. Ms. Ann Coyle, followed by Gail Oliver, followed by Brenda Lapsack.

Good evening. Thank you very much for allowing us to have these public hearings. I've lived in Santa Ana since 1970. I don't want to count the years, but I've been here a long time, and I'm happy to be a citizen of Santa Ana. Our leaders throughout history have been very clear about the importance of God and the freedoms we have because our rights come from God. If they don't come from God, who do they come from? Even President Eisenhower said, the founding fathers recognizing God as the author of individual rights declared that the purpose of government

is to secure those rights. In many lands, the states claim to be the author of human rights. If the states give rights, it can and inevitably will take those rights away. And I have a book that thick of quotes from presidents from George Washington to George Bush all talking about this. And there's another reason that we need reverence for God, and I would like to see the seal, the Santa Ana seal, and In God We Trust, is because when the framers left the Constitutional Convention in 1787, after they had given us our Constitution,

A woman came up to Benjamin Franklin and said, tell me, sir, what have you given us? And he said, ma'am, a republic if you can keep it. And what he meant by keeping it was you cannot have a free people. You cannot give power to the people if you don't have a virtuous people. And it is through God that we learn virtue and honesty and all the principles and concepts that have made our country good. Alex de Tocqueville, a Frenchman, came here and studied America for many years in the early 1800s

because he was curious about why we were the unique country we were. And he said, there was something about the culture of America, about American shared values. The difference was not their genetic makeup, nor in their drinking water, nor even in their beliefs. It was in their behavior, their beliefs and how they behaved. And he said, not until I went into the churches of America and heard her pulpits aflame with righteousness did I understand the secret of her genius and power. America is great because she is good, and if she ever ceases to be good, she will cease to be great.

So I think we need, in God we trust, as a memory of those important principles that keep us the wonderful country that we are. Thank you so much.

Thank you very much. Gail Oliver, followed by Brenda Lubsack, followed by Daniel DeLeon.

All right, greetings. Greetings. Council, councilmen, and Madam City Manager, welcome, amen, and all those who are serving. God bless you to all my brothers and sisters in Christ I think so it makes every bit of sense to have in God we trust Bible teaches us to love the Lord that God with all of our heart mind soul and strength of God before us who can't be against us and we're talking about blessing Santa Ana if we truly want to bless Santa Ana I think this goes right along with it and first and foremost we ought to put in God we trust because we ought to be trusting in God amen

and I've been praying for revival I believe if we want Santa Ana to be blessed then we need to do this and with that God bless everybody God bless you thank you sir Brenda Lipsack

is that hello take a break huh okay well greetings I'm Brenda Lipsack and I was born in Santa Ana attended Santa Ana schools and I presently teach in Santa Ana Unified School District. I'm also on the Board of Trustees for Orange Unified School District. Concerning posting the national motto and God we trust in these chambers, this national motto was passed by the 84th Congress and endorsed by President Eisenhower in 1956. All across America we honor this statement of purpose. Before athletic events, special occasions, and even governmental proceedings, we have invocations that seek the wisdom and just and blessing of God.

We pledge allegiance to a flag that represents one nation under God, and we place in God we trust on our money. In 2006 and in 2011, Senate and House of Representatives reaffirmed in God we trust as the national motto. But what about the judicial system? Doesn't our Constitution contain an establishment clause that separates church and state and gives a non-religious person a right to not be offended by the posting of our national motto in a public building? The answer is no. The establishment clause does not prohibit the use or posting of the national motto.

In 2018, the Second Circuit Court ruled that the inclusion of In God We Trust motto on U.S. currency does not have a religious purpose or advance religion, nor does it place a substantial burden on appellants' religious practices. A century and a half of wise public practice has encouraged us to use this motto so that the reminder of In God We Trust can elevate our capabilities when we discern, deliberate, and decide the significant questions put forth in this great chamber, In God We Trust.

Thank you very much. Daniel de Leon. Followed by the last speaker is Rosie Avila.

Good evening, Mr. Mayor and council people. I'm so blessed to be able to be here tonight and just address this issue, which is of great importance to me. I am the pastor of Templo Calvario, a church that has been in the community for over 90 years. And I've been the pastor of this church for 43 years. They've asked me, why so long? I said, well, I don't know what else to do. So that's why I'm there. but every Sunday morning at Templo Calvario you will hear this word said I bless the city of Santa Ana we bless this city we don't want to curse it we don't want to take anything away from it we want to bring blessings to this community

if ever we needed this in this council chamber it's today I tell you what America is in crisis all kinds of problems what's happening to our cities is shameful. What's going on with the killings is just something that is beyond reasoning. Matters that are way beyond us or a part of our community now and we don't really know how to handle that. I think it would be wonderful if the words in God with Trust would be on the wall here somewhere so as you walk in, members of the chamber, you would be reminded at that point that there is a God that you can go to for wisdom and for guidance.

These days we need wisdom and guidance from God as if ever we needed it before. So I'm glad to be able to speak on behalf of it. Even our CEO speaks about future. Hey, let's talk about a God that is always there for our future and is always ready to fulfill our dreams. So thank you so much for the opportunity to speak.

Thank you very much. Rosie Avila, last speaker.

I thank you for my second chance. The challenges are big in our city, and I think that having the motto would be an asset to the city, and that it really reflects the values of the people in Santa Ana who are religious people culturally and going to mass all the time. and I just want to encourage you to do that. I know there's many cities across California who have already done that and it's kind of a movement and the Department of Education, Orange County Department of Education has a beautiful sign, within God we trust, on it.

So I know a lot of times decisions are hard and maybe a little controversial but I don't think you've ever made a decision on the City Council that somebody didn't disagree with. So you just have to do what you feel is right in your heart, and I hope you'll put it up. And I think Santa Ana will be better.

Thank you, Rosie. So with that, I'm going to bring it back to Councilman Reglesias.

So I want to thank everyone that came out today to support this. And right now what I'm asking with this item is for us to have a discussion and also to direct our city manager to have a discussion with staff on how we can successfully display it here on our city council chambers. I know that when I've attended meetings at other city councils, they do have their seal and they also have the In God We Trust emblem. And so I'm hoping that with having an installation of those two emblems here,

it would be a great opportunity for us to display the pride that we have in our city. Because, you know, we don't have anything back here that has, other than our flag. I see our flag, but we don't have an emblem back here. But, you know, and also when we start the council chambers, the council meetings, we always start with, you know, a chaplain or a faith-based leader. An invocation. An invocation. So I'm hoping that, you know, the council, my colleagues are supportive so we can direct our city manager to have these discussions to successfully display these emblems.

Madam City Manager, assuming that this is, you know, pretty much a unanimous desire, do you have an idea as to how you'd like to proceed?

What I could do is we could study it, because you do have a little bit of challenges in this room, since it's a cordial door behind you. But what we could do is we could do a mock design, and we could return back to a future city council meeting with a suggestion on how best to display it and give you some samples of what it would be, and then you could formally direct me by a little bit.

Let's do that. Councilor Peña-Losa, and I've got another suggestion.

David PenalozaItem —

Go ahead. Thank you, Mr. Mayor, and thank you, Councilwoman Iglesias, for bringing this item forward. I know I had briefly talked about it when I first got on the council a couple months ago, and I know, Madam City Manager, you're very familiar with the Anaheim Council Chambers, and I actually even went and Googled numerous council chambers across the county and did realize that there is the majority do have the city seal, a big seal behind the council members, along with In God We Trust. So I would like to see that in our council chambers.

David PenalozaItem —

And I think it's a perfect time, actually, because we are, last month, we did approve that upgrade to the technology in here, which I'm excited to see as a millennial. with this 1960s technology that we have. But it's getting upgraded, which is good. And I know there's going to be some work done behind here to accommodate for that technology. So, I mean, it just kind of worked out, and it's perfect timing to be able to... And I realize what you said about this door, which is weird. I would like to know the history behind this door or what was the purpose of it. That's just interesting. It slides all the way.

David PenalozaItem —

Mr. Mayor you were probably here when when no my apologies but just to see it see it behind us would be nice so thank you Councilwoman Iglesias on the

speakers that came out all right any other comment counselor Solorio I think

as we're upgrading various aspects of you know the chambers and this is really a City Hall overall I think we should look at for a variety of opportunities inside as well as in the lobby I know what some institutions do like what the Rancho Board did we just had really kind of almost to what was a historical in various lobby displays because there's a number of things of what we're talked about you know that the seals you know the meaning of God we trust but also just you know the founding fathers the Constitution what democracy is right because I mean City Hall is kind of democracy on the ground and we've got to keep educating

that and instilling those good civic values and I think as we're looking at various pieces of these chambers and City Halls, it's a good time to do that. But I do think it is a delicate thing and so we just need to, amongst ourselves, talk but talk to others externally, see what other cities and institutions are doing so that we can have some very good upgrades. Thank you. Thank you. So if no more comment on that,

we'll move on to the next item. I just have one comment, Mr. Go ahead. Madam City Attorney, if you don't mind bringing us back also some research on any potential legal challenges that there are to this. It's obviously, you know, nobody's saying we don't have the ability to practice our faith. Sometimes though folks want to do that personally and in the privacy of their own synagogue, church, parish. So I think that going down this slippery slope, sometimes we expose ourselves to things that maybe somebody wants to propose a crucifix.

Maybe somebody wants to propose the Star of David. So I think we want to make sure that we're careful and that we're on good solid legal ground so if you can bring back that legal research in addition to any other information when it comes to logistics and construction it's just make an informed decision and make sure we don't invite any any challenges thank you thank you mayor pro tem and then

we'll move on thank you mr. mayor I think if we were going to be legally challenged they would have challenged our prayer that we have in the in the beginning the invocation.

And second, we just had the blessing of the city just a few weeks ago.

And nobody challenged that either. So I think we're going to be okay.

All right. So with that, 85B, please.

Thank you. Thank you all. Okay. And for this one, for the 85B, it's something that, you know, we have been talking as council members. and but before I start I want to thank everyone for being here and thank you for supporting. So the homeless issue, you know it's an issue and a concern that we've had throughout our community. You know I believe as I do I receive a lot of comments from a lot of community members as all of you guys do in how to address this homeless issue. how are we going to move forward in addressing and finding a solution.

As we had today at 75B with the railroads, there's issues that really are community-driven and to find solutions. So with this, what I'm asking is for the city manager to explore the formation of an advisory group of residents, nonprofits, Chamber of Commerce, and maybe others to help advise in our efforts in addressing the homeless. So the city manager can return to us with recommended options and best approach for this type of advisory body for our consideration. Because when I was on the school board, we had the same thing with our superintendent.

We had her parent input. She would meet with our parents because they're the ones that would help address any concerns or issues that were going on in our schools. So the same thing I would ask of you is for the businesses, the churches, whoever it is that are going to be meeting with you, what are possible solutions that we can work on together? And then this way the community seems that they have a connection with the city and also with you, because you're fairly new to our city. And then sometimes it's like, we don't know the city manager. We don't know what she's about. Is she really listening to us?

And in forming this, I believe it also will put you in a place that you're having that genuine community engagement in addressing the biggest obstacle, I mean, the biggest challenge that we have within our city, which is the homeless issue. So I would ask our colleagues if we could start that common advisory with our city manager.

Any thoughts from the city manager?

Certainly. So I've done this in the city of Anaheim and also in the city of Laguna Niguel. In Anaheim, we did a very large homeless task force that we started, and it was mainly with nonprofits and churches, and it was to really help seek their advice but also for them to pool their resources so we could have a greater impact. In Laguna Niguel, I believe it's probably more similar to what Council Member Glacius is talking about. I did convene just a small gathering of key stakeholders on this topic, and they served as an advisory to me. It was not something that was appointed by the city council,

not a Brown Act committee or like that. It was just some input from individuals that had some innovative solutions that I could incorporate.

So we'll just follow your lead and keep us posted. Okay. Thank you. With that, now we're going to any other public comment?

No common cards.

I'm not talking about the Housing Authority.

No. All right.

All right, good. That meeting's canceled tonight. So with that, any city manager report?

Just very briefly, you know it's our sesquicentennial on our 150th anniversary, so we have a lot of celebrations happening. So I just want to remind everybody about the Mariachi Festival on Saturday, September 7th from 2 to 10. It's a free community event. And then we also have Fiestas Patriots coming up, which is September 14th and 15th, which is a very popular event. And is Council Member Penaloza going to correct how I said that word? And then we have another very unique opportunity in celebration of our 150th anniversary. We're going to be giving away 150 trees.

If residents are interested in it, they can go to our website and register, and they would need to register by October 25th.

And Daisy just put up on the screen the information.

Thank you. With that, let's go to Councilmember Jose Solario, please.

Thank you. You know, the mayor often goes to me first so that my list doesn't get longer. So I at least try to be a little thoughtful. You know, I just want to bring up one thing today, and that is I know that our city manager is working with PD and staff on a homelessness strategy because we have an old one that we did some stuff, didn't do other stuff. I think we need something a little bit more pragmatic and something more meaningful. But we're in a crisis. You know, time is of the essence. So, you know, I'm hopeful that however you decide to roll out that plan or draft plan,

that it happens soon because, you know, the community gets continuously frustrated. We're seeing folks coming from other cities, not that they're doing enforcement, or they're reading articles like in San Clemente where they're taking very aggressive actions to say, hey, if you don't live in our city, you've got to leave. And we get asked, why aren't we doing that or why aren't we doing something? And we do have a few things in the works like the park security program. I know we're trying new things with the quality of life team, but just the order and the magnitude is not sufficient.

But it starts with at least having a new game plan so we can see what it is, how to provide resources to it, how to expand it, how to be comfortable with it, how to share it with the community, which was talked about earlier. But the community is hungry for this, and we need to have it soon. Thank you.

Thank you.

Councilman David Peñalosa, please.

David PenalozaItem —

Mr. Mayor Peñalosa. So, just wanted to, you know, thank staff, as always, for all the work you guys are doing. Can't thank you enough. And I do also want to say that the Memorial Park pool party on Saturday was very successful. It was very fun. So, thank the Parks and Rec staff for helping putting that together. and Daisy as well and everybody working towards the 150th celebrations. It was a very successful event, a lot of smiling faces, and couldn't have asked for a better turnout.

David PenalozaItem —

I wanted to also thank the chief of police, Chief Valentin, for his leadership and effort in pushing and hiring officers. Last week I was able to attend the swearing-in ceremony for six new officers joining our police department, which is always great to see. And I wanted to thank the Public Works Department as well. Just last week, I went on excursion with them to do some routine maintenance on the water tower and climbed to the very top. I'm still sore, but it was a great experience and looked at a lot of

David PenalozaItem —

the wear and tear that is needed, the repairs that are needed, and just pretty much that whole operations of the water department was very nice to see. So thank you for that. And with that said, I want to just wish everyone a good night.

Thank you for that. Councilman Regulias, please.

Okay, so I just want to ask, moving along with what we're talking about the homeless,

Yesterday, a concerned resident sent me a picture about a bus, I guess, letting off individuals out close to our civic center area. so are we as I guess as a city and also some department are we monitoring like those buses that are settling in our you know settling in people that are not really our residents but managed to be dropped off here and then continue to live here so is there a plan that we have in in making sure that that doesn't

happen so I'm what I'm asking is if you know with with our police department if our city manager you we can work together to see how we could address that issue moving forward because it's very concerning when we have that type of activity and you know more and more individuals are being dropped off in our especially in our Civic Center area can I ask a clarifying question are you

speaking to jail releases or are you speaking to people trans party to

homeless into the city. No, the bus is. Actually, I'll share with you the picture. It's just as special on the front, and then this is a white bus with nothing, but individuals are getting off, and they seem like individuals who are here to stay, but without a place to live. So if we can look into that, I would really appreciate it. Also, I want to just thank staff for, you know, moving along the 150-year celebration, even though I wasn't able to attend the one in you know at Memorial Park what I saw from the pictures and the videos you guys did an amazing job so thank you for moving that

forward and also I just wanted to say I attended the Santa Anita movie night on Friday and I don't know if you all are aware you know but the the leader of that neighborhood association Felipe he he is his granddaughter passed away in a senseless yeah senseless away so I'm hoping as a city we could send you know Felipe something because he you know he was acknowledged for having like the best neighborhood associate neighborhood plan you know even throughout the the

state and if we could acknowledge him you know providing him something from the city maybe sending him flowers or something some type of acknowledgement because it was a big loss with his granddaughter.

And I know, and I've already asked also the mayor if we could close this meeting. Also, we had another loss in Ward 6, which was the passing away of Pat McGuigan. She was our former council member here in Santa Ana for Ward 6. So if we could close. I'll be honored to do so. Thank you. And so thank you all, and have a great week.

Thank you. Councilman Vince Armiento, please. Thank you, Mr. I also want to say a few words about Pat McGuigan. I know that we knew her well, and I think she served here for a number of years and carried herself well. But I think most significantly she was the first woman elected here to this council, so it was a very significant step. She was somebody who served with a lot of pride in the city, and she's now with her son, Steve, who passed away as well. and Steve was a really, really strong advocate on behalf of the zoo. So to the extent that they're now both together,

we send our best to the, at least I send my best to the McWiggin family. The other thing on the homelessness issue, is there a way to track folks that are brought in here to public agencies or social service departments that when they're brought by other cities, that there's some way to make sure that they go back to the city of origin. So maybe we partner with some of the social service network agencies that provide those services to them and see how we can find out if somebody's brought, let's say from Irvine, Costa Mesa,

they come in for some public assistance that they somehow return, and it should be done by the city of origin if that's possible. So to the extent that's something that we can do, I know we looked at that when it came to jail releases. Folks that, you know, we have a lot of different jails like the Music Facility, Lamero and Orange, and a lot of them are sent to Men's Central and Santa Ana, transported from those sites, even though they're picked up in other parts of the county, and then they're released into Santa Ana. So I don't know if there's ever been some partnership with the county or the sheriff's office

to try to see how we can try to track them a little bit better. So those are my comments. Have a good night.

Thank you. Mayor Pro Tem, please.

Thank you, Mr. Mayor.

So the first skate park that was put in Santa Ana was at Centennial Park. And I'm told that it was Alberta Christie and Pat McWiggin who took that on and recommended it. And so I always think that maybe we could name the skate park after her. and if you can bring that up at the next council meeting, that would be great. That's just another idea where we can honor her. Naming something after her would be great, but she was involved in this project, and I just had a staff check with Ron Ono, our local historian.

He's been here for so long, and we confirmed that. So thank you, everyone, for considering that, and thank you, Madam City Manager, for your help.

That would be very appropriate. I was here when we were working on the skate park and she invested a lot of time into it. Generationally it was fun seeing her interact with the young ones and the skaters. And sometimes with some opposition. There are some folks that always have their own opinions upon what should happen there at Tantino Park. another and she really stepped up in a meaningful way and I think that would be worthy of the noble person that she was.

I would concur and agree with all those comments about Pat. And let me add a few more of my own. And that is that she was a very, very giving individual. Those of us that had the opportunity to serve with her, she really took this on. in a different way. She'd keep all the council agendas for years at home. Every single piece of paper you could imagine. Of course, this was much before the internet and all this. For the millennials, I know you don't remember those days.

But she was tremendous. She was really, really good as a historian. And on the skate park, the only thing I'm sorry about is that we haven't been able to do another one. You know, a lot of time has passed since Pat was leading those efforts. But the Bullseup Park has a small skate park in it. It took us a while. You know, we need, look how busy that place is. And over the years, you know, I mean, you know, she really went out and researched it a little bit. And remember, she was, I don't know, in her 70s when she was doing this research.

And so a lot of kudos, a lot of credit to Pat. And also to her husband, Jim McGuigan, who gave a lot to the city as well. I know, you know, more recently people knew Steve, but prior to that, Jim was really her anchor and really very much part of this city and this council and the efforts. He was an attorney, and he spent a lot of time with our then city attorney, Ed Cooper, and, you know, tracked things, and was an advisor to Pat. And also, I would always have to thank and thank fondly of Pat because when I first got introduced to the city, she was on the city council,

and she was part of the group that voted to save the muffler shop. For some of you, you may not remember, but we had a big battle here in the city over Ace Muffler. and at first it was just John Acosta and Bob Luxemburger and we didn't know where a third vote would come from and then Pat became that third vote and of course you needed five to condemn so at that point we wouldn't have the muffled shot condemned and I'll always remember Pat for her decision to be supportive of me and the family and all that many, many years ago before I was on the city council.

And then, of course, I want to make sure that we get, you know, basically flowers and a resolution and maybe a copy of this meeting right now as it's ending. And we're all talking about Pat. I believe she has three children that are surviving her. I know one in particular well, Michelle, because Michelle for a while dated a guy named Rick Norton. which some of you may remember, some may not even remember Rick Norton, but he used to be an operator of a SWAT meet here in town back in the 80s, early 90s.

That became a huge controversial issue. And then Rick decided to run for city council. He ran for city council. He got elected. And then he began to date Pat McGuigan's daughter, Michelle. and that really caused her a lot of concern because he'd call her hey you know how you doing you know my mother-in-law there wait a minute wait a minute you know so so poor Pat she she she really really gave a lot for a long long time so with that this meeting is adjourned

Thank you.

That also has also been also also also also you