Read the December 11 meeting.

No más, Jesús, yo te tengo amor, te quiero dar todo lo que quieras. Se llama corazón

Se llama

Eres tú, eres mi corazón Eres mi corazón Yo te quiero para el amor Entendé yo

Y ahora mi perro sin amor

Es un alma que me dice, que me dice que te explica

Is el alma que me dice, que me dice que eres simbara

I'm coming now

Thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you.

I'm coming now

I'm coming now

Thank you.

I'm my father, my father, my father, my father, my father, my father, my father, my father, my father, my father, my father, my father, my father, my father, my father, my father, my father, my father, my father, my father, my father, my father, my father, my father, my father, my father, my father, my father, my father, my father, my father, my father, my father, my father, my father, my father, my father, my father, my father, my father, my father, my father, my father, my father, my father, my father, my father, my father, my father, my father, my father, my father, my father, my father, my father, my father, my father, my father, my father, my father, my father, my father, my father, my father, my father, my father, my father, my father, my father, my father, my father, my father, my father, my father

I'm my father, my father, my father, my father, my father, my father, my father, my father, my father, my father, my father, my father, my father, my father, my father, my father, my father, my father, my father, my father, my father, my father, my father, my father, my father, my father, my father, my father, my father, my father, my father, my father, my father, my father, my father, my father, my father, my father, my father, my father, my father, my father, my father, my father, my father, my father, my father, my father, my father, my father, my father, my father, my father, my father, my father, my father, my father, my father, my father, my father, my father, my father, my father, my father, my father, my father, my father, my father, my father, my father, my father, my father, my father, my father

Thank you.

Thank you.

I'm coming now

I want to call this meeting to order.

If we can begin, as soon as the TV comes along, we'll begin with a presentation of the colors.

All right, we're now live, so I'm going to ask you all please to stand, and we're going to have the color guard present the colors.

And then I believe we're going to have our invocation by police chaplain Heather Riley.

Good evening. Thank you so much. Lord God, you are a redeeming God. As we gather to remember your saving purposes, give us minds, hearts, and wills to hear your word to us, and then to live it. Holy God, one in grace, one glory, one in love, you call us to love and serve you as one people, united in heart, mind, spirit, and strength. Help us to love one another, living in unity and peace, working together in your spirit for the good of all. And for each council member this evening, would you grant wisdom and discernment. And for the new members being installed this evening,

David Penalosa, Roman Reina, Cecilia Iglesias, and our re-elected mayor, Miguel Pulido, would you give an extra portion of grace and strength to serve with all integrity in the position you have appointed them. In your holy name we pray. Amen.

Amen. Now we're going to have the Pledge of Allegiance by Kendall Benaloza and Rosie Bailon.

I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.

Thank you very much. Now we're going to have our national anthem sung by Ashley Diaz from the Orange County School of the Arts.

Oh, say can you see by the dawn's early light What so proudly we hailed And the twilight's last gleaming Whose broad stripes and bright stars Through the perilous fight

O'er the ramparts we watched were so gallantly streaming? And the rockets red glare, the bombs bursting in air Gave proof through the night That our flag was still there

Oh, say does that star's bangled banner yet wave

O'er the land and of the free and the home of the brave?

Thank you.

Thank you.

You may be seated.

Okay, we have no public comments. I'm going to go to the adoption of election reports.

Motion to approve, Mr. Mayor. Second.

Those in favor, please say aye. Aye. Aye. those opposed motion carries unanimously now we're going to go to closing remarks and we're going to begin with mayor pro tem michelle martinez

thank you mr mayor and uh first and foremost i would like to just thank my colleagues on this dais for the majority of you i've served with for 12 years on this council and for those a very short period of time, Councilman Solorio and Councilman Villegas, I want to wish you the best as you bring on new colleagues and that you mentor and that you help guide this new council. And I know that, Mr. Villegas, that you will lead. And I have to say that we've served for these past two years. I have to tell you that I am proud that you're on this

Dias and as a mayor pro tem and as I served in this position for the last two years it is my hope that you will replace me as mayor pro tem Juan. You do an exceptional job and to conclude I just wanted to take a moment to thank my twin brother who is here and my sister-in-law Lori and my beautiful nephew and I think my niece is here Brooke if she's not I don't see her but I I would like to thank them. Mike, if you could please stand, please. And Lori and my beautiful nephew, Petey.

You know, it's a bittersweet moment for me. I don't have much family. This city has always been my family. But as I look into the audience, when I got elected in 2006, there are some very special people in this room that are not here today. And one was my mother, who passed away in 2010 at the age of 47. And she sat third row, fourth seat, as I was taking the oath of office. And my father figure, where Janelle McLaughlin is at, that's where my father figure, Mark Press, sat. And so my entire 12 years on this dais that every time I came up here, I gave praise.

And I thank God for giving me the memories and the opportunity from being on this dais to see their beautiful faces. And so as I leave here, that's the reflection that I have is those two special people that really made a significant impact in my life. And I'll just conclude with the following one. to thank the residents of this beautiful city, the business community, the amazing staff of this city have done tremendous. We've done a lot of great work in 12 years and it really takes teamwork

to make the dream work and it's been our staff that has led the way and I want to thank our our city manager Raul Godinez, our city attorney Sonia Cavallo, Maria Huizar, our clerk. It's been a tremendous honor and pleasure to work with you, fine ladies and gentlemen, and to your staff, your commitment and your loyalty earlier. I said that. Thank you for loving this city. And I said it earlier that I want to thank God. And, you know, this city is a godly city. God has its hands on this city, and this city is very special.

And I think many of us that love this city, we know that. And I leave with an open heart, a sacred heart, that there are times up here where you have challenging times. You know, financially, sometimes the city was not doing well, and you get frustrated. And sometimes you lose yourself, and you become many things to many people. and I went to Harvard in July and it was a very transformational moment for me and I've had a lot of accolades in my 12 years on this dais but it was that opportunity to attend Harvard that really

changed my life and in particular one professor one professor by the name of Marty Linsky and he said three things to me that I will never forget and had probably the biggest impact in my life thus far. And the first was, what are you willing to die for? The second question, can you be in the present moment? And finally, you know, and I've talked about this, when we talk about leadership and what does leadership really mean? Leadership means love. And can you lead this city with love, with an open heart.

And there were times where that heart closed. And today, I could tell you with a smile that it is open and that I leave doing some amazing things. And that was dealing with our homeless population and opening the homeless shelter, the link, and being out there at 4 o'clock in the morning and helping folks. and or our first dedicated protected bike lane on Bristol. And today I had my final meeting at 2 p.m. I went to the very end. At 2 p.m. I had a meeting with our police department and Esri and our IT folks

to talk about how do we modernize and being able to provide the homeless counts in a way that is innovative and efficient for our staff. And so to conclude, thank you. some of the greatest moments of my life have been serving this beautiful city. And so I leave with a smile. And Mr. Mayor, I came in sitting next to you, and I leave sitting next to you. And thank you for your dedicated service, and thank you to this council for your dedicated service, and to the residents who have committed, many of them who are commissioners

and who love this city and committed their lives to making sure that this city becomes a better place together. Thank you all. It's been an honor and a privilege to serve all of you. Thank you.

Thank you, Mayor Potem, for your kind words. Now I want to go to Ward 4, which is represented by P. David Benavides. Thank you, Mayor Pulido.

I know that we're here to celebrate and see newly elected council members sworn in, and I thank you for your indulgence and patience here. A few of us who've had the opportunity to serve this community for 12 years are here serving in our last day in this capacity. A few people I want to extend a thank you to. One is, first of all, my family, my wife Erica, my daughter Anais, my sons Aiden, Gabriel, and Joseph. When you serve in the capacity as a councilman, there's a lot of activities, a lot of things going on,

a lot of events out in the community as active as Santa Ana is. So I thank my kids and my wife for indulging sometimes date night, was going out to an event for a dinner for a nonprofit organization or an outing for us was going out to a ribbon cutting or going out to the zoo for again an opening of some new activity there and that was oftentimes our outings as a family is going out to experience just all the great things that are taking place here in the city of Santa Ana. I also want to thank my colleagues, Councilman Sarmiento, Councilmember Tinajero, Mayor

Mayor Pro Tem, Mayor Pulido, Councilman Villegas, Councilman Solorio, it's been truly an honor and a privilege to serve alongside you, to serve our city, and accomplish much together. To the city staff, residents of the city, you have great people who are serving you in various capacities throughout the organization. people who truly love this city, this community, many of whom were born and raised here in the city of Santa Ana and poured a lot of their hard work, blood, sweat, and tears to serve the city and this community with honor.

So I want to thank all of you staff members for the privilege to be able to work alongside you, roll up our sleeves and get things done from behalf of our residents, from my assistant currently at City Manager's Office, Yesenia Cruz, previously Yasmin, Vasquez, a few folks in the city manager's office, Julie Castro-Cárdenas, Jorge García, Robert Cortés, all Santa Ana homegrown kids. So it's just been awesome to be able to see, as you see these little ones who did a fabulous job, ladies, by the way, young girls, presenting the Pledge of Allegiance.

Our own homegrown Santa Ana youth that have tremendous talent and tremendous abilities. And like Mayor Pro Tem, I believe that God's hands upon the city, upon our young people, and our city will thrive and do well as we continue to come alongside and support our young people. Again, those few, Robert, Jorge, Julie, and City Manager's Office alone are just a few of those who have gone up throughout the city and are doing amazing things.

City Manager Raul Godinez, you've served the city previously as Public Works Director, currently as our City Manager. with much integrity, ethics, and have served us well, and I look forward to your continued leadership. We as council members get to appoint three executive leaders within the organization, city manager, city attorney, Sonia Carvalho. It's just been truly just a great privilege to be able to work alongside you, to have you serve our city well, again, with integrity and with heart.

It's been great to be able to see an attorney who's able to both juggle doing things well above board and just having a true heart for this community. Maria Huizar, as our city clerk, has done so much to be able to open the doors of City Hall to the residents of our city, of our community. And I thank you, Maria, for serving your community well. The residents, I want to thank you for your trust. several times over in 06 2010 and then 14 it truly has been an honor and a privilege our neighborhood residents neighbor associations is where I got started they have Easton neighborhood Casa Bonita neighborhood with with

Roman Reina comlink sacred center and building healthy communities many nonprofit organizations out there the business community downtown and business council many others it truly has been an honor and a privilege and I want to thank you all perhaps some point in the future you'll grant me that that privilege and that honor once again. I love this city and it is an amazing place. Three things that I want to wrap with is a PSA. PSA is one of those things where you know you have to listen to whether you're listening to the radio, whether you're watching TV and then something comes up and so I

ask for a few more, one more minute here and it stands for this, priorities. So to the incoming council and the council that will continue to lead and serve our city. I just want to encourage you. Some of these things we've done, perhaps some of these things I would have hoped that we've been able to do or I would have been able to help and do maybe better, more effectively. I just want to encourage you all to identify what are your core priorities as a council so that you can give that direction to our staff and that they'll be able to serve and help you execute those priorities because we can do it all.

So if you're able to narrow down three or four things that you're able to come together and identify and support, again, we have a great city manager and staff. So I just encourage the councils, you come together to support each other and support these capable professionals. And for the executive management team, from the police chief to public works director to planning and building director, the whole EMT, you have a great leader here in the city manager. I encourage you to support him and his leadership and to support our youth and our residents and support each other.

In reality, not one of us can accomplish much on our own, but together you all will be able to do much. And the last letter, A, accountability. As you set your priorities and you'll be able to have a plan to be able to have an accountability system for your executive management team, your city manager, executive management team for each other, and you'll be able to demonstrate to the residents that you're fulfilling the needs of this community. I believe in this council that's coming in. The voters believe in you. Your success is our collective success as a city. So I wish you well, and thank you once again.

Councillor Tinajero please.

Thank you Mr. Mayor.

First and foremost I want to thank the residents of Santa Ana. You voted me in when I was only 29 years old to the school board. It's been 18 years that I have served as an elected official representing the residents of Santa Ana. I've been married for 22 years so only a very short time was I not in a position where I was representing people in this community I want to thank my wife because she's had to put up with that all this time and my kids my mother who's here tonight as well they've had to share me with

all of you and and it's been a family affair where we when you come back home and you have a rough day and you talk to them and they build you up or sometimes if you're my wife she'll tear you down and I'm just teasing you babies anyhow but and but but I stand here before you today extremely proud because this council was the first all Latino Council of a major city in the United States. And we wore that badge with honor.

And we wanted to make sure that while others were saying, oh, it's going to become corrupt, and you're going to do this, you're going to do that, that we went, no, we're going to do some great things. So I stand before you as an elected official of 18 years, proud to say that I've I've never been investigated, I've never broken the law, and I've always kept you first before my even my own political career. I could have sold out many times, but I chose to do it the right way, and I leave today with my head held high. But I thank you for that, because you were always there for me as well. I have to tell you a story.

I was 29 years old. I was on the school board. So I want Councilman Peñalosa to share this with me because we're both about the same age. I used to be the best looking council member. Now he's coming in. He's going to take that crown.

But this is what I want to share with you. You come in wanting to do great things. And I remember one day there's a mobile home park by my house and Jim Thorpe Fundamental had just been built. And a lady comes to me and she says, Sal, you're on the school board. Tell me how this is fair. I live right here. That school is one block away from me. But I can't go to that school because I can't camp. I have two jobs. I take the bus to work. And I have to take my daughter all the way to Jefferson because I don't have the money to camp. And I said, yeah, that's not fair. We've got to change that.

So I go back to the school board members and they look at me like, do you really want to take on the fundamental parents? And I went, oh, shoot, I didn't think about that. He says, Sal, they will fry you. They are tenacious. Do not mess with that. And so I got altruistic on him. I'm like, what are we here for? So they took my lead. Oh, my God. Jam-packed house. People were talking about recalling me. How dare you? So I cut a deal with them. I said, here's what we'll do. We'll take it to the state attorney general. And if he says that we are violating the law by having people camp instead of a random, unbiased process,

will you be okay with that they were so sure that they were correct that they said yes cool let's do it we send it up to the state attorney general's office state attorney general says according to the California Ed code and law first come first serve is not is violating the law it is not random and unbiased you have to change the way you enter your fundamental schools everybody said okay That was the deal we cut we move forward. That's why people don't camp anymore Well two weeks later We find out that one of our board members

Was expecting and about to be engaged to the state attorney general. Oh My gosh, you can't make this up Santa to politics at its best So even when you're trying to do the right thing craziness happens sometimes, but But I bring this to you tonight because my colleagues did not share this, and I think it's important to share. There was a board of trustees by the name of Zeke Hernandez, who's on the board of trustees right now. He wasn't an elected official back then. I asked him about a council member who was here prior to us getting here. And his response to me was, yeah, he's okay, but he's a do-nothing council member.

He hasn't done anything. And that resonated with me, and it resonated with us that we weren't going to be do-nothing council members. So here's what we've done. When we first got elected, if all you spoke was Spanish, good luck. You didn't get to hear what was going on in the meeting. This council here, the four of us, Council Member Sarmiento, Martinez, Benavides, pushed to have translation equipment. And at first it was like, well, nobody's going to use it. Come to a council meeting now. We have jam-packed seats with people using that translation equipment. Let me tell you what's happened.

Instead of them just being silent and quiet, they come up here and they speak now. And they're a part of the discussion. We brought that in. During our time here, in our first four years, if you were undocumented or didn't have a driver's license, and you got pulled over, your car was towed. And people, our hardworking people, who are driving to work, couldn't get their car out because every day you were amounting $300 more in fines. Pretty soon, the car that you were driving that was a little jalopy of $500 is now costing you $1,500 to take it out. And then the tow truck companies would sell it and keep the profits.

It was highway robbery against our most vulnerable community in this city. We changed that. Now, they get pulled over. Well, back then, because they couldn't get a driver's license. Now they can. They get pulled over. They call someone who could come pick it up, who has a valid driver's license and insurance to pick up the car, and they wouldn't get towed. These are little things that have a huge effect on folks in our community. And we wonder if education is going to thrive. It thrives because parents are there. When we disable them that way and take away something that they've worked so hard for,

only to make a living, it affects our community. We change that. We were going through bankruptcy.

All of us looked at each other and said, Would you rather be anywhere else? They said, No, we're going to get through this. It was this council that pushed us through this. We made very difficult decisions. We changed our city manager. We brought in a city manager who had been a city manager before, and we were able to keep the city afloat. There's a population out there that people don't know about that sometimes is quiet, and that's our LGTBQ community. They have the highest suicide rate amongst teenagers. This council here said we are going to let people know

that they are welcome. And we flew the rainbow flag because God loves everybody, not just certain individuals. We wanted to show them that they have a family and that they have a place here in this city. We realized that council members only had two terms and the mayor's position was unlimited. So we were waited out. We got together, we went to the voters, we said, can you give us one more term so we can get the job done? The voters unanimously said yes. So then we said, hey, don't you think that the mayor's position should also be termed? And the residents said yes. So we had term limits.

We were able to do certain things that other people didn't think we could do. The cannabis regulation. There were dispensaries, illegal dispensaries, that were opening up by our schools, by our neighborhoods. You saw them because you would call us and tell us, hey, we got issues. We got people loitering over here. So what did we do? We took a responsible approach. We are the leaders now on how to do this correctly. And we got all those illegal dispensaries out of our residence, out of our school areas, and put them in industrial zones and regulate them. And it's been a huge success to the city. But those things weren't easy.

Those things weren't easy. But it was this council. It wasn't one person. It was this council. And as we move forward, I tell you what, I'm incredibly honored to have been here to work with all of you and to other members that were here before you as well. Because together, we set a path here in Santa Ana towards success. We have award elections today. We brought it to you. You voted it in. Our game plan has always been, we have an idea, but let's give it to the residents and let them decide. So in essence, it's our victory. my brother said this to me, he said,

my brother and I come from the same father, same mother, completely different frame of thinking. He's a businessman, Republican. I'm a teacher, Democrat.

But we love each other. And he said to me, he said, while you were out there serving the community, he says, I tip my hat, I respect you for that. He says, I just wanted to make money, and make money I have. And he says, so what do you think in all of this now that you're exiting? And I said, you know what, Gus? I admire everything you've done because we both came from very little. From two kids who grew up living in a garage to one bedroom and then eventually renting the house and eventually having a little house to having our father murdered one week before my 15th birthday. I said, I respect you because we've accomplished a lot.

But I'm going to tell you this. My life has been dedicated to investing in people. People like you, people like you, people like you. And I am 100% confident, Santa Ana, that this next council that's coming in is going to invest in you too. Thank you very much. Thank you.

Thank you. Madam Clerk, I think now I will give you the gavel and do the...

We actually have presentations for the council.

Okay, so let's do that. You're going to go ahead and conduct those presentations?

So I'll go down there and we'll present them to the different members. Got it. Thank you.

Michelle, if I may, why don't you come forward, we'll start with you. this is a condemnation for distinguished service and in your case it you know talks about your work on the layout your work on skag all the different meetings that you went to I don't know how many they were in total but it's probably in the thousands if I'm not mistaken it also talks about your 12 years here on the city council. It talks about how since you were originally raised here in the city from age 11 forward, so that's a long, long time, and how you

necessarily strive to improve yourself through education and examples that you've led here to the community. I also personally want to add that I think you've had a lot of strong spiritual growth. Everything from your evolution of things such as your health, exercise, your diet, how you take care of yourself. You've changed in so many ways. And I know you're leaving a better person, but I also think you're leaving a better city. So for the years that I had the privilege of serving with you, I want to present you this, which is the Distinguished

Service Award and I also also want to present you a tile that says to Michelle C. Martinez, Mayor Pro Tem, 2016 through 18, Council members 26 through 18. So I'm going to give you that. Thank you.

And also I get to give you this. I have no idea what's in here, but I'm sure it's nice. I'm gonna peek but but I'm not gonna be I mean I can't see they got too much paper in there but but it's it's but it's different from the other two so whatever these guys are getting a little bit different so thank you

David

I just asked him what the P stands for, because he always goes by David Benavides, and this says P, David Benavides, and it's Pablo. It's Pablo. But everywhere else it always says David. But the beginning and the end says P.

It talks here about many of your accomplishments, David. Really a lot of giving, because you're a giver. You're out there, and you're always helping. And whether it's a nonprofit or folks out in the community, whatever you can do, you've given a lot. Let me just state some examples. You served on the ETAC committee. You served on the public safety committee, neighborhood improvement, code enforcement, youth education, community services committee, economic development committee, infrastructure, budget.

You also were active serving on the Santa Ana Orange County Water District Sanitation District Board. Also, you are on the Orange County Council of Governments Board of Directors. And also, you're a member of the Biola University Alumni Association. You're a member of the Rancho Santiago Community College District Community Advisory Committee. And also a board member for the Comunidad Latina Federal Credit Union here in Santa Ana. It also talks about the devotion that you've given over the years, really to your service here at the city. I know constituent follow-up, talking to folks.

For a while there, you had office hours in a neighborhood somewhere in a shopping center. And then we had to get staff to drive people there because the council was there and people had to be aware. But it was your idea. You did it. You committed the time and the effort. So let me tell you that it was a privilege working with you. I know sometimes we had differences, but when we began, I was out there knocking on doors walking precincts for you. It seems like a long time ago, and it was in a way, but you've got the same smile and the same spirit, and you're basically the same person, David, and I want to thank you for your service.

Thank you. Thank you.

You know, this is different than Michelle's bag, but it also says David instead of Sal. I'll give Sal's in a minute. I don't know if the inside is the same. If they're not, we're going to have to compare and take notes. I do know that it's going to be different from Michelle's, but maybe it's just that paper on top. But regardless of that, thank you, Laveve. Take care.

Sal, it's my privilege to be here with you after a long, long time. You know, years that you were on the school board, I was on the council, we were working on things. We've seen campaigns, we've seen tremendous efforts. You know, we've agreed, we've disagreed, but we've always been gentlemen. And we've always worked on behalf of the city and nobody can question the love or the integrity or the desire that exists to make this a better city. And as I stand here many years after I've met you, it's my privilege and honor to say some very positive things that you've accomplished.

And the first one I want to start with is what you do for kids. You walk in there, you connect with them, they call you Mr. T, you joke with them, you're able to deal with them on their level and you inspire them. And I think that's the best thing a teacher can do and a human being can do for another human being is to try to elevate them. And what you've done with the debate teams and how you've gone on to national competitions and you've taken kids that are now off in colleges. And I know sometimes the parents are sad because they got a scholarship far, far away, and they'll blame you for that.

But ultimately, you're making them better kids through the education that they've been able to accomplish. And I also want to commend you because you often are looking out for those that don't have other abilities, other resources. I know you told a story recently. We had some kid that didn't have the right shoes or the right outfit, and you got him the outfit so that the kid could travel and you'd be able to present himself. And he took first place. You know? Sal got him there.

This kid probably wouldn't even have gone without you for many, many reasons, including not having the proper attire. So he took first place. also look I'm just going to read a few things but there's a bunch more you've been involved in things such as a universal representation through the Vera Institute advocating you know the mobile food truck ordinance you've been active with Roosevelt Walker Community Center the summer night lights program restaurant week ambassadors of compassion leadership program branding

and tourism funding for the Chamber of Commerce, the city's CBDG small business incentive program, the Orange County Recycling Market Development Zone, master plan for the Santa Ana Zoo, and the Warner Industrial Pavement Improvement Project. And look, there's a whole bunch more, Sal. But I think, to me, the thing that always shines has been your heart, your desire to help. It's deep. It's genuine. it's heartfelt and for your service to the city and the privilege of working with you for 12 years Sal I thank you and I look forward to working with you in the future thank you

this is a tile like the one I've given the other two this says mayor pro tem 2012 through 14 City Councilmember 2006 to 2018 and Michelle's already walking off the stage here but but that's okay and look I'll give you this but this thing came off but it was just by accident but it's the same bag as the others are getting but thank you for your service out

Thank you.

Thank you.

The 2016 to 2018 City Council is hereby concluded. If I can please have David Pulido come to the front to swear.

And Madam Clerk, before you do that, let me officially give you the gavels and symbolizes run the meeting. So you're going to run the meeting until we have a new council sworn in and we'll go from there. So David, here he comes. My son, David Andrew Pulido, I'm just going to embarrass him for a moment. I'm very, very proud of him. A tremendous student at OSHA, now a freshman at UC Irvine. He gives me hope for the future and the next generations and things to come. My elder son, Miguelito, has been here and done things with me here in the past. and my daughter, Isabel, she's 17 years old, going on 34,

and so she's not here. My wife, Laura, I know, is with her watching from home. So that would be you're representing the whole family, your uncles, your cousins, your grandparents, your siblings, the weight of the world.

I would like you to raise your right hand and let me take it from there see

and correct me if I'm wrong.

Yeah, I'm here to help.

I, Miguel Pulido, do solemnly swear that I will protect and defend the Constitution of the United States and the Constitution of the State of California.

All right, we need a redo. I will support and defend.

This is official. This is official.

All right, one more time, and if not, then you'll take it. I, Miguel Pulido, 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, 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 or purpose of evasion and that I will well and faithfully discharge the duties upon which I am about to enter.

If I can have Council Member Elect David Penalosa come to the front, please.

Thank you.

Okay. I was going to ask if we were supposed to bring a Bible. I wasn't sure. Okay.

You guys want to hold it?

Wait. That's how it works. Okay.

I, David Peñalosa, do solemnly swear to support and defend the Constitution of the United States and the Constitution of the State of California against all enemies, foreign and domestic, that I take this obligation freely without any mental reservation or purpose of evasion,

that I will well and faithfully discharge the duties which I'm about to answer. Thank you.

If I can have Pete Adame and Councilmember-elect Roman Reina come to the front, please. Mr. Pita Dame will be performing the oath of office for Roman Reina.

I, Roman Reina, do solemnly swear that I support and defend the Constitution of the United States and the Constitution of the State of California against all enemies, foreign and domestic, and I'll bear true faith and alliance to the Constitution of the United States and the Constitution of the State of California. And I take this obligation freely without any mental reservations or purpose

and that I will faithfully to charge

the duties in which I'm about to enter. Thank you.

And Cecilia, get ready. We know you worked very hard, so you're going to be called up in a moment.

if I can have councilmember elected Cecilia Iglesias and the Honorable Supervisor Andrew Doe come to the front please the supervisor will be performing the oath of office for the councilmember

With your left hand on the Bible, please raise your right hand.

And repeat after me. I, Cecilia Iglesias, 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 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 or purpose of evasion that I will well and faithfully discharge the duties upon which I am about to enter. Upon which I am about to enter. Congratulations. Thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you.

I hereby introduce and convene the 2018-2020 City Council.

So I call this meeting back to order, but in certain ways it's a new meeting because it's a new City Council and we had convened the previous one, now we're opening up this meeting so I want to first of all talk about and deal with a nomination for the mayor pro tem do I have any nominations mr. mayor I'd like to nominate myself do Do we have a second?

I'll second.

Do we have any other nominations? I will call for the vote.

He nominated Juan Villegas, nominated Juan Villegas.

And he's not withdrawing his nomination. So with that, what I would do is just call for a vote. Those in favor, please say aye. Aye. aye those opposed motion carries so congratulations mayor i now would like to um uh entertain uh council comments and this is almost over then we're all going up hours for a party so just uh hang in there a little bit longer we're almost done

Do I dare say that everybody speak? Let's start with Councilman Vince Sarmiento. Please go ahead, Vince. Why do you look at me when you say that?

I just want to say, you know, tonight's kind of a bittersweet night for many of us, those of us who've been on the council for a little bit. We're saying congratulations to some new colleagues, and well done to the three of you. We're welcoming back a council member as well. but we know how difficult it is to run a campaign and to be a public servant and you all three ran a very very good campaign so congratulations to you all welcome to the City Council I think you'll find this body you know one that's hard working with with a lot of challenges but I think there's a lot of

opportunities and we look forward to your service here and we thank you for number one just wanting to serve this the residents of Santa Ana but we also say farewell to three colleagues of ours that have done some amazing work. And I think, to keep it really brief, I think what matters here is we could talk about a lot of the achievements that have been made in the past ten years that I've served on this council. But I think more than anything, relationships were established here. And I think if I can compel you to think about anything is that we're going to disagree

up here on different issues whether it's a policy decision whether it's um you know a role that we're going to be playing um but we have to see that we're all doing this in the best interest of the children and families of our city and it's great to see you know i'm so optimistic that we're finally seeing sons and daughters of san anna now serving and we have that experience we have a special relationship and bond to the city because we've seen it um you know do well and we've seen it you know decay in some other places but we've seen that there's a lot of opportunities that we can make a difference in so I'm very optimistic

about where we're going to be I want to thank you know our staff for everything that they've done to make sure that we've all comported ourselves professionally respectfully and look we we have a lot to look forward to and you know I think that you know the the city is is bright and it's you know it's it's It's full of robust talent. I think we've got a lot of new executive directors that have joined us recently, and every time I look at them, they're younger than we are. So when you look at pictures of ourselves 10 years ago when some of us, you know, took the dice,

and I guess in the mayor's case maybe 20 or 30 years ago, but we're all a little grayer. We're all a little thinner up on top and maybe heavier other places, but more than anything, we do this because we love the city, and I think that's something that we always have to remind ourselves, that our staff, the city family, those of us who are up here, do this for one reason, because we want to leave this city in a better place than what we found. So I think the three council members that left can certainly say that. I've served with them. It's been my honor to serve with them. And I can call them friends. We saw our children grow up.

We've seen each other through moments where they've lost parents, where we've lost siblings. And those relationships and those moments bond each other. So I hope that we'll create those same bonds with one another as we serve because we will have some tough moments. But in the end, when we disagree, as long as we disagree civilly and respectfully, I think we'll be able to work well together. So I'm very, very optimistic. So thank you all for your service and congratulations.

Thank you. I now want to call upon Council Member Roman Reina, please.

You know, sometimes lost for words. It's been an amazing journey, both good and bad, and that's just the process of life and the process of growing. You know, they asked me why I wanted to run again, why I wanted to come back, and it truly is as simple as this. I care. I care about my community. I love my city. I was grateful for people that reached out to me when I was growing up and they moved me in a different direction. I've been able to give that gift to other people in our community and watch them flourish. And all I want to do is be able to assist them to help.

I'm grateful for my mom and my dad, Tomas Rangel Reyna and Helen Reyna, who gave me a foundation to build upon, one that's of character, one of strength, one of perseverance. It's not about me, it's about our community and how we move forward collectively. You can tell I'm passionate about my community because of where I sit and where I come from. I look forward to working with our colleagues as we move forward and congratulate Councilman Penalosa coming on in. You know, we have some good four years coming on with us with some great work, as well as Councilwoman Cecilia Iglesia.

And you've got a lot to carry in the sense that you're the only woman on the board. And so I'm sure you're going to represent well. And so I look forward to working with you as well. Campaign is one thing, but governing is a difference. And at the end of the day, we're trying to do the best for our community. We're not always going to agree, but I hope and I believe that the best of our community will always be first and foremost. I want to thank you for your time, and to me, time is the most valuable thing that we possess. Because once we spend it, we don't ever, ever, ever get it back.

There's a lot of things going on tonight that you didn't have to be here, but you too care about our community. You too intentionally took time out of your day to be here so that you could see the future of our leadership, that you could see the direction our community is going in. Why? Because it matters to you. and it matters to everybody on this dais. I encourage you guys to get involved, speak up, and let's collectively make San Ana the very best it can be. In the words of David Benavides, San Ana's brighter days are ahead of us. Thank you so very much.

Thank you.

Now, Council Member David Penalosa.

Trying to figure out where to put my hands, wasn't... Just here, right? Hello, everyone. Thank you so much for coming out tonight. I'm looking forward to this. I'm very, very hopeful and optimistic of where we could take this city and collectively move it forward. Mr. Mayor, you know, honored to be here with all of you guys. Councilwoman Cecilia Iglesias and my new colleague, Councilman Roman Reina and Sermiento and Villegas and Solorio. Mr. Mayor, you were elected to this dais three years before I was born.

And it's great to be here sitting next to you, which I'm excited.

And I know I'm young, but I feel like I could represent our city. and you know Councilman Tinajero he mentioned people camping out parents for for their kids at at the Jim Torp Elementary and you know my mom camped out at MacArthur Fundamental you know for my brothers and I you know she was a single mom raised us you know my dad passed away and I know he's with us in spirit but gracias mamá por estar aquí conmigo y a mis hermanos Jimmy and Junior you know thank you guys for being here and if it wasn't for my mom camping out at MacArthur from the Mentor you know it wouldn't have given me the tools that

you know it allowed me to be here or my mom you know and my dad leaving everything they knew behind in Mexico to come here in the 70s and for a better life for themselves and give me this opportunity which I'm very very grateful for gracias mama and again I'm looking forward I'm gonna need guidance from all of you to and our residents of Santa Ana who who who came out strong for me I know 90% of the people in here are friends and family which is you know say hello so so thank you guys so much again I'll keep it short I'm sure I'll have a lot to say the next four years so thank you

thank you councilman jose solorio please thank you mr mayor a few things uh first uh to the outgoing but i think they were in a rush to leave that i think they've left the room but it's been an honor to serve uh with uh you know councilmember tinajero councilmember Martinez and Councilmember Benavidez said we kind of shared a lot of experiences you know with our children at local schools out in the community you know campaigned at one point or another alongside them so you know they'll be missed you know moving forward you know the campaign's passed

and you know it's now back to work and you know for me still public safety is you know at the top of my list you know we have many vacancies to fill and you And we're going to work hard to do that. We've been making a lot of good progress on the gang's front, but we've got to continue. We also had zero vice unit when we started. But Council Member Villegas, now Mayor Pro Tem and I, on the Public Safety Committee said, look, we really need a vice committee. And they've been doing a lot of good work on the harbor, fighting the prostitution, good work with narcotics,

keeping illegal dispensaries away from our neighborhoods, all good things. But the work continues. Also park rangers, we still unfortunately have really one full-time park ranger. And believe me, this week I already got a few calls about Fisher Park and the need for more, so we'll continue. Homelessness isn't necessarily a public safety issue, but it's something that there is a PD presence, and we've got to keep working on that in a humanitarian way with enforcement as well.

We also have a big year coming up. You know, it's 2019, and if you do the math and if you've looked at our seal or at our logo, next year we celebrate as a city 150 years. Yes.

So we're going to talk about all the good things, but also about the people's history, because there are some, you know, points in time that weren't as positive, but we're going to talk about those two in a good and an educational way. but I also believe really the next 150 years are going to be shaped by this council you know we have you know some outstanding folks up here some that they're starting day one and they can serve up to 12 years so this council really is going to set the tone for the next 150 years you're a part of it by being here today and it's an honor to continue to serve the people of Santa anna thank you so much

thank you uh mayor pro tem villegas please thank you mr mayor

first i'd like to uh give thanks to the previous uh council members who were working here for all of their hard work their distinguished service i learned a lot from them and uh and more than anything i made new friends because even though it's a tough job being up here and it's a lot of work, but we find time because we're still human. We still can have a good time and talk and meet each other's family and get along. And we're all professional. We put things aside. When I first started, it was Council Member Solorio who held my hand, so to speak, when I started here. I'm always be grateful. Thank you, Jose.

always grateful and I learned a lot and now I'm serving in this position. All I would like to say is that I will do my best and give my word. I always say my word is good. I'm human. I will definitely try because we all make mistakes and it is a lot of work and sometimes it gets tough up here. There's some really, really tough decisions to make, but everything is always in the best interest of the city. My question is, is it good for the city?

That's what I always ask myself when I have to make these decisions. I want to thank my colleagues for the vote of confidence, and I thank you again, and it's an honor to serve with you. Thank you, Mr. Mayor.

Thank you, Gals Mamou.

Now, Council Member Cecilia Iglesias, please.

Wow, I don't know what to say. It's a blessing to be here, and I'm humbled by all the support that I received. Going into the election was very, very tough. You would have asked me back then, do you think you're going to win? I would have said no, but you know what? I have strong faith that God has us in a place for a purpose. And I am very confident that the reason I'm here is to ensure that we move this city forward in a positive direction. And it's been through the support of many of you guys in this room.

Definitely with, you know, I couldn't do it without the support of my sister and my mom. They've always been there for me, so thank you. and everyone else that has been there for me from the beginning. I've been serving this city since 2012, was elected to the school board, and I've met a lot of great individuals that care about the city, and I know that together we can do a lot of good things for the city. And I've always believed communication is the way for us to get things done. so my commitment to you is that I'm always going to have an open door policy

know that with me it's like we see is what you get is I'm very transparent and that's what I want for this council transparency and accountability and I know that we are going to together we're going to make that happen and my biggest support and I know is from various individuals here I want to thank Bob for being here. You've always been there for me, Bob. Supervisor Doe, thank you for being here tonight. It's such an honor to have you swirming in to this office, and I know we're going to be working together more than before, so I'm looking forward to that collaboration.

And everyone else here with the Neighborhood Association, all of the leaders, I know that you guys have the best interest at heart for the city. And I'm willing to join you in that endeavor. And I also want to thank and I know they're very quiet back there. Moises and Raul thank you. You guys are my Charlie's Angels. Thank you. You guys helped me through this. Since I met you guys in 2012 you guys have believed in me so thank you very much. And definitely I want to thank Angie. Angie Cano You have been an inspiration and know that you have my support, and I know that we're going to be doing great things for this city.

And everyone else that I'm not able to name, but you guys know who you are, and I just want to thank you again for your vote of confidence. I want to thank the voters of this city for believing in me, knowing that I have the best interest at heart for the community. and I don't know if this would be a great time, a good time to ask, but one thing that I would like to bring for discussion, I don't know if that's something that I could do right now.

Maybe today it's best just to keep it to the sworn end, but we'll be meeting in a few days. You can bring it up then.

Yeah, so I would like to, for all of us to just remember that the motto of this great nation is in God we trust. and I know one day we're going to have this here at this council chambers. So thank you very much for your vote of confidence. Gracias a toda la comunidad. Gracias por su apoyo. Y estoy aquí para servirles. Que Dios los bendiga. God bless you.

Now it is my privilege to make brief comments And then we're going to go to Bowers. Any of you that want to go, it's right down the street. And we're going to celebrate there. Let me just say that I think this is a great opportunity for the city. I think we've got an ability in the next 24 months to do some amazing things. I'm focused on that time period because after that I know I will be leaving. So this is my last term. And so I really want to try to find, you know, the fast forward button. and anything and everything that we can do together I want to facilitate to help

my colleagues in any way that I can to reach you know common goals that we have and to make a difference for this amazing and wonderful city I think it's a great city but I believe Santa Ana can be even greater and I know that we can do it I hope that we can work together and really not work for ourselves but work for others. At the end of the day, I think that is the true calling and the true benefit to the community. And that is when we work to help people we don't know, people that are strangers, people that want to have better education, that want to have better housing,

that want to have better abilities to achieve their dreams. And I think we can do that. We've got some very exciting things coming up. One of them that I'm going to be focused on very much is going to be that street card. It's been a multi-decade effort. A lot of things are hard, but often the things that are harder are the things that are the most worthwhile. And I believe if we do it well, that is going to bring greatness to the city because of options that it's going to open up as we go four miles from the, you know, from the Santa Depot over towards Garden

Grove right along Westminster and in Harbor Boulevard it truly is going to be transformational and you're going to start seeing you know streets under construction and things happening and we're going to continue to you know to benefit this city so with that we'll have many more speeches and many more meetings but let's all say thank you to to God and count all our blessings and let's go over to Bowers to celebrate this meeting is adjourned

Thank you.

Corazón, corazón.

Thank you.

Thank you.