Read the March 20 meeting.

If you could all please stand for the Pledge of Allegiance. Ready? Begin. 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 wrong. we're going to have our invocation by our police chaplain, David Mitchell. Please go ahead. Let's pray. Our Father God, we thank you that we can come before you in a special moment like this where we gather together as a city, as a community. God, that your great will would be done.

Father, I'm thankful that you're a God who loves every single person in this community, the city council and all the leadership. God, I pray that you would watch over them, that you would guide them, that you would give them wisdom, that the communication would be effective, that what is said would be heard and what is being heard is accurate, that, God, you would help facilitate the working together of our community and the leadership of our community, and that, God, you would unite them on the things that are important for the betterment of our community, for our citizens, Lord, to have leadership that we can look up to.

As Jesus once said, a house divided against itself cannot stand. So God, I pray that you would unite us all together. Lord, that we would achieve those things that are set before us. Those things that are priorities that makes us a better community. So God, all these things we give to you in the city council meeting, and thankful for these leaders as they step forward and provide the kind of leadership that we need. So bless them, lead them, and guide them. And we commit it to you now in Jesus' name. Amen.

You may be seated, and I'll call on Mayor Pro Tem Martinez, who is going to have the first recognition. So I'll turn the floor over to her at this time.

Haka, if I could have you and Hassan's entire family and its friends that are here from the planning community, please join me. And I'm just going to warn all of you and those who are watching from home, please come on up and those who are in the audience. That if I break down emotionally, please forgive me as I move forward with this presentation and as Hassan Hagani's family comes up here.

Something not very easy to do but...

I try to tell myself that I wasn't going to break down that this is a time to celebrate

but

Hasan was a very special human being and certainly somebody that

I can personally say I had a great affection for him

and so it's not very easy to to be here today because last year at this time as well my brother was in the hospital and passed away yesterday and but there's also celebration where my twin brother just gave birth not he didn't give birth but his wife gave birth to a baby boy who they named after my brother who passed away last year, Peter. And so as I look at that blessing and bringing someone into the world, but losing somebody that was extremely special, extremely special person, not only in the lives of his family and his partner who is behind us,

but left an impression and a legacy, not only in this community, but various communities throughout Southern California. And so I'm going to read so that I don't continue to get emotional here. And I apologize.

So Hassan Hagani worked in six Southern California cities as a planner. If you guys please join me closer. As a planner and as a director of planning in three of those cities before accepting the director position with the city of Santa Ana. Hassan was responsible for two large-scale specific plans in West Hollywood and Glendale that helped revitalize and transform those areas that they were in. Hassan also created, and it's just very cool, which is a design studio in Glendale by bringing in renowned urban design planners from San Francisco.

To this day, that studio comprises of several staff members and an integral part of the planning of the city of Glendale. Once on board with the city of Santa Ana, Hassan's ambitions, talents quickly emerged. Hassan launched an in-house comprehensive general plan update, becoming a historical event, as Santa Ana was the largest city to attempt such a comprehensive study in recent California history.

and I'll tell you that we've gotten this far in our general plan not only because of Hassan's vision and Hassan's tenacity but because he embraced and encouraged and empowered the people who worked for him that's what made Hassan special there was never about him but it was about how can he motivate and encourage those that work for him to dream big and to believe. And that's one thing that Hassan instilled in me and why I pushed so hard to get him his money

so that he can, you know, get this general plan and the grants that I possibly can get to help a system because I was a big believer too in that big dream, that vision of his that I wanted to see it come to flourishing here in this great city of Santa Ana, as I've seen in West Hollywood, and I've seen in the cities of Glendale. Hassan reshaped the planning division by including community development staff responsible for the community engagement and outreach to ensure that community voices were heard and formative in the planning process. By securing the funding, Hasan was able to double the size of his planning division.

Beyond his contributions from a business and community standpoint, Hasan Hageini breathed and, look, this man was a fresh breath air. For those of you that didn't have the opportunity to meet him, beyond just being bold and not caring what people thought about him, he also had this amazing smile that really captivated a room. and his energy was just amazing. When he walked in, I was like, oh, what happened to my energy? Because I typically have a lot of energy, but when he walked in, it was like, where's Michelle? It's all about Hassan. And that's what I loved about him. But more importantly, he also,

every time we met, he always offered, how can I help you become a better policymaker? What do you need to learn so that you understand this process? And that's one thing that I'll never forget about Hassan. And today we also celebrate Persian New Year's. Can I pronounce that right? Nouruz? Nouruz, which translates to a new day. That being said, the city of Santa Ana would like to wish everyone a happy New Year's Day. and excuse me, and today is March 20th, and we wanted, on behalf of the mayor and this entire city council,

named today March 20, Hassan Hagani Day.

Sonia R. CarvalhoItem —

Thank you. Thank you.

And so I'll give you the proclamation. Hold a moment.

I will read a couple of the word ases, but Haka, would you like to say a couple of words about Hassan and possibly his mother or any of his siblings that would love to speak about Hassan? Yes, fantastic.

No community impacted Hassan the way that Santa Ana did. From the moment we moved here, he was inspired by it. This is a very unique community in all of California, and we loved it. We loved living here, and Hasan would come home just inspired by the very people that this entire body serves. And it's a great honor to be recognized on this day for all that Hasan wanted in his career, and his vision for planning, and his love of this city.

So on behalf of everyone here, I thank you very much for recognizing that and to honoring Hassan in this moment. Thank you very much. Thank you. Thank you.

And I see some of our staff that is in the audience and truly wanting to thank them for, you know, really notifying us, but more importantly, helping us shape and put this proclamation together. So thank you, Candida. And thank you to all of you who are Ali, who are all out here for your support during this time and to his family and to the entire city of Santa Ana and to all our residents, the pouring love and support that you all have given since his passing.

And this is just a special moment, not just for us here in this city, but throughout Southern California, because he had a tremendous impact on so many people's lives. I always tell people that what is your preferred future? Our preferred future is dependent on the policies that we make today. We know what our community is going to look like five to ten years. and Hassan was very good at understanding that and that's probably why you know it's with great difficulty and great pain and emotion to to to share with all of you that even though I take

great pride in honoring this day for Hassan he certainly will be missed but we will always remember his smile in this room as he sat here on these chambers and the transformation that he was able to make not just within his own department and planning but through all the departments here in the city and I just want to just share a quick story when it was his last day I figured to myself okay I'll come and say hi and then we'll see what happens well Hassan it seemed like Hassan had a whole day plan of activities on his last day before he was leaving to the city of Ontario

and I was devastated. Like, you can't go, Hassan. You can't go. But when he looked at me and he said, you know, everything's going to be okay here, Michelle. You have an amazing staff that is going to be able to get this general plan done. But more importantly, and he always said this about Santa Ana, it's the people of this community that make this city special.

and that's why he had so much he put his heart and soul into this city and we saw that and so thank you for giving us the opportunity to have Hassan here in our community and shaping it to what it is and so with that if could we come over here so I could read the whereazes and we'll take a picture and just wanting to you want to share who's in the here with us yes absolutely yes um

This is Hassan's nephew and my nephew, Hari. This is Hassan's brother, Mohsen. In front of him is Hassan's mom, Azizi. This is my brother-in-law, Hamid. This is Hassan's sister, Fa. And Hassan's sister, Leila, who's come all the way from Copenhagen. This is my mom.

This is my sister-in-law. And this is Hassan's aunt, Heshma. Thank you very much.

Thank you. So I'll read the last, just whereas. Whereas Hassan Hagani truly had a vision for the city of Santa Ana that through his hard work and determination was achieved during his time here. Now, therefore, we the mayor and the city council of Santa Ana do hereby declare March 20, 2018 as Hassan Hagani Day and remember him for his devotion to the community and for touching the lives of those he was in contact with. And today is dated March 20, 2018. Thank you all very much.

Thank you.

Thank you.

would you guys like a picture so that we can sit to you okay thank you

Thank you.

Thank you for that, Mayor Pro Tem. And I'm Councilman Sarmiento, and as the family for Hassan Lee's chambers, I just want to say thank you, and we're so sorry for your loss. but everybody who I speak to in the city who had any contact with Hassan had nothing but great things to say. And he certainly, in the short time he was here, left an impression on all of us. So we're all proud of him. We all are going to miss him. And thank you for sharing him with us and with the residents here in the city. Thank you. So moving along, I'd like to have Councilman Villegas, if he'll go ahead and join me in the next presentation,

if I could have the following people come and join me up here. this is going to be a certificate of recognition to the Project SELF staff and team. If I could have Nelita Yanez with the Rancho Santiago Community College District, and if I could have Don Isabel, who is the CTE director, Karen Juan with the Orange County Bar Foundation, its executive director, and an associate director and Project SELF coordinator, Nancy Garcia, and Karen Cajapea. I hope I got that right. If not, you can correct me when you come up here.

You know, as they come up here, we're going to be talking about this great program that, you know, a counterpart of mine, Trustee Yanez, brought to my attention. And, you know, there's just so much great work that's being done here in the city. And as the only attorney up here on the City Council, I'm especially proud of the work that you do with our youth. And it's really ironic and sometimes coincidental, but I had a paralegal who I once had working for me, and she was a staff person for then Congresswoman Sanchez. And we met out in Washington, and we had a young

daughter and a young son, and my wife and I were there visiting, and we happened to bump into Congresswoman Sanchez and her staff person or one of her staff was Elisa Berseno. So you guys probably remember Elisa. So Elisa was a young college grad, was interning with Congresswoman Sanchez at the time. She volunteered to babysit our kids while we were in D.C. And so one thing led to another. We realized she was from Santa Ana. We got to know each other really well and she became interested in law. And so she was applying to law school and during that time

she decided to get a little bit of career experience. And sort of similar to what you all do, we kind of adopted her and brought her into my office and she was a paralegal there and went on to Chapman Law School. And so realized that the law wasn't for her, which was pretty smart of her, realized that at an early stage and decided to change careers and got her master's, I believe, in public administration. But she is just one example of, I'm sure, the great work that you all do. And I was so proud of her. And I just wanted to thank you all and thank Trustee Yanez for bringing all the good work that you all do to our attention.

And I know that you work very closely with the Santa Ana Unified School District in this effort. And basically what the program is, it's Project Self, and it's the Summer Employment and Law Firms program. It's for the youth and it is done in cooperation and in partnership with the Orange County Bar Foundation. And somebody else who is very near and dear to our heart is Martha Madrid. So Martha is married to Max Madrid as well, who's a staffer now for Congressman Correa, who followed Congressman Sanchez when she decided to retire.

So it's all a big family, but we're big fans of Max's, we're big fans of Martha's because she does such great work. and big fans of yours because you do so much to help our youth. And law is one of those areas that, you know, as an attorney, I've heard every attorney joke there is in the book. And as a politician, I hear just as many. But really, the importance of law is sometimes diminished by sort of this image that we have. It's a very, very difficult discipline. It's a very difficult area to navigate. and I think introducing folks to the nobility

and the real selflessness that it takes to be an attorney, to be a counselor, to be somebody who represents others, especially the good work that the Bar Foundation does for folks who may not have the means, may not have the resources, take cases pro bono or low bono. We realize that it's an essential need for many folks, especially in Santa Ana. So thank you all for doing what you do. But this is in partnership as well with the Orange County Association of Legal Administrators. Project Self has provided paid internships at Orange County law firms for Santa Ana Unified School Districts for the past 23 years.

So that deserves a big round of applause. 23 years going strong.

It's helped over 850 students in Santa Ana to set educational and career goals to gain access to professional work environments. They provide students with college preparation and scholarships, and it promotes and supports education for the youth in our city. Today, we recognize Project Self and the Orange County Bar Foundation for their contributions to the community through their commitment to youth in our city. We have so many young people in our city that need mentorship, that need guidance, that need counseling in all disciplines, whether it's law, whether it's medicine, whether it's sciences.

and you know these folks give of their time they're selfless they realize that there is a big void because sometimes you know in our school system we don't cover areas like this as deeply as we should but they fill that gap and so I'm very very proud to have them here today and I know my colleague Councilman Villegas is intimately familiar with the program has worked with the program for years so I wanted to give him the floor to go help and help us address that and and say a few words that he'd like to share with you all as well. Councilman Villegas.

Thank you, Councilman Sarmiento. Yes, Orange County Bar Foundation, Project Youth, Project Self. I've been an instructor with the Bar Foundation 16 years in their crime diversion program. They have, and I want to congratulate them for all the hard work. They are one of a kind.

And they have so many different programs to help the youth in all different areas. It's just incredible. And I want to thank them for all their hard work. And congratulations on your recognition today. I'm very proud to be part of the Barr Foundation. And I thank you again for everything.

Thank you, Councilman. And so I wanted to present this with my colleague, Councilman Villegas. This is a certificate of recognition with a lot of kindness in our hearts on behalf of all the residents and all the students that you've served in our city. For the great work that you do to Project Self, Project Youth, the Orange County Bar Foundation, in recognition of your outstanding contributions to the community. Why don't I give this to all of you to share? but I'd like to have a few words from you all to to let us know a little bit about the program and all the all the help that you've given to our students so I'll go ahead and

There we go, okay

I don't have anything planned, but I've been with Bar Foundation for 28 years, so I guess I know it by heart by now As I mentioned Project SEALF is an opportunity for high school seniors, they're going into their senior year to get professional experience over the summer. A lot of the kids have part-time jobs, but they tend to be at like McDonald's or different exposure to jobs that aren't in the professional setting. So by partnering with the law firms, the kids are able to go into a professional setting, meet professionals, and I must say lawyers have been so good to our students, the lawyers, the administrative

staff. They're so impressed with the students. They're so willing to listen to the students, hear about what they're doing, and their aspirations to go to college. They help them with advice, and they share their own experiences. I will say the law firm, all the law firms say they get so much more from the students than they feel they give. They're just so proud of how well the schools are doing with the students. They're happy to have the students there for the eight weeks of summer so the project has done really well like you mentioned we've been doing it for 23 years we have 850 students who have graduated some go on to work for

law firms either paralegal maybe an attorney I mean obviously everybody's not going to law school that's not that's not the goal the goal is to just show them a professional environment if they're interested in college give them that support. Recently we've heard back from a lot of, the reason we keep doing this program year after year is because we have so many graduates that just said that was a turning point for them in their lives to decide that yes they wanted to go to college, yes they wanted to work in a professional environment and this gave them the opportunity and the little push that they needed.

So 23 years later we just hear from so many past students on what it meant to them. we also have a higher ed program that prepares them for college and between the two programs I am proud to say that this year we have raised just the Bar Foundation has raised the money for the schools we have hit the 1 million dollar mark we've given a hundred and what 1 million dollars in college scholarships so there there are a lot of kids going to college and you know as long as they're interested in going to college we will you know keep hitting up the private sector to donate to college scholarships so happy to do it and thank

the school district so much every year they open their doors they have the kids ready they let us use their facilities and they're just so proud of their students and they're just so grateful that we come and do what we do that they they wanted to recognize us and we're just so happy with the school partnership so thank you good evening I have the opportunity of being one of the instructors for the project self in CTE stands for a career technical education and many of you have probably heard or even gone through that process in the past it used to be called ROP regional occupational

program. But my involvement with Project South has been to actually be in as an instructor, and I go and check out on the kids throughout the summer to make sure that they are learning, that they're getting the exposure in the law firms, and that they are becoming professional young adults. And it's not just about the money. They're learning to be disciplined with their time with the responsibilities with how to get along with other co-workers so it's a social professional and integrity and ethical education that they're

getting from this project self and I truly enjoy doing that because this is a springboard for the children actually young men and women that go into their different careers so even if they don't choose the law career it's a springboard for other professional areas. This had been going on, Project South, when I was ready to jump into the career world. Ah, let me tell you, I'd be an attorney like mine.

And I, yes, I would have been doing that. My career was as a paralegal, and so that's my involvement as my background in the legal field for over 40 years as a paralegal. and recently I had the opportunity to become the instructor for Santa Ana Unified School District in the CT program. But it's not just about the professor, it's about all the people like you heard today, the Hispanic Bar Association, the director, the program coordinator we have, Karen Cajapea.

So she handled the program Project Self for many, many years, and she has been truly motivational and inspiration to many of the students, many who may be your neighbors who are professional, who may be even attorneys by now. And of course our director who gives us the motivation and support and the professionalism for us to keep going because you truly have to enjoy the place in order to make it a place where it's learning and it's a fun place to be.

It's not just the salary that we get, but it's truly a place that we can make a difference for the young people. And you know that a cliche of making a difference is all over the place. But here at CTE, we really make a difference because with the people such as Project Self and our instructors like Karen Kahpea and our director, Don Isbell, we are the ones that are giving the students that platform, that motivation, the support, because college can be overwhelming.

So if we can give them a little view into what to expect and how to act and what to do when they reach obstacles or how to jump over obstacles or push aside financial obstacles, we make that difference. And you'll see that in the continuing graduation rates from the Santa Ana Unified School District. But I'd like to give our director Don Isbell a moment to give you his side of the story. Don?

It's a little low, but... I'm Don Isbell, Director of Career Technical Education for Santa Ana Unified. And for the ladies back here, on behalf of Santa Ana Unified and the City of Santa Ana, I cannot say how much of a difference you've made for 850 kids over the last 23 years. The motivation and the inspiration that the Bar Association has been able to do is truly transformational. Most of the students are first-generation college students. Most of them have not had a family member that has worked professionally before.

and these experiences that the law firms throughout Orange County that they work with truly provide a unique opportunity that is not represented anywhere else that I'm aware of in California and so thank you so much for what you do for our students here in Santa Ana thank you so much let's give them all a big round

of applause and we're going to take a photograph with this beautiful certificate. And you know, just a quick story. So the reason why I got into law was because I interned one summer with an attorney. He was a resident here in town. His name was Milton Grimes. Milton Grimes is probably one of the most famous litigators, was very close with Jerry Spence, who passed away and was a very famous litigator as well. But there's a whole story because he had his office on Broadway. They used to call that sort of legal row, right? Because all the offices

are there. But I know our mayor loves lawyers, by the way. He keeps them employed and keeps them busy. So the more lawyers we can generate, the better, right? So keep doing all the good things you're doing and inspiring all those students. Let's take a quick photograph.

Thank you.

It's mine. Does it have a coat?

Oh, here's another one. Oh, sorry. You can share with us. You know you would. One, two, three.

Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.

Thank you.

Good evening, everybody. I have a very special presentation. And at this moment, the mayor and council members, when we take the photos, you're all welcome to come up because we have in our midst today somebody who I believe has given back tremendously to our city, our county, our state, and our country. And I'm really pleased and blessed to have him here. And I'd like to have him come up as well as his lovely wife, our former mayor and congress member, Jerry Patterson. Come on up. And Linda.

We've had nothing but great mayors these past decades. And before Mayor Polito, we had Mayor Dang Young. And before Dang Young, we had Jerry Patterson, who served here, first on the city council in 1969. And he was mayor of the city during the years of 1973 and 1974. During those years, he brought energy, honesty, and positive changes to our city during a time of major changes and rapid growth.

There's a long list of things that he did here in the city and in Congress, but I'll highlight what I think are some major accomplishments and some remarkable things. In addition to being on our city council, he served on the Civic Center Commission, a joint powers authority with the county. It was nice, and now it's getting a little run down. We're going to fix it up again. And by the way, we now have permission to also find better places for the homeless and then rebuild and do better. So I'm proud about that.

Congressmember Patterson, I don't know what to call him, whether mayor, congressmember, or just Mr. Patterson. But he commenced also at the time a reluctant city council to buy the only public transportation system in Orange County. At the time, it was called the Santa Ana Bus Company. And from that, over time, it morphed into the Orange County Transit District and now into the Orange County Transportation Authority that we have a guaranteed mayoral seat on, by the way. So that legacy of leadership continues.

Congressmember Patterson was also the chair of the first Human Relations Commission with diverse citizens and churches in an effort to improve race relations in our city. He also became the chair of the first community redevelopment agency in Orange County. So that's another big first. During his six years on the city council and two years as mayor, Mr. Patterson and the council worked to expand our parks, which is a good thing. And we're still building on that. With tough new standards on new development projects we had in our city and negotiations with the federal government to obtain FCC property,

He helped double the acreage of parkland property in San Diego. Let's give him a round of applause for that.

Now we're only incrementally growing, so for the leadership to double the amount of acreage is simply amazing. And in 1975, Mayor Patterson was sworn in as a United States congressman. The very first bill that he introduced, by the way, was to establish the city of Santa Ana as a place of holding for a federal court. Although this took many years to make your work, given all the legal and planning processes and committees,

because of the efforts of our mayor, the Ronald Reagan Federal Courthouse now stands proudly in our downtown Civic Center. And with that, let's give him a big round of applause. Before we do that certificate and photo, I'd like our current mayor to also say a couple of words.

Thank you, Councillor Solario. First of all, Linda and Jerry are just such wonderful Americans, wonderful patriots, wonderful people. They've donated literally thousands and thousands of hours of their lives to public service, and they have made a difference. Your years in Sacramento, Linda, and what you did there, serving under different administrations on different boards, always stellar. And Jerry, you have a career that spans more than a lifetime, and the folks that you've

worked with and the things that you've gotten done, and yes, that courthouse wouldn't be out there without you because even though many of us had a chance to work on it, you're the one that initially, you know, set the stage and placed the marker and then we all defended that flag and now that building exists and it's a beautiful building because of your efforts, Jerry. And then of course the, you know, the Santa Ana River and many other, you know, projects and monies that have come to the city over the years. So I really want to thank Councilor Solario because I know this is his idea to honor you this way, and it's so apropos.

It's very, very appropriate. Thank you.

So now let's hear from the mayor himself, Mayor Patterson. And by the way, his leadership continues. He's also on the Coast Community College District Board of Directors educating the next generation of leaders, so that's awesome. Mr. Mayor.

Thank you.

Once a mayor, always a mayor. There you go.

There you go. Well, this is one of the biggest honors I've ever received. And I appreciate it so much because it was Santa Ana that gave me my start. I came here as a young lawyer from Garden Grove, all the way from Garden Grove, and decided to make this my home. And in 1969, I ran for the city council. That's about 40 years ago, almost 50 years ago. And when I ran, the city was in some turmoil as things go in the political world.

That was an exciting year because the first Mexican-American ever was elected to the Santa Ana City Council with me. We ran as a team, and Ray Villa is that person. and he's passed away now. But Ravia and I became the team that started this work. So it was the people of Santa Ana and the city of Santa Ana that gave me that privilege. And you see up here, our podium, the council, is all Latino, right? And that is a measure of progress that I am proud to have started as well.

And my wife says, K-I-S-S, you know, keep it simple. short, stupid. So if I don't shut down right now. But I was going to introduce her. And you did such a great job. Linda Moulton Patterson, my wife, is... Say a word, please. You've done so much. Well, I just want to thank you for honoring Jerry. It is well-deserved. He's done so much. And thanks for honoring me, too. She's way too modest.

she's forced me to do it they're a great leadership team and some of the other counselors also like to join us with photo field please please come down if I

can just tell one quick story maybe you know I was the second mayor to be have an office in this this City Hall and before that we were in the old one okay the first mayor was Lauren Grisette and Lauren was a great man who worked with me on a lot of these projects. So here we were here we were and I was the new mayor and the fire chief John Garthy at the time is your fire chief here tonight I don't know maybe not but the fire chief was here and he whispered to me before the meeting started that we had a hundred foot ladder

truck out here so the city council could take a look at it and I thought wow that's pretty super So I announced it. We took a recess. We went right outside. And I just jumped on the ladder, which was my first mistake of the night. And I said, how high was this go? And they said, 100 feet. And so they pushed the button. And it's electric. And I'm hanging on, shaking and shaking and shaking. And it got up to what I didn't know. It got up to 85 feet. And I thought, when I yelled down, of course, there's a microphone right here. But when I yelled down, I said, how many feet to go?

And they said, I thought, 50 feet. And I said, oh, my God, take me down. And so they took me down. And I found out later it was 15 feet. And I've always regretted that I never went the last 15 feet on that ladder. It's 185, Jerry, and that's awesome. So I'm willing to come back and try. No, thank you so much. This is a great honor.

To our fire chief can we arrange to have them we have a 100 foot ladder right

do we strap them in what do we do strap them in real tight

if you want to go Jerry the chief says we can be arranged

let's give the mayor another round of applause thank you

He, by the way, when I was elected to the State Assembly, he administered my oath of office, so I'm very thankful for that as well. Next I'm honored to recognize another very important person in our community who has helped many people, and that's Anel Delgado Ayala. She's an officer of the Consul of Mexico in Santa Ana. You can come on up when you have the opportunity. She was recommended, by the way, by an immigrant rights group, a woman's group called Mujeres en Progreso.

And Anel is a specialist in international family law and a counselor for victims of domestic violence, sexual abuse, and human trafficking. She's also a successful emotional coach and international lecturer. For 10 years, Anel has followed her greatest passion to support women in vulnerable situations through legal and emotional support, and above all, through empowerment programs, all of which are offered by the continent of Mexico in Santa Ana. Thanks to the work of Anel, literally hundreds of women in Orange County have benefited, and their lives now are better. Additionally, through a program called Women Entrepreneurs,

Anel has been able to support women interested in starting their own businesses, which is great because I do an annual workshop on how individuals can start a new business in Santa Ana, so we'd love to have you there. Created in 2015 and derived from the need to support women to achieve financial independence, Women Entrepreneurs has helped Orange County women break free from cycles of violence and dependence. Today we recognize Anel Delgado Ayala for her work with the consulate and her many contributions to our community. Let's give her a round of applause.

Thank you for this recognition. I prefer to speak in Spanish.

I'm going to translate her, okay?

Okay, thank you. Muchas gracias por este reconocimiento a todos los miembros del Congreso. Gracias, concejal Solorio. Primeramente decir que este trabajo no es solamente mío. It's my job, it's my job, it's my job, to progress, it requires that we begin to generate these equipes. And in first place, I want to recognize the consul of Antonio Fraire, who today, for issues of work, is not here. However, this job has been in collaboration 100% of him, who has been my mentor, who has facilitated everything that has been in the government of Mexico to help our women, our migrants.

This project of women entrepreneurs came in 2015, seeing the need of women who live in situations of domestic violence and we understood that one of the needs was the economic dependence that these women present. So, to see the need of that they could generate economic independence, economic, se crea el programa de mujeres emprendedoras, que ahora impacta también no solamente a mujeres, sino a hombres, y asimismo también se tienen muchos programas de empoderamiento para la comunidad hispana, para la comunidad mexicana, grupos de apoyo para víctimas de

crimen, tanto hombres como mujeres, grupos de apoyo para víctimas de abuso sexual, de violencia doméstica, y todos los servicios que se ofrecen en el consulado, sin embargo, bueno, quiero quiero hacer público esto, han sido proyectados por el consul Marco Antonio Fraire y a quien le doy las gracias públicas. Coincide con mi salida de del gobierno de México, yo precisamente ya he tomado la decisión de seguir empoderando a la comunidad desde una perspectiva privada. Agradezco mucho este reconocimiento y ahora pretendo hacerlo de manera privada para seguir apoyando a mi comunidad y a todas las personas que viven aquí en el

condado de Orange y en la ciudad de Santana. Muchisimas gracias.

Now a translation.

Thank you for this recognition for the city council and for also councilman Solorio. And thank you, first of all, this work is not my own work alone. This can only be done as a team. Progress requires teamwork. So I'd like to recognize a person who cannot be here this evening, Consul Marco Antonio Freire. The work that I've been doing is 100% his effort, his doing, for the last 10 years he's been an inventor, an innovator, to facilitate the successful, to helping women be successful. This program has been in place since 2015 and to help women

become independent and to exit and to be free from domestic violence. And one of the things that we found is that one of the things that don't help women or prevent women from being independent is economic independence so that's that's where they cannot leave a domestic violence situation so through this program we created the work work women entrepreneurs program to to make this possible now it's not only for women but also to make men financially independent And this creates a lot of support work, support work for crime victims, support work for sex abuse victims, domestic violence victims.

And this is done through Consul Friday's help. So I am at this point leaving the consulate to pursue private practice and to continue supporting the community in Orange County and Santa Ana.

Let's give a round of applause for all the work.

Thank you.

Thank you.

I'm going to begin this meeting. If I could have the rest of the council, I'm not sure if they're in the back, so that we can have a quorum. There's only three members. If we could please get some of the members of the council to please join us. Mayor Polito had to leave, so soon he's feeling ill. We'll go ahead and excuse his absence. Great, thank you. With that, we have a closed session report. Madam City Attorney, do we have anything to report out of the closed session meeting?

Sonia R. CarvalhoItem —

Yes, Mayor Pro Tem and Council Members, members of the public, we do have a couple of reportable items for you this evening. The number one, second case in the Chavez versus the City of Santa Ana versus Chavez in that case. We settled that case in the amount of $56,000 by a vote of 6-0. We also have reportable action under a liability claim in the case of Corona v. City of Santa Ana. It's a workers' compensation case. On a 6-0 vote, we settled for $71,164. In the other matters listed on the agenda, we received direction from our council.

Sonia R. CarvalhoItem —

And in the matter of the City of Santa Ana v. California Lodge, I'm happy to present that we settled it, but the city is receiving the value of over $200,000, and that also was approved by a 6-0 vote.

Thank you, Madam City Attorney. Now we're going to move to, I do things a little different. The Mayor Polito is not here. I'd like to put public comment first, and we only have a few items, so that's what we're going to do. He is gone for the rest of the day. We'll excuse him right now when we get to the consent. But public comment, this is the time and place for the public to address the City Council on consent calendar and regular business items. If you would like to address the City Council on any other matters within our jurisdiction, we will consider those comments after we handle the items on the agenda.

So non-agenda items first. If we can please have Savan, Gere, or Susan.

Followed by Virginia. I think they are. Oh, OC Clean Power. They were here earlier. If they come back, we'll get to them. Dale Helwig, followed by Rayshon Gadson.

I think everybody's in shock coming up early here, so I appreciate it. Dale Helwig, I'm here representing the North Santa Ana Preservation Alliance in our opposition against the 2525 Main Street development. Last week at the special City Council meeting, I heard one of the Council members say, you do not stop the voice of the people. And I couldn't agree more with that statement. I and others will continue to show up at every meeting of the City Council and Planning Commission to ensure you know the people of Santa Ana do not want this project to go forward. It's a five-story monstrosity, and we object to it.

The North San Diana Preservation Alliance roster has grown to over 1,300 people. Most are opposed to the project. There are a couple that are in favor of it. Yet we continue to hear comments from the representatives of Vineyard Developments that are really disturbing. They say that this is a done deal. We are going to build this. Don't worry about it. again why is the developer so confident that this is going to be built to his desires his wishes and not the desires of the people of Santa Ana at a meeting that the developer had with some of the residents on adjoining property lines

even said that he wasn't going to talk about traffic because that's the city's problem so he doesn't really care about that North Santa Ana preservation lines is not opposed to the development of this project, but we are opposed to his development. If we don't talk with them, they think they're going to make decisions on their own. If we talk to them, or when we have talked to them, we still have a long ways to go before we kind of come to a consensus. We feel with the right leadership from the Council, it can't stop this development from happening as currently designed.

Our numbers continue to grow and we did not look at this issue as a done deal. The community has an attitude that this is not a lost cause and we can affect change.

The people of San An are speaking out loud and clear and we do not want Vineyard Development to build their five-story monstrosity.

Mr. Helwig, if you can conclude.

I'm all done. We're still looking forward to meeting with a couple of the council members and we understand we have a meeting with you next week. Correct. Appreciate it. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Helwig. Followed by Rashaun Gadsen.

And then Robert and Igla, you follow.

Good evening, Council Santayana. I'm Rashaun Gadsen from Tampa, Florida. I addressed the council on the 6th of February with an idea I had to stimulate the cannabis business within Santiana. I would like the council to hear my Phase 1 proposal. I've given it some thought, and I would like to basically ask for additional time, whether it's closed or whatever protocol, to share this Phase 1 idea with the great city of Santiana.

Great, thank you, sir. you can communicate with either one of our assistants over there they'll be able to help you coordinate a meeting with the council. Robert followed by Ilya Teslin.

Good evening Pratane Martinez and respectful Santa Ana City Council members. By name is Ilya Tseglin. In regard to Agenda 25B, amendment agreement for special legal

No, Ilya, you're speaking on the non-agenda items. I have your cards here for 25B too, but you're speaking on just regular common.

I'm sorry, I said agenda. notice that I will not tell you about the public defender type as Bianchi Hill, Feldon, judges Hubbard, type as Lee Brown, Moverley. Sometimes they not sometimes on the side of families but instead they always on the side of the regional center so we don't have a court really not my family not other families the court of probate

family mental does not exist it suggests a court for regional center I know that this problem not under your supervision. I address to the county. But I want to address on my behalf and on behalf of people that Santa Ana City can assist my family and other

people by with Santa Ana Police Department. I am going to have a meeting with city manager on April 10 that I want to discuss. I want to ask only one thing. For years the police department have really a decent people but every time when I am calling coming the same people yeah can you please wrap up your life I'm sorry bias and I want that will come not bias people and make a report thank you thank you if I could

please have Robert Teiglin thank you honorable Board of Supervisors I mean

sorry Santa Ana City Council this is Robert Teiglin brother Nate Teiglin stated in the board, I've stated regarding, as my father said, the public defender issues here. With regard to your jurisdiction in Santa Ana, in my brother's case, obviously he's been confined in the 903 South Harmon Group Home, which is in Santa Ana, city of Santa Ana. Many times police have been at the home before. Now many times have refused to do a welfare check, although my brother has reported increasing, is health deteriorating and so forth. You have paramedics that are supposed to also respond

if an individual alleges difficulty breathing and alleges, this is not to mention any other abuses such as physical abuse, this is to mention issues with his health which can be tested with medical tests, EG test results, so forth. So you have paramedics who have been involved in dereliction of duty. Obviously, police officers are not medical personnel, and they're not expected to be so. However, as my father alluded to, he would like to have police do their duty in terms of keeping the peace if there would be an arrangement for...

You have a group home where medical personnel are not allowed. Visitation is severely restricted. Did families harassed, accused of recording or this or that? Why don't they allow my father to take pictures of his own son? That's a question. What legal right do they have to restrict that? It's not even a private home. It's rented by regional center funds, which are in turn from the Department of Developmental Services, which is in turn from the state of California. It's certainly not a private home. And my brother has been confined there.

So you have this issue, but you have an issue where they are able to somehow convince the police that they're not supposed to be under any welfare checks or so forth. So this is amazing. So you have this concealment. So I hope your police can somehow figure out, your attorney can figure out to arrange something to save his life. Thank you.

Thank you, Robert. Next, Juan Gonzalez.

Welcome Juan, long time no see. Long time no see. Good evening Mayor Pro Tem,

members of Council, it's great to see familiar faces. Purpose of my visit, I wanted to come before you today to introduce myself as a new public affairs manager for SoCal Gas here in the city. I also wanted to extend and provide you information as there are a couple of projects coming into your city. I'll be looking to reach out to your public works director along with your city manager. And also, if I may also provide information to our customers, your constituents, in regards to any activity going on within their homes, call 811 before you dig. Any activity and expansions of homes.

We've been having a lot of issues with third parties going in and digging trenches and hitting utility lines. So call 811 before you dig. And also if you're having any issues with smelling of gas, please do not hesitate to call our 800 number, 800-427-2200, 800-427-2200. So I look forward to working with all of you, I look forward to having separate meetings sometime in the near future. Thank you so much for the opportunity. Thank you, great to see you guys. Welcome back to Santa Ana. Thank you so much, great to see you guys.

Fantastic, that is it for our non-agenda public comment. I'm now moving towards the consent calendar items, 10A to 25AF, any members of the Council wishing to pull any items.

25C.

25C.

25E.

25E.

Councilman Salorio, any items? Fantastic. I am pulling 10B. Actually, I'm just going to just state for the record, 10B, I'm a no. 10C, I'm a no. And 25D, I'm a no. And I'll be pulling 22A.

And if we can do as well, Madam Clerk, where do we do the excuse absence for Mayor Polito?

You can excuse him now, although he was present for a portion of the meeting, so an excuse is not necessary.

Oh, okay, fantastic.

Only for the Housing Authority.

Okay, when we get to the Housing Authority, we'll excuse his absence. Great, thank you.

May I please make a motion to approve the remainder of the calendar? Second.

All those in favor, indicate by saying aye.

Aye.

Great, motion passes. First item, it is 22A, and I will just be very brief on that. I'm running the meeting and that is in regards to the 800 megahertz radios if I could just have our staff very quickly just wanting to make sure I know a couple years ago we ordered the same amount of radios I guess is this second round of radios is this a wrap or are these new full-on radios for additional officers additional fire can just please yes there are additional radios

for the new hires that we have coming on just to maintain our inventory.

Fantastic. And with that, I make a motion to approve.

Second.

Great. All those in favor, please indicate by saying aye.

Aye.

Fantastic. And we do have, before I go to 25C and 25E, we do have two members of the public that wish to speak on 25B. So if I can please have Elia and Robert please join us again.

Thank you, Pro Team Martinez, for giving me the possibility to talk about this agenda. My name is Ilya Zeglin. In regard to Agenda 25B, Amendment Agreement for Special Legal Council Services, I want to offer to amend this agreement to the point of providing the legal assistance for the citizens that cannot afford to be represented in the court or objected to be represented in the court by public defender. do you use a public defender department

pays to their employees $170 per hour then it can be passed this money to the independent and private attorney it is from my experience and from experience of all the families note, I want that notice not one family, not few, not numerous all the families we are misrepresented by public defenders.

And type of Hill, Bianchi, Felden, this is, it's just a client misrepresented in the court. And regarding what I mentioned about police department, Your city can complement the justice by sending the police department unbiased officer that can make unbiased report.

It's well known by community that my son, Nate Zeglin, for years mistreated and abused in Santa Ana on 903 South Harmon Street. Every time when police department coming, not every one of them, they have a decent people. But at the same time, they're sending people who are on the site of the home.

Mr. Teglin, your light's red. Thank you very much.

Robert? Hello, Honorable Santa Ana City Council, Robert Teglin. Brother Meneet-Teglin, with regard to this item, with regard to your saying for legal amendments, legal services, of course, in the area of something to do with operating illegal marijuana dispensaries, oversight, or whatever, maybe protecting from liability and so forth, just on that basis alone or on other basis, just to compare and contrast so that you would, I mean, it's pretty obvious you have an example of a difference between marijuana, which I think has been somewhat legalized in California and you have an

issue where nevertheless you still have legal issues and then you have an issue of Zyprexa and Depakote and you have an issue of a psychiatrist who testified under oath and you can check this case number 8246780 there is a there is supposed to be a transcript where he testified under oath that Zyprexa does not cause seizures, and that no single death would occur if even, not even a death, I mean, a drug would not be approved by the FDA if even a single death occurred. So he's overriding either the black box label warnings for the drug. So you have a compare and contrast where you have marijuana, which I think almost never

had a death occurred from an overdose and so forth. And you have these dangerous black box label drugs, which are allowed where an individual is being confined and allegedly being poisoned on these drugs. And you have, of course, county liability, but the city as well, because the police and maybe paramedics could do something about it. And they've been called before and seem to have failed to do so. So hopefully they wouldn't fail currently and wouldn't take advantage of the situation where my brother is being abused and hopefully can intervene in a more positive way.

That could be helpful for Nate, most importantly, and maybe for the city as well. Thank you.

Thank you, Robert. Have a good evening. Next is 25C. Councilman Sarmiento.

Thank you, Mayor Pro Tem. And I just had a quick question on this for staff. I know this is a request for a school resource officer, and I believe this is a full-cost recovery agreement for a period not to exceed three years. You know, my question is that it looks like, and this is for the School of the Arts campus, it looks like they want to improve their security and add a police officer that will sort of police the area and help them with any activity there.

I guess my confusion is that, you know, is this going to take one of our officers sort of off their beat and I get that this is going to, we're not spending any money on this, but isn't this more within the jurisdiction of the school police department since they handle campus security and all the issues that we've been having recently with campuses throughout the country with violence and crime? I get the fact that they want to enhance the security,

But, look, I'm just not sure if we're the right department or has the campus considered maybe working with the school police department versus ours. Maybe that department is better trained, has more experience dealing with campus security. I mean, I'm not saying this isn't going to work. I'm just curious why our department and not the school police department.

Council Member Sarmiento, I'm going to have the police chief provide some history, because I'm not familiar with it, but I do know that this agreement, the reason we're comfortable with it, given our staffing situation, is that the School of the Arts is fully aware and comfortable with that we may have to pull this officer for anything that's happening in the immediate area that might need additional resources, and conversely, if there's anything at the school that requires additional resources, we would, I guess, bring them to bear to that situation as well. But in terms of the history, I don't have that.

Maybe the chief can shed some light. Yes.

Thank you. Mayor Pro Tem, counsel. The history on the contract there was in 2010, the Santa Unified School District Police Department contracted with then OSHA for the school resource officer on the campus. That's a full-time position. Fast forward, last year, that agreement came to an end and so they do not have a police officer from Santa Ana school police department there it's a charter school and so there may be a difference of philosophical perspectives on providing resources they

approached us I was actually involved in setting up that contract back in 2010 so I have a working relationship with the staff there and they approached and and asked if we would be interested in establishing this contract service. It is a fully compensated contract service, not only for the officer, but all assets that are required for the officer. And what it does is, it does provide a force multiplier from that site. So we have an officer assigned to the high school there, and if needed, that person could obviously leverage any any need in the immediate area and they're well aware of

that and are supportive of that so to answer the question in terms of is it going to remove an officer from frontline policing we're gonna recruit for that position and place the officer there and so that would be just an additional resource that we have available to us there on the school campus obviously school safety is paramount we work very closely still today with Santa Ana School Police and will continue to. In fact, we have a joint exercise that's in place for early June once school is out. So that's just an additional resource to have

there. It is a nice agreement that they would fully compensate for their position.

Well, I appreciate your giving us some context on that. And obviously, since you served as the school police chief for many years you're very familiar with that so I I appreciate that so I just wanted to make sure there's value added and not value lost right so this if this is going to be a position that you're going to fill and recruit for this should add one more officer in the area that could be you know could be called upon if something happens off campus grounds to be able to to be able to support some of your other staff that's out in the community. Yeah, and I'm in agreement, whether it's a charter school,

whether it's a public school, our campuses are under siege, unfortunately, and so I do think whatever we can do to maintain the safety at the campuses, it's a very important role that we all have to have some responsibility in. But are the costs the same? I guess if the School of the Arts were to retain somebody from the school police, would the cost recovery, the amount that they're expending for this resource officer, the same thing that they would for ours, or is it different? Is there a disparity? Our costs are slightly higher. Got it.

Okay. Thank you.

Do we have a motion on the floor?

All moved.

We have a first and a second. All those in favor, please indicate by saying aye. Aye. Motion passes. Next item is 25E. Councilman Benavides.

Thank you, Mayor Patel. I would like to ask some questions of staff here on this item.

So a bit of history. We have at Centennial Park, the largest park that we have in the city, previously a regional park. A number of years back, we entered an agreement to have 2.6 acres of that park used for educational facility by Rancho Santiago Community College District. That agreement and lease has expired. However, they've requested for an extension. we've submitted because of the way that the agreement came about the National Park Service needs to provide

their approval, as I recall for extension or use of some of the park space for this educational use. As I understand here the the National Park Service did not find that the information that we provided to be sufficient they're asking for additional information can you tell us a little bit more about what they've come back with what they're asking about yes so the the original 30-year agreement expired in a while ago in 2009

we got a five-year agreement and during that five-year extension agreement we went through an Atlantic change program and if you recall we offered the Pacific Electric Park site and we were close but not enough so we needed to identify additional park for the land exchange and we added to the Pacific Electric six and Lacey and Raiden Myrtle for a total of 2.8 acres versus 2.6 and so we've been doing what the National Park Services has been asked to do which is doing the studies on recreational value assessment and when the time comes and they tell us we'll be doing the environmental impact they last month

formally told us that in addition we need to do a study on the parking impact the National Park Service did and and that is what one of the elements is being added to the agreement today the agreement the cost of these studies is totally a hundred percent being reimbursed by the College District we have you all approved a reimbursement agreement of around 300 and over $300,000 and that's still the these consultant expenses is still within that limit and so the current five-year extension we've had two five-year extensions

concludes expires in November 2019 the the timeline that we have based on doing these studies and then after the National Park Service sometime in June once we submit the studies will tell us whether the land exchange is sufficient or not and they will respond on the parking study as well and if they say yes it's a go then we then finish the CEQA and the NEPA the environmental impact which has a public open to the public scenario and if everything goes well will end up finishing in in the fall of 2018 so that then City Council if

everything goes well will have them the authority to do a long-term agreement and you'll have a year before the the agreement expires to negotiate with the College District for a long-term agreement that was based on Council's direction many times including presentations because this is a real estate transaction in closed session, a variety of different things. So what's new is the parking study. But everything is coming along. It's just a very intensive study and analysis and a variety of those things. And I'm glad that it is an extensive process and it looks like the National Park Service

is being more thorough. Any indication as to what their reason for calling the parking parking study because that's something that the city hadn't necessarily called for. I'm glad that they're calling it, but I'm wondering a little bit of background on that. No, I don't know. It could be a variety of different things. Either they, National Park Services, decided to like, they looked at aerial maps and they realized that the students park in the parking lot in front of the campus. Or it could have been that citizens from Santa Ana ended up communicating to the National Park Service and saying we have a concern or whatever.

I don't really know. I know that it was the National Park Services that told us verbally several months ago and then formally told us in February that they require us to do this study in parking.

Well, again, I am glad that they're catching the fact that I've expressed before my concerns about dedicating over two and a half acres of very scarce parkland that we have to a school. I'm all for the services that the Brown Centennial Community College District provides to our community and to the region. It's not just Santana, it's other folks who also are able to be served and benefit from the services there.

I do, and I've expressed before, there is available land on that centennial parcel that is dedicated for education. from what you've expressed to us in the past, I think would be more optimum. One of the reasons is that in addition to the 2.6 acres of parkland, there is the surface parking lot that essentially the community is not able to use that is coming out to the park because it's taken up by quite a few students. I'm glad that they're catching that and that they're calling for us to be able to study that.

There are not only just the use of land and parking stalls being used up, there are the impacts of use of wear and tear for a long time. That Centennial Ring Road was in pretty bad shape until very recently. So, again, I'm glad that they're catching this. and I think that there is a lot there for us to pause and consider as to,

either when we get to the place of negotiating, that we do factor in some of these other issues. I would also be interested, at one point I requested some information. I would like for it to be shared to all my colleagues. You were able to provide some of the reimbursement on maintenance. We can provide that, sure. From what I understand. Yes. So if you can provide it to me at one point, and I was looking for it and I couldn't find it, but if you can provide it to myself and my colleagues just for us to get a sense of how much of the cost of maintenance is being covered by the college district.

and again whether it be at the time of negotiating that we factor in these matters or that we look at I still think that there are other more optimum

locations for the school so I appreciate your feedback on this I would be interested in continuing to be updated and I'm sure you will provide counsel to see the outcomes of this. At this point that's just those are my questions, and I'll turn it back to Mayor Pro Tem. Again, because I don't think we've exhausted all options, I'm not going to be supportive of the item tonight, but I do appreciate just being able to get some of this feedback, and as we get down the road, when it comes to negotiating, I think that there will be other ideas that I might be able to propose at that point.

Thank you, Councilman Benavides. Councilman Tinajero, then Councilman Solorio.

Thank you, Mayor Pro Temer.

I'm just a little perplexed because it's taken so long. It's been about four years that we've been talking about this. And so my concern is when we talk about if in June, you're not even saying that in June this will be done. The studies, yes. The study. Yes. You're saying if in June everything is done and they approve it, we're not going to be able to even negotiate until the fall. This conversation was had before where we were told that by now, by the beginning of this year, we would have had something in place. Now, I know you're bringing up the parking study. Yes. Okay, what I would like to know, and Mr. City Manager,

I would like for there to be follow-up on this, is this is my frustration when we don't get updates. Like, we trust our staff that things are moving along and that we're going to get to the finish line. But then what happens is we get a longer delay. In the meantime, the college is waiting. In the meantime, we look bad because it looks like we're stalling. They're feeling like we're stalling now. And so what I would like is for you to call the National Park organization and ask them, what can we do to expedite? How quickly can we move? We don't want to wait until June. We want to move as quickly as possible. How long does it take?

We have asked. And so what's the feedback? We need to submit the studies as they required, and in May or June, when we believe the studies will be done, they will then decide whether the land exchange is approved or not. So why does it take March, April, May, three months, two and a half months to get that study done is what I'm trying to figure out. So the studies that the PlaceWorks, this company is doing, they're studying the recreational value assessment of four park sites.

Pacific Electric, Sixth and Lacey, Rayden and Myrtle, and the 2.6 acres in exchange. They total 2.8, so they're 50% done, that study. Then what was just last month, National Park Service, don't know why, but they said, we want to add an additional study on parking impact. And so that's being amended to the contract. And, you know, we could tell them, you know, could you not require that? But they're the ones that are requiring it. They're the ones that control the deed restriction. And so they said that to us.

And so then we believe that in May, June, we will, Placeworks, the company, will finish the recreational value assessment studies and the parking studies. Then that is provided, all those documents are provided to the National Park Services. So then they can determine, as they did once before when they said it wasn't enough with Pacific Electric and we had to add, it took time to add to find and council to approve two additional sites, Sixth and Lacey and Ray and Myrtle for future parks.

and they then will tell us if it's approved. If it's approved, I mean if the land exchange is approved, they're not approving the go forth and do a long-term agreement. They're now saying you can now do the CEQA and the NEPA, which is the environmental impact reports. And then that has a process and PlaceWorks, I believe PlaceWorks, will be doing that environmental impact. that's part of the agreement that's being approved and then and then we believe that if everything goes well and the National Park Services says fine then it would be a year before the expiration of the five-year extension

when then it comes back to council assuming that they agree that we then say you can you can direct staff to negotiate with the college for a long term lease I think what I would like to see is whoever our consultant is that we we tell that consultant that we want them to expedite it and the reason that I want that is because I keep hearing if everything is good. So we have to assume that something's not going to be correct. So then we're not in June going back to the drawing board. Instead, we're adjusting for those obstacles. We'll ask again because yesterday I told Ron, please ask PlaceWork, if we pay more, can we go faster?

and they gave us a timeline, I have it in front of me, and this is as fast as they can go, is what they said. So it's not a question of money. I actually asked Ron to ask Placework, the company, can they go faster? And it takes a certain amount of time to do the recreational value assessment of the four parcels and the parking assessment. So we did ask that question, and we were willing to say how much would it cost if you go faster. So I can ask again, but we did ask yesterday. Well, it's just that we have a group of a very, very, very, very small group, but very vocal. Yes.

That have been obstructionists when it comes to putting a sign up for Godinez, putting up a marquee for Godinez. Yes. Did not want the school to go there, even though it was a dirt lot. And so now are making issues of this when the reality is the vast majority of residents don't have a problem because that is a place where they have it's been part of the community for years where people go study my mother graduated from high school there so it's something that the community knows about we're aware about so it's just we have to do something well I agree with you I staff I will continue to tell staff if

we can do anything to expedite we will it's just that we're dependent on and the the our rep is in in the Bay Area in in San Francisco and we're constantly talking to the National Park Service's rep. And so whatever we can do to expedite, staff will do its part to expedite. I would rather have this have gone away and we finished it and all that. But unfortunately, it's the federal process that they're telling us.

Thank you, Hidardo. We're going to want to wrap this up now to Councilman Salodio so we can get some direction.

One question. Hopefully it's a simple question. I know I keep hearing that it's a land exchange. Yes. But are we like really swapping land and deeds in full ownership or are we only like swapping? So I think what I, Ron you can

help me out but I believe is that if all of it approves what the National Park Service will say the 2.6 acres of the adult education campus is no longer restricted for recreational purposes because we agree that these three additional parks then so then now you can have educational

purposes in that 2.6. Okay but do I understand though that does not mean that the college

district would own that land? No this is not about owning the land this is it's up to city council to say it's a long-term lease or very good I just wanted to clarify that that's what I've heard no this has nothing to do with ownership the city is really more using just the ability to swap the no it's it's the recreational purpose value of it yeah okay very good thank you great

Thank you. What's the pleasure of the council?

Move the item.

Second. First and second. All those in favor, okay, by saying aye. Aye. No.

No.

One no. Councilman Benavides. Great. Thank you. That is for the consent calendar. We are now moving towards the business calendar. The first item is 65A to designate a voting delegate and alternate for Skaggs Regional Conference and General Assembly in May.

I'll recommend that Mayor Pro Tem Martinez serve as the delegate for SCAG.

Great. I'll second that. Do we need an alternate?

If I'm on there, you definitely, we could do an alternate. Would you like to do that?

No, I just said I was going to nominate Councilman Sarmiento. So, but if you're dangerous to make a motion up here, if it's right. So, uh, but if you plan to be there, then basically that's my question. If you're going to be there, then we don't necessarily know okay so we have first and a second great all those in favor please

indicate by saying aye aye motion passes next is 65b which is authorized the city manager and city attorney to enter into an agreement with related uh to revenue generation in an amount not to exceed a hundred thousand dollars through december 31st 2018. move the item first by so second by sarmiento

all those in favor oh comment yes uh so so and i addressed this city manager when we we spoke before but I did want to go ahead and readdress this year in the meeting. We're talking about revenue studying, revenue generation possibilities, ultimately potentially a ballot measure as I understand. A comment that I made when you provided the budget presentation which showed that we definitely need to come up with some revenue generating mechanisms, tools, initiatives, because the

city's in a place where not just our city, but cities across the board with a number of different factors, including PERS liabilities. We're in a situation where we're in the red, where we will be in the coming years. and I'll stress here again is that with this idea, if we only look at potentially ballot measure, we're basically placing on the shoulders of the community, the residents, the taxpayers, to be able to bail out the city, in essence. I believe that we're in a position where economic development,

besides beyond just looking at ballot measure, has to be top priority for us as a city. business attraction, business retention, development, partnerships with some of our major tax revenue producers, auto mall, the main place mall, just a number of different mechanisms where we can proactively and aggressively look to to bring in a revenue for the city. If we're going to move down this road, I think we need to demonstrate, not only demonstrate that we've exhausted and looked at all of the opportunities,

but that we're proactively taking very intentional measures to demonstrate that the city's doing all our part as well to be able to, again, have the city be open for business and bring in revenue and other means as well. I don't think it would be justifiable for us to go out and ask the voters to shoulder more. without us proactively looking at upbringing and revenue by other means as well. So I hope that through this process and through these studies that we're going to be looking at that as well, that that's part of the plan. So that's what I would request of you and staff.

Thank you, Councilman Benavides. Any more comment? I just did have one quick comment, Mr. City Manager, before we cast his vote. So is this item specifically to study various options to go to the ballot, or is this an item that you're going to be looking at and reviewing to bring other things onto the ballot?

At this point, the intention is revenue-generating measures and to deal with some of the issues that council is well aware we need to deal with. and we're working in concert together because some of them are Prop 218 related. So we're going to be working with the city attorney on this.

Great. Thank you. With all those in favor, please indicate by saying aye. Aye. Motion carries unanimously. Next, it's 75A. We do have a member of the public that wishes to speak at this time. If I can please have Mr. Mike Tardif please join us. Thank you.

Good evening, Mayor Pro Tem and City Council. I am here in support of this ordinance to properly regulate the construction of accessory dwelling units, also known as granny flats. Residents of Santa Ana who support this ordinance are not necessarily opposed to granny flats, and this ordinance does not place an unnecessary burden on the construction of granny flats. It's understood that the state of California and the city of Santa Ana have a shortage of housing.

This ordinance will comply with the requirements of the state and will allow for needed additional housing for Santa Ana residents. The city has held informational meetings concerning Granny Flats and city staff and yourselves have listened to residents, and you have had input to develop this ordinance, which works to maintain the character of Santa Ana neighborhoods and is in compliance with state goals and requirements. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Tardoff. and you know I saw you and I went so quickly I forgot to open the hearing but I'm glad you were able to speak on this item. This is the time for public hearing to adopt the zoning ordinance amendment 2017-04 to amend the provisions of chapter 41 of the San Ana Municipal Code relating to accessory dwelling units commonly referred to as granny flats. I would ask our staff do we want presentation first off council i know we've seen this presentation quite uh at least twice um so we have staff available if not um i would just ask our clerk did we receive any other communication

beyond um for public comment here today i did not receive great fantastic thank you and um i would bring this back to the city council if they wish not to have a presentation yeah i'd like to just

go ahead and make the motion i know we've heard this presentation several times i think there is one minor amendment that just the staff can point out?

Yes, we are making a minor amendment which would allow non-conforming residences within the P zone, professional office zone, to have a granny flat on them, an existing non-conforming residential use in those zones.

Great. We have a motion. Do we have a second? Second. We have a first and second. All those in favor, please indicate by saying aye.

Aye.

Motion passes. Great. Thank you. We are now moving to 75B. This is the time for public hearing to adopt urgency ordinance allowing commercial cannabis testing, laboratories, and ordinance amendments number 2018-01 to amend the certain sections of Chapter 40 and Chapter 18 of the Santa Ana Municipal Code. commercial cannabis to allow for commercial cannabis laboratory testing and adopt resolution to modify cannabis-related registration application and regulatory safety permit fees in fiscal 2017-2018 fee schedule. Planning staff is available for a presentation and to answer questions.

We do have a couple members of the public that wish to speak before I bring it back for staff presentation and or council consideration. So first...

Mayor Pro Tem. Yes. Before you begin, I just wanted to, for the record and pursuant to conversations I had with the city attorney, I'm going to be participating in this matter and all cannabis-related matters from this point forward. We submitted a question to the FPPC on my eligibility to participate because I advise other public agencies on the legality of this industry, and they came back and opined that I'm free to participate with no conflict. So great. Actually, I'll be abstaining on this matter because I haven't had the history and haven't gone through the conversation.

So I will sit in, but I will be abstaining. Great. Thank you, Councilman Sarmiento.

And with that, if I can please have Alex Mohammed, followed by I think it's Scott Canwell.

Mohammed Scott. Good evening, Mayor Pro Tem, City Council and staff. I actually just wanted to come and introduce who I am. I own a medical laboratory called Equaltox in the city of Tustin. And we've been approached by a lot of dispensaries, manufacturers to test cannabis products. And currently we do not do it. We don't do it because we're not licensed to do it. And I think in the city of Santa Ana you guys have a unique situation where we've already approved the usage of cannabis and not the testing of it. The concern is that there's a lot of pesticides from what we see.

We're in the business of separating molecules and seeing how many pesticides and unhealthy stuff is still left in the product that's currently on your shelves now. So I encourage you to adopt the testing. But my concern is that the bearer of entry is not high enough. You're looking for a high-complexity laboratory. you're looking for not only the right equipment but the right people to run your testing at these facilities. People who have something to lose. I'll give you an example. There's facilities currently testing in your city now who are self-proclaimed labs. These labs really have nothing to lose.

If you were to shut them down, all they would lose is their ability to continue testing. If you were to shut me down, I would lose my license. And so I am encouraged, or it's in my best interest basically to give accurate results, conduct business the right way, and I think that's what you guys should be looking for. Thank you.

Thank you so very much.

I'd also like to offer our services if you guys would like to, your staff would like to come by and take a look at our facility.

Candida, if we could get his information. Thank you. next is Scott Scott Candwell's I think it says Scott good evening my name is

Scott Candell I am a cannabis attorney I am also the CEO of CB labs which is a cannabis testing facility we have our main testing facility in Novato California which is in Marin County we are hoping to have our second facility here in Santa Ana. I have been going back and forth sending emails to the City Council probably about six months now. I know it was on the agenda, it was taken off and it went back and forth a little bit. I wanted to sincerely thank you. I know that it's a complex issue and at first it was bundled together with the distributors and the manufacturers and

everything and we decided to separate it and I do appreciate that because it is a separate issue. The only thing I want that you bring up is I know one of the things you'll probably be deciding tonight is the taxing for the labs. And I went back and forth a little bit with one of the gentlemen from the planning department. I don't want to butcher his last name. His first name is Ali. Tough last name to say. But I had some good conversations and I just wanted to share. we belong to a service called Canaregs which allows us to go through all the different cities and counties in the state, research different things and we found

the tax rates. There are a lot of cities and counties taxing it at a 0 to 1 to 2% rate and I think the reason is they want to attract labs into their city and county knowing that once a lab invests in the city and county they're not going to move that they have to invest in the infrastructure and the facility and everything like that. So the city can then raise the taxes later as opposed to scaring people away in the beginning. And the second is there are a lot of startup costs for labs, so they usually run in the red for the first year or so, so to have a steep tax in the beginning would make it difficult as opposed to

adding that tax a little bit later. So I just wanted to share that with you, and again, just thank you for separating this and dealing with this the way that you are.

Appreciate it. Great. Thank you, Scott. Thank you. I think it's Jamison or Jason Quiñones, Mr. Quiñones. I think it's Jason, is it? Okay, great. Mr. Quiñones, followed by Robert Taft, Jr., and then Claudio Gallegos, if he makes it.

Hi, I just want to say thank you, Council, for giving me the opportunity to talk. I want to say I'm sacral president and definitely thank you guys for allowing other opportunities in the industry for cannabis. I was just wondering, the reason for laboratories is to be testing oils, flowers, stuff like that. Unfortunately, in Santa Ana there is no manufacturing or cultivation, so I'm wondering what are we going to be testing here in the city of Santa Ana or building new jobs as well.

So I just wanted to kind of focus on that in a sense of that, you know, maybe working side by side with a bunch of dispensary owners and would like to extend the olive branch if you have any questions about the business. Because there's a couple of decisions that might benefit the city if you do a couple things first. Like I said, if there's no flour, then there's no testing. If there's no manufacturing, then there's no oils. So there wouldn't be anything to test here in Santa Ana. So I just want to bring that up to the council and to staff if they have any questions.

Feel free to talk to us because we are business owners and we're a partner in the city. And we have given a lot of tax revenue as well, too. So a little bit of information from you guys would be great.

Thank you, Mr. Gallego. Stay here for the study session. We're speaking on the other items right after this item. Mr. Taft.

Yes, thank you. And to echo what Jason just said, I'm with 420 Central. Between Jason and I and Saka, we're aiming for about $10 million worth of tax revenue for this city. And we've already given upwards of $800,000 in the first two months. So I just want to state that, you know, why is Measure BB so successful? Because it went through a vetting process. It went through a lottery.

And, you know, since retail is not required to test in the supply chain, and there are no licenses to grow or manufacture in all of Santa Ana, Although there's plenty of illegal ones, there are no legal ones. And heck, all of Orange County doesn't even have one grow licensed or one manufacturer. And tonight this is an urgent vote that you guys are doing. My question is, what's the urgency? This came out of nowhere. This was on the agenda last night. This wasn't even on the agenda for Friday. So what's the urgency here? So I'm going to shift quick here. Did the city send weed maps a cease and desist letter? And why not?

Does Weedmaps advertise illegal operations in this city? Yes. Is SC Labs up and running in this city today without a license? Yes. Has always since the beginning of illegal shops. Has SC Labs ever been given a code violation for running a marijuana business in this city? No. SC Labs and Weedmaps are partners. They're affiliated. Does this city council get lobbied by Weedmaps?

Yes, heavily, to the point that Council needs to recuse themselves. Does Weedmaps advertise illegal operations in the same city including black market stores, delivery, and brands? Yes, we know where these labs are, who's behind them, and how long they've been already building out. Did this Council do a backroom deal? I would say it's obvious, and if this passes tonight, there will be a lawsuit. Did the citizens get an opportunity to vote on the 10 new retail adult stores? No. Why? Because this council wants more recreational stores. And my question is why? Why do you want 10 more stores? We have 16 that aren't making it.

The black market's killing us, and you guys want 10 more.

Mr. Taffy, please wrap up. Your light is red, sir.

Okay, I'll see you next Tuesday.

Great. Thank you, sir. Claudio Gallegos, followed by Mike Tardif.

Good evening City Council. I come here representing the Office of Congressman Lu Correa and we just want to reiterate our support for responsible business development of the cannabis industry in Santa Ana. We are encouraged by the proposal to allow marijuana or cannabis labs throughout the city and continue to grow this business. It's legal now in California and many cities have decided to demur to others. This is a chance for Santa Ana

to really be a leader on this issue and bring some good revenue, good jobs to this city and we encourage you to continue moving forward as you have previously so thank you and we hope you approve 75b tonight thank you thank you

mr. Gallegos followed by mr. Mike Tardoff our last speaker on this item

Mike he stepped out okay okay he just gave me that they just gave that and he stepped out okay we are now moving oh okay great so I'm gonna bring this back that was our last speaker I will ask for a staff up to please move come forward and provide a presentation and then bring this back to the council for

direction thank you Candida good evening mayor pro town city councilmembers

Thank you.

I'm going to go back.

We got it. All right. Tonight, you have before you tonight two documents, two ordinances. an urgency ordinance and a standard ordinance for first reading. They are exactly the same except for in terms of content and how we are proposing to regulate the uses.

Candida, can you just state for the record that this item was on a month ago, but because we missed the opportunity to put notice, this is why it was brought back as an emergency ordinance. I think it's important for us to clarify that.

Yes, yes. The reason that it was previously scheduled, we had intended to do it, but there was some improper noticing.

However, we have a time crunch on the other end. The state of California is requiring two sets of testing periods. they're saying why now why why are we doing this now is because when they adopt when they legalized cannabis in California they look to other states that had done it such as Colorado and one of the things that happened in Colorado is they legalized cannabis but they also required it to be tested that the materials be tested so the cannabis stores open and immediately there was

almost immediately there was they couldn't bring things in from out of state and there was a limited amount of tested material and the labs weren't licensed to legalize the testing so there was a backup so the state of California said okay we'll allow retail sales sales to start in January and then we'll phase in testing so the first round of testing that will be required will be an initial testing of just product and cannabis content as well as

some toxins and then widespread testing will be the full testing will be January 1st of 2019 so these two phases so we're coming up on to this July 1st deadline and we struck so that's why we've structured it such and we wanted to give the operators and businesses a chance to be up and running for a few months be licensed before the July 1st deadline so with this ordinance if we adopt the urgency ordinance tonight it becomes effective immediately that would allow

us to accept applications and starting tomorrow we could accept applications we have a draft staff has a draft application ready to go up online tomorrow and for what we are also proposing in this ordinances unlike the other ordinances that we've had for retail we will have a single phase one and phase two. The phase one is a registration period, we just check the locations to make sure they're not within restricted areas. It's pretty, we're following the same standards

that we used before, and this ordinance will codify Measure BBs, the sensitive use standards and available lands that were adopted in Measure BB.

Do you have a question, Mayor Procter?

Yeah, I'm just saying that we may not be able to vote on this item because it's five affirmative votes, and Councilman Sarmiento just recused himself because he wasn't participating. And I just looked here, I thought Councilman Tinajero was next to me, and I'm like, Councilman Tinajero is not here. And so I'm not sure if he has left. His computer is still here, so I just wanted to just bring that to our attention, that we need five affirmative votes.

So we can move on to the next item If he is present, okay, so he is nearby so go ahead and wrap up Candida your Your presentation and then we'll have discussion. I just wanted to make sure

All right, so this ordinance establishes the first the the

It establishes the next the

distance criteria this is the this is what we're talking about using we're talking about industrial buildings the regulation will be consistent with the state of California's regulations and it will be for medicinal products and also will ensure compliance with you with the state's ordinance we believe that this is an important part of the cannabis industry in Santa Ana. We believe that it can thrive in Santa Ana just because it's relationship to existing cannabis

industries. We already have a thriving R&D industry here in in Santa Ana. We have people doing research and development in other areas and this should be very similar to the other manufacturing use R&D manufacturing uses that we already have it creates good jobs generates business to business taxes and will require some high quality tech and permanent equipment and permanent investment in the area we do have tested these new testing facilities will be

licensed by the state one of the major concerns we do have with the testing is odor concerns and they will also be regulated. They're going to be very small, but they will be regulated from outside.

Great. Thank you, Candida. We appreciate it. Bring it back to the Council for discussion.

Councilman Villegas? I'd like to move the item because the testing is very important. Great. We have a first and a second.

Sonia R. CarvalhoItem —

Councilman Solodial? Can you take separate action on the emergency ordinance and then the regular word yes I'll do the yes emergency first and then we'll do the

regular yes so we have a first and a second for the emergency but I think we could have the same week one discussion and then we'll do to a second vote there's no need for two discussions councilman Solonio just one question

one of the speakers did ask about is there some way to ensure that we're gonna have quality testers or is the staff's approach just the market-based approach and ideally the industry or the state or someone will suggest who maybe is better at testing but I don't know if staff's given any thought to how to try to make sure we have good actors and good testers we did not limit we did not

recommend caps on this and because we did not recommend caps we did not involve any merit assessment of these uses. So it would be market-driven.

Okay. The only thing I would suggest maybe as the state's rolling out standards for its various licenses, if we can really just stress the type of tests involved and the city's interest in having folks that are going to be fully compliant of state and local laws, There should be maybe just some information we could share to try to be a magnet and encourage the very best testers. Thank you.

Great. Thank you. I do have some – Councilman Benavides.

Just as a follow-up question to Councilman's comments, are there that we know of regulations or guidelines, I guess, ultimately, that the state has in place? I know it's a new industry altogether, but is there a way for, or is there any type of regulation on the part of the state that we know of when it comes to the testing labs to be able to identify the more sophisticated versus not so, basically more sophisticated?

or what qualifies a testing lab? Do they have to go through some type of process with the state or they just open up shop? They are licensed through the state, yes. They are licensed and they have to meet certain criteria. Okay, with that address, thank you.

Great, Candida, I did have a question and one I certainly understand is the research I've been doing that the state is highly regulating these testing labs, even more regulated than Denver or D.C. or Seattle and Nevada, probably some of the highest regulations on testing, that it really is going to only get a few good operators throughout this state. We know that, that those that are operating currently here in this city illegally or in other jurisdictions, the question that I do have is that obviously they're testing various, they're a testing lab and they do various testing,

but they have been testing marijuana, whether it's retail or medicinal. I would just ask that if we do move forward with this is that, you know, one, it's illegal to do it in our city because we didn't have an ordinance. And so they've been operating illegally. What steps are we going to take to notify them in saying that we have now established an ordinance and they need to comply with the law? so they can't continue to test without getting a license here from the city and or the state. Again, I'm a big believer that we have to follow a process.

We want to make sure those that are paying taxes, that are getting not only a state license, but a license here locally, that they have the upper hand because they're abiding by our laws, paying into the system while others are operating illegally. And I don't believe that that's not fair. I didn't agree with it during Measure BB. One of the reasons why I didn't support because we had over 150 plus illegal operations and we moved forward with this. And look how long it's taken us to shut down and open up lawsuits and just hundreds of millions of dollars being wasted. We don't want that to happen again.

And so I do know that the state has intense regulations for this particular industry. But I'm wanting to make sure that we do our due diligence and making sure what the state is saying for you to for them to get their license. That we kind of mirror and move in the same direction so that we get the best operators here in Santa Ana. And then furthermore, in regards to the taxing, I just believe I don't believe that they're a retail shop there. you know and i've had this conversation with you all that you know and i get why we're we're taxing and obviously it's an operational fee it's an operational fee is what you call it candida i

definitely agree but um it's nothing like the retail component and obviously there are a lot of startup costs as the gentleman mentioned earlier and you know for these folks and so what i would request to have some kind of middle ground and i know you you you have this operation fee that you need to recover and i get if we possibly can do five percent or a dollar fifty a square foot versus um the two dollars i would um ask for that friendly amendment to the person that made that motion because again they will have some um massive startup costs and we need

to make sure that those that do come in into this um into this industry are doing it right or they're not they're not making shortcuts um because the last thing that we want is you know bad testing and having pesticides in the cannabis that these operators are selling. And so I would just ask for that friendly amendment. I think it is one worth our while to make sure that we do get good operators coming here.

If I can add to that discussion, one of the attachments in the report has a sample of the rates from various California jurisdictions. We have City of Adelanto, Bellflower, California City, Costa Mesa, Davis, Irvine, Long Beach, Los Angeles, Monterey, Oakland, San Jacinto, of course, our South, San Ana, and Sonoma County. The ones that are probably immediate competitors would be Long Beach, Costa Mesa, and Irvine. So out of Long Beach, Costa Mesa, and Irvine, Costa Mesa is 6%. Long Beach is a 6%. We're proposing 6%, and Irvine is zero.

So certainly if, you know, Madam Mayor Potem, if you're suggesting 5%, we picked 6% only because it was sort of like the market, but that would make us more competitive. We wouldn't oppose that staff.

And I can add that Irvine has a philosophical state, or they philosophically oppose any sort of business license tax their business license fee or regulation. So they don't charge business licenses. So that's why they're an outlier on the zero.

I can second that. Fantastic.

And my last question is in regards to the gentleman that came up here earlier discussing about SC Labs and partnerships with Weedmaps. I don't know if they have a relationship or not, But I would just ask that if our city staff know of current illegal operators in our city now that are doing testing, that the first thing that we need to do immediately is really knock on those doors, send letters and saying, look, this city council just approved a new ordinance. This is the new law here. And so that we put them on notice immediately.

because the last thing that I want, again, is as these new operators apply for their permits, we end up hearing, as we've been hearing with the retail and the medicinal, we have all these illegal operators operating. I'm paying all these taxes. What's going on? And so I think we need to be very proactive and do what we possibly can if we have identified these illegal operators currently now. And that's just my last point. And so we have a comment, Councilman Tinajero. So this is the first emergency, and then we're going to be moving with the second vote. So Councilman Tinajero, and then Councilman Benavides, and yes, Candida?

We have sent them a letter. Fantastic. And if you want to clarify that, we can.

Great, thank you.

Thank you, Mayor Pro Tem. What I want for us to really consider and think about is we're one of the few games in town. And we need money because our staff, we're in negotiations with our police department as far as what we can do as far as helping with any salaries and so forth. we've had our city manager go before us and talk about how we need to generate revenue I don't want us to shoot ourselves in the foot they're coming because we're one of the few games in town you heard the city manager say this

was about market rate that where we're taxing right now let's not I know that it's it's it you know it might give us warm fuzzies to you know feelings inside to do that and feel good about it and we do but you know what we should feel good about the fact that we are regulating and promoting something in a responsible manner. So I just want us to really think about that because they're going to come here because we're one of the only games in town and they're not leaving. So this thing about, oh, well, you know, yeah, the startups are expensive, but there's a

lot of them that are already started up and they're going to want to apply and they're going to want to do business here in the city of Santa Ana because we are one of the few that have our own industry here in the city. So this is a prime location for people to come and test. And so I just want to encourage you to let's keep it where it is. It's not gouging them. Let's keep it where it is so we can continue to have a strong product and bring in revenue to the city that we desperately need. Thank you.

Councilman Benavides and the Councilman Solorio.

Thank you, Mayor Portem. I know that there definitely is a, we're in a unique position currently as a city where we have permitted both initially the medicinal and now the adult use, more recently adult use, and now we're looking at testing, and then we'll be talking as well about commercial. However, other cities are catching up, other areas are providing permits and allowing for some of these types of businesses.

And I know that there's cost to business, and I think, to my point earlier, we definitely want to be at a place where people want to come and set up shop here in the city. So I think reducing that minor from 6% to 5%, it's nominal, but yet I think it'll make it a little more competitive. And to that point, so I'm supportive of the motion of having it at 5%. We also received some communication with regard to the, and I'm not sure if you addressed it, I stepped out for a bit earlier, the liability, I think it's a liability, but insurance requirement,

having the $2 million versus $2 million requirement versus potentially a million dollar requirement and the cost for the business entity. I'm assuming that staff received that communication as well and basically this communication, and this came in actually a couple weeks ago, but we just received it today with a packet. So I don't know if staff has had the opportunity to look at what was being communicated to us, what was being conveyed.

But essentially, there was mention that at the $1 million insurance policy, that a cost to a lab is $20,000 annually, with a cost of $2 million as is currently written within our ordinance. And I would assume that it's going to be significantly more than $20,000.

So that's, again, another one of those points is to ensure that we're being as competitive as we can, that we're setting things up so that the businesses will be drawn here and set up shop here. Does this at all sound familiar? or staff had an option to look at it? These are our standard insurance requirements for, I believe, general liability, and we typically do $1 million and $2 million for businesses in the city. Regarding the $20,000 annual payment on that,

I can't state to that whether or not that is accurate or not. Okay. I wanted to see if staff could have any background on that or can speak to that at this point. At this point, I think we can potentially – this is only one letter, so I don't want to go based on one letter. At any point, we can come back and modify the ordinance if we need to. Thank you.

Great. Thank you. Councilman Solorio.

Yes, I'm supportive of 6% or 5%, but the reason why I am also up in particular to the 5% is our neighboring cities that are allowing this are at 6%. That's Costa Mesa and Long Beach specifically. That if we do 5%, it'll be of a draw to get them here. And 5% of something is a number, whereas, you know, 0% of 6% is 0. and so I'd rather have some rather than nothing. And I think it's close enough that the revenue loss really isn't significant,

and because our surroundings are a point higher, we may be able to be a magnet for more testing labs. And also the reason why I'm particularly supportive of testing labs as well is they have scientists, they have technicians, solid equipment. So from a job and manufacturing standpoint, they're good quality jobs. So I'm supportive of it just to keep it going. And for council members that may think it should be higher, we could revisit this in the future as well. And, you know, the market's also going to change. I mean, it's really kind of in a very initial stage at this market. So we just need to keep on top of the rates.

but it'll be a competitive advantage if we do this quickly and then we do it at 5%. So for that reason, I am supportive.

Thank you, Councilman Salota. Councilman Sarmiento?

Thank you, Mayor Pro Tem. And I was just going to follow up on some of the comments that were made earlier by members of the public who spoke, and I think one of them was addressed on some of the preexisting labs were noticed, and I think that was to Mayor Pro Tem's question. On this other question, I know that the legislature has taken up the issue on weed maps and on, I guess, sites, social media sites that advertise those that aren't licensed and unpermitted operators. Is there anything we can do aside from maybe sending a cease and desist letter, something to support what the legislature is doing?

Is that something that is within our ability to do as a local jurisdiction?

Well, I know that other communities have sued, and there is some talk about the state doing it as well.

I think there's a bill. I'm not sure if it's circulating. I don't know if it's been adopted yet or signed. So, in any event, maybe that's something, Madam City Attorney, you could look into for us.

Yeah, just to comment on that, the state already has this should a cease and desist to them, And I would like our city attorney to see if we should do a cease and desist or ways of partnering with the state in their lawsuit. Because I look at this as a theft of public funds where they are advertising illegal businesses that are not paying their fees and taxes to the city. So it's very important. Thank you. We will follow up.

Madam Perot.

Yes, Mr. City Manager.

I just wanted to clarify. I know there was some comments about us maybe getting involved in regulating in terms of quality testing labs. I want to sort of put that in perspective. The state is really the one that licenses labs. Really our role is, A, the policy question is to allow them. Then it's where do we allow them, citing. and then to the extent that there are any kind of operational impacts to the community, odor filtering systems required, that type of thing, that's sort of our purview. In terms of quality testing, we leave that to the state. And as you mentioned, they do have a pretty rigorous set of standards.

So I just wanted to clarify, that's not how we're approaching this. We're approaching it to address these three items that I raised. We're not looking at that. if they can get the license from the state, then we're not going to judge that. We're going to go ahead and figure out, do they meet with our standards and our criteria for location and neighborhood impacts and that type of thing.

Great. Thank you, Roe, City Manager. We had a first and a second for the emergency ordinance. All those in favor, please indicate by saying aye.

Aye. Abstain.

Five and one abstention. We're now moving forward with the regular ordinance. All those in favor, please indicate by saying aye.

Aye. Do we need a separate motion for that one?

Yeah, we're doing that. A and B.

Fantastic. Next item on the agenda. Would you also take action on the resolution? The third item is the resolution. Oh, my apologies. We have to adopt. I forgot number three. Thank you, Madam City Attorney. The third item is adopt a resolution of the City Council of the City of Santa Ana modifying the adult use cannabis retail registration application fee and regulatory safety permit do we have a motion to approve second motion approved we have first and second all those in favor please indicate by saying aye aye motion carries one abstention next item

is recess the city council meeting to convene a joint session of the city council and the housing authority agency the item 88 which is the affordable housing funds and policies and procedures The recommendation action is to adopt the draft of affordable housing funds policy and procedures subject to non-substantive changes approved by the city manager and city attorney. And we do have our staff here to make a presentation to the council.

Good evening, Mayor Pro Tem and council members. Robert Zerschmeade, Interim Community Development Agency Director. This item before you tonight had its genesis and a direction from the council last summer in June of 2017. the staff took that direction and worked on the policies and procedures that you had before you these have been reviewed by the redevelopment housing commission and recommended for adoption we've also had a couple of visits with the economic development infrastructure budget and technology committee we did make a number of changes to those and then this process culminated at your

last meeting with a workshop presentation by Judson Brown, who's here with me tonight. We would be happy, if you'd like to see that presentation again, we'd be happy to do that or perhaps entertain your questions. Thank you.

So great. It's bringing this. Councilman Benavides.

Thank you, Mayor Procter. I want to thank both my colleagues as a whole and the members of the Economic Development committee for for addressing hearing the the proposed ordinance and providing some feedback I think it's a or policies and procedures that is versus ordinance I had an opportunity thank for the presentation last last council meeting had an opportunity to sit with staff to look at the proposed policies and procedures.

And I feel very comfortable and I'm supportive. I think it's thorough. I think it addresses a variety of different opportunities to, in essence, continue to support affordable housing, have clear both guidelines, expectations. I think it clarifies as well for the affordable housing development community as to how they can process applications, ideas. One question that I do have of staff, and we talked a bit on the side, but I wanted to see if you can address this item.

So funds that come from outside government agencies, federal government, for example, have certain guidelines, stipulations when it comes to how the covenants and formulas by which the funds can be allocated and used. We have this opportunity, we have the Inclusionary Housing Fund that is specifically, clearly at the discretion of council or the city.

And I wanted to ask a question on, as we've been looking at addressing locally, there's been community members that have brought up issues on the increasing cost of housing in the city and the challenges around, and even the suggestions around just cause eviction, around issues, even discussion around rent control.

So my question is, if there were to be a housing developer that perhaps wanted to, on their own, have a – and I ask because I've not only have I been approached with this idea of a self-imposed rent control, if you will, by a developer, There is also an example, at least one right now, of a major, a wealthy individual, and there are several within the county that want to provide housing in that case specifically that they've brought up specifically to provide housing for the homeless community.

but perhaps it would be opportunities where others would follow suit from an altruistic standpoint, want to provide housing opportunities for lower-income families. If there is such a case, such a situation, how would – but yet they wanted to look at how the city might be able to partner without having as – without necessarily going to tax credits or having a very, either a large request or a very complex formula, is there an opportunity for us to be able to look at creative ways

to be able to have the city partner with such developers that might be looking at helping us address the housing needs? Yes, thank you very much, Council Member Benavides. If the city were to receive an unconventional proposal by an altruistic member of our community or county, and the developer did not want to submit a proposal under our regular open RFP process, that developer would actually be able to still submit their proposal through our city council-initiated proposal review process,

in which at least one council member would then submit a request to staff to review that developer's proposal and then we would have an outside real estate advisory advisor analyze that proposal and then bring it back to City Council for your review and recommendation if that that project felony in a by right zone that where the approvals for the project didn't require any discretionary actions by the city the developer could also submit a proposal for buy right funding under our buy right funding for achieving city goals and objectives

process and then staff would immediately form a review panel to review and in score their proposal for to move forward in the process thank you for for addressing that I think you know that and the other guidelines that have been presented by staff, I think are quite comprehensive. I think allows for some creativity and as well some very clear expectations. So again, overall supportive and I'd like to, I don't know if the, I'll cede to the Economic Development Committee if

one of them would like to make a motion, but I'd be very supportive.

Thank you, Mayor Pro Tem, and thank you, Council Member, and thank you to staff for the good work and I know that what we are trying to do is build in some safeguards and a good responsible process to be able to appropriate the funding sources for developments like this. I'm especially proud of the first criteria that talks about the level of affordability and target population which is to benefit those projects that introduce larger unit space. So in other words, two, three, four bedrooms, deeper affordability when it comes to serving the very low and extremely low income population here in the city,

and those families that have special needs and folks that are homeless. So those were three very important priorities, I think, and guidelines that hopefully the development community understands that we're trying to address. and our community different than other communities that are adopting affordable housing policy. Ours is a little bit more unique. Our AMI is very, very low relative to the rest of the county and relative to the rest of the state. So to the extent that these could be goals that we really set as baseline goals is very important.

So I appreciate that, and I appreciate the flexibility that we may have as well when we have a project that may be proposed similar to what the council member was describing. We don't want to do a sole source sort of opt-out element that swallows up the entire ordinance here, but we do want to be able to be flexible when it comes to something that's unique, extraordinary, and may provide some very, very strong benefits to the community in addressing our housing needs and our low-income population. So with that, I think this is a good step forward for predictability and having folks in the industry understand what we're looking for.

So thank you for the work.

I just wanted to comment, and I thank you for raising those points. A couple things. One thing that I failed to mention in our process of leading us here tonight is that we did involve the development community in the review of these, and they were very supportive of what we're proposing. And then the targeting for the lower income and family units, those are part of the evaluation criteria that we've developed. And that is not a static set of criteria. Those should be revisited from time to time, particularly in conjunction with the update of our housing element.

But we think the ones that we have in here tonight and for the foreseeable future are ones that the city will want to target on their housing projects.

Great. I'll just be very brief. I think I've given all my comments and committee, just wanting to thank you, Rob, and thank you, Judson, and your staff, and more importantly, thanking our commissioners that had the opportunity, our Housing and Community Development Commission?

Community Redevelopment and Housing Commission.

Yes, Commission, I want to thank them for reviewing this as well and providing their input. And then I'm wanting to thank the residents and the various developers that had the opportunity to review as well. I think when we all work together, we can come up with a really great policy and product. And so just wanting to thank members of the council that participated and those in the community and, of course, our staff. And with that, do we have a motion? I'll move the end. First and second. All those in favor, indicate by saying aye.

Aye.

Aye. Motion carries. thank you great fantastic thank you next item is 85a and i will be very quick with this item and and the reason why i decided to bring this item up as we and we've been talking about the financial issues that we're facing here in the city and possibility at you know always looking at getting financial audits and and etc we all know this is a you know a part-time mayor and part-time counsel. For those of you who have never seen our budget booklets, there are several

thousand pages and it takes me personally about a month to review in detail as being the chair of the Finance, Economic, and Technology Committee. It takes me about three days to review our CAFR. And so those are very extensive documents that we're responsible to review based on when our city manager brings them but I was I had the opportunity to speak to a couple folks in Irvine that they have a a commission that's similar to this which I'm asking for and which is a really a creation of a citizens finance finance advisory committee which they would essentially be reviewing plans financial

documents budgetary policies CalPERS activity labor contracts medical costs and auditor selection for the city and Irvine currently does this so and And I had the opportunity to speak to the chair of that committee. And what I can tell you is that when you have community participation, and we have various commissions, whether it's the planning commission, whether it's parks and recreation or personnel, we've never really had a commission on finances.

And I really believe it's a time to have an advisory committee for this council as we continue to have challenges and changes to make sure that we have members of our public that can provide input. But more importantly, I also believe that it doesn't have to be a standing committee that it can meet when we are going through our budget cycle. And typically that budget cycle, typically it's about six months as our staff starts to prepare. They start to go out and do community outreach meetings. This would be a perfect time for us to assemble a committee that would be able to review the items that I just mentioned here.

And certainly this is new to this council. And so I wanted to bring this forward for us to start considering this as I, you know, as you know, we're termed out in about eight months from this council. One of the things that I've always taken pride is reviewing our budget, reviewing all our documents. And sometimes I do get on our staff's nerves and asking different questions. But I have always made it a point in every regional board or committee that I sit on to always sit or participate in an audit committee. Like today at three o'clock, I was on an audit committee for SCAG.

And so I sit on all those committees all the time because I'm always trying to learn and learn best practices. But there's going to come a point in time where you're not going to have certain council members are going to be able to dedicate that kind of time. And so I think it's important for us to look at a hybrid and looking at a committee. There are four years ago, I asked possibly us either appointing a treasurer or some other form of elected. In Long Beach, they have elected treasurers, on and so forth.

So as we move forward to give stability to this council, to give stability to the public, year after year, we always hear we have a surplus, we're in a deficit. We have a surplus, we're in a deficit. A lot of confusion, not only on this council, but with members of the community, with various of our bargaining groups that they start to question, you know, who's telling the truth here. And so I believe if we're able to get an outside body to help, in particular, our residents and put an advisory committee like this would be very helpful to the city.

So I wanted to bring up that suggestion as I had the opportunity to speak to the chair of the finance committee in Irvine, and it's working very well in that city. Obviously, there's various forms of how you would assemble this, but I just wanted to bring this to the attention of my colleagues and something that we all should consider. if we choose to take direction here tonight fantastic if not maybe bringing it back to the committee that I chair to maybe put something together with our staff would make the most sense if this is the pleasure of the City Council but I just wanted to bring up this opportunity

councilman Villegas thank you mayor pro-tem so this would mean you form a committee and each council member would appoint someone in to form the committee correct correct yeah and I am supportive if the way I look at it it's a more education on the finances of this city to the public and so you know it but what are there then I'm gonna have how regularly would they meet is my

question you're talking about during so i don't think it needs to be a standing committee i think the only time i would recommend is when we start our budget process right between um and i don't know i don't have the budget calendar in front of me but when we start and i think it's about four or five months before we get into the june and july period so i would say a six month period that would give them an opportunity to review everything before um you know the budget approval comes before us and that discussion for us starts in the second part of june uh sometimes we start

in june and we approve it in july but definitely budget has to be approved by july i understand

the budget is public but you know having someone on a committee so they can look at and explain i'm not against that i actually would support this just like i said for educational purposes for the public.

If I may, Madam Mayor and protect, just reading here the scope, it goes beyond the budget, so I think we would have, I think it would be, I would recommend an ad hoc structure as needed, but for example, if we were to come up with a, some kind of, it says budgetary policy or some kind of fiscal policy, it would probably be helpful if we had this committee that we would bring it to them before we brought it to the council. So I think there's room for possibly even outside the budget cycle for this group to meet as needed depending on what the issues are. Certainly it's more work for staff, but at the same time

I agree with Council Member Villegas that it's invaluable to be able to educate our community about any aspect of government, whatever their interest may be. Planning Commission, members get to learn about land use,

personnel board, of course, they get to learn about employment law, etc. So ETAC members get to be involved with trees and other infrastructure. In this case here, City of Oakland, for example, they have a budget advisory committee, is what it's called. And they got into, beyond the budget, they got into infrastructure needs. They wanted to understand how much we weren't funded for infrastructure. And that was outside the budget. In the city of El Monte, I saw an existing sewer committee that just focused on sewer fees, and there were some issues with, apparently, with the sewer fees, the way they were collected

and all of that, and that grew to sewer and water. And by the time I left, they had morphed into a full budget advisory committee. So I've seen that happen. So it is pretty common in some cities to have this. Certainly, we would commit to working with this group and educating and soliciting feedback.

Councilman Dineajero. Thank you.

Mayor Pro Tem. I'm always very careful about starting another committee just because it can also lead to an increase in bureaucracy. I'm not saying that the idea is a flawed one. I'm just saying that there's also another side to it. One of the things that I've always mentioned is, you know, I've been in public office for quite some time i think uh council member soloria and i both got elected back in 2000 we when you know his hair was black and i had more hair so anyways but uh the reality is is that

along the ways i've seen um what can hurt an organization and at the end of the day it's all about human capital and what you have to be careful of is when we create an or something like this with something as sensitive as finance is if you don't have the right human capital in there, then our staff starts to get pulled in directions that may not be consistent with the council. And that's my concern with it. And so I just want us, as we make a decision, that we're thoughtful about how we're going to move forward. So right now I'm not sure. I want to hear more comment.

I want to hear more debate on whether or not I could support this right now.

Councilman Solorio, Councilman Benavidez.

Thank you. Just a couple of thoughts. I agree that it's always good to have more folks look at the financials of the city.

But I feel like when I was on the city council some years before, the city was understaffed. And I think it's more understaffed now. So I do worry of creating really what's a pretty heavy-duty committee here. and we're pulling them away from a lot of the other challenges that we have or that's part of the reason why sometimes some things take so long because folks are working on so many different projects but but having said that I think two alternatives might be more like an ad hoc advisory committee that maybe only meets just a few times a year and even better at least for this year just to

kind of pilot the general idea maybe some workshops focused in on some of these areas but I do think too we got to be a little bit careful of some of these subject matters because I know once you start talking about labor contracts and medical costs you get into collective bargaining issues and you know we got to be just mindful of what we ask them that to think about so let's keep that in mind so again workshops I'd be open to initially and possibly also an ad hoc but only in a very limited way with a more narrow scope because again we can get into some uh

collective bargaining uh problems as well thank you great thank you councilman um councilman benavides and then councilman sarmiento thank you mayor portem uh i think i would have some

of the comments i think there is some some uh opportunity to potentially have uh some members of the community that have expertise perhaps in this area of specifically uh budgets and reviewing and financials. Because a number of us still have a number of questions around it, one of those being the amount of staff resources and time, perhaps having the Economic Development Committee look at this in a bit more detail, looking at the examples. You referenced Irvine, City Manager referenced a couple of other examples, and then zeroing in on the specifics, on

frequency and areas of study or analysis, and then making the recommendation for Council, I think it would be helpful. So that would be my recommendation.

I agree with that recommendation, Councilman Benevides. Councilman Sarmiento?

Thank you, Mayor Pro Tem, and thank you for bringing this before us as well. I know that this has been a subject matter area that's been important to you. And I just had a question for staff. I know that a few years back what we had done was and it was odd because what the council used to do in the past is adopt a budget and then they go out to the public and explain what it was that we adopted we inverted that in the past because we realized that it was it should have been the other way around and it should be the other way around where we go to the public and we try to

introduce what the budget is is you know appears to be get comments from the public see adjustments that we need to make and then we bring back a better more well-drafted budget based upon the comments that we've heard from the public so I understand that we're required to go out to the public and have certain hearings already and meetings with the public and I know that we've done that in the past and I've attended a few so isn't that what we do already and the other thing is that I know something that we've spoken about at length with mayor pro tem is just to understand not just for the public's sake but for the council's sake

what are the accurate what's the accurate information what are the levels of funding we have in different funding areas and just to get a better picture of where we are and we've talked about an audit or a forensic audit as we go into labor negotiations we've discussed you know whether or not we're dealing with numbers that are accurate on our end, whether they're being challenged by some of our bargaining units. But we have committees that address budget issues. Again, we have to go out to the public for public meetings and hearings. And we have some other committees that have never been formed either,

so I'm worried about forming one other committee. Just what comes to mind is something I think that even Mayor Pro Tem and I talked about a Citizens Review Board. I don't know where that is. You know, a landlord-tenant working group. I don't know where that is. So, you know, these are all very important subject matter areas. I just think, again, I think to somebody's point earlier, we have a very thinly spread staff. And I think these are all well-intentioned. I think these are thoughtful, important areas that we need to dive into. But we have to be very prudent and careful with the very limited resources we have.

So, you know, I think at the very least, you know, because we're dealing not just with staff time, but this is expense as well. These are, you know, these are monies that we're expending. You know, maybe it's better spent on, you know, selecting an auditor and being robust with that auditor and the hearings that we go out with to the public when it comes to budget matters. But I know our Director of Finance is standing up, and he's eager to say something, so I'll go ahead and cede the floor to him.

Thank you. Mayor Pro Tem, City Council. Yes, actually, under the Sunshine Arms, we're required twice a year to provide an educational, what we do is provide an educational forum for the public in terms of budget, where we try to outline and present to them how the budget of the city is formed. Actually, it's put together. We're obviously a government agency. We're not like private sector, so we're a little bit different, complex, if you will. So we try to make, have the public understand what funds can be used for discretionary purposes,

what funds cannot be used, because for the most part the public thinks we have like this pot of money that can be spent for a lot of different things. So we try to present, hopefully in a simple format, a means by which for them to understand. Now, dependent on the city manager, it's to the pleasure of the city manager, how much more we get into in terms of most city managers like getting into the budget aspect so we can receive feedback from the public in order to enhance the budget so proposals do come back to the city council based on the various meetings that we have some city managers may have maybe a

handful of meetings we've had a city manager that we conducted like 13 to 15 meetings and went during during the course of a budget cycle. So we do try to provide an educational forum. It's the pleasure of the city council, if we were to form this, the scope. The scope can be very complex or very simple.

Right, but to the extent that we go out and require, we're required already under the Sunshine Ordinance to go out and inform the public and the community, but I've always understood that that wasn't information out and no information in. and I thought the value was we provide the information and we get the comments back. To me, what those responsive comments from the public are to you and your staff and the city manager staff, that helps us refine that budget proposal better, right? And we work from that document that's been augmented and refined by the public.

That's absolutely correct. We do receive comments from the public and questions from the public. And we actually take those comments in and we actually present them to the city manager and the city manager shares from what i understand are one-on-one conversations with the city council or presents it to the entire city council

i've never seen i know i know that you know that maybe maybe in theory that's what we're supposed to be doing but maybe where we need to be a little bit more um you know careful is how we do this now in practice because i think we you know it's been a few years and i think i think there's some not doubt but i think what we can do because it's such a big budget and because there are so many complex issues and to the extent we can get better at integrating and advising the council and i think i do remember seeing comments from the public back when we've when when you brought the budget back

to us so maybe that's something that is you know could be sort of a byproduct of this discussion as

well as part of the budget calendar in this year's process we have identified an opportunity for the city manager to meet with the city council on a one-on-one basis to review basically the comments that will be presented at the community meetings so I mean that's built into our process so I would hope you know that would be you know complete or if you will if that those comments actually get brought back

great thank you Fran and again I was just bringing this up as as we want to continue to make sure that our residents are engaged and engaged in probably one of the most important aspects of what the City Council does sometimes people ask us well what what is the City Council do look we were really empowered to do the tooth really two things set policy and approve a budget that is recommended by our city manager those are the two things of our job description where we're mandated to do as council people and so as we move forward you know in the past I've asked for participatory budgeting again we said we

couldn't do that because we didn't have any money you know it's always that case but obviously on issues like this I believe they're of importance but again I'm only one member of the council but I think as we move forward we need to consider and continue to making sure that we put the residents first and having them participate as much as they possibly can specifically with our budget it's great when you go through a sunshine ordinance process and I've been to them, they give a presentation, some people make comments, you know there's not a lot of time to really interact and I've asked a certain residents about that process.

It hasn't been a very fluid process and so when I've articulated about participatory budgeting where you actually get direct input and education and you're seeing participatory budgeting all over across the United States happening, we have yet to do that here. I asked for a pilot, I'm asking for us to make a consideration and again I'm only one member of the public but I just wanted to bring that to our to your all of your attention whether we want to move forward taking it to committee or not I'll leave that at the discretion of this council and councilman Solari I just came up

with another thought an idea too and I think maybe I heard councilman Sarmento speak to this too there are some workshops that occur and they've been occurring also before the sunshine ordinance I'll say hey we didn't start doing outreach on budget only you know since the sunshine ordinance we did it before but maybe what we got to do is look at the way we do those outreach meetings now so that they're more valuable to the attendees the staff and the council because i think even though these workshops occur the inputs never really come back to us and maybe it's never substantial enough that it makes a dent in

to what the staff is presenting for the budget, but that might be another first thing we could do too. Let's kind of re-envision our current sunshine meetings and processes that involves the public, and that would be an excellent starting point as well.

Maybe Mayor Pro Tem, just to follow up on that and follow up on the conversations that we had, would you be open to having the staff bring back recommendations on how they could implement the goals and objectives that you've set out for you to do. Oh, certainly so, yeah. And that way maybe they can advise us on how they can incorporate some of the priorities that you're talking about here.

And I'll take Councilman Benavides' recommendation to probably bring it back to our committee, staff to recommend, and then we can review that, and then if we think it's okay, we'll bring it back to the entire council.

The Honourable?

The Honourable staff begins to work on it and gives you recommendations at your next meeting because the budget process is now. Correct, exactly. So if we do all these back and forths, we'll really miss this budget cycle. And we have new leadership and different departments that can revisit how we do those workshops and outreach.

Okay, yeah, that sounds like a plan.

Do we need a motion for that?

Do we need a motion for that, Mr. City Manager? Do you want a motion for that?

I think what I'm hearing is to revisit how we conduct these Sunshine required meetings to make sure that they're more productive for the community that's being presented to and for the staff in terms of being able to get good feedback to present to the council, as Council Member Sarriento mentioned. I think I have a pretty good sense of that. And I like that recommendation because I think we can get this done and still be in time for our budget. And I will be looking at that. You know, this is my first run at this, so I think I could find some room for improvement just based on the feedback I received from you tonight.

Great. Thank you. Next item is 85B, which is direct the clerk of the council to accept impartial analysis, arguments, and rebuttal statements for the charter amendment as proposed for special municipal election on June 5, 2018, and as provided for in the election code, authorized city council members who desire to prepare and sign argument and furthermore include information on deadlines and guidelines on city website, council members Sarmiento and Benavidez.

I'll make a motion to approve.

I'll second unless there's discussion that needs to be had on this, but I think more than anything it's directing the clerk of the council to go ahead and set a revised calendar based upon submitting the arguments in favor and against and the rebuttals on the underlying issue that we addressed at the last council meeting regarding ward elections.

Okay. For the record, I'd like to state that the arguments in support or opposition will be due March 27th with the rebuttal statements due on April 6th. And that will be part of the guidelines that will be posted tomorrow morning.

Right, and this is simply to maintain a schedule in the event that there are favorable results on this, and the writ of mandate that's outstanding is successful, and it makes it before the vote of registrars, and that's accepted. So again, this is sort of a conditional way of keeping all our steps moving forward in the event that this is met favorably.

Sonia R. CarvalhoItem —

Yeah, I'd just also find light to mention that if, in the event that there are four or more council members who desire to draft an argument for one side or the other, this would be the time to identify who would be the author or who you would vote to say who is going to be authorized to sign that, just so that we don't have any allegations that these decisions were made outside of the public meeting. So that was part of what's here today, is if, and that's just giving you the opportunity.

Sonia R. CarvalhoItem —

So if there are four or more council members who are going to sign the argument, you would just need to make a motion, identify who those people are, and the clerk would be directed to accept the argument as council members do receive priority.

I think we should have the attorney write it, so I'm going to ask that Vince Sarmiento, Council Member Vince Sarmiento write it. Just to clarify, Madam City Attorney, if there were to be more than three council members signing an argument, are you suggesting that then that would be that would if there were to be more than three it would need to be an action taken in public because of Brown Act

is that in essence? Okay. So in this my assumption is that there were and just to take a step back the only reason that we're having to have this conversation because at the last meeting of March 6th there was an action that was voted on, a resolution approved by four members of the council, that the mayor then has opted to forego his ministerial duty that has brought us into a situation where we're having to set up alternative dates. And so that's what we're for for these arguments.

If we were to have the court allow us to proceed with having an item on the ballot on June 5th, So given that context, that's why we're here, why we're having this conversation. Again, going back, there were four council members who voted in support of the resolution. So my assumption that if there were going to be four to sign an argument in favor, that it would be those four. So I wouldn't want to limit it. So if we're having to take an action, then what I would say is that the action recommendation today,

They are a motion today that those four council members that voted in support of the resolution would then be allowed to go ahead and sign the argument in favor if they were to choose to.

So, I don't want to put it. We obviously haven't had this discussion. I didn't know that we're going to have to have this.

Sonia R. CarvalhoItem —

It isn't that you have to have a full-blown discussion. You just have to acknowledge in public if more than four of you are going to make that decision. That way it's on the record. in some places we get allegations of, well, how did they all agree on that language? When did they do that? So the most prudent way to do this is to take the action as part of the 85A. That's why it was drafted.

So would it be a motion and that's required?

Sonia R. CarvalhoItem —

You could just make a motion and say that you, as a council, authorize the members that desire to sign it. That's all you have to do if you desire to do that. If there's not four or more, then that action would not be necessary, and three could sign it.

So I would just recommend to the maker of the motion that it would be amended to state that the four that voted in favor of the resolution may sign the argument in favor. And then, again, since we haven't had discussion, I guess that would allow for us to choose to sign at a later date if we do that.

I would say the only thing I would interlineate on that is that it would be at least four, because you never know. maybe a couple of them might change their minds and you know so it's true

which would make sense for them to do so we would welcome that right welcome that it would be a

happy day so we have a first and a second all those in favor please indicate my state aye aye no four two great motion passes i want to keep as i said i was going to get us out of here by nine I'm way past that now, so I feel bad. So now we're going to recess to the City Council and convene the Housing Authority meeting. Any public comments at this time, Madam Clerk? I have not received any requests. I approve the consent calendar, Items 1 and 2, and excuse Mayor Polito. Have a motion?

Second.

All those in favor, indicate by saying aye.

Aye.

Great. Business calendar, Items Number 3 was already considered as part of the City Council Agenda Item. can i get a motion to approve second all those in favor indicate by saying aye great housing authority member comments we don't have any great thank you adjourning the housing authority and reconvening the city council meeting i'm going to take the work studies at a session i'm going to do the first one the commercial cannabis non-retail we'll do that study session first and if we have still a majority of the council then we'll move with the other two

Good evening again.

Tonight we're going to discuss the current, just give you a general overview of what we're going to discuss tonight. The currently allowed cannabis uses, our prohibited uses. We're going to make some general recommendations regarding where we'd like to go on this and also describe to you the individual types of licenses for cannabis uses and make some analysis of those uses as well as recommendations. I'd like to start out, we all know that in Santa Ana, medicinal cannabis retail was first permitted in 2014.

We've been operating now for over three years. And adult cannabis retail came on in just under three months. And it involves both retail sales and delivery. we see we are also allowing personal grow areas in residential neighborhoods and that's on and that's only up to three plants okay so the next a little bit of background non-retail commercial

commercial uses include testing which we approved tonight as well as manufacturing or processing distribution cultivation and micro businesses right now the current status that we have are 18 real retailers are currently operational 20 are licensed we have up to 30 allowed by our by our ordinance the phase one application

process has closed on March 1st and we received 53 applications for the 10 remaining spots now the non retail cannabis uses are a portion of a larger cannabis the supply chain so it starts out with their non-public in nature they're typically highly technical industries and they are very similar to

those uses that we already permit in industrial zones for non-cannabis so I'm gonna I'm gonna say that again when we they're very similar to the uses that we permit in our manufacturing zones for non retail medicinal or general retail in terms of locational requirements are we're going to maintain that thousand foot boundary that we have for retail uses all of our retail uses it's a buffer from our sensitive land uses we're fixing that similar to we what we

recommended and you adopted for the testing we're fixing that as the map that was defined at the time that measure BB was adopted so that will be consistent in and they are allowed in the M1 and M2 zones we're not proposing any cap on the number of permits issued and we are not asking for any distance requirements between the types of uses cultivation is the first type of use I'd like to talk about we are recommending only allowing it indoor and only

permitting it again within the industrial districts it is a but it's it's expected to be a we're not expected expecting to be as competitive in cultivation as we may be in other types of uses probably what we can anticipate seeing our boutique growers and growers that are related to some of our individual cannabis businesses says that are pre-existing we won't be able to compete with a large greenhouse areas that you'll find up in places like

Solvang and Northern California but we will we can expect them to be able us to be able to do indoor growing facilities they are very resource intensive they have green waste is one of the issues that's very that's a concern to the state and is very as very strictly regulated manufacturing is the next use that we'd like to talk about manufacturing that typically it's a very

small footprint we think about manufacturing they're usually very large uses however we're generally we're looking at about 500 to 2,500 square feet in terms of a many manufacturing uses they also may be done in in conjunction with other other uses and are generally divided into two categories volatile and non-volatile use it's very similar to our existing zoning categories for

industrial uses in general they have a highly educated workforce they are generally require a large investment in high-tech and high-tech equipment and

they would be generating two types of revenues business to business tax as as well as the gross receipt fees that we're proposing now for the product itself. Some concerns we have are odor concerns as well as fire safety. We're very lucky to be contracting with OCFA because they've been very proactive in the cannabis industry and have developed some manufacturing guidelines that will address some of the hazardous materials concerns.

Distribution. Distribution is typically we think about it's not delivery, it doesn't mean anything that you'd be distributing, passing out samples that type of thing what we're talking about is the any time the state has set it up so that any time cannabis is moved from one spot to another so from the cultivator to the manufacturer it has to go through a distributor and from the manufacturer and then to the retail so each on each

leg of those journeys it has to has to be done by a licensed distributor they can be and again they can be transmitted on either a wholesale or to consumers or to the retail component testing we discussed testing earlier and you have now adopted it micro business we're including this this is the last type of license that the state holds we are not recommending we are not recommending

entering into this part of the business license holders mostly because this type of license holder allows you to do the full range of of the industry so you could do retail sales cultivation distribution and manufacturing and for cities that want to limit the number of retail facilities that you have it's not recommended that you have a micro business license because retail is a

component of that might that range of licenses or range of services that the license provides so because of that we are not recommending that this used to be that this license used to be approved and so now we're on to the next step on April 3rd we'll be having the second reading on the ordinance for legalizing testing of cannabis products and we will be bringing back to you a first reading on cultivation manufacturing and distribution depending on the input that

we receive here tonight if those schedules work move forward we're looking at spring 2018 beginning of May I believe May 7th would be the first times that the testing licenses would actually be operable. And then summer, where we would be getting, right now, we are going into phase two, as we talked about earlier, in terms of the existing retail licenses that we have. And so we're expecting those uses to be able to be on board, the last 10 uses on board by summer 2018.

and then late summer, early fall to allow the remainder of those uses to be operational. If you have any questions. Thank you, Candida.

Bring it back to the council. Comments?

Do we have any comments on this item? No, we have not received any questions. It's really a study session. We can't really go back and forth. And so it's for us to give opportunity to the staff, come back, and then I'm assuming our staff will go back out to the operators and have conversations with them and others that have interests based on our input so that we can come to some middle ground when we do come back again, as you're indicating, late summer, early fall with an ordinance. So comments, Councilman Benavides?

I do have some questions, staff. So with these other uses, how does the – is there any implication to the currently existing or approved either medicinal or adult use retail? How does that – or have we identified whether there will be any type of priority given or process to be able to – We have the whole process for the retail. Are we looking at something similar? And will, again, if they are currently permitted and or on a wait list,

have we clarified how that's going to impact the selection? Or is there going to be a selection? I guess we don't have necessarily a cap on most of these. The process will be very similar to the process described for testing. they'll be able to do they'll be asked to do both a registration permit which says that your location approves the general location and one of your operators and then they'll also be required to go through the regulatory safety permit process which requires background checks but there will be no merit criteria in terms of selecting operators

because once again we don't have a cap on it

So a couple other questions. You mentioned odor as one of the things that would need to be addressed. Do we have that figured out? How we're going to address that, how that's being addressed elsewhere? We'll be using state standards. We'll be meeting state standards that address that and looking for best practices that will be adopted in reviewing and implementing it. I will have a few additional questions here, but then I also would like to set up a follow-up meeting with staff

to be able to do a deeper dive. Oh, certainly. So if we can, Jorge, if you can help me schedule that. So I'll go ahead and...

Thank you, Councilman Benavides. It is Councilman Dinajero, followed by Councilman Sarmiento, and then Councilman Solorio.

I just have a very quick couple of comments. First, I just want to make sure in your packet it says that you're looking towards a first reading by April. Is that correct? Yes, we are. Okay. And so I just wanted to make sure that we move forward and expedite. I would like to be able to vote by May or first meeting in June. I don't want to wait until the fall because things might change up here. So I want to be able to set the direction early so that we can start moving on that.

So if we need more staff, then at that point I would also ask that you all take a look at some consultants that can help you expedite this so we can move forward. That's all I have to say.

If I may comment, Madam Mayor Pro Temp. Yes.

Just to clarify for Councilman Vitina and all the rest of the council, what we want to do is actually get this before you as early as possible, hopefully get this approved, because what we want to do is before the end of July, we'd like to have something ready to put on the ballot to codify some of the fee agreements that we're recommending here. so we'd like to make sure the council is comfortable and in fact has approved whatever uses ultimately get approved for that purpose so for that purpose we're going to be pushing to get it done as quickly as possible now the actual processing we don't know how that's going to work but we're

certainly not going to have any caps we believe that the geography of the situation will sort of dictate a natural cap they're only allowed in certain zones they have to be away from sensitive uses what I believe will happen is the existing dispensaries have indicated a lot of them, but not all of them, have indicated a desire to get several of these permits. They want to do a little bit of manufacturing, a little bit of perhaps cultivation, but it'd be boutique. And then you might have some folks that want to come in and just do manufacturing, separate from the retailers that are already in town.

They might want to come in and just do manufacturing or do cultivation or a combination of those two and distribution, for example. So in terms of the cap, I wanted to answer that, that we don't propose a cap, but we think that ultimately there's only gonna be so many that can fit within our areas. And we anticipate that type of a mix, either folks that are retailers that are gonna be vertically integrated, that's what they call it, vertically, and then you're gonna have other folks that aren't gonna do retail, that are gonna focus on A, the manufacturing or cultivation and distribution.

Great. Councilman Sarviental.

Thank you, Mayor Pro Tem. And so I'm way behind this curve because I haven't seen any of the lead up to this just because I've been sort of outside the discussion. But, you know, I think the point I was going to make is the one I think you brought up, Mr. City Manager, about being in compliance with Prop 218, Prop 26, making sure that we eventually go down that path and make sure the voters decide this. We can do this by sort of a creature of state law, which is a development agreement, being able to create negotiated terms. But after a while, it's going to become very dangerous for us to continue proceeding that way.

So I do think the prudent thing to do is to go out and put this on the ballot for the voters to decide ultimately. Again, for me, taking this next step, I always want to make sure that we've finished what we started with Measure VB. let's not lose sight of the enforcement for those rogue, unpermitted shops that continue to be out there, and hopefully funding sources from some of these new industry operators will provide additional enforcement dollars so we can make sure that we have nothing but permitted licensed operators in town. The other question on moving to sort of this non-retail and I guess the supply side of the industry,

is that you really don't have the secondary impacts that the retail side has. So I can see why we don't need to have buffers between the businesses themselves. So that's obviously helpful. But one thing that we didn't do during the first round of Measure BB and the retail industry was just talking about community benefits and seeing how this could be a job creator for us as well. And, you know, there are opportunities that, you know, Santa Ana's turning into more. We don't want it to turn into a consumer community. We want it to turn into a community that's going to understand this industry. The industry is going to grow.

It's going to grow nationwide. And so to the extent folks can continue to or can participate, maybe not continue, because there really hasn't been an effort to involve and, you know, make the operators responsible for creating jobs, training, investing in the community, and being real community partners. The idea would be that residents would have not just employment opportunities, but equity shares in this. So to the extent those models have been out throughout the state and in other states, I think there really is an opportunity here for this new industry to come in and have responsibility thrust upon them.

you know they're going to have a benefit by operating in the city there are going to be impacts and to the extent that residents can benefit from this new industry and its opportunities for jobs and upward mobility i mean that's something i think that all of us can get behind you know and the industry i'm sure would welcome that more than anything they'd want to welcome being able to employ residents that live in the city train folks that live in the city for them to provide you know living wages benefits you know good quality paying jobs i mean that's what we're

looking for for our folks here in town so please have that as part of the package when it comes back to us you know I'm sure that you know when you go out and speak to the industry they'll be receptive to that as well thank you

Councilman Tarmento Councilman Soloria yes thank you and like Councilmember

Benavides I too would like a follow-up staff meeting or two as this progressive progressive but a few initial thoughts I'm generally okay with having no caps on these items with the exception of cultivation I personally feel that most these other categories do have good paying jobs with potential and manufacturing and I see really a strong economic capability but I do fear that we're gonna replace a lot of our advanced manufacturing facilities and

and replace them with cultivation, which often really is just heavy on lights, heavy on water, but with minimal staffing. So I'd like staff, for example, to instead consider definitely for the existing dispensaries, I do see on-site opportunities for them that should be prioritized because it could really leverage their marketing, their economic potential. but for opportunities off-site, maybe putting a cap on those. Maybe it's 30, maybe it's 50. I'd like to hear from the industry as well what a reasonable cap might be.

As well as I think there's the reality that because this is something that's heavy on the need for lighting and water, a lot of this activity really in Maskeel is going to occur in the desert areas, northern California, and not as much in urban areas. So that's a thought. With respect to micro businesses, the way I look at that is not that we're not recommending that, but at this time. So just maybe five, ten years down the road as the industry matures, that might be something to think about. Or as I understand, the lounge concepts kind of go hand in hand with micro businesses,

and maybe we're ready to go down that path or not. again I'd like to hear from the industry on thoughts on that even though staff at this point is not recommending it. I also want to see that the prior actions that we took in terms of the revenue generated from this industry that we have the same formula and idea that it go that the revenue go to enforcement in youth programs especially you know the drug prevention and think things of that sort then i agree with council member uh sarmiento that even though this may

not be a competitive process per se on the whole that we still ask for local hire labor peace agreements and partnerships from the community with possible um and then finally and i'll mention it here even though i think this also applies to the current process we have underway for the the adult use newcomer applications. I think there was quite a bit of council conversation when we were discussing the merit applications to only have one application per property.

And I've already have heard many concerns about staff thus far not really moving in that direction and it's unfortunate. it. I know I've talked to the city attorney's office and would like to follow up about ways to still consider all applications that we receive but to somehow follow the direction that council have provided on that. And similarly here, I don't want to see scenarios where just because we leave it ambiguous that we take in multiple applications per site, that would be problematic and even though we may not envision it now, it's a very creative

industry and I want to make sure that there isn't that kind of confusion that this go around and to the extent possible on the existing applications that we work very closely with our city attorney's office on how to address this issue of multiple applications per property maybe it's they can be considered you know at a time not all at once so those are my initial thoughts Thank you.

Thank you, Councilman Soloro. Councilman Benavides.

Thank you, Member Tim. Just a brief comment. Well, one request and then a comment. One is if you could provide to Council so we have enough time to review the overall, to the degree that you have established any information ordinances already spelled out or more of the technical requirements, One of those things specifically is any type of fees that are being recommended, the tax structures and that type of thing.

And to that point, again, to be consistent with some of the other conversation we've had is wanting to make sure that we are competitive, looking at where we are in comparison to other cities that are permitting these types of uses.

We're talking about this and considering this because we see that, one, it's been approved at state level, but we also want to be able to take advantage of the potential revenue generation. However, we can't make the assumption that the businesses will come here if we're out of line with other cities, other municipalities. So I want to make sure that we're being very intentional about drawing these types of businesses. if we're going through this whole process of identifying zones, of spelling regulations,

that we also set ourselves up to be successful and to be the place to be able to do this, have this type of quality business, businesses done in a quality way so that we do, in fact, generate revenue. So I'd be interested in getting a chance to see kind of the rationale, and if we're recommending something different than what we have in the retail for some of these other different types of abuses.

Thank you, Councilman Benavides. I'll make some very quick comments because I agree with a lot of stuff that's already been said, so I won't repeat it. But in particular, the first question that I would ask our staff is, one, do you, based on your timeline here, I'm assuming it's because you have capacity issues, why you're going to the late summer, early fall to allow for the other uses, which is manufacturing, distribution, and cultivation. Is that a – why are you pushing it so late versus trying to move us, as Councilman Dinajero said, possibly May, early June?

Well, we will have the ordinance to you on April 3rd. we're talking about second reading on April 17th. The application process, just the structure of it, takes about 45 days, and then we'll be processing plus, 45 days plus if we don't do that, and then we'll be getting those applications processed. Then they have to come in and they have to do modifications to the buildings. That involves inspections,

and ultimately then they would be operational. So a lot of it depends on working with the businesses. That's a fairly conservative estimate, but that's what we're looking at. Yes, Mr. City Manager.

No, I just wanted to echo that I will, well, staff can attest that I've been pushing for us to get this done as quickly as possible. But I wanted to comment on, based on what I'm hearing here, particularly the community benefits comments, as I'm thinking here, and I haven't had a chance to talk with my staff how we can get this done in a non-competitive fashion, originally when we were looking at caps for all these different uses, we were looking at 20, and that was sort of a number that I inherited. We were looking at a competitive process when we first brought these uses to you, I guess, in December.

and we had a criteria that had points for job creation, investment, and all of that.

As I'm thinking here, we might have to rethink how we...

Well, we still have the tool of the operational agreement, and part of the components of the operational agreement include a community benefit plan, which commits them to doing certain things, and that was where we... In the initial, in the retail applications, we included the...

Maybe you guys should include that still as an option?

Yes, that we will still be doing an operational agreement.

Because I'm not finished with my comments, if I can. I just thought you had that one issue, because I know we want to get out. Just let me finish. So the second thing that I had as it pertained to this issue, for me, is as I look at this industry, and I've probably been one that's been very critical more because of a process. But I do think we have an opportunity that as we've learned, I would ask the industry to continue to communicate with our staff and provide as many white papers as possible, best practices, have some roundtable discussions to get the best information as possible

before this ordinance comes before us. And I know council members are going to be meeting with the various staff so that we're not up here cutting and dicing and trying to last minute and I think this is where sometimes we kind of get in many respects you know we fail because you know all it's coming at the 11th hour and that the last thing that we want is for all these uses and information to be coming to us at the 11th hour and we're all trying to figure out how are we gonna make these changes so I think we have enough time to have communication with the industry have

communication with the city council bring something that you know is very favorable to everyone and then we can make whatever final touches we need to by this you know may um you know late summer position um timeline that you're providing to us i also you know as we're updating our general plan and i've spoken to you about this candida about creating an innovations district this is a perfect opportunity as we look at manufacturing and distribution there's a various other types of businesses that are tied to this industry and so there's a lot of accelerators a lot of startups it would be very fascinating for us to figure out

within the distribution side in the manufacturing side to look at making sure that if we have no caps that you know they're not like the retail component where they create you know the retail or the medicinal where there's a lot more you know attention needed with our staff these other manufacturing and distribution, you know, I think they will run smoothly on their own, but there's an opportunity for us to leverage this industry in particular with the other, whether it's marketing, whether it's other businesses such as startups, to bringing them together in a cluster so that

we could have an innovations district. And even with our high tech and medical, trying to figure that out I think would be important for us as we move forward as we want to make sure that this industry is successful. Secondly as well I would just ask for us to also look at the opportunity as we talk about community benefits you know certainly the revenue that is needed for the city and why we're trying to move quickly with this. I would just take caution as we look at how much revenue is being generated and I think we have these expectations that

cultivation is going to bring this much money or distribution is going to bring this much money manufacturing look the city of Bellflower had the opportunity to do a cannabis fiscal economic impact study and they hired RSG where they were able to show the city look if you have no limit on manufacturing or distribution or you have a limit on your retail this is how much money you will be able to generate within three to five years. I think it's important not just for the industry, but important for us to know what these expectations are. Because if we think that

the marijuana industry is just going to solve the financial problems of our city, we're mistaken by that. And that's the last thing that we want to do is continue to, you know, hey, we want this industry here because, you know, we're going to tax them and take all their money. Obviously, you know that's unrealistic for us to just think that that one industry is going to be able to solve our problems and so we can't continue to think that way but we need to make sure that we're able to understand within three to five years if we were to do a study like this this is what our expectations are

you know but to go over the top now and just assume that they're going to bring x y and z dollars and this is why we're choosing to tax them or limit.

Personally, I don't believe that is the direction that we should take. I think we need to be more proactive and be realistic about how much revenue they actually can generate for the city. And so those are just my comments right now on this. I look forward to working with the industry to get some of those best practices and any white papers that are available so that we can have a more robust conversation and have an ordinance that makes the most sense for this city. And with that, is there any more comments on this item? If not, I think you guys have your guys' direction on this

and meetings that will be scheduled fairly soon as we move forward. Because of the interest of time, I think my colleagues want to postpone the two work-study, the two other work-study sessions. No? Just very quickly. Okay, Rob. No, they're saying.

I think Willowick is very brief.

Willowick is very brief. Okay, go ahead, Rob. Just come and come. Willowick is very brief.

You have two minutes, Rob.

All right.

Two minutes, and I'm timing. I'll give you my two minutes, five minutes during my speaking time, so you've got an additional.

William, we're going to have to go to next month. Sorry, buddy.

Thank you, Mayor Pro Tem and Council Members. I just wanted to give you an update tonight on the Willowick progress on Willowick. As you know, there's the, okay Back in December we had a joint meeting of the two city councils And then since then, staff from both cities And our group has included Mark Morley, myself, Candida Neal And Vince Fragoso, as well as reps from our city attorney's office And Garden Grove staff, we've met a couple of times We had a conference call with the city managers And we have identified some recommended next steps We're giving you this in a workshop format tonight.

We're proposing to bring forward an agreement between the two cities at your next meeting. And what we're basically proposing is that we move forward with some planning effort for the site. We would jointly fund, the two cities would jointly fund an economic advisory consultant and then a community facilitator. The community facilitator, you've had some updates in this in your notable communications, would be out meeting with the community, particularly trying to involve communities in the area and tailoring the solicitation of that input to the communities.

At the same time that those two processes would be going on, we would develop an RFP for a master developer. We think we can save some time by doing these things jointly. That was a suggestion that came out of a conference call with our two respective city managers. And then the other thing that the agreement concludes is a recommendation to form a steering committee, three council members from each city. Not exactly sure what the function of that is going to be, but it would be used as a sounding board as we move through this process, which is going to take some time.

And again, our next step would be to, we have the draft agreement now, would be bring it to this body on the 3rd, and then Garden Grove would be scheduled to take it a week later to their council. I'll be happy to answer any questions.

Yes, Rob. Just very quickly, do you need us to make a recommendation to these three options now? Do you want us to make this committee? I guess I'm asking, what are you asking for us tonight?

A discussion item. If some of these are things that the majority of you feel strongly against, for example, we're sort of checking in and saying, are we going on the right track? This is sort of what the two staffs and the two cities have decided to move forward with, and just checking in before we bring it to you in April.

I think you guys are moving in the right direction.

Let's do it. If you can do it tomorrow, it'd be that much better. We've been waiting. It's a great opportunity. Let's pursue it. Let's do it.

Councilman Solorio.

Yeah, just a couple of quick things. Willowick is in my ward. Put the timer on. Yes, put the timer on. No problem. Willowick is in my ward, so I'd love to be on the steering committee. That's number one. Number two, I think if we hire a master developer, I don't see why we couldn't ask them to hire an economic advisory consultant and a community facilitator as part of their team. And I know in brainstorming with our city manager, that actually was a creative thought that oftentimes you could get a master developer that can absorb a lot of these functions and would gladly do it as part of some scope of work.

Yeah, the reason we've suggested this is that we felt that we could get that process started while we're selecting the developer, starting to meet with the community. There may be some more community work to do that I think the developer could pick up that cost, absolutely.

But you could make the argument and vice versa. You can get the developer going and they can do all this stuff.

The other thing on the economic advisory, I would say, is that I think both cities would want someone advising us that's independent from the developer entity. That, I think, would argue for hiring the economic advisory consultant.

Possibly, but part of that is process. I mean, you could say to the master developer, give us three options of economic advisory consultants and the staff or the ad hoc committee chooses. But I know here we're just brainstorming, so those are just my thoughts. Thank you. Thank you.

Councilman Sarmanto?

Yeah, just briefly on the flip side, on the community facilitator. To the extent that we're still conceptualizing, we're still talking at a very high level, the last thing I'd want is for us to alarm some of the residents and the community members around the site. In other words, they may think, hey, this open space that I moved to and the reason why I bought my house was because I could have a view of the golf course. behind it now is going to be taken away from me. It's going to be intensified. So just, you know, if we do go down that path of retaining a community facilitator, let's just make sure that the way

this information is presented, it's very noncommittal. It's just more to get thoughts and, you know, more to get opinions and comments from those in the area. But the last thing I want is to alarm folks and to think that, you know, their quality of life is going to be eroded. it's going to be changed and this is a done deal and you know and that type of thing so you know I just want us to be real sensitive whoever it is that we

retain and the in the meetings that we've had with Garden Grove we have emphasized that I think to take a hundred acres of open space and then do whatever is ultimately going to be done with it whatever that ultimate thing is is going to have a lot of open space and and I think that's the whole purpose of the community facilitation part is to involve those communities and get those things listed as

goals for the project. The difference between us and Garden Grove is we're going to have to absorb and deal with the impacts, right, and deal with the responses from the residents. Garden Grove isn't. That's exactly right. They're just going to see the revenues and the benefits. So it's up to us to make sure that we are very careful as we go down this path. So, thank you.

Great. Thank you, Councilman Sarmiento. Any more comments? If not, I think you have some.

Move the item. Thank you.

Yeah, there's no, yeah, no, it's a work study, but I think you're moving in the right direction, Rob. Thank you for letting me present it. Thank you so very much. You went over your two minutes, but it's okay. Next, we're going on to city manager comments. Mr. Godinez.

I'll try to go through these kind of quickly. I wanted to announce that we had an ABC grant, and the police department, our police department, had the best stats when it came to administering this grant. We had, in 2017, 18, 20 people were cited, three people were booked, a total of 23 arrests, and we probably maximized that grant better than anybody else in the state. So to keep you brief, I think it's something we could be proud of. Second note, I wanted to just inform everybody that there is an effort.

It's called Map Your Neighborhood, and it's a small group workshop where neighbors can work together to come up with a neighborhood response plan. This is an emergency response plan in the case of a disaster. We have staff from the police department and planning and building agency that have worked with some of the neighbors on disaster preparedness. And there's a training for Santa Ana property managers on Map Your Neighborhood that will be held this coming Tuesday, March 28th, in the Public Works training room from 6 to 8 p.m. Willard neighborhood was the first to participate, so kudos to them.

And last, I just wanted to announce that the police department has launched a teen program. And the goal of the program is to increase understanding and mutual respect between the Santa Ana youth and the city police department. And also, we'd like to start getting people interested in working for the police department. So, anyhow, right now we have an academy that was concluded on Tuesday, March 13th. 22 students from Segerstrom High School graduated and received a certificate. There were two sessions last year. We want to have three sessions this year. And I think it's something we look forward to.

Thank you, Mr. Godinez. Next is Council Member Comments, and I'll go with Councilman Sarmiento.

Thank you, Mayor Pro Tem. And I just wanted to thank staff for all the good work tonight that you all did. I appreciate it very much. I know there was a lot of information to present to us. I also wanted to thank some of my colleagues who were here this Saturday. We hosted the hearing that Judge Carter held on the homelessness matter and the homelessness over at the riverbed. So I think there were some very good things that came out of that. I know the mayor was here, Councilman Solorio, and I were here, and mayors and council members from other cities that are being impacted.

Unfortunately, I didn't see a lot of South County mayors and council members, which was disappointing. But there was some very good information that the judge shared, and he did single out the problem of dumping that we've been dealing with for many, many years. and I think he called it out very strongly, and he put everybody on notice that if other cities come and dump their folks here in our city, they're looking at a potential federal violation. And he had a U.S. attorney here that was standing by his side when he made those, I don't want to call them threats,

but they were admonitions, I think, that he made for everybody to understand. We know it's been going on for a long time. We know that the demographic of the homeless population is very different from the demographic here. that we have in the city. So it's very obvious. So I'm very heartened by that. I'm heartened by the fact that he's looking at Irvine as a site for some temporary shelters or permanent shelters, Huntington Beach, and Laguna, Niguel, I believe. So to the extent that he realizes Santa Ana has done more than its share, I'm very optimistic by the comments he made and by the path that he's going down. So that was one.

My last comment was, you know, and I wanted to thank and congratulate the chief. I know that I wasn't at the tail end of the last meeting to congratulate him on his appointment as a permanent police chief. And so kudos to you. I really appreciated your comments when I saw you at the swearing-in and you said that you're here to protect and represent all the members of the city. You know, residents, you know, documented, undocumented, everybody in town. So I really am glad that you opened up with those words because, unfortunately, we see a lot of other cities that don't really understand the type of policing that you do.

Bad actors are held responsible here in town. This is a lawless community, and to the extent that maybe we share that, and Mr. City Manager, I'll implore you to do that, maybe what we do is reassure our residents and even our neighboring cities that we respect the rule of law. And because we are a sanctuary city doesn't mean that we forgive people who are bad actors. In fact, what it does, I think it enhances our policing skills, and it protects everybody in the community. So we just want to message that because, unfortunately, there's a lot of misinformation and misrepresentation of that.

So I ask you if you could go ahead and share that with all of our residents. Thank you.

Thank you, Councilman Sarmiento. Councilman Benavides.

Thank you, Mayor Pro Tem. We start at the other end. I do things a little differently. Yeah, okay. I was going to say, you just caught me off guard. A couple of comments. I thank you, Councilman Sarmiento, for your comments with regard to the fact embracing and reminding the community that we are a sanctuary city by choice. and the purpose for that is to ensure and communicate to all residents that they are safe within the city of Santa Ana and that our law enforcement will exercise their duties and responsibilities responsibly in a dignified way to everybody.

And it is unfortunate some of the actions that some of our neighboring cities are taking and it's very disappointing. I know some of the folks and our colleagues counterparts over in Los Alamitos and I was surprised taken aback and very disappointed by the actions that some of them have taken.

A couple of things we have. We got the good news that we were able to appoint our youth service supervisor and I our new youth service supervisor and i saw her here uh uh earlier this evening um cheryl uh eberle from uh previously from our library so i wanted to congratulate her in that role and position and i wanted to ask mr uh city manager and uh if you could uh help us to this is a new role new position we're excited and thrilled we've been talking about and anticipating that role so we can have this this liaison both working internally but also outwardly

facing you know into the community so if the council can be brought up to speed on on up to date on some of the focus areas for this new role this position how we are looking to roll it out engage with the community goals objectives and ways that we can again get the the other both that school district nonprofit community other youth serving organizations to be able to begin to connect and work together towards a broader on a deeper more meaningful impact with our youth and youth serving communities that would be great my last

comment is that by the time we meet up next we would have had Palm Sunday Good Friday Easter and the Jewish calendar Passover experience. I just want to, it's a very meaningful time of the faith calendar here in the next couple weeks. I just want to encourage everybody to take that opportunity to reflect, to enjoy family, to enjoy Easter, to enjoy the, reflect on the opportunity of new beginnings and spring as well. Just encourage everybody to, can make a joy the Easter and Easter season with that have a great night

thank you councilman mr. Villegas I was gonna say Juan Councilman Juan

Councilman Villegas thank you mayor pro tem an update from the OCFA we have a new fire chief as of last Thursday and that is Brian Phennessy from San Diego I want to welcome him to the OCFA as a board member. Also, OCFA's urban search and rescue teams are preparing tonight to journey up north again for the possible flooding that's taking place, all the storms hitting up north. And if you remember, back in January 8th through 9th, our teams were up there helping in Santa Barbara County with the mudslides where 21 people lost their lives.

So we want to wish our members from the OCFA well, and we wish them a safe return. And we recognize their good work that they do. On another note, I have a question for the city manager. Can you give me an update on the ethics policy enforcement I've been asking for for the last few months? Where are we with that? Because that's been going on for a long time.

Yes, Council Member Villegas. The committee reviewed the draft, gave some input, and we're supposed to bring it back for the committee to review again. As soon as the committee is ready to recommend it to the council, we'll move forward. But we did actually have an item at the last committee meeting.

Okay, so when can we expect it?

I couldn't give you a date right now.

Or do I have to call 85A or something so he can do that too?

We'll give you an update. Let me get together with my staff to figure out exactly what would be a good estimate so we can give you a good estimate. I can't give you one right now on the fly.

All right, thank you, sir.

It's a joint project between the city attorney's office and the city clerk and my office, so it's the three of us working on it.

Thank you very much. I appreciate it. Thank you, Mayor Pro Tem.

Thank you, Mr. Villegas. Councilman Solorio.

Thank you. A couple things. I want to thank our city manager, our police chief, and others that have been working with the county on the homelessness crisis. I think we're making good headway with the judge's involvement, and he's pretty much okay to green light on the city working with the county on moving folks from the plaza of the flags to more humane areas. so that's very positive and then there's other items as well I know in the near future I'm sure we'll bring something back to the City Council for a formal update but I know we're working internally on an action plan and

various other items I do want to thank all the staff involved including the quality of life team I know our deputy city manager Robert Cortez has been working with that as well and it's been successful and then secondly and And finally, March 31st is Cesar Chavez Day, and in this community we've been celebrating that on an annual basis, and this year it falls on a Saturday. We all thought it was time to beautify Cesar Chavez Campesino Park a little bit, and with the Santa Anita Neighborhood Association we've been working on a program of activities and beautification for that day.

So I think it's from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. and, you know, all my colleagues are invited. Thank you. And the public.

Great. Thank you, Councilman Solorio. I will be very quick and then we're going to adjourn this meeting in memory of Hassan Hagani, our former Executive Director of Planning and Building. But first, I do want to thank my colleagues for those who were able to attend on Saturday. Obviously, with short notice, I already had a commitment. I sit on the local government commission, had a board meeting and conference and a reason why I wasn't able to be here. But this morning at 6.50 a.m. I had the opportunity to walk with Judge Carter throughout the Civic Center

and share with him the plan that myself and Councilman Villegas had presented to the council and hoping that we can continue to have conversations with our judge. But I was excited to hear what happened here in chambers with the various cities and conversations that have been had. And then as well with his leadership, you know, definitely I don't think we would be where we're at here today or even having this conversation if it wasn't for the leadership of Judge Carter. So if any elected official or anyone else tries to take credit, obviously we all know where that credit should be given to.

And it should be given to Judge Carter for being bold and really, you know, holding the feet to the fire of elected officials. because ultimately at the local level we have a responsibility and more importantly obviously we know that the county of Orange is responsible for this job but they can't do it alone. They have to work with the cities and so we have to be a partner with the county. Obviously in the past I have been very judgmental and at the same time have tried to really hold them accountable for the responsibility that they have.

But with that being said, I think as the judge has brought us together, I think it's time to let bygones be bygones and figure out a way how we all can work together to help address this issue. But in particular, I think it's important for us to realize that the judge said enough is enough. Cities can no longer continue to dump their homeless here in this city of Santa Ana. And so I'm happy to hear that we have someone that's supportive of that because we've been saying this for years, that we've had enough. We're not going to build another shelter. Other cities have to do their fair share.

But at the same time, we have to manage what we currently have out here in our streets. Our residents want us to take action. They don't want to hear that it's the county's responsibility. We need to do what we possibly can to address the street homelessness that's occurring throughout our city and do it in a way that, one, it's compassionate, but at the same time making sure that we have the facilities to take them. Obviously, our police department can't do their job and cite them if they don't have beds to put them at. So we're really put in a very difficult position when our community is saying,

why isn't your police officers arresting people doing X, Y, and Z? Obviously, we can't do that if there's not beds for those folks to put them in various locations throughout the city. But there's a plan on its way, and I'm hopeful, and I really believe that the county is trying to do all it can now to work with the city to figure this out. The second thing that I wanted to mention as well is that I wanted to congratulate our chief as we talk about our police department. I had to leave. We had a council meeting, and so I left. I didn't get to hear your remarks. I needed to prepare.

but congratulations look forward to continuing to work to working with you and the good work that you are doing and then as well wanted to just inform our residents SB1 I've heard over the weekend that there were students going out you know canvassing about not supporting SB1 I'm not sure if our students or our residents even know how much money we are getting back to this community to fix our roads to do other transportation projects it's in the millions of dollars. I think we received this year a loan over 5.8, but I'm not certain about that

number. But in the next several years, we're going to receive millions of dollars coming to this community. And so we need to do everything that we possibly can because we don't have money for our general fund to fix our streets. SB1, those are our tax dollars. They need to stay here. We need to do everything we possibly can not to repeal that because it will be detrimental to our city because we do not have the funds to fix our roads and this is how we're actually doing it now with these funds and so it's imperative that we continue to support SB1 and making sure that

we could have communications with our constituents and why SB1 is important for Santa Ana and so if we could have some kind of communication going out in our next newsletter water bill whatever how much money is being generated what are those projects I think it's important for us to share that and then as well the Orange County Council of Governments is having its General Assembly here this Thursday welcome my colleagues to attend I know they sent various emails out to to council members and hoping well I represent so I'll be there obviously if you all can't be there be there on

behalf of the city and then as well I wanted just to share and I know Councilman Solorio attended there was a vegan pop-up at a bakery and I have to tell you that this is even though I'm a vegan is and I'm not trying to you know impose my my my my lifestyle on folks but what I can tell you that it's a momentum and it's a movement that there are so many people here in our city that really want more healthier options when I got there at 11 45 I thought there's only gonna be a few people I'll get my food I'll leave I show up

I can't find parking. I got to go park in the neighborhood. I get to the facility. I have to wait in line 30 minutes to get some food. They had over a thousand people there. It was quite amazing. And so I just wanting to share that something that we should consider to provide more opportunities of healthy living and experiences to our residents. Obviously there was a need. And the other important thing is that we have various people from other communities coming to Santa Ana, which was they were pretty amazed whether they were from Garden Grove or Laguna or Newport Beach. Some people were from Los Angeles.

I was talking to everyone because I was super excited and I wanted to know where are these people coming from. So it was great to see. And then I just, again, too, wanted to briefly just talk about the school shootings that we've had across the country. And I know that there's a rally this weekend at Centennial Park that many council members and school board members will be attending. But also the recent explosions with packages in San Antonio. And for us to just be very careful, you know, a lot of uncertainty, things are, you know, happening across the country doesn't mean that it can't happen here in our community.

So we need to be very vigilant. And if we see anything that's odd or awkward that you didn't ask for delivery, please contact our police department, contact our fire department. These things are seriously. because it's happening in Texas doesn't mean that it can't happen here. We just need to be cautious. We need to inform our police department so that we can handle these matters. And then lastly, just again wanting to wish everyone a happy Easter. Today is Persian New Year's, which is a happy spring to new beginnings as well. And then I know I am closing and adjourning the meeting in honor of Hassan Hagani, but as well, Mr.

Buñuelos, Robert Buñuelos, also passed away who worked for Congresswoman Loretta Sanchez, part-time work for Congressman Correa now. And I will just ask our clerk, because I know we're not adjourning because we need to get more information, if we can make sure that it's on the next agenda so that we can adjourn the meeting in his honor, it would be greatly appreciated. And with that, just very quickly, let me adjourn this meeting to the next council meeting, which is Tuesday, April 3rd at 5 p.m. And we will enter into closed session following for a regular business meeting.

This meeting is adjourned in honor and memory of Hassan Hagani, former executive director in planning and building agency. Hassan served as the city planning and building executive director for just a little over two years. Prior to his arrival in Santa Ana, he had a long and successful career with the cities of Glendale and West Hollywood. He passed away a little over a week ago from natural causes and leaves behind a trail of friends, family members, who are truly devastated from this untimely departure. The following are some thoughts by Haka Hassan's partner which truly reflect who he was.

I have been saving this photo of the day my honey would leave the hospital, but this afternoon, the love of my life moved on. He had already stared death in the face with cancer. And that picture, and myself and Councilman Benavides were talking about, Hassan loved traveling to Mexico. And the picture that Haka put on his Facebook was a picture of Hassan smiling while he was in some part of Mexico. And so it was just great to have that reflection and to see that picture and that pose. Earlier, he was fighting with pneumonia during his chemo and meningitis.

This time he fought hard for a week, but he was unwilling to live a life of limits and convalescence. His heart gave out after his uncles and his East Bay cousin had visited him in the morning and after I had returned from lunch. He was considered, considerate to the very end. My husband was the most fearless man I know. I always told him he was my hero. I called him my hummingbird. He never apologized for who he was, even in our fights. He was a co-founder of the first international gay and lesbian Iranian organization and was out as a teenager in the 1970s. He was unwavering in his principles and his integrity

and weathered in the face of political pressure at the dais or in his personal life. In my proud opinion, he was the most dynamic city planner and administrator in Southern California, and I definitely agree to that. I beam with pride at my husband's planning accomplishments from LA to West Hollywood to South Pasadena to Glendale, Santa Ana and Ontario. Yet he took his greatest professional joy from giving opportunity to underappreciated and talented professionals in California in public service. This is why fans and legions across Southern California speak so highly of Hassan.

But I love the man in whose arms I fell asleep at night, his smell, his warmth, his kisses. I love the man with whom I traveled the world. Last week we were supposed to buy tickets to our next adventure in Scandinavia and St. Petersburg. And I love the man of whom I was an uncle, a great uncle, and a son, and a brother. There are many whose hearts will be shattered with this news. but my husband made me swear that no one must cry when he passes. He wanted a party filled with joy. I will confirm the date of his celebration of life, which is actually this Saturday in Glendale.

Thank you for the incredible love you all have shown us this week. God bless. And they were together for 23 years. We adjourn this meeting in his memory and extend our most heartfelt condolences to his friends, family, and loved ones. Thank you and have a great evening.

Thank you.