Read the January 12 meeting.

I think we I'm waiting to make sure that I have everyone. Okay.

Should I let Tom go to the store? Yeah. Tom? Tom? Tom?

Okay, we're just starting recording on our end here.

If you let me know when you're ready Tom so I can let them know.

Sure, I only see four council members on, so I know we have quorum, but why don't we give a couple minutes more for the others to join if possible.

I think we're waiting for council members Peñalosa, actually Mayor Pro Tempeñalosa and council member Becerra.

Thank you.

Okay, mayor.

Great. Do we have everybody on?

I think we're just waiting for mayor pro tem.

I believe so. Yeah. He's the only one I see.

So I was about to say, you know, it was always difficult to get to meetings before because because of traffic and just other things, commute time. Man, it's hard to be late to a Zoom meeting these days.

But I'm guilty of it sometimes as well, so.

Well, Mayor Sarmiento, I think we still have the technology traffic.

Yeah, that's right. And some Zoom meetings going long, so that always happens.

Yes.

We'll wait another minute or two and wait till 635 and then we'll have a mayor pro tem join us after that.

Mayor, I just spoke to Mayor Potem. He just didn't notice the time. So he will be connecting really soon.

There we go.

Perfect. I see him coming on. Why don't I go ahead and call this meeting to order. Everybody, I hope everybody is well,

doing as well as we can under the circumstances. Welcome everybody to tonight's special meeting of the Santa Ana City Council for January 12th, 2021. Let me just begin by telling everybody, this is a new system that we're starting with. So thank you to our clerk and her staff for putting this together. As we said, we were gonna roll this out on the 19th. We've already had two meetings since to kind of do trial run, so this will be one more. So if everybody can please mute while you're not speaking so we can get clear audio on this.

And let me go ahead and begin the meeting. I think somebody's mic is on. Maybe if we can mute that mic as we're speaking and then when we're called, we can go ahead and unmute ourselves. But let's go ahead and start with the Pledge of Allegiance. And wherever you are, if you can, please stand and put your right hand over your heart and repeat after me. I pledge of allegiance to the flag of the United States of America, and to the Republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible,

with liberty and justice for all.

Thank you, everybody. Let's go ahead and let me turn it over to the clerk so she can call roll.

Thank you, Mayor. Council Member Becerra? Here. Council Member Hernandez?

Johnathan Ryan Hernandez

Present.

Council member Lopez here. Council member Mendoza.

Present. Thank you. Council member Fan. Here. Mayor Potem Peñalosa. Present. Mayor Sarmiento.

So I'm here. Thank you. And a madam clerk, do we have any members of the public that wish to address the council or do we have any written communication that we received?

We did receive communications and support and in opposition. And that is all on the website. I did not get an opportunity to go through them. and then I forwarded all the emails that I received today, all the correspondence. And we do have members of the public who would like to speak.

Sure, go ahead.

Okay.

Okay.

Numbers with the last three numbers, five, zero, six, if you would please select the microphone unmute feature on your device.

Thank you. You may proceed to speak. You have three minutes.

Hi, hello. Yeah, this is my turn right now, ma'am. 3506?

Yes.

Oh, can you hear me, ma'am?

Yes, we can hear you. You may proceed.

Can I start speaking now? Yes. Good evening, folks. Thank you for allowing me to speak tonight.

First of all, I'm not supportive of the main, First of all, I'd like to say I'm all supportive of the Main Street. What happened in downtown San Diego, I think it's going to be great for a city. And I just hope I see a lot. I walk there every day. I think we should focus on Main Street and First Street. I think we'd make this happen. I think it turns out to be a great city again because, you know, people coming from L.A. or people coming from San Diego, that Main Street and First Street Court are very important. That's the section, as people see it right now,

especially on the First Street area because I see a lot of stuff out there. I see the drug addicts kill. I see the pimps out there. One time I see the dead person on the street out there. I hope, you know, the first street is important too because people coming to visit the downtown first street, coming from south, gonna see that first street corridor. We need to get that ASAP too because that's a big perception. If I see some bad stuff, I'm gonna turn right away because I remember the old days when first street had that welcome to Santa Ana. I think we need to focus on first street as well too.

I think Vegas is coming along real well too. And then lastly, I want to address too. I know we have a difference between who we vote for and who the president is. I think we always should respect the president's office. And one thing I only have one criticism is for the mayor, Mr. Sartan Manteau. I think your resolution of condemning the violence is pretty inaccurate, sir, because I don't think it's considered an insurrection. I think if we look at historical context in the United States, you make it as a resolution sounds like the first time it ever happened in our nation's history.

If you look back at 1968, you see that was more of an insurrection in this country. We had a lot more violence back then. I think insurrection is the wrong word, especially if those people do support the president. And also, I think the resolution should have been more of like stopping the condemning of, you know, more of a revolution supporting people out there to be aware of COVID-19 because the signs are not working, more of a real resolution to reduce the crime in Santa Ana. Because as we speak right now, boom, boom, boom, boom, like the war is on air. All these illegal fireworks.

I think more of a resolution should have been the people that said that coming together, help solve our issues in town, and hope for a good new year. This insurrection, I find it very offensive, sir, because the insurrection, it tells other items. And I've been in countries where violence for people trying for freedom in Iraq and Afghanistan, those are insurrections, sir. I just feel that this resolution has been biased. That's all I'm saying. It should be more of a resolution for the people of San Antonio for a peaceful year. Let's get rid of those illegal fireworks. Let's work on COVID-19.

Let's work on getting the schools back together. This in the East seems to be more biased, and I'm not sure. I kind of suspect came up with Luke Carrera's office. Thank you.

Madam Clerk, do we have any more speakers?

Yes, we do.

Caller 010. Yes, you may proceed with your comment.

All right, thank you. Yeah, I have a few comments today. This is Victor Mendez. First and foremost, one of the broader city here, the other night on Sunday night, I was witness to an apprehension of a car theft and about 10 units rolled up for two suspects. I know we talked about motor vehicles and protection of public safety. I'd really encourage one member of the council all the council to discuss this with Chief Valentin. It just seemed to be just an overkill from the standpoint of doing the job right. And like I said, about four or five units were laying around long after the suspects have left.

And we need those cars out there on the street in an effective manner. And as a former crime victim, I don't feel less safe with all those cars in one place. I feel more safe if those vehicles are around doing what they need to do is protect the service. So again, I would encourage somebody to speak to Chief Ballantine about this. It is not only a public safety issue, but as Council Member Fan mentioned a few weeks ago, it's actually a financial issue and how we use our resources. Second of all, on the resolution, I think insurrection is correct. I'm appalled, as I'm sure all of you are,

about the actions that were taken over the last week. I would only encourage the council to look at our own backyard. During my own campaign, I was subject to a lot of harassment. My family was abused over the phone. There was a lot of very harsh words spoken about our good police officers, you know, tag lines. And I'm still to this day, as I speak freely called a stooge. This is not the type of environment I think we need for our children. And if we're gonna start condemning, we need to look at ourselves as to what we enable and what type of positive behavior we enable and what type of example do we set for our children

and for our residents. So after this resolution, I hope I'll see great leadership coming out of the council in this respect, we just have to do better. and why don't we start with our own community before we start condemning others. Lastly on the pharmacy issue, I would just make it simpler on yourself and maybe ask the council to vote on the resolution for a minimum wage of $15 during COVID. I think that would be really great for these areas. These clerks who are working pretty hard both in the stores and in the pharmacies. Pharmacy techs themselves don't need a raise. They do pretty well. There's a lot of people out

that are working really hard working in hours and exposing themselves to COVID. And I think a lot, an easier way to administer is to just make a minimum wage to certain businesses in the city up to a certain point. You know, we've given benefits to who are developers, can we give a benefit to the working people of this city who are putting themselves in harm's way. Thank you for my time.

Thank you, Victor. Thank you, thank you, Vince.

Okay and Zoom ID Luzana Figuera if you would please. I have no comments for you tonight.

I apologize if there was for some reason my name put on a list.

Yes, the only way you can participate is by being admitted and so otherwise you won't hear the meeting. but you can go to YouTube if it's up and running. I do understand that we were having technical difficulties with YouTube and I know our video engineer is working on that. Thank you.

Maria, Zoom ID, did you want to provide a comment?

Maria, you've successfully unmuted yourself. Did you want to provide a comment?

Okay.

I'm gonna see who else. I have SCNG, Zoom ID. Did you wanna provide a comment?

No, I don't. Your YouTube meeting is, the YouTube channel is still not available, so I'm watching it through Zoom. Thank you. Thank you.

Numbers with the last three numbers 410. Did you wanna provide a comment?

If so, please select the microphone unmute feature on your device or star six, if you're calling in by telephone.

Hi, am I in the meeting?

Yes, you may proceed with your comment.

Hi, my name is Derek Smith. I'm the political director for USCW Local 324. I just wish to speak on the item brought forth by Mayor Cermiento and Council Member Pham in support of it. Our members, and we have 20,000 in LA and Orange County have been hit very hard by the COVID virus. And the industry in the very beginning paid hazard pay, but they phased it out months and months ago in the end of May and early June. This step the council is prepared to take or explore is enormously important to our membership. And so I applaud you for considering this and on behalf of our membership means an awful lot.

Thank you very much.

Thank you. And.

Caller with the last three numbers two, three, one. If you want to provide a comment, please dial star six if you're calling in or if you can select the microphone unmute feature on your device.

It looks like they dropped their call.

Zoom ID.

oh they're all so

it looks like that's all the oh I have one more joining in Earl Schmidt and I'm waiting for him to join in and I think that's the last one that I have

Thank you.

Zoom ID Matthew Bell, did you wanna provide a comment?

If so, can you hear me? Yes. I was just going to, my name is Matthew Bell. I'm going to follow up with Derek Smith said. I'm the secretary of treasury at USCW 324. And just to give a little more context, we represent some of the grocery store workers and drugstore workers in Santa Ana. And this would impact with union members alone. We're probably talking about 500 workers in the city of Santa Ana, just with union members and looking at all the other grocery stores and the folks that have been out there on the front line since the beginning of this pandemic. This would greatly be appreciated by those workers

and also help with the retention. I think especially during this last period during December, the number of COVID cases, not only in the community, but in our drug stores has risen over 200 percent. And just retaining employees in the store has been incredibly difficult. and grocery store workers and drugstore workers take their jobs incredibly seriously on feeding and the community and providing prescriptions and everything that's needed. And just in retention alone, this would go a long way into assisting those frontline workers who often go without.

And to also put in perspective, there was a report that came out that unlike other industries, the grocery industry and the drugstore industry have had huge profits since the onset of COVID. So, and it's not a concern that it's something that these companies can't afford to do. They definitely can. And it's the money that profits that they've earned should go back into the pockets of those workers that have put their lives on the line since this pandemic started. So I really appreciate the council and the mayor putting this forward. And I hope it moves forward. Thank you.

Madam clerk is that it or do we have any others in the queue?

Let me see if I can go ahead and unmute. There's three of them that are on that is video only and I'm trying to merge them with

audio. Oh, it looks like they're calling in and videoing in.

So they've already spoken. That's great. So let me see if there are any others before I...

Oh, okay. It looks like that is everyone. And YouTube is now back on. Our video engineer was able to...

Great thank you for that Madam Clerk and as we preface the meeting we knew there were going to be you know it's an imperfect process it's a work in progress so we're getting there but thank you for all the thank you for all the good work. So we only have two matters for consideration tonight and the first one is a resolution condemning the insurrection and violence that occurred last Wednesday, January 6th at the U.S. Capitol and also calling for a peaceful transition in power. And I believe there is some language that was provided by Madam City Attorney for consideration or is in the process of being drafted.

So let me go ahead and ask Madam City Attorney if she has any comments to make, if there's any presentation or a brief background on this.

Mayor, thank you. and members of the city council. I would like to also point out that city manager staff did prepare the staff report. We just assisted with this matter by proposing a resolution. We understand that council members may have comments either substantive or stylistic. And if you do, we would take those into consideration now and make those changes. But we submit the resolution is drafted and circulated in the agenda packet.

Great, is anybody from the city manager's office, do they want to comment on the staff report?

Okay, hearing none. Let me go ahead and bring it back.

I'm sorry, sorry, Mayor. I was having a little trouble unmuting. Christine Ridge, city manager. Yes, council, the item before you, there is a draft resolution. Certainly now would be the opportunity if you want to make any revised changes, you'd still have the opportunity to adopt it. and then we would incorporate those changes along with your motion to adopt it. Thank you.

Great, thank you, Madam city manager. Let me go ahead and bring it back to the council. And I know there's virtual hands, but if you can't find that, just go ahead and raise your hand on screen and I'll be able to see you or hear you. So we'll work at either way. Okay, let's go ahead and get started. Let me call on council member Becerra. I see his virtual hand up.

Phil BacerraItem 1

Thank you, Mr. Mayor. Let me just begin by saying violence is never the answer. It wasn't the answer back in May of 2020 and it wasn't the answer on January 6th. There's no justification for breaking windows of struggling businesses in Santa Ana or any other city and there's definitely no justification whatsoever for breaking windows and desecrating our nation's capital. My support for this resolution tonight is not motivated by partisan affiliations. My support for this resolution is motivated by being an American who loves our country and was horrified

Phil BacerraItem 1

and disgusted by the unprecedented actions that we saw take place in our nation's capital on January 6th. I want to express my appreciation to the members from both houses of Congress who did not allow the violence to deter them from returning to their respective chambers and carrying out their constitutional duties in certifying the results of the election and also to ensure that one of the trademarks of our american democracy took place and has carried out in eight days which would be the peaceful transition of executive power i also want to express appreciation

Phil BacerraItem 1

specifically to our congressman lou correa after he was hunkered down inside the house chamber during that siege on our capital he had to endure despicable treatment at the airport afterwards and as the news footage showed us he responded like any of us in Santa Ana would want our representative to respond thank you Lou for showing the rest of the country what the strength and fortitude of the residents of Santa Ana looks like I would like to conclude my remarks on the item by thanking our mayor pro tem for taking the lead on bringing this resolution before the council

Phil BacerraItem 1

this evening and for our staff who helped drop the resolution that's in front of us.

Thank you for that council member. Anyone else maybe you know on something like this why don't we go ahead and kind of do a round robin on this and I'll call on you and and go ahead and you know just make your remarks but I'll start with Mayor Pro Tem because I see his hand up. Go ahead Mayor Pro Tem.

David PenalozaItem 1

Thank you, Mr. Mayor. I just wanted to thank staff for bringing this forward and providing the language and the resolution. I just wanted to kind of reiterate a little bit with my council colleague, Council Member Becerra said. You know, I personally, and all of us on this call and this council took an oath, an oath of office that we would, and we solemnly swear that we would protect and defend the constitution Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic. What we saw on January 6th, which so happened to be my birthday and that's how I spent it,

David PenalozaItem 1

sitting on the couch watching the horrified terror unfold on national television, was an attack on our United States Constitution by domestic terrorists that charged our capital and held and desecrated our United States flag, our Constitution, our duly elected lawmakers on both sides of the aisle. And it was horrifying to see. One of the most sacred buildings in

David PenalozaItem 1

our democracy was vandalized, damaged. And these are the type of things that we see in countries around the world, not in the United States of America. Countries around the world envy the democracy that our country has protected and held for centuries. And this is what we saw, not in 1930, not in 1920, in 2021. And it was upsetting. I condemned the violence violence and the destruction we saw on January 6th, just as I condemned the violence and

David PenalozaItem 1

destruction we saw all last summer. And the difference though was that a year ago people were upset and marching and protesting for social justice and people's lives, not for of frivolous election fraud that didn't happen. So I'm happy to bring this forward as a city, as a city of Santa Ana, as a protector of our city and the Constitution that I took an oath to protect, to condemn what we saw last Wednesday.

David PenalozaItem 1

It was terrible to see, and I wholeheartedly stand by this resolution. Thank you, Mr. Mayor.

Thank you, Mayor Pro Tem. Let me go ahead and call on a council member Hernandez.

Johnathan Ryan HernandezItem 1

Thank you, Mr. Mayor. Yeah, I wanna echo what my colleagues, Mayor Pro Tempeño-Losan, Council Member Becerra said, it was a really traumatic thing to watch on TV, especially, you know, growing up in a community like ours, you know, it's a community that, that we're already exposed to so many adversities and to have to feel uncomfortable and to feel that discomfort in your own home as an American, that's not a good feeling. And much like Mayor Pro Tempeñolosa said, I stand with justice.

Johnathan Ryan HernandezItem 1

I stand with making sure that we do everything to do right by the American people. And as people were marching marching and peacefully protesting last year, we saw a lot of people being met with a lot of aggression, with folks that were arrested for jaywalking. And to see people break into a symbol that should represent hope and justice and peace and to make it a place of reckoning was extremely traumatic. And I think my colleagues are bringing this forth. And as a city, we condemn that violence.

Thank you council member. Council member Lopez, any comment?

Jessie LopezItem 1

Yes, thank you Mayor Sarmiento. I just want to begin by thanking staff for putting this resolution together for us.

Jessie LopezItem 1

You know, I read the resolution about three times, not because I have an issue with it being brought forth, but because of the language in the resolution or I should say the absence of clear language that describes what we witnessed. And in 2018, there was nuns peacefully protesting at the Capitol and they were arrested. And not too long ago, the Capitol Police arrested more than 150 peaceful protesters, many of them who were sexual assault survivors who were there, you know,

Jessie LopezItem 1

exercising their first amendment right to protest the Kavanaugh nomination. And not too long ago either, people in wheelchairs, people that live with a disability were arrested for asking for Medicare for all. And so this should never be and will never truly be a conversation about good protesters versus bad protesters. Because the insurrectionists at the Capitol were white supremacists.

Jessie LopezItem 1

And we understand that, you know, the stated purpose of this mob of white supremacists was there to overturn an election, to prevent the transition of power, to interfere with our democracy. And of course, I condemn violence. That is not something that, you know, I think that we all condemn violence. That is a given. I want to be very clear about that. But to me, you know, it's very important to be very clear in describing what we witnessed. There were people there that had guns,

Jessie LopezItem 1

people there that had riot gear, people there that had zip ties, people there that had bombs. And we need to be specific in naming the problem, which is white supremacy. And so that is what I wanna see in this resolution. And we can no longer continue to ignore this because it's not gonna get us anywhere. And I do believe that when we name the problem, we will be able to work towards finding a solution. And so language to me is very important. And I wanna, I want the people of Sanayana to feel that we're not just doing this for political theater,

Jessie LopezItem 1

that we really are standing up against white supremacy, not just in our city, but in our country. And I think that, you know, language, as I said, is important and it's gonna help us drive policy. So we need to be very clear and specific here. Thank you.

Thank you, Councilwoman. Thank you for those comments. Council Member Mendoza.

Thank you, Mayor Pro Tem Sarmiento. I condemn the violence as well. And as you know, our country was built around free peaceful speech and orderly transitions of power. These are the very pillars that our democracy was built on. As a veteran, I gave much of my life and commitment to defending my country, and that includes

especially all of the people here in Santa Ana. I take it especially personal. It's painful. We see a darkness across our nation because that same freedom of speech, right, that we have witnessed so many of our Americans die for others to have that freedom of speech

is being tremendously abused by people who think it's okay to express their opinions through violence, killings, and murdering. And I see, though, in the same sentence that I see all of this sadness and darkness in our country. I see a very bright future with hope and returning to commitment. And you know that very reason is because of the change in leadership. We will have that beautiful

America that we are all here for. As a veteran, as an immigrant, I especially hold this country very dear to me because there is no other place in the world that I would rather be. And I'm sure that this is the same sentiments that many of our people think about. So this resolution is in support of how the city of Santa Ana and us as city officials,

are condemning such violence and such expression of freedom of speech. So I am especially grateful to be under the protection of the red, the white, and the shining stars. So you can be sure that we will have that peace in our nation.

And there will be sunshine and comfort once all of this has blown over and the perpetrators have been, actually perpetrators will be imprisoned and who knows for how long because this is an act of treason. And I cannot believe that in our history, in my history here with the United States,

that I will, I never dreamed that I would ever see such treacherous acts. and I am honored to support this proclamation on behalf of the city of Santa Ana.

Great, thank you, Councilwoman. Council member Pham.

Thai Viet PhanItem 1

Hi, thank you so much. Thank you, Mayor Pro Tem for bringing this item forward. My heart is racing because I am so upset thinking about what happened last week. It's no secret that I'm a refugee, my family are refugees, and we came to this country fleeing an insurrection against the government. And to see these domestic white supremacist terrorists storm our Capitol and attempt a coup to overthrow a duly minted election, an election that was fair, that was the safest in all of

Thai Viet PhanItem 1

American history because they lost, is abhorrent. I have to say that. I 100% agree with everything that my fellow colleague council members have said, especially Councilmember Lopez who mentioned, you know, these are white supremacists and neo-Nazis. Look through any of the photos, you will see neo-Nazi paraphernalia, white supremacist symbols, you know, Camp Auschwitz shirts. These are not just your typical Trump supporters. There have been many Trump rallies, there have been GOP rallies, that's peaceful protest. And if we disagree,

Thai Viet PhanItem 1

you know, philosophically or politically, that's fine. That's your first amendment right to protest. But to storm the barricades, to beat our officers and result in the death of two veterans, one of whom was an officer and later another officer who died by suicide as a result of what he saw at the Capitol that day is worth condemning. And I'd also like to say this is an insurrection. The definition of insurrection is an act of revolt against civil authority or an established government. This is what these terrorists did. We have to make sure we include that.

Thai Viet PhanItem 1

You know, I also reviewed the draft language, and I just want to thank, you know, city staff or city attorney's office for turning this around so quickly. I know that it's traumatizing for many of us to have watched the events unfold throughout the day. And I know some callers, some commenters have been trying to equate this to the Black Lives Matter protests of the summer. But that is clear whataboutism. Again, like Mayor Penalosa stated, the protests were a result of the murder of Black men and women in their homes, walking down the street unarmed.

Thai Viet PhanItem 1

They were fighting for civil rights. And all of us here have condemned any type of looting or violence and all of that. But the reality is those protests matter because someone like my mom, who doesn't speak English, who just watches television, told my husband not to drop campaign signs off at night because he has darker skin. He's Indian American. and she was afraid he was going to get shot. That's the reality of many people of color in our communities. And that's what the protests are. These treasonous actors were not merely

Thai Viet PhanItem 1

protesting. They were attempting to overthrow the government and hurt our duly elected officials. I've heard, you know, council member, excuse me, Congress member Linda Sanchez talk about her experience halfway through tears because she thought she was going to die. And for anyone to excuse these as a couple, you know, bad actors is completely missing the point. So I definitely support this resolution. I want to add a few particular choice language. I want to make sure that, for example, in the sixth, whereas where he says, where extremists with intent to harm life,

Thai Viet PhanItem 1

we include were violent white supremacists and neo-nazi extremists. It's important to indicate that they had a philosophy that they were trying to promote. So I would like to add that to the resolution. In the next line, I'd like to clarify that it was an attempted coup. Despite their best efforts, despite the guns, despite the IEDs, they did not win. Our elected officials continued with the work of the people and made sure to certified our legitimate election. I'd also like to add

Thai Viet PhanItem 1

a whereas clause indicating that, for example, whereas electronic devices and documents with critical government data left unattended as staff evacuated at breakneck pace were assessed, were accessed and taken from offices compromising national security. That's what they did. And Congress member from the state of Washington said that his laptop was stolen.

Thai Viet PhanItem 1

What information is on there? What bugs were left? That is a threat to our national security. And anyone out there who is in support of our military, homeland security, or national security needs to be up in arms talking about how this is a violation and a bigger threat than we may know for years.

Thai Viet PhanItem 1

and the other issue I want to address is under section one under the now therefore be it resolve part c I want to make sure that it says elected officials carry out the business of the people of the United States of America and replace the word citizens well I know that it is citizens who vote for our elected officials. We have many undocumented residents, legal permanent residents who have fought, who have advocated, who have volunteered to ensure that their voices are heard too. And we need to make sure to reflect that in this resolution. And so those would be the

Thai Viet PhanItem 1

additional comments I'd like to see added into this resolution. Again, I am extremely ashamed of what some of these individuals have done. And it is again, abhorrent to see this happening in our country. And I reject that they represent America and I reject that they represent any of our democratic values of freedom, justice and access to liberty. So with that, I conclude my comments. Thank you.

Thank you, council member Pham. Excellent, excellent comments and excellent revisions to that resolution. Let me go ahead and just, you know, make a few of my own comments. So as many of you as many others, I think my conscience was shocked when I was, you know, looking at what was happening in Washington. You know, I have friends who work there. I've known people that have staffed there before and to know, you know, or try to understand the fear that they were going through was personally difficult for me. But I think when you go, you move beyond the

shock, I think you start realizing that, you know, this was different than, you know, this isn't a protest. This wasn't a protest. This was an assault. And it wasn't just any assault. You know, this wasn't assault on a physical building. This was an assault on sort of the, you know, the bastion of what we represent, you know, or what represents our democracy. So I think it goes beyond the literal, but really the figurative heart of what we are as a, you know, as a free country. And, and I think that, you know, what's unfortunate is that a lot of us saw this coming, those who,

and I think this council may have condemned this administration in the past for many of the hostility they've had towards communities like ours. You know, right off the bat, you know, communities like ours, communities of color, low-income people have been attacked by this administration. And this was almost a foregone conclusion that we'd be here. And a lot of people say, well, look, it's too late to do anything. Why do anything at all? Let's just go ahead and work in the interest of peace. But look, to the extent that accountability matters and the fact that you can't do anything,

even on your way out that is unacceptable and really not, it's not even unacceptable, it's criminal, is something that we have to, as a community that's been victimized, have to stand up for because we represent people that have been living in fear of this administration well before this happened. I think this was just almost a personification or a moment to demonstrate how bad things have been for many people's lives these past four years. So, you know, I don't see this as an exercise of the First Amendment, you know, move.

I see this very different from what happened over the summer, you know, for a lot of the reasons that were stated. I'm really upset that we can't do more, you know, against the people who enabled this to happen, because there are a lot of people I think that have close relationships with the administration, people who supported this president and his bad conduct or criminal conduct in the past four years. they could simply tell him, look, resign, and this would be over. And that would be the right thing to do. We had a president resign, you know, Richard Nixon, for doing a lot less than this.

And it's unfortunate that we have to come out and support, you know, people in Congress who are going to be taking very difficult votes tomorrow and in the next days to come. So they look to us. We're their constituents. We represent other constituents. And many people have called me just in fear of what's going to happen in Santa Ana, what's gonna happen in some of our buildings? You know, are we safe? It really has rocked people to their core. They really don't know if, you know, they figure if the Capitol can be struck, well, look, we're not safe anywhere. So I would support the revisions that were made by Councilwoman Pham,

the comments that were made by Councilwoman Lopez. I certainly think that if we're going to make a statement, it shouldn't be a shy one, it should be an accurate one. and just call it what it is. It was an assault on our democracy. It was the work of people that were very extreme, but these are people that have been coddled and have been cultivated for the past four years by this president and by this administration and by all the people that have enabled him. So that's where I think that if we want to maybe give some direction to the city attorney, we know this is time sensitive because there's only a few more days left.

But nonetheless, I think Congress members that represent us need to understand where we are as a city and where we are as a constituency to them when they go and take their vote tomorrow and in the days to come. So those are my comments. Why don't we go ahead and bring it back to Madam City Attorney and Madam City Manager. Have you guys heard enough direction and maybe possible revisions to this? how do we want to frame this? Do we want to incorporate some of those revisions that were made?

Mayor and council member, I took notes down and I do have, I've adequately captured all of the amendments that were made by council member Fan. So if you want to adopt the resolution as amended by council member Fan, we certainly can make those changes and issue it immediately.

Great, thank you. Let me bring it back to mayor pro tem. because I know he kind of led the charge on this and thank you Mayor Pro Tem. Are you good with those revisions? Anything else you'd like to change or modify?

David PenalozaItem 1

Thank you, Mr. Mayor. No, I want to thank Councilwoman Lopez and Councilwoman Fan for both of those revisions and suggestions. I think they're great and definitely needed. I am kicking myself because I just glanced over the citizens word and absolutely should say people, the people's business because there are thousands upon thousands of good people in the United States that call our country home and contribute and do so much for us. So definitely, thank you, Councilwoman. Great, is that-I guess that would be a motion to approve item one with the adjustments we just made.

Thai Viet PhanItem 1

I'll second.

Great, so we have a motion and a second to adopt the resolution as amended. Madam Clerk, will you please call roll?

David PenalozaItem 1

Mr. Mayor, I think Councilwoman Lopez had her hand up. I'm sorry, Councilwoman, go ahead.

Jessie LopezItem 1

Yes, thank you, Mayor Pro Tem. I also want to thank Councilwoman Fan for that. And I just want to be very clear that in the ninth, we're asked, I would like for it to read, we're asked several hours after the attempted coup by the white supremacist. That is my contribution here. Thank you.

David PenalozaItem 1

I'm good with that. So I'll make the motion to approve, Mr. Mayor.

Great, and does the second approve of that change as well?

Yes.

Great. Okay, any other comments before we take roll?

Okay, seeing none, hearing none, Madam Clerk, go ahead, call roll please.

Council Member Becerra? Yes. Council member Hernandez.

Yes.

Council member Lopez. Yes. Council member Mendoza. Yes. Council member Fan. Yes. Mayor Potempeñalosa.

Yes.

And Mayor Sarmiento.

Yes. Thank you everybody. Let's move along to the last item, which is an agenda item added by the, by council member for Fan and myself, this is to consider giving direction to the city manager to prepare an ordinance or a resolution requiring large grocers and pharmacies to provide hazard pay to their employees for a defined period of time. And so I'll go ahead and turn it over to Councilwoman Fan to go ahead and lead us off in the discussion.

Thai Viet PhanItem 2

Thank you so much, Mayor.

Thai Viet PhanItem 2

So this is something that I think many of us have thought about and you know our lives have just turned upside down with COVID and I think few few people other than those who are you know frontline health care workers have experienced that change more than our frontline grocery store workers you know many grocery store workers are living paycheck to paycheck make a minimum wage bagging groceries getting our goods and they never expected to be at the front line of potentially being exposed to a life

Thai Viet PhanItem 2

threatening you know virus and what we've seen throughout the next the last nine months or almost a year is that while restaurant revenues have gone down because folks are staying at home you don't have indoor dining grocery store revenues have dramatically increased especially for the large chains and, you know, or large institutions that provide groceries, as well as a lot of pharmacies that have continued to stay open and provided, you know, the vitamin C that you're buying and other medications to ensure, you know, the rest of us can stay home safely. And so that's really

Thai Viet PhanItem 2

part of the impetus here, especially in the spring. We heard a lot about hero pay, hazard pay, and let's make sure we compensate them. And you know some actors did. They tried to or they did for a short while a small bump two dollars here and there and then it ended. It ended at the worst time. It ended at the highest bump in COVID infections right. What we've seen this winter is unlike any other rise in COVID infections in the history of this pandemic in the last year it's become worse. It may still get worse because of the holidays despite the fact that a vaccine

Thai Viet PhanItem 2

is on the horizon and these you know grocery store workers are not being compensated for the risk that they're taking every day and they can't just quit they don't qualify for edd if they just quit and many of them have now become the sole breadwinner for their family because other members might be you know a restaurant worker who's now laid off and so that's really what this is about and we're not looking to have you know this small corner market of 10 employees a mom and pop market pay the hazard pay we understand that there is an economic balance

Thai Viet PhanItem 2

that we have to reach here but when you're looking at a store like you know Walmart or Costco or Ralph's that has thousands of employees across the country and have made record profits despite the COVID-19 pandemic, workers deserve just a little bit of that, just a little bit of that to get them along because we don't know what Congress is going to do. We don't know if they're going to pass a stimulus check. We don't know if any of these workers are going to be able to make it or make their next rent payment or utilities payment or health insurance payment. And so

Thai Viet PhanItem 2

that's what this is meant to do to help them. And I'm not asking, the mayor's not asking for an indefinite pay raise. What we're saying is we're putting a time limit on this. You know, We're asking for something like 120 days from the effectiveness of an ordinance, if we do approve one, so that we can see these frontline workers be carried through. And so it's meant to be sensitive to the economic cases. So again, we're looking for something where it only applies to grocery store workers and pharmacies with 300 employees or more nationwide.

Thai Viet PhanItem 2

We're looking for it to apply to hourly workers, hourly wage workers. They're the ones who are most affected in every scenario, in every economic upturn, downturn. They're the last to get any benefit and the first to lose all protections. And I want to make sure that we also have anti-retaliation language. I know that in the Vietnamese community, it is scary. It is scary for someone who doesn't speak English, who doesn't necessarily have the resources or education to really fight for what they believe is right.

Thai Viet PhanItem 2

And by us, if we do approve something like this, having anti-retaliation language ensures that if they are pushing forward and they're encouraging their employers or supporting this and calling in, that they are not fired for doing so. So that is really the gist of what we're trying to do. And you've heard from some callers that also grocery store workers and pharmacy workers are at the highest rate of getting COVID. And so that's also very dangerous. I'd also like to address some comments that were received from the public regarding this item. It was written comments.

Thai Viet PhanItem 2

And again, a huge part of this is just to make sure that we're helping those who are least able to benefit from the economic upturn in the sense that the stock market's going up, but they're not seeing their wages increased, even though they're ones most likely to get COVID, so the rest of us can stay home. That's what we're trying to do. And so I guess I open it all for everyone else's feedback and to discuss this issue.

Thanks. Great. Thank you, council member. I think you, you summarize it, you know, extremely well. There's not much that I would add before I bring it back to the rest of the council for direction. You know, I think, you know, I think for me, what we see is that there are many of these, you know, essential workers and, you know, what we thought about of who was essential pre pandemic and post pandemic has really changed. Right. You know, essential workers are people who are, you know, janitors in hospitals, people who are, you know, stocking, you know, shelves at grocery stores at their own peril. So it really has made us all,

forced us all to realize who really is valuable in this economy. And I think when all of us go out to buy, whether it's, you know, medicine, whether it's to buy food for our families and for ourselves, we start realizing somebody put those, you know, goods and things up on shelves and made it available for us to be, you know, to have this convenience, right? So as was said, you know, we have, we're home to at least 500 members of these, of this group of employees. And I think what's important is we realize that they don't have the luxury of staying home and working from

home and being virtual they have to be out there and they have to you know feed their families and help provide and so that's where I think you know the distinction lies there was a really excellent letter that was written uh from the member and members of the public you know where do we stop where you know where you know who else I think you know what was what was said by Councilwoman Pham was really on point where she said look a lot of industries unfortunately have been hit this industry has done well and and that's great that's a good thing because they are providing

service. But I think what's what the fundamental fairness is, is that as an industry develops and grows, they should also make sure that their employees that are going through incredible, incredible sacrifice and peril. And we've seen it, you know, with our families, we talk about it, you know, often that we know that when a person goes out and works, they get sick, they come home and they, you know, unfortunately transmit that to the entire household and many large households here in the city. So I just think that, you know, the direction is pretty basic tonight. We don't need to go into much detail.

I think what I think that Councilman Fann and I are asking is that staff bring us back, you know, a resolution or an ordinance if it's appropriate, because we know that other cities that have the same concern are going through drafting of their ordinances and resolutions. And then we consider it at a, you know, at a probably the next meeting or, you know, as soon as we can. But, you know, we don't have all the details, which is why we're asking, you know, the city attorney's office to take the lead. And with the help of the city manager's office, just to bring us back what a resolution would look like and what an ordinance

would look like and what, you know, what are the pros and cons so we could weigh that. But I do think that, you know, as a city, that's home to many, many essential workers and especially, you know, workers that work in the grocery industry that are incredibly, incredibly in danger that they should be treated fair. And I think that's all that this is asking for. And again, I think it has a sunset or a patent, you know, what had been discussed a sunset of June. So this is an indefinite change. So with that, let me go ahead and bring it back to other members of the council for their comments.

I saw Mayor Pro Tems and then both Council Member Becerra and then Hernandez.

Mayor Pro Tem.

David PenalozaItem 2

Thank you, Mr. Mayor. I wanna thank you and Mr. Mayor and Councilwoman Fan for bringing this forward. It's something that we should have done a long time ago. It's definitely long overdue. I, as we've talked, of course, many different industries have been impacted by the pandemic. But one that has been impacted in a good way, you know, we want these places, these industries to have business, is your grocery stores, your pharmacies, your CVSs, your Northgate, your Food for Lesss, your Costcos. Those, I mean, just over the weekend, I know we don't have a Costco in the city,

David PenalozaItem 2

But me going to a nearby to the Costco at the city over, I mean, it's harder to get into a Costco than it is into the U.S. Capitol because of just how busy the Costco's are. You go through any grocery store in the city, they're very busy. There's also limited, they're limiting people that come in because of how, you know, trying to social distance. I was at CVS on Bristol and on Warner and Main just last week picking up my mom's prescription. And there was, you know, as I walked towards the back of a pharmacy, the pharmacy section,

David PenalozaItem 2

there's this poor young woman, employee of CVS, in the cold and flu section, helping like four different people with cold and flu, over-the-counter medicine. And in my head, I'm thinking all those people in there are probably, you know, experiencing some kind of COVID symptom and they don't know it yet. They haven't tested positive. And here you have this young woman trying to just make her, you know, a paycheck to provide for her family and being exposed to whatever is going on out there.

David PenalozaItem 2

You know, people in our grocery stores, our pharmacies, our CVSs, they've been at the forefront of all of this for the last year going, you know, going on to a year now, nine months. And it's been tough for them. I could see it, you know, working long hours. I know initially in the beginning they were opening these grocery stores up at 6, 5 in the morning for, you know, for older citizens and staying open very late. and it's, you know, they are true heroes, you know, in a way that they are, have been heroic. They've been out there stalking ourselves and providing, making sure that we have the essential needs

David PenalozaItem 2

that we need at our home. So I'm definitely supportive of seeing something come back to us, what that looks like, like you said, Mr. Mayor, whether it's a resolution or an ordinance, I'm not sure yet, but I would be supportive of moving in this direction.

Thank you Mayor Pro Tem I think Councilmember Becerra was next.

Phil BacerraItem 2

Thank you Mr. Mayor and I want to thank you and Councilmember Pham for bringing this before us. You know growing up my dad worked in grocery stores and you know Mayor as you said you know the the definition of what an essential worker is today during the pandemic and but it will be pandemic has changed it's not simply someone that works in a hospital or is out enforcing the law on our streets but it's the folks that had to go to work and had to provide essential services for the rest of us to be able to not have to go out and to try to flatten that curve and minimize the

Phil BacerraItem 2

spread of covid with that being said my father was in a grocery store my father worked for bigger chains and he was able to be represented by brothers and sisters at UFCW. But during the, toward the end of my dad's career, he was in smaller grocery stores. And so when I hear these thresholds as to what we would consider for hazard pay, my dad would be out. And I know growing up, I mean, we weren't living the lap of luxury. So I can only begin to imagine if I grew up during during time like this and my father working for a small grocer,

Phil BacerraItem 2

it would really be helpful, I imagine, for us to be able to have that hazard base. So what I would ask for our staff to do, I think again, I think where we're going with this, whether it's going to be a resolution or ordinance, I think we're heading in the right direction. I think our hearts are in the right place. What I would just ask our staff to do is just also consider what the impacts could be if we were to expand that scope of where the hazard pay would um be in effect because I just I don't think COVID really understands oh sorry this is a grocery store of 300 or more

Phil BacerraItem 2

we'll just go ahead and avoid this store so I think a lot of frontline workers are putting themselves out there in in danger and to exposure and I I think that we should just at the very least and I think council member Pham mentioned that, yes, we are trying to be sensitive to the economic realities of some of our small businesses, but I just don't, I couldn't sleep if I were not to at least ask for us to consider what the impacts would be for smaller businesses because those workers matter just as much as somebody working for a larger store. Thank you.

Thank you. Thank you for your comments, councilman. Council member Hernandez, and I think then Councilwoman Lopez.

Johnathan Ryan HernandezItem 2

Thank you, Mr. Mayor. And thank you, Council Member Fan for bringing up such a critical topic right now. I think much like Mayor Pro Tem, Penelosa said it's long overdue. What I would like to see is I'd like to see it expanded much like Council Member Vecetta mentioned. I think that we need to integrate

Johnathan Ryan HernandezItem 2

different sectors of essential workers. And for me, having grown up in this community, I think that one of the biggest impacts that we've had is our healthcare workers. I would like to see it expanded to them. I would also like to see that expanded to the workers that are city testing sites. And moving forward in the future, I know that we're gonna have vaccination sites. So I would like to see it be inclusive of that. And lastly, I would say our city service workers, workers that are essential to the functioning of our city, of Santa Ana. I think that we can't forget about those individuals.

Johnathan Ryan HernandezItem 2

And I think it would be important for us to include them as well. And lastly, I want to know what constitutes large. Is that based on the number of employees? Is that based on the size of your business, size of your building, the amount of people that you can have at occupancy? I would like to know those details. And that is all I have to mention.

Great, thank you, council member. Council member Lopez.

Jessie LopezItem 2

Thank you, Mayor Sarmiento. And thank you, councilwoman Pam for bringing this. I really wish I would have had enough time to add my name to this. because I do think it's so imperative that we move quickly. You know, this is an issue that is very personal to me, as many as you know and have come to learn about me. You know, I was at the front lines of this pandemic and my entire immediate family is considered an essential worker. My sister is a nurse, my dad works at a grocery store, you know, I'm Union grocery store, My brother is a driver for Grubhub and it goes on.

Jessie LopezItem 2

And so I think that this is a really great way for us to show people how much we appreciate and care for them. And grocery stores are, you know, grocery store workers are some of the least paid workers in our economy. and every day they get up and they go to work knowingly, knowing that they can be, that they can come home sick and not knowing how COVID is going to impact their physical health, but their financial budgets at home. And so, you know, I worry about my dad every day

Jessie LopezItem 2

and I wish he didn't have to go to work during a pandemic, But our bills don't stop. And I know Mary, like many American families, their bills don't stop either. And so hazard pay is nothing, absolutely nothing compared to the billions of dollars that these big blockchain stores like Costco, Walmart, Amazon have made in profits. And just to give you an example, Kroger made in 2019, 16.7 billion. and in 2020, they made 63.4 billion. So they are doing really well.

Jessie LopezItem 2

And the stay at home orders have been expanded. Orange County is still in a purple tier, essential workers, we have all heard this. They don't want any more applauses. They want actual tangible solutions to the problems that they are seeing and experiencing.

Jessie LopezItem 2

And council member Fan, you can probably elaborate on this, but as I did say, my interpretation of Big Box is Amazon, Walmart, Albertsons, Target, Ralph's, Bond. You know, it's not the small time, small businesses, small mom and pop shops. And so, you know, I am doing my due diligence. I learned that Long Beach has also an urgent ordinance in place and the County of LA also has some has similar policy in place. And I do think that it is imperative that as a county that we help lead Orange County and stand up for our working families.

Jessie LopezItem 2

And so I am very much supportive of seeing an ordinance here in the city. And I just wanna leave you all with this, that my dad migrated from a war-torn country and he is one of the strongest human beings that I know. And, you know, hearing him speak about consistently having to mourn the loss of his coworkers is something that is very devastating to him and to us. And so I just want to ask all of you to be supportive if you can, and if you have any questions to reach out to any of us and we can answer them.

Jessie LopezItem 2

And, you know, furthermore, to be kind to all of the retail workers that are getting up every day and providing the basic human essentials for us. Thank you.

That's great. Thank you for that council member. I think everybody's spoken with the exception of, and I see a council member Fann's hand up, but real quickly, let me just ask council member Mendoza, if she has any comments, I think that'll wrap it up with, with everybody. And then I'll bring it back to you council member. Council member Mendoza, do you have anything to add?

Yes. I thank you, mayor Sarmiento. I concur with my colleagues. It's right on point. I believe that the people who have continuously risked their lives and gone into work at the grocery stores and the pharmacies are deserving of a little extra pay so that they can continue to provide support for their families. In my own family, I have three essential workers, and they don't get any hazardous pay or any

combat pay. And so if I can help individually here in the city of Santa Ana to bring some kind of equity to these frontline workers, it is my pleasure. That's why I was elected and my fellow colleagues were elected so that we can represent each of our residents in in this manner. So I'm very happy and honored to support this resolution to compensate the people who risked their lives for us. Thank you.

Thank you, council member. I think council member Fan, you had your hand up.

Thai Viet PhanItem 2

Yes, so thank you to all of my colleagues for the questions and proposing ideas. One of the things I forgot to mention was actually regarding the amount of hazard pay. One of the things we were looking at is $4 of hazard pay for a period of 120 days for hourly workers. You know, that's limited. It's not a huge jump for a super long period of time. It's really, again, just to help bridge folks through this time until we can really get everyone vaccinated and be safe. And thank you so much to Council Member Lopez as for discussing your family's exposure during this time.

Thai Viet PhanItem 2

My sister is an essential health worker. She's an optometrist and she has to see patients every day and she touches them every day. And so she just got her first vaccine dose, but that still doesn't mean our family is safe or bubble is safe because we don't have the vaccine and we still have to go to the grocery store and these other families are doing that. I do want to address Councilmember Pacera's comments regarding the smaller businesses. I think one potential solution that staff may want to look at for those that are not considered

Thai Viet PhanItem 2

big box or at least what I suggested as considered large grocer or pharmacist, which means employers with 300 or more employees nationally as a large grocer or a large pharmacy is to look at a tiered system. You know, maybe if you have 100 employees nationally, then you might only do $3 or $2 or something like that. So if you have a smaller business, you know, you still have some type of hazard pay, but it's not so onerous where a mom and pop couldn't afford it. And I think that's the last thing we want, but we want to be able to respect that issue. So just a, you know, an option to throw out there

Thai Viet PhanItem 2

for staff to look at. I also think the comments that council member Hernandez that's made regarding our other essential workers is incredibly valid, and especially with our healthcare workers. I think that we just, I don't have any particular facts on what, you know, whether it's these healthcare agencies or how they're doing, or these hospitals or service providers. I know at least, again, anecdotally, my sister's optometry office was actually closed for a period of time during the COVID shutdowns and then was opened up again and she was seeing patients.

Thai Viet PhanItem 2

So that is an impact on the small businesses that are still healthcare providers. I only have facts regarding big stores or like Trader Joe's. I go to my local Trader Joe's on South Bristol and it's packed every day, even if there is social distancing required. So that's really where we wanna make sure that those who have enough to share do so. And for those who are not that we, you know, find ways to spread the wealth anyway, if we can.

Great, thank you for those comments. I know that all of us have kind of given quite a bit, but council member Becerra, I think you have one more comment.

Phil BacerraItem 2

I do, thank you, Mr. Mayor. I just wanted to thank council member for clarifying the amount and simultaneously suggesting a potential way to address trying to make sure that all of our essential workers or at least more so more of them are um taken care of and uh the other thing i would also ask staff to look at is you know we're looking at this as hazard pay we're looking at this as uh impact due to covid and right now what we've been hearing from the county is that they're hopeful god willing they're able to accomplish this that they're going to have vaccines out to the majority of the population by mid-summer.

Phil BacerraItem 2

And so I would like to ask our staff as they're looking into potential items to bring back before us that they look at rather than just 120 days, maybe rather 180 days. Something to kind of take us closer to where we will have more of the population vaccinated and our frontline workers will face less of a hazard being out there doing the work that they're doing every day.

Great, great comments, everybody. So I think staff, you probably have sufficient direction. Is that good for you, Madam City Attorney?

Yes, I just wanted to mention that we will continue to monitor the other cities in the County of Los Angeles. I know the board in LA voted for zero recently to move forward. They expect to have theirs finalized by January 26th, which would be in advance, you know, for you to bring it forward. I just wanted to mention that their measure, I think council member Hernandez asked, well, what about the size? Their measure is going to apply to publicly traded companies or those that have at least 300 employees nationwide and more than 10 employees per store. So I think what we'll do, many of you offered your comments

is we'll work with city staff and the city manager's office to provide you different alternatives. And also if any of you have input during the interim, please feel free to forward it to us and we'll just provide it to you at the time. And then you all can decide exactly what elements you want to include in your ordinance.

Excellent. Thank you, Madam city attorney.

So let me go ahead and wrap things up. I think those were the only two items. Thank you everybody for your comments. We do have, you know, we've had many losses, unfortunately, in the city. Many of us that we probably know personally, and we do know somebody that was close to the city and close to the county for many years. And I want to go ahead and give that opportunity to Council Member Mendoza to go ahead and adjourn this meeting in his honor and in his memory but before that does anybody have any other comments? Any other comments as we wind up? Madam city manager, any members of the council?

Council, I was waiting for the city manager. I thought I saw her unmute.

Thank you, mayor. No additional comments, but I did take notes on all of the feedback. So I'll work closely with the city attorneys to return this item for your consideration.

Great. Thank you. Council member Becerra.

I think you're muted.

Phil BacerraItem 2

There we go. Thank you, Mr. Mayor. I just wanted to...

Phil BacerraItem 2

All right, are we good? We're good. Okay. One more time. I just wanted to ask that all of us keep one of our young library workers and our thoughts and prayers, Miriam Lopez who helped out with teen space and tutoring at the library is currently suffering from severe brain trauma and she's fighting for her life as we speak. So I would just ask that we all keep her and her family and our thoughts and prayers.

Great. Thank you for that. Let me go ahead and pass it over. or unless anybody else has any closing remarks, turn it over to council member Mendoza to go ahead and adjourn in the memory of Ray Virchis.

Go ahead, councilman.

Thank you, mayor.

I think you're on mute.

Thank you, Mayor Sarmiento. I asked this meeting to be closed in honor of a good friend and community leader Raymond Burches.

As we learned early this morning that he had passed away due to COVID. He had been hospitalized for about two weeks and unfortunately his body was not strong enough to sustain the rabid symptoms of COVID. Ray Burches was a community leader. He attended local high schools and he belonged to many community boards and committees here

in Santa Ana. He was a very conscientious and kind and a giving man. He volunteered to protect his country. He served in the Marines for four years. He served honorably and upon his discharge, he opened up his own landscaping company and he continued to be involved in the community in that way. He then, his landscaping company then turned into what is currently the Virchis Consulting Company.

So Mr. Virchis was always a very present person, giving to his community and always

being present in whatever it is that was being asked of him. He was always volunteering his time, his resources, and all of that was due to the kindness of his own heart. Ray Birches was a strong advocate for issues that were important, that are important to our community for decades. And he has always been someone that we can count on. Ironically, it was his strong advocacy to ensure that Santa Ana residents

had access to COVID-19 tests that resulted in his early death. We are in extreme gratitude for this last COVID-19 testing. advocacy for our residents and his decades of dedication to our community. I requested this meeting be adjourned in his memory and he leaves many, many good friends in Santa Ana. He is an extremely powerful advocate for community involvement and thus Ray Virchis deserves the honor and gratitude and appreciation

from the city of Santa Ana. Thank you, Mayor Sarmiento.

Thank you, council member Mendoza. And just before we adjourn, I just wanna say a couple of words about Ray. So I knew Ray personally and I've known him for years.

He was famous for having his Halloween parties that he would have at his house in Orange. And I know he helped many of us when we were young elected officials and kind of introduced us to, you know, issues and different people. And he played a big role in many of our lives. I remember he was very involved in then Congresswoman Sanchez's races and her rise to the Congress. You know, so, you know, finally, when I bumped into him after years, he was at many of our CARES mobile sites throughout the community. And I remember seeing him. He was older. He looked a little bit more frail, but he was there almost at every site that I went to.

And I would tell him, Ray, why are you so close to everybody? And he had his mask, but nonetheless, I mean, he was really, I think, in the wrong place, unfortunately, at the wrong time. But I think, you know, his dedication to the work he was doing and his belief in delivering the service to a community that was going through a lot of suffering was kind of who Ray was. And that epitomizes, I think, his life is that he dedicated himself to this one last effort that really embodied his life, which was service and trying to make people better.

And so we know that he worked with Medica and Medica worked with us as our vendor to provide and deliver the testing units. But he will certainly be missed to many of us who knew him for years. He also leaves behind a son, Vincent, who was living with Ray and also three sisters and two brothers. So let's adjourn in Ray's memory. let's remember to keep each other safe and to care for one another life is very very precious and it's very fragile right now these days for many of our neighbors friends and people that we

know so we will adjourn in his memory and we will have our next regularly scheduled meeting on tuesday january 19th thank you all be well

Thank you.