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Recording in progress

Jennifer L. Hall

Mayor, we're ready for the meeting.

Valerie Amezcua

I hereby call the Santa Ana City Council meeting to order. This meeting is taking place with in-person attendance and by teleconference via Zoom. The public may access the meeting via the Santa Ana YouTube channel or the City's website. Please bear with us as the technology may disrupt the flow of the meeting. Madam Clerk, please conduct the roll call. Council Member Becerra. Council Member Hernandez.

Jennifer L. Hall

Council Member Lopez? Council Member Penaloza?

David Penaloza

Here.

Jennifer L. Hall

Council Member Vasquez? Present. Mayor Pro Tem Fan? Here. Mayor Mesquah? Present. We have four present. That is a quorum.

Valerie Amezcua

Thank you. Madam Kirk, are there any additions or deletions to the closed session? There are not. Do any council members need to announce their abstentions on closed session items?

Thai Viet Phan

Yes, please, Mayor. I'd like to announce my abstention from closed session item 1B in Riaqua's film forming foam products liability litigation as one of my clients Orange County Water District may be implicated or be involved in the settlements discussion thank you thank

Valerie Amezcua

you very much Madam Clerk do we have any speakers for closed session

Jennifer L. Hall

mayor and City Council we do not have any speakers in person or on zoom but noting for the record that we did receive one email related to closed session agenda item number two which was distributed to Council and posted online

Valerie Amezcua

for the public to see thank you very much at this time we will recess this portion of the meeting to consider the items listed on closed session agenda.

Recording stopped.

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Valerie Amezcua

Madam Clerk, can we please start the meeting please?

Jennifer L. Hall

Yes, Mayor. Go ahead, please.

Valerie Amezcua

Thank you so very much. I hereby reconvene the Santa Ana City Council meeting to order. This meeting is taking place with in-person attendance and by teleconference via Zoom. The public may access the meeting via the Santa Ana YouTube channel or the City's website. Please bear with us as the technology may disrupt the flow of the meeting. As a reminder, this is a meeting to conduct the business of the city. As mayor, I am afforded the opportunity to call for a recess or a break or to even clear the meeting room if a meeting becomes too disruptive to properly conduct business.

Valerie Amezcua

Warnings will be provided prior to any action being taken. We appreciate your cooperation. For everyone's safety per the fire marshal, please do not stand or place objects in the aisles in front of the dais along the back wall of the council chamber or in front of the entrance and exits. Guidelines for members of the news media or anyone else who wishes to film or photograph the meeting are available in the lobby. During City Council presentations and oaths of office, guests of individuals being recognized are invited to come to the front to take pictures. Madam Clerk, please conduct the roll call.

Jennifer L. Hall

Council Member Becerra Here Council Member Hernandez Here Council Member Lopez Council Member Penaloza Present Council Member Vasquez Present Mayor Pro Temphan Here Mayor Mesquah Present Six members present in the chamber, that is a quorum

Valerie Amezcua

Thank you, Madam Clerk. Before we proceed to the Pledge of Allegiance, please make an announcement.

Jennifer L. Hall

Thank you. For members of the public on Zoom or teleconference, to request to speak during public comments on agenda or non-agenda items within the city's jurisdiction, you must dial star 9 from your phone or click the button labeled raised hand from zoom now in order to be in the speaker queue when public comments commence thank you

Valerie Amezcua

the first item is the pledge of allegiance um may we please stand and um frida would you please come up and lead us in the pledge of allegiance

All righty. Praise to your right hand over your heart. Ready, begin. 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.

Valerie Amezcua

Thank you very much. Words of inspiration will be provided by Rabbi Sharon Sobel from the Temple Beth Shalom. Please come to the podium. Rabbi, thank you.

Good evening, Honorable Mayor Amesqua, esteemed City Council members, and dedicated members of our community. We are here to shape the future of our community, to make decisions that will impact our neighbors, our friends, and those whom we may never meet. And as we gather here, I'm reminded of the words from my tradition from the Book of Proverbs. By justice, a city is built, and by wisdom, it is established. This responsibility is both a privilege and a profound duty, and sometimes this responsibility that we have is also an act of great courage.

In our world today, it can be easy to focus on division, on what separates us. In this room, however, let us find strength in our diversity. Let us find strength and unity in our purpose and in our shared commitment to the common good. Each of us carries a unique perspective, a distinct voice, and together we weave the fabric of our city, a fabric that must be resilient, inclusive, and just. So as we deliberate tonight, may we be guided by the values that have long sustained us, compassion, fairness, and integrity.

May we listen with open hearts, speak with kindness, and act with the wisdom that seeks not to just benefit those who are here in this present moment, but will benefit the flourishing of generations to come. Let us keep in mind that the decisions we make here this evening do not just shape policies, they shape lives. Our decisions impact the safety of our streets, the education of our children, the vibrancy of our economy, and the health of our environment. May our actions and decisions reflect the highest aspirations we hold for Santa Ana,

a place where all can thrive, where justice prevails, and where hope is a shared reality. Thank you all for your service, your dedication, and your commitment to Santa Ana. may our work tonight be blessed with wisdom clarity, compassion and the courage to do what is right thank you applause applause applause applause

Valerie Amezcua

applause Madam Clerk are there any additions or deletions to the City Council agenda

Jennifer L. Hall

yes Mayor and City Council just one announcement that for item number 32 a revised City Manager Employment Agreement for your consideration was distributed to the city council and made publicly available online thank you we're going to go into presentations

Valerie Amezcua

now the first one is the mayor's which is mine and we're going to do the community resource for planning committee for outstanding contributions to the community can you please come up

Thank you.

Valerie AmezcuaItem 1

Move on in, move on in, move on in. We all like each other, so get close.

Think about the photo.

Valerie AmezcuaItem 1

That's right. Thank you, Stephen. Think of the photo. Okay, here we go. The 2024 Back to School Community Resource Fair Planning Committee and Sponsors. The Asian American Senior Service Center. Jennifer Wang.

Valerie AmezcuaItem 1

Cal Optima, Michael Han, Soledad Rivera, Tiffany K. Manning. I got it. Kiwanis Club of Santa Ana, Louise Muir, also my commissioner.

Valerie AmezcuaItem 1

Mosaic Movement, Yvette Willoughby.

Valerie AmezcuaItem 1

Power of One Foundation, Andre Robertson.

Valerie AmezcuaItem 1

the Santa Ana Chamber Dave Elliott who is not here tonight but who's standing in for Dave nobody okay Dave's on vacation lucky guy Sunrise Community Christian Church Pastor Dion Thomas

Valerie AmezcuaItem 1

the Santa Ana Alex Lodge 794 which I'm a member of and a couple of those are here We have Brenda Fernandez and Joe Rodriguez.

Valerie AmezcuaItem 1

And Joe's the exalted ruler. I should know that. I'm going to have to buy you a cup of coffee for that one. And the Senate and Mayor's Office, my assistant in my right hand, Claudia Perez.

Valerie AmezcuaItem 1

Today I would like to take a moment to acknowledge the incredible team that planned and executed the 2024 Back to School Community Resource Fair on July 28, 2024 at the Santa Ana Alex Lodge. As we approach the new school year, we recognize the importance of providing students, families, and community members with the essential resources and support they need to succeed. Organizing the community fair was essential, and it wouldn't have been possible without the collective efforts of our incredible partners and sponsors. So, again, I'm going to go through them, and maybe one or two of you can come up here.

Valerie AmezcuaItem 1

Before I go through the Asian American Senior Center, CalOptima, Kiwanis, Mosaic, Power One, Santa Ana Chamber, Sunrise Community Christian Church, the Elks Lodge, and the Mayor's Office, I want to say that they met for six months.

Every week. They met every week.

Valerie AmezcuaItem 1

For six months. So to put a resource fair together this size of over 2,000 people, over 2,000 backpacks given, 60-plus vendors and people that were there to give shots, not shots, glasses and dental work and haircuts. And it was just a beautiful day. And Councilman Becerra and Councilman Penelosa, thank you for joining us that day as well. And there's so many people I can thank. And the city staff, thank you for. also being there with us. I want to give a special thank you. I don't think as council members and

Valerie AmezcuaItem 1

the mayor that I know I thank her, but in private usually. You know, I want to honor Claudia. Claudia is very instrumental in everything that I do. Everything. Everything.

Valerie AmezcuaItem 1

We're not allowed to cry. You know, I call her at 6.30 in the morning, sometimes 5.30. I call her at 1.30 in the morning, sometimes 11.30. And she's on it. She's on it. I got it. Girls conference, I got it. You know, prayer breakfast, the chamber's got it, Mayor. Resource fair, we're meeting weekly, we got it. Turkeys, we're good, Mayor. We got it. It's, you know, it's a beautiful partnership. And with everybody up here, thank you all very much from the bottom of my heart for providing for our community.

Valerie AmezcuaItem 1

Because it's like, it's, with all of you, we wouldn't be able to do the work that we do. And, you know, when Claudia and I run into a family that needs help, we don't go usually to the city staff. We go to them. And many more. We pick up the phone and we call because we're the great connectors, right? They connect us here, there, everywhere, whether it's for food, shelter, bus passes, Cal Optima, whatever it may be. I want you to know that they are all amazing people up here.

Valerie AmezcuaItem 1

And so from the bottom of my heart, I thank each and every one of you as the mayor of Santa Ana. So thank you very much.

Valerie AmezcuaItem 1

So come on up, Michael. Michael you get to who's gonna speak so a dad's gonna speak and then one more you're gonna do it all right good evening thank you so much for giving me

this opportunity I think mainly we just want to say was an amazing collaboration nothing could have happened as the mayor said without the impact of everybody working together nothing can be done but I think the most rewarding thing besides working together making it happen is seeing the smiles of the children seeing the success of the event just through their eyes of the things that were able to receive the things that we were able to support them with because we take it so much for granted every day and we don't realize that so many children and families are in such a need and when we're working together to fulfill those

needs you think in the future that is coming to the city of Santa Ana and to County and we're helping those children be strong and be successful for the future so it is a work of everybody together but we're so appreciative also because we couldn't do it without your support as well so thank you

so I just want to echo the mayor's sentiments when I started this in December of 2023 I called the Elks Lodge first and they were like we're on board and the line continued from every single one of you and from the bottom of my heart you guys all said, yeah, I'm in. And I know it started with you, Reverend. We had a meeting in the mayor's office and we're like, let's do a resource fair. And it's amazing from one thought what we can do together when all of us work together and put our egos aside and just do right by our community. So thank you all. I really appreciate working with you.

Valerie AmezcuaItem 1

And I miss you all too.

Valerie AmezcuaItem 1

All right. And there's more to come, but from what I hear. So let's take a picture.

Valerie AmezcuaItem 1

I'll give you one second. The council better come down and join Eric.

Valerie AmezcuaItem 1

I understand.

I thought you were. It's very kind of. Thank you.

Thank you.

Congratulations. Congratulations.

Thai Viet PhanItem 1

Hi, everyone. I'd like to invite AASCSC up to the stage, please.

Thank you.

Thai Viet PhanItem 2

He's been so good all night.

You're back. Hi, it's a big party up here.

Thai Viet PhanItem 2

Well, hi, everyone. Good evening. I'm a pro tem fan, and I am so excited to recognize some outstanding individuals. Y'all can come up here. I swear I don't bite. Who've played pivotal roles in the success of Asian American Senior Citizen Service Center. We call it AASCSC's first youth empowerment against hate program, or as we call it, Yeah, which makes me think of the Usher song. So AACSC Center, or AACSC, has expanded their programs beyond servicing seniors. They've also expanded their programs to

Thai Viet PhanItem 2

servicing our youth. Recently they hosted their very first Youth Empowerment Against Hate summer program. The Yeah! program is instrumental in educating and empowering our youth to stand against hate, promote inclusivity, and become advocates for positive change in our community. The students in the YAH program engaged in active in-person learning, participated in community service projects, and showcased their talents through artistic and creative mediums such as spoken poetry, which I cannot do, poster and PowerPoint presentations, which I can do, artwork presentations, dance and musical performances. I feel

Thai Viet PhanItem 2

like we should have a special performance next time. None of this would have been possible without the contributions of the committee chairs, committee members, and guest panelists. So the committee chairs dedicated countless hours to understanding the Stop the Hate initiative and worked tirelessly to ensure the success of the program. Their leadership in coordinating efforts, developing the curriculum, and managing logistical matters was nothing short of remarkable. The committee members on the other hand were vital in supporting the program success their dedication to learning about the stop

Thai Viet PhanItem 2

the hate initiative and their active participation in coordinating efforts and managing logistical matters which we all we know how logistics go was invaluable and then finally we have our guest panelists the guest panelists brought a wealth of knowledge and personal experience to the yeah program their willingness to share their journeys and create a field and to discuss critical topics such as mental health, advocacy, and overcoming challenges was truly inspirational. The success of the YAA program is a testament to the dedication and hard work

Thai Viet PhanItem 2

of everyone involved. Thank you to each of our honorees for your outstanding contributions to building a community that stands strong against hate, that promotes inclusivity, and that ensures understanding between our communities. Your effort truly makes a difference. Thank you.

Thai Viet PhanItem 2

I invite one of you to come up if you'd like to...

Well, actually, let me... ...part here, because our city clerk's looking at me.

Thai Viet PhanItem 2

I skipped a part to tell who are the members up here. Come on, Ty. All right. So as I call out your name, Abigail is going to help distribute your certificates of recognition for outstanding contributions to the community. First, we have David Bay.

Thai Viet PhanItem 2

Oh, he's not here today. We have Grace Chung.

Thai Viet PhanItem 2

Isabel Ng.

Thai Viet PhanItem 2

Caitlin Kim.

Thai Viet PhanItem 2

Angela Huang. Grace Gillen, Hailey Cho, Justin Hong, Kyle Su, Olivia Le, Yimen Wang, Eric Pan, Ritika Singh and Gabriella de Trinidad and with that I'd like to invite one of our members from ASCSC or the yeah program to say a couple words come on y'all

Thai Viet PhanItem 2

y'all performed I know this don't hide

Thank You Miraporteng I think this is a great opportunity to showcase the great work the youth has been doing we actually proposed this program a few month ago in front of the City Council meeting for one of the grant items, although we didn't get a grant items but we feel like this work we're doing is very important. We would love to continue to showcase not only the talent that the youth has but also continue to educate and engage the community about how we can stop the hate. You know just like Rabbi was saying at the very beginning the society nowadays has been more divided than ever and it's important for

all of us to to start to build that awareness to start to connect the bridges and I just want to invite all of you guys to give another round of applause to for all the young people here on the stage they did most of the heavy work thank you

Thai Viet PhanItem 2

okay last speaker but it has to be someone who participated in the yeah program come on looking at you somebody okay sorry I'm a little nervous I didn't have anything planned but I'm Grace and I was a committee chair I was a chair for outreach and I think that I had a really memorable time with yeah and it was a really special experience and I'm so glad that I was able to be a part of it

Thai Viet PhanItem 2

okay please invite the council members down for a group photo or up there on the stage whatever works

Valerie AmezcuaItem 2

Council member Sarah you're up

Phil BacerraItem 3

like a good commissioner he already knows winston comington come on down

Kind of hard to keep track sometimes, huh?

Phil BacerraItem 3

So tonight I have the opportunity and the honor to recognize an exceptional individual whose dedication and service have profoundly shaped our community, Mr. Winston Covington.

Phil BacerraItem 3

So Winston is a proud U.S. Army veteran who is trained in helicopter aviation and nuclear weapons. huh wow wow Winston began his service to Santa Ana back in 1986 in numerous impactful ways his commitment to our community is evident through his diverse roles where he began as an Indian guide leader fostering the spirit of mentorship and community among our youth then as a coach for Northeast Santa Ana Little League where he nurtured young athletes and instilled in them the values

Phil BacerraItem 3

of teamwork and perseverance. For nearly three decades, Winston Covington has served as chairman for the Portola Park Neighborhood Association, and then if that wasn't enough, in 2002, he took on leadership roles over in neighboring Meredith Parkwood as well. So when I was elected in 2019, I nominated Winston to serve as my appointee on our city's Community Development Commission. And during his tenure on that commission, Winston served as vice chair and as chairman for two terms. So Winston is a proud graduate of both the Pew National Leadership

Phil BacerraItem 3

Program and the Santa Ana Chamber of Commerce Leadership Program. His service on the Comlink Board of Directors, including roles as vice chairman and chairman, his work with the Santa Ana Kiwanis Club and the Santa Ana Chamber of Commerce as a board member reflect Winston's unwavering commitment to our community's growth and well-being. His contributions have been recognized with the Neighborhood Hero Award and the Santa Ana Chamber of Commerce's Ambassador of the Year. Winston also served as a principal for the day at John Muir Fundamental School,

Phil BacerraItem 3

leaving a lasting impact on the students and faculty in Portola Park. So while we'll miss his involvement in these activities and our community, Winston Covington's legacy of service has made a tremendously positive difference here in Santa Ana, and we are deeply grateful for his tireless efforts and dedication to his neighborhoods and to the entire Golden City. So this is kind of bittersweet, man, because I don't want to do it.

Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, hold on, hold on, hold on. You're getting a little ahead here.

Phil BacerraItem 3

I don't want to give this to you because then that means I'm capping a long-term career here of service and dedication to our city, but I got to do it, man. SO HERE YOU GO. ON BEHALF OF THE SAN ANA CITY COUNCIL, I WANT TO PRESENT YOU THAT TILE. I DON'T THINK THAT'S ENOUGH TO REALLY TRULY APPRECIATE ALL THAT YOU DID. SO THANK YOU VERY MUCH, WINSTON. THANK YOU.

I HAVE TO SAY THAT I AM HONORED BY THE PRESENTATION THAT COUNCILMEMBER BACERA JUST GAVE ME. I want to thank the mayor and the city council for this award. This is going to look really cool at my home office, so I'm looking forward to it. But I have to tell you guys something. I've lived in this city, like Phil said, for 38 years. I love Santa Ana. Santa Ana has been a great home. It's been a great place to work. It's been a great place to play. I believe that we all need to take responsibility for doing our part to keep it that way. there's a saying that Winston Churchill has that I love and I love quotes

and what he said is that we make a living I'm sorry we make a living by what we earn but we make a life by what we give so I want to encourage everybody here everybody watching, everybody listening go home and share this quote with your neighbors and get involved with the city it's a beautiful city, it's a great city start with helping out at your schools helping out maybe coaching a sports team help clean up the neighborhood park do what you can to get involved in your community and we can make a great city even greater thank you for everything guys i appreciate it thank you again

Let's get a picture in here. All good.

Phil BacerraItem 3

All right, you guys want to come down?

Thank you.

There is one more thing that I forgot to say that's important. I served on the Community Development Commission for four years. It was a wonderful experience with outstanding staff, excellent commissioners, and I encourage everyone to get involved wherever you can. Thanks again. We'll see you. This isn't goodbye forever. It's just goodbye for now.

Valerie AmezcuaItem 3

Thank you. Next we have Councilmember Hernandez recognizing, oh declaring August 2024 Chicano Heritage Month.

Alvaro NuñezItem 4

Hello there. It's a beautiful day today, August 20th, and it's Chicano Heritage Month in the city of Santa Ana. Let's make some noise for that.

Alvaro NuñezItem 4

you are at the house of the people and today we are recognizing some very special individuals if we can please welcome to the front the funk freaks as well as cycle round pico unions on cycle round please make your way to the front

Alvaro NuñezItem 4

this is a joyous day you have orange county and la county coming together in unity. Sanan is bringing Chicano people together. That's what this is about.

Alvaro NuñezItem 4

Let's make some noise for our guests today.

Alvaro NuñezItem 4

Well, as we said, as we started, August is Chicano Heritage Month. You're at a sacred place for black and brown people. A place where, in this city, we dare to make this country a better place for everybody. A place where black families fought to ensure that housing segregation laws ended. We have Dorothy Mulkey in the house today. We have four Mexican families in Orange County who worked with Thurgood Marshall, a black lawyer, to desegregate schools across Orange County. Orange County being the first county in the nation to do that, starting here in Santa Ana with Mendez versus Westminster.

Alvaro NuñezItem 4

And here today, we are on the hills of our third annual Chicano Heritage Month. We were the first city in the country to do so, and today we have the honor of celebrating our first line of musicians that are contributing to the culture. On August 20th today, we have a proclamation for Chicano Heritage Month, and it is going to be presented to Funk Freaks and to the legendary Cycle Realm. Today, the city of Santa Ana proudly proclaims August as Chicano Heritage Month. We honor the rich achievements, the diverse culture, and the contributions of Chicanos, as well as the civil rights activists who help advance the Chicano movement.

Alvaro NuñezItem 4

When we speak of Chicano heritage, we're not just referring to Mexican descent born in the United States. We're celebrating a vibrant and diverse culture that plays a monumental role in shaping this community, our community. You might wonder why there's a second proclamation before you. The main reason is that Chicano pride manifests in various ways. and today we are going to celebrate the Chicano excellence and and and the people who deserve the recognition the pride that we have is evident in our music it's evident in our art and it's

Alvaro NuñezItem 4

evident that there are people with talents that are empowering the Chicano community and they're using their talents to highlight important issues in Santa Ana there's a DJ collective named the Funk Freaks. Over the last 15 years, this collective of DJs has brought together Chicanos across generations through their shared love of funk music, vinyl, soldies, oldies, collecting, and community. This was founded by Chicanos from our community. Ivan Debo Marquez, David Luzer Diaz, and Robert Luer Marquez. Make some noise for them.

Alvaro NuñezItem 4

Since they opened their store, their records shop in 2017 in the city of Santa Ana, Funk Freaks have supported the creation of over 20 DJ collectives across the United States, South America, and Europe, bringing Chicano music and black music to a global audience. Funk Freaks recently celebrated their 15-year anniversary, their quinceanera, operating in Santana, and they have consistently used their platform to raise awareness to systemic injustices Chicano people are facing. Most notably, not only are they playing funk music,

Alvaro NuñezItem 4

but they remind people that the role of the artist is to reflect the times. And when Brandon Lopez was murdered by Anaheim Police Department on September 28th of 2021, they shut the streets down with their music and they created a place for families to come together and heal and share the joy that funk brings to communities in Santana. And so I also want to remind the world that as much as they are playing music, they are using music as a vehicle to bring people together, impacted people. And they're doing that and they are raising awareness about systemic police

Alvaro NuñezItem 4

violence and the fact that three people are killed every single day by law enforcement but over 90% of law enforcement are not held accountable. The reason why Chicano Heritage Month exists is because August 29th of 1970 Sheriff Thomas Wilson killed Ruben Salazar at the Silver Dollar Bar when 20 to 30,000 Mexicans were protesting the disproportionate amount of lives that we were losing in Vietnam. The disproportionate amount of lives that we were losing to police violence. As evidenced on August 29th of 1970, we were learned exactly what happens when we raise our voice. Ruben Salazar was a Santa Ana resident who was shot and killed

Alvaro NuñezItem 4

by Thomas Wilson. And that is the reason why Mexicans are using art to raise their voice. Because being a journalist isn't enough. We can be teachers, we can be artists, we can be educators, we can be elected officials, we can be a collective of Chicanos playing funk. And you can also be born in Mazatlan, Sinaloa, and have been raised in Pico Union, Los Angeles.

Alvaro NuñezItem 4

Similarly, the Los Angeles-based hip-hop group, Psycho Round, was formed by brothers Sick Jackin and Big Duke. They have used their powerful lyrics to address critical issues affecting the Chicano community. Cycle Realm has used their music to address poverty, to address gang violence, to address police brutality. And more importantly, over the last 20 years, Cycle Realm has used their platform to unify Chicano people all over the country. no matter where they have been impacted by injustices whether they be at the

Alvaro NuñezItem 4

hands of police or by ourselves when we destroy ourselves through gang violence Psycho Realm has provided a platform for Chicano people to come together in peace and over the last 20 years they have dedicated a special place here in Santa Ana where they come together once a year on cycle the Mayo as they call it Cinco the Mayo recently they have been celebrating this monumental event at the Yost Theater. So it's only fitting that as we're going to be celebrating this, we got to take you

to the Palace of Exile. That's the only way to do it, Jack. Come on up, come on up. Live in exile. Come on up, get close, Jack. Get close. Come on, Jack. Let's go.

about though? What's it about? About prisons. Palace of Exiles. A song about how there was a plan back in the days when gangs were ejected into our communities and neighborhoods and the prisons, private prisons were set up and the, you know, gangster rap was put on the radio to fill those private prisons up and you know, so on and so forth.

Alvaro NuñezItem 4

Well, you know what? I had to make sure we played this song. We're going to have you guys speak. But please join me, community, with a loud round of applause in acknowledging and celebrating Chicano Heritage Month here in Santana. Make some noise for Psycho Realm and Funk Freaks.

Alvaro NuñezItem 4

Deebo, if you could do us the honors, and then Big Jack will close for us.

Of course. Of course.

All right, check one, two.

First, I would like to thank my crew. Thank you for keeping this vision we had alive for riding with us for everything that we've gone and produced and be part of history. That's Funk Freaks. That's the OC crew right there. Second, I want to thank my kids, my wife Chanel, for understanding and sacrificing her time and patience with me and everything that I've been doing. Third, I would like to thank the city of Santa Ana for letting us create Funk Freaks here 15 years ago. We were the forefathers of this underground subculture that is an umbrella term that I coined as street funk music.

blue collar gets you through the day work music that makes you feel good we have made Santana the capital of funk and no one will ever dispute this honestly when it comes to record collectors dealers sellers the first thing that people say if you're looking for funk music 80s music music they're asking where you from or they're probably gonna say oh from Orange County when you say you're from Orange County the second thing they ask is you must know about the funk freaks and yeah sure enough that's what happens this is our contribution that we've given to the culture will never be taken away.

And yeah, just want to let that be stated that we made Santa Ana the capital of funk. And another thing I would like to actually address is the mural on First Street. That was a gift from funk freaks to the city of Santa Ana. If you ever drive by that right down to the street on First Street at the blue light we painted that with spray cans without any city funding at all. So Santa Ana you're Welcome.

Second off, I'd like to address an issue that we started a Funk Freaks Foundation, which aim was to teach vinyl record archiving and teach DJing skills and music production. We actually had two students, a 17-year-old and an 8-year-old resident of Santa Ana, who would come and spend their money buying records at our shop. Long story short, we were given a grant for $2,917 by the Arts and Culture Association of the City of Santa Ana to cater a lowrider show for the kids to showcase their talent. Unfortunately, a month later, we were denied the grant by the commission by way of Michael

Garcia due to the Google search of our name and a trademark and a depiction of a spray can on our website. We're not going to disparage our efforts and we gave the kids a platform so we made sure that on our anniversary on Sunday we let them DJ and perform their record DJing skills. So with that I just want to let the City Council know that maybe you guys should start supporting the actual people from the city that represent you instead of taking out actual funding that could actually help kids that we're trying to reach. That goes for anybody a Google search

shouldn't be a reason for you to take a whole grand away and to try to destroy some kids dreams of being a DJ or a music producer. And last of all I I would like to really bring it pretty much to everybody's attention that I was the first DJ to DJ a sold-out show in Amsterdam, over 2,000 people, in Berlin, and also Paris, the oldest, at the Olympia, the oldest location. I was a Chicano from Orange County that did that. My whole crew, we ended up going to Brussels, sold out a whole show out there. First ones to do that to DJ, playing funk, mind you, on vinyl, in France, Lyon, all these places.

And honestly, yeah, you guys should have some pride because we are from Orange County. We are the culture. We are La Raza right here.

My name is Jack Gonzalez from a group called Cycle Realm. 25 years ago, we were gifted the opportunity to explore music. And it's a blessing to still be able to explore that space. I want to thank the council members for having us. Thank you, Mayor, for having us. and more importantly for what you do for the city. They're lucky to have you guys as their city council. You guys represent them good. I've had talks with you, Councilman Hernandez, and thank you for the inspiration, for your time, for the knowledge. I appreciate that. On behalf of my team, my family, my crew, we want to thank everybody that supported our music,

that's listened to it. That's what keeps us alive. just people listening to it you know gives music life so thank everybody that's listened to and still listens to our music we appreciate it gracias santana for all the love and support throughout the years we'll see you guys at cycle the mayo baby sick jack cycle round

Alvaro NuñezItem 4

and we have the official proclamation this is going to the funk freaks and to the legendary cycle round. Thank you on behalf of the city of Santana.

Thank you.

Valerie AmezcuaItem 4

Perfect. Thank you. Next presentation is by Council Member Lopez.

Jessie LopezItem 5

All right, good evening. Tonight we're going to be recognizing Khalil Bey for his heroism, exceptional bravery and selflessness and so we're gathered to honor an individual whose courage and quick action exemplify the very essence of heroism here in the city of Santa Ana and last year in the city of Santa Ana critical situation unfolded an unconscious individual laid in harm's way on a busy road their life hanging in the balance it was in this moment that Khalil Bey took immediate action. Driving down Dyer Road, Khalil noticed the precarious scene

Jessie LopezItem 5

unfolding before him. Without hesitation, he stopped his vehicle and positioned it to shield the incapacitated person from oncoming traffic. Approaching the individual, Khalil recognized the signs of a potential drug overdose, a situation he was trained to handle due to his background and aiding unhoused people. Understanding the urgency of the situation, Khalil retrieved Narcan from his vehicle and administered it to the unconscious individual. His swift and knowledgeable response proved pivotal. By the time emergency responders from our Orange County Fire Authority arrived,

Jessie LopezItem 5

the patient's condition had improved. Thanks to Khalil's actions, the individual began to regain consciousness, a testament to the life-saving impact of his intervention. So today on behalf of the city we proudly recognize him for his exceptional bravery and selflessness, his willingness to put himself at risk to protect and provide aid to a stranger that embodies the highest ideals of compassion and civic duty. I'm happy to present Khalil Bey with a certificate of recognition highlighting his extraordinary actions that undoubtedly saved a life. So please join me in expressing our deepest gratitude and

Jessie LopezItem 5

admiration to Khalil, a true hero among us. And so we just really want to take this opportunity to also encourage anyone watching or in or here in the audience to familiarize yourself with how to provide Narcan assistance or CPR because you never know where you may be that somebody may need it and you can help save someone's lives. So thank you Khalil for being a great community member to not just our city but Orange County as a whole and Khalil was also recently recognized by the Orange County Fire Authority at their Best in Braves Awards so now we hear from

I had no idea how to say something but you know don't do drugs stay away from fentanyl and carry an arcanic began very good message

Valerie AmezcuaItem 5

okay final presentation by councilmember Vasquez to recognize Dorothy Mulcahy for outstanding contributions to the community.

Valerie AmezcuaItem 6

Come on up. Come on up.

Everybody, the whole family. You want to invite your daughter to cook up this one?

Benjamin VazquezItem 6

Today we have another Santanero true history. And I met Dorothy at a workshop at the People's History of Orange County, which is ran by Mr. Rodriguez and Mrs. Lynn Lee. And they do a tour of Little Texas. And one of their students actually lived in the apartments.

Benjamin VazquezItem 6

Bernardo?

America.

Benjamin VazquezItem 6

America. Yeah, I met her grandmother, lives in the apartments that you were trying to get into now, so you've opened it up for everybody to go there. So today, come here, if you guys want to step up. Today we gather to honor an extraordinary individual whose courage and perseverance changed the course of history. We recognize Dorothy Mulkey, a pioneering force in the fight against racial discrimination. Dorothy was born in Kentucky as a daughter of a coal miner, and in 1962, she moved to Santa Ana, California, with her husband.

Benjamin VazquezItem 6

They settled in a historically segregated little Texas neighborhood where systematic barriers sought to confine their community. In 1963, Dorothy and her husband faced a blatant discrimination when they attempted to rent an apartment in a predominantly wide area of Santa Ana. Despite available vacancies, they were denied housing purely because of their race. Determined to combat this injustice, Dorothy, with the support of the NAACP, embarked on a groundbreaking legal battle. Their case, Mulkey v. Raimond, challenged Proposition 14, which allowed racial discrimination in housing.

Benjamin VazquezItem 6

The Supreme Court's landmark decision in 1967 not only struck down Proposition 14, but also made a monumental impact on the redlining and retro-segregation across the nation. Dorothy Mulkey's relentless pursuit of justice has paved the way for greater racial equality and has allowed countless others to live free from discriminatory practices. Her bravery and unwavering determination are celebrated through walking tours in Little Texas where her story of triumph continues to inspire. As well as in my classroom, we painted this after we did a lesson on Dorothy Mulkey with my students

Benjamin VazquezItem 6

and they loved it and we dedicate this painting to you. Today we proudly honor Dorothy Mulkey for her remarkable contributions to civil rights. Her legacy stands as a beacon of hope and testament to the power of standing up for what is right.

Do you have any words? Do you want to share a little bit?

Thank you. My story is not so unique. It's just that I was in the right place at the right time. and I've never been one to back away from anything. So when the opportunity presented itself, I simply said, yes, I'll do it. I'll fight for what I think is right, the right to own or to rent an apartment in any place that I can afford, not because of my color, but because of my ability to pay like everyone else.

So I was only asking for what was rightfully mine. It was just denied at the time. But as with anything else, if you have a plan and you work that plan, there's no stopping you. Anything is possible. So being that it was 1963, I was 23 years old, had just come out of the Navy, where I was a first-class citizen there, and I wasn't about to be a second-class citizen here in Santa Ana. It wasn't going to happen.

So through it all, we sued three landlords that owned apartment buildings. The California Supreme Court upheld the decision, but the U.S. Supreme Court said, yes, you're right. We struck down Proposition 14. You can live wherever you want, and that's where we are.

Benjamin VazquezItem 6

Thank you. We appreciate you so much. We appreciate your work, and this should be a stamp. This should be a stamp, and we will donate it to your church. We're going to travel it for a year for educational purposes, and then we'll dedicate it to the Second Baptist Church if that's okay with you.

Well, then we can recognize the pastor standing at the baseball hat.

Benjamin VazquezItem 6

Thank you for coming. Do you have any words of wisdom?

Valerie AmezcuaItem 6

Pastor Pitts, come on up, my friend. Come on up.

Valerie AmezcuaItem 6

Don't ask him to say words. He'll talk for a while.

Valerie AmezcuaItem 6

Come on up, Pastor.

Thank you. Don't do drugs. Don't drink and drive. Peace.

Thank you. Down in front, down in front.

Thank you. Thank you. Got it.

Thank you.

Valerie AmezcuaItem 6

Perfect. Thank you all very much. And thank you to all the families that came and friends and kids. All right, Mr. City Manager, may we please have a staff presentation at this time.

We have a presentation from Southern California Gas. Mr. Gonzalez will present a check and

Valerie AmezcuaItem 7

grant yes yes we do yes please and you know what council I think we should all go down there and

join him good evening madam mayor members of council Juan Gonzales SoCal gas public affairs I'm also joined here by my my counterpart Jeff Danker we're here bearing gifts and also information if I may with taking full advantage of the speaker of the microphone I should say I want to be able to share additional information so as you know SoCal Gas has been in our community for over 150 years providing safe reliable energy to our customers from Visalia all the way to the Mexican border and we're very proud to be able to partner up with the project that the city has but along those lines I also want to share with

you information that the gas company has partnered up with the California Restaurant Foundation and we've been able to grant five thousand two five thousand dollar grants to local businesses here in the city of Santana two of them well number one is the compadre at 515 North Main Street and Taqueria El Amigo at 1936 West 17 so again in the spirit of giving so local to local business owners have received two five five thousand dollar grants to support their local businesses and that's the way the gas company again is giving in addition to that very happy to report that through our service

territory we had the opportunity to offer scholarships one of our local students here from from Samwelly Academy was an individual who won a 20,000 the opportunity for a $20,000 grant so the grant is for $5,000 can renew it every other every other year for four years as she is attending UC Berkeley in cognitive science so if I may miss Natalie Lopez congratulations a local Sanana residents I'm well the Academy so again gas company giving back to the organization so within that I want to bring here my colleague mr. Jeff Danker in relation to our project city of Sanana is doing and we're very happy to

collaborate with you guys so mr. Danker thank you thank you one great to be here tonight my name is Jeff Danker public policy and planning at SoCal gas first off congratulations we're very pleased to present this climate adaptation in resiliency grant this is a competitive planning grant available to all 240 cities and 12 counties and 10 tribal governments in our service territory we we review with experts from the american planning association and with a group called lark a los angeles regional collaborative on climate

change really impressed with your neighborhood initiatives and environmental services department They put together a phenomenal application. It scored very highly on all of our scores. They really hit the nail on the head of what we're trying to do, and it's to support disadvantaged communities with the disproportionate impacts of climate change. And we're hoping this modest contribution to your air pollution monitors and air purifiers project will make a small contribution to this work. so big props to the team at the neighborhood initiatives and environmental services department very excited to work with the rest of your

staff on implementing this this project and again congrats to you guys all and happy to support this work thank you all and if I may special thanks to mr. Michael Garcia for making me those connections within the city to get this grant to the city so thank you mr. Garcia I appreciate you thank you

Thank you.

Thank you.

Valerie AmezcuaItem 7

Okay, Madam City Attorney, do we have anything to report out of closed session?

Mayor, Mayor Pro Tem, members of the City Council and members of the public, we had four items on the closed session agenda this evening, but we have no reportable action.

Valerie AmezcuaItem 7

Thank you, Madam City Attorney. This is the time of the meeting for the City Council to receive comments from the public on agenda, non-agenda items. Madam City Clerk, please explain the public comment procedures and call the first speakers.

Jennifer L. HallItem 7

Thank you, Mayor. Pursuant to Resolution No. 2023-047, speakers are requested to address the City Council directly and to refrain from profane language, racial epitaphs, and libelous or slanderous statements that disturb the decorum of the meeting. Pursuant to the Brown Act, the City Council may not enter into discussion at this time. Speakers will have three minutes for their comments. Before calling speakers, I'd like to report the following summary of emails provided as of today. Council did receive three emails related to non-agenda topics. Those were distributed and posted online for public review.

Jennifer L. HallItem 7

We'll now hear from members of the public that are physically present in the Council Chamber followed by any on-conference call or Zoom to provide comments on agenda or non-agenda items. please state your name and the ward or neighborhood that you reside in for the record i'll be calling three names at a time if you could please line up behind the podium when your name is called the first three speakers brian mendoza carl benninger and mario alvarado

Jennifer L. HallItem 7

brian mendoza

Thank you.

Good evening, Mayor and Council. As you know, I'm Carl Benninger. I live in Ward 4. And I have two things. One, the first is announcement. We welcomed into our neighborhood association our 65th neighborhood association. It's called the Zoo District. And Mike Garcia, they're going to need your help because we had the first meeting to discover a problem with they have the senior center over there they need your help organize that out but we're very happy to announce our 65th first time since 2008 that we've in welcome a brand new neighborhood association i'm also here to talk about another item and i'm kind of have the court

ahead of the horse because there's a project that you haven't seen received yet and you haven't voted on yet but when it does come to you you're going to see a recommendation put on there by the Planning Commission to form a citizen oversight committee and the reason why is this is the reality Bristol project the ad hoc committee planning department and the developer did an excellent job in you know a great development agreement and there's going to be funds coming into the city of Santa Ana and I want to watch that I want those funds to be watched over and cared for you guys have

final decision the oversight committee does not take that away from you but it gives you guidance as to where you can spend these funds and be sure that these funds are properly spent i don't want another example of sandpoint where they were promised 15 years ago for some wires to be buried the money was given by the developer to the city and lo and behold when they went to do the project

Phil BacerraItem 7

the money was gone every year that project is on public works and every year it fails it gets

it gets funded, and so they have not had that project done, which they're entitled to on it. So with that, please form a citizens' oversight committee so the money that comes in with that project can be watched over, and they can give you advice as to how to spend it. I think there's a great transparency. I think it really will set a good example for everyone in Orange County to have an oversight committee on that funds. Thank you.

Jennifer L. HallItem 7

Brian Mendoza, Mario Alvarado, Julie M. Feenstra.

All right, let me know when I can go.

Jennifer L. HallItem 7

You can start.

All right, whenever the timer starts.

All right, hey everyone. My number one question right now is, Phil, they never replied in the email. The city manager, I believe, was CC'd into the email. I don't know what is being done about crime, but they never replied. My face is recovering, but I still have nerve damage on half of my jaw, and the assaulter was never charged. Again, I do not like being locked up in a holding cell for no reason and I think people should be treated equal. Secondly, I don't know if you all have my flyer available, if you all are taking a

look at the flyer. Are you able to get them the flyer by any chance? The one with the chair.

Alright, we're at two minutes right now. Again, I don't like being locked up in a holding cell for no reason. I think it's boring, a waste of time, and proves the police department never really got over using what I believe is a, sorry for the exaggeration, maybe medieval torturing restraint chair technique. So if you take a look at the picture on the flyer, there's a chair with restraint straps.

I lost my page, one second.

Oh, second, this flyer is my notes, and this picture was taken in Selma, Alabama at the Legacy Museum showcasing black art, history and pain. This is black art, that's a picture of black art. Again, I took that picture myself in Selma, Alabama around like four to five days ago.

Third of all, iPhone, does anyone have an iPhone? There's an app on there, it's like a back page, I'm not gonna say which one, but it leads to community violence and it's full of crime, a lot of crime and people in there are guilty, it's dangerous, and kids get into it sometimes.

What else was I gonna say? This is actually really, really, really common for me. I run into it a lot on the street as a first generation Mexican homeless person. Additionally, I spent $1,000 on a motel room. Sometimes I feel super loopy, so I need something to go right, so that's why I'm here. That is all, thank you. Also, what else was I gonna say? I have like a couple seconds left. I think it needs to be paid attention to taken down I don't want to be here in 50 years talking about seeing and feeling the same way so again that is all thank you and if you guys still have the flyer I would appreciate it at the end

Jennifer L. HallItem 7

Mario Alvarado followed by Julie Feenstra and Randall Jones good evening mayor and

city council I hope that the our homeless prevention coordinator can help the gentleman that came and spoke before me. I'm here today for a couple reasons. One is congratulate the Parks and Recs team on an amazing event for the Chicano Heritage Festival. It was a completely different vibe if you guys were able to attend than the previous years. It was very family friendly. I was able to be out there and coach my nephew on the basketball tournament that was held on the course of Godinus. They actually won the under 10 basketball tournament congratulations aj salcedo and john salcedo so thank you so much i saw pd out there

i saw fire department out there the exhibitors the artists they were all just having going out there having fun so congratulations everybody made that possible second as you saw commissioner benjamin speak i was invited to the newest neighborhood association the zoo district because i have an office in that area they're going to be a couple people speaking with regards to the items that our seniors in santa anna are having issues with so please i would say please heed their their concerns uh lastly i was last week i was invited to speak on uh on behalf of

support for the teachers of santa anna unfortunately my paper was lost you know that's something else for a different time however i want to myself and several residents of santa anna want to ask this board sorry that ask this council whether as a unified council or as individuals to come out and support our teachers we pride ourselves in being pro-union and pre and pro-labor many of you there have very strong relationships with the school board they the teachers have been fighting for 10 months for a contract I know that one of our council members is an educator and I know that

they're everyone is fighting for our teachers and to see them struggle they started this last year and a brand new school year and they still don't have a contract ratified it's just unforgivable not only to us but especially to our children to please if you're able to write and speak to the school board in order to show our appreciation not only for our teachers but for our support for labor. Thank you so much.

Jennifer L. HallItem 7

Julie Feenstra followed by Randall Jones and Magdalena Menchuga

I can't tell where the voice was coming from. Do I need to speak? Okay. Is that okay? Hi, Ms. Valerie. I'm one of the seniors. The word still bothers me. Most of you are aware of the Metro First Point Senior Complex, 62 and up, 2222 East First Street.

The cross street is Tustin Avenue. And I'm just here to ask for help of any kind that the city council may be able to give. We have a new management group again. the building's been there three and a half years and we've had five we're on number five as far as our management team in the front office goes so there's been no I can't think of the word right now thank you continuity in what they're

able to provide for us etc one of the biggest problems I've been there for almost three years. There is an increase in the homeless population. To me, I would say it's quadrupled in the last three years.

We have one security guard who does a great job there. He's there from, I think, 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. No, I'm sorry, 2 p.m. in the morning, and then somebody else comes on. There's nobody during the day. and I definitely have a heart for the homeless people, but they don't live there. They seem to be the ones that make all the rules. Our amenities are never open on the weekends, fitness center, clubhouse, stretching room, library. They're closed on the weekends, closed all holidays. The only thing open during the week until 10 p.m. is the gym.

so they're closed because the homeless people come in and use them anybody can walk onto

our campus so they can come in the gate they're usually able to come in the mail room there's been lots of thefts they can hit every floor there's six floors approximately 525 units I'm on the sixth floor which faces first point the other affordable housing for family so I get some Sun and some wind which is nice but the garage is I feel feel very unsafe there at night during the day the homeless people and other

transients, et cetera, no one to come in. Usually around 6.30, 7 a.m. in the morning, they come in, and then there's the group that spent the night either in the laundry rooms, the trash can rooms. Julie, your time is up. Oh. If there's any way you could help us with that issue. Thank you. Thank you.

Jennifer L. HallItem 7

Next three speakers, Randall Jones, Magdalena Menchaga, Victor Mendez.

I have a little trouble hearing. My name is Randall Jones. I also live at Metro East. I'm not sure what the word is, but you know where it is.

2222 East 1st Street. I'm a newbie there. I've only been there for—

Valerie AmezcuaItem 7

I'm sorry. Can you speak into the mic? You can lift it up and speak there. There you go, so we can all hear you.

That's a better? There you go. Oh, yeah, I can hear myself. That's good.

Valerie AmezcuaItem 7

Thank you.

Okay, so I'm a newbie there. I've only been there for four months. I looked around and it looked like some of the things needed to be done, things were not getting attended to.

And I thought it might be nice to have some sort of a council for residents to talk about that. I didn't know anybody really who was there. I had not met Mr. Victor Mendez yet, but I just met him this week and he's quite a dynamo and a lot of history there, but I didn't have it. So I decided I would try to see what I could do to form some kind of council or association. I put together

some publicity. I let management know what I was going to do. I was under the impression that associations are legitimate to have and that management is not supposed to interfere. So I put up the bulletins and then the next day they were taken down. We cannot help the residents who are there if we can't talk to them. And many of the people are, have disabilities, they cannot speak for themselves,

we need to be able to contact the people who live there. I think it's a great thing that the City of Santa Ana, I'm new to Santa Ana, but I think it's a great thing that the City of Santa Ana has supported the development of low-income housing, but it's not enough to build buildings. They need to be managed with compassion and responsiveness on the part of management. There are many things that need attention.

Security has been mentioned. Sanitation is an issue.

Okay, I think I'll wrap it up there. Thank you very much.

Jennifer L. HallItem 7

Magdalena Menchaca.

Hi, I'm Magdalena Menchaca.

I live at 2222 East 1st Street also, and I just wanted to say that, in my opinion, there's a form of elder abuse that exists within the Metro East apartments and that we are promised, when we got our apartments, we were told that one of the amenities given to us is what's called a common room, and And it's a great room on the sixth floor, and it's got glass windows.

And, you know, for the people that can't get out, you can go up to the sixth floor, and it feels like you're out. You know, you can see the hills. You can see the freeway and cars.

During the 4th of July, the first year we were able to go out there and watch fireworks and stuff. And in the summertime, not everybody can afford to run their air conditioners. And like this year is a good example of that. It's been a really hot summer, and we used to be able to go out there. It was always an air-conditioned room, and we could go there and get relief from the heat. I live right across from it, so I was there all the time, and I loved that room. but they closed it at least a year and a half ago

saying that they had to close it because homeless people were sleeping there. Well, we have a security guard and he has a key to that room and if there were, he could just kick them out. And so I saw a lot that was going on there and I never, there was only one occasion where a woman slept there that night, and so there wasn't this great homeless problem that they used as a reason for closing it. And to make matters worse, since it's been a few months,

they used to have the small offices in the front where they would conduct the business of the complex, but they've moved all of their offices into the common room and and they've ordered office nice office furniture and and they blocked off the window to the door so you can't see in there anymore so used to be if we couldn't see sit in the room at least you could peek through the the window in the door and see what's going on in the in the world but but they blocked that window they moved they

moved their offices in there and that's a room guaranteed to us it's one of the amenities that they've taken for themselves and offered no reason right

Jennifer L. HallItem 7

thank you Victor Mendez followed by Diane Simmons

good evening so tonight we are asking the council you're going to be hearing from other people to really look at your contracts, agreements, convents with respect to this development. It's broken. Can it be fixed? Possibly. But do it before the place turns into a solid dump, and that's where it's headed. This development is supposed to last 50 years. I project it will be gone and surrendered to the homeless, to drug addicts, and prostitutes within five years if things aren't stopped today. And that's sad because that kills off future generations of senior citizens that could otherwise have access to affordable housing.

What Maggie said is absolutely correct. Corporate executives took over that amenity for us. Beautiful views, and we can't access it anymore. These $200,000 a year executives come in. They lounge around, drink their nice drinks, where we have to swelter and pay our own electrical bill rather than cool down in that room. And that's simply outrageous. For two years, we've asked for commitments. They said they made commitments, but they've failed every one of the commitments they promised us. I've tried to find out who the owners are. I have not had a response to who these owners are. They have failed us in security,

safety, and health. People do die at 22-22. They die by suicide. They have drug overdoses. And yes, some people die naturally like my neighbor. Fact of life. We get old and sometimes, you know, things catch up with us. So we have a lot of issues here and we could use any help we can have. So we've been subjected to homeless encampments, trespassing, squatting now. They're squatting and breaking into the apartments. Drugs and prostitution. We have an ongoing drug problem. I reported to police. It doesn't seem we can never evict these drug lords, but they're still coming back and their customers are knee deep.

I've asked the State of California to intervene. They came out one time, but I've asked them to intervene again. The State of California issued $5.9 million of federal tax credits to the developer. So there's some responsibility to the state to look into these matters as well. To date, the state has not responded, despite Mr. Avellino Valencia's knowledge of this matter and the request for assistance, but no assistance from Assemblymember Valencia on this today. Fair Housing said they have numerous complaints about this, but they've done nothing.

The Voice of OC, that great oracle for the marginalized in Orange County, was told about this, and they've done nothing. I think they're too busy trying to take pictures of Ms. Ameska's wine rather than look out for senior citizens who are on the verge of getting murdered. That's their priority. Her wine list, not senior citizens who can get subject to murder. That's their priority. Think about that. Anyway, so tonight marks a new beginning. We're pushing government to take care of this problem because we've done everything we can do. So state, local, federal, we need your help. Thank you.

Jennifer L. HallItem 7

Diane Simmons followed by Karen Knight.

Karen's going to defer on her speaking, but Diane will speak.

Valerie AmezcuaItem 7

Bear with me, I'm coming. You take your time, we're here. Thank you.

I'm Diane Simons. I'm here on behalf of with Karen Knight who's with me tonight, but she's not feeling well, so I'm speaking for her. Have patience with me. I haven't been in front of a public crowd like this in 50 years. I'm 70 years old. I live at Metro East Senior Apartments at 2222 East First Street in Santa Ana. I'm asking the mayor and the council, can you please review the arguments and code to see if if the building is being well run. We have a lot of problems there. It's even hard for me to speak about it.

We have security, but we only have one security guard. His name is Eddie, and he's in charge of 418 apartments. And he can't do a good enough job. We really need more security. We have a lot of homeless. They sleep in the trash rooms. They cause a problem. They sleep in their cars in the handicapped spots at night. We have drug trafficking in apartments that are even close to where I live. And we have prostitution. We have girls coming there at night going in and out of the apartments. When I moved there three years ago, I thought it was a safe place, but it's not safe anymore.

And we have people that are being killed and dying. And, you know, it shouldn't be like that in a senior complex. So I'm a little upset speaking about it actually. I've spoken to the office and they don't do anything. I've spoken to Con-Am which is our management company. They don't do anything and we really need your help. So I'm hoping that you guys can help us. We want to live in a safe place and that's why we moved there. But we don't know what it's going to be like in the future. And I really don't want to walk out my door and find out I'm going to be killed in the parking lot. I can't even go out at nighttime.

So I'm hoping that everyone can help us. I'm really speaking for the other people. There's a lot of seniors there that can't go out because they're disabled. And I'm just hoping that you can help us. There's just a lot of problems there, and it's really bad. And we can't use any of the common areas. Everything's taken over by the office. We don't have the lounge upstairs. We can't use the gyms. We can't use anything. Everything's locked up. so for the people that can't go out that's kind of hard so I appreciate you and listening to me tonight and hopefully you can help us thank you so

Jennifer L. HallItem 7

much for your time I appreciate it mayor and City Council that concludes the speaker cards additionally there is no one on zoom with a hand raised to make

Valerie AmezcuaItem 7

any public comments thank you mr. City Manager I saw some movement among staff I'm assuming you're addressing this.

That's good. Went to Coachella Valley High School.

Valerie AmezcuaItem 7

Our city manager went to Coachella Valley High School. Mr. City Manager, I saw some movement of Mike and men, and it looks like, and the police department. So I'm assuming you will be addressing these things.

yes we're currently in efforts between um housing court enforcement and the police department and i

Valerie AmezcuaItem 7

think if i could speak for the city council we'd like an update please yes thank you very much

Valerie AmezcuaItem 7

okay that concludes uh public speakers madam city clerk yes mayor thank you consent calendar items 8 through 37 are before us. Council members, please announce any items that you'll be abstaining from due to conflict, and if there are any items that you would like to pull from the consent calendar for further discussion. For a pull, any items? Councilman Hernandez.

Alvaro NuñezItem 8

Yes, thank you, Madam Mayor. I just have some comments on item 21, item 26, and then a comment on item 34 and 35.

Valerie AmezcuaItem 8

Councilor Becerra

Phil BacerraItem 8

Thank you Madam Mayor I'll be polling items 29 and 31

Valerie AmezcuaItem 8

Thank you Councilmember Vasquez

I have comments on 18 and 32

Valerie AmezcuaItem 8

Thank you, Councilmember Lopez No items Thank you, Councilman Penelosa

David PenalozaItem 8

Thank you Madam Mayor Just polling item Number 25

Thai Viet PhanItem 8

Thank you, Mayor Pro Tem I'd just like to announce my recusal from item number 24 as the City of Anaheim is a client of my employer, Rattan and Tucker. So if it is pulled, I will leave the room while it's being discussed.

Valerie AmezcuaItem 8

I'm sorry, I couldn't understand you. Could you say that again?

Thai Viet PhanItem 8

Yes, I would like to recuse myself from item number 24 as the City of Anaheim is a client of my employer, Rattan and Tucker. So if it is pulled off the consent calendar for discussion, I will leave the room. Thank you.

Valerie AmezcuaItem 8

Thank you very much. Do I have a motion and a second to approve the remainder of the consent calendar?

David PenalozaItem 8

So moved. Second.

Valerie AmezcuaItem 8

Okay, go ahead.

Valerie AmezcuaItem 8

Madam City Clerk, Councilmembers, please prepare to vote.

Jennifer L. HallItem 8

This is a motion by Councilmember Penaloza, seconded by Councilmember Becerra, to approve the consent calendar with the exception of Items 25, 29, and 31 that were pulled for separate consideration and discussion. And I have a brief announcement to make regarding Item Number 32. Pursuant to government code section 54953C, an oral summary of salary and benefits shall be made prior to final action of the council on any local agency executive. Approval of item 32 includes an employment agreement with Alvaro Nunez as city manager with the following provisions. Annual salary of $315,000 with an option for bilingual pay.

Jennifer L. HallItem 8

City paid maximum contribution to deferred compensation 457 plan. 12 month severance if terminated at will. City owned vehicle or monthly 500 vehicle allowance. health insurance benefits term life insurance and wellness stipend as listed in the agreement and other benefits as provided to the unrepresented executive management group

Jennifer L. HallItem 8

prepare to vote for the remainder items vote is seven eyes no nays motion carries go ahead madam say for the first item would be item 18 for comments by

Benjamin VazquezItem 8

councilmember vasquez thank you i just wanted to say i'm so happy to see this item and we support downtown businesses we make it festive we allow for people to come shop in santa ana make it a good enjoyable uh time and an atmosphere what i am worried about is the parking lot on front of the yost and it's just taking away from uh the sales of those restaurants they're down by 50 percent if we could push it forward and it still looks like a mess down there whatever you can do would be greatly appreciated thank you

Jennifer L. HallItem 9

mayor the next item is item 21 for comments by councilmember hernandez

Alvaro NuñezItem 9

Thank you Madam City Clerk. I just wanted to pull item 21. Today we just approved a main library renovation project. What we had done is an approved first amendment to an agreement with Group 4 Architecture for research and planning and for additional design and engineering services. We increased the compensation amount by $499,383 for a total not to exceed amount of $2,656,000. and $948. On April 29th, 2022, the city entered into an agreement with Group 4 Architecture for the Design and Engineering Services for the main library and renovation project.

Alvaro NuñezItem 9

This project is going to enhance our library's physical, digital, and technological environment that will expand access and provide free, innovative, and interactive spaces for children, teens, and families. The beautiful thing about this 39,790-square-foot facility as many of our staff have been working there for many decades and they will continue to work there and so as we have a brand new library you will see all the same familiar faces that have helped you and your children over many many years this is a monumental day for our city as a council is unified on investing in

Alvaro NuñezItem 9

our library thank you to my colleagues and to our city staff for preparing this

Jennifer L. HallItem 9

item thank you mayor and City Council note for the record the vote on item 24 was 601 with a noted recusal by Mayor Pro Tem Fan and the next item is item 25 pulled by Councilmember Penaloza for separate discussion and consideration

David PenalozaItem 9

Thank You Madam City Clerk item number 25 I pulled it's awarded construction contract to all American asphalt for the Grand Avenue rehabilitation from McFadden Avenue to First Street first I want to thank city staff for having this item before us I know it's it's a long stretch of streets that we're trying to fix all at once and I'm happy to finally be seeing them complete along with Main Street and Warner and Grand all in the surrounding areas the reason why I pulled it is because I wanted to ask first thank you City Manager and Director Saba for the information that you provided so far on the various

David PenalozaItem 9

contingencies amounts and what they mean and why exactly these amounts are requested. What I wanted to ask is about the the Green Book standard specifications for public works construction. I know they're they are cited throughout the staff reports and and make references to certain sections and standards which is fantastic. What I want to know is when can we make that standard available to the public. I know that that in various Google searches, I was able to find some copies, but they cost 200 plus dollars for somebody to download.

David PenalozaItem 9

In the spirit of transparency, I want to assure that if we make something available to the public and cite something, we should make that standard available to the public as well. So is there, can you speak to that, Mr. City Manager?

So to the extent, and thank you, Council Member De Peñalosa, to the extent we made reference to the Green Book, we'll provide in context either the section we're highlighting in the staff report or try to provide, no, we will provide e-link to the actual Green Book. So we'll do that moving forward to the next Council agenda item that's mentioned.

David PenalozaItem 9

Thank you for that. So we'll be able to have a link on each staff report that would send the public or anybody

We'll have a link or the actual section reference that we make reference to.

David PenalozaItem 9

Beautiful. And that would be just for any standard that any department sites or NR, we should make this information available to the public to see, not just isolated to public works, but across the board to every department. The other question I had in regards to this specific contingency amount of $270,000. Thank you, staff and Director Sabo for providing the information of why the $270,000 were needed. I guess I just need clarity on, at the end of the day, this is .7 miles stretch of road.

David PenalozaItem 9

And to be able to administer a construction contract for .7 miles of work, I just want to see if the $270,000, what that breakdown is. Is there a way that we could provide that for the public tonight?

Director Saba.

Good evening, Mayor. Good evening, Mayor Potem, member of the City Council. There you go. We sure can provide you a breakdown of the expense of the 270 for construction management. I have Rudy Rosas, our city engineer, who can help us with that.

Thank you. Good evening, Mayor, Council. The $270,000, Councilmember, that you referenced is for essentially my team's construction management and inspection. The rough breakdown of that is 9% goes to our engineering staff and inspection staff for their time spent on this. The balance of that goes to third-party consultants that we bring in for materials testing and special inspections. Specifically for this contract here, we're talking about $32,000 in third-party material testing.

it is 50 working days so I get it right it's you think it's a it's a road way project and I kind of see that myself how long does it take to do paving but there's a lot of preliminary excavation concrete work so it's 50 working days plus days in office before and days in office after and so you can imagine inspectors at fully burden rates in the neighborhoods of $150 an hour engineers technicians everyone administrating the contract making sure that the contractors are doing what they're supposed to do and any savings

in that 270 because yes there are usually some savings go back to the fund balance so they go back to the gas tax we can reappropriate them for other projects and that's the traditional public works delivery method thank you

David PenalozaItem 9

for that Rudy so so you're saying that for this particular project just the rehab from McFadden to first we're going to have city staff that is on the on that specific project for 50 plus days straight full-time only doing that that are only overseeing inspecting administering that construction contract and no other contract? Because I'm trying to, I guess, understand, is it 100% like whatever engineer is assigned to this project, is it 100% only that project for 50 days?

Understand your question. No. We have multiple projects in the city and our staff are assigned to various projects. So to answer your question, that we do not have full 100% of these staff working on this. But I will tell you, on average, every project has about four or five different staff people assigned to it, and they spend various amounts of hours, depending on what stage in the construction we are. We may spend all day on it. We may spend a couple hours a day.

So the recommended 15% is an average amount that we find within range within what other industry and Caltrans uses recommended for construction management. And then, as I mentioned, at the end of the day, any savings because we code our time. My staff has to submit time sheets. Where did you spend your day? Two hours on this project, three hours on that project. any money left over in that construction admin line item reverts back to the fund balance for

David PenalozaItem 9

council to reappropriate into other projects. Okay, thank you for that. So essentially at the end of the project, when the project's completed, more than likely going to have some money left over from that $270,000 fund. So I guess that's the only questions I have. I'll make a motion to approve the item as is. Second. But just with just letting staff know that that as we move forward with these public works contracts that I keep seeing like the similar amounts allocated to them and just administering of a contract and contingencies, I'm gonna start kind of asking more questions about those

David PenalozaItem 9

amounts just because it I do see a lot of money moving into these projects and I I know it's needed, but oftentimes there are projects that we don't see through, or we approve one year and we go five years without seeing any movement on them. So I guess that's the reason why I'm questioning these different amounts that are going into these administering of contracts and whatnot. But so with that, it's my only comments. Thank you so much. You provided a lot of information in your emails and tonight, so thank you for that, Rudy and Director Saba. but with that I'll make a motion to approve. I'll second your motion council member.

Valerie AmezcuaItem 9

Let's prepare to vote.

Jennifer L. HallItem 9

Motion by council member Penaloza seconded by council member Hernandez to approve item 25 a construction contract to all American asphalt for the Grand Avenue rehabilitation from McFadden to First Street. Vote of seven ayes no nays motion carries.

Jennifer L. HallItem 9

Mayor the next item is item 26 for a comment by council member Hernandez.

Alvaro NuñezItem 9

Thank you Madam City Clerk I'll be very brief with my comment I just wanted to share with members of the public and for residents of Ward 5 and for Ward residents of Ward 2 this is a shared park space between both of these districts we are bringing the outdoor library to Jerome Park we today approved a construction contract with Legion contractors for the outdoor library it will be the first outdoor library park project that we've ever created and And today's improvement is an investment of $3,270,000. There are various funding sources listed that are helping make this possible.

Alvaro NuñezItem 9

And more importantly, the work that is going to happen in this neighborhood is we're combining play, we're combining learning, we're combining a senior center, we're combining a boxing program with TKO, and we're creating an educational hub right in the center of a community to have all of these amenities in one place is just what families should be afforded so I want to thank members of the council here for working hand-in-hand with us on improving our quality of life in a neighborhood where too many kids unfortunately have been affected by violence now they'll have an outdoor

Alvaro NuñezItem 26

library to have a closer relationship to education City of Santa Ana's motto is education first thank you guys for doing that today

Jennifer L. HallItem 26

Mayor and City Council, the next item is item 29, pulled for separate discussion and consideration by Councilmember Becerra.

Phil BacerraItem 26

Thank you, Madam Clerk.

Phil BacerraItem 29

City Manager Nunez, could I please have Director Saba come to the podium, please?

Phil BacerraItem 29

So, Director Saban, so this is the agreement with Mariposa Landscape for Landscape Maintenance Services at the water production facilities and the City's corporate yard. I just want to make sure, in reading the description of work in Exhibit 1, does it include green landscaped walls at the city yard and the city water facilities yes it does okay and and the reason i'm asking is because in looking at the city yard it's kind of a hit and miss as to whether the wall is green or whether the wall is dying and i see the the concrete behind it so my question

Phil BacerraItem 29

is is that the same company that is doing the landscaping now no it is not okay perfect so

It's a new company and it's a new audit fee that we sent out.

Phil BacerraItem 29

And so just to confirm, though, that is a part of this contract?

Absolutely.

Phil BacerraItem 29

Okay. And then the other item I wanted to bring up was on page one of the staff report. It states that the proposed agreement includes a contingency amount of $160,560, or approximately 23% of the base compensation amount of the agreement. Why 23% and not 10% as we discussed at our last council meeting?

Yes, thank you for the question, Council Member. The reason we included this contingency is because we have a couple of things that we're dealing with in the maintenance of the landscaping on the two sites, or actually multiple sites for the water production facilities. We have a need to improve on the existing landscaping that we have. As you As you can see, this is a maintenance contract, so we have contracted out to maintain the existing, but we also want to improve on what we have. The contingencies will be added or be used to improve on what we have.

For example, adding more ivy on the walls for the city yard, that's one example. But also, over the years, we have experienced theft, and the theft really includes the back flow devices, which is a brass device or a valve that is very attractive to people to cut and salvage, and having to experience plant theft. We plant and then those plants disappear. So those contingencies are really made for these kind of purposes. We may use some, but not all. We just wanted to see that the contract has some capacity where we can maintain these sites and reasonable condition and shape.

Phil BacerraItem 29

Well, and I appreciate that answer. Let me ask you this, Director Saba. How do you define contingency?

I define contingency in a general sense of unforeseen, unpredictable conditions that we have to deal with in the field.

Phil BacerraItem 29

But yet everything... No, and I appreciate that. But everything you just described, you're anticipating it. So in other words, it's not unforeseen. And as you are describing it, you foresee it happening. So what I don't understand is why are you putting it in a column of unforeseen? If I foresee that the meeting is going to end tonight, it's not an ambiguous idea that it may or may not end. It's going to end, right? So if we're talking about items here, landscaping, if we say that there are so many plants being stolen, I'm assuming that because you've laid out 10 plants and three were stolen,

Phil BacerraItem 29

you're anticipating that those three plants will probably be stolen each of those plants you can probably assign a dollar amount to each of them correct that's correct so what i'm not understanding is that why they're not included in the base contract you have professional staff you can go through and you and by the way just for everybody to know this isn't a conversation or discussion that just got spurred on the dais this is a we i've emailed these questions to our city manager before so I don't want anybody to think that this is a surprise here it's a point of frustration that I think that the council well hold on it's a point of

Phil BacerraItem 29

frustration that the council has expressed in multiple meetings now usually the standard most contracts and this is even going back way way back my experience it's usually about 10 percent so when I see 25 percent and you say it's unforeseen but then you're describing everything that you foresee it's no longer contingency contingencies oh my god we thought three plants are going to get stolen and who knew eight of them got stolen that's contingency but when you tell me you foresee certain things it's no longer contingency so I'm going to look at our city manager and say

Phil BacerraItem 29

what do we do here I'm looking to you for guidance on this because I want to see this contract approved I want to see exemplary landscaping done I believe our community deserves it Santa Ana deserves beautiful landscaping but having said that we also deserve to see contracts come to us with only a 10% contingency because our professional staff have accounted for all the things that they foresee coming before them. So what can we do here?

So, you're right.

And more to the practice that we've been doing, right, is I think what the director has mentioned is we have a contingency of up to 25% that's allowing this capacity. But to the extent that we become more diligent and look at this type of contracts that we're trying to approve, so our line moving forward will be 10%. If we anticipate, as you mentioned, that the fact, and that was a perfect example, if we know that the average for the last two years, let's say the three plans per year were stolen, then you're right. They're not unforeseen. So then the original bid on a contract should take that into account.

To the extent that it doesn't get spent, as Rudy, our city engineer, said, we can put it back into the general budget component. So that's the commitment you'll have moving forward.

Phil BacerraItem 29

So what do we do tonight, though? Because I'm not comfortable approving a contract for 25%. Would you be okay with us continuing this item? Because I know that in the past we've always said that public works should not be bringing contracts to us with a deadline of tomorrow. So I know that there's probably some runway to maybe revisit this.

Yes. That's the pleasure of the city council. That's what we'll do.

Phil BacerraItem 29

Okay. So I would like for Public Works to foresee everything.

Or, you know, in the amount of $160,560 and not to exceed the 10% for any excess contingency.

Phil BacerraItem 29

I think that's great. If you want to do that, then okay. I'll go ahead and move the item for as is, but with a reduction in the contingency to 10%, not 25%.

Valerie AmezcuaItem 29

I'll second.

Valerie AmezcuaItem 29

Are there any other questions or comments? Councilman Penelosa.

David PenalozaItem 29

Thank you, Mayor, and thank you, Councilman Becerra, for pulling this item. I have read that and didn't want to pull too many, so I figured I'd just pull the other one. But the question I had with this one in particular, and I guess this is for the City Yard water facilities and the Santa Ana train station?

No, just the city yard and the water facilities.

David PenalozaItem 29

Water facilities. And this is mainly for ivy?

It's landscaping for the entire pump stations that we have. We have to keep them clean and planted and so forth. So it is for the inside and the outside of the pump stations and the water facilities, but also the city yard inside and out. Okay. But not the train station. Train station is not in this contract.

David PenalozaItem 29

Okay. Thank you for that, Director Saba. The heartburn that I have with the contingencies at the upwards of 20% amounts that we've been seeing is that I know that six months from now when we see a different consultant before us under public works or a contract that's going to say, funds are available in the landscaping account, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. And it's like, well, why are they available there? You know, it seems to me that oftentimes Public Works uses certain accounts to store money until something else comes along the lines,

David PenalozaItem 29

and then staff quickly and easily says, funds are available in this account. And the reason why I have issue with that is because I've asked, for example, the street medians on Edinger. Edinger is a very, very heavily used thoroughfare in our city. it's a freeway exit with the 55 a lot of people use it to come into our auto mall modern a long a lot of the the destinations on that injured that people use and when I've asked about landscaping for our medians it's like there's no money available for that so it's like okay but then I see you know

David PenalozaItem 29

landscaping with for the city yard which is fine but with a now with a 23% contingency added to it there's monies available for landscaping we're just choosing which areas to to focus on so why would we not want to say you know what instead of putting 23% contingency on the landscaping for the city yard We're only going to do 10 and try to use a number of 13% to plant some grass along the medians on Edinger Street. Not that, I mean, it doesn't have to be Edinger Street, but I'm just saying there are many

David PenalozaItem 29

other areas throughout the city that we'd like to see landscaped, at least I'll speak for myself, but what would be the purpose of this year?

Absolutely. Thank you for the question. This contract is specific to the water enterprise itself, where the funding that is in the water enterprise funds the maintenance of the facilities. So funding in the water enterprise needs to be spent at facilities and things that the water enterprise funds. That provide water services? And it cannot be taken out to do medians, for example. That would be a violation of Proposition 218.

David PenalozaItem 29

But what if it's city medians that have irrigation system that is serviced by the city?

That's completely different. That's the same. In this case here, this fund is actually, like I mentioned, it's maintain the water facilities within the purview or the control of the water enterprise itself. If I take dollars out of that enterprise to maintain or improve on medians, that would be a violation of Proposition 218 because when we do, the water rates is based on the maintenance of the water system and its facilities, landscaping included.

David PenalozaItem 29

Thank you, Director Sabah, for that clarity. I guess I shouldn't have used the median example, but it's still the same sentiment still stands.

David PenalozaItem 29

of why not just ask for the full amount from the get-go instead of anticipating or knowing that there's going to be a 23%.

Well, you know, I can explain the unforeseen versus contingencies. Yes, we know that a number of plants will be stolen, sometimes not, or backflow devices are broken or stolen. So we know that that may happen.

We anticipate that to happen, but we don't know how much of it's going to happen. And that's where this contingency is in the contract language is added in, as contingencies. And to me, if I anticipate that someone is going to steal the brass or destroy the sprinkler system, but I don't know how often it's going to happen. So that's why we call it unforeseen for contingencies. And that's all it is. It's pretty simple.

David PenalozaItem 29

Now are these plants stolen from our nursery, or are they stolen once they're planted and then somebody comes and rips them out of the ground?

It's once they're planted in the outside of the pump station. Sometimes they steal them from the inside. And the major expense really here is also the copper that is stolen. It's the backflow devices. These things are not cheap. Council Member, thank you, Director Zaba. We understood the direction. So the idea is how we from the management team work within public works, city manager's office, in fact, our agencies, how do we ensure transparency and like you say, how do we anticipate the fact that there's going to be problems or issues, right? To the extent we provide better

staff reports to the extent that we indicate what we perceive as subject matter expert to be the cost that's the direction we move forward we allow for the 10 percent just for that type of uncertainty right and to the extent that we need to come back then and explain if we need more money then that's what we'll do but the message is received it's cleared and we'll work together to make sure that we're moving forward, we don't belabor this kind of discussions, understanding that some of the waters might, some of the funding sources might be very specific, so we should make that in the staff report allocated right.

If we're using, for example, CDBG, can only be used in a CDBG census tract. As Director Saba said, any water funds may be only used in specific areas. We'll make sure we illustrate that as part of the staff report and make sure that the funding source and the amounts are appropriately allocated. Thank you for that.

Valerie AmezcuaItem 29

Councilman Lucera.

Phil BacerraItem 29

Thank you, Mayor. I want to thank you, City Manager, for saying that word transparency. That's paramount to what this is about. The fact that when you leave it up to contingency, you might as well just say, I need money for landscaping. What's it going to be? It's all contingent. It's all contingent on whether it's going to be hot or cold, whether we have water or or not.

Trust me, wink, wink. Exactly.

Phil BacerraItem 29

So I think that you bringing up that word is very important. It is transparent. It's knowing that, look, we have faith in our staff, obviously, but it's just for the community at large. There's always some sort of allegation that something's not transparent. Let's take that off the table. Let's show how transparent we are. We've done so many things as a council and a staff to demonstrate transparency. Let's continue that. And I think what you're hearing up here on the dais is just show your homework. That's it.

Understood. Again, we have a very mindful team, subject matter experts with a lot of experience, so we'll make sure that we provide the adequate staff reports and explanations.

Valerie AmezcuaItem 29

Thank you, Mr. City Manager. Thank you, Nabil, very much. Madam City Clerk? Or did you have?

Jessie LopezItem 29

Yeah, I just wanted to say I wasn't, I didn't have an issue with the way that the staff report was being presented to us, and I really want to thank staff for answering the questions and to Steven for your follow-up email. It was pretty lengthy and so I do appreciate that. I think it's a good way to kind of solve all the technical issues or technical questions prior to us meeting here. And I appreciate hearing from the transparency side so the folks watching this meeting can understand what the money specifically is being used for. And they're also learning, right?

Jessie LopezItem 29

You can't just take money from the gas fund even though when they look at the budget they might see a surplus or the proposition that you just referenced but it's good but I think yes so that's the point of the questions

Jessie LopezItem 29

go ahead councilmember Lopez thank you and so a part of my comment was saying that I would rather have the money now for the project because it is so much harder once a project closes to go back and try and get more money for it as we've seen with the different projects that we've talked about with issues that we followed up in our district hey the project is done but now we're seeing or finding out that we need to do this and this and it's so much harder in my experience to get that money allocated when the fiscal year has already been

Valerie AmezcuaItem 29

approved so thank you I don't see any other mics and if I don't see could the

Phil BacerraItem 29

clerk just because I've what I just heard from councilmember Lopez maybe she doesn't understand what the motion is on the table could you repeat the motion

Jennifer L. HallItem 29

just so that we're all clear have a motion by councilmember Becerra seconded by mayor Mesquite approve item 29 in agreement with Mariposa landscape for landscape maintenance services at water production facilities in the corporate yard with a reduction of the contingency amount to 10%.

Phil BacerraItem 29

So that is approving it to go forward now but just with the reduction in contingency? Correct. Great. Thank you.

Valerie AmezcuaItem 29

If you want to speak, please raise your mic and if I don't see it, please wave at me or something. I'm not trying to ignore anybody. I can't see everybody at the same time. Let's prepare to vote, please.

Thank you. of you.

Jennifer L. HallItem 29

Council Member Hernandez.

Jennifer L. HallItem 29

VOTE 7 ayes, no nays. Motion carries.

Jennifer L. HallItem 29

The next item is item 31, pulled by Council Member Becerra for separate discussion and consideration.

Phil BacerraItem 29

Councilor. Thank you, Madam St. Clerk and Madam Mayor. So this is a license agreement with KNC Logistics for their use of city-owned property at East and West Alton Avenue at the 55 Freeway. So many of you know that there are plans long-term to possibly do an overpass over the 55 Freeway at Alton. As you can tell from the dirt lot on both sides, we're not close to getting it done just yet. So in the meantime, we're taking advantage of the land and entering into an agreement with KNC Logistics to lease them the land. City Manager, I wanted to talk about the agreement.

Phil BacerraItem 31

So that property, as I come down to 55, there's a lot of landscaping along there in that particular area, to the point that I almost wonder if we've rezoned it to residential because I'm starting to see encampments over there. And I'm being facetious because I'm pretty sure we haven't rezoned that area. With that being said, in looking at the agreement, I would like to make a couple of suggested amendments for my colleagues to consider.

Phil BacerraItem 31

So in looking at the agreement, there seemed to be a little bit of a reluctance to hold the licensee, as the agreement calls them, to actually perform landscaping activities on the property. So in other words, I think there was something on here that says remove weeds or vegetation growing within the licensee area or around perimeter within seven days of notification by the city. I see no shall in there, like as in shall do it. It shouldn't be that the city needs to come out and say, knock, knock, hey, you haven't maintained your property, can you please maintain it? I think it should be something more along the lines of,

Phil BacerraItem 31

and this is a section 3H on page two of the agreement. So I'd like it to say, maintain license area and the perimeter of license area free of weeds and or vegetation. If notice is provided by the city to remove weeds and or vegetation, work to remove weeds and or vegetation shall be completed by the licensee to the satisfaction of the city within seven days of notification from the city. And then also, too, I would like to add a requirement in Section 3 that states that the licensee shall post signs with San Ana Municipal Code Section 10-96 and CPC Section 602 to the satisfaction of the San Ana Police Department.

Phil BacerraItem 31

Like, what we should be doing in any of these properties is making sure that our PD is empowered to be able to address any issues that are happening on there. This property is going to be used for storage. I'm assuming there won't probably be personnel on there consistently. So when neighboring properties have to call RPD to address an issue on site, one, I'd like the vegetation to be clear enough so that RPD isn't walking into something dangerous. And number two, it should be something that would be a requirement of the licensee

Phil BacerraItem 31

and making sure that the appropriate signage is up so that they are able to enforce the appropriate laws. So that's what I would like to see added on to this agreement. So my motion would be to approve it per those changes, but I see my city manager looking at me. What's...

No, we'll make the changes and that's fine, understood.

Phil BacerraItem 31

And there's no problem with this?

No problem with it.

Phil BacerraItem 31

Okay, so that's my motion.

Valerie AmezcuaItem 31

Councilor Busserner?

David PenalozaItem 31

I'll second with those amendments with comment. I brought up similar questions about this contract. I even asked at one point, is $1.5 million worth the trouble of now having our staff having to provide inspection and follow-up to make sure that this property, that's probably out of sight, out of mind for all of us, because it's an industrial area along the freeway, but for them to maintain it. I know that the reason I ask that is because we rented out property on Bristol and Warner, one of the most heavily trafficked areas in our city intersections.

David PenalozaItem 31

And those parcels were the worst that I've ever seen them. I mean, the neglect, the weeds, the graffiti, the trash, the noise, it was awful, awful, awful, awful. And that's something that hundreds of city employees and residents and thousands drive by every single day. And we weren't able to have a handle on that property until we just said, you know what, we're ending this contract. So I worry that now this property that's going to be out of sight, out of mind in an industrial area, along with businesses surrounding it, is going to have those same issues.

David PenalozaItem 31

Do we have city managers, staff that could stay on top of this and make sure that the person leasing this land is maintaining it?

Yes.

David PenalozaItem 31

And I don't even think we should allow seven days. I mean, it's something that they should be, you know, a contract should be terminated if they're going to go seven days without maintaining their property. Is that a possibility?

Well, we want tenants like any other tenant, right, whether it be private property or public property to be good tenants and maintain the property so that there's no problems. Obviously, to have some level of due process, right, with the tenancy or occupancy, we try to provide due process and allow for some level of notification. If seven days is too much, we can do 48 hours, right? The idea is to make sure that, one, we generate some level of funding from this property. That's the key component. To the extent the council member says accurate about changing the language to ensure that the tenant,

the occupant, has the responsibility to maintain the property in a sanitary fashion, we'll do that. And then have to ensure that our staff also makes the visits that we need to make to ensure that the property is well maintained. I think that's the key component of what we're trying to do.

David PenalozaItem 31

Okay, because currently right now, Bristol and St. Gertrude, on the Ward 4 side, your side, Phil, it looks pretty bad. I don't know who's leasing it right now, but it's things like that where if we drive by something hundreds of times a day and we allow it to look like that, I don't see us being able to manage this contract. But that's just, you know, just looking at something objectively, something along Bristol Street. But with that, those are my comments. Thank you.

Valerie AmezcuaItem 31

Thank you very much. Madam Senator Clark.

Phil BacerraItem 31

Was that a request to amend my motion?

David PenalozaItem 31

Oh, yeah. I would say 72 hours after the city first notifies the contractor. They should, it's Caltrans. They should be able to maintain their property.

72 hours is more than enough time.

Valerie AmezcuaItem 31

48 hours. You're being nice. I'd say 48. What is staff recommending? 72 hours is fine.

To the extent, and

how would I say this in a nice way?

We're mindful at the opportunity to lead the city. To the extent that we prioritize those type of concerns, right? Make sure that our staff reports are diligent and expressive enough so there's no additional questions, right? To the fact that we've worked the last couple of months to make sure that our agendas are very precise so that we don't overextend to the late evenings, right? Let the issues, you know, arise that promote the discussion, not the failure to write good reports. So we're mindful of the new leadership, hopefully, that we have, and

And we provided direction yesterday to make sure that our city properties throughout the city will maintain. And so that's part of this initiative to make sure that at least we're good stewards of the city's properties. This includes parks. We made a notification. You started seeing additional signs in our parks to make sure that people understand what are the requirements and the hours of operation to ensure that component. So we're moving in that direction to ensure that we're good stewards of the city's properties.

Valerie AmezcuaItem 31

Thank you for sharing that with us. We really appreciate it. It is truly about the city leadership that you are sharing this. Looks like no other comments. Madam City Clerk.

Jennifer L. HallItem 31

A motion by Councilmember Becerra seconded by Councilmember Penaloza to approve item 31, a license agreement with KNC Logistics LLC for their use of city owned East and West Alton Avenue as amended to change section 3H to require maintaining the license area and perimeter area and within 72 hours and to add to section 3 a requirement to post signage.

David PenalozaItem 31

vote of seven ayes no nays motion carries and mayor point of correction on my comment i said bristol and st gertrude that's bristol and st andrew just uh uh north the whole area

Jennifer L. HallItem 31

yeah go ahead madam mayor and city council the next item is item 32 for a comment by councilmember

Benjamin VazquezItem 32

vasquez hey i just want to be the first to congratulate the new city manager now now we can yesi okay congratulations i just want to your board yes you got voted in seven zero and i think it's because it just feels you're accountable to the residents of Santa Ana as much as we are you're there with us you're accountable to do the work you're known for getting things done you're not rigid and I appreciate your creative solutions but you also bring compassion to the city manager's office I appreciate that work that you've been done looking at both sides and asking why not why

Benjamin VazquezItem 32

can't we get things done why can't we do these things for the city that are right and I appreciate you moving the Chicano Heritage Festival from the hot streets in August of a flower to Centennial Park that's one of the things that we saw how you behave how you moved the City Council today throughout the all these things and negotiated for the things that we needed that were held accountable for the residents of Sun and so I appreciate you congratulations and And looking forward to celebrate with you.

Thank you, Council Member.

Valerie AmezcuaItem 32

Councilman Hernandez.

Alvaro NuñezItem 32

Thank you, Madam City Mayor. I just want to congratulate you, Mr. Eduardo Nunez, for one, 30-plus years of a career with the city of Santa Ana, the 13th largest city in California. But more importantly, you raised your family here, and you're serving your neighbors now. As a city manager, the highest level of executive management here, I'm very proud of our decision to entrust you with leading our city. I think your executive decision on something as simple as a cultural celebration like Chicano Heritage demonstrates the understanding of the neighbors you're serving.

Alvaro NuñezItem 32

The understanding that Washington Square and neighbors in Willard, too, deserve to have that peace and tranquility that they deserve at home. as great as it is to have a music festival near them, they live there. They want to have the peace and the tranquility of enjoying their time at home. You moved that festival to a park where there was enough space for everybody to enjoy that. But furthermore, one of the most well-received events that we have, Fiestas Patrias, you also are bringing that back to La Cuatro. And so I want to tell you as a council member that is a champion for not only yourself,

Alvaro NuñezItem 32

but for our residents you you work for all of us here and we work for the people and so as you're carrying out the tasks here on behalf of our colleagues just know that you're making the lives of your neighbors better thank you sir thank you councilmember well mr city manager

Valerie AmezcuaItem 32

i'm just gonna say i said congratulations before but the ink is officially dried now that was dry so you can shake those trees up say no say baby say let me think about it or i'm just going to change everything and of course working with the city council and what I do really appreciate about you is that you work with everybody white black brown it doesn't matter that is what is you very unique about you I've never seen anything different and it's not just about one event it's about all the events that we have in the city it's about all the issues that we bring to

Valerie AmezcuaItem 32

you or the constituents bring to you I appreciate you before you were city manager coming to the neighborhood association leadership meetings you address their needs you follow through on things quickly i'm not sure that everybody appreciates that but quickly you have a very good relationship with our police chief which means a lot to me personally and to our constituents because what you've seen is a shift of some really good work going on and and it really improves the quality of life and i'm so i'm looking forward to see what you and your team, because we're all a team here,

Valerie AmezcuaItem 32

what you bring to the table, how do you change Santa Ana, how do you make things good for SEIU, Sama, CASA, the constituents, POA, your staff, and really all of us, right? We may be the policymakers, but we come to you with a lot of things every day. And you're developing a good team. And so I look forward to see who else is going to be part of your team, because you can't do it all. You have to learn to delegate so we don't burn you out too quickly. And so I really thank you and appreciate your leadership.

Valerie AmezcuaItem 32

And again, as I stated at the last meeting, I personally can go with you, to you, and have those hard conversations. And that takes true leadership. And we still walk away, shake hands and smile, and call it a good day. So I'm sure the constituents are also very happy because that's all I hear from them is a great choice. Great choice. Great choice. So again, congratulations, but the ink is dry. So it's time to get down and boogie down. Let's do it.

Thai Viet PhanItem 32

Mayor, can I move for reconsideration?

Valerie AmezcuaItem 32

No, I'm sorry. The ink is officially dry. Thank you, Mayor Potem. I want to remind you that she said that I did not, okay? So, has she asked for her Lunar New Year? We're going to say no. Okay. All right. So, thank you. Let's go to the next item, please, Madam Clerk.

Jennifer L. HallItem 32

Yes, Mayor. Item number 34 for a comment by Council Member Hernandez.

Alvaro NuñezItem 32

Thank you, Madam City Clerk. I just wanted to pull item 34 because this is an adoption of an extension and First Amendment to the Memorandum of Understanding, the MOU, by the SCIU, the Service Employees International Union, Local 721. This is a part-time civil service employees unit. They are one of the largest bodies of representation of all of our employees in the city. And I just wanted to share my comments with our city manager. It's important, now that you are our city manager, that we continue to make improvements in the areas of bargaining.

Alvaro NuñezItem 34

I want us to be more friendly, especially with the city manager's office and human resources, in working with any bargaining group that comes to us, especially a bargaining group like SEIU, one of the largest bargaining groups that we have. And as we're meeting and conferring, I want us to ensure that we are receptive to the information that they also provide us. They are the subject experts. They are the experts who are day in and day out dealing with these matters. And so I wanted to also thank you for your flexibility in meeting them halfway here. today's discussion is that there's going to be an extension of this MOU and

Alvaro NuñezItem 34

there are certain amendments regarding salary increases and city holidays there is a base salary increase of six salary ranges which is approximately 3% effective July 1st 3% wage increase and in addition to that we added the Cesar Chavez holiday which is March 31st so these provisions in this MOU are consistent with the wage increases and the benefits provided to the SEIU full-time unit I just wanted to commend you city manager and also just re-emphasize the importance of us being more friendly to all of our bargaining groups that come to the city of Santa Ana looking to make extensions or

Alvaro NuñezItem 34

looking to make adjustments duly noted wonderful thank you sir that'll conclude

David PenalozaItem 34

my comments. More than doing it. I'll make a motion to approve, Madam Mayor. I'll second,

Jennifer L. HallItem 34

but I have a question. It was for comment only, so it was already approved. I do have a comment.

Valerie AmezcuaItem 34

Can you, I don't know who else wants it, but I would like it. Back in 2008, if I'm not mistaken, I know it's before your time, but you're still here, so you can act like you don't know. Back in 2008, there was several or many part-time employees that we let go or moved, and there was discussion about bringing them back, making people whole, and that was before my time. Then I was on the school board and things were happening here at the city. But can I just get an update on exactly where we're heading with part-time employees, how many, where are we using them, what does it look like for the possibly,

Valerie AmezcuaItem 34

possibly what it looks like for the next fiscal year and how many more do we need so that I can also I could be aware of that as well yes I know they took a big

hit and I think during the I think it was 2008 right 2008 2009 that's when the right you know the recession yeah and so you saw big changes not just in our city in multiple jurisdictions. Correct. With layoffs. So I'll tell you then because that was my first realm into management. So we worked well with SCIU and SAMA and CASA at that point with Executive Director of Immunitary Resources at that time to make sure we transitioned into a position that we can save employees. So we do a little bit of research, and then we can provide you that information.

Valerie AmezcuaItem 34

That's perfect. Thank you. you can take you know whatever three four weeks to three weeks if you can get it back before the next meeting i'd appreciate it was that three weeks don't laugh i mean stephen so three weeks

we're going to be busy on the 17th but we can provide as much as you can oh the 17th of august september we're going to have a good meeting by then okay all right all right good thank you

Jennifer L. HallItem 35

mayor and city council item 35 for a comment by councilmember hernandez

Alvaro NuñezItem 35

Thank you Madam City Clerk. The City Council approved the resolution today which will reflect the certain changes to the City's classification and compensation plan. Again my comments for the City Manager is for us to continue to improve upon our working relationship with any and all of our bargaining groups. I specifically want to commend you and celebrate you and your efforts to work with SEIU. In this case I think it's fantastic any time we're able to make improvements, especially in the middle of the year this year. Our workers dedicate day in and day out to improving the city,

Alvaro NuñezItem 35

and so it makes me happy to see when we're able to meet in the middle this way. So I just want to commend you, sir. Thank you. That'll conclude my comments, Madam.

Valerie AmezcuaItem 35

Thank you very much. Madam City Clerk, I believe we're done with the consent calendar?

Jennifer L. HallItem 35

Yes, Mayor, that's correct.

Valerie AmezcuaItem 35

At this time, we're going to go into the business calendar. Item number 38, please.

Valerie AmezcuaItem 38

item 38 is related to the 2024 cal city's annual conference madam city clerk may we have a staff report if it is needed by the council the council need a staff report basically what we need is two

Jennifer L. HallItem 38

alternates correct yes mayors and city council so this is for the cal city's 2024 annual conference general assembly the city is allowed to have one voting delegate and up to two alternates and it does need to be done by action of the city council to appoint someone to serve as a delegate and then alternates if you so choose.

Valerie AmezcuaItem 38

Is there a current delegate, Madam City Clerk?

Jennifer L. HallItem 38

No, so this is an annual thing that needs to be done separately beyond any other service on Cal Cities. So I know some of you often serve on different committees or as part of that representative group. You're welcome to nominate that colleague that already is there or you could choose somebody else.

Valerie AmezcuaItem 38

Thank you. Councilman Penelosa, aren't you there?

David PenalozaItem 38

I'm on the OC division, but I will happily nominate.

Valerie AmezcuaItem 38

I'll nominate you.

Alvaro NuñezItem 38

Second your nomination.

Valerie AmezcuaItem 38

I'll third.

Alvaro NuñezItem 38

I believe we have a motion and a second on the floor.

Wait a minute.

Valerie AmezcuaItem 38

We're easy. We're good. All right.

David PenalozaItem 38

I was going to nominate Councilmember Becerra to be the voting delegate, and then...

Thai Viet PhanItem 38

It's too late, baby.

David PenalozaItem 38

Council Member Lopez?

Thai Viet PhanItem 38

No, thank you.

David PenalozaItem 38

Alternate? No? Mayor Pro-Tem, alternate?

I'm good.

David PenalozaItem 38

I'll be the alternate.

Valerie AmezcuaItem 38

He's looking that way.

David PenalozaItem 38

Council Member Becerra?

Valerie AmezcuaItem 38

Council Member Vasquez volunteered.

David PenalozaItem 38

Okay. Council Member.

Valerie AmezcuaItem 38

If Council Member Vasquez can do that, then you can take over Skag, because that was the only reason I took Skag, was because you stated you couldn't do Skag.

David PenalozaItem 38

Council Member Becerra is the voting delegate, and Vasquez and I as alternates. That's my motion.

Valerie AmezcuaItem 38

And I'm going to give you Skag now. Okay, perfect. All right, is that all you need, Madam Clerk?

Jennifer L. HallItem 38

So if I heard correctly, as Council Member Penaloza seems to have declined the original nomination as the delegate, I have a motion by Council Member Penaloza seconded by Council Member Becerra to have Council Member Becerra as the voting delegate and Council Members Vasquez and Penaloza as the alternates. works for me right there's a motion that's fair to vote there was a second um i'll just council member um becerra i'm gonna do a roll call yes yes council member

Alvaro NuñezItem 38

hernandez absolutely council member lopez yes council member penaliza yes council member

Jennifer L. HallItem 38

Vasquez yes mayor pro temp van yes mayor mesqua only if you add skag to councilman vasquez

Jennifer L. HallItem 38

i'll have to be a separate item seven eyes no nays motion carries nominations approved

Valerie AmezcuaItem 38

perfect thank you all right this time we are going to go to item number 39 it's related to an ordinance amending the municipal code to allow for sale and consumption of liquor at the stadium mr. city manager do you have a staff report

Stephen thank you mayor and city council members is a very short report you know we're trying to make our venues more marketable from an economic development point of view and to be more competitive we're getting really good at our special events we'd like to expand our offerings and we'd like to relieve the this cloud of restriction on the Eddie West field and permit alcohol both consumption and the sale for alcohol sales at Eddie West so I have a question

Valerie AmezcuaItem 39

actually have two where there will there be one particular vendor or for each event you will open it up for an RFP for different vendors well when we have a

special event there sometimes we'll find a production company to do the event sometimes we will be the vendor for it, and oftentimes we can imagine we will have one producer that would bring a couple of different vendors. You could have a tequila vendor, you could have a beer vendor, you could have a wine vendor. Right now we're not allowed to have tequila, and we like to try to expand our offerings there.

Valerie AmezcuaItem 39

Okay, perfect. That answered my question for that, because I wanted to make sure it wasn't just one vendor for every event. And then when you sell alcohol, it becomes a security issue. So will it be similar to the... Good night, CIU.

Valerie AmezcuaItem 39

Will it be similar to, like, when we do the big Santa Ana event at the main place mall for alcohol sold in a certain area only?

Any special event permit, right? So depending on the use, depending on the folks, yes, we'll have PD review. The whole team gets together, right?

Valerie AmezcuaItem 39

Yes.

Yes.

Valerie AmezcuaItem 39

And there will be PD presence because of alcohol. Perfect. Okay. Any other Council members? Questions? Councilman Becerra?

Phil BacerraItem 39

Thank you, Madam Mayor. So I love what you guys have proposed. This is great. I love the overall concept. But in looking at the suggested or proposed language for the ordinance change, you talk about predominant age of the audience for determining whether it's an adult event. First of all, when you say adult event, it could mean a whole variety of things, which takes it into a different world. I'm going to go with the big assumption here. We're talking about just age. But having said that though, in all seriousness, when we're talking about the predominant age of the audience, I don't know how you determine that, right?

Phil BacerraItem 39

And so it becomes kind of more of this ambiguous way to, you know, is it an adult event? Again, being serious about just the age, is it an adult event? I look at the zoo, we don't have that same sort of restriction, right? We just say it's going to have alcohol, it's going to have alcohol. If it isn't, it isn't. There's state law, no matter how much we would want to do something different, state law says 21 and over, so we abide by that. So I would recommend that we strike the language regarding an event being deemed an adult event. I like the fact that it should be something that's very simple and easy to determine.

Phil BacerraItem 39

And what you have in here about possession of written consent from the city manager. Either you have it or you don't, right? There isn't some sort of NASA formula that we've got to determine. Do you, do you not? At least I hope there isn't. So it's simple. Do you have it or do you not? So I think having the term adult events in here, other than juvenile snickers about what it means, the reality of trying to determine what it is makes it much more difficult to administer.

Phil BacerraItem 39

So my recommendation to my colleagues would be to strike the language that talks about determining whether it's an adult event and just leaving it up to like what we would do for the zoo, just going to the city manager, having them apply and secure your permission.

That makes sense.

Phil BacerraItem 39

Okay.

That's not a problem.

Phil BacerraItem 39

So that would be my recommendation.

Thai Viet PhanItem 39

That's perfect. Thank you. May I pretend? I definitely agree with Council Member Becerra. Frankly, some of these youth events, the parents really need something to get through.

Thai Viet PhanItem 39

All you parents with kids.

Is that like the Zufari for you? Yes.

Thai Viet PhanItem 39

We raised a record amount of money, so I am very happy to have participated. But you know, some of these tournaments go for hours and hours, and there's a lot of downtime, and parents and aunties and uncles need something to do to keep them through all of those tournaments. And so I would definitely support striking that language. And if there is a situation in which you feel at your discretion is not appropriate, then you can do so. And so with that, I would definitely support that language. Thank you.

Alvaro NuñezItem 39

Thank you, Mayor Patel.

Valerie AmezcuaItem 39

Even Disneyland sells alcohol. Come on. Councilman Hernandez.

Alvaro NuñezItem 39

Thank you, Madam City Mayor. I'm supportive of the proposed change in language as well. I just wanted to commend our city manager, Parks and Rec Director as well. This is good economic development. It's the Civic Center. It's economic development close to the downtown. If there's one recommendation I have is that we increase visibility of language that maybe encourages people to be responsible with drinking and driving, right? Of course, we have signage we can place just like we normally would with any event or concert. But I also just think there's downtown businesses we can promote as well, right?

Alvaro NuñezItem 39

And so let's say there's an event and you have Native Sun Brewery, you have Cervezacito. We have a lot of good breweries here. I also hope that you guys use that as an economic driver to have some local breweries a part of that. I just think that's a great idea. But with that being said, I'll put a motion on the floor to move this item. Thank you, Council Member.

David PenalozaItem 39

Council Member, panelists. I'll second the motion with comment as well. Basically, I agree with everything that's been said already by all of my colleagues. I guess I'm just curious, why did staff go with this adult events language? I mean, what was the rationale behind that?

So, and I understood, right? Once you hear the commentary, you get the perspective. But the reality is, you know, you have football games, right? You have CIF games. So there's this fear sometimes of folks. We want to understand that the Eddie West is going to be a different venue, right? and we want to include that adult language to ensure that it's not just going to be for high school games, that we're looking to expand a little bit, but it's understood.

David PenalozaItem 39

Yeah.

It would just be mindful of the language to understand that we changed a little bit the dynamics of the Edith Westfield, what it meant.

David PenalozaItem 39

Right. I think it's just, you know, basic simple rules that we follow, IDing, two beers per person, whatever it is, wristbands, that we could make sure that adults...

It's more Margarita than beer, but yes, understood.

David PenalozaItem 39

Sure. But yeah, those are my comments. But good on this. And I hope that whenever we do move into eventually contracting with somebody, there's some beneficial revenue sharing for the city that we could, you know, generate some revenue on. So that is it.

Alvaro NuñezItem 39

Thank you. And my apologies, Madam Mayor, but I did want to include the language where we're striking out the adult events so i want to add that to my motion so that way we're clear on the record that my motion is including striking that language and yeah my second still

Phil BacerraItem 39

sits right one quick question and i don't know if this is for director tai or for our city manager so do we have a license for the uh stadium an abc license

No, no, no, no. I mean, just saying it's... No. I said that no? But again, with the planning background, you understand, right? There are special ABC licenses for special events, short term, that we can obtain.

Phil BacerraItem 39

Well, and to be clear, I know that when folks, like you mentioned, like professional management folks can come in, they can bring their license. So it's not that we're going to have a bunch of events without ABC licenses.

Exactly.

Phil BacerraItem 39

But having said that, and to Council Member Hernandez's comments, when we look at the stadium as economic development, and how do we make this venue more attractive, again, we can have these management companies come in with their ABC license in hand, and everything's kosher. But as far as for the venue to have that just added value, maybe that's something that staff could report back as to possibly pursuing a full...

Or an ABC license. Yeah. It's understood. If you notice, this is a step moving forward. We keep talking about 80 West, right, and the loss potential. So with the expanding improvements we've got in the seating, with this change in allowing different types of alcohol sale, it just allows us to promote the site better. It's a concert venue, it's a sport venue, so it just makes it more flexible for us to really have an economic development benefit.

Valerie AmezcuaItem 39

And I believe we're having a mariachi event in October, so hopefully that'll be all resolved before the mariachi event.

It should be.

Valerie AmezcuaItem 39

You can't listen to mariachis without tequila. Come on. Understood.

All right. So make sure. Mayor, if I may, just for purposes of drafting this second reading, if the first reading passes, are we suggesting that after city manager or their designee we strike four adult events and then the entire sentence after that, an event may be deemed in it? Okay.

Valerie AmezcuaItem 39

That is correct.

Okay. Thank you.

Valerie AmezcuaItem 39

You're welcome. That is correct. Okay.

Jennifer L. HallItem 39

Can we prepare to vote, please? A motion by Council Member Hernandez, seconded by Council Member Penaloza, to approve for first reading of an ordinance amending article VI Stadium section 2.743 liquor of the Santa Ana Municipal Code as amended to strike the language pertaining to adult events and determine that the action is exempt from CEQA pursuant to section 15301 class 1 existing facilities.

Jennifer L. HallItem 39

Councilmember Becerra. Kicked me out.

Phil BacerraItem 39

Is it show now? Yes.

Jennifer L. HallItem 39

6 ayes, no nays with a current absence by Councilmember Lopez. Motion carries. Item will return for second reading at the next meeting.

Valerie AmezcuaItem 39

All right, Mr. City Manager, do you have any comments at this time?

Thank you.

Is that a no? We can move on. No comment. Just, again, an appreciation to the City Council for the vote of confidence. Today we had a very interesting meeting to the extent that we are realigning ourselves to the key focus of government management. So you'll see our staff reports. You've seen our city council meetings the last couple of months be very streamlined, very directed without hurting city business. And so that's the focus that we're trying to bring. We have a very good team of executive directors. And so hopefully you see good changes, positive changes,

and you'll see meetings that don't have to go through, like Council Member Hernández to mention, until 11 o'clock at night without short-cutting in any city businesses. I am a resident here of the city of Santa Ana almost 33 years. Like I indicated before, my boy and my girl, my son and my daughter went to Pio Pico in Mendez. So you're right. They are my neighbors, and so I look forward to being a good steward of our city and our residents. and of course our city employees too. Thank you.

Valerie AmezcuaItem 39

Thank you, Mr. City Manager. Let's do council comments. Councilman Vasquez, please. Thank you.

Benjamin VazquezItem 39

First, I want to wish Councilmember Jonathan Hernandez a belated birthday. Happy birthday. He turns 26.

Benjamin VazquezItem 39

And at the next meeting, I do want to bring a conversation about the press policy during council meetings for a council discussion. I want to bring it back so we can have talk. I believe we can do better. I want to see the Townsend Task Force come back together and make a plan for making sure we follow through on the things we said we're going to do and having a plan that we can fix or help Townsend and lift them up. I was also had a conversation about with some residents from many street and they want their task force back and I kind of told them how we ran on Townsend. We had the city that included code enforcement,

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planning, the police. We had the residents, a nonprofit. We had the landlords come up and I mentioned that their city council member, David Penalosa, would be great. We'd be happy to meet with them as he's very responsive to them as well. So I would like to see that happen as well. On my part, school's going great. But I do want to bring back uh the issues of the house homelessness and i'm not attacking anybody i had a laid out a plan the it's and i want to describe it's not a static number it's not something that we fix it's going to go away it's something we manage and it continues to move there are families

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that go in and out of houselessness there are people that move and come and go and we we have to see it as an ongoing management of folks especially when it comes to two families a Santa Ana Unified has lost 30,000 students and at one point you can't say that one of them must have spent a day a night or a few nights out in the streets as you lose that many people and they're projected to lose another 10,000 and where I disagree with some of my council members I don't think they're all criminals. 13% of houseless population are veterans. They served and we should

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serve them back. We should make sure, use our words and not call them criminals. 50% of foster children experience houselessness. At some point in their lives, families with children account for 33% of our houses people. 40% of the houseless are disabled. Over 50% of women who are houseless are there because of domestic violence, right? So let's look at those numbers and those are things we have to manage. How do we serve these

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populations? And yes, I agree when there is laws are broken and they're violent and crimes, there should be enforced. I agree. If you're houseless or not houseless, the police should be able to enforce. That is how you manage. You have to enforce your laws, and I agree wholeheartedly with those things. But there's different aspects to houselessness that we need to look at. So what do we do now? We promote rent control. We promote rent control to prevent people, to mitigate the amount of people we have in shelters, to make sure we keep people in their houses. We've lost 30,000. Again, we lost 30,000, projected another 10.

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So we will mitigate and manage this population so it doesn't get big. We have seen an increase in evictions, and we heard witnesses at our last meeting talk about how their landlords are abusive, and so we need the rent board to meet and get planned and start taking concerns. As a way, you know, there's different things we're going to do to manage that I'm proposing. These are just proposals and I hope you take them to heart. We have gone into state property to manage house-list encampments. I want to go after CalWORKs. I want to make sure. Full court press. How are we working together? How can we work with the city?

Benjamin VazquezItem 39

Pay us to do the work, right? Let us do the work. I want to increase the quality of life team from two, not to three now, to four. Every quadrant, the police divide up the city into four quadrants. Every quadrant should have a quality of life team. We've seen, you know, imagine if you're a council member, you're on your MyApp, Sine Anna, the quality of life team is there really quick because I know the enforcement is what you need. And I'm there for you to get the things that you need that our residents need. And with the service. And with the service that is humane to people that gets them into the places they need.

Benjamin VazquezItem 39

Right? So if we could, after we hire eight net police officers, we could get four of them to get into a quality of life team. Because that is how we work. The things that we do good in Santa Ana, that's what we should be expanding on. The quality of life team and we have our shelter and increase those things. Because Santa Ana has been doing good. George Carter commended us for our work. Let's not go against the work we've done that got us to this place. let's increase that work as a way of doing it. And I hope we can come together, we can have a discussion of how we see things and how we run and manage a city, right?

Benjamin VazquezItem 39

So, and as far as the sheriff is concerned and having a delegation to talk to them, and I'm for that. But also know we're going to speak with a, you know, quiet voice, but we're going to have a big stick in case we need it. we're going to come with the city attorney's office in case we have to go to court we're going to know that they know we're protecting sanana they have been doing this to us dropping off people and letting them off in sanana for decades so we need to protect sanana we need to go to court and protect us this is another way of mitigating our population from increasing it's fine to have

David PenalozaItem 39

the talks but let him know can we keep an eye on the clock please because this is yeah i'm glad

Benjamin VazquezItem 39

are we saying three minutes because i appreciate three minutes from everybody i'm good with that you can finish okay and i know with that said i want to do my best wishes to my mom she's having surgery tomorrow she goes at five my heart is with her i'll see you after school

Jessie LopezItem 39

mom i love you thank you councilmember lopez uh yes so we want to announce that we're doing another park cleanup with oc habitats on august 28th at san diego park so if you need volunteer hours if you care about your local park or if you need something to do we really encourage the residents to come out and join us and the library our public library is also hosting an educational event on August 29th from 4 to 7 p.m. here at the courtyard for City Hall and the event will come encompass as sick dancers by left local

Jessie LopezItem 39

Mariachi in a panel on Chicano history since we're in August and the city has proclaimed it and so we really encourage our families to come out and support this event it's a free event family-friendly educational and pretty pretty close to folks that I think pretty close to all the different neighborhoods. And so please attend the event and support the programming of our public library. And additionally, there's a free art exhibit, the Chicano Collection by Cheech Marine. And normally, if you know anything about this private collection, you know that to view

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it you actually have to go to Riverside and you have to pay to view the art. but thanks to the work of Supervisor Sarmiento and his staff, you can see it for free at the old Orange County Courthouse Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. And so I believe it's going to be there until the end of the year, and I think this would be a great educational event for students, or maybe we can do something with parks to take our seniors there just so that they see the collection. It's really great. And again, normally you have to go out of the city, and you have to pay to view it.

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And at the end of the month, we're going to host office hours again. We'll be sharing more information via our monthly newsletter and our social media channels. And as Khalilah and the pastor said, don't do drugs, don't drink and drive. And thank you all for tuning in.

Jessie LopezItem 39

Council Member Hernandez, please.

Alvaro NuñezItem 39

Thank you, Madam City Mayor. I just want to thank members of the public who came out to share their public comments, as well as advocate for issues related to their neighborhoods. More importantly, our city staff for putting an agenda together where we got a lot of good city business done. We approved, bless you, Director Nabil. We approved an investment in the Jerome Library. The first outdoor library in Orange County will be here in the beautiful city of Santa Ana in a neighborhood that has an abundance of great amenities, but more importantly, the need for a library is very strong.

Alvaro NuñezItem 39

And so we worked together at this council to make sure that we funded that. We also funded an architecture agreement for the main library here, so millions of dollars going into investing in education. In addition to that, it is Chicano Heritage Month, and we just had the largest Chicano moratorium in the country, here in Santa Ana on August 11th. It was a beautiful day that saw thousands of Mexican Americans come together and celebrate their history in the form of art, music, and education. And there was a cruise as well. Several of my colleagues were a part of it.

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I know Council Member Vasquez, Jesse Lopez, Mayor Valerie Mesquita, Council Member Fan, and myself were a part of it. It was a really great time to be able to meet our neighbors, get them involved in the cruise. You got to see these cars had, you know, multi-generational families, moms, dads, grandmothers, grandkids, children. It was really beautiful. And given that we were the first city to declare August as Chicano Heritage Month, I want to thank the county supervisor who made the county of Orange the first county in the country to declare August as Chicano Heritage Month.

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I also want to thank our school board president Carolyn Torres making Santa and unified the first school district to declare August as Chicano heritage month and then lastly our city manager's office took the lead on introducing a Chicano heritage educational celebration of culture at the library this will be the first time that the city has this event this event will take place on August 29th 2024 from 4 o'clock p.m. to 730 at the Santa Ana City Hall courtyard. This is the day of the Chicano moratorium. It will have an Aztec dance performance to open up this event, a mariachi performance. There will be a Chicano history panel

Alvaro NuñezItem 39

led by Alejandro Gradilla, a PhD professor in Chicano and Chicana studies at Cal State Fullerton, and Santa Ana College professor Angelina Veina, an adjunct faculty member of the Santa Ana College educational institution. And there will be a history and evolution of Chicano films with Logan Crow, Justina Bonilla, as well as Art Activities for Youth, a sip and paint activity for adults led by Articia Pilate's own, La Artista Marina Aguilera. We hope to all see you there August 29th. Have a great day, everybody. Take care.

Valerie AmezcuaItem 39

Thank you. Councilman Penelosa, please.

David PenalozaItem 39

Thank you, Madam Mayor. I just wanted to also make comment on the amount of students that our local school district is losing, part of it might be for how expensive everything is getting in the city, including housing. A lot of it has to do with parents who are realizing that there are better education options out there within the city. So that's one of the many reasons why our school district is losing kids by the thousands every year. With that said, along with Billy Beant tonight, I also want to respectfully ask the mayor

David PenalozaItem 39

and my city council colleagues that we close tonight's meeting in honor of Linus, a beloved member of the Santa Ana Police Department Mounted Unit since April 2013. For over a decade, this noble steed served our community with dedication and grace. Linus was more than just a horse. He was a partner and a friend to Corporal Elizabeth Granados. His gentle nature and unwavering courage touched the lives of officers and the San Antonio community alike. Rest easy, Linus. Your service will be remembered forever. Linus was 16 years old. He faithfully

David PenalozaItem 39

served SAPD for 11 years, and he would have been 17 years old this Friday on August 23rd. Corporal let me know earlier today that every birthday she would get him Pop-Tarts because that was his favorite snack so um it was with heavy hearts that we uh close tonight's meeting in in uh in linus's memory and may he rest in peace thank you councilman panelists i

Valerie AmezcuaItem 39

we all appreciate that so i'm going to change things up mayor pro tem you're going to speak i'm going to speak and then councilman sarah is going to close thank you mayor so first off

Thai Viet PhanItem 39

Chicano Heritage Festival, super fun. I just had a total blast. I wanna say thank you to Hawk and his team, to our city manager, to this entire council. I know the mayor, you mentioned, you know, this was an item that was supported by the council unanimously and I think it really shows how important it is for our council to come together and to support these cultural events that elevate and celebrate our history and our culture. And of course, shout out to Council Member Hernandez for bringing this item and helping to educate me on Chicano heritage. I joined the cruise thanks to Robert.

Thai Viet PhanItem 39

I appreciate you for letting me ride in your car. And I meant to come, leave to work, come back, and I was there the entire time. I just could not help myself. It was an amazing blast and so glad that we were able to hold it in Ward 1 at Centennial. So I look forward to having it again next year. I also wanted to say that in Buddhist tradition, Buddhist culture, we have a holiday called which is the Parents' Day celebration. It is a combination of Mother's Day and Father's Day in which when you celebrate it, you wear a red rose if your mother is still alive or a white rose if your mother has passed.

Thai Viet PhanItem 39

And so I am very lucky that my mom is still alive and well and still cooks for me till this day because I'm a terrible cook but I'm just really proud that our Vietnamese Buddhist community I think in Ward 1 we probably have the highest concentration of Vietnamese Buddhist temples probably in the country and to be able to celebrate with our community like that is fantastic lastly Zufari oh my gosh I had an incredible time thank you mayor for letting me be a pinch hitter and convincing everyone to donate and bid and celebrate with us. A huge shout out to Hawk

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and Ethan for having the highest, right, is that we raised more money at this Zufari than we've ever raised before and it was just such a fantastic time to see everyone come out to celebrate and to support this incredible feature, this incredible resource in our community. Happy to celebrate again next year, whatever I can do to raise more funds for our monkeys. And the last thing I'll say, because we have a long break, is I really look forward to Fiesas Patrias this year, right? September 14th, September 15th, Saturday, Sunday, we are going to be out there. The parade

Thai Viet PhanItem 39

is going to be fantastic. The Grito Ceremony is going to be fun, and I hope everyone is able to come out and, again, celebrate our cultures together, because I think that's really what makes this council a strong council that's what make our city vibrant that's what makes our city interesting and what makes our city special so i look forward to seeing all of you out there and celebrating with you with that have a wonderful labor day and have a great weekend thank you

Valerie AmezcuaItem 39

thank you mayor pro tem let me see if i can get through this quickly so councilman becerra can close had a coffee with the mayor riverview golf course great event talk to a lot of wonderful neighbors. August 17th, Councilman Becerra, thank you for your resource fair. Councilman Penaloza and I were there to provide support and resources to all of our constituents that were there with us. On August 11th, the Chicano Heritage Festival, thank you to all the Parks and Rec staff. Hawk, you guys did a phenomenal job. Project Kinship and OC Soccer for a sponsor. It was wonderful to have them all there with us.

Valerie AmezcuaItem 39

Robert Escalante's father, Alfred Escalante. I was honored to celebrate his 99th birthday with him this weekend. He's a wonderful man, 99 years old. I hope I have as much energy as he does. I want to cover just a couple things that are really important here. They're really important to me, just like other council members have important issues. Santa Ana Unified, the last meeting, Mike and the city manager, Mike Garcia, I think he already went home. Oh, there you are. um sylvia you know we have kids at our shelter san anna unified has still failed to pick them up

Valerie AmezcuaItem 39

and transport them to and from school so again when we talk about litigation i'm not a fan of it but i'll be meeting with city manager and our city attorney that's the next step and then bringing it back to this council because they are mckinney vento students our case managers should not be driving them to and from school. It should not take two weeks to get bus passes. Those children deserve a good education and the best education we can give them and transportation because they're McKinney-Vento. And nobody up here can make any excuse for the school district. Their focus is not our children. The board president, Carolyn Torres,

Valerie AmezcuaItem 39

is working really hard to put on the ballot, which it will be in November, for a $355 million bond in the city of Santa Ana with declining enrollment and we just heard from two council members how we are losing students at Santa Ana Unified but yet they want to bring to us $355 million bond so for parents that are watching at home and all of us that vote remember that in November when we have declining enrollment Santa Unified they're expecting to lose another 10,000 students it'll take them down to probably the low or the high 20 thousands because they're at 39

Valerie AmezcuaItem 39

almost right now could be a little off so if we lose 10 000 30 000 students when i was on the board in 2014 we had 60 000 students and so now they want to do a 355 million bond how about we focus on picking up our kids at the shelter and getting them to school and not depending on the city of Santa Ana to do it because again we are Mikey we pick up the slack we take care of everybody and that is not what we should be doing a few things so every city councilmember up here on the dais has a right to host meetings organizations businesses constituents talk to everybody I'm proud to say that

Valerie AmezcuaItem 39

my office meets with everybody last week a local family here in Ward 2 contact me and advised me that they met with their council member who couldn't help them with the problems that they were having between Santa Unified and their special needs child. Furthermore, the family let me know that that council member mentioned that if he couldn't help them, that the mayor couldn't help them. And if there's his story, her story, and the truth. So I want to say for the record that please, I don't speak for any council members up here, and I ask that you do not speak for me, because I do help people all the time. And I have to tell

Valerie AmezcuaItem 39

that within 72 hours that child's family was helped. That child was transferred to a different school. Within 72 hours they reached out to me, and between Claudia and I and all the people that we know and all the contacts that we have, that student who's special needs, who did not want to be at a different school, they couldn't meet their needs, they were transferred to a different school. It's about serving people and not being self-serving. And it takes time to serve people. You got to stop what you're doing. You got to stop campaigning. You got to stop what you're doing and say, how do I help you? It takes time.

Valerie AmezcuaItem 39

And we take the time to do that. So I'm happy to say that that family got the service that they needed. And I do have an open door policy. And many of you, many, many, many of you reach out to me on my city phone, through email and text. And please continue to do so. and I will connect you with the right people who can help you, whether they're city staff, school district staff, whoever it may be. August 30th of 2019, this year is the fifth anniversary of Victoria Barrios' passing. On August 30th, 2019, while waiting for an Uber with friends at the intersection of Pine and Hickory,

Valerie AmezcuaItem 39

Victoria Barrios was the unintended victim of a drive-by shooting. She was pronounced deceased on sea just after midnight. Victoria was only 18 years old when her life was senselessly taken and those responsible for her death remain at large. Her mom, her sister, her family continuously and tirelessly attend community events to share her story and seek the public's assistance in finding her her killers. Currently I'm proud to share that our City of Santa Ana's Police Department Homicide Reward Program and the State of California Governor's Reward Program have come together and we We have a total amount of $100,000, correct Chief?

Valerie AmezcuaItem 39

As a reward. For those responsible for her death, if you know any information, please call Santa Ana PD because they remain at large and they need to be brought to justice. And no they're not pobrecito, poor guys, they committed a crime. They shot and killed an 18 year old young lady as she was waiting for her Uber. If you have information, please go to the site of www.justiceforvictoriabarios.com or please reach out to Santa Ana PD. And from the mom, she says, I want to take a moment to appreciate our Santa Ana PD.

Valerie AmezcuaItem 39

And I also want to take a moment to appreciate Santa Ana PD for their involvement in helping the Barrios family and their suffering. This leads to my final comment of the evening. First of all, I acknowledge everyone has the right to free speech. However, our city leaders also have an obligation to act with professionalism and respect. Not to make disparaging remarks against our police department at a city-funded event. This can lead to very serious liability for the city. During our Chicano Festival, I was saddened to hear remarks from a councilman against

Valerie AmezcuaItem 39

Santa Ana PD to aggravate mistrust between our community and our police department. Passive aggressive comments about our police department and our officers who have always given their all to our community are both shameful and embarrassing. As Mayor, I have always stated, I do not support bad police officers. Just like on the school board, I do not support bad teachers. However, I have been the biggest public safety cheerleader and I will continue to do so for our law enforcement, SEIU, our community, our first responders, our businesses, and for the quality of life in Santa Ana.

Valerie AmezcuaItem 39

My hope and my final comments is to encourage our leadership to work together and build a culture of cooperation at City Hall, where one of our top priorities is the safety of our community and that police officers are integral partners in this work to keep our city safe. If you had been at the State of the City, because only two of you were there, Councilman Penelosa was out of town, you would have seen the beautiful partnership that we had on that stage. The City Manager, we had Cat, we had Mintai, and we had our Police Chief. And everything that I've heard from the community and businesses and everybody that was there,

Valerie AmezcuaItem 39

the 400 plus people that were there said it was the best state of the city they've ever seen or been to because it showed such a team approach and it was a beautiful team and you actually got to hear from our police chief and I hope chief I'm not stepping out of line if I am please tell me how he shared his personal experience about how he went into the Marine Corps and that's where he received his citizenship he did not get up there and say pobrecito I'm marginalized I paid too much for this or I'm sad no he served his country he

Valerie AmezcuaItem 39

served his country proudly and then he became a citizen at a very late age not that late but late enough so with that I want to say that our police department our fire department, our city staff, our city manager, SEIU, CASA, SAMA, whoever it is, we are a team. We work together. If you disagree with somebody and what they've done, what they said, how things are, we have a city manager sitting right there that you go to privately

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because we're all adults and we're professional. You go to him privately and you share your concerns and he's going to either fix it or he's going to say let's talk about it. But I was very sad and embarrassed and ashamed that we could have, it could have been a riot. There could have been many issues that occurred there. And so for the police officers and fire department there that were present at the Chicano Heritage event, my apologies as your mayor in the city of Santa Ana to all the constituents that were present that came to me afterwards and said, Mayor, that was really embarrassing. I said, you're right. It was.

Valerie AmezcuaItem 39

And I'm sorry. And the Chicano Heritage event was not just for Chicanos, Latinos, Mexicans. There were people from all walks of life there. And it was a beautiful event. Yes, Mary Proton was there even. And it was a beautiful event. And I'm looking forward to next year. And I'm not going to address the homeless issue, because I can bang this drum all day long, because I know that since I've been sitting here, I've worked on it, and there's been many changes. And there's more to come. And we have not forgotten the Needle Exchange Program, because we have some meetings coming up.

Valerie AmezcuaItem 39

and we're going to keep them out of our city of Santa Ana. So with that, let me turn it over to Councilman Becerra, and he will close us out.

Phil BacerraItem 39

Thank you, Madam Mayor. Thank you for your comments.

Phil BacerraItem 39

Let's see, September 7th, Saturday at 10 a.m., I'll be hosting my monthly community office hours at Lilly King Park on Alta next to MacArthur Intermediate School. I am going to talk about the homeless because it was brought up here tonight, and I will say that it's important. And as the mayor's talking about council members saying things from the stage at certain events and, God forbid, possibly causing a riot, I think it's important that when the community comes here and listens to us that they get accurate information. Nobody up here, nobody said that all the houseless, all the homeless are criminals.

Phil BacerraItem 39

But all you got to do is drive through your ward, Council Member Vasquez, and you can see along Bristol, in fact, I saw it today, it was encampment after encampment after encampment. It's not that the rents are too damn high. The folks out there were too damn high. They were under tents. They were under blankets, hanging out. You want to call the cold team? Great, let's get the cold team out there. I love the idea. Let's do it. You want to talk about an MOU with Caltrans? Stop campaigning and talking from the dais and get to work. I've already sent a letter to the governor requesting that we enter into an MOU with Caltrans.

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i'm not running for anything i'm just getting to work and serving the residents serving my constituents so hopefully we'll have less campaigning up here on the dais i mean i know there's an election coming up but let's just keep this to business and let's keep it accurate if we could okay um i want to also um since our next council meeting isn't scheduled till september 17th i want to before then i want to recognize the contributions of the american labor movement which we will all be recognizing and celebrating on Labor Day. So I just want to take this opportunity to wish everyone, especially our union brothers and sisters,

Phil BacerraItem 39

a very happy and very safe Labor Day. And the reason why I'm going last this evening is, as the mayor mentioned, we're adjourning tonight's meeting in the memory of Billy Bean. Billy Bean was a Santa Ana native born here in Santa Ana in 1964. Billy Bean, his father and mother, grew up on the same street here in Santa Ana and were classmates at Santa Ana High School. Billy Bean also attended Santa Ana High School, where he graduated as the valedictorian, and he helped the Saints win a state championship in baseball.

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Bean attended Loyola Marymount University on an athletic scholarship, where he was a two-time All-American outfielder. In 1986, he led LMU to their only appearance to date in the College World Series. He played eight years in Major League Baseball for the Detroit Tigers, very importantly, the Los Angeles Dodgers, and the San Diego Padres. Bean then retired after the 1995 Major League Baseball season, and then he gradually came out as gay to his parents and friends. He came out publicly in 1999, becoming only the second Major League Baseball player to publicly come out as gay.

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Bean was appointed Major League Baseball's first ambassador for inclusion on July 15, 2014. He later became Major League Baseball's senior vice president for diversity, equity, and inclusion. He was diagnosed with acute leukemia in 2023, and he died at home on August 6, 2024, at the age of 60. I had the opportunity to meet Billy Bean at a graduation of Santa Ana High School that was held at Angel Stadium. And just a very personable gentleman. And it made me think that if this is who is representing Santa Ana on the world stage, on the national stage, we're looking pretty damn good.

Phil BacerraItem 39

So I'm just very appreciative that the mayor and my colleagues tonight agreed to adjourn tonight's meeting in Billy Bean's memory. So with that, I'd like to wish everybody a safe and happy Labor Day and a good night.