Read the October 15 meeting.

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Audio test, audio test. Testing one, two, I can hear you. Perfect, I can hear you too.

Testing, one, two, Mayor's mic. Sounds good. Why are these so short?

What is the cables?

The mics. Some of them have really long necks and the others are shorter.

Testing, one, two.

Thank you.

Thank you.

and the mayor of Pro Tem has their own laptop. Oh yeah. So Councilor Becerra and the mayor of Pro Tem had to bring their own.

So at one point I didn't know that was perfect. I just thought, oh, someone messed this up. Yeah, or someone. So, but then he asked me, hey, can you turn off my home? My dad is sick. Yeah.

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like hey we need something

literally just need so i found one that having a 15 inch decent size

but they didn't like

especially when the It's sort of the voting icon.

Okay?

Yeah, I can see.

I happen to have these sort of out.

It's not charging. As soon as we took it off and just brought a regular charger, it was charging.

I thought the two we ordered were for specific use. No? Did we order one? I thought we ordered one for specific use. I know.

But I don't know.

Yeah, we needed two because there were two left, two council members left using the old, smaller tablet.

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PIANO PLAYS

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I'm going to go.

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guitar solo

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Recording in progress

Thank you.

Jennifer L. Hall

Mayor, you can go ahead.

Thai Viet Phan

Thank you, Madam Clerk. 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 roll call.

Jennifer L. Hall

Council Member Becerra? Council Member Hernandez? Council Member Lopez? Here. Council Member Penaloza? Present. Council Member Vasquez? Present. Mayor Pro Tem Fan? Here. Mayor Mesquia? Present. Five members, that is a quorum.

Thai Viet Phan

Thank you. Madam Clerk, are there any additions or deletions to the closed session agenda? There are none. Do any Council Members need to announce their abstentions and closed session

Jennifer L. Hall

items? Hearing none. Madam Clerk, do we have any speakers for the closed session? We do not have any speakers in person or on Zoom, but noting for the record there was one e-comment related to closed session item number three that was distributed to the council and posted online.

Thai Viet Phan

Thank you very much. We'll now recess this portion of the meeting to consider the items listed on the closed session agenda. Thank you. Recording stopped.

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Oh, my God.

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I love you.

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I love you.

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guitar solo

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We'll be right back.

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guitar solo

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PIANO PLAYS

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Good night.

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Thai Viet Phan

Recording in progress.

Thai Viet Phan

Madam Clerk?

Jennifer L. Hall

Yes, Mayor, you can proceed.

Thai Viet Phan

Thank you so very much.

Thai Viet Phan

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 break or to even clear the meeting room. If a meeting becomes too disruptive to properly conduct business. Warnings will be provided prior to any action taken.

Thai Viet Phan

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 entrances and exits. Guidelines for members of the news media and 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 and take photos. Madam Clerk, please conduct a roll call.

Jennifer L. Hall

Council Member Becerra? Here. Council Member Hernandez? Council Member Lopez? Here. Council Member Penaloza?

Valerie Amezcua

Present.

Jennifer L. Hall

Council Member Vasquez? Present. Mayor Pro Tem Pham? Here. Mayor Mesqua? Present. You have six members, that is a quorum. Madam Clerk, before we proceed to the Pledge of Allegiance, please make an announcement. 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 Raise Hand from Zoom Now to be in the speaker queue once public comments commence. Thank you.

Thai Viet Phan

First item is the Pledge of Allegiance. One of my Commissioners is present. Salika, can you please come up and lead us in the pledge?

Thank you very much. Please place your right hand over your heart. I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands, one nation, under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. Thank you. Thank you very much.

Thai Viet Phan

chaplain

thank you sir thank you i just have two very short things to say the first one is by way of a reminder and the second one is a blessing i always love to pray over the city over you all i want to honor three little girls tonight their names are lexi lexandra and andrea The reason I mention their names to you is because 10 years ago on the 31st, those three little girls' lives were taken too soon. It was on a night of celebration. I think most of you remember that night, how tragic it was. But I say that because I want to remind all of us to warn our children to always be careful,

be attentive, and most importantly, for our adults to be very responsible. And that's why I pray over our city, pray over us, that we would be the kind of people

would lead by way of example. Thank you for being our leaders, our public servants. So Lord God, I come to you. I want to thank you, Lord, for the city council, the mayor, everybody that serves our community, Lord God. They bring their gifts and talents and they help us, Lord God, to be the best city that we can possibly be. We ask a blessing upon this meeting tonight, upon the people gathered here, upon the things discussed. We ask your wisdom to be displayed. Your favor would be upon our entire community. And Lord, I thank you for those that are our first responders. I think of our police department.

I think of all of our law enforcement officers. I think of our fire authority, the people that have been so involved in so many fires that we've witnessed on TV. they've been there to stand in the way to protect us and Lord God I pray tonight that your blessing would be on our city as we go into the rest of this month and into the fall that Lord your peace would be among us guard and protect us Lord keep us safe in the name of the Lord I pray amen

Thai Viet Phan

thank you sir

Thai Viet Phan

madam clerk are there any additions or deletions to the city council agenda

Jennifer L. Hall

Mayor and Council, there's just one. Item number 9, the agreements for administrative hearing officer services has been removed by staff and is not before you for action this evening.

Thai Viet PhanItem 9

Item number 9. Great. Thank you. Okay. We're going to do first presentation and it is mine. At this time, Human Options, if you can please join me.

Thank you.

Thai Viet PhanItem 1

Come on up over here.

Are you the only one here? Thank you for being here.

Thai Viet PhanItem 1

So we're going to do a recognition for human options. It is Domestic Violence Awareness Month. Domestic violence affects people from all walks of life. But with the help of dedicated programs and organizations across California, survivors, their children, and communities are receiving crucial life-saving support. These programs play a vital role in offering hope, safety, and a pathway to healing. It's important to recognize that certain groups, including undocumented individuals, transgender people, and those living with disabilities, often face increased risk due to systemic barriers.

Thai Viet PhanItem 1

Raising awareness about these challenges helps us create a more inclusive and supportive community where everyone can thrive. Children who are exposed to domestic violence face significant challenges that can affect them well into adulthood. That is why it's so important to always take care of our victims and offer the services that you do, and so thank you. But with the right support and intervention, they can overcome obstacles and lead healthy, successful lives. That's why programs that address these issues are so vital to breaking the cycle of abuse.

Thai Viet PhanItem 1

Through this proclamation, we affirm that every individual in our community deserves to live a life free from violence and abuse. Our commitment is to stand with victims, ensuring they know they are not alone, and that our community is here to support their courageous journey toward full and healthy lives. Today, we are honored to recognize Human Options, an organization that has been igniting social change since 1981. Their mission is to educate Orange County about relationship violence, advocate for those impacted, provide safe spaces for victims, and empower survivors on their path to healing.

Thai Viet PhanItem 1

Over the past four decades, Human Options has positively impacted more than 500,000 lives. That is very impressive. Thank you. An impressive 90% of survivors who complete their program have moved forward, finding safety and healing. This is a testament to the transformative work being done to create a brighter future for those affected by domestic violence. As we declare October 2024 as Domestic Violence Awareness Month, we extend our deepest gratitude to Human Options for their unwavering dedication to protecting and educating our community. Together we can continue to raise awareness and create a community where everyone can

Thai Viet PhanItem 1

live free from fear and abuse. I know last week we had a walk with our police department in the city and so those that participated thank you so very much. And I just want to give you this proclamation from the city of Santa Ana. And there's a lot of whereases and here I read it, but thank you so much for everything that you all do. I know when I was working for the probation department we referred clients to you as well And I just want to say that you guys do remarkable work, and you always take care of the victims. I think sometimes people talk a lot about the offenders and, you know, offering them so many services,

Thai Viet PhanItem 1

but it's truly about the victims at the end of the day because we don't want their children to continue in the system or the action. So thank you for everything that you do. We really appreciate it. This is your proclamation, and please say a few words.

Thank you, Mayor Emesqua and City Council members. My name is Jonathan Forbes and I'm honored to accept this proclamation on behalf of Human Options, which is Orange County's leading service provider for survivors of domestic and relationship violence. And Human Options is grateful for the 20-plus year partnership with the City of Santa Ana to make critical services available to survivors, and to your point, their children and their families so that we can stop the cycle of violence. And in fact the most recent display of this partnership occurred last week during Santa Ana's inaugural

walking vigil to stand in solidarity with survivors during domestic violence awareness month and to shine a light on an issue that impacts everybody in our community. One in three women, one in five men are survivors. All of us here know somebody even if we don't realize. And we hope that this is the start of a new tradition to continue to honor the legacy of this proclamation. Thank you. Thank you very much.

Thai Viet PhanItem 1

Thank you.

Thai Viet PhanItem 1

If the council would like to come down and join me. No, no, no.

Thank you.

Hi everyone, may I please invite up the Toastmasters, Smedley Toastmasters Chapter One Club? Ooh, look at that, they have props. We're very excited for props.

Okay, well as they make their way up here, we are gathered here. Why did we start out like that? It sounds like a funeral, guys. Did not take Toastmasters. Okay, we're all here tonight to celebrate a momentous occasion, a milestone, the centennial anniversary of Smedley Chapter One Club, the very first Toastmasters club founded right here in Santa Ana. That is so awesome. So on October 22nd 1924 many many moons ago about two dozen men attended the very first meeting that was called the Smedley Toastmasters Club number one at the YMCA right here in Santa Ana

little did they know this humble beginning would spark a global movement that has empowered countless individuals to develop their public speaking and leadership skills I was told that I should join inspired by the success of this medley club neighboring cities quickly followed suit with anaheim obviously second to us founded in 1926 and los angeles always behind established in 1927 by 1932 toastmasters had grown to include 18 clubs stretching beyond california and other states so i'm not going to continue with all of these because i'm sure you will talk about it

but i think the most important thing that we want to know about toastmasters celebrating their 100 year anniversary right here in Santa Ana is that it has made a huge difference in so many people's lives I first learned about Toastmasters in grad school when we're all doing presentations being taught that we have to present and speak to important people up on the dais tell them why policies are important and Toastmasters was one way for students to hone those skills and be better advocates for their communities I know many colleagues who have done Toastmasters and I hope that all of you

will take a look for anyone who is a fear of public speaking. I promise it can be kind of fun sometimes and I would welcome all of you up to say a couple words and so we will be presenting this proclamation to, I did practice this by the way, Junaiti Chen, Julie Murphy, Yonots Brev and Michelle Mehta. Thank you. Thank you. You're welcome.

Good evening, everyone. My name is Junai Lee Chan, president of Smedley Chapter 1 Club, the first Toastmasters Club. As Mayor Pro Temp has mentioned, the first meeting of Smedley Chapter 1 Club, it was called Toastmasters Club back then, on October 22nd, 1924 marks the birth of today's Toastmasters.

Currently, there are over 270,000 members in over 14,000 clubs in 150 countries. Recently, in Anaheim, we had the Toastmasters annual convention with people over, I would say over 1,500 people in attendance from 70 different countries, 70 different countries.

I talked to many Toastmasters in that convention and everyone knew about Santa Ana and everyone knew about the YMCA building in Santa Ana. I think city of Santa Ana and city and residents of Santa Ana should be proud of that. Just like in any other club meetings, we meet twice a month, an hour and a half.

we practice public speaking, we practice giving feedback, we practice giving evaluation in a safe and friendly environment.

with the the sentinel celebration we hope that many more Santa Ana residents will check out our clubs and be our guests and hopefully they will join our meetings and participate in Toastmasters grow with us thank you we I have three more actually people to speak. Alrighty, greetings. My name is Julie Murphy. I am a past district director for Founders District as well as a club officer for Smedley Chapter One. Toastmasters

really is an opportunity to help you grow personally and professionally. I joined Toastmasters about 10 years ago because my director at the time said, Julie, you should join Toastmasters to stop saying word like every five seconds. I said like don't you understand I'm born and raised in Southern California. He wasn't very impressed. I joined Toastmasters and it's truly been an opportunity to grow both personally and professionally. To be able to open that door to new opportunities, to sit with executives simply because I'm a Toastmaster. To have the opportunity to

develop presentations and deliver presentations and get feedback. How often do you deliver a presentation and you say, I hope that went well, but you don't really know because your colleagues are usually like, oh, that was great. Congratulations. Or maybe it really doesn't go well and you need, but you don't understand why it didn't go well. You don't understand why your executives didn't approve it. Toastmasters gives you that opportunity to have constructive feedback in a safe environment to grow better negotiation skills. Negotiate at home, negotiate at work, all those opportunities. Toastmasters really is that safe environment,

great networking, great opportunity to build relationships. I encourage you to really explore Toastmasters and take that opportunity to embark on your journey and come join us at Smedley Chapter 1. Thank you. Thank you.

City of Santa Ana, thank you very much for having us. It is truly a pleasure and an honor to be among you. And again, on a personal note, joining Toastmasters 11 years ago, and I was made to give a two-minute speech. In that two-minute speech, I had 29 ums. And I knew that I'm such a bad speaker. But over the years, I was encouraged, as Julia and Junaiti said, And in that environment, I could grow my skills. And right now, as a program quality director for Founders District, which oversees most of Orange County,

I interact with people from everyday walks of life, and I see them how they grow in their confidence and in their abilities to speak and to lead. I see people that move into this country, and English is their second language, such as is for me, and they learn to speak English fluently to make a difference at work in their churches or other community spaces they are and we are just grateful for the fact that Santa Ana is the heart the center of the entire organization where it all started a hundred years ago thank you and we are looking forward to

welcome as many of you as possible in our little fun environment where we can definitely make a difference. Thank you. Thank you Santa Ana for having us today. My name is Michelle Mehta and I joined Toastmasters exactly five years ago. Actually you know what more like seven years ago because I cancelled out the pandemic. What I learned from Toastmasters it was a best kept secret. Many of my friends at the time were saying Michelle I'm getting awards on a weekly basis. How many of would like to get recognized on a weekly basis, right? That was why one of the

reasons why I joined Toastmasters, for the best table topic that they've mentioned, for the best evaluator like they've mentioned, and also for the best speaker. So if you want to get recognized outside of your personal and professional life, come join Toastmasters. Like we said, we are all over the world and thanks to Zoom, we are also virtually. From the comforts of your home, from the comforts of your bed, from the comforts of your own office, come join us and be a part of our celebration. Thank you very much.

I forgot to mention about our upcoming event. First, back in August on the eve of the annual convention in Anaheim, we had an in-person meeting at our site here at the First Presbyterian Church of Santa Ana at 600 North Main Street, east of the old courthouse. We had about 180 people attending from many different countries because at the same time they attended the

convention. Now the actual birth date is on October 22nd on Tuesday next week. We will have a celebration as well and this time it will be hybrid at 7 o'clock to about 8 30. People who want to attend in person can come to the church and join us in person or if you like to join online you can check our website and click on the link thank you thank you

Thank you.

Thank you.

Phil BacerraItem 2

So I'd like to ask Mark Pulido and Nathan Epstein to join me in front of the dais here.

Come on up. While they're coming up, I just want to acknowledge Melissa Ramoso from the city of Artesia.

Phil BacerraItem 3

Thank you for being here. And thank you, Geraldine and Neil from the Filipino American Chamber of Orange County for also attending. So, Mabu, hi, everybody. We are very honored to have former Cerritos Mayor Mark Pulido and immediate past president of the Filipino American Lawyers of Orange County, Nathaniel Epstein, join us this evening. So long before myself or Mark or Nathaniel were here in the United States, the earliest documented evidence of Filipinos in the continental United States occurred on October 18, 1587.

Phil BacerraItem 3

when mariners under Spanish command landed in Morro Bay, California. Many Filipinos came to the United States in the early 20th century. My Filipino grandfather being one of them, Candido Becerra, when he moved into Santa Ana in the early 1920s on 5th Street in Artesia Pilar, right down the street from Sarianas, very, very short walking distance from there. Unfortunately, the house and his neighbor's houses are no longer there today. October is an appropriate time though to reflect on the struggles and successes of Filipino American history and our contributions to the development of the United States of America.

Phil BacerraItem 3

Next Friday, October 25th, Filipino Americans will be celebrating the 111th birthday of famous labor organizer Larry Leong. Larry came to the United States in 1929 and then in 1965, Larry was leading the AFL-CIO's Agricultural Workers Organizing Committee, or better known as AWOC, of which the majority of the committee's members were Filipinos who had arrived in the United States in the 1930s. Then on September 8, 1965, AWOC voted to strike against grape growers in Delano, California, to pressure them into granting them higher wages and better working conditions. The

Phil BacerraItem 3

Grape growers responded by attempting to hire Mexican farm workers to have them cross the picket lines and break the strike. Lariat Leong reached out to Cesar Chavez, who at the time represented the National Farm Workers Association, and asked Cesar to have his association join AWOC in that strike. So then on September 16, 1965, the members of Cesar Chavez's organization overwhelmingly voted in favor of joining the strike. Filipinos and Mexican farmworkers officially joined forces to pick it together and fight for farm labor justice.

Phil BacerraItem 3

AWOC and the NFWA would later merge to form what we all know today as the United Farm Workers, or the UFW. After working with Cesar Chavez and Dolores Huerta of the UFW, Larry Itliang dedicated his efforts towards building a retirement facility for UFW workers in Delano that we know today as Agbayani Village. So I'm very proud of the fact that my grandfather, who was a master carpenter, worked with Larry Itliang and Philip Veracruz to make Agbayani Village a reality. Agbayani Village is located on the historic 40-acre site in Delano.

Phil BacerraItem 3

just around the corner from the gas station where Cesar Chavez ended his 1968 hunger strike. This weekend, we all proudly celebrate the 50th anniversary of Agbayani Village. While Larry Itliang's contribution to our nation's history is extraordinary, Filipino-Americans have contributed to our nation, our state, and our city's development through their work and contributions in organized labor, agriculture, their service in our armed forces, as engineers, scientists, accountants, entrepreneurs, teachers, doctors, and of course nurses,

Phil BacerraItem 3

of which 20% of the registered nurses in California happen to be Filipino Americans, of which my wife Wendy is one of those. Filipino Americans, such as Nathaniel Epstein and Mark Polito, are also engaged in appointed and elected offices. And some will be again soon. Today, as the first ever Filipino American elected to the Santa Ana City Council, it is my honor on behalf of the City of Santa Ana to declare October 2024 as Filipino American History Month.

Phil BacerraItem 3

But before we do that, I'd like to ask Nathaniel Epstein if you'd like to say a couple words for this trailblazer we have here in the Southern California Filipino American community.

Good evening, everyone. My name is Nate Epstein, and I'm the immediate past president of the Filipino American Lawyers of Orange County. I'd like to thank the Honorable Phil Becerra and the Santa Ana City Council for recognizing Filipino American History Month here tonight in Santa Ana. It is my great honor to introduce a trailblazer, a dedicated public servant and a proud Filipino American, former Cerritos Mayor Mark Pulido. Mark's incredible legacy spans more than 40 years of commitment from student activism, community organizing, and public service.

Mark served as mayor and on the city council in his hometown of Cerritos to leading on the ABC Unified School District Board. Mark's contributions have paved the way for so many in our community. As a first Filipino American to be elected to the City Council of Cerritos, Mark not only broke barriers but inspired countless individuals to pursue leadership and service. His dedication to our youth, our culture, and our shared history has been truly inspiring. But Mark's work has extended far beyond the city limits. For decades he's been a fierce advocate for Filipino American

and Asian American Pacific Islander communities at both local and national levels. His leadership in founding organizations like the Whitney High School Club Kaibigan and his advocacy through groups such as the National Federation of Filipino American Associations show his lifelong commitment to empowering our community. As we celebrate Filipino American History Month, we honor individuals like Mark who have not only made history but continue to shape it. This month is about remembering the contributions of Filipino Americans throughout throughout history and recognizing the leaders who have helped our community flourish.

Mark Pulido is one of those leaders, a living testament to the strength, resilience, and dedication of Filipino Americans. Mark and also his wife Gloria Pulido are true representations of the Filipino spirit and have served as role models to so many, including many here tonight. So join me in welcoming former mayor of Cerritos, Mark Pulido.

Good evening, ladies and gentlemen. First, I want to say thank you to my brother, the honorable Councilmember Phil Becerra. I'm so honored and humbled by this recognition. I also want to thank Mayor Emesqua, Mayor Pro Tem Fan, and Councilmembers Hernandez, Lopez, Penalosa, and Vasquez. Thank you and also thank you for your service. I also wanted to thank my dear friend Nate Epstein for his kind words. It's kind of hard to hear stuff like that about myself. But I appreciate not only his support over the years, but also his dedicated leadership

as immediate past president of the Filipino Lawyers of Orange County.

As a proud son and grandson of immigrants and World War II veterans from the Philippines who first settled here in California in Orange County, in next door La Palma and Buena Park, and myself being raised in nearby Cerritos dating all the way back to the 1960s. It's such an honor for me to be recognized by the elected leaders of this great city. I'm truly humbled and filled with gratitude.

I want to thank Councilmember Becerra specifically for really blazing a trail here in Orange County.

As the very first of Filipino ancestry elected to this distinguished body here in the city of Santa Ana, but also one of among only a few Filipino Americans who have been elected to office in Orange County, he truly has made Filipino American history. And on this occasion, as he declares it, I want to say that he is helping make possible more history to be made. by next generations of Filipino Americans who he's inspiring. Not just Filipino Americans, but I think people from all of our diverse communities. He, as well as all of your leaders, are inspiring.

I had a comment in here about being a trailblazer is not new to his family, but he already mentioned about his inspiration, his Lolo, his grandfather, Candido Becerra. But let me just underscore this.

A young man who came here in the 20s, by the 1950s he was helping to build, understand Disneyland. And then by the mid-60s, in the middle of this world-famous Delano grape strike, coming out of that and the United Farm Workers, which was birthed in that coalition building moment, they decided to respect and honor the elders. So they built a retirement home. One of the very first things that the Farm Workers Union did was to honor its elders.

Those who had toiled in the fields for 30, 40, 50 years. And it was his grandfather who traveled from Santa Ana into Delano and lived there with his relatives to help build the headquarters of the United Farmworkers of America. And that was done in partnership with icons in America, Cesar Chavez, Dolores Huerta, and to our community, often overshadowed but nonetheless equal contributors, Manon Larry Itlion, Manon Philip Veracruz, Manon Pete Velasco.

I'm going to call Manon Candido Becerra is among those who gave a contribution to America. And that is American history.

So in accepting this recognition, I have to go back to my roots. I pay tribute to those trailblazing leaders on whose shoulders I stand on. And I was inspired very early on as a young college student at UCLA in the late 1980s when I was a student activist and helped organize a great boycott on campus and a march into Westwood and personally had the honor to relay fast with Cesar Chavez, who held his longest fast, his last fast, in a room at Palo Agbaini Retirement Village in July and August of 1988. I was only 19 years old then.

I'm now 55 and a retiree.

Cesar Chavez fasted for 36 days to protest use of agricultural pesticides that poison workers and their children. From that experience, I realized that when we work together in coalition, when we bring people together from diverse backgrounds, we can accomplish anything. Hence, the chant, Si se puede, si se puede. Yes, we can. Yes, we can. And to that, I want to add ours, our chant, Makibaka, Huagmatakot, which translates to struggle without fear.

This Saturday, my wife, Gloria, and I will be traveling to Delano along with Councilmember Phil Becerra. to celebrate the 50th anniversary, the golden anniversary of the farmworker retirement village that his grandfather helped build. In part, to recommit ourselves to the important values and the work of the farmworker movement, to coalition building among our diverse Latino, Asian American, and Pacific Islander, and other diverse communities, to continue to push for positive social change, to improve all of our lives.

Tonight, I thank you all for recognizing my humble work in the community and in public service. And in doing so, I wanted to thank some dear friends from Orange County who have been unsung leaders here.

Noel Vallis, president of the National Filipino American Lawyers Association Foundation. Geraldine Larson, the president of the Filipino American Chamber of Commerce of Orange County. Neil Estrada, president of Phil-AM, which is an acronym that stands for Filipino Influential Leaders and Mentors.

Planning Commissioner from the great city of Fullerton, Arneldino. Already mentioned President Emeritus of the Filipino Lawyers of Orange County, Nate Epstein. And my dear sister and friend and colleague, the Honorable Melissa Remoso, councilmember and former mayor of the mighty city of Artesia. Ladies and gentlemen, thank you once again to the city of Santa Ana. I am grateful for the recognition, and I salute you, and I thank you for celebrating Filipino American History Month. God bless.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Thai Viet PhanItem 4

At this time, a final presentation by Councilmember Lopez, please. A certificate of recognition presented to Vecindario Lucy in Acción. LACY, excuse me. Sorry.

Thai Viet PhanItem 4

I didn't know that.

Jessie LopezItem 4

Bye. Hola.

Jessie LopezItem 4

Okay, good evening everyone. Today we're going to be recognizing, presenting a certificate of recognition to VELA, as we know as the locals know in here, but really it's el Grupo Comunitario de Vecindario Lacy en Acción for their outstanding contributions to our community. and I'm really proud to be recognizing Vela, the Lacey Neighborhood in Acción group, which is comprised of local residents and moms in the neighborhoods. And so for over a decade, the diverse group comprising of moms, fathers, students, and individuals with special needs has been dedicated to improving the quality of life in our community,

Jessie LopezItem 4

not just for the immediate neighborhood, for the residents that live there, but really for everyone in our community. and through their volunteer efforts they have made significant strides in areas such as green spaces, civic education, affordable housing, and emotional well-being. These collaborations speak volumes about their commitment to our city and they have helped transform Mariposa Park. They renovated the Garfield School Wellness Center with Saeli and they also contributed to the Legacy Square project which is an incredible story if you ever have the opportunity to talk to anybody here involved with really the power of what

Jessie LopezItem 4

community can do when we work together with developers and center the needs of people when you look at the legacy square building that is really an outcome of all of the different discussions that they had with the community and so that's one of that's an incredible project here in the city and for the past five years they have spread joy by distributing toys and families in the Lacey neighborhood. Each of these initiatives reflect the heart and dedication of their members and I want to acknowledge the hard work of everyone involved. Idalia Rios, Andrew Miguel, Camila Miguel, Veronica Juarez, Alexandra Vargas,

Jessie LopezItem 4

Edwin Vargas, Lidhbeth Vargas, Marisela Rosales, Eduardo Castro, Kimberly Castro, Valerie Castro, Concepcion Rodriguez, Diego Calixto, Andres Calixto, Vianney Calixto, Yanni Matute, Brandy Wilson, Aiki Matute, Javier Torres, and Isaias Torres, and finally but not least Isuri Ramos. And together they're making a difference and so I hope that they have all of your support and all of the work that they help lead in our community hand-in-hand to create a thriving community for everyone. So I want to thank Vecindario Laici and

Jessie LopezItem 4

for all of the work that you've done that has gone to an extent unrecognized by the city and we are here today to correct that wrong thank you

good evening everyone my name is Veronica Juarez I'm of the active member of BELLA group which Ms. Lopez mentioned it means lazy neighborhood in action so as she mentioned for the past 10 years the group has been organized on a volunteer basis to advocate for open spaces education affordable housing and emotional well-being in the community we're thankful for this collaboration with the city and when we focus on the well-being of the resident we get an excellent result as she mentioned one of the example we have a lot to say but

Mariposa part is one of our biggest example and we unfortunately couldn't be here all of us here physically but as we know time flies and for the past 10 years we had our little kids but now there are preteens teens young adults and we still have a little and as you can see because we do all of this work just because we want to improve our community. And we just want to say thank you for all this recognition, and we all are grateful for this. Thank you.

Good evening, everybody. I wasn't planning to speak, but I'll just speak very briefly. The people that you see here today are really a great testament of just the greatness that lies within our city. and these are all individuals that when I first met them I'd say about eight years ago many of them may not have known who their council member was but they they became more civically engaged and started attending council meetings and they developed very meaningful relationships like the one they now have with Councilwoman Lopez and it was those relationships that really helped bring

about the changes that you see in their community so if any of you haven't been by the Lacey neighborhood I encourage you to drive by you'll see legacy square apartments and new affordable housing that this group of residents really pushed the developer to make more of those units four-bedroom units so that has really been a model development more of those rents are at the lowest and most affordable rates Mariposa Park is really the just the creation of what them and and the youth that you see here imagine so at the time they were maybe like six years younger and city staff that was there did a walk through that

empty lot and told the youth this is what we'd like to do here and we want to add a community garden and at the time the youth said that sounds great but that's not what we want so they said we we like to skate we don't have anywhere to skate in the neighborhood we're skating in the garfield elementary parking lot and the triadal parking lot and we get in trouble so what can we add so that we can skate in peace and now that that park has a little skating ball it's very active if you drive past the park at 10 p.m. 11 p.m. you often see families that are there and

it's always being used and that just speaks to the great need that exists so I just I'm very proud of all of the work that this group has done and and for me they're a great example of what can happen when there is a very strong collaboration between the residents that live in the neighborhood the real local experts and the city so if you haven't been by the Lacey neighborhood I just encourage you to drive by it's a great example of of what just the greatness that exists and what the rest of the city I think can look like as well so thank you

Thank you.

Thai Viet PhanItem 4

Thank you for the presentations, everyone. Mr. City Manager, may we please have your staff report, please.

Alvaro NuñezItem 4

can we have the PowerPoint please thank you mayor mayor for Tim and council members just for a brief moment we're gonna provide a little bit of an update regarding our enforcement and around in and around Union Pacific Railroad so for the last month Union Pacific has as they've done for the last year have done routine cleanups in the railroad properties usually only on Tuesdays and Thursdays a month ago our office interacted with Union Pacific leadership

Alvaro NuñezItem 5

and requested additional cleanups this included an additional cleaning on on Friday and more importantly we directed police enforcement actions to be taken So what does that mean? That means that at least Tuesday, Thursday, Friday, we have cleanups with Union Pacific personnel and the Santa Ana Police Department. And then Friday and Saturday, also police enforcement in and around the railroads. Can I get the next slide, please?

Alvaro NuñezItem 5

So the main focus of our enforcement regarding the railroad was between Chestnut Avenue on the northeast part of the city to the southwest part of the city around Bristol Street. Next slide.

Alvaro NuñezItem 5

And again, Tuesday and Thursday, primarily with Union Pacific Police Department. And around that time, we actually have the code team in the surrounding businesses to ensure we provide services. And what I mean by services is the traditional code approach, right?

Alvaro NuñezItem 5

offer support and resources from CityNet, right, and then of course transportation if needed. Again, the enhanced enforcement was on Fridays and Saturday and Sunday, which is a key component with the San Antonio Police Department and CityNet. And the idea was to ensure that following the cleanups on Tuesday and Thursday, we don't have folks returning back to that part of the railroad, right. That was a key component when we started this endeavor on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday.

Alvaro NuñezItem 5

So during the first two weeks of enforcement, we had 34 citations. That section, the California Penal Code 369I, is a trespassing section that's just specific to the railroads, right? The outreach included 40 individuals contacted, and they were all offered shelter and general services, mental health services, substance abuse disorder services. And, of course, there was zero tolerance, meaning what? Meaning any interaction in the railroad, people were contacted. That means if they returned back to the railroad, even though it was out there was clean, they were given a citation.

Alvaro NuñezItem 5

So most of the items we focused and one of the items that we're looking at is what type of folks we are interacting with within the railroads and also evaluating their kind of history, more importantly, arrested history. Next. So this is what we found in the railroad right away. And so as you can see, I'm not just going to go to the top five. Folks that were arrested, part of their criminal past, for lack of a better way to say it, including murder, stalking, assault with a deadly weapon, firearm violations, and burglary. And you can read the rest as far as the component of that aspect.

Alvaro NuñezItem 5

So when we're talking about the interaction, this is why for us it was important to analyze and ensure that we had police enforcement to ensure that, one, we maintain the area clean and try to address as many trespassing concerns that we had. Next. So up to date, we've spent a little bit over $10,000 on overtime. And so we plan on doing this, next slide please, for the next 45 days. and again objective is simple working with Union Pacific to ensure that one they maintain and clean their properties traditionally Tuesday Thursdays and

Alvaro NuñezItem 5

Fridays and then ensuring police activity on Friday Saturday and Sunday so we can maintain the area clean as best as possible right part of the corresponding aspect that we found out the first two weeks is that when folks left the railroad right they were going to the surrounding businesses and neighborhoods so for us we had a coordinate an additional staffing component mostly associated with code so they sure that they don't go to the those nearby businesses and or residential neighborhoods so for us we are planning on having this for another 45 days right so we can monitor address concerns

Alvaro NuñezItem 5

obviously like I said it's not just the the law enforcement component our folks work with CityNet and a quality of life team to ensure we provide services including shelter and any other mental health support aspect at that point And once we complete our 45 days, we'll look at our research. Hopefully we've made a dent as far as folks returning to the railroads. And if not, then we consider what our next action will be, including more meetings with Union Pacific or possible legal action if we have to. That concludes my presentation.

Thai Viet PhanItem 5

Thank you, Mr. City Manager. Great presentation. Let's move on. And can you make sure we all get a copy? I didn't get a copy. I don't know if anybody else did.

Alvaro NuñezItem 5

Who provided?

Thai Viet PhanItem 5

Great. Thank you. At this time, we're going to go to Madam City Attorney. Do you have anything to report out? Closed session?

Sonia R. CarvalhoItem 5

Mayor, members of the council and members of the public, we did have closed session items this evening. I'm sorry, can you speak a little louder? I can't hear you. Mayor, members of the council and members of the public, we did have closed session items this evening, although we do not have any reportable action. I do want to give a report to the public as a follow-up to and an update on allegations that the City Council had received with respect to code of ethics violations. The Mayor and Council directed the City Attorney's Office to have two matters investigated

Sonia R. CarvalhoItem 5

after they received two separate complaints, and to also have a third matter concerning an alleged Brown Act violation sent to the Orange County District Attorney's Office. As for the investigations, one was a complaint against Council Member Hernandez that was referred to a City Council ad hoc committee, and the other was related to allegations made by the former city manager against Mayor Emesqua. In the Emesqua matter, the investigator found that the preponderance of evidence did not support the allegations, and therefore they were not sustained. In the Hernandez matter, the investigator found

Sonia R. CarvalhoItem 5

that the preponderance of the evidence supported findings that three of the four allegations were sustained and one was not sustained. The Orange County District Attorney's Office has concluded that there was insufficient evidence to substantiate the allegations. The city now deems these matters to be resolved unless an ad hoc committee gives further direction to our office. And that's all I have to report.

Thai Viet PhanItem 5

Thank you, Madam City Attorney. I think that's great news for me. I'm not sure about the council member, but it is for me. At this point, this is the time. Mayor? Yes.

Valerie AmezcuaItem 5

I have just a quick clarification, clarifying question for the city attorney. The district attorney concluded that the allegations pertaining to the Brown Act weren't sustained. Correct. Because the way you phrased that, it seemed like everything above was not sustained.

Sonia R. CarvalhoItem 5

No, only as to the Brown Act. So the two reports were on the two investigations. And then as to the Brown Act, there was insufficient evidence to substantiate the allegations. And they closed their file as well.

Valerie AmezcuaItem 5

For the Brown Act allegation.

Sonia R. CarvalhoItem 5

For the Brown Act allegation, correct.

Valerie AmezcuaItem 5

Okay. Got it. Thank you.

Thai Viet PhanItem 5

All right. Thank you very much.

Thai Viet PhanItem 5

this is the time of the meeting for the city council to receive comments from the public on agenda and non-agenda items madam city clerk please explain the public comment procedures

Jennifer L. HallItem 5

and call the first speakers thank you mayor pursuant to resolution number 2023-047 speakers are requested to address city council directly and to refrain from profane language racial epithaphs 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 the mayor has determined that speakers will have two minutes for their comments before calling speakers i'll report the following summary of emails provided as of today by 2 p.m we received 20 emails on non-agenda topics

Jennifer L. HallItem 5

those were distributed to the city council and posted online for public review

Jennifer L. HallItem 5

i'll now call speakers present from the cards i'll call three cards at a time if you could please line up in the center aisleway behind the podium to provide your comments on agenda or non-agenda items. Please state your name and the ward or neighborhood that you reside in for the record. The first three speakers, Cynthia Acevedo, Gloria Guzman Aguirre and Manuel Michael Pineda.

Thai Viet PhanItem 5

Come on up here, go to the microphone where you can speak and then two minutes they'll let you know who you're talking.

Hi, good evening, Mayor and Council members. My name is Gloria Gisman. I've been a resident in Santa Ana since 1975. I'm the third generation here in our city. In the past year, I've lived to see an increase in crime in our ward, which is Ward 2. This is your ward, Council Member Vasquez. I feel you have been a man of your word, especially assuring a safer environment in my neighborhood.

This includes crime, drug sales of drug sales, false document sales, theft, prostitution, and drugs being done in public. The sad thing is my sister lives in a senior citizen apartment complex, and that is a Metro East apartment. It is sad that she has to walk a block away to her apartment only to be harassed by the homeless, being half naked, and even though they call the police, they'll come out and they come back to harass the seniors.

This is very sad because they use their finances to pay their rent, and this isn't a good quality of life for them. They deserve more. They're the trailblazers of our community. They need more than that.

Shame on you council members Hernandez, Vasquez, and Lopez for allowing open drugs where families shop, live, along with peddling illegal documents and making us feel unsafe in our own neighborhoods. Thank you so much, Mayor.

Jennifer L. HallItem 5

Next speaker is Gloria Guzman Aguirre.

That's me. Oh, sorry.

Jennifer L. HallItem 5

Cynthia Acevedo.

Jennifer L. HallItem 5

Manuel Michael Pineda.

Jennifer L. HallItem 5

Krista Heddington.

Jennifer L. HallItem 5

Followed by Nancy Emerson.

Hello, my name is Krista Heddington. Thank you, Mayor Valery.

Thai Viet PhanItem 5

Ma'am, can you speak into the mic? I apologize. And you start over. We'll start your time over, please. Oh, no problem. There you go.

My name is Krista Heddington. Thank you, Mayor Valery, for protecting the senior citizens of Metro East apartments. I stand in support with the residents of Metro East senior apartments that are here tonight. I like to bring only a few issues. It's very small compared to the big picture what is going on in our apartment complex. Safety. We have homeless people sleeping in stairwell, laundry rooms, trash rooms. The fire doors are being held open by

paper cleanliness we have dog feces in hallway urine and he may get sometimes not clean for three weeks to floors the office is very unresponsive to anything you bring to them nothing really gets done so thank you very much for listening to us and I hope that you can help us out thank you my name is Nancy Emerson and I want to thank you mayor Valerie for protecting the senior

citizens of Metro East apartments I also stand in support with the residents of Metro East apartments that are here this evening I moved into Metro East when it first opened in 2021 and it was nice clean nice location and I was glad to be there but it'll be four years in January of 25 and I feel like I'm living in a ghetto there is I don't even I don't like the things that I hear about prostitution, about drugs in the stairway, about people renting out their apartments,

doing Airbnbs, all kinds of crazy things going on there. The SWAT team's been in there a couple of times, and the police have recommended that we have about 400 apartments there, that we have security for 24-7, at least two or three security people. Well, we don't have that. And so people just get to do whatever they want to do. It's dirty, it's scary, and I would like things to change. The management doesn't seem to support a lot of things and people are just left feeling hopeless and floundering around. I feel like there should be more support for

senior citizens. There's a lot of really nice people that live there, but there's some really, they've let a lot of riff-raff in there, and it's just constantly going downhill. So I appreciate anything that the city can do for us. Thank you.

Jennifer L. HallItem 5

Next three speakers, Bob Adams, Kevin Tranter, Tommy Fernandez.

Good evening. Thank you, Madam Mayor, Council, and staff. My name is Bob Adams. I'm here to comment on your proposed action to rezone the SD84 Industrial Overlay Transit Zone. Today, I met with Richard at 830 East Washington Street. He and his brother own and operate Ciarolini, Marble, and Stone since 1978. His story resonates with mine as it does so many others. I am not going to bore you with poor us. However, for just one moment, try to put yourselves in our shoes. You came to the city of Santa Ana with your hopes and dreams of making something of yourself and for your family.

You worked in your capacity at the city of Santa Ana and earned your retirement. At the ripe old age of 65, you announced your retirement and the city of Santa Ana tells you, sorry, your retirement fund has been squandered and it's gone. How would you feel? How would you tell your family? If that all makes sense, then you can for a moment know how so many of us property and business owners feel. I am here to tell you no change is not going to happen. So what will happen? What can we do together? Possibly increase city enforcement of existing M1, M2 zoning code restrictions, maybe add a few.

Additional environmental oversight along with recommendations on how to mitigate unacceptable conditions incentivize land-only owners to develop and change to new zoning, perhaps specific acceptable carve-outs. and what doesn't work? Imminent domain, amortizing for 20, 30 years? No, this just prolongs the death sentence. I understand the city's challenges to address California's SB1000 environmental justice planning. We in the SD84 business community, who are willing, should be invited to sit down with Commissioner Min Tai to work together and address any and all environmental issues.

Jennifer L. HallItem 5

Bob, your time is up.

In closing, no, that's it. Okay. Thank you.

Good evening, ladies and gentlemen. My name is Tommy Fernandez. I represent United Club Soccer League and 12 other soccer leagues. I'm here to speak about agenda item number 10. We own a beautiful dog, German Shepherd. Her name is Skye, and as much as Skye will be really happy when the dog park comes along, I think there are some other things that are a priority to the community. Talking about safety, the lack of lighting at the parks creates serious safety issues, especially for our young children. Maybe a tragedy like the one that Bob Burnett just mentioned

could be prevented with better lighting at the parks. Public health, investing in lighting at the parks, promotes sports and active lifestyle, which is crucial for public health.

Benefits for all residents, the fields, the parks can be used for all residents of Santa Ana, while the dog parks is primarily for pet owners. and lastly revenue for the city of Santa Ana while the dog park requires maintenance the city parks with lighting can be rented to sport sports organizations like ours and create revenue for the city of Santa Ana so as in your hands put priority to safety public health benefits for all residents and revenue for the city I thank you all for your hard work and your time thank

Jennifer L. HallItem 5

Kevin Tranter followed by Mike Tardif and Carl Benninger.

Hi, my name is Kevin Tranter. Thank you, Mayor and Council members for an opportunity to be heard.

Thai Viet PhanItem 5

Sir, can you speak into the mic, please? Thank you.

Thank you for the opportunity to be heard. This is in response to the SD84 transit zoning thing. We have a business in the Lacey area. We bought a building there 24 years ago. And we have 40-something employees who most are employed from Santa Ana. We're just concerned that decisions are going to be made that we have not had any knowledge about. We just want to be heard and find out what's going on.

You know, we have certain businesses there that if we're forced to relocate, they could go inland and do that. Our business has a customer base in Orange County that would prohibit us to move out of the area. I don't think it would be possible for us to survive. We have paid taxes, property taxes for 43 years. We opened the business in 1981, and we're just looking for an opportunity to work with the city to see whether we can redo regulations or what it is that we need to do to coexist with a residential neighborhood.

That's all that we're asking for, and we appreciate any help that we can get. Thank you very much.

My name is Mike Tardiff, long time San Ana resident, business and property owner. Regarding your current planning for rezoning regarding the properties and businesses included in the industrial overlay areas of the transit zoning code SD84, you're currently in place place moratorium on industrial properties and businesses is draconian, very harsh and severe. You are not allowing any startup of new businesses in existing industrial buildings, no new certificates of occupancy, no new conditional use permits or construction permits. All of

that is extremely damaging to the value of our properties, the improvements on our properties and to the value and functioning of our businesses. It is our understanding that you want to expel our businesses, our business facilities, our improvements on the land for the benefit of high density developers.

This is not just damaging to us and our families, our planned retirements, but also to our over 1,000 employees within the entire area and their families. You are affecting the livelihoods of thousands of people. All of this, and you have not directed staff to coordinate or hold even one community meeting to dialogue and collaborate with those affected, the industrial property and business owners and the surrounding residential neighborhoods, mayor, council, staff.

this is unconscionable that you would direct and allow a zone change of this magnitude, affecting property values in the hundreds of millions of dollars, affecting thousands of employees and their families to this degree, to go forward to the Planning Commission for approval with zero outreach to the community. You should be ashamed of yourselves.

Jennifer L. HallItem 5

Mike, your time is up.

Thank you.

Jennifer L. HallItem 5

Next three speakers, Carl Benninger, Jackie Cordova, Brian Farkas.

Good evening, Mayor and Council. My name is Carl Benninger. I live in Ward 4. I'm also president of Comlink. I'm very excited about the next two Comlink meetings that we have, and they're joined together for the very first reason that this time of year and until the first of the year sometimes can be hard on families, individuals, and what have you. So we have two meetings coming up, general meetings, that's going to help direct, tell people where to get help if necessary. The first one's going to deal with mental illness with children. I wish we had this when my youngest sister was young,

who to this day gets very depressed this time of year. We don't know why, but she has never sought help for it. And I wish it was available back in the 50s and 60s when she was young on it. And that meeting's going to be October 24th at the Police Community Center, open to everyone in the public. on that, starting at 6 p.m. The second one I'm very excited about is on November 21st. Usually November, we salute our veterans, and we will salute veterans on the night, but also we have someone coming from the Family Justice, which is really a gem we have in the city, started by Juan Vegas when he was on this council,

who is a policeman, who has done a great job that will always be remembered and helped in silence. Also, we're going to have a speaker from Crime Survivors, and she's a wonderful person that Patty Winscombe on saying that last name wrong, but she led a bad incident. Rather than make her a victim, she turned it into something great, and she now has formed an organization that helps victims get over the crime, to get how to deal with it. In closing, I want to thank the mayor. You have done wonderful. you meet with our neighborhood leaders which now we have 65 once a month

greatly appreciate it every every time I attend a neighborhood association meeting I find you there so thank you very much for all the time

hello my name is Jackie Cordova I'm a mother of Santa Ana I would have liked three minutes to speak here on what I'm about to say so I apologize that I will have to rush through this the treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo signed in 1848 as a treaty of peace friendship limits and settlement between the United States and Mexico protection of Mexican citizens the United States promised to protect the property and civil rights of Mexican citizens living in the new US territory boundary policing the United States promised to police its new boundaries I pray for the safety of our community members who are the first responders and

unsung heroes here Santa Ana Police Department and Santa Ana Police Oversight Commission you have stolen power and stolen valor with two chiefs and your union president pushed out due to your own corruption you have nothing legitimate left here abuse charges have been leveled against you city of Santa Ana by assuming you have oversight over our abusers you are assuming guilt of the crimes Santa Ana Police Oversight Commission has zero effect and undermines our safety when it's beholden to a condemned mayor and a corrupt force this complaint is lodged specifically against Danny Vega

chairperson and mayoral representative in collusion with Valerie Amesqua. As a protected class of citizens in a sanctuary city, March 2024 citizen complaints began to be filed against Santa Ana Police. April 11th, County of Orange fired. They have absolutely no jurisdiction over us. May Day 2024, Mayor Valerie Amesqua is condemned by the community. In retaliation on May 15th, 2024 students faculty and community members were attacked at uc irvine by santa anna police and every law enforcement agency in orange county under duress and lies they were ordered to uci

all dressed up in swat costumes and lethal force again threatening to kill us for hours jackie

Jennifer L. HallItem 5

your time is up next three speakers brian farkas maritza delgado and the seldivar family

Good evening, Madam Mayor and Councilmembers. My name is Brian Farkas. I'm a representative of the Western States Council of Carpenters. I'm here to speak on item number 25, the Related Bristol Project. On behalf of nearly 1,000 hardworking, highly skilled union carpenters who call Santa Ana home and roughly 5,200 members we represent in Orange County, the Western States Regional Council of Carpenters, proudly supports this project. Related has committed to working with contractors who hire locally, utilize apprentices from state certified apprenticeship programs. We believe this project will greatly benefit the environment,

the community, and the local economy. The carpenters ask that you please vote yes on the approval of the project. I appreciate your consideration. Thank you, guys.

Jennifer L. HallItem 5

Maritza Delgado.

I am resident of Metro East.

Thai Viet PhanItem 5

Señora, can you? Yes, gracias.

I am resident of Metro East to Santa Ana. We had many problems because the Metro East is special for seniors. But the manager, he has families with kids. This is not healthy for the kids. This is not healthy for the seniors because the seniors, we need resting. We need the place quiet, but this is very impossible. I speak with the manager. The manager, he told me, I don't really need anything to do. Please, help to the seniors. The metro is because you are government. You are the power in your hands.

Help for all seniors. The metro is, please. Thank you so much for listening to me. I'm blessing.

Jennifer L. HallItem 5

Saldovara family.

Jennifer L. HallItem 5

Magdalena Menchaca, followed by Gloria Salinas.

Jennifer L. HallItem 5

Magdalena.

Jennifer L. HallItem 5

Gloria.

Gloria. We don't move as fast here at Metro East.

Thai Viet PhanItem 5

No problem. You take your time. Come on up.

Thai Viet PhanItem 5

Come on up, ma'am. You can pull the mic down there and you can speak. Thank you.

Good evening. My name is Gloria Salinas and I also reside at the Metro East Senior Apartments. and I'm here to ask for help. Our biggest, I feel that our biggest problem there is security. I mean, you know, we're all at that age where we don't need the drugs, the prostitution, the fact that we only have one security guard that's there from 6.30 in the evening up until about 5.30 in the morning, but the rest of the time, everybody and anybody can just walk into the building and you're not safe whether you go to

the laundry you could step out on the stairway and there's homeless people and drug addicts doing their thing right there you know right in front of you if you say anything to them it's like they want to attack you and you know I'm a single mother I'm single I'm a widow and I'm by myself and I mean it's like it gets dark and you just don't even want to come outside anymore you know it's like you just find them everywhere they're doing drugs out in the front of the building you know smoking that fetty

stuff that they do and I would just see if there's anything that you guys can do to help us there at Metro East Apartments because the management does not care about us. If you complain to them before you know it, you're getting a notice because we're harassing the management. That is not right. I mean, I've gotten so many, you know, notices for this and for that, and they just make the stuff up as they go. But we need your help. We're not at the age that we can protect ourselves from all the people that are on drugs and doing what they do there in the building.

So if there's, we need your help. Thank you so much for listening to me today.

Jennifer L. HallItem 5

Magdalena Menchaca.

Jennifer L. HallItem 5

Gary Kingsbury, followed by Jenfif Aran.

Good evening, Council. My name is Gary Kingsbury. I'm also a resident at Metro East Apartments. I'm assuming that all of you, if you sign a contract, you honor that contract. I know I do. Just within the last month, I've had two contracts, one for parking and one for my rental lease, that the Metro apartment management has just ignored my rights with the contract. And I've talked to the city staff and I've talked to the Fair Housing Council, and they all recommend that we need to fight for our rights. but there's fear among our residents that we're going to be kicked out in retaliation.

I have a parking lease where I have a space a third of a mile away from my house, and I was called and said I cannot use that space for three days, and you know how tough parking is by us. And I said, well, the contract says I get an alternative space if I can't use my own, and they just ignored the fact that they created the problem, but it was my job to solve the problem as such. And that was followed by the next day where I have a lease until February. And I received a notice, and I think everybody that has a lease contract received a notice that they're raising a rent,

even though I have a contract for 12 months to February with a fixed amount. I've sent a letter saying maybe there's a mistake about this. Please fix it. They haven't responded. The Fair Housing Council recommended I send a certified mail to them, which I did this morning. Hopefully we get a response, but they just seem to ignore our contract rights. In addition, people talk about safety. You know, we've had a couple of fire alarms go off. We have people with disabled on all these different floors. I try to help people because I feel I'm in the top 10% of the health in that apartment.

But we have a lot of people that need help to get off floors. And I've talked to the management about having a plan, at least have a meeting about this issue because I'm fearful if it's a real fire hit we're gonna have a lot of people at death and injuries and we need to do something now and a preventive instead of waiting for a fire to happen and lastly your time is up thank you Jen thief Iran

You can come up.

Thai Viet PhanItem 5

You can come up. It's okay.

Thai Viet PhanItem 5

No, don't be shy. Come on up. Whatever you want to say.

I said thank you. Sorry, I don't speak English, but I think thank you. Mayor? Do you speak Spanish, ma'am? Arabic. Arabic. I said shukran. Thank you.

Thai Viet PhanItem 5

So, if you wrote something, you can leave it with the clerk if you like, and we can read it. It's up to you. I stay in the super debt.

Sorry.

Thai Viet PhanItem 5

You live in the senior apartments as well? Thank you.

Senior apartments. Thank you. Thank you so much. I'm sorry.

Thai Viet PhanItem 5

Thank you very much. No apology necessary.

Jennifer L. HallItem 5

Chow Nguyen followed by Victor Mendez.

My name is Chau Nguyen. Ma'am, can you bring that down a little bit? There you go. You can speak Vietnamese? Yes, ma'am. Go ahead. Mayor Pro Tem can translate for you if you like. That's okay. And my name is Chau Nguyen, resident of Metro East Senior Apartment. And I come here today. First thing, just a short talk. I thank you so much for Mayor Valery and council member, all council members about listening

and protecting the senior citizen of Metro East Senior Park. Then also the second one, I stand up to support for all complaints from other residents of Metro East about the security, about the cleanliness and other problems. and again I thank you so much for your support Metro East senior apartment. Thank you. Thank you.

Jennifer L. HallItem 5

Victor Mendez followed by Julie Feenstra and Celica Diaz.

Good evening. So yes, thank you Mayor V for being a great leader, for being a great mayor and just a great human being I haven't had a chance to talk to the residents about this but this report that I got from code enforcement today confirms everything that they're saying your team went out and by the way you guys delivered the way you said you delivered I said it come back in 60 days and 60 days of the date they were out there I like what I think they cover this very well there's more work to do they have to find a way to get this implemented and probably just as important they have to really

evaluate the tools that are available to them to remove Con-Am I mean you're hearing that I realize it may not be a simple cask and word but I think the relationship is just broken it's like an old car they just don't want to put any more into it you know and I know they're trying to make up and try to do other things they say we'll wait more and we'll have this thing fixed it's past that and you've heard from these people you saw what was going on i've been talking about all these things for two years and now they found religion after you guys came out and started citing them i don't think that's

the way we want to live we want somebody more proactive and somebody's going to really do the job and you've heard from these people these are frail elderly women con ambus declared war on these women that's what they've done they know what they're doing they're manipulating them they're taking advantage of them I don't like it and neither should you these could be your grandmother's they could be your mother's or whoever and we and you all should stand up for them I'll be okay I'll figure it out but I want you to do what you can to help them protect them because they deserve it they do

there nothing less to believe in a safe clean apartment so I look forward so I look I look forward to the work ahead with mr. Garcia I hope we can look at the devices available to them I'm sure we'll be fair and an appropriate and and professional and thank you so much.

Jennifer L. HallItem 5

Julie Feenstra followed by Celica Diaz and Carlos Manrique.

Oh that's close. Thank you council for allowing us to come up and speak and Mayor Mascuez. My name is Julie. I live at Metro East Apartments. To start with I'd like to read a letter that a couple sent email to the Metro East residents just recently. Unfortunately my husband, this is from Helen and John, my husband and I cannot make the meeting on Tuesday. We have prior engagements. However, we wish to express our thoughts and disgust of the living situation at Metro East Senior Living. We have been here living for a year now and it's the

worst experience we've ever had. This is supposed to be a senior community and we were told before getting in here that we both had to be 62 to apply. My husband was 64 and I could not move in until I was 62. Yet there are people living here who are the same age as my sons and younger. Questions from my husband asked the new manager when he invited input from the residents. However, zero response from the manager. This is the fifth management team we've had in the three years that I have been there,

and there never has been a relationship. They don't want one, and they do harass, at least they've harassed me and other women when we even come forth with, there's dog crap in the hallways and the elevators. There's dogs that are dangerous. They're supposedly a limit of, I think, 15 pounds on the lease. And I've come across men with dogs before. They are definitely drug dogs, and they're scary.

Continuing with the letter, is this still a 62-plus or not? these people have parking spots and do not pay for them unlike my husband and myself who pay after pay $150 per month and have to walk by the scum of the earth to get our cars every day your time is up thank you please help us

Good evening, Mayor Mesquah and council members, city manager, congratulations and welcome. Assistant City Manager, help him, he needs a lot of help.

Jennifer L. HallItem 5

Just kidding.

I'm actually here today, Mayor, because I want to thank you for putting together your neighborhood walks and the coffee with the mayor but I want to thank your city staff for always being so supportive and every time they would come out with you they listen to our residents and I hear from many residents that it is very important important and I agree with them it is very important to bring the resources to to the community to the neighborhoods and that's how they're able to connect with them that's how now they know who to reach out in parks who who to reach out in the library, who to reach out in public works.

So I want to thank you for that. And I know the job is not done, and I know there's going to be a lot of changes. But you know what? We need to focus, and we need to also focus on our youth. I would like to see more teen programs throughout all the community centers and more PAL programs. And with that, I want to thank Sarana PD for always being helpful. Thank you.

Jennifer L. HallItem 5

Carlos Manrique followed by Diba Bijlani and Adrian Esparza.

Good evening. My name is Carlos Manrique and I'm here to talk about the parking lot. When new tenants come to our building and it's in writing, they say there is no parking lot. Last week, three days ago, and last night, around 1 a.m. in the morning, I walked a parking lot and I found 22 spaces available. A week ago, I found 27 spaces available. And anybody right here, they paid on those spaces 150. You've heard that before. If you multiply 150 by 12,

each person on top of the unit that they paid, they are spending 1,800. 22 spaces which are available right now, 150 comes to 3,300. And they said, well, we are not going to have spaces available for the next two or three years. If it's for one year, one year, 22 spaces available, 39,600. Who is packing the money? Management or maybe the owners of the building? That's a lot of money

because we are on Social Security. That's a fixed income and I believe that's not right.

And I have right here the copies. If you want to send anybody, right here I put that on those spaces

Thai Viet PhanItem 5

which are available, but they said it's not available.

Because I spent an hour and a half doing this one, I would like to know if you can send somebody over there and check what I'm saying. And I have the pictures of the pages available. Each of these dots means available. Besides that, the manager, her name is Maria Isabel Chavez. She has a parking lot and she's not a senior citizen. She's not a senior. She's younger. Her husband has a parking lot too. And that's the parking lot is reserved for seniors. Can somebody help you?

Thank you very much, sir.

Jennifer L. HallItem 5

Deepa Bijlani followed by Adrienne Esparza and Conrad Allenbach.

Thank you, Mayor Valerie, for protecting the senior citizen of Metro East apartment. I stand in support with the residents of Metro East senior apartment that are here. I just talking about the dogs, big dogs over there. It's scary and no cleaners and dog pee-pee and everything on over there. And elevator have a pee-pee. Nobody is cleaning up. and just talking about cleanness. Thank you so much.

I won't be too long. I'll be brief. Madam Mayor, City Council, Senor Alvaro, Manager, congratulations. My name is Adrian Esparza. I'm the Business Manager with Labor's Local 652 here in Santa Ana. And I proudly represent 4,200 members about 2,000 live in Santa Ana. And I want to thank you for the October 1st unanimous vote for Bristol Related. But I want to also take it a little bit further. What this project is going to do for the city of Santa Ana, the residents, the revenue, but let alone the skilled and trained workforce that you can put forth and give the future union members the chance to become fruitful

and have a career and a retirement and a pension to move forward. I'm not good speaking, so I think I might have to join the Toastmasters, but I'll take it up. But I want to thank you, and I hope you do a unanimous decision tonight again. So thank you very much on behalf of Labor Local 652 and the members that we represent. Thank you.

Jennifer L. HallItem 5

Conrad Allenbach, followed by Sue Palak and Venancio Chavez.

First, I want to thank Mayor Valerie for your support. I'm fairly young for Metro East. I'm 65 years old now and spent my life as a professional engineer and I have a lot of sales organizations. And I'm going to tell you, this is not a management organization. This is not a supervisory. This is not a service organization. This is a high profile, corrupt sales organization that will do anything to put people in those apartments and then let them go. They don't care. They don't care. I've got the receipts right here. I've lived here for two and a half months. I've got two rent increases.

I'm not kidding. I've got them right here, okay? And I'm on a fixed annual contract. Legal service said, tell them to go pound sand, okay? $150 a month for me to walk a third of a mile through a bunch of crackheads where I've been assaulted. I mean, and then they come into my apartment complex and try and get in my apartment. That's right, because I'm living in an ex-crack house and there is no security, none whatsoever. Okay? And what's going on here is an atrocity. And under your watch, you all need to look at this. You see these

young ladies here that live there and they're being abused on a daily basis, okay? By drug addicts and they don't care. Hey, you got a complaint? I complained enough in my month that they cut my email off. They won't let me keep record of communication. It's intentional. They mislead the residents about a place where you can go online and pay your rent. They won't let you find it because that leaves a trail. By the way, my rent was quoted at

1185. By the time I moved in, they moved it up to 1234. 1235. I just got a rent increase for 1296. I go online to pay my rent, it's still 1185. Where is this money going? This is as corrupt as can be and it's just obvious.

Jennifer L. HallItem 5

Conrad, your time is up.

Thank you.

Wow.

Sue from Ward 4.

Thai Viet PhanItem 5

Can you use your mic, please?

Yes, can you hear me? So I'll say it again. Wow. Sue from Ward 4. Mayor, I'm here in support of the Metro East Senior Apartments that are here tonight. They're so brave people to come forward and express their concerns. I didn't prepare anything tonight, but I want to say, Thai fam, I so enjoyed. The lion dragon dance. And I so enjoyed seeing our city manager dressed in his tunic. And you also. I loved it. And tonight, you celebrated the Filipino community. And I'm going to tell you, I love all of it. But I want to tell you, I've been offended by you.

And that has to do with the Children's March. And I wish we could have a conversation about it. because I don't like coming forward here and pointing these things out. I'd rather have a conversation about it. But maybe you don't realize that you offended me as a white person and the community of white people here when you said little brown faces were being given dirty looks and people clutching their pearls. Santa Ana is 80% Hispanic, so who are you referring to? And I know that this has been discussed by the community somewhat. It offended me. And you know what? I love the diversity of this community. I soak it up. I love it.

And sometime I would like to see we have an old-fashioned country music jamboree because this was born in America, country western music. And there's so many people that don't understand the music and the stories behind it. I have a friend that came from France that I knew from my younger days. And the first thing he wanted to do was go to the cowboy country because they see cowboys and westerns, and they want to know about that whole culture. That's our culture. And we come from all different parts of the United States. I'm from an east coast, so mine is European. But I'd like to be able to see more diversity

other than what we have now. Thank you very much, and I appreciate the time to talk tonight. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.

But with money, for example, the cost of the campaign that is carried out by the School District of Santana for the program, the program is for $355 million and that we will pay more of $676 million in the form of impuestos, we, the residents of Santana. And the program is promoted by the District of Comunitaries of Rancho Santiago for more than 720 million dollars and that we will also pay more than 1,470 million dollars.

They have been spending thousands of dollars in giant cartels saying that it is for the benefit of our children and our community. In contra of the poor people like me, that only I have a paintbrush, pieces of paper, and many more than to convince the voters that voting for these measures will not improve our education of our children, but will also improve our taxes even more. The second power are the power of unions behind our public servants, those who are the endowed and the patrocinated. They patrocinated their candidates, for example, of police, of construction, of bomberos and many more entities.

The third power, and most important, are the citizens, the residents of Santana. The day that the citizens of Santana say, just now, and vote, the power of money, the union will be able to impose our public servants that don't support us and that don't defend us these measures disfrazed. The good intentions. And that, once again, I say it's not to improve our education. The time has been finished. Thank you.

Jennifer L. HallItem 5

Mayor and City Council, that concludes the speakers in person. He's going to translate. My apologies. We just need a translation, please.

To the City Council and the people and the public in general, I want to talk about three powers that affect our community. But before that, I want to tell you, if you didn't know, that Santa Ana has the most taxes, is the most expensive city regarding taxes. But I know that you do know it. The first power that we're talking about is money for campaigns. When we talk about the SAUSD campaign for Measure E, we are going to be asked to vote on $355 million bond,

which we will end up paying $676 million in taxes paid for by Santa Ana residents. And that doesn't include the measure G for Rancho Santiago Community College District's bond for $720 million, which will end up paying back $1.47 billion in taxes. And these monies are supposedly to help our children and to help our community. But we, the poor people, I as a poor person, are going to be paying for this. And I won't have anything but red paint around.

I'm going to have cardboard pieces and more taxes. This is not going to improve education. This is only going to raise our taxes. Number two is the power of unions, the unions that are behind the so-called public servants. And it's a union for police, a construction union, a fireman's union, and others. And number three, the third power is for the citizens of Santa Ana. And it's only when the citizens will say enough that we will overcome. When we say enough, the power of the money and the power of the unions won't be enough,

and they will not impose their public servants upon us. And these measures that are just dressed up as things that will not help education and will not help the community.

Jennifer L. HallItem 5

And Mayor and City Council, that concludes the speakers in person and there are no speakers on Zoom.

Thai Viet PhanItem 5

Thank you very much, Madam Clerk. Consent calendar items at this time, 6 through 25 are before us. Council members, please announce any items you'll be abstaining from due to conflict. If there are any requests to pull an item from the council and further discussion, Council Member Vasquez, any items? Pull.

Thai Viet PhanItem 5

I'm sorry, can you speak louder into your mic, please?

Benjamin VazquezItem 5

Can I pull 10 and comment on 11 and 18?

Thai Viet PhanItem 5

Comment on 11 and 18, and you're pulling 10. Councilmember Lopez?

Jessie LopezItem 5

No items to pull.

Thai Viet PhanItem 5

I'm sorry?

Jessie LopezItem 5

No items to pull.

Thai Viet PhanItem 5

Councilmember Fidelosa?

Valerie AmezcuaItem 5

No items, Mayor.

Thai Viet PhanItem 5

Councilman Hernandez?

Johnathan Ryan HernandezItem 5

Thank you, Madam Mayor. I just want to comment on item 10, which I believe Vasquez already pulled, and I'll comment on item 12 and 21.

Thai Viet PhanItem 5

Councilman Becerra?

Phil BacerraItem 5

No items to pull.

Mayor Pro Tem? Thank you. Nothing to pull, just a comment on 10 and recusal from number 18 and 25 as the Illumination Foundation as well as Greenville Ranch LLC are clients of my employer, Rattan & Tucker. Thank you.

Thai Viet PhanItem 5

I'm sorry, did you say recusal on which one? 18 and 25. Madam Secretary-Curk, you have all that? Yes, Mayor. Great, this time is there a motion to approve the remainder of the consent calendar?

Phil BacerraItem 5

So moved. I'll second.

Thai Viet PhanItem 5

Great, thank you. Let's prepare to vote.

Jennifer L. HallItem 5

A motion by Councilmember Becerra, seconded by Councilmember Penaloza to approve consent calendar items number 6 through 25 with the exception of item number 10. and noting for the record that this does include approval of the second reading of an ordinance of the city council of the city of santa ana approving amendment application number 2023-03 to establish the related bristol specific plan sp number five and to approve a zone change for the 41 acre site generally located at 3600 bristol street from general commercial c2 and commercial residential

Jennifer L. HallItem 6

cr to related bristol specific plan sp number five and the second reading and adoption of an ordinance of the city council of the city of santa ana approving development agreement number 2023-02 for a mixed-use development known as the related Bristol Specific Plan Project at 3600 Bristol Street between the City of Santa Ana and Greenville Ranch LLC, BSG West Bristol LLC, and MCG Bristol West LLC, and determining the associated CEQA determination. Sold. Thank you, Madam Chair.

Jennifer L. HallItem 6

And the vote is seven ayes, no nays, with a recorded recusal on items 18 and 25 by Mayor Pro Tem Van. Motion carries.

Thai Viet PhanItem 6

All right, motion carried. Okay, here we go. We have appointment of Vivian Wilhelm.

Jennifer L. HallItem 6

And unfortunately they were not able to attend this evening, so we will provide their oath of office at a later date.

Thai Viet PhanItem 6

Perfect. All right, Madam Kirk, it's on you.

Jennifer L. HallItem 6

Item 10, pulled by Councilmember Vasquez.

Benjamin VazquezItem 6

Yes, I wanted to talk about this item only to give you a chance to show off the work that we're doing and how we're doing it. So, please, if you may, City Manager Alvaro?

Alvaro NuñezItem 7

Thank you, Council Member Vasquez. What we're providing today in Item 10 is an update, and I was going to do it towards the end of the city manager's comments. But with the approval of our contracts that we did today, since July 1st, we've approved $65 million in contractual obligations regarding our revive money, ARPA. Item 10 speaks specifically to a summary of the items that we looked at where we had as a city council or as administration had promised to complete projects. For the first time we see a complete summary of the key projects that we're focusing to complete.

Alvaro NuñezItem 7

If you notice there's been an increase in construction costs obviously and so not enough ten times and this all started and I'll say this in a very transparent manner. When we started speaking in the beginning of my tenure about the dock part, right, and also construction and Salvador part, we allude to a certain sense of approval where we, either as a council director or staff, we don't provide the necessary resources. What we're seeing today is actually an itemized section and key projects that we're looking to complete. So by the end of this revived project in ARPA, you'll see completed projects.

Alvaro NuñezItem 7

We're not going to have six, seven projects at 60%, 80% until we get more money. What we decided to do was really focus the key construction components that we can complete at the end of the next two years, for example, which is the allotted time for the revived ARPA money. This includes, of course, the focus on Memorial Park, which we've been talking to this community for 20-plus years. You'll see that completion by the end of this component. You'll see, in addition, I know the Dock Park was mentioned, but the Dock Park and Centennial Park is only a portion of Centennial Park.

Alvaro NuñezItem 7

We're going to include items of parking, some of the lighting improvements, and major landscaping aspects of that. That's the key. And for the first time in the northwest part of the city, northeast part of the city, you're going to see a splash pad also, right? Which is, you know, you don't have any aquatics in that section. So this summary provides that direction, that precise action we're taking. And then for November 17 meeting, you're going to get a complete analysis of all the revived projects we approved in the last two years.

Benjamin VazquezItem 7

Thank you so much. I'd just like to see the action happen and projects finish. And it's exciting to see we're having parks being done in a rapid moment and not taking this hard. Thank you so much. And I move this item.

Johnathan Ryan HernandezItem 7

I'll second your motion with a brief comment.

Thai Viet PhanItem 7

I was going to say, I believe there's a couple of comments. Councilman Hernandez.

Johnathan Ryan HernandezItem 7

Thank you, Madam Mayor. I just want to thank the city manager's office. Thank you, Alvaro Nunez, for your leadership on this. Santa Ana is a city with an abundance of beautiful park space that we're improving. Now, today, what is before us, I want to just break down a couple items in Ward 5. I'll begin with City Manager Nunez, can you confirm that El Salvador Park will finally see their restrooms replaced? Yes. Wonderful. And that will be on our agenda for November 17th?

Alvaro NuñezItem 7

Yes. Yes, all the upper projects we approved in the last two years, including the ones we approved in this last six months.

Johnathan Ryan HernandezItem 7

That's exciting. For residents in Articia Pilar, they can expect to see cool pavement treatment in El Salvador Park, brand new restrooms similar to the restrooms that we have at Campesino Park, Angels Park, which we recently replaced. In the Willard neighborhood, Tenth and Flower Park is seeing a $2,766,970 investment. That's an investment in the Willard neighborhood where there was no park space before. And so I want to thank you, City Manager Nunez, because I'm looking at the exhibit one on our agenda and $2,766,970 going into the Willard neighborhood.

Johnathan Ryan HernandezItem 7

Angels Park, which is in the Flower Park neighborhood in Ward 5, is seeing a $100,000 investment as it pertains to the park, as it pertains to the infrastructure, with the playground equipment. There's a lot of amazing things happening there. And then Logan Park is seeing a $1 million park redesign, which was formerly a part of Ward 5. And Santa Anita Park, of course, is shared with Mayor Pro Tem Fan. Many of the residents that will be attending Santa Anita Park also live in Ward 5. That is a sizable investment to ensure that this park is going to serve them.

Johnathan Ryan HernandezItem 7

A brand new soccer field, community center renovation that exceeds over $7 million. And then lastly, we have the Santa Ana Stadium. So for residents to have an understanding of what's going to be coming to us there is the Santa Ana Stadium. We'll be seeing some investment for sports lighting, additional seating, and installation of additional lights. replacement of the bleachers as well, all of which is going to bring revenue to the City of Santa Ana. And so with that being said, I just want to again thank our city staff. These are great investments right in the heart of the City of Santa Ana. Thank you.

Thai Viet PhanItem 7

Madam Sully-Kirk.

Valerie AmezcuaItem 7

Madam Clerk, does the Senate require a vote because it's a receiving file?

Jennifer L. HallItem 7

Yes, but as it was pulled from the consent calendar, a separate vote on it would be proceeding.

Thai Viet PhanItem 7

There was a motion and a second.

Valerie AmezcuaItem 7

Perfect, thank you.

Thai Viet PhanItem 7

Let's prepare to vote, please.

Jessie LopezItem 7

I'm sorry, did you want to speak, Councilman Lopez? Yes, I had a comment. And I think, similar to Councilman Ponellosa, I was wondering, because the agenda says, receive file or provide direction.

Alvaro NuñezItem 7

Excuse me. It was a receiving file for information. We just wanted to make sure that we provided an update.

Thai Viet PhanItem 7

It is a receiving file.

Jessie LopezItem 7

I was confused with that, those two sentences, but I did have a question just I think for transparency purposes. Because I see that there's a deficit for some of the projects, can you just let us know where that deficit is going to come from to complete the projects that you're talking about in the staff report?

Alvaro NuñezItem 7

So for us, the main component of some of the items here was to provide an update. We are using some Measure X cannabis funds and also departmental funds that we already have.

Jessie LopezItem 7

Okay. And then I guess just wondering because I see that list of projects that are supposed to be prioritized and you also mentioned some of those flash pads projects not being fully funded. You're talking about the aquatic center not, you know, needing a little bit over 4 million to complete. And so it'd be great. I'm supportive of all the projects, but it'd be great if you can let the council know what the progress is financially with some of these priority projects.

Alvaro NuñezItem 7

That's the intention for the November 17 meeting.

Jessie LopezItem 7

Okay, thank you.

Alvaro NuñezItem 7

So the idea again is to write a quick summary, and then the idea is to actually indicate which of the projects we can complete and how we're funding those projects.

Jessie LopezItem 7

How quickly are you going to know?

Alvaro NuñezItem 7

The intention in November 17th to provide an update.

Jessie LopezItem 7

November 17th, got it, thanks.

Thai Viet PhanItem 7

Thank you. Go ahead, Madam Clark.

Jennifer L. HallItem 7

A motion by Council Member Vasquez, seconded by Council Member Hernandez, to receive and file item number 10, the prioritization of park projects.

Thai Viet PhanItem 7

Let's vote.

Jennifer L. HallItem 7

VOTE 7 Ayes, no nays. Motion carries. The next item is item 11 for a comment by Councilmember Vasquez.

Benjamin VazquezItem 7

Councilmember Vasquez Thank you. I'm just excited about this project, Memorial Park Aquatic Center project. We should have a culture of aquatic sports in Santa Ana. I'm excited for this to be the centerpiece of it. I'm a water polo player and a swim captain at Valley High School as a teenager and it really made me have a discipline to be the person that I am today and I thank my coaches and all the people that brought me to this position and hopefully we could do something like at Jerome Center we have TKO a nonprofit working there with volunteers hopefully we can work with a nonprofit

Benjamin VazquezItem 7

group at Memorial Park to run an aquatic water polo program and create this culture throughout the the city thank you very much

Valerie AmezcuaItem 7

thank you madam mayor and I want to thank city staff for all your work to make this happen to finally be before us it's 20 plus years in the making I'm sure I hope Ron Ohno is watching and listening because I remember having multiple parks meetings with him at Memorial Park about five years ago and with the thought of probably not happening anytime soon so the fact that we're here now awarding a construction contract to see this through is is we should all be excited I mean this is intended to be a flagship aquatic center

Valerie AmezcuaItem 7

for the city as councilmember Vasquez mentioned we've had very nice pools throughout the city, but this is going to be one, it's supposed to be a flagship full-on aquatic center, similar to the ones you see in Irvine and Costa Mesa where all our families, I know I played water polo as well going to high school, and we go to Irvine to practice or scrimmage with these other teams because we didn't have the quality aquatic center that we would see in other cities.

Valerie AmezcuaItem 7

So we're getting one. It's coming soon. The Memorial Park neighborhood, it's going to be a growing pains for a while with construction. And I just want to put it out on the record that the mural will stay and is going to be saved. Mr. City Manager, do you want to confirm?

Alvaro NuñezItem 7

Yes, the mural will be saved.

Valerie AmezcuaItem 7

Beautiful. That's all we can ask for. Looking forward to it. And we're finally going to have a brand new community center along with this too. So excited for this. So thank you.

Jennifer L. HallItem 7

Thank you, Madam Clerk.

Jennifer L. HallItem 7

The next item is item number 12 for a comment by Councilmember Hernandez.

Johnathan Ryan HernandezItem 7

Thank you, Madam City Clerk. I just want to thank my colleagues. Today we approved item 12, which is a cul-de-sac right in the Willard neighborhood. So as I discussed, we're having a park space that is coming to the Willard community on 10th and Flower. Today we approved the Public Work Agencies Engineering Services, which is responsible for the administration and oversight of all of our capital improvement projects in the city. The American Rescue Plan, also known as ARPA funding, has been allocated for the creation of open space to enhance pedestrian safety, accessibility, and mobility within the qualified

Johnathan Ryan HernandezItem 7

census tract areas. The southwest corner of Flower and 10th Street, which is provided in our agenda as Exhibit 1, is currently an empty lot owned by the city. It is designated for the construction of a new park in this future. This park will prioritize serving the local neighborhood. It may include amenities such as a fitness area, basketball court, playground area, skate park. To ensure a safe and accessible intersection for the park, additional street safety enhancements are necessary to support the planned improvements, which include the closure of 10th Street at

Johnathan Ryan HernandezItem 7

Flower Street and an installation of a safe pedestrian sidewalk on Flower Street to the future park. More specifically, the 10th Street and Flower Street improvements project will consist of the following. Excavation, grading, removal, replacement of asphalt, concrete pavement, installation of concrete sidewalks, accessible curb ramps, concrete driveways, concrete street reconstruction, construction of a new cul-de-sac, a parkway culvert, installation of a new pedestrian hybrid beacon, PHB crosswalk, and new signage and striping. As this park space was being developed over the last couple of years, my office worked

Johnathan Ryan HernandezItem 12

really closely with the Willard Neighborhood Association. And as we were working together, the residents from Willard advocated that if there was going to be a park space, they wanted this park space to be safe. Safety for them looked like having a cul-de-sac. I'm very happy that today at the Santa Ana City Council, we approved unanimously the creation of this cul-de-sac. This is going to be a park space that both residents of Washington Square and Willard we'll be able to now safely access because of this walkway. I'd like to thank our Public Works Department and my colleagues for voting yes on this.

Johnathan Ryan HernandezItem 12

Thank you for investing in the Willard and Washington Square neighborhoods. Thank you.

Thai Viet PhanItem 12

Councilman Hanolosa.

Valerie AmezcuaItem 12

Thank you, Mayor. I just had a question for city staff, and I know I brought this up in the agenda review, but I'm very excited for this too, long time coming, and thank you, Councilman Hernandez, for your leadership on this. With the cul-de-sac, will there be a fence where we could close, like all our other city parks, at 10 p.m., so that it's not just an open-access park 24-7?

Good evening, Mayor, Mayor Patel, City Council. The answer is yes. however the park itself has not been designed yet but we can incorporate a locking fence to protect the the park itself from being accessed after hours

Valerie AmezcuaItem 12

perfect thank you that's all I wanted to know you're welcome and again that's

Alvaro NuñezItem 12

clear right so there's this phase one where we're doing closing of the street the park will be a future design future meaning no funds at this point So, good, good.

Thai Viet PhanItem 12

Thank you, Councilman Penelope, for asking that question, because those are always the concerns I have. It's great that we have parks, love them, our families love them, need them, but are they safe, or do they turn into a homeless encampment? Are the bathrooms clean? Are they open? And so I hear all the time, because I have the entire city, I don't have just a ward, and I hear the same thing all the time. Parks are great, however, we're not going to use them if they're full of homeless people and people using drugs and whatnot. So I'm hoping that we will be placing those signs on every park, closes at 10 p.m.,

Thai Viet PhanItem 12

and then our security or our officers can go in there and say people cannot sleep here and need to leave the park because it is closed for the safety of our families. So thank you. I'm clerk.

Jennifer L. HallItem 12

Next item is item 18 for a comment by Council Member Vasquez.

Benjamin VazquezItem 12

um i'm just very proud of this item where the city is partnering with the illumination foundation is going to authorize the city manager to execute a conditional grant agreement a regulatory regulatory agreement with illumination foundation for 2 million and homeless and housing assistance and prevention program this housing will be for seniors and foster kids who are aging out who are there and most need so I appreciate the work you're doing thank you staff for for this item coming forward and that's all I have for that

Thai Viet PhanItem 18

just to comment on that mr. city manager I took a tour of that facility with city staff early on thank you mr. Garcia and illumination foundation and it is a great program and we actually had to go back to the table to talk about case managers living on site because you can't have youth that are transitioning out of foster care, living with seniors alone all the time, it will become a security issue. And so I believe there were some changes made to the living arrangements and the seniors were getting a larger living area as well. And so I do want to thank the staff, but there was a lot of work put into that by your staff

Thai Viet PhanItem 18

and our city staff and Illumination Foundation because you can't just say, well, transition age youth are going to live with seniors. Yay, let's have a party. No, there's so much that goes into that. So much research, so much case manager, Illumination brought in their experts, we brought in ours and how we are going to make sure that they get along. When there's a mental health issue, who's going to address it? If there's a law enforcement issue, who's going to address it? If somebody needs food, who's going to address it? So thank you for all the work that you put into this project.

Thai Viet PhanItem 18

And right in front of it is a Head Start program. So that is wonderful because, first of all, it's in the heart of Santa Anita, right? And so a lot of our families can use that. but also any of our transition age youth that have children, we don't want the seniors to become the babysitters. We want them to put them in Head Start so that, I mean, I love my grandma, she raised me. However, we want to make sure that our kids go into that Head Start program. So I know that we're working very closely with the Head Start program. So thank you for that. Thank you.

Valerie AmezcuaItem 18

I just wanted to say thank you for that because I toured the place myself and the thought never occurred to me. It never even crossed my mind. And then I remember you bringing that up after you toured it, and I was like, oh, my God, you're right. So just wanted to say thanks for that, because that is a very important point. So thank you, city staff, as well.

Thai Viet PhanItem 18

Madam City Clerk? I remember. I'm sorry. Thank you, Madam Mayor. It's not working here, so I apologize. Just call me. Yes, thank you.

Johnathan Ryan HernandezItem 18

Thank you, Madam Mayor. I'll be brief with my comments. I just want to thank our city staff for getting this item on the agenda today. This is in Ward 5 in the Santa Anita neighborhood. And today we approve 2 million, over $2 million in funding for a homeless housing assistance prevention program. This is going to bring eight project-based vouchers for the development of the Richard Lynn Intergenerational Housing Project located at 918 Buley Street, Santa Ana. These are going to be significant investments in Santa Anita.

Johnathan Ryan HernandezItem 18

The parcels of land where the project is going to be developed is going to add families and youth to the Santa Anita community, where these parcels have long been deserted, they've been neglected. And what is most exciting is you have permanent supportive housing development. You have two residential buildings for homeless youth and seniors and a preschool. This project includes the rehabilitation of two two-story residential buildings into 11 residential units composed of two one-bedroom units, seven two-bedroom units, and two three-bedroom units.

Johnathan Ryan HernandezItem 18

One one-bedroom unit and seven two-bedroom units will be restricted to homeless youth at or below 30% of the area median income. The two three-bedroom units will be structured as shared housing for homeless senior citizens at or below 50% of the AMI. One one-bedroom unit will be unrestricted and reserved for an on-site manager. An existing preschool building will also be renovated and will continue to be a preschool operated by Head Start. This project will include 29 parking spaces for the residents who are concerned about parking in the Santanita neighborhood. There are some streets that do have residential parking.

Johnathan Ryan HernandezItem 18

permit parking there is 20 spaces for residents nine spaces intended for the preschool and one accessible space and one loading parking stall today we approved this project and I'm excited to see the significant investment come to the Santa Anita neighborhood thank you to my colleagues here at the Santa City Council for expanding housing thank you okay

Jennifer L. HallItem 18

item 21 for a comment by councilmember Hernandez thank you madam city clerk I

Johnathan Ryan HernandezItem 18

I just wanted to share my gratitude with the City of Santa Ana, our residents, and my colleagues. Today on the City Council agenda, we approved an investment in our Santa Ana Public Library. Our Public Library is being reimagined as a destination for hands-on interactive learning. And it's important that this library focus on amenities that are going to encourage the entire family to come out to our library. What we're going to see with the main library transformation project is that our Library Services Agency will install a variety of custom museum style exhibits in the

Johnathan Ryan HernandezItem 21

children's area. These exhibits will have a multi-generational appeal to children and caregivers of all ages. Families will have the ability to engage in an immersive garden themed environment that includes spinning gears, matching dials, sensory crawling areas, spinning blocks, light-up memory games, magnetic words, stream activity table, an imaginative playboat, dimensional wall murals and a Rube Goldberg inspired ball run interactive this is a investment that is going to uplift the library and ensure that we have more services beyond literature that there is play and learning that is combined in their

Johnathan Ryan HernandezItem 21

space I'm excited that in 2026 we will have a library for residents to enjoy it right in the heart of Orange County and you'll be able to be somebody who enjoys the library whether you're a young child whether you're someone who's an elementary school or whether you're somebody who's a teen who's looking for a space. The library will have something for everybody. And so I just want to thank our library director, Brian Sternberg, the city manager's office, and my colleagues here at the San Andes City Council. This item did unanimously pass. Thank you for investing and putting education first.

Thai Viet PhanItem 21

Mr. City Manager, I just have a question. I do appreciate Councilman Hernandez reading out what staff have prepared for us. But it's available to the public, correct?

Alvaro NuñezItem 21

The staff report is yes. I'm sorry, I can't hear you. The staff report is yes.

Thai Viet PhanItem 21

So the public has already read this or seen this, correct?

Alvaro NuñezItem 21

We provide it to the public, yes.

Thai Viet PhanItem 21

Okay, I just wanted to confirm. Thank you so very much.

Phil BacerraItem 21

Madam Mayor, if I may ask the city attorney a question, can you remind me again why we allow folks to comment on items if they don't pull them? So usually you would pull an item because, let's say for instance there's a contract, and you have a concern that the way the contract is presented by staff may need to be amended by, say, the council, right? Not to read the first page of every single staff report that happens to be a project in your ward. So help me understand why we are doing this, why we're allowing this, because to me I feel like, let's say when councilmember Hernandez reads the first page of a

Phil BacerraItem 21

staff report, what if I was to say, damn, he's got a good point. I actually would like to amend something, but if we've already approved it, now I can't do that unless I go through an arduous process to do it. So why are we allowing this?

Sonia R. CarvalhoItem 21

I can work with the Chair. I have mentioned this before. I have mentioned the difference between pulling an item and pulling an item for comment. If an item is pulled for comment, I have mentioned before that it was not really proper to then have a full-blown discussion on it, but I do defer to the Council. I'm glad you're raising that issue because we need to implement a process that either says if you want to pull an item, pull an item. If you're only pulling an item for a comment, my opinion is we should let that person just make their comment and then approve the entire consent calendar.

Sonia R. CarvalhoItem 21

We should finish that process and then discuss any pulled items. I'd be happy to work with the clerk and the mayor to reiterate that, but I have raised it a few times.

Thai Viet PhanItem 21

You have Madam Study Attorney, but I guess I think from what I understand is there's a difference between a comment and reading the whole staff report. I think Councilman Bacero, is that what you're talking about?

Phil BacerraItem 21

My concern is this, if we're going to comment on an item, just pull the item. Don't make a comment. Look, if you want to make comments that you're happy we approved XYZ, do it in your closing comments when it doesn't impact the actual item. But if we're going to talk about the item while it's live, let's pull the item so that it's clean, so that if there is a reason to amend, again, Councilmember Hernandez, as he's reading that front page, may make us think that there's something that might need to be amended. But we can't do that if we're having a discussion, but we've already taken an action.

Sonia R. CarvalhoItem 21

I would be happy to talk with the Chair and the City Clerk.

Phil BacerraItem 21

I'm sorry, please don't interrupt me. I'm sorry. Please don't interrupt me. So what I was saying is that I would prefer Madam Mayor as a presiding officer. Perhaps we could, instead of allowing folks to comment, if we're going to comment, we have to pull the item. That would be my request.

Thai Viet PhanItem 21

That's fine. We can do that. And I will work with the Madam City Attorney and we'll put something together moving forward. But you're right. I agree with you. I don't want to sit here while somebody's reading the entire staff report because we have very intelligent people in our community and they're paying attention and so they know what we're doing up here and and we do like to share but I don't want to read the whole staff report so madam city attorney mr. city manager we'll talk about it madam clerk how we move forward on this item so anybody else need a comment on this item just a

Thai Viet PhanItem 21

brief closing comment madam mayor are you gonna read the staff report I'm

Johnathan Ryan HernandezItem 21

gonna be very brief okay thank you there is no guideline as to how we are supposed to comment I'm delivering for my constituents in Willard and across I'm doing my due diligence to inform our constituents of the city of Santa Ana verbally as to what we approved here today. My comment is rooted in thanking our city staff, elaborating as to what we approved, and I'm sharing my gratitude with each one of you because this is a collective decision we've all made. This comment that I shared about educating the constituents in the Santa Anita neighborhood, or the, you know, in this case, the public library, this is not a debate.

Johnathan Ryan HernandezItem 21

This is a simple comment saying, today we got this done. I made a comment on this item. I thank their city manager. I think it's quite procedural.

Thai Viet PhanItem 21

So we'll talk. It's not a debate, Councilman Hernandez. Again, we moved on it. You wanted to make a comment, not read the entire staff report. I will meet with the city attorney and with the clerk. City manager will talk about it. We'll move forward. and perhaps we put something in place so that we're not having these types of issues. When you pull an item to make a comment, it's very different than pulling an item for discussion. And Councilor Becerra's right. If somebody's reading something and one of us say, oh, wait a minute, I don't like that. Wait a minute, I want to ask about that now.

Thai Viet PhanItem 21

It turns into a discussion that we cannot have. So with that, let's move on, Madam Clerk.

Jennifer L. HallItem 21

Mayor and City Council, that concludes the consent calendar items.

Valerie AmezcuaItem 21

Hallelujah.

Jennifer L. HallItem 21

I believe 25 was pulled for a comment, or is that the one we just?

Thai Viet PhanItem 21

No, that was just a recusal by Mayor Pro Tempian. Oh, perfect. Thank you. I apologize for missing that. Mr. City Manager, comments at this time?

Alvaro NuñezItem 21

No, I do not.

Thai Viet PhanItem 21

Okay. At this time, we're going to go to Council Member Comments. Council Member Vasquez.

Benjamin VazquezItem 21

Thank you so much. Thank you for the work we did on the railroad tracks and increasing the quality of life teams and making sure that our neighboring neighborhoods were also secure with an extra quality of life team. It was good work upon the city to do this in a humane way, giving services, mental services, and shelter services if needed. I do appreciate you increasing the quality of life team for that action. My week's been kind of long. I did go to a fundraiser for TKO. I mentioned before they're a great program at Jerome Park and I was happy to

Benjamin VazquezItem 21

visit there the mayor was there as well supporting it was a great event thank you councilmember Hernandez for having the Guzman family celebrated with their ceremonial a street topper it was great I'm a history nerd a history teacher and I loved every bit of it and I'm I'll be happy to teach those histories of my class coming soon. On Saturday I did go to I want to thank Care LA for inviting me to their gala that's a civil rights organization and it was amazing night. I also went to radiant futures fundraiser and gala it was a gala ran by Omega Phi

Benjamin VazquezItem 21

Beta Sorority at Chapman University and that is to support domestic violence workers. Unfortunately I wasn't able to make it to the taste of Santa Ana. I do want to dedicate this meeting to Chef Terry Kim, a culinary teacher at Valley High School who was supposed to be there. And we didn't make it at Valley High School. He passed away. My heart and love is with him, his family, and his students at Valley High School. Terry was a beloved teacher and known as a Lightning bolt. Rest in power, Chef Kim. You will be missed. Thank you. Good night.

Thai Viet PhanItem 21

Councilman Vasquez, if you ever want to close, let me just let the clerk know and we can close in his honor. And then his family gets a certificate, okay? No problem. Thank you, Mayor. Councilman Hernandez.

Johnathan Ryan HernandezItem 21

I'm not ready at the moment, Madam Mayor. Apologies.

Thai Viet PhanItem 21

Councilman Becerra. I'm not ready at the moment either. Councilman Panalosa.

Valerie AmezcuaItem 21

Thank you, Mayor. Just wanted to thank the staff for, it's almost the end of the year, for all the work that you've been doing this year. And Alvaro, you're killing it. So thank you for that, Mr. City Manager. Just wanted to announce for the record, I know my wife announced at her meeting, but that we are expecting a second baby.

Valerie AmezcuaItem 21

and in March of 2025, I will become a father of two, God willing, to a baby boy. So excited for that. Mayor Pro Tem was team boy and she was there for the reveal. So excited, I wanted that just to be on the record. You're naming him David?

Thai Viet PhanItem 21

It just went down.

Valerie AmezcuaItem 21

No, no, no, no, torn on names, but we'll see. And with that, that is it. Thank you, Mayor.

Thai Viet PhanItem 21

Thank you. Congratulations. A boy and a girl. How wonderful. Councilmember Lopez.

Jessie LopezItem 21

Congratulations to you and to Kim. And we just want to announce and invite the public to come to our next park cleanup with OC Habitats happening at Santiago Park on October the 23rd at 2 p.m. And we also just want to wish everybody a happy Halloween. Please make sure that when you're driving out in the neighborhoods that you're aware that a lot of families are going to be walking during this day a lot of children are out please be aware and you know if you can't be responsible just stay home and also if you're going to be celebrating don't drink and drive and we hope that you all have a good time and celebrate safely thank

Thai Viet PhanItem 21

you i'm going to go to you because there are other council members apparently not prepared I'm ready.

Go ahead. I have my team boy pin on. You know, I just had to. That was adorable. Of course.

So thank you everyone for coming out today. It's, you know, we've had so many events. We've had, our teams have been so incredibly busy. Director Scott, Parks and Rec, Public Works, all the events that y'all put on have just been incredible. and Mid-Autumn Festival was just a fantastic time. My mom loved it. My cousin from Vietnam immigrated here, and he loved it. So it was just really fantastic. And actually seeing some director Min Thay out there in his traditional Aoi Yai was just really wonderful.

I also went to the Orange County Fire Authority Station Open House. And I have to say, y'all, that is a historic structure, a beautiful place. If you missed it this year, I hope you go next year. It was really wonderful to see the history of our fire department in one place. And actually, we got to see them respond to a call while we were there.

The last thing I'll leave you all with, since we don't have a meeting right November 5th. So we will not have a meeting until, I guess, the third week of November. Yes. So I hope that whatever you do, if you're eligible to vote, that you are registered to vote, that you go out to vote, and you encourage your families, friends, and community members to go out to vote. You know, we're up here working with you, for you, and those of you watching and participating, we need you. We need you to be part of this process. It is what makes America a wonderful place to be.

and the privilege that we have as Americans, as people who live here, to have a voice when there are so many others who come from places who don't. And so with that, voting centers open, I believe, Saturday the 26th. So you can start going there. You can mail in your ballots. And whatever you do, stay safe, stay involved, and we will see you in November. Thank you.

Thai Viet PhanItem 21

Thank you, Mayor Pratant.

Phil BacerraItem 21

councillor mbecerra please thank you madam mayor sorry i had a little technical glitch on my device but i just wanted to remind everybody since we aren't meeting till later in november i'll be hosting my monthly community office hours on saturday november 2nd at 10 a.m over at sandpoint park uh this morning uh was wonderful we got to celebrate the opening of the rove electrical vehicle charging center along with gelson's coming to santa anna so uh that was exciting and it's their first, and I believe they're going to go ahead and...

Thai Viet PhanItem 21

First of 10.

Phil BacerraItem 21

First of 10. What is that?

First of 10.

Phil BacerraItem 21

Oh, okay.

First squeeze.

Phil BacerraItem 21

I was a little nervous what was in there, but okay. Let's go with orange juice. But yeah, I wanted to say that was good, and it's very good for our city to have that. I also want to thank Supervisor Sarmiento for committing $100,000 to the fencing that goes between the Flower Bike Trail and the county's flood control channel. So as I've said and the mayor has said, and we've talked about this, where we had two kids that were assaulted over at Flower and Alton, and they were assaulted by criminals that were residing in the county's flood control channel. So the city has taken it upon itself to construct a fence.

Phil BacerraItem 21

And I want to thank our city manager, Alvaro Nunez, for reaching out to the supervisor and for him committing that $100,000. I'm looking forward to it. Now, I know the project is a much more significant cost than $100,000, but every penny is appreciated. So thank you to Supervisor Sarmiento for that. But let's be clear, though. The county flood control channels need to be monitored. They need to be consistently clean. Not every two weeks, not every four weeks, consistently. Because as the neighbors around there will tell you, folks like to go in there and they like to set up shop in there.

Phil BacerraItem 21

And when I say set up shop, I don't mean because the rent's too damn high and they just want a place to sleep. they're conducting criminal activity down there. They're selling narcotics, they're getting loaded, and then of course they're coming up and assaulting our children. It's not safe for our children when those flood control channels are occupied by criminals. So thank you city manager for your work to get that fence going, and thank you Supervisor Sarmiento for contributing the 100,000 to that. My frustration that I expressed earlier in regards to how we conduct ourselves for consent calendar

Phil BacerraItem 21

is simply the fact that we are the capital of Orange County. We are the top of this county. People expect us to be that. And so when it comes to conducting ourselves, we also have an obligation to our staff. You guys do an amazing job. You guys put together these reports. You give us updates, you brief us. So when we get here, I believe the people expect us to get business done effectively and efficiently. And also for our city attorney, we also wanna not give her so much work to do. In other words, let's not put ourselves and libel situations where all of a sudden she's got more work than she should have so again with

Phil BacerraItem 21

that that's my concern for us so i hope that as we go forward we're able to conduct ourselves in a way that's befitting of our city and its status um the election is coming up and we will not be meeting before then i will say this you know i'm very proud to serve on a council where the majority of us voted to support a resolution in support of proposition 36 there's been a lot of talk about what prop 36 does and doesn't do and rather than go on and on because in these chambers we had a forum uh thank you mayor mesqua for hosting that and so the community got to hear

Phil BacerraItem 21

from commander andradi and other commanders in pd about what that proposition actually entails but one thing i want to really point out is when i hear people say that we're going to roll back to a war on drugs like we had in the past. What that tells me is that those people who say that either are lying to you or they choose not to read the actual proposition. The proposition does not revert back to a war on drugs because unless PD or any other expert wants to tell me that we're not, or I'm sorry, that we are actually going to go back to a time where jail was the only option, that's not what this proposition does.

Phil BacerraItem 21

It literally has in there treatment mandated felonies. And if you complete treatment as a part of that, the felony goes off of your record. So it addresses a lot of the issues that I think as we've evolved as a society, we see as necessary to treating the root causes of what we're seeing on our streets today. The folks that are homeless, we as a city have been very compassionate and we have dedicated resources to the tune of almost $30 million dollars to help folks that are homeless. But when people say, why do you have so much resources

Phil BacerraItem 21

dedicated to your police department? Because we also have criminals on our streets. And if you're not sure of that, when you go home tonight and drive down Bristol, look at the folks that are passed out or camping out. Those are criminals. Those aren't homeless. Those are folks that have drugs, that have narcotic activity. So I'm looking forward to the passage of Prop 36. My last comment when it comes to the elections. I love the fact that when we read about who's supporting who in the elections, it's very quick to say, because in Santa Ana, the POA, the Police Officers Association,

Phil BacerraItem 21

that they contribute a lot and that they play a lot in these elections. But notice when you say that, when you say that the POA plays in the elections, you have identified funding. You've identified who is contributing. But when you look at some of the folks that are running for reelection on this dais. A lot of them are supported by organizations to which when you look up their funding, you cannot identify who's funding them. That is the very definition of dark money. So when you hear people say dark money and then they identify an organization, they truly don't understand what dark money is. Dark money is money where people

Phil BacerraItem 21

who want to inflict their social experiments on our city are too chicken to put their name to the funding. And yet the folks that they're giving, the resources to will go around and beat up on organizations who put their names out there, who follow the rules, who file all the necessary reports so that you can then go on and bash them and then later call them when you need help. So with that, I would encourage each and every one of you to go out and vote, make your voices heard. There's too many things on this election that are of importance, not just at the presidential level, not at just the state level, but definitely here

Phil BacerraItem 21

in our city so with that please go vote and have a good night thank you councilman hernandez thank

Johnathan Ryan HernandezItem 21

you madam mayor i want to thank members of the public today um for attending our san and a city council meeting i would like to thank our city staff for putting a comprehensive agenda together we have 65 million dollars in arpa monies that we programmed and that's a successful investment in So I want to thank our city manager, Alvaro Nunez, and his city staff for making sure that we got that done. Otherwise we would have lost a lot of ARPA money. I'd like to thank the Guzman family for their contributions to desegregating our schools. The Guzman family were one of five plaintiffs in the Mendez versus Westminster case.

Johnathan Ryan HernandezItem 21

They were residents of Articia Pilad. Their story has long been untold due to the fact that the case is known as Mendez versus Westminster. But these are families that are also from our city, families like the Guzman family who attended Fremont Elementary. They fought to desegregate our schools. I am an alumni of Fremont Elementary, and I had a seat in the classroom because of their family, and I'm incredibly thankful. And now we have a street topper, a ceremonial street topper, honoring that legacy on Santa Ana Boulevard and Forest. And it's a monumental day for education in our city.

Johnathan Ryan HernandezItem 21

I also am thankful at the Santa Ana City staff for working together with our county supervisor on addressing the concerns that are happening alongside the flood channels. I know that our city manager is working hand in hand right now with our supervisor Sarmiento for the flood control in the Casa Bonita neighborhood alongside Myrtle, and that's something that we want to see more of. I also want to thank our city attorney for providing an oral report on the investigations. I am a council member, and I'm supportive of us releasing these reports.

Johnathan Ryan HernandezItem 21

I'm supportive of releasing the reports because I believe that our residents should be able to read as to what these investigations were rooted in. As a council member, I was one of the council members who was investigated for my advocacy in the Chicano Heritage Festival and in Juneteenth and in Indigenous Peoples' Day. I want to thank the investigators for doing their due diligence, and I also want to express my deep disappointment in the district attorney todd spitzer i filed a brown act complaint on mayor valeria mesqua on april 19th of 2023 i to this day have not received contact from our

Johnathan Ryan HernandezItem 21

district attorney he never contacted me once to speak to me about my own experiences i came forward because when mayor valeria mesqua was sworn into office we sat down december 15th of 2022. We met an orange at Avila's restaurant. The first meeting that we had, she detailed an elaborate strategy to fire our then city manager Christine Ridge and to fire police chief David Valentin. She elaborated on the knowledge of the evergreen. On April 18th of 2023, we had a closed session agenda for an employee evaluation.

Johnathan Ryan HernandezItem 21

This employee evaluation was premature and ultimately I came forward on April 19th that there was an alleged Brown Act violation. What concerns me about my experience coming forward was that I didn't receive any contact from our district attorney Todd Spitzer. And after I came forward, our Mayor Valerie Mesquo opened an ad hoc to investigate the Chicano Heritage Festival. I believe that this was done in retaliation. She then voted no on our Chicano Heritage Festival, receiving sponsorship from Congressman Lou Correa and Supervisor Vicente Sarmiento.

Johnathan Ryan HernandezItem 21

This active attack to defund the Juneteenth event, Indigenous Peoples Day, Chicano Heritage Festival, is an attack on people of color. This investigation was rooted in criminalizing the indigenous, the Chicano community, and the black community. The black community once had a black history parade that existed for over 30 years in the city before it was pushed out. My concerns are that we have a city where we should be working together. And as a council member, I hope that we can move forward and we can work hand in hand in making sure that every single one of our residents has a seat at the table.

Johnathan Ryan HernandezItem 21

Because their stories are important and they should be celebrated. As your council member, I look forward to continuing to advocate for our city's culture and to ensure that every single resident has a seat at the table. I thank the members of the public for attending our meeting, and I ask you to vote this election. Use your voice. Get informed. Read your ballot. Ask questions. Do your research online. But more importantly, use your voice and make sure that you're participating and using your voice for change this election. have a blessed day and we hope to see you guys very soon we'll be coming back in

Thai Viet PhanItem 21

November see you then thank you councilman Hernandez my turn so today I was at Rove it was wonderful there was a council member Sarah Penalosa mayor pro time and myself city manager deputy city manager lots of city staff and the community and it is the very first Rove site in the nation council panelist keeps reminding me in the nation in the nation and so it is the very first so So it's wonderful for us because it put us on the map. And Roe will be opening 10 more throughout the region, but we are the very first. So if you were there, it was wonderful.

Thai Viet PhanItem 21

Last night I had my neighborhood association presidents meeting as well as open to the public for the Prop 36 educational forum. Thank you Santa Ana PD, Commander Andrade, Chief Deputy Esparza and everybody that was here with us to really educate our community on what it is and what it is not. And Councilman Becerra covered it, so I will not go into detail. But I just want to be really clear that your record will be expunged once you complete a program. So that is really important because you'll hear about mass incarceration and we're going back. We're not going back. If you complete the program, your record gets expunged.

Thai Viet PhanItem 21

And that is very important that you pay mind to that. Many of us have family members and loved ones of people we know that have a drug addiction problem or been in the criminal justice system. And I think it's great that they're giving them an opportunity to go into a program and then that arrest will be expunged. So thank you to everyone who joined us last night. Over the weekend, I attended the Taste of Santa Ana. It was absolutely wonderful. So those of you who missed it, you missed out on a great event. Food was good. Entertainment was great. Everybody was there. We had a great time.

Thai Viet PhanItem 21

On Saturday, I hosted with Girls Inc. in partnership with them at Santa Ana College, my second annual Influencer Summit. 160 young ladies attended, some of their moms and lots of volunteer, excuse me, lots of volunteers. Our own deputy city manager, Sylvia Vasquez, was on the panel, so thank you, Sylvia, for participating in the panel. The girls had a great time and asking, are we doing it again next year? So we're looking forward to doing this again. I want to take a moment to congratulate the Santa Ana High School Marching Band Saints. They have been selected to perform at the 2025 Tournament of Roses Parade.

Thai Viet PhanItem 21

However, they're seeking financial assistance. I'm helping them. I hope every council member up here will give some of their funding, and I hope people in the community will reach out to them. You can donate by contacting the director of band, Mark Santos. If you're interested, please reach out, and I'll give you his phone number. But they're going to be in the Rose Parade, and according to the staff I spoke to today, they do not have the funding to go which is a shame because Santa Unified should really be paying for them to go because what an amazing thing to have Santa and

Thai Viet PhanItem 21

a high school band in the Rose Parade if I was still on the board I'd be like we're allocating funding for you how do we get you there and how much is it gonna cost and I can guarantee you I would have got the three votes so it's really sad that you know they have to go out and raise money so I gave them some of my money from my mayor's account I hope everybody up here does as well and really supports them on going to the Rose Parade so they can have a really good experience. This Saturday, October 19th at Fire Station 75 across the street from Original Mike, so everybody knows where that's at, I'm having my

Thai Viet PhanItem 21

coffee with the mayor so I'm super excited and my final coffee with the mayor will be at, I know I'm gonna say this wrong or somebody's gonna think I'm talking about waffles, October 26th at the Waffle House, Wulela Howe Waffle House And Medical Museum, did I say it right, Councilman Bissett? Okay. And that is on October 26th from 10 to 12. That would be the last one for the year. So I also want to thank the Board of Supervisors. They also brought a resolution forward to approve Prop 36. And Supervisor Wagner, Supervisor Chafee, and Supervisor Foley were a yes vote for supporting Proposition 36.

Thai Viet PhanItem 21

And Supervisor Sarmento was a no vote. And so it did pass 3 to 1. I'm sorry.

Thai Viet PhanItem 21

But so I just want to make you guys aware of that, that the Board of Supervisors also believe in the work that is happening around Prop 36. It's very important for all of us. Finally, Mr. City Manager, thank you so much for the report around Union Pacific. I do want to copy because I think what you shared was really important and I don't want people to miss that.

Thai Viet PhanItem 21

So when Councilman Becerra talks about criminals out on our streets, you know, our stories being robbed, our families being robbed, people being assaulted, you had a list on there of people that have been contacted by our cult team, our city net, our officers, and some of them had murder charges, assault with a deadly weapon charges, firearm charges, robbery charges. these are people that are in our community and yes they probably have served their time there were some that arrested were arrested because they had warrants however I say that because I don't want you to think that they're

Thai Viet PhanItem 21

being picked on we have a shelter we have programs available they can go if they don't want the assistance then they need to go somewhere else and they need to not be in our city causing a problem the city manager made it very clear we we've spent almost $30 million. And, you know, people up here will say, we need a holistic approach. We need to open another shelter. No, we don't. We're not opening another shelter. What we need to do is take control and take back our city and not allow them to be dropped off here from other cities, especially with Grounds Pass. Six months from now, we don't need to be looking back saying,

Thai Viet PhanItem 21

well, what happened? Because the council majority yanks the power away from the police department to say, don't do car stops anymore and don't hold people accountable. No. This community deserves to be just like the cities around us, whether it's Irvine, Orange, other cities. You want to be safe and you want to be able to walk in your neighborhood. I want to be safe. I want a good quality of life. So just remember that, please, when our staff are out making contact, that it's not just your normal... Yes, there are people out there with mental health issues, but it's not just the guy with, you know,

Thai Viet PhanItem 21

I don't want to get a job, or the man or woman, I don't want a job. It's somebody who has a rap sheet that's probably taller than me, and there's murder charges on there. That's very scary. And they may be breaking into your home to hurt you. So remember that. It's very, very important. And let me close with this.

Thai Viet PhanItem 21

I'm going to make my final comment. And I appreciate Councilman Hernandez's comments tonight, But he forgot to talk about the three allegations that were sustained on Councilman Hernandez. One was not, but three were. And I want to apologize to city staff, because our city staff should never be treated poorly. They should never be directed what to do by this council. They should never be yelled at. They should never be treated in the manner that they were treated. And that is why the investigator found three out of the four allegations against Councilman Hernandez sustained. This is not about race.

Thai Viet PhanItem 21

This is not about being brown, black, or white, because some council members up here, everything's about being marginalized and oppressed and white, brown, black. Don't draw a line in the sand. We are all one community. All one. White, black, API. It doesn't matter. We are all one. And so I don't clench my pearls when I go downtown. I have neighbors that are Caucasian, that are African American, that are API. I don't look at them like that. I just look at them as they're my neighbors. And so the three allegations that were sustained against Councilman Hernandez,

Thai Viet PhanItem 21

it was because of the things that he did and how he treated staff so terribly that the investigator, a private investigator that was hired outside the city, found those allegations and he sustained them. And I wish that the city attorney would have read out exactly what they were, and I respect the fact that she did not. And then for almost a year now, everybody screams from the mountaintop than how awful I am because I caused the city $600,000. The council up here sits up here and says that. So I want to remind all of you up here that everybody voted for that $600,000 except for one council member.

Thai Viet PhanItem 21

So, no, I'm not responsible, the sole person, because everybody voted up here for that $600,000 with the exception of one council member. And so the allegations that were made against me were not sustained. Let me be clear on that. And I hope that all of the media can retract and will retract and apologize.

Sonia R. CarvalhoItem 21

Did you want to say something, Madam City Attorney? I just wanted to mention, we have to be careful because it's not agendized. I did report out. But I do have the allegations that were within scope for both investigations. That would be at the will of the Council if you prefer to give more details. I have no problem with you reading them.

Thai Viet PhanItem 21

Council, do you have a problem?

Thai Viet PhanItem 21

No? Feel free, Madam City Attorney.

Sonia R. CarvalhoItem 21

Okay, would you like me to do that when you're done with your comments? I'm so sorry. Yes, I'll be done real quick. Okay, thank you.

Thai Viet PhanItem 21

And then you can read them. I really appreciate that. Okay, so let me finish here so you can hear the allegations. I do want to just end with the truth always comes out, and, you know, I'm the first woman, first Latina, and I've been set up here and beat up for almost two years. But when you do it to the other side, they cry. Oh, they're mean I'm a woman. Oh, they're mean because I'm young. Oh, they're mean because of this. Councilman Becerra said it very well. Dark money. You know, where are they getting money? and I'm a POA puppet. So if you look at Tides Advocacy, who wants to defund the police and end the police,

Thai Viet PhanItem 21

they're supporting council members up here that are running for office. It's called Tides Advocacy. Look it up. Not you, Tides. Tides, T-I-D-E-S. So look it up. Not Tides. And those that work for them, like for example, Chispa, they have a 401K, they got retirement, They got good pay. I see somebody driving a BMW. I don't even drive a BMW. So please dig into that because look, follow the money. Because the other side is so good at like throwing dirt at me. Look at this. Look at that. But if you follow the money of the other side, one, it's dark. And two, it's UFCW. Why? Because of cannabis, right?

Thai Viet PhanItem 21

They're going to get something from us regarding cannabis, allegedly. You look at Tide's advocacy. They wanted to fund the police. I don't know anybody in this city that I have a contact with that wants to defend the police. None of us want that, that I talk to. And again, I represent the entire city. Are the police perfect? No. None of us are. And as I always say, I'll be the first one to hold them accountable if they do something wrong. But I just want to be clear that as your mayor for the last one year and nine months, ten months, I have worked very hard and I will continue to do so as long as I'm allowed to.

Thai Viet PhanItem 21

But please, when you sit up here and you listen to this, I want you to think about what you're hearing. Oh, yes, yay, we need to clench our pearls when, you know, white people see, or white people clench their pearls when they see brown people. No, we don't. No, they don't. We're all marginalized. We're all oppressed. No, we're not. We work really hard for what we have. It's a brown-black thing. No, it's not. It's your thing. You make it that way. Not those of us that sit up here. And Councilman Becerra talked about, you know, we're the county seat and people watch us.

Thai Viet PhanItem 21

And they do, and they always ask me, Mayor, how do you handle all that? I said, you know what? I let go, let God. Because at the end of the day, I sleep very well at night knowing that every decision I make up here is for the community. And so they ranted and raved at how I did some awful things. Not one of my allegations were sustained. Let me say that again, not one. But Councilman Hernandez had three out of the four. And when he talks about an ad hoc committee, I was actually given direction by our city attorney to create an ad hoc committee. That is my job as a chair.

Thai Viet PhanItem 21

And that ad hoc committee consisted of Councilman Vasquez and Councilman Becerra. And the three of us, Councilman Vasquez and Councilman Becerra, made the decision to turn the investigation over to an investigator. So we would not be looked at like, oh, we're being unfair. And the comments still come out that there's, you know, people being treated poorly. So with that, I just want you to all know that, you know, they say that the truth always comes out and screams from the mountaintop.

Thai Viet PhanItem 21

And I know what I did, and I know I didn't do anything wrong. And as long as I'm allowed to sit here, I will. I don't need to hide behind being a brown woman or a Latina woman. I don't hide behind that. I'm a woman and I serve this community. But the color of my skin doesn't matter because I serve everybody. I serve everybody. And no, I don't want another shelter here like other people want another shelter. We've done enough for the homeless. And so with that, I just want to thank Mr. City Manager and the city staff. Thank you, city attorney, for having the investigations go out

Thai Viet PhanItem 21

to an investigator that had nothing to do with the city, and I appreciate it, and it took a little while, and people were saying, oh, Council Member Vasquez asked for it. I believe every council member and myself up here were asking for that investigation to be released. We all were. I want to believe that. Am I right, Mr. City Manager?

Alvaro NuñezItem 21

Yes.

Thai Viet PhanItem 21

Thank you. And why were we all asking it, and we don't even know because we can't talk to each other? It's because we all wanted to hear the truth. We wanted to hear the truth. And so, again, I will say that thank you for allowing me to serve you. Please go out and vote. November 19th is the next meeting. I hope to see you at my coffee with the mayor at the fire station at 75, because it's always so much fun at the fire station. And I will just say, again, for the record, because I hope all voice of OC and everybody else retracts and apologizes. And I'm sure they won't.

Thai Viet PhanItem 21

They'll come up with something new, the color of my hair or something. to write about but the allegations against me were not sustained not one of them and to the city staff that were affected by council member hernandez's behavior again i want to apologize because nobody should be treated poorly like that madam city attorney the floor is yours um i'm just going to

Sonia R. CarvalhoItem 21

simply read from the conclusions um that we received so with respect to the emesquit investigation, there were four specific allegations within the scope of the investigation. The first one was whether Mayor Emesqua engaged in conduct toward former City Manager Ridge that could be deemed to violate Section 404 of the City's Charter. That was not sustained. Whether Mayor Emesqua engaged in conduct towards the former City Manager Ridge that could be deemed to violate Section 408, which is Council Interference in Administrative Matters of the City's charter or any other applicable regulations governing her conduct with City employees,

Sonia R. CarvalhoItem 21

that was not sustained. Whether Mayor Omezcua engaged in conduct towards former Manager Ridge in violation of the City's Code of Ethics and Conduct, that was not sustained. And whether Mayor Omezcua engaged in conduct that could be deemed retaliation, harassment, or discrimination against former City Manager Ridge, that was not sustained. With respect to the Hernandez investigation, there were four allegations within the scope of that investigation. Whether City Councilmember Jonathan Hernandez solicited donations for the city's Juneteenth celebration, Chicano Heritage Festival, or Indigenous Peoples' Day that were not received

Sonia R. CarvalhoItem 21

by the City of Santa Ana, that allegation was not sustained. There were three others. whether City Councilmember Hernandez directed or interfered with City staff in relation to the planning of these events, being Juneteenth, Chicano heritage, or Indigenous people, that was sustained. Whether Councilmember Hernandez engaged in conduct towards City staff relating to these events that could be deemed to violate the City's Charter, that was sustained. And whether Councilmember Hernandez engaged in conduct towards City staff relating to these events that could be deemed to violate the City's Code of Ethics and Conduct, that

Sonia R. CarvalhoItem 21

was also sustained. And that was the conclusion of those investigations.

Thai Viet PhanItem 21

Thank you, Madam City Attorney. I would like Mr. City Manager and Madam City Attorney for the Council to receive an email on what steps next, because these were sustained. And so what options do we have for it next?

Sonia R. CarvalhoItem 21

And then Mayor, I just wanted to read the final one. The Brown Act violation alleged by Hernandez that was reported to the District Attorney's Office at Direction of Council. the Orange County District Attorney's Office issued a letter stating that it reviewed the allegations and did not find sufficient evidence to sustain them. And the OCDA has closed its file on this matter.

Thai Viet PhanItem 21

Thank you Madam City Attorney and we look forward to receiving an email from you and the City Manager as to what are the next, because the City does have a charter, whether we can censor or move forward with whatever we see, whatever we need to do. So I look forward to that email Mr. City Manager.

Valerie AmezcuaItem 21

Madam City Attorney, if I can, just a quick question. For the three allegations that were sustained against Councilmember Hernandez, what would be the process to move forward with filing an ethics complaint?

Sonia R. CarvalhoItem 21

Since that's not agendized tonight, I will put together a memorandum. I will address it to the members of the ad hoc committee that were dealing with that issue under your code of ethics because we have a process. So if the ad hoc committee so directs me, I will prepare that memo, provide them with that and then they can come back to the full council and report. Or if any of you have individual questions, feel free to call me, contact me. But because it's not agendized, I don't want to get into great details and violate the Brown Act.

Phil BacerraItem 21

Mayor, I would support what the City Attorney just recommended. Council Member Vasquez, would you support that as well?

Sonia R. CarvalhoItem 21

That the ad hoc committee give me direction to provide you with further guidance on additional steps that you may take.

Benjamin VazquezItem 21

Yes, I want information on both. Can you speak up? I'm sorry. I wanted to have information on both investigations and who participated and who didn't. Would it be great for me to. Okay.

Sonia R. CarvalhoItem 21

And as I previously mentioned, we did make the investigative materials available to the City Council. I did communicate that to you. To my knowledge, I think two of you have come forward to review.

Phil BacerraItem 21

Madam City Attorney, maybe I misunderstood. I was hoping that you would provide, I believe you said that you would provide the members of the ad hoc with a memo outlining the next possible steps. Yes. Not so much about the investigation, because as you said, that was made available to the entire council to review. But as far as any potential next steps regarding the outcomes of the investigation, you will give us a memo to outline those possible steps.

Sonia R. CarvalhoItem 21

I will advise the ad hoc committee members of their options. Thank you.

Thai Viet PhanItem 21

And the report is available on the seventh floor. You make an appointment with our city attorney's offices for the council's information. And you can read it, because I did make an appointment, and I did go down there, and I read it from front to back. And so the ad hoc committee will come forward, Madam City Attorney, with some sort of recommendation. At this time, this meeting is adjourned. Thank you.

Recording stopped.