Council - Regular Meeting

No, you're not. I thought I thought you you were getting a dog. I have yet to receive a really dog. So, I'd like to call the Anaheim City Council meeting to order. Clerk, can you please call role? Thank you, mayor. Council member Bis here. Council member Bakalva here. Council member Curts here. Council member Meeks here. Mayor Prom Leon present. Mayor Aken present. Let the record show we have six members present. Are there any additions or deletions to the closed session agenda? Mayor, there are none. Do we have any public speakers here to address the closed session agenda? We don't have any inerson speakers and we did not receive any electronic comments on the closed session agenda.

Thank you. Thank you. So, we'll now close public comment on the close session agenda and recess to close session. Thank you.

Good evening everyone. I'd like to reconvene the Anaheim City Council meeting back to order. The first item on our agenda is an invocation that will be offered this evening by Reverend Jessica Strrisco from Anaheim United Methodist Church. Following that, Council Member Meeks will lead us in the flag salute. Would you all please stand if you're able and begin when ready? Thank you. Let us pray. God of all, as we come together this evening, focus us on the good we can do together for our community. Give us wisdom as we make decisions. Help us celebrate progress as we address challenges and help us ask the necessary questions for transparency and best practices to thrive. guide us to consider all of Anaheim's residents in the work and conversation shared here tonight. We pray for those residents who are struggling to make ends meet, those who struggle to feed their families or to find work or to find affordable housing. Give us the compassion, the guidance, and the courage we need to address these problems with greater success for the benefit of all. remind us that we experience flourishing when the whole community experiences flourishing. May it be so. Amen. As we approach Memorial Day, we pause to honor the brave men and women who gave their lives in service to our nation. May we carry their memory with gratitude, humility, and all of us a re renewed commitment to serving our community and our country. Please join me in the pledge of allegiance. Ready? Begin.

I pledge algiance 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. Good evening everyone. So tonight we have the special honor of recognizing an Anaheim hockey legend. And obviously it couldn't come at a more fitting time as our Anaheim Ducks are playing in two hours in Las Vegas in the second round of the playoffs. So go Ducks. Yeah. So Steve Carroll has been the voice of the Anaheim Ducks for 27 years. In all, he is capping off a 50year broadcast career as he starts a new chapter with a well-earned retirement. Steve has called radio playby-play for more than 2,000 Ducks games, including the 2007 Stanley World um cup championship. He is known for both a steady, trustworthy voice, as well as the energy, excitement, and drama of the games he has called. Steve is part of a generation of broadcasters that includes greats like Vince Scully, Dick Enberg, and others who defined their sports for a generation. Like those others, Steve has been a reassuring presence whether the Ducks have won or lost. He's also worked across the street for the Angels, co-hosting Angels Today and This Week in

Angels Baseball in 2011. A St. Lewis native. Steve began his career in 1976 calling basketball in Missouri. For a time in the 1990s, he was the voice of the Philadelphia Flyers. And earlier this year, he was inducted into the Southern California Sports Broadcasters Hall of Fame. On behalf of Anaheim, we want to honor Steve for this incredible role he has played for us as a professional sports city. We couldn't have asked for a better voice in Anaheim hockey. So, if you could please join us for some comments and a picture to be here. Thank you. I don't know why I get so so many tears when I come and do something like this. Uh it's tough first of all when you know that uh you've retired and been doing something all your life and uh comes to an end but uh assured that I'm going to still be involved with the Ducks organization and other areas of the uh way the team is run and everything. So uh I'm looking forward to that. But I think when you've done something for like the 55 years that I've been in this business, and that's after I went to broadcast school for three years in St. Louis, and I don't even remember how far back that was with all these years of experience, but uh you couldn't ask for a better situation than I've been in here uh for the years that I've been with this team. uh winning again a Stanley Cup and just getting to know the people of this community and being involved in it and uh professional sports even at the minor league level which I spent 33 seasons in just to get

here. Uh that's one of the favorite things that I've had is to be able to meet a lot of people that uh have worked hard their whole life. And while I'm at it, I see policemen. I see fire engines somewhere. And whenever I do, I smile knowing that we're in great hands. And you guys should be proud of everything that you do in this community because I've got two cousins that have been policemen for a long period of time. And when you talk to them, you learn about uh the respect they have for us. But you know what? We give it back to you because you people are special. And I want you to know that. I think a round of applause goes to these people. They're they're tremendous. I just I won't once I get going, you can't stop me. So, you're going to have to tell me. Cut it off. Right now, we have a big hockey game tonight, as you might know. And uh we still need to win a couple of games. So hopefully tonight's the night, but it's been pretty exciting so far having uh defeated Edmonton. And that's a good hockey club, by the way. And now we've got this team from Vegas. And by the way, if you get by them, you still have two rounds of hockey against some pretty good teams. So it's going to be a hard-fought time. Uh I love this city. I love working there. Did some Angel stuff. But I think it's the people here in Anaheim and just all over that have welcomed our family and it's it's been a dream come true. When you have a dream come true, you know that you're doing something special. And I wasn't good enough to play as an athlete, but I've been in the broadcasting thing, like I said, for 55 years. And I don't have any regrets. It's been terrific. And to be around something like this, and uh I can't ask for anything more. You people are great and look forward to maybe seeing you down there here in the next couple of weeks when uh we get going the

playoffs, but uh I thank you for this too. I know my wife does and the Ducks organization. Couldn't work for better people than the Samuel Ellis that own the team and I was there during the Disney era, but uh it's all been good and uh no regrets or anything like that. And I'll I'll tell you this and I'll let you go because once I get going, I keep going. Uh, if you ever need anything from us over there, or if you need somebody to MC an event, I've done all this in news for a number of years back in the late 70s. Call me because I'd love to be able to give it back. And whether it's an event coming up, you need an MC. I'm very serious about that. Give me a shout. And thank you for all of this. And uh, let's go Ducks, too. We need a win tonight. You want your wife to join us for a picture, please? Thank you.

Oh, awesome.

I think I found my MC for my state of the city next year. So, he's not going far. I love that. Um, our second person that I want to um, honor tonight is our wonderful Canyon High School student, Connor Shim. So, from sports to the arts, our next honore is an accomplished classical musician who will be performing at the Walt Disney Concert Hall this Saturday in downtown Los Angeles. And he's only just a junior. He is a junior at Canyon High School who has played the obo for over a decade. His skill on the woodwind instrument has led him to be a grand finalist in the music cent's 38th annual spotlight program. It's a nationally recognized performing arts showcase by the music center in Los Angeles. He's been part of the Canyon High School orchestra and marching band for his entire high school career. He also performs with the Pacific Symphony here in Orange County and he's multi-talented. In tonight's theme, he had to face the difficult choice to give up his other love, hockey, which he has done for over a decade. But music is a source of ongoing joy and happiness for Connor. And clearly, his music brings joy to everyone around him. Could you please join us for some words and a picture? Thank you, Connor. Um, I just like to say thank you to everyone here for allowing me to be here.

Thank you, parents. And thank you to my parents as well. That's always a go. Thank you.

Mom and dad, do you want to come up? Congratulations. Thank you so much for coming. This is a fun one and probably one of the most well-earned of the recognitions. Um, speaking of just absolute competition and excellence. Uh, as a council, we are honored here tonight to recognize some of Anaheim's finest. In March, the Anaheim Police Department 2026 elite Baker to Vegas relay team made our city proud. For those who may be unfamiliar with Baker to Vegas, it is a grueling 120 mile run through um the desert. It ends in Las Vegas. It's the largest law enforcement competition of its kind, drawing teams from local, regional, state, and federal agencies. The Anaheim PD elite team earned first place in their category and fifth overall. Now that we're not that we're competing or anything, but we were the best team in Orange County. Take that,

sheriffs. So, the elite team is made up of 20 officers and staff who have trained for months, including runs at our local Servite High School. And we ask a lot of our police officers. It is a challenging and physically demanding job. The team's Baker to Vegas performance reflects the dedication, commitment, and pursuit of excellence that they bring to our community every day. If I can ask Chief Sid to please join me with his team for a few words and photos. I just want to say uh thank you as a team captain of this team. I just want to point out that uh we have phenomenal men and women at this police department who are amazing athletes and I just wanted to highlight that there's over 270 teams that compete. Uh we finished fifth overall and the top four teams um all have thousands and thousands of employees to choose from. Our agency has just over 400 so that should be recognized as well. So uh we're coming for fourth place next year. So I think we're going to be able to do it next year. So appreciate it. Thank you.

Next on our agenda are recognitions to be presented at a later Okay. Clerk, can you please announce?

Thank you, mayor. We have several this evening. Recognizing April 28th, 2026 as Workers Memorial Day. Recognizing May 16th, 2026 as Kids to Parks Day. Recognizing May 22nd, 2026 as Harvey Milk Day. Recognizing the week of May 11th through the 17th, 2026 is Bike to Work Week. Recognizing the week of May 17th through the 23rd as 2026 as National Public Works Week. and then recognizing the month of May 2026 as building safety month, mental health awareness month, and national cities, town and villages month. And we do have a representative for workers memorial day if they can please step forward. Hi, good evening. My name is Albert Munoz, an organizer working with Smart Local Union 170 sheet metal workers. In 2026, the biggest hazards for trades people in Orange County involves extreme heat stress during site work and respiratory risks from high silica dust and rapid industrial construction. Sheet metal workers, HVAC technicians, and industrial fabricators faced significant hazards, including excessive heat exposure requiring strict cow oceans indooroutdoor compliance, amputation, and crushing injuries from machinery press breaks, and severe ergonomic strain from handling heavy sharp materials. Other major risks involve silicosis from fabrication falls and electrical dangers. Top hazards in 20 in 2026. Heat illness. Due to rising temperatures, Cal OSHA enforced strict heat illness prevention standards for both indoor manufacturing and outdoor HVAC work, including requirements for water, shade, and at 95 plus degrees

mandatory brakes. Machine guarding failures. Improperly guarded press breaks and fabrication equipment caused serious amputation and crushing injuries. We've seen that personally. Physical and ergonomic hazards. Workers faced injuries from handling, cutting, and sha shaping sharp heavy metal objects. Respiratory illnesses. Electrical hazards. HVAC professionals continue to face risks from electrical systems requiring rigid lockout tagout protocols. Falls from heights. Rooftop HVAC installation pose significant fall risk which is still the top cause of a construction fatalities. When we organize, we take safety and health at the workplace very seriously because protecting employee well-being is a fundamental moral, legal, and economic necessity. A safe secure environment reduces injuries, boost morale and productivity. When workers feel safe, feel secure and valued their engagement and dedication increases. Effective safety measures are not just about meeting minimum requirements, but creating a culture where everyone's health is recognized as a valuable organ organizational asset. We are not the only industry that faces high hazards at work. We are proudly part of the South Southern California Coalition for OC occupational safety and health to actively work for and advocate for better standards to prevent injuries and deaths in the workplace. The Southern California Coalition for Occupational Safety and Health advocates for safe, healthy, and secure jobs for all workers and aims to disrupt the root causes of work rellated injuries, illnesses, and fatalities.

Through coalition building, we expand worker power, direct action, education, and leadership development. Thank you. C, can we take a picture? Thank you. and mayor and city council. We have one more accepting Scott Barry, our building official, accepting for building safety month, if he can step forward at this time. Good evening, Mayor and City Council. Heather Allen. I'm not Sky Berry. I'm building and planning director. I'm joined by Scott Berry, uh, the city's building official. So, Scott's been back with Anaheim since 2023 and began leading the building services division last July. Scott is a key member of my team and is a partner in working

collaborative collaboratively with our city colleagues in advancing improvements to the development permitting processes for the benefit of our residents and businesses. Under Scott's direction, the building services division strives to streamline the permitting processes while facilitating communication with our development community to ensure code compliance while maintaining economic vitality and to work in tandem with fellow departments and agencies to service the needs of our community and public at large. I'd also like to recognize members of the building services team in attendance this evening as well to receive the proclamation for building safety month. After Scott says a few words, I would please also request a picture of the team uh with council to recognize the important work of our permit technicians, plan checkers, and inspectors. Thank you.

Good evening, mayor and city council. Give you a heartfelt thank you for your time tonight. Greatly appreciate it. May is building safety month is an opportunity to bring awareness to the critical role that modern building codes play in maintaining a safe, strong, durable, functional buildings. Our confidence in the resilience of the buildings that make up our community is achieved through the correct collective efforts of building safety and fire prevention officers, architects, engineers, and plumbers, electricians who make up the who work year round to ensure the safe construction of buildings. It is also time to recognize the building services division dedication to assisting with the community growth and continuing efforts to address the critical issues of safety, fire protection, structural strength, functionality, accessibility along with energy compliance and sustainability. I would like to invite the public to stop by and see us on Thursday at Anaheim's Farmer Market from 11 to 3 p.m. Thank you so much for your time. I was hoping bring up my staff and get a picture.

You see every room? So, we'll now recess the city council to address the Anaheim Housing Authority. Agenda items one and two are before us. Is there a motion?

Oh, did I just skip right? Sorry. Excuse me. Uh, I haven't even called it to order yet. So, now I'll call to order the Anaheim Housing Authority in joint session with the city council. Um, clerk, are there any additions or deletions to tonight's agenda? Mayor, there are none. And can you please outline the public comment procedures and call forward the first several speakers addressing the agenda? I was going to get us out of here early for that ducks game. Skipping right over pages. Excuse me for that.

Thank you, mayor. Speakers have one opportunity to address the city council. The public comment period is limited to 90 minutes or until all agenda item speakers have been heard. Any time remaining of the 90 minutes will be provided to speakers who wish to speak on any non-aggenda related items, but within the council's jurisdiction. A second public comment period will be open by the mayor only if any non-aggenda item speakers were not heard during this first public comment period and it'll be open at the end of council business. The time limit for public comments is 3 minutes per speaker. Those wishing to address the city council must complete a speaker card which were available at the back of the council chambers. The name and contact information requested on the speaker card is optional. Unident unidentified speakers will be called by the speaker card number. At this time, I'd also like to announce that Spanish interpreting services are provided at every city council meeting. Simultaneous Spanish interpretation is provided through the use of headsets and consecutive interpretation is available to anyone who would like to address the city council. For translation services and other languages, we ask that you please contact the city clerk's office at least 48 hours prior to the scheduled meeting. At this time, I'd like to introduce our interpreter who will make the same announcement in Spanish. At this time, on behalf of the city council, we would like to remind the public that Anaheim remains committed to freedom of speech, and we ask that speakers address the city council with civility and refrain from making personal threatening, abusive,

slanderous, or profane remarks towards any member of the council, staff, or general public. We appreciate you reflecting the spirit when you speak. The time now is 5:29 with a 90minute public comment period set to conclude at 6:59 or until all agenda item speakers have been heard. We do ask that speakers line up at the podium once they see their name appear on the projection screen behind me. And mayor and city council, for agenda items, we have 12 speakers. The first three speakers, if they can please step forward, are Joshua Collins, Vern Nelson, and Christine Lopez.

Good afternoon, council. Um, my name is R. Joshua Collins, founder of Homeless Advocates for Christ. And first, I just want to encourage everyone to give their life to Jesus Christ, who died on the cross for us to save us from hell to give us everlasting life. We must be born again to enter God's kingdom. And we've all sinned. We all need a savior. And I also wanted to share uh some issues regarding the homeless. Luke chapter 16, you know, there's the rich man, Lazarus. Lazarus was the poor beggar outside the rich man's gate, you know, and begging. He just wanted to have the the scraps from the rich man's table. The rich man, it says, fared sumptuously every day. And eventually that rich man was cast into hell for all eternity. and Lazarus was taken to Abraham's bosom. You know, that's a warning, I think, to us to not uh ignore the plight of the poor. Also, of course, Matthew 25, the sheep and goats judgment where God talks about uh looking out for those that are hungry and and uh needing someone to take them in. Those types of things if you're able to do that. Uh you know, those were the sheep and the goats were the ones that just didn't do nothing for them and they they were cast into outer darkness. So, uh, God has a lot to say about the poor and the needy. He says in Proverbs 318 through9 to defend the rights of the poor and the needy. I want to talk about the homeless issue. Uh, uh, some of these homeless people that are here today to speak, uh, they're having issues at the Salvation Army where they're using the same mop to clean the sink, toilet, and floors. I'm hearing one, uh, individual Forest here who had some nerve damage, lost his job build building custom cars was being watched in the shower, he said. uh another lady with the illumination facility, Illumination Foundation facility, they haven't been giving her insulin on time, no case managing going on for near a month, and also no hot shower and she's in a wheelchair back here named Amanda. So, there's some serious things going on with how we're treating the poor in this community. And of course, often times I've called City,

no beds available for the homeless and the shelter. you know, it's so important that uh we do something about these things and they're taking their property. Some of them want to come to these meetings, but they're worried about losing all their property. So, what what can we do to make sure the homeless can make it to these meetings? Maybe have a bus program for the homeless. They get get out here to speak and have some storage for their property. Uh that's item 24. Talks a little bit about that. Uh video submission. Why not? We can record maybe 3 minutes and play it up there. Uh maybe allow call-in speakers. I've know that they shut that down when I brought that up, but why not? You know, homeless are this is very intimidating and hard for the homeless to get here. Um, also want to talk about the home, the police issue, too. We need to make sure uh that the police are not prejudiced, that they're not abusing their power. What are we doing to make sure that uh things like what happened with Alberto Zo don't happen again? And are we being serious about uh change in this city? So I I call on the council for the sake of your own soul to do something uh seriously about these situations that that needs to change. Thanks for your time.

Our next three speakers, Vern Nelson, Christine Lopez, and David Pledo.

Hello you guys. Item 24, complying with the new state law SB707. This amends the Brown Act so that we will finally be able to comment on at these council meetings remotely by Zoom or a Zoom equivalent if we can't make it here for some reason. In Anaheim, we'll finally be joining the great cities of Santa Ana, Costa Mesa, Huntington Beach, Irvine, Fullerton, probably even Stanton. But you all had to be dragged to this kicking and screaming. How long have I been bugging this council for to have Zoom comments? I'll tell you, six years since CO and Mayor Sadu hit. Sadu loved the CO days when he didn't have to listen to the public. Remember that?

That was sad. It was the dark ages. At the same time, every other self-respecting city in the county started doing Zoom comments. And when COVID lockdowns were over, they didn't stop. It was a new normal. I even went and priced how much it would cost per year to do Zoom or WebEx comments. It was a little over 200 bucks per year and I offered to pay it myself. Obviously, the cost was not the issue. In 2022, when we got our new reform council, you guys, I thought for sure you'd join the 21st century with Zoom comments. Peron, no. And I did bug you all about it till I gave up. And it's not for me. I like coming here whenever I can. I like the circus. I like seeing Reverend Cecil. But a lot of people can't come for one reason or another. their health, their schedule, their kids, whatever. But they might have something very important to say. Um, so now you're finally forced to do this. I wish you would listen to me more often, me and the rest of us.

Um, what's I going to say? Yeah, you probably I've never heard a reason for not doing it. You might maybe you think a meeting will go on all night if you allow Zoom comments. But if you ever listen to Santa Ana or other places, there's usually four or five people that that come on. They they're serious about it. Um I'm going to say one more thing. The guy was here from the Ducks. It made me really sad that we are missing a Duck employee, a a real enthusiastic Duck employee who that's Albert Arzola. He was killed December 10th and he used to work for the Ducks. He was proud of it. Yes.

And uh we finally know the name of the officer that killed him. And I I wanted to make I couldn't I didn't have time to say it last time because I had to go get signatures for rent control. But um in fact, I still think I don't have time. If somebody wants to sign for rent control, a registered Anaheim voter, I'm here. And I'm I'm heading off to a debate at Anaheim High School between Jesse Lopez and David Pinloza. That should be a good one. That's at six o'clock. Our next speaker, Christine Lopez, David Pledo, and Juanita. Excuse me. Should have brought my water. Let's see.

I got close. Just bear with me here. All right. Good evening. Um, last week the LA Times released an article on the excessive uh use of force by Anaheim police officers on a very young teen who was riding his bike on his way from purchasing parts for his bike. The LA Times article is dated May 4th, 2026. The title, Anaheim cop and fatal shooting also sued for excessive force in a minor's arrest. The front page photo of the article shows Albert during graduation from Catella High School with his mom and dad. Albert was so happy and you can see how proud his mom and dad were. The article also quotes that a suit was filed in late February and claims that Nathan Garcia and Kyle Smith stopped the boy on June 27th, 2024 as he rode his bike home after shopping for bike parts at a nearby strip mall. This is very disturbing to know that these officers are showing a history of being violent. Were they the first two officers at the time of my nephew Albert Arzola um when he was killed? Are there additional incidents of violent behavior by these officers or any other officers? It's not a surprise that Anaheim PD has one of the highest rates of officer involved killings among among the United States. From 2003 to 2016, an average of 2.4 4 people died annually from the police force during this period. Within the last nine months, we are aware of two officer related deaths in Anaheim that we're aware. The city council, city manager, and mayor, you need to do better to ensure that these unnecessary

deaths do not happen to any other Anaheim resident. We have a police review board and I attended a couple of those meetings, but they just serve as an information uh board. They really don't have any power. It's basically the police division just sharing new information on equipment or procedures. They have no power or oversight of the police and that needs to change. We need community oversight of the police to move forward. build trust in your community and ensure police accountability. Thank you.

Next speaker, David Pledo Vanita and then Pearl Arzola.

All right. U my name is David Paleo. I'm a member of CSO Orange County. Um we're here once again to demand uh justice for Albert Arzola. We here to demand that Anaheim Police Chief Manny Sid, who was here earlier about a relay race, that he immediately fire the officer responsible for killing Albert. We demand that killer cop Nathan Garcia be fired.

There are two sides in anything, and with police killings, this is no different. On the one side, you have victims of police killings like the family of Albert Arzola here today. And on the other you have the police trying to avoid accountability. For weeks that's right. Yeah. For weeks the family has filled this chamber and made their demands very clear to you all. And for weeks um almost this entire council almost this entire time have been silent. You've been quiet. You haven't said anything. Silence is unacceptable when you hold political power because silence means you're taking the side of the killer cops. Then when council members like Ashley Akin and Norma Compos Kurtz when you have your statements and you tell us to wait for investigations that is also the same thing as taking the side of the police since 2009 in every case that I reviewed and it's very difficult to do this on the OCDA website. By the way, I did not find a single case where police were criminally charged for officer involved shootings.

That's right. The overwhelming majority of police are found not guilty no matter what they do. For example, Anaheim PD officer Kelly Phillips, who killed 21-year-old Joel Asaveo in 2012 at point blank, according to an eyewitness, is still in your department. Yes, I checked the roster. Um, officers Daniel Gonzalez, Daniel Wolf, and Wu Jin Jun, who killed unarmed Fermine Vincent Valenuela in 2016, are all still in your department. Yes. And German Alvarez, who in 2016 shot 22-year-old Gustavo Nera in the head for throwing sand, is still in your department. And in fact, he was in the chamber last city council. He was just outside. I confronted him and he admitted it openly. He was not ashamed.

So clearly Anaheim PD and the injustice system is not holding these police accountable. Nathan Garcia, the officer who killed Albert, already had a history of violence, as Christine mentioned, using excessive force against an unarmed 14-year-old Chico in 2024. That is why we are demanding justice for Albert right now. He was doing nothing wrong. He was doing nothing wrong and he was deeply loved. It has been a privilege to learn about the man that Albert was and who he was becoming. It's been a privilege to fight alongside this family for justice and we will continue to be here until you all take a stand and actually do what's right. Fire killer cop Nathan Garcia. No justice.

No justice. Justice for Albert Arzola. Mr. Pledo, your time is up. Our next speaker, Juanita. Juanita

Pearl Arzola. Hello everybody. I just want to say that I feel like that is good that you guys are um getting the Zoom and I hope that it doesn't um doesn't correlate with us and with the timing of our public speaking because I actually like coming in here in person. Gracie, you do. Um and talking to you all and seeing you all. And Carlos, I see that you are running for reelection. And I honestly don't have any bad blood with you at all. I don't have any bad blood with you, with any of you. I hope you get it because out of this whole city council, I see that you are the only one that is doing actually really good for um your district. And I've been seeing a lot of changes. Natalie, I still haven't seen any changes in your district. So, have I haven't seen any changes of your district or Norma as well. You guys haven't You guys do your little popups and everything and that's it. You guys come take a photo and you guys don't really come out and see what the community needs. And Carlos does. I see him and I hear a lot of people say really good things about him. So when you guys go for reelection, I hope nobody will vote for you guys. Thank you.

Next speaker, Grace Arzola. Hello everyone. I'm Grace Arzola. Albert Arzola was my nephew and we've been coming now for 5 months. And I think it's important that you guys do have the Zoom. But I think it's more important that you guys actually listen to the people that talk to you guys. You guys when they came about the festival project, no one said other than the young ones that don't even live in Anaheim said to build it. But you guys still went against the wishes of the people you guys represent. But November's coming and you guys want the votes. And I know some of you guys are afraid to do the right thing because you guys are hoping to get endorsed by the Anaheim Police Department union. But it's important for you guys to hold those accountable. I was watching this quote, this video that says that there's a difference between honesty and transparency. You guys have been honest to a certain point with us, but you guys haven't been transparent. You guys failed to tell us that the person that killed my nephew had a previous excessive force incident. You guys have not been transparent to the public to tell them that that individual is monitoring or patrolling the streets. You guys have not been transparent to the public and tell them that you guys have settled with that family of that 14-year-old. I think it's important that they know that you guys are paying their money for his misconduct and you guys are too afraid to do the right thing because you guys want that police union endorsement. Do what's right. Listen to the public. People came and told you guys they didn't want the cameras. What did you guys do? You waited for all of us to leave and asked the co the chief leading questions. Easy softballs. I think Miss Mass asked him, "Oh, in Huntington

Beach I or Costa, one of those cities, they were harassing or stalking their girlfriend, but our department doesn't do that. How would we know?" I think it's important that you guys hold a meeting because that's something that the public is very upset, very upset and say this is what the cameras are going to do. This is where they're located and this is how are is that someone tracking them at every minute or is it going back and then or is it like people dedicated to look at those cameras? I think there needs to be transparency especially given where we're living at where people are losing their trust in public servant which is sad because public servant is a noble noble cause but you have to do what's right. You don't have to do it for your political ambition. You really have to do it to serve the people. It is has been the greatest honor of my life to be a public servant and serve those individuals that are less fortunate than me. But sometimes you have to make decisions that are hard and will put you in a hard space with leadership that you're hoping to not upset. But it's okay to do the right thing even if it leads to consequences you don't like because at the end of the day it's just between you and your creator every decision you made. Have a blessed day.

And mayor and city council, we have our speaker that's going to be addressing council in the back. My name is Forest. I was born here in Anaheim. Um just the more people coming here, you know, a lot more of us homeless people could come here and stuff and talk to you guys if we'd stopped having our stuff wiped out, you know, when we left our spots and a lot of us would be able to be able to get other stuff done and turn our lives around if we were able to leave our spot and not get our stuff wiped out. And uh you know it sucks having to start completely over from nothing when everything is taken from you just because you went to go get your DVT card or went to go work for somebody or even come to one of these meetings. And you know this is this is my second time here and I've learned a lot being here the last time. And so this time I'm learning more and I'm I'm going to keep coming back to these because I feel that everybody's word counts. Um, another thing is a lot of us are trying to turn our lives around and would be help if we had like, you know, walking shelters that kept pets and stuff and couples and whatever. It It would really help because like I have a cat and I my friend has to watch him on here because I don't want something happening to him because he's my he's my service animal because I have to so it makes it hard for me to do anything like work and stuff. I used to work at a hot rod shop and stuff here in Anaheim and customized cars and I've been on TV for it. And now I'm sitting here living in a ditch, but that's, you know, what it is for me. Um, it sucks having our stuff stolen from us. You know, a lot of people end up resorting to theft. I do my best not to because they I can't stand thieves. So, um, and it'd be nice if the cops would stop harassing us just for sitting on the sidewalk or doing something when it's hot.

Yeah. There's no reason for us to be harassed. I mean, if we're not committing a criminal act, then why should we have to go to jail? I don't get it.

We use everything. I've used my cat and this and that. I have to go to pound pay to get him out. It's just a big circle of losing money I that I don't hardly have. Anyways, um my friend, another thing is my friend Joe has a store over on Lincoln and code enforcement keeps going by and they're harassing him because people are sitting out front having a drink after they get go in there and shop because or they go and get their mail or whatever because he lets us get mail there or he helps us out sometimes with food and the so code enforcement comes going by and harassing him over and over. I was helping. I was fixing some gumball machines just last week and code enforcement came by and told me to leave because I was fixing gumball machines because my bicycle had a trailer on it. They told me I was lodging there. I wasn't lodging. I just had I had tools and a bike in my trailer. That's it. And they told me I was lodging and I had to go. And that to me is just ludicrous. Um and they told they said he was running a gambling outfit and I I told to the code enforcement and said he's not running gambling outfit. They go why is everybody standing here? I go because we it's hot. We're trying to be in the shade, you know. Um, another thing is, um, it'd be nice to have help if the help the police used to help us instead.

Sir, I'm sorry, your time is up. Okay. And justice for Alberto. Our next speaker, Amanda Lockwood.

Hi. Um, my name is Amanda and Um, I'm staying at the Illumination Foundation shelter and I have a big list of complaints. And so what the complaints that I have is that I'm not allowed to have an emotional support pet cat even though I have a doctor's note. So something needs to be done about this. And I can't have my meds and vitamins with me in my room, even if it was okayed by my doctor. And I asked the maintenance to fix the the hot water in my shower. And so far, no running hot water in my shower that's in my room. And the curfew is a bit unreasonable. It's 700 p.m. which is too early of a curfew. And I keep getting harassed by security guard Michael accusing me of taking a lighter when I did not. He also said I can't have a tricycle at the shelter. There's not enough people that work there. There's like only one to two security guards that work there. Usually one most of the time. And my case manager, Jared, fails to meet with me or even make appointments.

Yeah. And there's no alternative meals and snacks for diabetics. Yeah. That's a health and safety issue.

Okay. The Okay. And at snack time, a staff member named Tai refused to give me my alternative meal as a snack because she obviously appeared to be lazy and tired while she rolled her eyes at me. and I was only allowed to choose high sugar and carb snacks and that's the snacks they provide. I also think it is unfair for diabetics who have to wait to get their insulin for an hour or so or even more which is a health and safety issue.

ADA violations. Yes, ma'am. I'm sorry. Your time is up. Okay. You know where this happened at? This happened at the Lumination Foundation shelter at 9942 West Broadway Avenue, Anaheim 92805. Thank you for letting me speak. Our next speaker, if they can step forward of this,

I'm Danny Gonzalez. I'm here in support of Albert Ozola. I've known Albert since he was a young child, and he was not only a son, a brother, and a friend, but a functioning member of the community. He was a hard worker and someone you can always count on to have a contagious smile. He was not who the police are trying to make him out to be. Unfortunately, just shortly after he turned 19, his life was cut short after officer Nathan Garcia shot him three times in the back. An officer who, like everyone said, has a history of excessive force. I have family members in law enforcement currently and retired. I grew up around police. some of them who who seen the footage and they said that what happened to Albert was nothing short of a murder. There's a process. There's a way things are supposed to happen. Yes, Albert ran at first, but there was two men getting out of an unmarked vehicle at night aggressively. Who wouldn't run? He was afraid. He was 19 years old. I'd still be afraid. I'm 28 and I'd be afraid of something like that happening to me. Shortly after Albert complied with the officers, he was met with excessive force that led ultimately to his death. Following this, the family was met with nothing from nothing but push back from Anaheim PD. Body cam footage was withheld as long as possible, and some of it was never released. I mean, everyone's body cam is supposed to be on. No autopsy has been released and no one has been held accountable.

None of those things can bring Albert back, but it's the bare minimum for what his family deserve and what Albert deserve. It's a major part of the healing process for the family and to make sure things like this don't happen again. Thank you. Um, I saw on the news that you guys built new affordable housing. So, I just want to say congrats on that. It's really expensive to live in Anaheim. And me personally, I probably would not be able to buy a house by myself if I didn't have my parents' help. Um, I'm here today in support of Alarzola. Um, Nathan Garcia is known to be an abusive cop complicit into abusive force on a 14-year-old kid. Um, on number 24, I hope you guys do have the Zoom. I mean, that would be helpful. Um, I'm I'm a new soon tobe dad and I had to drive back and forth from Riverside in Anaheim and it's just a lot just to spending the gas. I used to come in my old truck. It was a V8 and it just became so expensive to just come and speak about Albert that I would hesitate at first but I know I think about him every day and I come for him. Um I attended an open meeting with the chief mayor Aken and that's when we brought up the issue of Albert Seth and he referred to him as the lookout. Um I watched the video yesterday. The lookout was facing backwards talking the whole time with his friends. The lookout was probably the worst possible lookout possible. He walked back and he was oblivious to the cop car that had just been rolling up behind him because it was unmarked. The destination of calling Alber lookout was just very distasteful because had been a month or two after his death and it very impacted the family. So when

we're looking for answers or um just anything in general, when you call out a dead man to look out, it's it's very distasteful. Um, never mind the fact the lookout was shot three times in the back. Um, at point blank range, his partner was coming right next to him. He would have had help. It's It's very just uh I would say nauseous watching the tape and just thinking what if his partner had more urged or just hurried a little bit faster. Never mind the fact his body cam was never on at any point till after had been dead for a minute or two.

Um, I just want to ask why the Orange County DA was so excited to prosecute the mother over the accident involving her kid that murdered an old Caucasian man, but the family cannot receive his autopsy of how Albert died. He was a healthy 19-year-old man who did things. He did not die randomly. He was shot. And we would like to know

um as well when it came to the meeting um I don't know what day it was December 15th, December, whatever. Uh at that time they said both officers cams were on when the shooting happened. That was a lie. The second officer's camera was never on when Albert was killed. The only thing we have is to rely on a random neighbor's camera from across the street and different angles from the neighbors. So, thank God that the neighbors had their cameras because we would have no footage from Albert's death. Thank you. Our next speaker, card number 7567. Good evening, Mayor and Council. My name is Shelley and I am a resident of East Anaheim. I am here to speak in strenuous opposition to many items on item number 24. While the city frames the changes as modernization, they are in fact a retaliatory muzzle aimed at the very residents they represent, many of whom have spoken up at countless meetings attempting to be heard by the city. For years, District 6 residents have relied on our threeminute windows to explain complex evidence-heavy issues like wildfire evacuation, gridlock, infrastructure deficits, and safety concerns in our area. We have stood at this podium with meetings lasting until midnight because these issues are literally a matter of life and death for our families. Think about that. The city wants to take a life safety concern and reduce it to 60 seconds. Really, one minute is not nearly enough time to explain why a highdensity project might

trap an entire neighborhood during a fire. It is also not enough time to point out the deficiencies in current evacuation studies or the systematic record suppression that we have seen in recent months. These rules, they also target the Arzola family seeking justice for their loved one Albert. They target the Spanish-speaking parents in our city who already face a no accountability loophole in your outreach policies. and they target our neighbors with disabilities who are being told to participate remotely because this chamber's own physical podium that I'm standing at remains a barrier to their own presence. This is a coordinated effort to time out anyone in any district who is fighting for their voice to be heard in a system that systematically suppresses those voices for the sake of institutional convenience. By adopting a 90minute cap and a one minute discretionary limit, you aren't making meetings more efficient. You are making them less accountable, less transparent, and you are actively choosing to ignore the verified efforts and transparency failures already documented in the city's own administrative record. If you can't listen to your residents for more than 60 seconds, how can you claim to accurately represent us? I urge you to reject item 24, specifically the 90minute cutoff cap and the three minutes so that we do not prioritize speed over safety, the civil rights and the voices of all res of the residents of Anaheim. Every single person deserves a voice and our Zolola family, they deserve answers. Well, it's so inhumane what's happening with them. This guy is still on the streets. He's harassing their family. Why aren't we doing anything? Why can you live with yourself with these decisions?

I'm sorry, your time is up. No problem. Thank you.

Our next speaker, Rosie Kamacho. Agenda 24 should stay the same. It takes courage just to get up here and face all you guys and get transparency for my son, my son, Alberto Arzola. December 6th that he was gunned down, murdered by Nathan Garcia. He targeted my son. He came to my house and targeted him and his friends. He never left him alone. He murdered him. He murdered my son. And you guys sit here and do nothing. nothing to this man. Nathan Garcia walking the streets with a badge and a gun just to take another person out harasses the youth, the 14year-old that he pulled over on a bike that he just bought parts for. How does that happen? You guys need to do more transparency and accountability. This cannot happen again. I am devastated. I will never see my son again. And I will never have him next to me because Nathan Garcia took him and he took him. He knew he knew his victim and he murdered him right in front of me. I demand justice and accountability for my son. He will never be next to me. I will never have talked or tell him how his day at work was. I will demand justice. Justice for my son, Alberto Sola,

Leslie Lopez. Hello. I just um want to begin by saying that I think it is um a good option to um allow for Zoom meetings or just different way for people to voice their opinions. Um I also think it's um important that you make it more accessible for everyone in the community like the homeless with. But with that being said, I also think it's important that you guys should when you propose major changes like the ones discussed, you explain why those changes are necessary. From our perspective, it feels like you don't want people like us coming, who are pushing for meaningful changes to participate or be heard. We come here to speak about someone who lost their life because of your officer, Nathan Garcia, who is still patrolling the same neighborhood where he shot my cousin Norma. I'm not sure if you're proud of that, but you have him still patrolling that same area. I'm not sure if any other district wants to take him, but I'm pretty sure not because he um he murders children. Um I think it's insane that you're okay with him still patrolling this area. I'm not too sure if that's Chief Sid's idea because he still hasn't gotten back to us about um the harassing that is still happening. At the very least, he should have been kept on leave or reassigned to a different neighborhood, but the right thing to do would have been to fire him.

We continue to come here to raise concerns with issues that endanger this community. Nathan Garcia is someone with a history of misconduct. According to the LA Times, the city was already sued because of Nathan Garcia beating a 14-year-old who was doing nothing wrong. It's important that you tell the community that you already settled this lawsuit. And if you truly want transparency, then you should also tell them, the public, how much money you guys have paid out because of the misconduct of your officer because I'm sure that's in your budget proposal. It's important that you make real changes because in the past five months we have been coming to these meetings and the concerns of the people that the people are bringing up whether it's fire safety in Anaheim Hills, the water quality or the killer cop are not being addressed. As council members, it is your responsibility to make changes that actually serve and protect the community. Trust me, it's not fun coming to these meetings except maybe when the city manager gives his update. We continue to show up because this matters to us. We lost a family member and we refuse to let him become another statistic of the Anaheim Police Department's violence. And then um also since the chief is here um it would kind of be important to us to know why you made that decision to put him back into the same neighborhood where he murdered my cousin. So thank you. Our next speaker.

Hi, Madame Mayor, honorable council members. I'm Jesse Benron with the Orange County Business Council, but also a resident of Anaheim. And I'm here on agenda item 22, which has to speak to the development and adoption of your economic development strategy. At OCBC, we our primary focus is regional economic development. However, we know that regional economic development doesn't exist without local economic development. And so we encourage you and we applaud you for this work to have an economic development strategy and we hope all cities have one. Uh because at the end of the day those businesses land somewhere and they land in a city that city could be yours. So when it comes to business attraction, retention or expansion, the fact that you now have a strategic document that the city can kind of marshall its resources to support the business community is applauded. So I really encourage you to adopt the strategy. Thank you so much.

Mayor and city council. That concludes agenda item speakers. We will now move into a general comments and we have 14 speaker cards. The first speaker Jeep Price followed by Mark Herbert. I'd like to address agenda item four, namely the professional service agreement for fireworks with Pyro Spectacular. This agreement was not publicly advertised on the city's online bidding system. Yet, the same vendor appears to have been selected year after year. Pyro Spectacular's environmental track record should be a red flag. Both the cities of Rialto and Colton were forced to close drinking water wells due to perchlorate contamination. Court records show that pyroectacular directly contributed to this contamination. Pakori containing firework material and improper waste disposal practice polluted the soil and groundwater in those areas. Is this really a company that Anaheim should be in business with? More concerning is just how close this fireworks show is to the Santa Ana River. The Clean Water Act makes it unlawful to discharge pollutants into waterways. Firework debris like cardboard, paper, plastics, and chemical contaminants like perchlorate and heavy metals are all considered pollutants. If you review the contract, what should stand out is what's missing from it. There is virtually nothing in this agreement addressing environmental safety, air quality impacts, toxic debris fallout, public health protections, or long-term cleanup accountability. The scope of work is essentially one vague paragraph for exploding for explosives being launched over a densely populated residential neighborhood.

The contract references a debris fallout area, but where exactly is that area? It isn't listed in the scope of work. What neighborhoods? What parks, streets, schools, or waterways fall within that zone? When it comes to cleanup, Pyro is responsible to clean up live pyrochnic debris, but the city is responsible for everything else. They're responsible to clean up all fallout areas, including long-term environmental cleanup. Fireworks are not magic. They release toxic chemicals and metals that eventually fall back into our neighborhoods. How is the public park and elementary school located at the launch site cleaned up? Is the Santa Ana River tested for pollutants before and after the show? For decades, Anaheim appears to have approved firework displays without meaningful environmental transparency, disclosures, or long-term monitoring for residents who live beneath these fallout zones. The public deserves answers before contracts like this are approved, not after. Next speaker, Mark Herbert, followed by Mike Robbins. Mark Herbert, Anaheim Greece.com. Uh, I'm here in support of Albert Azola and his family. I'll be I'll be addressing the water issue and the culture of Anaheim and I think it relates to the problems they've run into. Residents who raised concerns about Anaheim's water were publicly labeled a dis disinformation brigade by Mayor Aken of Anaheim. The mayor claimed the water is safe before she asked any questions, before she gathered any information,

before she gathered any facts. Residents were mocked or dismissed for asking questions when the city itself admits it cannot fully verify water quality. There are still unresolved questions involving one excessive flushing activity, two operational valve changes, three TTHM exceeded, four, PFAS exceedences, five, well shutdown delays and discrepancies. Six, and concerns regarding missing or improperly submitted laboratory records. Anaheim's official water quality report states, quote, monitoring requirements not met for Anaheim public utilities. According to it, during the third quarter of 2025, a required water sample for halo acidic acids from a distribution sampling site was not collected. As a result, the city states, quote, "We cannot be sure of the quality of the drinking water during that time." Rather than responding with transparency and engaging the public, the council's turned its back on its residents. One, at the November 18th council meeting, I filed six Brown Act violations. No answers yet. Two, January 13th council meeting, I reminded them of those violations. No answer. Three, I filed a public records request on March 3rd on the Windham Hotel illegal room conversions. In in April, the city notified me they had been found. I requested a copy on a USB drive. Still waiting. April 21st council meeting. Council member Rubikova left the DAS before the final public hearing started. She didn't return for the hearing, the hearing vote, or the rest of the council meeting. No explanation was given who was

representing the residents of that district. April 5th council meeting, council members Rubikavo and Curts were absent. No explanation was given who was representing those residents. Uh filed another Brown Act violation at the May 5th. And six, the public comments for public hearings are being reduced from 5 minutes to 3 minutes in item 24. That's not public engagement. Next speaker, Mike Robbins. We're always trying to be informative. real dangers faced by employees when excavation work is performed without proper utility locating and safety clearance in place. Every time a crew breaks ground without confirmed utility markings or without all required utility representatives present lives are placed at risk. What is underground gas lines? You get them in your mail. You're supposed to know that and certainly our employees are supposed to know that. electrical infrastructure, communication lines, and water manes. One mistake underground can cause explosions, extra ex electrocution, flooding, catastrophic injury, or death. This is a photo of a gas line that was struck in Anaheim. The danger is very real to the employees and the residents. California's dig alert laws exist for a reason. They're not optional paperwork. They're designed to protect the workers,

residents, businesses, motorists, and emergency responders from preventable disasters. Yet, employees have described situations where excavation work moved forward without proper clearances, where concerns were minimized, and where workers felt pressured to proceed anyway. And here is what should concern every resident. There were employees who stood up and refused to participate in unsafe practices. Employees who raised concerns because they wanted projects completely safely. They completed safely, lawfully, and without anyone getting hurt. They were isolated, harassed, targeted, and denied promotions. Forced to work in hostile work environments. Many of them are still there though, still showing up, still protecting the public and trying to do the right thing. The problem is a culture it seems you guys should know where management is allowed to retaliate against employees. Will the same management also be held responsible when employees or residents are seriously injured or killed? Residents and council members deserve to know how many alert violations have occurred. How many underground utility strikes have happened? And why are employees allowed to be punished for trying to make these projects safe? Safety cannot exist in a culture of fear and accountability cannot exist without transparency. So I'll repeat though this one. The problem is a culture where the management is allowed to retaliate against the employees who complain and some people try and stop it and they and they go ahead anyway. Uh so will they be held responsible when

employees or residents are seriously injured or killed? Please uh I hopefully you'll take regard to this and uh if you saw the picture that's just one sorry your time was taken. Certainly there has to be a lot more you guys. Our next speaker is Stephanie Bernadante.

Following the speaker, Janine Robbins. The public should be deeply concerned about the pattern that continues to emerge inside the city of Anaheim. This includes not only water quality issues and call before you dig violations, but also a broader culture of retaliation, suppression, and disregard for public safety. According to documented claims submitted against the city, employees responsible for maintaining critical public infrastructure alleged they were retaliated against for raising safety concerns, reporting excavation violations, questioning unsafe work practices, and advocating for lawful operations. Employees should employ Employees describe a workplace where speaking up could cost you promotions, overtime opportunities, or your career. Think about that. These employees are the quiet heroes of Anaheim. They are the people who work behind the scenes so residents can turn on their taps and trust the water is safe to drink. They are the crews responding to emergencies at all hours, repairing critical infrastructure beneath our streets, and performing dangerous work the public rarely sees but depends on every single day. Yet, instead of fostering a culture of transparency, accountability, and safety, the allegations describe an environment where employees feared retaliation for reporting hazards, unsafe conditions, regulatory concerns, and operational risks. When the pe the very people responsible for protecting public infrastructure are afraid to speak openly, every resident

in this city should be concerned. The public should be asking if employees are afraid to report problems internally, what problems never reach the public? When a government culture punishes the people trying to raise concerns, the risk is not just to employees. Rather, the risk is to every resident who depends on these systems to function safely, transparency, p transparently, and without fear-driven suppression of the truth. This is more than an HR issue. This is a public safety issue. Anaheim residents stand with the Anaheim public utilities heroes who keep our city safe every day. Moreover, we demand accountability from the managers responsible when employees and the public are placed in harm's way.

Next speaker, Janine Robbins, followed by Tom Fiddler. Residents continue to hear the same repeated message as if it's on a continuous loop. The water is safe. This message seems to be looping non-stop, but reassurance without knowledge or information is not accountability. I myself did a P on well 51 to see what was going on. In return, I got a letter from the city's attorney's office informing me that I would have to sign an NDA before documents would be released to me. Hey,

I pushed I pushed back with my own legal letter that they wanted me to sign an NDA for documents that are public records. And lo and behold, I received my documents. But imagine the average resident who doesn't have years of document requesting experience. How discouraging would this be to them? Anaheim's annual water quality report in the recent water quality presentation repeatedly assured residents that our water meets or exceeds regulatory thresholds. But the problem is that the report answers only the questions the city wants answered, not the questions residents are actually answer asking. Residents called to complain about the flushing, but they weren't complaining about 5 minutes of flushing. We know that's routine. Residents called regarding 30 minutes to 60 minutes of flushing multiple times a week. There was so much flushing that it caused the asphalt to lift off the street. That is definitely not routine flushing. Under the federal Safe Drinking Water Act and related state regulations, public water systems are required to one, conduct representative sampling, two, maintain accurate records, three, and the most difficult, submit truthful monitoring, four, and comply with approved sampling protocols. Let's walk through this. A valve that was long since closed was abruptly reopened on September 17th to 22%. City employees raised concerns to management to close the valve. They knew opening a valve at that amount would adversely affect the water quality. Management ignored these warnings. On September 23rd, management was told to come look at the water and employees asked again for permission to close the valve. Management again ignored their warnings. This is what water should look like. Hold it up. This one. That is what water should look like. But on September 23rd, this is what your drinking water actually look like. These are pictures

from Walnut Creek Reservoir that provides the water for Anaheim Hills. This looks like sewage water instead of drinking water. Therefore, excessive flushing was noticed and reported by residents beginning in September and continued up until approximately March of this year. Six months of brown water. Why don't you share how the city can still confirm that our drinking water is safe? Residents are waiting for an explanation and not a bogus report put on by the lackey.

Our next speaker Mayor and council members, the city of Anaheim now faces a choice. Address these concerns openly and transparently or continue withholding information and deepen the growing perception that a coverup is occurring. Release the flushing logs. Release the hydrant records. Release the supervisory control and data acquisition trend data. Release the operational timelines. Release the internal communications. Release the dig alert violation records. Release the claims filed after underground utility lines were struck because residents are still waiting for answers. We still do not know why our drinking water in September 2025 looked like sewage water. We still do not know why the presentation given just weeks ago and the city's own annual water quality report failed to meaningfully address that very important detail. We still do not know why well 51 appears to have remained online for weeks after PFOS exceeded concerns were known. We also cannot comprehend why the city council was notified on February 17th that the well was offline while records reflect the well was not shut down until March 6th. There cannot be two different dates for the same operational action. We still do not know why there was so much flushing occurring throughout 2025. And yes, residents care that approximately 10 million gallons of

water was flushed, espe especially when we just received notice that our water rates increased again. Are residents paying for all of these secrets? And perhaps most disturbing of all, employees who want the water system to be safe, who want infrastructure projects performed lawfully, and who want a safe work environment are being harassed. retaliated against and disciplined instead of listened to. These are the very employees responsible for protecting public infrastructure and public health. So the public is asking, does the city of Anaheim need to be on channels 2, 4,5, and 9 before before residents finally receive a full explanation? Residents deserve answers now. And let's have justice for Albert Arzola.

Our next speaker, Dave Duran. I'm confident there are many Anaheim city employees who genuinely care about the safety of our drinking water. They care because they take pride in their jobs. They take care because they do not want their families, neighbors, residents to get sick from drinking unsafe water. We know some of the city employees had the courage to raise concerns, ask questions, report operational issues, and advocate for transparency. And instead of being supported by management, some were isolated, retaliated against, ignored, or targeted as part of the problem. The public needs to know that Anaheim City Council and public utilities officials and management have misinformed the public by repeatedly assuring residents that Anaheim's tap water was safe while insinuating that the city water concerns did not exist. Residents who continued asking questions were labeled as disinformation brigade. One resident was interrupted multiple times while attempting to express their concerns about Anaheim's water quality. So, let's take a moment to document and recap the following for those who live, work, vacation,

andor the children who go to school in this city. The mayor and other city officials say the water is safe. I've heard it myself. Residents and employees that are raising concerns and are asking questions about the water are being recognized by the city officials as a problem. Let me remind everybody about the importance of why trihalomethanine methanines are a serious concern. TTHMs are among the most common contaminating contaminants found in US drinking water. Their he key health concerns include increased risk of bladder cancer. possible links to col to colurectal cancer, liver, kidney, and central nervous system damage, and possible reproductive effects, including miscarriage risks at high exposure levels. These are things that could happen or maybe they've already happened or in the process of being of happening because there's been lack of transparency and silence from all of you.

Justice for Albert Arizona. Now, our next speaker,

madame mayor and city council, I am Major Ken Perne. I'm responsible for Salvation Army operations in Orange County. And uh it's also National Salvation Army Week. And I just wanted to share some success stories from the Anaheim Emergency Shelter. And just going to have my uh some of our residents and former residents stand. Sergio B. He's doing exceptionally well and uh he has been with us for three months so far and he's gotten it's his second stint at the shelter and he has gotten a job at Jack in the Box and he's now a shift lead and he's work working on moving out. Someone just stole his bike but we just uh figured out how to get him a new one today so he doesn't even know that yet. So uh we got him a bike so that's good. Uh Sergio E and we should give him a hand. He's he's doing a great job. This is the kind of stuff we want to hear about. It's uh success. Sergio E, he's been with us two months. He's gotten a job as a chef and he moves into housing on Thursday.

Carl uh W has been is a retired uh LA firefighter with 20 plus years of uh service. He's currently waiting a disability and um he's currently working hard with our housing navigator to find affordable senior housing, which we all know is very hard. But we do want to give Carl. He's a really hard great guy. Thank you, Carl. And Dean um L. He's been with us uh for a little bit of a while, but he just recently got a job at in Anaheim at a local nonprofit, and he's working on getting us housing and saving us his money. I share these stories because we should give be a hand, too. Thank you. Um sometimes when we think of the homeless, we only think of the people that uh we don't want to see. But if we can get people into the shelter system and we get the proper resources around them and proper encouragement, uh we can get them housed and productive citizens of our great community. Uh every shelter is not going to be perfect for everyone. I'm pray it's great that we have multiple ones, but it's uh uh just want to give you a little bit of encouragement. Things are are happening. Also at our center, the San Anaheim uh emergency shelter. We're also proud to say our Kerry building is finally uh in process to be built. That center is going to have a medical facility to service the folks at our shelter and on the total campus. So that's good. It's also going to have our hub. We're going to have increased amounts of case managers, not just the Salvation Army, but also local uh friends that can help us. and it has our center for applied research and innovation where we're doing research on how to uh better um help our homeless uh friends and neighbors. So I just want to say again thank you and I have 20 seconds left but thank you for your service. Also

our next speaker Michelle Mary followed by Ruben Greg stood.

Hello honorable mayor and council members. My name is Michelle and I am one of the Disneyland Resort ambassadors and I am here today to provide an update on the work the Disneyland Resort is doing in the Anaheim community. The Disneyland Resort recently wrapped up our local community programming for the school year with our Ola readers end of program event, sending children off to summer break with books to read and the Lera High School food distribution event in partnership with Northgate Gonzalez Market, providing 125 students and their families facing food insecurity with essentials for their households. This summer, the Disneyland Resort will host 22 students from the Anaheim Union High School District for the AIM summer mentorship program. Students will be paired with Disney leaders for his six-week program, which will include a variety of departmental overviews and shadowing experiences, career skills workshops, and collaborative project ending with a final presentation to Disney leaders. As announced at the Anaheim state of the city that Disneyland Resort is excited to bring back the Anaheim resident ticket offer. Beginning later this summer, Anaheim residents will be able to purchase a ticket for $71 in honor of our 71st anniversary. The Disneyland Resort is also offering children's tickets this summer for as low as $50 per day. At the end of the summer, Disneyland Resort will bring the magic of Disney for residents in Anaheim to enjoy. On August 27th, Disneyland Resort will host events throughout the city, bringing unique entertainment and activities. The Happiest Day in Anaheim will be an opportunity for our community to create joyful memories together. And finally, in early August, the Disneyland Resort will break ground on our new east parking facility. Outreach is underway to our neighbors to ensure open lines of communication during this project. Thank

you for allowing me time to share these exciting updates with you all. Our next speaker, Ruben Greg Stoodto, followed by Art Castillo.

Mayor, city council. Um, you know my story about a lot of things. I've been abused and harassed by cops. Anaheim, Bulletin, um, Riverside, Bueno Park, Garden Grove, because I stand up for myself and I don't like what they they stand for. Today I went to DCSS. I hired a pargo that she told me to go DCSS. I got proof that they did stop payment in in July of 2018. Now we got to find out where the money's been going over $1,000 a month for many years. So now I got to spend more money for that. Now I I'm hooked up with Lewis Korea. He's accomplishment from Santa Ana um and Washington DC. I felt it in my heart to try to give these people. I don't know these people. I just come here and I contacted him and left him messages and told him that they need help. He's against ICE and harassing illegals or Hispanics. And you know what I told him in a message that you got cops in your own damn city, state harassing young kids, killing them. and and I told him, "You need to get over here and listen to these people crying about what's going on. I know you're not federal, but he is." So now, um I I'm hoping he sent somebody in here to listen. So, we'll see what happens. And I felt it in my heart to have to do this. I don't know nothing about this. I don't even know where they're talking, what city, what, what neighborhood. But that's what I do. But anyway, I still live in my car, but you know what? I don't have to spend no money on any anybody else's property. I want to buy a house like I owned one before. Thank you.

Next two speakers, Art Castillo, followed by Brian K.

You got to get I tell the cops, "You need backup. You want me?" Thank you.

Okay. Well, I wanted to say about last week about the ebikes. Now, remember it was the little kids. This this administrator of the school district said, "I almost had two little kids. I couldn't even see them because it was a small ebike and they were small. Um, but I also got another person that uh asked to recommend that if I can speak to Mr. Bis on his district one uh the Edison field off of Stonybrook. Uh the weeds are getting really high. There was a fire once there I believe. But um they asked if I can come down and mention that to you that if uh they because every time they call in they say they say call Edison and these are older people and seniors and they don't have they say they don't get any the time frame the phone doesn't answer. So they're asking is saying can you ask our district one leader about that since you're a resident there maybe can be a concern gets getting pretty high but again it's just something that um all these districts have things going on that they haven't been dealt with you know and said about before but um yeah I wanted to focus on you know these young kids that I come back in 1977 that's when I started working I was just a kid and again we were the neighborhood and um But we had a officer Steve Nolan. It was called a whistleblower case. I don't know if anybody of you knew him, but when he reported a young man getting beaten, uh they chastised him, his partners, told him he was a traitor and and and reporting it. And so then um there was another incident where another officer hit a young boy at the police department, gave him a black eye. He was sitting in the hallway and him and this other partner walked by and he found out and he reported it and his union fired him and it was a 20-day month-long court hearing at the at the courthouse and um but the main thing was there's a lot of

things that people here don't know that I was involved in back with with the lawyers of many different other cases on young men, the deaths of young men and beatings. So that they don't get to they don't get to hear what I got to hear, but who can I speak to? I even have one incident down here on Anaheim a long time ago and it was an officer who was bringing it up, but I was there and how synchronicity that I ended up seeing this guy, but uh the guy was shot in the back and they coroner and the officers fudged it that he got shot being that he was attacking the officer. So now the coroners do tamper with evidence and and in a case around uh people that were in the community that was uh uh civil rights civil rights lawsuit and concluding that I was excluded but a captain came out and he said that uh the uh chief was erasing all the documents on me about what what he was going through but he was claiming to have me uh assaulted and everything you know he said I'll say what he said in the paragraph the first He says, "Get the punk whatever it takes to do."

So, I'm going to give you that much tonight. But, you know, let's give our our Alberta Zola cuz that's another family that I knew. Mr. Castillo, I'm sorry, your time is up. Our next speaker, Brian K.

High school. Good afternoon. Wastard. I speak the native Nawa language. Thank you. Deashani Davidid Vasquez. He was an interpreter in the courts in Utah, Colorado, California, and um Arizona. Rest in peace, Deiani, David Vasquez. Uh we always stand on traditional lands of the Tongba. Always give respect to the state recognized tribe that's fighting for federal recognition. Hopefully one day they get federal recognition. So then therefore we can tax Disney, we can tax Angel Stadium because under Angel Stadium and under Disneyland there's a lot of Native Americans that are still need to be resting in peace. And with that n uh 90,000 um Native American bodies are in boxes. How would you feel our white brothers if we went to Europe and we made you become Catholic or Christian and to speak Spanish or to speak or or our native language? We didn't do that. We never went to Europe and started uh murdering and raping the kids and raping our the the European women. We never did that. That's what happened to us. That's what's going on right now. And they're still killing our people. So, there's 90,000. And I'm glad that Aalino Valencia, if you're watching, I'm glad that you're sitting down now with Senator James Ramos, the first Native American male to be senator that passed bills to get rid of names like the um Comanche Warriors, Fortune Indians, just came down last month. I'm so glad. I can't wait till uh Catella Knights, the colonist, the knights were like the police that came and killed Arzola. They came at night like knights like the Klux Clan, right? So those 90,000 uh bodies need to be resting in peace. And the reason America is being bombarded by the star and the moon and Iran, the flags, the hope is prophesy, a prophecy that America will come and go. Even laas, we always say, which means all my relations. We're all related. It doesn't matter what color of religion, but we're just kicking facts. We're kicking truth.

And there's many thousand ancestors that need to be taken away from Caly Fullerton, UCLA, um the CSU systems. And uh uh Kelsey Fullerton, they have bodies in boxes. You know, it's so sad. Why do we have Native Americans in bodies? And in Guerrero, the uh Mexican cartel, the US cartel, the two governments are the cartels. They still have not brought justice to the indigenous people. Nawa people in the state of Guerrero. They murdered about a hundred women just recently and the Mexican government has not done anything but that hit is coming from here from this government and the weapons are coming from this government. You know, Chapo Guzwan had the DA working for I wonder if Tony Wakus worked for him too. Never know. There's a lot of politics. We have police officers here. There's a reason why they're here right now. Maybe because they're trying to intimidate us, but they're not going to intimidate me or our ancestors or our people. And we will change the name of the colonist. Congressman Luke Korea even said it. Sto you spoke spoke so well that he even agreed of changing the name of the colonist. I was so surprised but I hope it's just not taught because actions speak louder than words and I know the actions that those police officer kella colonist nights did to Arzola spoke a lot very racist. Oho. Thank you.

Our next speaker Ben Hurst.

Good evening. uh city council. Thank you for a few minutes of your time tonight. I recently traveled to Stanford University and got to speak with 15 or 20 of their professors at their world famous Stanford D School, their design school, and they said, "Who are you and why are you here?" here. I said, I'm with the Salvation Army and we've partnered with the city of Anaheim to build a 14 acre comprehensive homeless care campus called the Center of Hope. I said, "Partner with the city. We rolled up our sleeves and built a 224 bed homeless shelter in 79 days." I told them in a celebration that we've served over 2,000 unduplicated guests, half a million meals, 17,000 counseling sessions, and placed over 650 in permanent housing. They said, "That's really great." I said, 'We really excited about what's going on in the city of Anaheim, but what we're super excited about is breaking ground on our Center for Applied Research and Innovation building that Major Pine spoke of for a minute. On June 16th, we want to invite you to join us if your schedule permits. Tuesday, June 16th at 10:30 for a groundbreaking ceremony where we're going to establish the innovation engine for the Center of Hope that's going to serve our entire 14acre campus. as well as 6,914 Salvation Army service units across the United States. And if God breathes on a great idea we have that may find its way to one of the 132 countries we serve from the Salvation Army birthed right here in this great city of Anaheim. So, we're super excited. We hope you can make it if your schedule allows. And uh I want to close with this. I was at the mayor's state of the city address and had an unusual thing happen. I sat down

at my table and a lady across from me said, 'I know you.' She said, 'You don't know me, but I know you.' She said, 'A couple years ago, I went and visited your Center of Hope campus and I heard inspirational stories about life, change, faith, and hope and it so impacted me. I went home and told my husband, "I've got to do more." She said, "You've never met me, but I've established a nonprofit because of the life change I saw happen at your homeless care campus in Anaheim. Thank you for uh the great work this city is doing. We can reach higher. We can reach farther. Thank you for your time. God bless you." Our next speaker, Brian K, happy day. You know, if you did if you do what you did, you're going to get the same results. And you just keep doing that. You keep lying. You know, it's a shame because this council has lied to our new chief, Manny Sid. You're lying to the police officers. And I'm not even being an investigative journalist. I'm just hanging out being one of the guys. And they're openly admitting, "Hey, yeah, we've been told this. We've been told that." And it none of it's true. You know what happens when you lie to the chief of police and to the police officers? People die.

And it keeps happening you. We almost understand the beating death of Kelly Thomas. Almost. Maybe. But you've done this 30 times in Anaheim. You have 30 basically unarmed people who were beaten or shot by an Anaheim police officer because because the Anaheim officer was told by you that that was acceptable, that that's what you expected them to do. And you keep doing it.

They don't want to do it, but you keep telling them. You keep expecting it. and and all it takes is for you to tell the truth. And you know, it's a shame. Our mayor, a little coward. I I don't remember being taught that Irish people were cowards. Yay. I don't remember being a Catholic being taught that as a Catholic I should be a coward and I should run and hide when somebody tells the truth. You know, everyone around her admitted there's no evidence. Mr. K resisted arrest or harassed or threatened a police officer.

There's no evidence Mr. K committed any crimes whatsoever. But there's a lot of evidence that Anaheim police have committed a lot of crimes. And because you expect them to do that. Why? Why? And I mean, she's such a coward. She can't What is she afraid of? She can't face me. She can't face the truth. I mean, she's got a whole team of police officers back there who'll walk right over and put a hole in the back of my head. And she's afraid of me.

Y'all aren't afraid of me. You're afraid of the truth. And as soon as you start telling the truth, life will get a lot better for you and for everyone else. Happy day, mayor and city council. That concludes our inperson um comments. Noting for the record, we did receive electronic comments. One was related to item 23, one to eight item number 24, and six were general comments. Each of those were distributed to city council as well as posted on the city's website that can be found at anaheim.net/public comment.

Thank you. We will now close the public comment portion of the meeting and move to council communications. If any council members have something to share, please ring in Council member Moss. Thank you. I have three slides to share.

So, there's a great there's a great new exhibit over at Museo

started April 25th and it runs through July 12th. Um, it's all around um the history of vans and skateboard history here in Anaheim. In 1966, Paul Van Doran uh opened a small shoe factory at 704 East Broadway in Anaheim. They had no idea their grippy waffles sneakers would become the uniform of a cultural revolution. Concrete Wave celebrates Van's 60th anniversary as the gateway to exploring Anaheim's pivotal role in skateboarding, youth culture, and creative rebellion. From local skate parks to a global phenomenon, this is the story of how Anaheim innovation, entrepreneurial grit, and support for unconventional ideas created ripples worldwide. So, this has been a real joy to be a part of. The idea for this exhibit um was actually about four years ago. So I want to thank um Kelly with Museo, Katherine Aosta with Vans, and Jim Fitzpatrick and Todd Hubert for the skateboarding hall of fame uh for bringing this exhibit to life. And I just want to point out in the photo in the middle bottom middle um that's the opening of the concrete wave skate park and that is the Anaheim City Council at the time standing there to the left. So we have a lot of great history here in Anaheim and this exhibit celebrates just one small part of it. Next slide please. On Friday, May 25th, we have a cool event in District 5 over at Zion Lutheran Church. there's going to be a book discussion about um automation and Disneyland and the ri the rise of automation there. So, this program is put on by the Anaheim Historical Society with help from Jane Newell over at the Heritage Center. All are welcome. The

event is going to be from 6:00 p.m. until 9:00 p.m. again over at Zion Lutheran on Friday, May 22nd. And last slide. On Saturday, May 23rd from 2 to 3 PM, we're going to be over at the Suniss branch of the uh Anaheim Library. Former Anaheim Police Officer Rick Martinez is going to be there to share some early Anaheim police history. So, we're going to have some special guests um to share stories and again uh just talk about that early police history. All are welcome. We'll be there from 2 to 3:00 p.m. And then

lastly, I just wanted to congratulate the team that put on the eco fun fair over at Oak Canyon Nature Center on Saturday. It was really well attended. Um we had city departments from fire to public works um there to share information and resources. So congratulations to Shaunie and your team over at Oak Canyon Nature Center. Thank you. Those are all my comments. Thank you, Mayor Prom Leon, and then council member Rubikava.

Thank you, Madame Mayor. I do have a few slides. Um, but before I go into them, um, I just want to give a special shout out to JJ Himenez and the parks team from our community services uh, department uh, for uh, improvements that are currently going on at Chaparel Park uh, with the basketball courts over there. Uh, trying to provide uh, nice amenities for our residents and uh, students that use that uh, court over there. um as well as uh all the improvements that have been happening at Circle Park. Um that was something that was requested by many of our district 2 residents that live in that area um that obviously don't have uh access to some open spaces. And so I appreciate everybody on the team that's been working on that to to make those improvements. I had the opportunity of stopping by my alma mater, Magnolia High School, as well as Loera High School, uh to recognize some seniors, and I really appreciate the the warm welcome from the administration, as well as uh all of the parents and students. Of course, I was proud to recognize Magnolia High School Sentinel of the Year, as well as some distinguished Leroa High School volunteers uh who are graduating this year. I want to give a special shout out uh to Chris uh Warnaby and Jared Martinez from our Anaheim public utilities team as well as uh Mr. Doul Lee. Uh we had my old school Dale Junior High School reached out about some concerns. Um actually a request of wanting to replace uh old outdated banners that they have outside of the school for a year- end celebration and the public utilities team was uh was on it right away and I think it was a it was a very quick turnaround. they were very much appreciative. Um, and these are small touches that really improve uh the the the area and make everybody proud to be a Dale Lancer. So, a big thank you to our Anaheim Public Utilities team. A special shout out uh to Mr. Scott Davis uh who is uh the lead head custodian, I believe, at uh Walt Disney Elementary. He was actually the

custodian over at Maxwell Elementary when I was a student there. Um he's going to be retiring after almost 40 years of service to the district. Um he actually attended is a is a student of the Magnolia School District and then came back and worked for them. Uh and so I just want to give a special shout out to Scott uh and the his entire family as well as the entire Maxwell and Magnolia School District family as well. Uh definitely uh welldeserved retirement for him, but he's still one of my bosses. He still lives in district 2 and I believe as a neighborhood watch captain and so I don't think his uh his work is done 100% yet. So looking forward to continuing to work with him and just sending him a big congratulations.

I also want to congratulate uh the class of 2026. Uh I have the distinct privilege of uh uh having five high schools in my district. Uh, so I want to give a a a special congratulations to the class of 2026, Savannah High School, Gilbert High School, Magnolia High School, Servite High School, and Laera High School. Um, all of those uh students are going to be going on to to bigger and better things. And I hope that they don't forget the city of Anaheim and that they're able to come back and make some positive changes for our community. And finally, I have to say it as they're playing right now, I believe. Uh rooting for Anaheim Ducks today at game five and uh looking forward to to seeing them hopefully advance. But thank you, Madame Mayor.

Thank you, Council Member Rubikala, and then Council Member Bailis.

Thank you, Mayor Aken. And I believe I do have some slides, Madame Clerk. Um but I have the opportunity of representing 50,000 residents in the city of Anaheim, the city that I grew up in. And um as a result, I am happy to share that housing is a priority for all of us on council. Uh many of you know we have also initiated policies that allow us to provide first-time home buyer programs and also assistance to people who need it in the city of Anaheim. And that's why I'm so proud to share the work that our city staff has done as well as our city council uh in collaboration with nonprofits to bring a a troubled motel to say the least since I was a little girl. Motel 6 off of um Harbor and the 91 freeway has been rehabilitated to permanent supportive housing. There are 87 units for individuals to live and we were the mayor and I were able to and council member Bis uh were able to meet many of the new residents there and um do a ribbon cutting uh in celebration of this wonderful collaboration with link housing on site. They will have supportive housing services as well as a community garden and a lot of other resources. So, I want to thank Grace, who I believe is here, and her housing and community development team for all of their efforts and making sure that we are building housing across our city for um all uh socioeconomic uh status individuals.

And then I'd also like to highlight I went to Laera Elementary School for preschool and um I'm happy to recognize Mrs. Salvar, who's the fifth grade teacher for their um for one of the I'm sorry, fifth grade teacher there. She has been uh recognized as Orange County's teacher of the year finalists, which is a great recognition for our elementary schools. She runs the dual immersion program for the fifth grade class. And as many of you know, our um dual immersion program in the city of Anaheim is award-winning. So, I just wanted to make sure that we highlight the great educators who are really pouring into the children of of the city of Anaheim. And I know our chief is back here, but I wanted to mention uh we had a massive enforcement effort which took place on April 23rd. Anaheim PD's gang unit worked with our Orange County Violent Gang Task Force and other federal, state, and local agencies. Uh two of the um warrants were served on households in district 3 and I am happy to say that after two years of investigatory uh collaborations with the anah le led by Anaheim PD's gang enforcement uh in collaboration with other agencies there are our streets are a lot safer. So, thank you to uh Chief Sid in the back there and for our gang enforcement team for continuing to ensure that our uh streets are safe. And um this is all about organized crime in the city of Anaheim. So, they were able to make sure that we were taking off members of the Mexican Mafia and other uh individuals who had um chosen to do illegal activity in the city of Anaheim. So, thank you to our law enforcement partners here in the city and as well as Anaheim PD and our gang enforcement. And then I also want to mention I uh I attended Anaheim High School, graduated in 96, 30-year anniversary coming up, Carlos. Um but I also just wanted to um mention a scholarship that I am working

in collaboration with the alumni association. We will be giving $5,000 scholarships to uh students who have either attended Anaheim High School or reside in District 3. And we have also extended it to individuals who are recent graduates who just need some additional assistance as they are in their current um process. They don't have to be in a 4-year university. It could be a trade school or uh community college. So the deadline is May 15th and they will be announced next week at Anaheim High School. And then I also just wanted to recognize uh an individual who had a major impact on the city of Anaheim. But it is with a heavy heart that we honor the life and legacy of a proud Anaheim High School graduate as well as a person who worked for the city of Anaheim for decades. Uh he was a true public servant. He dedicated 30 years to the city of Anaheim serving in public works, forensics, and code enforcement. He worked tirelessly to keep Anaheim beautiful through graffiti graffiti abatement, alley cleanups, and community efforts with Anaheim Beautiful and the Kuanas. He also proudly served our country with two tours in Vietnam aboard the USS Virgo and later served as a reserve policeman for the Placencia and Brea police departments. Anaheim was more than where he lived. It was the community he loved and served wholeheartedly for decades. his work ethic, patriotism, and commitment to others will not be forgotten. May uh Dick La Rashelle, whose son also recently retired from the Anaheim PD, may he rest in peace. And I request that Mayor Aken please close the meeting in Dick La Rocher's honor. La Rochelle's honor. My apologies. And that concludes my council comments.

Thank you. I know we're still a couple weeks away from this, uh, but we do not have another city council. So, I just like to remind District 1 residents our open house meeting will be at Haskit Library between 5 and 7:00 p.m. on June 3rd. Thank you.

Thank you. Um, just wanted to uh thank um small business, the McDonald family that owns and operates a McDonald's across the street from um Disneyland invited me um for a tour and gave me a recognition as a beverage specialist after trying their new refreshers. But it was amazing. They hire um a lot of students from local high schools u part-time. the general manager of the store started working there um you know decades ago and is now um running the store and they had so many people that just really love this family and love their job. So just wanted to highlight and thank them for having me. Um as council member Rubikava mentioned I also attended the um ribbon cutting for the um Azure uh housing facility at the former Motel 6. Um so just really proud of Grace and her team. It's another feather in our cap of, you know, what we can do when we really put our minds together to try to address some of the great great housing needs that we have in the city. Um, lastly, I wanted to um just mention and I'll be closing the meeting as well in honor of Mary Hara. Uh, Mary was a lifelong community volunteer who dedicated u her time to enriching the lives of a lot of people in Anaheim and across Orange County. She worked to preserve Japanese American history for future generations and her legacy of service and philanthropy will continue to um inspire all who knew knew her. Um she was really it was really important to her for us not to forget the history and the impact of Japanese internment during World War II. Uh so our condolences go out to uh her family. Next it is the city manager's update. Mr. your interim city manager.

Thank you, Mayor Garcia.

Uh yes, just uh a quick item. I uh we concluded uh the first successful year of a new partnership to help Anaheim students uh gain some real world experience. Our public works department partnered with the Anaheim Union High School District. Uh students of varying abilities visited our public works yard to see what our team does and what sort of public service careers might be open to them in the future. Uh the program is a meaningful way for our staff to engage with Anaheim students and teach them how to do tasks and help grow their capabilities and confidence as they plan for their future. Uh I'd like to thank our public works team and our partners at the school district for making this program such a success. Uh also mayor and council I'd like to add my voice to the uh thanks and congratulations to the housing team for the Azure project. Uh Grace does such a great job uh with the ACD staff. They're working tirelessly to add new units uh all over Anaheim for those uh who need them. And then finally uh as was mentioned earlier, just another pitch for our district community meetings that are coming up in June, first two weeks in June. Please check our website for those meetings. Uh and then as we head into budget, we will be providing some updates to the community uh not only during the budget workshop on the 9th, but also during those district community meetings. That completes my report. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Garcia. So, we will now recess the city council to address the Anaheim Housing Authority agenda. Items one and two are before us. Is there a motion? I'll move second. Thank you. Please vote.

The vote is seven eyes, no nazs. Motion carries. So, we'll now adjourn the housing authority and reconvene the city council to address the city's consent calendar. Items 3 through 20 are before us. Are there any members of council who wish to remove an item for further discussion? Council member Ma, item number 12. Okay, seeing no other items to be pulled, can I have a motion to pass the remainder of the calendar? Second. Thank you. Please vote on the remainder. The vote is seven eyes, no naysay. Motion carries.

Thank you. Um, Council Member Moss, you pulled item number 12. Would you like a staff report? Um, no staff report needed. I am just looking for the timeline for the project and then the reimbursement process. Oh, the the timeline the project's already underway. So, they're looking to start that as soon as they get the rightway uh completion uh done. And then in terms of the reimbursement um portion that's done through a depositor's trust account is where we take a deposit from the developer. So, the OC VIB has already deposited the full $225,000 to cover the cost of the agreement which after this agreement is executed, we will transfer that funding to the state.

Thank you. You mentioned it started. Do we have an expected date of completion? Well, the the project the OC Vibe overall project has started and and specific to the ramps that we still have to go through the design phase and permitting through CALR. Um so the goal is to try to get that done before the Olympics. Um, and we're also looking at trying to uh partner with the OC OCTA project that's doing a widening on the 57 from Orangewood um to Catella to see if we can incorporate some of these this work into their project to get it done uh cohesively and and uh more efficiently. Great. A lot of great work being done. I do support this item. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Would you like to make a motion to pass this item?

I would like to make a motion to pass this item. Please vote. The vote is seven and eyes, no nays. Motion carries. Thank you. Item 21 is a selection of an executive search firm to conduct the recruitment for the position of the city manager. Mr. Interimm city manager Greg Garcia. May I turn it over to you?

Uh, yes. This item will be uh provided by our HR director, Linda Andal. Good evening. Mayor and council members. Uh to my left is Loose Flores. She's the recruitment manager uh for human resources. Tonight's item is a recommendation that the city council select an executive search firm to conduct the recruitment for the city manager and authorize the human resources director to negotiate and execute an agreement directly with a firm that you select this evening. At the February 24th meeting, staff was directed to conduct a request for information process or RFI to solicit proposals from qualified executive recruitment firms to assist with the nationwide search following the vacancy that occurred on February 4th of this year. In response to that direction, the human resources department contacted 10 executive firms with experience in public sector executive recruitments and invited them to submit proposals. The RFI emphasized several important qualifications, including demonstrated success recruiting city managers or other municipal executive positions, strong recruitment methodologies, the ability to effectively engage with elected officials and stakeholders, and a commitment to maintaining confidentiality throughout the process. As a result of the solicitation, the city received six proposals. Two firms declined to participate due to scheduling conflicts and two firms did not respond. A review panel consisting of five members of the executive

leadership team independently evaluated the proposals based on several criteria including qualifications and experience, recruitment strategy, stakeholder engagement, communication and transparency, and overall ability to meet the city's needs and council's needs. Following the evaluation process, CPS HR received the highest overall ranking, followed by by Bob Murray and Associates. Given that a selection of the firm is scheduled for this evening in the interest of maintaining a fair and professional process, copies of all proposals were forwarded to you for your early review and evaluation. However, it was not included in the packet since the selection has not yet been made. Council may select any one of the six firms regardless of the rankings that were presented to council on your staff report. Upon council selection this evening, the human resources director will negotiate and execute an agreement with the selected firm. The selected firm will work collaborative collaboratively with the council to develop a recruitment profile, establish a recruitment timeline, and conduct a comprehensive nationwide recruitment process. The scope of work will include but not limited to stakeholder outreach and engagement, candidate recruitment and evaluation, presentation of qualified candidates for council consideration and interviews, consistent reporting throughout the process to all members of the council and background investigations. This is consistent with the direction that council provided us in February as well. Staff in the selected firm will also provide periodic updates to the city council throughout the recruitment process to ensure transparency and ongoing communication. As mentioned earlier, the city council may select any of the six responsive firms, staff's evaluation was conducted to to support an efficient and thorough process. Finally, although I have disclosed to each of you separately out of an abundance of caution for

disclosure purposes pursuant to government code section 1091.5 and to have it recorded in the official record, I'd like to share that I am one of seven agency members of the board of directors of CPS, a joint powers authority which under California law is deemed a public entity. Anaheim has been a member agency of the G JPA since May of 203, so about 23 years now. and I serve solely as the city's representative. I do not receive any compensation for this role other than reimbursement for required travel expenses as permitted by law and CPS bylaws. Uh the board meets in person once per year and I travel once per year for that board meeting. Finally, it is important to note that the board has no authority involvement or role related to procurement or award of public contracts for the JPA. With that, this concludes my presentation and Luc and I are available to answer any questions that you may have.

Greg, stay the city.

Thank you so much. Um, so I have a question. Just wanted to start with the um first question. Can you um if this item is approved, what is the timeline for setting out a um sending out a I guess contacting the firm, entering into a contract um and then commencing the process. We actually have a tenative timeline prepared for council. You'll see there uh the actions that we have taken since uh the vacancy occurred. Um today is the selection of the firm and mayor I know you mentioned that once approved um the selection is being made by council there is not a recommendation from staff this evening um at the request of council it was uh requested that the proposers be presented to council and council make a selection of the six firms um between June and September uh you see up there we'll develop the brochure stakeholder and community meetings screen candidates and then city council uh interviews that is very fluid depending on conversation this evening or conversations that you may have with the selected recruiter that can change as well. Um if there's additional meetings that you would like with the executive recruiter assuming um between June and September we accomplish all of that a selection of the city manager can be made anytime between September and October.

Thank you. Council member Meeks, has the city um used CPS for executive recruitment? Yes, we have. Okay. Recently? Uh not recently.

Okay. The last uh recruitment was in 2021 for the safety manager in 2020 for the deputy planning director and they were used previously for a previous city manager recruitment as well. Okay. Um well, I mean I I looked at them and I I would be fine with CPS. Um I think I would rate uh select Bob Murray over that. Um when the um team rated the proposals. Was there an interview process part of that or they just rate rated it off the written proposal? Excuse me. It was based off of the written proposal. Okay.

Um but we know the people have you worked with the people in that are being proposed or for the two top proposers? Yes, I have worked with them as as well as loose. Okay. And you have confidence in in the specific individuals that they're recommending? that they're assigning to this. Yes, they're very reputable. Absolutely. Okay. Um, yeah, that didn't extend my comments, but I'd be happy with uh I'd lean towards Bob Marine Associates, but I'd be also happy with CPS. Thank you, Council Member Bis.

Thank you. I'll just quickly add my two two cents here. I went through all of the proposals as well. Um, I thought I saw both uh or actually all three. Ralph Anderson, CPS, and Bob Murray as being incredibly qualified to handle uh the directive moving forward. So, but the one part to the end of this, and I think it's important sometimes to look at cost. I know the costs were included in here. So, my question is this. When we went out with the RFI, did we have an idea of how many community meetings that we would be asking the recruiter to be attending? And I I realize some of them seem to have an all all-inclusive proposal, while others kind of peacemeal it, say, "Okay, here's the price, but if we have to do community meetings or whatever, there's additional fees to that." So, I'm just curious how that played out. that level of detail was not included in the RFI seeking proposals. Um, but you are correct. There were a lot of optional and supplemental costs. I want I I believe most of them had optional. So, for example, Bob Murray and Associates identified that most of their uh stakeholder engagements would be virtually and if there were any in person then that would be at cost. Uh CPS similarly, they were not specific to that. However, uh their proposal did mention teleconference. So, I'm not sure if it's safe to assume that in person is at cost or no cost. Um that's where negotiations will take place. Um you saw the costs on each proposal. The recommendation tonight is to authorize up to 75,000 assuming that those additional costs will uh be added to uh to meet council's desires for community and stakeholder meetings. Okay. So, that made it a little I I'm going to say that

part of it kind of made it a little difficult to understand maybe who of the three if all three are equally qualified which one would be the best price. So, let me ask you a question. I see up there June September and I' I see it in here. Let's just take the first one. Develop a brochure. Is that something that we would rely on the recruiter to do and it would be the extra fee or is that something that we can do in house? that is included within the fee and you would want to rely on the recruiter for that. Uh the recruiter will meet with each member of the council to develop the city manager profile and that would be included in the in the brochure.

Okay then. Well, in that case, what I'll say is this. I I mean, if I'm we had to order them, I'd go Bob Murray, CPS, and then Ralph Anderson. So, thank you. Thank you, Mayor Prom Leon.

Thank you, Madame Mayor. Um, can I ask Linda, um, and I appreciate your time earlier. I know you walked me through some stuff. Um, can you clarify in terms of, let's just say the top two that have been ranked. Is there a difference in terms of um, in-person versus virtual uh, interviews, meetings, things like that? I I guess it would depend on the interest of council or who the recruiter is meeting with. In terms of interviews, that will definitely be in person. That will be an expectation that that is in person. For stakeholder meetings, um I they're the professionals here and if you read through their proposals, uh many of them uh opined that virtual is adequate for this level. because the community outreach does not have to be so extensive in terms of virtual for meetings with you or internal stakeholders. It's really dependent on the person that they're meeting with. And if council would like to direct in-person meetings, then we can set that expectation with the consultant.

Okay. And then can I ask you if during this process, so can you clarify one more time for me? What is it that we're giving you direction? What what direction are you looking from us right here right now? A selection of an executive recruitment firm. So, it's one of the six that's presented on your staff report as well as authority to enter into a to negotiate and enter into a a contract with the firm up to $75,000. Okay. Um and so we're just giving you the authority up to $75,000. In terms of the actual contract negotiations themselves, that would be your team handling that with the consultant.

That is correct. And I will not be returning to council with that contract. You'll be providing me with the authority and approval this evening. Okay. Thank you. Can I ask you if during this process because I I'm I'm looking at the timeline, right? If during this process we have conversations where maybe we decide that we don't want to move forward with the process, are are we able to do that? Absolutely. This is your recruitment is at your discretion. You could go through with the process and at and and conduct all of the interviews and at the very end decide to either one open another recruitment or two go with a candidate that wasn't even on the list. So it is city council's discretion.

Okay. Thank you. And are there any um and I'm getting into the weeds a little bit. I apologize, but if we if we were to do that, uh would there be any in I guess you haven't negotiated the contract yet, but are there any like cancellation fees or anything that we would have to pay to the consultant if we decided Thanks, but no thanks. I have to review the proposals for that language, but if Let me leave it at that. I don't want to guess. I would review the proposals with that language. Um, it's something that we could address during the negotiation process of the contract as well. Got it. Okay. Thank you.

Thank you, Council Member Ruba Calva, and then Council Member Curts.

Thank you. I um so I I think Bob Murray does seem to be the one that appears to be more qualified that the list of city managers that they have um recruited for other cities seems to be pretty strong. I'm It's interesting the price is pretty low compared to what I've seen other search firms do. So do we anticipate that they might come back because it's 35,000 that's that's extremely low. So I I'm just concerned that they plus yeah know it's plus other expenses but for the most part usually that's pretty standard but I've that so I'm just I'm not complaining but it just seems too good to be true. Um the other question I have is stakeholder meetings. So we they will have seven people to um work with, right? Because we are all equally leading the search for our new city manager. So how will that process work when it comes to determining which stakeholders we think that they should be meeting with? Um the city manager position is unique. It's not like recruiting a chief of police or another department head. A lot of people don't even know the city manager role exists or what they do. So I think the internal stakeholders are probably very important. Uh so how will we be able to work with them and and are we going to are they going to be able to deal with seven people and then collectively equitably take the charge from what we are providing them in terms of direction. They are professionals and very experienced in their role. So yes, they will be able to deal with all seven council members collectively and equally. That was very clear in the RFI as well. So I don't have a doubt that they will be able to execute that appropriately. Have we used them before? They're a pretty well-known firm, right?

Yes, they are. They've been in business for about 35 years and we have used them quite often. What were some of the recruitments that we've used them for and have those been recent? We looked up the most recent. So in 2023, we used them twice for the police chief as well as the deputy police chief. In 20 I think I got my years wrong. Let me just start all over. That was in 2023. Chief position as well as the deputy chief position. In 2025, the deputy planning director as well as the community preservation and licensing manager. Okay. Can you tell me and there are some others too that was just a quick snapshot.

Yeah, I do recall. Now, I recall meeting with them. Um, can you explain a little more about CPS? Not that I don't think that the other recruitments were done or conducted uh professionally, but I I'm interested in having somebody who maybe not as acquainted. I I really just want to make sure the person that we recruit in Anaheim is uh not necessarily from the region, but somebody who can uh lead our city forward. There's a lot of concerns that I have in terms of making sure that we have somebody who's strong enough to push back on special interest in our city. Uh so I'm I'm interested in understanding a little more about CPS and how involved they've been because I think it's interesting they didn't I know they only listed city managers but I if I was applying for a job in a city I would probably say that I've done some work on other recruitments that have been important to our um our city. So, can you share a little more about CPS cuz they are seeming more appealing to me at the moment?

Sure. CPS, uh, well, let me take a step back. You mentioned they only included city managers. We asked in our RFI for the responses to include city managers or executive level recruitments only. CPS has conducted many. They've been in business for 40 years. They've conducted executive recruitments for the last 20 years. They are a JPA as I mentioned earlier and in my disclosure as well as as to all of you individually. They were a JPA that were formed u by the state personnel board as well as uh two counties the city of Anaheim and a utility special district. Um they were formed uh for the purpose of ensuring that the that public sector challenges challenges can be faced by public sector employees. So, not only do they do re complete recruitments, they offer a host of human resources and other types of governmental services. Um, just a quick example, um, if I was short on staff and uh, I would be able to reach out to CPS because of the type of work that they do and they can come in and uh, pretty much run an HR department if you may. they can also come in and uh they have public employees on staff to assist in other areas of public sector as well. So that's a little bit about CPS, but in terms of recruitment, they have been doing it for over 20 years. They have very experienced uh recruiters that serve them um and are employed by them as well as a whole host of other types of public sector work. And I like that they also included examples of some of their outreach. So, I think for me my first choice would probably be CPS and then potentially um

uh the other what's it? Bob Murray. Thank you. But I do have some concerns about Bob Murray. So, thank you, Council Member Curts. And then Council Member Moss.

Thank you, Madame Mayor. Um some of my questions were answered. Um um I too am leaning towards CPS. uh because of their uh the breadth of their experience. Um, and I like the fact, first of all, I also want to say, uh, Linda, to you and your team, thank you for the communication that you've had with with council. And I appreciate the fact that all of us are getting messaged at the same time so that we all have the opportunity to absorb that information and making yourself available for questions. I it's much appreciated. Um, so I'm uh feeling more and more comfortable with the process uh as as you're going through it just because you've kept us all in the loop and and I appreciate that. Having said that, uh uh if a vote were to be taken right now, I would vote for CPS. Thank you.

Thank you, Council Member Mos. Thank you. CPS would also be my top choice. I'm looking at some of the cities that they have worked for and county of Orange, City of Phoenix, um, San Diego County. So, just looking at the cities that they have served versus some of the others, um, they would be my first choice, followed by Bob Murray. Thank you. Um, with no further comments, oh, sorry, Council Member Bis.

I just I'll just quick chime in here again. Uh, Council Member Leon brings up an interesting uh, situation I guess that I didn't consider, which is what if we get to the end and want to cancel. I didn't notice any cancellation language in any of the contracts, but I would imagine that uh, each firm would be uh, at least want to bill whatever that they have uh, uh, for the services that they've done. But one of the interesting things that I did see is that a couple of them indicated that they would guarantee the position for at least a year. and uh if the applicant should happen to uh leave within the year that they would come back out and I think one of them said they would actually do a free professional research. Others said they would do it again but still uh likely be charged but it was kind of nice to see that at least the top three we're looking at all had a guarantee on there of that of something to that effect. So thank you.

Thank you council member. Um well I agree. I think that I know who was um on our executive panel and they're people that I respect and trust in our organization. So, I'd like to make a motion to authorize um our HR director to enter into an agreement with CPS. Is there a second? Second.

Okay, we have a motion and a second. Please vote. The vote is seven eyes, no nays. Motion carries. Thank you. Moving on to item number 22. It's a review of the draft economic Anaheim economic development strategic plan for 20 2026 through 2031. Mr. Interim City Manager Greg Garcia, can we have a staff report?

Yes, Mayor. uh excited to bring forward this next item. It's the uh economic development strategic plan. Uh Sergio Ramirez and his team have been working on this for quite some time and have put together a great document and so we excited to share it with you tonight and uh seek your ultimate approval to move forward. And so with that, I'll turn over to Sergio. Thank you, Greg. Good evening, madame mayor and city council. I'm joined by deputy city manager Ted White, Al Zelinka of Baker Tilly, Anna Jay Keri, property development manager. In the audience, we are also joined by Shawn Bodonian, business development manager, and Kevin Instrom of Kaiser Marson Associates, our city's economic consultants. By way of background, on April 2nd, 2024, the Anaheim City Council adopted the citywide strategic plan. A key priority of the strategic plan is goal F, promoting economic development and tourism, which directs the city to pursue initiatives that attract and retain businesses, promote job creation, and sustain a strong diverse local economy. To achieve this goal, the city council identified 10 strategies, including creating and implementing a strategic economic development plan. To deliver on this directive, the city engaged Baker Tilly to partner with the economic development department on the development of the economic development strategic plan. Over the past 12 months, Baker Tilly has reviewed operations, procedures, funding, and service capacity, as well as conducted community engagement, and gathered input from businesses, developers, property owners, brokers, resident residents, city departments, and you, the city council. In just a minute, I will turn it over to Mr. Zelinka to have him walk you through

our strategic plan and the development process. However, before doing so, I believe it's important to highlight Mr. Zelinka's experience. Prior to joining Baker Tilly, he served as city manager for the cities of Riverside and Huntington Beach and prior to that served as the community development director for the neighboring city of Fullerton, where he oversaw economic development. He holds professional certifications in economic development. And with that, I'd like to ask Al to take it away.

Thank you, Sergio. Good evening, Mayor Akins and members of the council. Al Zalinka with Baker Tilly. As Greg and Sergio noted, you're receiving a presentation this evening of a practical implementation focused economic development roadmap responsive to your priorities and Anaheim's needs in its corridors and districts. The five-year plan translates your policy from 2024 um into the city team's actions. one note uh up there on your wall, the top two priorities that you have uh that were identified by the council in 2024. First one is address neighborhood and commercial blight and the second is create and implement an economic development strategic plan. This effort tonight is a culmination of that direction that you provided and the the priority that you placed uh on that pri on that effort. Next slide, please. Oops. Yeah, that's it. Um, as Sergio mentioned, there has been a very extensive uh outreach effort over the last year to uh result in the foundational components of this very important strategic plan. Uh in addition to the interviews that uh we conducted with the council, there's been interviews with department heads, meetings with department heads, a number of roundts with uh businesses as well as um meetings with residences and and surveys as well. And speaking of surveys, we had two very significant, lengthy surveys that were um sent out to members of the business community and the real estate community and had over 175 participants that really provided uh one component of the input uh to this

strategic plan. Over 352 residents participated in six district meetings pertaining to the economic development strategic plan and the three roundts that I mentioned earlier for small businesses, medium and large businesses and developers and brokers were attended by over 75 people and those two-hour sessions which were there were three of them uh uh allowed for some very uh in-depth exchange and insights from those who are in the trenches leading businesses, developing property, etc. Um, all of that process combined culminated in much of the um the foundation for the strategic plan. Next, please. on top of the the inputs from people um and businesses and organizations um and second foundation of this plan is economic information and as Sergio mentioned we have Kaiser Marston here this evening they provided some very important uh economic information in this for the strategic plan there's 12 pages of infographic level insights uh in this strategic plan but there's much more information behind that Kaiser Martin has, but all of that um helped build this strategic plan. So, the strategic plan framework is not unfamiliar to you. It's very much akin to the strategic plan for the city as a whole. Um there are goals which are outcomes. There's strategies which is the approach to those outcomes and there's actions which is basically a to-do list. One of the uh differences between the way this is structured and your citywide strategic plan comes from

learning over the last two years. And that is that we organize the to-do list, if you will, by actual years, 2027, 2028 and 29, 2030 and 31. and we identified which department is going to lead which action and which departments are going to be supporting those actions. That way uh the council, the public and staff are aware of who's responsible for what and that there's uh an ability for all to hold one another accountable to performing the council's policy direction. as I present the uh the remainder of the strategic plan out of an interest in time and also given your familiarity with the the draft and the staff report um and your uh journey along with us for the last year. Um I'm going to focus on the goals and strategies. However, when we get to the conclusion of the presentation, we will have up on the screen the entire strategic plan. So if you have questions about actions or suggestions or any specific feedback, we can flip through the pages and get your comments in real time. Next, so for goal A uh attract and retain businesses, there's three strategies and seven actions behind uh this goal. It's uh I'm going to just kind of read through the strategies quickly. tell the the first strategy to attract and retain business is to tell the Anaheim story locally, regionally, nationally, and globally. Secondly, to attract industries central to generating tax revenues for the general fund.

Third, proactively support existing businesses to retain jobs and encourage expansion. One of the key takeaways from this goal and and how it all rolled up together from all of the input is that the attracting and retaining businesses is important for just the surface reasons of businesses are the backbones of the economy of cities and they develop a strong they're they're important for the strong tax base and the quality jobs across all districts. in the city of Anaheim. The next goal is to promote tourism, hospitality, sports, and entertainment. There's two strategies and four actions. The strategies are expand lodging, dining, and entertainment options and position Angel Stadium property for long-term success. Uh tourism remains an economic engine in the city and the focus of that strategy is on um preparing for growth and opportunities. And secondly um important about balancing the citywide benefits with neighborhood stability. the and then with respect to Angel Stadium, economic development and other departments would be supporting the city manager's lead in go in um positioning that property over time. Next, please. Goal C is support small businesses. There's four strategies and 10 actions related to supporting small businesses. The strategies include strengthen and local retail and restaurant ecosystem to serve residents and attract visitors to serve as an information and referral

resource for business financing opportunities to leverage city partnerships and programs to increase business visibility and sales. And fourth, strengthen small and micro business navigation and support. What we heard from the business community is that one of the greatest roles that economic development and can play to support their success is to be a conduit um for access to capital to help elevate the visibility of those businesses and to focus on navigating the various processes and regulations um and the the learning curve of uh small business. Um what we what we took away from um this roll up of the goal is that um the the greatest outcome is that we can have more seamless business experiences and stronger local corridors and districts um by supporting the small businesses that comprise them. The next goal, goal D, is to continue the revitalization of Anaheim's commercial corridors. Uh for this goal, there's five strategies and 10 actions. Um the the five strategies are manage and dispose of the su successor agency's property portfolio and other obligations. Second, implement the development of 39 commons. Third, package investable sites by district and corridor. Fourth, foster a vibrant center city. And fifth, revitalize key corridors.

What we um learned from this journey that we uh were on over the last year is that there's a great desire for um visible improvements throughout um the corridors and districts of the city. Everything from cleanliness and safety to reinvestment of underutilized properties and buildings. Um it was very important that uh tangible improvements that residents and businesses can see are achieved through this uh uh implementation of the strategic plan. And uh the final goal, goal E, this is to assess departmental structure and sustainable funding strategies. About five years ago or so, the council uh made the very um thoughtful decision to um support the uh a standalone economic development department. Um and with that came um a a a budget that was comprised of one-time revenues and declining uh revenues from the disillusion of redevelopment successor agency funds. And uh what we learned through this process is that there is um uh support from all aspects of the community and and from all of the inputs we received to continue the economic development department because it's a the focus is something that is valued by many. Um and to do that is to uh take a view of addressing the declining funding and um put in place uh uh incrementally a more sustainable funding program to sustain the economic development

department. The the end outcome is that the city is over time um better positioned to deliver results efficiently. And one other uh couple other points is um it was really uh elevated to awareness that economic development is the entire city organization's job. Every every diff every department has a different piece of it and um supporting that strengthening of that muscle of the of the city team working um optimally together uh was u something that was appreciated by all. And then um of course it's a neverending journey to always refine the development review process and that was something that um uh was important as well. And with that I'll hand it over to Sergio for the final comments.

Thank you. Mayor and city council, this concludes our presentation. We've provided you with hard copies at your desks and also um as Al mentioned, we'll have a we'll bring up in a minute here the um digital version on your screen. Staff recommends that you review, discuss, and provide staff with any direction or desired edits and ultimately make a motion for approval subject to those any those edits or changes that you'd like. Thank you. We're available to answer any questions. Thank you, Sergio. I believe the mayor stepped out briefly. Uh I believe some folks have run in. Uh council member Meeks,

thank you. Um some of the things uh like the key corridor revitalization, I know we're investing a lot in that. Uh it seems like part of that effort should be partnering with code enforcement to do active enforcement um in in the conditions of the properties. uh even like we saw some of the billboards a couple of weeks ago and things like that. And I think we have an obligation to our businesses and our residents to make sure that our city is is meeting certain standards across the city, not just, you know, in certain areas where a neighbor might care. Um but everybody needs to have deserves a level of expectation. Um and that's businesses and residents alike. So, I' I'd like to, you know, see what what we're doing in that area and then, uh, maybe how we can improve that to to help with economic development. Um, one of the other things that we're doing that, you know, we identified as important to our businesses and we've already taken steps to do the permit streamlining task force and making sure that the city, all the departments continue to collaborate on that and that our businesses have a an easy and successful route to opening their business and having success. But there's also um I'm wondering if there's other things like one of the things I I saw on here that surprised me um was that we had lower than average high school graduation rates for our workforce in Anaheim. And do you think I mean is that something that as people look to locate their business um is that something that they're looking at and even if it's not the biggest factor uh is that something that maybe our libraries can do classes for GED or

something. Um, I think it's important to businesses to have an educated workforce um, within our city, but it's also important to the young people that are coming out of school or maybe dropping out of school, but having that opportunity to get that high school diploma to correct their, you know, whatever reason they they dropped out of school. And we're looking at a a generation that had a tough time with COVID. And I think it uh may have really reduced our graduation rates and and is there something our libraries can do? They do so many wonderful programs. Is that something that maybe we can look at to help? And I think it might help our economic development also. So those are my thoughts on it.

Thank you, Mayor Prom Leon. And then council member Kurts.

Thank you, Madame Mayor. I appreciate staff's work on this. Um I'm looking at the actual uh plan. Um under goal D continued revitalization of commercial corridors. Um I noticed that a number of the actions that are associated with the strategies they they're ongoing. Uh whole almost all of them are ongoing. I I I wanted to ask are there some KPIs that are tied to some of these actions? Are there um is there a more detailed um level of of goals uh for these as they some of them seem a little broad? Um and so I just want to I just want to know how are we measuring that?

Um mayor promp great question actually because that that item was so large and it does encompass a lot. There's quite a bit of sorry Ted's calling dialing dialing making a making calls here phoning a friend. Okay. Um that section does have quite a bit um of items for um so just maybe I I can identify um staff um has identified several KPIs that we'd like to establish for the various um districts and areas for like for the canyon. One of the things that we're doing, we've actually launched a um we're actually engaging several consultants to conduct uh economic analysis to be able to zero in on the industries that we can hopefully attract and looking at also the the landscape of the entitlement process there to see what types of large companies we can attract employment. um looking at um we're doing actually a focused analysis on life science, advanced manufacturing and defense. Um for Time Mile, we're actually looking to also grow the business community um install monumentation um and potentially look at a business improvement district in in your district with uh Little Arabia. Um, we're also looking to expand the business improvement district and have efforts to um, in the coming year to launch and hopefully come back to the business community for interest in a in a business improvement district on Beach Boulevard. of course continued the efforts of the Rebuild Beach team and a lot of the great efforts by the housing um department, code enforcement and police, but um certain KPIs include bringing some of the retail projects to to fruition and also just um you know continue to be reducing some of the code enforcement and um calls for police and in center city here continuing the efforts of the former the you know based on the improvements of the prior redevelopment agency continuing to again

help small business um and attract business to the area and um looking at continued placemaking opportunities to help grow center city. I I appreciate that. Sergio, can I just ask maybe as an example um you know looking at number three package investable sites by district and corridor. The action that's tied to that is develop industry specific attraction packages and marketing materials to target and recruit high growth sectors. So I guess my question is in terms of a a is there a timeline for those? Are there, you know, deadlines that we're going to have for the team? And I apologize if I'm going into the weeds. It just it's it's an ongoing goal, and I understand that, right? We're always going to want to attract more businesses. We're always going to want to uh improve and and and um you know, put these packages and materials together, but I'm just wondering in terms of specific steps as to we know what the goal is. Is there a road map as to how we're getting there that isn't necessarily listed here? And if there is, great. you don't necessarily have to go through you know the 20 point map but that's I guess does it make sense what I'm trying to ask

it is one of the one of the goals from identified was also creating a strategic marketing communication plan and one of the things that we'd like to do is make sure that we're able to tell that that Anaheim story kind of what are our strengths we know that of course our public utility is an incredible asset to to to the city and we we've heard that from businesses developers and being able to make sure that we're working with our partners in public utility, public works to being able to say and what are the incentives, what are the um the factors in sector or I'm sorry segments that really set us apart and in terms of a timeline though like yeah that for us that that communication plan is like one of the most important things in the next year.

Okay, got it. Okay, thank you. Um, and then just one more comment, and you brought it up, uh, but I would like to add it, uh, to this plan, uh, is exploring and hopefully forming a business improvement district in Little Arabia district. Um, I know you would probably want more time in my mind, we can do it in the next few months, but if we can do it in the next couple years, I know that it's a heavy lift. Um, but in conversations with a lot of business owners on Brookers, there's uh an openness and um, dare I say excitement about potentially doing something like that. And so I want to make sure that we're doing everything on the city side um, that we're informing them that we're following the process in terms of what we can or can't do. Um, so if possible, if we could add that in, um, under goal D, um, I think it would be adding

is it E or D? It would be goal E. So, under goal D, but I think that um I think under goal D, from what I understand, it's it's it's in there, but I think from what I hear from the mayor prom, he'd like to call it out and have it be its standalone item. So, it would basically be an an E, if I'm understanding, and he would like that in year 2027.

So, goal D, strategy five, adding an action E. I I just would like to clarify that goal D action D includes continued revital revitalization of key commercial corridors i.e. Beach Boulevard, Center City, Little Arabia, North Uklid, Mile, Tile Mile, etc. with an emphasis on public improvements, cleaning, monumentation, etc., and support for locally initiated business improvement district formations. So, so I I I think we're covered there in terms of uh you know, the the support Um, we're we want to see that happen and we want to we want to be able to support them as they go forward with that.

Okay. So, what I'm hearing you say is that's that's included in action D and we don't need to have a separate standout item on there. That's correct. Okay. Thank you, Council Member Curts. And then Council Member Rubik,

thank you for um for the information. One thing um you did mention at the beginning is the need to diversify the economy of our city. We've talked about it a lot. We were very reliant overly reliant on one industry and uh we learned a few years ago that that's not good. So I'm glad there is an emphasis to trying diversify that. At the same time, um you are not uh you're not negating the the the the the need to promote the same thing that we're relying on, tourism, hospitality, sports, and entertainment. Um and and thank you for noting that in so many of these items, it is a citywide department effort, not just economic development. and you working with the uh the Sports and Convention Center um and and the information uh the very valued information that they have on what visitors convention uh conventions need in our city to make a decision to come to our city, stay in our city, spend money in our city. Um there the information that Mr. Morton has is invaluable uh because it's it's there. It it's it's real. Um the other thing I want to emphasize and I know you've included them but I can't find them uh quickly in that is our public safety police and and fire. Um try as you might to promote tourism to improve the corridors. Do all of that. if we don't have a safe city, we're not going to have any of that. So, want to uh make sure that someplace in

the preface of it, you're you're noting the importance of keeping our cities safe and uh how reliant we are on them. I know uh convention sales are are very reliant. That's how we get uh some of them because we are safe. Uh, and so we want to make sure that for everything we want to do here, uh, you're not going to have small businesses wanting to move in to a city where they don't feel safe for themselves or their customers. So, thank you. Thank you, Council Member Ruba Calva, and then Council Member Mos.

Thank you. Well, first of all, I just want to thank you, uh, Sergio, because I think I requested this when I first got elected. So, I'm glad to see that we are looking at a strategic plan. Uh, and thank you to everybody who's taken uh made an effort to get us to this point. So, you know me, my I'm all about attracting and retaining. I think that is the ultimate definition of um economic development. So, I'm going to first address some of the uh things I really like about it and then I'm going to address the concern I have about the additional budget requests that you have asked for because I I do think that your department's funded pretty well. Um, so we can talk about that a little bit. Um but the first one I I really do appreciate goal A. I think that for the most part everything that you have listed in here is um important for attracting and retaining businesses in Anaheim. Um I'm particularly excited about certain things that we are have coming here like the Porsche dealership which will generate a lot of tax revenue and I think that we should be thinking big like that. Um, I love restaurants, but they don't generate as much as others. And we know that their um fail rate unfortunately can be pretty high. 95% um tend to fail in the first uh what 5 years. So, I think that's something to be very mindful about and what types of businesses we're bringing into the area. I um you know, I represent the downtown area, so we've seen a lot of turnover. I think it's important too that we're working with some of our developers in the area like and I'm not gonna not to point out anybody but to point out um uh the group that owns the packing house you know they do tend to I'll say gouge some of their small businesses so they get in they make a really great first impression and then all of a sudden their uh lease is um skyrockets and they can no longer survive. so we lose a business and and I just would I don't

want to see that. So I think part of your economic development strategy if it could also be to address some of those issues. I I agree B I think that we can leave a lot of that to visit Anaheim. Um but I do understand how important it is for us to attract outside. So I thank you for working with Mexico when we had our dignitaries here and they were bringing tech interest but that didn't really cost us a lot. it would we had the ability to work with the console and their connection. So I think if we just get really creative with the partnerships that we're building. So our um different um agencies that are connected to international companies I think are a great way to attract outside businesses. Uh so I would love to see more of that um coming into ANI because those generate good paying jobs and we definitely have availability in terms of commercial property for some of those uh to take place. I would also recommend leveraging some of the associations that you guys currently are part of because they are developing programs and they are wellversed with businesses that are looking for new headquarters. Uh that would be great for Anaheim. And we had a public speaker here earlier today, the Orange County Business Council. They do that. So that that is something I think that we should consider. The revitalization of commercial corridors. I see the value, but I'm also concerned that we spend too much on signage and not enough on actually getting businesses in the area. I love to see that we have um uh name an industry uh aerospace, but I want to see more aerospace. I don't just want to see the sign. I want to see the actual businesses and the jobs that we're generating. Um, opportunity zones are really challenging to work with, but I do see the value if we can actually make it happen. Uh, and but we could also partner with firms like the firm that's helping with this because oftent times you guys are the ones are the experts on

on helping businesses utilize those opportunity zone dollars because those are federal and they can be very difficult to navigate. Um and then I think I'm cons I think we should I'm a little bit concerned with goal E because I also am mindful of um interdep departmental challenges. So I think it would be good to under I we we know understand what planning planning is a very important department especially when we're getting new businesses here because if the process is good then um a business is able to open up here and I know that Heather is leading that charge pretty effectively. So I would be concerned that we're going to interweave into departments that may convolute the situation even more. Um so that is that's the feedback that I have on all that. So a little bit about the budget. Can you share with me because I heard you guys ask a couple times about uh greater investment. What is the current budget? Because I just don't have it off the top of my head but I know that we did increase your budget during the last budget cycle. Sure, council member. Our budget is um primarily composed of two sources. Uh we have a general fund transfer um which is based upon a formula, a portion of former successor agency or redevelopment uh revenues that were redirected to the general fund. We get a fraction of that and that funds a portion of our operations. Um the other uh portion of our budget is composed of uh the one-time sale of uh successor agency properties. Um those are one-time revenues that when the property is sold uh we lose that uh revenue stream uh and that is a dwindling revenue source. The challenge that we have is that um our operations are funded by both sources. So in effect uh a significant portion of our operation is funded by one-time declining revenue sources. um we

identify that as an issue in the strategic plan. We don't identify a solution to that problem. I think our goal was uh primarily to call that out and initiate conversations uh with the city council uh with city manager's office and also with finance to begin to address that that fundamental issue. Did you guys provide a slide on what that breakdown looks like? Could what's the total budget that you currently have right now and then what percentage of that comes from general fund? Second,

council member, I I'm not sure we have that ready, although we will have that ready for our budget conversations in June. And we can, you know, part of the conversation will already be uh what portion they're funded with general fund and the types of funds that fund them and the declining fund that they reference. And so I like you uh agree that this goal is important because it calls out the fact that we have to come up with a solution to make sure that whatever model we put together is sustainable for the long term. And so you'll hear

although I would like to see what results we're currently not that we're not working hard but I would like to see what results have been generated through economic development uh thus far. So I think that's what I'm most interested in. I always love to see key performance indicators just so that we can understand where our taxpayer dollars are going. Um, and I know we'll see that during the budget cycle, but when we are putting that into a strategic plan to maintain funding, it's hard for me to kind of take that in and say, okay, we should definitely look for a solution when we don't really know how it's being utilized at this time. And it doesn't the the plan doesn't say to what extent we plan on funding them and and what sources, but it's just we need to come up with a plan. Uh because if we want all the good things in this plan to occur, we need to find a way to make that happen,

right? And I'm not sure that all the things in this plan need to be done through economic development. I guess I guess that's the point I'm trying to make is they're all very good ideas, but it's a lot of um it's a lot of really good ideas and I don't really think that we'll be able to execute on all of them. So I would prefer to focus on things that we can actually see results of and and attracting and retaining is one of them. And so I I appreciate what you guys have shared, but I just want to make sure that we stay focused for the best results and not kind of be all over the place when it comes to because not everything falls into economic development. A lot of this could be marketing or communications and maybe we need to enhance those departments. Uh so that's that's my um two cents at this point. But thank you. This is a beautiful presentation. uh and I love all the work that has gone into it and I'm excited to see how it'll be executed once we decide what uh will be moving forward.

Thank you, Council Member Ma, and then Council Member Bis. Thank you, Mayor. I appreciate the work that has gone into this document. Um I know we have really exciting projects like OC Vibe and Disney Forward on the horizon. It's really important to me that our small businesses feel as cared for um as our big projects do. How are we reaching out to small businesses that don't typically engage with us?

We try to use partner depart um organizations to make sure that we're um outreaching. One of the things that many of you also know is that our department does a a good effort to get out there and boots on the ground whenever we're actually marketing um events and also um meetings uh community meetings. But we also one of the things that we actually had a lot of success with actually as part of this um process was actually roundts. We actually found that we had focus when we had focus roundts on small business. uh we had great interest and I think that being able to have um use that mechanism to be able to invite folks and have um use actually like the Gordon Hoy which was a great uh venue or in the Canyon East Anaheim um facility and gym facility um would be great opportunities for us to be able to in addition to um marketing um uh and and and using the different um mechanisms that we have of social media but but I think also the round tables is something that we saw as a very productive successful um market trend.

If I if I may as a as an outsider sitting in the um the the business roundts, what was super exciting was actually seeing two businesses who knew nothing about each other realize that all these years they've been sourcing their products from outside of Anaheim. And if they knew about each other, which they now do, now they're supporting one another and they made a a verbal commitment to work with another one another. And you'll see goal C um strategy for both um action B and C are a direct result of that that Sergio and his team said we have to pres uh procure a businessto business database of Anaheim businesses so that we can connect these businesses and and people can just source it on online and then also coordinate these quarterly businessto business roundts like Sergio said so that these connections these synergies can be made because they they were applauding they they they were giddy about this convening that Sergio and his team put together. So that's some examples.

Thank you. And I know we talk about diversifying uh revenue streams a lot and I just want to emphasize um the desire to lean into industries that aren't as vulnerable to economic downturn. So like we've talked about biotech, defense spending, things like that. Um that would be much appreciated. Thank you Bis.

Thank you very much. Um be as quick as I can here. I'm going to add my two cents. First off, uh thank you to staff. I definitely see a well uh thoughtout plan here that you guys have put together. Um I wasn't going to mention it, but since uh one of our council members already did it, I'm going to hit the nail on the head twice because this is something that I have told I know at least half of you up there at least a dozen times. And that is it's great to have the strategic plan and it's important. And what was mentioned was safety and security. And this is this is a this is a big deal in and around uh Beach Boulevard, but I want to attract the best businesses that I can. And I believe this plan will do that. But on the same token, we also need to have the the area considered safe so that I can attract say a cheesecake factory or u you know some other uh type of business that's there that's looking at the area and seeing well we have these items going on. So, of course, anytime I get the opportunity to say that, I'm going to say it out loud. So, thank you, Council Member uh Curts, for bringing that up. The other thing that I wanted to just uh point out, you know, we brought up Visit Anaheim. I do know that the economic development that we're looking at here is not what Visit Anaheim is doing. Visit Anaheim is selling uh Disneyland. They're they're selling the hotels. They're they're saying, "Hey, bring your vacation here." This here is saying, "Hey, look, bring your business to Anaheim. Interact with the residents that are there. We will be your customers." And I think uh you've done a good job anyways creating a plan to get those businesses to come uh to Anaheim. But I think it's important that um you know we continue to uh advertise that and you know e even though sometimes you're going to get out there and maybe you don't get the businesses the

business that is out there but you know every time we go to a uh ribbon cutting there's definitely uh a box in the KPI metric that said hey look this is what what you guys have been uh working on uh I know uh you've done a great job and I'll leave it at that. So, thank you.

Thank you. Um, I had a couple questions and I apologize I did not put them in order. So, um, starting with D. Um, I know Council Member Rubikava brought up the opportunity zones and um, Sergio, you and I have talked about going after more federal dollars for areas throughout the city, not just downtown, that are in these opportunity zones um, both state and federally. And so I I was actually pleased to see that that that is in there. Um just a kind of more 50,000 foot question. Uh how flexible do you see the strategic plan being? And the reason I ask is when we went through the strategic plan for our city um putting forward um goals, strategies, we have to still realize that there's going to be unanticipated actions or things that happen in the economy. Um so how do you see um how much flexibility do you see being in this plan?

Extensive flexibility. The reality is that u we have to be flexible because of changing economic conditions and priorities that may change. One of the things that we are building into is being able to come back on an annual basis um either as part of the city's um larger um city um strategic plan update or a more focused economic development update um to be able to revisit these goals and actions.

Thank you. Um, and continuing on D, I know that there was state legislation that is pushing housing on major corridors that is near transportation hubs or close to transportation hubs. Have we looked into um doing something in the city that would encourage some of our strip malls that are now mostly vacant um to look at kind of automatic zoning changes for mixed use or more housing to create a larger customer base on our bigger corridors?

Yes. as part of the uh recently adopted housing element um and the implementation plan, the resoning um program uh that came with updates to the zoning code uh areas of the city that are midb block underutilized um you know lower level commercial some of the older strip malls you can actually do by housing without having to go through a reszoning process. But does that include mixuse if there's a commercial portion of it?

It it generally does not. It's it's com it's residential only. Mixed use has a very checkered um and challenged kind of past. It works in in at really kind of key intersections or walkable communities, but it it's a it's a it's been a real challenge uh for the market to support mixeduse projects at kind of midblock locations. Um it hasn't been very successful over the past 20 25 years or so.

Okay. Thank you for that. Um, and I'm going to ask this a couple of times, but what are we doing to get that information about from our housing element out to developers? Yes, we've got we've got um we've got a lot of tools available and and I can tell you housing developers are some of the most aggressive, you know, look they've got entire teams that are out there looking and and and uh and you know, pounding the pavement and and building actually relationships. I'm always amazed how the housing uh developers actually know the names of the grandchildren of the property owners because they've talked to them so many times and are trying to make you know uh find opportunities to build housing. So they're they are very much aware of the opportunities that exist in Anaheim.

Thank you. um when we talk that one of the goals um stated and I'm sorry I didn't write down when we talk about investment in the downtown neighborhood to invest in parking to invest in other components um how much are we working with the downtown Anaheim Association to address things like the cost of rent um vacancy rates in the properties that they're leasing because I believe it's a lot of it is owned by one landlord lord that kind of has the majority of the downtown Anaheim Association properties.

The actually the the association doesn't property manage the retail. That is actually managed by the individual property owners. Um there is um the lab um or center for the universe is is one of the owners. they own most of the small shops along the north side of of Center Street, but you also have other property owners um that own the office buildings. Um the Disney Travel Building and of course the the city is is a is a is a partner there. The Downtown Anaheim Association manages the common space and the activation of that space. But um we we actually we the city's u board member of that association and we meet monthly to go over any of the items and issues that they have. But um individual leasing of of property and actually the vacancy there on of Center Street is actually pretty low.

Okay. Thank you. Um, as far as and I know uh we've had a lot of conversations on this, but when we when you talk about marketing and telling Anaheim's story, is there going to be any request to work with a professional marketer to tell our story? Um, I know we do some ads in the Orange County Business Journal, um, but talking about Anaheim, but when I go out and kind of toot our horn and talk about our public utilities and our electric rates, etc., it's always a surprise to people. And so I want to work with someone that can professionally tell our story and help people understand that their bottom line and overhead will be less when they open up a business or an HQ in Anaheim. Um and and to build on that, what is our marketing plan to tell our stories of success? for instance, Arizona tea um interviews and kind of putting it out there to do interviews with the public utilities general manager about Anaheim's electrical rates, water rates, and just getting positive pieces in all of our local media on what we've done well.

Mayor, absolutely. That's that would actually be this department's rep um recommendation and preference uh utilizing outside firm to really kind of tell a um kind of the story a well structured story about Anaheim's assets um but also engaging in in discovery and and strategy of how to place us um in in in in competition with um national and global country um um communities that we compete with for the same type of business tourism um bioscience, manufacturing, and being able to of course meet with stakeholders such as yourself, business leaders um and and departments to be able to ensure that we're able to put together a bespoke packet of um marketing tools um but also uh narratives that we're able to um to tell.

Yeah. because I I think if we can utilize social media um you know local I know we don't have a very vibrant um local media market uh but we still do have some um and I would like to just see more pieces featuring some of our CEOs or some of our um success stories and I know I come I mentioned Arizona tea but that is something that I really think more people should know about um and it's a we have a lot of little known secrets Um, and I'd like to just work more on getting um, publicity out for when we do kind of hit a home run and get a new um, business in the um, resort district, I'm sorry, in the in the city. As far as the goal be for the resort district, um, have we done an analysis out of your department on the success or not success of the old subsidy program? And do we have any information on any new development that has come to the city um after the subsidies sunseted?

Mayor, we have not done a formal um analysis of of that program. However, I can share with you that some of the assumptions made of at the time in 2016 when that program was put in place, um the amount the cost of the actual hotels ended up being higher and of course the the result of what the uh expectations of both the benefit to the the city have exceeded those expectations or assumptions that were um originally assessed. But I think that it would be great to be able to look back to do a a review and look at the benefit because I think with the expansion both by Disney and the investment in OC Vibe based on what you see in the report, our demand for hotel rooms is going to grow and I think we're going to have an opportunity to hopefully capture that here in our city and not lose um um development opportunities to our neighboring cities.

Thank you. And and I have another kind of zoning question. Um, have we, as part of the goal be I would like to um see a push towards changing and updating our zoning along Harbor Boulevard. Um, a lot of the hotels have have mentioned that, you know, they have a different standard of rooms per acre than hotels that are a bit farther away from the park. And maybe that's something that we could address globally as opposed to having them come in and do parcel by parcel. Um especially now that the um bridge is going to be started I think at the end of this year. They're going to start construction soon on that bridge. Um I love the idea of dashboards. I think every department should have a dashboard because it just keeps us all accountable and it's easy for the public to then keep us accountable about whether we're um meeting the goals that that we talk about. And I really appreciate the um cross department um emphasis because you know obviously it it would be nice to have especially for businesses that are new to the city or trying to open to not have these complaints that it takes a year or a year and a half to open doors um because they're hearing different messages from different departments. Um, you know, if we can just have that kind of one-stop shop, I don't know if that's e economic development, but to have one kind of person that can shepherd them through all of the other departments, I think would be really helpful. Every city does it different, but if you're a small business owner trying to open up a restaurant, it's very daunting when you kind you don't understand the process. So, anything we can do to have somebody in economic development just shepherd people a bit more through the process, I think would be really helpful to attract and retain those businesses. Um, council member, do you have or mayor prom, do you have another comment?

I do. Thank you, madame mayor. I it it this may just be me, but can we I I still me personally, I would like to call out the Little Arabia Business Improvement District as an action. I understand that it's listed it under action D, but it it still sounds like it's kind of just, you know, it's it's it's part of the list, if you will. Um, I think if it's a a specific call out, I think it it it generates a little bit more um, you know, it's an action that we want to actually take. That might just be me, but that would be my request if we can please do that. Um, the other comment that I was going to have, I want to echo. Um and I apologize I didn't hear the whole thing in um the whole comments by my colleagues but um really want to emphasize the importance of working in collaboration with the planning department uh and and really making sure that we're not just attracting businesses and and getting them excited to come but that we're able to work with them through the process uh making it smoother and and and and I do want to say I think there's been a lot of improvement um but definitely you know I'm a big believer that there's always room for improvement as well. So, that would be my request uh on that one. Um other than that, I'm I'm good.

Council member Rubikala, do you have another comment?

I do. Thank you. I just wanted to go back to the marketing. So, I'm not opposed to marketing when it's direct targeted B2B marketing, but you do have it listed here as promote tourism, hospitality, sports, and entertainment. And and I don't think that's necessarily the role of economic development. So, I think that that would be my trade shows are always good. Um, I think making sure that we're working with other chambers that are outside of the city because those chambers are familiar with the businesses. Not that they want to lose their businesses, but they are aware of when they're expanding beyond um their state. So, that would be something I think to be more tailored on the marketing side because that budget is much smaller than a marketing budget. That is kind of what you guys are mentioning. Subsidies, you know, always interesting but very controversial in Anaheim. So, that's something I would be mindful of. We've seen it before. We hear the stories and, you know, it's always the insinuation that corruption exists, but that is not always the case. So, I would just say if you're going to explore that, be very thoughtful in what it looks like. Um, I don't want to go back to what we've had in the past where it is used against uh policy makers in the city when we're just trying to bring business. So, please be mindful on any packages that you're putting together if you are looking to include subsidies in that. And it and maybe it's limited to small businesses and not bigger businesses, but I also know it's good to attract bigger and sometimes you have to to do a little more. But just that's something I want you to be mindful of. And then on the planning process side, I'll just mention so I I have been working very closely with Heather and Ted on the planning side. So we have had roundts with um key stakeholders and they are really working on the process. So I I I think um as a person who has been staff before, I also just want to be mindful not to say we want economic development to do this when it's

somebody else's department's role, but definitely interdep department collaboration in terms of you throw the lead over to planning and let them know what's happening. We have explored the concierge process, but I think it's probably better to just have a um a process that is seamless and can be explained and anybody can go to the website and see like for example, you know, different cities might have an exact list of if you need to get a cup, if you need a building permit, all the certific certificate of occupancy, all the things that you might need to operate your business, um and then what departments to go to. So, I think that just being able to forward them over to that department is probably good. And then I haven't I I feel bad, but I haven't even looked at your website. So, I'm going to have to go look at the economic development page cuz the first thing that a person's going to do when they look to move into a city is Google the department and see what types of resources are available. So, that's um something that I'd like to see. And then when you do get a chance, um, Sergio, I know that we've also talked to you about some of the parcels in town that have been vacant for quite some time, like Luigi's, uh, on State College and a few others. I'd just like to know what the plan has been to attract some businesses to fill those spaces or are we looking, you know, what what has the process been to fill some of those places? And then you also had the slide or the page on the commercial um, property vacancies. you know, what has the plan been at recently to get those filled? Um because I mean, if we're already doing some of that ongoing work, I'd like to see what the success rate has been for some of those. And we do know, you know, since COVID, a lot of people were moving out of offices, but now productivity has declined and many businesses are moving their employees back into the office because it not only promotes succession planning, but it also helps with productivity and revenue generating. So, that's all. Thank you, Council

Member Bis. If I could, Council Member, if I could or mayor, I just wanted to point out that so the there's been a couple of council members who've mentioned the uh planning and and uh building process improvements, and that's something that um we've heard a lot about and and it's something we're very much focused on. And I I do want to point out that um the lead department that we've identified for that action is the planning and building department. They will be taking the lead. Perfect. Um a and the partner you know departments public works utilities fire etc will be there economic development would be playing just a supporting role in that.

Perfect. No I I appreciate that and especially I think the mayor mentioned this but the features and benefits of the city right so when you're putting your marketing um pieces together it's really about 35% lower um utility rates uh you know 350,000 people and triples in size every day. So, I think some of the things like that would probably be good messaging.

Thank you. You know, again, Council Member Leon brought up something at the very beginning. He said, "Hey, you've got a lot of out ongoing um items that are on this list." And I I'm sitting here and I didn't have this thought until I guess just about right now. But, you know, with our our strategic plan that's over here, we've got an order. uh what's you know it's prioritized what's most important and there I think everything on this list is important but do we need to prioritize what is most important and put it in a prioritized order I only say that because there there's a lot of you and there's a lot of stuff going on here and and obviously it shows that you guys are doing a lot of work but is a prioritization here uh necessary and then the other thing I wanted to And this was on my notes before and I forgot to bring it up. You know, we talk about Anaheim. Anaheim is definitely the tourist economy. That's our main goal. It's supplemented, you know, with uh retail sales, property ownership. But the other piece to this is that we should be focusing on uh ground rent opportunities for the city because if we have land that's available out there, we can rent those uh parcels out as income to the city. That is a another piece of income that's out there. I'll leave it at that. I guess

I'm sorry, Council Member. Um, so you want me to start? So, if I could ask you to just read I'm sorry.

The two really the two things that I'm I'm wondering here is should this not be prioritized as to what is kind of the most important uh goals to work on? And I know we've got our strategic plan over here. It's definitely prioritized. There's a lot of stuff that's here. Um, and that's what I'm just asking. I'm saying number one, should it be prioritized? And then the second thing I wanted to bring up that I forgot in my notes earlier is that I'm saying I think we're missing a piece of economic development, which is uh, you know, the selling of the or the using of city property to bring in income. I'm missing that from here. No, actually it's part of the um actually I'll answer I'm sorry the second part first the um part of the the um goal uh sorry now it's uh the successor agency um goal D uh one which is manage and dispose of the successor agency properties and portfolios with respect to the successor agency properties we are always looking to uh fill um vacant properties because sometimes what we have is we have remediation we're dealing with um lot legal issues. So, we can't um of course dispose of properties quickly, but we'll um definitely utilize um have the properties utilized for temporary uses. I think there's also been in the past interest u to for activation uh for the longer um kind of projects and that's something that we've kind of incorporated into this feedback. Um but is is that what you're referring to?

I wasn't necessarily referring to the successor properties, but city-owned properties. There's there's city- owned properties that aren't attached to the successor agency. That is correct. And I think that those are typically managed by public works, but I think that we would have to um kind of look at that from action. I guess what I'm saying is is that we should put some emphasis on there so that you know we can make those properties work for the city in terms of income. That's something we regularly evaluate when opportunities come before us and when it's appropriate because sometimes it's not appropriate depending on the location and the I just didn't see it at all.

Thank you, Mayor Prom. Okay. Sorry. I think there was a first part of the question regarding prioritization. Madame Mayor, I think there was a question I think the other part of his question was regarding

Okay. Sorry. Sorry, I'm sorry. And I think one of the things that I think it's challenging to do that, right, to um one of the things that this effort, we do a lot that we've tried to as a city manager's office is stay focused. We want to get you focused so that we're able to in the next five years able to have all the KPIs to be able to kind of show show results. And so I think that sometimes in in this effort what we've tried to do is um because we have the successor agency obligations that and we have to continue but then all the other things that are in this plan that we've heard from stakeholders from yourselves um that we've tried to identify and so although there is a lot of ongoing that's because of the feedback that we heard directly from from all you and and stakeholders um that um that we we are trying to um as we're I'm sorry with uh the the staff that we have.

Well, that that's my point is that uh there's a ton of stuff going on over here. You have I mean, I'm thankful that you guys are doing all of these ongoing things, but maybe it's uh maybe it's a good idea to prioritize them so that you know you you've got some direction to the staff. This is the most important

if I might suggest. Um, you know, in in the implementing the strategic plan, 14 of the 15 year one uh items in the citywide strategic plan ended up being is are the ones that are on our top priorities list. And so when we there is a somewhat of a prioritization here in some of these items with regards to sort of the things that are happening in year one and years two and three. Um, but I would also, you know, add to that that, you know, economic development really is a game of being nimble and being able to pivot and because it's a it's a it it is really one of the one of those delivery services that comes with opportunity. There are opportunities that hit and it will and it will shift um, you know, priorities, but um, and we want to be able to keep that nimleness. 57 priority uh, 57 strategies and the citywide strategic plans. we really did feel like we needed to narrow those down to those top priorities. We don't have quite so many in this plan. A lot of these things are ongoing that are um that we're going to be doing not only for the next five years, but for the next 5, 10, 15 years after that as well. And so those are things that are just kind of the ongoing items that we have. Those things like develop the economic um marketing plan, you know, uh continue to implement um 39 commons. um those are things that are sort of you know that if they've got specific deadlines to them those become the priority uh items. So I think there's some prioritization that's happening in the document itself.

All right. Thank you. And I'll just I've got one more note down here WB. So this was the workforce investment board. I know we were talking about libraries and local libraries, but really um I think in this particular instance, if we're looking for GED and high school education, that the uh the workhorse investment boards with, uh the the the colleges is is probably the thing to look into. Thank you. Thank you. Um are there any more questions or comments by council? Um if not, do we have a motion? Motion

motion for to approve the strategic plan. I think this is is this a action? Let me see.

If I council has council has the option here to either recommend approval or or make a motion to approve it. Uh you could ask us to take all of this back and come back with, you know, substantial changes. you could make a motion uh and add any um you know additional strategies that you would like to see. So it's really up to the at the pleasure of council of what you'd like to do. We heard specifically about adding a specific strategy related to the little Arabia business improvement district. We can make a motion and add some spec specifics that you would like or you can you know we could come back we could meet with you all again and make sure that we're capturing some of the items that you'd like to see specific. I'd like to make a motion to apply some of the feedback and come back with a revised version of the strategic plan. Um, especially including some of the I mean there was some pretty clear feedback. Uh, I think we might need some more information, but I I would like to make a motion to come back with additional feedback. It's hard to uh I and I also think now that we're going into budget season and stuff like that, it's kind of hard. I think we've provided a lot of information and we can probably get some additional detail uh on the strategic plan that has a little more substance uh so that we can provide direction. So that would be my motion if that makes sense. Rob,

uh certainly I I think we heard some good feedback tonight that we can incorporate if there's a if there's a motion to approve it tonight with those changes. Um, and we can always give more detail as as we move forward because to your point uh and your questions with regard to the budget and and restructuring, that's an ongoing conversation. Um, but we're prepared to uh approve tonight with the changes that we heard. If there are other changes that uh council would like to include tonight, we we can certainly take that feedback. Well, I'm concerned that we won't see I'm concerned that we're going to provide or that we're going to approve something that maybe the feedback wasn't what I I want to make sure it's translated properly into the final product if that makes sense because there was a lot of feedback given and I think staff might need some more time to just come back. I would like to see a revised version of of the plan because there is a lot in here. And I think from what we were hearing is we if I'm I'm not going to speak on behalf of everybody, but I think what we did kind of hear is that we had a lot of information in here and maybe we needed a a little more detail on what we were going to do and priorities. Um, I see we had some years and ongoing, but we also don't have any real statistics or KPIs to show how those ongoing initiatives are working. So, I mean, that would be my motion is we maybe we don't need a full presentation, but I I am reluctant to approve a strategic plan with all of the feedback that we had here today. I' I'd prefer to have it come back. So, I guess my motion would be to allow staff to go back, apply changes, and come back with a revised strategic plan. If I can get a second,

Council Member Meeks. Oh, I'm sorry. I didn't see you buzzing.

Um, I I mean, I would like the next version to be ready and I think that some of the feedback that we've provided have been questions, clarifying, things like that. So to the extent that the team can work with council members, I think um council member Leon was very clear on who he wanted. But uh good job, but some of the other comments I think were were less specific on how they wanted that information presented. And so I would suggest that you work with as you go through those comments and I know you'll listen to this later and contact those council members and make sure that you're getting that into the document um or that information the document as as they have requested um and then maybe it can come back corrected as a uh consent calendar item or something. I mean I think I think we're close and um you know and I appreciate all the feedback and everything. I just want to make sure it was a little vague on exactly how that information was to be presented in the um plan. And I I think one of the things I'm not clear on is do we want it to say priority one, two, or three or can they have five priorities? And I don't mind them having five priorities. I mean, I think it's fine the way it is and and it does kind of address the fluidity of of, you know, when things become available and when opportunities are there and when they're approached. So, um, I'm fine with the way it's presented. Just want to make sure everybody else is too. Council member Curts,

thank you. And I too agree with that because the nature of your work doesn't say I'm going to do this first, this next. It's everything you are doing many things at the same time. You're holding a workshop here. Um but at the same time you're working on might be working on the uh bid for uh little Arabia that doesn't stop all your work. So I understand why you're just saying it's ongoing. This is what we do. U and if you put it in year one or two th to me those are your priorities. You're you're working on those things. And as somebody mentioned, you know, there's a property that becomes available and you've got a developer who's all of a sudden interested in putting a 10-story hotel in the resort area, you're going to jump on that. And I would expect you that to do that, not say it's not one of my priorities. Let me let me get permission to do it. I would expect you to jump on something like that. So I understand the fluidity. Uh so I I don't have a need to prioritize just with an understanding that those are all important. Um and that you will you and your team will continue to work on them and that priority might shift a little bit as something else comes in. Carlos will always be the most important. That bit is is going to be key.

Thank you. And I really like council member Meek's point. Maybe we can um meet for those that had comments, meet with them individually and then we can bring it back as a consent calendar just so the language used in the final document is the is what the actual council person meant to express and so that nothing is lost in translation. Um, so I believe we Oh, council or Mayor Prom,

can I make a motion to approve the strategic plan with the feedback that was given to you today and updates including the adding E is Little Arabia Business Improvement District. um while also uh directing you to come back uh once finalized and once you've met with all the council members uh bringing it back as a consent calendar item for

will you well can I make a suggestion to that instead of saying approve can you say bring back as a consent calendar item with all the adjustments so that would be your motion would be to um have them meet with all like the mayor suggested meet with all the council members make sure that it's where everybody wants it to be and then bring it back as a consent calendar and not a business calendar item for approval. I I just think we might all be ready to I I'm not. So, I'll be voting no on that motion, but I'm not ready. We have a motion out there. So, and then we have a So, I Oh, yeah. Either the motion to be withdrawn or else have council member Rubikava accept the substitute motion. Does that make sense?

We don't do substitute motion. That's right. There's also no second on council member Rubikavas. So, and there hasn't been a second yet on Carlos Leon. So, right now there's no motion pending until there's a second on either of them.

Yeah. Well, I mean, Council Member Leon, if you'll um indulge me for a second, and there is no harm in asking staff to go back and um apply all the changes and bring it back as a consent calendar item. We don't have to spend as much time as we did on it this time unless somebody pulls it. Uh and then we would be able to meet everybody's expectations. And so if I modify my um motion and if you would give it a second, then we can all be happy with including the bid because the bid also requires uh that many of those businesses pay into a a business improvement district means the businesses are investing. So I mean I would love to see what that plan looks like included in there. Clean up some of the language that you currently have in the strategic plan. Meet with uh council members who had any concerns. Maybe some of us are already happy with the way it looks. So, if you would um consider that it we're not saying that um Sergio's uh strategic plan is not amazing. I'm just saying it would be great to approve it as a consent calendar item with the changes applied so that nothing was lost in translation.

So, I guess can I ask the city manager or staff or my colleagues in terms of excuse me in terms of a a timeline? I'm hearing that you all would prefer that we're able to approve this so that we can move forward. Um, given that the next council meeting isn't until I believe June 9th, I mean, are there any concerns with potentially waiting?

No, listen, at the end of the day, there there is no urgency on this. Uh, just internally and in thinking of the things that I would like to focus on moving forward, I I I was hoping this is something that we can approve and get past us so we could move on, not only give Sergio and his team some direction, but also to move on to some some other things that are on our plate. However, having said that, of course, if if the if the council wants to take more time and and do one-off meetings and and really refine it and get some improvements into the plan, that's not a problem. And we've waited three years for this. So, it's not like waiting a month is going to make a difference because they're already doing work.

So, we'll reach out to council um you know, just like we did uh the last round, we'll reach out again to everybody, make sure we get your comments. Um we'll review the comments that were made this evening. We'll make sure we we'll make those uh suggested edits to the document. We'll send it out again for review and then we can bring it back as was mentioned on the consent calendar. Um uh we can shoot for a June time frame, but it really is uh contingent upon schedules of council and and your availability to meet with us and give us some feedback. So if if we're doing that, we're not approving, we don't really need a motion. We are just going to Yeah, I I believe it's a continuence.

Yeah, we're just going to shoot. Yeah. And I but I I do agree we should have a date certain of the June 9th meeting that holds us accountable to make sure we get you feedback and then we can get it moved on by June 9th. I'm sorry. Question for the city attorney. If we're continuing it would be a business item and not a consent calendar item. I've heard that you if we meet with all of the staff, I'm sorry, with all the city council members to incorporate the direction to staff, we'd be able to bring this back a consent calendar item. Is that my understanding?

I mean, uh, Sergio raises a good point and a continuence, I guess, could be interpreted that way. But I think if the direction from the council is to, uh, default it to the consent calendar with the possibility of having it pulled at that time, I think that's perfectly consistent with what we can do. Okay. So, why don't we we do that? And I don't think we need a do we need a motion to continue it? Uh, you can uh move to continue with direction that the it be placed on the consent calendar after receiving input from the council. Okay. Would you like to make that? Either of you like to make that motion? I'll make the motion that Rob just said.

Do we have a second? All right. Please vote. The vote is seven eyes, no nays. Motion carries. Thank you. Um, so we have moving on to item number 23. It's consideration of a resolution opposing the California Highspeed Rail Authorities's proposal to establish tax increment financing districts. Uh, Mr. Interim City Manager, can we have a staff report?

Uh, yes. And this was at the request of council member Bis at the last council meeting and uh gonna ask our government affairs manager Alysa Guerrero to assist with this staff report, a brief staff report and answer any questions you may have on this item.

Good evening, mayor and city council. The item before you this evening is a resolution to oppose the California highspeed rail authorities proposal to establish state control tax increment financing districts. During last week's city council meeting, council member Bis requested an agenda item for the city to consider formally opposing this proposal. In February 2026, the highspeed rail authority released its draft 2026 business plan outlining its construction strategy and revenue approach for the highspeed rail project. The plan included a proposal to establish tax increment financing districts within a half mile radius of proposed station locations. Under the highspeed rail authorities proposal, the state would would be allowed to capture property and sales tax growth revenue from new developments to support the construction of the highspeed rail project. Anaheim is identified as a future highspeed rail station site at the Arctic. And if the proposal advances, it could divert p property and sales tax growth revenue from the areas surrounding the station, including OC Vibe. Such revenues from OC Vibe could potentially be captured to fund the highspeed rail project, thereby taking away funding that could support essential public services, including parks, housing, infrastructure, maintenance, transportation, and public safety. On April 27th, the state senate transportation committee held anformational hearing on the draft 2026 business plan. The plan is likely to move forward through the state budget process, and we will not receive specific information about the proposal until it appears in a budget trailer bill. Statewide local government organizations, including the League of California Cities, California State Association of Counties, and California Special Districts Association, have led efforts to oppose this proposal. If approved, the resolution and a letter of opposition will be sent to our state legislators. That concludes our staff

report and we are happy to answer any questions. I'd like to start with council member Bis.

Thank you. So, I asked to put this on the agenda because I think it's uh fairly important especially for us here in Anaheim. And I just want to say this isn't a comment necessarily on the highspeed rail project. This is very specific targeted uh comment here on the formation of these uh taxing districts that's here. The language in the uh highspeed rails uh proposal is incredibly vague for number one. And then one of the things you don't see in here is that they're kind of uh bice or sidstepping if you will the actual budget process to put a taxing increment in. And if I mean again we're I'm I'm I'm saying things that you know we have an if and an if and an if but if this mo if this moves through then this will kind of open the door for other taxing in increments without going through the budget process through the state of California. So I think that's important. With that said you see a map on here with the city of Anaheim. We have done our own homework here. You know we've got Angel Stadium in there. We we've put these developments in there to generate sales tax for our residents. And if the state comes in here and starts to either take property andor sales tax from us, then we have to make up that revenue somewhere else. And I understand that this is the state saying, "Hey, look, maybe this is a way to to fund their project moving forward. Uh but it should be a state uh project, not necessarily specific area half a mile from the stop. So, I recommended that we uh oppose the language that's there. Uh by doing that, it allows some of our city uh departments to uh write letters and actively engage in opposition. So, thank you.

Thank you, Council Member Meeks, and then Council Member Curts.

Thank you. And I appreciate the council member Bis bringing this forward. Um, you know, it's one of the reasons that we built Arctic was for the economic development. The state sold highspeed rail on the economic development that would bring to the different um stops along its route and we have prepared and we have implemented and we are ready to accept highspeed rail when if it ever gets here. But you can't take the benefits away from us. So yes, I fully support this. Thank you. Um, even the way the state is moving this is a little odd. Instead of going through the legislative process as it normally would, it's just being attached to the budget. Uh, so they're trying to get something through. I recommend that we not only uh send our uh opposition to our legislators uh that represent Anaheim, but that we ask our lobbyists to actively work to oppose it and that we perhaps have some staff make some calls to our legislators to make sure that they personally hear from us in opposition.

Thank you, Mayor Prom. Uh thank you, Madame Mayor. Um just two comments. One on the resolution that was attached just FYI in the be it for the resolved it says uh transmit copies of this resolution and a letter of support to its state legislators. And so want to just clarify that should probably say oppose. Yes. Thank you for catching that. We'll revise that accordingly.

Okay. Um, and then just the other comment would be if the if uh uh Councilman Bailis is open to it. Uh I I know there's there's some confusion sometimes of um I think this makes it pretty clear, but sometimes the conclu confusion of well the city's going to be voting against highspeed rail, voting against public transportation. if there's an opportunity to add in here or at least add in in our messaging that we're absolutely supportive of public transportation and and would look to expand and uh find opportunities that are are fair um as part of a genuine partnership model with the state. Um that that's something that we're that we're supportive of. Um I don't know if that necessarily needs to be in specifically in here, but just as maybe feedback as we're having those conversations with our state legislators that, you know, we want public transportation. We're supportive of public transportation, but we have to do it in a in a fair and transparent way.

Thank you. Um, do you think maybe we could incorporate council member Meek's points and language um in the whereas when it talks about the future highspeed rail station at Arctic, putting in there that we are supportive of highspeed rail and built Arctic with the anticipation of being a highspeed rail site. Would that be possible.

If that's the if that's the move to get it across the the finish line, then yes. Like I said, when I it was my intent, right, and this is what I started with was this wasn't necessarily to be a comment on highspeed rail and if you're for it or against it. It was just to take a look at the way that the rail was putting in the tax increments. So, I I'm happy to uh include that, but it wasn't necessarily my intent, but I mean, I I could give you my two cents on the project, but I'm not going to do that right here. So, I'll be happy to accept that. Thank you, Council Member Rubikawa.

I was going to just agree with incorporating uh Council Member Meeks's comments, and I think specifically on how we've invested in the infrastructure, but I would probably not include we don't want them to take our benefits because they won't care. Um, so I think that but I do think we should definitely talk about how we support uh public transportation and the importance of it in a tourism heavy community, but but that we uh oppose the project. Yeah. Or the tax. So I I agree with you.

Thank you. Um any other comments? And um if not, would you make a motion with those small changes? I will make a motion to oppose the languages written in here with the changes uh issued by council member Meeks. Do we have a second and the changes? Sorry. And the overall change by uh council member Leon. Thank you for catching that. Thank you. Um we have a motion and a second. Please vote. a resolution of the city council of the city of Anaheim opposing the California highsp speeded rail authorities proposal to establish tax increment financing districts and the resolutions approved as revised

and the vote is seven I's no nays motion carries thank you item 24 is a presentation on Senate Bill 707 regarding changes to the Brown Act and related actions um Mr. your interim city manager. May we have a brief staff report? Sure. This staff report will be provided by our city clerk.

Thank you. Um interim city manager. Good evening, mayor and city council. The presentation before you this evening is an overview of SB77 and policies for city council consideration to ensure the city's compliance with major changes to the Brown Act that become effective this July 1st, 2026. What is SB77? In brief, in October 2025, SB77 was signed into law, enacting a most comprehensive set of amendments to the Brown Act. The legislation restructured and expanded statutory framework governing public access and remote participation in local government meetings with the intent to diversify and increase public engagement. The new requirements under SB77 apply to eligible legislative bodies defined as city councils with populations of greater than 30,000 or city councils and counties with populations of greater than 600,000. The city of Anaheim meets these criteria, thereby subject to these requirements outlined in the statute. Among the various new requirements under SB77, the legislation requires eligible legis legislative bodies to provide two-way telephonic or audiovisisual access for all open meetings and to take specific actions that encourage residents to participate and including a comprehensive language access for non-English speakers. SB77 requires city council meetings to move beyond live streaming and offer hybrid meetings. Currently, the public can watch city council meetings online through Granicus, YouTube, and on our Anaheim TV. Starting July 1st, the public must be able to participate through a two-way phone or video platform with the ability to provide real-time public comments. To meet these new requirements, staff is working with the city's information services team to utilize Zoom webinar, which in integrates with our current systems and provides automatic captioning. With this shift to remote participation, members

of the public would pro be provided with information and clear instructions on procedures to participate and provide public comments remotely. Similar to our in-person speakers, those that would like to provide public comments remotely will be asked to complete a speaker form online, which we provided to them to indicate if they're addressing the city council on agenda items or any non-aggenda items both within the council's jurisdiction. Following the completion of in-person speakers, staff will then call upon those submitted online forms to address council remotely, and this will be via our Zoom webinar platform. Overall, public comment procedures remained unchanged with speakers having one opportunity to address the city council except for scheduled public hearings. The comment the public comment period as remained in our current or rules of order is limited to 90 minutes or until all agenda item speakers have been heard. Beyond the 90 minutes and at the discretion of the mayor and city council, those non-aggenda related speakers may be heard during a second public comment period held at the end of council business. This new shift and techn technical component in the city council meetings requires the city council to approve policy regarding disruption of the remote platform and efforts to restore service. If a disruption prevents the public from attending a meeting, the city council must take a recess and try to restore service for at least one hour or inter until service is restored, whichever occurs first. If the disruption cannot be resolved, the city council must adopt a finding by a roll call vote confirming the good faith efforts were made to fix the issue and that resuming the meeting serves the public interest more than delaying it further. The proposed council policy presented in in tonight's P agenda packet, council policy 1.14, ensures

compliance of SP77 and is presented this evening for city council consideration. SB77 also revise and restates existing teleconferencing provisions for states of emergency, just cause and emergency circumstances and expands coverage to include one state of emergency declared by localities, just cause allowances which include physical or family medical emergencies and preventing in-person attendance and military service. In addition, SB77 allows agencies to permit attendance by a council member via teleconferencing as a reasonable accommodation under applicable law, including the American and Disabilities Act. Those attending in accordance with this section must disclose in any present adults in the and the relationship to them and participate via audio and camera unless their disability prevents it. The new law also authorized remote teleconferencing meetings by eligible subsidiary bodies of the local agency as long as the sub subsidiary bodies comply with certain requirements. This compliance is defined as having at least one physical location for the meeting requiring that members attend remotely appear on camera and requiring the legislative body that created the subsidiary body to make certain findings prior to authorizing fully remote meetings. And these findings needs to be brought forward at least every six months thereafter. Under SP77, eligible subsidiary bodies include only advisory bodies that cannot take certain final actions and that do not have primary subject matter jurisdictions on elections, budgets, police oversight, privacy, library material restrictions, or taxing or spending proposals. In efforts to increase participation for underrepresented groups and non-English

speakers, agendas must be translated into every applicable language when the agenda is posted within the 72-hour requirement. The bill defines applicable languages as those spoken by at least 20% of the local population that speaks English less than very well according to the local population. According to I'm sorry, according to the recent American Community Survey, based on current demographics information that's presented by the American Community Survey, Spanish is the only applicable language for the city with Spanish po spoken by 40% of Anaheim residents and 39% speak English less than very well. Pursuant to the new legislation, the city council agenda will be translated into Spanish and posted concurrently with the English version under the Brown Acts agenda posting deadlines. The translation of the agenda will also include instructions of how to join the meeting via telephonic or internet-based services and including speak speaker instructions for public comment. Further, SP77 requires a freely accessible physical location near the official posted agenda to made available for members of the public to post additional translations of the agenda. The public posting board is to be publicly is to publicly is for publicly translated agendas only and any documents other than translated agendas for the Anaheim City Council Council meetings are not permitted. The Brown Act does not provide for city review of the agenda translations po posted by these third parties. To ensure that the members of the public who may rely on such translations, the posting board will include language stating the city is not responsible for the contact or accuracy of the content of the posted agendas on the posting board. The proposed council policy 1.15 ensures compliance and establishes the

procedures for the translated agendas by the public pursuant to SP77. Staff is at this time also requesting an amendment to the policy that was included in the city council's agenda packet to currently read to ensure that the public posting boards does not con does not contain outdated information. Staff is asking to remove such agendas the day after the meeting. The update to the language is for um the update to the language is to remove the word Wednesday and account for those meetings that may not fall on a Tuesday. For example, our second meeting November is on a Monday, November 16th. As shared, the intent of SB707 is to increase and encourage participation in public meetings and requires the city and city council to take specific actions particularly among underrepresentative communities and non-English-speaking communities. The proposed resolution defining reasonable efforts to encourage participation established the city's outreach approach to include media serving non-English-speaking communities in the distribution of meeting agendas, notices, and other meeting related information. The city of Anaheim will continue to ma maintain methods for members of the public to access meeting agendas and related materials electronically through the city's website. The city will also continue to provide the option for members of the public to subscribe to receive meeting agendas, notices, or other updates through the city's online notify me system. In addition, the city will of Anaheim will provide information through an existing communication channels and partnerships with community-based organizations, neighborhood groups, civic organizations, and organiz organizations serving non-English-speaking communities, as well as using the city's any city newsletters, social media platforms, public counters, bulletin boards, and also outreach at community meetings. The

efforts identified in the resolution are intended to provide a flexible framework for outreach and public participation with broad discretion in defining these reasonable efforts and clarifies that failure to notice any specific group group does not create a basis for illegal action pursuant to the statute. staff is prepared to modify, expand, and adjust outreach methods over time based on the evolving communication practices, changes in technology, and the needs of the community. SP77 also requires an accessible internet web page dedicated to information concerning public meetings, and how members of the public may participate, including a link on the page on the agency's homepage. This requirement has is currently met by our prominent link on the city coun link to city council meetings on our city's homepage. Next steps SB77 requirements and imple implementation needs to be completed by July 1st. City council consideration and action this evening will put this infrastructure in place and ensure a seamless transition transition with the first meeting with remote remote participation fully imp implemented at the council meeting of July 14th. Adoption of the telephonic or internet service disruption policy will provide a clear playbook for technology fails. Adoption of the public posting board for publicly translated agendas ensures language is no longer a barrier to participation and provides members of the public the opportunity to post translated agendas to reflect the diversity of our community. Defining reasonable efforts for our outreach means we are being intentional and we're moving beyond just posting a notice on a wall. We are actively encouraging participation. And finally, amending and restating our council polies to a rule our council rules of order is to integrate remote

participation and includes updates to our public comment time limit for legislative items for two three minutes per speaker to to be consistent with the public addressing on quasi judicial matters. All other um public con public comment time limits remain unchanged. And just as um reference um our time limits for our city council agenda items as well as our general comments is three minutes. Uh for our public hearing noticing per um parameters with regards to public comments, our applicants initiaries of the project are given 20 minutes with a rebuttal provided at 10 minutes. Those within the noticed area will remain at 10 minutes and those outside the notice areas three. The change presented to council is with respects to legislative items to be consistent with those that are addressing on agenda items as well as those as as part of our um um quasi judicial items which will be three minutes. These upstates are not just about legal compliance. They're about making sure every resident regardless of their primary language or whether they can be physically in the chambers has the opportunity to participate in their local city council meetings. Uh, mayor and city council, that concludes my presentation and I'm available to answer any questions.

Thank you so much, city clerk. Does anyone have any questions? If not, um, do we have a motion? Uh, council member Meeks and then council member Bis. Um, I know this is like new and we're going to figure it out um as we implement it, but it seems odd that we're going to allow a bulletin board to post the agenda in by someone else in whatever language they may choose and then we're going to put a disclaimer in English that says you can't count on the information in this uh agenda. You know, I guess we'll figure that out, but um it seems like if you have another you can translate things on the computer when they go to our website, you can translate it to whatever language. So, we'll see if the bulletin board even gets used. I just thought that was rather ironic. And and and thank you um thank you for the comment. Um, council member, um, with that, I was looking at what other agencies are doing as well, seeing what is being utilized of the types of translations and that may be an opportunity for us to start updating that, seeing what is the translations that are being utilized or who the board the board is being utilized and maybe that'll be an opportunity for us to make some updates to address those, you know, so it could be in other languages of the disclaimer itself.

Okay. Um, I will move the approval of the item because we want to get it done. Um, council member, um, I I'm hoping somebody translates it into Cllingon and then then there's a big debate about whether it was appropriately translated. I mean, we could have some fun with this. Um, Council Member Bis and then Council Member Rubikava.

Thank you. I'm just going to ask a quick question and for our disruption uh policy that's here maybe it's not any big deal but we says here disruption any failure outage or other interruption that prevents members of the public from attending or observing the meeting via these three remote services. I'm wondering if we need to add on the city's side, right? Because since we're looking at this as networking in Zoom, it's really not our problem to manage the network of the person calling in. And I know sometimes when we do you know remote meetings you may get uh latency or you know the network of the person calling in might not be the best network but it's not it's not necessarily our responsibility to uh provide that to the other individual on the other side. So that's why I was just thinking maybe it's a good idea to say hey look this is on the city's side of the uh of the call.

Um council mayor we can make that clarification. So it so the intent is to show that that there's disruption on the city services providing the the output of the uh meeting streaming and the zoom webinar will be on the cities. Okay. Thank you. And then I have one last question.

I know we are doing this for the city council meeting but does this not apply to any brown act meetings or are we also uh meet uh going to roll out for the commissions? Well, that was one of the um opportunities for subsidiary bodies. Um if we were allowing for specifically for the entire full body to um attend the meeting remotely, um it would be a consideration or approval of the city council members and then moving forward. But it will be also if you're talking about remote participation, it will be an opportunity if looking at the other boards and commissions and seeing if those options are available.

All right. Thank you. But and it's just too sorry to add on but specifically SB77 is for um city councils not adding in boards and commissions. Thank you. Council member Ruba Calva. I just so we had some public commenters who expressed concern about one minute uh or limiting that is just the language in there is not saying we're going to limit their time to one minute. It's there's an option if we have a hundred commenters to limit everybody's time to a minute.

And there there was nothing specific that spoke to a minute. Um that's why I wanted to clarify. The only change that we had did on our rules of order was changing that time for our um legislative matters for public hearings. Um bringing that um public comment time to 3 minutes. Um the other time limits for um all the remaining items remained the same. Um so it was the three minutes so that was the only change. Um with respects I know there was respects to the 90 minutes that is currently what our current practice is as we know um we um go beyond that. We don't we use that more as just um as a practice to continue but does provide an opportunity if we do and there's a need that there we need to stop and then we have an opportunity to continue general comments after our agenda meeting but there's nothing specific reducing anything to one minute

and I apologize if you already answer this but how will it be prioritized so will um people who have attended in person go first and then um remote participants would go second

and that that's um that was the recommendation. So, I'm I'm available for any feedback from the city council. Um the way I um proposed would we would hear from our in-person comments as well as and that would be both our for agenda items and for general comments and then transition to those that are remotely. um the um proposal that I also did to give us an opportunity because we do have our public hearings that do define it, those in the noticed area, those that are maybe um speaking on the different agenda items be providing an online form so they can identify if there are general items or general comments um so that we could have that ahead of time and then I could provide that information who's online, who's being prepared. So, at this time, the proposal is seeing those in person first and then going um transitioning to accepting those um comments remotely.

Perfect. And then just for um you know, a lot of times we like to respond to public commenters if there's issues that are within our districts participants who are uh participating remotely, do they also have to provide contact information, name similar to what we currently have here? And then are they required to have their camera on when they're participating uh remotely? So, um, similar to what we, um, do with our public comment cards, um, there is going to be some required information, but not all because if they, if they elect not to put all their contact information or not to have, there is, um, the format I'm looking at does provide a disclaimer where I'm stating if you would like to be contacted or to provide an opportunity for the city council or staff members to respond, you're going to contact you, include your contact information, but it is not a requirement. Um with respects to and I'm sorry your second portion of your question council member.

Oh the camera being on the camera. Um at this point we are not it's only going to be audio. They are going to be able to see visually everything that's in mean. So there will be but there it's only going to be the audio. No video cameras for those that are participating remotely. Okay. Perfect. And I know that there's a motion. I can second the motion. I do think that having access remotely to council meetings is a benefit for people who are unable to make it. I'm glad to hear that there's not the parameters that I mean I didn't see that in the staff report, but for some reason people were insinuating that we were trying to limit people's ability to participate in our public process and that is not the case. So, thank you for clarifying that. But I will second uh Council Member Meek's motion.

Thank you, Madame Mayor. Uh thank you uh Madame Clerk and team for for your work on this. I know this is something that you you've been looking at for for a while now. Um and so I I just want to echo the comment made by my colleague. Um when you say our shift to remote speakers that really people are still able, willing if they'd like to come in person that nothing none of that changes, right? That's correct. This is a supplemental to of just additional access and public access to them. Nothing's going to change to in person as well as their opportunity to still submit electronic comments and making those as part of the record. Um this is just a supplemental to an additional access for our public to participate remotely.

Okay. Thank you. Madam clerk, can I ask uh just a clarifying question on slide four that you had in reference to um I believe it was teleconferencing. Teleconferencing is reasonable accommodation. Can you clarify what can can you repeat for me what that is? Um those are for council members with respects that uh need ADA. um for council members

for council members themselves. Got it. Okay. Yeah, that's specifically. So, this was added um additional expanding the teleconferencing um options and alternatives for council members. So, a council member that needs ADA um accommodations. Um they do offer that so that you do if the opportunity do not need to be on camera. There is the other um teleconferencing where it states that council members that are attending that their camera be on this just provides additional ADA compliance. Got it. Okay. And just just to clarify, what's the difference of that versus what we do now if someone needs to participate remotely? This is just in case this is just for regular versus if someone's out.

Correct. There is still the traditional um teleconferencing noticing which is where we have within the 72 hours. Um the noticing of location and posting and having that posted at the remote location. What this expand is is certain emergencies um accommodations as well as illnesses. have used some of the expansion on the just cause which allows like um family emergency medical emergencies that allows um additional flexibility for council members to still participate remotely if there is a need if it falls within the just cause um statute.

Okay. Thank you. Um two more quick clarifications. U slide six um well not a clarification just a comment of support of making it as easy as possible to access council meetings. I think having it front page, front and center is uh is good and I appreciate that. In terms of getting information out to residents, can you clarify what that outreach process is looks like? It's I'm assuming leading up to it, we'll have opportunities to give information to the public, make sure that they're aware. Here's if you want the opportunity to participate remotely, here's how you would do it.

Correct. Um we are um creating a full dedicated page that's going to be again right off of our homepage providing an opportunity in English and in Spanish. Um also we are um part of the website itself. It does allow for other languages to be translated as well through the Google translation. So it's an opportunity for other languages as well too. But I'm looking at different outreaches of what we can do not only going to community meetings providing that information social media working with um the public information offices also. Um we're I was doing some initial outreach to some of the other um departments themselves, our community services that has a newsletter um the your communad um information that provides information opportunities and looking at that um also um reached out to public utilities even on seeing as an opportunity to providing some information the public utility bills to give an additional information. And so just really looking at different outlets of getting the information again, looking at bulletin boards, looking at counters and public information that we can send out. Um we've been going to um some community meetings or our June community meetings are coming up that we're going to reach out and as we've been doing even committee meetings recently when we go to those I've been bringing information regards, you know, when our public um council meetings are and again that's going to be additional opportunity for me to even expand on that and opportunities how they can participate and what our new changes are. Thank you, Madam Clerk. And the very last clarification I wanted to ask in terms of um because I think interim city manager Greg Garcia and I had had a conversation. Thank you. Um I I that was more for the woo and the cheer. Greg, sorry. Um in terms of entering the queue, did can you repeat for me if you said it? Someone has to be online ready to go by five o'clock. Well, that was um what we're asking not the opportunity for those that would want to because it the line will be open, the Zoom webinar is open for anybody to participate and to view the council meeting in that

manner. Um what is going to be part of the um process to ensure that they're being called up is asking them to by 5:00 to submit the online form, state what their items are, and then they will be called by either their name or if they're calling in by the last four digits of their number. Got it. Okay. And that's consistent with what the state law is. Um, it's one of the it's not consistent with state law. It's what what's consistent with state law is providing the opportunity for remote participation and having the two-way. What we're looking is an opportunity for us to manage and organize and have an opportunity to ensure that those that want to speak that they're called and that they're given opportunity and especially speak on the item that they want to address.

Got it. Okay. Is that consistent? Sorry. Is that consistent with what other cities do in terms of the queue and ending at 5? Yeah. Well, having to be in the queue by 5. Um, every city is different. Um, there is some that have provided an opportunity like a certain timeline, they stop and say only at this time or when they say raise your hand at this point and whoever raises their hand and if they don't, they just capture those. But what I want to do um with respects with the online form is because we do have um the different um agenda items versus general comments the allotment of time as well as our public hearings and it has the those in the noticed area outside the notice area so I'm able to capture those so they are speaking and given the appropriate amount of time to speak.

Got it. Okay. And then Okay. Thank you madam clair. Yes. Um, yeah. I got Council Member Moss and then Council Member Curts and then Council I'm sorry. Do you want to go next, Council Member Curts? Thank you, Madam Mayor. I'll be quick. Um, there was a public comment that this is being done in retaliation and to muzzle public comment. It sounds like this is being done to comply with state law. Correct. That is correct, Council Member. This does sound like it increases public engagement, increases language acu equity, and it does increase remote access. That's that's correct.

I just have one question about the onehour minimum. If there's a disruption, do you know the rationale behind that one hour minimum? I do not have the background. I know when um it came forward that's what came back with the legislation, the statute, but the background of why they they distinguished that one hour, I do not I do not know. Curious. Thank you. I do support this. Council member Curts,

I just want to clarify. I I think council member Leon said it was page three for council a council member's participation. If it is we're away at a conference, we're going to not be here in person. Um the address is posted. All that's the same. we can participate. Does it is it by telephone or by zoom? Um well we at this opportunity what I would be doing is providing it by zoom so you can be part of the um the video camera that is now being required by SB77. So it's having that participation on the two-way communication. So it it would be

via Zoom by Zoom Zoom webinar and providing you a separate link. Okay. And this except the exception that's noticed is that that's for an emergency. Correct. So that if that 72-hour notice is uh you know the week something happens on the weekend the Monday we can request to have be in the meeting remotely. Correct. Um and at that time is the address posted? No. That's because it's just cause is providing for emer family emergencies and so it does get have participated from the this is the new legislation moving forward.

Okay, got it. Thank you. Of course, Council Member Bis. I apologize. I want to just make sure I heard this right. um for a uh for a hearing. I heard you say we've got 20 minutes and then you've got 10 minutes of rebuttal. Was that 10 minutes for everybody inside the noticed zone?

No, council member, I'm sorry. That's for the um project the um applicant and the appellant that are given the initial and then the um the 10-minute rebuttal. Um those in the noticed area is 10 minutes, but not just the one 10 minutes. So, I'm going to ask it again. I apologize. So, there there is a 10-minute uh limit for those inside the noticed zone. Correct. So, I have how do you verify that online?

That's where we're asking them to include as part if they are addressing that they're in the noticed or non-noticed area. And if they are in within the noticed area, they'd be providing the address for verification for us to compare that they are within that area. That's similar to what we do with our in-person public comments. They fill out the public card and then we verify their um address to ensure that they're within the noticed area. All right. Thank you.

Thank you. With no further comments, we have a motion and a second. Please vote. A resolution of the city council of the city of Anaheim establishing council policy number one.14 regarding the city's policy in response to telephonic or internet service disruption during public meetings. A resolution the city council of the city of Anaheim establishing a council policy number 1.15 establishing a public posting board for publicly translated agendas. A resolution the city council of the city of Anaheim determining reasonable efforts to encourage public participation in meetings pursuant to government code section 54953.4 and a resolution the city council of the city of Anaheim amending and restating the procedures and rules of order for the conduct of city council meetings and the vote is seven I's no nazs. Motion carries.

Thank you. Let's move to close session. Mr. City attorney, do you have anything to report? Uh thank you madam mayor. No reportable action. So now is the time for future agenda requests by council members. Do any council members have something as an item to put on the agenda? Council member Meeks. Real quick, I'd like to bring in the Quick Track Club in an effort to uh recognize our overachieving young people. They went to national championships in track and field. There's a group of seven of them and they put in a resolution. So we have more information.

Thank you. Okay, seeing no others, it's time I'm going to adjourn the meeting in the memory of Richard Dick La Rochelle and Mary Hiraada and we will reconvene on June 9th.