Council - Regular Meeting

is a quorum for good afternoon everyone. I'd like to call the Anaheim City Council meeting to order. Uh clerk, can you please take role? Thank you, mayor. Council Bis, present. Council Ma, present. Mayor Prom Leon, present. Mayor Aken, present. Let the record show we have four members present. Thank you. Are there any additions or deletions to our closed session agenda? Mayor, there are none. And do we have any public speakers here to address our um close session agenda? We don't have any inerson speakers and we did not receive any electronic comments on the close session agenda. Okay. Thank you. So, I'm going to recess now into close session. Thank you.

Good evening everyone. I'd like to reconvene the Anaheim City Council meeting back to order. Um the first item on our agenda is going to be our invocation that is going to be offered this evening by senior pastor Luis Gustavo Ais from Anaheim 7th Day Adventist Church. Following that, Council Member Ma will lead us in the flag salute. Would you all please stand if able? Pastor, you may begin when ready.

Thank you very much for the opportunity for being here. Gracious and sovereign God, we come before you at the opening of this meeting for the city of Anaheim, acknowledging that all wisdom, just and authority ultimately find their source in you. It is written in your words, "Teach us to number our days that we may gain a heart of wisdom." So we ask for that wisdom now that you will guide every conversation, every decision and every intention in this place. Grant to Mayor Atken, the council members and all public servants gathered here clarity of mind and integrity of heart. Give them the courage to pursue what is right even when it is difficult and the humility to listen carefully to one another and to the voices of the community they serve. Today we also pause to remember and bring before your throne the life and service of a former mayor and senator John Seymour. We give thanks for his contributions to this community and for the legacy he leaves behind. In this moment of loss, please draw near, we pray, to his family members and close friends. Grant them comfort in their grief, peace in their sorrow, and the assurance that their loved ones life and work have done the work have not been in vain. We lift it up as well the leaders of this nation and the world, especially as they face serious crisis both here at home and abroad. Grant them wisdom, Lord, beyond their own understanding, steadiness in times of uncertainty, and deep commitment to justice, peace, and the dignity of every human life. May they be guided by the truth that righteousness and just are the foundations of your throne and your steadfast love and faithfulness go

before you. So we pray for the people of this city, Lord, its families, workers, leaders, the most vulnerable. May the decisions made here promote the common good, strengthen unity, and foster peace and flourishing for all. Guard this assembly from division, pride, and haste. Instead, cultivate a spirit of respect, patience, and wisdom. and let truth guide every word. And let justice and compassion shape every outcome. As this meeting begins, we entrust our work to you, seeking your blessing upon this city and all who call it home. In your holy name we pray. Amen.

Amen.

And as we say the pledge of allegiance, please keep in mind the men and women who have served our country and who are currently serving. I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the for it stands for it stands one nation with liberty and justice for Good evening everyone. Um we are going to start our recognitions with somebody that has made a real impact here in Anaheim. Um, Holly Haggler has led Meals on Wheels in Orange County for the past 14 years. And Meals on Wheels is a critical service that we have in Anaheim for our seniors to make sure that they are getting both the food and nutrition that they need to survive, but also that they are getting routine engagement from familiar faces in case they are feeling, you know, they don't have family nearby, etc. And Holly has done an amazing job for our seniors here in Anaheim. And we know that Meals on Wheels is so much more than nutrition. Each week at the Brookhurst Community Center, seniors join for a community meal and social activities. It's an incredible show of all we do for our seniors. And it doesn't happen without Meals on Wheels. Each year, Meals on Wheels provides a million meals to more than 10,000 atrisisk older adults in Anaheim and beyond. Amid the challenges of the pandemic, Meals on Wheels stepped up and

helped us meet the moment by safely providing drive-th through meal service. Now that their leader, Holly, is starting her next chapter, I want to congratulate her on her well-earned retirement and wish her luck as she goes into a career in business and other nonprofits. She will be missed in Anaheim, but we know that she is leaving Meals on Wheels better than how she found it. Congratulations, Holly. We'd love for you to come up and share some thoughts. Congratulations. Proud of you. So, thank you, Mayor Aken. It's such an honor to be here and to receive this award today. So, uh, and I'd like our team to come up here. Um, in Anaheim, we're serving, uh, 113 older adults with Meals on Wheels, uh, every single day of the week. Uh, we serve, uh, the individuals at the Brookhurst Senior Center. And we also have an adult day health care center where we provide medically supervised daycare and socialization, nursing support, um, exercise for about 70 older adults every day. And then other care services in the community to another 130 older adults. So close to 400 older adults a day. We're serving just here in Anaheim. and we do similar services across much of Orange County. So, I'd like to let you know that although I have had the honor and privilege of leading Meals on Wheels Orange County these many years, it is a team that does it. And I'm so pleased that um several members of our

leadership team, including our board chair and our key executives, have joined us here today. So, thank you. Ask everybody here. One, two, three. Perfect. One more time. Again. Three. So our next recognition is a recognition of one of our own and it's recognizing Jose Sanchez from our public works department for his role in stopping an assault on one of our residents. So, our city organization, we pride ourselves in saying that we are made up of heroes. Every day they have an impact on our community and without hesitation, our city staff goes above and beyond their call and job description in order to deliver amazing services to the residents they serve. So, as a council, we are honored to recognize Jose Sanchez of Anaheim Public Works. He is a skilled Yep.

You're loving this, aren't you? Jose is a skilled crafts worker for our city. And if you don't know what that means, it means he, like so many others in our public works, can do just about anything and fix just about anything. But on March 3rd, Jose was driving on duty in our downtown area when he saw a mother and her 14-year-old daughter being assaulted. Thankfully, while this is rare in our city, Jose responded and the mother and daughter are now okay. But seeing something was wrong, he made a U-turn, stepped in to confront the suspect, stopped the assault, and prevented any further harm. As others helped the victims get to safety, Jose kept a safe watch on the suspect. He captured video that was critical for the Anaheim police's investigation. And because of his efforts, the suspect was quickly identified and arrested and is now facing felony charges. So, this to me is what it means to go above and beyond the call of duty. He didn't have to act, but he chose to act in the best interest of the residents that he serves. So, if you could please come up and join us, we would love to honor you.

Would you like to share a couple words? Okay. Thank you.

Kind of nervous. I just want to say thank you uh everybody. Uh it's an honor to be here. Um I just want to I was at the right time, right place. Uh my mind was telling me not to do what I did but my heart told me to do it and it led me to preventing that and I just, you know, I feel like I have my wife too, my mom. If something was to happen like that, I would like for somebody to do the same thing for them. So that's why I did what I did. my heart on me to go and do what I did. Thank you guys.

So we will have everybody squeeze in a bit for the family

and then We can have you all join us a little bit closer. And we'll take a few. Perfect. Perfect. Okay. So, look right here.

All right. One, two, three. Is this Thank you. So, next on our agenda are recognitions to be presented at a later date. Clerk, can you please announce them?

Thank you, mayor. We have several this evening. Recognizing May 3rd through the 9th, 2026 as Municipal Clerk's Week. Recognizing May 3rd through the 9th as National Travel and Tourism Week. Recognizing the month of May 2026 as Jewish American Heritage Month, as well as Older Americans Month and Asian-American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month. And we do have a representative for Olders Americans Month if they can please step forward at this time. Good evening, Mayor and City Council. My name is Moren Richardson and I'm the community services supervisor managing older program. I'd like to take this moment

I'm sorry the month of May as older Americans month in Anaheim. The month of May. The month of May is a time to pause and acknowledge the contributions of past and current older adults that have contributed so much to our communities and acknowledge the veterans who've served and defended our country. Through their vast life experience and wisdom, older adults bring abundant cultural and historical knowledge, guidance for our younger generations, and ultimately improve our community in so many wonderful ways. Through the city's programming, we continue to play a vital role in supporting our older adults residents through our programs, projects, events, activities, and services at each of the seven community facilities. We have enhanced programming to offer hot meals, health and wellness programs, daily fitness activities, and spaces to simply sit down, socialize, and connect with one another. We look forward to continuing our work to ensure our older adult residents age gracefully, remain active, and live with purpose. Thank you once again.

And mayor, on behalf of municipal clerks week, I wanted to thank you and the city council for providing this proclamation to our office. Um, as m municipal clerks, we serve as the link between our residents and their local government. While our work is behind the scenes, I am proud of the dedication my team shows daily, whether it's preparing council agendas, administering fair elections, or preserving the city's history. At this time, I would like my city clerk team, if they can please stand to be recognized. I want to thank them for their hard work and their dedication to our office. They're truly the heart of our organization. Um and it's always they see they serve with a smile internally and externally. And mayor and city council, I want to thank you for this recognition and our support to our office. And we always this team is always um look forward to continuing to ser um support the residents of Anaheim. And I know they love being behind the scenes, but can we call them forward for a picture

with the council?

You hear that everybody? Okay, look right here. Thank you. Thank you. So, clerk, do we have any additions or deletions to tonight's agenda?

Mayor, there are none. So, can you please outline the public comment procedures and call forward the first three speakers addressing our agenda?

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 opened by the mayor only if any non-aggenda items speakers were not heard during this first public comment period and it will 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 are available at the back of the council chambers. The name and contact information requested on the speaker card is optional. Any unidentified speakers would 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 in other languages, we ask that you please contact the city clerk's office at least 48 hours prior to our scheduled meeting. At this time, I'll introduce our interpreter who will make the same announcement in Spanish. this time on behalf half of the city council would like to remind the public that Anaheim remains committed to

freedom of speech and we ask that speakers address the city council with soliv civility and refrain for making personal, threatening, abusive, slanderous or profane remarks towards any member of the council, staff, or general public. We appreciate you reflecting this spirit when you speak. The time now is 5:26 with the 90minute public comment period set to conclude at 6:56 or until all agenda item speakers have been heard. We do ask speakers to line up at the podium once they see their name appear on the projection screen behind me. And mayor and city council, I believe we have nine speaker cards. Um, and I'll call the first three speakers if they can please step forward are Joshua Collins, Christine Lopez, and Matt Compton if they can step forward at this time. And the time limit is 3 minutes.

Good afternoon, mayor and counselor. My name is R. Joshua Collins, founder of Homeless Advocates for Christ. And first, I want to encourage everyone to give the life to Jesus Christ to die on the cross to save us from hell to give us everlasting life. We all must be born again. We've all sinned. We all need a savior, and only Jesus can save us. Um, also, I want to talk about the homeless issue. I think it'd be great if the council made some showers for those wanting uh shelter. Uh I know there's some park water features going on. Uh item number two, uh be great to to see some of the homeless that are trying to seek shelter, but there's no beds available. If something could be made for so they get showers, things like that. Um as well as safe parking for especially homeless women that I know out there that are parking and they have nowhere safe to to park necessarily. So be great to see the council move on that. also want to talk about um the issue with the police as well and uh prevention of tragedies such as in the case of Albert Arzola the families well as many other families that have been affected. Uh my question would be what uh psychological tests are being administered uh for the police that are hired and does the public have access to the results? Uh another question would be will they be administered at least once a year or more to make sure there no changes in mental stability. uh in the case of police officers. Now, there's multiple types of tests. One of the common ones is an MSE standard and that's a standard test uh for most of the police. I'm not sure if this council and the psychologist that you've hired uses that test. Be great to know what tests specifically are being used. There's also a test multiple tests to to to basically root out any kind of racial bias. one one of them is the modern racism scale and also the symbolic racism scale. These are two tests that can help you to see if an officer may have racial bias that you're about to

hire. And this could definitely save a lot of uh taxpayer money, keeping keeping the taxpayers around to pay for these horrible things that happen and keeping families from having to deal with these awful tragedies that are happening. So why doesn't the council uh move powerfully uh to to bring change? And this this is why I'm really concerned about this. Uh African-Americans are two and a half times more likely than Caucasians to be arrested in Anaheim for low-level offenses, nonviolent violations. Uh and in to 2024 uh two and a half times uh like more likely to be stopped as well. And uh Africanameans uh also are more likely to be killed, 10.8 times more likely to be killed than Caucasians in Anaheim. yet much smaller uh as far as the percentage of population. Something is definitely off in the city of Anaheim. And I'm not just speaking uh regarding uh African-Americans. I mean any as well as the poor as well as Latinos that maybe they're being targeted for whatever reason, but uh something needs to change and these psychological tests I think can make a big difference to get this police department uh better serving the people instead of harming them. And um you know, I'm not attacking every single police officer. I'm not saying every officer is the same, but we got to make sure to catch those that are not thinking right mentally before more disaster happens. Thanks for letting me share our next our next speaker, Christine Lopez. Matt Compton. All right. Good evening, Anaheim City Council and City Manager. First, I want to say I'm disappointed that your city approved the license plate surveillance. Our civil rights are already being violated at the federal level. I think our city should focus on protecting our rights rather than enabling those that

want to harm our immigrant communities. We cannot trust this administration to think that they will not try to gain access to this information. I ask the following questions. Where will the cameras be placed? where there be equitable placement throughout the city's jurisdiction and the avoidance of placing these these cameras in neighborhood streets. This intrudes in our constitutional right to privacy as protected by the fourth amendment. Secondly, I am here to ask for information involving the case to be made public in the senseless death of my nephew Albert Arzola by a police officer on the city's payroll. It's not the family's responsibility to release that information, nor their lawyers. Anaheim residents have asked, and you have an obligation to release it to your constituents, the footage, the officer's name, and we demand the autopsy to be released. He was a lifelong resident of Anaheim. He attended Anaheim public schools and graduated from Catella High School. He even worked here in the city of Anaheim. I know he would be proud of the success of the Anaheim Ducks have had so far this season. He did not deserve this. I asked the city manager, police chief, and city council. If one of the first officers of the two who approached Albert on the night of the incident's camera was not on, that's a violation of policy.

There needs to be consequences. There should be consequences for both officers. Also, there's a lack of trust within the community and the police. There is overpolicing in communities of color and from a social economic background. There are family friends just by association being ticketed for riding their bike or being pulled over for tinted windows. This is systematic. It's harassment and a form of intimidation to oppress people's right to live free. Yes,

the police chief should have a community meeting to update the community on the investigation and address the community's concerns. To say you cannot speak on an ongoing investigation just so you can hide behind your desk and avoid addressing the real concerns your communities face is just a copout. Thank you for listening. All right. Hello. My name is Matt. I'm here as a member of CSOS OC's Police Accountability Committee. I'm here to demand that officer Nath Nathan Garcia be fired from Anaheim PD. Nathan is responsible for the killing of Albert Arzola back on December 6th. Albert was unarmed when Nathan shot him in the back and proceeded to threaten and arrest the family. Albert was a young 19-year-old Chuco who didn't deserve to die. In response to the family who just simply wants justice, Anaheim PD has been harassing them, flashing their car lights at their family's house and even scaring kids. Officer Nathan Garcia is a trigger-happy pig who has no care for the well-being of those he is supposed to protect. I call on Anaheim Police Chief Manny Sid to fire Nathan Garcia immediately. Nathan is also being sued for a brutal arrest of a 14-year-old minor. In that arrest, Garcia put his knee into the 14-year-old's back and violently pulled his arm. Garcia then failed to stop his fellow officer from turning the 14-year-old around and striking him. It is department policy for an Anaheim PD officer to intervene when another officer is using excessive force. Garcia failed that policy. Later, the 14-year-old was handcuffed so tightly that the kids started to complain. That's when both officers,

including Garcia, laughed at him. I call on the city of Anaheim as well. Myself, as well as other CSO members, have submitted P after P requesting body cam footage, police reports, and many other items. However, the city has not provided any of this. It is the city of Anaheim's legal obligation to provide what is asked for in a submitted P. We even got asked to provide an address for a flash drive to be delivered. Yet, it has been weeks and no flash drive with the body cam footage has shown up. I demand that all the materials that have been asked for be released immediately and I demand that the city of Anaheim stop protecting killer cops. Our next three speakers, Pearl Arzola, David Pledo, and Sergio Plejo. Pearl.

Our next speaker, David Pledo. My name is David Pledo. I'm a member of CSO Orange County and we are here to demand justice for Albert Garzola. We demand that Anaheim Police Chief Manuel Sid fire the officer who killed Albert immediately. We demand killer cop Nathan Garcia be fired immediately.

Fire Nathan Garcia. For months, Anaheim has tried to keep Garcia from being held accountable. In January, city attorney, she's sitting right there, Kristen Pelatier, claimed without evidence that the public made threats against the officer and so denied the release of his name. Over that period, Anaheim police have been harassing Albert's family. They've been filled and documented over multiple months, harassing his family and terrorizing their neighbors. So, the real threat is not the public. The threat is Anaheim PD and the killers are in your police department. Shame. Shame.

On December 6th, Nason Garcia and his partner ambushed Albert and chased him towards his family home. Garcia dragged Albert backwards by the jacket and shot him in the back and in the neck. When Albert, that's right, shame. When Albert's family came outside, Garcia pointed his gun at them and threatened them, saying, "Get the back. Shame. Shame. The only threat that night was officer Nathan Garcia. Jail killer cops. Jail killer cops.

And we just learned, as my comrade said, that Garcia had a history on June 27th, 2024. Garcia and his partner brutally arrested an unarmed 14-year-old Chico, driving their knees into his back, fracturing his shoulder, and one of them kicking him in the genitals. Shame. Shame. Now we know why your police department cancelled the first community meeting about Albert in December. Now we know why the only community meeting this city had at the end. You may remember there was a dispersal order where they threatened to arrest the audience that included this family here. Shame.

They didn't like being asked questions. But now we know why Anaheim PD has been restricting body camera footage from the public. As my friend said, releasing it as a flash drive. They told me that I had to request it as a flash drive, which I've never had to do. And they still have not delivered it to me. I've been checking every day. Shame. Shame. You don't want to publish it widely so the community can know what really happened. Shame.

That's right. This is all why CSO fights for community control of the police. Right now, we have to fight tooth and nail for these basic demands and accountability. But we are the ones who should decide on policing where we live. We shouldn't have to come here and, you know, beg you all and explain why our lives matter. That should be something we have control and authority over. And that's not the situation, but that's what it should be. We should have direct authority over the police and who is hired, fired, and how they are disciplined. But until we win community control, we will never stop fighting for justice alongside impacted families. We demand the public release of all body camera footage. We demand the release of the autopsy report and that officer Nathan Garcia be fired.

Your time is up. Our next speaker, Sergio Plejo, followed by Grace Arzola and Juanita Lopez.

Hi. Uh my name is Sergio Pallayo and uh I'm Albert's cousin. Um you know, mayor, the other day I saw you post a Tik Tok at Taco Boy. Albert grew up maybe three minutes away walking from Taco Boy and we would get it all the time growing up. That was one of our very covetous spots. And I did also some research. I saw that in 2018 you had just barely lost to Sudu and I find that blessing in disguise cuz you are here today with us and you're able to campaign again for reelection. Um your background of working with uh Jerry Brown was very um it made me feel proud. I feel like that is something good to look at when you're looking for who's going to campaign for reelection as well. Um, I would like to just speak about Albert. Um, it was published the other night that Albert's killer was involved in a excessive force case of a 14-year-old kid. It's very distasteful to know that my cousin could still be alive today if we held certain officers to a higher standard. I mean, if my job had found out that I beat up a 14-year-old kid, I'd be let go instantly. So I don't know why officers cut so much cut so much slack because Albert was seeing pursuing a greater career in life and he generally had goals and I would like to say you're telling the family to trust the DA. Uh they had just found that Todd Spitzer's DA was president ruling against Chellain. Uh any attack on brown people is attack on all type of brown people. I stand with all my South American brothers. It is not fair. He tried to um get rid of their visas, which is is crazy cuz if one person of a nationality commits a crime, everyone shouldn't be held to that in insane.

Thank you.

Our next speaker, Grace Arzola. I'm going to try not to cry. It's Cinco de Mayo and I want to share a song that reminds me of my nephew. I actually listen to this song every day on my way to work. As a social worker, I have dedicated my life to social justice. But I never thought I would be fighting for the social justice for my nephew. The song is called Do Al Salas when two souls and it says And it says that when two souls truly love each other, no matter how far apart they are, they will never stop loving each other. That's why beautiful sky when I die, don't forget about me or stop loving me. I will never stop loving my nephew till the minute I take the last breath. I will miss him dearly. What's troubling to me is that the officer who could have gave us an angle of Albert and the officer's interaction, the camera was off. That should really scare you guys. Make the hairs of your back stand up. Why was his camera off? Why? We're never going to get those questions. My nephew's dead. You can't go back time to have the officer turn on his camera. And I'm not sure if you guys read the LA Times report that Nathan Garcia had a previous incident of excessive force with a 14-year-old. Had their parents done what Officer Garcia did, the kid would be in foster care.

You and I also learned that officer Garcia harasses kids on Anna Drive.

This is sad. You guys are letting these they're he profiles young Hispanic males. You guys should do better. Had Officer Garcia been held accountable for that incident, my nephew would be alive and I wouldn't be here. I would not be here. I've met with families of people who have lost their loved ones to Anaheim PD and what they tell us is the same thing. It's I thought the death of my loved one would change things, but nothing changes and it stays the same. I remain committed to get the change we want to see in Anaheim. We want a policy change and I know it's an election year and I know you guys are scared of the Anaheim police unit but you union but you guys shouldn't be. The prayer said and you guys bowed your head and you guys prayed that you guys pray that God gives you the courage to do what's right even when it's difficult. I pray for that too. I really do. I pray for that and I pray that you guys could see the pain that we're going through. Tonight we'll be celebrating Cinco de Mayo at my mother's house. Celebrating the lives of those Hispanic Mexicans that lost their lives to Anaheim PD violence. You guys need to do better and change policy. Our next speaker, Juanita Lopez, followed by John Baka and Leslie Lopez. Juanita Lopez. John Baka.

Uh, good evening, uh, council members and mayor, uh, interimm city manager and props out to the city clerks. Um, I'm here to speak, um, on two subjects here. We have two contracts here that are up for um being voted on tonight for acceptance. Uh all the hard work's been done already. So, I just hope you guys go through with it and approve the contracts. You know, the one that we have is for Anaheim General. That's most of the utility people. And then we have the other one that's the uh professional management group. We have a couple part- timerrs in there. and these guys are out there every day uh doing their jobs and it's long overdue. But I also want to give a little shout out to the HR department uh with Linda's help we got this thing done and also to uh special ones to Jill Ramirez and Michelle for getting this contract final for approval for your guys' uh signature and approval tonight. So, I just hope you do the right thing and let's get this thing done so we can go on. We don't have this uh hanging over our heads about this contract because, you know, it expired since January. So, I hope you guys do the right thing. Thank you. Our next speaker, Leslie Lopez. Hello, my name is Lassi Lopez and I'm here today in support of my cousin Albert Arzola. At the last meeting, we found out the name of the officer, Nathan Garcia. Since that day, some

revelations have come up. to begin. Um, Norma's not here, but I wanted to congratulate her because she has a killer cop working within her district still. We know this because we saw him about a month ago. He was at a raid in the same neighborhood where the officers were handfing him like it was a celebration that he was back and we have videos. There is nothing to celebrate. He shouldn't be on the force until the investigation is complete. It is just a matter of time before another situation like this occurs again. I hope you guys realize how dangerous it is to have him working given that he already had an excessive force incident prior to killing my cousin. If I have to visit my cousin at the cemetery, the officer should face consequences for his actions. If Jim Vanderpool lost his job for something much less, so should he. He came out ready to kill. He knew the situation involved tagging yet exited his car with his gun drawn. Your policy states that if an officer does not see a clear threat, the firearm should be kept in a low ready position, not pointed at someone. But he came out his car with his gun pointed directly at my cousin head cousin's head, which is exactly where he shot him. It didn't take more than 3 seconds to assess the situation. Perhaps if he had, he wouldn't have killed someone. your um information officer Matt Stutter I believe um the person responsible for transparency can't even get the facts straight. Were you guys responding to a call or conducting regular patrol? He also stated that there was 12 people detained. I want to show you the 12 people detained or at least some of them. This was the night that it occurred. This is the mom, dad, nephew, which they all have face painting because we came from a party.

Wow. And the next morning, this is what I saw when I came to the realization that my cousin was dead. It's sad to know that you guys detained them for that, which they did nothing. Statements were made that night. There was a gunshot wound to the head. The officer replied, "Cool." When they needed to move him, they said, "Let's drag his ass." You guys need to train your officers, regardless of the situation, to practice basic empathy. If your guys' family had gone through the same situation, you would want that as well because that's a bare minimum and Anaheim PD needs to do better. I'll play the clip so that you guys can hear.

Where is my volume? But

we're just going to drag it back. Grab him and drag him back. I hear I hear a little Call me. We're just going to drag him back. Grab him and drag him. Call me. Sorry, your time is up. Grab him and drag. I'll send you guys a video of you guys saying cool when you found out he was shot in the head. So, you guys need to do better.

Mayor and city council. That concludes speakers on agenda items. We'll now move to general comments. We have 19 speakers. We'll call the first um three speakers, Sam Carlin, Joe Reyes, and Paul Adams. First of all, good evening. Uh hello, madam uh mayor. Hello, city council. Uh I just want to uh thank my uh our members from Teamsters Local 952 Anaheim Convention Center who are here tonight. Please raise your hands. Uh folks, I'm coming to you because uh we are so close to settling our contract negotiations. Um congratulations to IBW, our brother sister uh unions here at Anaheim who are also uh at the verge of getting a new contract. We're almost there. Uh our members have proven their worth in the proposals that we have brought to your bargaining team. Um we are not too far apart and we hope our presence here can help settle these contract negotiations. Uh we're not asking for more uh in wages than some of our sister unions that you have here tonight that you're actually ratifying or some that have already been ratified as an as an AMA. But we're part- timerrs. Um we are part-time uh uh parking um you know uh facility and work all the events at the Anaheim Convention Center. And again uh please meet with your chief negotiator and see where we're at in our last offer. Um he keeps telling us that um he's not coming back to council. So again, u we're just asking for a fair raise in year one of our contract just as our sister uh unions have received as well. Again, we're not asking for parody. We're not asking for more. We're just asking for a fair uh wage increase in that first year. And then you'll see our proposals as they come to you. Uh you just looked at another union's contract. You're about to like I mentioned and again we're uh we're not asking for parody. We're just asking for what's fair. And

lastly, uh you know, our 30-our employees deserve access to health insurance. um each um each you know they even if they don't hit the criteria for the city's look back um period um we have 108 employees last year alone only 10 hit that criteria and many of them were dropped uh who had it um the year before and it was really quick it was almost as if it was overnight and then I had calls from my members saying hey I just lost my health insurance so again less than 10% qualify even though they're hired on uh many of them as 30-hour employees and it seems seems as if when they're getting hired they're going to get health insurance. Unfortunately, that wasn't the case this last look back period. Um again, lastly, we're we're revenue gaining at the convention center. Our members work all the beautiful events that make the ACC uh the successful name that it is. You have NM show, you have the Disney events, uh cosmetic. Um our members will probably speak on those as well. But again, please hear us tonight. Um, and again, I'd be happy to talk to any of you um, after this meeting or soon uh, to let you know more about our negotiations. And again, thank you, Madame Mayor, for giving us the time for speak tonight. And we hope we can resolve this. We're so close and we're just asking for that last push to get a a resolution in our our contract negotiations. Thank you.

Our next speaker, Joe Reyes, Paul Adams. Evening, mayor, council members. My name is Joe Reyes. I'm a part-time lead security officer at the Anaheim Convention Center. This year will be my ninth year proudly working for the city of Anaheim and my 13th year as a resident of District 2. I am also a shop stewart for the team Local 952. I'm here today to ask the council to accept our proposal for the part-time parking and security employees. The security and parking departments have been struggling to sustain our staffing levels with qualified employees. Retention has also been an ongoing issue. In the past 60 days alone, we've lost three part-time security officers. All three of them finding higher paying opportunities. Just this last April, we've had a round of interviews held for security, which resulted in four candidates being offered the position. Out of those four, only two showed up on day one of new hire processing. The other two declined to proceed with the city. This is one of many past examples that my department has experienced in the past three years in regards to recruitment. Our current wages are well below other locations located along the corridor of Catella Avenue. This wage increase we are asking is not an unreasonable one, but an increase that we believe to be fair. Our employees deserve competitive wages. We are a dedicated group that serve all the guests from around the world that visit the Anaheim Convention Center. Madame Mayor and council, thank you for your time. I ask ask again that you approve the team's proposal for a contract that I know will benefit your employees who proudly serve this city at the Anhigh Convention Center. Thank you.

Our next speaker. Good evening, Madame Mayor, council members, staff, interim city manager. I'm Paul Adams. I'm a parking lot captain at the Anaheim Convention Center. I'm a steward for Teamsters 952. As my team members said, we're getting close in our contract. We really hope something gets approved soon. I'm very proud to work for the city of Anaheim for almost nine years. I think we do great things at the Anaheim Convention Center. things are moving forward positively and it's a really a great place to work and the convention center is obviously a great asset for the city. I want to talk a little bit about access to health care as Sam mentioned briefly if we go back maybe five years ago the convention center was the testing location for Orange County and we did a great job. Then it went to vaccinations. The city really wanted to care that the health and wellness for not only members of the city, the staff of ACC, actually for the entire county, we led the way. All we're asking for now is is for you to take a look at health care for part-time 30-hour employees. In the parking department, we need to be available for 30 hours. We're outside 365 days a year. We also greet people from around the world. We want them to have a healthy, wonderful experience at the convention center. I hope as these negotiations move forward, you take a look at our health care and see if there's a path that we can do something to order to make it better because in 2024, we got notified that HR was going to the 1560aca look back. That sort of came sort of suddenly. We wonder if

there is a path for city council and staff and HR to look at to get us where we need to be so we can approve this contract. Again, I appreciate everything you're doing for the convention center, for our members, and I hope you have a nice evening and thank you very much. Have our next speaker step forward. Hello, my name is Andrea Manis and thank you for letting me speak today. Just a couple things I want to tell you about. Good news. It's May and May means the Anaheim Children's Festival which the city of Anaheim is a proud proud sponsor of and provides terrific staff support and also the St. John the Baptist Greek Orthodox Church Greek Festival which is on the same weekend giving me twice as many things to do but that's okay. Both are very good. Um the the events uh child's children's festival is free and invites everyone to come bring your children or just come and enjoy the art that we have provided for the children free everything and uh I thank you for all the departments that have also supported this event this year. We have over 43 booths this year which is bigger than it's been for a while. It's our 34th year of doing the children's festival and it's always a fun day. I welcome you to come to Pearson Park on May 16th. It's a Saturday and visit the Anaheim Children's Festival. The other festival May 15th through May 17th is the Anaheim is the Greek Festival by St. John the Baptist Greek Orthodox Church. It is down on Dale Street between Lincoln and La Palama. We do this one every year. It's been long-standing, a lot of fun, a lot of good food, a lot of friendship. And again, we welcome the city of Anaheim and everybody here to come and see it. Enjoy the food, enjoy the dance, and uh have a good time. I thank you very much for your time. We'll have our next speaker. Please step forward. Excuse me.

Following this speaker is Ruben Greg Stoodto. Gabriel say good afternoon in the quote unquote Aztec and Nawa linguistic family which chos and chas like rubacalva compos and arzola family ginger's family to hon nation to hopi shosonyi pa tangua hatchman kish we stand on unseated land ancestral land before home of a colonist or anahim with all due to respect city mayor and to your ancestors as well. I want to take the time to say we wonder why we want to change the name of the school, the colonist, Catella Knights, the Vikings, the settlers, the Saxons. Well, look what happened to Arzola. Not just Arzola, we have Donna. I think she stepped outside and Artic Castillo's family. A lot of us have suffered by the hands of the police. And that's that that's nothing new to our people in the varios or in the Indian reservations. We're being watched in a good way and a bad way. Beware of the unknown and the unheard. Once an elder told me at a sweat lodge and he said there'll be a time when America will come and go and that flag will no exist. But we salute our Native American code talkers. If it wasn't for any of our Native American code talkers, city manager and the rest of staff, we would not be here in the audience. And I speak to you in a respectful way. And I hope you we get justice which means creator. We stand with copili or pinacho multicoumatsin was the first one to reach the Spanish colonist when they arrived to Mexico or known as Mexico City. And then we knew they were coming this way. So they organized with

the Hopi nation. We have Hopi members here in this city. We have Ashiwi which is PBLO. A lot of the words like taco, chi-chi, chipotle, awak, Seattle, Wisconsin, Chicago or nawa nawa origin. Hopefully federal recognition comes to the Aachiman nation of the Tonga nation. So then we could have our own tribal police, tribal people that maybe we can hire even non-natives on ancestral land and we can have control in the vitals like the Yakis did that came from Sonora, crossed that illegal colonist border. We didn't cross the borders, the borders crossed us. So when we say we didn't cross the borders, you say the borders crossed us. We didn't cross the borders.

We didn't cross the borders. We didn't cross the borders. And to our white allies, our brothers and sisters, we didn't cross the borders. The hopes say that Bahana would come. Our white brothers would join us. That happened in the 60s. The hippies. The word hippie came from the hopy. And that time is now. And there is a prophecy of a man with a red hat. That was Donald Trump. He's here only to awaken. We don't support what he's doing, but something will come very soon by a flag with the red sir. I'm sorry. Thank you so much. And hopefully compost, we can have that bike trail to the OC vibe and to the um Anheime Swami. Thank you. Good revenue for our people in house.

Our next speaker, our next speaker, Ruben Greg Sodto. Ruben Greg Sodto.

Then our next speaker, Cecil Jordan Corkin. Happy birthday to you. I heard it was your birthday, Cecil Miles. My birthday. I'm 67.

Happy birthday. Heat. Heat. Oh boy. After a party like this, there's just one thing to say. Thanks for celebrating with me. Well, good night everybody. So long.

Okay. the book that I've been working on. Does official Disney porn actually exist? Well, it's a spook story of Halloween style and it's there. You just got to get on your computer and you can find it. It's not It's kind of like a uh a newspaper comic type deal on on the uh computer. Disney has has a history of that trash of satanic uh porn pedophiles. They have a history of that. Disney does. You have to know what you're getting involved in when you work with Sink when you work with uh Disney and uh Jean Arrey way just as well. You don't want to get involved in something you don't know what you're getting involved in. You need to get in there and find out. I'm trying to find out if Disney if Mickey is a wizard in Fantasia. I'm trying to find that out. And that's the sort of the things I'm looking at in the Father, Son, and the Holy Spirit.

And I'm doing my Bible. Already finished the first book of it. I'm on the second part of the resurrection of the rebirth of Jesus. That's where I'm at. 1 Corinthians 15. You can read that chapter. And I'm trying to work on your mind to help you feel better of what's going on. Thank you, Cecil. And happy birthday for allowing me to come in and share the the safety of Disney.

Our next speaker having a good time.

I don't let him let him laugh a little bit. Okay. Um just uh just for real quickly, I did have a a school administrator uh make a comment about the little kids on those little ebikes. uh how dangerous that she almost hit twice these little kids and she just asked can you please go over there and talk to city council. I know there the the police department has been talking about ebikes going fast for the little kids but that's one of the things that she said it scared her you know and so basically if you guys can do something about that or being better to the public to the families maybe the schools coming up with a solution and uh but I also want to say also um you know I I'm back in 77 and I had went to work for the city at uh Ponderosa Park and if you guys know I'm only 13 at that working by myself. Nobody worked with me. And I and um and the police would come and come into my office and really harass me, threaten me. I used to call my boss. And some of you guys that are old, maybe older would know some of these names. But to keep names out would be that I had people coming and telling me that they had a undercover vehicle watching me. And then many years later, uh, a captain came up to me who whistleblow on the chief and said he wrote a bunch of stuff on you and it said to get me, and I'm not going to say the bad words right now. So, he said they were after you and they were following you to work, to school, to everything. I used to have it. So, I mean, I'm not trying to complain. I had a job. I was making money, but I had a hard time trying to work because I was pulled over. Um, so I don't know to to say that at the the top brass is giving off this orders to go after these neighbors. These neighborhoods have names from the past. You guys should know if you've lived here long enough. And it gets carried on and then they do uh come back and they do flash their lights and and again they did it to me. I'm a city employee with a

uniform on and I get pulled over and put a gun to my head. But you know, again, I was worried for the kids because they were getting beat up all the time, harassed. I mean, it's over. is just beyond in years and years and it's still happening and there's things I can't say no. So we we got to get down and try to discuss with the chief so we can tell him what we we're going through and what's going on so he could see the disappearing actions and my main thing was we got those officers in our schools now and they admitted there was bad uh officers in the school but they came up with psychologist officer. I was at the police review board and I said, "Can we can we take that teachings to the to those neighborhoods because you got good officers, you say, in the school doing a good job and they won't go after gang kids or whatever, but when they get home, they're they're put on the streets and as we can have videos and everything. This is, you know, it's just not working." So, I want to bring it to your attention if we can do something on that on that issue. Um, you know, to better to better the relations and um again this officer I saw the video of Mr. Garcia and with a young man on the property.

Sorry, your time is up. Okay. And you know, but there's a lot of stuff that needs to be addressed. Our next speaker Following the speaker, we have Janine Robbins. City leadership continues to make statements about water safety without providing the data to support them.

At the June 25th, 2025 public utilities board meeting, Craig Parker stated that Disneyland fireworks do not use perclorates. No documentation has been provided to verify that claim. At the April 22nd, 2026 meeting, Duku Lee said the water quality presentation addressed the issues and suggested residents were bouncing between PAS and perchlorates. Residents are not bouncing between anything. Multiple contaminants are affecting the same water system and concerns about all of them have been consistent. Fireworks are a documented contributor of perchlorate, especially in communities with frequent shows. For decades, Anaheim has hosted nightly Disneyland fireworks, seasonal holiday shows, and additional displays at Angel Stadium. Council member Bis recently suggested percllorate could come from other sources. That may be true, but the city has presented no analysis comparing those sources to the impact of years of repeated fireworks activity. Without analysis, the city cannot credibly claim fireworks are not a factor. Perchlorate is the only is only one part of the broader water quality picture. Anaheim is dealing with multiple contaminants. PAS perchlorate and others all present in the same system. Residents are asking about cumulative environmental impact not a single pollutant in isolation. We are we already know contamination exists. Several Anaheim wells have tested positive for perchlorate. Treatment systems are being installed at significant cost. Meanwhile, other jurisdictions are responding to similar concerns. In Long Beach, the California Coastal Commission denied a July 3rd fireworks permit due to environmental concerns. In San Diego, a federal Clean

Water Act lawsuit has been filed against SeaWorld for fireworks related pollution, and SeaWorld is now transitioning to drone shows. Regulations are acting. The lawsuits are advancing and major operators are changing their practices. So here are the questions that require direct answers. What analysis has the city conducted on the cumulative environmental impact of decades of fireworks? When will the city conduct an independent study of fireworks related perchlorate contributions?

Yes. When will the city evaluate legacy contamination in soil and groundwater? If the city cannot state with evidence that fireworks have not contributed to the perchlorate or other pollutants, then the absence of required testing is a serious concern. Known contributors are not being evaluated while other agencies are taking action. Our next speaker, Jennine Robbins, followed by G Price. my birthday. Thank you, Mayor.

When watching the last city council meeting, I felt I was watching a meeting from Harry Sedu's reign. And I laughed and laughed. See, Harry used to call us names, too. And Ashley seems to have taken that lead from her predecessor. This is attempted speaker intimidation, but it didn't stop us then and it certainly won't stop us now. Just remember, Ashley, how it all ended with Harry. Now, residents have observed increased hydrant flushing activity, sometimes occurring near known sampling periods. Coincidental. The volume and frequency have been significant enough that street surfaces are being impacted, underscoring how extensive this activity has been. At the same time, there appears to be missing lab data from September 4th, 2025, just before known operational issues in the Walnut Canyon system, which supports the Anaheim Hills area. Now, pay attention, Anaheim Hills residents. Those two facts raise a legitimate question. Are reported results reflecting actual system conditions or optimized and enhanced conditions? Adding to that concern, records show a valve was open more than 20% on September 17, 2025 and then increased to 50% open on September 23rd, 2025, which would directly impact water quality. And importantly, all of this occurred during the third quarter of 2025. The same period in which the city's own annual water report acknowledges a failure to complete required monitoring and states it cannot confirm the quality of drinking water during that time period. So we now have missing required sampling, elevated conditions within the same time frame of the missing sampling, increased flushing far beyond normal flushing expectations, and that alignment of missteps raises a serious question. What was the condition of the

water during that time? And was it fully captured and disclosed to the state water board? I'm asking the city to confirm whether sampling occurred on or around September 4th, 2025 to provide those lab results or clearly explain their absence. Disclose any flushing activity conducted prior to compliance sampling beginning in September 25 till today and explain how the valve operations on September 17th and 23rd were evaluated in relation to water quality impacts. Let me recap this for you. Number one, missing data. Number two, increased flushing. Number three, incomplete required monitoring, which together all add up to a sense of uncertainty. And uncertainty mushrooms quickly into a credibility issue, ending in zero transparency and resulting in hidden facts. And you need to fire that goddamn murderous police officer.

Next speaker, G. Price, Tom Filbert, followed by Mark Herbert. In December, well 51 had PAS levels above the notification level and the state water board was notified, but the well was not shut down in December. It wasn't even shut down in January. Many cities when POS is detected at a concerning level, they respond immediately, often taking a well offline within a week out of an abundance of caution. And residents are notified just as a precaution. And truthfully, Anaheim has done the same in the past, shutting wells down within a week of receiving notification of contaminated levels exceeding thresholds. But not this time. In December, well 51 had high pas running through our drinking water supply for 74 days. That's a massive deviation from the past practice of a 7-day closure. And Anaheim residents want to know why. If the state requires notification of high PAS levels, the state expects action. Anaheim residents want to know why no action was taken until March. you, the city council, was informed that well 51 was shut down on February 17th, but records show the well was not actually taken offline until March 6th, 17 days later. Both dates cannot be accurate. If the city cannot verify something as fundamental as an accurate shutdown date in its own presentation, how can the public be expected to trust more complex determinations like water quality? So residents are left asking, why did it take over two months to shut the swell down? Why were residents not notified of potential risks, especially

those who are more sensitive? And why can't the city simply confirm which date is accurate? Anaheim residents deserve answers. We need a definite answer on the timing discrepancy. We need a definite answer on the shutdown delay. And we need to know why neither was clearly explained. Residents deserve answers. Our next speaker following this speaker, Mark Herbert. followed by Michael Robbins.

Mayor and council members, I want to address a serious public safety issue tied to California's call before you dig law under Government Code section 4216. This law exists to prevent catastrophic incidents, gas line strikes, explosions, and injuries to both workers and residents. There are credible concerns that excavation work has been directed without valid dig tickets or without proper verification of underground utilities. That raises a basic operational question. What system is in place to ensure compliance before excavation begins? Because this should not rely on individual judgment in the field. There should be verification requirements, documented clearance, and a clear auditable record before any digging starts, including routine audits. And this is not theoretical. There has been at least one instance where the gas company identified a project that was not authorized to dig and required the area to be redug to confirm no damage occurred. That should never happen if proper controls are in place. There are also concerns about projects being sent out without adequate staffing levels and without appropriate safety equipment, which further increases risk in an already high hazard environment. So, I'm asking the city, how are dig tickets and verified in real time? What prevents work from proceeding without valid 811 and clearance? How are projects evaluated to ensure they are properly staffed and equipped before work begins? And where is the documentation showing these safeguards are consistently

followed? Because if compliance is working, there should be a clear auditable record and you should be asking for those records immediately. Thank you. Next three speakers, Mark Herbert, Mike Robbins, Dave Duran.

I'd like to give these copies to the city council and city attorney. Mr. Herbert, you can go ahead and start while we get those distributed up.

Mark Herbert, Anaheim grief.com. At the last council meeting, the mayor repeatedly interrupted my public comments in a manner that violated the Brown Act. The effect was to suppress the discussion of contaminants in the drinking water of Hermosa Village and Anaheim residents. This was a health and safety issue that the public had a right to address without interference. This wasn't the first time there have been Brown Act concerns. At the November 18th city council meeting, I raised six Brown Act violations during pop public comments and submitted them in writing to the mayor, council, and city attorney as well. I reminded the council again of these violations at the January 13th, 2026 council meeting. Today, 6 months later, I'm still waiting for a response. When the public comments are interrupted and when concerns go unanswered, it sends a message not just to residents but to city employees. Stay quiet. Don't raise questions. Don't challenge what's happening. This is the message employees in the public utilities department are now hearing. The previous speaker outlined the requirements of California's call before you dig law. Those requirements exist for a reason. Safety. Safety for city workers as well as Anaheim residents. There are documented instances where city employees were directed by their supervisors not to follow call before you dig and other safety requirements. Also, city employees report they are being directed not to speak to their union representative. When they attempt to contact their union representative,

they are harassed, isolated, demoted, or terminated for trying to protect themselves and residents. The consequences are real. Multiple incidents have already occurred. One, gas lines have been struck. Two, an employee caught on fire. Three, another suffered severe lifealtering injury. He s he suffered a severe lifealtering injury. This is a leadership issue. Patterns like these exist when those in positions of authority tolerate them. The responsibility for health and safety in Anaheim goes beyond the city's frontline supervisors. It extends to the mayor, this council, the city manager, the city attorney, and human resources. They are the ones responsible for oversight and enforcement. Based on the mayor's suppression of public comments and the council's silence on serious issues, the city message is loud and clear. We take care of our friends.

Your time is up. Our careers. This must change or it will change in November.

Our next three speakers, Mike Robbins, Dave Duran, and Jennifer Romo. Well, 51 wasn't closed for 74 days. PFAS can uh uh include uh just in 30 days. Exposure can uh increase preeclampsia and childhood leukemia and more. The leadership dynamics at the city of Anaheim depends on a system of accountability. This council can only act on the information they receive. Without verification, there's always a risk that decisions are being made without full knowledge of underlying conditions. Decision making depends on one critical factor that information flowing upward from operations to council is accurate and is in the best interest of the city and the residents. What safeguards are in place to ensure that Anaheim executive leadership and this council are rece are receiving complete and accurate operational information if field level issues exist whether related to water quality flushing practices or excavation safety and these issues are not immediately addressed your decisions are uh are compromised. Council oversight is weakened and the public is left without in with incomplete, dangerous and inaccurate information. Duku Lee announced his retirement the day after his recent water quality presentation. This raises an important question of governance. Are you expected to be the experts on technical issues or do you rely on the city experts that accurate in that for accurate information?

In most organizations, leadership depends on internal experts. If the professionals are not fully truthful with critical information, then you're making decisions based on incomplete facts as well as faulty information. What independent verification mechanisms exist to validate what is being reported? How are the discrepancies between field conditions and reported information investigated? What accountability measures are triggered when information gaps are identified? Who's fired? Why aren't they? And why are they protected?

Trust in leadership requires more than confidence. It requires verification. Voters deserve assurance from their elected officials that the issues we bring to your attention are fully investigated in a transparent, ethical, and pro manner. especially concerning the water we drink, 74 days and and the risk to the public. And if they didn't report this to you and this was hidden, what about the water you're drinking? How do you know that these people in government are reporting to you about the water that you're drinking?

Mr. Robbins, your time is up.

Next speaker, Dave Duran. Tonight, you heard a series of serious issues that remain unanswered. You've heard concerns about missing lab data at a critical time. flushing practices occurring without clear explanation. Valve operations that coincided with changes in water conditions. A 74 day delay in shutting down well 51 after PFSAS detection. Discrepancies between what was reported and what actually occurred. firework related contaminants that the city continues to avoid addressing despite actions taken by other agencies. Excavation safety concerns that place both employees and residents at risk and a lack of independent verification to ensure or to yes to ensure leadership is receiving accurate information. These are not isolated issues. They point to a pattern. A pattern where questions are raised, answers are unclear or incomplete, and the response is reassurance without documentation. At some point this stops being about

individual issues and becomes a question of governance because when data is missing, timelines don't align, safety concerns are raised but not meaningfully addressed and potentially environmental impacts are not fully evacuate evaluated. That is not transparency. That is inaction. It's neglect. And inaction has consequences. The public is not asking for perfection. We're asking for clarity, honesty, accountability, and documented answers to verify specific questions already outlined tonight. So, I will close with this. What is this council going to do specifically to investigate these issues, to verify the facts, and to provide the public, the people in this room, the people listening in with honest and clear documented answers. At this point, the council's silence or repeated assurance that everything is fine suggest either a failure to fully investigate or failure to provide honest transparency.

Mr. Duran, your time is up. And neither is acceptable. The schools, residents, and the city businesses deserve to be safe and to know the truth. Our next speaker, Jennifer Romo. Following the speaker is Dana Baker.

Um, hello. Um, I got to be honest, it's the first time I've ever been to one of these, so I'm a bit flustered. I guess I would appreciate some guidance on how to obtain a city parking permit. You earlier in the proceedings, you mentioned the Brookers Community Center. If any of you have been to the premises in person, you may have noticed that it is incredibly difficult to find parking there as the building is located in a very small and compacted neighborhood. Um, my family has tried to follow file the online application to get a parking permit, but for whatever reason, our address doesn't come up. So, I guess I asked the council, is there some sort of procedure to say petition signatures to open more addresses available for sitting parking? I'm willing to do so. I'm willing to follow the procedure. We, my family, could very much benefit from a parking permit if any such procedure exists. We could really use some help because the parking tickets keep stacking up and it's getting to be a bit much. If there's if there's any sort of proceeding, I'm willing to try and I'm willing to do it. I would appreciate the guidance because the parking tickets are getting kind of painful. But thank you.

Thank you. Um Mr. City Manager, do you have someone she can talk to about the process? Um thank you. Okay, Mr. Mommy is in the back. He's our public works director that can just walk you through the process. I don't have the um requirements memorized, but I know it's a certain amount of houses and a certain square footage, but he can walk you through that process, see what the problem is. Okay. Thank you. All right. Thank you. Our next speaker.

Good evening, mayor and city council. Thank you for hearing me this evening. My name is Dana Baker. I have a bachelor's in social work and a master's in education and I'm still in need of housing. I went to college and worked hard for these two degrees and I'm standing before you asking for help to find a place to live. I lived and loved Orange County for 13 years and a family member uh became ill so I moved back to Ohio. Luckily, this family member did not have dementia. So, I decided to move back to Orange County. Since I've been back, it's been a struggle to find a job and a place to live. Fortunately, my former landlord let me stay with him, but unfortunately, he passed away last in February. I have not been able to find steady work with all these degrees. It's frustrating, but aside from all that, I know where I'm sleeping tonight, and I know where my next meal's coming from. And I'm again asking for a place to live. If you can find me housing before the end of the month, I would greatly appreciate it. Um, may I please have the name and number of the person in charge of this department?

Yes. I think uh, Mr. City Manager, can you give him the contact information for someone in housing? Thank you. Absolutely. We'll do, mayor. How am I Okay. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Garcia. Our next

Our next speaker, Brian K. Happy day. You know, it's it is a shame because you invite us to come down here and speak and then when we get down here and speak, you don't really pay too much attention to us. You know, the issues that are at hand, they're nothing new. They're things that keep repeating themselves. Do you do you want people to come down here and protest the police? Do do you want to have a police officer kill someone? Because the only way that you can even come close to trying to explain Albert's death is that you just kind of wanted to keep doing what you were doing. And this might be a far-fetched example, but you look like a bunch of wandering Jews just out there in the middle of the desert killing people, watching your own people die. And we're right here saying, "Look, I mean, I'm not even going to say the promised land so much. I'm just going to say look, there's clean water over there. There's good, honest, hardworking police officers right over there. just a couple of feet away and not one of you step up and want to make those

improvements. I mean, we care about Anaheim and you're a part of Anaheim, so we care about you. H how can you not care about us? How can you not care about yourselves? You know, Chief Sid met with me, sat down and spoke with me, reviewed the evidence that I've presented. And his response was, "How did it get this bad?" And you know, today I'm reading the news and there's a copy of the document where you're releasing the name of the officer. Do you know what's missing from that? a bill for $25,000 because when I submitted a public records request to find out what happened in my arrest, the city wanted $25,000 for me to release any information. Imagine that. $2,500. And at the police review board, Harvey Julian Julian Harvey was crushed. He goes, "I know this is against the law. I know this is wrong, but this is what our city council is telling us to do. And you're still telling the police to do things that are wrong. You still haven't even addressed my petitions that would have saved Albert's life. You haven't addressed any of the petitions after my time is up

to the recent ones about this officer that would have saved your time's life. And you sit there and you keep letting it happen. Thank you. Your time is up. Our next speaker.

Hello, my name is Donna Cvido Nelson. My 21-year-old son Joel was murdered by the Anaheim police on July 22nd, 2012. 12 years 12 months prior to the killing of my son, the Anaheim police also killed David Rya, Marcel Sea, Bernie Viegas, Rosco Cambridge, Martin Hernandez, Manuel Diaz all within one year.

2012 20 after my son was killed. No, as far as I know, nobody was killed in 2013. 2014 it started up again and by then we had policies for body cam so that they had to be worn and turned on. Well, people were still getting killed. I picture the bodies piled up here and they kept piling and piling with more families coming in wanting change. And we we kept thinking change was going to happen. We got all these layers of oversight that doesn't do anything. 2016 Gustavo Nohara was killed by German Alvarez. He's standing right there at that door. Other times when I've come to this council, it's been Jun Jin Wu or whatever his name is who killed Vill Vincent Venuela. Other times it was Benac who killed Manuel Diaz and several others. He'd be out front. This is wrong. Like families shouldn't have to come here and see all these killer cops like rubbed in our faces.

We should also know right away who has killed people in our community. We we've we let Natalie know. We let the chief know about bad cops that come into our neighborhood with their guns drawn already on little kids that come running into our courtyard yelling because they're afraid. That should not be happening. I'd like to know if it's Kyle Smith that was with Garcia because they would be in our neighborhood. He was the one that was always picking on little kids in our neighborhood. We have the right to know this. And and this the chief that we have, he might as well be a Kardashian. All he cares about are his waxed eyebrows and looking good for his social media presence. We need we need people that care who like who really is in charge. Like Greg Garcia, he's been here since before I've been coming and that was in 2012. Terresa Bass has been here longer than that. I think I think everybody like everyone else is like a mushroom head. Like your heads get chopped up, chopped off, a new guy comes in.

Like when are things really going to change because we can't be having Albert or Zola should be alive right now? We've ma'am, I'm sorry your time is we have told you so many times about these bad cops and they're still out there. German Alvarez is at the door. Why is he there? Thank you. Your time is up. Thank you so much, Donna. Our next speaker, our next speaker, Pearl Arzilla.

Hello. It's been five months since you guys haven't gave us anything but a name. But like Donna said, that name is still patrolling our neighborhood. on April 12th, he was there, which is crazy considering the fact that he shouldn't be in that area policing because technically he is just a patrol officer. He's not even an officer that is with any gang unit or anything. So why was he in an unmarked car? Why are you guys allowing these patrol officers in unmarked cars terrorizing the whole community? I would like to say that you guys don't know the pain that we are feeling or anything. I get really bad anxiety attacks. So does my sister-in-law. And you guys just all just don't care and continue to pay this person. And you guys need to fire him immediately and you guys need to strip his pay. You You guys are more worried about doing their workers comp. the workers comp. What is the workers comp going to do for us? Nothing. You got If it takes us three years to collect workers comp at our jobs, why can't it take them more than that? They need they shouldn't. Honestly, you guys, if cops shouldn't get paid because they don't do anything but kill innocent lives and just overly police us and don't even care about us as an individual, just like the 911 operators. Those 911 operators didn't care to save my brother's life at all. They were

screaming at us on the phone telling us that we were being um we were being what?

Not compliant when all we were doing was telling them that they needed to help them. I work in healthcare. I know how you are supposed to save somebody in a life. I have done CPR on a family member and they survived with my CPR. if I would have done any necessary measurements to save my brother's life, but I couldn't. You know why? Because your officer was pointing a gun at me and saying, "Get the inside. Get the inside." And I couldn't even do anything. And he was pointing his gun and I was telling him, "Don't shoot me. Don't shoot me." So, how can you have that officer still to this day patrolling places? You guys should be all ashamed to of yourselves. Mayor, mayor and city council, that concludes our in-person comments. Stating for the record, we did receive 32 electronic comments on general comments. Those were distributed to city council as well as posted on the city's website at anahham.net/public comment.

Thank you. So, we'll now close the public comment portion of the meeting and move to council communications. Are there any council members that have items to share? I'll start with Council Member Moss. Thank you, Mayor. I have a few slides to share.

On Saturday, April 25th, I hosted Clean Up with your council member at Pioneer Park. It was the inaugural effort of this monthly cleanup. Um, this effort grew out of conversations with local students who shared that they want cleaner parks and public spaces. It also came with uh inspiration from Greenbird Anaheim. We will continue this as a monthly effort. Our next cleanup is scheduled for Saturday, May 23rd at Alo Greens Park. It's a great opportunity to get outside, meet neighbors, and see different parts of our city that you may not have seen before. Closed towed shoes are required and supplies are available. And I just want to point out in that middle picture, we have former Anaheim firefighter on my left and we have a current Anaheim police volunteer on my right. And so, um, it just shows me that the people who come out to volunteer and serve continue to come out and serve. So, thank you, uh, to Judy and Herb for coming out. Next slide, please. The following day at Warz Park, um, we created a simple space for neighbors to slow down, connect, and in some cases meet for the first time. I used this opportunity to share mental health resources with families in a way that felt approachable and natural. It reinforced that public art in our public places can play a real role in mental wellness. It helps create spaces where people feel comfortable gathering, engaging, and taking a moment to reset. Um, after the event was done, the flowers were shared with local seniors. I want to thank Ariselli with Victoria's Garden for her vision and her talent and Martha Wrangler for her partnership in bringing this to life.

I would like to recognize District 5 resident Nate Enriquez. So Nate is a student at Modern Day High School. He is the starting goalkeeper in his varsity soccer team and he played a key role in an exceptional season. You can see his accomplishments up on the slide and these reflect a high level of discipline and focus while balancing his school um school work. So I want to also acknowledge his parents for their time and support behind that commitment. Um so congratulations to Nathan on a great season and for representing Anaheim so well. At the end of today's meeting, I'll be asking to bring him in to recognize him. And lastly, I would like to congratulate South Junior High. So, they earned the 2026 Civic Learning Award of Excellence, and this is the highest recognition in California for civ civic education. Um, South is one of three schools statewide to receive this honor. It's the second time they have received this honor. I've had the opportunity to work closely with staff and leadership at South as well as their students who consistently speak up on issues such as litter in parks, um crossing guards, and the importance of mental health. Our students are not just our future, they are already shaping today. So, congratulations again to South Junior High on that accomplishment.

Thank you. Um, next will be Mayor Prom Leyon.

Thank you, Madame Mayor. Madame Clerk, I had the uh the chance to join the Anaheim Union High School District for their district-wide uh parent celebration breakfast. Uh it was a packed room, a lot of energy, and a well-deserved moment to recognize the parents who are showing up for their kids and kids across our community every single day. And it was nice to see the community come together, especially with everything that um has been happening over the last few months. Uh to be able to come together and celebrate and have fun together. Um it was a really great time. So want to say thank you to everybody who helped organize that. I stopped by the Cinco de Mayo celebration at Center Greens. Uh good energy all around. A great mix of uh staff and community members coming together. I want to give a shout out to our community services team. appreciate them for all the behind-the-scenes work that goes into making a celebration like this happen as well as uh all of our all of our city staff that was there and all the community members that came out to uh to celebrate together as a community. I joined the team kids team council at the Orange County Family Justice Center uh for a close and donation drive that they organized. Uh this was studentled from start to finish. They identified a need and uh really made it happen. And it was impressive to see that level of initiative again as high school students um and especially when it directly supports uh families that are going through difficult situations. So just want to say thank you uh to Lieutenant Pñena, the entire team kids team as well as the Orange County Family Justice Center for their continued commitment in supporting our community.

You on a horse?

That was me on the horse. Yes. Thank you to our Anaheim public utilities team uh for popping up in one of our district 2 neighborhoods uh where residents could pick up dust to dawn lights uh and connect directly with the team. I really appreciate our staff uh for making it easy for folks to to access real resources close to home and I know there's ongoing conversations especially about this space about uh potentially activating it a little bit more and provide our residents uh another opportunity to to really be outside and enjoy. And so, um, had great some had some great conversations with our our district 2 neighbors. Um, and of course, I have to mention and point out, uh, a future council member there that was, uh, dressed in a Ducks jersey. Um, the playoff energy is real, even at public utilities pop-up events. And so, again, thank you to Dooku and everybody for for being there. And, of course, uh, go Ducks. And finally, Madame Mayor, I I'd like to ask that we adjourn tonight's meeting in memory of Father John Monasterero from J St. Justin Martyr Church. For so many of us, he was part of our everyday lives. I grew up going to his masses, and I think anyone who did remembers them the same way. They were short. They were very short in a way that somehow still said everything that needed to be said. but he had a gift for getting to the heart of it without ever losing the meaning behind it. What really stayed with you was who he was. There was a warmth to him that made people feel at ease right away. Whether it was a conversation after mass, being there for someone during a difficult moment, giving feedback to a council member about improvements needed in the neighborhood, he carried himself with a quiet steadiness that people leaned on. His ministry went beyond the walls of the church. He believed in bringing people together across religions, across backgrounds and experiences. And that

kind of presence leaves a mark on a community. It's hard to picture St. Justins without him. For many of us, he was part of what made that place feel like home. He meant a great deal to my family. I know to so many others at St. Justin's as well, and he will be deeply missed. So, I'd like to ask that we adjourn in his memory tonight. Madame Mayor,

thank you, Mayor Prom. Um I have a couple of um items to announce. First um I just want to disclose. I went for Cal Cities um up to Sacramento for the Cal C's um and I'm in all ducks gear at this point. Um I to go and meet with our both our legislators and with um other delegates from uh League of California Cities um just to make sure that we are fighting for issues that all the cities have in common, you know, homelessness dollars, um the local control, help for affordable housing, etc. So, thanks to the Cow League of Cities for um putting that event together. Um, I know we honored our clerks earlier, but I just wanted to thank um, Teresa Bass for inviting me. The Municipal Clerks of California had their annual meeting in Anaheim. And so, I got to be in a room with probably the most organized people um, around. And, you know, for those that don't know kind of what the clerk does, she doesn't just make sure I don't forget things or go out of order. They run She runs our elections. She responds to all the PAS. She keeps all the city history, helps me organize the agenda, and I really couldn't do what I do without Susanna and Teresa. So, again, thank you to our city clerks um and to everyone in your department. Um, next I went to um, UCI had a um, city bycity panel on immigration and what different cities are doing to respond to um, both ICE raids um, and uh, help about the needs that some of the ICE raids uh, have um, created in our cities. So, I was really proud to uh be able to talk about the work that Anaheim has done through our Anaheim Contigo program and a lot of the grants that were given out by ACF uh and

several of the other cities and mayors there, I think, are going to try to uh mention that they wanted to copy kind of the footprint that Anaheim started. So, that was a good compliment, I think, to the work that our city staff here has done. Um, next, I just wanted to thank everyone. Um, I had my state of the city last week. Um, and we had, you know, several hundred people in attendance raising money for ACF, which is our Anaheim Community Foundation. Uh, it was also seems to be a duck theme. Um, because Ally K, the announcer for the Ducks, as well as Tim Kepler, who does the national anthem, uh, were there at the event as well as community members and community stakeholders. So, I just want to thank the communications team led by, uh, Mr. Mike Listister for, um, helping put all of this together. It is no easy feat and they do a spectacular job every year. Uh last I wanted to share um that I got to go to an empty Angel Stadium which was pretty cool uh with the Anaheim Chamber of Commerce at their annual Angels Lunchon where they raise money uh for different nonprofits that really try to make sure that kids from all backgrounds have resources, have the equipment that they need to play basketball, I'm sorry, to play baseball. Um, and then of course they always have a angel player there to give the kids kind of some answer their questions and give them some real life tips about how to jump from the little leagues to the big leagues. So thanks to the chamber for inviting me. This always a really really awesome event. Um, I think that concludes our council communications. So now is the time for our city manager update.

Thank you, mayor. Just a couple of items tonight. Uh my first item is regarding the ongoing stadium assessment. It's time for an update. We have completed the initial testing and we're now entering the next phase uh which is to perform an analysis and assessment of those results. Um the final phase includes the use of a structural consultant to complete the final review and provide a final assessment and we expect this to be completed uh this fall. Uh there are no other stadium developments at this time. And then finally, I did want to give an update on our community open houses. Our next round of community open houses across all six six districts is coming up in June. Uh this marks the third round of our new format for district community meetings. We start with district 1 on June 3rd and work our way through district 6 on June 18th. Uh residents can drop in anytime from their convenience from 5:00 to 7:00 p.m. on those days and engage on the subjects they're interested in. It is openhouse setting and so lots of city departments are there with staff and it allows for one-on-one interaction uh and discussion. Uh we're sharing details uh now with residents so folks can mark their calendars and join us. Also all that information will be on our website as well. So that concludes my update. Thank you.

Thank you Mr. City Manager. Uh we will now address the city council consent calendar. Items 1 through 11 are before us. Are there any members of council that would like to pull any items from the consent calendar? I will kill you. Okay. Seeing none, can we have a motion to pass the consent calendar? Make a motion to pass. Second. We have a motion and a second. Please vote. Okay. Now I The vote is five eyes, no nays with the recorded absence by Council Member Balva and Council Member Curts. Motion carries.

Thank you. Next is the report on closed session. Mr. City Attorney, do you have anything to report? Nothing to report, Madame Mayor. Thank you. We do not have any non-aggenda item public comments. Um, so I'm going to move to future agenda requests by any council members. Are there any council members that would like to put an item for consideration on a future agenda? Council member Moss. Thank you, Madam Mayor. At a future date, I would like to bring in Nathan Enriquez to recognize his accomplishments. And I would also like to bring in South Junior High Leadership to recognize their accomplishment. Okay. Thank you. So, we'll put those two items. Um, and I'll work with the clerk to get those on. So, with no other business before they

One more. Oh, I'm so sorry, Council Member Bis. I didn't see that. Um, I'd like to ask uh staff to bring back a resolution for consideration to formally oppose uh the highspeed rail authorities uh 2026 draft business plan at our next meeting. Um, at least we could bring it back uh and then have a discussion and I hope we have some uh consensus to oppose it, but I'd like to ask that. Thank you. Thank you. And then do you have some documents you want us to share, analyze, or just kind of put together before the next meeting? I will work with staff to make sure we

Yeah, that would be wonderful. Um, thank you. Um, so with no other business before the council, we stand adjourned until our next meeting, which is next week, May 12th, 2026. Thank you.