Council - Regular Meeting

Hi.

Oh, my God. How are you? Are you having something else before the election? You had some kind of kickoff. Luncheon, meeting. I missed it. I don't know why I missed it. That's why I want to make sure I make connections.

Thank you.

You know they're very good. Thank you.

All right, he was right behind me. So I'm going to go ahead and call the Anaheim City Council meeting to order. Clerk, can you please call roll?

Thank you, Mayor. Council Member Bayless?

Here.

Council Member Bubacalva? Here. Council Member Kurtz? Here. Council Member Moss? Here. Council Member Meeks? Here. Mayor Pro Tem Leon?

Present.

Mayor Aiken? Present. Let the record show we have all seven members present.

So the first item on our agenda is a workshop for the proposed 26-27 budget. At this time, we will be accepting public comments on the workshop. City Clerk, can you call forward any speakers we have to address this workshop?

Yes, Mayor. We do have one speaker, Chairperson Jorge Gavino, that's here to address Council on the workshop.

Hello, Council. I'll keep this short. Dear Mayor Aiken and members of the Anaheim City Council, it has been my privilege to serve the public good as chair of the Budget, Investment and Technology Commission this year. By my count, this marks the 15th public meeting that the city has had in terms of the budget. That's 15 public meetings, 15 chances for public input, 15 reminders that good budgeting is a public process. I wanna start with something positive. This year's budget earned the city staff a Distinguished Budget Presentation Award from the Government Finance Association, a recognition that speaks to the standard of public transparency that this staff sets year after year. Thank you to staff and a big congratulations to the finance department. So onto the budget. While other cities in our region have struggled, Anaheim has weathered several years of turmoil under this, sorry, let me start over. While other cities in the region have struggled, Anaheim has weathered the last several years because of this city council's discipline and this city staff's skill in balancing the budget under public scrutiny. As Anaheim prepares for global attention in the year ahead, we see a real opportunity for growth. The Commission would like to recommend that the Convention Center focus on retaining both large and small conventions, especially the historic long-term partnerships that have built the venue's public reputation. We would also like to recognize the coordinated efforts of multiple city departments in addressing homelessness. The point in time count shows that a 10% in decrease in unsheltered individuals from 2024 to 2026. This is real public progress and we encourage the council to continue that commitment. WE ALSO WANT TO RECOGNIZE AND RECOMMEND THAT THIS YEAR WE ARE FOCUSING ON FISCAL RESPONSIBILITY. THE COMMISSION WOULD LIKE TO RECOMMEND THAT WE NOT WAIT FOR A RAINY DAY AND WE ARE ENDORSING THE AMENDING THE RESERVE POLICY FROM 7 TO 10% TO 20 TO 25%. THIS IS SOMETHING THAT WE FEEL STRONGLY ABOUT AND THAT THE CITY SHOULD TAKE INTO CONSIDERATION. A DEEPER RESERVE PROTECTS PUBLIC SERVICES. NEXT TIME CIRCUMSTANCES ARE NOT IN OUR FAVOR. AGAIN WE DON'T NEED TO WAIT FOR an emergency. We also, speaking of emergencies, we also recognize that the dangers of wildfire have been increasing and we recommend the development and we fully support the development of a wild land fire suppression crew or whatever name it needs to be under the fire department as well as we want to continue to invest in our fire capacity. Public safety and fiscal responsibility go hand in hand. Once again, we are grateful for the public trust placed on this commission and we remain committed to earning it. public meeting after public meeting. And if you notice I said public a lot, that's because that's the number of public meetings we've had. All right, thank you so much.

Mayor and City Council, we did receive an additional card, Mark Herbert, to address the City Council on the budget. Workshop.

Mark Herbert, AnaheimGreece.com. This is from the internet, I got this stuff from. The purpose of a public workshop is to educate citizens and gather community feedback on specific projects or policies. Unlike a formal public hearing, a workshop is highly collaborative. It allows residents, stakeholders, and local officials to work together to solve problems, brainstorm ideas, and shape community initiatives. why public workshops are important. They're transparent communication. They provide an open two-way dialogue between government agencies, organizations, and the public. Attendees get a clear overview of the upcoming plans directly from the source. They provide collaborative problem solving. Participants engage in hands-on activities, brainstorming sessions, and breakout groups rather than just listening to a lecture. When to use it. Workshops are best used to help participants develop ideas through conversations and collaborations with others. They are particularly effective for surfacing issues and new solutions and gathering in-depth feedback. Conducting a successful workshop requires meticulous planning, an interactive agenda and strong facilitation. To guarantee a highly engaging and productive session, clearly define your objectives, set expectations with participants prior to the events, balance presentations with collaborative activities and always follow up on items. A good workshop is just not a long seminar. Aim for a balanced ratio of 50% presentation and 50% interactive exercises, such as small group discussions and problem solving. Post-workshop follow-up. Distribute outcomes. Send out workshop minutes detailing accomplishments, uncompleted tasks, and who is responsible for the next steps. That doesn't quite match what I've experienced here on what you call a workshop. Having these comments before we hear the staff reports inhibits conversations from developing. I'll continue this during the public hearing on the budget. Having the workshop on the same day of the vote of the budget does not seem like a very open way to include the public in the process.

Mayor and City Council, that concludes our speakers. A note from the record, we did not receive any electronic comments on the budget.

Thank you. So we're now going to close the public comment portion. Mr. Interim City Manager, I'd like to turn it over to you to introduce the workshop.

Thank you, Mayor. Today's workshop represents the second workshop in our budget series and will include presentations from six of our operating departments, public utilities, public works, planning and building, economic development, housing and community development, and convention sports and entertainment. Later tonight, we'll have a public hearing where you will consider adoption of the proposed budget, the appropriation limits, and proposed user fee changes. The proposed budget represents an important step forward for our city. Since 2020, we've navigated structural deficits driven by increasing operational costs using one-time revenues to bridge the gap while protecting existing service levels and adding services strategically where necessary. The FY26-27 budget reflects meaningful progress with a manageable funding gap, continued revenue growth, and a clear path to structural balance as the LPMR bonds approach retirement this year, this next calendar year. The proposed budget totals $2.6 billion. It includes a robust capital improvement program that will invest more than $324 million into our community with a focus on improving our neighborhoods. ENHANCING THE RELIABILITY OF OUR UTILITIES AND INFRASTRUCTURE AND ADDING NEW AMENITIES TO OUR PARKS AND COMMUNITY SPACES. AND WITH THAT, WE'LL BEGIN THE DEPARTMENT PRESENTATIONS WITH OUR PUBLIC UTILITIES GENERAL MANAGER, DUKU LEE.

THANK YOU, GREG. GOOD AFTERNOON, MAYOR AND MEMBERS OF THE CITY COUNCIL. I'M PLEASED TO PRESENT APU'S FISCAL YEAR 27 PROPOSED BUDGET. Our core services include providing electricity and water to Anaheim homes, businesses, and schools. And as a community-owned utility, our employees help customers with ways to save on their utility bills, provide security lighting, and also help with efficiency programs. Our employee count includes 361 full-time and 39 part-time FTEs. For fiscal year 27, we are requesting three new positions. The first two are electric crew members, a supervisor, and a line mechanic. These additions will allow us to perform more capital projects in-house as well as enhance our ability to respond to emergencies. The third position is a substation test technician supervisor who will support grid modernization of our high-voltage equipment. Our proposed budget of $783 million represents 30% of the citywide budget. The general fund makes up less than 1% of our budget and covers energy costs for streetlights as well as the city's 311 information line. This table shows the budget of our five divisions along with our power and water supply. Our operating budget is increasing modestly from the current year by 2%, while our department's total budget is increasing by approximately 3%, reflecting additional investments in infrastructure. The majority of our operating budget is due to our wholesale costs in the other operating category, reflecting power and water supplies needed to serve Anaheim customers. We also finance capital investments, spreading debt service costs over the life of those assets. Given the long-term life of our infrastructure, use of financial tools such as debt service has helped keep our customer rates stable and affordable. Labor makes up 12% of our operating budget, and the remaining 1% covers capital outlay for things like technology systems, vehicles, and facility improvements. Our budget reflects the six strategic priorities shown. We focus on safe and reliable service to our customers while controlling our costs and managing the many risks facing the utility industry. We're also planning for the future, increasing renewable energy, prioritizing sustainable groundwater supplies, and helping customers use less resources that also maintain affordable bills. Our administration and risk services division includes customer service, which handles over 20,000 phone calls, emails, chats, and high-many-time requests and in-person visits each month. Our staff leverages technology, which helps keep our average call wait times to 1.4 minutes, and our employees help over 25,000 customers who are eligible for bill assistance, payment plans, or bill extensions, depending on their unique circumstances. This division also handles risk management, regulatory compliance, and environmental and safety oversight, conducting over 360 facility inspections and trainings this past year. The Water Division is responsible for managing wholesale supplies from Orange County Water District and Metropolitan Water District. Currently, Colorado River imports are strained by years of low precipitation and snowpack, so regional storage and investments in local conservation rebates are helping us prepare for future droughts. APU operates a state-certified water quality laboratory and conducts 44,000 tests annually. Additionally, we've secured $10 million in state grant funding to offset groundwater treatment costs with another $8 million pending. Over half of our water capital program is dedicated to replacing aging pipes and installing new ones for reimbursable development projects. As shown on the bottom right slide, our water system reliability continues to perform well with lower main breaks compared to the national average. The Electric Division operates and maintains our local grid. We are recognized again as a reliable public power provider, an achievement roughly 250 of the 2,000-plus publicly-owned utilities nationwide receive. As shown in the chart, our outage duration is better than the national average for our public agency, as well as SoCal Edison, who serves North and Central OC. Outages can occur at any time due to weather, metallic balloons, vehicle accidents, equipment issues, and even vandalism. And safely responding to outages to restore customers is our highest priority. And capital investments to continually upgrade or replace aging equipment, undergrounding power lines, and increasing automation are essential to reducing customer disruptions. The Finance and Energy Resources Division manages Anaheim's power supply portfolio in addition to the department's financial well-being. As shown on the slide, we continue to keep electric and water rates affordable for residents through financial strategies and cost controls, even with supply chain challenges and increases to wholesale costs. As for our power supplies, we are working to acquire the resources needed to achieve 60% renewables by 2030, which is right around the corner, and are tracking technology and industry advances to be carbon-free by 2045. The General Services Division manages our customer efficiency programs for residents and businesses. Through rebates, business and home surveys, high efficiency lights, and other conservation measures, our Anaheim community saved 7 million kilowatt hours and 7.5 million gallons of water last year. Additionally, our student programs introduce conservation concepts and environmental stewardship. Over the past decade, we've expanded such efforts to incorporate career exploration with mentorships, symposiums, tours, and scholarships. This year, we partnered with Public Works to launch a skilled trades career event with students from Savannah, Loera, and Maxwell High Schools. We maintain over 24,000 street lights, prioritizing new installations based on input from other departments, residents, and businesses. We continue to address wire theft by hardening infrastructure and replacing copper wire with aluminum while partnering with Anaheim Police, which has led to several arrests. And our Dust-a-Don program utilizes high efficiency lights to improve safety at homes, multifamily complexes, and businesses, making a noticeable difference. This past October, students from all of Jefferson and Roosevelt Elementary Schools helped us dedicate the Sustainability Education Center. We've since welcomed 700 attendees through the programs, ranging from landscape workshops to student engagement and business customer meetings. At OCVIBE, new electric infrastructure will be complete this summer to support the development's full build-out, as well as the 2028 Olympics. In April, City Council awarded a construction project to install electric infrastructure to the Gypsum Canyon Memorial Park, which will include the Veterans Cemetery. And we're working on a new water main extension to this site that will be brought to Council for consideration later this year. Looking ahead, we will continue modernizing the local grid to support statewide electrification goals and apply best industry practice such as thermal scanning of equipment to identify issues early on. Our wildfire mitigation plan covers both electric and water systems. Undergrounding efforts partially funded by a FEMA grant have been completed in four of the seven segments, and the remaining sections are under construction. On the water side, our updated plan identifies facility upgrades and pipeline interconnection projects to improve resilience in high-fire risk areas. Fourteen wildfire cameras are currently deployed to enable Anaheim Fire and Rescue and our own operations staff to improve situational awareness. This upcoming year, four more cameras will be added to the regional camera network. Additional highlights include significant investments in water and electric infrastructure. Notably, a $7.5 million state grant will accelerate procurement and implementation of a new type of high voltage switch to strengthen grid reliability. And the continuation of citywide undergrounding will improve service reliability and harden our system against weather events. Altogether, these investments reflect our commitment to keeping our services safe, reliable, and affordable for the customers we're privileged to serve. Thank you for your support of APU employees, and I'll now turn it over to our esteemed Public Works Director, Rudy Amami.

All right. Thank you, Dooku. Good afternoon, Mayor and members of the City Council. Public Works is proud to serve this community every day by delivering and sustaining the infrastructure that keeps Anaheim moving. Our team touches nearly every aspect of daily life in the city, from streets and sidewalks to sewer and storm drain systems, traffic operations, fleet services, sanitation, and facility maintenance. Tonight, I'll walk you through our proposed budget, highlight some of the important work happening across the department, and recognize the incredible efforts of our staff who continue to deliver high-quality service to our residents, businesses, and visitors. Our mission is simple. Plan, build, and preserve. That mission guides everything we do, whether it's planning for future growth, improving mobility, maintaining critical infrastructure, or responding to day-to-day operational needs. Our goal is to make sure Anaheim remains safe, functional, and prepared for the future. The department's proposed budget includes 261 full-time staff and 52 part-time FTEs. The proposed public works budget is approximately $349 million. One important point I want to highlight is that the majority of our department budget is supported by restricted and enterprise funding sources, including sanitation, gas tax, Measure M, and internal service funds. Only about 12% of the department's total budget comes from the general fund. This structure allows us to continue delivering large-scale infrastructure and operational services while maximizing outside and restricted funding sources whenever possible. This slide breaks down the proposed budget by division. You'll notice the largest increases within the capital improvements, which is largely tied to the timing and delivery of several major multi-year infrastructure projects. I'll touch on some of those projects later in the presentation. Overall, the budget reflects continued investment in maintaining infrastructure, supporting operations, and preparing for future growth throughout Anaheim. As you can see here, the largest portion of the operating budget falls under other operating costs. That category includes major contractual services such as solid waste operations and internal service charges that support citywide operations. Labor represents approximately 25% of the operating budget. which reflects the highly operational nature of the work our team performs every day across the city. Administration and Financial Services provides the operational backbone for the department, including budgeting, accounting, administrative support, engineering records, and commuter services. The overall increase in this division is primarily related to the redistribution of insurance costs and standard contractual salary and benefit adjustments. You will see this as a common theme through the other divisions. Engineering services includes development services, design, traffic engineering, and transportation planning. This division continues to play a major role in supporting both private development and public infrastructure improvements throughout Anaheim. Part of the labor increases are due to proposed staffing additions, which are mainly tied to the Disneyland Forward activity and are expected to be revenue offset. This team also continues to deliver significant infrastructure work citywide, including arterial paving, sewer rehabilitation, traffic signal coordination, and permit processing. Public Works Operations is really the front line of the department. This team maintains streets, sidewalks, traffic systems, landscaping, sanitation operations, and the Anaheim Resort Maintenance District. The increase in this division is largely tied to the rising solid waste disposal and service costs, along with contractual labor adjustments and the addition of one personnel to support oversight of sewer operations, which is funded by the department's enterprise fund. I also want to recognize the tremendous amount of work this team handles every day responding to maintenance requests, keeping neighborhoods clean, and addressing quality of life concerns throughout the city. Fleet and Facility Services maintains the city's vehicles, equipment, buildings, and facilities. This year Anaheim was recognized as one of the top 100 fleets in the nation, which is a reflection of the professionalism and efficiency of this team. Other operating increases are related to building maintenance. You'll notice a decrease in capital outlay this year, which is mainly related to the timing of citywide vehicle replacement schedule. Construction Services provides contract management, surveying, and inspection for both public and private improvements throughout the city. The increase in this division is primarily tied to an additional inspection support associated with the Disneyland Forward project. This team plays a critical role in ensuring projects are delivered safely, efficiently, and in compliance with city standards. One area we continue to focus heavily on is neighborhood cleanliness and quality of life. Through the Anaheim Litter Removal Task Force and our HALO program, we've removed more than 266 tons of debris citywide this year. These efforts require strong coordination across departments and have made a meaningful difference in some of our most impacted corridors and public spaces. We continue to invest heavily in neighborhood infrastructure and improvements across the city. This year alone, our concrete replacement projects improved more than 800 locations citywide, including sidewalks, curbs, gutters, and accessibility upgrades. We also continue our annual palm tree maintenance program. which helps preserve the health and appearance of one of Anaheim's most recognizable features. Facility maintenance often happens behind the scenes, but it's critical to protecting city assets and ensuring our facilities remain safe and operational. This year, we completed a full roof replacement at Canyon Hills Library, extending the life of that facility for decades to come. Next year, we'll continue those efforts with a full roof replacement at Fire Station Number Nine. Improving neighborhoods remains one of our top priorities. This year, we successfully completed Woodsboro phase two using entirely in-house crews, which provides cost savings, flexibility, and strong quality control. We also completed the Norma Juneau neighborhood project, and next year we anticipate completing the Monterey Baker neighborhood improvements. These projects directly improve the daily quality of life for residents and are a great example of the value our crews provide to the community. We're also continuing to advance major infrastructure projects throughout the city. That includes the La Palma Storm Drain Improvement Project, which will help address longstanding flooding and pedestrian safety concerns near schools and key travel corridors. We also anticipate beginning construction on the Orangewood Bridge Widening Project. an important regional mobility improvement that supports the Platinum Triangle and broader transportation network. Public Works is more than about just infrastructure. It's about people, relationships, and community trust. Our team continues to expand outreach and engagement efforts throughout Anaheim because we believe strong neighborhoods are built not only through projects and services, but through connection with the community we serve. I want to thank our entire Public Works team for their dedication and professionalism. The work they do every day has a direct impact on the quality of life in Anaheim. I am incredibly proud of what they continue to accomplish. Thank you, Mayor and Council Members. This concludes my presentation, and now I'll be handing it over to Planning and Building Director, Heather Allen.

Thank you, Rudy, and good afternoon, Mayor and City Council. It's my pleasure to present the proposed budget for the Planning and Building Department. The department has three core divisions, Building Services, Community Preservation and Licensing, and Planning Services, in addition to Administration. Together, the department is focused on enhancing the City of Anaheim by developing and implementing land use policies that reflect the goals of the community, ensuring safe and code-compliant development and properties, attracting and retaining businesses that contribute towards a healthy economy, and providing exceptional customer service. Building services ensures strong, durable, safe, and functional buildings, working with design professionals and tradespeople to implement the California Building Code and facilitate development in the city. The division strives to provide responsive professional services for the benefit of our residents and businesses through the plan check, permit issuance, and inspection services on private property. Community preservation and licensing safeguards the public and helps maintain a high quality of life and property through the enforcement of municipal codes, issuance of business licenses, and collection of transient occupancy taxes. Planning Services maintains and implements the city's general plan and zoning code, assists residents and businesses on using and developing private property in the city, participates in regional planning activities, and administers the city historic preservation programs. These services are provided by a dedicated team of 105 full-time positions, in addition to 33 part-time employees comprising 24 and three quarters FTEs. To supplement staff, to supplement city staff, the department also relies on specialized consultants when needed. The proposed department budget is $41 million, which is 1.6% of the total city budget and 6.6% of the general fund. The department is predominantly supported by the general fund and collects fees for services such as building permits and discretionary and regulatory permits. The community preservation budget does include $1.2 million of federal CDBG funds for code enforcement activities in qualifying neighborhoods. The proposed department budget maintains the status quo, reflecting only changes to existing salary, benefit, and intergovernmental charges, and the previously approved increase to the cost of animal care services. Overall, labor is the primary expense for the department at 60% of the budget, followed by other operating expense accounting for 39%. Specifically by division, the administration division's budget is $1.5 million or 4% of the department budget. The division provides leadership on the implementation of the goals and priorities of the city council and city manager. It includes budget oversight, administrative support and internal services. Building services budget is $11 million, or 27% of the department budget. Performance highlights this year include the issuance of 7,260 building permits, performing 5,900 building plan checks, and conducting 46,455 building inspections. Community preservation and licensing's budget is $20 million, or 49% of the department budget. The budget reflects a reduction in capital outlay due to the completion of the city's obligation for the construction of the county animal shelter. Highlights include responding to 7,690 code enforcement cases and 11,462 Anaheim Anytime requests, removing over 1.9 million square feet of graffiti, issuing 54,274 parking citations and processing over 26,000 business licenses. Planning services budget is approximately $8.3 million or 20% of the department budget. Performance highlights this year include assisting 8,502 customers at our public counter, performing 722 administrative reviews, completing 3,921 plan checks and presenting 31 projects to the planning commission in addition to holding one public workshop. To share of our few department highlights, the planning and building services divisions continue to be actively involved in the implementation of the OCVI project. The mixed use entertainment project on the 95 acres surrounding the Honda Center and Arctic approved in 2022. Phase one includes roadway improvements, three parking structures, a concert hall, office space, and restaurant and entertainment uses. Two parking structures have been completed and are currently operational. with the remaining components in various stages of construction with openings completed by 2027. Most recently, final site plans for portions of Phase 2 were approved, including a parking structure serving Arctic, entertainment and hotel uses south of Honda Center, which are referred to as the South Plaza and Arena Hotel, and two residential buildings. Grading for the Arctic parking structure and South Plaza are underway, while plans for the vertical construction of Phase 2 are currently under review. The Disneyland Forward project was approved by City Council in 2024 and provides for the continued long-term growth of the Disneyland Resort. At Disney's California Adventure, two new attractions are currently under construction in an expanded Avengers Campus and plans for a new Cocoa themed attraction in the Pixar Pier area are currently under review. In downtown Disney, site preparation is underway for Porto's Bakery to replace the former La Brea Bakery, along with two new restaurants proposed in the former Tortilla Joe's location. In December 2025, Disney submitted construction drawings for a new east parking structure and transportation hub located east of Harbor Boulevard and north of Disney Way. The project includes over 6,000 parking spaces, a new transportation hub accommodating shuttles, buses, and rideshare services, and a security screening area. Construction on the parking structure is anticipated to begin late 2026. Looking ahead to the coming year, I wanted to highlight two efforts in response to City Council priorities. First, implementing the recently approved Economic Development Strategic Plan. The Planning and Building Department will lead the effort to collaborate with colleagues in Public Works, Fire, Police, Economic Development, Housing, Finance, and the City Manager's Office to evaluate the land use entitlement and development permitting processes and create a plan for short, medium, and long-term improvements that incorporate stakeholder and policy level input, industry best practices, and the use of innovative technologies. This important effort builds on the work of our dedicated staff that is already being undertaken to identify opportunities to improve service delivery and add value to interactions with our customers. Additionally, the Planning and Building Department will refocus proactive enforcement to systematically address commercial corridors citywide, first providing education on common regulatory issues along with business resources, followed by code enforcement action as appropriate. Existing efforts focused on quality of life issues in partnership with the Anaheim Police Department will continue, as will specialized enforcement related to tobacco, kratom, and nitrous oxide, which you'll hear about more in July, as well as billboards. This concludes my presentation. At this point, Dooku, Rudy, and I are available to answer any questions you have on our proposed budgets before we transition to our colleagues. Thank you.

Thank you. Why don't we start with public utilities? Are there any council members that have questions or comments for Department Head Lee on public utilities? I had just a couple of questions. Sorry, you thought you were getting off easy. You had mentioned that you've actually kept your budget extremely thin and you haven't had a lot of increases. And obviously, you can tell from what our customers say that the service you're delivering as part of your department and staff is top-notch and should be commended. What do you see as the greatest needs that the public utilities might see in the next five or 10 years?

Thank you for that question. I would say that where the state electrification and renewable policies are headed, there's a lot of talk about affordability at the state legislature and trying to control some of the costs. You could see some of the differential between investor-owned utilities versus publics. And so to make sure that we still have the ability to address those very admirable goals, but to do it with some flexibility. So that's what we focus on is sharing with our state representatives and even federal partners on ways to give us flexibility and have local control so that we're not treated as the same as other utilities. So if we could do those things effectively, then I believe we can still control our costs even with things like supply chain and some of these other challenges that are facing the industry. A good example of that is our wildfire risk. You know, it's something that's affecting many, many utilities throughout the state and throughout the country. But because we have a pretty aggressive undergrounding program, we were able to get some FEMA grants and we're able to control some of the local activities. We're able to reduce our exposure quite a bit versus just expending a lot of dollars to do the mitigation. So that would be one of the things that I would see going forward into the future.

Thank you. And I know we've had a lot of conversations over the last couple of years about becoming a zero impact for the public utilities. How far are we into that goal and how much power are we still generating from our sources versus having to buy from other places?

So we're working diligently to try to meet that 60% renewables goal by 2030. And as I mentioned, that is breathing down our necks. And the challenges that we're facing, both because of what's happening at the federal level, as well as just the market in terms of people trying to develop with very challenging entitlement processes. So we're working towards that to get to 60%. And I think that is doable while challenging. What's going to be really challenging is by 2045 to be carbon-free. And what that entails, what that looks like, is yet to be seen. And what I mean by that is there could be breakthroughs in technology. For example, there's a lot of talk about hydrogen as a potential resource. I don't think the technology is quite mature today, but it could be. in a few years. And so for us to have that financial flexibility to figure out what do we want to do, what do we want to invest in in the future, I think that's going to be the key for us to get to that net zero.

Thank you. Council Member Moss. Thank you, Madam Mayor. A couple of comments and a question. I think you do an amazing job at navigating ever-changing regulations and a landscape for our public utilities, so I want to just comment on that. I have a question about our 311 line. What is that for specifically, and is that 24-7 or is that Monday through Friday?

It is Monday through Friday, and it follows our call center hours, which is 730 to 8 on Monday through Thursday, and then we close a little early on Friday at 530. But it's hosted by the same group that handles our call center for utility requests, and it basically has the technology to be able to identify where the calls get routed. So we have individuals trained on general city matters and can be able to address them. It is not 24-7. If somebody has an outage or some other issue in the middle of the night, they would actually get to our operations staff who are 24-7.

What number would they call for that?

765-4311. Thank you.

I had a resident concerned about a leaking fire hydrant. So it sounds like 311 would be the most appropriate place.

or they could call the number on their utility bill, which is 765-3300, and it's the same staff who would respond and route the calls appropriately. So our call center staff would then forward it to either water or electric staff as necessary.

Thank you. And then I just wanted to comment on the Sustainability Education Center. It's marvelous. I've had a chance to go and sit in on a workshop and you've done a great job at not only the center, but being responsive to some of our priorities when it comes to being supportive of the autistic community. I know your staff had some training, so I just want to say it's appreciated, and I know that this is not just a paycheck for your staff. They really put their heart into it, so it's noted. Thank you.

Thank you. Council Member Bayless?

Thank you. I have a quick question. I'm looking at some of these slides here, and I notice for water service labor, percentage change is 12.6%, and then electric, it's 10.5. I saw in electric, you've got three new employees added. I realize you've got economies, you've got 28 million in one and 13 in the other, but I would assume that they would be relatively closer in terms of the percentage increase.

One of the things that affects how much is in our operating labor is how much we transfer to capital. So there is capital labor embedded in both electric and water. So the more that we could do in-house, obviously it's lower cost and we have pride of ownership in terms of who does the work. So that's the intent with the three new positions is to do as much as we can in-house, whatever it is, upgrading capital projects. One of the things that we talked to with our staff is about doing the Veterans Cemetery work with in-house staff. The civil work would be done with the contractor that was approved by City Council, but pulling in the new electrical materials would be done by our staff. So those are the things that we're trying to do to not only save our costs, but also make it more cost-effective for developments like this. Thank you.

Thank you. Now moving on to public works. Are there any folks that have questions or comments for Mr. Omami? Start with Council Member Campos-Kurtz.

Thank you, Madam Mayor. Just one question. A few times during your presentation, you said that cost was because of Disney Forward. Are you getting reimbursed for that? Is that something coming out of our general fund? What did you mean by that?

Council Member Kurtz, thank you for the question and the opportunity to clarify that. So the Disneyland Forward project is obviously a major investment in our community and takes a lot of city resources for not just the planning, the plan checking, the inspection, but we also don't want that amount of work to impact all of the other work that we have going on in the city. So through an agreement that this council approved with the Disneyland Forward project, there is a staffing agreement where the Disneyland Corporation agrees to pay for the additional staffing that we will be hiring to work specifically and dedicated for their project. So they'll get dedicated staff that they pay for fully, does not come out of our general fund, and then we're able to keep that high level of service for everyone else.

Thank you. Thank you.

And I just, to kind of piggyback on that Disneyland Forward step, I see it in the public works budget this year of the increased staff, but I think we saw it in the planning budget last year, because the planning work comes a little earlier than the actual construction, a lot of the public works work. So we have added staff in both of those departments to support that, and then we're gonna get reimbursed by that. So just wanna make sure that was clear.

Thank you. Any other questions for Public Works? Okay, seeing none, we're going to move on to Planning and Building Department. Is there anyone that has questions for Ms. Allen? Council Member Kurtz?

Thank you. You mentioned a couple of things. One, and I'm sorry I didn't catch all of it, is that you're working with economic development as the needs for permits and growth of new business to come in. Can you explain that a little bit please?

Certainly, so we're partnered in economic development in two ways. So the first would be through the private development improvement process. Economic development is one of the colleagues that we'll be working on with that. The other effort with responding to council's desire for more proactive enforcement on the corridors. One thing that we've also heard is how do businesses on these corridors get information about city services, about other services in the county that are available to them. So as we kind of retool this program and develop a citywide program, the thought is to partner with economic development. I think as you went through the strategic plan process, it was clear that economic development is a city, initiative, not just an economic development department. So the idea would be to partner with economic development as we go out and let these business owners know you have signage regulations, you have trash enclosure regulations, you have landscape and other regulations. Here you have dusk to dawn lighting programs, you may have some small business loan information, you may have information from the Chamber of Commerce, you may have other resources that we would intend to kind of package as a first introduction to city regulations and services, and then as we kind of inventory what may be wrong with the property, then we'd come back with a stronger enforcement, but thought we would kind of partner with economic development on that first. reach out to the businesses.

Great idea. The only other thing I have is, and I want to thank you for this, private development process improvements. As we are looking for economic development to grow, your work grows and realize that you've got a team working on Disney Forward, a team working on OC Vibe, and so I know your resources are stretched mightily. I'm glad to see that your team is taking a look at how then do we serve everyone with an improved process. So I thank you for considering that and working on that.

Thank you. Council Member Meeks and then Mayor Pro Tem Leon. Thank you.

I'm not looking to add staff this year because I think we've got a budget that works and maintains services and we don't have extra money this year. But I know that code enforcement is a critical piece of keeping our quality of life in Anaheim. people having their trash cans out, to hoarding in really negatively impacting neighborhoods, to our rental inspection program that hasn't been as robust maybe in the last few years as I would like it to be to make sure that people are having quality rental properties. We've put in a lot of effort on street vendors. Code enforcement is a lot. But I would like, as we move forward in this year, to kind of look at that and see if there's staffing augmentation next year that you can request and what that program would look like and where those pieces would go and what kind of improvements we could possibly see from that sort of thing in next year's budget.

Certainly, and appreciate that. And just for Council's benefit, we have two vacant part-time positions that we're already going through the process to combine and turn into a full-time and add that resource to the proactive program. But as we kind of retool and look at kind of how we're doing, certainly we'll come back as needed. So I appreciate the support.

Thank you, Madam Mayor. Thank you, Heather, for the work that you all continue to do. And I know we've met with a number of different businesses in District 2 as it relates to the permit process. So very happy to see the slide 48 in terms of looking to see what it is that we can do to improve that. Wanted to ask if there was a timeline. Maybe it was part of the economic development strategic plan conversation. But is there a timeline for this in terms of getting short-term, medium-term, long-term goals Yes.

So as part of the economic development strategic plan, we committed to coming up with the short-term, medium, long-term strategies in the first year, right? So we'll come up with a work plan similar to other documents where there'll be some short-term things that we can do in the next 12 months, and then some that may be a little longer term, some that may have financial ask of council as we look at Staffing to project ratios as we look at some potential technology enhancements, but the idea is that we'll come back in a year kind of with our work plan going forward and

I appreciate that. And I know we have a number of large employers in the city, but there are also a number of small businesses, mom and pop shops, entrepreneurs that want to open up their businesses. So whatever we can do to make this as a smooth process as possible for families and people that are trying to open up their businesses. I know we've had this conversation multiple times of folks reaching out to me about their just concerns with the process and how they're paying rent and they can't open up and so they're losing money that was already, you know, I mean you're opening up a business, you're not necessarily, you might be in the red already. And so if you're paying for rent and you can't open up, it just creates this really, I would hope that we can make it an avoidable situation for folks. So I appreciate that. And my request would be, as you're having these conversations, if there's something that you need from us, if you could please come to us and let us know, sooner versus later. Absolutely, thank you. I would really appreciate that. The second question I had was on page 49, the following slide. In terms of the proactive code enforcement that you mentioned, are we just focused on storefronts and businesses, or are we also focused on potentially homes? And I ask that with the specific example of brokers in District 2, where I know we've also had numerous conversations about this one as well, north of Lincoln, where there's a number of Many of them, I assume, are abandoned homes and obviously not in the best condition. I was actually out there last week with residents that live on the other side of Brookhurst with concerns of unhoused individuals using those businesses for things they should not be doing. And so I just wanted to ask, is that also included in the proactive code enforcement that we're looking at? And is that something we can take a look at?

So I will say yes, it's something that we can take a look at. This is predominantly the commercial corridors, but separately, Mayor Pro Tem, you had asked for us to look at kind of a program on vacant and abandoned properties, which we're already doing, and that's slated to come back as soon as I can. get something put together. But that would, I think a lot of those are going to be on the residential side. This council did give the city manager more teeth as far as emergency nuisance abatement. So we're looking at kind of rolling that out as well based on existing processes that we have. So that's happening even though I don't have a slide on it.

I appreciate that and I'm not saying that we have to go and you know measure people's grass and we're gonna go and look at every home but especially in that corridor right where you're going into Little Arabia you're going into the the core of what makes up that commercial corridor and obviously it affecting the residents next door definitely would be something that I appreciate it that we're looking at thank you welcome thank you Councilmember Bayless and then Councilmember Rubicava

Thank you. First, I want to echo Council Member Meek's comments in regards to code enforcement. I agree. Definitely need some more employees there for sure. But I wanted to just Take a look at this slide for building services and just point this out. I mean, I know you're doing a lot with less, but if my math is right, you've listed here 46,000 inspections. If I do the math on that, at 365 days, that's 127 inspections per day. Is this all unique numbers or there are multiple inspections per job site, let's say?

There could be multiple inspections per job site, but one of the things that we will be looking at in process improvements are the ratios, right? So are we having sustainable inspections per day for inspectors, plan checks per day for plan check engineers? So that's definitely something that we'll be looking at, but the team's busy for sure.

Yeah, I don't know how you keep that pace. Does this include, say for example, fire inspections as well, or is this only

No, this would just be inspections performed by building inspectors. So this does not include Rudy's team or Chief Pat's team.

That's an awful lot because I did the math real quick on permits. That's 19 per day and plan check 16 per day. And that's at 365 days. There's no vacations there. So, I mean, I don't know how you keep that up, but it's a good example here. So thank you. Yeah, thank you.

Thank you. Council Member Ruacava.

Thank you. I just want to thank you all for including all of the priorities that we have requested from this council. So including the tree trimming schedules and everything. So I want to thank you with that. But Rudy, specifically for Public Works, sorry to go back to you. SP 1383, has that had an impact on your budget with the organic waste bill? It's still being rolled out, right?

That is, and it has, and we've seen an increase in our rates, and the biggest increase we saw this year that came with some of the work that the county has to do on their end at the landfills to prepare for and process the requirements of SB 1383 as well. So it certainly has an impact.

Do you think that there's ways for us, the state imposed that bill upon all the municipalities without providing any funding for it. Have we seen anything or has our lobbyist gone back to the state to request, not that they have the funding, but have they gone back to the state to request reimbursement for any of the extra that we're having to pay out of our budgets?

I'll say most of the advocacy that we had was through the process and at the beginning of 1383 when it was coming out. And we were able to get some modifications, not as much as we would like, certainly. But even with the negotiations with the county, certainly we did a lot of advocacy there and did see a lot of change from what they originally asked for. And we've done a lot of work with our own contractor, too, to be able to reduce costs. But it's inevitable that those costs are going up, just like everything else is going up. But that policy certainly had a very different impact on that. But we did a lot, and this council did a lot, to try to smooth that out and have a glide path for our residents. So we're absorbing some of that cost through some of our reserves so we could spread that cost out. So it isn't such a big impact.

And when is Republic's contract up?

The Republic contract is a evergreen contract, and I believe we're still in the beginning or the first 13 years of that contract that was guaranteed, but after the 13 years, we would have to give them a seven-year notice if we want to terminate that contract.

And then when this bill was imposed, how did they come back to us and renegotiate because of the extra, or did we have to go back in and add? Because they're now collecting waste that we didn't have to collect before and separate.

So our contract does allow for, if there's a change in the law that is going to increase costs for them, that they're allowed to come back and renegotiate those costs. And that was, I think, about an 18-month-long process that we went through with them. It was a long process because, again, advocating for our residents and our costs, we didn't take that first number that came in, and we actually set a process up which was almost a, like a time and materials process where we did the ride-alongs to actually see what the cost impact was for providing this additional service and renegotiated our contract based on that on actual costs to make sure that we got the best rate possible.

And as it starts to roll out across the entire city, do you anticipate that it'll continue just to increase in price and their contract will have an impact?

I don't think so. I think we've seen all of it because we've already saw the impact that we had with our waste hauler. Those increases went into effect, I think, about two years ago. And then this last year is where we saw the impact of the tipping fees from the county So now that those are being rolled out which again, we're smoothing over a five-year period other than Typical CPI changes that our contract allows for I don't anticipate anything But of course saying that if another unfunded mandate comes from the state that would change things. I

And is it normal to have an evergreen contract for trash? It's such a significant part of our city, and we've experienced so many issues with the Republic over at least the four years that I have been on council. Is it normal for a city to have a contractor that's evergreen and has to give a seven-year notice?

It is, and let me go back to why there was that initial 13-year period and then the seven-year kicks in after that, essentially making it a 20-year contract, is because it does take a very large investment for any private company to come in and start the process of collection and disposal for a city. So essentially their process was to be able to recover that or at least have some guarantee over that first 20 years. But then again, we have a lot of outs in that contract to be able to enforce like we did when we were experiencing a lot of those negative performance issues where we had liquidated damages and recovered a lot of those costs. But I think a lot of that work has been good because we've corrected a lot of that. There's still room to improve there, but yeah, we always have that option to go back and tell them they can start that seven year or at least put them on a performance improvement plan to continue to get better.

Perfect, because they're doing better than, I mean, we are getting trash picked up on time, but I still have residents who do complain about it. just something for us to continue to monitor, especially since it hasn't rolled out in District 3 yet for the organic waste separation. And I anticipate that it's going to be a real problem, especially because we have a lot of apartment complexes in the area. So that's something I think from a budget perspective, I'll be interested to see how it impacts the consumer, because I'm sure we're just going to, and I know you do a great job making sure that we're not passing along any of the increases, but that is something that I think that my residents would be mindful of because if trash isn't picked up on time within a day they want a reimbursement so you get those emails forwarded so thank you for being so responsive and then I just wanted to comment on public utility so thank you for the increased investment I Appreciate that you're always ahead of the game making sure that our grid is where it should be because with electrification I think what is it 2030? We are probably better position than the majority of the state to take that on we don't have brownouts in Anaheim Our utilities are a lot lower So I just appreciate the continued investment on that front and then also making sure that our residents have Technology that is more up-to-date in the neighborhood So so thank you And then Heather, I agree with Council Member Meeks as well. Thank you for working with us on the planning stuff. We have seen an improvement, but I know that there are a lot more that we can do or is a lot more that we can do to help make the process a lot more seamless. I all have questions for economic development, but I am, well, we could probably talk offline. I'm concerned that... that you guys feel like you have to be working, I guess, with a strategic plan for economic development because they're two different departments serving two different purposes. But I do like the fact that we are looking at making the process a little better so that the experience for our businesses isn't delay because time is money for a lot of these businesses. So thank you.

Thank you. I just had a few questions. You mentioned, obviously, the large projects like OC Vibe and Disney. Can you just speak to how many people we have had to hire to outsource? I know we're getting reimbursed for it, but how many people we've had to hire for both of those projects? And is it resulting in any type of time lag for other Anaheim businesses?

Certainly, so as Rudy mentioned, for Disney Forward, we have an enhanced services agreement. So through that, last year we authorized 15 positions across planning, building, public works, development services, and fire. All of those are filled with in-house staff who are experienced and familiar with the resort. and then we recruited to backfill those positions. With OCVIBE, they do not have the enhanced service agreement, so that is existing staff. So it's very important, speaking personally for my department, that we provide the same level of service regardless of big or small. So the same timeframes, that are available to OCVIBE or the same timeframes that the small business in District 2 would be entitled to, right, based on the scope of the project. So we do have recruiting challenges, certainly, and we do have some vacancies that we're struggling to fill, but our goal is to provide every project the same quality of service.

Thank you, is there a reason the OC Vibe doesn't have the same enhanced services agreement that Disneyland Forward has?

So the development agreement for Disneyland Forward contemplated the enhanced services agreement, OC Vibes did not. I will say that practically speaking, they have dedicated staff, not that those staff are only doing OC Vibe, but the building inspectors who inspect for OC Vibe are out on, like the same crew goes out to OC Vibe, so they're not getting a different inspector every day. The same planners that are reviewing OC Vibe are doing OC Vibe. They're also doing other things, but they don't have exclusive staff, I would say.

Okay, because one of the things I wanted to just get an update when you talked about service delivery. We were trying to find a streamlined system, and one of the things that has been brought up is having training at the outset for maybe architects, for planners, for business owners, as well as trying to have the same team go out to businesses so that business owners don't feel like they're being told something different depending on which inspector they get. So if OCVIBE has that, where are we in that process for our medium and small businesses?

Certainly. So we do try to maintain consistency. We also do try to provide next day inspections. So there's always going to be that tension of, if your normal inspector is on vacation or is sick or is out, but you want that next day inspection, there is going to be some challenge. So we are working very hard with Scott Berry, who's I'm now a year into being building official to provide training to try to get more consistency with the inspectors where they can be comfortable with following in the footsteps of somebody else and giving the same service. There are inspectors who inspect structural and other inspectors inspect electrical. So depending what's called, you may have a little bit of difference, but we do strive for that next day response as well as consistency. But I think to your point, Mayor, as we go through the process evaluation, I'm sure we'll find some things in which we can do better as well, because I think it does make sense to have the same person giving the feedback on a regular basis.

And do we have any, training's not the right word, but do we have a process where when someone is at the very, very beginning of a rebuild of their business or starting a business from scratch that alerts them to these options, that kind of tells them this is the process, these are the steps you're going to have to take, this is what your architect needs to know so that we don't have a he said, she said situation in the middle of a project?

Correct, I would say that we don't, but that is one thing that's on my list of things that we absolutely need. I think what we've heard loud and clear is that our processes may be the right processes, the regulations may be the right regulations, but how you use them and access them can be super complicated. So I think one of the things that we'll come forward with is what is that, City Hall translator, right? How do we help customers who don't know what they don't know be successful? So that is something we don't have today, but something that's absolutely on the list of things we need to get to.

Thank you. I'm really going to look forward to that. To the Mayor Pro Tem's point, I think it's one thing to educate our business owners, but I think also their team. They might be used to doing something in another city or another part of the county or a different county, and it's just not the way we do things here. So anyway, we can just educate people from the beginning, and it will help us with problems at the end. And I've heard wonderful things about Mr. Berry, so congratulations to him on his year with the city. I wanted to talk to you about staffing and what staffing you need. I feel like over the last year or two between code enforcement, increase in patrolling for park rangers, issues brought up with STRs, fireworks, you know all the trash hoarding I think was brought up we're asking more and more of code enforcement and your department so what do you think is the staffing number that you're going to need in that department or maybe in general to help you accomplish the growing list of goals that we're putting on you

Certainly, no, and thank you for that. I do appreciate the recognition. So I think on the code enforcement side, I think we could use several more bodies of full-time officer staff. As I mentioned, we're converting to part-time, so we're able to make one within the existing budget. I would like to have a proactive commercial program with a similar staffing to what we have with Quality Rental Housing. I would like to have a kind of a strike team for vacant and abandoned without pulling off of the other more normal code enforcement complaint in neighborhoods. I also want to make sure we have enough responsive staff just in the area officer cohort to get out and re-inspect and to keep keep the property owners accountable and try to achieve voluntary compliance. I would be remiss if I didn't ask for half a city attorney on my wish list. We do not have a dedicated code enforcement attorney, so I know it's something that Rob and I have chatted about with his team. We are using contract support right now, but I would very much ask for half a city attorney, which I think would be an add to Rob's budget. I think on the building side, if we were fully staffed, I think we would be in a good spot. We have had many challenges with recruitments. I think with some creative solutions with HR, we might be able to unlock some positions. So I won't ask at this point on the building side, but that could be an ask coming forward. So I think at this point, a code enforcement officer or two and half a city attorney would be my ask. But it's nothing I've asked for in the budget itself.

I think that is something I would encourage you to keep coming back to us or something that should be addressed. I feel like your department gets all of the complaints and none of the accolades. Any support you need from me, at least, to make sure that we're hiring two more code enforcement officers as well as I don't know how to hire a half of attorney, but I bet our city attorney could help us find a half a body somewhere. Because the biggest resident emails and numbers of complaints we get are kind of directed towards you. And if we don't give you the tools that you need to address these issues, I don't think we're doing our job to help you out. So please don't be shy in asking for the support you need. You're only one point CITY BUDGET AND I THINK THAT'S SOMETHING THAT WE NEED TO ADDRESS. THANK YOU. COUNCILMEMBER RUBICALVA, DID YOU HAVE ANOTHER QUESTION OR COMMENT?

YEAH, I JUST WANTED TO Oh, sorry, it doesn't turn green. On your, what you just mentioned. So how much do you currently spend for contract attorneys? And I'm sorry to ask you that question off the, I'm sure you don't know it off the top of your head, but.

I don't have it off the top of my head. So we don't have an attorney budget in my budget. So Rob's budget has an allocation of CDBG funds. And that covers our contract attorney because predominantly the cases that go to our outside counsel are in qualifying CDBG areas. But I don't have a dollar amount.

All I can add to that is it's within our CDBG funding for sure. We have definitely talked about bringing that function in-house and have that attorney also supply services for other parts of the office that aren't CDBG funded. So I would love to continue that discussion.

You know, I think that it would be a great idea to bring it in-house because I'm, you know, how opposed I am to contracting out services when it's the learning curve is probably a lot higher and billable hours, depending on what level they are at. So I just think it makes more sense to bring it in-house. So I would be interested in seeing that even in this budget. which I have to agree with one of the public speakers who mentioned it's odd to be approving a budget the same day that we're looking at the workshop. I also think it should be scheduled a little differently, but I would like to, Greg, look at what that would be. Planning is, I mean, and you are so responsive, Heather. Thank you so much. I mean, I've had people come to my house with issues that they're experiencing with the builders or planners and Heather, I can get her on the cell phone because these people are sitting on my porch and she can help resolve the issue. So it is something that is really important for us to fix. And I agree with the mayor, if there's something that we can do to get that allocated now. I was looking at the economic development budget and it's the same amount as planning. And I get that there's successor agency funds in there, but I mean, planning is super important in our city. It impacts not only residents, but our businesses. So I think we should prioritize that now and not wait for it to come back another time.

Yeah, no, and thanks for the questions, good questions and comments. And we hear you and we have been having these discussions about what needs exist out there, not just in COVID but in other areas. And we continue to work on those. Rob and I have been discussing also his office and adding extra bodies as needed to support the organization. And so we'll continue to work on that. uh even though it may not make it in this document tonight the the budget conversations continue throughout the year and when there's an opportunity for us to handle uh those those hiring decisions and and those supplemental budgets uh throughout the year we do that and so we'll continue to consider it for this budget because we are approving it tonight i mean i'm just i think it's something that's really important and we have been talking about it i think since last year So we put a plan together. Starting in January, every department kind of put their plan together. I don't think code officers was necessarily on the list, Heather's list initially, but I think we've been having, you know, since that time, conversations about the importance of it. And so certainly something that we can address in real time when resources become available for us to do that. Same with the city attorney's office. We've had several conversations. I think Rob did make a request during the budget time. But as you know, we still have a structural gap. And so we didn't want to launch into it initially right away. But, you know, I committed to him then. I committed to him now that we'll continue the conversation. And if there's an opportunity for us to do it throughout the budget year, depending on revenues and expenditures, we'll do it.

Yeah, and I think, so a couple things to note for, and I know that we're in the search of a city manager, but a couple things to note for next time, I think it would be good for us to have our budget workshops on a different day leading up to voting to approve a budget would be number one. And then because it doesn't give us an opportunity to ask questions like the mayor asked regarding additional FTEs for code enforcement, which is something that I think we talked about last year as well. So I would like to, and maybe you don't recall because you weren't sitting in that chair, but it definitely was discussed if you want to go back and look at the videos. But I just think it's something that we went into reserves for this budget. And if it's not a significant amount to add three or two and a half, I think that that's something that we should really consider for this budget. So I'm just going to put that out there to you for now. But I don't really like to hear, well, we'll come back and look at it next time because then we never get to next time because then we're back here next year. So just to kind of put that out there.

Yeah, and I was referring to like not next budget, but this budget year.

Yeah.

It's something we'll certainly look at. I'll work with Heather on a plan. She mentioned putting a plan together to figure out what that even looks like. I don't even know what that looks like yet. I wouldn't even have a number for you.

Because we've been putting her through the wringer. I mean, at least we've had round tables. And so she has been meeting with constituents and businesses. I just think that we need to be able to provide. I don't know what she asked when you met with her for the budget. So I just think that it's something that please prioritize.

Thank you. And I agree wholeheartedly. I think since January, the asks have grown even from when we first contemplated the first conversation. So if we can even, I know there's different math here when we have things that are budgeted but not filled or what, if we can just get the search started, I know that's It's not something that is easy to find, and it always takes a little bit of time both to locate somebody and onboard them. So if we can look at expanding those, I think that would be really helpful considering the laundry list has grown. So I would like to thank and excuse our first three presentations, and we will move on to economic development, housing and community development, and convention sports and entertainment.

Okay, whenever you're ready, Sergio, go ahead.

Great. Good afternoon, Madam Mayor and City Council members. Sergio Ramirez, Economic Development Director. It's my honor to be here. I'm joined by Director Stupter and Director Tom Warren. It is my honor to present the proposed budget for the Economic Development Department for fiscal year 26-27. Our Economic Development Department aims to improve the Anaheim economy and bring forth revitalization and new investments. Services include but are not limited to support the expansion of the city's various economic engines, we support small businesses and entrepreneurs, we administer the successor agency to the former Anaheim Redevelopment Agency, We improve business districts and commercial corridors, including revitalizing aging commercial centers through our storefront improvement program. We facilitate business investment through interdepartmental coordination, outreach, and collaboration. We assist the city with real estate negotiations and evaluations. And finally, we assist with special projects and special initiatives identified by city management and city council. Our staff is currently comprised of 10 full-time employees with no part-time employees. Our proposed budget is 41.6 million. It should be noted, however, that nearly three quarters of our budget is allocated to debt obligations of the former redevelopment agency and contractual obligations of the successor agency. Our total proposed budget represents 1.6% of the total citywide budget. The majority of our budget revenues come from the city's Private Purpose Trust Fund. The table before you depicts our proposed budget by program areas. As you can see, our allocations per area remain relatively unchanged from prior years, but for administration and business development, with slight enhancements in property development and successor agency due to costs associated with garage improvements and preparing 39 commons for development. Our budget by expenditures is comprised of 50% debt service, 6% labor, and less than 1% for capital outlays. The remaining 44%, in large part, is comprised of special property-related costs such as parking garage management, maintenance of accessory agency properties, and property carrying costs such as insurance and common area charges. Ultimately, only a small portion of our operating budget is available for core economic development functions, such as business recruitment, retention, and small business support. We're proposing $2.5 million for administration and operational functions, including accounting, IGS, contract administration, and office overhead. These functions provide the administrative foundation that support all department programs, projects, and services. The Business Development Division focuses on business attraction, retention, and expansion efforts while supporting entrepreneurs, coordinating with partner agencies, and helping businesses navigate city processes. For this division, we're proposing just under $2 million. The Property Development Division manages the successor agency properties that are being prepared for sale. It also manages the successor agency assets, including parking garages, plazas, and other property. The division encourages development of underutilized sites, identifies development opportunities, responds to investment inquiries, and helps streamline the development process through interdepartmental coordination. The proposed budget for the division is $6.2 million. As mentioned, the department also oversees the operations of the successor agency and manages the obligations under the state's recognized obligation payment schedule process, or ROPS. We prepare the required state reports with the assistance of the finance department and outside consultants. The proposed budget is $30.6 million. Of that amount, $20 million is allocated to debt service and nearly $10 million is allocated to contractually obligated activities and operation. Now turning to department highlights. This past year, we've been focused on meeting the council's directive to deliver an economic development strategic plan outlining the five-year work plan for our department and objectives for our city. The process included robust stakeholder participation and engagement. On June 9th, the city council adopted the strategic plan. The next slide highlights some of the ways that we engage with the business community. Over the past year, we facilitated business education programs, hosted community meetings and roundtables, participated in conferences and panels to market Anaheim opportunities, such as the ICSC or International Conference of Shopping Centers, where we work directly with businesses and brokers to attract investment and fill vacancies. For property development, in collaboration with Public Works, we kicked off the Commercial Corridor Clean Team Pilot Program through non-profit Chrysalis, which focuses on providing additional cleaning services to key commercial corridors in return for rent offset for a building office owned by the successor agency. The division also partnered with NAOP for the evaluation of the Anaheim and Ball site to determine the highest and best use of the property. We're working with Public Works on a land swap and hope to take the site out for RFP next year. In the canyon, the Property Development Division replaced monument signs that had been in place for over two decades and been deteriorated. The signs have been refreshed and now are beacons welcoming people to the largest industrial innovation district. Three years ago, City Council provided staff with a directive to develop and launch a program aimed at assisting businesses and shopping centres with exterior renovations. Our Storefront Improvement Program was born. This powerful program sends a signal that the city is partnering with the business community for the revitalization of our city. To date, 15 project sites have been completed, and a total of 218 businesses within those retail centers have benefited. 21 other project sites are under construction or in the pipeline, and we have 213 applicants that are on our waiting list. This next slide depicts one of the storefront projects in District 6. The project is still under construction. This is a center where we provided a $100,000 grant for rehabilitation, including facade renovations, asphalt repair, and landscaping. The property owner leveraged the city's grant and coupled it with their own private investment for a larger renovation of the entire center. They have since been able to secure a lease with Trader Joe's, the first in the city that will be opening up later this year. The next slide depicts 39 Commons Project. Over the past year, we've worked to obtain local enforcement agencies environmental clearance of the next phase of this former landfill site development. This next phase will include an In-N-Out, Dutch Brothers, Dave's Hot Chickens, and other retailers. We will be having a groundbreaking ceremony on June 30th. And finally, to end the presentation, we want to showcase one of the biggest highlights of the year for our department, which was the groundbreaking of the new Porsche project on Lincoln Avenue. We celebrated the groundbreaking ceremony with executives from Porsche, this council, and the city team. This deal included complex transaction, negotiation settlement with an adjacent property owner, relocation of a jet fuel line, and other issues. This has been an entire city team effort to move this project forward. Mayor and City Council, this concludes my presentation. Thank you for your time and consideration, and I now would like to turn things over to my colleague, Director Stepter.

Thank you, Sergio. Good afternoon. I'm pleased to present the fiscal year 26-27 proposed budget for the Housing and Community Development Department. This proposed budget supports a safer, stronger, and more livable Anaheim through continued investment in housing programs, homelessness solutions, workforce initiatives, and neighborhood improvement. The Housing and Community Development Department manages a broad range of programs and funding resources that support Anaheim residents and neighbourhoods. Core responsibilities include affordable housing development and preservation, rental assistance programs, homelessness response, workforce readiness, and the administration of federal, state, and local funding grants. The proposed budget supports 83 full-time employees and shifts under six part-time positions. Our staffing complement will remain unchanged in the upcoming budget year. Our proposed budget totals approximately $234 million, representing 9% of the city's overall budget. Approximately $150 million or 64% of our budget is provided through HUD and supports rental assistance and community development programs. The city's general fund contribution to HCD is approximately $14 million and primarily supports departmental staffing, homelessness outreach efforts, and the operation of the Anaheim Emergency Shelter. This slide provides a high level overview of the department's budget. The department's two largest funds are the Anaheim Housing Authority Fund, supporting rental assistance and development activities, and the Grants and Homeless Initiative Funds, which supports homeless services and community development activities. This slide illustrates how operational resources are allocated across major expenditure categories. The largest portion of the budgets are associated with direct housing assistance and project related activities. Labor costs account for approximately 7% of the department's overall budget. The Workforce Development Division continues to provide workforce readiness programs to Anaheim residents. These services are supported through state allocations, grant funding, and philanthropic contribution, reducing reliance on the city's general fund resources. This section is new this year and highlights funding dedicated to the city's first time down payment assistance program. This section of our budget reflects the federal and state grant funding administered by the Grants Management and Homeless Initiatives Division. Examples of programs in this budget are the State Homeless Housing Assistance and Prevention Program, or HHAP, which provides local jurisdictions funds to address homelessness, and our Federal Community Development Block Grant funds. The Anaheim Housing Authority is the department's largest operational division administering the Housing Choice Voucher Program and other related rental assistance programs serving over 6,500 households. The proposed budget reflects a 12% increase in labor costs associated with approved wage adjustments and a 7% increase in operating costs driven primarily by higher rental assistance expenses. The administration division provides overall leadership, fiscal oversight, and operational support for the department. There are no significant changes in this area. Before highlighting the accomplishments of our major program areas, I want to briefly note the department's broader role within the city organization. In addition to our direct service responsibilities, Housing and Community Development serves as a city-wide funding partner, securing and administering external resources that support priorities such as park improvements, code enforcement, and the Anaheim Fire Department's Advanced Provider Response Unit. This year, we continue building out the Anaheim Housing Trust Fund and began delivering new programs to residents. We launched the My Anaheim Home Down Payment Assistance Program and the Stay Housed Anaheim Housing Stability Program, secured additional funding for the Housing Trust Fund, and established, with Council support, a recurring revenue source expected to generate approximately $3 million annually for housing programs. The results are already tangible, including the city's first down payment assistance home purchase and 60 families assisted through the Stay House Anaheim program. The department continued to make significant progress in expanding affordable housing opportunities. A key accomplishment was the completion of the Azure Apartments, creating 89 permanent supportive housing units for individuals exiting homelessness. The department also continued advancing senior housing at Beach and Lincoln and housing for youth exiting foster care on State College Boulevard. In addition to supporting new housing development, the department continues to advance neighborhood preservation and revitalization efforts. Just this month, the department completed the acquisition of a key property in the Avon Dakota neighborhood, an important milestone towards completing a revitalization effort that has been underway for nearly two decades. The department continued to make progress in addressing homelessness by connecting individuals to shelter, housing, and supportive services while also responding to impacts in neighborhoods, parks, and other public spaces. Working closely with city departments, service providers, and regional partners, these efforts helped improve conditions in areas affected by homelessness and support a safer, more welcoming community. Beyond housing and homelessness, the department continued to expand workforce opportunities for Anaheim residents through employer outreach and workforce partnerships. This year, the department worked with more than 230 Anaheim businesses and strengthened relationships with local labor organizations. These efforts have helped lay the groundwork for a regional career expo planned for September 2026 at the Anaheim Convention Center focused on apprenticeships, skill trades, and career pathways. Thank you for the opportunity to share the work of Anaheim HCD. I will now turn the presentation over to my colleague, Tom Morton.

Thanks, Grace. Good afternoon, Mayor, Mayor Pro Tem, and Council Members. It is with pleasure that I present to you the proposed fiscal year 26-27 Convention Sports and Entertainment Department budget. The Convention Sports and Entertainment Department is an enterprise fund that is responsible for managing the day-to-day operations of the Anaheim Convention Center and administers the city's agreements for Angel Stadium of Anaheim, Honda Center, the Grove of Anaheim, Arctic, Visit Anaheim, and the Sports Town Homeowners Association. Our departmental budget includes 87 full-time employees, which includes one proposed increase, and 233 full-time equivalents. The 233 full-time equivalents represents an event-driven part-time labor pool of approximately 543 employees and almost 50% of all departmental employees are residents of Anaheim. Our departmental operating budget totals a little over $96 million, and the department's operating budget makes up almost 4% of the overall city budget. The convention center operation represents 74% of the department's overall budget. Visit Anaheim, the city's destination marketing organization, receives approximately 22% of the budget by way of pass-through funding from a self-assessment district of hotels in Anaheim in the Anaheim Resort and Platinum Triangle, otherwise known as the ATID. The shown change in Visit Anaheim's ATED funding is primarily attributable to the new Anaheim Housing Trust Fund in support of the ATED Area Workforce Housing Program. These two combined expenditures make up 96% of the department's overall budget. This slide provides a graphical representation of the previous table. Most all labor denoted is convention center labor and most all other operating is primarily visit Anaheim's pass through ATID funds. Convention Center operations total $71 million, representing 74% of the department's overall budget. The increase in budgeted expenditures is primarily attributable to increased event activity and related operational costs. During the current fiscal year, we successfully hosted several annual events, including the NAMM Show, Natural Products Expo West, Medical Design and Manufacturing, Cal Dental, VidCon, which starts this week, and WonderCon. In addition, we hosted the Pokemon World Championships. Looking ahead to the proposed fiscal year, we are excited to welcome back our annual events and are also pleased to host the return of BlizzCon along with D23. Overall, we anticipate welcoming more than one million attendees throughout the fiscal year. And finally, the Convention Center was recognized for the seventh straight year by Exhibitor Magazine as a 2026 venue excellence, venue of excellence, and also awarded the best convention center in the country with over one million square feet of exhibit space. Visit Anaheim, the destination marketing organization, receives approximately 22% of the overall departmental budget by way of pass-through funding from the ATID. Key performance indicators in calendar year 2025 include 54 citywide conventions booked, secured over 900,000 room nights, and had an economic impact of just over $2.3 billion. The stadium operations total proposed budget is $3.4 million. The stadium hosted 2.7 million fans in calendar year 2025, compared to 2.62 million fans in 2024. We anticipate that the attendance in 2026 will be 2.6 million. The arena operations total proposed budget is $609,000, which is comprised of labor allocations and overhead costs. Additionally, investment into the city-owned Honda Center, totaling well over half a billion dollars has begun. and congratulations to the Anaheim Ducks on their recent Stanley Cup playoff run into the second round. This coming fiscal year, Honda Center projects to host 113 events, concerts, or shows with an estimated attendance of over one million. We look forward to the Anaheim Ducks heading back to the Stanley Cup playoffs and running through the Las Vegas Golden Knights. The Grove operations total proposed budget is just over $14,000. As a reminder, the department will receive a guarantee of $750,000 from our operator. Upcoming shows this coming fiscal year include many comedians, the Gypsy Kings, Journey USA, and Blue Oyster Cult, and we will feel the noise with a resurgence of 80s hair metal, featuring Quiet Riot, Wasp, Cinderella, and Slaughter, and everybody's favorite, the Blippi World Tour. The Arctic operation totals just over $230,000, mainly comprised of allocated overhead. And also this month and next, in partnership with OCTA and LA Metro, Arctic will be providing point-to-point bus service to SoFi Stadium for the FIFA World Cup matches, as well as hosting a free World Cup Finals watch party on July 19th. As a brief Olympic update, Anaheim's Honda Center is slated to host LA 28 Olympic men's and women's indoor volleyball every day, pretty much all day, from July 15th to July 30th, 2028. Staff is also pursuing participation in the Olympic torch relay and the hosting of a live Olympic viewing site in the city. In the near future, council will need to consider agreements for these items, as well as finalizing the volleyball venue hosting cost to be reimbursed by LA 28. Thank you for your time this afternoon, and we are all available for any questions you may have.

Thank you for those presentations. Do any of my council colleagues have questions? I'll start with Council Member Kurtz and then Council Member Meeks.

Thank you. If the successor budget was not in your budget at all, another department took care of it, what would your budget be?

It would roughly be about 25% of the 41, so about $6 million. OK.

On some of our properties, your successor agency, we're looking forward to selling some of those major properties. An example is a property, eight or nine acres on Ball and Iain Boulevard. You said you're trying to do some trade on that, sell it as a one property. How much has it been valued for?

It's roughly about $30 million.

And what is our take of that?

About 12% of that.

$3 million something.

Almost $4 million.

And so while we take a look at it and say, well, $30 million, that's not what we would get. in that process, do you get to bill the successor, the rest of the successor agencies for your cost of administering that?

There is costs that are built into the long-range property management plan for carrying the property management associated with preparing the properties for sale. That's kind of built into our budget. But no, we are not able to deduct those costs when we sell the properties. Each taxing entity gets their affected share of the valuation.

It's a shame because I know you, your department, other city departments put a lot of time and effort into that property or our successor agency properties.

For most of our properties, we have to have, of course, fencing, security, sometimes 24-hour security. That's why property management is a large portion of our budget.

Thank you. You mentioned something at the beginning of your presentation, and that is the management of our parking garages.

We have a total of five garages that were built by the redevelopment agency, all in District 3, in what was called Project Area Alpha. That essentially paved the way for a lot of the development that is now here in the downtown or center city. And there's maintenance and operations and of course deferred maintenance that has to be accommodated for that.

Okay, thank you. That's all I have for economic development.

Thank you. Council Member Meeks?

Yeah, could we go to slide 26? It's the first time home buyer down payment assistance. So we had one family, yay, our first family, get into a new home with that program. Do we have other... families, people in the process?

Yes, we opened up the portal to take interest in December. We had high interest, a couple hundred families. We've found challenges in terms of readiness for folks, but we have at least 15 that we believe are viable. I know for a fact there's a second one that should be closing, we think, in the next maybe 30 to 60 days. We differentiate between those that are interested, those that are more viable in terms of having down payment assistance, and then those that may have credit issues. So the interest is high. We're just learning a lot about what else of the financial literacy pieces is turning out to be something we really need to pay attention to.

Now that makes sense. And when we did this, it's a new program. You know, we started with the $50,000 down payment assistance and we said, okay, you know, we were concerned that that might not be enough to get people in. I'm glad to see that we've got people that that's being able to help. Um, so yeah, I'd like to kind of continue to keep track. Is that the right number? Do we need to increase that 50,000? Houses aren't getting any cheaper. But if you could give me kind of a little rundown on what these budget numbers include. So we went from last year labor being $228,000 to this year it's 90% higher. I assume that's another person or two. And then the operating costs going from $574,000 to over $3 million. Tell me what those numbers are.

Thank you for the question and for highlighting this slide. This was a little, it's new and we're still working with our budget to really kind of encapsulate how we best present the programs of the Anaheim Trust Fund. And so our initial take was this is where the trust fund down payment assistance, money was parked, it does not necessarily encapsulate everything that we do for down payment assistance, so the large increases, obviously, that large infusion of the down payment assistance, and yes, some of the associated costs for that, it's not all staffing, some of it is financial literacy, some of it is our marketing materials, there was an approval of a percentage of the trust fund money for these purposes. But in all candor, this particular slide is a work in progress. We are still navigating how best to represent the trust fund dollars for you.

Okay. Now, I might want a little more information, and you can get it to me separately, on how that labor piece breaks down, but then also the other operating, because we're giving $50,000 to each homebuyer, and... we have you know 10 of them um but that number's three million dollars so where's all that money going or is it going into a pot that will last us you know a long time which is great because um or maybe it's not great. We want to get it out to people. But I just want to understand it better and where this money is being used and making sure that we're using it, trying to get as much money directly out to people through this program as possible and get as many people as possible into new homes.

Sure. I'll give you more detail on this slide and, well, the down payment assistance program in general.

Okay. Thank you. Thank you. Does anyone have any questions? When we start with economic development and then we'll move on to housing, does anyone have any questions for economic development? Council Member Rubicalva, I believe you are next.

Thank you. Great presentations. Sergio, just a quick question. And I guess this is kind of for both of you and Grace. Do you guys think there's any duplication with the workforce development aspect of what you do? Because you do have a lot of programs. And so one of my questions would be how much funding do you allocate towards those programs, which are great and definitely help the community. But is there a little bit of duplication with what Grace's department is doing on the workforce side?

We can both answer this, but at least in my budget, there is not much in the means of workforce development. I do sit on the Workforce Development Board, and I'm able to help kind of with policy recommendations that come to this body from the Workforce Development Board. But ultimately, of course, we work hand in hand with Grace's staff, with Mark Lucero, Workforce development manager to ensure that whenever there's business, the threat of a business shutting down or assistance that is needed, we collaborate hand in hand. But at least in our budget, there really isn't much of from a workforce development standpoint.

Because I guess I'm concerned. I definitely think that it's important for you to be doing the business development side for economic development, because it really is about retaining and attracting businesses. But I do get concerned that there is a lot of resources ALLOCATED TO THE WORKFORCE DEVELOPMENT SIDE. EVEN THOUGH IT'S SMALL BUSINESS OWNERS OR YOU'RE TRYING TO CULTIVATE SMALL BUSINESS OWNERS IN THE CITY, IT'S STILL PROBABLY SOMETHING THAT WOULD BE LONG MORE ON THE WORKFORCE DEVELOPMENT SIDE. SO I GUESS BECAUSE YOUR DEPARTMENT IS SO TINY, IT'S WHAT, TEN PEOPLE? I THINK WE NEED TO BE REALLY WISE WITH HOW WE'RE UTILIZING OUR RESOURCES. SO THAT'S JUST A CONCERN. DO YOU HAVE ANY COMMENTS ON THAT ONE, GRACE, ON THE WORKFORCE SIDE?

On the workforce development side, I would just say that, you know, in HCD, we have a prescribed program. It is the federal's one-stop shop, so we do have a lot of metrics. It is a prescribed program in terms of, and it focuses a lot on work readiness, and it's very focused on our population that is trying to get into work, so our primary goal is serving that population to be job ready and to upskill. That does require us to make relationships with the business community because that is obviously where the jobs will be. But that I think would be the separating line is that our lens is really on the workforce and getting them connected into employment. And I think on Sergio's side is really working with those businesses to be here to expand, to create more jobs, And then together, we have this ecosystem of supporting businesses, not only with the planning and the expansion side, but a ready workforce. And I think that really is our list, is that readiness of our workforce.

Yeah, and I think, so the program that you have, is it Emperadora? What is it called? It's called Emprendedores, which is a... Yeah, so that is a little bit about workforce readiness, right? So I think that's where I see the duplication. And that is what a six-week or 13-week program, which I think is great for the community, but if they were, I think, with the workforce development, just maybe something to consider as you're figuring out how to utilize your budget, because... Without the successor agency, there's not a lot of revenue or budget funds allocated to your division. But for me, the important part of what economic development is supposed to be doing is really bringing the businesses that are generating tax revenue and jobs for our city. So that's something I think just to keep in mind. And then Grace, on the workforce side, if we could market more about the services that you're doing, I think that would be great. Because there are a lot of times where I get residents who reach out about job opportunities or just being workforce ready. And I know we have workforce development, but I'm not really sure where to send them. So if that could be, that would be helpful.

Sure, sure, we have attempted to increase our presence. We are at all of our libraries. We have information at all our community centers, our aim is not to be the best kept secret. So certainly anything that we can do.

Yeah, and youth focused programs would be good too on Instagram or social media. We have a huge population that really gets all their information from social media.

We do that a lot for our job, our job fairs of which we have about four or five a year. And I think that's where we get our large polls, but certainly could reach out to Mike's team about ongoing advertisement.

Perfect. And then should I wait to ask Tom a question?

Okay.

Thank you. Council Member Moss for Economic Development.

Thank you, Madam Mayor. Question about the storefront improvement program. You mentioned there are 213 businesses on the waiting list. Are we still processing those applications or is it a standstill?

It basically is at a standstill. However, we do, we are, sometimes what we run into the situation is somebody who has been selected that is in the process of procuring bids Because they're busy, maybe fall off and don't follow through. So then a slot will open up. And so the next person in that list will be called. That business, of course, we go through an entire process to make sure that we don't just are quick to just drop somebody off. We know that they got to operate a business and we try to hold their hand as much as possible. But sometimes you can do it. You do as much highland holding as possible, but sometimes there's, we've had an instance like in Councilmember Kirchner's district where somebody that we were working with sold a property and we were far along and they decided to sell and the new property owner didn't want to pick up where we had left off and so that opened up a slot.

So is there still funding available for that or in that program?

We have some, but ultimately after this year, the funding will cease, but we hope to bring back a request next year as part of our budget request.

Thank you. And you have ten full-time employees in the city of Anaheim. I know we are a very unique city, hard to compare. We oftentimes compare to Long Beach and Ontario. Do you have any idea what size of economic development workforce they have in those cities?

Well, of course, I ran the Long Beach Economic Development Department for five years as a deputy director. We had 99 staff. We did have workforce development as part of that, our department. And Ontario has 50 employees, I believe. Yeah, I believe 50 employees.

Thank you. And then one note on workforce development that may go to either you or Grace. Any work in terms of opportunities for older adults who may be reentering the workforce? I know costs are going up and we have a lot of seniors who would like to maybe get a part-time job. Do we have any attention in that area?

Thank you for the question. We do not have a focus program at this time. Our older adults have access to all of our programs, but to your point in terms of a focus, that is not something that we are currently offering. Just something to consider.

Definitely. Thank you very much. Those are all my questions.

Thank you. So I know we've had a couple questions for Grace, but I'm sure there are some other questions about housing. So does anyone else have any questions for Grace specifically? Okay, Council Member Kurtz. Thank you.

Thank you, Madam Mayor.

Regarding housing,

On slide 28, it had something about inspecting housing. Who does that? Is that your department, or is that code enforcement that inspects the housing?

That is our department. We use a different standard, which is prescribed by HUD. It's a housing quality standard, so it is the Section 8 file. or a contractor that inspects for those specific standards.

Thank you. You talked about the trust. I'm going to take you back to the down payment assistance page. You said the page is a work in progress. I hope it is because the trust is to be kept separate from your regular budget from the general fund accounting. As a matter of fact, you have two trusts that you administer. The Anaheim Local Housing Trust and then the resort housing trust, correct?

The resort money, I believe, is a subset because it's going to have its own parameters, but it is a subset of the trust fund. But you're right, we have to look at these funds separately. Combined, they make up our trust fund program.

Okay, so separate from any general fund, anything. Yes. Funding for your department. You mentioned you've got reoccurring monies coming in for the housing trust, but that's specifically for the resort. housing trust, correct?

That is correct. In the interest of time and me not prolonging this presentation, some of the specifics, I didn't get into some of the specifics, but you're absolutely correct. That recurring source of money is the ATID money and must be used specifically for employees of the properties that pay into that.

Okay. And we don't have a recurring source of income for our Anaheim housing trust yet? That's correct. That's all I have. Thank you.

Council Member Maz and then Mayor Pro Tem Leone.

Thank you, Madam Mayor. So by my notes, Grace, your department oversees rental assistance, the first-time buyer program, emergency shelter funding, the affordable housing programs that we work on, transitional housing, and permanent supportive housing, and we have increased our market rate housing supply. So I just want to commend you for the really robust effort that you've put forth in this area. I know we always have room for improvement and we could always do more with more funds, but I just want to acknowledge the great work that you're doing and progress that we're making. I'm wondering if we may have a presentation in the future about maybe the state of homelessness in Anaheim, kind of where we've been, where we're at, and where we're going. I don't know if that would fall under yourself, but that's one request I would have for the future. Definitely note that. Thank you. Those are all my comments at this time. Thank you.

Thank you, Mayor Pro Temp.

Thank you, Madam Mayor. Thank you, Grace, for your team. Page 34, with regards to homelessness, I really appreciate the continued work that you and your staff do, especially when responding to folks that reach out to us and try and really our best to do what we can to help them. A specific question, because I saw the kettle, and I know that that was a really big milestone for us to be able to acquire that property and then knock it down. You can provide me with an update later, but I'm curious if there's been any updates in regards to the Mexicasa that's right next door. You don't have to respond right now, but I'm interested to see if there's any updates or anything on that front. And then also just curious as we address other problem motels across the city, do we have a plan or a list of what some of those motels are and would we ever want to acquire those because I specifically I know Lincoln at least in District 2 I know there's a number on the west side there are some problem motels out there as well and so I'm just curious in terms of if if we have some sort of strategic plan overall to try to address those issues

So we do periodically request a list from PD on motels that are high calls for service. That's actually been historically how we have identified the opportunities. That's how the Tampico came to be. the Sandman once upon a time and the Americana on Beach and Lincoln. So some of our strategy really is focus our investment where we have a trifecta of not only being able to take down a nuisance property, but enhance community and build affordable housing. In terms of our continued work on that, I think It requires, you know, some of these properties are expensive to acquire, so we are reliant heavily on state and federal grants. So we would love to continue to do that work because it does have, like I mentioned, multipoint return on investment, but it really, our continuation of that would really rely on available funds.

Got it, okay, thank you. I think Mr. City Manager, as we're talking about LPMR bonds and what our plan is for those, if we could consider, I'm not saying that we have to go and buy every motel in the city, because that's a significant amount of money, but if we're able to brainstorm, if there's some plan that we could put together to help address those properties.

Thank you, Council Member Bayless.

Thank you, Grace. I got a quick question. I'm going to take you back to last year. I know we had a lot of uncertainty in regards to the federal budget that was coming down. I'm just curious, we're a year now later setting up for our next budget year. Is that same uncertainty still out there or have you started to see things level out and how are we handling it?

We do still continue to experience uncertainty in terms of the state of our programs. Thankfully, we made it past last year and the majority of all of our programs really remained funded as status quo. Sometimes a status quo does end up being a reduction for us, particularly in our rental assistance programs. But the state of our programs, while secure right now, thankfully, and I think we're in a good place, the future does, there does, uncertainty does still remain.

Thank you. I think our next question, I just wanted to say thank you so much, Ms. Ruiz-Stepter. You were so helpful over this last legislative session to work with me in advocating for our HAP funding. And I'm proud that we, and we weren't sure if we were going to get anything to be able to come home with over $900 million for our program so that we don't have to lose any beds. I couldn't have done that without you and your team giving me up-to-date information. So thank you so much for all of your hard work. Next, do we have any questions for Mr. Morton from Convention Sports and Entertainment? Mayor Pro Tem Leon and then Council Member Ruva Calva.

Thank you, Madam Mayor. I just very briefly wanted to take the opportunity to highlight the work of your staff, Tom. I know that it's a lot and we welcome hundreds of thousands of people every year. And so it definitely takes a lot of work to be able to do all that. And so just wanted to say thank you to you and your team. Wanted to ask you in regards to LA 2028, are we, I mean, where are we in the planning on that? And is that something that maybe you can come back to us with an update on later on?

Sure, just briefly, thank you for the question. So we've been working with LA 28 now for a couple of years. Later this year, you'll have before you what's called the Enhanced Cities Resource Master Agreement. And that's the agreement that really brings forward the costs that the city will incur over and above a non-Olympic event day that LA 28 will be guaranteeing payment on. So that's the next contract piece. And as I mentioned before, you'll also have agreements coming before you for a torch relay and hopefully a fan fest, what they call live site.

Okay, thank you. I think if you're able to, at least for me, it'd be helpful if you could, whether it's a receiving file presentation or a memo, just an update as to where we are generally, what's to come, sort of what you mentioned, the different contracts in terms of a timeline. Because I know we're a little under two years out right now, and it seems like a long time, but it really isn't a long time. And so I know that there's different discussions Just given the other boards that I sit on as well, of course, OCTA, that continues to be a really important piece of all of this. If we can just get an update on that, I'd appreciate it. And then I wanted to ask you, do we have an estimate in terms of how many attendees or visitors we might be able to expect because of LA-28?

We don't know exactly. We're estimating at least 3,500 room nights every night during that run of volleyball. It'll probably be more like 5,000. Plus, on the opening start of volleyball, there'll be four events per day with a capacity of up to 18,000 people per event. So if you run that math, you're looking at 80,000-ish per day for roughly 15 days. It'll be busy.

And so, just think for comparison, remind me, which one's our largest trade show? Natural Products. And how many people is Natural Products? Roughly 80,000. Okay. So our biggest convention is 80,000 people. So come the Olympics, we're expecting basically that convention every day for... For roughly a couple weeks. A couple weeks. Okay. Yeah. If you get anything that you could provide us in terms of an update, and then if there's I think similar to the planning department, I think as we're continuing, if there's something that we need to do on our side proactively, whether it's to reach out to our representatives or if there's something that we might be able to do to help get something unstuck, if it is stuck, if you could just keep us posted and let us know because that is a significant amount of people that will be visiting our city. And so whatever we can do as proactively as possible on our side, I'd appreciate it. Understood. Thank you.

Council Member Rubicalva and then Council Member Kurtz.

Thank you. To just kind of expand off of what Council Member Leon just mentioned, I want to make sure that when we are focusing on 2028 that we're doing it so that even though we have thousands of people who are coming into our city for the games, it's not going to impact our residents negatively. So that's what I'm more concerned about. I don't really want to invest too much for 10 days. I want to make sure that our residents are not negatively impacted by the surge of visitors to Anaheim. which I'm grateful for, but I also want to be mindful about that. Which kind of leads to my question regarding Visit Anaheim. So it looks like their budget has gone down a bit, so 20.9. Can you explain why it's gone down? Is that because of the percentage that was taken out for housing trust, or is there a reason why it's less?

Councilman yes, thank you for the question and yes the reduction the budget reduction is due to the housing trust Set aside however the current tracking of revenues even with the housing trust is that the revenues are on par to previous years so the TOT Component with the city is actually doing quite well right now. I

Okay, good, so it was 23 million before, and now we're looking at 20.9, but we're not putting that much into the housing trust, because it's like a quarter of a percent, right?

The housing trust receives 9% of the monthly gross. So annually, Grace, I believe about 3 million-ish goes into the ATID Housing Workforce Trust.

Okay, so that, okay, we will see that here then. What's the total percentage for ATID that goes to?

In terms of a visitor?

Yeah.

So 2% of their hotel room rent. So currently 15% is TOT and 2% on top of that is the ATID component.

So the 9% of the 2% is going to housing?

Correct.

Okay.

So Visit Anaheim, do you feel like they are effectively marketing our city to help increase TOT revenue? Because that was an issue for me. The more effective they are at their job in terms of generating revenue and visitors to our city, the more money they will get that comes through. your budget back to them. Do you anticipate, are they doing what they said they're supposed to do or are we seeing issues with Visit Anaheim like we have in the past?

Currently Visit Anaheim is a great partner of ours or our sales arm for the convention center and we are seeing great pace in terms of convention center citywide booking as well as the TOT speaks for itself is doing quite well.

How many more events do you have this year versus last year? Or even five years out? Because I know they're on a five-year, that's what they've mentioned, three to five years is what they're booking out. So if we're booking out, how have they been doing so far in terms of making sure that we're increasing the number of bigger conventions? Because it's really the bigger conventions that we need so that the smaller hotels can actually benefit from their visits.

Councillor, thank you. It's a combination of big conventions, certainly drive room rate and occupancy, as well as layered smaller conventions, which has been the benefit of having the expansion of ACC North is that we're able to layer conventions on and keep the occupancy high. They are actually booking more than five years in the future, up to 10. And I believe they booked over 55 city-wides in the last calendar year cycle, of which we're seeing 31 of those this year. So we're seeing kind of record-setting city-wides at the convention center this year as well as into the near future.

Perfect. So technically, I mean, you kind of, you were conservative with that Visit Anaheim budget because if they are effectively doing their job, then it should not be less.

It is a conservative number. It certainly could increase as it is currently increasing based on actualized ATID revenues.

Okay, thank you. Because I just think it's bizarre that you have it budgeted lower. Even though we have the money coming out for housing trust, it should still be growing, in my opinion, if they're effectively marketing the city. So that is the only thing that stood out in your budget. I think everything else looks great, but I want to stay on top of the Visit Anaheim situation because I think they get very comfortable and sometimes they're allocating resources to things that are not... and there will house workforce development, which I just don't think is a Visit Anaheim initiative.

Understood. Thank you.

Thank you. Council Member Kurtz and then Council Member Meeks.

Mr. Morton, I have just really one question. What impact does your department have on our general budget?

We are not a general fund subsidized department. We're an enterprise. So we have to generate revenues to offset our expenses.

So the cost to our residents is nothing?

In terms of the expense side, obviously we generate TOT revenue from the events that are hosted at the convention center, estimated anywhere from $30 to $50 million a year from that operation, more like $50, my opinion. But no, nothing on the expense side.

Thank you.

Thank you. Council Member Meeks? There seems to be an increase in some of the, not so much business conventions, but the leisure conventions like the Pokemon and the WonderCon and the BlizzCon and all that. Do we find that those are just as positive in the city's revenue as in using the center?

The cons are great, and we're really the king of the cons. WonderCon.

I mean, they're super fun, so yeah, I'm good.

The numbers are high. People definitely stay in hotel rooms. Now, will they stay two or three or four to a room? Yes. Where a business convention, a straight trade show, may have one person, two. And they're on their own expense report, but they still generate a lot of economic activity. And they're fun.

And they're fun. I mean, I like that. And then local people can still participate in those and the benefit to living in Anaheim. But I just want to make sure that Visit Anaheim is focusing on the right revenue drivers, but I will let you manage that.

Thank you for that. But yes, they understand really looking at the city as a whole, and the TOT is the large component of that. The consumer-based con-type events do well, and they're great for the convention center because of the rental component, which helps offset our expenses, but they all work together.

Okay, thank you. Okay, thank you. So this concludes the workshop. I'm going to have us recess for a couple minutes so that the staff can exit and we can make room for some of the folks that are speakers here for the regular meeting.

You're very tight.

Y'all need to do something about Disneyland.

Oh, you have it? Good afternoon.

Good evening, everyone. I'm going to call the Anaheim City Council meeting back to order. The next item on our agenda is an invocation that will be offered this evening by Pastor Ryan Chung from Chinese Baptist Church of Orange County. And following that, Mayor Pro Tem Leon will lead us in the flag salute. Please stand if you are able.

Let us bow our heads and hearts together. Oh, Triune God, God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit, we come to you today on behalf of the beloved city of Anaheim and on behalf of its citizens and on behalf of this council and all its members with Mayor Akin at the helm. We acknowledge your sovereign hand in seating each person in their respective position of authority. Through their leadership, may you foster an environment and a locale where human flourishing is made possible and achieved. Cultivate a mindset and readiness in the hearts and minds of everyone present to champion what is good and to restrain evil according to your will. May love of God and love of neighbor be our guiding principles in this city. We also pray for your protection upon all the city officials and its employees. Protect them, guide them, guard them against harm, and use their service for the betterment of the city and their fellow citizens. We pray that in this great city of Anaheim, we as a collective community would continue to uphold and exercise the freedoms granted to us by you, our creator. With the 250th anniversary of this nation fast approaching, We celebrate the freedom to live as free people. And in particular, of the many freedoms we've been given, we thank you for the ability to freely exercise our religious beliefs, including the ability for many congregations to freely assemble and to freely speak. And I, as a gospel minister, thank you for the very gospel message of the Christian faith. I praise you, O Triune God, for creating this world and creating us in your image, though Humans have sinned and deserve a just sentence. You sent your son, the Lord Jesus Christ, to die on the cross for our sins. He was buried on the third day, and he was resurrected from the dead, conquering hell and sin, that he may impart spiritual life to those who would repent and believe in him alone. What a glorious freedom we have to speak of such wonderful truths. Now, at the closing of this invocation, I pray for your particular grace upon this summer, June 23rd, 2026 meeting, and I pray for all involved. Grant us your gracious presence and may this place be a place of unity, humility, peace, righteousness, joy, truth, goodness, and beauty. May it all be all of that because of how we conduct ourselves and because of what we pursue together as a community. Lead this evening's meeting according to your will, oh Triune God. In Jesus' name I pray, amen.

As we prepare to celebrate our nation's 250th Independence Day, and as people around the world gather to celebrate the World Cup, we're reminded that despite our differences, there's still much that connects us. And we're able to enjoy these moments because of the many people who serve others every day. With gratitude for the dedication of our public safety personnel, service members, and all those whose work helps keep our neighborhoods and country safe, please place your right hand over your heart. I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands, one nation, under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.

Father, son, public sphere, and operating children's ministries, or dancing.

So we have two presentations tonight. Our first is to honor an amazing group of Anaheim runners from the Quick Track Club. They delivered outstanding performances at the USA Field and Track Junior Olympic Cross Country Championships in Indiana in December. qualifying for this event alone is an achievement but these Anaheim athletes did more than just show up they delivered winning performances against the best in the country and they did so in the snow and freezing cold winters of Indiana if I could ask each of you to come up as I call your name Eleanor Ramos National champion in the eight and under girls division, finishing first out of 156 athletes. Taylor Sojourn, right behind Eleanor for third place in the eight and under division. And Brooklyn Chia, 34th in the crowded eight and under girls division, Brooklyn, along with her teammates, helped lead her team to the national title. We also have Vida Ramos, seventh in the nine to 10 girls division, who helped guide her team to a national runner up finish. Olivia Weinraub, 80th out of 248 runners who also helped guide the 9- to 10-year-old girls team to a national runner-up finish. Ella. There she is. Hi, Ella. Hanaishi. 25th out of 300 in the 11- to 12-year-old girls division, helping lead her team to the national title. And I think we have a brother here, Samuel Weinraub, third place. Out of 368 athletes in the 11 to 12 year old boys division, leading his team to a national title. Congratulations to all of these runners. You are what is great about Anaheim and you make our city proud. Would one of you like to? Say anything to your parents or coaches. Anyone want to say a little quick word?

These kids are super special. It's pretty hard to be a champion at anything. And you think about all the kids not in the city, and then you go to the region, and then you go to the state. But to go in the whole country and have these kids take on the best of the best and come out on top is just crazy. And what it takes to be a great runner is the work ethic it goes into. This is every other sport's punishment, and they do it with a smile. Every day. And at their age, you know, a lot of adults don't have that work ethic. And, you know, they inspire us just as much as we push them. And, you know, we're all honored to be here on their journey. And they're just getting started.

Thank you. If I could have everyone look over here. Great.

One here. Thank you.

Congratulations. Oh, yes.

Great. No other ones? I think we got a couple more.

So our next presentation is very close to home. Our city's own not-for-profit utility, Anaheim Public Utilities, supports the education of our kids through scholarships. The program honors outstanding high school seniors looking to study science, technology, engineering, and math as careers. The top five students are interviewed by our public utilities board with the first place student receiving $6,000 for their academic expenses. All of the students have a chance for a paid internship with our utility through our city's workforce development team. Anaheim Public Utilities internships have helped students understand what it takes to give reliable power and high quality water to our city. Our utilities scholarship program is a great introduction to a career in STEM. It's now our honor to recognize the 26 Anaheim Public Utilities scholarship recipients. Eva Garcia from Anaheim High School, Haley Chan from Loara High School. Congratulations. George Colorado from Anaheim High School. And the top recipient, Sarah Kirby from Cambridge Virtual Academy. and while she could not be here with us tonight we wanted to also acknowledge knock win from catella high school would anybody like to say anything all right I can't wait to see you guys take this to the bank.

Try to get that into an ATM. Great.

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

Thank you, Mayor. We do have three this evening, recognizing June 19th, 2026 as Juneteenth National Independence Day, recognizing June 20th, 2026 as World Refugee Day, and recognizing the week of June 14th of the 20th, 2026 as National Flag Week.

So now I'd like to call to order the Anaheim Housing Authority in joint session with the City Council. Clerk, are there any additions or deletions to tonight's agenda?

Yes, Mayor, I'd like to announce for the record there were two as noted on the agenda. Item number 20 was a resolution regarding the pro-housing designation program. Staff has asked to withdraw this item at this time. And also noting as part of the public hearing, there was item number 24L, which was a resolution amending the sewer impact and improvement fees for the central area of the city of Anaheim. staff has also asked to withdraw that item from the public hearing.

Thank you very much. Can you now please outline the public comment procedures and call forward our first several speakers to address our agenda.

Thank you, Mayor. Speakers have one opportunity to address the City Council, except for the scheduled public hearings. 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-agenda related items, but within the Council's jurisdiction. A second public comment period will be opened by the mayor only if any non-agenda item speakers were not heard during the first public comment. It will be open at the end of council business. The time limit for public comment is three 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 will be called by a 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 the scheduled meeting. At this time, I'd like to introduce our interpreter who will make the same announcement in Spanish.

Buenas tardes. La ciudad provee servicios de interpretación al español en las juntas del consejo. La interpretación simultánea al español se ofrece por medio del uso de audífonos y la interpretación consecutiva también está disponible para cualquiera quien desee dirigirse al consejo. Para servicios de interpretación en otros idiomas, por favor comuníquese con la oficina de la ciudad cuando menos 48 horas antes de la junta programada.

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, or slanderous or profane remarks towards any member of the Council, staff, or general public. We appreciate reflecting the spirit when you speak. The time now is 5.43 with a 90-minute public comment period set to conclude at 7.13 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, we have five speakers to address the City Council on agenda items. We'll go ahead and call the first two speakers, R. Joshua Collins and Ben Hurst.

Good afternoon, Mayor and Council. My name is R. Joshua Collins, founder of Homeless Advocates for Christ. I want to first encourage everyone to give life to Jesus Christ, who died on the cross for us to save us from hell, to give us everlasting life. We've all sinned. We all need a Savior. He's the only way to heaven. And Jesus, as most of us know, cared very much about the homeless. He also became homeless himself. He had nowhere to lay his head, according to the book of Luke. And I'm really still concerned again about the anti-camping policies. A homeless individual also let me know that his property was taken from him and not returned, hundreds of dollars worth of property. And I know that at the last meeting, there was 27,000 items taken by the police, 17,000 returned. That leaves 10,000 items not returned to people. So, where are all these items going and what's happening with that? So, very concerning. Also, personally more affordable housing for the weak, elderly, mothers, the disabled, the mentally ill. A lot of these people can't come in here to speak, right? They don't have that ability. You have the advantage in that way that, you know, you can set this up here and they can't speak for themselves. But I really want to encourage the council to get out there in those streets and talk to these people. We definitely need less subsidies for corporations and more affordable housing for those in need. And of course, there's a problem nationwide, but we definitely need that change here. Of course, I want to encourage also more police training, better police training to deal with the homeless. I think they need mental health evaluations, of course, before they're hired. We know the situation with our builder, Alberto Arzola, was a very tragic thing that didn't have to happen. And that has to be remedied. That whole situation, I myself have been arrested too by police unjustly. And interestingly, sadly, African Americans are two and a half times more likely to be arrested in Anaheim for low-level nonviolent crimes and stopped than anyone else. So... That's the thing. There's still racism in the police department as well. Something has to be done about that. What are we doing to interview these people before they're hired? Why isn't the community more a part of them being hired? I think that would make a big difference. I just want to encourage the council to work on these things so that the city doesn't lose more money, right? This is going to become lawsuits, and of course, someone that lost their child deserves a lot of money. Money doesn't solve that situation, obviously, but, you know... They're owed something, obviously, something very big, and that shouldn't have to happen in the first place. Money doesn't replace a life, but the city's putting themselves in jeopardy by not dealing with these situations. So I encourage the council to work on these things immediately and release any video or whatever they need regarding their child that they lost. So important to make that happen. Thanks for letting me share.

Our next speaker, Ben Hurst, followed by Miles Bernal and Christine Lopez.

Good evening, Mayor, City Council. My name is Ben Hurst, the director of the Salvation Army's Center of Hope here in Anaheim. And I was speaking recently, sharing about some of the great breakthroughs we're having at the Anaheim Emergency Shelter. And a gentleman came up to me after my speech and he spoke and what I would call speech impediment type of form. And he said, Mr. Hearst, your message meant a lot to me. I wanted you to know it was a great encouragement to me. And I listened close to what he was saying and leaned in to try and really comprehend what he was wanting to share with me. And I said, I really appreciate that. It's an honor to serve the city of Anaheim. It's an honor to see what God's doing to transform lives in this great community. And he said, I don't know if you understand. This was a very special message of encouragement. It meant a lot to me. He said, 10 years ago, I was homeless living under a bridge in the city of Anaheim. And I'd lived under that bridge homeless for 10 years. And the city's services team found me and convinced me to rise up and go into your Anaheim emergency shelter. And I did that. And through that experience, he said to me, I experienced hope and compassion. They cared for me. They fed me and placed me in a job placement program, and he said, Mr. Hurst, I'm here to tell you today I've got my own place. I've got a job. I've exited the shelter. I'm living independently, and I'm seeing God do great things in my life. And, you know, as I was thinking about that tonight, I get a chance to hear those stories all the time, and I don't know that the city really does with the tremendous investment and life change you've made at the Center of Hope for eight years. And I was down in March at the Alliance Den Homelessness Conference and was sharing at a workshop about the comprehensive system of care the city of Anaheim have built to respond to homelessness. And I was able to tell that group in March that just in February of this year, We blew the record books off, placing shelter residents into permanent housing. And in just February of this year, through the system of care the city has put together, we were able to house 42 people out of our shelter into the Azur's apartments. And what a celebration that was. And I want city council to know, When I told that room of 200 people at that workshop down at that conference what Anaheim's doing, raucous cheers went up that in the midst of the headwinds of serving homelessness in the nation today, good news is happening, and it's happening right here in our community. I'm going to close with this remark. We've got a rare gift tonight. We've invited a friend to come and share about his personal experience at Azur's. His name is Miles Bernard. He's our guest speaker. Speaker he's next. Please welcome him in that spirit. Thank you.

I'm a little short here, so good afternoon. Thank you for having me. I walked into Salvation Army July 23rd homeless. Didn't know what I was going to do. And two weeks later, I landed a job with Angel Stadium as a general manager. Today, I now have my own housing. It is their apartments. We have a network, and I've been nominated, and I am the president of the network, which means I'm doing development, employment, and we continue to change the face of homelessness. I wanna thank all of you for keeping us moving forward. Thank you.

Our next three speakers, Christine Lopez, Matthew Compton, and Grace Arzola.

Congratulations, Mr. Bernal, and thank you for sharing your story with us.

Good evening, council members, mayor, and city manager. I am here today as a concerned community member, an educator in this county, and as a family member of Albert Arzola. It seems like each month that passes by, as we continue to demand justice for Albert, we begin to question the actions of the city's government. All of you here act in synchrony like a symphony and Mickey Mouse is your conductor. It's troubling to see that you work first for your own political interests before the well-being of the interests of your residents. For example, in 2017, the city purchased the Northgate Market on Anaheim Boulevard for $4.4 million with a commitment to open up a youth education center. What happened to those funds since the building remains vacant? Why won't any of you be a leader and support a rent control initiative that validates the concerns of your constituents? The City of Santa Ana implemented this and so can you. We have parking issues in Anaheim. Instead of purchasing more surveillance drones to invade people's Fourth Amendment right to privacy, why not purchase some vacant lots and provide much needed parking for your residents? Finally, how do you keep an employee on the payroll when the community has lost trust in the ability for him to perform what they are sworn to protect and serve? You have a repeat offender on your payroll with a track record of violence. release the entire unedited footage to the public. It's not the responsibility of the family, your responsibility to release it to the public and show, tell the truth, show Albert's death and how it occurred in the hands of Officer Nathan Garcia. and hold his partner accountable for not turning on his camera during the incident. Shame, he should be fired as well. Thank you.

Next speaker, Matthew Compton, followed by Grace Arzola.

Yeah, hello, my name is Matt. I'm here alongside the family of Albert Arzola to support and raise their demands, but I'm also here as a member of community service organization Orange County. Just a week ago, after CSO, alongside the family of Albert Arzola, created and published a petition demanding that killer cop Nathan Garcia be fired from Anaheim PD. The petition has reached over a thousand signatures in such little time, with over 60% of those signatures coming from residents who live in Anaheim. The working class people who live and work here in Anaheim are very aware of the long, disgusting history that Anaheim PD has with killing. For example, 22-year-old Marcel Ceja was killed by Anaheim PD officer David Garcia on November 4th, 2011. Police claim that the area Marcel was in was known to have problems with gangs and drug trafficking. Garcia said that he saw three Chicanos wearing baggy sweatshirts with their hoods pulled over their heads and he tried to make contact with them and that they avoided him. According to his report, Garcia followed them in his car, exited the car, and approached him with a baton. Marcel fled and supposedly threw a gun into nearby bushes, and supposedly he did not surrender. Officer Garcia shot Marcel two to three times. 29-year-old Anaheim Hills resident Roscoe Cambridge was killed by Anaheim PD Sergeant Michael Bustamante. Bustamante suffered from schizophrenia and apparently self-medicated with drugs. Bustamante claimed that Roscoe approached his open car window with a knife and lunged at him. There is no footage or eyewitness testimony to confirm this. Bustamante shot Roscoe four times, which then led to his death. These two are just a small portion of a very long list. David Rhea on August 16, 2011, Martin Hernandez on March 6, 2012, Manuel Diaz on July 21, 2012, Robert Marino in 2014, Danny Rendon in 2016, and Albert Arzola on December 6, 2025, plus many, many more whose lives have been taken by Anaheim PD officers. That is why in such a short period so many have signed the petition demanding justice for Albert Arzola and demanding that killer cops be held accountable. Anaheim wants accountability and keeps asking for it over and over again, yet people on this very council refuse and let killer cops remain on the force. With each killing, more and more residents are going to speak up. Until there is accountability, many more Chicanos are going to be killed again and again. For those of you who support Anaheim PD, the blood is on your hands as much as it is theirs. For those who sit quietly out of cowardice, the blood is also on your hands.

Our next speaker.

Hi, I'm here to talk about item 18. I see that you guys...

Grace Arzola, my nephew, was killed on December 6th by the Anaheim PD. And I see you guys invest money on punitive for the youth, to control them and to punish them. What are you guys doing for them during the summer? What activities are you guys planning? And I'm not talking about come to our community center. Why aren't you guys going to those communities that need you guys? The only time you guys are there is when you guys are there to patrol and kill us. There has to be a change. This is not okay. We're still going through our grief, and we're barely starting to organize, but we're gonna continue organizing until the change happens. We will continue showing up to every city hall meeting, even though if it means I drive an hour and a half to get here during traffic hours. We will not stay silent. My nephew will not be just another statistic. You guys have to do better. You guys are gonna invest, what, a quarter of a million to keep on patrolling people? And you guys have, what is it, the drone you guys are gonna put? Your officer didn't even have his camera on when he killed a resident of your city, and now you guys have money for drones? Is that camera gonna be off too when you guys kill the next person? You know? One of my favorite chant is, hey, hey, Anaheim PD, how many people have you killed today? And I think you guys really should let that sit there. Another thing is I know a lot of you guys are afraid to do the right thing because you guys want to be reelected on an election year. You guys are scared because you guys won the endorsement from the police union. But you guys keeping people that don't service the community builds a mistrust. No one's going to call you guys or the police department when they need help. And it needs to stop because all the statistics is young Hispanic youth that get killed by Anaheim PD. And that should be scary. You guys need to invest in the community and not on keep patrolling us or putting rules that you guys think are okay with you guys. If you guys know you guys have a tagging problem, what are you guys doing to be proactive, not punitive? Killing my nephew was not the answer. There has to be better things to do. And for the record, my nephew was not tagging. And for the record, your police officer had been harassing my nephew for months. Shame on you guys. You guys need to do better and protect the youth. Don't kill them when they're older and they no longer look cute and small. Justice for Albert Arzola.

Mayor and City Council, that concludes speakers on agenda items. We'll now move to general comments. Our first three speakers, Cecil Corkin, Anita Carter, and Ruben Greg Soto. Cecil Jordan Corkin.

I've got my reports. Outreach Homeless Ministry. And I have my reports. I'm gonna get them listed and dated when the crime went down. since it's been 2016 or earlier than that, and I'm gonna put the reports together, and we're gonna define Disney and what happened in their sexual crimes. There's about four different varieties of sexual crimes for children, and we wanna get that protected over Disney. If we're gonna build another... Jean Archie way of Disney, if we're gonna build another one, we're gonna work on super duper security and make sure that everything's good and that there's gonna be safety at the gate when they come in. And there's gonna be search like there already is in the gates when they come in. I wanna see to it that that gets done. And I'm gonna make the crime reports and the dates since 1955 when Disney opened and what happened, because I have the notebook of the outlines of the history of Disney. I've already put it together. And I'd have to get somebody to help me with that matter of the reports and get them typed up. FedEx is what I thought about. And I have to pay for that. But I want someone that can spend some time with me that can help me with that matter of typing up the reports for the city council, because Ashley Atkins needs to know the understanding. So if she's gonna be part of Disney, then we have to work together on those matters and figure out how they supposed to be safe at Disney. Ashley Atkins, you're gonna have to break in there and let me do my reports and get them to your council and then turn them in when I finish them. And if y'all wanted to type my handwritings, do it. And I won't have to spend the money to do it myself at FedEx. I'll bring them to you and let you copy them. Because I want my original copies back. And I'm waiting on you to take them into your own office in the Father, Son, and the Holy Spirit. I'm asking for you to take care of that. Cecil, your time is up. Because I want you to be safe. If you're going to sing and dance there, you need to be safe.

Thank you, Cecil. Our next speaker, Reuben Greg Soto.

In the park one day, we're going to make sure it's safe. God bless you.

City Council Mayor, let me read you something about the Bible. Oh, I got my mental health since I've been going to psychiatrists, medication, psychologists since I was 30. So it's all documented here. After fasting for 40 days in the wilderness, Jesus tested by Satan in three distinct ways, through physical temptation, turning stones to bread, testing God's protection, jumping from the temple, and the literal worldly power of worshiping. Satan for earthly kingdoms. Jesus successfully resisted all three. Now, who are human beings to test me or any other human being? They are the Satan. They test people. They try to make you be slow to anger. Who are you? They shouldn't be testing because you're not God, you're not Jesus. You're a Christian religious person. That's all. My first amendment was violated. I don't appreciate this in America where I have freedom of speech and freedom of religion. Amen. The verse of Matthew 18, 22, where Jesus tells Peter how many times to forgive someone. Instead of keeping a tally, he tells Peter, forgive limitlessly. This is why the Bible is evil and why Christians use it. So do you think I have to forgive him many times limitlessly? I don't think so. I got the land of the law. I have mental health issues all documented. Let me tell you about the Pledge of Allegiance. It's a promise of loyalty to the United States. It's commonly recited at civic events and schools with individuals standing facing the flag, placing their right hand over their heart. So I don't know about you, I'm an American, but I don't get no help from America. Thank you.

Our next speaker, Anita Carter. Anita. We'll go to the next card, Mark Richard Daniels. Then following the speaker, we have anonymous with the card number 7480.

Good evening, everyone. As we go to celebrate 250 years of this country in a matter of a week or so, let us stop to realize that we have a lot of issues, so many issues that need to be addressed. And of course, the Arzola family and so many others that have lost loved ones. And we have war that's an undeclared war. And we have just a lot of things that are just falling apart around us. But we have to stop to realize we got here 250 years somehow. And God willing, we'll go another 250 years. But in spite of ourselves, there's so much that we have to rejoice in the fact that people in this room are struggling every day and we need to reach out to them to help them. We need to pull them in and let them be part of 250 years. And given the fact that at the end of this year, December 6th, as a matter of fact, 1876, which was the centennial of the United States, Anaheim had, how they did it, they, first of all, they tried to incorporate in 1870, and it failed by 1872. So 1876, it'll be 150 years that Anaheim incorporated got the okay from the state of California to become its own incorporated city. And now it'll be 150 years on December 6th. And in spite of, you figure the complexities of that time with illness and famine, people struggling to make a go of it in this little tiny colony, And we got to this date from then just by sheer will and the grace of God. And we can do this again with the folks that are struggling. We have to reach out. The homeless cannot be out on the streets. We're far too rich of a nation in the history of the world to have people living on the streets. right not too far from here, right in the shopping center over there, people that are struggling from day to day. And you have to go beyond your own comfort zone. And you have to basically step out and reach out to those people that are less fortunate. Thank you so much.

Our next speaker.

Hello, everyone. I'm here to speak on behalf of the Anaheim Convention Center duty managers. So I'm sure you're familiar with the Anaheim way. Quoting from the city of Anaheim personnel rules policies governing non representative full time and part time employees section 1.3 AC under merit system. Positions having similar duties and responsibilities shall be classified and compensated on a uniform basis So let's talk about duty manager responsibilities they are essentially the on-site backup or pinch hitters to six-figure earning event managers and Daily, they have oversight over hundreds or thousands of people, including other ACC employees, union and non-union site workers, and the general public, including, but not limited to, security, sanitation, audiovisual, vendors, installers, electricians, mechanics, deliveries, setup checks, emergencies, and newly added, they get to check for locked doors, which I thought would have been a security issue, but they just keep piling more duties on these people. A few examples of issues that they have dealt with in the recent past include a lost loaded handgun, a fall from a scissor lift, the individual was badly hurt. guests blocking exits, guests in closed areas, dealing with abusive kids and parents at competitive events, protecting ACC property. They even have the authority in extreme situations to close the center. In short, they have significant authority while protecting Anaheim's bottom line. Now to talk about their compensation. They are the lowest paid ACC employees, making only $22.84 an hour. They have not received a pay increase since 2016. That's 10 years. They are part-time and they have no benefits. In 10 years, Orange County's cost of living has gone up 34%, which adjusts their current earning down to more like $14.41 in today's money, which is $2.50 below minimum wage. On the other side, Tom Morton's overall compensation over the last 10 years, according to Google, has risen $200,000, an increase of 53%, from $175,000 to $375,000. Yet these people have not gotten a raise in 10 years. So, a little background. Four years ago, all the ACC employees became part of a union, except the DMs were excluded. They got overlooked. In March of 2024, two years ago, the DMs unanimously agreed to join the union, hoping to benefit from a scheduled increase. But Anaheim denied this inclusion. Sir, I'm sorry, your time is up. I got about one minute and a half tops. Can I just finish this up?

I'm so sorry, sir. We have three minutes that we have to enforce across the board. But can you have something that you can submit to us, maybe in written form? I'm sorry, sir. Your time is up. Thank you.

They were overlooked because it was bid contract and not allowed to join.

Thank you, sir.

And they got passed over in 2025. because the city of Anaheim did a reclassification study that took so long, they got passed over in 2025.

Our next speaker must start. Our next speaker.

Good afternoon. I'm from the Deer Clan, Obsidian Knife Clan, Heart of the Mountain Clan. I want to thank Campos. That was a beautiful, beautiful meeting in the barrio, right in the heart of Olive and Vermont, where The Rosy family of Arzola is here and they were there present. And I think it's very important that we do listen to the comunidad, our community that's watching. We have maybe four or five mothers that were coming over here to speak about the issues of the railroads on Olive and Vermont. And I know we've been fighting for maybe a couple of days, couple of weeks, about getting a walking trail and a bicycle lane, and I think it's very important. It's on the other side of Anaheim, they have that, I think that's in Carlos Leon's district, towards Del, Magnolia, on that side, they have those beautiful bicycle trails by the library, it's beautiful. But there's a lot of issues there in these railroad tracks. There's a lot of needles, a lot of children that cross there. There's this elementary school, and so we've been making complaints. So those of you that are watching, please complain to the, we're calling it, according to Dr. Pat Adelacan, she's behind me, we're titling a committee to please make complaints to the railroad, Pacific Union, Union Pacific Railroad, to make complaints that This is dangerous to our community, and I know I was told that in other cities like Fullerton, Santa Ana, and Orange, and Garden Grove, actually, beautiful trails. There used to be railroad tracks there, or there's some railroad tracks there. We can put a black fence, and I think this is what we need in the barrio. I grew up in the barrio myself, and now my parents own a house. They've finished painting the house. Thank you. Thank you. the traditional lands of the Tongva and the city of Anaheim. It's important that we don't forget where we come from and we hear the voices. And there is a lot of discrimination. There's a lot of drugs and alcohol and domestic violence, a lot of discrimination and abuse in the barrios. And I think one way for us to heal is having these bicycle lanes. It's a way to escape. I know we're gonna have the skate park on State College in Vermont. It's a good location where they're going to put it. But maybe in the future we can have a skate park right here too at this other park over here. And maybe make these restrooms grow a little bit bigger. And so I hope that we can have another meeting like it was. It was very powerful. And then even on State College, Moss, thank you. That was beautiful. To be back in my own neighborhood from Cotella High School to Anaheim High School. I went to those two high schools. And we're still fighting to change the name of the colonists and the knights. The knights at that church, according to Pastor Gregory from Native American Methodist Church, told us that the Ku Klux Klan used to meet at that church and the other church across Fahrenheit Police. And the police is still acting, the majority of them, just very racist and shooting our people just because the way we dress, the way we look. And that needs to stop. And please decolonize your grass and put those desert plants. There's no water. Muchas gracias. Thank you.

We have our next speaker. Following the speaker, we have Pearl Arzola and Art Castillo.

Hi, guys. I wasn't here last meeting. I was attending the birth of my first kid. I had a baby girl. She was born in Santa Ana, and I actually met my wife at the Honda Center because Albert called off one day, and they had to throw me into the stand, and I was doing really bad, and they asked my wife at that time to come and help me. It was just a pizza stand. You just load it into the oven, and it's just... just really special memory to me now because, you know, Avery really played a hand in all moments in my life. I just want to say that, you know, I saw some of you guys advocating for Xavier Becerra and I understood why because he also took donations from police unions and he would hide names of killer cops and he was able to get elected as governor. And if you're able to get elected as governor, doing that type of stuff, I mean, there's really no fear. I'm just here in support of releasing Albert's autopsy. The DA, the Anaheim Police Department, somebody's hiding it. And we are just very traumatized and hurt family. And we would like to know the official cause of my cousin's death. You know... I would just like to talk about Nathan Garcia and his getaway driver. I mean, that's what it is. He's a getaway driver. He was not turning on his body cam at the time of the murder, which was the most important time. If you were going to be there to witness a murder, at least turn on your body cam because now it turns into a he said, she said with Albert's 14-year-old cousin who had to witness him getting murdered. You know, it's very traumatizing to think that Mikey is the only source of info we have that night. Because who are we gonna talk to? We're gonna talk to Nathan Garcia's partner? He's not gonna tell us the truth. We don't know what happened. What they told us is Albert's last words were, don't shoot, don't shoot. Why do you think Nathan Garcia's body camera, the audio is off, you can't hear that. It becomes a he said, she said problem. And that's not right because we're a family and we're obviously gonna stick up for each other. But Mikey's a 14 year old kid who has to now defend his 18 year old cousin who was murdered in front of him. You know, they said that his death was in public safety. It was for the public safety. You know, it was also public safety, you know, not drawing your gun. That's terrifying. I've never been held at gunpoint, but I can't imagine if somebody came out of an unmarked car at night and just drew the gun immediately on me. I would have been running so fast in fear. That is my ultimate fear. It's just the worst moment to think of, and I think that happened to my baby cousin that I love so dearly. I would play video games with them every single night. He would ask me to get on Fortnite or whatever. I can't do that anymore. Thank you.

Our next speaker, Pearl Arzola, Art Castillo.

Thank you, and congratulations on the birth of your daughter. Congratulations.

Hello. So I just want to make aware that as of right now, we did a petition, and the petition has 1,013 verified signatures. And all of those people... want the same things that we want. They want the unreleased body cams, they want the full report, and they want to know why the officer's second body cam camera was off. All we want is a full transparency for you guys to give us the information that we've been asking for for the last six months. You guys haven't gave us anything but simple stuff. You guys didn't even have the, you guys didn't even want to release the name to the public. You had to send it to my family's attorney when you guys could have easily just gave the stuff to the public. The public wants to know the stuff and you guys are just not giving them anything. You guys are not giving them the resources or anything to nobody. You guys just are hiding away a murderer, which is really crazy. I just also want to say that you guys all probably receive big checks from the Anaheim Police Department. And for you guys to not say anything when a officer involves shooting, that also makes us, the public, look at you guys different because you guys are voted by us. You guys are not voted by them. and you guys don't want to do anything for us as community members and people that are living here in Anaheim.

Our next speaker, Art Castillo.

Okay, I just want to add on to some of the things that I heard today, tonight, I should say. I heard the word Bustamante. If that's the one that I know, there's a lot of officers who had beaten up young men, threatened them, and then even people that were honor students, the people, because they just take advantage. There was a teacher, I think, if that's the one, it was a wife, that was the wife of Bustamante that... was called a terrorist case at Loera High School. And that young man was an honor student for four years. And so when I got involved with this guy's case, he was found guilty of... saying something that they set them up, and there was witnesses that weren't allowed to speak. So what really got to me was the attorney who even was, who'd get there, whispered in his ear, and I asked him, what did he say? He says, you're guilty. Just play guilty. And so he didn't get to graduate to go to university. He was a very smart young man. And I went to go visit him. He says, the airline police still go in there and chastise him. But he said, you know what? I got a job selling cars to high-end cars, and I paid the house off for my mom and dad, and I still made it. But these are things that should be expunged. A lot of cases should be expunged. And I don't think you guys really do understand that the We don't want to blame all the officers. There's officers, just say their name. And most of those officers that we always talk about, you guys made them heroes. They're on the radio doing stuff. They're at the police review board, gang enforcement, running the thing, killing two kids. You know, if you're not there to see what we see, and they get up and open, we talk to them, but they're put there for some reason. We want to like to have some answers on that. You know, I knew Mr. Arzola when he was 10 years old, the father. So I'm going on the streets trying to help people out in those communities, watching them grow up, watching them getting beaten, standing there getting hit, which you guys don't get to see. So I just want to come out. There's so much that I can tell you before my three minutes is going to be up. that I think you guys need to be known. I'm willing to tell you everything is too much. My stuff goes back in the 90s, and it started in 77 when I started seeing the problems happening. But it was 90s when I started getting involved to do something. And every time I brought it to the head of the city, they told me, We can't do nothing about it. I know you guys are kind of under a lot of pressure because I talked to a lot of city council members before. They came to me and they told me some nightmares. So I'm not going to say names because I can't give them up. Every time everybody tells me don't say anything, please don't say anything, I have to honor that. But there's people out there, I got a bunch of names, and this place needs to be, you need to look into it. I don't know if it's still happening, but there's a lot of corruption going on. And when the subject comes up, I'll come and tell you, because I'm gonna say this. Be good to all the business people and be good to the communities if you can. Get involved.

Our next speaker, Tom Fildler, followed by Mark Herbert and Mike Robbins.

Mayor and council members, I want to direct your attention to Anaheim's annual water quality report emailed to residents on June 19th, 2026. Buried on page 10 of the report is a warning specifically for people with compromised immune systems. It states that some people may be more vulnerable to contaminants in drinking water than the general population, including individuals undergoing chemotherapy, organ transplant recipients, people living with HIV AIDS, older adults, infants, and others with weakened immune systems. My question is simple. Other than this report, how many times has the city publicly conveyed this warning to Anaheim's most vulnerable residents? We know residents were exposed to PFAS contaminated water from Well 51. If the water from that well was not a concern, the well would still be operating today, but it isn't in operation because of the PFAS chemicals. Did the city warn residents when Well 51 distributed PFAS chemicals throughout our drinking water supply for 74 days in the annual water quality report? No, the city did not. There is no mention of Well 51. Was that intentional? What city employees decided that important information should not be shared with the Anaheim community? Who lied? Who covered it up? You are the governing body of this city. Your responsibility extends far beyond ribbon cuttings, photo opportunities, and ceremonial proclamations. It means asking difficult questions, demanding accountability, and ensuring the health and safety of the residents you are elected to serve. We demand to know, why hasn't the City Council launched an immediate, independent audit investigation into this failure? You have an audit team at the City. You literally have auditors at the Linnane Water Treatment Plant every single day. The audacity of the City Council to remain ignorant rather than find out why Anaheim residents were subjected to PFAS in our drinking water is an all-time low for this Council. For at least 74 days, people drank that water, families drank that water, children drank that water, seniors drank that water, individuals with cancer and compromised immune systems drank that water. Every unanswered question, every refusal to investigate, and every uncomfortable fact ignored by this council becomes part of the public record. You may be comfortable with silence. The residents of Anaheim are not. Thank you.

Our next speaker, Mark Herbert, followed by Mike Robbins and Georgia Price. Georgia Price.

Mark Herbert, AnaheimGreece.com. On June 18th, the LA Times discussed the value of restoring the Anaheim name to the Angels. It's concerning that the mayor and council continue to be distracted by marketing pipe dreams and nostalgia while residents are demanding action and accountability. The Times reported if the Angels owner wants to build a top to stadium parking lots, the city can pursue an exemption to a state law that currently restricts what can be built there. In exchange for the exemption, the team name would revert to the Anaheim Angels. The city would have to approve the zoning changes. It could make the land two to three times more valuable than it is as a parking lot, according to the mayor. We're talking about baseball logo and a team name as if that somehow defines Anaheim. It doesn't, ask Disneyland. The city has documented history of disastrous stadium decisions, failed negotiations, insider dealings, and scandals that have embarrassed Anaheim nationally. How has that impacted the Anaheim brand? Instead of demonstrating that lessons have been learned, we're again hearing discussions about development deals worth hundreds of millions of dollars. The question isn't whether the team should be called the Anaheim Angels. The question is why residents should trust the city to negotiate another major stadium deal when the same culture that created the last mess is still alive and well. Several staffers who worked on the Sudu deal are still at City Hall. For example, Ted White has been promoted from the planning department to deputy city manager. The cover-up culture hasn't disappeared. The last minute one-way checkbox process is still a feature of the Anaheim's workshops. The selective transparency hasn't disappeared. The residents are still kept at arm's length from their public commissions and boards. With no email available, residents are left with their questions and concerns being put off to the next monthly meeting. We continue to see information without concerns dismissed and accountability delayed until someone forces the public, the issue into the public view. Public records requests are ignored. And the drinking water, I think Tom covered that pretty well. Well, 24 seconds here. You know, you're worried about, the public's worried about crime, public safety, and housing. And what you guys are worried about doesn't match up. You could start with helping the Arzola family.

Next speaker, Mike Robbins.

Good evening. Linane Water Treatment Plant, Excessive Flushing and Accountability. Keith McDonald, the former water operations manager who was transferred on June 9th to manage lab testing, ordered the opening of a valve in September 2025 that had been closed for a year. When the valve was opened, it released organic material into the treatment process. When you hear the word organic, You think of something healthy, fruit, vegetables, food. At a water treatment plant, organic material means decomposing vegetation, algae sediment, decomposing fish and other dead animals. That's what caused the water to turn brown that we showed you, the water for NIM Hills in September 2025. Did alert Anaheim employees request the valve to be closed to stop the rot? Yes, they did. Was the valve closed? No, it was not. Keith McDonald continued ordering the valve open further all the way to 100%. Keith McDonald, Richard Salas, and Eleanor Busita saw the rotting water firsthand. Those named individuals were involved in providing information for the water quality report. So why was this significant event omitted from the report? Instead of addressing the cause, additional chlorine was added, which didn't solve the problem, but it did increase THM levels, a disinfectant byproduct you shouldn't breathe or shower in. The state requires testing for THM levels. If THM levels are high, the city has a problem. What happened next? Excessive flushing was ordered by Keith McDonald, Richard Salas, and Eleanor Busito. Hours of flushing before state compliance testing. Flushing to manipulate sampling results. When residents began speaking about drinking water concerns, rather than taking those concerns seriously, you requested a staff presentation. You thought residents needed to be educated about the water. I mean, does it sound like our group is educated or not already? We need our elected officials to investigate these allegations for you and your family and your neighbors. Launch an independent investigation, follow the facts wherever they lead, release the findings to the public. Anything less than an independent investigation constitutes a dereliction of duty of the council to provide oversight and protect the interests of the residents. You were elected to serve and this is a real important issue. We need to take showers. We need to breathe the water and we need to drink it. Thank you very much.

Our next speaker.

Leading by example. Integrity starts at the top. Leaders set the standard. Every action you take or refuse to take sends a message about what is acceptable, what is rewarded, and what is expected. If you want integrity, you must demonstrate it. If you want accountability, you must demand it. And if you want employees to do the right thing, you can't punish them when they do. Because leadership by example is not optional. It should be the very foundation of Anaheim's culture. But that can't happen if city leaders aren't setting the right example. Employees who raise concerns, ask questions, or challenge questionable decisions are marginalized, ignored, and retaliated against. Meanwhile, those who make bad decisions receive applause, promotion, and pay raises. Let's recap what happened with the former city manager who misled this council regarding a trip he accepted from the former Anaheim Chamber CEO, the central figure in one of the largest corruption scandals in Anaheim's history. When the trip became public, Residents deserved answers. With the exception of the mayor, not one member of this council was willing to confront it. Your failure to openly address Vanderpool's conduct was deplorable. But more importantly, it established a precedent. It reinforced a culture where misconduct is ignored. Difficult questions are treated as inconveniences rather than responsibilities. When this council refused to address unethical behavior by the city's top manager, did you ever stop to think about what type of message that sent to the 3,000 employees who work for the city? You are clearly telling employees that accountability depends on who you are. After all the scandals the city has endured, after all of the embarrassment and the public distress caused by dishonesty and corruption, your refusal to properly investigate drinking water concerns, dig alert violations, firework contamination, and other coverups that continue to surface at City Hall sends a message that is crystal clear. Doing the right thing is not valued at City Hall. So the question is simple. When Anaheim needed leadership, will this council be remembered for its courage or will it be remembered for its continued silence?

Next speaker, Deneen Robbins.

Every month, the city posts professional services agreements and other contracts that fall under the city manager's authority. Why do you post these contracts? Let me enlighten you as to the reasoning. Because after the Harry Sidhu corruption scandal and the Angel Stadium debacle, residents demanded greater transparency and accountability over how City Hall spends taxpayer money. So now the city posts the contracts and labels it transparent and congratulates itself for posting the contracts online. My questions, who is evaluating whether these contracts deliver value to taxpayers? Who is making sure these contracts were not awarded to family members or friends or even campaign donors? Who is measuring performance? Who is reviewing whether the work was completed as promised? Who is asking whether the scope was justified, the spending was reasonable, and the deliverables were actually delivered? Is the city just having Debbie Moreno blindly pay invoices? Is this type of laissez-faire approach to contracts the city's idea of good governance? Which brings us back to the Linnane Water Treatment Plant. The City Council approved Brown and Caldwell to audit the plant operations. These auditors are there every single day. It is our understanding that these auditors are receiving operational training, shadowing staff while sleeping in their cars. What exactly are taxpayers paying for? How do you audit a water treatment plant and not focus on laboratory data, treatment performance, operational decisions, and compliance practices? How do you ignore the information that is being provided to the public that clearly contradicts what is happening at the plant? If these auditors are auditing water operations, how did they miss one of the biggest issues raised by residents? The extensive flushing that occurred before compliance sampling. These seem like pretty basic things to audit, and yet they were ignored and are still being ignored. This city never hesitates to spend money, but when it comes time to ask whether the money was well spent, suddenly nobody seems interested. Responsible government isn't knowing how much money was spent. Responsible government is knowing why it was spent, whether the justification was sound, whether the deliverables were received, and whether Anaheim taxpayers got a return on their investment. If you're not asking those questions, then you're not providing oversight. You're simply providing frickin' rubber stamp. It is time to change the way you are doing business, and you need to fire those goddamn police officers. Anybody who turns off, who does not have their body cam footage on every minute that they're on duty should be instantly fired. Instantly. Talk about transparency. Start with Anaheim PD. Ms. Robbins, I'm sorry your time is up.

Our next speaker, following the speaker, Dave Duran.

Let's stop pretending that family and other close relationships between council members and city employees don't create pressure because they do. No matter what anyone says publicly, every employee in this organization understands the reality. If a family member of a council member becomes the subject of discipline, scrutiny or an investigation, there is pressure. Pressure on supervisors, pressure on department heads, pressure on the city manager's office, pressure to look the other way, and everyone knows it. The issue isn't whether a council member has direct authority over city employees. We all know they don't. The issue is influence. The issue is whether other people making personnel decisions believe there could be consequences for holding certain individuals accountable. Because once that perception exists, the damage is already done. Employees begin to wonder whether everyone is being held to the same standard. They begin to wonder whether accountability depends on performance or proximity to power. And they begin to wonder whether some people are simply untouchable. Influence doesn't always come in the form of a direct order. Sometimes it's a phone call. Sometimes it's a conversation. Sometimes it's simply the understanding that making a certain decision will probably create problems for you later. That's how pressure works. and city leadership knows it. They have experienced it, they understand exactly what I'm talking about. If this council truly wants a culture of integrity and accountability, then it must acknowledge the obvious. Relationships matter, influence matters, and public confidence is damaged whenever employees believe different rules apply to different people. The moment employees believe some people are protected because of who they know or who they're related to, the city's credibility is gone. And once credibility is gone, no amount of public relations or carefully crafted statements will bring it back.

Following the speaker, Jack Williams.

Last year under this mayor and city council, Anna Crime faced a budget deficit of approximately 60 million. This year we're facing another deficit of roughly 40 million. That's nearly 100 million in budget shortfalls over just two years. Yet somehow, Debbie Moreno, the person responsible for overseeing the city's finances, received a raise. not during a period of fiscal stability, and not after eliminating a structural deficit, but instead while Anaheim, or anti-crime, was facing its second consecutive year of massive budget shortfalls. And this wasn't announced to the public with any fanfare, discussion, or openly debated. It was maliciously buried in personal documents presented by Human Resources Director Linda Undahl and approved by this council on April 21st, making it difficult for the public to see and easier for the public to miss unless they happen to dig through the supporting materials. In 2012, the position Debbie Moreno holds now was approved at an annual salary of approximately $182,000 a year. Today, the maximum compensation for that same position exceeds $314,000. That's a 73% increase. Linda and Debbie are claiming this raise is due to her performing both finance director and treasury roles. But here's the truth. She was already given a 10% raise for that years ago. Another example of how the mayor and council have failed to be good fiduciaries of public funds. How does this increase make any sense? Last year, the city balanced the budget by relying on a one-time funding source. This year, we're once again facing a major budget gap. The question isn't whether the budget can be balanced on paper. The question is whether Anaheim, or anti-crime, has a long-term financial strategy, or whether the continuing or continuing to rely on temporary fixes while operating with a structural deficit. So what exactly is a city rewarding? And while we're discussing financial responsibility and oversight, let's talk about the city's purchasing card program. According to the public reporting, Anaheim employees charged approximately 10 million on city purchasing between 2023 and 2025. Former City Manager Vanderpool and Public Information Officer Mike Lister publicly stated the credit card audits had already been conducted. There's a lot more. I'll bring it up later, because I know you want to hear it. Our next speaker, Jack Williams.

Good evening, Mayor and Council. My name is Jack Williams. I'm the public affairs specialist for the U.S. Small Business Administration. We have been requested for the hazmat incident here in Garden Grove. And while we know that the impact was not specifically in Garden Grove, but in the surrounding areas of Orange County, we would like to offer our federally funded programs to offer assistance To the areas we have programs that are offering business capital for up to two million dollars of working capital loans to small business administrations, as well as small agricultural cooperatives. Currently, we are in the Orange County area, but the contiguous counties of Los Angeles, Riverside, San Bernardino and San Diego have also been declared under this declaration for or by Governor Ferguson. I'm sorry, Governor Newsom, as well as President Trump. The programs are for those that were impacted by the hazmat incident that occurred between May 21st as well as May 29th. The deadline for filing is March 11th, 2027. And the funding programs are to offer economic assistance and support for businesses as well as small agricultural cooperatives and nonprofit organizations. For the funding programs, they are a ceiling of 4%. For nonprofit organizations, they are at 3.6%. The loan terms are for a maximum of 30 years, and the installment is able to be dispersed throughout the duration of the borrower's terms. During this time, we would like to coordinate with local officials. We got an opportunity today to speak with the business economic development, Mr. Shant, as well as the government affairs specialist, Alyssa. and they offered us support in disseminating the SBA's message throughout the channels. You can be able to find us for assistance at our website, disastercustomerservice.sba.gov, as well as our phone number, 1-800-659-2955, for further assistance. We have currently BRCs that are business recovery centers as well as an MRV that was set up today in the Fullerton Mall. We will be conducting outreach to ensure small businesses and nonprofit organizations throughout Orange County are aware of available economic injury disaster program resources. Even businesses that did not experience physical damage may have suffered economic losses due to the evacuations and reduced customer traffic, employee disruptions, or supply chain impacts. So we look forward to partnering with the city of Anaheim and local stakeholders in order to increase awareness through workshops, business outreach events, as well as resource partner collaborations. Thank you for your time and commitment to support Anaheim.

Thank you. And were you able to share, Mr. Williams, with our team the website and the phone number for people to get a hold of the SBA?

Yeah, absolutely. So the number, again, is 1-800-659-2955. And the website is disastercustomerserviceatsba.gov. Or you can also find us at lending.sba.gov. That number, if you aren't able to reach it during the hours of operations, you can definitely leave a message and someone will contact you or contact the impacted survivors. Any other questions that you have, I would love to answer them. I just don't want to hold up any time. Thank you. The process is very simple and will be throughout the community for the remainder of the couple months that we're here. Thank you so much.

Our next speaker.

December 6th will never be the same for me or my family. My son, Alberto Arzola, should be here alive. It saddens me that his killer cop, Nathan Garcia, is still here on the force while my son lost his life. Justice for my son. I wanna thank CSO, for helping us with the petition and raising more than 1,000 signatures. Also, Campos for showing up in the neighborhood with the trash bins, thank you. Really appreciated that. Also, we need a bike trail for our mental health, because a lot of kids want to ride their bikes And we need transparency as well. I don't know if you guys heard, but Jaden Machaco, who was 15 years old and shot, murdered by Santa Ana Police Department, saddens me that these cops are just trained to shoot to kill and ask questions later. He was having a mental breakdown. Just like my son, he should be here. There was no stop freeze. There was nothing, no body cam for the second person that should have been on. Not only that, they targeted my son. For months, ages, I wanna see not only that one body cam, but there's several body cams that they should have on, and all the dates that I have should be reported to you guys, because that wasn't the only time that that police officer went to my house and tried to arrest me, put me in handcuffs for no reason right in front of my house. I'm not on probation, nor am I on parole. And that's a shame that this police officer is still in the force antagonizing the youth. The youth that are gonna be within probably one of them city chambers and could be somebody up, He could be a mayor, he could be a district, anybody. He could be even a police officer, but yet they just shoot to kill instead of asking questions and all they do is ask questions later. It saddens me, it saddens me a lot. That's right. Also, we want justice and transparency and we want the 911 call. We want it for everyone to hear it and to see how it all came out. from the kids coming out, from everyone on that phone call. We had to call them twice because they couldn't even understand what we're saying. And they need more 911 callers, especially with etiquette with our people because they don't understand our Chicano youth are gonna be here whether they like it or not. Brown and proud.

Mayor and City Council, that concludes our in-person speakers. Knowing for the record, we did receive electronic comments. 31 comments were for item number 20 and we did receive 13 general comments. Each of those were distributed to City Council as well as posted on the city's website.

Thank you, Clerk. We'll now close the public comment portion of this meeting and move to Council Communications. If you have an item to share, please ring in at this time. I'll start with Council Member Kurtz.

Thank you, Madam Mayor. Not quite yet. As council members, we're invited to events, programs, for participation, asking us to buy tickets. And there were certainly several in the last couple of weeks. There was a groundbreaking for the Center for Applied Research and Innovation at the Salvation Army. There was a police foundation dinner for the mounted police efforts. a very unique Anaheim celebration, Flag Day. I'm sure Councilmember Moss will talk about it, a senior event held describing Senior Care 101, very informative. Many of us had an opportunity to go to Anaheim's Youth LA 28 Kickoff just the other day. But there are two events I'd like to highlight from District 4. Now, can I have the slide? First was the District 4 community meeting put on by Community Services. This is the first time that community services has put one on in a park. It was well attended, the weather was beautiful, lots of participation, and so I thank community services and all of the the departments that participated, but especially want to thank the residents that showed up. The next one, and it's been referred to by a couple of speakers, was the cleanup we had at the Orange Olive neighborhood. There were several of those giant bins put out that were filled throughout the neighborhood. Many people showed up, and I want to point out to the far right, that's Dooku playing Frisbee with some of the kids. And I think that little girl got the best of him. Just saying, Dooku. I also want to thank AMEA and OCEA, which are two unions, or AMEA, Anaheim Municipal Employees Association, and their umbrella organization, OCEA, for bringing their hot dog barbecue wagon in and to feed all the participants. You'll hear more from me at the end of the meeting when we have an opportunity for council agenda setting in regards to a request that many in the community have made, not only on that day, but I've received several emails regarding it. Thank you.

Thank you. Council Member Moss and then Mayor Pro Tem.

Thank you, Madam Mayor. I don't actually have a slide on the Senior 101 event, but thank you for everybody that came out and for the city departments that came out to share their resources. I received a lot of positive feedback and so I know we're going to do it again. I do have a few slides to share. So last Tuesday, we celebrated the 50th anniversary of the Sunkist Library Branch. I stopped by a couple times throughout the day. They were having a senior art class, which they have once a month. Very well attended. They were making pinatas. Later in the day, they had a Share Your Memories session, where they had former librarians come in and share their stories. And you can see some of the current staff there. I want to thank... Shawnee and your team, Audrey, Scott there at the library, Miss Kimmy, Jen, Carly, Michael, I could go on, but we have a really great thoughtful staff and I look forward to the next 50 years there. One more thing about the library, I want to recognize that they recently received an award from the American Library Association. It was in recognition of their public relations efforts and promoting their different book and reading programs. So congratulations to them. And also I want to mention, since it is summer officially, you can visit your local library branch and check out a state parks pass. Those passes are good for three weeks. So if you're interested in camping or hiking, I encourage you to go check one out. You can also check out hiking gear. So libraries are so much more than just warehouses for books these days. There's great programs and resources for the community. Next slide, please. Last Saturday, I was invited by the Anaheim Rotary Club to a neighborhood cleanup. They know I have a thing for trash. And so I want to thank them for one, organizing this event for over 13 years. They work with one of the resident leaders in the community to make sure that everyone's on board. We were joined by code enforcement, neighborhood services, and the police department. So thank you for coming out. You can see... Everyone in action, you can see a before and after picture on the right. So these efforts do all add up. I'm hosting my monthly cleanup this Saturday at Edison Park from 9 to 10. All are welcome. Supplies are available. We just ask that you wear closed-toed shoes. Next slide. This Thursday, I'm really excited. For the first time at Pioneer Park, we are having a concert in the park. The Convertibles will be playing. They are a cover band that plays pop, rock, R&B, soul, and Motown. So if you're not watching the soccer game or football game that night, please come over to Pioneer Park. I would love to see a great turnout so we can do this again. That'll be again this Thursday at 6.30 p.m., Pioneer Park in District 5. And lastly, I want to share that this coming Saturday we have a great event over at Zion Lutheran Church where I went to preschool and kindergarten. But I'll be working with our first responders to have a sensory with a patch event. This is building off of an event that Mayor Pro Tem Leon was a part of last year, so I want to acknowledge her. building the foundation. But this Saturday, it's an opportunity for the special needs community to engage with our first responders. There's gonna be community resources, free activities, face painting, a bubble show, and most importantly, an opportunity for some of our maybe autistic families or the special needs community to engage with first responders. We know that it's not ideal to be interacting for the first time in the midst of an emergency. So if we can have more interactions, I think we'll all benefit. So you're all welcome this Saturday, 10 to 2 at Zion Lutheran. That's all I have. Thank you.

Thank you, Madam Mayor. I had the opportunity to attend the swearing-in ceremony for the newly elected officers of American Legion Post 72, as well as the sons of the American Legion and the Auxiliary Unit. Just great to be able to interact with our veterans. Organizations like these really play an important role in not just supporting fellow veterans, but also preserving the legacy of military service and strengthening our community. So I just wanted to congratulate the incoming officers and, again, thank all of our veterans for their service and for their continued leadership in our community. I know a number of us attended the Salvation Army's Center for Applied Research and Innovation groundbreaking, which really represents an important investment in expanding services and improving outcomes for individuals who are experiencing homelessness. We have made meaningful progress through collaboration and a commitment to continually improving how we serve our community and how we continue to address this issue. So I just wanted to thank the Salvation Army I'm sure we'll be talking a little bit more about you later in the meeting and many of our partners for all of their leadership and dedication to this work, of course, our housing and community development team as well. I also joined students from across Anaheim for LA 28's Day of Sport. I had the chance to play a little soccer alongside some of the students and see firsthand how much excitement there is around sports and physical activity. With the Olympics just two years away, many of these students are actually going to be growing up experiencing what is a once-in-a-lifetime or once in a generation moment for them as our city and the region welcomes the world in 2028. And just great to see the enthusiasm and wanted to give a big shout out to our community services team who was able to make it all happen on such short notice. So shout out to them. Madam Clerk, I just wanted to also share a brief transportation update. We recently passed our OCTA budget, $2 billion. Through OCTA and our regional partners, Anaheim is receiving significant investment in both infrastructure and transit services, including freeway improvements, bus operations, senior mobility programs, safer transit stops, and traffic signal coordination throughout the city. One project that I did want to highlight is Project J. In addition to the 241-91 Express Connector project through TCA that will hopefully break ground later this year, it will break ground later this year, I wanted to highlight Project J, which is the State Route 91 eastbound corridor project, which will add one general purpose lane between the 241 and the I-15. And while it is being led by RCTC, the Riverside County Transportation Commission, who will be implementing the complementary project within Riverside County between the county line and State Route 71, I wanted to highlight it because it will help improve traffic flow for many Anaheim residents who use the 91 every day. And it's an example of how we continue working with our regional partners, our continued advocacy to address transportation concerns and infrastructure concerns that residents have brought to our attention. And I'm also encouraged by the continued investment in bus service and mobility programs. We have one of the busiest transit systems in Orange County and these investments really help people get to work, to school, to medical appointments and other destinations throughout our community. And finally, Madam Mayor, I'd like to ask that we adjourn tonight's meeting in memory of Darnell Jones. Darnell Jones, affectionately known to all as DJ, was a remarkably kind and caring 10th grade student from Magnolia High School whose warmth left an enduring mark on everyone that he met. Throughout his life, DJ faced difficulties with a steady determination, always working hard and never giving up. His resilience shone brightly during his successful transition from the Rossier non-public school to the Magnolia High School Bridges program. Outside of the classroom, DJ loved playing basketball and brought that same passion and team spirit to the Boys and Girls Club of Anaheim. He was excited to join the Magnolia High School basketball team and continue to experience high school. DJ's deep respect, consideration for others, and gentle nature left an everlasting impact on his classmates, on his teachers, staff, and the Magnolia High School community. DJ's life is a reminder that each kid deserves to be seen, to be helped, and given an opportunity to succeed in life. I'd like to ask that we adjourn in his memory. Thank you, Madam Mayor.

Council Member Bayless and then Council Member Rubicova.

Thank you. Just one quick announcement. A long time in the making. I think it's been about 30 years since we've seen something on 39 Commons, but I know a week from today, Tuesday, we're having a groundbreaking over there on 39 Commons at 10 o'clock. And so anybody... I would like to attend. I welcome you guys. We're super excited. I've mentioned this before, but we've got an In-N-Out, Dave's Hot Chicken, and a Two Brothers Coffee coming in. So we'll have the groundbreaking on Tuesday. We're super excited to see that, so please stop on by. Again, that's a week from today, so June 30th. at 10 a.m. And then for the last thing, I'm going to do it now instead of at the end of the meeting, but I want to wish everybody a happy 4th of July and make sure you keep it safe and sane out there. Thank you.

Thank you. Council Member?

Thank you, Mayor Eakin. I do have a couple of slides to share. As everybody knows, I represent District 3, which is approximately 50,000 residents. I grew up in Anaheim, so it's important to me that the people who are representing my office on behalf of the residents of District 3 also grew up here. So I'd like to introduce our new council aide, Brianna Aranjo, who grew up in Anaheim. She actually graduated from Anaheim High School in 2022. Her parents are immigrants from Jalisco and Zacatecas. So she has deep, deep roots in our city, and we are excited to welcome her to the team. So she has joined us and will be out in the community with Daniel Hernandez, who is our other council aide. So welcome, Brianna, to the city of Anaheim. I also want to highlight, so we have some pretty proactive youth in my district. So these are students and their advocate parents from Horseman Elementary. They came to me regarding a pedestrian crosswalk within the community on Citron, which is a public safety issue. So they gathered hundreds of signatures from students as well as neighbors in the area. And now we are working on ensuring that they get a safe crosswalk. And I also wanna thank our traffic safety. I think I see you in the back, sorry. So I wanna thank you guys for all that you're doing with our youth who really came to me and wanted to make sure that they were able to get this before the new school year comes up. starts up in the fall. And we also have our Anaheim Police Department who have started to do more enforcement in the area to slow traffic down. But Rafael, thank you, because I know you and your team have been pretty proactive in this area. So since this, I have received additional requests for either stop signs. And I'm just going to throw it out there. I think Rudy's here somewhere. Rudy, I would really like to see the stop signs that actually blink. Those are really important because a lot of them are not really visible. We have the one that we were able to get on Sycamore. There's three of them there, but they're really hidden, so it would be good to see more of the blinking crosswalks or stop signs. So I just want to commend the kids from Horsemen who came in and brought all of their petitions. and I know a flag day was mentioned but it is in district 3 and hosted at Pearson Park so I want to thank the nonprofit and local community leaders who put this on this is not a city led event however it is sponsored by many of our council members as well as our community services team who was on site as well as our chief of fire but I just want to thank them for hosting this event it gets better every year I don't know if you guys all agree but it's educational for our students and our youth and for the residents who are living in Anaheim, and it just shows pride for our country. And I was happy to be able to join all of my colleagues on the Public Works, I don't know, what is that, Natalie? Truck? Yeah, Public Works vintage truck, which we all have exhaust fumes. But anyways, it was a really wonderful experience and I want to thank everybody involved for bringing this to District 3 and to our city at large. I also just want to highlight, so as part of the Flag Day celebration, they also have an essay contest. And one of the local youth who live in District 3 and attends Vibrant Minds, one of our local charter schools, was the winner of the essay contest. His name is Nigel Bonnenberger. And his essay was about what the American flag means to me. And he is the winner of that contest. So I just wanted to recognize him and his family. And then this is the principle of vibrant minds alongside him. And as I grew up in Anaheim, so one of the things that I am happy to do for this is the third year. When I got accepted into Cal State Fullerton, I didn't even think I was gonna be able to graduate high school, but thank God I did. But I got into Cal State Fullerton and wasn't sure how I was gonna pay for my first semester. So one of the things that I like to do is provide some funding to some of the kids. who are graduates of Anaheim High School and attending college or a trade school. So I'm happy to present here the four recipients. There were actually five recipients before we're able to come to City Hall and receive their scholarship. They all participate in a scholarship essay writing contest about why Anaheim is a great place to live. And I want to thank Starla Huerta as well as Lieutenant Steve Pena for reviewing the essays and helping make the decision as to who was chosen. So Emily Valdez, Noah Valenzuela, Jose Valle, Mariela Jones, and Valeria Gutierrez were all recognized. They are attending Cypress College, Berkeley, Cal State LA, and they have very, very bright futures. No Cal State Fullerton, but maybe next time. And then this is the month for all of our district community meetings, so I want to thank city staff for attending. We had every department, for the most part, including our finance department, to share about the budget process. We also have our city clerk who was on hand, which is important since this is an election year. I know somebody mentioned that. We had a lot of residents in attendance as well, so I just want to thank everybody who took time out of their day. This new open house format really just allows everybody to go to the different departments and ask questions specifically related to issues that are concerning their community. So it is a pretty efficient process, but I do want to recognize city staff as well as residents who were in attendance. So thank you for being there and answering all of the difficult questions. And also the really wonderful presentation that we have on the 4th of July firework enforcement and plan that we have in place, which is a big concern in my district. And then finally, I'd like to ask Mayor Aiken to close the meeting in memory of a lifelong Anaheim resident who unfortunately passed away this month, Paul Hinojosa. And I just would like to send my condolences to his family who have deep roots in the city of Anaheim. He does live in my district near the Olive and Sycamore Street area. So I just wanted to ask to close the meeting in his memory. And that concludes my council comments.

Thank you. I have a couple slides to share, although some of them have been covered, so I can go through some of them quickly. I want to thank the Anaheim Fire Department for inviting me to meet Riley, who is our new peer support dog. He is a positive influence on our fire department. And his pet owner, who is Engineer Gillespie in Station 8, is wonderful in his taking care of him and bringing him to other stations or out into the community when there has been an impact. He can smell stress. He can smell fear and really is trained to respond positively to times of stress. And he's just so dang cute. He is just an absolute treasure. And I know Council Member Meeks as well as her daughter was able to meet him at the station as well. So if you see him around, he is ready to report for pets and belly rubs. Next, I wanted to just highlight, it's a bit of a brag, I got to go to the USA Paraguay game, and I'd never been to a World Cup game, but I wanted to give a huge shout out to OCTA and MetroLink, and then I believe city manager Greg Garcia made an announcement last time about the Arctic transportation. So my family and I were able for $10 to park at Arctic, take a bus all the way to SoFi with no wait. We got there in about 65 minutes and then met the bus right after the game and got dropped off. So if there is someone here that maybe knows somebody at OCTA, I think if they could have this for every SoFi home game or concerts, it was packed. And it was just so nice. We're all Californians. We're car happy. But it was so cool to see bus after bus after bus of people filled to go to SoFi and root on America. I also wanted to mention, I know it was brought up by Councilmember Ruacava, but thanks so much to the Flag Day Committee. It was an amazing day. Thank you so much to all the staff that was there, to the public works truck for giving us that extra dose of gasoline exhaust that we all need to get us through the day, and to so many people that just put it on and were part of the entertainment. As my colleagues also mentioned there was the d4 and d5 open houses So again, thanks to everyone in the community that came out. I agree with councilmember Kurtz I thought the park was a great location We were able to grab people that might not have been there for us, but we're able to stay there and ask us questions as well as the nice community event I've got to thank and give a shout out to Code Enforcement for bringing in the TV during the District 5 meeting to show World Cup. I thought that was a really nice touch. And to thank this little girl from her parents and grandmother are the owners of George's Donuts. And so they brought us some nice snacks to have us give us a little sugar kick. But they're just really, really sweet. So I wanted to thank all our staff for putting that on. Just wanted to mention this Thursday, If you are in the District 6, we are having a community wildfire meeting from 6 to 7.30 put on with fire as well as public works at the East Anaheim Community Center to go over our wildfire evacuation plan. So if you have questions, concerns, want to weigh in on that, please join us this Thursday from 6 to 7.30. And then last, to everyone in the city, as well as to everyone on our staff, I just wanted to wish everyone a very happy Father's Day. I am the product of not only a strong mom, but a strong father that believes in strong women. And also married to an amazing man where I could not do things like come to city council meetings if I didn't have someone that just really always had my back with my own children every day. And I know we have so many amazing fathers in this organization and throughout the city. So I hope you all had a wonderful day. You deserve it. So now I'd like to turn it over to, oh yeah, thanks for the dads, they're the best. Wanted to turn it over to our city manager for his city manager update, City Manager Greg Garcia.

Thank you, Mayor. Just a few updates. We are less than two weeks away from the 4th of July. As we presented at our last council meeting, Anaheim is taking a tougher stance on illegal fireworks this year. We've already seen stepped up patrols on the ground and in the air with our increased staffing. While we know this is an issue that's much bigger than Anaheim and it won't disappear overnight, we've already issued citations and are utilizing every tool we have to keep our community safe. Signs went up at every city park over the weekend that state no fireworks of any kind are allowed at our parks. Digital message boards have also been deployed on our roadways throughout the city as well. Residents can report seeing illegal fireworks by calling 714-765-1900. And if you're hearing fireworks but can't see them, we encourage folks to report online at anaheim.net slash fireworks. Now, with regard to Safe and Sane Fireworks, the only fireworks allowed in Anaheim are Safe and Sane Fireworks, and only on the 4th between 10 a.m. and 10 p.m. Anaheim nonprofits and high schools will be fundraising by selling Safe and Sane Fireworks throughout the city. Stands open on Sunday, June 28th, and they will sell through Saturday, July 4th. And you can see the stand locations on the map behind me or find it online at anaheim.net slash fireworks. And then now on to our 4th of July celebration. We encourage everyone to join us for Anaheim's 4th of July celebration. The day will start with the Firecracker 5K, 10K at 7 a.m. It's fan favorite Yankee Doodle Dog Show is at 9 a.m. And the Patriotic Parade starts at 1 p.m. Spend the day celebrating with family-friendly activities, live entertainment, delicious food vendors, and an unforgettable fireworks show that starts at 9 p.m. at Peralta Canyon Park. You can visit our website, anaheim.net, slash 4th of July for more information on the day's activities. And then finally, I do want to say happy birthday to my youngest son, Evan. He turns 12 today. Sorry I can't be there at home with you right now to celebrate, but... Happy birthday, Evan.

You'll have to get him something really nice to make up for it. So we are now going to recess the city council to address the Anaheim Housing Authority agenda. Items one and two are before us. Is there a motion? Second. We have a motion and a second. Please vote.

The vote is seven ayes, no nays. Motion carries.

Thank you. So without objection, we will adjourn the housing authority and reconvene the city council to address the city council consent calendar. Items three through 22 are before us. Are there any members of council who wish to remove an item for further discussion? And as a reminder, we have pulled item number 20 was withdrawn from staff. Withdrawn by staff, excuse me. But that's in the business calendar. Sorry, Council Member Rubicalva, do you have something to pull? Item 18. Item number 18, thank you. Mayor Pro Tem Leon?

Seven and 16, please.

Thank you very much. Council Member Bayless?

We already got seven, so 17.

Thank you. Can I have a motion to pass the balance? Please vote.

The vote is seven ayes, no nays. Motion carries.

Thank you. So we are going to start with item number seven, which was pulled by both Mayor Pro Tem and I believe Council Member Bayless. Would you like a staff report?

I don't need a staff report. Councilman, do you want to go first? No, please. Okay. I was just going to point out, I'm not 100% sure if, so the, let me get there. The recommended response that was attached, just as an FYI, I think there was one, hold on, sorry.

Are you referring to the typo?

Yeah, it's listed twice. I wasn't sure if we needed to correct that on the record.

No, we determined it was just a typo that we can correct on the backend.

Yeah, that was it, thank you. Thank you. Just a quick question, comment. I know that this was focusing on the Arctic, but I'm just curious, was there any consideration given to the Southeast Gateway Line project that could possibly be a very valuable, useful tool that connects Orange County to LAX?

It was mentioned in the report, and we absolutely support the efforts to improve the regional transit connectivity between Orange County and Los Angeles County. and the South East Gateway Line is a project that has the potential to provide meaningful benefits to that regard. The reason it was not specifically addressed in our response is that the project is currently an LA Metro project located entirely within Los Angeles County, and the grand jury report does not make any findings or recommendations to the city of Anaheim related to that project. As a result, it was outside the scope of the city's formal response. That said, NIME strongly supports investments that strengthen connections between Orange County Rail Services, Arctic, and the broader Southern California Transit Network. If the Southeast Gateway Line were ultimately extended further south or better integrated with regional rail services serving Orange County, it could create additional transit options for our residents, visitors, and workforce while improving access to key destinations throughout the region. From Anaheim's perspective, the long-term vision should be more of a seamless regional transit system where passengers can travel efficiently across county boundaries without multiple transfers or gaps in service. Projects such as the Southeast Gateway Line together with Metrolink improvements, the Link Union Station Program, Anaheim Aerolink, and potential future direct connections to LAX all contribute towards that larger goal. While Anaheim does not have a direct role in planning or delivery of the Southwest Gateway Line today, we would welcome opportunities to partner with OCTA on future transit investments that enhance connectivity to Orange County. We plan to do that, and we did plan to do that as part of our response to R4 to work with the regional agencies on improving transit connections to LAX.

Wow, okay, thank you. I'll move the balance, or move the item, sorry.

We have a motion and a second. Please vote on item number seven.

The vote is seven ayes, no nays. Motion carries and that includes also the clerical update.

Thank you. The next item that was pulled is item number 16, pulled by Councilmember Ruba, I'm sorry, also pulled by Mayor Pro Tem. Would you like a staff report?

Yes, please, Madam Mayor.

Thank you. We'll just wait a moment for them to make their way.

Good evening, and thank you for the opportunity to present this item tonight. With me is Zainab Yiannis, our staff analyst in Housing and Community Development. And sitting in for him is Sandra Lozo, who had a family medical emergency as deputy director, Andy Nogal. Our request tonight is for approval of the Sixth Amendment to the agreement regarding homeless shelter by and between the City of Anaheim and the Salvation Army for the continuation of shelter services extending the term of the original contract for two years from July 1st, 2026 to June 30th and allowing for an additional one year optional extension taking us to June 30th, 2029. This action, if approved, would increase the maximum contract to a not-to-exceed amount of $74,200,000, which includes additional authority of $25 million to reimburse the Salvation Army for services rendered from the period of July 1, 2026 through June 30, 2029. We also ask to authorize the city manager or his designee to execute the Sixth Amendment to the original contract and the ability to execute any subsequent amendments or documents necessary for the continuation or administration of the shelter services at the property located at 1455 South Salvation Place. I have a presentation for you tonight. The Anaheim Emergency Shelter is a critical part of Anaheim's homeless system of care, providing a bridge between street outreach and permanent housing. Since opening in 2019, the Salvation Army has been a valued partner in this work, helping individuals experiencing homelessness access shelter services and pathways to housing. The proposed extension allows the city to continue this partnership and maintain a coordinated response that supports both individuals in need and the broader community. Since opening in 2019, the Anaheim Emergency Shelter has provided far more than a safe place to stay. The shelter has served nearly 1900 individuals and provided more than 690,000 nights of lodging and over half a million meals. Through intensive case management and coordinated services, hundreds of individuals have secured employment and transitioned to permanent housing. These outcomes reflect the important role the shelter plays within the Anaheim homeless system of care, helping individuals move from crisis towards stability and self-sufficiency. The Anaheim Emergency Shelter operates through a coordinated referral process system and is not a walk-in facility. On average, approximately two individuals enter shelter each day through referrals from street outreach teams, law enforcement, and other community partners. Because the shelter is funded by the City of Anaheim, admissions priority is given to individuals with established ties to Anaheim, helping ensure resources primarily benefit Anaheim residents and those connected to our community. This slide provides data for the last three years. The numbers illustrate both the demand for shelter and the complexity of the population being served. The shelter remained more than 95% occupied during this time, serving over 1,600 individuals during this reporting period. Many guests entered shelter after experiencing homelessness for a year or more, and a significant number had been homeless for more than two years. Despite these challenges, nearly 280 individuals were able to move from shelter into permanent housing. The Anaheim Emergency Shelter is much more than a place to sleep. The Salvation Army provides substantive case management, housing navigation, workforce support, and a range of supportive services designed to help individuals regain stability. During the three year reporting period, Anaheim Emergency Shelter staff conducted more than 8,000 case management sessions. These services are what transform shelter from a temporary refuge into a pathway for long-term stability. While emergency shelter provides immediate safety and stability, the immediate goal is reintegration into community and permanent housing. In this last year, 84 shelter guests have moved into permanent housing, including 41 residents who moved into the recently completed Azure Apartments. Mr. Bernal, who the Council heard from earlier today, is one example of how shelter, case management, employment support, and housing navigation can work together to help someone move from homelessness back into a stable housing and community life. His story is one of many that demonstrates the impact of this program. When the shelter was established, the vision extended beyond emergency shelter beds to a comprehensive campus that could support individuals on a pathway from homelessness to community reintegration. Today, the campus includes 72 permanent supportive housing apartments, and most recently, the groundbreaking of the Center for Applied Research and Innovation. At the same time, the Salvation Army continues to implement a robust good neighbor policy that includes 24-hour security, neighborhood outreach, and coordination with city staff and public safety partners. As a result of these efforts, calls for services in and around the campus have declined by 34% since July 2025. The groundbreaking of Cary, which many of you highlighted this evening, represents the next phase of investment in the emergency shelter. While the shelter provides immediate safety and stability, Cary will expand the services available to help guests successfully transition back into community. More than 75% of the building will be dedicated to guest services such as case management and health services. The proposed Sixth Amendment reflects the evolution of Anaheim's homeless system of care and represents the first reduction in general fund support for the Anaheim Emergency Shelter since the facility opened in 2019. The need for emergency shelter remains significant. However, several factors support a gradual reduction in funding over the proposed three-year term. Since February 2026, average shelter occupancy has stabilized at approximately 275 guests per night, below historic peak utilization levels. At the same time, Anaheim has expanded permanent supportive housing opportunities, including our Azure apartments, and created additional pathways from shelters to transition into housing and reduce pressure on shelter capacity. The proposed amendment also recognizes ongoing efforts to improve the effectiveness of the shelter system. The City and Salvation Army staff are exploring expanded stabilization, recovery, and substance abuse treatment services that may help individuals address barriers to housing more quickly and reduce the length of time spent in shelter. For these reasons, staff is recommending a phase reduction of funding from 9.2 million in year one to 8.5 million in year two and 7.7 million in year three. This approach preserves Anaheim's emergency shelter capacity while aligning resources with current utilization trends, expanding housing opportunities, and a service model increasingly focused on housing outcomes and long-term stability. In closing, we want to recognize that the Anaheim Emergency Shelter has become much more than just a shelter. It serves as a critical gateway to housing, services, employment, and long-term stability for individuals seeking to exit homelessness. This proposed amendment allows the city to continue this important partnership while responsibly reducing general fund support. Staff respectfully recommends approval and is available for questions. Thank you.

Thank you. I'll turn it over to Mayor Pro Tem.

Thank you, Madam Mayor. Thank you, Grace, for the presentation. I'm curious when you in the previous slide where you mentioned the service expansion on stabilization, recovery and substance use treatment. Is that the one of the reasons why the terms? So it's a two year term with a potential one year option. Is it that we're basically we want to assess what that looks like?

Yes, we meet with the Salvation Army team regularly. And as part of those conversations and just the evaluation of the residents at the shelter, there's been ongoing conversations of the need to potentially transition to more like drug treatment beds. And the Cary building will also provide a lot of research in terms of what helps either on the front end to shorten the stays or to reduce the amount of time. And so we do believe that the introduction of more drug treatment centered beds with other learnings from Cary and our ongoing activities to provide bring online more affordable housing combined, that these things are starting to show some progress as demonstrated by less folks at the shelter. We recognize we will likely always need some level of shelter, but we believe that we are trending in a direction that may allow us to start to look at some reduction, not complete elimination, but some reduction.

Thank you. I appreciate that. I'm supportive of this item. I mean, I was at the Cary groundbreaking and really hearing all of the work that goes on. Mr. Hertz, I appreciate that. Dr. Hertz, I appreciate all the work that you all do. And we're really setting the bar and setting the standard when it comes to our different partnerships and how we're looking at this issue. I wanted to get the staff report more than anything because I think it's good information for the public. to know kind of what we're doing and what it is that we're, I know it's a large amount of funds, but it's definitely still an important part of our response to homelessness, which continues to, I agree with you, there's been an improvement, and I know I hear from it from the community, and I know there's a lot of different people that are involved in making that happen, But I wanted to make sure that our community knew how important this is to our overall approach. So I appreciate the continued good work. And I'll move the item if there's no other questions.

I think we have one comment from Council Member Moss.

Thank you. Excuse me, Madam Mayor. I wanted to acknowledge Sandy Luzzo. She helped me assist somebody to getting into the Salvation Army last week. They had a little trouble because they didn't have proper documentation of their Anaheim connection, but she was able to help. So I want to acknowledge that. How close are we to getting that one phone number when somebody is ready for help?

I think we're pretty close. So thank you for acknowledging Sandy Lizzo. She certainly is a rock star when it comes to the management of our homeless system of care. And to your question, I think you're talking about the central dispatch system. So our projection right now, in close collaboration with the APD, who will be really the shepherds of that system, is that it will be available in the fall. and we're using a season because we believe September, October-ish is when we are estimating. The groundwork for that though is already on its way.

Thank you. And then I just want to lastly acknowledge a gentleman that I know that went through the program, Tyson R. It was really hard for him to stop drinking, stop giving up drugs to get into shelter, but he made that decision. He now works for one of Anaheim's largest employers, and he gained his sense of purpose back. and his life back and his self-respect back. And he just got home from a work trip to Ireland. So there's always hope. As long as there is breath, there is hope. And I firmly believe that. And I appreciate the work that you're doing to change lives. So thank you. I support the item. I second if nobody has.

We have a motion and a second. Please vote.

The vote is seven ayes, no nays. Motion carries.

Thank you. The next item is item number 17, pulled by Councilmember Bayless. Would you like a staff report?

No, I don't think a staff report's necessary. First, let me just start off by saying I read the agenda report that's here, and it seems as though that the contract is a good contract. Well, my question to you is this, is I know we brought this up last year, and I said, hey, it's been some time now. How come this hasn't gone out to bid? And so I'm just curious if you can, I mean, what's the reason why this hasn't been out to bid so far?

The transparent answer, I think, is we inherited this contract and it was established, the security contract was established at the same time as the shelter to go hand in hand. I fully recognize that the issue was raised last year, but I don't think we moved to RFP because it wasn't specifically requested. That's, I think, the most transparent answer, but I think if that is the direction of Council, we can certainly do that.

All right. In that case, I don't know the right way to ask this, but can we get this out? I don't know. It's a three year contract, right? So is it? So the contract?

Yeah, the contract before you three years. We can certainly. start an RFP process and the contract gives us the flexibility to to terminate without cause and so we can certainly explore that once we do an RFP also there's a citywide security RFP that will be probably underway next year and we've had discussions internally about combining this contract with that contract for economies of scale and so we could also wait for that RFP process and then try and combine the two so those are two good options because we agree it's been a bit and it's probably something we should look at so I don't know if you have a preference on one of those two options

yeah i think putting it with the city contract is good but do i still i mean do i need to agendize this then at the end of the meeting and and and take a vote on it next time or you can make it part of the approval of this contract the motion if you'd like to do that and that gives us the direction we need okay i don't know how anybody else feels but i would definitely make that motion that when this comes up uh i guess next year forbid with the additional city contracts i would second that

So I think the motion is the staff recommendation to approve the contract with direction to start the RFP process within the next year is what I heard. Is that correct?

Well, at the same time as we're doing the citywide security contract.

Okay, at the same time you're doing the citywide contract.

Which, for transparency, that contract is up in 28, I believe. July, July 20, 20. It's a significant RFP, and so that process will start probably in 27 as we get that going.

So before we exercise the one-year option on this contract, we would combine it with the other contract?

Well, this is a three, the security contract is three years, right?

It's two years with an option. Two years with an option.

And so if we approve this tonight with the understanding that in a year and a half, we're going to be out to RFP and that we probably don't need to exercise the one year option on this if we go in a different direction.

Right.

Okay.

You want to restate that?

that we will approve this contract as is with the understanding that when the citywide security contract goes up, that this contract will be evaluated as part of that process.

All right.

And I do want to make a quick note, you know, no knock against Lions. They've been a great partner and that's why they are recommended this evening because they have been a fantastic partner and have really mitigated impacts to that area. We made a commitment to our community and our businesses that we would, you know, protect that area. And I think they've done a fantastic job.

And so. Well, I would agree to that, and that's why I started out by saying, hey, I've looked at the contract. I mean, it definitely looks reasonable for sure, but I think it's important, you know, every five years or so that some contract should be put out to bid, and this is definitely one of them.

Okay, would you like to move the item?

I would.

We have a motion and a second. Please vote.

I'm sorry, but I think we had the second by Councilmember Kurtz.

Oh.

But...

I think we had a second before we had a first.

Mayor Pro Tem.

The vote is seven ayes, no nays. Motion carries.

Next item is number 18, pulled by Council Member Rubicalva. Would you like a staff report? Yes, please.

Good evening, Mayor, Council Members, Police Chief Manny Sid. Joining me is Lieutenant Steve Pena, who oversees our Youth Services section. And Lieutenant Pena can provide you guys a brief staff report.

Good evening, Mayor and Council. Before you is an agreement for funding for the North School Mobile Assessment Resource Team, also called the SMART Team. We are recommending that the City Council by motion authorize the Chief of Police or his designee to accept funding in the amount of $305,732 on behalf of the City of Anaheim under the Juvenile Justice Crime Prevention Act and authorize the Chief of Police or his designee to execute all required documents and take any actions necessary to implement required documents. The Juvenile Justice Crime Prevention Act has allocated funding for a program in Orange County known as the North School Mobile Assessment and Resource Team, which allows participation of multiple law enforcement agencies in the northern region of Orange County to combat threats of violence and violent crimes committed on, near, or impacting school campuses and communities. And I'm able to answer questions.

Thank you.

Council Member? Yes. Thank you, Lieutenant Pena and Chief Sid. Can you give us an example of a situation where this may have been helpful in recent times?

Yes, and not to get into specific examples of a particular case, but an example would be a threat that a school receives, whether it be through social media or rumors on campus, our smart team investigators are available 24-7 to respond and investigate that threat until it is resolved, sometimes lasting more than multiple days.

Which we've seen an uptick in, right, where you guys are receiving calls and they're report, I can't remember what they're called exactly, but they're reporting crimes that are not really occurring, so you're able to go in and investigate.

Correct, we've had the swatting calls. We've had several of them throughout the school year last year. In fact, we just even had one today where our investigators work with their connections across multiple jurisdictions, including the federal government, to track down these swatting callers, oftentimes out of state.

So this grant, it's a grant, right?

Correct.

It's not intended to harm or inflict negativity upon the students in the city of Anaheim?

Correct.

Okay. So I just wanted to highlight the fact that this is actually something that's beneficial to our residents in terms of providing public safety within our schools that will complement some of the work that you guys are already doing. So if you can share a little bit about the youth engagement initiative that we do have in the city, I want to make sure that the residents are aware of the fact that Anaheim PD is is here to protect and serve everybody, including our youth. And I know that you have a pretty robust youth engagement program that I'm very proud to be part of, because you invite me to go to events within my community. So we've gone to Pauline Street, we've been to Glen Neighbors, we've been to Balsam. So if you could just share a little bit about the initiatives that you currently lead in the city of Anaheim for the benefit of our youth here in the city.

Absolutely, thank you. We have, in addition to the smart team investigator, we have nine school resource officers that cover 15 high school and junior high campuses throughout the city of Anaheim. They quite often engage with the youth on campus during lunch, during passing times, and do presentations for parents and the youth. ranging from e-bikes to vaping, all areas of concern. In addition to our efforts on campus, we have a youth engagement team led by Carmela Mendoza, who is our youth engagement specialist. She works with schools, nonprofits, other city departments, TO FIND OPPORTUNITIES FOR OUR OFFICERS TO ENGAGE OUR YOUTH IN THE COMMUNITY, WHETHER IT BE IN THE NEIGHBORHOODS OR ON CAMPUS. THE EXAMPLE THAT WE TEAM UP WITH OUR COMMUNITY SERVICES PARTNERS AND WITH THEIR FUN ON WHEELS PROGRAM AND WE'LL JOIN FUN ON WHEELS AND BARBECUE HOT DOGS FOR THE RESIDENTS AND THE YOUTH TO GIVE OUR OFFICERS AN OPPORTUNITY TO TO TALK TO YOUTH AND INTERACT NOT ONLY WITH THEIR PARENTS BUT WE ALSO AT THESE EVENTS INVITE OUR OTHER NONPROFITS SUCH AS NEUTRAL GROUND AND PROJECT YOUTH TO ENGAGE WITH THE PARENTS AND TALK ABOUT OPPORTUNITIES FOR DIVERSION WHICH IS ANOTHER MAJOR PART OF OUR ENGAGEMENT AS WE'RE WORKING WITH NOT ONLY ORANGE COUNTY PROBATION AND THEIR BRAND NEW DIVERSION PROGRAM THAT THEY JUST LAUNCHED BUT WE WORK WITH AGAIN PROJECT YOUTH AND neutral ground to really get to the root cause of crime prevention with our youth. Our goal and what we kind of run by is, you know, we want to, before our kids are in the river drowning, we want to catch them upstream before they even jump in the river. So that's our goal with our youth engagement across the city.

And I appreciate that philosophy, especially because in the district that I represent, I have seen an uptick in gang activity. And I appreciate the fact that we're really getting into the community and working with nonprofits like Neutral Ground who are gang intervention and prevention. And you get to know these young people closely. So I'm gonna just share, I'm gonna take a moment to share a story about a young man who was within one of the communities that I represent. And we did a Fun on Wheels with APD and they brought out hot dogs for the kids. And this young man is 14, already a father, has already had contact with law enforcement. And Lieutenant Pena has really been supporting this student. in continuation school, but really trying to get back on track. And having this contact positive with law enforcement has been a real good thing for him. Because one of the things that we've talked about, I've said this to Chief Sid, is our kids that are at risk are one negative contact away from either joining a gang or going off the rails. So the fact that we are there in a positive light, despite what some of our public commenters might say, I want to just make sure that they're aware of the fact that we are doing a lot and investing a lot in our local youth and getting deep into the community. I'm a big believer in if they can see it, they can be it. We do have a lot more Hispanic police officers, both male and female, representing Anaheim PD. I just want to mention or highlight the fact that our police department is representative of what the community now looks like and continues to deepen and the roots that we have here in Anaheim. So I want to thank you for sharing a little bit about this grant, but then also all of the work that you're doing in the community for our youth. Thank you. And with that, I'll move the item.

Thank you. Council Member Moss, do you have a question?

Yes, or just a quick comment. I know that there was a situation within the past year, a potential school shooting that was averted by the SMART team. And so I just want to acknowledge that you don't often get credit for the crimes that you prevent or the events that you prevent. But that situation was really an eye opener for me. So thank you for the great work and I fully support aside our school resource officers and the great work they do. I think Carmela does a great job with that program and I appreciate that strong connection early on.

Thank you for that and I would just add to what Lieutenant Pena touched on too and you know the day and age of social media and for so many of our youth and as the father of two kids a lot of our youth go into social media and it could be a really cool thing but it's also sometimes creates a lot of concerns and the SMART team along with Lieutenant Pena's group does a lot to vet some of that stuff out get out ahead of it and be really preventative and proactive with ensuring that We, you know, just kind of vet some of those things out that we see and are being shared on social media with our youth. So appreciate the support in this entire effort.

Yeah, please.

also want to so you touched on something that I think is important so we've had bullying and issues that have occurred which have resulted in some of our youth taking their lives and I thank you guys for being part of the mental health and wellness initiative that we have and back to school resource drives and stuff like that so it does make a big difference when you guys are partnering in the community so I just want to thank you for all the efforts and And I know we've talked about looking at anti-bullying initiatives that we're able to highlight more effectively in our city in collaboration with our schools. Although we are separate government bodies, there are still ways for us to continue to collaborate with them. So thank you for all of the work that you're doing within the community for our young people.

Thank you for your support.

Thank you. We have a motion. Do we have a second? We have a second. Please vote.

The vote is seven ayes, no nays. Motion carries.

Thank you. Next is item number 23, to fill two scheduled vacancies on the library board to a term ending June 30th, 2030. Are there any nominations?

I'd like to nominate Billie Jo Wright.

Okay. I wanted to nominate Jessica Chisbrough.

Billy Joe Wright. And so how do you spell Jessica's last name? Okay. So I, Council Member Rubicalva?

I support the nomination for Billy Joe Wright as well. He lives in District 3 and he's a great member of the community.

Thank you. So we have two nominations for two spots. Can we vote on them as a whole?

Yes, Mayor, because we have the two appointments. We could just do in one vote for both.

Okay, thank you. So please vote.

The vote is seven ayes, no nays. Both appointments move forward.

Okay, well, thank you. How will we let Mr. Wright and Ms. Chesborough know? Will you be contacting them?

Yes, we go ahead and we reach out to them, provide them information as well as the Boards and Commission handbook, and then getting them in contact with the liaison. So that would be Andre Lujan from the City Library.

Hopefully they know it's coming and they're not being voluntold.

Well, as part of it, we try to reach out. We do reach out to those that submit their applications as a reminder that we did have them on the list. Thank you.

We are now moving on to item number 24. Item 24 is a public hearing on the fiscal year 26-27 budget, budget appropriations limits for the city and its community facilities districts, and changes to various fee schedules. Mr. City Manager, could we please have a staff report?

Yes, Mayor, members of the City Council, this is a public hearing to consider adoption of the city budget, proposed fee changes, and the budget appropriations limits for the city and its community facilities districts. It represents the culmination of two workshops, six neighborhood meetings, and countless hours of budget preparation by your city staff. Debbie Moreno, our Finance Director and City Treasurer, will provide a brief recap and summary. After the presentation, the public will have an opportunity to make additional comments on the proposed budget. While our trajectory is strong, the FY26-27 budget remains, or fiscal year, remains a transitional year. The proposed general fund forecast includes a structural funding gap of more than 42 million, due largely to the mid-year payoff of the LPMR bonds. To close the gap while maintaining service levels, the budget draws on the remaining proceeds from the sale of the Hilton parking structure, supplemented by a measured draw of general fund reserves. This forecast does not include expiring labor agreements or potential costs, nor does it consider the possibility of contraction in a volatile economy. Having said all that. The retirement of the LPMR bonds are expected near the end of this fiscal year and will return more than $120 million in revenue to the general fund. Approximately half of this amount will balance the existing structural deficit. The remainder provides opportunities for enhanced services, for replenishment of reserves, community improvements, and repayment of existing debt that could free up new capacity for capital investment. In the midst of new opportunities, it's important to exercise some restraint and manage budget enhancements purposefully. In the coming months, we will hold a strategic plan workshop to address priorities and funding considerations such that our plan moving forward is balanced and sustainable. And so at this time, I'll turn it over to our finance director, Debbie Moreno, who'll provide a brief recap of the city's proposed fiscal year 2026-27 budget.

Thank you. Good evening, Mayor and members of the City Council. With me today is our budget team, Deanne Lee, Yvette Ramirez, Megan Warren, and Arlene Roa. And my thanks to the whole team for their tireless efforts preparing this document for you. The proposed fiscal year 26-27 budget includes city-wide expenditures totaling 2.6 billion. The largest portion of the budget belongs to the enterprise funds at 38%. The bulk of the enterprise funds are from restricted sources. The general fund makes up 22% of citywide budget and includes the majority of unrestricted funds. This table shows a breakdown of the proposed budget by department. And here's a look at the general fund five-year forecast that was presented at the June 9th budget workshop. This plan represents our most likely scenario, and it does not contemplate a recession or impacts of expiring agreements, including the recently approved AFSCME agreement. The operating deficit of 42.3 million is balanced with the use of one-time proceeds and a draw on reserves. This includes the projected payoff of LPMR bonds in the spring of 2027 and is reflected in the transfer's outline that goes from 116 million in year one to 28 million in the second year of the forecast. The forecast is relatively unchanged from the amended five-year forecast presented in December at the strategic plan workshop. The deficit has increased slightly from 38.6 to 42.3 million. We did close last year better off than expected, so there were more proceeds remaining from the sale of the Hilton parking structure, which reduces the proposed draw on the general fund balance from $28 million to $11 million. Here's another look at the general fund five-year forecast as it stands today with the AFSCME increase that was approved on June 9th and $500,000 for improvements at the West Anaheim police substation. The deficit is just under $45 million and will rely on $13 million of the reserves to balance. With the one-time money and early repayment of LPMR, reserves are estimated to be 11% of general fund expenditures, which is within our current reserve policy levels. We're in a better place as we near the payoff of LPMR bonds, but there's still work to be done to ensure the availability of revenues are managed and prioritized responsibly, including reserve levels, repayment of debt, service enhancements, and capital improvements. This table shows the proposed budget by department as was originally presented. The adjustments that have been added and the total appropriation that you're asked to approve tonight In addition to the budget adoption before you tonight are the annual appropriations limits for fiscal year 26 27 for the city and its two community facilities districts In accordance with California state constitution, each local agency must establish an appropriations limit prior to the commencement of each fiscal year. The limits are based upon the appropriations limit from the prior fiscal year adjusted for the growth factors in city population and California per capita personal income growth. Proposed fee changes this year include general fund user fee increases for community services, fire and rescue, planning and building, public works, police, and the city clerk. Increases are generally 3% unless market or comparable information supports otherwise. Enterprise fee changes include the Convention Center and Public Works. Anaheim Convention Center is operated with the intent of recovering all operating expenses, including overhead, on a user charge basis from tenants utilizing the facility. The intent is to develop fair and equitable charges for these facilities and rates that are consistent with those charged by comparable venues. Public Works is proposing a 5% increase to solid waste collection fees to offset the increasing operational costs and contractual payments to the city's waste hauler and to the county landfill system for disposal. A 5% rate increase to support wastewater collection and disposal services is proposed to offset the cost of operations and maintenance, state compliance, and ongoing debt service obligations. That concludes my presentation. The items before you start with item A, the adoption of the budget. Next item B includes the appropriations limits for the city and its two CFDs. And finally, we have items C through K that contain the city's fee change resolutions. With that, we're happy to answer any questions.

Thank you. And just as a reminder, item L was withdrawn by staff. Do we have any questions right now? Initial questions, or would we like to open the public hearing? Mayor Pro Tem Leon.

Thank you, Madam Mayor. Debbie, can you walk me through, I apologize, slide six, what were the adjustments?

The bulk of that, so it's $500,000 that was for the West Anaheim police substation, and the rest of that is just the citywide impacts of the AFSCME agreement. So that was approved on June 9th, so it didn't make it into the proposed budget.

So all of this is just AFSCME, basically?

And then $500,000 is the police. $500,000 for the station. Yep, that's it. Thank you.

Council Member Rubicava?

Debbie I'm looking at the memo that we got regarding some of the questions that we had on June 9th So for example the wild land hand crew program and fire station 13 Can you just run through because I'm assuming the budget wasn't adjusted because you're presenting the same thing so I'M CONCERNED WITH SOME OF THE TIMELINES THAT WE HAVE HERE. THEY SEEM TO BE A LITTLE LONGER THAN WE HAD DISCUSSED. AND I'M CONCERNED ABOUT THE HAND CREW. WE'LL TAKE THAT ONE FIRST BECAUSE I KNOW WE TALKED ABOUT THE STARTING OF THE CAPTAIN AND ALL OF THAT, BUT I DO THINK THAT IT WOULD BE BETTER TO HAVE SOME OF THE FULL-TIME TECHNICIANS. start so they can get trained or at least start with recruitment. And I see that's for 27, 28. I mean, I think that that's probably not a good timeline. I don't know, the chief is here if he can weigh in on why he chose those timelines or I don't know who chose those.

So just if I can speak briefly, some of it's just going to be timing. So we've got to get a new captain in, study some of those things, and then there's going to be some recruitment time. So to the extent that we're able to move that timeline up, we certainly will. So because there's going to be some time for recruitment, things like that. So there won't be. necessarily any immediate costs and if we get to a point where we can move that up quicker then we'll bring that back for a budget adjustment at that point.

I so I think if I was the department head and I'm not gonna speak for chief Russell, but if I put myself in his shoes as An executive I probably wouldn't even start planning for that if it's not in this budget cycle So, I mean I would feel better if it was in 26 27 at least to start there's a the quantity of 10 right now, it's estimated at 973 thousand so we can't even start to do any of that work until 27. So I would feel better if we move that timeline up a little bit. So I don't know if you came up with that timeline or Chief Russell did or who feels better about it, but it doesn't make me feel good, I guess is my point.

Yeah, and maybe we have the fire chief come and talk about his timeline because it was really a schedule that was put together by the fire department and And I think when the concept was brought forward, we supported it. We wanted to facilitate it. And the schedule that we were given contemplated kicking it off with some money this fiscal year with the understanding that, as Debbie mentioned, if the schedule and the work to build the program happen sooner, then we will address getting those bodies in this fiscal year sooner where possible. But it was our understanding that there still needed to be some work done in advance. So I'll let the chief handle that.

It's not challenging to recruit for firefighters, especially, they're not actual firefighters. These are just individuals who are going to be doing weed abatement and filling sandbags. So it's not, so go ahead, chief.

Thank you, ma'am, for the question. As far as the timeline, so when we talked about this conceptually, really starting July till probably the mid-year will be the staff captain position will come on, and he's got, he or she's got quite a bit of work to do with getting the recruitment up, getting it through, you know, HR, all those types of things on the hourly wage and all the things ready to do that. We discussed it mid-year of bringing on 10 hand crew technicians. That's a good start. We can certainly get them, once they have some training, we can certainly start them with the weed abatement piece. And then an additional, when we can, additional 10 members will do a couple more things for us. The end goal is to have the crew be suppression trained and qualified for our fires, as well as if our neighboring agencies need them, and that would be on a cost recovery basis. So getting vehicles ordered, we're going to start that in July. We do have some alternative plans to use vehicles until the appropriate vehicles come in. So it's just how fast we can go to get to the end game.

Do you think you can move? I mean, did you choose the 2027? Because I'm concerned that we're waiting for two summers, two fire seasons before we actually start to implement the individuals who can do any fire prevention. So do you anticipate that we could possibly get this up and running sooner than 2027, 2028? And I'll express my concern. We had a lot of people in here for housing development that we approved, which is necessary for our city. But I do think that it's a good idea to start investing sooner than later in the hand crew. So do you think that it would be wise to add the 10 bodies to 26, 27? Why would we wait?

Yeah, so obviously as fast as we could get to full strength would be better based on the monies to do that. First priority is to get 10 trained to start our weed abatement and that will be a huge impact. Obviously a crew of 20 can do more than a crew of 10 and having that as a suppression module to assist in our fires is right up there as kind of the 1.8 priority.

Could you handle bringing them on in this budget cycle?

Probably by mid-year of this budget cycle, we could, if we're hiring 10, we could hire 20 if the money's there and it's appropriate to do so. We're looking at ways to blend that with our AO recruitment and those types of things. Some of the requirements will be very similar, some will be a little bit differently. So, you know, if we did a test and If it's like our AO program that 300 candidates applied, assuming it would be similar for that, hiring 20 would be doable as opposed to 10.

Perfect. Greg, I would like to have it. So because I'm looking at the memo that was provided after the questions that we had at the last budget workshop, I would prefer to see that timeline change to 26, 27 for the 10 individuals, because I think it's important that we're doing Prevention out in the hills and if it's something the fire chief says he can actually get done I think that's something we should take into consideration So if you could I mean I could make a motion to add this to the budget It's it looks like it's estimated at 973 I know this eventually will become cost neutral, but it will have to get it started in order for that to actually happen so I'm okay with that, if any of my colleagues would support that. And then now going to the District 3 fire station, So we have here Fire Station 13, which we have the land, I think 1.4 million is what we paid for it in this last budget cycle. But we have a timeline here that's pretty far out. It looks like we wouldn't even start any real abatement to the property or the land for a couple of years. It looks like three or four years. And my concern is that we're just gonna keep that land open and it would be nice to do a little bit of investment. Chief, can you explain the timeline that you provided and why it's such a far window or a broad window? And is there anything else in this budget cycle that you could do so that we can get started and the residents of Anaheim know that the investment we made into that property is actually going towards first responders and getting that fire station up and running?

Yeah. The next thing that we would need to do is budget for the money to do the architecture drawings, do all the surveying, soil samples, all the stuff that goes in. And if we go on the Station 12 timeline or back a few years to when we relocated Station 5, that's probably eight months to a year to get all that information in. The next one would be pending on the priority the funding to build the station, and then lastly would be the funding to hire the firefighters that would be working out of that station, very similar to how we just did in the last budget, or a couple budgets ago with the Engine 10 that went in to replace, and now Engine 12 is another station until it goes to Station 12. That would be timing on our regular recruitments, our 12-week recruit academy, all those things. We would try and line that up time-wise when we do do that. So when the station's done, they're ready to go in into service there. And then the other thing is would be ordering a fire apparatus, which if you recall, we've already done that as far as got our place on the production line because of the time it takes to get fire equipment. We're not obligated to pay for that until it's delivered. So we've got about a three-year, if it were to go faster than that, we certainly have reserve rigs that we could make that work. But that would probably be the timeline for the apparatus.

So what could we do now with securing an architect, getting renderings? Would that be something that would get us closer to the finish line? And I know that would involve public works. But I'm looking at the timeline that was provided, and it looks like it's more in the 2030 budget. And that seems very far out. And I'd at least like to see concepts I've heard things thrown around like having a temporary fire station and I would prefer not to throw money at something temporary and Just start working towards something that is permanent and if we could do the little things on the planning side We know planning the processes, you know, even if it's our project it takes some time So I would at least like to see us make that investment for this upcoming budget cycle

Yeah, let me sit down with the chief. Sorry, chief. Let me sit down with the chief and re-look at our timeline for that. You know, we are going to be having some critical conversations here about the strategic plan, and I know the fire station is a big part of that and a priority project. And there will be some direction, hopefully, given to staff on timing and how we finance those types of projects. And so... We'll work on the schedule and then we'll tee it up for that conversation about strategic planning. If there's a way for us to put a better timeline together, we can certainly do that, including things like, as you mentioned, things that we can get done this year.

Yeah, because there's no need to. I think I look at project management. We can do a little bit at a time. And over time, the cost is sort of spread out. But the way we have it, we're just backloading it. And I know we talk about the LPMR, but we haven't even discussed how exactly that's going to be spent yet, and everybody keeps telling us it's already gone. So I just think that whatever we can do sooner than later is better for me. So thank you.

Do you have a question? I do.

Council Member Kurtz?

the discussion you're going to have with the Chief and I'm assuming Debbie in taking a look at those time frames. I can't remember whether it was in the report because I don't have it in front of me or whether it was verbally said when we were discussing the fire department's budget was that it would take some time to hire a captain and that that person would need time to take a look at uh... what that group would do how to develop that group how to train it guidelines all of that in addition to that uh... she said there are many uh... potential ways of getting additional funding be it federal state because it's fire suppression and so all of that needs to be built into that time frame so i don't while i agree we need to not stall on this because it's important. I think we need to do it right also, taking a look at that timeframe. How long is it gonna take us in the fire department to develop all those things so that we just don't hire people but we have a real plan on what that group will be doing, how they're doing it, when they're doing it and all of that. So just include all of that in that discussion.

Certainly, yes. And we'll discuss the hand crew situation as well. And like I said earlier, the conversation was always, if you can build the program faster, come to us and we'll go back to council in the mid-year and we'll get those bodies in here ASAP.

Thank you. So I'm now going to open up the public hearing. Clerk, do we have any speaker cards for the hearing?

Mayor and City Council, we did receive one. Mark Herbert and the time limit is three minutes.

Mark Herbert, AnaheimGreece.com. To the press and media following this, these comments are tied into my comments during the workshop, so this is a follow-up. It's the first comment in the workshop. As I outlined what a workshop is and the failure of this council to go by those guidelines, I'm gonna repeat things that I brought up at the first workshop that I didn't hear any response to it at that workshop or this workshop. So in no particular order, affordable housing, our target from the state in the sixth cycle of the housing element was 9,100 units. At the mid-year point, Anaheim has completed 367. Anaheim during this period, there was a program available through the state, the California Affordable Housing and Sustainable Communities Program. From 2015 to 2025, they had eight rounds. They distributed $4 billion, which was leveraged into $37 billion. That led to the construction of 20,000 affordable units. Anaheim got zero in a 10 year period. 1% of four billion would have been 40 million to the city. 1% of 20,000 units would have been 200. Dwarfs what our housing trust fund has done. Two, I'd like to hear a comment about that, why we decided not to go after that money. What's the advantage of not going after it? State money. Overtime in the city seems to be quite high. Let's start with, again, I received no answers. A year ago there were 10 police dispatcher vacancies and four fire dispatcher vacancies which were left to be filled. Have they been filled yet? A year ago they were using overtime of police and fire to fill those positions. We need to cut back on that. Overtime. Last council meeting, there were 15 police officers here during the presentation. That seemed a bit high. We need police on the street, not at the city council. Tonight there were five. I presume a lot of that's overtime. We should look into that. I'll just let you think about those for a bit. I would appreciate an answer at the hearing. We didn't get it through the workshop process. And I would think $4 billion in available funding would be of interest.

Mr. Herbert, your time is up. Mayor and City Council, that concludes our speakers on the budget hearing.

Thank you. So I'm now going to close the public hearing. Are there any further comments or questions? Oops, sorry, by Council. I'll turn it over to Council Member Kurtz and then Council Member Meeks.

I think most of us received a number of emails, I certainly did, regarding the public works fee increases. And I think they were described as needed because of other increases, county, county raised and some others. Can you explain those again so that we have our residents clearly understand that we're not doing it to increase our general fund, but just trying to keep up with the increases that we've been given.

Let me ask Director Omami to come up and speak to those fee increases directly so I don't misspeak. Thank you.

All right, Councilmember Kurtz, thank you for the question and the opportunity to respond to that. As we had mentioned earlier when we brought the new county fees, those were imposed and we actually are carrying a portion of that fee. We're only asking to increase by 5% so we could smooth out that increase that the county is doing over three years for our residents over five years. So it's essentially most of it's that, the dump fees, and the rest of it is the contractually obligated CPI increase for the waste hauler.

Thank you. I just wanted to make that clear to our residents that it's not just Public Works deciding to raise the fees. Thank you.

Thank you. Council Member Meeks. Thank you. For the hand crew, obviously support getting the hand crew on as soon as possible but I understand that there's I've worked here it takes a while but maybe we could add it mid-year into the budget and then that at least gives them the opportunity to accelerate it and have it in their budget and then the other thing was our budget commission chair talked about changing the policy for our reserve from 10% to 20 or 25%. What would be the right time to do that? Should that be, is that a separate council action that we need to bring forward? Is that part of the strategic plan, financial,

Strategy yeah a great question We are planning to bring it up as part of the strategic plan conversation because there's a dollar amount to it right and and it needs to be part of the policy discussion on what that number looks like how do we get to that number and How quickly we'd like to get there. I believe it is a council policy the is it not a Right now we have the 7 or 11 percent. I believe that's a council policy and THAT WE SAID. AND SO IT WOULD REQUIRE US JUST TO DO ANOTHER RESOLUTION IF WE WANTED TO CHANGE THAT AND TAKE THE RECOMMENDATION TO MOVE IT CLOSER TO THAT 20%.

OKAY. SO I WILL WAIT UNTIL THE STRATEGIC PLAN. YEAH, I THINK WE CAN HAVE THAT.

WE'LL PLAN TO HAVE SOME REAL NUMBERS BEHIND IT AND SOME STRATEGIES TO GET THERE AS WELL.

OKAY. THANK YOU. Do we have any evidence? I know that it was suggested by the BIT Committee, but do we have kind of a best practices number that other cities of our size, either across California or nationally, aim for?

So the Government Finance Officers Association has said two months operating reserves, and so that's going to be 17% right there. So we have traditionally had some other reserves that we could rely on. We don't have those now, such as what we borrowed from our internal service fund. But they also, besides that basically 17%, what they've said is if you are more dependent on one revenue source, some kind of segment, then it should be increased. We actually saw that too in the most recent ratings report from Fitch that affirmed our credit ratings but said they would expect those to be increased given our reliance on the resort area.

So 25% would be

safe not exorbitant definitely on the safe not exorbitant or exorbitant yes thank you council member bayless thank you first i just want to say i know we have a lot of staff here but thank you to the staff i know that this takes a long time to put together a budget like this, and you guys do it once a year. So, you know, my gratitude to you guys. It takes a lot of work, thanks. A couple questions I have for you first is that I noticed in the slide up there and in our budget books that we've had, so within, I'm guessing, the last couple weeks, maybe three weeks or so. We went from 42.3 now to 44.8 as the operating under, excuse me, over budget. Is that right? So we've got, what, two...

The operating deficit, yes, it has increased since the original presentation based on those adjustments for the AFSCME agreement and the West Anaheim police substation.

Okay. I'm just curious, and I know this is asking for a crystal ball, but can you... Can you guess what is not in the 27-28 proposed budget that we'll have to be dealing with next year as we go through?

There will be labor contracts and then depending on what's the strategic plan conversations that are their additional services will be provided. So no, I can't guess. There are lots of big discussions that should be happening over the coming year.

Well, I'll say this in regards to the strategic update. I'm sure all of us are very excited that we get an opportunity to say what our priorities are and how we'd like to potentially spend some of this money that's coming. But it's worth saying, especially even right now at this point, you've got a projected current 58.8 over budget, which is great. But I don't think we're going to see that, you know, potentially that same number coming. And even if we lowered it down to 40, I don't know how far $40 million goes in a strategic planning conference. I just, I don't know. It's the realist in me, and I just thought it was important to point that out. I mean, I'm super excited to get there, but it's a good, it's definitely a good problem to have for sure. But I just think it's important to point that out. Thank you.

Thank you. Director Moreno, I know you didn't have a chance to respond when we were asking questions about code enforcement and planning and building. And it's probably hard to just pull out of thin air kind of a potential number. But do you see it as something that is possible in this year's budget if during between now and the mid-year budget point, we have an opportunity to increase code enforcement, bind and fill some of the vacant planning positions, that we are going to be able to do that in a fiscally responsible way.

I think definitely mid-year would be my advice. I think there are a lot of important conversations still have happened. And to Council Member Bayless's point, that money is gonna go quickly. And so I would recommend that it's a big picture plan rather than piecemeal and we get to the end and there's something really important that doesn't get funded.

Thank you. Are there any other questions for Director Marino and her team? If not, I'm sorry, Mayor Pro Tem and then Council Member Meeks.

Just a quick question, Debbie. Can you explain, and I apologize if you already explained it, the appropriations limit? How do we calculate that? How do we get to that number?

So that's an annual calculation that's done. It builds on the prior year. So it's every year we take last year's limit, and there are factors provided to us from the California Department of Finance based on changes in cost of living and population changes. And so using those factors, that number is adjusted each year.

But then what's the, you said from last year, but what's the number that we're using as the, it's just something that the previous year and the previous year?

It just builds up from the previous year, yes. It goes way back to an original inception. So like, for example, some of our community facilities districts, when the district is formed, there's an appropriations limit established. And then every year it builds based on the change in population and the growth in the personal population. PERSONAL INCOME, I BELIEVE IT IS. IT IS ALSO REVIEWED ANNUALLY BY OUR EXTERNAL AUDITORS.

Got it, okay, thank you, I appreciate that. I also wanna echo my colleague in thanking our city staff for their work, your work, Madam Director, in developing this budget. And I know, again, every opportunity I get to say thank you to our city staff, I will take it. So I appreciate all of you and the work that you do. With this budget, public safety does remain a core priority with the significant investments in both our PD team and our fire team. And I'm excited about the upgrades to the West Anaheim substation. I think that's a benefit both for districts one and two and really that side of town to see some more presence of officers in that side of our city. And we also continue to invest in housing and community services and infrastructure and neighborhood improvements that are really throughout the city of Anaheim and in district two. Again, I'm thankful to our staff if we've continued to make a lot of progress on the priorities that residents have brought to our attention including the streetlight improvements undergrounding projects the storm drain infrastructures including the La Palma storm drain project that is between districts 2 and district 3 the transportation improvements the park investments that we're making throughout the district and the efforts to improve the safety and and the quality of life throughout our neighborhoods. And that for me is priority number one is our neighborhoods, our neighborhoods, our neighborhoods. And so I'm pleased to see the continued support as we're serving seniors, as we're serving youth, working families, the residents that are experiencing homelessness and getting them to a point where we can hopefully assist them and get them back on their feet. And I really think that we're strengthening our community and we're ensuring that our city services remain accessible to everybody in our city who needs them most. And so I want to, again, thank city staff for their continued work and look forward to the strategic plan discussion and seeing what it is that we might be able to do. I'm a big believer that there's always room for improvement. room to do more for our residents in the city of Anaheim and so I'm looking forward to that that Overall will be supportive of this.

Thank you Thank You councilmember Meeks Yeah, I just want to thank the staff and we are so fortunate to have the ability to approve this budget that actually adds things serves our community better so many cities are cutting and Not being able to provide the services that they would like to And I will point out that the only reason we get to do this is because of the financial investments and the strategies that we put in place 30 years ago. And now we are in a place where, yes, we're living in a deficit right now, but if we didn't have that LPMR coming next year, we wouldn't be able to do this. extreme cuts and so I encourage us one to Look at those revenues and carefully invest them in our community But also look at the next 30 years and how we're going to continue to grow our revenues so that we can continue to At least maintain our services and grow our services for our community but right now I would like to move approval of the budget a through K and We have a motion and second.

Please vote.

Item A is a resolution of the City Council of the City of Anaheim adopting fiscal year 2026-27 budget. Item B is a resolution of the City Council of the City of Anaheim adopting the annual appropriations limit for fiscal year 2026-27. A resolution of the City Council of the City of Anaheim, California adopting the community facility districts number 06-2 stadium lofts annual appropriations limit for fiscal year 2026-27. 26-27. A resolution of the City Council of the City of Anaheim adopting the Community Facility District's Number 08-1 Planum Triangle Annual Appropriations Limit for Fiscal Year 2026-27. Item C is a resolution of the City Council of the City of Anaheim adopting the Schedule of Fees for Services Rented by the Office of the City Clerk. Includes determination that the action exempt from CEQA pursuant to Section 21080 of the Public Resources Code. Item D is a resolution of the City Council of the City of Anaheim establishing fees TO BE CHARGED FOR COMMUNE SERVICES DEPARTMENT PROGRAMS AND SERVICES INCLUDES DETERMINATION THAT CEQA ACTION IS EXEMPT FROM CEQA PURSUANT TO SECTION 21080BA OF PUBLIC RESOURCES CODE. ITEM E IS A RESOLUTION TO THE COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF ANAHEIM AMENDING THE SCHEDULED FEES OF RATES AND FEES AND CHARGES FOR RENTAL, SPACE, PARKING, AND FOR CERTAIN LABOR EQUIPMENT AND SERVICES OF THE ANAHEIM CONVENTION CENTER AFFECTED JULY 1, 2026 INCLUDES DETERMINATION THAT THE ACTION IS EXEMPT FROM CEQA PURSUANT TO SECTION 21080BA OF THE PUBLIC RESOURCES CODE AND CALIFORNIA CODE REGULATIONS SECTION 15273, ITEM F IS A RESOLUTION CITY COUNCIL CITY OF ANAHEIM ESTABLISHING PARAMEDIC FEES IN CONNECTION WITH EMERGENCY MEDICAL SERVICES TO BE CHARGED BY THE FIRE AND RESCUE DEPARTMENT OF THE CITY OF ANAHEIM AND RESCENDING RESOLUTION NUMBER 2025-057 INCLUDES THE DETERMINATION THAT THE ACTION IS EXEMPT FROM CEQA ACTION ACT PURSUANT TO SECTION 21080B8 OF PUBLIC RESOURCES CODE. A resolution of the City Council of the City of Anaheim establishing life safety division fees to be charged by the Fire and Rescue Department of the City of Anaheim and rescinding Resolution 2025056 includes the determination that the action exempt from CEQA pursuant to Section 21080 of the Public Resources Code. A resolution of the City Council of the City of Anaheim relating TO FEES AND PENALTIES IN CONNECTION WITH THE IMPLEMENTING OF UNIFIED HAZARDOUS WASTE AND HAZARDOUS MATERIAL MANAGEMENT REGULATORY PROGRAM ACT AND RESENDING RESOLUTION 2025-058 INCLUDES THE TERMINATION OF THE ACTION AS EXEMPT FROM CEQA PURSUANT TO SECTION 21080B8 OF THE PUBLIC RESOURCES CODE AND CALIFORNIA CODE OF REGULATION SECTION 152273. A RESOLUTION CITY COUNCIL CITY OF ANAHEIM ADOPTING NEW SCHEDULED FEES AND CHARGES and rates for building construction and national pulling to start elimination system permits services and activities includes determination the action is exempt from sequa pursuant to two zero two one zero eight zero b eight of california public resources code a resolution of the council city of anaheim amending restating fee and rate schedules for the community preservation and licensing division of the city of anaheim includes the determination that the action is from sequa pertinent pursuant to section two one zero eight zero b eight of the california public resources code A resolution of the City Council of the City of Anaheim amending and rescinding fee and rate of schedules for planning, zoning, environmental petitions, applications, permits, approvals, appeals, and inspections includes the termination of the action exempt from CEQA pursuant to Section 21080 of the California Public Resources Code. Item H is a resolution of the City of Council and City of Anaheim amending scheduled fees to be charged by certain services provided by the Ion Police Department. Item I, resolution of the City of Council and City of Anaheim adopting a schedule of fines for false alarms pursuant to section 4.95.120 of Title IV of the Anaheim Municipal Code. Item J is a resolution of the City of Council and City of Anaheim adopting new fee schedules for the Public Works Department of the City of Anaheim. And Item K is a resolution of the City of Anaheim ADOPTING REVISED SCHEDULED SANITATION FEES FOR WASTE WATER AND SOLID WASTE AND RESENDING RESOLUTION NUMBER 2025-063 AND DETERMINING SUCH ACTIONS ARE EXEMPT FROM CEQA PURSUANT TO PUBLIC RESOURCES CODE SECTION 21080B8 AND GUIDELINES SECTION 15273A. And 137,702 notices were mailed pursuant to this resolution. And 20 notice of protests were provided that does not constitute a majority and council can take action on that item. With that, the vote is seven ayes. Seven ayes, no nays, motion carries.

Take a big drink of water. And exhale.

Madam Mayor, can we have her do that in Spanish now?

So now we're moving into item number 25, which is also a public hearing to consider a resolution to confirm the diagram and assessment and provides for the levy of the annual assessment in and for the Anaheim Resort Maintenance District. Mr. Interim City Manager, could we please have a staff report?

Yes, the staff report will be given by our Public Works Director, Rudy Amami.

Madam Mayor, members of City Council, as you mentioned tonight, this public hearing is for the annual levy of the assessment for the Anaheim Resort Maintenance District for fiscal year 26-27. At the City Council meeting on May 12, 2026, Council initiated the FY26-27 annual levy proceedings by accepting the Assessment Engineers Report and scheduling tonight's public hearing. Following the public hearing, staff is recommending that the City Council confirm the diagram and assessment and provide for the levy of the annual assessment for the Anaheim Resort Maintenance District for the upcoming fiscal year. The Maintenance District was created to ensure the high level of care needed to maintain a distinctive and festive destination, or what I like to call maintaining the magic. The Anaheim Resort Maintenance District is approximately 2.2 square miles and was formed July 1 of 1999 by action of the City Council based upon a vote to do so by the property owners in the area known as the Anaheim Resort. The assessment rate for fiscal year 26-27 is recommended to increase 4%. in conformance with the allowable increase of 3% in the Consumer Price Index from January to January of the previous calendar year, plus a catch-up factor of 1%, which is 98% of the maximum allowable rate. This will generate $6.5 million, which is an additional $313,000 for the year, which will be deposited into the Anaheim Resort Maintenance District Fund. The Anaheim Resort Maintenance District has dedicated public works staff to oversee the operations and maintenance contracts 24-7, 365 days a year. The main thoroughfares within the district are Harbor Boulevard and Cotella Avenue. Our five-year resort improvement program addresses replacement needs of landscape and hardscape within the district, and projects that are included in next year's proposed budget are sidewalk replacement, updating landscape designs, replanting parkways, and continuing to update and replace existing irrigation to be more efficient and conserve water. That concludes the presentation, and we're here to answer any questions you might have.

Thank you. Before we open up the public hearing, are there any comments or questions by council? Okay, so I will now open the public hearing. Clerk, do we have any speaker cards for this hearing?

Mayor and City Council looks like we just received one. Mr. Mark Herbert.

Mark Herbert, AnaheimGreece.com. I think we need an audit of this in particular I'm concerned about the ways they fund this through their two mechanisms, the front footage and the average daily trips. What concerns me is it's been funded this way since 1999. And what troubles me is for 27 years, the Wyndham Hotel had illegal rooms there. Now how come, how were they assessed during this 27 year period? How did that affect their daily trips? I don't think it affected the front footage, but the average daily trips is troubling. It's troubling that the fire department didn't come across this increase in rooms than what we had on the books for 27 years. So evidently there was a failure there to communicate. And I'm concerned about whether we have the right assessment here. And it'd be interesting to see, I hope it doesn't take a public records request to trace what the Wyndham Hotel was paying the past 30 years. Was it unchanged? Were they paying? Because it seems to me if they were went through zoning for 77 rooms and it turned out they had 35 extra rooms, that would affect the daily trips if we were keeping tabs of it by our staff or whoever overlooks that. And when it did come up that there was a problem with the illegal rooms at the Wyndham Hotel, I'm sure the council's aware there were more than one explanation of how it was uncovered. And that presents some questions. Which explanation is it? And has it been corrected? The audits. And this in particular is troubling because it's revenue. 27 years is a long time not to discover it. And Part of the problem is that there's been, the workshops haven't been able to function properly. Maybe if there was more interaction between the public and the council, it would have come to their attention earlier. But that's not the current policy of this council. Thank you.

Mayor and City Council, that concludes in-person comments. And noting from the record, we did not receive any electronic comments on this public hearing.

Thank you. I'd like to close the public hearing. Are there any further comments or questions by Council? I'll start with Council Member Rubicava.

Thank you Rudy for the comprehensive staff report. I just wanted to just reinforce the fact that this is a self-assessment on the hoteliers in the resort district so that they could get enhanced upkeep. So they're paying for themselves.

That's correct. They voted to assess themselves and do so annually to pay for all of the enhanced services above and beyond what the city would normally do all across the city.

And this is not money we just discovered. This is an annual thing. That is correct.

And that's why we go through the engineer's report to confirm that every year.

And then it increases based on inflation for the most part. So the next increase will be 3%.

That's correct. So we have the opportunity to increase it by CPI every year. And when we went through some of our tougher years through COVID and we chose not to increase those years because the visitorship was down. But we did have a catch-up provision, so when years got better, like in times we are now, that we can go back and ask for that additional increase, and that's why the last couple years we did do the additional increase, and today we're also asking for another 1% for that catch-up as well.

Thank you. And these fees are audited?

That's correct. Actually, we're going through a very in-depth audit right now, confirming all the frontages and everything else, especially with all the changes that are going on with the Disneyland Forward project is what's prompting doing a deeper dive audit beyond the annual engineer's report.

Perfect. And similar to the ATID, these are public funds. THEIR PUBLIC FUNDS. SO I JUST WANT TO MAKE SURE THAT EVERYBODY HERE WHO HAS CONCERNS ABOUT HOW THE MONEY IS UTILIZED OR HOW WE GET IT FROM THE HOTELIERS WHO ARE PARTICIPATING IN THIS SELF-ASSESSMENT, IT'S ALL AUDITED. Yeah. For lack of a better way of just reinforcing the fact that it's money that is utilized. It's also put into a fund specifically for this area. So it's designated. It's not just going to general fund. We can't just utilize this money for affordable housing. It has to be utilized for the benefit of these hoteliers since they are the ones who are paying into it for the purposes of keeping the resort nice.

That's correct. It would require another revote of all the property owners to use it for anything other than what you described exactly.

Okay, perfect. Thank you.

Thank you. Hearing no other comments or questions, is there a motion? I'll second. We have a motion and a second. Please vote.

A resolution of the City Council of the City of Anaheim confirming the diagram and assessment and providing for the levy of the annual assessment in and for the Anaheim Resort District, Anaheim Resort Maintenance District. And the vote is seven ayes, no nays. Motion carries.

Thank you. So now is the time for future agenda requests by council members. Are there any council members that would like to put something on a future council agenda? Council member Kurtz?

thank you Madam Mayor. A report from staff would work. Several speakers today talk about the need or the desire for a bike walk path. Long Olive, south of Vermont, where the railroad tracks are. I also received several emails from residents in that area. I'd like staff to prepare a report that can be shared with the community on the possibility of doing something there and the cost. Thank you.

Thank you. Mayor Pro Tem Leon.

Thank you, Madam Mayor. Not an agenda item, but I know as part of our economic development strategic plan, part of that was a potential Little Arabia business improvement district. And so I'd like to meet with staff and see what the best next steps are to get the ball rolling on that.

Thank you. Council Member Moss.

Thank you, Madam Mayor. I would like to work with staff to explore backyard beekeeping practices. I had a resident approach me, a very passionate resident approach me about the benefits of backyard beekeeping, not only for those who may grow their own food, but mental health benefits as well, I've learned. So I would like to explore some surrounding cities. I think Fullerton, And Costa Mesa recently made changes. So I want to see if there's been any negative impacts and what work we can do in that area. Thanks.

As part of that item, would you be opposed to also looking about whether our backyard chicken pens are in line with the amount of chickens that we can have in Anaheim under our current code and what other cities are doing? Because I know that's also becoming quite popular. Sure.

Sounds good. Chickens and bees. Going back to our agricultural roots here in Anaheim.

Council member Ruba call that I Was just gonna ask it's not a it would be more of an informational item But I've been working with the city attorney and communications as well as housing on the enforcement of rent control at the state level Here in Anaheim, so if we can just get an update for the benefit of the community one of the upcoming meetings on where we are in that process and

Okay, thank you very much. So that closes that part. I want to say with no other business before the council, we stand adjourned in the memory of Darnell Jones as well as Mr. Paul Hinojosa. And we will see you on July 14th.