City Council - Regular Meeting

Burbank, the media capital of the world.

To participate in a public comment period, please join via Zoom using the link on the agenda or call now at 238-3335. Speaking times will be determined by the total number of public comment cards and remote participants in the queue at the start of each public comment period. For 1 to 20 total speakers, each speaker will receive up to 3 minutes. For 21 to 39 total speakers, each speaker will receive up to 2 minutes. And for 40 plus total speakers, each speaker will receive up to 1 minute. No additional commenters will be accepted once a public comment period begins.

Interpreters are available for assistance with in-person public comment. Please connect with them if you are in need of services. Hay servicios de interpretación disponibles para asistir con los comentarios públicos en persona. Por favor, habla con un intérprete si necesita estos servicios.

If you need an interpreter, please call an interpreter.

Good evening and welcome to a joint meeting of the Burbank City Council with the Housing Authority and the Parking Authority on Tuesday, August 25th, 2026. Please join me for a moment of reflection. This moment is intended to begin our meeting with the positive and collective support for our beloved community. The City Council welcomes everyone joining us this evening. We encourage you to take a moment to reflect on our community and the work we will be doing together tonight. Although each of us has their own unique reasons for being here, we are united in our passion for our wonderful city. As we pause, let us consider our individual contributions and what they mean to those around us. Let us find solace in knowing that by working together with a shared spirit of community and partnership, we will always act responsibly for the betterment of Burbank. Thank you. Please join me in the Pledge of Allegiance.

Ready, begin.

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.

Good evening, Madam City Clerk.

Good evening, Madam Mayor.

Good to see you. Please conduct the roll call.

Council Member Anthony.

Present.

Council Member Perez. Present. Council Member Rizzotti.

I am here.

Vice Mayor Mullins.

Here.

And Mayor Tagahashi.

Present.

Thank you.

There will be four periods of public comment tonight. Members of the public may comment in person or remotely for all comment periods. In-person commenters must submit cards before the public comment period begins, and remote commenters must be in the queue with their hands raised before the public comment period begins. The first public comment period is for joint general public comment on any matter concerning city business or any agenda item. If you are here in person and wish to speak during joint general public comment, you should please submit a yellow public comment card to address the council to the city clerk up here in the front. If you'd like to participate in the joint general public comment remotely, please join via Zoom using the link on the agenda or by calling 818-238-3335. If you are already participating remotely and would like to speak during joint general public comment, please join the speaker queue now by using the raise hand feature in Zoom or by dialing star nine on your phone. Once the joint general public comment period begins, no additional comments will be taken. If you are experiencing any issues with joining remotely, please call 818-238-5752 for technical assistance. Additional public comment periods will be available following the public hearing and each report to council this evening. An interpreter is also available for assistance with public comment. We have an Armenian interpreter here with us this evening sitting in the front row. Please connect with them if you are in need of services and feel free to walk up to them during the meeting is fine. We have four announcements this evening.

Following our announcements for August 25th, 2026. The Community Development Department invites you to attend a community open house for the Downtown Transit Oriented Development, or TOD, specific plans. learn about the proposed vision, policies, and development standards for downtown Burbank, and share your feedback before the plan moves towards adoption. The first open house will take place on Saturday, August 29th, 2026, from 9 a.m. to 11 a.m. The second open house will take place on Wednesday, September 2nd, 2026, from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. Both will be held in the Community Services Building, Room 104, at address 150 North 3rd Street, Burbank, California, and will feature the same information and activities. For more information and to review the draft-specific plan, visit downtownburbanktod.com. The Burbank Animal Shelter is participating in NBC4 and Telemundo 52's annual Clear the Shelters pet adoption campaign from August 1st through August 31st. To help clear our shelter, the Burbank Animal Shelter will be offering half-off adoption fees for all animals all month long. Visit our pets in person or see them online at burbankanimalshelter.org. Owners of qualifying soft-story apartments may be eligible for a new California grant program that can help reduce the cost of required seismic retrofits. The Earthquake Multi-Unit Retrofit Grant Program offers reimbursement for up to 70% of eligible engineering, permit, and retrofit construction costs. This includes up to $7,000 for engineering and permits and up to $4,260 per each residential unit for construction costs. Amounts cover qualifying 5-10 unit wood frame apartment buildings. Eligible property owners may qualify for a substantial grant of up to $49,600 per qualifying apartment building. Registration opens on August 19, 2026, but funding is limited. Property owners must be approved by the program before retrofit construction begins to qualify for reimbursement. To learn more, check your eligibility, or sign up for updates, visit crmp.org forward slash EMR. Did you know that the city offers an e-comment option for written public comment? To access this feature, visit the meetings, agendas, and minutes page on the city website. Once the agenda is posted, you can submit an e-comment directly from the page. Written comments may be submitted through the e-comment feature from the time the agenda is posted until one hour before the meeting begins. All e-comments will be distributed to the city council in advance of the meeting. To learn more or submit an e-comment, visit burbankca.gov. This concludes the announcements for the evening. Thank you.

Okay, this evening we have one presentation. Our presentation this evening is a presentation of the proclamation declaring August 26, 2026 as Women's Equality Day in the city of Burbank. I invite Britt Vaughn and Janet Diehl to join me at the podium. There you are. So I believe you have some comments you'd like to share before we read the proclamation. Yeah? OK. I guess I'll go first. All right.

Well, good evening, Mayor and city council members, our fellow Zontrans in the audience, and to all Burbank residents. I am proud to serve as the president of the Zonta Club of Burbank area. And thank you for recognizing the eve of Women's Equality Day. So August 26 commemorates the certification of the 19th Amendment and honors generations of women who work to secure the right to vote. It's also a reminder that equality was not achieved in a single moment and that our responsibility to advocate for that continues today. For 90 years, Zonta Burbank has brought people together to build a better world for women and girls. We remain committed to equal rights, equal opportunities, equal pay, freedom from violence, and ensuring every woman and girl has the power to shape her own future. As Dolly Parton said, find out who you are and do it on purpose. On Women's Equality Day, may we act with that same sense of purpose, celebrating the progress made, recognizing the work before us, and ensuring equality is not merely an ideal, but a reality for everyone. We also invite the community to join us on September 26th as Zonta Club of Burbank Area celebrates its 90th anniversary. During this milestone celebration, we will honor Gloria Salas for her extraordinary leadership. I see people in the audience wanting to clap for you. her service to Burbank and to Zonta, and her lifelong commitment to improving the lives of women and girls. We hope you'll join us as we celebrate 90 years of service and look ahead for the work still to come. Thank you.

Okay, we'll do the proclamation, and then you have some more to share? We'll do this at public comment. Got it, and then we'll do the picture, and then we'll do, okay, got it. So I'll read the proclamation, Women's Equality Day. Whereas the nation is celebrating America's 250th anniversary this year, and 106 years ago, our nation boldly undertook the single largest expansion of democracy in our history. After decades of struggle and setbacks, American women secured the right to vote on August 26, 1920. with the ratification of the 19th Amendment, and whereas California's women wrote significant chapters in the story of the movement for women's suffrage, achieving the right to vote in 1911, nearly a decade before the nation followed suit, and whereas women in every state and every cultural and religious group worked to expand democracy by securing the right to vote for women, and whereas Congress has designated August 26th, the date the 19th Amendment enfranchisement in franchising, women was certified as Women's Equality Day. Now, therefore, I, Tamwa Takahashi, mayor in the city of Burbank, recognize August 26, 2026, as Women's Equality Day, celebrating the first 106 years of American women's right to the franchise, and encourage our residents to use the same passionate urgency in advancing equal rights for women today as those who won the vote over a century ago. So do you want all the zontion up here to do pictures? Yeah. All the zontions. Oh, we have one more zontion. One of our zontions left, unfortunately. Do we have another one? Okay. Who would like to hold the rock? Okay, perfect.

Do you want me there? Yeah.

And ready, one, two, three. And one more, one, two, three.

You get to keep that. You get to keep that. But we are going to hear some more from them a little later during public comments. I don't know if we can classify it as a performance, but they do have some words to share with us later in a coordinated fashion. I think it's performance. All right. City Manager, we have a report this evening.

Thank you, Madam Mayor. In the interest of time, I do not have anything to report tonight, so we could keep moving along with the agenda.

All right. Reporting on closed session, Mr. City Attorney, will you please read the report on closed session?

Yes, Madam Mayor, Vice Mayor, members of the City Council, and for the benefit of the public, the City Council met at 5 p.m. this evening to discuss one item of existing litigation in closed session pursuant to Government Code Section 54956.9D1 in the matter of Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority versus City of Burbank. This is a California Environmental Quality Act and breach of contract action The City Council took no reportable action this evening.

OK, thank you. Well, moving right along tonight, going right into general public comment, now is the time for general public comment. I'll be calling out the speaker's name as well as the person who is next in line to speak. In order to keep public comment moving in a timely fashion, we have a designated seat in the front row for speakers who are up next to the podium. Remote participants wishing to speak during general public comment who have not yet joined the speaker queue may do so now by dialing star 9 by telephone or by using the raised hand feature on Zoom. Please note, if you are calling from a blocked or private number, you will be introduced as anonymous. Please be ready to unmute when prompted to speak. This is also the last call for anyone who needs an interpreter or those staff will be released in just a moment. The general public comment period is now beginning, and no additional cards or remote participants will be accepted. For in-person speakers, a timer is available on the lectern, and please speak directly into the microphone and adjust it if needed. For both in-person and remote participants, please state your name for the record. Has our interpreter had any requests for assistance? No? All right. Well, thank you for being here this evening, and enjoy the rest of your evening. Stay cool. Madam City Clerk, how many public comment cards do we have for general public comment and how many remote callers do we have?

We have 27 in-person speakers and one person on the phone.

Only one? Okay. Let's read my math here. I don't have my time limit chart in my script. Oh, there it is. So based on, we have 28 speakers, so you get two minutes each. All right. So first up, we have Eddie Polon, then followed by Mark Scroggs. Welcome.

Good evening, council. Good evening, mayor. My name is Eddie Poland. I am a Burbank resident. I'm also a candidate for Burbank City Council. And I'm rising tonight to ask council to please push back on staff and reject their recommendation not to pursue a project labor agreement. Burbank is a union town. Burbank was built by union workers. Many of our residents are union. I myself, when I moved here in 1991, I was a WGA member. My wife is still a proud member of IATSE Local 705, the Motion Picture Customers. Those unions stood for us. They helped us in our career. They help families. They help people survive. And they provide good work for our city. There should be no reason why we should step back from pursuing a project labor agreement like many other cities have. I urge you to take that action tonight. Thank you.

Thank you for your comment. Yeah, I have to do my speech, yeah. So we have a lot of folks here for the first time. The way we do cheering in our chambers here is we do jazz hands. So we can have some of our regulars demonstrate. So jazz hands for the yay. If you want to say no, you don't like it, that's a thumbs down. And that gives us, we can see it over here, and it allows folks to be able to move into the next speaker. All right, so next up is Mark Scroggs, followed by Jerry Flores. Welcome. You have two minutes.

Great. Good evening, everyone. I'm Mark Scroggs. I want to give a few updates on the entertainment bills. First, AB 2319, Nick Schultz's post-production incentive. Looks like it's going to go to Newsom's desk soon, but he may be a little wishy-washy, well, maybe, on it. So we're going to need people to reach out to him. I'll get into that in a minute. The post-production would be great because right now Ireland just did a 40% tax incentive for post-production. So a lot of the work is going to stay in Europe if we don't deal with this. The repeal of SB 22, which I brought up last time, the cutting the tax incentives, will come back with changes under a different bill sometime later this week. I'm not sure what the bill number is and what the changes are, but we're going to need people to reach out. The bill information number will be available, like I said, soon. Both have Monday deadlines. If we don't deal with this thing, we're screwed. No matter what we do locally or in the state, we won't have a lot of productions here. So everyone needs to email our LAME website. Governor Gavin Newsom at gavin at gavinnewson.com or call his office at 916-445-2841. That's weird. With Paramount, I share some information about the problems that they have. Not the problems that they have, but if it goes through, the extra cost and things that people will lose in other businesses. It just doesn't affect production. It affects everybody. This clock is working backwards. That's weird. Okay, so just so you know, Rob Bonta cancelled the meeting yesterday because they were releasing information early, like through the Wall Street Journal. So they stopped that. They had to do the process. So they're waiting for another time to go through it all. Anyway, I'm sorry, it's just like the time keeps going up and down on this thing, just so you know. So just so you know that, so people, you know, anyway, I'm going to go to vote. Please don't support or vote for candidates who support this or most mergers. Mergers are pretty bad. You can see with the food industry, with their mergers have not brought good things for us this last few years. In closing, oh, I just want to say Dolly Parton, I'm going to bring up Dolly Parton again, has donated over 300 million books to children worldwide through her imagination library. She also had a huge supporter, was a huge supporter of LGBTQ and trans rights. So please keep that in mind when we think about her.

Thank you for your comment. Madam City Clerk, I'm just double checking on the clock because it looked like it was moving up and down.

There's a lot going on down here, so I had to reset it. So he got us two minutes, and I'm sorry, Mark. Got it. Okay, great. Thank you. We're back on track.

Appreciate that. All right, next up is Jerry Flores, followed by Ron Bax. Welcome.

Hello there. Members of city council, my name is Jerry Flores. I live in Burbank. Small family. We live in the Rancho area on Linden Avenue. between Victory and the Equestrian Center. I do first want to give thanks to Mayor Tamela and also Vice Mayor Zizette who've given me guidance and suggested I come here. In light of our changed environment and to allow Burbank residents the ability to beautify the parkway in front of our homes, I'm here to kindly ask for the City Council to please put on the council agenda a the initiation for the review and reconsideration and modification or possible revocation of Burbank Municipal Code 7-4-110 to thereby allow residents to plant native grown plants, drought tolerant plants, cacti and fruit trees on our parkway in front of our homes. I know we're short on time, but essentially This initiated due to a violation we received at our home. And I've spoken to a few members of the city council concerning this. One of my neighbors in the Rancho is ex-mayor Emily Gabelle Luddy, who recommended I reach out to Zezette and the mayor and to Nikki. And as ex-mayor Emily said, this Burbank Municipal Code basically makes it thousands of Burbank residents criminals. I have been sent a letter that I'm in violation and so I know it's gone through channels. I've spoken to Marissa Gomez and it's gone to the city attorney's office and so that's why I'm here to request a reviewer revocation, modification of this Burbank municipality. Zezette had said to look up around my neighborhood and there are over 50 violators in my neighborhood by the school, by the park on Riverside. So there must be thousands of residents in the city of Burbank alone.

Thank you for your comment. Next up is Ron Vax followed by Diana Pulver. Welcome.

Good evening, Council. Ron Backs. Two minutes. Well, you're going to get the short version rather than the words of the bishop in Spaceballs, a short, short, short vision. These two-minute sound bites, I've said, with the two weeks between episodes is not a way to have a conversation. And a few sessions ago, you guys agreed we should have a town hall, I thought, but we haven't seen any progress. Maybe I've been calling it the wrong thing. Do we need a study session? Evictions. We keep hearing about all these evictions. About a year ago, Ms. Leyland and her assistant sat here, and you asked them a question about evictions. The assistant said, we haven't had one in a long time, and I don't know of any since that time. So where are these? Can we ask staff to research this and report? Okay. May we have the chart? Thank you. I gave you this chart last week. Hmm, okay. I gave you this chart last week. The bars on the right are from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. So if you dispute that data, you can take it up with that government agency. The two bars on the left of each graph are from COSTAR, which is a nationwide data crunching organization for residential rentals. And I didn't bring a copy, and I can't read that, but if I recall, The inflation is around 36%, whereas the housing shelter cost is 46%, whereas wages have gone up 35% over the last seven years. Now, if you look, you can see that they're not keeping up with housing shelter costs, but if you look at the two bars on the right, left, yeah, the left, which are the increases in rents, which are the housing provider's income, They're falling way behind, so their margin is decreasing. So every organization, every business works on margin. If you want to drive housing providers out of business, continue to reduce their margin. Thank you.

Thank you for your comment. Next up is Diana Pulver, followed by Mike Van Gorder. Welcome.

Good evening, Mayor, Vice Mayor, Council Members. My name is Diana Pulver. I'm a housing provider and lifelong Burbanker. Currently, there are 39 multi-unit properties for sale in Burbank. That number is up from last year at this time when there were 28 multi-unit properties for sale. Many of these properties for sale are mom and pop housing providers. When I looked into this, I found that the prevailing reasons given for this were the rising cost of utilities, maintenance, insurance, repairs, and the threat of additional rent control. Rather than invest more money into their properties, these mom and pop providers are choosing to put their buildings on the market. Burbank stands to lose many of its mom and pop housing providers. This will be a loss for Burbank, because as you are aware, small business helps to strengthen the local economy and foster the sense of community that is unique to Burbank. So again, AB 1482 is enough. Do not LA my Burbank. Thank you. Thank you for your comment.

Next up is Mike Van Gorder, followed by Kristin Gish. Welcome.

I'll take this off the podium. Hi, everybody. I'm Mike Van Gorder. Shout out to Dolly Parton, the one American we could all agree on. And I wanted to offer a special note of appreciation to Councilmember Mullins. Your decision to not seek reelection, to open your seats to the next generation of leadership, is really selfless, and I admire you for that. Thank you for doing so. To my neighbor, Ron Bax, who's so interested in better information on rentals and evictions, a rental registry would provide that information. But I'm here to show solidarity with my union brothers and sisters and siblings tonight, specifically from SEIU, the largest union in America, and specifically my local SEIU 1000, which covers California state employees. I'm in support of the project labor agreement that's going to be discussed tonight. A while back I spoke to some members of the Carpenters Union who told me that every un-unionized construction site is also a crime scene where they have cash pay, they short the pay, sometimes they pay in drugs. There's no permanent protections. The only thing that would prevent that would be a project labor agreement banning cash pay. To reinforce the truth of Burbank being a union town, We need the project labor agreement to ensure that unions aren't underbid by unscrupulous actors looking to take advantage of their laborers and our community. And there is one note on page six of the presentation that I want to push back upon wherein staff claims that a project labor agreement would produce an uncertain project quality. The opposite is true. Requiring a high standard is more of a guarantee of high and consistent project quality. So in summary, please Reject staff's suggestion to file. Please act on the project labor agreement tonight. Thank you.

Thank you for your comment. Next up is Kristen Gish, followed by Brigitta Romanov. Welcome.

Hi. I'm going to keep my statement very brief. I am a union member. I'm a member of IATSE. Burbank is a union town, and Burbank should be hiring union workers. Thank you.

Thank you for your comment. Next up is Brigitte Romanov followed by Tom Davis. Welcome.

Good evening, Mayor Takahashi and members of the council. My name is Brigita Romanoff, and I am the President of the California IATSE Council and the Executive Director of the Costume Designers Guild, IATSE Local 892. We represent over 45,000 members in the entertainment industry, mostly here in LA County. Both the CIC and the Costume Designers Guild is anchored right here in Burbank. Many of our members live in this town, and that is why I'm here tonight to strongly urge you, the City Council, to negotiate a community workforce agreement with the LAOC Billing Trades. A community workforce agreement will create good local jobs for Burbank residents. Working close to home saves on commuting and helps the environment. It also gives Burbank residents a sense of pride to say they're building something here right in their own city. It's a smart, more efficient use of our tax money, and it keeps money flowing in the local economy. The community workforce agreement is what Burbank needs and what members of the community, like my members and our members, want and expect. For these reasons, we strongly urge the Burbank City Council to direct the city attorney and the staff to negotiate a community workforce agreement with the LAOC building trades in good faith. Thank you very much. Have a great night.

Thank you for your comment. Next up is Tom Davis, followed by John Lemon. Welcome.

Good evening, Madam Mayor and council members. My name is Tom Davis. I'm with the California IATSE Council, the IATSE, IATSE Local 80, the LA County Fed, and a few others. I'm here this evening to speak to you on behalf of our members, of which thousands and thousands reside here in the city of Burbank and work in the city of Burbank as well. I'd like to express our strong support for a community workforce agreement and strongly urge that this good council direct the negotiations in order to affect such an agreement. Agreements such as this are good for the community by opening up opportunities for local residents and for not just middle class jobs, but an opportunity to gain the skills that will carry with them for their lifetimes. Our members who live in this area are supporting a policy that will ensure the projects completed will be done by skilled, by their neighbors, who are skilled and trained, which in turn will be supporting the economic development of the community in which they live. Thank you.

Thank you for your comment. Next up is John Lemon, followed by Toby Bays. Welcome.

Good evening, Mayor Takahashi, members of the council. My name is John Lehman, and I'm a business agent with IOTC Local 33, where we proudly represent 1,650 members in the entertainment industry, which is anchored right here in Burbank. Several of our members live in the city, and that's why we're here tonight to strongly urge the city council to negotiate a community workforce agreement with the LAOC building trades. A community workforce agreement will ensure that future projects built here in Burbank are done by local residents, like the relatives of our members, veterans, apprentices, and folks who may need a second shot in life. The building trades journey members are the best skilled and trained workforce in the country who have passed rigorous apprenticeship to get their journey card. Their mom and pop contractors are some of our best. Lastly, if we're serious about creating strong local economy, the only way to do that is by creating good jobs for local residents. A community workforce agreement answers that call. For these reasons, we strongly urge Burbank City Council to negotiate community workforce agreement with the LAOC building trades in good faith. Thank you.

Thank you for your comment.

Next up is Toby Bays, followed by Carol Knowles. Welcome.

Good evening, council members. That was 33. I'm Local 44. My name is Toby Bayes. I'm the business agent for IETSE Local 44. And I'm here to speak on behalf of the nearly 6,000 members in the entertainment industry that I represent. And so many of those members call Burbank home, and that's why the IATSE is here. We're asking the council to do two things. First, set aside the staff report, and second, direct the city attorney and the staff to sit down and negotiate a community workforce agreement with the ALAOC building trades in good faith. If you think about it, how Burbank was built, Lockheed, Disney, NBC, Warner Brothers, and the airports, it was all built by union labor. And that's a proud legacy for the city of Burbank. Burbank Unified honored the same legacy by approving a community workforce agreement of their own. So here's the question, why stop there? A community workforce agreement opens the door and creates opportunities for local residents, apprentices, and a workforce and also supports a highly skilled workforce to support the future needs of the city. And this works. At the airport, under the current agreement, local hires have reached 85%. That means millions of dollars flowing right back into the community. If you're serious about strong local economy, then you invest in good local jobs. A community workforce agreement does exactly that. So tonight, we strongly urge you to negotiate that agreement with the LAOC building trades in good faith. Thank you for your time.

Thank you for your comment. Next up is Carol Knowles, followed by Andrea Padilla. Welcome.

Trying to hurry, sorry. Hi, I'm Carol Knowles. I wanted to introduce myself. I wanted to thank you for reviewing my application for the Community Development Block Grant Committee. It's an opportunity to invest positively in my community and hopefully affect good change, especially in the area of which I live, which is over by Thornton and San Fernando Road and Buena Vista, which has seen an uptick in the unhoused in that area. the wonderful police response in supporting the community in that area, especially in getting those people the help they need and getting them to the help that they need. I also want to thank my union brothers and sisters in the room tonight for showing solidarity to encourage support for the CWA. It invests labor and jobs in this community that is vital, and I want to thank you all for showing your support today because my husband has been a union member for his whole life and myself as well and he is currently out of work and we'd like to see more of that work return. Thank you.

Thank you for your comment. Next up is Andrea Padilla followed by Louie Meza. Welcome.

Good evening, my name is Andrea Padilla. I'm an electrician, Union, Local 11. I currently don't live in Burbank. I live in Sun Valley, but I did do the Burbank Airport project. Five minutes to get home. That gave me more opportunities to spend more time with my family. I have a little brother who is 20 years younger than me, and that gave me an opportunity to pick him up from school, which he enjoyed. I'm here in support of the community workforce agreement, and... I'm sorry, I hope we built them. Yeah, I already said that. And a CW in Burbank will create opportunity for women like me in your city. Thank you for your time.

Thank you for your comment. Next up is Louie Meza, followed by Rachel Hopps. Welcome.

Hi, thank you for having us. I'm Louie Mesa. I am a Burbank resident. I've been in Burbank for over 20 years and I'm also an IBW Local 40 electrician. I am here to support CWA. I have been part of IBW for 28 years and I currently have two boys in our apprenticeship program. We all currently still live in Burbank and we want this to support our neighborhood. I'm here for that and thank you for being here and thank you very much.

Thank you for your comment. Next up is Rachel Hobbs, followed by Joe Pimienta. Welcome.

Good evening, Mayor, Council Members. My name is Rachel Hobbs. I'm here with Home Run Financing. We're a PACE provider under the CSCDA Open PACE program. You have an item on your agenda, Item 7. I just wanted to thank Mayor Takahashi for the initial connecting us with your staff, and I would like to Thank and commend Mr. Johnston from your utility company for his support and diligence and careful consideration of the item. And just to let you know, I'm here in case you have any questions. Thank you.

Thank you for your comment. Next up is Joe Pimienta, followed by Maxine. Welcome.

Good evening, mayor, vice mayor, council members, staff and everybody present in the chamber. First, right off the bat, I do want to echo the sentiment that someone else said earlier, but yes, I do want to express the loss that today we all felt for a great American icon. Truly a sad day. In case it's not obvious, I would like also to express support for every union worker here who's also demanding that this goes through because, as you all know, Burbank is a union town, and as I've said many times before, what I said a couple of weeks ago, what kind of city do we want to have? Clearly, obviously, we want to have a city where living is sustainable, and union work provides that. So I stand in support for them. But the other thing that I wanted to bring up is that usually when I address the council, I address all of you, but this time I'm focusing on two council members specifically for something that happened two weeks ago. Two weeks ago, someone brought in an AI song, and y'all just supported it and simped over it as if it was something incredible. And that's really embarrassing, not to mention that several people have stood up here and said, don't support AI work, and here you were supporting it like it was something incredible. That's embarrassing. It really is. And if you say that you didn't know it was, that just makes it worse. It really does. The other thing that I want to bring up to the two of you is that several times now it has been brought up to ask you for your support to just say that you stand with your trans and non-binary community and you have refused to do so. This is what we mean when we say that your silence is complicity. Again, remember that the hate group was brought to the city, it was protested, and you have not opposed them. And yet, all that has been asked of you is to say that you stand with your trans and non-binary neighbors, and you have not done so. And that is embarrassing. That is a shame. So with all that to say, as you can imagine, I have more to say, but I'll just leave it at that. Have a good evening for the rest of you.

Thank you for your comment. Next up is Maxine, followed by Jorge. I think it says . Welcome.

Thank you. Good evening. I know someone who did support trans and non-binary youth. I have a few things to touch on. I know my time is short, so let me first say that union labor benefits everyone, and I support a PLA and definitely don't support filing the report with no action. I do want to focus on two other items. One, I think it's important for everyone to know that the police department currently has the scaffolding of a strategic plan available for public comment. This is a three-year strategic plan that will set the benchmarks for the police department funded by our tax dollars will work to hit. And yet if people didn't attend the unrecorded in-person meeting held at 4.30 p.m. on a Wednesday last week, they may not know that they have until September 2nd as established in the meeting to provide feedback on this plan. There was an email address added to the initial meeting announcement, but no deadline set or link to the slides slash questions were meant to be responding to. Those slides, by the way, are online but are hidden within the infrastructure of the site and are frankly almost useless given their lack of context. There was a promise to push this out on social media, and from what I could see, that hasn't happened. I know bringing it up here may not do much as I'm preaching to the proverbial already engaged choir, but it's disappointing to not have a concerted effort from the BPD and the city to solicit feedback in a full and earnest way from its citizens. Number two, it's been a while since I came to speak with you all about flock cameras and automated license plate readers in general. I've gone to the last two police commission meetings and have been talking with fellow Burbank residents discussing our concerns about the warrantless surveillance we are currently subjected to in Burbank. The police commissions were interesting. I recommend any Burbank resident interested in how our city's police steps in. They certainly welcome the participation, or at least initially our concerns were then dismissed by a commissioner saying that we fear what we don't understand. As charming as that was, we understand what's at stake. We're sacrificing our right to privacy for an unproven tool with a terrible rate of accuracy. Of course, you wouldn't think that with the press releases being put out crediting flock cameras with solving crimes like a stolen wallet. I wonder that the press release didn't also call out the officer Smith and Wesson service weapon or the Dell computer used in the course of the investigation.

Thank you for your comment. Next up is, I think, Jorge Negrete, followed by Nolan Sutherland. Welcome.

Good evening, everybody. Thank you for your time today. My name is Jorge Negrete. I grew up here in Burbank and graduated from Burroughs High School. And I'm now a member of the IBW Local 11. It's been a pleasure to be able to help renovate the brand new Burbank Airport. I've been working with GEC2. I think the CWA would benefit the community a lot, especially someone like myself who, you know, right now I'm an apprentice who's learning valuable techniques and just learning how to work safe among other trades, learning how to coordinate along like a big project. And it's stuff that I love and stuff that I see myself doing for a long time, but this wouldn't be possible to give back to the community I grew up in without the CWA going forward. I do support those brothers and sisters here who are also part of unions, and I'm not here to just say union this, union that, but what I am here to say is that the benefits for the community, the benefits for those who are coming up, It's not just a building that we're building, but it is the skill force that we are developing as well. So hopefully I'll be working here in Burbank again with my fellow brothers and sisters. And as not only an apprentice, but maybe even journeyman, giving advice to the apprentices. We're just helping develop the youth here in the city I grew up in. Thank you guys for this time.

Thank you for your comment. Next up is Nolan Sutherland, followed by Valerie Taylor.

Is Nolan here?

No, he left? Okay, I'll hold off in case he comes back. Next up is Valerie Taylor, followed by Gloria Salas. Welcome.

Hi, good evening, Council, and thank you. We are going to read the Women's Declaration of Independence addressing the proclamation that was just... Thank you. So this is the Women's Declaration of Independence. When in the course of human events it becomes necessary for one half of the people to call a nation back to its own truths, we declare the causes which compel us to speak. We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all persons are created equal, that women are persons, and that government exists to secure these truths, not to delay or deny them. The words equal justice under the law are carved in stone on the Supreme Court building, yet they have never applied fully to women, because women have never had full legal equality under the United States Constitution. Thank you.

Thank you for your comment. Next up is Gloria Salas or Janet Diehl. Janet Diehl, then Gloria Salas.

Although the 14th Amendment promised equal protection, it has never been applied equally to women. And although the Equal Rights Amendment, ratified in 2020, establishes equality, it has not been implemented. The ERA states equality of rights under the law shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any state on account of sex. Women bring forth life, sustain families, serve their communities, and defend this nation, giving their lives on the front lines of battles. To deny them constitutional equality is to deny their dignity, humanity, and rights. Yet courts apply a lesser standard in intermediate scrutiny to laws that discriminate on the basis of sex, allowing inequality to continue. The highest standard of strict scrutiny remains unavailable to women.

Thank you for your comment. Next up is Gloria Salas, followed by Cameron Tennyson.

The continuation of the Women's Declaration of Independence, we declare that women are equal citizens of the Republic. Equality must be clear in law and its enforcement. We call upon the people to demand the full implementation and enforcement of the Equal Rights Amendment by all courts and all government officials. Therefore, we declare the Equal Rights Amendment is part of the Constitution. It is the law. Women will no longer accept inequality. We demand equality now. Nothing more, nothing less. In the spirit of 1776, the Declaration of Sentiments of 1848, and the ratification of the Equal Rights Amendment in 2020, until women are equal, we will not be silent. And I do want to say that Burbank had its own woman of fame. Mary Octavia Lassure, who was part of the commission of 15 who helped establish and write the charter of Burbank back in 1926, which still stands with some modifications and revisions over the years. So I think we all should applaud Mary Octavia Lassure. So thank you for your time.

Thank you for your comment. Next up is Cameron Tennyson, followed by David James Henry. Welcome.

All right, thank you. A lot to cover in two minutes. First off, I will be speaking later about the PLA when that agenda item comes up. But I do want to say, as a member of the OPIU 174, I am here for local union members. Union Strong, it was really cool seeing so many people come out. Not used to this many people at city council meetings, so union strong. I want to thank Nikki for her post about ICE. I'm sure we all saw this week that ICE was stationed outside of the Burbank jail. And men, as they were exiting, were then taken by ICE. Nikki had a really great post detailing a lot of questions, the answers for a lot of questions that we may have. And she specifically called ICE what they are, domestic terrorists, and said we must abolish ICE. And I appreciate that. The one question I do have regarding that is that are the prisoners told that they are about to get given to ICE? Are they told that they are about to see freedom? Is this just a normal transfer? Because... Being told that this is just another day when all of a sudden their life is about to get so much worse than it already is, I think it's really important that we know the communication that is going through to them, what the police are telling them, because every human deserves dignity. The next thing I want to talk about is the police commission meeting, as was mentioned. I was not able to be there myself. However, I watched the meeting. And it was really encouraging, discouraging at the same time. It was really encouraging because there were about 20 people who came here to talk. And most of them, all but one, came and had reasons for not wanting Flock, whether it be stalking, whether it be the cybersecurity issues with Flock. But what was so discouraging is that the police commission, they sat right here and they said, I hear you, I hear you, I hear you. But we're actually not going to do that. So I wonder if there's anything that city council to do to help us deflock Burbank. Thank you.

Thank you for your comment. Next up is David James Henry, followed by Dan Kletman. Welcome.

Good evening, Mayor Takahashi and the rest of the council. I'm here to share some Burbank labor history. American prosperity is inexorably tied to the will of its workers to demand it. And Burbank owns many chapters in that history. Burbank was built by unionized Hollywood workers, aerospace machinists, among many, many others. The residential boom was supported by strong union contracts with wages keeping pace with increased productivity and inflation. That prosperity is but a dream today. Successful union busting by corporations in tandem with federal crackdowns plummeted union membership. Burbank has, despite that, never stopped being a hub for unionism. I cannot possibly speak for the vast diversity of labor unionism in this town better than my fellow workers who have already spoken today and sit behind me. Recent history has shown resilience and brave labor action in this town by writers and actors in 2023, nurses at Providence St. Joseph earlier this year. The city council is not isolated from this fight. It is essential to stand up now and show the other cities in California that Burbank is committed to bring back that American prosperity. Every city in this country needs to enact precisely the labor reforms on your behalf. table. You are in this meeting today because of labor. Show them that you understand the dignity and value of their labor. To vote against a union hiring hall, standard union work rules, and against union training is to tell these people running this building as well that they do not deserve an equal seat at Burbank's table. It is shameful that we have Burbank City employees who today cannot afford to live inside of the city that they serve. You today have the opportunity to repair the labor legacy Burbank earned and deserves. Please move to advance the CWA in good faith.

Thank you for your comment. Next up is Dan Kleiman, followed by Corey Mensing.

Welcome. I have a presentation that I sent to staff. Oh, awesome. Thank you. Good evening. My name is Dan. I am a rent burden tenant here in Burbank and part of Burbank's renter majority. I organize with Burbank Tenants Union fighting for things like rent stabilization and other tenant protections. Labor unions like IATSE, TAG, BTA, SEIU, CSEA, BCEA, Firefighters UA fight for a fair workplace through worker protections and good paying jobs. Our struggles are interconnected. Whether it's organized tenants or organized labor, Burbank is a union town. Mayor Takahashi, Vice Mayor Mullins, who I know you are a labor leader in Glendale, and Council Members Perez and Anthony, let's not just file and forget this project labor agreement. Let's pass it and keep Burbank a union town. Thank you to the hardworking and brave Burbank community defense members for exposing the ICE agents who kidnapped an individual released from the Burbank jail this past Sunday. ICE agents pulled up 10 minutes later and an individual was released from the prison and kidnapped. I want to know, did Burbank police coordinate with ICE? Did they participate in a handoff to ICE against our sanctuary city resolution? Can you please investigate and strengthen our status as a sanctuary city to prevent ICE from operating on city property? And once again, we the Burbank community demand that Burbank end its contract with FLOC, which was signed without our knowledge or consent. No FLOC, no ALPR, and no mass surveillance in Burbank. Thank you.

Thank you for your comment. Next up is Corey Mensing, followed by Joma.

Okay, I have more adventures in EV charging. I'm here tonight because I believe there's a simple change the city can make to improve public EV charging in Burbank. I recently received a ticket for overnight parking while my car was actively charging at the public EV station on Glen Oaks. The only time it was available for me to charge. I wasn't overnight parking, I was actively charging. So that ticket became the most expensive EV charge ever. These charging stations are clearly separately marked with dedicated EV charging infrastructure, signage with arrows and distinct curve and pavement markings. I raised this at my administrative hearing here in the chamber last Thursday. The ticket was sustained, although the fine was reduced. If I'm reading the information I was given at the hearing correctly, which you were all just given, that's a transcription because the photo I took was very blurry. Given the opportunity to exempt designated stations, the city chose not to. I've already raised this issue with BWP since BWP manages these stations. BWP tells EV customers that 11 p.m. to 8 a.m. is the lowest cost time of use period. So removing two hours from that eight-hour window removes 22.2% of the time that we can use it. So in my efforts to save money, that backfired horribly. I also spoke at the podium about the charge point per session fee and how that has fundamentally changed charging habits. That fee is largely outside of the city's control, I understand, but whether the city, the Burbank's public charging stations can operate during the most economical charging hours is within the city's control routine. So if the stations are closed from 3 to 5, I would put signage and I would shut the chargers off. That's not what I want. I think an exemption would be better, especially to meet our admissions goals. And also when people ask if they should get an EV, I scare them when I tell them these stories. Thank you.

Thank you for your comment. Next up is Jomo, followed by... followed by Emily.

Welcome.

Thank you, thank you.

Rosati Mullins, it's my understanding that there are a few people in the community that are a little upset about the silence around the hate group that was invited, Moms for Liberty, and the silence regarding trans and non-binary rights. And this is expectation for you to say something. And I want to say, I don't share that expectation. I don't think a bad tree can bear good fruit. And you both have gone out of your way to demonstrate when it comes to queer rights discourse, you both are bad trees. Um, as was mentioned earlier, a Sunday, 8 24 at 6 40 AM three ice agents waited outside the Burbank jail to detain a man upon his release. This was a targeted and coordinated effort. According to eyewitness reports, the whole ordeal lasted no longer than 10 minutes, making it appear that they knew the time this person was released. This is not unique and has happened a few dozen times. Journalist Ara Bogado wrote a few pieces on how in Illinois, a sanctuary state, cops, sheriffs, and even prosecutors helped federal immigrant agents route at least 150 people into the deportation system without criminal warrants, public discourse, or legislative oversight. What we're seeing across the country for those following along is that what is happening in Illinois is not an exemption of bad actors, it's a verifiable pattern. We cannot operate under the assumption that it can't happen here. I'm not so naive. The questions we have are why does ICE appear to know exactly the time someone is released and why are some families given a time of when to pick up their loved one, only to arrive to learn that their loved one has already been picked up by ICE. There are assumptions that ICE is morally neutral and enacting justice against those that break the law. My prayer for you is to hold the weight of the deaths of individuals in ICE custody, the weight of medical neglect, rotten food, and worms in the water. The regular and routine psychological and physical brutality of ICE is not justice. It does not address crime. It does not keep us safe. No flock, rent stabilization, love to union roots, and free Palestine.

Thank you for your comment. Next up is Emily, followed by Nolan Sutherland, if you came back. Welcome.

Hi, good evening. I'm Emily Hunter, a lifelong Burbank resident, teacher, and mom. I want to bring attention to a situation playing out online that involves Mr. Van Gorder, a city council candidate. Mr. Van Gorder, who organized the Mom for Liberty protest, has been asked multiple times if, despite his disapproval for the group, he still supports their right to free speech. He has mostly refused to answer, except yesterday he did finally tell someone that essentially he didn't care what three people think and that his preference for one group trumps the right of another. Mr. Anthony then joined the conversation to say that 99% of the voting public wouldn't see this conversation anyway. That's alarming to me. A city council candidate makes an unconstitutional, illiberal comment, and a city council member joins in to mock and dismiss the legitimate concerns of the public. It is a pattern I've seen with Mr. Anthony. When publicly confronted with video of an assault of the Moms for Liberty protest and facing possible censure, he was contrite and quick to condemn the violence. He also reiterated that he was a free speech absolutist. Yet just eight weeks later, Mr. Anthony, now free of the threat of censure, was presented with the concerns again about the protest, and this time he was defiant, telling the speaker only to look up the paradox of tolerance. For anyone who doesn't know, it essentially means that society is destroyed when people are tolerant of intolerance. I have an issue with this for many reasons, including that it completely negates Mr. Anthony's earlier commitment to free speech and insistence that he did not and would not work to stop opposing views in the city. Additionally, it's a ridiculously subjective theory. Currently, there's a growing chorus of voices calling the DSA a hate group because of their anti-Semitic comics and rhetoric that often pop up. Should these people who feel that way be able to shut down your free speech? Speaking of hate groups, please stop referring to Moms for Liberty as a hate group as signed by the SPLC or any other major MPO. It's demonstrably untrue. They're an extremist group, not a hate group. I'm a lifelong liberal. I do not support Moms for Liberty as a parent or a teacher, but a threat to anyone's free speech is a threat to everyone's free speech. This is not a partisan issue, and I think with more eyes on this, you'll find that to be true. Please make and maintain a public, meaningful commitment to free speech in Burbank. Thank you.

Thank you for your comment. Was Nolan Sutherland, did he come back? No? Okay. Just one moment, please, folks. Thank you for your patience. Speaker Antonio Munder, is he in the audience? Antonio Munder? Okay. Well, then that solves itself because that's been figured out.

All right.

Thank you. That's the end of our in-person public comment. Now we will move to remote public comment. Madam City Clerk, do we still have our caller on the line?

We have one caller.

Okay. Please send them through.

Hi, can you hear me? We can hear you, caller. Go ahead, please. You have two minutes.

Great. Thank you so much. My name is Laura Nakiam. I'm the Climate Campaign Director for the Los Angeles Alliance for a New Economy, where we work across LA County, including in Burbank, to encourage a strong economy that works for all of LA County's residents. As part of this, we are in strong support of project labor agreements and community workforce agreements for the ways that they not only help transform the lives of people of all backgrounds, but also for the ways that they bolster the local economies of the jurisdictions who adopt such policies and the ways that they help to ensure really high-level project outcomes. We've done a lot of research on this over the past decades, and we've seen time and time again in our research the way that community workforce agreements help ensure that local residents are hired, that people who have faced challenging backgrounds find really incredible full-time careers with strong benefits, that people are building the kind of landmark projects that people can have, residents can have really good faith in and how their taxpayer dollars are being used to have projects that are delivered on time and on budget and of extremely high caliber built projects that last projects that are built to highest standard and we've seen agencies across the region adopt such policies not only like the local ones in burbank that have been mentioned but also major multi-county entities like the metropolitan water district among others. So I would really strongly encourage the consideration and the city to proceed with considering the Community Workforce Agreement with the LA and Orange County Building Trades Council for the betterment of all Burbank residents and for the region as a whole. Thank you so much.

Thank you for your call.

Do we have any other callers? That was our last speaker, Madam Mayor.

Okay. There being no further public comment, I now declare the joint public comment period closed. Now is the time for a brief response from City Council, City Manager, and the City Attorney. City Manager, City Attorney, we have some responses.

Okay.

Yes, thank you, Madam Mayor. Just a couple items. First, the gentleman that was talking about the native plants in the parkways. So in talking with park and rec staff, we are actually looking right now at the municipal code as it relates to vegetation in the parkways. So that's kind of an ongoing process. Right now, as you know, we're looking at... Coming back with the urban forest master plan, but right after that we are actually looking We're including what other cities are doing and we will be bringing back recommendations as it relates to Vegetation in the parkway so that that actually is kind of already happening and in the mix I know the gentleman probably wants that tomorrow, but it is part of the current work plan And the other thing I wanted to point out was I'd like to bring up our chief of police to talk a little bit about the ice incident on Sunday, but also kind of what our obligation is and kind of some of the questions that were raised over the last couple of days.

Mayor, Vice Mayor, Council, staff, good evening. Chief of Police Rafael Quintero. To address some of the questions that were presented tonight by public comment, there were three at least that I heard, and if I did not address those afterwards. One is, how does ICE know when the releases happen? We do not notify ICE of any routine arrests. do not share release dates or times except under cases under the California Values Act that is defined for serious felonies. When a person is booked on a state or local charge, their fingerprints are submitted to the criminal justice database that checks against local, state, and federal databases. ICE can independently access these databases and may learn a person is in custody. and that's how they end up becoming aware. ICE's presence at our facility is not determined by us. That is, they completely act independently of us. They arrive at our facility unbeknownst to us. Since we do not collaborate, coordinate, work with them, we really have no knowledge. To someone's point, as far as every human deserves dignity, 100%. I agree. And unfortunately for us, because we are unaware of what is happening, there is no notification that can be given as far as what is to come. They walk out the door and they are taken into custody by them. Second, why are agents allowed to wait on the steps of city property? Although the steps may be city property, what matters under the law is whether the space is open and accessible to the public. And in this case, that open forum along 3rd Street and the steps is open and accessible to the public. There are two cases that define what a public space is that still stand true today. One is United States v. Watson and another is United States v. Santana. The other thing is we have no legal authority to keep federal agents out of that space. Us acting against them in the normal course and scope of their duties would place us in a position where my two minutes are up, sorry. Can I go back now? Would place us in a very precarious position, not only for the city, but definitely for my staff, where we would could technically be arrested as well for violation of obstruction of justice. The last question, what can Burbank staff and police department actually do? What we do not do by law and policy is we do not enforce federal civil immigration law, collaborate with ICE on any immigration enforcement. We do not notify ICE of routine arrests and we do not delay the release of anyone by LA County jail protocols. Just for a little bit of awareness, we are not allowed to release anyone from the hours of midnight to 6 a.m. At 6 a.m., usually around shift change, is when that process starts of releasing those people from custody. Now, there are a lot of things that are happening behind the scenes as far as why there are sometimes associated delays. Assuming that there is not a lot of processing or lag time, normally we release them between 6 and 7. Oftentimes, other priorities are happening where we don't have staffing appropriately and they may be released later. But I want to make clear, we do not coordinate or communicate with ICE as far as if we become aware that ICE would have been out there. What we cannot do, we cannot obstruct, interfere, as already mentioned, and we cannot prevent ICE from independently accessing federal criminal justice databases. And then the last thing, what we do, we follow the California Values Act and also our city administrative procedure policy that was adopted under a council resolution in 2025. And then last, I'd like to believe that we serve every resident of this city with professionalism and respect. And look, I've said it often, you've heard me state it, Mike, we are committed to the city of Burbank, its residents, and ensuring their safety. The last thing that we want them to have is any fear from the police department in working, collaborating, or coordinating these types of actions with ICE.

Thank you, Chief. I have a question. One of our speakers mentioned, and I totally hear where they're coming from, are people told they are walking out to ICE? To basically what looked like on the video and on the picture displayed, like a gang up of three people there. Are they told that they are walking out into that situation?

To my knowledge, no, since we are unaware of their presence outside.

Okay. And I think my follow-up question, and I don't think this has to be answered right now because I know it's putting you on the spot, but I think it behooves us to think about that since it is very clear that ICE is targeting that entrance. And I think it is very clear that they're going to continue doing this. Is there some kind of protocol we can take to let folks know what they may be walking into? Number one. And number two, Is there something that we could do to perhaps, I'm going to put it this way, disincentivize the gathering in the front of a entryway as we would with anybody else blocking an entryway?

You're asking for my response.

So I think it should be left there because this is not an agendized item.

I'll leave that there for the chief, staff, and everybody to think about.

Just one quick follow-up. The midnight to 6 a.m. hold that we do, correct me if I'm wrong, that was done as a humanitarian effort during the increase in homelessness and the lack of funds or resources. support services during that time frame? Is that consistent with my memory of why we have that sort of restriction?

I do not know the specific reason for why people are released. In my 27 years, there have been the times that I am aware of Prior agency is 12 to 5. Burbank is 12 to 6. Some of it, to the best of my memory, I remember there was an incident in Malibu with the sheriff's department where a certain female arrested for DUI was released during that time. Ultimately, it presents a safety hazard for those people being released, especially if they don't have anyone to pick them up at that time. That's vaguely what I remember. I don't know the real reason.

I think that's about what I remember, too. Okay, thank you.

And one last question that wasn't asked but has been asked of me in other locations is when we release somebody on any charge, do we ask them first if they have somebody to contact and contact their friends, family, somebody to meet them, or do they have to request or what's our policy internally about that?

I do not know what our policy is as far as the release. You are dealing with adults that have access to a telephone and are able to make the call to coordinate that.

Okay, great, thank you. Anything else? All right. Well, thank you for answering the questions from the community and our questions. Thank you. All right. Any other responses from city manager, city attorney? No? Okay. Who would like to go first on response to public comment? Okay. Vice Mayor?

I always feel like I have to go first. All right. Well, thank you, everyone, for coming tonight. I think last time I was in the room with that many union members, it was back in the 1990 when I attended a conference. So it's nice to see all of you. I appreciate your input. I appreciate you coming and sharing your passion and your desire for our item that's coming up on the agenda. So we're going to talk about that when we get there. But I do want to acknowledge all of you and say thank you. I want to thank Carol, if she's still here, for applying for the community development position. So we're going to be taking the votes later on. But I do want to thank you for coming and introducing yourself here tonight. I wrote down, I put an asterisk next to Jorge from IBW 11. Thank you for speaking on behalf of the youth and for really being out there to share your experience and hopefully you can share that experience with a lot of other youth who would be taking that same path you're taking, getting a job or getting into the apprentice program and working, especially IBW. That's a very elite group. So thank you for sharing that experience. Yeah, here you go. To Valerie and Janet and Gloria, thank you for recognizing Women Equality Month. Excuse me. And for reading, sharing that with us tonight, and always representing us. So I appreciate you coming tonight and speaking. I'm having a hard time here. So I appreciate you being here tonight. And Corey, I apologize that you left your car too long and you got a ticket. I know it doesn't feel good, especially with those electric cars. I know how you feel. I did that once and it's not fun. So I'm sure something will work out where you can take it to a different location and you don't have to leave it overnight. And the other speakers we had will be coming up on the agenda item later, but Stay tuned and we're going to be discussing a lot of different issues tonight.

Thank you All right, we'll have to go next Councilmember Rosati Thank You madam mayor

Thank you to Zonta for celebrating Women's Equality Day and the extraordinary Ms. Salas. Congratulations to you. Regarding the AI song, I'll be perfectly honest. I had no idea that was an AI song. I just thought it was a catchy beat, and that was my comment. So if anyone was offended by that, I apologize. But I had no idea that song was created by AI. So apologies. To all the union folks here, thank you for coming. Both my parents were longtime union workers. My father. My father, at the time he retired, was one of the oldest union members in the history of his union at 88 years old. So my father, yeah, God bless. So my father started in a union, left the union as a small business owner, and then went back to the union and retired at 88 years old. So thank you for being here. Thank you, Madam Mayor.

Thank you. Yes, Vice Mayor, you had one last thing.

Yes, I do. Mr. Flores, and I want to concur with the city manager, you and I have had multiple, multiple text messages, emails, phone calls. And I assure you that staff has been working very diligently on getting a solution. It's just not going to happen overnight. But I do thank you for being here tonight and sharing your story. and maybe being part of this council meeting so you see the process and what happens. But you're in good hands. Somehow it'll come back to council. It's just they're looking into it now, OK? Who would like to go next?

Councilmember Anthony first.

Thank you to everyone coming out today. Love to see my local union folks showing up. I love to see my suffragette solidarity members show up. We're going to get to some of these items later, and we'll discuss those in detail. I just want to address... a little bit of confusion to the person who came up here and equated intolerance for intolerance as some sort of breakdown of the First Amendment. The First Amendment is protection against the government from silencing or repressing or shutting down your speech. We have the microphone here. You can come up and talk. You can say your piece. Say whatever you want. But freedom of speech doesn't give you freedom from criticism. So we can tell you that your ideas suck. That's not stopping you from saying them. So me going on to a Reddit post and pointing out that what you said is terrible is not preventing you from coming down here, obviously, because you just did it. So please, in the future, remember, simply being called out on terrible ideas is not a violation of your First Amendment. In fact, it's one of the core components of the First Amendment. A lot of people don't realize this. If you look in the wall on the side here, that is a very famous painting about the First Amendment. What most people don't realize is the guy standing up there was talking about closing down a school and everybody hated him for it. He had the minority opinion. What he was talking about was resoundingly hated in that room and they voted against him. But look at the faces of the people giving him respect to say his terrible idea out loud. So with that, trans rights are human rights. Black lives matter. Immigrants built this country and are welcome here. And as always, free Palestine. Thank you.

Council Member Press.

Thank you. Right on. All right. Happy Women's Equality Day. Congrats, Gloria. You are a exemplary woman in this community. And I really love the Women's Declaration. It's amazing. Thank you, Mark Scroggs, for continuing to come up and talk about the entertainment industry. Thank you for your tireless emails and, of course, for pushing for the exemption on SB 122. This council has sent a letter to the legislature urging them also to exempt it. We know how important this is for the entertainment industry. We know how important this is for the tax credit and for our community. Mr. Flores, I owe you an email. I promise. I know we had a conversation, but the city manager can attest. I brought it up to him as well. So you've heard from many of us now on this item. And we're working on this. To everybody who spoke on the PLA, we'll be talking about that shortly. So it'll be coming up soon. Thank you to Carol for coming and introducing yourself to us and sharing your desires to serve the city. Thank you so much. And we'll be talking about that shortly, too. And then finally, I will say it. general because we talked about about what's happening and then the ice raids in our city I think it's important for all of us to remember that our public safety facilities have to remain fully accessible to residents seeking emergency assistance and reporting local crimes if no one feels safe doing that that's a threat to all of our safety and I think we have to recognize that and have to recognize that there are things we can do at the local level and to ensure that every single person in our community feels safe. And with that, I will end with rest in peace to Dolly Parton, someone who stood for labor and worker rights, LGBTQ and, yes, trans rights, and someone who understood that funding and researching women's health care and women's rights was important because the equality of all humans matters.

Thank you.

Well said. All right. Thank you all for coming out tonight and sharing your thoughts on the various issues that are important to you. Thanks to those who have reached out between since our last meeting. And for those of you who are here for the first time in our chambers, welcome to the Burbank City Council chambers. Thank you for being here. For the folks who spoke about the PLA, we will be addressing that in a moment, but thank you all for speaking on that. And for those of you who haven't yet spoken about the PLA but would like to, you still have one more opportunity to do so at that item if you'd like. For Ms. Knowles, who's also speaking on a future agenda item, the CDBG, thank you for – where are you in the audience – There you are. Hi. Thank you for speaking. Feel free to stay. That is the first item after the consent agenda, so we'll remember your comment when we get there. Mr. Scroggs, for SB 122, I signed that letter to be sent yesterday, I think it was, to be sent out, so that's on its way, if not already there. And to Mr. Flores, thank you for coming out. Thank you for our conversation and for all the conversations we've had. And thank you for coming out tonight. It is a slow, frustratingly slow process for these things. But I hope maybe we can get some interim, addressing some interim concerns that you've had as well. So please follow up afterwards and we can talk about that before we get the new, addressing the actual ordinance, what we can do in the meantime. Okay. And then let's see. And then Maxine mentioned the PD strategic plan meeting. I was at that meeting as well. I did want to ask staff actually and maybe the chief, Chief Q, about the PD strategic plan. She asked about whether it was online and also whether it was being promoted for folks to know to go to take a look at it. Do we have a plan or what are we planning on doing to let the community know about that? I think it's an important plan for everyone to look at.

Rafael Quintero, Chief of Police. Mayor, the plan resides under our police department portal, under the community page. It is, we had committed to having our PowerPoint on there, which it is. Then we also have the email, bpdstrategicplan at burbankcity.gov. So that also resides there as far as feedback, as the... During public comment, it was mentioned that they have until September 2nd to provide that feedback. This was the third phase of the implementation. There's two additional phases, so taking that community feedback plus the work that's been done before, we will then come back to command staff to eventually present some type of document. I promise you that once this is done, towards the end of the year, that we will have this available to the public for them to see.

Will they then have a chance to give feedback on that result, or is this now the time?

This is now the time.

Okay. And is there a plan for social media posts to let folks know beyond the chambers?

We can put out an additional post as far as the PowerPoint, where it resides, and also the email again.

Okay. I think that would be appreciated. Thank you so much. Thank you so much. All right, let's see. And then lastly, about the questions about ICE and what happens when folks are released from our jail. And unfortunately, there's a lot about that that is out of our hands. and that we cannot do much about. However, I can say that I believe that approaching it this way, for ICE to approach it this way, is cowardly. It's cowardly to target folks when they're the most vulnerable. They don't have any loved ones around them and no representation. So I think that while they may have a legitimate claim to be able to do that technically, that practice is absolutely horrible, and I think it's wrong. I also believe that using that approach only with immigrant populations and not with everybody else is inequitable. And so if they have an issue with there being a federal issue, then that should be the same approach to everybody, not just because of immigrants. And it should be FBI and some other non-ICE agency that does it. So that's just my opinion on that. All right. I think I addressed all the things. So again, thank you all for coming out tonight. And for those of you who are here for the future agenda items, feel free to stay. And it shouldn't take too long to get there. Certainly with the CDBG, we'll do that first. And then right after that, the PLA. All right. So thank you all for being here. All right. Next up, we are going to do the consent agenda. Stay cool out there, everybody. I think it's still probably 85. And muggy at the same time. The consent agenda may be enacted in one motion. Madam City Clerk, please read the consent calendar.

Thank you, Madam Mayor. There are 10 items on tonight's consent agenda. Item one is approval of the city council minutes of the regular meeting of August 11, 2026 and the dark meeting of August 18, 2026. Number two is approval of the housing authority minutes of the joint meeting of June 16, 2026. Item 3 is approval of the parking authority minutes of the joint meeting of June 30th, 2026. Item 4 is adoption of resolutions continuing appropriations from fiscal year 2025-2026 to fiscal year 2026-2027. Item five is adoption of a resolution authorizing the execution of a grant agreement with Firehouse Subs Public Safety Foundation grant, acceptance of grant funds in the amount of $14,928.55, and amending the fiscal year 2026-2027 budget by appropriating funds towards the Burbank Fire Department's wild land program. Item 6 is adoption of a resolution authorizing acceptance of the Department of California Highway Patrol Cannabis Tax Fund Grant for $131,650 and amending the fiscal year 2026-2027 budget by appropriating funds. Item 7 is adoption of a resolution enabling property assessed clean energy financing options for eligible energy efficiency, renewable energy, water conservation, and seismic improvements. Item 8 is approval of a joint powers agreement establishing the Southern California Regional Water Authority and authorizing the Burbank Water and Power General Manager to designate a governing board representative. Item 9 is approval of the exchange water delivery agreement between the San Diego County Water Authority and the City of Burbank. And item 10 is approval of an eighth amendment to our professional services agreement with Elizabeth Mool and Stephanos Polizoids, architects and urbanists for the downtown Burbank transit oriented development specific plan and amending the fiscal year 2025-2026 budget.

Thank you. Is there a motion to approve the consent calendar?

Move to approve the consent calendar.

Second. All right. We have a motion by Councilmember Anthony, second by Vice Mayor Mullins. Please take the roll. Councilmember Anthony.

Abstain on six and seven. Yes on everything else.

Councilmember Perez. Yes. Councilmember Rosati.

Yes.

Vice Mayor Mullins. Yes. And Mayor Tagahashi. Yes. Thank you.

All right, next up is our public hearing. And for Ms. Knowles, I just mentioned earlier that the CDBG was right after consent. My mistake. We have a public hearing first, but it shouldn't be too long. And for those of you who are waiting for those items, it shouldn't be too long. All right, this is the time and place for the public hearing of the Burbank Housing Authority to consider the Public Housing Agency revised annual plan for fiscal year 2026-2027 and propose amendments to the Housing Authority Administrative Plan. If you wish to comment on this item in person, please present a salmon public hearing card to the city clerk. If you wish to participate in remote public comment on this item, please join via zoom in the link on the agenda or by calling 238-3335. and join the speaker queue by using the raise hand feature in Zoom or by dialing star nine on your phone. Please be sure to submit your public comment card now as no additional public comment cards or remote comments will be accepted once the comment period commences following staff's presentation. Before we begin, are there any disclosures from council relating to this hearing?

No.

No, okay. Madam City Clerk, have the notices as required by law been given?

They have.

Do we have the complete file of exhibits, correspondence, including emails and other documents?

You do.

And has the city received any written communications on this matter, and have they been provided to all city council members?

We received no communications on this item.

Okay, great. Thank you. Will Ms. Odette Abazian, Housing Development Manager of the Community Development Department, please summarize the matter for us? Welcome.

Good evening. Good evening, Mayor Takahashi, Vice Mayor Mullins, and members of the City Council. My name is Odette Ivasian, Housing Development Manager, and I'm before you this evening to present to you the revised annual plan for fiscal year 2026 and 2027 and the required administrative plan updates to comply with HUD's Housing Opportunity through Modernization Act, known as HOPMA. The Burbank Housing Authority administers the Housing Choice Voucher Program, commonly known as Section 8, and is required by HUD to maintain both an annual plan and administrative plan. The Burbank Housing Authority Board approved the fiscal year 2026-2027 plans in April 2026. Subsequently, on May 15, 2026, HUD issued updated federal guidance requiring all public housing agencies to incorporate HOPMA provisions resulting in the revisions presented this evening. Any significant changes to the administrative plan requires a public hearing. HOTMA was enacted to modernize and streamline federal housing programs. It enhances administrative efficiency, improves program integrity, and standardizes policy implementations across all housing authorities nationwide. HUD requires that all PHAs adopt specific HOTMA-related updates to remain in compliance. Each streamlined process will be discussed later in the presentation. The HOPMA updates include revised income definitions and exclusions, updated assets and financial account rules, modifications to medical and disability expense thresholds, adjusted interim reexamination requirements, and new documentation standards. These changes are mandatory and intended to ensure greater consistency across the Housing Choice Voucher Program. In addition to streamlining administrative processes, HOPMA strengthens program integrity by creating clearer and more consistent rules around income, assets, and deductions. These updates reduce conflicting interpretations and help ensure that eligibility determinations are accurate and equitable across all public housing agencies. The updated verifications and documentation requirements also improve the reliability of household information and minimize errors. By aligning PHA nationwide under the same eligibility and required standards, HOPMA enhances compliance, reduces risk, and ultimately improves the integrity of the Housing Choice Voucher Program. The proposed program documents were presented as required to the Resident Advisory Board made up of current tenants on the program. A public meeting was held on July 9th. The meeting was advertised on the city's website, published in the Burbank Leader, and 900 postcards were mailed in English, Spanish, and Armenian. Approximately 50 people attended the meeting. The Resident Advisory Board did not have any questions, comments, or changes to the documents. In addition, no comments have been received on the draft documents that have been posted on the City website and are available on the first floor of the Community Services Building. In summary, adoption of these updates is required to maintain compliance with federal regulations and to ensure the continued operation of the Housing Choice Voucher Program in Burbank. If approved this evening, staff will submit the revised plans to HUD by August 31st. This concludes staff's presentation. My colleague Alejandro Mendoza and I are happy to answer any questions you may have. Thank you.

Thank you for the presentation. Madam City Clerk, do we have any in-person or remote comments on this item?

We do not.

We do not. Okay. Being that there is no public comment, I now declare the public hearing public comment period closed. Normally, this is where we would ask staff to comment on reflection, but since there's no public comment, we'll move straight to council questions. Does council have any questions of staff about this item? Council Member Anthony first, and then Vice Mayor.

Just one quick question. The red lines here, the change that we're making, this is coming directly from the federal guideline changes, correct?

Thank you for the question. Yes, that is correct.

All right.

Yes, thank you for that information. Just curious how the changes affect the current Section 8 participants, particularly the household of rent eligibility and also if there is additional income or I was trying to also see there's a component to it that deals with the disability or additional money coming in from retirement. How is that going to affect our current Section 8 participants?

Thank you for the question, Councilmember. So the primary change will be for applicants. We will now be implementing an asset limitation during the eligibility process for our waitlist applicants. So HUD is now requiring that there is a cap on the assets that an applicant has to be eligible for the program. Specifically for participants, there are other income changes that are now being required by federal regulation. You mentioned some deductions for disability. So there's just some changes on how staff will actually be calculating what's considered a disability deduction, for example.

So this is not going to affect our current participants in Section 8 or is this going to affect those who will be applying in the future for Section 8?

To clarify, it will be for both applicants and participants.

Okay. For our current participants, What would be the process, if you can just help us understand, of the changes occurring and happening? How do you communicate that to them? Because obviously I guarantee most people are not aware of the changes that are happening right now. So how would you participate? How do you communicate in advance with them to let them know about the new updated information?

That was the point of the Resident Advisory Board meeting, Vice Mayor Mullins. We had the meeting. The residents had no questions or comments pertaining to the changes that we are implementing into the administrative policy. However, notifications will be mailed out to participants of the program, letting them know that we are in full compliance with HOPMA, and we should be in compliance by September 1st.

Thank you. And is that material going to go out in multiple languages, like Spanish, Armenian, and English, to help them understand? Because some of them probably would have difficulties. I mean, it's hard following all the red line and information that we have. Is that something that we'd be able to translate on the website or make it available in different languages so they can understand?

Most definitely, yes.

Okay.

If anyone has a preference, they are more than welcome to contact us, and we will have that whatever language that they wish for us to translate it to.

Okay. I know it's a lot of work and the changes are occurring, and I understand you guys are, you know, this is a lot of work to ask of you to take care of, but you can understand some of them are probably not going to understand how the changes in their income is going to vary on... their benefits. And, you know, I was looking at some of the calculations. I mean, in some cases, it's in their best interest because I was like, I wanted to understand what does that mean with dollar amounts. Some actually is better for them because they're going to actually the deduction is going to be a lot better for them offsetting. But they may not understand that and get scared that monies are going to be taken away from them.

Right. And so staff is always available to interpret the information for our participants. We did have participants that requested the administrative policy in other languages, of which we did provide. That's not a problem whatsoever. And so, yeah, and if any participants or landlords have any specific questions, they're more than welcome to contact the housing authority, and staff is ready and trained on providing the clarification for both participants and landlords. Thank you. Of course.

Any other questions? So you asked the same questions I had. So just to be clear, just to make sure I understand correctly, will anyone who currently holds a Section 8 voucher who's using one lose their vouchers or have a negative impact on their voucher? And if so, how will that be handled?

Absolutely not. Mayor Takahashi, that's not the purpose of this. The purpose of the HOTMA provisions is to streamline processes and procedures and how we calculate assets and incomes. By no means is this implementation trying to, you know, get folks off the program. That's not the intent whatsoever. Great. All right. But, of course, as in any federal-funded program, if anyone violates program rules, regulations, so on and so forth, then we do go through the termination process, and there is a process outlined in our administrative policy. Okay, great. Thank you.

Any other questions?

No?

All right. So being that there are no other questions, I now declare the public hearing closed, and the council will now deliberate. What is the council's pleasure? Are there any discussion or a motion? Council Member Anthony.

I mean, I'm not happy about the changes, but it's a federal government program. They can basically dictate pretty much how it operates, and the red lines are coming directly from them. So you know. I'm not happy about it, but I'll move the item forward.

And actually, some of the changes are not, they're beneficial to the recipient. So I was trying to see if it's a similar situation. Is this going to be taken away funding from them? How it's going to impact? And looking at some calculations, it's actually in their benefit with the deduction. So, you know, we're never 100% satisfied with what they do on the federal and state, but it's not too bad this one.

Ready? Okay. All right. I'll move that we adopt a resolution of the Housing Authority of the City of Burbank approving, one, the Public Housing Agency revised annual plan for fiscal year 2026-2027, two, updates to the Section 8 Administrative Plan to implement housing opportunities through Modernization Act, and three, authorizing the Executive Director to execute the certifications required by the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development.

Do I have a second? Second. All right. Council Member Anthony made the motion. Vice Mayor second. Can we get a roll call, please?

Council Member Anthony?

Yes.

Council Member Perez? Abstain.

Okay.

All right. Council Member Rizzotti?

Yes.

Vice Mayor Mullins? Yes. And Mayor Takahashi? Yes. Thank you.

So tonight we have two reports to council. After staff's presentations, the council will proceed with public comment. Speakers will be allowed to speak on the item at the conclusion of the presentation, as long as the speaker has not spoken on the item during the first period of general public comment. Please be sure to submit your public comment card now, as no additional public comment cards will be accepted once the comment period commences following staff's presentation. If you'd like to participate in remote public comment for this report, please join via Zoom. using the link on the agenda or by calling 818-238-3335. Please join the speaker queue by using the raise hand feature in Zoom or by dialing star nine on your phone.

Okay, we're set, all right.

So the first report to council tonight is the appointment to fill one vacancy on the Community Development Block Grant Committee for an unexpired term. Welcome Madam City Clerk Kimberly Clark to please present the report.

Thank you again, Mayor Tagahashi and members of the City Council. Kimberly Clark, City Clerk. Tonight, I will be presenting reports to Council item number one, appointment to fill one vacancy on the Community Development Block Grant Committee for an unexpired term. on july 8 2026 the city clerk's office began advertising and accepting applications for one vacancy on the community development block grant committee for an unexpired term ending july 31st 2028 this vacancy was created by the resignation of committee member neil mandelberg to obtain qualified candidates a notice of vacancy was advertised through the following channels The city's website, city council meeting announcements, all social media platforms managed by the city clerk's office, press releases sent to the Burbank leader and myburbank.com, notices posted on the city hall bulletin board, community groups and organizations, and through constant contact email notification. The deadline for submitting applications to the City Clerk's Office was Friday, August 7, 2026, at 5 o'clock p.m. The City Clerk's Office received a total of four applications. Eric McBride, Carol Knowles, Eric Morabustos, and Elizabeth Oliver. The applications were listed in the order in which they were received. At this time, I'm happy to answer any questions Council may have.

Great, thank you. All right, we will now proceed to the public comment period for this report to council, and no additional cards or remote comments will be accepted. For the in-person speakers, a reminder, a timer is available at the podium. For both in-person and remote participants, please state your name for the record. And for remote speakers, please note your name will be listed in the record exactly as shown on Zoom, unless otherwise introduced when speaking. Madam City Clerk, how many public comment cards do we have and how many remote commenters do we have?

We only have two for in-person.

Okay, thank you. Being that there's only two, you get up to three minutes. Our first speaker is Eric McBride, followed by Eric Mora.

Welcome. Hi, my name's Eric McBride. Happy to be here tonight. Nice to meet you all. Sorry, I used to be on the spotlight. I've applied for the Community Block Council because I want to serve the broadband community. I like rules and process in helping people. By day, I run revenue operations at a startup, so the intersection of technology and helping with sales. And I'd love to apply some of those strengths to the details and process of the Community Development Grant Board. I've enjoyed getting to meet some of you throughout this process and looking forward to hopefully working with you soon. I'm glad to be one of two Eric M's here tonight.

Thank you for your comment. And next up is Eric Mora. Welcome.

Good evening, Mayor. Good evening, Council Members and Vice Mayor. My name is Eric Mora. I wanted to introduce myself for the Block Grant Committee. I am a construction manager by profession. Sorry, I'm not a great public speaker like the other Eric. I've been doing construction management for 22 years. The majority of our clients, our developers that we work with, they focus on affordable housing, senior housing, family housing, project home keys, PSH, permanent supportive housing, and HHH funding housing. I work as the... developers representative as a construction manager managing the entire process of the project, overseeing the architects, contractors, city permit applications, the entire thing for them. So I wanted to present myself to you guys, let you know who I am, what I do, and how I could benefit this committee. As I said, the majority of the projects are in the affordable housing sector. So we deal with HUD funding, community development grants, housing authority grants. So I am familiar with other agencies. I am also a Burbank resident, been a Burbank resident since 2018. So I think I can bring a unique perspective to this committee with the experience that I have in being an active, someone who is active in this industry that benefits and is largely funded by HUD and other city, state, federal funds. And so just wanted to introduce myself and give you the opportunity to know who I am, what I can do, and the insights I can bring to this committee. Earlier, I've been hearing about the project labor agreements. Majority of our projects involve project labor agreements or Davis-Bacon Act with prevailing wages. So I'm very familiar with that. It's late now, but if city council committees or anything wanted any insights on that and how it affects our projects or how it benefits our projects, rather, not affects, negative term, I could also, could have brought that or shared my insights on that. Thank you.

Thank you for your comment. All right. We have now completed public comment for this report to council. Does staff have any response to public comment? No. So we will move on to the city council making a vote. But before we take a vote on, unless there's any questions or discussion from the council. Yes, Council Member Anthony.

I wanted to ask the city attorney this. Many of the applicants for the Community Development Block Grant Committee, mostly non-profits, some of them are affordable housing developers at different years we've had that, is that correct?

Yeah, such a circumstance, if they're also an applicant, would create a conflict of interest.

Saying if they work for an affordable housing developer and one of their associates or something like that?

If they're an applicant for CDBG funds, the decision on how to allocate CDBG funds has a conflict of interest. If they recuse themselves from just their organization, they still have the ability through the decision to reserve funds as they go. So it becomes a sticky situation.

Okay. All right. Thank you. I only ask that. You know, resumes are fantastic. We have four wonderful applicants. I'm just concerned that if we go through the process and we have people that need to step away from meetings during the CDBG process, we might not have a full discussion. That's all. And it's not to minimize any of the work that any previous applicant had done.

Fair concern. Before we do the vote, we say every time we do this, it's tough because applicants are all really qualified. We are very fortunate in Burbank to have consistently qualified candidates that are all we all appreciate so only one person can be selected tonight and for those who are not selected please continue to show interest and apply to future boards and you're always welcome to attend the meetings and to give public comment so that's also a way to participate as well if you don't get selected all right all right so let's do the vote please i will call each applicant's name in order and let's see a show of hands eric mcbride Well, there we go.

Eric McBride is appointed. Congratulations.

Congratulations. And you will be contacted by the city clerk on next steps.

Madam Aaron if I can say to the folks who are not selected I know this is a very like in your face process but please do apply again I think many of us here on this council have served on boards and commissions and I have no problem telling you it took me two times to get applied to get put on a commission so please please don't be discouraged please reapply for this board or another one that interests you and please do reach out to us to talk about your interest we're always happy to talk about that individually yes council member

And I just, to the applicant, Mr. Morabustos, what I discussed earlier with the city attorney was very specific to this board. I think there is definitely space for you in this community, so please continue to apply.

Yes. Yeah, actually to that point, looking at over the resumes, I was thinking our applicants could serve on many boards. This is not the only board, so... Yeah, please don't limit yourself to just this one. Look at the other openings that come up as we move forward.

Okay, thank you for being here and for applying.

Okay, the second report to council tonight is the overview and evaluation of project labor agreements related to the city of Burbank's capital improvement program. I welcome Public Works Director Mr. Damien Skinner to please present the report. Welcome.

Good evening, honorable mayor and members of the state council. I am Damian Skinner, your public works director.

Can I have the presentation, please?

And the clicker. Oh, it's over there. Okay. So now I'm going to provide a brief overview of project labor agreements. Hold on, let's... There we go. Or PLAs for short, and discuss the potential impacts and benefits they may have on the city's capital improvement program. Before I get into the presentation, you'll notice that each slide has a picture. And that picture represents a project that was completed last fiscal year. So I figured it was appropriate while we're talking about capital projects to show you capital projects that were completed. So what is a project labor agreement? It's a pre-hire collective bargaining agreement with labor unions that establish employment terms for construction projects. Typical terms for PLA include standards for wages and benefits, provisions that prohibit workers from engaging in strikes, slowdowns, and other dispute mechanisms, requirements that contractors hire workers who are referred from union hiring halls, and that's a big one, And non-new workers pay dues to applicable unions while on the project. In this next slide, I'll explain the regulatory framework that governs Public Works projects. In California, Public Works construction projects exceeding $1,000 are subject to state labor laws, including prevailing wage requirements, apprenticeship mandates, and skilled and trained workforce provisions. The California Department of Industrial Relations sets prevailing wage rates based on regional union collective bargaining agreements. So we see a lot of alignment between prevailing wage and union wages. It's not a single flat minimum wage and based on location and trade. For example, plumbers, electricians, and carpenters. The total compensation package includes a basic hourly rate, fringe benefits including health and welfare, pensions, vacation, holiday, and training. and overtime and holiday pay. So the potential impacts, and I highlight the word potential, impacts of a project labor agreement, That includes the, well, to really explain it, I have to kind of give you the landscape of the construction world as it exists today in Burbank. Currently, there's a lot of competition for construction. We're seeing a lot of regional demand, and because of that, we have seen limited bidder turnout. on some of our low-dollar but complex projects. And an example of that is the fountain project. For example, that was a $1.5 million project. And the CSB security project, which was about $600,000. You know, when contractors respond to a request for bid or proposal, they go through a rigorous process. They have to fill out a complete packet put all their qualifications, everything in there. They have to submit a bid bond and in their insurance. And adding a PLA requirement on top of that just makes the complicated process even more complicated. And that puts a demand on them, which may potentially further reduce participation. And that reduction in participation means that we have less contractors bidding on our projects, which we're already in a very tight market. And when we have fewer contractors bidding on projects, that means they could raise their prices. And if we're paying more for projects, we're doing less of them. So that is the nexus that we're drawing here is that the landscape is very tight and contractor participation is already problematic. The last bullet point there is uncertain project quality. And where that comes in is the bullet point that I mentioned earlier about requiring a contractor to hire from the union halls. I admit the union halls have very talented folks. And there's no question that good labor or good work could be found there. But when we hire a contractor, they are contractually obligated to provide quality work on schedule or face fines or even a call in their performance bond. That provides risk to the contractor. So we're saying, okay, we want you to do this work. It's complicated and all that, but we don't want you to use your people. Use folks that you're not familiar with, but give us good work. So that's a challenge that I think some contractors may find insurmountable and may prevent them from doing bidding on our projects. Now, this is just an objective look at things. I'm not trying to color this in a certain way. But this is just exactly, this is the kind of things we're seeing in this landscape. Now, there are potential benefits. There are meaningful benefits to a PLA. And the list is short, but it's impactful. Now, as I mentioned before, the union halls are full of very talented folks, and it's a guaranteed access to a reliable pool of trained and certified craft workers. Usually part of the PLA agreement, workers and unions agree not to strike, and employers agree to avoid lockouts. And that in itself could almost guarantee project completion, but again, it's just a variable. And PLAs can also include provisions that encourage or require the hiring of local residents. So the recommendation. There's several bullet points I have here. The first is the current economic environment. As I mentioned, the construction landscape is very tight, very competitive. But we're also seeing a lot of inflation. The cost of goods and services are skyrocketing. Our engineering estimates are being blown out. And things that were costed out by professional consultants a year ago, if you go to construction a year later, is exceeding what we thought it was going to be. I know there's been mixed analysis on the benefits of a PLA or the pitfalls of a PLA. The city of Lancaster put out a staff report or report to their assistant city manager stating that they implemented a PLA and they did not see any impacts or problems with it. But on the other hand, the county of Ventura, when their staff analyzed the PLA, they determined that over five years, the cost of their capital projects is going to increase by $75 million. So there's mixed news about or a mixed analysis on the benefits and pitfalls of PLAs. But what that does tell me, though, is that we have to be cautious. And we have a large portfolio of capital projects we need to deliver. And any amount of risk or uncertainty or challenges that we provide to our contractors is going to impede our ability to deliver those projects. Let's see here. The need to maintain flexible and minimize potential challenges. The flexibility aspect to this bullet point really just speaks to allowing the contractors to have choice. The union halls, again, are full of very talented folks. The contractors can use their teams Nothing precludes them from going to a union hall and saying, hey, I want to hire these talented folks. But we should allow the choice to remain with them. And that's what the flexibility comes to. Because when they have the ability to figure out how they're going to deliver that project the best they can and on schedule, using the forces that they feel are appropriate to do just that, then we could potentially have a better product. I do want to say something on a personal note. I've listened to the folks out here talking about the benefits of PLAs, and I am all for unions and the good work that they do. They're boots on the ground. They deliver the projects that we showed in these slides. My analysis, or the analysis I'm providing to you is truly objective. My goal is to deliver projects efficiently and as cost effectively as possible. And the only reason why, The recommendations that we see here today is because that analysis shows that. There is risk that is involved in this action. It's not to say that the good folks that are out here are not doing good work, but the reality of things is that the landscape we're dealing with, the lack of contractor participation in our projects, our ability to deliver them cost effectively, that could be a challenge here. That's where I'll leave it. I'm available for any questions you may have.

Thank you for your presentation. We will now proceed to public comment for this report to council. And no additional cards or remote comments will be accepted. For in-person speakers, a timer is available at the podium. For both in-person and remote participants, please state your name for the record. And for remote speakers, please note that your name will be listed on the record exactly as shown on Zoom, unless otherwise introduced. Madam City Clerk, how many public comment cards do we have and how many remote commenters do we have?

We have 19 in-person speakers and no remote commenters tonight.

Okay. So that puts us at just under the wire for you to have three minutes. If we had 21 speakers, it would be two minutes. So as we move forward, you have up to three minutes, but it is okay for you not to use your full three minutes. Just consider that, you know, the timing. But, of course, you are absolutely welcome to use your full three minutes at the same time we do.

Don't try to stifle anyone's free speech here.

No, I don't want to stifle anyone's free speech or discourage it, but just state that it's not a requirement to go up to the end of the three minutes, so. So also, I just want to mention apologies. I'll be stepping out just a minute to run to the restroom while there's comments going on, but it's not about you personally, I promise. All right, so I know. Our first speaker is Jovanis Demercian, followed by Jerry Black. Thank you. Thank you. Mayor, vice mayor, council members, interested parties.

This is a topic that's near and dear to me. I was a carpenter, still am in the union, put in my years, and when I tell people about what I did and tell them that I am retired, they will typically say, oh, you must have worked union, which Yeah, that's how it gets done, unfortunately. Most employers do not want to pay a fair wage. So I'm looking at this from the other end. You know, we fought the good fight. I went out and worked as a rep to fight for workers in Arizona as well. And there was a project that we were fighting for those workers to get decent wages, to get the benefits. And I had one of the, it was an assisted living project. And the people there were pretty independent. One of them walked out, gentleman, came up and said, what's going on here? You know, I explained it to him, what was going on with those workers, how they were being treated, what they were being, you know, left out of. And he looked at me and said, well, I'm, because he had already told me he was from Chicago. He goes, I moved here to get, to pay less money. I want to save money. I don't want to see my costs go up. And I said, wait a minute, you moved here from Chicago. What kind of a job did you have there? Were there benefits? And everything that he was fighting against or opposed to, he had gotten in his lifetime. And I guess any time we... There's never an easy time or the right time to do the right thing. I guess it's always the right time to do the right thing. It's never easy. We can say, hey, these are uncertain times. These are questionable things. But to do the right thing, is doing the right thing, and that's when we face our own conscious, face, you know, hey, what do we do when other people are looking? What do we do when nobody's looking? And I think everybody's looking here, now, and what I stand for is workers being able to take care of themselves, thrive, have a family, And when you look out there right now, because I have a daughter who's right now attending university. I have a son who's in high school. And I talk to kids. And just today, in fact, I saw a young man who was kind of like, you know, I didn't know exactly where he should go, what he should do. Because it is confusing right now. The future, as far as getting an education, what kind of job do I get? What makes sense? What is going to make a future for me? And to me, the trades... There's jobs out there that we look at and we go, there's a future there. So not only... Did I? Oh, wow.

That's your time.

I could keep going, but no, I'll reserve the rest of my time for the next speaker. Thank you.

Thank you. Our next speaker is Alex Perez, followed by Terry Norton. Are they both gone? Oh, Alex. Terry's here. I see him coming up. I know. I was like, I can spot you there, Terry.

Well, they asked me to put the shirt on, but I wasn't going to be able to show you. So we'll do it like this. OK. I was brought into the union. I joined the union. It was a choice of mine in 1972. I'm a retired IBW Local 11 electrician after 50 plus years. During that time, I became a project manager. I was accredited through PMI and I was a lead AP. Now the gentleman here who just spoke of the PLA, I have a lot of issues I'd like to take with him. where I spent 15 years project managing PLAs of every size and shape and depth of complexities that you could think of. I think some that came to mind for me were helicopters flying heavy loads to tops of high rise buildings, placing generators on the eighth floor of an existing high rise building. To become an electrician, journeyman wireman with Local 11, I was required to take 4,000 hours of training. I had to prove to the state of California that I had 10,000 hours of experience. And I mean, they know I had 10,000 hours of experience. So through those 15 years, In order for me to hire out of the union hall, I have to have a ticket from the state of California that shows that I qualified as a journeyman wireman. That's what you get when you hire a electrician from Local 11. You get a state-certified license-carrying electrician. Beyond that, my 15 years of project management and PLAs says to me, and my experience is, that the union isn't the high bid. There are contractors that come in to participate in PLAs through the Davis-Bacon, through the acts of Congress that already exist, that they can qualify to do the job, the same as a union electrician. The difference is the union quality of work is incredibly so much better than what you get when you hire the other guy. The competition is the same. They're all on a level playing field. I recommend that you go ahead and approve the PLA. There's no fear here. It all works. Thank you very much.

Thank you for your comment. Next up is Malaki Simmons, followed by Matthew Gaines. Sorry, I mispronounced.

It's all right. I grew up like that, I know.

My apologies. For somebody who gets my name mispronounced regularly, I apologize.

That's all right. Hold it out until I get past your name. Good evening, Mayor Takahashi and members of the city council. My name is Malachi Simmons. I'm a 27-year member and current vice president of IATC Local 728, which is located right across the bridge on Magnolia Boulevard. Some of you have been there. Several of our members live in this city, as well as many of them work in this city, and that's why we're here tonight to strongly urge the city council to negotiate a community workforce agreement with the LAOC building trades. Earlier we heard a gentleman who sounded much like the people we go out and organize non-union projects with that talk about it's going to be cheaper and more affordable, but what they're also not saying is that it's not going to protect the worker. It's not going to provide benefits. It's not going to provide a retirement. It's not going to provide the opportunity for a father or mother or kin to raise a child to then be a city council member or a teacher or whatever it is that they wish to be. Walking up here, we passed a mural that honors the workers who built Burbank. In the spirit of that mural, this agreement will create good local jobs for Burbank residents and create a new career opportunities for Burbank residents who are struggling to find viable career paths as we navigate this rocky economy. This agreement will enable apprentices to get working hours they need to complete their apprenticeship and become journey members. Once they graduate, they enter into a career with no student loan debt and contribute more of their pay into local economy rather than paying down student loans. For these reasons, we strongly urge the Burbank City Council to negotiate a community workforce agreement with the LAOC building trades in good faith. And I thank you for your consideration.

Thank you for your comment. Next up is Matthew Gaines, followed by Chris Robbins. Welcome.

Good evening, my name is Matthew Gaines and I'm here representing the International Union of Operating Engineers. We are the crane and bulldozer union. We also represent surveyors, inspectors, and mechanics who get the privilege of fixing things most of the other unions behind us break on job sites. Right? You've heard a lot of the same things tonight. One of the things I would like to impress upon you is Each one of these unions that are back here have our own apprenticeship programs, and we create a mentorship program, and we train the next generation of construction workers that are employed by companies. We don't employ our own members to do jobs. They enter a workforce through contractors. And so in part of this agreement, which we're talking about entering into a negotiation. There is no set agreement here. But part of the challenge in all this is we don't force anyone to do anything. Any contractor can bid on work under a community workforce agreement in any municipality. they have an obligation to read that agreement, understand what they're getting into, right? There's provisions for one to one, one union member to one of their workers, right? So there's no exclusion to say, oh, only the union workers can work on these projects, right? The other thing I think that's really important here is the constituents of this city voted for the five of you to set direction and... push a vision for this city and what it could look like. And no offense to the rest of the staff, but you're all hired as part of the organization. You weren't the ones voted in. And I think it's important to remember that, that the people put their trust in the five of you to make good decisions for the city. And I think that entering into at least the negotiation is something that is worthwhile. The final result of the new terminal, I think, is going to be incredible. It's a testament to the workforce that's represented behind here. And I wish the ladies had stayed because I think it's important that we recognize Amelia Earhart also, who is an icon and has a statue at the airport, right? So let's move forward on this. Thank you.

Thank you for your comment. Next up is Chris Robbins, followed by Renee Plasios. Welcome.

Hello, City Council. This is my first time here. So my name is Chris Roberts. I am here because I'm a first year apprentice, a member of the IBEW Local 11. I live here in Burbank. I've lived here for 10 years and I'm proud to be in a city where I can raise my family in. It's a great place to be. My son goes to McKinley Elementary School. I take him to swim lessons over here at the YMCA. The CWA would give me the opportunity to take jobs close to home where I wouldn't have to travel so far and I could also feel like I could contribute to my city. and the city that I live in. I am actually a third generation IBEW member, and I am really proud to have a job that contributes and to help build a better future, and I would like to build that better future here in Burbank. Thank you for your time.

Thank you for your comment. Next up is Renee Plasios, followed by Kyle Budrick.

Good evening, Mayor and members of the City Council. My name is Rene Palacios, and I'm a 37-year member of the Ironworkers of Local 433. And on behalf of the Ironworkers of Local 433, we strongly urge the Burbank City Council to disregard the staff report and direct the City Attorney and the City staff to negotiate the Community Workforce Agreement. This gentleman right here, he got up and gave a speech. I respect that. But from... There's two speeches we could say. Yes, this is the apprentices, and yes, everyone's going to be good, and everyone else have a good family and money and live a good lifestyle. That's one speech. The other speech is that city council, I get you guys want to save money. You guys want to do things that are probably better for the city financially, but financially it would be best for you to hire union labor, right? You get what you pay for, straight up. All it takes is one major catastrophe by hiring people who are not skilled, not trained correctly, and then you'll go down in history. And you don't want to do that. Okay. We, uh, I also would like to invite all of you to our apprenticeship program, which is in the city of La Palma. And you guys can come see firsthand, uh, how we train our apprentices, how they take pride in what they're learning. It's, it's basically a little college. Yeah. It's, it's for your program. And, uh, like I said, I'll extend an invitation to you and you guys can reach out to me and, um, That's basically it. And also, we provide labor, skilled and trained labor, and I just cannot say it enough that skilled and trained means exactly what it is, skilled and trained. Thank you.

Thank you for your comment. Next up is Kyle Budrick, followed by Matthew Duran. Welcome.

Good evening, everyone. My name is Kyle Budrick, and I'm a lifelong resident of Burbank. I'm an apprentice in the Plumbers and Pipefitters Local 761. I'm currently working in Burbank and also worked on the Burbank Airport project. I believe using union labor is beneficial for the city of Burbank. We attend a five-year training program that produces highly skilled labor while also doing the job safely. I would like to use my skills that I'm learning through my apprenticeship program in my hometown. I'm here to ask for your vote on the PLA. Please choose union labor for our great city of Burbank. Thank you.

Thank you for your comment. Next up is Matthew Duran followed by Diana Lemon. Welcome back.

Good evening, Council.

This is Matthew Duran, fairly new resident to Burbank, but I'm proud to be here. In 2021, I discharged from the U.S. Navy, and I threw a Helmets to Hardhats program. I joined my local union, 761 Plumbers and Pipefitters, out here in Burbank. And since then, I've been very proud to work for them. We have learned a lot from them, and I have put in a lot of hours, and I continue to put in a lot of hours, and look forward to doing that in Burbank. I just moved here within the last two, three years, but I... have grown very accustomed to this community and I just want the work to stay here. As well, along with that, I am building a family and I expect to have a newborn baby son here in November, born at St. Joseph's Hospital. So I look forward to that and I want that to continue and have that be my son's hometown here. So I hope that you guys can, along with my other apprentice here, you guys can negotiate to help union members and work towards this community workforce agreement so that we can stay working close to our families and have a bright future. Thank you.

Thank you for your comment, and congratulations. Next up is Diana Lehman, followed by Greg Lewis. Diana Lehman.

Good evening, Mayor, Vice Mayor, and council members.

My name is Diana Lehman, and I'm here on behalf of IBW Local 11. We represent almost 12,000 members here in the Los Angeles area, including almost 1,900 apprentices in our area. I don't want to repeat a lot of the benefits that you've already heard, but there's one thing that I was inspired by, by your proclamation of women and equality, is when you look at a project like Burbank Airport, the number of women on that project Show me any construction site with women, and I guarantee you, you're not gonna find that unless you find a project labor agreement, community workforce agreement. Why? Because it provides opportunities for people that live there, minorities, disadvantaged workers, individuals that might not have the opportunity to join a construction trade, have those opportunities with these community workforce agreements. So I urge you to proceed and move forward in engaging and directing your city attorney and manager to continue to move forward with this community workforce agreement. Thank you.

Thank you for your comment. Next up is Greg Lewis, followed by Eddie Alvarez.

Good evening, mayor and council members. My name is Greg Lewis. I'm the business manager of Plumbers and Pipefitters Local 761 right here in Burbank since 1922. I grew up in Burbank. I graduated from Burbank High. My wife graduated from Burroughs, so we have that to have fun with each other about. Anyway, I'm here to ask for your support with the community workforce agreement negotiating with the PLA in place, you can rest assured that the crafts people that are building these buildings will be skilled and trained. They'll either be an apprentice that's indentured into our apprenticeship program or a journey worker that has graduated from our five-year apprenticeship program. As opposed to if you just use prevailing wage laws, anybody can be building those buildings. They could be coming from anywhere in the country or even outside the country. You're paying those rates and you have no idea what kind of training they've had, if any at all. This is also an opportunity for you guys to ensure that you're providing jobs for local residents and veterans, opportunities for them to build these projects. And this will also provide compliance to ensure that the people building these buildings are being paid correctly and not misclassified at a lower rate, which steals money from taxpayers and workers. CUWAs are being used in many public agencies, proving their effectiveness and changing the lives of the constituents for the better. You know, one thing about prevailing wage is there's no, I mean there are good laws on the books for prevailing wage, but the problem is there's no compliance, and we fight it every day. With community workforce agreements, we're the cops on that. If workers aren't being paid correctly, we handle that. So you can rest assured that they're getting paid the correct wages. So I just want to urge you to negotiate the PLA with LA and Orange County Building Trades. And I want to give a shout out to Dolly Parton, RIP, who, by the way, was a 50-year union member. Thank you.

Thank you for your comment. Next up is Eddie Alvarez, followed by Cameron Tennyson.

Madam Mayor, City Council, on behalf of Executive Secretary Ernesto Maggiano and my 160,000 sisters and brothers of the union construction industry, I want to thank you for having me tonight. I'm sorry, Eddie Alvarez with the LAOC Billing Trades. With all due respect to the city staff, I needed to correct something in his report. First of all, non-union members do not have to pay dues while they're on PLA construction sites. That's actually against the law as of 2018. because of the Janus Act. So that's the prevailing wage is set by the local area wage, not by the CBAs. So we'll level the local median wages for the whole entire area. That's what sets the wage. The state takes all the wages and puts them into a big bucket. And whatever the highest wage is, that is the wage that comes out. The third, lastly, is the City of Lancaster report. And this is The last paragraph of the City of Lancaster report says, The CWA has not negatively impacted job creation. The CWA has been successful in shifting contracts from outside Los Angeles County back into Los Angeles County and keep several contracts within the City of Lancaster. The CWA has not negatively impacted the City's ability to obtain competitive bids. Entering into a CWA agreement has not caused an increase in project costs. So I just wanted to make those very, very clear because of the slide that we saw. Nowhere in the report were there citations from any academic or industry studies. The only study that was partly cited was the Lancaster, which was kind of disregarded in the staff report. This also doesn't speak to the thousands of projects that have been built here in Southern California with our union hands. As we heard earlier, Warner Brothers, NBC, Griffith Park, and both the old and new Burbank Terminal, which is the crown jewel, in my opinion, of aviation here in Southern California. We work hand in hand with the airport authority, myself, the general contractor, union, non-union contractors to make sure that the project finished on time and was built by the best skilled and trained labor in America. That is one of the most beautiful buildings I have seen in my travels here in the last 10 years. And I mean that. And I'm proud of it that I got to be a part of that. And last year, Burbank Unified took a huge step by partnering with us into a community workforce agreement. Due to the strong local hire language in the agreement, previous graduates of the district will be the first people to offer jobs on those projects that are starting to come up, alongside local residents, veterans, and new apprentices, all the people that you have seen here tonight. Agreements like this are exactly how you reinvest into your community, and that's really true economic development. A couple of the stats that a couple of people have put forward, our nonprofit has put, in the last five years, has almost put together, I think, 2,500 people to work. I know I'm running out of time, but 33% of those people were just as impacted. 30% of those folks were famously homeless. 90% of the people that are not going to the trades are people of color. And 20%, as the sister said, are women. And the national average is only 3%. And here in Los Angeles County, we are at 20%. And so we're really, really proud of that. So those are the reasons we humbly ask you, and I'll finish this, to disregard staff court and go for the community workforce agreement. Thank you.

Next up is Cameron Tennyson, followed by Josh Christensen.

Hello. I'm Cameron Tennyson. First, I would like to say, if you had told me that I would come to a city council meeting and see a bunch of trades union people doing jazz hands for most of the night, definitely unexpected. But no, it's been really cool to see how much support this community has, obviously. I support a PLA. I am a union member, OPEIU 174. I actually work in a building that was built without a PLA. And the reason I know that is because the building, the construction team that wasn't properly paid or the conditions weren't very good, they went on strike in the middle of that building. And so now we had a situation where I work at a movie studio and potentially tour guests who were coming to see the studio, they now have a strike. And now we're having to avoid the fact that there is an entire construction that is sitting there as scabs are crossing the line and as you've got people picketing. I can tell you for a fact that building that we work in It feels like it was made by scabs. It is creaking. I'm just waiting for the day for it to collapse on us. All of that could have been avoided if a PLA was enacted. I do want to talk about the report itself. There were a couple things I read through that I just kind of want to mention. There's a very blasé attitude towards union workers, which I know we said it was objective, but I don't necessarily agree. One of the things that really stood out in the first section was talking about competition and wages. It mentioned that doing a PLA could potentially harm local businesses, specifically minority and women-owned businesses. I'm sorry, using diversity as a guise of trying to say that something is anti-woman. It's ridiculous. As we've seen, there is no law that makes it so that women in minority groups cannot be union members. Also, this idea of competition. Yes, so when you have more companies that are bidding and that price keeps going down, the price goes down because the people who are actually working, those workers, they're the ones who are seeing worse working conditions, worse wages. There's a mention of flexibility for contractors saying that PLAs may restrict certain schedules and wages. That's the whole point of a union, is to make sure that everyone is treated fairly. So please go ahead, recommend that we do the PLA. Union strong, everybody.

Thank you for your comment. Next up is Josh Christensen, followed by... Dustin, I think, Blankthropp, but I'm not having a hard time reading the handwriting. Welcome.

Hi, my name is Josh Christensen. I'm represented with the Western State Regional Council of Carpenters, representing 60,000 workers in 10 states, but 30,000 in the Los Angeles County area. I'm here to urge to push this PLA through and to get it approved and to get workers working. Not to reiterate what... the trades and everyone's already said, but in Burbank Unified School District, we have a program, it's called Career Connections. Career Connections has been a very successful program in the district where they've been able to compete in SkillsUSA and be able to compete in the state championships and be able to go on to nationals over in Georgia. And Burroughs High School had some students that had some high honors. We've had some of our contractors come and sponsor those events and actually put those folks on as full-time apprentices. And these future apprentices have the opportunity to work on these future projects. The problem is without a PLA in place, they may get dispatched as an apprentice for that one-time job. and then they're out of work again. And then they gotta go find another job. And maybe get a job across the street, but it's not under a PLA and they get paid the low, low wages with no training at all. And so it's important to have a PLA in place so that our young high school kids have an opportunity to go and learn a trade and to be able to be successful. As we see in high schools these days, not everyone's hyped up to go to college. Again, the jobs aren't for sure. The jobs aren't, the jobs not there. The wages aren't there, but they, They've chosen to choose a path in the construction industry and join an apprenticeship and be able to thrive through joining a union and be able to provide for their families and have that union backing is important. Again, strongly urge you to push this PLA forward, get it on the table to start negotiations, and we are ready to go to work. Thank you.

Thank you for your comment. Next up is, I think, Dustin. You can help me pronounce your last name. Brinkinship. Brinkinship. Thank you. And I really account it to my inability to read handwriting. That's my... It's okay.

I have terrible handwriting.

And followed by Joe Sullivan. Welcome.

This is my IATSE Local 44 membership card. I've proudly carried it in my wallet for 15 years. And I can only carry this card because of the union labor who fought and died for my right to hold it. They were murdered for our weekends. They were murdered for our eight-hour workday. They were murdered for better working conditions. They were murdered for every right and benefit that I have as a labor today. They struck. They fought. They banded together. It was through their collective sacrifices that I don't live off company script in a company town, working 12 hours a day, seven days a week. You may call this hyperbole, but you forget all the benefits you enjoy because of the collective action of my forefathers. Look at our national history. Robber barons and capitalists stole and hoarded the wealth generated by our labor, and the unions fought back. With the rise of tech billionaires and the gig economy, history is rhyming again. That's why I stand here tonight for union labor everywhere. A union is a union is a union. Wherever union labor can be gained, I will stand for it. I will fight for it. I will sacrifice for it. Bring union work to Burbank. Bring union work to our union town. Hire union for their skill, their expertise, and the sacrifices my comrades, my brothers, my sister, and my kin contribute to our community. Union strong.

Thank you for your comment. Next up is Joe Sullivan, followed by Julio Parra. Welcome.

Yes, thank you. Good evening, Mayor, Council, and staff. My name is Joe Sullivan. I'm speaking on behalf of the National Electrical Contractors Association of Greater Los Angeles. This represents approximately 300 electrical contractors that partner with union electricians. And we want to express our strong support for this community workforce agreement. One argument against the community workforce agreement is a lack of contractors that are willing to bid this work. We can assure you that NECA has many contractors that perform public works and want to work in Burbank, and we're willing to partner with you on contractor participation. Another argument is that it excludes small contractors and limits contractor diversity. This is inaccurate. We have two-person shops that go all the way up to contractors that build SoFi Stadium or the Burbank Airport. And the vast, vast majority of our contractors come through our apprenticeship program. So the diversity reflects what we see in the apprenticeship program. The CWA will ensure that contractors are compliant with the labor law and a level playing field for high-road, high-quality contracts, contractors that employ a skilled and trained workforce. So now you would have the best contractors bidding on these jobs. Our contractors, along with our partners at IBW Local 11, make a significant contribution to workforce investment that's been discussed today, a five-year no-cost apprenticeship program that includes classroom training, on-the-job training, mentorship and testing, and extensive community outreach. So we support the Community Workforce Agreement, which will result in the industry's leading contractors competing for this work. Thank you.

Thank you for your comment. Next up is Julio Parra, followed by what looks like Robert Skaggs. Welcome.

Unbelievable. I'm a man. Can't believe it. Man, I was locked away from 16 to coming out to 34. I'm just very proud to say that I'm from a union, proud to say that, damn, I'm very nervous. I'm from Local 300. I'm a labor worker. I work hard. I've earned mines. They have given me an opportunity, and I'm very grateful to say that I'm from Local 300. I'm a union member. I've been able to support my family. You know, I have a set of twins, boy and girl. I have a five-year-old. My twins are three. I have my wife. I have my own house. I have great benefits. My kids have benefits. I've been working since I've been from the union. I was part of the project right here in the airport. I actually live across the street. not too far from, like probably two blocks, I say. But I'm just here to tell you guys that they train you well, you know, to work safely. You know, I've seen other non-union companies that work with differently. You know, I've been able to be trained where, where it's safely. So like when I look at them, I'll be like, damn, they don't even got the goggle or whatever things that do matter. The littlest things, you know, you could get hurt out there. Um, but yeah, I'm just, I'm just, um, very grateful to be here. You know, I'm very grateful to be here. Um, I'm speaking from my heart. Um, um, Yeah, we want to work. I'm working right now, but I want to work more, you know. But, yeah, they train you well, and I'm very grateful. I'm blessed. I can't even believe that I'm right here, you know. I've been out five years. I've been from the union like four, going on four. I met a lot of great people. We're all solid, you know, and all the people that are in the union, like, they're all hard workers, you know. I mean, I don't really have much to say. I'm just very proud to be here, and I know that my people right here want to work union strong.

Thank you for your comments. Next up, I think it says Robert Skatz. Yes, it does.

Thank you all so much, Madam Mayor and everyone. This is beautiful to be here tonight. I'm a double union member. I started as an apprenticeship back in the day and became an assistant director with the Directors Guild of America and did quite well in that union here in Burbank when I did Wild West right across the street. But things changed and I became a labor union member, local 300. And everybody here that's speaking to you, The apprenticeship program is amazing on both sides. And you get into the union, and you do well. But when you get into a union, and some of the brothers and sisters said it, you have a safety net. You have someone to call. And now that I'm advanced, I have my kids and my wife, and things have changed. And what you get is you get your health and your welfare. We're all going to make money, and we're all going to do things. and you're going to have your kids and you're going to get older and you have to worry about your insurance. Everyone knows health insurance is the major thing and when is it going to happen and if you're not in a union and you don't have someone backing you and you don't have good insurance and your autistic child mind becomes suicidal two years ago and you don't know what to do, you call your union and they have someone to help you and they guide you through it. And so it's not just about having a job, it's about having a group of people that are actually like you guys have. You're there, you have someone you can call. So having a union and your insurance is so important for your family's future and your children's future. So it's not just about having a high paying job. It's about having a foundation that's always strong because you're only as strong as your roots. And this union has that. All unions have that. Everyone behind me has that. You're getting your skilled workers. You're getting everything everyone said. But what you're really getting is a great insurance. And that's the most important thing in the future for everyone is to know that you have a retirement, you have insurance, and you can keep your kids on your insurance until they're 26. It's unheard of. But that's what a union does. It doesn't just build a family. It keeps a family together during good times and bad times. And you always have a union member to reach out to. So I thank you. I grew up here working on every movie. Now I'm working on your show. I used to be that guy that would say, these guys are leaning on the shovels. What are they doing? Get them out of my way. Now I realize they're just catching their breath because we're building and rebuilding America, and it's really amazing. People always say, why didn't you go back to the movies? I've really found a brotherhood that I've never felt before. The DJ was great, but this is just, it's been different. learning. Like they said about the schools, I was already the boss. Now I got thrown into the school and you're like, whoa. But they really teach you everything you need to know. And I'm a perfect example. I just started eight years ago. I came in blind and they put you through everything. So I just want to say thank you for your time. Union is powerful, but it's also because we need our health and welfare for our future of our families.

Thank you for your comment.

Thank you very much.

And our last comment is by Jovanis Demercian.

Good evening, Council. I'm going to be short. Thank you for your time. My name is . I've been a Burbank resident for 25 years, and I'm local 11 electrician. I'm here with my son, and I support PLA. That's all. Thank you.

Thank you for your comment. Thank you. That concludes our in-person public comment. And to confirm, Madam City Clerk, we do not have any remote comments.

No, we don't.

OK.

So we have now completed public comment for this report to council. Does staff have any response to public comment? Yeah.

I do want to make one clarification about small businesses and minority women-owned business as well. As I mentioned in the report that I presented earlier, that the city has a very I wouldn't say it's complicated, but bidding on Public Works projects itself is a complicated matter. And typically, contractors who do bid on these projects have an administrative team. And that team, they're responsible for putting together the bid, getting the bid bonds together, the insurance requirements, and all of that. When then you add the PLA layer to it, then you also have to have that administrative component of making sure you're complying with that. Most smaller contractors don't have that kind of bandwidth to handle that administrative load. And that's what the report is speaking to. It's not saying that they're prohibitive from participating in any way. It's just what we're seeing in this landscape is that the larger contractors that have that support are the ones that have the ability to put together, spend the time to bid on this, with the hopes of getting it, where others, if they're putting in that kind of time, they're not working on something else. So that's kind of where that's coming from.

Thank you.

Thank you for that follow up. OK, we're going to start with questions. So does anyone want to start with questions for staff? Yes, Council Member Anthony.

I was looking through the overview, and then the attachment has Lancaster's agreement and they get a little bit more specific with the apprenticeship but my understanding is The apprenticeships in these kinds of programs don't specifically lay out local hire. But from my understanding, that's typically how apprenticeships in those labor halls typically work. So it sort of becomes a de facto local hire. Is that correct? Or do we put in a percentage of people from local hire? How does that? What's the?

Yeah, typically in a PLA agreement, you would have percentages that you call out for local hire or percentages you call out for veteran hire, et cetera.

Okay, so that would be spelled out in an agreement. And is that separate from an apprenticeship program?

Kind of, yes, it is. Because the state has its own apprenticeship requirements as part of the Department of Industrial Relations. They have that prevailing wage. and apprenticeship requirements for all public works projects. So that's the de facto stance. And all the contractors have to provide that. The unions have their own apprenticeship programs. And in a way, having both put together is kind of doubling up on that apprenticeship requirement.

So my understanding is it's more like a Venn diagram, where you do the apprenticeship and a lot of the veteran hire and local hire comes through that apprenticeship. So it's sort of like a doubling over. Okay. That's kind of what I understood. Okay. That's all I had for that.

Okay. Any other questions?

No. I was going to have council member Perez lead us into this. It's your report. So I'm giving you the floor. Absolutely. I just had one question first.

Folks mentioned citations, and I got to agree, I didn't see a lot of that. So I'm just wondering, did we look at the Berkeley Labor Center study? That was in 2024, and it was very specific to the LA region.

I did.

Did?

Yeah, I did. And it mentioned that it concluded that there was no real impact on benefits for PLA. It also cited other works that said that it disagreed with their findings. So it's... It's very localized, you know, the impact on the construction participation and bidding. So I think, like, for example, when Ventura County did their analysis, one of the things that they found with their increase in labor cost was that the workers had to come from further away. A lot more windshield time, and it really drove up the cost of folks for the projects that were PLA-based versus the non-PLA-based projects. And that was because of all that windshield time. In LA County, that may be different. But we just don't know. So it's uncertainty is where I'm at.

Thank you for that answer. And that's my only question. I'll lead into the intro. So I think based on what we saw tonight and all of the labor in the house and all of our friends who live and work in Burbank, I don't think we'll have an issue with travel time here. Yeah. Or do you have any more questions?

I have a couple.

Questions. Oh, OK. I thought you were inviting me to start.

To ask the questions.

Yeah.

That was my only question. Let's continue with questions and then you'll be first up for the comments. Okay.

Thank you. So thank you for the report and the presentation. I know that tonight we heard some constructive feedback about the report. And in regards to what it included and what did they include? And I, I wanted to clarify, unless I'm mistaken, given that this is a first step report, it still needs a lot of information that could build this to be a report with additional information. So I want to say in defense of this report, I personally also was looking for dollar amounts, the cost, the employees that we're talking about, more in depth with comparisons to other cities. But because I've been doing this for some time now, I know first step reports is usually information, what do you want us to do now and you get directions from council whether to note and file or move forward and ask you to come back with additional information?

Exactly.

Yes. Okay. Thank you because I wanted to make sure. that this is basically what we're doing today. And for those of you who might not know what First Step Report is, when we want to see something coming to council because we want to talk about it, staff usually comes back with... kind of a really simple light report that has some information, but it's not in depth. And we weigh in on what else do we want to see in there, bring it back so we can dive into it more and be more educated about it in the process. So in some of the information that, for example, I was looking for, like how many contractors on an average on one of your medium-sized projects, how many contractors are currently bid on a Burbank CIP project?

Well, that really varies on the complexity of the project. I can give you a few examples.

A medium size, a dollar amount, if you can do that.

Sure. For example, our multi-roof project, medium size. When I say medium size, about a million dollars or more. It's a simple roofing project, so we had a robust response. We had about 18 contractors respond to that. When we have a project that was designed, meaning that we had to go in and figure out how we're going to build it. We hire an architect or a designer or an engineer to design it. Now we're asking for a contractor to build it. That's where we fall short. For example, the example I gave with the fountain, you know, that was a lot of design. We had to put in a subterranean vault and all that to get that fountain running on recycled water. When we put that out to bid, we didn't get any bidders. And because it was a no-bid situation, we were free to then find a contractor to negotiate. The first contractor we started to negotiate with, they had too much work. And they said, you know what? We can't do this. So we had to go to the second contractor. And we finally were able to get them on board and negotiate as hard as we could to get a price that we thought was reasonable. Another example is the, again, as I mentioned with the CSB Security project, that was about a $600,000 project. Again, it was designed. We hired a contractor to build what was designed. And we got one bidder, family-owned business. And it was OK. It was OK. We had some challenges completing that. But we only had one bidder. So that's the kind of landscape that we're working with. When it's a simple project where it's just, like I said, roofing or like a simple plumbing thing, that's when we get the robust response. When it's something that's a little bit more complicated where it takes time for them to really understand what's being asked for, what's being designed, what resources they need to to bring to deliver this project, that's when we are not seeing the contractors who want to put in the time to put in a bid. So that's the fear. The fear is that we'll even have less participation on those projects.

So what I'm hearing is that the more complicated the project, the less desire from contractors to want to put a bid on this project.

Especially if it's lower dollar amount. So if it's a project that's multi-million dollars, like $50 million or $100 million, there's enough meat on the bones for them to say, we are going to put our best foot forward and we're going to hope and pray that we get it. But when it's a smaller project and they have to do a lot of administrative work to study the design and to come up with a price to compete, that's when the challenges come in.

And how many, and these are the kind of information I was hoping, and I'm asking for because later on we're going to talk about what our next steps are going to be but I don't know if you know offhand like some of these contractors how many of them are actually union members and how many of them are not or if we don't have any at all they're union members.

I don't know off the top of the head. I know for some of our major maintenance contracts, like our electrical contracts in which we have a $2 million PO, they are unionized. Our plumbing contract, they're unionized. I believe our HVAC contract is also unionized. And that's several million dollars right there of union labor just for our maintenance contracts. As far as our construction projects, that's very case by case.

Today I had a conversation. As a matter of fact, Mr. Alvarez was here and spoke earlier. He's still sitting there in the audience. And he indicated, and I don't know if you know the answer, but it's something I'm interested to know, that most of the contractors are like mom and pop type of contractors that usually bid on these type of projects. Has this been your experience? Because we don't typically see a lot of these things from public works when you do put a bid out. So I'm not familiar with who's out there.

We do see family-owned businesses, but they're larger. They're larger. They're not small shops.

So the majority are not the mom and pop?

Yes. They're not mom and pop.

OK. And on an average, for example, let's talk about the fountain project. How many employees do you say they hire to do a project, or they have currently?

That was many subcontractors from excavation, grading, the vault, construction, restoration of a historic. Let's see. They probably had 100 folks on that.

Oh, wow. OK. So I'm interested to also know, when I went through the report and I'm trying to find this information, When you have, if a PLA is implemented and they hire union, let's say the plumbers or IBW or they need electrician plumbers, In your experience, or do you know, what would happen to their own workers that they hire? Can they hire them? Can they work side by side? Or what would typically happen?

Well, it really depends on how the PLA is written. But in most cases, what's typically done is that the contractor, if they have a core workforce that's And it really depends how we define that, meaning that they are full-time employees. They've been a part of their work for the last couple of years or whatever. They're typically on.

One second. Just pause for a second.

Yeah.

For those who are watching, just we're taking a second while we wrap something up. Slide over here. Okay. I think we're okay to keep going.

Yeah, so if the contractor has their own workforce and we define them as core workers, then they can use their coworkers on that project. And if they had, say, a newer workforce that hasn't been with them longer or they have subcontractors they like to use because they have partnerships with them or whatever, those people would be excluded from the job and the contractor would then have to hire the folks from the union hall. So basically you're laying off a set of folks to hire a set of folks. And that's kind of how it goes.

Okay. I know there's disagreement behind you, but again, folks, I think this is why I'm asking the question, because we need information about really what happens, and it needed to be included in the report, which, again, we're all going to make our comments, we're all going to talk about. There's a reason I'm asking these questions, because... we need that information to be presented in a report that we have the knowledge what really happens. So we're not scaring the mom and pop or the contractor from coming in wanting to take a job, or we're not looking as we're trying to displace a lot of people out of work so we can hire more people on this side. So it's more of an education, and it's also there's a way that we can... negotiate right agreements. Maybe there is something that needs to be written in contracts. Once we reach that point and we get there, how do we identify what happens to those individuals? So there's reasons behind these questions because they're not available. You have all the knowledge. I'm actually relying right now on our public works director to ask these questions because we need to have that information. The other question relates to the administration. So in your report you also indicated that It takes a lot to administer the contract, and you would need, I'm assuming, additional staff. Are you going to need a consultant? We didn't talk about what is that going to look like, the staffing, the consultant, the funds. So these are all things that we need to have information about. Correct. Is that something you have available, or we can?

Well, I can explain the basis for the comment in the report. With any PLA agreement, you want to make sure that, or any agreement, you want to make sure there's adherence to the terms of that agreement. So if the agreement is stating that we have to hire a percentage of veterans, a percentage of local hires, et cetera, and we're holding our contractors to that, we need to be able to verify that's what's happening. In addition to submitting certified payrolls to the state, for prevailing wage. So that's another administrative complexity that we need to absorb. And if there is a dispute between the contractor and the union hall, we need to be able to mediate that and figure that out and make sure that all parties are working together and doing what they need to do. So there is potential that there is more an administrative need. when we add this to the mix and that's just to make sure that everything goes smoothly and there are eyes on it, you know, watching how things are playing out.

So it's our responsibility to use the words negotiate between the employee or the labor, whatever union they belong to, and the actual contractor? That's something that we are responsible to do if there is a disagreement?

Well, the city would potentially be involved in that because it's our agreement. And we set the terms of the agreement. And if the union is claiming that the contractor is not adhering to those terms, most likely they would complain to the city. And we would have to be in a position to resolve those complaints or to verify that it's legitimate or not.

Okay. Another question that I had in reading the reports and trying to figure out how does this really work? I know we approve the building of a substation for water and power. And if I recall correctly, I know is somewhere in about 70 $80 million, give and take millions. So I'm thinking Moving forward, if we look at this and, you know, obviously we say, okay, well, you know, maybe we enter into an agreement and we have a specific language that would meet our requirement. What would happen to projects like the substation, for example, and the amount of money that we already set aside? How is that going to impact? Is it impacting additional cost because we have to hire somebody else now that would have the labor, the union workers be employed? In your opinion, what would happen during our process of hiring someone that hires labor workers, and then how is it going to impact the cost? And then what do we do about going back after approving this in the budget?

Yeah, the prevailing wage requirements, they are set locally. And I can give you an example of that. So I looked at a carpenter. And the prevailing wage for a carpenter in our area is about $53 an hour or so. In Northern California, it's about $67 an hour. The cost of living is higher. And just for context, Our carpenter that worked for the city, based on surveying other cities, what they pay their carpenter, is about $43 an hour. The compensation varies based on benefits, et cetera. So I think with the substation example, if we're paying union-like wages for that work to be done, The hourly rate should be in line with doing that work. The challenge may come is if we only have one bidder on it. And if that one bidder understands they're the only bidder, they're kind of in a group. There's only a few people that do this kind of work. It's not a large playing field. It may add 10%. 15% to the cost because it's a private company. They're not doing this because they don't want to get rich. They want to make a good profit. And on an $80 million project, adding 10% is another $8 million on top of it. So that's the challenge that we're trying to mitigate. We just really want to have as many people bidding on the projects so that our dollars go as far as possible.

Okay, thank you. And I promise last question for now. Um, You used the city of Lancaster as an example, but during the presentations I heard speakers talk about other cities, and I know in my phone call today there were other cities that were included in the conversation and which we haven't seen. So I don't know what their experience is besides just Lancaster because what you presented in the report for Lancaster is different, a little bit different from what Mr. Alvarez read and so what was, is it just the time or because it's a first step report that didn't include everyone else and their experience?

It's a first step report and And I did a lot of online research, reading different staff reports and things like that to come to some of the conclusions that are in the report. And in hindsight, I should have cited those other cities. For example, When you look online, there's not a lot to draw from. But I did find, for example, the city of Mountain View. And they implemented a PLA. But before they did, they surveyed all of the contractors that worked for them. And maybe it was about 120 or so. And to understand, if they implemented a PLA, would they still work with the city? And they didn't get a robust response. It was about 30 contractors that responded or so. And about half of them said, or exactly half of them said, no, we wouldn't work with you if you implemented a PLA. So it was enough to say we need to be cautious because there is the potential that adding this layer of complexity just says, you know what? We don't want to be part of this, because we're already having a challenge getting people to the table. So that's where that came from.

OK. Thank you for answering all my questions and clarifying what was in the report as a first step. I'll come back with my comments. Thank you.

Thanks.

OK. Council Member Rosati.

Thank you, Madam Mayor, and thank you for the report. I'd definitely like to see this come back, just more robust information. And my questions are, you know, a lot of members here tonight said, talked about a negotiation. So I'd like to know what's in that negotiation. What's in that contract? What are we negotiating specifically? So I'd like to know if we can craft something where, which... takes care of some of your fears that we're not going to get the bidders that we want. Is it maybe for smaller projects or larger projects that we have at PLA? Or is there a way of doing a hybrid so we can kind of level the playing field for everybody? So I think if this comes back, I would like to have just some ideas of how can we... implement this? If we did, is there a hybrid to do it? I think globally for the Burbank resident and taxpayer, I think we owe it to them to say we're building a library and this is the cost of the library and it could be this. So I think I'd like to see some numbers as to what things would cost if we did a switch or if we did a hybrid or how we can level the playing field for everybody. Obviously, an administration person would change our budget. So I'd like to know, is it one person? Is it two people? How many people? What's the cost? Is there a way we could do a trial period where you can say, these are the numbers. I was wrong. These are the numbers. I was right. Or these are the numbers. We'll break even. I think there's a lot of questions that we all have, but I also think that we all would like to see it probably come back. Thank you.

Thank you. I have a couple questions and then I'll open up the floor to comments. So do we currently have, I mean, other than the state level kind of requirements for different projects and prevailing wage, et cetera, do we have an internal policy or procedure of how we decide on who to hire? Or is it more of a project by project basis?

Basically, it's the lowest cost, most responsive bidder. Most responsive meaning that the response to the proposal was complete. And their price is reasonable compared to our engineer's estimate, because we have consultants and staff that cost out the project. And whatever they propose is somewhat in line with that. That's basically the process. Then once they're on board and they're contractually obligated and they provide their bonds, they're now submitting certified payroll indicating that they're paying prevailing wage and providing the benefits that I mentioned in the PowerPoint, medical, health benefits, pension on all that, how they pay overtime and all of that. So while the workers are on a public works project, they're getting those type of wages and benefits.

So you said that we have our own internal kind of estimators of what we think the project will pencil out. So when there's bids coming in, the policy is to compare the bids to what the internal estimates are? And then what if there is a big discrepancy?

Well, we've been seeing that lately. As I mentioned, inflation has really skyrocketed. And when we design a project and we get to 100% design, the engineers and architects help us put together an engineer's estimate of what we think a construction cost would be to build this thing. And it's usually the analysis is based on current conditions and things like that. But if we wait a year to bid it out because we're in a queue or for whatever reason, we're finding that construction costs are coming 10% to 15% higher than what we thought it was going to be. And then you may even notice in the staff reports that we show the delta, we explain how the delta happened, and sometimes we have to transfer money to Bridget. Yeah.

All right. And then has the Infrastructure Oversight Board discussed PLAs at all?

Not to my knowledge.

Okay.

But I haven't been part of the city that long. Yeah.

And then remind me, because when I was on the Infrastructure Oversight Board, we didn't talk specifically about who was contracted out for each project. But we did ask about how it was decided, you know, who was going to take on, either the cost of the project and who was going to take it on. And I'm wondering if that, has that been discussed or revisited since you've been here? No. Okay, that would be interesting to consider. Yeah.

Madam Mayor, but we have discussed, bringing a presentation to the IOB explaining how the procurement process works so that they have a clear understanding of all the checks and balances we have in place before the bid package is released and marketed on the streets and then what it takes for someone to bid on it and then successfully be awarded the job. It is quite the process.

Yeah, I remember getting that presentation, and it definitely is worth doing on the regular. I'm sure things change, or maybe to be in more depth for the next one would be great.

Absolutely, yeah.

Madam Mayor, just briefly, if I may, Councilmember Rosati asked a question about format or applicability. And so City of Berkeley, for instance, has a fixed dollar threshold above which PLAs would apply. Palmdale Unified School District instead has a listing, kind of like a CIP listing of the projects. So there's a couple different formats where you can either list certain capital projects. We have different CIPs, as you probably recall, small cap and large cap. So To that point, there's ability to maybe bring back different scenarios, specific CIP projects. We have, as we've discussed in different contexts, some very, very large infrastructure projects, not as big as the airport, but very large infrastructure projects by category, each of the different utilities. And then working backwards from there, there's different ways that council could look at whether it's a dollar threshold or whether it's a list of projects, that sort of thing.

Okay. Yeah, and I sent, I believe, city manager and public risk director, I sent you the Palmdale.

Yes, you did.

Their cutoff is $750,000. Yes, $750,000 for a multidiscipline project and $175,000 for...

prime contractor if they're just doing it on their own.

Okay. Yeah. Berkeley's threshold is at 500, but it's already 10 years old. Okay.

Yeah, New Palmdale just updated theirs last year. Yeah. Yeah. Okay. So if we were tonight to agree to move forward to the next step, what would the next step look like? What can we expect? Our role in that, what would be the staff's role, et cetera, moving forward?

I think the next step would be for staff to analyze different PLAs, to understand the pros and cons, the lessons learned, and to bring back something that we think that could work in this construction environment. Specifically, one of the things that is clear to me tonight, hearing the folks talking, is that A PLA should be myopically Burbank-focused as far as the labor force. And I could agree with that, but I also would like it only to be Burbank labor force. And if we're going to hire outside of Burbank, then let the contractors do what they need to do. but let them look at Burbank first. So we would look at different ways to still provide contractors options, to Councilmember Rosati's point, and hopefully also, which would hopefully still encourage participation in our process. So yeah, it would be really looking at the lessons learned, coming back with some terms and conditions that we think that can work, and and bring it before you.

Okay, great, thank you. Those are my questions. Any other questions before we move on to discussion, comments? All right, so Councilmember Perez, this was your item, so if you'd like to start. Oh yeah, I got words.

All right, so now that we are talking about this and discussing, I put this PLA or Community Workforce Agreement discussion forward, whatever you want to call it, because I know it's good policy for Burbank, for our residents, for our small contractors, you have somebody representing them right here tonight, and for our long-term capital projects. The staff report raises cost concerns, but when we look at the actual data, not projections, Actual completed project data. The picture is very different from what the critics assume. And I'm going to read a little bit because I wrote down my thoughts. So I appreciate staff highlighting the word potential here. And I respectfully disagree with staff's conclusion. So this isn't untested. It's a proven partnership. The trades, IATSE, the carpenters who are in the house tonight, And all of their members have built the backbone of this city. Burbank's infrastructure, Lockheed, Warner Bros, NBC, Disney, all new and old. The airport, new and old. And of course, the Burbank Bridge. These aren't just outside interests. These are our folks who are here, our partners who have been with us for a long time, delivering major projects. Now let's talk about some of the concerns. Local hire works, we've already seen it. The Burbank Airport project, a lot of folks highlighted that tonight. 85% of the workers on that project live within a 30 minute radius of the job site. That means Burbank area residents are getting the jobs. spending less time commuting, spending more time with their families, and we can even talk about how this relates to the environment. One of Burbank's biggest issues is the fact that we have a three-to-one jobs-to-housing ratio and that the majority of our emissions comes from cars, folks driving into the city to work from long distances. This reduces that. Let's talk about small and local contractors. They are not locked out. There was an answer that was given. And I can tell you, as somebody who has worked in labor, and not in building trade labor at all, but even me on the outskirts of it knows very simply that you're not letting folks go for contractors, folks. That's not true. Greg Lewis brought this up right here on the microphone. This can be resolved in negotiations. There are plenty of project labor agreements that have one-to-one hiring agreements where contractors can bring their staff and also hire local labor. Let's see, what else? The other piece, too, I want to mention about the small local hire piece, I got to tell you, I am much less concerned about contractors being able to bring their own people as I am about ensuring that we have skilled and well-trained labor on site. That's the priority here. We want our stuff being built by folks who have gone through vetted long-term programs like these folks have. And then let's talk about the cost data and the concerns there. I asked about the Berkeley study because it is very clear. It was in 2024, and it was on proposition HHH housing projects in LA. It found no statistically significant relationships between PLA use and actual per unit development cost. This study used real complete project costs, not projections, and it directly corrects RAND studies that quell a lot of folks' fears about cost increases. And I invite all of my colleagues to take a look at that. Let's talk about Berkeley's broader conclusions, that PLAs actually bring cost efficiency and better project management, higher quality workmanship from skilled labor, hiring apprenticeship pipelines, benefits that don't show up if you only look at the sticker price bids. We also talked about having local real-world proof. We talked about Lancaster and I am concerned that that was only a line at the end of the staff report because quite frankly, we are much closer in comparison to Lancaster, another city, than Ventura County. We're also not building by the beach. Lancaster's Public Works Department ran this 13-year before and after comparison on its own CWA, effective in 2018, so we're not talking a whole long time ago. The cost impact was negligible. Comparing average cost per public project before and after CWA, the difference was not 15%, it was 7%. And 7% is well worth paying for me if we're talking about projects that won't fall down. Let's talk about jobs and local dollars staying local. Lancaster found that the CWA created roughly 1,369 local construction jobs. Those are from CWA compliant contractors. And the agreement shifted contract dollars back towards LA County based contractors. including 24% of CWA contract dollars going specifically to Lancaster-based prime contractors. Their bottom line summary is plain and clear. The CWA has not negatively impacted job creation, it has not negatively impacted the city's ability to obtain competitive bids, and it has not caused an increase in project costs. I don't think I can say it any clearer. This is a city that has lived with a CWA for seven years and measured the results. It's not a hypothetical. It's a real life track record. And then finally, let's talk about equity and workforce development outcomes, because we're talking about the concern thrown in there, which I appreciate a member of the public mentioning about mom and pop contractors and minority and women based contractors. Let's talk about the fact that The Trades Apprenticeship Readiness Fund report has said striking numbers in new apprenticeships are 90% people of color, 33% justice impacted individuals, and 30% previously homeless, and 20% women, some of whom you saw right here today speaking, and who are Burbank residents. So these agreements specifically prioritize them. I got receipts. And then we already have local precedent. Folks talked about the airport. Let's also talk about BUSD. In 2025, just last year, Burbank Unified School District created their own PLA in-house. And they have the career connections program that Josh mentioned. They've had a great success rate over there. They have a good track record and folks are happy. Now we're getting folks that are trained going in that route. And if our own school district sees the value here, the city should see it too. And look, there was a lot of talk from staff, and I appreciate their concerns, but I don't share those concerns. There were a lot of concerns about prevailing wage and about how that's already there. This is not just about prevailing wage. This is about building careers. We want our Burbank residents to have those careers. And all the folks in this room here today are proof that this is a union town. So let's keep it a union town, and let's direct staff to negotiate.

Thank you for your comments. Who would like to go next? Council Member Anthony and then Vice Mayor?

Okay. Thank you, Madam Mayor. I forget sometimes, Council Member Perez, how much you know about this stuff.

I got the receipts. I got the data. Come ask me.

So I think a lot of the conversation we've had tonight is about what a project labor agreement is and not why project labor agreements exist. Full disclosure, I'm in two unions. I served on one of my unions on the negotiating team against their employer this year. But in this seat, we're management. And so we sit on the other side and we often negotiate contracts for our labor unions. We all well know, as well as the people in the audience, that employers have hundreds and hundreds of ways to exploit their workers. Wage garnishments, firings, harassment, intimidation. But a worker only has one tool at their disposal. For the history of the labor movement, there's only been one tool, and that's to withhold labor. A strike. Everything else, everything else, the organizing, the protesting, the marching, leads to that one tool, to be able to say no. And 100 years ago, that tool was used very effectively against a lot of employers. And union power was created in this country back when the word socialist wasn't a dirty word. And there was so much growth that the federal government took notice. FDR put a bunch of money into doing a lot of projects. The Hoover Dam was built. under something new called a project labor agreement. It was called a project labor agreement because it was done project to project. And those were created for one specific purpose. Labor agreed to do a project under one condition. They couldn't strike. That's the rule. That's why it was invented, because government wanted to get projects done. So they said, OK, what do you need to ensure you finish this project? And they said, OK, well, let's talk about wages, benefits, hiring practices, all this other stuff. They listed them all. They negotiated that. And at the end of the day, they signed a deal and said, OK, you give us all this stuff. We legally cannot strike under this contract, because strikes were happening all the time. Fast forward World War II, they expanded project labor agreements to local and state government. We needed to manufacture a ton of stuff for the war. They expanded union membership. We had the growth of the middle class. The economy was booming. Today and in recent years, because of the expansion of apprenticeships and local hire and veterans benefits, The word project labor agreement kind of fell away, and we now use a phrase called community workforce agreement, because we don't do them project by project anymore. We build a workforce in the community. So that's the new common language. But at the end of the day, it still does one thing. It ensures that government projects get finished without a strike. I can't remember in recent memory or in decades past, I've been trying to do my research in the last couple of days, if there's ever been a work stoppage on a Burbank capital project. We've been lucky. It's never happened before. We're pretty good at sussing out the employers and who does the hiring and all that stuff, but it doesn't mean it won't happen. So at the end of the day, the reason PLAs exist, or CWAs now, is so that we as a city have stability and security. We know that if we say yes to a project, sure, there may be a little bit of cost increment that goes up. But remember, under those local hires, that money comes right back into the local community. So it's kind of a wash. I feel like it might even be a net positive at this point. But at the end of the day, when we say yes, we know we're gonna get a project done. That is the basis of what this was created for, to make sure government could do projects that benefit the community for the needs of their constituents without creating scenarios where employers and workers have to go at it and strike and fight against each other. So for my money, When I look at what a PLA, or community workforce agreement, offers us, it creates stability in government and all the extra added benefits that constitute most of the agreement. Because all of that is benefits on one side. What we get on the other side is a guarantee that the work is going to get done, and it's going to get done well. That's what I see. Thank you.

Okay.

Vice mayor first? Okay. Yep. Okay. So I'm not going to read from a paper. I'm going to speak from the heart. I think some of you sitting here in the audience tonight know that for ten years of my life, I was the union president for the Glendale City employees. I represented electric workers, are trash collectors, engineers, clerical, every classification you can imagine. And I know, and I wrote down the name earlier, talked about Rene, I don't know if he's still here, go visit skilled workers shop or go see how skilled the union folks are. And I don't need to go, I've been there. Josh, thank you, took me around and showed me what a beautiful shop they have. But I lived among all the employees for 10 years watching and seeing them and how hard they work. Negotiated their contracts, their insurance, their benefits for 10 years. So this is not... You know, the ask and the report. I know staff, they need to do their job. They need to come in and tell us right from wrong. They need to look out for the best interests of the city. And our job as council members, what Council Member Perez said, Council Member Rosati and Anthony, and I know the mayor is going to speak, we each have... special experience working and dealing with union members and also the knowledge that we have but the public also a lot of them don't have the knowledge that we have up here and there's still a lot of unanswered questions in this report and For first step We expect more, but we got the information that usually is delivered for the first step report. So in my opinion, there's a lot of unanswered questions. Before I direct staff and say, go ahead, city attorney, sign an agreement tomorrow. But how do I explain it as a member of city council to the public why we made the decision we made? Because the public is watching the decisions we make. It's better to give them the information. It's better to be clear and have a clear understanding to the decision we make. And to get that information, come back to us in the report. I think, Mr. Skinner, you have a lot of information from council that you can tell that we're hungry for that additional information. The public even indicated that, no, this is not accurate. This is accurate. And so there's a bit of confusion. So this is the type of report that I would be asking for is to include a lot of this information, the questions that we have, the questions that came from the members sitting here in the room today, whether it was a confusion or whether their statement they made probably did not match what we have in the report, and also the experience from other cities and what other cities have experienced besides just Lancaster, but to dive a little bit more into it. And this is what I would be looking for as a council member. So I am fully, you know, how do I say the word? Like I want to learn as much as I can about why we do it and why we don't do it so I make an intelligent decision. There's no doubt that labor, skilled labor, are much better to have to do any job. I mean, without a doubt. Yes, somebody mentioned our airport job. Beautiful project, and we're so proud of it, and I can't wait to go and have that ribbon cutting happen in October. So many projects that I know the labor group works on, and you do deliver, and you do come up with a wonderful... project at the end, and we're very proud to really have a lot of you here who live in the city of Burbank. This is exactly what we want, is for you to work and live and spend your money and do everything and send your kids to school and do everything here in the city of Burbank. So we eventually can get there, and we eventually can come up with an agreement. I'm very optimistic and very hopeful that it would happen. But we need to allow staff the time to come back and answer all the questions you had that we didn't have any answers for. Also answer our questions that... we need to learn about. So when we're making that decision, it is an intelligent decision that we're telling the public, here is the reason we did it, and here is the facts, and here is what we represent. And the rest is really up to us because we are the policymaking decisions up here. So I do appreciate Everything you said, I appreciate the phone calls, the emails, the letters, and working with all of you and the fact that you're spending your evening here with us tonight. But this is not the end of it. And as you said, direct staff to do something instead of note and file. We direct, for me personally, direct staff to come back with answers to these questions and also answers to the questions you asked us and we couldn't answer them. So this is not the end of our conversation. For me personally, I know the council is going to take a vote or provide directions, but I want to see information come back. I really do so that I can help you answer the questions and help myself understand what we're doing. So thank you for that.

Okay, thank you. Council Member Rosado, you have some more comments?

Yeah, thank you, Madam Mayor. I think the most important thing is I personally want to make an informed decision. And at the end of the day, We may go through a lot of gyrations and wind up right back where we are right now. But I do want... And a lot of you were grumbling while Mr. Skinner was at the microphone. And I think rightfully so, you should send your comments to either us or Mr. Skinner so we can get those things ironed out. I want to know answers to those questions. So I want to know... what kind of agreement we can negotiate. I want to know what options we have. I want to know all the different... Hybrids that might be available to us as the city attorney just did a brief search He did a brief search in a couple of minutes and came up with three So I want to know a lot of different options for the residents of Burbank the people that pay taxes here Do I want skilled labor? Absolutely. Do I want high paying jobs for our residents? Absolutely. Do I think those dollars will come right back into our community? I absolutely do. But I want to make it, this is a first step. I want to make an informed decision. I want to be able to look people in the eye and say, I vetted it. I looked it up and down. And when I took my vote, it was solid information. Thank you, Madam Mayor.

Thank you. I actually have a follow-up question from those comments for Mr. Skinner. So do the staff have a sense of what the process of doing a PLA negotiation would look like? So the next step that you mentioned was bringing back more information to consider, but I'm wondering, how much of that information is knowable before a negotiation even begins. So I'm wondering if you have a sense of what the negotiation process itself is for, you know, let's say for the sake of argument we just knew tonight exactly what we wanted and then what would the negotiation process look like moving forward?

Admittedly, I have not gone through this process, so I'd have to really lean on our city attorney. But I think, you know, because we're coming up with terms that affect the union, I would assume that anything that we think that is favorable for the city, we would have to run through with the union, almost do like a meet and confer and say, this is what we're thinking, this is what we're considering. These are options that we like and come to an agreement there. And then in the staff report, when we bring it to you, we would mention the process that we went through and say, we've met on these days, these are the things that we considered, and this is what we feel are the best interests for the city and the union. I would imagine that's how the process would play out, but I would really have to lean on other cities and see how they did it to see how it could work in Burbank.

Okay, because it does seem like there's a bit maybe of a missing piece as well of not having, not just maybe looking for direction on what to negotiate potentially, but how the processes have been done in the first place. And it sounds like maybe we don't have anyone on staff who would just know that information.

Well, it's a labor negotiation process. It's a large meet and confer with more signatories than you have ever seen on one of our agreements. Okay, so we do have... And I think everyone in this room would agree. Everyone in this room can speak. Depending upon how many different trades we have, I'm presuming they all have a voice with the LA Orange County Council as the... central body for the labor side.

Okay. I think that was my follow-up question. Thank you. All right. So my comments, I mean, I definitely want to move forward with this item 100%. The question for me at this point is how? What's our next step? How do we move forward? But let me just share some thoughts on just why I think we should move forward since other folks have talked about it. So, you know, this has been... a deep and quick and deep study on PLAs that I had a general awareness about around them before but then taking time to really look into them and understand them from just general perspective and then other cities and talking to them and what I have gathered from what I have learned is that whether a PLA is successful or not or CWA is successful or not is how well it's written and the negotiations that go into the agreement, just like any union contract you have, it's true. And so I think that that is the process for me is that's the most important part for me is to ensure that what we do moving forward ensures a really good PLA. For me, I feel like the PLA is to me the next step to me is to move forward. It's just how do we do it in a way that ensures the best version for everyone involved? And I'm sure those of you who've talked to me before know that I really prefer win-win-wins. And these kinds of large-scale negotiations, they will be impactful for everyone involved, so it's important to go through the process in a way that everyone wins from it. Us, you, the community, everybody, the whole process. Us meaning those who are thinking of the city's side of it, and you meaning those who are the unions we're negotiating with. Generally speaking, and we've already heard comments about it, the obvious benefits of having a PLA is consistency, predictability, certainty about how these projects run, the diversity, insurance of diversity of women, minority workers, et cetera, local workers ensuring percentage there. So I don't want to go through the obvious, to me what seems like obvious benefits, but I do want to say that the airport bringing up the airport project itself being a PLA was very interesting to me, because it's an enormous project. And if there's an argument to be made that projects would be more expensive because of PLAs, then the airport would be an argument that would show that. airport project was done on time and on budget, which is, I mean, you never hear that. You never hear that for projects that big. And we have our library project coming up. And so for me, I'm thinking that's our big project. And it's important to me that we have a strong PLA to go into that project to ensure that everything comes out on time and on budget for that library project. Also, just in general, just speaking very locally about Burbank as our city, you know, Burbank, as many of you have alluded to, it was started and based as a factory town. I mean, Lockheed was our beginnings of our city. And it was, you know, the workers is who our city was. People were moved into the city to work for Lockheed. And so now, as we... are no longer a Lockheed city. We're still a factory town. Our factory just changed and now our factory is entertainment industry. But it's still worker city. And I tell folks very often, especially folks who don't know who Burbank is, all they know is Burbank from Beautiful Downtown Burbank from Late Night Show or something. they see Burbank maybe as Hollywood, but I say, well, yes, but it's not Hollywood like we think of it. It's not the front of house. Burbank is the back of house. Burbank is the workforce of Hollywood. Hollywood only works because of Burbank. A lot of the reason why Hollywood works is because of Burbank. And so we have always been and always, you know, and still continue to be a workforce middle class community. Even though some details have changed here and there, our heart and soul is there. So it's really important that we have stable and consistent patterning and predictability for our workforce and our government's important to do that. I agree with the staff in the sense that every market is different, and Burbank is a unique market. So there are concerns for our unique market, and that's where the negotiation and the PLA come into place in order to create the right contract or the right agreement for our local market. And so everything that was brought up as a concern I really think can be hammered out during the negotiations. I think that can be worked through. We've done it with all of our city unions. We've done it with our internal negotiations hammering out things that may have been, we may have been very far apart, and we came together, and that's part of the negotiation process. process. And so I'm confident that our staff, even though maybe we haven't been through a PLA, our staff has experience to be able to work through the different elements. And I'm also confident that our staff knows, in public works and otherwise, knows what our needs are from our projects and can advocate for that and ensure that the things that are important for us are included in the PLA. And let's see. And it always warms my heart when everyone comes together on the same thing. And I have to say, it's rare in these chambers that we have 100% of the same agreement, and we don't have somebody upset about back and forth. And so even though that's not the right specific reason to do that, to make a decision, it is nice to see everyone from the different trades come together.

Burbank is a union town.

Yeah, there we go. United in unionism. That's right. Let's see. So let's see. Also, this is new for us as a city. Pele is obviously, as you know. And so working through that will be a little clunky in the beginning. And whatever we do moving forward, my hope is that everyone will be patient and understanding with each other as we go through this clunky, clunky process in the beginning. But I think that as we move forward, it'll get smoother and smoother and smoother. I really do. And let's see. So for me personally, I don't think I need a whole lot more information to know I want to move forward with negotiations in general. But I also don't want to throw our staff into a negotiation when they're not maybe prepared So if there's a way to create a little bit more preparedness somehow or to, if there's some background or research or something.

So, Madam Mayor, this will be something you'll want to discuss in terms of workload and bandwidth. Okay. There may be a budgetary component because I can tell you just generally speaking that project delivery, project solicitations are a huge challenge right now. You're familiar with the capital improvement program. Getting that work out to the point where the departments can get the solicitations back, that process already is a challenged process in terms of bandwidth. So there needs to be a discussion about that. And then, as we just briefly discussed here, there needs to be a discussion about project thresholds, specific projects, categories of projects, CIP, which is already an existing list that's available to you. So I think there's some structural things that the council needs to decide and consider what the... project delivery capacity is and whether there are some breakpoints. So there are some important structural considerations that I will tell you should not be subject to negotiation. They should be subject to your decisions about the capacity of your organization. And then you can go to negotiations with that information.

So bandwidth, like as in staff bandwidth to do the negotiations?

So these are going to be different types of projects. The projects agreements will be structured differently. If you're going to do specific PLA, so the airport project was a one project PLA. It wasn't the County of Los Angeles PLA. It wasn't the Palmdale School District PLA. So there's different structures. We need to figure out what if you all agree what that structure's gonna be, what are the financial thresholds, or are you gonna go by a specific project list, and that'll be, you will end up with, as we have now, multiple project delivery methods, depending upon whether they're PLA projects or not PLA projects. So every PLA has a monetary threshold. So you'll have to figure out what that is,

Right. Yeah, and I would be curious too to see how other cities have gone through this process too because – just one second – because I'm not sure. I was able to see what the end result of the PLAs were. I was able to talk to some folks who were in other cities who worked through it, but they weren't there at the beginning when the PLAs were initially negotiated. That's something that would be information that would be interesting for me to know, too. And just to wrap up, too, on my comments before additional comments, is that I do think that, well, some of this info, some of the things that we are talking about will get hashed out, too, in the negotiations as well. So that's just the sense I have as well. But that's, again, I'm not, I've never been through a PLA process, so I can't say for sure. So I think I saw, was it Councilmember Anthony, Chris first, and then Constantine? Okay, go ahead.

With respect, our staff is clearly not ready to drop PLA. They want to come back with options for us so we can make the right decisions. And when you say look at other cities, You're right. We should be looking at other cities. We should be looking at a lot of different things, not just jumping into this. And I think staff has responded saying, you know, we want to come back and give you guys options so we can tailor-make this for what's best for the city of Burbank. And... I have utmost respect that our staff can do this job, but I think that they want to do it in a very sound way with options for our council and our residents so everyone can weigh in before we go from zero to 100. And I think just what you said, We should be looking at other cities. Absolutely, we should be looking at other cities. So before we put this task on staff to immediately go to contract, we need to get all the information from everybody, vet it out, and then spit it back into a form where they could draw up the proper agreement. Thank you.

Thank you. Council Member Anthony.

So it seems to me like we have two issues on the table. One, the work that happens in the negotiation room. And then two, us deciding staff time and budget and priorities. For me, I don't see why we can't figure them both out at the same time. I'm happy to have – there's no reason why staff can't sit down with the trades in the next couple weeks and just start the process of, okay, well, where do we go? Where does this go? Start the negotiations. But at the same time, we can also sit here and go, okay, when we do that, here's our timeline, here's our budget. We can work through that too. What I don't want is to wait on the one while we figure out the other. Because technically, there's a whole bunch more work that's happening on this negotiation with a whole bunch of other people. And it's mostly, I'll be honest with you, us negotiating. staff listening listening and just taking notes it's not a heavy burden to simply take the input after the input comes in and we've set up our budget and our timeline and that then we can go back and say okay now staff is going to put the piece of the puzzle together here's what we think then we go back then it's like a back and forth but the opening sort of volley of these PLAs is simply, let's hear, send us your stuff, or sit down and have communication, mostly in one direction. So I have no problem starting that process today. And then we can work on the other stuff. Well, we direct them. We tell them what to do. Direct them if they can't do it. What's the point?

So you have many parallel priorities, so it's just a matter of you telling us which one's number one, and we'll put the other ones behind it. But you still need us to bring you that information.

Madam Mayor, I've been waiting to speak, and I absolutely agree. It's about just directing priorities, but the council has to decide whether they want to do this or not. I'm hearing you do. I would like to do it too. And I think, look, I waited eight months for the, no, I'm sorry, 10 months for this to come back. I asked for this in October of 2025. I know, because I was three months postpartum. I barely slept. And I've waited my 10 months patiently. And with all due respect to staff, what I asked for was for staff to come back with a first step report on a PLA. And instead, I got a report that said, don't do it. So now it feels like there's another delay with, well, we need more information. And what comes next? And I'm not here to talk about delays. Madam Mayor, you said a lot of this can be solved in negotiation. I agree. I have seen a lot of this be solved in negotiation. The whole point of negotiation is that you are talking to an individual city with its individual needs. And staff can take the time that they need at the same time to figure out what other city's information they want. To your point, they sit at the table, they hear from labor, and they take that back and decide what's best for the city and then bring it back to us, ultimately the decision makers. But this feels like we're trying to kick the can down the road. When we can enter the negotiations, and respectfully, that's my opinion. And you asked for facts, that's why I brought the paper. This is me talking from the heart. So I think we need to move forward. We need to direct staff to negotiate. And they'll do that process, and then we can come back. I'm sure staff is not going to bring us something back that is not good for Burbank. They're going to have those negotiations. They're going to have the discussion. And they're going to bring us something that works for us.

I never asked for facts. I didn't say that you didn't have facts. I just wanted to speak from my heart about my experience so whatever That was not my issue whether you had facts or not that was I was saying I'm speaking from the heart and I don't think I heard any council member up here that said, no, we don't want this to come back. No, we don't want this to happen. I am the first one to say, and I said it, and that's why I speak from the heart, skilled labor unions are the best to do a job. But we have a lot of loopholes that we can't fill tonight. To bring back a report, to sit down with the experts that we talked to. And I'm sure all of you have spoken to the same individuals we talked to today. that asked us questions or gave us information that contradict what's in the staff report, we just need to clarify. I just need to know how are we gonna negotiate? Who's involved in negotiations? How many team members are gonna negotiate? When can we start this? What are the projects that are out there right now? How many staff members are you gonna make? This is not about cramming information or about us saying, oh, I don't want this because if I didn't want this, you guys would have heard about it early on in the discussion. That's not what we said tonight. We want to educate everyone about why we need this, why is this important for us. Using good examples of what's out there already, And we talk about the airport. A lot of people are familiar with that. So to tell staff, just go ahead and do it. Start negotiations. Start talking. We're missing a big puzzle of this report. We don't know what capability. How are we going to negotiate? You asked the question about, well, what is the process of negotiation? I had no idea the city attorney is sitting here going, well, there's multiple layers of this negotiation. We have to do all this. We need to learn about it. Why are we hiding from the public? Why are we trying to say, no, go out and negotiate? We don't need to hide. We need to say this is what it's going to take. So when you're pushing, whether it's rent control report, BRT report, or any other report. Four specific plans. Four specific plans, when they're pushing it, we're telling the public, hey, don't rush us because we've already allocated staff to do something else. You guys don't know this, but we have a long list of things that we ask them to do. So it's not about we don't want it. It's not about we don't think, when I say we, I shouldn't speak on everybody's behalf, but I can hear everybody wants this. We wanna look at it, we wanna explore it, but you want me as a responsible person to make the right decision before they come back and spend four or five months meeting with you and we still have a whole bunch of questions and we're gonna send them back again. Let's clear everything up front. Let's fill those loopholes. They come back. They give us the path of negotiation. I want to know who's going to be involved. You know, which union in here is going to be sitting at the table with you? How many of you are going to be sitting at the table? I want to know how many staff members it's going to take to do it. What is... All the questions. What did other cities learn from their mistakes? So we don't repeat those mistakes in our contract. So we have a decent contract with all of you. So it's not about pushing this or delaying it anymore or because we don't want it. I know it's a lot of pressure being put on council members that they need to approve this tonight. You know, I say I can't be pressured into proving something unless I have full-blown report before me and the public gets to know what we're doing. We're trying to pass something really quickly if half of the public don't even understand what we're doing. So with all due respect, I need to have a report. That doesn't mean I'm not in favor of this moving forward. You can put your hands down. That's fine. It's okay. The good news is, you know, I do what's right for you and for the city. My history speaks for itself, so you can put your hands down, Cameron, all day long. It won't bother me, but let me tell you, this is for your best interests to do this the right way, not to say, oh, go ahead and do it, and it's done, deal, and negotiate, and we come find out that we have a lot of mistakes, we have a lot of issues that we haven't addressed. So I'm done with that. I think everybody understands where I'm clear. I'm not against this. I want it to come back. I want to be able to do this right by you and for you, all of you, so we don't have mistakes and we don't have issues and we can move forward from here. Okay. Council Member Rosati.

First, I want to just say that nobody's kicking the can down the road. We want to do this right. And I want to look at our staff and ask you, What's the right way to do it? Tell me. We have four specific plans. We're in a lawsuit with BRT. Tell me the right way that we should be entering this since nobody wants a staff report. What are your thoughts?

Thanks. So based on the dialogue tonight, I think there's kind of three things that we would recommend that you guys do for us. So one is so based on the dialogue, it sounds like you do want to proceed and move forward. And I know you guys want to move forward as quick as possible. So I think there's a couple of things. I think what you could direct us to do is provide you kind of a comprehensive, make us provide a comprehensive outline of the process and the potential timeline so we know what we're doing. So we may have to actually go into the closed session prior to actually negotiating. So I know the city attorney is looking at that. We'd like to let you know what that process looks like and what the timeline is. The other thing that we'd like to do is provide you with, as part of that, an option sheet or option package where, based on tonight, if there's thresholds, what trades are involved, what's the potential, what kind of projects are we doing. So we got a lot of good information on that. I think we could do that and bring that back to determine Okay, are you guys good with a million dollars? Are you good with half a million? Make those decisions, which based on looking at other cities, I think we could get that fairly quickly, kind of do that hybrid approach as what would make sense for us, Burbank style. And then the other thing that we could provide you is what we anticipate as far as a resource need, as far as if we do need to ramp up, if there is additional administration, whether that's in finance and purchasing or whatever, we could tell you what that potential impact is. So I think we could do all those three things at once and provide you so you then can know the process, understand the process, makes decisions based off of this meeting, if we're going to have thresholds or not have thresholds, and then move on from there as far as negotiating a CWA. So that would be my recommendation.

So it sounds like what you might be saying is to move forward with the approval of negotiating with them with these three preparatory steps in the process to get there.

Yeah, and just like what we do with labor groups, we meet with you first. So we don't necessarily always meet with them. So we kind of hear what you're saying in public, and we want to make sure that if there are things like thresholds, what trades are involved, what projects, what's a qualifying project, those things I think we may need to work with you. And I know Damien and his staff, he'll be able to provide different options for you to decide which direction you want to go.

Okay. Any more? No, Madam Mayor. I'm ready to make a motion. I think staff can walk and chew gum at the same time. The city manager just mentioned the three things they need, but I would like to make a motion to direct staff to enter into negotiations with the LAOC building trades and to implement a community workforce agreement. And in addition, you can bring back the three things you mentioned.

Second.

Second.

So before we vote on that question I have for you, the motion maker and the second, is that are you asking that we move forward with negotiation and then what the city manager just proposed would be like the first steps in the negotiation and then after that we move forward? Or what do you...

They are welcome to bring that to us in closed session in addition to. That is a part of the process. That is what negotiations is. They're welcome to bring that to us in closed session.

And from my understanding, there is no reason, and correct me if I'm wrong, but there's no reason why any member of the public, union or not, cannot schedule a meeting with a member of staff, public works director, and bring them ideas, proposals, requests, and put it on the table. We don't need to go to closed session for someone on staff to listen to the public. We do need closed session before we respond back, yes, before we look at what we're willing to negotiate on, absolutely. But when we say start the negotiations, that means these folks can get their business affairs in order, get their paperwork ready to go, and start scheduling meetings. That's it. That's the beginning. And that's where we move forward. So like Council Member Perez says, walk and chew gum.

Okay, so add number four to the list potentially is start taking meetings with labor to hear.

This is not what our staff wants. They have told you that tonight.

I respectfully disagree, and that is my right as a sitting council member.

So hold on. We're taking turns here. And before we start arguing back and forth and having another demonstration of arguing back and forth, let's take turns. I asked a question. I asked a question. And if you have a comment, that's fine. We can move forward. So I asked a question of staff, and then we can further on. OK, so yes.

So normally, before we start to negotiate, we make sure that we have the parameters by the council. Whether it's to negotiate or not, we would come back to you to make sure that we have some basic understanding of what we can negotiate before we actually negotiate. So we would come back to you kind of with that option sheet as far as there's about four or five different components that we would come back to you and say, okay, so are you good with this? Do you want this special? It's a million dollars. Do you want, what kind of projects do you want included? We would have some recommendations. We'd have options for you. We'd like to get that input so we could have a basic negotiation strategy prior to actually negotiating.

Madam Mayor, may I say something? Yes. Did you want to go first, Council Member Rosati, or you feel like you said wait?

He said exactly what I'm saying. This is not my first rodeo. There's a certain way we need to do this, and this is the way we need to do this for our residents. Exactly what he just said is what I'm suggesting.

Okay. We are very, though, willing if people want to submit comments or questions to the Public Works Director, we will take any input prior to or during. We're just not going to negotiate prior to I get the blessing of you guys as far as what the parameters are.

Thank you. They don't know what they're going to negotiate for. We're asking them, go sit down with these lovely people, but you don't know what you're negotiating for because we don't have a parameter. We haven't given them direction, and we haven't ourselves seen what type of parameters we're going to give them. This is why it will be a failure. Because they're going to come back and they're going to say, well, council, we didn't get direction. Let me go back again. We're not trying to hurt anyone in the process. I know there is an urgency going on with the council to get this done today and let's move forward. They don't know what they're going to negotiate. We haven't given them any direction. We don't even know ourself. I don't even know what I'm going to vote on to give him direction to negotiate when I have questions on all these things in the report. All these lovely people that came up and spoke, they criticized the report left and right because they don't have information. They did not provide proper information. That's why we're asking for you to come back. Parameters. Tell me what you're negotiating. Tell me what direction I can give you. This is not let's get it done and move forward. This is about doing the right things for you. Nobody ever gives a contract and enters into a contract without proper parameters to what to give you. You would do that in your own life. You're not expecting counsel to say, oh, go negotiate, but they don't know what they're doing. Sorry to all of you, but you don't know what you want us to negotiate for.

So madam mayor there is a motion on the floor and as the maker of the motion I'd like to add the fact that we did include the parameters that staff asked for We will go to closed session to talk about that That is included in my motion Everybody is welcome to agree and disagree.

That's why we're elected of here so You know I'm ready to take one if you want a substitute motion now's the time I

The substitute motion is to have staff come back to council, directing them to bring in writing the parameter, answer questions about other cities, provide that information that we asked them for, answer questions for all the questions that we have been asked today, and they have all this information. That is the substitute motion.

Second. And have the public weigh in. We'll take that vote. We'll take that vote.

Okay.

Well, you'll get to come back again and see us.

Vote on this substitute motion. Substitute motion. Council Member Anthony? No. I'm sorry. I didn't hear you. No. Thank you. Council Member Perez? No. Council Member Rosati? Yes. Vice Mayor Mullins? Yes. And Mayor Takahashi? No.

Okay, so I would like to, if I can offer potentially a friendly amendment, maybe I'm just... spitballing here, and maybe you can reject the friendly amendment to the original motion is, well, first of all, it was the trades and OC, it was the LA and OC trades, right?

To remind folks, my original motion was to direct staff to enter into a negotiation with the LA OC building trades and to implement a community workforce agreement with the parameters. I'll come into this first enclosed session if you want to talk because we're reasonable.

Yeah. So I just want to make sure the carpenters are looped in to that as well, just as in the motion. OK. And then so it sounds to me that if we vote yes to this motion, that we get all the things that folks on this dais want. That's still going to happen. It's still all the pieces, all the everything that needs to be known in order to negotiate will get known through the process. So I'm confident that this is a situation where the pieces that were concerned or you want to have come back will get figured out and known through the process. And also my guess is that if there is some piece that comes up that cannot be figured out through that process, it will be brought back to us to then decide in that moment. If there's something that through this process of negotiation cannot be resolved or you need to know that information, you'll bring it back to us to decide on the dais as we meet up to that process. So that's my guess. Yes.

Please ask staff if that's the proper way of doing this.

You can ask staff that if you like.

Is this the proper way of doing this?

As far as the negotiation?

This motion, is this the proper way you'd like to see this happen?

Obviously, that wasn't our recommendation, but certainly it seems like the majority wants to enter into a negotiation. Again, I just want to clarify, we would come back to you in some fashion to get the parameters. So we wouldn't just go right talking to the Trade Council. The other thing that we would also add is we would want to provide you what that process looks like so everybody is informed on what that process is. And then also the impact, the potential impact, fiscal impact as far as staffing and resources, that's important to us. Right.

But, Madam Mayor, is it? I'm sorry. Clarify.

Clarify that first.

Council Member Rizzotti first.

Can you? So we're going to get that first before we go straight to contracts.

Well, a reminder that we're entering negotiation, not. There is a contract. And also staff, again, walk and chew gum. They are able to bring this back simultaneously while then going into the negotiation. They need to talk to us first. That's fine. We're open to that. That's fine.

Are you asking them to negotiate on things that we haven't even given direction on? Okay.

I will spell that out again. So staff.

No, no. Treat me like I'm two. I'm fine.

Okay.

No, just spell it out.

Okay. She's doing that right now. Yes. So staff said they want to do three things before they start talking to them to clarify what we want. They can bring those three things and then enter into negotiation.

Madam Mayor, isn't that what exactly we said earlier? Bring back a staff report setting the parameter, then you can enter in negotiation. What you refuse to accept, Council Member Perez, and I know you're, you know, want to get your audience all supporting what you're doing because, you know,

this is what you're doing this is my motion no no i put this on respectfully councilman ramones you have told me many times what i do and don't think and i will tell you right now what i think on october of 2025 i put this forward because i've worked in labor i also have experience in this field and i thought it was the right thing to do so that is where i am coming from i thought it was the right thing to do thank you i will not put words in your mouth Thank you.

Let's just speak to our own positions and our own perspectives and not each other's intentions. I don't need anybody to tell me how I should speak, but this is exactly... Actually, I'm the chair, and so I do have the... Madam Mayor, I have the floor.

I'm the chair.

Okay. I have the ability to request that the way that we do this process, and so I have the ability to request that we only speak to our own experience and our own perspective and not talk to each other.

And I spoke to my own experience earlier, which offended Councilmember Perez, but that's needed to say. However, this is exactly what we have asked you, Mr. City Manager. Come back with a report, parameter, explain to us what you're doing, then enter in negotiation. The only difference what I'm hearing, no, no, enter into negotiation and come back to us at the same time. And I don't know how is that gonna happen because you can't enter into negotiation without knowing what the heck we're talking about.

Council Member Perez, would you like to? I don't need to respond to that. There's a motion on the floor, and I would like to take a vote on that motion.

Can you clarify that motion?

So essentially, I made a motion to direct staff to enter into negotiations with the LAOC building trades. The mayor requested a friendly amendment to include the carpenters and to implement a community workforce agreement. Then staff brought up three items they would like to do before the negotiations begin. And I agreed that it'd be great to do those items before the negotiation begin. That is the motion.

Yes. So Madam Mayor. And that was the intent of the second. So there's no negotiation until you come back to us first. Just let me clarify because we're playing on words here. You're not negotiating until you come back to us and you show us what parameters we're using.

Until I have negotiation parameters, we are not negotiating. We will take input. We will take a meeting, but we are not negotiating.

That's exactly what I said earlier and what I requested earlier. I requested, and the people are sitting here in this room, I requested you come back. full staff report, giving us all the information we need. Then we give you directions to move forward with negotiations.

Yeah. So for me, the difference is what I understand is that by moving forward with the motion as presented, is that it opens up lines of communications to start hearing from and communicating with in a way that if we waited until the next staff report, it would be held on pause until the staff report came back, and then that's when the communications would happen. Because if we came back with a staff report and communications happened, it would be thank you for your information, but it would be just less of a kind of like an ongoing conversation. It's just kind of a different shift in like kind of how it's approached, but in like when it comes to the process of like the things in order, what they happen, from the actual negotiation process. It sounds like it's about the same. It's just about how do the lines of communications open up in order to move forward.

And I just want to point out that the trades and the carpenters and the laborers, they have to put together their own project ideas. So when we say enter into negotiation, it's not going to happen tomorrow.

That cues it up for them to start that process.

It cues it up for them to start the process. That is the distinction. It's not semantics.

It's the actual for you. But if we wait... Okay, so if that's the distinction that is on the table, just so you know now, that's what the distinction is, just putting it out there versus, you know, staff report coming back and then going into the process and instead doing everything the same with the three different items, and I'll bring it back to us, but then... Because we're in negotiations, that allows then the trades and carpenters to start communicating and bring back their own process. Versus if we wait until the staff comes back with another report, then that stalls them.

The city manager, I think he's dying to say something, and I'm curious to know what it is.

I don't know if I'm dying to say something, but I just want to make it clear that I need parameters before I negotiate. Sure. So we will be coming to you first to get those parameters. And I think we kind of have a good sense of those parameters, but we need you to bless us.

You'll be coming to us first with parameters, then going into negotiations.

And as that's happening, the trades folks, carpenters, can start working on their end of it and then start the communication process.

THEN I'D LIKE TO MAKE THAT SUBSTITUTE MOTION TO REALLY CORRECT ALL THE INFORMATION AND TO REALLY. I'M SORRY. THERE'S BEEN A MOTION ON THE FLOOR THAT I'VE HAD. TO HAVE THE CITY MANAGER BRING The parameter? That's exactly what was said, if you're paying attention.

Let's just do the original motion and get it done.

But the original motion is saying to go in negotiations. He said he cannot go in negotiation until we approve the parameter.

No, he can't respond back until he gets closed session.

I think I understand what's going on, so I know where my vote is.

Can we take the vote? Let's just take the vote. I'm ready.

Staff understands what's...

I don't think so. I mean, it probably would be good to make sure that, for the record, that we just say it one more time. Okay.

I will say it one more time.

Justin, will you make a motion?

Okay.

I will say it one more time. Okay. I make a motion to direct staff to enter into negotiations with the LAOC building trades and the Carpenters to implement a community workforce agreement while bringing back to us To present, you mentioned closed session. I'm okay with that. To present the three parameters that you mentioned you would like to see happen before you go and negotiate with them. But there will be negotiations. Okay.

Second.

All right.

Are we, I think we're ready to take a vote. Okay. We're ready to take a vote. Let's do it.

Council Member Anthony? Yes. Council Member Perez? Yes. Council Member Rosati? No. Vice Mayor Mullins? No. Mayor Tagahashi? Yes. Yes.

If you're telling me that's the reason... Sure, you can believe whatever you want to believe.

Well, you know what? No, no, but I'm saying you should have.

Oh, sure, you've got to take it out.

All right.

Stay safe on your way home, everybody. And you guys are welcome to stay to the end of the meeting if you want to.

And we have a couple.

So now we will hear from council comments, including reporting on council committee assignments, attendance at conferences, regional meetings, and community events. So who would like to go first? I'll lead off you all, Madam Mayor. All right.

Yeah? Madam Mayor, yes?

Yes, Council Member Mazzotti.

August 13th, I had the Parks and Rec Board meeting. Saturday the 15th, ice cream with the cops, and we had a lovely surprise by Glendale Fire showing up, and they wanted their scoops of ice cream too.

Yeah, Glendale came.

On Sunday the 16th, I attended Schools Beyond Screens, Burbank Playdate in the Park, which was interesting. I met a lot of nice folks who organized that committee. On the 17th, I met with the candidate running for city council. On the 19th, I met with a councilor running for city council. That evening, I went to the police commission meeting. Thursday the 20th, I went to LA 28 Warner Brothers meeting here at council chambers. And then later that day, I met with someone running for city council. On Saturday, I met with another person running for city council. On Monday, I met with another person running for city council. I'm sorry?

Did we be mentioning that up here? Just saying, the meeting with people running for city council?

I'm reporting out.

He's not giving names.

Ma'am? I mean, if they requested your meeting with you and your capacity as council person.

Well, how else would that have happened?

Yeah, I guess so.

Yeah, I mean, you're not reporting on, you know, city attorney, if there's no conflict or... I didn't hear an endorsement.

Okay, there we go.

I'm sorry? It's fine. Go ahead. Go ahead. I'm just clarifying to understand because I've been told not to talk about anything regarding like city council campaigns.

Well, you want to know what my time is allocated as a council member, right? City attorney?

I prefer more brief reports personally since you asked.

I second that. Okay. Don't trash this then. I don't know what you guys are doing tonight, so. I'm good.

I met with five council candidates. How about that? On the record, because my time has been valuable. And school candidate, too.

I'm very clear on what my job is. Would you like me to go next? No, I can go next. I'm also clear on what my job is.

So I attended the Board of Library Trustee meeting on August 12th. On August 19th, I attended the Leadership Urban Class of 2026 Ribbon Cutting Celebration for New Day Laundry, and I presented them with a certificate along with Council Member Anthony. And then on Thursday, August 20th, along with Councilmember Anthony, we were assigned to meet with the LA28 group and the Warner Brothers folks to talk about the Olympics. I believe all of those meetings are coming down for all of us. Yeah.

Have you guys met with the LA28 folks yet? Tomorrow. Okay. Yeah. I'm sure you had a wonderful conversation. It's a very informative meeting.

It's a lot of them telling you what's happening, which is great. Yeah.

All right, on the 12th, I had a meeting with the executive director at the LA Equestrian Center and did a tour of the Equestrian Center. And then I didn't ride a horse this time, though. Didn't have time. And then the 13th, I had a meeting with the National League of Cities. On the 16th, I did a keynote speech with the Renal Support Network, which is folks who have kidney-related issues. And I have a stuffed kidney in my office, purple stuffed kidney in my office to prove it, if you want to see it. The 17th, I attended the Sustainable Burbank Commission. On the 19th, I attended the Burbank PD Community Workshop with the strategic plan. I was there for that. Did not stay for the police commission, though. Councilmember Rosati was there. And then on the 20th, Thursday, I met with the chamber and gave our updates to the chamber. And today, let's see, this afternoon I had lunch with a local business who I believe, Vice Mayor, you've met with regarding the therapeutic massage. Yeah. And then this afternoon I met with Council Member Rosati and a couple folks from the community about a potential awesome event at the Starlight Bowl. So we'll see what happens there. All right, moving on to the next item. And do we know if Council Member Anthony? He left. He left. OK. Now it's time for the consideration of previously introduced agenda items. As a reminder, this is Council's process for adding additional agenda items. There is one request tonight from the August 11 Council meeting. Councilmember who introduced the item will have two minutes to provide a brief explanation of the request, along with how the request ties to City Council goals. After that, Council will vote on whether or not the item should be added as an additional agenda item for consideration at a future meeting. If needed, Council may provide clarification or additional information to staff regarding the agenda item request. So the first item of request is by me, Mayor Takahashi, for a letter of support from the council for Assembly Bill 1267, which would enact a minimum age of 18 for marriage in California. So to me, this is an important issue, I think, for everyone in our state. And I think tonight, with our recognition of women's equality, I think it's an especially important issue for us to support as council. So AB 1267, if passed, would make it so that the minimum age for marriage in California would be 18. And right now, there is no minimum age for marriage.

I'm sorry, this was to send a letter, right? Yeah.

I'm supportive of that.

Okay.

So we don't need to do, just giving you the... Yeah, we would recommend if there's majority support, just go ahead and do a letter. We're kind of time-pressed a little bit, too. I think it's going to be heard on the assembly floor. We'll let our legislators know. We'll work with our advocacy group. And then if it does pass, we'll send a letter to the governor. But yeah, that's happening...

And do you have the language that, I mean, I'm sure you can, you're going to look it up. I mean, I don't know if there's a standard letter or Zonta can provide standard language.

Yeah, we, we, yeah, we could do that. So, um, not just full disclosure, a lot of cities have not, um, taken a position. So, uh, the one that we know is city and County of San Francisco. And I think, um, there was some other Santa Clara or something, um, the county so um so it's not a very heavily city oriented uh um bill so i don't think the league is they're they're not even watching it or whatever so obviously it falls outside of our platform so but uh we could easily draft a letter so and i'm saying that we meaning the you know uh miss labrador okay great thank you okay is that all you need to move forward okay great

Okay, so now is the time for introduction of additional agenda items. Do members of the council have any items to introduce?

You know what, Madam Mayor? I do have one. Okay. I would like to agenda as a discussion on banning flock and AOPR systems in Burbank. Okay.

Sounds good. Okay. All right.

So just per our process, I'll be brought back at the next meeting as the additional consideration. Yes.

Just a reminder to the community, it's going to be brought back to the next meeting as a consideration for putting it on the agenda, not as a full agenda item. Just to make that clear. Okay. Great. Okay. Let's see. With nothing else, I think that's it. That's all we got. Now we now adjourn the meeting to Tuesday, September 15th, 2026 for a regular meeting in the council chamber. 275 East Olive Avenue, second floor. Thank you and good night. We're done.