Planning Commission - Regular Meeting

We will begin in just a minute. We have a few more commissioners who are just making their way to the front, so we'll give them a minute to do that. Everybody looks good. Good evening, everyone. First of all, thank you for coming out. The meeting for the Planning Commission is officially called to order, and we will begin with the roll call. Madam Secretary.

And I'm sure the Madam chair Thomas here. Vice chair Diaz.

Present.

Commissioner Johnson.

Present.

Commissioner Fumi.

Here.

Commissioner Guerra.

Present.

Commissioner Huff.

Present.

Commissioner Takadaso. Present. Commissioner Wilson. Present. We have a quorum.

Thank you. And now I will ask our Vice Chair, Commissioner Diaz, to lead us in our flag salute.

Please rise. Place your right hand over your heart and repeat after me.

Thank you. Next, we'll call for oral communications for matters not listed on the agenda. Do we have any speakers?

There are none, Madam Chair.

Thank you. And oral communications for non-public hearing items listed on the agenda, which we have none. So?

There are none, Madam Chair.

Thank you.

Next item that we have will be the approval of the minutes from June 10th, 2025. It was our regular meeting. Madam Chair, move to approve. Second. Been moved by Vice Chair Diaz and second by Commissioner Doc Dosso. Please roll call for the vote or are we voting electronically? Yes, we are. Madam Secretary, would you call the results of the vote?

Unanimous. Motion carries.

Thank you.

Okay, public hearing. We have an item, which is item 7A. Are we doing that? Where do we look? Oh, I should be looking up here and not at my sheet. 7A is the year-end review presentation. For those of you who are in our viewing audience tonight, I'm watching this from home in the comfort of your wonderfully warmed homes, I'm sure. We came out for this meeting and we got a surprise. I wish you were here and could see this surprise, but I'm sure you will see it eventually. awesome, excellent to the staff, to everyone that supports the Planning Commission and all, just you guys are incredible. But we came in from, well it's dry out there now, but we walked into a red carpet situation. And tonight it was announced that this would be the year in review. Looking at all of the projects and the many projects that the Planning Commission has had the honor of serving in this great city of Carson, making decisions on your behalf residents and on behalf of all who live in the city and work in the city and play in the city so tonight we'll get to see that year in review i'm sure it will be uh very enlightening at this time i will turn everything over to our manager uh planning commission manager

Thank you, Chair Thomas, and good evening, our Honorable Commission. I want to highlight Gerard Coleman. He's our senior planner, so he's going to be bringing the year-end video and has some words beforehand. And then afterwards, we'll have a bit of conversation during the planners' speak. So Gerard Coleman, thank you.

Good evening. All right, welcome to our planning commission year-end movie premiere. It's great to see everyone here tonight. We have honorable planning commissioners, city staff, our families and friends from all over Carson community, whether you're here in the chambers with us or from home. Before we roll the film, I want to take a few minutes to look back at what an incredible year that we had. At Planning Commission, our team and our community has come together to grow Carson. But I'd first like to extend my deepest thanks to everyone who participated in the creation of this film, whether in front or behind the camera. So everyone get a round of applause for everyone that contributed. I wanted to say a special thanks to my planning manager, McKenna Alexander, for believing me from the start in making this movie. Laura Gonzalez, my associate director, for helping with the production and scheduling and the lovely props you guys saw outside. You know, give her props for that. I wanted to thank Edgar, who's in the back. He helped out with our equipment. I want to thank Juwan and David from Deep Sea Media, who also helped bring us all together, all my raw and vision footage, to bring everything together, so to bring the Carson planning story to life. It truly takes a team effort to bring everything like this together. So now for a brief inside look at our year-end review. We had 18 projects presented at Planning Commission since last October. We had four items that were continued, 14 projects approved, and then currently, over the last few years, there are four projects that are actually under construction, including Willow Homes, as well as the Carson Triangle, and two completed projects in the last year, which is In-N-Out and the Wellbee Senior Care Facility on Chico. In terms of a development activity that was approved, we saw three new commercial uses, 380 new residential units, and over one million square feet of new industrial square feet of space. So this showcases a tremendous amount of progress and growth within Carson, and tonight's film captures that story, the people, the projects, and the places that defined our year in planning. So without further ado, sit back, relax, enjoy our 2025 year-end review for Planning Commission. Thank you everyone again for being a part of this journey with me, and here's to the next one. Enjoy, and we'll discuss right after the film, so save your feedback and comments for that.

Thank you.

This is Carson This is Carson This is Carson This is Carson This is Carson This is Carson This is Carson This is Carson This is Carson This is Carson The jewel of the South Bay This is Carson This is Carson This is Carson This is Carson This is Carson This is Carson

This is Carson. This is Carson. Now this is Carson.

What is your fondest memory from serving on the planning commission this past year?

I'm Del Huff. I am a planning commissioner for the city, of course. The respect, the professionalism, the thoroughness that we all bring to the table.

My name is Clarence Johnson. I'm a member of the Carson Planning Commission. Sense of collaboration and all the commissioners sharing resources, life experiences, and expertise to make the best decisions for our community.

My name is Diane Thomas. We had been on a break. We hadn't had a meeting for a few months. And when we returned, one of our commissioners, Commissioner Monteclaro, his hair had grown quite long. And we were all shocked and surprised. I believe you noticed something new in me. I see your hair is longer.

My name is Jimmy Monteclaro, and I'm an attorney and planning commissioner here in the city of Carson. We told them, A black star with no voice and no guitar. And everybody laughed at that.

Which project did you most enjoy deliberating on and why?

My name is Fred Doc Dossel. I am a commissioner with the City of Carson's Planning Commission. Several months ago, we talked about... what would happen to oil or petroleum refinery sites once the company moves on. Not only would it have taken care of the facilities themselves, but it also ensured that the future of the citizens of the city of Carson is secure.

There was an application, and the applicant came in with a request for a new restaurant in the city. They were located in Gardena off of Redondo, and he said that location was too small. He moved it to still Gardena, but on Artesia, larger location. He said that one is too big. I'm trying it for the third time, and I want to come to Carson, and I think this location is going to be just right.

When the commission approved a modification of extending for another five years the operation of a telecommunication facility, we and I, you know, initiated and the whole commission, you know, assisted a fellow neighbor, Carson neighbor, in her struggle with making her complaint heard by the facility.

In your view, how have the Commission's decisions positively impacted the Carson community?

Hi, my name is Leticia Vazquez-Wilson, and I'm a member of the Carson Planning Commission. We have a number of residents that attend our Planning Commission meetings, And during public whirls, there's an opportunity for members of the public to give us feedback. And we always consider every comment that they make as we are making decisions about the community.

Yes. My name is Diquita M. Fumay, and I'm a planning commissioner. We are a forum for the community to come in and speak to us about their concerns. When applicants come in, if they have some issues with it, some grievances, we do, as a commission, hear them out to make sure that the community is safe, happy, and will not have any issues with whatever they're building at the time.

I think as a planning commission, we obviously prepare for the future of the city. And I am very proud of the fact that through the work that we do, we help ensure that there's more housing for the residents of the city of Carson, as well as also bringing in businesses.

Carson is one of the few cities that still have land that needs to be developed. And so we pass through our city, we see vacant lots and areas that have not been developed.

What surprised you the most about serving on the Planning Commission this year?

I guess the biggest surprise is the amount of work. that serving on the planning commission takes. It is not a rubber-stamping job. I appreciate all of the fellow commissioners who take time to visit the sites, read the materials, we look at the staff recommendations, and we make a decision based on all that we pull together and all that the staff brings to us.

Being the fact that we all came from different backgrounds and just like anything else, if you read something, everybody has their own take on it. But we were blessed and cooperative enough to come together and we solved the different sides.

I was very surprised by the level of fulfillment and it feeling more like purpose than work. It's been very gratifying.

The Carson Triangle, which I'm really excited about, we deliberated on it, and a short time after, the buildings were demolished, and it just lets me know we're moving forward.

What accomplishment are you most proud of as a planning commissioner?

I would say our triangle project. The Carson Triangle project, not for the scale or size of the project, but more or less for the spirit of collaboration between the city, the developer, the landowner.

The ability for people to have respectful conversations about how we can see our community grow and prosper.

Most proud of the fact that the Planning Commission serves as a council to the city council. There are so many projects, and I'm proud of the number of projects that we were able to review, make a decision on over the past year. The list is incredible. I think our position is critical, and our mayor, Lula Davis Holmes, has a vision for this city, and I think we're critical to that vision and making it come true.

Thank you.

My name is Richard Garcia, assistant planner with the City of Carson. So what makes this my favorite project is that we took in this application and we saw that this site was undeveloped and sitting vacant for a few years. So we had this developer come in, ASPCA, so now they're proposing an animal clinic that's gonna completely change the site itself and it's gonna incorporate new fencing, new landscaping, new parking lot, and of course, an animal clinic that's gonna service the community and the nearby neighborhoods. Hi, I'm Jacob Collins with the Carson Planning Division. So we're here at 24760 South Main Street here on the south side of Carson. This is a warehouse that's owned by Prologis. This is my favorite project because it really demonstrates kind of what you have to do when you go through the planning process when there's two kind of competing interests. So just across this wall, we have the Monterey Pines neighborhood. It was constructed in 1997. This warehouse was already here but recently and around 2020 there was issues with basically noise complaints from the trucks and a code enforcement case got involved which kind of triggered a cup requirement for trucking operations within 100 feet of residential housing so basically it went the project went to the planning commission and the the residents did not want to see this at all they were they did not want to see any trucking operations But thankfully, the Planning Commission directed us to kind of reach out to the neighborhood. And we were able to hold two community meetings with the property owner and the neighbors. And we were able to come to a compromise that kind of allowed for the trucking operations. But under the conditions that there had to be hours of operations restrictions, we put up new landscaping along the back wall there to help buffer out the noise. And we also have this sign that was put up over here kind of giving everyone a 24-7 phone line to call and outlining the hours restrictions for the truck drivers. So this is really my favorite project over the last year because it really shows what's possible when you carry out the planning process and you can come out with a positive outcome even though there might be conflicting uses next to each other.

I'm Aaron Whiting in the City of Carson Plain Division. So we're currently at the Carson Hyundai Vehicle Dealership. And in early 2024, the Planning Commission approved a new service building at this property. And recently, the ownership here has expressed interest in continuing to invest in the property for aesthetic improvements. And they've expressed interest in improving the showroom. So it's probably my favorite project last year because it's just a good example of high-end development that brings customers in from the entire LA region into Carson for shopping for new vehicles.

Hi, my name is Kanika Pompei and I am a planner with the City of Carson. So we are at 18800 South Broadway. The developer would take this almost three acre site, which is currently underutilized and dilapidated, and will turn it into a battery energy storage system.

Hi, my name is Max Castillo, and I'm an associate planner for the city of Carson. We're at 438 West Carson Street in the western portion of the city. And the project is a 51-unit residential multifamily condominium development. It's going to be four stories high. It's going to be developed by Maupin Development. It's located in the downtown mixed use zone. It's gonna have a mix of one and two bedroom units. It's gonna have common facilities such as a fitness center, a lounge and a rooftop deck. There's gonna be about 115 parking spaces, but also short-term and long-term bike storage, facilities. And the reason why I like this project is that one, it's gonna provide development for a long time vacant lot on Carson Street. Two, they'll increase housing availability in the city of Carson, which will include five affordable units. and also help the city meet its regional housing goals. And three, because of its location to nearby transportation hubs, hopefully it'll encourage the use of public transportation and promote more walkability and bikeability.

Hi, my name is Gerard Coleman. I am the senior planner at the City of Carson. So we're at City Hall because my project is a citywide project as a general plan amendment to recognize local hazard mitigation plan that was done in 2024. We went to PC to do one of two things was to get recognition for the local hazard mitigation plan and also to propose text changes into our safety element. So it went on April 1st, 2025 to get adopted. by the city council for local hazard mitigation plan of 2024 and then on September 2nd for the proposed text to be adopted in the safety element and the reason why that occurred and also why my favorite part of this project is is because of SB18 we had to do reach out to the Native American and do tribal consultations. So for that, we started with reaching out to the Native American Heritage Commission, in which then I got the new updated list for our area to then send out notifications to each of the tribes within our area to then see if they need consultation or not. Luckily for us, no tribe needed consultation and working with them and communicating with them was a breeze and it was really helpful to have that conversation with them to complete our process. So that was why this project was my favorite from last year.

Before we close, I want to sincerely thank everyone who helped bring this project to life. Those who participated, lent their voices, shared their time, recorded, interviewed, organized, and supported along the way. And to those who gave me their blessing to move forward, your encouragement has meant everything. With your help, We've not only looked back, we've also set the stage for what's ahead. And with that, this year and review comes to a close. Until next year, let's continue to Plan Carson.

Thank you for the opportunity to share with you the projects that were presented to the Planning Commission during this year-end video. My name is Makena Alexander. I'm the Planning Manager for the City of Carson. I'd like to take this moment to acknowledge our amazing Planning Commission, as well as our team of dedicated planners. Also like to acknowledge assistant city attorney, Benjamin Jones. And I would be remiss if I did not acknowledge our honorable city council led by mayor Lula Davis Holmes, including the leadership prowess of our city manager's office led by David Roberts. We will continue to work hard to present projects before the plan commission. we will continue to collaborate to plan Carson and to grow Carson. And as our honorable mayor says, maintain being the jewel of the South Bay. Thank you.

We will be back.

Okay. And that concludes the presentation and we can continue. Then we'll have more remarks during the manager's report. Thank you.

That was incredible. Absolutely incredible. We're just having all these incredible moments, events that are taking place in this city. It just blows your mind. There's no other city like it. There's none that can compare, especially none this size. But we're taking on the big guys as well. There's just nothing like it. And when they see what we do in the city of Carson, the quality of of the leadership in the city, the staff, every department, every commission, it makes you proud to say that you are a resident of the city of Carson. Thank you so much. And I cannot wait for the city council to see this movie. One thing I do when I get an opportunity to work with other departments with the city, when we do things like the Black History Program and the MLK Program, and we actually have videos and like that, I love it when you roll credit. Because there are so many people behind the scenes who are doing so many great things, and you don't want to miss anyone. Because the quality of work is just stellar. I'm not sure where I'm supposed to be at this time. Are we making comments or what are we doing? Yes, yes. Manager's report, is that where we are? Love this staff. Manager's report.

Thank you, Chair Thomas, and good evening to the full commission. If there isn't any other questions or comments from the rest of the commission, happy to get the report from the CMO.

OK, that's what I was. Do you want to do yours first? Because I do want to get give the opportunity to all the commissioners to be able to make a statement. This is just crazy good.

Your discretion, madam, your discretion. So I can I can do the report now. Do the report. OK, I think I like that. I'll be brief. There's just some updates that I have been eager to share. So a few things to share with the commission. The first is, as you all have mentioned, this planning team as well as econ dev team have done tremendous work this year. And there's a whole lot more coming. So I want to make sure I take a moment on behalf of the city manager's office to thank all the hard work from this expertise, this expert staff that we have. This is all behind the sort of scenes, experts that we have on team. And I've been simply a caretaker for the last, I don't know, four, five months or so and been really impressed with the quality of work, the professionalism, and really the detail that goes into what they do that a lot of folks in the community are not aware of. So I just want to extend publicly TMO's appreciation to the entire department for what they do. It does not go unrecognized. So I want to start with that. Excellent. SECOND, THANK YOU TO THE COMMISSION FOR YOUR SERVICE. I KNOW THAT YOU ARE AS GOOD AS THE TEAM THAT GIVES YOU THE INFORMATION TO REVIEW AND PROVIDE FEEDBACK ON. SO YOUR SERVICE ALSO DOES NOT GO UNRECOGNIZED. THANK YOU. SOME OTHER ITEMS, THOUGH, AS I MENTIONED, THIS YEAR IS GOING TO BE EVEN MORE INVOLVED WITH A LOT OF ITEMS ON THE HORIZON. I think you've heard about some of them, probably in rumors, murmurs, some stuff in pre-entitlement, everything from COT, COT 2.0, stuff we're doing with discussions on how we're going to handle the refinery stuff, and also the 157 acres. There's just a whole lot that is going to be coming forward in the very, very near future that we've been working on in the background. So brace yourself. The other items, let's see. So the team is going to be recognized at Council for Planning Professionals Week on Tuesday night. So if you are available and would like to come by and support the staff being recognized for Planning Week, that will happen on Tuesday. That's Tuesday next week? Correct, yes. Okay.

The 21st. 21st, mark your calendars, yes.

THEN I WILL ALSO HIGHLIGHT THAT THE UPDATES FOR THE PLANNING COMMISSION AND THE ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT COMMISSION ARE ACTUALLY GOING TO OCCUR IN NOVEMBER. THE CURRENT AGENDA FOR TUESDAY NIGHT'S MEETING IS QUITE FULL, SO THEY WANTED TO MAKE SURE WE DIDN'T RUSH THOSE UPDATES FROM THE COMMISSION, GIVE YOU YOUR DUE TIME TO PROVIDE UPDATE TO THE COUNCIL. And then just one last thing, which I'm probably more excited than most about. The CMO did finish its recruitment process for the director position. And right now we have a selected candidate made an offer and are just completing the background checks on this individual. Highly qualified individual who's served in directed capacity in a number of agencies throughout their career. Our hope is to have them join us the week of October 27th and be here in this seat for the next commission meeting. So you'll have a chance to meet the person. LIKE I SAID, VERY, VERY EXCITED. I THINK THIS PERSON IS GOING TO BRING A LOT OF EXPERTISE TO THE CITY AND HELP US RAMP UP OUR ECON DEV GAME AS WELL AS JUST REALLY SUPPORT THE STAFF WHO ARE ALREADY DOING THIS REALLY DIFFICULT WORK. IT IS DIFFICULT WORK. SO THEY'RE IN IT TO WIN IT, AS I SAY. I THINK THE INDIVIDUAL IS INTENDING TO ACTUALLY RELOCATE, TOO. SO THAT'S ALWAYS A GOOD THING. SO WITH THAT, I CONCLUDE MY COMMENTS, BUT I BELIEVE PLANNING MANAGER HAD SOME THINGS TO SHARE AS WELL.

Thank you, Dr. Lennox. I want to make sure that our team is recognized. They're all here with the exception of Max Castillo, our associate planner. So by name, yes, please stand. And there's some camera shy people, but it's really important that we recognize you and your hard work, your dedication, and your service to our community. So I'll start off with Aaron Whiting, our associate planner. Richard Garcia, assistant planner. Jacob Collins, assistant planner. Jerrod Coleman, senior planner. Our contract planner, Kanika Pompei, wasn't able to join us this evening, but I wanted to make sure that she gets a shout out as well. We are nothing without our administrative folks. I tell you, if it wasn't for them, we would hardly get anything done. So I'd also like to recognize Laura Gonzalez, our planning secretary. Please stand. Maria Gonzalez, who keeps us our budgets and our money right. Sandy Solis, our honorable planner, she's been helping us out. And our newest to the team, Dahlia Moreno, please stand. Again, I am nothing without them. They are the people who are doing most of the heavy lifting. I hope to continue to encourage you and empower you to be the best persons and professional planners and to prepare you for your next phases in your career. Thank you again, everyone. And that concludes it, thank you.

So since we're down in the pit, before we move out of the pit, we have to hear from Assistant Attorney Ben Jones.

As always, Madam Chair, members of the commission, I sincerely like to thank you for your service. The city is very fortunate to have you and we really appreciate it. And I want to thank the staff. They're fantastic, phenomenal staff. I love working with them. I worked with them for seven years and it's been the honor of my career. So thank you very much.

Thank you. Let's give him a round of applause. And so with that, I'm gonna start to my left with Commissioner Wilson.

All right. I just wanna thank everyone. I mean, I just feel like just giving everybody a big hug, you know, and it's just amazing to be here and to serve the community and to be with so many amazing positive people that are about getting things done and moving the community forward without ego without you know any of that so it's really a pleasure and i just want to end it at that thank you so much commissioner doc doxel

I, yes, I definitely echo the appreciation for everybody's work. You know, just hearing some of the numbers, even before the video got started, all the projects that came through this commission, 14 out of four, if I'm not mistaken, were passed. And then I remember a million square feet, right? In terms of being worked on actively, right now. So that's impressive. It does show that it's hard work, as was mentioned, but it didn't feel like work because of, you know, the people that we were doing this work with, everybody's carrying a share of the load, and that really makes it a lot easier. So really, truly do appreciate everybody's service and excited to do more. Thank you. That completes me.

Thank you, Commissioner Huff.

Good evening, everyone. I probably could just go down and say ditto, ditto, ditto. But personally, I too want to thank everybody. I know there are times that eyebrows were raised when we were discussing different things that you didn't actually know was going to come out of any of our mouth. this is a everywhere i work it seems to be a family and this is certainly a planning family uh as was already stated it takes everybody to do their job their portion of this puzzle to put it together to make something as beautiful as it consistently seems to come out it's a pleasure for me to work with all of you and i personally again want to say thank you very much i'm excited about continuing to work. There was a time that I kept saying, I'm tired of studying. I'm tired of reading. I'm tired of going. But it truly is a labor of love. At that time, it was a labor. But I look forward to going now to see what the changes are going to be and what we're facing and how we can present it or find out the details. So Thank you for all the work that you put into everything that you do for taking our calls. Laura, certainly for answering the questions. And I'll let you off the hook now, because I told her she was going to be held responsible for anything that happened here tonight, since there were so many surprises. But that was an excellent presentation. Thank you, our senior planner, as well as everybody else. I thank you, and I look forward to next year. And I'm complete.

Thank you, Commissioner Guerra.

Thank you, Madam Chair. I, too, want to emphasize and give great thanks for the planning staff. Every time I get your packages, I wonder if you ever go home. They're so thick and thorough. I appreciate you, as I'm sure we all do. Last but not least... It's been a pleasure to serve. And I hope that when it all ends, we get to see everything that you guys accomplished.

Thank you. And I'll just say, I don't remember seeing you on the film. Were you not available?

No, I was sick. I just want to emphasize, please don't get COVID, especially at our age. Enough.

Okay. COVID is still alive and well, by the way. So protect yourself. To my far right, Commissioner Johnson.

Thank you. I'm just grateful and thankful to be part of your production, part of our production, part of the family. It's extremely gratifying to serve with support of staff, community, and family. Thank you.

Commissioner Mpume.

I JUST WANTED TO SAY IT IS REALLY AN HONOR TO SERVE ON THE COMMISSION. I WANTED TO THANK THE STAFF AND HAVE AN OPPORTUNITY TO MEET THE ADMINISTRATIVE STAFF. WE SEE THE ASSOCIATES. YOU GUYS DO AN EXCELLENT JOB EXPLAINING THE PROJECTS TO US, BUT I AM GLAD THAT WE WERE ABLE TO MEET YOUR BUDGET STAFF AND YOUR OTHER ADMINISTRATIVE STAFF. The film was wonderful. You guys did an awesome job, and the red carpet, I do feel pretty special. And I just want to say thank you. This has been an amazing journey this year. What surprises me, though, is when you said there was 18 projects. I know we've had a few meetings, the cancellations, but I'm like, did we really do 18? Impressive. And now that I think about it, yeah, we've been working. So thank you, guys.

Vice Chair Diaz.

So I echo the sentiments of my fellow commissioners on here. The accolades that we give to you out here to support us to make sound and reasonable decisions that help move these projects forward. THAT HELP FACILITATE THE HOUSING NEEDS, THE REQUIREMENTS THAT WE NEED TO MEET HERE AS A CITY, BOTH STATE AND FEDERAL. I THINK THAT WE COULDN'T ACCOMPLISH IT ON OUR OWN WITHOUT THE ENTIRE TEAM. AND IT'S GRATIFYING TO SEE BEHIND THE SCENES THE TEAM THAT PUTS IT TOGETHER. WE'RE PART OF THAT TEAM. WE FEEL PART OF THAT TEAM. I also want to send my sentiments to my fellow planning commissioners that do have expertise in their own individual backgrounds, what they bring to the table here. And, yes, we will continue to deliberate and agree to disagree on some of the things. But at the end, I think that we all come together as a team to make sure that we – know for sure that the project is the right project that meets all the requirements, all the conditions of approval to make the thing go forward. And we don't do it in a vacuum. We do listen to the community at large that comes forth and those that present written statements or comments, whether for or against. So we do take the time to visit the sites, and read staff's prepared projects that come before us. Again, I'm always confident that the dots, the I's are dotted and the T's are crossed. It gives me that confidence to make sure that when I'm making my individual decision that I'm doing it knowing that all the work behind the scenes was done to make sure that We are doing the right thing, again, for the community, for the businesses, et cetera. And to my fellow commissioners that did take the time to give those statements or answer those questions very eloquently. I think everything was done very nice. Unfortunately, I was unable. I had three tragedies. I had three deaths in the family. It was dealing with my mother, uncle, and a couple of other personal dear friends. So it took me away, and then I was doing some traveling as well. But aside from that, I want to end on a high note. So thank you all for what you do, and thank you, fellow commissioners. I'm complete.

Thank you. Did you want to say something? Okay, go ahead.

Thank you. I totally forgot to say this. I want to make sure that Gerard Coleman, is acknowledged for all the hard work that he did, producer, director, editing, spending many hours making sure that we had a fantastic product. I also want to thank Dr. Lennox for giving us a budget that we'll be asking for a little bit more money next year. So thank you for that budget because it really did help ease some of the processing that Gerard was responsible for. And to kind of give you a bit more context, he had a very short amount of time to make it happen with some hard deadlines and he did it. And he collaborated with our staff and as you see the final product of all the hard work from him as well as our staff. So again, thank you.

Go right ahead.

Madam Chair, I just want to add something because I think independent of what department we talk about in the city, the planning, and econ dev teams have a reputation of being the quietest in City Hall, believe it or not. I think maybe a close second behind finance, but I think that's a misnomer. Every year, and I'm gonna say this because we're in October, there is a costume contest And without fail, this department has hands down won that competition in the group category.

Whoa.

I'm very eager to see what they do this year. Yeah, they're all over there smiling. Two years ago, it was Thriller. Last year, it was Beetlejuice, if I'm not mistaken. So, you know, the bar's been raised only by themselves, so we'll see how it goes. But it's important to highlight that these are people, right? And they have personalities and families and lives, and they put that on pause to be here with us, and we appreciate that. So I just wanted to provide that extra touch.

Madam Chair. Thank you.

yes may we request a video of the happenings this year that they might show them this is an annual thing does not need to be requested this will happen every year ever since you did the first one and the city council said we want to see this every year it's a done deal they just stepped it up from last year each year You've set a precedent. This is what we do in this city. You know, every time you have an event, the next event has to top that one and top that one. And there's always a question, how are you going to top this next time?

Oh, with a bit more budget, time, and people, we're going to make it happen. And to clarify, October is... National Planning Month. And so it's a celebration of all the hard work that our commission does, as well as the planning professionals. And that's why we do it every October. I have to acknowledge Christopher Palmer, who started it all. He was next on my list. He was next on my list. Oh, he was not going to get away. No. He's the one that got this started. So, well, of course, there's a collaboration with you, but he's the one that started and we're going to continue this. So thank you again.

In 2024. Yes. When the whole conversation happened, I was not going to let you get away without saying anything tonight after, you know, I'll let you be next to me. But he was our planning manager. He... He did a lot of things, got training, training for the commissioners who felt that they needed it, online training, very forward-seeing young man, lots of ideas, and he has no problem working to make those ideas happen. So I will give you the floor.

Well, thank you. I wasn't expecting this. There's my speech. No, but it's been a pleasure. I had the opportunity to be on the planning commission. I was a chair at some point. And, you know, that was during a time, I mean, it was like seven years, but during the last couple of years, it was like, the pandemic, being online, orchestrating all that stuff and all the stuff that we were able to do through the planning team. And so I became planning manager. I saw some things that we could improve upon and we did. I couldn't have done it without the support of everyone here. And I look forward to continuing this same thing with the Economic Development Commission, who I'm now responsible for. And so although we're one, we put the unity in community development. Watch out, here we come.

And so for me, it has been an honor to serve as chair of this commission, an incredible commission. This commission is obviously unique. Highly inclusive, not exclusive. Everyone is important when you work with the planning department. You are to be commended. I will miss you. I will miss seeing you here, but I'm looking forward to the person who will be sitting in that seat once you're no longer here and you get to go home or whatever you get to do because it's a long drive. I love you, and I'm so thankful that I have this opportunity to serve on a commission that you are over with these wonderful people. I want to say thank you to my fellow commissioners. They are hardworking. And it's not just a matter of getting the material and getting the information. and sitting at home reading it, we get in our cars, we drive throughout Carson. We want to see it. We want to touch it. We want to feel it. We want to know that when we get all of the information that we get from this staff, that we do justice for and by the residents of Carson. That is our goal. And we're led by the stellar advice of our assistant city attorney who is an incredible writer he knows i feel that way about him it's insane but if he puts it together it is together and we don't have to worry about it i want to also say um There have been a lot of things happening. I was not aware of all the things that happened in our Vice Chair Diaz's family. But I do know that a lot of people have lost loved ones this year, in the past few months, and they continue to push forward. That shows the character of the people. I want to acknowledge our own McKenna Alexander, who lost her mom just a matter of last month. And the time that she spent caring for her the weeks and months before, but she continued to do her job. In the midst of that, we had meetings and we kept rolling. That's a testimony to her quality of work, life, and all that that includes. My condolences to the Diaz family, Alexander family. It's wonderful to have Carlos here. I should have known something was wrong with you because I hadn't heard from you in a minute. But my life is always real, real busy. In these times that we all have to endure, I'll just say it, we have to stay prayed up. Because God is always in control. And we have to remember that. So when you start to feel a little down, just remember who's in control. And he's got it. And it will be all right. So as a memoriam, We want to honor those who have been lost. And most recently, I have to say Diane Keaton, who was one of my favorite actresses, we lost her. And then today, D'Angelo, 51 years old, he's gone. Life is not promised. Death is. Death is promised and we all have a date that we will meet. But in the meantime and in between time, be kind to one another.

Love one another and we will have peace.

A beautiful life, because this is awesome. And the level of detail, now I'm going to make the city council jealous right now, the level of detail that this staff goes to to make sure that this commission is well taken care of, every meeting, every meeting that we have, and all those who participate, this is what we're presented with. for our agenda, tabbed and ready to go. Every meeting, we've got water. Just this little thing. I go to other meetings, and this does not happen. Let me assure you that you guys do. Please feel proud of yourselves because we are proud of you. And with that, I wish you a blessed evening. Let's get ready for another year. We are ready. We are ready to hit the ground, continue to run, and make this city even greater. Thank you for everything that you do. Good night. Again, Edgar, thank you. This is crazy.

That's Gerard.

Is this Gerard? Oh, my God. I walked up the stairs and almost missed a step because I was looking.

What is that red carpet picture?

Okay, I have to send this back east so they can know what we do here. But thank you. Thank you for everything. Good night.