City Council - Regular Meeting

my work. Um the favorite part about my job, um being able to see my work afterwards and knowing that I'm lighting up this city. I'm the one that maintaining them or repairing them and with the help of my my teams and my co-workers of course. Yeah. No, I enjoy I love working for the city of Corona because one, I've been here for so long already that it's kind of my second home of the res the residents are great. I can see how the city and the employees take pride in in what they do for the residents. Hold on, guys. Um, our seniors deal with a lot of problems physically, mentally. To me, it's very rewarding to be able to provide those services to them. Hold on, guys. Um, I really don't know where our seniors would be. Like, I think they would be so so depressed. I I kid you not. It's like depression in these seniors. It's it's it's something that really is happening on every day, you know, and and just them having that connection with another senior is it's crucial to them, you know. So, my name is Jacqueline Wilson and I'm a senior community service leader. Our seniors deal with a lot of problems physically, mentally. To me, it's very rewarding to be able to provide those services to them. This center creates a family atmosphere. The first thing that you feel once you enter these doors is just people smiling at you. You know, you feel you just feel family. We want you to be here, you know, and we want you to take advantage of what the city is providing for you. Lunch programs, activities, you know, for your mental health, physical health. But I enjoy the most to see transformations. I've seen seniors come in with tears in their face and then a year from now you see them

and they're line dancing. They're attending our parties. They are all dressed up, you know, with big smiles and and that's the most beautiful thing I can witness. I have grown a lot. I feel like I have more patience now. It makes me see the city I live in a different way. I love where I live and work. [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] Hi, I'm Ashi Sarragoza. with the city of Corona. The city of Corona recently toured Latitude 36 Foods. They're a Corona food manufacturer that took the Liveware Corona pledge which shows their commitment to hiring local. Here in Corona, we do have about 80% of our workforce that works and lives here in Corona. And so that's very very exciting for us. They get to, you know, work here and then go right back home, you know, just a couple exits away from the freeway. And so that's very very exciting for them. they didn't have to worry about commuting to longer distances which in California can be quite an odyssey. It also helped keep retention. So it was important to our leadership team to keep the business here and again it just demonstrates our commitment to continue to grow the

business right here in the city of Corona throughout the transition from one location to another. We had a very successful partnership with the city of Corona themselves and and a lot of support when it came to you know moving to a whole new home. And so that was really exciting for us and we truly appreciated the support from a structural standpoint.

We appreciate everything the city's done for us as well and you guys have made yourself very available to us. Again, we actually engage with the city on a few occasions to really help us navigate cuz there's always some new regulation that comes up. U definitely having someone that's uh wellversed in those rules and regulations has really helped us uh smooth the process out a bit for us. So by by taking the pledge uh we actually got a lot of other resources right that came in with that partnership. They help us with remarketing right they really feature us uh when it comes to you know their website because it really does open up ourselves to different talent you know people that maybe haven't heard of lot of 236 foods and they're able to uh show them what we do. [Music] All right. [Music] All right. [Music] [Music] You always have that turned on for me, brother. Elijah, come on up. And if you could, after the invocation, could you lead us in the pledge again?

Thank you, brother. Please stand.

Dear heavenly father, we come to you today because um Lord, there's no point of life without you. Lord, I ask that you would please meet with all of us in this room today, that the truth would be shown in any area. God, I ask that you would get all the glory and honor. And Father, your ministry was about others when you came and as Jesus Christ, Lord, your ministry was to be a blessing to others. And I pray tonight that that'll be exactly what will take place is that others will be blessed by it. Father, we ask that you would um please continue to bless us with the freedom that we have and continue to give you th us those who are willing to speak the truth um despite despite whatever else happens. We ask that you would be honored and glorified this evening in your son's precious name, Jesus. Amen.

All right, let's go ahead. I pledge allegiance to the flag and to the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. Thank you. Thank you. All right, everybody. Have a good night. You too. Okay. At this time, I'd like to call the meeting to order. So, individuals or Miss Edwards, can you read your part?

Yes, mayor. Individuals wishing to address the city council are requested to complete a speaker card and deliver it to city clerk staff prior to the item being heard by the city council. Please observe a threeminute limit for communications and once called upon to speak, please state your name and s city of residents for the record. Thank you, Miss Edwards. Okay, we have a couple proclamations and then three presentations. So, our first proclamation, it's code enforcement officer appreciation week. So, I'd like to invite Rachel Bodka, code compliance supervisor and code compliance staff to the podium to receive the proclamation. Come on up, guys.

Hi. How are you? Good, thank you. Hi, Rich. Hey, April. Right here. Right here. Fine. All right. Hi. How are you? Nice to meet you. Hi, April. How are you? Thank you for the work you do. There you go. All right. Now that we're through with that.

Okay. Code enforcement officer appreciation week. Whereas code compliance inspectors provide an essential service to our community by working diligently to ensure compliance with city codes, ordinances, and regulations that preserve public health, safety, and quality of life. And whereas these professionals contribute to maintaining the integrity of neighborhoods, protecting property values, and fostering a safe and vibrant environment for residents, businesses, and visitors. And whereas code compliance inspectors often perform their duties with limited recognition, balancing, education, outreach, and enforcement while addressing issues sub such as substandard housing, public uh nuisances, zoning compliance, and community beautifification. And whereas their their work requires technical knowledge, professionalism, patience, a lot of patience, and a strong commitment to public safety, frequently involving challenging situations that demand discretion, diplomacy, and dedication. And whereas the city of Corona recognizes the important contributions and positive impact that code enforcement officers make towards the health, safety, and overall well-being of our community. Now therefore, I mayor Jim Steiner on behalf of the city council do hereby proclaim the second week of October as code enforcement officer week in the city of Corona in honor of the dedicated professionals who serve and protect our community through code compliance education and enforcement. So, thank you very much for what you do. I know you get yelled at a lot and sometimes by us, but we did we still love you. Just know that. But, um, thank you for everything you do. Uh, Rachel, did you want to say a few words or no? I just want to thank my team for doing a great job and usually you know what we do um like you said we usually do it behind the scenes and don't get recognized but it's all for the quality of life of the citizens of Corona to make this a safe vibrant community. So thank you guys

great work. How about an applause? Okay, so you want to hold that? Do we want a picture? Caleb, you want a picture? Take one step.

Okay, our next one, uh, proclamation manufacturing month. I'd like to invite Ashley Zerugosa, our economic development manager, along with uh representatives from Combustion Associates, Inc. to the podium to receive the proclamation. Hi, how are you? Hi, how are you? Okay. Manufacturing Month, October 2025. Whereas the city of Corona empowers its business community with opportunities to launch and grow a business and enjoy a high quality of life in an environment where businesses can thrive. And whereas California is the number one manufacturing state in the nation with more than 35,000 manufacturing firms employing over 1.2 million Californians. And whereas there are more than 400 manufacturing businesses that have chosen to locate and prosper in the city of Corona with access to business resources and partnerships. And whereas there are more than 14,000 people in Corona employed in the manufacturing industry. And whereas the city of Corona recognizes manufacturing as a critical industry sector and is committed to ensuring the encouraging the growth of manufacturing businesses that contribute to job growth in Corona. And whereas the city of Corona's manufacturing assistance program works in partnership with various local, regional, state, and federal agencies to provide services and resources to manufacturing businesses. And whereas manufacturing month is a celebration of modern manufacturing meant to inspire the next generation and to encourage the growth of current manufacturers. And whereas Combustion Associates, Inc. is a Corona based and woman-owned manufacturer specializing in innovate innovative clean energy solutions contributing to the Corona workforce and local economy. And finally, uh whereas Combustion Associates, Inc. is recognized by the US

Small Business Administration for the 2025 regional exporter of the year with exports representing an average 85% of the company's total sale in the last four years. So therefore, I, Mayor Jim Steiner, on behalf of the city of Corona in partnership with the Corona Chamber of Commerce, do hereby proclaim the month of October as manufacturing month in the city of Corona as we celebrate the many manufacturers that make an impact in our community and present the pro proclamation to combustion combustion associated Inc. with appreciation for its contributions to our corona workforce and manufacturing industry. Thank you. Would you like would you like to say anything? Sure.

Yeah. A fascinating business. Please share what you do. It's it's

of course I'll be happy to. My name is Priy Chanden and I'm the sales and marketing manager at Combustion Associates. First of all, I'm greatly honored to receive this proclamation. On behalf of uh the entire team of combustion associates, I would like to express our gratitude to the city of Corona for its unfl flagging support and encouragement. Corona has been the home uh for our country to grow and thrive for the last 30 plus years. Our supply chain also is in the region. The you know as it was mentioned that we are a womanowned small business. our owner, Miss Kosum Cavia, and even myself, we have been residents of Corona for 30 plus years. Um, so and we operate out of a 40,000 square foot facility off of Railroad Street. Um, what we do is we package gas turbine driven power generators and also manufacture industrial um, process systems. Um our equipment is operating at client sites in Asia, Africa and in North America including the United States of course and currently we are manufacturing our generators for a refinery that is based in Mexico and also for data center sites within the United States. Again our sincere thanks to Corona and the city council for this recognition. We truly appreciate it. Thank you so very much.

Nicely done. Thank you. Okay, Miss Edwards, were there any speaker cards from the public for those two proclamations?

Mayor, yes, we have one speaker card for agenda item 5.1.

5.1. Okay, whoever that is, please come on up. Good afternoon. Welcome. Um, I just want to say, um, I've been volunteering in code enforcement for the last since 21, I think it is. Um, I've never been so proud to work with a group of people. They're they're professional and and and the thing that keeps coming up is just education. They're not heavy-handed. They just just want to get the job done, get everybody on the same page. you're not picking fights with anybody and and I just I'm really proud to work with that with that group. I'm really I'm I'm proud to be there and I just want to let everybody know like the kind of quality operation that it is. Thank you very much.

Thank you. All right. Our next up is a presentation on youth against human trafficking. I would like to invite Ava Baltier to the podium to provide a presentation. Ava, you're out there. Welcome. Hello. Um, we actually have quite a few presenting today. It's our entire board. Good.

Um, like I said, hello. My name is Ava Baltira and I am the CEO and president of Youth Against Human Trafficking. Before we begin, I want to say my deepest thank you and gratitude to each one of the city council members, Mayor Steiner in the city for even supporting us and getting this nonprofit off of the ground. We are so extremely grateful. Um, in this presentation, we're here to give a report on everything that we've done since the first financial support from the city and everything that we hope to pursue in the future. Before we begin our presentation, I think it's appropriate that we share a little about what human trafficking is. So, human trafficking in the simplest definition is modern-day slavery. It is one of the fastest growing industries. It is not slowing down. It is only growing and speeding up. It is a global industry producing around 150 billion dollars. This is affecting young women and young children. And like I said, it is continuing to grow. California is a human trafficking hot spot, which leads into why we even created this nonprofit. Why we created this nonprofit? Um it started back in 2022 actually at a club at our high school, John F. Kennedy Middle College. Um and we saw a need in our school community for programs about human trafficking and human trafficking awareness that was not being met. Eventually that club blossomed and grew so much and in January we saw a bigger need in our community in our city. There's not a lot of programs about human trafficking awareness and we felt it was our duty uh to equip the youth with the right resources. Uh behind me is 11 board members. We are all high schoolers and we really are

dedicated to equipping the youth with resources and to protect our community. Our nonprofit focuses on awareness, advocacy, youth leadership, survivor support, and education. Our moto is for the youth by the youth. Um, like I said, we're all high schoolers and our mission is to protect our community. Um, and we are really, really excited to share everything that we've done and everything that we hope to pursue. So, I have some very excited people to share that with you. Can everyone share their names as well before they start talking? I mean, we've got the board member. Yeah. Hi, my name is Sarah.

My name is Aria. We have Payton in the green. We have Megan in the blue. We have Genesis, Julia, um Denise, Stephana, Angelica, and Rachel all the way in the back. So, hi board. My name is Sarah and I'm an one of the operation coordinators here today. And we'd like to share just a little bit of our impact of our last human trafficking awareness community donation drive at our school this past month. Even though our school is very small, it's only about 700 students, we were able to receive over 530 items at our last drive. We are just so extremely grateful. We received so many student and parent um uh oh my gosh um support and we had even requests to make our drives last longer. All of our items were given directly to human trafficking survivors and children. And I don't I think this only shows the power of the students and the community working together. The items that we collected were hygienic products, things such as pads, tampons, shampoo, conditioner, and a lot more. Um, we partnered with another local nonprofit, Cast LA, to make sure that the products got to those who needed them and went directly to human trafficking survivors. Moving forward, not only do we want to expand our drives, but also gain a wider audience. And we plan to do set up donation boxes throughout the community, like community centers and library like here. and we're just so excited to strengthen our partnership with Castile through future projects. We are so grateful to have your guys' support as we move forward and strive for a better and stronger community. And now we have a video from Amy who is the

director of empowerment programs from CAST LA that we'll be viewing briefly. Hello city council members. My name is Amy Wyn and I'm with CAST, the Coalition to Abolish Slavery and Trafficking. Uh CASS was founded in 1998 in response to the Elmonte case, a groundbreaking labor trafficking case involving 72 Thai migrants that really helped to set the stage for the modern anti-trafficking movement within the US. And in response to that, Cass was founded to really serve labor and sex trafficking survivors of all backgrounds through our services, education, and advocacy. I really want to thank and commend Youth Against Human Trafficking for their passion for this issue. Uh recently, Youth Against Human Trafficking coordinated a toiletry drive for CAST and the survivors we serve, collecting over 500 items that will be going to our emergency response backpacks as well as our basic needs closets in our shelters and offices. Uh human trafficking s is an issue that happens year round and it touches so many industries. You know, ones that a lot of people don't pay attention to, including agriculture, construction, domestic work, and hospitality. Um, survivors need housing and legal and social services, as well as medical care and mental health care all year round. And our communities really need broader awareness around labor protections as well as other prevention areas. Uh I want to thank again Youth Against Human Trafficking for inviting me to make a statement virtually and also really want to thank the city of Corona for its attention on this issue. Thank you.

Uh thank you again for having us. We really appreciate it. My name is Payton Estep. I am the president of our first club chapter called um human trafficking awareness. Hi, my name is Megan and I'm director of chapters for Youth Against Human Trafficking. Uh we want to share a little bit about what we do through our club and through our school community. We started the JFK high school club chapter of Youth Against Human Trafficking in 2022. It educates students and the community about the dangers and realities of human trafficking. Our primary objectives are community education, student led awareness events, and providing volunteer opportunities. We have organized various fundraisers raising money for partnering organizations like Cast LA and sheer love that rescue and save victims of human trafficking worldwide. Yacht plans to establish chapters across the senior USD district to involve more students in education and advocacy about human trafficking. Our chapter hosts monthly meetings, awareness campaigns, and volunteer projects to engage students in meaningful advocacy. Yaw empowers students to become advocates, raising awareness, promoting prevention, and fostering a culture of responsibility and compassion within the school and local community. Each chapter follows a structured handbook outlining setup officer roles, initiatives, and fundraising strategies for sustainable impact. Chapters provide leadership opportunities for students while advancing awareness campaigns and direct support for survivors. Expansion strengthens community engagement, cultivates student leadership, and increases resources and support for anti-human trafficking initiatives throughout the district.

Hello, I'm Angelica and I'm director of volunteers. And I'm so excited to say that within the first three months of gathering volunteers, we have 80 over 80 volunteers from around the world. But this is just the beginning. We plan to continue to grow our community of justice seekers across the city, state, country, and the world. We plan to use our volunteers to create more chapters, execute our drives, and continue to spread awareness about human trafficking. Hi, my name is Denisa Sorio and I'll be going over our website and all of our information. So on our website, we use HTML and Google Sites to spread our message and initiatives for free without outside help from other creators like Wix. We also once you're on your website, you can view our vision, our mission, and additional resources and statistics about human trafficking. Volunteers can also log in and create an account to track their volunteer hours, view upcoming drives, and access all additional resources. Up here, you can scan our QR code to visit our website, or you can type in yacht.life. Good afternoon board members. My name is Estania Morales and I will be talking about our social media. So we have reached over 30,000 views across our entire platform and we are actively growing and spreading awareness about our movement that is very important to us and we should spread this globally and not even like within our community but this is really meaningful and we want to spread this globally. Um, we also promote our volunteer opportunities for the youth um to get involved within their communities and I really believe

this movement um will not only change our communities but the entire state of California and globally. So, thank you very much.

Um, thank you again. My name is Julia.

My name is Rachel. and we'll be going over primarily uh support in both financial and advertisement. Support in finance and advertisement is needed to properly carry out our purpose of a nonprofit. And financial support would look a lot like fundraisers, drives, direct donations and grants. And aid such as direct donations and grants uh greatly cut down our limitations that we currently face in order to properly help out survivors in human trafficking. uh direct donations and grants again limit our no they greatly cut down the limits that we currently face and for example with our last drive with cast LA we weren't able to hold as much donations as we wanted because we don't really have the space and something that would help out would be stuff like storage lockers storage units and shipping costs because we need to ship the items from cast LA and there are a lot more things that we would be using this funding for now I'm going to give it off Rachel to talk more about advertisement.

Thank you, Julia. So, my name is Rachel and today I'm be presenting to you about the advertisement and the support that our club and um nonprofit needs. So, we did start off as HTA as our club um human trafficking awareness and through that we gained more support and we were able to create this nonprofit for um our community and to share with our community. And the main thing we need right now is support through not only social media but also um advertisements in public spaces in um community centers, stuff that gets our name out there and is able to show who we are, what our vision is and what our um our mission for our community. Cuz our our vision is to expand this globally is to we want to be able to create a bigger and better nonprofit and that starts from our community. We want to we want aid to um we want aid for advertisement and um to get our name out there. We just need your individual support and also your support as a community to get our name out there.

Hi. Uh my name is Genesis Gonzalez. I'm the vice president of of Youth Against Human Trafficking and I want to thank you for your support and we are so grateful to have shared with you about our hearts for the fight of youth against human trafficking. Thank you. Is that it? All right. Great job, ladies. You did wonderful. All of you did fantastic speaking. And Ava, thank you for having the courage to reach out to us in the very beginning. Okay. All right. Thank you. Okay. Our next one, we have a um presentation breast cancer awareness. I'd like to invite Miss Maddie Paxton to the podium to provide the presentation.

I don't know how I'm going to go past do well past that group, so bear with me. Um, good evening, Mayor Steiner, Vice Mayor Casillas, council members, thank you so much for this opportunity to share some very valuable information. Um, as we are well aware, October is breast cancer awareness month. This campaign started about 40 years ago in 1985 and we think we know all about the awareness, right? Well, I'm going to bring some information you may not already know. This is just some statistics that from the American Cancer Society that about in in their lifetime, one in three women will develop cancer and four in 10 men about 40% will develop cancer. Period. Now, this is what I want to bring to light. Please be aware that men can get cancer too. Breast cancer does not discriminate. Um, when we're born, we're men and women are both born with breast tissue. I'm not saying men have breast, but you do have breast tissue. And um, hormones determine what how they develop. So, I'm going to speak some generalities, which I usually don't like to do, but I'm going to do so in this case, that I think that women are generally more in attune with their bodies because they go through more changes than men. and um they go to the doctors more frequently when something's arai. So um because breast cancer is so seldom discussed and because men are not taught to routinely check their breasts, it's possible that um by the time that breast cancer may be found in men, it may metastasize into other organs before it's discovered. If we could have the next slide, please. Okay. Um, how common is breast cancer? The slide, that other slide. How common is breast cancer in men? The other one. Oh, there we go. Another number. Anyway, um the American Cancer Society estimates

for breast cancer in men in the United States in 19 in uh 2025 about 2800 new cases of invasive breast cancer will be diagnosed and about 510 men will die from breast cancer. So, um I want to go over some of the possible symptoms. If I could have the next slide, please. Some of the posit similar to women there's a lump or or swelling which is usually but not always painless. There's skin dimpling or puckering. There's nipple retraction which means it turns inward and redness or scaling of the nipple on the breast skin and or discharge of the nipple. And please know that the best fight for breast cancer is early detection and early treatment. And the only accurate way to diagnose um breast cancer is to again have a biopsy which is usually um follows either a mammogram or an MRI. And I know you've heard women talk about mammograms. Let me tell you that's only a few minutes of really inconvenience. When you deal with breast cancer, it hurts a whole lot more. Um, the average lifetime risk of men getting breast cancer is about 1 in 726. And you think, well, that's a pretty big number, but think about it. Think about those men in your family, your friends, your co-workers, your neighbors. When you go to the hardware store, all the men that you see, and then as you're driving on the streets, all the men that are on the freeway that go by, that number gets reduced real quickly. So again, um it may seem like it's a lot, but um please remember, you just don't want to take those take that for um take that chance. And so the the five-year survival rate for men with breast cancer is about 84%. When they say the survival rates for cancer, they usually the they usually predict the next five years because you got to get to five years before you can

move on. Um and this is uh much lower than the survival rate for women with breast cancer which is normally around 91%. Okay. Uh and then um many factors that affect the survival rate with breast cancer. Um there's a lot of factors and you can all do your research on that. Age is an important factor. Um, and it's the age of diagnosis. And men are diagnosed typically at an older age that they tend to have a lower survival rate. Um, and I'm going to share a couple personal stories that maybe might bring this home a little bit to men. I want to put a little bit of fear in you to get things checked out. back a million years ago when I was 20 and my boyfriend was then 21. I will never forget the day when he came running in after college classes saying, "We have to go to the hospital tonight. The doctors need to operate." I'm like, "What are you talking about?" Turns out that he had a stage 4 male related um cancer. It was not breast cancer. And it had metastasized to his kidney. Age of 21. He survived 20 very difficult months and passed away at the age of 23. So please know that age is not only cancer is not only reserved for the older people. And as far as um my personal situation I when I went in I found something wrong when I was young and I was told you're too young to have breast cancer. A year later it turns out I was right. One of those times I didn't want to be right. So the next part of this that I want to discuss is um breast cancer support. We all know that support groups are very important. We've got AA Allen on. It helps to know that you're not alone in this. Again, when I was diagnosed, I say decades ago, last

century in the 1990s, breast cancer was a dirty little secret. You didn't ever tell anybody. And to have to deal with this alone is very difficult. Fast forward in 2012 um 20 2012 when I went through this again by then there was a lot of support. What I want to make very clear is again because men tend to be a little shy about this. There's actually support groups for men. This group that I work with called the care project in um Riverside was founded by a lady by the name of Carrie Madrid in 2014 and she has made it her life's mission to help those with breast cancer. It could be financial support because sometimes they don't have the money for their um for gas or um their co-pays. So, she helps with that as well. And one thing that she does that most breast cancer groups do not do in the United States is she supports men. She's got resources for men as well. Um there's and you can get in contact with her and she will help with um helping you find support through different breast can male breast cancer groups in the United States. Her mission is to care and reduce financial and emotional burdens of individuals diagnosed with breast cancer. Um so this and and they support it nationwide through the men too program. So, for additional information, I have some pamphlets in the back or go to um the cararepro.org. And in conclusion, women and men, please take your health seriously. Please share this information with the men that you know because my hope is that by sharing this information and getting it out there, it gets to that one man that really, really needs to hear it. So, um remember, early detection is key. And if you don't want to do this for yourself, please do it for your loved ones who really care about you. Thank you for this opportunity.

Thank you, Madison. We appreciate that info and the reminder. Okay, our last presentation is an update on the formation of a business improvement district as part of the downtown revitalization projects. I'd like to invite Amina Amir, assistant to the city manager, and Joel Belding, our economic development director, to the podium to provide an update. or from your seat. Just fine. Yeah, that's just fine, too.

Well, as we wait for the uh presentation to come up, good evening, mayor and council members. Um I am here to give a brief update on the one of the downtown revitalization plan uh projects, which is the formation of a business improvement district. Um also known for short as a bid. Um, as a reminder, staff actually started this initiative in 2022. Um, it was temporarily paused, but now we're moving full steam ahead considering all of the wonderful um, developments going on in the downtown corridor area, especially with the uh, north and south mall properties. So, as a reminder of the actual downtown revitalization plan, it was adopted in September 2022. Um and it was a year-long or a year and a half long rather um process of staff um hosting a bunch of community outreach activities such as conducting a survey. Uh we had about 2400 respondents. Uh we held workshops for both residents and businesses. Um we held a focus group discussion. We did market research. And out of all of these activities, a bid was one of the best practices and tools that came about. So for those who do not know what a bid is, a bid or a business improvement district um is a group of business owners within a defined area. They come together and they agree to pay an assessment for the provision of services such as um events and uh marketing, security, waste and litter abatement, lighting, um landscaping and irrigation and business promotion. It can be other host of things. Um, essentially a bid works just basically like a HOA for businesses. And one of the primary purposes of a bid is to maintain the aesthetic and to drive economy within that uh defined boundary. So, here are a couple examples of some Southern California bids. We have the Belmont Shore, which is in Long Beach. Um, you see up there Cover City. We have two from Oakland. One of them being the

Jack London Square, which is their uh lakefront property. Uh we have the West Adams district in Los Angeles and then you have the Sunset Strip have which has several bids. Um and as many of you may remember the city actually had a bid but it expired about 5 years ago. So to form this bid we are working with Spicer Consulting Group. Um and to form it the steps are or some of the steps are engaging stakeholders and defining boundaries. So, we're going to be doing some informal um gauging of participants to see if they're even interested in moving forward with the bid. Um next, we'll develop a management plan and this will basically help us outline the services to be provided by the bid as well as uh set the budget. Then, we'll have um some formal discussions with property owners and we'll also conduct the prop 218 vote. uh we'll bring a resol resolution before council for approval followed by a public hearing for formal approval and then last but not least we'll collect assessments and start providing services of the bid. Um and for those who are wondering where the actual location of the bid is going to be. We really want to focus on the core of the circle. So the bid boundary will extend north and south on Main Street and east and west on Sixth Street. So here's a timeline. Um starting with tonight's update, uh we've already contracted our consultant as I just mentioned. Uh we'll have some informal meetings to gauge um interest. Um also this fall, we'll have a draft management district plan to outline the actual services and to set the budget. Um come January, we'll have our formal stakeholder meetings. Um we'll uh start the 218 the prop 218 process. Um in February, we'll have the consultant preparing engineers report and assessment diagram. The consultant will also finalize our management district plan. Um in March, we will bring the resolution to form the bid before council for approval, followed by a

public hearing in June. Um notice of assessments will also go to the county recorders office. And then by August 16th, we um are looking to levy actual assessments um by putting assessments on the tax ro for the fiscal 2627 fiscal year. So, if there are any questions, both Joel and I are here to answer them. Questions for my colleagues? Okay. Thank you, Dr. Mayor's. Thank you, Miss Edwards. Are there speaker cards from the public for the presentations? Mayor, we do not have any speaker cards for the presentations.

Okay, then let's move on to our consent calendar. All items listed on the consent calendar are considered to be routine matters, status reports, or documents covering previous city council action. The items listed on the consent calendar may be enacted in one motion. With the concurrence of the city council, a council member or any person in attendance may request that an item be removed for further discussion. Would my colleagues like to pull any items? Nothing. Okay. Uh, Miss Edwards, are there any speaker cards from the public regarding any of these items? Mayor, we do not have any speaker cards for the consent calendar. Okay. Can I get a motion, please?

Second, Wes and Jackie getting back. Okay, please vote. Okay, and that passes 5 nothing. Okay, so item seven is communications from the public. Mayor, may I uh be the first to go tonight for communication for the public? Yeah, go ahead and speak and then I'll read the instructions. Oh, you want to do the instructions first? No, go ahead.

Oh, at the uh at the last council meeting of September, uh I I indirectly and directly I indirectly and directly called Joel Morgan a failure. and uh and it was wrong. And let me explain why. As a lot of you are here tonight are going to learn or already know, your citizens and citizens should be able to come to a council meeting and speak their mind. Whether it be good, bad, positive, or negative, a citizen in this room should always be able to come to this meeting and speak their mind freely and without recourse. And uh I I think I gave recourse and and quite honestly I was wrong. So uh please allow me to apologize to Joe, apologize to the citizens, apologize to the council. I don't want to make any excuses. That's not the right thing to do. I just want to own it and I just want to apologize. I also apologize for going first before all of you. But uh that's it. Thank you, mayor.

All right. Thank you. Okay. Okay. So, communications from the public. So, persons wishing to address the council are requested to state their name of city of residence for the record. This portion of the agenda is intended for general public comments only, which means it is limited to items within the subject matter jurisdiction of the city council that are not listed on the agenda. Please note that state law prohibits the city council from discussing or taking actions on items not listed on the agenda. The city council would appreciate your cooperation in uh keeping your comments brief. Please observe a threeminute limit. And I was told that several of the speakers for AAK may have listed uh agenda item 9.1 as your speaking time, but actually this if you're from AK, this is your time that you can speak that you should speak. Um Miss Edwards, are there any speaker cards from the public?

Mayor, yes, we have 28 speaker cards for communication from the public and we also received 10 written comments. The comments were uh distributed to the full city council and they will also be part of the meeting record.

Okay. Thank you so much. And um with all the speakers, you are entitled to your three minutes. U but if you find that you're just repeating what others are saying, then maybe you could brief uh make your statements a little briefer. Okay. Communications from the public. Let's have it. Never spoken from notes before. Joe Morgan 2063 Ren. Uh, first off, uh, council isn't, just so everybody knows, a council isn't subject to administrative sanctions or HR. Um, and I'd also add that corruption doesn't just come in the form of payoffs or brief cases full of cash. It comes in terms of favors, personal relationships. Um, and I I I don't know how many of you know um, the situation. you know, last week sort of jumped off of some things that I knew and I started to find out even more over the last couple of weeks. Um, and I would have I would have defended a council member over a false accusation almost to the death. But when I found out what this accusation was, the council member did it. And at at the 102721 Mountain Gate playground opening, the council member put his hands on a staff member. Okay, I talked to several people that were there and know what happened. Council, the staff member filed an HR complaint. HR complaint went to the city manager's office. It was handled quietly with what I understand to be an agreement to do a council code of conduct. Council member never made an apology because nobody knew about it. It's a very closely held secret and and the simplest action would have been to just apologize and take responsibility for it. So at the code of conduct meeting, nothing was said about it. Um but then a funny shift came. All the things that this council member seemed to care about before don't seem

to be as high a priority as they used to be. And and you can sort of see where the correction starts to come in. The depot got rejected. The depot got sold. Got torn down. That was in nine of 22. Five of 23. The complaining staff member got fired very publicly. Got marched out in the middle of the day with a cardboard box. Wow. How'd that happen? That's never happened here before. This one did. The quote that I got was, "She's a very bad person." And do you know what she did to me? Yeah. She filed a complaint about somebody doing something to her. She had a complete right to do it. So five of 24 you didn't join Mr. Speak in an effort. This council member didn't join Mr. Speak in an effort to try to save the depot. Wow. It's really weird that that would happen. 10 of 24 a as mayor. This council member sat on his hands and didn't say a word while your employee, Mr. Ellis went after Mr. Speak because he got caught lying. Staff got caught lying to the library board and the council. You got caught and then you got snippy, but the person in charge of the meeting let it go. You know why? Cuz you have a secret. You had a secret. You need to stop picking on women that speak up. That's wrong. You've booted every one of them out that has anything to say or push back in any way. It's happened over and over with staff and commissioners.

Thank you. Next speaker.

Good evening gentlemen and gentle lady. Uh good to see you all again. My name is Hassan Bassier. I am with the Islamic Society of Corona. And first of all, I do want to mention something about the breast cancer that was, you know, spoken about earlier and uh because my wife is a breast cancer survivor. My sister passed away from breast cancer and my sister-in-law had passed away from breast cancer. So, it's a real thing. So, people here, you know, we because we had done also at the mosque uh programs regarding women's health and breast cancer also. So, it's very important. I hope people pay attention to that. So, but that's not what I'm here for. I'm here to invite we we do events uh twice a year. We invite the community with our open hearts and with our hospital hospitality. One is the open mosque day which due in October. Then we also do the uh Ramadan interfaith dinner. So our open next open m day is coming up on Sunday the 19th. So I want to invite everybody who's present here and also who's not present here to this event. We want to make this thing exciting. Uh we're going to have wonderful besides the nice wonderful hospitality and me welcoming you all uh we will also be giving away a notepad uh and a notebook computer and there's a raffle off. So as a you know as a gesture of a thing and a few others gifts and and the wonderful food along with me is Farhan Khan. He's the general secretary of of our board. So he also wanted to come in and invite everybody. So, I hope I hope everybody will show up and we'll have a wonderful time. So, thank you very much. If there's any questions, I'll be in the back. I'll be handing out some of these flyers so people can come and attend the event. Thank you so much.

Thank you, Mr. Basher. Thank you, Dr. Basher. And those of you that have never been to an open MS day, please try and make it. It's a It's a really good time. You get to learn um you get to learn, you get to ask questions, and best you to break bread with with your neighbors. So, I encourage everybody to go. Miss Maddie, welcome back.

And to back on to that um council member speak, I've been to a couple of the open mosques and it's a wonderful time to get to understand and get to be with people and I encourage everybody to make that effort. I'm going to take up a couple cute little things right now, a little more lighthearted. Um the first slide, please. Today, October 1st, is National Fire Pup Day, and we this year have um Rocky, but for people that are um not aware, is our fire department um fire department, the peer support dog. And um so this is Captain Harmon. He is the handler for Rocky. And the last time I saw Rocky in person, he was a whole lot smaller than he is now, but he's adorable. and he's there to provide emotional support because I would think that some of the fires that they go out to be can be a little bit difficult to deal with. So that's what that is. The second slide please is for our police department. Next week is um as people are aware we have K9 Officer Raider. He's very famous here in Riverside and actually if you pull him up on the internet he's very famous. Um he is the Corona Police Department's facility dog and on October 9th he will be 10 years old. So that's a very important thing and he now has um he's been with the with the uh police department for eight years of service. And last but not least I completed a cert training yesterday. This is the the flyer from the the past um cert training that is offered through the fire department. It was amazing. Um there were seven sessions and they were conducted by Lee Shin and Jennifer Woo and they would bring in different firefighters. The theert is the emer is a community emergency response team and it's to help us our with our neighbors or whatever in case of the big one or other um disasters that may occur. And and the next class I'm told will be next

fall and it is please come out and and take this class. It is really worth everybody's time. Thank you. Thanks, Benny. [Applause] Welcome. Hello there. Uh good evening, council members and staff. Uh my name is Robert and I am uh looking to speak to all of you about something that uh is on my mind recently uh having to do with some of the downtown revitalization projects and I heard that there was a loan program for those tenants that could essentially be forgiven. I was wondering uh is that available to anyone or was that only available to those people that were applying for those

spaces? Yeah. Sorry to interrupt you. That item is 9.1 and that's where we're going to get a presentation on it. We haven't seen the presentation. Okay. I didn't know which part on the calendar was or if it had if you want if you want and you want to come back up after we've all heard what it's all means, you're more than welcome.

Sure. All right. Uh the other uh uh topic of uh conversation or I don't know if you want to have a conversation on it, but uh over the course of time since I paid attention to management here in the city of Corona, uh I've noticed some alarming conduct. And although I've spoken up about it, I've been uh unlawfully reprimanded in by uh being falsely arrested and that thereby being dismissed in court um after a prolonged time. However, uh the whole point of bringing that up is because it was initiated uh in in in sequence when I had a complaint about a management member and another complaint about the city manager. Um you may or may not remember me. I came over here maybe a year or two ago uh having this concern known at that time. But in any regard, my my topic is that I think that from what I understand, the council here appoints the city manager. That's my understanding. If I'm incorrect, please let me know. But uh I think it's time to set a time limit and or and in addition to that replace the city manager. Um for that reason uh people should anticipate a change in the city manager role every two to three

years. I think that is a reasonable amount of time to enact some change. uh for the better and for the community. So, thank you, Robert. Thank you very much. Welcome.

Hello. I'm Nicole Laario Romero. I'm the owner of All-American Karate School. I've been in Corona for 38 years, born and raised here. And I just wanted to address the council about the downtown revitalization. I always believe the revitalization should include the current businesses there. Um, it's to improve the downtown area and I feel that we bring not only a great community to our downtown, but we provide a place for um I'm sorry, we have over a 100 families that are there at least three days a week with um income to spend. They would be very happy if there was more to do in our downtown so that they could support other businesses around us. We have always encouraged our families to support the other businesses around us and the fact that we are not included in the revitalization vision is rather hurtful. Um, not to be take it personally, but we've been in Corona for 42 years. We've been in the mall for 41 of those years and in an area that has been neglected and um let fall to disrepair and we have not only survived but thrived in that area. I also want to mention that we have never said that the council has not helped us or that city staff has not helped us. We have received some help, yes, with um possible sites for us to

move to. It was suggested that we look in Norcco or Riverside when we were unable to find somewhere in Corona that we could afford. Um we don't want to leave Corona. We've been here for 42 years. I'm raising my family here and I understand that you can't force somebody to rent to us or anything like that. I just expected a little bit more help from the city and the lack of conversation or when I've reached out or emailed, it's taken several emails before I get an answer sometimes. Sorry, I'm very stressed out right now. um and the lack of compensation. I did receive an email from the city manager at about 3:42 p.m. today um in response to a letter I dropped off and that I shared with the public to council members. I addressed one to each council member and dropped it off this morning. Um, but that's just something I wanted to address and point out. And there's a lot of information. Oh. Um, that's my three minutes, but there are more people that have things to say.

Thanks, Nicole.

Welcome.

Uh, hello. My name is Brian Sanduski. I have been a resident of Corona since 2012. On um September Uh third, I wrote to the mayor and all the members of the city council and the vice mayor um to express my support for all American karate schools return to the downtown Corona Mall upon completion of the revitalization project. Um I was disappointed that I received one response. That was from the mayor's office. Um I waited a while to see if anyone else would respond. The mayor had not CCD his response to anyone else on my email. So, as far as I know, nobody knew that he responded to me. I never got a response from anyone else. The response I did get was uh clearly a forum letter. Um I my letter was to express that concern for them to be able to return to the downtown project. Um and that wasn't addressed in the reply at all. I'd like to read the reply just to have it on record. I know the folks behind me might want to um add some comment on this. Uh so this came from uh Mr. Steiner, Mayor Steiner. Uh hi Brian. I wanted to provide you a timeline so you can see our interaction with AAK and our attempt to help them relocate. Staff was in contact with All-American Karate multiple times between when they moved into the North Mall in 2010 and 2018 when the DDA and LAB was executed, which included discussions about the eventual relocation when the North Mall was redeveloped. For the past four years, representatives from AAK have attended downtown revitalization plan meetings and most of the public meetings about the downtown. When the city purchased the suite back from the lab in 2023, staff restarted those discussions that have been providing AAK updates about the available commercial spaces across

the city with a discussion from council to proceed with a full-scale demolition and redevelopment of the North Mall in February 2025. Economic development staff met with AAK on February 26, 2025 along with all the other tenants in the city-owned buildings in the North Mall to discuss overall plans for the North Mall and to alert them to the need to relocate by September October of this year. A formal notice was delivered to them on July 11th, 2025 to establish a moveout date of October 13, 2025. Since that meeting in February, staff have been providing them with a running list of available spaces in Corona, working with the County of Riverside Economic Development Group to identify locations in the county areas surrounding Corona. Community service staff have also contacted AAK to offer them space in a community building to accommodate some of their classes until they identify a new permanent site. Because AAK is a contract class provider, AAK declined this offer for an unknown reason. Staff will continue to work with AK to identify all available and sub and suitably zoned sites. Still, it will ultimately come down to AK to select the best suited site for its needs and adjust to its operations to account for a market rate rent payment. As of now, we are continuing our plans to demolish the entire North Mall and make way for some residential to complement over a 100,000 square feet of future retail during dining and entertainment.

Thanks, Brian. Thank you. [Applause]

My name is Suanne Romero and I've been a resident of Corona since 1984. I too sent out emails to every council member and the mayor and I received one reply from Westpak. It was a certain amount of of form letter as the previous person spoke about. Mine's slightly different. I'm going to give you a synop a little bit of what I wrote. I am heartbroken at the news that the all-American karate school AK AKS is closing due to their building being demolished. This school has been a part of Corona for over 40 years. In fact, my son was eight years old when he went there and his daughter started instruction at three and a half. AKS was a great help with getting them headed in the right direction in life. The type of instruction A AKS provides for students gives them skills, confidence, and discipline. These skills extend to both their home and school, and they are part of the parenting team. I have other I have had other parents tell me that their child has improved in behavior both at home and at school since starting karate instruction. Students also learn the value of respect. Respect is something we don't see a lot from a lot of the youth these days, but they teach it there. And they and this respect is going to extend into the community and they're going to set an example for other youths. Many students have been with AKS from as early as three years old. They look forward to reaching the ultimate goal of getting their black belt. The closing of the school will stop this process and be a huge disappointment to them. Now, due to limitations, I'm just going to read part of uh the reply from Wes, and some of it has already been stated. Um he said, "The decision to move forward with the North Mall redevelopment was not made lightly. It's part of a long-term vision bringing new housing, retail, dining, and entertainment opportunities

to the area. While we recognize the emotional and historical significance of AKS presence, we remain committed to supporting them through this transition. February 262, economic development staff met with AKS and other tenants to discuss the redevelopment timeline and relocation needs. February to present, staff have continued to provide updated listings and have partnered with Riverside County to explore nearby options. Of note, community service outreach temporary space in a community facility was offered to AKS to continue classes during the transition, though this offer was declined. I later found out that that statement was false. We remain actively engaged in helping AKS find a new permanent home in Corona that meets their needs. We are doing everything we can to support them. And I ask you, are you really Thank you. Welcome. Michael Romero, All-American Karate School, Corona set on 11 Street. Um, one, thank you, Wes, and thank you, Jim, for being the only ones to respond to our parents when they send emails in. I do appreciate it, even if some of that statement was false. From what I understand, and from Jim and I talking, the um information given to you all was from the uh city manager, and that's possibly why it was false. after reading his email that he sent today. I guarantee you that's why it was false. I'm gonna address a couple of these things. Number one, I asked them to go through those last two because those last two paragraphs are the biggest false statements in that whole thing.

One, when that statement was sent about us turning down a spot at the city, we had not even been allowed to see the spot at the city yet. We had been waiting weeks for Jason Lei or Karen Lee to get back to us after sending emails. It wasn't until after I talked to Jim that yes, Karen got back to us right away and since then has been helpful in showing us this sites. Thank you. But that statement was completely false that you sent out to people. All right. The date that you said we had, we barely got that date on the 11th as the information you sent out today goes through. Jumping to the 26th. Yep. We sure met with Joel. We met with Ashley on the 26th. They told us about stuff. They said they were going to go ahead and get to us to get us some help and get going. On March 19th, Nicole sent an email. It was unanswered. On March 26th, she sent a follow-up email. Still unanswered. On April 2nd, she sent another email, this time CCing Tom and Tony. We got an answer finally. That's a that's almost two months past when they said they were going to start helping us. Now, I'm going to jump because your email today says that they started sending us um listings and whatnot, which by the way, we started looking well 2023 when somebody first said something, Chad Harpool has started looking for us to help us out. We've had a total of probably five different uh real estate agents or whatnot helping us out to look. We have been looking everywhere. We have stacks. Mr. Zeon, who's going to go next, has been helping us out as well. But to get back March 26, we met with him. You said they started sending us stuff in March to September, but you also say the first email on that was 7:17. That's July. How many months is that past March to say that they've been sending us stuff since March and September? Kind of falsifying

facts there. when we go down, you you pointed out that you are offering us $100,000, almost $100,000 right now, which I jumped at because that wasn't the number, but then I read a paragraph down here that explains where you got the number. Monday after April 19th, when you say monument provider relocation benefit package, we've sent it back saying it was completely wrong and they were fixed it. They fixed it Monday, two days ago. That's when we got that information. All right. It took three months for the promise Joel made to cover the last couple months rent, which I do appreciate being as we were losing students as soon as you guys announced that you're tearing down the school or the sorry, the school and the mall.

Can you wrap it up, Michael, please? What's that? Can you please wrap it up? Oh, sorry. Okay, I'll go quick. Lesser Arnold helped because after three months, she had to actually track down uh Joel's office. I'm going to jump to real quick. Main Streetaffmber.

Yeah, it's three minutes, please.

Michael. Yeah. Next up, you got plenty. Got it. I'll be going over some stuff when you're all done. Okay. Appreciate it. Thank you.

Hello, mayor, uh, council members, citizens of Corona, as well as other cities. Uh there was a certain miscommunication going on in this email about 900 South Main Street, I believe, with the redevelopment project and the dis uh placement of many businesses. We've been going back and forth with the city planning and some of these facts have been I don't know how retroactively given for instance that some things have been approved when they hadn't been approved. It could be a mere miscommunication for the benefit of the doubt. I truly believe that the city runs off of the businesses that come from our citizens. So, I'm here as a broker for NI Capital representing American uh karate all-American karate and I'm here to make sure that between the communication that's lost and the communication that's given, we try to make a deal work so that our citizens of Corona have their businesses represented and move forward past the 50-year mark, 40-year mark, 60-year mark so that they stay in this city and don't get pushed over to other cities. I'm willing to work with um city planning development, economic development to make sure that we get this worked out and we just asked integrity, truth and respect in these communications uh going forward and it is very difficult in this market to make a big move to two $250 uh $2.50 a square foot uh and people have businesses to operate in. So, we asked that instead of putting in expenses where $100,000 or plus were given in help with TI improvements, those goes towards the owners of the buildings, we would like that the focus of the help given to these businesses that are being displaced go directly into the owner of the business's pockets. And that's uh my time I'll give to the rest of the members of Corona. Thank you.

Welcome. Welcome. Good evening. My name is Tar Robert Jones. I'm a sister of Nicole and um I'm also of Varela as well. My family and the Leari family have deep roots here and I'm here to speak on behalf of All-American Karate School. It's my honor and privilege to be here. Thank you for your time. First and foremost, I'd like to state that I'm a child and a servant of the most high God, the risen savior of humanity, who died on the cross for my sins and all others who place their faith in Jesus and turn away from their sins to receive forgiveness and eternal life. Um, All-American Karate School has contributed immensely to this community and uh, after reading my sister's statement, it seems that there's a lot of injustice going on on the part of the city and a lack of accountability and upholding the principles that this nation was founded on as well as what the city was founded on. Um, I don't have very specific information. Um, this was a short notice affair for me. I work 12-hour shifts overnight in a warehouse in Riverside and uh my sister informed me of this meeting just last night. Uh I don't have very much prepared, but I'm here to speak on behalf of my sister and All American Karate because I believe that it should stay it should stay where it is and that it should not be removed. Um it's it's changed it's impacted a lot of families and the people behind me are but a small number and a small testament to the impact that All American Karate School has had throughout the years and uh I believe that it's made good members of society contributing members of society and uh I believe that it has contributed to the development of our

youth which uh also upholds the city and upholds the standards that we that we choose to live on and upholds the principles of this nation. Um, as I said, I don't have very much prepared, but I just think that what the city is doing is wrong. Based on the information that I have received, I think that what the city is doing is wrong. that you should really look at uh what what your principles are and what you deem to be justice and not just for the sake of um money, not be not be uh not be led astray by greed or money and consider the well-being of families and our roots here in the way that all American cry school has contributed to society and the impact that they continue to make in our lives. God bless you and thank you for letting me share.

Thank you. Welcome. Good afternoon, council members and civilians here. Um, this is just like a public concern to everyone, not just specific group. What's your name, ma'am? Oh, my name is Zoe. Hi, Zoe.

Um, recently, earlier this week, there has been a recent ice dash and go. And these dash and goes are basically they'll pick up anybody that they see. Um this had involved five day laborers and one civilian at the Home Depot and Sam's Club off Ontario Avenue. Um we have realized that one of the cars had switched their license plate from a different car to another in this raid. So one thing that I do want to note is that there was no warrants presented during this dash and go. And the issue with dashing goes is that there's no prior documentation or expected time. So this could happen at 5 in the morning or this could happen in the afternoon. It is also very difficult to find family's documentation during the dashing ghost. So if your family member were to be picked up in these dashing goes, you'd have little to no information about where they are. We demand more awareness and protection to our immigrant community that makes Corona great and everywhere else in the nation. These dashing goes are act of dehumanization and our community is being racially profiled and hunted down during these dashing goes. We want to know if the Corona Police Department was aware that DHS was here Monday, September 29th at 8:30 p.m. um a.m. We also want to make it aware that there was a footage of a drone that flew around us five times at the Home Depot at 12:58 p.m. 4 hours post of the Dash and Go. That's all I have to say and thank you for your time.

Thank you, Zoe. Welcome.

Hello. My name is Sarah. I've been a resident here for 10 years and I'm here to support my dojo. I want to say hi to my girls at home watching. See that their mom is standing up for something that she believes in. I'd like to um I would like you to please take this time to listen to the impact that this dojo and its staff have had on my family, on my daughters, and many other families in our community. In November 2024, we started attending the dojo to help our daughters learn a new activity. I didn't realize at the time, mind you, I have three girls, okay? So, karate was like the best opportunity for them to learn self-defense. Um, I didn't realize at the time how much my girls would grow socially, athletically, and personally through finding their self-confidence, self-discipline, and most importantly, their self-worth. My oldest daughter initially thrived in the studio where she was encouraged and taught by some of the kindest, most genuine, impactful teachers, which we call sense. She began learning new techniques and routines and saw her self-worth grow. My younger daughter took a little bit longer to find her confidence, but every week the sense would help her find her voice, her courage, and a passion for karate. Over the past year, I have seen my girls work hard, make new friends, and even learn how to teach others all about respect and discipline. My oldest daughter, who is only eight, is now an advanced blue belt and a senpai, which is an assistant teacher. It's pretty impressive. She has gained confidence in her sparring and routines, as well as teaching younger students during classes, and I have seen her find a passion for karate. That's you, Ellie. I'm so proud of you. Um, my youngest daughter, who was four at the time, in TK, she learned how to find her voice and confidence in this dojo. She overcame her fears. Sorry. And has

recently joined her older sister as a blue belt senpai. Um, that's very impressive for a kindergartener. I cannot tell you the joy that it has given me as a parent and as a mom to see both of my daughters overcome fears and find confidence and reach for their goals through this dojo. They participated in their first karate competition this year and won several tro trophies. We also joined the Corona City Fourth of July parade. I have never been to one in 10 years and I walked down Main Street proudly with my daughters and it was amazing. Our dojo's in trouble and it's being forced out of our location due to remodeling and demolition. This establishment has been here for years as as you've heard and we're extremely saddened that this week I have to tell my daughters we're not returning to karate next week. This week has been sad to say goodbye to a place that's not just a building, but it's become a home to us. We're reaching out to you, city council, in hopes that you can help this dojo continue with open doors and allowing students of all all ages to come to a place where they feel safe and confident. Again, please do everything you can for our girls, my girls, all-American karate, to help bring this community. And I thank you for your time. And again, thank you to Nicole and Mike who have really empowered my daughters. Thank you very much. Uh, hi. Good evening, council.

Evening.

My name is Ivon Sbrano Garcia. Um, I've been a residence of Corona since 2017. I come to you not only as a parent whose daughter is a student of All-American Karate, but as a 18-year veteran with Orange County Probation Department. I worked as a juvenile correction officer. I can tell you from personal and firsthand experience how important and essential for a community such as All-American Karate to exist for kids, especially today's young generation. When youth and teens start looking to the streets for validation, it almost and always ends up being in a vicious cycle in and out of the juvenile system. When when young children and young teens don't have an outlet such as all-American karate, uh they could navigate towards unproductive activities that do not benefit the city. Having an establishment such as All-American Karate gives kids of all ages a sense of hope, a sense of pride, and help builds character, confidence, strength, and social skills. All American Karate has helped families to network and build rapport with one another. The last few months has been disheartening for all of us. I adult American karate. So, it would be an injustice to the community to close or re relocate the dojo. The facility is central to many if not all of us. In closing, city council, I hope that you I hope that the affformentioned does not fall on deaf ears

and you're able to properly assist all American karate keep their home of 40 years. Thank you. Thank you. Welcome.

Hello. Um, my name is Angelie Kapari. We moved to Corona 22 years ago. A year after we moved, my son started karate at AAKS. He was three and a half. Soon after that, his sister wanted to join. And a month after that, myself and my hus my late husband um actually joined AKS and um the AAKS has been a part of our family ever since then. And now 21 years later, we are all very proud to call ourselves AKS black belts. My son, thank you. My son, who is now 25, is a very successful Hollywood stunt performer and stunt man, and without his martial arts training, which was exclusively done at AKS, he would not have had the career he is today. My daughter, who gained so much self-confidence and pride through her martial arts training, would not be the successful Broadway performer she is today. Self-confidence, self-esteem, and self-worth are all qualities I myself with my own eyes have seen being instilled in all AKS students. It is overwhelming to see how many lives our karate family has touched. How many Corona families have been impacted by their training, how the Corona community has benefited from the stalwart, the stalwart business. I'd like to point out that karate families are a readymade customer base for surrounding businesses. Having a few hundred students, a lot of whose parents sit and wait for an hour or two outside during their kids' classes each week. Create a customer base for all businesses that are close to the school. What better way to bring in customers to city businesses when they are already there sitting and waiting around for class to be done. Sorry. AKS has been in the heart of the city of Corona as one of the few businesses that has always supported the idea of making the city better. When other businesses were fleeing the downtown area, All American Karate stayed. This whole threat of closure due to redevelopment is nothing new to the AKS

family. It has been ongoing for many years, but AKS were one of the few businesses to stick it out in hopes and determination to make the city better. [Applause] It it's rather disgraceful for me to see the way they have been traed treated when they have been nothing but supportive towards the city and the community for four decades. If you the city can't be loyal to the business who have businesses who have been loyal to you, how can you expect us the community to support anything you bring in the future? Why were they not offered a spot in the new downtown redevelopment district? The way this process has been handled has left a very bad taste in my mouth and I believe in the mouths of a lot of Corona residents. I heard that the email was sent this morning making promises that were only sent literally hours ago. That's sad that it wasn't done beforehand. As Suanne pointed out, respect is so important in this day and age. Please have the decency to treat AKS with the respect it deserves. Don't be the bully that AAK has KS has always taught our students to stand up to. Shame on you if you continue to be that bully.

Thank you.

Welcome. Good evening. Uh my name is Oh, sorry. You're okay.

It's just the amount of love for all American karate that you can feel in this room. It's quite overwhelming. Um, my name is Angie. I have lived andor worked in Corona for 22 years. Um, I myself am a former student at the dojo. All three of my children took classes. One of them worked all the way up the ranks and got her black belt exclusively training with John Laari and then with Nicole Laari when John and his wife Angie and their family moved to New York. I have seen how much they love this community. Whether it's the Fourth of July parade, which is a tradition, or the reliable, dependable, safe child care they provide to working families over the summer with their karate camp. Not only can parents breathe a sigh of relief when they go to work, but they know they are in capable hands, that those black belt instructors would protect them with everything they have, including their lives, if it came to it. Um, I just sit and wonder how many students in that dojo are from broken homes that don't have positive role models in their life. And for one hour a day, three days a week, they could come in, be welcome and accepted by these instructors, the black belts and the higher belts that are there teaching as they are working their way to black belt. How many of these students lack direction and guidance? And again, for an hour a day, three days a week, they're getting it from the black belt instructors. How many kids have gotten a huge sense of

satisfaction from walking in? They're a pee-wee like my daughter who's a black belt, four years old, that set a goal that they want to be black belts and they achieve it. That is setting a good example and a good work model for their lives outside of the dojo. Not everybody is a full-time black belt instructor. We have teachers and nurses, construction workers, but just the sense of joy those kids get from saying, "I can do hard things." And not not only do they achieve black belt, but the minute they walk in that dojo after they've had their testing, they are accepted as peers by the black belt instructors. It doesn't matter if that black belt instructor is 60 or 12. They are all equals. They are all experts. So I am just asking the city council to please please help them. It just makes me so sad to think that there are generations of children in Corona who may not benefit from this excellent familyrun business. So thank you very much for your time. I appreciate it.

Thank you.

Welcome.

Thank you. My name is Christy Sanduski. Good evening. Um, I am a proud resident and homeowner here in Corona. I also serve as a speech language pathologist here in our school district. Um, my children attend school in our district and at the dojo. And as a family, we have been deeply rooted in many enriching youth programs that our city has to offer. Um, from AYSO to Corona Girls softball to the city parks and Rex programs, um, such as kinder corner preschool and musical munchkins and swim lessons back at City Park. These programs have all shaped our experience as a family for over a decade and as active members of this community. One such program that has had a profound impact on both my family and many families that I work with professionally is All-American Karate School. Currently located in the heart of Corona. AKS is uniquely positioned to be accessible to our whole community. But beyond convenience, AAKS stands out because of its mission, inclusivity, and deep commitment to our youth, particularly those who are often underserved or overlooked. In my work as an SLP, I support many students with autism and other social pragmatic language challenges. Students who often struggle to form connections, follow group norms, or participate confidently in peer activities. AKS has been nothing short of transformative for many of those students that I work with. They provide a safe, structured, and compassionate environment where these children not only learn the discipline and the art of karate, but they're also given the opportunity to build peer relationships and strengthen essential life skills. As a parent, I've seen firsthand how the school nurtures confidence, respect, perseverance in my own children. Uh, as a side note, she just earned her

advanced brown belt tonight. I'm so proud. And my gosh, I hope that she has somewhere to work and to achieve her black belt. Um, that seems to be in balance right now. Um, as a professional, I have seen how AKS is thoughtful and intentional in their approach and how that has enriched the lives of some of our most vulnerable students. Their instructors consistently balance firm expectations with genuine kindness and patience, an approach that builds trust and fosters growth. All-American Karate School is not just a business. It is a vital pillar of our community. They serve a broad and diverse population, and their return to the newly refurbished downtown mall would benefit not only the school, but the entire area. Their classes bring parents and families into the area several times per week. Personally, I would welcome the opportunity to spend time between classes, visiting these new shops, or dining at one of the new restaurants. There's only so much Bakers do that I can eat. This would be a benefit to neighboring businesses and a boost to the revitalization of our downtown core. On behalf of myself, my family, and the many families, and students who benefit from AAKS, I respectfully urge you to allow All-American Karate School to return to the downtown mall. Their presence brings value far beyond commerce. They bring connection, confidence, and community to those who need it most.

Thank you. Thank you for your time. Thank you. Good evening. Hello. Good evening. I think at least one of you knows why I'm up here right now. Um, I'm Victoria Hibbert. I have lived here my entire life. And I first want to start by asking a question to our chief of police. Did you get a call on Monday morning from either ICE, DHS, or Border Patrol? Because it definitely looks like they showed up at the Home Depot off of Ontario at 8:30 a.m.

So, Miss Hbert, I'll go ahead and answer that once all the speakers are done. Okay.

Thank you. because six people were actually taken and we have been working since that Monday to identify all of them and not only try to get them some type of legal assistance but also notify their families as well. And unfortunately we have only been able to identify four so far. Um, and unfortunately we only found out through social media, which I know chief of police is not a big fan of when it comes to any type of evidence, but there is plenty of evidence and we were going to show that to you tonight. Unfortunately, we did not know it was a 24-hour time period beforehand that you actually had to submit it. Um but there were six people taken um violently thrown to the ground, handcuffed, chased into Sam's Club parking lot. Um, our entire community witnessed this unfortunately and even though we had first responders or rapid responders on the ground like 20 minutes after it happened, um, it was still something that is a devastating effect to our community, including the fact that one of the people we believe was taken is somebody who's in their 70s with severe diabetes, and we don't know where they are at all. We don't know if they are held in a detention center somewhere. We don't know if they're held in a warehouse somewhere because if they aren't actually, you know, border patrol or ICE, they're bounty hunters who are taking them god knows where. And at this point, I just want to hope that the community recognizes that this is escalating. Beforehand, it was just picking up people either off the street or maybe attacking certain residencies that they know have vulnerable populations.

But I want not only city council, but everyone here and anyone watching to know that this is not going to get any better. This is going to get worse. This is not going to disrupt a certain portion of our population. This is going to disrupt all of us because this also affects the businesses that surround these places that get raided. It affects, you know, the safety of those who are not even vulnerable. And so, I really hope that you guys try to figure out something to protect us and protect the whole community because like I said, it's only going to get worse and it's not going to stop with people who don't have documentation. Thank you, Mr.

Welcome.

Hello. Thank you. My name is Jade Laari Vasquez. Um, I know you guys have heard a ton about our school already. Um, I think only about two of you actually know who I am. Uh, I think most of you haven't even been here as long as All-American Crowd has been here. We opened on my first birthday in 1983. My dad took over the school in 1989 and ran the school not just for himself, sometimes not at all for himself, making no profit at all at times. In 2005, we were forced, I'll say it nicely, out of another spot that the city wanted to redevelop. We were offered the spot in the mall. Um, if you didn't know, we also ran Laser Family Fund Center, which is another one, um, that was pushed down thanks to this redevelopment plan. That one is on Metro on Maine. Um, we agreed to move the school to the old Schwarz furniture building. It was absolutely destroyed inside. It was being used to store food for the um, donated food for the animal shelter. Uh, we went to the city and said, "We really want to live. We want to stay in downtown. We really want to be centralized to the downtown area of Corona. We've already been here for 20 years at that point. It meant a lot to us to stay in the downtown area. My dad was able to work with the city council at the time, the then city manager and some others to be able to stay in that property. Um, at the time, he was only able to sign a one-year lease because they said, "Oh, we don't even know if we can give you that because we're going to have it redeveloped in a year." That was in 2004. the day he bought the school in 1989, they told him the same thing. Well, don't expect to be here long. We're redeveloping downtown. So, you can imagine how long we've been waiting for this to happen. We've been one of the most strongest supporters of the redevelopment. My dad did an insane amount of volunteering. We all have.

Have we petered off a little bit in the last few years? we have just because we don't have the capability that we used to have unfortunately since co but we've never said no to the city council or the city not just our money but our time our facilities the off uh police officers have trained in our facilities we've let them train the dogs in our facilities we've never asked for anything we never asked to be given a deal on our rent at the time we were charged even more than market value at 50 cents a square foot sounds like a deal now at the time it wasn't It was actually over market value, but they kept promising us that it was worth it because when the redevelopment took over, our prop the property would be worth even more. Wonderful. We want to be a part of it. After that year, they said, "Okay, well, we're going to go monthtomonth. Not a problem. We went with it." One of the parts of everybody talking about some of the mentions of the deal that we have had for our rent from the city, we have had to pay for every single thing in that building. Part of the deal was that we paid for all the maintenance on our own because they were not willing to put in any money to a building they were going to tear down. In that time, monthto month, they could have raised the rent anytime they wanted and they never have. So to say that we've asked for anything or that we've taken subsidiaries, we've not taken anything. We've paid what they've asked us to pay. So trying to tell people or in the lovely email we got this. Thank you, Miss Vasquez.

Thank you. [Applause] Welcome.

Hi, my name is Michelle Burmaster. First of all, you guys need to take care of this ICE problem. You just had a whole presentation from human traffickers. What is the difference between a warrantless mass arrest and copycats that are dealing with human trafficking as victims? Okay, I'm here not just because we love our karate school, but because we love Corona just as much. Thank you for your time. For 40 years, All-American Karate School has been more than a business. It's been a cornerstone of this city. Hundreds of children walk through its doors every week. Without it, they don't just lose a place to train. They lose role models, discipline, structure, belonging, and the life lessons only a school like this provides. I know this because I grew up in a martial arts school a lot like American Karate. It was the first business I opened at 22 years old. As a matter of fact, those lessons in leadership and perseverance shaped who I am today, a small business owner in this city. I know this as a parent as well. My son was placed with us through foster care at age three. Martial arts gave him a focus, discipline, and accomplishment when his life was full of uncertainty. We finalized his adoption in 2020. We left Huntington Beach, a city infamous for putting politics and profits above the people to come to Corona, hoping to find a community where leaders put residents first. When we found All-American Karate and Nicole and Mike, we knew we were home. Now, after 10 years of dedication, my son is on the cusp of earning his black belt. What message would it send him? and hundreds of kids like him. If this council allowed profit margins to outweigh the survival of a school that has molded them into leaders, all-American karate does far more than teach kicks and punches. It teaches perseverance, respect, and community. It keeps kids active and safe, eases the summer camp burden on families and you, and gives a city a reliable, affordable outlet for youth. Closing it would ripple far beyond these walls. So, I ask you, what do we want to prioritize as a city? Do we want to push out community anchors for higher rent checks or protect the institutions that raise our children, strengthen our families, and make this place worth living?

In a time where our country feels divided, local government should foster unity. At All-American Karate School, people of every background and belief stand together. It is one of the few places where division disappears and the kids are valued for who they are. To let such a place close without effort or collaboration would be a shame and a disappointment for Corona. All-American Karate School deserves more than an eviction notice. It deserves creativity, partnership, and protection. The same competency, and creative problem solving that our bosses require of us. Who is your boss? There are solutions that balance revenue with community good, but they start with you deciding this school is worth saving. And if it closes, the cost to the city will be far greater than lost rent. You'll be displacing hundreds of kids five nights a week. So on behalf of my family and the hundreds of families who depend on all American, I urge you, we obviously have a lot of passion. Work with this school to keep their doors open. Show us in this city community matters more than profits. And let me close with this. If the measure of a city is how it treats its children, then the choice before you is clear. Save the school and show us that in Corona people matter more than profits. Thank you. Welcome.

Um, hello. Thank you for having me here. I want to start by introducing myself. My name is Blue Robinson. I'm a community engagement specialist with the IE Black Workers Center. Um I want to start by saying uh paying my respects to having the floor and being here today and uplifting and reiterating the importance of protecting small businesses especially in a post-pandemic era when small businesses were the most widely affected industries nationwide. I also want to validate the experience of the youth by saying someone who was widely dependent on public systems. Um, any attack on a social or community program such as the karate dojo does impact our youth, which is the most vulnerable and at risk population nationwide as well. Um, with that said, I want to refocus and reiterate my initial reason for being here tonight. Um, I am a community engagement specialist with the IE Black Workers Center. We are a black le organization located in San Bernardino, California. We work to build a worker- centered movement that organizes to attain quality jobs, social economic mobility, and political change to ensure workers, their families, and their community thrive. Today, I'm here to spread awareness of a free worker rights advocacy program that we have to provide um training through the California Worker Outreach Project or CWAP. This is a six-week program. We meet once a week for a 2-hour training. This is a virtual training completely free to attend from 5:30 to 7:30 every Thursday starting this Thursday. The program will teach you about your rights as a worker regardless of citizenship and will train you on how on the laws that are in place to protect you and keep you safe as uh as well as go over best practices as an employee in California.

By the end of the training, you will be a fully trained advocate for yourself and others um in a workplace and the first 20 participants will uh to complete the full training will receive a $150 stipen. Thank you for your time. Um I will be handing out flyers for the program shortly and be sure to scan the QR code on the bookmarks I pass out as well to learn more about our organization and what we do. Thank you. Thank you. Welcome. Good evening. My name is Ivonne Spinx and I'm from Harupa Valley. Before I start, am I allowed to share photos?

Yeah. Are they nice photos or of They're of my kids. So, yes, of course. Of course. Yeah. Okay.

Hello. My name is Ivonne Spinx and I'm here today in support of All-American Karate School. I would like to tell you why this local business is important to my family, but also why it is needed here in Corona and should be supported by the city. My family does not live in the city of Corona. However, everything my children do, school, scouts, sports takes place in Corona. My husband and I have four children. And when our oldest daughter was entering 8th grade, we thought it was very important for her to have some sort of martial arts training. I asked around and our friends, the Irvings, the Yuloas, the Ibbitson told us that we should go to All-American Karate School. So, just before my daughter's 8th grade year started and the school year started, we enrolled all four of our kids at All-American Karate School. On their first day, my husband dropped them off. So, to three kids, not so thrilled, and a 5-year-old who thought he was going to be a ninja. That evening when we when they returned home from school from a full day of karate camp, we had three three completely excited kids who had not stopped telling us all about their day and one very tired 5-year-old. Over the next eight years, our family spent hours at the dojo, sometimes 13 a week. Belts were earned, certificates were handed out. However, what my family gained was so much more important. All-American Karate School and specifically these sense who teach and give their time taught my children confidence, focus, awareness, and the strength of character. They gave each of them the courage to face challenges, understanding to know that without failure, we cannot succeed. what it means to be held accountable

and that the core principles of having a good attitude, one of respect and gratitude, being knowledgeable and using these skills in the real world. After COVID, my daughters were old enough. They started working at the dojo. They learned about customer service, financial transactions, and the role of a teacher. My children all hold the title of sensei. Now, our oldest daughter is a secondderee black belt. My second daughter, who is here tonight, is a thirdderee black belt. And their younger brothers are both firstderee black belts, officially making that 5-year-old boy a ninja that he dreamed of on day one. Everywhere I go, I meet someone I or hear that their children have attended All-American Karate School at some point in their life. Whether it's through word of mouth or the city programs, it is an undeniable that All-American Karate School being told that they have to close their door. I'm sorry. It is undeniable. A small local Not only patriotic proudy local.

Thank you, Ivon. [Applause] Good evening. Good evening. Um, my name is Han Lamb and this is my sister. My name is Han Lam.

Her name is Han Lamb. Um, we're here to support um all American karate. So, um, we've been here in Corona since uh 20 uh 2002. At this point, I'm uh in the meeting. I think it's repetitive, but I'm going to repeat it anyway. As you've heard, many of our families don't just have one kid who attend All American Kar karate, but multiple kids. That should tell you how much we trust this dojo, All-American Karate. 12 years ago, we sent my niece to AKS when she was 5 years old. She did not speak any English, and all of the sense and the staff helped her with all their hearts. And because of that, five years later, she got her black belt. And because of the confidence and the strength and the karate background that she learned from AKS, she got MVP in wrestling in her junior year in high school. And now 12 years later, I'm sending my son here to AKS. And now with the city doing the renovation, I'm sure you're going to want to get businesses, customers like coffee shops and restaurants and what have you. So, how come you're pushing away a business and a customer like AKS? In closing, what you are doing is you're not only not only you're pushing them out of Corona Main Street Mall, but you're pushing them out of the city of Corona by telling them to go to Riverside or Corona or Norco when they are rooted rooted here in the city of Corona for more than 40 years.

And that is my my I want to express that frustration to the city is we have kids and who who love to go to that dojo and so that is my frustration and it has been since I've heard about the news. So, I would urge the city to keep them as a business and a customer um here at the same place. Thank you for your comments. [Applause]

Good evening, council members. Uh my name is David Ree and I've lived in Corona for nine years. I'm a parent of two students at AKS here in Corona. I'm speaking tonight as a parent who is seen for Sanders dojo has positively impacted my children and many other families in our community. I practice karate while living in Tmacula and understand the importance it can have on young children's development. Um you know we've had a lot to say this uh this evening and I want to speak a little more broadly. Uh other SoCal cities like Anaheim, Orange and Tmacula have revitalized their downtowns by supporting small businesses that bring families and foot traffic to their downtowns. Krono can do the same. This dojo is exactly the type of business worth keeping. It brings families downtown. It supports local events and it gives kids an alternative to negative influences on Main Street and in downtown Corona uh same areas as the map shown in the uh B uh presentation earlier. There are only two martial arts dojoos located in the area while there are multiple eight liquor and alcohol retailers in the same area. That contrast is striking. Uh we have far more storefronts dedicated to alcohol than to youth focused constructive spaces. What kind of president and environment is being promoted? A dojo offers discipline, health, mentorship, and community, especially for our young people. Uh along that line, I've kind of noticed a trend. You know, more smoke shops, more liquor shops have been opening up in the area. And for a downtown that's trying to revitalize, it seems counterproductive to remove a dojo that brings such a positive impact. [Applause] Uh my ask tonight is simple. Please consider ways the city can partner to keep this dojo in Corona, especially the downtown area. Whether that is through subsidized rent in a city-owned property, relocation assistance, or intentional inclusion in revitalization planning, your support can make the difference between this community resource surviving or being forced to close its doors. Thank you for your time and for considering how you can help preserve a small business that has meant so much to our families and to the city of Corona.

Thank you. Welcome.

Hi, my name is Crystal Weno. I am here on behalf of myself for AKS as well as my friend Vanessa who could not make it tonight. Um, from both of us, we grew up here. We went to AKS. It is more than just a place to learn. It is a second family. We were taught discipline, respect, and confidence. It created relationships spanning 15 plus years. This kind of impact lasted over 40 plus years in our community. We are saddened after the long history and we feel that it is a part and a fabric of Corona and we hope that the city can be there for them as they have for us. We have used some of us have used the self-defense that we were taught for self-defense purposes. I myself am the same. When I was growing up, I started uh at AKS in high school. And for a time, my parents would not pay for it. And because of their flexible business strategies, I was able to pay for it myself with extra cash I earned on the side. I am proud to say that I have grown into a licensed architect in the state of California and alongside many other professionals, engineers, we would love to spend our money on a development and revitalization plan. We know that needs to happen, but we hope that the AKS family can be a part of that. We know that development is needed, but what is driving people to this location? AKS can be a huge proponent in this revitalization program. It is an anchor right now to this city. And as stated before, we have plenty of places to drink. One that was just placed in near that old 99 cent store. And I think as part of my generation, I can speak to say that the buzz of being buzzed is slowing down. So I think they would be a boon to this revitalization plan. They would

encourage visitation. um it's a missed opportunity not to include them. So I implore you to rethink what is the revitalization plan. Is it not just about profit? What is Corona's anchor? Are we just another development? How are we different from any other developments? I know as an architect that we and the city have things that we can employ developers to encourage. If there is a way that we can get them back in at a reasonable price that can benefit the community, I would heavily implore you to do this. And please don't miscommunicating emails. Thank you.

Thank you. Welcome.

Thank you, honorable mayor, members of council. My name is Lewis Davis. I reside at 1275 Kelly, Ke Ly Avenue, Corona. I'm a 20-year resident. I have served in this city numerous times. Um, I am a Rotarian, the Friday Rotary. I also serve the city as a region manager for public affairs for Southern California Edison. When your lights went out, you called me. I no longer am part of that organization, but I feel that today I should be here in support of All-American Karate. I actually happen to be a student of all American karate and have been there for approximately seven years. all of my children, my wife, uh, I've been there instructors, we I have at least three or four black belts at my house. So, I understand and have seen what can happen when a when an organization such as this has an impact on the community. I also know that how things work in the city system. Um, Mr. city manager. We don't know each other, but I know your predecessors. We worked collaboratively together in this city to change a lot of different things. Work on Dos Lago and various other things. I know that staff follows your lead. Council hears what you need them to hear. What I'm asking you to do today is to re-evaluate the position you have placed the karate school. I understand the need for development, but I also have seen in the past where this city has taken opportunities to make something great and dash them. as a former library

trustee. Uh the example I gave you this evening is the old library, the um what is it? The um Carne Cariegi building. An empty lot stands there today. That building could have been renovated. Our our historical society could have done something with that and it could have really been a centerpiece for Corona. And you say that's just one example. But see, as I'm saying, we have an opportunity to do something really great here. You can make this thing beautiful, the center, downtown center, but give give the school an opportunity. They've shown that they can survive. They've shown that they can produce. There are hundreds of students, Karen Spiegel's grandson, all kinds of different elected officials that have come through these doors. their kids and grandkids have gone through those doors at All-American Karate. Can you please find it in your heart to redirect some time and some money and some efforts to help All-American Karate this business? We're not It's not just a business. We're a family. Thank you, Mr. Davis. Thank you so much for your time. And and seriously sir, please give it another thought. Okay. Thank you.

Thank you.

Welcome. Hello. Uh I do like to pay respects for you having to listen to us in the community and uh I would like to know that this is my I am representing All American Cardi School. I was a former student help. What's your name, bud? Oh, Brian Felza Torres.

Thank you. and I was a former student at the All-American Cardi School. I did have to leave uh this summer because of educational workload and extracurricular workload, but I do not I do not regret my time there at all. Uh I represent my family and my siblings who also attended All American Cardi School and I want to speak for them and my family and for the community as well. For me, I understand the necessity to revitalize the area. However, I disagree with the treatment that America the all that that the all-American car school has been given and I do feel like that any government who should who works for the people should accommodate the public need and the public demand for locations like All American Cardi School. Uh for me personally, I don't really see the economic benefit of removing All American Cardi School from the location. They were they were a business that had demand and they provided the supply for many people, many children, many adults, people from you know ages I've seen people from ages five to you know old uh 60 year olds and we've all felt together in a way and especially now and in our time as a nation where econ where economically most Americans feel at least pressured. I feel like it is necessary to have a business to secure all American Cardi School location as they had a they've been thriving and they've been successful throughout most of its history and society it provided a community for me and my my siblings and as a trend as a a trend with throughout society as a whole. Uh young people especially have been feeling more lonier and more disconnected from the nation broadly. All American Cardi School provided that sense of community and sense of togetherness that very little few things have provided for me and my siblings.

I do feel that it is necessary to revitalize location. However, all American car school should be a part of it as a whole. And even if you uproot the the business, if you send them to Corona or Riverside, it will not be the same. They were a community that have been founded, the roots have been in Corona for multiple years. And any movement to any other location outside of Corona will present a change of their community that will shake the business forever. That is all I have to say. Thank you, Brian. Good evening. Good evening.

My name is Cynthia Carer. I was a 10-year resident of Corona. We brought my 4 and a halfyear-old daughter to All-American Karate School. She was wiggly, impatient, an only child, and we thought it would teach her some patience and some discipline. By the time she was eight, she could run warm-ups for 20 minutes to a class of at least 50 other children aged five into their 50s and 60s. She ran it with confidence. She learned public speaking. She learned respect, patriotism. She learned the value of doing things right for the sake of doing it right, even when no one was looking. She is now 12 years old, goes to Corona schools. She's a member of HOSA. She wants to be a doctor. And I know for sure she's going to reach her goals because when she was five, she said, I want to be a black belt. She went from I want to be a ballerina to I want to be a black belt to I'm going to be a doctor. Those leadership skills and things she learned aren't just what her father and I taught her. It was because of the sense and even other kids here behind us that formed this network of support for a single only child little girl to grow into who I know is going to be a successful adult. This business has immeasurable value more so than the people who have testified before you this evening. This will affect generations to come. If this school does not have a place in Corona, the families will go find someplace else. They will move out of Corona. I don't think they're going to come back to drink at the new bars and eat at the new

restaurants. They're going to disperse. So, when you make your considerations for how to further develop not only this downtown center, but further down into the new demolished shopping center um south of where Lamp Post Pizza is, please keep this in mind. This is the second time in two years I've been here speaking on behalf of a small business. I was here when Corona Dance Academy staff of 18 years and the owners pleaded to not let a pot dispensary go in in the same center. 6 months later, that place went out of business. Please find a place for our children of Corona and the surrounding areas to stay and train and let that be a value over restaurants and bars and financial business opportunities for the city. Thank you for your time.

Welcome. Thank you.

Good evening, mayor and members of the city council. My name is Ivet Barahas and I'm here tonight on behalf of my daughter, Mackenzie Conklin, who is a proud student of All American Karate. I've been a resident here most of my life and I'm here tonight because I want to share my deep concern about the impact the city's renovation project will have on all-American karate. A business that has been serving the community for over 40 years. This dojo is not just a martial arts school as you've heard here tonight. It's a place where students of all ages come together, where families gather to watch them thrive, and where kids learn discipline, confidence, and respect. If you walk into this dojo, you will see the diversity of our city reflected right there on the mats. Boys and girls all working hard, finding passion in something positive. And this place is busy. It's full of energy, growth, and community. As residents and parents, we do not want to see these doors closed or have this business forced out of Corona. This dojo is a true cornerstone to our community, and losing it would be a tremendous setback. Too often we're already finding ourselves leaving Corona to seek out better shops, foods, and activities. You we should be protecting and supporting the honest, hardworking local businesses that give our city its character and keep families engaged here at home. I urge you to reconsider the impact of this decision and we have and we'll have and work with the owners um to find a new solution whether that means preserving this space or helping secure a new one so they can continue to serve our city here in Corona for generations to come. Thank you for your time and listening to the voices of the families who call Corona home.

Thank you.

Welcome. Good evening. My name is Karly Spanx or as most people know me, Sensei Carly. I'd like to start by saying thank you everyone who is here. All my students, I'm so proud of you guys. I would like to start off by talking about my personal experience at All-American Karate. I have been in love with karate since the moment I walked into this doors. Sorry. and saw that the owner was not only a woman, but the shortest adult in the building and had bright blue hair. I genuinely don't know what I would be or who I would be without karate. It has helped me become so much more confident in myself. I'm so much more stronger mentally and physically because of it. I remember being nervous for my first day, but quickly realized there was nothing to be worried about because everyone else was in the same boat. The next morning, I woke up so excited to go to summer camp and play with my new friends, learn more, and of course, play comb. Even till this day, I get excited to go because you literally never stop learning. I have been a black belt for four years, and I recently earned my third degree black belt. Thank you. And all four of those years, I have mentored this little girl who just earned her black belt last month. and I am infinitely proud of her. And while I was the one teaching her, I definitely learned a few things from her, too. At American At all American Karate, we learn by teaching, which is why we have our students start teaching at their fourth belt rank. It forces them to use what they have learned to help other students learn. If you were to ask 11-year-old me where I'd be working today, I probably would have said Golden Spoon. But fast forward and I wouldn't dream of working anywhere else. Which brings me to my next point. I've been working for Sensei Nicole and

Sensei Mike since I was a brown belt. They usually only hire black belts, but I was at the dojo every day, and they had asked if I wanted to learn how to deal with stuff behind the counter. I am forever thankful for them for giving me this opportunity to grow and learn and earn money doing something I love. Over these years being very close friends with their daughter Ridley, we have joked that she's like my cousin and they are like my aunt and uncle, but they are truly like my second family. And I couldn't imagine my life without them. Working at the dojo all these years has also given me some insight into running my own business, the good, the bad, and the ugly. Which brings me to today. Corona needs karate just as much as karate needs Corona. Everybody or sorry, every day I see kids of all ages and abilities walk through their school doors and be excited to learn. I see kids proud of their accomplishments. I hear kids say they can't wait to run to school and tell their kid, their friends about karate. I see kids run to their parents excited to show them the stripe that they earned for showing that they understand what we teach them. Parents have come up to me thanking us for doing what we do and explaining how their own kids confidence and overall attitude has improved since they started karate. This is why we do what we do at All-American Karate. We are doing all of this for our students. Everything Nicole Laari and Michael Romero do is for their students. Thank you. [Applause]

Welcome.

Hi, welcome or thank you. Good evening. My name is Kim Giri and I've lived in Corona for um 20 years and worked in Corona for over 20 years. And I just want to say um I'm here to speak on behalf of All-American Karate School as well and give my personal testimony as to how the school has helped our family and the community. As a new parent, we wanted to instill discipline and all these things in and you know, as a new parent, you're mostly just like surviving and trying to just keep your head above water and attack life and figure out what best to pour your time into with your children. When we were looking for my husband wanted our son to start martial arts and we asked the community members, church members, other corona residents where we should go, what we should look for in a dojo and everybody pointed us to All-American Karate School. So that just gives you the reputation that they had over a decade ago when we started our search. My son since has gone through all of his belts and has earned his first-degree black belt. And while his sister was just an infant, she was in those doors and she couldn't wait to start the dojo when she turned five. And we had to keep telling her, "It's not yet, not yet. You're not old enough." And so she was so excited to finally be able to get her ghee and start to train. And she would copy my son in the kitchen, even at three, and practice some of the katas and and make us all laugh. and she just recently also earned her black belt first degree. As you've heard from many families that this school is more than just a school and that they partner up with parenting, um as someone who has my family all the way on the east coast, the dojo has become a family to me and

the instructors have become mentors and have partnered with me in raising both my kids. when I've become frustrated or overwhelmed or needed help on how to address certain situations, they came alongside and they offered tips. And to me, as someone who didn't have family nearby, that was a huge support that as a young mom, I needed. And everybody talks about the confidence and the skills and the discipline and the respect that's earned. I didn't even know half the respect that my kid should have been showing me until I walked into the doors of the dojo. I was like, "Oh, that's what respect looks like. Okay, I need to button things up a little bit more at home." And um just my son is a senior this year and he has developed a strong work ethic that is beyond imaginable and he's also just earned his Eagle Scout rank. But it's because of the dojo that he's been able to set goals, work hard to them, have the discipline and the work ethic and hard work. And so I know you guys are all very smart and intelligent. And as recently we've learned, just come face to face and have conversations. I think sometimes we need to just get beyond email and sit down in a room and have everybody who's impacted and is the decision makers in this dojo just come together at a coffee table and have some discussions and not this he said she said

thank [Applause] Welcome.

My name is Rory Connell. I live in District 5 and I'm representing all the money the government takes out of my paycheck each week. I want to start by thanking Tony and Jim. I had some concerns at the last meeting. Both of you reached out to me proactively and I appreciate that and sincerely I look forward to seeing that money get spent as as designed. So, thank you. I genuinely mean that. I want to thank everyone that showed up. Um, it's great to see so many people in the room. Um, thanking all the regulars here, too. It's no secret that I've been pretty upset about what's going on at the Cronin Mall. I feel deceived. Most people feel deceived. This project has changed drastically. And there's something that I'm realizing as I go and talk to those businesses. That's the one common denominator. None of you guys have actually talked to these businesses. he has or the staff has. You guys were elected to represent these people and you need to go talk to these people. That's that's that's what I see missing. I've asked, "Have any of these council members come and talk to you?" And to see the letter that he just sent that dude today and say, "Hey, you got to be out by the 15th and we're going to make you an offer on the first." I got to give 30 days notice when I pack up and move out of town, but you're going to give him 15. Come on. and to see the timeline since 1989 and how this has been a it's been a joke from every single city council, not just you guys. It's not I'm not blaming this on you, but to package this up so hastily and throw it throw it in and just say, "Hey, we're going to bulldoze it down and build a strip mall with condos on top and hey, we're going to throw a hotel at the corner because that's what we need." That's not what anyone was promised. And these business have been thriving on their own without the city because the city has been buying up the space and abandoning it for years. four years. It's not these people's fault. The city owns the common spaces. And then you just I just heard about your downtown business district and I heard Prop 218 get thrown out. You guys want to raise more fees and services to people downtown? Let's just charge them so we

can just abandon it again in 30 years. We'll just bulldoze it down for a new council. That's what it feels like. That's what it feels like. And it's sad because I went to lunch with Chris today at the tavern and it was beautiful. I loved it. Saw the city clerk. She was nice as always. Thank you. And then I turned around and I saw all the kids at First Baptist playing. I was like, this is amazing. This is what I want to see here. This is what I do want to see here. But then to see, well, it's just going to be bars and restaurants. And on the way, we're going to bulldoze and run all these businesses that have been here forever that we haven't talked to out of town so we can put in bars and restaurants. So, you know, nobody a few people want a skating ring, but I'd rather see a dojo that serves the community and my tax dollars represented and subsidizing a business that's been here forever. I don't want to see this dude who's not a business banker have the authority to give out business loans that are that's not fair to us. That's not what my tax dollars are for. All of you have an acute passion for politics just like me and the few people that show up regularly. And once again, you were all elected by those people to represent them. They're not here every week, but I'm going to make sure along with everyone else who's been here that they all know what's going on.

Thank you. Welcome.

Hello, my name is Ridley Romero. I'm a resident of Corona and I'm here today not only to represent All-American Karate School, but also my family and all of their hard work. 15 years ago, I started taking karate classes with Sensei Nicole Laari, who is now my mom. What I didn't know then was that I was joining more than a dojo. I was joining a community that has shaped not only my life but the lives of thousands of others. All American karate has stood in Corona for over 40 years. In that time, we have opened our doors to anyone willing to walk through them. Children, teens, and adults from every background, every ability, and every struggle. Where other programs have turned kids away for being too difficult or not a fit, we welcomed them. When parents came to us as a last resort saying other sports had refused their child because of behavior challenges or even spectrum disorders like autism, we said yes. We never gave up on a child who is willing to learn. This dojo has built leaders, given kids a safe place to belong, and taught lessons in discipline, respect, and perseverance that last a lifetime. For some, it has been a second home when they had nowhere else to go. The city of Corona should be proud to have a place like this. Instead, the city is trying to take it away. This is not just about closing a business. It's about dismantling a community. It is about stripping away a safe haven for families, for kids who needed a chance, and for people who have found belonging, purpose, and confidence here at All-American Karate. 40 years of service to this city should not be thrown aside so easily. We deserve better. The community we have worked so hard to build deserves better. And I cannot stand here without speaking for my family who have poured everything they have into this dojo. Decades of long days and late nights, missed dinners, missed weekends, and countless sacrifices of family time because to them, building this community mattered.

They have given their energy, their health, and their hearts to keep these doors open. And to see the city try to rip that away after everything they have carried is not only heartbreaking, it's infuriating. 15 years ago, I had the privilege of joining a community that has been genuine, resilient, and transformative. A place that shaped lives with strength, compassion, and purpose. It is a community the city should be protecting, not shutting down. And for all it has given me, I am forever grateful. We are Corona. Thank you. Thank you. Welcome.

Good evening. Chris McCoy, District 3. Um, obviously I'm here to talk about all American karate. And I just want to emphasize the fact that we have two weeks. We need to focus on that. We need to focus on the fact that by the time you guys have your next meeting, something needs to happen for them. and nothing has happened. And I've talked to many of you individually about and you've expressed that boy if just people would come out and voice their concerns. I think this is a hell of a voice tonight. I think this is incredible. I feel like all the twists and turns with the Talbert era and everything else. I think the city owes All-American karate a solution. I don't know what that solution looks like, but I feel like that's something I would ask you all to task Jacob with finding a solution in the next two weeks, which is a very short amount of time. Either that or give them an extension or maybe allow them to use like the rec center over uh in Victoria Park right across the street. I'd love to have them over near us. That place is big enough for them to stay until they can find their own place. But the reality is we've got two weeks to find a solution and that's not a lot of time and we all know that. And so I'm going to ask you to please task Jacob with finding a way to fixing this, finding a way of making this happen. Whether that's an extension, whether that's moving them to the rec center, whether that's finding them another property that they can move to and giving them some money to move quickly. I I think it's important that that happens. The other point about this that I really want to emphasize is the fact that there has been a lack of communication. And that is not on you. That is on your staff. That is on Jacob. That is on the team that's been working since the 26. We shouldn't have to have 40 people coming in here 2 weeks before they have to move going, we don't know what's going on. We haven't had enough

support from the city. We haven't had enough options from the city. They haven't helped us. I know you've helped a little, but when I hear about the letters that have all been saying, oh, they turned down a space, which they didn't, there's there's miscommunication going on from staff to you guys, and that's something that you need to address with your staff and figure out what's going on. That's just wrong. You guys should have been up to date on what was going on. You should have been apprised this whole time. There should be no ob sorry I'm all freaked out talking but there should be no um misleading on this where what they are hearing and what you are hearing is different and that's what's happening right now and that's not right either. So I would ask you to please make this a a high effort on your part task your city manager with finding a solution. Let's not lose a business that has been an institution in Corona for 40 years. Thank you.

Thank you. Welcome.

Sorry, I'm also petite. Um, hi. I'm Danielle Avia. Obviously, I'm also here to talk about All-American Karate School. Um, I didn't initially plan on speaking because I didn't want to cry in front of everybody, but I already did that tonight. So, um, yesterday I realized that 14 out of my 22 years of living, I've been at All-American Karate School, and I've seen what it did for the kids that I teach and work with now, what it did for me growing up, and I don't want that to be taken away. For all summer and for most of spring, I've seen Nicole and Mike work very hard in looking for buildings on their own, as well as some suggested buildings from the city to try and find us a place to move. And it's been very hard these last few weeks explaining to the children who don't understand that all the buildings that they've looked at were either too large and would not be divided for them to fit in or too small for us to work in. So, I'd like more support and help from the city for us to move into a place that our community can continue to grow and continue to learn all the things that I did. Discipline, respect, learning how to commit, have determination, motivation, all things that I'm still learning today at 22 years old. Um, that's pretty much all I wanted to say. I wanted to make it short and sweet because I'm the last one up here and I don't want to take up any more of everyone's time. But I do want to say that I really do hope that this makes a difference. It might not mean a lot to you, but it does to us. And the children that we work with are the future. And I don't want you to fail them. I'm going to be honest. I've never seen any of

your faces before tonight. But now I'll have your faces committed in my memories that I know who to point to when the children feel like they've been failed and when I feel like I've been failed. I've seen I know that this is only a chapter of my life, but I've seen many people my age eventually leave to do school, to finish school, to start their careers. Maybe they move, but they always come back. We've had former students come and speak to you guys and obviously this school is a very vital part of the community because I did vision myself coming back and being able to visit even if I decided that this chapter of my life would be over. So please, I would like to come back and see All-American Karate School again. Maybe someday I'll be able to bring my own kids and instill all the amazing things that I've learned growing up.

Thank you. Great job, Miss Edwards. Um I understand we have one person on Zoom. Yes, Mayor we do. Okay. You want to patch them in? Hello. Yes. Go ahead, please.

Hi. Sorry. Just give me one quick second so I can pull it up. I'm so sorry. Okay, perfect. Good evening, city council. My name is Rose. I am a resident of a nearby city. I come here tonight with urgency and heartbreak. Our day laborers are men who rise up before the sun, who sweat and strain to build our home, to fix our streets, and hold up our community. They're not just workers. They're essential to our city's very survival. Just a couple days ago, I raided a Home Depot in on Ontario Avenue in Corona. It has been confirmed that it was ICE agents. Six men were taken and two are still missing. One of them needs urgical urgent medical attention. Families are now broken. Children cry for their fathers and no one knows if their loved one has already been saved. And we know how many of them end up in detention centers. These places are inhumane and very bad. People are many people are locked in cages stripped off of their dignity and too many have died inside of those four walls. This is not justice. This is cruelty. Yes, some of us may come from different countries. Yes, our documents may not look the same. But underneath our skin, we're all the same person. And we're all beating the same heart. The same love for our families and the same hope for a better life. And we cannot be treated like this. No human deserves it. Immigrants have been the backbone of this city and this country. They sacrifice everything so that all of us can live better. And at the end of the day, in God's eyes, we're all one person. I respect and ask this council, could you guys just file missing person's requests with Pomona PD for the two men that are so unaccounted for? We believe that they um this this happened at the Home Depot and maybe there's security footage that we're able to get confirm who they are or at least be able to reach out to their families and let them know that they're okay. I just want to um let you guys know that this is suffering and you guys can hear our pain and act with compassion because when one of us is torn down, all of us are. Thank you.

Thank you very much.

All right. Well, that completes that section of the agenda. So, um I really want to thank you all for showing up tonight and speaking and sharing your thoughts. I mean that. Um I wanted to touch on a few different things. Um, as some a couple people mentioned, you know, only getting something from the mayor, not my colleagues. We when something is sent to the the entire council, the mayor is the one that usually responds on behalf of the council. I did obviously miss a couple and I apologize. I tried to respond to everybody. Um, so that's on me. So, I apologize. Um, on the ice topic real quick. Yeah, it's it's a rough one, you guys. um at the um or one of the questions was asked um was PD Crona PD notified that they were going to raid the Home Depot? The answer is no. Um at the last council meeting uh we had a brief discussion on this and I think Chief Newman said um that they normally contact us prior to serving a search warrant, but these raids they don't. And um I want I want the community, our our Hispanic community primarily, but everybody to know that um it's it's against state law for us to cooperate with the federal government. Right. And uh did I say that right?

We are not allowed to cooperate with the federal government. Interfere and cooperate. Yeah. Um, I I'd like to ask Cat Marcato if there's anything that I said wrong or didn't say right. You know, just elaborate maybe a little bit. Is that possible, Jacob? Thank you.

Yeah. Good evening, uh, mayor, council, and members of our community. So, just to clarify on that, yes, the Corona Police Department was not notified of the activities at the Home Depot of Ontario. Furthermore, the California Values Act under state law prohibits local law enforcement to participate in immigration enforcement. So, not only that, we're supported by department policy. So, I want our community to know that our officers do not participate in immigration enforcement. Period. So, our focus is on community, community safety, enforcing the laws under the California Values Act.

Thank you, Cameron Con. So, I agree though it's probably going to get worse. Um, okay. So, let's see with AAK. So, I am very much open to the idea of AAK returning to the North Mall. Now, I did have a conversation with Mr. Sanduski last week and I did mention that, you know, um, if it's not done for three years and and AK has established themselves somewhere, are they going to want to move again? Could they afford to move again? I honestly didn't know you you you're going to have different council members up here um there could be different thoughts on that but um yeah you guys are awesome and I and I feel bad that um that you feel disrespected because I don't I totally respect you and um but there were several comments that you know we we're not working with you we're not doing enough and so I did I asked I asked the city manager I said tell me everything that we're doing. Now, I did I did speak with uh with Michael last week and I I could feel his passion and and yeah, it was a good conversation. It was it was a tough conversation, but it was a good conversation. And but I I wanted to just share or have our economic development share what we've actually been doing. And then maybe Michael, I don't know if you're going to agree with everything, but I want you to hear the other perspective at least. Okay. So, Jacob, could you touch on that or uh Joel, somebody?

Yeah, Mayor, why don't we have Joel Joel, could you provide an update of just sort of where we're at, what what we've uh done to date, maybe give us a little bit of a rundown for everybody.

Definitely happy to. So, the I want to draw an immediate distinction before I roll into the city actions. So, if this was a private property owner, at one time this building was in the hands of the lab partners. Uh, if this were a private owner, they could evict them with 30 days notice. There'd be no compensation. There'd be no relocation benefits. So, we don't operate under those rules. We're city government. So, we have some mandated rules from the state for relocation type projects like this where this government is doing a project and then uh businesses are being displaced by that. So, the mandated process, it's still very simple. It's a 90-day notice and then pay it payment for relocation benefits. But I because we're in working with people, I like to give much more latitude, much more leeway within that system, much more time than just the minimum requirement. So February 19th, we stood here, the city council gave direction to pursue the mixeduse project. The next day, we scheduled meetings with all the North Mall tenants. So to give them six months notice to say, I know we've talked in general about all of the stuff in the past. Now we have sort of a concrete uh framework here that we're working under and an end date essentially for your occupancy at the building. So giving starting that clock for as soon as possible for them to really focus their attention on finding alternate sites. So we've been working there's five different tenants we've been working with. Um, so we have followed that process for each of those tenants. We've been sending out repeatedly uh sometimes on a bi-weekly basis. Relocation sites, we checked with them for their particular parameters, identified sites. For All-American Karate, we sent over 22 total sites. The first one April 16th, there were six sites. July 17th, four sites. On the 30th, we brought in the county. And the county involvement wasn't to send a message that we don't

want you in the city. Our primary mission was to keep them in operation. So I might get a little emotional here too because this is it's been a frustrating process um not being able to solve this problem of finding them at a site and keeping them in operation. We understand their importance for for Corona. And so uh to continue that list August 7th we sent over two sites. August 11th, we sent over two sites. November 2nd, we sent over or sorry, September 2nd, another five sites. On the 15th, uh we'd periodically been contacted by brokers looking to solicit work from the city. We compiled a list of brokers, sent those to all the tenants that were still in the North Mall again to provide some assistance just to expand to provide as many resources as possible to all the businesses that are being impacted by the North Mall project. Um, so the the 22 sites, none of those worked out because of various reasons related to All-American Karate's particular needs, but at least we're identifying things that potentially could work and allowing them to review those and make that determination. We're not art arbitrarily removing things from that list. We're just providing the sort of gross raw information and letting them that make make that determination. I know based on conversations with them, I think Nicole brought in a stack of papers. They had talked about reviewing many many dozens of sites uh over and above what we had sent them to. So, it's very clear that they're working as hard as they can. We're providing as many resources as we can on the site selection process. So, the go to go back to the state mand mandated process. The state also requires compensation for the relocation. The typical process is they move out and then we pay them because then we're certain that they won't resist the the relocation, the eviction process. Uh we're also buying improvements that they've made in the

building. So a private owner doesn't compensate. If you've tricked out your space and it's beautiful inside, they evict you. They keep all those improvements. Uh what we do, what the state requires us to do is to pay for things like their carpet that they've installed, the partition walls that they've installed for their dressing rooms, for their the desks that they have for the front counter. Uh we're even buying a baby changing table in the bathroom. It goes down to very fine details about things that they simply can't move. And so, uh I I'll tell you the dollar numbers. It's not a secret. This is all public information. So there's about $74,000 worth of things we're buying inside their site that they physically just can't move with them. So they wouldn't relocate their carpet, they wouldn't relocate their desks to a new location. So we're buying all those improvements from them. That's cash that they can use for whatever purpose they would like. Uh income for tricking out their new location, for permitting, for whatever they need. We're also required to pay relocation, the actual moving costs for things that are movable. So if they have mats they can move, if they have furniture they can move, any other improvements that are mobile and are in good enough in condition that they want to take, then they can take those two. So that's about $11,000 based on the bids that we've gotten. There's also another $10,000 for business reestablishment. And again, that can be used really for whatever the owners would like to pursue. That can be permitting, could be new signage, marketing, uh whatever use. We don't place any restrictions on that money. So that's about $95,000 worth of direct payments to compensate for this relocation that they wouldn't get if this was a private transaction. There's also because Michael indicated in July they were starting to experience some business impact because people understood that they were closing. I think some people declined to continue signing up or something happened but they were experiencing a hardship and so we made the decision to just wave rent. So the the mandated relocation benefits come at the very tail end of the

process. We wanted to put as much money in their hands at the very beginning or sort of midway through the process to help them with that relocation. And so uh that that worked out to be about $17.5,000 of rents that we just didn't expect to collect from them. So freeing up things, easing the business impact. So overall, it's about $112,000 worth of direct benefits or money that we did not collect from them that we would be entitled to just through the standard lease that they have to try to soften that blow and to assist with relocation the a new relocation site identification and then whatever work was involved in actually reestablishing their business. Um, as to their long-term disposition, there's certainly nothing that precludes them from moving back into the North Mall once it's open. There's still a tremendous amount of work that has to happen to get to that point. We need to design the project, entitle the project, find a developer, build the project most importantly, and then open that project. And that's many years from now. So, today, I think Jacob talked about, do they want to relocate? do they, you know, projecting that far into the future, where they're at, what their plans are, the costs for that new space. Uh certainly a variety of factors there that's impossible to nail down at this point, but there wouldn't be anything through this process that would prevent them from seeking a tenency in that new building or new buildings. Uh and definitely just to go back, I 99% of my work is good stuff where we're helping businesses get established here, grow, and expand. This has been a tremendously frustrating process for all the tenants we've been working with, seeing their internal struggles to find a relocation site because when the city owned them, there was not a profit motive. There was not an intent to to maximize profit in these locations. And so, uh, to a certain extent, they got sweetheart rent deals.

Maybe not at the beginning when they moved in in 2010, uh, All-American Cotti was paying 50 cents a square foot. today. That's that's a quarter of what or even less of what a traditional retail tenants's paying. So the the average number in the downtown market is about $2.30 a square foot. So that jump from 50 cents a square foot to 30 tremendous impact. Uh and we understand we've seen this for all the tenants running into this issue of having essentially subsidized rent for many years in the current locations and having potential savings, not really recognized savings or anything, but just a substantial difference between how we were treating the tenants at the North Mall versus how the open market was treating all the other tenants in the area. And so, uh we appreciate that impact. We've done everything we can to provide to identify sites that's we've even gone into Norcco and into county areas again not to push them out of the city but to keep them in operation. Uh and so the frustration I feel I mean there's that that's nothing approaching what they feel. Uh and I definitely appreciate the the frustration the the frightening nature of where we're at today with this. So, we're using all the tools that we can and even after the 13th, that doesn't cut off any support. There's ongoing support that we'll continue to provide. If they if they choose to use our services, we will continue to connect them with available sites in the city. And then certainly within the county and any every available resource partner that we have, connecting them to provide whatever support we can. Again, we recognize the the important story that they have in the community and the important contribution that they've made to so many people in the city. And so we are we're confronting this deadline that

we've established to be able to move the larger project forward. And but in this position where there's there are impacts to these type of major redevelopment projects and these are it's challenging to see All right, thank you for that. Um, yeah, some of the some of the uh speakers mentioned it. I even mentioned it to Mr. Sanduski last week that I do see value in that built-in customer base, right? And when you have a hundred parents with their kids coming into karate studio, they're going to get some ice cream afterwards or a burger, whatever next door, however, whatever they want to do, but it's it's a built-in customer base. So, I think it it would be awesome if we could figure out a way to to get them back there after it's done. So, um that's that. Okay. So, thank you again everybody for coming. We are going to move on to the next item which is a public hearing. So 8.1 is affordable housing density bonus 2024-00001 for 57 residential condominiums consisting of three affordable housing units located at 1717 via Del Rio in the R3 multiple family residential zone applicant Meritage Homes of California. The uh public hearing was opened and continued from September 17th meeting. Does any council member want to staff report on this item? Mayor, I don't need a staff report. I do have some comments, though.

Yeah, I think we probably all do. Okay. Um Okay. Miss Edwards, has the city clerk's office received correspondence or speaker cards from the public regarding this item? Mayor, we have one speaker card for this item. Okay. Now, speaker, come on up. Welcome.

Well, mayor, city council members, and planning commissioners. My name is Caleb Daniel Dominguez. I've lived in Corona for nearly two decades, and I believe in the values of this city. But I worry about the path we're taking. The issue is not whether we build housing, but what kind of housing and whether it truly supports our community. The average rent in Corona is about $2364 a month. More than a third of income for many households, over 60% of our workforce are moderate and low wage workers. The backbone of this city since 1896. In Riverside County, 51,000 low-income renters lack access to affordable homes, and nearly 80% of extremely low-income households spend over half of their income on rent. That leaves little for groceries, health care, transportation, or local business spending. At the same time, home prices in Corona's 9283 zip code are near $750,000. And even to rent in this county, a household must earn nearly $40 an hour, more than twice the minimum wage. Many people who work here can't afford to live here. Right. Rising housing and commercial rents also explain why so many small businesses are closing. Some point to declining homelessness numbers, but that doesn't capture families doubling up commuting hours or leaving the city altogether. Rising cost and luxury projects that exclude everyday workers only push more people to the margins whether or not they appear in the homeless tally. Luxury development also does not save our small businesses. Higher income residents often spend at chains or outside the city. Local businesses rely on steady customers from teachers, nurses, service workers, and clerks. If those families are displaced, our businesses suffer.

And beyond economics, exclusive housing often brings in stark income and often racial divides, creating class conflict rather than community. What we need is balanced growth. Our people require mixed income housing in new developments. The city must negotiate community benefit agreements so developers contribute affordable units, parks, and infrastructures. The city must use impact fees and inclusionary zoning so upscale projects help close the affordability gap. Lastly, the city should prioritize adaptive reuse like motel conversions to quickly uh create lowerc cost housing. I know people, neighbors, co-workers, and friends including, you know, the business AK who have been forced out of Corona because they couldn't afford to stay. Their displacement weakens our schools, our volunteer base, and our local economy. We're not opposed to housing. What we're calling for is the right kind of housing. We are not sellouts. Corona's future shouldn't belong only to those who can pay top dollar. Let's grow in a way that keeps our community, our economy, and our values intact so that every resident and every business has a chance to thrive. Thank you.

Thank you. Yeah.

Hello. I'm back up again. Um, the only reason I'm coming up, I spoke last time, uh, we had this on the agenda, but Tony wasn't here, so I want to make sure that I express this again so he can hear it. I know you're going to pass this tonight. I know we're going to move forward with this, but again, three units of affordable housing out of 57. We don't have those building any equity or anything for the people that actually live in them. So, it's essentially rent. They're going to rent them. they're going to get a little bit of equity out of them when they're done, but it's it's not a great model for us. We need to step out of this model. Um, have them have these developers instead if they want to build full price, build full price and give us a fee that we can turn around as a city and develop a whole development that's going to work as affordable housing. The other part of this that I saw which is a recurring theme is us waving everything for these developers when they do this low cost lowcost housing and saying oh hey well you know they they qualify for this they qualify for that but we do it on everything. What is the point of having planning? What is the point of of doing any of this and setting any standards if we're going to wave them for every single project? This project is supposed to have like 150 parking spots. It's going to have 104 because it's lowcost housing. So, they qualify. So, where are those 50 parking spaces going to come from? Where are those people going to park? They're going to street park. They're going to make things worse. So, that's one big problem. The other one is there's there are some um there are some other items waved as far as traffic lights, hookups, doing the wire above ground instead of doing it underground. It's great for the developer, but it doesn't help us. And every time I go and look at these, whenever it's affordable housing, it's the same thing. Oh, we waved this. Oh, we waved that. Oh, we waved that. Because of three units, we're selling our soul to make it easy on these

developers. And we need to stop doing it. I'm going to ask you to start talking to your planning commissioners that you guys have about holding the line on this stuff because it's it's insane what we're giving them. They're not having to do any of the improvements they're supposed to be doing. And at the end of the day, every one of us in the city has all of these costs going up for water, for power, for all of this, all of these hookups, the $40 million redevelopment that we're doing right now for our pipes and everything. We're paying for that. So, these developers are doing their thing, and then at the end of the day, we have to build up the infrastructure. So, please talk to your commissioners. Please work to start saying no on this stuff. Please, let's stop waving everything and giving them cart blanch in our city. Thank you.

Thank you. Okay, seeing no more speakers, the public hearing is now closed. Do I have any questions or comments for my colleagues, Tony?

Yeah, I have some comments. um you know, we have to um play by a different set of rules when it comes to some of these houses that we housing projects. We don't have a whole lot of say in a lot of what we do. Um but one of the things that that we all do is we try to work with our builders that are coming into our community. Sometimes we get builders that are bad faith actors and we get projects rammed down our throat and every once in a while we get to work with a builder who is looking to help our community and they're able to take um to build this project because of of what the state has mandated and what the state has done. But that doesn't mean that they're trying to shove this down our throat. Um, this particular builder, Meritage Homes, has worked with our staff and our planning department has tried to do a whole bunch of good for um for our community. And I wanted to talk about that tonight. Sometimes the universe, you know, puts things out and and we're able to um to wrap things up. So, I had a resident who lives in the area where this project is going to be built reach out to me and educate me on some of the challenges that he has being sight impaired. And one of the challenges is there there are um uh crosswalks near this development that do not have yet the um the necessary equipment that will allow I I don't know the exact terminology but the necessary equipment to allow um a sight impaired resident to safely cross on the crosswalk. I think it's like the audible noise that that goes and it's it's not inexpensive. And our city on new development, that's something that gets put in automatically, but the city's going through and they're updating um our crosswalks um when when we can. It's part of our as part of our

budget. So, in working with Meritage, um I asked them to not only they're mandated to do the the crossing that is uh right at this project, but I asked them to do the two additional um crossings in the area that don't have these um sight impaired updates done to them, which they've agreed to do. And for me, I'm very thankful that we're able to have a relationship with them where we can say, "Hey, listen." And they could have said no, but I said this would be impactful for the community, especially because we have a resident that travels by walking as he was educating me and is sight impaired and he has a little bit of a challenge with these two particular intersections which are via Santiago and border and border and via del Rio. So, the builder has actually out of their own pocket decided that they're going to make this change. So, I'm I'm appreciative of that and I'm also appreciative of the fact that they've worked with staff to try and do as much as they can. They gave up some concessions where they could. They are doing affordable housing, but this is a statemandated project that's not being shoved down our throats with this builder. And for me, I'm appreciative of it. So, thank you. I move to approve. Wes, you anything?

Uh, not really. No, just just wanted to say uh thank you. I've heard of all of the the work that you've done with staff um and trying to get those parking spaces and I know that we're trying to work with um with the residents there. I know that the council member Ddario has done a really good job trying to reach out to his his community to to make sure that he gets something that really makes a difference. And um this project is no surprise. It's it's been planned for many many years and they were just waiting for the right developer. And frankly, I'm happy it's it's you all instead of uh some of the other folks that we've seen. So, um looking forward to seeing how this turns out. Tom,

yeah, I have a I have a different opinion than you two, but um it's me. I uh I don't think a lot of citizens in every city know that cities are subject to states and state laws and state rules. And uh for the last I don't know five, six, seven years, every year the state comes out with new laws that just favor developers that just strip local control that they they just make it to where they build what they want to build and it's wrong. There's a there's a licensed architect in the audience and I know somewhere in her schooling she learned that form follows function, right? And uh this project is not functional. This project is going to be a traffic nightmare. That's what it's going to be. But a developer needs to make money and turn a profit and that's what they're in business to do. And so although we've certainly had worse developers in this city and thank you for helping the handicapped guy with the ability to walk, I that's that's just great to be honest with you. But in until our state changes its ways, until our state empowers cities with more local control rather than stripping local control, we're going to have problem developments like this. And it's it's going to get built. It's going to get approved here tonight. You guys already know it. I don't even know why you showed up, but uh five years from now, four years from now, the day it opens is the day the parking problems begin. And it's not only going to affect the people moving in that that just need a place to live, but it's going to affect the neighbors and the surrounding community. And it's just going to be levels of frustration. And uh I have to vote yes for it because

the state has bullied their way into this vote, but uh I'm not happy about it. Thank you, Mayor. Anything?

All right. Um well, yeah, I mean, let's I do appreciate uh the applicant working with us. Um, but let's make no mistake, this is getting shoved down our throat and this is a project that I wouldn't vote for um with if it wasn't uh statemandated uh with the density bonus. But um primarily because yeah, if you why would you vote for a project that you know the traffic's going to spill into neighborhoods? That's stupid. But we don't have a choice. Um, but I did meet with the applicant and I learned a couple things that um that in the CCNRs the the residents would be required to park in their garages. And then I said, "Well, how are you going to check that?" And and they mentioned that you could put windows on the garages so they could inspect it. Yeah, I guess that's better than not having windows, but that certainly is a policy that I would expect u you know full cooperation on. Um and then there was some discussion about establishing parking permits in the area neighborhoods to protect the residents from spillover. I hate that. I hate it because parking permits are they they're a whole another problem. just ask, you know, some of the other neighborhoods that have it. When they have a party, no one shows up with a parking permit, you know. So, um, but I think that's definitely something that needs to be looked into ahead of time. So, on day one, if the residents in a certain neighborhood wanted a parking permit, they could get it. There was uh somebody mentioned at the last meeting that how many what percentage of people they'd have to get on their street or their community. Um but there's only a few houses that would maybe be affected by it. So how could they get a majority? So I I do want to look at that and see how we could help the residents who are

just really affected by this even if there's only a few. Also, um going over there, I I saw that um they got these no parking signs on Via Del Rio from Avenue to Del Vista to the school between like 7 and 9 a.m. I think it is. And that's for drop off and pickup for the school. So, what I would like to see is I'd like to reach out to the school district to let them know that we are being forced to do a project that is impacting our neighborhoods and could they do something, re-engineer it, rework their drop off and pick up to where we could have our street back to park on. I I don't think that's unreasonable. We're not uh going after the district or anything like that. We're being forced to do this. That's having a negative impact on our residents. So, we need them to look at to see what other options they got because we need our street back for for our residents. Um, the last thing, and Chris touched on it, I I was going to touch on it as well. So, the applicant requested an additional four waiverss. Um, one was no recreational facility requirement um to allow for reduced setbacks on the uh for the front and side yards and reduce separation between the buildings. Joanne, does the density bonus prohibit us from just saying no to the waiverss?

Here's the situation with that. They are basically the density bonus law becomes an entitlement if they meet the criteria. And if the city is going to deny any waiver that they are requesting, the evidence rests on us to to to decide if this is a public health and safety issue. Reducing a building set back from 20 to 18 ft is not a public health and safety issue. So this is how stringent this law is. the evidence will rest on us to prove that point. The developer doesn't have to prove that point. The local agency has to. So reducing setbacks is not a public health and safety issue. That's what most of these waiverss are. And they're having to accommodate water meters. So they're widening the driveway aprons. So they're trying their best within the space they have to accommodate the infrastructure that they need to build.

Okay. Thank you for clarifying that. All right. Um, that's all the comments I have. I got a motion. Already moved. Tony and Jackie.

Okay. And that item passes. Moving on to 8.2 is conditional use permit 2024-00003 to establish 57 town hall condominium units on 2.86 86 acres located 1717 via Del Rio in the R3 multiple family residential zone. Miss Edwards, any speaker cards or written comments from the public? Mayor, we do not have any speaker cards or written comments for this. Can I get a motion, please? Oh, I'm sorry. Oh, yeah. You No, you want to talk about something else? So, the public hearing's closed. Okay. So, on the on 8.2 on uh Oh, I'm sorry. No, you're right. I'm sorry. My bad. It's been a long night, brother. I understand. Yeah. Yes. Yes.

I didn't know that I would have to fill in any other form. My name is Robert. Yes. Um, so I so u forgive me but I am very confused about this whole process of how you guys are handling and how the council and planning department has handled uh public comment and whether that has any effect on whether or not anyone who is going to vote votes differently than what they plan to vote for uh I've heard many of you say that uh there are many problems associated with this particular project and um despite knowing that there's so many problems with this project and knowing that there has been people that have pointed out those some of those problems um you guys are still inclined I say you guys right but I'm saying management of whoever is making that decision ision

is inclined to move forward. Uh even despite the explanation that there has been concessions or whatever going back and forth with the builder and so forth. Um it just doesn't make any sense to me to not know your position prior to public comment. Right? So, if the public has the comment of we have all these concerns, uh, how how is anything going to be explained about the parking and so forth and and now I'm hearing about the I don't know if I'm hearing everything correctly, but I'm hearing about uh setbacks and how it doesn't affect uh health and safety. Well, setbacks are there for a specific purpose. I couldn't tell you what that purpose is other than it's a uniform purpose and um there has to be a very good reason in order for a conditional use permit to be approved. Um I I don't see the reason as oh we want to fit so many houses in this development so let us have this setback adjusted as a good reason right um otherwise there there there would be no uniform measure um same as the parking requirements Right. I know and I've heard. I'm not so much I don't want to say I'm not so much affected, but I'm not so much knowing of how that's going to affect that

community, but I've heard over many years in many different communities and I've noticed in many different communities that that is a problem. Parking is a problem and it should be taken in consideration. the the the whole thing is that I'm con concerned about how we don't know your guys's position prior to public comment and I don't know if that's the right way of doing things. I think we should hear you guys' concerns first or your position first and then have public comment and then know what this

Thank you. Thank you, Robert. Thank you. And your point is uh you're right, it is very confusing and um as far as the public comments generally we want to hear from the public and that will help shape our position. So that's one way to look at it anyways. But um as far as why we would vote on something that we know is going to cause a problem, welcome to the state of California. We have our hands tied behind our back on development, on homeless issues, on crime, and we all wish that wasn't true, but it is. So, we do the best with the cards we're dealt. It's our motion.

This is the second. We got one more after this. I'll move Jackie and Tony, I think it was, or something. All right. Okay. And that passes. And the last one is 8.3 tenative trackm 38934 to create one lot on 2.82 acres for residential condominium purposes and four letter lots totaling. 04 acres for the construction of water quality management facilities located at 1717 via del Rio. Miss Edwards, any speaker cards or written comments from the public.

Mayor, we do not have any speaker cards or written cards. Yes, we do. Apparently, we do. Will you turn in a speaker card after you talk? Yeah, but each time you speak on on a topic, you got to turn one in. I I mean, I can I can edit the one that I turned in, but

Go ahead, Robert. In any in any case, um I was curious and I was wondering what is the effect of you not agreeing, you the council not agreeing to put forward a problematic type of scenario such as a development project that has issues. When you say that your hands are tied, I don't understand that. state law,

but I don't understand how your hands are tied in saying that you want to move forward with something that you know that should not move forward as it is planned to be. I I know you're saying you're referencing state law and and how that's guiding you to your decision, but that's guidance and that's maybe the the the laws that you must follow.

However, I I and I'm not trying to have a I'm not trying to have a conversation like this, but I appreciate it. Uh but I just wanted to make that I wanted to ask that question in if that's possible to know more so than just a uh response of state law because the way I interpret state law to be it is uh the format for which you're able to carry yourself forward. However, it is also supposed to be guidance and as council and uh planning commission or other staff uh you're you're tasked to to figure out how to make projects work within state guidelines. not not necessarily I don't know what another word would be for violating but not in accordance with those state guidelines or local policies and procedures and measures such as adjusting lot lines and so forth with conditional use permits and things. But thank you for your time. Appreciate it.

And I think Wes was eager to answer some of that. I I'm just going to just say that yes, that it's it's not guidance, it's a law. And there's a difference between guidance and and the law. If we voted no, then the state could sue, take over our planning department, and approve the project anyway. And then we would get fined $50,000 a day. I can't remember if it's either 10,000 or 50,000, something like that. One of those two. And then they would just approve it. So there's there's not really it's not really guidance. It's it's a legal requirement. All right, I have a motion.

Jackie, I'll second. Please vote. All right, and that passes. Okay, moving on to 9.1 administrative report. City council consideration of a pilots job creation program from the hub commercial center. Joel Beldian, our economic development director, will present this item.

Good evening, mayor and city council members. We will roll into the written here momentarily. So the proposal for you tonight uh relates to the hub reactivation and a new concept for ways to assist that uh transforming that underperforming center into something that's stellar and a destinational uh feature for the center point of the overall downtown revitalization efforts. So the specific request is uh presenting a jobs creation program to you tonight. We ask that you consider this and then authorize the city manager to uh develop and execute and uh deliver on that to attract the best tenants possible for the hub. So Dr. Mir's touched upon this a little bit earlier tonight, but really the downtown revitalization plan is really the the foundation upon which all the projects that we're working on in the downtown spring from. Uh and this is informed by 2400 plus uh community responses. So, it's not just a plan that was developed in secret in city hall. This is really a consensus document across so many stakeholders, so many residents, and so many businesses across the downtown area. Uh there's outside market research that was included in that and really a strong framework and timeline for how best to take what the free market has done in downtown today. We're not keeping the free market out. It's really the free market exercise, what that's delivered and then pushing that in the right direction to make something uh special and earlier than what the free market would deliver in the area. So, uh just to touch on, you're well aware the hub uh significant investment for the city and it's really one of the key catalyst projects for kicking off the downtown. It's right at the center of the bullseye. Uh we've already seen tremendous community support for the one restaurant that's opened up. are voting with their feet and their dollars and it's very clear that there's extreme pentup demand for something new. So, we want to build on that success by continuing to bring in

unique operators within that area and that really that curated mix of unique things that you don't find in the current marketplace or even in the entire region is key to making that center stand out from all the other centers that have food and beverage operators in the city or in the entire uh uh region. So, an incentive program is one way to accomplish that. We can assist businesses with uh picking our location over other locations that we're competing against in with all the private centers that we have. And a jobs creation program. It's a in a time-t tested tool. Uh I use this in redevelopment days when I was in Riverside in the early 2000s. Uh you can look around and find other cities that are using this today. I've got a brief list, not all-incclusive here. Uh, city of Bowmont has one, Garden Grove, Coina, East Veil, Marino Valley, the city of Pasadena, the city of Los Angeles, the city of San Francisco, the city of San Diego, the county of Riverside actually has a program, too. And so we have very good examples. The program before you tonight is really modeled after those programs that are effective that are in use today uh and again tested and refined over time through staff implementation and interaction with multiple businesses. So, we have very good examples to draw from to create a local program here. Uh, as I touched upon a little bit, there are commercial centers out there that are always looking for good tenants. So, we're in effect competing with those. Private property owners have a little bit a bigger toolbox to attract good tenants. I'll touch I'll expand upon this a little bit, but things like free rent, reimbursement for tenant construction efforts, actual direct construction to make spaces ready for future tenants. Sometimes property owners will build entire buildings and then attract tenants to those. Uh and again the private market just left to its own devices has delivered the downtown that we have today. And so we need to nudge it along in the right directions here

and use all the available tools for us to really expedite that transformation for downtown. So this tool before you tonight is one of those things that can do that. So I'm going to touch a little bit on what private property owners do. It's sort of it's not these are not public transactions. So there may not be a general awareness that these types of things happen on a regular basis. So free rent periods this probably makes sense. A new restaurant opens, nobody knows about them. They need a little bit of a cushion there to start up to get the word out. So generally uh landlords don't expect to collect full rent from them for those that transitional period from going they just opened to they now have some repeat customers after a couple of visits. There's uh participation or percentage rents. These are situations where a landlord wants a tenant, they agree to not charge a fixed amount. Uh very often grocery stores, sometimes Target, sometimes major retailers will go into this where the landlord gets a 5% cut of their sales. So if they do very well, great, the landlord does very well. If they don't, then the landlord doesn't collect as much. But it's sort of variable. It's really driven by sales and not a fixed amount. So providing a lot more flexibility for new tenants that are coming in. Again, I touched upon this reimbursement for interior improvements. You can Google tenant improvement allowance and see it's just everywhere. It's just a standard practice that centers own or center owners provide. It's a way to businesses may have a great operation once they open. They may be able to provide uh all the necessary funding to pay the rent. They may not have that startup capital. So, a tenant improvement allowance is that start that seed money that a center owner can provide to a business to help them move in to pay for their a portion of their construction and then get open and operating and pay back that investment through the rent that they're paying. Uh, again, direct construction where the tenant doesn't even have enough money to construct, the building owner could

provide all of that construction, charge a little bit higher rent to pay themselves back. And then again, the same thing for a new building. Um, and this is such a common practice. So, this is a a screenshot here. It's a sort of a regional report looking at industrial rents. It's such a common practice that the tools we use, this is from Co-Star, sort of like a commercial property Zillow, where you can go find what spaces are available. You can post properties that you have for sale or for rent. But even there, it's built in these types of concessions, what you can expect within this market. So, months free rent, TI allowance per square foot, other concessions where maybe they're not charging you CAM, they're paying for UT utilities, they're building in some other type of perk, uh or maybe they just provide a straight rent discount or some uh reduced rent increase compared with all your other neighbors within that center. So, this is a standard practice. Again, it's not publicly disclosed and so people just not may not have a general awareness that the private market is functioning in this fashion. And here's some good examples too of how property owners are making these calculated decisions to offset rent based on other benefits that businesses will bring. So here's a snapshot. Uh Sears, right? You're typically a major anchor for a shopping mall. Uh that's the business that drives a lot of the people that come there that then end up shopping at the food court or shop at other ancillary stores as they're walking by. In this instance, Sears was paying 525 a square foot, but the average for all the other tenants in that shopping center was three times that amount. So, property owners will offset uh rents or provide concessions to maximize the overall benefit to the center. Uh that same approach here is something this jobs program is sort of that same approach. Starbucks I think valued today around $95 billion. They're a multinational corporation. Their standard model for standalone buildings

is to have the property owner build the building for them and then they move in. It's 10-year lease. They pay back that initial investment, but they ask the property owner to spend that money first before they do or if they do at all. So, this is again a model of property owners making concessions upfront to attract that business. And particularly very well-known, very lowrisk tenants have a greater ability to command these types of incentives. if they're great operators, if there's you have a great certainty that you're going to get your return on investment, then these types of things work very well. The a very good local example, I think I was here for 3 weeks when I went to the ribbon cutting for Amazon Fresh. When I was there, I heard from multiple people, oh my gosh, the center owners so thrilled that Amazon Fresh just opened because none of the other tenants in there had to pay rent until Amazon Fresh opened. So there were businesses open for two years that didn't pay rent and that was the concession because their anchor wasn't there. They didn't have the volume of uh customers that were coming. So the concession that the property owner made was great, don't pay rent until they're open. It l that period lasted a lot longer I think than the shopping center owner expected. But these types of negotiated agreements with tenants is sort of a typical thing that you do. Uh even here when I was with the city of Irvine, the great park, two square miles, not a good place to get lunch. Uh we worked very hard to find a food and beverage operator. We settled on Almquist. They've done things like Rodeo 39 in Stanton, sort of like what we're doing in the food hall in the 99 cent only building. In that uh scenario, they they'll have enough money to pay rent once they open, but they don't have enough capital to build the buildings. So the city issued will be issuing bonds funding entirely the construction for their buildings and then bringing them in then and then renting. So even where it's a private operator or a public entity acting like a private developer,

these same types of tools become necessary to make sure you're delivering the best project. So the proposal before you tonight again uh modeled very much on existing programs that are in the area. So, not just something that we've sort of sketched out on a napkin. Uh would be a forgivable loan program. And that's really the structure for most of the other cities that I mentioned. But a guarantee of creating new jobs uh for at least a year. If a business is asking for more assistance, then that could that time frame could increase to 2, three, four, five, multiple years just to really balance out uh the expectations with the overall contribution. It would only cover a fraction of total employment. We wouldn't be funding the entire workforce for a business. And that's the county uh workforce development plan funds a quarter of a new employee. So our our proposal would be structured very similar to that. The total funding uh would be somewhere between a million and a million half dollars. We're looking at about 15 to 18 new tenants in there in between the food hall and the inline spaces. Uh, and again, the calculation for the exact dollar amount was based on California minimum wage being $16.50. Full-time work potential is $280 a year. That's $34,320 of uh potential uh salary that a minimum wage employee would be getting. We're proposing to fund half or a quarter of that time depending on the business needs. Uh the administration, we can use existing staff. Again, we're not talking about a huge volume of potential loan agreements. We're talking about a manage manageable amount spread out really over the next 18 months. Uh so staff would develop objective criteria for evaluating the proposals and then we have enough staff in-house in the economic development team and finance department to be able to uh work through this without any additional staffing impacts. We'll have tremendous accountability built into that. Uh we

have very good models for forgivable loan agreements that we can pull from other cities tailor to our specific needs and use. And again, these are agreements that have been tested multiple times over across multiple jurisdictions, across multiple businesses that really provide a solid framework from which to start. The budget for this would be established through the standard city budgeting process. Uh we don't expect with just sort of the typical time frame here. We don't expect any uh need for this funding until the start of the next fiscal year. So the middle of next year, that's when that next round of tenants would be opening up. So there will be a public uh process that people can comment on in that development process to confirm that we're still headed in the right direction. So the city council approved the authorization approved the development of this program tonight. There's the ability to seek uh city council before execution of any of these agreements. And then the loan agreement is a public document once it's executed. And so there's full disclosure to the public and full accountability to make sure whatever parameters are built into that loan agreement that they're being enforced over time. Um, and the repayment to us, there's a couple different ways. There's some indirect payments, repayments. Uh, we have the live work pledge where businesses prioritize the hiring of local residents. uh we can certainly require that as a part of this program so that paychecks that are being delivered uh in Corona businesses are then ideally spent within uh other Corona businesses or uh helping to support the local economy here by keeping that money local and employing downtown residents. Ideally, we find that there's better retention anyway and lower overall labor impacts by hiring local anyway. And so it makes a lot of business sense for the businesses to participate in that. This also serves the hub revitalization in general will serve as one of those catalyst projects. Bringing in new people from the entire region. All those potential customers passing by existing businesses that are already outside uh the hub but within the downtown core

will then have better exposure for people. So there should be a general overall sort of rising tide that will lift all the businesses in the area once we get the hub uh fully up and running. The direct repayments come from the sales tax that the businesses are generating. There's property tax that they pay called possessory interest tax. And then there's the direct rent payments that are coming in from all the tenants within the area within the hub. And so we can be have relative uh assurance that the collateral we request will secure the initial loan if businesses do fail. Ideally, we're bringing in very successful businesses that continue in operation and so through their rent payments back to the city. that's the most direct and immediate repayment for the uh the small scale investment that we're proposing here. So based on these parameters, we're asking for your authorization here to fully develop this to develop all the administrative documents and then uh engage prospective tenants within the hub uh with this program and uh move forward with populating the hub with the best tenants that we can find. So that concludes my presentation. I'm here for any questions you might have.

All right. Thank you, Mr. Building. We'll go to the public first. Miss Edwards, any speaker cards from the public? Mayor, yes, we have three speaker cards for this item and we also received um written comment that was distributed to the council and will be part of the meeting minutes.

Great. Thank you. All right, first speaker. Uh this is a great idea. I'm really happy to see this. I think it's going to help us get the hub off the ground and I'm thrilled to see it kind of start things to start rolling over there. My my con only concern is number one transparency as far as how this money is being spent. I think Joel's done a great job of kind of laying that out and what they're going to do. So, I'm I'm fairly happy with that. Um, the other question I have on this really is just like when we talk about the businesses that are going to go in and making sure that they're um hiring, you know, people that are local, I I think it's really important that we we find a way of ensuring that there there isn't a lot of fraud going on here. Some type of audit or something like that. Um, I I I can see that being a problem where we have folks who are bringing in a business from elsewhere or starting a business who live elsewhere and then bringing family in and saying that they're residents when they aren't necessarily. And it's going to be very hard to determine that. So, I I don't know how that challenge gets fixed, but I hope it does. Um, but overall, I think this is great. I think anything that's going to attract business to the the hub and make it successful is going to be awesome. And kudos to you guys for for helping move this forward. Kudos to Joel for putting it together. And um I just hope it works. Thanks.

Good evening.

Hello. So I'm not entirely opposed to incentivizing businesses to come to Corona. The things that I don't see here is Bobby Spiegel in the chamber. Number one, have we engaged them on this? We pay them a contract fee. I think that they should, you know, be a player in this personally. Um, I'm It's no secret I'm not a fan of the public sector doing private sector things. I just it doesn't work for me. Public servant, not I don't like to hear people that are paid with my tax dollars saying we're competing with other private businesses. That's not the role of government for me. So, I'm always going to have heartburn anytime I see that, honestly. But I didn't see where these funds come from. Is this Measure X funds? Is this general funds? Right. And is there any community involvement as to what type of businesses go there? Because I keep hearing boutique shops and stuff, right? And we got the tavern, but that presentation said Starbucks, Sears, Target. I didn't hear anything that really listed how people like LA are doing a great job. Uh have brought in small independent businesses. He referenced chains and that's always been the fear is that we're going to attract a bunch more chains to Corona because that's what Corona's been really good at doing. So seeing the chamber involved might have some more inspiration with that. You know, Bobby Spiegel doesn't like calling me. I'm not necessarily the biggest fan of him, but he still calls me all the time. you know, to talk about business things and that's his job and that's what they do really well and the city doesn't really have those mechanisms built in to be a landlord and all these things. So, are we going to go to the people that we have in the city that we have contracts with like the chamber to get that help when we're deciding who goes in there? That's what

I would like to see. Um, additionally, why if we're referencing the private sector, why can't we just give discounts on rent, right? Subsidize rent and subsidize capital improvements. Giving payroll is like burning cash, right? There's no way to recoup that unless you've got to lean on everything that they own as a business. And that's not the way to incentivize starting a business, right? So, those are just things I would want to see, right? If you guys are going to go through with this, I think that once again, the public sector doing private sector things is a horrible idea all around. Keep those things in mind, right? So, thank you.

Thank you, mayor. Can I make one quick comment? Yeah. Um, I don't think Mr. Spiegel can work today because it's the start of Young Kapoor and after I don't think they're allowed to work after the evening, which is probably why he's not here. He did write us a letter.

Yeah. Oh jeez. Um so one first my beef is oh well here let let it all get handled on the third floor and then you'll you'll notify the peons afterwards. You are the ones that should be making these decisions. these these decisions these agreements should be agreed upon in a council meeting not not decided upstairs you know I mean what I'm worried about is what you're doing is you're picking your friends you're picking your winners you're picking your losers just like you're doing just like this whole bit was about tonight you're picking who you want there and who you don't want there and they should be very public decisions about that and they shouldn't be in your case. You should not be in charge of this. You should not be anywhere around this. You should You're not trustworthy. You're manipulative. You're a snake. You should be gone. You're a liar. You know, you're not trustworthy and you're you shouldn't be doing this. Nothing. You do you should be So, you should have a camera on you 247 and your phone should be live streamed. you're not trustworthy at all. So, you know, and and acting like we can like that we can't play with the rent, like the city can't set the rent. I remember a few months ago it was, "Oh, we got backup. We've got just people just beating down the door to come in here." You know, I hear you talking about it all the time. Oh, yeah. There's just we've got a list. We've got uh letters of intent after letters of intent after letters of intent. Yet, we have to incentivize people to come here.

I don't think those two can be in the same space. I think somebody's lying somewhere. And and you can set the rent and you can decide how long you defer something and you can provide incentives or wave rent for a certain amount of time. You can have a standard setup that everybody can get instead of having having a little cobble on the third floor decide who gets the deal and who doesn't. You could have a set amount per square foot per unit. This doesn't have to be a thing that's boutique and and handled business by business. You can just do it in the open with a with with the rent like most places do. So to act like your hands are tied compared to the private sector is just flat BS. You can set the rent. You guys are playing developer. You can set the rent. If not, hand it off to somebody who can. But you should not be in the position of letting the city manager or his designate decide who's going to get the goodies. Because I think we've seen time and time again that you're not trustworthy. Your your group up here loves you. the rest of us don't. [Applause]

Yes, sir. Hello again. Good evening. Uh in reference to this um last matter for tonight, I believe I have been trying to come up with an explanation about how it is that a city can act as a private entity and or choose how they're going to profit. Uh, the city in and of itself is not supposed to profit. That's it's a nonprofit as far as I understand it. It's a it's a nonprofit entity and in no way are they supposed to profit. So I see it kind of going around the whole idea of profit by providing a loan of some sort that can be forgiven. But you know it begs the question like other people have stated where is this money coming from that you're going to give a loan? Who are these people that you are going to give a loan? Who are these people? Who are these businesses? Are are they anybody? I mean, can I can I apply for a loan or I mean, is has there been any uh reach out for the community to say, "Hey, if you have a business idea, we have this hub going in. Uh do you have something that you would want to put there? Apply for our loan." I haven't seen nothing of that. I' I've followed this over the past few

years, right? But I've not seen anything from from you guys, from the city at all. And I'm trying to understand how you guys are trying to handle that. And to put it in a an employes's uh hands to decide who gets that is kind of counterproductive, right? I mean, like other people have said and a lot of people have commented, you're you're kind of giving it to the people that you like or and keeping it from the people that you don't like. And I don't think that's right. That that's that is that's I don't know what the right word is, but that's uh wrong. That's uh that that's not ethical. It's It's not ethical. And and I would always like to believe that here in the city of Corona, the city council, the members of the management staff can be ethical. But I've been proven not I've been I've been proven wrong but I've been proven to believe that that's not possible except for that if we take measures to make it possible you know even choosing a consulting firm. Thank you Robert. Thank you. All right. Any questions or comments for my colleagues?

I have some comments. I don't have any questions. No, go ahead. Can you go back to the presentation? I'm not sure which page it is, so I'll just have to have you flip them through. Go. I'm sorry. Go back two slides. One more. Oh, not that one. That one. There you go. Um, the way that I understand this, and Mr. Ellis, you could probably correct me if I'm wrong, but you're not making the decision. You're only providing us the opportunity to make the decision on who is able to participate in this program. Do I understand that correctly? Correct. Those come back to council.

Okay. So, the council will make the final decision on who is um eligible to to participate in this pilot program. Um, and there was a statement made earlier that I I actually very much agree with, which is the council is choosing who goes into this.

Thanks, guys. Go ahead, Tony. Appreciate it. I did read it. And we have to make the final decision. Robert, please. Please. I I understand. I understand what the wording says, but what I just explained is that this Hey guys, guys, would you please stop interrupting? You had your time. Going to make the decision. I'm not lying. Joe, please.

Appreciate it. Um, you are correct. We are going to determine who goes into there. the city council isn't, but we've directed the uh group that we have contracting with that is going to curate that space so that the the the type of businesses that the community has expressed to go in there go in there. So to me, I I don't understand the concerns because the city council will make the decision. It will be a public document that you guys can request to see if you would like. I don't understand where the where the challenge is. It's completely up to the council to make the decision. So, it sounds like a a sounds like a great deal to me.

Joel, do you have a followup on that? Oh, I don't know. Oh, yeah. I wasn't sure. Okay. Okay. I wasn't I wasn't sure. vet them before execution. Yeah. Okay. Any other comments?

I have just uh just a couple of questions. So, I I know we have a lot of interest. I've heard that many many times from from staff, from the folks that were trying to help us put this thing together. I understand that we're trying to be selective and that I'm sure that that every major chain that has a, you know, has the ability to to dump a half a million dollars in in a kitchen would would love to to go in there, but that's not what we want. And so we're trying to find a way to to curate this and and the perfect word to use. Um my question is if we have a you know five people or three businesses that that are looking out of the same space are how are we ranking them in terms of who would be able to participate in this? Is that something that ground review is doing and that will come to us for final approval for the actual agreement itself? That's just one question and you can either you can answer now or I can give you my next one which is kind of

come up. Go. Yeah. Up to you.

Ask all your questions. Okay. And then um uh second then the it sounds like you've kind of framed out what the conditions of the use would be and I'm I'm curious to see how this all plays out because it you like you said it won't be something that that won't be utilized until until June and you're going to try and figure this thing out. And then second, and I I might be stealing a little bit of Council Member Casillas's um thunder a little bit, but this is something that the city hasn't done, and we're we're doing this in a way that that would provide um investment in these areas, but is there a possibility based on how well this goes that we could expand this to other areas and other high priority areers on Sixth Street and on Main Street and all those the places that there'd be opportunity for us to do so.

Yes. So, I'll start with that one first. Okay.

Uh, so the the city today uses some sales tax participation agreements with certain businesses within the city. What this program, it's called here a pilot program. Again, you recognize this is not something we've done before. We're going to roll it out here. We'll test it in a very localized condition with a handful of tenants. This could be a tool if the council wanted to keep it in place to attract non-sales tax generating businesses. So if we had a major headquarters that had uh an office uh headquarters for a major company that the city wanted to attract, this could be a tool then that would be directly applicable to that type of attraction. So it just adds another tool to the overall uh business attraction economic development toolbox as to the specifics of the program. So assuming the council authorizes this authorizes the development of the program tonight, staff work then begins on developing all the program guidelines, the types of collateral that we'd be expecting ways to vet the businesses to see whether they qualify for participation or not. And so really the the detailed program guidelines, the administrative portion of this then becomes that next document. As I mentioned, this is a tool that's widely available in lots of other cities. So we're not starting from scratch. We have a dozen good examples to draw from and then synthesize those to create what's the best possible program for the city of Corona that addresses our specific needs based on all the other experience of all those other agencies that are using us today.

Okay. And then and then to my first question is yeah that that you know correct me if I'm wrong that we have we have many folks that are interested in in being into the in these spaces. So the ranking of those folks, say we have three people that are interested in, you know, sweet whatever, how are we are we using a financial ranking for them? How how much some of a subsidy they would need or I mean I know that's the getting into the machinations of the the details that that we're going to work out. But I'm, you know, a I want to make sure that that what I'm telling people is is what you've been telling me, which is that there is a lot of interest and but at the same time, we want to curate it and we don't want a McDonald's or or another Starbucks or, you know, whatever else it could be that we, you know, don't want to go to ICS and and throw a lure out because I'm assured that we would find five Chipotles that would want to go in into one any one of these spaces.

Exactly. So really the the types of tenants that we have identified that are lined up right now are either unique to the marketplace. They there's no other that type of restaurant or that specific restaurant in the area. And so really or or they are it's a new concept. It's a new type of cuisine. It's something that's unique because to get to downtown Corona, you're asking people to drive by a lot of other shopping centers and a lot of other restaurants. And so there has to be some special reason why people are willing to make that extra drive to get here. And so that's really the the tenants we're collecting there are ones that check that box are is do they do something special compared with every other restaurant in the area.

And we have two potential, you know, large entertainment spaces. The old showcase theater, the 99 cent store that we've talked about with a, you know, an entertainment use. I'm imagining that we would be using, you know, the possibility of using those for those spaces as well. Okay. All right. That's that's it. Thanks, Jim. Anything? You're good.

Yes. Thank you. No, I mean, it's okay. I'm I'm going to mention it again. Um I just I I I want to thank you though, Joel, first of all, for the reminder of all of the intentional work that has gone into getting us to this point. As somebody who was born and raised in the city uh in the circle going to the downtown when I was a kid, um it's been a disaster for a very long time. Well, before this council was here, there's been multiple councils that have put together plans, but there are pie in the sky plans, never a financial element to actually getting it done. This is the first time that the city has taken big bold initiative to actually do something about it. And that and that has been because what we've heard is that for every for cronins want us to take care of the downtown. They are sick and tired of what it's looked like for the last 40 years. I get it. It's big. It's bold. It's scary. Change is scary. And By no means does this council want to pu push out any of our core businesses. Again, this is going to take a project, but no, it's going to take some years to get done, but nothing there's there's no rule that says that these businesses cannot be part of the downtown. So, but but one thing is clear is that Corona deserves a a viable, walkable, thriving downtown. It's been well overdue. So I I I recognize how difficult that is. I would be I would not be doing my job if I didn't come in here and and and made sure that zero focused on that. It would be easy to be on this council and just like not do it. It would be it would be really easy to get caught up on

the dayto-day and just say we're putting it together. Let's have some visioning. Let's let's wait for that magical P3 partnership, that public private partnership to appear where we say what we want but we get somebody else to pay for it. That is not happening. That's not happening because the private market has given us what we see today. So for years I've also heard run the city like a business. Run the city like a business. We're not a private entity, but we can learn from the private market. And this is going to be a strong tool for us to curate the downtown that the residents have been clamoring for for decades. A downtown that is not, you know, these retail that the the the unique experiences, the unique uh shops and experiences that people want to experience. So anyhow, I just I want to thank you for that reminder, for the engagement, for the fact that this isn't a thing that just happened yesterday. Um, I want to highlight that the council gives direction on contracts. I want to also remind everyone that new things, if they work out well, can be replicated. This pilot program can be done in other places, but we've got to give new things a shot because what we've been doing hasn't been working. So, I'm excited. I'm in favor of this. And thank you.

With that, do I have a motion? Jackie, is there a second? Tom second. Sylvia, my my screen doesn't like me anymore, but I'm a yes.

Okay, that passes. Moving on to legislative matters. There's none. Reports from boards and commissions. Nothing from the library board of trustees, planning and housing or parks and wreck. Uh regional meetings. We have update from council member Tony Dario on the western Riverside County Regional Conservation Authority RCA meeting on September 5th. Councilman Dario. Yeah, thank you mayor. We actually had a workshop that was this is the first RCA workshop that that we've done. Uh was down in Tmacula and u just trying to take care of some big ticket items that we have been talking about. The first was um to amend the MSHCP and its permits to add the crotch's bumblebee bumblebee

as a covered species. Um this will be the first time in I think it was like 22 23 years or something like that that a new species has been identified to be put under conservation for being an endangered species. Proposed.

Yeah. To Yeah. So, this will kind of be the first time that that the uh that RCA has gone this would not kind of this will be the first time and we're hopeful that we're able to develop the process just in case we determine some other species which most likely we will at some point but to get them into the MSHCP. Um we've been talking for a while on our strategic improvement assessment and action plan or SCOP and we had um a a presentation that that was given to us about the findings um that we had asked for. Um the challenge that we have is that the uh the Hans process that we've talked about um at Nauseium it seems like has kind of morphed into something that nobody 23 years ago could have expected and that has to do with the with the with the acquisition but has to do with the with the way that the property has skyrocketed in value. And so essentially what's what was able to happen is that a developer could just say they would take a piece of property that's in the criteria zone and they would be able to say I'm going to develop houses on it and they'd be allowed to do so. But what that triggers is that RCA has to purchase the property at the highest and best use. So you have this property that really isn't great for whatever development that they're proposing, but we have to pay for it as if it is going to be that development in order to keep it under conservation. So, it's it's been a little bit of a challenge um that we need to potentially look at amending the MSHCP or in this case, we need to figure out we're going to we propose doing a new nexus study to make sure that our fees that we collect are in the the actual atmosphere of of doing some of

the conservation work, which will help mitigate some of these Hans acquisition prices that we have. So, a lot of good stuff happening at the RCA. Um, I hope I got that right. I was texting with the executive director to make sure that I got that right. Um so we had some staff recommendations um that we are that we move forward to which was um you know do an economic financial analysis to really focus on three parts which is economic and community benefit study a nexus study for the LDMF and the revenue diversification study and we also are going to develop some strategies with permites and stakeholders to expand non-monetary compensation tools align conservation areas with zoning and incorporate incorporate permitowned land into the reserve. So, some some good ideas coming from staff to um really figure out a way around this Hans pickle that we seem to find ourselves in. So, that's my report. Thank you for providing that report.

Okay, the next one's an update from Council Member Tom Richens, who attended as my alternate to the Riverside Transit Agency. Thank you first off, Tom, for going in my place. Always an honor, mayor. And uh everybody there said to say hi to you. So uh I told them I would relay that. It was a light meeting. They uh they highlighted that they had just wrapped up union negotiations or spent some times with the union and the union is the people that drive the buses and union members that drive the buses and work on the buses, the mechanics. So, that all went well. And then, um the uh probably the biggest agenda item is they're putting Wi-Fi on the uh on the buses on the uh ride and goes buses. So, we spent some time on that and hammered out the details. And then the uh the bus of the month was the Bluebird yellow bus. It was uh it was something else. They they're tired of Dario's reports on the species of the month. So, they're going to do a bus of the month and um that's my report. Thank you, mayor.

All right. Thank you again. And then the final one is an update from Council Member Wespeak on the Sana Watershed Project Authority One Water, One Watershed Steering Committee meeting of September 25th. You can say oh wow. I'm not going to say it. Say oh wow. Nope. All right. Um just want to go home, so hurry up.

We just got three updates. One was on um uh Prop One funding for additional projects uh integrated regional water management projects and weather modification pilot that that they terminated earlier in the year. They decided that we're that's not going to come back. And then uh we funded some uh some lead abatement and a project in Bloomington. And then there was an update of groundwater replenishment system final expansion. You know, more funds awarded. This was all for POS and POA and uh and Orange for upgraded their system. Um we need to get out get in get in on that stuff and get some money from those folks. But it was uh it looked like a really cool project. Uh and then last was um we got an update on the Santa Riverside or Santa Ana water rivered climate adaptation and resilience plan which is basically water conservation and and ground replenishment. But uh we're just writing that plan that hopefully be able to find ways to put more water in the ground and and do good things with it. That's it.

Okay. Thank you for the update. Mr. Edwards, any speaker cards for the public for any of the regional updates? Mayor, we do not have any speaker cards. All right. City attorney's reports. Mr. Dur, anything? City manager report? Mr. Ellis, anything? No, mayor. Any comments from my council colleagues?

I just have a couple things. We talked about housing today. So, we got the final uh list of pro list of housing bills that are, you know, the newest assault. So, I'm not going to do all of them, but the um the biggest one is uh SP79. All of these bills are currently sitting on the governor's desk as of today. So, the first one is um regional housing needs uh assessment that we're hoping which would revise and that's sitting on the governor's desk. It's AB 650 and uh Cal Cities is supporting that and that would uh quite greater clarity so we don't have this guesswork of submitting something that may or may not be accepted. So that that was being supported. Um the biggest one and the probably the one that folks have heard about is SP79. And that basically um would allow um up to seven stories to be built next to transit stations which we have two of them and uh without any um approval from us this body. It would be actually be approved by um either a government agency another government agency or would just bypass this completely and be uh by right. Uh the other one is uh AB 1061 also sitting on the governor's desk. It's urban lot splits and it would um basically uh take out all the historic exemptions that we were able to wedge in under SB9 a few years back and this would basically wipe those out or wipe out a lot of them and and only be with the ones that would be considered landmark properties or historic districts. Um so it basically open up the entire downtown again to to possible assault. And then the last one is um uh we were urging a veto on both of those. And the last one is adaptive reuse. And that would mean if you have a um an office uh an office space that wasn't utilized, you could convert it to residential by right and without any uh permission from the from the city. And um I would also exempt all impact fees.

So lovely, lovely thing that they could, you know, do that without paying any impact fees even though that you would need to do sewer upgrades or other fun things. So we're also urging a um a uh veto on that. That's it. Thanks. Good. Oh, the last thing I think I said it last time, the end of the clean air discount that if you have a if you have a sticker on your car, end of the year, can't use it anymore. I think I said that last time. Yeah. Okay. Next meeting is uh October 15th, 6 p.m. The journey