City Council - Regular Meeting

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Good evening. I call this meeting of the Fairfield City Council to order. Madam Clerk, please, could you take roll call? Yes.

Council Member Carr?

Here.

Council Member Panduro? Here. Council Member Sandhu? Here. Council Member Tonneson?

Here.

Council Member Williams? Here. Vice Mayor Bertani? Here. And Mayor Moy.

I'm here. Thank you. Thank you. The invocation tonight will be provided by Pastor Jeff Hood of the First Baptist Church. There you are. Come on down, Pastor. Thank you. Sure.

I'd like to invite you to give a moment of reflection or pray with me right now. Lord, I thank you for this evening. I thank you for this body, the mayor, the city council members who are here, and the important work that is done through this body. Father, I thank you for each person that's here, people who have their focus on different aspects of what's going on in our city. And we don't always agree on everything, but I pray that we can treat each other with grace in all that occurs. And I pray that the council would have wisdom as they go through each item this evening, as they make decisions, as they hear from the people, And I pray that in everything that's done, that your will would end up being done. So I thank you, and I pray this in Jesus' name. Amen.

Thank you, Pastor.

And now if Councilman Sandu would lead us in the Pledge of Allegiance.

I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.

All right. Now we're going to move to council reports. And we'll start with Councilwoman Williams, please.

Thank you. Just a short reminder that today is election day. It is 6.07. Polls close at 8. If you have not voted yet, not only can you vote, you have two hours to get there, but if you go to the solanocounty.gov website and look up the registrar of voters, you can click on election day polling location, and you'll find the 17 locations within Fairfield. Also, just to add, if you're not registered to vote but want to vote, that's a thing. And it's called provisional voting, and it matters. I would argue that provisional voting earned my way on this dais. So you do not need to be registered to vote at this moment. You can register to vote and vote. It takes a little while for it to all calculate, but it can change things. So thank you.

Thank you, Councilwoman. Councilman Tonneson, please.

Nothing for me tonight, Mayor.

All right. And Councilman Doug.

Yeah, just real brief. I just want to remind everybody, get some exercise. The Octopark walk around on the levee is open. I've seen some people out there, but I'd like to see a lot more people over there. Just take the dog for a walk. And that's all I have for today.

Thank you, Councilman. Councilwoman Pandura.

Thank you. Hi, everyone. Just a quick little thing. So as we come to the end of the year, there's always some really fun student end of year presentations that are happening. So myself and Councilmember Tonneson went today to the Public Safety Academy we visited the 11th grade history students and they did civic engagement projects where they identified a community problem they had thesis they had solutions they had resources they were cited it was great to see their work I know a lot of the electives in the county were invited so I really encourage folks to go there's another day happening tomorrow But some of the issues that they identified were around clean water, food insecurity, mental health access for LGBTQ+, or A-plus youth, excuse me, and food waste. So it was really cool to see them kind of put on the critical thinking caps and get out there and try to talk to organizations and get resources for their own peers. And so it is taking place again tomorrow at PSA from 8.40 to 10.15. and then you just check in and they'll let you know where to go. But it was a great way to connect with the youth and just hear them and have them present to us and practice their public speaking skills. Thank you, Mayor.

Thank you, Councilwoman.

madam vice mayor please thank you madam mayor good evening everyone welcome to chambers and thank you for taking the time to be here and everyone watching and listening from home as well and i just have a quick reminder that the fairfield clergy action network or fairfield can will be conducting our annual juneteenth celebration on the day Friday June 19th from 4 to 7 p.m. on the county lawn family-friendly we've got food trucks we've got live performances games for the kids everything that makes a good festival so come out and help us celebrate this very important event in American history all right that's all I have madam mayor thank you thank you and councilman Sandu no report

Okay, just right after I put something in my mouth. And the reason why I did that, just so you know, I don't like to eat up here as my blood sugar is a little low. I'm a diabetic, so my best girlfriend down there told me, you don't look right. She was right. But anyway, I do have a small report. And that is, last Wednesday, we held the first ever business retention and expansion mayor's forum. This is something that I put together with staff. And the reason I did it, I actually stole the idea from a former mayor. and that was to meet with our businesses at least well quarterly or every six months to get them to understand what we're doing and how we can help them and also what they can do to help us. We learned a lot there and some of it was shocking I won't go into it tonight it may surprise me but what was great The staff did a fantastic job across the board. I mean, they hit it out of the park. It was unbelievable. And everybody who came there thanked us for putting it on because they wanted to meet other businesses. And so we're going to make sure that they can all speak with each other, give them each other's emails, and we're going to send them out. I don't know how regular we're going to plan that staff is. just updates on what we're doing and then we'll have a whole nother group the next time that we meet it was really really interesting so I want to thank staff for putting that together and again it wasn't my idea I took it and they ran with it so that's all I had and mr. city manager

Yeah, thank you, Mayor. All I have tonight is a couple of changes for the agenda. Presentation I-1 is going to be removed. They're going to do that presentation in partnership with Subaru at a later date off-site. And then Item M-3 will be removed from tonight's agenda. The applicant requested that we remove the hearing as that matter has been resolved. And that's all I have, Mayor.

That's what I like to hear, a good resolution. Mr. City Attorney.

I have nothing tonight. Thank you.

Thank you. And Madam Clerk.

Thank you, Mayor. Just a reminder, there are three seats on the Planning Commission open, and you can still submit applications online through Friday, this Friday, June 5th. And then, of course, Youth Commission recruitment is always ongoing. And you can email cityclerk at fairfield.ca.gov if you'd like an application. Thank you.

Thank you, Madam Clerk. And so now we will turn to presentations, and we now have one tonight.

Before the presentation, Madam Mayor, can I make a motion that we continue item L3, which is our presentation and discussion for homeless priorities? And I'm making the motion because I believe that this topic, even though it's just giving direction to staff for the next two years that we should have it at a meeting that is not scheduled for election night because many people are not tuned in and are heading out to wherever they're heading to so let's have the discussion at a City Council meeting other than this one that's my motion all right I'll second that any discussion

OK. Madam Mayor, sorry.

Do you want to ask for public comment on this item only?

Yes, absolutely. And if there's any public discussion on this, if you could please come up to the mic. I don't have any cards for that item.

Is it doable to move it on? Yeah?

OK. All right. So OK. All in favor? Aye. Aye. That was a unanimous vote. Thank you, and thank you, Madam Vice Mayor. And I think the city manager in the future said that he would not schedule on election days. So we can move forward.

Okay, now, thank you for that. And now back to presentations, please, Madam Clerk. Okay, aye to Marin Clean Energy Update presented by Mariella Herrick, Senior Community Development Manager.

Oh, thank you. Oh, got it.

Hello. Hello, everyone. My name is Mariella Herrick. I'm a senior community development manager with MCE. Oh, thank you. I am delighted to present to you all today. I'll be going over three things, giving you all a reminder of who MCE is, the options that the Fairfield community has with MCE, and then I will be sharing some highlights of some things we've accomplished in the city of Fairfield. So in 2002, Assembly Bill 117 passed, which allowed local governments to come together and purchase more renewable energy. This is possible through community choice aggregation agencies called CCAs for short. MCE was the first CCA in the state. Today we have over 25 CCAs serving over 14 million customers across the state. So oftentimes when I'm out in the community, the question that I get is, is MCE an additional charge on my bill? How does this work? And the answer is no. MCE, I want you all to think about power in its most simplest way, it being that you're charged for two things. One, the power itself, and then second, how that power gets to someone's home or business. So MCE takes over purchasing the power, purchasing more renewable power, In our community, PG&E owns the lines, the wires, the pipes, and so we put that power on their electric grid. It's then delivered to you all. You receive one bill that comes from PG&E. The benefit to the community of being part of a CCA is that you get cleaner air, stable rates, and more local control. So I want to talk about local control a little bit. MCE is a not-for-profit public agency. We function as a joint powers authority. That means that we don't have shareholders. We are run by a board of directors who are all elected officials representing our communities. Here in Fairfield, it is Director Sandhu. We do not take tax dollars, and we serve four counties. So Solano County, Napa, Marin, and Contra Costa County, serving over 1.8 million customers. And so Fairfield joined the MCE community in 2022, and we've seen a lot of growth over the last 16 years that we've been in place. And I want to spend a little bit of time talking about energy options for folks. So prior to joining MCE, folks only had one option, which was PG&E, where you got a renewable product that was only 23%. When Fairfield joined MCE, everyone was automatically enrolled into our default service, which is a 60% renewable energy option. Folks can choose to opt up to 100% deep green option, which is 100% renewable. And something I want to make clear that's a benefit of MCE is that we set rates for our generation in a public process. So we do that typically once a year. Our board of directors make decisions around that in a completely public way. And something I want to highlight is that as of April 1st, our board actually decided to make a rate reduction, reducing the cost of energy by 14% and also applying a temporary bill credit. We also have, on average, sorry to back up, on average that's around $12 for the average residential household. And I know that doesn't sound like a lot, but we also expanded our MCE CARES credit. We've historically funded this for the last three years at $5 million, but hearing that this was an important program for the community, it's now being funded at $10 million. And so what this breaks down is to $20 a month for a residential account and $25 a month credit on someone's bill for a business account. The unique thing about these rate reductions and bill credits is that they also apply on top of existing bill savings programs. So for example, if someone in the community is part of the CARE program, which is a bill discount of 38% on your bill, and for simple math, because I'm not the best at math, we're going to say if a utility bill is $100, 38% credit would reduce your bill by $38. Then you would get the MCE credit stacked on top of that and that starts to add up. Now your bill has been reduced by $58. So I want to really emphasize that this is part of local control. We are listening to our board of directors who are listening to you all around what needs to happen to make energy affordable. And I'm gonna spend a little bit of time talking about MCE and the impact in the city of Fairfield. So around 87% of the community in Fairfield is enrolled in MCE. Of that community, 6% is enrolled in Deep Green, meaning that they opted up to buy a 100% renewable product. Around 22% of the community has solar panels on their home. And that care discount program I talked about, the 38% bill discount, 24% of the community is already enrolled in that. And through MCE programs, we have a total of 20. We have also been able to distribute $329,000 in EV rebates and almost $2 million in energy efficiency rebates to the community. So last month I heard a story about a mom whose water heater went out and she had small children and they did not have the money to update their water heater. And so they were actually going on with their day to day life without hot water. And they learned about a program called Home Energy Savings Program, which is an MCE program. And through this program, they called us. We sent out an energy expert to their home to do an assessment of their home. Typically, this program helps with insulation, duct sealing, water heaters, HVAC systems. And through this program, they were able to qualify for a heat pump water heater at no cost to them. And so they are one of 250 households that we have helped in Fairfield be able to get some updates to their home. And so this is an active program that we have in Fairfield right now that we are encouraging any homeowner or renter who's in a single family home to sign up to this program. And part of our work at MCE is to reinvest in the communities that we serve. So we are proud sponsors of a lot of local events. We're proud members of the Sassoon and Fairfield Chamber of Commerce, the Solano Black Chamber, and we're always looking for more opportunities to sponsor. And I'll have our contact information at the end in case anyone in the room has future sponsorship opportunities they're interested in. Last year, in 2025, we had a grant to study folks' interests or reservations around electric vehicles, and so we hosted one of our focus groups with the Solano Black Chamber here in Fairfield to really understand what was going on in the community. And I also want to spotlight a unique program with the Fairfield Water Treatment Facility. We have a program called Peak Flex, which runs from June through October to help respond to demand response, meaning that during this time, the electricity grid is in high demand and they're telling you to reduce your energy from four to nine. And so the city of Fairfield's water treatment plant is enrolled in this program. And over the last two summers after participating in this, they've yielded the highest demand reduction out of anyone else in this program. And I really think that's a testament to the commitment from city staff to participate in this. So I just want to give them a shout out. I think moving forward, there's always more work to do and to support the Fairfield community. I think there are several opportunities to support EV charging. MCE has funding to support up to $4,500 per charging port for any workplace that's eligible for the city or any business, as well as multifamily properties. Again, we are happy to support local sponsorships. And then we are still promoting the home energy savings program that I mentioned earlier out to the community. We have a similar program available for small businesses where we will send an energy expert out to a small business and then see what upgrades could be done for them as well at no cost to that business. the screen you can see our phone number where you can give us the call and our information email that you can reach out to available Monday through Friday from 9 to 5 that concludes my presentation and I'm happy to take any questions yes councilwoman Williams please

Thank you. So I just wanted to say thank you. I was on the MC board for a year, maybe two. And I learned so much about energy. And I really appreciate that the community has more than one option. It makes a difference. It means something. So I just wanted to say thank you. Thank you. I also see that you've sponsored some really great events. And so I get to tell you in person. Thank you.

Thank you. Thank you. Any other comments?

I'll just echo what my colleague said. I currently have the pleasure of serving, and you guys do a lot of good work. And I please thank leadership for having you guys come out today.

Any other comments? I want to tell you thank you very much for the presentation. There have been some controversies about everything from battery storage to allegations that you don't have as clean energy as you say. And I know you all pushed back on that. Could you speak to that a little bit? Are there any fossil fuels? that you all are using to fuel up or energize? Yeah, that's a question.

Yeah, so the question is around MCE's energy portfolio. So for our 60% renewable product, it's made up of renewable products that's regulated by the state. The remaining amount is primarily large hydro, which is not necessarily considered a renewable. It is carbon free. And the reason is because it's a impact on kind of dams because it's large. Small hydro, which is under 30 megawatts, is considered a renewable product.

Oh, okay. And then what about the situation with battery storage? Are you all involved with that, and how does that work?

I'm not the expert on the battery storage side of our work, so I don't have any information to share on that, but I'd be happy to follow up.

That would be great. Okay. You can just send it over, and I'll share it with my colleagues if they're interested. Thank you so much. Thank you. All right, Madam Clerk. Next, we're going to move to public comments. And before we do, I am going to make a statement. So this is a reminder. on our standard protocol for general public comments. The city council and I felt it important, very important, to hear the concerns from residents at our last meeting in response to the incident at Fairfield High, which is now under independent investigation. There was a lot of emotion and frustration, which is understandable. In order to ensure productive meeting this week, we will be returning to our standard process for public comment and decorum from commenters. This means that speakers tonight will be limited to two minutes, and profanity is not acceptable. Disruptions or chance are not tolerated. And the city council nor staff can respond to comments made, but may ask for an item to be placed on a future agenda for council discussion. We respect the opinions and voices of all of our residents. At the same time, we want to maintain a respectful and professional decorum befitting these council chambers, as has been our standard practice. The city has been around for about 125 years. So that's what we expect. And we appreciate that you will be able to hear each other. We will be able to hear you. And so there we go. And again, Madam Clerk, two minutes tonight, please, and we'll listen to our folks.

I'll read the statement. Persons wishing to address the City Council on subjects not on the agenda but within the jurisdiction of the Council may do so at this time. The Council cannot discuss or take action on matters not on the agenda for this meeting, but Council members may briefly respond to statements made or questions raised by the public, ask for clarification from staff, refer the matter to staff, request staff to report back to the council at a subsequent meeting, or place the matter on a future agenda. If you're online to speak on an agenda item, please use the raise your hand feature or press star nine on your phone. And this evening speakers are limited to two minutes per item as determined by the mayor. Thank you. And our first speaker is EJ Johnson.

Good evening, mayor and council. I just want to take a quick moment to invite the community to something we're really excited about at the downtown theater. On Saturday, June 6th at 7 p.m., we'll be hosting a free open house and courtyard night downtown. There will be live music, a local favorite, Roslyn Pugh, free food, desserts provided by Famous Creations, a cash bar, opportunities to meet our staff, tour the theater, and simply enjoy a fun summer evening in downtown Fairfield. Guests will also have the opportunity to visit our gallery and enjoy a wonderful Oscar Wilde and Pride exhibit. We'll be holding an exciting raffle featuring a variety of prizes including a basket filled with gift certificates from many of our downtown Fairfield businesses. All raffle proceeds will go to the benefit of Missouri Street Theatre and the Fairfield Police Activities League kids. In addition, our box office will be open throughout the evening, and attendees will have the opportunity to purchase tickets to upcoming performances at the special discounted open house night. One of the things that we've really been focused on this year is creating more opportunities for the community to gather, connect, and experience the theater outside of performance nights. We want people to feel like the downtown theater belongs to them because it truly does. Whether someone has been attending shows for years or has never stepped through our doors before, This is a great opportunity to come see what's happening downtown. Meet your neighbors, support your local businesses, and learn more about the exciting future of the theater. We'd love to see everyone there. Thank you for your continued supports of the arts, downtown Fairfield, and the many community partnerships that help make events like this possible. Thank you so much.

Thank you. Next is George Kennedy.

Good evening, Madam Mayor and Council Members. Tonight I'm going to talk about some real transparency and truth. I want to bring your attention to a recent flyer that was posted online purported to be official City of Fairfield correspondence by Kate Patrice Williams. She admitted creating it online. This is a blatant breaking of the law, posting a fake logo which violates trademark, service mark, and due to the length of time that Fairfield has used its official logo, common law use. According to the law, this is a misdemeanor and could be elevated to a felony and also falls under the category of libel, slander, and defamation of character if it is found to specifically target an individual, which in this case it does. Also last week, Ms. Williams spoke to everyone and stated that she moved to Fairfield 10 years ago. If you moved to Fairfield 10 years ago, then that means you on multiple occasions committed election fraud because you stated in 2018 on election filings and through 2020 that your lawful address was in Vallejo, zip code 94590. So did you lie on your election papers or did you lie to everyone last week? You cannot have it both ways. And finally, in the 2020 election, you tried to put in your ballot statement that you were an attorney slash lawyer, which you were not and are not. This is an obvious pattern of not being truthful to the people and how you should not be trusted. And lastly, to the people here tonight, I do want to clarify something about the city of Fairfield that you may not be aware of. You have 30 seconds. Fairfield is a general law city, not a charter city, like Oakland, Richmond, and Vallejo. We are governed by state law and are a council manager form of government, meaning that the council only has the power to hire a city manager and city attorney. The city manager is responsible and oversees all other hiring. Notice I didn't mention the mayor. The mayor is only one of the seven votes and for all intent purposes is more of a ceremonial post. The mayor cannot hire or fire anyone except the city manager and the city attorney with a full council vote. Last week, the mayor put all her shoulders on when in fact it should have been directed at everyone on the diets.

Your time is up. Thank you.

Next is Rodney Alamo-Brown.

I'd like to say good evening, everybody. I'm Rodney Alamo-Brown, a community advocate from the city of Rio Richmond, California. Politics is war without bloodshed, and war is an extension of those politics. The question I have for you, Mr. Gassaway, who are the individuals who will be primed to be on this committee after the outside individual does the investigation? That is the comment on the floor. You can answer that at a later date if you like. However, as we saw yesterday with John Burr's Esquire is now representing Mr. Maurice Williams, you all have a rightful duty to answer the claim. If that claim isn't answered in an appropriate time, a federal civil lawsuit will pursue. That means that you guys are going to be held accountable. This is going to be your legacy, as you will. Now, according to Mr. Marshall, he's going to meet with the NAACP on Saturday. Now, anybody with common sense knows that he is at liberty to discuss the case at large. In other words, he can't say anything pertaining to it. Why now? NAACP, are you here tonight? Crickets. So here's the problem. Now that it's garnered media attention from worldwide, individuals want to do backdoor meetings and have folks sign forms so they can have representation while they elbow the heavy lifters out of the paint. This is the problem with clout chasers. Bianca Camacho, Hector Camacho, beat you up, pull your hair, whatever name you want to call her, is unfit. Now, according to previous information, she was served divorce papers the day prior to Mr. Williams receiving his beat down, for those who don't know. For those who do know, I'll tell you this. Your time is up. And respectful to the time, I'll acknowledge that. Thank you very much. God bless you all.

Thank you, sir.

Madam Mayor?

Yes.

I feel compelled to respond a little bit to Mr. Brown's comments. We did receive, the city did receive a letter from Mr. Burris, an attorney in Oakland, saying that he represents the minor, Mr. M.W. As a minor, he does not have to be named by name. And so Mr. Burris referred to him as M.W. and also claimed to represent the family. As people are aware, we received a letter not as a formal complaint, but as a request for preservation of evidence, which is the first step as a prelude to potential litigation. As such, I need to advise my client, the City of Fairfield, both the City Council and staff, that as is the case in any pending potential litigation, it is wise not to comment. in any shape or form on any of the matters that may potentially come up in litigation. Mr. Burris, I've known him for a long time. He's a very good attorney. He's doing things thoroughly. So we have received the litigation letter. We have acknowledged receipt of the litigation letter. And so our advice at this point is to make no comment as to any of the comments made today on this matter involving the minor MW, and that includes staff as well. Furthermore, I do see that there are family members for the minor MW here today. Because they are represented by Mr. Burris, California Rules of Professional Conduct 4.2 prevent me from having any communication with the family while they are represented by an attorney. That is both direct and indirect communications. So I'm advising my clients to have no communications with the parents or the family of MW, because again, under the rules of professional conduct, now that they are represented by Mr. Burris, we need to honor that representation and not have ex parte communications with them while they're represented by an attorney. I will also say, with respect that if the family of M.W. comes up to speak, because I'm bound by the rules of professional conduct to not have interactions with parties represented by an attorney, I will respectfully get up and leave the room while they speak. It is not meant as disrespect to them, but they are represented by Mr. Burris. I've known him for many years, and I am not going to have communications with somebody that he is representing. So thank you.

Thank you, Mr. City Attorney. Next speaker, please. Dennis Green, Jr.

I didn't know I was going to go second. But how are you doing, council? I just would like to . Y'all are familiar with me. I've been coming to meetings for six years and attending everyone rather online or in person. And even just like the last meeting, I'm standing here until 1 o'clock in the morning just to see a master class of how you can speak and come out of order and not be jailed or taken out. More you shaking your head because you're the one that had the police take me out, just like the other meetings and like I was arrested at the meeting that I wasn't even involved in that was referred to in the public comment. But back to speaking, I know that you can't handle everything, and the school administration should take some part in this, too. And one of my former teachers is on the board, and Mrs. Pat is on that board. And they gave me a suspension, a 40-year-old suspension, a 40-year-old, three college students that I have to raise while being homeless because of the situations that I have to go through through y'all. And they gave me a suspension. weak suspensions. But I'm going to respect that just like the library that they banned me from the library that I get to go back to in a week and I was jailed by going to a library by trying to go serve on your boards of speaking of and getting the community services that taxpayers pay for. Now, this is not the first time I've been jailed. It's not all the mayor can't handle every situation. but the school boards and administrations should take responsibility and looking at this and not avoid the community of just one of the properly not in jump no gates and come under no tunnels I went to the front desk to try to speak all right but you know we try to do these type of things everybody should because we know y'all outside investigations y'all end up hiring them on your city quiet, they'll end up being on your staff. You know what I mean? Then you go to the county, y'all working together. That's local government for people that don't know. You know what I mean? But it should take it all the way to the top, to the federal government, just like I have to go and do these type of things in that settings, too.

Your time's up. Thank you, sir. Next is Vince Guisande.

so I've been advised by lots of people not to come talk and my wife not to come but listen to her I haven't gotten to where I am by doing things the easy way First of all, this is not the 415, the 510, the 209, the 916. It's the 707. It's our community, and we can take care of ourselves. Thank you very much. We don't need you coming here, putting in your two cents. You have plenty of issues in your own neighborhoods to worry about, to work on yourself. So just stay out of our hood. A little background about myself. I've been a resident of this community since the mid-70s. I've coached and managed youth baseball, basketball, football for many years, been president of the baseball leagues, vice president of the Bobby Sox, served on little league boards and directors, and have been a member of youth mentorship programs. I've pretty much dedicated a large percentage of my adult life to youth activities and mentoring. I've loved every minute of it, other than dealing with the occasional appearance that, well, if you've been around youth sports, you know which ones I'm talking about. Now lately in the news, it's about what some people are describing as a little boy or a little boy that just got beat by an officer. Well, we've all seen the videos, and the young man is far from a little boy.

I'm sorry, no outbursts. Sir, sir, please. Thank you.

The kid is 16.

No, no. Good. Fine. You only have an hour and a half not to, but listen. Listen. Please. Please. Madam Clerk, please put another 20 seconds on the clock.

We've all seen the videos. The young man is far from a little boy. The kid is 16. You can see the kid's got swag. He's by no means any kind of nerd or a dork. Try calling any of us a little boy back in the day when we were 16 and see how it went for you. Now this is terrible what's happened, but like the retired police officer told me, there's three sides to every story. His side, her side, and the truth. Everyone is supposed to be innocent until proven guilty. I've seen all kinds of folks...

Your time is up, sir.

Next is... No, sir. No. Mayor Moy, I don't know if you have to reread your statement because we have a lot of new speakers now. I will. They may not be aware of the two minutes thing.

Okay, thank you. Yeah, people came in a little bit later. So, excuse me. A reminder on our standard protocol for general public comments, which we're taking now. The city council and I felt it important to hear the concerns from residents at our last meeting in response to the incident at Fairfield High. There was and is a lot of emotion and frustration, and that is understandable. In order to ensure a productive meeting, this week we will return to our standard process for public comment and decorum from commenters. This means that speakers will be limited to two minutes, profanity is not acceptable, disruptions or chants are not tolerated, and the city council nor staff can respond to comments. made but may ask for an item to be placed on a future agenda for council discussion. We respect the opinions and voices of all of our residents. At the same time, we want to maintain a disrespectful and professional decorum befitting these council chambers, as has been our standard practice for about 120 years. Thank you, and thank you, Madam Clerk. I'm going to ask that you don't speak out, please. And this is a warning. Thank you. Next speaker, please.

Oh, I'm sorry. Next speaker is the Williams family.

Hey, y'all. So obviously, y'all can't say nothing. We got that message. Okay, thank you. I just want to say, Catherine Moy, is that how you say your name?

Yes. So you can answer that.

And technically, I'm not represented by boroughs. I don't know if that changes anything. But I just want to say, like, you got a nasty attitude. in the way that you treat people. And I don't know if it's racism, I think it's implicit bias. And I hope that when you go home and lay down at night, that you can maybe challenge that. You know, it's not so much that you're expected to be nice when there's so much going on. You're not expected to be perfect. However, you do hold a position of power And that position should be held with like dignity, decorum. You just talked about decorum. And you could be better, you know. This city is, I was looking at Facebook today and I see how it's so many people of color that love this city. They rep this city. They proud of this city. And you would think that you could, you know, jump on that, right? And I didn't even know last time when I was talking that, you know, you call people haters. And I challenge you to just find a little more decorum. Do a little bit of digging just to see how you can present yourself better. Because I imagine... You probably don't only make it hard for this city, but maybe your family and the people that love you. And maybe, you know, if you just do a little digging, you could find something. But the city deserves that. The city deserves somebody that actually gives a fuck. Sorry if that's not decorum, but it's truth.

Hi. I'm Sequoia Williams. I'm Maurice's stepmom. I just wanted to say that we just want the officer fired and be certified. That's pretty much it.

Thank you.

Were you Ramel? Oh, was that? Are you the one who just spoke? Oh, OK. So I don't need to call your name again? OK. Thank you. Sorry. Next is Barry Axios. Axios. Axios. Sorry.

Good evening, Council, Mayor. We demand the firing and the decertification of Bianca Camacho Brown immediately as we've seen the incident in North Carolina where an officer with the same tone and the same aggression, punched a black female wearing handcuffs and was immediately fired after the video went viral. So we are demanding the same action as it's been over a week and we've still got no information on the progress of the investigation. The family hasn't been reached out to. So we are demanding the decertification and the firing, and we say decertification, where Bianca Camacho Brown can no longer be a police officer in any city, county, state, or in this country ever again. Once again, we are demanding the decertification and the firing of Bianca Camacho Brown. Thank you.

Thank you, sir. Next is Chris Tan.

So we are asking for the immediate firing of Bianco Camacho Brown and also the decertification as well. And also the firing of D. Marshall since he's in a leadership position, also the decertification as well. Since he's in a leadership position within the police department, he could have handled the situation a lot better. Um, one thing that I will say is there's no problem that black people face here in America that ending racism as a system won't resolve. And when we see the way that that young man was treated, the police department has an opportunity to come in and deescalate situations, right? The fact that somebody could come in and immediately start beating on a child is it's a reflection of the police department. Right? Because if that child wasn't a descendant of enslaved populations in America, it would have been treated differently. If that child was a member of the Jewish community, it would have been treated differently. You see what I'm saying? If he would have had one of them little hats on, he wouldn't have been approached with that much aggression. But when you see the immediate...

Please let him speak.

When you see the immediate aggression, not just with one child, but with another child, at a school institution where children should be safe at and police officers are coming in to reinforce safeness, when you come in and you beat up a child or punch a child and you call it anything other than you punching and beating on a child, you deserve to be fired. And I think as a leader within the department, you deserve to be fired too. You have 30 seconds. Because you could have handled the situation better. You could have looked at the videotape, and you could have saw how she treated that young man, and you could have said, this is not our standard within our police department. But you upheld that. You moved her around like the system do. Because somewhere within the police department, that type of behavior is okay. I seen a black officer come in, and you immediately took him outside. With all the white officers in here, but the black officer came and stood right there, you immediately reposted him somewhere else. Sir, your time is complete. So what was that about?

Thank you so much. Markita Collins.

Before we all get too emotional, as we all are, that should be understandable from you, Mr. Moy, but I see that it's not. I also see that the panel here is not very diverse, so a lot of you don't feel where we're coming from. And a lot of you may not have told her that not to come to this meeting with all that confrontational attitude. That should have been left outside the door. I'm going to finish my two minutes and leave because it's getting hot in here and I definitely do not want to direct anything to Ms. Moy. I've already seen an attitude and I'm not here for that. I came because I'm a resident of Fairfield. I do not know the family, but these are my people. I urge everybody here to get rid of her. Email every congress member who's asking for our vote to get rid of her. So again, I'm a resident of Fairfield. born and raised in San Francisco, California. I moved here because I bought my home here. I work in a group home here for adolescent children. If one of our staff members at our adolescent home touch a child, we're going to jail immediately. So to see the video of an officer who has supposed to have been trained Obviously, from what I see here, it's not very diverse. So again, y'all don't feel where we're coming from. That is a child. It is child abuse. Just like we're taught in our programs, it's like I would be arrested if I put my hands on a child. Even if they said it just a verbal anything, it didn't even have to be true. The officers is going to come arrest me. So what we're asking today, not for you all to listen to us vent. Because we're not here to vent. We want action and we want accountability. Bianca needs to be fired and not reassigned. You guys are blowing your cover. I'm sorry to even be a resident here because now this is what it is. It's pretty much whitewashed. If it's no accountability, then that's on you. And it's also on you. And I'm glad that it has been raised because now Maurice Brown is known. And he should be making a difference for this city. And it starts with you and accountability. She needs to be fired.

Time's expired. Thank you.

Fire who? Macho!

Fire who? Macho! I'll get y'all cameras out and make sure we're recording.

Please, everybody get your cameras out.

So I'm going to say that yelling, chanting, your actions are disrupting our law.

I'm sorry, Madam Mayor. I think you need to address the admonition. You need to address the admonition pursuant to government code 54957.95. You need to address the admonition. I believe you are making the admonition to Mr. Barry Axius. He is the gentleman in the corner wearing a green hat. If you want to read him the admonition, Pursuant to this government code, please go ahead.

Yes, I am. Sir, your actions continue to disrupt a lawful meeting of the Fairfield City Council. Pursuant to government code 54957.95, you have now been warned that your behavior is disrupting the meeting and that failure to cease this behavior may result in your removal. And that is, again, code 54957.95. Thank you.

next speaker next speaker is Baltazar to be followed by Ricky I have supported and I have been with the law enforcement I've known a lot of people they are good and However, the event is an embarrassment. One rotten apple will rotten all of them. And as we all know, that badge represents our community. That badge is to protect and serve, not to abuse its power. And just giving her a hit on the wrist, you think that's going to solve the problem? Or is it going to expand to all of our officers? I request that we fire Camacho. Thank you.

Thank you, sir.

yeah ma'am

I am going to tell you, sir, and you too, sir, your actions are disrupting a lawful meeting of the Fairfield City Council pursuant to government code 54957.95. You are being warned that your behavior is disrupting the meeting and that failure to seize this behavior may result in your removal. Thank you.

And Madam Mayor, just for the record, can I confirm that the persons that you directed that admonition to pursuant to the government code was the lady standing along the right side wall wearing a navy short sleeve shirt with a backwards now front facing hat? Is that who you were addressing it to? Yes, sir. And the second person you were addressing the admonition to was Mr. Rodney Brown, who was the third speaker this evening.

That's correct, sir.

Thank you.

hello yes ma'am we demand officer Bianca macho brown badge is removed today fired and expired immediately An officer forcefully punches and restrains a child on the ground and pulls his hair on school grounds violates constitutional civil rights, state criminal statutes, civil tort laws, and law enforcement agency use of force regulations. When law enforcement uses physical violence against a completely subdued juvenile, they step outside their legal authority and breach the following specific legal frameworks, constitutional law, federal civil rights, the Fourth Amendment. Under the landmark Supreme Court case, Graham and Connor, a police officer's use of force is evaluated by an objective, reasonable as standard. Force is illegally justified only to counter a media threat, prevent, fight, or overcome active resistance. Striking or a suspect who is already restrained on the ground is considered personal anger rather than defense. rendering it direct violation of the Fourth Amendment Civil Rights Claims 42 U.S.C., which is 1983. This federal statute allows victims of suit government actors who violate their constitutional rights because the law clearly established that hitting a restrained, non-threatening individual is unconstitutional. Officers involved in such actions regarding loose They're qualified. They lose their qualified immunity, protection, and can be held personally liable. Failure to intervene. You get what I'm saying? Number two, state criminal law striking a restraining trial. That's two minutes. Restraining trial removes an officer of legal protection, a justifiable force, making their actions subject to criminal. And that's also prostitution and assault and paddling. Your time has expired. Thank you, ma'am.

Justice for who? For me!

Justice for who? For me! Justice for who? For me! yes yes sir yes I am going to read this to you sir and your actions are disrupting a lawful meeting of the Fairfield City Council pursuant to government code 54957

9.95, you are being warned. Council is in recess. Council is in recess.

Council members, council members, you're in recess. Council members, you're in recess.

Madam Clerk, next speaker. Call the next, please.

Sorry, is Locke here?

There's Princess.

Excuse me. Before we start the time, I just want to say I am here speaking as an individual, not as a city council member, and in my own capacity. I just want to speak to the fact that it is truly saddening what happened to the young man here in Fairfield. And next door we share that same pain. I've got calls from my residents asking why we have not spoken out. And what I said is this is not a social media moment. We had our State of the City last week. And what I shared is that little boy's uncle is my godfather. I grew up with his stepmother. This hits close to home. We see these triggering videos all the time nationally and for the first time I knew the people here on the dais. I know the police chief and it hits different. But what I will say is I know each and every one of you and I know where your heart lies. I know that justice will be served and when it's served we will all come together for the greater good. I know Chief Marshall. I know his heart. And when we are able to speak of this freely, great good will come. I know the pain of my people behind me and the friends I grew up with and that little boy, and a lot of good will come from this pain. We will build together, and I encourage conversation and dialogue outside of legal constraint, meaning, yes, we cannot speak of the case. I understand legality, and I'm trying to share that. But we can speak about ways we can create bridges of communication and representation and ways to come together to rebuild after this storm. And I will lend myself to that. I know how hard it is to sit on that dais, but I know you guys' heart and I know that you are here with the people, but you can't do that right now in this capacity. And I know the city manager. I know the people up here and I know a lot of good will come from this and I encourage you to do everything in your capacity to ensure that, and I know it will happen, and I'm here to help in any way I can. I know this family is hurting. It's really painful what we are all going through, but we will get through it together. That I am confident of. I commend you all, and by all, I mean the people behind here. This takes a lot of courage to come and share your pain and your frustration, but this is how the community is built.

Your time is up, Princess.

Next is, I believe it's Kiki Jones.

Maurice Williams is just a child. Every child deserves to be safe at school and treated with respect. The allegations in this case are deeply disturbing. If that was one of us, we would be in trouble, like automatically, like no questions asked, guilty until proven innocent. Bianca Camacho assaulted a child. She should be fired and decertified immediately. No adult in position of authority should be allowed to harm a child. I ask that student safety come first and that there be accountability for any wrongdoings. Thank you.

Next speaker is Locke to be followed by Sharon Stewart.

Good evening, everyone. I'm here to demand accountability for Maurice Williams. In Shelby, North Carolina, an officer was fired within a day after an investigation. into the use of force. Why is Fairfield taking so long to conclude their investigation? And to Officer Bianca, her actions against Maurice, he's just a child. The community deserves answers, transparency and accountability. Maurice is just a child and his case should not be ignored or delayed. I am demanding that Bianca Brown, Camacho, whatever her name is, be held accountable, fired, and decertified immediately.

Thank you.

Next speaker is Sharon Stewart. Hello.

My name is Sharon Stewart. I have been a resident of Solano County Fairfield Sassoon since 1983. In 2013, my son was a victim of police brutality from Fairfield PD. He was handcuffed and down when six officers beat up my son. He was at the time 23, beaten by six officers. I filed an internal report with the Fairfield PD department and his charges were dropped. But I know that there is a history of police brutality here in Fairfield. I would like to see Officer Bianca Brown Camacho decertified and fired. what happened to this young man should not have happened he was down he was complying from the videos that are seen he didn't even get an opportunity for whatever compliance she wanted to even comply in addition to that i want to make sure that you understand that when you allow this to happen you allow all of our kids to be subjected to this type of brutality If I am to discipline my grandson or my kids, I would be arrested. For what she did, she should be arrested and charged. Thank you. Thank you.

The next speaker is Larry Bluford.

good afternoon mayor city council members um i'm just here today with the with the village mentality a village mentality meaning that when i look at maurice and when i see what happened to maurice i look at him and that first thing i think first thing i thought was what if that was my son then i sat there on a second thought and said that is my son And so when I come here with the village mentality, we're just coming here to let our voices be heard and let you know how we feel about what happened. I've shed tears over what happened to Maurice. I've looked at those videos time and time again. And for some reason, this really hits me hard. And I think part of it is because it was a child and the way he was brutally treated, not only during the beating, but even after the beating, even after he got beat up and slammed on the ground, he was pulled by his hair like a dog. Like he wasn't even a child. No sensitivity. No sensitivity. As I said last week, you know, these officers are supposed to be peace officers. but they come in leading with violence. And that shouldn't be the case. So we're just here. We're frustrated. And for me, I'm 53 years old. I've seen so much injustice against black people. I'm tired. It's painful. I've seen so many unjust things happen, and it just gets swept under the rug. So we're here basically saying we're not letting this go. We're here not letting this go. And we want justice. We want her to be satisfied. Justice for Maurice.

Thank you.

Did anyone else wish to speak? Because I do have three hands raised on line, Mayor.

Okay, thank you, we can take those.

Okay, Valeria, can you send the first person?

Yes, the first one, it's anonymous. Anonymous, okay. You have two minutes. Thank you.

Hello? Hi. Go ahead. Hi. I needed to file a complaint about the emails I have been emailing the city council about police . Are you still able to hear me?

We can still hear you, ma'am.

Oh, okay. So my family went missing and now they're completely like AI robot cops. And then the police are like threatening me. The police are covering it up. My two college teachers, Dr. Cabrera and Taylor Colby, they were my college teachers. They started targeting me, stalking me and harassing me. I made a report and then the And then there was wrongful allegations. I got sexually harassed after the police basically kidnapped me for two weeks and made false allegations on my name. I missed my finals week. And then I've just been getting death threats. They've been starting, oh, we're going to kill your husband. We're going to kill your baby daddy. What you going to do about it? N-word. What you going to do about it? N-word. I have so many grievances. Right after I left to get my belongings, this sheriff They're going to assume PD refused to do their job. They refused to be my civil standby. And dispatch, they started to arrest me again. They're like, if you keep calling us, we're going to, that's a violation of your probation. They're going to need to arrest me again. They're like, you'll be back. You'll be back. So they're covering up my missing family. And then they try to kill me. The same night that the judge was on the phone with the police officer who came in at like 1230 at night, she said revoke her probation. And I was like basically sleeping. So they're covering up my missing family. They're being controlled by like AI robot cops or it's different people.

Your time is expired.

Next person, please. Valeria, go ahead and bring the next person online.

Yes, the last speaker is called Rogue. Thank you.

Good evening. I'm representing Solano Unity Network tonight, and I wanted to first acknowledge that this is the six-year anniversary of the murder of Shawn Montarosa by Officer Jarrett Tan of LAOPD. Uh, Vallejo PD has a long and dark history of abusing their power as police, uh, for the systemic racist issues in that city who has, who that has carried over, not just officer Brown, but other officers that have been taken into Fairfield PD. We have tried to bring up these issues for the last six years and What's happening now, what happened to Maurice Williams is just highlighting that. And I believe it's actually bringing some of the community together. The other half of the community or the terrible comments and even that person that was here tonight saying all these horrible things, this is what I would love to see my leaders speaking up against. Um, but in the past six years, I've seen you guys come at us, anyone speaking up against racism, systemic racism, uh, abuse of power with force. You have fought against us, um, arrested us. I've been arrested. I've been brutalized. I've been taken to the hospital because of Fairfield PD and the rest. Yeah, Officer Hamilton threw me to the ground and knocked me, my brain out of my head bleeding, arrested multiple protesters, anti-war protesters. I've seen bloody, I've seen injuries that are still lasting to today that started in 2023, early 2024. Multiple of my comrades and friends have been brutalized by Fairfield PD. And right now you guys have the world on you and are seeing it. And we're all seeing it. And we would like some type of action. Fire the officer. De-certify the officer. Abolish the system that takes advantage of us.

Thank you, ma'am.

Your time has expired.

valeria can you take bring the next person on i think it's john martinez yes thank you oh can everyone hear me yes okay uh thank you for allowing me to speak out first and foremost i would like to thank my lord and savior jesus christ for allowing me to be here with you guys and i have a message to the black community from thousands of us in the hispanic community here in fairfield Stop involving us into your black community's mess and troubles. Stop speaking on our behalf. In the last city council meeting, the black community kept involving us Hispanics where we were being referred to as brown people in their hearing. Can I speak please? Can I get some time back? Because they keep disrespecting me. Excuse me. Can I get some time back? Because they keep interrupting me.

Excuse me.

Why didn't you come in?

Yeah, you should have came down.

That's how it is. We've been here way too long. Don't stay on the phone. That's great. I used to let you know, let's talk about it. I used to let you know, let's talk about it. I used to let you know, let's talk about it. I used to let you know, let's talk about it.

Sir, online, wanted to let you know that we did hear you. And sir, please, if you could send your remarks and we will give them to the rest of the city council and put them in the public record. Thank you, sir.

Valeria, did you have anyone else online?

Yes, another two. The next one is Layla Walton. Layla? Yes. Okay, thank you.

Hi, my name is Laila Walton. Go ahead, Laila. Hi, my name is Laila Walton. I am a alumni, I guess you can say a graduate from the FSUSD school system. And I'm disheartened to see what's going on still in Fairfields and Sassoon. Six years ago when I was still in school, something similar happened at Rodriguez High School. And if you are sitting on the dais and you are turning a blind eye to a pattern that is happening within the community that you serve, you are doing a grave disservice to this community. You are doing a grave disservice to my community. And I take issue with that. And so the family not hearing updates is ridiculous, it is irresponsible, it is unprofessional, it is, I mean, the worst of the worst. That's the least you could do is communicate with that family and make sure that they're fully informed about their baby. Because our responsibility as adults is to protect these babies. And if we're not doing that, we're not doing our part as a community. So I'm calling on the dais. I'm calling on Fairfield City Council to do something for real. Address the issue for real. And don't let it just be a moment. Make it happen. Make a change. And let's pivot as a community. Thank you.

Thank you, ma'am.

Next speaker is HT.

HT, thank you. Go ahead, HT.

Hello, HT.

Hi, this is HT. Back in 707, y'all know me as Marcus Fleming. I'm calling in to call for the officer to be fired and discredited. I'm also calling for the officers to not use selective enforcement at these schools to help entrap students in habits and patterns that they allow and enable. Stop rounding up kids to get free labor at the Police Activities League. We got to treat kids better. We hear y'all. Don't let these speakers. talk crazy they're just like the facebook bots community there's power in the people there's power in us um council member member bertani's there i grew up with her son she's always nice to me i really hope that you advocate for the black community to the rest of that council because it doesn't i'm not sure that that represents us represents fairfield i'm a resident of susun uh fsusd graduate also and people we could vote her out we could vote her out so let's do it you know let's vote her out that's all i got to say

Thank you, sir.

Valeria, was that the last one online? Yes. OK, thank you.

All right, then we're going to move on to the consent calendar. Madam Clerk, consent calendar notice, please.

And I just wanted to comment that someone had requested to speak again, but the mayor has declined that. We're moving on to the consent calendar. On to the consent calendar, please. All matters listed on the consent calendar are to be approved with one motion unless a member of the city council or the public requests that separate action be taken on a specific item. Justice for who?

Marie!

Justice for who?

Marie!

Justice for who? Marie! Justice for who?

Marie!

I'll accept a motion on the consent calendar. So moved. Second. Second. All in favor? Aye. Aye. The consent calendar.

On the consent calendar. On the consent calendar. On the consent calendar. Hey, Patrice. Sorry. I couldn't hear you. We're voting on the consent calendar. I'm sorry. Okay. Who made the motion?

Okay. And who seconded? Thank you. And that's unanimous? All in favor, aye. Thank you.

Now we're going to move on to new business, please.

Okay. Hold on. Okay, new business, L1, mid-cycle update for city council, fiscal year 2025 to 2027, strategic goals and priorities. And our presenter is David Gassaway, city manager. Oh, our presenter is Farbode Peruzman, assistant city manager and HR director.

okay you can begin with your presentation please sir

Okay. Thank you, Madam Mayor, Madam Vice Mayor, members of the City Council. I'm here to present to you a mid-cycle update for the strategic priorities. The cycle is from 2025 to 2027. What we're asking for today is for you to receive the report, open discussion, and provide direction to staff to continue work on the two-year strategic plan. So as a reminder, the council has six council priorities, council goals rather. Homelessness, quality of life, economic development, community engagement, organizational excellence, and housing. And I'll go through those one by one very quickly. But just to give you a progress report on how we did in the last fiscal year, we are 82% either completed or on target for all the projects that we have so far created under the strategic plan. As a reminder, the strategic plan comes together after Council retreat in this last 2026 calendar year, we met on January 23rd and January 24th with you providing direction to SLT. SLT, the senior leadership team, the department heads, met February 5th and February 6th. You explored key additional activities and SLT met to be able to operationalize that council direction during your retreat. So the following slides are a summary of actionable items resulting from both the council and SLT retreats. So essentially under the Homelessness Council priority, we are focusing on reducing homelessness and its impact through partnerships with shelter investments and long-term housing solutions. Quality of life initiatives focused on public safety, infrastructure improvements and digital equity and community amenities. Economic development efforts focused on sustainable growth, streamlining the permitting process for development and attracting investment opportunities. Housing initiatives continue to prioritize affordability, accessibility and long-term housing development opportunities. For community engagement, effort to emphasize transparency, outreach, and public education regarding city initiatives and infrastructure priorities. And finally, for organizational excellence, supporting workforce development, modernization efforts, and fiscal sustainability. So that essentially concludes my presentation. It was a fast one, just in the interest of time. But I'm available to answer any questions. And I made this presentation, obviously, on behalf of my colleagues. And they're also available to answer any questions you might have.

Questions? Council? Anybody? Suggestions? I guess we're okay. You need some direction?

Just to, if we could continue to work on the two-year strategic plan.

Absolutely. I mean, that's sound good with everybody? There is a brief question here from Councilman Sandu.

This is a question toward my colleagues. I know we've talked about it once before, but I'm just curious where we still sit on the item regarding keeping organizational excellence as a council goal versus reducing it to five and removing that one as a goal or continuing to keep it. Just wanted to put that on the table and see where you guys fall on that one.

Any discussion on that? Yes, Councilwoman Williams, please.

Yeah, so we talked about this, and I think it should stay. Not only does it set a standard, but I'm really impressed that we decided to remove it at some point, and it was staff that said, hey, I want to be held to excellence, so I would like to keep it.

I think we've had this discussion, Councilman, and I think if everybody just wants to shake their head and look at me and say, yeah, I agree with Councilwoman Williams. I think we should keep it. And again, for the reason she stated and for other reasons. But thank you, Councilman Sandu, for bringing it up. And on that, it's a go ahead.

I do have one speaker card. Very good. Thank you. Dennis Green, Jr.?

Yes, thank you. Mr. Green?

Yes, speaking on topic with the housing, just like I spoke at the homeless roundtable next door, you want to reduce homelessness and you treat people right in all communities. Rather, you come from different communities and they gentrify those communities and move them into your community. Bring that up with the state. Bring that up with the president. The people are getting moved out of their communities. They would love to stay and vibe in places like Oklahoma and back where they were and originally were. Some was already actually there. But they come to these different places based on different circumstances. Now, don't take that up with those people that have to survive with low, very low, underserved communities and amenities. You know, those things probably have from false lockups and things of such. So when you have false lockups, low education, where this young man like Maurice might have trauma, and make sure y'all have enough trauma therapists for him, because y'all really don't talk to people.

Could you stay on the subject we're speaking about, sir?

Yes, housing. We're talking about housing. How that's not on the same subject?

Go ahead, please.

I'm one that y'all just want to give a jailbed and some housing, you know what I mean, and think that's like I want to stay on North Texas rather than Vista Ridge. I want to go to the new Vistas. Wouldn't you want to go there, Mrs. Moy? Wouldn't you want to live somewhere rather than the projects, Mrs. Moy?

Yes.

That's what a lot of people want to do. And if they have to move the projects into Fairfield, And the new housing that they call now the new housing, that's the new projects. They're going to move there. So don't make it seem like people don't want to thrive in their own communities, that then they don't even have the circumstances and the resources that normal communities have, like a library.

Thank you, sir. Anything else? Madam Clerk?

No.

All right. We'll move along then.

Okay, item L2. Rockville Hills Regional Park Citizens Advisory Committee presentation. Rockville Hills Regional Park Citizens Advisory Committee presentation to the city council on the current conditions of Rockville Hills Regional Park. And our presenter is Nick Glazar, member of RCAC presenting.

Thank you for being here. The floor is yours.

Thank you.

Can't separate us. Good evening, everyone. I'm Jared Preston. I'm the chair of the Rockville Hills Citizen Advisory Committee, and I'm joined tonight by our co-chair, Nick Glazier. As you may recall, several of our members stood before you in February asking for a standing agenda item every six months to brief you on the condition of our park. I sincerely want to begin by expressing my gratitude and the committee's gratitude to the council for honoring that request and giving us the floor tonight to provide this update. Our presentation, oh, here we go. Our presentation, oh gosh, it's even easier than that. Pretty sleep deprived here today. Our presentation today is meant to reinforce one undeniable truth. A dedicated park ranger is essential to the preservation of the park. In the eyes of the ARCAC, a ranger is a capstone species for our park ecosystem. Without a ranger, everything else will eventually fall apart. A ranger enforces regulations, manages wildfire mitigation, conducts community outreach, and crucially oversees the volunteer activity we so desperately need. It has now been over two and a half years without a ranger, and as a result, every single one of those services have been compromised. The RCAC maintains that filling this role is the most pressing issue facing the park today. Even with highly motivated volunteers, we simply cannot maintain this asset without daily oversight. To illustrate the real-world cost of this multi-year vacancy, Nick will be sharing a briefing that was presented to the RCAC in October. It provides a sobering visual example of the permanent, irreparable damage that can happen to the park when major projects lack supervision. We received an update last month from City Manager David Gassaway regarding the status of the Ranger position, and we're quite grateful to see concrete action being taken. Tonight we ask that the Council continue to prioritize and expedite this hire so we can continue this space for generations of Fairfield residents to come. With that, I'll hand it over to Nick.

Thank you all for joining us.

This is a bridged version of a presentation I gave to RCAC in October. And I call this the Humble Manzanita. So manzanitas are a California native species. They're evergreen, which means they keep their leaves year round. They're very drought tolerant, which is important in California, and they can grow in poor soil. And 95 out of 107 of all of the manzanita species are in California. So it is very much our sort of local hero. And it has this beautiful, amazing red bark. Now, Rockville was home of the Sassoon people and that is reflected in all of the plants and the diversity of the plants that we have in the park. And the natives use the manzanitas for a variety of things. They use the berries for food and made cider out of them. They made teas out of the leaves to treat poison oak, and they used the leaves for toothbrushes, poultices for wounds, colds, diarrhea. You know, the list goes on. It's a very useful plant, and the natives knew how to use it, and they spread them all over the place because they were useful. Manzanitas can live to be over 100 years old. They can grow 20 feet tall or more, and we have some that are that large in our park. Interestingly, they flower in the winter to spring, unlike most plants, and so this is a big boon to pollinators who use that nectar to make honey and to survive. Their seeds can live over 40 years in the soil, but their seeds require fire to germinate, so without fire, you don't get new manzanitas. Fire is part of their life cycle, or at least some of them. They're a keystone species. That means basically their importance is much larger than the number of them would suggest. So if you have a few, they really have a big impact on their surrounding environment. They're also sort of a litmus test for how well an ecosystem is doing. So the more healthy manzanitas you have, chances are the better your ecosystem is doing. They're a food source for a bunch of animals, and they're also a food source for a lot of pollinators. So they're very important to the ecosystems. Unfortunately, though, I noticed this trend in Rockville. As you see here, we have three manzanitas that I discovered, and they are dead. Manzanitas are supposed to be evergreen. These are not. And what I notice about them is that they all have this interesting marking on the trunks. The bark is all eaten off. And what I also noticed is in that same area, there was a large amount of goat scat. So clearly, what's going on here is a grazing issue. And I continued to look around the park, and I discovered that there were 115 dead manzanitas in the park, and they're all due to overgrazing. Oops. Every one of those trees that I found had the bark eaten off of the trunk. And this essentially killed these manzanitas. And I think this is very sad, because this is our park dying right before our eyes. And this happened because the park had no oversight. We had the grazers in there. They left them too long in an area. And without oversight, this is what happened. I want to leave you with this quote. For one to respect the land, one must use it judiciously. That means that this land is not just ours to use, but it's ours to take care of. And here are my sources. Thank you very much. And we're here for questions if you have any.

Thank you. Although it is not happy news, I appreciate the presentation. It's important. And so questions or comments? Colleagues? Councilwoman Williams?

Oh, go ahead.

OK. Councilman Tonneson?

So can you go back a couple of slides? Yeah. To where? To there. Yeah. Is this a fixable issue, or is it done? They're done. Any solutions? I mean, we could plant new ones. How long do they take to grow?

It depends on the species, but the big ones are maybe 100 years old, so 100 years. But if we start them now, our grandkids will enjoy them. And those aren't coming back? Those ones there? They're done. OK. Now they're all black. Oh.

Thank you. You're welcome.

Councilwoman Williams?

Thank you. So first, Nick, thank you for taking me on a tour through Rockville Park. Not only is it really, it's a special and precious place. Thank you for showing it to me through your eyes. I thought it was sad to see these trees dead, but you've managed to make it even sadder through this presentation. Sorry about that. No, I appreciate it, because it's like you brought my colleagues onto this tour within just a few minutes. So I guess my question is, to staff is, you know, we know what overgrazing of goats looks like at that park. What do we do today knowing better, you know, knowing this could happen?

I'll have Sanjay come up and answer that. But I know we changed the practice this year. Because I believe, Nick, if I'm not mistaken, this is all from last year, correct?

Yeah, this is all from the last grazing season. And I will say changes have been made this season. And they're noticeable. And I commend the city for making those changes. But this is an issue really about not having oversight in the park. This happened because we don't have a ranger. And now we're fixing this issue because I brought this to you. But if we had a ranger in the first place, this wouldn't have happened. So it's like, what future issues are we going to have to treat after the fact without a ranger?

Yeah, just to add to that, yes, this issue was actually brought to us from the RCA committee. And after knowing that, we had actually staff talk to the grazer and with the fire department and just readjust where and how to graze. That we did only after feedback from the RCA committee.

Councilwoman Williams, did you have a follow-up there?

I THINK I DIDN'T QUITE CATCH. I THINK, WELL, NO, I DON'T WANT TO SUPPOSE I UNDERSTOOD WHAT YOU SAID.

SO THE GRAZING PATTERNS HAVE BEEN REASSIGNED, MEANING WHERE TO GRAZE AND HOW TO GRAZE AND HOW MANY TIMES THOSE GOT DISCUSSED WITH THE LANDSCAPE CONTRACTOR, AND THAT'S WHAT WE REALLY FIXED THIS TIME. GOT IT. THANK YOU.

COUNCILMAN DOUG.

A question for our city manager. Where are we at possibly bringing on a ranger? Do we have anything in the near future? Do you have anybody along the line? Has an RP went out? Where are we at with that?

No. So one of the things that I explained to the RCAC committee at their last meeting was one of the problems that we have in terms of the park rangering program in general And I've talked to most all of you, I believe, in one-on-ones and explained this in the past. The park ranger position that we have is a one-of-one position and classification, meaning that the person that occupies that position is the only one that we have in the city. The reason it had been two and a half years, or at this point in time has been two and a half years since we've had a park ranger is because our prior park ranger was was injured on the job and was out on a workers' compensation case, they have a right to resume their position as soon as they're well enough to do so and cleared by the medical professional. So in that absence, we can't go fill that position, right? Because it'd be practically impossible to try to recruit for a position to say, hey, come on board, we're gonna hire you, but as soon as they're cleared, you lose your job. So that's why that position stayed vacant. Now, in the last six months, since we knew about the retirement of our prior park ranger, I've been having conversations with Solano County. Solano County has a much larger park rangering program. They have more open space parks and county parks that they manage. And the hope was that to ensure sort of redundancy, to ensure good governance and regionalism, that we could contract with Solano County for a park ranger and for I mean, gosh, going on eight months now, we've been requesting that they give us a proposal. They had expressed interest and an openness to doing so. As of today, I still don't have that proposal. I've had multiple conversations with some of their folks. Just last week, I had a conversation with the county administrator and reiterated that we would still like to get that proposal. However, what I also told RCAC was we're not going to wait around forever for a proposal. I think that there's a lot of economies of scale and there's a lot of benefit to both agencies to expand county park staffing and have that redundancy, have that overlap. But in the absence of them moving at a speed that is clearly necessary in Rockville, I've asked our human resources department to just proceed with doing a recruitment. Now one of the things is our job classification, the job spec for that position is way out of date. So Human Resources was doing an audit of other park rangering positions with other organizations just to make sure that before we go and float that recruitment, float that position as an open position that we're hiring for, that we're correcting to make sure that it's within market. The hope, the goal is to get that position open and recruited within the next couple of weeks. And at the same time, what we talked with RCAC about was That usually takes us anywhere between four, sometimes six months for recruitment of a position. For one, we don't know what the candidate pool is, but ultimately, it takes us some time to float the position, have it open for a while, then do resume review, then set up So in the meantime, still hopeful to get a proposal from the county that then we can go back to RCAC and talk about and see if they have any recommendations based on what that looks like. And we're also going to check sort of private sector to see if there's any private sector organizations that might provide park rangering services on contract, again, with the primary goal of not putting ourselves into a position with another one of one classification as an organization, and hopefully it would never happen, but five years from now, right, some individual gets injured again on the job, and then we end up being in the same exact position that we were previously in, which led to some of the unfortunate slip in oversight on activities out in Rockville.

Thank you.

Do please.

when this individual first went on leave did the city explore contracting the service out at that point in time i i talked to the county probably two years ago about the possibility of contracting for these services the other question would be did we ever consider adding a second park ranger

Well, we've considered it, but as a friendly reminder, you're running about an $11 million deficit right now, and for the last few years, we've essentially made it that position ads are just not something that the city is in a position to do.

Got it. Thank you. If I may. Yes, sir. I can't tell you to actually speak, but the mayor can.

It's okay. The RCAC has copies of the Rockville Hills management plan. And the management plan, I think, was enacted in maybe 2006-ish. 2002. 2002. At that time, it stated two full-time rangers is what the park needed. And because of the financial circumstances of the city, What the Ranger has done really resourcefully has executed brilliantly a robust volunteer program, which is now defunct. And so it's kind of a multiplier effect. So I think we're really excited to have a Ranger come back so we can help jumpstart that volunteer program. We have a list of people ready to play. We've just got to get there.

I guess, Mayor, my only comment would be I'd like to state for the record that I am pro-park ranger. Thank you, Mayor.

I like that. Councilman Panduro.

Thank you. And I was just going to say thank you both for your commitment and care to the park. It is truly a gem and absolutely oversight is needed. So looking forward to the progress moving forward. Thank you.

And Councilman Tonneson, anything? Councilman Doug, did you have something else?

Sure.

I have a couple of questions, if you don't mind. First, thank you for everything. And you already have folks who want to volunteer there. And I know Terry was very good about that. I was good friends. I am friends with her.

We miss her.

yes so do i and i know that she would like to be here as you know um well uh so here's my first question fire season um the manzanita did um he say have they been cut down or they still just the way they look right there they're black they're just black and they're the way they look but blacker i grew up around manzanita and manzanita um the fire folks can tell you, especially if it's dead, they burn like torches. So I'm wondering if there's some way to get them all cut down to the ground at least. I know we don't have a lot of folks working to do that, but I'm worried about fire.

It's not something we've we've discussed together, but we do discuss that annually. There's a really robust assessment of of the fuels, the fire fuels in the park. And there really is an aggressive mitigation program there.

Yes.

That is in collaboration with the fire department.

So yes, they have not flagged that.

And I know that there's a lot of if you go, you see the brush cleared every year. You see the fire piles. They do burns in the winter. Yes. I have a lot of faith that they're really on top of that, even though, you know, maybe next season as those continue to dry, they will probably have to start doing some continued.

Because they have some oils in them. And, I mean, I know because I used to break some of them, excuse me, but, you know, because they're beautiful and take them home. Anyway, I was a kid, so I wouldn't do that now. So thank you for that. And the other thing is your presentation said that seeds can live for a long time in the ground.

Yeah, 40 years.

Do we know if there are seeds down in there, if the tree or the bush tree has passed?

I'm sure there are, because those bushes all are very prolific at forming berries. And so I'm sure those are in the soil. And they think that they might even last longer than 40 years. It's just rodents and other animals will eat them over time. you know, the potential is there to last even longer than that. But yeah, I'm sure there are some in the soil. But again, like I said, they really need fire to activate them. Yes. And so that's kind of, you know, that's why you don't see very many new manzanitas in California is because we've we've eliminated those those Those burns, those low burns. And the natives, basically, they lived here for 10,000 years. They would do burns in the areas, and that would germinate those seeds. So we're not seeing that. That's why these manzanitas are sadly gone unless we proactively make them come back.

All right. Thank you very much. Councilman Doug.

Just a real quick fact. When I heard about all this, I did some research. And just like a fun fact, the most endangered species of tree or leaf or plant in California right now is the Presidio Manzanita. There's one left on the planet, and it was because of overgrazing everything. They have it all fenced off, but it's in the Presidio in San Francisco, and it's the rarest tree plant in the world right now. Just butt-pack.

Oh, more depression, yeah. Yes, Councilman?

Thank you. Could you touch more on the lack of controlled burns?

Well, we just don't do, I mean, for obvious reasons, controlled burns are dangerous. When it was a bunch of natives and they had movable villages, they would do controlled burns, move their village to another area, and then in a year, they would come back and new growth would happen. It was just common practice, basically all over the state of California. So that basically kept all of the low growth Minimized and it also germinated a lot of the species of plants that we have because fires are not new to California So that practice has been stopped because now we have houses. We don't want to burn down our houses. So There are they do a little bit of burning in the park, but it's it's like fire I burn piles burn piles so that's not quite the same as you know lighting a brush fire and letting it burn uh... but that's what the natives did they did it for like ten thousand years so it's it was very common when you say stopped was that through a city ordinance county state policy state legislature who stopped it so actually i believe it was the u.s. government who stopped it kind of countrywide i don't know when it happened but um... you know the forest service is basically responsible. And now we're learning more about this. And we're learning more about what these native communities did. And we're learning that California wasn't wild. It was actually a giant managed land mass by these peoples for thousands of years. And fire was a big part of that process. So 100 years ago, when we stopped burning, all this plant growth happened, all of the undergrowth. And that slowly choked out bigger species, created a big mass of fuel. And that's why we're seeing such bad fires. That massive fuel dried out. And now when fires happen, instead of it just being a low and slow fire, it's a big fire that burns up big trees. So it's all kind of changed based on our practices for the last 100 years.

does rockville regional park fall under the jurisdiction of the u.s forest service no we're we're owned by fairfield but you just brought up the forest service yeah so i'm i'm just curious to i'm trying to understand who dictates the policy on this if we did oh for our park yes because you brought up the forest service i'm trying to find out who has control on this i think it's i think it's you i think it's the city and have we declared FROM A COUNCIL ORDINANCE PERSPECTIVE THAT WE WILL NOT DO CONTROLLED BURNS?

NO, THIS PRACTICE ITSELF HAS BEEN STOPPED FOR OVER 100 YEARS. THAT'S WHAT HE'S SAYING. BECAUSE IT'S NOT BEEN PRACTICED FOR SO LONG AND BECAUSE OF THE FIRE RISKS HAVE ACTUALLY INCREASED ALL OVER CALIFORNIA, SO THIS IS NOT RECOMMENDED BECAUSE OF IT COULD ACTUALLY INSIDE OTHER FIRES OR OTHER STRUCTURED DESTRUCTION AND ALL THAT. Yeah.

We've got a fire chief right here.

I will say really quick, if you are interested in learning more about this, this book is very good. It's called Tending the Wild by M. Cat Anderson. I highly recommend it. It talks a lot about the Native history and their burning practices. and why it stopped.

Thank you. Hey, Chief. Good evening, Council. So this is a very complicated subject, as you can imagine. But as it pertains to Rockville Hills Park, so CAL FIRE, that's part of the SRA, so State Responsibility Area. We do protect it as part of our contract with Cordelia Fire Protection District because they previously were responsible for it before. I agree with the grazing issues and everything that we've had. As far as control burns in the park, it is pretty dangerous just because of the WUE, the interface there. So we've typically gone with the grazing. CAL FIRE does do the mitigation projects, which consists of the burn piles. So, and as far as like all the regulations of control burns, who controls that in the park itself, it's Cal fire. And so they do the project. And I think the, the RCAP can tell you these go on throughout the winter. Um, in the springtime, they usually halt them during the summer because of the danger. Um, and then. as far as the Forest Service is concerned. So you have many entities that control land in the United States. Bureau of Land Management, Farm Bureau, U.S. Forest Service, CAL FIRE, local jurisdictions, federal jurisdictions, it goes on and on. So those are the people that are responsible for certain areas of land. Sometimes they overlap. But with Rockville specific, I won't bore you guys anymore, it is CAL FIRE and then us.

And the Bay Area Air Quality Management District.

Yeah, that is part of it as well.

When you get berm permits, it costs a lot through them. A lot.

Sure. Yeah. Thank you. Thank you, Chief. My final question for you gentlemen. You guys have come a few times, and it's a pleasure to have you guys back. If you don't mind just concluding one thing for me. What are your asks from us? If you don't want me asking, like the one to three things.

It's funny, I had this very similar but quite abbreviated conversation with Councilwoman Panduro, but I think our first ask is prioritize getting a ranger in the park. We're going to take this one priority at a time. You guys have a lot to deal with. Let's just start marching down the right road. So our number one priority is the ranger. We get the ranger in. Our number two priority is to work with the ranger to start starting up a volunteer program, a robust volunteer program. We will need city support for that, without question. it all starts, all roads lead back to the ranger. And so we call it the keystone species of the park. Let's get that right. Let's get that moving. And then I think we move forward. So we would just love your oversight and continued direction and support with the city manager to bring that ranger on board. We want the right person, right? So we don't want to be hasty. We need a really, we need a good ranger. I don't think there's a lot of supply. So we're going to have to be really thoughtful. Let's get that right. And then let's begin to move forward.

Got it. Thank you. So I assume you'll be back in six months.

We'd like to continue this conversation. We won't always talk about the manzanitas. We'll talk about the priorities, progress, just to make sure you're informed. We went a really long time without a proper update to the council. And so we'd like some time about every six months to give you an update.

Yeah, and that's what I committed to.

Thank you.

Yes, thank you.

Madam Mayor, do you want to ask for any public comments?

Yes. We will accept public comment on this now.

OK, I don't have any speaker cards. Did anyone wish to speak? No.

Oh, OK. Oh, please. Come on up, Vince.

As you all know, I'm part of the RCAC committee.

He gets two seconds, not two minutes.

Go. I'm part of the RCAC committee. When we were here the last time, we spoke about an option expanding our roles.

No one's got a better pulse on the park than us that are in the RCAC committee.

give us some opportunity to expand and help out in the interim while we have this ranger that's not here. We can come up with a lot of things that we can do, but what we are is to give advice to the council. We're here. Put us to work. Expand our roles. And we can give you options on what exactly we can offer.

Thank you. And I know you know the area very well because you live next door. Yeah, please hold off on the burns. You know how you have to hold off on the burns.

Thank you, Vince.

All right, so now we are going to.

Oh, didn't you just speak? Oh. Oh, okay.

Come on up, sir.

I know. Stay on subject. I am. Speaking of communities, I don't know if they can answer or you can answer. How do you join an actual committee? That's interesting. And then I know there's a second question. Is that one of those programs as a former convict?

Is that one of the programs that they use the prisoners for, the fire department?

Or no, I'm just curious on that. Just curious on that.

notice and i thought uh... the volunteers are going to use the volunteers from the presence of all of us now the volunteers are volunteers are just citizens who are want to donate their time to the park and you know they build trails they show people around today make sure you know the park and smoothly uh... unfortunately they have not been able to be there because without the ranger they're not allowed to be so are gone

Madam Mayor, I suggest Mr. Green sounds very interested. I think maybe he could talk to the RCAC committee out back in the lobby.

And later with the clerk, if you would like to fill out an application to work, you know, to maybe work with this or any of the committees, fill out an app and send, then our group will interview you. Okay?

I'm trying to get my strength back and I'm ready to work. Make some money. Right on. You know what I'm saying? I'm with you. I appreciate it. It'll do you good. It'll do you good. You know what I mean? Thank you.

Thank you. All right, we're going to go ahead and then move on to public hearings.

Public hearings M1, 2025 Urban Water Management Plan Update. Public hearing regarding the draft 2025 City of Fairfield Urban Water Management Plan. And our presenter is Michael Heather, Assistant Public Works Director, Utilities.

All right. Good evening, Madam Mayor, Fairfield City Council members. This item requires a public hearing to receive input on updates to the city's draft urban water management plan and draft water shortage contingency plan, both of which are planning documents examining the city's preparation for long-term water use. Tonight's agenda item consists of a brief presentation and a public hearing to answer any questions on this item. So as I see it, we're going to answer three basic questions. We'll briefly outline, very briefly outline, the Urban Water Management Planning Act. I'll briefly describe current conditions of the city's water supplies, and then I'll outline next steps. The Urban Water Management Planning Act was adopted in 1983. Urban water management plans are intended to support long-term water resource planning to ensure that we can meet future needs. Two primary requirements of the act involve verifying the adequacy of our long-term water supplies as well as ensure that we have multiple strategies in place to deal with the significant water shortage. We rely on two surface water sources. All of you have heard my spiel. Those are being Lake Berryessa and the Sacramento San Joaquin Delta. Currently, we all know that Lake Berryessa is near capacity but did not spill this year. To us, Lake Berryessa is that water source that allows us to comfortably make it through a period of several dry years. Second water source is diverted out of the Delta. State Water Project comes from the Delta, is diverted out of Barker Slough and conveyed through the North Bay Aqueduct. Because our state water project allocations fluctuate from year to year, we can bank carry over during certain years when we have excess water. All the storage related to state water project is stored in the San Luis Reservoir. To date that has not spilled and I don't see any circumstance where that would spill. This final graph depicts projections of the city's water supplies as compared to projected demands over the next five years. As you can see, our water supply is much greater than our projected demands over the next several years. In summarizing the condition of the city's water supply, we're still going to use common sense conservation measures that we've always done. In the event of a drought, we will rely on Lake Berryessa to get us through several dry years, and if needed, we'll enact a call or emergency water agreements that we already have in place. So next steps, complete the public hearing, incorporate any comments and revisions if we have any. Council adoption is scheduled for June 16th. We will then submit plans by July 1st, and we will continue to engage with the community as we do all year long to conserve. And with that, I'll take any questions.

I'm going to go ahead and open the public hearing. Thank you, Madam. Any speakers on this one? Did anyone wish to speak on this matter?

No.

Nobody online?

No, there's no one left online.

All right. I'll close the public hearing, bring it back to the council. Any questions, comments?

Thank you for your presentation.

All right. I'll entertain a motion then.

Actually, Madam Mayor, there's no need for action at this point. This was just a legal requirement to hold the hearing in anticipation of bringing the final version to you.

All right. Thank you very much. All right. And so next, and thank you very much, Michael, as always, we are going to have item P2, please.

Item M2, public hearing regarding vacancies for calendar year 2025. Recruitment and retention efforts for calendar year 2025 as required under Assembly Bill 2561, Government Code Section 3502.3 regarding vacancies. And our presenter is Angela Broadus, Human Resources Manager.

And Madam Mayor, just as a reminder, this is also a requirement for a public hearing, but no action need be taken.

Okay, thank you.

Under AB 2561, this will be annual going forward. AB 2561 went into effect last January, recognizing the impact that workload demands caused by vacancies have on our city employees. And we are required to hold at least one public hearing before the governing board. each fiscal year prior to the adoption of the budget. We present on the status of vacancies, our recruitment and retention efforts, and identifying any changes to policies or procedures that may be presenting obstacles in the recruitment and hiring process. If the vacancy rate for any represented bargaining unit is at or above 20%, there are additional reporting requirements. Again, I'm happy to report that we are well below that threshold identified by the state. So we are presenting on calendar year 2025. Our overall average vacancy rate was 5.4%, and that's down 1% from calendar year 2024. For our represented bargaining units, which is what we are required to present on, the average vacancy rate was 4.9%. Our comparable agencies reported an average of 8.8% for those that responded to our survey. So we created 88 vacancies in calendar year 2025, and we filled 46. That does seem low, but there are a couple of reasons. Certainly with the work that we're doing on our budget, some departments are holding to see the operational impacts of vacancies and where it's necessary to fill or not backfill. Likewise, some of the positions that were vacant in 2025 could have been filled in calendar year 2026, so they're not quite captured in the reporting here. We had an annual staffing turnover rate of 7%, and that's down from 8% last year. Vacancies looked at empty seats, and turnover looks at exits. And so those are good indicators to see, do we have a hiring problem or do we have a keeping problem? And for public agencies, a turnover rate between 5% and 10% is typical. So our contributions to recruitment and retention took more of a behind-the-scenes approach in calendar year 2025 due to the work of our entire HR team with labor negotiations. So in lieu of more public-facing outreach efforts, our HR team, all of us, focused on negotiations, working collaboratively with our unions to create a sustainable compensation package that positions us as a destination employer and preserved the... benefits that our employees and their families rely upon and also averting workforce reductions but we hit the ground running in 2026 already attending a few job fairs and i'll tell you more about that next year also taking time to reflect on obstacles and opportunities We are always looking to rebalance workloads within HR so that we can pivot and respond quickly to recruitments when they come up. And yes, I will be handling the park ranger recruitment. For my team, the state of our economy was and continues to be a daily impact in their workload we are receiving overwhelming response rates to entry-level positions and you can really feel the desperation and job seekers looking you know to find a job quickly before they and their families are seeing hard times but we view that as an opportunity to help our hiring departments find you know the next generation of talent and working with them to help train and hopefully retain adding them to our workforce On the other hand, we're seeing some hesitancy from journey level and lateral candidates to leave their existing employers for fear of losing the seniority anchors, be that benefits like vacation accruals, but also true seniority when other agencies might be facing layoffs. If you have seniority where you're at, that's something that's risky to give up and come to a new employer. But again, seeing that as an opportunity, it's a defining moment for us to really cultivate our internal talent and retain our workforce through development and succession planning. So that concludes our presentation. I want to recognize that our compliance with AB 2561 isn't just about numbers, but it's a good time to reflect on our investment in our employees. And I thank you for valuing our employees. They are truly the engine that's driving our pursuit of organizational efforts, organizational excellence, and improving the quality of life for Fairfield. And yes, we are hiring. So anyone who wants to be a part of the meaningful work that we do, I invite you to apply, scan the QR code, or visit our website. And with that, I welcome any questions that you may have.

I'm going to open the public hearing.

Anybody to speak on it? I don't have any speaker cards. Did anyone wish to speak? No? OK.

Nobody online? All right. Okay, I'll close the public hearing and bring it back to the council. Yes, Councilman Doug.

How many open positions are we hiring for right now?

I was so focused on 2025. I think we've got about 10 open currently.

And various, what type of jobs? Anything like public work? Is it a mix?

Yes, we are currently hiring a planning manager in community and economic development. We have a recruitment for our director of housing services, a variety of positions, associate civil engineer, senior civil engineer in public works, and a variety of parks and recreation.

Thank you. And police officers, of course. And thank you for your presentation.

Thank you.

All right. So I guess that's it. We don't need to give direction or anything. Is that correct?

All right, very good. So now we're going to go ahead and adjourn.

How about that? Thank you all very much.