City Council - Regular Meeting

The meeting please come to order this is the 03/24/2026 meeting the regular meeting of the irvine city council the time is 04:05PM and at this time I'm going to ask the city clerk to first call the roll.

Councilmember Carroll? Here. Councilmember Gallo? Here. Councilmember Liu? Yes. Councilmember Martinez Franco? Here. Councilmember Trusieder?

Here.

Vice Mayor May? Here. And Mayor Egren? Here.

The role having been called, I'm going to now ask the city clerk to please tell our friends who are participating or wish to participate remotely how they may take part in today's meeting. And this will also be of value to those who are gathered here in person. Go right ahead.

Thank you, mayor. Members of our audience who wish to speak may submit their name into one of the speaker kiosks next to the city clerk or in the main lobby. We also offer the ability to provide live comments via Zoom and submit written comments through our e comment system. For those who wish to participate virtually, visit zoom.us using any web browser or the Zoom app on smartphones or tablets and enter meeting ID 844. The passcode is 272906.

You may also dial in by calling (669) 254-5252 or (669) 216-1590 and entering the same meeting ID and passcode. Those who wish to provide comments via Zoom are asked to enter the speaker queue by raising their hand electronically. The city clerk will call your name and allow you to unmute your microphone at the appropriate time. Those dialing by telephone will be identified by the last three digits of their telephone number. We ask that you please state your name for the record.

The time limits per speaker are noted in the posted agenda and are established based on the number of requests submitted. All requests submitted after the first speaker is called shall receive ninety seconds. Those who wish to provide written comments may do so by clicking e comment on the city council meeting agenda webpage at cityofirvine.org/ictv. All comments will be provided to the city council as part of the meeting record and will be uploaded to the city's website. For technical assistance with Zoom before or during the meeting, please call (949) 724-6078. For any other questions or assistance, please contact the city clerk's office at (949) 724-6205 or via email at clerkcityofrvine dot org. Thank you, mayor.

Thank you, Mr. Peterson. With that, we'll move to the first item on our agenda, which is a closed session. At this time, I'd like to turn to our city attorney who can describe the items in closed session which will be recessing to momentarily I hope. Mr. Melchin if you would please identify items 1.1, 1.2, 1.3 for the benefit of those who are tuned in.

Thank you mayor. As you noted we have three items on for closed session consideration this afternoon. The first two items are both conferences with real property negotiators under government code section 54,956.8. For the first, the property is 510 Technology Drive and the agency negotiators are Sean Grumby, the city manager Carmichael, the assistant city manager Jeff Melching, the city attorney. The negotiating parties are the City of Irvine and Jeff Shaw, Vice President of Leasing at The Irvine Company.

Under negotiation are price and terms of payment. The second of those two real property negotiations concerns 4242 Campus Drive in Irvine. That's at zip code 92612. The agency negotiators are Sean Crumby, the city manager Michelle Grettenberg, the assistant city manager and Jeff Melching, the city attorney. The negotiating parties are the UC Regents and under negotiation are price and terms of payment. The third item is a conference with legal counsel concerning anticipated litigation. This is a matter regarding the initiation of litigation under government code section 54,956.9 D4 and there's one case in that category and that's all.

Thank you Mr. Melchin. Mr. Peterson are there any requests from citizens who wish to be heard?

No Mr. Mayor.

There being no requests at this time will recess to closed session. The time is 04:11, and, we expect to The meeting please once again come to order. The time is 05:20PM. The city council has been in closed session for a little bit more than an hour. At this time, I'll turn to our city attorney, Mr.

Jeff Melchin. Was there any reportable action? Mr. Melchin.

Mayor, there was lots of good hearty discussion, but no reportable action tonight.

Excellent. Thank you. That takes us to the balance of our agenda. But before doing that, I think it might be useful to have the city clerk once again let those folks who may be tuning in remotely understand how they might participate in tonight's meeting. With that, I'll ask our city clerk to repeat that instruction, if you could.

Thank you, mayor. Members of our audience who wish to speak may submit their name into one of the speaker kiosks next to the city clerk or in the main lobby. We also offer the ability to provide live comments via Zoom and submit written comments through our e comment system. For those who wish to participate virtually, visit zoom.us using any web browser or the Zoom app on smartphones or tablets and enter meeting ID 844. The passcode is 272906.

You may also dial in by calling (669) 254-5252 or (669) 216-1590 and entering the same meeting ID and passcode. Those who wish to provide comments via Zoom are asked to enter the speaker queue by raising their hand electronically. The city clerk will call your name and allow you to unmute your microphone at the appropriate time. Those dialing in by telephone will be identified by the last three digits of their telephone number. We ask that you please state your name for the record.

The time limits per speaker are noted in the postage agenda and are established based on the number of requests submitted. All requests submitted after the first speaker is called shall receive ninety seconds. Those who wish to provide written comments may do so by clicking e comment on the City Council meeting agenda webpage at cityofirvine.org/ictv. All comments will be provided to the City Council as part of the meeting record and will be uploaded to the city's website. For technical assistance with Zoom before or during the meeting, please call (949) 724-6078. For any other questions or assistance, please contact the city clerk's office at (949) 724-6205 or via email at clerkcityofirvine dot org. Thank you Mr. Mayor.

Thank you. At this time, I'd like to turn to council member betty martinez franco who will lead us tonight in the pledge of allegiance please rise. 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. Please remain standing if you would. I'd like to, at this time, introduce our invocation, which is kind of a special one tonight.

It's an interfaith invocation. I wish to welcome Rabbi Israel senior from Beth Jacob Congregation of Irvine, Sheikh Mohammed Fakih from the Islamic Center of Irvine, and Senior Pastor Reverend Doctor. Sarah Halverson Conno from Irvine United Congregational Church. Please, all of you, come forward and we look forward to this invocation. Please go right ahead.

I trust you all rehearsed A little bit.

The spirit of God is with us.

Alright. Go right ahead.

Thank you very much. Master of the universe, we live in a world that is fractured and divided. Religious views, political affiliations, geopolitical events, multiple wars presently being waged. These are issues that many of the Irvine residents feel passionately about, with many lining up on opposite sides. These passions often spill over into our day to day dealings on our streets, sometimes with pleasant encounters and sometimes with curses and threats.

We, the religious leaders and our city council, carry a great responsibility. Regardless of our own personal persuasions, our public discourse, forums, and meetings must spread unity, respect, tolerance, camaraderie, and love to all human beings, all created in the image of God. May the master of the universe grant us all the wisdom and understanding to stay far away from national, international issues that we can't impact and only bring out friction amongst Irvine residents and instead focus on issues that pertain to our wonderful city and its wide and diverse range of residents. I'll paraphrase a prayer that we say every Sabbath at Beth Jacob. God almighty, graciously accept with mercy our prayer for our country, our state, and our city of Irvine.

Pour out your blessing onto its leaders, officers, and officials who work faithfully for the public good. Sustain and protect them and put into their heart and the hearts of all their counselors compassion to do good. Teach them and enlighten them so that peace, tranquility, happiness, and freedom will be the focus of our meetings and forums. God of all that lives, please bestow your spirit on all the inhabitants of our land and plant love, fellowship, peace, respect, and friendship between the different communities and faiths that comprise our great city. Uproot hate, prejudice, animosity, jealousy, strife in order that only fellowship, friendship, and liberty will rest amongst us.

And let us all say, amen.

This gathering this evening occurs when holy seasons converge. We are in the season of Lent, our Christian tradition. We know that

the holy

month of Ramadan has just ended. We've experienced the spring equinox when earth traditions celebrate the turning of seasons, the druids observe Alban Alir and Baha'i's new year, With Passover coming soon, and of course, today we gather being mindful of what it means to be in community, not in a intentionally holy way, but in a way that comes together with respect for the dignity of all humanity. In my tradition during the season of Lent, we are invited into reflection, into reorientation, a recommitment to love of neighbor, calls that echo in each of our sacred observances. So as we enter into this time, may we be mindful of the many members of our community, those who live and work in the city of Irvine. May we speak a language of peace and protection, and that the intention of this gathering be for the good of community as the hope of our city is held gently, the dignity of neighbor respected and safety upheld.

May wisdom guide decisions, especially when the paths forward are complex. May courage rise when justice calls for clarity and conviction. May compassion shape not only what is decided, but how we listen to one another. And may all those who are impacted by these decisions, especially those whose voices are often unheard, be centered in your care and the care of all of us as one community. Amen.

Peace be upon you all. In the name of Allah, the most merciful, most compassionate, all praise due to Allah, the creator of the heavens and the earth, the one who is just and most compassionate. I stand today here and I send peace and blessings upon prophet of God and all of the prophets before him who taught us to stand for justice, to serve humanity, and to uphold dignity for all people. I pray and I ask the Lord to bless this gathering and those entrusted with leadership and service. I ask the Lord to grant them wisdom in their decisions as well as sincerity in their intentions and fairness in their actions.

I pray that we are all guided to serve our communities with integrity to uplift those who are in need and to protect the weak and to promote peace, justice, and mutual respect among all. Oh, Allah bring our hearts together upon what is good and allow us to be instruments of compassion, understanding, and unity in our society. Help us to speak truth with wisdom and act with humility and to work together for the betterment of all. I would like to conclude actually with a prophetic prayer that was taught to us by prophet Muhammad peace be upon him that is especially relevant in time of difference and decision. He said, which means, oh, Allah, Lord of Jibre, Gabriel, Michael, and Israel, the mighty angels, creator of the heavens and the earth, knower of the unseen and the seen.

You are the one who judges between people and their differences. Guide us to what is true, to what is just, and to what is right. Indeed, you are the source of peace, and from you comes all goodness. We ask for your guidance, for mercy, and for the strength to fulfill our responsibilities with excellence. Amen.

Thank you. Thank you so much. Please be seated. This interfaith invocation is indeed uplifting and emblematic of what we've managed to do here in the city of Irvine through a lot of hard work with a lot of individuals participating building the city of remarkable diversity and integration where we live in what is for most municipalities just remarkable harmony. And your underscoring of that this evening is deeply appreciated.

Thank you so much for being here tonight. With that, we move on to presentations. This is item two on our city council agenda, item 2.1. Would the clerk please identify this item by subject?

Thank you, Mara. Our presentation this evening is a proclamation recognizing April the 2026 as National Public Safety Telecommunicators Week.

Thank you. Do we have any requests for public comments on this item? We do not, mayor. All right. At this time, I'd like to actually call for a motion to approve the proclamation, if we could.

I'll move.

And then we'll have an actual presentation. With that Second. Councilmember Liu, did you move to approve the proclamation?

Yes, I move to approve the proclamation.

And that was seconded by Vice Mayor James Mai. Would the clerk please call the roll.

Councilmember Carroll. Yes. Councilmember Goh. Yes. Councilmember Liu. Yes. Councilmember Martinez Franco. Yes. Councilmember Trisheeter. Yes. Vice Mayor Mai. Yes. And Mayor Egren.

Yes. Carry seven-zero. Thank you all. At this time, this call is for me to just step down to the podium and we can enjoy the balance of the presentation. All right, at this time it's my pleasure to invite forward the members of the irvine police department and the orange county fire authority public safety communication bureaus if you would all come forward at this time.

Welcome. I have a little bit of a script here that I need to work through and then we can close out the festivities. The Irvine police department and orange county fire authorities dispatchers are the communities first point of contact when police, fire, and medical emergencies occur. This is an important point that you folks are among the first to have to handle a situation that's perhaps

one of

the worst moments in people's lives. And you are deeply dedicated I know to as highly trained professionals committed to being the vital link between the community and emergency services. People don't see your faces but they hear your voices. The Irvine City Council as a whole wishes to commend public safety dispatchers for their tireless efforts on behalf of the Irvine community. And with that, I'm now going to read the proclamation, which is, I think, worth reading in its entirety.

Because in this, what we proclaim as America's safest big city, the bonds of trust between our city council and our police department, our community at large, individuals in our community and the police department are essential to our success. In recognition of national public safety telecommunications week whereas in 1994 president Clinton and the united states congress established the April to be national public safety telecommunications week and whereas the public safety dispatchers of the Irvine Police Department and Orange County Fire Authorities communications bureaus are the first point of contact for the public when police, fire, and medical emergencies occur and public safety dispatchers play a crucial role within the departments to protect our diverse and dynamic community with professionalism, integrity, and respect. And whereas these frontline first responder dispatchers are dedicated, highly trained professionals committed to being the vital link between the community and emergency services. And whereas Irvine Police and Orange County Fire Authority public safety dispatchers, through ongoing training leveraging technological advances and ongoing partnership with the community will support field personnel with timely and accurate information in order to uphold the law and protect the value of life and property. And whereas the Irvine City Council commends public safety dispatchers for their tireless efforts on behalf of the Irvine community.

Now, therefore, the City Council of the City of Irvine does hereby proclaim April 2026 as national public safety telecommunicators week and joins in honoring the women and men whose diligence and professionalism contribute to the safety of police and fire personnel and the community they serve. With that I''ll present that to one of you but first ask if there is an appointed person or a willing person to come forward and say a few words. Tell us about the work you do. No? Let me just say the entire city council the other evening was at the police annual awards and recognition event.

And a big part of the film, the video there, was actually hearing and seeing the response to a call for help. And I must say it was for me and I'm sure for my colleagues as well, just very moving, very moving. A situation of an emergency, to be able to make that call and have somebody who's well trained, knowledgeable, and can shorten the time between the occurrence of the emergency and when help arrives. There were several awards given for lifesaving dispatches that were made. And all we can say is thank you, thank you for the wonderful work you do.

One last chance anybody can say a word otherwise I'm just going to invite my colleagues down and we'll hand this hand this to one of you and take a picture. Okay? Yeah. Alright. Big round of applause.

Thank you.

Thank you all very, very much. All right. With that presentation now concluded, we turn to our city manager. Oh I'm sorry, we turn to public comments for non agendized items. This is an opportunity in our agenda for members of the public to come forward and speak to items not on the agenda items that may be of general interest or specific interest and relate somehow to jurisdictional matters for the city.

And with that, we are happy to call upon folks and depending on how many we have by way of requests, give whatever time we can for those individuals to be heard. With that, Mr. Peterson, how many requests do we have for public comments for non agendized items?

Thank you, mayor. We have 12 requests to speak. We have 11 in person and one via Zoom.

All right. I'll tell you what. Why don't we give up to three minutes for all of them but let's close the queue now so that we can limit this roughly to a half hour all right

thank you mayor if I call forward john albritton, susan sehr, darrell gale, maxim e, and jamie acklender. And we'll start with Mr. Albritton.

Welcome, sir.

Mayor and council, pleasure to see you guys again. Wish we wouldn't have to keep meeting like this. I was at the planning commission meeting last week talking about Oak Creek. A week before that I was at an Irvine company discussion about this 50 acre park. I have never seen a more dishonest discussion in my entire life about a subject.

A year ago we were talking about the Oak Creek Village, and now we're talking about a 50 acre nature park. Nobody in the planning commission meeting even would discuss the Oak Creek Village, which is tied to the hip of this 50 acre park. The Irvine company the week before was discussing the 50 acre park and the Oak Creek Village. Nobody in the planning commission meeting has a clue that if they approve a use change from a golf course to a 50 acre park, that that is a tacit approval for the Oak Creek Village. And that is completely dishonest in my opinion.

A change of use for this golf course to a nature park is fine, but it's not a 50 acre park. It would be an almost 200 acre park. And if the Irvine Company doesn't want to be in the golf course business, that's fine, turn it into a park. And frankly, wouldn't even take much to turn it into a park. You already have fairways that are meadows. You just don't mow them as often. Grass grows up. You already have walkways, which are cart paths. So, those are nature paths through the park. You already have water features. You've got creeks. You've got lakes. You wouldn't have to do anything. It's already got irrigation. You'd mow it even less than you do now.

So, the effort to keep it as a park would be less than it is to a golf course because you're not hitting golf balls anymore. But, the idea of a change of use from this golf course to a 50 acre park is completely dishonest. And to say in the meeting with all the plan commissioners that it was not going to affect 88 dash one is an absolute lie. Because it does. If you destroy this golf course and put a 50 acre park in place, then you're giving tacit approval to build Oak Creek Village.

And then you're talking about multimillion dollar homes on this property, and that violates 80 eight-one. And less than a year ago, we were talking about putting that to a ballot initiative. And now we're talking about trying to rezone it. You guys dropped the ballot initiative in January. We were going to pick that up and got tabled. The citizens Irvine have tried to put up a ballot initiative out there to solve this problem. And then we've got some bad information on accreditation for what newspaper we had to be in. This whole thing is completely dishonest. And I think you guys need to stop it. Thank you.

Thank you. Susan welcome.

Hi. Good evening. My name is Susan Sayer and I'm a longtime Irvine resident. I have zero tolerance for dishonesty in irvine decision making process including for the city council member decisions that are dictated by special interest be they by personal business connections financial donors or by other elected office holders all council member decisions should be based on what the council member believes to be in the best interest of their constituents that is the duty they swore to uphold upon being elected when council members find themselves in the position of having a conflict of interest they should recuse themselves from discussing and voting on the agenda item the consequences of voting for against agenda items based on the will of outside influence rather than upon the best interest of Irvine residents should include remove removing their vote from the record and requiring that the council member recuse themselves from discussing and voting on the issue and related issues should they appear on future meeting agendas. It is important to note that council members who vote based on special interest influence rather than on the best interest of their constituents will likely lose the trust confidence and support of their constituent voters for future election cycles.

Thank you.

Thank you for your comments.

Darrell Gayle.

Welcome.

Thank you. It may be too late to stop the inevitable apocalypse but maybe we can temporarily delay it. First I want to speak about MPP make polluters pay. This is upcoming state legislation where we hold multibillion dollar big polluters like ExxonMobil, Shell, BP, and Chevron accountable for big oil spills, massive air and water pollution, and the ever worsening climate crisis. Smaller cities and rural areas are planning on using the California Superfund for air conditioning in public schools, upgrading public transit and cleaning up local water supplies or filters for advanced for pollution advanced pollution controls smelly toxic local industries this legislation will not drop before August and is slated for 2027 but you might want to start thinking about it how maybe you could use it to improve various aspects of Irvine.

My other topic is because of your location you are way too close to the Edison Radioactive Beach Dump. That's the next step. You're looking at a perfect storm of sea level rise, hydrogen explosions, corroded metal canisters, tsunamis, earthquakes, and in the news lately we have really been discussing terrorist drone attacks. Edison and PG and E are the next step in accountability legislation. I will come back in May and talk more about make polluters pay.

We will have more information. We are doing town halls, petition drives all over the state because the polluters need to pay. And we all need to get behind it. Thank you.

Thank you for your comments.

Maxim, Yi, and if I could also call forward Joanne Slobodian, Judith Gas, Heidi, Jason Garfield, Holland Davenport, and Rima

Noshashibi. Welcome, sir.

Hello. First, I want to say many good things and inspiring things were said during the State of the City address on March 10. I was here in the audience. However, I want to share my deep disappointment with planning commission vote about the nature park in the Central City open space. At first, a nature park sounds like a good idea, but everyone in this room knows the Irvine company plans to build houses on this land.

That land, Water decided to protect forever in 1988. Another concern is this. Many residents spent a lot of time working hard collecting thousands of signatures for a ballot initiative so voters could decide the future of this land. Today, many of those people feel sad and disappointed because the initiative process was challenged, and everyone here in this room knows why the Irvine Company sent that legal letter. People simply want to want the opportunity to vote.

I have followed this issue since May 2025, and I noticed it's something interesting. Some people who previously spoke in favor of housing on this protected land are now speaking in favor of nature park. I think this is something worth to think about. And if I remember correctly, this city council voted seven to zero to bring this issue back to the ballot so people can vote on this. So maybe it's time to keep that promise. Thank you.

Thank you for your comment.

You're very welcome.

Joanne Slobodiam. Welcome.

Everyone. Welcome.

So much. Appreciate it. I'm Joanne with Protect Irvine Open Space. We represent residents who want to protect Oak Creek, and our goal is simple. Let the voters decide. You already agreed with that. In July, you voted seven zero to bring this to the people. In August, ballot options were created. Then it was tabled with the decision to bring it back in early twenty twenty six. You guys, it's March.

Where's the ballot? Instead, you're preparing to vote on rezoning on April 14. And between now and then, you need to fully understand what this actually does because this already moved forward once based on incomplete information at the planning commission a brand new commission first meeting ever relied on staff and legal and the answers they received were not complete I hope you guys have a chance to watch it it was actually disgraceful That led to a seven-zero vote. Please do not repeat that these issues happened because they did not fully understand what they were voting on and you have the opportunity to make sure that does not happen again. The option to continue the item was not presented.

Questions about the easement were not clearly answered. They were told resolution 88 dash one would not be affected. Your city staff told them it would not be affected. That is not accurate. This rezoning strips Oak Creek of its protections, opening it up for development.

Councilmember Melinda Liu, you know how I appreciate you so much. You explained agendas and recap meetings the public can understand them, and I really love that. So I ask you and I ask all of you, can you clearly explain this after the April 14 vote? If you can't explain it simply, you should not be voting on it. Keep your promise bring this back put it on the November ballot let the voters decide and to everyone here go to protecturbanopenspace.com join us donate to support our legal effort show up on April 14 so this is not your decision to make it belongs to the people of Irvine send it to the ballot and let them decide this is how we take Irvine back by putting this decision where it belongs with the people thank you so much

Thank you for your time. Welcome.

Hi, everyone. Hi, Mayor. Good evening, Councilmember Carol. It's nice to see you tonight. I have our Turtle Rock representation here, as well as Oak Creek representation.

My name is Judith Gass. I'm a long term resident. I have not spoken at this podium since probably 2017, where I was helping a similar initiative, but maybe a little bit different, called the Irvine for Responsible Growth Initiative, where we were focused on managing growth within the city of Irvine, managing development, helping to manage our open space. I am here tonight because I, too, was at the Planning Commission meeting and saw the vote and the debacle that went through with that. So I'm here tonight to reemphasize to you guys when you're considering this zone change, this is piecemealing this parcel of land.

There was a vote in 1988 in 1988. The people talked about it. The people voted on it. You promised to put it on the ballot again. It needs to go to a vote. The people need to speak. This cannot be another Veterans Cemetery kerfuffle. The people voted on that, and the local residents spoke and said, we don't want a cemetery here. That's what's going on here now. You have residents living in the community surrounding Oak Creek Golf Course who say, we want those promises kept.

You need to support the communities and the voters in this initiative. So please, when you're considering this zone amendment, deny it when it comes up on the ballot on your agenda for the fourteenth, and reinitiate the agenda item to put protecting our open space on the agenda. Thank you.

Thank you.

Heidi,

welcome.

Thank you, city members of the council. I wanted to speak about the planning commission meeting last Thursday and the deceitful messaging of the nature park. First of all I want to talk about Jeff Pearson who is Mike Carroll's appointee he was the biggest proponent of the nature park and Mike Carroll was also the council member that introduced the nature park so that was an interesting coincidence there. I also want to mention Jennifer Rigby she's been hired to do the planning for the nature park and she doesn't have any background in construction or EIRs she is an interpretive marketing specialist and there's just a lot of talk about the landscaping, and you've reduced our open space down to just landscaping. We should be talking about easements.

We should be talking about EIRs, environmental impact reports. And, also, on the nature park website they talk about well first of all Jenny Jenny Rigby she claims to be a ten year naturalist but

on the

website one of her renderings she speaks of riparian woodlands that will be lining this nature park when you're alongside traffic and you're under under power lines the SCE power lines there's no way that pollinators there's no way riparian woodland is going to survive. This is more deceitful messaging it's a mess the whole you should go watch the meeting it was a mess just the amateur hour. And then let's see here That nature park website, there's a

lot of talk

about community feedback, and I think we should question the credibility of this feedback. We've already confirmed that patent shim who has spoken several times in support of the development is a tick employee. I met her in person at an Irvine company sponsored oak creek info session. I highly recommend that you audit these surveys these online feedback that they' claiming that they' having. It' probably just as false as patenshim.

And last but not least the flyer that I've handed out. I checked out the website before the planning commission meeting and for a company that's talking about and bragging about community feedback orange tree and the ranch was not included on their list of communities that they were inviting. Those are screenshots that I' submitted to you and in the first one on March 19 before the planning commission meeting you can see that they were not there and then after the meeting after I complained about it magically it reappeared. There you have it.

Jason Bersfield.

Welcome. Thank you. At the state of the city a speech two years two two weeks ago, the mayor used the term vehicular violence to refer to traffic fatalities. This is a turn of phrase that's been used in this council before, and while it may seem trivial, I'd like to issue something of an objection to it. Traffic fatalities are a serious problem, and we should be doing everything we can to prevent them, including fixing the line of sight issue at Cross Creek Apartments that I've mentioned multiple times for a year.

But the term violence is generally understood to imply a degree of malicious intent, which is absent in the vast majority of motor vehicle accidents which are caused by driver negligence. I believe that framing traffic accidents as violence is a veiled assault on the concept of the motor vehicle, the so called mechanical Jacobin, which for all its drawbacks has allowed the modern American an unprecedented degree of freedom and self determination. However, while we are on the topic, I would like to discuss the issue of auditory violence. For the past five years, waste management has been taking the garbage out in my apartment complex, Cross Creek Apartments, at eight a. M.

Saturday mornings. This involves ten or fifteen minutes of large dumpsters being repeatedly smashed against the curb. Earplugs and other reasonable attempts to block the noise have made no difference. I believe that it is inappropriate for early mornings on the weekends. Weekdays are fine, but people should be permitted to sleep in on a Saturday.

So I'd like to see whether there could be some kind of amendment to the city noise ordinance to prevent this early trash pickup. While we're on the topic of sleeping in on Saturday, I think it's time Irvine loosened restrictions on bars and alcohol serving establishments. I am familiar with the many dark sides of alcohol, but it is also true that when it is expunged from a society, some valuable social element is lost. Now, since I got one minute more than I expected, I will talk about the Oak Creek Golf Course, this posted stamp of land which has preoccupied us for a year. I certainly understand the concerns about green space, but I don't know whether a golf course is the best use of that green space.

So if we're going to preserve it as such, maybe we should knock down all the, know, fill in all the holes in the golf course and turn it into an actual park which is open to the people. As far as affordability, you know, as a somewhat younger Irvine resident, I think it's a bit irritating to hear older people who made their lives in this city just completely dismiss the issue of affordability. The American dream of home ownership should not in Irvine be relegated to a dream of retirement.

Thank you.

Holland welcome.

Thank you. Good evening, mayor and council members. My name is Holland Davenport, and I am a resident and proud community member of Irvine. I'm here this evening because my husband and I recently received a violation notice under the city's loud or unruly party notice. This occurred at approximately 8PM while we were hosting a small family gathering. We had six guests, all family, in our backyard. When officers responded, we asked a simple question. What are the specific noise ordinances for this city? What time restrictions apply? And what measurable standards define a violation.

The officer told us there are no clearly defined thresholds, no specific quiet hours, and no objective decibel limits. I'm actually here today because the officer was really nice and he said he was in my position that this is where he would be. I understand that the ordinance is rooted in California penal code four fifteen which uses the phrase willful and unreasonable noise but when there are no defined quiet hours or measurable standards at the city level, that determination is left entirely to subjective interpretation. That raises an important question. Who decides what is unreasonable?

And how can residents confidently comply with a standard that isn't clearly defined? That lack of clarity is deeply concerning. As residents, we want to follow the law. But it is difficult to do so when expectations are not clearly defined and enforcement appears to rely on subjective interpretation. It also creates a situation where a single neighbor complaint can carry significant weight without clear objective standards to guide enforcement.

Our notice states that based on the loud unruly party ordinance a second complaint can result in a citation a thousand dollar fine and even arrest which means for the next thirty days we are not inviting anybody, including family, over to our home. Without clear guidelines, there are limited safeguards to prevent this process from being misused or applied unevenly. I want to be thoughtful in how

I say this, but I

would be remiss to not sure that we're concerned we may be being targeted. My husband is Middle Eastern and this experience has left us feeling uncomfortable in our own home and uncertain about whether we can safely host even small family gatherings without the risk of escalation and no resident should feel that way. This is not about opposing noise regulations it's about ensuring these regulations are clear fair and applied consistently to all residents I respectfully ask that the council take these specific actions to improve clarity and fairness by establishing defined quiet hours providing objective measurable standards and implementing safeguards to ensure consistent and unbiased enforcement.

Thank you.

You for your comments. Rima Mashashibi. Welcome.

Thank you. Mayor Agrin, Vice Mayor Mai, Mike Carroll, Melinda Lou, Betty Martinez Franco, and Kathleen Trusieder, and Chief, Chief Isgan. My name is Rima Neshibi, but I'm not here as the founder and president of Global Hope three sixty five. I'm here as a commissioner on the Orange County Commission on the Status of Women and Girls. And we just issued an inaugural report in which we have provided a copy for each one of you so I'm an ambassador from that commission and I wanted to share some statistics with you about the status of women and girls in Orange County.

Unemployment rates for OC women are 4.1% and they' lower than California women which are 5.5%. For household income Orange County homes have a lower percentage of low income under $75,000 compared to California and a higher percentage of high income above 150,000 versus California. OC women make more on average per year, 3,492 compared to California women, although there is slightly wider gap, 1% difference between women and men reported earnings. OC women have a slightly lower poverty rate 10% compared to California women which is 13%. As far as health care, the highest rate age category of uninsured Orange County women is between 26 to 34 years old with almost one in ten women not having health insurance.

As far as OC girls mental health among ninth and eleventh grade students, rates of girls reporting that they seriously considered suicide and rates of girls reporting chronic sadness and hopelessness are both slightly higher than boys. However, these rates have decreased compared to previous years, but those still need to be addressed. As far as violence and domestic abuse, women weapon related domestic abuse increased over the years in Orange County with approximately eighty percent involving a personal weapon. In house victims of domestic abuse has increased since 2019 among all juvenile arrest categories, violent properties, sexual, drug, and others, the number of arrests involving females are much lower than males. Female are most Females are most involved with violent and property crimes.

So in conclusion, women and girls are central to Orange County's economic vitality, workforce

strength your

time is up.

And family stability. Thank you. Just

did you finish?

Yes. That's fine.

Thank you. And I was looking at this publication as you were speaking. This is a remarkable publication. Thank you so much for all the work that went into it. And I'm sure I and my colleagues will have a chance to delve into it further, the various trends and so forth. And I want to just take this opportunity to thank you personally for all of your work in this important vital field. Thank you.

Thank you so much. It's an inaugural report and we're very proud of it. We're working on another project at this time and you'll see me again soon. Thank you so much.

Thank you.

Thank you. Jamie Acklender.

Welcome, sir. Thank you. Hello. Thanks for giving me this time to talk to you. Mr. Larry Yargan, I saw you many times in the emails. That's the first time I see you in person. And I kind of, you know, but I will move

on. Do I measure up?

Well, don't think I'm going to fade out right now. Welcome. Thank you. When I was walking in this building, I saw Irvine ranked number two in the screen. Park system in the nation by trust for public land, which is great.

You know, that's another reason that we moved, and the school system, another reason that we moved with my family about twenty years ago. But, want to tell you that I was a little bit disappointed. It's not that I'm going to I don't want to bring gossip for the others meeting, right? But, it's related to the point that I want to mention here. We have a discussion with the Planning Commission last week.

And it was about the rezoning of the Oak Creek. Yes, it's a Gulf area. We know about that. And I got this sent by email from the Irvine company, and they talk about this park. And they say also, the other outcome, it's a plan for approximately 5,000 high density apartment approved today under the city general plan. I, you know, I like the parks. I think it's a great idea. We are number two. We should be number one. But not at expense of bringing high density stuff to the city.

And I want to quickly just mention a few points just for the records. That is this. Number one, the urban company plans to build 5,000 units in the Orange Creek area is, as I did a study with some legal guys, it's illegal according to some agreement that we have is called 80 eight-one. And that is point number two. Why the city of Irvine is even considering such proposal as a risk of legal consequence.

The other thing is not housing that they are going to be for low income. TIC doesn't do anything that is low income. Try to rent an apartment in one of the multiple, know, Iran company things. And, the most important thing in my is that the Avon company, did they do a study of with the police, with the fire department, schools? Orange Street doesn't have schools. Los Aliva doesn't have schools.

Just finish your thought. Are you done?

Yeah, that was the point that I wanted to bring here, if it's understood.

Yes. Thank you very much for your comments.

Thank you. Our next speaker is Eric Nashanian. Mr. Nashanian, you may unmute your mic.

Thank you very much. I have an image or a material that I'd like to have put up. Thank you.

Thank you. What's up?

Okay.

Vice Mayor James Mai, your slogan about people over politics is very naive. When you have more than two people, you have politics. So you don't have politics unless you have people. Are you trying to get rid of the people? This article here is one of the three by the Irvine watchdog, an outfit by planning commissioner, Brenda Lynn's news outfit.

She's the commissioner of Eddie Franco. And it it goes it suggests that William is going to run for mayor. Well, I it also talks about how certain council members appointed people that are running for office to commissioner right before the last election. Now my thought with William Bill is that he's operating as as a principal or employed by businesses operating here in Irvine without business licenses while he was a council member or or he was or he currently is. And I hope he doesn't follow the same route as Mayor Farrakhan where she briefly ran a business executive search for accountants here in Irvine, Horizon Consulting, I believe, briefly.

And then when she was exposed, shuttered that business. You know, going to planning commissioner, Brenda Lynn, she used to be she's a serial commissioner. I mean, she's been doing this since, like, 2018. She was last the commissioner for Vera Khan. And then what did she have to do? Ironically, she ran for mayor, and she called Vera Khan corrupt. This was after the blow of the Armenians. And then what happened? Well, she lied, and then Betty Franco won for the district. And guess what?

Now she's Betty Franco's commissioner. And then Betty Franco accepts donation, a donation from corrupt Farrakhan. How much more political nonsense is going on around here? You have planning commissioners with newspapers going after council members for political purposes, and you guys are talking that you're not doing politics, that you're for the people. I'm for putting the initiative for the people to vote on West Boyado and Little Creek.

It's enough already. You guys are talking to the Irvine company. You're speaking to the Irvine company and Great and Park, you know, the the other the other developers. You're not speaking for the people. You're doing all this without them. Stop it. It's freaking out out of the open. We all see it. I can go to that many commissions, but in other commissions, I see that that are just ridiculous. They're shows. Nobody's doing anything for the people. You guys are doing kabuki dance. They've the cock hoops.

You.

Mr. Mayor, I know you asked me to close the queue. I'll defer to you, but there were three very late requests in the Zoom queue. So I'll defer to you on that.

In the interest of inclusion, let's give them each ninety seconds, all right?

Thank you, Mayor. Our next speaker is Joe Silverstein. Joe, you may unmute your mic.

Yeah, hello counselor. You able to hear me?

We can hear you.

Yeah, so I'm curious on when we're going to focus on deporting these shits in niggerates. Because they've absolutely ruined this beautiful country. I mean, these niggers and beaners and baggettes.

Mayor, mayor, mayor, could you mute that, Carl? Carl, this this is not within the jurisdiction of the city of Irvine. It's not appropriate.

Alright. Move on.

Our next speaker is Dylan Roof. Dylan, you may unmute your mic.

Mayor. Yes, I understand. Move on to the last one, please.

Thank you. The last one is Alice McNally. Alice, you may unmute your mic.

Good evening. I'm speaking again in support of Mayor Agron's proposal to move the nuclear waste to send Onofre to higher ground. It is the responsibility of every level of government, including local jurisdiction, to predict to protect its citizens. That means the city council. Explore your options, take action, enlist others, and develop a plan to move the nuclear waste to a safer storage configuration on higher ground until the federal government can take possession of it.

Don't leave this to other established groups. Don't ignore the mayor's call to action. Don't let it be forgotten. No help is coming. Thank you.

And that is all, mayor.

Thank you. That concludes the public comment on non agendized items for this evening. We thank the various commenters. At this time, we'll move on to the city manager's report. Mr. Sean Crombie, our city manager, do you have a report for us this evening?

Just want an update for tonight, mayor. Our esteemed police chief, Mike Kent, is going to provide a brief update on immigration.

Thank you, city manager Crombie. Good evening, mayor, city council. Just a quick update on immigration border patrol enforcement. We have not had any incidents since the last incident that was reported, which occurred back in February 18. Since then, we have none.

Thank you. That concludes your report, Mr. Crumlin.

That's it tonight. Thank you, Mayor.

All right. With that, we'll move on to announcements. This is an opportunity for council members, for me as well, to make announcements or committee reports or individual council reports. These are intended to be very brief. I've been privileged to be in touch with some students and want to take this opportunity before turning to my colleagues to congratulate three students, Caitlin, Noor, and Jayden, who won third prize in the high school Western Division of the twenty twenty six C SPAN student cam documentary competition for their video titled the key to a healthy democracy about how the legacy of the declaration of independence inspires youth community service and how that service in turn strengthens our communities in a uniquely american way through civic engagement.

To view the complete list of all 150 winning entries and again they won third prize out of 150 entries in the student cam twenty twenty six competition, visit studentcam, C A M, studentcam.org. These are fine young people. They allowed me to say a few words about the Declaration of Independence and integrated that into their documentary. And these bright, wonderful young students give me and should give others a lot of hope for the future. With that, I'll turn to my colleagues now and then I have some further announcements after we've heard from others.

Turning first now to Betty, Council Member Betty Martinez Franco. Please go right ahead, Council Member.

Thank you. Good evening, everyone. Before I share my updates, I want to take a moment to acknowledge the deeply painful news reported by the New York Times regarding the sexual abuse allegations tied to Cesar Chavez. For many of us, this is devastating. It shakes something we have long held with pride in our community, but we cannot look away from the truth, especially when it comes to women who suffer in silence for years.

Their voices deserve to be heard. Their experiences deserve to be acknowledged, and I stand with them, including courageous leaders like Dolores Huerta. We can still honor the farm worker movement, the resilience, the sacrifice, the fight for dignity while also being honest about its history. That is why I will be supporting a city proclamation to rename Cesar Chavez to Farm Workers Day because this moment calls on us to center the workers, the families, and especially the women whose stories must never again be overlooked. So stay tuned stay tuned for that.

Next slide. Earlier this month, my office welcomed nearly 140 Irvine residents to our town hall to discuss concerns about University Park Library and the Irvine Public Library master plan. I want to thank you, our city librarian, Julie Siolli, and city staff and the mayor for coming and sharing their time and expertise with the community. We are planning another meeting in the near future to continue providing updates, and we will share more details soon. Next slide.

On March 13, I was proud to be part of the city's Irvine's first women's conference. Thank you to every woman that who came ready to connect and uplift one another. I also wanna thank city staff for their tremendous work behind the scenes to make this event such a success. Next slide. Yesterday, my office partnered with Tree of New America to distribute free food for our community.

112 is this the or CPA, sorry. Can you do next slide, maybe? Yes. Yesterday, my office partnered with Tree of New America to distribute free food to our community. 112 individuals attended in person and collectively represented 280 household members, with 100% of those impacted being Irvine residents.

48% of these individuals are seniors and forty three are children, showing us the importance of supporting the multi member families, older adults, and youth members of our community. We also found that nine attendees used Irvine Connect to access the event. I would like to extend my sincere gratitude to all of our incredible partners and volunteers for their hard work and dedication to making this event a success and supporting our community. And can you go back to the OCFA? Last week, we have a really cool event at the LC Fire Annual Open House.

And I want to thank also our Orange County Fire Authority for coming and saving two family households from fire. And we know that one wasn't too fortunate, but their rapid response is always helpful. This event, it was

Councilmember, your time is up.

Go right ahead. Just finish up. Go ahead.

Yes. And next is oh, you can skip the other slide. Last, I would like you to stay connected by following me on social media. Next slide. And you can also stay up to date by subscribing to our monthly newsletter where I'm sharing updates about what is going on in District 5 and the city of Irvine. Please reach out if you have any questions of concerns thank you.

Thank you councilmember martinez franco I will turn now to councilmember William go.

Thank you mayor. Hello everyone thank you for joining us tonight and have a good evening. I have updates on our recent community engagement events and board updates for octa and transportation corridor agencies. Last week we held our monthly district two virtual town hall series this month we featured director Luis Estebes from public works and sustainability department. Update on Jeffrey Open Space Trail pedestrian Footbridge Irvine Field House and the Great Park Build out District 2 residents were able to ask questions and raise concerns regarding ongoing projects across the city next slide please Yesterday I also attended the great park library planning community meeting where the community was able to ask questions and receive an update timeline for the library.

Thank you all District 2 residents who attended the meeting. If you missed this meeting and want to share your thoughts, you can join us at our next meeting April 7 from six to 7PM at Civic Center West. For our board updates I want to share about octa and tca. At octa we strengthen accountability by directing staff to recover consultant overbilling enhanced allowance reviews and timesheet requirements additionally at octa we approved the 2026 long range transportation plan this new plan will expand multimodal capacity improving operations enhancing accessibility and adding system resilience At TCA we extended our partnership with cal state university fullerton center of demographic research the center will provide data on building footprint studies traveling modeling 2030 census demographic data and more TCA also authorized a contract to provide preconstruction baseline traffic construction analysis for the 24191 Express connector. That concludes my public comments thank you.

Thank you councilmember go councilmember lu.

Good evening I have the following report on March 19 at vector well, for vector and mosquito board, we have inspectors have been diligently checking standing water sources to prevent the spread of these aegypti, aka the ankle biters, mosquitoes. So look out for any standing waters around you. And next one, please. On March 17, we had our hotel improvement district meeting. We discussed FIFA World Cup hotel readiness following the United States men's national soccer team base camp announcement.

Next slide, please. On March 11, at OCCEN committee meeting, reviewed the cost of service rate study, fleet equipment replacement, and the disposal agreement with OC Waste and Recycling. Next one, please. On March 21, I was invited to University High School's Model UN as a guest speaker and provided some advice and words of encouragement to the students attending. Next one, please.

In upcoming event, we are hosting a DV awareness town hall. My office will be hosting on recognizing the signs and red flags of domestic violence and give relationship education. Visit our social media for more information, please. And next one, please. And thank you. And I would like to say that I'd appreciate if we keep this discussion cordial and really not use any racial slurs. And I think that I appreciate that the mayor has been keeping this and maintaining the decorum. Thank you.

Thank you. Vice Mayor James Mai.

Yes thank you mayor and I have a quick and short update here on a topic that we've committed ourselves board member Kathleen Trusieder and myself have committed ourselves to providing transparency to OCPA. And I wanted to update everyone, the board here, members of the council and the public. Rates are higher of course they're locked in now but they may not be higher in the future you may opt out now if you can you just go to the website make sure to opt out there last week OCPA successfully completed its first renewable energy prepayment bond transaction, which is expected to deliver an estimated 12.45 discount in wholesale energy costs, generating approximately $25,300,000 in total savings over the initial five year period. As a result, OCPA customers can expect to benefit from greater long term rate stability and lower electricity costs. And that is in the future.

OCPA also launched its renter energy efficiency program and that is basically two pieces of free equipment for anyone in Irvine. One is a portable air conditioning unit and the other is a portable battery that can be used to charge other utilities as well. Those pieces are approximately $1,500 but are free to program recipients all at no cost and without having landlord approval or home modifications. Priority to people enrolled in care, fairer, and medical baseline programs. That program is open now to 04/05/2026, so please apply there.

Also, lastly actually, lastly to mention is OCPA also initiated $325,000 loan repayment its second payment to the city of Irvine so we' on the process of collecting back the money that we initially loaned to the agency and that is the update thank you.

Thank you. If there are no others, I'll conclude this segment with just a few citywide announcements here. Our city is fortunate to be home to one of the nation's top universities, University of California at Irvine, and we're proud of the longstanding partnership that we share. Last week, city manager Sean Crumby and I had the pleasure of meeting with UCI Assistant Vice Chancellor Sherry Main to discuss our partnership and accept a check from UCI for city provided services. This marks the fourth year of UC Irvine's voluntary support for city services, an investment that helps strengthen our community.

In addition to this annual contribution, UC Irvine has supported a range of city programs and initiatives over the past year, bringing its overall contribution to $1,600,000 This ongoing investment reflects the university's commitment to the shared success and well-being of our community. I'm grateful for UCI's continued partnership and the vital role it plays in enriching the lives of our residents, supporting economic growth, and helping Irvine thrive. We all look forward to continuing our collaborative efforts to create lasting benefits for our entire Irvine community. The next announcement is regarding the Ventas Spur Trail crossings. We're working to improve safety and accessibility along the Ventas Spur Trail and invite our community to participate in the process.

The Venta Spur Trail Crossings Improvement Project will evaluate street crossings along the trail that do not currently have traffic signals. Share your experiences and feedback by attending a public meeting and completing a brief survey. Join us tomorrow, March 25, from six to 8PM at the Northwood Community Center to learn about the improvement project. You can ask questions and connect with the project team. The Venta Spur Trail serves as a vital part of Irvine's vast trail network.

I hope you'll participate in this community engagement phase and help shape this important project. To learn more and take the survey, visit cityofirvine.org/transportationstudies. Next to we've got a baby gift drive in the works here. Beginning March 29, you can help support Irvine's adopted two eleven Marine Battalion by donating new and unopened baby care items. The Irvine two eleven Marine Adoption Committee is holding a baby gift drive through Tuesday, April 21.

You can drop off donations such as new baby clothes, swaddle blankets, and newborn toiletries here at City Hall, at the Irvine Police Department, right here at the Civic Center as well, and at the Great Park Visitors Center. All donations go to families in the two eleven Marine Battalion at Camp Pendleton, making this a meaningful opportunity to show our gratitude for our military heroes and their families. For more information, visit irvine211marines.org. That's irvine211marines.org. And finally, we have an Irvine Police Department open house coming up.

The Irvine Police Department will host an open house Saturday, April 11 from 10AM to 2PM in the Irvine Civic Center Piazza right here at City Hall in the Piazza and the adjacent parking lot. Meet police officers and view police and fire vehicles along with skilled demonstrations from canine and motorcycle officers. There will also be games, opportunities to take photos, and special giveaways while supplies last. Food will be available for purchase. Parking will be available off-site, and free shuttles will be provided from Cree Side High School, Colonel Bill Barber Marine Corps Memorial Park, and Free Chapel.

To learn more, visit irvinepd.org. That's irvine,theletterspd,.org. And that concludes our announcements this evening. Thank you all. And we move on to additions or deletions to the agenda tonight. Mr. Crombie, are there any additions or deletions we should be aware of?

None tonight, Mayor.

Without any additions or deletions, we can move right on to the consent calendar. The consent calendar which is item three on our agenda and includes items 3.1 to 3.12. These consent calendar items are considered by the city manager to be routine and will be enacted by one roll call vote. There will be no discussion of these items unless members of the city council request specific items to be removed from the consent calendar for separate consideration. I guess we could take any requests for removal right now, but we want to turn to the public in any event.

Are there any requests that items be removed from the consent calendar tonight? Your request, Council Member Martinez Franco.

Yeah, I would like to request to pull 3.7.

3.7. Thank you. That will be removed. And now we'll turn to our city clerk to ask if there are any requests for members of the public to comment on consent calendar items.

Thank you, mayor. We do have requests. We have eight requests to speak on consent calendar items.

What items are those, might I ask?

For the in person, we have five speakers, three on 3.7, one on 3.8, and one on 3.9. And then there's three individuals on Zoom.

All right, let's take those individual commenters in the order they requested to be heard. All right.

Thank you, mayor. If I could call forward Pamela Gada A, Ebrahim A, Joanne Slabodian, and Doug Elliot. And we'll start with Pamela.

And let's leave the queue open another two or three minutes, and then we'll be concluded. All right? Welcome.

Okay. Am I ready to start?

And please identify the item or items you're addressing by number.

Yes, I'll start by introducing myself. My name is Pamela. I'm an Irvine resident and have been for ten years. Thank you and good evening mayor and council members. I'm speaking regarding consent calendar item 3.7 the updated 2025 housing element annual progress report or APR.

I have two critical concerns related to housing. First, table one on page three shows a significant gap. There are zero acutely low income units and extremely low income units that have progressed to completion since 2022. While the city has an inclusionary housing framework, it is not effectively delivering housing for the lowest income residents. Even as substantial development occurs for moderate and above moderate income categories.

Page four table C notes that the city adopted residential mixed use overlay. Which is capable of 57,656 new units. Providing additional residential capacity. However table C includes a misleading statement claiming that quote as the close of the 2025 reporting period the city has not identified a shortfall in site capacity and has not rezoned any additional sites pursuant to state housing law. This misrepresents the ongoing lack of extremely low and acutely low income units since 2022.

I respectfully urge the council to to inclusionary housing funds for extremely low and very low income households before allocating resources to higher income tiers. This policy refinement does not require new funding, but ensures existing resources are dedicated where they are most critically needed. Second, the city has a longstanding housing shortfall for deaf communities. There are only two deaf housing properties in Los Angeles, one deaf senior housing property up in Northern California, one in Riverside, and zero in Orange County. Irvine hosts the largest deaf educational program in Orange County.

Many members of the deaf community live with their parents for much of their lives. And may face homelessness when their elderly parents

pass away.

Without dedicated housing, they often have no opportunity to live independently, particularly as they reach senior years. A potential solution is to implement deaf housing to break the pipeline from school to homelessness. Which ensures essential communication access between management and tenants. This is a critical moment to address these inequities and taking these steps will align city policy with documented housing needs and ensure resources reach those who need them the most. Thank you for your time and consideration.

Thank you. Gada?

Hi.

I live and work or I work in the city of Irvine, and I clean homes here. And I have been looking forward to see if I can get some support. I've been looking for housing for about six years and it's been really difficult to find housing because it's just very challenging to find some that I can afford and nothing is really affordable for me. In the end though, I did apply and get approved for something, but the rent was too high, and at that point I don't make enough income to be able to afford that rent. So unfortunately, I was not able to take it. And so I'm hoping that you guys will consider what's been spoken on, and I look forward to that. Thank you.

Thank you. Ibrahim.

Thank you so much for having the time for me. Yes. I have the same situation. If there's like any chance to get the chance to live in Irvine. So for six years, we try to get any small apartment for me and my wife, but there is not any chance. And also I'm low income. And this is my question only. Thank you so much.

Thank you. Joanne Slobodian.

Hi again everyone. Hi.

Welcome.

Thank you so much. Tonight you're reviewing the general plan. The general plan is the city's rulebook for land. In that plan, Oak Creek is protected open space. That protection comes from resolution 88 dash one which voters approved. So it' simple if you want to change protected open space in the general plan you have to go to the voters you already agreed with that in July you voted seven-zero to bring it back to the people you were supposed to bring back a ballot Again, you

didn't Which consent calendar item were you speaking to?

3.8 general plan.

All right. Please continue. Mayor?

Yes. 3.8 is the annual progress report for the general plan. It's not anything about the general plan.

I apologize. I thought it was general plan. Go ahead. I'm learning. Thank you for having some grace.

We did our part we created a citizens initiative we collected many signatures now we need you to do yours use our initiative put it on the November ballot and there's something else in the great plan that needs to be fixed there' a known scribner's error from November 2024 involving the driving range overlay the city knows it the irvine company knows it but yet it hasn' been corrected instead it' being used to suggest higher density and pressure the public into choosing between bad options please fix the arrow follow your general plan if it' protected in the general plan it stays protected unless the people vote to change it that decision belongs to the people of Irvine and to everybody here go to protectirvineopenspace.com join us donate to support our legal fight because together we can bring Irvine back to the people follow your general plan put this on the ballot and let the people decide thank you for your grace have a good night

thank you.

Doug Elvio

welcome

thank you mayor and good evening council members. I' Doug Elliott a member of the community services and community and library services commission. Speaking only for myself I would like to request item 3.9 the wall of recognition nominations be pulled for brief discussion. I' not opposed to any of the nominees those that I know personally I think are entirely worthy. But, I do want to talk about the process a bit.

As you can see from attachment one, the bottom, it was last updated fifteen years ago approximately. After this process was completed two years ago our commission had a look and we thought it would be appropriate to update those procedures so we appointed a subcommittee which I served on. We worked diligently to get a proposed update before the commission last August. It was approved unanimously with the recommendation that the council go ahead and approve that update. I hope that the council would expeditiously act on the recommendations so they could be implemented in time for this process.

For reasons unclear to me the matters never even made it to the agenda. Section three point three-three-one 104 of the municipal code prescribes the duties of our commission and they entail advising the council on a broad range of topics including park recreational cultural human services library youth and other related facilities and programs. Certainly the wall of recognition falls within those parameters and I think the commission' ability to properly discharge its duties of advising the council depends on having our recommendations timely considered by the council. My ask is before approving these nominees that you take a moment to discuss the situation that we' in and how we might proceed with the update or at least consideration of it prior to the next cycle going underway. Thank you for that, and good evening.

Thank you.

Our next speaker is Harvey Liss. Harvey, you may unmute your mic.

Harvey, can you

hear us?

Yes. I'd like to speak about Ed McNew, who was nominated for the World of Recognition, three dot nine. Ed was a history buff who became fascinated with Don Jose Andres Sepulveda, a leader of the Pueblo De Los Angeles, who spent his summers on Rancho San Joaquin, which was a 50,000 acre ranch that Sepulveda sold to James Irvine in 1864, and became the southern portion of what is now the city of Irvine. Ed's interest in Don Sepulveda lifted his dressing up and costume, and Sepulveda in historical presentations for Irvine elementary school children the Irvine Historical Museum. Also thanks to Ed's unrelenting efforts, the city honored Sepulveda's ties to Irvine by constructing and then dedicating in 2005 Sepulveda Vista Point, a small but beautiful park, the highest point in Irvine, with magnificent views all the way to Catalina, to the San Gabriel Mountains, and the city's landmarks in between.

I strongly encourage everyone to visit Sepulveda Vista Point, which is little known at 4 Federation Way, and drive up the canoe trail to the nine space parking lot, then walk the 400 feet up to the park, and take in the incredible view. Unfortunately, Ted died in April two years ago at the age of 91, and the complications following a fall that occurred incredibly and ironically while walking up the canoe trail. Thank you.

Our next speaker is telephone number 347. 347, you may unmute your mic.

Yes, this is Steve Bach. I want to talk about item 3.9, the wallet recognition. My issue is with Melinda Liu's nomination of Anne Hu, spelled HWU. In December 2021, Irvine Councilmember Tammy Kim steered a lucrative deal with electric vehicle chargers in the Gray Park to Casco Construction and its supplier, Nodu. Then in the October 2023, Jennifer Chang, NODU's CEO and Ann Hu, NODU's public relations officer, hosted a campaign fundraiser for Tammy Kim's campaign.

It was then discovered that NODU had no manufacturing operations in North America. Instead, its equipment, including the chargers bound for Irvine, were made overseas and assembled in Taiwan, where its corporate headquarters is located. In subsequent weeks and months, it became clear that major misrepresentations helped secure this deal. In the Great Park, we have 166 charging stations which are among the slowest stations available and are rarely used. The city's total revenues from the EV chargers for the first six months of 2024 was about $6,000 a far cry from what Ann, Hugh and Tammy Kim promised, which was $2,000,000 a year in revenue.

This was a fraudulent deal where Irvine lost out huge and Tammy Kim and Ann Hu were handsomely compensated. Melinda Liu might as well nominated Tammy Kim. Are any of these individuals being vetted? I think this list should be distributed to the residents before moving forward so we don't have people like Ann Hu on our wall of recognition. We should have a set of standards for people on this wall. Otherwise, people that are truly deserving will be severely minimized. Thank you.

And that is all, Mr. Mayor.

Thank you. Thank you for the public comments on the consent calendar items. Mr. Peterson, council member Martinez Franco withdrew which item? I believe it was 3.7.

It was 3.7. All right. Are there any other requests to withdraw items for individual discussion here? Why don't we then, we can move the balance of the consent calendar right now, why don't we do that then, having removed 3.7? Let's see, I'll move the balance of the consent calendar I'll second.

3.1 through 3.12, with the exception of item 3.7. The motion made by me was seconded by Councilmember Blue. Oh, I'm sorry, Councilmember Carroll. With that properly before us, would the clerk please call

the roll. Mr. Mayor, before I do, for clarity of the record, there is an errata memo before you on item 3.9 with respect to the wall of recognition. There's a notation that there were a couple of very minor scribner errors. But what's more important is that there's a change in nomination at the request of Vice Mayor Mai. So I want to make sure that the motion includes that change.

All right it includes those I did review those before the meeting they are minor and with that will deem the motion to include those minor corrections.

Okay. And if I may, through you, ask Councilmember Carroll if he concurs. There's a seconder. Councilmember Carroll? Yes. Thank you.

Very well. The motion being properly before us, would the clerk please call the roll.

Councilmember Carroll? Yes. Councilmember Go? Yes. Councilmember Liu? Yes. Councilmember Martinez Franco? Yes. Councilmember Trusieder?

Yes.

Vice Mayor May? Yes. And Mayor Akron?

Yes. Carries seven-zero. Thank you. With that, I'll turn to Councilmember Martinez Franco at this time, item 3.7.

Yeah, thank you so much. Yeah, I'm very curious about this topic. It's one of the issues that I have in actually running for city council is affordable housing. I hear what some of the our audience came to tell us. I went through the same thing.

I struggled to get affordable housing. I know it is a struggle. I know also as a city, we do one of we have one of the best number of housing opportunities. However, the demand is greater than we can provide. It is hard to get a housing with section even with section eight because the rents are so high here in Irvine.

And for those who doesn't know what section is, it's a voucher that allows you to pay partial rent with the income depending on the income qualifying. And that lease probably is even close and that comes from federal funds. But my curiosity is to see how many units we have affordable housing. Is there a goal that we need to meet for the arena numbers in the future and if there's any solution that we can provide for to that. Thank you.

Sure, thank you. So I will jump ahead in my presentation to get specifically to your question. I'll start with our current housing stock that we have. This is the city's current affordable housing units divided by affordability levels. We divide into four categories currently, extremely low, very low, low, and moderate.

Overall, we have a total of 5,517 on the books right now. Our highest count is in the very low income category. And you can see the division here between the various levels. As far as the city's regional housing needs allocation, we're in the sixth cycle of the housing element right now. Table B in your staff report tonight shows our allocation and how we are doing.

It divides it per column by year. So you'll see the second column to the left is the city's allocation, and it shows it by income level. You'll notice that we have four categories. Currently, the state does not require extremely low or acutely low. You may have heard one of the public commenters mention those two levels.

Those are not income levels identified in the sixth cycle, but we do anticipate them in the upcoming seventh cycle. So we will have to address those as well. We have very low, low, moderate, and above market, or above moderate, which is market rate. Adding those four categories together comes up with our RINA, which is 23,610. As you move across the table to the right, you can see how we've done each year per income level.

And then you get to the column at the bottom right. That's our remaining RINA allocation that we have not met to date. So we still have quite a bit to go. The cycle ends in 2029. I want to be clear that we don't control the market. So all we can do is make capacity for developers to develop these units. But we can't control when these developers develop the units.

Thank you. Let me just say something on this item, 3.7. What we will be approving tonight of course is a report on the status of our efforts and I thank you for your presentation right now. We are a high performing city in the provision of affordable housing. This is a statewide problem of enormous proportions.

Things are so out of whack in the housing market. But we, of course, want to do our fair share and more. And we're doing a lot more. One of the things I want to point out, because it's not included in your report first of all, I appreciate the public comments that were made about shortcomings in our efforts. We wish we could take care of those shortcomings immediately.

We're trying to do various things that I regard as very creative. There was comment made about extremely low and acutely low income households. Yes. And one of the things we did recently, again, not reported here, but I think in subsequent reports there will be inclusion of these items, is the so called instant affordability that I spoke about in my state of the city remarks. There are schoolchildren in Irvine who are from certainly acutely low income households or extremely low income households and in fact are homeless.

Under the McKinney Act, school districts have to make a list of those students that they know to be basically homeless. And of course, those students are typically in family situations where the entire family is homeless. And we have entered into an agreement with the Irvine company for them to make available apartment units on what amounts to a two year grant system, where those households will basically provide 30% of their household income in the way of rent and will be able to be in an Irvine Company apartment. Irvine Company owns 40,000 apartment units in the city of Irvine. At any one time, 500 to 1,000 of them are not occupied.

And we have initiated this program so that any school child identified as coming from a family situation of essentially homelessness will be eligible to get enrolled in this program so that homeless families can be properly housed here in the city of Irvine. There's a small program to begin with. We're working off a list of 88 schoolchildren. We've actually whittled that down to less than half of that number who are still homeless. And I think it's a program we'll want to build on.

Now, don't get credit for that under existing ridiculous state rules and the RINA rules and all the rest. But over time, we will. In fact, I'm headed up to Sacramento to lobby for precisely that, getting credit for when we're providing affordable housing through creative programs that may not fit into one of the boxes that they have coming out of Sacramento. So I thank the people who commented tonight on three point seven. We look at what we're doing from time to time.

We do a lot of self criticism, trying to identify ways we can do more. We're trying to do more. And we appreciate our staff for all its work as well in this regard. And to those who find the affordability with respect to housing so extremely difficult in Irvine. We just ask you to get

on

the list. Be in touch with us. Get on the list. We hope your number will come up. But be assured we're continuing to work very hard on this item. A little long winded, but this subject is pretty important. With that, I'll move adoption of item 3.7. Is there a second?

I'll second.

Seconded by Councilmember Liu and Council Member Betty Martinez Franco wishes to be heard. Go ahead, please.

I just wanted to thank you for this report. Wanted to ask also, does this report includes home ownerships, like affordable home ownership or no?

It does include any for sale units that we have, yes, and for rent.

So all these units are combining to rentals and home ownerships? Yes. So we can decide whether it can be rental or home ownerships?

No, it just includes our stock of units, whether they are for sale or for rent. We can't decide which is which.

We cannot decide. No. Okay. Okay. Thank you so much. Thank

you. Motion to adopt this item is before us. Would the clerk please call the roll.

Councilmember Carole. Yes. Councilmember Go. Yes. Councilmember Liu. Yes. Councilmember Martinez Franco.

Yes.

Councilmember Trecedar. Yes. Vice Mayor May. Yes. Mayor Aikman. Yes. Carries seven-zero.

Thank you. That concludes the consent calendar for tonight allowing us to move on to public hearings. Item 4.1, would the clerk please identify this item by title and subject?

Thank you, mayor. Item 4.1 is a public hearing, city vacancies and recruitment and retention efforts in compliance with Assembly Bill 2,561.

This is a public hearing, which I'll now declare open. With that, we'l turn to our city staff and please have them introduce themselves and this item which is a receive and file item I might add. Go right ahead.

Good evening mayor and vice mayor my and members of city council I' Wendy brown deputy director of human resources and joining me is gladi chavez senior human resources analyst of recruiting and we' here this evening to present the report of our city' vacancies recruitment and retention efforts in compliance with assembly bill 2,561. On 09/22/2024 governor newsom signed assembly bill two five six one into law the bill took effect on 01/01/2025 fiscal year twenty twenty five twenty six serves as its first year of compliance. The legislation added into government code requiring public agencies to conduct at least one once per fiscal year during a public hearing a report on workforce vacancy rates recruitment and retention efforts and barriers to hiring. This public hearing is informal in nature and does not propose changes to compensation classifications or staffing levels. This evening' presentation provides the City Council with an overview of current staffing conditions across the organization.

Any future policy changes budget adjustments or labor related actions identified through this process would be brought forward separately for city Council consideration. Assembly bill 2,561 requires that a public hearing be conducted annually prior to adoption of the final budget. Our report this evening provides an overview of twenty twenty five vacancy rates recruitment processes and retention efforts. In addition the legislation also requires additional reporting when vacancies within any bargaining unit meets or exceeds 20% of the total authorized full time positions for that bargaining unit. As of 12/31/2025 the city had eleven thirteen budgeted full time positions across two seventy six job classifications.

Human resources conducted review of our average vacancy rates in 2025 The review confirmed that none of the seven recognized bargaining units or the one non represented employee group had a vacancy rate at or above the 20% reporting threshold based on our authorized positions. The city also employs unrepresented part time positions and staffing levels for part time positions fluctuate throughout the year and the city budgets these positions based on total allocated funding rather than a fixed number of authorized positions. Position vacancies arise for a variety of reasons including newly approved budgeted positions, internal promotions and transfers, retirements, resignations and separations. When vacancies occur timely recruitment becomes a priority for the human resource department and our city's hiring managers. Timely recruitment helps to ensure continuity of services maintaining operational efficiencies reducing overtime, and minimizing disruptions to city projects and initiatives.

In 2025 the city conducted 139 full time recruitments and on boarded 199 full time employees. At this time staff have not identified any classifications experiencing reoccurring or consistent vacancies. Staff are not recommending changes in policies procedures or recruitment practices. My colleague, Gladys, will now share our team's recruiting efforts. Okay.

Her mic is not working, so I'll read her part two. The human resource department is committed to identifying, attracting, and hiring candidates who are the best and right fit for our organization. To build strong candidate pools the city utilizes diverse recruiting channels including online platforms such as government jobs linked in diversity jobs the city social media and city website portals are used. Interest cards are also available to notify prospective candidates of future vacancies once they become available. We also do targeted advertising to trade specific platforms for specialized recruitments for example we brought in our libraries we did a lot of very targeted marketing to recruit high quality candidates to staff our library positions.

Our team also attends a variety of job fairs and outreaches consistently to our local high schools and colleges such as uci, ivc, and chapman university. Our team strives to maintain a flexible and service oriented recruitment approach that aligns with our hiring managers' needs. This flexibility enables us to quickly adapt refine strategies and apply the right outreach methods to the right roles that we are recruiting for. Employee retention remains a central priority for our city to enhance engagement and promote longevity and support professional growth the city has implemented the following initiatives. We have negotiated labor agreements to maintain competitive compensation and benefits for our employees we conduct market equity studies that can result in salary adjustments when needed.

We have added longevity pay providing base salary increases after ten fifteen and twenty years of service. Irvine offers a variety of flexible work schedule options we made significant investments in our workplace renovations to improve our physical work environment We've made upgrades to our equipment and technology to ensure employees have modern safe and efficient tools to perform their work and we partner with management to identify opportunities to expand employee development engagement and career development opportunities. The city remains committed to reducing vacancy rates strengthening workforce pipeline initiatives and maintaining competitive hiring practices. By continuing to offer competitive compensation and benefits along with investments in employee engagement wellness professional development and recognition the city fosters a workplace environment where employees can thrive and build long term careers. The city will continue to evaluate recruitment and retention strategies and refine them as needed.

In accordance to assembly bill 2,561 annual updates will be made and provided to city Council. This concludes our presentation with the request for the report to be received and filed and we thank you for your time.

Thank you for the report this is the first annual report under this legislation right?

It is it was a new bill that was passed so this is our first report and we will be coming back annually.

I was going to suggest when you do come back next year make sure we compare next year where we were this year, begin to identify trends and see how we're performing. It sounds from your report as though we measure up very, very well by the prescribed standards, right?

Yes, we agree.

Good. With that, I'll turn to my colleagues if they have any questions or comments of staff. Otherwise, I'll entertain a motion to do we have any requests from citizens to be heard? We do not, mayor. All right.

I'll be happy to entertain a motion to close the public hearing at this time. I'll so move. Is there a second?

I'll second it.

Seconded by Councilmember Liu. Will the clerk please call the roll?

Council Member Carroll? Yes. Council Member Gallo? Yes. Council Member Liu? Yes. Council Member Martinez Franco?

Yes.

Council Member Cecider?

Yes.

Vice Mayor Mai? Yes. And Mayor Agram? Yes. Carries seven-zero.

With the hearing now closed, I'll move that we formally receive and file what was an interesting and good report thank you. Is there a second? Come on folks. Second. Right. Wake up here we go. All right There's a motion and a second before us to receive and file as a formal matter this report. Will the clerk please call the roll?

Councilmember Carrol. Yes. Councilmember Goh. Yes. Councilmember Liu. Yes. Councilmember Martinez Franco. Yes. Council Member Trecedor?

Yes.

Vice Mayor May? Yes. And Mayor Agram?

Yes. Carries Thank that very you. All right. We move now to council business, item five. On our agenda, there are three specific items of council business, item 5.1. Let's begin there. Would the clerk please identify this item by title and subject?

Consideration of a request by Vice Mayor Mai to discuss the establishment of an annual Irvine Nonprofit Week program.

Thank you. With that, I'll turn to Vice Mayor Mai to begin the discussion here on this item and introduce it. Councilmember mye.

Thank you mayor and thank you to my fellow council members and the mayor for their support last year when we proposed the inaugural Irvine Nonprofit Week. The event exceeded expectations we had hundreds of attendees which were nonprofit leaders over 75 organizations were represented during the week there for meaningful networking resource sharing and fellowship that strengthen the entire community ecosystem. Feedback has been overwhelmingly positive with even more organizations eager to participate this year and to bring it back. This proves that the concept works. One of the things that when I bring up items here for discussion, things I ask are does it help Irvine?

Does the community need it? And does the community want it? This is one of the things that has been discussed over the since we had it last year and people wanted to see it again. Irvine is home to 2,900 nonprofits 501C's more than any other city in Orange County. This event proved that we do have the resources and they just seem to be a little bit fragmented.

Having this brings everyone together brings the nonprofit community together. We had over we combined it with the health expo that ended the week and we had 700 community members come out to provide to receive resources from these nonprofits. With that, I'm going to ask my colleagues to support this item. Let's build on last year's success and make this a lasting tradition, an annual tradition. So I'm going to well, if we want to have any discussion, we can have any discussion before I make a motion. But I'm going to leave it to my counsel colleagues also to have any discussion if you'd like to.

All right. Think do we have any public comments requested?

No, Mr. Mayor.

All right. Let me keep the queue open in the event somebody wants to be heard. I'll perhaps help with the discussion. I thought about this a little bit. I appreciated your putting this on the agenda, Vice Mayor Mai.

I thought about this actually even before you put it on the agenda. We had a women's conference here. We, I think, had in the past tech week. Didn't we have a recent tech week here at City Hall?

We have historically held a tech week

in the past.

I think all of these initiatives are outstanding. And some of them absolutely are worthy of being presented on an annual basis. What I'd like to do, though, is rather than commit tonight, because I do support the idea of a nonprofit week, I'm persuaded that there are so many nonprofit organizations that so enrich our community that it's worthy of focus in an organized way. However, what I'd like to do is kind of put this in the context of our upcoming budget. We do multiple festivals here.

A number of those have been introduced here at the dais, for the most part adopted. We go forward with them. And what we failed to do, though, is kind of figure out what portion of our budget do we want devoted to festivals, these annualized weeks that are emphasizing nonprofit organizations, health fairs, this, that, or the other, and figure out what we want to do on a one time basis, on an annualized basis, in the context of an overall budget, whether that's a $1,000,000 budget or a $2,000,000 budget. I think it' something worthy of considering holistically and seeing how many of these things we can fit in and still not blow out our budget. That's my thinking, Vice Mayor Mai.

And happy to open it to others as well. I'll turn now to Councilmember Treseder.

Thank you. I really appreciate this suggestion from the vice mayor. I'm glad to hear that the event last year went well. I am wondering about how much did this cost the city last year, do you know?

Good evening, Heather Dion, director of health and wellness. We did have a very successful event last year and it cost us approximately $30,000 Okay,

thank you.

Yeah, to me that doesn't seem like a lot in terms of our annual budget and then also other council member directed items that have come up here. I don't for my part, I I don't see any reason to delay this by trying to fold it into other proposals. I would advocate for that if it were a large sum, for sure. But this is not that big of a sum. I am supportive of it just moving forward now thank you.

Thank you councilmember lu.

Kind of like a follow-up I was going to ask the same question. I guess the other question is will we be able to get some kind of sponsorship if we' looking to continue this annually?

We certainly can. We can include that in our planning process, absolutely.

I've heard great things about this event, so I'm really hoping that we can continue without losing the momentum.

Thank you councilmember lu vice mayor mai

yes thank you mayor thanks for being here heather on that 30000 also when we had that health care expo also much how does that cost the city as well? Because I know it was a separate event, but it was kind of like combined. Did that cost the city anything? Can we do something to combine the two to mitigate the cost and staff time?

So, we did a collaboration with community services. Community services has been the host of the health expo for years. And, what we did is to try to create efficiencies and to keep costs down as we, health and wellness, tagged into that. We do charge for that event for the exhibitors. So if they're nonprofit, it's a pretty nominal fee of $250 that helps us cover just rental equipment.

And then if they are a for profit entity, the cost is like $600 So that covers our costs there. That doesn't include staff time. There is staff resources and it's quite a bit of planning and work but the overall cost for the expo were are covered through those charges.

I'm kind of putting on my business hat here and thinking about it, mean, if we can get sponsorships, we can probably offset the cost for that event if we combine the two as well, if there's enough sponsorships. Mean, dollars 30,000 is very minimal in terms of what is required. I've already had nonprofits that wanted to reach out and sponsor, be a headline sponsor, platinum sponsor. They've committed verbally quite a larger sum than $30,000 but thank you for the details on that. I' sure in my motion it' going to direct you as well to figure out the programming.

Thank you councilmember mye. Anything further? Let me just add a word or two and then we' move forward. I only do I not have a problem with this I think this is a good proposal. What I want to do though is and I'92ll be voting for it but I want to at least alert Mr.

Crombie that as we prepare the budget for the next fiscal year I''d like us to have a list of all these annual events what we expect they will cost, how much we would expect those costs would be offset by sponsorships, what would be the net cost to the city, I'd suggest we, in that context, also add a couple $100,000 or whatever it might be for new proposals that come along, but get some organized idea of what we're doing, what's priority, what's annualized, and so forth. So when would this nonprofit week be, by the way?

Last year was late September, the September into the October, and we would probably aim for the same time frame.

Good. Well, then we can actually put this into the budget, make sure we have a line item for important gatherings like this that the city puts together. Also, are any of these events including an allocation from individual council members' budgets? Or is it just the in kind contribution of the budgeted personnel within that office? There's no separate dollar donation.

No. All right. I think we all need to learn a little bit more about this and going forward with the approval of this tonight I just hope Mr. Crombie that as you put together the budget that we have a holistic budget figure as well and a procedure that I think will serve us well in the future. Thank for the question, mayor.

And yes, when the budget is presented, we'll have a whole accounting of special events and costs and some of the fundraising that's happened.

Excellent. Thank you. All right, would you like to offer a motion? Council Member Mai? Yes, absolutely. Oh, I'm sorry. Do you want to be heard before the motion? Or

asked? Yeah, I'm ready to support this. However, I do want see ask you. I know that September, there is a lot of stuff. There is lunar year. There is oh, no, sorry. It's lunar year at Autumn Festival. There is also Fiesta Latina and there is Global Village. Can we move nonprofit week to November maybe?

We can. We work with our communications and engagement team to help identify where there's gaps in the schedule so that we are never competing against another event. So we are quite mindful of the scheduling. Fall gets very busy. You are correct.

Thank you. That was it.

Thank you for that comment. Councilmember mye.

I respectfully request that the city council formally establish irvine nonprofit week as an annual event. This would ensure ongoing recognition of our nonprofit community provide a consistent forum for collaboration and capacity building and reinforce irvine' s commitment to a more equitable and thriving city I further request the city council director city manager to develop plans for the twenty twenty six irvine nonprofit week and subsequent years including appropriate timing programming and resources to accommodate growing participation.

The motion by vice mayor and councilmember mye has been seconded by councilmember treseder. In the absence of further discussion would the clerk please call the

roll. Councilmember Carroll. Yes. Councilmember Go. Yes. Councilmember Liu. Yes. Councilmember Martinez Franco. Yes. Councilmember Trusieder.

Yes.

Vice Mayor May. Yes. And Mayor Agram. Yes. Carries seven-zero.

Thank you. Thank you, council members Mai and Tresidar. That takes us to item 5.2. Would the clerk please identify this item by title and subject?

Consideration of a request by council members Goh and Cedar to discuss utilizing the former Spectrum Motion facility at the Irvine Transportation Center for a temporary pop up bicycle maintenance facility.

Very well. I'll turn at this time to councilmember go to further introduce this item councilmember terceder as well.

A lot of you have been familiarized with train station around there this proposal would use the underutilized space currently that' the spectrum motion space allowing the operating entity that eventually will be operating a mobility hub to interact with the community early and get to know the needs and what people are looking for. And there's advantages as far as having community education classes and just having outreach. The request. And councilmember Cecilia can speak to it

as well.

Councilmember Cecilia, go right ahead.

Thank you. Yeah, appreciate councilmember Goh asking if I'd like to sign on to this, and it was an easy answer. This space is not being used right now. I wanted to be sure that the train station is being fully utilized. It helps bring some vitality to the area. Also, I'm very happy to promote Irvine as a biking mecca. And the only thing that I would ask as part of this is that whatever pop up group that we bring in that we have an RFP for it. Thanks.

Thank you. Council Member Martinez Franco.

Hi, thank you. First, I want to understand why are we doing this when we already council member go brought up the same kind of memo with a little bit more of things back then. But we voted to approve a study back in July 2025. I want to hear back about what an analysis said. Do we know when does is coming back, Mr. Curranby, that analysis from July 2025 to do a temporary workspace and include these kind of things?

So thank you for the question, Councilwoman Martinez Franco. The direction from council was to develop the Irvine Mobility Station. And so our public works director Luis Sesteves is here, but him and his team have procured a designer and are in design for improvements to the station. We also have in motion plans to issue an RFP to find the appropriate operator for that station. And so the plans were to bring all of that back to the city council for approval as we go forward with executing those plans.

I think there's a few differences between what councilmember Goh was asking for here, and maybe I might defer to councilmember Goh, if that's okay.

Yeah. Thank you. Thank you, Sean. So the the project, it it would complete sometime end of the year, if not early next year, I believe. And in the meantime, it'd be great to get the interaction for whoever this future operator to start to get to know the community and provide the early services and community benefit as well as making use of the space that's empty. And as you guys know, we do need visibility there at the train station and having it populated with an operator would be a welcome change for a lot of people.

So what I want to understand also, I mean, we already approved it again in July. Why are we doing a pop up now? Is that going to take money away from what we have planned here? Because then we are going to delay what we already approved, right? So I don't know if Mr. Crombie or Mr. Lewis wants to explain how is the process going or just bring a little bit.

So I think that the previous item directed the city manager and staff to develop a permanent use for the site. And what I think, feel free to correct me if I'm incorrect, Councilman McGow, but I think what we're talking about here is a pop up or a temporary use to come into the site that wouldn't require capital investment from the city. So, we're happy to run both of these in parallel if that's the desire of the council. However, my request is that for even this temporary use, we have a competitive process And we bring back some sort of an agreement based on recommendations from the city attorney's office with all of the standard provisions that go into the typical agreement that we would do.

Okay. Well, I don't know if you want to add anything else. I would like to hear that.

Thank you, Councilmember Martinez Franco. Yeah, if council recalls, I think it might have been in January or February perhaps when believe council member go who provided the memo asking council's approval to allocate 1,500,000 and so in in OCPA rebate funds or the return of the initial investment. And so staff took that direction and we are in the process of finalizing the RFP and the agreement to put that out to the street to find an operator to come in and operate the permanent mobility hub. In terms of a pop up mobility hub, there's no funding for it at this point. What we could do is just simply provide and create an RFP for that space and offer it up in as is conditions.

So if somebody wants to come in and operate a pop up there, would be responsible for remodeling the space however they want to use it in that fashion as an option.

I think that that operator would be notified of the time that the site was going be available to them. And it would definitely be part of the considerations that they have in terms of taking the space.

So would you come back and recommend us for how long? This is why I am having trouble supporting these because I want to hear about the analysis that was approved last year to see how we can do this and all the things that we are going to do so we don't derail for the original plan that we already approved. But also, we need to be making sure that there is a term, like two months. I don't know. That's what a pop up sounds. Two months, one month. We need to be very clear about how long this operator is going to have.

Great question. If the question is, would we come back with a follow-up from both directions from the council, the answer is yes. I think when we came back with details for the pop up, I think we would also encompass a plan for the permanent project that we're doing, including as our public works director mentioned budgetary updates, timelines, and all of the details, the analysis that you mentioned, all of the details that we've been working on.

Thank you.

Thank you councilmember martinez franco councilmember mye

thank you mayor a couple questions I guess since you're there is there a vendor in mind or you mentioned there's going to be there could be an rfp process right

our intention would be to issue an RFP we don't have an operator in mind or who might be able to do that

great that for the sake of transparency that would be great also so is the city looking to generate revenue from this operation or is it just a service that we're looking to provide from

the staff's perspective this isn't something that we're proposing it sounds like this is mostly I think as councilmember go and visit if I'm understanding it correctly a benefit to provide for the community and to help activate the space to the extent that we could generate some lease revenue from offering that space in a pop up scenario I think that's about what we would expect or could expect.

I'll be supporting this I believe that it needs to be revitalized and this would be a benefit to the community as well. Thank you.

Thank you councilmember mi Let me ask a few questions because I'm kind of lost here. I appreciate what Councilmember Martinez Franco asked by way of questions and how this relates to earlier action we took. This makes me very uncomfortable trying to basically design and execute this whole thing on the fly right here, trying to interpret what this is and how it relates to something else and so forth. Isn't this the kind of thing that ought to go to our staff to bring it back in some coherent form so that we understand what precisely is being proposed, what the implications are. Does a pop up operate itself or does it require some staff oversight?

I'm unfamiliar with the ins and outs here and the RFP and so forth. I mean, shouldn't we be taking this as a matter of kind of regular order? And by the way, it might actually be wise to have the Planning Commission take a look at this and maybe offer some insights that would be helpful in moving the project forward in some coherent fashion. As things stand right now, I don't know what we'd actually be voting on other than to tell staff to go out and do some stuff and make this happen, which is not the Irvine way, to tell you the truth.

Mayor, great point. I would say that since January 12, our staff has been focused on executing the direction of counsel. And so, yes, we're in the middle of design and we're ready to issue an RFP for the permanent use. If it's beneficial to the community to open up a pop up, we will undertake that as well.

And you would recommend that to us?

We're prepared to look into it and come back

to you, yes. All right. Okay. Let me turn now to councilmember go, then councilmember traceter, then councilmember martinez Franco. Councilmember go. Thank you.

I just want to simplify this. This would be similar to like a previous center. If you were to buy a house, you'd have a model home and you'd live through it, and that would be your end product. And that's the idea behind it, to be able to utilize the space that's currently not being utilized, giving the community options in terms of benefits for education feedback maybe some safety courses for e bikes and whatnot so that the city would not be involved the operator as as we are a

few would be doing the work. Thank you councilmember truceader.

Thank you. I've heard at various times commissioners and other folks advocate for council member directed items to go to the commissions. And I just want to kind of give a bit of context for why I think often they don't. It's because we're not able to agendize things for the commissions as council members. We can agendize things for the council.

And it makes a lot of sense for the staff and the staff have things that they need the council, commissions to weigh in on, then absolutely they should go to the commissions first. But when it's council directed, it's a bit of a different situation. That being said, I wouldn't object necessarily to having a commission look at it. It's just I'm not sure that renting out a bit of space in the train station is a good use of the planning commission's time, they're often asked to weigh in on developments and zoning and questions like that. So thank you.

Thank you, Council Member Martinez Franco. And then we will turn to the public for comments.

Yeah, I'm going to use the analogy that Councilmember Goh mentioned about model home or when you're building a home, right? You don't invite people when you're building a house because it's just going to disturb the entire construction. So you're going to have to build around, and then it's going to delay the construction that is planned. So I want to wait for that analysis. And then I will have a better sense of if I want to move forward with a pop up. But as for now, I'm going to vote no.

Can I respond to that real quick?

Moment. Thank you, Council Member Martinez Franco. Before we turn to the public, Council Member Goes to be recognized briefly go ahead.

I just want clarify it' not in the same space the space that we' building is under the parking garage and this space is already standing so you wouldn' be disturbing anything so I just want to clarify that.

Thank you councilmember goh let' turn to the public how many requests are there?

Thank you mayor we have three requests to speak one in person and two on zoom.

If you would please call those in the order they were submitted.

Thank you, mayor. If I could call forward Jay Bruce.

Welcome, Mr. Bruce.

Hello city council members I just want to say it seems like a good idea we've already approved the project the mobility hub so it makes sense that we want to get stuff actually happening early so I appreciate the intent behind the motion and this agenda item but I just think we're jumping the gun a little bit where we don't know who's going to operate the permanent mobility hub we've I think we've issued the rfp but we haven't approved anything so if we're gonna be also going for this temporary pop up we'd be issuing two rfps and that would have the chance that the person that's rent the operator that's running the temporary pop up going to be the one that's running the permanent mobility hub which would just complicate things I feel like it's also the question of you know to operate a bicycle maintenance like a maintenance facility you're going to need probably a pretty significant and perhaps long term specialized equipment and staffing and renovations to the facility as well as an additional cost which would be I don't know if bicycle repair and maintenance is supposed to be free to the public but if it is in the city is also going to have to cover the cost of repair and depending on how temporary the pop up is it might require continuous staffing funding which could drain the OCPA fund or require us to draw this continuous funding from some other source like the general fund really that just depends on how temporary the facility is because once you implement this these facility renovations and add the bicycle repair facilities a lot of times these temporary things become pretty permanent and we end up with more of a bicycle repair facility rather than a mobility hub So, do think it's a really it's a good idea to have this early, you know, just an early preview of what the mobility hub is going to look like, but I do think it's good to decide who the operator is going to be first.

You know, even with like swift cities, there's controversial opinions about that, but we only did the demo after we engaged in negotiations and discussions with swift cities. I mean, it's not a third party contractor, but we also for urban public libraries, held the pop up libraries after we hired library staff. Just I think it's it's it would make more sense if we decide who is going to run the mobility hub and what that's actually going to look like before we give people a preview and start running this second project at the same location thank you

Thank you for your comments.

Our next speaker is Bill Sellen. Bill, you may unmute your mic.

Good evening, council members and mayor. I'm Bill Sellen. I'm a founder and the current Ride Boarder of the Bicycle Club of Irvine. And I just wanted to thank the council, the city of Irvine, and especially the public works staff, the team that's been working to keep our streets safe, pavement repairs are quickly addressed. I'm proud to have been a former employee and enjoy riding in Irvine a few days a week.

Our club is excited about having the mobility hub happen. It's a ways off and anything that can be done to get access and utilization of that vacant space. The Bicycle Club of Irvine actually sponsored a cycle savvy bicycle education program last August and we were able to utilize the old office space and it was a bit of a squeeze and we're hoping to get more people to attend those programs in the future. But we'd like to strongly consider moving forward with whatever we can do to get access to that public space and to bring more cyclists and the mobility hub in the future beyond just the repair aspect of it, having a place for cyclists to gather, socialize, learn about how to fix their own bicycles, seems like a win win situation. So thank you for your consideration.

Our next speaker is James Huang. James, you may unmute your mic.

Good evening, members of the council. I'm James from Woodbridge. I'm in support of this maintenance facility pop up idea. Since we have a permanent facility coming up but further in the future, a pop up is a good way to get the ball rolling, give the public access, give them a preview, get feedback in a way that's kind of fast and low cost. Lots of cities across the world do these kind of little pop ups or, like, temporary street takeovers, that type of thing to give people a taste of what it would be like and gather feedback for very low cost, temporary periods of time.

And, yeah, so I'm in favor of this. Any data we get from it can only be used to help the future permanent bike facility and get people excited about what's coming. As a side note, I would also suggest that since the bike facility is going to be in the parking garage office, there is one office remaining that's like the former Spectrum Motion offices next to the Amtrak ticket booth. That one is also unused, and I think it would be a great spot for a small library branch there, great park. That area doesn't really have a library. And a small library there could also be a way to activate the station. Thank you.

Our next speaker is Tai Chuang. Tai, you may unmute your mic. You have ninety seconds.

Hi, council members. My name is Tai Chuang. I currently serve on Irvine's Transportation Commission, and I'm speaking on my behalf. I strongly support using the facility as a temporary pop up bicycle maintenance hub. I think it's a great idea. Community education is so important, to get people comfortable with riding their bikes, so I agree with mister who made that comment. And I live in West Park. I really only bike within a few miles of where I live because I don't feel that confident to go a lot further. I'm not that prepared to handle final repairs or any maintenance I might come up for a long ride. And so this kind of pop up facility would really support people like me to challenge themselves to go a little bit further and actually use my bike more.

So again, I really support this facility to move forward. Thank you.

And that is all mayor.

Thank you. That concludes the public comment. Councilmember Liu.

I know there's not a formal motion made quite yet, but can I suggest that if we are going to move forward I heard Councilmember Martinez Franco's concern and also mayor's concern about this being something in some of the speakers about how this being possibly delaying the project, the permanent project, and also taking some of the funding out of it? If you are unmanable to it, can I suggest that maybe we'll limit this to something that is temporary and not changing any of the character of the current as Director as has suggested, that it's going to be an as is situation? And also, obviously, we're going to have to go through an RFP process.

Well, before Council Member Go responds to that, let me ask, when is the report or the analysis that Council Member Martinez Franco referred to, When is that coming back to us?

It's coming very soon. Maybe you can elaborate, Luis. Thank you, mayor and council. The plan is to get the RFP out next month and so what we would return to the council then is with a potential contract or we would report out what the results of the proposal process was and so assuming worst case scenario nobody decided to propose on this would come back to the council report that and get additional direction from council or we get several good proposals to choose from their reviewed we select the best qualified firm and then we present that to the city council for its consideration and approval Luis can I provide one quick clarification The RFP you're mentioning is related to an operator, finding an operator? Correct.

There's also the capital component of the project. Can you discuss when the plans will be finished and ready? So we've got 30% complete design so far. And so what we would do is we would complete the design once we have an operator on board. That would give the operator some the ability to weigh in on the design of the building shell, make sure that we get their input in terms of the final package that we design and deliver we will construct and provide a building shell and then the operator would come in and build out their improvement the tenant improvements inside so we didn't want to get too far ahead in the process without having an operator on board to weigh in on what the building shell, how should that should function, and especially start building something if we don't end up with an operator later on.

So we wanted to move that in tandem with that process.

Let me just ask you, wouldn't it make sense to, in connection with the RFP, include in that request for proposals, the idea of a preview facility operation pop up as it's referred to here to get some professional response to that as a way of moving it forward?

Yes it's definitely an option. So we basically go out together at the same time. Not necessarily a separate RFP but it could be a portion of the RFP is dedicated to this pop up concept. In the previous presentation we gave to the council, the spectrum motion office was identified as a potential work share kind of space that we would lease that to an operator to lease it as shared workspace, for instance. But if the council's direction is to use that as a pop up function or feature initially then we would take that direction said but yes we could bundle both of those together identify who the operator will be allow the operator to start doing a pop up event or a pop up facility in the Spectrum Motion Building while we design and build out the permanent mobility home.

Well that would make me feel a lot more comfortable with this. And how long would it take to produce the RFP? We're hoping to get it on

the street by next month, within the next month. But then,

how quickly would it come back?

Typically we provide thirty days for respondents to review the proposal and submit their own proposals and then probably three weeks to review the proposals that come in and grade them and sit down and discuss it with the team and identify who the best qualified proposer is and then enter into negotiations with that top ranked firm on the potential deal points for the lease agreement and the use and then we would come back to the council separately with the recommendation. That

sounds to me like a useful order of things in a way of allowing this to move forward pretty quickly. Councilmember go.

Thank you. I definitely think councilmember Liu's request the idea is to accelerate this and this enhances. Allows us to utilize the space now which does not cost us any more significant any significant amount to get get the process started and so with that I just want to make a motion to move that we direct city manager to create an rfp to allow the utilization of the former spectrum motion office for temporary pop up use for maintenance facility.

Second.

Motion and a second. I'm just going to ask straight out, this would be a separate RFP as opposed to the one that's going to be going forward right away?

This would be a separate RFP. It would be shorter in duration so that we could turn around as quickly as possible and open up a pop up while we go through the longer, more formal process for the permanent operator and capital improvements. All

right. There's a motion and a second before us. Any discussion on it? Would the clerk please call the roll?

Councilmember Carroll. Yes. Councilmember Go. Yes. Councilmember Liu. Yes. Councilmember Martinez Franco. No. Councilmember Trusieder.

Yes.

Vice Mayor May.

Yes.

Mayor Aigran. No. Carries five to two with councilmember Martinez Franco and Mayor Agram voting no.

Thank you, Councilmember Goh. And this allows us now, having dealt with item 5.2, to move on to our final item on the agenda. Item 5.3, would the clerk please identify this item of business by title and subject?

Consideration of a request by Councilmember Liu to discuss the city tourism readiness and competitiveness assessment.

Thank you. And now I'll turn to Council Member Lu to further introduce this item.

Thank you, mayor and council colleague. So over the next three years foreseeable future, we are going to have a series of large events in Southern California, including the FIFA World Cup and the Olympics and the Super Bowl. And we had just announced that the city of Irvine will be hosting the USA men's team for FIFA, which is exciting and a lot of community excitement has come out of that announcement. In last March I introduced a memo asking the city manager and city staff to provide a comprehensive coordination plan in anticipation of these events and I appreciate that the staff has since returned with a report to help guide our preparations. For the world cup we are officially picked as I said and we' looking forward to community events open to the public and in turn the City Of Irvine will see an increasing lodging transit business demands meaning it is important that Irvine is prepared as a tourist hub additionally as a tourist hub we need to provide tourists and Irvine residents with accessible local and statewide public transportation as miss sehr had just shared earlier in her submitted comment this requires working with both amtrak and metro link on transportation accessibility in Irvine and the surrounding area so we have a lot of planning to do.

The opportunity for our city to promote its tourism efforts has never been better which is why I' requesting a comprehensive coordination plan from the city manager to accommodate the anticipated increase in visitors in March 2025. To build on that effort and ensure our city is positioned to maximize the economic benefits while safeguarding the quality of life for our residents I' now bringing forward this city tourism readiness and competitiveness assessment and this will be done in partnership with the university of california irvine the greater irvine chamber and other stakeholders and is necessary to ensure our community and businesses are fully prepared. And I'm ready for any questions or comments. All

right. Thank you for that introduction. Council Member Martinez Franco.

Yeah, I think it's a wonderful idea, Council Member Lu. I just want to make sure that I know that you mentioned the analysis will include stakeholders, but I wanted the language to be more specific to unions and so they can receive fair pay to receive fair pay wage and CWAs so they can hire trained and skilled workers that get paid fairly and provide can provide better life to their families. And what are we doing as a city to protect them? Because as we receive more tourism, there's going to be more influx of money. And these people deserve to get paid better.

But I hope that there is an inclusion specifically that these unions get asked. Thank you.

Thank you councilmember Martinez Franco, councilmember Tresieder.

Thank you. I really appreciate this item. I think it makes a ton of sense to plan ahead. We will have a lot of lot of events happening in short succession so I do agree with council member Martinez Franco and that I'm hoping that in addition to the stakeholders who are named here that we can also have unions that are relevant for this area. Thank you.

Thank you councilmember Cecilia, councilmember Carroll.

Thank you mayor. Yeah I just want to just also just thank my colleague for bringing this forward as my successor on the hotel improvement district committee. I really do appreciate her bringing this forward. I think it's really important that we take a look at these just these metrics from a data point of view. And just for the public's benefit, we have the second largest hotel community after Anaheim, California, the home of Disneyland.

We really do have a thriving, amazing economic backbone in the businesses. The businesses that use our hotel community, the people that visit Irvine, our destination Irvine platform that we've developed that Councilmember Lee is now leading the committee on, just really our our banner programs to just advertise our city. And if there's any sort of piece that's a component of the economic juggernaut of our city, it's the businesses, and the tech companies, and the startups, and the big companies everywhere from the Edwards down to the incubator company, and every med device and manufacturing company in the IBC, and in the spectrum in between that need thousands of corporate apartments, and as Councilmember Liu said, which are used by these hotels. And in addition to that, it's also an incredible footprint for economic activity, which will only be borne out by the data when you consider the tens of thousands of families that we have at the Great Park every summer that's programmed amazing ly by our community services staff. So, you know, I would just totally support Councilmember Liu and supporting, again, our hotel community and our businesses in Irvine, because no great city is without a thriving hotelier community that's willing to give back to the community like ours does.

Thank you

very much, mayor. Thank you, councilmember Carroll. Mr. Peterson, how many public commenters have requested to be heard?

Thank you, mayor. We have five who request to speak. Why don't we hear

from them at this time?

Thank you, mayor. If I could call forward Susan Sayer and Marina. And we'll start with Ms. Sayer.

Hi, good My evening name is Susan Sayer and I'm a long time Irvine resident. You're asking for tourism readiness for future national and world sports events, many of which will make Irvine an ongoing tourist hub. Tourist hubs need to provide national international tourists and local residents with both local and statewide public transportation this will require access to both local public transportation and statewide public transportation this will necessitate an increase in Irvine Connect services throughout the entire city of Irvine including giving access to uci neighborhood venues will also require access to metro link and amtrak train transportation to tourist destinations located in Los Angeles down to San Diego. Access to destinations via metro link and amtrak trains have a serious problem and in person ticket sales and passenger support services at Irvine Stations and many other Orange County stations have been eliminated. I recently tried to purchase an amtrak around trip ticket from Irvine to San Diego but was unable to do so I found the Irvine Train Station Ticket Office dark and office permanently closed with only security personnel in attendance.

There was a posted metrolink schedule but no posted amtrak schedule. There was a posted qr code for the m track schedule and a kiosk to use for the purchase of the tickets the security guard was assisting a potential metrolink passenger with purchasing a metro link round trip ticket but they were undergoing considerable difficulties with the kiosk. No am track or metro link personnel were available to provide information or assistance with accessing tickets assisting with assessing ervine public transportation resources or accessing tourist related venues and hotel accommodations there were no printed schedules or any tourist destination related flyers I tried calling amtrak for assistance but was on hold for over twenty minutes before I gave up If irvine wants to create a tourist hub it will necessitate working with amtrak which is federally funded and metro link which is state funded to reopen Irvine' s train station and provide in person public assistance with accessing public transportation options and tourist accommodations and venues. The automated kiosk clearly is insufficient and online ticket purchasing will not be sufficient to meet the needs of tourists. Thank you.

Thank you. Marina? Welcome.

Hi. Good evening council members. I'm Marina. I represent the Irvine Marriott. And I do want to say, first of all, I'm really excited about the global events that are coming up.

This is great for Irvine to elevate its position in the world stage. However, that opportunity is very fragile. I do want to say that specifically talk about one critical factor about all of this is the cost of doing business, especially labor. Today, we're competitive because we're allowed we are aligned with the surrounding markets like Jose Mesa, Anaheim, Santa Ana, all operating the same minimum wage. So basically, if we increase minimum wage just for these markets, you're talking about increasing minimum wage in perpetuity.

So after these events are over, hotel businesses are sustaining a high minimum wage, which is not sustainable. While these are unintended consequences, hotels, restaurants will be forced to reduce staffing and services. Entry level opportunities will shrink and ultimately we risk becoming a higher cost market with reduced service level. Most importantly this is not just a hotel issue when the business shifts it impacts restaurant traffic retail spending, and the city tax revenue will go down. And while the intention is to support our workers, the outcome is going to be reduce hours, reduce opportunities, and shift jobs out of Irvine entirely.

So I just want to tell you that I oppose the minimum wage increase just around these events because it is in perpetuity. And we need to seriously consider how this affects the city in the long term. So I do encourage having a competitive and cost impact analysis done for not just surrounding these events, but for what happened after the events are over. And I'm speaking on behalf of one of the largest hotel in Irvine, and I'm opposing the minimum wage increase to 30. Thank you so much for listening to me tonight. I appreciate it.

Thank you for your comments.

Mr. Mayor, our last in person speaker does have AV materials. So if I may, I'll transition to Zoom and then come back to that individual.

And this will then be our last?

Correct. So there's one more in person, which we'll come back to that individual. And we have two on Zoom.

All right. So close the queue now, please.

Thank you, mayor. Our next speaker is Sid Rahmani. Sid, you may unmute your mic.

Good evening, mayor and council members. My name is Sid Ramani. I serve as vice chair of the hotel improvement district committee for Destination Irvine, and I'm also a local hotel operator. I'm here to speak in support of the proposed tourism readiness and competitive assessment. As stated, over the next several years, Irvine will be on a global stage with the World Cup, Super Bowl, Olympics, all driving increased visitation and demand.

This is a significant opportunity, but it is also highly competitive. Cities across Southern California are already preparing and positioning themselves to capture this demand. Visitors and event organizers will ultimately choose destinations that deliver the right balance of accessibility, experience, and value. This assessment brings clarity to that equation. It evaluates infrastructure, workforce readiness, cost of billing business, and our overall hospitality capacity, all of which will determine whether increased visitation translates into real economic benefit for our city.

From an operator's perspective, maintaining Irvine's competitiveness is critical. As operating costs increase, these costs flow through to pricing and pricing directly impacts demand, especially in a region with multiple nearby options. That's why a data driven approach matters. This assessment will help the city understand where we stand today and how different factors impact our ability to attract and retain visitation. It also supports more balanced decision making, ensuring we continue to support our workforce while sustaining a healthy business environment and protecting tourism as an economic driver.

I also appreciate that this includes quality of life considerations such as traffic, public safety, and community impact because long term success requires getting the balance right. I strongly support moving this forward. Thank you.

Our next speaker is telephone number 608. 608, you may unmute your mic. Hello, can you hear us?

Yeah, good evening. Good evening, Mayor and council members. My name is Yunheng Chung. I'm a GM at the AP Hotel Irvine. The World Cup and Olympics, which will bring increased visibility and demand to different areas.

As hotel operator, we see this as a major opportunity, not just for hotels, but for the broader local community and an unhealthy perspective. But coordination is not just important. Coordination is more important, naturally, not just in capacity. Hotels like us and having a clear and citywide strategy helps us better prepare. It's not about the filling of the rooms, but it's about creating strong and quantitative visitor experience that benefits the entire city of Irvine.

Otherwise, are neighboring cities nearby looking to get business from us. This assessment will help us align efforts across the hotels, restaurants, retail, local businesses and transportation, ensuring our Irvine is well prepared and competitive supporting local jobs and driving economical growth. So I also wanted to recognize the ongoing efforts with HIV committee and city staff. We've already seen strong collaboration in promoting tourism and positioning with Irvine to be competitive compared to our neighboring cities. So ultimately, is being proactive and data driven, making sure Irvine is being well prepared for the opportunities ahead.

It's about giving all the opportunities, but cost of doing business is extremely important to make sure to keep our business in Irvine. So I support this assessment to see clarity of data. Thank you.

And our last speaker is Sanon.

Welcome.

Good evening, Mayor Egren and members of the council. So my name is Sinan Bayar and I serve as the director of the strategic partnership at Versant University here in Irvine. So I'm expert in the tourism planning and destination development. Next slide please. So I have contributed to the World Economic Forum Travel and Tourism Development Index, worked on the destination development initiative in the UN Tourism, formerly World Tourism Organization, and the European Union's Smart and Sustainable Tourism Program.

Next slide please. So building on this experience, I have been conducting research on the Irvine's tourism potential since last September. So I truly value Irvine and believe the city has unique opportunity for strategic tourism development. I would like to thank council member Melinda Liu for bringing this important topic, this agenda. So the coming years will be unique moments.

Our region major global events are approaching including FIFA World Cup and upcoming Olympic games. In addition, Erwin being selected as the training base the US national soccer team has agreed on it, but these opportunities also bring new responsibilities rather than focusing only a single assignment or report. I believe Irvine will benefit from developing a comprehensive five year tourism master plan. As shown in the framework, Irvine has already a strong tourism ecosystem including business and innovation, sports and events, outdoor recreation, academic institution, culinary diversity, and regional connectivity. However, next slide please.

Unlock this potential strategic coordination is essential. A successful tourism strategy requires collaboration among all stakeholders. This includes local government, destination organization, DMOs, hotels, transportation partners, universities, park and recreation institutes, and broader business community. So for this reason, organizing a tourism master plan conferences that bring these stakeholders together could help develop the shared vision and the clear roadmap the next five years. So I would be happy to contribute to support the city of Irvine at this process.