City Council - Regular Meeting

Recording in progress

Good evening. Welcome to the City Council meeting for June 9th. Madam Clerk, will you please call roll?

Council Member Dillard?

Here.

Council Member Lothian? Here. Council Member Suzuki? Present. Vice Mayor Cazares? Here. Mayor Rapastathis?

Here. Thank you. We begin every meeting with an invocation and flag salute, and today that will be given by Council Member Dillard.

Thank you. Well, good evening. There's a lot of people here today, so hopefully it's for all good stuff. My invocation is that in the month of June, we're considered halfway or almost halfway through the year. So what I would just like to encourage this very large, beautiful crowd is to be thankful and to be kind to one another and to be forgiving. That's what I have to say. Shall we stand for the salute? Shall we begin? I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands, with liberty and justice for all.

Sorry, city manager comments? I have none. Community bulletin reports. Let's see. left my community bulletin report. Sorry, I'm thrown off because something's happening here. Okay, well, I'll first say... The Flag Day Parade will be this Saturday at 10 a.m., so please, I'd like to encourage everyone to be there. It's the nation's 250th, and our subcommittee made of Vice Mayor Casares and Council Member Lothian have... come up with different activities. They also, we have banners and 250 year plaques out and thank you to the staff for going through all of those and making sure all the businesses have those so when you go you'll see those. I know there's a number of other things. Thank you, there's also movie night at Harry Griffin Park this Friday at 7 p.m. or at sunset and so the movie will be Captain America First Adventure. We couldn't get Top Gun because they're replaying it in the movie theater. And so I called Tom Cruise, but he said sorry. So anyway, sorry about that. So I'll go to Vice Mayor Casares.

I have none. Thank you.

Council Member Suzuki. Thank you.

Well, I'm excited about Captain America because I'm a Marvel fan. But also on June 27th, mark your calendars. I'm giving you the heads up. In the police department, La Mesa Police Department community room, we will be hosting AI safety for seniors. And we're going to be partnered with AARP. And we're going to have a La Mesa Police Department detective and and tentatively an FBI person as well. So the first half is gonna be a panel talking about the scams, AI scams that our seniors are facing. So hopefully seniors come and attend and if you've got a parent at home like I do, I have a 92 year old who sometimes asks me if she should send somebody money on our phone and because you know these things are starting to expand so please um attend it's going to be at two o'clock at the community room on saturday june 27th and it's it's it's about going to run about an hour and a half to two hours so please come um i'll talk after everybody i have my community bulletin reports now council member lothian

yes thank you uh i want to thank uh vice mayor lauren cazares for partnering for being my co-chair on the america's 250th birthday guys we really i think went off uh all of the village is covered in bunting for the entire parade route we've got the 250-year uh circle placards uh we've got national anthem being sung all of these uh decorated uh uh carts and and floats and all this other stuff So lots of enthusiasm. The staff was amazing. So I'm really excited about that. And that's, of course, this Saturday. Also today was our ribbon cutting for the downtown La Mesa sign. I felt like we were doing the ribbon cutting for the Golden Gate Bridge. I mean, it was so excited. So many people there. Everybody's laughing and giddy. I wish I wasn't here. I still I wish I was still down there. I'm even wearing the red ribbon from what is cut. I'm going to keep it as a keepsake. It's fantastic. and last but not least my daughter and grandson just walked in and this is the first i've been up here for almost five years the first time she's walked into la mesa city council chamber she lives in nashville so laney and my little my only grandson eddie v uh thanks for coming laney councilmember dillard

I have no idea. Okay. Just really quick. The downtown sign, if you haven't had an opportunity to see it, or if you made a tile, please go down and see that. We had the ribbon cutting, as Council Member Lothian said. Also, the Flag Day Parade, I said. Talked about movie night. Thank you. I want to dispel any myths. I know everything on social media is always true, but let me just tell you that the movie theater at Grossmont Center is I'm excited to announce the AMC Theater will be coming to La Mesa. So even though that closed down, there will be movie theater at Grossmont Center. They'll reopen in 2027 after a full renovation, and we have more exciting updates at Grossmont Center, the redevelopment efforts. So look forward to seeing something on the 15th. We're going to put out some things. And they'll have recliners.

So those of you who like to recline, so...

Join a board or commission. If you have an opportunity, application deadline is Monday, July 6th. Join the community cleanup neighborhood around University Avenue. The event is Saturday, June 27th, starting at 9 a.m. Trash pickers and buckets will be provided. Bring sunscreen and water. Starting Thursday, June 11th, La Mesa's new e-bike safety ordinance begins. Riders must be at least 12 years old and have to use a Class 1 or Class 2 e-bikes. Police will be giving warnings for 60 days to help spread the word. Citations will start August 11th. Participate in the city cycling event. Learn essential cycling tips, including bike safety and handling. That will be June 27th at 10 a.m. at the La Mesa Library. And I think that's it for me. Thank you very much. Oh, one last thing. Just want to say thank you to Public Works. Again, we got the stop sign at 3rd and Lemon, and we're moving forward. It's on the agenda for 3rd and Finley. So that had not been a four-way stop. And so my whole life, I had a couple near misses on my paper route. Not recently, like when I was a child. And supplementing my pay here, delivering papers. but I appreciate the public works. Okay, so moving on, we're on to additions or deletions by staff or council. And so now we have a presentation, I assume, I hope that's why everyone's here.

Helix Charter High School 70th Anniversary.

Mr. Hardenberger, thank you. Yes, sir.

Right here is perfect. Good to see you. So, oh, thank you very much.

Hi. Good to have you. So we're celebrating, or Helix High School, I should say, is celebrating their 75th anniversary. I was part of that first graduating class. And I'm just kidding around, but I'd just like to read this, so bear with me. Whereas Helix Charter High School, located at La Mesa, California, first opened its doors September 11th, 1951, establishing a proud tradition of educational excellence. The creation of Helix High School following years of planning and advocacy by the Grossmont Union High School District and to local residents to address the growing educational needs of the post-war population. Due to the construction delays, Helix began its first academic year on the campus of Grossmont High School, demonstrating resilience and being adaptive while building a strong foundation of community. Officially named in 1951, Helix High School adopted the Highlander's identity, establishing traditions and a sense of pride, continuing to unite students and staff and alumni. Helix serves as a traditional public high school from 1951 to 1996, and in 1998 became the first comprehensive public high school in California to convert to a charter high school, reflecting a commitment and innovation while preserving the longstanding community values. Helix High School serves approximately 2,500 students supported by nearly 200 staff members, fostering a diverse and inclusive learning environment dedicated to both academic and personal growth. The school provides a rigorous and comprehensive educational program designated to prepare all students to graduate college ready, also equipping them with skills necessary for careers in military service, lifelong success. Helix offers a wide range of academic pathways, including technical education, biochemical, business education, of course math. They also have an outstanding, robust athletic and performing arts program and extracurricular. Guided by its mission and principles, the Highlander Way is HELIX CHARTER HIGH SCHOOL CONTINUES TO PROMOTE HIGH STANDARDS, INNOVATION, AND COMMITMENT. THE CELEBRATION OF ITS 75TH ANNIVERSARY MARKS A SIGNIFICANT MILESTONE HONORING DECADES OF EXCELLENCE, LASTING IMPACT OF HELIX CHARTER HIGH SCHOOL. NOW, THEREFORE, I, MARK ARAPASTAPHIS, THE 23rd MAYOR OF THE CITY OF LAMESA AND THE ENTIRE CITY COUNCIL DO HEREBY CONGRATULATE HELIX CHARTER HIGH SCHOOL ON THE OCCASION OF ITS 75TH ANNIVERSARY. I'D LIKE TO EXTEND THEM A CONGRATULATIONS. I'M GOING TO ASK MR. HARDENBERGER TO JUST SAY

Thank you, everyone. I'm new to the Helix family. I didn't have the opportunity to go to high school there, but I'm the charter board chair, and I've been, my kids have been going there for, my daughter will be a senior next year. Hannah, yeah, I know it's a real thing. The work that Helix does, the staff, the community that they've created is unbelievable, and they do amazing work. Recently, just California Distinguished School Award, Just benchmark after benchmark where they continue to excel, being shown many, many times as one of the top schools in the county and the state. The staff there is amazing. The people there are amazing.

Lauren and Duchess are amazing. They're my favorite.

And I just want to thank you very much.

Go around the horn.

He didn't say it, so I'll say it. So it's a call and response. Once a Scotty. There we go. All right. Thank you, everyone. Have a good night.

Good evening, everyone. For those of you who don't know me, I'm Vice Mayor Lauren Casares, and I was a Peter Pan Jr. Theater and Seahook Theater person myself, graduating and going through for seven years, I believe. And so I'm really excited that we are all here tonight to celebrate the amazing director and our mayor, Dr. Ray. So I'm going to share a little bit about some of these accomplishments. And then if you are here for this, I'm going to ask you to join us on a stage for a photo afterwards. Whereas, Dr. Marco Rapastathis is a lifelong resident of La Mesa whose unwavering commitment to education, the arts, and community service has positively impacted generations of young people and families throughout the region. Since first participating in Peter Pan Junior Theater as a student, Dr. Rapastathis has devoted nearly five decades to the organization, growing from a young performer into a dedicated volunteer, director, mentor, and leader who has shaped the lives of countless students through the performing arts. Peter Pan Junior Theater, founded in 1970 to provide students in the La Mesa Spring Valley School District with opportunities to experience theater arts, has become a cherished institution dedicated to developing character, leadership, confidence, and creativity in young people. And Dr. Rapastathis, has played a vital role in advancing that mission for more than 40 years. Recognizing the need to continue fostering artistic growth and leadership opportunities for students beyond middle school, Dr. Rappasathis helped establish Seahook Theater in 2007 as an extension of Peter Pan Junior Theater, creating a volunteer-based program that provides high school students with professional quality theatrical experiences while promoting strong character and leadership through the arts through his vision dedication and countless volunteer hours dr rapastafis has guided hundreds of productions and for thousands of students including myself and created a welcoming environment where young performers learn teamwork discipline responsibility self-confidence and service to others As director of Peter Pan Jr. Theater and Seahook Theater, Dr. Arapisapis has consistently emphasized that the true purpose of theater extends beyond performance, using the arts as a vehicle, leadership, character, cultural literacy, and lifelong skills that benefit students both on and off the stage. Dr. Rapastathis' extraordinary commitment to youth theater reflects the values of service, education, mentorship, and community engagement that have long distinguished the city of La Mesa and enriched its cultural life. Now, therefore, I, Lauren Casares, Vice Mayor of the City of La Mesa, and the entire City Council, on behalf of the City of La Mesa and its residents, do hereby commend Dr. Mark Arapasapis, or Dr. A, for his exceptional dedication to Peter Pan Jr. Theatre and Seahook Theatre. and for his lifelong commitment to inspiring, educating, and empowering young people through the performing arts. He had further proclaimed that the city of La Mesa expresses its deepest gratitude and appreciation for Dr. Arafat Safis' decades of volunteer service, leadership, and advocacy on behalf of youth theater and arts education.

Congratulations.

I'm not going to speak long. Thank you very much, everyone. I couldn't understand why I kept seeing certain faces in the audience. and i talked to the city manager i said i know some of these people they really must be unhappy about their streets so so thank you so much for showing up that's uh very kind of you i appreciate seeing all of you um and thank you to vice mayor casares for and the council for doing that it was above and beyond but Thank you to my friends and colleagues and family for being here tonight. I appreciate all the support from you all the time. It's a team effort, obviously. Without Peter Pan Junior Theater, we wouldn't have Mace Arts Academy, and I appreciate that family as well. Even though I'm retired, they always include me, and I appreciate all of them. So thanks for being here tonight.

And you don't have to stay.

You want them up here for a photo. I'll let them do that.

If you are or have been a part of PPJT and or Seahook in any capacity, please come up here.

Thank you.

Hey, hey, hey!

thank you all right i'll do that to you all right okay Thank you, everyone, for indulging. That was very nice of all of them. We're going to move forward and do the people's business. So public comment. First person is Stacy Turner, followed by Cesar Javier. Welcome. Stacy Turner, yes, there we go. Welcome.

Good evening, Mr. Mayor and city council members. My name is Stacy Turner, and I'm a La Mesa City Parking Commissioner. I'm here today to respond to the five suggested parking changes which were presented at the last meeting, May 26, by Councilwoman Lothian. At the last parking commissioner meeting on May 19th, we discussed the proposed parking changes and I would like to share the results of the parking commissioners meeting regarding the parking suggestions made by Councilman Lothian and the anonymous parking commissioner. The parking commissioners at the May 19th meeting agreed that the red curb near Coyne House should be evaluated by city engineers to determine whether additional parking could replace the lengthy red curb. We also agreed that the loading zone in front of Turpin and Rattan on Palm should be assessed with the idea that the zone could be shortened and perhaps two additional parking spaces could be found there. We agreed that the bike racks could be moved to the sidewalks where they would not interfere with pedestrian flow and that the newly available parking space should be preserved for motorcycles and not golf carts. We agreed that the trees in the Allison lot should be left there for now because the Allison parking lot is slated for redevelopment once the adjacent apartment structure is completed and when funds are available. To take the trees out now would increase long-term costs. We agreed to paint parking tees on all downtown streets to maximize parking, and we identified streets where we felt it would be advantageous to have tees painted there sooner than later. We ended the meeting with the understanding that our responses would be forwarded to City Engineering for review. My own personal opinion is that the existing bike racks should not be moved off the asphalt because they are adjacent to dining areas. Additionally, I've seen both bikes and motorcycles using those spaces, sometimes at the same time. Also during events, those spots are not available to cars when the Mesa Boulevard is closed, so moving the racks would not increase parking during events. Also, I drove around this past Monday at noon and at 4 p.m. to see the parking availability in the village. At both times, there was plenty of parking available on 4th, on 3rd, on Lemon, on Allison, in the Allison lot, on Palm, and also on the Mesa Boulevard. I conclude that La Mesa Village currently does not have a general parking problem during the normal day.

30 seconds.

I believe we have a large events parking problem, and I will be suggesting at the next parking commissioner meeting on June 16th that we identify areas that can be used for parking during large events so that we can address those particular parking needs. Thank you.

Thank you very much. Next is Cesar Javier, and after that we have Purita Javier.

request uh sir my wife first thank you good evening i am parita javier city of the sun oh oregon from poison gas. We are hurt and live in fear from

Poison gas.

Poison gas. We breathe from next door home. Business. Business since 1997 for me and two children. Oh, 2012 before my husband. We sought the representation from Council Rivera in 222, but still, this day, nothing has been done to abate the

I cannot do that.

Business. In fact, as a judge, Dick,

DECLARE.

DECLARE THAT POLICY CHANGE IS THE RIGHT THING TO DO. WE WERE REFERRED TO APCD, BUT THE CITY CALLED. 30 SECONDS.

We apologize that we may be a disturbance to the council and our fellow San Diegans, but we must share something that is crucial to survival, you know. This is what we share that must not happen in my city. I lived here 2007 until 2012.

Thank you. Sorry, your time's up, but we have all your information. Oh, no. Oh, I'm sorry. You have to stop this clock. Yes, sir. I apologize. I didn't know you had two speaker cards. Please continue. I'm sorry.

I hopped from one apartment to another while doing my wealth getting as a contractor, as a substitute teacher, licensed driver instructor, La Mesa. I think bankrupt, it went bankrupt. And also serve as senior volunteer for six months. the same time with serving El Cajon Police Department. I thought of coming here because I think we have a representative to Sandag, and we promised ourselves to join and work together to find solution to our community concern. Community concern that are common, particularly in the city of San Diego. We have a substation that is rejecting electricity. Influx, we call it in electrical term. And it is a deadly environmental hazard, if I might describe it. We have also a CDC garden, public garden, which is a blight. It doesn't represent the vision of Mrs. Obama when it was sponsored or promoted. An envy of world politicians because it's a transition for those refugees coming over to America. Worse is our poison gas emitting ceramics manufacturing, which was allowed, located, constructed, and operated by the owner with the business permit. I do not know how it was approved. And we found out through the district attorney, County of San Diego, that the decision was more on business advantage rather than health and safety of residents, like what is happening.

Thirty seconds.

We are here. to beg that it should not happen just for the sake of business and favor for those who are in power. The owner is a member of the San Diego pottery guild based in Balboa Park. And so I must end up saying it must not happen here. I lived here, and I wanted the cleanliness and safety of the city. Thank you, honorable mayor, and thank you for the counselors here. Thank you.

has Mary already come up? I'm sorry. Uh, Mary a yes. Thank you. Sorry. Got my cards out of order.

Okay.

What's that? Oh, I'm sorry. Yeah. Did I get it right? Yeah. Oh, thank you. Sorry. Thank you.

Okay. I'm here to, because I'm very concerned about Senate bill 79. I'd like it added to a future agenda, if possible. I've lived in La Mesa for almost 30 years, and now I'm being told that they can build a six-story apartment next door to my house. This was voted on without any sort of public input. And I know it wasn't you guys. It was at the state level. But as far as implementation, it goes into effect July 1st. And there's really no information about it. I need to make some improvements on my house, but it's like, OK, do I improve or do I just move? My home is 0.4 miles from the 70th Street trolley station. It's a little less than a mile walking distance from the station. My house can have these apartments, whereas people that are closer, walking-wise, don't. It doesn't make sense. It's like as the crow flies. It's not the distance, actual walking distance. It's going to ruin entry-level single-family neighborhoods. People don't want to raise families in six-story apartment buildings. And that's what they are. They're not homes. They're apartments. They want to raise their families in a place where they have a backyard. There's no infrastructure. 70th Street is a disaster as it is right now. We don't have sidewalks in La Mesa. I was told that was because we wanted to keep the rural nature of the city. And now we're being told that we have high rises in our neighborhoods. I'm just wondering if what La Mesa is considering, are they going to pair with some other cities and fight the fact that the state is mandating zoning as opposed to the city deciding what's good for the city? I just feel like I have an investment in my house. I'm a widow. I'm a senior. I have two children that are disabled. And I don't have money to move to a high-level neighborhood. I'm imploring on you guys to do something about it and not just let the state tell you. what's going to happen and what's going to happen to the city of La Mesa. Because I think it's going to be destroyed. We have enough trolley stations that a good portion of the city is just going to be high-rise apartments. And I'm not being a NIMBY. I'm being a mother, a person who lives in a neighborhood, who worked 20 jobs to be able to afford a house.

Thank you for your comment. Your time is up.

But thank you for your consideration.

Thank you for being here. Conflict disclosures by anybody on council? All right, so public comment on consent calendar 9-5. So, Cesar Javier, Mr. Javier, followed by, I'm gonna ask him to stay up for, Mr. Javier, you have one, two, three, four, five, six. So six items. Okay. Go ahead, sir.

I don't know how much time I could for each.

Related to the agenda item, you have three minutes per item.

So I will sum it up in three minutes. 9.5. Yes, let us approve this because, you know, this is a risky kind of job. Like the police officers in 2011, if I still remember, when I strongly recommended the increase in their pay. Actually, it's not only the pay, but rather something else that would boost their morale. like military soldiers. 9.7, you know, a clean community has something to do with health, longevity of humans. I wonder if cigarette butts are worth to be swept or discarded because let us accept that we engineered something we call unseen enemy, environmental hazards we created out of the modernity, development in our city. The things we touch, the air we breath, the water we drink, something parallel to that, cleaning up, clean food, clean and safe community. 9.8, it reminds us of mobility and circulation, but along with this item, we dream of something that could be incorporated in its development, engineering. For instance, When rainwater falls, the surface of the road is a nice way of conveying precious liquid into a nice design storm drainage. Look at our drainage. It's open. A minor sieve or a screen is only provided. We need a screen so that the debris could be easily collected. Declogging this drainage cost a lot, sir. 9.11, I think this is already budgeted by Sandag for street improvements. 22% of 0.86 billion is allocated for street improvements. Sir, hurry up, bring about your projects, and we will hear it in your presentation like what Lemon Grove has done, I think, last month. They presented, and that is the only way we could also put something leverage. Hey, excuse me, you're wasting your money because this is more priority. And we requested the city of San Diego, which is our show window, should present them rather than wasting money for something. like what is going on on bike lanes. Anyway, that's it, I think. And, sir, good luck. Leadership is very important. We had a lengthy discussion about leadership, and I think setting the example is really a challenge. I believe that the city of La Mesa, no matter how small, that we can do a lot of change in the delivery of public good. So I have still one minute. And that public good is something that we dream. Let us catch the water and have it collected above ground, underground, or in houses. Not exactly a mandatory, but we implement it. Homeowners, you got to have sizes of the trash can, how many gallons would be, and that would be a great leap towards solving our water, adequate water for firefighting, adequate water, clean water for survival. We have heard so many reports, true or not true, but we need water, that's empirical. We need water to irrigate our agricultural land. We need water to sustain clean and safe neighborhood. We need water to fight environmental hazards like the Tijuana River pollution. We need water to dilute the toxic fluid and put it into the treatment plant. We haven't seen a single centavo budgeted to clean it up, to provide cure, care, feed our victims. Sir, I do not know how to work together because that is a regional issue, that is a city-independent issue, unincorporated issue. issue for the region which hopefully with the leadership of the mayor and the rest of the district to hand out five dollars oh this is the the assistance from la mesa city of san diego responsible for district 8 imperial beach responsible for their city here is our donation but the question is can we trust them to spend that money that's the issue Sir, that is the crisis which we fear, aside from the air pollution that we experience next door. And for five years, they haven't responded to it, sir.

Thank you.

Thank you, sir, and thank you for listening.

Consent calendar, does anyone want to pull any items?

I just have a comment. Item 9.5, I don't want to vote on it separately, but this is the resolution approving our 2026 through 2029 MOU between the city of La Mesa and our firefighters local 4759. And I just want to thank everyone that was involved in this process. It was a long process. For those of you who are not aware, the city council is ultimately the approvers of this, but really we have dedicated staff members, including Gretchen Spaniel and her team, And then also the firefighters and their union have dedicated staff members that they spend a lot of time on this, going back and forth and trying to ensure that our firefighters have the absolute best that we can give because they are really, really critical in public safety. and of the safety of all of La Mesa. And so I'm really, really proud of the MOU that we have come to. There are rules about what we can and cannot discuss during the process, but my understanding is that it seems like everyone is happy with where this landed. And so I hope that I'm understanding that properly. But I want to say thank you to our city staff for working on this. Thank you to the Firefighters Union and their representatives for spending a lot of time and effort on this, because I'm really excited about it.

Thank you.

Someone make a motion for this?

Can I just really quick just make, I'm sorry, I'm so sorry, just one quick comment about 9.6, since we're just making really fast. I am thinking that La Mesa should become the ice cream capital of the nation, because we are now gonna have Handel, so anyway, that was my one comment. Motion to approve, I second.

Motion carries with all council members voting yes.

Item 10-1 is a consideration resolution related to Senate Bill 707, 707 amendments. And Ms. Weigelman, you'll be giving the staff report. Thank you.

Honorable Mayor and Council, tonight I'll be providing an overview of Senate Bill 707, which was signed into law in October 2025 and represents one of the most significant updates to the Ralph M. Brown Act in decades. The purpose of SB 707 is to expand public access to local government meetings, modernize participation requirements, strengthens transparency, and reduce barriers to participation, particularly for underrepresented communities. This evening, staff is requesting council adoption of three resolutions necessary to comply with the portions of the law that become effective on July 1st of this year. Next slide, please. SB 707 was enacted to ensure that members of the public have greater access to local government meetings and additional opportunities to participate in the decision-making process. The legislation focuses on four primary goals, expanding public access, modernizing remote participation requirements, strengthening transparency, and reducing barriers to participation for communities that may not traditionally engage in public meetings. While SB 707 affects many public agencies throughout California, the requirements we are discussing tonight apply only to the city council and do not extend to the city's boards, commissions, or subcommittees. Next slide, please. Beginning July 1st of this year, SB 707 will require several changes to how city council meetings are conducted. The key requirements include providing remote public attendance options, ensuring equal opportunities for remote public comment, adopting a technology disruption policy, addressing language access requirements, and establishing reasonable outreach efforts to encourage broader participation in council meetings. The remainder of this presentation will walk through each of these requirements and the policies staff is recommending for council consideration this evening. Next slide, please. As mentioned on the previous slide, SB 707 requires City Council to provide remote participation opportunities for its meetings. To comply with this requirement, staff intends to use Zoom webinar technology to facilitate hybrid meetings, similar to the format used during the virtual meetings held throughout the COVID pandemic. For both non-agenda public comment and comments on agenda items, remote speakers will be called first, followed by in-person speakers. Remote participants may join either by telephone or through the webinar platform. However, for security purposes, attendees will participate in an audio only capacity and will not be permitted to enable video, share their screen, or use the chat function. To effectively manage hybrid meetings and ensure equitable treatment of all participants, staff recommends several updates to the city's public comment policy. First, the opportunity to request to speak on an item, whether in person or remotely, will close when the mayor opens public comment on that item. Second, at the conclusion of each public comment period, including non-agenda public comment and comments on individual agenda items, an announcement will be made indicating that the opportunity to submit a speaker card or raise a virtual hand has ended. Finally, both in-person and remote participants will be provided equal opportunities to address the council. Each speaker will be allotted three minutes or such time as may be established by the mayor, and microphones will be muted when the speaker's allotted time has expired. Next slide, please. An additional requirement of SB 707 is the adoption of a technology disruption policy. SB 707 requires that if a disruption occurs that prevents members of the public from attending or observing a city council meeting through the two-way telephonic or audiovisual platform, in this case Zoom, the city council must recess the open session and make a good faith effort to restore service. The City Council may not reconvene the meeting until at least one hour following the disruption or until the services are restored, whichever is earlier. If service cannot be restored, the Council may continue only after making specific findings by a roll call vote. Alternatively, the Council may adjourn the meeting and continue the item at a later date. Next slide, please. SB 707 requires a council to determine what constitutes reasonable efforts to encourage public participation in council meetings, particularly among underrepresented and non-English speaking communities. The proposed resolution formalizes several outreach methods the city already uses, including the Notify Me subscription service, public participation information on the city's website outreach to media and good governance organizations and partnerships with community neighborhood and civic organizations the resolution also recognizes the city manager update as an additional communication tool and provides flexibility to utilize other reasonable outreach methods as communication practices and technologies evolve The proposed framework is intended to satisfy the requirements of SB 707 while allowing the city to continue implementing outreach efforts consistent with available resources. Next slide please. In addition to the requirements already discussed, SB 707 requires translation of agendas and public meeting information on the webpage into applicable languages based on the most recent American Community Survey data of the population served. The translation requirement applies only if the language is spoken by at least 20% of the city's population, and at least 20% of those speakers report speaking English less than very well. Staff reviewed the applicable American Community Survey data and determined that no language meets the statutory threshold for requiring translation of agendas or public meeting webpages. However, the city must still accommodate self-provided interpreters and allow translated agendas posting by members of the public in a designated area. Next slide, please. In addition to the traditional teleconference provisions of the Brown Act, there will now also be an alternative teleconference provision known as the Just Cause. When participating remotely for Just Cause, the teleconferencing member is required to participate for the entire duration of the meeting through both audio and visual technology. Members are limited to a certain number of Just Cause teleconference meetings based on the number of times the legislative body meets per month. For La Mesa, that's going to be a limit of five times in a year. Allowable reasons for just cause teleconferencing include contagious illness, care for child, parent, grandparent, sibling, spouse, or domestic partner, a need related to physical or mental condition that does not qualify as a reasonable accommodation for a disability, travel on official business for the agency, physical or family medical emergency that prevents a member from attending in person, to protect immunocompromised close relative from exposure to illness, or military service. Next slide, please. Lastly, SB 707 also allows a legislative body member with a disability to participate remotely in any meeting as a reasonable accommodation. If a reasonable accommodation request is granted, the legislative body member must participate with audio and video technology unless the disability results in a need to participate off camera. Disclose the presence of anyone 18 years or older and the general relationship to the legislative body member before any action is taken. The legislative body member must make such a disclosure at the start of the meeting and whenever thereafter there is a change to who is present. Staff will handle disability accommodation requests from the city council members on an individual and confidential basis through the city standard interactive process. Next slide please. With that, staff recommends that the council adopt the following draft resolutions, a resolution amending the public comment for city council and board and commission meetings, a resolution adopting a disruption of telephonic or internet service policy for city council meetings, and a resolution determining reasonable efforts to encourage public participation in city council meetings. This concludes my presentation, and I'm happy to answer any questions from the council.

Questions for Ms. Weigelman? Yes, Council Member Lothian.

Yeah, thanks for that presentation. I was trying to understand, there was something along the lines, if there was a technology breakdown, we have to adjourn our city council meeting?

Yes, it has to be adjourned for or recessed for at least an hour. So in that hour, we're fixing it, supposedly. Correct. Yeah, there is the option if there was like a closed session scheduled. But we normally hold our closed sessions before. But yes, you could go into closed session at that time if that was an agenda was already posted. But otherwise, we would recess for that hour or until the technology came back up.

Okay, and if it looks like it's over an hour, we can't go back to the meeting?

You can. You'd have to do a roll call vote and approve some findings regarding that we made a good faith effort of trying to get the technology working again.

Okay, and then public comments usually are about agenda items, but people come up here sometimes with things that have absolutely nothing to do with what's on the agenda. That's still going to be the policy. So people can come here and talk about, they can sing songs, they can do whatever they want remotely or in person for three minutes.

Correct. So at the beginning of the meeting, we have that general public comment, which is the non-agenda public comment. And then each item, at that time, they're supposed to be providing a comment on that item. But yes, both remote and in person. Okay.

If it turned out that we started getting 50 of these or whatever, does the city have the authority to go, you know what, we're going to knock those down to two minutes?

The mayor, the chair has the discretion of changing the time allotted. Okay.

I'm just, oh, sorry, Council Member Suzuki. Okay.

Just really quick. So what if the breakdown is on their side and not ours? So we don't have to adjourn, right?

No, we would not. If we can confirm that it's not on our side, then we can continue the meeting.

Thank you.

We have one speaker and then we'll finish doing this. So I'll just let the speaker, Mr. Javier. Thank you, sir. You have three minutes.

As far as our learning, our elected officials are not perfect in their intellect, in their cognitive, in their physical, in their emotional, and even spiritual. And therefore, with this kind of measure or program as a process, would... be a supplement. You know, feedback coming from the front liner or grassroots would provide you healthy assistance in terms of direction. or ASIMUT, as far as surveillance is concerned, so that we will be able to be guided in our decision-making. That is the ultimate purpose of this. We attended many meetings for five years and some processes are just mere, what you call that, a slight scratch on the surface. Some meetings has only one minute for every item discussed. Public agenda, two minutes at the county. Other cities, three minutes. So this would probably give us the standard to get that precious wealth of knowledge from the exposed grassroots or our population. We need that as leaders. Like a general, he would get hint from the scouts front line there. So it gives us now a what you call wealth knowledge on how to go about the decision. This is now addressing transparency and accountability, which we have discussed at the county meeting this morning. And there was a 50-50 decision from the left, from the right, from the center, and we were surprised. something is wrong. And through this program emanating from the central, the state, and even from the federal, we have to refine this and come up with an algorithm to ensure that this will be timely, efficient, and effective. We must be honest, something is wrong in some other processes. County, APCD, Sandag, name it. Advisory boards, particularly.

Thank you for your time. Your comment, your time is up.

Thank you for your listening. Go ahead. Go ahead and question her.

Yes. So I know there are very few kind of guardrails that we're able to put in place. And the reason that La Mesa... for a brief period of time has not had remote public comment after the COVID pandemic is because we were hate bombed, essentially, with hate speech. And so while I am very glad that remote public comment is coming back, I think overall it is a good thing for our city. I'm wondering... what kind, if any, um, limitations, um, exist. I know, you know, in general, it's protected by the first amendment. And so there's not really any, but I wanted to see if there was, I'd rather not advise the council of this tonight.

Of course, in public. Um, I don't want anyone to be testing the limits and the parameters just for fun. Um, it's, uh, There are parameters, but there's a lot of discretion with speech, and I can provide you the legal advice by independent memorandum.

Okay. Thank you very much. I appreciate that.

I was going to say the same thing, the same question, and I understand where the city attorney is going, but I'm going to agree with the vice mayor. There's very few parameters, so speech is protected unless it's, you know, people say, but anyways, I won't go into it because I know the attorney won't. I'm getting like a glare from him right now. I feel the heat on my face, and so. but you're correct, very few parameters, and so we're exposed, and what Council Member Lothian said as far as discretion, it's also the discretion of the council, the chair at the time of the meeting, but the council could bring something back, and like lots of bodies have, Sandag, I don't know how long they're there. I think it's two minutes. So it's up to the council can do something. Am I right to say that? That the council can initiate something and put it on the agenda? Thank you. All right. So any other questions or comments regarding this?

I will go ahead in that case and make a motion to approve item 10.1 A, B, and C. Second.

All right. Very good. I'll second too. No, I'm just kidding.

Motion carries with all council members voting yes.

One last thing. I won't talk about it, but I do think it's our duty as council members to let the public know when they see something and something's happening and they're wondering, why didn't you stop that person for saying those things? That we're not monsters, but we need to let them not hear on the dais, but face-to-face, see them at coffee, see them at whatever. This is what we have control over and what we don't have control over. I think it's important the public knows that so they know we're not just sitting on our hands when something horrible's happening, right? Okay. Sorry. Moving on. Council initiated consideration of authorizing a letter to support California Association Joint Powers Authorities for public agency tort transfer reforms regarding liability claims. And I'm going to let the city manager explain this.

Thank you, Mayor. This is a consideration of signing on to a letter of support to the California Association of Joint Powers Authorities. There's no bill in Sacramento right now, but what this is trying to do is get some legislation eventually in Sacramento to protect local agencies against tort claims. We're getting more and more claims. There are higher dollar values. It's draining a lot of resources. People think cities have deep pockets, but we don't. So we're trying to protect the taxpayer dollars. La Mesa is a member of what's known as Public Entity Risk Management Authority, PERMA. That's essentially our insurance company. There's about 50 agencies that we joined together. We have a pool of money, and we have deductibles, we have liability, and they help us pay out claims. And they sent this request to us to try to advocate for reforms and limits and caps in Sacramento to protect all local agencies.

So that's brought it forward. So I'll make a motion to move this. Thank you.

Motion carries with all council members voting yes.

Item 11-2, I will hand this over to the vice mayor. You can explain that.

Thank you. Yes, so as you know, we had a non-agenda public comment from one of our constituents, Andrea Beth Damski. recently, and I've also heard from the owners of the 7-Eleven at this intersection. Tragically, there was a fatality at this intersection. It does not appear to be anything related to the city. It was an accident. However, it has brought up that it is quite a dangerous This is an intersection that I drive by nearly every single day, living on, and I'm sure Celtic member Suzuki does as well, living on the northwest side of La Mesa, as I do. So this is Baltimore, where people kind of use it as a speedway. If you're going north, you pass Lake Murray on your left, or Lake Murray on your right if you're going south. And it gets you near multiple freeway entrances. And so people drive really quickly on the street. Lake Park Way is a side street where we have the 7-Eleven on that corner. And then there is housing where many folks live. And so I agree with our public commenter that this is a fairly dangerous intersection. Part of that is because it brushes up against the city of San Diego. And so we're limited on what we are able to do. However, I had a great conversation with our city manager and he agreed that it was a good idea to direct staff to review the intersection for traffic safety options. We're not proposing any specific options, but rather to review the intersection and see what can be done. I do know that an existing light is down and I was told that the city is doing our best to get that light back up. as soon as feasibly possible. So that is my item.

Pretty straightforward. And Council Member Suzuki?

No, I think that this isn't great. I'm sorry. I just wanted, I was ready to second.

Well, why don't you, oh, whoever. I will make a motion to direct staff to review the intersection of Baltimore Drive and Lake Parkway for traffic safety improvement options. Second.

Second.

Motion carries with all council members voting yes.

Council committee reports. Council member Dillard. Council member Lothian. Council member Suzuki.

Just really quick. It's not a committee report, but I missed this the first time around. I just wanted to thank my, I have interns for the summer. I have Aubrey Christosimo and Macy Haro, and I am thankful for them. So I just wanted to introduce the public to them, and I'm excited for the things that we're going to accomplish.

Thank you. Council member, sorry, Vice Mayor Casares.

No problem. Myself and Council Member Dillard will be meeting with city staff for the future of MacArthur Park Subcommittee next week.

Excellent. Anyone travel? Okay. City Attorney remarks? Council, Vice Mayor Casares, from the bottom of my heart, thank you. That was very kind of you to bring everyone together. And they're all waiting for me at Alberts, so I'm going to adjourn the meeting. Thank you so much.