City Council - Regular Meeting

[Music] We have an ETA on the city attorney in La Mesa, correct? Good evening. Welcome to the city council meeting for September 9th. Madame Clerk, will you please call roll?

Council member Dillard here. Council member Lotheian here. Council member Suzuki here. Vice Mayor Kazarez here. Mayor Rapstatis here. We begin every meeting with a invocation and flag salute. Tonight's vocation flex salute will be presented by council member Suzuki.

So September 15th kicks off Hispanic Heritage Month and according to the 2020 US Census, Hispanic residents make up almost 40% of California's population. The Census Bureau also reports that around 27.9% of Lame Mesa's population is Hispanic. Hispanic Heritage Week started in 1968 under President Lyndon Johnson, who proclaimed, "The people of Hispanic descent are the heirs of missionaries, captains, soldiers, and farmers who are motivated by a young spirit of adventure and a desire to settle freely in a free land. This heritage is ours." A few years before President Reagan, uh, Ronald Reagan expanded the week to a month, he stated, "America's Hispanic heritage is an indelible and invaluable part of our history and a vital part of the creative forces that are shaping our future." And it's important to remember that that same spirit is alive in our Hispanic and Lati Latinex brothers and sisters who are either born in the United States or have come into the United States seeking that same freedom. Please stand for the pledge of allegiance. I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.

Thank you. Next on the agenda is the annual rotation of vice mayor. And so, thank you to um Council Member Dillard for serving as vice mayor and taking over and running meetings. And thank you to in advance to Vice Mayor Casaris who will now be vice mayor and all the duties that come with vice mayor. So, writing checks, making sure No, I'm just kidding. But thank you. Thank you. Uh city manager comments. I have none.

Uh community bulletin reports. I'll go through them quickly. Uh September is National Preparedness Month. Um so during this month, we encourage residents to prepare for emergencies. I'll go into more of that when we get to our proclamation. Uh this Saturday, September 13th, please join us for our annual safety fair from 9:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. Date Avenue parking lot, which is the parking lot adjacent to the police department. So between police department and city hall. So that's this Saturday. Please join us. Please let other people know because uh for people that don't watch the meeting or the you're in the uh general vicinity of the sound of my voice, please let people know it's this Saturday from 9 to 1. So if you can um bring your bike and helmet and participate in bike skills and drills, plus we are doing something new. We're giving away um to residents this uh reusable produce bag which we talked about we we tried out today at a local uh grocery store at at Sprouts. And so we're going to be giving these away for free if you come to the safety fair. And they're washable. They weigh almost nothing. So when you're getting scanned, the weight of the bag won't increase the price of your produce. But it's also the thing that I like most about this that is that they're easy to open. Unlike the other bags where you see people licking their fingers and doing all sorts of things to try to open the bags, these bags are easily open and they also have a cinch on them so they close easily. So they also have our logo on them. So you're you're advertising for the city of La Mesa. So, if you come, please um and we'll be talking more about those as we move along. Um help beautify uh Riviera Drive neighborhood. Join us in I Love Clean San Diego on Saturday, September

13th from 9 to 11:00. So, come to the safety fair or go there first, then come to the safety fair. And um it's for a community cleanup event. wear um closed clo closed towed shoes and comfortable clothes and some protection from the sun. Trash pickers and buckets will be provided. We're preparing an update to the downtown village specific plan. As part of this process, we're inviting you to an interactive community workshop to discuss the urban design elements of the downtown village on Wednesday, September 17th from 6:30 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. La Mesa Community Center. That's the 17th from 6:30 at 6:30. Join us in honoring longtime Lame Mesa resident Carol Lockwood who dedicated more than 10,000 hours of service to our community. We'll be dedicating a star to her on the Walkway of the Stars. On September 18th at 8:30 a.m. Bring your blankets and chairs for a free movie at MacArthur Park. On Friday, September 19th, we'll be be screening the new Disney movie Mufasa. Um enjoy vendors and games. It starts at 4:30 and then the movie starts after sunset. Learn about the benefits of trees and how to care for them during the tree planting demo uh training on Saturday, September 27th at 10 a.m. at Harry Griffin Park uh by attending you can enter that you can enter to win a 5gallon fruit tree. La Mesa Park and Rec Foundation is celebrating 25 years of giving back to La Mesa Parks. to celebrate. They're hosting their 25th annual annual disco party on Saturday 27th at the 6 uh to 10:00 p.m. The evening is set to be fun and it'll be philanthropic and there's chances to to get things and also to give money and um the proceeds will go to the new playground at Aztec Park. So, it's going

to be at the community center 20 uh at Saturday the 27th. Uh, we're partnering with Produce Good to pick. We're partnering with Produce Good to pick La Mesa residents trees and donate the fruit to local food pantries. You'll receive a receipt for the donation. No property is too small. If you have fruit trees, please contact the city. And lastly, save the date for Life 101 Expo happening Thursday, October 16th. We'll be hosting this event inside the police department community room. Participants will learn about life skills, a life, personal budgeting, renting, job tips, roommate hacks, and more. We'll share more details as we get closer. Vice Mayor Casaris,

I think you covered everything, but we're really excited about life 101. One thing that I'll share is there will be free professional head shot available for anyone that attends. So, it is geared more towards um our uh young folks, like high schoolers, but anyone is welcome if you need a fresh head shot. So, come join us. Thank you, Council Member Suzuki.

Um the first thing is I'd like to thank La Mesa Police Chief Ray Sweeney and our police department um for their consideration on August 29th. Um they made sure there was police presence at St. Martin of Touris Academy Mass and it was the day after the tragic shooting in Minne Minneapolis and um your presence went very far to calming our community's anxiety and fears. So, thank you very much for that. Um, the second thing is I'd like to acknowledge I Love a Clean San Diego, Serena Lee, and Hillary Ago for the clothing swap this Saturday at La Mesa Library. It was fantastic. Um, I brought home things that I did not expect my daughter to bring home, but it was really great and I encourage everybody to think about coming on December 6th. They'll be doing it again at the City of La Mesa Library. So, um, thank you again to Hillary and Serena.

Thank you, Council Member Loian. Are those uh head shots indoors or outdoors? Outdoor.

Oh, okay. Okay, great. Um, okay. Just a couple things. Uh, I'm sure a lot of people have been noticing a new restaurant that's about to open in downtown La Mesa, Hienda Casadores. And it looks like it's going to be open uh September or October. It is absolutely stunning. It looks like a restaurant out of Madrid. And I want people to know that it's the same restaurant tour who has given us Lemonchello uh Farmers Table uh Smoking the Brisket in Mission Hills. It's Farmers Bayga in Little Italy. It is Pedra Santa's which has got to be the most gorgeous restaurant in San Diego County. Very proud that the owner, Alberta Moreli, has chosen La Mesa not just for the, you know, as the location for multiple restaurants, but it's also his home. He's a La Mesa resident. Uh, and then the second thing, while I was driving yesterday, I spotted our city manager getting his hands dirty. Uh, he was at one of Lame Mesa's um I call like uh litter hotspots and he was out there sleeves rolled up and picking up trash and I was really impressed and you got to be the only city manager in the county or even the state that rolls up your sleeves that hard. So, thank you for that, Greg.

Council me council member Dillard. I I don't have anything.

Great. Thank you. Next, we have a presentation, a proclamation, which I'll read right now. Excuse me. Whereas National Preparedness Month creates an opportunity for every resident of the city of La Mesa to prepare their homes, businesses, and communities for any type of emergency. California residents have presently experienced um the effects of various disasters including severe winter storms, earthquakes, devastating wildfires resulting in loss of life, damages costing millions of dollars. The aftermath of the 2003 2007 firestorms in San Diego County and more recent wildfires across the state have devastated uh demonstrated pardon me the necessity for careful and thoughtful emergency prepared preparedness training and preparedness in your house among individuals, communities and local agencies. The recent unpredicted um unprecedented weather storms of 2024 brought an awareness to the dangers of heavy rain and flooding. Loss of life and damage to property can reduce um be reduced if appropriate emergency preparedness measures are taken before, during, and after major emergencies. The National Preparedness Month is observed in September and all citizens of the city of La Mesa are encouraged to participate in citizen preparedness activities. asked to review their readiness campaign um their own readiness and and to look at our readiness on our website at ready.gov or at hartlandfire.org to become more prepared. Now therefore, I am Mark Rapisthus, the 23rd mayor of the city of La Mesa and the entire city council do hereby proclaim the month of September 25th as national preparedness month and ask all people in the city of La Mesa to make sure that they have a plan for not only themselves but their family. And I'll just uh conclude by saying I've been on the council for 19

years and have been working on this for 18 of them. And what I find is after an emergency, everyone gets very active in their own plans. And we've become complacent in between those things. And so we're asking you to not be complacent. Make it part of your practice in your house. And remember that an emergency, everyone may not be at home when an emergency happens. That's why we prepare at school and at work and every other place, but we want you to have a plan for all of the other eventualities. So, if you're at work or if you're shopping or if you're somewhere else and your kids are somewhere else and your and your spouse is somewhere else that you all have a plan to contact each other. So, there you go. Next on the agenda, sorry, um is let's see, conflict disclosures by anyone on council. Then I'll move to the interview applicants for the opening on the youth commission.

We have public comment. Sorry, jumped right past that. I apologize. Public comment.

First we have Barbie Wheeler, followed by Andrea Beth Damsky. there. Okay, it's on now, right? Good evening. I stand before you again representing the residents of Belfflower Drive. We have two very big problems on our small street. It's a family street with young families with young kids. You've turned your back on us. We have been asking for help for a long time with little or no help from you, the council. Richard Evans has been running an illegal drug rehab house forever, calling it different names to cover up what it really is. Like a halfway house, a sober living house, and now it's a drug rehab facility. What next? Druggies for less. He is not qualified to drop operate a car. Nonetheless, drug hug rehab house. The house is full of crackheads and druggies. There have been numerous police calls to the drug house with a drug overdose as recent as July 23rd. On Wednesday, this past Wednesday, September 3rd, one of the tenant tenants, the renters, druggies from the drug house lit off a firecracker at 8:10 a.m. I'll say that again. am in the morning. It was witnessed by a neighbor who lives close to the house and she did call and report it to the non-emergency number. Aren't fireworks illegal?

Don't overlook this. Richard Evans website is full of lies and false statements. He needs to be stopped now. Now, we are told that there is a proposed youth group home going in right next door to the drug house. Two of the council members think this is a good thing. Who's lining your pockets? What idiot would put a vulnerable young people in a home right next to a drug house? Wise up. We turned in a petition signed by all neighbors on Bailflower Drive and neighboring streets opposing the youth group home. Copies of the petition have been sent to senators, assemblymen, as well as the governor of California. Yes, I know we were told that they're under two different departments and that kind of stuff, but an illegal drug house can't be under anything but law. investigate Evans and his drug house. Several of my neighbors are looking to moving off Belfflower Drive, not because they want to, but because they have young children and fear for their safety. I am saddened about knowing this is going to happen. I myself will not move. I myself will fight to save Bellflower Drive from druggies and the youth home. I will continue to come to council meetings and you will hear me speak on this matter until it's cleared up. Remove the drug house and not allow the youth home on Bellflower Drive. Stop them both now. We stand united and say hell no. Thank you.

Thank you. Andrea Beth Damsky followed by Martha Beckendall. For whom? Yeah.

Yes. Hello. Good evening, council members, vice mayor, mayor, friends, community members, and neighbors. My name is Andrea Beth Damsky. I live in the Lame Mesa neighborhood of Baltimore and Lake Murray Drive. I'm calling I'm talking to you about two things today. One is I recently had opportunity to visit the town of Monterey where they have these lovely repurposed parking meters that are used for allowing people to provide donations for homeless families and individuals. They're painted in bright festive colors. I thought it might be an interesting addition for us to bring something like this to our historic village area for um supporting our homeless community. I shared these photos with Vice Mayor Casares and um I appreciate her looking into the possibility of bringing this to La Mesa. The other thing I want to mention is um I live in an area where there are a lot of dangerous traffic accidents. Um I live on Lake Parkway very close to Baltimore Drive. We had a woman who was injured there last night right by the 7-Eleven. Um, we've had a recent accident on Baltimore and Lake and Lake Murray Drive. There are lots of accidents on the intersection of Baltimore and Lake and Fletcher Parkway as well. Um, I'd like to ask the city to look at doing what it can to uh improve the safety of our neighborhood. In particular, the intersection where I live comes south on Baltimore around a dry a blind curve where people trying to cross the street are easily not seen by cars speeding down that road. So, I appreciate your attention to that matter. Thank you.

Thank you. Uh Martha Backendall, followed by Janet Varala.

Good evening. I I've been here many times before talking about my community. Um, couple of things. U Griffin Park has gotten a little better with kids in the park. The principal finally sent out a letter to parents at the end of the school year last year after four years of me asking for some help and finally let parents know not to have their kids in the park as much. So, that has been a little better this school year so far, but we're only a few weeks into school. Um, one of the other things is the Jericho property has now uh become Meritage property and it is being vandalized and uh tagged on and all kinds of stuff now. and let emails have gone back and forth with the community and they're trying to blame you guys for not being quick enough to let them demolish the property and they're they were originally saying they weren't going to do anything as far as security and now they're saying that on Friday they're going to put a fence up around it because officers have been called. They've broken into the building several times. They've tagged it. They've destroyed it. Um, that's the other thing I'm concerned about in my community. There are a lot of rental properties now in my community. And I'm not saying that renters are bad, but they don't have the same respect for property as owners do. And I'm finding a lot of tagging in my neighborhood, a lot of vandalism of other properties um along Water Street. People are dumping things again. Um there were two um motor homes parked on Water Street for a long time and they dumped all their trash along Water Street. I used the

Seclick Fix and they come by and clean it up, but they were also using it as a toilet and that's a safety issue in my neighborhood. Um so those are just some of the things that I am concerned about. keep happening over and over and over again in that part of my town. And with more and more rentals that I see going up, that is what I am afraid of in my neighborhood is that people just are not invested in the properties and those things are going to become more prevalent and happening more and more. I've been in my house for 25 years now and I'm hoping to stay there as long as I can. Um, but we'll see what happens. So, um, please keep an eye on it and hopefully Maritage will say what they're, you know, do what they say they're going to do and keep everybody safe in the community. Thank you.

Thank you. Um, Janet Rawa, welcome.

Good evening, everyone. Um, I'm here this evening on behalf of Assembly Member Sharp Collins. She is continuing to fight for the working families of our district every single day in Sacramento, pushing forward policies that protect our rights, our health, and our economic opportunity. I am pleased to report two more bills from the members legislative package that have been signed into law with two more bills receiving a vote in the state senate next week. Starting with Assembly Bill 829 passed um establishes the California Parkinson's Disease Research Fund and has advanced to the Senate. It supports lifesaving research especially for black and Latino communities who are often overlooked in medical studies and disproportionately affected by this disease. Assembly Bill 847, now in the Senate, expands law enforcement oversight by allowing local governments to request an independent review from the aternal from the attorney general when public trust is in question. This is about restoring transparency and integrity in our justice system. Assembly Bill 987, which is passed, protects working families from being taken advantage of by tow truck companies. The bill, which will be voted on in the state senate, stops unreasonable fees, extends the time before a car is sold, and provides more notice to families so families do not lose their only means of getting to work or school. Upcoming, we have Red Ribbon Week, which promotes awareness about the dangers of drug use and encourages people, especially youth, to live drug-free lives. I'm pleased to announce that our district will be distributing 10,000 certificates to schools across the 79th district.

Um, for questions or more detailed information such as fact sheets for these bills, um, or if you have questions, need assistance, please contact our district office at 619-4657903. We are open 5 days a week, 9 to5. Thank you.

Thank you, Miss Wheeler. Could you come back to the microphone someone just for clarification? Thank you. I, Miss Wheeler, um, you mentioned that two council members are for the the home that you're describing. Um, which of these two council members are you talking about? I do. You really want me to say? I mean, okay. Dillard and Casaris. They both They both are friends. They both are friends with this so-called person that's going to do this. You youth youth home.

I don't want this here. We we only could Yeah, we only can have just for clarification. City attorney um council members can ask a question for clarification or um make a brief comment.

Okay. My very brief comment is that I know the person and I was transparent about that, but I have never discussed it with her until last week after I heard that it w that I was accused of being supportive of this through um one of your neighbors. So, I want to be clear, all of my financial records are public information. Happy to provide them to you individually, but that is not true. and I do not appreciate um members of the city council spreading lies. Thank you. And we're going to have to stop right there because we're usually not Am I correct, Mr. Attorney?

Or uh I'm I'm going to I'm going to leave it up to each council member to keep their comments brief regarding items that are not on the agenda during public comment time. Okay, I will leave it the council member. I I I just want to say that that's a lie. Um I am not friends. So that's it. Okay. Thank you. Thank you. Um boards commission interviews uh by I'll hand it to the city clerk.

Mayor and council. The interviews that are being conducted this evening are part of the annual recruitment process for the youth advisory commission. Before you are the applications from citizens who wish to be considered for appointment or reappointment to the city's youth advisory commission. The applicants have been invited to attend the meeting and make a brief threeinut presentation describing their qualifications and interest in serving on the commission. Please note that Lucille Alvi has withdrawn her application for consideration. I will call the applicants forward and after each presentation you may ask questions if you wish and I would like to apologize in advance if I mispronounce anyone's name. The appointments will be made at the next city council meeting on September 23rd. So, I'd like to call up Maya Sap followed by Lacy Anne Campania.

Hi, welcome. We're going to turn your microphone on for you. There you go. Thank you so much. Welcome.

Um, the reasons I would like to be on the youth committee is because I'm hardwork. I really like the city of Mesa. I think it's really pretty and really nice and everybody's just super kind and I really like teamwork and I like leadership roles because I think they help you grow and they improve like your character. Um, I'm 13 years old and I go to Laame Mesa Arts Academy and I'm in theater and choir. I'm the secretary in my choir and so I help people around. I answer questions and I help my teachers and stuff like that. Um um I'm sorry

that's good. No, those are all good things. Um I really want to give like help to the community and I really like answering questions and very good being a part of the community. Great. What um what choir are you in? I'm in signature choir. And and are you in theater three? Yes, I am. Very good. All right. Thank you for your time. Thank you so much. Any anybody else? Okay. Our next applicant is Lacy Anne Campinia. Is Lacy here? Next would be Miriam Garcia. Is Miriam here. Hello. Good evening. Welcome. Good evening. Give me one second. Okay.

Take your time.

So, hello. My name is Miriam Garcia and I've been a proud citizen of La Mesa for 11 years. I am currently an eighth grader at Lame Mesa Academy like Maya. Um, and when Miss Press told me about the youth advisory board, I was ecstatic. I'm currently an honors ELA in math, a member of Elmax theater program, so I'm also in theater 3. Um, and a member of the Legion of Mary, which is a Catholic group that regularly visits the veterans home and aids community events. Last year at my former school, I was chosen to receive the student of the year award, which was an honor reserved for the most diligent, kind, and virtuous student in each class. This was at Teranova. If you know where that is, that's also Mesa. Um, the year before I won the schoolwide speech competition, performing the slave singing at Midnight by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow. With weeks of practice and dedication behind the recital, I took home the trophy. As I am an avid reader and student, I realized that this is the greatest learning opportunity lay here. I firmly believe that the sport is exceptionally important. As the future of the world rests in the hands of our generation, young citizens and scholars see the world through a different lens and their roles are fundamental in society. While their views are the ones that change the world, you are not only cultivating those views, but you are also cultivating the leaders of the next era. This is an opportunity of growth and I would be honored to be a part of it.

Thank you. Oh, I have one more. Say that. Okay. Um, sorry, my fault. No, you're good. You're good. Um, I've personally witnessed how great of an impact each citizen has on La Mesa. Every smile we give our neighbors improves our community. Every hand we offer builds our town. To be able to make a difference in the city that we all call home, that is the greatest privilege. I hope you will consider me for a Mesa Youth Advisory Board. Thank you. Thank you. What's your other elective after theater? I have ceramics. So, I was actually in sound system, but then I tested out for the diagnostic. So they moved me at ELA but so I had to skip sound system and go to ceramics. Ceramics is a good thing. And who's the ceramics teacher this year? Miss Barren. I think she's new. She's awesome though. I knew. All right. Excellent. Thank you very much.

Thank you. Our next applicant is Soil Willow Gomez followed by Nate Madrid. Hello mayor and city council members. My name is Sochi Will Gomez. I am 13 years old and I am currently an eighth grader at La Mesa Arts Academy. Dancing has been a big part of my life for nine years now and I continue to perform and dance because I like to be able to collaborate with others and help them improve their skills. Dance has also helped me make new friends and become more confident in performing. Another activity that I enjoy in my spare time is playing guitar. I've been taking guitar lessons at Ma Guitars for four years now. This has helped me develop the skills to stay focused and have an open mind when it comes to challenges. I am also an honors ELA and continue to read ad uh constantly. I would like to serve on the youth advisory commission because I am interested in being able to help improve issues and share my opinion on the activities being created in our community. There are certain issues I have noticed and would like to make improvements to fix them. One example is bike safety and street accessibility for youth. Developing a youth bike safety course would help young bike riders understand how to be responsible and what laws to obey while riding. This would also promote positive youth relations by bringing community members together. In conclusion, I believe I would be a good option for the youth advisory commission because I have done many activities inside of our community and I have all and I have many ideas on how to improve on certain issues. I'm excited to be able to have this chance to better my community and learn how to be a better part of one. Thank you. Very good. What are your two electives?

I am in dance and ceramics. Dance. Uh 78. 78. Is is that Mrs. Spence? Oh, very good. Thank you for your time. All right. Thank you. Our next applicant is Nate Madrid. Is Nate here? No. Okay. Uh Grace Reagan. Is Grace here? Okay. Next one is Callen uh Roser. No, not here. Okay. Sorry. Uh that's okay. And Our last Our last applicant is Haley West. Is Haley here? Yep. Welcome. Hello. I've never spoken into a microphone before. This is very exciting. Oh, very good.

Hello everyone. My name is Haley West. I'm 19 years old and my interest in serving on the Youth Advisory Commission comes from a place of gratitude and purpose. This community has shaped me into who I am today and I hope to make a difference in return. Though my reason is deeply personal, my qualifications I believe are strong. I lived in La Mesa all my life, but in 2014, my family faced a financial crisis that left us homeless and uncertain about the future. It was the resources, programs, and compassion within this community that helped my single mother pull us out of poverty and gave me the chance to pursue my education. From there, I carried forward the support that I had been given. I became a delegate for the model United Nations where I built an award-winning track record in public speaking and leadership. In creative ventures, I've led teams as large as 52 people toward successful artistic collaborations. Along the way, I've worked with, for, and represented people of all ages, including those who make up the vibrant youth of La Mesa. Community outreach, leadership, and collaboration are not just skills I've practiced. They're values I live by. I know from experience that to capture the engagement of Lesa's youth, our strategies must evolve. To meet the needs of the present generation, we need options and approaches that are dynamic, adaptable, and driven by the voices of young people themselves. It would be an honor and a privilege to contribute mine.

Thank you. Thank you very much. And just really quick, um, did you attend school in La Mesa? Yeah. Yeah. Um, I have been in the La Mesa Spring Valley School District for as long as I can remember. When I was like six or so, I was assessed as a gifted student there. Excellent. And then from there on out, it's just it's been here an online school for me. Wonderful. Thank you for coming tonight. Appreciate it. Yes. And that concludes the interviews for the Youth Advisory Commission. I want to thank each applicant who attended tonight and the appointments will be made at the September 23rd meeting. Thank you so much for all being here. And because this is a school night, we're going to dismiss you because you have a mountain of homework.

Thank you. Thank you.

Uh, next are public comments for consent calendar. Have we got any cards? No. Okay. Next is consent calendar items 111 to 1113. Okay. Then I'll make a motion to approve 11 1 through 8 and 11 10 through 13. Second.

Thank you. You're quick. Second. Motion carries with all council members voting yes. Item number nine.

Thank you, Mr. Mayor. All right. So 119 is a resolution authorizing an agreement with public health institute for climate action plan implementation services for the civic spark program 2025 2026. So, the council is being asked to approve uh $70,000 in taxpayer money for either one or two fellows from Americanore. I couldn't quite understand if it was one or two. And I'm sure this is in addition to the $936,000 that's already been approved for climate action plans this year. So, I want the public and the council to be clear on on these figures. CAP, which is climate action plans, cost Laame Mesa taxpayers $2,756 every single day. So, that's 365 days a year. It's like the city of La Mesa is writing a check for almost $3,000 a day. That works out to 82,680 a month and over a million a year. One month of CAP equals a police officer's annual salary. So, I also want to remind the public and the city council of the responsibilities of local government, which is providing essential daily services, public safety, law and order, police, fire, public works, roads, waste management, recreation, parks, libraries. We also manage local planning, zoning, ordinances, regulations, and issuing licenses and permits. Every meeting that we're here, we hear about the drug house on Belfflower. For a year, the residents of Randlet Drive have been uh dealing with an Airbnb party house. Um there are people that want four-way stops on Finley and Fresno and Third and Fourth. Um Lois Street wants speed humps. So does Dugan Avenue. So does Glenn Street. There's a house on Johnson Drive who's lost almost their entire yard to water erosion because of a because of a Laame Mesa drain ditch. They've been waiting almost two years for that to be fixed. Residents, including tonight, are complaining about people living in their RVs and vans on La Mesa streets, especially close to Grossmont High School and Center Drive. So, homeless individuals are making people

uncomfortable in their own neighborhoods. I had a gentleman call me last week and said a shirtless man aggressively verbally assaulted him, not physically. So these are real problems that are facing our constituents that we can actually fix. We can actually fix what I've just mentioned. But here we are voting about the climate again. And this is an issue that there was a survey done recently and they you know they asked what are the top concerns of LaMasons and there was 21 issues listed and not one of them was climate but you see climate on almost every single agenda that we have up here. So Lame Mesa taxpayers have already spent millions of dollars on CAP and we really don't I don't know what we have to show for it and now on our agenda is $70,000 and I'm going to quote what it's for. It's to support research, planning, and implementation projects for community resilience. I mean, that to me that almost sounds like satire uh from the parks and recreation TV show. So, within a year, we are going to have because of the public transit departments, we are going to have a parking crisis in downtown La Mesa. It's going to negatively impact our small businesses and the surrounding neighborhoods. And this is a crisis that can be solved with a parking garage, something the city's been talking about for over 15 years. If we don't do something fast, fast forward and it'll be the year 2030 and we will not have a parking garage still, but we will have spent $12 million or maybe more on climate. So, little Lame Mesa, $12 million on the climate. I just I just don't know how we got so off track.

Thank you. Yes. Thank you. Um, I would like to invite Hillary Ego up if you could answer what the Civic Spark program is for everyone's information because I know you've worked with our Civic Spark fellows in the past.

Uh, good evening council members. So, the Civic Spark Fellowship program is a program that it provides a hands-on direct experience for recent college graduates. This would be our fifth year participating it uh within the program and they come to the city work full-time working on climate action plan projects and programs and have implemented wonderful programs that we have benefited from. And so um from there they go on to do other great work or go to grad school. And so it's a great opportunity for us to help foster and um uh professional development for our youth and then also uh create green jobs uh for our local economy as well.

Thank you. And um I'm not sure if this question is directed to you or directed to Greg, but the $70,000 covers two. So how so we're not paying them what we would pay full-time staff members. How does that work? So the program is contracted through a uh a statewide program through a public health institute called the Civic Spark program. And so they are considered as uh consultants and contractors here at the city. And it would be for two.

Excellent. Thank you very much. Um I personally think it's money well spent. I've had the opportunity to meet some of our uh civic spark program fellows. I know some of them have gone off to having um successful careers in surrounding cities. I was actually just talking to your counterpart in Chula Vista this morning and um I know they hired one of our previous fellows um and they're having a great experience there. So, um I I think that this is a fantastic You can Thank you very much, Hillilary. You can go back, um unless anyone else has questions for you, but um I think this is a really important program, um because it gives the city of La Mesa, um the ability to have staff members that we wouldn't typically be able to um or contractors that we wouldn't typically be able to have on and be able to afford them. It's really important for young people um to be able to get experience in their home city instead of going to um the city of San Diego or having to go out of state for a lot of these programs. Um and so um I really appreciate you sharing that. Um I I I think this is an important program and uh and so I um can I make a motion now? Um I'm happy to make a motion to uh approve 11.9 second.

Any other comments? Motion carries 41 with Council Member Dillard, Council Member Suzuki, Vice Mayor Cazares, and Mayor Appstat is voting yes, and Council Member Lotheian voting no.

Item 121 is um a first ordinance reading. I will let the uh Oh, we need a staff report first. Oh, there you are, Santos. Thank you. Good evening, mayor and council members. So, um, this evening, just to level set what you have before you this evening are two items. The first one we're going to, uh, speak about is about an ordinance amendment, and this is going to set the framework for the objective design standards that I will present to you under item 3.1. Um so what this item before you now 12.1 is is um to amend title 24 to add chapter 24.05 05 and that establishes the framework for the adoption of the objective design standards and these standards align with what is required of us by state housing law and the adoption will in the objective design standards will use um a user guide or provide for a user guide and a standards checklist and again I will present that under 13.1 but what I'd like to do oh I have to do this too. Right. There we go. There we go. All right. So, I want to just give you a little bit of an overview of what the objective design standards are are. As I mentioned, they are required by state law. Um, all jurisdictions are required to provide for these. What they do is they provide clear measurable standards that regulate things like building materials, colors, shapes, layouts of buildings, size, and massing. So these objective design standards are intended to make design review more fair, predictable, and consistent while furthering the LASA's goal of high quality design and

communityoriented design. So taking our community into consideration, they do not supersede the zoning ordinance. So just to level set that for you, the zoning ordinance establishes what can be built and the objective design standards refine how it looks. So these design standards will apply to multifamily housing with three or more units that are required to have design review and it would not apply to single family homes or small duplexes. So the ordinance amendment what that will do it will amend title 24 as I mentioned and this will ensure that our city is in compliance with the housing accountability act and it will establish the legislative framework to implement the adoption of objective design standards and this will allow for staff level review. So these types of projects would no longer go forward to our design review board for approval. So staff recommends that the city council introduce for the first reading the draft ordinance to amend title 24 of the municipal code to add chapter 24.054 for the objective design standards and I'm available to answer any questions.

Um yes uh Lynette does this, you know, because it's obviously a lot of bureaucratic speak. Does this give the city or does it give us more local control over over future building? Because I feel like we've given up so much control to Sacramento. Does this help us get some back? It does. Okay. So, the user guide and the the standards that are included therein and the checklist do exactly that. It provides for how what we want to see in design of buildings for these multifamily projects. Thanks, ma'am.

Thank you. Um I'm really excited about this. I know this was something that we heard on the campaign trail and I think it was maybe the only thing if not one of the only things that every single person that ran for city council all agreed on um in in our cycle and um I think that this is going to make a huge difference in development in La Mesa. Um I'm really proud of our staff um for all of the work and the community engagement that y'all have done on this. And I wanted to ask because I believe we are one of the first. So, are we one of the first cities in our region that has adopted these objective design standards? I think we're in like the first five.

Um, we're not the first, but um, not that I'm biased, but I think ours are one of the best. So, yeah, they're stronger because I I've seen I've seen some of the other ones and I know we are early on. We're we're definitely not the last out of the 18 cities. So, um I know everyone's been putting in work, yourself included, and your entire staff for like over a year now, I believe. Correct. Yeah. And so, thank you very much. Um because I've heard from community members who attended those events and they did genuinely feel like their voices were being heard and that doesn't always happen. Um but our staff does a really excellent job of doing it as much as possible. And so, I wanted to say thank you and that I'm really excited for this.

Thank you so much. Any comments or questions? Okay, thank you. We need to take read the ordinance first. An ordinance of the city council of the city of Lame Mesa, California amending title 24 zoning of the La Mesa Municipal Code to add chapter 24.05 entitled objective design standards regarding housing development pursuant to the housing accountability act. I'll make a motion to approve the uh first reading of the ordinance. Is that correct? The first reading of the ordinance.

Second. Motion carries with all council members voting yes.

Thank you. Okay. Well, thank you. So now 13.1 and this is for consideration of the objective design standards of the themselves. So, so the purposes, so this goes um speaks to exactly what your question council member is these will further our existing city design goals and policies and our goal is always for excellence in design. So, we want that highquality design and we're going to be able to obtain that through the provision of clear and measurable design standards. And again, these will supplement our development standards of the zoning ordinance. It would not supersede them. It's going to provide a ministerial streamline review option. So what that means is that staff is going to have a checklist. The applicant's going to fill out the checklist. Staff is going to review that and be able to approve that at the staff level as part of the building permit process. So it will not be a separate discretionary process. And again, this will all meet state requirements, which we always want to do. So the input received through our community engagement efforts definitely informed these standards. Um just to go through a couple of um items that we had touch points with the community. We had a workshop on April 23rd of this year. We also presented to our design review board in April, our planning commission in May, and then we've done various social media newsletter blast as well. So what this slide provides you is just a little bit about the distinction. So right now we do have design review but what we use are guidelines and that's where we say you really should do this.

We'd like you to do that. Um they're not regulatory in nature if you will. So that's the difference between subjectivity which is more providing uh guidance and a framework where the standards are objective and again they're measurable, clear and consistently applied. So the review process is going to um be conducted ministerally. I already explained what that was. Now one of the things that we wanted to do is provide some flexibility. You may have seen in your agenda packet that the design um the objective design standards are lengthy that there is a checklist that is a a few pages long. Um so what we wanted to do is provide an opportunity for those folks that provide us um stay within our height limitations and do the step back of those taller buildings. They would qualify for up to four administrative exceptions. So they would in essence be able to wave four of the design standards if the what they are proposing in lie of is consistent with so there would be a review process and some criteria related to that but we did want to provide some flexibility and that's outside of the flexibility that they have if they provide deed restricted units and um we also wanted to have a process for nonsubstantive changes. So, if there's anything that we note, um just, you know, whether it's uh Scriber's error, like something that just needed to be altered in terms of grammar or it was not making sense the ways the sentence read, there's not an and or a comma, those types of things. We want to be able to make those and just consult with the design review board so they understand or things that are consistent with the design um standards, but they may not be clear. So

if we need to add extra language for clarity, we would work with the design review board on that. But for substantive changes, we would go to the design review board for a recommendation and bring those back here to the city council. So as I mentioned, um we are providing as much uh information and resources as we can for folks to be able to use these standards. And so we provided an introduction and overview explanations of each purpose and intent for each of the standards and then that checklist that I meant so the applicants can just go through and check those items and to show that they are in compliance. And then next I'll just run through very quickly how the design guidelines are structured. And they're structured around three aspects of design. The first being site. So site really considers the location of new buildings, open spaces and amenities. And again, we want to look at how that complements the surrounding context. Um how does it interact with public realm? That's really an important feature here in La Mesa. Um provide for safe and convenient access and parking. And again, uh, we want to make sure that all of our buildings and our developments provide livable, common, and private recreational open space as as much as feasible. Building design. This considers how the appearance and the orientation of the new buildings look. So, we want the site to be enhanced, fit into the surrounding area, be compatible, orient the buildings and entries to the street. again that public public realm and interfacing with the streetscape and then providing variety in architectural forms and projections. So we don't want all buildings to look the same and we provide them some options within the design standards where if they're in alignment with some of the architectural

styles that we currently have in La Mesa that they in essence obtain more points and then they will have to do less things within that category of building design. Lastly, landscape design. So, we love our trees in La Mesa. So, we want them on site as well as street trees. So, and we also want to incorporate drought tolerant native plants, retain existing mature landscaping as much as possible. And then also look at those amenities such as decorative fencing so that things are screened. So with that, staff does recommend the adoption of the objective design standards and the recommendation also includes a request of the planning commission that we return within one year to provide a progress report on how these are being implemented.

Thank you. Any further questions or comments? Okay.

Um I'm noticing that all the new apartments are that are being built throughout California are very modern, very cub cubicle and boxy. even here and how many different varieties are we going to have in La Mesa because they are cookie cutter and I am sick of them. Um so in the aspect of design you never want to ask someone to just do that cookie cutter approach. So what we've done are the different elements that are within the design standards provide for that articulation is what we refer to it as stepping back buildings making sure there's variation in planes of the elevation not those straight lines and so there's a lot of that included within here that they are required to do. So you'll see less and less of what you're seeing now.

Anything else? I'll entertain a motion. I will make a motion to approve uh the objective design standards. Second. Thank you, Santos.

Motion carries with all council members voting yes. Thank you. Next on the agenda is um you already read the sorry I got caught up in that uh council initiated before I hand this over to council member Dillard just uh we'll be brief council but this is mainly to try to take into consideration our staff time. So that's why we're doing this. So I I'll did you want to open with something?

Yes, I did. I I did want to talk about the legislative uh recess. Um we're doing this first of all for the first half of the month of August and also including the last week of November which is uh Thanksgiving week. Um uh we believe this recess uh would be beneficial for uh the following reasons. Many cities, including San Diego, include legis legislative recess in their August calendars. The primary purpose includes time with family and constituents. This provides uh excuse me, this period allows uh council members to align with family schedules, especially around the school calendar. Uh it also provides a valuable opportunity to engage with residents and local organizations. It focuses on community work. Uh with a pause in full council session, members can uh dedicate more time to policy development, research, and in-depth community work. Uh it also allows us to attend community events in the month of August um which is typically filled with local fairs, festivals and other gatherings where a council member is present uh presence is valued. Uh planning and collaborating. It allows us uh more space and time to work together and break uh uh break serves as a reflective period for council members to reassess goals and strategies for the remainder of the year. And official travel and conferences uh often take place in August and it gives uh the council members an opportunity to go to those events and also for campaigning actually for those seeking reelection or higher

office. This is an ideal time to connect with voters. Um the rest and recharge is important. Uh the job is demanding and a brief pause enables council members to return energized and focused. And it also gives uh like the mayor was stating a chance for our staff to actually uh coordinate their family time and you know personal time and uh you know getting an opportunity to take advantage of the times that their children are off and of course this will include the November time which you know is obvious. It's a time for family as well. And these are healthy things not just for city council and staff, but for everyone's mental health as well. So, um I would like to make a motion for the council to approve with with questions.

Okay. One question. Uh this year, um we have a city council meeting on December 23rd, which is the day before Christmas Eve. We don't actually. We don't. No. I was I was going to ask how No, it it should that's that's it shouldn't it might might popped up in your calendar. I'm sorry to uh but it's um we always have the second December as a recess. Okay. We've never had the second November and so there I brought this forward and and for all the things but um

I thought it was in lie of or something. No, no, no. August will be Christmas for us, but mostly on and for what I'm talking about is it's we don't see all the work staff does. And if you've ever watched this person, he has to read every staff report. And so he's at the tip of the sword and that's why, you know, he's the person he is. But all of it's it affects every member of our staff all the way through every department. And so even if we have a a council meeting that doesn't look like it's very heavy, all the consent items, they have to read everything. And so just it's this is for staff as well as as us. So that's why we're bringing this forward. Any other comments? I'll second the motion then. Read it. Yes, please.

An ordinance of the city council of city of Lame Mesa amending section 2.08010 08010 of the Les Mesa Municipal Code to establish the first regular city council meeting in August and second meeting in November as a summer and holiday recess respectively. Thank you.

Motion carries with all council members voting yes. Thank you. Council council committee reports, sorry. um outside committees. Uh Council Member Dillard.

Yeah, I just wanted to report I haven't reported in a while since um uh MTS is also dark in the month of August. Um so the reports are here. Um the amount of participation for MTS transit um the orange line uh is back up to uh over 128,000 um uh u people using um the trolley. And the blue line is uh over a half a million. Uh and um the uh we're having a really good um uh reduction in um claims and or uh incidents on our uh trolley system. Um with the increased security, we're getting less and less um incidents and uh overall performing uh very well for the month of August. This is just report for one week by the way. That's all I have.

All right. Thank you. Thank you. Council member Lotheian. Just one question for Councilwoman Dillard. Uh you said u 128,000 people and then over 500,000 people. Do you mean people or rides? People over 500,000 people row the trolley. We count the people. So alto together it's 842,98. Okay. What's the population of San Leo? 1 million 1.4 million. So we're like at 90% or something that many of people are riding the trolley. This is San Diego through the week. Okay. So in this particular case it's from August the 24th through August 30th.

Yeah. So it was rides I can understand. But you're saying the county is 3.45 million something right around there. Okay. Because I always read that that usage of our public transit is at 3%. This sounds like 70%. The highest light rail usage in the country. Okay. And it's like about 60 or 70%. I don't know it off top. I don't know if it's the highest. I don't know what that is. Over 500,000 people on the trolley sounds. This is this is consistent. Okay. This is consistent that it's consistently through the week except for on occasional um periods of the year. Um this is this is uh consistent with it being over 800,000. Sometimes it's 900,000. Okay.

Per days. Yeah. Per seven days. I which I already reported the you know this is for one week. Okay. People. Okay. Thank you people. Council member Suzuki. Um just just one one thing. San Diego Community Power um elected a new chair because our um former chair uh the now supervisor Paloma Aguer is now in her new role. So we have elected uh supervisor and former vice chair Tara Lawson Reamer and National City Council member Dietas Yammani has taken over as vice chair.

Wonderful. Um Sandag is I'm sorry that that's all. Thank you, Vice Mayor. Sorry, Casar. Sorry. That's okay.

Um, Sandag also takes the month of August off as a legislative recess. The reason that a lot of our regional boards do that um is both for their staff and also because it aligns with the city of San Diego who has the largest number of um staff that work um with those regional boards. Um and so we are returning on this Friday. Uh, I will be at the SandAG meeting. And also, um, the videos that, um, we made the recommendation of in our, um, emergency preparedness subcommittee, um, you may have seen them on the city of La Mesa Instagram account. Um, they believe they're also up on the YouTube for um, some emergency preparedness um, with our uh, fire department. So, I hope you will check those out. Um, it goes back to uh, what the mayor was sharing at the beginning. Uh we want to make sure that you're prepared now and not just after something major happens.

Thank you. Anyone traveling? Yes, I'm I'm going to be traveling uh to APTA uh which is the American public transit transportation uh association uh to Boston. I'll be going to Boston on Thursday and return Wednesday night. Wow. Okay. Yeah. I'm excited because I've never been to Boston. So, I'm looking forward to it. Very good. All right. Uh, city attorney comments. Chiefs, can I see you after? Can you just wait? Thanks. All right. Then we are adjourned until the next meeting in September.