City Council - Regular Meeting

That's okay. Good evening. Welcome to the city council meeting for December 9th. That's fine. Um, thank you very much. Welcome to the city council meeting for December 9th, 2025. Madame Clerk, will you please call roll? Council member Dillard here. Council member Lotheian here. Council member Suzuki here. Vice Mayor Kazarez here. Mayor Rapist here. Thank you. Uh before the meeting or we always uh the meeting start with a pledge of allegiance and a invocation and I'll please ask Vice Mayor Casaris to lead us.

Thank you. So, um, this afternoon I had the opportunity to volunteer with Cox Cares at the Boys and Girls Club in La Mesa, and they, uh, had 149 youth come and celebrate the holiday season. They got to go shopping, um, with toys, and it was a really great opportunity, um, to be with all of them. But there was a quote right at the opening of the Boys and Girls Club, and I'm probably gonna butcher this, but it's something to the effect of, "It is best to invest in youth now rather than having to um fix any issues later." What do you know the exact quote? It looks like you might know it.

Sorry. Um Mr. Brady used to quote it, "Better to invest in the youth now than to try to correct something when they reach adulthood." And so, yes, that's who donated the money. Good for you for volunteering. That's awesome that you went and did that. Yeah. But I thought that was a wonderful quote and a good thing to go into the holiday season. So, let's all rise for the pledge. Ready? Begin. I aliance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands. One nation under God, indivisible, liberty and justice for all. Thank you. City manager comments.

No comments. All

right. Community bulletin. The city is testing temporary speed humps as part of a pilot program to improve neighborhood safety and reduce speeding. Two temporary speed humps are currently installed at Date Avenue near city hall. We encourage residents to please try them out. Please reduce your speed as you come across the speed humps. They're um made of um a very strong hard plastic and um but we are testing those so we can put those into other neighborhoods as needed. So we please ask people to come by maybe as you're on your way to the post office come by and drive those. The city is um inviting San Diego County artists to apply for the artist to work program. This program is all about bringing more color creativity connection to the public spaces around the city of LaMason community. More information can be found on our website. In the season of giving, give blood. Join the Red Cross at the next blood drive December 16th at the La Mesa Adult Enrichment Center um at 9:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. If you'd like to give blood, um donors are eligible to receive $15 Amazon gift card. So, if you give your blood, you get an Amazon gift card. Uh Laame Mesa walks to shining Mary Bright for the special edition evening holiday light stroll. The community is invited to meet at Lama Park on Wednesday, December 17th, starting at 5:00 pm for cider and cookies. The stroll begins at 5:30 p.m. and it will be um easily mostly flat around and enjoy the holiday lights and uh we're going to have lots of friends. So, please invite people. That's the 17th starting at 5 at Lama Park. Join us for the San Diego County Bicycle Coalition on Thursday, January 15th, 2026 at 6:30 p.m. for a free hour-long virtual bike information session covering all the basics of getting around La Mesa by bike and ebike. We cover the rules of the road,

best practices, and so forth. And lastly, um just like to say as we're trying to help people with resources, I I started a nonprofit with um then um uh chaplain of the PD Danny Wulmarmac and Pastor Scott Archer called Hope Alliance back in 2017. And uh we worked with San Diego State students in the geography department and they came up with a resource map and the map map maps uh the area of La Mesa and Spring Valley, the attendance area where children go and it is currently linked to our website. And if you go to the map, you can find if there's free or reduced services, food banks, and food pantries all over that area. And if you're if there's a person in need that you know, please refer them and look for the resource map on link to our website because as you bring up the map and you type something in, if you looked for free or reduced diapers, it'll show you it'll ping all the places on the map where a person could access those those resources. And so we're very glad and want people to use that map. And lastly, sorry, we have a a tree in our lobby and we have a um present open present and it's a toy drive for Les Mesa Spring Valley. If you have an a new unwrapped toy, I've already put two dozen in there to try to try to get people to put stuff in. So, it's there until this Friday. So, if you have an unwrapped toy, it's going to be for La Mesa Spring Valley School District. Thank you for listening to me, Vice Mayor Casares.

Thank you. I'm looking forward to seeing everyone this weekend at Holiday in the Village from noon to 900 p.m. uh on this Saturday the 13th. And happy holidays to all. Very good. Thank you, Council Member Suzuki.

Just really quick for anyone who is diabetic. Um try to get yourself some sugar-free things this year because um this is a hard time for all of us. So um make sure that you know there are there are things that you can do. There's sugar-free chocolate. I'm sorry. This is just like a, you know, who knows? I say Sharp. Sharp. Uh, Sharp does a good job of um giving education and so does Kaiser. So, um, just look it up because especially if you go to Holiday in the Village, it can be really hard for people who really want to eat the sweets. So, I'm saying this because, you know, just encouraging you, you can stay strong this season. Thank you, Council Member Loian.

Uh, yeah, just one thing. Um, I went to I stumbled upon Nauk art gallery this this morning in La Mesa village and I was so thrilled to see that she has put up some original La Mesa art. She painted the Christmas tree at Kasa Gabriella. She painted the tr I'm going to show you. So the Christmas tree at Kasa Gabriella, the trolley, the Laame Mesa famous trolley and our gazebo. So it's a paint they're paintings at her gallery and Christmas cards and I was just so thrilled to see the love for La Mesa. So thanks. Merry Christmas and happy holidays. Thank you, Council Member Dillard. Yeah, I just wanted to wish everyone a happy holidays. Um, keep yourself safe and hug and kiss your children. You go. Happy holidays. Thank you.

Thank you very much. Uh, additions or deletions by staff or council. None from staff.

Thank you. We have one presentation from H Heartland Fire and Rescue um insurance service office. Um, and oh, Chief is going to pronounce Hi, Chief. Welcome. Good evening, Mayor Aposatis, respected uh members of the city council and city staff. I'd like to introduce you to Mr. Andy Bolton from insurance services office. Uh he is a senior field representative. But before I turn the uh presentation over to him, I just wanted to say a couple things. I'm absolutely super super proud that we're able to reertify as ISO class one fire department and it was a huge undertaking. It took us 18 months and was a huge collaborative effort between fire chief officer staff, fire prevention staff, uh, fire communications center staff as well as Padra Dam and Helix Water. And, uh, as I mentioned, it took 18 months for us to be able to go through this process this time. It wouldn't have been possible without the energy and perseverance of Deputy Fire Chief John Nevin. So, I just wanted to make sure that he is recognized for his efforts. With that, I'm going to turn it over to Mr. Andy Bolton.

Thanks, Chief. Welcome.

Yeah. Thanks, Chief. Hi, Council. My name is Andy. I'm here with ISO Various ISO here to present the results from our evaluation for our ISO class one. Uh, this is uh like chief said, we did we did this over the course of 18 months. Sometimes it's it's very long process. We it's very thorough process as a chief of test. Um ISO has about 38,000 fire districts in our uh database and of that there's only about 500 or so class ones. What we do is we're looking at the overall fire suppression capability of a town and it's not really just the fire department. What it takes takes the water department, the communication centers, a lot of other city departments, building departments, whatever what have you. And generally what it means is a better fire protection equals a uh a better loss experience and it also saves money to the insurers in the community. Reviews are done every five to six years and currently the last time we've done this isn't the first time that is that H Heartland Fire has gotten a class one. Um it's the most recent time but it has gotten more difficult to attain as as the years gone on. Um, if you look at our overall database of the 38,000 plus or minus fire departments, only about, like I said, just about 500 of them are uh a class one or better or I'm sorry, a class one and u which is really about just over 1% now. The numbers kind of shifted over the years, but it's about 1% of the of the population is able to obtain that. So, it's a real I would argue a real admirable achievement that you guys have have a district that can or authority and rescue organization that can do that. So, the rating schedule that we use, this is a uh it's a it's a community uh effort. Like I said, it's it's a little bit of everybody involved. And what we're doing is we're not making up rules as we go. We we use nationally accepted standards for through NFPA for the National Fire Protection Agency Association, American Waterworks Association, APCO for the communication centers. We're looking at a lot of standards across the country. This isn't just an ISO madeup tool. And as you guys have known, this is this also helps the community overall. The type of things that we look at is the community, the community's uh dispatching capabilities,

how quickly they answer the phone, how quickly they dispatch, uh where the fire stations are located in the community, how the fire department trains, how quickly and how effectively they get they get on scene. Um we're also looking at the water department side of things. We're looking at the height, the type of hydrants, the size, type, installation, the maintenance, how quickly or how um the volume of flow in the inspection systems for the for the uh water systems. And then we also look at the community risk reduction. We're looking at what the fire department or the building officials can do in relating to reduce the fires. So through fire efforts like fire prevention, public education, fire investigation, um that's all included in our evaluation. The fire department did all of these things very well obviously and they were able to obtain the class one. So what does that really mean for the community? It's generally twofold. Uh first and foremost, it obviously protects the uh the the community from fire protection or from fires a lot better than let's say a class 10 community could do. Ultimately, what that what the goal is is if a fire starts in the garage, we want to keep it in the garage. We don't want it to spread at the rest of the house or to the neighbor's house or to the forest. We really want to have the the best fire loss experience you can. Not just to save uh money, but ultimately nobody wants their stuff or their their livelihood, their their their assets, their family heirlooms. Nobody wants to lose any of that. So, ultimately, class one uh agencies are do a better job of that. Now, you can't always get every fire and every fire is going to be a little different, but ultimately class one agencies have proven to be pretty effective on saving property and life. What is and then second the second item that I some people would argue is most important and what from the city council's perspective is it saves money. It saves a lot of uh as as a policy holder in the community, you're going to generally have a better uh uh cost per policy than you would if you're a class 8, nine, or 10 agency. So, um at this time, I just basically say congratulations to the fire department. you guys did do that class one and there's only um like I said there's less than 1% or about 1% of the population. So we have a we have a plaque that I'd like to offer to the fire chief.

All right you go chief.

Thank you so much. And so congratulations and that just that concludes my presentation. If you guys have any questions let me know. A quick question. Um, how how long do we uh hold the certification before we have to reapply? Every five years. Every five years. Every five or six years. Thank you so much for coming. Um, anyone else from council? Yes. Council member Suzuki. Just really quick, do you is there on the website the list of all those counties that you've got and what their ratings are? Uh, no. We they're actually private. Um, other than class ones, everyone else is uh is private. So, most agencies actually do share what they are. Um, but ISO does not share it. So, it's up to each community to share their own grading. But of that, right, like I said, class ones are all generally public. They kind of scream that from the the mountain tops, right? We'll be sharing it.

Yeah. They I I show up and they they tell everybody. They invite me here to tell you, you know, they're like, "Make sure." But the class tens and stuff, they don't always call me. So, but uh but no, yeah, you it's so it's not a publicly available list. Um it's it's actually a purchased product through the insurance organizations and then privately with you guys. And you're just California, correct? Uh no, this is nationwide. This is only 58 counties. Yeah. Out of 38,000 fire departments in the in the country. Council member Lotheian, I heard you say class 8, class 9, class 10. What is the lowest level? The CL class 10. One is the best, 10 is the worst. And you guys, you're at the peak. Awesome. Congratulations, Chief. Can we get a picture of the two of them really quick with a plaque? Absolutely. Will,

I just wanted to say thank you. We wouldn't be able to do this without the support of the community and and with our elected officials and the city staff. We are a team of teams as we mentioned and and just wanted to say thank you for this step. Thank you chief chief. Yes, we could get just a quick photo.

You miss Did you get one? Okay. All right. Be safe. Thank you. What do you want to do?

Next on the agenda are public comments. General public comments. Uh I don't think we have any. Okay. So, we're going to move to conflict disclosures. None. All right. Um so, I'm going to ask for public comments on consent calendar. And we have quite a few for item number 91 910. And um I have a group that would like to speak together uh representing uh Foothills. Oh, sorry. Navajo Navajo girls softball. You mind if I go first?

Sure. Where? Whatever you'd like. Uh, I have a group tagged together and it says the players all want to speak together. So, could you just tell me your name so I know? Yeah, I I do have a comment card in there as well. Uh, my name is Dennis Frey. Uh, I'm the vice president of Navajo girls fast pitch. Thank you. Thank you. Welcome.

Thank you. Uh, thank you, mayor, vice mayor, council members, and staff. Um, thank you for the chance to speak and my apologies for missing the last meeting. Uh but like all board members and coaches in youth sports, I'm unpaid. I'm volunteer and I'm juggling uh the league responsibilities with my family life. Um I want to begin by acknowledging the positive intent behind this uh proposal 910. Uh fairness and transparency and field allocation are goals that we applaud and we all share. Uh we absolutely want the Mesa fields prioritized for local kids and not for travel teams coming from outside the area. But there are several unintended consequences in this draft that would directly affect the La Mesa girls who want to play softball. uh especially the requirement that the league must have a 51% La Mesa uh residence to remain part of the athletic council. Uh for for at least a decade, you know, probably a lot longer, Navajo softball has been the place where most La Mesa families bring their daughters to play softball. Uh when we look at our enrollment by zip code, the two La Mesa zip codes 91941 and 91942 are our third and fourth largest part participation areas. Um so before we were allocated the junior seoff fields last year, we only had four reliable dirt fields um in you know around the Lake Murray area, none with lights and that meant extremely limited uh practice time. So at that time we had 37 uh teams in that spring and many of our youngest age groups had no dirt fields to practice on at all. Uh this spring we're expecting 47 teams. So an increase of 10 teams from that time around 30%. Um and I believe that the access to the sale fields for the past couple uh three four seasons has been

the main driver to that. Um so all the girls in our area, La Mesa girls have a greater uh greater access to softball fields to play on and more chances to participate. Um, and La Mesa families are a major part of our league, but because the youth sports today cross city boundaries, we'll never reach that 51% threshold without reshaping the league in ways that don't make sense for families. 30 seconds.

So, one one way is by creating a La Mesa only branch where we looked at that, but each age group would only have two to three teams. So you have, you know, two or three 8U teams, two or three 10U teams, and that's just too small of a division to be balanced or developmentally healthy. And if we don't create a separate branch, then under this policy, we would lose access to those fields. And that means La Mesa girls would lose opportunity to play on fields in La Mesa um and forced to share the fields that Navajo has remaining. Uh there's also research showing that girls drop out of youth sports at twice the rate of boys by the age of 14. And one of the biggest factors is lack of access to fields and facilities. Um so this policy as written would unintentionally create that barrier. So I want to thank you for your time and commitment to keeping girls in sports and strengthening opportunities for La Mesa youth.

Thank you.

Next speaker is Nathan Ror followed by Lisa Flanigan. Welcome.

Thank you for allowing me to speak. Um, I really just wanted to give a representation of a La Mesa family. So, I'm an engineer work here in La Mesa. My wife is a pediatrician at Crosmont. Um, my daughter goes to Elmac. She's in Peter Pan Jr. The theater. She's singing at Holiday in the Village. And then my youngest daughter goes to Fletcher Hills, plays Navajo competitive softball. Um, so kind of what we're talking about here. Uh, quintessential La Mesa family. Um, but I do live outside of that area code. Um, I'm in 920. So, um, one of the reasons we came to Navajo was because we could stay in community. Um, and it's been really awesome to see Navajo grow and get more competitive. um we don't have to go to Santi or Rancho to get the more competitive programs. Um and the main thing I want to thank you guys for is junior sale has been a big part of what's allowed us to be competitive and represent Navajo and La Mesa area when we're out playing those other schools or those other areas like Santi that have the big sports complexes and things like that. Having the lights, having the extra fields, getting the extra practices has allowed our girls to really thrive and compete and really have fun. So, I'm just here on behalf of my daughter because she loves Navajo. She wants to play for Helix someday. She's very much invested in the community. Thank you. Thank you, Lisa Flanigan, followed by um Don Cowwell.

Well, they have I have separate cards for them, so they're they're all going to come together is what I've been told that that that they wanted. Okay. So, if that's okay. Yes. Okay.

Um good evening. My name is Lisa Flanigan. Um I'm a La Mesa resident. My daughters attend uh Lemon Avenue Elmac and collectively my daughters have played 32 seasons at Navajo softball. Uh Navajo girls fast pitch is the only softball league that represents the city of La Mesa. Unlike baseball, it's based on zip codes. We are strictly based on neighborhood and our neighborhood and La Mesa is purely represented by Navajo. There is no other league that really kind of crosses over to this area. And as uh Mr. Ror stated, "The junior sale fields have been a gamecher for us. Um, it's essential to us because a lot of our kids who attend Parkway Middle can walk over to the sale fields. Our parents are able to have a same drop off at 3:45 to three places if they have two or three kids. It is essential for us to be in the heart of La Mesa because we are able to service um our players with high quality fields that are safe. They have access to both dirt and grass and restrooms. And so the safety piece is very important important for our players. Um the softball fields at Junior Sale were built with the intent of having softball teams play. It's really important that we look at the intent of why those fields were there and we're ready to play on them any day of the week. Monday through Friday from 4:30 until 9:00. We have 47 teams of girls that would give anything to be on those fields. Um we believe that what Navajo does is it provides a safe outlet for young girls. Um I'm a school teacher. I'm in my 22nd year of teaching. I work at a continuation high school and we always talk about the students at our school. Um, and it is a second chance school and we look back and we think about the opportunities that if one adult took the time to give them a little bit extra attention and mentorship, their lives would be dramatically different. We have girls in softball that are given hundreds of hours of volunteer time by coaches and staff who give everything to make these girls a better version of themselves. And it's not something that's

measurable. It's time. It's attention. It's confidence. And I think as a teacher, when I look at the opportunities that Navajo gives to our community, it is gamechanging. And I think that girls who play sports become women who lead. And as I see the people that are sitting up in front of me and a couple of you came to our opening day, it brings me great joy to see the opportunities that we can give young women starting at the age of four all the way up to the age of 14. They have no device in their hand. They're not worried about posting things on social media. They are laughing. They are enjoying fresh air and they are giving their time to each other. They are building lasting friendships. They go to community college. They go to college. We have professional softball happening around us. And we need to inspire and encourage as many young ladies as we can to search for opportunities to continue with this sport because it makes them better as human beings. and along the way they add a lot of great qualities to their resume as well. I want to thank you for your time again. My name is Lisa Flanigan. I'm a La Mesa resident. I'm a proud mom of two Navajo girls. Thank you.

Thank you.

Don Caldwell followed by um Zoe Belts. Thanks. Welcome. Thank you so much for the opportunity to speak. Um, this is very last minute. I don't have something amazing um, put together as Lisa did. However, I was born and raised in La Mesa. I had the opportunity to play La Mesa Bobby Socks, which no longer exists. My daughter plays Navajo. I coach. I'm a passionate coach. We have girls from La Mesa, LA Gardens, Spring Valley, San Diego, San Carlos, which is San Diego. But if we did not have the access to those fields, we cannot house and bring on as many girls like Lisa said as we do, we would have to limit our team teams because we only have the two fields now, possibly three at the lake and a few others that we have. being under the lights, being more competitive, which is huge. Right now, I am coaching my daughter as well as many, many others here that are here today. Coaching them more competitive. Santi has five lighted fields. East County has lighted fields. Several other counties or cities have lighted fields. To have access to those lighted fields allows us more practice time and allows our girls to become more competitive and have more time on the fields to become better and be more competitive, which only allows them to then excel to have those possible scholarship opportunities as they go into high school and into college. The other thing I know that we have contributed as a Navajo um community to um cover all of the um dugouts at the sale fields, which is huge to have shade for anybody using those fields. So, if we were not using those fields and

knowing that Laame Mesa doesn't have any act have any um doesn't have anybody to be using those fields as a softball league, we've contributed that on our own accord and given those to those fields and we do our very best to manage those fields, keep them clean and do all that we can. Um, we can't control everything, but we take pride in having access to those fields, having the lights, and even in this last very season, we've been able to house championship games and other things that have been going on for the select teams, which is the more competitive teams that we would not be able to do if we didn't have access to those fields. So, I appreciate your time. This is extremely important to our girls, all those girls out there. Mine's not here right now. Sorry, I'm emotional. softball was my whole life. And if we don't have access to more fields and more time, they can't practice and get better. That's

Zo Zoe Belt, followed by Emily Vargas. Welcome.

Hi. Good morning or afternoon. My goodness, I'm used to greeting my students in the morning. Um, I am here. I'm a college athlete. I'm a varsity volleyball coach. I'm a Navajo softball coach. I'm a La Mesa resident 91941 and my daughter plays Navajo softball. Um, I just had a couple things to add, Mr. Mayor. I know that you have wonderful daughters who are athletes. And you know, especially one, you know, playing tennis, playing field hockey sports where there aren't a lot of fields and there's not a lot of access. And so, you know, that the heart of this problem, we need more access to fields for young female athletes. It was already said that they um young girls quit sports at almost 60% by the age of 14, which is two times the rate of young boys and it's because of lack of access because people cities are not putting in the funding for our young girls as they are for young boys. Um a couple other notes. I know that Elmac with Peter Pan Junior Theater, we they use the Elmac Theater all year round. Many of those kids who are part of Peter Pan Junior Theater are not La Mesa residents. So, we have other um services. We also have award-winning um charter high schools. I work at Helix. We are a blue ribbon school. We service students from all over the county. So, Laame Mesa has this wonderful reputation of um providing services and being welcoming to people outside of our community. And so being able to um use these softball fields, even though I understand that they're in the La Mesa bounds, it's a huge advantage for our girls. If we take those away that and make a La Mesa team, um the girls will end up losing a lot of access to that competition that they're that they're used to and that they deserve. Um back to your quote, um Vice Mayor Casares, we you know, we need to what did you I can't remember exactly what you said. What's good for children now? We want to service them now. rather than waiting later on. And that's so important to our girls. Um,

I think that's all I wanted to say. I hope that that you all take this and you understand our plea and sometimes doing the right thing is the hard thing. Um, but this is the right thing for our young our young athletes. Thank you. Thank you. Emily Vargas,

my daughter's standing with me. She's not going to speak, but I'm doing this for her and all these beautiful little girls faces. So, thank you for letting me speak, counsel. Um, my name is Emily Vargas on behalf of Navajo. Thank you for listening to all of us. Um, my daughter Violet, she has played for Navajo for the past three years. It has done so much for her confidence. She is a completely different girl than when she started. Um, we've struggled with her confidence, self-esteem. She's now leading in school groups. She's uh safety patrol. She's so much just off the field. It has done so much for her. Um, the softball sisters that she has made, they're going to last a lifetime. Um, she's learned the importance of hard work. Um she works on and off the field. She loves every second, every minute. Um we're concerned with this proposed field allocation policy that it may remove this sale complex. Um and this this Navajo has just grown tremendously and I would hate to see so many girls not have the experience that Violet and all these girls have got to do. Um because like it has been brought up, there's no other softball in La Mesa. We would have to go to Santi, we'd have to go to Bonita Valley. We'd have to go to Peninsula and you know, busy families, we can't make time for that all the time. Um we would for our girls, but La Mesa is a great city. We wouldn't want to go outside of it. Um, again what Don touched on, we have put shade structures at Seal, 3,000 each, that Navajo has happily done for the girls and anybody else who uses those fields. Um, they have also had several other improvements to make

the field safe and better for all children. Um, so we'd just like to ask to please consider revising the policy to give our girls the opportunity to play at these La Mesa fields. I appreciate it. We appreciate it. Thank you. Thank you.

I have a stack of cards. The players would like to come up together and have um their time together. So, I'll let them choose maybe one speaker or whoever they like they'd like to represent them. We're going to fix the microphone for you. There you go. Good evening. Thanks for being here. Yeah. Okay. Anytime you're ready. Go ahead.

Hi, my name is Dorothy. I've played for se I played softball for seven seasons at Navajo. Being able to play and practice at different fields is awesome. I am a Lame Mesa citizen and it is nice to be able to drive almost a minute and already be at the fields. Team like Bene teams like Bonita Valley and Santi have light lighted and multiple fields to play on and practice. It is nice to have another spot to play and practice. I I've played at the junior shale fields many times and I feel comfortable there because they are clean and and nice. I've I like the fields because there's no baseball mounds in the way and it's a field meant for girls. It is nice to have but to to these multiple fields give opportunities for more girls to play and make friends in their community. I'm thankful for Navajo because there is there is no all girls softball league in La Mesa. I appreciate for your time.

Thank you. Good job. Welcome. Hi. Hi. My name is Ally Santos and I'm 13 years old. I've been playing softball for 1 and a half years. I love softball because I get to meet amazing people. I get to play my favorite sport and I have an amazing time while doing it. Thank you. Thank you. Good job.

Hi, my name is Tinley. I am 9 years old. I've been playing softball for four years. If we're counting seasons, about eight. I love softball because it's so fun. You get to meet new friends and it's the best. And I just love those fields. There's a lot of memories there. Thank you. Good job. Well done. Hi, my name is Cora. I am 8 years old. I've been playing softball for 4 years. I love softball because I get to play with friends. It's fun. It's active.

Nice job, Cora. Good job. Hi, my name is Avery Santos and I am 8 years old. I have been playing softball for 1 and a half years. I love softball because I get to play with my friends. I get to meet new people and it is active. Excellent. Good work. My name is Ryan. I am 10 years old and I have been playing softball for six years. I love softball because I generally like sports and I get really bored at home so it's something to do and I have lots of fun with friends.

Excellent. Good work. My name is My name is Reagan. I am six years old. I am six years old. I have been playing softball for one year. I have been playing softball for one year. I love softball because I have fun. I love softball because I have fun. My sisters play, too. My sisters played too. Thank you. Thank you. Just say thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Good work.

Thank you. That's all. Thank you. All right. Thank you. Good work, girls, ladies. You did very well. All right, council. We're just going to pull item this poll so we can talk about it. Um, okay. Can I start? Yes, please.

Hi, everyone. Thank you for being here. Um, I played sports growing up, as did my sister. Uh, my sister actually went to San Diego State Division One, um, on the dive team, and, uh, sports were always a really important part of our lives. Um, so I'm really glad that you're all here tonight. Um, especially all the young women. Um when I came to Navajo's uh opening day over at Lake Murray, um that's what I shared. We get a lot of attention for our um boys little league. Um and often Navajo does not get um the same amount of pomp and circumstance. Um and so I was really glad to be there for that. Um, so I have some questions that I'm hoping to get some answers uh to uh from uh the city executive team. Um, so I just did a quick um I'm looking at uh the staff update on page five with the rubric. Um, so I just did some like very quick like I literally wrote it out um math and it looks like they that uh they would likely be like up to 12 points. They wouldn't be able to get the one, two, or three points because of the proof of residency is under 51%. Um, do we have like a sense of how many points other teams would get our community um or sorry your parks and recreation director will be able to assist.

Good evening mayor, vice mayor, council. Um, it depends on the team. Um, we do not have a sense but what we tried to do is make sure that it was fair and equitable for everybody. As you can see under the um amount of time, there's more points and less points. And that's um to to help make it fair. And in our bylaws, as well as in the um policies on the very last line, um the director myself can always make an exemption as needed.

Okay. And um in in terms of uh on the rubric with gender equity, 0 to 49% female gets one point, 50 to 100% gets two points. Um I saw that part of that is due to state law. I can't find exactly where it is. AB24. Yes.

Thank you. Um I'm not familiar with that state law. So um I have a question uh about it specifically. um why give a point if there is not gender equity? So why I I don't understand the thought process behind giving 0 to 49% a point and then 50 to 100% two points. It would make more more sense to me. Again, I don't know the state law, but it would make more sense to me that it' be maybe 0 and one points or if it's maybe 0 to 24% zero points, 25 to 49% one point, 50 to 100% two points. Why are why are they getting a point if they don't have gender par? when we were just looking at the rubric, trying to make it equal across. Um, and just and when you add them all up based on all the different teams, all the different leagues, trying to make it, again, just looking to make it fair and equitable for everybody.

All the different leagues, they each have different nuances, whether it's residency or player time or the gender equity. I'll be honest, this is super complex. So, I'm so uh thank you. I I appreciate that. I don't I don't know that it at least to me when I look at this, it doesn't make sense, um to give a point if there is not gender equity. Um so, that that would be my kind of big thing is like would

especially if it comes down to like a onepoint difference, let's say, between teams. um the fact that they would be getting a point for not having gender equity is is it doesn't make sense to me. But again, you're the you're the expert in this, so I do understand that. But um those are just my initial the one thing that's important to note is that when we do allocations that Navajo didn't have any conflicts everything that they requested if the policy moves forward and we do allocations tomorrow all those fields that they requested there was no conflicts and they will receive those fields. Okay great

this only comes into play if there is a conflict. Okay. So, and the conflict would have to be in it would come up in future seasons. It would not come up for this upcoming season. Correct. If there was more than one league that um wanted that same time and location.

Okay. And then uh I'm sorry I have so many questions. I know you've been working on this. Um but uh so in terms of if let's say ne 2027 season that there is a conflict on I don't know let's say a quarter of the dates there's a conflict um what would that process look like? Um because I know that you would be able to make certain exceptions. What would that process look like? the original um if there's a conflict first we still go to step one which is if they're recreation a lot of times the conver the conflict comes in when one is recreation one is competitive right

and that a lot of time eliminates that conflict automatically and then we would go into the rubric but um also we have the leagues they are all in one room and they all just talk to each other and a lot of times that eliminates the conflict also before we get to the rubric okay great and then just one more thing not a question but something that I did notice uh in here the in terms of gender equity it looks like there's actually I'm sorry there's few pages in here uh or sorry not gender equity but for residency um really the 50 the 51% doesn't start to take effect till 2030 fully

and that would to be a to be a sponsored team and again we can always make an exemption Okay. And then let's say it's 2029 and we decide that this is not going to work. We can always bring this back to council and reconsider it. Yes, the policy can always be updated. Okay, I think that answers all my questions. Thank you, Council Member Lotheian. Okay. Um, hi. Thank you. Um, first of all, wow, guys, fantastic, fantastic civic engagement. I loved it. Um I I need a little bit of background update here. Um how long was the uh existing field use scheduling policy in effect? Over 20 years.

Okay. Was it broken? Was there was there problems?

Yes, there was problems. And um Navajo is part of the reason why we are looking at making this more fair and equitable. Um, even when you are on the athletic council, they some teams are not voted, some leagues are not voted in. And so we made changes to the bylaws which made us look further into this policy and to make the changes just to make sure it's more fair across the board for all leagues. There are many leagues that automatically are allocated fields just based on residency or the way it was written previously. Because when this was on before, my feeling was we were just trying to give La Mesa a priority. But I didn't I didn't understand that we were knocking teams out that had been playing there for years. So

we're not knocking teams out. Okay. Yeah. Okay. But the people that are here tonight are worried they're going to lose fields. Why are they worried? The way it's written for the residency. Okay. So is that something we can change? I don't I wouldn't recommend changing it as far as the residency, but to we could change it on the very last line of it. It still says um the city shall have the right to grant or deny. Um but we can always make sure that they are staying sponsored. What the policy says is under the sponsorship that you have have 51% to stay sponsored and we will make sure that they stay sponsored.

Okay. So, is that 51% the problem? I mean, Mr. attorney. I mean, I just want to know how we can structure it so that we don't deprive girls sports. I haven't looked at this in detail. Um, and you know, if you want to continue it and have us look at, I'm happy to do that. Yeah. Listen, but we need to ask we need to ask the director because that could throw a big wrench into Okay. I I don't want to throw wrenches at staff. I'm just I'm just saying I don't know. I'm

No, no, I'm agreeing with you. I don't want to do that. So, I just what I want what I want to happen is if something's been working for years and you've had these young girls playing and all of a sudden we're doing something and a sentence stops it. I'd like to fix that. I agree. But let me say one thing to give you some confidence with whatever you do. And this is a policy. If it's not working out, it can come back to you at the very next meeting. If it was something where, you know, there was a league that was going to be excluded um or several leagues, whatever the case may be, we can always even call a special meeting. It doesn't even have to be a regular meeting. Could be a meeting in 24 hours. We could change the policy, right? But they're here now.

So, it's like it's like it took a lot of effort to to collect and do this and then all of a sudden we're like, "Okay, come back in 3 weeks." I just feel like we're up here doing something. Okay, Lord, your vice mayor is trying to tell me something. Um, well, I I have an idea and I want to see if it works. Um, so my understanding is this ideally is passed before this all gets set as we go into the new year. Is that correct? Because I know we've already seen this once before. And we continued it to this meeting.

And we continued it right to this meeting. So if if we pass this tonight, it will have no impact only that we know of on this upcoming season. Correct. No, it would have no impact on Navajo, right? That's that's what I mean. Right. Until it it the concern is under sponsorship requirements by January 1st, 2028, 2028. So there would be no impact to them until that time at all. But again, at that time, we can always grant an exemption if it is required or needed. Okay?

And we can always bring the policy back before then to make any changes. So, um, are we able I don't know if we're legally able to do what I'm about to ask for. So, California law, um, I if we could change California law, I think the state would be run a little bit uh, better. But, uh, but, uh, no. Um,

but my question is, would we be able to uh pass this policy and require that it come back to us within the next year for us to reconsider it only because being able to tell me if I'm wrong, but being able to pass it tonight means that everyone that's using the fields for this next year can be all set. they can go into this year knowing what their schedules are, etc. It's not going to have a direct impact, but if we require it to come back within the next year, then we can work out the nitty-gritty of it.

Absolutely. Put that in as your motion that it comes back in a calendar. But um but but um but um you you can absolutely do that if if that's what you want to do. You can I'm sorry to let the attorney answer. You you're you were doing a really good job. I'm sorry. Okay. Yes, that's accurate. Okay. Um, and I I do see that there is still a concern from the audience, and I know we try not to go back and forth, but I would like to hear it. Is that okay if I just Yeah. Yeah, of course. Is that Is that a Is that the prerogative of the mayor? Sure. Sure.

Yeah. Thank you. For expediency. So the the only issue with that is in the fall um according to the rubric so this policy would go into effect but in the fall uh we would be and I've done kind of like some quick math. I don't know all the factors but we would be pretty low down on the list and I know soccer um really wants those fields like competitive soccer, Rebels, um surf, right? They they go for those fields a lot and and we would lose out if there was a conflict. we would lose out this fall on those fields uh to those big um competitive soccer leagues. So, that's the only um uh thing that was not entirely, you know, clear. Got it. Thank you.

Thank you. Um one more thing for Misty. Um so I'm I'm sorry. All of this is very new for me um in terms of scheduling fields. Um so in in that case with what uh he just shared the they have not submitted their dates for fall of next year. It's only spring or spring. It's only spring at this time. Yes. Okay. So we would not know if there is a problem until they submitted and if there were conflicts. Okay. And is there any first come first-s serve basis to any of this? No. Okay.

And that sorry last I promise it's my last question. um when is that uh deadline for them to submit and then how much time do they have before they know the the outcome of the scheduling? It's usually about a month. So yeah, so fall will be submitted um I'll gather all of the information in May. We'll finalize in June. So by mid June all of the will know they're scheduled from July to December. Okay. So, I'm gonna I'm gonna pass it over to the councilwoman, but I I do have a motion when you're done.

Um, so a few questions that actually m Miss um Misty, it's actually for our attorney. So, the number 10 on page six of the draft, it says that the city shall have the right to deny the use. And I don't see grant. So, we'd have to modify that, wouldn't we? Because right now it says the right to deny it. We already have the right to grant, but I'll let the attorney. Do we have to specify that we have the right to I think it's covered because there's also the exception language that's at the end of the policy. Okay. We're I'm sorry. I don't see the exception. I might have just missed it. Missy, can you find that

that last paragraph we could change to the right to deny or grant, but the sponsorships themselves, which is part of the concern, that's in the bylaws that we can um make sure that they stay within the athletic council and they're always a sponsored team.

Okay. Um, thank thank you. So, that that would be something we could do then. And and then the other question is so this is kind of a weird question but and I'm sorry for this I like gender I mean I like encouraging gender equity. My daughter is on crew and she's 16 so I know how important sports is to young women. I I absolutely think it should be placed and given more more attention because we lose out so much. Title Nine has still not done what it needed to do. And so I I feel very strongly about it. My only concern is by giving it a point, does that open us up at all to any kind of lawsuit? I'm asking our attorney because I don't want that to be an issue.

It does not. Okay, good. Um and then so I guess if we want the first thing I would I I would want but it sounds like we want to pass this today, but I would want Mr. something to actually take a look at it. I just want it just because I just to make sure. I'll be happy to do that and I'll make it easy for the council. I'll look at it. If there's some issue with it, it will be brought back to you and you'll be notified by a separate memorandum. I'm confident that this is going to be okay.

Okay. And then um the last thing is is there and I'm sorry I I tried to read it as closely as I could. Is there a grandfather type of clause in here where if you already have I see that one of the things is past performance but it sounds like it's grading on if you've had breaches but do we have anything based on past performance or history with the field like if historically Navajo is 20 years I mean or so will they is there something there that we could put there put in there

part of this that's part of the reason for the policy is that so many leagues were grandfathered in and new leagues were not allowed into the Lame Mesa Athletic Council and that's where we're trying to make it more fair. I think making grandfathering in would defeat the purpose of the policy. Ready? It's going to be a really weird uh motion and I'm going to probably require our city attorney to help me. Um, okay. So, I do weird.

I I know you do. I really appreciate that. Um, for those of you who this might be your first council meeting, we are very fortunate that we all work together really well. So, um, thank you for sitting through this with us. But, um, okay. So, I would like to make a motion to approve item 9.10 until we can hear it again before April 30th of 2026 so that it's before the fall scheduling starts. Um and uh ensure that uh Navajo girls fast pitch softball uh remains a city sponsored league in perpetuity.

I think that makes perfect sense. I'll

second that. Any other questions under discussion? I'm just going to say um I've been in extracurricular Peter Pan Junior Theater obviously was the founder and started Mace Arts Academy. This is very important and I realize we're I'm borrowing the the uh auditorium at LaMace Arts Academy now that I've been retired since June. And so we're gypsies without something. And uh it's why we're raising money to build our own rehearsal space. So I I do understand uh all your concerns about keeping this alive. I I don't have daughters, coach. They're my nieces, but I'm I'm glad. Thank you. No, that's okay. I I appreciate you referencing them because I'm very proud of them, but I I wish they were my daughters, but but I but anyways, but thanks. Um all right, I'll call for the the vote. motion carries with all council members voting yes.

All right. Now, go home and do your homework, please. We're going to we're going to let all you we're going to dismiss all you so you don't have to stay through the rest of this. H have a good Christmas. Have a good Christmas. We'll see you at opening day. All right.

So, while they're leaving, I'm going to uh make a motion to approve a consent calendar. Oh, I was going to say, sorry. Dang. All right. Never mind. Uh go for it. Yeah. Um, I'd like to pull uh consent calendar item 9.5 for a few questions for Miss Santos and possibly a separate vote once I have my answers. Okay. All right. 95. Yep. Okay. Dang. All right.

Okay. Yeah, I'll go fast. Okay. So, um this one is about the um ratifying the design review board's approval of an apartment building on University. Uh the uh it's at uh 7285 University Avenue and um the zoning says that it should have 44 parking spaces. However, if they do one very lowincome rental unit, they can knock out 17 parking spaces uh and dropping it down to 27. So, anybody that knows that section of University knows there is absolutely no street parking on University. So, if they don't have parking at that complex, they're going to have to spread into the neighborhood, the neighborhood that's behind it. So, the questions I have for you are this. Um, okay. So, first of all, do we do we have to say yes? Yeah, go ahead and build your your your 27 parking spaces when it should be 44 one. Um, the formula is one lowincome unit and then the building jettison 17 parking spaces. So, that they're going to use they're going to lose one parking space for every unit. Uh, what is a very lowincome rental unit? I'd like to know how much they're paying for it. Are the rest of the units market rate? How long is that unit required to remain low income? Does it stay low income in perpetuity or is it only that way for six months? Uh were the neighbors notified of this project? Um obviously builders all over California are using this loophole to save money on building apartment buildings. Um is this near public transit because I know that's one of the things they keep using. Um and I just want to know how the builder is qualifying for the density bonus. Uh and when is this expected to break ground and be completed? Um thank you.

Thank you. And first I just want to thank you for giving me those questions ahead of time because that would have been like a pop quiz up here on the

So thank you. I really appreciate that. Um so first I'd just like to start with saying very low the very low income category is the most needed but the least provided. So what the state has done is said to the development community if you give us very low you only have to provide 5% of your overall development as um affordable and then that qualifies you for incentives and waivers parking being one of those and there is no limitation on waivers. So that's pursuant to state law density bonus which is government code 65915. So that's the the first question is do we have to say yes? We do because this developer has invoked if you will or chose to implement his project utilizing that section of state law.

Right. Potentially it's state law. Um the formula is you had asked um the formula is one low income um can they basically one space for every unit. So what density bonus law does is it does provide a formula for parking and in this case one and a half for every two bedrooms. So that gives them the 27 because they're no longer under our zoning requirements. They're now under density bonus. for twobedroom.

Okay. And then what is very low income rental? And I apologize. Um I understood this as like who would qualify for this but the that would have been difficult for us to calculate because it's based on a a formula of what the price will be and it's one of them being interest rate. So we wouldn't know that until such time that it came on the market for rent. what the interest rates were at that time, but but what we have is the income levels for that. And so, just to give you an idea, a a household that is very low income for a family of one would be $57,900. So, someone who um made that amount or less would qualify for this unit, which is really important. Um okay. are the rest of the units market rate. So, this is an interesting project. The developer in this case, he wanted to provide the the very low unit. He wants to do um wants to um make these condos and so he wanted the option for sell, but that's a difficult thing to do in the very low category um because someone would have to qualify to purchase. So he is going to do a deed restricted for rent unit and then the rest will be for sale at market rate which is really important to our community as well.

They're all going to be condos but one is going to be for rent. The other 17 will be for sale at market rate. Um, okay. You asked, "How long will the unit be required to remain low income?" And that's um, pursuant to state law, they're restricted to at least 55 years. And we will have an affordable homes agreement with them that they will be entered into. There will be a covenant that will be recorded on the property and that will be in place for 55 years. Um and then the question is is near public transit. How is the builder qualifying for density bonus? Um so the project first answer the project is not within that half a mile radius where they would be able to wave all parking. Um so but in this case they do have two bus stops um approximately 150 feet from the project and then they're about uh 64 miles from the trolley. Um and how is the builder qualifying for density bonus again because he is providing that lowinccome unit. Were the neighbors notified of this project? In this case, the neighbors were notified. There's a mapping action to create condos and so that does require when it goes to planning commission that is a hearing and it is required to be noticed. So they were they were notified. Our understanding also from the developer was that he had conversations with the neighbors on either side as well. And then when is this expected to break ground and then be completed? There's no confirmed timeline, but the developer is very excited for this project and um he wants to begin as soon as possible. And then if you had any other questions.

Okay. You're welcome. Would the speaker does the speaker feel they need to um come up? Ian Mer Oh, I'm sorry. There's We had one speaker card. I'm sorry. Hang on for one second. I apologize.

Sorry, Council Member Dillard. A question for Lynette. Um, it's just a short question since we were talking about affordable housing and there only being one and this is just a general question for all affordable housing. You mentioned the 55 years uh committed for under 57,900. Uh what happens uh just so I know what happens if for some reason the renter begins to earn more over that amount. Is there a qualification period or span in which they get re re-upt on the total amount of income that they're making to make sure they stay under that amount?

Yes. Um we have a compliance monitoring program and we check that every year. So they have to submit their income information to us to the city on an annual basis. Are they submitting their income tax return? Correct. Their their income verification. So whatever is is required for that typically um payubs and their tax returns. Okay. Thank thank you. Certainly that was it. Thank you mayor. Thank you. Thank you. Any other questions or comments on number this number? Um,

no, we don't actually. I was wrong. Only if there was spec specific questions for him and I don't think there are. So, um, sorry. I'll make a motion to approve. Thank you. I apologize. Are we just approving the one item? Just one just the one item. Okay. Sorry about that. I know you need to type it in. I

Yes. Sorry about that, Madame Clerk. I know you have to specifically put in thank you that wasn't like that. So, thank you for the adjustment. Motion carries with all council members voting yes. Uh next item.

Um I don't want to pull it. I just wanted to make a comment on uh 9.12. Um it is the stop sign um on Oakland Road at Kioa Drive. Um I'm really excited because this is my very first stop sign um in the the city of La Mesa. um a former colleague who actually lives in the city of Lame Mesa. He and his wife are um expecting their first and they live um near a school um in this area. Um saw an issue as they were heading off um to work in the morning a few times and uh this went under two traffic reviews. um once during uh summertime when school was not in session and it was found um that a stop sign was not needed, but uh we went ahead and did another traffic review when school was in session and found that a stop sign is warranted at this area. And so I'm really excited as they um as they grow their family and as other um Laame Mesa residents in the area um h send their kids to school in this area that we're going to be making this intersection a little bit safer. So, I just wanted to say thank you um to everyone uh at the city who put in the work on this and I'm really excited about this stop sign.

Question for you, Vice Mayor. Yes. Did you initiate it? I did. And how long did it take? Uh it took roughly six months. Nice. Okay.

So, since we're talking about stop signs before you make a motion, I'm currently um we're we're doing a survey currently at Lemon and Third and Lemon and Finley that I initiated. also initiating. I'll bring it back at the next meeting. A council initiated to uh have two crosswalks lit. So, it's going to cost money, but we need them. So, um Mid Street crosswalk on La Mesa Boulevard and Nebo. And, uh there's one more. I can't remember. So, good for you for doing that. I've something I started right 20 years ago to doing it, too. It's a good thing. So, we're also um um I'm also I met with a um a constituent today who lives near um Murray Manor Elementary School and had um an unfortunate near miss um in that uh intersection. Um we're very they're very happy. Um and we actually met a couple constituents this weekend that also live near Murray Manor that are very happy with the traffic calming that happened. Looks good

in front of Murray Manor. Um and now we're looking at the intersection um of El Paso and Lake Murray. So, more to come on that. It looks good. Um, so does anyone need to pull any other items or talk about? So I'll make a motion for consent. Second.

Motion carries with all council members voting yes. I need um a consent calendar for the success agency unless anyone wants to pull 10 one or two um or AB. I'll make a motion for the consent calendar. Second.

Thank you. Motion carries with all council members voting yes. Item 11, council committee reports. Council member Dillard, c uh council member um Loathian, council member Suzuki, Vice Mayor Vice Mayor Casares.

Just one um today myself and assistant city manager Amanda Lee got an email from the uh California sober living uh task force asking us to present um this Friday. So I will be uh I we literally got it this afternoon. Um, so myself and uh, Councilwoman Loathian will uh, be sharing a little bit about uh, the sober living facility on Bellflower Drive and um, and the work that we're working on to improve it in the city and and how this the state can assist us because it's unfortunately mostly a state issue as we talked about earlier on in the meeting. Um, so I'm really excited about that for Friday and thank you to um, assistant manager Lee for helping me prepare. I'll be attending Sandag if I can get the address and figure out how to find the parking structure. Um AB1234. Anyone travel? City attorney remarks.

Okay, go Hoosiers. Just kidding. Um we're adjourned until 2026. Thank you everyone.