City Council - Regular Meeting

This is the regular meeting for July 1st, 2026, convening at 6.33 p.m. City Clerk, can you please do a roll call?

Council Member Bregman?

Here.

Council Member Nakanishi? Here. Council Member Craig Hensley?

Here.

Mayor Pro Tem Hothi?

Here.

Mayor Upez?

Here. Thank you. City Attorney, can you please introduce the closed session items?

Yes, there's one item today, public employment pursuant to government code section 54957B, title City Clerk recruitment.

Thank you so much. And do we have any public comments on the closed session item? And we don't have anybody from the public, so okay. So then council will adjourn to closed session at 6.34 p.m.

Thank you so much. It's an honor to present tonight's call to civic response Lawrence Park.

en la seguridad de todos. Si queremos un parque funcional, la iluminación es el mínimo indispensable. Además, hago un llamado para que se instalen cámaras de seguridad en todo el parque con un enfoque um

All right, council return from closed session at 7.02 p.m. City Attorney, can you please report on closed session items?

No items to report this evening.

All right, thank you so much. So I would like to invite right now David Diskins from the Stockton area, Freethinkers and, I don't know if that writing is, sorry, that writing, but ATSS, sorry.

Thank you so much. It's an honor to present tonight's call to civic responsibility on the 250th anniversary of our nation's independence. This milestone invites us to reflect on our government's original promise of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness, and to ask whether that promise is fully realized in our community today. Independence comes in many forms and we can acknowledge that it's not equally shared among us. Some enjoy financial security while others struggle to make ends meet. Some move freely through life unburdened while others face so many challenges. economic hardship, health and addiction, family responsibilities, discrimination, all challenges to their independence. Our country's founders gave us a blueprint, incomplete but still a powerful start, and it reminds us that civic duty is not abstract. It lives in the choices we make as neighbors, as leaders, and as a community. So tonight I ask that we make decisions with that original promise in mind, decisions that consider those who do not yet fully experience the rights that we often take for granted. Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free. The wretched refuges of your teeming shore, send these the homeless, tempest-tossed to me. I lift my lamp beside the golden door. Let us invest in one another and in our community so that people, more people, can achieve life, liberty, and happiness. And in doing so, we move closer to the ideals that we will be celebrating this weekend. Here's to another 250 years. Thank you.

Thank you so much. Now we will do the flag salute. This is the regular meeting for July 1st, 2026, convening at 7 or 5 p.m. City Clerk, can you please do roll call?

Council Member Bregman?

Here.

Council Member Nakanishi? Here. Council Member Craig Hensley? Here. Mayor Pro Tem Hothi?

Here. Mayor Yepez? Here. And before we continue, I would like to introduce a new city manager, Kara. And I will give her the opportunity to say a few words. And we're super excited to have you here and how you're going to revolutionize the city. No pressure.

Thank you so much. I'm really honored to be here. My name is Kara Redig. I'm in day eight, so I'm still on a big learning curve, but I really look forward to learning all about the community, working with the city council and the constituents, and just ensuring that Lodi is the best place to live. Thank you.

Thank you so much. City Clerk, can you please introduce the consent calendar?

Yes, Mayor, tonight on consent calendar we have items C1 to C8. We do have a blue sheet for item C3. And so the motion and the vote will need to include the blue sheet. for the consent calendar. I also just want to make a note for those joining us in person today. We do have Rosa, our Spanish interpreter, and she's right there in the back waving her hand. If you need Spanish translation tonight, please let us know and she'll be able to assist. I would also like to make an announcement for those of us joining via Zoom. that if you would like to submit a public comment, please use the raise hand button and we'll get to you as soon as I complete all the comment cards I have. And with that, Mayor, I submit the consent calendar for the City Council review and approval.

Thank you so much. Any member of the Council would like to pull an item from consent? I would like to pull C3 for more information. We're gonna vote on that separately anyways, right?

At this time, there isn't a plan to vote on it separate, but if you'd like to pull it to vote on it separate, we can.

No, just for more information. Okay. So my question is, so I saw that in Publix work, there's a huge list of credit cards. So we did an extensive research and study that those positioning those credit cards, right?

Yes, so it's my understanding that there was a previous listing of credit card holders in the fall that was reevaluated. And that list was cooled down. So tonight's action is sort of right-sizing that with a few positions. These are the positions that Public Works has identified that they need. But this is a list that we can revisit maybe every one to two years to see are these individuals using their cards and ensuring that if a card is out there, it's being used.

definitely that was that's a great then definitely now that we have you uh for public work i would like you to go on those credit cards and see you know because this is before your time so i would like you to see that maybe and revisit that next year we can bring this back yeah it works for council when we revisit it um maybe in about a year we will look at the utilization rates and ensure that the appropriate positions okay thank you so much thank you

How did they handle credit cards? The same way we do here?

It's a little bit more of a decentralized process handled through purchasing. The actual individuals that had their CalCard, it didn't come to council, but it was really more by position and department. The department identified the need and then they were given a CalCard. Yes, yeah, and then they sign an agreement on how they'll use it and use it properly.

Thank you, appreciate it.

Okay, thank you. Then I will now ask anyone in the public if they would like to pull an item from consent. Seeing none, I will now ask for any council comments or a motion.

Motion made. Second.

Okay, I think you guys have to say the blue sheet. With the blue sheet. With the blue sheet.

Thank you.

Thank you. All right, and it passes. Now we're going to move to publics and non-agenda items. City Clerk, do we have any public, any comments on non-agenda items?

Yes, Mayor, I do have. cards for tonight and the first card I have is from Rick Freeman.

Thank you, Mr. Mayor, council members, staff, and, of course, local residents. My name is Rick Friedman. I'm the president of Lodi Adopt-A-Child. For those of you not familiar with our organization, our focus is on supporting children in our community, providing new opportunities for them. We've been around now for 37 years. We're probably best well-known for our annual Christmas program. Last year, we provided Christmas gifts for over 900 children. We also have our Hope Outfitters program, works with the Lodi schools and provides clothing for children in need. And our activity scholarships, we provide scholarships so students can participate in sports through Bob's, classes through the Parks and Rec's department, music lessons with Salem Music Academy, and drama classes with the Changing Faces Theater Company. Tonight, what I wanted to talk about was we're starting. I'm very excited about a new program. We are going to introduce a new children's art show that's going to be held at the end of August. We're working with Community Partnership for Families and the Lodi Arts Foundation. We're trying to give opportunities to children to enhance their lives through exploration of arts and creativity. The theme is Imagine You Have Superpowers. We're going to ask children to create art imagining what that superpower might be and how they might help their family, their friends, and their community. So we invite youth all over Lodi to explore their superpowers through art. This art show is open to all students in Lodi for grades three through 12. And it is a free event being held on Saturday, August 29th. And it is not only free for all the students to participate, but it's open to the public and everybody is welcome to come. And we certainly would encourage people to do and see the art produced by our local students. We're also gonna be offering an art workshop on July 18th. We're gonna have some teaching artists paid for by the Lodi Arts Foundation who are actually gonna help the students provide guidance in art techniques and presentation and creative development. and help them for preparing art pieces for submission to our art show. That workshop itself, we're requesting a $10 donation. However, we will waive that fee for any child whose parents can't afford to pay that. We're going to start accepting art immediately after that art show, so we will accept art for the art show between July 8th and August 19th. leading up to the presentation of the art show. Many of you may be aware we actually lease our offices are at the corner of Main Street and Pine Street. It's actually leased from the city. I'm particularly excited because one of the things that we're going to do is we're going to take pieces of the winning art and we're going to enlarge them and put them up in our windows. So some awareness of that, but also bringing some color and art to a admittedly fairly drab looking building i also wanted to mention that we'll be coming next month to the lodi arts commission to talk about putting a mural on the wall that faces the arch and the railroad tracks so we're very excited and particularly with the new downtown plan to brighten up main street we're doing our part we're trying to make that look a little bit better over there Um, last but not least, I also would like to mention that we are going to be doing a fundraiser on Friday night before the art show because all of these activities we do cost us money. So we're looking for participation. So with that, I really like to make an open invitation to the city council to the staff and into the entire community. If you have children or know children in third to 12th grade, we'd encourage you to register now for our art workshop and certainly to bring in art for our art show. And for everyone, we'd like them to come to our art show at the end of August. And we'd love it if you'd also participate in our fundraiser as well. So with that, I'd say come celebrate the arts and come celebrate children in the community.

Thank you so much. Thank you.

Mayor, I just like to note that our next group of public commenters are Spanish speakers, and so I have increased our or doubled the public comment time to allow for appropriate translation, so the next comment card I have is from Martha Ramirez.

Yes, good afternoon. My name is Martha Ramirez. And today I'm addressing you to express my full support. One second. Okay.

As a resident who lives nearby, I thank the city for giving this support and giving priority to Lawrence Park. However, there are security issues that we must address. solution are para que la inversion realmente rinda los frutos. Mi preocupación principal es la iluminación. Es inaceptable que las luces del parque permanezcan apagadas. Cuando tenerlas encendidas, marcaría la diferencia en la seguridad de todos. Si queremos un parque funcional, la iluminación es el mínimo indispensable. Además, hago un llamado para que se instalen cámaras de seguridad en todo el parque con un enfoque prioritario en los baños. No podemos pedirle a las familias que confíen en un espacio actualmente utilizado por grupos que se juntan para beber y drogarse, intimidando a quienes solo queremos disfrutar de un ambiente sano Installing the cameras is not a waste, it is a way to save money for the city by preventing vandalism and keeping the area under surveillance. Este parque es la ruta vital para nuestros estudiantes que caminan hacia la escuela Lawrence todos los días. Les pido que como consejo respalden no solo este presupuesto para el parque, sino también por la seguridad física y la supervisión de nuestros hijos y las familias que necesitan. Muchas gracias por su atención y por considerar nuestras voces.

Thank you. I am here today to express my full support for the proposed grant for Lawrence Park. As a resident who lives nearby, I appreciate the city taking this step. It is an investment in our community that our community has been waiting for a very long time. However, there are safety issues we must address so that this investment truly pays off. My main concern is the lighting. It is unacceptable for the park lights to remain off when having them on would make all the difference in everyone's safety. If we want a functional park, adequate lighting, is the bare minimum. Furthermore, I am calling for the installation of security cameras throughout the park with a priority focus on the restrooms area. We cannot expect families to trust a space that is currently used by groups who drink or use drugs. intimidating those of us who just want to enjoy a healthy environment. Installing cameras is not an expense. It is a way to save the city money by preventing vandalism and keeping the area monitored. This park is a vital route for our students walking to Lawrence School every day. I ask you as a council to support not only the funding for the park, but also the physical security and oversight that our children and families need. Thank you for your attention and for considering our voices. Thank you.

Thank you so much. Gracias por venir.

Gracias. Thank you very much.

The next comment card I have is from Martha Barrera.

Yes, my name is Marta Barrera. I just wanted to express a few words. Just a few, just the same words that my female friends apply.

That we ask for surveillance. That there are lights installed at the parks. And that they place a stop sign or stop signs at the parks in those areas. And that is everything. Thank you very much. Thank you.

Thank you so much.

Gracias.

The next comment card I have is from Maria Rodriguez.

Buenas tardes a todos ustedes del Consejo de Lodi. Mi nombre es Maria Rodriguez. Yo represento a un grupo de vecinos con un tema de inseguridad sobre el Parque Lawrence. Primero, quiero expresar mi agradecimiento por la propuesta de becas grant para el Parque Lawrence. vivo y solo doy a solo dos cuadras de allí y me da mucha esperanza ver que están invirtiendo en nuestro espacio un espacio olvidado por mucho tiempo precisamente porque queremos ver cambios positivos en el parque me gustaría darle al departamento de pedirle al departamento de policía específicamente al jefe garcía que nos ayude con un problema de inseguridad. Todos los días, grupos de adultos que no son indigentes y no indigentes utilizan la mesa de los parques para beber cerveza y jugar barajas. Esta actividad, además de ser ilícita, intimida a las familias y a muchas mujeres que dejan de llevar a sus hijos uh en una empresa, debemos empezar explicando las normas. Solicito que la policía realice patrullajes, aplique las sanciones correspondientes para pedir estas conductas, para prevenir estas conductas. Pido al Consejo que apoye esta solicitud porque todos podemos disfrutar de un parque seguro y muchas gracias por su atención. También quería comentar. Permítanme leer eso primero.

Before she jumps into a different comment, I would like to translate that if that's okay. Good afternoon, distinguished Lodi City Council members. My name is Maria Rodriguez and I am representing a group of neighbors concerned about safety issues at Lawrence Park. First, I would like to express my gratitude for the proposed grant for Lawrence Park. I live just two blocks away and it gives me great hope to see investment in our space. or area, a space that has been neglected for a very long time, precisely because we want to see positive changes in the park. I would like to ask the police department and specifically Chief Garcia to help us address a safety concern. Everyday groups of adults who are not homeless use the park tables to drink beer and play cards. This activity, beyond being illicit, intimidates families and many women who stop bringing their children to the park because they do not feel safe. If we want to transform the park, we must start by enforcing the rules. I request that the police conducts patrols and applies the appropriate sanctions to discourage this behavior. I ask the council to support this request so that we can all enjoy a safe park. Thank you very much for your attention to this matter.

So I also would like to address the fact that the kids walk to school in that area and it's very unsafe because you don't have light controls and also lighting. And that's everything. Thank you.

Thank you so much. Muchas gracias.

Muchas gracias.

The next comment card I have is from Patricia Castro.

Good afternoon. My name is Patricia Castro. I live right across from the park that's on Stockton and Maple.

I always use that park to take my grandson for outings, and I use that park quite a bit. But I am not going to use that anymore. My child, grandson, wanted to go inside and use the restroom. And there were two that were just homeless or from the streets. Inside the restroom, a gentleman and a lady.

The lady shouted at my grandson things in English that I didn't understand and I pulled him. So I think it's very necessary that you install cameras, security cameras around there because in that area or in the bathroom because

And also that the police patrols the area often because I became very scared when I went to the restroom with my grandson.

I do hope that you do more surveillance or

go patrol the area a little bit more because you do have a lot of kids on bikes in the parks and um and they're just they're just there those people that are just on the streets they need to you guys need to remove the people from the area it's a safety issue muchas gracias thank you very much muchas gracias thank you thank you very much

The next comment card I have is from the Hannah Foster.

Good afternoon, my name is Fausta Baena. And just like my friends, I am also concerned about the people that are just there drinking and smoking.

On Monday when we went with my daughters, my daughters, and they took a video of this, my daughters saw a man that was just laying down asleep with a can of beer next to him.

And I also would like to request that you install a light.

by the park, by Lawrence, because there is a light there that you just push the button and the interpreter, they request the clarification, a regular light or a traffic light. Semaphore or . We want a traffic light to be installed there because right now there's a light that you press the button, but the traffic is going by really fast and they don't really stop.

Porque muchas veces se paran los carros de este lado y de este lado no, o sino de este lado sí y de este lado no.

Sometimes the cars stop, the cars do stop on this side, maybe on that on that side, or maybe on this side, and out on that side.

Y también ahí en la escuela nos, cuando yo llevo mis niños, mis niñas que voy a las 7.45 de la mañana,

And also at the park, when I take my kids to school, which is at 7.45 in the morning, right across the street, there's a packing shed.

I think they pack asparagus or corn.

And the semi trucks are parked right there. When one leaves from dropping off the kids at school, they don't allow visibility or to see if there's a car coming. We have to cross. very careful. Because one is unable to see either from the right side or the left side. And sometimes the same, you know, at 2 p.m. when we go and pick up the kids, they're there. And that is everything, thank you.

Thank you for coming, gracias.

The next comment card I have is from Laura Oconto.

Buenas tardes, distinguido miembro del consejo. Mi nombre es Laura. Además de los temas anterior, quiero presentar una preocupación vital sobre la seguridad vial en la intención de Lapua Street y Calaveras Avenue, que es un punto de cruce fundamental de los estudiantes que se dirigen a la Escuela Lawrence. Actualmente, este cruce es extremadamente peligroso. Los vehículos que se transistan a velocidad muy altas ignoran la presencia de pelotones. Les comparto con mucha precaución, preocupación, que yo misma estuve a punto de ser atropellada dos veces. Una con mi perro. Si mi perro no me jala, me hubiera llevado el carro. La segunda, fuimos dos personas. La señora de rojo, la señora Rosa, ella está de testigo también porque ella era la otra persona a la que casi la atropellan. Íbamos las dos juntas a recoger a nuestros hijos a la escuela.

Okay.

Es urgente que el Consejo del Departamento de Tráfico evalúen qué medidas de seguridad se puedan implementar de inmediato en este cruce, ya sea mediante de reductores de velocidad, mejor señalación iluminación reforzar la la presencia ocasional de oficiales durante las horas de entrada y salida escolares necesitamos acciones que obliguen a los conductores a reducir velocidad y prestar atención No podemos esperar a que ocurra una tragedia mayor para tomar medidas. Les pido por el bienestar de nuestros estudiantes y familia que prioricen la seguridad en esta intervención. Muchas gracias por su atención.

Good afternoon, distinguished council members. My name is Laura. In addition to the previous points, I want to bring up a vital safety concern regarding the intersection of Lockford Street and Calaveras Avenue, which is a main crossing point for students heading to Lawrence School. Currently, this intersection is extremely dangerous. Vehicles travel at a very high speed. very high speed, ignoring the presence of pedestrians. It is with great concern that I share that I was nearly struck by a car at this very spot in two different locations. One along with my dog, and if it wasn't because my dog pulled me, I would have been run over by the car. And the second one was with another person, the lady that is sitting right in the audience wearing red. Her name is Rosa. She was a witness as to that too. My dog's quick reaction prevented a fatal accident. Unfortunately, other neighbors have not been as fortunate. It is urgent that the Council and the Traffic Department evaluate what safety measures can be implemented immediately at this crossing, whether through speed bumps, better signage, enhanced lighting, or the occasional presence of officers, police officers during school drop-offs and pick-up hours. We need actions that force drivers to slow down and pay attention. We cannot wait for a greater tragedy to occur before taking action. I ask you for the well-being of our students and families to prioritize safety at this intersection. Thank you very much for your attention. May I say something else?

What Ms. Jovita wanted to say was this.

And as a mother, this is what we're asking for.

Yes.

You do have a light to cross for the pedestrians to cross. However, people are not respecting that. The only thing that we're requesting or asking for is like a traffic light, a light that signals or tells people that the person is about to walk. So, and that is because in that area, you don't have a person designated to cross the kids to the other side. And that has been an issue for a very long time. That's everything. Thank you.

Thank you.

The next comment card I have is from Luz Maria Flores.

Good afternoon. My name is Luz Maria Flores.

I live over on the streets by Locust and Washington streets. And at that park, you know, I don't know what's going on, but I don't know if people get into fights or what is going on or what's happening there. And it will be good for you to install cameras there too. And also to install lighting, just like my friends, my female friends are saying too, that illuminate the parks. You know, I take my grandkids to play there, but mothers do not really take their kids there to play or very seldom because they are afraid of the people that are around there.

And I hope that you all can support us. for the well-being of the town and for the entire community. And thank you so very much, and we hope to get your support.

Mayor, can I clarify? Yes. We're talking about Hale Park here, right?

Right, that one. Okay, thank you. That's where I live. I thought so. Thank you. Thank you.

And the last card I have is from Maribel Dominguez.

Buenas tardes, miembro del Consejo. Mi nombre es Maribel y soy residente del este de Lodi. Hoy me presento ante ustedes para pedir su apoyo en un tema de equidad para nuestro vecindario. Como vecinos que amamos nuestra ciudad de Lodi, nos preocupa mucho el estado actual de nuestras calles. especialmente el tramo de la calle Toquey, desde la intersección con Church hasta la esquina con Cherokee Lane, presenta un deterioro muy severo. Lo que más nos duele como comunidad es ver el contraste mientras observamos que las calles de otras áreas de la ciudad de Lodi, como el sector que va de Toque West hasta Lower Sacramento Road, mantienen un excelente estado nuestra zona parece haber quedado en el abandono no pedimos nada fuera de lo común simplemente queremos que el este de lodi reciba el mismo nivel de atención Manteniendo que el resto de la comunidad. Nuestras calles también son transitadas por familias, estudiantes y trabajadores que merecen circular por vías seguras y dignas. Mientras quisiera preguntarles, ¿existe algún plan concreto o fecha programada para la rehabilitación de estas calles del lado este de Loday? Necessitamos saber que podemos esperar para poder informar a los vecinos. Confio en que trabajando juntos podemos corregir esta diferencia y asegurar que nuestro lado de la ciudad este reciba el cuidado que merece. Muchas gracias por escucharme y por su disposición para ayudarnos. Gracias.

Good afternoon, council members. My name is Maribel and I am a resident of the East Lodi. I am here today to ask for your support regarding an issue of equity for our neighborhood. As residents who love our city, the city of Lodi, we are very concerned about the current condition of our streets. Specifically, the stretch of Toque Street from the intersection with Church Street to the corner of Cherokee Lane is in very or severe disrepair. What hurts us the most as a community is seeing the contrast while we notice that streets in other areas of the city, such as the section from Tokay Street West towards Lower Sacramento Road are very well maintained and in excellent condition. Our area seems to have been left behind, the east side of Lodi. We are not asking for anything extraordinary. We simply want the east of Lodi to receive the same level of attention and maintenance as the rest of the city, the city of Lodi. Our streets are also used by families, students, and workers who deserve to travel on safe and decent roads. I would like to ask is if there is a concrete plan or a scheduled date for the rehabilitation of these streets on the east side, and we need to know what to expect so we can inform our neighbors. I trust that by working together, we can correct this disparity and ensure that our side of the city, the east side, receives the same care it deserves. Thank you for your attention. May I say something else?

Also, with the support, if signatures are necessary to be gathered, I am willing and available to gather those signatures so that can happen. Muchas gracias. Thank you very much.

Thank you very much. Have a good evening and thank you.

Mayor, that's all the comment cards I have for tonight, but if you want to open it up to the audience.

Yeah, so now I will open up for public comments. Seeing none, yes.

Good evening, everyone. I'm just here to clarify something. There was a confusion between Lawrence and Hill Park. as far as the people playing cards and drinking in the tables, just to clarify that from our parents. And also I'm very proud of them. They have been telling us about what they're going through in the Eastside. So we invite them to come and talk to you guys so you guys can hear from them. So thank you for coming and be here with us.

Thank you so much. I'm going to have a few comments, but first I will open it up for council members, and I will say my comments at the end.

Thank you. Mayor, if I might speak on this. I want to thank all of you for coming. This started with the conversation at Lawrence Park, and we invited you all to come. And, you know, it takes a lot of... Can you hear me? Oh, I'm sorry. Thank you. Thank you, Bertha. Appreciate it. Rosa, would you be able to? Thank you. Thank you. Yeah, that's fine. Do you want to do it there so you... I think Olivia needs you to do it at the, yeah, just because it'll be recorded that way.

Would you like me to do it simultaneous as you speak? That's fine. Okay. Go ahead.

Pause. Again, I want to thank you. Quiero agradecerles. This started because we had the meeting at Lawrence Park. Esto empezó porque tuvimos la junta en el Parque Lawrence. To discuss the opportunities for the future use of that for recreation and sports and family gatherings.

And I want to recognize our Parks and Rec staff who are here today because they were part of that meeting.

and you all provided a lot of input to them that will be useful as we submit the grant application.

But one of the things that you all discussed tonight and you discussed there was it's wonderful to have those facilities and recreation activities, but it needs to be safe. And while safety isn't the purpose of that, it is the purpose of this council to ensure that you will be able to use your parks and feel comfortable in those parks and enjoy those parks as they're meant to be. So what I'm going to ask our city manager to follow up with city staff is a number of items were listed tonight for us specifically, and that's why I'm glad you came and gave us that list. El que yo le voy a pedir al administrador del municipio y el que le pida también al personal del municipio es que el añada o ponga en esa lista de cosas que tiene que hacer de lo que ustedes dirigieron o hablaron hoy esta noche.

And this would be a list that's really multi-departmental. We're looking at our PD. We're looking at our parks, obviously. We're looking at the opportunity for our public works to do some type of surveil or assessment of traffic concerns and needs. So it is a multi-department approach for looking at these issues.

Y esto va a ser un acercamiento que va a abarcar a múltiples departamentos o divisiones dentro del municipio. La comandancia de policía, el departamento de parques, de recreación, y obviamente también obras públicas que van a empezar a hacer encuestas de lo que es lo que se necesita allá. Van a ser, es algo que se necesita, pero con muchas divisiones dentro del municipio que van a trabajar en conjunto.

And I specifically heard about the concerns for the Children crossing, and as the Legion Hall becomes useful again, we'll see more and more traffic in that area. So it's something we need to start addressing now as it relates to the crossings, not just for school time, which I guess I am a little confused because we've heard there's no crossing guard there, yet information I received from the city said the school does have a crossing guard there, so that needs to be clarified.

Y también escuchamos también las preocupaciones que usted nos dice acerca de los cruces de peatones en esa área. Y tenemos que hablar de eso, del tránsito, porque a medida que se empieza, se va a empezar a utilizar el centro que tienen ellos, el Legion Hall, que está allí cerquitas, esa área se va a empezar a transitar más. y este y tiene que hablar o sea tiene que dirigir eso lo del cruce de peatones yo tenía la impresión de que había una persona que estaba ayudando a cruzar los niños allí en el cruce de peatones pero ahora me estoy dando cuenta de que no hay una persona que está ayudando a cruzar esos niños esas personas en el cruce de peatones y eso también es alarmante que tiene que dirigir

So the last thing i'll notice that our city manager was at that meeting and she has already followed up. With our folks in public works to look at an opportunity to do an assessment and we're particularly sensitive to doing at a time when schools back on late July, I think. That way we can make sure we fully understand the use of that area, that crossing in particular, come up with some solutions that will keep you safe, your children safe during those crossing times, but not just then. When it's evening, I know what you're talking about. We need better lighting there at Lawrence Park. It's a big area. And I think it's something that we'll have to be looking at whether it's part of the grant request or it's something on top of it as we move forward. So I will be looking to Public Works for providing us information on opportunities we've got. So thank you. And thank you again for coming in. We really appreciate it. It makes a difference to me.

También el administrador del municipio va a dar seguimiento a todo eso y también ya va a empezar el departamento de obras públicas a hacer una evaluación de qué es lo que se necesita o se van a estar allí. No vamos a hacerlo hasta finales de julio para cuando regresen los niños de la escuela para tener una información más concreta de qué es lo que va a necesitar para una solución del cruce de patones en esa área. a ver cuál va a ser la solución para la seguridad de ustedes y para la seguridad de los niños. También en la noche yo estoy tomando en cuenta y lo que dijeron ustedes de que se necesitan más luces ahí en el parque porque el parque Lawrence es una área grandísima. Entonces vamos a agregar eso al otorgamiento que eso nos va a dar para poder proporcionar eso y a ver cómo aplicamos eso. Yo les agradezco a ustedes que hayan venido y que nos hayan compartido sus preocupaciones Thank you. Now, Councilman Nakanishi. I will make it short. Thank you for coming. We hear you. The city manager, city council supported.

I always have wanted safe parks, safe streets. I'm a grandfather too. I understand what you're saying. So I'm glad you're here. We'll see what we can do. Regarding streets, you are right. The streets in Lodi is not maintained. We're doing all we can to try to get the streets fixed and I understand. Thank you.

Okay, Councilman Brinkman.

Thank you. I do believe that safety is the first job of government. So thank you for coming out and hopefully we can support you in the future.

Gracias por haber venido. Yo entiendo que la seguridad es lo principal y es el principal trabajo del gobierno. Y yo les agradezco por haber venido.

The last thing I'd mention, and I don't know if this is possible from our police chief, but as far as some of the calls that we get for each park, if we're able to actually understand the log on an annual basis of which parks are highlighted for, again, the most calls for PD services, and hopefully we can do some data research on that as well.

Lo último que le quiero pedir yo al... al comandante estés que cada llamada que se recibe en la comandancia de servicios que están para cada parque para poder entender la ley también poquito este que se ilumine o que se diga de cuales son los parques que ocupan la que es de las cuales se reciben las más llamadas de los parques se que se haga una encuesta de cuales son los parques palmas Okay, thank you.

Any other comments? So I will give some context for the council. So the city is applying for a grant, and we had three meetings. It is for Lawrence Park, Hill Park, and Blakely, and three council districts, me and Lisa, and she's been a champion of studying that whole process. I went to two of the meetings, not the first one, because there was a big fire next to my house. So that kind of was a priority there. But I got to talk to many of the residents that are here. And so yeah, so now we'll switch to Spanish. So creo que ha habido muchas veces que han dicho lo de la seguridad entre la lac ford y la calaveras por los niños que cruzan y por eso vamos a investigar eso porque si alguien del scuba está allí o no y si no puedo yo con ustedes a ir al scuba podemos ir a la miriam del scuba y hablar con ellos a ver qué podemos hacer si me invitan mi email es rjps arroba lodi.gov Question. uh so what is the policy on uh drinking and parks because i was in a community meeting on like three days ago and people were drinking on the park and there was some concern that it was brought up as we were at the park so there is a loading municipal code for open containers and drinking that we could apply at the parks the problem is i was listening to the comments we don't get calls for service They need to call police, but I actually call the police with being Christina were there. And because there was a person that was passed out in one of the playgrounds and I call and we were there for 30 minutes a whole meeting and nobody from the police department show up.

So, and that's another problem and why we've asked for more staff is that we only have four cops maybe six cops working at one time. So they are tied up on priority calls and that wouldn't necessarily be a priority call. We will make it out there and we do have a retired annuitant that comes and works as a park officer who also patrols the parks during the day and can can enforce a lot of those those municipal codes.

Okay, can we like have a little more present for the next few days kind of that area to see if we can see something people calling or people drinking in the park or something.

Hale Park or Lawrence Park?

No, Hale Park.

Hale Park, yeah, that's the one I thought they were talking about.

Yeah, that one, yeah.

So one of the things we do our best to do is apply for grants. And we have an ABC grant. And I was talking to the sergeant who runs our ABC grant. And that's something we could do as far as enforcement. So supplement our patrol staff is have additional overtime staff to do those things and hopefully help address a lot of their safety concerns.

Okay, thank you so much. So .

Y a veces toma poquito tiempo para llegar, pero la gente que está tomando y jugando cartas así, no se va a ir. Y van a estar ahí hasta que lleguemos, ojalá. Pero eso es algo que necesitamos ayuda. Necesitamos ayuda para hacer la seguridad. Y a veces llaman y, por favor, no se desesperen. Sí vamos a venir, pero como digo, nomás hay cuatro, a veces seis oficiales trabajando por toda la ciudad. Y ahorita están... All right.

Okay, thank you.

Thank you so much. All right, so we will move to non-agenda items from council members.

Just noting the Lawrence Park Committee meeting was a great opportunity to get out there and hear a little bit more about what we're talking about for a redevelopment of that site. A couple of other things, just we had the San Joaquin Council of Governments meeting, and I just need to put on the list for city manager to follow up as we move forward with our projects under Measure K. The application for any amendments to measure K projects will be out in I think January, they need responses by March. So we'll want to take a look at that project list and determine if we need to add some things to it or reprioritize for that. Since they made the decision for all the other Measure K stuff at the last meeting, we need to get into the mix for particularly ensuring that the Harney Lane interchange and widening is a top priority, but adding others as we move forward. participated in the economic development ad hoc committee that was very productive things are moving forward. Luis and his staff are doing a great job. Thank you very much. And then I just want to note and this was kind of alluded to in terms of some of the concerns for some of the homeless individuals in the park. I've been getting at least three or four photographs this past week. I'm getting a lot more complaints again about seeing individuals in the bus shelters, on Locust and Elm streets in particular, in front of the Indian restaurant. I just talked to somebody tonight who was concerned about that fact. Those aren't particularly encampments, but those are people that are very much in physical distress. And so I think we need to address those issues more and more. I don't know if it's just because it's spring, summer, and or if it's because up actually just cleaned out or cleared out their track area and so they're somewhere else the great festival grounds they're stealing signs off of the fencing there so it's just become a persistent issue and i know chief has got his folks dealing with the rv area i guess my question is at some point in time we had discussed having a second clo and I don't know what the status is on that second clo so that would be helpful to know where we are with that process and. You know, bring back to counsel, because it is when I get a call from the supervisor who's saying it's getting out of control again that's something that I have to pay attention to so thank you.

Dr recognition yeah.

I'd like to note a historic event today, Cara Reddick's first day as city manager, 2026, the year that we celebrated the 250th anniversary. You'll never forget this, right? I want to say a few words about her. We're glad she's here because she has a lot of experience. She worked a lot of years at Elk Grove and so forth, so if there's any issue we could ask her, she's very knowledgeable. So Cara, I'm glad you're here.

Thank you. Any other comments? No? I have one comment to agendaize an item that I would like to talk in a future meeting, probably in the next meeting that we have, about the improvement committee, kind of how we can restructure them. I believe we have maybe some bylaws that would like to introduce the council. So I would like to agendaize the item to talk about that. Do you have a question, John? OK.

Just to clarify, so there there'll be no staff research it's just more of a discussion item at the Council level or how would you like to do that like to do.

So i've already met with the city clerk about the issue and have actually sent some language is the city clerk and the city attorney. to review a change in the structure and somewhat the purpose of that to be more relevant to our strategic vision and our milestones that we're trying to accomplish. So anyway, that's out there with staff and that would be something I don't know that there's that much more research. It's more an issue of responding to what I've drafted.

No, we can certainly bring it back. I would like to ask not to have it at the next meeting. That essentially has to be done in just a few days. I'd like to be able to take a look at it and ensure that all staff is comfortable with it. I'm fine with that, ma'am. So we can come back at the first meeting in August. I think that's maybe August 5th.

OK. That sounds good.

Just one flag. I assume we're going to have some sort of dialogue with the current committee on this. Oh, yeah. Because I recall, maybe it was a couple of years ago now, where we voted on some changes to their bylaws.

Yeah. Yeah. Can I just clarify on that as well? Would you like to have that conversation with the committee before we return? Because that may impact the timing.

I think I'd prefer we had a discussion first about the direction that staff would support and then sit down. Because the way the language is written, it engages the existing members of the committee as part of the continuing dialogue. So I leave that up to city manager to help inform us.

OK. So how about we will talk internally, ensure staff is on the same page. Yeah. then we will discuss the strategy to talk to the Lodi Improvement Committee, either before or after we come to council. So it'll either be on the August 5th, or I will just update you if we have to go to one of their meetings before we come back. Thank you.

In talking about committees, also the Finance Committee, I would like the item to be more discussion on next meeting to maybe put more people. The idea is that to put maybe more people in that committee. And yes, go ahead. I thought that you wanted to say something.

I just want to make sure I'm understanding. You're wanting to expand the makeup of the committee.

Yes, that's correct. And and that's why I would like a discussion among counsel to see if we want to do that and see what we want to go from there.

Okay, and if it's okay with counsel as well. I just want to make sure that when we bring things back. We've had a chance to look at them and they're thoughtfully brought back So I would like to ask, not at this next meeting, because that has to be done in just a few days. But can we come back on August 5 with that finance committee.

Yeah, and I think that will tie together kind of the same. So yeah, let's bring in others.

Thank you. Okay.

Okay, now we're gonna move to the regular calendar. So first we'll start with public hearings.

Yes. We only have one public hearing for tonight, and it's to waive the first reading and introduce an ordinance amending Lodi Municipal Code Title IX by amending chapter 9.18, vending on streets, sidewalks, and private property, to revise regulations related to mobile food vending, including permit requirements, location standards, and operational regulations. And I will turn it over to our interim community development director to provide an introduction.

Yes, good evening mayor and Council if Madam Clerk could pull up our PowerPoint presentation, this is an item that we're bringing back to you, we previously had a discussion with Council and we made the changes that you requested to the food truck ordinance section. the Lodi municipal code those items are back for you tonight for approval and also there's a blue sheet attached with some changes there's a couple of tweaks that were suggested by council so those are in front of you on your dice tonight our senior community improvement officer Johnny Andrews will be providing the presentation thank you

Good evening, Mayor and distinguished. I like that word distinguished City Council members today. Oh, my name is Johnny Andrews. I'm a community improvement officer with CD. Today I will be going over the proposed revisions to LMC 918 045, which is our. Mobile food vendor regulations. Currently our mobile food vendor regulations include city issued annual permit, a cap on the permitted vendors, county health compliance, fire and life safety requirements, parking and location requirements, hours of operation standards, waste disposal and cleanliness requirements. On April 15th of this year, we presented to City Council for discussion and direction, and that was due to concerns regarding the permit caps, unpermitted vendors, enforcement challenges, public health and safety issues. We presented potential amendments to the LMC section, 918.045, At that time, Council provided direction to eliminate the numerical cap, regulate mobile food vendors through permitting, safety, and operational standards. Additionally, restrict the mobile food vendor operations in the DMU west of the railroad tracks. On May 27 of this year, Planning Commission approved the recommendation. There's a couple of key changes that we are proposing. The first one is going to be eliminate the citywide cap on the mobile food vendors. prohibit mobile foot vendors west of the railroad tracks within the DMU, add updated operational standards related to the noise, queuing, circulation, and noise, sorry, nuisance prevention, update residential compatibility standards, strengthen sanitation, lighting, safety, and cleanup requirements. Additionally, it maintained the county health permits, business license, and fire and life safety requirements. Additionally, it established clearer enforcement procedures, suspension, and revocation procedures. Regarding the environmental assessment, this amendment is exempt from the California Environmental Quality Act pursuant to section 15061 common sense exemption and 15378. The basis for the exemption is that It establishes and updates operational regulations for mobile food vendors. It does not authorize physical development or construction. And additionally, it can be seen with certainty that there is no possibility the amendments may have significant effect on the environment. For the recommended actions, we ask that you waive the first reading and introduce an ordinance amending Lodi Municipal Code Title IX by amending chapter 9.18 to revise regulations related to the mobile food vending, including permit requirements, location standards, and operational regulations. That is the end of the presentation. If you guys have any questions, myself and Cindy will be happy to answer them.

Thank you so much. Do we have any questions from the council? Councilwoman Gregg?

Just a couple. Thank you very much for clarifying some of the language in here, business tax. We don't have business license we have, so little technical changes like that. So one of the questions I've got, and I just need clarification as to why this actually needs to be stated. So on page 6 of 13, under 3b, commercial use area, In a commercial use area vendor may remain at any one location for norm no more than three hours upon relocating the vendor shall move at least 400 feet from the previous location and shall not return to that location or within 400 feet of that location during the same calendar day. Can someone explain the necessity for that and why that has to be in there? Because I really don't understand what somebody may be trying to do that would be a violation.

Sure. That was a section of the code that was existing. So we didn't change it, though, in your blue sheet. We added some clarifying language. The ideal of it, and this was not a recent proposal, this was existing, I believe, was to make sure that vendors don't camp out too long at a location. They are mobile vendors and are meant to be mobile, and so that they don't end up being in a location for an entire day and don't move. So it restricts hourly times for how long a vendor can be at that location. But of course, this is something that if you would like to change in your motion, you are absolutely able to amend that right now.

I think so, just because of the fact that they may come. I think, in particular, you may have a truck that's there and does the breakfast service but then comes back in the evening for dinner. Or they come there and they set up. It takes two hours to set up or whatever it may be. They do a lunch. They're there for people on the way home from dinner, and then they're done. So I do think that's a little arbitrary. And the fact is if we're going to allow it, You know, on a private property, which is what the whole point of this is that we um you i'm fine with the permitted hours, you know, I mean, you can't be in a residential area beyond what did we say seven or eight o'clock? I can't remember commercial areas different fine with the hours, but I I don't think there's necessity to have them keep moving. So I would just recommend we um Either we strike that or basically say in a commercial use area, vendors permitted hours of operation are from 6 to 12 a.m. And then that covers the hours. And then we're not limiting the time they can spend parked in some place.

To clarify, Lisa, that section that you listed only pertains to the public right of way. So somebody on private property wouldn't have to move in that manner.

It says a commercial use area. So to me, that's a commercial use area. I mean, I'm not expecting that they're on a public street. That's only if it's a special event or they have a permit for being there for a special event.

The section that you're referencing is only for the public right of way, for the street.

OK. Am I reading this incorrectly, Mr. City Attorney? Yeah, it's on page six.

If you flip to page five, subsection A, so the first section under location, it does say and operate in the public right of way subject to the following conditions.

I'm just, why would they be in the public right of way? I'm trying to think of other than a permit for a special event.

Well, I do believe it's for the reason that you stated. So the private property, they get to stay there as long as, you know, within the hours. But the public right of way is more set to people that will come in the breakfast time or come whenever it's lunch. So they have the ability to be on the public right of way as opposed to being stuck in one location.

So let's just say this is out in the industrial district and they're parked on the street where cars would park. Is that what you're saying?

Yes, ma'am.

So they can legally outside of the mixed use downtown area, they can park anywhere on a public street.

As long as they have the mobile vendor permit. Yes, ma'am.

Okay.

And they abide by the time frames, the three, four hours in the 400 feet.

When you're thinking about it, you may want to consider competition of location. So if you don't have a scenario where somebody has to move, maybe there's a desirable space that somebody's always, I'm going to say, hogging up, for lack of a better word. In this provision, they would have to move along. And if that's taken away, I think they can stay there all day. Correct. And they don't have to move. So if you do remove it, there could be that scenario. I don't know. But that's something to think about.

Okay, I was reading this differently because I just didn't anticipate, I'm trying to think, okay, if you're parking in the public right of way, you're taking up parking spaces, for example. So, and you typically will need, if you're taking up parking spaces all day, I guess it would make sense if it's an area of town where there's no limit to parking. And so that's what this whole section is about. Okay, that's fine. I'm not going to go down that path. I just wanted to make clear that we're not talking private property. This is all about public property. Yes, ma'am.

So the policy as it currently is written, you're allowed in the public private way, private right of public right of way with the permit. Is that correct?

Yes, sir. But you are still stuck to the time limits that are in here. So there's no change to that aspect of it? Correct. I believe there's no change to that.

No change to that. We just clarified the language in the blue sheet because it was stated that the language was confusing. So we just smoothed it out on here.

Understood. Thank you. So there isn't any time limit in a private location then? just to adhere with the hours of operation, depending on the use of that particular area. Correct. OK. I think that was it in terms of my comments relative to this. I am going to make another comment, because in talking with some of the food truck operators and other brick and mortar outside of the downtown area, the concerns really come down to the unpermitted vendors' carts. And as I read this, and I'm glad we have it in front of us, We have much greater enforcement authority than we're using right now, and I think I want to apply this specifically to the downtown area at night. I was disturbed to read a ship summary about our patrol officers having to spend a lot more time downtown at night because of an illegal hot dog stand because there was a big crowd. It's not the first time that there's been a crowd in that area. and so we do have the ability to enforce this even if it's a misdemeanor the fact of the matter is i shouldn't have patrol officers there hoping that there isn't going to be a fight that breaks out because you've got a large crowd around a hot dog stand that is operating illegally so we need to stop allowing this these vendors to operate they i don't care if they get three or four or five tickets and i don't care if it's a misdemeanor They need to be ticketed and they need to be ticketed as soon as they set up. It'd be great if we had a code enforcement person at night or weekends, because that's usually when they pop up, but we do have officers on the street and I just, I need to have them, immediately stop these guys and say you gotta go and I don't care if they take the ticket and they throw it over their shoulder or whatever the fact is the more violations we have in place our laws allow us to basically move forward with with prosecuting them in some way so if I may just provide a quick update so I spoke to Chief Garcia earlier today it's my understanding that there was a council presentation on on this item in the fall sometime and then there

is the beginning of an internal working group. So I will be calling that working group together to see what strategies we can implement. Part of that presentation that you heard in the fall, there was a next step slide. That's impossible action. So let us meet internally and talk as an organization about the best way to proceed. We will come back, revisit those next steps. and see how we can kind of tighten everything up. Thank you, I appreciate that.

So if I may shed a little bit more light on this as well. I think that bill is somewhere around number, you know, SB683, somewhere around there, right? That protects food vendor trucks or food vendors. The only idea which I've spoken to our city attorney John on and our new city manager is an idea based upon what we actually do for Lodi Kiwanis in our Lodi Parade of Lights, okay? And it's called an encroachment permit, which I'm sure everyone here is familiar with. As soon as you have an encroachment permit, it's not the city's property more. It's actually leased by a group or entity. And it's not public property more. It's that group's property. That group actually takes temporary ownership of it and can kick out nearly anyone who they want. So when we do the parade of lights and there's illegal vendors there, we are legally able to push them out. And so that same idea I personally believe there's a way to use our encroachment permits to push out legal vendors. My idea is personally you're not going to have a business by an encroachment permit every single night, but you might be able to. allow them a quick opportunity to get a crutchman in front of their place of business which would include the sidewalk only not a public street but their sidewalk and do it at a very very minimal cost and or zero cost at all if there is issues and you can actually implement that in your downtown you can also implement that across the city so that that was my suggestion um john i know i've given that to you absolutely we've been looking at that i think it's a very creative and interesting idea

and we've been looking very carefully at it in terms of not only just the base legality, but then the actual implementation of it. My office has been looking at that actually very carefully because I think there's there's certainly merit to making sure we've answered all those questions and given whatever options the city has in that regard. So yeah, we've been working on that. Actually, just as recently as this week, we were working on some additional thoughts on how to implement that.

That would be great. And if there are any updates and or when, are you able to send that to all the council?

Right. Once I have anything that I'm comfortable with in terms of being able to give you options, we're going to send it to the council in a confidential memorandum just to give you an update on what we think the legal restrictions and the legal opportunities are.

That would be great. Thank you.

Mayor Mrakas, No comments so hopefully really removing this capital allow for others to try and operate in a fashion that is in accordance with you know city policies here. Mayor Mrakas, it's probably not going to impact the hot dog stand, I know which one you're talking about. Mayor Mrakas, But I have one over by my house right off the horny where we constantly they know they're putting out their tent and doing all this work to get their equipment out. Mayor Mrakas, And then somebody will call PD sometimes me and then they'll. have to pack it all in and you know it's pretty inconvenient for these folks too so hopefully this will help with that bottleneck and then as far as next steps are concerned assuming this all gets passed i'd love to for there to be a good education campaign about this too thank you sir okay so i have a question on page five on um and what it says locations in section number 3d

No, B, where it says mobile food vendors may operate east of the railroad tracks within the DMU zone subject to all other provision of this chapter. What is that for? Why do we have that provision there specifically?

That was requested at the former meeting we held for direction with council. The downtown area was designated as allowing it from east of the railroad tracks but not west of the tracks so that we would reduce competition parking directly in front of downtown restaurants.

So what streets does it cover?

Excuse me?

What streets does it cover? The toys that whole east side or just like a few streets.

It would be in the downtown mixed use zone. So the downtown mixed use zone generally goes from Lodi to Lockford a little bit north of Lockford. Okay, so it would be within that area east. And so the downtown mixed use zone, if you recall, was expanded last year or maybe two years ago. So that area was previously just really the downtown core. And with the downtown specific plan, we expanded it. About two blocks east of the tracks. So it would allow food trucks to operate mobile vendors to operate in that area. So this would be not be the pop ups that you see downtown. This would be more of the mobile food trucks or trucks that have a cart that they tow behind them or, you know, a mobile vendor.

Okay. So is it all the way to Stockton Street? I don't recall. Yes.

I believe so. And so they would not be allowed within the downtown core. So School Street, Sacramento Street, Church, and there may be one more block in there. between roughly Lodi and Lockford. So that area, pretty much those like three parallel blocks there would not allow those mobile vendors because there's a lot of high concentration of restaurants in the downtown. So we'd like to protect those from competition to some degree and not allow folks to park right in front of them.

Okay, that makes sense. Okay. And another question, like comments that I've been saying to all the city managers that we have there, when we do a presentation, we need to have page of like page one of three, page three of five. And Aaron have tried that, James tried that, so now you would. So someday before I leave this council seat, I hope we get into the habit of putting that in our presentations from now on Thank you. So now we open the public hearing at 8 28 p.m Do you have any public comments No, I have no cards, okay, I will invite the public to comment on this item I

Thank you, Mayor, Council Members. Welcome, Mr. Redding. Good to see you up here. I just have a couple comments from some members. This is not a reflection of the entirety of the Lodi Chamber of Commerce membership. For those of you, I don't know. My name is JP Doucette, President and CEO Lodi Chamber of Commerce. But there was a couple of members that did want me to share some feedback in regards to this item. And you guys have already discussed it. But as promised, I did want to bring it up for those members. that really around the you know what we saw after the initial discussion uh was an uptick in that um uh unpermitted vending activity i think there was uh i don't you know uh maybe um i understand that you know These people may be taking advantage of kind of the the news that's generated by this item and setting up, even though they know well enough about what is permitted and what is not permitted, but I do want us to be aware that probably if we do adopt this. the removal of this cap, you probably will see an uptick in that unpermitted activity just because they say, look, there's no cap, right? I mean, I can set up and operate. And that is really the main concern from the businesses that have reached out to me is really, their concern is that we haven't really been able to control that unpermitted activity. And even though we're trying to bring new enforcement to really allow permitted activity to happen, but really kind of stop that unpermitted activity or bad actors, there's a little bit of hesitation or concern whether we'll be able to live up to that enforcement standard just because of kind of the history there. So I have several names of people that have reached out. I'll be happy to share them with you there. They're happy to discuss how we can all work together to try and keep our legitimate businesses successful and help keep our public safe. Because I think, you know, there is a legitimate concern about, you know, something negative happening. And so we do want to be cognizant of that. There was a little bit of, you know, I think some of the restaurants that have reached out are on the east side. And looking at the map of where these potential food trucks will go, I think it will be predominantly in that area. And so we at the Chamber, we try to, you know, support those businesses by having them cater some of our events and do those sorts of things to help give them those additional business opportunities. Uh, and so that is always, uh, would be of great support, you know, for our community at large to really, you know, make sure that they're still supporting those, uh, legacy brick and mortar restaurants that have served our community for decades and in some cases a century. And so, uh, the last thing I, I'd like to say is, is just that, you know, uh, really, um, pushing out the message of what is allowed and isn't allowed making it very clear uh so that as uh mrs reddick does put together her enforcement team internally um hopefully it's very clear in terms of what's allowed what's not allowed let's get in front of some of these issues hopefully a lot of these vendors that are waiting to get approval come in right away, get approval so that this whole endeavor works out the way it should. We're happy to host at the chamber any sort of outreach in coordination with the city so that we can make sure that the vendors understand the process to get approved. So get them in, get them approved as quickly as possible, and get them operating. So thank you very much for taking, obviously, a lot of time and thought into this effort, staff and everyone else. And again, if you're looking to talk to any of those people that kind of reached out to me, I'd be happy to connect you.

Thanks for your comment. Do we have any other comments? Seeing none, I will move. First, I will close the public hearing at 8.33 p.m. And now I will move to final comments by the council and the motion.

Move to approve as the recommended action as stated.

With the blue sheet.

With the blue sheet.

I second that.

Councilmember naka Nishi I just want to ensure that you wanted to vote no can I could I put abstain is that a vote no okay thank you all right I just wanted to double check thank you thank you for all right and it passes so now we will move to a regular calendar g1 Mayor G one is to approve revisions to the purchasing policy, including local vendor preference purchasing authority updates and enhanced procurement procedures and I will note that there is also a blue sheet for G one. And I will turn it over to our budget manager to know Baker.

So good evening mayor and members account City Council engine all Baker the budget manager and part of our divisions. duties is to oversee the purchasing policy and purchasing compliance, which is why i'm doing this presentation today and then Jamie bandy is here to our administrative services director treasurer. and purchasing officer, as you will see in this presentation, who will oversee this policy as well. So tonight I'll be presenting the proposed updates to the city's purchasing policy. These revisions are intended to modernize the policy, improve administrative efficiency, and align our purchasing practices with current operational needs while continuing to maintain transparency, accountability, and appropriate internal controls. The proposed changes are the result of a comprehensive review of our existing policy, current state requirements, and purchasing practices used by comparable California cities. So with that, I'm gonna begin the reviewing the proposed purchasing policy. This evening's presentation will begin with a brief overview of why staff is recommending updates to the purchasing policy. And then from there, I will walk through the key policy updates, including the proposed changes to purchasing thresholds revisions to purchasing authority enhancements the local vendor preference Program. updates related to public works, procurement requirements, and additional internal control improvements. And then I'll conclude by summarizing the strategic benefits of these proposed revisions and present staff recommendation for council's consideration tonight. The city's current purchasing policy was last comprehensively updated in May of 2022 and has served as the framework for procuring goods, services, equipment, and public works projects. Since that time, the procurement environment has changed significantly. Inflation has increased and the cost of materials, equipment, and services. So this means that purchases now reach approval thresholds much more quickly than they did just a few years ago. We've also experienced increased complexity in the procurement process, particularly as departments manager larger and more specialized purchases. So in addition, federal grant requirements have expanded, requiring additional procurement standards and documentation to ensure compliance. So finally, through our review of the policy and our day-to-day purchasing practices, staff has identified opportunities to strengthen internal controls, clarify the responsibilities, and improve overall efficiency while maintaining transparency and accountability. The proposed revisions were developed through a comprehensive review led by the finance department. So throughout this process, staff collaborated with key internal stakeholders and our consultant DKG consultants to evaluate the existing policy and identify opportunities for improvement. After completing the review, the proposed revisions were presented to the finance committee. The committee discussed the recommended changes, provided feedback, and then ultimately they recommended moving forward with the revised purchasing policy to the city council for consideration and approval. The proposed policy includes nine major updates that are intended to modernize the city's purchasing procedures while maintaining the Strong's fiscal oversight and accountability. Some of these updates increase purchasing authority to better reflect today's cost and improve operational efficiencies. Other strengthen documentation requirements, clarify responsibilities and enhance internal controls to ensure procurement decisions remain transparent and consistent. Over the next several slides, I'll walk through each of these nine updates and explain why the change is being recommended and discuss the anticipated benefits to the city. So I'm gonna begin with the proposed enhancements to the city's local vendor preference program. And the objective of this program is to encourage the city, whenever practical and legally permissible, to do business with local companies that invest in our community. By supporting local businesses, we will help promote job creation, encourage local investment, and generate tax revenue that benefits city services. The anticipated benefits include supporting a stronger local economy, improving business retention, and encouraging investment within the city of Lodi. So as part of the policy review, staff surveyed several California cities and San Joaquin County to compare their local vendor preference programs. So as shown in the table, most agencies provide a 5% local vendor preference. While a few agencies have adopted higher percentages or different structures, several agencies also establish a maximum dollar value for the preference, while others do not have a defined cap. The proposed policy for the city of Lodi was developed after reviewing these comparable agencies and is intended to align with common municipal practices while supporting our local business community. So our recommendation, it strikes a balance between encouraging local economic development and maintaining a fair and competitive procurement process. So based on our review of comparable agencies, staff is recommending that the city adopt a 5% local vendor preference with a maximum preference adjustment of $50,000. This recommendation aligns with the most common practice among neighboring agencies while establishing a reasonable cap that balances support for local businesses with reasonable stewardship of public funds. So to qualify for the preference, a vendor must maintain a physical business location within the city of Lodi. hold a valid City of Lodi business license, and have continuously operated within the city for at least one year. These qualification requirements help ensure that the preference benefits businesses with an established presence and ongoing investment in our Community. So following preparation of the original Council items staff made one additional clarification to the policy language. So we added the statement provisions of the local vendor preference section of this policy adhered to this bid or justification process. throughout the applicable purchasing sections. And that is one of the two reasons that we have a blue sheet tonight is that it's clarification. Not only do we have a section for the local purchasing vendor preference, but it's also now sprinkled in all of the sections in the policy so that we ensure that there is no question from the departments that our intention is to have that local preference abide to all of the sections, all of the bidding sections, purchase orders, CalCard purchases, et cetera, et cetera. So the next proposed revision updates the purchasing authority limits for the city manager, department directors, and the information technology manager. So the current purchasing thresholds were established several years ago and due to inflation no longer reflect today's purchasing environment. As the cost of goods equipment and services have increased purchases are reaching approval thresholds much more quickly resulting in additional administrative steps for routine procedure procurements and time. Staff is recommending increasing the purchasing authority from 60,000 80,000 for the city manager and the information technology manager and then from 30 to 40,000 for department directors. So in addition, these thresholds would be adjusted annually on the consumer price index or CPI. And this will allow the purchasing limits to keep pace with inflation over time and reduce the need for bringing future policy amendments to city council solely to adjust dollar thresholds. So these changes preserve the city's purchasing power while maintaining appropriate oversight and accountability. And then they also improve operational efficiency by allowing routine purchases to be processed more quickly, enabling departments to respond to operational needs in a timely manner. So while staff is recommending an increase in purchasing authority, it's important to emphasize that these changes do not reduce the city's procurement requirements or internal controls. All purchases will continue to require competitive quotations whenever required by the policy. An approved budget appropriation will also be required and compliance with all applicable procurement requirements. In addition, these changes do not alter the city council's authority. The council will continue to approve larger contracts, purchases that involve significant policy considerations and any contracts or agreements that are legally required to come before council. I'm sorry, the proposed In addition, these changes, oh, I'm sorry. The proposed revisions simply allow routine operational purchase to be processed more efficiently while maintaining the same level of fiscal accountability, transparency, and oversight as mentioned. So the next revision is a clarification to the purchasing policy that formally recognizes.

Before you go, I have a question. Yeah. So for our purchases that we do in a year, do we have a central database that we keep all those transactions?

Well they're all in Tyler housed in Tyler munis our finance. software program that we use, they are in different applications of the software program so purchase orders are in a purchase order module. contracts are within our vendors that are we have all of our vendors listed in our finance software and we can find the contracts there. And all of the modules that actually hold the money that is approved by council or the city manager or department heads all have controls. So if that purchasing limit that is set and approved is met and or try to exceed, it will do a hard stop and departments can't even enter invoices on those purchases.

Okay, and so since here that is a little bit decentralized, the whole transactions to put it together, would that require a lot of staff time for council, like every quarter of those report if we want to see those?

There was a quarterly report and she is not here that accounting or accounts people put together that was between the department level approval and the city council level approval that was done quarterly. We can. We can pull that together if you want to see it for the August 5th meeting. But if you do want to expand the amounts that you want to look at, because there are a lot of transactions, obviously, that are going to be under the $30,000 mark. I mean, those are going to include AT&T bills and just buying some tape needed But so that's why I recommend that quarterly report that we have done before that's between the department head level and the city manager level, because that will give you more of a larger, higher purchase level oversight. But we certainly can come back with that report.

Yeah, yeah, and just look how much it will take before we kind of try to do it. Just let's see if it's not going to require a lot of stuff, time, and yeah.

Yes. Yeah, we can certainly look at that. We also want to look at the volume of output. Because we don't want it to be something that is extraordinarily long. So why don't we take a look at it, and we'll return back with, how about we just email you with our thoughts on a recommendation going forward, and then we can, do any next steps if you'd like after that.

Yeah, thank you so much.

Okay, so the next revision is a clarification to the purchasing policy that formally recognizes the role of the purchasing officer. So since the city's purchase policy was last updated, the city has undergone organizational changes, and this is including the new administrative services director slash treasurer. Which is Jamie Bandy who I introduced. So this revision will update the policy to formally designate that position as purchasing officer and aligns with the city's municipal code. So the purchasing officer is designated in the municipal code but was never named in the policy. So the policy will also clearly define the purchasing officer's responsibilities, which include overseeing the city's purchasing operations, administering procurement procedures, ensuring compliance with applicable laws and city policies, and promoting consistency in procurement practices across all departments. So this update does not create new authority or change the procurement process at all, but rather it provides clarity regarding the responsibilities and reflects the city's current organizational structure. So this slide summarizes the proposed purchasing thresholds for public works projects, and then it's important to note that these projects are not governed by the city's purchasing policy alone. They are regulated by the Uniform Public Construction Cost Accounting Act, which is established in the California Public Contract Code. So public works projects are specifically defined in Public Contract Code Section 22002, and the building thresholds are established by Section 22032. So under these statutory requirements, projects with an estimated cost of $75,000 or less may be completed through a standard purchase order without obtaining competitive bids. And then projects between 75,000 and 220,000 require an informal bidding process, which allows the city to obtain competitive pricing through a streamlined process. And then projects with an estimated cost over 220,000 must go through a formal competitive bidding process and be awarded by the city council. The next proposed revision addresses the approved threshold for vehicle purchases. So the current threshold has not kept pace with the increasing cost of fleet vehicles. So due to inflation, supply chain impacts, and the addition of specialized equipment, many routine replacement vehicles now exceed the existing approval limit of $55,000, even though they have already been identified and funded through the annual budget process. So we just went through the budget process and during that process, we do review the vehicle requests and equipment requests. So Council is already seeing those requests during that process, and this would just allow any vehicle purchase under $100,000 to be directly purchased through our normal purchasing process. So a purchase order request, and then it'll take less time for the vehicle. So staffing is recommending the increase vehicle purchase approved threshold. The adjustment will allow budgeting replacement vehicles to be purchased more efficiently, reducing the need for repetitive council approvals for routine fleet replacements. It also allows the city to respond more quickly in today's highly competitive vehicle market. Fleet vehicles are often available for a limited time and delays in the approval process can result in missed purchasing opportunities, longer lead times, or higher costs. Okay, the next revision strength strengthens the city's procurement documentation requirements so under the revised policy stuff will be required to maintain documentation of the procurement process. Including the quotations received vendor responses any vendors that did not respond. and instances where a vendor declined to participate. So while many of these practices are already followed, incorporating them directly into the purchasing policy establishes a consistent standard across all departments and ensures procurement files are complete and well documented. These enhancements provide a stronger audit trail, improve transparency, and reduce procurement risk by clearly documenting how purchasing decisions were made. They also help demonstrate compliance with city policy grant requirements and accepted procurement practices during audits or public records requests. So the final policy revision to focus on clarifying administrative procedures and improving consistency through the procurement process. So first, the policy now includes language specifically addressing blanket and open purchase orders. These purchase orders are commonly used for reoccurring operational needs, such as a routine maintenance, utilities, and frequent purchased supplies. So adding this language provides clear guidance on when and how to use these purchase orders. orders should be how they should be used and, second, the policy establishes clear procedures on obtaining informal quotation for purchases under $80,000. So, while departments have historically sought competitive quotes these revisions standardized process to ensure consistency fairness. and appropriate documentation across all departments. And then finally, the policy clarifies the approval process for contract renewals. If a contract renewal exceeds the city manager's purchase authority of 80,000, it will require city council approval, and this ensures that significant contract extensions continue to receive council oversight, even if the original agreement was previously approved. So we are already adhering to these policies, but it clarifies them in the policy. So in closing, staff recommends that the city council approve the revised purchasing policy. These revisions represent a comprehensive update and modernizes the city's procurement practices while maintaining the transparency, accountability, and fiscal oversight expected by the city council and the public. And then collectively, the proposed changes will improve consistency across departments, strengthen internal controls, enhance compliance with procurement requirements, increase operational efficiency, and continues supporting local economic development through the local vendor preference program. So as I mentioned at the beginning, before I wrap this up with questions, there was one other very small revision, but I think that it's taking out one word, but it does help clarify a portion of the purchase order. So in the blue sheet on page three, section C-5, We added language to define a minor change in policy without obtaining prior city council approval and substantial change. I'm sorry. Substantive, I'm tongue twister today. Yes, I'm getting tongue twister. Yes, substantive changes will require council authorization. So there's a, we, expanded the to define what those are and so a minor change is one that relates to administrative procedure and a substantive substantive i cannot say change is one that impacts compliance with municipal code or and it said other council authority threshold we eliminated other so it just says or council authority threshold just so that there's no question of what other means

I'm going to have a comment before, because I had the question about this when I was reading this. So before we go, is this clear enough? like the language that they added? Because when I was reading this this morning, I was like, yeah, but it still is vague. It's still not clear enough.

Well, we try to state things a little broadly, because when you get the language down to too narrow, then there's always a circumstance that comes up. So you try to get that balance between inclusiveness and specificity. This, I think, strikes a pretty good balance, the way that it's written right now.

So now comes a woman great.

We have a procurement officer again. Thank you, Miss Bandy for taking on that role because centralizing procurement with one individual in an apartment is central to the consistency that you're trying to realize here that city is trying to realize here. So thank you for taking on that role. Madam Treasurer, Madam Administrative Services Director, so multiple roles. I very much appreciate the local vendor preference, and it was me saying let's make sure we sprinkle it throughout the document so that people are clear that that is a factor in all cases. When it can be and when it can't be, we've allowed for that provision that may be required by state or federal law. The one area I would say is, and I wanna underscore this because I wanna emphasize the fact that it is a maybe, is on page five, halfway down, exceptions to bidding, the informal formal bid process may be bypassed in the following instances. So I'm gonna underscore on page six, there is a number of references to architectural engineering services, um accounting real estate transportation service environmental or hazardous material consultants i really want us to take the opportunity to develop those lists of those local vendors that provide those services and not just always default to oh well we're just going to pick this firm because we've used them and we like them I want to create opportunity for competition in the city and for bettering and creating new opportunities for businesses to shine. So just underscoring that, and I guess Ms. Bandy, I'm directing it to you so that departments know that it is an opportunity to bring business to more than a few firms. I think other than that, we did talk about the website and the fact that the portal for the RFPs and the bid process could be more robust because it's primarily public works. So I do see the security services. That's great to have here. I would love to make sure that all departments are listing their procurements and that it's not just public works.

uh just something to know to create more transparency as we're trying to do with this policy but excellent work excellent work thank you very much i appreciate it councilman i mean the condition on this subject pardon i support it i support it i do have a question on the procurement officer right what i noticed was no city employee shall use the city purchasing procedure to obtain property for personal use. That's a big project. I figure you're writing checks. My question now is, is the procurement card on C3, we, uh, we have the procurement card. What's the policy? I mean, let's say people use that for their own personal, do we have a policy, sanctions or anything on, on that? That's a big, that's a big question we've had the last two years or so. Can you tell me?

We, we do have a CalCard policy, use policy, And it is a separate a separate policy that came to Council, I believe, in September of 2025. And it was updated with more stringent. consequences of using it. In not not the right way. So now. You care gets notification if anyone has used it and properly. Or. Basically, for there's a lot of reasons, but care does get notified of those of those infractions on from the policy everyone has to do a training when they get a cal card, and now we have also implemented an annual refresher training. Through our. Training portal, and they have to acknowledge an agreement saying that they did the training, and so we have it refreshed every year for all the Cal card holders.

So the city manager has the position making the sanctions. She decided what the sanctions are. Or is there anything written on this?

No, I believe that there are some predetermined sanctions depending on the violation. But I will get an email notification with a cover sheet that says, this is what occurred. So the employee has to write out. And if I'm wrong, just please clarify. They write out what they did. Let's say a common one could be somebody utilized the CalCard on a trip, and they were doing Uber for a personal reason. they would say, I did this, they acknowledge their mistake, um, and if they do three of those, I think their CalCard is suspended. So there's already predetermined sanctions.

My question is, uh, what are the sanctions, you know, is it in your fair view to decide or, You have ordinances if you do one, two, three, four. Are we doing it?

The sanctions go from getting your CalCard suspended for certain amounts of times all the way to losing your job because you did it fraudulently. And in between there, again, there's timelines where if one infraction would be you lose your CalCard for a month to three months to six months, and then you lose your CalCard completely, so you do not get to have a CalCard anymore up to having to let someone go because of an infraction. It is in the CalCard policy.

You've answered my question. Thank you so much.

No problem.

or comments from council? Okay, so yeah, so I think now that we have Cara, she's gonna look at those policies and see if they work for her and everything, yeah, so we're gonna set it. You have a question, John?

I'm just making sure we have public comment.

Yeah, no, I'm going to that. So now we're gonna go to public comments. Do we have any comments, Madam City Clerk? No, of course. I would like to invite people from the public to speak.

Mayor member of councils i'm usually wagging my finger, but i'm going to give you a thumbs up this time all right way to go on the local procurement policy procurement officer is just it's something that we've been talking about for for several years so that's it's awesome to see I. Glad to hear that they'll hopefully be expansion on a web based portal to get notifications out. On rfs and I do agree that you know I understand it takes a little bit more time, but. At least through this initial phase, opening up some of those contracts that I know have been on repeat with some vendors for sometimes a matter of decades from what I've heard that other people do want an opportunity at bidding on some of these things. And I know we have turnover at some of the departments potentially, so it might be a great time to kind of evaluate some of those things. Because to be honest, a lot of our small businesses, that's the world they live in, those smaller contracts. And they may not be able to fill a million dollar contract, but $25,000 could go a long way for supporting a small business in our community. Mayor Mrakas, In also if, as this continues to evolve, you know again we're here to help notify our small businesses, our business community. Mayor Mrakas, If they need to register as a vendor with the city, whatever we can do to lower the drag on that procurement officer to get as many. bids in or as many quotes in through this updated process as we can in doing that legwork ahead of time and making sure that our businesses are ready to respond in a timely fashion so that we don't miss out on those kind of procurement opportunities because we don't have enough bids or we just don't feel we're meeting the mission there. So great job, everybody. So I'm not always here to, you know, rain on the parade. Sometimes I'm here to help clap as well. So good job.

Any more comments? Okay, I will go back to Council, but first I will make a, to touch on like the website, actually with the new city manager, we'll have a conversation about how they're doing in El Gro, and we're trying to see how we can bring that back here, and also about having a meeting, informal meeting in the fall that informs business how to bid for like a one-on-one, how to bid for a city contract. There is going to be just be information or decision, just so we can inform the business community about how to bid for a city contract. So that will come up in a few months. So now we entertain a motion.

Move to approve with blue sheet changes. Second.

All right. And it passes. Next item.

So Mayor and Council, the next. One, two, three. Four, five, the next five items, well technically seven, but the next five specifically are going to be all related. So instead of doing five different introductions, I'm gonna just do one introduction for our human resources manager, James Peavey, and he will go ahead and present on C, I'm sorry, G2 to G6, and then he will also present on G7 and G8.

City Council Chambers, Great Thank you very much, good evening Council, Mr Mayor, this is regarding the unrepresented employees cost sharing. City Council Chambers, With calipers and again this presentation is covering items G two through G six as are essentially the same items yet calipers does require separate resolution for each unrepresented employee group. Uh, within CalPERS, uh, formalities, Lodi's unrepresented employees are organized into five separate groups. And those are confidential general services, confidential men management, council appointees, executive management, and police executive management. At its March 6, 2019 meeting, council adopted a resolution authorizing unrepresented employees share a portion of Lodi's CalPERS costs. At its February 18, 2026 meeting, council adopted a resolution along with other matters authorizing the reduction of such cost sharing to be effective July 6, 2026. CalPERS requires amendments to its contract with Lodi to enact this change. As a preliminary step to the amendment process, CalPERS requires the City adopt a separate resolution for each group that includes the signatures representing the majority of employees indicating their support for the CalPERS cost sharing reduction. On June 16th, 2026, via their signatures, the majority of employees in each group indicated their support. In addition to today's actions to comply with CalPERS contract amendment procedures, Council must take additional administrative steps at future Council meetings to finalize the contract amendments. For example, at its August 5th meeting, Council must adopt a resolution of intention to amend its contract with CalPERS and at its September 2nd meeting, Council must adopt a resolution to finalize its contract amendment with CalPERS. Per CalPERS rules, the earliest date the contract amendment can take effect is 30 days after the adoption of the resolution finalizing the contract amendment, which is October 2nd. The implementation of the updated cost sharing deduction will occur on the first day of the first full pay period after the effective date of the contract amendment, which is October 12th. Between July 6th and October 12th, Lodi will reimburse unrepresented employees for all cost-sharing deductions that they will incur. Therefore, effective employees will not suffer any monetary loss. Also, Lodi won't incur any additional costs as it would be responsible for paying the revised contribution amount whether directly to CalPERS or to its employees via reimbursement. Therefore, to comply with CalPERS regulations, staff recommends Council adopt the resolutions found in items G2 through G6 to begin the process to amend Lodi's contract with CalPERS to reduce the affected unrepresented employees' cost sharing. Thank you.

Any comments from Council? Seeing none, I will move to public comments. Do we have anyone in the audience that would like to comment on this item? Then I will entertain a motion.

Move to approve. Second.

We're going to need to take each one individually.

Separately, OK. So move to approve G2. Second.

Would you like to wait for Councilmember Nakanishi, or did you want to just go ahead and vote?

I think we can go ahead since we have a lot of items. Go ahead. Okay, and it passes, so next item.

So as stated earlier, this is for all the groups, so we can just go ahead and do motions and votes as long as no one has public comment specifically for the specific groups. So you're welcome to open public comment and then we can just continue motion and vote.

Any public comments? Seeing none, I will entertain a motion.

All right. And it passes.

Predicting the future. Predicting the future, right? Maybe it doesn't pass. Did it not display?

It did.

Oh.

All right. All in my G4.

I will open it for public comments. Seeing none, I will entertain a motion.

So moved. Second.

All right, any passes?

We deducted from your pay.

No, we're to G5. We've taken care of it. We're done.

Thank you.

On to G5.

Any public comments? I'll entertain a motion.

Second.

All right, it passes.

And then last one for this particular presentation is G6.

Any public comments? Seeing none, I will extend a motion.

Second.

Any passes?

Thank you, Mayor and Council. We'll move on to G7, and I, again, I'll turn it over to our Human Resources Manager.

Great, thank you very much. So this presentation will cover items G7 and G8, as they're essentially the same items, yet CalPERS requires a separate resolution for each MOU. CalPERS uses Lodi salary schedules to establish compensation earnable for purposes of determining retirement benefits. Lodi has a separate salary schedule for each MOU, including the AFSCME Maintenance and Operators Unit and the AFSCME General Services Unit. CalPERS requires such salary schedules be publicly available and approved by the contracting agency's governing body during its regular calendar, which Council did as March 18th, 2026 meeting. It was later determined that four classifications in the AFSCME maintenance and operators unit salary schedule showed incorrect information, specifically equipment service worker, laboratory supervisor, plant and equipment maintenance technician, and water wastewater supervisor. and that one classification in the AFSCME General Services Unit salary schedule showed incorrect information, specifically Watershed Program Coordinator. Council approval of the amended salary schedules will ensure continued compliance with CALPERS regulations. Therefore, staff recommends Council adopt a resolution to amend the salary schedule for the AFSCME Maintenance and Operators Unit and adopt a resolution to amend the salary schedule for the AFSCME General Services Union. Thank you.

Thank you so much. Any kinds of comments? Seeing none, any comments from the public? Seeing none, I will entertain a motion.

Move to approve G7.

Second.

All right. And it passes. Next item.

Thank you, Mayor. So G7 was for maintenance and operators. G8 is for general services.

Do we have any public comments? No. Seeing none, I will entertain a motion.

Move to approve G8. Second.

All right, then it passes.

Thank you very much. The last item of the night is mine. As council's aware, there was a Senate bill that was passed, SB 707, that added additional requirements to the Brown Act. One of those, well, a couple of those requirements, but I'll touch base on each one separately. The first requirement was to reinstitute remote public participation in city council meetings. as well as translation services of the agenda, as well as in-person attendees. And then the final piece relates back to the first piece, which is a disruption policy that must be adopted by July 1st of 2026. And the disruption policy is enacted to ensure that remote participation and in-person participation does not impede City Council conduction of business. And so because of the two-way remote participation, The Senate bill required agencies to adopt a policy in case internet goes down or your program goes down and there is a disruption in the two-way telephonic participation. And so the proposed policy today, in front of you today, is providing Certain actions that Council can and should take in case of a disruption to we use zoom but just whatever program that the Agency uses. And the policy states that if there is a service disruption, then the Council can go ahead and they must actually. recess for about an hour and to give about an hour to see if the issue can be fixed. And if not, then the council can make the decision whether to reconvene in open session or to basically recess adjourned to a different day. until the issue is fixed. And then the other piece of the policy is if there is a member either online or in person that is disruptive to the meeting and what actions council can take to either remove obviously as the clerk that would be the piece that I would take care of or the clerk would take care of which would be to remove them from Zoom participation, or if they are in person, then we can have staff address that issue. So that's kind of the policy in a nutshell, and I'm happy to answer any questions.

Any comments from council? I just have clarification.

So if we do any public meeting outside of council chambers, so if we did like we did the town hall on homelessness, that would also have to apply. So it's just, but nothing else. I mean, as long as there's a quorum and it's a public meeting, it's publicly noticed, then we have to do it. But other meetings that are not, necessary for public notice. For example, the community meeting we did at Lawrence Park, that doesn't qualify.

Correct.

Okay, thank you.

Correct. And that's why you would have noticed that earlier this year when we did the managed growth meeting and the strategic planning meeting that were both not in chambers, we still had remote participation and we still had Zoom because that's part of the Senate bill requirement.

Question, Mayor. Clarify it. We have a meeting here. stop, right? We can't cancel the meeting at that time? We got to wait an hour? Is that what?

Correct.

We must have to wait an hour.

Correct. To see if the issue can be resolved. If not, then we can adjourn to another date or you can continue the meeting in open session and we would just note it in the minutes that there was a disruption to the two-way participation, remote participation.

Okay, so do we have any public comments?

I have no cards.

Okay, I would like to invite the public. Seeing none, I will entertain a motion.

So moved.

Second.

That's my favorite word today.

That's it?

I don't see any. Oh, there was up here. Okay, now I see any passes. So before we adjourn the meeting tonight, we are during the meeting tonight in honor of john led betterment better and councilwoman have prepared a statement and she will read it now.

Thank you, Mr. Mayor. Tonight we pause to honor the life and legacy of john Keith led better a man who's left for load I was evident in everything he did. He was a visionary in California's wine grape industry, helping build vino farms into one of the state's most respected management companies, while championing sustainable farming practices that have benefited generations of growers. Yet beyond his remarkable business accomplishments, John will be remembered as a servant leader whose heart was always focused on strengthening our community. His leadership touched countless organizations, including the Lodi Community Foundation, Hutchins Street Square Foundation, Hospice of San Joaquin, St. John's Episcopal Church, and so many other charitable causes. He believed deeply that success carried with it responsibility to give back, and his generosity, wisdom, and quiet leadership helped make Lodi a stronger, more compassionate community. On behalf of the Lodi City Council, I extend on behalf of the mayor our heartfelt condolences to his wife Edith, his children Kimberly Bronson and Craig Ledbetter, his grandchildren, his brother Jim, and the entire Ledbetter family. We also recognize that John's legacy of service lives on through his family who continue to share his spirit of leadership, generosity, and commitment to our community. John Keith Ledbetter leaves behind a legacy that will be felt for generations. We are grateful for his life, his friendship, and his unwavering dedication to the city of Lodi. May he rest in peace and may his family find comfort in knowing how deeply he was respected admired and loved. And tomorrow is his funeral at St. John's Episcopal Church at 10 a.m. So thank you, Mr. Mayor.

Thank you so much for those beautiful words. And we will adjourn the meeting in his honor.