City Council - Regular Meeting

Hello everyone and welcome to the September 1st, 2026 city council meeting. Thank you for joining us this evening. For translation services, please use the QR code on the poster on the left side of the room. Yeah, the left side of the room. And it's also on your agenda if you need that as well. I also want to begin by setting an expectation for everyone. We've had some disruptions in the past, and so we will not tolerate disruptions that preclude the council from being able to conduct its business and to hear from the community. Those folks who cause disruptions will be asked to watch the meeting from the conference room, across the hall, or to just leave the building. Right now, this announcement is deemed as a first general warning for all attendees. Any person who disrupts the meeting will be provided with one individualized warning, and any further disruptions will result in the individual being asked to watch the meeting from the conference room or leave the building altogether. So in order to keep the space welcoming, inclusive, and accessible for everyone, and to avoid disruption, we ask that all comments be shared respectfully. To begin this meeting, I invite you to join me in the Pledge of Allegiance. I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America, and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. Thank you. Amber, may we please have a roll call?

Mayor Pace?

Here.

Councillor Elker? Here. Councillor Sinclair? Here. Councillor Case? Here. Councillor Harris?

Here.

Councillor Ambry? Here. Councillor Salgado?

Here.

Thank you. Great. Moving to item two, presentations and appointments, I'd like to invite Councillor Salgado to read the Spanish version of the Latino and Hispanic Heritage Month proclamation. Following that reading, I'll invite Councillor Allcare to the podium to read the English version and to present the proclamation to Jenny Granillo, who serves as one of our graphic designers in the city manager's office. Councillor Salgado.

Por cuanto cada año los estadounidenses se reúnen para ahorrar las contribuciones diversas de los latinoamericanos durante el mes nacional de la iglesia hispana, que se extiende del 15 de septiembre al 15 de octubre, y que por cuanto las personas de ascendencia latina o hispana han enriquecido durante mucho tiempo la historia, la cultura y la prosperidad de sus pueblos. Representing 24% of our community, according to the census of the United States in 2020, and for how much our nation was founded on the principle of equality of rights for all, but many Latinos have waited too long for these promises. which reminds us during the month of Hispanic-Latin Heritage, the urgent need to challenge prejudices and racism in all its forms and how many Latino leaders have continued to advocate for equity to ensure that everyone in this nation can contribute with their talents and have the opportunities to prosper. and when September is the anniversary of the independence of many Latin American countries including Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, Mexico and Chile. Por cuanto, reconocer y comprender las experiencias vividas por los miembros latinos y hispanos de la comunidad de Hillcrop es esencial para garantizar que los servicios, el desarrollo, la infraestructura y las inversiones en programas de la ciudad crean beneficios mutuos para todos. y por cuánto que la equidad sigue siendo una prioridad en la colaboración continua entre la Ciudad de Hillsborough y la comunidad latina hispana. Ejemplificada la fortaleza de nuestro estatus de ciudad santuario declarado el 7 de marzo del 2017 y por cuánto Al mirar hacia el futuro, continuaremos construyendo y cultivando fuertes relaciones dentro de la comunidad latina y con los líderes latinos. Por lo tanto, se ha resuelto que yo, concejal Christian Salgado, en nombre del alcalde de la Ciudad de Hillsborough, Oregon, propongo que el 15 de septiembre al 15 de octubre del 2026 como el mes de la herencia latina y hispana en Hillcroft, insisto a todos los miembros de la comunidad a observar esta fecha trascendental y a participar en eventos para que celebren estas ricas tradiciones culturales hispanas y latinas.

Thank you. Councillor Allcare, would you like to go to the podium to read the English version of the Hispanic Heritage Month Proclamation? Thank you. And Jenny Granillo, you can accompany her at the podium. Is Jenny here? Yes. Great. Thanks, Jenny. Come on up.

English and Spanish.

You have to push the button on the mic, thank you.

Hi, I'm Jenny Granillo, I'm one of three graphic designers for the city of Hillsborough.

Latinos Whereas each year Americans come together to honor the rich and diverse contributions of Latinos during National Hispanic Heritage Month, which extends from September 15th to October 15th. And whereas September is the anniversary month of independence for many Latin American countries, including Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, Mexico, Chile, and Ecuador. Whereas the country's culture has been enriched by the rhythms, art, literature, food, and creativity of Latino and Hispanic people, which affirms that diversity is one of our country's greatest strengths.

Whereas our nation was founded on the principle of equal rights for all, yet many Latinos have waited too long for this promise. Reminding us during Latino and Hispanic Heritage Month of the urgent need to challenge prejudice and racism in all forms and

Whereas many Latino leaders have continued to advocate for equity to ensure that everyone in this nation can contribute their talents and have the opportunity to thrive and

Whereas equality remains a priority in an ongoing partnership between the City of Hillsborough and the Latino and Hispanic community. Exemplifying the strength of our welcoming sanctuary status declared on March 7th, 2017 and.

Whereas people of Latino and Hispanic descent have long enriched Hillsborough's history, culture, and prosperity, representing 24.1% of our community according to the US 2020 census. Whereas recognizing and understanding the lived experience of Latino and Hispanic community members in Hillsborough is essential for investments, create mutual benefits for all, and

Whereas we look ahead, we will continue to build and cultivate strong relationships within the Latino community and Latino leaders. Now therefore, be it resolved.

That aye. Councilor Olivia Alcaron on behalf of the mayor of the city of Hillsborough, Oregon, do hereby proclaim September 15th to October 15th, 2026 as Latino and Hispanic Heritage Month. That one.

in hillsborough and urge all community members to observe this momentous date and participate in events that celebrate these rich latino and hispanic cultural traditions thank you counselor all care and thank you jenny would you like a photograph you're going to take a photograph yeah

Thank you. Okay, moving on to item three, public comment. Persons wishing to speak will be recognized at this time. If you're here in person and wish to speak, please fill out a yellow card. Staff are collecting them for the city recorder. The staff are to your left. Please raise your hand. Thanks, so you could get the yellow card from them. When you're called on, please use the microphone at the public comment table, which is directly in front of you. The microphone is live when the green light is on. You will need to tap the purple button at the base of the microphone in order to turn it on. There are zero persons registered to speak virtually and the deadline has passed. And this is called public comment because it's time dedicated for you to inform the city council about your views. This is not a time for the members of public to address the audience or the general public. Please direct all comments to the council. Each person will have up to three minutes. If you exceed three minutes, you'll be given a warning. And if you refuse to stop your presentation, it will be deemed a disruption of the meeting and you may be asked to leave. If you feel you have to publicly express support for a comment or a viewpoint, we ask that you use a quiet or non-disruptive method, such as snapping your fingers, giving a thumbs up, or jazz hands. Clapping, calling out, or making verbal outbursts interferes with people's ability to hear clearly, and these disruptions will not be tolerated. Please don't do it. Again, keep the space welcoming and inclusive and accessible for everyone to avoid disruption. We ask that all comments be shared respectfully. And tonight we're pleased to hear from you, and we'll begin hearing from Mr. Brown Wildfire. Welcome, Mr. Brown Wildfire. You have three minutes. Please depress the button so your microphone will be on.

Y'all celebrating the Latino heritage is performative to trick people into trusting you because not once have any of y'all other than Olivia and Kipperlyn actually approached me to try to understand my frustrations. And if anything, y'all castigate me for it. Y'all kick me out for communicating honestly and passionately, and I'm brown. That's just how we do it. But it doesn't mean your expectations, I guess. I know why you only give us three minutes. It's because giving us any more is giving us power, and that's the last thing you want. What does it say when the only time I address the council is under threat of political violence? Using the police to commit violence against me for not meeting your expectations is political violence. Didn't you all say residents should feel safe to attend events without a fear of violence or intimidation? So the police isn't here as a way to threaten violence if we don't comply with their expectations. Because why should we trust the people working with ICE? Because whether they like it or not, they use the same database as ICE. And if every resident should feel safe, why did the police do nothing as a group of MAGA bullies went around harassing residents, eventually illegally bear macing multiple people, including children? They flagrantly broke the code of conduct, ridiculed people for being gay and wore signs insulting trans people. It happened right in front of the cops and nothing was done. so then maybe you don't really think every citizen should feel safe i'm done i'm just some dude living paycheck to paycheck so i'm sure y'all are much more educated than me right so you should know and be highly aware of the fact that the supreme court ruled that the police isn't here to protect and serve the community they're here to enforce laws laws written by the same people in the epstein files that say it's legal for them to abduct our neighbors and if you didn't know that then why should you why should we trust you to protect us If you're not a working class person, why should I trust you to make working class decisions, Ms. CEO? Especially since you named the Confederate General Robert E. Lee as one of your inspirations for your entry into politics in your May 2022 Democrat endorsement application. Page 33. I'm scared watching these data centers being built next to these schools. I'm sad for our teachers and special ed teachers that are getting less and less every year. Until I was 10, my dad would take me to his friends at work and bring them home from work and let them have their way with me. So I get furious that little immigrant girls in detention are somehow being impregnated. And you're contributing to that by supporting the police, even though we have seen them shaking hands with officers. The same police that watched as their fellow officer slammed Albert Molina's head into a wall and did nothing as he was being choked out. The same department that showed the most discrimination against black and brown people, giving them harsher sentences, and yet you want a $90 million building for them, instead of investing in something that would actually help the people, like a library. And you all want to be leaders when things are easy, then maybe you aren't actually a leader. I also have some articles printed out in case you need reminding of some of the controversies that the police department here has been involved in.

Next up is Mike McTernan. Mike, are you here, Mike? Okay, great. And then on deck is Victoria Long.

mike welcome uh depressed the button in the center of the console to turn your microphone on and when you start speaking your time will start you have three minutes if it's green it's on right great okay great cool i came to talk about uh the proposed changes to the data center code um i don't see how it makes sense to commit ourselves to code changes before the environmental analyses are in before the most major questions that the community has are answered This is putting the cart before the horse. The city staff would claim that they are only acting at the council's behest and that without meaningful progress, the moratorium may be lifted prematurely. During the planning commission meeting, no one could offer any definition of what meaningful progress means or how the council would judge this. And I don't believe the council itself has offered any guidance on this benchmark. Why is this? Why isn't there clear guidance for what staff is aiming for? Why isn't there a plan? Why is there no time and an arbitrary deadline being imposed on such an important and multifaceted issue? Why is the city and the council rushing this? A cynical person might imagine that this is lack of clarity, the short moratorium, and the creation of arbitrary deadlines. had a plan to shutting up the opposition to data centers. A way to say that progress is being made and that the people are being heard, while at the same time intending to do the minimum to protect the city's citizens. However, I would like to assume that maybe the people's demands for actions are being heard and that the council and the city staff just haven't gotten it right yet. It's a complicated issue and who could have known or know how long it will take to get it right. So I offer a proposal for the council to consider. Rather than make a decision on a flawed and inadequate code change, instead vote to extend the moratorium for one year. A ban that would put us in line with many other cities and regions. If the demand for data centers is as great as you say, then they'll still be there next fall. Take that time to really explore the ramifications of building more data centers in our community. Put phase one on hold and move all the items in phase two into the priority. Address the people's concerns, study the environmental impacts, and then let's talk. Let's take the time to make this a truly collaborative effort. create a real timeline with measurable and reachable goals that culminate in thoughtful changes to the code and law. If you watched or attended the Planning Commission meeting, it was extremely clear that no one had any idea what was going on. The people had relevant and thoughtful questions, the staff had few concrete answers, and the Commission was nowhere close to being able to offer guidance on the proposed changes. To push ahead with this anyway would, in my opinion, be folly of the highest order. We need to get this right the first time. The corporations and their lawyers will quickly find and exploit any flaws to their advantage and the people's detriment. Let's slow things down. Extend the moratorium at the next council meeting. Give the city the time to do the proper analysis, give the council and the commission time to deliberate any proposals, and give the people time to comment and offer their own insights and solutions for the compromise. Show the people you care. Show them that you're listening. Show them that you're representatives and not just another obstacle in the way of them creating the future that they want for themselves, their friends, and their neighbors. Next up is Victoria Long.

And on deck is Simone Campbell. Thank you. Go ahead and speak into the mic. Yeah, you have to hit the button there. It's in the center of the console. There you go. All right. You have three minutes.

Hi, my name is Victoria Long, and first I'd like to take a moment to thank the City Council and the Mayor and all of our first responders for all that they do for our community and the services they provide. I'm reading this for my daughter, but I believe in it too, so we're sort of on the same vein. School just started this week and my daughter was dropping my grandchildren off at Aranco Elementary School. She saw numerous children biking to school and crossing Century Boulevard. I'm asking you and my daughter is asking you to please prioritize installing the flashing crosswalk signals at Century Boulevard. They are a part of the expansion project and they should be done as soon as possible. As a grandparent, parent, and community member, I'm deeply concerned, as well as my daughter, that the safety of our school children is being compromised in this area. More students are choosing to bike to school, which is great, but encouraging children to walk and bike means we also have a responsibility to make these routes as safe as possible. Our children should not have to take their chances crossing a busy street simply because the infrastructure hasn't caught up with how our community is using it. These are children at an age when their decision making and impulse control is still developing. Expecting them to consistently judge when it is safe to cross a busy street on their own is concerning and places a tremendous responsibility on our young children who are still learning to assess the risk. Frankly, I'm scared to cross that street. So it doesn't just affect children, it affects the entire community. We have an opportunity to be proactive rather than waiting for another serious accident or something much, much worse. Please do what you can to ask that the project prioritize these crosswalks first over continuing the work on the bridge that no one is currently using. Thank you for your time and your continued patience with the community. Thank you.

Next up is Simone Campbell, and on deck is Gemma Fleener. Simone, welcome. You have three minutes, and make sure your microphone is on before you start.

Good evening, my name is Simone Campbell, I live here in Hillsborough. Today is September 1st, in ten days it will be 9-11. My brother is a 9-11 survivor. He was below seven world trade when the first plane hit. He's a marine. After the towers fell, he did the recovery, day and night cutting steel so the victims could be found. He has lived with cancer related illness and PTSD ever since. My father was an iron worker who built the trade towers. My nephew is an iron worker like his father, like his grandfather, like his grandfather, the great grandfather. He rebuilt the towers. My family knows what it means to build something that is supposed to stand for this country. So when Council President Harris says all residents are immediate constituents and says that his job in the transactional relationship is to get the best deal for our city, I listen. Here's the deal in phase one of the data center plan, CDCA004-26, industry gets zoning. CERTAINTY NOW, RESIDENTS ASK FOR BUFFERS IN SCHOOLS AND PARKS IN A PUBLIC HEARING BEFORE A MASSIVE FACILITY IS APPROVED AND ARE TOLD TO WAIT TILL 2027. ONE SIDE BUILDS NOW, ALL RESIDENTS WAIT TWO YEARS FOR SAFETY. President Harris said non-transactional politics is about justice and building majorities. By your own definition, this is not justice, and it is not the best deal for all residents. A transaction means both sides get value at the same time. My father didn't build a tower and tell the people to wait two years for the steel to be safe. You build it safe from the start. You have an executive session tonight on safety. Testifying is not a safety threat, it is democracy. My brother earned that right. If you feel unsafe because we asked for school buffers now, the answer is not more police in this room. The answer is to put school and park buffers in phase one now, and a public hearing in the phase one now. Get the best deals for Hillsborough residents now, not in 2027.

Next up is Gemma Fleener and on deck is Jenna Nelson. Gemma, welcome. You have three minutes when you start speaking and make sure your microphone is on.

Is that working? That is working. It is, yes. All right. Hello, Councillors, Mayor. For the record, my name is Jim Aflinor, and I'm here today on behalf of myself, not any of the organizations I occasionally represent. Bear with me a moment. I'm going to be a bit vulnerable in my testimony tonight. When I started coming to these city council meetings, this space felt very welcoming and open. However, in the weeks I was here and visiting these council meetings, I noticed an increase of police presence. I noticed an increase of men with guns in this room and in the room outside. I didn't think much of it until the special meeting you held a few weeks ago, that Monday special morning meeting. I had to use the bathroom in that meeting, and as you can tell, I'm trans. Unlike many of you here, I have to carefully consider the space when I go and use the bathroom, especially if the place I'm in does not have gender neutral bathrooms. When I went to use the bathroom at the meeting, I saw all the police that were there. I saw all the men with guns, and I stopped and I paused. I was feeling a fear. I had to make a choice. Which bathroom do I use? I had to quickly evaluate what the safest option was. Would somebody make a scene? Would I have to explain to the cops that I was trans? If somebody went and quietly told them that I walked into the wrong bathroom, what was going to happen? Then as quick as that fear came on, the rational part of my brain kicked in and went, you live in Oregon, you dummy, go use the bathroom. So I did, nothing happened. We live in one of the safest space for the transgender community, but that didn't stop that moment of fear. It didn't stop my pause. That moment was driven by a national storm of hate and violence directed to people like me. And there's nothing any of us can do to prevent that hatred. And it does affect all of us here, even in Oregon. My friends, I know you're considering safety measures. Please think on this story. Think about all the communities who do not have a good relationship with the police. Think about the torrent of hate and violence directed to our communities and the fact that the rest of the country does not have friendly police officers for people like me. Please consider that when you are considering using police to enforce safety and that fear that may cause for people like me. Thank you.

Next up is Jana Nelson and on deck is Dirk Knudsen. Jana, welcome. You have three minutes and make sure your microphone is on.

Thank you. I'm here tonight to address issues with the city council and their reactions to members of our community. I have heard that certain members of this council have stated that they feel threatened by people of color who have testified here or made comments out in the community. Public testimony is a foundational element of democracy. When community members of color share their perspectives, advocate for their neighborhoods, or critique city policy, they are engaging in the exact same civic process as their white neighbors. Describing people of color as threatening when their tone, passion, and substance differ from white testifiers is tone policing and harmful to our community as a whole. Who are we, who are you to dictate how a community is allowed to show up and protest? It is not the job of this council to demand comfort, it's your job to listen. Weaponizing personal discomfort to minimize valid criticism dismisses the black and brown emotion as a personal problem rather than a systemic issue. Effectively policing how marginalized communities are allowed to speak. Racial bias and tone policing are real. By directly saying that you feel threatened by Latinese people in our community, that sends a chilling message to marginalized communities. That your participation is only welcome if it remains comfortable for those in power. Elective officials bear a strict responsibility to listen to all constituents with equal openness. Framing the presence or passionate advocacy of BIPOC residents as a threat undermines the public trust, chills civic participation, and reinforces systemic biases. Just tonight, you held a secret meeting, none of us could be there, to, and I quote, consider matters relating to safety of governing body. We were pretty much all in fear with what was talked about there. But judging by how many police and security guards continue to be here, which begs the money. Where's the money coming from to pay for all of this added security? Do we have a, the mayor is scared of brown people slush fund with the police department? I thought the city didn't have money to use to protect us when there's a problem. At least that's what I was told when myself and my grandson were almost hit in a signaled crosswalk walking to school, and somebody ran through the crosswalk. When I talk to the police, we don't have the coverage, we don't have the money. There's no money to protect kids, but we have the money to pay, tonight, three police officers and two security guards to hang out and play on their phone for four hours. I urge this council to pause, reflect on these interactions.

Thank you, your time is up. Next up is Dirk Knudsen, and on deck is Tori Lewis. Welcome, you have three minutes. Make sure your microphone is on.

Good evening, Mayor and members of the Council. Dirk Knudson for the record. First, I want to commend the Council for putting a data center moratorium in place. It's great to have that leadership here in Hillsboro to represent the rest of Oregon. And I want to thank everyone that worked on recognizing artificial intelligence and AI computing within that scope. That wasn't initially thought that we were going to do that. but it was necessary, it was a first step. Second, I do wanna thank the Hillsborough Planning Commission and our planning staff for working very hard to get the new community development codes going. Difficult thing to write, and Rachel, Dan, and others are trying very hard to come up with something meaningful. that can control data centers and AI computing in Hillsboro. And to get those conditions done and get them done right. As that work continues, I want to thank Councilor Case and Sinclair for their leadership on how these facilities are allowed to locate when they are considered an accessory use to the primary. uh... the primary not being a data center AI compute as the code has come forward staff picked a metric of thirty percent of the land site size but because we allow at least four stories to be developed like we're seeing at core site with almost a hundred foot building that would allow massive buildings that could eclipse the primary use so using percentage of the primary use square footage That square footage of that building would be better, or perhaps we tie it to energy consumption, which I believe Councillor Sinclair mentioned. After all, we are trying to limit how big these centers are, and they work on power. So I encourage staff and all involved from the city to get that done. The transfer of development rights, which came into the code, was not a consensus item for all of you. It wasn't. It needs to be removed from phase one and moved to phase two, and I'm pretty adamant about that. It's just not time to talk about transfers. Lastly, I want us all to listen to Dr. Jeffrey Hinton, Nobel Laureate and recognized godfather of AI. He's been warning the public. Dr. Hinton said, I think we will very quickly realize that getting more control of AI is a very good goal because it helps us achieve our other goals. And if these things get carried away, he's talking about AI, with getting more control, we're all in desperate trouble. That's the man that invented AI. Also look at last week's resignation from Frontier Labs of Jan Leakey. She led OpenAI's super alignment safety team. She walked away from a super high paying job stating safety, culture, and processes have taken a back seat to shiny products. We urgently need to figure out how to steer and control AI systems much smarter than us. I am very concerned we aren't on a trajectory to get there. So in closing, I want us all to remember AI is not being regulated at all. We control storm water to the nth degree in this town, something that helps all of us, right? But AI is causing teenagers to commit suicide. It's stealing seniors' money through crypto mining and things like that. We don't understand what it is. It's not human, but it's superhuman, and I think we all need to think about how we can control that.

Next up is Tori Lewis.

Yeah, thank you.

And on deck is Deborah Holland. Tori, welcome. You have three minutes. Make sure your microphone is on.

Good evening, Council. It's an honor to be back before you again. Just as a reminder, a couple of things that I shared last week was that in both the book of Luke and the book of Acts, nearly a third of the New Testament and of the words count was written for a single government official, most excellent Theophilus. I wanted to kind of give a quick overview, hopefully quick, of the main point of the Bible. And so I think that this will be helpful. John 3.16, you may see that at some football games. Years ago we saw that more. It states, "...for God so loved the world that He gave His only Son that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life." So in that verse, which many people know, it is a little bit confusing, or can be, because it talks about how God loved the world, yet he also states that whoever believes in his son should not perish but have eternal life. So there in itself, it implies that there are some that will perish. This is what motivates me to share with you all. Romans 3.10 talks about how none of us is righteous. No, not one. That includes myself and all of us here. I'm sure we can all attest that we've done wrong in the past. Romans 3.23 says, So this is stating again that none of us can do anything to warrant God's love. Romans 5.8, but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. So Christ came and died on the cross before we were around, before we turned to him. So God has an immense love for each and every one of us. And that is why he sent his son to die on the cross for us. Romans 6.23 says, For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God, and let me emphasize that, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. Wages are something that we earn. When we sin, and all of us do that, we are earning our own death. But the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. Romans 10, 9, continuing on, because if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God has raised him from the dead, you will be saved. God has an immense love for us. I've said that before, and I'll say it again. But he is giving us a warning that the wages of our sin is death, but what God's desire is is that we would come to repentance and trust in him. Thank you very much.

Next up is Deborah Holland, and on deck is Kareem Delgado. Welcome, Deborah. You will have three minutes to speak. As soon as you start talking, the timer will start. No, press that button in the center there. There you go. You are on. You are live.

I'm new to Hillsboro, sort of. I'm very old to Oregon, fifth generation, and I'm an architect, and I'm doing an affordable project, I mean an affordable, a forum on affordable housing at the Brookwood Library on Sunday from 3.30 to 6 p.m., and my concept is to start an Oregon School of Design, which the students build their own residence in a village that's master planned, that's off the grid, and in our rural properties, which some desperately needing biodiversity so it's kind of a it's the kids are calling it a big plan but they are loving the idea of building their own house so I'm sort of reversing order because the kids are gonna build two houses for themselves one to live in and one to sell to pay off all their balances so they're gonna have a mortgage-free housing And, you know, it's just, to me, as an architect, being unhoused for a very long time, I just feel passionate about it. I'm sorry, I'm getting emotional. But it's a love of mine. It's a vision of mine. And I did a lot of work on the East Coast. I couldn't get a career going out here because my age. I mean, women weren't... welcome as they are now. So I worked in all the old buildings, and I saw how they're built, and they're still standing, doing a good job, and they're worth millions of dollars. And they were built by people who came off a boat with no power tools. And I renovated them, and I was very, very impressed. So I know what people can do. I know what they can build. They just need the opportunity and the incentive So when I was 17, I wanted to build a village. And I got so excited because of Arkansas in Arizona, building a village. But it was all concrete. It was a bunker, because they thought a nuclear war was coming. I was like, oh no, this is so ugly. I don't want to do this. So anyway, I'm going to hand these out to people who might be interested in attending. And so I'm a dreamer, and I'm going to start dreaming big. Thanks.

Thank you. Next up is Kareem Delgado, and on deck is Denise Kerr. Yes.

May council get a copy of the flyers that she's sending out?

Yes. Deborah, if you want to leave a couple of flyers with the staff over there on the left-hand side, and they'll get it to council. Thank you. Mr. Delgado, welcome. You have three minutes.

Good evening, Mayor and Councillors. My name is Kareem Delgado. I'd like to offer my perspective on Paul's letter to the Romans. I'm kidding. So when it comes to immigration, we know that not everything is national policy. One in five Hillsborough residents was born in another country among the highest shares of any city in Oregon. We all know that these are trying times for our immigrant neighbors. While the federal government works to make their lives harder, we should be doing everything within our power to make their lives easier. I'd like to provide a concrete example. So the U visa is federal law from 2000. When an undocumented immigrant is the victim of a serious crime such as domestic violence, assault, or trafficking, and they help police or prosecutors, they can apply for legal status so that testifying doesn't get them deported. Congress built it to encourage victims to call 911 regardless of their immigration status. I'll concede that this council can't raise the federal visa cap or shorten a federal backlog that runs years, but no application can even begin until a local agency signs a one-page certification confirming the person was a victim and was helpful. The signature confers no status. The federal government vets everything after. It only opens a door, but that door is four blocks from here. Last week, the State Criminal Justice Commission published its final report on those signatures. Sorry, in 2025, 28 crime victims asked Hillsborough Police to sign, six got one. Rejections for HPD had an inverse relationship from practically every other department in the state. The department decided some requests on the merits and sent 15 people away for lack of jurisdiction. One possibility is that those applications are rejected but forwarded to the county district attorney. That's the most generous assumption that I could come up with as to why our police department rejects as many UV's applications as are accepted by departments in every other country. But that doesn't explain why a few are still accepted at the department level. Nothing I could find tracks whether those sent away were ever at the DA's desk. And the district attorney's numbers similarly don't reveal any obvious handoff has occurred because our county district attorney also rejects applicants at a higher rate than others. Beaverton signed five of 19, the sheriff's office signed four of 12. Counting every reporting agency in Washington County, a victim here got a signature about 55% of the time last year. Across the line in Multnomah County, it was 87%. I'm additionally worried because the state law that produced these numbers sunsets on January 2nd, so after this year they go dark unless Hillsborough publishes its own. I'm asking this council to look into four things fully within its power. A designated certifying official at Hillsborough Police, a deadline to answer every request, a tracked handoff to the district attorney instead of a bare denial letter, and a short public report every year. 28 neighbors knocked on our door last year, and six got an answer worthy of our city. Thank you.

Next up is Denise Kerr, and on deck is Sandra. Welcome, you have three minutes. And the button is in the center of the console there for you.

Good evening, Mayor Pace. President Harris and fellow councils. My name is Denise Kerr. I'm a 40-year resident of Healdsboro. There's a little something the mayor said on a number of occasions recently with regards to the data centers. She's continued to say, my hands are tied. My hands are tied. The state forces me to accept these applications. Well, that's just not true. It's not true. I've looked into it and I hate to say, but what I would call it, if it's not a truth, This city itself has put into the system their own little requirements for these enterprise zones. And I noticed a whole lot of activity after the CHIPS and Science Act was signed by the president in 2022. all of a sudden a whole lot of little groups formed and little activities started going on and everybody was madly trying to get a little piece of that what was it two hundred and twenty billion dollars maybe more fifty seven billion of which to uh... to manufacturing training and you know uh... research development that kind of stuff so Everybody just wanted to scramble for that grant money, I'm telling you. It's crazy, pouring sugar syrup next to an anthill. Boy, they wanted to get at that stuff. My next point. I'm going to be a little bit of a bugaboo about the background information that eludes certain people who are elected or are running to be elected. It's pretty obvious that you have to pay for another company to scrape your history clean That would be the birthplace, any kind of religious teaching, socioeconomic class, where did you grow up? And what schools did you go to, elementary through high school? Nobody in here is going to say, I can't tell you, but these elected officials won't tell me. That's Beach Pace, that's Mr. Stephen Callaway. Not the new sheriff from Texas. And Daniel Diaz, that's a real flummox. All I do know is that Daniel Diaz started the Silicon Forest Partnership. He filed in October 22nd, 2024. He's the only and sole principal.

Thank you. Next up is Sandra.

In the address of City Hall.

Welcome, Sandra, and you have three minutes to speak. I believe your microphone is on, but if it's not, the button is in the center of the console.

Okay, so I want to start off by saying that the Latino Heritage Month is performative, and you know it, Mayor Pace. If you cared, every single person kidnapped, especially in Hillsborough, would be in their house with their family. You clearly don't care. You'll never care. People are still being kidnapped out there, and who's doing the work? We are. We're the ones making sure that we're getting all of their belongings safely back to their families. Also, I want to raise a question to whoever Jesus dude is over here. Where was God when people were being violently taken from their families? Where is God when my community is eating maggots in these detention centers to stay alive? Where is God when children are being raped in these detention centers? I want to spend the rest of my time honoring those who have lost their lives to ICE. Lian Yong Wei, age 51. Edwin Lopez Cornejo, age 41. Prisciliano Trejo Ricano, age 29. Jesus Manuel Arena Silva, age 45. Felix Alcorta Rodriguez, age 63. Mamuka Hartman Lutz, age 43. Danny Adam Gonzalez, age 33. Alev Damien, age 27. Alejandro Cabrera-Clemente, age 49. Truen Van Paul, age 55. Jose Guadalupe Ramos, age 52. Royer Perez Jimenez, age 19. Mohammed Nazir Paktiol, age 41. Pejman Karshanas Najafari, age 59. Emmanuel Clifford Damas, age 56. Alberto Gutierrez Reyes, age 48. Jairo Garcia Hernandez, age 27. Loris Sim, age 59. Herbert Sanchez Dominguez, age 34. Victor Manuel Diaz, age 36. Paradis La, age 46. Luis Beltran Yanez Cruz, age 68. Luis Gustavo Nunez Caceres, age 42. Geraldo Lunas Campos, age 55. Nenko Stanev Ganchev, age 56.

Thank you. Thank you to everyone who spoke tonight. We will now move to the consent agenda. The items on the consent agenda are normally considered in a single motion. Any item may be removed for separate consideration upon request from any member of council. Is there a request to remove any items for separate consideration? Do I have a motion to approve the consent agenda?

So moved, case.

Do I have a second? Second, Sinclair. Is there any discussion? May I have a roll call, please?

Councillors Elker? Aye. Case? Aye. Ambry? Aye. Sinclair? Aye. Harris? Aye. Salgado?

I'm abstaining because I was absent one of the meetings.

Okay, you're abstaining why? You have to state why. Could you restate that, please?

Yeah, I was asking for the meeting. So we're approving like six minutes, I think, for six meetings.

I understand. Okay. All right, the motion passes. We have no additional items to consider this evening, so we'll turn the time over to Robbie Hammond for a city manager report.

Thank you, Mayor. Good evening, everyone. A few items I wanted to share with everybody tonight. The first is you may have seen in the news that Genentech has announced a $750 million expansion in Hillsboro. Genentech, for those that may not be familiar with it, it's the building on Evergreen and Brookwood on the way out of town. OR INTO TOWN. IT'S A COMPANY THAT RESEARCHES, DEVELOPS, AND MANUFACTURES TARGETED MEDICINES FOR SERIOUS ILLNESSES LIKE CANCER, AND IT'S JUST A TREMENDOUS COMMUNITY ASSET THAT WE HAVE HERE IN HILLSBORO. SO WE'RE REALLY EXCITED THAT THEY'VE ANNOUNCED THAT THEY'RE EXPANDING HERE. IT'S GOING TO BRING 250 NEW HIGH-WAGE JOBS TO THE CITY. as well as 200 construction shops during development. Really grateful for them choosing Hillsboro to expand here and just wanted to acknowledge Dan Diaz and his staff for the hard work that they did working with Governor Kotick and her office to bring this deal to Hillsboro. Second, a few weeks back, we had our first annual Hillsborough bike event. It's called Rolls Out in Local Parks. This is something that actually came out of the 2035 plan. We had more than 200 people that showed up for this event, and we hope in the future years to make this even bigger and better. We had 200 people start at Wasco County Bikes in downtown Hillsborough, pedal to three different parks for local activities and food. It was a tremendous experience, and grateful for all the people that worked on that. And then finally, in more sobering news, we have our first confirmed identification of the emerald ash borer. Many of you have been following this for the past few years. This is a beetle that is confirmed to invade ash trees here across the world. WE HAVE APPROXIMATELY 99% OF THE OVERSTORY IN JACKSON BOTTOM IS SOMETHING MADE UP OF OREGON ASH. THIS IS A SERIOUS THREAT TO THE LONG-TERM HEALTH OF THIS ECOSYSTEM, BUT FORTUNATELY OUR STAFF HAVE BEEN AWARE OF THIS FOR SEVERAL YEARS. THEY HAVE BEEN WORKING HARD TO PREPARE FOR THIS TIME. AND SO OVER THE PAST FEW YEARS, WE LAUNCHED A FOREST RESTORATION AND ASH MANAGEMENT PROGRAM TO PREPARE FOR THE INSECT'S ARRIVAL. Because of that, we are well prepared, even though it will have a significant impact on Jackson Bottom and Hillsboro. I just wanted to say thank you to our staff for being proactive in how they have been preparing for the MR-Beetle here in Hillsboro. Thank you.

Thank you, Robbie. I'm going to back this up again to public comment. I overlooked Mr. Leif Eccles' card. I'm sorry. I apologize for that. I think it got stuck to another card. So feel free to come up. And you have three minutes. Welcome. Welcome.

Thank you for coming back to give me my opportunity to speak. Good evening, Mayor and fellow Councillors. My speech tonight is to discuss what seems to be the council's feeling that they're threatened by being held accountable by constituents. At the beginning of this meeting, we heard a long speech warning everyone about disruptive behavior and the threats of being ejected to start the city council meeting. There are four law enforcement officers tonight. Many of us have been calling out the bs gaslighting and backdoor dealing that you' re not interested in sitting down with us to listen learn and find out ways to support us. Instead you need to intimidate us into silence. City council meetings were very peaceful before people were showing up. We're not going to be silenced. This political theater to paint yourselves as the victims isn't going to work. Political violence is bringing an army to a city council meeting to silence your critics. Political violence is not calling out BS and accidentally dropping a few F-bombs. Who needs enemies when you can attack members of your own political party? I'd like to share something that happened the other night at the Washington County Board of Commissioners meeting. I came late since I was here at the Transportation Committee meeting, so sitting in the back. From my vantage point, I could see a Latina woman giving testimony to the board members and a law enforcement officer to the side. The constituent, Antonia Lopez, was calling out the commissioners for their political theater tactics for not calling a vote that night on Commissioner Fai's proposed county moratorium on data centers. Chair Harrington interrupted Tony to chastise audience members for quietly snapping. Tony told Harrington to not interrupt her during her allotted public comment time. It was then that the officer stood up, rolled his shoulders like he was preparing for a fight, and put his hand on his firearm for 26 seconds. He remained standing through most of the rest of Tony's testimony. He didn't do this for any other speaker. While Harrington tried to claim that quietly snapping an approval during public comment was intimidating, the actual intimidation was the police officer with his hand on his weapon during public testimony. I absolutely agree that political violence has no home here. But this escalation of increased enforcement officers here in meetings and the added rhetoric at the beginning of meetings is pouring gasoline on fire. At what point will you decide to arrest one of us for speaking truth to power? And what does that say about your motivations and who you really serve as elected officials? You have the power to set and change policy. All we have is three minutes to raise your awareness to the issues that are impacting this community the hardest. And tonight, you heard it. People are actually crying. People are actually hurting in this community. And your response is to tell us that we're being disruptive and that our speaking out is potential threats to you by having an increased police presence here. If you're actually here to serve the people of Hillsborough, stop these intimidation tactics, set up listening sessions, and set policy based on the will of the people. Thank you.

We'll now move to council comments. Councilors have up to three minutes to provide comments, if they have any. Council should not engage in any deliberation or debate over any comments and or topics raised during this portion of the agenda, other than expressing general support for adding a topic to a future agenda. If a majority of council supports moving an item forward, that item will be referred to the city manager for scoping. Do any councilors wish to provide comment? Councilor Allcare, you have three minutes.

So, yeah, it's Hispanic Heritage Month. And we just heard names read about people. And I really want to encourage this city to understand how fearful people are, how upset they are, and that they know who they're angry at. They're not happy with our leadership. And we haven't had a real conversation to talk about why. So I want us to think about that. I've heard a lot over this past week about political violence, and I've seen it played out by people who were calling out political violence are committing political violence. So when we want to have a real conversation about that, and as elected officials, show up to do our work and not play political games to cause political violence. That's all I want to mention.

Next up, Councilor Invery.

Thank you. I wanted to see if maybe Robbie or Chad could give a better explanation of the 120-day moratorium because My understanding is that is the maximum we can do and then we renew it. Is that something that we have in the Q&A? There was a comment that came up and we were being asked to extend it and why have such a short one. I was just wondering if that law is explained in the Q&A. I was looking at it on the website and if not, if maybe we could post that, that would be helpful for people that it is actually the maximum we can do and then we can renew it if we show progress.

Yeah, thank you, Councilor Ambry. Chad Jacobs from the City Attorney's Office. The short answer to your question is you're correct. Under state laws preempted our ability to impose a moratorium. So we have to follow very specific procedures in state law, otherwise a moratorium would be deemed illegal. And that state law basically requires us to only have a moratorium of 120 days initially. And then we have to show substantial progress towards resolving the issue that caused the moratorium, and then we can extend the moratorium. And so those are the procedures we're following to make sure that the moratorium can be upheld legally in case it's challenged. And so I'm not clear if there is that answer on the Q&A, but if not, I will certainly work with staff to make sure that it gets put up there. Thank you. Yeah, thanks.

Councillor Sinclair.

Thank you, Mayor. I want to pick up on a request that I had previously made pertaining to the seriousness of public privacy and public safety. During the August 4th Council comments, I suggested that the City of Hillsborough ban flock automated license plate readers. I'd like to clarify that I am requesting that all APRs be banned throughout the City of Hillsborough. In the era of AI surveillance, I would like to request that the council schedule a dedicated work session to examine the use, acquisition, and oversight of all automated license plate readers, not just those provided by Flock, as well as broader surveillance technologies throughout Hillsboro. Following the use of flock surveillance at the 2026 Washington County Fair, the community has increasingly requested how information regarding APRs collect, retain, and share residents' sensitive location data. Council and the public should have a clear understanding of surveillance technology prior to the authorizing of the acquisition or renewal of these systems. Hosting a public work session will assist in discussing the definition and the categorization of surveillance technology, software, and scope of agreements within our city code. I know that there's more to explore legally, but I'd like council and the public and as well as staff to have that opportunity. Thank you.

And so if anybody wants to see that move forward, email Robbie to say that you support or do not support Councillor Sinclair's idea. Councillor Case and then Councillor Salgado.

I had a quick follow-up to one of our public comments tonight in regards to gender-neutral bathroom signage. And I believe that was something that our Youth Advisory Council last year had worked on creating a map of that. And I just would love to get an update on the timing for when that is going to be published. I think it's going to be a map online, but then also hopefully some more clear signage in the building or directional signage as well. So just wanted to make sure we follow up on that.

Because there is a gender neutral.

Because there is a gender neutral bathroom on this floor, yeah. And so it was just, there should be some clearer signage, and I think it's coming, but if we could help move that forward, that'd be great. Thanks.

Councilor Sogato?

Yeah, thank you.

So recently there was a case that was up for debate because somebody wanted to sue a person that was creating child porn with AI. And it went to court. And the judge said, this person is allowed to use AI for child porn because There was a precedent set in a case like a decade ago where an artist was creating child porn. The judge said, because no children were harmed, this is actually a First Amendment situation. So they allowed that to happen. And I completely disagree with this. I think child porn and the victims of child porn are some of the people that deal with the longest term PTSD and trauma. And they end up having a lot of indicators that they struggle with a lot of things in life. And so since we're discussing AI data center policy, I would like to direct the staff to see what we can do from our little jurisdiction around controlling the creation, the scoring, and the distribution of child porn out of these data centers, because it's like a freeway. So if somebody in another state can create it, on our data center here and distribute it, I feel like that falls within our jurisdiction and we can set policy for that. That's my feeling, that's what I would like to direct the staff to do because I feel like that's definitely a no-no and what's missing in all this conversation is not that judge or the president it's actually that these companies allow people to up upload child porn because that's how ai models get trained you have to upload the content so real child porn was uploaded to these models and they allowed it and nobody was held responsible for it right and we're all talking about the outcome of the case but what we should be talking about is why are these companies allowing child porn could be uploaded to their AI and then distributed in this fashion. And I feel like we can control the little data centers that are here doing that.

And that's what I would like to .

And Robbie, he needs support for that as well. Yeah, so if you support Councillor Sergado's idea, email Robbie and let him know. Okay, moving to item 11. I have something. I'm sorry.

And I have a clarification after Harris.

okay council president harris um this isn't really a proposal but i want to get on the record at the um there was a planning commission hearing uh the other day last week on the uh phases uh for the data center update of the development code i went to that so i could hear the presentations twice but i wanted to hear what they were presenting to the planning department i wanted to just command our planning commission for the hard work they did they dug through this they asked a lot of really super good questions i had taken some general notes about what my concerns were along the way and i did leave before they deliberated so that's i didn't want to stay for their actual deliberations but i wanted to hear the presentation some of the questions of staff and and i did read later that they kicked it over and they did have the questions. And I would note many of the concerns and questions and clarifications I actually had in my notes as well. So I just wanted to say they did a super good job and we're very grateful that we have volunteers to do that.

And Councillor Allcare, you wanted to clarify something?

Yeah, Chad, can you please provide everybody with rule of when it's okay for councillors to gather and when it isn't. And so when it's okay for four counselors here on this dais or more to gather, when can we do that? And where is that okay for us to do that? Because I've had some community members concerned about that and a legal meeting

Sure. Councilor Alker and Councilor, again, Chad Jacobs from the City Attorney's Office. The way the public meetings law works is that it applies to situations where the council is deliberating towards or actually making a decision. And so when the council gathers for that purpose, that is required to take place at a public meeting. The council is not, however, prohibited from gathering for other purposes such as social occasions. And so when it's purely a social occasion and the council isn't deliberating towards or making a decision, that is not covered by the public meetings law and that's not prohibited. I believe I shared with you, and I can read it for everyone, the Attorney General's manual, and the Attorney General publishes a manual so that everyone knows that sort of explains how the Public Meetings Laws and Public Records Act works in Oregon. And so this is language specifically from the Public Meetings Laws from the Attorney General, which says, purely social gatherings of the members of the governing body are not covered by the law. For example, the Court of Appeals had the social gatherings of a school board or at which members often discussed what's going on at the schools did not constitute a violation. Members must avoid any discussion of official business during such social gatherings, and they should be aware that some may perceive social gatherings as merely subterfuge for avoiding the public meetings laws. And so that's the language from the Attorney General's manual. And again, it just makes clear the point that if people are gathering for social occasions, whether that's at a wedding, at a pool party, at a bar, no matter where it's at,

that that's okay as long as they're not deliberating towards or making any decisions that's good because i had three counselors at my wedding so here's what i want to know is it on the onus of the counselors who are gathering to admit whether or not they're discussing policy is it on them to admit that or is it on public To catch them on that.

I would say that is, I believe that courts generally have a presumption that public officials are acting in good faith and following the law. And so to the extent that a public official is gathering for a social purpose such as your wedding, I think that there's a presumption that they are in fact following the law. So to the extent that someone believes that there was something untoward going on and they were actually deliberating, that they would need some sort of evidence to suggest that that actually occurred before a court or anyone else is really going to look at that.

Okay, thank you.

I just want to clarify that since that's clearly directed to the three of us who after a meeting went and just two of us had a drink, one of us had a non-alcoholic. beverage and then we went and we talked and the first thing we said, I've been through more trainings than you can shake your stick at for public meetings and government ethics. I've been to numerous ones. I've served on many boards. I've chaired the Oregon Public Defense Commission. I'm very well aware of what the law is. When the first thing we did when we sat down was I made clear and we all made clear, no policy. That's what we did. And then if you have a concern about that, you should come to us privately, Councillor, and ask us about it. And we could have made that very clear. But you made this a public matter. Now it's public. Well, why don't you admit what you were talking about then?

It's none of my business. I'm going to say this to you.

I don't have to tell you what it is. I can tell you what it wasn't. It wasn't public business.

Okay. I'm really glad to hear that. I'm really super glad to hear that it wasn't public business. Thanks for the clarification. so now we know that the onus is on all of us to admit when we're talking policy when we want to go out and hang out together right so it's all clear it's on the onus is on us to tell people when they see us out no we're not talking policy we're hanging out we're talking about years i have been on this council for years i have served on boards for years okay People have caught you. So I'm calling it out.

They haven't caught us do anything other than having a social hour. There you go. But I'm very glad you now understand what the law is.

Moving to item 11, advice and information. We have a few items under advice and information. If you're interested in serving on a board or commission, applications are being accepted through October 16th. Current filings for the 2026 general election city council candidates can be found on the city's website. And the filing date is passed, by the way. And as always, community members who want to be informed and engaged on city council matters can sign up to receive the Happening in Hillsborough email newsletter. Spanish language updates are also available through our Creciendo Juntos email newsletter. And with that, the city council meeting is adjourned. Thank you.